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Wissahickon Comes From Behind Yet Again to Win in Overtime 20-13

Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News

| October 24, 2020

“This team this year is just a different team. They’re a team that’s never going to quit, they’re going to fight through until the end and they’re going to make sure they do everything they can so when that final clock shows zeros, that we got that victory.”

Coach Bruce Fleming said, as the Wissahickon Trojans did it again on Friday Night, pulling off yet another comeback victory, this time against William Tennent. In all three of their wins, the Trojans have overcome forth quarter deficits. Two weeks ago against Hatboro, a late touchdown sealed the win and last Saturday against New Hope Solebury, the Trojans were down 10 with 90 seconds remaining. They were able to claw their way back and send the game to Overtime where they pulled off the victory 34-31. On Friday, the Trojans found themselves down 7 in the fourth quarter, but a couple of clutch defensive plays propelled them to victory.

Wissahickon got a boost on the opening kick off when E.J Schreiner retuned the ball all the way to the down to Tennent’s 45 yard line. Unfortunately, the Trojans offense didn’t start off too hot, going three and out. A good punt by Bobby Hassz pinned Tennent inside their own 10 for their first offensive possession. That didn’t matter, because on their first offensive play, the Panthers scored a touchdown. Mathew Miller handed the ball off to Fernando Delgado who was motioning across the field, and after finding a hole, Delgado was gone. The Panthers had gone 92 yards in one play and just like that they found themselves up 7-0.

The Trojans tried to respond right away, but were unable to put any points up on the board despite converting a fourth down on a fake punt. The ball got snapped directly to Brody Myers, who burst to the outside, getting just enough yardage for the first down.

After forcing a three and out, the Trojans offense went right back to work. Wissahickon got into Tennent territory, but the Panthers did a nice job of containing the Trojans, forcing a fourth down. The Trojans decided to go for it on 4th and 9 from their opponents 38 yard line. And the decision paid off. Aidan Defeo scrambled to his right and was able to find Jackson Intrieri wide open over the middle for a 39 yard score. The PAT was unsuccessful so the score was 7-6 late in the first quarter.

Although, that wouldn’t last long, as Tennent took the ensuing kick off 68 yards for a touchdown. Nate DeVincent tried to pooch kick it into an open space, but actually kicked it right to Wide Receiver Ryan Emmerich, who took it all the way down the sideline for the score. All it took for Tennant was two plays and they were up 13-7.

“Yeah, I mean those two scores, it was really on us. The first one was us just not aligned correctly defensively, and they were able to find a little hole in there to run it down the field. And then the second one was just a bad kick by Nate, but we know that even though we might get down that, we’re never going to give up, we’re going to find a way to fight out way back into the game” Said Coach Fleming

The Trojans looked like they had the perfect response, when Defeo found Schreiner, who broke a tackle and ran up the sideline for a 71 yard touchdown, but the play was called back for an illegal block in the back on Kareem Roberts. Stupid penalties has been one of Wissahickon’s main issues all season long and it cost them there.

Both teams traded punts and nothing much happened until with about two minutes left in the half. The Trojans were driving, but Aidan Defeo threw an inception which killed their momentum. Defeo didn’t turn the ball over last week, but Friday was a different story. After the interception, it didn’t look like much would happen. Tennent looked like they would run out the clock as they were in their own territory, but they nearly pulled off a miracle before half. Mathew Miller completed a 50 yard pass, but his receiver was dragged down before he could get away from the two Trojan defenders. Tennant led 13-7 at half.

To start the second half William Tennent would receive first. The Panthers had scored on two explosive plays, but on this drive they showed their ability to keep hold of the ball and eat clock. On a drive that started all the way on their ten yard line after a penalty on the kickoff, the Panthers drove the ball methodically down the field, getting deep into Trojan territory. This was thanks in part to Fernando Delgado, who was the player that got things started for Tennant earlier on. Delgado carried the ball 11 times on this one drive, but the Trojans were able to force a 4th and short. Surprisingly Tennent decided to attempt a field goal, despite running the ball well so far on the drive and the fact they had their second extra point blocked in the first half.

Looking back on the decision, Tennant might want to have that play back because the kick was block, by the Trojans. A Wiss player actually had an opportunity to scoop the ball up and possibly return it for a touchdown, but he was unable to get control of it.

Once again the Trojans offense wasn’t able to put points up on the board, punting the ball back to Tennent. Tennent gave the ball right back after Quarterback Matt Miller threw an interception on a third and long play. Jeremiah Clark came down with the pick for the Trojans, but the play wasn’t the worst thing in the world for Tennant, since it basically was a punt.

Wissahickon desperately needed to generate some sort of offense down 7 early in the fourth quarter, but another Defeo interception kept the game at 13-7. Tennant took over at their own 45 with a chance to milk the clock and possibly put the game away, but the Trojan defense came up big again. On another third and long, Miller tried to get the ball downfield, but Jackson Intrieri made a good read on the ball, picking the ball off at the 45. Intrieri looked like he might take it all the way, but was run out of bounds at the Tennent 14.

“Our guys defensively are really bought in to what we’re trying to do. They understand, what I expect out of them, what the defensive coaches expect out of them on the field and so even though it was a long drive, we knew as long as we could bend but not break and allow them to score, we’re going to keep ourselves in the game”

It only took Wissahickon one play to get in the end zone. Aidan Defeo found Jaylen Quick underneath, who got away from his defender and ran in for the score. The game was now tied 13-13 with 5 minutes left in the game.

Tennent picked up a couple of first downs on their next drive, but couldn’t take the lead, giving the ball back to the Trojans. Wiss would start at their own 20 after the punt went into the end zone. At the start of the drive, there was a controversial call. Aidan Defeo was scrambling and it looked like he had the ball knocked loose form behind, but the officials determined that his arm was coming forward and ruled an incomplete pass.

Kyle Lehman, who was held in check for most of the game had a couple of key plays to get the Trojans down the field. He picked up a first down on a run and caught a 20 yard swing pass on the next play, setting the Trojans up around midfield with less than 30 seconds remaining. Defeo took a couple of shots downfield, but all of his passes fell incomplete. On fourth down, it looked like Defeo completed a pass inside the 20 to Brandon Gilliard, but the refs called him out of bounds. And so, we got some free football.

The Trojans started first on offense, unlike last week vs New Hope. They opened up in a different look offense with E.J Schreiner in the wild cat, alongside Kyle Lehman. They had success doing this on the first drive of the second half last week and on the sideline at halftime, they decided they would do the same this week. The only problem was Tennant held the ball for so long in the third quarter, they were unable to go to it.

This might’ve been a blessing in disguise for the Trojans because after getting 5 yards on the first play, they were faced with a 2nd and goal. Schreiner sprinted to the right side and at the last second, he pitched it off to Kyle Lehman who pushed through defenders into the end zone for the score. Tennant clearly had a gameplay on defense to key in on Lehman and they did a nice job of shutting him down for a lot of the game, but you can’t keep the Sophomore quiet for long. “He’s a tough player, he takes a good punch, but he keeps on moving, and that’s one of these things about this team as a whole, is that we’re going to take the best shot from any team that gives us and we’re going to keep fighting back” Said Coach Fleming.

All the Trojans needed was a stop and they won the game. A short gain on first down by Delgado set up a 2nd and goal from the 8 yard line. Tennent called a timeout to talk things over. The next play, Miller rolled to his left and fired a ball that was intercepted by Jackson Intrieri, his second on the night and this time it sealed the game. Intrieri once again made a great play on the ball, reading the quarterbacks eyes and knowing exactly where he was going to go with it. “This week was his first week playing free safety in his entire high school career for us, so you know we put him in there this week, let him know ok, this is what you gotta do and make the right reads. He has a great football IQ to understand what’s going on in front of him and for him to see those two interceptions and make the play is a great job by him overall.” Said Coach Fleming

This is the first time the Trojans have won three games since 2008, a huge accomplishment for a team that has struggled throughout this entire decade. But this team isn’t stopping here, they have bigger aspirations, as they sit in 5th place in the District 1 5A rankings. Next week the Trojans are set to face off against Plymouth Whitemarsh (1-3) while the Panthers will play New Hope Solebury (2-2).

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