
Mayhem’s Game of the Week: Abington @ Bensalem (Week3)
Tagged under: District 1, News, pfn
Michael Pietrangelo | September 5, 2024
The Game:
Abington Ghosts @ Bensalem Owls
Friday, September 6, 2024
Kickoff: 7 pm
Bensalem Township Memorial Stadium
4319 Hulmeville Rd, Bensalem, PA 19020
Team Details:
Head Coach: Bruce Fleming (1st Season)
League: Suburban One League-National Conference (6A)
Season Record: (1-1) overall (0-0) Conference
Last Week: Won 7-6 over Harry S. Truman
Ghost Notables: Week 1 saw the Ghosts drop one to Conrad Weiser 21-7 while also breaking in a new quarterback in a new system under a new head coach. Antonio Ford, who is a junior, is adjusting from standout wide receiver to QB1. Head coach Bruce Fleming and his staff followed that up with their first win of the 2024 campaign and their first with Abington after being hired on July 15th, a little over a month ago. Last Friday they battled to a 7-6 victory over Harry S. Truman. I caught up with the new coach ahead of this week’s matchup and after his first victory.
Mayhem: “How does it feel to get your first win at your new school last week at home against Truman after spending time in the college ranks?”
Coach Fleming: “Feels good to get the first win of the season. Getting the first win, shows guys are buying into what we are teaching as a coaching staff, and it is starting to translate onto the football field. I’m proud of the way the guys fought and stayed together to pull out the win.”
Mayhem: “You have a tough test this week in Bensalem who is surprisingly averaging 34 points per game on offense, what does your squad have to do to limit their success?”
Coach Fleming: “Bensalem is a good football program. From their two games so far, they are putting it together offensively. As a coaching staff, it’s our job to put our guys in the best position to have success. The keys to this week for us, are staying disciplined in our alignments, and assignments, and identifying the keys to try and stay a step ahead of their offense. It will not only come down to our defense making stops, but it will take our offensive putting points on the board, and our special teams stepping up again.”
Mayhem: “Last question Coach, who would you choose from your program to represent you as my featured athlete in my preview and why are you selecting them?”
Coach Fleming: “Antonio has stepped up this year in moving into the QB role. Last year he was a very dynamic WR, this year playing QB, picking up a new system in a short amount of time and improving each week. Antonio has taken the coaching of my QB coach well and I look forward to how he continues to grow and develop.”
Naturally, I then chatted it up with Antonio and asked him about last week and what’s to come this week.
Mayhem: “You guys got your first win under Coach Fleming last week over Truman in front of your home crowd, what was the feeling like and what has it been like having Coach Fleming take over your program?”
Antonio: “The feeling was good, but I wasn’t satisfied with the win. I felt as a team we could do better and having coach Fleming taking over the program has been good we’re still all improving with the short time that he’s been coaching the team but we’re still ready to put up a fight every Friday night.”
Mayhem: “You guys face a Bensalem team that is averaging 35 points per game in their first two games and are looking to keep the momentum going, what does your team need to do to stop that, and what can the fans expect to see from you guys on the road against Bensalem this week
Antonio: “My team needs to stay focused and be on the same page. I feel as though we are a good team. The fans can expect to see a good football game that’s it.”
Mayhem: “Do you have a pregame routine, and if so, what is it?
Antonio: “I like to listen to music and relax in a quiet place to get my mind in the right mood to get ready to play.”
Head Coach: Alexander Houston (4th Season)
League: Suburban One League-Continental Conference (6A)
Season Record: (1-1) overall (0-0) Conference
Last Week: Lost 27-38 to Pennridge
Owl Notables: Head coach Alexander Houston heads into his 3rd year primed for good things with the Owls. The program feels different. This season feels like the culmination of the blood, sweat, and tears put in by those involved in the program since he took over in 2021. The vibes have changed. Take for instance last week, though they lost to Pennridge 27-38, there were positives from the loss especially since they could have potentially won the game. The reason I even mention this is because they have been outscored by the Rams 113-0 over the past 3 seasons. I sat down on the phone with Coach Houston to about his team’s progress and his upcoming matchup against the Owls.
Mayhem: “Last week you guys lost a tough one to Pennridge, but you guys surprised a lot of people with your 27-38 effort because, since you took over, they have shut you out 113-0. What are your feelings on the effort even though you lost but your team battled.
Coach Houston: “It’s like I told our guys, we could’ve won the game, but I don’t think we deserved to win the game. It’s hard to win on the road with self-inflicted wounds, whether it’s going offside, whether it’s missing assignments or things of that nature. We have to clean some of those things up to give ourselves a better chance to win, especially when you’re on the road against a tough team. Now, that being said, we still had the ball down 5 around midfield with 6 minutes to play, we didn’t stop them on fourth down, didn’t get it, and that was the ball game, then they got it and scored. I told our guys I was very pleased with our physical effort, and being able to reign in our emotions when we were in a ball game especially when we were in a ballgame against a team we haven’t had much success against. All things considered, we were down 14 to start the game, we came back to tie it all at 20 heading into halftime and we come out, we turn the ball over, we threw an interception but we kept fighting so I was really pleased with that. I’m not really one for a whole lot of moral vitories right? But I was glad we played hard, I was glad we gave ourselves a chance, I thought we had a chance to win the game going into the game but it just didn’t work out that way. I’m pleased with the way we fought we just have to clean up the mental mistakes”
Mayhem: “To me, this team feels different from last season, I mean the offense is averaging 34 points in your first two games, what can the fans expect to see from your team this Friday night against the Ghosts?”
Coach Houston: Well first, a lot of people don’t wanna hear about this, but it took us a while to get players who could win the game. So it’s not that we weren’t coaching hard or preparing, but you know in our league where we play, if you’re playing freshman you’re losing, which is what we’ve been doing because I have a rule of, Best player plays and so it took us a while just physically to get where we could be. But I think this team right here is the culmination of several years of work. You know playing a bunch of juniors and seniors. Of our 22 starters, we only have two sophomores, everyone else is either a junior or senior. That’s the way it was before we got her and so it’s taken us a while to get back here. I know everybody doesn’t want to hear that but that’s the truth. So, what do I expect? I expect us to come out with a great effort, I think we will be aggressive. We got banged up. And I should point out we’re doing all this with our second-string quarterback, it’s only two games into the season, but our starting quarterback broke his foot the second week of training camp. And so we were in a position that said we didn’t know who was gonna play quarterback. We took a kid who was going to start for us, Miles Annan and he was slated to be a starter, wide receiver, and corner for us. We put him at quarterback, and he’s done a great job. He’s still learning to play quarterback so I think we’ll be aggressive. I think we’re trying to cut down on our mental mistakes but, like I told guys, you gotta bring your own juice, right? If you’re looking for somebody else to get you excited on a Friday night, we’re, we’re in trouble. We’re getting better leadership from our older kids. We are kind of learning, what it takes to win. Just playing all four quarters. So I think we are going to have a great effort. I trust we will have a great effort. We want to stay aggressive on offense, defense, and special teams. We put a lot of emphasis on special teams all offseason. I thought it cost us two games last year. We had a good day of practice yesterday and hopefully we have another good one tomorrow and come out and give the fans a show.
Mayhem: “Okay coach, I know you got to get back to work, before you go, who would you nominate for my GameDay Edit and feature on my preview article to represent your team?”
Coach Houston: “Well normally I would want to go with a senior lineman, but I think the kid I’m going to go with has been just phenomenal. I’m going to go with junior running back Aidan Mayfield. He scored 4 touchdowns in week 1 and followed it up with 2 more in week 2. He’s just an absolute stud and we are glad he’s on our side
After my phone call with coach, I hit up Aidan so we could chat it up.
Mayhem: “You guys lost a close one at Pennridge last week to even your record to 1-1, however, your high-powered offensive attack is averaging 35 points per game, Even though you lost, does your team’s performance boost your confidence heading into this week’s matchup against the Ghosts at home?”
Aidan: “Last week at Pennridge we took a loss we aren’t happy about, but it showed a lot about our team. We came back down 14-0 and went into halftime tied. The game was very winnable we just had simple mistakes that cost the game. We are performing very well overall, and our scoring ability is there so yes I have a lot of confidence going into this game with how well our team is performing.”
Mayhem: “It appears to those on the outside of your program that Bensalem Football has possibly turned a page so to speak, what would you say has contributed to your team’s week 1 victory, and battle against Pennridge (a team that has outscored you guys 113-0 in the last 3 seasons)?”
Aidan: “Ever since January, we have been working. Everybody has been giving their all to this team and we continued working hard all the way until training camp. This year than in past years this team is a lot more dedicated to the game and really wants to win and we are making sure we get that done at all costs.”
Mayhem: “Lastly, do you have a pregame routine, and if so, what is it?”
Aidan: “For my pregame I normally wake up locked in and never let things distract me throughout the day. I make sure I pray; I do a lot stretching to heal my body to the best I can so that by game time I’m ready to play.”
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