PHILADELPHIA: Heading to Northeast Philly and Charles Martin Stadium, the Redskins traveled down The Boulevard to take on St. Joseph’s Prep in the Eastern Regional Final. Following Neshaminy’s win over North Penn last week, and the Hawk’s topper over Parkland in the D12/D11 sub-regional, the two squads earned the right to line-up in the PIAA AAAA state semi-final contest. At 10-3, St. Joes has played a national schedule while taking the Philadelphia Catholic League crown. Coming in at 13-1, Neshaminy has been tough all year as they claimed the D1 trophy. We’re pretty sure everyone knows the story of these programs, so let’s just get right to it.
With the Hawks taking the kickoff, the return man took it back to the 31 where St. Joes set up. And showing they could pass, a sideline hitch-route on the first play went the distance. The kick was blocked, though, keeping the score at 6-0, St. Joes. Kicking it back to Neshaminy, Hamiid Pack made a nice return to the 36. DAndre Pollard took the first few snaps out of The Wildcat with a loose ball costing some yards. Tyler Wombough then came in under center but it still went to a fourth and long with Chris Watson punting it to the other endzone before the returner brought it back to their 25.
Back on offense, the Hawks ran one and then went up top as Boniface Stevens made a big pick at the St. Joe’s 40. Wombough and company returned but a three-and-out forced a second punt. Watson’s try for the corner was close but a bouncing ball hit the endzone giving the Prep the ball at their 20.
A couple of runs and a missed pass had the Hawks going backward before a nice pass made the 35 for a first. On a third down play that saw five wide outs on the field, the Prep QB tried the run but came up short. Punting it back to the ‘Skins, Cole Creighton was deep; however, a high, short kick bounced out of bounds at mid-field to give the Schmidtmen good field position. Pollard grabbed three on the first shot and then busted the next try down to the Hawk’s 19 for a big first down. Two plays later he squirted through to tie it at 6 all. Dylan McDonald then hit the Pat and the Redskins went on top, 7-6.
McDonald boomed the kickoff which was picked up by the Hawk deep man at the ten and returned to the 23 with 3:09 on the first-quarter clock. A nice dive then had it at the 35 in a hurry. Going to a third-down try, the Prep just made it to the 46 to move the chains. With the same thing happening on another third-down, this time the Hawks passed mid-field to Langhorne’s 32. Then showing their talent, a Hawk’s running back took it in for the score. This time the PAT was good as the lead went back to the Philly school, 13-7. With Pack taking the kickoff again, he motored to the 32 as Pollard then took the first handoff for three yards with the first-quarter ending on that play.
After the flip & walk, Wombough hit Pack to make it third-and-inches. On a hard count the Hawks jumped to give Neshaminy a first on the penalty. Set up at the 46, Pollard took it to the mid-field stripe. Two more efforts came up short to make it fourth-and-five as Watson punted a liner that bounced to the 22 where St. Joe’s offense came back out on the field with ten minutes on the clock.
Going to The Pistol, a ground effort gained three with the next earning the first. Sticking to the no-huddle, a St. Joe’s pass was batted down with a ground effort stopped at the line of scrimmage before another aerial moved the chains into Neshaminy territory. Then on a great pitch-and-catch, St. Joes made the two-yard stripe. The next run had it in for a TD but the try for two missed to leave it at 19-7.
Booting it back to Langhorne, Pack took it back to the 26 before he was tripped up. Back on offense, Pollard took the first for a short gain with Pack then grabbing five on a screen. Pollard earned the first and Denny Lord then took a direct snap in The Wildcat and passed to Pack but just missed. Going back to Lord, he ran it for seven before busting the next carry down to the 34 with the clock showing under five minutes in the second-quarter. Another hard-count caused the Hawks to jump and put it at the 29 before Lord barreled to the 20 on the next carry.
As Lord took a breather, Pollard handled the next snap for a yard and then followed up with four more. At third-and-five, Pollard earned the first with a facemask call putting the ball at the enemy five. An offsides call on the ‘Skins moved it back to the ten but no matter as Lord scooted across for the touchdown on the next play. McDonald hit the extra point and the score tightened to 19-14.
McDonald’s kickoff was a squibber that was picked up at the 35 with a little over a minute remaining before the half. A three-and-out followed as Neshaminy’s defense swarmed the field. Punting with 15 seconds on the clock, the rolling kick went to the 20 as the clock expired and the two teams retired to the lockers.
With Neshaminy receiving to start the second-half, this time Devon Brown did the honors as he put it at the 21 after the return. Going right to Pollard, he popped it for nine to the 30. Looking for the short-yard, Pollard got by The Box for 16 yards to the 46 and a first. Making it three straight, number 21 then earned nine more to the enemy 45 as Lord grabbed the first-down on the next effort. With another Hawk’s offsides, the ball was moved to the 39. Lord added another burst for good yards and then Sullivan pocketed another first down. Continuing to make the push, on a third-and-an-inch this time Neshaminy jumped to make it an even five for a chain-move. Going to Lord, he shook off tacklers to make the first by a yard.
With a fresh set of downs, it was Pollard taking the next shot down to the five for a first-and-goal. But on the next play a loose Neshaminy ball was picked up by a St. Joe’s player and returned 99 yards for a Hawk’s score. The PAT missed and it stayed at 25-14.
Brown grabbed the Prep kickoff that followed and had Neshaminy at the 35 after the return. With a three-and-out following, Watson then came on the field. Booming it, the rolling ball stopped at the 20. Two nice St. Joe runs had the rock moving but a Hawk penalty took it back to the 30 with a loss on the next play bringing up third-and-12. Alex Nicolas then sacked the QB with the punt putting the ball at mid-field after it bounced dead.
As the clock showed under two-minutes in the third-quarter, Pollard almost had the first on two out of The Wildcat. In The Package, Pollard came up just short at the Hawk’s 43. With the third-quarter ending, and on fourth-down, Lord then broke it for house as he shook off a tackler and sprinted the distance as the score went to 25-21 after McDonald.
Following the McDonald kickoff and return by St. Joes, the Hawks set up at their 20. Moving the chains twice, on a fourth-and-short at the 45 a QB sneak just made it for the first. Then going for it, a long pass put the ball at Neshaminy’s seven. The first effort at that spot saw another QB keeper for the TD with the two-point try missing as the scored rolled to 31-21.
Kicking it back to the Blue & Red, Neshaminy took over with nine-minutes on the clock. Two Pollard tries earned five as a third-down rolled around. Trying a bit of razzle-dazzle, Lord then pitched an aerial which was picked off at the Hawk’s 45. Back on O, St. Joes stayed on the ground to chew the clock as they made t down to the 29 with five-minutes showing. Going for a score, a Prep aerial missed but a pass interference call put the ball at the 18. Shaking it off, a corner route that followed earned the score to make it 37-21 after the missed PAT.
Booting it back to Neshaminy, and in four down territory, the ‘Skins used them all but couldn’t convert as the ball went back to the Hawks at the Neshaminy 30. One run by St. Joes then made the 17, as the clock dipped under two-minutes, with another getting in a little closer. From there a few knees by the Prep’s QB and the clock hit zero to see the game end.
First things first, congratulations to St. Joes. Manufacturing an 11-3 record with the win, they played a tough, hard-fought game and have earned the right to travel to Hershey for the State Championship game against Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Good luck Hawks!
Next, the Schmidtmen have no reason to hang their heads. Finishing the year at 13-2, and copping the D1 title, it was as exciting a campaign as it could be. Not only were the teams skills and talents showing through in so many games but its character was most evident during the playoff run as a tough Falcon game was used as a learning experience and not a final bell. And to the senior group especially, what a pleasure it has been watching you guys for the last two, three and in some cases, four years. We’ll miss you as you never failed to entertain us while also making us proud (but don’t forget there’s always a seat in Harry’s House — so don’t make yourself scarce). Plus to the underclassmen we can’t wait ’till next year! So how about you get right in the weight room and start in on the next season as we’ll be out in force cheering all of you ‘Skins in 2014.
See you all next year.
