| 11/22/09 04:55 PM |
#9
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Richard Tower
Goal-line stand keys Comets' District 2 title triumph
BY MARTY MYERS (STAFF WRITER)
Published: November 22, 2009
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Linda Morgan / Staff Photographer Abington Heights' James Fruehan gets past Dallas' Sam Van Horn to score a touchdown Saturday.
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Abington Heights' Paul Gallagher celebrates a touchdown against Dallas with his teammates, from left, Morgan Craig, Evan Craig and Matt Badamo on Saturday. Linda Morgan / Staff Photographer
Push came to shove early in the District 2 Class AAA championship game, and Abington Heights was up to the challenge.
Leading by a touchdown but with Dallas knocking at the door, the Comets got the defensive push they needed, shoving the Mountaineers back on three attempts at the 1-yard line.
The goal-line stand, led by the charge of defensive tackles Evan Craig and Josh Snyder, and linebacker John Snyder, changed the tenor of the game and the Comets rolled from there, advancing to the PIAA playoffs with a 35-6 win at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
Abington Heights will play Allentown Central Catholic on Friday at 7 p.m. at Bethlehem Liberty High School.
"It starts up front," linebacker John Snyder said. "They know they have to eat up blocks and they just do it very well and let others make tackles. They're not very selfish."
Craig and both Snyders stood up Dallas quarterback Adam Goeringer on a pair of sneaks from the 1 on second and third downs as the first quarter closed.
"The only thing I was really thinking about was blowing them off the ball, making sure they didn't cross the goal line," Craig said. "It was going to be the thing that set the tempo for the rest of the game.
"It was a big turning point when they weren't able to answer. If you can be scored on and then come back and answer, you're going to have a football game. For us to be able to stand them up on the goal line, it definitely did a lot for our confidence, and I'm sure it knocked them down a little bit."
Especially when Goeringer and running back Paul Brace collided on a miscommunication in the backfield on fourth down, making John Snyder's job a little easier.
"I was just trying to get off a block at that point," said Snyder, who had 10 first-half tackles, including the fourth-down play for a loss of 7. "I saw the guard pull and then he was right there, and I was right there to tackle him."
It also was a big turning point because Abington Heights already had a 7-0 lead, thanks to running back Paul Gallagher, who scored three touchdowns and finished with 230 rushing yards and another 55 receiving.
"That's not me, that's the offensive line doing work," Gallagher said. "I just follow them the whole way. That's them putting up 300 yards rushing. Luckily, I have 230 of them. I credit them 100 percent."
Gallagher bolted 34 yards on the game's first play from scrimmage, setting up his 4-yard scoring dive for the pylon.
"We came out with a little fire this week," Gallagher said. "That's our game plan, to come out and set the tone real early. We came out firing on the first play of the game. Our line got down on the linebackers and we found a hole and I ran for it."
The Comets continued to set the tone, marching 92 yards in just nine plays after the defensive stand, a 38-yard strike from Mike Beamish to Mike Umerich the big play. Gallagher polished it off with a spinning 8-yard touchdown run with 7:42 left in the half.
"Our offensive line has done a great line getting a push for us all year and our backs have been able to run downhill," Abington Heights coach Joe Repshis said. "They're the reason why we're where we are today and coming out of here with a District 2 championship."
Gallagher popped a 52-yarder to set up a 4-yard scoring run by James Fruehan 3:56 before halftime, one of his two scores and part of a 100-yard rushing day for the Comets' other tailback.
But the final dagger for Dallas came just 31 seconds before halftime. With Beamish punting, Dallas went for a block and roughed the kicker, its only penalty of the game.
The Comets made them pay on the next play. Beamish dumped a screen pass to Gallagher, who dashed 45 yards for the score, thanks to downfield blocks from Umerich, Fruehan and Ian Kelly.
"Give credit to Abington up front," Dallas coach Ted Jackson said. "Forty-two (Gallagher) ran like a man."
Fruehan's 60-yard romp early in the fourth quarter and the fifth of Charlie Armetta's extra points made it 35-0 and put the mercy rule into effect.
"We fell short last year and this year we didn't want to let that happen," Gallagher said. "We came out and executed."
Contact the writer: mmyers@timesshamrock.com
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