SPRINGFIELD — Springfield coach Chris Britton probably gnashed his teeth and thought “No!” The Springfield coaches upstairs certainly screamed it. Brian Delaney was supposed to go left. Instead, the Springfield (Delco) 6-foot-4, 190-pound senior receiver went right.
The risk worked.
Delaney’s 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown spelled the winning difference Friday night in Springfield’s dramatic 21-14 victory over Central League rival Garnet Valley in the PIAA District 1 Class 5A semifinals.
The No. 1 seeded Cougars (12-1) will now advance to play West Rustin, a 35-14 winner over Upper Dublin, next Friday night at Springfield.
It will be Springfield’s fourth trip to the district championship. The Cougars have never won a district title in football, previously reaching the finals in 2014 (under the Class 4A system) when they to Great Valley (21-0 in the Class 3A championship), in 2016 at Class 5A (when the PIAA instituted the 6A classification system) losing to Academy Park (24-18) and in 2017 losing to Unionville (35-25).
This is a different Springfield team. It’s a team that continuously finds ways to win—even if it means going the wrong way.
After Garnet Valley’s Gavin Rossello scored on a one-yard plunge to tie the score at 14-14 with 9:17 to play, the Cougars set up for the ensuing kickoff for a return left.
“It was a return left, and there was just a hole, and I had to take the risk and go right,” said Delaney, who is headed to Lehigh to play major Division I lacrosse next fall. “I had to take the opportunity. I saw the hole, or take it, or don’t take it. Whatever I think is open, I will take the risk. It actually worked, and if it didn’t, I knew I was going to get in trouble. Thankfully, it did.”
Delaney got considerable help from big key pancake blocks by Luke Valerio and Michael Francks. That gave Delaney the clear causeway to run down the right sideline almost untouched.
“I saw Luke Valerio destroy a kid, and saw Francks make another block, and it was just green from there,” Delaney said. “I was a little surprised I got in the end zone without being touched.
“This is it for me. I’ve played football since I was a kid. This is the last time playing football. I’ve been playing football since I was six, seven years old.
“This means a little more.”
Delaney had scored on a 12-yard pass from Jackson Kennedy with 6:11 left in the third quarter, which gave the Cougars a 14-7 edge entering the fourth.
“We needed a spark and Brian was there to answer,” Britton said. “Brian is one of our leaders and he is one of our more outspoken guys. He lets us know what he likes and doesn’t like. He’s an athlete, he’s a dude. There is a reason why Lehigh likes him. Brian is fast and he will let you know (laughs). We know how fast Brian is.”
The teams went into halftime tied at 7-7. Both teams struggled offensively in the first 24 minutes. Garnet Valley’s first first down of the game came midway through the first quarter, while Springfield’s initial first down came with 2:56 left in the first quarter.
Garnet Valley had 102 yards of total offense, averaging 3.2 yards a play, while Springfield did not fair much better, with 106 yards of total offense and an average of 5.3 yards a play.
Springfield struck first putting together an exhaustive 17-play, 88-yard drive that consumed 7 minutes and 38 seconds off the clock. The drive ended when Nate Romano bulled into the end zone with 7:32 left in the half.
Garnet Valley struck right back with a 19-play, 73-yard drive that took 7 minutes and 18 seconds off the clock, ending in Luke O’Donoghue’s seven-yard strike to a slanting Caden Koehler in the end with a scant :14 remaining in the half.
On the drive, the Jags converted two fourth downs. On fourth-and-three at the Garnet Valley 46, O’Donoghue managed to squeeze through the grip of Springfield’s Jahmeer Harlem for a six-yard gain and a first down. On fourth-and-five at the Springfield 43, O’Donoghue hit Paxton Hunt looping out of the backfield for a five-yard gain and another first. The Jags also converted three third down, including Koehler’s touchdown catch.
“I’m proud of these kids how they came back this year,” Jags’ coach Eric Van Wyk said. “This was a heavyweight fight. We gave it everything we had.
“The kickoff return was a great athletic play. It was more of what that kid (Delaney) did. I like how this team fought back, and that is what I’ll remember the most. This team made some special memories for themselves.”
Scoring Summary
Garnet Valley (9-4) 0 7 7 0-14
Springfield (12-1) 0 7 7 7-21
2nd Quarter
Spr. – Nate Romano 8 run (Brad Barber kick), 7:32
GV – Caden Koehler 7 pass from Luke O’Donoghue (Michael Medici kick), :24
3rd Quarter
Spr. – Brian Delaney 12 pass from Jackson Kennedy (Barber kick), 6:11
4th Quarter
GV – Gavin Rossello 1 run (Medici kick), 9:17
Spr. – Delaney 91 kickoff return (Barber kick), 9:04
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito.
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