Complete South Rolls on Opening Night

Written by: Don Leypoldt on Friday, August 23rd, 2024. Follow Don Leypoldt on Twitter.

To run in the August 29th Bucks County Herald

It’s hard to believe at the end of one quarter that Archbishop Wood and CB South’s opening night game was scoreless, and the host Titans had the ball in their own territory.

15 minutes later, Owen Pinkerton’s six-yard fade to Danny Gies- the second time the two connected on the night- and subsequent point after put the defending District One champion Titans up 35-0, and launched a running clock with 9:03 in the third quarter.

South’s (1-0) worst play of the game might have been their first play of the year. They fumbled the opening kickoff and Viking Connor Lennox recovered at the Titan 33.

“I hit this in our pre-game meeting: there are over 100 football plays in a game. It doesn’t matter if the first play is the worst play ever,” said Titan head coach Tom Hetrick. “There are 99 more opportunities. You can’t get too high and you clearly can’t get too low because there are a whole bunch of chances to get back. We handled the adversity and I was proud of that.”

The South defense forced a three-and-out. They stifled Wood (0-1) on the Vikings’ next drive, when South linebacker Brandon Zubyk recovered a fourth down fumble.

“It was exciting. The first play was not so good but when I made that tackle, it brought a lot of energy,” said Zubyk, who held Wood to no gain on their opening play. “It got me excited for the rest of the game.”

After a Kaden Kube 19 yard counter on third down, the Titans’ first splash play, Pinkerton hit Matt Harmon on a 39-yard touchdown to put South up 7-0 with 10:54 left in the half. Harmon’s interception return three plays later gave South great field possession; Pinkerton fired a 26-yard touchdown to Gies with 7:41 left.

The run “made us a lot more confident. That was the biggest thing,” Pinkerton shared. “After that we could relax and then open the field. Before that, nothing was really working. After Kube had that breakaway, that was when we started to take shots and they hit.”

“I think after the first drive, everyone got their jitters out. I am the only starting lineman returning,” reminded Nick Micewski, “but once you pick it up and you get that first play, the jitters are gone and you see everyone playing full speed. Once guys see us hitting big plays, it all clicks with everyone.”

South stopped a fake punt attempt and then marched 41 yards in seven plays, with Jimmy Wade punching it in the end zone from three yards out. Isaiah Gardiner blocked and recovered a late Wood punt; Braylen Cape rumbled into the end zone from the five three plays later. South took a 28-0 lead into halftime.

Pinkerton only went to the air five times for 79 yards, but three passes went for scores. He added 57 yards on eight carries; Kube’s 63 yards paced South.

“Owen Pinkerton showed that if you give the him the chance to throw the ball,” Hetrick said, “he can throw the ball. We can add that to our offense.”

Wood quarterback Jack Drakeley completed 6 of 12 passes for 38 yards. Viking tailback Yasin Lowry had a busy night, lugging the ball 23 times for 69 yards.

The Titans return four first or second team All-SOL National players in Pinkerton, Wade, Micewski and Ed Bowen. The solid play of the new line was a high point for the Titans.

“The coaches have a crazy dedication to O line,” Micewski praised. “With footwork and everything. They put in so much work to try and help us out. The coaches are incredible.”

“We replaced four of five offensive linemen from a pretty good offensive line. The biggest question was would we find four guys to fill those spots?” Hetrick asked. “I’m proud of the work those guys have put in the offseason and I think they did a lot of good things tonight. Wood showed us a lot of looks and our guys didn’t freak out. They moved the bodies.”

“There were a lot of good players on the O line and skill players who didn’t get the chance to play because of how good of a team we had last year,” Pinkerton reminded. “I think we’ll have just as strong as an O this year.”

Wood, playing in the PCL Blue, heads to Catholic League foe Cardinal O’Hara next Friday. CB South travels to Souderton in an intra-divisional SOL clash.

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