Abington, Pa, Junior running back D’Andre Pollard ran for 281 yards and three scores as the Neshaminy Redskins rolled to a 31-14 SOL National conference victory over the Abington Ghosts last night at Steven A. Schwarzman stadium. In a game marred by numerous penalties on both sides, the Skin offensive line appeared to wear down the Ghost defense in the second half .
The number of penalties (some extremely questionable) kind of took the luster out of this, always exiting matchup. The flags were hurled 20 times in this affair which made for an overall sloppy game.
Neshaminy, and their very physical, athletic offensive line began make a difference in the second half after holding a slim 10-7 halftime lead. All Pollard needed was to get into the secondary which the line provided and culminated into multiple runs in double digits. The back breaker was his 59 yard jaunt which set up his 1 yard TD plunge to put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter.
Offensive line play usually propels a team toward the next level as they make their playoff run. Coach Mark Schmidt and line coach Steve Wilmot has this line in position to make a serious run with the development of John Koch, Matt Wynne, Mike Palmer, Dan Johnson, Brendan Byrne and Hunter Kelly, which appear to be one of the best OLines in SEPA. Having a guy like Pollard run behind them makes this team one to keep an eye on in November. The line deserves some of the credit for Pollard’s 1,800 yard, 24 TD year to date performance.
Neshaminy rolls to 9-0 and take on conference rival Pennsbury next week. A win over Pennsbury will give them the conference title and most likely a number one seed in the AAAA, District 1 playoffs. Tim Sober’s Abington squad which has battled some major injuries is a very respectable 7-2 and a must win game next week vs.William Tennant.
Notes: Abington RB Craig Reynolds totaled 1,000 season yards near the end of the first half. Skins Dorian Arthur had a Jadeveon Clowney type hit on Reynolds to start the 2nd quarter. Arthur, Denny Lord and Luke Carrezola provided a number of big hits on Reynolds. Sophomore QB Dave Kretschman did an admirable job filling in for injured starter Anthony Lee (out for year) going 10-14- 131 yards including a 67 yard TD to Christian Werner in the fourth quarter. Ditto for WR Shamar Farmer who provided sensational down field blocking on a number of receptions that Jordan Neely turned into big gains. Skins freshman kicker Dylan McDonald booted a 39 yard field goal to end the first half.
Scoring By Quarter
1st Quarter
NS- Lord- 3 run – McDonald kick- :07
2nd Quarter
AB- Reynolds- 4 run- Guagilionona kick- 3:18
NS- McDonald- 39 FG – :00
3rd Quarter
NS- Pollard- 8 run- McDonald Kick- 6:53
NS- Pollard- 32 run – McDonald kick- 1:41
4th Quarter
AB- Werner- 67 pass from Kretschman- Guagilionona kick-8:20
NS- Pollard- 1 run- McDonald Kick- 2:10
