Balanced Fords Topple Marple Newtown 23-20

Despite a two-touchdown performance by Marple Newtown running back Cimirrow Moat, the Fords opened up a ten point lead in the third quarter and hung on to win their fifth game of the season.

IN SHORT

With a minute remaining and his Tigers trailing by a field goal, quarterback Jamie Ridinger surveyed the defense and lined up under center. Ten yards shy of a first down and with one play left to get it, Ridinger took the snap, faked right to his fullback and dropped back into a tenuous pocket. With pressure pinching at his sides, the senior shrugged his shoulders by way of a pump fake and fired downfield. The good news? The ball was caught past the yardstick. The bad? It was a Ford who caught it.

Just like that, the rally fell short and Haverford High School, who led by 10 points with 15 minutes to play, hung on to upset the Tigers on their homecoming day.

"We talked about that this week, how you don't want to be scheduled to play someone on their Homecoming," said an ebullient Fords head coach Joe Gallagher after the victory.

And, as the now-6-2 Tigers learned, you don't want to play an offense as balanced as Haverford's either.

The troika of option-quarterback Eddie Durkin and split backs Dylan Hewitt and Mike Clancy proved too much for the vaunted Tigers defense, controlling the ball and the clock, and combined for three touchdowns—pair by Durkin to go with a third quarter jaunt by Clancy.

It almost wasn't enough to beat Cimirrow Moat though. The senior near single handedly brought his Tigers back, scoring on zig-zagging runs of 8 and 54 yards and intercepting a Durkin pass in the waining seconds of the first half that set up a Tiger field goal. He also contributed on special teams, returning a third quarter punt into Ford territory.

His performance was scintillating, but ultimately not enough.

"We'll see how we respond to this," said Marple coach Ray Gionta

FORD OF THE GAME

Eddie Durkin—The junior scored on runs of 1 and 8 yards to stake the Fords to an early lead, and showed veteran aplomb in keeping his offense together when the Tigers rallied. Durkin's numbers, while sound, would have been gaudier still had his receivers managed to hang on to a few good-enough-to-catch balls and the Tigers active defensive backfield hadn't been quite so prescient.

OTHER KEY PERFORMANCES

Mike Gentile—The senior cornerback intercepted Ridinger with a minute remaining to seal the win for the Fords. He also led what was s stingy pass defense.

Mike Clancy—The halfback's third quarter touchdown pushed the Ford lead to ten, and his chain-moving rushes polished off what was left of the clock.

COACH'S TAKE

"I can't say enough about the offensive line. They really, really played good football tonight."—Head coach Joe Gallagher

THEY SAID IT

"If there was one word we were telling ourselves all week, it was 'Tough.' We knew we had to be tough."—Gallagher, on his team's week long manta

UP NEXT—The Fords travel to Conestoga on Oct. 28 for a 7 p.m. matchup.