Fords Spoil Marple Newtown's Homecoming Party

In a convincing argument for scheduling only patsies on homecoming, Haverford High School sent the Tiger faithful home disappointed on Friday, dealing their second loss 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 ten 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--a 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

TIGER OF THE GAME

Cimirrow Moat—Who else? The lightening fast senior was dominant in all three facets of the game: he scored twice in impressive fashion, made a game-changing second quarter interception, and was a threat in the return game.

OTHER KEY PERFORMANCES

Jamie Ridinger—In a losing effort, the quarterback played well enough to win.

Anthony Nocolardi—The stout kicker converted a pair of extra points and connected on field goals of 22 and 24 yards.

COACH'S TAKE

"I thought our defense settled down in the second half, but they have a difficult offense to play against. They're a very good football team."—Head coach Ray Gionta

THEY SAID IT

"Booooooy that kid can run"—Heard from the Haverford stands after Moat's 54-yard touchdown rush

UP NEXT—The Tigers play Radnor, at home, on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.