Ghosts Haunt Patriots: Abington Earns Week One Upset Over Ranked Central Bucks East
Barry F. Hess
September 01, 2006
ABINGTON---Since last January the question on the minds of every coach and player involved with the Abington High School football program was exactly the same: How do we beat Central Bucks East in the first week of the regular season?
Three impressive touchdown drives, two forced turnovers on special teams and a last minute defensive stand that saw the Patriots’ offense lose four yards later and the answer was right in front of their faces.
The Ghosts’ 21-14 win over a Patriot team that came off a 10-2 season last year and was already pre-ranked seventh in all of Southeastern Pennsylvania was their biggest victory since knocking off powerhouse Neshaminy three seasons ago.
We made big plays when we needed to make big plays and when we needed to step up, we stepped it up,” said senior captain Rashad Miller. “There were a lot of games we’ve played where we were always the underdog but believe it or not I like being the underdog, it puts more pressure on us to go out and play at the highest level possible on every single play. Beating a team like CB East is a very big accomplishment for us and we can use this build on as we go into each game and hopefully end up in Hershey [the location on the PIAA Championship game] at the end of the year.”
The Ghosts set the tone early with a beautifully scripted opening drive that went 80-yards and ended with a Kevin Morton two-yard touchdown pass to senior fullback Jon Natter.
The masterful combination of running and passing plays noticeably confused the Patriots and gave the Ghosts the confidence boost they needed to actually believe what they have been saying all pre-season.
I thought our first drive, we executed very well,” said Ghosts’ head coach Tim Sorber. “I’m sure they walked out of here with a ton of yards rushing and they were able to move the ball but the bottom line was that it was a 48 minute fight and they only scored 14 and we scored 21.”
The Ghosts anticipated nothing short of the fight of their lives heading into Friday’s wet and windy affair.
Sorber stressed the importance of absorbing the Patriots best blows and rebounding as a key to victory, a situation that came to fruition by the second quarter.
After scoring in less than two minutes on their opening drive, the Patriots speedy receivers and running backs took their second possession into the end zone as well.
But just as Sorber requested the Ghosts took the blow, got back up and returned the favor as the first half came to a close,
After the third of three consecutive offensive series where the Ghosts went three-and-out the Patriots fumbled a punt return and gave Morton and company new life with less than two minutes in the half.
Two passes for 27 yards later and it was a tie football game…at least for about five seconds.
The Ghosts only had 10 men on the field for the extra point attempt, which resulted in an illegal formation penalty.
The attempt after the penalty was enforced was blocked and the Ghosts went into the locker room down 14-13.
And that was where the game was ultimately won.
We made some changes at the half after we saw what sort of things they were doing to us and it is a real testament to our kids because they bounced back and executed when they needed to step up and execute,” said Ghosts defense coordinator Kevin Conlin.
After losing their starting quarterback to injury early in the second half the Patriots concentrated on running the ball more than Abington originally anticipated.
After a perfect four-for-four on third down conversions in the first half the Patriots earned just one third down conversion the rest of the game.
From what we watched on the film they had the tendency to throw the ball on third down and so we put in defenses to stop that,” Conlin said. “But unfortunately their QB got hurt and they changed it up and that and a few missed tackles here and there and they were able to move the ball on third down. So we made some minor adjustments and we were able to prevent that from happening in the second half.”
While the Ghosts prevented the Patriots from scoring on each of their five second half opportunities it wasn’t until Abington got the ball with just under six minutes remaining in the game that its offense, thanks to several key runs by junior Kahlil Pitman, found pay dirt.
With 30 yards rushing on the team’s last drive, 78 for the game, Pitman forced the Patriots to play an honest scheme rather than sitting back to defend the pass.
As a result of Pitman’s stellar running Morton was given plenty of time to throw the ball and completed four of the five passes he threw en route to two yard touchdown run by Natter to seal the deal.
We talked about the commitment you have to make and winning with guys in the fourth quarter who were there all summer and lifting weights from January to August…Kahlil was one of those kids and he has earned it. He is a great kid and has really put in the work to this point.”
The Ghosts late game heroics earned them a win in the regular season opener for the third consecutive year as well as the all important momentum as they prepare to play two, well rounded playoff teams in a row in Plymouth Whitemarsh and Northeast High.
Now we have to go from beating CB East, a playoff team, to trying to beat PW, which is a playoff team. And you have to do it in a week…a week where school starts and kids minds are focusing on what they are doing in school and it’s a tough balance,” said Sorber. “If anything this week though, I think these kids realize and understand that they won a football game in the fourth quarter against a very good football team and we have to have a collected effort for 48 minutes to win games and they can use that to continue to build and grow as a team.”
The win against CB East will undoubtedly give the Ghosts the respect from the rest of the Suburban One League they have demanded since early training camps in the summer.
Keeping that respect and building off a momentous win like the one Friday in Schwartzman Stadium is the task that will keep Sorber, the rest of his coaching staff and players busy for the next 11 weeks.
Abington- 7 6 0 8- 21
CB East- 7 7 0 0-14
Three impressive touchdown drives, two forced turnovers on special teams and a last minute defensive stand that saw the Patriots’ offense lose four yards later and the answer was right in front of their faces.
The Ghosts’ 21-14 win over a Patriot team that came off a 10-2 season last year and was already pre-ranked seventh in all of Southeastern Pennsylvania was their biggest victory since knocking off powerhouse Neshaminy three seasons ago.
We made big plays when we needed to make big plays and when we needed to step up, we stepped it up,” said senior captain Rashad Miller. “There were a lot of games we’ve played where we were always the underdog but believe it or not I like being the underdog, it puts more pressure on us to go out and play at the highest level possible on every single play. Beating a team like CB East is a very big accomplishment for us and we can use this build on as we go into each game and hopefully end up in Hershey [the location on the PIAA Championship game] at the end of the year.”
The Ghosts set the tone early with a beautifully scripted opening drive that went 80-yards and ended with a Kevin Morton two-yard touchdown pass to senior fullback Jon Natter.
The masterful combination of running and passing plays noticeably confused the Patriots and gave the Ghosts the confidence boost they needed to actually believe what they have been saying all pre-season.
I thought our first drive, we executed very well,” said Ghosts’ head coach Tim Sorber. “I’m sure they walked out of here with a ton of yards rushing and they were able to move the ball but the bottom line was that it was a 48 minute fight and they only scored 14 and we scored 21.”
The Ghosts anticipated nothing short of the fight of their lives heading into Friday’s wet and windy affair.
Sorber stressed the importance of absorbing the Patriots best blows and rebounding as a key to victory, a situation that came to fruition by the second quarter.
After scoring in less than two minutes on their opening drive, the Patriots speedy receivers and running backs took their second possession into the end zone as well.
But just as Sorber requested the Ghosts took the blow, got back up and returned the favor as the first half came to a close,
After the third of three consecutive offensive series where the Ghosts went three-and-out the Patriots fumbled a punt return and gave Morton and company new life with less than two minutes in the half.
Two passes for 27 yards later and it was a tie football game…at least for about five seconds.
The Ghosts only had 10 men on the field for the extra point attempt, which resulted in an illegal formation penalty.
The attempt after the penalty was enforced was blocked and the Ghosts went into the locker room down 14-13.
And that was where the game was ultimately won.
We made some changes at the half after we saw what sort of things they were doing to us and it is a real testament to our kids because they bounced back and executed when they needed to step up and execute,” said Ghosts defense coordinator Kevin Conlin.
After losing their starting quarterback to injury early in the second half the Patriots concentrated on running the ball more than Abington originally anticipated.
After a perfect four-for-four on third down conversions in the first half the Patriots earned just one third down conversion the rest of the game.
From what we watched on the film they had the tendency to throw the ball on third down and so we put in defenses to stop that,” Conlin said. “But unfortunately their QB got hurt and they changed it up and that and a few missed tackles here and there and they were able to move the ball on third down. So we made some minor adjustments and we were able to prevent that from happening in the second half.”
While the Ghosts prevented the Patriots from scoring on each of their five second half opportunities it wasn’t until Abington got the ball with just under six minutes remaining in the game that its offense, thanks to several key runs by junior Kahlil Pitman, found pay dirt.
With 30 yards rushing on the team’s last drive, 78 for the game, Pitman forced the Patriots to play an honest scheme rather than sitting back to defend the pass.
As a result of Pitman’s stellar running Morton was given plenty of time to throw the ball and completed four of the five passes he threw en route to two yard touchdown run by Natter to seal the deal.
We talked about the commitment you have to make and winning with guys in the fourth quarter who were there all summer and lifting weights from January to August…Kahlil was one of those kids and he has earned it. He is a great kid and has really put in the work to this point.”
The Ghosts late game heroics earned them a win in the regular season opener for the third consecutive year as well as the all important momentum as they prepare to play two, well rounded playoff teams in a row in Plymouth Whitemarsh and Northeast High.
Now we have to go from beating CB East, a playoff team, to trying to beat PW, which is a playoff team. And you have to do it in a week…a week where school starts and kids minds are focusing on what they are doing in school and it’s a tough balance,” said Sorber. “If anything this week though, I think these kids realize and understand that they won a football game in the fourth quarter against a very good football team and we have to have a collected effort for 48 minutes to win games and they can use that to continue to build and grow as a team.”
The win against CB East will undoubtedly give the Ghosts the respect from the rest of the Suburban One League they have demanded since early training camps in the summer.
Keeping that respect and building off a momentous win like the one Friday in Schwartzman Stadium is the task that will keep Sorber, the rest of his coaching staff and players busy for the next 11 weeks.
Abington- 7 6 0 8- 21
CB East- 7 7 0 0-14
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