Q&A: Ghosts Look To Answer Questions After Loss To Colonials
Barry F. Hess
September 13, 2006
ABINGTON- On the outside looking in the Abington football team appears to have more questions than answers heading into its week three confrontation with Northeast Philadelphia High School.
With junior quarterback Kevin Morton out of action for the next several weeks as he recuperates from a shoulder separation, who is going to carry the load offensively and put points on the board?
How will the offense react to the 3-3 odd-man front the Northeast defense runs, a defense the Ghosts have never seen anywhere but on film before this Friday night?
Will the offensive and defensive lines play better than last week in Plymouth Whitemarsh where the Colonials gained nearly five yards a play on offense while the PW defensive earned three sacks and forced four different Ghosts series to end with a punt after just three plays?
But despite these question, which no doubt will have to be answered if Abington has a shot at maintaining its undefeated home record, the Ghosts have good reason to be calm, cool and collected heading into Friday night’s game and that is exactly what they are.
Sure, losing Morton for however long will hurt the team, but running back Kahlil Pitman is 100 percent healthy and ready to show exactly why he was given the starting job at the beginning of the year.
The offensive and defensive line will see the return of junior Jake Niehoff who, at 6-foot-2 and 270-pounds, is a welcome addition to the line blocking for Pitman as are his abilities as a defensive tackle.
I was a little concerned going into this week, just because our kids have never seen an odd man front like Northeast runs and because of some other things,” said Ghosts’ head coach Tim Sorber. “But after today [Tuesday’s practice] I’m not quite as concerned. We are going to watch more film on that 3-3 sort of defense they run and I think we are going to be able to move the ball offensive as well. We can’t be a one man team and expect to win games.”
Another area of concern stemming from last week’s 26-9 loss was the field position battles the Ghosts consistently lost, battles not all necessarily contributed to a strong Colonials kicking game.
After Ghost returners decided not to field several punts and/or kickoffs they were forced to begin every drive but two inside their own 20-yard line, a formula that does not include much offensive success.
Sometimes you’d almost like to see a punter go out and kick the ball 40 or 50 yards every time because at least you know what you are getting and it gives us a little more room to catch the ball,” said Sorber. “Winning the field position battle through good special teams play is something we have worked on this week and we will continue to work on it all week. You can’t continuously get the ball deep in your own territory and expect to score points.”
And while Northeast’s defense maybe something to worry about its offense has struggled in each of the first two games of the season, including last week’s loss to Father Judge.
They have some talented players on offense but that said, they have struggled at times this year and that is something we can build off of and try to exploit,” Sorber said. “Our offense will be cut down somewhat because of the situation at quarterback but we certainly aren’t throwing away the playbook and rewriting the offense either. We will have to execute on both sides of the ball if we want to win.”
With next week set for the start of league play as the Ghosts head into Neshaminy it’s important to hold serve at home against Northeast but that is not to say anyone is already looking ahead towards next week.
We will worry about Neshaminy in two weeks, right now it’s all about preparing to play Northeast on Friday night,” said Sorber. “Every game is important and right now we are just focused on Friday night.”
With junior quarterback Kevin Morton out of action for the next several weeks as he recuperates from a shoulder separation, who is going to carry the load offensively and put points on the board?
How will the offense react to the 3-3 odd-man front the Northeast defense runs, a defense the Ghosts have never seen anywhere but on film before this Friday night?
Will the offensive and defensive lines play better than last week in Plymouth Whitemarsh where the Colonials gained nearly five yards a play on offense while the PW defensive earned three sacks and forced four different Ghosts series to end with a punt after just three plays?
But despite these question, which no doubt will have to be answered if Abington has a shot at maintaining its undefeated home record, the Ghosts have good reason to be calm, cool and collected heading into Friday night’s game and that is exactly what they are.
Sure, losing Morton for however long will hurt the team, but running back Kahlil Pitman is 100 percent healthy and ready to show exactly why he was given the starting job at the beginning of the year.
The offensive and defensive line will see the return of junior Jake Niehoff who, at 6-foot-2 and 270-pounds, is a welcome addition to the line blocking for Pitman as are his abilities as a defensive tackle.
I was a little concerned going into this week, just because our kids have never seen an odd man front like Northeast runs and because of some other things,” said Ghosts’ head coach Tim Sorber. “But after today [Tuesday’s practice] I’m not quite as concerned. We are going to watch more film on that 3-3 sort of defense they run and I think we are going to be able to move the ball offensive as well. We can’t be a one man team and expect to win games.”
Another area of concern stemming from last week’s 26-9 loss was the field position battles the Ghosts consistently lost, battles not all necessarily contributed to a strong Colonials kicking game.
After Ghost returners decided not to field several punts and/or kickoffs they were forced to begin every drive but two inside their own 20-yard line, a formula that does not include much offensive success.
Sometimes you’d almost like to see a punter go out and kick the ball 40 or 50 yards every time because at least you know what you are getting and it gives us a little more room to catch the ball,” said Sorber. “Winning the field position battle through good special teams play is something we have worked on this week and we will continue to work on it all week. You can’t continuously get the ball deep in your own territory and expect to score points.”
And while Northeast’s defense maybe something to worry about its offense has struggled in each of the first two games of the season, including last week’s loss to Father Judge.
They have some talented players on offense but that said, they have struggled at times this year and that is something we can build off of and try to exploit,” Sorber said. “Our offense will be cut down somewhat because of the situation at quarterback but we certainly aren’t throwing away the playbook and rewriting the offense either. We will have to execute on both sides of the ball if we want to win.”
With next week set for the start of league play as the Ghosts head into Neshaminy it’s important to hold serve at home against Northeast but that is not to say anyone is already looking ahead towards next week.
We will worry about Neshaminy in two weeks, right now it’s all about preparing to play Northeast on Friday night,” said Sorber. “Every game is important and right now we are just focused on Friday night.”
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