Wakefield powers Souderton past William Tennent in SOL Continental opener
FRANCONIA >> Deandre Wakefield is a man of his word, and a tough man to bring down.
“I promised the cheerleaders, I promised half the school that we were gonna get after it,” Wakefield said after his battering runs accounted for 130 yards and three trips to the end zone Friday night. “We’ve been working for this.”
Big Red earned its first win of the season and a 35-16 victory over William Tennent in its Suburban One League Continental Conference opener Friday night.
“Once we get that first win, it’s contagious,” said Wakefield, the power gear in a diverse Big Red running attack, which netted 378 yards on a cool, crisp night on the Souderton turf.
“He showed tonight that he’s still explosive,” Indians coach Ed Gallagher said of Wakefield, who missed last week with a sprained ankle. “He’s a really strong, physical runner with great speed. And once we get him out in the open, he’s gone.”
Wakefield scored both of Souderton’s first-half touchdowns, the initial one coming on a nine-yard run that broke a scoreless tie early in the second quarter. And then after an eight-play drive by Tennent culminated with a 35-yard field goal by Dakota Wherrity, Souderton bolted to a 14-3 lead when Wakefield found a seam and was off racing to a 67-yard touchdown run down the right sideline.
“I saw the hole so I just burst it through,” he said. “I knew my ankle was hurting, but once the adrenaline is going, and I broke that first tackle, I knew I could go on from there.”
And so did the Indians (1-3, 1-0 SOL Continental).
Souderton built on its 14-3 halftime lead when quarterback Andrew Vince scored on a three-yard sneak, boosting the margin to 21-3. It was the first of five fourth-quarter touchdowns, three by Souderton.
Tennent (2-2, 0-1 SOL Continental) cut it to 21-10 when Jason Schweizerhof hit Fernando Delgado in stride down the left sideline for a 40-yard TD.
But soon after, Wakefield refused to go down on a 30-yard, clinching touchdown for Souderton, extending the gap to 28-10 and pushing this one into the win column.
“This game, we fought. And we had something to prove,” said Wakefield. “In the other games, we just didn’t play to our full potential.”
With the game well in hand, Big Red could go to its reserves in the final minutes. A six-yard burst by reserve Jalen White made it 35-10 Souderton before the Panthers capped the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown connection – Schweizerhof to Dan Goodz.
Wakefield rumbled for 90 yards and two scores in a strong first half for Big Red, propelling the Indians to a 14-3 advantage at the break.
Said Gallagher: “We have some talented players. I told the kids ‘you’re 0-3 but you’re a good football team. There’s no reason you can’t turn this around and make something out of this season.'”
