Abington Falls to Northeast in season opener
Abington couldn’t have asked for a better start to open up its 2015 season as quarterback Dave Kretschman found George Reid for a 60-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.
The Ghosts had a 7-0 lead just 10 seconds into the game against Northeast Friday morning but the quick start wasn’t enough to hold off the methodical offense of the Vikings as Abington dropped its season opener 21-14.
After the Ghosts opening drive score, the defense forced a fumble putting the Abington offense back in business. However, the ensuing 11-play drive resulted in no points as it turned the ball over on downs inside the Northeast red zone.
The plan for the Viking offense was simple as it pounded the middle of the of the Ghost defense, getting marginal gains and collecting first downs. In the first half Northeast had drives of five, four, seven and 10 plays. The seven and 10-play drives both resulted in touchdowns and five and four play-drives both ended in fumbles.
“That’s a tough offense to practice and play against because number one it exposes one of our weaknesses which is the size on the front line,” Abington coach Tim Sorber said. “The bottom line is our defense gave us a bunch of opportunities to take the game over and we didn’t do it.”
In the second half the conflicting styles of offense became the story of the game as Abington’s spread, tempo offense was not staying on schedule with the tight formation smash mouth style of Northeast.
The Ghosts put themselves in too many third and long situations and were not able to convert while the Vikings, as they didn’t face as many long yardage situations were able to pick them up when needed.
“Their offensive line and their tight ends really come off the football and it’s the type of offense that’s very hard to prepare for,” Sorber said.
Abington opened up the second half with a big stand as Northeast received the second-half kickoff, going 56 yards in 11-plays taking 5:32 of game time. Faced with a first and goal from the one-yard line, running back Amir Polk fumbled the ball, giving possession back to the Ghosts.
It wasn’t until the final two minutes of the game where the game deciding play was made. Vikings quarterback Keith Moore floated a pass down the left sideline where Nahzir Wilson hauled in the pass and ran into the end zone for the 52-yard touchdown giving Northeast the lead with 1:14 remaining.
The completion from Moore to Wilson marked just the third pass attempt for the Vikings in the game and stood as their only completion for the contest.
“I didn’t think it would end on the play that it did,” Sorber said. “I thought we were in good position there on third and 15. It didn’t end with them pounding the football. It ended with basically a fade pattern and it was a great throw by (Moore) and it was a great catch by (Wilson). It’s tough.”
The opening-day loss for the Ghosts doesn’t raise much cause for concern with Sorber but he recognizes with some inexperience throughout the team, Abington will have to mature quickly before its vaunted Suburban One National league play begins.
“Some kids out there are playing in their first varsity games and made some inexperienced plays,” Sorber said. “The only way their going to get any better at this is by playing.”
