Interboro gaining ground yard by yard, game by game

PHILADELPHIA >> Following a 19-17 loss to Interboro Thursday in which Penn Charter allowed 285 yards on the ground, Quakers head coach Tom Coyle was asked about the Bucs’ rushing attack that had given his run stoppers fits for much of the nonleague contest in Philadelphia’s East Falls section.

It was a pick-your-poison type of question on a pick-your-poison type of afternoon for his team.

“No. 3 is a tough kid,” he said. “He’s like putting a guard in the backfield.”

Coyle’s response alluded to Bucs senior fullback Lamar Shaw, a burly 5-11, 225-pounder with the ability to push the pile … and push it some more.

What’s more, Shaw was Interboro’s second-leading rusher Thursday among a three-man backfield of himself, senior Chris Hummel and junior Chris Thomas.

Hummel amassed 101 yards on 10 carries, while Shaw was handed the ball 12 times for 77 yards and a third-quarter rushing touchdown. Thomas added 62 yards on 15 carries. For good measure, Interboro quarterback Danny Mea plunged for 1-yard scores in the first and fourth quarters, respectively, and finished with 43 yards on his five keepers.

“The run game’s been the way that we’ve been winning games,” Hummel said. “We have three good running backs – me, Thomas and (Shaw). We’ve all been running the ball great. And (Mea) had a slow start in the beginning, but he’s starting to pick it up, too.

“It’s good that we can start with the running game and go with the passing game if we need to.”

Mea helped get the offense rolling from the afternoon’s first possession. He opened the drive with an 18-yard strike to junior Matthew DiSands and, a few plays later, found room on an option play for a 38-yard dash that set up a 1st-and-goal. His first score came two plays later.

“That’s the first time he’s ever done that,” Hummel quipped, talking of Mea’s split decision to abort the pitch on his long run.

While a touchdown run for Jake McCain in the second quarter and a third-quarter field goal gave Penn Charter a 10-6 lead, Shaw punched in an up-the-gut scoring run for 10 yards late in the quarter. Mea’s second score of the day, which game with 7:37 left in the fourth, gave Interboro (3-1) a two-possession lead.

While a late Shaw fumble led to Penn Charter quarterback Michael Hnatkowsky’s 11-yard scoring pass to Cody Sweeney, the Bucs recovered the ensuing onside kick with 2:35 remaining to shore up their third win of the season. Penn Charter fell to 2-2.

“We didn’t have any chemistry last year,” Hummel said of Interboro’s 5-7 campaign last fall, which came two seasons after a PIAA District One Class AAA title run in 2012. “This year, we’re all friends with the each other. We don’t fight with each other and we always pick each other up. That was the problem last year.”

Both Hummel and Mea said the Bucs are hungry for another shot at the District One playoffs come November after enduring the first losing season of longtime head coach Steve Lennox’s career last fall. Mea said they want it for Lennox, who won his 200th game at Interboro last Friday.

“We can’t let Lennox have another losing season,” he said. “He wants it, we want it and we’re behind him.”