Bristol football tops Kensington again in season opener
BRISTOL BORO – Hanging onto a precarious 20-12 third-quarter lead over visiting Philadelphia Public League rival Kensington Charter, Bristol quarterback Parker Kelley helped seal the Warriors’ first win of senior’s first season under center when he picked up a ball that had already been fumbled twice by his teammates and ran it in for a touchdown.
It was the second straight season that Kelley helped Bristol win its season opener with the Tigers. Last year as one of the team’s opening-day running backs, Kelley rushed for three scores in a 20-6 win on the turf at Philadelphia’s Marcus Foster Supersite.
Kelley spent most of last season on the disabled list after spraining his ankle in a week three battle with Calvary Christian. But he’s back to lead the Warriors in 2016.
“We were trying to run a play up the middle but the ball broke out,” explained Kelley of his second rushing touchdown in the game. “My center tried picking it up but it kicked off his foot so I scooped it up and took it right out to the other side and into the end zone.”
A 2-point conversion pass from Kelley to junior Samir Brisbon sent the score to its 28-12 final and Bristol seemed to cruise, from there.
“As soon as we score, we get all hyped up and we’re ready to go from the kickoff team to the punt team to the extra-point team,” added Kelley. “We’re all fired up after we score.”
While Kelley’s third-quarter TD might have ignited his teammates, it was an 80-yard kickoff return that went for a touchdown by junior running back Eric Bell that electrified the hometown fans in the stands in the initial frame.
“That was a great play in the game, just an awesome run by him,” said Kelley. “We were a little sluggish to start out. After , we started finishing off our blocks and our tackles and it all went good after that.”
It’s true. Bristol fumbled the ball on its opening drive then failed to come up with a stop on a 63-yard touchdown drive by Kensington. On that possession, the Tigers needed three plays to cross midfield before quarterback Isiah Gonzalez hit junior WR Tomar Jones with a 39-yard strike over the middle that reached the 6 yard line.
Two motion penalties and a fumble that Kensington recovered were not enough to keep the visitors out of the end zone. That’s because Gonzalez tossed a ball up in the left hand corner of the end zone that Jones came down with for a 15-yard touchdown catch that put the Tigers on top 6-0.
After Bell’s 80-yard kickoff return, the Warrior defense held, forcing a punt to start the second quarter. Beginning at their own 33 yard line, Bristol needed just five plays to reach paydirt again, with Kelley bursting up the middle and through a pile of defenders for a 3-yard score.
Bell showed some of his speed and ability to make tacklers miss when he raced 35 yards down the left side of the field that gave the Warriors a first down at the 27.
“Last year, he would try to take the ball outside,” said Kelley. “This year, he’s smart enough to look for the holes and cut up the middle. That’s what he’s been working on in practice and as you can see it worked real well.
For the game, Bell carried the ball 12 times for 114 yards and a touchdown. As a team, the Warriors rushed 30 times for 239 yards for a near-8-yard average. Kelley added 50 yards rushing on 10 carries and junior Dante Lombardi registered 66 yards on five attempts.
Conversely, the Tigers rushed with the football 23 times for a net 38 yards in the contest – a mere 1.65-yard average per carry. But it was Bristol’s ability to shut down Jones in the second half that put this one in the win column for the Warriors. For the game, Jones caught six passes for 110 yards and two TDs.
“We said ‘as soon as (Jones) came off the ball, try to jam him in instead of him getting past the linebackers,’” explained Kelley. “We ended up getting to him in the second half and it went well.”
What did not go well for Bristol in the second quarter was a pooch kick after Kelley’s 3-yard TD run up the middle. Kensington took control of the ball at the Warriors’ 43 yard line. From there, it took the Tigers only two plays to reach the end zone with Jones striking once again, this time, for a 36-yard TD pass from Gonzalez that cut the Bristol lead to 14-12.
On its next kickoff, it was Kensington’s turn to give away field position with Bristol gathering the ball in at its own 48. While the Warriors took the ball down to the Tigers’ 25 yard line, the drive stalled and the visitors took over at the 27.
Fans in the stands held their collective breath on the next series as Jones escaped around the right end for a 38-yard rush down the sideline. But the Tigers fumbled on the next play, giving Bristol the ball back at its own 40. While the Warriors had a touchdown called back on the drive because of a holding penalty, they managed to give themselves some breathing room going into the halftime break when Bell broke loose on second down for a 24-yard TD run that put Bristol on top, 20-12.
“Overall, I’m very happy with the win. That’s a 6A school we just beat,” said head coach John Greiner. “They were every bit of it in terms of their size, their toughness and tenacity.
“They got two touchdowns in the first half and Coach (Joe) Brown and Coach (Mike) Ciotti – our defensive gurus – made some adjustments and then we shut them out the rest of the way.”
After Kelley’s second TD run in the game, the Warriors put the clamps down on the Tigers with the visitors’ ensuing drive stopped on a sack by brothers Danny and Chuck Collins. Two more drives by Kensington were stopped by a pair of Bristol interceptions, the first by Lombardi and the second by Brisbon.
Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
Bristol 28, Kensington 12
(Sept. 2 at Bristol)
KENSINGTON 6 6 0 0 – 12
BRISTOL 8 12 8 0 – 28
SUMMARY
First Quarter
K — Tomar Jones 15-yd. pass from Isiah Gonzalez (pass failed)
B — Eric Bell 80-yd. kickoff return (Parker Kelley run)
Second Quarter
B — Kelley 3-yd. run (pass failed)
K — Jones 36-yd. pass from Gonzalez (run failed)
B — Bell 24-yd run (run failed)
Third Quarter
B — Kelley 13-yd. Run (Samir Brisbon pass from Kelley)
