Lansdale Catholic can’t stop Saydee, Penn Charter down the shore

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OCEAN CITY, N.J. >> Edward Saydee was surrounded but still continued to churn out yards.

“They try to get the ball out of my hands and I just held it tight and kept lifting my feet up and kept moving,” the Penn Charter running back said.

Lansdale Catholic seemed to have held Saydee to a short gain, but instead the junior Quaker never stopped working and moved the pile until he gained 19 yards, converting a first down on a 2nd and 18 in the second quarter Saturday morning.

Seven plays later, Saydee found the end zone from 12 yards out to help Penn Charter to a 14-6 lead 1:42 before halftime.

“Not only is he good when he gets the ball, he’s good after you make the first hit on him,” Lansdale Catholic coach Tom Kirk said. “So the kid’s pretty special. I hope he’s a senior but I think he’s only a junior, right, so I mean special backs make some special plays and he sure did today.”

In a wet and windy contest at Ocean City High School’s Carey Stadium, Saydee and the Quakers did enough on the ground to overcome a few fumbles while LC just could not get much going on offense as Penn Charter slogged it way to a 20-6 win in the season opener for both teams.

“Coming down this morning we thought we were going to get lucky with the weather and it certainly affected the game,” Kirk said. “It didn’t affect Penn Charter as much as maybe we let it affect us.”

Saydee finished with a game-high 194 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 24 carries as Penn Charter (1-0) beat Lansdale Catholic (0-1) for the second straight year down the shore. Gavin Tygh added another 63 yards and a score on 10 carries for the Quakers.

“I think the weather conditions weren’t great for playing offense,” Penn Charter coach Tom Coyle said. “They did put together one drive against us and we cleared some things up a little bit on defense. We can do a better job of getting lined up and playing.”

The rain throughout the contest led to plenty of fumbles — Penn Charter losing three, LC two. On one play in the third quarter had the Quakers fumble deep in their own territory, the Crusaders recovering it but fumbling the ball and having it roll out of the end zone for a touchback, giving possession back to Penn Charter.

“It is a day like this that if you’re behind and the weather keeps getting worse, it’s really tough to come back,” Kirk said. “Throwing into the wind and just trying to move the ball, trying to get against momentum is really a tough thing.”

Matt Casee led Lansdale Catholic with 107 yards on 15 carries and gave the Crusaders their six points with a one-yard touchdown run that made it 7-6 at 1:29 in the first quarter.

“He’s a horse. And you just keep on feeding him,” said Kirk of Casee. “It hurt a little bit when Jake came out — Doheny — because with Jake in there and Matt it allows us to do a pretty good rotation going on. So when Jake went out it limited us a little more of what we can do offensively. Again, hopefully Jake will be back next week.”

Both teams are on the road Friday next week. Lansdale Catholic visits Upper Dublin while Penn Charter is at Bonner & Prendergast.

The Quakers took advantage of a LC fumble to take a 7-0 lead, as PC corralled a loose ball at the Crusader 11 and Saydee capped a three-play drive with an seven-yard TD run at 6:30 in the opening quarter.

Lansdale Catholic pulled within a point on the next series, which began at its own 29. With the Crusaders facing a 4th and 4 from the Penn Charter 11, the Quakers jumped offsides, give LC a 1st and goal at the six. Casee punched it in from a yard out two plays later to make it 7-6.

The Crusaders drove to the PC 29 on its next possession but turned the ball over on downs. The Quakers took over and went 70 yards — 19 on Saydee’s tough run in the crowd — and went up 14-6 on Saydee’s 12-yard TD run at 1:42.

Penn Charter looked poised to add more points before halftime after blocking an LC punt to set itself up at the LC 22 but the Quakers gave the ball back on a fumble.

But the Inter-Ac side eventually extended their advantage to 20-6 on the first drive of the third quarter, Tygh finishing a seven-play, 65-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown run at 8:08.

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Mike Cabrey

Mike Cabrey
Mike Cabrey is the Assistant Sports Editor for The Reporter and Montgomery News. Email him at mcabrey@thereporteronline.com.

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