Malvern Prep’s defense stands tall in Inter-Ac opener
Malvern >> After battling five tough non-league opponents, Malvern Prep celebrated its Inter-Ac opener Saturday with a strong defensive effort, sending its Homecoming crowd home happy with a 23-9 victory against visiting Penn Charter.
The Quakers came into the game with a 5-0 record, averaging more than 32 points against its opponents, but that didn’t faze the Friars (2-4, 1-0).
Malvern Prep junior linebacker Keith Maguire, who grabbed two interceptions Saturday, said, “This is a whole new season for us, the Inter-Ac season. We know the out-of-league record doesn’t matter [in the Inter-Ac race]. We did a good job of following our assignments and reading our keys on defense today.”
Friar head coach Dave Gueriera said, “We knew about Penn Charter’s striking power on offense, so we focused on keeping them in front of us on defense.”
The result was a bend-but-don’t-break Friar defense that yielded chunks of yardage between the 20 yard lines, but that tightened its grip inside the red zone. Penn Charter senior quarterback Will Samuel completed 18-of-36 passes for 263 yards (to eight different receivers) but the Quakers only crossed the goal line once.
Malvern scored all of its 23 points in a 3 ½ minute stretch in the second period.
The Friars broke the scoring ice with an 11-play, 71-yard TD drive that was capped with a couple of fine catches by wide receivers Maguire and Quinn McCahon.
McCahon made a sliding catch down the left sideline for a 20-yard gain to the Penn Charter 8 yard line, then the 6-foot-2 Maguire ran into the back right corner of the end zone and outleaped his defender to grab the TD pass from quarterback Drew Gunther that gave the hosts a 7-0 lead.
Two plays later, Maguire made his first interception, picking off a slant pass at the Penn Charter 35 and returning the ball for a sizable gain. The Friars gave the ball to O’Shaan Allison on five of the next six plays, and on his fifth carry the senior running back scored standing up from the 3 yard line to give the Friars a 14-0 lead.
After a booming kickoff into the end zone by Malvern junior Sebastian Constantini put Penn Charter on its own 20 yard line, the Quakers called a pass from shotgun formation but a high snap sent the ball into the visitors’ end zone. Although Penn Charter junior running back Edward Saydee recovered the ball, Malvern Prep senior defensive lineman Ryan Betz was there to make the tackle for a safety.
“I heard the crowd roar [after the high snap], and I got by my guy,” said the 6-foot-3, 255-pound Betz. “I saw [Saydee] pick up the ball, and I nailed him.”
“Malvern has a big, stout line both on offense and defense,” said Penn Charter head coach Tom Coyle. “We’re young up front. I’m proud of our team’s efforts today, but Malvern is a good, physical team, and we thought we might have issues up front.”
Betz credited the team’s spirit for its fine defensive performance Saturday.
“Our seniors have been [encouraging] the underclassmen to give their teammates on the field verbal support from the bench,” said Betz. “It really gives us energy, particularly at the end of a long drive, when we’re tired, to hear them cheering us on, ‘Let’s go defense!’”
Following the safety, Malvern returned the ensuing kick to the Penn Charter 45 yard line, and four plays later, Allison scored on a 35 yard run off right tackle, breaking several tackles along the way. The TD gave Malvern a 23-0 lead with 2:20 to play before halftime.
Penn Charter then began to put together its passing game, scoring on a 66-yard drive that consisted solely of three Samuel passes, the final one 39 yards to senior back John Washington to make it 23-6 at halftime.
In the second half, the Quakers kept picking up yardage on short passes by Samuel, but only cracked the scoreboard once, on a 24-yard field goal after a Penn Charter drive bogged down inside the Malvern 5 yard line.
Maguire said, “Once they got deep in our territory, they didn’t have a lot of room – they couldn’t go deep.”
Coyle said, “We moved the ball in the second half, but we didn’t finish. Earlier, we weren’t in rhythm offensively, we had breakdown on assignments.”
Malvern Prep junior defensive back TyGee Leach also played a key role in the Friars’ tough defense Saturday, breaking up a number of passes in the second half.
The Friars’ defense also was helped by its ball-control, turnover-free offense, led by the 5-foot-10, 195-pound Allison (31 carries, 170 yards). On the offensive line, Gueriera noted that senior tackle Joe Basiura had a good performance Saturday. McCahon led the Malvern receiving corps with four fine catches to help keep drives alive.
NOTES: At halftime, the four inductees of the Malvern Prep Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2017 were introduced – Luke Leslie (Malvern Prep Class of 1990), Bill Hickman (Malvern Class of 1991), Derrick Downs (Malvern Class of 1996) and Ryan Edginton (Malvern Class of 1999). These four graduates were inducted into the Malvern Prep Athletic Hall of Fame Friday evening in the Duffy Arts Center.
Malvern Prep 23, Penn Charter 9
Penn Charter 0 6 3 0- 9
Malvern Prep 0 23 0 0-23
Second Quarter
MP-Maguire 8 pass from Gunther (Reilly kick)
MP-Allison 3 run (Reilly kick)
MP-Safety
MP-Allison 35 run (Reilly kick)
PC-Washington 39 pass from Samuel (kick failed)
Third Quarter
PC-Thompson 24 FG
Team Totals
PC MP
First downs 14 12
Yards rushing 24-64 39-171
Yards passing 263 77
Total yards 327 248
Passing 18-36-2 11-19-0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Punts-avg. 5-31.4 7-35.7
Penalties-yds 2-32 3-25
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Penn Charter: Saydee 13-46, Tygh 3-0, Jones 3-14, Samuel 5-4. Malvern Prep: Allison 31-170, 2 TD, Watson 5-13, Gunther 2-minus 16, McCahon 1-4.
Passing: Penn Charter: Samuel 18-36-2, 263 yards, TD. Malvern Prep: Gunther 11-19-0, 77 yards, TD.
Receiving: Penn Charter: Womack 4-43, Thomas 1-6, Poland 1-5, Saydee 5-108, Washington 2-41, TD, Thompson 3-49, Zavorski 1-6, Tygh 1-5. Malvern Prep: McCahon 4-46, Maguire 2-12, TD, McCabe 1-8, Watson 2-12, Allison 1-minus 4, Leach 1-3.
Interceptions: Malvern Prep: Maguire 2.
