Owen J. Roberts stops Pioneers in season opener
Tredyffrin – Owen J. Roberts had a baptism by fire in the first few minutes of its season opener at Teamer Field Friday night.
Host Conestoga moved relentlessly down the field on nine straight running plays for a 56-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-0 lead just 4 1/2 minutes into the game.
But the Wildcats’ defense shut down Conestoga the rest of the way, and with some strong running from veteran senior back Marcus Martin; two 30-yard field goals from senior kicker Hugo Mateos; and some big plays from junior quarterback Cooper Chamberlain, Owen J. Roberts prevailed for a 20-7 win.
Chamberlain, who replaced the Wildcats’ record-setting quarterback Dawson Stuart after the latter graduated last spring, broke the Wildcat scoring ice 4:42 before halftime with a 32-yard scramble into the end zone on third-and-10 to tie the game at 7-7.
“That was a quarterback-designed play, where I can pass if I see a receiver open, or run it,” said Chamberlain. “I saw the hole up the middle – our offensive line made a nice hole for me – and I took it. It was exhilarating, I loved every second of [the play].”
Owen J. Roberts head coach Rich Kolka noted, “That was a nice run – Cooper’s a good athlete who’s not afraid of contact.”
The score remained 7-7 until late in the third quarter, when Mateos boomed a 32-yard field goal through the uprights with 3:22 left in the third stanza. Four minutes later, when an Owen J. Roberts drive bogged down deep in Conestoga territory, Mateos connected again with 11:24 left to give the visitors a 13-7 lead.
“[Mateos] is a solid kicker, he kicks the ball off nicely, too,” said Kolka. “And he gets the ball high in the air quickly.”
Meanwhile, Martin was running the ball for solid gains throughout the night to set up the Wildcats’ scores. On Mateos’ second field goal, Martin broke free for a 51-yard gain, breaking through a hole at the Wildcats’ 25-yard line and taking it all the way down to the Pioneers’ 24.
“Before the play, I told our offensive line to hold their blocks for just two or three seconds, and I’ll do the work for them,” said Martin.
With 7:55 to play, Owen J. Roberts recovered a Pioneer fumble at midfield, and moved the ball 50 yards in nine plays for a touchdown, the key play being a 16-yard run by Chamberlain on third-and-13 at the Conestoga 30 yard line.
Martin pounded the ball into the end zone from the 3 yard line to give the visitors a 20-7 lead with 2:31 left, and finished the game with 22 carries for 122 yards.
Kolka said, “Marcus is our feature back, and an explosive playmaker. He plays on both sides of the ball, so he’s going to be tired at the end of every game, but that’s the way it’s going to go this season.”
“Carrying the ball [often], whatever makes the team better, to win games, that’s the goal,” said Martin. “As a senior, I have the opportunity to show leadership, to show the [younger] players what it’s like to play on varsity.”
In the meantime, Owen J. Roberts held Conestoga scoreless after its opening drive.
“We’re very, very young on defense,” said Kolka. “We have some sophomores out there, some juniors out there, not many seniors, and it being our first game of the season under the lights, I think that takes some getting used to. We also made an adjustment to their unbalanced trip formation with their run and toss, and after that first drive, that play really wasn’t a problem for us. [Senior defensive end] Aidan Hayward had a big sack for us tonight – he’s an explosive playmaker.”
For Conestoga, who did not score after the opening drive, it was a different outcome. But Pioneer head coach Matt Diamond saw some bright spots in the defeat.
“There’s not an ounce of me that’s not proud of the effort of our kids tonight,” said Diamond. “I told the kids after the game that the intensity they showed tonight is putting us in the right direction, where we want to be.”
Conestoga senior linebacker P.J. Hewitt made some key tackles for the home team Friday night.
“He is our emotional leader [on defense],” said Diamond. “He brings an intensity to the defense that the other kids rally around, and I thought P.J. played terrific tonight.”
On offense, Pioneer running back Milton Robinson picked up some solid ground gains and Conestoga back Liam Kirk chipped in with a few sizable chunks of yardage from both the line of scrimmage and on kickoff returns.
“I thought Milton Robinson and Liam Kirk ran the ball well,” said Diamond. “Our offensive line did a good job getting a push throughout the game. We just had trouble sustaining drives tonight, but that’s something we’ll work on this week, sustaining those drives and finishing all the way through.
“In our opening drive tonight, every look we had we felt comfortable with. But give Owen J Roberts credit – they made adjustments, and we made adjustments. We had kids going both ways [offense and defense] and some of them got tired as the game went on, and that’s going to wear you down a little bit. But give Owen J Roberts credit – they made some plays when they needed to.”
