Hussein rides herd as Strath Haven edges Lower Merion
NETHER PROVIDENCE >> Like many sports teams, Strath Haven football has a motto to live by for a season or so. This year, the Panthers are going with “Cowboy Up.”
They did that in more ways than one Friday.
Whether it was overcoming an early 12-point deficit, playing staunch defense against some quality skill players, or even coach Kevin Clancy doing his best impersonation of a former Dallas Cowboys coach, the Panthers did just enough to win a surprisingly close game, 22-18 over Lower Merion Friday night.
Zack Hussein was the bell cow, as usual, logging 165 yards on 29 carries, scoring two touchdowns, and getting the most important three yards of the game late in the fourth quarter.
The Panthers (1-1, 1-0) gained 260 yards of offense, all on the ground. But they found themselves in a precarious spot. Clinging to a four-point lead with a little more than three minutes remaining, Haven faced a fourth-and-one from its 29-yard line.
Rather than punt the ball away and rely on the defense to protect the lead, Strath Haven coach Kevin Clancy pulled out his six-shooters and decided to go for it. It was shades of Barry Switzer doing the same on two occasions at Veterans Stadium for the Dallas Cowboys against the Eagles in 1995. Unlike that Cowboy of a coach, however, Clancy was successful.
He turned to Hussein, who plunged for three yards and kept the drive alive.
“I know it’s not the conventional call,” Clancy said. “But we feel like when we need one yard we can get one yard. I didn’t want to give that offense the ball back with decent field position and time on the clock. They have some good skill players and their quarterback is very good, too. If we didn’t get it, I would have been the goat. But we got it, so I don’t have to worry about that.”
It was crucial because it allowed Strath Haven to run another eight plays before punting, not giving the ball back to the Aces (0-2, 0-1) until there were only 31 seconds remaining with no timeouts, needing to go 85 yards. The game would end when Jake Fisher intercepted Matt O’Conner on the Strath Haven 30 on what would be the final play of the game.
“This was a big team win,” Hussein said. “We really hung in there. The defense was great. The offense was able to put drives together when we needed to. We cowboyed up for sure.”
It looked bleak early.
The Panthers turned the ball over twice, each leading to a Lower Merion score. Ardonntrell Williams scooped up a fumble and ran 75 yards to give the Aces an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter. Then, after Strath Haven got a huge interception by Arion Ford inside its own 10, the Panthers fumbled on the very next play, which set up a short two-yard touchdown run by D’Shawn Jemison and a 12-0 hole in the second quarter.
But that’s when the Strath Haven offense put on the chaps and spurs and kicked into an 11-play, 73-yard drive made up entirely of running plays, capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Hussein. Then, in their first drive of the second half, they went 63 yards in nine scrimmage runs, with Fisher finishing via a two-yard sneak.
Hussein added a nine-yard touchdown run at the start of the fourth quarter.
“Zack will get all of the credit, and he deserves it,” Clancy said. “But our offensive line blocked all night.”
