Shifting gears: Malvern Prep’s offense explodes against Berks Catholic

Malvern >> Malvern Prep proved Friday night it could shift gears from defense to offense when facing its second football heavyweight in a week.

Seven days after holding nationally-ranked McDonogh School to just two first downs in a 19-3 win, Malvern’s passing offense exploded for a 42-32 win against powerful Berks Catholic at Quigley Field.

Against a Saints squad whose defense ranks as one of the top defense in Berks County, the Friars gained more than 400 yards passing (391 yards by senior QB Drew Gunther). Not once did Malvern have to punt.

Gunther’s main receivers, Ryan Iacone, Ryan Maguire, TyGee Leach and Lonnie White, often were getting open for short passes, then breaking them off for long gains.

“Having receivers with that type of ability makes my job so much easier,” said Gunther, who threw for a trio of touchdowns against Berks. “We were planning on a lot of intermediate passes, and a lot of runs after the catch, from the way [Berks] was defending us, a lot of underneath stuff – we like our athletes against their athletes, for sure.”

“Our offense did a nice job tonight, and I think it all started up front,” said Malvern Prep head coach Dave Gueriera. “Jake Hornibrook, Brendan Flynn, Buck Walsh, J.T. Roberts, Will Redden, Harry Stinger all did really well and it opened up the passing game.”

Malvern needed that prolific offense, as Berks Catholic’s “thunder and lightning” running back duo of Brandon George and Abdul MacFoy combined for 307 yards rushing Friday night. On the second play from scrimmage, George rumbled 78 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Berks Catholic lead.

Midway through the first quarter, Malvern’s Ryan Maguire got open deep, and pulled in Gunther’s perfectly-thrown pass for a 58-yard touchdown to tie the score at 7-7.

“We knew that [Berks] cornerbacks shaded to the outside, so we knew the middle could be open,” said Maguire. “Right when I made my cut, I got open and Drew’s pass was perfect, and the offensive line did a great job on the play.”

“Ryan Maguire is really good route runner, really smart and very technically sound,” said Gueriera.

Berks came right back with a couple of long runs by MacFoy, 54 yards and 20 yards, the latter getting the Saints a touchdown and a 13-7 lead.

Malvern then marched 65 yards in seven plays for a touchdown, with Nick Gueriera scoring from the 2 yard line to give the Friars a 14-13 lead with 4:09 to go before halftime. Malvern held the lead the rest of the way.

Eighteen seconds into the third quarter, Malvern’s Lonnie White grabbed a short pass over the middle and outran a couple of defenders down the left sideline for a 74-yard touchdown to give the Friars a 21-13 lead.

“That was an RPO (run-pass option), which everybody loves these days,” said Gunther. “I saw their linebacker come down to play the run, so I threw it to [White].”

Following a long kickoff return by Berks Catholic down to the Malvern 10 yard line, and a touchdown two plays later to cut the Friars’ lead to 21-19, Malvern came back to score in four plays. The big play was a 50 yard reception by Leach, who grabbed a slant pass over the middle on third-and-2 at the Malvern 49 yard line and raced down the right sideline to the Berks 1 yard line.

“We usually like to run on third-and-2, but I got the pass out quickly to TyGee and he did the rest,” said Gunther.

“TyGee’s really exploded for us this year; he’s exceeded all of our expectations and keeps setting new standards each week,” said Gueriera.

Malvern increased its lead to 35-19 on a 74-yard touchdown drive that included three Gunther passes totaling 61 yards.

“Drew’s smart, gets rid of the ball well, he’s accurate and made some nice throws tonight,” said Gueriera.

After Berks churned out a 10-play, 70-yard drive for a touchdown, Malvern came back with a four-play, 70 yard drive to paydirt to make the score 42-25 with 11:20 left. The big play was a 36-yard pass from Ryan Iacone to Ryan Maguire. Iacone threw the pass after receiving a handoff from Gunther.

“This was a play we put in this week,” said Maguire. “Ryan’s supposed to throw the ball, he’s an athletic kid, and he made a great throw, sticking it in front of two [defenders].”

Iacone proved to be a dangerous receiver Friday night, catching six balls for 114 yards.

“Ryan Iacone is really shifty after he gets the ball, he’s really athletic, and he’s a tough kid to catch,” said Gueriera.