Leone, Hun hang loss on Haverford School
HAVERFORD >> Mike Leone is 6-foot-6 and weighs 260 pounds. You might think someone that size wouldn’t have any fears about stepping on a football field.
After he helped Hun School earn a 33-7 decision over The Haverford School at Sabol Field Saturday, Leone quickly admitted it wasn’t easy walking on to a field he called home for so long.
“I was anticipating this and I was nervous all week,” said Leone, a Bryn Mawr resident who left The Haverford School to enroll at Hun this semester. “I played with so many of those guys on the other side since middle school. Playing against them was different, but it was fun. It was a fantastic experience.”
Playing behind Leone and the rest of the Hun School offensive line, which Fords head coach Mike Murphy likened to “a Division III college team,” turned into a rewarding experience for Hun junior back Ian Franzoni (19 carries, 139 yards, one touchdown) and freshman runner Ben Garritano (13 carries, 74 yards, two TDs). Jackson Barletta also scored twice, with the first touchdown coming on a 69-yard interception return in the second quarter.
The Raiders picked up 253 yards on 48 rushes and had 321 yards of total offense.
“We’re happy to come down here and get a win against this team,” Hun head coach Todd Smith said of his team, which made the trip from Princeton and earned its second victory in three starts.
Hun’s first possession was a 13-play drive (12 runs, one pass) which covered 62 yards and lasted almost seven minutes. Garritano gobbled up the last nine yards, and freshman Ahmad Dixon kicked the extra point.
It took the visitors only six plays to go 57 yards for their second touchdown. Franzoni had a 17-yard dash for the first first down, then he went 16 yards for six points on the second play of the second quarter.
Less than two minutes later, disaster struck The Haverford School as Barletta stepped in front of a Dante Perri pass at Hun’s 31 and made his way past several would-be tacklers to the end zone.
Another Fords interception gave the Raiders the ball at the home team’s 33, but a pair of penalties forced Hun into a 37-yard field goal attempt, which was wide.
Four snaps later, the Fords (2-2) were in the end zone for their only score. Ben Gerber found Dan Whaley open and connected with him on a play that covered 61 yards two minutes before halftime.
“That’s the way the play was designed,” Whaley said. “We ran it last year against West Catholic and I got my first touchdown. This was my first touchdown this year. The coaches had been telling me we were going to go back to that play.”
In the second half, Hun had a 12-play drive that covered 80 yards and ended with a 10-yard Garritano scoring run, and a nine-play march on which Barletta scored from the Fords’ 9.
“We knew what we were getting into scheduling a team like this,” Murphy said. “Scheduling is becoming a challenge for us. But our kids never quit. We had some things that we could have done but didn’t. We know we have to work on things like that.
“That’s my job as the coach to take care of those things. We have our bye week, then we have our first Inter-Ac game. We have to be ready when it’s time for that game.”
