Hatboro-Horsham survives Cheltenham on extra point

CHELTENHAM >> The biggest night of the year for the Cheltenham High School football squad had almost everything including a great fan base, a good opponent in Hatboro-Horsham, and great defense.

The only thing missing for the Panthers, however, was a huge win as the Hatters walked out of Cheltenham with a comeback win with a final score of 7-6 on Cheltenham’s senior night.

Before the opening kickoff, Cheltenham High School honored its seniors for perhaps their final home game of the year.

Both defenses were on point in the first half as the game remained scoreless after the first two quarters.

Cheltenham and Hatboro-Horsham had many opportunities to score, but both teams gave up two fumbles inside the 20-yard line and both quarterbacks threw at least one interception.

Highlighting the win for the Hatters was the starting quarterback Will Riemenschneider, who came back to action after being out for the last three weeks with a concussion.

“It was very exciting for me to be back after so long,” said Riemenschneider. “I knew that my teammates would pull through and get the big win.”

After nearly three quarters, the Panthers were finally able to start the scoring in the game when quarterback Adonis Hunter connected on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Nathaniel Edwards.

However, six points was all Cheltenham scored as the extra point was missed to make the score 6-0 heading into the final quarter.

The Hatters made sure that the missed extra point would haunt the Panthers in the fourth quarter.

For the third consecutive week, Hatboro-Horsham was able to score late in the fourth quarter with five minutes left in the game when Riemenschneider through a 15-yard pass to Ismael Collazo to tie the game at 6-6.

Hatboro-Horsham’s kicker Michael Brown delivered the only good kick of the night from either team with the extra point to give the Hatters the 7-6 lead.

Cheltenham was able to get the ball back with less than two minutes left in the game, but a quick three and out from the Hatter defense sealed the win.

With the win, the Hatboro-Horsham Hatters take sole possession of second place in the Suburban One American Division, only behind Upper Dublin by one game.

Hatboro-Horsham head coach Mike Kapusta was thrilled for his team to get the win and stay in the playoff chase.

“The kids have battled so hard to get this win,” said Kapusta. “They overcame adversity with the turnovers in the first half that killed us.”

“To have the character to come back, take the lead, and hold the league it was just awesome,” added Kapusta.

Running back Jordan Collazo finished the big game with 26 carries for 204 yards.

“I usually don’t get the ball that many times,” said Collazo. “But the line kept making those holes and I was just making the cuts, so it was a total team effort tonight.”

Cheltenham head coach Ryan Nase was sad for his team after a tough loss on senior night.

“Bottom line is we didn’t finish the game,” said Nase. “I don’t know if it’s because we are coming from back-to-back 2-8 seasons, but we didn’t finish and that’s on me as the head coach to make sure that they stay motivated to finish.”

The Hatboro-Horsham football squad looks to stay hot and go for its fourth straight win when it travels to Quakertown High School on Friday night at 7.

The Cheltenham Panthers looks to keep their playoff hopes alive next week when they travel to Upper Moreland to take on the Bears on Friday night.

Hatboro-Horsham 7, Cheltenham 6
HH 0 0 0 7 -7
CH 0 0 6 0 -6

CH- Hunter 26-yard pass to Edwards (PAT missed)
HH- Riemenschneider 15-yard pass to Collazo (Brown kick)
CH HH
First downs 15 12
Rushing yards 155 232
Passing yards 138 23
Total yards 293 255
Passing 8-17 2-7
Penalties 5-45 2-30
Fumbles lost 3 2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Hatboro-Horsham: J. Collazo 26-204; Robinson 4-21; Broaddus 1-4; Logan 1-2; Riemenschneider 4-1; I. Collazo 1-0. Cheltenham: Barnes 15-99; Edwards 9-44; Hunter 8-7; Harris 3-3; Sullen 1-2.
PASSING – Hatboro-Horsham: Riemenschneider 2-7, 23 yds, 1 TD. Cheltenham: Hunter 8-17, 138 yds, 1 TD.
RECEIVING – Hatboro-Horsham: I. Collazo 1-15, 1 TD; Robinson 1-8. Cheltenham: Edwards 3-78, 1 TD; Felix 3-43; Barnes 2-17.