Interboro uses more of Moore, to Chi’s disadvantage

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UPPER CHICHESTER >> He lowered his shoulders and ran over defenders at will. He scored four touchdowns, sacked the quarterback once and blocked a punt in the fourth quarter.

You could say Interboro senior Mike Moore checked all of the boxes Saturday. After the Bucs sealed a 29-27 win over Chichester, Moore exhaled, let out a mini-woo in the spirit of Ric Flair and tried to gather his thoughts.

“I don’t know what to say; I’m kind of speechless,” Moore said. “I’ve been waiting so long to have a good game and finally it came today.”

Moore has dealt with lingering injuries during the course of a disappointing season for Interboro. Built like a Mack truck, he was projected to be the Bucs’ workhorse on both sides of the ball. When he’s not dealing with a nagging injury, Moore is a beast, which was evident Saturday. He ran for 140 yards on 31 carries and played virtually every snap at defensive end.

“I was on and off, running on a couple of bad limbs,” Moore said. “We’re getting there.”

Moore routinely fought for tough yards and occasionally broke loose for a big gain. But he doesn’t try to dance around defenders. He’s a no-nonsense, in-your-face running back, a throwback player that Interboro coach Steve Lennox loves.

Moore’s one-yard jaunt across the goal line and subsequent two-point conversion run gave Interboro an 8-0 lead in the first quarter.

“We had to come out fast,” he said. “I take whatever coach tells me to do. They tell me to run it down their throat, run it hard, keep doing it. … I just bring it on the field every play and it works.”

Moore’s second scoring scamper put Interboro comfortably ahead, 15-0. Meanwhile, its defense forced three first-quarter turnovers, including two interceptions by Jube “JuJu” Wilson.

Interboro’s defense, which was allowing 40 points and 400 yards per game entering Saturday, set the tone in the first 24 minutes of regulation.

“We wanted it so bad today,” Wilson said. “We were very disciplined and we always stick together. This was like a playoff game, man. We really wanted to win and we gave it our all.”

Interboro (3-5, 1-2 Del Val) earned an actual win – the Bucs picked up a forfeit against Lower Moreland a few weeks ago – for the first time since opening night, Aug. 24 at Strath Haven.

“We wanted this one real bad,” Interboro quarterback Jared “JD” Dellipriscoli said. “We’re still in the playoff (chase) and we needed this one. We just want to end the season real good, go on a run and see what happens in the playoffs.”

Chichester (3-4, 0-3) never quit. Much of the credit goes to junior quarterback Nate Decenzi, who used his arms and legs to keep the Eagles alive. Decenzi sneaked into the end zone from the three yards out to put Chi on the board midway through the second period. After halftime, he connected on an 81-yard touchdown pass with Jamese Lundy-Byrd to pull the Eagles back within seven points. In the fourth quarter, with Chi trailing 29-15, Decenzi hooked up with Calvin Church on a 77-yard scoring strike. One week after setting the Chichester single-game passing record with 317 yards, Decenzi finished 14 of 30 for 256 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

After Church’s TD the Eagles recovered an onside kick. Minutes later, Shaheem Pleasant took a pitch to the left side and darted 14 yards to paydirt to trim Interboro’s lead to 29-27. Pleasant got the handoff on the two-point attempt, but fell inches short of the goal line. Chi’s defense forced a three-and-out on Interboro’s next possession, but the Bucs’ secondary disrupted a pass intended for Antonio Perez, the ball bobbled in the air before Michael Zane hauled in the interception, which iced a hard-earned win for the Bucs.

“This is the momentum that we need,” Moore said. “It’s probably the biggest game we have played all year.”

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Matt Smith

Matt Smith
Matt Smith is a sports writer with the Delaware County Daily Times. To contact him, email msmith@delcotimes.com or follow him on Twitter @DTMattSmith.

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