Academy Park recovers after half to set up title showdown
THORNBURY — Academy Park’s football team came out against Glen Mills and started like a championship contender would be expected to play.
The Knights jumped out to 20-point lead over the Battling Bulls, and it looked like the game was going to be over quickly. But Glen Mills exploded for two long touchdowns in the second quarter to narrow it to a one-score game at half.
Academy Park head coach Jason Vosheski made adjustments during intermission, though, and the plan worked as the Knights scored 27 unanswered points, pulling away for a 47-12 win and a chance to win the Del Val title with a victory over Penn Wood next week.
Academy Park (8-1, 4-0 Del Val) was led by senior quarterback Skylor Fillis, who rushed 12 times for 55 yards and two touchdowns. Fillis was terrific in the air, going 8 of 16 for 120 yards and three touchdown passes.
Junior Barry Brown did a little of everything for the Knights, rushing twice for 57 yards and catching two passes for 54 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown pass from Fillis. Showing all his skills, Brown also threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Edward Soloku on a halfback option on the opening drive of the third quarter.
Even with all these grand performances, Vosheski only wanted to talk about consistency and what he felt was his team’s lack of it.
“I can’t say (we’re) disciplined,” Vosheski said. “I can’t say we have team speed. They’re probably equally as fast. I don’t know if we were prepared as well. I don’t know if we were ready for what they were bringing.”
Glen Mills (3-6, 1-3) burned the Knights defense twice on throws by quarterback Nasir Johnson, who hit speedy wide receiver Blessin Sesay on a 58-yard touchdown pass and a 57-yard scoring strike to make the game close at halftime.
When reminded how much the Knights dominated the first quarter, Vosheski wasn’t buying it.
“We get complacent, is maybe a better word,” Vosheski said. “We kind of take our foot ball the gas. To Glen Mills credit they fought back. They had two nice plays and we struggled on offense with turnovers, penalties and what not.”
Fillis agreed with his coach.
“After we got the lead, we started to take plays off,” Fillis said. “We need to play all four quarters. We will need that next week for the Del Val championship game against Penn Wood.”
Sesay was a handful all night finishing with five catches for 148 yards and the two touchdowns. Johnson talked about his relationship with Sesay.
“He is so fast and when he gets into the open field, he is hard to stop,” said Johnson, who finished 8 of 16 for 166 yards, two scores and an interception. “So when I see him open, I really try get him ball. He always makes something happen.”
Academy Park’s head coach said he is thinking about next week’s game against the Patriots, who are also 8-1 and unbeaten in league play. But he is also worried about getting his team ready to play four quarters.
“We’ll worry about Del Val next week,” Vosheski said. “Obviously we have the playoffs in sight. We need to play our football game from start to finish. I don’t know if we’ve done that all season.”
Vosheski stopped for a moment and thought about how his team played in each quarter Friday night.
“We need to have the third and fourth quarter in the first and second and the third quarter,” Vosheski said. “We haven’t done that in a long time.”
