Gallagher’s gallop helps Garnet survive Blair, Haverford

CONCORD — Ryan Gallagher knew who to thank Friday night.

The senior quarterback ripped off one gigantic run in the fourth quarter of Garnet Valley’s thrilling 35-28 victory over Haverford.

Gallagher set up under center and received the snap from center Lance Schwartz. Gallagher shuffled forward, found an opening and was off and running for 62 yards before being brought down at the Haverford 3-yard line. On the next play, he handed the ball off to Sam Morin, who scored the game-winning touchdown with three minutes to play.

“It all starts with the boys up front,” said Gallagher, lauding the performance of Jaguars linemen Schwartz, Blaze McDaniel, Tyler Sparks, Alex Olsen and Zac Green. “All of the blocking and opening up holes for me and the running backs … all the credit goes to the offensive line.”

That’s just how it is at Garnet Valley. The “Oneness” starts by being grateful to each other and Gallagher was quick to express his appreciation Friday night.

“Everybody on the team stepped up,” he said.

Garnet Valley needed everyone’s best effort to survive the electrifying Trey Blair and Haverford. The visiting Fords (0-2), moments before Gallagher’s back-breaking run, had battled to tie the game thanks to the work of the All-Delco Blair, who was half-man, half-amazing in just his second varsity start at quarterback.

The former all-purpose standout engineered the game-tying score, marching 80 yards on just six plays. Trailing 28-20, Blair received the snap out of the gun and sprinted 12 yards across the goal line to pull the Fords to within two. On the two-point attempt, Blair ran a bootleg and kept the ball himself until he was in the end zone to tie the score.

“Coming in, everyone who plays Haverford knows you have to defend No. 10 (Blair) and No. 3 (Shane Mosley),” Garnet Valley coach Mike Ricci said. “I thought they were really smart, they put the ball in 10’s hands. When you have a weapon like that … they used him. They put him at quarterback this year so he can have the ball every time and, boy, do they let him get the ball.

“I was thrilled that we were finally able to come up with some stops when we had to. We knew he was going to make plays, and even when we were positioned to make plays defensively, he made big plays. That’s what a great athlete like that can do. Haverford’s always a great team, we have so much respect for what they do.”

GV’s defense stood strong on Haverford’s final possession. Blair threw three straight incompletions as the Fords turned the ball over on downs. Among the standouts for Garnet Valley was defensive back Greg Reynolds, who had a key interception earlier in the fourth quarter.

“(Blair) is an amazing ballplayer,” Reynolds said. “For the most part I was just trying to stay on my feet, flip my hips and stay up short. Our defense really played hard.”

Reynolds also gained 22 yards on 11 carries. His four-yard scoring scamper 90 seconds into the third quarter gave the Jags a 21-7 advantage. GV’s potent rushing attack amassed 176 yards on 42 carries. Morin (55 yards) and Gallagher (74) led the way.

“We came out and gave it our all, did what we were supposed to do and listened to our coaches,” said Reynolds, who also gained 22 yards on 11 carries. “We prepared so hard during the week so when we got out on the field, it was like second nature to us. We just go and play ball.”

When called upon, Gallagher also threw the ball very well. Having played varsity for parts of three seasons now, Gallagher is an experienced signal caller and makes smart decisions with the ball in his hands. He was 7-for-9 for 90 yards and a pair of TDs to tight end Shane Mulholland.

“Every receiver is different, but the ones we have this year can be special,” Gallagher said. “I think you could see that tonight.”

In the losing effort, Blair was the star of the game. He was responsible for 398 yards of offense. He was 16-for-22 with 266 yards and ran for 132 yards on 29 carries.

Haverford’s offense outgained Garnet Valley’s, 416-266. That’s not easy to do.

“The coaches had a great game plan and I feel like we did everything we could. Just looking around the locker room … there isn’t a guy on this team that I wouldn’t want to play with,” Blair said. “With the 65 or 70 guys we have on this team, I feel very confident, even after a tough loss like this.”

The Fords are a hard-luck 0-2 after two weeks. Last Friday they suffered a 14-7 defeat to an Archbishop Carroll squad that could vie for a Catholic League divisional title this season. Garnet Valley, of course, entered the season as the No. 1 team in Delco and is the reigning Central League champion. Not many teams have had a more difficult first two weeks to contest than Haverford.

“I think, a game like tonight, is huge for us. We should have the confidence to make a real run,” Blair said. “I believe we’ll be fine.”

Blair started the second half with nine straight completions. Justin Burgess had a huge night with 113 yards on six catches. Mosley, who had a pair of touchdown runs, was double-teamed several times but still made three catches for 53 yards. 

“We had a big week of practice and our scout team did a great job,” Blair said. “We ready to play. You could tell by the look on our linemen’s faces that they were going to give everything they had. There’s no other five guys that I would want out there blocking for me.”

Garnet Valley (1-1) was able to bounce back from a lopsided loss at Downingtown West last week.

“We look at it one week at a time and we don’t worry about last week as much,” Schwartz said. “I just knew that after last week we had to get better. We came out here and we showed up.”