Turnovers doom Haverford School in opening loss to Northeast

HAVERFORD – When the Northeast football team collected in the end zone at Sabol Field Friday, its defense warranted two rounds of applause in the postgame breakdown. Truth be told, the Vikings could’ve been there much longer.

On a day where offensive execution was in short supply all around, the Northeast defense made its own explosiveness – nine caused turnovers, five interceptions and three scores, on the way to a 36-0 nonleague rout of Haverford School.

“We’re a great defense,” defensive back Shuayb “Shoes” Brinkley said. “We’ve got a lot of talent out here. It’s a ripple effect: One guy makes a play, we feed off that energy and keep it going.”

Once they got going, the Vikings (2-0) seemed to be playing a game of one-upmanship. Brinkley picked off a twice-tipped pass in the end zone in the first quarter, ending a 12-play drive that would prove to be the Fords’ most productive of the afternoon. He then read and ran under a lofted heave by Dante Perri in the fourth quarter, picking it off at speed and dashing down the sideline 86 yards for a score.

“Playing deep middle of the field, opened my hips up and got over there,” Brinkley said. “Pick six, turned the burners on.”

Shayub Brinkley with the interception on the tip drill for Northeast. Came after a Brian Galasso fumble recovery for Haverford pic.twitter.com/z4KuIiz8QQ

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) August 30, 2019

Tyrece Mills accounted for the only points of the first half when he scooped up a fumble by Mekhi Ajose-Williamson and sprinted 42 yards to pay dirt. Zaire McLaurin grabbed an interception near his shoestrings that had been tipped at the line of scrimmage by Elijah Jeudy and then again in the secondary, set himself and dashed 37 yards for a touchdown to make it 13-0 in the third.

Add in eight Fords fumbles, three of them lost (including a strip sack by Jeudy), and interceptions by Mills and Dacare Smith, and it was a long day for the Fords offense in the season-opener.

It was particularly disappointing given how well the Haverford defense bottled up the Vikings early. Northeast had just 52 yards of offense at halftime and committed two turnovers that could’ve been costly. Brian Galasso came up with a fumble on the Vikings’ first play from scrimmage, then Colby Kim popped out a fumble that Massimo Amici hopped on one play after Samir Gardner had coughed up the ball in the third quarter.

Five times, the Fords defense stopped Northeast inside the 30, including a blocked 20-yard field goal by Matt Carlino.

“I think we played awesome as a defense, made a lot of big stops, fourth down, goal line,” Galasso said. “We’ve just got to go to work on offense. Next week, we’ve got to take that serious, play more physical I think.”

With the lack of offensive execution, though, the defensive stops went largely for naught. Ajose-Williamson led the Fords with 60 yards on 20 carries, but the Fords accounted for just 82 total yards on the ground. Perri was 12-for-25 for 76 yards with four interceptions. He hooked up with Carlino four times but for just 19 yards. Their biggest play from scrimmage was a 17-yard passing hook up from Perri to Sam Gerber, one of only five plays of 10 yards or more. Pat Toal was picked off on his only pass attempt.

Eventually, the Northeast offense awakened. Jon-Luke Peaker, a transfer from Bishop McDevitt, carried 10 times for 74 yards. Zhair Wheeler connected with Tyreek Chappell and Markell Gary for touchdowns of 30 and 39 yards, respectively, the latter on fourth down. Blaine Bunch capped the scoring and triggered the running clock with 2:24 to play on a 33-yard scoring jaunt.

“It’s great playing behind that defense,” Wheeler said. “We have a lot of great DBs, so we can make a mistake, get the ball back and make a comeback. And they can score also. … It takes a lot of pressure off knowing they can get the ball back.”

Both teams got the defensive play it needed Friday. But only Northeast translated that momentum onto the offensive side.

While watching players like Brinkley sprint down the sidelines, there was plenty of time to let the excitement bleed over onto the other side of the ball.

“As a team, we’re never worried,” Brinkley said. “We’re always calm, always composed. The offense was slow to begin, so we fed off the defense. We’ve got a lot of playmakers on this field. … Everybody on this field with this white jersey on is a playmaker.”