MARPLE — Marple Newtown didn’t need the homecoming pep rally earlier in the day to get fired up to play Harriton Friday night.
The undefeated Tigers showed again they are never lacking for motivation, Charlie Box scoring two more touchdowns and Shane Benedict adding a couple of scoring grabs to key a 35-12 Central League win over the Rams.
With 10 touchdowns in four games, Box is on pace to break the single-season school record of 26 TDs shared by Marlon Weathers (2017) and Steve Coyne (1983). If the super sophomore doesn’t get the record it may be because of the team’s success.
Head coach Chris Gicking has played everyone who has suited up in every game for the Tigers (4-0, 3-0), the starters playing a half in this one. The Tigers have outscored the opposition, 159-44, this season.
“It was a really good team win again, offense, defense and special teams,” Gicking said. “We’re lucky, we’re very fortunate to have that happen where everybody has played. But just like every day we’ve got to get better and we’ve got to get ready. Next week is a real hard team to play against – Upper Darby.”
The Tigers took control from the first snap of the game, Box recovering a fumble by Teddy Molineaux at the 42-yard line of Harriton. Five plays later Box scored standing up. His 21-yard jaunt featuring a stutter step and jump-cut near the sideline set the score up. That set the tone for a long first half for the Rams.
“He’s a tremendous worker,” Gicking said of Box, who had eight rushes for 75 yards. “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. It’s great to see kid like that have success like that.”
The Tigers’ offensive line dominated as well, allowing quarterback Joe Paoletti significant time to find his receivers. Paoletti completed 11 of 14 attempts for 64 yards with no interceptions. Benedict had four receptions for 46 yards, Tyler Lynch had five grabs for 16 yards.
Eric McKee added eight rushes for 39 yards and two receptions for 17 yards for the Tigers. Paoletti ran 43 yards on an option to give the Tigers a 35-0 lead at the intermission. At that point, all that was left for the starters was to enjoy the crowning of the homecoming king and queen.
“The good thing is we have a lot of options,” Gicking said. “It’s not just Charlie. We try to be as balanced as we can.”
Max Copley scored two touchdowns for Harriton (0-4, 0-3), which had been outscored, 115-6, entering the contest.
“We just kind of killed ourselves with turnovers and stuff like that on the very first play of the game when we fumbled,” head coach Justin Mellor said. “For us that’s so deflating when you get a positive play and then you lose it or you have penalties. And Marple does such a great job. Their kids play so hard. We have a lot of first-year guys and so many inexperienced guys trying to learn the attack mentality. But we played hard. We’re learning.”
Molineaux had 10 rushes for 51 yards for the Rams. Copley six for 26 yards to go with five catches worth 63 yards.
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