Kamara does it all, powers Interboro past Avon Grove
LONDON GROVE >> With 22 players on the field on every play, it’s difficult for an individual football player to have a complete and overwhelming impact on a game.
But on Friday, in a non-league high school clash at Avon Grove, Interboro junior Abu Kamara did exactly that. The running back/defensive back dominated the proceedings to the tune of nearly 300 yards of total offense and five total touchdowns as the Bucs dominated the Red Devils 44-14 on Friday.
“No one deserves this moment more than Abu,” said Bucs head coach Dennis Lux. “He checks every single box. He is a great person, a great student, a great teammate and a great athlete obviously.
“And you know what, he could care less about individual statistics as long as we win football games.”
Interboro (2-7 overall) headed into the clash with five straight losses, just one win in eight tries and were 20th in the latest District 1 5A power rankings. But now, with a victory against a 6A opponent, the Bucs are now in the mix for one of the 16 berths for the upcoming playoffs.
“It’s a big win because maybe it gets us enough points to get into the district playoffs,” Kamara said. “That gives us the opportunity to go 0-0, start a new season and make something of ourselves.”
It was also, however, a devastating blow to Avon Grove’s postseason hopes. The Devils (3-6 overall) have been outscored 86-14 in their last two outings.
“I’m not disappointed with the kids – it’s on me,” said head coach Joe Coffey. “We have to regroup as a coaching staff and look to make sure we are putting them in the best position to be successful. We need to come up with some answers faster than we did.
“Interboro was the better football team.”
All evening, Avon Grove had absolutely no answer for Kamara. He finished with 237 rushing yards on just 17 carries, for an average of 13.9 yards per attempt. He scored on TD runs of 70, 21 and 67 yards, also found the end zone on a long scoring catch and then threw in a pick-six on defense for good measure.
Kamara scored his team’s first five TDs, which enabled the Bucs to score 34 straight points after falling behind 7-0.
“I’ve never had a game like this one,” Kamara acknowledged. “I had three touchdowns and 132 (yards rushing) against Chester, but that was nothing like tonight.
“Without my teammates blocking for me, it wouldn’t have happened like that.”
After falling behind by seven in the early going, Kamara went 70 yards on the very next play from scrimmage. He surpasses 100 yards before the end of the first quarter, capped an 80-yard march with another scoring run to put Interboro in front for good, and then snagged a 44-yard scoring strike from quarterback Julian Bulovas.
“(Interboro) did exactly what they’ve been doing for the past 30-plus years, and we didn’t have an answer for it on defense,” Coffey said.
The highlight of the day, however, came midway through the second quarter when Kamara picked off a pass and then proceeded to break a bunch of tackles and weave his way 60 yards the other way for a defensive touchdown. That made it 27-7 at the half.
“I broke like seven tackles, that’s what I remember,” Kamara said when asked about the play. “I just kept running.”
After adding an electrifying 67-yard scoring scamper on the first possession of the second half, Kamara sat out the rest of the game. Teammate Robert Forbes added a late TD and kicker Jake Finley booted a 35-yard field goal to round out the scoring.
“We had a couple good quarters against good teams like Chester and Unionville,” Lux said. “We’ve played some quality teams this season and I think it prepared us for this moment. That was the first time we’ve put it together for four quarters.”
The Devils opened the scoring midway through the first quarter on a 25-yard reception by Tommy Delgato. But Avon Grove marched inside the Interboro 35 two more times in the first half only to bog down and come away with nothing. The team’s next points came late in the third quarter, and by that time the deficit had grown to 27.
Overall, the Bucs had a 440-206 edge in total offense.
“We wanted to stop their inside stuff but (Kamara) was effective bouncing it outside,” Coffey said. “He is a heck of a running back.
“Even when we pinned them back, they still were able to drive it right down the field. We need to do a better job on defense to help our offense out. We put them into a lot of bad spots and it forced us out of the things we want to do.”
In addition to everything he did, Kamara also serves as Interboro’s long snapper. On Friday he converted a two-pointer and registered a sack on defense. And when he exited the field for good, he was humble.
“He does it all for us,” Lux said. “And the first thing he said when we took him out was: ‘I couldn’t have done any of this without my teammates.’”
Afterwards, when asked if anything that just happened was surprising, Kamara said: “No. I just run hard in practice so when it comes to a game it’s just second nature.”
Interboro 44, Avon Grove 14
Interboro 6 21 7 10 — 44
Avon Grove 7 0 7 0 — 14
Scoring
AG – Delgato 25 pass from Walsh (Okonowicz kick)
I – Kamara 70 run (kick blocked)
I – Kamara 21 run (Kamara run)
I – Kamara 44 pass from Bulovas (Finley kick)
I – Kamara 60 pass interception (kick blocked)
I – Kamara 67 run (Finley kick)
AG – Walsh 1 run (Okonowicz kick)
I – Forbes 14 run (Finley kick)
I – Finley 35 FG
Team totals I AG
First downs 18 12
Yards rushing 348 89
Yards passing 92 117
Total yards 440 206
Passing 4-8-2 9-14-2
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0
Punts-ave. 1-13 4-38.2
Individual statistics
Rushing – I: Kamara 17-237, 3 TDs; Forbes 9-56, TD; Brooks 1-13; Kyle 3-37; Jones 2-3; Receveur 1-2. AG: Walsh 15-49, TD; Lorusso 10-22; Binstead 6-24; McKeown 1-(-3); Marczely 1-(-3).
Passing – I: Bulovas 4-8-2, 92 yards, TD. AG: Walsh 8-13-2, 97 yards, TD; Marczely 1-1, 20 yards.
Receiving – I: Brooks 3-48; Kamara 1-44, TD. AG: Reuter 3-40; Traa 3-25; Delgato 1-25, TD; Petersen 1-29; Binstead 1-3; Picard 1-20.
Sacks – I: Kamara, Johnson, Crossley, Galanaugh.
Interceptions – I: Kamara, Brooks. AG: Dosenbach, McDannald.
