Football Notebook: Big wins for Germantown Academy, Plymouth Whitemarsh
This one went a little deeper.
“That’s a rivalry, man,” Germantown Academy coach Matt Dence said after his team earned a rousing 37-15 victory over Springside-Chestnut Hill. “We like them. We respect them. And we wanna beat them. I’m good friends with the coaching staff. But we wanna beat ’em. For three hours a year, we wanna tear each other apart.”
It was a complete victory for the Patriots, as the offense, defense and special teams all contributed in major ways on what was a crisp, fall afternoon on the turf at packed Carey Stadium.
GA recovered an onside kick, scored on the ground and through the air, squeezed tight the running lanes and pressured quarterback Aidan Dooley in a decisive second half.
“I have a lot of guys over there that I think the world of,” Dence said of Blue Devils coach Rich Knox and his staff. “And it feels good to beat them. Because they’re well coached. They’re a well-coached team.”
Brian Allen’s performance, which included 159 rushing yards and three touchdowns, was all the more impressive considering he was not 100 percent earlier in the week.
“He’s as good as they get,” Dence said. “He’s tough. He was limited in practice this week. He was a little beat up. And we held him out a couple days. And he really showed up today and did a great job.”
It was a day where GA ruled on the ground and through the air. Evan Spivey caught three passes for 68 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown.
“Tristian put up a perfect ball and Evan came down with it. He’s a dynamic playmaker. I was really impressed with him,” Dence said.
And GA couldn’t have done it without the defense, particularly a pass rush that continued to roll in.
“Donny Lattanze, Coulten Grasela, Sean Spinosa, Logan Woodward, and then we roll some other guys in,” Dence said. “But those four are really good. And Donny, Sean and Coulton are all four-year players for us.”
Big night for PW
Plymouth Whitemarsh’s 31-28 victory over Upper Moreland put the Colonials in prime position to win the Suburban One League American Conference and will also provide a boost in the District 1-5A Playoff seedings.
“It’s huge. This one secures a co-championship for us for the first time since 2016,” Colonials coach Dan Chang said of the American. “And playoff-wise, Upper Moreland’s winning a lot of games, so that’s definitely gonna help us out a little bit. And we wanna play at home, so hopefully this puts us in the right direction.”
