Football: Names change, but result is the same for Strath Haven against Interboro

GLENOLDEN — There was no question that host Interboro gave Strath Haven much more of a battle at South Avenue Athletic Complex in a 27-13 setback Friday night than the Bucs had offered in a one-sided loss to the Panthers last season.

Many of the players’ names were different from those of the contestants in the 2021 game, but more than a few were the same.

And there were some statistics that changed a bit a year on.

After his players had joined the band and the student body in singing the school song, winning coach Kevin Clancy offered some interesting reflections on what took place as he began his 32nd season in charge of the Haven sideline.

“I’m happy with the team effort,” Clancy said. “We knew we were in for a battle coming over here. That’s a good team we played, and hats off to the Interboro coaching staff for the job they have done.

“Our kids stayed strong and held off their surge at the end. That (Abu Kamara) is an outstanding football player. We have a lot of respect for him, and our plan was to keep the ball as much as we could, which kept him on defense for all of that time.”

For the second consecutive year, Haven quarterback Sam Milligan did not need to complete a pass against Interboro. Last August, he threw the ball twice. He had a couple of pass plays called Friday but was not credited with a pass attempt. He ended up scrambling on those plays, including one on the last play of the first half that turned into a 24-yard run to the Bucs’ 26.

Senior Anthony Crawford, who gained 108 yards against the Interboro defense in 2021, got 152 yards on 22 carries Friday, including a 52-yard scoring run in the first quarter and a two-yard TD plunge in the third.

Bob Fooskas, who returned a fumble for a touchdown vs. the Bucs in 2021, gained 90 yards on seven rushing attempts, including a 65-yard rumble that set up the second of Milligan’s second-quarter touchdowns.

Milligan got 59 yards on his nine carries. Strath Haven rushed for 365 yards on 49 attempts.

“We came to camp knowing that the only offensive lineman we had coming back was moving to tight end,” Milligan said. “There were a lot of expectations about the offensive line because if we’re going to move the ball, it will be because of them.”

Center Carter Law, guards Cole Miller, Jackson Geremia and Ryan Weinberg, tackles Will Leuthold and Billy Brown, and re-positioned tight end Ben Farabaugh were keys to Haven’s success on the ground. All are juniors with the exception of Weinberg, who is a senior.

“They’ve all worked very hard,” Crawford said. “We know we still have things to work on, but they got things done against what should be a good team. And now we move on to get ready for our next game.”

Senior Aidan Sutherland, who had an interception against Interboro in 2021, picked off another pass to close out the Bucs’ final scoring bid in the last minute Friday.

Interboro put together an eight-play drive that covered 62 yards to score on the opening series of the game. Sophomore Anthony Barr raced the final 14 yards to the goal line as the Haven defense focused on Kamara.

Kamara, who also ended up among the Bucs’ leading tacklers, accounted for 119 of his team’s 191 rushing yards on 18 carries and all 45 of Interboro’s receiving yards with five catches. He ran nine yards for a touchdown in the second minute of the fourth quarter.

“We’re getting better,” Interboro head coach Dennis Lux said. “We played tough and physical against a very good football team. But we hurt ourselves with a few of the things that we did and didn’t do. We’re going to stick together and we’ll continue to improve.”