Led by the line, Owen J. Roberts pushes past Norristown, 32-8

High school football games are often won in the trenches – a dominant line can carry a team to a win.

And on Friday night, Owen J. Roberts’ dominant line play ruled the day in a wire-to-wire 32-8 victory over Norristown.

The Wildcats (4-3, 1-2 PAC Liberty) out-gained the Eagles (2-5, 0-3 PAC Liberty) on the ground by an eye-opening 273-23 yard margin, led by senior running back Hunter Rhoads (20 carries for 151 yards and a touchdown) and senior quarterback Michael Reed (five rushes for 55 yards and two touchdowns).

Norristown senior running back Jamal Griffin led the Eagles in rushing yardage with 25 yards on 11 carries.

Sophomore quarterback Brendan Farrell completed 15 of 28 passing attempts for 188 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought we’ve been playing well,” Owen J. Roberts coach Rich Kolka said. “So I just wanted us to come out and start fast and assignment-wise be correct. And I feel like we did that.”

In the final minutes of the first half and with an 18-0 advantage thanks to long touchdowns of 41 and 43 yards by Rhoads and Reed, Owen J. Roberts found themselves on their heels as Norristown began piecing together its first sustained drive of the game.

The Eagles, having strung together consecutive big gains and made their way down to the Wildcats’ 20-yard line, were threatening to put points onto the board heading into the half when Owen J. Roberts senior defensive back Danny Cashman sucked the air out of the stadium with a gem of a defensive play.

As he stood up an Eagles’ receiver with the help of a handful of his teammates, Cashman managed to strip and rip the football away from the ballcarrier and immediately took off in the direction of the Norristown end zone. After a few missed opportunities by would-be tacklers and 79 long yards, Cashman crossed the goal line and gave Owen J. Roberts a 25-0 lead with just 18 seconds remaining on the clock.

“That was awesome, that’s just a great heads-up play,” Kolka said of Cashman’s strip-and-score. “He said that the other guys had him held up, and we practice that – when they have the runner held up, to strip it. So he took it from him and ran it back for a touchdown, it was awesome.”

The Wildcats took the momentum from Cashman’s defensive score and carried it into the second half, holding the Eagles’ to negative yardage in the third quarter and expanding their lead to 32-0 thanks to a second rushing touchdown from Reed.

Norristown would finally get onto the board midway through the fourth quarter, as Farrell found wide receiver Nate Robinson who danced his way through the Owen J. Roberts defense on his way to a 63-yard score.

Owen J. Roberts 32, Norristown 8

Owen J. Roberts 10 15 7 0 – 32
Norristown 0 0 0 8 – 8

SCORING
First quarter
OJR – Joey Kish 26 FG
Second quarter
OJR – Hunter Rhoads 41-yard rush (Kish kick)
OJR – Michael Reed 43 run (Reed run)
OJR – Danny Cashman 79 fumble return (Julia Bold kick)
Third Quarter
OJR – Reed 1 run (Bold kick)
Fourth quarter
NT – Nate Robinson 63 pass from Brendan Farrell (Jamal Griffin 2 run)

TEAM STATISTICS
OJR NT
First downs 11 6
Rushes-yards 37-273 13-23
Passing yards 52 188
Total yards 325 211
Passes 7-15 15-28
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Owen J. Roberts: Rhoads 20-151, 1 TD; Reed 5-55, 2 TDs; Logan Brower 3-28; Corey Schock 2-26; Raymond Bolger 3-6; Derek Henrichs 3-4; Joseph Yellowtail 1-3. Norristown: Griffin 11-25; Robinson 1-(-1); Farrell 1-(-1)
Passing
Owen J. Roberts: Reed 7-14-52, Schock 0-1. Norristown: Farrell 15-28-188 1 TD.
Receiving
Owen J. Roberts: Cashman 3-27; Colin King 1-23; Yellowtail 3-2. Norristown: Robinson 3-78-1 TD; Bocar Dieng 4-58; Rashon Giddens 3-27; Griffin 1-21; Tajhir Gaskins 1-12; Marquis Holmes 2-6; Jakwon Davis 1-5.
Interceptions
Owen J. Roberts: Mason Miller
Sacks
Owen J. Roberts: Brandon Kelley