Souderton dominates Council Rock South for 5th straight victory
FRANCONIA >> Undefeated in their red jerseys, Souderton seniors have never suffered a home defeat in their three seasons as varsity athletes. Head coach Edward Gallagher praised them for this accomplishment after his Souderton Indians 23-0 victory over the Council Rock South Golden Hawks on Friday night.
The accomplishment was made all the more special with this game falling on Senior Night, it would’ve been hard to envision a more stellar send-off for Souderton seniors than a shutout victory for their final home game of the season.
“That’s just a testament to the character and leadership those kids have,” said Gallagher, “to get a shutout on Senior Night, that’s just the icing on the cake.”
Younger players like junior Ryan Sadowski have been inspired by how his seniors have played and was excited to send them out in fashion.
“It was amazing, it’s great to see our seniors get that last win. Three years in a row, no losses on the home field, no losses in the red jerseys. It’s great to see that.”
The defense led the charge on Friday night and was exceptional. The defensive line and linebackers worked perfectly to strangle the Council Rock South running attack before it could get started. The Golden Hawks only had two rushes of 10 or more yards and couldn’t sustain any drives throughout the game.
“Our line opened up gaps,” said Sadowski, “and our linebackers were able to fly around all day and able to pinch and squeeze to keep the ball within the box. We met every run at the line.”
Because the Souderton (7-1, 4-0 Continental) run defense was so stout, Council Rock South (3-5, 1-3) was forced into passing downs. Yet, they found no more success through the air than they did on the ground. Souderton harangued Golden Hawk passers into a stat line that read; 3-for-11 for 18 yards with an interception. The defensive line put constant pressure on the quarterback and the secondary allowed nowhere near enough separation for passes to be completed.
“We just listened to our coaches, we played man to man,” said senior defensive back Shaun Purvy, “we felt like we were the better athletes and we went out there and played football.”
The offense might’ve felt they left some points on the board by ending several drives with field goals instead of touchdowns. However, when needed scores their offense provided in no small part due to their seniors.
Senior quarterback Jared Zimmerman was the first to step up in what was then a 3-0 game. Zimmerman on a QB-read kept the ball and made multiple defenders miss en route to a 68-yard touchdown that was one of two rushing scores for the quarterback in the game.
“He’s (Zimmerman) been doing it all year, he had the long touchdown run tonight,” said Gallagher, “he’s been running the ball well all year.”
Zimmerman got it done through the air as well with help from senior wide receiver Purvy who came alive in the second half with four catches for 73 yards. This wide receiver-quarterback connection has been well-honed for years.
“It’s been strong ever since we were young playing together and it’s only going to continue to grow,” said Zimmerman.
Purvy echoed his quarterback’s sentiments.
“It’s a great connection we’ve been playing together since we were seven or eight years old,” said Purvy, “he knows where I’m gonna be, I know where he’s gonna be and I just like playing with a quarterback like that.”
Souderton’s victory sets up a titanic clash next week when they travel to Upper Dublin on Friday at 7 p.m. to take on the Cardinals in a game that will in all likelihood decide who walks away victorious in the SOL Continental Conference.
Souderton knows how big this game is and is looking forward to the challenge according to Gallagher.
“Upper Dublin has us circled on their calendar, we’ve had them circled on our calendar for months now.”
The waiting is almost finished, with only a week remaining until this clash of two of the SOL Conference’s finest.
