SPRINGFIELD — Third-seeded Springfield shook off a sluggish start Friday to dominate West Chester Henderson, 48-14, in the first round of the District 1 Class 5A playoffs.
It was the ninth straight victory for the Cougars (10-1), who rolled up more than 300 rushing yards with sophomore Tanner Coll collecting 139 on seven carries, including a 64-yard touchdown and senior Mike Turner adding to his 1,000-yard season with 10 rushes for 125 yards and a score.
Junior Nate Romano punched the ball into the end zone three times for the Cougars, who host sixth-seeded Marple Newtown next week in the quarterfinals.
Coll said the Cougars were inspired by the senior-laden offensive line of Gus Bryan, Dean Brown, Mike Miller and Lucas Aaron. Tight end Ryan Johnston was a beast as well for the Cougars, who took over after entering the second quarter with a 6-0 lead.
Romano, Johnston (on a 46-yard scoring pass from Ryan Whitaker) and Coll all got into the end zone to give the Cougars a 26-0 lead by the intermission.
“Our whole O-line has done a great job and really that’s the reason for our success running the ball,” Coll said. “We practiced hard all week. We knew (Henderson was) going to pass the ball, so we tried to get on them as quickly as possible. We had a bunch of interceptions that shut them off right away.”
Coll and Turner picked off quarterback Braeden O’Connell on back-to-back possessions in the first half to slam the door on the Warriors (4-7), who didn’t score until O’Connell threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Evan Kearney in the last minute of the third quarter.
O’Connell threw for 163 yards, including a two-yard TD to Evan Miles in the fourth quarter but was also picked off by Brian Delaney.
The Cougars forced four turnovers, including a fumble and didn’t turn the ball over. Springfield coach Chris Britton seemed to get almost everyone in uniform into the game. When the Warriors committed to filling the A and B gaps, the Cougars ran outside in their Wing T with Coll busting the long run.
“He does a great job,” Britton said of Coll. “He’s learning the position and now he’s starting to get the feel of it in his first year doing it. Each run he’s getting a little bit better and he’s starting to feel people. You can see him running away from guys. But they’re all progressing.”
The Warriors got a big game from senior Evan Kearney, who caught seven passes for 117 yards and the score. But they didn’t have the firepower to keep up with a methodical Cougars offense that dictated the game.
“I think we battled,” Warriors coach Bob Brice said. “We knew coming in that Springfield plays really hard-nosed football and they were going to be physical. We know that they execute, and they don’t make many mistakes. We took pride in the fact that they had to go to their outside game, but they were still able to execute that.”
Coll said the Cougar seniors didn’t have to say much to pump up their younger teammates for this game.
“Stay together and play as a family,” is the way Coll remembers it. “We always stand for our brothers. It’s awesome to win this game for them. We’ve got to keep this streak going.”
