Malvern >> On Senior Night at Malvern Prep, the Friars relied on their senior-laden offensive line to pile up more than 400 rushing yards in a 38-10 win against Germantown Academy Friday.
“I think our offensive line did a really good job. We opened some big holes and our ballcarriers were able to take advantage of it,” said Malvern head coach Dave Gueriera. “All five of the (O-line) – (seniors) Peter Jones, Logan Demchyk, Dylan Kraiza, Liam Horan and (junior) Orazio Nastase, they all did a really good job. And (running back) Alex Gueriera and (tight end) Ben Kumpon did a good job of blocking.”
Nastase, the Friars’ left guard, said, “It was really a great team effort, we were firing on all cylinders, didn’t miss a tick. We were really fired up for this game, and it was a great bonding experience — I’m the only junior on the (starting) O-line.”
Leading the way for the Malvern ground gainers – 11 different backs carried the ball Friday — was junior running back Andrew Pellicciotta, who ran for touchdowns of 80 and 72 in the first half, giving the Friars (8-1 overall, 4-0 Inter-Ac) a 17-3 halftime lead.
“Our O-line did an amazing job today,” said Pellicciotta. “They did a great job of opening up the holes, I followed my blockers and found some green. It was a fun game, and it was great getting everybody in.”
In the second half, junior quarterback Skyler Smith scored on a 52-yard run, Alex Gueriera tallied on a 17-yard run and Zeke Bates ran for paydirt from 16 yards out.
Malvern’s defense was productive Friday too. While GA sophomore quarterback Xavier Stern completed more than 20 short passes for the Patriots (5-4 overall, 0-4 Inter-Ac), and moved the ball downfield into Malvern territory a number of times, the visitors didn’t score until the waning moments of the game.
“Our defensive motto is ‘bend, don’t break’ and I think we did exactly that today,” said Pellicciotta, who also plays defensive back for Friars. “GA has a good offense, and I thought we did a good job on defense.”
Dave Gueriera said, “We were definitely ‘bend don’t break’ (on defense) tonight, and we tried to tighten up in the red zone.”
When Malvern’s first possession of the game ended in an interception at midfield, GA drove down to the Malvern 6 yard line before the hosts’ defense stiffened, and the Patriots had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Jared Smith to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.
Just 12 seconds later, Pellicciotta broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run, finding a hole up the middle, then breaking to the right, all the way to the end zone.
GA got the ball and moved steadily upfield, down to the Malvern 23 yard line, with short pass completions from Stern. But a Patriot fumble was recovered by Kraiza at the Friars’ 26 yard line, then Malvern used a 20-yard pass completion from Smith to junior Zade Johnson and a 27-yard run by sophomore running back Zeke Bates to move into position for a 35-yard field goal by Jack Ploszay near the end of the first quarter for a 10-3 lead.
On GA’s next possession, Stern hit four pass completions totaling 37 yards and moved down to the Malvern 28 yard line before giving up the ball on downs to the Friars. Then, Pellicciotta broke free down the left side, changing direction at the GA 15 yard line into the end zone to give Malvern a 17-3 lead with 8:35 left before halftime.
On GA’s first possession of the second half, Stern completed six consecutive passes for a total of 49 yards, moving into Malvern territory once again. But the drive ended there, as Kraiza and Ennis Udo sacked Stern on fourth down to give Malvern the ball on its own 43 yard line.
On the very next play, Johnson broke free for a 32-yard run, then three plays later Bates found a hole on the right side of the line for a 16 yard TD run to increase Malvern’s lead to 24-3.
A Malvern interception by Johnson gave the Friars the ball in GA territory, then seniors Luke Pajan and Alex Guereria each ran for 17 yards, the latter for another touchdown to put the hosts ahead 31-3.
“Our offensive line did its job, which makes our job (as running backs) way easier,” said Johnson. “Our line opened up some big holes tonight, but they’ve been doing good all season.”
Early in the fourth quarter, the Friars put together an 81-yard touchdown drive on four consecutive running plays, the final one a 52-yard explosion by Smith to make the score 38-3. Smith shared time Friday with sophomore Jackson Melconian at Malvern’s quarterback spot.
“We feel like we have two good quarterbacks, two varsity-level starters,” said Dave Gueriera. “On that last run (52 yards) by Skyler, it was great to see him explode into that hole.”
With 4:55 remaining, GA scored its first (and only) touchdown on a five-yard pass from Stern to junior wide receiver AJ Towsen.
For Malvern, Friday’s battle with GA was its final home game of the 2023 season, and the Friars have one game left, at Springside Chestnut Hill (8-1 overall, 3-1 Inter-Ac) Nov. 11. SCH edged Episcopal Academy, 24-21, Friday.
“SCH is our everything this (coming) week,” said Dave Gueriera. “This is the final (place) in the journey for us, where we’re trying to get back the Inter-Ac championship back here. SCH is a good team, they’re well coached and have a lot of good skill players. We’re going to have our work cut out for us.”
