It was slight consolation on the night, but Cardinal O’Hara left its Catholic League Class 4A semifinal loss to Bonner & Prendergast knowing they weren’t ready to turn in their jerseys yet.
For a team that has taken great strides in its second year under head coach Mike Ewing, Wednesday’s Thanksgiving Eve game against Marple Newtown marks another chance to do that.
The only of four Delco Thanksgiving matchups to feature two winning teams will take place the night before Turkey Day when 9-3 Marple Newtown and 7-4 O’Hara collide.
O’Hara’s 31-7 loss to Bonner & Prendergast, which remains alive in the PIAA Class 4A tournament, was a downer to end the competitive portion of their schedule. But having Marple on the horizon for the first year of what the school hopes is a new tradition gave a young nucleus a reason to stay together in practice, preparing for the Tigers and beyond.
“We’ve got to keep working,” O’Hara’s Sidique Kamara said after the Nov. 3 loss to Bonner. “We’ve got a whole couple of years left, for me and for our whole team. We’ve got a whole future building up for this team, for this organization.”
O’Hara’s progress in 2023 has been momentous. The Lions lost the final five games of the 2021 season under BJ Hogan, then the first seven with Ewing in charge in 2022. A win over winless Archbishop Carroll was Ewing’s only victory in a 1-9 campaign.
But with a revamped roster in 2023, the Lions have surged. A 50-6 opening-night loss to Springfield might have generated concern. But their only other losses have come to Bonner and Neumann-Goretti. They won one-score games over Conwell-Egan, Archbishop Ryan, West Catholic and Lansdale Catholic, showing not just talent but maturity in learning how to win.
Kamara, a sophomore, shouldered a major load offensively. He was named to the Catholic League Blue Division’s second team with junior receiver/defensive back Khalil Epps. Junior lineman Nate Kutufaris was a first-teamer.
Quarterback John Welde is just a sophomore, as is wide receiver Fode Wilkes and impact defensive lineman Tristan Liang. Linebacker Sammy Dantanka is a playmaker as a freshman. The future is bright at O’Hara, and any chance to polish that talent is a plus.
That’s especially true when it comes against a veteran squad like Marple that has gotten a lot out of its ability. The Tigers have made Thanksgiving football a priority, winning a 32-28 thriller over Penncrest last year and 39-19 to the Lions in 2021. This year, they have switched to the other high school within Marple Township limits. (It’s probably a good thing, since Marple beat Penncrest to end the regular season and again in the first week of playoffs.)
Marple saw its playoff hopes end with a second round loss to Springfield in the District 1 Class 5A quarterfinals. A team that beat Strath Haven and dropped a one-score game to Garnet Valley has a chance to end the season with a double-digit win total. The Tigers can pen a farewell to an accomplished senior class, among them quarterback David Bertoline, receiver Trey Savior and running back Paul DeFruscio.
