ANC still unbaeaten after rout of Lower Moreland

BRYN ATHYN >> The Academy of the New Church’s pass-heavy offense has been difficult to stop for just about every one of the Lions’ 2019 opponents.

Saturday was no different, as ANC, led by the arm of quarterback Jeb Brenfleck, defeated Lower Moreland, 48-7.

“It was a fun one to win with it being homecoming and everything,” Brenfleck said. “I thought we were sharp on offense and defense and it was just overall a great win.”

Brenfleck finished with three touchdowns and 149 yards on 6-of-10 passing, almost all of which came in the first quarter.

It took almost no time for the ANC pass attack to get going, as Brenfleck found Glenn Sabb II for a 55-yard touchdown pass just over a minute into the game.

After ANC forced Lower Moreland into a three-and-out on its opening possession of the game, Brenfleck found Sabb II for another long touchdown, this time from 72 yards out to make it 14-0 in the opening four minutes of the game.

“He (Sabb II) is an incredible athlete,” ANC head coach Ty Klippenstein said. “There aren’t many players with the size and the speed that he has along with his ability to track the ball in the air. He’s a scholarship-level player, team just need to find him.”

Sabb’s third and final catch of the afternoon came on the defensive end, as he intercepted Lower Moreland quarterback Sal Penecale to start the second quarter.

Running back Devin Bryant joined Sabb II with two first quarter touchdowns of his own. The first came on a 22-yard touchdown run. His second score of the afternoon came courtesy of a 48-yard punt return.

“I caught it and I just try to slow everything down,” Bryant said. “I saw a big gap and saw Glenn (Sabb II) to follow him and I just did that, he hit the last block and I was gone.”

Bryant finished with 117 yards and two touchdowns on just five carries, making the most of his opportunities when his number was called.

Brenfleck’s final touchdown pass of the afternoon came midway through the second, when he found Zach Brenfleck for a nine-yard score.

ANC’s starting quarterback didn’t see the field in the second half as his team pulled away.

The Lower Moreland offense couldn’t find its groove against the ANC defense, turning it over six times in the loss and finishing with three first downs.

Lower Moreland’s lone score of the afternoon came with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, as backup quarterback Vincenzo Berardi threw and 81-yard touchdown pass to John Sheridan. Sheridan finished with four catches for 101 yards.

Saturday’s win marks the 17th in a row for ANC, dating back to a 12-7 win over Pennington on Nov. 4, 2017. Sabb II said after the game that he and the rest of the senior class want to make sure they leave with that win streak still intact.

“Last year we went undefeated and this season we wanted to make sure we left doing it again,” he said. “Every week we come in knowing that its one week closer to the end and we want to make sure we finish strong.”

Academy of the New Church 48, Lower Moreland 7
ANC 28 13 7 0 — 48
Lower Moreland 0 0 0 7 — 7
Scoring
First Quarter
ANC — 55 yard pass from Jeb Brenfleck to Glenn Sabb II; 10:53
ANC — 72 yard pass from Jeb Brenfleck to Glenn Sabb II; 8:25
ANC — 22 yard run by Devin Bryant; 7:22
ANC — 48 yard punt return by Devin Bryant; 3:38
None
ANC —10 yard run by Devin Bryant; 9:59
ANC — 9 yard pass from Jeb Brenfleck to Zach Brenfleck; 7:12
Third Quarter
ANC — 3 yard run by Pat McCabe; 7:48
Fourth Quarter
LM — 81 yard pass from Vincenzo Berardi to John Sheridan; 2:19
Team Statistics
ANC LM
First Downs 11 3
Rushing yards 251 39
Passing yards 149 124
Total yards 400 163
Passing 6-10 5-17
Penalties 4-35 4-45
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 3-3
Punts-Avg 0-0 4-33.5
Individual Statistics
RUSHING
ANC: Jeb Brenfleck 4-21; Devin Bryant 5-117 2 TD; Patrick McManus 4-35; Chris Keel 3-29; Patrick McCabe 1-3 1 TD; Ryan Givhan 1-39; Jarell Keel 2-7
LM: Nick Degliomini 9-21; Christian Long 8-25; Julian Ogawa 2-(-2); Tim Whittle 2-(-5)
PASSING
ANC: Jeb Brenfleck 6-10 149 Yards 3 TD
LM: Sal Penecale 4-15 43 Yards 2 INT; Vincenzo Berardi 1-2 81 Yards 1 TD 1 INT
RECEIVING
ANC: Owen Thygeson 1-1; Glenn Sabb II 2-127 2 TD; Greg Clark 1-3; Henry Roth 2-23; Zach Brenfleck 1-9 1 TD
LM: Sean Maloney 1-3; John Sheridan 4-101 1 TD