Blocked punt helps propel Souderton past Wissahickon
FRANCONIA >> No matter how well you play, if you turn over the ball it can come back to bite you. On Friday, Souderton was finding that out the hard way early on as they turned the ball over in their own red zone three times and went into the half down 7-6 despite outrushing Wissahickon 231 yards to 57.
“That’s unfortunately been the story of our year so far,” said Souderton head coach Ed Gallagher. “We’ve been able to go out there and get a ton of yards but we’re just not scoring points but the name of the game isn’t yards it’s points so luckily tonight we were able to do that in the second half.”
Luckily for them, it didn’t take long to right the ship. On Wissahickon’s opening drive of the half the Indians forced a three and out and then managed to block the ensuing punt out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
Two plays later, after getting the ball back following the safety, Souderton struck again on a Jamar White 10-yard scamper to turn a one-point deficit to an eight-point lead in just two minutes and never look back on their way to a 29-7 victory.
“That blocked punt was such a huge play.” said Gallagher. “We probably would have gotten good field position either way but again from an offensive standpoint we weren’t confident enough at that point to be able to get it in the end zone so it was crucial to be able to get the safety then we went with the play action pass and went down and scored.”
Running backs Blake Gular and White combined for 186 yards on the ground in the opening half and were punishing the Trojans between the tackles but whether it was an interception, a fumble, or a turnover on downs, the Souderton offense would stall when it mattered most.
Even with the offense stalling, there is no denying just how dominant both Gular and White were on this night.
“They’ve been workhorses for us for two or three years now both of them,” said Gallagher. “Those two have been really sound for us so we have a really good backfield and it also helps to have a line in front of them blocking the way we are right now so we’ve got a really nice combination back there and if we can get a little crisper execution in our passing game we’re going to be tough to stop.”
White finished with a game-high 171 yards on the ground with a touchdown while Gular finished with 111 of his own which allowed their team to completely control the pace of the game.
“The line always opens up great holes and we just need to hit them hard and get as many yards as we can,” said White. “I don’t think we had the right mindset in the first half we went to the locker room at half time and really came together as a team. We knew we really needed to win this game, this was a crucial game to win, and that’s what we did.”
While Souderton was busy dominating on the ground the Trojans were trying to take over through the air.
Wissahickon quarterback Mike Marino attempted 35 passes going 19-35 for 200 yards, but the effort wasn’t consistent enough.
Souderton’s defense was keying on the pass all night and Wissahickon’s inability to run the ball made it almost impossible for their offense to move down the field.
“They just kept coming at us and we didn’t have a way to stop them in the second half,” said Wissahickon interim head coach Mike Barkowski. “They we’re able to stop our running game and made the adjustments necessary to do that so we actually thought we could pass more on the short game against them.”
The Trojans ran the ball 18 times as a team for just 67 yards, and while it’s nice to be able to move the ball through the air, if they are going to compete throughout the year they are going to need to manage more than in their ground game.
Top Photo: Souderton’s Jamar White (22) slips off of Wissahickon tacklers for a gain during first-half action of their contest at Souderton Area High School on Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. (Mark C Psoras/The Reporter)
