Cardinal O’Hara starts sharp, runs over Mastbaum
MARPLE >> The last time Cardinal O’Hara won two games in one season, quarterback Tommy O’Hara was a freshman. The bulk of his teammates were still in middle school.
Coming off back-to-back one-win seasons, the Lions were looking for something — anything — to get excited about. A dominating, 41-6 victory Saturday over Mastbaum, which moved O’Hara to 2-0, did the trick.
“It’s been tough around here the last couple of years, winning two games in two years,” second-year O’Hara coach BJ Hogan said. “To go 2-0 in a season — that’s where we’re trying to get to. That’s where this program needs to be. It’s on (the seniors) to keep working hard and get the season moving forward.”
O’Hara didn’t receive much of a challenge from Mastbaum (0-1), a Philadelphia Public League team which dressed roughly 20 players. The vo-tech school, located just north of the Port Richmond section, is not a football powerhouse. It amassed 43 yards of total offense and was flagged 16 times — roughly half of those were false starts.
The Lions capitalized off that inexperience. They scored on the opening play from scrimmage on Myles Henderson’s 55-yard touchdown run. They made it 14-0 later in the first quarter on Justin Santilla’s three-yard scamper. O’Hara added a pair of three-yard scoring runs late in the second quarter to give his squad a 28-0 halftime lead.
This kind of performance, regardless of the opponent, is a welcome change for the Lions.
“Just getting a lot of guys in the weight room in the offseason,” O’Hara said of the differences between 2015 and 2016. “We had a lot of sophomores last year. They’re all turning into big juniors. They all really committed themselves in the offseason, and everyone committed themselves to come in and get out to a 2-0 start.”
Te’Ron Johnson had a two-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. Backup quarterback Bobby Siderio followed with a 12-yard gallop, which set off the running clock. Mastbaum’s Terrell Brent answered with an 85-yard kickoff return, serving only to get Mastbaum on the board.
In all, O’Hara rushed for 278 yards. Johnson had 107 and Henderson had 81 to lead the way. Eight different Lions carried the football. Spreading it around like that is what Hogan wants to do.
“Just keeping them fresh,” Hogan said. “If each of them can touch the ball six to seven times a game, and they’re hitting some big plays, that’s crucial.”
Defensively, O’Hara yielded next to nothing. the Lions forced four fumbles, recovered one, and gave up just three first downs. Mastbaum’s leading rusher, Brent, had 28 yards.
“Defense is doing really good, they’re all tackling really (well), which was a little bit of a problem last year,” O’Hara said.
The Lions did fumble four times (one was lost). O’Hara threw one interception (another was saved by a Mastbaum penalty). Things weren’t perfect. But for a program that’s struggled to find success and last won the season’s first two games four years ago, things are certainly looking up.
“It’s just good to score,” Hogan said. “Last year we had major issues trying to score the football.”
