Conestoga football squad runs past Harriton on Homecoming

Tredyffrin >> Following Conestoga’s 42-14 Homecoming win Friday evening, Pioneer head coach Matt Diamond reflected on the role of his star senior running back Liam Kirk, who ran for 179 yards and three touchdowns by halftime.

“We knew coming into this game that we wanted to establish the run, and we wanted to get the ball into Liam’s hands – he runs hard, makes guys miss, he’s a very special player who makes good things happen,” said Diamond.

The 6-foot, 200-pound Kirk smiled and said, “I’m going to have to shout out for my big dogs [linemen] up front. They make me look good; I’ll put anything on the line for them. Maybe I’ll take them out to dinner or something [laughs].”

Diamond added, “I thought our offensive line did a tremendous job tonight. [Senior] Mitchell Benjamin, [senior center] Matt Hamilton, senior Andrew Guillocheau, all experienced guys for us; they were all starters last year for us, and I think their experience shows in a game like this.”

In the first nine minutes of the game, Conestoga (1-4, 1-3) built a 21-0 lead against Harriton (0-5, 0-4). The Pioneers took the opening kickoff and marched 63 yards in nine plays for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Harriton went three-and-out, and a short punt gave the hosts possession at the Rams’ 46 yard line. Kirk ran for 28 yards, then two plays later, the Pioneer senior ran it inside for an 18-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

Seven plays later, Conestoga senior defensive back Chris Wiggins intercepted a Harriton pass, giving the Pioneers the ball at their own 32 yard line. Almost immediately, Conestoga senior quarterback Chris McGovern hit senior end Scott Smith with a short pass to the right. Smith, who was wide open, turned on the speed and outraced the Harriton defenders into the end zone for a 73-yard touchdown.

Although the Pioneers’ attack was mostly ground-based Friday night, McGovern completed several key passes throughout the evening that were crucial to maintaining drives. He connected on a 22-yard pass to senior wide receiver Michael Prestipino that set up the Pioneers’ opening touchdown, and by halftime completed 6 of 10 passes for 139 yards.

“I thought Chris did a real good job running our offense tonight,” said Diamond. “He made some smart checks that put us into some good plays. Everything we repped during the week he felt really comfortable with.”

Conestoga’s 21-0 lead didn’t last long, as Harriton senior Daral Cresswell scored on a 78-yard kickoff return to make the score 21-7 before the first quarter ended.

Early in the second quarter, Harriton attempted a short flare pass from their own 30-yard line that was picked off by Conestoga senior cornerback Kelley Nowlan with a perfectly-timed leap. Nowlan had nothing but daylight in front of him, and he ran it in for a touchdown to make the score 28-7.

“Kelley made a really smart read,” said Diamond. “We had watched [Harriton] throughout the week [on film], and when they flared that back, and if we were sitting in a Cover 2 look, we said, ‘Take a chance on it.’ He read it perfectly, and good things happened from there.”

Five minutes before halftime, Kirk broke loose for a 73-yard run, taking the ball all the way to the Harriton 6 yard line. Two plays later, Kirk scored his third touchdown of the night and Conestoga had a 35-7 lead.

Kirk said, “[On the 73-yard run] that hole opened wide and I saw daylight; I just had to hit that hole hard and turn on the jets. Even if I didn’t get 73 yards on that play, we were going to be eating [yardage] all game, because we were doing well on the run.”

Following Kirk’s third touchdown, Harriton went three-and-out, punctuated by a quarterback sack by Hamilton. Three plays later, McGovern hit his second touchdown pass of the night, a 20-yarder to senior end Riley Deshetler, and the hosts had a 42-7 lead before halftime.

“We knew we had to get the job done tonight,” said a smiling Kirk. “We’ve been losing some games I don’t think we should have lost. We know we’re a good team, and that once we put everything together we can definitely beat some teams throughout the season, and hopefully we can carry this momentum throughout the rest of the season and definitely put some more W’s in that column.”

Conestoga did rack up some penalties in the first half – a total of eight for 102 yards before halftime.

“This was not a perfect game for us, but these [penalties] are things that can be fixed,” said Diamond. “You’ve got to handle the things you can control, and take great pride in that.”

“This was a really good week of preparation and I was really proud of our kids the way they performed tonight. We’ve got a tough opponent next week [Garnet Valley], but hopefully we can use this win as momentum and be ready to work next week.”

Kirk said, “We’ve got a special team here, and we’ve got to carry our momentum into the rest of the season.”

In the fourth quarter, Harriton rallied for another touchdown, as freshman quarterback Logan Rothberg scored on a 16-yard run. In his first start at QB for the Rams, he threw for more than 100 yards.
“Logan was impressive at times, was quick with his decisions and stood tough in the picket when pressured,” said Harriton head coach Justin Mellor. “He threw some nice balls, and his numbers would look better had we not dropped a number of catchable passes.
“Teddy Molineaux and Max Copley continued to play well at running back. They grind it week in and week out and push for the tough yards. They both also catch the ball well out of the backfield. Shane Sullivan made four tackles in the backfield and continued to provide great leadership to the team, especially on the defensive line.
“Our team continues to learn and grow, and they make it a joy to go to practice day in and day out. As a [coaching] staff, we emphasize that football is a game and it should be fun. We remind them that they signed up to play and have fun and I know are kids are doing that. It sounds cliché’, especially when you’re on the short end, but we really don’t look at the score.”

NOTES: As part of the Homecoming celebration, before the Friday evening game the Class of 2019 inductees of the T/E and Conestoga High School Athletic Hall of Fame were introduced on Teamer Field – Liz Costello (Class of 2006, Track and Field); Megan Deakins (Class of 2008, Field Hockey and Track and Field); Megan Havrilla (Class of 2003, Field Hockey and Lacrosse); Pat Heim (Class of 2003, Football,Wrestling and Lacrosse); Mark Herzlich (Class of 2006, Football and Lacrosse); Chris Ippoliti (Class of 2002, Swimming) and George Cockerill (Contributor, Gerry Gasser Award).