Delco Christian sees improvement despite shutout by Jenkintown

NEWTOWN SQUARE >> Exactly zero seniors touched the football on offense for Delco Christian Saturday.

Coincidentally, exactly zero points were scored by Delco Christian.

The young Knights struggled to move the ball and sustain drives, losing 12-0 to Jenkintown in Bicentennial League play. Delco Christian, 0-4 and 0-2 in the league, had a mere 173 yards of total offense — all on the ground.

Jenkintown (2-1, 1-1) wasn’t much better, save for Steven Charlemagne’s 149-yard rushing performance. The senior running back ran hard and turned a few sure-losses into gains. He was the difference and the reason the Drakes found the end zone twice.

“He’s a senior, he plays extremely hard,” Jenkintown coach Tony Owens said. “I’m especially happy for him. He’s never experienced a victory over these guys.”

In fact, the Drakes had never beaten the Knights. This win meant a ton to this team, knocking off perhaps the most consistent program in the league. But that program now is in rebuilding mode.

Delco Christian has just two seniors on its roster. One of them, Jake Allen, was replaced at quarterback due to injury (he still played defense, and came up with an interception). Sophomore Elijah Thomas filled in and rushed for 56 yards, but only attempted one pass.

With limited size up front to control the line of scrimmage and no passing game, scoring was going to be a difficult task. Despite the result, Delco Christian coach Drew Pearson saw improvement.

“I felt like we got better, we just gotta keep doing that,” he explained. “The goal every week is to get better. I feel like, though we lost to these guys, they’re well coached, they play hard and you have to give them credit. You really do. You have to give these guys credit. They did some really good things and so they deserve to win.”

Jenkintown put together a seven-play, 50-yard drive to begin the second half, scoring on Charlemagne’s eight-yard run. Midway through the fourth quarter, after a time out, freshman Albert Koniers took his lone carry of the game 35 yards to the house.

Delco Christian had its chances. A Thomas interception set the Knights up with a short field early in the second quarter, but the drive stalled inside the 10-yard line, and the field goal was never attempted because of a poor snap. After Jenkintown’s first touchdown, the Knights got inside the 30-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.

“They’re a very good team, they’re coached extremely well,” Owens said. “A couple of plays went our way.”

Luke Gutowski led Delco Christian with 66 yards on the ground. He had 14 carries while Thomas logged 16. Four other ball carriers combined for 15.

Pearson liked what he saw out of Thomas, especially considering it was his first action under center.

“He’s a spectacular athlete, and he’s only going to get better,” Pearson said. “I thought he did some really good things. He’s not going to get worse. This was his first week. He’s going to get better.”