District 1 Class 5A Football: Wolski, Marple turn back clock to handle Penncrest again

NEWTOWN SQUARE — For football players, there are victories that are easy to remember and losses they choose to forget.

A pair of losses helped sixth-seeded Marple Newtown build up the momentum it needed to roll past No. 11 Penncrest, 48-13, in a District 1 Class 5A playoff opener Friday night.

Marple will travel to third-seeded Springfield for its second-round contest.

Many of the Tigers looked back with displeasure to the 2022 playoffs, which lasted only one game, an 18-15 defeat at Chester.

The 2023 squad had to look back only one week to a win over Penncrest which closed out the regular season. During that contest, one of their senior starters was ejected, making him ineligible for the playoff opener.

“We try to establish that we are a family,” Marple Newtown head coach Chris Gicking said. “When something happens to one of our family, we stick together. We took what happened last week personally.

“Today I thought we played well offensively, defensively and on special teams.”

Actually it was a Penncrest special teams effort that gave the Lions the first offensive series after recovering an onside kick on the opening kickoff.

The Lions picked up one first down before running out of steam. The next thing Penncrest knew, their defensive players were running down the field after Marple’s first play from scrimmage was a 36-yard completion from David Bertoline to Trey Saviour, putting the ball on the Penncrest 39. Four plays later, sophomore Brett Wolski raced 28 yards for the first of his three touchdowns.

“Our offensive line is awesome,” Wolski said, including tight end John Daddario with interior linemen Jason Bennett, Brett Cowan, Eric Janda, Andrew Kirlin and Jake McGowan as the blockers responsible for his success. “Our play-calling was outstanding all game.”

Bertoline (11-for-17 for 180 yards) started the next MN possession throwing to Saviour. This time the gain was 45 yards to the Penncrest 25 before a third-down pass to Joey Yukenavitch became a 13-yard score late in the first quarter.

Marple Newtown (9-2) made it 3-for-3 on scoring drives after taking over at the Penncrest 46. Bertoline’s completion to Aidan Curran moved the ball to the 16, and Brian Box scored on the next play.

Despite a pair of holding penalties, the visiting Lions (5-6) put together an 11-play drive that included a 50-yard completion from Nico Tozzi to Blaise Persichetti to the MN 5. Matt Ferry scored on a short third-down run.

Wolski gave the home fans something to shout, claiming the ensuing kickoff at his 35 and escaping would-be tacklers on the sideline before cutting back and refusing to stop until he reached the end zone.

When Marple got its hands on the ball for the first time in the second half, the Bertoline-to-Saviour passing duo got together on a 22-yard third-down completion to Penncrest’s 15. Two Wolski carries ate up those 15 yards for another score.

Lou DiLuzio, who had been making things miserable for Penncrest ball carriers at middle linebacker, made the most of the second of his three rushes with a 28-yard burst up the middle for a score in the final minute of the third. Josh McMenamin’s conversion kick turned on the mercy clock.

“We changed some things up and moved some people around on our defense,” DiLuzio said. “We knew they were going to want to pound the ball (on the ground) and we wanted to pound them right back.

“Getting our first playoff win is really something special.”

Penncrest refused to back down and went 79 yards in 10 plays, Tozzi hooking up with Persichetti for 37 yards, hen banging into the end zone from one yard out to get six points.

The Marple Newtown reserve backs got the call on the Tigers’ final possession, Michael Favacchia scoring on a 15-yard run.

“I told our kids that when they expanded the playoffs one of the things that that meant was that more teams would be ending their season with a loss,” Penncrest head coach Paul Graham said. “These guys have worked so hard and changed the culture at Penncrest.

“They worked very hard in the off-season and stuck together through everything. That’s why I told them how proud I was of them.”