Football: Bajzhiir Reese’s two late TDs carry Chichester past Penn Wood

YEADON – Chichester coach Chris Craig talked to his players about all the challenges they have faced after the Eagles rallied for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to defeat Penn Wood, 14-8, and spoil the Patriots’ Homecoming Day ceremonies Friday night.

Among the things Craig discussed were succeeding when the team was supposed to as well as winning when they weren’t expected to win. The word adversity made its way into the conversation.

“The most important thing is to do what you do well and to work on the things you don’t do well,” Craig said.

What the Eagles had not done well for three quarters Friday was getting the football to the end zone. They trailed, 8-0, entering the final 12 minutes.

What they did well in that last quarter was rely on the strong legs and shifty moves of senior Bajzhiir Reese, whose two scoring runs left Chi with a 5-3 overall record and a 3-0 mark in the Del Val League heading into next weekend’s Homecoming Day game, in which the opponent will be Chester, which also has not lost a Del Val matchup.

Chichester went right down the field on its opening possession before losing a fumble at the Penn Wood 3.

The Patriots (1-7, 0-2) didn’t put anything together until Jahlil Green and Jaiden Smith sacked Chi quarterback Danny Kelly on a play that began at the PW 20 three minutes into the second quarter.

A nine-play Penn Wood drive covered 57 yards and concluded with Kyseem Nolton covering the final nine yards and Ahmaad Felter throwing to Rashon Sanders on the conversion pass.

At halftime, Craig reminded his players that “during the week you can work on effort and execution, but on game day it’s up to (the players). (Penn Wood) Coach (Ato) Troop always gets his players to play hard, and they were doing that tonight.”

Despite an interception by Derrick Robertson early in the second half, the Chichester offense continued to struggle while the Eagles defense forced Penn Wood into four consecutive three-and-out series, with Robertson and Eren Martin making their presence felt in the Pats’ offensive backfield.

After halftime, the Penn Wood offense accounted for minus-28 yards, with eight of those negative numbers coming on a sack by Robertson and 15 on a sack by Martin on the final play of the game.

“(Martin) was really doing the job on contain,” Robertson said. “(Julian Marquez) was clogging the holes up and (sophomore Ankeem Benson) was helping stop their runs.

“People were keeping their heads up even when we were down at halftime. We knew we had to get over it after they scored the first touchdown.”

Reese (85 yards on 16 carries) scored his first touchdown two plays after a 29-yard punt return to the Penn Wood 21 by Hamza Clay.

Reese’s 17-yard run was a thing of beauty as he quickly got to and through the right side of the line and made tacklers miss with a sharp cut back toward the middle of the field.

He made sure to credit Jahmad Rosario, Robertson, Andre Foster, AJ Green, Jacoby Roman, Marquez, Benson and Grady Whartnaby for the job they did blocking, especially in the second half, when he picked up most of his rushing yards.

Kelly threw to Robertson after Reese’s first TD for two points to tie the score with 10:16 to play.

Three plays after the kickoff, a tackle by Robertson for a four-yard loss forced a Penn Wood punt, which was blocked by Josh Claycomb with eight minutes left, putting the ball on the Pats’ 25. Reese picked up seven yards on first down and burst through the right side of the line for six points on the next snap.

“The coach was calling my number so I knew I had to make the plays for my team,” Reese said. “We knew at halftime that we had to fight back and bring the intensity. We didn’t do things differently in the second half, but with what the offensive line was doing I knew I could do my job.”

Because he did, Chichester’s players headed home looking ahead for a week of preparation for what they know will be a very important game when they next put on their uniforms.