Football: Bates, Haverford take to ground to top Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — Last week against Ridley, Haverford High senior receiver Ethan Mahan made 10 catches, but the Fords were on the losing end of the final score.

At Springfield’s Cougar Stadium Friday night, Mahan had only two receptions, but the second was a crucial 14-yard scoring strike from Tommy Wright with 1:49 to play that sealed the Fords’ 28-13 victory.

“I don’t care how many catches I have when we run the ball like we did here,” Mahan said. “And you’re going to have a lot to write about for the next three years with (Zeke Bates). You saw what he did.”

Bates, a sophomore playing his first season of varsity football, gained 127 yards on 24 carries, including a 12-yard scoring dash with two minutes to play in the third quarter, helping Haverford (1-2, 1-1 Central) become the first team to score against Springfield (2-1, 1-1) this season.

“We felt good about running the ball when we were preparing for this game,” Haverford coach Luke Dougherty said. “We know (Springfield) Coach (Chris) Britton does an awesome job. They had shutouts in their first two games. So we challenged our kids and told them we wanted to be able to run the ball in this game.”

Senior back Collin Cassidy, who had been a key runner for the Fords in 2021, took on the job of leading the way for Bates in Friday’s game. Linemen Tommy Touhill, Henry Gillespie, Derek Kaercher, Julien Burke, Tommy Dixon and Will Cascarina and tight end Justin Marciano opened holes and pushed the Springfield defenders back well enough that Haverford ground out 237 yards. Wright, who’d led a pass-heavy attack the last two weeks, was 6-for-10 passing for 60 yards.

“(Wright) has done such a good job bringing our inexperienced linemen around and getting them up to speed,” Dougherty said. “And when we needed him to throw, he came up with a huge play.”

Wright didn’t have to hesitate when asked what it’s been like working with his offensive line.

“Trust,” he said. “Believing in them in everything we do.”

Haverford’s opening drive demonstrated what the Fords were all about Friday night. Wright scrambled nine yards on the first play, then after Cassidy got nine yards and a first down, Wright had his only completion of the nine-play sequence, a six-yarder to Mahan.

Cassidy’s 17-yard run was the biggest play of the 66-yard march, then Bates got his first three carries and Cassidy went seven yards to the 1, from where Wright scored 3:35 into the game.

Springfield’s first possession ended at the Haverford 12, but Chris Dolan got the ball right back for the home team with an interception two plays before the opening quarter ended.

It took the Cougars 11 plays, but they drove 55 yards for a touchdown, which came on a two-yard run by Tyler Gougler. After an encroachment penalty on the Fords, Springfield went for a two-point conversion, but Gougler was stopped short.

Haverford used 11 plays and almost seven minutes to go 70 yards for a TD just before halftime. Wright’s 14-yard completion to Keith Heinerichs on the first play was the only pass in the series. Bates carried five times, gaining 27 yards before Cassidy again set up Wright’s second one-yard scoring run with an eight-yard gainer on a second-down play.

In the third quarter, a 10-play scoring drive for the Fords included only one completion. Bates amassed 48 yards on six carries, with his 12-yard jaunt two minutes before the third quarter ended resulting in six points.

“We put in a lot of work in the off-season,” Bates said. “We can use our power game and I know I can trust (the linemen) to do their jobs.”

Springfield countered Bates’s TD with an 84-yard drive that used up 12 plays. A facemask penalty on a Nate Romano run put the ball at the Haverford 20, and on the next snap Jake Rama and Ryan Johnston teamed up on a scoring completion.

The Cougars got the ball back with 5:43 to play, but Ben Fleming jarred the ball loose from Aidan Kreydt (10 catches, 94 yards) at the Springfield 35. Six plays later, Mahan was standing in the middle of the end zone after Wright’s 14-yard scoring throw.

“I had been telling them that the middle was open,” Mahan said. “The way this game turned out, we didn’t have to throw that much. I’ll take that any day as long as we come away with the win.”