FOOTBALL: Lansdale Catholic scores 35 in 1st half, storms past Kensington

LOWER GWYNEDD – Amid an on-and-off again storm rolling over Wissahickon High School, Lansdale Catholic played the part of Zeus on the ground.

The Crusaders were the eye of the storm, and as mighty as the god of thunder. A complete effort across the board, six different players played a hand in racking up 35 first-half points, smiting Kensington 35-7 Saturday.

“Our passing game was definitely on tonight, which we took advantage of,” Lansdale Catholic quarterback Cole Meehan said. “We were watching film on that this week. To first pass the ball, we have to set up the run. Once we did that, we could just throw the ball. Mostly film set us up for this win today.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior signal caller threw 9-of-11 for 136 yards and three touchdowns. Kept squeaky clean in the pocket by an offensive line consisting of Jason Kalkbenner, Steven Clement, Robert Lombardo, Billy McDonald, Chris Ulmer and tight end Darren Jackson, Meehan was sitting on his cloud throwing lightning bolts all night.

It took just three plays for the Crusaders (2-1) on their opening drive to get on the board with a 31-yard hookup from Meehan to Yeboa Cobbold (two receptions, 47 yards).

On the next Lansdale Catholic series, it only took two plays to find the end zone again. Meehan found Carson Bethea (two receptions, 32 yards) wide open near their sideline for a walk-in touchdown to go up 14-0 through the first quarter.

“We got a bunch of new guys up front this year. Seeing them have a good game is definitely huge, it brings a lot of energy to the team,” Meehan said. “We have Jaden Jenkins, a speedy new running back. He’s a beast, he had a great game tonight. Jacahi (Streeter) had a bunch of great carries, everyone just played spot-on tonight.”

Lansdale Catholic defenders swarm Kensington quarterback Nasir Foreman, 9, at Wissahickon High School on Sept. 9. (Evan Wheaton – MediaNews Group)

Just nine seconds into the second frame, Streeter (five rushes, 48 yards) ran two yards up the middle for another touchdown, padding Lansdale Catholic’s lead, 21-0.

On the first snap following a Tigers (0-3) punt, Jenkins burst through for a 30-yard touchdown on an outside run with 8:30 to go before the break. With just four minutes left before halftime, Jackson hauled in a 12-yard reception to enter the locker room with a 35-0 cushion.

Lansdale Catholic’s reserves were in the game in the waning minutes leading into an extended 30-minute halftime break due to inclement weather.

“It’s definitely great for the next coming years. Getting these guys varsity experience under the lights is always a good thing,” Meehan said. “It’s always great when we can do that and we always love to take advantage of it.”

Kensington put together its lone scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Marching downfield, junior running back Joan Diaz put the Tigers on the board with a 12-yard rushing touchdown.

“We’re trying to find any positive we can at this point. We have a lot of things against us, we didn’t get to practice at all, we had to practice inside all week,” said Kensington coach Steve Quigley, noting the storms rolling through the northeast this week.

“We were lucky to even show up, they canceled almost every game in Philadelphia this week. We’re just glad we could come play. Young guys scoring is always a good thing. We’re a very inexperienced team so for them to see what happens when you execute, they see a good thing.”

Kensington running back Taron Johnson, 2, rushes the ball against Lansdale Catholic at Wissahickon High School on Sept. 9. (Evan Wheaton – MediaNews Group)

The Tigers’ touchdown came following a serious injury on the field that left a Kensington player requiring medical attention and a stretcher at midfield.

According to Quigley, after a lengthy pause in action, his answer was certain when asked if his team would wish to continue playing.

“The kid would want us to keep playing, the rest of our kids wanted to keep playing. He’s at the hospital now, he’s responding,” Quigley said. “He was moving on the field, he just kind of, somewhat of a shock, literally a shock where he couldn’t respond. But in the end he was talking.”

Lansdale Catholic went from winless in a four-game 2020 season, to 1-10 in 2021 and 7-3 last year – the most wins for the program since 2015. Sitting over .500 in non-league play, the Crusaders are on a good pace behind a defense that held Kensington to just one first down, five punts and four fumbles in the first half.

Throw in a pair of sacks from Gabe Crispo and Jackson, as well as under 100 yards of total offense let up on the night, and you have some complementary football.

“Defensively, that’s what we want to do,” Lansdale Catholic coach Dominic D’Addona said. “We want to play stout defense and capitalize on opportunities and mistakes. We want to force turnovers and get the ball back to our offense.”

Lansdale Catholic 35, Kensington 7

Kensington 14 21 0 0 — 35

Lansdale Catholic 0 0 7 0 — 7

SCORING

First Quarter

LC – Y. Cobbold 31 pass from Meehan (Ellis kick), 7:56

LC – Bethea 27 pass from Meehan (Ellis kick), 4:43

Second Quarter

LC – Streeter 2 run (Ellis kick), 10:51

LC – Jenkins 30 run (Ellis kick), 8:30

LC – Jackson 12 pass from Meehan (Ellis kick), 4:08

Third Quarter

K – Diaz 12 run (Da Silva kick), 8:25

TEAM STATISTICS

LC K

First downs 8 2

Rushes-Yards 25-92 19-49

Passing yards 136 7

Total yards 228 56

Passes C-A-I 9-12-0 5-11-0

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 5-0

Penalties-Yards 5-60 4-35

Punts 1 6

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Kensington — Diaz 3-14, TD; Foreman 5-8; Washington 1-(minus-5); Johnson 7-28; Altiery 1-2; Vega 1-(minus-1); Morales 1-3.

Lansdale Catholic — Streeter 5-48, TD; Jenkins 3-35, TD; Bayne 2-3; Meehan 1-5; Maisonet 1-3; O’Brien 5-4; J. Cobbold 7-(minus-5); Melcher 1-(minus-1).

Passing

Kensington — Foreman 2-6, 0 yards; Johnson 2-4, 2 yards; Vega 1-1, 5 yards.

Lansdale Catholic — Meehan 9-11, 136 yards, 3 TD; Y. Cobbold 0-1, 0 yards.

Receiving

Kensington — Washington 2-7; Ramos 1-(minus-2); Santana 2-2.

Lansdale Catholic — Y. Cobbold 2-47, TD; Bethea 2-32, TD; Jackson 1-12, TD; Webb 4-45.

Sacks: LC 2 (Crispo 1.5, Jackson 0.5).