Jenkintown’s defense leads the way in season-opening win

August 26, 2022

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JENKINTOWN >> It was Jenkintown senior captain James Martin’s 17th birthday Friday and the Drakes celebrated the best way they knew how – with a 28-7 season-opening victory over the George School at Jenkintown Middle/High School.

Martin, a quarterback and safety, threw for 114 yards and a touchdown on offense, but it was Jenkintown’s defense and special teams that won the day.

The Drake’s defense grabbed four interceptions in the game and recorded a safety. The special teams forced and recovered a fumble and blocked and returned a punt for a touchdown.

“We like to run a formation where we take off a defensive lineman and we run two safeties,” Martin, who grabbed two interceptions in the second half, said. “It’s really good because there is a lot of coverage in the secondary. We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback to make him scramble, so he was hurrying and he just threw it up. We got a couple deflections and found the right spots and it worked.”

The Drakes first interception came on the George School’s second play from scrimmage. Jenkintown’s Alex Williams grabbed the interception, returned it to the George School’s 35-yard line and, seven plays later, the Drakes led, 7-0.

“Field position is everything,” Drakes sophomore Keegan Eichert said. “That definitely helped us. When your defense gets a turnover it helps the offense so much. It’s just so much energy.”

Eichert forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Bill McMahon recovered to setup the Drakes offense again in good field position. Three penalties doomed their drive, but after a punt the defense forced a three-and-out. Joe Abate blocked the punt and Jamie Shields fell on the ball in the endzone to make it 13-0 late in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, with the Drakes ahead 13-7, Nolan McGettigan grabbed an interception near his own goalline to keep Jenkintown ahead.

After another Jenkintown touchdown made it 19-6 in the third quarter, the defense was able to pin its ears back in the fourth. Back-to-back sacks on 3rd-and-8 and 4th-and-18 essentially sealed the game in the middle of the final quarter and McMahon added an exclamation point with a safety to make it 21-7.

“We lost two senior defensive ends (from last year),” Martin said. “Two new guys – one guy’s a junior (Jamie Shields) and never started a single varsity game and he went off, got in the backfield almost every single play. And our other kid (Josh Slade) has never started at d-end. Just goes to show – we go out every time and our motto is ‘Team’ and it just goes to show it doesn’t matter if your best players leave. We always have players to come back and are always working hard to take that spot.”

GOING LONG

Martin gained 65 of his 114 passing yards on two throws to classmate Dan Ecker in the third quarter. The two, who also had a 39-yard touchdown wiped away by an illegal man downfield penalty in the first quarter, connected for a 29-yard gain on a 3rd-and-12 and a 36-yard touchdown.

Jenkintown quarterback James Martin warms up before a game against the George School Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. (Ed Morlock/MediaNews Group)

“It started last year,” Martin said. “It seems like when we connected it’s always a touchdown or a very good play. I trust him. I know he had a couple drops, but that doesn’t mean anything for me. I still trust him with everything. I know he’s fast and can beat the guy and make a play when we need one.”

“We’e been hanging out for years,” Ecker said. “We’re literally best friends.”

FIRST 100-YARD GAME

Eichert accounted for more than half of the Drakes total offensive yards Friday morning. The sophomore carried the ball 21 times for 112 yards and two touchdowns. The offense totaled 221 yards.

“The line did amazing today,” Eichert, who scored five-yard touchdowns in the first and fourth quarters, said. “There were so many holes. It was all them.”

Jenkintown running back Keegan Eichert runs for a touchdown in the first quarter of a game against the George School Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. (Ed Morlock/MediaNews Group)

While Eichert didn’t take much credit for his first 100-yard performance, Martin was happy to compliment the underclassman.

“It’s just crazy how he’s a sophomore and he’s that built and can run that hard and can see the field that well,” Martin said. “It’s good because his family is very big with Jenkintown and has had a lot of good football players in the past. We’re really blessed to have a young guy that’s going to help this program in the future and especially now.”

Senior running back Milo Condran also credited the offensive line’s performance.

“When it comes down to the line we were more gritty than them,” he said. “They didn’t push us more. We were more physical than them. We made tackles when we had to. We were more aggressive than them and they were just soft at the end of the day.”

Jenkintown 28, George School 7

George School 0 7 0 0 – 7

Jenkintown 13 0 6 9 – 28

Scoring

First Quarter

J – Keegan Eichert 5-yard run (Stuart Blake kick) 7:53

J – Jamie Shields 0-yard blocked punt recovery (kick failed) 3:10

Second Quarter

GS – Akshay Fabrizzo 12-yard reception from Jagger Matera (Andrew Wiethrill kick) 9:21

Third Quarter

J – Dan Ecker 36-yard reception from James Martin (two-point failed) 3:56

Fourth Quarter