Koniers sets tone as Jenkintown rallies past Lower Moreland

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HUNTINGDON VALLEY >> As soon as he found open field, Albert Koniers was not going to be caught.

Jenkintown’s senior running back/linebacker electrified his teammates and the traveling Drakes faithful with a 90-yard third quarter kickoff return to highlight a glistening second half effort. It wasn’t just Koniers, but he was happy to put that weight on his 5-foot-4 shoulders and push it forward as Jenkintown rallied behind him.

On a night where not much went right before halftime, the Drakes put together a solid second half and rallied to top host Lower Moreland 27-20 on Friday.

“We knew coming into this game, this was a team we could beat and our defense is a very strong part of our team but we came out weak,” Koniers said. “We went in, talked to each other, fired each other up then our coached talked to us and we just said we were going to come out in the second half and do what we had to do.”

TEARING IT UP

A varsity starter since his freshman year, Koniers has played far above his size since first suiting up at Jenkintown.

Friday however, he took things to another level. The senior carried 12 times for 128 yards with a touchdown, added the kick return to tie the game after Lower Moreland had taken the lead back and it was Koniers who got his mitts on the ball to force a momentum turning fumble on the first play of the second half.

He had plenty of motivation to show out and made sure he delivered.

“I’ve got family here I don’t see a lot, so with them watching me, I didn’t want to disappoint them,” Koniers said. “I didn’t want to disappoint my team either. Myself, I had two fumbles and I wasn’t happy about that. So I turned it around, grinded it out and did it for my teammates.”

Koniers normally wears the No. 6 as he did Friday, at least to start the game. A difficult player to tackle, the senior doesn’t go down until someone drags him down and one of those cases left him with the front of his jersey nearly torn off.

The senior switched to No. 21 to finish things out but it didn’t slow him down at all. Koniers scored both his touchdowns in the new jersey, the first putting Jenkintown up 14-12 and the second tying it 20-20.

“Coming on the field, it was myself and Johnson John back deep and I told him, ‘if you get the ball, I’ll lead you through right up the middle and if I get the ball, you’re going to lead me up the middle,’ and that’s what he did,” Koniers said. “I got the ball and went right up the middle. He blocked No. 9 for them and once he did, I was wide open.”

Right around midfield, just as he hit the clearing, Koniers really turned on the jets. He was going to take care of this one personally.

“I felt really fast,” Koniers said. “As soon as I hit that hole, I thought ‘I am flying right now.’ I’ll tell you, it felt good though.”

Fittingly, Koniers got the last carry of the game, picking up the last first down that allowed the Drakes to ice the clock.

“I feel like we’re a very fourth quarter driven team,” Koniers said. “We are striving for that ball, we are pushing each other and we don’t want to lose. We grew together as a team, we came out together as a team and we won as a team.”

JACKMON’S CHARGE

CJ Jackmon gave the Drakes something they hadn’t had in a few years in a returning starter at quarterback.

An All-BAL honoree as a junior, Jackmon was the perfect complement to Koniers’ efforts on Friday. The senior quarterback amassed 101 yards in the air, including a 22-yard touchdown to Aviv Jackson late in the second quarter that gave the Drakes life at the half.

Jackmon didn’t pick up a ton of yards on the ground, but he had the game-winning score on a determined nine-yard run with 4:04 to play in the fourth quarter.

“Our o-line did a tremendous job blocking,” Jackmon said. “I had plenty of time in the pocket and that opened up way more stuff we could run. Those guys were the most crucial part of our offense.”

First year Drakes coach Luke Ashenbrenner has instilled a new attitude in the program. Jackmon said the team feels more together this season and it’s something they harp on in practice and the coaches make it a point the players sit with different teammates when they have team meals.

Now 3-0 and off a win in their league opener, the Drakes will try to carry their second half momentum forward.

“It’s our team chemistry for sure,” Jackmon said. “Going back to the spring, we’ve gotten much closer to each other, we call each other brothers and that’s one of the most important parts of our team.”

TURNOVER MARGIN

Turnovers were an issue for both teams on Friday.

Jenkintown had two prime scoring drives in the first half thwarted by turnovers, the first a Koniers fumble and the other a one-handed interception of Jackmon by Lower Moreland’s John Sheridan. But the biggest turnover of the game came right at the start of the third quarter.

“Considering we kicked to them, to get that ball right back after scoring at the end of the first half, it was a boost,” Koniers, who ripped the ball loose, said. “Now we had that chance to tie the score or take the lead before they had a chance to further the score.”

Lions coach Justin Beck also noted the impact the early fumble had.

“It’s something we really have to work on, our start coming out of the half,” Beck said. “We ask a lot of kids, as everybody does in this league, to play both ways, kick off and kick return so they have to find a way to grow, get tougher and get through that.”

BUILDING BLOCKS

Beck, now in his third season at Lower Moreland, has put in a lot of effort to help the Lions build the program back up.

Friday, even though the final score won’t reflect it, was a good example of where that work is going. In the first half, Lower Moreland controlled the clock, moved the ball and its defense made stops at crucial points.

“I’m really proud of their effort, they gave us everything they have it just comes down to Jenkintown is a good club and they’re going to be a force in the BAL,” Beck said. “

Quarterback Sal Penecale, in his first year starting, threw a touchdown with 116 yards in the air and showed good chemistry with receivers John Sheridan and Jared Shein. Making it more impressive was the fact Penecale wasn’t taking snaps from his usual center.

A freak gym class injury knocked the Lions usual starter out, so Beck had to ask Patrick Whittle to move over from guard Friday morning. Whittle simply stepped up and did the job and was clean getting the snap off all game.

Another standout for Lower Moreland was tailback Chris Long, who carried for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Long gave LM the lead back at 20-14 when he bullied his way 10 yards into the endzone on a 4th-and-1 play.

“Chris is a tough player, I mean that kid is a dog,” Beck said. “He does that every week for us and when he’s healthy, I think he’s one of the best backs in our league. He’s not a big kid but he runs with all 155 pounds as hard as he can. He’s a tough kid and I’m proud of him.”

Lower Moreland, which will be joining the Suburban One League next year but not football until the 2021 season, is getting there. But, there is still work to be done and Beck knows there are a couple things that have kept the Lions from their first win in 2019.

Beck also gave plenty of credit to Jenkintown and the start Ashenbrenner has them off to, adding the Drakes’ effort gave the Lions some things to look at and improve on.

“For us when we go back and look at it, the two things we’ll be talking about are momentum and then extra points and converting them,” Beck said. “We’ve had two close games so far and both times it played a big part. Whether it was swinging the momentum in the wrong direction or changing the way we call plays, it is something we have to work on.”

JENKINTOWN 0 7 7 13 – 27

LOWER MORELAND 6 6 8 0 – 20

Scoring Plays

1st Quarter

LM – Sal Penecale 26 pass to Jared Shein (kick fail) 7:28

2nd Quarter

LM – Chris Long 12 run (two-point fail) 7:00

J – CJ Jackmon 22 pass to Aviv Jackson (Arkady Bunker kick) 36.8

3rd Quarter

J – Albert Koniers 8 run (Bunker kick) 7:38

LM – Long 10 run (Penecale to Long) 2:05

J – Koniers 90 kickoff return (kick fail) 1:51

4th Quarter

J – Jackmon 9 run (Bunker kick) 4:04

Team Stats

J LM

First Downs 15 12

Rushes-Yards 29-185 34-123

Passing 8-16-1-1 7-12-1-0

Passing Yards 101 116

Total Yards 286 239

Penalties-Yards 6-35 3-25

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 3-1

Individual Stats

Rushing: J – Albert Koniers 12-128, Johnson John 2-6, Nate Miller 1-(-11), CJ Jackmon 5-13, Adon Harris 9-49; LM – Nick Degliomini 10-31, Chris Long 15-86, Sal Penecale 8-(-1), John Sheridan 1-7

Passing: J – Jackmon 8-15-1-1-101, Darrell Chapman 0-1-0-1-0; LM – Penecale 7-12-1-0-116

Receiving: J – Koniers 3-26, John 1-10, Aviv Jackson 1-22, Miller 1-27, No. 4 2-16; LM – Sheridan 3-51, Jared Shein 2-58, Nicholas Khimoian 1-(-4)

Interceptions: LM – John Sheridan

Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson
Montgomery Media/Lansdale Reporter sports writer.

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