Norristown’s offense stalls in loss to William Tennent

WARMINSTER >> In the end, all Norristown High head football coach Jason Powel could do was shake his head.

His Eagles had just fallen to William Tennent, 17-13, in a Suburban One League Continental Conference contest that they had once led, 13-3.

But according to Powel, the same fire and intensity he saw in the first half, was not there in the second.

Tennent was no more successful after halftime than the Eagles, but it didn’t have to be.

Norristown needed a spark, but nothing would light.

The team would gain just 27 yards in the second half, and while its opponent would not fare much better, it was Tennent that would wind up celebrating the end of a four-game losing streak.

“I wanted them to come out in the second half with some energy and some emotion,” Powel said. “That’s what we used to take the lead.”

Instead, the Eagles would run nine plays in the second half that lost yardage while turning the ball over on each of their final two possessions.

It was not pretty.

“We’re on that emotional roller coaster right now,” Powel said. “And tonight, we didn’t get it done.”

Things didn’t begin well for the Eagles, who watched their hosts march 67 yards after taking the opening kickoff, close enough for a 27-yard field goal by Dan Collier.

But Norristown didn’t stay down long, as Charles Sanders grabbed the ensuing kickoff and sped 63 yards to put Norristown on top, 6-3.

Then three plays after stopping Tennent on its next series, Eagles quarterback Brandon Gorski fired a quick out to Rashon Wiggins, who turned it into a 56-yard touchdown.

But that would be the extent of the good news for the visitors.

Just three plays into the second quarter, Danny Costello capped a four-play, 56-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to pull Tennent within 13-9.

Things then got worse for the Eagles, who fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the Panthers cashed in with a 7-play, 34-yard drive that ended with Costello scoring his second touchdown in less than 4:00, and one two-point conversion later the Panthers led, 17-13, an advantage they took into intermission.

And the score would not change.

The Eagles got the ball to open the second half, but wound up punting after three plays netted minus-12 yards.

Norristown got a break when a 24-yard pass play from Gorski to Corey Davenport was enhanced by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty.

But the next three plays, all Davenport runs, lost yardage and the Eagles were forced to punt.

Their third possession of the half got as far as the Panthers 49 before three consecutive plays lost yardage and preceded another punt.

But their best chance came late in the fourth quarter when 25-yard and 18-yard completions to Wiggins got Norristown as far as the Panthers 13-yard line.

But the next three plays netted just one yard and a fourth-down Gorski pass to the end zone fell incomplete.

The next two Eagles series ended with interceptions, and the Norristown roller coaster was in a downward spiral for good.