Spring-Ford does it with defense in shutout win over Owen J. Roberts

ROYERSFORD >> You won’t have to go far to find Spring-Ford defensive lineman Evan Strzeminski’s inspiration for Saturday’s performance in a 37-0 shoutout of Owen J. Roberts.

You might be looking at it right now.

“Some of our coaches pointed out this week that we [the defense] weren’t mentioned in the papers at all,” said Strzeminski. “It was mostly about the offense.”

That changes now. Strzeminski had two of the Rams’ five sacks as Spring-Ford held OJR to 147 yards of offense in the shutout victory.

“If we’re going to have a good season,” Strzeminski continued, “we’re going to need to keep doing what we did today.”

The marquee matchup — and admittedly, the one featured in certain previews— focused on the two most statistically impressive units in the PAC’s Liberty Division.

Spring-Ford came into Saturday’s game averaging 46 points per game over their 4-1 start to the 2023 season, but on paper they appeared to be meeting their match against an OJR defense allowing only 9.8 points per contest in building an identical 4-1 mark.

But the result was football’s answer to a first-round knockout.

The Rams scored on their first four possessions in building a 30-point halftime lead at Coach McNelly Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Yet the most impressive unit on the field was Spring-Ford’s defense. The Rams limited OJR to just four first downs in the first half, accumulating a half-dozen tackles for loss and recovering a late fumble.

“We focused on the calls, we generated pressure and made plays happen,” said Strzeminski. “We’ve got plenty of depth, our coaches are going to keep coaching up these young guys, and it’ll allow us to have a great rest of the year.”

Spring-Ford quarterback Matt Zollers completed 24 of 33 passes for 345 yards and three scores, while running back/linebacker Mike Bendowski scored on all three of his offensive touches (two rushing, one receiving).

PAC leading receiver Mason Scott added to his impressive senior season with six catches for 130 yards – all in the decisive first half – and the first of Spring-Ford’s first-half touchdowns.

And yet Zollers said his first focus would be a throw he didn’t complete – an ill-advised sideline pass nearly picked off by OJR’s Troy Swittenburg in the third quarter.

“That’s how you win the game – limiting turnovers,” said Zollers. “There are plenty of ways to score touchdowns.”

Zollers’ 24 completions went to seven different receivers.

“Obviously, Mason [Scott] has some of the best numbers in the state,” he said. “But when we move the ball around, it opens up big-play threats.

“Belal [Abdelrahman], Jordan [Marsilio] – there’s a big game coming for all of them.”

The Rams’ opening drive was a mixture of quick-hitting passes and penalties, but the Zollers-to-Scott combination rendered all details meaningless when Spring-Ford’s star receiver fought through a defensive back’s interference and corralled a 45-yard pass while tumbling into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

The Rams’ very next offensive play nearly saw the duo repeat the feat but for a great recovery from OJR’s Swittenburg to swat the ball away near the goal line.

Instead, SF went to their running backs as junior Jamal Lewis powered for consecutive first downs before Zollers scrambled and found Bendowski wide open for a 13-yard scoring connection.

The first quarter was just the start of the offensive fireworks. Jordan Marsilio got lost behind the Wildcats’ secondary on the first play of the second stanza, and Zollers made no mistake finding him for a 40-yard TD and a 20-0 lead.

Five minutes later, Belal Abdelrahman’s 23-yard reception on a 4th and 15 set up Bendowski’s second touchdown, this one a seven-yard run. With six minutes before halftime, the Rams had the same number of points as OJR surrendered in their prior four games combined, good for a 27-0 lead.

Meanwhile, OJR’s offense couldn’t move the ball much at all after their first drive. Three consecutive three-and-outs yielded only a total of six yards, but Colin King’s 26-yard catch-and-run set up the Wildcats in Spring-Ford territory before SF forced a turnover on downs.

After Gyasi Romu’s sack resulted in a fumble recovery by Bryce Roberts, Liam McGarvey beat the first-half buzzer with a 21-yard field goal for the 30-0 margin at the break.

Leading receiver Mekhi Graham was held to just 14 yards on four catches, though he did lead OJR in rushing with 45 yards on four carries. Matt Gregory added a 29-yard reception of his own.

“We lacked energy, we didn’t execute on offense, and we were much better on defense last week,” summarized OJR coach Rich Kolka. “But we have four games left to go. We’ll go over the film on Monday and go from there.”

Kolka applauded the play of Brian Serfass, who generated several pressures on defense. OJR (4-2, 0-2 PAC Liberty) looks to snap its two-game skid next week when they host Norristown.

Bendowski’s third touchdown came on the first play of the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.

Now 5-1 (2-0 PAC Liberty), Spring-Ford prepares to host archrival Perkiomen Valley on Friday. The matchup’s winner has gone on to claim the PAC title in every season since the inception of the PAC’s two-division alignment in 2016.

“OJR was 4-1, and that’s what we practiced for – a good opponent,” said Spring-Ford coach Chad Brubaker. “We prepare every week for every opponent. Now it’s time to focus on Perkiomen Valley and come up with a good game plan.”

Notes: Spring-Ford celebrated the school’s 2023 Homecoming before and during Saturday’s game. Max Gandoul and Bella Butler were honored as 2023 Homecoming King and Queen.

BOX SCORE

Spring-Ford 37, Owen J. Roberts 0

Owen J. Roberts —    0   0   0   ​0   —   ​0

Spring-Ford —   13   17   0   7   —   37

SCORING PLAYS

SF — Scott 45 pass from Zollers (Fields kick)
SF — Bendowski 13 pass from Zollers (kick missed)
SF — Marsilio 40 pass from Zollers (Fields kick)
SF — Bendowski 7 run (McGarvey kick)
SF — McGarvey 21 FG
SF — Bendowski 13 run (Fields kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

OJR               SF
First Downs                 7                 22

Rushing Yards           65                89

Passing Yards            82               350

Total Yards                147              439

Passes C-A-I          12-19-0        25-35-0

Fumbles-Lost            1-1               1-0

Penalties-Yards        7-80            7-70

Punts-Avg.              5-34.2           1-38

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Owen J. Roberts – Hinrichs 17-10, Brower 5-10, Graham 4-45.

Spring-Ford – Lewis 9-37, Broderick 5-41, Bendowski 2-20; 2 TD, Zollers 1-(minus-4), Yoder 1-(minus-5).

Passing

Owen J. Roberts – Hinrichs 12-19, 82 yards.

Spring-Ford – Zollers 24-33, 345 yards, 3 TD; Yoder 1-1, 5 yards; Earley 0-1.

Receiving

Owen J. Roberts – Graham 4-14, Daubert 3-17, Yurick 2-1, Gregory 1-29, King 1-28, Brower 1-(minus-5).

Spring-Ford – Scott 6-130; TD, Abdelrahman 5-67, Lewis 5-44, Marsilio 4-68; TD, Moyer 2-17, Bendowski 1-13; TD, Kerchner 1-6. Finney 1-5.

Sacks: Spring-Ford – Strzeminski 2, Norman, Romu, Schulz.