Strong pass defense lifts Hill School football, 42-20 over Peddie

POTTSTOWN >> The Hill School defense knew that Peddie School would be doing a lot of passing on Saturday afternoon and prepared for that eventuality all week.

And though knowing what is coming and being able to do something about it are sometimes two different things, the Rams’ hard work in practice paid off in a big way with four interceptions – two of them returned for touchdowns – in a 42-20 Mid-Atlantic Prep League win at Dell Field.

Kayden White made two of the picks and returned one for a score, Samual Soderman ran back an interception into the end zone and Jake Voynar had the fourth interception for the Hill (1-0 MAPL, 2-3 overall).

Otherwise, White ran for two touchdowns and Voynar scored on a run and a pass reception. Frankie Farmer passed for 211 yards and two touchdowns for the Falcons (0-1, 2-3).

“Seventy percent, to be exact,” White said concerning Peddie’s passing ratio coming into the contest. “We really tried to stay back and stay in our zones. We watch a lot of films. We worked all week on flying around. We really put in a lot of work on the pass coverage.”

“That was something we harped on all week,” Voynar said. “We knew it was coming and we prepared for it the best we could and it showed.”

The Rams ran the ball early with White gaining 10 and 20 yards on his first two carries and running in from the 4-yard line for the first score of the game with 6:58 remaining in the first quarter.

“So far this season, we have been a run-first team,” Voynar said. “When you have guys dominating the line, it makes that easy. It opened up the box.”

“The line has been putting in work,” added White, a senior captain from Pottstown.

Then The Hill defense forced a quick punt and the offense drove 51 yards for a score, the last 21 on a pass down the right sideline from quarterback Charles Hewitt to Voynar. Peddie came back with a score late in the quarter on a 36-yard pass from Farmer to Charly Mullaly (six catches, 111 yards, 2 TD’s).

But the Rams proceeded to break the game open with four scores in the second quarter.

First, White (10 carries, 80 yards) ran nine yards for a score. Then Peddie fumbled away the ensuing kickoff at the 9-yard line and Voynar took it in from there on the next play. A 42-yard interception return by Soderman and another for 22 yards by White made it 42-7 at the half.

The Rams’ defense held the Falcons to 15-for-33 passing as Farmer was frequently rushed into hurried throws or forced to scramble out of the pocket. And when he did get the ball off accurately, The Hill defensive backfield was there to intercept or knock the ball away.

“The defensive back is the hardest position on the field, when you know a team is going to come after you,” Voynar said.

The Rams won their first game of the season the week before, 30-13 at Academy of the New Church and the momentum carried over into practice and Saturday’s game.

“We had a couple tough weeks at the beginning of the season,” Voynar said. “But we had the best two weeks of practice in my four years here. We came together as a group and this is what happened.”

“We had a good week of practice, trying to carry over from the momentum of the last game,” White said. “The defense came in and did what we needed to do. The offense picked up the energy the defense gave them.”

The Falcons passed the ball on 63 percent of the plays. And in a statistical anomaly, they ran more plays (52-40) and gained more yards (270-215) and first downs (14-8) than the Rams.

But Hewitt (6-for-9, 83 yards) made the best of his pass attempts and The Hill averaged 4.3 yards on its 31 runs.

Peddie made the final score look fairly close with a 41-yard touchdown pass from Farmer to Mullaly midway through the fourth quarter and a 1-yard scoring run by Emmanuel Laracuente (12 carries, 68 yards) on the final play of the day.

“MAPL is one of the better conferences in the Northeast,” Voynar said. “This was a statement for us.”

The Hill School 42, Peddie School 20
Peddie School 7 0 0 13-20
The HillSchool1 4 28 0 0-42
SCORING
First quarter
HS-White 4 run (Elmore kick)
HS-Voynar 21 pass from Hewitt (Elmore kick)
PS-Mullaly 36 pass from Farmer (Tam kick)
Second quarter
HS-White 9 run (Elmore kick)
HS-Voynar 9 run (Elmore kick)
HS-Soderman 42 int. return (Elmore kick)
HS-White 22 int. return (Elmore kick)
Fourth quarter
PS-Mullaly 41 pass from Farmer (Tam kick)
PS-Laracuente 1 run (no try)
TEAM STATISTICS
PS HS
First downs 14 8
Rushing yards 59 132
Passing yards 211 83
Total yards 270 215
Passes C-A-I 15-33-4 6-9-0
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 7-73 6-60
Punts-Avg. 2-35.5 3-25.7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Peddie School – Laracuente 12-68, 1 TD; Farmer 7-(-9)
Hill School – White 10-80, 2 TD’s; Hewitt 6-20; Ritts 7-14; Voynar 3-14, 1 TD; Dickey 2-3; Zindle 3-1
Passing
Peddie School- Farmer 15-33-211, 2 TD’s, 4 INT’s
Hill School – Hewlett 6-9-83,1 TD
Receiving
Peddie School – Mullaly 6-111, 2 TD’s; Whitman 4-32; Metivier 2-46; Newsome 2-20; Laracuente 1-2
Hill School – Voynar 4-32, 1 TD; Reynolds 2-51
Interceptions – HillSchool – White 2, Soderman, Voyner