UPPER CHICHESTER — It was among the strangest plays of the season.
It didn’t turn out well for Chichester, but Interboro’s Mike O’Chuida said the Eagles’ execution was good at the start.
The scenario unfolded on the last play of the first half in Saturday afternoon’s Del Val League game at Anthony Apichella Memorial Field, and the result was an Interboro touchdown that helped the Bucs to a 39-13 victory over the Eagles, who led after the first quarter, 7-6.
Interboro coach Steve Lennox saved a pair of timeouts and used them just before halftime to force Chi to punt from its end zone. The kick went up field into the wind, then bounced back into the end zone, where O’Chuida was the first person to the ball and claimed it for six points.
“No. 5 (Jahmad Lockett) on their team handled me well,’ O’Chuida said. “I went for the block, but he took me out of the play. I could hear everyone screaming, and then I saw the ball and went after it.’
Interboro (4-4, 2-1), which had been blanked by Academy Park in its previous start, went after Chichester on the ground, but also made good use of the passing game on piling up 445 yards of total offense. O’Chuida gained 123 yards on his nine carries. Sophomore Chris Thomas chipped in with 97 yards on 27 rushes and scored once. Quarterback Sean Menold ran for a TD and Chris Hummel added 51 yards on 10 carries, including a short scoring run, as the Bucs piled up 333 yards on 57 attempts on the ground.
Menold (6-for-8 for 112 yards) also found Mark Everton behind the defense for a pair of touchdown passes.
“We just go with whatever we find is working,’ O’Chuida said. “Today they weren’t stopping me on my plays.’
Chichester quarterback Greg Mills had only two completions for 30 yards, but the first was a 28-yarder to Dan Sullivan late in the first quarter that countered Menold’s scoring dash. Austin Wilson’s kick gave the Eagles (2-5, 0-3) the advantage after the first 12 minutes.
A 41-yard O’Chuida run was the big play of Interboro’s second possession, which ended with Thomas’s touchdown and two-point conversion run.
The Bucs needed just three plays to score the next time they had the ball, with Menold’s touchdown pass to Everton covering the final 44 of the yards in the scoring drive.
“We were running the ball well enough,’ Menold said. “But we saw some things we thought would be open in our passing game, and (Everton) got wide open a couple of times.
“This was a big game for us after what happened last week. We had to get our heads back in it. Now that we have this win we have to get ready to go to Glen Mills next week.’
O’Chuida’s scoring play on the punt helped deflate Chichester’s comeback dreams as the first half ended, and an 11-play drive that covered 89 yards on Interboro’s first second-half possession really spoiled the home team’s homecoming festivities. A 15-yard penalty pushed the Bucs back to the Chi 30, then Menold and Everton teamed up on their second big completion.
Kevin Miller dashed 47 yards for the second Chichester touchdown, but Interboro came right back with a 64-yard march that took 11 plays before Hummel scored late in the third quarter.
“I’m really pleased with the way we played with poise,’ Interboro coach Steve Lennox said.
Chichester coach Ryan Smith shook his head after his team’s third consecutive league loss.
“Discipline,’ he said. “We had so many penalties. Take those kinds of plays away and we might have been able to sustain some drives. But it didn’t happen that way.’
