by Jonathan Vander Lugt

For two quarters on Saturday afternoon, the game between Springside Chestnut Hill Academy and Penn Charter was shaping up to be a good one.

The two went into halftime tied 21-21, after 24 minutes of excellent back-and-forth football. Each time one team punched, the other bounced right back.

Then, when the halftime bell rung and sunset neared, the wind picked up. The rain that peppered the early afternoon was long gone, but the sun was falling closer to the horizon, bringing wind chills—and with them, the Blue Devils’ hopes—down as well.

Penn Charter scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to make a close game into a laugher. By the game’s end, it was a 49-27 Quaker blowout.

“We felt like, coming into the game, that we’d be able to run the football effectively,” said Penn Charter coach Tom Coyle. “They have good lineman, but we thought we could wear them down.”

Edward Saydee’s three rushing touchdowns and 213 yards on 28 carries confirmed that notion.

“Mike (Hnatkowski, the team’s quarterback) is able to throw the ball all over the field,” Coyle said. “You’ve got to make a decision about how many guys you have to put in the box. If you don’t have eight or nine in the box, we’ll be able to run the football.”

That shouldn’t underscore Hnatkowski’s day, though. The senior tallied 179 yards on 12-of-15 passing with a pair of touchdowns, each in the third quarter.

Speaking of that faithful third, there was little that Penn Charter could do wrong. With a strong wind at their backs, the Quakers scored on the half’s opening drive on a 21-yard connection between Hnatkowski and Saydee.

After a Blue Devil three-and-out, Hnatkowski hit Luke Stansfield twice on the next drive for 41 yards combined, including an 18-yard touchdown strike. After SCH’s next drive flamed out, Saydee capped a 55-yard Quaker drive with an 18-yard score.

That, by and large, marked the end of the game. Matt Rahill connected with Tyson Hugee for an eight-yard score about halfway through the fourth, but when Saydee punched another one in from 21 out on the next drive, the game’s result was clear.

“To some extent, it was a lack of execution,” said SCH head coach Rick Knox. “We also had a couple more injuries, and we can’t really afford that.”

Last week against Germantown Academy the Blue Devils’ defensive backfield was halved due to varied maladies. Now, they’re so thin at the position that they had to put Rahill in at safety.

“Being down two starting safeties made that a tough situation,” Knox said. “But, on the other hand, Penn Charter also did a nice job. Obviously, it was their ability to run the ball.”

The Quakers got 59 more rushing yards out of Hnatkowski, and ended up with 301 on the day.

“We just picked it up,” Saydee said. “Coach talked to us at halftime, and it got us pumped to come out and play the second half.

“The offensive line really stepped up. We got good blocks and they opened up big holes. It was easy for me this week.”

Up next for the Quakers, who at 1-1 in the conference are knotted in a four-team tie for second place, are the Churchmen of Episcopal Academy in a Friday-night tilt.

“This was a big win,” Saydee said. “Last week, we were disappointed because we weren’t expecting to lose. This week, we knew what we had to do. We came out to play.”

The Blue Devils—offensively, at least—played better than they did the week prior against Germantown Academy. Jordan Young rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries—none more impressive than a 53-yarder to the PC one-yard line that should have been a five-yard loss—and Rahill threw for a pair of scores and rushed for another.

“We’ve got to do it for four quarters, and not two or two-and a half,” Knox said.

This week, his Blue Devils will head to the Haverford School on Saturday afternoon.

“We can make explosive plays,” he said, “but we’ve just to be consistent.”

Weekend Roundup

Germantown Academy, for the second week in a row, won by the skin of its teeth.

Last week’s matchup against Episcopal Academy was spared the overtime frame that came in the Pats’ victory over Springside Chestnut Hill, but it certainly wasn’t without drama.

Capping a 14-play, 60-yard drive in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, senior kicker Vince Capone knocked through the game-winner as time expired in GA’s 9-7 win.

The Patriots, now 2-0 in the conference, scored all of their points off of Capone’s boot. The Churchmen outgained GA—280 to 203 yards—but the Pats did just enough to keep the ball rolling. Next, they’ll head to Malvern Prep on Saturday to take on the Friars in a 1:30 p.m. game.

The La Salle College High School Explorers got a rude awakening Saturday afternoon in the form of a 63-35 drubbing at the hands of archrival St. Joe’s Prep.

University of Georgia commit D’Andre Swift ran rampant over La Salle’s defense on the way to a 19-carry, 275-yard, and seven-touchdown day.

For the Explorers, Syaire Madden did his best to keep up. The senior tallied 202 yards and three scores on 29 carries of his own, but it wasn’t quite enough.

La Salle will have to quickly rebound to match up against Archbishop Wood, another Philadelphia Catholic League Red Division rival. The Explorers will take on the Vikings at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.