by Jonathan Vander Lugt

Intertwined within a season-opener that was cold, wet and difficult to discern anything meaningful from was one thread that Penn Charter hopes to keep stitched in the fabric of its season – the stellar play of junior running back Edward Saydee.

“He’s a focal point of our offense,” said Quaker head coach Tom Coyle, after PC’s 20-6 win over Lansdale Catholic in Ocean City, N.J. “He’s a captain, and he’s a guy that we’re going to rely on for playmaking.”

After a sophomore season that featured more than 1200 yards from scrimmage and 18 touchdowns, Saydee rumbled through the Crusader defense for 194 yards and two of Penn Charter’s three scores.

“We had to prepare a lot,” Saydee said, of the matchup with Lansdale Catholic. “When we came in, we weren’t necessarily expecting them to be quite so big.”

No matter. Only six of Saydee’s carries went for less than five yards, and he barreled for at least 10 on eight different runs. He got better as the game wore on too, averaging nine per carry in the game’s second half.

He did have one mishap – a fourth-quarter fumble near the goal line on what wound up being an 11-yard run. Other than that, Saydee provided all that Coyle and his coaching cohorts could have hoped for.

Without him, there wouldn’t have been much to see. What was originally scheduled to be a football day trip to the beach turned into a damp slog thanks to the day-long storm that fell on the Jersey Shore.

Playing at Ocean City High School, Penn Charter scored first – a seven-yard Saydee jaunt following a Crusader fumble deep in LC territory – before Lansdale Catholic struck back with a lengthy and ultimately productive drive of their own.

LC had four runners to work with: Jake Doheny, Jason Carr, Matt Casee and Danny Dutkiewicz, who combined to do the heavy lifting in the Crusaders’ 71-yard drive in response to the Penn Charter score. Casee proved to be the most troublesome back for Penn Charter to contain (he finished with 100 yards on 15 carries) and punched it in from one yard out to bring the game within a point.

From there, Penn Charter bottled the LC offense and generally found consistency in the run game despite struggles with ball control. Jordan Wilson fumbled deep in Crusader territory late in the first half (when a score would have extended the PC lead to double digits), and Will Samuel and Kyle Jones each squandered PC scoring chances in the game’s latter half with lost fumbles.

In the meantime, Saydee scored again – a 12-yarder in the second quarter, and Gavin Tygh danced in from 24 out in the third to score what ended up being Penn Charter’s last touchdown. Tygh ended the day with 69 yards on 10 carries, while Jalen Jones chipped in with 44 yards on six runs.

“I think the kids played well, and they played hard, but it was a little sloppy,” Coyle said, highlighting both the good and the bad. “It was a windy, rainy game and the ball ended up on the ground more than we would have liked—we’ve got to clean that up. The conditions played a role both ways. It wasn’t great for playing offense. We were able to sustain some drives, it’s just that we didn’t finish them.”

There was little passing game of which to speak – understandably so – and the quarterback competition that exists following the loss of long-time starter Mike Hnatkowski will go on for another week. Against LC, both Wilson and Samuel saw extended time under center but received little opportunity to differentiate themselves.

In addition, the Quakers are also working with a mostly-new offensive line, so Coyle will need one, if not both QBs to step up and take pressure off the run game.

Their next shot will be Friday, September 8 for a bout at Bonner-Prendergast Catholic High School.

“Teams are going to be playing with eight or nine in the box with the way that we run it, and I think that will open up things for the passing game,” Coyle said. “Hopefully we’re talented enough at quarterback to cash in.”