October 19, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHA football falls in Inter-Ac opener
by Ed Mahon

CHA’s Rashad Campbell (#2) is protected by Eric Dziengelski (#58) as he rushes to the end zone. For more photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

Students wore blue T-shirts proclaiming “We’re Back.” Members from the 1972 team watched with them in the crowd, which was almost as large for the school’s homecoming game. Television camera men along with scribes from the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News reported on the sidelines. After 34 years, Chestnut Hill Academy’s football team had returned to the Inter-Ac league.

When junior Rashad Campbell completed an 80-yard drive to rush four yards into the end zone, giving Chestnut Hill the 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the large crowd of students chanted “We are back.” Even after those cheers turned into critiques of the referees, even after Penn Charter (4-2) took and held a 17-14 lead to defeat the Blue Devils (5-1), the chant still rang true.

Pat Meehan, a junior tight end on the 1972 squad whose season ended early because of injuries to an already undermanned team, said a win would have been nice “because it would have been a cap stone to the return to the Inter-Ac.” But the United States district attorney who lives in Drexel Hill added, “It’s obvious they’ve got a very good and competitive team that will give them a chance at any game in the Inter-Ac. And really that’s all anybody would be looking for. It was fun game to watch, two good football teams that are really duking it out. Maybe next year.”

Meehan wasn’t the only member from the 1972 squad in attendance to witness the football program rejoin all the other Chestnut Hill sports teams, which compete in the Inter-Ac, the oldest prep league in the country.

Joe McGlinn, the 1972 coach and former Chestnut Hill athletic director, was there. John McArdle, one of the squad’s captains 34 years ago, is now an assistant coach for the football team and stood on the sidelines. The team’s other captain, Marc Haber, 51, watched the game from the stands, just underneath those screaming students. Haber, a Lafayette Hill resident, said their football program had problems before, but that the last 1972 season “basically broke the camel’s back. Because we just had all these injuries and we only had 17 players.”

“Honestly, it wasn’t disappointing because we just couldn’t be competitive with the other teams because of our enrollment size, and the other schools’ emphasis on recruitment. So we would just get beat and beat,” said Haber, a former lineman whose son, Josh, is a senior at Chestnut Hill. “And I think they made the right move to go to the Independence league. And they’ve also made the right move now, and we’re doing so well today, and obviously we can compete now.”

Chestnut Hill did more than compete in the first quarter. They dominated, taking a 14-0 lead thanks to runs from Campbell, who rushed for 178 yards on 31 carries on Friday and who brought his touchdown total through six games to 18. But in the second quarter, Penn Charter bounced back, taking a 17-14 lead thanks to two Chestnut Hill slip ups. Penn Charter’s Sean McNally recovered a fumble on the 50 yard line, and the senior returned it for a touchdown with 2:36 to go in the first half. Then Penn Charter blocked a punt with 49 seconds to go in the half, recovered the ball on the 13-yard line and kicked a field goal as time expired to take the 17-14 lead.

“We out-gained them by over a hundred yards total offense; we just didn’t execute in those three spots when we were in the red zone when we needed to. I give them a lot of credit for playing very hard, playing a tough game,” Chestnut Hill head coach Rick Knox said. “We didn’t execute when we needed to.”

In the second half, Chestnut Hill came up short three times. They made it within 20 yards thanks to a 40-yard Campbell run, but couldn’t make it into the end zone. Later, they missed a field goal. Penn Charter sacked quarterback Bob Hyson on the last three plays to end the game.

But the game, which came down to the wire, lived up to the hype and gave Chestnut Hill fans something to look forward to.

“It turned out being what everybody expected it to be. So there was no let down today. Obviously, someone had to win and someone had to lose,” Penn Charter head coach Brian McCloskey said. “I’m happy we were on the winning side. But that’s just one heck of a football game. . . Wish I was a spectator, rather than coaching.”

McNally, who gave the Quakers 90 rushing yards and one touchdown, said it was a great game for him to remember. “I was really impressed with Chestnut Hill. I didn’t really know what to expect coming in,” he said.

He added, “They’re a lot more physical than I expected. You know, you watch film but you can’t really get an idea of how hard they’re hitting. That’s a physical team.”

McCloskey wasn’t surprised though. He’s coached against Knox, the former head coach for Episcopal Academy’s Inter-Ac football squad. “They’re very well coached. They’ve got good tough kids.”

The loss didn’t ruin the alumni’s return to the field. “It felt better in the first period than the second period,” said Haber. “But it feels great to be back. I’ve only been to a couple of games over the last 30 years. And it’s great to see how large a crowd that we have. It feels great to be competitive again.”

For Meehan the return meant more than the outcome of the game. “It’s always wonderful, because the relationships that I developed over the years, [through] a lot of experiences including the football, last a lifetime. So to come back, to see some of the people, to be back in the environment, is just very nice.”

Chestnut Hill plays at Haverford School on Oct. 21 at 1:30 p.m.