GA's Jordan Longino drops back on Saturday. Longino threw for the Pats' only touchdown in a 140-yard, 13-for-22 day. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)

by Jonathan Vander Lugt

For the season’s first four weeks, the Germantown Academy Patriots were playing a cohesive brand of football. Thanks to the play of quarterback Jordan Longino and skill-position mates Jerry Griffen-Batchler and Lacey Snowden, the Pats started the season 4-0 and headed into Inter-Ac play confident.

Now, after two weeks of conference games, the Pats look night-and-day different. They’ve failed to score even 30 total points against Malvern Prep and the Haverford School, and are desperate to right the ship.

Against the Fords on Saturday, GA scuffled to a 38-7 blowout loss.

“We just weren’t good enough on offense, defense or the kicking game,” GA head coach Matt Dence said. “We got outplayed in all three phases today, and I got out-coached.”

Their first drive – a three-and-out featuring a pair of runs for no gain – was a harbinger of things to come. The Pats managed just 75 yards on 28 carries and couldn’t use the run to establish any sort of rhythm.

“We haven’t been able to run the football for two games in a row,” Dence said. “I’m sure Trae would tell you he didn’t play his best game, but we also couldn’t establish any blocks on our inside zone runs.”

In his first two games after missing the start of the season with a shoulder injury, Vance has just 85 yards on 29 carries. This comes after entering the season with lofty expectations, as he finished his junior year with over 1,000 yards.

Dence stopped short of laying blame on his senior back, instead deferring to poor offensive line play.

“That’s a recipe for losing right there,” Dence said. “I thought we played hard last week, and Malvern and Haverford both have good defensive linemen. I’m just not sure that we executed at a high enough level.”

The best first-half scoring opportunity for the Pats happened partway through the second quarter when they advanced to the Ford 47-yard line with just one yard to go on second down. The Ford lead was still 14-0 at that point, so a score on that drive would have changed the tenor of the game.

After two busted plays, Dence elected to punt rather than take a shot on a fourth-and-three. Haverford’s Jake Spencer took the return and ran it back all the way to the house for a 77-yard dagger.

“That’s the right call there,” Dence said of the mid-quarter punt. “We needed to establish some field position. If we had executed a good punt there to put them at their 20-yard line, my hope was that we could have forced a three-and-out and a punt.”

On the ensuing Patriot drive, Longino was tackled hard on a scramble and had to stay out for the remainder of the half. Snowden did the best he could in his place, but the Patriot offense went three-and-out before the defense gave up another touchdown – this one a 12-yard strike from Dante Perri to Jack Cloran – to go down 28-0 into halftime.

Germantown Academy senior rusher Trae Vance heads upfield on Saturday. After missing the season's first half with a shoulder injury, Vance has struggled to get much going in his first two games back. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)

After the break, the Fords needed just three plays to score and run the clock. Longino found Snowden for a 13-yard touchdown on the next drive, but it was too little too late. Haverford kicker Chris Clark drilled a 43-yard field goal on the following series to score the game’s final points.

Looking strictly at the box score numbers, Longino still managed to have a decent game: 140 yards and a score on 13-for-22 passing. But his rushing numbers suffered from poor line play – negative 15 yards on nine carries – and the Fords dropped at least one would-be interception.

“We’ve got to protect him better, and he’s got to make better decisions with the football,” Dence said. “We struggled in making him feel comfortable today. He trusts his guys, but we have to find a way to do it better.”

To his credit, Longino faced an uphill battle all game. Clark, who handled kickoff duties in addition to extra points and field goals, has an outstanding boot. He hit his 43-yard field goal with room to spare and regularly sent kickoffs through the end zone.

As a result, the Patriots had an average starting field position at the 23-yard line. The Fords, meanwhile, started from their own 42 on average.

“They did all the right things up front,” Dence said. “They really established the line of scrimmage and used field position to their advantage. That was key, and frankly we just couldn’t get off the field.”

Up next for GA (4-2, 0-2) is a date at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (6-1, 1-1).

“We’ve run into two good Inter-Ac teams and we can’t score any points,” said Dence. “We’ve got to find a way to get our swagger back.”

GA: 0 0 7 0: 7

HS: 7 21 7 3: 38

1Q:

HS: Mekhi Ajose-Williamson 1 run; Chris Clark PAT good (0-7; 7:05)

2Q:

HS: Ajose-Williamson 23 run; Clark PAT good (0-14; 7:33)

HS: Jake Spencer 77 punt return; Clark PAT good (0-21; 4:48)

HS: Dante Perri 12 pass to Jack Cloran; Clark PAT good (0-28; 0:19)

3Q:

HS: Ajose-Williamson 11 run; Clark PAT good (0-35; 10:54)

GA: Jordan Longino 13 pass to Lacey Snowden; Nick Niemynski PAT good (7-35; 5:36)

4Q:

HS: Clark 43 field goal (7-38; 10:19)

Around the Area:

It was a tough week for all of Northwest Philadelphia’s private schools, as each one lost. SCH, Penn Charter and La Salle all dropped conference games by single digits.

SCH’s (6-1, 1-1) loss to Episcopal Academy (7-0, 2-0) was perhaps the most heartbreaking. In a riveting back-and-forth under the lights in Chestnut Hill (the Blue Devils rented stadium lights for their homecoming game), Episcopal scored and made good on a two-point conversion in the game’s final minute. As usual, Ke’Shawn Williams led the way for the Blue Devils; his 113 rushing yards and 56 receiving yards paced SCH in both categories. Up next is a home date with GA (4-2, 0-2) on Saturday.

PC (5-2, 0-2) fought valiantly after going down 28-6 to begin the game, but still fell short, 49-44. The Quakers will head to the Haverford School (4-3, 1-1) before taking on their fellow Northwest Philadelphia rivals SCH and GA to close the year.

La Salle (6-2, 2-2) fell in overtime to Archbishop Wood (5-3, 2-2). The Explorers play their last regular-season conference game this week against Roman Catholic. La Salle is all but guaranteed a spot in the Catholic League semifinals but the matchup will be determined by this weekend’s games.