Springfield SYC Teams

80-Pound JV Gold

The Cougars traveled to Avon Grove this past weekend to take on the Wildcats. The Wildcats proved to be a worthy opponent, however the Gold team was able to add another win to their record by posting a 6-0 victory over Avon Grove.

Defense was the name of the game on Sunday afternoon. Brian Layton and Paul Conlan turned in phenomenal performances and led the way for the Cougar defense. Alex Sciarrino, Nicolas Finzio and Dan Tommarelli were a constant presence in the Wildcat backfield and made it tough for Avon Grove all afternoon.

The combined effort of Edward Cullen, Riley McCarry, Logan Chambers, Chad Ruppert, Robbie O’Brien, Kevin Farren, Kieran Roche, Nico Santini and Stephen Graney allowed Springfield to control the line of scrimmage and hold Avon Grove to only one first down all day.

Thomas Dougherty, Michael Wells, Aiden Hoopes, Fran Grady, Alex Hudyma, John Godsey and Anthony Teufel battled hard all day against a formidable Wildcat defense. Their persistence paid off late in the first half when Chris Rich broke free for a 50 yard touchdown run.

Jake Eden, Dominick Alfonsi, Alex Sciarrino and Nick Donegan carried the ball well and provided the tough but necessary yards the Cougars needed to secure another win.

Congratulations to the Gold team and coaching staff on a terrific team effort.

The Cougars will host BYC at Crowell Park on Sunday, Oct. 17 at noon.

80-Pound JV Blue

Blue (1-4-1) lost an intense battle to Marple 2 under Friday night lights on Oct. 8. Another hard fought battle for the Cougars ended in a score of 13-0 with Marple 2 on top. Penalty flags were thrown frequently in the game for both teams. The Cougars and the Tigers battled earlier in the season in a game that ended in a 6-6 tie.

After a strong initial defensive by the Cougars, the ball was handed to the offense. Persistence moved the ball up the field with rushing yards tallied by Connor Smith, Matt Ellison, Shawn Atkins and Alex Williams.

In the remainder of the first half, the defense allowed two touchdowns by Marple for a score at halftime of 13-0.

The Cougars defense came out strong in the second half and held Marple 2 scoreless with stellar tackling by Keiran Morse, Art Minchin, Aidan McLane, Alex Williams, Matt Gagliardi, Todd Garrett, Colin Renning , Vincent Divario and Matt Johnston. An impressive tackle early in the second half by Garrett stopped a possible runaway touchdown by Marple. Michael Leon recorded his first sack of the season. Defensive lineman Divario recovered a fumble at the 50 yard line to open the way for the Cougar offensive final series. The Cougars marched their way up the field threatening to score as the time ran out on the game clock.

The night’s quarterbacking duties were shared by Shawn Atkins and Matt Ellison. Blocking for the offense was provided by center Dylan Archer and offensive linemen Brett Gougler, Brian King, Cole Rhodes, Nick Santivasci, Danny Barrett, Ethan Scott and Matt Johnston.

Cole Rhodes, M’khai Terry, Tommy Ward, Jake Methlie and Alex Klein rounded out the Cougar defense.

The Cougars will look for a victory at home on Sunday, Oct. 17 versus Brandywine Youth Club at 1:30 p.m.

80-Pound Varsity

The Cougars continued their winning streak on Saturday against Avon Grove. The team battled hard to the final whistle and prevailed with a 19-0 shutout over the Wildcats.

The Cougar defense was virtually unstoppable from the start, causing Avon Grove to fumble multiple times early on. The first half saw outstanding fumble recoveries by Tanner Robinson, Michael Eberhardt and Steven Griffin.

Despite impressive runs by Pat McCann and Jimmy O’Neill, the Cougar offense consistently met tough opposition and was unable transition their long drives into points on the board.

Late in the second, the formidable offensive line of Brendan Hilden, Kevin Rechner and Aiden Shandley gave the offense the time it needed to execute. QB Pat Marley succeeded in a difficult handoff which resulted in a 30 yard run and TD for Anthony Rightley. The Cougars led 6-0.

Avon Grove’s next drive was thwarted thanks to impressive stops in the backfield by Jake Vaughan and Pat Dougherty. An amazing sack by Klaus Gabel kept the Wildcats off the board at the half.

Shortly after, a long 2nd and 25 attempt by the Cougars resulted in a 70 yard TD run by Rightley to further improve the Cougars lead to 12-0. Big stops by Nick Cariola and Joe Pontano kept Avon Grove off the board for the remainder of the second half.

Late in the fourth, a TD run and extra point by Rightley cemented the Cougar lead. A last ditch effort by Avon Grove resulted in an interception by Rightley to finalize a 19-0 victory for the Cougars.

The Cougars look to continue their winning streak next Saturday at home, against Brandywine Youth Club.

100-Pound Varsity

The Cougars started up fresh against the Avon Grove Wildcats. After winning the toss, Avon Grove received the ball. Frankie Durham hustled downfield after a nice kick by Vince Puppio and got the Cougars the ball to start the first half. To open the drive, Jaden McKenzie ran through a huge hole opened by Luke Gutowski. Later in the drive, McKenzie got the Cougars a touchdown. The score was 7-0.

Puppio kicked another long ball that was recovered once again by the Cougars. The fumble was forced by Trevor Robinson, and recovered by Chris Finizio. On the first play, McKenzie broke a 40 yard run on first down. Later in that drive, Jaime Bove scored a three yard touchdown thanks to a hole opened by Pat Clemens, Jimmy Donegan and Jimmy Clark. The Cougars led 13-0 after the first quarter.

After shutting the Wildcats offense down, the Cougar offense came firing again in the second quarter. Bove started it off by gaining a solid 15 yards. Then on 4th and 12, the Cougars did a pitchout to McKenzie that got the Cougars a first down. Durham got a four yard touchdown run on the next play. After that, Zack Kennedy threw for the extra point and Finizio made a nice grab to put the Cougars up 20-0. On defense, Justin Shields put a smashing hit on a Wildcat on 2nd down. On third down, Puppio and Michael Tulskie tackled a Wildcat to set up a fourth down. Luke Palumbo made a diving stop on fourth to prevent a first down for Avon Grove. That ended the first half with the Cougars leading, 20-0.

To open the second half, Clark recovered an onside kick by the Wildcats. That set up a 15 yard run by Bove, followed by a 10 yard run to move the chains. That set up a four yard tuchdown by McKenzie to put the game out of reach with a 27-0 score.

Vince DiMichele, Max DiFonzo and Jeff Houtmann mde stops on the next defensive series to end the third quarter.

To start up the 4th quarter, Palumbo ran the ball to eat up the clock, gving the Wildcats almost no time to score. On defense, Durham defended a pass and recorded a tackle. Jeff Biancaniello also made two stops down the stretch. The Wildcats did score, but Tulskie would kneel to finish the game with the Cougars winning, 27-6.

Next week, they play the BYC Bulldogs at home at 1:30 p.m.

For more SYC pictures, visit the Delco Sports Net blog at http://delcosportsnet.blogspot.com/.