Springfield Youth Club Football begins season

80-Pound Varsity
BYC 7
Springfield 6
The 80-pound varsity lost a hard fought season opener to the Brandywine Youth Club on the road Sept. 2. The first play of the game was a 65-yard touchdown run by BYC. The Cougars then went to work, led by quarterback Nicky Donegan. The offensive line of Nick Cariola, Thomas Dougherty. Colin Renning, Danny Tommarel1i, Cole Rhodes, DJ Curtis and Brian King faced a very strong BYC defensive line.
Despite the strong running efforts of Alex Williams, Jake Eden and Dominick Alfonsi, the Cougars were unable to tie the game, which turned into a defensive battle, neither budging to give up the one big play that would win the game. At the end of the half it was still 7-0.
The Cougars took possession in the beginning of the third period, but were still stonewalled by BYC.
BYC took position of the ball, looking like they would score again, but the defense led by Alex Sciarrino, Kieran Morse, Tommy Ward, Cole Rhodes, Michall Leon, Danny Tommarelli and Nick Cariola kept pushing the bulldogs back.
BYC tried to run a few reverses but the linebacker crew of Dominick Alfonsi, Jake Eden and Safety Alex Williams was all over the running back.
The momentum changed after that huge defensive stand. The Cougars put together a great offensive drive, which put them on the five-yard line. Dominick Alfonsi ran hard up middle for a touchdown, but the Cougars were unable to convert the extra point.
The fourth quarter again was a defensive battle; unfortunately the Cougars ran out of time and fell short in this hard fought game.
100-Pound Junior Varsity
Springfield 14
BYC 7
The Cougars took on the Brandywine Youth Club Bulldogs on Sept. 3. In the first half, Nick Finizio, Patrick Dougherty and Garret Cooley came up big with key stops making it difficult for BYC to gain yards.
The Cougars’ Dylan Archer, Paul Conlan, Jake Quatrani, Joe Pontano, and Ethan Scott had an excellent defensive series, stopping BYC at every attempt. Offensively, fantastic blocking by Carson Shaner and Chris Rich allowed Khalid Dark to speed up the middle. Chris Brolley and Michael Eberhardt kept BYC’s defense at bay. Terence Kelly completed a pass to Tanner Robinson for a touchdown. While Kevin Rechner blocked, allowing Jake Vaughan to catch the one-point conversion, giving the Cougars the lead at 7-0.
Franco Tommarelli’s powerful kick set BYC back to the 35. With less than 30 seconds left, Aiden Hoopes made a game saving tackle, and Dylan Laffey blocked a pass ending the first half at 7-7.
In the second half, Jimmy O’Neill exploded up the middle for a first down. The Cougar defense stayed focused, holding BYC at the 25. Aggressive tackling by John McCormick, Vince DiVario, and Kyle Holstein, forced BYC to fumble, giving the Cougars the ball on the 25. With three minutes left in the game, Terence Kelly passed to Tanner Robinson pushing the Cougars to the 12-yard line. Kelly passed to Jimmy O’Neill for a touchdown, and then to Franco Tommarelli for the extra point, giving the Cougars the lead at 14-7.
BYC’s come back was lost due to strong tackling by Danny Albany and Matt Santarelli. Finally, Chris Brolley tripped up BYC’s quarterback ending the game.
Varsity Notes
In other weekend notes, the SYC 100-pound varsity team crushed the Bulldogs and won 19-0.
The 120-pound varsity squad traveled to BYC and won their season opener 19-6.