By Greg Pecko
BERWYN, PA - As time expired Friday night at Conestoga's, Teamer field, all the Marple Newtown Tigers' (0-1) players could think about was the several missed opportunities they had to deal with in their 21-6 loss to the Pioneers (1-0).
The Tigers' defense missed several interception chances in the first quarter after their secondary tipped, but failed to haul in three poor pass attempts made by Pioneer's quarterback Julian Anapolsky. The first quarter would end in a nothing to nothing tie despite several promising drives by both teams that were quickly shutdown due to mental mistakes and solid defense for both squads.
Marple Newtown tailback Nick Stephens made his presence felt early in his Tiger's debut with several carries for large gains on offense and big defensive stops on the other side of the ball. Stephens would finish the day with 71 yards rushing on 15 carries and five tackles on the defense.
As promising as the first quarter was for the Tigers' the rest of the game quickly became a struggle for Marple Newtown as both the offensive and defensive line play was sub-par.
The offensive line, despite helping the running backs to 183 yards on the ground including a touchdown, would allow two sacks and left junior quarterback Kevin Johnson hurried on nearly every pass play. Johnson would finish 3 for 8 through the air for only 21 yards and two interceptions.
The Tigers' young defensive line showed their inexperience throughout the game and failed to put any real pressure on the Pioneer's backfield. The Pioneer's ground game was able to move almost at will as speedy Pioneer tailback Leighton Dennis was able to rush for 189 yards on 29 carries and one touchdown.
Probably the most telling statistic of the game was that the defensive line registered no sacks and allowed 235 yards rushing with an average of 5.7 yards per rush. Despite the struggles, however, Marple Newtown found themselves down by only 7 points at the end of the first half.
The tiger's defense played better early in the 3rd quarter by slowing down the Pioneer rushing attack inside the red-zone during the opening drive of the second half. They would block a Pioneer's field goal attempt with around four minutes to go in the 3rd quarter.
However, after the Tiger's offense was forced to punt it away on their next possession, a big punt return for the Pioneer's set them up inside the Tiger's 25-yard line. Leighton Dennis would once again lead the ground charge as Conestoga scored on a three play 20-plus yard drive making the score 14 to nothing in favor of the Pioneer's.
The Tiger's offense would emerge late in the third quarter as senior tailback Phil Graziano would carry three times for 37-yards including a 19 yard touchdown run, in which he broke several tackles and with shear determination he picked up the Tiger's first points of the 2008 campaign.
Graziano was one of the few bright spots as he led all rushers with 131 yards rushing on 18 carries. Graziano added 69 yards on two kick returns and contributed with 6 tackles on the defensive side of the ball.
But even Graziano's solid performance proved to be too little fire power to take down Conestoga as the Pioneers walked away with a 21-6 win over the Tigers.
The Tigers' look now to their home-opener as they will take on perennial Central League power Strath Haven (0-1) this Friday at Harry Harvey Stadium, kickoff is schedule for 7:00 pm, with podcast coverage provide by the Tigers' Radio Network.
