FOOTBALL: Plymouth Whitemarsh runs past Upper Merion

WHITEMARSH — Plymouth Whitemarsh’s starters couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season against Upper Merion Friday night.

The Colonials first-team offense had five possessions and scored five touchdowns. The first-team defense played seven possessions and allowed no points while forcing four punts, stopping two fourth downs and returning an interception for a touchdown.

The starters exited the game with a 42-0 lead in the middle of the third quarter in what would become a 49-14 win at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.

The Colonials (1-0) ran for 410 yards and five touchdowns. Everett Baker led the way with 95 yards and two touchdowns while Christian DiCiurcio added 89 yards and a score.

“Our o-line is really good,” DiCiurcio said. “I really trust them. The big boys up front – they start everything. They’re everything. Without them we’re nothing. They’re the best thing we have and we all have good chemistry. That’s the best thing about PW – we all have good chemistry and we all love each other.

“(The running backs) were just finding the open gaps. We were running hard. We just all trust each other at the end of the day. That’s all that really matters.”

“I thought our offensive line was playing pretty well,” PW coach Dan Chang added. “We’re moving guys, creating holes and we’ve got guys all around who can move with the ball who are pretty dangerous. I think we were able to move the ball around tonight and get a lot of guys some touches and I think that makes us a little bit harder to defend. I was proud of how we ran tough and secured the football. We were moving guys.”

Quarterback Caiden Leszczynski ran for an 11-yard touchdown in the first half and threw a nine-yard touchdown to Marcus Laffredo on the first possession of the third quarter. Leszczynski only needed to throw the ball seven times and finished 5-for-7 for 36 yards.

Alexander Kirebel also ran for a touchdown for PW.

“(PW has) some tough kids on that line,” Upper Merion coach Marquis Weeks said of the Colonials rushing attack. “In high school football – in football in general – I always say, ‘The line is the spine.’ If you’ve got a strong line and you can move people, it’s going to be tough to stop. At this level, that line looks very experienced and our line is not very experienced. That’s going to show up. We’re building each and every game. We’re learning from our mistakes and learning what it means to play varsity football.”

PW’s offense got a spark from its defense to start the game. Upper Merion gained 49 yards on its first two plays from scrimmage – a 29-yard run by Isaiah Robinson and a 20-yard completion from Jackson Solley to Erik Ramirez-Perez. Three plays later the Vikings (0-1) faced 4th-and-4 at the PW 10-yard line and DiCiurcio stopped a screen pass one yard short to force a turnover on downs.

“I just know on the screens that my cornerback, Chase Smith, has outside and I have inside,” DiCiurcio said. “I trust him that he had the block. I just trust my guys … We were a little down from those two plays, but I definitely think that (fourth down stop) helped a lot.”

After allowing 49 yards and two first downs on the first two plays, the Colonials allowed 56 yards and one first down over rest of the first half.

“Those guys are flying around all game,” Chang said of his starting defense. “They moved the ball on us in that first drive and I think we settled down a little bit after that. We have guys who can run on D, too, and they are physical guys. We definitely have some things to work on on both sides of the ball and we will continue to get better, but I was proud of our effort and, for the most part, our execution tonight.”

In the middle of the second quarter, Mike Bongard intercepted a tipped pass at midfield and raced 50 yards for a touchdown. The defensive score put PW ahead 28-0.

Upper Merion found offensive success in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Isaiah Wright went 7-for-7 for 104 yards and two touchdowns – a 12-yard score to Zion Cleveland and an 8-yard strike to Kylee Hill. Hill finished with four grabs for 83 yards.

“There are a lot of positives throughout the game,” Weeks said. “Even though we didn’t score many points on offense, we were still sharp. We lined up correctly, there weren’t a lot of mental errors. Those are things that we can look at and build off of for the next game. The offense that we implemented we were able to execute it, it’s just getting into the end zone was an issue.”

Plymouth Whitemarsh 49, Upper Merion 14

Upper Merion 0 0 0 14 – 14

Plymouth Whitemarsh 14 21 7 7 – 49

Scoring

First Quarter

PW – Everett Baker 6-yard run (kick good) 5:45

PW – Caiden Leszczynski 11-yard run (kick good) :20.1

Second Quarter

PW – Christian DiCiurcio 3-yard run (kick good) 9:31

PW – Mike Bongard 50-yard interception return (kick good) 7:44

PW – Everett Baker 10-yard run (kick good) 1:55

Third Quarter

PW – Marcus Laffredo 9-yard reception from Caiden Leszczynski (kick good) 8:51

Fourth Quarter

PW – Alexander Kriebel 5-yard run (kick good) 9:21

UM – Zion Cleveland 12-yard reception from Isaiah Wright (kick good) 5:15

UM – Kylee Hill 8-yard reception from Isaiah Wright (kick good) :48.7

TEAM STATISTICS

UM           PW

First downs 10           25

Rushes-Yards 12-59   40-410

Passing yards 174           36

Total yards 233         446

Passing 15-26-1    5-7-0

Punts 5            0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0         5-2

Penalties-Yards 1-5        2-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Upper Merion: Isaiah Robinson 6-37; Teddy Walmsley 1-1; Jackson Solley 2-0; No. 27 3-21.

Plymouth Whitemarsh: Christian DiCiurcio 7-89, TD; Everett Baker 9-95, 2 TD; Mike Bongard 3-65; Caiden Leszczynski 3-12, TD; Kevin Hegarty 4-39; Luke Laviola 1-12; Cole Reilly 5-46; Devin Spruill 1-25; Steven Irick 1-9; Ray Gonzalez 1-7; Alex Kriebel 2-8, TD; James Cain 2-2; No. 39 1-1.

PASSING

Upper Merion: Jackson Solley 8-19-70-0-1; Isaiah Wright 7-7-104-2-0.

Plymouth Whitemarsh: Caiden Leszczynski 5-7-36-1-0.

RECEIVING

Upper Merion: Dylan Simmons 3-27; Kylee Hill 4-83, TD; Zion Cleveland 3-16, TD; Isaiah Robinson 2-8; Erik Ramirez-Perez 2-23; Hal Eaton 1-17.

Plymouth Whitemarsh: Marcus Laffredo 2-14, TD; Everett Baker 1-6; Kevin Hagerty 1-3; Christian DiCiurcio 1-13.

INTERCEPTIONS

Plymouth Whitemarsh: Mike Bongard.