Bensalem Outlasts Abington, 28-20
By: Michael Pietrangelo | September 7, 2024
Bensalem - During the off-season breaking in a new quarterback can sometimes come with some growing pains but you generally have an entire off-season program to get the kinks out. For Bensalem and Abington who battled it out last night at Bensalem Township Memorial Stadium to a 28-20 final, they continue to adjust to their new quarterbacks and find out what they are capable of.
Bensalem (2-1,0-0) is breaking in a new QB after their junior starter, Hollis Sanders went down a few weeks ago with an injury. On the other side of the ball, Abington's (1-2,0-0) new QB1 Antonio Ford is transitioning like Annan from the wide receiver position. The difference is that Ford is transitioning after the newly hired head coach (July 15) Bruce Fleming took over and brought in a new philosophy. Let's get into it.
I will start by saying that this game was riddled with flags all evening. An explosive offensive attack and a stingy defensive effort led Bensalem to victory. Newly minted QB1 Myles Annan got the party going after starting with the ball at his team’s 32-yard line. 8 plays later Annan escaped pressure after looking to run and found junior running back Aidan Mayfield open in the flat. Mayfield took the pass unscathed into the end zone. Senior kicker Tommy Hurst connected on the PAT and the Owls went up 7-0 with 7:53 to play in the first quarter.
The first series ended in a three-and-out after the Ghosts couldn't manage to get back to the original line of scrimmage and were forced to punt. The next few possessions for both sides would end this way. To close out the first quarter Abington senior defensive lineman John Wright came up with his first of two sacks on the night. Both teams continued to exchange possessions. With 3:05 left in the half Bensalem's Myles Annan connected with junior wide receiver Thomas Bailey, who caught the pass, slipped out of the defender’s grasp, and raced 53 yards to the house. Tommy Hurst connected on his PAT and the Owls went up 14-0.
Abington utilized some Bensalem penalties and was moving the ball when junior defensive back Aidan Mayfield robbed a pass and returned it a few yards for the interception, though Bensalem was unable to capitalize. Right before the half-ended Ford again tried to find the open receiver only this time it was junior defensive back Jaydin Moore who nabbed the ball out of the air and returned the rock about 30 yards.
To start off the second half Abington came out fired up and looking to close the gap. Minutes in quarterback Antonio Ford found junior Ayden Turner down the sideline for a 27-yard touchdown. Senior kicker Daniel Oliveria connected on his PAT and cut the Owl lead to 21-7. Abington's defense hung in and held the Owls to another turnover on downs and forced them to punt. With only 2:11 left in the third quarter, junior Punt returner Ayden Turner rushed around a bevy of blockers and turned on a second and third gear for the house call. After connecting their PAT the lead was now sitting at 21-14 with a quarter still left to play.
Feeling the burn of a comeback, Bensalem punched right back again. This time it was junior running back Aidan Mayfield who took a hand off and raced 69 yards to pay dirt and to also push the lead to 28-14. We would head to the fourth quarter with the momentum looking to shift the other way into Abington's favor. Only a few minutes into the fourth quarter, Abington's junior running back Braylon Peterkin took a direct snap from a yard out and plunged into the end zone. The PAT would be blocked, and the score would sit at 28-20 which would be the final of this battle. After the game, head coach Alexander Houston said, “I feel real good, coming off a tough loss last week I was glad we came out with a great attitude and took care of business."
Player of the game Myles Annan had this to say on his team performance, "It feels good but I feel like we left a lot of points on the table and we should have executed better at the end of the game because at the beginning of the game, we came out strong and we gotta just keep our foot on the pedal."
