On Friday, October 24, the Strath Haven Panthers varsity football (8-2) team went up against the Springfield Cougars (10-0) for the Central League championship game. Going into the game, the Cougars stood undefeated, and the Panthers with one loss on the season.
The game began with an overall competitive fight, with both offenses struggling against strong defenses. Junior Cole Haly began the game with an interception on defense in the first quarter to keep the game scoreless going into the half.
“I thought we picked up a lot of momentum there, and it was a great stop on defense,” Haly said. “We need to execute on offense a little better. We should’ve capitalized on that pick, but we played our butts off.”
The Panthers offense struggled to get anything going, but nearing the end of the half, senior Luke Mulhern threw a deep pass downfield for junior Derek Bradley for a touchdown.
“We all were scared and nervous and stuff like that [for the game], but we still put 100%, so I just had to go out there and show them [the team] that we can do this,” Bradley said.
Haven went into the half up 7-0, but the tides would turn in the third quarter, with the Cougars tying the game up in the third quarter.
The Panthers offense stagnated after that, with the Cougars defense getting stops, and the Panthers’ third down attempts going south.
“The biggest reason [for struggling] is field position. We have got to be careful, based on our field position, what we do throwing the ball,” head coach Kevin Clancy said. “We have got to be a little more dynamic offensively, and that’s a thing we’ll [the coaching staff] be talking about all weekend.”
In the remainder of the game, the Panthers offense failed to gain momentum, with the defense fighting hard to contain the Cougars. Ultimately, the Cougars scored a field goal and after getting the ball back, ran the clock out to end the game 10-7.
“I felt we were able to get a lot going in the trenches [the line] on just the D-Line, it was really just the linebackers. They kept on blitzing, they kept on reading the guards and just perfectly read every play,” senior Jackson Miller said. “We just have got to keep our heads up… biggest lesson we can learn right here is just don’t stop. Don’t stop at all.”
The Panthers go into the playoffs standing at 8-2 on the season, and will play the Upper Moreland Bears (6-4) on Friday, October 31 at King Field.
