The Strath Haven Panthers varsity football team (8-1) took the field on their senior night against the Lower Merion Aces (3-6) on Friday, October 17.
Before the game, the team honored its seniors for the special night. Those honored include seniors Ryan Mudrick, Luke Mulhern, Paul Oblek, Brady Nangle, Nick Farabaugh, Jordan Alexander, Quinn Kell, Greyson LaFrance, John Paul Redmond, and Van Wendel.
“Leadership, friendship, and being able to work with your teammates,” Oblek said about what he’s learned through Strath Haven football. Similar to others on the team, Oblek has grown up playing with the same seniors that he took the field with in this game.
“Most plays on offense require every single person on the line to do their job, and if it’s only you doing one thing, you’re not going to get anywhere,” he said.
The game began with a hard fought battle on both sides of the ball, with Mudrick scoring a goal line touchdown early on.
Lower Merion responded by scoring a touchdown on a risky fourth down play that got them into the endzone for a touchdown.
“I have got to commend the defense, they were down in the red zone here which is hard. Our defense played great redzone defense down in this part of the field with their backs to the goal line,” head coach Kevin Clancy said.
Haven’s defense had to work overtime early in the game, with Lower Merion getting a successful onside kick at the beginning of the second quarter. “Defense gets all the credit for that [containing Lower Merion],” Clancy said.
To close the first half, LaFrance secured an interception and nearly returned it for a touchdown. This set up Mulhern for a rushing touchdown with around 15 seconds left in the half.
“It feels great to switch that momentum completely in the game, and set up that scoring drive by Luke [Mulhern],” LaFrance said. “It’s a huge team sport, and it’s the greatest sport you play when you play with your friends.”
Ultimately, the Panthers contained the Aces, with an interception coming from junior Jalen Starr, and other plays down the stretch that were able to seal the game, and keep the Aces out of the endzone.
“They [the seniors] mean an awful lot. It’s not a large senior class, there’s only eleven of them. A couple of them don’t start, but they still work hard everyday in practice,” Clancy said. “Thank God they got in the game tonight… They’ve been leaders, they are really leaders of this team.”
The Panthers look on to playing the Springfield Cougars on Friday, October 24, at 7 p.m. at the Springfield Delco HS Football Stadium.
