H.S. Football: Chris Dolan makes plays to help Springfield rout Marple Newtown

SPRINGFIELD — When Springfield senior quarterback Jackson Kennedy throws the ball in the direction of senior receiver Chris Dolan, he expects good things to happen. When Dolan scores, like he did three times in the opening quarter of Springfield’s 48-14 victory over Marple Newtown in the teams’ Central League opener Friday night, it leads to plenty of cheering from the home fans and sideline. Kennedy connected with Dolan on the first two plays of the game for gains of 13 and 37 yards, setting up a short scoring run by Brad Barber in the second minute of play.

Springfield got the ball right back when the kickoff was muffed and the Cougars’ Jahmeer Harlem claimed the ball at the Tigers’ 19. Three plays later, Kennedy found Dolan for 18 yards and another six points. Marple couldn’t move the ball on its first offensive possession, and Dolan fielded a Tigers punt at his 30-yard line.



He faked a handoff on a reverse and headed for the sideline and another trip to the end zone as Springfield’s lead grew to 21-0 before five minutes had been played. A seven-play Springfield drive ended with a one-yard Nate Romano TD plunge four minutes later. The next time Springfield touched the ball, Romano ran 16 yards to the MN 31, and Kennedy teamed with John Hopkins for another scoring play on the next snap.

Kennedy attempted nine passes, only one falling incomplete. His teammates hauled in seven for gains totaling 187 yards, and Marple’s Jack Dean picked one off less than a minute after Jude Jelus’s scoring run early in the second quarter got Marple on the board. .

“I didn’t play football last year,” said Kennedy, whose main sport is as a lacrosse goalkeeper. “I was concentrating on being recruited, and I committed to Towson. I knew after I saw the first game that I was going to miss it.

A lot of us have played together since we were young playing (in the) Bert Bell (League). “With recruiting done and this being my last year, I wanted to get back into playing football.” With Dolan as his teammate, there was no doubting that he made the right decision.

“We came into this game wanting to get him the ball because we know he makes plays,” Kennedy said. “We wanted to run the ball, and if they came up to stop the run we knew (Dolan) would make a play whenever we needed him to.” Dolan prefers to talk about the Cougars’ runners and the linemen who make it possible for them to gain yardage (160 yards on 24 carries Friday).

“We have such good running backs,” Dolan said. “We want to be a physical football team that can run the football behind our offensive line. “When teams try to stop our runners, we know we can put the ball in the air.

We worked a lot together here up at the field over the summer.” Seniors Ryan Benjamin, Gary Thomas, Zac Plank and Landon Feldman and sophomore Alex McGinnis do the dirty work in the offensive trenches for Springfield. They got some time off in the second half, played under the mercy clock rule.

Marple’s Jelus threw to Aidin Curran and Springfield’s Barber (nine carries, 95 yards) ran 29 yards for the only touchdowns after halftime. Without leading runner Brian Box, who was injured in Marple’s opening-game win at Hatboro-Horsham, the Tigers got only 80 yards on 34 rushing attempts. “We have things to work on to get better,” Marple Newtown head coach Chris Gicking said.

“And we will get better. The credit tonight goes to Springfield. They played very well.

” Springfield coach Chris Britton was satisfied after his team earned its second consecutive victory. “We have some improving to do,” Britton said. “But it’s a win in our first Central League game, and I’ll always take that.

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