2 weeks Ago By Harry Chaykun
SPRINGFIELD – Senior linebacker Nate Romano and junior backer Evan Herzig were waiting to talk about Springfield’s 36-6 Central League victory Friday night over Ridley when assistant coach Mike D’Esposito walked past. “I’m a better talker than either one of them,” said D’Esposito, a former defensive assistant for both defunct St. James and more recently Interboro.
“I go over every (defensive) play on the film then I talk to them about what they are doing right and what they need to do better. This one should be a good one to talk about.” Springfield (5-0 overall, 4-0 Central League) had a 7-6 lead as the teams exited the field at halftime.
In the first 20 minutes of the second half, the Cougars limited the Green Raiders to 60 yards on 20 plays before Ridley (3-2, 2-2) picked up an additional 49 yards on its last possession of the game after the final score had been set. Junior Brad Barber (15 carries, 95 yards) ran for Springfield’s first-half score and kicked the extra point. Connor Kelly countered for Ridley, helped by an Andrew Casey block, 51⁄2 minutes later, but the Green Raiders failed to convert the extra point.
In the third quarter, Barber booted three kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, including the one after his 13-yard run put the first Cougars points of the second half on the scoreboard. Ridley’s offense started on the Green Raiders’ 20 the first time it had the ball after the break. Herzig, who made the overtime interception that clinched his team’s 36-35 win over Penncrest a week ago, sacked quarterback Ryan Carroll for an eight-yard loss.
Five plays later Romano bulled over from a yard out for his team’s second touchdown of the third quarter. “It was a great call,” Herzig said of the defensive play call by coach Chris Britton. “He saw a hole in the line and called for me to blitz.
Everyone did their job, and I got through and made the sack. “Our coaches really had us ready for this game.” Springfield then set out on a 44-yard scoring drive, with Barber picking up 43 yards before Romano’s TD plunge.
Ridley’s Kelly got only 42 yards on his 12 carries, but he had what would have been a 30-yard scoring run wiped out early in the fourth quarter by a penalty. That Ridley possession ended when Gary Thomas hauled down Carroll as he was attempting a fourth-down pass from the Springfield 39. Barber got five of the seven calls on the Cougars’ 52-yard drive, dashing over from the 7 before kicking another extra point.
“We had somebody hurt a few games ago so I started kicking,” Barber, who recently committed to the University of Maryland for lacrosse, said. “I just try to kick the ball as hard as I can. “Our commitment was as good as it’s always been in practice this week.
We all care so much for each other and we want to do what we can to help this team keep winning.” Kelly ripped off a good third-down run with four minutes to play, but he fumbled when he was hit at midfield and Brian Delaney picked up the football and didn’t stop running until he had scored Springfield’s last TD. “We knew the things we didn’t do (defensively) last week and knew we couldn’t do that again,” Romano said.
“We put in a lot of work at practice to make sure things were done better this time. “You never just try to stop one player on the other team, but we knew if we could shut down (Kelly), who they depended on so much, that it would make things a lot tougher for them.” Romano had high praise for the work of defensive teammates Jahmeer Harlem, Zac Plank, Alex McGinnis, Zion Culbreth, Thomas, Ryan Benjamin, Landon Feldman and Mike Franks for their work in the trenches.
“Our defensive line did a great job and that really helped make things happen for us tonight,” Romano said..
