By Brian Carroll
“Making mistakes simply means you are learning faster. ” ― Weston H. Agor
After suffering their first defeat of the 2023 season in frustrating fashion two weeks ago, the Strath Haven football team had little time to wallow in a missed opportunity to win the Central League outright and nail down the top seed in the District 1 5A playoffs. With a hungry Haverford squad visiting last Friday, the Panthers would indeed need to learn very quickly from the miscues of the week prior and carry out a detailed game plan to keep the Fords at bay. And what a job they did, getting back on the winning track with a suffocating defensive effort in grabbing their eighth win of the season and at least a share of the 2023 league title. And now with the playoff picture becoming a bit clearer, Strath Haven will need to clear one more hurdle in a first-time-ever contest this week with Harry S. Truman High School.
The Tigers of Harry S. Truman are led by first-year Head Coach Ben Johnson and have hit some bumps in the road this season competing in the always challenging Suburban One League. After cracking the win column back in Week 3 with a 13-7 decision over Abington, the Tigers have struggled to slow down opposing offenses, allowing over 40 points per game during their current six-game skid. Still, Truman has some offensive weapons, and show some interesting variety on offense in mixing Wing-T sets with shotgun spread looks. The Strath Haven defense will have to get pressure on quarterback #12 Marshall Kennedy, who threw a 43-yard touchdown pass in last week’s loss to Quakertown. At Kennedy’s disposal are a handful of elusive backs and receivers, including #6 Raheem Bradley, #5 Raheem Newkirk, #2 Aqual Chapman, and all-purpose man #3 Abraham Bataille. #22 Kabree Harris and #23 Paul Baldwin did not play last week but have been on the highlight reel as recently as two weeks ago in a loss to Upper Dublin. Defensively, #53 R.J. Cox and #19 Deandre Guillaume are active linebackers, with Chapman and Bradley anchoring the secondary.
The Panthers roared back to life in last week’s 36-6 victory over Haverford with excellent execution on both offense and defense. The Panthers defense recovered four fumbles (by #40 Cole Miller, #31 Jack Shuster, and two by #5 James Fisher), and held the Fords off the scoreboard until late in the game during a running clock circumstance. And with the defense taking the ball away and setting up several short fields, the Panthers mixed in a few timely and effective passes to go with their dominant rushing attack. Quarterback #6 Jake Kitchin completed two of his four attempts for 65 yards, both landing in the arms of James Fisher for big plays. Fisher also ran for 113 yards and two scores, while #34 Vince Hales, #32 Shane Green, and #20 Marco Kauffman also found the end zone behind the punishing blocking of #68 Carter Law, #57 Jackson Geremia, #55 Gavin Pilson, #77 Bill Brown, #76 Will Leuthold, as well as tight ends Miller, #89 Alexei Gustafson, and #44 Sean Henry.
Leading into this week with a Central League championship already clinched, Head Coach Kevin Clancy and his staff will surely stick to the mantra of “Let’s get better every week,” as the Panthers want to be sharp leading into the District 1 5A playoffs on November 3rd. While the Panthers are all but assured a top three seeding with a win this week, carrying out a game plan against an unfamiliar opponent can be a significant challenge. But if Strath Haven can avoid turnovers and tackle well when Truman receivers have the ball in space, they should nail down an opportunity to host multiple playoff games at George L. King field come playoff time.
Allow for plenty of time to get up to Bucks County this Friday evening for a 7pm kickoff to see the Panthers and Tigers battle in the final regular season tilt of 2023, or catch all the action on the livestream on www.havenfootball.net. As the playoff push continues, Strath Haven players, cheerleaders, and musicians in the marching band will be appreciative of the fantastic community support they have received for years. Go Panthers!
