By Brian Carroll –
A quick disclaimer to start: I am not a doctor. Aside from some basic first aid and CPR training, and raising two rambunctious kids/now adults who had more than their share of bumps and bruises, my medical training is limited. Yet as a public service announcement of sorts, I would strongly encourage all high school fans to put a note in their calendars the next time they see Strath Haven and Garnet Valley on the head-to-head schedule and follow this advice: Call your family physician. Call your cardiologist. Maybe call your priest or religious leader. Or just call a friend to sit next to you and hold your hand to make sure you’re OK, because chances are high that the Panthers and Jaguars will have you feeling a range of symptoms to include but not limited to dizziness, faintness, heart palpitations, depression, profuse sweating, loud outbursts, and/or exhilaration. And Friday’s night’s Week 7 showdown between two undefeated Central League contenders covered all those conditions and more as Strath Haven hung on for a memorable 13-7 victory.
Since joining the Central League in 2008, Garnet Valley has taken the league by storm, owning or sharing 10 league titles in that short time. And boasting an 11-3 overall record against Strath Haven, it was no wonder that many local prognosticators expected District 1’s top scoring offense to roll again on their home turf, especially as the Panthers arrived without multiple defensive starters that now listed All-State linebacker Cole Haly. But recent history has tilted slightly toward the silver and black, with the Panthers winning two of the last three contests, including their 2023 visit to Moe DeFrank Stadium when the Panthers snapped GV’s 46-game win streak in the Central League.
And the Panthers could not have asked for a better start. After a holding penalty and Jalen Starr’s terrific open-field tackle quelled the Jaguar’s opening drive, the Panthers marched 67 yards over the next 10 plays on the legs of #3 Landon Barlow and # 4 Yousif Ali. Ali followed a terrific block from #55 Logan Knaub and spun his way to a 12-yard score for the first lead of the night. After that, the Jaguars’ defense tightened to the point that Strath Haven never even reached their own 40-yard line the rest of the half, and Garnet Valley started to show that it is no accident they have scored over 46 points per game through their first five contests. The dam broke midway through the second quarter, as Jaguar quarterback #3 Colton Turner (78 rushing yards) used a tremendous fake to catch the Panthers flat-footed on a 37-yard scoring run, capping a 73-yard scoring drive and tie the game at seven.
And if viewers at that point were told that there would just be one more scoring play for the rest of the evening, then they got their money’s worth with just over four minutes left in the third quarter. On a drive that started at their own 23, Landon Barlow added another highlight to an already remarkable season. On a second and 10 from the Garnet Valley 38-yard line, blocks from Knaub and #80 John Reilly gave Barlow a small crease to pick up the first six yards. From there, the Panthers’ sledgehammer fullback was on a carousel, sprinting and spinning his way past and through five would-be-tacklers for a “do or die” touchdown that will be etched in Panther memory banks for years to come. And after Garnet Valley’s #10 Dylan Perry stormed through the line to block the extra point, Panther fans were left to chew their fingernails through the next 16 minutes of action with just a 13-7 lead.
Beyond Barlow’s highlight-reel touchdown run, Panther fans should leave room in their memory banks for a large catalog of hugely important plays from literally everyone on the defense. Garnet Valley’s talented running backs– #36 Luke Bernard, #28 Roy Pomarico, and #14 Sebastian Cantu—were held to less than four yards per carry overall, but the Jaguars still provided plenty of stress, outgaining Strath Haven 283 yards to 210 on the evening. So it took every bit of effort, attention to the smallest details, and a high-adrenaline physicality for the Panthers to run fans through a massive range of emotions. It took a first-half sack from #62 Chase Shuster and #57 Zach Milligan to keep Turner from another damaging scramble. Starr and Reilly were terrific tacklers on the edges, but Cantu was inches away from springing huge runs up the middle except for clutch tackles from Ali and #17 Christian Deshields in the second half. Palms were sweaty for Panther fans until they saw Knaub and Barlow both thriving at new positions, making tackles behind the line of scrimmage. #84 Tyler Slaughter had heart rates up all night, swatting away two passes at the line of scrimmage, and tackling GV’s speedy #1 Mike Archer for a loss on third and short in the fourth quarter. And with Slaughter off the field momentarily on the next play, #5 Kasey Hudson made one of his two 4th down stops with a brilliant read and open-field tackle on GV’s leading receiver, #12 Brody Orr, in the red zone early in the 4th quarter.
Shuster’s 49-yard punt pinned Garnet Valley inside their 20-yard line to begin their final drive of the evening, and the wide range of emotions continued. Anxiety heightened after Turner found Archer for a 15-yard completion despite a huge hit from Kasey Hudson. Palms got sweatier when Turner scrambled for an 8-yard run near midfield, but a sense of relief prevailed knowing that Zach Milligan disrupted a backside screen pass that was designed for a bigger play. A third-down sack from Logan Knaub was wiped out by a 15-yard penalty, sparking mood swings from Panther fans everywhere. Those big feelings continued with Haven backed up at their own 12-yard line and the Jaguars holding 2nd down and just three yards to go. With a first down and/or potential game winning touchdown feeling more and more inevitable, senior captain #53 Pat Burke provided a spark, shooting through the A-gap to stuff Cantu for no gain. It seemed to show enough for Garnet Valley to try something new, but Jalen Starr blanketed Orr in the corner of the end zone and knocked away a 3rd down pass. On 4th and 3, Barlow shot through the line to stop Bernard for a loss, only to find the play blown dead just prior to the snap for a Garnet Valley timeout. With the game on the line, and perhaps discouraged from running based on the previous plays, the Jaguars went back to the air, only to find the Panther’s #32 Connor Kelly locked in coverage on Orr and see Turner’s pass fall harmlessly to the end zone turf.
With the Panthers then taking over at their own 12-yard line and still needing to kill four minutes of game time, it seemed only fitting that a handoff to Barlow (127 rushing yards) saw his momentum stopped after two yards, but managed a nine-yard gain after seven teammates rallied to the ball and shoved Garnet Valley’s hopes into oblivion. An all-hands-on-deck play, while maybe not the flashiest nor most important, thus provided a perfect metaphor for a momentous win. For a team that is increasingly reliant on a full-team effort, players and coaches can point to this win as a building block for the very challenging weeks to come. And if that means fans will continue to suffer all the emotional ups and downs of a highly-entertaining and competitive high school football game and season, that might be a physician’s consultation worth paying.
