Springfield’s Finn Delany
FOLSOM, PA — The game carried marquee appeal. The billing carried two undefeated teams with stubborn defenses that were among the top in the state in scoring defense.
They also happened to be traditional, fierce rivals.
Zeros galore orbited Springfield (Delco) and host Ridley Friday night. The Central League rivals were each 5-0. Both had multiple shutouts this season, with Springfield entering the game as Pennsylvania’s No. 1 scoring defense, giving up a stingy 1.7 points a game with three shutouts, while Ridley had four shutouts and were holding teams to 4.7 points a game.
How does a team drop from giving up an average of less than 2 points a game?
Pitch another shutout.
It’s exactly what the Cougars did to Ridley, in a 20-0 victory that was textbook Springfield, nothing flashy, standard fundamentals, playing smart.
The Cougars (6-0) have a habit of zapping anticipation. This was supposed to be an exciting close game, but instead, it turned into a systematic dissection of the Green Raiders’ offense.
Springfield held Ridley to a total of four first downs and 89 yards of total offense. The Green Raiders did not achieve their first first down of the second half until there was 9:35 to play in the game. By then, Springfield was up 20-0.
Of Ridley’s 10 possessions, the Green Raiders crossed the 50 once, on their first drive, reaching the Springfield 38, the deepest Ridley would get the entire game.
Springfield’s run defense was dogged, giving up an average of 1.7 yards a carry, which ironically matched the number of points the Cougars were giving up a game this season until Friday night, when that miniscule number somehow managed to now fall to a state-leading low of 1.6 points a game.
Cougars’ head coach Chris Britton runs the defense, with some help from his personal defensive Yoda, legendary defensive guru Mike D’Esposito, who has forgotten more than anyone in Delaware County may know about football with a 10-year stint at defunct St. James, followed by 27 years with his buddy Steve Lennox at Interboro and now here under Britton the last four years at Springfield.
The Cougars are coming off an historic 2025 season and seem primed to at least equal what they accomplished last year, when they won their first District 1 Class 5A championship with a single-season school record 14 victories, going 14-1 overall and reaching the PIAA Class 5A state semifinals, where they lost to eventual state champion Roman Catholic.
High expectation already abound for the Cougars before they visited rival Ridley Friday night. They were confirmed by Springfield’s intractable defense led by seniors TJ Valletti, Zion Culbreth, Finn Delaney and Alex McGinnis, and juniors Tommy Griffin, Chase Christy, Michael DePetris and Brady Wainwright.
“We have captains and we also have a lot of leaders on this team,” Britton said. “We are undersized up front, but that is the way it always is on both fronts. Our defensive front is selfless, and they listen. They play sound, and they play smart. There isn’t just one unsung kid on this team. We have a team of unsung kids. Christy came out of nowhere to play really well, and Wainwright came out.
“We have good coaches who work well with each other and coaches that have different roles. Our guys are good at taking what we’re selling. It’s a culture thing. We have a good group of seniors that police each other.”
Britton said the defense is a cohesive unit that knows the system.
“Other teams have to adjust to us,” Delaney said. “We’re disciplined. We don’t make many mistakes. We have a great plan put in by our coaches. We switch things up. We thought we would be this good on defense. It’s everyone who is doing it. We were calling out plays and communicating. We were really confident coming in here.”
So confident that the Cougars knew what Ridley was going to do before the Green Raiders did it.
“That’s the coaching staff preparing us,” said Valletti, a dual-sport star in football and basketball. “Everyone on this defense is smart. We knew pretty much every play that was coming. Coach Britton prepared us well. (Ridley) has a lot of tells that we picked up on.”
Springfield started slow, but picked it up in the second half, scoring on its first drive when John Hopkins hit Shane Kilroy with an 8-yard touchdown pass with 2:43 to go in the third quarter.
By the end of the quarter, Springfield had outgained Ridley 149 to 10, and 175 to 33 in the second half with the Cougars turning out 13 first downs to Ridley’s 2. For the game, Springfield amassed 296 yards of total offense to Ridley’s 89 yards.
Entering Week 7, Springfield is No. 2 in District 1 Class 5A behind No. 1 Chester, which the Cougars beat in last year’s district championship. It seems the two programs are another collision course to the finals.
The problem Springfield faces in securing the No. 1 seed in the District 1 Class 5A playoffs—and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs—is that the cumulative record of its last three opponents is 8-11, which affects bonus points. The Cougars also face one more heavy test in their season finale against Strath Haven, which is coming off its biggest win this season in a 13-7 victory over previously undefeated Garnet Valley on Friday night.
Chester’s last four opponents, however, are a combined 16-10, when the Clippers face a 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A team each.
The inevitable Chester-Springfield District 1 5A championship collision may also have a lurking interloper in a very good, young Great Valley team, which holds one of the season’s best storylines. The Patriots are 7-0 and have more than doubled their victory total of a year ago when they went 3-7 overall.
But for right now, Springfield is focusing on staying king in the land of zeros.
Scoring Summary
Springfield (Delco) (6-0) 0 7 13 0-20
Ridley (5-1) 0 0 0 0-0
2nd Quarter
Spr. – TJ Valletti 3 run (Zarel Suarez kick), 7:00
3rd Quarter
Spr. – Shane Kilroy 8 pass from John Hopkins (Suarez kick), 2:43
4th Quarter
Spr. – Jackson Sheffield 6 run (kick failed), 10:32
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.
Legendary veteran coaches Mike D’Esposito (left) and Steve Lennox (right) play important roles in Springfield’s football machine