Abington Outlasts Neshaminy

Written by: Armand Vanore on Tuesday, September 27th, 2011. Follow Armand Vanore on Twitter.

Abington, Pa., Abington senior running back Ray Schreiner is not the biggest of players. In a game played by the big boys the 5’7, 165 pound running back has a simple motto: “whenever I have to run the ball against bigger guys I feel I can run around them.” He not only ran around but through the Neshaminy defense as the Ghosts withstood a furious Redskins fourth quarter rally to the tune of a 35-21 victory in a rare Monday night showdown at Abington’s Schwartzman stadium. Big plays and a few costly penalties came at a premium in this AAAA, Suburban One National conference game.

Neshaminy got on the board first after Tyler Green recovered a Craig Reynolds muffed punt. Four plays later, Sean Ulmer took it in from eight yards out and a 7-0 lead. Abington came right back and scored 14 points in the next six plays with Schreiner’s 20 yard TD followed by a sack of Neshaminy signal caller Joe Bianchino by Bryan Osei. The sack caused a fumble that was recovered for a touchdown by Chris Ruhl. Ghost senior quarterback Ken Cropper kept things going by scoring on an eight keeper and a 21-7 halftime lead.

Schreiner needs only about four steps to accelerate to full speed and the Ghosts appeared to take total control of the game when he ran around left end on the second half’s first play for a 66 yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead. The Ghost offensive line was giving the running back just enough room to maneuver through the Skins defensive line. “I feel like I’m able to better follow my lineman’s blocks a little better every week” said Schreiner. “The more we play together the better I can follow their lead.”

By the 3:20 mark of the third quarter Neshaminy started to make a run at the Ghosts by going 70 yards in five plays punctuated by Ulmer’s 55 yard TD run. The Skins then pounced on a Jim Shelinski fumble on the Ghost 30 and Ulmer scored again two plays later from four yards out and Neshaminy was making a game of it, down by 28-21.

What makes teams great is how they can handle adversity when momentum shifts. Pinned on their 15 yard line with over 11 minutes left in the game and up by only seven, the Ghosts then went on an 11 play, 85 yard, six minute touchdown drive. The key plays: two Cropper pass completions to Josh Lee (42 yards) and Ruhl (26 yards). Schreiner’s six yard TD run put the Ghosts back up by two scores.

The Redskins did not go down easy as they battled back with their own 13 play drive and appeared to score again on a nifty reverse for a touchdown by Justin Andrews from eight yards. A holding call though nullified the touchdown ending the rally and ensuring the Ghosts a win on their home turf.

After the game, Abington coach Tim Sorber was pleased with the poise his team played with when Neshaminy came back. “The 87 yard drive in the fourth quarter showed the character of our offensive line. It’s something we didn’t do against Plymouth Whitemarsh when we had a chance to seal the game.” As for Schreiner’s performance Sorber was not at a loss for words for his star RB. “Ray gets better as the game goes along. He not only runs the ball well on the outside but he runs great on the interior as well. His runs on inside zone plays kept the defense off balance.

On defense Temple commit Osei had two sacks causing the fumble that led to the Ghost’s second TD as well as being a force against the Skins ground game. He was in Bianchino’s face virtually on every pass play. Schreiner unofficially had 19 carries for 233 yards and three touchdowns. Ulmer had 25 carries for 166 yards and three TD’s.

Abington heads into this weekend’s game against Council Rock South with a 4-0 record while Neshaminy drops to 3-1 and a date looming with Bensalem.

Scoring by Quarters

1^st Quarter

Neshaminy- Sean Ulmer -8 yard run- PAT – Nick Tucci- 4:27

Abington- Ray Schreiner- 20 yard run- PAT- Adrian Leatherman- :24

2^nd Quarter

Abington- Chris Ruhl- 10 yard fumble return- PAT- Adrian Leatherman- 11:42

Abington- Ken Cropper- 8 yard run- PAT- Adrian Leatherman- 3:27

3^rd Quarter

Abington- Ray Schreiner- 66 yard run- PAT- Adrian Leatherman- 11:45

Neshaminy- Sean Ulmer- 55 yard run- PAT- Nick Tucci- :56

4^th Quarter