Calvary Christian Over Jenkintown in Thriller

Written by: Armand Vanore on Saturday, August 30th, 2014. Follow Armand Vanore on Twitter.

Jenkintown, Pa. Calvary Christian quarterback Joshua Reichenbach atoned for an earlier goal line fumble by throwing a 36 yard touchdown to Sam Heath on the game’s final play propelling the Cougars to a 20-14 thriller at Jenkintown.

Although never trailing, the Cougars defense was on the field for the majority of the first half. “In the first half our defense wasn’t always lining up in their proper alignments,” echoed coach Mike Reichenbach. They matured in the second half by playing the right alignments which made life a lot tougher for their two main running threats.”

Calvary scored on their first play from scrimmage when Mike Hollinger scampered around the left end for a 77 yard touchdown. Jenkintown knotted the game at seven to open the second quarter with Steve Charlemagne and quarterback Jamie Griffin accounting for all their yardage in the series ending with Charlemagne’s 16 yard TD.

Both teams’ defenses settled down in the second half . With the score tied at 14 deep into the fourth quarter the Cougars went on an extended 11 play drive but the Drakes kept Calvary out of the end zone. They forced a Reichenbach fumble on the two-yard line which Charlemagne recovered. Two series later with only seconds left, Reichenbach completed his last pass in a tight window to Heath between two defenders for the winning touchdown.

“Our quarterback was trying to do too much, but in the second half he was doing his best trying to take what the defense was giving him,” said Coach Reichenbach. “Jenkintown is a very physical football team and I wanted to make sure our kids knew in their heart that they could do this. We are very proud of them.”

Anthony Owens’ Drakes played very tough from the point of attack and should be a viable force in District 1’s Bicentennial league.  Next week they travel to Pottsville and play Nativity BVM in a non conference tilt while the Cougars host conference foe Bristol.

Calvary Christian and Jenkintown are two of the smallest schools  in a very deep, student-heavy District one which is littered with AAAA teams. They do not have the luxury of getting a lot of press in the Philadelphia area, but both programs have been instrumental to the success the Bicentennial has had over the years. Calvary Christian did not even have enough players to field a varsity team in 2012. All in all it’s still football and they delivered a fan’s opening day delight.

Scoring By Quarter

1st Quarter

CC- Mike Hollinger- 77 run- PAT-Jason Crouch

2nd Quarter

J-Steve Charlemagne- 16 run- PAT-Jamie Griffin

CC- Joshua Reichenbach- 1 run- PAT- Crouch

J- Griffin- 3 run – PAT- Griffin

3rd Quarter

no scoring

4th Quarter

CC- Sam Heath- 36 pass from Reichenbach

Late Hits: Douglas Medvic had an interception to go along with his 13 tackles (most were solos) for Calvary Christian. Julian Goldhill had 2 picks for the Drakes. The Cougars only dressed five seniors. There were three turnovers on three consecutive plays in the first quarter between the teams. Griffin had a beautiful 56 yard running punt that pinned the Cougars on their own 4 in the 3rd quarter. Hollinger had 148 yards on 16 carries.Charlemagne had 113 yards on 16 carries. Elliot Bense had an inspiring game at LB with 9 tackles including 3 in a row stalling a Cougar drive in the third quarter. Both teams suited 20 players. Coach Reichenbach was a linebacker under Buddy Ryan’s regime with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 80’s.

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