Conestoga Downs Radnor in Central League Clash

Written by: Paul Sarpen on Saturday, September 23rd, 2023. Follow Paul Sarpen on Twitter.

In a mid-season Central League rivalry game, the Conestoga Pioneers downed the Radnor Raptors, by a score of 21-7 at Teamer Field in Berwyn tonight.

The old adage of winning football games by running the ball and playing defense, held true for Conestoga tonight. The Pioneers overcame a short-term injury to starting quarterback Jude Cook, by riding their defense in a second-half shutout of the Raptors from Radnor.

Offensively, the Pioneers established the run early, often, and in many different ways. The Wildcat, fullback dives by Navy-bound Newhall, quarterback counters, or ISO, all worked to the tune of 298 yards rushing (390 total yards).

Conestoga got on the board early, after Jude Cook capped off a long touchdown drive on a quarterback sneak. Radnor was able to tie the game at 7-7 after capitalizing on a Jude Cook interception and returned to the Pioneer 11 when their quarterback threw a seven-yard pass.

From there on out, Conestoga’s running game added two more touchdowns by Jude Cook (four yards) and Charlie Gilmartin (two yards) before half, and rode a smothering defense the rest of the way. The Pioneer defense held Radnor to 95 yards passing, 60 yards rushing (155 total), and seven first downs.

After the game, Radnor’s coach said, “We made too many mental mistakes tonight. If we make those same mental mistakes next week (against Strath Haven), we will get beaten easily.” Conestoga coach Matt Diamond stated, “Jude’s injury is short-term. Although his injury is short-term, we struggled to get our footing on offense in the second half. Our defense was outstanding. We had a strong run game, mixed with play action.”

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