SPRINGFIELD – Springfield-Delco saw its unbeaten 6-0 start last season end on Haverford’s field after a litany of turnovers and missed opportunities. The Cougars had four critical turnovers that led to a 21-13 setback.
One year later and one venue change later, the Cougars left no doubt that history was not going to repeat itself.
The Cougars earned a 35-21 win over the Fords on Saturday night at Springfield High School Stadium to keep their unbeaten season alive and top spot in the PIAA District 1 Power Rankings.
“That was our biggest regret last year was losing that one,” Springfield running back Tanner Coll said. “We had a couple of big shots last year and it felt really good to take the lead in the second half after being down at halftime.”
When teams face Haverford (3-2, 5-2) they know they will get a heavy dose of running back Liam Taylor and the Fords made certain of that on their opening drive. The Fords powered their way down the field with an 18-play 70-yard drive that chewed up the first 8:57 of the game and took the early 7-0 lead when Taylor scored on an 8-yard touchdown run.
The Cougars (6-0, 7-0) responded with balance and tied the game at seven at the 11:04-mark of the second quarter when Coll raced in from 18 yards out. Coll and his fellow back, Luke Valerio, established a firm 1-2 punch on the first Springfield-Delco drive that would prove vital down the stretch.
“It is awesome to have the backfield we do,” Valerio said. Between Tanner, Myself, and T.J. back there, they never know who the ball is going to. We keep teams on their toes, and everyone made a signature play in this game that led to the win.”
However, Taylor burned the Cougars again with a 40-yard touchdown run to put Haverford up 14-7 at the 8:05-mark of the second quarter. Pete Manaras followed by intercepting a deep pass from Springfield quarterback John Hopkins on the ensuing drive that set Haverford up to potentially go up two scores.
The Cougars defense got the stop they needed, and the Springfield-Delco deep backfield went back to work and drew within one point of the Fords at 14-13 following an 8-yard scramble from Hopkins with 39 seconds left in the first half.
Valerio had 41 of the Cougars 65 yards on their final drive of the first half and picked up right where he left off in the opening possession of the third quarter when he scored his first touchdown of the game on a 3-yard scamper, giving Springfield-Delco its first lead of the game at 21-14.
“Our guys up front had a huge game,” Valerio said. “Getting a score right out of the half was huge and going 3-for-3 on scoring drives in the second half is a massive credit to them.”
Haverford countered with their second longest drive of the game behind 13 straight rushing plays in 6:33 and tied the game at 21 with 1:09 left in the third quarter on a 4-yard touchdown run from Manaras.
The tie score lasted just 51 seconds as Coll sprinted down the left sideline for a 66-yard touchdown to put Springfield back up 28-21 with 12 seconds left in the third quarter.
“I am proud with how our guys responded to adversity,” Coll said. “We were physical which is what you need to be against them (Haverford) and eventually I was able to break through.”
The Cougars delivered the knockout punch on its first drive of the fourth quarter following a Fords punt as they took off 6:06 on a 12-play 60-yard drive that was capped with a 1-yard plunge by Coll on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
The key play on the drive came from another source in the talented Springfield-Delco backfield when TJ Valetti took a pitch and delivered a perfect pass to Mike Neville for a 30-yard completion on 3rd-and-10.
“That was the baseball player in TJ,” Coll said. “We practice that play every week and I loved the timing of the call.”
The Cougars finished the game with 292 rushing yards as a team on 37 carries with the combo of Coll and Valerio combining for 253 of them. Both went over 100 yards as Valerio had the team lead with 144 on 15 carries and a score while Coll had 109 on 10 carries with a trio of touchdowns.
Taylor eclipsed 200 yards on his own with 208 on 33 carries and two scores in a valiant effort.
Springfield-Delco now takes dead aim at a potential outright Central League title with three games left in the regular season after clearing a major hurdle from last season. The Cougars get Radnor next Friday on the road while the Fords seek a bounce back at Ridley.
“We still have to build from this game,” Valerio said. “Nothing was perfect, and we have to keep learning each week to get better.”
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Haverford | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Springfield-Delco | 0 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 35 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | HAV | Taylor, 8 run (Valletti Kick) | 2:59 |
| 2 | SPR | Coll, 18 run (Suarez kick) | 11:04 |
| 2 | HAV | Taylor, 40 run (Valletti kick) | 8:05 |
| 2 | SPR | Hopkins, 8 run (Kick Failed) | 0:39 |
| 3 | SPR | Valerio, 3 run (Coll Run) | 7:49 |
| 3 | HAV | Manaras, 4 run (Valletti Kick) | 1:09 |
| 4 | SPR | Coll, 66 run (Suarez Kick) | 0:12 |
| 4 | SPR | Coll, 1 run (Suarez Kick) | 2:47 |
Team statistics
| Haverford | Springfield-Delco | |
| First downs | 18 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 53-278 | 37-292 |
| Passing yards | 9 | 63 |
| Total yards | 287 | 355 |
| Passes COMP-ATT-INT | 1-5-0 | 4-6-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 2-36.5 | 0-0.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 3-25 | 4-30 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Haverford: Taylor 33-208, A. Kilpatrick 11-28, McCallon 2-22, Manaras 5-13, Klein 1-9, TEAM 1-(-2)
Springfield-Delco: Valerio 15-144, Coll 10-109, Valletti 7-34, Hopkins 3-9, TEAM 2-(-4)
PASSING
Haverford: Kilpatrick 1-5-0–9
Springfield-Delco: Hopkins 3-5-1—33, Valletti 1-1-0–30
RECEIVING
Haverford: McGonigle 1-9
Springfield-Delco: Neville 3-51, Coll 1-12
INTERCEPTIONS
Haverford: Manaras
Springfield-Delco: None