By Greg Pecko, MNFB.com
October 20, 2008
The Marple Newtown Tigers (2-6) didn’t leave Phil Marion field with a win but they certainly left with motivation and confidence about the future.
The Ridley Raiders (7-1) beat the Tigers by a score of 27-7 but those numbers don’t do the effort of the Tigers justice. The reason being is that the score was 14-0 at halftime and at that point the determination of the Tigers’ program led them to block both a Ridley field goal attempt and an extra point attempt.
The Tigers’ fought hard Friday night against a tough Ridley squad and they proved some major points to their competition. The tigers’ proved that they are on the rise, they are talented and most importantly they improving at a fast pace.
The Tigers’ were able to hold the Raiders to very little yardage early in the ball game and played tough on both sides of the football. Senior Phil Graziano and Junior Nick Stephens once again led the offense on the ground and they continues to pick up more and more yardage and points.
Graziano is quickly closing in on a thousand yard season as he rushed for over 100 yards for the fourth straight week and he is set to reach that milestone at home against Upper Darby next week. Graziano also was the man who blocked the field goal and extra point attempts by Ridley in the first quarter.
Nick Stephens had his third touchdown in two games as he took the ball 24-yards for the score early in the fourth quarter. Stephens also contributed on the defensive side of the ball as he forced a fumble and recovered it on the same play, by simply ripping the ball out of the hands of the Ridley running-back.
Once again Senior defensive-end Steve Reynolds provided the spark for Marple Newtown’s defense as he racked up several tackles and had 2 sacks in the game. Additionally, Dan Giordano continues to make his presence felt defensively as he contributed with some big tackles.
Despite, what the scoreboard read this game was close and the Tigers are well on their way to making waves in the Central League during the second half of the season and into next year.
The Tigers will be back in Harry Harvey stadium next week to take on Upper Darby High School. Coverage can be found onwww.marplenewtownfootball.com and www.eyeofthetigersblog.com.