By Josh Kipple, Tigers Radio Network
October 23, 2010
ARDMORE – Saturday is usually a day reserved for football at the collegiate level, but Marple Newtown got Friday night off this week and instead took the field on a beautiful Saturday afternoon on the road in Ardmore. The Tigers dominated the Lower Merion Aces on every side of the ball and cruised to a 41-6 victory.
The defense went to work first and shut down the Aces on their opening drive thanks to a huge 9-yard sack by Chris Kurkian. The Marple Newtown offense moved the ball well on their first drive and ended up with a touchdown after taking the ball 47 yards in less than 3 minutes. Ryan Whiteput the first points on the board at the end of the drive on an 8-yard rushing play. The Tigers scored again on their first drive of the 2nd quarter whenCimirrow Moat punched the ball over the goal line from 3 yards out. The Marple Newtown defense continued to hold off the Aces throughout the first half. In fact, the Lower Merion offense never crossed into Tiger territory until there were 2 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. The Tigers were able to score again before halftime on a 25-yard run by Ryan White that put Marple Newtown up 21-0. They kicked the ball off and gave the Aces a chance to get some points before the end of the half, but defensive back Tom Antistaintercepted the ball to ensure Lower Merion stayed scoreless after 24 minutes.
The Tigers were set to receive the kick to start the second half, but unfortunately fumbled the ball and turned it over to the Aces at the Marple Newtown 23 yard line. The Lower Merion offense took this opportunity to seize some momentum and scored on a 1-yard rushing play. This touchdown did not sit easy with the Tigers, especially Brian Kelly, who broke through the line and blocked the ensuing extra point attempt to hold the score at 21-6. The Marple Newtown offense responded immediately by taking the ball into the end zone again. This time, Ryan Duffy ran the ball 24 yards for a touchdown on a 4th down play. The Tigers, now up by three scores, decided to give some of the starters a break and gave a few of the players on the sidelines a chance to get into the game. The Marple Newtown offense did not produce any more touchdowns, but the Tigers were certainly not done scoring. At the end of the 3rd quarter, Ryan White scored his third touchdown of the day, this time by intercepting the ball and returning it 42 yards all the way to the end zone. Joey Pham scored on a similar play at the end of the 4th quarter when he intercepted the ball and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown with one minute left in the game to close out the contest.
Three different Marple Newtown running backs found the end zone and the team ended up with 243 yards on the ground. Ryan White had 3 total touchdowns, 2 rushing scores and one interception return for a score, bringing his total to 11 this season. The defense recovered 6 turnovers, 1 fumble and 5 interceptions that were returned for a total of 108 yards. Chris Kurkian led the team with 2 sacks, and had 7 total tackles including 3 for a loss.
The Tigers (3-5, 2-5) return home for Senior Night at Harry Harvey Stadium and will take on the Harriton Rams (1-7, 1-7) this Friday.