LANGHORNE: The newest member of the Suburban One League National Conference, Council Rock South, has quickly proven to be a worthy opponent. In fact, in the four years Neshaminy and CR South have played each other, the “overall” is knotted up at 2-2. And the last two years have seen the Golden Hawks climb the ladder of success as the 2011 South club made it to the D1 championship game against North Penn. So knowing this is not a team to be trifled with, you can bet the Schmidtmen will be ready to rock “Harry’s House” tonight. So let’s get down to the field and see how this one shakes out.

Receiving the kickoff, the Creek Kids started it up at their 35 after the return. Looking sharp, Hugh Hart, Nate Hall, Joe Falkowski and Cole Creighton had it down to the Golden Hawks’ 30 before finally going cold and turning it over on downs. South then had its first crack and a nice run had it over on the other side of the 50 in a hurry. Going to a 4th and 3 at the 30, an option toss fooled the blitz as the Hawks made it to the 21 for a first. And even with a tough penalty pushing it back, South drew first blood on a 30-plus yard pass play into the end zone. The PAT was good and at the end of the first-quarter it was the Golden Hawks up, 7-0.

Following Denny Lord’s return of the kickoff, the Redskins had a first at their 42 as they began their second offensive possession. A couple of quick jaunts by Hall had the ball down to the Hawks’ 20 in an eye blink. Getting in a bit closer, a fourth down rolled around with a 28-yard Nick Tucci field goal try wide as the ball then went back to Council Rock.

South then put its triple-option attack to work. And showing they meant business, plus eating the clock too, the Newtown club chewed up the big yards as they took it the distance on a methodical 80 yard march. With the PAT right down the fairway, it went to 14-0 for the visitors with a minute left in the half.

Justin Andrews took the following kick to the 20 where Langhorne set up with 56 seconds on the clock. Looking tight, though, it fell to Hall to break a third-down play out to mid-field to keep that Redskin effort alive with just 13 seconds still remaining. A Falkowski pass then missed Andrews as another hit the dirt as well just before the gun sounded with the two clubs then retiring to the locker rooms for the break.

With the Hawks taking the kick a South running back lost control of the ball and Neshaminy picked it up on the 31. With the Blue & Red offense on the field, Hall bounced his way to the one yard line on a couple of plays with Lord finishing it off. The PAT by Tucci was good as the score tightened to 14-7 with eight minutes left on the third-quarter clock.

Back to CR, they went on offense but couldn’t get it in gear. Punting on fourth down, Langhorne had the ball on their 44 after the rolling kick. With Hall and Blake “Big Bull” Sullivan shouldering the load, the ball was soon down inside the Golden Hawks’ redzone. Stalling out, Nick Tucci’s second field goal missed as the Hawks had escaped; however, even though the South “O” looked sharp the ball was soon back to Neshaminy with this possession seeing Hall take it in for the score. Tucci tied it up 14-14 with the extra point as the ball went back to the Golden Hawks at their 40 after a good return on the kickoff.

But catching a break the ball squirted loose and it was Neshaminy with the recovery at the South 41 with 7:46 to go in the fourth quarter. Showing “he’s the man”, Hall immediately ripped one off for the whole enchilada. Tucci drilled the PAT and Neshaminy had their first lead of the game, 21-14. Kicking it back to the Newtown club, the Redskin “D” was all over the place as three straight plays sent CR backwards. Forced to punt, and following a holding penalty on the ‘Skins, it was Neshaminy at their 30 with five minutes on the clock. Going to a third and six on that series, Hall exploded for 60 yards and a score only to see an unsportsmanlike conduct call on a ‘Skin take it back.

Set up at the Golden Hawks’ 35, it was Neshaminy with a first after the official’s ruling. Another burst by Hall had it in close but an injured Hawk player brought the game to a standstill for a while before the clock started back up with 3:18 remaining. Then after banging around for a while, it went to a fourth and ten at the 25. Not rattled, Hart found Andrews up top for the first with 1:40 left. Bunched up a bit, it was Hall busting it down to the two yard line to earn the last first Neshaminy needed. Hart grabbed a knee from there and now we get to say:

Game to ‘Skins!

Wow – back-to-back heart stoppers going in the books for Neshaminy. Let’s first catch our breaths and give a “Tip o’ The Hat” the Hawks – nice effort guys. And to the Redskins, a big congratulations! Twenty-one unanswered second-half points sealed the win. Plus keeping the push for playoff seeding and SOL National Conference honors alive, next week sees Langhorne heading to Bensalem to take on a resurgent Bensalem Owl club that is as dangerous as they come. So let’s all get out there in force and support our boys!

See you at the game.