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PLEASANTVILLE-A
three-touchdown scoring burst in the final quarter
gave Neshaminy High its ninth straight win of the
season last night as the Lower Bucks County
representatives beat the favored Pleasantville High
team, 20-6, on the fog-shrouded Ansley field.
Cast in the role of the underdog,
Neshaminy was stopped cold until its power exploded
in the finale. The 14-point margin of victory does
not reveal the closeness of the game as the Redskins
winning streak was in peril from the opening
whistle.
 Things
looked very dark for the Neshaminy team as the last
quarter started with Pleasantville holding a 6-0
lead, the result of a second period touchdown.
Sitting on the bench was Errol Faunce
whose famed passing arm was responsible for many of
the Neshaminy touchdowns this season. Faunce was hit
in the face, lost a tooth and suffered a cut on the
inside of his lip in the third quarter.
No Runs
Don Cameron could not get away for
any of his long scampers and Joe Moronese had
difficulty prying his way through the heavy
Pleasantville line, especially with end Ronnie
Lupton breaking through to stop most of the plays
before they could get started.
In the fourth it appeared lost as
Pleasantville drove to the 10 yard line before the
rugged Redskins finally held on at the seven with a
gallant goal line stand.
Then came the straw which broke the
Pleasantville team’s back. After Neshaminy moved to
the 35, Don Cameron went back to pass. It was
supposed to be an aerial to the left side but Alhum
could not get away and Cameron suddenly found
himself trapped at the thirty.
Reverse
 He
tried to reverse his field and saw Pleasantville
players coming the other way. He backed up five more
yards and saw three of his teammates, Bill Barrett,
Moronese and Covington, standing on the right side
of the field with no Pleasantville players around.
He let go the ball with his southpaw
hand straight to Joe Moronese who caught it on the
Pleasantville 40 and broke away for pay dirt. Three
players had a chance to catch Moronese or push him
out of bounds but the chunky little fullback eluded
them to tie the score. He then booted the conversion
point to give his team the lead, 7-6.
Low Team
After that it was a disheartened
Pleasantville team that lined up for the kickoff and
before it was over another pass was good for another
touchdown and Frankie Ferguson blocked his second
kick of the game to pave the way for the third
six-pointer.
Ned Moyer was on the receiving end of
the pass play which scored the touchdown while
Moronese added his second touchdown following the
blocked kick.
The Pleasantville TD was made by
Richie Fonaro following a pass interception near the
close of the first half.
Foggy
 The fog that enveloped Ansley’s field
seemed to reach the Neshaminy players for in the
first three quarters they were only a shell of their
former selves.
During the first three periods
Neshaminy made but six first downs and in the last
session they scored five. In the last quarter the
Redskins gained 113 yards in the air while in the
first three quarters, the net gain was 38 yards in
the air.
Only seventy-five yards were chalked
up on the ground before the team came to life and in
the last period 34 yards went on the score sheet.
Coach Harry Franks’ team completed four out of six
passes in the last quarter but was successful only
on three of its 16 tries in the other part of the
game with four being intercepted.
Dark
Things were at their darkest in the
second quarter when after losing the ball at the
start, the Neshaminy boys only regained possession
once and that was on a blocked kick by Ferguson.
They failed to capitalize on the break as the four
downs showed a net loss of two yards.
Cameron brought the fans to their
feet the first time he carried the ball at the start
of the game when he got loose and went 68 yards for
a touchdown only to have the ball brought back to
the 50 where he stepped out of bounds. The run came
on Neshaminy’s pet play where the team lines up way
to the right of the ball.
That was the only score until late in
the second when the Jerseyites took the 6-0 lead.
Pleasantville’s Tom Forman
intercepted a pass and would have gone all the way
but Bob Hurst came from behind to spill him to the
earth on the seven. Charlie Evans and Mike Linder
hauled the ball to the one from where Fonaro took it
over on a handoff from Linder.
That’s the way it was until Neshaminy
shook off the doldrums. Stan Wilt, who relieved the
injured Faunce, had a big hand in the first TD
drive. He passed to Cameron for six yards and then
ripped off nine on an end run. He followed by
tossing to Moronese to set the stage for the
touchdown pass which changed the entire complex of
the foray.
Neshaminy Control
Following the touchdown,
Pleasantville had the ball at midfield with fourth
and one to go for a first. The Pleasantville
play-caller gambled on a jump pass and lost,
Neshaminy taking over on the Pleasantville 45.
Moronese and Wilt made 16 yards on
three line plays before Cameron passed to Moyer. The
latter caught the ball on the five and went over for
the score for a 29 yard completion. Moronese missed
the PAT.
The third touchdown also came in fast
order. Following the kickoff which was carried from
the nine to the 20, Pleasantville tried three passes
which were grounded.
Adams went back to kick but Ferguson
broke through and made a nice block. The ball rolled
back to the one where it was recovered by Neshaminy.
On the first play Moronese took it over for the TD.
He passed to Stan Covington for the conversion
point.
Neshaminy has its annual Thanksgiving
Day classic with Bensalem remaining on its schedule.
The situation now is as it was last season with
Neshaminy being unbeaten until Bensalem scored its
7-6 upset win and tie for the Lower Bucks County
Crown.
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Last update
October 09, 2007