By: John Knebels
PHILADELPHIA – The game’s final play appeared to offer no real significance.
Actually, it spoke volumes.
En route to a thorough 21-0 victory over traditional Catholic League toughie Archbishop Wood Saturday afternoon at the hallowed Franklin Field, Malvern Prep faced a third and five at its own 15-yard line with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
Wood’s defense knew what was coming. The crowd knew what was coming. The officials knew what was coming. The Friars would run the ball, and if they failed to garner a first down, they would punt.
On the sideline, however, Malvern’s coaches implored the offense – particularly the offensive line – to ignore the score and finish the triumph in dominant fashion.
“Make a play here, offense; stay on your blocks,” said one coach. “You’re not coming off that field,” said another.
Senior quarterback Jack Capaldi handed off to junior Yaahdir Nash. Behind the interior blocking of junior Kevin Miller, senior Coltin Deery, senior Max Bowman, sophomore Pete Jones, and sophomore Logan Demchyk, Nash rumbled up the middle for seven yards.
One kneel down by Capaldi later, the Friars celebrated a momentous achievement against a Wood team that entered the game 3-0 and had outscored Neshaminy, Neumann-Goretti, and Cheltenham by a gaudy 111 to 6.
Senior Quarterback Jack Capaldi. (photo by Lou Rabito for PSD)
“This is a really close group of guys,” said Malvern coach Dave Gueriera. “They support each other really well. I think the offensive line at that point felt the love, felt the support. They dug deep there and wanted to finish.
“The theme of this week was finish – finish everything we do. That’s what happened there at the end, and I believe it was a microcosm of the game.”
The Friars led 14-0 at halftime via two second-quarter touchdowns, the first a pitch-catch-run 77-yard touchdown connection from Capaldi to Nash down the right sideline, the second a 23-yard run by senior Isaiah Wright, who added a two-point conversion.
A 77-yard TD by Malvern Jr. Yaahdir Nash marks the first of three by the Friars. (video/John Knebels for PSD)
With Wood dazed but far from broken, Gueriera made sure the Friars commenced the second half with the same ferocity as the first.
“At halftime, I said to them to expect their best punch,” said Gueriera. “Coming out, they get the ball. Expect them to put everything they have in trying to get a touchdown and get back in this game.
“If we could flip it and beat them to that first punch, I think we win the game. Ultimately, the guys were as fired up in the second half as they were in the first half. That had a lot to do with us winning the game.”
The Friars followed Gueriera’s directive.
Malvern's Defense dominates in game vs Wood. (photos by Lou Rabito for PSD)
After forcing a Wood punt, Malvern increased its lead to 21-0 when Capaldi (8 of 13 for 184 yards and two touchdowns) found senior D’Angelo Stocker (four catches, 90 yards) on a play-action that resulted in a 41-yard touchdown spiral.
Isaiah Wright's 23-yard Td and conversion run gives Malvern 14-0 Lead over Wood in 2nd Qtr. (video/John Knebels)
D'Angelo Stocker's 41-yard TD gives Malvern a 21-0 Lead over Archbishop Wood after 3 qtrs. (video/John Knebels)
For those that enjoy uncanny stats, each of Malvern’s scorers – Nash, Wright, and Stocker – scored their third touchdowns of the season.
Malvern's Isaiah Wright made key plays on both offense and defense. (video/John Knebels)
QB Jack Capaldi tossed two long touchdown passes. (video/John Knebels)
Malvern's Hayden Pegg's defense solidified the win. (video/John Knebels)
“We trusted the play calls,” said Capaldi. “We trusted each other in general. Just kind of stuck to the plan. Just getting that (first) score. We really trusted our defense this game. Just getting the momentum was huge.
“We knew they were a good team coming in. We learned from out mistakes against La Salle. Once we got that third score, it gave us the momentum going through the second half. That was big.”
Through three contests, the Friars have surrendered a miserly 10 points, have engineered two straight shutouts, and have not allowed a point in nine quarters.
Though Wood managed to complete 22 of 34 passes for 231 yards, the Friars stymied the Vikings’ running game to 57 yards on 19 carries when eliminating a botched snap and sacks.
“We wanted to be fundamentally sound in everything we did,” said Gueriera. “We finished our tackling and did not give up big plays. We had a really good plan and it was executed really well.”
Defensive stalwarts included junior end Colin McHugh (two sacks, four tackles for loss), junior outside linebacker Hayden Pegg (eight tackles), the aforementioned Deery, a force at both tackle and end, and aforementioned free safety Wright, who nabbed an interception.
“This was a team win,” said Pegg. “Make the tackles. Just playing football, that’s all it is. It’s as simple as that.
Malvern Head Coach Dave Gueriera lauds his team's all-around effort. (video/John Knebels)
Game Highlights/John Knebels
“Getting the shutout is our mentality all the way through. We’re a great team. We have many guys that filter in. Spirits were lifted on that first touchdown. We had the momentum. It was great. We’ve been working really hard this whole week to prepare for this.”
That was more than evident.
(GAME DAY PHOTOS BY LOU RABITO FOR PSD)
(Contact John Knebels at Jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)