FORT WASHINGTON, PA – The year was 2006, that  was the last time Germantown Academy beat Haverford School in a football game.  But, that all change this past Saturday afternoon, when host Patriots defeated the Fords 21-14. A victory that gave GA, (3-1), a tied spot for first in the league with Malvern Prep.

From the start, the game seemed to be moving in favor of the Patriots. After picking up a quick first down, the Fords were forced into a punting situation. While punting into a steady wind, the kick went practically straight up and took a GA bounce towards the original line of scrimmage. It was then returned to the Haverford red zone by GA senior linebacker Patrick McGettigan. After a short march to the goal line, quarterback Kyle McCloskey snuck it in from a yard out to put GA ahead 7-0.

The Fords had good pass protection throughout the game, but most of their runs were stopped by defensive linemen Joe Cawley and Jimmy McGettigan, and consistently strong play from the three-man linebacker unit of Patrick McGettigan, Tanner Long and Matt Gorman. 

After Haverford quarterback Tommy Toal sent a punt away, the Patriots, once again marched the ball down into Haverford territory. McCloskey then scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, diving across the plane to make it 14-0. McCloskey had the ball knocked out and for a brief second, it looked like GA had committed their second red zone turnover of the game, but it was decided the ball had already crossed the goal line. At the end of the first, the Patriots led the Fords 14-0.

After forcing another Haverford punt, McCloskey and his team marched down the field for their third scoring drive of the game due to strong rushing plays from McCloskey and back Nick Picariello. McCloskey snuck it in from a yard out to make it 21-0 GA.

Haverford began gaining some ground on their next drive. Strong running from Twyman and scrambling rushes from Toal put the Fords in the GA red zone.  Later on the drive, Haverford set up another screen pass from Toal to Twyman, who went 14 yards for the touchdown to cut the lead to 21-7 before sending both teams into the half.

The Patriots focused on killing the clock in the second half of the game. A strong rushing attack and plays from the wide receiver core never got the Patriots into the end zone, but took significant time off the clock. Once again, Haverford stalled on many of their drives, forcing another turnover on downs. After the 3rd quarter, the score remained 21-7.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Patriots started deep in their own territory. Strong rushes from McCloskey and Picariello continued the movement into Haverford territory and a gradual killing of the clock.

Haverford got the ball back with less than eight minutes to go in the game. After a first down, Twyman ran over 50 yards to the house, cutting the lead to seven with just over four minutes to go. It was an impressive run from Twyman, who broke several tackles in the process.

On a long 3rd and 12 with two minutes to go, Patriot head coach Matt Dence called a pass play that was caught by Santino Miriello for a first down. Miriello braced for the hit and somehow held on to the ball while being pummeled by a defender. The Patriots went into victory formation; a victory that was a decade in the making.

Looking ahead: GA will host Penn Charter on Saturday at 1:30PM for PC/GA Day in the 130-year installment of one of the longest rivalries in the history of the country.  If the Patriots win, they will win their first Inter-Ac title in several years. The Fords will travel on the road for their last game of the season to face Episcopal on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.