Cherry And White D-Day

Defense dominated the Cherry and White Game on Saturday at Ambler Field. While junior quarterback Vaughn Charlton threw a pair of touchdown passes in the Cherry team’s 21-6 victory, the spring finale was more notable for a series of special teams miscues, including three blocked kicks, and the fact that the Owls utilized a no-huddle offense for most of the contest.

Defense dominated the Cherry and White Game on Saturday afternoon at Ambler Field.

While junior quarterback Vaughn Charlton threw a pair of touchdown passes in the Cherry team’s 21-6 victory, the spring finale was more notable for a series of special teams miscues, including two blocked extra points and a blocked field goal, and the fact that the Owls utilized a no-huddle offense for most of the contest.

Huddle or no-huddle, the game belonged to the defense from start to finish – especially at the start and at the finish.

White team quarterback Chester Stewart fumbled the game’s first snap, and the ball was recovered by the Cherry defensive tackle Dave Nwasike. Two hours later, Stewart was intercepted by safety Georg Coleman on the last play of the game.

In between, there wasn’t much offense, and the special teams play was shaky. But a lot of good things happened, too.

The Cherry team featured the first-string offense, led by Charlton, and the second-string defense. The White team had the first-string defense and the second-string offense, which was supposed to be led by Stewart.

Stewart, however, injured his right thumb on the opening play and sat out the rest of the first half. He returned in the third quarter and split time with Colin Clancy from there to the finish.

Neither Stewart nor Clancy were able to lead a scoring drive for the White team, which scored its only points when Charlton and Marquise Liverpool misconnected on a handoff inside the 5-yard line and Brian Sanford recovered the loose ball in the endzone.

The extra point after that touchdown, like one other, was blocked. Sophomore Jeff Wathne’s kick wasn’t too low. The snap from Terrance Knighton was OK. So was the hold. The line just didn’t block.

The same thing happened on a Jake Brownell extra point attempt and a 31-yard field goal attempt.

Afterward, Coach Al Golden blamed the miscues on the fact that the kicking units were filled with people who are unfamiliar with playing there. That’s understandable, except it happened to both teams. One of them should have had a pair of capable outside blockers.

There were also a few bad punt snaps, but there weren’t any blocked punts because both teams operated in punt return mode. Wathne was actually one of the stars of the game, as he dropped a pair of punts inside the 5-yard line and boomed a 72-yarder.

Charlton completed 13 of 28 passes for 209 yards, hitting tight end Steve Maneri with an eight-yard touchdown pass after Stewart’s early fumble and later hitting Bruce Francis with a 75-yard touchdown pass. Francis burned walk-on cornerback Tim Dollison on the long score.

Following a 32-yard completion to Maneri in the fourth quarter, Charlton scored the last touchdown of the game on a one-yard sneak.

The defensive stars of the day included sophomore cornerback Daryl Robinson, who broke up a pair of fourth quarter passes intended for Francis. Linebackers Alex Joseph and Elijah “Peanut” Joseph both drew postgame praise from Golden. So did Knighton.

Alex Joseph led the Cherry team with 11 tackles. Defensive end Wallace Bates led the White team with eight tackles and three sacks.

On offense, the most notable thing was the no-huddle look that both teams featured for the majority of the game. Occasionally, they huddled. But most of the time, the players went to the line of scrimmage before the quarterback got the play call from the sideline.

Afterward, Golden insisted that the Owls had not changed how they operate on offense. He explained that they play the game at four distinct tempos, and the no-huddle look was dictated by game situations.

But it certainly looked different than last year.

Jason Harper also looked different, but not uncomfortable, lining up at wide receiver. The team’s top returning rusher caught three passes and made the first defender miss after two of them.

The running game wasn’t very productive for either side. Liverpool led the Cherry team with 15 carries for 26 yards. Lamar McPherson led the White team with eight carries for 37 yards.

Still, the offensive line looked better than last season, as the quarterbacks were generally well-protected.

The Cherry team featured senior center Alex Derenthal flanked by guards Andre Douglas (right) and Colin Madison (left) and tackles Jabari Ferguson (right) and Derek Dennis (left).

Missing in action due to injuries were quarterback Adam DiMichele, tailback Joe Jones, offensive guard Brison Manor, defensive tackle Eli Joseph, and defensive end Leyon Azubuike. Cornerback Jamal Schulters tweaked his hamstring in the first quarter and missed the rest of the game. Wide receiver James Nixon also left the game with an injury. Tight end Kevin Armstrong and defensive tackle Terrance Banks were sidelined for non-injury reasons.

Golden said he hopes and expects all of the above to be back in the huddle (or the no-huddle, depending on your point of view) this summer.

Golden Postgame Comments: Listen to Audio