ABINGTON — It’s a special season for the Abington High football team, as longtime head coach Jim Kelliher cherishes his 50th season.
So, what’s better than a 3-0 start to celebrate?
“3-0, there was no way I would’ve thought that,” Kelliher said with a laugh. “No way.”
It was Thursday night at Frolio Field that the Green Wave ran away with its third win, a 33-0 final over Silver Lake.
Key word: ran.
Abington rode the services of eight total players who took hand-offs, five of whom are mainstays of past Green Wave teams, as the offense ran 40 of its 46 total plays on the ground. Twenty of the team’s first 21 plays to start the game were designed runs.
Unofficially, senior AJ Nash ran 11 times for 54 yards and 1 TD, senior Ryan Simonetti ran nine times for 55 yards and 1 TD, sophomore Mason Nash ran eight times for 54 yards, sophomore Ryan Solimini ran six times for 40 yards and senior Will LeBlanc ran four times for 35 yards. Senior Nate Duggan and junior Adam Libby also ran in for scores from two yards and four yards out, respectively.
“It’s definitely uncommon,” Simonetti said of the variety of cameos amongst the backfield.
“My running backs are some pretty good guys. They all fight to get the ball and we try to get it to all of them.” Kelliher said. “When they take it, they want to get as much (yardage) as they can. And they do.”
“Whenever subs come in, they’re flying in. I know we can trust them to make big plays,” said senior tight end Connor Pease.
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On one of Abington’s rare drop-backs, junior quarterback Michael Reilly spotted Pease in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown haul as time expired to end the first half. The Green Wave led 19-0 at the break.
“Usually on the play we run, I’m on the outside and run a little fade (route),” Pease said. “But Coach (Ed) Reilly (the team’s offensive coordinator) saw something within the defense and said to push it in and run up the seam. I knew when he made the adjustment that Mike was looking for me, and no one else but me.”
Pease also forced a fumble in the fourth quarter, recovered by junior lineman Ryan LaRosa as the Green Wave offense picked up at the Silver Lake 11 with 7:09 to play. Many of the aforementioned running backs doubled up as key members of the Abington secondary, with the quarterback Reilly doubling as safety deep in coverage.
Including Thursday’s shutout, the Green Wave defense has relinquished 33 total points in the first three weeks — 26 came last week against Apponequet, 7 came against Cohasset in the season-opener.
“It was a team effort to do what we did tonight,” Kelliher said. “These kids have been getting so much better each and every week. They still have a long way to go, but to do this, it’s not too often I see this: 33-0. The kids were absolutely awesome. They were coming off the line of scrimmage, moving down the field. Defensively, they were in sync most of the night and kept them off the board.
“I was sitting on the sideline with a big smile on my face.”
