Trojans Fall to Archbishop Ryan 27-20 in a Heartbreaking Loss

Last night the Wissahickon Trojans football squad suffered a draining loss to the Archbishop Ryan Raiders.

After a three-and-out to start the game for the Trojans, Raiders running back Marcus Allen showed glimpses of his namesake, running for an 80-yard touchdown on AR's first play from scrimmage. Despite a nice cutback rush by Wissahickon star running back Anthony DeLegall, the first quarter ended while the score stood at 7-0 Archbishop Ryan.

Early in the second quarter, the Trojans bounced back with QB J.T. Crits tossing a 5-yard TD to offensive captain Jaron Parham. The score remained tied until a long pass by Ryan QB Mike Anunsky set up an easy 5-yard TD toss to wideout Nick Levan with :45 left in the half.

The half time show began with the season debut of the Wissahickon Marching unit, featuring drum major Cassie Drumm and junior drum major Jen Buono. They played selections from the movies Star Trek, Jupiter  from Gustav Holst's The Planets, and music from Transformers.

The third quarter cast a gloomy shadow on Wissahickon's chances, as starting fullback Ivory Taliaferro was carried off on a stretcher after receiving a devastating blow. After a little scuffle at the line-of-scrimmage, Archbishop Ryan scored 13 unanswered points to begin the quarter. However, those would be the last points they would score in the game.

The fourth quarter began with a bang, commencing with a Trojans drive that ended with a deflected pass caught by junior wide receiver Varney Dassin, making the score 27-13. After a three-and-out by the now-struggling Raider offense, Jemy Thelemaque electrified Wissahickon fans with a 49-yard punt return touchdown that shrunk the deficit to 7 points. Then, after the Raiders failed to gain any yards and were forced to punt, Crits marched the Trojans down to the one-yard line. On fourth and one Wissahickon failed to break the plane, and with 3:30 left the Raiders had the ball on their own goal-line. On third-and-eight, it seemed as if Allen had been tackled by Ricky O'Donnell in the end-zone for a safety. Unfortunately for the Trojans, the referees called it fourth-and-ten. After the punt, the Trojans had one last chance to knot up the score. They managed to drive the ball into the red-zone, but Crits' desperation throw was intercepted w/ 1:10 left, and the Raiders proceeded to run out the clock, notching the win.

The loss dropped the Trojans to 0-2. Their next game is Thursday at CB West. If they can duplicate their first half success from their first game and last night's second half dominance, the Trojans might have a chance to nab their first victory of the year.