ASTON -- Chuck Buechler tried to wait until he and Academy
Park coach Sal Oropollo got to Crozer Chester
Medical Center to give fellow assistant coach Tony Gagliardi all the
details of the Knights' 22-10 Del Val League victory over Sun Valley
Friday night.
He really did -- but he just couldn't wait that long.
Buechler
had to call his fellow assistant coach, who underwent a successful
angioplasty earlier in the day to clear blocked arteries. So, being the
90s kind of guy that he is, Buechler pulled out his cellular phone and
gave Gagliardi a call.
It didn't take long for that ""brief''
phone call to turn into a gabfest. Player after player grabbed the phone
to wish their defensive coordinator a speedy recovery.
The
Knights (2-3, 4-5) had dedicated the game to Gagliardi, who suffered a
mild heart attack prior to the Knights' 26-7 loss to Penn Wood last
week. Then they went out and brought home the man they call ""G'' a win.
Afterward,
Buechler and Oropollo said they were going to sneak into Gagliardi's
room so they could present him with the game ball.
Fittingly, Gagliardi's defense led the way.
""We
just wanted to win this one for Coach G,'' said defensive end Pat
Hicks, who blocked a punt and spent most of the night in the face of Sun
Valley quarterback Brad Messick. ""He's always been there for us and we
just wanted to show him that we're behind him now.''
Hicks, and
fellow defensive end Kwasi Asare, had a field day teeing off on Messick.
Both ends spent so much time in the Sun Valley backfield Friday night
that they could qualify for a varsity letter at the Vanguards' banquet
at the end of the season. AP sacked Messick six times for minus-39 yards
and never let the Sun Valley offense maintain any consistency after
Messick's 18-yard TD pass to tight end Dave Lock gave the Vanguards
(3-5) a 7-0 first-quarter lead.
""We just didn't let up,'' Asare said. ""Our game plan was to keep the pressure on the quarterback and that's what we did.''
It
didn't take long for the Knights to recover from that early deficit.
Asare and Hicks teamed up to sack Messick for a safety as the first
quarter game to a close. In the next four minutes, Jeremy Klein would go
58 yards for a touchdown and kick two extra points, and quarterback Tim
Flynn would throw an 11-yard scoring toss to Chris Ferrari to put the
Knights up for good, 16-7.
Even a 22-yard Jerry Guidotti with 35
seconds to play in the first half could not swing the tide in Sun
Valley's favor. The Knight defense simply would not allow it.
Flynn,
Ferrari and Kevin Hornug intercepted Messick on three consecutive plays
from scrimmage and James Carmichael (22 carries, 107 yards) sprinted 32
yards for the final TD to make sure the game ball Gagliardi received
had a ""W'' attached to it.
""This game was for Coach G and we weren't going to let them take it away from us,'' Asare said. FOOTBALL
Academy
Park 23, Sun Valley 10
Academy
Park 2 14 0 7 -- 23> Sun Valley 7 3 0 0 -- 10>
SV -- D. Lock 18 pass from Messick (Guidotti kick)
AP -- Safety
AP -- Klein 58 run (Klein kick)
AP -- Ferrari 11 pass from Flynn (Klein kick)
SV -- FG Guidotti 22
AP -- Carmichael 32 run (Klein kick)
TEAM STATISTICS APSV
First Downs67
Rushes-Yards41-14023-(-1)
Passing Yards58102
Passes4-8-110-24-3
Punts-Average6-22.85-22.4
Fumbles-Lost0-02-1
Penalties-Yards9-905-56
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Academy
Park: Carmichael 22-107, Smart 9-0, Howatt 1-(-8), Klein 5-58, Flynn 3-(-17). Sun Valley: G. Lock 16-39, Messick 6-(-39), Horn 1-0.
PASSING -- Academy
Park: Flynn 4-8-1, 58. Sun Valley: Messick 10-24-3, 102. Kelly 0-0-0, 0.
RECEIVING -- Academy
Park: Carmichael 1-5, Klein 1-33, Ferrari 1-11, Hornug 1-9. Sun Valley: Horn 7-66, D. Lock 1-18, G. Lock 1-11. Starkey 1-7.
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Academy Park wins one for the "G' - October 30, 1994
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