For the past two seasons, SCH has entered the Inter-Ac undefeated. This year, things have undergone drastic changes. Against Episcopal last Friday, the Devils walked in with a record of 2-3 after dropping back-to-back games against Hun and Lawrenceville.
Against Hun, the Devils were blown out 42-0 in their home opener. Granted, Hun is one of, if not the strongest, teams the Devils scheduled this season. However, against Lawerenceville, penalties and self-inflicted mistakes led to a 23-20 loss. Injuries and inconsistencies have plagued SCH in its first three losses.
All those demons raised their heads in a 35–14 loss to Episcopal. Injuries came forth before the game even started. With senior defensive lineman Sadiek Willis out, the Churchman rushed for 209 yards, averaging 6.7 yards per carry, and tackling inconsistencies caused simple two to three-yard rushes to break open into seven or eight-yard gains.
But despite the 21-point loss, the Devils had plenty of good moments to look back on. Sophomore running back William Howard continued on his dominant season, turning 16 carries into 128 yards. Towards the end of the second quarter, Howard bounced a run to the outside, rushing in for a 10-yard touchdown, which would act as SCH’s sole offensive score.
Howard wasn’t the only bright spot. Junior linebacker Colin McFadden put on the performance of a lifetime, recording eight tackles and three sacks. With eight minutes in the third quarter, one of those sacks forced a fumble, which senior linebacker Harry Kull managed to scoop up and return for a score, tying things up at 14-14.
Unfortunately, the Devils have consistently had one big weakness: closing out games. It’s why they fell to Roman Catholic, it’s how Hun managed to turn a 14-0 game into a 42-0 blowout, and how Lawrenceville managed to come back and snatch a 23-20 victory.
Things didn’t change here against the Churchmen. EA tacked on three touchdowns in the last 20 minutes to power through to a 35-14 victory and send the Devils to 2-4 (0-1 in the Inter-Ac). In an interview with Philadelphia Sports Digest, Knox cited a lack of execution as a factor in the loss, alongside their poor field position.
“We were needing to drive 80-90 yards, and from that standpoint, they outplayed us, and we didn’t execute well,” he said postgame. SCH will need to clean up these errors before a crucial showdown tomorrow on homecoming against the Germantown Academy Patriots, who just came off a 44-13 beatdown against Malvern.
To read more about the homecoming matchup, be sure to check out the article linked below, which contains a write-up detailing key points for the Devils, the matchups, and important players to watch during the matchup.
