Glen Mills RB Shaaheen Dow torched Academy Park for 233 yards and two scores.
Shaaheen Dow, RB, Glen Mills: He’s making a strong case for being one of the top-3 running backs in the county. Friday night, he was The Man for the Battlin’ Bulls Dow took the first play from the line of scrimmage 74 yards for a touchdown. He finished with 233 yards on 22 carries, as the Bulls proved they are the top dog in the Del Val this season.
Glen Mills defense: You can’t forget about the defense; AP never got things going on offense, as it was limited to 253 total yards (well-below its average of 319.8) which permitted the Glen Mills offense to control the pace of the game. Sophomore defensive end William Houston had a phenomenal performance, and made the play of the game, thwarting a Knights’ rally in the fourth quarter on a 4th-and-2 with a sack of QB Brian Ingram.
Sonny Armstrong, LB, Interboro: Armstrong’s season likely came to an end Saturday at Chester. The three-year starter, and team captain of the reigning District One Class AAA champion Bucs, suffered a broken arm while making a tackle. Armstrong was arguably the top linebacker in the county this season. Would it be a surprise to see him on the field with cast two weeks from now? Nope. Is it probable? No. Nevertheless, Armstrong was a pleasure to watch these last couple years. A throwback player in the truest sense, he would have fit in nicely with many of those mid-to-late-1990s Interboro teams that used to dominate the Del Val.
Jake Irving, RB, Garnet Valley: It’s hard to pick out a winner on Garnet Valley every week. I could mention Christian Portale (QB), Brandon Hitner (OL), John McGrogan (WR), Zach Nelson (RB), Joey Granahan (DE), Brandon Dowd (LB), Steve Palis (DB), Tyler Shankle (LB), all of whom contributed to the Jags’ 36-6 blowout of Haverford. OK, I just did mention all those guys, but hopefully you get the point. Garnet Valley doesn’t do it with one or two guys; they do it with 11.
Irving, though, was a beast in the Jags’ opening drive of the second half, taking carry after carry, and doing his job in wearing down a Haverford defense that was simply over-matched. Irving, who led the team in rushing, capped that drive with a touchdown run..
Malcolm Strand-Young, RB, Ridley: Strand-Young is getting hot at the right time. While the Green Raiders certainly excelled on defense, especially in stopping Penncrest’s ground attack (15 yards on 23 carries), Strand-Young registered the go-ahead touchdown run roughly four minutes into the fourth quarter. Without his 156-yard output, it’s hard to imagine Ridley would actually have won this game.
