ALAPOCAS – Archmere closed out the football regular season on a positive note, shutting down a potential game-winning drive in the final minute to defeat Wilmington Friends, 20-14, on Nov. 9. The Auks won for the eighth time and now wait to find out where they will be opening DIAA state tournament play next weekend.
A large crowd filled the field surrounding the Friends gridiron to watch the longtime competitors put on an entertaining game. The Auks were yards away from going up three scores late in the fourth quarter before the Quakers closed the gap and had a chance to complete a stunning comeback.
An interception by Dylan MacBride midway through the first set the Quakers up at the Auks’ 27, but it took three minutes for them to take advantage. An Archmere penalty gave Friends first and goal at the 8, and Cooper Strauss scored from four yards out a few plays later.
The Auks could not get anything going offensively in the first quarter, but that changed in the second. Archmere forced a turnover on downs and took over at its own 31 just 14 seconds into the quarter. Ryan Hagenberg and quarterback John Orsini (St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Glen Mills, Pa.) did much of the work, with Christian Wittmeyer (Holy Family Parish) and Jack Bradley (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish) also getting carries as they reached the Friends 12. A sack cost the Auks two yards, but on a third down play, Orsini lofted the ball toward the left corner of the end zone, where Hagenberg leaped and made a one-handed catch while keeping a foot inbounds when he landed. The touchdown tied the score with 6:39 to go in the half. That was it for scoring in the half.
The Auks took the second-half kickoff and went to work from their own 36. Wittmeyer gained 21 yards on second down to get Archmere into Quakers territory. Hagenberg added a 28-yard rush down the right side to get to the 14. Wittmeyer covered the rest on the next play, and after a blocked extra point, Archmere had a 13-7 lead.
Bradley recovered a Friends fumble on the next drive and took it back to the Quakers’ 35. The Auks, hurt by two penalties, faced a fourth and 8 at the 28. Orsini dropped back to pass and was hounded by the Quakers. He scrambled around the backfield before getting a little space, and he fired a pass toward the end zone. Mike Donovan was all alone behind the defense, catching the pass around the 3 and walking into the end zone. The Auks’ lead was 20-7 with 3:58 to go in the third.
With the exception of that first Quakers touchdown, the Auks’ defense was stout. A few drives ended up as turnovers on downs, and there were some punts. Bradley also had that fumble recovery. The Quakers recovered an Archmere fumble in the end zone as the Auks tried to put the game away with seven minutes to go in the fourth, and their offense found its groove for the first time in more than two quarters. Quarterback Ryan Tattersall engineered a drive that ended with a 13-yard pass to Strauss in the far left corner of the end zone with 3:02 to go.
The Auks started at their own 48 after Friends’ kickoff went out of bounds, but a fumble on first down put the ball back with the Quakers. The Auks’ Patrick Bellew believed he had an interception on second down, but one of the officials ruled that the ball had touched the ground before Bellew snatched it. Two plays later, Tattersall fired a Hail Mary toward the end zone, but Bradley was able to knock the pass down.
Orsini completed 8 of 15 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Wittmeyer led the ground attack with 90 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. Defensively, Jack Chesman had a team-leading eight tackles. The Auks improved to 8-2 and will play in the DIAA Class 2A tournament next weekend at a time and place to be determined Sunday.
Friends finished the regular season 5-5.
Photos by Mike Lang.
