Quince Orchard Shuts Out Einstein for Homecoming Win, 42-0

Cougars Allow Just 60 Yards From Scrimamge

The Quince Orchard football team was not ready to turn the page on last week's gritty overtime victory, so Friday night, the Cougars took a few of their leftover frustrations out on Einstein. They held the Titans to three yards in the first half and leaned on an untested passing game for a resounding 42-0 homecoming win.

The dominant performance eased any doubts that were left from last week's battle at Clarksburg, a 34-28 overtime victory in which Quince Orchard surrendered 201 rushing yards and four touchdowns to senior quarterback Andrew Veith.

"To be honest, our defense took last week's game personal because we gave up so many yards to one guy," Cougars Coach Dave Mencarini said. "We took it as a challenge to come out and play the kind of defense that we can play, and I think it showed."

Quince Orchard (7-0) made it clear Friday that Einstein was going to have to fight for everything. After allowing just four yards on the Titans' first possession, a series highlighted by a Jarrell Broxton sack, the Cougars forced a punt that enabled their offense to set up near midfield.

Starting on its 46, Quince Orchard marched downfield in seven plays, getting a nine-yard run to the end zone from Jason Bishop for a 7-0 lead 5 minutes 38 seconds into the game.

"Last week was a hard-fought win, and you just hope you bounce back," Mencarini said. "I think we did a good job early on; we wanted to take the emotions away from them early."

The rest of the first half was similar to the first exchange, with Einstein (4-3) being forced to punt and Quince Orchard taking advantage of some great field position. The Cougars, in fact, got the ball in their own territory just three times before halftime.

And with a game plan geared toward testing junior quarterback Drew Murphy's arm, they started rattling off touchdowns. Murphy found Roger Hawkins on a 26-yard scoring strike and Pernell Brantley on a 28-yard touchdown pass on back-to-back possessions to grab a 21-0 edge at the end of the first quarter.

"Coach told me we were going to throw the ball no matter what the conditions were," said Murphy, who finished 14 of 20 passing for 209 yards and three touchdowns in a cold, constant drizzle. "I just think we were really prepared to play this team."

Even when the offense stumbled, like when Murphy fumbled the ball on a second and one, Quince Orchard's defense found a way to get it back. Just four plays later, Mitch Carney jumped in front of an Einstein pass and got the Cougars offense back on the field.

This time, senior Ben Sasu dove into the end zone from a yard ¿ one of Sasu's three carries for four yards Friday night ¿ to give Quince Orchard a 28-0 lead.

Einstein failed to convert fourth downs on its next two possessions, and the Cougars closed the half with another score, this time a 15-yard pass from Murphy to Carney after a series that started with 2:07 left.

"That's a good team over there; they did a nice job shutting us down," Einstein coach Mike Bonavia said. "They were better than us up front. And when we started moving the ball, we dropped some passes that could have helped."

With the clock running throughout the second half, Quince Orchard just had to maintain its momentum. It added a sixth score for good measure, a one-yard run by junior James McCallister, with 4:23 left in the fourth quarter.

Brantley was Murphy's favorite target Friday night, hauling in six passes for 115 yards and a score. Quince Orchard outgained Einstein, 287-60, from scrimmage.

"You never know when certain situations are going to call for a passing game or a two-minute drill," said Mencarini, who said Sasu is not injured. "But we aren't getting ahead of ourselves. Our focus is on making the playoffs and getting a home game because there is a home field advantage here. We have three games left to reach that goal."

This story is from The Gazette group of community newspapers published by Post-Newsweek Media, a unit of The Washington Post Co.