Haverford School Football Waxes Lawrenceville 56-15

Led by the six touchdown performance of quarterback James Chakey, raced out to a 49 point lead by the midway mark of the third quarter and hung on to beat visiting Lawrenceville 56-15 Saturday afternoon at Sabol Field. The Fords are now 2-0 on the season.

IN SHORT

In a brief pregame ceremony Saturday, the Haverford School honored Lawrenceville head coach Ken Mills for what was to be his 100th game at the helm of the Big Red. For Mills, better if the afternoon ended there.

Haverford got touchdowns from five different players, three of whom got in the end zone more than once, in dealing Mills' Lawrenceville team one of the most decisive losses of his tenure.

What was stunning wasn't so much the margin of defeat as the multiplicity of the Haverford School attack: the Fords scored 42 points with their meticulously balanced offense, got another touchdown from their defense on a second quarter pick-six by Chris Morgan, and chipped in a 72-yard punt return score from Zach Rego for good measure. As for the defense, they allowed the Big Red a single first half first down.

The prime mover for the Fords was the combo of quarterback James Chakey and halfback Rego. Chakey went 7/14 for 159 yards with five touchdowns and an interception—all in the first half—and added a 57-yard touchdown rush on the second play from scrimmage after the break, while Rego rushed 17 times for 114 yards—again, all in the first half—to go along with his third quarter punt return.

Almost as impressive as the performance of the first-team was that of the JV: after Haverford School began pulling their starters in the third quarter, the JV played the Lawrenceville first-team to a near draw, allowing only a single touchdown and stonewalling them on the final drive of the game.

FORD OF THE GAME

James Chakey—The senior accounted for six touchdowns in 24:53. Not much else to add there.

OTHER KEY PERFORMANCES

Matt Galambos—The 6'3 junior tight end caught two of Chakey's touchdowns, the first of which was a 24-yard run and catch that gave the Fords a 14-0 first quarter lead and set a favorable tone for the home team.

Chris Morgan—After letting a first quarter touchdown slip through his fingers, the junior CB/WR got a measure of redemption. Two actually. With a 14-7 lead and two minutes elapsed in the second quarter, Morgan picked off a errant Lawrenceville pass at their 23-yard line, and wove through a maze of red jerseys to move the lead to 21-7. On the Ford's next offensive series, Morgan caught a 48-yard pass to get the ball into the (Big) red zone, then finished the drive with a five yard scoring reception for a 28-7 lead.

COACH'S TAKE

"It's really tough. We spent some time talking about it. It was a tough decision."—Fords head coach Mike Murphy on deciding when to take out his starters

THEY SAID IT

"I love scoring."—Zach Rego, on his punt return touchdown

UP NEXT—The Fords travel to Widener University on Sept. 23 to take on West Catholic at 7 p.m.