Whitman-Hanson got their wish; the 113th meeting between the Green Wave and the Panthers took place Thanksgiving Day morning in a blustry rain storm. But that’s about all that went their way as Abington controlled the contest from start to finish, winning 18-6.
Senior quarterback Mike Reilly threw for his 31st and 32nd career touchdowns, setting a Green Wave football record. He broke the previous record of 30 touchdown passes previously held by Jake McSharry (Class of 2004).
“He’s a student of the game, you know, he’s like having a coach on the field, both offense and defense,” said his father, Green Wave Head Coach Ed Reilly. “I’m going to really, really miss him on the field.”
The younger Reilly was named the inaugural winner of the Jim Kelliher Trophy, which is awarded to the most valuable player on the Abington side. Whitman-Hanson’s Brady Markowski received the Bob Bancroft Trophy, which is named after that school’s hall of fame football coach and Kelliher’s Abington High football teammate.
“We’re calling this the Mud Bowl,” Reilly said as his teammates started to take turns sliding head frst along the muddy home sideline. “This is one of my favorite games of all time.”
Reilly’s record-setting toss helped the Green Wave get off to a quick start. On 2nd and 12, Reilly connected with junior running back Lee Spry on a short pass to the left. Spry, who took on a bigger role in the offense Thursday, found an opening and bolted 45 yards down the sideline to give Abington a 6-0 lead with 2:12 to go in the first quarter.
“The record’s been there for over 20 years so just to be able to break that it’s a real good accomplishment,” said Reilly, who’s directed the offense for three seasons. “I’ve put in a lot of work to get there so it just feels amazing.”
Whitman-Hanson managed two net yards on its next drive, before trying a fake punt on 4th and 1 that was sniffed out. The Green Wave took over on their own 42. After sophomore back Nazir Pauling picked up 11 yards on back-to-back runs, Reilly found junior wideout Kris Patterson down the middle for a 31-yard touchdown pass to give Abington a 12-0 leading the second quarter.
Up this point, the Panthers had managed just 10 total yards of net offense. The Panthers responded with their longest drive of the day, a nine-play, 64-yard campaign enabled by a power running attack up the middle, led by Markowski, quarterback Austin Breheny, and running back Thiago Magalhaes. Markowski used a big surge to run it from eight yards out and put the Panthers on the board, 12-6.
The Green Wave responded with a 62-yeard drive of their own. Abington stayed on the ground with Reilly, Mason Nash, Paulding, and Spry moving the ball forward in chunks. Nash finished off the scoring with a 7-yard run around the left to put Abington up 18-6.
A combination of the heavy rainstorm, turnovers, and undisciplined play resulted in a scoreless second half. Whitman-Hanson’s best chance came at the end of the third quarter. The Panthers had moved the ball from their own 19 to the Abington 24 when they fumbled on third and 12, with the Green Wave recovering. Abington would turn it over two plays later with a fumble of its own. Whitman-Hanson advanced the ball again to the 16, but the drive stalled following an offensive holding penalty, a run for a six-yard loss, and stout defense by Abington.
The teams combined for five personal foul penalties in the second half, on top of two in the first half, mostly due to post-tackle scuffles. Although the annual rivalry game is always a hard-fought affair, some pre-game activities tossed some extra pepper into the contest.
Abington thought earlier this week they had an agreement to move the game to Wednesday night, which was dry and clear-skied, and avoid the soggy Turkey Day weather. But Whitman-Hanson insisted the game be played at its traditional time: 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The back-and-forth over the game time culminated in a less-than-sportsmanlike text message among the Whitman-Hanson coaching staff and players that got leaked to the Abington side.
Reilly, who finished his first year coaching the Green Wave, said the team went into the game with “a bad taste” in their mouths. But he was still disappointed with all the personal foul penalties, which gave Whitman-Hanson big chunks of yardage and negated a couple big plays of their own.
“I think if you didn’t have (those personal foul penalties) we could have maybe put them away a little bit earlier,” he said. “But we’ve got a lot of respect for the program. A lot of guys, good friends of mine, have gone through that program and you know it’s Thanksgiving. My favorite day of the year. I’m glad we got the win.”
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