Friends withstands Tatnall rally for key win

ALAPOCAS – An overflow crowd filled the stands and ringed the gridiron at Tattersall Field on Saturday, ready to enjoy Wilmington Friends’ homecoming festivities and watch an exciting football game.

Tatnall made it even more exciting with two touchdowns in the final four minutes, but Friends managed to hang on for an 18-14 victory in a key Independent Conference game.

“It got very exciting,” Friends coach Bob Tattersall said. “Give Tatnall credit. They didn’t give up when we got 18. They battled back, hit passes, and we made a couple of huge mistakes. But at the same time, we did what we had to do.”

The Quakers (6-1, 1-0), ranked seventh statewide in Division II, downed the Hornets for the fifth straight year and checked another box for their 49th-year head coach.

“You’ve got to win three games,” Tattersall said with a laugh. “You’ve got to win your opening game. You’ve got to win homecoming. And you’ve got to win against your archrival.”

Friends defeated Perryville (Md.) 27-7 in its opener, and we won’t know how the Quakers fare against archrival Tower Hill until Nov. 12. But the Quakers had enough to overcome ninth-ranked Tatnall (5-2, 1-1).

A 39-yard pass from Justin Beneck to Greg Smith started Friends’ first scoring drive, which covered 84 yards in eight plays. Fullback Andrew Jaworski bulled in from the 3, but the PAT was blocked to keep the lead at 6-0 with 7:46 left in the second quarter.

An interception by Owen Sheppard set up the Quakers’ next score. Beneck reeled off 40 yards on a keeper, then found the 6-foot-5 Smith all alone for a 25-yard touchdown and 12-0 lead with 47.3 seconds left in the half.

“We hit some key passes,” Tattersall said. “They got confused, and we gave them some different formations.”

Devonte Church intercepted another Tatnall pass at the Hornets 45 midway through the fourth quarter. Then Henry Gise broke through a hole on the right side and went 37 yards for the touchdown that appeared to put it away with 5:26 remaining.

But Tatnall was far from finished. The Quakers held the Hornets’ ground game to minus-4 yards on 18 carries, but Tatnall QB Carl Marvin found success through the air late. A 49-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Easton pulled the Hornets within 18-7 with 3:38 to play.

Then Easton recovered an onside kick, and Marvin hooked up with Easton again four plays later for a 10-yard score to make it 18-14 with 3:05 left.

Sam Ragland recovered the next onside kick for Tatnall, but the ball did not travel the required 10 yards. Friends took possession, made a first down and ran the clock down to 2.9 seconds. The Hornets had one last chance from their own 33, but Marvin’s final completion only covered 7 yards.

Marvin finished 15 of 34 passing for 203 yards. All three prongs of Friends’ ground game performed well, as Gise had 81 yards on 17 carries, Beneck got 72 yards on 10 carries and Jaworski chewed up 53 yards on 13 carries.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Friends senior Greg Smith extends the Quakers lead to 12-0 over Tatnall with a 25-yard touchdown reception.