By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com

Oct. 20: At halftime, the question seemed to be whether Steinert’s defense would weary after being on the field for so long in the first 24 minutes.

As it turned out, it was the Spartans offense that pooped out after halftime.

The result was a 35-21 victory for Allentown, who clinched at least a tie for the West Jersey Football League Patriot Division crown. The Spartans (5-2, 3-1) only hope for a share is if Allentown (5-2, 2-1) loses to winless Princeton in the regular-season finale.

For much of the first half it was all Steinert despite the fact Allentown’s defense ran an amazing 23 plays in 24 snaps. Steinert’s only offensive play between 9:20 and 2:04 of the first quarter was a lost fumble.

And yet at the end of that stretch the game was tied 7-7 as Jake Swindasz came up with an electrifying pick 6. With Allentown setting up a screen from the Spartan 25, the pass went right to Swindasz, who turned on the jets to outrun everybody for a 75-yard TD.

The Redbirds hurry-up offense stalled on their next possession but, after Steinert lost its fumble, Rahsaan Emory scored the first of his four touchdowns to go along with 283 rushing yards.

Steinert came right back when Jordan Morrison threw a shovel pass to Miles Smith, who sprinted in for a 54-yard TD reception. Steinert caught a break on the Redbirds next series when a sure touchdown pass was dropped, and the Spartans took advantage when Morrison found Smith with a 21-yard scoring strike that made it 21-7.

What made both TDs so impressive is that Steinert committed holding penalties on the previous plays and they both came on first-and-20. Rather than get down because of the penalties, the Spartans bounced back.

Emory scored a second touchdown prior to halftime to make it 21-14 but Steinert was in good shape considering Ewing ran 12 more plays in the first half and had 21 less yards. The Spartans rushed for 98 and threw for 77 for 175 yards of total offense, while Allentown had 154.

At the outset of the second half, Emory scored again but the PAT was missed and Steinert still led 21-20. On the Redbirds next possession, Allentown drove to Steinert’s 28 but Xavier Roman and Brendan James stopped Emory on fourth-and-5.

After a Spartan three-and-out, Steinert dodged a bullet when a 24-yard field goal went wide. Allentown got the break it needed three plays later on an interception that led to what proved to be the game-winning touchdown pass to X’Zavier Harris with 6:30 left. Emory scored his fourth TD with 2:32 remaining to clinch it.

Allentown’s defense stepped up big in the second half, as Steinert could muster just seven yards of offense, all on the ground.

The Spartans return to action Friday night with their much-anticipated home game under the lights against Nottingham.

Nicholson’s late TD helps Nottingham past Lawrence for Valley Division crown

In a battle of winning streaks, Nottingham managed to keep it’s going with a 12-7 victory at Lawrence.

With the win, Nottingham (6-1) claimed the WJFL Valley Division title with a 4-0 record. No other team in the division can win four games.

The Cardinals, coming off a bye, had won three straight while the Northstars were on a five-game roll.

In a bruising defensive first half, Nottingham (6-1) emerged with a 6-0 lead after field goals of 35 and 36 yards by Alix Oge. It stayed that way until there was 10:03 left to play in the game when Davon Hemingway scored on a 75-yard run and the PAT was good to make it 7-6.

Nottingham battled back and with 1:18 remaining, Diontae Nicholson scored on a 2-yard run to put the Northstars up 12-7. It wasn’t over yet, however, as the Cardinals (3-4) put together a late drive before defensive back Jordan Lawery came up with an interception at the Northstars 15 to preserve the victory.

Nicholson had a busy night, rushing 43 times for 224 yards. George Hreiz completed 6 of 10 passes for 36 yards.

Next up for Nottingham is to try and win the Joe Logue Trophy for Hamilton Township supremacy. Then again, that’s the goal for all three teams, as Steinert, Nottingham and Hamilton all complete the regular season by playing each other in their final two games.

Rick “The Voice of Both Teams” Taylor contributed to this report

Hornets drop third straight with loss at Ewing

Quarterback Hezekiah Patterson returned to the lineup from a concussion, but that could not prevent Hamilton from dropping a 20-6 decision at Ewing.

In what was a defensive struggle in the first half, Ewing took a 3-0 lead on a field goal with four minutes remaining.

Hamilton came right back when Patterson found Chris Charles with an 11-yard touchdown pass with 1:30 remaining. The kick failed and Hamilton led 6-3.

But the Hornets could not score after intermission, being outscored 14-0.

Ken “The King of Facebook” Nehila contributed to this report