Marple Newtown Speeds By Harriton, 49-7

NEWTOWN SQUARE– goes a ways back. The coach had some great, amazing teams back in the early-1990s when he coached at St. James, an all-boys school located in Chester that was once a Philadelphia-area powerhouse.

Gionta has to go back about 20 years, to those old Bulldog teams, to find a team of his that’s as fast as his current team. The Tigers, under Gionta, are amazingly just that–incredibly fast.

More proof came Thursday night when the Tigers ran over, ran past, and ran through a pretty decent Harriton team, 49-7, scoring on their five possessions.

The victory gives Marple Newtown a 5-1 overall record and 4-1 in the Central League, while the Rams fall to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in the league.

Marple Newtown scored on two of its first three plays and on five-straight possessions–reminiscent to its , the Tigers scored on 12-straight drives.

Behind the explosive tandem of and , Marple Newtown pounded out 279 yards rushing in the first half.

The only thing that seemed to stop the Rams was the clock. Pham rushed for 118 yards on four carries—in the first quarter alone.

The Tigers were off to an exceptional start when Pham raced through the Harriton defense for a 70-yard touchdown. On Marple Newtown’s next possession, it was Moat’s turn, taking a handoff and sprinting 38 yards for another score.

Moat finished with 188 yards on 15 carries, and Pham ended his night with 171 yards on 10 carries. The Tigers never threw the ball.

“It may have looked easy, but it wasn’t easy,” Pham said. “We do have a lot of speed on this team. Our offensive line does a great job, and they’re fast. We’re all athletic, we work hard. This was a game when we came out and did what we had to do.”

Harriton, it appears, didn’t.

“We had issues tackling, and we’re a long, way away from being the team people thought we were,” Harriton coach Matt Barr said. “I had a bad feeling about this going in. We have kids who don’t think they have to practice or lift during the week and it showed up tonight.”