Northeastern runs away from Daniel Boone, 60-6
Northeastern isn't messing around. Not this year.
Take notice: The soccer school, the last school in York County to add a football program isn't wasting any plays this season.
It needed a little less than 12 minutes to turn its season opener into a lopsided affair. Northeastern scampered out to a 60-6 victory against Berks County foe Daniel Boone in its season opener Friday in Manchester.
The Bobcats had a little bit of everything in that action-packed, first-look opening quarter. They scored 27 points. Three different players rushed for touchdowns. The defense scored. A punt return for a touchdown was waved off for a holding penalty. And that didn't even matter.
Anu Johnson needed just 13 carries to rush for 150 yards.
"We all have different styles of running and coach just knows how to put it together ... he's a genius," Johnson said about the multiple-back attack.
Even Northeastern reserve Frank Brown looked like a star, taking his first two touches of the season to the end zone — the sophomore had three plays for more than 20 yards and two scores. The play up front didn't look too shabby either.
"I love our offensive line because they work hard," Northeastern coach Jon Scepanski said about a unit that returns three starters from last year. "They're starting to jell together. It was something we worried about over the summer but they're coming together well."
The offense shined, but the defense showed its chops, too.
The Bobcats held Daniel Boone to minus-19 yards rushing and 8 yards passing in the first half.
The few times Daniel Boone attempted to pass, Northeastern wreaked havoc. Daniel Boone quarterback Josh Ehst attempted to throw a first-quarter slant that resulted in two Northeastern defensive backs jumping the route. Jonathen Butler tipped the pass, then Coby Motley returned it 25 yards for his first of two interceptions he returned for touchdowns in the opening half.
"We just came in prepared, for real, for real man," Motley said.
"Really, we are trying to go 10-0. ... We have a lot of returning players back. We're hungry."
Being a football power is something new in Manchester. So Scepanski preached to his team about not falling for Week 1 tricks. He doesn't want his players to settle for being good in the opener and failing to improve. Even though his players doused him with Gatorade after the game, his postgame speech revolved on improving, not celebrating.
"It's a special group of guys we have," Scepanski said.
Northeastern 60, Daniel Boone 6
Daniel Boone _ 0 _ 0 _ 0 _ 6 _ — _ 6
Northeastern _ 27 _ 26 _ 7 _ 0 _ — _ 60
First Quarter
NE — Chris Whack 14 run (Hayden Seifert kick), 10:03
NE — Shamari Young 1 run (Seifert kick), 4:31
NE — Shannon Valenti 3 run (Seifert kick), 1:57
NE — Coby Motley 25 interception return (kick failed), :14.6
Second Quarter
NE — Seifert 38 kick, 6:40
NE — Anu Johnson 65 run (Seifert kick), 4:42
NE — Daniel Boone snaps ball out of end zone for safety, 2:37
NE — Frank Brown 35 run (Eric Nagel kick), 2:23
NE — Motley 51 interception return (Seifert kick), 1:38
Third Quarter
NE — Brown 42 run (Seifert kick), 9:05
Fourth Quarter
DB — Chase Lacey 7 run (kick failed), 4:15
Team Statistics
_ DB _ NE
First downs _ 8 _ 15
Rushes-yards _ 33-43 _ 34-308
Passing _ 4-11-2 _ 3-6-0
Passing yards _ 32 _ 61
Total yards _ 75 _ 371
Punts _ 7-28.0 _ 1-41
Fumbles-lost _ 2-0 _ 1-1
Penalties-yards _ 2-10 _ 5-50
Individual Statistics
Rushing — DB, Spencer McIntosh 14-31, Lacey 3-41, Brett Goodrich 2-3, Tyler Ring 1-(-5), Josh Ehst 10-(-7), Matt Okuniewski 1-3, Team 2-(-23). NE, Johnson 13-150, Brown 4-82, Whack 2-32, Valenti 4-16, Kyle Williams 3-19, Jonathen Butler 1-6, Shamar Young 1-3, Taemar Willis 3-1, Justin Franklin 1-1, Zech Sanderson 1-(-2), Azary Brabham 1-0,
Passing — DB, Ehst 4-11-2 32 yards. NE, Valenti 2-4-0 39, Sanderson 1-2-0 22 yards.
Receiving — DB, Ring 2-14, Okuniewski 2-18. NE, Butler 1-10, Blake Einsig 1-29, Brown 1-22.