Maple Shade rolls to victory over Florence
Wildcats wide receiver Myles Drummond caught a pair of TD passes in the 22-7 win.
Riding the arm of Maple Shade quarterback Pedro Aldebol last night on a rainy evening at Florence, the Wildcats upset their hosts, 22-7, coming from behind for the victory.
A 6-foot, 200-pound senior, Aldebol completed six of 13 passes for 128 yards, three touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
On paper, last night's Burlco/Olympic football game was a masterpiece of early-season scheduling to see who would slip into the Freedom Division driver's seat, Maple Shade or host Florence.
The Wildcats (1-0 overall, 1-0 division), however, showed their poise after falling behind, 7-6, in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead in the third period and put on the icing in the final quarter.
Florence, king of the hill for seven years before faltering last season and capable of getting back on top, unveiled a physically large offensive line.
However, after senior running back Korey Linico scored on a three-yard run to give the Flashes (0-1, 0-1) a 7-6 lead 1 minute, 56 seconds into the second period, they couldn't sustain a scoring drive against the Wildcats' swarming defense.
Florence senior quarterback Dylan Martin completed eight of 15 passes for 83 yards and an interception.
Maple Shade, a hungry and serious contender seeking its first division title since sharing it with Florence in 1998, showed up with experience in the form of seven two-way returning starters, including two game breakers: senior wide receiver-cornerback Myles Drummond and junior tailback Robert Marithe Harris.
Drummond was the difference in the game. The 5-foot-9, 150-pound receiver caught four balls for 89 yards, including two touchdowns.
The speedster's first catch and run was off a screen pass that he turned into a TD by weaving his way most of 36 yards to the end zone to give Maple Shade a 12-7 lead with 2 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the third period.
Savon Small, who scored the Wildcats first TD pass, a 33-yarder from Aldebol, caught another ball for a two-point conversion to expand the Wildcats lead to 14-7.
Drummond, raced along the right sideline under an Aldebol bomb to complete a 39-yard touchdown play with 4:55 left in the game.
Harris, who had 17 carries for 66 yards, used a two-point conversion run to give Maple Shade a 22-7 lead that finalized the score.
Maple Shade 6 0 8 8 - 22
Florence 0 7 0 0 - 7
MS: Small 33 pass from Aldebol (kick failed)
F: Linico 3 run (Benish kick)
MS: Drummond 36 pass from Aldebol (Small pass from Aldebol)
MS: Drummond 39 pass from Aldebol (Harris run)