Haverford High holds off Conestoga

In the first half, Eddie Durkin did it all with his legs. In the second half, he did it all with his arm.

That is, until the time came for the senior quarterback to put the visiting Conestoga Pioneers away. Then he went back to rushing the ball.

The dual threat of Durkin fueled the Fords to a 34-28 victory over the Pioneers on Friday night in a key Central League football matchup.

Durkin threw for 188 yards and a touchdown, with 148 of those yards coming in the second half. He also ran for 100 yards, two touchdowns, and a two-point conversion.

Durkin connected on two huge passes to senior Ricky Dempsey, one of which went for a 67-yard touchdown. Dempsey had 130 yards receiving.

"I trust Ricky," Durkin said. "We've played together for a long time now, and I let him do the rest."

Durkin came out throwing in the second half, exploiting the Conestoga secondary, but it was his rushing touchdown from the 1-yard line with a little less than seven minutes remaining that put his team up by two scores.

Down the stretch, Haverford (8-1 overall, 6-1 league) tightened its defense, sacking Joe Viviano three times in the Pioneers' last two offensive drives.

"They've come up big all year in big situations," Dempsey said of his defense. "So I just expect it."

But the defensive play of the game for the Fords had to be the one that senior linebacker Shawn Luterman made with less than a minute left before halftime. Conestoga looked poised to go into halftime with the lead, but a Luterman recovered a fumble in the end zone.

The touchdown tied the score at 14 and gave the Fords momentum going into intermission.

For the Pioneers (5-4, 4-4), Burton led the way on the ground in the first half, carrying the ball 14 times for 55 yards and a touchdown.

The win was Haverford's seventh in a row.

Conestoga   7 7 7 7 – 28

Haverford   0 14 14 6 – 34

C: Marcus Burton 1 run (Blaise Toroni kick)

H: Eddie Durkin 4 run (Dave Russell kick)

C: Andrew DeStefano 33 pass from Joe Viviano (Toroni kick)

H: Shawn Luterman fumble recovery in end zone (Russell kick)

H: Jai Thornton 1 run (kick failed)

C: DeStefano 65 pass from Viviano (Toroni kick)

H: Ricky Dempsey 67 pass from Durkin (Durkin run)

H: Durkin 2 run (kick failed)

C: DeStefano 13 pass from Viviano (Toroni kick)