Posts Tagged “Raul DeBenedittis”

Jim Thorpe 31

Schuylkill Haven 6

The Jim Thorpe offense looked sluggish to start the game and the first quarter ended in a scoreless tie. The game did not remain close for much longer. The Olympian offense got a spark when Corey Cinicola completed a 36 yd pass to Craig Zurn. Just a few plays later, Phil Redline scored on a 7 yd TD run. Two plays into the next Haven possession, Zurn intercepted a pass and returned it for a defensive TD. Alex Landon would cap the first half scoring with a 31 yard field goal. Jim Thorpe held a 17-0 lead at the half.

The Red Swarm defense dominated the Haven offense only allowing 147 total yards and causing 2 fumbles. Robert Mathurin was practically unstoppable on the D-Line for the Olympians. Zach Barkett, the AFL’s leading rusher entering the game, finished the night with only 60 yds on 20 carries.

The Olympians used a balanced offensive attack to move the ball on the Canes. Zurn passed for over 100 yards including a 4 yd TD pass to Josh Hontz in the 3rd quarter that expanded the Thorpe lead to 24-0. Redline led the Olympian rushing attack with 60 yds. Zurn rushed for 56 and Joe Garland added 3 carries for 12 yds in his first game since returning from an injury. Zurn completed 3 passes to Raul DeBenedittis for 66 yds, Hontz caught 2 for 12 yds and Ben Flizack had 1 reception for 21 yds.

Zurn rushed for a 15 yd TD early in the 4th quarter to make the score 31-0. The Hurricanes escaped the shutout with an 8 yard TD run late in the final quarter.

Tags: Alex Landon, Ben Flizack, Corey Cinicola, Craig Zurn, Josh Hontz, Phil Redline, Raul DeBenedittis, Robert Mathurin, Schuylkill Haven, Zach Barkett

Jim Thorpe 38
Pocono Mountain West 28

Pictures from the game.

Jim Thorpe improves record to 7-0.

Jim Thorpe jumped out to an early 14-0 lead Friday on rushing TDs by Phil Redline and Scott McGonigal. The Panthers dominated the remainder of the half scoring 21 points. PMW quarterback Jon Mangual had a tremendous game throwing for 216 yards and evading the JT rush.

JT trailed for the first time this season 21-14 at the half. The Olympians regrouped at the half and scored 17 3rd quarter points. The Red Swarm defense set up the Thorpe offense forcing back-to-back turnovers on Panther drives. Corey Cinicola, making his first career start, threw a 27yd TD pass to Raul DeBenedittis to tie the score at 21. Redline would score his 2nd rushing TD on the next JT possession to give the Olympians a lead they would not relinquish.

Alex Landon connected on his first field goal of the year to expand the JT lead to 31-21. Redline scored a 3rd rushing TD in the 4th quarter to make the score 38-21. The Panthers would not quit and drove for a TD of their own to cut the Thorpe lead to 38-28 with under 5 minutes to play.

An onside kick attempt by PMW was recovered by Mike Thomas. The Olympians would be forced to punt and made a final defensive stand to preserve the win for the Olympians. Cinicola finished 8-15 for 146yds 1td and 2 ints. His main target was Josh Hontz with 4 receptions for 61yds.

Redline had a huge game on the ground carrying 32 times for 135 yds and 3 scores. The Red Swarm defense played a tremendous second half containing Mangual who was so elusive in the first half.

NEXT GAME

7pm Friday October 20th at Schuylkill Haven

Tags: Alex Landon, Corey Cinicola, Josh Hontz, Mike Thomas, Phil Redline, Pocono Mountain West, Raul DeBenedittis, Scott McGonigal

In 2005 the Shenandoah Valley crowd suggested Jim Thorpe use a shovel. The Olympians brought a shovel to the 2006 matchup and used it to bury the Devils. The highly regarded SV backfield (Reese, Metkus, Varga & Latimore) was held to a total of 3 yards rushing on 19 carries.

After a short SV kickoff was returned to the Devil 45 yard line to open the game by Tony Mistretta, the Olympians drove for their opening touchdown. Scott McGonigal finished the drive with a 2 yard TD run. The extra point kick by Alex Landon made the score 7-0. The Red Swarm defense would take over the game and force 3 turnovers. Second quarter runs by Craig Zurn and Phil Redline extended the lead to 21-0. The lone Shenandoah score would come in the 2nd quarter on a 1 yd run by Josh Metkus.

The offensive & defensive line of the Olympians dominated the entire game. On offense line opened holes for 2 100 yard rushers for the 2nd straight week (Zurn 25-100 & Redline 20-119) and gave Zurn plenty of time to pass (receptions: Raul DeBenedittis 2-27, Flizack 1-30 & Redline 1-10). McGonigal would close out the scoring with a 1yd run in the 4th quarter. With the JT defense completely shutting down the run, SV was forced to throw 26 times. Eric Busocker ended a Devil drive in the 3rd quarter with his first interception of the year.

A complete team effort on defense kept the Devils from reaching the endzone in the second half. Zurn smothered Kaplafka, Porembo punished ball carriers, Bradley pressured Reese while Flizack kept contain and batted down pass attempts.
The win keeps the Olympians atop the Anthracite league standings at 5-0.

NEXT GAME

Friday Oct 6th, 7pm at 4-1 Minersville.

Visit the Shenandoah Photo Gallery with more than 90 photos from the game here.

Tags: Alex Landon, Ben Flizack, Craig Zurn, Eric Busocker, Phil Redline, Raul DeBenedittis, Scott McGonigal, Shenandoah, Tony Mistretta

Jim Thorpe          26
Mahanoy Area     0

Jim Thorpe JV team was impressive in the first game of the season. After a slow start, the Olympians dominated on both sides of the ball. The defensive front seven allowed very little running room for bear runners. The secondary played sound as well with CJ Lehman making an interception.

On offense the Olympians did most of their damage on the ground getting 2 rushing TDs from Raul DeBenedittis and 1 from Gerard Barile. With the success of the ground game, JT QBs did not put the ball in the air that often. Kyle Busocker did complete a key pass in the flat while rolling left to keep a Jim Thorpe drive alive.

Tags: CJ Lehmann, Junior Varsity, Kyle Busocker, Mahanoy Area, Raul DeBenedittis

Total team effort dominates North Schuylkill for the entire game.

(1) Spartans were held to 66 yards of total offense (56yds on the one play in the 3rd quarter)

(2) ”Clewless” NS passing attacked had only one completion for 1 yard. No receptions for Robbie Clews.

(3) NS managed only 2 first downs the entire game.

(4) Red Swarm recovered 3 fumbles, recorded a safety and gave the Olympian offense great field position the entire night.

 Inspired by the Red Swarm Defense, the Olympian Offense scored 7 TDs. Kyle Porembo and Phil Redline each scored first half rushing TDs. After the Jim Thorpe Defense scored a safety, “Big Ben” Flizack hauled in a 14 yard TD from Craig Zurn to increase the JT lead to 30-0 at the half. The lone defensive lapse by the Olympians occurred early in the 3rd quarter when the NS quarterback ran 56 yards for the only Spartan score. The Olympians answered on the ensuing drive with a 10 yard TD pass from Zurn to Josh Hontz. Craig Zurn and Tony Mistretta added rushing TDs to reach the final score of 50-6.

The Olympians spread the wealth on offense with the O-line (Lance Malatak, Shawn Bradley, Billy Mertz, Robbie Mathurin, Keith Long & Ben Flizack) opening huge holes for a host of JT runners. 10 rushers gained 301 yards on the ground (Craig Zurn 7-102, Phil Redline 18-91, Tony Mistretta 6-41, Scott McGonigal 6-25, Jake Zurn 2-19, Kyle Porembo 3-17, Tim Kunkel 2-9, Tom Ferguson 1-5, Raul DeBenedittis 1-(-1)). The passing attack was balanced as well. Craig Zurn went 6 for 12 passing for 92 yards and Corey Cinicola completed his only attempt for 8 yards.  6 players pulled down passes for 100 yards (Raul DeBenedittis 2-43, Mike Thomas 1-18, Ben Flizack 1-14, Josh Hontz 1-10, Phil Redline 1-6, Kyle Porembo 1-7).

The complete JT team effort continued when substitutes entered the game. There was no let down when the Olympian second team took the field and played a majority of the 4th quarter. The second team offense added a TD. The second team defense yielded only 1 NS first down and surrendered zero points.

Next Game

Olympians host backyard rival Panther Valley in an Anthracite League game Friday September 22nd at 7pm.

Please come out and show your support…GO THORPE!

Tags: Ben Flizack, Billy Mertz, Corey Cinicola, Craig Zurn, Jacob Zurn, Keith Long, Kyle Porembo, Lance Malatak, Mike Thomas, North Schuylkill, Phil Redline, Raul DeBenedittis, Scott McGonigal, Shawn Bradley, Tony Mistretta