Interboro's seniors made a pact among themselves that there was no way they would share a title that has become almost like a family heirloom, passed from one Interboro team to the next.

After some tense late moments last night, Interboro made it 12 straight league crowns after surviving a late surge from Glen Mills to win, 20-13.

The victory gives the Bucs a clean 10-0 overall mark and 5-0 in the league, while the loss dropped the Bulls to 6-4 and 4-1, and probably out of the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA playoffs.

This title literally came down to a yard. With the Bulls threatening at the Interboro 21 on a fourth-and-6 play with less than 2 minutes to play, they were stopped inches short of a first down when Adam Smith stopped Eric Braxton.

The interesting twist is that the Bulls came up missing a yard when they took over at the Interboro 39 with 3 minutes, 38 seconds to play. A 15-yard personal foul was stepped off 14 yards to the Bucs' 25 instead of the 24. Bulls coach Kevin Owens was steaming when he left the field, but refused to comment on the play.

As for the winners, Bucs senior Joe Pfaff, who played a major role tallying 145 all-purpose yards, had something to do with all of Interboro's three scores.

Also not lost in the Bucs' victory was the dominating play of senior Zack McMenamin and Smith. McMenamin, a defensive lineman, caused chaos all night, blowing up the Bulls' offensive line, picking up four tackles for minus-14 yards, while Smith, a defensive back, picked off two passes, one that saved a touchdown.

Glen Mills made it interesting with 4:43 left to play, when quarterback Jurell Smalls scored on a 13-yard run, pulling the Bulls to within 20-13.

The Bucs squandered the chance to run out the clock, giving the Bulls possession at the Interboro 39.

"We made it a lot closer than it should have been," Pfaff said. "It was a team effort. We all came through. But we had chances to close this game out, and we didn't. That's a credit to Glen Mills, but it's a credit to us, too, and how we stuck together."

Interboro took a 13-6 lead into intermission. The Bucs did it with consecutive long drives, one going for 94 yards and the other for 73 yards.

Glen Mills was winning the field-position battle after one quarter when the Interboro ground game woke up. The Bucs got on the board first early in the second quarterback, when pint-sized quarterback Brett Creighton hit Pfaff with a 13-yard touchdown pass. Pfaff's 36-yard run and Creighton's 30-yard completion to Bolger made the score possible.

The Bulls answered with their own long drive on the ensuing possession. Glen Mills moved 77 yards on nine plays, ending with Smalls' 16-yard touchdown pass to Gabriel Yuille. James Foster's 20-yard run and Smalls' 23-yard completion to Joseph Williams were huge plays during the series.

Interboro added to that with an 11-play series that culminated in Bolger's 17-yard touchdown run.

Pfaff led the Bucs at halftime with 75 total yards, 62 on the ground and a 13-yard reception, while Smalls completed six of 11 for 94 yards for Glen Mills, with one touchdown and an interception at the Interboro goal line. Smalls finished passing for 130 yards, completing 9-for-21 with two interceptions.

Bucs coach Steve Lennox was elated after the game.

"These kids are fantastic; it says something about them to do it year after year," Lennox said. "This group had a lot of expectations placed on them, and they've fulfilled them." *

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