Football: Collins leads Delsea past Timber Creek
By Phil Anastasia
Inquirer Staff Writer
Delsea quarterback Quinn Collins ran for four touchdowns on Friday night.
That wasn't even the most noteworthy thing about the senior's sensational performance.
Collins completed two huge passes in the final eight minutes as Delsea rallied from a 10-point deficit to stun top-ranked Timber Creek 35-31before a huge crowd at John Oberg Field.
"Monumental," Collins said of the Crusaders' victory over the Chargers, who were the No. 1 team in The Inquirer Top 25 rankings.
Collins scored on three quarterback sneaks from one yard out and ran 19 yards for another touchdown for fifth-ranked Delsea in the wildly entertaining West Jersey Football League National Division game.
Collins threw a 65-yard pass to Chris Bascomb, who reached the Timber Creek one-yard line midway in the fourth quarter.
Collins scored one play later.
Collins threw a 27-yard pass to Taj Summiel on a fourth-and-four from the Timber Creek 28-yard line as the clock dipped below the two-minute mark in the fourth quarter.
After taking a knee to run off some clock, Collins scored his fourth touchdown with 0:37 left for the decisive points of the game.
"We can throw it when we need to," Collins said of the Crusaders' ground-oriented approach. "We needed to tonight and we did it."
Collins was 2-for-2 on passes that he attempted to complete (he spiked the football twice in the first half). Both pass attempts came in the fourth quarter, and both were big plays -- covering a total of 92 yards and reaching the Timber Creek 1 on both plays.
"We work on it every day in practice," Delsea coach Sal Marchese said of the passing game. "But we need to run in order to be able to throw."
Junior running back Rashaad Williams carried 26 times for 148 yards for Delsea (3-0 overall, 2-0 in the division). Collins ran 13 times for 94 yards.
"It's great to have a veteran quarterback," Marchese said of Collins.
Sophomore quarterback Devin Leary was 16-for-30 passing for 186 yards and three touchdowns for Timber Creek (2-1, 1-1).
Senior wide receiver Noah Ellison caught seven passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns for the Chargers.
Junior wide receiver Ezrah Archie also played a strong game for Timber Creek with four receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown and a 58-yard touchdown pass to Ellison on a double-pass on the first play of the second half.
Timber Creek played without senior wide receiver Cam Chambers, a Michigan State recruit, who was ineligible after being ejecting from last weekend's game against Cherokee.
Delsea has beaten South Jersey powers Camden and Timber Creek in consecutive weeks.
"Last week was a big win but this one was bigger," Collins said. "I knew we were going to do it. I could see it in warmups, the way we came out.
"This senior class, we've been preparing for this since eighth grade."
Timber Creek 7 7 10 7 -- 31
Delsea 7 14 0 14 -- 35
D: Quinn Collins 1 run (Brad Dobzanski kick)
TC: Noak Ellison 28 pass from Devin Leary (Tyler Coluccio kick)
D: Collins 19 run (Dobzanski kick)
D: Rashaad Williams 35 run (Dobzanski kick)
TC: Walter Lewis 9 pass from Leary (Coluccio kick)
TC: Ellison 58 pass from Ezrah Archie (Coluccio kick)
TC: Coluccio 20 FG
TC: Archie 3 pass from Leary (Coluccio kick)
D: Collins 1 run (Dobzanski kick)
D: Collins 1 run (Dobzanski kick)
-- Contact Phil Anastasia at panastasia@phillynews.com
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