Balanced Quakers rout the Crusaders

Before J'Wan Steward found daylight on a 62-yard punt return for a touchdown, the game was dull.

Steward's Moorestown football team team looked flat.

There was no rhythm.

The game itself, like the Moorestown offense, hadn't established an identity.

The Quakers' opponent, Bishop Eustace, hadn't been moving the ball either.

But at least it was clear what the Crusaders were: They were a running football team. If they were going to win, they were going to win by pounding the ball.

So it raised the question: What is the Moorestown football team?

What is the team's identity, and what does it take to get the offense going?

The answer, it turned out, was balance.

"We do a little bit of everything," said Moorestown coach Beau Sherry after his Quakers ultimately walked away with a convincing 31-0 road win on Friday night to improve to 6-1.

"We certainly can throw the ball – we have the quarterback and skill guys to do it," Sherry added. "We've been running the ball better of late. And if we can do that – that's our identity."

While every facet of Moorestown's game was in control during a dominant second half, particularly its power-run game, it was Steward's punt return for a touchdown with 4 minutes, 51 seconds left in the second quarter that lit a spark under his team. The game was never close after that play as the Moorestown offense came alive, and the defensive completely outmatched its opponent.

"Coach [Sherry] came to me and told me we needed a big play, so I just knew I had to come through and do something for my guys," said Steward, who also rushed for a touchdown in the third quarter. "We came out flat, but we knew we had to finish strong."

On the heels of that first touchdown, Moorestown scored 10 points in the final 24 seconds of the first half.

Nick Cartwright Atiks caught a 10-yard touchdown pass — his first of two — from Brian McMonagle with 24 seconds left in the first half, capping a nine-play 80-yard, two-minute drive that was beautifully orchestrated by

McMonagle (13 of 20 passes, 183 yards, two touchdown passes).

On its first play of the next drive, with only 16 seconds left on the clock, Bishop Eustace inexplicably threw the ball, and it was picked off by Jack Ginley — one of three turnovers by the Crusaders (3-3) – who returned it five yards to the nine yard line.

Two plays later, kicker Josh Bearder sent a 28-yard field goal through the uprights as time ran out in the first half, giving Moorestown a 17-0 lead and momentum it never relinquished.

Defensively, the Quakers controlled Bishop Eustace (3-3) at every level — speed, strength and size.

The Crusaders managed only one first down in the half and didn''t record its second until the final minute of the third quarter.

"Our defense was outstanding," Sherry said. "Especially against a good opponent like Eustace."

The curtain call for the Moorestown starters came with 9:37 left, when McMonagle threw a perfectly thrown ball to the corner of the end zone and an airborne Cartwright-Atikins made an acrobatic effort to control the ball and stay in bounds for a 28-yard score.

Moorestown         0   17   7   7   31
Bishop Eustace    0    0    0   0   0
M: J'Wan Steward 62 punt return (Josh Bearder kick)
M: Mitchell Lisa10 pass from Brian McMonagle (Bearder kick)
M: Bearder 28 FG
M: Steward 2 run (Bearder kick)
M: Nick Cartwright-Atkins 28 pass from McMonagle (Bearder kick)