by J. COOPER ROBB

Last season when Chestnut Hill Academy and Bristol High School hooked up in a key Independence League game, the Blue Devils were without the services of both Phillip Roberts and Nasir Yard. The result was that the Bristol Warriors ran through the CHA defense on their way to a 25-14 victory. Well, this year both Roberts and Yard were back and the two played a big role in CHA’s 28-7 triumph over Bristol in a game that could go a long way to deciding the Independence League Championship.

After the Blue Devils went up 7-0 on a quarterback sneak by Scott Dziengelski, the Warriors turned to their punishing ground game. Running primarily inside the tackles to counteract the Blue Devils pursue and punish defense, Bristol converted a fourth and goal from the CHA four-yard line to tie the game at 7 early in the second quarter. There the score remained until with two minutes remaining in the half CHA’s Chris McInerney went high to intercept Bristol QB Greg Pinelli’s errant pass. Then with the ball on the Blue Devil 30 and just under two minutes remaining in the half, the 6’4” Dziengelski (15 of 24 on the day) went to work. A 14 yard completion to McInerney, a 13 yard pass to Roberts and another nine- yard completion to Steve Mast and the ball was soon resting at the Bristol 34 with 57 seconds to go in the half. After McInerney (who had eight completions for 102 yards) mishandled a pass in the flat and Roberts couldn’t hold on to a long pass at the Bristol 4, Dziengelski found McInerney on a key fourth and 1 for a 7 yard pickup. Another completion to Roberts moved the ball to the Bristol 12 before Dziengelski found Roberts again, this on a fade pattern in the corner of the end zone where the big senior out-leapt a cornerback to send the Blue Devils in at the half with a 13-7 advantage.

After intermission the Blue Devils took over on both sides of the ball. With CHA’s front four consistently stuffing Bristol’s run-oriented offense, the Warriors were forced to the air with negligible results. Meanwhile, the Blue Devil’s offense mixed the run and pass beautifully as CHA began to control the game’s tempo. After Rob Deery recovered a Warrior fumble at mid-field, Dziengelski again found Phillips behind the Bristol defense and with the two-point conversion the Blue Devils moved ahead 21-7.

Down by 14, the Warriors stubbornly stuck to the ground. Once again the Blue Devils defense refused to yield and when Pinelli finally did attempt to pass, CHA applied heavy pressure, collapsing the pocket and forcing a Pinelli fumble. Again Deery was the man on the spot, pouncing on the ball at the Bristol 4. A few plays later Yard plunged into the end zone to give CHA an insurmountable 28-7 advantage.

The win kept Chestnut Hill undefeated in league play (5-2, 5-0) with only games against relatively weak Jenkintown and Academy of New Church teams remaining. However, while the win over Bristol was a big one, remember that two years ago, as they have this season, CHA defeated both Bristol and Springfield. But in that 2001 season a tough loss to ANC at home allowed the Blue Devils only a share of the Independence League Crown. This is a different team, but if you don’t remember and learn from history, it has a nasty habit of repeating itself. Let’s hope this squad will remember. There is still more football to be played before the celebration can begin.