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Schools

Towns Steamrolls, Hannan Jukes Way to Eagles Victory

Gerald Towns rushed for four touchdowns, but quarterback Jake Hannan stole the show with a highlight-reel 35-yard touchdown run.

Gerald Towns had a number of highlight-reel runs for the football team. The senior tailback dragged would-be tacklers all over the field and scored four touchdowns in the Eagles’ 49-0 win over Haddon Township in Colonial Conference action Friday night.

After the game, there was one run in particular that had Towns grinning from ear to ear—but it wasn’t his.

Towns and his teammates couldn’t help but smile after quarterback Jake Hannan broke off a 35-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter. Hannan—who is not known for his running ability—avoided being sacked twice, took off upfield, cut to the outside and leaped past a defender and into the end zone for a mesmerizing touchdown.

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“I was surprised,” Towns said with a laugh. “I saw the blitz coming and I tried to get a block, but man, he’s a great quarterback.”

Senior fullback Scott Dennis even compared the play to that of ones made by a famous No. 7.

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“Michael Vick,” Dennis said without hesitation. “I have been with the program for five years, but out of all the years I have known Jake, I have never seen him do that.”

Even Hannan, who is quick to pass praise to others, couldn’t resist celebrating his moment.

“The run was awesome,” Hannan said. “It was a pass at first, but they brought an extra guy in the C-gap and I saw a seam open up, and I just took off, cutback and had a great juke. Coach talks about dreaming great dreams. I have run that play over in my head a million times, and this is just awesome to get something like that.”

Once he got back to his feet after scoring the touchdown, Hannan was mobbed by his teammates.

“I don’t even know (what the guys were saying),” Hannan said “I couldn’t stop laughing, it was just so awesome.”

The rest of the day belonged to Towns, who scored on runs of 42, 19, 7 and 2 yards. Towns routinely ran over and through defenders; no one on the field could slow him down. He finished with 11 carries for 139 yards, all in the first half. At one point, Towns had scored four touchdowns in a span of five carries.

“The guy is a workhorse,” said Hannan. “He always gives a full effort at practice and you can see it on the field.”

“(He’s) insane,” Dennis said. “He reminds me of his brother, Jimmy Owens. When he got going, there was no stopping him, and it’s the same thing with G. When he gets going, you can’t stop him.”

Towns credited his offensive line for opening up big holes, but admitted he got some enjoyment out of dragging defenders for extra yards–or, as in a few cases, across the goal line.

“It’s a rush,” Towns said.

Phil Fisher and Isaiah Worthy added a touchdown as the Eagles led 21-0 after one quarter and 40-0 at the half.

Not to be lost in all of the offensive fireworks was another dominant performance by the defense. West Deptford (5-1) recorded its second-straight shutout and has not surrendered a point in11 quarters, dating back to a first-quarter touchdown scored by Haddon Heights two weeks ago in a 42-6 Eagles’ win.

The Eagles held the Hawks (1-5) well under 100 yards of total offense and recorded six sacks. Dennis led the way with two sacks and four tackles in the first quarter, while Ryan Flaherty recorded a safety in the second half.

“It all starts off in practice,” said Dennis. “I can’t take credit for the tackles I got without giving it to the people beside me. All 11 guys on the defense, we work together as a team. Without anyone of them, we would not be as good of a defense as we are.”

West Deptford will be back in action next Friday when it travels to face Collingswood.

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