By: Sean Moylan
Early in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s football game versus Delran, the Florence High football team’s starters did not take their usual places on the sidelines to watch their talented backups play out the remainder of the contest. Furthermore, none of the Flashes were allotted the usual time to entertain dreams of how they were going to pound their next opponent.
In fact, the Flashes’ go-to guys were on the field, fighting for their lives, to the very end against a very good Bears squad. Yet, while the game was tight, the Flashes were enjoying their first serious challenge of the year. So after the Flashes were able to salt away a 21-14 victory over the Bears with a Quentin Loftin touchdown in the game’s closing four minutes and an Anthony Krause interception in the final 17 seconds, there was different sense of satisfaction.
Win number 41 in a row was a great accomplishment and the Florence players and coaches saw it as such immediately.
"They’re (the Bears) a very good football team, one of the best we’ve played in the last few years. They have a super offense and they play physical on defense," said Florence’s immortal head coach Joe Frappolli. "We knew it was going to be a tough game and a 48 minute game."
While Loftin barreled in from six yards out to provide the margin of victory, Frappolli felt the Rob Hutchison pass to Malcolm Jenkins which set up the big touchdown was nearly as important.
"It was the Daffy Duck play. Some people call it a flea flicker. We handed it off to ‘Q’ (Loftin) and he pitched it back to Hutchison, who hit Jenkins for 21 yards," said Frappolli. Hutchison had previously thrown a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jenkins for the only tally of the opening half.
"I thought ‘Hutch’ (Hutchison) had a great game," said Frappolli, whose senior quarterback completed 7 of 13 passes for 104 yards.
Delran recovered a fumble on the second-half kickoff and ran it back for a touchdown to knot the game at 7-7. But that only made Loftin, who ran for 142 yards on 26 carries, more eager than ever to take over the contest.
"They had him (Loftin) bottled up early but then he took off for a 45-yard (third quarter) touchdown," said the longtime Florence head coach.
On one possession, Florence marched the ball down to inside the 1-yard line and couldn’t score. Frappolli couldn’t remember the last time his team couldn’t score from so close, but it was that kind of a game.
Delran scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to tie the game again. Moreover, after Loftin’s second touchdown of the game the Bears drove down the field again only to have their hopes for an upset snuffed out by a Krause interception, his second pick of the day. Florence’s defense played yet another phenomenal game.
It was a physically brutal old school game. But when Shaquan Virgil, an offensive star who can play any of the skill positions, suffered an injury, Florence just gave Loftin, Chris Foehr and Marcus Curry more carries. The Flashes never whine after an injury. They just attack their opponent with new people.
"They took a lot of things away from us," noted Frappolli, who made some halftime adjustments with his coaching staff to open things up more. "We’re banged up right now. It was a hard-nose, hard-fought contest. But it’s got to give us more confidence."
Saturday was Parent’s Day at Florence and there was a huge crowd (estimated at over 3,000) to see the big game. Florence fans know which games are the big ones.
Florence (5-0) has a well-deserved bye this week. The Flashes’ will rest, nurse their wounds and keep on working toward another potential perfect season.

