ABINGTON — It was a telling moment for Neshaminy.
Leading unbeaten North Penn, the defending District One Class 6A football finalist, by four points with 2½ minutes remaining, Neshaminy faced fourth-and-1 on its own 28-yard line. After trying to draw the Knights offsides, first-year head coach Nick Felus called a timeout and went for it.
Senior quarterback Mike Eckart’s 39-yard run off the left side produced a first down and sealed the Suburban One League National Conference victory on Sept.12 at Harry E. Franks Stadium.
“We knew the offense was moving the ball the whole game,” said Eckart, who completed his first 14 passes and throwing for five touchdown passes in Friday’s 48-6 victory over host Abington. “We needed one yard and trusted each other to get the first. We’d bet our lives on getting it.”
Eckart finished with 109 rushing yards on 17 carries and a touchdown against North Penn, in addition to going 11 of 17 passing for 149 yards and two scores — one apiece to senior receiver Nick Sassano and senior running back Carter Clee.
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“We had a good game plan going in,” Eckart said. “I’m getting comfortable with a lot of things we’ve been working on for weeks. The offensive line played really well, and we were able to get our playmakers out in space 1-on-1 a lot.”
Against Abington, he completed 15 of 16 passes for 244 yards with five TDs to four different receivers. He is 62 for 86 (.721) for 994 yards, along with 15 touchdowns and one interception, midway through the 2025 regular season.
“Mike is relentless on the practice field and with his film study and preparation,” said Neshaminy head coach Nick Felus after the Abington victory. “He’s really starting to settle into the offense and has great command of what we’re doing. Mike’s been fantastic and he’s a great leader.”
Eckart connected with senior receiver Bobby Lagler for scores of 22 and 23 yards, as well as senior receivers Nick Sassano (25 yards), Mike Sassano (17 yards) and junior receiver Brock Williams (59) for touchdowns.
Senior running back Carter Clee (15 carries, 104 yards) added the sixth score on a 21-yard run on Neshaminy’s first possession of the second half, with freshman backup linebacker Malakhi Fox returning an interception 50 yards for the final touchdown.
“We’re playing team football right now,” Felus said. “We’re playing with a lot of enthusiasm. We’re playing with a lot of energy. And we’re going to just keep doing that each week.”
Abington’s touchdown came on an 8-yard pass from promising sophomore quarterback Miles Yockus to senior receiver Jake Leach on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Neshaminy (4-1, 2-0 SOL) started the season with victories by a combined 71-0 over Emmaus (30-0) and Council Rock North (41-0), then dropped a 38-29 decision to Cheltenham before bouncing back nicely vs. North Penn.
Abington (1-4, 0-2 SOL) opened SOL National play last week by falling to Central Bucks West 43-15. The Ghosts went 1-2 to start the season, downing Harry S. Truman 42-7 in Week 2 sandwiched around losses to Conrad Weiser (29-22) and Bensalem (24-11).
What's next for Neshaminy Football
Neshaminy visits SOL National rival Central Bucks West (4-1) on Sept. 26.
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What's next for Abington Football
The Ghosts visit 5-0 Pennridge in a SOL National game on Sept. 26.
Key play
Senior quarterback Mike Eckart hit junior receiver Brock Williams for a 59-yard touchdown pass on Neshaminy’s fourth play from scrimmage.
By the numbers: Neshaminy vs. Abington
The Neshaminy first-string offense accumulated 336 yards on 36 plays for a 9.3 average, scoring on all six of its possessions.
Abington hard-running junior back Kai Taylor carried the ball 12 times for 68 yards, including a 13-yard gain on a fake punt from the Ghosts' 36-yard line on fourth-and-6 for a first down in the opening quarter.
Neshaminy senior quarterback Mike Eckart completed 15 of 16 passes for 244 yards and five touchdowns.
Game balls
Neshaminy senior linebacker Carson Schneider had an interception and another solid game, as did sophomore linebacker Rocco Gregory.
Abington senior linebacker Eric Hopkins had two tackles for loss, including a sack.
They said it
“Our practice wasn’t that good that week (heading into the Week 3 Cheltenham loss),” said Neshaminy senior quarterback Mike Eckart. “We knew we had to change something, so we started to up the tempo. We were able to get it done against North Penn and this week we were able to get it done again.”
“We felt we had a good week of practice,” said Abington second-year head coach Bruce Fleming. “The translation from practice into Friday night got lost somewhere. … Season-wise, I still feel we have a chance to turn things around. This group has worked a lot harder the last few weeks. Now we need to figure out how to win.”
Tom Moore: [email protected]; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist for . Support our journalism with a subscription.