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The following is the article that appeared in the Bucks County Courier on Friday morning!

Defense helps Owls win title

By WES MCELROY
Bucks County Courier Times

DOYLESTOWN - Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.

That exact gridiron belief was no better proved as Bensalem used a containing run defense to win the Bucks County Ninth Grade Football Championship over Northern Division contender Tohickon 8-0 on Thursday evening at War Memorial Field.

"All year our defense has come through," said Bensalem head coach Tony Dragani. "They have sometimes been backed up to the one inch line and have come through all year. We have that saying that offense does win games and defense wins championships."

Indeed it does.

Bensalem (8-0), the Southern Division champions, used defense to thrive off an early first-quarter score as the Golden Eagles dominated the first half time of possession.

"These kids, they're players," Dragani said. "They have always come to play. The idea that we could do this was believed from day one."

An early Owls interception by Luis Nieves set up Bensalem within the Tohickon 30-yard line.

Five plays later, Bensalem running back Josh Jarrell sprinted 15 yards up the middle for the game's only score.

Tohickon challenged the Owls defense staging a 9-minute, 12-play drive that consumed all but one minute of the second quarter before a failed fourth-down conversion halted the drive on the Bensalem 18.

"We can get worn down," Dragani said. "We have had a couple injuries during the year to our lineman, but I believed in them as much as they believe in each other. They kept playing."

Tohickon (6-2), the Northern champions, would only allow the Owls offense a total of 13 first-half plays, only 19 in the first three quarters.

However despite its time on the field, the Owl defense would never weaken.

The Owls broke down four Tohickon fourth-down conversions, including a stop on the opening drive of the third quarter in which the Golden Eagles edged within their opponent's 15.

"Even with our backs to the wall," Dragani said. "They kept coming through all evening. I guess that's the mark of a champion."

The Bensalem defense capped the evening, staying consistent in the second half, stopping four Tohickon drives all which began in Owls territory.

"I will always remember them, they will always remember this," Dragani. "It's about them. It's about them being proud and going through life knowing what they can do and that no door will ever be closed on them."