Interboro Head Coach Steve Lennox with his co-captains Nate Murtha and Quentin Frangell (58). Photo by Todd Bauders / contrastphotography.com

High School football rivalry games bring out emotions that run the gamut of emotions.

Win, and you are walking on air for weeks. Lose and the feeling reach deep into your gut.

Lose on a blocked punt with time running out in the fourth quarter and the defeat burns through the heart even deeper.

That’s what happened to Interboro on Thanksgiving Day when the Bucs dropped a heart-breaking decision to crosstown adversary Ridley 29-22.

With the score tied 22-22 late in the fourth quarter, Ridley blocked the Bucs punt, setting up the winning score for the Green Raiders. While loss hurt, the memories of the effort and valor that took place on the field will last a lifetime.

Bucs fans hope Lennox says on for a few more battles with Ridley.

“I thought it was a great game,” Lennox said after the game on the field. “My kids are saying we have nothing to be ashamed of. They really played hard. We were down and came back. Give [Ridley] a little credit, they came back too. We gave them some help with the blocked punt. It was a great football game. On Thanksgiving, it was like a championship heavyweight fight.”

Lennox now has 300 wins as a head coach. He earned 84 of them coaching 11 years at Dickinson High School in Delaware. The remaining 216 victories have come in his 24 years at Interboro and he shows no signs of letting up.

His senior captains had nothing but high praise for their now former coach.

Quarterback Nate Murtha talked about how his coach made it fun to play for the Bucs. “He has a great sense of humor,” Murtha said. “He tries to get the best out of you but wants to make sure you laugh.”

Offensive lineman Quentin Frangelli said pretty much the same thing.

“Coach Lennox is inspiring,” Frangelli said. “Every practice, you looked forward to them. Coach is funny but he really pushes you to do your best.”

Frangelli played the Ridley game and the second half of the Bucs playoff game against Pottsgrove with an ankle injury he admitted held him back a little.

“It was like trying to drive a car with three wheels,” said the 6-foot-0, 280 pounder who plans to play college football somewhere. “But I made it through the OK.”

Before Lennox arrived at Interboro, Ridley had won 27 of the first 28 meetings. Interboro’s only win came in 1973. Since Lennox took over the Bucs have an 11-9 record against the Raiders.

Lennox, who grew up in Collingdale, Delaware County has been asked at times during the season if he was coming back for season No. 25. He has not made a formal commitment.

“I like doing this, I’ve coached for a long time,” the coach said. But when asked to make it formal…Lennox smiled the best smile he could muster after losing to Ridley and said…”Yeah…well, we’ll see.”

And off he went…Smart money is on the quarter century season in 2017.

Interboro Head Coach Steve Lennox with his co-captains Nate Murtha and Quentin Frangell (58).
Photo by Todd Bauders/contrastphotography.com

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