Neshaminy, North Penn, Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland were winners in district play on Friday night. To view photos of the New Hope/Springfield game, please visit the Photo Gallery...CLICK HERE. To view photos of the Neshaminy/Quakertown, please click on the following link: http://JSGarber.zenfolio.com/p972480497
Stats used in the wraps are provided courtesy of Calkins Media. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web sites: http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school/and http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/.
District One AA title game
#1-1 NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 14, #1-2 SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 7
Justin Hill couldn’t believe it was over.
“It’s the worst feeling in the world,” the Spartans’ senior quarterback said. “(I’m never going) to play football again in my life.
“It’s by choice – I want to go other ways, but it’s something I’ve been doing more for my life than anything else. I’ve been playing football since I was seven years old, so to know it ended, it’s the worst feeling in the world.”
It certainly didn’t look like the Spartans’ season would come to such a heartbreaking end when – on the first play from scrimmage – Ben Fisher took it 78 yards for a touchdown and an early 7-0 Springfield lead. It turned out to be the lone score of the night for the defending district champions.
“It was a combination of things,” coach Chris Shelly said. “At this level, you can’t make mistakes. I felt like we let them back in the game.
“I felt like we had them on their heels, we had a couple of opportunities inside the red zone to kind of put them on their back, but we let them back in.”
The Spartans took that 7-0 lead into the second quarter, and the Lions rallied to knot the score when Jack McKenna avoided every would-be tackler in his path for a 54-yard touchdown run with 5:43 remaining in the half to knot the score 7-7.
“We had opportunities,” Hill said. “We were moving the ball on them, but we just were getting the red zone and not scoring. We were turning the ball over.
“We were doing things that lose you games. It happened because we didn’t do the things that win games.”
The Spartans failed to capitalize on excellent field position in the third quarter, and just when it looked as though overtime was inevitable, the Lions mounted an impressive drive that was capped with Nick Garritano punching it in from one yard out.
The Spartans didn’t go down quietly with Hill orchestrating one last drive that included a 16-yard run by the senior QB and another for nine that saw Hill somehow escape the Lions’ defensive rush to run for a first down. The drive stalled, and the Lions celebrated.
“We didn’t close the door,” Hill said. “We let them stick their foot in the door, and once they did that, we couldn’t get it shut again.”
Fisher led the Spartans with 165 yards on the ground while Hill finished just shy of the century mark with 95.
“There are a lot of hurting kids in there,” Shelly said, nodding in the direction of his team’s locker room. “You have to give credit to a New Hope team that stuck it out.
“They made the drive to win it. You could see from our last drive what kind of kids we have. It starts with J Hill. He was tremendous I thought. All of our seniors have given so much. We expected to win.
“We were coming in as underdogs, but there is no way in our minds we were underdogs. We felt like we were the best team.”
The Spartans closed out the season with a 4-7 record overall (2-5 SOL), but when asked if his team’s SOL schedule against a steady diet of bigger schools had made his team better, Shelly wasn’t quite sure.
“It’s tough to say,” he said. “Yes and no – we had 15 kids on the IR this year, and one of them was on the sideline with a torn ACL.
“I know injuries happen in football, but with us, it’s just tough. Sometimes you limp through the season, but no excuses. We had enough guys out there to win a district championship. We just didn’t have a couple of key plays when we needed them or fumbled the ball in key spots.”
Miscues aside, Shelly was proud of his players.
“I just told the seniors how much I loved them and how much they meant to me,” the Spartans’ coach said. “We were fortunate enough to experience this last year against Bristol. We expect to be in this position every year, we expect to be competing for championships.”
Springfield 7-0-0-0 7
New Hope-Solebury 0-7-0-7 14
District One Quad-A
#1-3 UPPER DUBLIN 45, #1-6 UPPER DARBY 14
This one was over almost before it began, and any thoughts that Upper Darby – fresh off a 59-34 pounding of Council Rock North last week – would give the Flying Cardinals a run for their money were put to rest very early.
In an opening half that saw the Cardinals dominate play, Stacey Gardner upstaged Upper Darby standout Isaiah Bruce, who was coming off a record-breaking 337-yard, seven-touchdown performance a week earlier.
Gardner put the Flying Cardinals on the board early with a 19-yard touchdown run, and after Ryan Stover took it 33 yards on a quarterback keeper, Gardner raced home from 17 yards out. Upper Dublin led 21-0 after a five-yard touchdown pass from Stover to Jack Rapine – also set up by a Gardner run.
The Royals interrupted the Cardinals’ fun when Bruce took it in from 61 yards to make it a 21-6 game at the end of one quarter. Another Stover-to-Rapine touchdown – this one from 23 yards out – gave the Cardinals a 28-6 lead early in the second quarter. An Upper Dublin interception set up a Kaleif Lee touchdown from one yard out, sending the Cardinals into halftime with an insurmountable 35-6 lead.
In the first half, the Cardinals had more than 300 yards of total offense. Gardner accounted for 117 of those and Stover had 115 in the air.
A 27-yard field goal by Todd Spirt in the third quarter put the Cardinals on top 38-6, and they took that lead into a fourth quarter that saw the two teams exchange touchdowns. Danny Boggs scored on an 87-yard pass from Stover to close out the scoring for the Cardinals. Bruce – who set the Upper Darby school record for most yards in a season – scored his 35th touchdown of the season for the Royals.
Upper Dublin (12-0, 7-0 SOL) will host the winner of Saturday night’s Pennsbury-Perkiomen Valley contest in a district semifinal next Friday.
Upper Darby 6-0-0-8 14
Upper Dublin 21-14-3-7 45
#1-13 NESHAMINY 31, #1-12 QUAKERTOWN 17
(To read a complete game story and stats, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/article/content/neshaminy-rallies-defeat-quakertown-0057631)
#1-9 NORTH PENN 27, #1-1 DOWNINGTOWN EAST 14
It was billed as the game that should have been the district final. It turned out to be a showcase for a Knights squad that won its ninth straight and is giving new meaning to the phrase ‘peaking at the right time.’
North Penn owned the first half, accumulating close to 350 yards of total offense and opening up a 27-7 lead. It could have been even more had it not been for several costly fumbles.
The Knights served early notice that they meant business, forcing a three-and-out on the Cougars’ first possession of the game. Nyfease West – who finished with 243 yards – got 11 yards on the Knights’ first play from scrimmage, and one play later, Nick Isabella took it in from 44 yards out, spotting North Penn an early 7-0 lead.
A fumble brought an abrupt end to another North Penn drive, but a 34-yard run by West set up 27-yard Udinski touchdown pass to Owen Thomas on fourth down, and the Knights led 13-0.
After a botched East punt, the Knights went back to work. A 14-yard completion from Reese Udinski to Ricky Johns took the ball to the East four-yard line, and West did the rest, punching it in for a touchdown that – after the successful Udinski to Johns two-point conversion – gave North Penn a commanding 21-0 lead.
The Cougars responded with a scoring drive of their own that was capped by a 61-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Saunders Healy to make it a 21-7 game with 6:03 remaining in the opening half.
A 40-yard return by Justis Henley on the ensuing kickoff gave the Knights good field position, but a fumble in the red zone gave the Cougars possession. The Knights’ defense – a key to the win – forced another three-and-out, and after a 16-yard punt, North Penn took over on the Cougars’ 27. West took it in from 11 yards out, but the TD was waved off for a chop block, and the Knights found themselves staring at first-and-goal from the 25.
On third-and-long, a Udinski to Johns connection took the ball to the seven, and on fourth-and-goal, Udinski found Justin Ostopowicz with a screen pass for a TD and a 27-7 lead with 33 seconds remaining.
The Cougars threatened to make things interesting when they scored with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter to make it a 27-14 game, but in a play that proved to be a backbreaker for East, Cary Angeline fumbled as he was heading in for a TD gave the Knights possession on their own five.
Neither team scored the rest of the way.
The Knights accumulated over 500 yards of total offense. Udinski had 228 yards in the air – 167 of those to Johns. Keith Earle highlighted a standout defensive effort with three sacks.
For the Knights, Friday’s win avenged a 28-24 loss to the Cougars on Sept. 18. They have not lost since.
North Penn (10-2, 7-0) will face a familiar opponent in next week’s district semifinal. The Knights will host Neshaminy in an all-SOL National showdown.
North Penn 13-14-0-0 27
Downingtown East 0-7-7-0 14
District One AAA
#1-2 UPPER MORELAND 28, #1-6 MARPLE-NEWTOWN 20
Upper Moreland saw its annual Thanksgiving Day game against Hatboro-Horsham go out the window, but that’s hardly bad news. Instead of playing their neighboring rival, the Golden Bears will be playing for district gold when they take on top-seeded Academy Park in the District One AAA title game.
Friday’s win over Marple-Newtown was anything but easy. Once again, Rodney Morgan – who entered the game with more than 2,000 yards on the ground – came up big for the Bears, rushing for 273 yards and four touchdowns. The Bears’ defense also had a pair of late-game stands to preserve the big win.
A Marple-Newtown fumble set the stage for a 24-yard TD run by Morgan, and the Bears had an early 7-0 lead. Marple-Newtown capitalized on a UM fumble, connecting on a field goal that made it a 7-3 game.
Carmen Christiana’s punt return for a touchdown gave Marple a 10-7 lead late in the first quarter. The Tigers stretched that lead to 17-7 after a seven-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Anthony Paoletti to Marcus Weathers. UM quarterback Casey Decker found Morgan with a 20-yard touchdown pass to make it a 17-14 game, but the Tigers tacked on a field goal to go into halftime with a 20-14 lead.
Morgan, who surpassed the 100-yard mark in the opening half, scored on a 52-yard run to put the Bears on top 21-20 with just over three minutes remaining. UM’s defense held, and Morgan raced in from 19 yards for the 28-20 final.
Upper Moreland improved to 10-2 on the season (5-2 overall).
Marple-Newtown 10-10-0-0 20
Upper Moreland 7-7-0-14 28
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