Upper Dublin made history by winning its program’s first ever district playoff game this season. The Flying Cardinals will continue to make history when they face Pennsbury in Friday’s district final. The following article is sponsored by the Upper Dublin Booster Club.
By Dave Conard for SuburbanOneSports.com
FORT WASHINGTON—It's a funny thing about life; there is seldom a warning when the moments that take your breath away may happen, and just as suddenly, they can be over.
”You got to lose to know how to win.... Sing with me, sing for the years, sing for the laughter, sing for the tears, sing with me it's just for today...”
Anyone who has ever turned on a radio knows that those immortal words are echoed in the mega hit “Dream On” by Aerosmith, which quite fittingly is the song the Upper Dublin Marching Unit starts and ends their 2014 field show with during what has become a “dream” season for the Flying Cardinals and the community.
That being said, nobody, including Upper Dublin band director Chris Horn, who is a C.B. West alumnus and well acquainted with PIAA playoff football deep into December, could have predicted this historic season and the irony of doing a show about dreams and insomnia as he and his team were putting together their award-winning field show,
“We were just trying to present a creative show with performance opportunities as our entire team was putting this together,” said Chris Horn. “It's kind of a custom-made story with the way this year has unfolded. Our programs support each other so well that this has just been so much fun for everyone.
“I don't have coach Stover's cell phone number on my phone and he doesn't have mine,” added Horn. “ But when we won the Yankee state championship in Millersville a couple of weeks ago, the second text I got saying congratulations was from Bret. That is something special.”
As the Flying Cardinals continue to venture into uncharted ground and write a new page in team history every week, Bret Stover, now in his 12thyear as the head coach, gets the rare pleasure of sharing his journey with someone who has heard football war stories since he could crawl - junior signal caller Ryan Stover, his son.
“It's awesome, indescribable, actually there are really no words for it,” said an emotional Ryan Stover after last Friday’s upset of Rustin. “This is the best time of the year to be playing football,l and to have a chance to be doing it with my guys and my dad is just something you could only dream about.”
“What can I say,” said Bret Stover. “It's every dad’s dream to do something like this with their son or daughter, to see him growing up right in front of me, and to hear such praise for him from coaches and parents and media people is so special. I am very proud of what he has done and how much he has learned in a very short time.”
When Upper Dublin (11-1) travels to Falcon Stadium this Friday to take on the Suburban One League National Division co-champions, Pennsbury, the tournament’s second seed, will be facing a Flying Cardinal squad with more skill and intangibles than any other UD before them.
“We have never been to Pennsbury, and we will get to do it together,” coach Stover said. “I have known these guys since they were little kids playing with Ryan. This is a special group of young men that have not let anything get in the way of their success together on and off the field. They just don't get shaken or rattled, and no matter what happens, they find a way to respond and have each other’s backs.”
Last week, the Flying Cardinals “responded” by scoring 27 unanswered points while dispatching third-seeded Bayard Rustin. On Friday night, they will travel to the northeast, riding the momentum of a season of firsts and 60 players that truly believe in each other and will fight to the end to keep the ride going.
“This is so much fun to play with these guys,” said senior running back John Lee. “We had a goal to start the season - win a league championship and get our first playoff win. Now that we did that, we just don't want it to stop anytime soon.”
“We have known each other since we were little and dreamed about this,” said senior Matt Thompson. “To be doing this with my boys and having a chance to get to the district final is just indescribable. It is the best feeling in the world.”
At the forefront of the hoopla surrounding this Flying Cardinals team, quarterback Ryan Stover continues to show his maturity and love for the game that was instilled as youngster watching his dad run the offense that he has taken command of.
“Having fun would be an understatement right now, I am having a blast.” said Ryan. “We have such great chemistry together as a team. It is awesome to go onto the field and know that we are always on the same page with each other and that everyone will pick each other up when we make a mistake.”
“This has been such a great thing for the students,” added Chris Horn, who credits Jeff Phipps with the Insomnia idea and “Dream On” song choice. “They absolutely love it, and we will be with them as far as they go.
“Bret Stover and all of the football parents are so gracious and unbelievably supporting of our marching unit.
“When we host our cavalcade in September, it is Bret, the coaches and all the football parents that work the snack bar, take tickets, work parking for us. That is unheard of at any school and sums up our relationship with our team. They are fantastic.”
There’s no doubt that Stover's Upper Dublin squad has caused opposing coaches to have their own bout with “insomnia” this season as they prepare for an attack that comes at teams through the ground as well by the right arm of Ryan Stover and his plethora of targets.
Webster's defines “Fairy Tale” as a “story in which magic or improbable events lead to a happy or ending”.
Ok, then it's official, it has been a fairy tale season for the Upper Dublin Flying Cardinals, community, and Stover family. It’s the stuff that dreams are made of.
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