Upper Dublin defeated West Chester Rustin on Friday night to capture its third district title in six years. Photos provided courtesy of Geanine Jamison Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
UPPER DUBLIN 29, WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 8
(Stats provided courtesy of Andrew Robinson/PA Prep Live: https://papreplive.com/2020/11/14/upper-dublin-rides-osullivan-defense-to-district-1-5a-title/)
If the Flying Cardinals needed additional inspiration heading into Friday night’s District One 5A title game, they got it from a trio of alums. Mike Slivka, Logan Heim and Ryan Jamison were key players on last year’s injury-plagued squad that fell to Rustin in the district title game. All three played integral roles in UD’s 2018 district title run.
“They gave the pre-game speech, and they got them fired up,” UD coach Bret Stover said. “Their message was – you have an opportunity in front of you that they didn’t get last year, and it’s up to you what you want to do with that opportunity. They kind of challenged them.
“I thought it was great. Slivka had them all fired up, and it was hard to follow him – what I have isn’t half as good as that.”
UD’s dominance began on the defensive side of the football. Running backs coming off big performances in the playoffs may want to start avoiding the Cardinals at all costs.
The Cardinals defense loves to shut down big-game runners and that’s just what they did on Friday night against West Chester Rustin’s Dayshawn Jacobs. Jacobs, who rushed for nearly 260 yards a week ago, didn’t even crack 50 against UD and half of his 48 yards came on a single carry.
“That’s just our defense, man, every time we face a good running back, we know we have to target him,” senior lineman Jacob Gondek said. “That’s all it was, we focused on that, we knew what plays they were running and shut them down.”
It was another resounding effort for Upper Dublin’s defense, which held a potent rushing attack to just 96 yards and completely neutralized any passing game the Golden Knights had, picking off three passes and taking one back for a touchdown.
“My seniors played the game of the season tonight,” Stover said. “They put it all together tonight. If you think about it this way – it’s week six, mid-season.
“For my seniors, it was their last game in our stadium, win or lose. We asked them to empty it all, and they emptied it all. (Micah) Bootman, (Jacob) Rossman, (John) Kohlbrenner, (David) Lashner, an offensive lineman, Gondek playing defensive line. It was fun to watch those seniors go out and compete.”
However, it wasn’t all the defense as quarterback Colin O’Sullivan also showed up with his best performance of the season.
“It’s such a strong culture and they completely took me under their wing,” said O’Sullivan, who transferred to Upper Dublin from Hatboro-Horsham this year. “They taught me how to win and it’s been great being here.
“There was no one around my feet, no one trying to hit my arm, the offensive line played great tonight.
UD set the tone on the game’s opening drive, when a Tristan Cairnes sack helped force a punt. O’Sullivan then took over and started picking apart the Rustin defense with a series of short throws to open receivers.
While the Cardinals’ opening drive didn’t yield any points their second did when O’Sullivan found Logan Trimm for a nine-yard score. On the night, the sophomore went 20-of-27 for 218 yards and the scoring pass.
“The guys in front of him did a great job,” UD coach Bret Stover said of linemen David Lashner, Tom Smid, Billy Duffy, Kyree Butler and Matt Tolomeo. “He had time, I don’t think he was threatened with a sack. He made some throws – man, for a sophomore, it was really impressive.”
About the only mistake O’Sullivan made was a second quarter pick that Rustin’s Anthony Meadows returned to the 13. Despite a flag, Jacobs was able to break off a 24-yard run to put the Knights on the board, and they managed to take a lead when a botched snap led to a two-point run.
Just before the half, Upper Dublin’s defensive front stuffed a Rustin run on fourth-and-two, preventing the Knights from getting a second score and keeping the lead at 8-7 going into the intermission.
“We kind of dominated the first half even though we were losing 8-7 at halftime,” Stover said. “We just didn’t play well in the second quarter. We turned the ball over, they had a short field, and they scored a touchdown. That’s really all they did all night.”
There were no dramatic changes at halftime for the Cardinals, who knew Friday’s district title game was theirs for the taking.
“It’s a really good mix of young guys and some older guys, the young guys were a little jittery but once we got that second score in, we settled in,” senior Jacob Rossman said. “We had so many injuries last year, we wish we would could have tried for three (district titles) but two will be enough for us.”
“We had been driving in the first half, it was little mistakes setting us back,” UD senior John Kohlbrenner said. “That held us back but we also knew once we started getting things clicking we’d be fine. Right out of the gate, we scored and after that we were rolling.”
The Cardinals received the opening kick of the third quarter, started on their own 28 and proceeded to march right down the field for a game-changing touchdown. O’Sullivan made a huge throw on the 15-play drive, hitting Bootman for a 12-yard gain on fourth-and-six three plays before Jacob Rossman plunged in for the go-ahead score from a yard out.
“Honestly, if you can take the ball down on a team that’s bigger than you and just drive on them, it tires a team out,” Bootman said. “It’s a heartbreaking drive for a team like that, we came straight out of the half, marched on them and scored.”
“We knew we couldn’t hang our heads on the stupid stuff and had to keep playing,” said Gondek, who had a first-half sack. “We said we can’t feel bad, but we can make them feel bad about getting off the bus tonight.”
Bootman, a senior co-captain at receiver and defensive back, had a sterling night on both sides of the ball. The senior caught five passes for 92 yards, had a two-yard rushing touchdown and gave up just one completion on four passes thrown his way while picking off one of them.
The senior, who drew the honor of accepting the district trophy, gave UD a commanding lead when he ran in a score from two yards out then out-jumped a Rustin defender for a two-point conversion and a 22-8 advantage.
“It’s our last game at The Nest, it was very special to us,” Bootman said. “I didn’t want to go out losing at home. It was just amazing, we got all these young guys on our defense and offense but they just kept making plays.”
Upper Dublin’s first-string defense allowed just four first downs in the second half and put the icing on the cake in the fourth quarter. Freshman Chris Kohlbrenner, John Kohlbrenner’s younger brother, had a 28-yard interception return with 3:50 left in the game.
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“It’s almost surreal, I couldn’t really believe it as it was happening,” Chris Kohlbrenner said.
The Cardinals were so fired up by the play, they drew an unsportsmanlike conduct flag that combined with a big kick return, put Rustin in prime position to try and answer right back.
“It was huge, the energy in that was crazy,” Gondek said. “We got a flag, we didn’t care. We knew those plays were huge, especially from a young kid like that.”
Instead, Chris Kohlbrenner picked off the very next pass and all but sealed the deal. As a unit, the UD defense held the Knights to 2-of-8 passing for 21 yards and three picks.
“We turned them over three or four times, and we finished drives,” Stover said. “We converted third downs. Our drive coming out of halftime was seven-and-a-half minutes. That’s the best defense we can possibly have. We’re on the field the whole time, and their offense, which was explosive against Wissahickon, didn’t get a chance, which was great.”
Stover credited Rossman for anchoring the defense at linebacker, Gondek on the defensive line as well as Micah Bootman, Chris Kohlbrenner and Michael Wright in the secondary.
For John Kohlbrenner, who also started on the Cardinals’ 2018 district champion, playing a last season with his younger brother was a special opportunity.
“I never thought I’d be playing with him, especially in a district championship, it’s kind of unreal,” John Kohlbrenner said.
Upper Dublin (6-1, 3-1 SOL), which hoisted its second district title in three seasons and third in the last six years (2015 4A), will face District 10’s Erie Cathedral Prep in next week’s PIAA 5A semifinals.
Upper Dublln 7 0 7 15 – 29
West Chester Rustin 0 8 0 0 – 8
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