Upper Moreland clinched sole possession of the SOL American Conference title with a win over Hatboro-Horsham. Photos provided courtesy of Richard Owens. Check back for a gallery of photos.
UPPER MORELAND
It’s a rivalry that goes back close to 100 years, and this one belonged to the Golden Bears, who clinched sole possession of the SOL American Conference crown with the win.
“The rivalry of this game is well-documented on both sides, and in the locker room before the game, I was telling the guys I was here in ’99 and 200 0 when they were getting the better of us,” UM coach Adam Beach said. “We were out there fighting like heck, trying to get better, working hard to improve the program, and now look where we are.
“Now, we’re on the opposite side, and we owe a lot to all the guys who were in this locker room who had a piece of this that they helped build and get us to where we are now. Our job is to finish it off and right the ship because this is a meaningful rivalry.”
There was plenty of action in this one, and the Golden Bears, who punted on their first possession, capitalized on their second, thanks to a short field after stopping the Hatters on fourth-and-four at their own 42.
“David Adamski finds Kamasi Underwood for a 12-yard gain, which was a first down,” Beach said. “We get to the 10, and we have a touchdown pass from Adamski to Donnie Dinkins, the kick is successful, and it’s 7-0 in the first.
“The second quarter starts and they had a 40-yard pass play from 4 (Brendan Heaphy) to 15 (Jyrus Lobean), and then they scored on a 20-yard pass play,” Beach said.
It was anything but a traditional 20-yard completion.
“The kid was going to score and he fumbles the ball in the end zone, and their number 24 (Logan Boehm) recovers it in the end zone,” Beach.
That evened the score at seven apiece.
“We get the ball and on a third down, David (Adamski) has a nice 17-yard scramble for a first down that extended the drive, and then Kyle Moore caps it off with a 20-yard run, the kick is good, and it’s 14-7,” Beach said. “We stop them again, and we have a two-minute drill.
“We go all the way down to the 10 and really did a nice job with that. We didn’t get any points out of it, but it was really good for our confidence and momentum going into halftime.”
The Hatters received the second half kickoff and fumbled the ball on their own two-yard line.
“We stop them, they punt, and Kyle Moore gets a great return to the 20 – a 33-yard return, and from there, Tino (Rodriguez) gets a 15-yard run for a touchdown, the kick is good, and it’s 21-7.”
Another defensive stop set up another touchdown drive for the Golden Bears, this one capped with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Adamski to Moore that put the Golden Bears on top 28-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
After a defensive stop, the Golden Bears went to work again, and this time Adamski connected with Ben Holcombe on a 32-yard touchdown pass.
“We stop them, and we get a couple of strong runs from Don Jenkins,” Beach said. “Our backups are in, and Colin Murray, who’s a sophomore, rips off a 43-yard touchdown, kick is good and it’s 42-7.”
The win sends the Golden Bears into the postseason on a high note.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Beach said. “They gave us everything they had, and it was only 14-7 at halftime, but the second half they made some mistakes, and we started making some adjustments to what they were doing. Once we started scoring, everything kind of unraveled for them, but it was a good test . It was good for us to make in-game adjustments and find success and take what the defense gave us and then our defense clamped down.
“They hit is with that one pass (in the first half) and they really didn’t do much the rest of the game, so it was a good team win.”
Up next: The District 1 5A seedings will be finalized Sunday, but it looks like Upper Moreland (9-1, 5-0 SOL) – seeded fifth in the latest rankings – will host #12 West Chester Henderson in the District 5A opening round game. Henderson handed the Golden Bears their only loss, 38-20 on Sept. 4.
“I’m sure the kids are going to be very excited to get another chance,” Beach said.
Hatboro-Horsham closed out its season with a 3-7 overall record.
Upper Moreland 7-7-14-14 42
Hatboro-Horsham 0-7-0-0 7
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