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WILLOW GROVE – Chris Smallwood is a playmaker. Plain and simple.
Owen J. Roberts had just made things interesting with a touchdown to trim Upper Moreland’s lead to 19-14 in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s District One Class AAA semifinal when coach Adam Beach elected to entrust the care of the football in the hands of his junior star.
Smallwood ran for five yards on back-to-back carries, and then on his third touch, he worked his magic. Several Wildcat would-be tacklers grabbed his shirt as he sprinted down the right sideline, but it wasn’t nearly enough as Smallwood escaped for a 42-yard touchdown run that sealed the win for the Golden Bears, who rolled to a 33-14 rout of the Wildcats.
The win vaulted the top-seeded Golden Bears into next week’s district title game where they will face Bayard Rustin.
“This means a lot to us,” Smallwood said. “This was our team goal. It wasn’t just my goal. Without the team, you can’t make that goal happen.”
Smallwood turned in a routinely excellent performance for the Golden Bears, finishing the night with 188 yards and three touchdowns, but the big story on this night was Upper Moreland’s defense.
The Golden Bears made Smallwood’s dangerous counterpart, Ryan Brumfield, look very ordinary. The Wildcats’ sophomore star entered the game with 2,008 rushing yards. He left with 2,038 as the Golden Bears’ stymied the speedy back with a punishing defense that repeatedly met Brumfield at the line of scrimmage.
“He was a great back,” Upper Moreland senior Brandon Watts said. “We watched a lot of film. We knew what they were going to come out and do, and we took it to them.
“We stopped the run most of the time. Our defense played a great game.”
Watts’ assessment is confirmed by the fact that the Wildcats managed just 127 yards of total offense. Brumfield was averaging more than that himself.
Until, that is, he ran into a fired-up Bear squad on Friday night.
“We played the way our defense is capable of playing,” said senior linebacker Dmitri Miller, who had a pair of sacks. “We know we’re a pretty good defense, and we can stop good runners.
“We came out and performed the way we should have.”
Beach wanted to see his team approach this game differently than they had in their preceding week’s 26-20 win over Phoenixville.
“Last week we sat back,” the Bears’ coach said. “This week we wanted to be a little more aggressive.
“We wanted to do some things with our line – let our linebackers come in and make the hits. Our defensive line did a nice job of absorbing the blocks, and our linebackers came in and made the hits. We took them out of their game.”
Brumfield had nine yards on his first carry. It would be his longest carry of the night.
The Wildcats – who were assessed a pair of illegal procedure penalties - did not manage a first down on their opening series, and the Golden Bears wasted little time before establishing control of the line of scrimmage. 
Quarterback Mike Rosenbaum hit Miller for a four-yard pickup on first down, and then Smallwood went to work, carrying the ball on eight straight plays.
On the eighth – a seven-yard carry, the Wildcats were assessed a 15-yard personal foul penalty for a late hit. Two plays later, Smallwood took it in from 14 yards out to put the Golden Bears on top 7-0 after Miller’s extra point.
“I have a job to do ,” Smallwood said. “I’m not worried about stats. It’s about winning games and doing it for the team.
“The team is the only thing I’m worried about. If the team does good, my stats will be good.”
A Dan Miller interception gave the Wildcats possession at the Golden Bear six-yard line. Three plays later, Miller punched it out for a touchdown that knotted the score.
The Golden Bears answered with a six-minute, 76-yard scoring drive that culminated with Christian Kehoe bulling his way up the middle for a four-yard TD run that sent the Golden Bears into halftime with a 13-7 lead.
It was Kehoe who jumpstarted the drive with a 30-yard run on the first play.
“If everyone is keying on Chris, we want to see what they’re doing to stop our other players,” Beach said. “What they’re doing is giving up something else, and the rest of the guys are going to benefit from that. They know when they get the ball they can break it big.”
Another big play on the drive came on fourth-and-long when Rosenbaum somehow escaped the Wildcat rush and found Tom Knox for a 22-yard completion at the Wildcat 14-yard line.
The Wildcats managed less than 50 yards in total offense in the half, and things didn’t improve a whole lot in the second half.
The Golden Bears took their second possession of the third quarter 59 yards on a drive that was capped by Smallwood bursting through the line for a 26-yard TD run and a 19-7 lead.
“Having our line block the way they’re capable of gave Smallwood the holes,” Dmitri Miller said. “And our defense played to the best of our ability.”
A blocked punt gave the Wildcats possession at midfield. It was the break Owen J. Roberts – which had not collected a first down to that point – needed. Seven players later they scored when Miller found Kohl Batdorf in the end zone for a nine-yard completion, trimming the Bears’ lead to 19-14 with 5:04 remaining.
It was close for all of one minute and 19 seconds. That’s all the time it took for Smallwood – on just three carries - to find the end zone, this time with the spectacular 42-yard run.
“It’s all a credit to my line,” Smallwood said. “I do my job. That’s all my teams asks. They do their job even better, and that makes me look good.”
Watts, who plays guard on the offensive line, credited Smallwood for the touchdown play.
“I blocked downfield,” the Bears’ two-way standout said. “He took it to the outside, and that’s it. Ever since I have known him, that’s the way he runs. He runs tough.”
The Golden Bears led 26-14 after Chris Boullata’s extra point, and they weren’t finished yet. Junior defensive back Ronye Dennis intercepted a Miller pass and sprinted 40 yards for a touchdown and a 33-14 Upper Moreland lead that held up until the final whistle.
“This is the greatest feeling in the world,” Watts said of earning a spot in the district title game. “I think we have a chance to win districts and go to states, and that’s what we have been working towards since day one.”
“We worked hard in the offseason. We knew we had to come prepared for the season, and it does pay off. It’s a great feeling.”
UPPER MORELAND 33, OWEN J. ROBERTS 14
Owen J. Roberts 0 7 0 7-14
Upper Moreland 7 6 6 14-33
UM-Smallwood 14 run (Miller kick)
OJR) Miller 1 run (Lepore kick)
UM-Kehoe 4 run (kick failed)
UM-Smallwood 26 run (kick failed)
OJR-Batdorf 18 pass from Miller (Lepore kick)
UM-Smallwood 42 run (Boullata kick)
UM-Dennis 40 interception return (Boullata kick)
OJR UM
First Downs 7 15
Rushing Yards 58 230
Passing Yards 69 45
Total Yards 127 275
Passing (C-A-I) 6-15-1 3-8-1
Fumbles-Lost 3-0 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 6-50 4-35
Punts-Avg. 6-37.3 2-32.0
RUSHING:
OJR – Brumfield, 13-30; Bissland, 2-14; Syrek, 1-12; Miller, 17-6, 1 TD; Funk, 1-(-4)
UM-Smallwood, 32-188, 3 TDs; Kehoe, 6-43, 1 TD; Knox, 2-1; Rosenbaum, 2-(-2)
PASSING:
OJR – Miller, 6-15-69, 1 TD, 1 INT.
UM-Rosenbaum, 3-8-45, 1 INT
RECEIVING:
OJR – Brumfield, 3-31; Batdorf, 1-18, 1 TD; Bissland, 1-11; Fitch, 1-9.
UM-Knox, 2-41, Miller, 1-4.
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