Upper Dublin has made scoring points look oh so easy this season.
Through three games, the Flying Cardinals have put up 123 points, averaging 41 points a game on their way to a perfect 3-0 record entering Friday night’s SOL opener at Upper Moreland.
It figures they might have a pretty special player on offense to post those numbers, and they do.
Josh Mastromatto has been unstoppable.
The senior running back has burst on the scene this year, rushing for over 200 yards in each of the Flying Cardinals’ three games. In last Friday’s 35-14 win over Harry S. Truman, he accumulated 220 yards and scored five touchdowns.
“I knew Josh was a football player,” coach Bret Stover said of Mastromatto, who lined up at slot and returned kicks last season. “I didn’t know he was this good, or I would have played him at tailback last year.
“He just has exceptional vision and speed.”
In front of every good running back is an equally good offensive line, and Mastromatto cannot talk about his accomplishments without tipping his hat to his ‘O’ line.
“They’re amazing,” the senior running back said. “They just open up the holes. I couldn’t ask for a better front line. I just couldn’t.
“They’re not the biggest guys in the world, but I wouldn’t put any five over them.”
Those five players - Sean Carson, Eric Painter, Frank Yurick, Steve Amen and Chris Haggar – as well as tight end Scott Hartman recognize that it doesn’t take a whole lot to spring Mastromatto.
“Sometimes during the play, you don’t know where he is, and he pops out in the end zone,” Carson said. “We never had that kind of big play offense last year. We never had a tailback like that. It’s really different.
“It’s exciting.”
In last Friday’s win, Mastromatto had touchdown runs of 49, 14, 65 and 23 yards, and he also hauled in a 38-yard touchdown pass.
Teams have found that stopping Mastromatto on one play means nothing more than he will burn them on the next.
Truman threw Mastromatto for a one-yard loss on his first touch in Friday’s game. On his next, he sprinted 49 yards for a touchdown
“You go downfield and try and block someone, and all of a sudden, he’ll cut in front of you and just take it to the end zone,” Painter said. “It’s a little disappointing because you didn’t get the block, but he’s in the end zone already, so it doesn’t matter.”
The ‘O’ line, according to Stover, hasn’t been missing too many blocks this season so far, and give Mastromatto an inch, and he’ll take a mile.
“They have been doing a great job,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said of his line. “He’s the kind of back that needs lanes. He doesn’t need the pancake block every play. He just needs lanes.
“He has the vision to accelerate to the opening. He’s a football player. You can’t coach the things he’s doing. They’re innate in him, and he’s having a great year. I couldn’t be happier for him.”
The Cardinals – American Conference co-champs with Wissahickon last season – have high expectations again this season.
“The goal is to repeat,” Painter said. “The only way to do that is to take one game at a time and take care of business every game.”
So far, the Flying Cardinals and their explosive offense have been doing just that. The result – three wins and a whole lot of points on the scoreboard.
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