KING OF PRUSSIA – Pete Panichi picked himself up from under a pile of Cheltenham defenders near midfield and clenched his fist in celebration.
Upper Merion’s star running back had just added three yards to his already impressive numbers, but a late hit by the Panthers – undoubtedly born out of frustration – tacked 15 yards onto the run, and Panichi and the Vikings found themselves on the Panthers’ 35-yard line.
Five plays later, Viking quarterback Alex Phanthavong lofted a nine-yard strike that sophomore Naim Cheeseboro corralled in the left corner of the end zone for a touchdown that put the Vikings on top 9-0 early in the second half of Friday night’s SOL showdown. The Vikings went on to earn a 12-7 win.
“It’s fun,” Phanthavong said. “It also gets me aggravated because we could have scored so many more times. We were in the red zone four or five times in the first half and didn’t score.”Phanthavon’s aggravation aside, it was quite a night for the Vikings, who avenged last year’s humiliating 35-0 loss at the hands of the Panthers. In that game, the Vikings – who had only 135 yards of total offense - managed just 37 yards on the ground.
On Friday night, Panichi surpassed that number on his second carry of the night when he sprinted 74 yards to the Panthers’ eight-yard line. The senior running back reached the 100-yard mark with nine minutes remaining in the opening half, and he finished the night with 208 yards on 35 carries.
“I hand it off to him, knowing we’re going to get positive yards, knowing that he’s going to run hard every play and knowing I can go to him, and he’ll run right through everybody,” Phanthavong said.
“Credit the offensive line,” Panichi said of a line comprised of Caplan, John Kuk, Greg Greenaway, Joe Koza, Dan Armenti, Jim Lee and Colin Fennelly. “I think I owe them lunch tomorrow.
“I have to give credit to (wide receiver) Dexter Bridge for hanging in there. A lot of people stepped up and did what they had to do.”
While Panichi stole the spotlight on offense, it was teammate Dylan Caplan that led a stingy Viking defense. The senior lineman, who had a pair of sacks, came up with an interception after a deflection in the backfield with 1:19 remaining that sealed the Panthers’ fate.
“I had a personal foul earlier in the game, and I needed to make it up to the team,” said Caplan. “It was the good play of the other players on the team that allowed me to do that.
“I was just one individual who is part of a team.”
If the Vikings’ win was a team effort, the Panthers’ loss was as well. All told, they were whistled for 11 penalties. None was more costly than the fourth down late hit of Phanthavong on a play that would have forced the Vikings to turn the ball over on downs late in the fourth quarter.
Instead, they had the ball on the Panthers’ 20-yard line.
“To be honest, I didn’t know there was a penalty,” Phanthavong said. “I was kind of mad because I didn’t get the first down. I rolled my ankle, and I had to sit down a little bit. I got up and went back in the huddle and said, ‘Why do we have first down?’”
Cheltenham coach Joe Gro was asking himself the same question.
“Some of the penalties tonight were certainly on us,” the Panthers’ coach said. “I have been doing this a long time, and I certainly question the timing of a couple of them at the end.”
One play later, the Panthers were whistled for another personal foul, and this one – half of the distance to the goal – took the Vikings to Cheltenham’s 10-yard line. Four plays later, Sean Dugan nailed a 20-yard field goal that put the Vikings on top 12-7. It was more than enough on this night.
“We didn’t play very well, but I certainly think those penalties (late in the game) didn’t help us and gave them three first downs,” Gro said. “The other penalties were all ours. We were horrible – doing incredibly dumb things, and that was very disappointing.”
The Vikings dominated the first half but held just a 3-0 lead at the intermission. Their opening drive came to a screeching halt at the Panthers’ 10-yard line when a 24-yard field goal attempt missed wide right.
An 18-play, 91-yard drive on the Vikings’ ensuing possession resulted in yet another missed field goal.
The third time, however, was the charm as the Vikings took the ball to the Panthers’ 15-yard line where Sean Dugan nailed a 31-yard field goal with 57 seconds remaining in the half, sending the Vikings into the locker room with a 3-0 lead.
“I have to give credit to the offensive line,” Viking coach Joe Powel said. “They really took control of the line of scrimmage. We left some points out there on the field in the first half, but we ate a lot of clock.
“Any time you can keep their offense and the weapons they have off the field, you’re going to be in the ball game.”
The Vikings opened the third quarter with a 75-yard touchdown march that included eight Panichi carries and a 22-yard completion from Phanthavong to James Brennan. It culminated with the nine-yard touchdown strike to Cheeseboro.
Phanthavong had seven completions on the night – six were to talented sophomores Cheeseboro and Bridge.
“I feel like they were a gift from God,” the senior quarterback said. “I can rely on them all the time.”
The Panthers got on the scoreboard when Damin Finley, who had 108 yards on 10 carries, took it in from 16 yards out to make it a 9-7 game at the 3:28 mark of the third quarter after – thanks to another 15-yard personal foul – Jake Smith’s 35-yard extra point.
Neither team generated a whole lot of offense after that until the Vikings – with a major assist from some costly Panther penalties – capped a 67-yard drive with a 20-yard Dugan field goal for the 12-7 final.
The Vikings accumulated 318 yards of total offense while the Panthers managed just 175 – all on the ground. Three times over the course of the game, it was three-and-out for the Panthers.
“It’s the first time all year we have been three-and-out like that,” Gro said. “They played a better football game. They were more physical and certainly dominated the first half.”
While the Panthers fell to 3-2, the Vikings improved to 4-1 – a far cry from last year’s 1-4 at this time.
“It was a nice win,” Powel said. “The defense has been playing pretty well all season. They’re a steady group. They like to get after it. They tackled tonight. That was a big key for us.”
NOTES: The Upper Merion Area School District Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place prior to the game, and the two newest inductees - Michael Chorba and Casey Murphy - were also recognized at halftime of the football game. Chorba, Class of 1994, won the 1994 PIAA state championship for the 500-yard freestyle in swimming and holds the high school record. During his collegiate career at the University of North Carolina, he won the ACC swimming championship in the 1659-yard freestyle swimming event in 1996. He was a five-time high school All American and a three-time NCAA Division One All-American.
Murphy, Class of 1976, was a three-sport athlete, participating in football, basketball and baseball at Upper Merion. He was a football all-league and all-area first team wide receiver and punter, along with a tri-state second team wide receiver and punter. Murphy was team captain in all three sports. He was voted in the Times Herald newspaper as one of the top 50 football players in Montomgery County over the last 100 years. He played college football at Temple and had several opportunities in the NFL.
NOTES: The Upper Merion Area School District Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place prior to the football game, and the new most recent inductees - Michael Chorba and Casey Murphy - were also recognized during halftime of the football game.
Chorba, Class of 1994, won the 1994 PIAA state championship in the 500-yard freestyle and holds the high school record. During his collegiate career at the University of North Carolina, he won the ACC swimming championship in the 1659-yard freestyle swimming event in 1996. He was a five-time high school All-American and three-time NCAA Division One All-American.
Murphy, Class of 1976, was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball at Upper Merion. He was a football all-league and all-area wide receiver and punter, as well as tri-state second team wide receiver and punter. Murphy was team captain in all three sports. He was voted in the Times Herald newspaper as one of the top 50 football players in Montgomery County over the last 100 years. He played collegiate football at Temple and had several opportunities in the NFL.
UPPER MERION 12, CHELTENHAM 7
Cheltenham 0 0 7 0-7
Upper Merion 0 3 6 3-12
UM-Dugan 31 field goal
UM-Cheeseboro 22 pass from Phanthavong (Kick failed)
C-Finley 46 run (Smith kick)
UM-Dugan 20 field goal
C UM
First Downs 6 17
Rushing Yards 175 243
Passing Yards 0 75
Total Yards 175 318
Passing C-A-I 0-5-1 7-14-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 11-95 6-38
Punts-Avg. 3-41.3 2-32.5
RUSHING:
Cheltenham – Finley, 10-108, 1 TD; Reed, 16-80; Stepp 1-(-5), Scott, 2-(-8).
Upper Merion – Panichi, 35-208; Phanthavong, 7-21; Brennan, 6-14.
PASSING:
Cheltenham – Scott, 0-5-0, 1 INT.
Upper Merion – Phanthavong, 7-14-75, 1 TD.
RECEIVING:
Upper Merion – Cheeseboro, 3-31, 1 TD; Bridge, 3-22; Brennan, 1-22.
Photo Gallery: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/g/092608_upper_merion_vs_cheltenham_dw
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