Panthers Stun Golden Bears With Late TD

10/30/10 12:38am Posted by admin_user

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By Scott Huff
Suburban One Sports Senior Writer
 
Willow Grove – Cheltenham head coach Joe Gro was plainly shivering in the brisk October air moments after his Panthers (8-1, 4-1) all but claimed an SOL American Conference co-championship with a stunning 21-14 victory over host Upper Moreland (7-2, 3-2).
 
Gro – the grizzled veteran mentor – was given the water bucket shower by seniors Christopher Stephens and Capri Sowell as the Panthers celebrated in the post-game huddle.
 
“We still have Wissahickon next week,” cautioned Gro to his ecstatic players. “This win won’t mean anything if we don’t beat Wissahickon.”
 
Cheltenham can produce a shared title with Upper Dublin with a win next week over the Trojans (1-8, 1-4). The Flying Cardinals (7-2, 5-1) have already concluded SOL American Conference play.
 
The Panthers authored a couple of huge plays to secure the victory – none bigger than a 43-yard scoring pass from junior quarterback Kenneth Cropper to a wide open Stephens with just 32 ticks left on the scoreboard clock. The touchdown snapped a 14-14 tie.
 
“We needed this win to gain some respect around the area,” said Stephens. “The safety went over to cover Dan (Rouse), and that left me wide open. We put in that play in this week.”
 
“This is a dream come true,” said Rouse – a Panther senior – who made a pair of terrific defensive plays. “Ever since our senior class was in eighth grade, this is what we wanted to accomplish.”
 
The first wonderful defensive effort by Rouse came on the first Upper Moreland possession of the game. The Golden Bears had marched to the Panther 6-yard line when Rouse stripped the ball from the UM ball carrier and rambled 22-yards to the 28 yard line.
 
“We saw on film that some of their runners didn’t protect the ball,” said Rouse. “The coaching staff told us that if we had a chance – strip the ball.”
 
Cheltenham forced an Upper Moreland fumble on the Bears’18-yard line to set up its initial touchdown. Acquil Reed darted in for a 12-yard TD scamper with 10:15 left in the second quarter.
 
The second marvelous Rouse defensive play was a ‘pick-six’ in the second period. The 65-yard interception return for a touchdown pushed the lead to 14-0.
 
“I just jumped the route,” explained Rouse. “Again, the coaches got us ready for what they were going to run. We were ready.”
 
Upper Moreland answered the second Panther score quickly.
 
Senior quarterback Matt Sawick threw a gorgeous 69-yard scoring aerial to sophomore Robert Knox. Knox had beaten his defender along the UM sideline and sprinted to the end zone untouched.
 
The Sawick-to-Knox connection resulted in a second score in the final period – this one covered 21 yards.
 
“I was very happy with the way that Robert played tonight,” said Upper Moreland head coach Adam Beach. “He played well on both sides of the ball.”
 
Knox caught three balls for 127 yards and two touchdowns. He also intercepted two passes for the Golden Bears.
 
It looked as if the game was headed for overtime, but the last second heroics by the Panthers led them to victory.
 
“Cheltenham is a quality football team, and they capitalized on our mistakes,” said Beach as the Bears had two touchdowns called back and dropped a third apparent TD pass. “I prefer to look at it as they made big plays- not that we didn’t make plays. I liked our chances tonight.”
 
Cheltenham may be the least acknowledged 8-1 team in District One.
 
“We haven’t gotten any recognition because we haven’t won much recently,” smiled Gro. “We will have to earn that recognition.”
 
And with that Gro walked off the field at Upper Moreland High School dripping wet. And he didn’t ask for a towel.
 
Cheltenham       0     14   0     7     -      21
Upper Moreland      0    7    0     7     -      14
 
C: Aquil Reed 12 run (Kenneth Cropper kick)
C: Dan Rouse 65-interception return (Cropper kick)
UM: Robert Knox 69 pass from Matt Sawick (Dan Cripps kick)
UM: Knox 21 pass from Sawick (Cripps kick)
C: Chris Stephens 43 pass from Cropper (Cropper kick)
 
Cheltenham                             Upper Moreland
      
       8                   First Downs             12
    139                 Rushing Yards        198
    147                 Passing Yards         170
   286                         Total Offense          368
 7-55                         Pen/Yards            7-65
 5-36                 Punts/Avg            3-28
 
Cheltenham
       Rushing: Ted Lester 10-100; Aquil Reed 6-24 & TD; Chris Stephens 6-18; Joshua Lewis 2-3; Kenneth Cropper 2 (minus 6). Totals 26-139 & TD.
       Passing: Cropper 6-23-2; 147 yards & TD.
       Receiving: Jonathan Tsipori 2-31; Stephens 1-43 & TD; Lester 1-35; Dan Rouse 1-23; Reed 1-5. Totals 6-147 & TD.
       Interception: Rouse 1 & TD.
 
Upper Moreland
       Rushing: Jordan Spector 22-105; Greg Adamson 12-67; Matt Sawick 13-31; Terrell Watson 1 (minus 5). Totals 48-198
       Passing: Sawick 5-13-1; 170 yards & 2 TD.
       Receiving: Robert Knox 3-127 & 2 TD; Kyle Lockhard 2-43. Totals 5-170 & 2 TD.
       Interceptions: Knox (2).
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