‘This one’s for you, coach.’
That was the singular mindset of the Upper Dublin football team when its players took the field for Friday night’s SOL opener against Cheltenham. Overshadowing the fact that the Flying Cardinals were doing battle against a Panther squad that last year shared the American Conference title with Upper Dublin was the fact that defensive coordinator Dan Pring had lost his mother the preceding week.
“There was a lot of emotion,” senior safety Sean McAneney said. “It started with (coach Bret) Stover in the locker room and finished with the huddle at the end of the game.”
The Flying Cardinals dedicated Friday night’s game – a 19-7 win over the Panthers - to Pring.
“Coach is a great guy,” said senior quarterback Andrew Derr, who also plays free safety. “It really was a touchy subject when we were in for film on Monday and heard about it.
“He wasn’t there for a couple of days, so went offense the first couple of days. Then he came back. You could tell it was bothering him, but we were all listening up, practicing hard.
“During pregame, coach Stover made a touching speech that fired us all up, saying that today’s game was for coach Pring. We weren’t losing this game. There was no chance that we were losing this game.”
While circumstances certainly dictated that Pring could have taken the week off, the Flying Cardinals’ defensive coordinator chose to return to the team. Putting his emotions aside, Pring devised a game plan to stop the potentially explosive Panthers.
“He’s one of the most dedicated coaches I have ever played for,” senior cornerback Eric Boyer said. “He dedicates his life to the school.
“Coach said, ‘You need to take some time, you need to take personal leave,’ but he wanted to get right back into it.”
“That means so much,” Derr said. “Losing his mom is a hard thing – I never want to lose my mom, but coming out here as soon as he did and working with us – it meant a lot. We almost put up a shutout on a team like Cheltenham, which is a great football team. We played hard, and he coached hard.”
The potentially explosive Panthers managed just 200 yards of total offense – only 68 yards in the first half. Fifty-one of those came on a run by Thompson as time was about to expire in the half.
“We came out really, really fired up for him,” senior defensive tackle Evan Mao said. “He had the option of not coming back this week, but he came back after losing his mom and comes out and gives us a great game plan.
“What more can you ask from a guy like that?”
The Panthers’ lone score came on a 35-yard TD strike from Hyneef Dockery to Ahjavon Patrick in the third quarter.
“They have two great play makers in Aquil (Reed) and Mark Thompson, and we just wanted to swarm to the ball,” Mao said. “I think we did that very well.”
Reed and Thompson combined for 99 yards on the ground, but Reed had just four yards on 12 carries.
“We saw on tape how dangerous they were, and they have been able to get loose,” Stover said. “That was our focus – we didn’t want them to get loose.
“They have three weapons – their quarterback (Dockery) and two tailbacks (Reed and Thompson) – that you just have to control, and that’s what we did. We made them stay in front of us. They got one big play on us.”
A difficult week ended on Friday night with an emotional win over the Panthers.
“It was emotional,” Stover said. “We were trying to keep it in check during the week because we didn’t want it to be a distraction.
“Dan was taking care of personal matters and being with his family, and that’s important to us. The kids understood that. They stepped up, did some extra work in the film room this week and really implemented the plan he put in on Wednesday. They did a spectacular job of what he put together.”
With the win, the Flying Cardinals are 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the SOL standings.
“This means a lot,” Mao said. “We’re starting off the conference strong. We need to take it week by week, and if we take it week by week, I think everything else will play out in our favor.”
On Friday night, things worked in Upper Dublin’s favor, and it was Pring’s defense that set the tone.
- Log in to post comments
