Mead rushes Upper Moreland past Wissahickon
LOWER GWYNEDD >> Add another name to the 1,000-yard club for Upper Moreland as the Golden Bears cruised to a 25-15 win at Wissahickon High School Friday night with the help of four touchdowns from running back Caleb Mead.
Mead, who now has over 1,000 yards in the first seven weeks of the season, ran for 289 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.
“It wasn’t just me, it was the whole team that wanted this win after what happened last week against Hatboro-Horsham,” said Mead. “It’s a good feeling to get over 1,000 yards, but I’m not too worried about the stats; just the wins are what really matters.”
Mead led Upper Moreland to a quick 12-0 lead with two rushing touchdowns, including a 15-yard run followed by a 81-yard run.
Wissahickon was finally able to respond with under two minutes left in the second quarter when Chris Smalls ran for nine yards into the end zone to decrease the Upper Moreland lead to 12-7 at halftime.
The Trojans later took a 13-12 lead on just the second play of the third quarter when Nick Santo connected to Maurice Willis on a 66-yard touchdown pass.
Wissahickon increased its lead to 15-12 after the defense got to the Upper Moreland quarterback in the end zone for a safety.
However, Upper Moreland got the ball back immediately on the punt after the safety, which started a Golden Bear drive at midfield.
Mead took advantage of the Wissahickon mistake by going down the field for a 36-yard touchdown run to regain the lead.
Upper Moreland got the final touchdown of the night in the third quarter with Mead’s fourth touchdown run of the night to settle the score at 25-15.
Upper Moreland head coach CJ Szydlik was thrilled with Mead’s performance especially after a tough loss last week against Hatboro-Horsham.
“Obviously the Wissahickon defense put everybody on Mead to try to stop him,” said Szydlik. “We made some crazy mistakes on passing, so we just had to keep going with him because he gets us out of tight holes.”
“When we started the season, we told Mead he was going to run for 1,500 yards,” added Szydlik. “So we are on our way and we’ll see how it goes later on.”
With the loss, the Wissahickon High School Trojans still look for its first win as they drop to 0-7.
As for Upper Moreland, the Bears improve to 4-3 on the season heading into a bye week.
The Wissahickon Trojans will look for their elusive first win next week as they will travel to crosstown rival Upper Dublin for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday, Oct. 12.
Upper Moreland will look to continue its push for a playoff spot on Friday, Oct. 19 against Cheltenham High School for Upper Moreland’s senior night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Wissahickon 15, Upper Moreland 25
UM 12 0 13 0 -25
WI 0 7 8 0 -15
UM- Mead 15-yard run (PAT missed)
UM- Mead 81-yard run (2-point conversion failed)
WI- Smalls 9-yard run (Fortesque kick)
WI- Santo 66-yard pass to Willis (PAT Blocked)
WI- Defensive Safety
UM- Mead 36-yard run (2-point conversion failed)
UM- Mead 44-yard run (Brown kick)
WI UM
First downs 10 8
Rushing yards 91 306
Passing yards159 53
Total yards 250 359
Passing 13-25 4-11
Penalties 7-40 5-40
Fumbles lost 2 1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Upper Moreland: Mead 22-289, 4 TD; Knight 5-7; Troxell 2-5; Barr 1-5. Wissahickon: Smalls 18-108, 1 TD; Baldwin 8-18; Santo 6-(-35).
PASSING – Upper Moreland: Knight 4-11, 53 yds. Wissahickon: Santo 13-25, 159 yds, 1 TD.
RECEIVING – Upper Moreland: Johnson 2-32; Troxell 2-21. Wissahickon: Caso 9-60; Willis 1-66, 1 TD; Intrieri 2-27; Dougherty 1-6.
