A look at Upper Dublin’s run to the PIAA-5A State Semifinals

Upper Dublin will play in the PIAA-5A Semifinals on Friday night, taking on Manheim Central for the right to go to the state final in Hershey.

Here is a look back at how the Cardinals got here.

Upper Dublin 28, Norristown 7 >> In the season opener, quarterback Mike Slivka made his first varsity start and led the Cardinals to a comfortable win over the Eagles.

The junior completed seven of 12 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Slivka’s first touchdown was an eight-yard strike to Brody Balasa on the fourth play from scrimmage and the second a 65-yard deep pass to Selvin Haynes to give Upper Dublin a 14-0 lead in the final minute of the first quarter.

Slivka also made a big play with his legs. On third-and-7 at his own 27-yard line late in the first quarter he dropped back and, with no open receivers, found some running room and picked up eight yards for the first down. On the next play he hit Haynes deep for the score.

The Cardinals were off and running.

Upper Dublin 32, Central 12 >> Two weeks, two non-league victories for the Cardinals.
Upper Dublin’s first possession was a 15-play drive that moved the Cardinals from their 38-yard line to the Central five. Power runs by Mason Novak and quick cuts by Lucas Roselli allowed the Cards to gain ground in chunks.
Central would come up with a sack on 4th-and-4 from the five, but soon after, Upper Dublin found the end zone.
The Cardinals used an eight-play drive this time, capping it off with a two-yard burst by Roselli, giving Upper Dublin a 7-0
lead early in the second quarter. A 22-yard field goal by Chris Barbera would extend the margin to 10-0 at the break.
The Upper Dublin defense, which didn’t allow a first down in the opening half, would add to the lead in the third quarter, when Jason Scott crashed in and sacked Lancer quarterback Aquil Robinson in the end zone, making it 12-0.
Upper Dublin led from start to finish.
Upper Dublin 34, Hatboro-Horsham 7 >> The Cardinals went into Suburban One League American Conference play ready and rested, fresh off a bye week.
Mason Novak and Dylan Zlotnikoff met at the quarterback for a sack on the first snap of the game, and the defense never let up.
Selvin Haynes caught three touchdown passes and the Cardinals made the climb to 3-0.
Penn Charter 42, Upper Dublin 17 >> The Cardinals suffered their first — and only — loss of the season in a non-league battle with Penn Charter.
Edward Saydee ran for over 200 yards and four touchdowns for the Quakers, and Aaron Maione started the game with a 92-yard kickoff return and Saydee capped the scoring with a 66-yard run.
Upper Dublin 20, Cheltenham 7 >> The Cardinals rebounded nicely, getting after it in a conference battle with the Panthers.
The Upper Dublin defense was up to the task and the Cardinals scrapped out a win. Selvin Haynes picked off the second pass of the game and also recovered a fumble later in the game and along with fellow corner Michah Bootman, anchored a strong effort by the secondary.
Upper Dublin 14, Quakertown 13 >> It was a tight, down-to-the-wire matchup between two playoff squads: Upper Dublin in 5A, Quakertown in 6A.
A dramatic fourth-down conversion had put Quakertown’s offense knocking at the door of a potential go-ahead score. To that point, the UD defense had done more than its share of work but it needed one more stop.
The Cardinals got that last stop, handed the ball to Lucas Roselli six times and finally closed out a come-from-behind win over visiting Quakertown to stay unbeaten in the SOL American (3-0) and raise its overall record to 5-1.
Upper Dublin 47, Wissahickon 12 >> After blowing out to a big lead, the Cardinals started the second half with a John Kohlbrenner 70-yard kick return and continued to show off their depth.
In a versatile performance, quarterback Mike Slivka threw two touchdown passes and he also ran for a pair of scores. Upper Dublin’s defense was dominant throughout in powering the Cards to a 4-0 mark in the conference.
Upper Dublin 31, Plymouth-Whitemarsh 17 >> The Cardinals clinched the SOL American title with still with one regular season game remaining.
Upper Dublin scored every time it had the ball except for running out the clock in the final two minutes of the game. Slivka went 11-for-15 for 145 yards and rushed four times for 77 yards.
Upper Dublin 43, Upper Moreland 6 >> Cardinals senior Selvin Haynes played outstanding at corner, limiting the dangerous Jahaire Johnson to three catches for 30 yards and a touchdown.
Fellow senior Lucas Nina-Boesler was outstanding on defense and also caught a seven-yard touchdown from quarterback Mike Slivka.
Upper Dublin 41, Phoenixville 12 >> The Cardinals began the District 1-5A Playoffs by thumping the Phantoms.
John Kohlbrenner’s impressive score on special teams — when he took the ball off the punter’s foot — gave the Cardinals a 28-0 lead in the second quarter and Upper Dublin was on its way.
The Cards needed just two plays to convert a pair of Phantoms turnovers into a 14-0 lead, and it was the start of 41 straight points for Upper Dublin.
Lucas Roselli finished with four touchdowns — three rushing — and Slivka threw for a pair of scores as Upper Dublin advanced the district quarterfinals for the fifth straight season.
Upper Dublin 27, Cheltenham 0 >> The Cardinals controlled the ball in the middle two quarters: they out-snapped Cheltenham 22-7 in the second and 23-1 in the third.
Upper Dublin had a 10-play drive result in a field goal in the second quarter and followed that with another field goal on a 12-play drive that started at their own one-yard line.
It was more of the same after intermission. The Cardinals put together a 16-play drive that took up nearly eight minutes of game time, but ended in a failed fourth-down attempt.
Slivka grabbed an interception on the first play of the ensuing Cheltenham possession, and the Cardinals followed with another 10-play drive.
The offensive line paved the way for 293 rushing yards on 57 carries. Slivka rushed 18 times for 96 yards, Mason Novak 15 for 83 and Lucas Roselli 15 for 71. Novak and Roselli each scored touchdowns in the first quarter.
Slivka’s interception is just part of what the Cardinals defense was able to do to contribute to the snap-count discrepancy. They limited Cheltenham to just four first downs in the entire game and 103 total yards. Lucas Nina-Boesler recovered a fumble in the first quarter to set up the second touchdown of the game.
Upper Dublin 40, Unionville 7 >> The Cardinals scored touchdowns on all four of their first-half possessions to go rocking into their second district final in four years (4A in 2015).
Lucas Roselli made a tough, managed to stay upright and then pulled away from a defender before darting into the corner of the end zone, making it a 33-0 margin at the break. Upper Dublin had also scored on a bullish, five-yard run by Mason Novak, a one-yard sneak by Slivka and Jason Scott’s 13-yard return of a blocked punt by John Kohlbrenner.
Upper Dublin 35, Bayard Rustin 28 >> Upper Dublin had three defining moments in the final 12:46 of the District 1-5A Final.
The first came with 46 seconds left in the third quarter, after Rustin tied the game at 28. The Cardinals got the ball back at their own 20-yard line and then went on a nine-play, 80-yard drive over 4:11 to score the game-winning touchdown.
Slivka started the drive with a five-yard run and — after a false start — ran 12 yards for a first down. He followed that with a 32-yard pass to Lucas Roselli to set the Cardinals up at Rustin’s 36-yard line. A couple Mason Novak runs and a Slivka completion to Jason Scott put the Cardinals at the 14. Novak ran for seven yards and then five. He capped off the drive with the go-ahead touchdown from two yards out.
The second defining moment came with less than four minutes left in the game.
The Golden Knights methodically moved the ball down the field and faced 1st-and-goal at the six. Owen Walsh was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on first down before Michael Covert ran for two yards on back-to-back plays to set up a 4th-and-goal from the two.
Quarterback Will Pileggi motioned to the right and it was a play football fans became very familiar with in February — the Philly Special. Covert rolled right looking to throw and eventually decided to run with it. He was met by a host of Cardinal defenders at the one and couldn’t break the plane.
Soon after, the Cardinals had a 1st-and-10 from inside their own one with 2:16 left and Rustin still had three timeouts.
Slivka tried running up the middle on first down and Novak on second, but neither were able to make any progress, setting up 3rd-and-10 and the third defining moment of the game. Slivka lined up in the shotgun and completed a pass to Dylan Zlotnikoff for 10 yards and a first down.
The new set of downs enabled the Cardinals to kneel their way to victory and claim the second District One Title in program history and first since 2015.
It was onto the state semifinals for Upper Dublin (12-1).