Upper Merion starts fast, holds off William Tennent

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UPPER MERION >> Start fast and finish strong. Every team wants to accomplish those two things.

Upper Merion certainly started fast Friday night. The Vikings scored touchdowns on their first three possessions to take a 21-point lead over William Tennent.

The “finish strong” part was a little tougher. The Panthers scored two touchdowns over a 10-second span in the final five minutes of the game, but Upper Merion made the defensive stop when it needed to in the last minute.

The Vikings defense recorded a sack and forced three incompletions on William Tennent’s final drive to hold on for a 21-14 win at Upper Merion Area High School.

Tennent took over, trailing 21-14, at their own 26-yard line with 1:32 remaining and no timeouts. After a holding penalty and incomplete pass set up 2nd-and-21 from the 15, Upper Merion’s Mike Scavello recorded a sack to keep the clock running and put Tennent in an even tougher spot. Defensive lineman Adam Pacelli knocked down the third down pass and cornerback Yusuf Riley deflected the fourth down throw to secure the win.

“Mike Scavello was already having a big game,” Vikings quarterback Zayd Etheridge said. “I was really confident in our defense. I wasn’t really worried. Of course it’s Friday night lights – anything can happen – but I was really confident in our defense.”

“Everybody was excited and nobody wanted to lose the game,” Vikings cornerback Marcus Crittendon said. “Everybody was in the moment. Everybody was locked in. We were able to come out with the win.”

Upper Merion (2-1) started the game around midfield after a big kickoff return from Preston Thomas. After nine plays and a pair of penalties, the Vikings faced 4th-and-11 at the Tennent 34. Etheridge threw a high pass down the left sideline to Crittendon, who went over his defender in the endzone for a touchdown.

“(The cornerback) was playing up more because I was running a lot of speed outs and things like that,” Crittendon said, “so I thought I could take advantage of him peaking inside and close to me. I just went over the top and Zayd threw a perfect ball.”

“I already know Marcus is a great receiver,” Etheridge said. “He’s been telling me all week about how he still needs his first high school touchdown and today we just happened to get it.”

After a Tennent three-and-out, Upper Merion was back on the attack. Six plays set up a 4th-and-5 on the offensive 30-yard line and Etheridge found tight end Nolan Clayton for the first down over the middle. Clayton found space on the left sideline and raced all the way to the endzone. Etheridge ran in the two-point conversion for a 14-0 lead.

“We’re in the spot a lot, unfortunately,” Etheridge said of their two fourth-down touchdowns, “but fortunately we were able to convert and make it happen.”

On the first play of the second quarter, Riley grabbed an interception around midfield and brought it all the way back to William Tennent’s 14-yard line. On 1st-and-goal at the three, Riley punched it in for a score and 21-0 lead.

“We were all excited to get back out and win another game,” Etheridge said of the fast start, “because last week we got our first ‘W’ of the regular season. We were just looking forward to scoring. Our offense needed to score and that’s what we did.”

The three-touchdown difference stood for 29:28 of gametime.

Tennent got on the board late in the fourth quarter when quarterback Timothy Lawson III ran for an eight-yard touchdown. His score capped off a 16-play drive that took more than eight minutes off the clock.

The Panthers (0-3) recovered the onsides kick and immediately went for the endzone. Lawson III connected with Liam Gibson for a 33-yard touchdown. The two scores in 10 seconds made it 21-14 with 4:22 to play.

Upper Merion’s Justin Besz, who recovered the second onsides kick and drew a personal foul to put the Vikings at Tennent’s 45, ran for a first down on 2nd-and-10 to keep the clock moving. Upper Merion was stopped on 4th-and-5 and William Tennent got its final chance to tie the game.

The Vikings defense didn’t allow much until the 16-play touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. They held the Panthers to 0 yards and two first downs in the first half and grabbed an interception. They forced a turnover on the first possession of the second half when Qwynne Seals recovered a fumble.

“We always want to come out strong,” Crittendon said. “We always get hype before the game. I think in the beginning of the game everyone is ready to make a play. We worked on tackling a lot this week. I think it showed a lot in the first quarter.”

Upper Merion’s defensive line warms up before a game against William Tennent Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. (Ed Morlock/MediaNews Group)

Upper Merion 21, William Tennent 14

William Tennent              0 0 0 14 -14

Upper Merion   14 7 0 0 – 21

Scoring

First Quarter

UM – Marcus Crittendon 34-yard reception from Zayd Etheridge (kick failed) 8:06

UM – Nolan Clayton 30-yard reception from Zayd Etheridge (Etheridge run for 2) 1:20

Second Quarter

UM – Yusuf Riley 3-yard run (Cyrus Palladino kick) 10:00

Fourth Quarter

WT – Timothy Lawson III 8-yard run (Kyle Flack kick) 4:32

WT – Liam Gibson 33-yard reception from Timothy Lawson III (Kyle Flack kick) 4:22

TEAM STATISTICS

WT           UM

First downs 10           13

Rushes-Yards 29-58   26-103

Passing yards 69           136

Total yards 127         239

Passing 5-13-1    11-20-0

Punts 3            2

Fumbles-Lost 1-1         2-1

Penalties-Yards 4-35        10-80

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

WT: Michael Bridges 12-2; Timothy Lawson III 16-54, TD; Justin Frederic 1-2.

UM: Yusuf Riley 15-53, TD; Zayd Etheridge 4-11; Justin Besz 7-39.

PASSING

WT: Timothy Lawson III 5-12-69-1-1; Liam Gibson 0-1-0-0-0.

UM: Zayd Etheridge 11-20-136-2-0.

RECEIVING

WT: Stephen Demar Parks Cosenza 2-24; Liam Gibson 2-40, TD; Michael Bridges 1-5.

UM: Marcus Crittendon 4-59, TD; Nolan Clayton 3-52,TD; Preston Thomas 2-6; Yusuf Riley 1-9; Qwynne Seals 1-10.

INTERCEPTIONS

UM: Yusuf Riley.

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Ed Morlock

Ed Morlock
Ed Morlock is a sports reporter for The Times Herald in Norristown.

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