Weil-Kaspar, Methacton grind down Upper Perkiomen, 21-7

For a football team with the major goal of trying to control the ball and the clock, a possession of less than a minute to begin the game would seem to be a big disappointment.

But not for Methacton on Friday night at Upper Perkiomen as Tyler Weil-Kaspar carried the ball 79 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the game to jump start the Warriors to a 21-7 win in a non-league match-up of Pioneer Athletic Conference opponents at Bill Keeny Stadium.

After that, Methacton (2-2) did a decent job of controlling the tempo of the game with 45 runs good for 324 yards, 177 of them by Weil-Kaspar.

espite that, the Indians (1-3) – led by 137 passing yards from Mike Boyle – were right in the game until the Warriors scored an insurance touchdown with less than six minutes to go and then stopped an Upper Perk drive at the two-yard line.

“That’s been our plan since preseason … control the ball,” said Weil-Kaspar, who carried the ball 21 times, despite missing a series here and there after getting banged up. “If we keep running the ball, this is the outcome that is going to happen.”

“Control the ball. Control the clock,” said Warrior coach Brian Kennedy. “That’s one of our big goals. And finish drives. If we have the ball, they can’t score.”

Weil-Kaspar shot through a big hole in the center of the line and out-ran the defense into the end zone just 57 seconds into the contest.

“The line was blocking,” he said. “I had a lot of space on the second play of the game. But eight to 10 yard carries, that’s our plan.”

“We’ll take big plays when we get them,” said Kennedy.

The game turned into a defensive battle the rest of the half until Wesley Conover took a pitch and ran around the right end for 46 yards as the first half clock ran out for a 14-0 advantage.

After Upper Perk lost the ball on downs at the Methacton 30-yard line to start the third quarter, the Warriors put together their longest drive of the night while holding onto the ball for over seven minutes. They converted three fourth-down plays along the way and Weil-Kaspar ran the ball on eight of 13 plays before the march ended on a fumble at the Indian 21.

Upper Perk took advantage of the turnover with a drive of 66 yards on eight plays, with Boyd passing 29 yards to Chidike Eruba, who won a battle for the ball with a defender for the TD with 10:27 remaining in the contest.

Methacton scored on a 34-yard run by Anthony Perillo with 5:34 to go for a 21-7 advantage. Then Zach Schwartz returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards into Methacton territory and Boyd connected with Samuel Carino on a 25-yard pass play to the two. But the Warrior defense held to all but wrap up the win.

Besides the big game on the ground by Weil-Kaspar, Conover rushed for 58 yards, Perillo ran for 51 and quarterback Michael Wolbers successfully ran the ball himself on several fourth-down plays to keep drives alive.

“We have a good solid corps of running backs,” said Kennedy. “They do what they’re asked to do. When one guy comes out, we don’t give up much. Our offensive coordinator Brad Kull called a great game.”

Schwartz ran for 45 yards on 14 carries and Manny Northern caught five passes for 57 yards for the Indians.

“Give Upper Perk credit,” said Kennedy. “They were scrappy. They battled to the end.”

Both teams will now head into play in their respective PAC divisions.

“We’re going into the second part of our football season now,” said Kennedy. “We want to have fun. We want to win some football games.”

Methacton 21, Upper Perkiomen 7

Methacton 7 7 0 7 – 21
Upper Perkiomen 0 0 0 7 – 7

First quarter
M-Weil-Kasper 77 run (Ready kick)
Second quarter
M-Conover 46 run (Ready kick)
Fourth quarter
UP-Eruba 29 pass from Boyle (Watkins kick)
M-Perillo 34 run (Ready kick)

TEAM STATS

Methacton Upper Perkiomen
First downs 17 11
Rushes-yards 45-324 18-60
Passing yards 35 137
Total yards 359 197
Passes 3-6-0 11-26-1
Fumbles-lost 3-2 0-0
Punts-avg 1-13 2-40.0
Penalties-yards 3-25 2-10

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing
Methacton: Weil-Kasper 21-177, 1 TD; Conover 5-58, 1 TD; Perillo 6-51, 1 TD; Wolbers 8-25; Ballinger 5-13. Upper Perkiomen: Schwartz 14-45; Northern 2-15; Boyle 2-0.

Passing
Methacton: Wolbers 2-5-17; Conover 1-1-18. Upper Perkiomen: Boyle 11-26-137, 1 TD, 1 INT.

Receiving
Methacton: Wolbers 1-18; Chapman 1-14; Conover 1-3. Upper Perkiomen: Northern 5-57; Eruba 2-44,1 TD; Carino 2-29; Schwartz 1-4; Hoffer 1-3.

Interception: Methacton-Chapman.
Sack: Upper Perkiomen-White.