Upper Dublin soars on both sides to top Souderton, clinch share of SOL Continental title
UPPER DUBLIN >> Get ready.
That was the extent of Upper Dublin running backs coach Ed Wall’s message to senior Nyfise McIntyre at halftime Friday night. After a first half that was mostly productive but also featured a fumble by McIntyre, Wall merely wanted the senior to know his team was going to use him in the second half.
McIntyre led the way on the ground, Colin O’Sullivan lit up the air and Upper Dublin’s defense was dominant as the Cardinals shook off a slow start and hammered visiting Souderton 34-3 to claim at least a share of the SOL Continental title.
“Coach Wall looked at me, shook my hand and said ‘get ready,’ so I said ‘I got you,'” McIntyre said. “Winning this game felt good for all of us but definitely we can go further than this and I believe we can hit states with this team we’ve got.”
McIntyre was fantastic in the second half and finished the game rushing 32 times for 225 yards and a touchdown, with 161 yards coming after halftime. The senior was a chain-moving machine, consistently picking up yards and burning clock as it usually took two, three or more Souderton defenders to drag him down.
“I feel like nobody can take me down, there better be five of y’all to take me down,” McIntyre said. “I tell my teammates on the field I’m a dog. Give me the ball and I got you.”
It was far from a one-man show. UD had five different players score touchdowns, four on offense and one major score on the defensive side that helped turn the tide after an uncharacteristically poor first quarter from the Cardinals.
O’Sullivan, the senior quarterback, was superb, completing 14-of-17 passes for 217 yards and three scores while also shaking off an early fumble. Chris Kohlbrenner, DJ Cerisier and Nyles Bunn-McNeill caught touchdown passes but the player of the game was senior Staring Reaves, who had the 12-yard fumble return for UD’s first score and impressed on both sides of the ball.
“We’ve been working on this for a long time because I’d been sitting out for a long time, I stayed prepared and stayed ready – I didn’t miss a practice, I’m working out every morning to get ready for this moment,” Reaves said. “They made me feel like I was part of the brotherhood as soon as I walked in. They welcomed me with open arms.”
Reaves has had an interesting path, playing his freshman and sophomore years at Chester then earning all-league honors with Chichester last season. He and his family moved into the Upper Dublin school district over the summer and he patiently waited for his chance to get on the field while taking care of what he needed to off it to be ready when the time came.
Due to bylaws regarding his transfer and eligibility requirements, Reaves was not able to participate in scrimmages or games until last week but he could practice with the team. A versatile player who lined up as a kick returner, a slot receiver, out wide, in the secondary and in the box, Reaves made his impact felt all over the field.
“The kid is special,” O’Sullivan said. “I respect him so much for waiting those seven weeks, I know it was tough for him but to now come out here and show everybody what he’s got, it’s awesome. We’ve been connecting with him and building a bond with him through those seven weeks, he’s an awesome kid and it was good to see him out here with us.”
On top of his fumble return touchdown, Reaves broke up a pass and made five tackles on defense and offensively, caught five balls for 81 yards with the last a tremendous full-extension snare. The senior, who said he’s had contact with several colleges including PSAC programs Kutztown and West Chester, said he didn’t know much about Upper Dublin’s football program before moving to the area but once he connected with O’Sullivan he knew it would be a good fit.
“We go at it in practice all day long, every practice is a war between all of us,” Reaves said. “We make each other better every day. We’re coming back on Monday 0-0 and starting over.”
As good as the night was for the Cardinals, after a quarter it looked like it would be anything but a celebratory finish. Souderton marched down the field and got a 48-yard field goal by Ty Quintos that was absolutely crushed through the uprights, then the defense forced a fumble on an O’Sullivan scramble with Ryan Sadowski recovering it.
Sadowski would end up recovering both UD fumbles in the first quarter but the junior lamented his team’s ability to do anything with either turnover.
“We couldn’t fill our gaps, that was the problem, d-linemen, linebackers, safeties, we couldn’t get up on the ball and make plays,” Sadowski said. “We came out strong, went down and scored a field goal and that’s how it should have stayed. We should have kept pushing the ball, just mistakes, getting beat over top, losing the ball, a whole lot of mistakes cost us that game.”
Upper Dublin scored 20 points in the second quarter, flipping a 3-0 deficit to a 20-3 halftime lead. After the break, UD got a touchdown pass from O’Sullivan in each quarter while McIntyre continued to grind out yards behind a strong showing from the offensive line and blocking tight ends.
“All these guys, we’ve been working together since February,” O’Sullivan said. “The connections we have are special and it’s just starting to come out, so I love it.”
The Cardinals defense was also dominant, holding a good Souderton attack to just 90 total yards.
UD finishes with a home date against Quakertown and a win clinching an outright SOL title. From there, it’s on to the postseason with a team that feels it can get better with each opportunity to come back for a new week.
“We had five different guys score tonight, it becomes a question of where do you want to load up to try and stop us?,” Stover said. “We went out really guns blazing at the beginning of the year, then dialed it back to really work on some things. We have a lot of young guys and guys up front who haven’t played a lot, so I think we’ve really brought this squad along right. We still haven’t played our best game yet.”
Upper Dublin 34, Souderton 3
UPPER DUBLIN 0 20 7 7 – 34
SOUDERTON 3 0 0 0 – 3
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
S – Ty Quintos 48 field goal 8:19
2nd Quarter
UD – Staring Reaves 12 fumble return (Austin Pendleton kick) 9:24
UD – Colin O’Sullivan 46 pass to Chris Kohlbrenner (XP block) 7:31
UD – Nyfise McIntyre 10 run (Pendlton kick) 2:55
3rd Quarter
UD – O’Sullivan 6 pass to Nyles Bunn-McNeill (Pendlton kick) 2:11
4th Quarter
UD – O’Sullivan 42 pass to DJ Cerisier (Pendleton kick) 8:01
Team Stats
UD S
First Downs 20 6
Rushes-Yards 37-228 26-72
Passing 14-17-3-0 4-14-0-0
Passing Yards 213 18
Total Yards 441 90
Fumbles-Lost 4-2 2-0
Penalties-Yards 2-25 4-25
Punting Average 0-0 5-33.8
Individual Stats
Rushing: UD – Nyfise McIntyre 32-225, Colin O’Sullivan 2-8, Jacob Cornbluth 2-5, Austin Pendleton 1-(-10); S – Jared Zimmerman 9-35, Ryan Sadowski 5-3, Shaun Purvy 7-4, Logan Wrubel 4-27, Caleb Hageman 1-(2)
Passing: UD – Colin O’Sullivan 14-17-3-0-213; Jared Zimmerman 4-14-0-0-18
Receiving: UD – Staring Reaves 5-81, Shyne Roberts 1-4, Griffin Pensabene 3-18, Chris Kohlbrenner 2-57, DJ Cerisier 2-53, Nyles Bunn-McNeill 1-6; S – Daniel Dyches 3-21, Sadowski 1-(-3)
