UPPER MERION >> The fourth quarter couldn’t have gone much worse for Plymouth Whitemarsh’s offense against Upper Merion Friday night.
The Colonials punted from their own end zone on the second play of the quarter and the Vikings’ Justin Besz returned it for a touchdown, trimming a nine-point difference to two. The next three PW possessions ended with two lost fumbles and a failed fourth down attempt.
Despite those mistakes, the two-time defending Suburban One League American Conference champions got the ball back with four-and-a-half minutes to play, still holding a two-point lead. Quarterback Anthony Iannozzi and running backs Nazye Boggs and Luke Winterbottom combined for 49 yards on six carries as the offense picked up four first downs to run out the clock and secure a 21-19 win in the season-opener at Upper Merion Area High School.
“It’s never going to go right all the time,” PW coach Dan Chang said, “and when things go down we have to make sure we’ve got each other’s back. I told them I was really proud of how they were able to rally there and keep it together and finish until the end. That was a huge last drive there with a couple big plays that kept us going. I think it’s a really good building block for us to continue to get better.”
“Straight will,” Boggs said of the final drive. “We’ve got dogs on the team.”
“We definitely made a lot of mistakes this game,” Winterbottom added, “but we never get on each other, we never yell at each other, never blame each other. We always try to pick each other up and on to the next play.”
Winterbottom started the final drive with an eight-yard gain before a hard-count drew Upper Merion offside for a free five yards and first down. Boggs picked up first downs on three of the next five plays to allow Iannozzi to kneel out the victory.
The Colonials (1-0) maintained their fourth-quarter lead because of their defense. They were on the field for seven plays in the fourth quarter. They grabbed an interception and allowed one yard.
The fourth-quarter interception – grabbed by Andrew Iannozzi – was similar to one Boggs grabbed in the second quarter. Both passes were tipped to allow Iannozzi and Boggs to get under them and give the ball back to the offense.
“(Tipped) passes happen a lot,” Boggs, who credited communication for the defense’s success, said. “You’d be surprised. It was just what we needed.
“We try to be a defense-heavy team. We want our defense to be unstoppable. We don’t want any yards on us, nothing.”
In all, the Colonials defense was on the field for 41 plays and surrendered 138 yards.
The Vikings’ (0-1) defense kept their side in the game late. Led by senior defensive lineman Elijah Davis, the defense closed the fourth quarter by forcing the Colonials into a 3rd-and-29 from their three-yard line. Two plays later, Besz raced 34 yards with a punt return touchdown, making it 21-19.
Teddy Walmsley forced a fumble early in the fourth before Brodie Marshbank blew up a 4th-and-7 play on the next possession. Kylee Hill forced a fumble a few plays later to give Upper Merion another chance while trailing by two.
“I could not be more happy with the defense, the effort,” Upper Merion coach Davis Chubb said. “Elijah Davis – No. 55 – heart and soul of our defense. Then Isaac Wallace, a guy who was a secondary player his whole career and we move him to outside linebacker, he (made some huge plays). If we clean some things up offensively, I think we have a bright path ahead of us this year.
“(PW has) a big-play offense and we’re going to give up big plays. It’s limiting that and getting turnovers, which we did, we just couldn’t limit it enough in the fourth quarter when we needed it most. That was my worry with the clock and the way they milk it.”
Boggs got the scoring started in the first quarter. In the final 30 seconds of the opening frame, he raced 46 yards up the right sideline for a touchdown. He totaled 113 yards on 16 carries.
Winterbottom doubled the lead late in the second quarter, punching in a one-yard touchdown for a 14-0 lead. He finished the game with 108 yards on 15 attempts.
Upper Merion sophomore quarterback Jackson Solley ran for a score just before halftime, but a wide extra point sent the Vikings to the locker room trailing by eight, 14-6.
Anthony Iannozzi ran for a one-yard touchdown to make it 21-6 before Besz did the same. A failed two-point conversion made it a two-possession game, 21-12, late in the third.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 21, Upper Merion 19
Plymouth Whitemarsh 7 7 7 0 – 21
Upper Merion 0 6 6 7 – 19
Scoring
First Quarter
PW – Nazye Boggs 46-yard run (kick good) 0:27.3
Second Quarter
PW – Luke Winterbottom 1-yard run (kick good) 2:27
UM – Jackson Solley 10-yard run (kick failed) 0:24.3
Third Quarter
PW – Anthony Iannozzi 1-yard run (kick good) 5:13
UM – Justin Besz 1-yard run (2-pt failed) 1:47
Fourth Quarter
UM – Justin Besz 34-yard punt return (Cyrus Palladino kick) 11:36
TEAM STATISTICS
PW UM
First downs 20 8
Rushes-Yards 49-262 18-35
Passing yards 56 103
Total yards 318 138
Passing 3-6-1 9-23-2
Punts 2 3
Fumbles-Lost 6-2 5-0
Penalties-Yards 11-81 6-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
PW: Luke Winterbottom 15-108, TD; Nazye Boggs 16-113, TD; Anthony Iannozzi 14-46; Michael Bongard 1-1; Everett Baker 3-(-6).
UM: Isaiah Robinson 5-45; Justin Besz 9-(-4), TD; Jackson Solley 3-(-4), TD; Anthony Perkins 1-(-2).
PASSING
PW: Anthony Iannozzi: 3-6-56-0-1.
UM: Jackson Solley: 9-23-103-0-2.
RECEIVING
PW: Nazye Boggs 1-15; Everett Baker 2-41.
UM: Bryson Cherry 2-15; Mike Scavello 4-47; Nicolas Varano 1-22; Isaiah Robinson 1-8; Isaac Wallace 1-11.
INTERCEPTIONS
PW: Nayze Boggs, Andrew Iannozzi.
UM: Isaac Wallace.
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