Collazo, Logan lead way as Hatboro-Horsham rallies past Upper Moreland on Thanksgiving

UPPER MORELAND >> Nahji Logan was determined to make the stop.

The Hatboro-Horsham senior linebacker closed on Upper Moreland’s Byron Hopkins and knew the game was on the line. If Hopkins got across the goal line, the Golden Bears would regain the lead with 14 seconds left but Logan wasn’t going to let it happen.

Logan made the hit, Hunter Long helped finish it off and the Hatters’ defense held to finish off Hatboro-Horsham’s rally for a 20-19 Thanksgiving Day win over Upper Moreland on Thursday morning.

“He scrambled out and it was just me and him,” Logan said. “I wasn’t going to let him run me over to win the game so I made the goal-line stop. It’s my senior year, I had to give my all and leave it all out on the field.”

The Hatters found themselves down 13-0 at halftime and didn’t even get on the board until just 12.5 remained in the third quarter. A team that faced its share of adversity this fall during a one-win season, Hatboro-Horsham knew a win on Thanksgiving could erase a lot of that.

Senior Jordan Collazo, who took home his second straight Most Outstanding Offensive Player for the Hatters, made sure of it. The back rushed for 166 yards along with the Hatters’ first and third touchdowns.

After enduring an injury early in the season, one win and 35 long days of practice between games, Collazo wasn’t quite sure how to sum it all up.

“Today was very satisfying, our season, 1-8, it didn’t go as planned but it doesn’t matter,” Collazo said. “Coming out here and winning today, making it four in a row for our seniors, I feel happy doing it with my team. I’m amazed, I don’t even have the words today, I’m happy I got this today, I worked very hard for this.”

Some years, the game strays away from a game and into a chippy, physical flag-fest. That was not at all the case on Thursday as both sides just played hard and left everything they had on the field.

Once the game ended, Upper Moreland senior Dai-jahn Dukes, the Golden Bears’ Most Outstanding Defensive Player, made his way across the field to congratulate Collazo and Logan and got a picture with the two Hatters seniors.

“In previous years, it wasn’t like that, there was more of a hatred, it was less football and more a hatred between the teams,” Dukes said. “I respect their game and it shows, they have the same respect for me. It’s why I came over here, it’s respect, I just wanted to play a football game.”

“You know guys like that, you can have a good battle, don’t have to worry about cheap shots and it’s just going to be a good game,” Logan said.

Dukes, who scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half and was all over at his linebacker position, was disappointed not to get a win in his last Thanksgiving game but not in the way his team performed.

“I’m proud of my fellas,” Dukes said. “We had a rough loss in the district championship two weeks ago and we came out and in the first half, I think we played really well.”

Strong winds were a serious factor all game, with both teams punters getting a wind-aided boot that went more than 65 yards, an extra point kick stonewalled a few inches short of the crossbar by a gust and a couple passes that got caught in an updraft. While both quarterbacks still made some critical plays, it was a great morning to run the ball.

That fed right into what Collazo wanted and the senior said there wasn’t any panic or dramatic changes at halftime. Collazo accounted for all 42 yards on the Hatters’ first scoring drive which he capped with a seven-yard run to make it 13-6 after a botched snap led to a failed two-point try.

“Our team just came together in the end,” Collazo said. “It was just us sticking to what we’ve been practicing the last five weeks, mastering the craft, the o-line blocking where they’re supposed to, the running backs getting the ball and hitting the holes and scoring touchdowns.”

After a strong first half, Upper Moreland’s offense went quiet for most of the second half. Dukes, who ran 21 times for 93 yards, said his team came out a little flat to start the third quarter and wasn’t able to recover until its final drive.

Upper Moreland, which advanced to the District 1-4A title game as the No. 4 seed, has a relatively young roster and Dukes noted some of the key players on Thursday hadn’t experienced a Thanksgiving game on the field yet. Even though the Bears had beaten the Hatters in the regular season, everything goes out the window for the holiday kickoff.

“The younger guys, I don’t think they understand the significance to it until they play in the game,” Dukes said. “No matter what the score was, I was coming out to play in my last high school game and I think it showed in how I was playing. I wouldn’t have changed that for anything.”

An interception by Chrison Avery in the fourth quarter gave the Hatters a short field and after a 34-yard run by Collazo, N’gianni Cerisier went 15 yards for a touchdown. After the wind denied the extra point, the Hatters trailed 13-12 but the defense got a stop and the offense took over with 80 yards to go in 3:57.

Freshman quarterback Colin O’Sullivan, who had struggled in the conditions, made three huge completions on the drive, two of them to Avery, to march the Hatters inside the 10 before Collazo ran in from five yards out for the go-ahead score.

Hatboro-Horsham ran a Statue of Liberty type play on the two-point try and Logan, who took home the Hatboro-Horsham Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the game award, ran in for the 20-13 lead with 45.5 to go.

“I think we realized it was our last 24 minutes of the season,” Logan said. “It was time to leave it all out on the field. You don’t want to leave knowing you didn’t do what you had to do and didn’t give 100 percent.”

Then, it was Hopkins’ turn for some big plays. The sophomore quarterback tossed to Dukes for eight yards to start the drive, then hit Anthony Broderick on a 48-yard pass down to the Hatters’ eight-yard line with 21 seconds to go.

After a spike, Hopkins rolled to his right, stopped and tossed a dime that a diving Jahaire Johnson, UM’s Most Outstanding Offensive player, reeled in for the touchdown with 14 seconds on the clock. Johnson, a junior, caught four balls for 87 yards.

“There were three seniors on the field for that play, I think every play on that drive was made by juniors or younger,” Dukes said. “This team is going to be set. They have a bright future, I don’t care what the score was, lose by one, win by 20, they pushed their hardest.

“Listen, there’s no ties in this game. We go for the win at Upper Moreland.”

UM sent out its kicking team, but called a timeout and sent back the offense. The Hatters called a timeout before the decisive snap on the two-point try. This time, Hopkins went to his left but Logan, who has given a verbal commitment to UMass, just made the play.

“This season, I tried to not rely on my athleticism all the time,” Logan said. “Last year and the years before that, I always relied on my athleticism to make plays but now, I can read keys now. I made a read on that last play, I knew he was coming.”

HATBORO-HORSHAM 0 0 6 14 – 20

UPPER MORELAND 7 6 0 6 – 19

Scoring Plays

1^st Quarter

UM – Dai-Jahn Dukes 3 run (Nick Prisco kick) 6:28

UM – Dukes 2 run (Kick miss) 2.3

3^rd Quarter

HH – Jordan Collazo 7 run (two-point fail) 12.5

4^th Quarter

HH – N’Gianni Cerisier 15 run (kick miss) 6:07

HH – Collazo 5 run (Nahji Logan two-point run) 48.5

UM – Byron Hopkins 8 pass to Jahair Johnson (two point fail) 14.0

Team Stats

HH UM

First Downs 14 12

Rushes-Yards 31-182 42-144

Passing 5-15-0-0 6-11-1-1

Passing Yards 84 150

Total Yards 266 294

Penalties-Yards 5-35 3-24

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-0

Individual Stats

Rushing: HH – Jordan Collazo 25-166, N’Gianni Cerisier 4-21, Colin O’Sullivan 2-(-5); UM – Dai-Jahn Dukes 21-93, Anthony Broderick 6-20, Byron Hopkins 10-29, Cam Jackson 5-2

Passing: HH – O’Sullivan 5-15-0-0-84; UM – Hopkins 6-11-1-1-150

Receiving: HH – Zeheir Cheeze 2-20, Chrison Avery 3-64; UM – Jahaire Johnson 4-87, Sean Moore 1-15, Broderick 1-148

Interceptions: HH – Avery