FOOTBALL: Justin Besz runs Upper Merion past Upper Perkiomen
UPPER MERION >> Friday night was a busy one for Upper Merion running back Justin Besz and it was one that he will never forget.
The senior knew he’d be on the field during halftime for the school’s homecoming celebration. He didn’t know that he’d carry the ball on 37 of the Vikings’ 53 offensive snaps.
Besz ran for 223 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Upper Merion to a 26-14 Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division win over Upper Perkiomen at Upper Merion Area High School.
“It was fun, it was awesome,” he said of the night. “I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life. Senior year, homecoming. Excited for (Saturday) – go to the dance and have a good time. It was really cool to see all my friends I’ve grown up with my whole life and especially get the ‘W’ tonight. That was really the most important thing.
“The O-line was just getting a big push today. They were giving me that push and that’s all I need – a couple yards and I’ll get going. I have to give big a thanks to my dogs up front.”
After a quiet first quarter – totaling just five yards on four carries – Besz hit his stride in the second. He carried the ball 12 times in the quarter for 102 yards – highlighted by a 59-yard touchdown run in the final two minutes to get the Vikings (2-4, 1-1 PAC Frontier) within 14-12.
“I just get the ball and go,” he said. “That’s how I’ve always been. Everybody always tells me I look like I’m playing backyard football when I play, so I just get the ball and start running. I saw green grass to the right and I ran.”
Besz started the second half with his second touchdown of the game. After Desmond Savior returned the kickoff to Upper Perk’s 27-yard line, the Vikings fed Besz six straight times. He picked up two, seven, four, four and seven yards before punching it into the end zone from three yards out to give Upper Merion a 26-14 lead that would stand for the final 20:54 of the game.
On his 23rd rushing attempt of the game later in the third quarter, Besz stayed down with cramps. He only missed a couple snaps, but the cramps were bothering him the rest of the night. He ran for 22 yards on his first attempt back and totaled 85 yards on his 14 rushes after the cramping started.
“If the coaches need me I’m always ready to go back into the game,” Besz, who was in the backfield stretching his calf before snaps in the fourth quarter, said. “If my arm’s not falling off, I’m ready to go. Cramps are cramps. They’ll be fine by tomorrow. I have to power through that.”
“All he wants to do is get back out there,” Upper Merion coach Davis Chubb said. “He does not want to be on the sideline. That shows me everything. To me, guys who want to be on the field all the time, how can you ever not like that in a player? That’s the type of guys you need to build around. He’s been a great leader and the young guys see that.”
Besz got the ball on 13 of the Vikings’ 16 offensive snaps in the fourth quarter to keep the clock moving and close out their win.
“Getting off blocks,” Upper Perk coach Dan Heinrichs pointed to as his run defense’s problem, “simple things that are Day 1 things that we just didn’t do tonight. We didn’t come off the ball the way we coach and work on in practice, we didn’t get off blocks when we needed to, we didn’t finish and then we let up big plays and let the momentum slip. We really got beat in both phases of the game. It’s just undisciplined football.”
VIKINGS ANSWER BACK
When Upper Perkiomen (1-5, 0-2 PAC Frontier) scored Friday night, it didn’t take long for Upper Merion to answer.
The Tribe put together an eight-play, 62-yard scoring drive – capped by a 12-yard Logan O’Donnell pass to Eric Romanowski – for a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Upper Merion answered in two plays with a 68-yard strike from Jackson Solley to Bryson Cherry. A missed extra point made it 7-6.
“We fight,” Chubb said. “This team has learned it. Last year (our motto was) ‘Finish the job’ and we’re showing it a little more. Could we do more, could we make less mistakes? Sure. But you know what? We don’t stop. We come right back when we’re down and that’s what these guys did tonight.”
Upper Perk put together another eight-play scoring drive in the second quarter, this one covering 76 yards, that ended with O’Donnell finding Aiden Void for a 22-yard score and 14-6 lead. Upper Merion answered in 2:23 when Besz capped a six-play drive with his 59-yard run to make it 14-12.
“Quick scores will kill you in a game,” Heinrichs said, “especially when you have the momentum, you have the score, you have things going your way, you’re controlling the ball, you have long drives and then you let up something quick like that. That’s how you’re going to lose games that you should be in and have a chance to win.”
The Vikings kept the momentum, recovering an onsides kick and scoring 33 seconds later on a Solley 28-yard pass to Zahaid Edwards to take a 20-14 lead into the locker room.
Upper Merion 26, Upper Perkiomen 14
Upper Perkiomen 7 7 0 0 – 14
Upper Merion 6 14 6 0 – 26
Scoring
First Quarter
UP – Eric Romanowski 12-yard reception from Logan O’Donnell (Logan Watkins kick) 3:30
UM – Bryson Cherry 68-yard reception from Jackson Solley (kick failed) 2:25
Second Quarter
UP – Aiden Void 22-yard reception from Logan O’Donnell (Logan Watkins kick) 3:41
UM – Justin Besz 59-yard run (2-point failed) 1:18
UM – Zahaid Edwards 28-yard reception from Jackson Solley (Jackson Solley to Mike Scavello for 2) :35.7
Third Quarter
UM – Justin Besz 3-yard run (2-point failed) 8:54
TEAM STATISTICS
UP UM
First downs 13 16
Rushes-Yards 35-194 41-238
Passing yards 72 131
Total yards 266 369
Passing 6-17-1 6-12-0
Punts 2 2
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 3-1
Penalties-Yards 1-10 8-80
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
UP: Zachary Schwartz 19-95; Brody Weiss 10-73; Kane Krier 6-26.
UM: Justin Besz 37-223, 2 TD; Jackson Solley 2-10; Desmond Savior 2-5.
PASSING
UP: Logan O’Donnell 6-17-72-2-1.
UM: Jackson Solley 6-12-131-2-0.
RECEIVING
UP: Eric Romanowski 1-12, TD; Zachary Schwartz 1-7; Aiden Void 4-53, TD.
UM: Bryson Cherry 3-80, TD; Mike Scavello 1-5; Zahaid Edwards 2-46, TD.
INTERCEPTIONS
UM: Kylee Hill.
