It’s not pretty, but Upper Darby gets it done in rivalry game with Bonner & Prendergast

UPPER DARBY >> Trash talk on Twitter morphed into trash talk on the field, which morphed into 48 minutes of some fittingly sloppy late August football.

No, Upper Darby and Bonner & Prendergast did not light up the scoreboard Friday. The Royals, however, did enough. They came away with a 19-7 season-opening victory in the 14th iteration of this rivalry, dubbed the Upper Darby Bowl.

The series is now even at 7-7. Upper Darby has won two straight games. This one will quickly be lost from memory, but Royals coach Rich Gentile will take away the effort of his squad.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game in the world, it really wasn’t,” the veteran coach explained. “But the constant that they had — they just played hard. And that’s what I’m excited about.”

Each team had more than 100 penalty yards. There were nine completed passes. There were four turnovers. It was ugly. It took a while. Labor Day isn’t for another week-plus. It looked and felt every bit the part.

The game turned with a decision. Bonner & Prendergast led 7-0 with 23 seconds remaining in the first half. It was at its own 14. There was nothing to accomplish offensively, yet Friars coach Jack Muldoon elected to run a play.

The ball was snapped over the head of Shon Nelson, trickled into the end zone, and was recovered by Dezhan Peterson. Tie game.

“We handed the game to them,” Muldoon said. “We’re up 7-0, if we get out of the half, we get the ball back, who knows what happens.”

Bonner & Prendergast works exclusively out of the shotgun. They felt uncomfortable kneeling from under center. Thus, disaster ensued. Muldoon was adamant it wouldn’t happen again.

His team rebounded, drove down the field to open the second half, and were in position to score. Until, Michael Standen — who switched off with Nelson behind center — threw a two-handed shovel pass directly to Delva Jean-Baptiste.

The soft-spoken Upper Darby linebacker added another interception later in the third quarter after reading a screen pass. He was named the game’s MVP.

“Our line was amazing,” Jean-Baptiste said. “When they were running, they were there. It just helped me see everything better, it made it easier for me to do my job.”

Six plays after the first interception, Marson Weh won a jump ball for a 41-yard score to give Upper Darby the lead. Midway through the fourth quarter, Kevin Kerwood, who threw that touchdown, put the game away with a 12-yard keeper off a play action jet sweep.

The first half was ugly offensively for Upper Darby. The second half was better. Kareem McAdams wound up rushing for 116 yards. The defense held Bonner & Prendergast to negative-two rushing yards and 78 overall.

Bonner & Prendergast scored first off a blocked punt. Jared Nesbitt scooped the loose ball and scampered 30 yards for a 7-0 first quarter lead. That held until that fateful snap late in the first half.

Regardless of who was up, there was general chippiness — such is life for schools separated by about a quarter-mile. There were late hits. Multiple facemasks. Two players were ejected after a minor scuffle. The student sections were into the game. At times, it felt like high school football.

For Upper Darby, it felt like a win.

“They talk a lot, we talk a lot,” Jean-Baptiste said. “But we came out with the (victory), so that’s all that matters.”