Mack leads Cheltenham to SOL American win over Upper Merion

CHELTENHAM >> Not much including schedule and Mother Nature has been kind to Cheltenham this season.

Playing in a wicked rain and wind storm last Friday night, the Panthers dropped their third game in row. Weather played a factor again Friday night as the game was delayed 30 minutes due to lightning as Cheltenham hosted fellow Suburban One League American Conference opponent Upper Merion.

Cheltenham overcame sloppy red zone play and used a dominant defensive performance to get back in the win column with a 22-14 overtime victory over the Vikings.

“We’ve had some difficult times, we’ve played some pretty good teams,” Cheltenham coach Joe Gro said. “Last week we were missing a couple of kids, I thought we could’ve played better against Upper Moreland but we should be able to play with everybody.”

The “football immaturity” of Cheltenham is something that has left Gro scratching his head at times this season. The Panthers self-inflicted problems started from the first play of the game Friday night.

Upper Merion kick returner Kori Smith fielded the opening kick off at the 22-yard line. Smith fumbled the ball two separate times on the play eventually resulting in Cheltenham’s Trevon Jackson recovering the ball at the two-yard line.

The ensuing drive for the Panthers included a one-yard run by Branden Mack,  a six-yard loss on a sack by quarterback Dylan Jones, Jones then threw an interception. That was the first three plays of the game for the Panthers.

“We got to be more disciplined,” said Mack of the red zone deficiencies. “We got to work harder at practice, we got to be more disciplined at practice.”

Cheltenham made five trips to the red zone in regulation and came away with only two scores.

“We should have scored three times in the first half and didn’t,” Gro said. “That was disappointing.”

Despite the Panther defense basically dominating the game, Upper Merion hit two big plays that gave it a lead late in the fourth quarter. The two Viking scores came from a 64-yard punt return for touchdown by Isaiah Graham-Mobley and an 86-yard touchdown from Smith. Both scores came in the third quarter.

“That was ridiculous,” Gro said of the Smith touchdown. “We defended it and then we just let him cut it back and go the distance.”

After spending most of the game at running back, Mack switched to quarterback where he normally plays.

With 3:57 left in the fourth, Cheltenham got the ball at its own 30. The Panthers then went 70 yards in nine plays. 16 of the yards Mack ran for, 49 of them Mack threw to Matt Tuszl and the final five Mack threw to Akeem Browne.

Mack has put the Panthers on his back all season long and Friday night he lead and willed them to a victory.

“I put it all on myself,” said the senior, who finished with 106 yards rushing and 100 yards passing. “They look up to me. They see that I’m a good leader. If I’ve got to motivate them then I’ve got to motivate them. They look up to me all the time just the same I want to look up to them.”