Opening drive sets tone for Upper Merion’s win over Pottstown
UPPER MERION >> Upper Merion bobbled the opening kickoff against Pottstown Friday night and didn’t get much of a return — falling on the ball at their own 26-yard line.
They made up for the disappointing return with a dominant drive.
The Vikings (5-2, 3-0) methodically moved the ball 74 yards on 14 plays in 6:55 to score a touchdown and kick-start a 26-13 win over Pottstown at Upper Merion Area High School’s Vikings Stadium.
“You always want to score on your opening drive,” Upper Merion coach Victor Brown said. “We’ve been pushing and plugging to the kids all year. It’s something that we’ve struggled to do. They rose to the challenge tonight. They came out, they were physical and we got the points. That’s exactly how we wanted to start.”
“We just needed to keep on driving down the field,” running back Michael Zelli, who rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown, said. “We knew as a team that if we could just keep on pushing and score first that we would be on top for the rest of the game.”
Quarterback Dale Clayton made a few big plays to keep the drive alive and get Upper Merion into the endzone.
On the third play — after a false start — Clayton ran for 10 yards on 3rd-and-nine.
Two plays later — after another false start — he hit receiver Carter Besz for 13 yards on 2nd-and-10.
Clayton completed another 3rd-and-long pass to Taiyan Lobban for 11 yards and a first down.
“That’s our goal,” Zelli said, “just convert the next first down and we just go from there.”
Clayton finished off the long possession with a quarterback sneak into the endzone on 2nd-and-goal from the one with 5:05 left in the first quarter.
Zelli was also featured on the first drive. He rushed eight times for 44 yards to keep the clock moving and help the Vikings march down the field.
Turnovers galore
The Vikings defense forced seven turnovers in Friday night’s win — recovering four fumbles and snatching three interceptions.
“We were just flying to the ball,” Upper Merion linebacker Marc Clayton said. “Making plays and trying to ball.
“We were just going after the ball after they kept fumbling.”
All four fumbles came in the first half.
The first was a fumbled handoff late in the first quarter and the second came four plays later when Upper Merion punted and the two returners collided.
Pottstown fumbled twice late in the second quarter on the first play of two separate drives. The first at their own 23-yard line and the second at their own four — which Clayton scooped up and returned for a Vikings touchdown.
“I came up,” Clayton said of his first career defensive score. “I saw him, I hit him, the ball came out and I caught it. I just ran to daylight.”
Between the third and fourth fumbles, Upper Merion grabbed its first interception. Again on the first play of a possession — Lobban picked off a late throw over the middle.
“If you turn the ball over seven or eight times you can’t win football games that way,” Pottstown coach Mark Fischer said. “We’ve turned the ball over this year, but not like tonight. Tonight was just as bad as it gets.
“I guess we were careless with the football. Have to get back to holding the football and finding a different way to teach it. We’re not going to win that way.”
Vikings’ Aaron Anderson grabbed the second interception of the game in the third quarter and Clayton grabbed the third pick in the fourth quarter and returned it 35 yards to the four-yard line.
“I had a blitz outside,” Clayton said. “Someone hit (the quarterback). The ball came out and hit me right in the hands. I just ran. My reflexes were quick on that one.”
“Defense continues to play well,” Brown said. “The kids are flying around. They’re making plays. The big thing for us here is that we just keep finding ways to win. That’s our biggest challenge.”
The Trojans (4-3, 1-2) defense made its share of plays, too.
Pottstown had three takeaways and managed to keep Upper Merion off the board after four of their seven offense’s turnovers.
Nehemiah Figueroa grabbed two interceptions and Jahzeel Watson picked off the other.
“What stands out to me as a positive is that we came out in the third and we answered the call,” Fischer said. “We had two straight turnovers, we went down and scored and we played hard. Unfortunately it’s too much of everything else that caught up to us tonight. We just didn’t play well.”
Big one next week
As Upper Merion turns the page from its homecoming win over Pottstown, it shifts its focus to a monstrous opponent next Friday — Pottsgrove.
The Vikings and the Falcons are both 3-0 in Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division play after the Falcons hammered Upper Perk, 51-0.
“Next Friday is going to be a huge game for us,” Brown said. “From reading the paper, they’re the same old Pottsgrove. They’re physical, they’re athletic, they’re good. There is definitely going to be a huge challenge for us next week.”
