Points aside, Upper Dublin’s defense came to play
It’s easy to look at the final score of Upper Dublin’s District 1 Class-5A championship win over West Chester Rustin Friday night — 35-28 — and think the Cardinals offense picked up the slack for a bad defensive performance.
When you look a little deeper, that is not the case.
Upper Dublin’s defense forced two punts on Rustin’s first two possessions of the game and — after allowing a touchdown — forced another with two minutes remaining in the first half.
The Cardinals offense scored quickly — with 1:14 before intermission — to give the Golden Knights another possession.
Shutdown cornerback Selvin Haynes was hurt after the kickoff and had to miss one play. That one play turned out to be a 76-yard touchdown pass.
Fast forward to the third quarter. Rustin’s first offensive play of the half was a run wide to the left. Upper Dublin’s Jason Scott stepped up for the tackle, forced a fumble and recovered it. Three plays later the offense scored for a 28-14 lead.
The Golden Knights came back with two touchdowns in a 2:16 span to tie the game at 28, but it’s tough to blame the defense.
The first score was setup by an 86-yard kickoff return that gave Rustin the ball at Upper Dublin’s seven-yard line. The second came after the Cardinals offense fumbled at their own 20.
“We didn’t give my defensive coordinator a chance to stop them,” Upper Dublin coach Bret Stover said. “We gave them the ball on a kick return and a fumble. We didn’t make them earn the full field. They earned the touchdowns, obviously.”
When the Cardinals needed a stop the most, the defense was up to the challenge.
Rustin got the ball back — down 35-28 — with 8:34 to go.
Seven plays and a couple Cardinal penalties later, the Golden Knights faced 1st-and-goal at the six-yard line. Three runs for four total yards setup 4th-and-goal at the two.
The Golden Knights ran a familiar play in this area — the Philly Special — and when no receivers were open Michael Covert was forced to try and run. A host of Cardinals defenders — led by Lucas Roselli and Mason Novak — were there to stop him inside the one-yard line.
“We’ve talked about it, we’ve worked it,” Stover said of the famous Eagles play. “That’s the first time we saw it live. I think our kids did a great job. They took the passes away — there was no one to throw the ball to. Then that kid tried to get it in there, but we wouldn’t let him in.”
“We talked about it in the locker room that some freak play could happen,” Novak said. “We picked up on it quick and we stopped it.”
Receivers stepping up
Haynes earned First Team All-Suburban One League American Conference honors this season.
He made one catch in the district championship game — a high-effort 10-yard gain on 4th-and-10 in the second quarter — but was otherwise quiet on offense.
It was two other receivers who stepped up for quarterback Mike Slivka — Dylan Zlotnikoff and Lucas Nina-Boesler.
Zlotnikoff finished with four catches for 79 yards and Nina-Boesler had two for 87.
Nina-Boesler made a 66-yard catch and run to setup the Cardinals first touchdown of the day and added a 21-yard grab in the middle of the third quarter.
Zlotnikoff caught a 39-yard touchdown to give the Cardinals a 21-7 lead in the second quarter and made a diving catch on 3rd-and-10 after the goal line stand to seal the district crown.
Stick to the run
At halftime of the district title game, Novak five rushing yards on three carries. After three quarters he had 19 yards on seven carries.
Stover stuck with him.
Novak rushed five times on the game-winning drive — including the final four plays and the two-yard touchdown to put his team ahead.
“We knew we had something cooking with the running game,” he said. “So we kept on pounding the rock and it worked.”
Novak finished the game with 48 yards on 13 carries.
