Shumaker, Conover lead game-winning drive for Methacton over Upper Merion in PAC crossover

KING OF PRUSSIA >> When the lights are brightest and the stakes are highest, winning teams find ways to win close games.

And after a back-and-forth contest through three quarters with Upper Merion, Methacton put together an impressive game-winning drive to top the Vikings 42-35 and secure the Warriors a spot in the upcoming District 1 Class 5A playoffs.

After Upper Merion knotted the score at 35-35 midway through the fourth quarter, Methacton received the kickoff and began its drive with just under five minutes remaining.

The Warriors went back to what had been working for them throughout the contest, handing the ball off to stud junior Wesley Conover, and began to work their way down the field.

Conover, who had already found the end zone three times for Methacton, came up with strong run after strong run for the Vikings, amassing 48 yards on six carries on the drive alone and setting his team up at the goal line with 45 seconds.

Conover’s gains on the ground set up sophomore quarterback Matty Shumaker, Methacton’s back up quarterback who was thrust into action early in the first quarter, for a short QB dive into the end zone for the game-winning score.

“The kids will tell you from day one that all we preach is, ‘Eat the clock, eat the clock, eat the clock,’” Warriors coach Brian Kennedy said. “We feel that if we can control the clock, control the field, it’s going to be hard for people to take us and that’s been our thing all year, we just want to control the ball.

“Our backup quarterback, who is a sophomore, came into the game and managed the game well, making some big plays when we needed him. Credit to our kids, they battled hard. We do want to run the ball and we’re not a big ‘throw the ball’ team but our coaches up in the press box saw that we could run the weak side iso and so we just kept running it.”

Shumaker finished with 19 rushing yards and the winning score in the victory, while Conover finished with 181 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries and also came away with an interception that gave Methacton momentum heading into halftime.

“Oh my god … it’s so amazing,” Conover said on having played such a pivotal role in the Warriors’ one-score victory. “I just wanted to do it for my brothers. Every time that they called my name I just thought , ‘Execute every single play.’ Coach told us to just keep going and not give up so I just kept going play-after-play, punching that ball.”

“Wesley is just a playmaker, a dynamic player,” Kennedy said on the junior’s big night. “We had a lot of high hopes for him this year and he hasn’t disappointed us. He comes out and practices hard each week and we’re excited to have another week with him.”

Tyler Weil-Kasper was once again a Swiss Army knife for Methacton, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown while also tossing a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jake Chapman on a trick play in the fourth quarter.

While the victory solidified Methacton’s spot and seeding in the upcoming district playoffs, the loss may not ultimately be the end of the road for Upper Merion and coach Davis Chubb, who were a spot behind Methacton in the postseason rankings prior to the contest.

“We made our lives a lot harder by not winning this game,” Chubb said. “Methacton came out and made their lives easier in week 11. We’ll let the chips fall where they may. I think our guys are still hungry enough and they don’t want to stop for the year. But hey, it’s week 1, be 1-0, that’s all we care about.”

Methacton 42, Upper Merion 35
Methacton 7 7 14 14 – 42
Upper Merion 7 7 14 7 – 35
SCORING
First quarter
MT – Tyler Weil-Kasper 60-yard rush (Tyler Ready kick)
UM – Justin Besz 16-yard rush (Cyrus Palladino kick)
Second quarter
UM – Besz 1-yard rush (Palladino kick)
MT – Wesley Conover 14-yard rush (Ready kick)
Third Quarter
MT – Conover 15-yard rush (Ready kick)
UM – Nolan Clayton 1-yard rush (Palladino kick)
MT – Conover 57-yard rush (Ready kick)
UM – Clayton 2-yard rush (Palladino kick)
Fourth quarter
MT – Jake Chapman 22-yard pass from Weil-Kasper (Ready kick)
UM – Zayd Etheridge 1-yard rush (Palladino kick)
MT – Matty Shumaker 1-yard rush (Ready kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
MT UM
First downs 12 10
Rushes-yards 32-364 28-137
Passing yards 31 17
Total yards 395 154
Passes 4-10-31 7-17-46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Methacton: Conover: 20-181 3 TD, Weil-Kasper 12-106 1 TD, Anthony Perillo 7-48, Shumaker 3-19 1 TD. Upper Merion: Besz 13-90 2 TD, Etheridge 5-24 1 TD, Yusuf Riley 5-12, Liam Davis 1-8, Nolan Clayton 4-3 2 TD.
Passing
Methacton: Weil-Kasper 1-1-22-1 TD, Shumaker 2-6-11, Michael Wolbers 1-3-8; Upper Merion Zayd Etheridge 7-17-46.
Receiving
Methacton: Jake Chapman 1-22 1 TD, Joshua Cancro 1-11, Weil-Kasper 2-8. Upper Merion: Marcus Crittendon 3-43, Etheridge 1-6, Nicolas Varano 1-3, Preston Thomas 1-(-1), Michael Scavello 1-(-5)
Interceptions
Upper Merion: Elijah Davis. Methacton: Conover.