Upper Dublin gets wake up call in win over CR South
UPPER DUBLIN >> Upper Dublin entered Friday night’s game against Council Rock South with a 6-0 record. The Cardinals had wins against Kennett by 24, CB West by 28, North Penn by four, Bensalem by 26, Wissahickon by 47 and Council Rock North by 28.
A 26.16 average margin of victory perhaps had the Cardinals feeling a little too good about themselves.
Any overconfidence didn’t hurt Upper Dublin in the standings. The Cards remained undefeated with a 16-0 win over CR South at Cardinal Stadium, but the performance served as a wake up call with matchups against Souderton and Quakertown looming on Oct. 21 and 28.
“I’m happy with how (the opening drive) went,” UD receiver Griffin Pensabene said, referring to the Cardinals early touchdown. “The rest of the game, not so much. Only putting up 16 points is not what we want to see. Our defense played great, but we needed this. We’ve been coming out here, we’ve been killing teams. We think we’re going to come out here and kill every team. Little bit of a reality check and we have to get back to work.”
The offense totaled 183 yards in the win. The only other touchdown was a 38-yard run by Shyne Roberts late in the second quarter. The final two points were courtesy of a safety when the pass rush forced an intentional grounding in the endzone.
“You’re not going to blow every team out in this conference (Suburban One League National Conference),” Upper Dublin coach Bret Stover said. “We’re the little guy. We are going to run into some problems and we ran into some depth problems tonight. We’ll be back. We’ll be fine.”
Upper Dublin is 3-0 in the SOL National, tied for first with Souderton and one game ahead of third-place Quakertown.
“We’ve got Souderton in two weeks,” Pensabene said. “If we play like that defensively we’ll be fine, but we’ve got to do something on offense for it to be a good game.”
PANTHERS ROAR
Cheltenham celebrated homecoming in style Friday night with a 30-2 Suburban One League American Conference win over Springfield Montco.
After falling behind 2-0, the Panthers (4-3, 1-1 SOL American) rattled off 30 straight points, scoring 15 in the second quarter and 15 in the third.
Tre McLeod gave Cheltenham a 7-2 lead with a 16-yard rushing touchdown early in the second quarter. In the final minute of the half, Jonathan Ingram connected with Malachi Wyche for a 10-yard score. McLeon converted the two-point conversion and the Panthers took a 15-2 lead into the locker room.
Ingram hit Tyrese Alexander-Lee Odom for a six-yard touchdown just 98 seconds into the second half to make it 22-2. Donovan Agyare scored the final touchdown of the game – a 25-yard run. Zahiem Welton converted the two-point conversion to make it 30-2.
The Spartans (4-2, 1-1 SOL American) took advantage of a bad Cheltenham snap near the goalline for a safety.
WEST STAYS HOT
Central Bucks West picked up its third straight win and tallied its second straight shutout Friday night, blanking SOL National rival Neshaminy, 22-0, at War Memorial Field.
The Bucks (4-3, 3-1 SOL National) scored three touchdowns through the air – all from quarterback Ganz Cooper to receiver Conor McFadden. The two connected on four passes for 142 yards and the trifecta of touchdowns coming from 23, nine and 80 yards away.
West also ran for 142 yards, led by Eli Boehm’s 96.
CB SOUTH, LOWER MORELAND WINNERS
Elsewhere in the area, Central Bucks South and Lower Moreland picked up wins this weekend.
CB South ended a three-game losing streak with a 34-19 road win over Abington while Lower Moreland held off New Hope-Solebury, 20-12, at home. Both games were Friday night.
The Titans moved to 4-3 overall with the win and are ranked No. 12 in the District 1-6A rankings.
Lower Moreland built a 14-0 halftime lead and maintained a two-touchdown advantage going into the fourth quarter ahead, 20-6. New Hope got within 20-12, but Lower Moreland held on for its second straight win.
