Upper Dublin looking good up front

Tom Smid has been an anchor on the offensive line for Upper Dublin, and now branches out to playing on both the offensive and defensive fronts.

He’s enjoyed the transition, or rather transformation.

“That’s a little different,” he says of the D-line, with a laugh. “You really gotta be more of an animal.”

And Smid is already fitting right in.

“We just had our scrimmage against Springfield (Montco on Saturday), so that was really my first time playing at the varsity level on the D-line. That was a good time, lots of fun, got a couple tackles. It went well,” he said.

Upper Dublin’s veterans are stepping into expanded roles and filling them, making for a good summer camp for the defending District 1-5A Champs.

“The kids really worked in the weight room when we couldn’t be together,” coach Bret Stover said. “When I got them back together, I was like ‘wow, they worked hard.'”

Bulked up and keyed up for the season to start, Upper Dublin heads into 2021 a more seasoned group.

“We were really young last year, which is nice,” Stover said. “The quarterback (Colin O’Sullivan) is still only a junior and we bring back some key pieces in front of him to protect him and open up some holes for the running game.

“We lost a hand full of seniors but we feel like we replaced them with some guys who are gonna help us and give us depth. Because that’s what you need to make a run. You’re gonna have injuries.”

It’s a unified group blocking for O’Sullivan and opening up the holes, and Smid loves every minute of it.

“There’s an element of communication with all of your guys,” the 6-foot, 220-pound senior said of the o-line. “It’s not a one-man band. You gotta communicate with your guys, work to make holes for your running backs, and you gotta communicate when you have linebackers blitzing. There’s a great sense of camaraderie with your teammates.”

It takes special people to play up front, and Upper Dublin feels it has those people.

“A lot are back up front,” Stover said. “We’re trying to find a replacement for a really good middle linebacker (Jacob Rossman), and we have four or five guys who are vying for that spot.

“We lost Micah Bootman, who was probably our MVP. He was a defensive back, but he played corner, safety, linebacker. He’s the one key piece we’re trying to replace but we feel like we have the kids who can replace him.”

Upper Dublin is ahead in the weight room and also ahead under center. The music sounds good, thanks in part to the conductor.

“Any time you can have your quarterbacks have an offseason, I think it’s great for them,” Stover said, “and with Colin coming in last year and not having an offseason, he was worried about himself, worried if he was doing the right things. Now, he’s orchestrating the entire team, which allows him to make sure everybody’s in the right places.

“He’s changing plays at the line of scrimmage, which is something we wouldn’t have gotten to until week five or six last year. And all three of our quarterbacks are doing it, which is the advantage of having experience at that position, and the ability to execute the reps, actual live reps. That’s gonna help us down the road.”

The Cardinals in their scrimmage with Springfield Montco.

“I’m very happy with the way we were. We were able to move the ball on the ground, which is something we struggled with last year,” Stover said. “Kind of self scouting, I felt like we were extremely predictable (a year ago), just based on the limited number of reps we had (in the summer of 2020 because of the pandemic).

“So I think we’re definitely ahead of where we were (a year ago).”