Slivka leads Upper Dublin in rout of Wissahickon

UPPER DUBLIN >> A rivalry matchup always has the chance for fireworks no matter what type of season a football team may be having. So when Wissahickon crossed Bethlehem Pike to play Upper Dublin on Friday night, there was no doubt the winless Trojans came out fired up, ready to surprise the Flying Cardinals.

However the home Birds put their fire out early by scoring early and often. The Flying Cardinals led by junior quarterback Mike Slivka cruised to a 47-12 win over the Trojans. With 40 points in the first half, a running clock in the second half sent the Trojans home hurting.

“Backyard Brawl they used to call it,” Cardinals coach Bret Stover said. “This used to be our Thanksgiving Day rival and I have been that 0-7 team with nothing to lose. We talked to our kids about not overlooking them. We did that to teams when we are growing up.”

An early fumble put the Trojans on their heels and once the Flying Cardinals (5-1, 4-0 SOL American) connected on a 24-yard pass, Slivka to Lucas Roselli, the Trojans (0-8, 0-5) could not help to think tonight would not be any different than the previous weeks. Roselli would later catch a 32-yard strike from Slivka in the win.

“They were saying stuff on social media and that got us all hyped up,” Slivka said. “We came out on fire, it’s a rival Wiss, and we took it to them. It is great being able to put many players at different spots. I am feeling good, feel like I am making the right reads and hitting the open man.”

The Trojans may be in the same conference, in the same class, based on the number of students in their school, but the difference in numbers on the sideline made, and has made a huge difference this season. The Trojans are banged up and depth is their biggest issue. The Suburban One schedule is not kind to a team down in numbers.

“Talking to Coach Stover before the game they have 40 players as well, it’s just how those numbers are made up,” Trojans coach Bruce Fleming said. “Our roster is mainly skill guys and not lineman. We are trying to find guys inside the building that want to come out and work hard. We want to see the small things we work on in practice transfer over to Friday night.”

The Flying Cardinals could look to the future in the second half with the game well under control. The coaching staff called plays they wanted to work on and they were able to get some second-string and third stringers involved.

“We did not get crazy,” Stover said. “We had some things we wanted to see and we did those. It was good to get some of our younger guys on the field. We are a little beat up in week seven. It was nice to get some guys some rest. And we got out of here pretty healthy.”

The Cardinals started the second with a John Kohlbrenner 70-yard kick return and continued to show off their depth. The Trojans senior running back Chris Smalls was a bright spot as he churned up 100 yards and plunged into the end zone in the third quarter to help his squad avoid the shutout.

“We have six seniors that gave us everything they have,” Fleming said. “We want to see guys not give up no matter what the score looks like.”

Knowing they had a team desperate to earn their first victory of the year, the Cardinals came out focused. They wanted to make a statement against their backyard rivals and they did just that. They will need to have another focused first quarter next week when they play another hungry, young team in Plymouth-Whitemarsh.

“We are playing for beyond tonight,” Stover said. “You have to manage teams responsibly. We are gelling and we have not played a perfect game yet, which is good. We hope to play that perfect game in November or December if we are luckily enough to be playing that long.”

Upper Dublin 47, Wissahickon 12
Wissahickon 0 0 6 6 – 12
Upper Dublin 17 23 7 0 – 47
First Quarter
UD – Lucas Roselli pass from Mike Slivka (Barbaro kick)
UD – Mike Slivka one yard run (Barbaro kick)
UD – 38 yard field goal by Mike Barbaro
Second Quarter
UD – Novak three yard run (Barbaro kick)
UD – 22 yard field goal by Barbaro
UD – Slivka 32 yard pass to Roselli (Barbaro kick)
UD – Slivka five yard run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
UD – John Kohlbrenner 70 yard kick return (Barbaro kick)
WISS – Chris Smalls one yard run (conversion failed)
Fourth Quarter
WISS – Jalen Smalls six yard run (conversion failed)
WISS UD
First downs 12 15
Rushing yards 149 109
Passing yards 73 133
Total yards 222 242
Punts-avg. 3-29 2-30
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 2-15 4-40
RUSHING
Wissahickon – C. Smalls 17-100, TD; J. Smalls 6-48, TD; Santos 6-1; Shreiner 1-0;
Upper Dublin – Novak 4-14, TD; Roselli 5-27, TD; Slivka 3-16, 2 TDs; Kohlbrenner 2-4; Rossman 3-29; Gondek 3-2; Sharkey 3-17;
PASSING
Wissahickon – Santos 8-14-0 – 63; Shreiner 1-3-0 – 10;
Upper Dulbin – Slivka 8-10-0 -133, TD;
RECEIVING
Wissahickon – Intrieri 2-12; Kaso 4-40; Willis 2-13; Dougherty 1-8
Upper Dulbin – Zlotinkoff 2-34; McCarry 1-4; Roselli 4-77, 2 TD; Balasa 1-8;