Featured photo: Derek York
On the final Friday night of October, the Upper Dublin Cardinals hosted the Souderton Indians at Cardinal Stadium in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, in a conference matchup to bring the regular season to a close.
So far, Upper Dublin is 2-3 in their conference, but those two wins came in their first two conference games before the Cardinals went on a three-game skid bringing them into this matchup.
Souderton also won their first two conference games before dropping two against Plymouth Whitemarsh and Quakertown, both games they lost by a combined four points. The Indians got back on track by shutting out Bensalem 35-0 last week.
Coming into this game, Upper Dublin is unfortunately mathematically eliminated from district playoff contention. On the other hand, Souderton needs a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, but the results of other games also play a role.
Upper Dublin’s Duncan Boyd kicked off to the Indians to begin the game. Alex Whitcomb received the kick at Souderton’s own 1-yard line and took off. He ran it all the way down to Upper Dublin’s 16-yard line, where Boyd shoved him out of bounds to prevent an opening kickoff touchdown. Unfortunately, the Indians were unable to capitalize on the early-game flash of brilliance as they went three-and-out, including two incompletions from senior quarterback Brett Pollock.
Upper Dublin also went three-and-out on their opening drive, punting back to Souderton and giving them possession just 5 yards out from the red zone. On the second play of the Indians’ drive, Pollock handed the ball off to sophomore Levi Lopez, who rushed to the left side to open the scoring and put Souderton ahead of Upper Dublin by 7.
Both teams switched possession multiple times until the Cardinals finally answered back late in the second quarter. On a third-and-nine, senior quarterback and Holy Cross commit Lawson Tyler dropped back and launched the ball to the right corner of Souderton’s end zone from 30 yards out. Tyler's beautiful pass found senior Anthony Paone, who went full extension to haul in the touchdown. A bad hold prevented Upper Dublin from converting the extra point to tie the game.
Photo courtesy of Joseph Mercurio
The first half ended with Souderton barely ahead of Upper Dublin, 7-6. Additionally, Indians quarterback Brett Pollock had still yet to complete a single pass.
Upper Dublin began the second half in a less-than-ideal scenario. Tyler and the Cardinals found themselves stuck inside their own 2-yard line on a fourth-and-eleven. Upper Dublin’s head coach, Brett Stover, called for Tyler to turn around and run out the back of the end zone for a saftey to give the Indians two free points instead of turning the ball over deep inside their own half, where Souderton could have potentially kicked a field goal or, worse, scored another touchdown.
Coach Stover’s plan backfired. Souderton easily returned the kick after the two-point conversion into Upper Dublin’s half of the field and marched down the field into the red zone, still without a single pass completed. Lopez was given the ball again and plowed through the Cardinals’ defense for a 3-yard rushing touchdown, his second of the night, to put the Indians ahead of the Cardinals 16-6.
Upper Dublin has consistently struggled offensively in the second half this season, and this was proven again by the Cardinals’ second half against the Indians. The offense had very little to show for, putting together a few short and disappointing drives.
In the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, Lopez earned his third touchdown of the night, scoring on the ground from 22 yards out and extending Souderton's lead to 23-6.
Photo courtesy of Derek York
The Cardinals didn’t show any effort to come back as their season sadly ended. Souderton beat Upper Dublin 23-6, with all their scores coming from Levi Lopez on the ground. They also didn’t complete a single pass.
This loss put a period on Upper Dublin’s disappointing season. They finished their season with a 3-7 overall record and a 2-4 record within their conference. Many young Cardinals will need to step up next season as star quarterback Lawson Tyler will take his talents to the College of the Holy Cross.
Souderton ended up missing the playoffs by an extremely thin margin, but they still have a lot to be proud of. They concluded their season with a 4-6 overall record and a 4-2 conference record, also finishing third in the Suburban One Continental. The Indians were just a few points away from going undefeated in conference play, which would have granted them a playoff spot.