BENSALEM – They say lightning never strikes the same place twice, but Upper Moreland’s defense proved otherwise Thursday night.
The Bears struck twice with interception returns for touchdowns, turning a pair of Bensalem mistakes into the difference in a 20-7 win at Bensalem Township Memorial Stadium.
“Bensalem is a very big team, and they do a lot of things well,” Bears head coach Adam Beach said. “They gave us a battle tonight. I thought, overall, it was a really good high school football game. It just came down to us just making a few more plays.”
The biggest one came from an unlikely source.
Early in the third quarter, sophomore linebacker Julian Melendez stepped in front of a Bensalem pass and won the race to the pylon to give the Bears the lead. Melendez was not supposed to be the game-changer Thursday night, but after a couple of Upper Moreland injuries, the underclassman was called upon, and he answered.
Less than six minutes later, senior linebacker Benedict Holcombe sniffed out a screen, picked off the pass, and returned it for a touchdown. In a flash, the Bears led by two scores.
“It felt great,” Holcombe said. “I am glad I was able to make some plays for my team tonight, and we got the win, which is the biggest thing.”
With the offense sputtering, Upper Moreland’s defense provided the spark, giving the Bears the cushion they needed to put the game away.
“Our offense was not putting in our best work today,” Bears senior running back Kyle Moore said. “Our defense, especially our young guy Julian Melendez, who made the breakout play, and Ben Holcombe, gave us the energy we needed to close out the game.”
However, before the Bears defense took over, both offenses had their moments in the first half.
The Bears opened the scoring after a short Owls punt gave them the ball at the Bensalem 33-yard line. On the first play of the drive, senior quarterback David Adamski connected with junior wide receiver Brody Hughes sprinting up the seam for the score.
After the teams traded a couple of stops, junior running back Brennan Farnsworth provided the Owls answer. Following a fourth-down stop by Bensalem, Farnsworth refused to go down, breaking seven tackles on his way to a 63-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter.
Farnsworth’s touchdown evened the score, but neither offense was able to break through again.
Both sides had opportunities to put together two-minute drives late in the first half, but each ended with an interception. First, Owls junior safety Jimmy Cross came down with a diving pick. The Bears senior corner Bige Chambers Jr. returned the favor, climbing the ladder to haul in an interception of his own.
Chambers' late pick was only a preview of what was to come after the break, when Upper Moreland forced three more turnovers in the third quarter.
“I think that was the turning point of the game,” Beach said. “They had that long run which got them back in the game, but I thought we were doing a good job defensively, and we kept getting the ball back.”
The Bears finished with four takeaways, as they improved to 2-0.
“We just can’t turn the ball over,” Owls head coach Mitch Cohen said. “We gave them 13 points, and that was the difference in the game. I thought we played well defensively, but they are a good football team. They take advantage of mistakes, and they took advantage of ours tonight.”
Bensalem will look to clean up those mistakes and earn its first win when it hosts Central Bucks East Thursday. Upper Moreland will try to carry its momentum by improving to 3-0 when it hosts Lower Moreland Thursday.