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Upper Dublin Advances To Second Round In 40-20 Win Over Methacton

Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs

| November 3, 2023

In 2022, the Upper Dublin Cardinals finished their season undefeated, winning districts, and making state semi-finals before they were knocked out. Fast Forward to now, the Cardinals finished 6-4 and as the 7 seed. With high hopes and vets from last year, players aren’t too pleased with the record. They hope to use this frustration and dominate the playoffs. Efforts from Chris Kohlbrenner, Shyne Roberts, and Martin Campbell Jr. all contributed to the 40-point win. Methacton made a push late in the game with Anthony Perillo’s three-touchdown performance to cut the score to 27-20 early in the fourth. Yet Upper Dublin was able to bend and not break.

“It’s definitly a lot more, last year we had more guys and different areas and a lot of depth and we dont have a lot of that and this year we have a lot of young guys so I kind of have to step up and be a bigger role I kind of gotta be the guy to start making plays for our team just to give our guys a boost of confidence and get the team going” Kohlbrenner said when asked about how much more work he’s getting this year from being one of the relied on guys from last year.

“I’ve lost playoff games before never cried. But that one that one hit me we aint coming short this year. Even though we didnt come short last year but we aint get to our goal” Roberts Said.

The first half was all Upper Dublin. Leading 14-0 going into the lockers was what changed the momentum. On the opening kickoff, the return was fumbled and then recovered by Kohlbrenner at the 20 with 11:58 in the game. Six plays later Kohlbrenner found himself in the endzone for a one-yard rushing yard touchdown. Sixteen Minutes later the second score came in. Campbell Jr. used his size to power himself into the endzone from fourteen yards out. UD went into lockers up 14 and was to start the second half with the ball. Methacton had struggles moving the ball in the first half. Most drives stalled out and resulted in punts. A critical moment came early when a dropped pass in the endzone on second down. The first half was all Upper Dublin, it stayed that way all the way up to the fourth.

“Well this is the first week they finally put me back on kickoff, I was kind of nudging our special teams coach, Coach Paulson to put me back on and this is the first week and I told the guy next to me ‘Watch this’ and I didnt expect him to drop it but when I saw ball on the ground I knew it had to be ours” Kohlbrenner said.

“It’s a little bit draining but we know that we gotta petal to the metal, we gotta keep going. Our O-Line did a great job, they made it really easy for me and the backs to get in so it was really all the O-line work there not much of us running backs” Kohlbrenner said.

After a Roberts and Kohlbrenner touchdown in the third, the score was 27-7. Methacton’s only score in the game at this moment came from the hands of Perillo after a seventy-eight-yard rush to make the score 14-7. Perillio found himself in the endzone for another touchdown with 9:35 in the fourth to make the score 27-14. Methacton recovered an onside kick then later Perillo scored again to make the score 27-20 with a block PAT. Once the score became 27-20, Upper Dublin turned a switch on and pulled away. On their first drive back, Roberts ran a sixty-eight-yard touchdown for his second and final touchdown of the game at the 6:01 mark. Campbell Jr. found the endzone for his second and last touchdown of the game with 3:28 in the game to make the score 40-20 and put the last pin in the game.

“It’s playoffs, it’s my senior year, we gotta get to the next round by any means necessary” Roberts said.

“I dont wanna go home crying on a home field, I aint going home crying this year, last year ended short but this year we going for it all” Roberts said.

While Methacton finishes their season, they have a lot to be proud of. Making the playoffs again after making it last season, going 6-4, and their biggest win winning 41-21 against Upper Perkioman. Upper Dublin advances and will head off to the powerhouse Strath Haven next Friday looking for the major upset. Strath Haven ranked #8 in PFN 5A State rankings will be the toughest opponent UD has faced yet.

“We know they’re good, we know they’re big, fast, and physical, and we just got to come ou and be ready to play. Today we didn’t really come our and play our best football but we did alright, and we know we definitly got to step it up a notch for them” Kohlbrenner said.

“We just gone work all week, hard work. You know, late nights dont matter what it is long as we prepare. Friday night Seven O’Clock lets go” Roberts said on what needs to go into beating Strath Haven.

“We gotta put a lot of work in at practice, be on our film, just kind of listen to oour coaches, and we all got to believe. I think we got a good group of guys that believe we can win this and just got to believe” Kohlbrenner on what goes into winning the state championship.

UPPER DUBLIN 7 7 7 19 – 40 METHACTON 0 0 7 13 – 20

Scoring Plays

1st Quarter
UD – Chris Kohlbrenner 1 run (Matthew Miller kick) 8:25

2nd Quarter
UD – Martin Campbell Jr 14 run (Miller kick) 4:00

3rd Quarter
M – Anthony Perillo 78 run (Aiden Drozd kick) 7:09
UD – Shyne Roberts 33 run (Miller kick) 2:42

4th Quarter
UD – Kohlbrenner 5 run (kick miss) 10:52
M – Anthony Perillo 3 run (Drozd kick) 9:35
M – Perillo 6 run (kick miss) 6:23
UD – Roberts 68 run (Miller kick) 6:01
UD – Campbell Jr 2 run (Miller kick) 3:28

Team Stats UD M
First Downs 20 9
Rushes-Yards 44-325 25-239
Passing 9-12-0-0 6-17-0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-51 3-11
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-3
Punting Average 3-40.3 3-25.3

Individual Stats
Rushing: UD – Shyne Roberts 18-225, Chris Kohlbrenner 6-40, Kevin Etkins 6-(-1), Martin Campbell Jr 10-76, Ryan O’Sullivan 1–(-12), Lucas Platt 2-(-3), Scott Montgomery 1-0; M – Kolby Horwath11-120, Anthony Perillo 11-116, Wesley Conover 1-(-1), DJ Ballinger 1-4
Passing: UD – Etkins 9-12-0-0-66, Tyler Lawson 0-1-0-0-0; M – Horwath 6-17-0-0-82
Receiving: UD – O’Sullivan 2-10, Kohlbrenner 3-22, Eric Bernan 1-7, Ben Shervin 2-37; M – Conover 1-12, Perillo 1-5, Ballinger 2-16, Joseph Benson 2-49
Fumble Recovery: UD – Chris Kohlbrenner, Philip Roll, Shane Greenberg Sacks: UD – Ryan O’Sullivan; M – Shane Corne, Levi Borkowski, Vincent Iacavino

(Stats done by Andrew Robinson/@ADRobinson3 Twitter)

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