Week One: Upper Dublin Cardinals defeat Wissahickon Trojans 31-27

Tagged under: pfn

Zak Wolf | October 3, 2020

Wissahickon High School and Upper Dublin High School are separated by only 3 miles and not much separated these two teams on Friday Night.  For the 38th consecutive season these two bitter rivals faced off with the Upper Dublin Cardinals extending their winning streak over the Trojans to 9 games.

Both teams were itching to get back on the field after a delayed start to their season because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Trojans especially, who were looking to avenge a 29-19 loss to the Cardinals in 2019, but they came up just short in the end.

Although, the Trojans only have themselves to blame for the defeat. penalties, turnovers and mental lapses cost Wissahickon the ball game. It’s always going to be difficult to win a game when you turn the ball over three times, shank two punts and have 17 penalties for 135 yards.

It all started on the Trojans first drive when Junior Quarterback Aidan DeFeo, threw the first of his three interceptions on the night. The pic halted what looked like a promising drive for the Trojans after they got into Cardinal territory thanks to a 25 yard catch by Brandon Gilliard JR. The interception was a bad pass by DeFeo, who threw it right to Micah Bootman, who returned it down the Upper Dublin sideline, going virtually untouched for a 65 yard score.

“Aidan has very good composure as a junior quarterback. He’ll watch the film, he’ll see what his mistakes were, he’ll understand ways to correct it and he’ll be back out here ready to go, to get things back in order when we get into practice on Monday” Said Coach Fleming

The Trojans were able to bounce back on the next drive. After a 25 yard run by Sophomore Running Back Kyle Lehman, Aidan DeFeo was able to scramble on two straight plays to get to the Upper Dublin 11. From there Lehman was able to punch it in for the Trojans first touchdown of the year with 5:16 remaining in the first quarter. Lehman, who had a promising Freshmen season is set up to have an even bigger year as a Sophomore.

“It’s a definitely positive to have Kyle, the way he’s catching the ball, running the ball. He’s doing a lot of small things, we gotta find a way to feature him a little bit more in our offense because he’s a dominant player.” Said Coach Fleming.

Upper Dublin didn’t waste any time on their first offensive possession of the game. A 43 yard kickoff return, set up good field position, which the Cardinals took advantage of. After picking up a first down, Wissahickon committed one of their many personal foul penalties. Upper Dublin capitalized, because on the next play, Noah Lee scored on a 12 yard run, making it 14-7 with over a minute remaining in the first quarter.

Coach Fleming was frustrated with his teams discipline because that was one of their main issues last season. “A lot of things we talked about over the summer, getting ready for this game was understanding and keeping our composure, not letting the refs get in out head or the opposing team when they start talking trash. That’s something as a team we need to continue to get better at, we can’t let other teams take us out off our game and get in our heads and do things we don’t want to do”

The Trojans failed to respond, as Aidan DeFeo threw his second interception of the game. This one came on a third and long, and while scrambling DeFeo tried to find a receiver on the sideline, but threw it right to the UD Cornerback.

Once again, Upper Dublin was able to punish Wissahickon’s mistakes, which was a common theme on the night. John Kholbrenner carried the ball in for a 5 yard score to make it a two possession ball game early in the second quarter.

Wissahickon failed to move the ball on their next drive, going three and out. A bad snap didn’t allow Punter Bobby Haasz to get a kick off and Upper Dublin took over at the Trojan 25 yard line. Fortunately for Wissahickon, this didn’t result in six for the Cardinals. The Trojans defense was able to hold for the first time all game, after getting. stop in the Red Zone. A 27 yard field goal from Owen Carl extended Upper Dublin’s lead to  24-7 with 6:14 remaining in the half.

Nothing much happened the rest of the first half. Both teams traded punts and Upper Dublin went into halftime with a 17 point lead.

The Cardinals got the ball to start the half, but Wissahickon was able to force a three and out. The Trojans put together a nice drive to get themselves back in the game. Much of Aidan DeFeo’s success on the night came on the ground, scrambling out of the pocket.  DeFeo finished with 5 runs for 58 yards, including a 28 yard scramble to set up Kyle Lehman who scored his second touchdown of the game on a 9 yard run. Lehman finished with 77 yards on 17 carries and 4 receptions for 39 yards. Nate Divincent missed the PAT, so the game was now 24-13 about midway into the 3rd quarter.

On the next drive, the Trojans got a huge break after recovering a fumble in Upper Dublin Territory. The defensive line blew up a run play, the ball came loose and Shane Lynch recovered the fumble. Unlike the Cardinals, the Trojans weren’t able to capitalize on the mistake. It looked like Wiss might make it a one possession game when E.J Schreinerr made a stunning catch along the sideline for 25 yards. But the Trojans gave the ball right back when Aidan DeFeo threw his third pick of the night, killing all the momentum the fumble had created.

In the beginning of the fourth quarter, neither offense was able to put anything together. After a shanked punt by Bobby Haasz, Upper Dublin took over deep in Wissahickon territory. The Cardinals were once again, able to take advantage of a Trojans miscue, when Michael Wright scored on a 26 yard run. After this touchdown, it looked like it would be smooth sailing for UD with only 5:32 remaining and a comfortable 18 point lead.

But this wasn’t the case. The Trojans certainly did not go down without a fight. Wissahickon put together the best drive for either team in the game, going 70 yards. Aidan DeFeo got in a rhythm, after completing a few passes and was able to hit Jaylen Quick down the sideline for a big play to get inside the Upper Dublin 5. Junior Running Back, Jeremiah Clark had some nice carries in the second half and he found the end zone from three yards out with 2:43 remaining.

After nearly recovering the ensuing onside kick, Wissahickon was able to force a three and out to get the ball back. A bad punt gave the Trojans the ball in Cardinal territory. DeFeo then through a jump ball for E.J Schreinerr, who came down with it and ran into the end zone to make it a one possession game with 26 seconds left. DeFeo struggled during stretches, throwing three INT’s, but he had his moments, finishing 13-33 for 190 yards and a touchdown.

After a failed fake PAT, Kicker Bobby Hassz got a second shot at an onside kick, but Upper Dublin executed their coverage well and were able to recover the ball with relative ease. And with that, they had finished off the Trojans.

Despite the loss, Coach Fleming liked the way his team fought back into the game, while pointing out the excellent line play, on both sides of the ball. “The way our line played once we settled down, showed our dominance on the offensive line and defensive line. We just gotta carry that and start the game with that same type of dominance, instead of waiting until the second and third quarter to do that.”

The Trojans will look to get their first win of the season when they travel to play Hatboro Horsham next Friday.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews