Fort Washington, Pa. Upper Dublin opened their 2015 season with a overall solid performance controlling all three phases (offense, defense and special teams) with big plays in their 42-7 win last night over the Delaware Valley Warriors (District 2) at Cardinal stadium.
The Cardinals appear to be littered with play makers. Need a big play at quarterback? Enter talented 6’4 Ryan Stover who ran for a 47 yard touchdown followed by a nifty screen pass and 65 yard TD to Stacey Gardner. How about a big run? Enter Kaleif Lee, whose 48 yard burst opened a 21-0 lead in the 2nd quarter. What about a big play on defense? They have Cole Swiger, whose 71 yard interception TD nullified a Warrior drive before halftime. What about special teams? Bring on Todd Spirt who had three kickoffs reach the end zone while another sailed to the Warrior 1.
To their credit Delaware Valley controlled the time of possession and offensive plays in the first half (42 plays to 17). RB’s Kyle Dillon and Ryan Obiso as well as QB Matt Cavallaro accounted for nine first downs in the first half but the Cardinals bend but don’t break defense put on the brakes every time DV got into the red zone.
Cardinal coach Bret Stover has put himself in position to control his conference (The Suburban One American Conference) as well as AAAA District 1 with this team from this writer’s standpoint. They will host out of conference foe Harry Truman next week while the Warriors (whom traveled over 200 miles for last night’s game) visit Wyoming Valley West.
Tidbits: The Warriors Kyle Dillon played a spirited game both running the ball and LB. He had several big hits from his LB position in the first half. Ditto for UD linebacker Jack Rapine who had two sacks, a pass block and several solo tackles. Junior Zhaire Lee and Isaiah Henrich paired together are good run stoppers for the Cardinals. Henrich also punts and transferred from LaSalle this year. Spirt had no field goal attempts but appears to be able to handle 50 yarders if given the opportunity. Warrior head coach Keith Olsommer played his college football at Penn State. The playing surface was one of the best in the state. QB, Stover will be in contention for the best QB (at least in Southeastern Pa) with his performance. Last night’s game tape will certainly draw more Division 1 interest.
Scoring by Quarter
1st Quarter:
UD- Stacey Gardner- 7 yard run- extra point- Todd Spirt- 4:54
2nd Quarter
UD- Ryan Stover- 47 yard run- extra point- Spirt- 10:28
UD: Kaleif Lee- 48 yard run- extra point- Spirt- 7:25
UD- Gardner- 65 pass from Stover-extra point- Spirt- 4:59
UD- Cole Swiger- 71 yard interception return- extra point- Spirt- :20
3rd Quarter
UD- Phil Butler- 27 yard run- extra point- Spirt- 7:16
4th Quarter
DV- Ryan Obiso- 1 yard run- extra point-Josh Goulette- 6:37
