Parkland (14-1) scored 23 unanswered points in the second half in a 30-14 win over Upper Dublin (14-1) Saturday afternoon in the PIAA Class 4A semifinals at Souderton Area High School.
The Trojans advance to play Pittsburgh Central Catholic next Saturday night at 6pm at Hersheypark Stadium. Central Catholic defeated Cumberland Valley 24-7.
“It feels great going to Hershey with my brothers,” said Kenny Yeboah.
Parkland got the ball first and set the tone on their opening drive. The Trojans went 80 yards in nine plays when Erik DiGirolamo went in from three yards out. Donovan Berger’s kick put the Trojans up 7-0 with 8:47 left in the first quarter.
“It was big for us to drive down and score on our opening drive,” said Parkland Head Coach Jim Morgans. “They are so quick on defense and we were worried about that and they did it against everybody this year.”
Late in the first quarter Parkland was driving but a costly penalty sent them back and were facing a third-and-25 from their 24 at the start of the second quarter. The drive ended on a punt.
The penalty bug continued to hurt the Trojans in the first half. Two back-to-back penalties late in the first half ended another drive and forced another punt from their 18.
“Every time I looked up at the scoreboard it seemed to be third down and long,” said Morgans. “The mental mistakes in the first half hurt us on some of our drives.”
The result was Upper Dublin having their best field possession of the first half. The Cardinals started on the 50.
Quarterback Ryan Stover hit James Lampmann for 4 and 24 yards to Parkland’s 22. Two plays later Stover found Danny Boggs wide open in the end zone for the 20-yard touchdown pass with :56 ticks left in the first half. Todd Spirt kick tied the game up at 7.
Parkland’s defense was real stingy and it was hard for Upper Dublin to run the ball in the first half. The Cardinals rushed for negative yards in the first half.
“They were penetrating so far up field so fast,” said Upper Dublin Head Football Coach Bret Stover. “We kinda had to abandon the run game and that is not typical of us.”
Just like what Parkland did in their opening drive, Upper Dublin momentum continue on their first drive of the second half. Stover started to get in the grove completing passes of 8, 5, 7 and 12 yards during the drive. With the ball on Parkland’s 43 the Trojans defense nearly sacked Stover, but he some how escaped a big loss and went 43 yards for the touchdown run with 9:23 left in the third quarter. The Cardinals led 14-7.
But any momentum they had ended quickly on Parkland’s next drive. Parkland answered their scoring drive with one of their own. Cross completed passes of 5, 2, 19 and 12. But the big play of the drive was a fourth down and five on Upper Dublin’s 38 with 6:42 left in the third quarter. Cross hit Zach Bross for the 22-yard completion to Upper Dublin’s 16.
The Trojans on the ten went to the wildcat. Nolan Ridgway took the direct snap and went untouched up the middle for the 10-yard score. We are tied up at 14 with 5:04 left in the third quarter.
“That was the spark we needed to get back on the scoreboard,” said Morgans. “They gave our kids more confidence in the second half.”
The Trojans defense kicked it in another gear the second half. They forced a three-and-out. Upper Dublin’s next possession was the turning point in the game.
The first turnover in the game was Kenny Yeboah intercepting a Stover pass to setup another scoring drive by the Trojans.
“That was a huge play by Yeboah to intercept that pass,” said Morgans.
Cross hit Bross for a 34 yard completion down to Upper Dublin’s eight. On the last play of the third quarter, DiGirolamo bulled his way in from five yards out. Going into the fourth quarter, Parkland led 21-14.
Parkland’s defense continued to dominate and came up with a big sack on third down on Upper Dublin’s five. The punt attempt went out of the end zone for the safety and the Trojans now led 23-14.
Upper Dublin tried to pooch kick the ball. The Cardinals had recovered the ball, but bobbled it out of bounds. Parkland took over on the 43.
Cross threw a perfect fade pass to Yeboah who was waiting near the 10 and went in for the 48-yard touchdown pass. The Trojans lead was now 30-14 with 10:23 remaining in the game.
“Coach called a running play first and I said coach I can hit them on a hitch and go,” said Yeboah. “They called the play and I ran it right and was wide-open for the touchdown.”
Parkland got another stop with 6:52 left in the game on a long drive by Upper Dublin. Upper Dublin would get the ball back one more time with 1:12 left and drove to mid-field as the clock tick down.
“Our defense is keeping us in games,” said Morgans. “I give the credit to our coaches working with the kids.”
NOTE: This is Parkland’s first trip back to Hershey since 2007. The lost to PCC 21-0 and in 2002 but defeated Woodland Hills 34-12.
Deviant Cross finished the day completing 16 of 25 passes for 245 yards and one touchdown. Kenny Yeboah had 7 catches for 103 yards and one score and Zach Bross added 4 catches for 78 yards.
Upper Dublin finishes the season 14-1 but made history last week winning there first District 1 Class 4A title.
Ryan Stover passed for 216 yards and one score. He added a rushing touchdown.
“They are the best to ever wear the football uniform at Upper Dublin,” said Stover. A chocked up Stover said, “How do you put that into words. I don’t know.”
“We thought we had a shot in the second half when we were up. My hat goes off to them. They wore us down and made the plays when they needed to.”
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Upper Dublin | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Parkland | 7 | 0 | 14 | 9 | 30 |
One Response
Upper Dublin QB & Coaching staff classy in defeat. Best run in school history. Can’t be upset getting that far and losing. Trojans really took it to them in the second half. Very nice victory. Whoa buddy!