FORT WASHINGTON, PA — Bret Stover was not about to take the bait. The legendary Upper Dublin coach was not going to place any definition on his team, because Stover has yet to see them at their best.
Upper Dublin, District One’s No. 1-ranked Class 5A team, rolled over Souderton, 34-3, and the Cardinals were not even close to their best on Friday night, which poses a frightening prospect for the rest of District 1.
Upper Dublin now moves to 9-0 overall, while the Souderton loss dropped the Indians to 7-2 overall. The Cardinals now control their destiny when it comes to winning the Suburban One Continental Division title as the only 5-0 team. The loss was the first division setback for Souderton. Upper Dublin could win the Continental outright with a victory over Quakertown next week.
Early on, it didn’t look like the Cardinals were on that path.
They lost fumbles on their first two possessions, dropped assured touchdown passes, and managed to overcome the slow start to rack up 34 points and close to 500 yards in total offense.
“We left points out here and Souderton is a very good outfit, and they’re banged up a little, too, unfortunately,” Stover said. “What I’m most proud of is we turned the ball and our defense shut it down. From that point on, we settled in. I’m proud of the way we responded because that’s a good football team over there.
“We’re getting there. We still haven’t played our best game yet. We still have more room for improvement. The best is still to come. I don’t know what that is, but I can’t say right now.”
Upper Dublin had great balance. Senior quarterback Colin O’Sullivan completed 14 of 18 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns, while senior tailback Nyfise McIntyre pounded Souderton for a career-best 218 yards on 32 carries and a touchdown.
“We didn’t rise to the occasion, we didn’t step up when the lights were on,” Souderton coach Ed Gallagher said. “We knew were playing for a championship and we came up small. We, us as a staff, need to get better. We need to get better or we’re going to be one and out in the playoffs.”
Upper Dublin took a 20-3 lead into halftime, despite losing two fumbles, one at the Souderton 2 and a dropped touchdown pass.
Still, the Cardinals’ defense kept Souderton out of the end zone in the first two quarters and held the Indians to four first downs. Offensively, Upper Dublin took some time to get started, but the Cardinals began rolling, they were tough to stop.
“This was huge for us, from the second we stepped in the weight room in February, we all said to each other the first goal is to win the league championship,” O’Sullivan said. “We have a share of the league title, and we have to beat Quakertown to win it. We have so much room to improve and that’s why I’m so excited.”
The Cardinals scored 20 unanswered points after Souderton’s Ty Quintois kicked a 49-yard field on the Indians’ first possession. From there, it was all Upper Dublin.
The Cardinals’ defense took advantage of a fumble, which was scooped up by speedy Upper Dublin senior Starling Reaves for a 12-yard fumble return for the first score of the game.
Reaves later dropped what appeared to be a clear touchdown pass, but he came back to make a crucial 34-yard catch on a third-and-eight at the Souderton 48, setting up McIntyre’s 10-yard touchdown that closed the first-half scoring.
Reaves also came back to make a spectacular, over-the-shoulder 26-yard catch on a third-and-four at the Souderton 34. That reception led to Nyles Bunn-McNeill’s 6-yard touchdown pass from O’Sullivan, which put the Cardinals up, 27-3.
O’Sullivan capped his day with an arcing, 42-yard touchdown pass—his third—to Djevanni Cerisier that gave Upper Dublin a commanding 34-3 lead with 8:01 left to play.
“This win for us was crazy,” McIntyre said. “I never rushed for over 200 yards before in a game, so this was big for me, and it felt good running that ball. This tells us to keep going. Our coaches keep telling us to trust the coaches, trust each other and trust the system. That’s what we did tonight.”
Can anyone in District 1 Class 5A stop the Cardinals?
Scoring Summary
Souderton (7-2) 3 0 0 0-3
Upper Dublin (9-0) 0 20 0 14-34
1st Quarter
Sou. – Ty Quintois 49 FG, 8:19
2nd Quarter
UD – Starling Reaves 12 fumble recovery (Austin Pendleton kick), 9:24
UD – Chris Kohlbrenner 46 pass from Colin O’Sullivan (kick failed), 7:31
UD – Nyfise McIntyre 10 run (Pendleton kick), 2:55
3rd Quarter
UD – Nyles Bunn-McNeill Nyfise 6 pass from O’Sullivan (Pendleton kick), 2:11
4th Quarter
UD – Djevanni Cerisier 42 pass from O’Sullivan (Pendleton kick), 8:01
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.
