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Cardinals Soar Past Golden Knights

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

| November 26, 2022

Fort Washington- In a night that was riddled in penalties and saw the stadium lights go out mid game, the Upper Dublin Cardinals shined through. The Cardinals, who are still undefeated (14-0) came into the game as the districts number one seed and deservingly so. During the regular season the UD defense yielded only 93 total points in 10 games.  In their first three district playoff games Upper Dublin outscored their opponents 100-0. It wasn’t until 5:15 seconds left in the game when UD’s defense finally surrendered their first points of the postseason during their 21-7 victory over visiting (3) West Chester Rustin (11-2).

Rustin who came into the game averaging over 30 points per game had no answers for the stingy cardinal defense.  The Golden Knights couldn’t seem to find a rhythm from the opening drive. Their first offensive series started with a false start, then a timeout, and ended with a punt because of multiple penalties. Upper Dublin’s first possession didn’t yield much of anything but a few yards, as the Rustin defense came to play and kept the Cards in check for a good portion of the evening. UD and Rustin went back and forth for most of the quarter which produced no points for either side. With 4:25 left in the quarter, senior QB Colin O’Sullivan found senior WR Starling Reaves wide open for a 33-yard touchdown.

After the Austin Pendleton PAT, the score was locked at 7-0.  The Golden Knight offense took over and started moving the ball down the field, but the drive ended when senior DB DJ Cerisier recovered a Nelson Murray fumble at midfield.

The second quarter saw both teams exchange drives a few times before the 8:41 minute mark when the stadium lights went out.  After a 30-minute break to restore power, the Golden Knights were forced to punt.  On the ensuing punt, senior DT Kyree Butler busted through the line and extended his arms up and blocked the punt! “Yeah, I saw something on an earlier punt and told my teammates watch this.  I knew I was going to be able to get to him and I did. I called it.” That punt block seemingly sparked Upper Dublin because two plays later the Cards were in the endzone again. This time senior RB Jacob Cornbluth bulldozed his way in from 4-yards out.

After the Austin Pendleton PAT, the cars extended their lead to 14-0 with 2:27 to go in the half. The Golden Knights did force their way down to the 30-yard line of UD but then sophomore Dominick Paone sacked senior QB David McClain to force 4th & 9 from the UD 36.  The drive and quarter would end on an incomplete pass, and we went into halftime locked at 14-0.

Upper Dublin didn’t take long to extend its lead after the half. With 9:35 to go in the third quarter, senior RB Nyfise McIntyre took the handoff from 1-yard out.  After the Austin Pendleton PAT their lead extended to 21-0.

After the UD defense stopped the Rustin attack again, UD took over and were moving downfield when O’Sullivan tried to hit Starling Reaves, but senior DB Jake Crispino broke on the slightly under-thrown ball (O’Sullivan was hit on the throw) and picked it off.  Rustin couldn’t muster anything of significance and another sack, this time by senior DL Nyles Bunn-McNeill forced them to punt.  The third quarter would close out with the score 21-0.

The fourth quarter sparked something into the Rustin offense, but it was a little to late. They took the ball down the field and found themselves knocking on the door of their first score. With 5:15 to go in the game, sophomore QB David McClain faked the handoff and rolled out untouched into the endzone. After the PAT, the score was 21-7. Unfortunately for the Golden Knights that would be it. Upper Dublin ran the clock out the rest of the way to secure its 4th District Championship. “I have to clear a little spot in my office for that fourth trophy to go in,” said HC Bret Stover after the game. Joyfully he then sputtered, “I’ll figure it out though, that’s an easy problem to fix.”  (1) Upper Dublin (14-0) will now head to the PIAA 5A state semifinal against the winner of the district 11/12 game that will be played later today against either Imhotep or Whitehall.

 

Scoring

First Quarter
UD-Reaves 33 pass from O’Sullivan (Pendleton kick)
Second Quarter
UD-Cornbluth 4 run (Pendleton kick)
Third Quarter
UD-McIntyre 1 run (Pendleton kick)
Fourth Quarter
WCR-McClain 2 run (Strunk kick)

Team Totals
WCR          UD
First downs         13            16
Yards rushing     163           72
Yards passing      57          176
Total yards          220          248
Passing            3-8-0          14-28-1
Fumbles-lost       2-2           0-0
Punts-avg           2-33.0     1-34.0
Penalties-yds      13-101      9-70

Individual Statistics
Rushing:

UD: McIntyre 22-60, TD; Cornbluth 4-11, TD; Paone 3-7, Roberts 1-2, Kohlbrenner 1-1; O’Sullivan 1 (-9).

WCR: Hatton 10-63, Jacobs 10-29, McClain 9-20, TD Santangelo 3-15, Murray 1-36.

Passing:

UD: O’Sullivan 14 of 28-176, TD-1 INT

WCR: McClain 3 of 8-57.

Receiving:

UD: Kohlbrenner 4-40, Cerisier 5-38, Reaves 2-58, TD, Cornbluth 2-31, Pensabene 1-9.

WCR: Jacobs 1-20; Santangelo 1-19. Murray 1-18

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