Royals pull away from Tribe down stretch

by Jake Hallman, Special to The Pottstown Mercury

Posted on November 8, 2008

RED HILL — For three quarters, Upper Perkiomen gave visiting Upper Darby all it could handle.

But unfortunately for the Indians, high school football games last 48 minutes, not 36.

And when that fourth quarter did take place, it was the visiting Royals that controlled the clock and ripped off 21 unanswered points en route to a non-league, 41-20 victory.

Upper Perk (5-6 overall), which led twice in the first half, tied up the game 20-20 with a minute left in the third quarter. But after a three-and-out on its next offensive series Upper Darby (6-5) scored on its next three touches to steal the momentum — and the game in the first meeting between the two schools.

"We had them at halftime, and we had our opportunities in the second half," said Upper Perk head coach Keith Leamer. "And the score is not indicative of the type of game it was. It was nip-and-tuck until the end; unfortunately we just didn't make plays in the second half and they got the best of us.

"We just ran out of steam, our defense was on the field too long, and we almost scored too fast that our defense was out there way too long that they just wore us down."

One of the reasons the Indians' offense scored so fast was the effort of fullback Chase Fleming. The junior opened the scoring late in the first quarter as he ripped off a 50-yard run through the heart of the Royals' defense.

He added a pair of touchdowns on identical 65-yard screen passes in the second and third quarters and finished with 206 all-purpose yards, accounting for all but 69 yards of the Indians' total offense. Seventy-six of those yards came on the ground, while 130 came via the air. Oh yeah, and on defense, Fleming made his presence felt at linebacker as he tallied eight solo tackles, and one for a loss.

Sophomore quarterback Casey Perlstein, who recently took over the starting job, played well as he was 6 of 14 for 169 yards and two touchdowns.

But even Fleming's Herculean effort wasn't enough to slow down Upper Darby.

After Fleming's game-knotting score, the Royals cashed in on an Upper Perk fumble deep in Indian territory, then got the ball back and scored again to go ahead, 34-20. A score with 2:32 left put the finishing touches on the Royals' 21-point victory.

"It's exciting, it's like a playoff game for us to come up to a field we've never been to and a school we've never been to," said Upper Darby head coach Rich Gentile. "Actually, I'd rather travel. It's nice to get out of the county and play another team. We just try to get better, so this was fun."

Upper Darby's spread offense racked up 390 yards, 252 through the air after a big night from quarterback Dale Blees (19-35, 252 yards, 3 TDs). His favorite target, 6-foot-3, 205-pound Tim Brown, pulled in five catches for 123 yards and a score, as five other receivers combined for 14 catches and 129 yards.

"That's a good football team," Leamer said, whose squad will entertain Boyertown on Thanksgiving. "They're one of the biggest schools in the district, they have players and a lot of players, and they found a way to get Brown the ball. You have to tip their hats to them."

Preparation for the game proved a problem for both squads. Both teams scrambled to fill the spot in the schedule after Upper Perk's and Upper Darby's opponents both qualified for districts in Quakertown and Phoenixville, respectively. But after some legwork by the athletic directors, the game was decided on Monday, giving both head men just four nights to put together a gameplan.

"This game helps us a lot for our Thanksgiving Day game against Haverford," Gentile said. "If we didn't have this game, we'd have a month off and I'd either go crazy on the kids, or they'd go crazy on me from all of the time off."

NOTES

The Indians' Nick Hale blocked a pair of extra-point attempts and made five solo tackles and one for a loss on the defensive line. Teammates Kenny Golden picked off a pair of passes, as Nate Pompei (three tackles, one for a loss), John Schultz (tackle for a loss) and Andrew Orlick (three tackles, pass break-up) also played well.

[ return to previous page ]