Wissahickon Comes up Short Against Upper Dublin

The Trojans were close, but not close enough.

Wissahickon had numerous chances against Upper Dublin, but couldn’t muster a game-winning drive as they fell, 17-10, on Friday night.

After being down by 10 points heading into the second quarter, the Trojans needed to buckle down in order to come back against a tough Upper Dublin team. 

The Trojans main concern was contain Upper Dublin senior quarterback Andrew Derr. They did just that, but couldn’t convert on key drives to reach the endzone.

“I was really proud of our team in every phase,” said Wissahickon head coach Jeff Cappa “This was two football teams battling out for an entire four quarters. I am really pleased how our team battled for an entire four quarters.”

The Trojans had the hot hand coming into the game. During their four-game win streak, the team averaged 37 points a game. On Friday night, the Trojans’ offensive unit didn’t look as explosive as usual. 

“They did a great job of defense,” said Cappa. “We were able to hold them off and hold them to 10 points for three and a half quarters. When we don’t get the ball back and they chew up a lot of clock, it is hard to get things going.”

After Upper Dublin punted with eight minutes to go in the second quarter, the Trojans constructed a big return on the play.

This resulted in a Richard O'Donnell two yard touchdown run with 6:05 left in the second quarter cut the Cardinals’ lead 10-7.

The Wissahickon defense came up huge again as they forced a fumble on the next drive. Again, the Trojans couldn’t get any offense going and had to punt the ball away.

Late in the third quarter, Wissahickon had a golden opportunity. A dropped touchdown pass by a Trojans receiver in the endzone caused Wissahickon to attempt a field goal. This allowed the game to be tied at 10 heading into the fourth quarter. It was yet another missed opportunity for the Trojans.

“We knew all their schemes and things they were doing and that it was going to come down to execution and not making mistakes,” said Cappa. “Their quarterback is outstanding, but they have a great supporting cast.”

Derr and the supporting cast put on a show with the game on the line late in the fourth quarter. With less than five minutes remaining, Upper Dublin marched down the field as Derr ran into the endzone for a touchdown with 1:22 remaining.

The Trojans had one final push, but an aggressive Upper Dublin pass rush made Trojans quarterback J.T. Crits run out of the pocket, forcing him to make throws on the run.

The Trojans did their job of keeping the Cardinals at bay. Coming into the game, Upper Dublin was averaging 41 points the last two games

“We work really hard on every phase of the game,” said Cappa. “I am not shocked on how well we played on defense. Against an offense like that, I am not surprised that we were able to battle with them that long.”

The loss dropped the Trojans to 6-3. They look to regroup against Cheltenham at home next Friday. 

“I am disappointed in the loss, but I am not one bit disappointed in the staff or the players,” said Cappa. “We are going to come back tomorrow, look at what we did, and break down Cheltenham and get ready to go after them.”