Derr Leads Cards to Homecoming Victory over Trojans

Senior quarterback Andrew Derr doesn’t mind the ball being in his hands when it matters most. He thrives under pressure. He likes that everyone in the stands has an eye on him.

And at no time was that more clear that on a cold October night, when Derr took a call from the coaches, put whatever nerves he had aside, and made the biggest play of Upper Dublin's season.

Behind the senior quarterback, the Cardinals were able to execute a game winning, four-minute drive to beat Wissahickon, 17-10 on Friday night.

“I love it,” said Derr. “I love playing football. I love pressure. Today’s game is the biggest. Our fans came out here and everyone was here. We couldn’t disappoint on our last home game.”

The coaching staff also knows what Derr is capable of.

“He did a heck of a job tonight,” said Upper Dublin head coach Bret Stover. “He is just that cool under fire. I’ve never seen him really lose his cool even when he was a sophomore and threw three interceptions and had four fumbles in a game. He is always under control, which is something you can’t teach. He is one heck of a quarterback.”

Derr wasn’t the only one that had to come up big for Upper Dublin. The Cardinals’ defense needed to hold strong against a Wissahickon team averaging 37 points a game during its four-game win streak.

Allowing only 10 points against the Trojan's high-caliber offense was the end result of the Cardinal defense making big plays when it needed to.

“We knew our defense could step up,” said Luke Felix. “We knew they had a short pass game. Our line played well. I thought we shut down the pass.”

On the drive before Upper Dublin took the lead, the Cardinals couldn’t convert on a 30-yard field goal. In that same drive, Derr scored a touchdown, but it was called back because of a penalty. The Cardinals didn’t panic when they didn’t convert the field goal and gave the ball back to the Trojans.

“You can’t keep your head down and you have to go out there and play,” said Derr.

Upper Dublin played conservative, but moved the ball at the same time.

“We did not throw a deep pass,” said Derr. “They knew we were going to throw the ball, they shut it down. Coach Stover did a great play calling plays. He put in things that we haven’t put in ever and we moved the ball on a great defense.”

In the third quarter, Upper Dublin moved the ball well but couldn’t convert key third downs. The defense came up big with under a minute left in the third to force Wissahickon quarterback J.T. Crits to throw an incompletion, and the Trojans settled for a field goal to tie the game at 10.

Upper Dublin scored the game's first 10 points, as Wissahickon didn’t get on the board until a Richard O'Donnell two-yard touchdown run with 6:05 left in the second quarter cut the Cardinals’ lead 10-7.

Once the Cardinals received the ball for the game winning drive, Derr knew what he had to do.

“I was really confident,” said Derr. “Once we made that defensive stop there is no overtime. We are thinking win. With five minutes left we had the ball deep in our own territory ,and we knew we were going to take it down and score.”

Upper Dublin improved to 7-2, as they wait the seeding for District playoffs. Either way, Stover is confident heading into the tournament.

“I like our chances,” said Stover. “With the horses that we have and the kids that we have, I like us against anyone.”