Football: Cardinals Fall to Central Bucks West in Season Opener, 10-7

Football season is back at Upper Dublin High School. Unfortunately, players, coaches and fans will have to wait at least another week for the winning ways to return, after the Cardinals dropped their season opener to Central Bucks West Friday night, 10-7.

In a defense-oriented contest, the Cardinals missed too many of their precious few opportunities to walk off the field with a victory.

"I'm disappointed—I thought we played well in spots, and we just made too many mistakes," said Upper Dublin head coach Bret Stover. "It was everything we expected from them coming in, offensively and defensively, and we just didn't execute when it mattered most."

The Cardinal and Gray squandered their greatest opportunity with under two minutes to play in the game, when a botched punt by Central Bucks gave Upper Dublin the ball at their opponent's 37-yard line.

Down 10-7, the Cardinals needed a touchdown to win and a field goal to tie, and appeared to be on their way when quarterback Andrew Derr connected with receiver Sean McAeneney for a 21-yard gain to the Bucks' 16 on first down. However, a holding penalty brought the play back to set up a 2nd and 20 from the 47-yard line.

The Bucks returned the favor with a penalty of their own, but ultimately stopped the Cardinals by holding Derr to a three-yard scramble on fourth and six. The Cardinals turned the ball over on downs, and the Bucks took a knee to win.

Coming into the game, the Bucks had a clear size advantage, but the Cardinals found a way to keep things even.

"They were bigger than us; we knew they were bigger than us up front, " said Stover. "We knew we were going to have to throw the ball a little bit, just to get them out of the box—and we did in spots."

While both teams sustained several drives throughout the game, neither could finish, with the majority of advances stalling in shallow enemy territory. The squads relied on big play touchdowns in the first half, with CB West striking first.

Late in the first, facing a fourth and six on the Cardinal 46-yard line, the Bucks pulled one from the trick page of the playbook, as quarterback Cody Riemenschneider handed the ball to backup Kevin Duggan, who uncorked a pass to Seth Ehlo for a 45-yard gain to the Cardinal one. Two plays later, runningback Sherrod Higginbotham punched through to make it 7-0.

However, the Cardinals would answer just minutes later, when Derr found receiver Chris Naughton cutting across the middle. Naughton reeled in the catch in some traffic, but used a juke to slip the coverage and was off to the races for a 60-yard touchdown.

The game would remain a 7-7 deadlock until the fourth, when an Upper Dublin fumble at their own 30-yard line gave the Bucks a late opportunity. The Cardinal defense forced a fourth and one on the first series of the possession, but jumped offside and gave the Bucks a fresh set of downs.

West capitalized, using a 14-yard pass to get inside the Cardinal red zone, eventually coming away with a 29-yard field goal to take the lead, 10-7. It would prove to be enough.

After the game, Stover lamented the Cardinals’ mistakes.

"We moved the ball, and then we just seemed to shoot ourselves in the foot," said Stover. "We'd have a holding penalty or a turnover and just hurt ourselves."

The Cardinals will have a chance to rebound next Friday, when they play away at Germantown Academy at 7 p.m.

"The coaches will take credit for [this loss], but we'll improve and get back to work on Monday," Stover said.