FOOTBALL: Bruising Unionville ground attack upends previously unbeaten Upper Perkiomen

by ed morrone

EAST MARLBOROUGH — Facing an opponent that had gone unbeaten through three weeks thanks to a punishing ground attack, Unionville beat Upper Perkiomen at its own game much of Friday night.

Except for the one play the Longhorns didn’t, which just so happened to be the biggest play of the game in their 27-21 home victory over the previously undefeated 3-0 Indians, who are enjoying their best start to a season in 20 years.

On the next play from scrimmage after Upper Perk had tied the game at 14 with just over a minute to go before halftime, Unionville quarterback Tommy McGinnis ditched his team’s ground-and-pound style to loft the best ball thrown all night, a perfect 50-yard strike down the middle of the field to an open Drew Puleo for a counterstrike TD 11 seconds after the Indians had just scored.

It was one of just four completions in nine attempts for McGinnis, who was one of a handful of Longhorns that gashed Upper Perk on the ground much of the night. But it was a monumental one that swung the momentum back in Unionville’s favor before halftime, and then the team came out of the locker room and scored on its first drive of the second half to increase the lead to 27-14.

“I was talking to Murph saying we’ve been running the ball and they’ve been attacking it, so we’ve got to go deep,” McGinnis recounted of his conversation with head coach Tim Murphy before the passing score. “I saw Drew, we have a connection, he was open — ‘tuddy.’”

“Murph loves taking advantage of the defense when they aren’t predicting something,” Puleo added. “We had momentum from a good kickoff return and good spotting, and me and Tommy do have this connection. We trust each other. He knew I was going to be open, I knew I was going to be open and the momentum was just rolling for us. Just an all-around great play.”

Unionville had an offensive plan to beat UP, and it was evident from the team’s first possession when it ran 11 plays — all runs — and drove 44 yards for a 1-yard Owen Simcox touchdown, the first of three rushing scores by three different ball-carriers.

Upper Perk’s Zach Schwartz — who ran for 204 yards and five scores in the team’s win over Sun Valley last week — lost a fumble on a short screen pass on the next drive, but the Indians’ defense forced a punt. A poor punt with a penalty tacked on gave UP good field position when they got the ball back, and the team soon tied the game on a 2-yard QB keeper by Logan O’Donnell.

But Unionville scored on its next possession, another 11-play drive (this time with nine runs) that culminated in a McGinnis 1-yard run to go up 14-7 with 6:35 left in the half.

“Our offensive line was playing physical all night, so props to them,” said McGinnis, who wasn’t sacked and rushed 17 times for 82 yards plus the score.

Taking over at their own 35, the Indians marched down the field and got a Brody Weiss (7 carries, 42 yards, TD) 2-yard score with 1:02 before halftime, and it appeared they were in a great position before McGinnis found Puleo on the next offensive play to go up 20-14.

Then, the Longhorns came out in the second half and ate up almost half of the quarter with a nine-play drive featuring seven runs that culminated in a Tristan McIlrath 2-yard run with 6:39 left and a now 27-14 advantage.

To Upper Perk’s credit, the team fought until the bitter end, getting a touchdown pass from O’Donnell (11-for-19, 168 yards) to Aiden Void (5 catches, 112 yards) to cut the deficit to 27-21 with 2:46 remaining. The defense forced a turnover on downs and O’Donnell and company took over at their own 43 and advanced down to the Unionville 39 before finally running out of time.

After rushing for 458 yards on 53 carries a week ago (8.6 yards per carry), the Indians managed 111 yards on 34 rushes (3.3 YPC) against Unionville. Schwartz gained only 44 yards on 15 carries, lost a fumble and battled through an ankle injury, and he, Weiss and Zach Adam never got into much of a flow on the ground. Consequently, Unionville had exactly double the rushing yards of Upper Perk, with Brody McLaughlin leading the way with 15 carries and 107 yards.

“Our D-line was working on the run all week and they were 100 percent ready heading into this game,” said McGinnis, whose team improved to 3-1. “We were squeezing them the whole night. I was cheering so loudly from the sideline, it was great.”

For the first time this season, Upper Perk walked off the field in defeat, but a 3-1 start for a team that went 1-9 a year ago isn’t too shabby. Still, the team’s expectations have been recalibrated after the somewhat surprising start, and the setback was disappointing for all involved.

“We started slow and didn’t play our football in the first half,” Indians head coach Dan Heinrichs said. “The clock was our enemy tonight, and it beat us in addition to us beating ourselves. I give a lot of credit to Unionville; they came out and adjusted to a lot of things we do really well. We didn’t play our brand of football until it was too late. They ran it really well, and we didn’t run well up front.”

Even with the loss, the team is sitting prettier than most expected through the first month of the season, and the Indians’ real season begins next Friday night when they host Pottsgrove (also 3-1) in the start of PAC Frontier play.

“Adversity is one thing we’re facing this year that we didn’t have last year,” Heinrichs said. “Last year we hung our heads and felt sorry for ourselves. Tonight you saw us battle back and were in it until the final seconds. Next week is I think a winnable game against a good football team that also likes to run the ball. We have to dominate the line of scrimmage and see a different attitude from our guys this week in practice to divert back to where we need to be.”

As for Unionville, the start of Ches-Mont League season begins next week at home against Bishop Shanahan. The Longhorns couldn’t have gotten a better result heading into the season’s most critical stretch.

With McGinnis at the center of the action and a stable of dangerous running backs surrounding him, the team likes its chances from here.

“Our goals at the beginning of the season were to beat Kennett and make it to the playoffs,” Puleo said. “It’s looking good right now, but every week is a new week. We celebrate the wins over the weekend but then we get right back to work on the weekdays to prepare for every Friday.”

Unionville 27, Upper Perkiomen 21

Upper Perk – 0 14 7 0 – 21

Unionville – 7 13 7 0 – 27

SCORING PLAYS

First Quarter

UV – Owen Simcox 1 run (Ryan Keaveney kick)

Second Quarter

UP – Logan O’Donnell 2 run (Brody Lash kick)

UV – Tommy McGinnis 1 run (Keaveney kick)

UP – Brody Weiss 2 run (Lash kick)

UV – Drew Puleo 50 pass from McGinnis (kick failed)

Third Quarter