HS Football: Souderton's Ryan Sadowski shines even in the face of adversity
FORT WASHINGTON — Souderton junior linebacker Ryan Sadowski had Souderton set up for success against host Upper Dublin on Friday night. But the Indians were unable to take advantage of his efforts.
The undefeated Flying Cardinals showed why they are the No. 1 team in Class 5A in the state in some polls and tripped Souderton, 34-3, in a Suburban One Continental Division game.
The Indians (7-2 overall, 4-2 SOL) opened the scoring in the first quarter when Ty Quintois blasted a 49-yard field goal with 8 minutes, 19 seconds left. Then minutes later, Sadowski recovered a Colin O’Sullivan fumble at the Upper Dublin 38-yard line. But Souderton fumbled it back to Upper Dublin and failed to take advantage.
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The Cardinals took over and drove to the Indians’ 4-yard line, but Sadowski thwarted the threat when he again recovered a fumble – this time at the Souderton 2-yard line. But seven plays later, the Indians fumbled it back. Upper Dublin senior defensive back Starling Reaves scooped up the loose ball and raced 13 yards to the end zone for a touchdown with 9:24 left in the second quarter. The Cardinals had the lead for good, 7-3.
“I felt good,” Sadowski said of the fumble recoveries. “Our D-linemen were stripping at the ball, so that’s good. Couldn’t convert from it, though. We need to be able to next time. They started covering the ball. We had to be covering the ball.
“There were mistakes on both sides of the ball. It’s just they were able to capitalize. If we were able to capitalize on the fumble recoveries and not fumble ourselves, stop shooting ourselves in the foot, we had that game. From the beginning, we came out strong. We should have stayed strong.”
Souderton stayed as strong as it could, but O’Sullivan chipped away at the Indians defense with some pinpoint passing in the second quarter to stake his team to a 20-3 lead. Then Nyfise McIntyre took over and wore out the Souderton defense. He carried the ball 32 times for 222 yards and kept the ball away from the Big Red offense.
“We couldn’t fill our gaps,” Sadowski said. “I think that was the problem. D-linemen, linebackers, safeties, we couldn’t get up on the ball and make any plays.”
Rest assured that Indians coach Ed Gallagher and his staff will work to correct those problems for Bensalem next week and the first round of the District One class 6A playoffs. Otherwise, it could be a short trip in the postseason.
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“We came out, I think, with a little bit of energy and a little bit of confidence in the first quarter and played all right,” Gallagher said. “And then after that, we saw adversity and folded. That’s on us. We’ve got to own that. Our staff’s got to own that. Our players got to own that. That’s not good enough. We’re a better football team than we showed tonight and we’ve got to find a way to fix it or we’re going to be one and done in the playoffs.”
Three things we learned:
Upper Dublin has a heck of a one-two offensive punch. McIntyre rushed for 222 yards and O’Sullivan threw for 212 yards and three touchdowns.
It was a tale of two halves for Souderton. In the first half, the Indians rushed for 69 yards and threw for 17. But in the second half, Souderton has held to minus-4 yards rushing and failed to complete a pass.
Souderton has a dangerous punting game. Ty Quintois and Rylan Zuk both punted in the game and although their kicks didn’t go for monster yardage, they went extremely high, which made it tough for Upper Dublin’s Dan Johnson to catch them. He muffed the ball twice.
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Game balls:
Souderton kicker Ty Quintois: In the first quarter, Quintois booted a 49-yard field goal that cleared the crossbar by plenty. His kick would have been good from at least 55 yards.
Upper Dublin running back Nyfise McIntyre: Instrumental in keeping the ball away from Souderton, McIntyre carried the ball 11 times for 75 yard in the first half, then added 21 carries and 147 yards in the second half.
Upper Dublin receiver Chris Kohlbrenner: With his team holding a slim 7-3 lead in the second quarter, Kohlbrenner won a battle with one of his teammates for what amounted to a jump ball, shook off a Souderton defender and raced 46 yards for a touchdown to give his team a 13-3 edge.
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They said it:
“Seven-and-two, that’s good,” Sadowski said. “We should be undefeated. That’s where we should be. We came out and we had a poor performance today. It shouldn’t have happened and it should never happen again, especially not in the playoffs this year.”
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: PA High School Football Bucks Montco Upper Dublin hands Souderton loss
