Perk Valley rolls to2-0
Second-quarter surge sends Vikings past Upper Dublin, 31-9
The only thing that slowed down the Perkiomen Valley offense Friday night was halftime.
After two empty possessions to begin their visit to Upper Dublin, the Vikings found their groove, collecting touchdowns on their final four drives of the first half. PV’s attack lost their rhythm after the break— posting just three points— but Perk Valley kept the host Cardinals in check and came away from the non-league contest with a 31-9 victory.
“I can’t be unhappy. I think we played well, especially our defense I thought was awesome tonight, really flying to the ball and tackling well,” Vikings coach Rob Heist said. “But offensively we just have to keep improvement, we have to keep working and getting better every week. We got a real challenge coming up this week against Pennridge.
PV quarterback Cole Peterlin went 20-of-28 for 166 yards and two touchdowns while Jon Moccia ran for a pair of scores, including the goahead TD from13 yards out tomake it 7-3 with 12.4 seconds left in the opening quarter.
“I think we did pretty good offensively. I think we got after it, we made very good plays,” Perk Valley’s Alec Jackson said. “I think there’s always room to improve, always room to get better.”
Peterlin’s two touchdowns throws extended the lead for Perk Valley (20) to 21-3 before a Malik Bootman 45-yard touchdown run had Upper Dublin (0-1) within 21-9. But the Vikings went into the half up 19 after Moccia capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a two-yard TD run 19 seconds before halftime.
“Wewere in a rhythm,” Heist said. “We had them off balance a little bit in the first half. And then they made some corrections at halftime and we just had a hard time getting out of our own way there in the second half.”
The first seven possessions of the second half ended in punts before the eight ended with an interception by PV’s Max Nice, which resulted in the lone points in the last two quarters — a Mike Weir 32 field goal at 3:15 in the fourth.
“We had basically on offense, it was eight new starters and nine on defense. Guys, just a little bit of Friday night lights, faster than they’re used to and they caught up thought,” Upper Dublin coach Bret Stover said.
The Cardinals took an early 3-0 lead on Chris Barbera’s 19-yard field goal at 4:57 in the first quarter. It was still 3-0 late in the period when Perk Valley got pressure on quarterback Julian Gimble and his throw
was intercepted by Kevin Delacruz at the UD 19 and return down to the 13. One play later, Moccia found the end zone and the Vikings were up 7-3.
“I wouldn’t say we had them but we were in a good spot, let’s put it that way, until we turned the ball over down here,” Stover said. “That just seemed to flip it. And they’re that good that they just jumped on us.”
Peterlin ended a fourplay 48-yard drive but rolling and hitting Jackson for a 24-yard touchdown to make it 14-3 at 9:27 in the second quarter.
“Usually I’m more of a short pass kind of guy,” Jackson said. “I think it was a freak thing — no one saw me coming cause I’m taught to just look for blocks and stuff.”
Perk Valley took a 21-6 lead at 5:29 when Peterlin found Isaiah Domine in the end zone with a two-yard pass to finish at six-play, 56yard drive.
Lucas Rotelli returned the ensuing kickoff to the Vikings 45, where Bootman found open space down the sideline on the Cardinals’ first place for a 45-yard TD run at 5:11. But the Vikings responded with another touchdown run — Moccia second touchdown run in the half’s final minute putting the visitors ahead 28-9.