The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Cardinals
played ball.”
Hatboro-Horsham running back Omar Ali was a big part of the Hatters’ early success. His 56-yard run put his team in position to take the early lead, and the sophomore back finished with a team-best 97 yards on 16 carries.
“Omar is a really good, explosive football player,” Hatboro-Horsham head coach Mark Schmidt said. “He’s a hard-working kid and does a great job, as you saw tonight.”
Once the Cardinals shook some of the rust off from their extended break from action, the offense that averaged 33 points per game in its first two games of the season began to get going, led by the arm and legs of quarterback Mike Slivka.
Slivka, who finished with 201 yards and two touchdowns on 13-17 passing, used his feet and size to escape pressure and find open receivers for most of the night.
“I felt really good tonight, my wide receivers were making plays and the line blocked really well,” Slivka said. “I like to move outside the pocket to let my receivers get open and find the open man.”
Slivka also finished with 41 rushing yards, but left in the third quarter with a knee injury after being sacked in an awkward position.
Adam Overton and Bazel Brady both caught a touchdown pass from Slivka.
Logan Heim ran the ball in twice for the Cardinals, and Michael Wright and Jacob Rossman each had a rushing touchdown.
The Hatters (0-4, 0-1) travel to Wissahickon on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.
Upper Dublin (3-0, 1-0) hosts Penn Charter on the same night. INJURY SCARE >> Slivka went down with time ticking down in the third quarter, walking off after being attended to by trainers. He tested out the knee on the sideline before eventually sitting for the remainder of a game the Cardinals had in hand.
Stover said he doesn’t expect the injury to cause his senior quarterback to miss time, but added he won’t know until Slivka sees a doctor.
“We’re going to handle it and see what the doctor says,” Stover said. “I think he would’ve gone back in if he had to, but we won’t know anything for sure until he sees someone.”
Sophomore’s Nick Rodriguez and Tristan Cairnes both saw time after Slivka left the game.
Rodriguez was intercepted on his only pass. Cairnes did not attempt a throw. FRESHMAN SIGNAL CALLER >> Hatboro-Horsham freshman quarterback Colin O’Sullivan took some hits against a tough Upper Dublin defense, but finished with 100 yards through the air on 6-22 passing.
His lone interception came in the fourth quarter as Upper Dublin’s Brian McCarry made a grab along the sideline to force the turnover.
“That kid (O’Sullivan) has given everything he has and is doing a terrific job,” Schmidt said. “He makes mistakes here and there but he’s a smart player. He had some drops out there and a couple throws that were just off, but these are things we can improve on.”
Schmidt also mentioned O’Sullivan’s intelligence on the field as something that sticks out when he watches him play.
It’s been a slow start to the season for the Haters, but the future is bright for a team that is graduating just one starter on either side of the ball. Division schedule.
But the real story of the early season has been the Wildcats’ defense, which hasn’t missed a beat while replacing two All-Area performers from last season in defensive linemen Aidan Hayward and Arnaldo Montagano.
OJR began 2019 with back-to-back shutouts (a 28-0 victory over Conestoga preceded the win over Daniel Boone), and the defense was able to preserve last week’s 14-13 victory over Avon Grove, thwarting a Red Devils two-point conversion in the final minutes.
On Friday night, it was the secondary leading the way, as Matt Cutrone picked off a pair of passes while Hannevig added his third interception in as many weeks.
So are this year’s Wildcats destined for greater things? They won’t have to wait long to find out, as they open their Liberty Division slate next week with a visit to three-time defending league champion Perkiomen Valley. The combination of OJR’s fast start and its own Friday night loss to Downingtown West figures to garner PV’s full attention.
“We gotta play them either way,” said Kolka. “Might as well start off the (conference) season with them. I know they’re big, a physical team. We’ll get to work on them tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Upper Merion dropped its second straight contest after an impressive 2-0 start of its own. Anthony Swenda ran for 126 bruising yards, extending numerous drives and spending much of the game as the sole source of Vikings offense after the opening TD pass to Anderson. Ty Lobban added 72 total yards (47 receiving, 25 rushing).
Coach Victor Brown views next week’s PAC opener at Phoenixville as a chance to start anew.
“We’ve done a lot in the offseason to help ourselves overcome adversity,” he said. “We’re excited to get into conference play, because we know we can compete with anybody. At the same time, if we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be right back here at 0-1 next week.”