Thompson leads Chelts past Cardinals
After an offensive holding call brought back an apparent 62-yard touchdown for Cheltenham’s Mark Thompson, the senior didn’t think too much of it. In fact, he came right back out, ran all over the defense and eventually found his way back into the end zone.
Thompson had a monster fiUsW KDOI IRU WKH 3DnWKHUs. ,n IDFW, Ln WKH fiUsW TuDUWHU alone, he racked up 86 rush- ing yards and a touchdown on only nine carries, while also catching a pass for 17 yDUGs. ,n WKH sHFRnG TuDUWHU, he broke off a 25-yard run to set up another Cheltenham sFRUH. AnG Rn WKH 3DnWKHUs’ finDO GULYH RI WKH KDOI, D 28yard catch on fourth down put Thompson in the end zone for the second time.
,n WKH HnG, 7KRmSsRn finished with 162 yards and two sFRUHs Ln WKH fiUsW KDOI DORnH WR KHOS OHDG WKH 3DnWKHUs WR D 28-7 win over Upper Dublin in a Suburban One American Conference meeting at Chel- tenham on Friday night.
“Mark does things for us that are really neat. You can’t say that he’s not an explosive kid or outstanding,” Cheltenham coach Joe dro sDLG. “2uU fiUsW KDOI wDs nLFH tonight and I was happy to see that. We needed it really bad.”
,W wDs D fiUsW KDOI WR IRUJHW for the Cardinals (3-3, 1-2), who allowed Cheltenham (4-2, 2-1) to outgain them in total yardage, 236-69, and sDw WKH 3DnWKHUs WDkH D 21-0 lead into the locker rooms.
“We had opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of them,” Upper Dublin coach Bret Stover said. “Cheltenham has some really good athletes and you have to play a perfect game against them and we didn’t have it tonight. You can’t give their athletes anything to capitalize on and our guys got beat on those plays and that was the difference tonight.”
CKHOWHnKDm’s fiUsW sFRULnJ drive was an impressive one, Ds WKH 3DnWKHUs UDn 12 SODys IRU 80 yDUGs wKLOH WDkLnJ D
full seven minutes off the clock. Thompson capped it RII wLWK D fivH-yDUG WRuFKdown run. On the Panthers’ next drive, Hyneef Dockery capped off a four-play, 44yard drive with a one-yard run to put Cheltenham up 14-0. Thompson’s second touchdown came with only 26 seconds remaining in the KDOI DnG finLsKHG RII Dn 11SODy, 76-yDUG, fivH PLnuWH, 38 second drive to put Cheltenham up by three scores.
“We came out electrifiHG,” 7KRPSsRn sDLG. “:H were coming off a tough loss from last week in a game we should’ve won.”
And while the offense slowed down in the second half, Cheltenham’s defense didn’t.
The Panthers recorded their second takeaway of the game when senior Jonathan Howard intercepted a John DHUU SDss nHDU PLGfiHOG Ln the third quarter. In the fourth, Dockery intercepted a pass and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 Cheltenham lead.
“The defense played a big part,” Thompson said. “We held them to zero until the jayvee came in, but our defense is a lot better than it was last year and we have a lot of guys in rotation doing what they need to do.”
Upper Dublin did get on WKH ERDUG Rn WKH finDO SODy RI the game, as backup quarterback Matt Thompson found Ryan Donacie for a 29-yard score in the corner of the end zone to end Cheltenham’s hopes at a shutout.
The Cardinals were led by Khalid Weems’ 53 rushing yards and 19 receiving yards. Thompson completed 2 of 3 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown in his limLWHG UROH Ln WKH finDO PLnuWH.
Cheltenham was led by Thompson, who rushed 18 times for 108 yards and a touchdown, while also catching three passes for 66 yards and a score. Dockery ran seven times for seven yards and a touchdown, while completing 6 of 12 passes for 94 yards and a score.
“We were real focused Ln WKH fiUsW KDOI DnG , WKLnN the kids were really tunnelvision focused,” Gro said. “I want to see us have that same kind of intensity in every game.”