Cheltenham storms back to stun Upper Moreland

WILLOW GROVE >> In front of a packed stadium at Upper Moreland High School, the Cheltenham High School Panthers came back from a 14-0 deficit to stun the hosting Golden Bears with a final score of 19-14.

Before the opening kickoff, Upper Moreland High School honored its 15 seniors for it was the last home game of the regular season in their final year at Upper Moreland.

The game was also a pink out and the 2018 homecoming game for Upper Moreland High School.

Highlighting the class of 2019 football team was running back Caleb Mead, who scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and highlighted all the scoring for the Golden Bears.

Other seniors for Upper Moreland included Diego Orozco, John Richter, Rylan Bradley, Amensa Mitchell, Jose Martinez, George Holcombe, Safier Barr, Gil Borges, Robert Easley, Justin Johnson, Timothy Khalil, Donovan Mulligan, Andy Chicas, and RB Fayall.

After being down 14-0, Cheltenham was able to respond late in the second quarter after Adonis Hunter threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Nathaniel Edwards to make the score 14-6 at halftime.

The Panthers made the game even closer on their first drive of the second half that ended with a 21yard touchdown pass from Hunter to Edwards for the second time.

With under six minutes left in the third quarter, Cheltenham took a surprising lead after Hunter took a quarterback sneak from the Bears’ one-yard line to give the Panthers the 19-14 lead.

Outstanding defense from both teams kept the game at 19-14 with Upper Moreland getting one more drive with under two minutes left in the game.

However, a last minute interception thrown inside the red zone by Jon Knight sealed the big win for Cheltenham and move one step closer to a district playoff spot.

Edwards finished the game with seven receptions for 116 yards and two touchdowns.

“We were just trying to win the game and continue to push a playoff spot,” said Edwards. “Like coach said just do the little things right, trust our offense, defense and grab the win.”

Hunter finished the game with 10 completions on 18 attempts with 176 passing yards and two touchdowns.

“Everyone knows that I like to go for the deep passes,” said Hunter. “But when we have a great offense and the defense gives us some short plays and we have great coaching, that’s what we go for to get the win.”

Cheltenham head coach Ryan Nase was thrilled for his team against a tough offense with Mead running the ball for most of the game for Upper Moreland.

“The kids are very tough and this season means so much to them after a tough one last year,” said Nase. “We want people to change the way they look at Cheltenham football and they don’t want to miss a down or snap this season.”

Mead finished the game with 205 rushing yards, 42 receiving yards, and two touchdowns in the loss.

Upper Moreland head coach CJ Szydlik was proud of Mead’s performance despite the tough loss.

“Caleb’s Caleb,” said Szydlik. “He ran the ball very well and did great on defense with all the vertical passes.”

“So it was tough for him to play both sides of the field,” added Szydlik. “But he’s tough and a really good football player.”

With the win, the Cheltenham Panthers improved to 6-3 overall with one game left to play.

Cheltenham will hit the road for the last game of the regular desperately looking to clinch a playoff spot when it takes on Wissahickon High School next Friday for a 7 p.m.

Upper Moreland will head to Suburban One League American leader Upper Dublin High School for a 7 pm kickoff to start its two-game road trip.

Cheltenham 19, Upper Moreland 14

CH 0 6 13 0 -19

UM- Mead 73-yard run (Veneziale kick) UM- Mead 4-yard run (Veneziale kick) CH- Hunter 24-yard pass to Edwards (PAT failed)

CH- Hunter 21-yard pass to Edwards (PAT failed)

CH- Hunter 1-yard run (Grady kick) CH UM

First downs 16

Rushing yards 185

Passing yards 176

Total yards 361

Passing 10-18

Penalties 6-41

Fumbles lost

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

14 274 111 385 7-14 5-55 0 RUSHING – Cheltenham: Barnes 23-135; Williams 6-24; Hunter 6-23, 1 TD; Sykes 2-3. Upper Moreland: 27-205, 2 TD; Knight 7-38; Barr 4-31.

PASSING – Cheltenham: Hunter 10-18, 176 yds, 2 TD. Upper Moreland: Knight 7-14, 111 yds.

RECEIVING – Cheltenham: Edwards 7-116, 2 TD; Harris 1-41; Felix 1-14; Barnes 1-5. Upper Moreland: Troxell 2-47; Mead 2-42; Johnson 1-12; Richter 1-5; Dukes 1-5.