UPPER DUBLIN — Jordan Fields has been Upper Dublin’s lead running back for a few weeks now and the senior made the most of his opportunity in the first round of the District 1-5A playoffs.
Fields carried the ball 25 times for 175 yards and three touchdowns in the sixth-seeded Cardinals 31-21 win over No. 11 Unionville at Upper Dublin High School Friday night.
“It feels good to step up,” Fields, who added one reception for 20 yards, said. “It feels real good. I just have to keep my head up and keep going.”
“You rely on your seniors this late in the year,” Upper Dublin coach Bret Stover said. “We were mostly seniors. It’s playoff football. It’s what you want to do in November. These seniors have built this program, continue the building of the program and you want to play them. They responded tonight.”
Fields’ big day sends the Cardinals to the district quarterfinals, where they’ll visit No. 3 Phoenixville next weekend.
The 5-foot-9, 155-pound running back proved that he can cause a defense headaches in a variety of ways. He broke seven tackles – including one that drew a 15-yard facemask penalty – on his 47-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Late in the fourth quarter, he broke one tackle, kept his balance and was off to the races for a 38-yard touchdown to put Upper Dublin ahead 31-21 with 2:25 to go.
“I’m very impressed with the way he carried the ball,” Stover said. “I was just telling him, his short-yard runs where he got one or two, those are the ones that we needed. The big runs are the big runs, but I’m impressed with the way he stuck his head in there tonight and fell forward.”
“Jordan’s so fast,” Upper Dublin senior wide receiver and defensive back Eric Berman said. “He can hit the holes well. He’s just a great asset for our team. He’s going to do great things for us in the future.”
The Cardinals (8-3) took control of the game after halftime. They went on a 14-play drive that took 7:58 off the clock and ended with a 26-yard Matthew Miller field to give them a two-possession lead, 24-14.
The Longhorns responded with a 14-play drive of their own that took 7:23 off the clock, but they came away with no points. Back-to-back incomplete passes on third and fourth down from the Upper Dublin eight-yard line kept it a two-possession game, 24-14, with 8:39 remaining.
Unionville didn’t roll over. They forced a three-and-out – Upper Dublin’s only punt of the night – and drove for a touchdown. Brody McLaughlin,who finished with 117 yards on 19 carries, scored with 2:49 left to get the Longhorns within a field goal, 24-21.
“Our guys played the way we played all season,” Unionville coach Tim Murphy said. “They just kept fighting. No matter what it was – no matter the time left on the clock, no matter the score – we just kept fighting.”
Shane Greenberg recovered the ensuing onsides kick for Upper Dublin and, three plays later, Fields ran for his 38-yard score.
On the first play of Unionville’s ensuing drive, Berman grabbed an interception to seal the win. That play capped a strong performance by the Upper Dublin defense, which included two fourth-down stops and keeping Unionville off the scoreboard from 9:12 remaining in the second quarter until 2:49 left in the fourth.
“We had a great week of practice,” Berman said. “We were ready. Our coaches got us ready. We had to bear down. We wanted to win. We wanted to get to round two. We executed very well out there.”
Unionville jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its opening drive when Drew Puleo scored from 23 yards away on a reverse. Upper Dublin answered immediately with an 18-yard connection between quarterback Kevin Etkin and Berman to tie the game, 7-7.
Fields’ 47-yard touchdown run put Upper Dublin in front, but Unionville responded two plays later with an 81-yard pass from quarterback Tommy McGinnis to Sam Pickar to make it 14-14.
Fields scored a seven-yard touchdown to give Upper Dublin a 21-14 lead and the Cardinals had a chance to add a field goal before halftime, but Unionville’s Jack Law blocked the 46-yard attempt.
Unionville’s season ends with the loss. The Longhorns finish with a 6-5 record this fall.
“I’m super proud of our kids and everything they’ve done,” Murphy said. “We ask them to do a lot and they always respond.”
Upper Dublin 31, Unionville 21
Unionville 7 7 0 7 – 21
Upper Dublin 7 14 3 7 – 31
Scoring
First Quarter
UN – Drew Puleo 23-yard run (Ryan Keaveney kick) 6:25
UD – Eric Berman 18-yard reception from Kevin Etkin (Matthew Miller kick) :09
Second Quarter
UD – Jordan Fields 47-yard run (Matthew Miller kick) 10:08
UN – Sam Pickar 81-yard reception from Tommy McGinnis (Ryan Keaveney kick) 9:12
UD – Jordan Fields 7-yard run (Matthew Miller kick) 3:33
Third Quarter
UD – Matthew Miller 26-yard field goal 4:02
Fourth Quarter
UN – Brody McLaughlin 9-yard run (Ryan Keaveney kick) 2:49
UD – Jordan Fields 38-yard run (Matthew Miller kick) 2:25
TEAM STATISTICS
UN UD
First downs 13 20
Rushes-Yards 30-175 41-246
Passing yards 159 107
Total yards 334 353
Passing 6-15-1 8-14-0
Punts 1 1
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 5-34 4-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
UN: Tommy McGinnis 8-34; Brody McLaughlin 19-117, TD; Owen Simcox 2-1; Drew Puleo 1-23, TD.
UD: Jordan Fields 25-175, 3 TD; Shane Greenberg 3-8; Kevin Etkin 9-28; MJ Stokes 3-32; Mikal Tindal 1-3.
PASSING
UN: Tommy McGinnis 6-15-159-1-1.
UD: Kevin Etkin 8-14-107-1-0.
RECEIVING
UN: Drew Puleo 3-61; Sam Pickar 1-81, TD; Hayden Wenturine 1-10; Brody McLaughlin 1-7.
UD: Eric Berman 4-49, TD; Ryan O’Sullivan 2-27; Benji Ravitz 1-11; Jordan Fields 1-20.
INTERCEPTIONS
UD: Eric Berman.
