Throughout the 2019 football season, Upper Perkiomen head football coach

Indians quarterback Tommy Flud throws a pass during  last Friday night's game at Pottstown  Flud entered the  game after starting quarterback Hunter Flack suffered an injury.

Tom Hontz has adopted the mantra of the next man up.

            Plagued by injuries early on, Hontz saw his starting backfield sidelined for the bulk of the season. Further dings came up front on the offensive line, as the team regularly paraded out a group of walking wounded behind the dressed players who would rush onto the field to start a game.

            And for a team without depth, a one-player loss can leave a hole on both sides of the ball, as well as special teams.

            Friday night the next man up motto played itself out on the road at Pottstown. Tied scoreless at half, Upper Perk found itself without the services of its starting quarterback Hunter Flack (hand) and running back Malachi Duka (ankle). The two offensive threats also were stalwarts in the defensive secondary, and Flack spearheads the special teams as he handles all the punting and kicking duties.

            Despite the changes in the lineup, the Indians fared quite well, taking a playoff-contending Pottstown squad into overtime before falling, 8-7.

            "The thing I learned was that this team cares," Hontz said. "We had a lot of tears after that heartbreaking loss, but we can be proud of our effort and that we never backed down. We really did a great job against a really good quarterback and we should be proud of that."

            Players who stepped up admirably in light of the injuries included: freshman Tommy Flud (quarterback), Nevan Smith (punter, defensive back), Nate Maiden (outside linebacker) and Trey Robinson and Hunter Sottung (running back).

            While there wasn't a whole lot of action in the first three-and-a-half quarters, the final five minutes of regulation and overtime more than made up for it. In overtime, Pottstown won the toss but decided to play defense to put the pressure on the Indians' freshman quarterback.

            Unfazed by the situation, Flud dropped back on first down and lofted a ball to the corner of the end zone that Andrew Carducci leaped up and snatched away from a Trojan defender. Flack's extra-point gave Upper Perk the 7-0 lead.

            Pottstown followed with a three-yard run on first down and then got stuffed by Corey Jackson and Ethan Wambold on second down. On third-and-goal, freshman quarterback Jonathan Oister scampered around the end toward the home sideline for a seven-yard score. Rather than go for the tie, the Trojans elected to go for the conversion and completed a short pass over the middle to claim the win.

            Defensively, Upper Perk (1-8, 0-5) held Pottstown (5-4, 2-3) to less than 200 yards and forced three turnovers. The Indians also proved the more disciplined team as the Trojans racked up 12 penalties for 120 yards, including three infractions that negated three would-be touchdowns.

            Jackson was a force in the secondary as he racked up nine solo tackles to go along with an interception and pass break-up. Senior Owen Rinehart had a monster of a game at linebacker as he tallied six solo stops, two tackles for a loss and broke up a pass. Up front, junior Riley Decker proved a menace to block as he made seven solo tackles and a sack.

            Other solid play came from Wambold (four tackles, tackle for a loss), Brady Thompson (two tackles for a loss, pass break-up), Gordon Pardy (three tackles), Nate Maiden (sack) and Damon Faraco (tackle for a loss).

            The Indians will close out their season tomorrow night at Norristown in a Pioneer Athletic Conference crossover matchup.