It was a simple concept for Upper Perkiomen's football team last Friday night: win and you're in.

Indians quarterback Logan O'Donnell makes a rush for the endzone and scores a touchdown in Friday night's game  against Methacton.

            A victory against visiting Methacton in the Pioneer Athletic Conference crossover game would send the Indians–who came into the contest as the No. 15 seed in the 16-team field–into the District 1 5A playoffs, while a loss would most likely end the Tribe's season.

            As it turned out, the Tribe wasn't quite ready to end its season. Backed by a ground game that scored four touchdowns and controlled the clock, not to mention a defense that came up with three turnovers – two that led to touchdowns – the team rolled to a 35-7 win over the Warriors (3-7, 2-3 Liberty).

            The win earned the Indians the 14th seed and a playoff rematch against Frontier Division foe Phoenixville, who vaulted up to the third spot in the standings with a 24-0 victory over Owen J. Roberts this past Friday night. The last time Upper Perk qualified for playoffs was the 2017-18 season when it won a first-round game against Pope John Paul II before a season-ending loss the following week to Pottsgrove.

            "Winning was huge on every level," said second-year head Upper Perk coach Dan Heinrichs. "We have put in the work and had guys buying in from day one, and to have a winning season with a state playoff opportunity is awesome. It takes everyone from the top to the bottom of our roster to be successful. We have dedication and ambition at all levels."

            Upper Perk's (6-4, 2-3) recipe for success against Methacton was a dominant and persistent ground game. Zach Schwartz led the charge as the senior rushed 22 times for 104 yards and a score, as Brody Weiss returned from injury and did the grunt work between the tackles for 42 yards and a score on 12 carries.

            Quarterback Logan O'Donnell got involved in the ground game with two carries for 21 yards and a touchdown (and added a 19-yard pass to Aiden Void early in the second quarter), as Kane Krier (four carries, 17 yards) and backup quarterback Grayson Sabo (one carry, eight yards TD), who played the second half, also helped out the effort.

            Defensively, Weiss tallied five tackles and two for a loss, Void and Benjamin Sands picked off passes, Krier had five stops and Ethan Scharneck recovered a fumble. Jonathan Strohl had two tackles and one for a loss and O'Donnell forced a fumble.

            "Methacton is a good football team with a physical mentality," Heinrichs said. "In the beginning it was exactly what we knew it would be in the first quarter. Back-and-forth football with some big chunk plays that gave us the chance to drive the field and control the clock. Defensively we read our keys and played disciplined defense."

            Upper Perk scored first early in the second quarter as part of an eight-minute, 12-play drive that culminated in O'Donnell's strike to Void in the end zone from 19 yards out. The Indians added to the lead right before half as the defense held on four downs to hand the ball over to the offense with five minutes left. The Indians used all but two seconds of the remaining time to score on a drive that featured 14 straight run plays, the last eight yards of which O'Donnell scrambled for on a pass play on third-and-6 from the 8.

            The Indians padded the lead in the third quarter after Sands' interception that gave the Tribe the ball on Methacton's 8. Sabo ran it in from there a play later to make it 21-0, and Void's pick on the Warriors' next drive gave the Indians the ball on Methacton's 12 – setting the table for Weiss' one-yard scoring plunge. Upper Perk made it 35-0 thanks to a 36-yard score from Schwartz off the left side to set the mercy clock into motion.
            Upper Perk will look to take the momentum into tomorrow night's game at Phoenixville. The last time the two teams met two weeks ago, the Phantoms dominated 40-14 as the Indians had to contend with a host of game-related injuries.

            "We know what kind of environment we are walking into this week," Heinrichs said. "We are going to work hard and prevent the big plays on defense and control the game offensively. We have improved as a football team in the time since we have played them, and after watching film I think they have as well. We need to be ready for a four-quarter fight and bring the confidence and discipline we maintained last Friday.             We are excited for this opportunity and are not ready to hang up the cleats."