It all came down to big plays in Upper Perkiomen's season opener against backyard rival Boyertown at Bill Keeny Stadium last week.

            The Bears tallied scoring runs of 73 and 71 yards in the first quarter, while the Indians countered with a 31-yard touchdown pass on fourth down, and a 22-yard score

Benjamin Sands, left, dives for a pass in the end zone while Boyertown's Tilman Henley defends the play.  Upper Perk- iomen lost its season opener at Keeny Stadium in overtime last week.

late in the third quarter.

            But Boyertown came up with the final big play, a 10-yard keeper from quarterback Tilman Henley on its first offensive play in overtime that lifted his team to a 20-17 victory on Friday, Aug. 22.

            The Bears took the early momentum after forcing a three-and-out, then scored on the first play as Henley faked a handoff and then raced through the Indians' defense and outran the secondary to open up a 7-0 lead. Henley led all rushers with 132 yards and two scores on 17 totes.

            Two offensive series later, Boyertown made it a two-score lead as senior Michael Boorse went up the gut for a 71-yard scoring romp with less than a minute left in the opening quarter.

            "The early scores on defense came down to tackling and three to four guys not doing their job," said third-year Upper Perkiomen head coach Dan Heinrichs. "Defense is a do-your-job discipline, and unfortunately, we had two of those breakdowns. We cannot start off slow in the first quarter and spend the rest of the game catching up."

            To its credit, the Tribe's defense was able to hem in the Bears from there, keeping them off the scoreboard for the next three quarters. Braeden O'Donnell helped bolster the effort with a tackle for a loss on third-and-7 after the score. Fellow junior Aaron Maiden helped set the table for his team's first score as he pulled down an interception on third down a drive later. In the fourth quarter, John Renzi came up with a strip sack, with the fumble recovered by Ethan Scharneck.

            "After settling in and getting back to reading keys and adjusting our front each series inside, we found our rhythm on defense for the next three quarters," Heinrichs said.

            Brody Weiss led the defense with seven tackles and broke up a pass, as Scharneck, Maddux Diaz, Zane Saeger, Dylan Bieber and Murray Smith all had three solo tackles. Nate Schramm tallied a sack from his spot at defensive end and Maiden notched a tackle for a loss on special teams.

            Upper Perkiomen got onto the scoreboard thanks to Maiden's interception that put the ball on the Bears' 37-yard line. Facing fourth-and-24, it initially lined up to kick a 47-yard field goal before the Bears called a timeout. After the stoppage, the Indians sent out the offense and senior quarterback Logan O'Donnell lofted a jump ball to Renzi who outmuscled the defender in the end zone with 38 seconds left before half.

            Logan O'Donnell knotted it up, 14-14, late in the third quarter as he made an inside juke, then found the visitors' sideline on a keeper off the left side for a 21-yard touchdown.

            In overtime, Upper Perkiomen received the ball first and had to settle for a 20-yard field goal from Brody Lash on fourth down.

            Weiss led the Indians with 54 yards on 16 carries as Logan O'Donnell picked up 34 yards on 11 carries and a score as part of a 116-yard team rushing total. In the air, O'Donnell completed nine of his 16 passes for 120 yards with a touchdown.

            Scharneck led all receivers with one catch for 46 yards, which came on the first play of the scoring drive that culminated in Renzi's TD. Renzi had two catches for 43 yards and a score, Tucker Ruch had two catches for 10 yards, Braeden O'Donnell had two catches for five yards and Schramm and Saeger each had one apiece.

            "Positives from Friday include the fighting back and not quitting on ourselves," Heinrichs said. "I think some guys really stepped up. Our wideouts helped us move down the field when our run game struggled as much as it ever has and we had injuries on the offensive line that led to a young freshman jumping in and holding his own."

            The Indians will look to make the adjustments on a short week as it will travel tonight to Fleetwood for a 7 p.m. non-league contest. The Tigers won a 54-34 shootout in their season opener against Kutztown.