BOYERTOWN ' When Cody Fleming finished his eighth grade football season, the now Upper Perkiomen senior fully expected his team to win a state championship in his final year of high school.

 

During that eighth grade season, Fleming and his teammates rolled to a 6-0 record, were unscored upon, and garnered a lot of attention as well as expectations from the community.

 

But times changed.

 

And what Fleming hoped would end with a state medal in Hershey concluded Thursday afternoon with a 44-14 victory over Boyertown in the eighth renewal of the Turkey Bowl. The win was the first since 2005 in the series for the Indians (4-5, 6-6), and though Fleming and his teammates hoped for the postseason, they couldn't have been happier to end this year at .500.

 

While any last game is special for a senior, Fleming had added motivation. Before Thursday's game, Fleming was asked to wear the jersey of fellow senior Keith Klepac - who died in a car accident in August - by his mother.

Fleming responded by rushing for 234 yards on 16 carries and four touchdowns to push him over 1,000 yards on the season. On defense, Fleming posted nine solo tackles and two for a loss.

 

"I obviously said yes when I was asked to wear the jersey, I was honored to," Fleming said. "It's just an awesome feeling. When I was a sophomore, we beat Boyertown on this field and I just wanted to do the same, and I enjoyed it very much. And I can't give any more credit to the offensive line for helping me get to 1,000."

 

While Upper Perk cruised to the 30-point differential, it was Boyertown that jumped on the scoreboard first.

On the Bears' (1-8, 1-11) first offensive play, quarterback David Crognale hit Ryan Schwager for a 39-yard gain. Two plays later, Crognale found Logan Herb on a swing pass that the sophomore took for 19 yards to the end zone.

 

But from there, things just didn't go Boyertown's way.

 

It all started on Upper Perk's next series as Fleming rumbled for a 38-yard score early in the first quarter. The Tribe's next three possessions also ended in touchdowns, thanks to a 50-yard run by Fleming, a 25-yard touchdown toss from Justin Kresge to Justin Horning (three receptions, 105 yards), and a 65-yard sprint by Fleming.

 

Trying to play catch-up, the Bears turned to the passing game, evidenced by Crognale's 310 passing yards and two touchdowns. His favorite receiver, junior Eric Repko, hauled in eight catches for 122 yards and a score. Schwager caught six balls for 110 yards and four other Boyertown receivers combined for eight catches that spanned 78 yards. The Bears' game, meanwhile, mustered minus-47 yards, most forced by six Upper Perk sacks.

 

"We gave away the momentum with turnovers," said Boyertown head coach Ron Zeiber. "David threw the ball real well, and we had to throw the ball a lot more than we like to because they did such a good job defensively on us. They played very well."

 

Boyertown cut Upper Perk's lead to 14 points in the second quarter after a 55-yard scoring reception from Repko, but Upper Perk answered with a nine-yard run by Fleming to take a 35-14 advantage into halftime.

Upper Perk capped the scoring in the second half thanks on an 85-yard interception return for a score from Josh Mack, and a 26-yard field goal from Shane Iman.

 

"We've had to overcome so much adversity this season and the seniors put this team on their back, made practices fun, flew around the field, and the young kids followed them," Upper Perk head coach Keith Leamer said. "Our kids have gained a lot of confidence, and the adversity we had there in the first quarter was nothing like what we've had to endure all season."

 

Besides standout performances from Fleming and Mack, Upper Perk's defense got three sacks from senior defensive end Dane Kress, 1ˆ½ sacks from John Artim, and a lone drop from Tyler Wesley. Also, Chase Fleming picked off a pass, Jawad Majeed had two tackles for losses, and Britt Kerr had four solo tackles and broke up a pass.

 

Boyertown got fumble recoveries from Wes Mitchell and Alax DeJohn. For Zeiber, the game represented a jumping-off point for 2008 in a season in which the Bears had to overcome a rash of injuries, as well as a young squad.

 

"A lot of our guys got a lot better, we just lost so much that we played a lot of young guys," Zeiber said. "And because of injuries, our captains weren't even playing anymore, they were watching. It was tough, a challenging season - all we can hope for is that the young guys come back next year and learn from it."