In The Huddle

By Dave Devlin

A majority of Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC-10) fans spent the weeks leading up to the 2011 football season wondering which team should be viewed as the clear favorite to win the league title. 

That lofty perch was reserved mostly for Boyertown and Spring-Ford with Upper Perkiomen and Phoenixville entering the discussion based on its veteran rosters.

Pottsgrove was always mentioned in those discussions, but for decidedly different reasons.       

There was plenty of evidence to suggest head coach Rick Pennypacker’s program would play no more than a supporting role in the crowning of this year’s league champion.      

The Falcons, who have outright won or shared seven Pioneer Athletic Conference titles in the league’s 25 year history, had lost to graduation the services of several sensational athletes, who helped Pottsgrove win two league titles and a District I AAA title over the course of the previous three seasons. Furthermore, while Pottsgrove was returning a slew of large and talented offensive linemen the skill positions would be filled with inexperienced and/or young players.

And when the Falcons opened the season with a non-league loss to Norristown, which included several self inflicted wounds, speculation that Pottsgrove may be in a year of transition, rather than chasing down their third league title in four years grew.

However, two weeks into its league schedule Pottsgrove has announced to the league that it has no intention of playing a supporting role to anyone in the PAC-10. And some of the explosive athletes lost to graduation have been successfully replaced.    

Friday evening, the Falcons moved out to a 2-0 mark in the league with a 67-7 thrashing of Upper Perkiomen, at Pottsgrove. This came on the heels of Pottsgrove taking down Pope John Paul II a week earlier 35-21. 

On Friday, offensive linemen Eric Bonenberger, Madison O’Connor, Scott Schollenberger, Dylan Pritchard and Zach Birch routinely moved Upper Perkiomen defenders off the line of scrimmage. This resulted in tailback Mark Dukes having room to turn on the jets to the tune of 242 yards and four touchdowns on a mere 11 carries. Dukes registered 233 yards in the first half as the Falcons raced out to a 46-7 lead at the half.  

Fellow running back Robby Curtain carried the ball five times for 113 yards and a score helping Pennypacker’s troops pile up 522 yards of total offense with 389 generated in the first half alone.

On defense Pottsgrove proved it still has the speed and toughness to take away the best offensive threats in the league. Upper Perkiomen quarterback Dylan Wesley was under pressure all night long and the speedy receiver Ronnie Gillespie was blanketed much of the night. 

It’s still very early in the season, but the conversation about who the favorite is to win a PAC-10 title most definitely includes Pottsgrove.

FOUR QUARTERS OF TROJANS: Pottstown turned the PAC-10 upside down with a 34-27 victory over Boyertown Friday night. The Bears have been mentioned often as the favorite to defend the league title they shared with Owen J. Roberts last season. 

Pottstown’s identity on the other hand was not as clear.

The Trojans recent history has been consistent. And unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons I’m afraid. Coaches in the PAC-10, including Pottstown head coach Brett Myers understand that Pottstown always has several athletes capable of breaking off a spectacular play at any point in a contest. But the Trojans have not been able to deliver the type of consistent complete game performance necessary to be a top threat in the league. Myers has been preaching to his players about the importance of a consistent four quarter effort each week.

On Friday evening, the Pottstown head coach got his wish.

Behind an outsized offensive line the Trojans piled up 451 yards of total offense. Running back Malik Brinkley ran 10 times for 125 yards and a touchdown and Corey Baker carried 15 times for 112 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Sage Reinhart completed 10 of 20 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns. Reinhart found Hakim Karif, Baker and Misohn Coppock for his three scoring strikes.

More importantly Pottstown recovered from surrendering a lead in the second half twice and shook off a pair of long drives deep into Boyertown territory that failed to produce points. In other words, the Trojans played hard for four quarters, kept themselves calm and as a result have gained a huge amount of confidence they will carry into the remainder of the season.

THE BEST OF WEEK 3: If you were not in attendance at the Methacton High School football stadium on Saturday afternoon or listening on WPAZ 1370 AM, you missed the most entertaining game of the young season. With respect to Boyertown and Pottstown, the Phoenixville Phantoms 32-28 victory over the Warriors was hard hitting, entertaining and heart stopping.

The game featured Phoenixville rallying from a 13-point second half deficit, three lead changes in the fourth quarter including the winning points scored with under a minute to play and an almost miracle finish by Methacton that left a Saturday afternoon crowd breathless.

The game was undecided until the clock was showing all zeros and Methacton receiver Cooper Given was ruled out of bounds in the back of the end zone.

* The most intriguing quarterback in my mind in the PAC-10 is Brandon Bossard. The 6 foot-2 inch, 200 pound junior is an extremely gifted athlete. He not only throws a beautiful pass, but can also make something special happen with his feet. More importantly, the Warriors quarterback is truly starting to understand the subtle nuances of the game, while gaining confidence in himself and his capable receiving corps.  

* The best part of Spring-Ford’s 33-21 victory over visiting Pope John Paul II came after the game from head coach Chad Brubaker while addressing the media. Brubaker voiced his displeasure in the Rams performance. Most notably the Rams head coach was not happy with the fact that his team was outscored 21-12 after a 21-pint first quarter.  While you may question why a head coach was unhappy about a victory, it proves the climate in the Rams program is starting to change. And change for the better. 

Yes, Spring-Ford put up the most wins in a season for its program since 1998 with a 9-3 record last year. And yes it is off to a solid start to this season (2-1 overall). But Brubaker is looking for the Rams to take the next step in their evolution and the head coach is not willing to accept a lackluster effort, even if it results in a win. Call it a teaching moment for the present and the future.

ON TAP FOR WEEK 4: The Boyertown loss to Pottstown has put the Bears hopes of repeating as league champions in early jeopardy. And with Pottsgrove traveling to Boyertown this Friday evening the Bears have to dust themselves off quickly. 

The Bears were the first team to knock Pottsgrove off of its lofty perch last season and the Falcons would love nothing more than to deal Boyertown a serious blow to its championship hopes, while taking another positive step towards recapturing PAC-10 glory for themselves.

This is the Game of the Week on WPAZ 1370 AM. Game time is 7 pm. Pre-game show airs at 6 pm.

Pottstown travels to Perkiomen Valley for a game between two programs looking to build on big wins this past weekend. Pottstown got a stunning victory against Boyertown. Perkiomen Valley exercised some demons with a 31-12 victory over Owen J. Roberts, in Bucktown after dropping two of the previous three losses to the Wildcats by a total of three points.

In other Friday action Phoenixville will try to improve to 2-0 in the PAC-10 and 4-0 overall when they travel to Owen J. Roberts. Upper Perkiomen looks for a big rebound from this past Friday when they host Spring-Ford. 

On Saturday Pope John Paul II hosts Methacton at 1 pm. 

Dave Devlin is the News/Sports & Information director at WPAZ 1370 AM. He can be reached at  HYPERLINK "mailto:ddevlin@wpazradio.com" ddevlin@wpazradio.com.