In The Huddle

By Dave Devlin

Spring-Ford head coach Chad Brubaker stated early this season he was bringing sophomore Jarred Jones along slowly and making the young running back earn his way onto the field. 

After Jones put up a scintillating 207 yards on 15 carries with two scores Friday evening in Spring-Ford’s 49-35 victory over Pottsgrove, Brubaker’s tough stance was rewarded.

Jones was the “X”: factor in his team’s victory which marked the first time the Rams defeated the Falcons in 12 years. His efforts came mostly in the second half after Coyne threw for 204 of his passing yards in the first half. Jones Gained 170 yards in the final two quarters as the Rams pulled away late for the victory which kept Spring-Ford undefeated in league play at 3-0 (4-1 overall).

The Rams came into the season with a formidable passing attack with Coyne at the helm and several capable receivers including the very athletic Andrew Scanlan. With the speedy and shifty Jones now ripping off big chunks of yardage, opponents are forced to account for both the pass and the run making the Rams a matchup nightmare for defensive coordinators.

After the game Pottsgrove head coach Rick Pennypacker explained that Spring-Ford, “Has so many guys that can hurt you." You got the feeling that the Falcons head coach came to that conclusion mostly after watching Jones score on runs of 49 and 75 yards in the second half.

If Brubaker continues to find a way to keep Jones motivated and earning his carries, Spring-Ford will continue to keep defenses guessing. And that bodes well for the Rams who are in good position to take a run at their first Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC-10) title since 1998.

Gaining Confidence

With three weeks of league play in the books it’s not a stretch to say Perkiomen Valley has taken the most positive strides forward. 

The Vikings entered the season with a team short on experience, but a lot of talented young players. What the young Vikings needed was some early success if they were hoping to write a positive new chapter in 8th year head coach Scott Reed’s program. 

And boy howdy … are the Vikings brimming with confidence now.

Perkiomen rallied from behind for the third straight week with a 22-21 win over the Boyertown Bears. The Vikings scored with 1:03 remaining to pull to within one-point and won the game on a two-point conversion pass from wide receiver Clay Domine to Ezra Ranco on a nifty display of trickery.

The victory kept Perkiomen Valley undefeated in league play at 3-0 (4-1 overall) and tied for first place with Spring-Ford. 

Yes, Reed knows there is plenty to work on still with his young troops. But having success will keep the Vikings confident and working hard week in and week out. 

Things I Noticed in Week 5

Pottstown showed resilience in their 13-9 victory over Phoenixville.

Not only did the Trojans have to overcome a heartbreaking loss to Perkiomen Valley the previous week, the Trojans vaunted speed game was in lock down due to a supreme effort from the Phoenixville defense, on Friday night.

Frustrated for three quarters, Pottstown never panicked and put together a splendid 13-point fourth quarter and a game saving tackle at the one-yard line to steal a game away from an opponent.

As a result, the Trojans (2-1, 4-2 overall) kept themselves well positioned to compete for a league title and a place in the district playoffs.

• Pope John Paul II earned their first league win of the season because they found a way to run the ball. 

The Golden Panthers (1-2, 2-3 overall) got a 154-yard, two touchdown effort out of running back Johnnie Cherneskie in a 28-14 victory over Owen J. Roberts. Cherneskie also hauled in a touchdown pass.

All told, 189 of the winners 289 yards came on the ground. Pope John Paul II quarterback Dave Cotellese has one of the purest arms in the league to go along with a trio of talented receivers, but the continued improvement on the ground will be necessary if the Panthers are to make additional noise in the league.        

• One of the toughest two-way players in the league is Phoenixville’s Alec McQuiston. Phoenixville will remain a tough to beat opponent for the duration of the season because of his splendid play on both sides of the ball. 

• Let’s give Upper Perkiomen Head Coach Keith Leamer and his seniors some credit this week.

In what is no doubt an already highly frustrating season, Leamer challenged his seniors to take ownership of themselves and the team. And despite a 21-20 double overtime loss to Methacton on Saturday afternoon, the Indians (0-3 PAC-10, 1-4 overall) may be in position to salvage some good moments during the remaining seven games on their schedule.

The Indians defense, which was torn apart in the first two weeks of the PAC-10 season, came to play against a talented Methacton team and held it to just one touchdown in regulation.

If that type of effort is on display for the remainder of the season and the offense, which has some very talented players at the skill positions can find its footing, Upper Perkiomen will be no pushover from here on out.

ON TAP FOR WEEK 6

There is a Thursday night matchup that you don’t want to miss.

Perkiomen Valley travels down to Phoenixville (2-1, 4-1 overall) for a 7 p.m. affair at Washington Field. 

The surprising Vikings will need another four quarter effort against a Phoenixville team that tasted defeat for the first time this past Friday evening. The Phantoms were stopped one-yard short of placing themselves in a three-way tie for first place in the league.

Boyertown has three losses in the PAC-10 to start the season, but a case can be made that the Bears were one-play short of victory in each game.

Undefeated Spring-Ford could easily look past the struggling Bears in the Friday night WPAZ PAC-10 Game of the Week (7 p.m.) 

Boyertown (0-3, 2-3 overall) would love nothing more than to knock the Rams out of the undefeated ranks and get their season back on the winning track.  

Methacton takes on what is no doubt an ornery Pottsgrove team. The Warriors survived a spirited effort against Upper Perkiomen last Saturday and will have to bring their “A” game to Pottsgrove, which is coming off its first league loss to Spring-Ford. 

There will be one team left out of the win column in league play after Owen J. Roberts (0-3, 1-4 overall) travels to Upper Perkiomen (0-3, 1-4 overall) on Friday evening.

On Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.) Pottstown travels to Pope John Paul II.      

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