This column was originally published in the Oct. 4 edition of The Mercury.

Scott Reed likes being under the radar, actually enjoys not getting any attention. Getting overlooked, not getting detected as any sort of a real threat, is just fine.

But after five weeks of football, Reed and his young Perkiomen Valley troops are popping up as more than just a blip on the Pioneer Athletic Conference screen.

Three straight come-from-behind wins – including two over opponents very few outside the Graterford compound thought they could overrun – has ended the obscurity … has exposed the team’s might.

So much so, that neither Reed nor his staff can camouflage the Vikings any longer.

And no one is aware of that more than Reed.

After surviving a season-opening, triple-overtime brawl against Lansdale Catholic (a team that is still winless), and coming up with just a brief battle cry in a loss to Souderton, the Vikings have – in a word – rallied.

Despite running into one enemy with considerably more size and another with more considerably more speed, they have survived. They trailed Owen J. Roberts by six early and won, 31-12. They trailed Pottstown by 21 early and won, 2521. They trailed Boyertown by 14 in the second quarter and won, 22-21.

Now they’re 3-0 in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, sitting atop the standings alongside Spring-Ford going into Thursday night’s game at Phoenixville.

“In all my years of coaching football I’ve never seen a team more resilient than this one,” Reed said. “We’ve been down the last three weeks and have come back (to win). That’s a testament to the kids. They just don’t quit.”

And to think just a month and a half ago, Reed welcomed a group of relative strangers. Their ability, or capability, was unknown … a work in process from Day One. “I really didn’t know anything about most of them when we opened camp,” Reed explained. “I didn’t know what I had. I honestly didn’t know what I had and knew I wouldn’t know until we got these kids to play a varsity game.”

Reed got a little insight into what he had and where he was going following scrimmages against Daniel Boone and Exeter – two teams that happen to have spotless 5-0 records right now – and the non-league confrontations with Lansdale Catholic and Souderton. But he went into the PAC-10 portion of the schedule with an offense that featured just four seniors, and only one (center Sean Leary) started every game a year ago. His defense had eight seniors, but only two lettermen among that group.

“We certainly had a bunch of fresh faces at camp,” Reed said. “But we looked at it as a fresh start, as a renewal of faith in our program. The kids had it tough early. We tested them early. Still, we didn’t have a lot of good answers at first.

“We’ve just made a lot of personnel changes on the fly. We’ve done a lot of shuffling, mixing and matching to get the right combinations. Right now we feel we have people in the right positions, our best 11 on the field to play offense, defense and special teams.”

As Reed pointed out, all the numbers – those often fortune-telling statistics – don’t necessarily add up for the Vikings. They’ve actually given up 201 yards more than they’ve generated, and because of the two one-point wins have outscored their opponents by a mere eight points overall.

But they’ve played opportunistic football. They haven’t hurt themselves with penalties (just 19 in five games). They’ve come up with 11 turnovers (plusthree in takeaways).

The special teams have been nothing shy of superb. Two blocked punts were pivotal in the wins over Owen J. Roberts and Boyertown. In between, Kyle Chudoba hit three field goals in the slop against Pottstown, not to mention boomed a 60-yard punt to pin the Trojans inside their own 10-yard line in the waning moments of the game. The return teams have excelled as well, with Ryan Boyd’s return of a kickoff for a touchdown igniting the comeback against Pottstown.

“I can’t say enough about our special teams, and our defense has come up with some key stops, too,” Reed said.

Perkiomen Valley has had its share of headliners. Sophomore quarterback Rasaan “Rock” Stewart has been a big difference on offense, “maturing faster than expected” as Reed put it. Dante Golson-Goodman is among the area’s leading ballcarriers, and Boyd is among the area’s leading receivers. Both Goodman and Boyd are excellent corners, too, getting a lot of help up front from the likes of Nick Delaney, Dave Forrest and Ezra Ranco, to name a few.

“We just wish we could get off to a good start once,” said Reed, who’s obviously had enough of the comeback route. “You don’t want to count on coming back like we have every week. Maybe we’re just a bunch of rodents … put our backs up against the wall so we’ll scratch and fight. I don’t have all the answers.

“But I do know our league is so crazy this year. It’s a mystery. It seems each week is a puzzle to solve. We keep telling our kids, like we have all season, to keep that intensity. We tell them to be intense, be competitive.”

Spring-Ford’s 49 points last Friday night were good enough to end an 11-game losing streak to Pottsgrove. They were also the most points any Spring-Ford team has put up against Pottsgrove in league play (and the most since a 42-0 shutout in 1987). … The 49 also tied the mark for the most ever allowed by a Pottsgrove team in league play, equaling the total in last year’s loss to Owen J. Roberts and a 2007 setback to Lansdale Catholic. … Going into the game, the Falcons had allowed just six first-quarter points the entire season, but surrendered 14 to the Rams. They hadn’t allowed a single second-half point the previous two weeks, but the Rams rung up 21 overall in the third and fourth quarters. … Last Friday night at Owen J. Roberts, Pope John Paul II went into the locker room at halftime with a lead for the first time this season. The Golden Panthers held onto it, too, and picked up their second PAC-10 win since arriving in the league a year ago.

For the first time this season, Daniel Boone didn’t put any points up on the scoreboard in the first quarter and had a seasonlow seven at the halfway mark of Friday’s game up at Pottsville. The Blazers, whose defense has yet to allow a first-quarter point, loosened up in the second half and won rather easily, 28-12, to improve to 5-0.

Perkiomen School, which is off this week, is 3-1 thus far and, with four games remaining, has a chance to match the 7-1 mark of two years ago. That’s a big deal considering Perkiomen hasn’t had an eight-win season in 33 years – or back in 1978 when the then Indians went 8-1. The only season that ended better than that was 65 years ago – or when the then Indians went 7-0-1 in 1946. … The Hill School dropped its third straight game Saturday night, but was back on the practice field Monday in preparation for its Mid-Atlantic Prep League opener against visiting Peddie School on Thursday afternoon. Peddie is led by former Hill head coach Frank deLaurentis.

This column was originally published in the Sept. 30 edition of The Mercury.

In five of its seven Pioneer Athletic Conference championship seasons, Pottsgrove shot through September safe and sound — or unbeaten, to be more specific — against its league rivals. Getting out of the football gate in a hurry, or successfully, is nothing new for head coach Rick Pennypacker and the Falcons.
Pottsgrove has yet another opportunity to run its mark to 4-0 (4-1 overall) before flipping the calendar when it visits SpringFord tonight.

With new headliners like quarterback Tory Hudgins and running backs Robbie Curtin and Mark Dukes and a cast of unsung goliaths up front, the Falcons have provided many, many answers in arguably the most puzzling start of any Pioneer Athletic Conference season. And back-to-back wins over two of the teams expected to contend for this year’s title – Upper Perkiomen two weeks ago and Boyertown last week – have been their latest statements.

But, as Pennypacker preached more than once this week, getting to 3-0 wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination. And getting to 4-0, against SpringFord, well… “We may be playing the best team in the league,” Pennypacker said. “Everyone thought Spring-Ford would be good, and we think they’re as good as advertised. We know they’ll be highly motivated, too.”

The Rams, spotless in two PAC-10 games with an overall record identical to the Falcons, will indeed have – or should have at least – some added incentives scribbled in their playbook. They haven’t opened league play with three straight wins in 11 years; haven’t beaten a Pottsgrove team in 12 years; haven’t won a PAC-10 title in 16 years; and haven’t yet appeared in the postseason since playoffs began 19 years ago.

“Our kids are aware we haven’t beaten Pottsgrove in a long time,” said secondyear Spring-Ford head coach Chad Brubaker, whose first attempt to end the skid against Pottsgrove a year ago ended in a 20-14 setback. “It is imperative we don’t look ahead right now because, like we tell the kids every week, none of the other games matter as much if we don’t win this week.”

Pottsgrove has a notable advantage up front in size, a slight advantage behind those lines in speed, and the obvious advantage in big-game experience. But as Pennypacker said, Spring-Ford’s versatility – or balance – can neutralize any if not all advantages.

The Rams’ rise began a year ago with the throwing arm of quarterback Hank Coyne. The junior is still throwing, completing 42 of 69 attempts for 624 yards and seven touchdowns (with just one interception), and still has reliable receivers to throw to with Andrew Scanlan, Darryl Branch, Tyler Yazujian and Ryan Conway. But in recent weeks the run game, with sophomore Jarred Jones stepping into the spotlight, has made significant strides to keep opposing defenses in an honest stance.

And despite graduating 10 of 11 starters on the other side of the ball, throw in a very good no-name defense – led by Travis Daywalt, Ian Hare, Kevin Nyce and Mason Romano – a productive kicking game and solid special teams play and, well, you get an idea why Pennypacker has reason to fret.

“They have a great running game, a great passing game, and their defense is unreal,” Pennypacker said. “They are that good.”

So are the Falcons, who regrouped after a listless first half with a near-flawless second half to erase a 12-0 halftime deficit and defeat Boyertown a week ago. The execution up front enabled Hudgins to throw for a pair of touchdowns and run for one himself. And that execution on defense, from the front line, linebackers and everyone in the secondary – from Steve Ambs, Dan Michaels, Curtin, Johnny Fowler and D.J. Ludy, to name a handful – led to an impressive shutdown over the final 24 minutes of play.

It was the kind of defense Brubaker got a glimpse of in that 20-14 loss last season.

“Last year we struggled with (Pottsgrove’s) pressure in the red zone,” Brubaker explained. “We were inside the red zone two more times in the first half and came away with nothing due to a hurry, a sack and lack of execution. It’s nice to have a good kicker (Ryan O’Hara) this year, but we need to score touchdowns.

“Our other big concern will be our defensive assignments. Our young kids are learning, getting better on the fly. But we need to play focused, assignment-oriented defense, with each player doing his job first. Any loss of focus could result in a big play.”

The Falcons have made big plays on offense and defense kind of the norm for a long time. This year isn’t any different, either, as both Upper Perkiomen and Boyertown will attest.

“If anyone thinks we’ve played the best teams in the league already then that’s an insult to all the other teams,” Pennypacker said. “We have played three good teams already, but we feel every team, including Spring-Ford, has a chance to beat us. Heck, we very easily could end up 3-6 by the time this (league) season is over.

“This is a big game, but we take every game as our most important game of the year. We just try to make sure we never allow ourselves to get too high or too low. We’re expecting a battle.”

FAST STARTS
Pottsgrove hasn’t been shut out in a Pioneer Athletic Conference game since a 37-0 loss to Phoenixville on Week Six back in 2002 – a span of 79 consecutive games. The second-longest such streak belongs to Spring-Ford, which went 59 straight games without being blanked between 2002 and 2009. … Pottsgrove has also gotten out of the gates quickly this season, at least in the first quarter that is, outscoring its four opponents 38-6 in the initial 12 minutes of play. Spring-Ford has outscored its four opponents by a 55-7 spread in the second quarter thus far.

Pottsgrove is 3-0 in the league, a game up on Perkiomen Valley, Phoenixville and Spring-Ford – all with 2-0 records thus far. Perkiomen Valley, which entertains Boyertown tonight, hasn’t opened 3-0 since 1999 when they finished second behind champion St. Pius X. Phoenixville, which travels to Pottstown tonight, last started 3-0 in 2005, when head coach Bill Furlong directed the Phantoms to a 9-0 run and the PAC-10 title.

STILL BLAZING
Unbeaten Daniel Boone (1-0, 4-0) gets its first real test of the young Berks Football League Section One season tonight up in Pottsville. The Blazers, with three legitimate Player of the Year candidates in Tom Bodolus, Zach Robinson and Darrell Scott, have outscored their opposition 97-19 in the first half.

NOTEWORTHY
Pope John Paul’s Jacob Gribb had 11 receptions last week, which tied the third-best mark in PAC-10 history and was three shy of the league record of 14. … The late Carl Schrump and Bill Hart were inducted into Boyertown’s Football Hall of Fame following last Friday night’s game. Schrump (1965 graduate) and Hart (1969) were both key contributors in the Bears’ 1963 and 1968 ChesMont League championship seasons. … The Patriotic Order of Sons of America will donate two flags in a brief ceremony prior to the Boyertown-Perkiomen Valley game tonight. … Three area teams face short weeks after this weekend’s games. The Hill School hosts Peddie School next Thursday afternoon (3:30), while Perkiomen Valley visits Phoenixville next Thursday night (7 p.m.).

This column was originally published in the Sept. 27 edition of The Mercury.

Just in case you didn’t notice, and most likely haven’t, one-third of the Pioneer Athletic Conference season will be over and done with – in the books, as they say – after this weekend’s games.

Just in case you didn’t notice, and in all likelihood few have, one-half of the entire regular season will be over and done with – in the books, as they say – after this weekend’s games.

The fact there are six more PAC-10 rounds to go (five before the postseason playoffs kick off, with the final abbreviated round on Thanksgiving morning), may not seem like too big of a deal, at least for the moment. And the fact everyone still has half of their regular season to play, sure doesn’t seem like a big deal, either.

But you can bet the house a lot of area coaches were fully aware of those timelines when they headed into their respective film rooms late Friday night or early Saturday morning. And you can bet the whole darn housing development some were feeling a sense of urgency before they even sat down and flipped on the projector (oops, their computer and media player).

“This season is just crazy,” said Perkiomen Valley head coach Scott Reed. Absolutely crazy. “The Class of 2011, the seniors who played a year ago, was one of the best ever in the PAC-10,” Reed added. “Now we have a bunch of new kids trying to make a new for themselves all around the league.”

Pottsgrove, the team most felt needed some time – perhaps an entire season to rebuild after Chestnut, Greene, Polamalu & Sons took their business off to college – is 3-0 and all alone atop the PAC-10 standings. That’s a legitimate 3-0, too, with a pair of wins over a couple of opponents most coaches, players and fans absolutely agreed on as being the league’s front-runners, or contenders.

Right behind the Falcons, at 2-0, are Perkiomen Valley, Phoenixville and SpringFord.

Perkiomen Valley, which could’ve easily opened camp with name tags because of all the new faces, wasn’t even mentioned – not even in a whisper – during those early “contender” conversations. Yet last weekend, the Vikings upended a team that a week earlier upended one of those contenders. Phoenixville hasn’t had a winning record in the league in three years. Spring-Ford had to replace 10 of 11 starters on defense, and was supposed to surrender a heck of a lot more points than it would likely engender.

Methacton and Pottstown are both 1-1, but absolutely capable of taking down anyone on any given weekend as their seesaw start has already revealed.

And then there are the others – Boyertown, Owen J. Roberts, Pope John Paul II and Upper Perkiomen.

Boyertown and Upper Perkiomen were two of the teams everyone was talking about long before the season kicked off. Both were not only expected to contend, but ease their way into the District 1 playoffs. Believe it or not, both are 0-2 in the PAC-10 and, respectively, 22 and 1-3 overall. If you want to talk about a sense of urgency, sit down for a brief chat with Mark Scisly and Keith Leamer.

Don’t overlook Owen J. Roberts and Pope John Paul II, either. Not yet. If not for the Chestnut, Greene, Polamalu & Sons act, the Wildcats may have had three PAC-10 titles instead of a share of one. So a portion of the current Boys of Bucktown roster remembers how good winning feels and are none too happy about being 0-2 right now. And if PJP ever gets its defense together – if only for three-quarters of any given game to go along with arguably the league’s best passer and his gang of reliable receivers – well, watch out may be the best way to say it.

“You never like to use athleticism with entertainment, but this (season) sure is entertaining,” Reed said. “Every week is definitely a new chapter, a new story. Every week the matchups are different. For us, last week it was speed (against Pottstown), and this week it is size (against Boyertown).

“I think you’re going to continue to see a lot of things (no one expects to happen) happen. I don’t know if any of the games are or will be upsets, either. All I know is every week you better bring your lunch and go to work … play your best. There just aren’t any easy ones, absolutely none, this year.”

Speaking of going to work, this Friday’s late shift will be a grueling one.

For starters, Pottsgrove is at Spring-Ford – and yes, despite only being the final day of September, this one could go a long, long way in determining who wins the PAC10. It’s been a long, long, long time since the Rams have gotten the best of the Falcons, too (which we’ll reveal more of on Friday). … Phoenixville will meet its toughest opponent to date with a visit to Pottstown; Boyertown will obviously attempt to unleash its frustrations on host Perkiomen Valley; and both Pope John Paul II and Owen J. Roberts look to get into the win column in Bucktown. … Saturday afternoon, Upper Perkiomen will likely have the same mental approach as Boyertown – freeing itself of two weeks of frustrations, that is – when it travels to Methacton.

Two area quarterbacks are among the state’s leaders – in two different categories – through four weeks of play. Daniel Boone’s Tom Bodolus is second among quarterbacks in rushing (and 20th among all ballcarriers) with 570 yards. Among quarterbacks, he trails only Ringgold’s Percy Law, who has 688 yards. Pope John Paul II’s David Cotellese is 10th among quarterbacks in passing with 884 yards. He is second, unofficially, in District 1 behind Octorara’s Dan Solomon, who has thrown for 965 yards.

Spring-Ford’s Ryan O’Hara is on pace to erase part of the kick scoring section in The Mercury area’s record book. Through four games, O’Hara is a perfect 21-for-21 on point-afters and has converted 3-of-4 field goals for 30 points. … Perkiomen Valley’s Kyle Chudoba tied the PAC-10 singlegame mark for field goals in a game when he hit on three in last Friday’s 29-21 thriller over Pottstown.

This column was originally published in the Sept. 16 edition of The Mercury.

POTTSTOWN – No question Boyertown is nearly everyone’s favorite to win the Pioneer Athletic Conference title this season. That’s all most of the league’s coaches, players and fans have been talking about (or reading about) since practice began back in mid-August.

Now it’s time for Boyertown to prove it’s worthy of all the honorable chat (or ink).

The Bears, coming off a pair of comedies up at Allen and over at Twin Valley, kick off their PAC-10 season this evening at Pottstown — a team that has dealt Boyertown its share of upset losses through the years, and a team that is much better than the two Boyertown beat up on by a combined score of 94-14.

“This is no easy game,” head coach Mark Scisly said. “Pottstown is one of the better teams in our league. I really believe that.”

Not surprising, what concerns Scisly the most about tonight’s affair is speed.

It’s a legitimate concern, too, because the Trojans have plenty of it with Corey Baker, who in two weeks has looked like a Player of the Year candidate; Malik Brinkley, an allleague selection a season ago; and Misohn Coppock, who can run right alongside his two better-known teammates. There are others, too, like Cory Hueber and Rashaad Brinkley, key contributors on both sides of the ball.

“It’s like they have three track stars out there,” Scisly said of Baker, Brinkley and Coppock.

But don’t think the Bears will be reduced to playing catch-up, either.

For starters, they’re more experienced up and down the lineup – with a lot of the manpower back from last year’s co-championship season run – and own a noticeable size advantage. And they also happen to have some speed of their own on offense as well as on defense.

Behind the sizable Nick McMenamin at center, Chris Muller at guard, and Tyler Boggs at tackle, the Bears have run and run well. Overall, they piled up a school-record 500plus yards in Week One, another 253 in Week Two. Jared Von Dohren, who will be a “game-time decision” because of an injury according to Scisly, along with Max Marcus and Jon Neiman, have pretty much run where they’ve wanted to. And sophomore quarterback Griffin Pasik made one giant leap from the first to second week in directing the offense and throwing the football.

All that has failed to overshadow a defense that limited Allen to minus28 yards rushing, shut out Twin Valley’s passing game, and has come up with a combined seven sacks and five turnovers. Troy Heuer and Gray Garber (two sacks) have been the most active with 15 and 14 tackles, respectively. But they’re getting a lot of help from the likes of D.J. Stemple, Peter Slabonik, Ronnie Mauger and Travis Mitchell.

“But we’re still going to have to tackle well, wrap up and not let (Baker, Brinkley and Coppock) get out in the open field,” Scisly said. “I just know we have to play better this week. We have to raise our level of play, and raise our level of play a couple of notches.”

They need to raise it all right … and not look ahead to next week’s showdown with Pottsgrove.

Baker has scored seven times already, and can get to the end zone on any given play – offensively or defensively. Brinkley averages eight yards a carry. And quarterback Sage Reinhart, who has impressed Scisly, doesn’t throw much but certainly makes the most of it (13 of 20, three touchdowns and no interceptions) when he does.

Where the Trojans’ big challenge may be is up front – where linemen Andrew Gazzilo, Jalonie Hutchinson, Dante Auman and Huber will have to deal with the Bears’ talented bulk.

“All I know is that this is by far the best Pottstown team I have seen in the four years I’ve been at Boyertown,” Scisly remarked. “Like I said, we’re going to have to play at higher level this week than we did the past two weeks.”

If you don’t think Hill School football has been around for a while, think again.

The then “Hillers” kicked off their first season in 1887. That year, Grover Cleveland was president; the U.S. signed a document to lease a naval base (Pearl Harbor) on a littleknown, faraway island called Hawaii; the very first Groundhog Day was celebrated in Punxsutawney; and the largest snowflakes every recorded – 15 inches wide by 8 inches thick – were reported during a storm in Ft. Keogh, Mont. And putting food on the table was a bit cheaper, too, considering a pound of cheese would set you back less than a dime; a pound of butter was about 20 cents; and a gallon – that’s right, a gallon – of molasses was just over a quarter.

And football? Well, the playing field was 110 yards long with no end zones; offenses – which didn’t include the forward pass yet – had three attempts to advance the ball five yards for first downs; and touchdowns were worth four points. Things sure have changed. Change continued at Hill this year, too, with a new head coach who had to endure a preseason unlike many (if any) over the past few weeks in gearing up for the school’s milestone season that begins Saturday afternoon at Germantown Academy.

The new fella, Grey Simpson, was just getting to know who was who when Hurricane Irene blew threw and forced school officials to send all students home for eight days. Simpson not only lost six days of practice, but a scrimmage as well.

“You want those scrimmage reps so you can see, as a coaching staff, what works and what doesn’t, and to evaluate personnel,” Simpson said earlier this week. “We’re going to have to evaluate things on the fly in our first game and make the proper adjustments in the game plan and with our personnel. We want to give our guys the best opportunity to be successful.”

According to Mercury records, Hill opens on Saturday with an overall record of 514-338-51.

Speaking of going back, back, back…

Running back John Garrett is the eighth member of his family to play football at Perkiomen School. His great-grandfather played back in the 1920s; his grandfather played in the 1950s; and his father lined up for the then Indians under former head coach and current athletic director Ken Baker in the early 1980s. Four of his uncles also played at Perkiomen. If that isn’t enough, his aunt – Mary (Garrett) Giovino – also graduated from Perkiomen School.

This column first appeared in the Sept. 26 edition of The Mercury.

Mark Scisly sure has enjoyed the last two weekends. First, he helped end Boyertown’s football woes, namely an eight-game losing streak that stretched all the way back to last season, and got his first win along with it. Then he started another streak, going the other way that is, by winning again.

All of a sudden, Scisly — Boyertown’s rookie head coach — finds himself in a very big game that, unlike the previous two, may reveal just how good the Bears are as well as dictate their stance for the remainder of the Pioneer Athletic Conference season.

Pottsgrove sure has a history of bringing that out in a team … especially now that the Falcons have played up to all the preseason hype and postured themselves as a legitimate frontrunner (or, if you prefer, contender).

The Falcons are 2-0 in the PAC-10, so that isn’t any surprise. But the Bears have matched that start, too, and because of the more than handful of new names situated in front of and around veteran quarterback David Crognale and a new coach coming in to sort out as well as coordinate the personnel, well, that is a bit of a surprise. And Owen J. Roberts, sitting alongside Pottsgrove and Boyertown with a 2-0 record despite reconstructed offensive and defensive lines, has opened more than a few fans’ eyes, too.

So, yes, tonight’s game in Boyertown is indeed a biggie.

“It’s just a great opportunity for us,” Scisly said. “I don’t know if everyone knows it, but there are only three undefeated teams (in the PAC-10), and we’re one of them. We’d like to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Mind you, it won’t be easy, though.

“You usually run into one good back, a quarterback or a running back, every week,” Scisly explained. “But Pottsgrove has three — a quarterback, a fullback, and a tailback. They don’t just give you one guy to worry about, they give you three.”

The Falcons’ quarterback is Terrell Chestnut, the fullback is Preston Hamlette, and the tailback is Maika Polamalu. And yes, all three are, for the lack of a better word, dangerous with a football in their hands.

They’re quick. They’re fast. They’re fancy free when given a little room to run. Together, the threesome have combined for all but one of the Falcons’ 13 touchdowns and for all but 12 of the Falcons’ 96 points thus far. They can, as they’ve already proven, turn any dilemma into a score, and from anywhere on the field.

But defense, which the Bears have played quite well the past two weeks, may not be as much a key as offense — Boyertown offense, that is. There’s nothing like a ball-control, clock-eating drive here and there to keep Chestnut, Hamlette, and Polamalu off the field.

“Our defense has been playing well,” Scisly said. “We got the shutout two weeks ago, then up until their final drive last week, kept Spring-Ford under control.

“But I think we have to come out and control the football. We have to do that, and we have to play defense.”

A lot of those responsibilities will fall heavily on Boyertown’s fast-improving front alignment of Wilmer Barndt, Ian Repko, Brandon Weller, Doug Muller, Ian Beidler, and tight end Ty Showers. Behind them is running back Logan Herb and quarterback David Crognale, who knows a little about big plays and big wins in his four years taking the snaps and practically rewriting the Bears’ passing record book.

“This is a huge game for us,” Scisly said. “We’re looking forward to the opportunity.”

Boyertown will induct four men into its Football Hall of Fame during halftime tonight. They are Randy Boyer (1957 graduate); David “Daisy” Erb (1954), Don Grim (assistant and head coach from 1959-1987); and Bob Reinhart (1962).

THEY MEET AGAIN

Phoenixville visits Pottstown tonight, and it’ll be the 97th time the two schools have played one another. The two teams first met in 1905, although it was Phoenixville’s “second team” — known as the Colonials — that battled the Trojans to a 0-0 tie (one of eight in the series). Phoenixville’s varsity was 8-0 and unscored upon that year.

Pottstown picked up its first win, 9-5, the following year, and won 4-0 on Thankgiving Day in 1907. Phoenixville’s first official varsity victory over the Trojans occurred in 1908’s season finale, 11-0.

MAKING A POINT

Unofficially, Owen J. Roberts — which hosts Spring-Ford tonight — and Pottsgrove are tied for third and seventh place, respectively in the District 1-Class AAA playoff points standings. The top eight qualify for the playoffs, which kick off the weekend of Nov. 7-8. Both teams can pick up big points this evening with wins over their Class AAAA opponents. … Boyertown, in a tie for 24th spot in AAAA, will need a solid run from here on out if it hopes to get into the Top 16.

DISTRICT BIGGIES

In a AAAA showdown, Ridley (4-0) visits Upper Darby (4-0) in a game that is likely to go a long way in determining the Central League championship. Ridley has won the last two titles with spotless 9-0 runs. … Cheltenham (3-1) travels to AAA Upper Merion (3-1) in a big game; Garnet Valley (4-0) renews its long rivalry at Conestoga (2-2); Souderton (2-2) looks to halt its two-game slide against visiting Pennridge (3-1); and Springfield-Montco (3-1), coming off a stunning setback, looks to right the ship when it hosts unbeaten Class A entry Jenkintown (4-0).

Around the state, District 4’s big game is the AA showdown with six-time state champion Mount Carmel (4-0) visiting Central Columbia (3-1). … District 7 has a pair of unbeaten features with Fort Cherry (4-0) traveling to Clairton (4-0) in Class A and Seton LaSalle (4-0) entertaining Sto Rox (4-0) in Class AA. … Out in District 10, high-scoring Saegertown (4-0) — coming off a 78-6 romp — will finally be playing someone, namely host Iroquois (3-1). … Up in District 11, all eyes will be on Emmaus (4-0), which has given up just six points thus far, when the Hornets head up to take on the Konkrete Kids of Northampton (4-0). But the feature game in District 11 may be Class AA Panther Valley (4-0) and its defense, with two shutouts this season, trying to slow down record-breaking Zach Barket and Schuylkill Haven (4-0).

STATELY NOTES

Gary Campbell, who followed the legendary George Curry up at Berwick, picked up his 100th career win last week when the Dawgs thumped none other than Curry and Wyoming Valley West, 34-7. … Jeannette has yet to be scored on. The Jayhawks have blanked East Allegheny (43-0), Brownsville (41-0), South Allegheny (45-0), and Waynesboro (49-0). The defending PIAA-Class AA state champions will look to keep the zeroes flowing tonight when they visit WPIAL Interstate Conference rival Charleroi (1-3). … William Penn out in York scored a season-low 48 points in last week’s rout of Red Lion, but is still averaging 53.8 points a game. That figure could go up even more this week when the Bearcats visit winless Dover, which is allowing 39-plus points a game. … Towanda’s Travis Chesla was credited with 38 tackles in the Knights’ 33-28 setback to unbeaten Canton up in District 4, and Waynesboro’s Dylan Spangler was credited with 25 tackles in the Indians’ 30-6 loss to unbeaten Middletown out in District 3. No one likes to question a devoted statistician’s work, but was anyone else playing defense for Towanda and Waynesboro last week?

One week, or one game, a season does not make. But after Mother Nature stretched the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s opening night into an opening weekend, there was a wee bit of separation.

In other words, and beyond the obvious deduction that there were five winners and five losers, a few teams stepped to the forefront, earned some respect and established themselves as contenders for a PAC-10 title … while others, though in no way out of anything after just one week, slipped significantly.

Yes, Perkiomen Valley and Pottsgrove – two of the teams a lot of fans early on felt were heads (or helmets) above everyone else – rebounded from their own puzzling preseasons with big wins.

The Vikings put together another one of those offensive surges that helped them to a share of the title a year ago. This time, their 27-point burst not only ended a 14-14 struggle but burst Spring-Ford’s bubble. And Pottsgrove, like it has so often in the past, showcased a stingy defense that has kept the Falcons in game after game after game, or just long enough until a big play or two provides the differential.

And a couple of very long, second half runs into the end zone – and 77 and 63 yards certainly qualify as long – were about the only disparities between them and Phoenixville.

Two other teams, two who weren’t popping up on the championship run radar screens that is, produced a few blips last weekend, though.

Boyertown, which had lost eight straight games dating back to last season – including a pair of easily forgotten meetings with longtime Berks County rivals Muhlenberg and Governor Mifflin to kick off this season – used a turnover happy defense to set up short field after short field opportunities for the offense. The Bears converted, and turned their 31-0 blitz wasn’t exactly what Methacton had in mind, let alone expected, for its long-awaited PAC-10 debut. And Owen J. Roberts showed, to many of their own fans’ surprise, a productive defense, too. The Wildcats came up with five turnovers, one of which returned a dividend of six points by itself, to disarm what is expected to be a destructive Upper Perkiomen offense and underline a 28-14 victory.

And while a few fanatics would prefer to call Pottstown’s blowout of St. Pius X a mismatch to begin with, well, not necessarily. The Trojans were ailing in the preseason, but few realized just how well they did play against an Upper Dublin team (33-12 loss) that has humbled everyone thus far. But they were healthy for the first time last weekend, especially up front, and that may have had as much if not more to do with what they did than what Pius didn’t do.

But Week One’s five winners and five losers, as good, bad or indifferent as they may have been in victory and defeat, are back at it again this weekend … and all have the opportunity to reassure – or restore – their championship hopes.

It only gets more and more interesting.

HONORABLE

Player of the Week honors go to Perkiomen Valley quarterback Zach Zulli, who hit on 17 of 19 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 92 yards and two more scores in the Vikings’ 47-21 victory over Spring-Ford.

Coach of the Week honors go to Boyertown’s Mark Scisly, who came up with a daily double – his first Pioneer Athletic Conference win and his first win as the Bears’ head coach – in the 31-0 shutout of Methacton.

MIXED RESULTS

If there was a Hero of the Week honor it would surely go to Kevin Manferdini and his entire Perkiomen School football team. Manferdini had just 15 players on the field for last Friday night’s season opener at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Del. Despite the limited personnel, the Indians were within a touchdown of their hosts going into the fourth quarter before falling, 28-14.

The Hill School had to wait until Sunday to open its 122th season, and did impressively with a 32-8 romp over Germantown Academy. The Rams could very well contend for a Mid-Atlantic Prep League title and, with eight games still remaining on their card, have a legitimate shot at the five more wins they need to reach the program’s milestone 500th win.

FIZZLED

To say Daniel Boone head coach Dave Bodolus was one unhappy camper after Saturday night’s overtime loss to Columbia would be, well, leave it at that.

The Blazers were averaging close to 450 yards and 40 points and allowing only 160 yards and seven points after two season-opening blowouts. So when winless Columbia, which had little if anything to shout about – especially after surrendering nearly 600 yards and 61 points the previous week – appeared on the schedule, Bodolus and his Blazers had to be drooling.

Well, as Bodolus pointed out after the shocking setback, the Blazers forgot to tackle. Even though quarterback Jon Monteiro sat on the sidelines with an injury, the Blazers produced 440 yards of offense. Zach Keeley and Nate Greene both ran over the 100-yard mark. Bodolus’ own son stepped in and was quite commendable in completing 10 of 18 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.

They scored 47 points for goodness sakes.

“(But) we tackled like a bunch of little leaguers,” Bodolus said.

Which may explain why Columbia’s Dakota Lightfoot needed just 23 carries to pile up 330 yards and five touchdowns. The first four scores covered 95, 67, 21 and 72 yards. The last one was a simple 10-yarder right smack up the middle, but it came on the first snap of overtime and, with the extra-point, was enough to stun Bodolus, the Blazers and their faithful following.

PASSING IT ALONG

Boyertown quarterback David Crognale is now within 309 yards of hitting the 5,000-yard mark in career total offense. Crognale has run for 1,631 yards and passed for 3,060, giving him 4,691 overall. … PV’s Zach Zulli is closing in on the 4,000-yard mark in career passing. Zulli has 3,974 – and 45 touchdown passes – going into this Friday’s game at Pottsgrove.

PACing THE NUMBERS

Owen J. Roberts visits Methacton on Saturday looking for its 100th Pioneer Athletic Conference win since joining the league in 1988. … Phoenixville’s loss to Pottsgrove last week evened the Phantoms’ overall PAC-10 record at 97-97-1. … Boyertown’s shutout of Methacton last Saturday night was the 200th shutout in the PAC-10. … Pottsgrove has now gone 50 straight league games without being shut out, matching the league’s third-longest streak. The Falcons are getting closer to its own PAC-10 record of 57 in a row (1988-1994). … Some PAC-10 win milestones from last week – Pottsgrove’s Rick Pennypacker got his 110th, Owen J. Roberts’ Tom Barr got his 55th, and Perkiomen Valley’s Scott Reed got his 20th. … Like last week’s tie-breaker between Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley, Pottstown and Upper Perkiomen are 11-11 in their PAC-10 series going into Friday night’s meeting in Red Hill. The game will also be the 600th in the history of Upper Perkiomen’s football program, which began in 1952.

It’s never been too awfully difficult to figure out who’s who in Pioneer Athletic Conference football. Old fashion research – like checking team rosters from the previous year to see who’s coming back and who isn’t, a few off-the-record (of course) chats with coaches and players, and peeking in on summer practices as well as a scrimmage here and there – more often than not separates the good from the, dare we say it, not so good.

This season?

Let’s see, put ’em all in alphabetical order – Boyertown, Methacton, Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, Phoenixville, Pottsgrove, Pottstown, St. Pius X, Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen. Reverse the order if you’d like. Scribble the names of all those teams on a slip of paper, them into a hat, give it a flip-flop, and empty ’em on the kitchen table.

Go ahead.

Just don’t dare claim to have an answer as to who is going to be on top of the standings when the show ends around noon Thanksgiving Day.

Quite simply, the 23rd season of PAC-10 football kicks off this evening with more uncertainty than any before it.

All that research, at least a few months of it, hasn’t revealed any clues. And as ridiculous as it may sound, coaches – a good number of them at least – have mentioned upwards of seven teams they personally feel are capable of winning the title. Most admitted their respective scrimmages were up-and-down (inconsistent, or good and bad, as some mumbled). And after two weeks of non-league tests, no one is exactly gushing over their preseason report cards.

A few fanatics from around the football neighborhood have already put their collective feet over the chin strap, under the facemask and squarely into their mouths by claiming this could be a bad season for the PAC-10.

But, in all likelihood, because of the uncertainty – or dare we say parity – it may very well unfold as one of the best.

The opening-night card isn’t going to tilt this season’s seemingly level playing field, mind you. Not yet, at least. And it isn’t going to reveal any unconquerable, goliath-like lineup(s), either. One week, or one game, a season doesn’t make.

But it sure is a good one. Five games, five legitimate toss-ups … and most of them have their own interesting storylines.

The headliner, if there is indeed one, is Methacton’s visit to Boyertown. The Warriors are making their Pioneer Athletic Conference football debut and, naturally, would like to make a good first impression. The Bears are thinking otherwise, of course. They’d like nothing more than to end an eight-game losing streak that dates back to last season, give new head coach Mark Scisly his first win, and give the Warriors a loss to dwell on during the long bus ride back to Fairview Village.

Phoenixville and Pottsgrove will both attempt to right their respective ships after splitting their two non-league games. Each team has a potential Player of the Year, the Phantoms with Anthony Nattle and the Falcons with Terrell Chestnut, both of whom strut their stuff on both sides of the ball. And even though it doesn’t play into anything, keep the number 550 in mind – this is the 550th game in the history of Pottsgrove’s program, and Phoenixville is looking for the 550th win in the history of its storied program.

St. Pius X will take a short hike over to Pottstown and, for the first time in five years, look for a win in its PAC-10 opener. George Parkinson, the first head coach with three consecutive seasons on the Lions’ sidelines since Dave Bodolus (1995-2001), and the Lions had last week off. But don’t think they lost any of the enthusiasm or confidence from their impressive opening-night shutout of Simon Gratz down in Philadelphia. The Trojans, meanwhile, are expected to be a little healthier than they were against both Blue Mountain and Upper Dublin. And they also have Kenny Baker, another genuine Player of the Year candidate, who can break a game wide open all by himself with his quickness and speed.

Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley meet in Graterford to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a series that has become as good a rivalry as there is locally. It’s also a series that has gone in reverse since Spring-Ford dominated the early meetings (by taking seven of its first eight PAC-10 wins by shutouts and four more in consecutive seasons – 1990-93). Perkiomen Valley has won eight of the last nine meetings, though. Both struggled the past two weeks, but both have two of the area’s top quarterbacks. The Rams have Trevor Sasek, who is threatening to rewrite the school’s record book, and the Vikings have Zach Zulli, who is threatening to rewrite the school’s and area’s record books.

And the final entry on the PAC-10 card has Upper Perkiomen at Owen J. Roberts, perhaps the two teams with as much to prove as anyone tonight. The Indians were nearly flawless in a rout of Allentown Allen and totally outplayed at Downingtown West. OJR got burnt by big plays against Downingtown West, then came up with their own to singe West Chester East. Indians head coach Keith Leamer hasn’t lost any of his five games against OJR, but will have to deal with two of the league’s best linemen in the Wildcats’ Sam Morgan and Nelson Munoz and two of the league’s most promising underclassmen in Ryan Brumfield and Scott Syrek.

MORE, MORE, MORE

Daniel Boone, the area’s only 2-0 team, is at home tonight for the first time this season and entertains Columbia – a team that gave up 576 yards and 61 points in a loss to York Suburban last weekend. If that trend continues, the stat-fanats may need a calculator to add up Nate Greene’s yardage on the ground and quarterback Jon Monteiro’s yardage through the air.

Perkiomen School finally kicks off its season tonight at Tower Hill down in Wilmington, Del. Head coach Kevin Manferdini can ill afford any injuries this season because of lower numbers in camp. He has two promising senior guards in Eric Pfeiffer and Robert Faraco, who’ll lead a charge up front for Abdul Smith, who has already committed to Rutgers University and is, without doubt, as good a candidate for Player of the Year honors as anyone.

SUNDAY SPECIAL

The Hill School will be the area’s last team to step onto the field this season. The Blues’ scheduled matinee for today against visiting Germantown Academy was pushed back to noon Sunday. The change was agreed upon by both schools after GA’s opener with Cardinal Dougherty got washed out Saturday night and, because of scheduling conflicts, was pushed back to Monday afternoon.

See Sunday’s edition of The Mercury for a preview of the Blues’ opener.

DISTRICT FEATURES

Three big games on the District 1 docket tonight feature Pennsbury (2-0) at Glen Mills (2-0) and Strath Haven (1-1) at Conestoga (2-0), while the showcase event is St. Joseph’s Prep (2-0) visiting North Penn (2-0). The teams are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the state’s AAAA division. There are a couple more interesting matchups on Saturday, too, with Quakertown (2-0) visiting Cheltenham (2-0) and Henderson (2-0) traveling to Malvern Prep (1-0).

AROUND THE STATE

West Wayne ended the state’s longest active losing streak at 41 games last weekend with a 21-6 win over Susquehanna Community. The Wildcats, who compete in the District 2-Class AAA bracket, hadn’t won a game since Nov. 7, 2003. Going into tonight’s games, Montgomery (District 4-A) and Allegheny-Clarion Valley (District 9-AA) own the state’s longest active losing streak at 24. … On the flip side, defending Class AA state champion Jeannette (District 7), which has swept 18 straight games, boasts the longest active winning streak in Pennsylvania. District 6-AA power Tyrone has won 34 consecutive regular-season games since a narrow 7-6 setback to Phillipsburg-Osceola four years ago.

CELEBRITY GAME

There were a few famous faces in the stands last week when Oaks Christian put a 35-7 thumping on Bakersfield Christian out in California. Former San Francisco 49er quarterback and Hall of Famer Joe Montana was there to watch his son, Oaks Christian quarterback Nick Montana. Seated nearby was NHL Hall of Famer Wayne Getzky and Hollywood star Will Smith, both keeping an eye on their sons who play for OC as well. On the other side of the field, former No. 1 NFL draft pick and journeyman quarterback David Carr was watching his son, Derek Carr, who was calling the signals for Bakersfield Christian.