There has been a lot of talk, perhaps too much, of what team (or teams) would eventually step up and separate itself (or themselves) from everyone else in the Pioneer Athletic Conference this season. It may have taken five absolutely bizarre weeks – or, depending on what side of the football field you sit on, five weird and wonderful weekends – but it appears as though Spring-Ford and Pottsgrove have done just that.

Call the Rams and Falcons top-shelf for now. Both Perkiomen Valley and Phoenixville are right behind the two, but there still is very little that separates the remaining five … a handful of rivals topped off by Pope John Paul II.

That’s right, Pope John Paul II.

That’s not a misprint, typo, error or whatever you choose to call it, either.

A year removed from its very first season – a rather undistinguished one considering PJP finished at the bottom or close to the bottom in all but one category on the team leader boards, allowed a very generous 40 points per game, and won just once – the Golden Panthers are on a three-game winning streak.

It may have begun against a rebuilding and injury-riddled Owen J. Roberts. But the following week they surprised Pottstown. Then last Friday night, they surprised Perkiomen Valley. And surprise is rather appropriate in each of those latter instances, too, because the Golden Panthers were the team a lot of people were checking off as an automatic (as in win) when the season kicked off last month. But they sure slowed if not stalled altogether the championship chase both Pottstown and Perkiomen Valley had revved up before they met.

And in case you haven’t noticed, the Golden Panthers are all even in the Pioneer Athletic Conference (3-3), 4-3 overall and, get this, No. 7 in the District 1-AAA playoff points standings.

“I don’t know if we’re as surprised as much as we’re happy,” said PJP head coach Mike Santillo. “We’re happy with the way the team is fighting each week.

“We’re not content, though. To be .500 at this point (in the league) is OK, but we’re not satisfied. I’m not satisfied, and I know the kids aren’t satisfied. We still have some games left to play.”

Phoenixville, Boyertown and Upper Perkiomen are the remaining challenges. The Golden Panthers won’t be favored in any of them. Then again, they weren’t favored in the previous three, or likely in any game they suited up for the past year and a half. But being the underdog, as they say, is a role they’re accustomed to. Now they seem to welcome it.

And welcome it despite a slew of injuries to their already short list of players. Two-way starters Kyle Early (broken arm) and Martin McCluskey (broken ankle) may not return this season. Kirk Cherneskie (broken collarbone) is questionable the rest of the way. Chris Veisbergs is week to week with a nagging injury.

“I’d say we’re banged up,” Santillo said.

Quarterback David Cotellese, who didn’t play football as a sophomore but in just over a year and a half has developed into one of the most accomplished passers in the league, has provided some healing, though. The southpaw has distributed his area-high 101 completions to nine different receivers, with more than two-thirds of that number to Jacob Gribb, Jared Siejk and Jamel Stinson. Though playing half of one game with a banged-up elbow and getting sidelined for nearly a half of another after getting his bell rung, Cotellese has thrown for 1,412 yards and 19 touchdowns – both area-highs as well. He’s spinning his passing magic in the absence of a run game. He escapes blitz after blitz, sometimes throws on his way down, and often finds a way to get the ball downfield and into the hands of someone other than the No. 1 receiver.

“David didn’t play as a sophomore (at St. Pius X), and we had to talk him into playing last year,” Santillo said. “He went into last season not knowing our offense and threw for 1,700-some yards. He worked his tail off in the off-season, though, and knows (the offense) well now.

“And with no run game most of the season, and playing on wet fields and in wet conditions, nothing seems to phase David. That’s why we have the confidence to throw the ball. He knows where to look, and somehow always finds someone to throw to.”

Like last Friday night, when he caught Matt Bildstein – “our fifth receiver on that play,” Santilllo said – all alone in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown at Perkiomen Valley.

But Cotellese isn’t the entire show.

The Golden Panthers have been getting big stops – very timely stops – from a defense that features ends Chris DiLeva, Gribb and Tim Tadros; tackles Ryan Ignatovig and John Bildstein; linebackers John Cherneskie, Nico Peloro and Justice Smith; and Matt Bildstein, Siejk and Tyler Weiss in the secondary.

“The big thing for us has been learning how to win,” Santillo said. “Some do, like over at Pottsgrove, where it seems they just keep winning year after year. You have to develop that mentality. Some kids never know what it’s like to win, never are able to develop that mentality, until they (win) consistently. That’s what we’d like to do here.”

A few milestones reached last weekend…

• Boyertown couldn’t have picked a better time (or worse time for Phoenixville) to post the 350th win in its history than last Saturday. Not only did the 33-17 victory end the Bears’ four-game slide, but dropped the Phantoms two full games back of Spring-Ford in the PAC-10 standings and kind of spoiled their Homecoming festivities.

• Daniel Boone’s Tom Bodolus became just the third quarterback in his school’s history to reach 3,000 career passing yards. Bodolus – the area’s leading scorer (17 TDs, 102 points) and rusher (991 yards) – has passed for 998 yards and 13 touchdowns (with just one interception) this season. He has thrown for 3,096 yards – needing 404 more to become only the 10th area quarterback to reach the 3,500-mark – and accounted for 5,288 yards of total offense in his outstanding career. The only Blazers to reach the 3,000-yard mark before Bodolus were former teammate Jon Monteiro and Chris Bokosky. … Current teammate Darrell Scott needs 681 yards to become his school’s third back to run for more than 3,000 career yards.

• Gribb, in only his second season of football, became Pope John Paul II’s first 1,000-yard receiver, going over that career mark last Friday night. Gribb has caught at least one pass in just 15 games – 62 receptions overall – to reach the coveted milestone. Siejk, with 36 career catches for 713 yards, could join Gribb with a strong finish. … Upper Perkiomen’s Ronnie Gillespie is now within seven catches of becoming just the sixth area player with 100 or more career receptions. Gillespie is third in career yardage, needing 128 more yards to break the area record held by Daniel Boone’s Zack Keeley. … Spring-Ford’s Andrew Scanlan is currently sixth in the area in career receiving yardage.

• Pottstown’s Malik Brinkley went over the 2,000-yard career rushing mark during last week’s game against Upper Perkiomen.

Pottsgrove is right smack where it’s been for the last umpteen years – in first place after the first week of a Pioneer Athletic Conference football season.

That’s one week, one win … but that’s it.

And no one needs to remind the Falcons or head coach Rick Pennypacker.

No one, because they’re all aware the rest of the PAC-10 brethren get into it this weekend with the first of eight full rounds. Then, when the temperatures have dropped to half of what they are right now and most people are thinking turkey, stuffing and gravy, the league will wrap up its 26th season on Thanksgiving morning – in all likelihood for the last time, too, ending a tradition that in some neighborhoods dates way, way back into the early 1900s.

What happens between this weekend and Thanksgiving is anyone’s guess, too.

Because so many of the league’s standouts of the last three or four seasons graduated, there were absolutely no gimmes nor guarantees as had been the norm in those previous seasons. There were plenty of questions being asked long before summer camps opened back in mid-August. Today, with two scrimmages and two non-league rounds (as well as Pottsgrove’s league win over Pope John Paul II) in the books, there are still a lot of questions being asked.

So, yes, there is a bit more drama than usual. Actually, the PAC-10 actually hasn’t had this much drama, or such a great full opening-week card to tease the inquiring minds, than it has this time around.

Boyertown is at Pottstown; Perkiomen Valley visits Owen J. Roberts; Pope John Paul II heads down Township Line Road to Spring-Ford; and, to cap Friday night’s card, Upper Perkiomen is at Pottsgrove. On Saturday afternoon, Methacton entertains Phoenixville.

There’s no doubt everyone has a favorite in each of those games, just don’t be too quick to pick.

For starters, Boyertown – the favorite to win the PAC-10 title this season, at least among the coaches – have beaten up on a pair of teams (Allentown Allen and Twin Valley) that have won very, very few football games the past five years. They also have some injuries that need mending. Also, in case anyone has forgotten, the Bears were picked by nearly everyone to beat Pottstown in all but one of their nine meetings since joining the Pioneer Athletic Conference, but managed to survive in just four of them.

On top of all that, the Trojans have to be (or should be) a confident group after nearly upsetting Pius X – a District 11 playoff qualifier a year ago with one of the state’s most highly touted quarterbacks calling the plays again – and pummeling Del Val League defending champion Penn Wood. And, as if Boyertown head coach Mark Scisly needs a reminder, the Trojans can counter the Bears’ quickness and speed with some quickness and speed of their own.

“We’re not overlooking anyone,” Scisly said last week. “I think our first two games really helped our confidence, especially with so many sophomores and first-year starters getting playing time for us.

“We scrimmaged LaSalle and Daniel Boone, two of the top Class AAAA teams in the state. So (regardless of the easy wins over Allen and Twin Valley), our guys know what the PAC-10 season will be like because they can compare it to those two (scrimmages).”

Perkiomen Valley showed it can win (as it did in an overtime thriller against Lansdale Catholic) and go toe-to-toe with a biggie (as it did against Suburban One contender Souderton). The Vikings have also won two of their last five meetings with OJR, and two of the three they lost were by a combined three points. But Owen J. Roberts made as big a statement as anyone last week, bouncing back from a loss to Conestoga with a convincing win up in Reading.

Pope John Paul II owns what many admit is the league’s best passing game. David Cotellese has an area-high 559 yards and six touchdowns throwing the ball and, with a group of reliable receivers, he’ll test anyone’s secondary – including Spring-Ford’s. The Rams, among those right behind Boyertown in the favorite-to-win-it-all poll – especially after the admirable but still disheartening overtime setback to powerful Daniel Boone last Saturday – have their own potent passing phenom in Hank Coyne and 10 new personnel playing defense well above early expectations.



Upper Perkiomen – another team right behind Boyertown in the favorite-to-win-it-all poll – has a little added motivation knowing it has lost to Pottsgrove the last four years. The Indians also know they can move the ball and play good defense. If they cut down on the momentum-killing turnovers and play defense for four quarters – not just in the second half as they’ve done the first two times out – it could get interesting at Pottsgrove. Pennypacker thought that the moment he saw the schedule, but had to be feeling much better after seeing his offense get untracked with 419 yards and just one turnover last week.

Methacton will find out real quick what direction it’s heading after Saturday’s visit from Phoenixville. The Warriors did an about-face last week, showing they have a legitimate running threat (Davonte Fung) to take some of the heat off veteran quarterback Brandon Bossard as well as a defense that can create turnovers and short-field opportunities for its offense. They’ll need that consistent effort to quiet Phoenixville, yet another team right behind Boyertown in the favorite-to-win-it-all poll. The Phantoms, as healthy as they’ve been in three years, have experience and talent in virtually every spot of the lineup – a slew of individuals who will distinguish themselves even more as the season progresses.

Should be a great weekend … and an even greater season.


Daniel Boone quarterback Tom Bodolus, who ran 32 times last Saturday at Spring-Ford, upped his career passing yardage to 2,219 yards to lead all active quarterbacks. Coyne, a junior, is at 2,113 and Cotellese is at 2,074 … Upper Perkiomen’s Dylan Wesley could also end up with big numbers. The junior southpaw is very accurate on short tosses as well as going long, most of the time to Temple-bound speedster Ron Gillespie, who himself is closing in on The Mercury’s Top Five for career receptions and yards. … Pottstown’s Sage Reinhart, completing 65 percent of his attempts with three touchdowns and no interceptions through two games, could be a big factor in Friday’s game with Boyertown.

Perkiomen School opened its 108th season of football last Saturday with a shutout of Emily Fisher Charter. … The Hill School, the area’s very first football team, kicks off its 125th season of football this Saturday at Germantown Academy. The Rams will be under the direction of Grey Simpson, the area’s only new head coach this season.

This column was originally published in the Nov. 13 edition of The Mercury.

When it comes to football, The Hill School has always had a lot to shout about. When you’ve been playing the game for 122 years, nearly twice as long as most schools, you should. But other than an occasional hip-hip-hooray in recent years, it’s been relatively quiet.

But expect a resounding roar sometime late Saturday, especially if the Rams defeat Lawrenceville in the two schools’ traditional season-ending scrap down in New Jersey.

Beating the Larries is one thing.

Beating the Larries to finish a perfect run through the Mid-Atlantic Prep League for the outright championship — which no Hill team has done before — is another thing.

And considering the Rams have an opportunity to close out a season they kicked off with a 32-12 rout of Germantown Academy for the program’s milestone 500th win, well, that is something.

To say the Rams and their following on the Hill School campus are rocking would be an understatement.

“A win (Saturday) will complete our major goals for the season,“ head coach Marty Vollmuth said earlier this week.

It’s hard to imagine anything upstaging the rivalry. Hill and Lawrenceville meet this weekend for the 107th time. For the record, that’s one of the longest scholastic football series in all of America. One could be winless, but a victory in this game salvages their entire season. Get the idea how big it is?

But it gets bigger when considering the Rams have never won a league championship since the Mid-Atlantic League was formed in 1998. They’ve come close, finishing second in 2005 and again last year. They’ve already clinched that elusive first title this season because they’re 4-0 and, except for Hun School (already finished at 4-1) — who lost to the Rams in Pottstown last week — everyone else has two losses. Even a loss to the Larries won’t deny them the title because league rules state that in the event of a two-way tie, the team that won the head-to-head meeting is the champion. Just don’t think anyone, the Rams nor Vollmuth and his staff, are going to be the least bit satisfied with a loss, though.

There’s something about finishing a championship season with a loss that just doesn’t seem to sound right.

Sound?

Listen for that roar.

* * *

Hill football fans have had plenty to cheer about in the past. The program owns nine undefeated seasons and 21 unbeaten (with ties) seasons. … Hill has had three teams that weren’t scored on for an entire season (1900, 1909 and 1922). That’s only been achieved by one other area school, Phoenixville (1905). … A win Saturday will also give the Rams their winningest season since going 9-0 back in 1987.

WORTH NOTING

Methacton visits Perkiomen Valley tonight in a game that marks the end of their respective Pioneer Athletic Conference seasons. It’s been a particularly frustrating season for Bob McNally and the Warriors, who have been riddled with injuries and illness. For Scott Reed and the Vikings, it’s been quite the opposite. Despite having just one returning lettermen on offense and four on defense, they have the chance to finish up with a 7-4 overall mark, well beyond what most projected back in August.

*

Think Hill and Lawrenceville have been at it a long time? Radnor and Lower Merion go at it for the 113th time on Saturday. Radnor, which is coming off an upset Marple-Newtown – who is at Owen J. Roberts for tonight’s District 1-Class AAA playoff game – can finish above the .500 mark for the first time in seven years and close with just its third winning season since 1985.

AROUND THE STATE

ZIPPING ALONG: Simon Gratz, under head coach Erik Zipay – a Pottstown High School graduate – takes on Murrell Robbins on Saturday for the Philadelphia Public League Class AAA championship. The Bulldogs, who opened the season with a 21-20 loss at St. Pius X, have lost two games by a total of just three points, are 6-4 overall. Dobbins is 7-2.

FINAL SHOW: Phoenixville will be at Kennedy-Kenrick on Saturday, helping close out their hosts’ 17th and final season of football. Kennedy-Kenrick kicked off its first season in 1993 with the jointure of Archbishop Kennedy and Bishop Kenrick, and go into the finale with a 63-112-1 overall record.

AROUND THE NATION

PASSING THROUGH: Richardson Pearce (Tex.) junior quarterback Mac Morse got his first start last weekend, and did he ever take advantage of the opportunity by completing 42 of 68 passes for a state-record 634 yards. Receiver Blake Jumonville caught 19 of those tosses for a state-record 386 yards. And the 94 snaps Morse took also set a state record for most offensive plays in a game. … Camarillo (Calif.) quarterback Jeff Mathews passed for 588 yards and six touchdowns in a 69-20 rout of Hueneme. The 6-foot-4, 231-pound Matthews, who had 495 of those yards at halftime, completed 33 of 48 attempts – all in three quarters of work. … Golden (Colo.) quarterback Ryan Stokes passed for seven touchdowns during a 64-6 rout of Denver West. … Arundel (Md.) quarterback Billy Cosh passed for 380 yards and six touchdowns in a 69-28 victory over Southern to set the state record for career passing yardage (6,878).

DOUBLE DUTY: Tivy (Tex.) quarterback Johnny Manziel can throw the football, but he ran for all eight of his team’s touchdowns in a 56-35 win over Clemens.

DOUBLE PLAY: Oscar Smith (Va.) senior quarterback Phillip Sims upped his state career touchdown pass record to 113 and teammate Ryan Trotman stretched his state career extra-point record to 179 in last week’s 47-17 rout of Great Bridge.

TRIPLE THREAT: Trinity Catholic (Fla.) senior Kadron Boone scored on kick-off returns of 83 and 78 yards and on a 72-yard punt return in a 66-21 mauling of Mount Dora.

CATCH THIS: Columbia (Fla.) receiver Jamaal Montague caught four touchdown passes covering 40, 78, 38 and 57 yards – on the very first play of four consecutive first-quarter possessions to ignite a 49-14 victory over Wolfson.

LITTLE BIG MAN: Cocoa (Fla.) junior Cody Bell kicked a 54-yard field goal last week in a 52-0 laugher over crosstown rival Cocoa Beach. Bell has converted 3 of 4 field goals and 46 of 47 extra-points this season (17 of 26 three-pointers and 168 or 171 point-afters in his career). Last season, his 52-yarder helped the Tigers to a 20-17 win in the state semifinals. So Bell certainly can ring up the long ones … and to think he’s just 5-foot-8, 125 pounds.

This column originally ran in the Oct. 8 edition of The Mercury.

The second half of the high school football season kicks off tonight. That’s right, the second half, at least for those teams with one eye on those confounded playoff points standings. What happens over the next five weeks will determine who’s in, who’s out, who plays who where, and so on and so on.

But remember what Ol’ McDonald (or some other fowl egghead) said about what came first.

Keep that in mind, too, because this is the weekend when statements will be made, when teams will dictate — on the field, that is — who is still in the running for a league championship, who is running low on gridiron gas, and who may have tanked it entirely.

Oh, there are some biggies ahead, mind you, but looking ahead only plays into the psyche of those who put the gear on and their coaches, as well as their fans who do all the hooting and hollering.

But tonight, the outcome of three particular games — Upper Perkiomen at Owen J. Roberts, Boyertown at Perkiomen Valley, and Daniel Boone at Conrad Weiser — will, in all likelihood, go a long, long way in determining Pioneer Athletic Conference and Inter-County Section One titles.

Upper Perkiomen (2-1, 4-1 overall) can ill-afford another loss, and Owen J. Roberts (3-0, 5-0) can’t afford a loss of any kind – not with a trip to unbeaten Pottsgrove next Friday in a game that has had an asterisk behind it since practices began back in August. Boyertown and Perkiomen Valley are both 2-1, both have already (unsuccessfully) dealt with Pottsgrove, and both still have Upper Perkiomen and Owen J. Roberts, among others, on their respective cards.

Up in Berks County, Daniel Boone has the I-C’s most productive offense and least-generous defense. The Blazers have thumped and trumped everyone thus far. But Conrad Weiser (with apologies to Twin Valley) is the best team and biggest challenge Daniel Boone has tackled yet. And don’t forget it won’t get any easier the rest of the month with Governor Mifflin, Pottsville and absolute pain-in-the-pads Muhlenberg on the card.

“(Tonight’s) game is your biggest game,” Pottsgrove head coach Rick Pennypacker said earlier. “It’s that way every week. If you look ahead, if your kids look ahead, bad things happen. You don’t worry about next week until next week.”

That’s the approach Keith Leamer has adopted at Upper Perkiomen, where midseason setbacks and late-season lulls in the past have cost the Indians dearly in their runs for a PAC-10 championship.

“Our goal this season is to just get better every day,” Leamer said. “If we can do that this week we have a chance against Owen J. Roberts.”

Getting out of Bucktown with a win tonight may depend on just how well the Indians’ offense fares against OJR’s defense. Yes, the Wildcats have a running back named Ryan Brumfield and his area-leading 939 yards, 14 touchdowns and 86 points overall, and he could very well pad those numbers tonight. But overlooked in Brumfield’s rewriting of the record books is head coach Tom Barr’s OJR defense … a pretty darn good defense, that is.

Ends Steve Lawless and Kyle Moore, tackles Sean Moloney and Mike Nowak, and linebackers Sam Funk, Rich Zazo and Nate Blevins have limited opponents to less than 100 yards on the ground thus far. Those fellas, along with corners Brendan Shoemaker and Sean Yeager and safeties Francis Polignano and Brumfield, are surrendering an average of just 141 yards overall.

“(OJR) is playing at a very high level, so we have our work cut out for us,” Leamer said.

The workload will fall heavily on an improved Upper Perkiomen front line and a fast-maturing Casey Perlstein at quarterback. Center Jake Nyce, guards Steve Grover and Alex Zukowski, tackles Dwayne Gillespie and Mike Paul, and tight end Nick Hale, have worked together well since the disappointing loss to Perkiomen Valley three weeks ago, and that’s made it easier for fullback Chase Fleming – who may be as good as anyone on the other side of the ball at linebacker – and tailback Mark Cole. The line has also helped give Perlstein enough time to throw for 410 of his 490 yards the last three weeks, too.

“Both (teams), at some point this season, have been getting it done in all three phases of the game,” Leamer said.

That other phase – turnovers – has also hindered both teams. OJR overcame a school-record 12 fumbles (six of which were lost) in Week Two and is coming off its first turnover-free game of the season. Thanks to seven interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries, though, the Wildcats are plus-six in takeaways. Upper Perkiomen has had trouble holding onto the football as well, losing two fumbles in three of its games and throwing three interceptions in another. But, like the Wildcats, the Indians have come up with 15 turnovers of their own and are a plus-five in takeaways.

“This is a game that could very well come down to turnovers,” Leamer said.

Big games, more often than not, are decided by the bobbles and errant throws.

* * *

Speaking of turnovers, Boyertown hasn’t given the football away in its last two outings. Perkiomen Valley, on the other hand, has been very charitable – 13 fumbles and six interceptions for an area-high 19 overall.

“We had the one bad game (nine turnovers at Coatesville),” head coach Scott Reed said. “But there’s no question the turnovers have hurt us. We can’t afford to keep making those type of mistakes.”

Daniel Boone, of course, has made very few mistakes of any kind. When you have a quarterback like Jon Monteiro and a slew of gifted receivers who provide as balanced an offense as you could draw up (979 yards passing and 975 yards rushing), it certainly does leave opposing defenses a bit perplexed as to what’s coming next. But head coach Dave Bodolus and his defense will get its toughest test to date tonight going up against a similarly balanced offense that features Zach Guiles (678 yards passing) at quarterback and Codie Butler and D.J. Robinson (just under 900 combined yards rushing) behind him.

OPENING UP

The Hill School opens its Mid-Atlantic Prep League schedule this afternoon (3:30 p.m.) against visiting Peddie School. The Rams (2-1 overall), who hope to get back on the winning track after dropping last week’s home-opener with Chestnut Hill Academy, were the runners-up to unbeaten Blair a year ago.

Head coach Marty Vollmuth will see a familiar face on the opposing sidelines, too. Peddie, winless a year ago, is coached by former Hill head coach Frank deLaurentis, in his second term as the Falcons’ head coach. DeLaurentis previously guided the program from 1996 through 2005.

ACHES AND PAINS

Area quarterbacks have seen their share of trainers and doctors, even made enough visits to the hospitals, this season.

Boyertown’s Dylan Pasik is questionable tonight after going down with an injury last Friday night; Hill’s Jack Detmer, a post-grad, is out indefinitely after breaking two bones in his left wrist during the Blues’ second possession last Saturday; Methacton’s James McHugh is questionable after suffering a stinger last week; and Phoenixville’s Tom Romano is probable, or hoping to return to the lineup Saturday afternoon after injuring his arm during a practice prior to the Phantoms’ league-opener four weeks ago.

Detmer threw for more than a 1,000 yards last year at his high school in Scarsdale, N.Y., and both McHugh and Romano threw for well over a grand as starters last season.

* * *

No one has been as banged up as badly as Phoenixville this season. Head coach Bill Furlong – who refuses to use the injury tag as a reason behind the Phantoms’ 0-5 start – hasn’t lost just his quarterback in recent weeks.

Romano was joined on the sidelines early on by tight end-linebacker Vince Ciaverelli. Since then, John McInally, one of the league’s best kickers the past two seasons, has been out with a pulled hamstring. Last week, nose guard Dennis Kelly went down with an injury that has him questionable for Saturday, and defensive end Greg Porter – who also doubled at tight end with Ciaverelli out – suffered a concussion that will keep him out at least another week.

And if that isn’t enough, Furlong lost starting guard-linebacker Matt Viscuso for the season last week after he suffered a compound fracture that required surgery to place a steel rod in his leg.

BIG NUMBERS

Brumfield needs 61 yards tonight to reach 1,000 for the season, while Monteiro needs only 21 yards passing to hit 1,000. … Nine area backs are averaging over eight yards a carry thus far, topped off by Pottsgrove’s Maika Polamalu (9.9). Spring-Ford’s Chase Stewart, thanks in part to his school-record 94-yard dash last week, is next at 8.3.

* * *

Big numbers don’t always translate into wins… check these out:

Grace Brethren (Calif.) quarterback Max Leffler throws for 510 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-32 loss to Frazier Mountain; Boyd (Tex.) quarterback Jonovan Griffin throws for 480 yards in an 84-40 loss to Plano West; and Downey (Calif.) quarterback Jason Lee throws for 450 yards and six touchdowns in a 72-43 loss to Patterson.

NOTES

The big game in District 1 this week has the state’s No. 8 ranked Downingtown West at Henderson. Both teams are 5-0 and among the district’s playoff points leaders in the AAAA and AAA brackets, respectively. … Out in Oklahoma, officials at Jenks High School – which has won nine of the last 13 state titles in the big-school classification and is nationally ranked year after year – have suspended 14-year head coach Allan Trimble and one of his assistants indefinitely. A 44-page report revealed Trimble was responsible for questionable conduct with seven players, conduct that ranged from recruiting violations to monetary gifts.

All summer long, a handful of teams – Boyertown, Owen J. Roberts, Phoenixville, Pottsgrove and Upper Perkiomen (listed alphabetically to hush all the nitpickers) – were mentioned over and over again as the favorites, frontrunners and forces-to-be-reckoned-with in the Pioneer Athletic Conference this season.

After the two-week preseason grind, which revealed a thriller here and there but mostly more mismatches than anything else, those five teams are still being mentioned over and over again as the favorites, etc., etc., etc.

Well, the PAC-10 kicks off its 24th season tonight, and there just so happens to be five other teams – Methacton, Perkiomen Valley, Pottstown, Spring-Ford and St. Pius X – that would like nothing more than to get a share of the early season spotlight.

Most will get that opportunity.

The big one, or the game that will attract a lot of fans tonight (and readers in Saturday’s newspapers and on their various websites) is Boyertown’s visit to Pottsgrove. Then there’s Owen J. Roberts entertaining Spring-Ford, and Perkiomen Valley visiting Upper Perkiomen. Finishing up Saturday is Pottstown’s game at Methacton, and Phoenixville’s visit to St. Pius X.

Mind you, it’s only Week One in the Pioneer Athletic Conference. Everyone has eight more games on their respective schedules. Statements can and will be made tonight and Saturday afternoon.

But don’t forget that no one has ever lost its first PAC-10 game and won an outright league championship, and only once has a team lost its PAC-10 opener and managed to finish with a share of the league championship.

“The first game of the season is always a big game,” said Pottsgrove head coach Rick Pennypacker. “But your first league game, your first PAC-10 game, is even bigger because your first goal is to win your league championship. You want to get off to a good start.”

No one has gotten off to a better start, perhaps, than the defending champion Falcons. They defeated Pennridge (34-21) and Wissahickon (45-0), but will open their first PAC-10 season in three years without all-state linebacker Preston Hamlette, who went down with an ankle injury on the sixth play of last Friday evening’s game and is unlikely to be uniform tonight.

“And on top of that Boyertown is a very good football team,” Pennypacker added.

The Bears are big up front. Make that very, very big up front. They also have a new quarterback in Dylan Pasik who, given time and space, can throw the ball, as well as a few fellas who can get to the end zone in a hurry, especially Ryan Schwager. But it’s an offense that, thanks in part to turnovers and penalties, left them stuttering and stumbling after Schwager’s 78-yard touchdown dash in the first quarter last week. Tonight, they’ll have to deal with a defense that may prove it gets to the football north and south as well as east and west better than any PAC-10 team – past or present.

Owen J. Roberts had an equally impressive preseason with wins over Conestoga (13-3) and West Chester East (31-6), and head coach Tom Barr’s defense may not be getting the attention – or props – it’s earned thus far. That’s not easy to get when you have Ryan Brumfield piling up the yardage and touchdowns on the other side of the ball. But Barr will be focused on shutting down Spring-Ford, which has helped make this one of the area’s most unpredictable series over the past two decades. The Rams have had to deal with way too many off-field distractions – from transfers and disgruntled fans who only build the dissention and tear down the rebuilding hopes.

Upper Perkiomen proved it earned a contender tag, too, with preseason wins over Muhlenberg (20-13) and Upper Dubin (34-0). The Indians have some size, a lot of aggressive individuals on both sides of the line, and a couple of motivating factors like ending back-to-back losing seasons in the PAC-10 (their first since 2000-01) and rebounding from their first losing season overall in nine years. And don’t think they’re not aware of how Perkiomen Valley opened with a win over that same Upper Dublin team and how it went toe-to-toe with heavily favored Coatesville before six turnovers tripped them up.

But if there is one of those preseason favorites (as well as a none-favorite) lining up on a mission, or looking to send a message, it’s Phoenixville and St. Pius X – and they’re getting together Saturday to kick off the final PAC-10 season at Mich Stadium. The Phantoms are 0-2 for the first time head coach Bill Furlong’s seven years guiding the program, and that has a lot of people – including Furlong himself – scratching his head. Meanwhile, the Lions are 2-0 for the first time in six years and rather determined to double, triple or more their total of league wins (two) over the past five seasons.

And don’t think anyone is overlooking Saturday’s other matinee – Pottstown and Methacton down in Fairview Village. Yes, both are 0-2. But, as more than a few coaches around the PAC-10 have said, both have the size and speed to get the best of anyone of any given weekend. No one, perhaps, has pulled off as many legitimate PAC-10 upsets through the years as Pottstown. Methacton, a bit more comfortable now in its new surroundings, would also like to avoid an 0-3 start and put together the program’s first winning season in nine years.

* * *

The only time a PAC-10 team lost its opener and won or shared the league championship was in 2007. Perkiomen Valley dropped its opener to Lansdale Catholic, 41-20, before running off eight straight wins. Lansdale Catholic was forced to share the title because in Week Five, with a then spotless 4-0 (5-0 overall) record, was stunned 28-27 in overtime at Pottstown. … The only time a team has had more than one loss and still won a PAC-10 championship was in 1991, when Owen J. Roberts and Pottsgrove finished alongside one another at 7-2.

MILESTONE TIME

The Hill School kicks off its 133rd season of football this afternoon at Germantown Academy … and kicks it off looking for the 500th win in the history of its storied program. Hill won the inaugural meeting between the two schools, 26-0 in 1945, but didn’t see Germantown Academy again until 1970, when the two schools became annual rivals through 1994. There was one more game – Germantown Academy’s 56-0 rout in 1999 – between the two before the series resumed last year (Hill’s 32-8 romp).

Hill School, which leads the overall series, 18-10, is attempting to join Phoenixville as the only area programs with 500 or more wins.

Head coach Marty Vollmuth and the Rams are on the road again next week (at Episcopal Academy) before their home-opener Saturday, Oct. 3 against Chestnut Hill Academy. They begin their Mid-Atlantic Prep League schedule the following Saturday against visiting Peddie School.

MOVING UP

Brumfield moved up to 12th place on The Mercury’s career rushing chart last week. The OJR junior has 3,366 yards, needing just 143 more yards to get into the Top 10 and 268 more yards to run by head coach Tom Barr, who had 3,633 yards carrying the football for Henry Bernat at Owen J. Roberts. … Daniel Boone’s Jon Monteiro, only the ninth area quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 career yards, needs 290 to move into eighth place. Teammate Kelly Saylor – like Monteiro with only one season behind him – needs 38 catches and 207 yards to become just the fifth area receiver with 100 receptions and 1,000 yards.

Published in the Sept. 3 edition of The Mercury.

Here we go again … another new high school football season, the area’s 123rd, believe it or not, when remembering The Hill School kicked it all off first in this area way, way back in 1887.

Things have certainly changed since then – like the actual size and look of the football (it’s no longer the bladder); the equipment (helmets have replaced the shaggy haircuts and cleats are certainly safer than nails nowadays); scoring (touchdowns have gone from four to six points); and umpteen rules (like no forearms to the face, thank you).

Yes, a new season.

Get ready for a whole bunch of new names, a handful or two of familiar stars to go along with a slew of new stars, all determined to produce some new records.

There’s energy.

“You go through two weeks of practices, most in all that heat and humidity, and two scrimmages,” said OJR head coach Tom Barr. “The kids want to get out there and play for real now.”

There’s excitement.

“This is our best opportunity to compete in the (Pioneer Athletic Conference) in some time,” said St. Pius X head coach George Parkinson.

And there are those high expectations.

“We’re aware that a lot of people think we’re going to be a very good football team this year,” said Pottsgrove head coach Rick Pennypacker. “But we’ve reminded our kids going into (tonight’s game) we haven’t won anything yet.”

After the opening-night jitters subside, the butterflies that flutter through the first couple of series are gone, and the

obvious miscommunications and misunderstandings are out of the way – and the adrenalin subsides just a wee bit – coaches will get a more realistic feel, or an up-close look at what needs to tweaked before Week Two, and what needs to be twisted or turned completely around before heading into the league portion of their regular-season schedules.

There will be no shortage of stars likely shining this weekend.

Daniel Boone quarterback Jon Monteiro, who kept a nagging leg injury all to himself last season and broke virtually every Berks County and Mercury-area passing record, is back. So are Methacton’s James McHugh and Phoenixville’s Tom Romano, both of whom debuted by throwing for over 1,000 yards a year ago. And some newcomers – like Boyertown’s Dylan Pasik, Owen J. Roberts’ Nate Walters and Upper Perkiomen’s Casey Perlstein, to name a few – could be throwing for a grand or more in their first full-season debuts this fall.

Then there’s Pottsgrove’s Terrell Chestnut – The Mercury’s Player of the Year and unquestionably one of the most talented two-way players in the entire state – who could go over that 1,000-yard mark throwing the football as well as carrying it. And who knows, St. Pius’ very athletic Cole Parkinson, given the time to throw and the room to run, could very well duplicate those rare numbers.

Don’t think there’s any shortage of good running backs returning for the show this season, either. Boyertown has Logan Herb and Ryan Schwager; Owen J. Roberts has junior Ryan Brumfield, who piled up over 2,000 yards last season and could very well scoot past every rushing and total offense record there is by the time he’s done; Pottsgrove has Maika Polamalu and his 1,000-yards back; and Pottstown has transfer David Tyler and his 2,000-plus yards in the backfield.

If you’re looking for those spectacular catches (or just the routine receptions on a consistent basis), keep an eye on, among others, Daniel Boone’s Kelly Saylor, Methacton’s Patrick McMichael, OJR’s Kohl Batdorf, Perkiomen Valley’s Ben Carbutt, Spring-Ford’s Andy Ellison, and Upper Perkiomen’s Ronnie Gillespie.

And if it’s the beef you like, there’s plenty of it. Boyertown, Daniel Boone, Owen J. Roberts, Phoenixville, Pottstown and Upper Perkiomen could easily break the offensive and defensive line scales … and there are some very big fellas on the other area teams.

For those who dare carry the football, the big guys can squash them, and those hard-hitting linebackers – lik

Boyertown’s Jared Giles, Methacton’s Michael He, Owen J. Roberts’ Sam Funk and Rich Zazo, Pottsgrove’s Preston Hamlette, Pottstown’s Tommy Santos, Spring-Ford’s James Hoff, and Upper Perkiomen’s Fleming – who can thump them. And don’t think those corners and safeties are any lightweights, either, at least not Daniel Boone’s Saylor, Perkiomen Valley’s Carbutt, Pottsgrove’s Chestnut, Pius’ Parkinson, or Upper Perkiomen’s Andrew Orlick and Shawn Wenhold.

Come to think of it, five of the area’s best kickers from a year ago – Daniel Boone’s Bernie Roell, Perkiomen Valley’s Justin Morgan, OJR’s Zach Lepore, Phoenixville’s John McInally and Boyertown’s Aaron Sassaman – are back to foot their share of the bill, too.

Not enough? Add in all those quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, linemen, linebackers, corners and safeties who most of us never heard of going into tonight’s openers, but who will be quite familiar to all of us in a week or two, and definitely by the end of the season.

Let the games begin.

BEARING DOWN

Boyertown travels to Allentown Allen tonight, and don’t think head coach Mark Scisley hasn’t reminded the Bears of one very strange (and perhaps embarrassing) statistic.

No Boyertown team has beaten a non-league opponent in five years, or since a 22-13 decision of Abington two weeks before Thanksgiving in 2004. Since then, the Bears have lost 11 straight – four games to Muhlenberg; two to Downingtown West; and one each to Abington, Governor Mifflin, Great Valley, Hatboro-Horsham, Middletown,

Needless to say, Scisly has a little motivational tool for tonight’s game against the Canaries – who, incidentally, haven’t won a game since their season finale in 2006 and were just 1-29 the last three years.

NO PUFF SCHEDULE

Of the area’s 11 schools kicking off the season this weekend, only Daniel Boone and St. Pius X will be facing non-league opponents who have a combined losing record from a year ago. The Blazers’ three opponents (Donegal, Susquehannock and Columbia) were a combined 7-24 last year, while the Lions’ three (Simon Gratz, Jenkintown and Kennedy-Kenrick) were 16-17.

Based on last year’s records, Upper Perkiomen has the most difficult schedule this time around facing opponents with a combined 25-9 mark. Others worth mentioning are Perkiomen Valley (15-5), Spring-Ford (16-8), and Phoenixville (14-8).

SELECT COMPANY

Pottsgrove has an opportunity to do something this year no area program has achieved before – post its third straight season of 10 or more wins. Four schools have won 10 or more in successive years a combined six times before, but never three years in a row.

Pottstown was the first to do it (1970-71), then Owen J. Roberts matched it (1983-84). Spring-Ford managed to string together back-to-back, 10-plus wins seasons twice

(1986-87 and 1994-95), as has Pottsgrove (2000-01 and 2007-08).

GOLDEN YEAR

St. Pius X, which is playing at Mich Stadium for the final time this season, will be wearing gold jerseys and blue pants for all varsity and junior varsity games this fall. And, as they have for more eight years now, the Lions will slip into their gold jerseys and gold pants one last time on Thanksgiving in honor of the late Ron Reed – a former standout at Pius, All-American at Kutztown, and assistant coach as well as supporter of all Pius activities before his death. His son, Scott Reed, is the head coach at Perkiomen Valley.


Don Seeley's high school football column appears Tuesdays and Fridays in the print edition of The Mercury throughout Thanksgiving.