Defense leads Boyertown to overtime win over Phoenixville

BOYERTOWN — This one needed overtime to resolve the issue.

Host Boyertown used an overtime 10-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence Garnett to Mike Murphy on third down in overtime and its defense provided another big stop to get past Phoenixville, 13-7, in their Homecoming Friday night for a Pioneer Athletic Conference win.

Both defenses came up with some big plays throughout the evening to keep the game at 7-7 and force overtime after a scoreless second half.

Boyertown scored on its first possession in overtime and then held the Phantoms on their series with two plays for negative yardage and two incomplete passes to end the contest. The Bears’ Justin Siejk had the two tackles for losses, and then Dalton Hughes figured in pass defense on the last two plays from the 15-yard line. Gregg Harvey led the pass rush for the Bears.

“Our defense did great,’ said Boyertown head coach George Parkinson. “I thought coach (defensive coordinator Rich Burkett) had them well-prepared.

“What hurt was our penalties. We had a hit out of bounds and a facemask penalty that killed us. We should know better. We didn’t discipline ourselves.’

Overall, Boyertown (4-2, 5-3) was flagged nine times for 101 yards while Phoenixville was penalized five times for 25 yards.

Garnett had a 7-yard scoring toss to Mitch Warriner to tie the game at 7-7 in the second period after Elijah Giorgio kicked the extra point.

Phoenixville (1-5, 1-6) opened the scoring on Matt Palubinsky’s 13-yard touchdown run and a placement by Miguel Ramirez.

Garnett was under heavy pressure all night from Phoenixville’s defense, but he scrambled his way to 110 yards on 22 attempts. In passing, he finished 6-for-15 for 55 yards.

“Their defense played us tough,’ said Parkinson. “They (Phantoms) played very well defensively. We needed a strong performance going into Perkiomen Valley next week, but we took a little step backward.’

Parkinson thought his offense started out all right, but then lost its effectiveness.

“I am a little disappointed with the way we played offensively,’ said Parkinson. “I will have to look at the films as to how things broke down on the ground and in the air. We were moving the ball, and then all of a sudden, we kind of stalled. It is a big concern going into PV next week.’

Palubinsky caught nine passes for 52 yards and also ran the ball 13 times for 44 yards, along with his usual steady play on defense. Phantom quarterback Ian Brown completed 10 of 20 aerials for 50 yards. Brown, too, had to do a lot of running against the Boyertown pursuit. His combination of called plays and scrambles accounted for 14 rushes.

All we could ask for was a good effort,’ said Palubinsky. “We knew we had a chance. Everyone has to do everything with our limited numbers. Everyone is doing everything out there. All we can ask for is to work hard, and the wins will come eventually.’

Zach Gallow, Melvin Obando and Brenn Myers registered sacks for the Phantoms with Obando also blocking an extra point kick. For the Bears, Harvey had 1.5 sacks and shared one with Warriner.

Notes

Boyertown’s Anthony Borzillo was active at linebacker and Alex Beidler, David Stahl and Mike Banks up front. … Phoenixville got some other good defensive work from linebackers Jason Waltman and Ian Truax. … Jessica Kurtz was named Homecoming queen during halftime ceremonies.