Pottstown improves to 5-1 with shutout of Phoenixville, 20-0

PHOENIXVILLE >> Pottstown continued its fine start to the 2015 Pioneer Athletic Conference football season with a 20-0 victory over host Phoenixville Friday night at Washington Field.

Wise and quarterback Brandon Tinson once again had big games on both sides of the football along with the rest of the Pottstown defense.

“We just play together,” said Tinson who finished with 146 yards rushing and 21 more yards passing. “It is not just five or six players. It is all 11 players. You play for the man next to you. We just play together and we execute.”

Bryant Wise gave the Trojans a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter by scoring on runs of 9 and 37 yards. Aaron Diamond had the run for a two-point conversion.

Tinson added the final touchdown on a 49-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. Ernest McCalvin contributed a pair of sacks.

The Trojans are now 3-1 in the PAC-10 and 5-1 overall for their best start in a number of years. Phoenixville had its moments of brightness on both sides of the ball, too, but the Phantoms still fell to 1-4 (1-5 overall).

“Our defense played very well,” said Pottstown coach Don Grinstead. “We ran to the ball and kept our leverage. We played great team defense. I am proud of our players.”

The Trojans ended the night with 279 yards of total offense, but the defensive performance may have been the biggest highlight.

“I had a good game,” said McCalvin, a linebacker, “but if it wasn’t for everybody else, I probably wouldn’t be here. It is the whole defense being able to execute and give effort.”

There were a lot of key penalty calls throughout the evening that negated some long gains and took away some other good field position and chances to score.

Phoenixville thought it had a blocked punt that went for a touchdown return, but a roughing the kicker penalty took that away. A fumble recovery was lost on an inadvertent whistle.

“I thought we adjusted and played well in the second half,” said Phoenixville coach Evan Breisblatt. “It was a 14-0 game and we had some opportunities in the first half. Again, we move the ball from 20 to 20. That comes from a young team with inexperience. They have some very good athletes in the backfield.”

Breisblatt still thought his defense and offense played well. He thinks the Phantoms just need to be more consistent and eliminate some mistakes.

The Pottstown offensive line consisted of Jaylen Chestnut, Javonte Tinson, Jimmie Zazzi, Nyles Rome and Steven Hewitt along with tight end Alec Krause.