Sturm’s huge first half highlights Perk Valley’s 45-7 victory over Methacton
NORRISTOWN >> The rain would come heavier in the second half, but a different form of hail storm hit Methacton on its home field in the first half, and the damage was done.
Perkiomen Valley quarterback Stephen Sturm dropped tight spirals out of the sky, hitting his bevy of receivers for a ridiculous 295 yards passing and four touchdowns in the first half. The Vikings built a 35-0 lead by the break and cruised on to a 45-7 victory Friday night, remaining unbeaten (5-0 in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, 9-0 overall) as they look to wrap up the league championship in the regular season finale next Friday at Pottsgrove.
Like his team, which has kept the pedal to the metal since winning the PAC game everybody had circled on the schedule, Spring-Ford, Sturm just keeps getting better. In nine games his senior year he’s thrown for 2,445 yards, 29 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
Of the five receivers he hit, four had at least 50 yards in receptions. Justin Jaworski toppled the 1,000-yard plateau with a four-catch, 96-yard night, giving him 1,051 yards on the season to go with 11 TD catches.
Among Sturm’s four TD strikes were beautiful deep balls to Brendan Schimpf (55 yards) and Jaworski (47). David Williams snared the other two out of the backfield for scores of 7 and 9 yards as Sturm connected on 11-of-19 in his one half of passing plus one second-half series.
“When we came out they ran a defense we didn’t really expect them to,” said Sturm, who also was the game’s leading rusher with 47 yards on three carries. “They ran a Cover 3. We like verticals against Cover 3. We really took advantage of it, and it’s a testament to our team of how lethal we can be.”
Sturm’s sturdy offensive line kept his jersey clean, and when you give this lefty time to throw, it’s usually curtains for the secondary. The Vikings’ solid starting interior O-line consists of Matt Mikesic, Vaughn Stolzer, Chris Jimenez, Jahir Holmes and Noah Shine.
“Doing it for three years, you kind of get used to the offense, and I’ve got such great linemen that really protect me and give me time,” Sturm said. “I’ve got good receivers. It’s not just me out there. So much goes into it that not a lot of people see. I’m so happy I get to do it with all my teammates. It’s really special.”
“It’s about looking at the guy to your left and the guy to your right and trusting they’re going to do their job, and you just have to do your job,” Mikesic said.
Methacton (2-3 in the PAC, 2-7 overall) fought as much as it could at times. Down 28-0 late in the first quarter, the Warriors got a diving catch from John Keenan on a Jason Eckman aerial for 21 yards and another Eckman-Keenan connection for 46 – the latter including a fumble recovery by Tremain Wilson at the PV 4-yard-line after Keenan was stripped by Kyle Beaudoin. But PV put up a goal-line stand on fourth down.
Methacton also blocked two punts but just couldn’t consistently budge the tough PV defense. The Warriors finally scored late in the game when Liam McClure took an Eckman pass 64 yards to the end zone.
The Vikings, who totaled 532 yards of offense, rushed for 154 in the second half to quicken the outcome. They can smell a PAC title while maintaining their hunger.
“We’ll watch film and see what we can improve upon, look at mistakes and fix them,” Jimenez said.
“We’ve been going as hard as we can, even when we’re not on the field, knuckling down on film and getting after it in the weight room,” Stolzer said. “We’ve got to keep pushin’.”
