Former Perkiomen Valley great Zulli matches wits with mentors as Methacton OC

Back in 2005, Zach Zulli was just a 14-year-old freshman quarterback, honing his craft at Perkiomen Valley High School.

It was when he met his ninth-grade football offensive coordinator that his career really started to round into form.

“He was kind of (coaching) part-time, because he was involved with baseball as well,” remembered Zulli. “But he’d come to our practices, and as I started talking to him—he was like an older brother. We had very similar understandings of the game of football.”

That offensive coordinator? Current Perkiomen Valley head coach Rob Heist.

The next year, Heist started coaching with the varsity under Scott Reed, just in time for Zulli to move up and begin a three-year career that created the standard by which all Perkiomen Valley quarterbacks (and there have been some good ones) have since been judged. 

Zach Zulli during his junior season at Shippensburg. (Sam Stewart – File Photo)

After a Harlon Hill Trophy-winning (think Heisman Trophy, but for Division II) at Shippensburg University, Zulli had a short stint with the Seattle Seahawks and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League before returning home and starting his coaching career this fall at Methacton High School.

Friday night, that journey came full circle when Zulli, the Warriors’ offensive coordinator, found himself matching wits with Heist and the rest of the Perkiomen Valley coaching staff.

In their first meeting, the teacher(s) got the better of the student, as Perk Valley survived a challenge from Methacton, 18-9. But for Zulli, the disappointment of the loss couldn’t overshadow the novelty, the thrill, and the challenge of going against his mentors.

“I hadn’t looked into it too much — I had the date circled on my calendar, and I knew it was coming, but it’s just so different when you’re going against these guys you’ve known your whole life,” said Zulli. “It’s not just (Coach Heist), I know all of the guys on Perkiomen Valley’s staff. It was actually a cool experience watching them call a game with me on the other side.”

“Zach’s incredible passion for football will translate over to those players for Methacton,” added Rob Heist. “He knows the game extremely well and I’m excited to watch him grow in this new capacity.”

Zulli’s journey to that other side is another interesting tale. Having began a career as a personal trainer at Club La Maison in Wayne, Zulli hadn’t given much thought to coaching until this past spring, when he received an unexpected — but ultimately very welcome message on Facebook.

“I had done some gameday stuff at PV,” Zulli recalled, “but I hadn’t held any official coaching positions. And I wasn’t really looking for anything until Coach (Dave) Lotier took the job at Methacton.

“He messaged me on Facebook, and said he knew of me, my career, and asked whether I’d be interested in coaching?”

Zulli agreed to meet with the coach, and quickly became a part of the 2018 resurgence of the Methacton program. From only 19 players on the squad at the end of 2017, Zulli estimates the Warriors are dressing 45-55 players each week this season.

“I really feel that we’re improving every week,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine anyone playing a tougher schedule than we have (indeed, if the season ended today, six of the Warriors’ seven opponents thus far would qualify for the District 1 playoffs), and we’re starting to make plays. We’re understanding that we can be in games, and we can play with every one of these teams.”

When Zulli looked across the field Friday night, he saw a Perkiomen Valley team representing a program that has become the area’s unofficial “Cradle of Quarterbacks.” The past decade has seen Rasaan Stewart, Stephen Sturm, and current signal-caller Cole Peterlin emerge as conductors of a dynamic, up-tempo offense that has thrust the Vikings into their perennial standing as not only front-runners for the Pioneer Athletic Conference title, but contenders for the Class 6A District 1 title as well.

And it all started with Zach Zulli. Can Zulli’s experience aid him in turning Methacton into the area’s next great offense?

“I take little bits of everything I’ve learned from everyone — and I find myself incorporating it into my playbook, my play calling, all the time,” said Zulli. “Another guy I have to mention is Mike Yurcich (current offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, worked with Zulli at Shippensburg). He taught me to see a defense, call a play… I mean, to this day, I can recall his entire playbook off the top of my head. He helped me tremendously, and it’s crazy because he was only my OC for two years.

“But [my coaching style] is a mixture of everything I’ve learned. I’m still using plays that I picked up from Scott Reed’s offense. You look at your own athletes, and you throw in your own little wrinkles—but the guidance I had along the way has been incredible.”

Grace in Defeat

After a hard-fought loss at Upper Merion Friday night, Pottstown junior Zack Griffin stopped on his way off the field to help the Upper Merion grounds crew properly fold the flag of the United States of America.

“Even in defeat, Trojans know how to show sportsmanship, respect, and class,” said John Armato, director of community relations for Pottstown School District after Griffin’s gesture.

Aside from his position on the football team, Griffin also wrestles at Pottstown, serves as a cadet in the Junior Air Force ROTC Unit PA951, and can be seen on the Pottstown High drum line.

Around the Area

Owen J. Roberts continued to show remarkable balance in their offensive attack in running their record to 5-2 (2-1 PAC Liberty) with a 35-13 win over Norristown. Marcus Martin’s 245 all-purpose yards (185 rushing, 60 receiving) led a 441-yard offensive output for the Wildcats. QB Cooper Chamberlain ran and passed for a touchdown, while Ian Sordilla led the pass catchers with 76 yards through the air. Sordilla was singled out ahead of time by coach Rich Kolka as a player OJR would look to for a big game on Friday.

Next up for the Wildcats is their homecoming game against division-leading Spring-Ford (6-1, 3-0 PAC Liberty) who lit up the scoreboard on Friday night in a 66-31 shootout against Boyertown (1-6, 0-3 PAC Liberty). The first quarter was relatively quiet, with Spring-Ford forging a 10-0 lead on the first of what would be eventually be a half-dozen Ryan Engro TD passes.

Spring-Ford’s Ryan Engro

But the second quarter saw both teams explode in all directions. The one hour, nine-minute quarter featured 60 points and 23 accepted penalties and ended with the Rams in front, 52-18. Jamie Moccia had a pair of long Boyertown touchdowns—a 74-yard catch on a double pass play from Connor Rohrbach, and a 97-yard kickoff return. Moccia added a 94-yard kick return score to his array, but it was negated by one of the aforementioned flags.

Pottsgrove continued undaunted on its road to a third consecutive Frontier Division title with a 51-0 shellacking of Upper Perkiomen (1-6, 0-3 PAC Frontier). After a 139-yard rushing performance last week against Pope John Paul II, quarterback Jay Sisko showed off the other side of his game by throwing for 200 yards and four touchdowns, two of them to WR/CB Jimai Springfield, who’s emerged as one of the conference’s most dangerous playmakers over the past few weeks. Pottsgrove (7-0, 3-0 PAC Frontier) can seal the division title with a win Friday at Upper Merion.

On the other side of last week’s big showdown stood Pope John Paul II, who took a little while to get their legs under them before eventually dispatching Phoenixville, 28-12. A sluggish first half shifted when QB Kamal Gray found Justin Kormos just before halftime for a 38-yard “hail Mary” touchdown. It would be the first of three scoring connections for the duo on the day, as the Panthers ran their record to 6-1 (2-1 PAC Frontier.) Ambrose Colliluori was in on two sacks for a PJP defense that completely negated Phoenixville’s passing game. Travis Pannella was the area’s leading rusher this week for the Phantoms, compiling 191 yards and two touchdowns.

Upper Merion rode the legs of Michael Zelli (21 rushes, 104 yards, TD) to a 26-13 victory over Pottstown in a showdown between the conference’s two breakout squads of 2018. The Vikings now stand at 5-2 (3-0 PAC Frontier) with an opportunity to grab everyone’s attention in this coming Friday’s showdown with Pottsgrove. Pottstown (4-3, 1-2 PAC Frontier) has a chance to add a statement victory to their resume when they host Pope John Paul II.

2018 Mercury Area Rushing Leaders

RankPlayerTeamRush Att.Rush YdsRush TDRush Avg
1Isaiah TaylorPottsgrove2561544176.0
2Marcus MartinOwen J. Roberts196104995.4
3Zaire SavageUpper Merion19788154.5
4Tanner VandersliceDaniel Boone16286275.3
5Josiah WigginsPottstown155813125.2
6Jay SiskoPottsgrove151805135.3
7Tommy BuchertDaniel Boone129796106.2
8Jamie MocciaBoyertown13477595.8
9Alex WashingtonPhoenixville16974894.4
10AJ NatalePope John Paul II139681104.9
11Travis PannellaPhoenixville12967985.3
12Isaiah GloverPottsgrove6953987.8
13Chase LaceyDaniel Boone96535105.6
14Ayden MathiasBoyertown7652366.9
15Daniel DardenPottstown14745733.1
16Cole PeterlinPerkiomen Valley11245554.1
17Stephen BrillSpring-Ford9443264.6
18Mario MazzccuaHill School4542939.5
19Tyrese ReidUpper Perkiomen7742065.5
20Jon MocciaPerkiomen Valley9140674.5
21Cooper ChamberlainOwen J. Roberts10739763.7
22Jacob SturmPerkiomen Valley6337616.0
23Ryan EngroSpring-Ford10535593.4
24Luke WharyUpper Perkiomen9834943.6
25Mike TorciniMethacton9234513.8
26Kamal GrayPope John Paul II9233473.6
27Michael ZelliUpper Merion7132924.6
28Anthony SwendaUpper Merion8032154.0
29Daniel WatsonNorristown8330163.6
30Ezra FigueroaPottstown4427116.2
31Malachi DukaUpper Perkiomen5425624.7
32Jonathan OisterPottstown3024928.3
33Quinn FoleyDaniel Boone4223225.5
34Dereck DardenPottstown3421716.4
35Jadore ColbertPottsgrove5321214.0
36Xzavier GorskiNorristown4721014.5
37Michael CirielloMethacton4919714.0
38Zahir HaynesNorristown4018304.6
39Gary KnoxMethacton5017703.5
40Andrew YoonSpring-Ford3217125.3
41Larry WilliamsDaniel Boone3114704.7
42Joe VeraUpper Perkiomen2914114.9
43Kayden WhitePottsgrove3914103.6
44Devan BanosDaniel Boone2013716.9
45Dante DenardoOwen J. Roberts1811716.5
46Malik Smith IIPerkiomen Valley1211009.2
47CJ McCaffertyPope John Paul II228824.0
48Zachary DavisBoyertown248013.3
49Armante HaynesSpring-Ford248013.3
50Juantoni BrowneSpring-Ford207103.6

2018 Mercury Area Receiving Leaders

RankPlayerTeamRecRec YdsRec. TDRec Avg
1Steve SkarbekPope John Paul II47838917.8
2Dante BonanniSpring-Ford528161015.7
3Justin KormosPope John Paul II346421018.9
4Isaiah DominePerkiomen Valley336291119.1
5Christian ThomasNorristown38561614.8
6Austin RowleyPerkiomen Valley28477517.0
7Blaise ScarcelleSpring-Ford28473316.9
8CJ McCaffertyPope John Paul II37422411.4
9Noah BakerSpring-Ford20379719.0
10Dante DenardoOwen J. Roberts33338310.2
11Stephen BrillSpring-Ford28332111.9
12Nehemiah FigueroaPottstown3633209.2
13Savaughn DavidheiserOwen J. Roberts3532629.3
14Marc ClaytonUpper Merion22292213.3
15Jon MocciaPerkiomen Valley25284311.4
16Jimai SpringfieldPottsgrove14266419.0
17Taiyan LobbanUpper Merion24255110.6
18Max KratohwillUpper Perkiomen24248210.3
19Luke WharyUpper Perkiomen18242113.4
20Nicholas TeetsSpring-Ford18239313.3
21Nick TeetsSpring-Ford16233314.6
22Marcus MartinOwen J. Roberts2423229.7
23Ryan BodolusPottsgrove13222217.1
24Jamie MocciaBoyertown13217216.7
25Xzavier GorskiNorristown19216011.4
26Tyrese ReidUpper Perkiomen12204217.0
27Andrew CarducciUpper Perkiomen2120309.7
28Travis CummingsNorristown16178011.1
29Alex WashingtonPhoenixville2017118.6
30AJ NatalePope John Paul II2216427.5
31Matt OkuniewskiDaniel Boone14162111.6
32Jacob SturmPerkiomen Valley14150110.7
33Connor LeisterOwen J. Roberts10148114.8
34Justin MitalaPope John Paul II7140220.0
35Larry DickersonMethacton9137315.2
36Sam KuhlOwen J. Roberts10130113.0
37Gabe RandallNorristown8129016.1
38Steve BrownMethacton2312605.5
39Mike DoughertyPerkiomen Valley8118014.8
40Aaron AndersonUpper Merion8116114.5
41Ahmad StoneUpper Merion11114010.4
42Jahzeel WatsonPottstown7113016.1
43Anthony StevensonPhoenixville6109118.2
44Connor RohrbachBoyertown6103117.2
45Gernard FinneyHill School6100116.7
46Collin FunkUpper Perkiomen796213.7
47Matthew YakscoeMethacton788112.6
48Kirk WilsonNorristown684014.0
49Jack PizorPhoenixville683013.8
50Zaire SavageUpper Merion781111.6

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