Pottsgrove motivated to sit atop PAC-10 once again
It came into 2014 with a 23-game PAC-10 win streak.
It exited the season with two conference losses and their name replaced on the PAC-10 plaque for the first time in two seasons.
In 2015, it’d be foolish to think those results would repeat itself.
Not for a Falcons team that returns a bevy of starters, albeit not three big pieces in All-Area Player of the Year Michael Fowler (41 receptions for 882 yards and 15 total touchdowns; three interceptions), All-Area First Teamer Patrick Finn (Bucknell) and Devon Fink (1,155 yards rushing on 168 carries with 13 touchdowns).
Not for a team that has captured four of the past seven conference championships and have compiled a 65-13 record since 2009.
“Our goal is to win the PAC-10, win District 1 and get in the state playoffs,” Pottsgrove quarterback Deyon Doctor said. “That’s our goal every year.
“We can be something special if we put our mind to it.”
Pottsgrove brings Doctor back along with All-Area first team lineman Jake Adams and fullback/running back Wyatt Porter. Brandon Drozda, Mike Gantert and Matt Wasniewski return to an already formidable line that helped pave the way for the Falcons to score 30.6 points per game in 2014, good for fourth in the PAC-10.
That contingent will look to build off a season that saw its PAC-10 win streak snap at 25 games in a September loss to Methacton, before falling in a do-or-die clash with Perkiomen Valley late in the season to lose out on a chance for atleast a share of the PAC-10 crown.
All of that is just added fuel for the Falcons this season.
“Our main goal is to beat everybody, not just PV,” Doctor said. “The whole PAC-10, we’re coming for all of them.”
“PV got us last year, they jumped out at us early,” Porter added. “I think if we did a couple of things differently that it could have been a different outcome. I’m really confident about this year. Our team is returning just about everyone and I’m confident we’ll be able to get back to the top.”
Keeping the Status Quo?
Spring-Ford, Perkiomen Valley and Pottsgrove are again the front runners to take home the PAC-10 crown. In the past eight seasons, there has been only one year that a team not hailing from Graterford, Royersford or Pottsgrove won the plaque. That year was 2010 where Boyertown and Owen J. Roberts shared the title. Pottsgrove has won four titles since 2008, Spring-Ford one and Perkiomen Valley two (shared in 2007 with Lansdale Catholic).
“Coach Pennypacker says that Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley are much better and out of this world,” Adams said. “We have to come in and work hard every day to get up to where they are and that each day we have to keep stepping up.”
Model This
Graduated quarterback Torin Verdone, who was one of the area-leaders in passing with 1,325 passing yards with 16 touchdowns, was featured in a Fall 2015 Calvin Klein advertisement. Verdone is repped by VNY Model Management and Streamline Model Management.
Joining a Winner
Finn joins a Bucknell Bison squad that finished alone in second place in the Patriot League standings, its highest showing since 1997. The Bison were picked to finish second in a recent conference vote. Fowler enters his freshman season at Delaware Valley College which was picked to finish second in the Middle Atlantic Conference polls. Del-Val has recently been in the news because of former standout wideout Rasheed Bailey, who made an impressionable appearance in the Philadelphia Eagles preseason opener vs. Indianapolis. Fink and Wilkes College open their season September 4 at Muhlenberg College.
Not enough Pottsgrove content?
Need not to worry. The Falcons will have additional stories in the 2015 Mercury Football Preview that will run on September 2. Look for additional information on what the Falcons are doing to replace the likes of Michael Fowler, Devon Fink and Patrick Finn while also getting a peek as to who the players to watch are. Rosters and a depth chart will also be included in the season’s preview.
