Chichester can’t quite get offense untracked in setback

UPPER CHICHESTER >> When Chichester’s Clarence Bowens fired a pass toward the left sideline Friday night in the fourth quarter of Chichester’s eventual 14-3 loss to Pottstown at Tony Apichella Field, it found the clutches of Pottstown’s Bryant Wise — but a roughing-the-passer penalty call allowed the Eagles a mulligan.

On the next play, Bowens and his team weren’t as lucky, as Bowens’ pass in traffic was again intercepted. Again, it was Wise who snared the football with less than two minutes to play.

It counted that time.

“Our coach was switching coverages up and we kind of confused (Bowens) a bit back-to-back,” Wise said. “It felt good to see only two minutes on the clock when we got the ball back.”

Wise’s interception wiped out a final Chichester drive in which Bowens found different receivers on each of three consecutive completions for 45 yards on what was otherwise a slow evening for the Eagles’ offense.

“I felt like the game wasn’t over,” Bowens said of the final drive. “(Chichester’s receivers) were catching some nice passes, and the line was buying me some time to make plays.

“But I threw the interception.”

The Eagles totaled 12 yards on offense through the game’s first 24 minutes and allowed a Wise 12-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds left before halftime.

Toward the end of the third quarter, Bowens hit seniors Martin Frempong and Kevin Miller for gains of 11 and 32 yards, respectively, making way for a 21-yard field goal from Austin Wilson that put the Eagles on the board. A 4-yard rushing score from Pottstown’s Isaiah Mayes in the final quarter capped the scoring with 8:09 left to play and effectively wrapped up the Trojans’ second defeat of a Delco team in consecutive weeks. Pottstown blanked Sun Valley, 21-0, in its season-opener last weekend.

Trojans senior quarterback Brandon Tinson gave the Eagles’ defense fits with his explosiveness on the ground, particularly in the second half. He racked up 136 yards for the night on 15 carries.

“That’s what happens. You have to wrap up,” Frempong said, talking of the defense’s inability to finish tackles on several different plays throughout the night.

“They had a lot of talented kids on that team,” Eagles head coach Ryan Smith said of the Trojans. “But (Chichester) continued to pursue the game aggressively for 48 minutes. … On our journey this season, that’s kind of a platform to now go and win a game like this if they can continue to play together like they did tonight.”