Mercury Area Week 9 Preview

FRIDAY’S GAMES

Perkiomen School at Pennington Prep, 6:30 p.m. 
Record: Perkiomen School 6-1 overall; Pennington Prep 5-2 overall.
Last week: Perkiomen School defeated Wyoming Seminary 36-8; Pennnigton Prep defeated Hackley, 34-31.
Panthers Facts/Figures: Team has won four straight since 25-24 loss to George School. … Quarterback Brett Ciocari had another standout performance, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another in team’s win last week.
Red Raiders Facts/Figures: Red Raiders have won three straight since falling 42-0 to Montclair Kimberely Academy. … Nyshere Woodson rushed for 266 yards and three touchdowns and last week’s win. It was the second time in four weeks he rushed for three touchdowns.
Notable: Pennington’s kicker is senior Sabrina Tucci, the first female to earn Special Team Player of the Week honors from the 12th Man TD Club. She went 5-for-5 on extra points in the team’s win two weeks ago.

Upper Perkiomen at Perkiomen Valley, 7 p.m. 
Record: Upper Perkiomen 2-5 PAC-10, 2-6 overall; Perkiomen Valley 7-0 PAC-10, 8-0 overall.
Last week: Upper Perkiomen defeated Pope John Paul II 38-10; Perkiomen Valley defeated Phoenixville 42-0.
Indians Facts/Figures: Indians garnered first win since Week 4 with win over PJP. … Quarterback Zeke Hallman tied a season-best with three touchdown passes, giving him 10 on the season. … Running back Michael Felix is ninth in the PAC in rushing (487 yards and three touchdowns on 101 carries). … Team is allowing 33.9 points per game, third worst in the PAC.
Vikings Facts/Figures: Vikings continue to roll through PAC-10 slate. … Junior quarterback Stephen Sturm threw for another three scores, giving him an area-best 24 on the year. His 70 percent completion rate is also highest in the PAC. … Aaron Morton finished with 109 yards receiving in the win and is now fourth in the PAC in receiving yards (401). … Matt Ford-Bey registered his first interception of the season as defense limited Phoenixville to 90 yards of total offense.
Notable: Perkiomen Valley hasn’t allowed a touchdown since the fourth quarter of the team’s win over PJP three weeks ago. Team has allowed four touchdowns in previous five wins, including back-to-back shutouts the past two weeks.

Pottsgrove at Owen J. Roberts, 7 p.m.
Record: Pottsgrove 5-2 PAC-10, 5-3 overall; Owen J. Roberts 4-2 PAC-10, 4-4 overall.
Last week: Pottsgrove defeated Boyertown 28-27; Owen J. Roberts defeated Methacton 47-7.
Falcons Facts/Figures: Falcons got a game-changing performance from quarterback Deyon Doctor in team’s win last week. Doctor threw for 97 yards and rushed for 143 and two scores as team overcame Bears in overtime. … Javon Colbert rushed for his first career touchdown in win. … Team has won two straight since loss to Spring-Ford.
Wildcats Facts/Figures: Wildcats won for third time in four games with convincing win over Methacton. … Dawson Stuart had two interceptions in dominating defensive effort that limited Warriors to 149 yards of total offense and recorded four interceptions. … Team registered 304 rushing yards in win, 91 coming from Rayquon Stewart.
Notable: OJR hasn’t beaten Pottsgrove since 2010. … Wildcats off to best season since going 8-1 in 2010.

Boyertown at Phoenixville, 7 p.m.
Record: Boyertown 3-4 PAC-10, 3-5 overall; Phoenixville 2-5 PAC-10, 2-6 overall.
Last week: Boyertown lost to Pottsgrove 28-27; Phoenixville lost to Perkiomen Valley 42-0.
Bears Facts/Figures: Senior quarterback Lawrence Garnett set a school record with four touchdown passes in OT loss to Pottsgrove last week. … Sophomore wide receiver Jerry Kapp tied record with three touchdown receptions. … Garnett has thrown for 12 touchdowns and four interceptions this season. … Kapp is third in receiving yards (426).
Phantoms Facts/Figures: Team couldn’t carry over effort from win over PJP in last week’s loss to Perk Valley. … Phantoms only registered 90 yards of total offense in loss. … Senior Matt Palubinsky remains third in the PAC in receptions (29).
Notable: Boyertown has won its past two contests over Phoenixville. … Garnett has thrown nine touchdown passes in last five games.

Daniel Boone at Hazleton, 7 p.m.
Record: Daniel Boone 0-5 Berks 1, 3-5 overall; Hazleton 3-3 Wyoming Valley Division I, 3-5 overall.
Last week: Daniel Boone lost to Pottsville 33-22; Hazleton lost to Wyoming Valley West 49-3.
Blazers Facts/Figures: Team continues to struggle, losing five straight. … Josh Ehst has continued to be solid at quarterback, throwing for 157 yards and a touchdown. … Cinque Ramsey returned last week and rushed for 53 yards and two touchdowns. … Ryan Okuniewski is ninth in Berks Conference in receptions (14) and receiving yards (251).
Cougars Facts/Figures: Team is led by rushing of Adrian Otero (633 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 118 carries) and Carson Kinney (57 carries for 357 yards). … Sparky Wolk has thrown for 525 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions for Cougars.
Notable: Hazleton fell to Daniel Boone 42-27 last season.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Methacton at Pottstown, 1 p.m.
Record: Methacton 0-7 PAC-10, 0-8 overall; Pottstown 4-2 PAC-10, 6-2 overall.
Last week: Methacton lost to Owen J. Roberts 47-7; Pottstown lost to Spring-Ford 34-0.
Warriors Facts/Figures: Quarterback Jason Eckman threw season-high four interceptions in last week’s loss to OJR. … Eckman is fourth in the PAC in passing yards (924) and fifth in touchdowns (10). … Warriors allow a PAC-worst 50 points per game.
Trojans Facts/Figures: Senior quarterback Brandon Tinson was held to a season-low 30 yards rushing as Trojans were held to season-low 75 yards of total offense in last week’s loss to Spring-Ford. … Tinson still second in PAC in rushing (802 yards on 121 carries). … Bryant Wise is now fifth in rushing (531 on 95 carries).
Notable: Saturday’s game marks Pottstown’s Homecoming. … Pottstown hasn’t defeated Methacton since Warriors joined PAC-10 in 2008.

Spring-Ford at Pope John Paul II, 1 p.m.
Record: Spring-Ford 7-0 PAC-10, 8-0 overall; Pope John Paul II 0-7 PAC-10, 0-8 overall.
Last week: Spring-Ford defeated Pottstown 34-0; Pope John Paul II lost to Upper Perkiomen 38-10.
Rams Facts/Figures: Rams defense stood out in win over Pottstown, allowing only 75 yards of total offense. … Defense ranks first in the PAC in points allowed (9) and second in yards allowed (173.5). … Senior quarterback Ricky Venuto is second in PAC in passing yards (1,426) and touchdowns (20).
Golden Panthers Facts/Figures: Golden Panthers were outscored 20-0 in second half in last week’s loss. … Matt Duff threw for 266 yards in loss and is now third in the PAC in passing yards (1,205) and touchdowns (13). … Jared Johns-Lupold remains second in the area in receptions (34) and yards (530).
Notable: Golden Panthers are being outscored 85-28 in the first quarter and 131-56 in the second half. … Spring-Ford is outscoring its opponents 121-5 in the first quarter and 236-19 in the first half.

Mercersburg Academy at Hill School, 2:30 p.m.
Record: Mercersburg Academy 0-2 MAPL, 0-6 overall; Hill School 0-2 MAPL, 0-6 overall.
Last week: Mercersburg lost to Peddie School 47-33; Hill School lost to Blair Academy 56-28.
Blue Storm Facts/Figures: Mercersburg fell behind 34-0 last week before rallying back to make it a one-score game late. … Alex DeGrange and Nick Nelson had two touchdowns in the loss.
Rams Panthers Facts/Figures: Hill being outscored 100-34 in last two losses. … Trey Humes leads team with 447 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Notable: Mercersburg is 1-13 in the past two seasons, the one win coming against the Hill School last season.

Week 9 Notes

∙ Pottstown (6-2) overall is in good position to snap a lengthy losing streak to Methacton (0-8) Saturday afternoon on the Trojans’ Homecoming. Pottstown hasn’t beaten Methacton since the Warriors came into the PAC-10 in 2008 and with the Trojans enjoying their best season since 2002, that streak could end.

∙ Owen J. Roberts, winners of three out of its last four, will look to snap a four-game losing streak against Pottsgrove as the Falcons travel to Bucktown Friday. The Falcons are without starting tight end and defensive end Chris DeFrancesco who had surgery Wednesday after being recently diagnosed with testicular cancer. Deyon Doctor helped lead the Falcons to a victory last week over Boyertown, throwing and rushing for 100-plus yards and will look to keep the ball away from OJR’s Dawson Stuart, who recorded two interceptions last week.

∙Perkiomen Valley (7-0 PAC-10, 8-0 overall) carries its perfect PAC-10 record into a date with Upper Perkiomen (2-5, 2-6). The Vikings, led by area-leading passer Stephen Sturm and area-leading receiver Justin Jaworski, haven’t lost to Upper Perkiomen since 2008. Upper Perk quarterback Zeke Hallman is coming off a season-best performance where he threw for three touchdowns in the Indians’ win over PJP last Friday.

∙ Spring-Ford (7-0, 8-0) also holds a lengthy streak over its Saturday foe, PJP. The Rams, led by a defense that allows a league-best nine points per game, have never lost to the Golden Panthers under head coach Chad Brubaker.

∙ This is the longest that two PAC-10 teams have been undefeated since 2012 where Pottsgrove and Perkiomen Valley were 7-0 in the league entering Week 9. Pottsgrove defeated the Vikings 42-28 en route to a perfect 9-0 record and a PAC-10 Championship. That year was also the last time two teams were winless entering Week 9 (Pope John Paul II and Upper Perkiomen in 2012; Pope John Paul II and Methacton in 2015).

∙ According to Mike Drago from the Reading Eagle, Exeter (4-0 Berks 1, 8-0 overall) can match its best start in school history with a win Friday over Governor Mifflin (4-0 Berks 1, 5-3 overall).

District Watch
District No. 1 ranked Downingtown East (4-0 Ches-Mont National, 8-0 overall) faces West Chester East (2-2, 4-4) while District No. 2 Downingtown West (4-0, 8-0) faces Avon Grove (2-3, 4-4) before their impending clash next week.

District No. 3 ranked Quakertown (5-0, 8-0) faces Council Rock North (4-1 Suburban One Continental), while district No. 4 ranked Upper Dublin (5-0 Suburban One, 8-0 overall) faces Hatboro-Horsham (4-1, 4-4) in a battle for Suburban One American supremacy. District No. 6 Unionville faces winless Octorara at 7 p.m.

Latest power rankings have Spring-Ford at No.5 and Perkiomen Valley at No. 7.