Schimpf does a little of everything as Vikings defense dominates Spring-Ford
If there were any games to transpose his quote over game film it’d be Perkiomen Valley and Spring-Ford’s annual rivalry tilt. The player’s film to accompany it: Brendan Schimpf.
Schimpf did it all for the Vikings in a resounding victory over their neighboring rivals, coming up with a back-breaking pick-six, a rushing touchdown, a devastating sack and a momentous 52-yard reception to help lead Perkiomen Valley to a 28-7 victory Friday night in a key Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division contest.
The win puts Perkiomen Valley in control of its own destiny in the Liberty Division race, the Vikings only needing to win one of their next two remaining conference games to clinch the division after Owen J. Roberts fell to Boyertown on a last-second field goal.
“It feels good,” Schimpf said. “This is always the circled game for the season. You’re always ready to play when this game comes.”
Schimpf didn’t need to fill the Gatorade cooler, walk the dog or paint the back porch, but boy he showed that he could flat out play football. Same too, the rest of the Perkiomen Valley (3-0, 6-1) defense, which limited the Rams to a season low 219 yards of total offense — 68 of those coming on the team’s last possession as a TJ Pergine to Tyler Edwards score eliminated the chances of the series’ 13th shutout since 1976. Head coach Rob Heist wasn’t singling anyone out for their effort — they all deserved credit after registering their second-best defensive effort of the season (team allowed 135 yards in shutout against OJR in Week 5).
“This was the best week of practice that we’ve had in my career here and the best week of practice I think the coaches have ever seen,” said defensive back Remy Sell. “We were firing on all cylinders and we were able to come out here and translate what we did on the practice field and get after it. Our coaches stressed to all of us that they were going to put us in a lot of situations and one-on-ones. We stepped up. Me, Austin (Rowley), Randy (Washington) and (Ryan) Cerula, we all came up and decided that it was time to hunker down and make some plays.”
The same could not be said for a Spring-Ford (2-1, 4-3) squad that saw its three-game winning streak snapped. Seemingly out of sync the majority of the game, the Rams never got over a goalline stop by the Viking defense midway through the first quarter. They committed 12 penalties for 105 yards, punted a season-high nine times (eight of those stemming from three-and-outs) and didn’t find the end zone until the aforementioned Edwards’ touchdown with less than two minutes remaining.
“We struggled a lot with the team speed,” Spring-Ford head coach Chad Brubaker said. “Obviously we didn’t put ourselves in good situations at times. We were for whatever reason out of sync. TJ had a lot of pressure real quickly. Their defensive front and their linebackers caused us a lot of problems where we had to have receivers open right away. We didn’t and we were in trouble.”
Schimpf, the WILL linebacker and tailback, was a big part of that. After scoring on a 2-yard plunge stemming from his 52-yard reception on a short crossing route, Schimpf came up with the backbreaking play on the Rams’ next drive, stepping in front of a Pergine screen pass and racing 49 yards untouched for the score and a 21-0 lead. His blind-sided sack on Pergine late in the fourth capped his day.
“I saw him drop back so I automatically dropped back into my passing lane and it was right there,” Schimpf said of his interception. “As soon as I caught it there was just green grass in front of me. It’s something you always look out for. They do very well, have a lot of different pass concepts so you just have to get to your zone and see what happens.”
Cole Peterlin was solid in his first game on the big stage, the junior quarterback throwing for 123 yards on a 10-of-20 effort. He struggled to find his accuracy early but helped lead the Vikings to back-to-back scoring drives in a tide-turning third quarter that helped pad a 7-0 halftime lead.
“The atmosphere was crazy,” Peterlin said. “This is only the first time I’ve played in front of so many people that were so hype for a game. I just had to stay calm and do what I do. We just came out and had a couple of first downs and get stops and we eventually started hitting it.”
Peterlin finished with 95 yards on the ground and two scores — his 39-yard touchdown up the gut on an outside zone capping a scintillating Viking second half. He’s still trying to find the lineman who came up with the key block.
“Not really sure, trying to figure it out,” he said of the block that sprung the run. “As soon as I saw that I just ran straight to the end zone. I had no one in front of me, I just had the corner on the side and I had to beat him to the end zone.”
NOTES >> A packed house has become commonplace for the annual rivalry and that was no different Friday night at a sold out Thomas J. Keenan Stadium. “It doesn’t get any better than PV-Spring-Ford right now in this whole area, maybe in the state,” Heist said. “It doesn’t get as good as this rivalry. It’s an awesome environment and it’s fun to be a part of.” … L.V. Miles’ full quote in the movie as scouts watched Boobie play: “That’s my nephew out there. That boy can play some football. He can play left, he can play right, don’t make no difference. He can block, tackle, score the TD, snap the ball, and kick the extra point. Hell, the boy will fill up the Gatorade cooler, walk the dog and paint your back porch. I’m telling ya, the boy can flat out play football. … Oh, and he can pass!”
