Record-setting night for Stuart as OJR routs Methacton
FAIRVIEW VILLAGE >> Senior quarterback Dawson Stuart worked hard for four years on the way to becoming Owen J. Roberts’ career leader in touchdown passes. After setting the mark, he shared the accomplishment with the guys who stood by him the whole time – literally.
Following the Wildcats’ 55-14 win over Methacton, Stuart stood in front of his teammates and coaches and thanked all of them for being a part of the last several years.
Stuart was flawless on the evening, going 9-for-9 on the night for 165 yards with two touchdown passes – giving him a school-record 33 TD passes over his four years as a Wildcat.
“Dawson’s one of our leaders, and controls the offense for us,” said coach Rich Kolka, whose team improved to 6-2 (2-2 PAC). “I have a lot of trust in him.”
The offense was greatly aided by stalwart play from the OJR special teams and defense, which forced three Methacton turnovers. Time and time again, Stuart and the Wildcats took possession of the ball deep in Methacton territory following turnovers or long kick returns.
Marcus Martin got the Wildcats started, returning the opening kickoff into Warriors territory, with Stuart capping the drive with a QB sneak to start the scoring. From there, the Wildcats spread the wealth, picking up first-half touchdown runs from Hunter Scherfel, Marcus Martin, and Sean Praweckyj. Martin and Praweckyj added TD receptions from Stuart to make the halftime margin 42-0.
The Wildcats’ defense limited Methacton to only 41 first-half yards, led by Brendan Krumenacker’s pair of first-half sacks.
“We’ve been consistent on defense all year,” said Coach Kolka, “and the defense did a great job setting up the offense all night.”
Methacton (0-4 PAC, 0-8) struggled to gain traction offensively after sophomore QB Dylan Schultz connected with Will Roese for a pair of first downs on the Warriors’ first possession. Reece Borkowski and Mike Torcini split the backfield duties but were unable to find room to run against the OJR defensive line.
In the second half, Schultz and Roese would connect for a 57-yard TD pass, and Schultz added a short TD run to close out the scoring with six minutes to play.
“We need to grow into believing in ourselves,” said coach Paul Lepre. “I’m proud of our willingness and ability to go out there and make plays. Dylan (Schultz) is the future of our team at the quarterback position, and he’s continuing to work hard.”
For the Wildcats, the win gets their drive to the District 1-6A playoffs back on track after last week’s loss at Boyertown. OJR came into Friday ranked 15th in 6A, and figures to at the very least maintain that standing after their dominant victory (a total of 16 teams qualify for the district playoffs.)
Next week’s battle between the Wildcats and Spring-Ford will likely go a long way towards determining each squad’s playoff status and positioning. That fact wasn’t lost on Stuart, who said he told his teammates something else after the game.
“Playoffs start Monday,” he summarized. “We want this game (against Spring-Ford) – we haven’t been to playoffs, we haven’t beaten Spring-Ford in a while. We need this one.”
OJR will return home for that contest – the last homecoming game for Stuart and the accomplished senior class.
“Everyone comes back for Homecoming, and everyone wants to see us win, obviously,” Stuart said. “Last year (a tight loss to Spring-Ford) put a chip on our shoulder – it’s a huge motivating factor.”
