Peterlin, Perkiomen Valley double up Boyertown 42-21

GRATERFORD >> Tenacity.

It’s been a foundation piece for the success Perkiomen Valley is experiencing this fall. Turning busted plays and potential quarterback sacks into positive outcomes, coming up big on passes thrown under pressure … it’s what’s driven the Vikings on the way to another notable Pioneer Athletic Conference campaign.

Tenacity was very much on display Friday at Thomas J. Keenan Stadium, where PV was hosting Boyertown in advance of next week’s Division 1 showdown with Spring-Ford. Playing before a packed home-side crowd in their Homecoming game, the Vikings banged out a 42-21 victory over the Bears to run their current win streak to six games.

“We’re pretty good at making plays when stuff breaks down,” quarterback Cole Peterlin, who ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more, said afterward. “Making reads on their defense, getting off good throws … awesome stuff.”

Peterlin threw at 9-for-16 accuracy, chalking up 128 yards in the air for PV (4-0 PAC, 6-2 overall). He proved elusive running out of the pocket, avoiding sacks while scoring on an 18-yard run up the middle to get the Vikes on the scoreboard with 8:35 left in the first quarter.

He later connected with Jacob Sturm on a 10-yard scoring throw early in the second quarter, and Jon Moccia on an 18-yard TD toss near the end of the first half. The capper was a 17-yard sprint up the middle inside the final minute of the first half. That staked the Vikings to a 35-14 lead against a Boyertown unit whose own QB, Ayden Mathias, ran for two of its scores — the first a 65-yard sprint that answered PV’s opening TD.

“Our offense has struggled the last couple weeks,” Peterlin noted. “We want to get back to where we’re supposed to be. Even this week, we want to improve on the offensive side of the ball.”

Perk Valley’s tenacity on the defensive side translated into a pair of touchdowns.

Austin Rowley, with two interceptions to his credit, turned a Boyertown fumble into a 60-yard touchdown in the first quarter. And early in the third, with the Bears (0-4, 1-7) backed up to their end zone, David Stuart pounced on a Bear fumble in the end zone for what would close out the Vikings’ point production.

“Making the broken plays benefits the team,” said Moccia, whose three receptions for 41 yards led PV.

Boyertown’s Moccia, junior running back Jamie, was the workhorse of the team’s rushing offense. He pounded the line 15 times for 77 yards to key the Bears, who got another 83 from eight carries by Mathias.

The visitors got one final score with 1:36 left, Jonathan Myers going 10 yards around his right end. It capped a 15-play, 65-yard possession set up by Hunter Borgman’s fumble recovery at the Boyertown 35.

“Our kids go into every game playing their hardest,” head coach T.J. Miller said. “We’ve suffered injuries — there were times when we had only two seniors on the field — and I’m proud of their effort.”

The Bear defense was highlighted by interceptions from Jamie Moccia and Mathias, and Holden O’Donnell’s recovery of a PV fumble at the start of the fourth quarter.

“I’m proud of the way the kids are going on,” Miller said. “We want to clean things up and take ourselves to the elite level.”

The Vikings, in the meantime, are thinking toward next week’s game at Spring-Ford — the Rams also moving to 4-0 with their 30-7 win over Owen J. Roberts. The winner will, in addition to being the Liberty Division champion, will play in the league’s title game the following week against the Frontier Division champ.

“We’re already motivated,” Jon Moccia said. “We’ve been talking about this game since the beginning of the season.”

“Next week is going to be super-big,” Peterlin added. “It will decide who goes to the PAC championship game.”

NOTES >> Prior to the game, the Class of 2018 for the Perkiomen Valley School District Hall of Fame was recognized. The inductees are Joanne (Kehs) Conte, Mary Fenstermacher, William Fretz, Dr. Franklin Manley, William Neill, Steven Rich, David Roberts, Jacqueline Trankle and Grant Wiley. … Christina Warren was named PV’s Homecoming Queen during halftime ceremonies.