Watson-Thomas connection lifts Norristown past Methacton
WEST NORRITON >> Norristown persevered on Saturday afternoon, despite being called for an endless stream of penalties in the second half, on the way to a 14-7 Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division win over visiting Methacton.
Christian Thomas caught his second touchdown pass of the day from Daniel Watson late in the third quarter to give the Eagles (1-3, 2-6) the lead and the Norristown defense stopped the Warriors (1-3, 1-7) on downs three straight times after that to wrap up the win.
Watson threw for 163 yards, Thomas made five catches for 91 yards and Naji Beccles had two interceptions for the winners. Methacton scored first on a 2-yard run by Mike Ciriello on its opening drive, but gained only 87 yards on the day.
“Just keep plugging away and making things happen and it will turn around,” said Norristown coach Joe Milligan. “We had to stop making the simple mistakes.”
Mike Torcini returned the opening kickoff 43 yards for the Warriors, who drove 42 yards on seven plays to take the early lead.
Then Norristown marched 39 yards after a short Warrior punt late in the quarter and early in the second as Xzavier Gorski caught a pass for 18 yards to the Methacton 19 and Watson hit Thomas with an 11-yarder two plays later to put the hosts on the board. The extra point kick was blocked, leaving Methacton with a 7-6 advantage with 10:33 to go until the half.
That’s the way it stayed until the Eagles scored on just two plays late in the third quarter, a 14-yard pass to Beccles setting up a 32-yarder to Thomas, who made a diving catch in the end zone. A two-point pass to Beccles made it 14-7 with 38 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Other than that, the Eagles constantly set themselves back or gave the Warriors good field position with 14 penalties in the second half alone for a total of 115 yards and 18 infractions on the day for 145 yards.
Norristown had a chance to expand its lead early in the fourth when Watson and Thomas hooked up on a 33-yard play to the Warrior 20.
“We finally got it going, trying to keep going to our playmaker,” said Milligan.
The Eagles advanced to a 1st-and-goal at the nine before penalties pushed them all the way back to the 37 and they turned the ball over on downs at the 30. But Norristown got the ball back on a sack on fourth down by Liam Smith and Santio Carlomagno and ran out the final two minutes with the help of a 23-yard run for a first down by Watson.
“Getting our first league win is always good,” said Milligan. “We had two close games that we weren’t able to win. As things go along, we’re trying to change the culture.”
So is Methacton, which had lost 15 in a row before defeating Boyertown in Week 5.
“We made way too many mistakes, particularly on offense, if we expect to win football games,” said Warrior coach Dave Lotier, whose team was flagged for nine penalties for 85 yards and threw three interceptions. “Our kids are fighting hard. But if you don’t execute, you’re not going to be successful.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of progress, but we need to be at a point where we’re winning games like this. There are no more moral victories.”
Both teams will finish up their Liberty Division schedules next week, Methacton at home against Owen J. Roberts and Norristown at Boyertown.
