Reid’s return lifts Upper Perkiomen past Pottstown, 21-20

RED HILL >> The difference would be hard to overlook.

Without a healthy Tyrese Reid on the field for much of the fall, Upper Perkiomen had a problematic season. But with their junior speedster back full-time Friday, the Indians set themselves up for a strong finish to the 2018 campaign.

Reid did much of the Tribe’s heavy lifting on offense, underwriting its 21-20 victory over Pottstown in its Homecoming game. He had more than 200 yards’ offense on three scoring plays, leading Upper Perk to its first victory against a Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division opponent.

“It was me,” Reid said of the decision to go full-bore against the Trojans. “I felt it was time, with two games left, to finish the season doing something.”

With a full week of practice under his belt, Reid got UP (1-4, 2-8) literally off to a fast start. He took a pass from quarterback Tyler Weber and ran it 75 yards on UP’s first offensive play, for a 7-0 lead less than 2-1/2 minutes into the game.

Reid showed his flash on the ground on the Indians’ next two scores. He roared 79 yards through right tackle in the first half-minute of the second quarter, staking UP to a 14-6 lead that held despite Pottstown scoring on an unusual back-and-forth pass play as time ran out in the half. And with less than four minutes left in the third quarter, Reid went 37 yards around his left end on a run that reversed Pottstown’s 20-14 lead into a 21-20 UP advantage.

“My first game back, I wanted to make an impact,” he said.

A real impact for the Tribe came from its defense, which worked to stave off two Pottstown bids to get a game-winning score inside the six-minute mark. Interceptions by Weber and Corey Jackson, coming in a three-minute span at its end of the field, enabled Upper Perk to dash the Trojans’ bid to come away with a winning record in advance of next weekend’s divisional-crossover game schedule … and the upcoming District 1-4A playoffs, for which they ranked second behind neighboring rival Pottsgrove.

“There were a lot of big plays,” UP head coach Tom Hontz said. “A lot of people contributed tonight.”

While the Tribe was reaping the benefits of having Reid back in action, Pottstown (1-4, 4-5) was contending with quarterback Josiah Wiggins being out of action due to a lower leg injury sustained in the second quarter of last week’s game with Pope John Paul II. Darius Smallwood, called on to replace Wiggins one week ago, got the call this week and acquitted himself nobly.

Smallwood was 11-for-21 passing for 118 yards. He orchestrated Pottstown’s second score of the night, a “throwback” play where he threw back to Nehemiah Figueroa, got the ball back from Figueroa, then hit an uncovered Adrian Sibilly in the end zone as time expired in the first half.

“I’m proud of Darius,” head coach Mark Fischer said. “We didn’t change a thing with him in there. The offense ran the same stuff it always has, and he did an outstanding job. He’s a smart kid … athletic.”

Pottstown was able to answer UP’s scoring with big plays of its own. Jon Oister responded to Reid’s passing TD by going 75 yards around his right end at the 3:11 mark of the first quarter, and Dereck Darden added a 59-yard scoring jaunt up the middle with 6:13 left in the third quarter.

While Figueroa added a two-point conversion pass from Smallwood to make it a 20-14 game, missed PAT kicks on their first two scores ultimately left the Trojans one point off UP’s pace. The second of Nehemiah’s two interceptions, at the Indian 46 midway through the fourth quarter, set the stage for a drive that got to the 21 before being halted by Weber’s interception at the 5:26 mark.

Getting the ball back with 2:46 left, Pottstown got it to the UP 31 with help from a pair of Smallwood-to-Figueroa connections. But with Jackson’s interception at the 41, the Tribe was able to run the final 90 seconds off the clock after runs by Reid and Luke Whary gave it a pair of first downs.

“It was very close,” Fischer said. “I believed we would go down to win it in the final seconds.

“It’s a disappointment. We played hard all night long.”

NOTES >> Weber finished the night 8-for-18 in passing, good for 122 yards. … Dereck Darden had a third interception for Pottstown, picking off a Hunter Flack throw in the second quarter. … Samantha Durkin was crowned UP’s Homecoming queen during halftime ceremonies.