Winning debuts for Delaney, QB Oister as Pottstown edges Octorara, 14-13

ATGLEN >> Pottstown head coach Jeff Delaney and his quarterback Joneil Oister shared a lot of nerves heading into Friday’s game against Octorara.

Delaney was head coaching his first game for a program he’s been with for 20 years. Oister, a freshman, was quarterbacking a Trojans team with high aspirations on the road in his first high school game.

After a first-quarter touchdown put the Trojans ahead early, Pottstown found itself relying on its nervous freshman QB to lead a comeback in the fourth. Oister showed poise, running for a 25-yard touchdown late in the game’s final minutes and converting a two-point conversion before Pottstown held on for a 14-13 win over Octorara.

“I was just thinking I need to help my team, need to help us win,” Oister said of his touchdown run. “It’s our first game, my first varsity game. I wanted to make them proud.”

It’s safe to assume he did.

After Oister’s long TD run got the Trojans within 13-12, Delaney showed his trust in the freshman by putting the ball in his hands on the decisive two-point conversion. Oister dropped back and found fellow freshman Gabe Hicks open in the end zone for the game-winning score. It was the first time all night Hicks had seen action on the offensive side.

“I couldn’t believe it at first,” Hicks said. “I thought I dropped it, but I had it. It was the best feeling in the world so far in my life.”

After Pottstown kicked off with 3:41 left in the game clinging to a 14-13 lead, the Braves moved the ball quickly down near the Trojans’ 30-yard line.

Octorara running back Mike Trainor ran for three yards on first down and four on second, but Pottstown junior Isaiah Jones met him in the backfield on third down, forcing a long field goal try. Braves’ kicker Dylan Smith, who made two field goals and an extra point earlier in the game, missed the 42-yard attempt with 1:09 left in the game.

Trojans’ sophomore running back Malachi Neely, who rushed for 83 yards in his first varsity start, ran for four yards. Then, Oister clinched the win by scampering for eight on the next play for a first down and allowing Delaney to call out his first ‘Victory’ formation as Pottstown’s head coach.

“Oh my god, that’s massive,” Delaney said of the win. “I’ve been here 20 years. I’ll be here another 20 years hopefully. We play one game at a time, and we’re constantly preaching next play, next play, next play. That was the best part about tonight that I saw. We didn’t stop. We kept playing the next play, and it worked out for us.”

Octorara ran 17 plays for 63 yards on the first possession of the game before stalling at the Pottstown 16-yard line and settling for a 26-yard field goal from Smith to grab a 3-0 lead. On the next possession, Ezra Figueroa capped off a 13-play, 70-yard drive for Pottstown with a two-yard touchdown run, giving the Trojans a 6-3 lead with 9:56 left in the first half.

Pottstown’s offense went dead silent for the next two quarters. The Trojans’ other two drives of the first half ended in a three-and-out and an interception. Octorara took advantage of the Oister turnover to tie the game 6-6 at halftime with a 24-yard kick from Smith.

Darden returned a kick to the Octorara 24-yard line to start the second half, but the special teams play couldn’t spark the stagnant Pottstown offense, which turned the ball over on downs. Octorara quarterback Jansen Schempp led the team down field before punching in a two-yard touchdown run, giving the Braves a 13-6 lead with 6:27 left in the third quarter.

“I felt like we could have beat that team, just too many mistakes,” Octorara head coach Jed King said.

“We played consistently enough on defense to win the game,” he added. “We just gotta score when we have opportunities.”

Pottstown responded to the score with another three-and-out, then continued to scuffle, giving Octorara great field position twice. Jon Oister recovered a fumble, and Jahzeel Watson saved the Trojans from going down to scores by picking of a ball at the one-yard line.

The first signs of life from the Trojans’ offense came on a short run by Oister late in the third quarter. After an incomplete pass, he broke off a 34-yard run on the final play of the quarter, making several defenders miss as he criss-crossed his way up the field. Though the drive ultimately came up empty, it gave Pottstown confidence it could move the ball.

“(Oister) went like this, ‘Give me it again. Give me it again.’ That’s when he felt like, ‘All right, we can just run the ball and we’ll be good,’” Delaney said.

Thomas’ sack on Octorara’s next drive was a big play in helping get the ball back for the Trojans. Oister ran twice for 10 yards to start the drive. Neely broke off a 22-yard run, then Oister scored with 3:41 for the deciding scores.

Along with holding penalties on offense, a few defensive personal fouls added to big drives for Octorara. Though his team frustrated him at times, Delaney was proud of Pottstown’s resolve late to pull out the victory.

“We self-destruct sometimes, but it’s about coming back together,” Delaney said. “We gotta work on the personal fouls. It drives me insane … But we stuck together and that’s what we’ve been preaching the whole time during camp.”