Behind Taylor, Pottsgrove runs past Boyertown late for first win

POTTSGROVE >> Pottsgrove hadn’t lost a game until late October in its past two seasons.

After coming out of the gate with back-to-back losses in 2019, senior running back Isaiah Taylor felt he needed to find a way to steer the Falcons in the right direction and keep Pottsgrove from a third early loss.

It took a fourth-quarter comeback and a 250-yard, five-touchdown performance from Taylor, but the Falcons finally put a tally in the win column with a 41-21 victory over Boyertown on Friday night.

“We were really amped up coming off two losses,” Taylor said. “We knew we had to get a win in. It was really bearing down on us, so I had to get the squad up and let them know that we’re in this, and we are Pottsgrove, and we’re going to stick to what we do.”

Pottsgrove RB Isaiah Taylor on his five touchdown game and @PGFalconsFB’s first win of the year. pic.twitter.com/TiR3wzIT99

— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) September 7, 2019

 

Pottsgrove (1-2) trailed 14-13 entering the fourth quarter on Friday, but an interception by Max Neeson at the end of the third put them in good field position. The Falcons’ converted a fourth down in Bears’ territory, and Taylor ran for his third touchdown of the game to give his team a 20-14 lead with 9:30 to go in the game. After the Pottsgrove defense forced a three-and-out, Taylor’s backfield mate Kayden White scored a 65-yard touchdown run to give the Falcons a 26-14 advantage with 6:30 to go.

The Bears had some fight left as Mason Marinello connected with Roman Marinello to pull the Boyertown within a touchdown, 26-21, and they recovered an onside kick with 3:18 left in the game. But Pottsgrove’s defense made sure that margin didn’t get any closer. 

Justin Westcoat intercepted a pass, followed two plays later by Taylor’s fourth touchdown run. White picked off a throw on the Bears’ next play from scrimmage, and Taylor broke off a 43-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes to go. Westcoat sealed the Falcons’ win with his second interception of the fourth quarter.

“They knew the offense was struggling,” Taylor said of the Falcons’ defense. “Pottsgrove’s more of a defensive team in the first place. We’re a tough, downhill football team, so we knew we needed to make big plays on defense. Justin Westcoat with those two interceptions to close the game was big for us.”

Boyertown coach T.J. Miller knew his Bears (1-2) had a dangerous 0-2 squad on their hands when they traveled to Pottsgrove Friday night.

Taylor opened the game with a 50-yard touchdown run on the Falcons’ first offensive drive, and Pottsgrove jumped ahead 13-0 with 3:17 left in the first half when he found the end zone for the second time. Taylor finished with 114 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

A 95-yard kickoff return by Jamie Moccia, the third return of 90-or-more yards in his career, kept Boyertown in the game in the first half. The Bears trailed 13-7 at halftime despite fewer than 50 yards of total offense. 

Pottsgrove’s 13-7 halftime lead was gone less than four minutes into the second half when Boyertown’s Jonathan Myers scored on a 62-yard touchdown run for a 14-13 advantage with 8:14 to go in the third quarter. Miller gave a lot of the credit to his defense, which kept the Pottsgrove offense in check after Taylor’s early touchdown score.

“I thought our defense early on stepped up,” Miller said. “I don’t think the stats are going to show what our defense really did on the field tonight.”

Taylor said the key for Pottsgrove turning the game around was getting back to the old ways that had the Falcons unbeaten at this time of the year over the past two seasons.

That meant pounding the ball over-and-over again until one of the runs finally broke, like they did in the fourth quarter. Taylor rushed for 141 yards and three touchdowns in the second half.

“We were up, but we realized we weren’t playing Pottsgrove football,” Taylor said of Pottsgrove’s second-half mindset. “We could play a lot better. We had to go old school for a second and really just pound the ball. That’s what we did in the second half. Once we just tired them down, wore them out, everything just fell into place.”

“My offensive line did a really good job tonight,” he added. “Them holes were there, and I tried to hit them as hard as I could.”

Darrian Seaman was a standout defensively for Pottsgrove, finishing with three sacks and a handful of other tackles for loss. Freshman linebacker Amir Brunson also made stops in the Bears’ backfield throughout the game. White finished with 82 yards on four carries for Pottsgrove. After throwing two interceptions in the game, Falcons’ quarterback Joe Silvestri converted an 11-yard pass to Westcoat to set up Tayor’s go-ahead touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Marinello finished with 97 yards passing and a score for the Bears. Along with his 95-yard touchdown return, Moccia led Boyertown with 58 yards on the ground, followed by Myers, who also had 57 yards rushing and two catches for 43 yards receiving.

“We’re getting better,” Miller said of his team. “Our offensive line is getting better. We’re still extremely young on the offensive line, but they’re going to get it. We’re going to be OK.”

“Fullback position, Zach Davis is doing a good job, he’s still growing into it,” Miller added. “(Quarterback) Noah (Segal) is doing a great job reading it. Mason does a great job when he comes in, and Jamie Moccia and Jon Myers are two really big threats out there. We’re going to be OK.”