Owen J. Roberts improves to 4-1, outlasts Boyertown 27-20
BOYERTOWN — Owen J. Roberts scored twice in the third quarter to break a halftime tie and then held on for a 27-20 win Friday night at Boyertown in the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division opener for both teams.
Avrey Grimm rushed for 283 yards for the Wildcats (4-1), who have won four games in a row, and quarterback Mike Reed scored twice on sneaks in the third quarter and clinched the win with another sneak in the final minutes. Leo Egbe ran for 97 yards and Roman Marinello rushed for 81 yards for the Bears (2-3).
The contest at Memorial Stadium got off to a wild start when Egbe ran 57 yards for a score on the second play from scrimmage and Grimm burst 74 yards on OJR’s first play to tie the score … all in the opening 57 seconds.
“The line just did their job,” said Grimm, who also had a 53-yard run among his 26 carries. “I really love my offensive line. We just ran it.”
Roberts seemingly took command with a 64-yard march for a TD to start the third quarter and then a 32-yard drive following a short punt and a pair of 15-yard penalties by the Bears. Reed scored from the two-yard line both times for a 27-14 advantage with 3:07 left in the quarter.
Then Boyertown quarterback Ryder Gehris was injured while being tackled on a running play and left the field by ambulance. But the Bears regrouped after a long delay, Egbe pushed his way forward in a scrum for 13 yards on a 4th-and-1 play and Marinello ran into the end zone from 10 yards out to make it 27-20 with 10:43 remaining in the contest.
“When an injury like that happens, your first concern is with the injured player,” said Boyertown coach T.J. Miller. “But we’re a tough group and when that happened, we were ready to go.”
“We definitely knew they were going to come out upset,” said Grimm. “We had to rally and play the way we wanted to play.”
OJR proceeded to march from their own 20 to the Boyertown 30, including a 32-yard pass from Reed to Grimm. Luke Ordway got the ball back for the Bears with an interception and Boyertown advanced to the Roberts 20, but a pass fell incomplete at the goal line and a fourth down attempt was batted down.
Then the Wildcats moved the ball out to the 47 yard line, Reed gained three yards on a 4th-and-1 sneak and the visitors took a knee on the next three plays to run out the clock.
Grimm thought that his team’s play on offense in the third quarter was the key to the win.
“I think our team rallied really well,” he said. “I think going into halftime, we had to fix some things. Staying on point helped us out.”
Grimm had 164 yards rushing in the first half and added 119 more in the second, including 29 and 13 yards runs to get the Wildcats going right after the halftime break.
“He doesn’t have huge size, but he is strong and he is fast,” said Miller. “It’s hard to keep a kid like him bottled up all night.”
“The opening drive for the second half was something we’ve been harping on all year,” said OJR coach Rich Kolka. “We really started to hit them with the running game. Our offensive line did a great job at the end, winning the game.”
The Wildcats had a chance to score again right away after the two quick touchdowns at the start when Boyertown fumbled the kickoff after Grimm’s TD run. But the Bears stopped the visitors on a 4th-and-2 play at the 13.
OJR eventually took a 14-7 advantage on a 16-yard pass from Reed to Dan Cashman in the second quarter and the Bears came right back to tie it on a 65-yard drive, scoring on a 1-yard sneak by Gehris.
“I’m proud of our kids,” said Miller. “They fought.”
Owen J. Roberts 27, Boyertown 20
Owen J. Roberts 7 7 13 0 – 27
Boyertown 7 7 0 6 – 20
B-Egbe 57 run (Foskey kick)
OJR-Grimm 74 run (Johnson kick)
OJR-Cashman 16 pass from Reed (Johnson kick)
B-Gehris 1 run (Foskey kick)
OJR-Reed 2 run (kick failed)
OJR-Reed 2 run (Johnson kick)
B-Marinello 10 run (kick failed)
OJR B
First downs 17 18
Yards rushing 278 221
Passing yards 70 55
Total yards 348 276
Passes C-A-I 6-13-1 7-14-0
Penalties-yards 7-41 6-70
Punts-average 2-30.5 5-24.0
Individual stats
Rushing
Owen J. Roberts: Grimm 26-283, 1 TD; Rhoads 5-14; Reed 9-(-19), 2 TD’s; Totals 40-278, 3 TD’s.
Boyertown: Egbe 16-97, 1 TD; Marinello 10-75, 1 TD; Gehris 13-30, 1 TD; Panarello 2-19; Totals 41-
221, 3 TD’s.
Passing
Owen J. Roberts: Reed 6-13-70, 1 TD, 1 INT.
Boyertown: Gehris 5-10-44; Panarello 2-4-11, Totals 7-14-55.
Receiving
Owen J. Roberts: Cashman 3-30, 1 TD; Grimm 2-33; Villarosa 1-7; Totals 6-70, 1 TD.
Boyertown: Marinello 3-24; Oakes 3-15; Ordway 1-16, Totals 7-55.
Interception: Boyertown-Ordway.
