Fast start fuels Fleetwood to Eastern Conference championship win over Boyertown
FLEETWOOD—Fleetwood jumped out to a big lead in Friday night’s Eastern Conference 5A/6A championship game, enough of one to survive a wild fourth quarter in a 48-35 win over visiting Boyertown.
The Tigers (7-4) led 22-0 by early in the second quarter and 42-7 after three before the Bears (4-7) scored twice midway through the fourth quarter after recovering consecutive onside kicks.
Gage Moyer scored three rushing touchdowns and another on a reception for Fleetwood. Tanner Maddocks threw for three scores for the Tigers, two of them to Mason Musitano, and Gavin Morris ran for 92 yards as part of a 472 total yard effort.
Leo Egby ran for 166 yards for Boyertown to top 1,000 rushing yards for his career and he and Roman Marinello each scored twice.
“We were disappointed that we didn’t make the district playoffs,” said senior running back and strong safety Moyer. “But ending on a win is huge for us, sending the seniors out on a winning note.”
“It was a huge step for the program,” said Tiger coach Steve Beatty.
Maddocks connected with Musitano on a 49-yard flea flicker to the Boyertown 11 yard line on the night’s first play from scrimmage. The Bear defense forced the hosts to turn the ball over on downs at the 10, but the Tigers quickly took the lead on a safety when the Bear quarterback was forced to fall on a fumble in the end zone.
Then Fleetwood drove 60 yards, with Moyer running in from the three, and Moyer scored on a 49-yard pass play and Musitano on a 10-yard toss from Maddocks to make it 22-0 with 9:55 to go until the half.
“It was important for us to get out early, which we did,” said Beatty. “It was good for the confidence. We’ve been productive on offense all year. The outside run opened up the inside run. The line doesn’t get enough credit.”
“We knew that my speed could beat them,” said Moyer, who ran for 80 yards on nine carries. “We had a great game plan drawn up by the coaches coming in and we executed it.”
Boyertown put together its first long drive of the contest late in the half, marching 53 yards in seven plays with Egbe twisting through the defense from six yards out for a 22-7 score with 1:27 remaining until the half.
“We just can’t spot a team 22 points,” said Bear coach T.J. Miller. “(Moyer) ran the ball hard and (Maddocks) is a game changer. But our seniors are fighters and they kept fighting.”
The Tigers regained control after intermission by stopping the Bears on downs and then scoring on just two plays, with Moyer scoring on a 23-yard run two minutes into the third quarter. An 11-yard scoring run by Moyer and a 58-yard TD pass from Maddocks to Musitano boosted the advantage to 42-7 after three quarters.
But Boyertown came back with a 14-yard touchdown run by Egbe and then recovered back-to-back onside kicks. Egbe ran 52 yards down the right sideline to score after the first one, going over the 1,000-yard mark in the process, and Marinello scored on a 24-yard run after the second to close the gap to 42-28.
“Egbe earned that,” said Miller. “If you put the ball in Leo and Roman’s hands, you have a better chance to win the game.”
A 45-yard scoring run by Maddocks and a 57-yard rushing TD by Marinello wrapped up the scoring in the final four minutes.
Maddocks finished 10 for 18 through the air for 223 yards and also ran for 77 yards. Marinello rushed for 87 yards and Luke Ordway caught three passes from Anthony Panarello for 91 yards as the Bears gained 366 yards.
“We started getting some JV players in there and the onside kicks, we did a terrible job of recovering,” said Beatty. “The defense really stepped up. We had a couple of games where we had trouble stopping the run.”
“We were able to stop the run,” added Moyer. “Our linebackers and ends had to step up.”
Making it to the post-season was an accomplishment for the Bears.
“If you look out there on the field we have three to five sophomores out there at any time,” said Miller. “November was a goal. The young kids took examples from strong senior leadership.”
