Great Valley rallies to defeat Phoenixville in season opener
East Whiteland >> Great Valley made its football season opener a good one for the home fans, defeating Phoenixville, 27-20, Friday evening.
The Patriots started slowly, falling behind 13-0 in the first quarter and gaining not a single first down in the opening stanza.
Fortunately for the home crowd, Patriot junior Nathan Ricciardi exploded for a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown near the end of the opening quarter, triggering a rally that gave Great Valley a 20-13 lead by halftime.
“I think Nathan’s kickoff return ignited our team,” said Great Valley head coach Jeff Martin. “We needed a big play at that time, and he gave us one to put us back in it.
“We had a lot of guys playing as full-time varsity starters tonight for the first time; a lot of them had played in rotation last year. We had guys step up tonight, left and right. I’m so proud of the way out guys stepped up tonight.”
Phoenixville got off to a quick 13-0 lead, scoring two minutes into the game on a 32-yard pass interception return by Ahmid Spivey. The Phantoms added to their margin when junior quarterback (and captain) Ty Romance scored on a 2-yard run with 1:52 left to give the visitors a two score lead. The big play on that drive was a 54 yard pass completion by Romance that brought the ball to the Great Valley 10 yard line.
Immediately following the Phantoms’ second touchdown, Ricciardi gave the hosts an instant lift when he returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown. Seth Turner’s extra point cut Phoenixville’s lead to 13-7.
Six plays later, a Phoenixville fumble gave Great Valley the ball at the visitors’ 45 yard line. The Patriots used a series of short running plays to slowly move the ball downfield, and with 5:23 to go before halftime, Great Valley senior running back Nick Pellicciotta plunged into the end zone on a 1-yard run to tie the score at 13-13.
The Patriots’ defense held Phoenixville to a three-and-out on the next series, and a short Phantoms punt gave Great Valley the ball on the visitors’ 29 yard line.
“Our defensive line was incredible tonight,” said Martin. “They were all good, it’s hard to just mention one or two players … Raheem Orr, Lawron Short, Gavin Greco, Nick Korab … all of our defensive linemen, we had a great rotation.
“And then our linebackers did well, and our defensive backs, we were putting a lot of pressure on them to play cover zero, and they stepped up and did it. And Phoenixville is a good team, they made the (district) playoffs last year and we haven’t made the playoffs in five years.”
Great Valley had the ball at the Phantoms’ 29 yard line with less than two minutes to go before halftime. They took advantage of the opportunity, as Patriot quarterback Braeden Melia hit junior wide receiver Gavin Maslowski for a 29-yard touchdown pass. The pass was tipped twice by Phoenixville defenders before it fell into the willing hands of Maslowski, who then ran down the left sideline into the end zone.
Turner’s extra point gave the Patriots a 20-13 lead that they held into halftime.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Spivey caught a short pass on the right sideline at midfield, leaped over a Great Valley defender and ran all the way to the end zone for an acrobatic 61-yard touchdown to tie the score at 20-20.
Early in the fourth quarter, Great Valley’s tough defense stopped Phoenixville and a short Phantom punt gave the hosts the ball on the visitors’ 30 yard line. Six running plays later, Melia plunged over from the 1 yard line to give the hosts a 27-20 lead with 6:29 left.
On the following series, Phoenixville drove inside the Patriots’ 20 yard line before Great Valley senior Ryan Shim came up with an interception on a fourth-down pass by the Phantoms.
“We had so many players step up to make big plays tonight,” said Martin. “Ryan is our starting center, and he stepped in there at linebacker when one of our linebackers was cramping.”
Great Valley then took possession and ground out a couple of first downs, highlighted by a 35-yard run by Pellicciotta.
“I’m so proud of our offensive line, how they came through at the end when we needed a first down,” said Martin. “They’re all good … Jose Caballero, Ryan Shim, Jack Clearfield, Nick Korab, Gavin Greco … all of our offensive line, they all stepped in. and then Nick Pellicciotta broke that long run.”
Phoenixville head coach Anthony Ciarlello said, “We need to be consistent, and we have to make sure that we continue to trust each other. I thought that, defensively, it was a decent night for us. We missed a few tackles, and that hurts against a team like Great Valley. They’ve got some good running backs, their quarterback made some big plays against us, and we can’t make arm tackles against them.”
Just before the second half, Phoenixville lost quarterback Ty Romance to an injury, and his younger brother, sophomore Talon Romance stepped in.
Ciarlello said, “That injury was a big loss — Ty’s a leader, Ty’s our captain. He got a little injury but we’ve got to see if he can come back next week, and if not, Talon is here for us. Talon is right where Ty was last year – Ty came in for two games as a freshman, and then last year led us to where he led us. I think they both have that strength, that intestinal fortitude. Talon came in for us tonight, stepped up and did a great job.”
Great Valley 27, Phoenixville 20
Phoenixville 13 0 7 0 – 20
Great Valley 7 13 0 7 – 27
First quarter scoring:
PH – Spivey, 32, interception return (Sposato kick)
PH – Ty Romance, 2, run (kick blocked)
GV – Ricciardi, 70, kickoff return (Turner kick)
Second quarter scoring:
GV – Pellicciotta, 1, run (kick blocked)
GV – Maslowski, 29, pass from Melia (Turner kick)
Third quarter scoring:
PH – Spivey, 61, pass from Talon Romance (Sposato kick)
Fourth quarter scoring:
PH – Melia, 1, run (Turner kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
PH GV
First downs 10 7
Rushes-yards 36-75 28-117
Passing yards 186 36
Comp-Att-Int 5-11-1 4-10-1
Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1
Penalties-yards 9-47 6-55
Punts-avg. 3-26.7 3-45.3
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:
Rushing: PH – Ty Romance 7-minus 2, 1 TD, Moore 15-51, Talon Romance 6-19, Spivey 1-1, Watson 2-5, Lear 3-minus 6, Williams 2-7, Totals 36-75. GV – Coffey 5-4, Pellicciotta 16-86, 1 TD, Kiselak 4-17, Melia 2-6, 1 TD, Crouse 1-4, Totals 28-117.
Passing: PH – Ty Romance 2-3-0, 66 yards; Talon Romance 3-8-1, 120 yards, 1 TD. GV – Melia 4-10-1, 36 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving: PH – Lear 2-72; Spivey 2-102, 1 TD; Tenbroeck 1-12, Totals 5-186. GV – Maslowski 1-29, 1 TD; Pellicciotta 1-0, Stedman 1-3, Deegan 1-4, Totals 4-36.
