Pottstown can’t keep pace with Lower Merion in 35-0 Aces win
POTTSTOWN >> It wasn’t quite how Levert Hughes wanted to mark his return to Pottstown football.
At the same time, it didn’t leave him overwhelmingly dismayed. From his years of experience both as a player and coach, Hughes established and developed a sense of pragmatism that helped him keep in perspective occurrences like Friday’s 35-0 loss to Lower Merion in his head-coaching debut with the Trojans.
Hughes saw his charges keep pace with the Bulldogs for much of the first half, two scores in a 70-second span staking the visitors to a 21-point halftime lead. LM then added another pair of TDs on successive second-half possessions to bring the running clock into play for the game’s final 14:11.
“Every game has ebbs and flows,” he said following the post-game huddle at Grigg Memorial Field. “We have to teach the kids how to win a game. We fought at the beginning, then ran out of gas.”
For LM grid boss Joe Augustine, the lid-lifter left him with satisfying answers to several questions about his team from its pre-season practices.
“Offensively, we want to be able to run the ball,” he said. “This was the first real test of our offensive line. I saw us jell enough to put a running game together. We ran when and how we needed to.”
Ben Booker was a particular joy for the Merion running game, the junior rushing for approximately 135 yards while tearing off scores of two, eight and four runs. His running style brought comparisons to Larry Csonka, the Miami Dolphins’ fullback during its Super Bowl championship heyday of the early 1970s, from Augustine.
“Ben Booker is an old-school, hard-nosed runner who puts his head down and his shoulders low,” Augustine said. “He can wear down a defense.”
The Bulldogs’ other scores came through the air. Junior quarterback Mekhai Smith connected with Sam Zheng and Aidan Fliszar on 38- and 15-yard touchdown strikes in and around the running game, finishing the night with six completions covering 117 yards.
Defensively, junior Andrew Cook was praised by Augustine for his play.
“I don’t know how many tackles he had,” Augustine said, “but every time I looked up, he was wrapping somebody up. We preach team defense, swarming to the ball, and the kids were doing that.”
A reacquaintance with winning will be a big step for Pottstown. It was 0-10 in the final year of former head coach Jeff Delaney’s tenure in 2021, 0-5 in the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Frontier Division.
While the defense was holding its own early on, the Pottstown offense found the going rough. Its modest forays into Bulldog territory were hampered by penalties or turnovers, keeping it outside the 30-yard line on its best attempt.
“When you’re tired, you revert back to what you know,” Hughes said. “You have to break the cycle. It will happen, but it’s going to be a process.”
Individually, Pottstown assistant Madison Morton praised the play of Rasheen Bostic. A running back by skill, the senior stepped up behind center and tried to keep drives going with his feet while completing several passes.
“We’re proud of Rasheen. He’s taking ownership of the offense. We’ll see what happens in a couple of weeks with options we have at quarterback.”
Christopher Thomas, a sophomore, assumed a share of the offense’s running plays. And in the trenches, Chris Chhern was praised for his play at center.
“He called shifts and changes with no mishandles,” Hughes said.
Bright spots on defense for Pottstown were junior cornerback Dimark Lyons, who Hughes noted “held his own” at cornerback, and Nahzier Booker, who picked off a Smith pass inside the two-minute mark of the first quarter.
Pottstown will have a quicker turnaround on the Labor Day weekend’s action than many other area teams. The Trojans will be back at Grigg next Thursday (Sept. 1), hosting Interboro.
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A happier occurrence took place prior to Friday’s football contest. The school recognized the members of its 1982 girls cross country team, which finished as unbeaten Ches-Mont League champions in just its third year of existence.
The “Ladies of the Eighties” put together a stellar first three seasons, going 26-1 those years and topping 1981’s 8-0 record with a 10-0 mark in 1982. Ten of the approximately two dozen runners making up those teams, headed by longtime coach Lawrence Harvey, were on hand for a weekend-long reunion that will continue with a luncheon Saturday.
Among those in attendance were Jill Swavely, a member of all three teams and multiple-time Ches-Mont champion who currently resides in Philadelphia; Jeanette (Byerly) Frederick, another three-year team member and Pottsgrove resident; Kristie Russell and Kristie Beasley, other three-team members; and Carla (Daniels) Day, a runner on the Pottstown teams of 1981 and 1982 who was instrumental in organizing the reunion.
