Spring-Ford takes PAC crossover, 56-0 over Phoenixville

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PHOENIXVILLE >> The bitter sting of last year’s Pioneer Athletic Conference crossover loss to Pottsgrove wasn’t on Spring-Ford’s mind, but rather, the idea of treating the regular season finale with respect instead.

“That was the message all week,” Rams coach Chad Brubaker said. “We can’t just assume that because they’re playing in smaller schools, that they are smaller than us, that we just show up and win. Doesn’t work that way, so that’s what we emphasized all week.”

The message was well received. In Friday’s Week 10 PAC crossover, Spring-Ford took a decisive 56-0 win over Phoenixville at Washington Field.

The Rams (7-3) scored on every possession and running back Mike Bendowski added a touchdown on a blocked punt to go up 14-0 in the first quarter. It was the junior’s second straight game with a blocked punt recovery for a touchdown.

“We’ve just been so aggressive all year, we’ve had plenty of blocked punts,” Bendowski said. “Zach Zollers is an animal off the edge, so is Will Fish up the middle. Zach created both those opportunities for me, so I was just in the right place at the right time.”

Bendowski ran in a 22-yard touchdown with 7:55 in the second quarter to balloon Spring-Ford’s lead, 28-0. Fish added a 4-yard punch-in early in the third frame.

Zollers found a big opportunity in the second quarter as well, scooping up a fumble to halt the Phantoms (6-4) in the red zone. Spring-Ford’s defense hasn’t let up a touchdown since Week 7.

“It starts with our front seven and we try to win the line of scrimmage,” Zollers said. “We work hard at practice every day. We were down a couple guys, but it’s that next-man-up mentality.”

Gage Swanger provided monster plays in the second quarter. The senior made three receptions for 113 yards and two touchdowns. His first came on the first play of the frame off a 13-yard floater to the corner of the end zone from Matt Zollers (10-of-13, 210 yards, 3TD) to go up 21-0.

Two drives later, Swanger caught a pass in the open field and took it in for a 64-yard score to carry a 35-0 lead at halftime.

Despite falling behind early, Phoenixville was still able to move the chains, ending the first half with five first downs, just one less than Spring-Ford.

“I mean, it was better than last week,” said Phantoms coach Anthony Ciarlello, noting last week’s loss to undefeated Pope John Paul II. “They were asked to get better, and they did. We moved the ball, we had some mistakes and we need to clean that stuff up for next week.”

Both Spring-Ford and Phoenixville are District 1 tournament-bound in the Class 6A and 5A fields, respectively, as they await their playoff seedings.

Spring-Ford quarterback Matt Zollers (2) gets rid of the ball before he takes a sack against Phoenixville in the PAC crossover at Washington Field Friday. (Evan Wheaton – MediaNews Group)

Ranked No. 10 ahead of the final week of the regular season, the Rams flexed their offensive muscles on their opening drive. Matt Zollers took his unit downfield in four plays capped by a 38-yard bomb to Mason Scott for the initial score of the game.

Mosiah Rhodes found bountiful time off the bench in the second half. The senior took 10 straight handoffs for 46 yards and a 2-yard touchdown.

On Spring-Ford’s following possession, the first snap saw Rhodes break loose on a 61-yard run to the house to cap the scoring. He finished with a game-high 109 yards on 11 carries.

“He brings energy to practice every day. He’s excited, he’s never in a bad mood. He’s just a great kid, so it is great for him to get an opportunity these past two weeks in games like this and he made the most of it both times,” Brubaker said.

Sam Moore, one of the most prolific running backs in the PAC, was kept to 95 yards on 18 carries as he consistently moved the chains for Phoenixville. Darius Watson also hauled in a 23-yard reception from Talon Romance (4-of-6, 35 yards) as the Phantoms kept looking for answers offensively.

Similar to the Rams, Phoenixville entered Week 10 ranked 10th in District 1 among 5A schools. Playing up to 6A Spring-Ford as well as top-ranked 3A Pope John Paul II last week offers the Phantoms a taste of strong competition to try and build on ahead to the postseason.

“We saw two of the best teams we’ve seen all year the last two weeks of the season without a doubt,” Ciarlello said.

Spring-Ford 56, Phoenixville 0
Spring-Ford 14 21 7 14 — 56
Phoenixville 0 0 0 0 — 0
SCORING
First quarter
SF — Scott 38 pass from M. Zollers (Fields kick), 7:23
SF — Bendowski blocked punt return (Fields kick), 5:43
Second quarter
SF — Swanger 13 pass from M. Zollers (Fields kick), 11:55
SF — Bendowski 22 run (Fields kick), 7:55
SF — Swanger 64 pass (Fields kick), 4:31
Third quarter
SF — Fish 4 run (Fields kick), 7:55
Fourth quarter
SF — Rhodes 2 run (Fields kick), 10:35
SF — Rhodes 61 run (Fields kick), 6:09
TEAM STATISTICS
SF P
First downs 11 8
Rushes-Yards 23-203 30-127
Passing yards 210 60
Total yards 413 187
Passes C-A-I 10-13-0 7-9-0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 1-5 2-15
Punts 0 3
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Spring-Ford — Rhodes 11-109, 2 TD; Bendowski 4-50, TD; Fish 6-36, TD; M. Zollers 2-8.
Phoenixville — Moore 18-95; Kingsbury 1-27; Williams 5-19; Watson 1-1; Koch 2-(minus-3); T. Romance 3-(minus-19).
Passing
Spring-Ford — M. Zollers 10-13, 210 yards, 3 TD.
Phoenixville — T. Romance 4-6, 35 yards; Venezia 3-3, 25 yards.
Receiving
Spring-Ford — Swanger 3-113, 2 TD; Scott 2-50, TD; Fish 1-18; Abdelrahman 1-12; Kerchner 1-12; Z. Zollers 2-5.
Phoenixville — Watson 2-23; Green 1-13; Beacher 1-8; Lear 1-7; Spivey 1-5; Gordon 1-4.
Sacks: Spring-Ford 2 (Fish, Yurko).

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Evan Wheaton

ewheaton

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