Yesavage sets rushing record in Boyertown win over Upper Perkiomen

RED HILL >> There was nothing tricky or fancy about Boyertown’s offense on Friday night. But the results were spectacular. The Bears rushed for 584 yards, with a record-setting 307 of them by Cole Yesavage, in a 62-31 win at Upper Perkiomen Friday.

Cade Sennott also had an impressive night for Boyertown (5-5) with 179 rushing yards, including a pair of 85-yard touchdown runs, and Jason Oakes ran for 80 yards. Zach Schwartz rushed for 137 yards and Mike Boyle passed for 140 for the Indians (2-8) in the Pioneer Athletic Conference crossover contest at Bill Keeny Stadium.

“That was just the basic offense we’ve been working on since summer,” said Yesavage, who scored four times and shot past the 1,000-yard mark for the season with a 54-yard run on his second carry of the night. “The blocking was amazing.”

The 307 yards by Yesavage broke the previous program record of 295 set by Adam Hubley in 2000. The 62 points tied a team record set in 2009 and tied in 2013.

“We went back to the basic stuff,” said Bears coach Justin Konnick, whose team gained 622 total yards. “Stuff we did all summer. We got a great push up front. I’m proud of them.”

Sennott burst into the open and sped 85 yards on Boyertown’s first play of the night. But not to be out-done, Schwartz ran 74 yards into the endzone on the Indians’ second play to tie it just 1:46 into the game.

The Bears regained the lead with an 80-yard drive, including a 54-yard run by Yesavage. Then the defense forced the first of six Indians punts and Oakes ran 51 yards for a touchdown a few plays later to make it 21-7. Sennott’s second 85-yard run boosted the lead to 28-7 with 43 seconds still left in the opening quarter.

“Everybody did their job,” Sennott said.

Logan Watkins booted a 29-yard field goal for Upper Perkiomen in the second quarter. But Boyertown came back with a 66-yard drive, including a 38-yard pass from Ryder Gehris to Gavin Chamberlain and a 9-yard touchdown run by Sennott to make it 35-10 at the half.

And that first half certainly allayed any fears the Bears might have had about over-confidence due to their 61-0 win over Upper Perkiomen in the opening game of the season.

“Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from the kids,” Konnick said.

“We made sure to tell our people not to get too cocky,” Sennott said. “It wasn’t going to be easy.”

To the Indians’ credit, they remained competitive in the second half with Aiden Void (four receptions, 64 yards) catching a 19-yard touchdown pass from Boyle, Schwartz running five yards for a touchdown and Boyle throwing nine yards to Logan O’Donnell for a score.

Boyle completed 15-of-23 passes on the night as the Indians gained 282 total yards.

“He does what he needs to do to get the ball downfield,” Konnick said concerning Upper Perkiomen’s senior quarterback. “They did a good job of moving the football.”

The game ended the regular season for both teams. The Bears had an up-and-down year, but felt they could have made the District 1-6A playoffs if not for a pair of close losses.

“We should be in districts right now,” Konnick said. “We had a couple of 3-point losses (to Governor Mifflin and Methacton). The kids are beating themselves up.”

“There were some basic fixes we had to do on defense and offense,” Sennott said.

Still, the regular season finale might not be the last game of the season for the Bears, who may have a chance to play in the Eastern Conference championship game.

“We’ve got to be ready for whoever we play, if we play,” Konnick said.

“We’ve got some new guys in there,” Yesavage said. “But we’ll be ready for whoever it is.”

Boyertown 62, Upper Perkiomen 31
Boyertown 28 7 13 14 – 62
Upper Perkiomen 7 3 14 7 – 31
Scoring
First quarter
BT-Ca Sennott 85 run (Ch Sennott kick)
UP-Z Schwartz 74 run (Watkins kick)
BT-Yesavage 5 run (Ch Sennott kick)
BT-J Oakes 51 run (Ch Sennott kick)
BT-Ca Sennott 85 run (Ch Sennott kick)
Second quarter
UP-Watkins 29 FG
BT-Ca Sennott 9 run (Ch Sennott kick)
Third quarter
BT-Yesavage 37 run (Ch Sennott kick)
UP-Void 19 pass from Boyle (Watkins kick)
UP-Schwartz 5 run (Watkins kick)
BT-Yesavage 23 run (kick failed)
UP-O’Donnell 9 pass from Boyle (Watkins kick)
Fourth quarter
BT-Genovese 3 run (Ch Sennott kick)
BT-Yesavage 74 run (Ch Sennott)
TEAM STATISTICS
BT UP
First downs 16 14
Rushing yards 142 584
Passing yards 140 38
Total yards 282 622
Passes C-A-I 15-23-1 1-2-1
Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-60 6-39
Punts -AVG 0-0 6-36.3
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Boyertown: Yesavage 19-307, 4 TD’s; Ca Sennott 3-179, 3 TD’s; J Oakes 8-40, 1 TD; A Panarello 3-7; Gen0vese 1-3,1 TD; Reyes 1-0; L Oakes 1-(-2)
Upper Perkiomen: Z Schwartz 24-137, 2 TD’s; Boyle 2-4; Hoffer 3-1
Passing
Boyertown: Gehris 1-1-38; A Panarello 0-1, 1 INT
Upper Perkiomen: Boyle 15-23-140,2 TD’s,1 INT
Receiving
Boyertown: Chamberlain 1-38
Upper Perkiomen: Void 4-64, 1 TD; Z Schwartz 4-34; Romanowski 2-13; O’Donnell 2-8, 1 TD; Hoffer 1-17; Carino 1-8; Eruba 1-(-4)
Interceptions: Boyertown-Gehris, Upper Perkiomen-Z Schwartz