FAIRVIEW VILLAGE >> The projection was on the money.
Predicting the final outcome wasn’t as easy, given what Methacton and Pottsgrove brought to Warrior Stadium for Friday’s season-opening game between non-divisional Pioneer Athletic Conference programs. But it was a certainty the duel would be a hard-fought one, with the final verdict not confirmed much before the sounding of the final buzzer.
Methacton got the better of the fight, coming away with a 16-13 victory over Pottsgrove for a measure of vindication for last year’s narrow (12-7) Falcon triumph. It was a back-and-forth affair that required the home team to make a big stop on the visitors’ final drive to nail it down.
Trailing by three but marching toward the go-ahead score inside the final three minutes, the Falcons’ tandem of quarterback Gabe Rinda and running back Bryce Caffrey hooked up three times on pass plays covering 42 yards of the 60 standing between them and the end zone. A fourth try, however, was thwarted when Methacton’s Joseph Benson got in front of the throw and picked it off.
With 59 seconds to go and the Falcons holding just one timeout, the hosts were able to take three kneel-downs and run the clock out.
“We didn’t want to go home with a loss,” Benson said. “We weren’t going to let them score. I kept looking at him (Caffrey) and knew I had to do something about it.”
Methacton saw a previous bid to run the clock – one coming with 2:49 left in the game, the ball on Pottsgrove’s 34 and the Warriors with their three-point advantage – thwarted two plays in when the Falcons recovered a fumble. Its defense forced Pottsgrove into three incomplete passes and a completion negated by an illegal-pass penalty. Earlier in the game, the Warriors saw two other scores answered by their guests, keeping the fans from both schools wondering if their teams could pull away.
“We kept doing what we had to do, keeping our heads in the game,” Wes Conover, Methacton’s senior running back and leading rusher with 84 yards, said. “We can’t think when we’re up, we can let them make big plays.”
The Warriors’ first lead of the night came off a sustained drive that covered 43 yards on 12 plays. Looking at a fourth-and-six from the Pottsgrove 15, the Warriors called on junior Nick Remish to boot a 32-yard field goal at the 8:36 mark in the second quarter.
The first Rinda-to-Caffrey connection proved a big one for the Falcons, covering 55 yards on their first play in the subsequent possession.
“Rinda and Caffrey … they fought,” Pottsgrove head coach Bill Hawthorne said. “I had no problem with our effort. We just have to play fundamental football.”
“They’re a well-coached, good football team,” Hawthorne said of Methacton. “They did a good job. The credit goes to them.”
Quarterback Kolby Howarth had a solid all-round game behind center for Methacton. He had touchdown runs of eight and one yards in each of the last two quarters. He was also 4-for-8 in passing for 38 yards, targeting Conover twice and one apiece to D.J. Ballinger and Benson.
“We’re vanilla on offense,” Kennedy said. “We run the same things until we’re forced to change, coming up with multiple looks.”
On the visitors’ side, Rinda was 5-for-16 for 161 yards, collaborating with Caffrey on four of them. He also hooked up with Christian Tibbs on a 64-yard toss in the third quarter, setting up Caffrey’s 12-yard TD run at the 3:35 mark of the frame.
Defensively, Pottsgrove got an interception from Tre Cook near the end of the first half, and a sack from Cameron Waller in the first quarter.
“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Hawthorne said, “and we’re in a little valley now. But Mikhi Dargan (running back) and Waller (tight end) played well, and Joseph Quinter (line) did good things. Isaiah Rivera did a heck of a job at middle linebacker.
“We’ve got to get together collectively and get better in practice.”
NOTES
Methacton honored military personnel and first responders in a ceremony held prior to the game. … Benson sized the Warriors’ sentiments about their opener: “We wanted to start the season with a win.”
Methacton 16, Pottsgrove 13
Pottsgrove 0 6 7 0 – 13
Methacton 0 3 7 6 – 16
Second Quarter
Me-Remish 32 FG, 8:36
Pg-Caffrey 55 pass from Rinda (kick failed), 7:00
Third Quarter
Me-Howarth 8 run (Drozd kick), 4:38
Pg-Caffrey 1 run (kick failed), 3:35
Fourth Quarter
Me-Howarth 1 run (kick failed), 4:47
TEAM STATISTICS
Pg Me
First downs 7 14
Rushing yards 47 179
Passing yards 161 38
Total yards 208 217
Passes C-A-I 5-13-1 4-8-1
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 8-51 11-68
Punts-Avg. 5-27.0 1-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Pottsgrove – Dargan, 6-17; Caffrey, 9-16, 1 TD; Rinda, 4-7; Rivera, 3-6; Mayes, 1-1.
Methacton – Conover, 21-84; Fazio, 8-48; Haworth, 13-22, 2 TDs; Borkowski, 4-13; Grove, 4-8; Ballinger, 5-4.
Passing
Pottsgrove – Rinda, 5-13-161, 1 TD, 1 INT.
Methacton – Haworth, 4-8-38, 1 INT.
Receiving
Pottsgrove – Caffrey, 4-97, 1 TD; Waller, 1-64.
Methacton – Conover, 2-16; Benson, 1-15; Ballinger, 1-7.
Interceptions – Pottsgrove: T. Cook 1. Methacton: Benson 1.
Sacks – Pottsgrove: Waller 1. Quinter 1.
