GLENOLDEN — Tommy Receveur did it in the first half. Anthony Barr took over in the second. Aaron Keene handled matters in the red zone. Even freshman fullback JJ Clark had moments in the fourth quarter.
When that many Interboro running backs are gaining yardage and controlling the clock, the search for a common factor usually leads to the line. And that’s where things were decided Thursday.
Interboro rushed for 256 yards and caused four turnovers to beat Pottstown, 21-12, in a nonleague game at South Avenue Athletic Complex. The heavy lifting was done by the heavies in the trenches, allowing the Bucs to carry the ball 51 times, comfortably protect a lead for most of the last three quarters and amass 361 yards of offense.
“They went balls to the wall the whole time,” Barr said in praise of his line. “They blocked everyone with everything they had all the time. They went all energy all four quarters.”
In the first half, Receveur was the bell cow, with 10 carries for 80 yards. He had a hand in setting up three- and two-yard touchdown runs by Keene in the second quarter, the first with 10:46 left to put the Bucs up for good.
Receveur exited with an injury at half, at which point Barr took over. The halfback caught two balls for 83 yards from quarterback Mikey McLaughlin in the first half, including a 63-yard wheel route to set up Keene’s first score. Barr would put Interboro up 21-0 with a three-yard score with 4:51 left in the third. He accounted for all seven carries and 51 yards on the drive.
But the touchdown, in which Interboro’s front blasted the Trojans five yards deep into the end zone off the snap, showed the thrust of the series.
“Momentum is definitely a big thing in football,” right tackle Mike Welsh said. “We just had the ball rolling more than them.”
There’s a lot of big on that offensive line. Interboro (1-1) has had success for years with smaller, nimble offensive linemen, but this year brings some legitimate size in 300-pound tackles Welsh and Drew Frescoln. With guards Nolan Royer and Kyle Cramphorn around center Greg Ferrari, the Bucs pushed Pottstown around up front.
In addition to the three scoring drives, they penetrated inside the Pottstown 35 on four other occasions. Three times they turned it over on downs, once a fourth-down interception by McLaughlin, who was 4-for-9 for 105 yards and two picks.
All that running provided enough cushion for when Pottstown eventually broke through. DiMark Lyons got Pottstown on the board with 3:33 left in the third with a sensational 72-yard run that included three vicious cutbacks to shed would-be tacklers in the secondary.
“I’m pretty good at running back,” Lyons said. “I have very good vision, I see the field very well. We have good blockers.”
Lyons, who didn’t have a first-half carry, ran three times for 86 yards. Nahzier Booker toted nine times for 86 yards and served as Lyons’ fearsome lead blocker on sweeps. Quarterback Dillon Mayes ran six times for 129 yards, including a 38-yard dance into the end zone with 7:34 left.
But the Trojans (1-1) fumbled away the second-half kickoff and lost possession on second and goal at the 6 in the second quarter, a bad snap pounced on by Jayden Strange. Barr picked off Mayes, who was just 3-for-13 through the air for 20 yards. And then there were the penalties: 18 accepted on the Trojans for 132 yards.
“We left it all out there,” Lyons said. “We’re a good team, it’s just we’ve got to cut back on the penalties. Once we do that, I think we’re unstoppable.”
Welsh got an idea of what his Bucs are capable of, too. They were humbled last week by Strath Haven, but the reigning District 1 Class 4A champs saw a different possibility Thursday, in a smaller Pottstown front on which they could impose their will. Once they found the edge, they pressed it again and again.
“Our coach has been saying and we’ve been saying it’s good that we had a hard opponent in the beginning to see where we’re at,” Welsh said.
