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FOOTBALL: Spring-Ford QB Zollers ‘in good spirits’ after suffering season-ending broken ankle Friday

Spring-Ford quarterback Matt Zollers suffered a broken left ankle in Friday night's game against Downingtown West, putting a premature end to his brilliant high school football career. (MediaNews Group file photo)
Spring-Ford quarterback Matt Zollers suffered a broken left ankle in Friday night’s game against Downingtown West, putting a premature end to his brilliant high school football career. (MediaNews Group file photo)
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Unfortunately, the biggest football story in the area this past weekend was the devastating injury sustained by Spring-Ford quarterback Matt Zollers late in a 21-12 loss to Downingtown West.

Zollers was tackled while attempting to escape the pocket in the fourth quarter. He was taken from the field in an ambulance and later confirmed to have suffered a broken left ankle on the play. The injury brings a premature conclusion to one of the more storied high school football careers in area history.

Zollers, a 6-foot-4 senior committed to the University of Missouri, is currently rated by On3 as the No. 18 player nationally in the class of 2025 and the top player in the state of Pennsylvania. In just two-and-a-half years as Spring-Ford’s starting quarterback, Zollers rewrote several chapters of the school’s record books, the latest in a line of prolific Rams passers. Last season, he threw for a school record 2,917 yards and 37 touchdowns against only two interceptions.

Concern immediately washed over a silent Coach McNelly Stadium and spread quickly to social media, where opposing Downingtown West coach Tom Kline offered his thoughts the following evening on X:

“I have coached high school football for 30 years now and last night witnessed a horrific injury to a generational talent from Spring-Ford,” Kline posted. “My heart breaks for that young man, his family, and his teammates and coaches. My thoughts go out to Matt Zollers for a full recovery.”

“Matt is in good spirits,” added Spring-Ford coach Chad Brubaker. “He means so much to this program and will continue to be a big part of what we do this season.”

It’s the latest setback in a run of bad luck that Brubaker says is unprecedented in his 31 years of coaching. Zollers joins fellow seniors Gyasi Romu and Zack Stead with injuries that put an early end to their senior seasons.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Brubaker said. “Nagging injuries, season-ending injuries. But we had a team meeting (Sunday) night, and there’s no other path. We’re going to have to overcome these obstacles.”

Brubaker added that Zollers joined Romu and Stead at that team meeting, underscoring the commitment the Rams have to their program and to one another, even when players are unavailable to the team and especially in trying times.

“There’s a resolve,” the head coach said. “A desire to play for those guys who can’t suit up anymore.”

With non-league play complete, a look at the surprising PAC landscape

On the calendar, it’s still summer.

But in local high school football, this coming weekend will serve as the midpoint of the regular season.

From here on, all regular season games will be Pioneer Athletic Conference matchups, a pair of six-team round robins culminating in PAC Crossover Week on Oct. 25. But we’ve learned plenty about the prospects for this season during a four-week non-league slate with plenty of surprises.

PAC schools challenged themselves to an extent greater than any season in recent memory with the advent of the PAC/Ches-Mont crossover in which Weeks 3 and 4 pitted schools from each conference against one another in league-wide matchups. And while the Ches-Mont claimed a narrow overall victory with 13 wins to the PAC’s 11, the locals claimed some monumental battles.

Pope John Paul II bounced back from last week’s setback against West Chester Rustin with a 42-14 win over Bishop Shanahan. The Golden Panthers rushed for almost eight yards a carry, and Braden Reed had his third 100-yard plus receiving output of the season. Through four contests, Reed leads the PAC (and probably sits atop much larger leaderboards) with 39 catches and 493 yards to go with four receiving touchdowns.

Perkiomen Valley claimed a huge victory, outlasting Coatesville 14-7 in a Friday night slugfest at Thomas J. Keenan Stadium. Juliun Corropolese found Colin Hollingsworth on a double pass for a 38-yard touchdown to provide the highlight of the evening, and the Vikings survived repeated attempts at a Coatesville rally.

Life gets no easier for PV, as they’ll travel on Friday to undefeated Owen J. Roberts, who joined Phoenixville and Pottsgrove as the only schools to go undefeated over the two-week crossover with the Ches-Mont. Pottsgrove’s 13-12 win against West Chester East provided one of the early season’s most exciting endings, as the Falcons’ Dante Bibbs Jr. blocked a would-be tying extra point to preserve the victory and take the Falcons to 3-1 on the young season.

OJR and Phoenixville’s respective victories over Avon Grove and Kennett preserved the two schools as the PAC’s final two unbeatens. Both the Wildcats and Phantoms are following the formula of stingy defenses mixed with prolific running and potential explosiveness in the passing game. OJR’s Mekhi Graham and Phoenixville’s Deacon Williams lead their respective divisions in rushing heading into conference play.

While both suffered their first defeats of the season Friday night, Upper Perkiomen and Norristown are the PAC’s respective surprises with marks of 3-1. Both squads have shown a knack for closing out tight contests late, Upper Perk behind the running game led by Zach Schwartz and Norristown with an opportunistic defense that will only improve after a tough loss at WC Rustin on Friday.

Elsewhere, Methacton and first-year head coach Eric Ranieri got their first win Friday when the Warriors put together their best all-around performance of the season in a 35-12 win over Great Valley. Pottstown narrowly missed a chance to even its record at 2-2 when a late comeback fell short at Oxford, 28-26.

Boyertown and Upper Merion will look for their first wins of 2024 on the road this weekend. The Bears travel to Methacton while Upper Merion visits Pottstown.

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