Kerr’s return boosts Boyertown to comeback win over Whitehall in PIAA opener

BUCKTOWN >> Matt Kerr missed most of Boyertown’s district title game on Saturday with an injured ankle.

He wasn’t expected to play in Tuesday’s PIAA Class 4A opener against Whitehall either.

But then again, a lot of unexpected things happened during the course of the Bears’ thrilling 4-3 win at Owen J. Roberts High School on Tuesday to advance to Saturday’s state quarterfinals. The defensive-minded Bears showed the ability to prevail in a shootout, and the junior Kerr was in the middle of the comeback effort.

Entering around the 18-minute mark in the second half with his side trailing 3-2, it wouldn’t take Kerr long to make an impact, finishing a cross from Nick Willson with 12:54 to play to bring the Bears level.

Senior Landon Wenger took it from there, finding a loose ball on a scramble in front of the Whitehall goal and beating keeper Justin Mattison for the winning margin with 9:31 to play.

But it was hard to argue that Kerr’s ability to take the field gave the Bears a boost after a somewhat stunning Whitehall comeback in the early part of the second half.

“Questionable — that’s a good word to describe (Kerr’s status),” agreed Boyertown coach Mark Chambers. “I wasn’t expecting to have him at all, and I hoped we wouldn’t need him. But he fought through the discomfort, got us the tying goal. I just hope we’re going to have him back the rest of the way.”

Not surprisingly, Kerr was riding high after the exciting finish.

“Right now, I feel great,” he said. “I think I’ll be fine by Saturday (Boyertown’s next game.)”

Kerr originally sprained an ankle during the District 1 semifinal with Lower Merion, then aggravated the injury in Saturday’s 1-0 loss to North Penn for the district championship. He left the contest two minutes in, and was not expected to play Tuesday. And for the first 60 minutes, he didn’t. 

“It wasn’t a great idea (to try to play Saturday),” Kerr admitted. “I wasn’t going to play today either, but when they needed me, I gave it a shot.”

The frantic finish was the ideal ending to a game filled with sudden strikes, lead changes, and intensity worthy of the stage of the state tournament. Kerr’s entry into the game was a surprise, but so was the wide-open, high-scoring nature of the contest.

Wenger connected with younger brother Beckett at the back post for a volley past Whitehall’s Mattison and a 1-0 lead early on, and the Bears threatened to run away with the game early before Mattison tipped a header over the crossbar just three minutes later.

From there, the seesaw ride began as the Zephyrs’ Kresstoph Whittick established himself as the contest’s most dangerous player. An early opportunity sailed wide off his left foot, but Whittick would equalize in the 27th minute, taking a midfield turnover through the Boyertown defense and beating Mason Kurtz low.

Boyertown senior Willson would send his side into the half with a 2-1 advantage, taking a bouncing ball just above the 18 and rocketing it high into the net with five minutes to play in the first half.

But that lead wouldn’t last, as Whitehall junior Jacob Gier took advantage of some confusion on Boyertown’s back end to even the game for a second time just seven minutes after halftime at 2.

Whittick, who created countless opportunities throughout the contest, made another one count at 19:09, whisking a rolling ball past Kurtz from about 30 yards away for a 3-2 advantage — Whitehall’s first of the game.

That was when Kerr would enter and turn the game around. Boyertown nearly equalized immediately, as Kerr’s cross just missed a finishing touch from Drew Benning. But four minutes later, Kerr would put himself on the right end of Willson’s low cross to bring Boyertown even, setting the stage for Wenger’s short header to put Boyertown in front to stay, 4-3.

“The best players forget their mistakes,” said Wenger. “We needed to get some of those early moments out of our heads, and in the end it worked out pretty well.”

Whittick’s last-ditch effort didn’t miss by much for Whitehall, a bending blast from about 35 yards that cleared the crossbar by maybe two feet with just over a minute to play.

Whitehall made a Cinderella run from the No. 6 seed in the District 11 tournament to finish as runners-up and qualify for states. The Zephyrs’ season concludes at a mark of 13-8-1.

If Boyertown (21-2-2) is going to continue on in states, it appears they’ll be doing so via a westwardly path. Tuesday’s win sets up a Saturday quarterfinal with the survivor of District 7 champion Canon McMillan and District 3’s fourth-place squad, Palmyra.

In fact, the Bears won’t have a chance to see a District 1 or District 12 opponent unless they reach the state final, which of course would be a challenge they’d be all too happy to confront.

“At this point it doesn’t really matter who we play,” said Chambers. “We came through a tough district, and as you see, we’re not gonna give up no matter the situation.”

“We know we can compete with anybody,” added Kerr.

Next time, maybe he won’t have to wait as long.