Mercury Football Preview: Transfer with famous ties, QB Gray has Pope John Paul II primed for unbeaten battle with Pottsgrove

The Pope John Paul II football came into the 2018 season with a plethora of returning skill position players from last year’s 7-4 campaign, but needing to replace graduated quarterback Matt DeLaurentis for its offense to reach its full potential.

Enter Kamal Gray.

The junior transfer from Archbishop Carroll was given the keys to the Panthers’ attack, and has fulfilled coach Rory Graver’s trust in leading PJP to a 5-0 start. The Golden Panthers’ hot start has turned Gray into a big man on campus in his first year.

The quarterback’s 13:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio has been a huge factor in PJP’s Pioneer Athletic Conference-leading 38.6 points per game, and the junior hopes to cement his status as the area’s top newcomer when the Panthers square off with host Pottsgrove (5-0, 1-0 PAC Frontier) Friday night.

The spotlight doesn’t figure to affect Gray though. As the son of James ‘Kamal’ Gray, the keyboard player for Philadelphia-based hip hop group The Roots, also known as the house band for the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, he’s spent his life around people who perform in various venues in front of thousands of spectators. While the younger Gray has had no trouble making a name for himself, his famous father’s friendships and connections have afforded him a few unique opportunities in his young athletic career.

For the past three years, Gray has been mentored by Jeff Blake, who spent 14 years in the National Football League and played on the Eagles’ 2004 NFC Championship squad. Blake and the elder Gray met when young Kamal was just a toddler — at a Super Bowl party, in fact — and maintained a friendship that led to the now-retired Blake working with Kamal as he entered high school. Blake, now coaching in Austin, Texas, maintains regular contact with Gray during the season.

“It’s a blessing,” says Gray, “to be able to be around guys who’ve played in the pros, college players — they’ve all helped me and they push me to get to the next level.”

Jeff Blake first worked with Kamal before his freshman year at Archbishop Carroll, and has continued to do so each offseason since. He says he’s proud of the young quarterback’s development, but not at all surprised by his level of success.

“Hard work pays off,” said Blake. “Athletically, Kamal already had the talent. He plays baseball too, so he has good feet, he can run. He’s the prototypical dual-threat quarterback, which is what a lot of colleges are looking for.”

Blake added that Gray’s TD-INT ratio is the product of learning to read coverages, which he says tends to be a weakness for many high school quarterbacks. He adds that it’s far from Kamal’s only strength, however. “He’s humble, and he’s coachable,” said Blake. “He’s able to process everything you tell him, and he’s taking these little nuggets from every coach and constantly learning and evolving as a player.”

He’s presently bringing those attributes to Pope John Paul II, where he says academic and athletic opportunities led to his transfer in the summer. His off-field transition has been as smooth as his experience on the football team.

“Everybody loves football at PJP. I’ve made a lot of new friends, people have really welcomed me at school and on the team,” said Gray, who lives in Eagleville. “It’s closer to home for me as well.”

Gray gets his introduction to the burgeoning PJP-Pottsgrove rivalry Friday night. The Panthers handed Pottsgrove their only loss in two-plus years of Frontier Division play back in 2016, but Pottsgrove returned the favor last year in resounding fashion, 63-27.

This year’s Pottsgrove defense, led by defensive end Ryan Bodolus and his league-leading eight sacks, has run roughshod over opposing offenses, allowing fewer than six points a game — but they’ve yet to see an attack as deep and as accomplished as the Panthers.

“They’re a scary team,” said Pottsgrove coach Bill Hawthorne, “because they can break a big play at any moment. It’s going to be a battle until the final whistle.”

The battle of unbeatens is both squads’ biggest game to date. Gray and the Golden Panthers are ready, though.

“We all know it’s a big game,” Gray allowed. “But we’re ready. We’re not gonna be nervous, we’re just gonna come out and do our thing and hope to get a win.”

Owen J. Roberts (3-2, 0-1 PAC Liberty) at Boyertown (1-4, 0-1 PAC Liberty) >> Two squads looking to bounce back after disappointing league openers will meet up in Boyertown. The visiting Wildcats dropped their opener to Perkiomen Valley by a score of 33-6. They’ll look to get down the field some more this week in encountering a Bears squad that faces not only the uncertain status of QB Ayden Mathias and RB Jamie Moccia, but is trying to snap a four-game skid.

“Culture change takes time,” said Boyertown coach TJ Miller, “and our underclassmen have answered the call. We’re playing a bunch of sophomores and juniors who haven’t backed down yet.”

But it’ll be senior leadership that Miller hopes makes the difference against a strong Wildcats backfield. Carson Flint, Hunter Borgman, and Brady McFalls were three players the coach noted as seniors who, as first-year football players, have bought into the team culture and brought valuable leadership.

The Bears will need that aggressiveness against Liberty Division-leading rusher Marcus Martin and OJR quarterback Cooper Chamberlain, who looks to bounce back after Perkiomen Valley held him to only 63 yards passing last Friday.

Upper Merion (3-2, 1-0 PAC Frontier) at Upper Perkiomen (2-3, 0-1 PAC Frontier) >> Vikings’ coach Victor Brown was pleased with players stepping forward in breakout performances last week in a 24-14 win over Phoenixville. QB Dale Clayton had a season-high 130 yards passing and accounted for all three Upper Merion touchdowns (one passing, two rushing) in the victory. The Vikings look for a repeat performance of last week from a defense led by defensive tackle Will Fisher, who was instrumental in holding Phoenixville to only 70 yards total offense.

Meanwhile, Upper Perkiomen looks to rally after a 40-0 loss to Pope John Paul in which the Indians were unable to sustain much of an offense. RB Tyrese Reid missed the game after a breakout performance the previous week against Upper Moreland, and leading rusher Malachi Duka was absent as well. Getting one or both players back would be instrumental in challenging a tough Upper Merion defense.

Pottstown (3-2, 0-1 PAC Frontier) at Phoenixville (2-3, 0-1 PAC Frontier) >> Neither Pottstown’s Mark Fischer nor Phoenixville’s Don Grinstead were particularly pleased with their respective teams’ conference-opening performances last week. Both look to right the ship this weekend when they meet at Washington Field.

“Upper Merion deserves a good deal of credit,” said Grinstead of the Phantoms’ loss to the Vikings, “but for us, it’s about accountability. We have to be extremely intentional about getting better this week.”

Grinstead, who formerly led the Trojans’ program, cited the need to corral Pottstown’s skill players, including all-purpose threat Nehemiah Figueroa, who filled the scoresheet last week with six tackles, an interception, 62 receiving yards and a big kickoff return.

For Coach Fischer and the Trojans, the key is physicality up front. “Our offensive line didn’t have a good game last week,” he offered. “If we want to bounce back this week, that’s where it starts — with our offensive line leading the way.”

The defensive line will also need a strong bounce back — after surrendering 330 yards on the ground to Pottsgrove, this week Pottstown will need to find an answer for Phoenixville seniors Alex Washington and Travis Pannella.

Norristown (1-4, 0-1 PAC Liberty) at Perkiomen Valley (3-2, 1-0 PAC Liberty) >> An impressive conference opener for the two-time defending PAC champion Vikings (ranked No. 11 in the Pa. Prep Live Top 20) turned sour in the late going, when senior QB Cole Peterlin went down with an ankle injury. With no current timetable on his return, the Vikings will look to Ethan Kohler — whose play was lauded by coach Rob Heist last week.

The Vikings still have an impressive array of skill players even with Peterlin sidelined, as league-leading WR Isaiah Domine (407 yards, nine TDs) and Austin Rowley provide reliable pass-catching targets, while Malik Smith’s breakout performance against OJR (85 yards rushing) was a season high for a PV running back.

“We’d like to continue developing our game, working to fine tune some of the concepts,” added Heist.

For the Eagles, Christian Thomas now leads the PAC in receptions with 22, and Heist cited him specifically as one player the Vikings will need to limit. Travis Cummings emerged as another target for quarterbacks Daniel Watson and Nick DiNolfi, amassing 86 yards receiving in last week’s loss to Spring-Ford.

This week is Senior Night at Perkiomen Valley, and the team is hopeful of suitable conditions on their home field, which has been deluged by the recent weather. Coach Heist complimented the efforts of the district’s maintenance department in preparing the field.

Daniel Boone (3-2, 0-1 Berks I) vs. Reading (0-5, 0-2 Berks I) at FirstEnergy Stadium >> Boone bounced back with a 42-22 win over Fleetwood last week, continuing to put up gaudy numbers on the ground. “Our offensive line controlled the box, and we’ll look for them to do the same this week,” said coach Rob Flowers.

Flowers also cited the need for his defensive backs to step up against a Reading team with some impressive speed. He would know – Flowers previously coached at Reading before joining Boone in the offseason. Reading has yet to notch a victory in 2018, but with the game being played at FirstEnergy Stadium as part of the Baseballtown series, Flowers won’t be lulled into a false sense of security.

“They’ll [Reading] be extra motivated given the circumstances and dynamics of this game,” he said. “So we need to be focused all week long in order to go 1-0 on Friday.”

Methacton (1-4, 1-0 PAC Liberty) at Spring-Ford (4-1, 1-0 PAC Liberty), 2 p.m. Saturday >> The Warriors joined Tiger Woods and the Cleveland Browns in busting long, winless droughts last weekend in their 36-7 victory over Boyertown. The breakout that coach Dave Lotier had been predicting came in the form of over 350 yards of total offense and the first four touchdowns of the Warriors’ season.

Making it into a two-game winning streak won’t be an easy task against a Spring-Ford squad celebrating Homecoming. The Rams (No. 15 in PaPrepLive.com Top 20) will be joined for the game by honorary captain Eli Vivian, a 13-year-old who battles Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD), a rare genetic disorder that involves degeneration of the white matter of the brain and central nervous system.

Once the game begins, Spring-Ford coach Chad Brubaker expects to see a renewed effort from a Methacton team who’s had that first taste of success, and presumably enjoys it.

“When you’re trying to establish a new program, the first step is getting some success, proving you’re on the right track,” said Brubaker. “So our players should expect Methacton to be ready to go from the opening kickoff.”

Those players include Nick Teets and Alex Koretke, who Brubaker cited as breakout performers last week in a 36-6 win over Norristown. Sophomore Teets exploded with 163 receiving yards and two scores, while Koretke paced the Rams defense, which caused five turnovers, with a pair of interceptions.

Methacton looks for another big game from Larry Dickerson, who registered a highlight-reel TD catch last week against Boyertown.

Hill School (0-3) at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (3-1), 2:30 p.m. Saturday >> Hill continued to struggle in fourth quarters, as Episcopal came from behind to claim a 27-21 win over the Rams last week. They’ll look to break into the win column this week against a Springside Chestnut Hill team looking at their final tune up before embarking on a tough Inter-Ac schedule.

Millbrook School at Perkiomen School, 2:30 p.m. Saturday >> Eight-man football makes its way to Pennsylvania for the first time on Saturday when Perkiomen School takes on Millbrook School in the Panthers’ season opener. Former Upper Perkiomen and Kutztown player Casey Perlstein takes the helm as Perkiomen School embarks on this new era—and new style—of football gaining popularity across the nation.

“Eight-man football will allow us to continue our long-standing tradition of football in a positive way,” said Perkiomen School director of athletics Ken Baker. “More than 30 states field teams, so there is a significant movement around the country toward this brand of football.”