Boyertown enjoys historic night on Konnick’s debut with 61-0 rout of Upper Perkiomen
BOYERTOWN >> The march up the hill into Boyertown’s Memorial Stadium was an emotional one for Justin Konnick ahead of his first game as Bears’ head coach.
“I walked up over that hill and I thought of everybody who came before me, the respect I have for those coaches especially Coach (Bob Hillegas) and the other coaches I learned football from at a young age,” said the 1997 Boyertown grad. “I’m not going to lie, a tear came to my eye when I thought about Coach Hill, Breezy (Rupert), Yogi Yerger, Barry Menning, all those guys that brought me along to lead kids. That’s what they taught me to do and that’s what I believe I’m here to do.”
Two hours later, happy tears could have been in order.
Boyertown was a juggernaut from start to finish against old rival Upper Perkiomen in a historic 61-0 rout in front of a large crowd Friday night in Boyertown.
Final: Boyertown 61, Upper Perkiomen 0.
A dominant night for the Bears in all phases. Big plays from Jason Oakes and Cole Yesavage led the way pic.twitter.com/qB6DWhL66j
— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) August 27, 2022
Junior running back Jason Oakes (109 total yards) was a big-play breaker with three first-half touchdowns while junior fullback Cole Yesavage ran for a game-high 153 yards (11 carries) and a pair of scores as the Bears racked up a 41-0 halftime lead.
Anthony Famularo (3 rushes, 81 yards) also had two touchdowns – runs of 56 and 24 yards.
“All the hard work, waking up at 4:30 a.m., putting in the work over the summer, paid off,” said Oakes. “I think we can do a lot more.”
“It feels good when the work you put in pays off,” said Yesavage.
It was the biggest margin of victory in school history – the previous record was 55 in a 62-7 win over Phoenixville in 2013 – and was only the fourth time Boyertown has scored 60 or more points in a game.
Outside of the offensive explosion, it was the Bears’ first shutout since a 20-0 win over Spring-Ford on Oct. 22, 2010.
Konnick thinking of Hillegas, the revered Bears head coach between 1987-94, was fitting: he was the first Boyertown coach to win his first game since Hillegas.
“To come out like we did – those kids worked through camp, and I put them through hell and they took everything I threw at them – they deserve every yard of that win,” said Konnick. “The kids really performed and I’m completely pleased.”
Boyertown outgained Upper Perk 523-46 in total offense. The Bears ran for 339 to UP’s -5.
Boyertown was firing from the opening snap with senior quarterback Anthony Panarello connecting on a 55-yard pass to Gio Daddario that led to Oakes’ 8-yard opening score.
“We won the toss and I said, ‘We want the ball. We’re going to make a statement. We’re going to put the ball in the air,’” said Konnick. “It’s been ground-and-pound here for a long, long time and the success has come through ground-and-pound. But when we have to we’ll put it up.”
Getting on the board quick only added to the energy according to Yesavage.
“It fuels the fire,” said Yesavage. “It was amazing seeing (Oakes) run down, everyone together celebrating. It was amazing.”
Junior Ryder Gehris hit Oakes for a 55-yard TD strike three minutes later. By the time the first quarter ended, the Bears led 27-0.
Panarello (3-for-4, 88 yards) and Gehris (3-for-4, 96 yards, 2 TDs) split time at quarterback and will likely do so for the foreseeable future.
“They handled it beautifully tonight,” said Konnick. “They split reps all through camp and as far as I’m concerned they’re all on the same level.”
With the offensive line of seniors Matthew Cavalari, Michael Ricci, Jacob Carney, Cole Marinello and Kyler Reyes paving the way, lots of Bears were able to get in the act.
“It’s a good problem to have when you feel like anyone can score,” said Konnick.
Boyertown’s joy was Upper Perk’s pain in a rough opening night that exposed the Tribe’s inexperience.
It was a very inexperienced team getting smashed in the mouth by a very fired up team that came out with a lot of hunger and enthusiasm and played sound football,” said UP head coach Tom Hontz.
Upper Perk graduated a sizable senior class and is thin in the upper grades so a building year is in store.
“Fortunately those young players will learn and store this one in their memory and use that as motivation,” said Hontz. “There’s a lot of work on. Our motto this year is ‘Build up’ and we’re going to try to get better day after day.”
It was a difficult debut for senior QB Michael Boyle, who transferred from Perkiomen School after being MVP of the Keystone Football League in 2021. Consistently under pressure, he was 4-for-11 for 51 yards, most of which was acquired on a 44-yard pass hookup with Aiden Void.
Defensively for Boyertown, Gavin Chamberlain had an interception and sacks were turned in by Douglas Wells, Aidan McCullough, Nick Panarello, Cole Marinello.
Upper Perkiomen travels to Schuylkill Valley next week while Boyertown visits reigning District 3 Class 5A champion Exeter and can expect a different level test.
But you have to start somewhere and an emphatic start is a great way.
“I take a lot of confidence from this,” said Oakes. “I’m excited to play a good team next week and see how we pair up against them.
“It’ll be a challenge,” said Yesavage.
NOTES >> Rounding out the scoring for Boyertown was freshmen Logan Oakes and Luke Hagen, who had fourth-quarter TDs … It was Boyertown’s biggest margin of victory in school history in a shutout, a record previously from a 51-0 victory over Schwenksville on Nov. 23, 1946. … Boyertown’s previous 60-point nights were against Phoenixville and Upper Perk in 2013 and Great Valley in 2009.
Boyertown 61, Upper Perkiomen 0
| Upper Perkiomen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 – 0 |
| Boyertown | 27 | 4 | 7 | 13 – 61 |
First quarter
B-Jason Oakes 8 run (Cade Sennott kick), 9:52
B-Oakes 55 pass from Ryder Gehris (Sennott kick), 6:42
B-Cole Yesavage 25 run (kick failed), 4:41
B-Anthony Famularo 65 run (Sennott kick), 0:30
Second quarter
B-Yesavage 54 run (Sennott kick), 10:01
B-Oakes 31 pass from Gehris (Sennott kick), 4:54
Third quarter
B-Famularo 15 run (Sennott kick), 7:05
Fourth quarter
B-Logan Oakes 3 run (Sennott kick), 9:29
B-Luke Hagen 4 run (kick failed), 2:33
TEAM STATISTICS
| UP | B | |
| First downs | 6 | 18 |
| Rushing yards | -5 | 339 |
| Passing yards | 51 | 184 |
| Total yards | 46 | 523 |
| Passes C-A-I | 4-12-1 | 6-8-0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 3-2 | 2-0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 3-25 | 9-100 |
| Punts-Avg. | 5-24.6 | 0-0 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Upper Perk – Zach Schwartz 14-26, Michael Boyle 7-11, Logan O’Donnell 1-0, Brody Weiss 1-(-3); Jayden White 1-(-5); Manny Northern 1-(-6), Noah Lichtenwalner 1-(-28)
Boyertown – Yesavage 11-153; Famularo 3-81; Nick Biletta 3-56, Jason Oakes 3-23, Luke Hagen 5-12, Anthony Genovese 2-11, Logan Oakes 1-3, Gehris 2-2, Panarello 2-(-2)
Passing
Upper Perk – Boyle 4-11-0-51, Schwartz 0-1-1-0, O’Donnell 0-0-0-0.
Boyertown – Panarello 3-4-0-88, Gehris 3-4-0-96
Receiving
Upper Perk – Aidan Void 2-48, Chidike Eruba 1-6, Tyler Miller 1-(-3)
Boyertown – Gio Daddario 3-85, J Oakes 2-86, Famularo 1-13.
