Christ the King makes long trip worth it, topping Pottsgrove

LOWER POTTSGROVE >> It could qualify as one of the longer road trips a high-school football team has made in some time.

From its home base in New York City, Christ The King faced a 2-1/2 hour bus ride to Pottsgrove High Friday. But while the Royals are looking at a similar drive back home, it’s a safe bet the players won’t mind the trip.

Winning a game by a 52-14 count, like CTK did against Pottsgrove, tends to make a long trip more bearable. Building a 3-0 record in the preseason, like the Royals have done, just adds to the good feeling.

“When you win, you don’t mind the ride back,” head coach Bruce Eugene said. “It’s a good trip. We enjoy it.”

The matchup came about when both teams had originally-scheduled matchups — the Falcons with Glen Mills, the Royals with Archbishop Wood — fall through. While CTK showcased a quarterback and tailback who are ranked nationally, Pottsgrove found itself in a character-reinforcing situation in an unfamiliarly-lopsided game.

“The kids did the right thing,” Falcons head coach Bill Hawthorne said following the post-game huddle. “They played with class.”

The Falcons’ mettle was tested early, the Royals scoring on all their first-quarter possessions en route to a 19-0 lead. Their patience was tested late, the Royals continuing to throw the ball inside the game’s final minute — the visitors had built a 45-14 lead at that point — and scoring on a 49-yard run with 31 seconds left.

“We told the guys we couldn’t express our pride at how hard they played,” Hawthorne said. “They battled with class.”

Noah Bodden and Tirek Murphy, CTK’s premier offensive weapons, combined their talents to help the New Yorkers build a 25-7 lead in the first half.

Bodden, a junior who completed nine of his first 10 passes, threw for one of his three touchdown passes — a 15-yarder to Stanley Oxford — in that time frame. His aerial accuracy set the stage for Murphy, a senior and Purdue University commit, to score on runs of six, 14 and two yards.

On the night, Bodden went 20-for-40 for 375 yards, adding TD tosses to Donte Goodwyn (six yards) and Jahrell Billips (70) in the second half. Murphy, in turn, finished with 115 ground yards on 14 totes.

“Noah came out of the blocks early with some good easy passes,” Eugene noted. “He’s pretty good, but I think tonight wasn’t one of his better efforts.”

Pottsgrove (1-3) didn’t get on track until its fifth possession. Joe Silvestri did it with his feet, the Falcons’ signal-caller going five yards around his right end to score with 4:49 left in the half.

After CTK opened the second half with Bodden’s TD toss to Goodwyn 27 seconds in, Messiah Smythe electrified the home crowd by taking the subsequent kickoff at the Falcon nine and sprinting 91 yards for the score. Smythe also stood out in Pottsgrove’s passing game, covering 52 yards on a pair of Silvestri tosses.

“We challenged him (Smythe) at the half, and he responded,” Hawthorne said.

Silvestri went 8-for-20 in Pottsgrove’s passing game, covering 99 yards. In addition to Smythe, he had a 24-yard connection to Kayden White and three for 13 to Vinny Scarnato.

On the ground, Isaiah Taylor rushed 15 times for 47 yards. Defensively, Amir Brunson figured on 1-1/2 sacks of Bodden, teaming with Evan White on one of the drops. On his one sack of Bodden in the second quarter, Brunson forced a fumble he ultimately recovered.

“Looking down the line, I saw everybody gave their all,” Hawthorne said. “We started out shaky, but once the kids settled down, they played Pottsgrove football.

“They played their hearts out. That’s all we can ask.”

NOTES >> Pottsgrove saw one promising drive, spanning the third and fourth quarters, get to the CTK one-yard line. But a penalty pushed the Falcons back to the six, and a subsequent field-goal attempt on fourth down was blocked. … James Westcoat also had a fumble recovery for the Falcons. … Luke Kaiser distinguished himself on special teams, the Pottsgrove junior averaging 44.2 yards on six punts. His longest boot covered 57 yards, and another was good for 50 yards. … The Falcons open play in the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Frontier Division in a big way next week, hosting neighboring rival Pottstown in their Homecoming game.