Dominant defense delivers Spring-Ford a 48-9 victory at Boyertown
BOYERTOWN >> The Spring-Ford football team has been turning heads every week this season.
Last week, it wasn’t for the reason the Rams would have liked. After a dominant 3-0 start to the year, Spring-Ford was slammed by Manheim Township 63-28, a surprising result for one of the projected top teams in District 1.
“It was eye-opening. We didn’t play our best game offensively or defensively,” lineman Evan Strzeminski said.
Maybe most surprising for the 60-plus points surrendered, this Friday’s trip to Boyertown came with a virtual guarantee that would not be replicated.
Both phases delivered, especially the Rams’ defense, which caused four turnovers and gave its offense short fields throughout a 42-point first half that carried Spring-Ford over Boyertown, 48-9 at Memorial Stadium.
Spring-Ford’s Evan Stzeminski (52) and Gyasi Romu team up to force a fumble from Boyertown quarterback Ryder Gehris in the first half on Sept. 22. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)
Spring-Ford running back Mike Bendowski celebrates after running in for a touchdown against Boyertown on Sept. 22. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)
“We wanted to bounce back as best as possible and come out this week and put a beating on Boyertown like we did,” Strzeminski said.
“It was a big loss last week,” senior lineman Owen Norman said. “Obviously we were coming into this week, PAC play, a chip on our shoulder from last week, so we had to show out tonight and obviously we did that.”
Spring-Ford (1-0 PAC, 4-1 overall) placed itself back on the right path while it embarks on the decisive two-week stretch of its league season with back-to-back matchups with Owen J. Roberts (Sept. 30) and Perkiomen Valley (Oct. 6).
Boyertown, which was coming off its own painful loss last week after falling to Pottsgrove 38-35, dropped to 1-4 (0-1 PAC).
Norman had a pair of sacks, Shane Lewis and Blake Turner each had an interception and the Rams’ defense forced two turnovers that teed up the S-F offense with regularity.
“I think we worked very well defensively,” said Strzeminski, who helped cause one of the fumbles, which was recovered by Connor Hudak. “The defensive line and the linebackers, we worked very well, did way better than we did last week with our communication. We checked all the boxes and came out on top.”
Spring-Ford quarterback Matt Zollers (2) lunges for the end zone to score a touchdown in the first half against Boyertown on Sept. 22. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)
Of Spring-Ford’s six first-half touchdowns, only one required the drive to span more than 50 yards. That was the opener, a three-play, 59-yard drive that led to a Mike Bendowski 1-yard touchdown run.
Bendowski added another and quarterback Matt Zollers (13-for-20, 216 yards, 2 TDs) also ran in for a TD for a 21-point lead through one quarter.
By halftime, Zollers aired it out to Mason Scott in the corner of the end zone from 30 yards for a TD, Jamal Lewis (4 carries, 53 yards, 1 TD) got in the end zone and Bendowski added his third score to put Spring-Ford up 42-0 at halftime.
The Rams applied the finishing touch on the first drive of the second half with Zollers throwing a swing pass to Ryan Kerchner and the senior tight end barreled down the left sideline for a 50-yard catch-and-score that ended the night for Spring-Ford’s first-stringers.
Boyertown gave the home crowd something to cheer for when Michael Palmiero got his team on the board with a safety late in the third quarter. On the ensuing possession, it took only one play to find the end zone as Cole Yesavage (22 carries, 157 yards, 1 TD) rumbled down the left side for the score.
“They deserve all the respect in the world because they earned it,” Boyertown coach Justin Konnick said. “There’s a lot of talent on their side of the field, but there’s a lot of talent on our side of the field. We were hungry too because we came off a game we should have won. It comes down to who is going to play better football, and tonight they played better football.”
Things have not gone to plan for the Bears, which lost its fourth straight after topping Upper Perkiomen in the season opener.
“We have a lot of young guys on the lines and they’re gaining the experience right now. Cole is going to be Cole and get your yards, (Jason) Oakes and (Anthony) Famularo are going to have flashes,” Konnick said. “I’m hoping in the next couple weeks we can start racking them up and get it pointed in the right direction.”
Spring-Ford got exactly what it needed as it heads into back-to-back big games against its nearest rivals in the PAC.
“Great team win,” Norman said. “The offense was firing on all cylinders. I don’t think we had a bad play all night. We had great plays on defense.”
Spring-Ford 48, Boyertown 9
Spring-Ford 21 21 6 0 – 48
Boyertown 0 0 9 0 – 9
Scoring
First quarter
SF-MIke Bendowski 1 run (Liam McGarvey kick), 8:47
SF-Bendowski 4 run (Ryan Fields kick), 4:46
SF-Matt Zollers 6 run (McGarvey kick), 0:59
Second quarter
SF-Mason Scott 30 pass from Zollers (Field kick) 8:48
SF-Jamal Lewis 3 run (McGarvey kick), 6:24
SF-Bendowski 2 run (Fields kick) 2:44
Third quarter
SF-Kerchner 50 pass from Zollers (kick failed), 11:09
B-Michael Palmiero safety, 1:34
B-Cole Yesavage 79 run (Luke Cappelletti kick), 1:11
First Downs 16 11
Rushing Yards 116 212
Passing Yards 216 16
Total Yards 332 228
Passes C-A-I 13-21-0 2-10-2
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-2
Penalties-Yards 2-10 7-51
Punts-Avg. 0-0 3-35.7
Individual statistics
Rushing
Spring-Ford: Lewis 4-53, TD; Hassis 7-30; Zollers 2-20, TD; Bendowski 4-7, 3 TD; Varvarez 3-6
Boyertown: Yesavage 22-157, TD; Oakes 6-31; Famularo 3-12; Reinert 1-7, L Oakes 1-7, Hagen 1-1, Gehris 7-(-3)
Passing
Spring-Ford: Zollers 13-20-0-216, 2 TD; Yoder 0-1-0-0
Boyertown: Connor Foskey 1-5-1-12; Gehris 1-5-1-4.
Receiving
Spring-Ford: Scott 4-99, TD; Kerchner 3-62; Abdelrahman 2-19; Moyer 2-18; Lewis 1-9; Zollers 1-9.
Boyertown: Famularo 1-12, Yesavage 1-4.
Interceptions: SF-Lewis, Turner
Sacks: SF-Norman 2.
