Gray, Kormos rally Pope John Paul II past Phoenixville

ROYERSFORD >> Pope John Paul II proved they were no fluke or early-season wonder last week, going the distance with Frontier Division leader Pottsgrove until the bitter end of a 35-28 defeat.

But letdowns go both ways, and after the tough defeat the host Panthers came out flat for the first quarter-plus Saturday against a resilient Phoenixville squad.

Luckily, Coach Rory Graver sped up the tempo, and quarterback Kamal Gray responded with four touchdown passes—three to Justin Kormos—as the Panthers went to 6-1 (2-1 PAC Frontier) with a 28-12 victory.

Gray threw for 269 yards, striking twice each in the second and third quarters for all the points PJP would need.

“I agree we came out flat — that’s my responsibility, during the week, to have us ready to go from the beginning,” said Graver. “Defensively though, I’m happy with our game plan.”

With the exception of an outstanding day from Phoenixville back Travis Pannella (20 carries, 191 yards, 2 TDs) the Phantom offense was held silent for the balance of the day. The Panthers registered four sacks, the last of which saw Bryan Bendig force a fumble that sniffed out Phoenixville’s last hope.

“I’m happy with the first half, I thought the kids came out and played hard, played like we’re capable of performing,” said Don Grinstead, head coach of the Phantoms.

The early going saw a field-position battle ultimately won by PJP when quarterback Gray dropped into his part-time job as punter and unfurled a 50-yard bomb that pinned Phoenixville at its own 14. But from there, the Phantoms embarked on a 12-play drive featuring the hard-charging Pannella, who amassed 63 yards on the drive, including the ice-breaking 20-yard TD run. After a failed two-point conversion, Phoenixville led 6-0.

But PJP had learned from their methodical opening possessions and went tempo, covering 62 yards in just under 1:30 in taking the lead, 7-6, on a one-yard Steve Skarbek TD catch. “The tempo was just to give us a spark at that point,” said coach Graver.

The Panthers would re-assume possession with 1:17 before halftime, and just as it appeared the drive would stall out as the quarter ended, Gray lofted a pass that appeared destined to land just shy of the goal line.

Under any other circumstances, the pass could be called “ill-advised.” But with only three seconds on the clock, the Panthers had nothing to lose — and everything to gain, as they realized when Kormos out-jumped a pair of defenders, corralled the 38-yard bomb and tumbled into the end zone, giving the Panthers a 14-6 lead and for Kormos, vindication after an earlier drop.

“That was a killer for us,” agreed Grinstead. “Going into halftime down 7-6 would’ve been big for us.”

“It felt great, but I should’ve had the first one,” said Kormos. “But it made me focus on catching the ball — after that, I wasn’t worried about finding the end zone until I had the ball secured.”

Clearly, Gray’s confidence in the sophomore wasn’t shaken, as evidenced when Gray scrambled away from trouble and found Kormos in the right corner for a 38-yard score early in the second half that made it 21-6 PJP. Minutes later, Gray turned in a play that arguably topped the first-half ending Hail Mary and evoked many spectators’ memories of an oft-replayed Donovan McNabb highlight from a Monday Night Football game years ago.

Forced out of the pocket to his right, Gray cut back across the width of the field to his left before stopping on a dime and hitting Kormos for his fourth TD pass of the day, and the third connection between the quarterback-receiver duo. All in attendance were in awe of the play — except the receiver.

“I should’ve had four touchdowns today,” Kormos lamented.

Pannella would go off left tackle in the late going for an 85-yard TD, his second of the day for Phoenixville (2-5, 0-3 PAC Frontier) to complete the scoring.

“If you look at our games — all the way back to the opener with Great Valley — it’s a couple plays each week. A penalty, a fumble, you name it. We’re fighting our own success. Only we can control that, and until we get rid of that problem, it will continue to come down to a couple plays.

And unfortunately for the Phantoms, Gray and Kormos were all too happy to make play after play on Saturday.

“There’s a lot of competition on our offense — we have a great quarterback, and we have a number of receivers who can all make the big play,” Kormos concludes.