Green’s three TDs help Phoenixville to first win, 48-20 over Methacton
PHOENIXVILLE >> Nasir Green has already shown a number of reasons why he is such a talented three-sport athlete at Phoenixville Area High School in football, basketball and basketball as a 6-1, 155-pound junior.
Green and a number of his Phoenixville teammates were able to do it again Friday night in a Pioneer Athletic Conference football game against Methacton at Washington Field.
Green caught three touchdown passes from junior quarterback Troy Rossman to help lead the Phantoms past the Warriors, 48-20, to gain their first victory of the season.
Green opened the scoring on a 52-yard TD catch as the first quarter ended tied at 7-all. The halftime score was 21-7 in favor of the Phantoms.
Green also had scoring receptions of 22 yards and 24 yards. Rossman also threw a 38-yard TD pass to Matt Palubinsky to finish with four TD passes on the evening.
Methacton made a nice comeback in the second half to cut the gap to 21-20, but Phoenixville tallied 27 unanswered points to win going away.
“Everybody contributed and we all played well,” said Green, who doubles in the Phoenixville secondary on defense and also serves as the team’s punter. “Troy and I are a good duo. Last week we got blown out, but this week the coaches told us to keep our heads in it and to play hard and that’s what we did. We want to make progress and keep on winning.”
Palubinsky added a second touchdown on a 1-yard run. Matt Garcia and Melvin Obando led the hard-hitting defense with Garcia returning a fumble recovery 53 yards for a score. Obando had a pair of recoveries. Ricky Williams blocked a punt. Green made an interception that was taken away on a penalty. Johnavin County tacked on a 6-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to cap scoring on the night. Matt Branch recovered a fumble, and junior Matt Valdovinos played a strong in his first start along the defensive line.
“We had to come out with a lot of intensity,” said Garcia. “We set the tone in the first half and got the momentum going. We played as a whole team. We played four quarters in the game and we never game up.”
Phoenixville second-year head coach Evan Breisblatt was thrilled to see his Phantoms win on their home turf following two losses to start the season against two strong teams in Great Valley and Spring-Ford.
“That was unbelievable,” said Breisblatt. “It was like a nailbiter. We made a huge run. Defensively, we were making stop after stop. It was just a great night by Nasir. He was unbelievable. We didn’t play well at times. We made a lot of mistakes, but we played hard and played until the end.”
With teams paying close attention to Palubinsky, Green took advantage of 1-on-1 coverage on the outside.
Ryan O’Toole scored two TDs for the Warriors on runs of 52 yards and one yard. Dylan Feaster caught a scoring pass from quarterback Jason Eckman.
“They are a big-play team,” said Methacton coach Paul Lepre. “We take pride in not giving up the big play, but tonight we did.”
