Hill School comes up short against Academy of the New Church

POTTSTOWN >> Even after falling behind by 13 points at the half and being called for over 100 yards in penalties, The Hill School football team still had a chance to pull out a win Saturday afternoon against visiting Academy of the New Church.

But after taking over at its own 39-yard line with three and a half minutes to play, the Hill offense sputtered as it had most of the day, and ANC hung on for a 20-13 non-league win.

Gernard Finney ran for 75 yards and both scores for the Rams (0-2) and Henry Konosa completed 10 of 15 pass attempts for 143 yards. Devin Bryant rushed for 72 yards and threw a touchdown pass and Jimmy Melvin booted two field goals for the Lions (3-0), who have won 14 games in a row going back to the final game of 2017.

“Our kids battled,” said Hill coach Jeff Hollway. “Not having our starting quarterback, who is very dynamic, hurt us. Offensively, two weeks in a row, we have yet to find rhythm. We’ve just got to get sharper. You’ve got to do the little things and we didn’t do that today. Hats off to ANC. They’re a well-coached team.”

The Hill opened the scoring with a 44-yard drive midway through the first quarter with Finney breaking through a wall of defenders and running into the end zone from 29 yards out.

But the visitors from Bryn Athyn tied the score two plays later on a 68-yard pass from quarterback Jeb Brenfleck (12-for-22, 186 yards) to Kai Allen (5 receptions for 103 yards). Then the Lions quickly forced a punt and scored again on just three plays, with tailback Bryant taking a pitch and throwing over the middle to Owen Thygeson for 54 yards and a 14-7 lead with 1:31 left in the first quarter.

Melvin kicked field goals of 35 and 36 yards in the second quarter, the last with five seconds remaining, for a 20-7 halftime advantage. And that’s the way it stayed until the Rams closed the gap with a 71-yard drive.

The big play was a 64-yard pass from Konosa to Will Lyman (6 receptions for 107 yards) to the five and Finney burst into the end zone from three yards out to make it 20-13 with 7:06 remaining in the contest.

Then the Ram defense forced a punt that traveled just 10 yards and the offense had a final chance to tie or win it. But Sean McCurdy and Sean Thornton came up with sacks for the visitors and The Hill came up seven yards short of a first down at the ANC 42 after a 13-yard pass from Komosa to Michael Jamerson on fourth down.

“The defensive coaches really had these guys prepped for this,” said ANC head coach Ty Klippenstein. “We had some injuries, so we had some guys playing out of their usual position. They adapted to that well and that made the difference. Hill has a ton of good athletes. I’m really proud of the kids.

“We’re not really a ball control team. Obviously, Devin – our tailback – is a special player. Anytime you can get him the ball and get him space, he’s electrifying.”

The Hill gained 225 total yards, but was penalized 21 times for 150 yards.

“That’s the key. We need to find our rhythm,” said Hollway. “It doesn’t get any easier for The Hill. We play Episcopal Academy next week and then Springside Chestnut Hill. That’s two tough opponents.

“We need to find consistency, and we’ll get there. I think we can clean it up and we can have some fun.”

Klippenstein, whose team was called for 115 yards in penalties while gaining 271 total yards, was happy to get out of Pottstown with a win after the three-hour long battle.

“Hill plays better competition than we do week in and week out,” he said. “Our defense stepped up, and we did everything we could to escape. This is a big deal for these players.”