Mercury Football Preview: Senior quartet looking to turn tide for Boyertown

August 25, 2021

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It’s a double-decker challenge Boyertown faces in its preparation for the 2021 season.

The Bears, like other teams in southeastern Pennsylvania, find themselves working to get their program back on track after a 2020 season whose landscape was altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. But they also look to build on the solid finish to their otherwise disappointing 2020 campaign.

Boyertown found itself swept by its fellow Pioneer Athletic Conference (Liberty Division) opponents, by a combined 158-46. But in clashes with neighboring rivals Pottsgrove and Pottstown, the Bears won by a total 58-15 point margin.

“I’m proud of their off-season work,” head coach T.J. Miller said. “They had to go off-campus to lift weights. The team had a situation, and it used it as an opportunity to grow.

“In 2020-21, we had to work around things,” he added. “We had to find creative ways to make contact … making sure the kids had rides to practice, We’re a group that’s small, but tight.”

Read the Pottsgrove football team preview next here

The extent to which Boyertown moves forward this fall will be dictated by the play of a quartet of seniors: Leo Egbe, Roman Marinello, Lude Ordway and Brandon Shane. They are all coming off a season that saw them achieve honors in the PAC and on The Mercury All-Area team.

Egbe, a fullback/running back, was second team all-conference and honorable mention Mercury All-Area. He rushed for 332 yards and five touchdowns his junior year.

“We’re motivated to win,” he said. “Every day gets us to be where we’re at.

“Our priority is to build team chemistry. Nurturing each other, and working off-season. We have each other’s backs.”

Pick up The Mercury’s Thursday (Aug. 26) edition for the 2021 High School Football Preview

Like Egbe, Ordway is coming off a junior season that saw him garner second-team all-PAC honors at defensive end. A defensive end and wide receiver, he was honorable mention Mercury All-Area.

“We have potential,” he said, “but that’s not guaranteed for success.”

Marinello was another Mercury All-Area honorable mention pick. He is slated to work at running back — he rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns as a junior — and defensive back.

Shane, being looked to for service at wide receiver and safety, voiced a popular theme of what Boyertown is focusing on this fall.

“Not to take things for granted,” he said. “That moments can be taken away.”

Other Bears in the mix are anthony Panarello, a junior working at quarterback after returning from a back injury; and Kyle Pry, a senior who could figure prominently on the offensive and defensive lines.

“We have an interesting group this year,” Miller said. “There are sophomores competing for spots.”

And the proper mindset remains key to making improvement happen.

“Talent on team only gets you so far,” Egbe said. “We’re compete against ourselves. We’re going one day at a time, working to get better for each other.”

BOYERTOWN

Head Coach

T.J. Miller

Assistant Coaches

Derek Bleiler – Defensive Coordinator; Jason Henley – Offensive Line; Bret Chambers – Defensive Backs, Special Teams; Brenden Dunne – JV Head Coach; Blaze Buckwalter – Running Backs, Defensive Line; Kyle Henley – Strength Coordinator; Mike Allen – Strength Assistant

Top Returners

(2020 stats in parentheses)

Offense

QB – Ryder Gehris, So., 5-10, 160

QB/Ath – Anthony Panarello, Jr., 6-0, 185

RB – Leo Egbe, Sr., 6-0, 190 (397 total yards)

RB/WR – Roman Marinello, Sr., 5-10, 170 (510 total yards)

TE/WR – Luke Ordway, Sr., 6-3, 220

G – Kyle Pry, Sr., 6-3, 260

Defense

DE – Luke Ordway, Sr., 6-3, 220 (40 tackles)

DE – Cole Marinello, Jr., 6-2, 210