PAC 10 from Week 10: PAC Championship should benefit both PV and Pottsgrove; Spring-Ford rides into districts on a roll
Twelve started. Five remain as the District One playoffs gear up this weekend.
Perkiomen Valley’s 28-14 victory over Pottsgrove was enough to seal the No. 3 seed in the District 1 6A playoffs behind undefeated North Penn (No. 1) and Neshaminy (No. 2), while Spring-Ford’s 56-7 victory locked up the No. 8 spot in the 6A playoffs.
Pottsgrove (6-4), Upper Perkiomen (5-5) and Pope John Paul II (4-6) will slug it out in the 4A playoffs after each team fell in the PAC Liberty-Frontier Crossover last week.
Now a closer look:
PAC Championship provides lesson for Perkiomen Valley
Perkiomen Valley’s win Friday night garnered the Vikings more than a PAC championship. It provided a lesson.
Be ready to slug it out.
Thank Pottsgrove’s ground-and-pound offense for offering the perfect precursor for the Vikings as they withstood a battering from Falcons running back Rahsul Faison — who rushed for 123 yards in the first half — and time-consuming drives to come away with the school’s second PAC championship in three seasons.
The Vikings know that they need to stop the run in order to advance, and holding Faison to just six yards in the second half was quite the way to prep themselves for No. 14 Penn Wood on Friday night.
“It was awesome to play a team like that,” PV senior receiver Justin Jaworski said of Pottsgrove. “That was a dogfight the entire game, and that’s what districts is going to be. It was nice getting experience with that.”
Spring-Ford clicking on all cylinders
They used Week 7’s loss to Perkiomen Valley as motivation, and boy does it show. The Rams have laid waste to opponents in their three-game winning streak that was capped with Friday’s 49-point victory.
Selwyn Simpson’s four rushing touchdowns (five total) in Friday night’s 56-7 win over Upper Perkiomen gives him a PAC-best 20 for the season. Quarterback TJ Pergine is making smart reads and good throws and the defense continues to shine as they’ve allowed less than 100 yards of total offense in two of the past three games.
“We really want to play playoff-style football,” Simpson said after Friday’s win. “We always have a lot of confidence, but a game like this could help push us to that next level. We’ve just got to keep it rolling. Everything was going well, and we’ve got to bring that with us to playoffs.”
Pottsgrove came to play
The Falcons looked nothing like a team that was tagged for 135 yards of penalty yards in an 18-12 loss to Pope John Paul II. Instead, they looked like a Class 4A contender behind Faison’s running and an offensive line that looked the best it had all season in Friday night’s loss to Perkiomen Valley.
Upper Perkiomen and Pope John Paul II back in to playoffs
It wasn’t the way Upper Perkiomen or PJP wanted their regular season to end, but despite losses, the two earned their way into the Class 4A playoffs this season.
Upper Perkiomen earned the No. 3 seed despite Friday’s loss to Spring-Ford while PJP received the No. 4 seed after its loss to Methacton and Pottstown’s loss to Boyertown.
“We worked hard to have a nice season against teams our size,” Upper Perk head coach Tom Hontz said. “To have to play an opponent like Spring-Ford … it’s a tough way to end our regular season against a team that caliber.”
10 From Week 10
1. PIAA gets it wrong
The PIAA’s expansion to six classifications was meant to offer more teams a chance to compete.
Well, the governing body got their wish, but at what cost?
Four teams in the Class 5A playoffs will enter the district playoffs with a losing record, highlighted by a 3-7 mark held by Penncrest, which snuck in at a No. 16 seed. Of the 16 teams that qualify in 5A (26 total teams in the district), seven have a record of .500 or worse. In Class A, Delco Christian (3-6) edged out Morrisville (2-7) for the second and final qualifying spot.
2. Garcia’s special season ends
The area hasn’t seen a running back put on a performance like Phoenixville’s Matt Garcia in quite some time. Garcia finished the season with a PAC high 1,820 rushing yards, putting him fifth on the list for most rushing yards in the PAC in a single season. OJR graduate Ryan Brumfield still holds the record with 2,338 yards in 2010. He also holds the second spot with 1,887 yards in 2009. Spring-Ford’s Ralph O’Neil is third with 1,876 yards set in 1992, with St. Pius X’s Zack Pierce rushing for 1,844 yards in 2001.
Phoenixville’s contingency game was cancelled due to Strath Haven’s qualification into the District 1 5A playoffs.
3. Have a day, Selwyn
Spring-Ford’s Selwyn Simpson rushed for four touchdowns and accounted for five total scores in the Rams’ 56-7 victory over Upper Perkiomen Friday. Simpson’s four rushing touchdowns is second all-time in school history for most rushing touchdowns in a game. Jarred Jones (2012) and Bob Wiggins (1986) hold the record of five.
4. Parkinson calls it quits
Boyertown head coach George Parkinson resigned after three seasons at the helm after the Bears’ 21-14 victory over Pottstown Saturday. Parkinson finished his tenure with a record of 13-17, including two 5-5 seasons.
5. Jaworski nears single-season mark
Perkiomen Valley’s Justin Jaworski is 54 yards shy of shattering his own mark for most receiving yards in a season. Jaworski set the record last season, his 1,195 yards shattering Upper Perkiomen’s Ronnie Gillespie’s mark of 1,020 set in 2010.
6. Hallman sets school record
Upper Perkiomen’s Zeke Hallman established a pair of new school records on Friday night against Spring-Ford. Hallman set the mark for most passing yards in a season, eclipsing 1,727 set by Sean Nevin in 2005. He also connected with Ryan Kendra for his 23rd touchdown of the season, passing Bill Gebert’s mark set in 1966. Hallman’s 146 yards in the loss gives the senior gunslinger 1,734 passing yards. He ranks fourth in the PAC in passing yards and third in touchdowns (23).
7. Zero for Frontier
Most Week 10 games were competitive, which is undoubtedly a positive for PAC officials. However, the Frontier Division went 0-6 in PAC crossover play and finished 3-8 against the large school division throughout the season.
8. Career best for DeLaurentis
Pope John Paul II’s Matt DeLaurentis set a career-high Saturday throwing for 350 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-26 loss to Methacton to close out the regular season. DeLaurentis’ effort bested his performance in the team’s loss to Upper Merion in Week 7 where he threw for 291 yards with a 63 percent completion rate.
9. Pergine moves up Spring-Ford record list
Spring-Ford quarterback TJ Pergine moved up to second in the Rams’ record list for most passing yards in a single season (1,905) and trails record holder Hank Coyne by only 27 yards entering Friday’s District 1 6A contest against CB East. Coyne set the Ram record in 2012.
10. Giannone breaks through
Norristown’s Joey Giannone ran for a season-best 143 yards on 15 carries and a score as the Eagles bested Phoenixville 33-31 in their crossover match Friday night. Giannone, a PJP transfer, also had an interception in the victory.
