PAC’s Frontier Division on the rise in 2018

Pottsgrove removed all the mystery from the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Frontier Division race this past Friday night with a hard-fought 17-7 victory at Upper Merion, ensuring the Falcons (8-0, 4-0 PAC Frontier) would advance to the league’s championship game yet again in hopes the third time will be the charm after losses to Perkiomen Valley in 2016 and 2017.

But sometimes overlooked in Pottsgrove’s sustained position at the top of the division is the across-the-board improvement of the Frontier schools in the 2018 season. With two weeks still to play in the regular season, four of the six teams have already clinched records as good or better than last year’s—and Pottsgrove still stands to improve on their 11-2 campaign from a year ago.

Pope John Paul II (7-1, 3-1 PAC Frontier) and Upper Merion (5-3 PAC Frontier) will face off for second place in the division next Saturday afternoon in Royersford. For the Golden Panthers, the contest represents an opportunity to improve upon last year’s seven-win total and setting a new program mark for wins in a season. The Vikings, meanwhile, have been perhaps the surprise team of 2018 in the PAC, far outdistancing last year’s two-win effort in coach Victor Brown’s second year at the helm.

The two squads are linked by the fact that perhaps their most impressive performances to date came in their respective losses to Pottsgrove. The Panthers stood toe-to-toe with the Falcons for 47 minutes until a short TD run gave Pottsgrove the winning margin, 35-28. Upper Merion went the other way, frustrating the high-scoring, powerful Pottsgrove ground attack for three quarters this past Friday, taking a 10-7 deficit deep into the fourth quarter until a late TD helped the Falcons to pull away, 17-7.

That’s where the similarities end, however, as the Panthers and Vikings have achieved their success in vastly different ways. While PJP rides the powerful right arm of junior QB Kamal Gray (95-173, 1559 yards, 22 TD passes), the Vikings prefer to grind it out behind an experienced offensive line and running backs Zaire Savage and Mike Zelli. That’s not to undersell the improvement of junior QB Dale Clayton, who’s been entrusted to throw the ball more and more as the season has progressed. Clayton’s season-high 33 attempts against Pottsgrove Friday ended with a 189-yard effort plus an 81-yard scoring pass to Marc Clayton.

No matter the outcome of Saturday’s contest, both teams are in strong standing for the District 1 playoffs. Pope John Paul II sits atop the District 1/12 Class 3A standings (four teams qualify), while Upper Merion has been firmly entrenched at No. 8 in Class 5A, where 16 teams make the postseason. That specific position holds particular importance, as the top-eight teams will play host in the first round of districts.

Pottstown (4-4, 1-3 PAC Frontier) has doubled its 2017 win total already, riding a couple of do- it-all stars on either side of the ball. Junior Josiah Wiggins moved into the QB spot from running back this year, and has rewarded Mark Fischer’s confidence with 13 combined touchdowns (10 rush, three pass). Wiggins leads PAC quarterbacks in rushing by a considerable distance with 652 yards on the season. When the Trojans are on defense, Nehemiah Figueroa spearheads an experienced unit with his league-leading five interceptions (tied with Perkiomen Valley’s Austin Rowley and Upper Merion Taiyan Lobban) and routine accumulation of double-digit tackles.

The Trojans are also beginning to develop some depth, as evidenced by this past Friday’s game against Pope John Paul when Pottstown lost Wiggins to a leg injury in the second quarter. Pressed into duty, sophomore Darius Smallwood kept the offense afloat deep into the fourth quarter in what was ultimately a 20-12 loss for the Trojans.

Looking forward to Districts, Pottstown appears fairly entrenched in the No. 2 or No. 3 spot in Class 4A (four teams qualify). A first-round victory would set up a likely crosstown showdown with Pottsgrove for a District title.

Phoenixville (3-5, 1-3 PAC Frontier) stands in the most precarious position as it pertains to District playoff positioning. The Phantoms, a Class 5A team, are currently seeded at No. 15 after Friday’s shutout of Upper Perkiomen (again, 16 teams qualify.) Coach Don Grinstead’s first year on the job has seen the Phantoms establish a blue-collar mentality as a team that runs the ball, plays solid defense and above all maintains discipline and ball security. As with most teams in the first year of a new regime, there have been lapses that explain at least a few of the five losses.

But when everything comes together, as it did in the 49-0 win over Upper Perkiomen, the Phantoms stand as a threat to upset a top team or two in Districts, with their ball-control offense (RBs Alex Washington and Travis Pannella stand as the only duo to each rank among the PAC’s top-10 rushers.)

It’s been a tough 2018 for Upper Perkiomen (1-7, 0-4 PAC Frontier), who’s had to withstand the double whammy of losses to graduation and the injury bug after a 2017 season that ended in the Class 4A District finals. But the Indians need look no further than their division rivals to see how quickly things can turn around.

So what does it all mean? Well, Week 10 of the regular season doubles as ‘Cross-Over’ week in the PAC, where each team from the Frontier Division plays its Liberty Division counterpart (division champions play for the league title, No. 2 plays No. 2, No. 3 plays No. 3, and so on down to the last-place finishers).

The first two years of this arrangement have yielded a 1-11 cumulative record for the Frontier, the only victory coming last year when Pottstown bested Methacton, 20-0. Two years of frustration led some fans of Frontier Division teams to call for alterations or even the outright cancellation of the ‘new deal.’ But without trying to project the eventual matchups (we’ll get to that next week), it’s not hard to see a scenario where 2018 sees the Frontier Division battling the Liberty to a draw (or better?) next season. Frontier Division teams host these Week 10 matchups in even-numbered years — one more advantage in a season filled with positives for the ‘smaller’ schools.

Around the Area

Spring-Ford (7-1, 4-0 PAC Liberty) and Perkiomen Valley (6-2, 4-0 PAC Liberty) charge into this coming Friday’s division title showdown after thwarting rivals Owen J. Roberts and Boyertown, respectively. The Rams’ defense held OJR to 163 yards of offense (more than half of those came in the fourth quarter) in a 30-7 victory that erased the sour taste from a 33-0 setback that occurred in the same situation last year — OJR’s Homecoming game.

As for the Vikings, QB Cole Peterlin had his strongest game since a Week 5 injury, throwing for 118 yards, and running for another 47, accumulating four total touchdowns in a 42-21 victory over Boyertown. Austin Rowley’s two interceptions moved him into a tie with Figueroa and Lobban for the area lead with five picks on the year. The Vikings travel to Spring-Ford’s Coach McNelly Stadium Friday night with the Liberty Division title and a trip to Pottsgrove for the PAC championship game on the line.

Norristown (2-6, 1-3 PAC Liberty) outlasted Methacton (1-7, 1-3 PAC Liberty) in a Saturday afternoon slugfest, 14-7. Daniel Watson found the Eagles’ leading receiver, Christian Thomas, for the winning points in the third quarter. Mike Torcini led the way for Methacton with 39 yards rushing, while Mike Ciriello got the Warriors on the board in the first quarter with a rushing score.

Offensive Player of the Week >> Daniel Boone quarterback Tommy Buchert carried it 27 times for 192 yards and three scores Friday night in a 38-21 victory over Muhlenberg that evened the Blazers’ record at 4-4. Buchert would add another score through the air and intercept a pass on defense for good measure.

The Blazers deserve mention as one of the area’s improved teams. In their first year under Rob Flowers, Daniel Boone has already doubled their 2017 win total, and currently sits at No. 18 in the District 3 Class 5A playoff standings (with the top 14 teams qualifying).

Defensive Player(s) of the Week >> The entire Pottsgrove defensive line shares the honor this week by virtue of limiting Upper Merion to only seven yards of rushing in the de facto Frontier Division championship game, won by the Falcons, 17-7.

Forced to the air early and often, Upper Merion fought gamely but ultimately fell to the now three-time defending Frontier Division champion Falcons. Nate Tornetta, Justin Adams, Ryan Bodolus, and Darrian Seaman lead the stalwart unit for Pottsgrove.