Perkiomen Valley retains Battle Ax in dominant win over Methacton

GRATERFORD >> The stakes were different, but the outcome remained the same.

Perkiomen Valley and Methacton both came into Friday’s contest with identical 4-1 records, comprising two parts of the three-way tie atop the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division standings.

In the end, Perk Valley retained the Ax for another year with a wire-to-wire, 42-3 victory at Thomas J. Keenan Stadium.

Sophomore Nate Reedy led the Vikings’ offense with 122 yards over a dozen carries, while the PV defense limited Methacton to 158 yards of offense, creating a pair of turnovers and scoring on a fumble recovery.

“Definitely one of my better games thus far,” said Reedy.

The sophomore back saw himself moved into the starting lineup when Jake Stewart went down to injury, and the rushing attack didn’t miss a beat. Reedy says the reason is simple.

“The offensive line – those guys up front,” he explained.

Reedy’s biggest run came over the left side, a 43-yard gain that gave him his triple-digit evening.

“That left side, that’s Cole Euker and Eddie Smith. But I can’t forget Franny Soto – he’s hurt right now, but he’s a huge part of the team and our success.”

Xavier Nunez made the most of six carries, scoring a pair of touchdowns for the now 5-1 Vikings.

The highlight of PV’s opening eight-play, 70-yard drive was a 30-yard completion from Pat MacDonald to Colin Hollingsworth, followed immediately by Nunez’s five-yard TD run.

The Vikings immediately regained possession in Methacton territory but penalties beset the offense throughout the drive, which ended in disaster for PV when Warriors senior Levi Borkowski came clean through the line and blocked a punt, recovering the ball at the Vikings’ 4-yard line.

That was where PV established the tone of the game, stuffing a pair of runs and forcing an incompletion. Despite Aiden Drozd’s 27-yard field goal, the drive had to be considered a disappointment for Methacton.

“They’re a good team,” said Methacton coach Brian Kennedy. “But we squandered those opportunities. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times.”

PV was back to its efficient self on the first drive of the second stanza, as MacDonald finished a drive dominated by Reedy running behind the left side for repeated first-down gains.

The one-yard TD, off a variation of the Eagles’ famed “Brotherly Shove,” opened up a 14-3 lead for the hosts.

The back breaker came on the second play of Methacton’s ensuing drive, when PV’s Steve Tracanna scooped up a loose ball and traveled 24 yards untouched, expanding the lead to 21-3.

“Credit goes to our (defensive line and linebackers),” said Tracanna. “The corner set the edge perfectly, and I was able to get the strip and scoop it right up.

“It’s almost funny. You kind of space out while it’s happening, you just make the play.”

The Warriors rallied once more via a 68-yard pass from Kolby Howarth to Wes Conover, but PV stiffened once more inside their own 10-yard line, forcing a turnover on downs.

“We made plays,” said Tracanna. “I was saying it all game – ‘bend, don’t break.’ You face that adversity on special teams, you give up a big gain, but what matters is how you bounce back.”

Nunez added a second score less than minute before halftime, sending the Vikings into the locker room with a 25-point lead and unofficially starting Perkiomen Valley’s Homecoming celebration.

Despite an iffy weather forecast, PV’s student section packed Keenan Stadium as usual.

“It speaks volumes about our program. Everybody stays, they help us to these wins,” said Tracanna.

After halftime, Anthony Rodriguez’s second interception in as many weeks set up Reedy’s two-yard touchdown run to put the cherry atop his 122-yard evening.

Carter McCabe’s first varsity touchdown capped the scoring for PV with 9:34 to play in the fourth quarter.

Methacton was unable to muster much of an attack against the stifling PV defense. Howarth’s long completion to Conover and Borkowski’s punt block were the highlights, while DJ Ballinger compiled 48 total yards to comprise most of Methacton’s remaining offense.

Abe Kazito contributed on both sides of the ball, notching a couple tackles and leading the rushing attack in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors (4-2, 1-1 PAC Liberty) will stay on the road for a third consecutive game when they travel to Boyertown next week.

Friday night’s disappointment was a setback in their stated goal of not only making the District 1-5A playoffs but finishing in the top eight in the standings in order to host a game and ultimately claim the first postseason victory in recent history.

But the Warriors, who came into play at No. 8 in those District 1 standings, have time to recover with three more games against 6A opponents plus the end-of-season crossover.

“We have plenty of opportunities to move on,” said Kennedy. “We have a tough game next week at Boyertown. We’ll evaluate where we are and get better.”

Perkiomen Valley (5-1, 2-0 PAC Liberty) remains in rivalry-game mode for one more week as they prepare to travel to Spring-Ford next Friday. The game has decided the Liberty Division title for the past five seasons and may do so yet again pending the outcome of Spring-Ford’s Saturday showdown with Owen J. Roberts.

The Vikings own back-to-back wins in the rivalry with Spring-Ford, both victories coming at Keenan Stadium.

The trip to Spring-Ford will be the first of the Class of 2024’s varsity careers.

“I don’t think it changes anything,” said Tracanna. “It’ll be a packed house, up to 10,000 people at a high school football game on a Friday night.

“But that’s the basics of it – it’s a football game. So we’ll come in with the same attitude and get ready for a battle.”

Notes: The Battle Ax game doubled as Homecoming at Perkiomen Valley. Casey Sitron was honored as the school’s 2023 Homecoming Royalty.

BOX SCORE

Perkiomen Valley 42, Methacton 3

Methacton —    3   0   0   0   —   3

Perkiomen Valley —   7   21   7   7   —   42

SCORING PLAYS

PV — Nunez 5 run (Avery kick)
M — Drozd 27 F
PV — MacDonald 1 run (Avery kick)
PV — Tracanna 24 fumble return (Avery kick)
PV — Nunez 4 run (Avery kick)
PV — Reedy 2 run (Avery kick)
PV — McCabe 1 run (Corropolese kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

M                  PV
First Downs                 7                  21

Rushing Yards           76                 225

Passing Yards            82                115

Total Yards                158               340

Passes C-A-I           3-12-1          10-17-0

Fumbles-Lost             2-1               1-0

Penalties-Yards         1-5               4-35

Punts-Avg.               5-34.2           3-24.7

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Methacton – Howarth 8-0, Conover 7-20, Ballinger 6-37, Grove 4-(minus-1), Kazito 2-8, Troutman 1-7, Shulz 1-5, Remish 1-0.

Perkiomen Valley – Reedy 12-122; TD, C. McCabe 6-29; TD, Nunez 6-21; 2 TD, MacDonald 6-14; TD, Caraballo 1-19, Dickey 1-6, C. Sturges 1-6, Corropolese 1-4, N. Tsitoukis 1-4.

Passing

Methacton – Howarth 3-10, 82 yards, INT; Remish 0-1; Shulz 0-1.

Perkiomen Valley – MacDonald 10-17, 115 yards.

Receiving

Methacton – Conover 2-71, Ballinger 1-11.

Perkiomen Valley – Keough 5-40, Reedy 2-18, Hollingsworth 1-30, Nunez 1-14, R. Struges 1-13.

Sacks: Perkiomen Valley – Koehler.

Interceptions: Perkiomen Valley – Rodriguez.