Pottsgrove meets familiar foe Bethlehem Catholic in PIAA-4A quarterfinal

PIAA Class 4A state quarterfinal Game >> District 1 champion Pottsgrove Falcons (12-1) vs. District 11 champion Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks (10-3)

Where >> Palisades High School, Kintnersville, PA, 7 p.m. Friday

How They Got Here >> Pottsgrove won their first state playoff game in school history last week, outlasting District 4 champ Jersey Shore, 14-10.

Bethlehem Catholic won the District 11 championship last Saturday by throttling Saucon Valley, 73-14.

Overview >> It’s the third straight year of meetings between the Falcons and Golden Hawks in the state playoffs, albeit one round later than the two teams are accustomed to meeting after a slight reshuffling of the bracket by PIAA for 2018. Both matchups have been nights to forget for the locals, with Bethlehem Catholic taking the inaugural meeting 51-20, and following it up with last year’s 49-14 victory.

After their first state-level victory last week, even given their long track record of success, Pottsgrove is into uncharted territory, which will become apparent in the next section.

When Bethlehem Catholic has the ball >> Pottsgrove head coach Bill Hawthorne more or less wrote this section of the preview when he said the following:

“Bethlehem Catholic will be the strongest and best team we have seen this year. They are big where you’d want to be big, they’re fast where you’d want to be fast, they’re highly skilled, and above all very well coached.”

The particulars: Bethlehem Catholic (known colloquially as Beca or Becahi) is averaging just over 42 points per contest this year, and while their 10-3 record may not measure up to Pottsgrove’s 12-1 mark on paper, two of their three losses came in tight games against District 11 Class 6A finalists Freedom (31-21) and Emmaus (50-49). They won their two District playoff games by an average of 35.5 points, prevailing in a relative squeaker against Pottsville, 40-28, before last week’s destruction of Saucon Valley.

As for the “how”, Pottsgrove supporters may find this recipe familiar: the Golden Hawks wear down the opposition with a diverse and punishing running game, exerting their will over increasingly frustrated and later demoralized defenders as the game moves into the third and fourth quarters. When the situation calls for it, the strategy turns to five yards at a time, churning out repeated first downs at a pace so methodical that the opposition suddenly looks at the scoreboard and realizes half the quarter has gone by in the blink of an eye.

Falcons fans may not enjoy the experience, but they recognize and admire the philosophy.

Junior Tavian Banks leads the way for the Golden Hawks with 1,390 rushing yards on the season, but hot on his heels is senior Zaheer Seabrooks with 1,356 yards on the ground. Banks appears to be the closer, with 25 of the duo’s 40 total rushing touchdowns, while Seabrooks is slightly more explosive at eight yards per carry to Banks’ 7.6 yards per tote. But it’s nitpicking — their statistical profiles are almost indistinguishable. If Pottsgrove’s PAC-leading defense is able to slow the Beca rushing attack, quarterback Zamar Brake is a pretty nice third option for the Golden Hawks, averaging over 10 yards per passing attempt this year, throwing for 1,836 yards and 14 TDs and carrying another nine scores across the goal line himself. Last week, Brake complimented the team’s 348-yard rushing performance with 181 yards passing and two scores on only 11 attempts.

Making it all possible is the traditionally big, physical, athletic Bethlehem Catholic offensive line, this year’s iteration led by 6-foot-3, 275 lb. Penn State commit Dalton Daddona and 6-foot-4, 300-pounder Elias Marte. Like Pottsgrove, most of the linemen play both sides of the ball and can create similarly tough matchups on the defensive side.

Pottsgrove can’t hope to match the Golden Hawks in size — few 4A teams can — so the onus is on the Falcons’ experienced and prolific defensive line to create penetration with speed and quickness. Easier said than done, to be sure, and the idea of stopping the Beca ground game is likely wishful thinking. But the group led by senior Ryan Bodolus (20 sacks) is equipped to present the Golden Hawks with a different challenge than they’re used to. Nate Tornetta’s quickness and technique coupled with the power of Justin Adams could cause some fits on the inside, while Bodolus and fellow bookend Darrian Seaman face the task of neutralizing Daddona and Marte’s irresistible push.

The Pottsgrove line is coupled with an opportunistic secondary that picked off Jersey Shore three times to close out last week’s victory. Sophomore Rylee Howard claimed a pair of interceptions while Jimai Springfield closed out the game with a pilfering of his own.

“We play a lot of man, Cover 1 — techniques that put these corners out on an island,” said Coach Hawthorne. “Rylee, Jimai, and Khaliym Smith have all come up with timely plays to put games away, thwarting a team’s last chance.”

When Pottsgrove has the ball >> With Beca’s offense following an approach that resembles Pottsgrove’s, it’s this side of the ball that probably represents the Falcons’ best chance for a Friday night upset. Leading rusher Isaiah Taylor is all the way back after his two-game absence at the end of the regular season and stands just a single yard away from a 1,500-yard campaign. Meanwhile, fullback Jadore Colbert is getting a bigger chunk of the gameplan each week, carrying 13 times against Jersey Shore last week.

All the while, quarterback Jay Sisko remains the steady hand at the controls. While he attempted only four passes last week, he carried 14 times for 63 yards and a score and was the architect of an 18-play, 10-minute drive that swung the game in Pottsgrove’s favor for good.

It stands to reason that similar epic marches down the field would be the key to any Falcons victory against Beca, keeping the Golden Hawks’ offense tethered to the sideline while shortening the contest. Then again, if ever there were a time for the run-dominant Falcons to break tendencies by taking a few shots down the field and opening up the offense with a gadget play, wouldn’t it be this week, in their 14th contest of the season but arguably their first outing in the underdog role?

As you might imagine, Hawthorne wasn’t tipping his hand. But with Taylor, Isaiah Glover, Colbert, and Sisko all equipped to handle double-digit carries, a physical offensive line of their own to duel with Beca’s, and a couple of offensive X-factors in players like Springfield and Bodolus, the pieces are there for Pottsgrove to consider multiple offensive strategies.

It would appear that in order to match Beca’s explosiveness, Hawthorne and Sisko may need to open things up in the passing game and take advantage of the tendency of defenses to load the box by taking a few shots downfield. Pottsgrove’s risk-averse approach this season leaves the likely outcome of such a strategy a mystery.

The story of Beca’s defense isn’t too different from the offensive report — big, fast, athletic. Even the names don’t change a great deal, with Marte anchoring the defensive line and Banks leading the way with four interceptions.

Details >> As mentioned in the previous section, Pottsgrove rarely gets to enjoy being placed in an underdog’s role during their District 1 and PAC slate, but Coach Hawthorne says he ‘relishes’ such an opportunity.

“I love when people tell me, and my coaching staff and players that we can’t win,” he revealed. “It’s one more thing we can use as motivation — we thrive on that.”

Hawthorne says in theory, his biggest challenge would be making his players believe they can compete after one-sided losses to the Golden Hawks in the past two seasons. But with this particular Falcons squad, confidence and belief in their ability to compete is no issue.

“Our senior class is exceptional, and when you have kids like these, you know you’re going to leave everything on the field.”

Prediction >> Motivation comes in many forms, and there’s certainly been no shortage for Pottsgrove this week. Many area fans are already discussing and looking forward to next week’s potential third annual battle between Bethlehem Catholic and District 12’s Imhotep Charter for the eastern half of the state’s title. But to enjoy a season like Pottsgrove’s — or Valley View, Imhotep’s opponent — only to be discounted as a stepping stone seems like begging for trouble.

Leadership, experience, and the ‘strength-on-strength’ nature of this matchup makes the 2018 comparison closer between the two squads than it’s been in the previous two seasons. Unfortunately, in this matchup it appears too many things need to go just so for the Falcons.

Can Bodolus and his defensive linemates use their quickness to throw off Beca’s offensive line, leading to Pottsgrove’s rushing numbers equaling or topping those of the Golden Hawks?

Can the Falcons spring an offensive or special teams surprise or two on the Golden Hawks for a key stop or a score?

Can Pottsgrove keep the powerful Golden Hawks’ offense on the sideline long enough to get the game going at their preferred tempo?

Can the Falcons overcome the demons of the previous two matchups?

The answer to any of those questions may very well be ‘yes’, but the likelihood of ALL of them working in Pottsgrove’s favor Friday night is considerably lesser.

Bethlehem Catholic 35, Pottsgrove 17.