Pottsgrove steam rolls Upper Perkiomen to set up Frontier title game next week
POTTSGROVE >> Don’t let their methodical, hard-working approach to the game fool you. The Pottsgrove Falcons are having as much fun as any football team you’ll find.
Throughout Friday’s Senior Night game at Pennypacker Field in which Pottsgrove (6-1, 4-0 PAC Frontier) toppled Upper Perkiomen, 42-14, the bond and gratitude of the victorious Falcons stood out even above their stifling defense, efficient offense, and continually productive special teams.
“Tight-knit,” was the descriptor their coach, Bill Hawthorne, chose to describe this year’s squad after the win.
“And it’s all led by the senior class,” he added. “What they’ve done for this program is more than most people will ever understand.”
After a disappointing 2019 campaign and a severely shortened 2020 season, the class of 2022 deserved this night to celebrate their perseverance and dedication as members of the Pottsgrove football program.
They hope the lasting accomplishments can come next.
“We were frustrated last year because we didn’t get to play much,” said Shane Caffrey, who had a QB sack to help highlight a strong defensive performance, holding Upper Perk under 200 total yards.
“We’re out here like brothers, every day, getting better together,” added Tyler Kaufman.
The Falcons will make the short trip to Pope John Paul II next Saturday afternoon, an outright PAC Frontier Division title hanging in the balance. If victorious, they’ll travel to Perkiomen Valley the following week, hoping to claim the first PAC title for the ‘small-school’ division since the advent of the new system in 2016.
In a style befitting the class of 2022, the senior Falcons did the dirty work while their younger teammates piled up the numbers on Friday night.
Sophomore Bryce Caffrey (108 yards) and junior Amir Brunson (100 yards) each eclipsed the century mark on the ground with two scores apiece — both of Brunson’s on rushes, with Bryce – the younger of the Caffrey brothers – adding a rushing TD and a score on a 67-yard punt return.
The Falcons drew first blood after a short punt and personal foul combined to give Pottsgrove a short field starting at the Tribe 15. Two plays later, Brunson took a pitch 11 yards for the game’s first score.
Less than two minutes later, Brunson would repeat the feat, this time from much greater distance (56 yards) off a crunching block from Dom Demeno to double Pottsgrove’s lead.
Bryce Caffrey added a 30-yard TD run to make it 21-0 before Upper Perk’s Logan Simmon provided the Tribe’s offensive highlight, taking a shovel pass from Gorje Navarette, breaking outside, and sailing 75 yards up the far sideline to put Upper Perk on the board midway through the second period.
The play of the night came with about 90 seconds to play before half, when Brunson tipped a Navarette pass that was intercepted by Trenton Allen around midfield. Allen ran about 10 yards before proceeding to carry teammates and opponents alike a good 25 yards to the Tribe 16, where Ryan Sisko would find Riley Delp to send the Falcons into the break up by three scores, 28-7.
Bryce Caffrey put the cherry atop the big victory with a twisting 67-yard punt return for a score with four minutes left in the third quarter to put Pottsgrove up 35-7. Sisko added another rushing score before the quarter’s conclusion.
Sisko is the second Pottsgrove QB from his family — older brother Jay piloted the 2018 squad that secured the first state playoff win for Pottsgrove.
“[Jay’s accomplishments] are motivation — but I’m focused on carving my own path,” the quarterback said.
Elijah Northern’s 31-yard score for Upper Perk concluded the scoring with two minutes to play.
This year’s class of Pottsgrove football athletes may be small in numbers (nine) but they do more than make up the difference in perseverance, heart, and commitment. They’re also the first class to play all four years of their careers under Hawthorne.
“They’re special football players, but great people too,” Hawthorne summarized. “We, as a coaching staff, are so fortunate to have these guys as our first class we saw all the way through [high school].”
Upper Perkiomen (2-6, 1-3 PAC Frontier) will travel to Upper Merion next week before winding down the 2021 campaign in a crossover game against a Liberty Division opponent in two weeks.
“They’ve got the horses,” said UP coach Tom Hontz. “That’s a great program and another great team this year.”
Simmon accounted for 112 of the Tribe’s 194 yards of offense, highlighted by the 75-yard TD.
“He’s a special athlete — lots of heart, lots of desire,” said Hontz. “He’s got his buddy Brady [Thompson] leading the way for him — what a great duo.”
But the evening would belong to the Falcons, led by the class of 2022 — finally basking in their time to shine.
“It’s the last year I get to put on a football uniform with my best friends,” said fullback/linebacker Max Neeson, a University of Albany-bound lacrosse prospect, “and playing Pottsgrove football is one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself.”
