Spring-Ford secures spot atop Liberty Division with 30-6 triumph over Methacton

FAIRVIEW VILLAGE >> They still see room for improvement.

Even as members of a team that’s a dominant force in both the Pioneer Athletic Conference and southeastern Pennsylvania … a team poised to make another prolonged and productive run in the upcoming post-season.

And a team capable of putting together a one-sided outing like Friday’s at Methacton. Spring-Ford combined potent offense and shutdown defense in its 30-6 triumph over the Warriors. The outcome brought the Rams one step closer to sweeping the field in the Liberty Division, qualifying for yet another circuit championship game and firming its standing as a top club in the PIAA District One’s Class 6A rankings.

But for all their team has done to validate its record (4-0 Liberty, 7-1 overall), Spring-Ford seniors Luke Ellor and Evan Strzeminski don’t see the Rams achieving their full potential just yet.

“We have to respond better than we have,” Ellor, a two-way lineman, said. “Every guy has to do their job. When they do that, we’ll be dangerous.”

Spring-Ford demonstrated plenty of danger in building leads of 21-0 in the first half and 30-0 early in the fourth quarter. Matt Zollers threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half while Jamal Lewis and Mike Bendowski bookended those scores with rushing TDs. But a possible mercy-rule outcome fell short when Spring-Ford missed a conversion kick and had to settle for a 24-yard Liam McGarvey field goal on a drive that saw them get to the Warrior five before being stopped. Methacton (2-2 Liberty, 5-3 overall) added to the scenario an aerial touchdown from quarterback Nick Remish near the three-minute mark.

“On the defensive side, we make good plays,” Strzeminski added. “We started the game well, but not in the second half. We can’t let up on plays.”

Three lost fumbles and 95 yards in penalties also marred Spring-Ford’s overall showing. On the positive side, the Rams got 100-plus yards rushing from Jamal Lewis, whose 35-yard run off left tackle got the visitors on the board at 6:39 in the first quarter; and a big aerial outing from Zollers: 156 yards on 12-for-23 passing to seven different targets.

“We felt we could compete with them,” Methacton head coach Brian Kennedy said. “We didn’t think we were going to shut them out, but we felt we could battle them.”

Remish, shouldering the load behind center with Kolby Howarth out sick, helped the Warriors avert a shutdown showing when he hit Wesley Conover on a 15-yard TD toss that capped a 14-play drive. Defensively, they recovered three Ram fumbles – Remish, Shane Corne and Abe Kazito made the grabs – and got sacks from Anthony Perillo and DJ Ballinger.

“We had some kids that made plays,” Kennedy noted. “I’m happy with what Remish did, and Conover made some plays.

“Thirty points is not an indication of how we played. We were hoping to score in the first half.”

Sparking the Rams’ defense were interceptions by Shane Lewis and Blake Turner, and sacks by Owen Norman and Bryce Roberts (two). Braden Welsh and Cole Brenner chipped in with fumble recoveries.

“Bryce Roberts made some nice plays,” Strzeminski said of his junior teammate, who dropped Remish for losses three times during the Warriors’ TD march.

Jordan Marsilio and Conover were the receiving leaders for Spring-Ford and Methacton, respectively. Marsilio caught four passes for 83 yards and Conover 60 stripes with four receptions.

Belal Abdelrahman and Mason Scott were on the receiving end of Zollers’ TD tosses of six and 15 yards, respectively.

NOTES

Methacton came into the game ranked ninth in District 1’s Class 5A ranks. … Kennedy had plans to use both Remish and Howarth in the game if both were available. “They both bring different things to the game,” he said.

PAC LIberty DivisionSpring-Ford 30, Methacton 6Spring-Ford 7 14 6 3 – 30Methacton 0 0 0 6 – 6First QuarterSF-Lewis 35 run (McGarvey kick), 6:39Second QuarterSF-Abdelrahlman 6 pass from Zollers, (Fields kick), 11:09SF-Scott 13 pass from Zollers (McGarvey kick), 2:01Third QuarterSF-Bendowski 15 run (kick failed), 4:29Fourth QuarterSF-McGarvey 24 FG, 10:56Me-Conover 5 pass from Renish (kick failed), 3:06TEAM STATISTICSSF MEFirst Downs 14 11Rushing Yards 161 25Passing Yards 156 117Total Yards 317 142Passes C-A-I 12-23-0 13-32-2Fumbles-Lost 2-2 3-3Penalties-Yards 9-95 5-58Punts-Avg. 2-41.0 4-26.0INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRushingSpring-Ford – Lewis, 14-104, 1 TD; Zollers, 7-40; Bendowski, 2-17, 1 TD.Methacton – Perillo, 12-17; Ballinger, 3-13; Remish, 6-(-5)PassingSpring-Ford – Zollers, 13-23-156, 2 TDs.Home -Remish, 13-32-147, 1 TD, 2 INTs.ReceivingSpring-Ford – Marsilio, 4-83; Abdelrahman, 2-19, 1 TD; Scott, 2-11, 1 TD; Bendowski, 1-20;Kerchner, 1-8; Flynn, 1-5; Stadler, 1-4; Team, 1-6.Methacton – Conover, 6-60, 1 TD; Ballinger, 4-43; Cummings, 1-6; Perillo, 1-2; Team, 1-6.Interceptions – Spring-Ford: Lewis 1, Turner 1.Sacks – Spring-Ford: Lewis 2, Norman 1. Methacton: Perillo 1, Balli