Spring-Ford’s defense takes care of Pottsgrove in 22-13 victory

ROYERSFORD >> Spring-Ford’s record remained unblemished Friday night.

The Rams have their defense to thank for that.

Six sacks, including a two-sack night by Tim Rudderow, and holding PAC-10 leading rusher Tyrell Barr to under 30 yards sparked the Rams to a 22-13 victory over Pottsgrove Friday night at Coach McNelly Stadium in a game that was marred by penalties and mental miscues from both squads.

“It’s a pretty big game,” Rudderow said. “We were preparing for it all week, our minds were set on trying to win and we got the ‘W.’ It was very nice.”

John Strickler - The Mercury Spring-Ford's #82 Lee Albert catches a long pass on his fingertips in the first quarter over Pottsgrove #2 William Wallace.
John Strickler – The Mercury
Spring-Ford’s #82 Lee Albert catches a long pass on his fingertips in the first quarter over Pottsgrove #2 William Wallace.

“Our defense played really well and bailed us out,” Spring-Ford head coach Chad Brubaker said. “We had way too many penalties, way too many mental mistakes, but our defense bailed us out a couple of times. They did a great job.”

Rudderow’s two-sack effort was the highlight for the Rams defense that saw five players register at least a half sack in the win. Dan Kelchner added 1.5 sacks, Tanner Romano 1, with Nick Salomone, Steve Rice and Joe Campbell all adding 0.5 sacks. The run defense was also a catalyst to the team’s win, holding Barr to 29 yards on 10 carries and the Pottsgrove offense to 143 yards on the ground — 100 yards less than their season average.

Senior quarterback Ricky Venuto was solid through the air, throwing for 258 yards on 13-for-21 passing with two scores. Lee Albert finished with a team-high 87 yards receiving for a Rams team that accrued 13 penalties for 115 yards, fumbled the ball twice and punted three times.

“He did a nice job,” Brubaker said of Venuto. “They (Pottsgrove) play a lot of straight man and we talked all week about finding the matchup we wanted and he did a good job of that. There were a couple of really nice catches by guys in key situations. Ultimately we didn’t finish a lot of drives and that’s upsetting but we’ll take the win and build off of that.”

The win snaps Spring-Ford’s (5-0 PAC-10, 6-0 overall) three-game losing streak to Pottsgrove (3-2 PAC-10, 3-3 overall), and keeps them tied atop the conference with Perkiomen Valley, which toppled Pope John Paul II on its homecoming night.

Pottsgrove, meanwhile, will need upsets if it plans on grabbing at least a share of a title that eluded its grasp last season.

Quarterback Deyon Doctor finished with 167 yards passing and a touchdown while Wyatt Porter hauled in a game-high three receptions for 109 yards and a TD in the loss. Much like Spring-Ford, the Falcons were unable to get it rolling offensively, turning the ball over on downs twice while punting four times. The Falcons were denied on a crucial 4th-and-1 at their own 40 yard line while trailing 7-0 late in the second. The Falcons ballcarrier was tripped up behind the line, resulting in the Rams going down the field on a quick four-play, 40 yard drive that culminated with a Trey Jarmon nine-yard touchdown reception to make it 15-0 with two minutes remaining in the half. “We couldn’t get a fourth-and-one (converted), that’s not Pottsgrove football,” Pottsgrove head coach Rick Pennypacker said. “We have done that for 30 years, we’ve gone for it on 4th-and-1 at our own 10-yard line and have gotten it. If we can’t get fourth and half-a-yard, we don’t deserve to win the ball game.

“Give them credit, they played well. They got after us a little bit, were physical up front We new sooner or later that was going to get to us a little bit. We had dropped passes, mistakes, on one drive gave away 40 yards in penalties.

The Falcons remained in the game throughout the second half after Porter rushed for a 17-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter to make it 15-7. Spring-Ford’s Quinn McKenna then answered with a diving 21-yard reception from Venuto for a score to make it 22-7 early in the fourth before Porter hauled in a screen pass from Doctor and scurried 66-yards to make it 22-13 after the PAT was missed.

From there, the offense went flat.

The Falcons were held to negative four yards on their next drive before Ryan Finn replaced the injured Doctor on the final drive with no results, allowing the Rams to ice it with Matt Gibson (14 carries, 69 yards) rushing for two-first downs in the waning minutes.

NOTES >> Pottsgrove finished with six penalties for 55 yards, including three-straight defensive penalties. … Selywn Simpson finished with 62 yards rushing on eight carries. … Stone Scarcelle finished with 76 yards receiving on four receptions. … Jarmon also added an interception. … The Rams finished with 405 yards of total offense to Pottsgrove’s 281.

 

Results

Team1234T
Pottsgrove007613
Spring-Ford0150722

Pottsgrove

Player Comp Att Pass Yds Pass TD Int. Rush Att. Rush Yds Rush TD Rec Rec Yds Rec. TD Sacks Def. Int XPM XPA FGM FGA
Wyatt Porter00000323131091000000
Ryan Finn010002-80000000000
Deyon Doctor11281671118520000000000
Christian Pace000000002120000000
Tyrell Barr0000010290240000000
Parris Janusek000007180000000000
Tyler Smith000000000000.500000
Chris Defrancesco0000000044200.500000
Total112916711401141111671100000

Spring-Ford

Player Comp Att Pass Yds Pass TD Int. Rush Att. Rush Yds Rush TD Rec Rec Yds Rec. TD Sacks Def. Int XPM XPA FGM FGA
Trey Jarmon000000003581010000
Ricky Venuto132125820630000000000
Matt Gibson0000014690120000000
Stone Scarcelle0000041314760000000
Quinn McKenna000000002351000000
Selwyn Simpson000008620000000000
Steven Rice000000000000.500000
Danny Kelchner000000000001.500000
Tanner Romano00000000000100000
Tim Rudderow00000000000200000
Nick Salomone000000000000.500000
Lee Albert000000003870000000
Joe Campbell000000000000.500000
Owen Gulati00000000000011010
Total132125820321471132582621010

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