Standouts abound for Methacton in win over Upper Perkiomen
FAIRVIEW VILLAGE >> Anthony Perillo missed the first two games of his senior season, working his way back from an arm injury.
Friday night, the Methacton fullback loudly announced his return to a packed house at Warrior Stadium.
Perillo’s 20 carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns helped Methacton control the ball and the clock while setting the stage for the Warriors’ other playmakers in a 41-21 win over Upper Perkiomen.
Perillo returned last week in a Methacton win over Radnor, but playing in front of a raucous home crowd made the senior feel as though he’d never been away.
“I’m just happy to be back with the team,” said Perillo. “We were focused this week — intensity was up at practice, and we did what we needed to do tonight.”
The Warriors finish their nonleague schedule at 3-1, ranked among the top eight in District 1-5A.
If they can maintain that position through PAC play, they’ll have the opportunity to host a District playoff game for the first time in recent program history.
“I think we’re capable of a lot this year,” said Perillo. “We’re working hard, we’re dedicated, and that’s what it’s going to take for this season to go far.”
Perillo starred for Methacton, but he wasn’t alone. Starting quarterback Kolby Howarth ran for two touchdowns and passed for 117 yards, all of them to senior Wesley Conover who scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown.
“We just had to get it done tonight,” said Conover. “I’m not surprised at all.”
In all, Methacton put up 389 yards of offense, 272 of those coming on the ground behind the offensive line’s strongest performance thus far in 2023.
But the play of the evening belonged to senior defensive back DJ Ballinger.
Ballinger picked off a pair of Upper Perkiomen passes and recovered a fumble. The highlight came on Upper Perk’s second drive of the second half, when an overthrown pass seemed destined to fall harmlessly to the turf — until Ballinger skied for a one-handed interception, cradling the ball to keep control as he came down at the UP 45.
“I’ve tried to make plays like that in practice,” said Ballinger. “I know I can do it, so when I saw the ball in the air I went for it and came down with (the interception).”
Methacton started strong and didn’t let up for the first 20 minutes. The Warriors scored on four of their first six drives, highlighted by second quarter receiving and rushing scores from Conover.
A 12-play, 68-yard drive got things started for the Warriors. Upper Perk forced a fourth down at their 13-yard line, but an undeterred Methacton quarterback Kolby Howarth kept on a power play around left tackle and scooted untouched to the end zone to break the ice.
Just a minute into the second quarter, Perillo finished a short drive set up by a mishandled punt with a six-yard plunge to double the lead for the hosts.
Meanwhile, Upper Perkiomen found tough sledding offensively. Their first half-dozen drives yielded only nine total yards. Even a blocked punt that gave the Tribe possession at the Methacton 39 resulted in a quick turnover on downs.
By the time Upper Perkiomen got the offense rolling, Methacton’s lead doubled again to 28-0 courtesy of Conover, who first took a quick screen from Howarth down the far sideline 49 yards to the house.
After the Warriors forced another UP punt, another 24-yard reception set up Conover’s second score, this one a 15-yard run that gave Methacton their largest lead of the first half.
When Upper Perk did get things moving, it was courtesy of their two-pointed rushing attack of Zach Schwartz (14 carries, 77 yards, TD) and Brody Weiss (28 yards, TD). With less than two minutes to play before halftime, multiple first down carries by Schwartz gave the Indians a first-and-goal.
Despite a stout stand by Methacton, Weiss finished the drive with a one-yard plunge to cut the Methacton lead to 28-7 seconds before halftime.
Methacton opened their lead to 41-7 behind the second touchdowns for both Perillo and Howarth.
The fourth quarter saw Upper Perk mount their best drive of the evening, an eight-play, 72-yard journey culminating in Schwartz’s 6-yard TD run. A late pass from Logan O’Donnell to Aiden Void rounded out the scoring.
“They’re a well-disciplined football team,” Upper Perkiomen head coach Dan Heinrichs said of the Warriors. “They can run the ball, which we saw on film, and we didn’t really show up today, not enough to stop them.
“I put a lot of this on myself, because we’re a young team and we need to work harder with each week to get to 1-0 that week.
Methacton (3-1) opens PAC Liberty play next week at Norristown, while Upper Perkiomen (1-3) hosts undefeated Pope John II in PAC Frontier play.
BOX SCORE
Methacton 41, Upper Perkiomen 21
Upper Perkiomen 0 7 0 14 — 21
Methacton 7 21 13 0 — 41
SCORING PLAYS
M — Howarth 13 run (Drozd kick)
M — Perillo 6 run (Drozd kick)
M — Conover 49 pass from Howarth (Drozd kick)
M — Conover 15 run (Drozd kick)
UP — Weiss 1 run (Watkins kick)
M — Howarth 9 run (Drozd kick)
M — Perillo 3 run (kick failed)
UP — Schwartz 6 run (Watkins kick)
UP — Void 17 pass from O’Donnell (Watkins kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
UP M
First Downs 9 21
Rushing Yards 111 272
Passing Yards 39 117
Total Yards 150 389
Passes C-A-I 4-13-2 5-9-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 3-29 6-50
Punts-Avg. 3-37.7 2-16.5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Upper Perkiomen – Schwartz 14-77; TD, Weiss 6-28; TD, O’Donnell 3-7, Krier 3-5, Team 1-(minus-6).
Methacton – Perillo 20-88; 2 TD, Howarth 7-54; 2 TD, Ballinger 5-25, Grove 4-46, Conover 3-28; TD, Kazito 3-7, Troutman 2-8, Booker 2-6, Remish 2-2, Chawaga 1-8.
Passing
Upper Perkiomen – O’Donnell 4-13, 39 yards, TD, 2 INT.
Methacton – Howarth 5-9, 117 yards, TD.
Receiving
Upper Perkiomen – A. Void 1-17; TD, Krier 1-13, Schwartz 1-7, Schmittinger 1-2.
Methacton – Conover 5-117; TD.
Sacks: Methacton – Corne.
Interceptions: Methacton – Ballinger 2.
