Phoenixville travels to Pottstown

Phoenixville travels to Pottstown’s Grigg Memorial Stadium Friday night to face the winless Trojans in PAC-10 football action.
Phoenixville (2-4, 2-6) is coming off a 21-12 loss to Upper Perkiomen while Pottstown (0-6, 0-8) fell victim to Perkiomen Valley in the second half, 28-21.
The Trojans led the Vikings 14-7 after the first quarter and 21-14 at halftime before being outscored 14-0 in the second half.
“They (Trojans) have scored on everyone,” said Phoenixville coach Bill Furlong. “Their offense is as good as any in the league. Our offense hasn’t been good. Their defense hasn’t held up, but they have scored points. They have plenty of offensive weapons. They have some size on the line. They have a couple real big guys. We have to play better and more consistent. We have to eliminate the mistakes.”
Pottstown’s quarterback is junior Jeff Endy (5-9, 155). The running backs are Marc Smith and sophomore Malik Brinkley (5-8, 165).
The Trojans are in their third year under head coach Brett Myers. Endy completed 3 of 7 aerials for 61 yards against PV. Junior wide receiver Dawon Matthews (6-1, 175) caught two of those throws for 46 yards.
Smith rushed for 83 yards on 17 carries with three touchdowns covering, 4, 2 and 34 yards. and Brinkley totaled 125 yards on 16 tries. The tight end is sophomore Cory Hueber (6-0, 165), who blocked and recovered a punt last week. Junior Kyle Dentler booted three extra points.
Up front the Trojans field the likes of senior tackles William Carter (6-3, 285) and Jacob Slick (6-3, 340) as well as senior guards Evan Bauer (6-3, 225) and David Mackiewicz (6-0, 20)) with junior Dustin Rhoads (5-10, 235) at center.
Furlong liked the way his offense showed positive signs against the Indians with quarterback Tom Romano throwing the ball effectively to tight end Vince Ciaverelli. He thought the offensive line gave ample time to throw.
“We have to run the ball better,” said Furlong. “We haven’t run the ball well since the Methacton game. All year our offense hasn’t done a great job. We haven’t been able to open things up consistently. Until we do, teams are going to load up against us and bring everybody up. The passes we’ve had have been on play-action because they are coming up on the run so much.”
The Phantoms don’t have the big-play ability with speed and quickness that they have had in the past so opposing defenses are jamming the line of scrimmage and blitzing when needed.
Senior defensive end Brandon Johnston recovered a pair of fumbles against the Indians, and Ducky Ryan continued his excellent play in the secondary with an interception.
Romano completed 5 of 11 passes for 119 yards against the Tribe with Ciaverelli making four receptions for 116 yards. Romano doubles at cornerback and Ciaverelli doubles at linebacker on defense. Physical senior Sam McQuiston is the Phantoms’ top rusher and scored on a 16-yard run last week while doubling at linebacker. Travis Andrews and Vinny Nattle have shown signs of promise as sophomore backs. Junior Dan Kain has improved as a wide receiver and defensive back.
Furlong feels the Phantoms’ defense has kept the ballclub in every ballgame thus far this season.