Phoenixivlle football vs. OJR

With the Pioneer Athletic Conference football race up for grabs following last week’s upsets, Phoenixville visits Owen J. Roberts Friday night at Wildcat Stadium at 7 p.m.
Phoenixville (1-0, 2-1) is coming off a 23-0 shutout of Pope John Paul II last Friday evening at Washington Field while Owen J. Roberts (0-1, 1-2) was knocked off by Spring-Ford, 20-7, at Coach McNelly Stadium the same night.
The Phantoms are expected to be without senior quarterback/cornerback Tom Romano, an all-league selection at both positions, for the remainder of the season after he tore a ligament in his left ankle during last week’s contest against the Golden Panthers. Romano was helped off the field with 4:40 left in the opening frame. He is expected to need surgery and screws but should be ready for baseball season in the spring.
Junior Alec McQuiston stepped in to the quarterback spot and performed well as he did last year when Romano missed three games due to injury. McQuiston completed 6 of 8 passes for 48 yards and one touchdown, a 4-yard pass to Ryan Yenchick. McQuiston also rushed nine times for 29 yards while directing the Phoenixville offense. McQuiston is also starting at safety on defense. He also started last week’s encounter at fullback in place of the injured Vinny Nattle.
“Our defense made the plays they needed to and we controlled the running game,” said Phoenixville coach Bill Furlong. “They played real well.
“We went from one position to another and they didn’t miss a beat. The big thing is the team didn’t miss a beat. It would have been easy to feel a sense of despair. But we kept rolling with the leadership of our seniors and upperclassmen, and some of our young guys stepped up and did the job.”
Sophomore Marcus Howell filled in for Romano at one corner position while also playing wide receiver on offense. Howell made a key interception at a key time in the game, caught one pass for 11 yards and ran twice for 10 more yards. Howell intercepted a Dave Cotellese pass at the home team’s 19-yard line with 6:16 left in the fourth quarter. Phoenixville limited PJP to 18 net yards rushing. Junior Jerome Nicholson also had an active night in the Phantom secondary.
Travis Andrews rushed 20 times for 103 yards. Yenchick carried nine times for 38 yards and one TD, a 1-yard plunge for the final Phoenixville score.
Dennis Kelly-Ukatu made 2.5 sacks while Ryan Pannella, Torin Killeen and Sam Labik each had .5 sack. Labik also caught three passes for 49 yards.
Nick Rutkowski opened the scoring with a 2-yard run in the first quarter as Phoenixville had different players run the football on the night. John McInally kicked a 27-yard field goal in the second period.
“Our seniors have cultivated an attitude to keep playing one play at a time,” said Furlong.
Despite last week’s Owen J. Roberts setback, Furlong expects the Wildcats to be raring to go this week and the Phantoms will have their hands full containing running back Ryan Brumfield and company.
“They will play tough anyway,” said Furlong. “In a lot of ways the league is wide open with Pottsgrove losing (34-28 to Boyertown) so Owen J. is not out of anything. They will play hard. We can’t control that. We have to do our best to continue to improve. We have progressed each week. Our young guys have to continue to mature. If that continues, we’ll be happy.”
Brumfield rushed 31 times for 186 yards and a 24-yard TD for the final OJR score against the Rams. A big, physical offensive line opens the holes for the Wildcat backs, and OJR also has a sound defense. Spring-Ford’s defense kept Brumfield under 100 yards until his final two carries went for 88 yards and a TD with 2:58 left in the game.
Brumfield is leading the area in rushing with 73 carries for 645 yards this fall (8.8 average) with six TDs for 36 points.
The Owen J. Roberts passing game has been lackluster with senior Ryan Megay and and junior Blake Bradshaw, who suffered a fractured wrist late in the game against Spring-Ford and is out for the season.

Phantoms kick out PAC 10 football season Friday against Pope John Paul II

Phoenixville kicks off the 25th season of Pioneer Athletic Conference football action tonight with a 7 p.m. home game against new league entry Pope John Paul II at Washington Field.
The Phantoms are coming off a 42-0 non-league loss at Unionville last Friday night while the Golden Panthers dropped their PAC-10 opener to two-time defending league champion Pottsgrove, 57-6.
“Unionville is a good team across the board,” said Phoenixville coach Bill Furlong.
Pope John Paul II is the merger of the former St. Pius X and Kennedy-Kenrick schools. The Golden Panthers are coached by Mike Santillo, the former coach at Kennedy-Kenrick.
The Phantoms fell to St. Pius X, 21-14, last fall but defeated Kennedy-Kenrick, 35-6. Now they will be facing a combination of the two schools.
“We expect a real good game,” said Furlong. “Their scores have been lopsided and so have ours with who we played. So we are similar. It has been a tough opening two weeks.”
Furlong hopes his ballclub comes out with a fire after absorbing the sound beating last week following a season-opening victory over Great Valley.
“I think they practiced well,” said Furlong. “I think emotionally they are ready to play. We have some things we want to accomplish.”
Phoenixville hopes to move its passing game into gear with senior quarterback Tom Romano at the controls. He, the receivers and the offensive line’s blocking have to do a better job of meshing in order for the Phantoms to be successful through the air.
Phoenixville running back Vinny Nattle , who suffered a head injury against Unionville after enjoying a huge game against Great Valley, is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Joe Hill, a transfer from St. Pius X, is one of the Phoenixville players in the hunt for the starting job.
The Phantoms hope to improve their work against the passing game. Thus far they have been vulnerable to some big plays.
“We have to be more consistent on defense,” said Furlong.

Phoenixville/Great Valley Football Season Opener

Phoenixville High School kicks off the 2010 football season with a non-league game against Great Valley at Washington Field Friday night, Sept. 3.

The Phantoms have head coach Bill Furlong starting his eighth year at the helm. Phoenixville finished 3-6 in the PAC-10 (4-8 overall) last year.

Great Valley has a new head coach in Mike Choi, a former assistant coach with the Patriots under ex-head coach Gary Phillips. The Patriots closed at 2-3 in the Ches-Mont League (3-8 overall) last year.

Great Valley won last year’s encounter, 27-21, in overtime.

“It should be a good barometer,” said Furlong. “In the past, whoever won this game went on to have a good year in the playoffs. Last year we went to overtime, which was an omen. Neither of us had the season we wanted.”

Phoenixville has senior Tom Romano (6-0, 180) back for his third season at quarterback. Joining him in the backfield will be junior Travis Andrews (5-9, 181), junior Alec McQuiston (5-8, 166) and junior Vinny Nattle (5-11, 175).

The wide receivers are senior Dan Kain (5-9, 155) and senior Brendon Stone (5-7, 168) with sophomore Ryan Pannella (5-11, 156) at tight end.

Seniors Ken Cenci (5-10, 255) and Marcus Stokes (6-3, 291) are veteran two-way tackles. The guards are junior Jesse Gervasi (5-9, 181) and senior Torin Killeen (5-6, 165) with sophomore Tom White (5-10, 162) or junior Tim Hunt (5-11, 270) at center.

On defense, the Phantoms have moved junior Dennis Kelly (5-11, 171) from nose guard to end, where he will be joined by sophomore Kajhnel Norwood (5-7, 168). The interior linemen will be Cenci, Stokes, and junior Ernie Knight (6-1, 205), who missed much of last season with a concussion.

The linebackers are Andrews, Gervasi, Pannella and sophomore Ryan Yenchick (5-9, 162).

In the secondary are Kain, McQuiston, Nattle and Romano.

The placekicker is returning senior soccer player John McInally (5-11, 170). The punter will be either McInally or Romano.

Great Valley has a returning quarterback in senior Dave Hausladen, who will be directing a West Coast offense. Senior Chuckie Showers is a speedy running back and defensive back. The wide receivers are seniors Kevin Cox and Jesse Horn with senior Greg Havrilla at tight end.

Senior Dan Buchholz will anchor the offensive and defensive lines with senior Zach Anderson heading up the linebacker crew. Other linebackers being counted upon are seniors Chris Shaver, Ben Shipley and Pete Pappas.

“They have the quarterback and two wideouts so it looks like they are ready to throw the ball more than the past,” said Furlong. “They have a new coach and a new system. That could work for or against us.

“We have a lot of guys going both ways (offense, defense). We will have people hustling. We will be taking guys in and out.”

In other season openers tonight, Spring-Ford visits West Chester East, Owen J. Roberts travels to Conestoga, new PAC-10 entry Pope John Paul II is at Holy Name in Reading, Boyertown hosts Allentown Allen, Methacton is at Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Pottsgrove hosts Mastbaum, Upper Perkiomen hosts Muhlenberg and Daniel Boone is at Donegal.

In Saturday contests, Perkiomen Valley is at Lansdale Catholic at 11 a.m. and Pottstown visits St. Pius X Rosetto in Bangor at 1 p.m.