ROYERSFORD >> Owen J. Roberts head coach Rich Kolka worked for years to celebrate a moment like Saturday’s last-second, 27-25 win over Spring-Ford.
But for Kolka, the celebration was short lived.
“I think I just tore my Achilles,” the coach said as he hugged junior kicker Ryan Touhey, the final hero for OJR on an afternoon filled with standouts. “I felt something, or someone hit me as we came off the sideline.”
“Doesn’t matter though. That might be the best game I’ve been a part of.”
It was certainly one of the least predictable. The Wildcats squandered a 12-point fourth-quarter lead before racing the length of the field in 56 seconds to set up Touhey’s 33-yard game-winning kick with no time remaining.
“When I kick, I can usually tell whether it’s good when the ball leaves my foot,” said Touhey, in only his second year of football after a childhood spent playing soccer.
“But this time was different. I couldn’t hear anything, and it felt like everything was shaking. But it felt great off my foot, so I just prepared myself because I knew I was going to get jumped on by my (celebrating) teammates.”
And rightfully so. The ‘Cats deserved the ensuing celebration after beating Spring-Ford for the first time in seven years and improving to 8-1 (4-1 PAC Liberty).
For years, Kolka talked about major goals for the OJR program – specifically, hosting a home District playoff game, a task that would require overcoming division stalwarts Perkiomen Valley and Spring-Ford.
The Vikings remain a puzzle, but OJR got the monkey off their backs against the Rams in grand fashion Saturday.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. Maybe tonight when I’m lying in bed, it will,” said senior wide receiver Dylan Drumheller, whose career-high 168 yards receiving kept the Wildcats offense humming throughout the back-and-forth contest.
“I’m just so proud of all these guys. That took a full team effort for 48 minutes today.”
OJR appeared to be in position to salt the victory away four minutes earlier. Leading 24-18 and with possession at the Spring-Ford 11, Rams linebacker Nick Garzarella registered his second sack of the day, this time stripping the ball from OJR quarterback Corey Schock (304 yards passing, 2 TDs).
From there, it was the Rams embarking on a 12-play, 82-yard drive engineered by sophomore quarterback Trent Yoder, showing his obvious growth within the offense since taking over for an injured Matt Zollers last month.
A highlight-reel catch by Jordan Marsilio set up Jamal Lewis’ 4-yard touchdown run with 56 seconds left. The Rams, plagued by long-snapping issues throughout the contest, executed their first conversion of the day to take their first lead at 25-24.
But Schock quickly hit Drumheller, Troy Swittenburg, and Justin Daubert twice for completions, including Daubert’s sliding reception to put the ‘Cats in field goal range. With seven seconds left, Schock scampered for eight valuable yards before calling time out to set up Touhey’s heroics.
“(Dylan) doesn’t get nearly enough credit in this offense,” said Schock. “We knew someone would have to step up today. He was the one to do it.”
Kolka’s injury wasn’t the most impactful in this game. Spring-Ford has lost Zollers and several other seniors this year, while OJR played without sophomore All-Area back Mekhi Graham.
But you wouldn’t know it from the box score, with each offense amassing over 300 total yards in a seesaw battle.
A disjointed first half saw OJR start fast, as the offense overcame the absence of Graham plus some early penalties to turn a fourth-down opportunity into a 39-yard touchdown from Schock to sophomore Matt Gregory.
OJR forced a fumble on the first play of Spring-Ford’s ensuing drive, and Touhey’s 26-yard field goal gave the visiting Wildcats an early 10-0 advantage.
Spring-Ford found some traction late in the first quarter, with Yoder finding emerging freshman Rowan Harmon for a pair of first downs before a long pass to senior Chase Blanken got the Rams in scoring position.
On 3rd and 15, the Rams ran a misdirection reverse that initially looked similar to the famed Philly Special. The difference was that QB Yoder stayed in place to fire the pass to wide-open Ryan Kerchner for a 15-yard score. Despite the botched snap on the conversion, the hosts moved within 10-6.
In the second quarter, a battle of defenses ensued, with both teams forcing a pair of turnovers and OJR turning away Spring-Ford twice deep in their territory, as the Rams’ special teams woes continued on another exchanged on a would-be field goal attempt.
The offenses exchanged touchdowns on their opening possessions of the second half, but OJR’s nine-play, 80-yard drive at the end of the third culminated in Schock’s sneak for a 24-12 advantage, setting the stage for the roller-coaster fourth quarter.
The win sets up a showdown of one-loss teams next Friday at Phoenixville, where the PAC’s two second-place squads will meet. OJR appears to be in good position for their long-awaited home game but can remove all doubt with a win next week.
“We had the short week turnaround last week when we played Methacton, and that didn’t really affect us,” said Schock. “I think we’ll be ready to go.”
For Spring-Ford (4-5, 3-2 PAC Liberty) the situation is a little more dire next week when they take on Pottsgrove in the battle of third-place squads. The Rams will need a win to fight their way back into the District 1-6A playoff field.
Senior wide receiver Jordan Marsilio was a standout for Spring-Ford with seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. The wide receiver, who’s started garnering attention from Division 1 programs, has been instrumental as a leader allowing the offense to continue to grow since the loss of Zollers.
“Jordan hasn’t really been 100 percent healthy yet this season,” said coach Chad Brubaker. “But he’s so valuable to this team. He’s even been helping with getting people lined up to take some pressure off of (Yoder).
“Right now, we’re trying to squeeze everything we can out of this roster. We were missing (All-area linebacker) Brady Welsh today, we had some JV kids out there contributing. And we didn’t quit once. We’re going to get ourselves ready to go after it again next week.”
But the afternoon belonged to Touhey and the Wildcats. Brand new to the sport just a year ago, the kicker has already cemented his place in program history.
“He hasn’t had to save us too much,” said Schock. “I’m sure glad he was here today though.”
But now, the Wildcats have to find a way to replace their suddenly hobbled coach – or do they?
“I’ll coach from the press box if I have to,” laughed Kolka while receiving medical attention. “We’ve got a lot of guts on this team. We have great senior leadership, our quarterback is fearless, and now look at our kicker. This is a great team to coach.”
Notes: Spring-Ford celebrated their Homecoming, with Steven Cox and Natalie Hin named the 2024 Homecoming King and Queen.
BOX SCORE
Owen J. Roberts 27, Spring-Ford 25
Owen J. Roberts — 10 0 14 3 — 27
Spring-Ford — 6 0 6 13 — 25
SCORING PLAYS
OJR — Gregory 39 pass from Schock (Touhey kick)
OJR — Touhey 26 FG
SF — Kerchner 15 pass from Yoder (pass failed)
OJR — Drumheller 7 pass from Schock (Touhey kick)
SF — Hinkle 22 run (run failed)
OJR — Schock 1 run (pass failed)
SF — Marsilio 28 pass from Yoder (run failed)
SF— J. Lewis 4 run (Fields kick)
OJR — Touhey 33 FG
TEAM STATISTICS
OJR SF
First Downs 19 16
Rushing Yards 78 126
Passing Yards 304 182
Total Yards 382 308
Passes C-A-I 19-31-1 14-23-1
Fumbles-Lost 4-2 2-1
Penalties-Yards 6-42 5-49
Punts-Avg. 3-18.7 1-33
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Owen J. Roberts – Justin Daubert 16-50, Schock 10-28; TD.
Spring-Ford – J. Lewis 21-77; TD, Hinkle 6-66; TD, B. Turner 1-5, Marsilio 1-5, Yoder 1-(minus-7), Team 1-(minus-20).
Passing
Owen J. Roberts – Schock 19-31, 304 yards, 2 TD, INT.
Spring-Ford – Yoder 14-23, 182 yards, 2 TD, INT.
Receiving
Owen J. Roberts – Drumheller 9-168; TD, Justin Daubert 4-50, Gregory 3-67; TD, Jeremy Daubert 1-10, Swittenburg 1-7, J. Miller 1-2.
Spring-Ford – Marsilio 7-96; TD, Harmon 2-15, Blanken 1-32, Kerchner 1-15; TD, J. Lewis 1-11, B. Turner 1-8, Hinkle 1-5.
Sacks: Owen J. Roberts – Lehman.
Spring-Ford – Garzarella 2, Roberts, McLeod.
Interceptions: Owen J. Roberts – Gregory.
Spring-Ford – B. Turner.
