UPPER PROVIDENCE >> Last year, Pope John Paul II’s league championship victory was treated as an underdog story.
This year was Cinderella’s turn to host the ball.
But the Golden Panthers aren’t sleepers anymore. The Pioneer Athletic Conference officially goes through Upper Providence after a 28-19 win over an excellent Perkiomen Valley team gave the Golden Panthers back-to-back league titles.
The game was more or less decided in the third quarter, with the teams exchanging big plays until – as was the case most of the evening – PJP was able to make the biggest play at the right time.
“They played an excellent game,” said Perkiomen Valley coach Rob Heist. “Good team, well coached, and they played hard for four quarters.
“We had a few plays get away from us, and that was the difference.”
Perhaps even more specifically, the Vikings had a few key players get away from them. Throughout the season, conventional wisdom has held that if you can contain Pope John Paul II’s all-around standout and Villanova commit Braden Reed, you can stop the Golden Panthers.
The good news/bad news scenario for Perkiomen Valley was they became the first team this season to truly limit Reed. But it didn’t spell victory.
Offensively, the primary reason was Reed’s fellow wideout junior Brandon DeAngelo. After Perkiomen Valley took a 19-14 lead just after halftime on an 82-yard strike from Patrick MacDonald to Joey Keough, the Vikings chose to stay away from Braden Reed on the ensuing kickoff. That meant DeAngelo fielded the kick just outside his own 20-yard line.
Cutting to the sideline, DeAngelo evaded two PV tacklers and tight-roped the sidelines to give the lead back to PJP just 11 seconds later at 21-19.
After defensive standout Anthony Borzillo (1.5 sacks, interception) caused a fumble on the ensuing PV drive, PJP quarterback Luke Terlesky found DeAngelo on a slant at about the PJP 35. The wideout did the rest, pulling away from the pursuit to give PJP a two-possession lead they would not relinquish.
For the night, DeAngelo finished with eight catches for 118 yards and a score, in addition to the momentum-shifting kick return. He pushed back, however, against the idea that he was the difference rather than Reed.
“Without Braden Reed, I don’t think the game happens this way,” he said. “The distraction he provides by teams having to focus on him allows me to get open. I have to thank Braden as well as my teammates and coaches.”
In particular, DeAngelo credited receivers coach Dakota Clanagan with pioneering his improvement over his two seasons at Pope John Paul II.
The game-winning kick return touchdown, however, was a couple years in the making – before DeAngelo’s time at the school, in fact.
“Two years ago, I know special teams was a big part of the difference in this game (a 21-14 Perkiomen Valley victory),” said DeAngelo.
“If Brandon gets single coverage, he’s going to do special things with the ball,” said PJP coach Scott Reed. “He’s a hard-working kid, and everybody got to see what he can do tonight.”
Given the strength of kicker Juliun Corropolese’s leg, it would stand to reason that PV may have looked to avoid kicking deep to Reed on the play that turned into DeAngelo’s game-winning kickoff return. But the play yielded the precise result they feared – just from a different source.
“If you don’t see me as a threat, you will pay for it,” said DeAngelo.
Perkiomen Valley had chances to rally, especially after recovering a muffed punt at the PJP 20 with about seven minutes to play. But Dylan Skarbek squashed that hope with an interception just outside the end zone.
On PV’s final drive, it was Borzillo picking off an attempted delayed screen pass and returning the ball to midfield, allowing the Golden Panthers to run out the clock and celebrate a second consecutive title.
Borzillo grew up in the Perkiomen Valley School District but headed to Malvern Prep in ninth grade before making the change to PJP this past summer.
“It’s been the right choice for me,” said Borzillo. “This environment, the coaches, everything here gave me the best chance to play college football.”
Borzillo was around the ball all night, but said the interception fulfilled a promise to his parents. “I always said I was gonna get one (interception) this year,” said the senior lineman. “I guess the timing couldn’t have been better.”
“What an athletic play,” marveled coach Reed. “It’s one thing to break up the play, but to make the grab and pretty much close the game out is special. I couldn’t be happier for him – he’s a great kid, a great student, and I consider myself lucky that I got a year with him.”
As a first-year PJP student, Borzillo will not be eligible for the postseason. But he wouldn’t trade Friday night for that opportunity.
“This is the best way to go out,” he confirmed. “It would be great to play until we lose, but this is a story tale ending.”
It was an unfamiliar role for Pope John Paul II, but it suited the Golden Panthers perfectly.
PJP has appeared in every PAC title game since 2019 as Frontier Division champions, but this time they arrived as the hunted after winning the 2023 PAC championship.
But the new role changed nothing about the Golden Panthers’ approach. They played with the same aggression and fearlessness that’s elevated the young school into a league and District powerhouse over the past half-dozen seasons.
For the second straight year, PJP won the PAC title with explosive second-half plays, and like last year they Golden Panthers first weathered a slower-paced first half centered more on play-to-play execution.
The slower start is to be expected when two coaches are as familiar with one another as PV’s Heist and PJP’s Reed.
The two coaches spent a dozen years working together when Heist was a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Reed at Perkiomen Valley from 2004 to 2015.
The Liberty champion Vikings came out hot, forcing a three-and-out before embarking on a seven-play, 80-yard drive culminating in a 3-yard run from Patrick MacDonald to take a 6-0 lead.
An uneven start from PJP yielded an early interception around midfield, but the defending champs found some offensive traction as QB Terlesky found a rapport with DeAngelo, leading to a half-dozen first half receptions. This gave way to Terlesky beginning to shine in the read game with Dylan Skarbek, with each ripping off a long run on a 12-play drive ending in Skarbek’s 22-yard TD to give PJP its first lead at 7-6.
The Golden Panthers followed with a penalty-aided journey, and Braden Reed finished the drive with a 4-yard score. But just as PJP appeared poised to take a full-score lead to the break, Colin Sturges got rolling on the ground for the Vikings with consecutive 15-yard carries.
That was where Heist got creative, sending Sturges in motion and using the diversion to free up Joey Keough over the middle for his first of two scores just before the half.
For Perkiomen Valley, QB MacDonald led the offense with 177 yards passing for two scores in addition to his rushing touchdown. Keough made the most of four receptions with 138 yards and both TD receptions from MacDonald.
The Vikings outgained the Golden Panthers on the evening, as the offensive line was able to pave out enough space for almost six yards per carry. QB MacDonald led the team, but Colin Sturges and Anthony Rodriguez contributed multiple key first-down runs for the Vikings.
At a record of 7-3 (5-1 PAC), the Vikings are in a tight battle for playoff positioning but appear to have earned the right to host a first-round District 1-6A playoff contest next week, with their opponent also to be determined on Sunday.
“We’re going to let this sting for a day or so,” said Heist, who suffered his first loss after five PAC championship game victories, “and then it’s back to getting ready for the 6A playoffs.”
It wouldn’t be necessarily accurate to call the Golden Panthers favorites in Friday night’s contest. Most people saw the contest as a genuine tossup, and the outcome and play-by-play validated that. But it was the first time PJP wasn’t the outright underdogs. Too close to call on paper, several factors appeared to tilt the scales ever-so-slightly in favor of the defending champs from PJP – home-field advantage, defending their title, and playing with revenge from consecutive PAC championship losses to PV in 2021 and 2022.
“Last year gave us the confidence,” said Reed, “and the seniors wanted to do this for themselves. It wasn’t so much about revenge for two years ago as it was the knowledge that a really good football team was coming in here, and we had a chance to play our best football.”
Winning a second consecutive league championship is a big goal accomplished for PJP, but it’s just the start of their journey. Now 9-1 (6-0 PAC), the Golden Panthers will embark on a defense of their District 1-4 title next week, hosting a District semifinal as the No. 1 seed. Opponents won’t be officially determined until Sunday.
The playoffs can wait. Friday night was about league bragging rights, and Pope John Paul II demonstrated they’re no longer the plucky, lovable underdogs. In only his third year at the helm, Reed has led the Golden Panthers to two PAC titles and added a District banner to the one claimed by former coach Rory Graver and his team back in 2019.
In terms of student body enrollment, PJP may be the PAC’s smallest school. But after Friday night — and the past two seasons in totality – it’ll be a long while before anyone confuses the Golden Panthers with underdogs.
“I don’t know if it changes anything,” said Scott Reed. “I look at each game and take a 1-0 mentality. I’m proudest of the kids, their work ethic, our coaching staff and how it’s all come together to help us build a program.
“But when you’re at the top of the mountain, everybody’s climbing for your spot. That’ll keep us sharp.”
