PHOENIXVILLE — Phoenixville began Friday night’s game with an impressive 12-play, 67-yard touchdown drive that lasted for more than half of the quarter against visiting Pottsgrove. That turned out to be the only score of the half for the Phantoms, and the Falcons tied it up with an equally impressive march to open the third quarter.
That, however, only seemed to put a fire under Phoenixville, which quickly came alive on both the offensive and defensive sides of the football.
Another 67-yard drive put the Phantoms back on top and they scored again on a fumble return a little more than a minute later. Then Phoenixville failed to score after an interception deep in Falcons territory, but wound up with a safety and drove for a touchdown after getting the ball back to break the game open in an eventual 36-13 Pioneer Athletic Conference win at Washington Field.
That gave the Phantoms second place in the Frontier Division. They will host the Liberty Division runner-up – the winner of Saturday’s Owen J. Roberts at Spring-Ford game – in a crossover contest on Friday before heading to the District 1-5A playoffs.
Deacon Williams rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns and Trey Lear scored on a 31-yard fumble return and a 10-yard run for Phoenixville (4-1 Frontier, 7-1 overall). Mikhi Dargan ran for 168 yards and two scores for the Falcons (3-2, 6-3), who will host the loser of OJR and Spring-Ford in a battle of third-place teams on Friday.
“After adversity, we woke up a little bit,” said Phoenixville coach Anthony Ciarlello. “It was a great football game. They prepared for us as well as we prepared for them. Coach (Bill) Hawthorne and his staff do a great job.”
“We had to adjust,” said Williams, who also plays linebacker on defense. “We knew they were going to hit up the middle. We had to adjust, stripping the ball. Trey stripped and scored. There were a lot of big plays that set us up.”
Williams carried the ball eight times on the night’s opening drive and ran two yards into the end zone for the early lead. Pottsgrove drove 55 yards in 16 plays in the second quarter but was stopped on a 4th-and-11 play at the Phoenixville 33, and a fumble by each team helped to keep the score at 7-0 Phantoms at the half.
A 4-yard Dargan run topped off Pottsgrove’s 70-yard drive to start the second half. But the Phantoms came right back with a 39-yard TD run by Williams less than four minutes later to go back on top. Then Lear scooped up a fumble on the bounce and sprinted 31 yards untouched into the end zone a few plays later to up the lead to 20-7.
An interception two plays later by Lanorde Wheeler set Phoenixville up at the Pottsgrove 12. The Phantoms lost the ball on downs at the five, but sacked the quarterback in the end zone on the next play and then drove 65 yards after the free kick, with Lear running in for the score and a 29-7 advantage midway through the fourth quarter. A 56-yard TD burst by Williams and a 74-yard run by Dargan in the final two minutes completed the scoring.
Phoenixville had just a 13-12 edge in first downs and the Falcons out-gained the Phantoms in total yards, 311 to 298. But Pottsgrove wound up with three turnovers to only one for the hosts.
“We turned the ball over and you can’t do that,” said Hawthorne. “Phoenixville did an outstanding job. They did everything right. We’ve just got to learn that details are important.”
“They were everything I thought they would be,” Ciarlello said concerning the Falcons. “Tough, physical, they pound it on the ground, slap you in the face.”
Phoenixville has now won three in a row over Pottsgrove. The Falcons lead the all-time series 34-27.
The Phantoms, currently ranked sixth in District 1-5A, think that whichever team they play next, the game will prepare them well for the upcoming playoffs.
“We look forward to playing good 6A schools,” said Williams. “Both teams will be a hard match-up for us. It’s at home, so it’s exciting. The kind of game that gives us a boost for districts.”
“Great games to show us what we’ll see in the coming weeks,” said Ciarlello.
Phoenixville 36, Pottsgrove 13
PG 0 0 7 6 – 13
PHX 7 0 13 16 – 36
Scoring Plays
PHX-Williams 2 run (Jacobson kick)
PG-Dargan 4 run (Gondos kick)
PHX-Williams 39 run (Jacobson kick)
PHX-Lear 31 fumble return (kick failed)
PHX- safety
PHX-Lear 10 run (Jacobson kick)
PHX-Williams 56 run (Jacobson kick)
PG- Dargan 74 run (kick failed)
PG PHX
First Downs 12 13
Yards Rushing 241 242
Yards Passing 70 56
Total Yards 311 298
Passes C-A-I 10-24-1 7-10-0
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1
Penalties-Yds 6-33 4-45
Punts-Avg 1-30.0 2-44.5
Individual Stats
Rushing
Pottsgrove: Dargan 16-168, 2 TD; Rivera 11-54; Palladino 2-9; Hawthorne 6-7; Waller 1-4; Totals 36-242, 2 TD.
Phoenixville: Williams 22-171, 3 TD; Lear 3-26, 1 TD; Romance 6-15; Kingsbury 2-14; Howard 1-14; Wheeler 1-2; Totals 35-242, 4 TD.
Passing
Pottsgrove: Hawthorne 10-24-70, INT.
Phoenixville: Romance 7-10-56.
Receiving
Pottsgrove: Sambrick 5-32; Doctor 4-30; Rivera 1-8; Totals 10-70.
Phoenixville: Kingsbury 3-49; Williams 2-3; Wheeler 1-5; Lear 1-(-1); Totals 7-56.
Interceptions: PHX-Wheeler.
