PHOENIXVILLE >> Phoenixville’s football team will require considerable help to win the PAC championship this season.
But after Friday’s 40-14 win over Upper Perkiomen, all the Phantoms’ other goals are well within reach.
“We want to host — and win — another home playoff game,” said coach Anthony Ciarlello. “We want to beat a Liberty Division team. Above all, we want to continue to be overachievers.”
So far, so good. At No. 7 coming into this week in a loaded District 1-5A field, the Phantoms are earning their way into the conversation with some of the area’s powerhouses. “We do not go backward,” said Ciarlello. “Getting better this year means winning at least two playoff games. We want to continue climbing the ladder.”
Phoenixville’s been doing it with the same recipe that’s led the program’s resurgence these past few years — a robust running game fueled by cohesive line play, and an efficient passing attack complemented by an increasingly stingy defense.
PAC leading rusher Deacon Williams added 126 yards to his season total, now approaching 1,100 yards for the season, while fellow senior Kevin Kingsbury did a little bit of everything for the hosts to make it a happy Homecoming at Phoenixville.
Kingsbury intercepted a pass early to thwart an Upper Perk threat, but the Phantoms couldn’t turn the pick into points. But after UP’s Zach Schwartz made it 7-0 on a six-yard TD run, Kingsbury was among the Phoenixville defenders who surrounded UP quarterback Logan O’Donnell on the end zone, forcing a safety and narrowing the Indians’ advantage to 7-2.
The first play of the second quarter saw Kingsbury break free up the seam and hail in the first of Talon Romance’s three touchdown passes, giving Phoenixville a lead they would not relinquish at 9-7.
After a quick three-and-out, Romance hit an open Patrick Carey to add to the lead before Kingsbury provided his biggest play of the evening. Lining up behind center, the senior all-purpose weapon took a direct snap and scampered 59 yards for his second touchdown. The Phantoms led, 23-7 and were well on their way to improving to 6-1 (3-1 PAC Frontier).
“I’ve been a four-year starter. I know there are a lot of ways I can help the team,” said Kingsbury, who also returned punts for Phoenixville. “I need to provide the example for what Phoenixville’s built to do.”
After a sluggish start, the Phantoms reeled off the game’s next 40 points, bookended by Upper Perk’s two scoring plays for the final margin. Kingsbury said falling behind 7-0 wasn’t any cause for panic on the home sideline. “When our energy levels are down,” the team captain explained, “we bring the team together and make it clear this isn’t how we do things. This isn’t how we play.”
But it’s more than just words. “I think it’s both – lead vocally and by example,” Kingsbury said. “But tonight all our captains cane together, stepped up and let our teammates know how it is.”
As spectacular as Kingsbury’s performance was, Phoenixville enjoys an equally important weapon in the special teams game. Junior placekicker Ryan Jacobson nailed a 35-yard field goal right before halftime, adding to his three touchbacks on kickoffs and a touchdown-saving tackle on the opening kickoff.
Jacobson, who also stars on the school’s PAC-leading boys’ soccer team, says it’s not hard to play two sports when he’s having this much fun. “I’ve been doing this for two years now,” he said, “I go to soccer practice, then I make it over here. In my spare time, I’m doing what I can to get better.”
In the next seven days, Jacobson has a PAC semifinal in soccer, followed by a potential PAC championship soccer game Thursday night before a critical football game with Pottsgrove on Friday.
“Really, it’s just a matter of staying prepared,” Jacobson explained, before rattling off a schedule of events that would make most heads spin, let alone an 11th grade student athlete.
He looked most prepared on the game’s first play, tackling Upper Perk’s return man at the Phoenixville 40 and preventing a would-be opening score.
“I was not expecting that,” Jacobson admitted. “I waited as long as I could for him to make a move, but when he didn’t, I had to step up and make a play.”
“He is a true student athlete,” added Ciarlello. “He’s really good at two sports that happen to be in the same season. I’m just grateful he’s a part of this team.”
Trey Lear added a 42-yard scoring run after the half to make it 33-7 Phoenixville, and Chris Mull hauled in a 21-yard strike from Romance with about four minutes to play in the third quarter.
Kane Krier of Upper Perkiomen powered across the goal line from six yards away early in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.
On a play-to-play basis, Upper Perkiomen (4-4, 1-3 PAC Frontier) performed better than the final score would indicate. Zach Schwartz ran for a game-high 171 yards and a touchdown but lost his backfield running mate Brody Weiss to injury early. Ultimately, big play and turnovers were the Indians’ undoing.
Upper Perk entered play at No. 13 in District 1-5A, a classification that advances 16 teams to the playoffs. After Friday’s result, UP is firmly on the bubble before hosting Pottstown next week and a PAC crossover game October 25. A split gives the Indians a chance at their first playoff berth in years, but a sweep would guarantee postseason play in only Dan Heinrichs’ second year atop the program – one that his counterpart at Phoenixville says is on the precipice of big things.
“We didn’t do a lot of things we usually do tonight – we were less aggressive on fourth downs – because that’s a dangerous team over there. I didn’t want us to make any mistakes out there. It makes the PAC stronger, but I’m not looking forward to playing that team (Upper Perk) in the future.”
The Phantoms take on Pottsgrove next Friday for a game with stakes ranging from the PAC Frontier race to the District 1-5A playoff chase. Each school’s only conference loss is to Pope John Paul II, who can clinch the Frontier with a win on Saturday over Pottstown.
If that happens, the Phoenixville/Pottsgrove game will determine second place in the Frontier. With Pottsgrove currently at No. 9 in the district rankings, the outcome will also go a long way toward determining both schools’ first-round District opponents, and potential destinations between a home or away contest in those playoffs.
“This is a program with great history,” Ciarlello concluded. “Players, coaches, championships. And we need to be the ones to get back there.”
