Boyertown, Upper Perkiomen line up for title

by Don Seeley, Pottstown Mercury Sports Editor

Posted on November 23, 2006

RED HILL -- The Pioneer Athletic Conference race has been an exciting one, to say the least, this season. Boyertown was oh so slow out of the gate, Pottsgrove slipped at the first turn, Lansdale Catholic broke stride at the midway mark, and Upper Perkiomen stumbled around the last turn.

Well, the dash down the stretch gets under way bright and early today (10 a.m.), and it’ll be Boyertown and Upper Perkiomen chasing one another for the PAC-10 title.

The Bears, just 1-1 and 1-3 overall a month into the season, have been on a tear, winning six straight league games before falling two weeks ago in the opening round of the District 1-Class AAAA playoffs. Upper Perkiomen, an impressive 7-0, 8-1 overall and seemingly well in front of the pack, has yet to win this month, getting upset by Perkiomen Valley three weeks ago and then dumped by Garnet Valley two weeks ago in the opening round of the District 1-Class AAA playoffs.

But even though one has been huffing and the other puffing, rest assured both are lining up this morning with the confidence and the intention of blowing the other’s door in.

"Everytime we play (Upper Perkiomen) it’s always a good game," said Boyertown head coach Ron Zeiber.

"This is the game the kids have looked forward to all year," added Upper Perkiomen head coach Keith Leamer.

The Bears and Indians are meeting for the 49th time in the series that dates back to 1952. But none, not even their showdown two years - when the Bears surprised their Indians, 19-0, to deny them a share of the PAC-10 title - comes close to the magnitude of today’s "Rumble in Red Hill."

And it should be a good one, if only because the game features two of the more productive offenses, thanks in part to two very good lines, and two of the area’s premier individual talents behind those lines - Boyertown running back Chris McGee and Upper Perkiomen quarterback Sean Nevin.

It’s no secret Boyertown hasn’t been the same team since Zeiber pulled McGee in from wideout and inserted him into the backfield.

The change came during Week Six’s win over Owen J. Roberts, when McGee carried 12 times for 123 yards and three touchdowns. Going into that game, McGee had run 20 times for 145 yards and two scores..he now has 1,176 yards and an area-high 23 TDs.

"When (running back) Alex Neiman got hurt, it forced us to scramble a bit," Zeiber explained.

"We knew we had to get some experience back there."

McGee was the obvious choice, but not necessarily because of the obvious reasons. The senior was inadvertently poked in the eye and lost his contact lens in the game with OJR. He was forced to take out the other lens.

"Chris came over to us during the game and said, ‘Coach, I can’t see a thing,’ " Zeiber recalled. "Well, I told him he could see if we handed him the ball. We had always looked at him as an open-field (threat). But he sure proved he can crack it inside the tackles."

One of the reasons is Boyertown’s front line, which features Justin Giles at center, Justin Bernhard and Scott Schaeffer at the guards, and Keith Schauder and Tyler Sands at the tackles. It’s a formidable group, which has not only paved the way for McGee and a run game that averages 179 yards against PAC-10 rivals, but for quarterback David Crognale, who has skirted defenses inside and outside for 780 yards and passed for another 950 himself.

"Once they moved McGee they became an explosive offense," Leamer said. "We’ve seen that on any given play he can take it all the way. You really can’t stop (Boyertown), so we have to limit them, keep their offense off the field.

"Right now, that’s what concerns us because we really haven’t shut a team down all year. The kids are in the right spots, but we’re not making the plays. We’re not gang-tackling, not getting to the ball. We have to play with an attitude, play with some excitement."

Upper Perkiomen’s front five - featuring center Tyler Hild, twin-brother guards John and Tom Artim, and tackles John Fieger and Matt Fody - who have been quite proficient this fall, are determined to continue playing with their attitude.

That group has made it a lot easier for Nevin, who has run up 654 yards and an amazing 16 touchdowns as well as thrown for another 1,541 yards. For added measure, Chris Lepore - who needs just 82 yards today to reach the coveted 1,000-yard mark - and the fleet Shawn Wenhold add to the ground game. And when Nevin decides to go up top, or is forced to, he has the area’s leading receiver in Kellen Jarrett.

"(Upper Perkiomen’s) offense is very versatile," Zeiber said. "They force you to prepare for so many things. They give you so many different looks.

"Their quarterback (Nevin) is our main concern. He runs the ball a lot, and if they get into a tough situation he’s their go-to guy. He certainly can pass, too. He throws a good ball, so he alone is a two-way threat."

"Our offense has done a tremendous job all year," Leamer said. "We’ve worked hard to get our offense to the point it’s not so predictable. Two years ago we ran the ball very well, and last year we threw the ball real well. This year it’s seemed to come together ..we can run and we can throw. We’ve got that mix."

"We’re definitely going to have to play a good game defensively against (Upper Perkiomen’s) offense," added Zeiber. "We’ve given up some yards, but fortunately we’ve been able to create turnovers. We hope to be able to continue that. We certainly have to slow them down."

Slowing down is something the Bears haven’t done for almost six weeks now.

"After that slow start our seniors sat everyone down and basically said they can’t let (the losses) continue to happen," Zeiber explained. "They told everyone not to give up, that there was a lot to play for yet, and they began to step it up.

"Getting into the playoffs was good for the school and good for the program. We did lose that game (to Downingtown West), but the kids knew they still had something to play for."

That was the essence of Leamer’s sermon following the setback to Garnet Valley two weeks ago.

"These kids have been picked to be No. 1 and win the PAC-10 title since Day One," he said. "I think the pressure of getting into the playoffs and winning a title got to them a little bit. So we gave them some time off, some time to look in the mirror.

"The big thing missing was that they weren’t having any fun anymore. So after the time off, they’ve come back and everyone seems to be enjoying it again. But we still have to go out and play our game, play our ‘A’ game. If we do, things will take care of themselves."

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