Bears defense shuts down Indians to win PAC-10 title

by Don Seeley, Pottstown Mercury Sports Editor

Posted on November 24, 2006

RED HILL -- One month into the season, Boyertown had one win and three very glaring, not to mention humbling, notches in the loss column. All the preseason hype suddenly seemed shallow, the devoted following’s expectations seemed a bit unreasonable ..and the individual hopes and dreams were crumbling.

Fading quickly.

But not vanishing.

The Bears, one by one and then collectively, stepped up and played catch-up for the ensuing six weeks. And Thursday morning, in occasional but annoying rain and inescapable mud -- and in front of their anything but fair-weather fans -- they completed the comeback like a genuine combatant with a 7-0 win over host Upper Perkiomen for the Pioneer Athletic Conference title.

Chris McGee, who generated a lot of attention and a lot of support for the league’s MVP this season -- and didn’t lose any votes in the final game of his outstanding high school career -- took a handoff around the left side, sidestepped the puddles and Indians’ defense, and went 18 yards for the showdown’s lone touchdown with 6:09 left in the first half.

But forget that lone offensive hurrah.

Defense, and a lot of it -- not necessarily the playing conditions -- dictated the"Rumble in Red Hill" and more important, delivered Boyertown its first football championship in 29 years, or since 1977’s drive to the Ches-Mont League title.

"We wanted to bring (the title) back, bring it back to the town," said defensive end Justin Giles, who had an absolute monster game with four sacks and, unofficially, 14 tackles overall. "I mean, how many times have we finished in second place? We wanted this. Now (Boyertown) can build on it."

"This (title) just feels awesome," added McGee, who may have been the offensive workhorse with 22 carries for 84 yards but also added some crushing drops out of the Boyertown secondary. "This is our first championship in the PAC-10, and it’s my first championship since I’ve been playing football."

Though they took the longest road imaginable in winning the title, the Bears (8-1, 9-3 overall) achieved what they set out to do by shutting down the PAC-10’s most dangerous and most productive offense. At the halfway mark, the Indians had just 48 net yards, and by the end of the affair only 114 - well, well below the 333 yards they averaged against their previous eight PAC-10 rivals.

The stops, many in a very authoritative nature, came from up front, in the middle and, when needed, in the secondary. Upper Perkiomen quarterback Sean Nevin, another MVP candidate, couldn’t find his way through, over or around that Boyertown defense, finishing with minus-six yards on 18 attempts. And with the conditions as well as constant pressure up front hampering his passing game, he was only able to hit 9 of 19 tosses -- one of which was intercepted by Nole Saylor -- for 76 yards.

"Our defense just stepped it up," said head coach Ron Zeiber, who was a sophomore in high school the last time a Boyertown team won a football title. "These guys shut down a high-powered offense. Sure, the field slowed (Upper Perkiomen) down a bit, but we came up with big plays the whole game.

"I’m just so proud of what our defense did. They really stepped up when we needed them to."

Nevin noticed. So did the potentially explosive tandem of Colin Lepore and Shawn Wenhold who, along with Nevin’s totals, were limited to just 38 yards on 36 carries.

"(Boyertown’s) defense came to play," said a dejected Upper Perkiomen head coach Keith Leamer, who lost a share of the 2004 title when the Bears upset the Indians on the same field. "We tried to do a few things a little differently in the beginning, but couldn’t get it going.

"Their defense hurt us because we like to throw the ball more. They’re more of a run team with McGee and (quarterback David) Crognale. But we like to mix it up by running the ball and throwing in some play-action. But we couldn’t do that today."

Upper Perkiomen crossed midfield just twice in the first half. One drive reached the Bears’ 42 but ended in a punt. The other got to the guests’ 38 but ended on the first of Giles’ four sacks of Nevin.

It got worse -- for the Indians, that is -- in the second half.

Thanks in part to Kellen Jarrett’s 24-yard punt return, the Indians started on the Bears’ 49-yard line. But seven snaps later, a big hit by the Bears’ Alex Neiman on third down and an incompletion on fourth down ended the possession at the 33.

Upper Perkiomen (7-2, 8-4) would never see the other side of midfield the rest of the morning.

"We wanted to stop them and we did," Giles said. "I never would’ve believed this, that we went against the top (offense) in the league and shut them down. We stopped Nevin and we stopped their offense."

The effort, and win of course, overshadowed an impressive performance by the Upper Perkiomen defense, too. The Indians held McGee to just those 84 yards -- the first time he’s been under the 100-yard mark since moving into the running back slot a month and a half ago -- and, thanks in part to Dan Jones’ one sack, limited the dangerous Crognale to 47 yards, which accounted for most of the Bears’ total offense of 208 yards.

"One missed tackle," Leamer said of McGee’s touchdown run. "Otherwise, we played great defense. This is just hard to stomach right now."

Understandably so.

"Our kids knew deep in their stomach that this was a big game," Zeiber said. "This was a big deal. It was a big deal for the kids and a big deal for (the coaches). They stuck together all year. They didn’t give up. They never quit."

"Once we got it rolling we played as a team and turned it around," McGee said.

"That 1-3 start was a defining point," added Giles. "We started winning after that. We knew we had something special going."

NOTES

Boyertown senior Keith Schauder, a two-way lineman, was injured at the 7:57 mark of the second quarter and didn’t return. Schauder, who watched the second half from a wheelchair behind the Bears’ bench, was told he suffered a fracture in his right leg. ..Brian Rakowski ran for 38 yards and caught two passes for 40 yards for the Bears. ..Chris Walker had a fumble recovery for the Indians, who were blanked on the scoreboard for the first time since a 6-0 loss to Lansdale Catholic during Week Six last year. ..Jarrett had four receptions to finish the season with 75 and his career with 100, joining St. Pius X graduates Mike Todd (169) and LeRyan Dallas (102) as the area’s only receivers with 100 or more career receptions.

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