Methacton picks up first league win

by Jake Hallman, Special to The Pottstown Mercury

Posted on September 27, 2008

RED HILL — Tim Smith and Jim McHugh served up a statement to the rest of the Pioneer Athletic Conference Friday night.

And while the Methacton wide receiver/quarterback tandem was quick to point out it was just a start, as was Warriors head man Bob McNally, the 36-13 victory at Upper Perkiomen was more of a giant leap than a small step.

Bolstered by two touchdowns from the arm of McHugh (7-8, 271 yards two touchdowns), Methacton jumped out to a two-score lead, 21-7, at halftime.

In the second half, Upper Perk (1-2, 2-3) looked to make it a one-touchdown game, but Smith had other plans.

With the Indians deep in Warriors (1-2, 2-3) territory, the 6-foot-1, 175-pounder leaped through the air to pick off a pass on third down and returned it 47 yards to the Indians' 27.

Up until that point, the Tribe's hurry-up offense moved the ball well.

"Our defensive line was getting great pressure, and once we got to the ball, I was able to make the interception," said Smith, who led all receivers with three catches for 136 yards and two scores.

With the advantageous field position, Joe Nwanko hauled in a 21-pass from McHugh to open up a 27-7 lead.

Not quite done for the night, Smith added a 79-yard beauty as he out-jumped an Indian defensive back and then outraced the secondary for the score. Kicker Hamza Charradi capped the Warriors' scoring with a 40-yard field goal.

And though McNally and company were no doubt happy with the win, the third-year coach was quick to put the brakes on any big talk.

"It's our first PAC-10 win," said McNally. "We haven't won too many games on the road, so we'll start there and build from there. I think this was just a team coming together. We had a really great week of practice and put it all together on the field tonight."

Smith echoed that sentiment.

"We feel like we needed to show something because we haven't really done all that much in our first four games," Smith said. "We know some of the teams this year, so getting our first PAC-10 win is nice."

While McNally said a solid week of practice was key to the win, Upper Perk head coach Keith Leamer said the opposite was true.

"We lost this game on Monday and Tuesday of this week," Leamer said. "We played a great game last week (against Pottstown), but I told them that you can't live off that. We're not a good enough football team to just live off of our previous wins.

"And the PAC-10 is a great league. Lansdale Catholic is gone. But Methacton just took its place, and give all of their kids and coaches all the credit in the world — they came to play."

Smith's interception early in the third quarter slowed down the Indians' comeback bid but didn't stop it.

The Tribe moved the ball to the Warriors' 13-yard line late in the third quarter but fumbled the ball away to set up Charradi's boot.

Methacton's defense was just as active as its offense. Besides Smith's interception and a blocked kick for good measure, Brandon Rehborn (half sack) and Andrew Nicholson both had tackles for a loss. Chuck Kronmiller broke up two passes, as Patrick Savella, Brad Bennett (half sack) and Steve Capizzi all turned away one pass attempt each.

The Indians added to their first-half touchdown, a two-yard slant from Tommy Paul (15-32, 183 yards, TD, INT) to Kenny Golden, late in the fourth as Ryan Connor (18 carries, 84 yards, TD) bulled his way in from two yards out.

Golden led the Indians in receiving with four catches for 52 yards and a score as Britt Kerr (3 catches, 44 yards) and Connor made three grabs apiece.

Senior tailback Jeff Randall, who helped spell Connor due to junior tailback Shawn Wenhold's absence because of an ankle injury, carried the ball six times for 45 yards.

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