Shining Bright
Pottstown players finally able to live childhood dream
O wen Morton used to dream of playing under the lights at Pottstown High Schools Grigg Memorial Field. Same too for Jamal Adams, Tom Doyle and Anthony Wiggins.
Each as a young kid up through middle school would make the trip to their hometown field and dream about being on the field in their high school days playing in front of their hometown, their family and friends. When the lights went out, so did their dreams. This year however, with the help of a $250,000 grant bestowed by State Sen. Robert Mensch, the Trojan players will finally be able to live what they imagined when they were young. A new lighting system is under construction and should be completed in time for the Trojans’ Week 3 contest against Bishop Shanahan on September 8.
“It’s going to be a great moment for us to be able to finally step out onto our home field on a Friday night,” Morton, now a senior quarterback, said. “We’ve waited a long time for this to happen. It’s a dream come true.”
“Having this for our senior year is huge,” added Adams. “We’ve been raising money for a long time and to finally have it the year before we leave high school, it’s going to bring some excitement to our program.”
Four years have passed since Pottstown played their last night game at Grigg Memorial Stadium, a 40-0 loss to Spring-Ford. The lights were removed later that school year in May of 2014 due to safety concerns of the old wooden beams that supported the light structure.
The construction crews removed more than dilapidated wooden beams when they hauled the lights away.
Attendance sunk dramatically. Saturday games often were sights of a quarter-filled stadium, most coming and going throughout the game. Even a winning record didn’t matter too much, the stands stood a little more crowded as Brandon Tinson and the Trojans sprung to a 6-1 start in 2015 that ended with a berth into the District 1 Class 3A playoffs. Attendance returned to normal last season as Morton and the Trojans struggled to a 2-9 finish.
“When we were young and growing up into middle school, we used to watch the games on Friday night and we imagined playing there just like that when we got into high school,” Morton said. “Once we got into high school and found out that we didn’t have the lights, it was a gut punch.”
Prospects didn’t appear promising entering Morton’s senior season, either. The Pottstown School District didn’t have the money to take on the $300,000 cost for the new lighting system and the community’s Save the Lights campaign struggled to gain traction among a community that questioned the importance of the lights on nearly all articles posted on The Pottstown Mercury’s Facebook page.
All changed when Mensch appeared at a school board meeting in the spring with a grant in hand.
“There’s nothing like a home Friday night game,” running back Anthony Wiggins said. “You get butterflies going to an away Friday night game. When you’re home, you have your own people here in your own backyard doing what you love to do. I feel as if the whole vibe is completely different now that we have lights. I can’t wait to get started.”
Wipe the Slate Clean
Don’t expect many career records to be broken this season, but do expect some fresh faces to appear on the top of the statistical leaderboards in 2017. Departed may arguably be the best senior class the Pioneer Athletic Conference has seen, including the likes of PIAA All-Time leading passer in the highest classification Stephen Sturm from Perkiomen Valley, PAC all-time leading receiver Justin Jaworski, Spring-Ford tandem backs Matt Gibson and Selwyn Simpson, who combined for nearly 1,600 rushing yards, and Phoenixville’s Matt Garcia and his 1,820 rushing yards among others.
Pottsgrove’s Rahsul Faison (2,093 yards and 26 touchdowns on 281 attempts) and Upper Perkiomen running back Tyler Whary (1,193 and 12 touchdowns) are the league’s top returning rushers. The next top returner finished 10th in 2017: SpringFord’s Justin DeFrancesco (504 yards). He expects to be a Stone Scarcelle type player for the Rams in 2017, lining up everywhere and doing everything the team needs.
Ryan Kendra (Upper Perkiomen) returns as the league’s leading receiver after hauling in 50 receptions for 749 yards, good for third best in the PAC. From there, Dan Cirino (PJP) is next. He finished 10th in the league with 46 receptions for 470 yards.
The exodus of seniors also effects special teams with top point getter Garrett Patla (Perkiomen Valley) now at Cornell after booting 58 extra points and nine field goals last season. Erick Rodriguez also departs after setting a Spring-Ford singleseason record for most points with 76, breaking the previous mark of 70 set by Ryan O’Hara in 2011.
Leader Predictions for 2017
PASSING » Spring-Ford’s TJ Pergine looked a whole lot more comfortable in the pocket
as the season went on. His safe throws along the sideline gradually transformed into taking shots down the middle, none prettier than his touchdown pass to Scarcelle between double coverage in the team’s District 1 Class 6A playoff loss to North Penn last season. He’ll have new targets around him but Spring-Ford always finds a way to maximize talent.
RUSHING » Pottsgrove’s Faison is the easy pick here. Defenses can load seven or eight in the box against him but trying to counter a Rick Pennypacker coached team usually ends up fruitless. Pottsgrove players know who they are and what they need to do and it should lend a helping hand into giving Faison some lanes.
RECEIVING » Kendra from Upper Perkiomen remains the top target for now. With Tyler Keyser, his old quarterback in eighth grade, replacing the graduated Zeke Hallman,
expect even more yards and catches to go to Kendra.
INTERCEPTIONS » Pottsgrove’s Kobey Baldwin already picked off a pass in Saturday’s scrimmage against Perkiomen Valley. He’s almost unbeatable in man-coverage and knows how to position himself well. He finished last season with two interceptions, but it could be higher in 2017.
New Guys in Town
The Pioneer Athletic Conference has three new coaches at the helm of their respective schools. TJ Miller takes over at Boyertown while Mark Fischer takes over Pottstown and Victor Brown at Upper Merion.
Miller joins the Bears as the 13th head coach in school history after serving as an assistant coach at Governor Mifflin, Penn Manor and Muhlenerg. He’ll bring Muhlenberg’s style of offense into the PAC, as the Bears will become the only team in the league to run the triple option.
Fischer joins the Trojans after serving as the offensive coordinator for Phoenixville the past two seasons. He brings a wealth of coaching experience to the program. He started his coaching career 12 years ago for Exeter’s junior high team before serving as the special teams, receivers, defensive backs coach and junior varsity offensive coordinator at Wissahickon. Two of those seasons ended in district playoff berths.
Brown enters the Vikings’ program after serving under Spring-Ford’s Chad Brubaker last season. He’s had a diversified coaching background that led him to stops at Albright (2008-2014 tight ends, recruitment), Reading (2004-2007 head coach), Wilson West-Lawn (2001-2004 DL coach), Sun Valley and Bloomsburg University. Power Up
Upper Perkiomen’s Cole Fryer and Tyler Whary continue to shine at Glen Mills’ Power Lifting Competition. Fryer took first place in the bench-press competition with a bench of 350-pounds. Whary took second in the deadlift with a lift of 520. New Digs, New Look Each year seems to bring something new for the Spring-Ford football program. This year is no exception as Coach McNelly Stadium got a facelift with new turf installation. The team also got a makeover, their helmets now featuring a checkered stripe and a checkered SF logo.