PAC late arrivals ready to return to field

PAC late arrivals ready

Opt-outs around the area caused the Pioneer Athletic Conference football season to be reduced to a six-team, round-robin format this season featuring the LibertyDivision schools (except Norristown) and Upper Perkiomen.

Now it appears that the fortunate timing of season resumptionsmay allow for an unofficial, abbreviated season in the FrontierDivision aswell. In the past fewweeks, Pope John Paul II, Pottsgrove, Pottstown, and Upper Merion have all opted back into fall sports, including football. When they needed opponents to fill out a schedule, they didn’t have to look far.

Hence, Pottsgrove will host Pope John Paul II this coming Friday night as both schools make their 2020 season debut. The following week, the Falcons will welcome Upper Merion for the Vikings’ season debut. By October 23, theGolden Panthers will travel to Upper Merion to complete a smaller ‘round-robin’ of their own in an effort to salvage a regular season before potentially qualifying for postseason play.

By month’s end, Pottsgrove will also visit Methacton for a cross-divisional showdown that, ironically, will come during what originally was scheduled to be PAC crossover week, when Liberty and Frontier division squads meet their divisional counterparts (first place plays first place, second plays second, and so on.)

Perkiomen Valley will meet Pope John Paul II that same week, while Upper Merion will meet Owen J. Roberts. The schools appear to be doing their best, purposely or otherwise, to honor the tradition of crossover week, even knowing the obvious caveats that apply to scheduling in the 2020 season.

Pottstown, who arrived at the party of

AUSTIN HERTZOG - MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE There will be football at Pottsgrove’s Rick Pennypacker Field for the first time this fall on Friday night when the Falcons host fellow Pioneer Athletic Conference late-comer Pope John Paul II.