If you were to watch the first half alone of the PAC Championship Friday night between the Perkiomen Valley Vikings and the Pottsgrove Falcons, you would have thought that Pottsgrove strolled through the second half en route to a victory due to such sloppy play by the Vikings early on. If you were to watch the second half alone, you would think the exact opposite. The Vikings entirely shut out the Falcons in the second half, limiting the Falcons to 80 yards of total offense, four punts, and forcing a fumble on Pottsgrove’s (recovered by Jon Rotonda) final drive to seal the victory. Defensive leaders Ryan McCourt, Mario Scotese, Kevin Lovett, Noah Shine, and Nick Marron combines for 23.5 tackles, including 4 TFL’s (Tackle for Loss), a pass deflected, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. Pottsgrove’s Rahsul Faison finished with a jaw-dropping 129 rushing yards and two scores, but only six of those yards came in the second half.
On the first play from scrimmage, Faison coughed up the football after being rocked by PV’s Noah Shine. Immediately after, standout quarterback Stephen Sturm fond David Williams wide open for the 20-yard score to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead just 14 seconds into the game. The following drive for the Falcons, Ryan Finn found Dez Austin for a 37-yard TD. Later, in the second quarter, Faison burst into the second level of the Vikings defense, breaking numerous tackles making headway for a staggering 32-yard score to give Pottsgrove a 14-7 lead. At this point, this was the first time all season that Perk Valley was trailing. Lucky for the Vikings, the Falcons would not put up another point.
Late in the first half, Sturm broke free for a 52-yard carry down to the Pottsgrove 10-yard-line. Brendan Schimpf then punctuated the drive with a ten-yard touchdown up the gut. In the third quarter, Sturm led the Vikings offense methodically down the field before hitting Remy Sell on a crossing route for a 16-yard touchdown to give the Vikings a 21-14 lead. After the Vikings defense forced punt after punt, PV’s offense owned the time of possession. Nearly midway through the fourth and final quarter, speed-demon Ryan Cerula was given the green-light on a wide-receiver reverse from the Vikings that took the offense all the way down to the Pottsgrove 1-yard-line. David Williams then punched the ball in for the score on the ensuing play to give the Vikings a 28-14 lead and all of the momentum.
Pottsgrove attempted to make one last try, driving down the field late in the game. However, after being pressured by Kevin DelaCruz and Scotese, Finn coughed up the ball and it was recovered by PV’s Jon Rotonda. Sturm took two knees and the Vikings were PAC Champions.
This is the first time in PV’s program history that they have gone 10-0, and it is their second PAC-title in three years. Sturm finished with 185 yards and two touchdowns and PAC-leading receiver Justin Jaworski ended the game with 88 yards on five receptions, including a 55-yard bomb late in the game. Schimpf averaged 7.6 yards per carry with one touchdown and David Williams averaged four yards per carry with one touchdown. Pottsgrove will now play Upper Perk in the first round of the District 1 4A playoffs as the 2-seed, while Perk Valley will play Penn Wood as the 3-seed in the 6A playoffs.
