The Vikings of Perkiomen Valley High School advanced to the District I semifinals Friday night after their 44 to 21 win over the Cougars of Downingtown East High School. The Vikings started fast and finished the same, ending with 374 total yards of offense (due to a combined six yards rushing by Stephen Sturm, David Williams, Justin Jaworski, Brendan Schimpf, and Rasheed May), 368 courtesy of record-setting quarterback Stephen Sturm.
Sturm most recently joined elite company in the Pennsylvania high school football record books. With Sturm’s 347 passing yards Friday night, his now 8, 261 career yards moves him into first place all-time for career passing yards by a class 4A-6A player. He moves past Downingtown East’s Pat Devlin (now a backup quarterback for the Cleveland Browns practice squad), who threw for 8,162 yards from 2002-2005. Sturm, who has thrown for over 3, 150 yards and 40 touchdowns this season, also broke his own PAC record for most single-season passing yards.
In the freezing cold weather, PV’s star receivers were the key. Seniors Justin Jaworski and Sean Owens combined for 303 yards of receiving and three touchdowns. Juniors Brendan Schimpf and Remy Sell added on another 45 yards, while David Williams added on two yards off of one reception for one touchdown.
In the end, the Vikings defense was the difference maker. The inside linebacking core of Noah Shine, Mario Scotese, and Nick Marren combined for a whopping 30.5 tackles, including 2.5 TFL’s (Tackles for Loss), and a blocked punt by Scotese. The destructive defensive linemen of PV, consisting of Kevin Lovett, Kevin DelaCruz, Alec Jackson, Jon Rotonda, Vaughn Stolzer, and Chris Jimenez, collaborated for 22 tackles. However, the arguable defensive play of the game came from senior captain Ryan McCourt, as he intercepted Bryce Lauletta at the Cougar 41-yard-line, and scattered his way all the way to end zone for a game-sealing pick-six.
With Garnet Valley’s staggering upset of No. 2 Neshaminy, 42-14,the Vikings will be home this week the 18th against the Jaguars. Meanwhile, North Penn looks to stay undefeated as they battle Coatesville.
