Pope John Paul II wins its first PAC title in a 28-27 thriller over Spring-Ford

Written by: Joseph Santoliquito on Saturday, October 28th, 2023. Follow Joseph Santoliquito on Twitter.

ROYERSFORD, PA — The proportions did not seem right. One team looked considerably larger collectively than the other. One team was certainly in a higher classification than the other.

Then again, the Pope John Paul II Golden Panthers, a Class 4A school, pay little attention to proportions. They do not pay much attention to history, either.

Because now they own a piece of it after the Golden Panthers won the Pioneer Athletic Conference for the first time in a thrilling 28-27 victory over Class 6A Spring-Ford before a packed crowd at Spring-Ford on Friday night.

Senior tailback Boyd Skarbek rushed for a career-best 217 yards on 24 carries and scored all four Pope John Paul II (PJP) touchdowns, of 4, 11, 47, and 48 yards.

He was helped considerably by 6-foot-8, 315-pound Wisconsin-bound left tackle Kevin Heywood, left guard Chase Frantz, center Ignacio Escobar, right guard Aidan Sgarra, and right tackle Makel Parker.

Skarbek’s fourth quarter was particularly impressive. He rushed for 109 of his game-high 217 on three carries, taking two the distance on essentially the same play, busting loose down the downside after Spring-Ford had tied the game at 21-21 with 2:59 to play.

“This is the first time in history we won this, and it’s why everyone is excited,” Skarbek said. “They thought they had it, they thought they had it, and we came out and showed them. They didn’t want it as bad as us.

“I ran behind (Heywood) and was patient, and the offensive line won us this game. They were the reason we won this game. We knew our defense couldn’t make any mistakes. That was our game plan. We wanted to run it down their throats and we executed it well.”

The game came down to a two-point conversion after Spring-Ford senior quarterback Matt Zollers led the Rams back yet again to a third fourth-quarter score after three quarters of offensive futility.

After Zollers connected with Belal Abdelrahman on a 14-yard touchdown pass with :26.9 seconds left, Rams’ coach Chad Brubaker opted to go for a two-point conversion–and the win.

Zollers’ conversion pass in the end zone wound up in a tangle of arms and hands and fell harmlessly incomplete.

“I should have called a timeout, because there was some confusion and that can’t happen in that situation,” Brubaker said. “We thought we had it straightened out, and apparently it just didn’t get communicated. We didn’t get some stops in the second half, and hats off to them. They were bringing pressure all over the place. Their corners and secondary held up. We had some big plays, and we had some big plays that we missed.

“The (two-point conversion) was something the coaching staff talked about (going for).”

PJP is 10-0 and entered the game ranked No. 1 in PIAA District 1 Class 4A, while Spring-Ford fell for the second time this season, dropping to 8-2 overall and falling to No. 4 in the PIAA District 1 Class 6A standings.

“The plan was not to be in the game, but to win the game,” Golden Panthers’ coach Scott Reed said. “We were going to challenge them and we played press man. They have more guys than we do and we began to wear down a little bit, but our offense was able to answer back.

“We were doing a lot inside the tackles (on offense) and we felt we could take a shot on the perimeter. The plan was to get four yards, and Boyd wound up taking it to the house. We focused on making one play at a time.

“This is 10 games in and these guys trust each other and believe in each other. This is about these kids and these players. They will never forget this for the rest of their lives.”

The teams combined to score 34 points in the fourth quarter, snapping open what had been a dull offensive game.

Through three quarters, Spring-Ford had not scored an offensive touchdown, and this was from a team that was averaging 36 points a game over its last five games.

The teams went into halftime locked at 7-7. It was the defense that created the scoring in a defensive struggle over the first 24 minutes.

The Golden Panthers forced a Spring-Ford punt deep in its own territory on the Rams’ second possession of the second quarter.

The result was field position at the Spring-Ford 42 for PJP. The Golden Panthers used six plays to travel the distance, culminating in Skarbek’s four-yard scoring run with 3:21 left in the first half. The key play in the drive was an 18-yard completion from PJP quarterback Luke Terlesky to Braden Reed on a fourth-and-four at the Rams’ 36.

On the play, Terlesky rolled left and a backside defender caught up to him. As he was being pulled down by the waist, Terlesky managed to get the ball out to Reed, who caught it in stride and reached the Spring-Ford 18. A pair of Skarbek runs touched off the scoring drive.

PJP’s 7-0 edge, however, did not last long.

About 13 seconds.

That’s because Mason Scott took the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a tying score. Scott got a clear causeway down the sideline and went almost untouched.

Other than the Skarbek run and Scott kick return, neither team was able to close offensively.

The Rams took the opening kickoff to the PJP 18 when that drive stalled under consecutive plays that resulted in tackles for losses (four of Spring-Ford’s first 13 plays were for either 0 or negative yardage). PJP reached the Spring-Ford 28 on its last drive of the first half, but that stopped when Rams’ sophomore defensive back Liam McGarvey intercepted Terlesky at the one-yard line with :14 left in the half.

Scoring Summary

Pope John Paul II (10-0) 0 7 7 14-28

Spring-Ford (8-2) 0 7 0 20-27

2nd Quarter

JPJ – Boyd Skarbek 4 run (Benjamin Boscio kick), 3:21

SF – Mason Scott 94 kickoff return (Ryan Fields kick), 3:08

3rd Quarter

JPJ – Skarbek 11 run (Boscio kick), 8:55

4th Quarter

SF – Scott 73 pass from Matt Zollers (Liam McGarvey kick), 9:44

JPJ – Skarbek 47 run (Boscio kick), 5:53

SF – Scott 10 pass from Zollers (Fields kick), 2:59

JPJ – Skarbek 48 run (Boscio kick), 2:36

SF – Belal Abdelrahman 14 pass from Zollers (pass failed), :26.9

Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.

Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball

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