336 days before Friday night, the Spring-Ford Rams ran all over the Vikings of Perkiomen Valley en route to a 28-14 win for the Rams. For 336 days, that game has been on the Vikings’ mind. When PV rolled into Coach McNelly Stadium, revenge was ideal. And revenge was served. Perkiomen Valley went on to win 28-16 over Spring-Ford, due in large part to 304 total yards and three total touchdowns from quarterback Stephen Sturm. The surprise return of local star, Justin Jaworski, assisted the Vikings greatly on both sides of the ball. After recovering quickly from a knee injury, Jaworski finished with 102 receiving yards and three passes defended, including an interception late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Early on in the game, the matchup between the two enemies was nothing but a stalemate, trading punts for the majority of the first quarter. With 1:27 left in the first, Sturm found Brendan Schimpf on a screen pass for a seven-yard touchdown pass to give the Vikings an early 7-0. The lead would stay that way through halftime and into the third quarter. With 8:54 left in the third, Sturm capped off a six-play, 76-yard drive with a four-yard rushing touchdown. A blocked PAT gave Perk Valley a confident 13-0 lead. However, on the Rams first play on the following drive, quarterback TJ Pergine found a hole in the Vikings defense and hit Dan Cassidy up the middle for an 80-yard touchdown and suddenly, it was 13-7. Senior safety David Williams made up for the defense’s blunder later in the quarter with a 17-yard pick-six to give the momentum back to the Vikings. A two-point conversion rush by Sturm gave the Vikings a 21-7 lead. Later, a botched field goal by Spring-Ford was recovered by PV’s Max Nice and a blown opportunity for the Rams. With just under 30 seconds left in the third quarter, safety Billy Frazier got to Sturm in the endzone for a safety to make the score 21-9, giving some energy to the Rams team. That energy did not last. Towards the start of the fourth quarter, Sturm threw a picture-perfect ball to Remy Sell streaking down the sideline for a 64-yard touchdown and all signs pointed towards the Rams failing at their attempt to repeat. A six-yard touchdown rush by Spring-Ford’s Selwyn Simpson proved to be the Rams’ last effort, but it was far too late and the Vikings left Royersford with a 28-16 win.
Linebackers Nick Marron and Noah Shine finished with 15 tackles combined, including a sack by Shine. The secondary for the Vikings of David Williams, Matt Ford-Bey, and Justin Jaworski ganged up for 14 tackles, five passes defended, and two interceptions, one for a touchdown. The Vikings now come home to Thomas J. Keenan Stadium for their homecoming game against Norristown, while Spring-Ford travel to Boyertown to take on the Bears.
