Senior quarterback sparks OJR victory over Bears

by Martin Cooper, Pottstown Mercury

Posted on November 1, 2008

BOYERTOWN — It's not hard to overlook Dan Miller on the football field.

At 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds, he doesn't exactly tower over the other players. In addition to his physical stature, he happens to play for a team with a star sophomore running back, Ryan Brumfield, who runs for 200 or so yards every game.

"It's easy to get overlooked," said Miller. "I'm just trying to do my role and do what I have to do to win a football game."

The senior quarterback-cornerback certainly did his part Friday night, completing 4 of 6 passes for 81 yards, rushing 13 times for 47 yards and a touchdown, making a block to spring Brumfield for one of his three TDs, intercepting a pass, and recovering a fumble as Owen J. Roberts locked up a District 1-Class AAA playoff berth with a thrilling 31-26 Pioneer Athletic Conference victory over Boyertown that wasn't secured until Miller picked off David Crognale's pass in the end zone as time expired.

"I knew they were going to come out strong," said Miller. "They wanted to try to knock us off. But this is our shot at the playoffs now. This was a big game."

The win moved the Wildcats to 7-1 in the PAC-10 and 8-2 overall. They entered Friday night's game seeded fifth of the eight District 1-AAA playoff teams. With third-seeded West Chester Rustin rolling to a 42-0 win over Oxford and fourth-seeded Great Valley a heavy favorite against Kennett today, it's likely (although not set in stone) the Wildcats will open districts at Great valley next weekend.

The Bears (4-4, 4-6), who have several hard-luck losses on their resume this season, jumped to a 7-0 lead when Crognale (16-for-31, 197 yards) hooked up with Eric Repko (three catches, 95 yards) on a 76-yard scoring strike.

The Wildcats immediately responded with a TD. Miller completed a 15-yard pass to Brumfield and a 41-yard pass to Sam Funk, setting up Brumfield's four-yard TD run.

Boyertown grabbed a 10-7 lead on George Sotter's 30-yard field goal before Miller engineered a 14-play, 68-yard scoring drive.

On first-and-goal from the one, Miller and Brumfield bumped into each other on a handoff. Brumfield secured the handoff and started around the left side. Miller hustled over and knocked the cornerback out of the way as Brumfield swept into the end zone for a 14-10 lead.

"It was an audible," said Miller. "I guess he didn't hear me. He collided into me. I just took the guy out."

Miller then recovered a fumble at the Boyertown 28 with 44 seconds left in the half. He guided the Wildcats to the 10-yard line as time expired before they could attempt a field goal.

The Bears held Brumfield, who finished with 195 yards on 34 carries, to 80 yards in the first half, 33 coming on one run.

"Obviously, our goal was to stop him," said Boyertown coach Mark Scisly. "We did a pretty good job containing him except for one run. But they got some other stuff. You can't stop everything. Owen J. is a good football team. They're a big, physical team. They played well."

The Wildcats opened the third quarter with a touchdown for a 21-10 lead. Brumfield, who boosted his season rushing total to 1,913 yards, completed a 46-yard halfback pass to Funk, then ran the final four yards into the end zone.

Sotter sliced the lead to 21-13 with a 32-yard field goal.

After the Bears held the Wildcats on downs, OJR's Nate Blevins recovered a fumble at the Boyertown 19. Miller passed 17 yards to Brad Davis before running for a two-yard TD and a 28-13 cushion five seconds into the fourth period.

Crognale, who rushed for 94 yards (giving him 940 for the season) and passed for 197, completed two passes to Logan Herb and one to Ty Showers, then ran for a 38-yard touchdown to make it 28-20 with 10:00 remaining.

The Wildcats increased their lead to 31-20 on Zach Lepore's 22-yard field goal with 5:44 left.

After Boyertown's Ian Repko recovered a fumble, the Bears, aided by back-to-back personal foul penalties on OJR, moved to the 13-yard line. Crognale burst up the middle for a touchdown, reducing the spread to 31-26 with 2:15 to go.

OJR's Davis recovered the onside kick attempt, but three Brumfield runs netted only six yards and the Wildcats punted.

Boyertown took over on its own 11 with 1:10 remaining. Crognale ran 13 yards for a first down, them completed passes of 12 yards (to Ryan Schwager), 14 yards (to Herb) and 19 yards (to Eric Repko) to put the ball at the 31 with 12 seconds left.

Crognale was flushed out of the backfield and tackled by Steve Lawless and Sean Moloney for a one-yard gain. However, two penalties on the play (face mask, personal foul) advanced the ball to the 13 with two seconds remaining.

Miller made one more big play, picking off a Crognale pass in the end zone as time expired.

"I try to go both ways as hard as I can 100 percent on every play," said Miller.

It wasn't easy, but Miller, Brumfield and the young Wildcats are in the playoffs for the first time since the PIAA adopted a state playoff format in 1992.

"In the back of our minds as a coaching staff, we said let's strive to get better each week," said OJR coach Tom Barr. "With the talent we have, there's always a chance to make the playoffs, as long as we keep getting better each week."

They did keep getting better and now they're in the playoffs.

"It was always our goal," said Miller. "Coming out, we didn't know what to expect. Once we got rolling, a lot of guys stepped up. Now we're here."

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