Falcons already poised for yet another title

by Don Seeley, Pottstown Mercury Sports Editor

Posted on November 26, 2008

LOWER POTTSGROVE – The 2007 high school football season wasn't even a full hour into the books, over and done with that is, when Pottsgrove head coach Rick Pennypacker turned to his staff and wondered aloud...

"I just asked anyone willing to listen, 'How are we doing to replace 18 of 22 starters? What are we going to do with just two (starters) back on offense and just two (starters) back on defense?' " Pennypacker recalled of the casual conversation in his office after the Falcons' 43-0 shutout of St. Pius X last Thanksgiving. "Looking ahead that day, and it was pretty much the same when we sat down before the beginning of this season, we just didn't think we'd do much at all.

"We honestly thought this was going to be a rebuilding year for us. A year we'd take our share of lumps."

Neither Pennypacker or anyone else who shares the sidelines with him, thought any differently after their first two scrimmages back in August, when the Falcons couldn't find the end zone in either game. No one was really moved by the season-opening 21-7 win over Exeter – a team that has now gone winless two consecutive seasons. And when a trip to Wissahickon in Week Two ended in a 31-22 loss...

"I was ready to change everything," Pennypacker admitted. "I wanted to move (Maika) Polamalu to fullback, put (Terrell) Chestnut at tailback. I was at a loss for words. I didn't really know what to do.

"My coaches told me to be patient. Well, I'm not a patient guy."

But Pennypacker, perhaps more frustrated than he had been in any of his previous 19 seasons at Pottsgrove, listened ... actually showed some fortitude, if you will.

Eight weeks later, following a 49-12 rout of neighboring rival Pottstown, the Falcons were unbeaten in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, clinched no worse than a tie for the title, and qualified as the No. 2 seed for the District 1-AAA playoffs.

Thursday morning, the Falcons – the team that the majority their own devout following felt was a year away from being competitive let alone contending for a title – will line up against visiting St. Pius X with an opportunity to win the PAC-10 championship outright ... all to their own.

"I've never coached a team like this," Pennypacker said. "I really haven't."

THE HEAT'S ON

Pennypacker wasn't exaggerating when camp opened last August. He had just one lineman (Andrew Filopanti) and the fullback (Preston Hamlette) back on offense, and only two from the secondary (Polamalu and Chestnut) back on defense.

There wasn't a whole lot of depth on that practice field, either.

Less than 50 players ... and, when the season kicked off, only five seniors contributing.

"I remember thinking I was the only lineman left after everyone else graduated," Filopanti, who has been at left guard the entire season. "I didn't know what to expect, but I knew it wasn't going to be an easy season. Nothing is easy in this league, and especially when you're as young as we were with only five seniors."

"We knew it was going to be hard," added Tony Filopanti, Andrew's older (by one minute) twin brother, who shifted from a backup center to the starting right tackle this season. "We knew we had to work hard. We heard people talk about how it was going to be a rebuilding year for us, but we didn't want to wait until next year. We couldn't ... not the seniors."

They didn't. But, as the Filopantis, senior wideout Octavius Baker and senior wing-defensive back Billy Sheppard all agreed, it wasn't so much the seniors taking charge as it was the underclassmen stepping up to meet the challenge.

"The younger guys grabbed (the challenge) by the throat," Andrew Filopanti said. "They heard about it being a rebuilding year, too, but that was next year. Like (the seniors), they didn't want to wait until next year, they wanted it all now."

"We really thought we'd be kind of average this year, then next year things would go pretty well," Baker said. "But all of us wanted to make things happen now, not later. The seniors don't have later."

"I was the new guy," said Sheppard, who transferred back to Pottsgrove following two years at St. Pius X. "I felt we could win, but we just didn't win right away. There were times in those scrimmages we showed some signs of getting it together, but we didn't start out too well."

SHIFTING GEARS

The 1-1 split in the preseason didn't exactly leave Pennypacker singing in the shower. Neither did a 21-7 win over Phoenixville, thanks in part to just three big plays on the offensive side of the ball, in the PAC-10 opener.

But in the next three weeks, the Falcons didn't just reverse their ways. They actually sped off in a different direction that even left Pennypacker a bit surprised.

"A lot of people around the league were picking any one of the four teams we opened our league schedule with," Pennypacker said, referring to Phoenixville, Perkiomen Valley, Boyertown and Owen J. Roberts. "I felt we could easily be 0-4 right out of the gate.

"We were giving up a lot of yards and a lot of points. But Chestnut, who was starting to play well (in his new position) at quarterback, and Polamalu, who was running the ball well, really carried us in that early going until our other kids came along and started to play well together as a team. Somehow, someway, our kids found a way to win."

The Falcons outlasted Zach Zulli and Perkiomen Valley, 32-29; stopped quarterback David Crognale on the six-inch line to survive a 24-20 thriller up in Boyertown; then used a smothering second-half defense to shut down Owen J. Roberts in a 41-14 romp.

"I honestly think the second half of that Owen J. game was the turning point for us," Pennypacker said. "Our defense started to play well, and did play well from that point on. And we didn't make any adjustments or any changes, either. The kids just started playing well."

The defense featured Justin Oliveri and Andrew Tremble on the ends, flanking tackles Eric Figorski and Kayvon Greene and nose guard T.J. Demetrio. Paul Owens and Hamlette, who covers any and all parts of the field with the best of them, were the linebackers, and Scott Madl was the strong safety. The rest of the secondary included Isaiah Quick and Sheppard on the corners and Chestnut at free safety.

Except for any early alteration – moving Greene from end inside to a tackle – it's been pretty much the same lineup every week, too.

"We were starting as many as six sophomores at times," Pennypacker said. "The kids had to learn on the run, and they did (learn). A lot of our success centered around our defense because everyone got better every week.

"We've always believed to win a championship you have to be able to stop the run and also be able to run. For a long while there we couldn't stop anyone, but after that second half of the Owen J. Roberts game we did. No one has really run it that well on us since."

GETTING OFFENSIVE

Neither Pennypacker or anyone else in the program has overlooked the maturity of the Falcons' offense, though.

Chestnut, an all-state defensive back as a freshman a year ago, was penciled in at quarterback and taking snaps for the first time this season. He's responded beyonded anyone's expectations, including Pennypackers and perhaps even some of his teammates.

"Terrell has done more than his share," Andrew Filopanti said. "A lot of the younger guys showed a lot of desire, as much as the seniors did. But Terrell, well, he may not be a captain but he's had the attitude of a captain, and that's what we needed."

"When Terrell started looking more and more like a quarterback he started looking good, real good," added Sheppard. "He came a long (in a short time)."

Chestnut has indeed been the spark to the Falcons' fire. He's run, that's right, run for 1,188 yards and 18 touchdowns. And though he's nowhere near the polished thrower like Zulli or Spring-Ford's Trevor Sasek, he has managed to complete better than 50 percent of his attempts (43 of 76) for 915 yards and eight touchdowns in Pottsgrove's limited passing game. More important, Chestnut has thrown just one interception since his two-pick game at Wissahickon in Week Two.

Polamalu prevents defenses from keying on Chestnut, too. A sophomore himself, Polamalu is just a hop-skip-and-jump behind his classmate with 1,076 yards and 16 touchdowns . Hamlette, relied on mostly to block for everyone else, has even contributed 420 yards and six touchdowns.

But it's up front – wideouts Justin Ackah, Baker and Brandon Clemmer; wing Sheppard; tight end Madl; tackles Brandon Mason and Tony Filopanti; guards Eric Moran and Andrew Filopanti; and center Dan Foust – who have provided the threesome behind them the room to run ... and, when called upon, provided Chestnut the time to throw.

Our offensive line may not be the best I've ever coached, but it's certainly the most improved from the beginning of the season to the end of the season," Pennypacker said.

The line has not only helped Chestnut and Polamalu put up big numbers, but led the offense to a lot of points. Since that turnaround Owen J. Roberts game, the Falcons scored 40 or more points in six of their next seven games (scoring 39 in the other) before being limited to just 13 in the District 1-AAA semifinal setback to Bayard Rustin – which won the district title last Friday night.

TEAMWORK

Pennypacker grins, shakes his head a bit, when recalling the August workouts, those scrimmages and two preseason games.

"I have to give my coaches a lot of credit," Pennypacker said, referring to defensive coordinator Tim Hughes; offensive coordinator and former Falcon standout Billy Hawthorne; and assistants Bill Bradford, Eric Engstrom, Brent Haring and Mike Tomasso.

"They were the ones who kept telling me to be patient, to just be patient, that things would work out. They kept me grounded, kept me patient, kept me from making a lot of changes that I honestly thought we had to make."

And then, of course, there were the Falcons themselves.

"I really don't know how much better we are than anyone else, but I do know that our kids have worked as hard and prepared as well as anyone else," Pennypacker said. "Yes, we have a lot of young kids, but they're young kids who come to play.

"I really didn't know where we were headed in the beginning of the season. I guess I was thinking the same thing a lot of people were – that this would be a rebuilding year. But these kids have done their job, and now they're actually fun to watch play out there."

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