Pottsgrove claims crown with Thanksgiving day win

by Dennis Weller, Special to The Pottstown Mercury

Posted on November 28, 2008

LOWER POTTSGROVE — The Pottsgrove football team was supposed to be a year away from contending for a league title coming into the season, and didn't do much to change that opinion during its preseason scrimmages and two non-league games at the start of the campaign.

But the young squad began the Pioneer Athletic Conference schedule by knocking off three of the league favorites by close margins, then ran away from another in the second half of the fourth game.

After that, the Falcons proved to be impossible to stop in the league, as they were Thursday morning, wrapping up an undefeated PAC-10 season and the title with a 49-14 win over visiting St. Pius X in the neighboring schools' annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry.

Pottsgrove (9-0, 11-2 overall) trailed by a touchdown twice in the game's first four minutes, but then ran off 42 unanswered points as Maika Polamalu rushed for 242 yards and a pair of scores and Terrell Chestnut ran into the end zone three times. Cole Parkinson scored on two long runs for the Lions (0-9, 1-10) and racked up 175 yards on the ground.

"We're young at the skill positions, but it's an amazing feat the kids accomplished, from where they were at the beginning of the season to where they are now," said Pottsgrove coach Rick Pennypacker. "Hats off to Pius. That first quarter ... they had us a little bit confused. They came out and got at us a little bit."

Pius came out in a no-huddle offense and scored on the second play of the game when junior quarterback Parkinson faked a handoff and broke free around the left side for a 65-yard run just 49 seconds into the contest.

The Falcons came right back to tie it on just four plays when Polamalu burst through for 55 yards on the first play and Chestnut finished things up with a run from five yards out.

But the Lions countered with a 70-yard drive, capped by a 34-yard scoring scamper by Parkinson, that made it 14-7 with 8:01 still remaining in the opening quarter.

"Our boys were mentally ready and focused for the game," said Pius coach George Parkinson. "But they (the Falcons) are a championship team, and they showed it today, even though we had them flustered. I want to congratulate the Pottsgrove coaches and players for the job they did."

The Falcons were not surprised by the visitors' fast start and determined play.

"We were expecting that," said Polamalu, a sophomore. "Their record doesn't show how great a team they are. They almost beat Boyertown and stayed with Phoenixville the whole game. We came out ready to play. I don't know that we were prepared as much as we should have been. It was a rough start. We knew some of the things that they were going to do. We were in the wrong places, but we shifted and started putting it together."

"We expected a good game from them," added Chestnut, another sophomore. "We knew not to underestimate them."

St. Pius had a couple of chances to increase its lead when Dante Astheimer recovered a Falcon fumble on the next series and Conor Myers fell on a Pottsgrove fumble of a punt later in the quarter.

But Falcon junior Justin Oliveri picked off a pass, and the hosts drove 61 yards and knotted the score at 14-14 on a 19-yard run by Chestnut on the first play of the second quarter.

A 50-yard touchdown rumble by Polamalu put Pottsgrove on top for the first time three minutes later, and Polamalu scored again from four yards out four minutes after that to make it 28-14 at the half.

Polamalu wound up the first half with 214 rushing yards on 17 carries.

"The offensive line did great," he said. "They did great all year. But with the last game, a home game, and the PAC-10 championship on the line, today they were on a whole different level. They were almost possessed."

"We try to execute what we prepare for in practice," said Chestnut. "The line did an excellent job. There's not enough I can say about them."

Pius threatened to close the gap on the first series of the second half when they moved to the Pottsgrove 41-yard line and Astheimer burst to the 20 on the next play. But the Lions were assessed two penalties for a total of 25 yards on that play and fumbled the ball away on the next one, and the Falcons scored on a one-yard carry by Preston Hamlette a few plays later to make it 35-14.

A 10-yard run by Chestnut and a 68-yard dash by Billy Sheppard broke the game open. Pottsgrove finished with 444 yards on the ground on 51 attempts, including Polamalu's 242 on 24 carries.

"Maika had some good runs," said Pennypacker. "I credit my fullback (Hamlette) and offensive line for blocking for the kid."

St. Pius hurt itself with four turnovers — two on interceptions and two on fumbles.

"Once we can begin to play mistake-free and turnover-free football, we'll be a contender," said Parkinson. "That's what we need to be successful.

"I'm very proud of my seniors. They led the way through the adversity. They were always positive and led the football team. I'm proud of the whole team."

The Falcons also had their share of adversity along the way, including a 31-22 non-league loss to Wissahickon in the second game of the season.

"That got us focused a little bit more," said Pennypacker. "We were pretty bad in that game."

"Adversity ... we wanted to know how to respond to it," said Chestnut. "After we lost to Wissahickon, we realized we could be beaten and weren't unstoppable."

Polamalu gave credit to the seniors for a lot of the team's success.

"Everyone keeps saying we're a young team," he said. "We have 14 seniors. Half the line is seniors. They played a huge role on our team this year. We just got our act together."

"My credit goes to my assistants and my players," Pennypacker added. "They all did a great job. They just never ever gave up. Every game we had this year was a challenge, just like this one."

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