By Timothy J. Raub
Journal Register News Service
POTTSTOWN — Standing outside the locker room after their double-overtime victory over visting Great Valley, Saige Reinhart and Monroe Hampton spoke of the performances like it was just another night on the job.
What the Pottstown duo had just been through, though, was anything but routine.
Rolling out of the pocket to his left, Reinhart connected with a wide-open Hampton on an out pattern in the front corner of the end zone for a two-point conversion to give the Trojans a 41-40 victory in the second of two overtime periods.
“If he’s open he’s getting it,” Reinhart said of Hampton. “And he knows it, too. He’s a playmaker, and playmakers want the ball when it matters most.
“It’s just a matter of us fighting, though. Fighting as a team through the ups and the downs of a game and of a season. We just attacked when we had the opportunities, and took advantage of (those opportunities).”
Hampton agreed.
“All night the guys just kept fighting,” he said. “The line blocked well for me and opened the holes so I could just keep running. We knew that if something bad happened, don’t give up. We just had to keep fighting.”
The theatrics actually started a little earlier for Reinhart and his Pottstown teammates, though.
With just over five minutes to play in regulation, Great Valley capped a 13-play, 62-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run by River Johnson to take a six-point lead at 33-27. The Trojans came up with what turned out to be a monstrous block on the point-after attempt to keep it a six-point game,
After both teams traded stalled drives, Pottstown got the ball back with just 57 seconds to play and 80 yards to go. Reinhart put his team on his back and marched the Trojans down the field before finding Harvey streaking down the middle of the field as time expired to knot the score at 33-33.
It was then up to Great Valley’s Tim Lamb, who blocked his first of two kicks on the night to send the game into overtime.
Pottstown got down to the Great Valley three-yard line in its first overtime drive before Lamb picked up his second blocked kick of a 21-yard field goal attempt, and Great Valley fared no better when Sean Cavanaugh’s field goal attempt sailed wide right.
Great Valley then started on offense to start the second overtime period and needed just two plays to find the end zone on a six-yard run by backup quarterback Sean Fitzpatrick for a 40-33 lead. But that would be short-lived after Reinhart found Mason Weber in the back corner of the end zone for the touchdown to set up the game-winning two-point conversion.
“You know, we’ve got some really great kids here,” Pottstown head coach Brett Myers said. “It’s been a tough year, coming off three tough losses against three really good teams like we did. Tonight, we played a really good team that was on the verge of being a playoff team in (Class AAAA), and our kids just came to play.”
Although the loss will sting for some time for Great Valley, head coach Mike Choi admitted he couldn’t have asked for much more from his Patriots.
“We knew (Pottstown) was really athletic, and that we were going to have our work cut out for us,” he said. “We came out in more of a cover-two to start the second half and really started to settle down and do what we wanted to do. Their kids kept battling, and our kids kept battling. It’s just a shame someone had to lose this game.”
Pottstown 41
Great Valley 40 (2 OT)
Great Valley 7 14 6 6 0 7 — 40
Pottstown 6 14 0 13 0 8 — 41
Scoring
PT – Harvey 75 pass from Reinhart (kick failed)
GV – Geiss 75 run (Cavanaugh kick)
GV – Geiss 22 run (Cavanaugh kick)
PT – Hampton 71 pass from Reinhart (Harvey pass from Reinhart)
PT – Brookard 10 fumble return (kick failed)
GV – Johnson 11 run (Cavanaugh kick)
GV – Ames 11 run (kick failed)
PT – Hampton 3 run (Masciarelli kick)
GV – Johnson 3 run (kick blocked)
PT – Harvey 20 pass from Reinhart (kick blocked)
GV – Fitzpatrick 6 run (Cavanaugh kick)
PT – Weber 10 pass from Reinhart (Hampton pass from Reinhart)
Team Statistics
GV PT
First Downs 32 24
Rushing yards 552 67
Passing yards 4 360
Total yards 556 427
Passes C-A-I 1-3-0 16-31-0
Fumbles-Lost 3-3 5-0
Penalties-Yards 6-35 7-35
Punts-Avg. 0-0 3-34.3
Individual Statistics
Rushing - Great Valley: Temple 9-125, Geiss 7-122, 2TDs; Johnson 15-105, 2 TDs; Ames 24-100, TD; Fitzpatrick 11-100, TD. Pottstown: Hampton 12-27, TD; Harvey 5-16; Mohler 6-15; Reinhart 9-9.
Passing - Great Valley: Geiss 1-2-4; Fitzpatrick 0-1-0. Pottstown: Reinhart 16-31-360, 4 TDs.
Receiving - Great Valley: Temple 1-4. Pottstown: Harvey 6-173, 2 TDs; Hampton 3-74, TD; Moore 2-70; Mohler 2-18; Bookard 1-8; Teller 1-7; Weber 1-6, TD.
Sacks: Great Valley – Guilin. Pottstown – Bookard.
No comments:
Post a Comment