Trojans hope to catch Bears on the run
By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com
BOYERTOWN – When Mark Scisly bid his farewells to Jared Von
Dohren, Max Marcus and Jon Neiman last year, he reached into his desk for a
calculator to add up all the yards the three ran up out of the Boyertown
backfield. Then he wondered where he could get his hands on a crystal ball to
see exactly who would be replacing them this year.
Scisly never did find that crystal ball, but he did discover
Matt Moccia, Cody Richmond and Eric Heller.
Moccia, Richmond
And the new threesome, along with veterans Nick McMenamin
(center) and Austin Jacobs (tackle) – and the rest of the unsung gang of
blockers in front of them – will be counted on heavily in tonight’s game
against visiting Pottstown .
“All three of those backs run so hard,” said Trojans head
coach Brett Myers. “All three are outstanding. I think if you took any one of
them and put him on another team he’d likely lead that team in rushing. All
three of them really stand out.
“(Boyertown) keeps you honest. They line up as pretty much
the same team you’ve seen before, but now they have three running backs who can
go to the left side, the right side and up the middle on you. They obviously
make you cover the whole field.”
Moccia led the way in a season-opening loss to C.B. East
with 150 yards and two touchdowns. Richmond
grabbed the honors in last week’s win over Upper Perkiomen
with 160 yards and two touchdowns. And Heller has contributed another 172 yards
and a score.
In the 47-15 rout of the Indians, the three accounted for
most of the 443 yards on the ground and 531 overall – the best offensive showing
by any Boyertown team in a PAC-10 game.
“They run all over the field, so we have to improve on our
tackling if we want to have any success,” Myers said.
The run game also eases up the pressure on quarterback
Griffin Pasik, who has responded with his own offense by throwing for an
additional 233 yards and three touchdowns.
“We saw a big improvement in our overall performance from
Week One,” Scisly said. “The C.B. East game was a learning experience because
we’re so young (only six seniors on the roster). But we definitely made huge
strides from that week and we feel we’ll get better as our guys get some
experience.”
Getting better is what Myers and his staff has seen through
the first two weeks, too.
The Trojans didn’t play quite as badly as the lopsided score
indicated against Schuylkill
Valley
“Our blocking and tackling was much better the second week,”
Myers said. “We’re hoping to make that same growth this week.”
Exactly where the Trojans will need it is on the defensive
side of the ball.
“The kids are learning a new defense, a defense that I’ve
never been part of in my life as a coach,” Myers explained of defensive
coordinator Tim Hughes’ 50-scheme. “But the kids trust him. From our first
scrimmage to our second scrimmage, from our first game to our second game,
we’ve seen the improvement. And that’s our goal … to get better every week.”
That, of course, is precisely what Scisly wants.
“We just want to keep seeing improvement throughout the
season,” he said.
What Scisly isn’t happy about thus far, though, are the
mounting mistakes – as in five turnovers last week (seven overall) and 11
penalties for 100 yards last week (18 for 160 yards overall).
“I’ll take a win anytime, but all (those mistakes) are
unacceptable,” he said.
*
Last week’s Boyertown-Upper Perkiomen affair was the third
straight in which officials nearly wore out their whistles as the two teams
combined for 15 penalties for 140 yards. But last year, Upper
Perkiomen got hit with a PAC-10 record 17 for 184 yards. And in
2010, Boyertown was hit with 15 for 130 yards – the second most penalties and
yards in the league’s history. …
*
Congratulations to Perkiomen Valley
* * *
Don Seeley is the
sports editor of The Mercury. His high school football column appears Tuesdays
and Fridays through Thanksgiving. He can be reached at dseeley@pottsmerc.com
No comments:
Post a Comment