Boyertown 28, Pope John Paul 21

By Dennis Weller
Special to The Mercury

BOYERTOWN — There were many times when the Boyertown and Pope John Paul II offenses seemed unstoppable in Friday night’s Pioneer Athletic Conference contest at Memorial Stadium. That was until they did a pretty good job of stopping themselves … the Bears with penalties, the Golden Panthers with turnovers.

But eventually the game was decided by the Boyertown defense, which came up with the big stops when necessary in a 28-21 win.

Nick Brough intercepted two passes for the Bears (2-6, 2-7) overall and returned one for a touchdown; Justin Siejk picked off a pass; and Gray Garber was a force on defense throughout the night with two sacks and several other tackles for losses. Chris Veisbergs caught seven passes for 94 yards for PJP (0-8, 0-9), which gained 200 yards through the air.

“Nick Brough … that interception was awesome,” Garber said concerning the pickoff and 41-yard return into the end zone that gave the Bears a 21-14 lead late in the third quarter. “Justin Siejk … his interception was big. All around defensively, we played pretty good.”

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