WRESTLING: Cherneskie, Flanigan place at National Preps

The Hill School’s Nick Flanigan, top, took eighth place in his weight class at the National Prep Championships Saturday at Lehigh. (File photo by Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury)

By Dennis Weller
sports@pottsmerc.com

BETHLEHEM — The goal for both Johnnie Cherneskie and Nick Flanigan this season was to make it to the National Prep Championships and then place — a task much more difficult than it might sound. First, to make it through a tough state tournament was no easy task. Then to go up against 31 others who also had to earn their way there and finish in the top eight of that elite group was an even more imposing assignment.

But it was one that the two Hill School wrestlers were pleased and proud to have accomplished when the 78th Annual National Prep Championship Tournament came to an end Saturday afternoon at Lehigh University’s Stabler Arena.

Post-graduate Cherneskie finished up with a 2-1 win to claim seventh place at 182 pounds in the two-day affair and junior Flanigan placed eighth at 145 pounds after dropping a hard-fought 6-3 decision.

“My first goal was just to place,” said Cherneskie. “To do this is awesome. It was nice to end with a win in what might have been my last wrestling match. It definitely accomplished all my dreams. It’s amazing, just to be here in the top eight, making it to the second day out of 32 who had to win to get here.”

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WRESTLING: Hill’s Saunders leads 7 locals into National Prep Championships

The Hill School’s Chad Saunders, right, is hoping for a return to the medal stand at the National Prep Championships this weekend at Lehigh University. Saunders was a runner-up as a freshman. (File photo by John Strickler/The Mercury)

By Don Seeley
sports@pottsmerc.com

The National Prep Championships have gotten their share of criticism through the years, anything from not being a true national event to not being all that competitive.
Try selling that to those who have already stepped onto the mats for prep schools’ season-ending event. For that matter, try selling it to the seven area wrestlers who will participate in today’s opening rounds in Lehigh University’s Stabler Arena.
None of those seven recognizes how difficult it is more than The Hill School’s Chad Saunders. Two years ago, he worked his way to the finals before getting pinned in less than a minute and settling for the silver medal. Last year, he went two-and-out.
Saunders, of course, hopes to extend his stay today and Saturday, as do teammates Nick Flanigan, Johnnie Cherneskie, John Hill and Kostya Golobokov. They’ll be joined by West-Mont Christian’s Austin Mortimer and Zach Coffey.

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WRESTLING: Hill School duo reaches finals, but falls short

Mercury file photo Hill School’s Nick Flanigan reached the final of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Wrestling Tournament Saturday.

By Dennis Weller
Speical to The Mercury

NEWTOWN SQUARE — Making it to the second day of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Wrestling Tournament is one thing.
Coming home from it with a gold medal is quite another, as local competitors have found out over the years.
Three Hill School grapplers, and another from West-Mont Christian Academy, headed into Saturday’s action at Episcopal Academy undefeated after the first day and two of them — Hill 145-pounder Nick Flanigan and 182-pounder Johnnie Cherneskie — made it the championship finals. But there they ran into tough opponents from runaway team champion Wyoming Seminary and both had to settle for silver medals after one-sided losses.

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WRESTLING: Cherneskie, two Hill School teammates reach semifinals at state preps

By Dennis Weller
Special to The Mercury

NEWTOWN — At St. Pius X, then at Pope John Paul II, and now at The Hill School, Johnnie Cherneskie has wrestled competitively at just about every level.
Next, he’ll be taking on the best competition that private schools can offer when he heads to the National Prep Tournament next weekend at Lehigh University. That comes after he clinched a top-six finish in the state at the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Tournament on Friday afternoon.
The Hill 182-pound post-graduate won by a pin and a decision at Episcopal Academy to earn a spot in this morning’s semifinal round and can do no worse than the sixth-place finish required to move on to the next level. He’ll be joined in the semifinal round and nationals by teammates Chad Saunders (132 pounds) and Nick Flanigan (145 pounds), along with West-Mont Christian Academy’s Austin Mortimer (120 pounds). Competition resumes this morning at 9 a.m. with the semifinals and third round of consolations and concludes with the championship finals and awards beginning at 2:30 p.m.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: Hill’s season ends at Shipley

By Dennis Weller
Special to The Mercury

BRYN MAWR — The Hill School girls were right where they wanted to be, with a five-point lead and the ball midway through the third quarter of Wednesday afternoon’s Pennsylvania Independent Schools Tournament quarterfinal.
But the full-court defensive pressure by Shipley School began to take its toll and there were just too many good Gators to guard at the other end of the court. That led to a disastrous five-minute stretch for the Blues, whose season came to an end with a 69-56 loss at Shipley’s Yarnall Gymnasium.
Deanna Mayza, who had set a new school career scoring record the day before, added 18 points to her final total, Sara Graham scored 15 and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Hilary Yoh racked up 14 points and 15 boards for the Blues (13-12). Asia Baker poured in 27 points for the Gators (20-6) and Nia Holland scored 19.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL: Hill, Mayza run past Friends’ Central

Deanna Mayza scored 25 points to become The Hill School’s all-time leader in scoring while leading the Blues to a 64-44 win over Friends’ Central in the PAISSA Tournament Tuesday. (File photo by John Strickler/The Mercury)

By Dennis Weller
Special to The Mecury

POTTSTOWN — According to Hill School girls basketball coach Grey Simpson, opposing coaches often comment on how quick Deanna Mayza is with the ball and on defense, and that was probably painfully obvious to Friends’ Central in the first quarter of Tuesday afternoon’s opening round of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Tournament at Gillison Court.
The Hill senior shredded the defense for 11 points in the first period while stealing the ball four times, jump-starting the Blues to a 14-point lead. And that was only the beginning as Mayza poured in 25 total points – all in the first three quarters – to become the school’s all-time girls scoring leader while leading her team to a 64-44 win.

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WRESTLING: OJR second at Escape the Rock

By Don Seeley

HOLLAND — There was no gold, but plenty of medals.
Although Owen J. Roberts head coach Steve DeRafelo didn’t get a matside seat for Sunday evening’s championship finals of the Escape the Rock Tournament, he was quite busy throughout the day when eight of his wrestlers worked their way through the consolations to pick up a combined eight medals.
Junior Colby Frank and senior Brad Trego led the group with third-place finishes at 126 and 285 pounds, respectively, while Kyle Shronk and Gordon Bolig settled for fourths at 160 and 182. Teammtes Adam Moser (fifth at 145), Tyler Rogers (sixth at 170), Dominic Petrucelli (seventh at 132), and Aston White (eighth at 106).
The Hill School also had three medalists. Chad Saunders led the way with a fourth at 132, with Kostya Golobokov taking sixth at 285 and Nick Flanigan adding an eighth at 145.
Overall, Owen J. Roberts finished second in the 32-team field with 172.5 points. District 11 power Parkland (189.5) won the title, with Solanco third (144.5) and Delawarer Valley and Forest Park (Va.) tying for fourth with 138 points each. District 1’s Norristown and host Council Rock South were ninth and 13th, respectively, in the final standings. The Hill School was 28th.
“I’m very happy,” DeRafelo said. “This is one tough tournament, a meat grinder. Some of our kids suffered some tough losses in the quarterfinals, but they battled all the way back. To do what we did ... yes, I’m very happy.”
The Wildcats’ previous-best showing at the ETR was a seventh-place finish last year.
Frank had an exceptional weekend. He won his first two bouts before dropping a 2-0 decision to Big Spring’s Dustin Rook. However, he stormed back with four straight wins — including an 11-2 major over Pennsbury’s highly touted Josh DiSanto in the consolation finals. His final victory was a 4-3 decision of Dallastown’s Rodney Sunday for the bronze medal.
Trego followed nearly the same path as Frank, using a bye, major and decision to reach the semifinals. He was pinned by Central Mountain’s Caleb Stover, but regrouped and finished with two wins, including a pin of Shaheed Hill of Norristown – who he blanked earlier, 3-0, in the quarterfinals — for the bronze medal.
“Frank just wrestled out of his mind here,” DeRafelo said. “He was just beating up on kids. He look real good, pretty impressive. And Brad did great job, too. He beat a very good kid from Norristown (Hill) twice.”
Shronk defaulted his third-place bout, while Rodgers — who reached the semifinals — defaulted his next two bouts. DeRafelo didn’t feel as though either injury was too serious, but opted not to risk further damage with key Pioneer Athletic Conference and District 1-AAA Team Duals meets coming up.
Bolig’s only two losses were to Parkland’s Nezar Haddad in the quarterfinals and third-place final.
“We have to heal up a little bit because we did get beat up,” DeRafelo said. “Going hard match after hard match is tough. We just tried to balance it out a little bit without killing our guys.”
For Hill, Saunders bounced back from a 9-5 quarterfinal loss to Manheim Township’s Cortlandt Schuyler with three straight wins only to fall to Schuyler again, 6-1, in the third-place final. Flanigan advanced to the quarterfinals as well only to come up short against Norristown’s Mike Springer, 6-3. He won his next bout, but dropped his ensuing two to take eighth. And Golobokov rolled into the semifinals only to get pinned, then dropped his next two bouts and settled for sixth place.

WRESTLING: Complete Saturday Roundup

By Mercury Staff

KENNETT SQUARE ­— Pottstown is thriving on hefty workloads.
The Trojans competed in another “duals” wrestling tournament Saturday, traveling to the Kennett Duals along with Daniel Boone. It was the fourth time this season the Trojans competed in a duals-format tourney; and as was the case previously, they made a strong showing — a sweep of their five matches to come away in first place.
With three wrestlers sweeping the competition, and a fourth also perfect, Pottstown (19-7) went one better than its previous “duals” outings, where it was a combined 10-3. Its team victories came against Glen Mills (57-21), Ridley (38-28), Academy Park 52-24), Kennett (54-19) and Boone (48-14).
The Blazers, for their part, went 3-2 and placed second on the strength of a head-to-head tiebreaker with Ridley. Alongside the verdicts against Pottstown and Ridley (34-33), they prevailed over Kennett (44-30) and Academy Park (32-27) but lost to Glen Mills (41-27).
Logan Pennypacker, Jasheel Brown and Darien Hain all went 5-0 to head Pottstown’s showing, which included a 4-0 run by Bryant Wise. Bubba Gephart, Sebastian Shiffler and Josh Slody chipped in with 4-1 records on the day, with Pat Bohn adding a 3-1.
T.J. Richard headed Boone’s outing with a 5-0 mark. Christian Fernandez and Shayne Bookwalter followed at 4-1.
Escape the Rock: Owen J. Roberts’ Kyle Shronk (160), Tyler Rogers (170) and Brad Trego (285) all advanced into into this morning’s semifinals of the Escape the Rock Invitational at Council Rock South, while 10 teammates remained alive in the consolations. The impressive effort helped the Wildcats finish the opening day of wrestling in second place (108.5 points) behind Parkland (123.5).
The Hill School also advanced 285-pound Kostya Golobokov into the semifinals, while two others — Chad Saunders (132) and Nick Flanigan (145) — were dropped into the consolations following losses in the quarterfinals.
Shronk had two pins and a 3-2 decision; Rogers took a bye and back-to-back 5-4 and 5-1 decisions; and Trego also followed a bye with a 10-1 major and 3-0 shutout. The Wildcats had six others in the quarterfinals who came up short, including returning state medalist Derek Gulotta, who fell 3-0 to state-ranked Tanner Shoap of Chambersburg. Gulotta, along with Aston White (106), Colby Frank (126), Dominick Petrucelli (132), Demetri D’Orsaneo (138), Adam Moser (145), Peter Fratantoni (152), Gordon Bolig (182), Evan Boaman (195) and Nick D’Angelo (220) will return to the mats in this morning’s consolations.
Golobokov had a bye, first-period pin and 3-2 decision for the Blues, who were 29th in the 32-team field.
Ultimate Duals: Boyertown got perfect showings from Eddie Kriczky, Cody Richmond, Jordan Wertz and Jordan Wood to take four of five bouts in the Ultimate Duals at Brookville High School.
The Bears, who improved to 12-5 overall, defeated Hanover (56-18), Mifflinburg (46-18), Saegertown (31-20) and Reynolds (33-25), with a narrow 34-31 setback to host Brookville spoiling an otherwise perfect day. Kriczky (126), Richmond (160), Wertz (195) and Wood (220) were all 5-0. Teammates Lucas Miller (106) and Gregg Harvey (160) were both 4-1, while Garrett Mauger (113) added three wins.
Garden Spot Duals: Luke DiElsi’s sweep of his opponents headed Perkiomen Valley’s showing in the duals competition at Garden Spot. The Vikings (9-6) went 3-2 as a team, wins against Pennridge (39-33), Avon Grove (51-16) and North Penn (48-31) balanced against losses to Central Dauphin (68-6) and Garden Spot (46-22).
The DiElsi’s 5-0 run was the best for PV, which also got a 4-1 outing from Nick Giangiulio — who dropped his first bout of the season.
Spartan Clash: Kirk Cherneskie (183) was the lone winner for Pope John Paul II, going undefeated at 3-0 to captured first place at the Springfield-Montco Clash.
Cherneskie was trailing Ian Kennedy from Central Bucks West 5-4 in the first place bout but got a takedown with two seconds left in the bout to win 6-5
Pope John Paul’s Vinnie Togno (138) finished with three wins and two losses for third place. Josh Bildstein (220) also took third with three wins and one loss. Jared Sahakian (145) finished 2-3, while Aaron Cusatis (160) was 3-2.
Jersey Shore Duals: Phoenixville’s Garrett Serwatka, Trey Romance and Jordan Valenteen all won four of their five individual bouts, but the Phantoms went 1-4 on the day at the Jersey Shore Duals.
The Phantoms defeated Clarion (41-27), but fell to Warrior Run (60-9), Wallenpaupack (58-14), Cedar Cliff (57-17), and Canton (45-26).
Mark Cermanski picked up two wins for the Phantoms, and teammates Henry Hancock, Tim Labik and Dave Rosati added one apiece.
Upper Perkiomen 43, C.B. East 30: Kyle Fellman stalled a Patriots’ drive to erase the Indians’ early lead, and the locals won three of the five final bouts in the non-league victory.
Fellman’s third-period pin at 152 prevented East from continuing a roll that saw it close to 28-24 with help from two pins and a forfeit. Ray Young (160) and Dylan Steffenino (106) kicked in with a decision and pin, respectively, to offset the Pats’ two decisions down the stretch.
Casey Cook (182) and Wolfgang McStravick (145) scored early pins to help the Indians (12-4) build a 28-6 lead through the first six weights. Dante Steffenino (120) kicked in with a major decision, and the locals also cashed in on two forfeits by East.
Spring-Ford 33, Manheim Central 32: Jimmy Frank’s decision at 106 proved big for the Rams, giving them enough points to secure a close non-league victory over the Barons.
Frank’s 10-3 verdict over MC’s Caleb Enck staked Spring-Ford (14-2) to a 33-27 lead that survived a technical fall in the final bout. The Rams were paced by four pins on the night — successive match-opening falls from Ryan hayes (120 and Sean Hennessey (126), and back-to-back drops by Mason Romano (220) and Josh Boyer (285) preceding Frank’s match clincher.
Valley Forge Invitational: Zach Coffey and Austin Mortimer scored medals for West-Mont Christian during the Cadet Invitational at Valley Forge Military Academy.Coffey won the 126-pound title, going 2-0 on the day. Mortimer was second at 120, going 2-1.

MEN’S WRESTLING
Mount St. Vincent: The Ursinus wrestling team competed in its final regular-season tournament at the College of Mount Saint Vincent Invitational in Riverdale, N.Y., just outside of New York City.
Christopher Donaldson continued his strong start as he won the 125-pound bracket with a pin and two major decisions. Kevin Hoogheem finished second at 125. Donaldson defeated Chase Andrew of AIC by fall in 4:28, then ran up a 17-8 major on Janik Santana-Quintana of NYU. In the title bout, he defeated teammate Keven Hoogheem, 16-5.
The Bears had five third-place finishes in Christian Hoogheem (126), John Morrison (133), Curtis Watkins (149), Gnoleba Seri (165) and Gabriel Gordon (174).

WRESTLING: Hill suffers a few narrow defeats in tri-meet loss

The Hill School’s Nick Flanigan wins by pin over Lawrenceville’s Paul Lobo at 145 pounds on Wednesday afternoon. (Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury)

By Dennis Weller
Special to The Mercury

POTTSTOWN — Close, but no wins for The Hill School wrestling team in Wednesday afternoon’s Tri-Meet against two out-of-state opponents at Sweeney Gymnasium.

First, the Blues outwrestled Lawrenceville (N.J.) School, but forfeited three lightweight bouts along the way in a 41-31 loss.

Then the match against St. Benedict’s (N.Y.) Prep came down to the final bout, with the Blues needing a pin to tie the score and send it into tie-breaking criteria. But they could only manage a major decision that included a pair of near falls and would up with a 40-37 setback in that one.

Chad Saunders (138 pounds), Nick Flanigan (145), and Eugene Alvey (220) each won twice for The Hill (6-7). In the middle match of the day, Lawrenceville (6-2) edged St. Benedict’s (3-4), 40-35.

“The first one, forfeits certainly hurt us,” said Blues coach Mark Pearson. “That’s all we can do right now. Our kids are all improving. They’re taking really positive steps forward and learning and getting tougher.”

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BOYS BASKETBALL: Lawrenceville runs away from Hill School

By Jeff Stover
jstover@pottsmerc.com

POTTSTOWN — The first two minutes of Wednesday’s game belonged to The Hill School.
The remaining 30? They came under solid ownership of Lawrenceville School. And that pretty much told the story of the 59-34 victory the Larries claimed over their longtime archrivals at the Hill’s Gillison Gymnasium.
After the Blues bolted to a six-point lead in the first 38 seconds, on 3-point baskets by Joe Pucci and Grant Smith, Lawrenceville took control just ahead of the six-minute mark. It rang up nine unanswered points in a 2:24 span and was never topped the rest of the way, turning this Mid-Atlantic Prep League clash into a runaway.

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ATHLETES OF WEEK: Spring-Ford’s Zameer McDowell and Hill School’s Deanna Mayza

By Mercury Staff
sports@pottsmerc.com

BOYS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Zameer McDowell
Spring-Ford
Boys Basketball
What he’s done
The 6-foot-5 senior scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Saturday’s 67-47 victory over Pottsgrove that kept the Rams in the Liberty Division title hunt. McDowell also had 16 points and nine rebounds in Thursday’s 64-45 non-league victory over Daniel Boone.
What he says
“My role is to rebound, block shots, score a lot, and pass the ball when teams try to double-team me. I think we just have to play as a team, distribute the ball a lot and make a lot of shots.”

Spring-Ford's Zameer McDowell

Hill School's Deanna Mayza.

GIRLS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Deanna Mayza
Hill School
Girls Basketball
What she’s done
The University of Hartford-bound guard scored a game-high 22 points as the Blues returned from the Christmas break to defeat St. Mary’s (Md.), 46-41. The 5-foot-7 Mayza leads the area in scoring at 22.3 points per game and is second in 3-pointers with 24.
What she says
“I think my shooting has been a big plus, and I’ve been able to drive a little better after my (early season ankle) injury. We’re very excited (heading into MAPL play). The league is very tough, but we’re excited to see where we fall, and it should be interesting.”

HONORABLE MENTION
Stacey Auckland, Upper Perkiomen, girls basketball
Ethan D’Arcangelo, Spring-Ford, boys swimming
Nate Darlington, Spring-Ford, boys swimming
Kaitlyn Eisenhard, Boyertown, girls basketball
Pat Finn, Pottsgrove, wrestling
Meghan Lui, Spring-Ford, girls swimming
Sean Hennessey, Spring-Ford, wrestling
Dante Steffenino, Upper Perkiomen, wrestling
Jordan Valenteen, Phoenixville, wrestling

ALL-AREA: Hill School’s Fabian named boys soccer Player of the Year

By Austin Hertzog
ahertzog@pottsmerc.com

Wyatt Fabian doesn’t play the flute. But if you ask Hill School boys soccer coach Chris Drowne about his standout junior center back, Fabian has made music on and off the soccer field since becoming a Blue.
“He is everything you would want to build, highlight and celebrate in your soccer program,” Drowne said. “He’s been a pied piper for us, not just in terms of teams wanting us on their schedule, other guys from club teams see Wyatt and are academic-minded see him and want that, too.”
Fabian’s tune isn’t rooted in bringing more players to The Hill or elevating the schedule – that’s just a byproduct. His song is about being team-first, being the best he can be every time out and hopefully helping his teammates be their best each time out, too.
It’s a mentality that paid off in a big way this fall when Fabian led the Blues to their second straight Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship, clinched in a 1-0 shutout of archrival Lawrenceville, a runner-up finish in the Pa. Independent Schools Athletic Association tournament and a 16-3-1 record.
Fabian’s skill, confidence and program-elevating play enabled the Blues to match a school record with 14 shutouts, netting him unanimous selection to the All-MAPL first team and now The Mercury’s All-Area Boys Soccer Player of the Year honor.

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BOYS BASKETBALL: Hill falls in fifth-place game at Mercer Invitational

By Dennis Weller
Special to The Mercury

POTTSTOWN — Give the other team the first four or five points of every quarter and it’s going to start to add up. That’s what happened to The Hill School’s boys basketball team in Sunday’s game for fifth place in the 43rd Dave Mercer Invitational Tournament as the Blues had trouble getting started at the beginning of each period and had to almost constantly fight from behind.
Still, The Hill had a chance to pull the game out at the end, but some quick missed shots and a couple of costly turnovers led to fast break baskets at the other end of the court in a 56-51 loss to Blue Ridge School of St. George’s, Va., at Gillison Court.

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BOYS BASKETBALL: Hill holds off Gilman

By Dennis Weller
Special to The Mercury

POTTSTOWN — The Hill School boys had an opportunity to play with a large halftime lead for the first time this season in Saturday afternoon’s consolation round of the 43rd Dave Mercer Invitational Basketball Tournament. Unfortunately, for quite a while, the host Blues didn’t do any of the things a team needs to do in order to protect the lead.
But The Hill came up with some key baskets after its 17 point lead had shrunk to four, including a couple of big field goals by Mike Leasure with less than four minutes remaining, and the Blues recovered for a 57-49 win over Gilman School at Gillison Court.

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BOYS BASKETBALL: Hill falls to Princeton Day in Mercer Invitational opener

By Dennis Weller
Special to The Mercury

POTTSTOWN — An offensive dry spell can sometimes be overcome, even against a good opponent. But one that lasts an entire quarter is almost always a killer, and that’s what happened to The Hill School boys in Friday’s opening round of the 43rd Dave Mercer Invitational Basketball Tournament at Gillison Court.
The Blues scored just two points in the second quarter to fall behind by seven and never caught up in a 48-41 loss to Princeton Day School from New Jersey. That drops host Hill into the consolation bracket of the three-day, eight-team tournament and a contest today at 1 p.m. against Gilman School, a 64-55 loser to Kent School.

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Lawrenceville-Hill School Preview

By Don Seeley

dseeley@pottsmerc.com

POTTSTOWN – When Grey Simpson joined The Hill School football staff nine years ago, he admittedly wasn’t too happy, actually disappointed, to hear there were no playoffs … absolutely nothing after the final fall fling with Lawrenceville School.

By the end of that first season, though, Simpson realized there really was no need for a postseason.

“After I went through my first Hill-Lawrenceville week, I realized this was bigger than any championship game I had ever played in or coached in,” Simpson explained. “We’re all familiar with rivalry games, either as players or coaches, but I had never experienced anything quite like this before. For me it’s become an honor to be a part of such an incredible tradition and rivalry.”

It is, without question, one of the oldest and most storied football rivalries in the entire country.

And Saturday afternoon, when they line up against one another for the 94th consecutive year – and celebrate the 125th anniversary of their very first meeting way back in 1887 – the host Rams will be looking to upset the visiting Larries and deny them a Mid-Atlantic Prep League title.

“When you get to meet some of the Hill football alums who come back to campus and share their memories of this experience, it becomes even more evident how important the tradition is,” Simpson said. “When you realize how many people remember the result of this game over any other game, or even over any season record … it’s just unbelievable.

“If all that isn’t enough, there’s also a championship on the line this time. Both teams would love to have a MAPL championship on the line, but if you cannot play for the championship you play to prevent the other team from winning a championship. We do not want to ever watch Lawrenceville celebrate a victory on our field, so we certainly do not want to watch them celebrate a MAPL championship on our field, either.”

Lawrenceville is 3-1 (4-3 overall) and atop the standings alongside Blair Academy and Peddie – who, incidentally, play one another for the 109th time Saturday afternoon over in Hightstown, N.J. The Hill is 1-3 (1-6) and geared up for the spoiler role.

To do it, the Rams will have to play better than they have the entire season – a season that has been marred by major injury after major injury after major injury, a string of mistakes and breakdowns and, until two weeks ago, loss after loss after loss.

They have struggled finding the end zone. Much of their offensive woes could be attributed to the injuries, specifically the loss of a few linemen, fullback A.J. Garcia, and wideout Adam Regensburg – a Mercury All-Area selection last year and a legitimate Player of the Year candidate this year – during the season-opener.

It didn’t help three more starters went down during Hill’s last game. But the week off – thanks to the effects of Sandy postponing the showdown – should help offensive lineman Will Rich, wideout Jack Barry and safety Zach Garland be ready to go Saturday.

That last game, a 17-13 win at Mercersburg Academy, was the Rams’ first and put some oomph back into their game.

“I think (the win) gave the kids some confidence, confidence that they can make the plays to win a game,” Simpson explained. “That, along with the added motivation of spoiling Lawrenceville’s chance to win the league title, will have our kids ready to play.”

Simpson said he and his staff challenged the offensive line prior to the Mercersburg game and the response was all they could’ve asked for. With seniors Chris Argenti, Dom Lucchesi, Austin Black and Tommy Nelson leading the way, post-grad Johnny Cherneskie ran for a season-high 140 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Grant Smith threw for another.

“If we feel confident running behind this group and grinding out tough yardage to keep the chains moving, it only helps the rest of the offense,” Simpson said. “It allows our quarterback to be free to make plays with his arm and his legs, and take some chances down the field. He has connected with Seth Regensburg for a big pass play downfield every game, and those opportunities become more prevalent if we are successful in the run game.”

Hill’s big challenge Saturday, though, will be putting pressure on Lawrenceville quarterback Randall West, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound junior who throws, throws a lot, and throws quite well. In just seven games, West is 123 of 226 for 1,919 yards and 19 touchdowns.

West, also the team’s leading rusher (310 yards, 5 TDs) and one of only two ballcarriers with 100 or more yards on the season, has benefited from a very protective front line anchored by 6-6, 265-pound tackle Grant Newsome and 6-1, 265-pound guard Sam Wilson. West has three different receivers who’ve caught five touchdowns each – John Salemi (30 receptions, 478 yards), Alex Waugh (15-250) and Joe McGinnis (14-304).

“Lawrenceville throws the ball about as much as any high school team I have seen,” Simpson said. “We will have to be great in our coverage and try to prevent the big play downfield by keeping their receivers in front of us and making tackles when they dump the ball short.

“(West) seems to get more comfortable and confident each week, so he will be tough to stop. When he does not have anything, he is capable of getting out of the pocket and picking up big yardage running as well. We will do our best to confuse him and try to get in his face to prevent giving him the time to find the open receiver. If we can sustain drives on offense it will keep Lawrenceville’s offense off the field.”

And possibly get the opportunity to celebrate on their own field.

“This is the game everyone remembers,” Simpson said.

*

To get an idea of just how long ago it was when the Hill and Lawrenceville first met: Football was in its infancy – touchdowns were four points, field goals were five points, and all conversions were two points; at the neighborhood market a pound of coffee was 16 cents and a gallon of molasses was 13 cents; parts of the country were still recovering from the Civil War that ended 22 years earlier; and Grover Cleveland was the President of the U.S. … Hill and Lawrenceville have played one another every year since 1919, less than 12 months after the end of World War I.

*

Arguably two of the most well-known football participants in the series have been Hill’s Lamar Hunt (Class of 1951) and Lawrenceville’s Clint Frank (Class of 1934). Hunt became the founder and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs and is credited for coining the NFL championship game as the “Super Bowl.” Frank went on to play for Yale, where he was an All-American and the recipient of both the Philadelphia Maxwell Football Club Award and the prestigious Heisman Trophy in 1937.

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Lawrenceville leads the series, 61-38-10. … The Larries have won the last two meetings. Hill won seven of the previous 12. … Unofficially, only six other series in the country that span 100 years or more began before the Hill-Lawrenceville debut in 1887. The oldest was Norwich Free Academy and New London High School series that started in 1875. … Philadelphia-area rivals Penn Charter and Germantown Academy celebrated the 125th anniversary of their series last season.

Hill School 17, Mercersburg Academy 13

By Dennis Weller
Special to The Mercury

MERCERSBURG — The Hill School and Mercersburg Academy clawed away at each other, sometimes literally, right down to the last play on Saturday afternoon as each desperately sought its first Mid-Atlantic Prep League football win of the season.
The contest finally came down to the final 10 seconds, with Mercersburg just 12 yards away from the winning score. But the Rams stopped three straight pass attempts, time ran out, and Hill claimed its first win of the season, 17-13.

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Hun School 39, Hill School 7

By Jeff Stover
jstover@pottsmerc.com

Hunter Knighton has been on both sides of the Hill School/Hun School football pairing the past couple seasons.
Suffice it to say, he’s enjoyed the latest installment of this Mid-Atlantic Prep League rivalry ... this time, from the side of the visiting Raiders.
Knighton was part of Hun’s 39-7 victory over the Rams in Saturday’s contest at Dell Field. The Bucktown resident, a member of the Hill squad prior to the current season, gave the visitors solid two-way play in the trenches while helping them break into the MAPL win column.

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Peddie School 35, Hill School 7

By Mike Holcombe
Special to The Mercury

HIGHTSTOWN, N.J. — With the opening of their Mid-Atlantic Prep League schedule Friday, both the Hill and Peddie football teams were presented with a clean slate and a new start to their seasons.

When the game was over, it was Hill that had its loss column chalked up as Peddie rolled to a surprisingly easy 35-7 win.

Both teams had been roughed up in their non-conference games, coming into Friday’s matchup with identical 0-3 records. While Peddie head coach Frank deLaurentis felt he saw some promise in the early losses, Hill coach Grey Simpson could only lament that his team could not recover from its early misfortunes.

“We’ve been decimated with injuries,” Simpson said after the loss. “We needed some of the other seniors to step up and that didn’t happen. We lost not just our best players but also our emotional leaders so it was like a double whammy.

“We talked a lot about us being 0-0 (in the MAPL) and having a clean slate and we came out flat. It was disappointing.”

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Spring-Ford, Hill School dealt injury blows

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

Spring-Ford running back Jarred Jones is expected to miss
a substantial amount of the season due to injury.

Calling last weekend one of the wildest ever in the Pioneer Athletic Conference would be an understatement.

Fortunately, none of the scoreboard lights blew out during or after the five games, which saw the teams combine for 340 points – far and above any previous weekend total in the league’s history.

Unfortunately, Spring-Ford junior Jarred Jones – one of the running backs who contributed to the record-breaking offensive – went down with an injury that may restrict him to the defending champions’ sidelines for the next six to eight weeks.

And if that isn’t bad enough news, over at The Hill School, head coach Gray Simpson may have to go the rest of the season without two-way starter Adam Regensburg – unquestionably as strong a candidate as anyone in the area for The Mercury’s Player of the Year honor.

“You never like to hear about (the injuries),” said one coach – neither the Rams’ Chad Brubaker nor Simpson – who spoke off the record. “But (injuries) are part of the game. You deal with them, hope the rest of your team steps up, and move on.”

For the Rams, it means their offensive line of Andy Cutler, Tyler German, Mike Gilmore, Justin Meals, Montana O’Daniel and R.J. Sheldon must step it up, and step it up immediately. It means running backs Yousef Lundi and Tate Carter, possibly even sophomore Mike Fuhrmeister, must step it up. And it means quarterback Hank Coyne, perhaps as poised as anyone in the Spring-Ford lineup, may have throw it up a little more than he’s accustomed to in hopes of keeping opponents honest on the defensive side of the ball.

But no matter how the linemen or their teammates behind them do, the Rams’ offense will be a little less formidable without the explosive Jones.

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