MAKING A POINT
By Don Seeley
Something was missing in a lot of the area's high school football games this past weekend.
Defense.
Pottstown over Boyertown, 51-47 (that's 98 points in all).
Spring-Ford beat Pope John Paul II, 56-31 (another 87 total).
Pottsgrove beat Upper Perkiomen, 56-7 (only 63, but the Falcons had most of them).
And, though not as badly (or noticeably explosive or even lopsided, but still a bit offensive in the scoring column), Perkiomen Valley beat Owen J. Roberts, 35-10, and Phoenixville beat Methacton, 37-10.
All that was in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, of course.
We'd all like to think the offenses are good.
Perhaps, but not that good.
Defense, on the other hand...
The Pottstown-Boyertown game was a foot race. Up the field one way, back the other way, and - more often than not - neither team needed that much time to get to the end zone. Quote of the Week came from Pottstown's Monroe Hampton, who had to be beat after running 28 times for 306 yards and three touchdowns, catching four passes for 72 yards, recovering a fumble, intercepting a pass and getting himself in on six tackles... and that doesn't count all the other plays he was blocking for teammates or tracking down an opposing Bear: "I'm not tired at all," he said to a handful of exhausted reporters covering the game (who had more hand cramps keeping track of all the stats than the players had leg cramps).
Pottsgrove scored almost at will, albeit against as young and inexperienced team the PAC-10 has seen in recent years.
Spring-Ford and Pope John Paul combined for 12 touchdowns, and exactly half of them covered more than 40 yards.
Giving up 37 and 35 points, as OJR and Methacton did, doesn't exactly raise most fans' eyebrows. But you can sure bet it raised the blood pressure of Tom Barr and Paul Lepre, the teams' head coaches. They know, like all coaches, you can't give an opponent thirtysome points and expect to win (although Pottstown and Spring-Ford got away with it last Friday night and Saturday afternoon).
So, putting too much emphasis on the offense, or lack of defense, last weekend?
Not really. Not at all when considering it was far and above the highest-scoring weekend (340 points total) in the history of the PAC-10.
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Ironically, the area's other three games were in stark contrast to the above, at least from a defensive standpoint, with Manheim Central blanking Daniel Boone, 29-0; Tower Hill (Del.) shutting out Perkiomen School, 23-0; and Germantown Academy edging The Hill School, 7-6.