FOOTBALL: Henley rushes for 200 yards and three touchdowns as Boyertown tops Methacton 30-14

By Dennis Weller Pottstown Mercury

BOYERTOWN — Both Boyertown and Methacton tried to mix things up on offense with not much to show for it in the first half on Friday night.

But Boyertown quarterback Tilman Henley broke a halftime tie with a long punt return midway through the third quarter and added two long touchdown runs for a 30-14 win at Memorial Stadium in the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division opener for both teams.

Henley rushed for three touchdowns and 195 yards for the Bears (3-2, 1-0 PAC), including TD runs of 64 and 66 yards in the second half. Jackson Lecky threw for 152 yards and a pick for the Warriors (2-3).

“We wanted to get the ball around a lot,” said Henley. “We wanted to give them a lot of looks early.”

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So did the Warriors, who had seven players catch a pass in the first half. But despite those varied offenses, each team scored just one touchdown before the intermission.

Henley broke the deadlock when he caught a short punt on the run and sped 40 yards into the end zone to give Boyertown a 14-7 advantage with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter.

Then after a quick stop on defense by the Bears, Henley made it 21-7 with his 64-yard run with a minute left in the quarter, Methacton bounced right back with a 64-yard return by Christopher Moran on the ensuing kickoff and a 15-yard Boyertown penalty at the end of the play set the Warriors up at the Boyertown 23. Moran scored on a 6-yard run five plays later to make it 21-14.

But Henley ripped off his 66-yard TD run on a broken play a minute later and a safety by the Bears provided the final score.

“Some key mistakes,” said Boyertown coach Jami Sands. “They have a couple good players. I think our kids did a nice job tonight.”

“We couldn’t capitalize,” said Methacton coach Eric Ranieri. “We’ll have to take a look at the film and see how many times they had second-and-five or less and how many times we had a positive play and penalties negated the play.

“I know it’s a coaching cliché, but three phases of the game. That punt return hurt. Defensively, they got enough pressure late and they got the safety.”

Methacton scored first on a 6-play, 70-yard drive to start the game, with Lecky hitting Alex Nijinsky with a 3-yard pass for the score. The Bears came right back with a 72-yard march finished up by a 6-yard run by Henley for a 7-7 tie after a quarter.

But Moran made his interception and the Bear defense stopped the Warriors on downs at the Boyertown 22 after a 52-yard drive for the 7-7 stalemate at the half.

Boyertown ran for 350 yards, including 55 courtesy of Michael Boorse, 43 by Braydon Burris and 37 from Luke Hagan. Methacton got 19-for-30 passing from Lecky, with Grayson Corrigan making five catches for 43 yards.

The Bears had lost three straight to the Warriors, including a 39-14 setback last year. The all-time series is now tied at 9-9.

Boyertown is now above the .500 mark after five games for the first time since 2013.

“We’re lucky so far with guys staying healthy,” said Sands. “We’re getting better every week and playing as a team. More guys are football players. They worked so hard in the offseason.”

“Last year we had to communicate, talking everything over,” said Henley. “This year, we’re just playing, knowing what we’re going to do. We’re just more together as a team.”

Henley averaged over 12 yards on his 16 carries.

“He’s a great player. A smart player,” said Sands. “We talked last year about moving him. But why wouldn’t you want the ball in the hands of number 11 on every play?”

Last year, the Bears lost their first four games in the PAC, but have now won five of their last seven overall, including a two-game winning streak at the end of last season.

“We’ve got a long way to go, trying to win the PAC,” said Sands. “We’ll see what we can do.”