Bears dealt third straight shutout
10/30/2016by BY DENNIS WELLER READING EAGLE

Boyertown had been struggling coming into Friday night’s football game at Memorial Stadium and Spring-Ford was anxious to atone for a disappointing loss the week before.

 

 That combination did not bode well for the Bears, who got off to a bad start and were blanked for the third week in a row, 52-0.

 

 The Rams (3-1, 6-2) scored on the first play from scrimmage in the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division matchup and rolled up a 24-point lead by the end of the opening quarter. Boyertown (1-3, 2-6) did not record a first down until late in the second quarter and wound up with just 87 total yards on the night.

 

 “They’re bigger. They’re stronger,” said Bear coach George Parkinson. “You could see it’s a mismatch right from the start.”

 

 T.J. Pergine threw to Stone Scarcelle for a 69-yard touchdown to put the Rams on top 17 seconds into the contest. Then quarterback Jerry Kapp was sacked for a 15-yard loss on the first play for the Bears, who were dropped for negative yardage 16 times.

 

 “Our passing game was shut down. Our running game was shut down,” said Parkinson. We just couldn’t handle them on the line of scrimmage. They had a good game plan. They’re a good football team.”

 

 On the other hand, the Rams didn’t have much trouble moving the ball and made it 31-0 early in the second quarter when Scarcelle threw over the middle to Justin DeFrancesco for a 50-yard scoring play.

 

 “It’s huge,” Scarcelle said concerning the bounce-back win following a 28-16 setback to Perkiomen Valley last week in a battle for first place. “We needed to come back with a win this week.”

 

 “Our kids were ready to go,” said Ram coach Chad Brubaker. “We had a bad taste in our mouths. We were anxious to get back out on the field.”

 

 Scarcelle wound up with two touchdown receptions, Selwyn Simpson ran for 96 yards and scored twice on runs and once on a pass, and DeFrancesco ran for 100 yards on eight carries late in the game.”

 

 “Last week, we were waiting for somebody to make a play,” said Brubaker.

 

 Hunter Vogels led the offense for the Bears with 36 yards on six carries and Chris Berry caught two passes for a total of 26 yards.

 

 The Rams came into the game in 11th place in the District 1-6A power rankings as they try to finish in the top 16 and earn a playoff berth for the second straight year.

 

 “We need a couple wins to get into the playoffs,” added Scarcelle. “It (last week’s loss) was tough, but we learned a lot. We need to be more consistent in everything we do.”

 

 Meanwhile, the Bears will try to get back on track next Saturday when they travel to Norristown for their first game against the winless Eagles.

 

 “It’s imperative that we score the next game,” said Parkinson, whose team last got on the scoreboard with a touchdown with 10 seconds left in a 46-41 win over Methacton three weeks ago. “We don’t get the excitement of scoring a touchdown, which can get you going.

 

 “ We’re struggling right now. We’ve had some injuries. We’re on our third center. We’re on our third tackle. Both our guards are really running backs. Injuries are just killing us.”