BOYERTOWN - The Owen J. Roberts football team is trying to get ready for the playoffs. And at times Friday night, the Wildcats looked like they were all set to go as they rolled up over 400 yards on the ground.

 

At other times, there still seemed to be some work to be done as they were whistled for 12 penalties during the course of the night.

 

But through it all, Ryan Brumfield definitely looked like he was ready to start the playoffs at any time. The Owen J. Roberts junior ran for 293 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Wildcats downed Boyertown, 34-14, in a Pioneer Athletic Conference contest at Memorial Stadium.

 

Brumfield averaged a little more than 10 yards on his 29 carries and scored three touchdowns on the ground and another on a 27-yard pass from Nate Walters.

 

Brumfield gave credit to the good blocking by the offensive line, which sprung OJR ballcarriers for 424 yards on 52 attempts on the night.

 

"Just like they always do," said Brumfield. "They block hard, good downfield blocking. Everybody was blocking."

The Wildcats scored on the first possession of the game, driving 52 yards on seven plays in 4-1/2 minutes. Brumfield finished the march with a two-yard run and scored from the same distance a few minutes later.

 

The pass play from Walters to Brumfield made it 20-0 with four seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

That gave OJR (6-1, 8-1 overall) - which led

 

by at least 13 points the rest of the way - a chance to get some reserves into the game, which also led to the slew of penalties.

 

Eight of the 12 infractions were five-yarders that were called before the play even began.

 

"We got sloppy there, maybe overconfident," said Wildcats coach Tom Barr. "We were putting other personnel in, second and third stringers, just in case something happens and we need them down the road. We've got to get ready for the playoffs. We knew if we won, we were in the playoffs."

 

"It's something we just have to work on in practice, have a play-clock in our heads when we get in the huddle," said Brumfield.

 

Boyertown (3-4, 4-5 overall) got on the board on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Chase Garber to Ryan Schwager early in the second quarter. Then, after Brumfield's six-yard run into the end zone made it 27-7, the Bears came back with a 63-yard drive topped off by a three-yard scoring run by Logan Herb.

 

Sam Funk - who ran for 86 yards on 10 carries - closed out the scoring with a 37-yard TD for OJR late in the third quarter.

 

"We were trying to play a new defense tonight because of all our injuries," said Bears coach Mark Scisly. "It took a little while to adapt. Our kids played hard in the second half and put up a good fight."

 

"Boyertown always plays us tough," said Brumfield. "They're a very good team. They gave us a fight. We had to play."

 

Barr also had good words for the way the Bears kept battling after the rough first quarter.

 

"Give Boyertown credit," he said. "They executed well. They found our weak spots. They kept hitting us there."

But the Bears had trouble stopping Brumfield, who ripped off runs of more than 20 yards six times, including a 49-yarder.

 

"He showed us tonight why he's a first-team, all-state player," said Scisly. "He's the best player in the league."