Boyertown scored three second-half touchdowns, but visiting Wyomissing countered each with one of its own and downed the Bears, 30-20, in a non-league contest.

Marc Panepinto led the Bear attack with 190 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries and Eric Reish hit 8 of 18 pass attempts for 94 yards. Adam Tsakonas caught four of those tosses for 43 yards and James Crognale pulled in three for 39.

"We just came out with more intensity in the second half," said Panepinto, whose team trailed 9-0 at the break. "We just couldn't get into a rhythm in the first half. The offense looked like it was going to be slow in scrimmages, but we put 20 points on the board in the second half. We hit our stride and overall we played a good game and some of the bumps are smoothing out."

The Bears, who will open their first season in the Pioneer Athletic Conference next week, did have a 77-yard drive to the Spartans' seven in the second quarter, but that march ended on a diving interception in the end zone.

Then Boyertown drove 80 yards on 11 plays to open the third as Panepinto ran six straight times for 41 yards, Tsakonas pulled in a 15-yarder to the visitors' 25, and Panepinto finished the march with an eight-yard burst up the middle.

But Wyomissing came right back with a scoring drive of 64 yards, the last 52 on a run down the left sideline by Andrew Taylor.

Then, after Panepinto bolted 68 yards to pull the Bears to within 16-13, the Spartans went 71 yards with Jon Hart (52 yards and 2 TD's) running in from nine yards out.

"They have some great backs," said new Bear head coach Ron Zeiber. "They have a great one-two punch there. Taylor (157 yards and 2 TD's) really turned it up on us tonight. Their big plays hurt us and costly turnovers."

Hart scored again to boost the Spartan lead to 30-13 with 3:56 to go. Then Boyertown closed the gap on Panepinto's two-yard run with 2:01 left, but the visitors easily ran out the rest of the clock.

"We had a lot to learn... it's a new offense," said Zeiber. "But our guys never quit. We've got to get better every week."