Baker runs for 369 yards in Pottstown win
9/11/2019by By Dennis Weller Pottstown Mercury

BOYERTOWN - According to Pottstown running back Kenny Baker, he was merely doing what his coaches told him to do and taking advantage of the holes that were opened up by his offensive line.

 

That combination alone probably would have added up to a pretty good night of carrying the football. But throw in lightning-quick bursts through those gaps in the line and some cuts and fakes that left Boyertown defenders grasping at air, and it turned out to be a phenomenal game for the Trojan junior Monday night at Memorial Stadium.

 

Baker rushed for 369 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries as Pottstown defeated the Bears, 42-13 in a contest that was postponed from Friday night due to rain. That yardage total was the second-best in Pioneer Athletic Conference history to the 398 rung up by Perkiomen Valley gradduate Grant Wiley.

 

The Trojans (3-4, 3-5 overall) piled up 489 yards on the ground and Jim Cassel completed 5 of 6 pass attempts for 76 yards and a pair of scores, both to Andre Brown. The Bears (1-6, 1-8) were not without their offensive fireworks as David Crognale threw to Wes Mitchell for a 70-yard touchdown and scrambled 53 yards for another.

But it was Baker who stole the show as he ran for at least 10 yards on 12 occasions, including scoring bursts of 67 and 60 yards.

 

'I was just following my blocks, just doing what all my coaches said to do,' said the soft-spoken 5-foot-10, 165-pounder. 'We just wanted to get all of our blocks. The defense did its job. It was a great team effort.'

Pottstown senior captain Raphael Hueber played a key role as the center of the offensive line, which also knew it had to do all that it could to take care of freshman starting quarterback Jeff Endy, listed at 5-foot-7 and 133 pounds.

 

'We knew that we had to protect him and not let anybody through,' said Hueber. 'And stay with our blocks and let the running backs get downfield.'

 

Pottstown scored on its first possession of the night after the defense forced a Bear punt. Baker started things off with a 17-yard run and Brown followed with an 11-yard pickup and the visitors drove 76 yards, the last five on a carry by Baker.

 

Then the Trojans recovered a Boyertown fumble at the Pottstown 37 and scored again on just three plays as Baker carried for 42, Cassel passed to Brown for 11, and Baker bolted for 11 into the end zone.

 

Boyertown quickly bounced back when Crognale hit Mitchell down the left sideline for the 70-yard play and the Bears marched to the visitor's 37 late in the first quarter. But Brown picked off a pass at the three and Pottstown marched 97 yards on 14 plays, scoring on a 30-yard pass from Cassel to Brown. Baker's 67-yard run and Crognale's 53-yard jaunt made it 28-13 at the half. But that would be as close as the hosts would get as the Pottstown defense held them to 128 yards after intermission and Brown and Anthony Lyon intercepted passes.

'The offensive line did an unbelievable job,' said Trojan coach Brett Myers. 'The defense did a great job. Crognale is a phenomenal football player.'

 

'We knew if we wanted to compete we had to separate ourselves from them and try to end up on a good note, and everybody rose to the occasion,' added Hueber.

 

Boyertown wound up with 360 total yards. Crognale ran for 60 on eight carries and threw for 178, including four completions for 126 yards to Mitchell. But that was not enough to keep the Bears from dropping their third straight game, a span in which they have allowed almost 1,500 yards on defense.

 

'They looked very good,' Boyertown coach Ron Zeiber said of the Trojans. 'They just out-executed us and outplayed us. We're just not a very good team right now. They out-everything'd us. They deserve all the credit. Our guys just didn't come to play again.'

 

The Bears have three games remaining and Zeiber things they'll have trouble winning any of them unless things turn around.

 

'We're not seeing a whole lot of improvement in our play,' he explained. 'Guys don't believe in themselves. As soon as one bad thing happens, they don't pick themselves up. It's got to be something that's inside you. Playing the way we've been playing, it's going to be tough to get a win against any of those programs (Owen J. Roberts, Great Valley and Upper Perkiomen). It's tough.'