The senior linebacker had just made a play to seal an impressive come-from-behind 17-14 win for the Bears in Friday night's Pioneer Athletic Conference showdown against Lansdale Catholic.

 

With the Crusaders driving for the potential tying or go-ahead score, Stinley not only forced LC quarterback Anthony Byers to lose the football, he also recovered the fumble, sealing the big win for the Bears.

 

"I just decided, 'I'm going for it. I'm going for something,' " said Stinley. "He was hanging the ball right there, and I swatted it. I saw it laying on the ground, and I just dove for it."

 

With the impressive win, the Bears served notice that they will be heard from in the PAC-10.

 

"A lot of people doubted us," said Mike Spaid, who helped anchor the Bears' offensive and defensive lines. "We showed everybody. We did what we needed to do."

 

There was nothing to suggest the Bears eventually would be celebrating during a first half that saw the Crusaders dominate play. LC led 14-0 early in the second half after Byers connected with Mike Donahue for a 37-yard scoring strike. It might have been worse had it not been for a defensive stop when the Crusaders came up short on fourth down from the Bears six.

 

The Bears cut LC's lead in half when Chad Mackey rumbled 38 yards for a touchdown late in the half.

 

Despite the fact the Crusaders accumulated 190 yards of total offense in the half, they took just a 14-7 lead into the locker room.

 

"We were fortunate," said Boyertown coach Ron Zeiber. "They dominated us up front offensively and defensively. They really had our number. As we were walking to the locker room, one of our coaches was saying, 'We're lucky to be this close.'"

 

"We came out kind of flat," said Stinley. "We started to turn it up a little bit in the second quarter, and we carried that into the second half."

 

Marc Panepinto, who had just 10 yards on eight carries in the first half, turned the second half into his own personal showcase.

 

After the Bears forced the Crusaders to punt on their opening drive of the half, the Bears - more specifically Panepinto - went to work. Panepinto carried five times on the Bears next drive.

 

Although the Bears could not convert a fourth down play from LC's 31, the tone had been set.

 

It was three downs and out for the Crusaders. On the Bears' first play of the ensuing drive, Panepinto, who finished the night with 158 yards, sprinted 58 yards for a touchdown that knotted the score.

 

Blocking for Panepinto, according to Spaid, is a lot of fun.

 

"It just feels great to know we have somebody we can block for and no matter how many times he's hit, he'll keep going," said Spaid. "It's the greatest feeling to have somebody like that on your team."

 

Another three-and-out series by the Crusaders set the stage for a Boyertown drive that stalled on LC's 10-yard line. But Eric Reish booted a 27-yard field goal, giving the Bears a 17-14 lead at the 9:42 mark.

 

The two teams exchanged possessions, and the Crusaders had one last attempt to tie the score when they took over on their own 36 at the 1:44 mark. That drive came to an abrupt halt when Stinley came up with the defensive gem of the game, giving the Bears possession on their own 39 and allowing them to run out the clock.

 

"We had in our mind we were going to win," said Spaid. "We knew we hadn't played well in the first half.

"We knew we had to come back the second half and show what Boyertown football is all about."

 

"They really met the challenge in the second half," said Zeiber. "We knew we had the potential to play better than we had in the first half. We're real proud of the turnaround."