Bayard Rustin likes to run, run, and run some more behind its sizable and quick offensive line. Pottsgrove likes to run, run, and run some more behind its sizable and quick offensive line.

Don’t think the keyboard got stuck … or is stuttering.

It’s just that tonight’s District 1-Class AAA semifinal showdown could very well turn into a track meet of sorts with the fleet afoot finding lanes of their own and running for goal lines instead of finish lines.

Rustin, on a nine-game run and 10-1 overall, features brothers Rondell and Rameer White, who together average eight yards every time they take a handoff, and have taken a couple hundred of them for 1,928 yards this season. Pottsgrove, also on a nine-game run and 10-1 overall, features Terrell Chestnut and Maika Polamalu, who together average a half-step under eight yards every time they carry the football, and have taken a few hundred of them for 2,238 yards this season.

Think the films and scouting reports look the same?

“We’re definitely similar in what we do,” said Pottsgrove head coach Rick Pennypacker. “Rustin is a run-the-football team. They’ll throw at times, but most of the time, it’s only because they’re trying to score in a hurry-up offense.”

For the record, quarterback Nick Michaels has gone up top just 62 times and

completed 30 of them for 462 yards and four scores. Chestnut has gone up top just 61 times and completed 35 of them for 840 yards and eight scores.

“Rustin is easy to prepare for, just like a lot of people may say about us,” Pennypacker said. “But that doesn’t make it any easier to defend them.

“What (the Golden Knights) do, they do very, very well. They’re like a lot of those old Strath Haven teams … at times coming at you with two tight ends and other times coming at you in the Wing-T. They like to get the ball to the White brothers. They’ll go to their fullback, too. They just pound the football.”

The Falcons can pound as well. And can they ever scoot, as Chestnut and Polamalu — as well as fullback Preston Hamlette — have done so often this season.

But whether they’ve been short or long runs, or the occasional short toss or long bomb, Pottsgrove’s offensive production begins up front with center Dan Foust, guards Andrew Filopanti and Eric Moran, tackles Antonio Filopanti and Brandon Mason, and tight end Scott Madl. Their unsung work has helped the Falcons average 265 yards on the ground and 341 yards overall.

“They usually show a ‘50’ on defense,” Pennypacker said. “They have two very good linebackers, too. I just don’t know if they’ve seen the kind of speed they’re going to see (tonight). But they’re very good.“

The Falcons aren’t too bad on the defensive side of the ball, either. Take away what Pottstown did two weeks ago and the Falcons have allowed their other last four opponents an average of only 53 yards rushing. The front five — ends Justin Oliveri and Andrew Tremble, tackles Eric Figorski and Kayvon Greene, and nose guard T.J. Demetrio — have come up with big stop after big stop. They’re backed up by linebackers Paul Owens, Madl, and Hamlette and a very aggressive as well as efficient secondary featuring Isiah Quick and Sheppard on the corners and Chestnut at safety.

“Our defense has been playing well,” Pennypacker said. “The kids are always looking for a challenge, and they’re definitely looking forward to this challenge. They know they’re going up against a very good football team.”

Owen J. Roberts at Upper Moreland

Owen J. Roberts (9-2) travels to top-seeded Upper Moreland (9-1) tonight in the other District 1-Class AAA semifinal.

OJR head coach Tom Barr likely had a long chat with Phoenixville’s Bill Furlong, who saw a turnover with less than four minutes remaining lead to the winning score in last week’s opening-round setback at Upper Moreland.

The Golden Bears have a well-balanced offense with the swift Chris Smallwood and quarterback Mike Rosenbaum. Smallwood has run for over 1,543 yards and 22 touchdowns, while Rosenbaum is closing in on 1,000 yards passing with 10 touchdown tosses. Defense is anchored by linebacker Dmitri Miller and safety Ronye Dennis.

The Wildcats counter with Ryan Brumfield (2,003 yards, 19 TDs), Sam Funk, and Cory Bissland in a run game that averages just under 300 yards a game. Quarterback Dan Miller, who has an outstanding season on both sides of the ball, can throw and has three excellent receivers in Brumfield, tight end Brad Davis, and wideout Kohl Batdorf. Defense is led up front by Sam Morgan and Sean Moloney and by linebackers Rich Zazo and Scott Syrek.

Daniel Boone at Mechanicsburg

Daniel Boone (8-3) is off on yet another long bus ride to visit top-seeded Mechanicsburg (11-0) in the District 3-AAA quarterfinals … and hope to do what last year’s team did — take out an unbeaten top-seed in the second round (as the Blazers did to Northern York).

The host Wildcats are coming off back-to-back 3-7 seasons. Tarik Leftenant (1,100 yards), fullback Devon Hensel (372), and quarterback Jake Zeigler (408) are averaging a combined seven-plus yards per carry. Zeigler keeps defenses honest, too, hitting well over 50 percent of his passes for 1,050 yards and 14 touchdowns. Tyler Bullock (6-4, 265), who dominates at guard and at defensive tackle, has already committed to Connecticut.

Daniel Boone, meanwhile, shows Mechanicsburg a passing game it hasn’t seen the likes of all season. Thanks in part to an offensive line that has allowed him time to throw, quarterback Jon Monteiro has amassed 2,853 yards and 33 touchdowns through the air. He has two excellent receivers in Zach Keeley and Kelly Saylor, who have caught a combined 128 passes for 1,729 yards and 19 touchdowns. Nate Greene’s (880 yards) ability to break a long run keeps defenses honest. And speaking of defense, the Blazers’ feature returning all-state Keeley in the secondary, where he has picked off seven passes this season.

Playoff Notes

Mechanicsburg’s last undefeated regular season was 25 years ago. The program’s only unbeaten overall season was a 10-0-1 run in 1954. Veteran Wildcats’ head coach Rich Lichtel died just before last season kicked off after losing his battle with cancer. … Rustin is No. 2 on the District 1-Class AAA enrollment chart with 537 male students (9th through 12th grade). OJR (510) is at No. 5, Upper Moreland (450) is at No. 15, and Pottsgrove (410) is at No. 18 on the 22-school bracket. … Pottsgrove (6-4), Owen J. Roberts (1-0), and Methacton (1-0) — along with former member Lansdale Catholic — are the PAC-10’s only teams with winning records in the postseason. Daniel Boone is 4-3 in postseason play in District 3-AAA (4-5 overall including two Eastern Conference playoff appearances)

With the exception of a handful of matches remaining on the local as well as District 1 docket, the two-month, two-week regular season is over. Everybody has their gold, silver, bronze and whatever other color medals, ribbons, plaques and trophies from the round-robins, classics, tournaments and invitationals. League championships, for the most part, have been decided, as have the prestigious district and state duals titles.
The grind is upon us.
The annual four-week grind.
The postseason, that is. The month when scholastic wrestling unveils its very unique character … individual sport at its best.
Forget about previous match-ups, and whatever resulted from them. There are no more arguments for if only this would’ve happened and if only that would’ve happened. Rankings are meaningless and, like reputations, carry absolutely no weight.
Excuses, whatever they may be, fall on deaf ears.
Beginning this weekend, with the six sectionals throughout District 1 – as well as the sectional for Daniel Boone up in District 3 and the prep school’s state tournament – arguments are limited to six minutes (a couple more if overtime is required to settle an issue).
Beginning this weekend, we find out exactly who is who.
For area wrestlers, specifically those weighing in for the District 1-AAA sectionals, what lies ahead may be their biggest or most formidable challenge in a long, long time. Yes, there is a number of quality – make that high-quality – wrestlers spread throughout the 14 weight classes. But, for the first time in a number of years, there are just as many if not more high-quality wrestlers to greet them, or challenge them, from the other sections … and it will only get more competitive with each passing week.
And if anyone is aware of that it’s the four returning state medalists and 16 other returning state qualifiers, all of whom are aware that the past is just that, the past. There are no guarantees.
So don’t get all hyped up when the sectional seedings are released Thursday night. Like all the numbers from December through last weekend, including those priceless prestige points, they’re meaningless.
“That’s the beauty of this sport,” said a PAC-10 coach who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s that time of the year when my nobody can knock off your somebody. It happens, and sometimes more than we care to admit. If you’re not ready to go, and ready to go for six minutes, the other guy will. And that usually means the end of your season.”
Stay tuned…
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Council Rock South should be applauded for its fourth place at last weekend’s PIAA-Class AAA Team Duals Championships in Hershey. It was the fourth straight year a team from District 1 has finished among the Top Four in the duals.
However, in the four years since the team duals were expanded and the district got three berths, it was District 1’s worst overall showing as far as wins and losses.
Council Rock South (2-2), Council Rock North (0-2) and Quakertown (0-1) combined for a 2-5 mark, well below the overall marks of the district’s three showings in 2005 (5-4), 2006 (5-3) and last year (6-5).
Also, Octorara was ousted in the opening round of the Class AA competition last Tuesday night, which meant District 1 remained winless – a humbling 0-13 – in the 10-year history of the state’s AA duals.

HONORABLE
Wrestler of the Week honors go to St. Pius X senior Enzo Carannante, who despite his 15-16 record swept the 145-pound bracket and gold medal during last Saturday’s Interboro Invitational.
Coach of the Week honors go to Pottsgrove’s Matt Pawlik, who led his team to a rout of Phoenixville last week that clinched a rare winning season (13-12 overall) for the Falcons.

PAC-10 WRAP
Boyertown and Spring-Ford put up a pair of lopsided wins last week to close as PAC-10 co-champions. For the Bears, it’s a share of the title they won outright a year ago, while the Rams earn a share of the title for the first time since sharing the 1998 title with Upper Perkiomen.
Upper Perkiomen, by a decision over Perkiomen Valley last week, will settle for third place.
Over the last six seasons, or since Boyertown joined the Pioneer Athletic Conference, the Bears are 44-5, with four of those losses to Upper Perkiomen and the other just a few weeks ago to Spring-Ford; the Indians are 41-7, with five of the losses forfeits and the other two to Boyertown and Spring-Ford this season; and the Rams are 39-10, with five losses to Boyertown, four to Upper Perkiomen, and one to Perkiomen Valley (this season).
St. Pius X hosts Pottstown tonight in a match that finishes up the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s 22nd season of wrestling.
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Spring-Ford is far and away the leader in Pioneer Athletic Conference wins (167), followed by Upper Perkiomen (126). Pottstown and Perkiomen Valley are tied for third (98), although the Trojans move up a notch with a victory at Pius tonight. Owen J. Roberts and former member Great Valley share the fifth spot (92).

PRIVATE MATTERS
The Hill School’s final dual meet was cancelled by host Penn Charter, so the Blues – under first-year head coach Jesse Young – will finish with one of their most successful regular seasons (7-6) in a number of years.
The Blues, as well as Perkiomen School and West-Mont Christian Academy, will participate in the Pennsylvania Private School State Tournament this weekend at Germantown Academy.
Among Hill’s hopefuls at the state tournament will be Tyler Mueller (119 pounds), Dwayne Sampson (125), Steele Phillips (130), Karl Wiszumerski (135), David Phillips (152), Darnell Morrow (160) and Jay Knighton (285).
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Sampson recently announced he will continue his wrestling career next year at Trinity University in Hartford, Conn. Sampson plans to major in Chinese and Japanese.

DISTRICT NOTES
Methacton’s forgettable finish and Neshaminy’s up-and-down week means both will have to wait until next year for their respective programs to reach impressive milestones. The Warriors dropped three of their last four matches and will open next season needing two wins to reach 500. Neshaminy, which recently stunned Pennridge to gain a share of the Suburban One National Conference title only to get thumped seven days later by Hatboro-Horsham, will open next season needing just one win to reach 600.
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Although there are a few more resignations and/or retirements expected in the coming month(s), Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s Bob Lorence announced he was stepping down prior to last week’s win over Methacton.
Lorence spent his first five years as a head coach at Springfield-Montco and the last 27 guiding the Colonials’ program. The very amiable and respected Lorence led PW to a school-record 21-3 overall mark this winter.
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Henderson senior Hunter Smith, a district qualifier a year ago who was expected to be among the leading 171-pounders in the postseason, tore the lateral collateral ligament in his knee during practice and will likely be sidelined.
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Council Rock South head coach Brad Silemperi picked up his 100th career win with the Hawks over the weekend. It came in the state duals’ consolation semifinals against none other than Nazareth – his alma mater. In the consolation final, though, Silemperi and the Hawks lost to Cory Poff and Central Mountain. Poff is the son of Council Rock graduate Carl Poff – who later was Silemperi’s coach at Lock Haven University.
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There are only two league titles yet to be decided before the postseason gets under way on Saturday. The Del Val championship will be decided Wednesday night when Interboro (4-1) travels to Sun Valley (5-0), and heavily favored Council Rock South (6-0) is expected to pin down the Suburban One Continental Conference title Wednesday when it visits winless Souderton (0-6).

STATE NOTES
Upper Perkiomen graduate and current assistant Mark Smith’s state record for career pins (124) is likely to get broken in the coming week or weeks. Brandywine Heights senior Matt Yocco has 121 heading into this weekend’s District 3-Class AA Section 3 Tournament at Hamburg. Yocco is 178-25 with those 121 pins … Yocco’s twiin brother Nick is 164-35 with 100 pins, and sophomore brother Zane is already 85-12 with 48 pins. Add that up and you get a 427-72 mark with 269 pins. If that isn’t a record of some kind in this state, well…
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District 6-AA champion Mount Union, which swept the Bill Fretz Duals at Perkiomen Valley last month, went 0-2 in the duals and finished 23-3. … AA champion Burrell (21-0) finished as Pennsylvania’s only unbeaten dual-meet team this year. The Buccaneers, who defeated two-time defending champion Reynolds in the semifinals, became the first District 7 school to capture the AA championship. … Central Dauphin became the first District 3 school to capture the AAA championship.

THE LEADERS
A number of requests for area schools’ all-time win leaders have been received in recent weeks. They are, as follows:
Boyertown – Jesse DeWan (143); Daniel Boone – senior Tyler Swartz (108); Hill School – David Hoffman (189); Methacton – Dan Covatta (145); Owen J. Roberts – Aaron Brown (134); Perkiomen School – Larry Frankenfield (115); Perkiomen Valley – Tim Smith (111).
And, Phoenixville – Jason Meister (127); Pottsgrove – Chris Beasley (112); Pottstown – Joey Allen (132); Spring-Ford – Tom Ingram and Jason Shivak (134 each); St. Pius X – Craig Owsiany (90); and Upper Perkiomen – Zack Kemmerer (199).

MOVING UP
Spring-Ford’s Ryan Kemmerer (122), Pottstown’s Seth Ecker (121), Methacton’s Jonathan Hammond (120), Daniel Boone’s Tyler Swartz (108) and Owen J. Roberts’ Connor McCormick (102) enter the postseason as the area’s active career win leaders.
OJR’s Will Bentley (93), Daniel Boone’s Josh Sheriff (90) and Spring-Ford’s Alan Gauger (91) also have a chance to reach the 100-win milestone. Bentley and Gauger would have to wrestle through the AAA Southeastern Regional, while Sheriff – who would join Swartz as the only 100-bout winners in Daniel Boone history – needs to qualify and win a couple of bouts at the state tournament.
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Five juniors – OJR’s Nick Fuschino (80), Upper Perkiomen’s Jared Bennett (70), St. Pius’ Bobby Burns (70), Upper Perkiomen’s Mike McStravick (66) and Boyertown’s Tim Feroe (66) – are on target to reach the milestone next season. Two others, Boyertown sophomores Alex Pellicciotti (66) and Matt Malfaro (63), are also on pace to hit the mark next season.