This column was originally published in the Nov. 6 edition of The Mercury.

BUCKTOWN – Tonight is Perkiomen Valley’s turn to try and stop Ryan Brumfield. Then again, just slowing down the young fella, as well as the rest of the Owen J. Roberts offense, may not be all that bad, either.

The Vikings, arguably the surprise team in the Pioneer Athletic Conference this fall – thanks in part to being the most improved team since the season kicked off two months ago – visit the Wildcats this evening with a lot on the line.

Like a berth in the District 1-Class AAAA playoffs.

To get an invite into the postseason, though, the Vikings (5-2, 6-3 overall) will have to find a way – albeit over, under, around and through a very good offensive line – to get after Brumfield before Brumfield gets going. The junior tailback has averaged 228 yards and three touchdowns in the Wildcats’ six league wins, but managed just 113 yards and two scores in the lone loss (to unbeaten Pottsgrove).

Mind you, the Wildcats have some additional offensive weaponry, namely quarterback Nate Walters and wing Sam Funk, who has a thing for big plays himself. But so far it’s almost been as Brumfield goes so goes OJR.

And with that impressive 6-1 record (8-1 overall) and a spot in the District 1-Class AAA playoffs already secured, who’s to argue.

“This game is definitely one of the biggest tests of the year for us,” said PV head coach Scott Reed. “We are playing a top-ranked, playoff-caliber team.

“I don’t know if there is any way to shut down Brumfield, so we’re going to have to make him earn his way down the field. We’ll be in trouble if we give him those long touchdown runs.”

Brumfield has dialed up a good number of his 30 touchdowns – one on a pass reception – via long distance. And when opponents have ganged up and gotten a little rambunctious up front, Walters has flipped 10 passes over them to Funk, who has taken the tosses 412 yards and into the end zone four times.

But one thing the Wildcats haven’t seen is the 3-5 defense Reed installed this season. Lou Fioravanti sits in the middle at nose guard with Chris Stewart and Kayo Bakare in the tackle slots. Bobby Strickland is the middle linebacker in between Brendan Murray and Joe Scenna, and Sean Conners and Justin Morgan are on the outside. The secondary features Jo and Gio Waters on the corners and Kyle Williams at safety. It isn’t a generous group, either. The PV defense is allowing an average of only 105 yards a game on the ground 177 yards overall.

“We know (the Vikings) like to put eight guys in the box and have seven or eight of them hitting the gaps,” said OJR head coach Tom Barr. “Our offensive line has to improve on picking up the blitzing linebackers, and improve on blocking those linebackers.”

Those blocking responsibilities will fall on center Mike Nowak, guards Jesse Dugan and Sean Moloney, tackles Andrew Garson and Kyle Moore, and tight end Mike Moran. Funk, as well as fullback Rich Zazo, will need to throw their weight around some more, too. All of them have for the most part, and an area-high average of 349 yards a game is evidence of the collective effort.

But one way of slowing down Brumfield and everyone else is to limit their touches and possessions.

“We definitely have to take care of the football when we have possession,” Reed said. “There’s no way we can afford to just keep giving the football to (OJR).”

The Vikings have been quite productive except in their three losses. Six fumbles, actually nine turnovers overall, cost them a 32-7 confrontation with Coatesville; the inability to close out drives left them on the short end of a 28-7 meeting with Pottsgrove; and five turnovers helped keep them off the board in a disappointing 6-0 loss to Phoenixville.

“But they can explode anytime with that ‘pistol offense’ they’re running now,” Barr said. “We haven’t seen an offense like that all season. So, yes, we’re concerned.”

The Vikings have just one lettermen – wideout Ben Carbutt – from last year’s team. But Kevin Krasley (center), Ryan Krasley and Scenna (guards), Fioravanti and Stewart (tackles), and Murray (tight end) have almost made Reed forget the Vikings graduated their entire offensive line of a year ago. Quarterback Pat Catagnus has benefited from their labor up front, throwing for 723 yards. And the running tandem of fullback John Schmidt and tailback Steve Morrow – with help from Conners and Matt Kline in certain formations – have accumulated most of the team’s 1,439 yards on the ground.

“Perkiomen Valley can move the ball,” Barr said. “We know we have to play well defensively.”

The Wildcats have, and their defensive numbers are very close to the Vikings. That’s because of Kyle Moore and Steve Lawless, their sack leader, on the ends; Nowak and Moloney at the tackles; Zazo at middle linebacker, in between Funk and Moran; and corners Brendon Shoemaker and Sean Yeager, with three picks, teaming up with safeties Francis Polignano and Brumfield in the secondary.

“Perkiomen Valley has always played us tough, and this game will be especially tough for us because they’re trying to get into the playoffs,” Barr said, fully aware that last year’s game wasn’t decided until the Vikings were stopped a yard short of the goal line with one second remaining in the 27-26 thriller.

“Both teams have a lot on the line,” Reed added. “This is going to be another hard-fought, physical football game.”

* * *

Owen J. Roberts leads both the PAC-10 and overall series, 12-9. … Perkiomen Valley won three in a row over OJR before the Wildcats hung on in last year’s meeting. … Three of the last six games have been decided by a touchdown or less. … If there is one glaring difference between the two teams it’s turnovers. The Wildcats are plus-11 in takeaways, while the Vikings are minus-11. … Two teams that can pass Perkiomen Valley and get the 16th and final spot in the AAAA bracket with wins are Conestoga (6-3), which hosts Haverford (3-5), and Unionville (6-3), which entertains winless Sun Valley (0-8). … Morrow needs 90 yards to join Brumfield and Hill School post-grad Dante Astheimer in this season’s 1,000-yard rushing club.

POINTS AND PLAYOFFS

Pottsgrove and Owen J. Roberts are already in the District 1-AAA playoffs. Unofficially, Upper Perkiomen should hold onto its spot, too, win or lose tonight’s game with St. Pius X tonight. A loss, though, could drop the Indians down as far as No. 8, and a rematch with Pottsgove in the opening round. … St. Pius X is also in the Class A Sub-Regional and could very well host a first-round game. … Daniel Boone is in the District 3-AAA postseason, and a win tonight at Exeter, combined with other favorable results around the district, could improve the Blazers’ standings enough to earn a first-round home game.

* * *

Something to think about: The postseason kicks off tonight out in District 7 (WPIAL), and the 16-team brackets in all four classifications mean that 52 percent – or 64 of the 123 teams in the district – get an opportunity to participate in at least one playoff game. Considering 11 of the teams lining up tonight have losing records (a lot of 2-7 and 3-6 records, that is), one-and-done is the likely scenario for most if not all. … District 3 has 96 schools, and exactly 50 percent, or 48 of them, qualify for playoffs – including half of the AAAA schools and eight of the dozen Class A schools. … In District 1, only 36 percent, or 26 of its 72 schools are assured playoff berths.

CLINCHING TIMES

Two area teams can clinch no worse than ties for league titles today.

This afternoon, Hill School (3-0, 6-1) entertains Hun School (4-0, 4-3) needing a win to take sole possession of first place in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League. Hun closes it season today, so if the Rams do win they can capture the title outright with a victory at Lawrenceville next weekend.

Tonight, Pottsgrove (7-0, 9-0) can clinch no worse than a tie for its second straight PAC-10 title with a win at Phoenixville. The Falcons still have a Thanksgiving date with St. Pius X.

It’s never been too awfully difficult to figure out who’s who in Pioneer Athletic Conference football. Old fashion research – like checking team rosters from the previous year to see who’s coming back and who isn’t, a few off-the-record (of course) chats with coaches and players, and peeking in on summer practices as well as a scrimmage here and there – more often than not separates the good from the, dare we say it, not so good.

This season?

Let’s see, put ’em all in alphabetical order – Boyertown, Methacton, Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, Phoenixville, Pottsgrove, Pottstown, St. Pius X, Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen. Reverse the order if you’d like. Scribble the names of all those teams on a slip of paper, them into a hat, give it a flip-flop, and empty ’em on the kitchen table.

Go ahead.

Just don’t dare claim to have an answer as to who is going to be on top of the standings when the show ends around noon Thanksgiving Day.

Quite simply, the 23rd season of PAC-10 football kicks off this evening with more uncertainty than any before it.

All that research, at least a few months of it, hasn’t revealed any clues. And as ridiculous as it may sound, coaches – a good number of them at least – have mentioned upwards of seven teams they personally feel are capable of winning the title. Most admitted their respective scrimmages were up-and-down (inconsistent, or good and bad, as some mumbled). And after two weeks of non-league tests, no one is exactly gushing over their preseason report cards.

A few fanatics from around the football neighborhood have already put their collective feet over the chin strap, under the facemask and squarely into their mouths by claiming this could be a bad season for the PAC-10.

But, in all likelihood, because of the uncertainty – or dare we say parity – it may very well unfold as one of the best.

The opening-night card isn’t going to tilt this season’s seemingly level playing field, mind you. Not yet, at least. And it isn’t going to reveal any unconquerable, goliath-like lineup(s), either. One week, or one game, a season doesn’t make.

But it sure is a good one. Five games, five legitimate toss-ups … and most of them have their own interesting storylines.

The headliner, if there is indeed one, is Methacton’s visit to Boyertown. The Warriors are making their Pioneer Athletic Conference football debut and, naturally, would like to make a good first impression. The Bears are thinking otherwise, of course. They’d like nothing more than to end an eight-game losing streak that dates back to last season, give new head coach Mark Scisly his first win, and give the Warriors a loss to dwell on during the long bus ride back to Fairview Village.

Phoenixville and Pottsgrove will both attempt to right their respective ships after splitting their two non-league games. Each team has a potential Player of the Year, the Phantoms with Anthony Nattle and the Falcons with Terrell Chestnut, both of whom strut their stuff on both sides of the ball. And even though it doesn’t play into anything, keep the number 550 in mind – this is the 550th game in the history of Pottsgrove’s program, and Phoenixville is looking for the 550th win in the history of its storied program.

St. Pius X will take a short hike over to Pottstown and, for the first time in five years, look for a win in its PAC-10 opener. George Parkinson, the first head coach with three consecutive seasons on the Lions’ sidelines since Dave Bodolus (1995-2001), and the Lions had last week off. But don’t think they lost any of the enthusiasm or confidence from their impressive opening-night shutout of Simon Gratz down in Philadelphia. The Trojans, meanwhile, are expected to be a little healthier than they were against both Blue Mountain and Upper Dublin. And they also have Kenny Baker, another genuine Player of the Year candidate, who can break a game wide open all by himself with his quickness and speed.

Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley meet in Graterford to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a series that has become as good a rivalry as there is locally. It’s also a series that has gone in reverse since Spring-Ford dominated the early meetings (by taking seven of its first eight PAC-10 wins by shutouts and four more in consecutive seasons – 1990-93). Perkiomen Valley has won eight of the last nine meetings, though. Both struggled the past two weeks, but both have two of the area’s top quarterbacks. The Rams have Trevor Sasek, who is threatening to rewrite the school’s record book, and the Vikings have Zach Zulli, who is threatening to rewrite the school’s and area’s record books.

And the final entry on the PAC-10 card has Upper Perkiomen at Owen J. Roberts, perhaps the two teams with as much to prove as anyone tonight. The Indians were nearly flawless in a rout of Allentown Allen and totally outplayed at Downingtown West. OJR got burnt by big plays against Downingtown West, then came up with their own to singe West Chester East. Indians head coach Keith Leamer hasn’t lost any of his five games against OJR, but will have to deal with two of the league’s best linemen in the Wildcats’ Sam Morgan and Nelson Munoz and two of the league’s most promising underclassmen in Ryan Brumfield and Scott Syrek.

MORE, MORE, MORE

Daniel Boone, the area’s only 2-0 team, is at home tonight for the first time this season and entertains Columbia – a team that gave up 576 yards and 61 points in a loss to York Suburban last weekend. If that trend continues, the stat-fanats may need a calculator to add up Nate Greene’s yardage on the ground and quarterback Jon Monteiro’s yardage through the air.

Perkiomen School finally kicks off its season tonight at Tower Hill down in Wilmington, Del. Head coach Kevin Manferdini can ill afford any injuries this season because of lower numbers in camp. He has two promising senior guards in Eric Pfeiffer and Robert Faraco, who’ll lead a charge up front for Abdul Smith, who has already committed to Rutgers University and is, without doubt, as good a candidate for Player of the Year honors as anyone.

SUNDAY SPECIAL

The Hill School will be the area’s last team to step onto the field this season. The Blues’ scheduled matinee for today against visiting Germantown Academy was pushed back to noon Sunday. The change was agreed upon by both schools after GA’s opener with Cardinal Dougherty got washed out Saturday night and, because of scheduling conflicts, was pushed back to Monday afternoon.

See Sunday’s edition of The Mercury for a preview of the Blues’ opener.

DISTRICT FEATURES

Three big games on the District 1 docket tonight feature Pennsbury (2-0) at Glen Mills (2-0) and Strath Haven (1-1) at Conestoga (2-0), while the showcase event is St. Joseph’s Prep (2-0) visiting North Penn (2-0). The teams are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the state’s AAAA division. There are a couple more interesting matchups on Saturday, too, with Quakertown (2-0) visiting Cheltenham (2-0) and Henderson (2-0) traveling to Malvern Prep (1-0).

AROUND THE STATE

West Wayne ended the state’s longest active losing streak at 41 games last weekend with a 21-6 win over Susquehanna Community. The Wildcats, who compete in the District 2-Class AAA bracket, hadn’t won a game since Nov. 7, 2003. Going into tonight’s games, Montgomery (District 4-A) and Allegheny-Clarion Valley (District 9-AA) own the state’s longest active losing streak at 24. … On the flip side, defending Class AA state champion Jeannette (District 7), which has swept 18 straight games, boasts the longest active winning streak in Pennsylvania. District 6-AA power Tyrone has won 34 consecutive regular-season games since a narrow 7-6 setback to Phillipsburg-Osceola four years ago.

CELEBRITY GAME

There were a few famous faces in the stands last week when Oaks Christian put a 35-7 thumping on Bakersfield Christian out in California. Former San Francisco 49er quarterback and Hall of Famer Joe Montana was there to watch his son, Oaks Christian quarterback Nick Montana. Seated nearby was NHL Hall of Famer Wayne Getzky and Hollywood star Will Smith, both keeping an eye on their sons who play for OC as well. On the other side of the field, former No. 1 NFL draft pick and journeyman quarterback David Carr was watching his son, Derek Carr, who was calling the signals for Bakersfield Christian.