GRATERFORD — Perkiomen Valley had a disastrous start to the second half against Gov. Mifflin Friday night. The Vikings lost a fumble on the third play from scrimmage and surrendered a touchdown four plays later. The ensuing kickoff was a surprise onside kick that the Mustangs recovered. Later in the third quarter, PV drove inside the Gov. Mifflin 10-yard line later and threw an interception.
The Vikings were able to overcome the mistakes because of a dominant first half and a strong response to adversity in the final 15 minutes to beat Gov. Mifflin, 31-14, at Thomas J. Keenan Stadium at Perkiomen Valley High School.
“We didn’t let that stop us,” PV junior running back Carter McCabe said. “Our defense kept pushing through, making plays and then we just got out there and did our thing.”
“We just had to tell the defense we’re good, we’re locked in,” PV senior defensive back Dimitri Toman said. “That’s what we do. Our job is to stop them from scoring and we did exactly that after (the onside kick).”
After the interception late in the third quarter – picked off by Mustangs’ Reese Hohl at his own two-yard line – Perk Valley’s defense locked in. After almost recording a safety on first down, they forced a three-and-out and gave their offense good field position at the offensive 40-yard line.
Quarterback Patrick MacDonald had a pair of keepers before McCabe’s 25-yard run set up 1st-and-goal at the two. Colin Sturges punched it in for his second touchdown of the day and a 24-7 Vikings lead with eight seconds left in the third quarter.
The Mustangs (1-1) wasted no time answering – going 80 yards in four plays. Lebron Leaf’s 31-yard run got the offense to midfield before Javien Pletz connected with Grady Garner for a 48-yard touchdown, making it 24-14 with 11:14 to go.
After the teams traded punts, Carter put the game away. It took a host of Governor Mifflin defenders to tackle Carter on his 23-yard run on the first play of the possession with five minutes left. Two plays later, he was in the end zone and Perk Valley was celebrating a 31-14 lead with 4:17 remaining.
“The o-line, they’re always blocking, doing their thing,” Carter, who ran for 92 yards and added 24 receiving, said. “I just get up in there and try to run hard always.”
“They are really good,” Gov. Mifflin coach Mike Vecchio said of Perkiomen Valley. “I’m happy the way we battled, but they’re just a very, very good football team.
“We got some things going, but not enough. I’m disappointed the score shows what it shows because I thought we played them pretty tough. That’s all it is – any given Friday night.”
The Vikings (1-1) got off to a fast start when Toman grabbed on interception on the fifth play from scrimmage. He returned it from midfield to inside the Mustangs 10-yard line and Carter scored on the next play to make it 7-0.
“I stayed disciplined,” Toman said. “I was watching film all week and I knew they were going to run that concept and when they did, bit right on it and set the tone for the offense.”
“It lifted up everyone,” Carter said of the interception. “We were all hype. It got the stadium bumping and we were able to capitalize off that.”
PV lost a fumble going into the end zone in the second quarter, but responded with a 7-play, 52-yard touchdown drive capped by a Sturges 20-yard touchdown run. Juliun Corropolese added a 22-yard field goal in the final seconds of the first half to make it 17-0 at the break.
Garner led Governor Mifflin with 83 yards on the ground, 62 yards receiving and two touchdowns while Pletz threw for 69 yards.
Perk Valley 31, Governor Mifflin 14
Governor Mifflin 0 0 7 7 – 14
Perk Valley 7 10 7 7 – 31
Scoring
First Quarter
PV – Carter McCabe 6-yard run (Juliun Corropolese kick) 9:12
Second Quarter
PV – Colin Sturges 20-yard run (Juliun Corropolese kick) 1:33
PV – Juliun Corropolese 22-yard field goal :06.8
Third Quarter
GM – Grady Garner 9-yard run (Lance Koenig kick) 9:27
PV – Colin Sturges 2-yard run (Juliun Corropolese kick) :08.8
Fourth Quarter
GM – Grady Garner 48-yard reception from Javien Pletz (Lance Koenig kick) 11:14
PV – Carter McCabe 1-yard run (Juliun Corropolese kick) 4:17
TEAM STATISTICS
GM PV
First downs 11 25
Rushes-Yards 39-153 38-206
Passing yards 69 126
Total yards 222 332
Passing 4-14-1 15-22-1
Punts 6 2
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 5-3
Penalties-Yards 9-68 5-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
GM: Reese Hohl 6-14; Grady Garner 21-83, TD; Javien Pletz 4-7; No. 89 1-10; Travis Jenkins 5-14; Lebron Leaf 2-25.
PV: Carter McCabe 9-92, 2 TD; Patrick MacDonald 18-60; Nathan Reedy 3-5; Colin Sturges 8-49, 2 TD.
PASSING
GM: Javien Pletz 4-14-69-1-1.
PV: Patrick MacDonald 15-21-126-0-1; Carter McCabe 0-1-0-0-0.
RECEIVING
GM: Grady Garner 2-62, TD; Travis Jenkins 1-(-5); Lebron Leaf 1-12.
PV: Carter McCabe 4-24; Jon Boyd 6-76; Braydon Perone 1-8; Will Stein 3-16; Colin Hollingsworth 1-2.
INTERCEPTIONS
GM: Reese Hohl.
PV: Dimitri Toman.
Source: Berkshire mont
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