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Sports

Full Story/Photos: Phoenixville Falls in Game of Inches

The Phantoms' win streak ended with a 13-9 loss to the feisty Trojans.

POTTSTOWN-Football is a game of inches.

How many times haS that statement been made over the years?

On Friday night it was about 14 inches of real estate at Grigg Memorial Stadium that prevented Phoenixville from increasing its winning streak to five games, as the upstart Trojans handed the Phantoms their first set back of the season with a 13-9 loss.

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The Phantoms led 6-0 at the intermission on a touchdown pass from Alec McQuiston to Sean Hesser, and again had played lock down defense allowing Pottstown less than 100 yards of first-half offense, containing the three headed monster of Corey Baker, Monroe Hampton and Malik Brinkley with relative ease.

The Phantoms increased their lead by three in the third quarter as Ian Harrigan connected on a 29-yard field goal, his fifth of the year. It was also Harrigan who made an outstanding effort to get the ball in the air on a high snap that traveled to the Phantoms' goal line. 

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The bad snap on a punt followed a Pottstown drive in which quarterback Sage Reinhart was able to work the ball quickly down the field hitting Baker and Brinkley for short gains before connecting with Hampton on a 36-yard strike. The drive culminated with a 3-yard touchdown burst by Hampton.

The Phoenixville defense held strong and allowed just a 4-yard gain following the punt debacle, forcing the Trojans to attempt a 32-yard game tying field goal attempt, which they missed.

Forced into a third-and-12 with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Phantom opted for a quick kick, which although it caught Pottstown a little bit by surprise, it wound up giving the Trojans decent field position when they took possession with 3:41 left.

After finding Brinkley open for 10 yards and connecting with Baker for 15 yards, Reinhart kept the Trojans' hopes alive on third-and-five when he scrambled and somehow managed to get the ball in the hands of Brinkley for a 12-yard gain and a first down.

“That entire drive they had was a combination of mistakes,” said senior stand out lineman Tim Hunt, who had his leg injured during the game and was relegated to watching the fourth quarter from the sidelines. “Yes, it drove me crazy to watch that. We need to zip that up and first of all prevent them from scoring.”

It wasn’t until Reinhart found Brinkley for a 19-yard touchdown toss, which gave the Trojans their first lead of the night at 13-9 following the PAT, that the thought of a Pottstown upset started to filter through the Phantoms' sideline and bleachers.

Phoenixville (4-1 overall, 2-1 league) got the ball at the 45-yard line, as Pottstown kicked it out of bounds, and once again showed the kind of heart and mental toughness that this team has exhibited all year as Ryan Yenchick galloped 10 yards, Vinny Nattle busted one for 18 yards and Travis Andrews threw in a long run of his own for good measure, setting the Phantoms up with a first and goal from the 5-yard line with less than 30 seconds left.

“We have to make plays when the game is on the line,” added Hunt. “We made far too many mistakes tonight. We prepare hard for every team, as there are no easy games in this league. We had a chance their to win at the end and ran out of time, but it should have never even come down to that.”

Following a screen in which the runner was ruled in bounds even though it appeared he had gotten out of bounds, McQuiston, who orchestrated two outstanding scoring drives, spiked the ball to stop the clock with 7.5 seconds left.

With the hundreds that packed Grigg Stadium holding their collective breath, on third and goal from the 5-yard line, it was Nattle getting stacked up at the goal line by the Trojans' defense that sent the home fans to the exits screaming in jubilation, while the Phantoms' faithful prepared fro the long ride home, knowing that their team had battled but did come up empty in the end. 

The Phantoms won’t have long to lick their wounds as they have a short week of preparation in getting ready to host Perkiomen Valley, who beat Boyertown Friday night 22-21, on Thursday night in a breast cancer awareness “Goin’ Pink” event.

“We will see how we respond now to adversity,” said Phantoms coach Bill Furlong in his post-game chat with his squad. “We have another good team to get ready for in Perk Valley. They are not going to roll over for us. If we want to win we have to do the work.”

Phoenixville            0            6            3            0            -9

Pottstown              0            0            0            13            -13

Second quarter

Hesser 13-yard pass from McQuiston (run failed)

Third quarter

Harrigan 29-yard FG

Fourth quarter

Hampton 3-yard run (Olidipo kick blocked)

Brinkley 19-yard pass from Reinhart  (Olidipo kick)

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