Note to readers: This post will be updated with additional results/stats as the Mercury Sports Department receives that information from the coaching staff. To have your team/school included in the Mercury’s daily sports roundups, please send all relevant details of the day’s game to [email protected].

football

Upper Perkiomen 31, Boyertown 21

Zach Schwartz ran 13 times for 177 yards and an 88-yard touchdown, while quarterback Logan O’Donnell (two rushing TDs) and Zach Adam (one) also used their legs to help Upper Perk to a season-opening win. Both teams had fantastic ground games, with UP gaining 255 yards on 34 carries and Boyertown totaling 209 yards on 40 carries.

Nicholas Billetta led Boyertown with 77 yards on 16 carries and a score in new head coach Jami Sands’ first game with the school. Logan Oakes scored on his only touch of the game on a 55-yard running touchdown and Gavin Rotonda later added a 1-yard running touchdown. The Bears led 14-10 at halftime but were outscored 21-7 after halftime, with three Boyertown turnovers also a deciding factor.

Phoenixville 41, Reading 16

Deacon Williams started his senior season with a bang, running 30 times for 240 yards as the Phantoms dominated host Reading. Phoenixville managed 328 yards on the ground and senior QB Talon Romance completed five passes – three for scores – for 129 yards in his first start since the 2022 season.

Pottsgrove 27, Methacton 7

Pottsgrove lost narrowly 16-13 at Methacton to open the 2023 season; with the PAC crossover rivalry games moved to Pennypacker Field on Friday night, such a game will not be repeated.

The Falcons built a 14-0 lead in the first half, and the Falcons’ stingy defense kept Methacton from scoring until the Warriors scored their only touchdown of the game with 3:29 left in the third quarter.

Pottsgrove travels to Owen J. Roberts on Friday night to face two PAC teams that are coming off convincing season-opening victories this week. Methacton will play on the road for the second straight game on Friday night to face William Tennent, with the team seeking its first win in the Eric Raineri era as head coach.

Pope John Paul II 34, Springfield Township 27

The third year of the Scott Reed era at Pope John Paul II began with an unsurprisingly victorious start, as the defending PAC champions earned a hard-fought seven-point road victory in Springfield Township.

After a dream 2023 season that also ended with a District 1-4A championship title, this year’s version of the Golden Panthers is eager to defend their title as champions and hopefully advance in the PIAA Tournament. This year’s team is led by veteran players Luke Terlesky (West Chester), Braden Reed (Villanova), Chase Frantz, Makel Parker and Ryan Lamson.

PJP will try to score 2-0 in its home opener against Neumann-Goretti on Saturday afternoon.

Norristown 28, Penn Wood 24

Norristown was another team looking to get revenge on a year on Friday night. The Eagles were humiliated by Penn Wood 20-6 to start the year last season, but this time Norristown was able to muster some offense and beat the hosts 1-0.

Norristown hosts Upper Merion in the Battle of the Bridge on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

MLK 26, Pottstown 8

Pottstown and MLK High met on opening night for the second year in a row. Last year, the Trojans won a thrilling 12-8 game at MLK; this time, the Cougars got revenge with an 18-point victory in Pottstown.

Pottstown won five games and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2018 in head coach Levert Hughes’ second season at the helm of the program. However, the Trojans failed to score a single offensive touchdown against last year’s teams, and there will certainly be some teething issues as the 2024 version of the team continues to acclimate and work on chemistry.

The Trojans have their next chance to win Thursday night at home against Renaissance Academy Charter School.

Boys Football

Souderton 5, Methacton 0

Souderton took a 3-0 halftime lead and never let it go. Methacton had to look for its first win of the season on another day. The Indians’ goals came from five different players: Tannor Wiszneski, Drew Kerns, Cameron Taylor, AJ Pisoni and Liam Shaw. Cole Webb had a busy and productive day as the Warriors’ goalie, stopping 16 shots.

Spring-Ford 0, Downingtown West 0

Lower Merion 4, Upper Perkiomen 0

Harriton 2, Upper Merion 0

Renaissance Academy Charter School 12, Pottstown 0

Girls’ soccer

Spring-Ford 1, Archbishop’s Forest 0

Spring-Ford came through its 2024 opener well, with Ava Hissong scoring the game’s only point without an assist. Olivia Nield and Riley Reavy combined to stop seven shots in the clean sheet win.

Central Bucks West 2, Boyertown 0

Camryn Nocito and Reegan Moran each scored for CB West, and Fallon Darrows threw a shutout in goal to keep Boyertown off the scoreboard in the Bears’ first game of the 2024 season.

Pottstown 1, Renaissance Academy Charter School 1

Pottstown freshman Brianna Heredia Loja got her high school soccer career off to a fantastic start, giving the Trojans an early 1-0 lead. However, Renaissance Academy tied the game with less than 10 minutes left in the game, leaving Pottstown to settle for a tie in its season opener.

Pope John Paul 1, Souderton 0

Exeter Township 6, Pottsgrove 0

Harriton 8, Upper Merion 2

hockey

Pottsgrove 2, Sun Valley 1 (OT)

Freshman Morgan Gray got off to the best possible start to her high school career in Pottsgrove’s thrilling season-opening field hockey victory, scoring the game-winning goal on a solo effort in overtime. The team’s first goal was also scored by a freshman, this time by Lailah Piraino on an assist from sophomore Jodi Butler.

Phoenixville 4, Great Valley 0

The Phantoms started the season with a bang as Kylie Moore scored three goals for her team. Bridget Kelly added the other goal and Phoenixville goalkeeper Corrine Bull made 12 saves. Defender Audrey Guido made one more save in the game.

North Penn 4, Owen J. Roberts 3 (OT)

North Penn’s Paige Shearer scored the game-winning goal in a thrilling back-and-forth match. OJR’s Sarah Englehardt scored the first two goals of the game, followed by North Penn’s Laura Albert, who answered with two goals of her own. Shearer scored her first goal of the game to make it 3-2, but then Englehardt found Mira Smolij, who tied it and forced overtime.

Jazz Campbell made eleven saves in the lost game, while her Knights colleague Kiley Moister made 17 saves.

Pope John Paul 9, Lansdale Catholic 3

Upper Perkiomen 3, Oley Valley 2

Perkiomen Valley 7, Upper Dublin 1

volleyball

Pottsgrove 3, Wyomissing 1

The Falcons won the first two games of the match, 25-19 each, before Wyomissing forced a third set by winning a thrilling third set 27-25. However, Pottsgrove sealed the deal with a dominant performance in the decisive fourth bout, 25-11.

According to Pottsgrove head coach Jamie Reinhart, it was a great team effort across the board in the first game of the season: Braylin Lewis had 10 digs; Elise Clement had six digs and seven service points; Rylie Eisenhard had three blocks and seven kills; Ava Kaufman had seven digs and nine service points; Sophia Reinhart had 13 service points (four aces) and 14 assists; Maggie Tecce had 10 service points (four aces) and seven assists; Sophie Smith contributed six kills, while Ella Hawthorne had five kills of her own.

Northampton 3, Upper Perkiomen 0

Upper Perk lost in its season opener in straight sets, but the Indians played competitive volleyball, losing the sets 25-20, 25-23 and 25-22. UP was led by Ava Steinman with 11 kills, six digs and two blocks, while Savannah Driscoll added six kills, 10 digs and three aces. Additional support came from Sammi Pedrick, who provided 22 assists, four kills and one ace and one block each.

Harriton 3, Phoenixville 0

Harriton defeated Phoenixville in straight sets in a non-league season-opening match for both teams. Set scores were 25-19, 25-13, 25-16. Kristen Brown had six digs and kills each, while Zoe Monson contributed five kills, four digs and an ace. Gianna Buce made 11 digs and Ryleigh Galbreath added three kills, six digs and an ace.

Upper Merion 3, Upper Dublin 1

The Upper Merion volleyball team opened its 2024 season with a win over Upper Dublin on Friday night in four sets, 23-25, 25-12, 25-18 and 25-16. Senior Sydney Bright recorded a career-high seven blocks and freshman Jade Webb added five blocks. Raven Albrecht had 34 assists and 17 service points, while Sophia Schweikert contributed 28 kills. Valeria Paneto added 11 digs.

Girls tennis

Downingtown West 7, Spring-Ford 0

Singles: Advika Anand (DW) defeated Shreya Koli, 6-1, 6-0; Ray Yang (DW) defeated Sanaa Desai, 6-2, 6-0; Sanni Varanasi (DW) defeated Victoria Jacobus, 6-0, 6-1

Doubles: Elaine Hu/Ella Mae Markowski (DW) defeated Barcley Trotter/Nithya Vadlamudi, 7-6 (3), 6-4; Sarah Stauffer/Ashritha Dunaboyina (DW) defeated Scarlet Ren/Saania Patel, 6-1, 6-0; Gianna Brown/Orsola Schiavon (DW) defeated Tess Cieszkowski/Paige Collier, 6-1, 6-2; Mara Lipkin/Inaya Ghai (DW) defeated Lily Bommarito/Corrine Daniel, 6-4, 6-4

Girls Golf

Perkiomen Valley 171, Boyertown 200

The Vikings remained undefeated this season with a PAC win over Boyertown in Twin Ponds. Saloni Patel led Perk Valley with 36 points, which was a best effort of the round, while Nadia Yackanicz (41), Brianna King (46) and Julia Minder (48) all provided support.

Riley Pier shot a 48 to lead the Bears. Peyton Heimbach and Jordyn So followed with rounds of 49 and Hailey Schildt rounded out the scoring with a 54.

Spring-Ford 223, Owen J. Roberts 249

Devon Armor scored a round-best 52 to lead the Rams to a well-deserved PAC victory on Friday at Arrowhead Golf Course. Kaelyn Kirsch (54), Divya Patel (56) and Mary Grace Foulke (61) also contributed to the win.

Maddie Okolowicz led OJR with 59, while Sophia Garcia (60), Claire McAllister (63) and Callie Jensen (67) all contributed assists in the loss.

Cross country

Phoenixville, Owen J. Roberts and Upper Merion all competed in the Oakbourne Relays at Stetson Middle School in West Chester on Friday, the first event of the season for each program.

Owen J. Roberts took second place of the six girls teams competing, while Phoenixville took sixth place. The Wildcats placed two of their running teams in the top 10 out of 43 total: Khya D’Angelo and Jane Kratz took second place overall, while Nora Horton and Halle Kish finished not far behind in fifth place.

In the boys’ event, Upper Merion finished ninth out of 12 teams competing, while Phoenixville finished 11th and OJR finished 12th. Upper Merion’s Hudson Etezady and Anthony Tornambe earned the best individual finishes, finishing 16th overall out of 63 tandems competing.

Originally published: August 24, 2024 at 2:41 pm