POTTSGROVE — Pottsgrove junior Samuel Funk remembers the cold Friday nights sitting in the bleachers at Pennypacker Field.
As a young Funk watched players like former all-state running back Rahsul Faison guide the Falcons to district titles and state playoff runs, he pictured himself doing the same for the program and town he grew up around.
On a similarly frigid Friday night under the same bright lights, Funk and his teammates delivered on that vision. Pottsgrove took down league rival Pope John Paul II, 16-7, in the District 1 Class 4A championship, giving the Falcons first district title since 2018.
They will play the winner of Saturday’s District 12 championship between Cardinal O’Hara and Simon Gratz next week in their first foray into the PIAA playoffs in eight years.
“Nothing better,” Funk told EasternPAFootball. “That’s probably gotta be one of the best feelings in my life. Football’s been around me my whole life. I’ve been around Pottsgrove my whole life. This is my home, and this is what I’ve been looking forward to since I was probably five years old playing flag football.”
Pottsgrove and Pope John Paul II met annually in the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Frontier Division for the last decade before the Golden Panthers’ move to the big school Liberty Division this fall. PJP, which was playing in its third consecutive district title game, carried a seven-game winning streak over Pottsgrove coming into Friday.
Most recently, the Falcons (10-2) and Golden Panthers (9-3) met up in their regular season finale two weeks ago — a PAC division crossover game. A long touchdown run by PJP quarterback TJ Dozier in the fourth quarter proved the difference in a 28-21 win.
“I was so excited I wanted it bad,” Pottsgrove senior quarterback Ryan Lucci said. “We knew what was going to happen after we lost. I think it was better that we did lose because now we wanted it even more.”
Pottsgrove struck first in Friday’s action when Lucci ran in a 13-yard touchdown with 0:23 left in the first quarter on the Falcons’ second drive of the game. Seconds later PJP senior Eric Green tied the game with an 89-yard touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff.
The game stayed tied 7-7 at halftime after Pottsgrove senior Chase Wiley blocked a field goal late in the half.
PJP ran 30 times for 224 yards and three touchdowns during the teams’ Oct. 30 meeting. Led by junior linebackers Funk and Nathan Lenhardt, the Falcons defense bottled up the Golden Panthers’ ground game Friday, holding them to 81 yards on the ground.
After the Pottsgrove defense stopped PJP’s first drive of the second half, the Falcons came down and took a 10-7 lead with 1:33 to go in the third on a 22-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Josh Palladino. That’s all the Pottsgrove defense needed.
“Nate Lenhart and Sam Funk are two guys who really quarterback our defense and put us in the right spot, and they have a nose for a ball,” Pottsgrove coach Bill Hawthorne said. “They’re about as good of linebackers as you could ask for.”
While the Falcons’ offense stalled with a pair of three-and-outs on its next two drives, Pottsgrove’s defense continued to make big stops, holding the Golden Panthers to 48 total yards on their first four second-half drives, including a forced fumble.
The play of the game was a stop on 4th-and-2 at the PJP 40-yard line with 2:10 to play. The officials brought chains out to measure the distance, and the Pottsgrove sideline went into a frenzy when the Golden Panthers were measured inches short of the line to gain.
“I took on the main two lead blockers and the quarterback got stopped right behind them,” Funk said.
Two plays later, Pottsgrove senior running back Elijah Sclafford delivered the final blow when he broke off a 39-yard touchdown run. Sclafford had just 28 yards on his first 11 carries before breaking the game open on his final attempt of the night.
“Honestly, it felt a little late, but everything happens for a reason,” Sclafford said. “I had to be patient. I had to be resilient, and it worked out. … It was really just a matter of time.”
Dozier ran 16 times for 67 yards and tossed for another 106 yards to lead the PJP offense. Lucci paced the Falcons offense with 19 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown and 103 yards passing.
A longtime assistant for the Falcons under legendary head coach Rick Pennypacker, Hawthorne took over Pottsgrove in 2018 and continued the program’s run of success by capturing a third consecutive district title and advancing to the state quarterfinals that season.
The Falcons have had some good seasons in the seven years since, including a district championship appearance in 2021, but Hawthorne and his staff had ambitions of getting back to those previous heights entering this year despite coming off a 4-6 campaign. They’ve done just that.
“This means everything. It was a long road back,” Hawthorne said. “But honestly we put together a program that we built. We felt like we had to rebuild it a little bit even though we never went away. It was tough living, and we had to dethrone the guys. PJP had been the champs and they’re a classy organization. This was a great football game because they’re a great football team. … It was just two good football teams and tonight we were the champs.”
With its district hardware in hand, Pottsgrove now eyes a run in the state playoffs and a few more cold Friday nights to inspire the next generation of Falcons.
“It means everything,” Funk said. “Pottsgrove’s always been my home. I know what we could have been, and how we kind of got away from how we used to be, but we’re coming back now and we’re bringing this program back up.”
Pope John Paul II 7 0 0 0-7
Pottsgrove 7 0 3 6-16
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
PG: Ryan Lucci 13-yard TD run (Josh Palladino kick), 0:23
PJP: Eric Green 89-yard kickoff return TD (Griffin Lynn kick), 0:16
Second Quarter
None.
Third Quarter
PG: Josh Palladino 22-yard FG, 1:33
Fourth Quarter
PG: Elijah Sclafford 39-yard TD run(kick blocked), 1:08
Team Statistics
……………………PJP………………..PG
1st downs………..9…………………12
rush-yds……….26-81……………31-145
comp-att-int….10-19-0…………..7-16-0
pass yds……….106………………103
total yds…………187……………….248
fumb-lost………..1-1………………0-0
pen-yds…………4-20…………..5-22
Individual Statistics
Rushing:
PJP: TJ Dozier 16-67; Kassidy Jackson 6-11; Tommy Reedinger 1-7; TJ Gatewood 1-2; Mason Bailey 1-(-5).
Pottsgrove: Ryan Lucci 19-78, TD; Elijah Sclafford 12-67, TD.
Passing:
PJP: TJ Dozier 10-19, 106 yards.
Pottsgrove: Ryan Lucci 7-16, 103 yards.
Receiving:
PJP: TJ Gatewood 5-48; Eric Green 2-44; Kassidy Jackson 1-6; Bryce Kitchen 1-5; Tommy Reedinger 1-3.
Pottsgrove: Chase Drost 3-40; Andrew Pearson 1-26; Marquise White 2-24; Jarel Phinnessee 1-13.
Interceptions:
None
Sacks:
Pottsgrove: Nathan Lenhardt.