The Pioneer Athletic Conference held its media day last week, after a season in which six of the 12 teams made the PIAA District 1 playoffs (Upper Perkiomen, Pope John Paul II, Spring-Ford, Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley and Boyertown), and two teams won district playoffs games (OJ Roberts and PJP).
There are some high expectations for some PAC teams this season, especially PJP and OJ Roberts. Three teams have new head coaches (Upper Merion, Pottstown and Norristown).
OJ Roberts also returns one of the nation’s top players, 6-foot, 180-pound UCLA-bound wide receiver Matt Gregory.
Here is what the coaches had to say about their upcoming season.
PAC Frontier Division
Upper Perkiomen (7-4 overall, 5-0 league): Indians’ head coach Dan Heinrichs enters his fourth season—after the Indians captured the first PAC title in school history in 2025. The Indians won the Frontier Division and were 5-0, losing to Spring-Ford in the PAC championship. A big key to the Indians season will be pretty big senior quarterback Grayson Sabo, who may actually be larger than his listed 6-foot-3, 230 pounds. Zach Adam is the Indians’ top returning rusher. Upper Perkiomen got knocked out in the first round of the PIAA Clas 5A playoffs by Garnet Valley. “Hopefully, we will repeat, because that’s our goal, and we want to do a little more this year,” Heinrichs said. “I like what we have back. Last year was our second-straight year we were in the district playoffs. The last time we won a district playoff game in 2016. That’s a goal, but we have a lot of goals. We have been processed driven and success driven.”
Pope John Paul II (10-2, 4-1) : This will be head coach Darrell Scott’s second year back with a team that returns almost everyone. The Panthers reached the Class 4A championship, losing the Bishop Shanahan in the finals. PJP is good enough to make another run at the District 1 Class 4A championship this year. “Our first three games last year were one-point wins, and this year will be a challenge,” Scott said. “We’re going to have to on purpose with everything we do. We were young last year, with 75% of our team being sophomores. I have expectations all the time. The message is not to take anything for granted.” The Panthers return quarterback TJ Dozier for a program looking to win its third district title in four years.
Pottsgrove (4-6, 3-2): Head coach Bill Hawthorne is looking to rebound from an injury-riddled season. He will be returning for his ninth season and 27th overall as a coach at Pottsgrove. A strength will be up front, where the Falcons return four of their offensive line. Five also return on defense. The Falcons will be young. “We just have to play sound football and be disciplined, considering we will probably be smaller than most of the teams we’ll be playing,” Hawthorne said.
Phoenixville (3-7, 2-3): Watch out for the Phantoms. Anthony Ciarlello enters his seventh season as head coach and ninth overall at the school. The Phantoms had 21 first-year varsity players last season, and most will return this year. Everything will revolve around junior Lincoln Defrain, who stepped in as a starter his sophomore year when the Phantoms’ regular starter was lost to injury. “I have everything to like this season,” Ciarlello said. “You’re going to get punched in the face. You get a year or two where some guys have to learn how to play football and learn how to get up after getting beat up. We have a tough schedule. We play those teams, because teams will get us ready for the playoffs. Getting beat up is not a bad thing. It’s not staying down. These kids will get up. This team is ready to show up.”
Upper Merion (2-8, 1-4): Mike Choi takes over this season bringing with him 23 years of high school coaching experience. He is one of three new head coaches in the PAC. He was previously a head coach at Great Valley. “We have six guys who started last year, but we have to figure out who can run our system and we have to make sure we put people in the right spots,” Choi said. Upper Merion has gone eight-straight years with a losing record. “We’ll stress fundamentals and technique. When I saw films of this team last year, I noticed a lack of fundamentals and technique. We want to reestablish this program, and that starts with the culture. It’s time to bring back the success this program had.”
Pottstown (0-10, 0-5): Anthony Smith is one of three new head coaches in the PAC, returning to his alma mater Pottstown after the Trojans went winless last season. Smith realizes the only direction from the bottom is up, and that begins with a culture change. Smith was a strength and conditioning coach for 15 years and played college football at Bloomsburg. “My first message to the guys was about consistency and discipline, showing up and being selfless and buying in to the team,” Smith said. “We want our presence felt.” Smith will be relying on junior wide receiver and defensive back Aaron Williams, senior running back/linebacker Carmelo Soto and senior tight end and defensive end Jose Charriez. “We just want to see a change culture, making sure we are all on the same page,” Smith said.
PAC Liberty Division
Spring-Ford (6-5, 5-0): It didn’t start out too well last year for new head coach Mike Palmer, when the Rams lost their first four games, but Palmer and his staff stuck with it, and the Rams turned their season around to win their next six, captured the PAC Liberty title, won the PAC championship and reached the PIAA District 1 playoffs, where they lost in the opening round to Downingtown East. “It was a rough start, and it was brutal, but overall, we started a young team,” Palmer said. “We ended the year from an identity standpoint.” Three return on the offensive line and senior quarterback Kaden Pickersgill.
Owen J. Roberts (8-4, 3-2): UCLA-bound wide receiver and Maryland-bound tailback Mekhi Graham, who rushed for 1,732 yards and 15 TDs last season are back for head coach Rich Kolka. Owen J. Roberts was one of two PAC teams that won District 1 playoff games last year, losing to Neshaminy in the second round of the 6A playoffs. Most of the skill players are back, with junior Gavin Schaeffer as the Wildcats’ starting quarterback. “I think we should be pretty good, with our whole secondary coming back,” Gregory said. The last time OJ Roberts last won a PAC football championship was in 2010, sharing the title with Boyertown and last won an outright PAC title was in 1993.
Perkiomen Valley (6-5, 3-2): Vikings’ coach Rob Heist is a proven winner and enters 23rd year coaching football at PV and 11th year as head coach. The Vikings lost in the first round of the District 1 Class 6A playoffs to Coatesville. “We had a young team, and lost some very competitive games, including Coatesville twice and (District 1 Class 5A champion) Springfield (Delco). Aiden Messatzzia, our quarterback, is back, and we return three of our five offensive linemen and running back Jimmy Gambone. We had freshmen and sophomores starting all over. My expectations is for us to win our league championship, and we never won a district championship. Been in the game twice (in 1998 and 2000, both times losing to Strath Haven).”
Boyertown (6-5, 3-2): Bears’ head coach Jami Sands enters his third year after his team reached the district playoffs, where the Bears lost to eventual District 1 Class 6A champion North Penn. Boyertown has three starters back on each side, with Sands looking at a variety of players to replace the Bears’ starting quarterback. “This is a tough league, and what I have learned about District 1 is the amount of talent this area has is phenomenal,” Sands said. “We could be a playoff team; we may not be a playoff team. I will say we will be a tough out for anyone we play.” The most points the Bears gave up in a regular season game last season was 28, being competitive in every game.
Norristown (2-8, 1-4): Head coach Derrick Norris is the third new head coach in the PAC, coming over from Bensalem. “We can only get better,” Norris said. “We will be young at quarterback, with older skill players around him.” Junior Darian Hall and sophomore Kaseem Gilliam will battle it out at quarterback and senior Cayden Harp is the Eagles’ leading rusher returning. “My message is I want effort and I want them to be aggressive,” Norris said. “Our stress will be on defense.”
Methacton (3-7, 0-5): Head coach Eric Ranieri is a Methacton alum who will enter his third year as head coach. The Warriors were in games last season and sometimes fell due to execution. “Mistakes on our part early caught up to us in games later on,” Ranieri said. “We have about 65% of guys back, which I would say is a normal high school turnover. We’re interested in seeing some guys, and our quarterback is back.” Senior quarterback Jackson Lecky will be a two-year starter and started some games as a sophomore.