Pottsville earns signature win, beats Blue Mountain in Clash of 61
Pottsville's Tsirell Curry trying to break away from Blue Mountain defenders. (Photo by Brooke Koch-Guers).
ORWIGSBURG — The Pottsville football team earned its signature win Friday night.
JuJu Bainbridge surprised many when he suited up and rushed 39 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns as the Crimson Tide downed Blue Mountain 28-14 in a Schuylkill/Colonial Red Division game during the 13th installment of the Clash of 61 series at the Eagles’ Nest.
Bainbridge missed last week’s 35-0 win over Wilson Area, and many suspected the junior running back wouldn’t crack the lineup this week.
“It feels like it right, I can tell you that,” Pottsville coach Mike Brennan said when asked if this was the Tide’s signature win. “It was a big one, and (Blue Mountain’s) a good football team. So, I’m very proud of our kids.
“We’ll enjoy this for 24 hours and come back, and we obviously have a really big game at North Schuylkill next week. They’re what stands between a winning regular season and not.”
Blue Mountain scored first, as Tyler Stahley broke loose for a 39-yard rushing touchdown to get the Eagles (6-3, 5-3 Red) on the board with 8:45 to play in the first quarter. Aidan Grace added the point-after kick as the Eagles led 7-0.
But just like that, Pottsville (5-4, 5-3 Red) answered back as quarterback Andrew Allen rolled out of the pocket and connected with senior wide receiver Tsirell Curry for a 71-yard catch-and-run TD. Allen added the extra-point kick for the Tide.
Curry was selected as Pottsville’s Phoenix Physical Therapy Most Valuable Player of the Game.
Crimson Tide senior linebacker Gage Hammer notched his first sack of the game to close the first quarter.
Back-and-forth Pottsville and Blue Mountain battled through the second quarter.
The Eagles punted to open the second quarter and the Tide were ready to take advantage. A defensive pass interference call, followed by two receptions by Letrel Montone and some Bainbridge muscling had Pottsville threatening.
Allen tried to push the ball on the ground himself, but was held short of a first down on a third-down play. Allen, as mentioned, is also a kicker, and he added a 19-yard field goal to push Pottsville ahead 10-7 with 3:14 remaining in the first half.
Not so fast!
Blue Mountain responded in a hurry as less than a minute later Reese Miller ripped off a 46-yard TD run and the Eagles found themselves leading again, 14-10, with 2:49 left in the second quarter.
Things took a bizarre twist before half as Allen, also the punter, accidentally went down on one knee to recover a low snap on the Blue Mountain 33.
Due to a referee injury and a stopped clock, the timeout-less Eagles were able to get one last opportunity to score after receptions from Bradley Renninger and Gaige Guers moved the ball to the Pottsville 3-yard line.
Pottsville’s defense then made a stand, which might have ignited the Tide for the second half.
Pottsville stood up the Eagles and went to half trailing 14-10 as Blue Mountain was set to get the ball in the second half. The second half was all Crimson Tide.
Pottsville’s defense was electric as Averey Maroukis started the half recovering a fumble. A pair of pass interference penalties helped propel the Tide to plus territory where Allen knocked down his second field goal of the game. This time it came from 32 yards out.
The Crimson Tide defense was relentless the whole way. Maroukis and Hammer combined for a tackle for a loss on third-and-4 to force a punt, but Pottsville ended up going three-and-out on offense.
Later, Derek Watkins added an interception and returned it to the Blue Mountain 39. Curry took a reverse, pump faked like he was going to throw, and rushed for 39 yards. A few plays later, Bainbridge scampered for a 19-yard TD followed by a two-point conversion pass from Allen to Montone that put Pottsville ahead 21-14.
Luke Schane, Tahlil White, Brody Herndon and Brayden Evans anchored the Tide defense.
Schane and White, defensive linemen, wreaked havoc in Blue Mountain’s backfield late in the game, while Evans swatted a key third-and-long pass to force a punt. Herndon added multiple shoe-string tackles that prevented possible big plays.
Bainbridge iced the game, scoring his second rushing touchdown to push Pottsville ahead of the Eagles 28-14 with 5.6 remaining in the game. The Crimson Tide outscored Blue Mountain 18-0 in the second half.
