Experienced Pottsgrove looks to repeat

The Pioneer Athletic Conference is known for its parity, but coaches around the league are not convinced the trend can trump reality this season.

In the last five years, no team has won back-to-back championships. But Pottsgrove went undefeated on its way to last year's title and has 16 of its 22 starters back, including the three-headed option attack of senior fullback Preston Hamlette, junior quarterback Terrell Chestnut, and junior running back Maika Polamalu.

"They've got the three best players in the league, so they're the team to beat," Boyertown coach Mark Scisly said. "Our goal is to win the PAC-10, but that road goes through Pottsgrove."

The Falcons scored a league-high 337 points in conference games last season and finished 9-0, 11-2 overall.

Polamalu, the cousin of Pittsburgh Steelers strong safety Troy Polamalu, finished second in the league in rushing with 1,322 yards and 18 touchdowns. Chestnut was fourth with 1,226 yards and 21 touchdowns, and Hamlette was named to the Associated Press Class AAA all-State first team.

Chestnut (defensive back) and Hamlette (linebacker) also made first-team all-league on both sides of the ball, along with now-senior tight end-wideout-defensive back Scott Madl, and the Falcons emerged as the class of the PAC-10.

"They rolled through our league last season, and they did it with sophomores and juniors," Perkiomen Valley coach Scott Reed said.

Not so fast, though, says Pottsgrove coach Rick Pennypacker.

Last year, he said, the Falcons were able to sneak up on teams because they had only four returning starters. But this season they face high expectations and opponents motivated to take down the defending champions.

"Last year we were the hunter; this year we're the hunted," Pennypacker said. "We're going to get everyone's best game every week, and that's going to be a challenge for us."

Pennypacker said he believes his team is a year away from replicating last year's success because the Falcons must replace key starters on both sides of the ball, most notably on the offensive line.

They lost both starting tackles and a guard to graduation, so the Falcons will start a freshman and two sophomores, along with senior guard Eric Moran and junior first-team all-league center Dan Foust.

Senior wide receiver Angelo Berry, and first-team all-league defensive end Justin Oliveri also return, but the youth of the offensive line is a concern.

"It's an honor for other coaches to say we're the team to beat, but you never know," said Chestnut, the quarterback whose season depends heavily on the big boys up front. "There are a lot of talented teams in the league."

The only school to win multiple Pioneer titles in the last five years was Lansdale Catholic, which shared its second title in 2007, then moved to the Philadelphia Catholic League. Last year, second-place Owen J. Roberts lost its only conference game to the Falcons, 41-14, but the game was tied at half.

Pottsgrove knows it still has work to do, so the team returned to Camp Wayne in Preston Park, Pa. last week for its annual preseason preparation three hours north. The team woke up at 6:30 every morning and turned cell phones off to avoid distractions.

"Our kids went to camp as though they were the worst team in the league," Pennypacker said. "We never, ever look at the past. We look at the future."

That future includes opening the season with three straight games against Class AAAA schools: Pennridge, Wissahickon, and league foe Boyertown. Pottsgrove competes in Class AAA.

"All three of those schools are probably twice our size," Pennypacker said. "We have to be ready to play, because if we're not, we're going to get our butts kicked right off the bat."

Regardless of how Pennypacker and his players maintain perspective, though, the rest of the league is treating Pottsgrove like the undefeated champions they are until proved otherwise.

"They're stacked," Phoenixville coach Bill Furlong said. "They're sound everywhere, they always have a good line, and they're well coached."