Spring-Ford breaks through against Pottsgrove

The last time Spring-Ford won a football game against Pottsgrove, Ed Rendell was finishing his second term as Philadelphia's mayor. Donovan McNabb was a rookie with the Eagles. It was the 20th century, and that whole Y2K thing was still a relevant issue.

Spring-Ford, which began league play 3-0 for the first time in 11 seasons, rebuffed yet another - and far more significant - drought Friday night.

In a year in which the Rams are widely favored to win the Pioneer Athletic Conference, they turned away Pottsgrove, 49-35, for the first time in more than a decade at Coach McNelly Stadium.

It had been 12 seasons since the Rams last topped the Falcons.

The Rams put up 28 points in the opening half, scoring on four of their six opening drives. They never trailed, but allowed three Falcons touchdowns before taking a 28-21 lead 30 seconds before halftime on an 11-yard toss-and-catch from QB Hank Coyne to receiver Ryan Conway.

In the second half, Spring-Ford rode sophomore tailback Jarred Jones, who after a quiet opening two frames (he garnered just 38 yards on five carries), broke out in the second, getting touchdown runs of 49 and 75 yards. He finished with 210 yards on 13 carries, and has gained 409 yards in the past two weeks alone.

The win improved Spring-Ford to 4-1 and, more importantly, 4-0 in the PAC-10, a conference they haven't won in 16 seasons. Pottsgrove (3-2, 3-1) hadn't lost since its opener against Norristown.

Coyne finished with 291 yards on 12-for-21 passing and three touchdowns. He lost one fumble.

Wideout Andrew Scanlan caught three balls for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Scanlan's two scores book-ended the Rams' seven-touchdown night. He scored on the team's first play from scrimmage (going 77 yards) and on a 15-yard reception that pushed the lead to 49-35 with 1 minute, 25 seconds left.

Conway added 63 yards on five catches to go with his one TD.

Pottsgrove, though playing catch-up most of the night, tried valiantly to keep pace and found itself trailing by just a touchdown with less than four minutes remaining in the game.

Quarterback Tory Hudgins did all he could to keep his Falcons in it, scampering for two fourth-quarter scores (and four overall). Hudgins rushed for 157 yards, completing 4 of 7 passes for 50 yards and an interception.

Running backs Robby Curtin and Mark Dukes contributed to the Falcons' bruising running game, gaining 53 yards (on 10 carries) and 107 yards (17 carries), respectively.

Curtin also ran for a 12-yard score in the first quarter.

Pottsgrove   7 14 0 14 – 35

Spring-Ford   14 14 7 14 – 49

SF: Scanlan 77 pass from Coyne (O'Hara kick)

P: Curtin 12 run (Bleekly kick)

SF: Paige 10 run (O'Hara kick)

P: Hudgins 1 run (Bleekly kick)

SF: Lundi 11 run (O'Hara kick)

P: Hudgins 57 run (Bleekly kick)

SF: Conway 11 pass from Coyne (O'Hara kick)

SF: Jones 49 run (O'Hara kick)

P: Hudgins 4 run (Bleekly kick)

SF: Jones 75 run (O'Hara kick)

P: Hudgins 3 run (Bleekly kick)

SF: Scanlan 15 pass from Coyne (O'Hara kick)