HS Football: Pottsville rolls to victory over Bangor
Pottsville's JuJu Bainbridge picks up a fumble and returns it 20 yards for a touchdown during Friday night's 44-13 win over Bangor at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Assisting on the play for the Tide are Brody Baddick (52) and Christian Alvarez (16). (Photo by Danie May Photography)
POTTSVILLE — Pottsville needed a game like this. Badly.
After struggling through the first three weeks of the season with just one win to show for it, the Crimson Tide put together a much cleaner performance — opening huge holes, catching tough passes, unleashing relentless pressure on defense, forcing a pair of turnovers and more. All of that added up to Pottsville’s 44-13 victory over Bangor in a Schuylkill-Colonial Red Division game Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Tide (2-2, 2-1 Red) scored all of their points in the first half to invoke the running-clock mercy rule after intermission. Senior running back JuJu Bainbridge, who has been bottled up for much of the season, broke loose with 13 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns.
“We desperately needed this,” Pottsville coach Mike Brennan said. “We said all week, it was us against us. It didn’t matter who we were playing, we had to see our guys do things and take that next step. And I think we did. In a lot of ways, we were much cleaner, we were much sharper. We executed things much better. Certainly minimized our mistakes. Still missed some things early on that were sort of last week’s stuff, but we quickly got over it. We just have to make some plays.”
After Pottsville punted on its first possession of the game, the Tide scored touchdowns on five consecutive drives to overwhelm the Slaters (0-4, 0-3).
Midway through the first quarter, Pottsville started piling up the points. In a span of 5:56 on the clock, Bainbridge scored three TDs to put Pottsville up 21-0 after the first quarter. To begin, Bainbridge capped a five-play, 44-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. On Bangor’s next possession, Bainbridge scooped up a fumble and raced 20 yards to the end zone. And the next time Pottsville got the ball, Bainbridge hit a big hole and motored 51 yards for a touchdown.
Pottsville kept the pressure on in the second quarter.
Tide quarterback Andrew Allen tossed a pair of TD strikes, an 11-yarder to Christian Alvarez and a 14-yarder to Max Clews. Clews, with two Bangor defenders draped all over him, found a way to leap for the pass and haul it in for Pottsville’s final touchdown of the night.
In between, Brody Eroh scampered 35 yards for a TD, and Pottsville’s special teams picked up a safety when a snap sailed over the punter’s head. The ball rolled near the end zone before Bangor could jump on top of it to prevent a Tide touchdown.
“I saw them sort of relax and play tonight,” Brennan said. “I thought that was a great sign.”
Pottsville, which has had trouble stopping the run, made some defensive changes and shut down the Bangor attack. In the first half, the Slaters rushed 19 times for minus 16 yards and had 14 yards of total offense. The Tide had four sacks, and in addition to Bainbridge’s fumble return, Donovann Durham made a spectacular leaping catch for an interception.
“Defensively, I thought our physicality was much better,” Brennan said.
So, back at .500, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for Pottsville. Next Friday night is a trip to state-ranked and undefeated Southern Lehigh, which throttled North Schuylkill 34-14.
Before worrying about that, Pottsville needed a statement win, a dominant win. And the Tide got one as a springboard into the rest of the season.
“Having some confidence, having some success … it feels like we’re headed in the right direction,” Brennan said.
NOTES: Before the game and at halftime, Pottsville celebrated Maroons Night. The festivities included Tide coaches wearing Maroons shirts, players wearing a special sticker on their helmets and Mr. Maroon dressed in traditional garb on the track at field level. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Maroons’ National Football League championship, and the controversy that followed, resulting in the NFL taking the title away from the Maroons.
