HS Football: Tide look to rebound against Bangor

Pottsville's Christian Alvarez breaks a tackle after hauling in a pass during an Aug. 22 game against Shamokin at Veterans Memorial Stadium (Photo by Jocelyn Barrett / Danie Mae Photography).

POTTSVILLE — Coach Mike Brennan and his Pottsville Area Crimson Tide have been here before.

Unfortunately, for them, it’s happened to years in a row.

Coming off a gut-wrenching 21-19 loss to Tamaqua last Friday night, Pottsville had little choice than to turn the page and move forward. After all, Bangor will visit Veterans Memorial Stadium this evening for a Schuylkill-Colonial Red Division game.

(The game will air live on WPPA 1360 AM and A-106/105.9 FM, beginning with pregame at 6:45 p.m. and kickoff at 7 p.m.)

Last season, the Tide suffered a last-minute loss to Tamaqua heading into a Week 4 matchup against Bangor. Pottsville responded with a 38-7 victory that helped turn around a season that extended to the District 11 Class 4A semifinals.

Pottsville hopes for more of the same, starting tonight.

“We’re a work in progress,” said Brennan, listing some of the Tide’s missed opportunities. “… We can’t be that team. We feel like we’re a disciplined football team. We act like it most of the time, but these things need to be cleaned up.

“We’re not a good enough football team to leave opportunities out there and expect to win football games,” he added. “We have a lot to work on. We’re never gong to give in. We’re never going to give up. We have to get better. It’s a very sour taste in everyone’s mouth right now. We’re trying to use that as motivation.”

The Tide have had a few recurring themes so far this season. First, the running game has yet to get untracked, gaining just 118 yards per game. Second, Pottsville misses the big-play ability of the graduated Tsirell Curry. As of yet, nobody has stepped up to fill the void of Curry, who stretched defenses and hauled in chunk plays in the passing game. Third, Pottsville’s defense is getting beaten at the point of attack. Tamaqua repeatedly rushed the ball until the Blue Raiders got some traction, and that led to 15 fourth-quarter points and a stunning victory over the Tide. Penalties at inopportune times hurt Pottsville, too.

With defenses stacking the box against the run, Bainbridge has rushed just 55 times for 230 yards and two touchdowns so far this season. Opponents have dared Pottsville’s passing game to beat them, with mixed results. Quarterback Andrew Allen has completed 33-of-58 passes for 384 yards with three TDs and one interception. The top receivers are Max Clews (7-92), Nick Huda (7-79, 1 TD) and Christian Alvarez (7-68, 1 TD). Lost in the statistics are numerous dropped passes and missed throws or opportunities for big plays. Entering Week 4, Pottsville continues to search for a player to break through in the passing game.

Brody Herndon (31 tackles) and Shay Strencosky (25 tackles, 1 interception) lead the defense. Pottsville has just two sacks in three games.

For the season, the Tide (1-2. 1-1 Red) are scoring just 16.3 points per game while allowing 20.7.

Meanwhile, Bangor (0-3, 0-2) has struggled mightily in losses to Saucon Valley (42-21), Lehighton (38-7) and Northwestern Lehigh (54-14).

The Slaters rely on senior Riley Waldron (31-118) and junior Lucas Hurd (17-85) on the ground, with sophomore Eziah Cartagena (19-39-3, 209, 0 TDs) and freshman Lincoln Rehrig (5-10-0, 73, 1 TD) under center. Senior Jacob Hillis, a 6-foot-4, 200-pounder, is the top receiver with 10 catches for 135 yards.

Middle linebacker Hunter Hopstetter (18 tackles), defensive end Tyler Scholato (2 sacks) and defensive backs Rehrig and Hurd lead the defense.

Significant injuries have started to hamper the Tide as well, with senior RB/LB Alan Kushwarra, sophomore RB/LB Dayn Stillwagner and senior RB/LB Pete Scharadin out. In addition, an unsportsmanlike incident at the end of last week’s game will keep senior safety Brett Holley out of uniform for the next two games.

“It’s us against us,” Brennan said. “It has so little to do with Bangor this week. Where are we going to go? How are we going to improve? We need to worry more about ourselves this week than who’s lining up across from us.

“We’ve been in this situation before,” Brennan added. “We have to get ourselves right this week. That’s all that matters.”