Very few people were surprised by the 45-0 final last Friday night as unbeaten Perkiomen Valley defeated Upper Perkiomen in Graterford.

                The surprising part, though, was how the Vikings performed in the rout. In typical fashion, Perk Valley used a dynamic offense as it racked up over 550 yards against the Indians (2-7). On the other side of the ball, PV was just as efficient, holding UP to just 169 yards of total offense.

                What the numbers didn't so poignantly show were the Viking miscues. For starters, Perk Valley racked up eight penalties for 96 yards compared to just one infraction for 10 yards by Upper Perk. Two of those penalties for Perk Valley proved especially costly as they brought back two touchdowns. Things were the same in the turnover department, as Perk Valley fumbled a punt return (recovered by Dylan Reinford) and threw a pick to senior linebacker Kevin Loose.

                Defensively, senior Dylan Croissette proved a handful up front as he notched 2.5 sacks, as fellow senior lineman Andrew Frantz (two tackles for a loss) added one. The lackluster effort showed up on special teams as well, as PV missed or had blocked four of its seven extra-point attempts thanks to the likes of Croissette, Mahlon Schaffer and Ryan Kendra.

                "It was nice to get a pick of their league-leading quarterback, and we recorded a few sacks, which was nice," said Upper Perk head coach Tom Hontz. "Offensively, we just couldn't find a rhythm and that's something we need to work on, in regards of getting more of a push up front."

                Offensively, Upper Perk's best drive came in the second half as Michael Felix (10 carries, 88 yards) ripped off a 35-yard run to the Vikings' 15-yard line and took the next carry to the 5. The drive bogged down from there as Upper Perk failed to convert on fourth down. In the air, Ryan Kendra had three catches for 26 yards and Austin Bittenbender caught two balls for 34 yards.

                "Despite the score, we played hard and we played with enthusiasm the entire game," Hontz said. "Again, stats notwithstanding, I thought the defense continued to show growth and more and more confidence."

                Upper Perk's attention will now turn to its season finale at home tomorrow night against Phoenixville. The Phantoms sport the same 2-7 record as the Indians and both have common victories in defeating Methacton and Pope John Paul.

                Phoenixville is coming off a 49-35 shootout loss to Boyertown last week. In that game, the Phantoms had one of its finer offensive games, racking up 366 total yards. They feature a solid quarterback in Trey Rossman (919 yards, 6 TDs), and an all-around athlete in Matt Palubinsky (331 rushing yards, 6TDs), who is also a threat as a receiver and passer.

                In looking at the team stats, the two teams are almost identical. To date, Upper Perk has scored just one more total point (137 compared to 136). Defensively, Phoenixville has a slight edge as it yields an average of 337 yards per game, compared to Upper Perk's 366. Upper Perk's advantage comes on the ground, where the Tribe's 1,131 rushing yards on the year nearly double that of Phoenixville (639). On average, Upper Perk puts up 247 yards of offense compared to the Phantoms' 182.

                "I think it should be an exciting way to conclude the season and this could be very important in regards to building for next year," Hontz said. "I'm also very excited to see how our seniors step up in their final home game."