Resilience.

            It's been a key word in head coach Tom Hontz's vocabulary this season when it comes to his Upper Perkiomen football team.

            With a relatively young squad with a modest amount of varsity experience and

Running back Zach Schwartz, right, looks for a hole as  offensive lineman Kane Krier, second from left, blocks a Pottstown defender during Upper Perkiomen's win.

size, Hontz said the success of the Indians depends largely on how well they can respond to adversity.

             From the looks of things from last Friday night's Frontier Division Pioneer Athletic Conference win at Pottstown, the Indians responded quite well.

            In the 38-12 win, Upper Perk went into the half down 12-3. The Indians (1-2, 2-5) had three offensive drives inside the Trojans (0-3, 1-6) red zone in that first half, but only managed to come away with points from a 30-yard Logan Watkins field goal.

            But demonstrating that resiliency, Upper Perk ripped off 35 unanswered points, scoring on six of its seven offensive drives in the second half.

            "We have dealt with many setbacks and injuries, but we keep trying to improve and compete," Hontz said. "We have defeated two teams this year and both were surprised at our resiliency. When you start three to four freshmen on both sides of the ball, you need to keep battling and hope for outcomes like Friday night."

            Like its first win of the year, against Schuylkill Valley, Zach Schwartz played a huge role for Upper Perk. The sophomore running back rushed 23 times for 170 yards and a pair of scores, including a 71-yard touchdown through the heart of the Pottstown defense late in the fourth quarter. He also led his team in receiving with four catches for 15 yards, and broke up a pass and made three solo tackles on defense.

            Defense and special teams came up big as well. Matt Delzingaro had a pick on Pottstown's last drive, and Gavin Weiss (three solo tackles, tackle for a loss) and Josh Hill (three solo tackles) both recovered fumbles. Hontz cited the play of Chidike Eruba, Ethan Scharneck and Brody Weiss in helping hem in Pottstown's outside threat, quarterback Dillon Mayes.

            On special teams, Eruba blocked a punt in the third quarter which was recovered by Brody Weiss and set up Upper Perk's first touchdown with 4:32 left. Two defensive series later, Eric Romanowski stuffed a Pottstown fake punt that eventually led to a three-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Hoffer (three receptions, 17 yards) to make it a 24-12 game.

            Schwartz's long touchdown five minutes later opened up the lead to 19 points, and Brody Weiss capped the scoring as he took a handoff up the middle, disappeared in a crowd and then ran out the other side for a 40-yard score.

            "The only difference (from the first half) was being a little more focused," Hontz said, "not making mental errors. That was the key to turning things around."

            In the JV game played Monday at Bill Keeny Stadium, Upper Perk posted a 42-0 win over the Trojans.

            Romanowski scored four touchdowns, including runs of 18, 3 and 9 yards, as well as an 11-yard pass from Logan O'Donnell.  Brody Weiss scored twice, bulling his way in from 1 and 16 yards.

            Defensively, players who had solid outings included: Maddux Diaz (three tackles for a loss, sack, forced fumble), Scharneck (three total sacks, 2 of which were strip/sacks), Jonathan Strohl (two tackles for a loss, two fumble recoveries), Tucker Ruch (tackle for a loss, interception), Dominic Wolfe (interception), Grayson Riggins (pass break-up), Aydin Young (fumble recovery) and Connor O'Donnell (safety).

            Up next for the Indians is an away game at Phoenixville (3-0, 5-2) tomorrow night at 7 p.m. The Phantoms are riding high off a 14-7 win over Pottsgrove, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since 2005. In that game Sam Moore ran for 177 yards on 26 carries and a score.

            The Phantoms feature one of the best receivers in the league in Ahmid Spivey, and a very capable quarterback in Talon Romance.

            "Phoenixville will be another rugged opponent on the road, but hopefully we can tap into that mentality to compete from the very start and give them a tough ballgame," Hontz said. "We are an undersized, inexperienced team, but we are scrappy and the work ethic is there."