It was a game of two very different halves for Upper Perkiomen's football team Friday night as it hosted Pottsgrove in the Pioneer Athletic Conference opener.

            In the first half, it was an Upper Perk squad that went into the break down seven

Zane Saeger, left, prepares to catch an errant pass from the Pottsgrove quarterback while Jose Montero, center, covers the intended receiver.

points and was able to stop the Falcons on two of its five offensive drives. In the second half, the Indians couldn't find the end zone and allowed a score on each of the Falcons' four offensive touches.

            It all added up to a 46-14 loss for the Indians, who fell to 3-2, while Pottsgrove improved to 4-1. The game marked the 17th straight win for the Falcons against the Indians and boosted Pottsgrove's record in the series to 28-9. Upper Perk has not beaten the Falcons since 2006.

            "We battled in the first half and started fast by doing the things we wanted to all week," said Upper Perk head coach Dan Heinrichs. "After half we let up a big scoring drive and our heads went down for the first time this season. That cannot happen. We are a team coached to battle, fight and adjust."

            While Upper Perk had no answer for the Falcons in the second half, they made it a game in the first two quarters. The Indians got onto the board first as they received the opening kickoff and used a 58-yard touchdown pass from Logan O'Donnell to Aiden Void on third-and-7 to take the lead.

           Pottsgrove, though, grabbed the momentum right back needing just three plays to find the end zone as Isaiah Rivera was initially stopped then raced for a 71-yard run.

            Pottsgrove forced Upper Perk to punt on their next two drives, and scored both times they touched the ball: the first on a 1-yard run from Mikhi Dargan and the second a 27-yard option to Dargan from 27 yards out to make it 21-7 with less than a minute left in the first quarter.

            Upper Perk answered right back, thanks to a pair of runs off left tackle from Zach Schwartz covering 15 and eight yards. Brody Weiss then rushed for a four-yard gain, and on his next touch took a handoff up the gut and faked out the safety for a 28-yard score to make it 21-14. Upper Perk threatened again on their next drive as Schwartz went off left tackle for runs of 21 and 11 to get inside the red zone. The ensuing 35-yard field goal had plenty of leg but went wide right.

            The Indians' defense did their part to keep the score that way at the half as it turned the Falcons away on their two final drives before the half. On the first drive Kane Krier and Brayden Adam made back-to-back tackles for a loss, forcing a punt. When the Falcons got the ball back with less than a minute in the half, Zane Saeger broke up a pass in the end zone and the Falcons final screen pass came up short.

            That, though, is where the Indians' highlights slowed down considerably.

            Pottsgrove was able to control the ball and the ground game, using its play-action pass for its final score. The Falcons piled up 430 yards on the ground as part of 537 total offensive yards. Dargan proved the workhorse as he carried 21 times for 202 yards for three scores. Rivera racked up 147 yards on just four carries for two scores, over a 36-yard per-carry average.

            "Our defense this week was built around disciple and tackling," Heinrichs said. "We lacked those more in the second half than the first and it showed. Too many missed opportunities and small misalignments led to some big plays."

            Zach Schwartz led the Indians on the ground with 90 yards on 15 carries, with Weiss chipping in with 52 yards on 10 totes and a score. Sophomore Zach Adam saw limited time as he left the game early in the second quarter with a knee injury. O'Donnell finished 5 of 13 for 91 yards and a touchdown, with Void accounting for 76 of those yards on three catches. Krier and Joseph Schmittinger both had one reception each.

            Saeger led the defense with seven tackles and a pass break-up, Weiss tallied five tackles and Aaron Maiden had four stops. Jedi Ianuari and Maddux Diaz both had three tackles apiece from their spots on the defensive line. Krier, Brayden Adam and Matt Delizingaro each had a tackle for a loss.

            Upper Perk will continue its PAC Frontier division slate as it will entertain Pope John Paul II tomorrow night. The Panthers are 4-1 (1-0 Frontier) after they held off Phoenixville, 24-13, at home this past Saturday. The defending league champs have one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Luke Terlesky, a dual-threat in Villanova-commit Braden Reed and a solid running back in Dylan Skarbek. Last season PJP handled the Indians, 49-7.

           "At the end of the day we are a 3-2 football team with still a large variety of young players that need to find consistency on defense," Heinrichs said. "Offensively we moved the ball with a balanced attack until we started forcing things and getting off our game plan."