Phantoms Football: Believe. Win. Celebrate!

The signature cheer of the Phoenixville student cheering section starts like a rumbling creed: “I believe … I believe that we will win.”

So just in case the football players forget, their rowdy classmates that make up "Phantom Nation" are there to remind them.

As it turns out, confidence and belief are useful things to bring to a football game. Almost 200 rushing yards and a couple touchdowns from bruising fullback Vinny Nattle don’t hurt either.

Phoenixville needed all those things—and a fair amount more—to pull out a 28-27 win over Academy Park in a District 1 AAA semifinal Friday night at Washington Field. Now it’s not just belief; it’s true. The come-from-behind-twice win earned the Phantoms a spot in the District 1 AAA championship game next weekend.

Phoenixville will play Pottsgrove, an overtime winner in last night’s other semifinal. Pottsgrove handled Phoenixville 47-7 two weeks ago, but Friday was not a night to question belief.

“We have confidence in our players,” Phoenixville offensive lineman Brian Hyland said. “We know when we go out there we can beat any team that we go up against. We just believe that we can do it.”

Make no mistake about it, the visiting Knights provided the Phantoms plenty of opportunity to misplace their confidence and question their belief. After Phoenixville (9-3) rushed to 13-0 first-quarter lead, Academy Park (8-4) battled back to take a 14-13 lead with 6:22 remaining in the third quarter.

But on the first play from scrimmage after the ensuing kickoff, Nattle took the handoff and raced 52 yards to give Phoenixville a first down deep in Academy Park territory.

“When little things go wrong, they kind of bring it back together,” Phoenixville head coach Bill Furlong said after Phantoms secured their first trip to the district title game. “That’s kind of what’s been happening. Vinny broke off that big run and the guys got right back in it.”

Four plays later, Nattle grabbed a short pass from Alec McQuiston and bulled into the end zone to put Phoenixville back in front. Travis Andrews’ run for the two-point conversion put the Phantoms up 21-14 ... for 13 seconds.

Academy Park’s Justin Brown returned Phoenixville’s kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown, but the Knights’ point after attempt sailed left, leaving the Phantoms with a one-point lead.

The Knights quickly forced a Phoenixville punt and quickly moved into scoring position, but the Phantoms defense stripped the ball loose from Academy’s Park’s Mark Doe and linebacker Ryan Panella recovered at the Phantoms 8-yard-line. But as fast as disaster was averted, it reverted.

Andrews fumbled on the Phantoms' first play from scrimmage, giving the ball right back to Academy Park at the 14. Caleeh Jeffrey darted those 14 yards in one play and after a successful point after the Knights led 27-21 with 11:36 to play.

With the raucous student section making sure they couldn’t forget about confidence and belief, Phoenixville began moving the ball back down the field. It took 11 plays—including a 15-yard run by Nattle on fourth-and-2—but Phoenixville tied the game on a 17-yard keeper by McQuiston with just over six minutes remaining in the game. Ian Harrigan’s point after provided the slim margin of victory.

"This team just doesn’t know how to give up,” Andrews said. “The last two years when we weren’t what we wanted to be, when things would go wrong we’d just get down and give up. This year that hasn’t happened a single time. Even when we lost to Pottsgrove pretty bad, we played hard to the end.”

Phoenixville stopped Academy Park on the next series and Andrews earned himself some welcome redemption by breaking up the Knights’ third-down pass attempt, which forced the Knights to punt.

“I fumbled on the like the 10-yard-line. I was absolutely heartbroken,” Andrews said. “I didn’t know what to do. But after Dennis [Kelly] made that huge tackle and I broke up that pass …”

... Well the Phantoms got the ball back with a one-point lead and Andrews felt much better. Phoenixville never allowed the Knights to have the ball again, although it required punter (and midfielder on the Phantom soccer team) Harrigan’s 7-yard dash on fourth-and-3 to keep the drive alive.

“That was a play we practiced all week that we would run on fourth and short,” Harrigan said. “It was a high snap,” he added. “Once I got it, I hesitated a little bit. [Then] I calmed down, got my steps and just started running to get the first down and get out of bounds.”

Phoenixville then ran out the clock, freeing the the student section to stream onto the field and join the celebration at close range.

“The school has gotten behind this team,” Furlong said. “It’s a credit to the kids on the team, but it’s also a credit to the school community that [principal Craig] Parkinson nurtures—and it’s a credit to the kids. Today it was electric in school, not just the football players, but the school in general. It’s gotta’ help somehow for these guys to hear those kids cheering for them. The way they lined up for the team coming into the stadium was incredible.”

Phoenixville              13        0          8          7—28

Academy Park          7          0          13        7—27

P—Vinny Nattle 1 run (Ian Harrigan kick)

P—Travis Andrews 3 run (kick blocked)

AP—Tyler Street 1 run (Eddie Towah kick)

AP—Earl Hargrove 54 pass from Street (Towah kick)

P—Nattle 6 pass from Alec McQuiston (Andrews run)

AP—Justin Brown 86 kickoff return (kick failed)

AP—Caleeh Jeffrey 14 run (Towah kick)

P—McQuiston 17 run (Harrigan kick)