Steelers nudge Eagles in final seconds of Big Brothers

CHARLESTOWN - Caleb Moon scored on a five-yard run with just six seconds remaining in regulation time to give the Steelers a 6-0 victory over the Eagles in the Phoenixville Marian Youth Club (PMYC) Big Brothers football championship game on “Super Sunday” Nov. 11 at Charlestown Park.

Moon ran a reverse to the left side on a fourth-and-one call to propel the Steelers to victory. Moon closed out the day with 80 yards rushing on 14 carries. Anthony Davido topped the Steelers with 117 yards on 20 attempts. David Bolles added 16 yards on two totes. Miles Davido assisted in the backfield.

The Steelers accumulated 212 yards rushing on 37 carries. The Steelers marched 86 yards in 15 plays for the lone touchdown of the contest.

Head coach Andrew Bernat guided the Steelers to the title with help from assistant coaches Matt Miller, Larry Lubas, Vimal Neghandi and Josh Dellaquila.

Miles Davido completed one pass attempt for 37 yards to Moon. Bolles also had one pass that was intercepted by the Eagles’ Chris Sullivan.

“These guys are tough,” said Bernat. “Last year they had no wins and we didn’t know who would come back. All these guys stayed and they played so hard and worked so hard. They set the tone at every practice.”

Those returnees included Sean McCann, Kevin Mills, Vincent Moffa, Justin Blakey, Danny Thompson, Bill Pizor and Anthony Davido.

Pizor intercepted a pass and also led the defense with seven tackles. Anthony Davido made four tckles and Moon also had four hits with one tackle for loss. McCann had two tackles, Malcolm Davido two with one for loss, Miles Davido two, Blakey two, Mills two, Liam Myers two, Bolles one, Ian Miller one and Eddie Kerper one.

Blakey tackled the Eagles’ Chris Sullivan on the final play of the game after a 20-yard gain to the steelers’ 22-yard-line to protect the victory.

For the Eagles, Sullivan rolled up 156 yards rushing on 18 carries. Durron Johnson gained 17 yards on three plays, Andre Moffatt three for 11, Alex Washington four for three and Jack Martinez also figured in the backfield. The Eagles netted 184 yards rushing on 31 tries. Martinez tried one aerial that was pilfered by Pizor. Harsh pointed out that Sullivan and Martinez were both three-year veterans who started on both offense and defense.

The Eagles were coached by Jason Harsh with help from assistant coaches Ryan Klick, Ron O’Shea and Tony Rowan.

The Eagles’ Tyler Raniszewski recovered two fumbles and Graham Light had one fumble recovery.

Sullivan made seven tackles, Moffatt threee, Raniszewski two, Johnson two and Quinn two. Also assisting the defense were Michael Adams, Light, Washington, Sam Kirk and Juan Browne with a tackle each.

“This year was the best Big Brothers has ever been since I have been here,” said Harsh. “Every game was decided by a touchdown or less. I told the kids this game would come down one play and that’s what happened.”

The Eagles’ Graham Light and the Steelers’ Danny Thompson received the inaugural Sportsmanship Awards from the Norristown Chapter of Officials, which were medals.

“We wanted to not let Chris (Sullivan) get outside,” said Bernat. “Our defensive flow was the best it has been all year. The kids jelled so nicely. We had seven or eight kids who came back after we were 0-8 last year. We had a great mindset. We never talked about the past but just about getting better as the season went along. Our bigger guys had speed.”