In dramatic fashion, the Norristown Eagles football team earned its first win of the season at its annual Homecoming game against the Boyertown Bears last Friday evening 32-27 after trailing for most of the game.  

The night was also highlighted by an introductory homecoming parade, presenting current Norristown clubs and past classes that have long since graduated but have come home to share in the festivities. Rashell Torres and Shane Byrd were crowned Homecoming queen and king, respectively. 

The homecoming game did not start well for the Eagles when the Boyertown Bears ran the opening kickoff in for a touchdown on their very first play of the game. After making the extra point, the Bears took an early 7-0 lead against the Eagles.

The Eagles would eventually answer, however, when Isaiah Tucker caught a pass for 78 yards, scoring a touchdown and tying the game with 1:46 left on the clock in the first quarter. 

The Bears were not through though. Well into Eagles territory, the Bears seemed poised to score again, but they fumbled the ball, which the Eagles would recover, keeping the game tied.  The Bears ran the ball for most of the quarter, not really passing the ball too often, and a strong Eagles run defense kept the Bears from getting many yards at once. 

It seemed like the Eagles defense had the Bears’ run game figured out through the first quarter, but at the top of the second quarter, Bears running back Jamison Moccia broke through to run for a touchdown. With the extra point, the Bears retook the lead at 14-7. 

Although the Eagles offense could not answer, The Eagles’ defensive line easily got around the Bears’ offensive line, putting pressure on the quarterback, forcing him to throw away the ball multiple times.

The Bears quarterback would eventually make a huge pass to the Eagles’ 13 yard line, which the team would bring in for a touchdown on the next play, leaving the game at 21-7 Eagles. The Eagles scored another touchdown before the end of the half but missed the extra point, so the halftime festivities commenced with the Eagles down 21-13.  

It would be during this halftime that Blue & White sponsor Kate Bartlett would introduce all of the members of the homecoming court. The crowd cheered when Byrd’s and Torres’ names we announced as the homecoming monarchs. 

The Eagles have struggled this year in the second half of football games, so the crowd’s groan in the third quarter after an Eagles pass was intercepted in Bears territory was a familiar one. The Eagles, however, recovered a fumble and ran the ball in for a touchdown, inching closer to the Bears’ lead. The Eagles would fail to tie the game with a two-point conversion, but with 6:48 left on the clock in the third quarter, the Eagles were in striking distance. 

Norristown almost took the lead before the end of the third quarter after quarterback Cris DiNolfi took a 20 yard run into the Bears’ territory and running back Elijah Twyman carried the ball for another first down. Twyman would run it in for a touchdown again, but after a holding penalty, the score didn’t count, and the third quarter ended with the Eagles down by two.

The called-back touchdown would not matter, however, when, at the beginning of the 4th quarter, Twyman carried the ball in for a touchdown. The Eagles failed to score the 2 point conversion, but at 25-21, the Eagles led for the first time all game, and they wouldn’t look back. 

The Eagles defense continued to put a lot of pressure on Boyertown quarterback, who couldn’t get a good throw off because the Eagles’ rushers came at him too fast. With 9:11 to go in the fourth, the Eagles sacked the Boyertown quarterback on 4th down, and the Eagles get the ball. Running Back Zion Malone of the Eagles carried the ball well into Bears territory, and they went for a field goal but missed. So the Bears regain possession of the ball, but the Bears couldn’t do anything because of all the defensive pressure coming at the quarterback.

With 3:46 left in the game, DiNolfi passed to wide receiver Travis Cummings, who made it to the 1 yard line but didn’t score. Twyman immediately carried the ball in for a touchdown, and the Eagles finally made the extra point, expanding their lead to 32-21.

Another Bears touchdown would tighten the lead at 32-27, but that is how it would stay.

At around 10:00 at night, the lights in the stadium went out, and knowing the first Norristown win of the season is all but in the books, the crowd and players got hyped, laughing and yelling, all having fun because they could all sense that this was going to end in a win.  About 10 minutes later, the lights came on, but the crowd would not sit, and the Eagles did in fact win the game, kneeling to let the clock run out.  

The entire Stadium, including the Eagles players and cheerleaders, cheered and celebrated the win enthusiastically.