High School Top 10: Perkiomen Valley Is No Longer In The Shadows

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — In past years, Perkiomen Valley would hover on the outskirts of the District 1 muscle teams—like North Penn, Pennsbury, Downingtown East and Neshaminy.

This year, the Vikings appear right in the mix with the best teams in the area. Under first-year head coach Rob Heist, who's been associated with the Perkiomen Valley program since 2002, the Vikings are 4-0 and in a good spot. Heist inherited from previous coach Scott Reid arguably the best quarterback-receiving tandem in the Delaware Valley in senior left-handed quarterback Stephen Sturm, who threw for 295 yards in the Vikings' 27-24 victory last weekend over Haverford School, snapping the Fords' 21-game winning streak, and senior Justin Jaworski, the Pioneer Athletic Conference's all-time leading receiver.

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The Vikings are a 6A team that will cause mismatch problems for everyone they face.

"For one, Sturm and Jaworski are excellent football players; two, they bought into our system and have done very, very well. They're like the equivalent of having two coaches on the field for us," Heist said. "They have an awesome chemistry together. We don't have historically some of the horses up front as some of these traditional powerhouse 6A schools do. Their offensive lines are absolutely enormous, so years ago, we got together as a staff and opted to go to a spread offense to compete.

"We like to get our athletes the ball in space and figure out pass concepts that are going to be difficult to cover in typical zone and man high school defenses. It's grown from there. Scott Reid has an awesome offensive mind and our o-line coach does a great job of putting together protections and run schemes. It's created a challenge for people."

Perkiomen Valley reached the District 1 [previously 4A] quarterfinals last year, losing to Pennsbury. That team has returned almost intact.

At the point of attack are Sturm and Jaworski, who are receiving college attention from FCS colleges and Patriot League schools.

Senior Kevin Mo, a 6-foot-2, 300-pound senior and the Vikings' lacrosse goalie, is playing football for the first time and Heist has him at left tackle—in front of the lefty Sturm. On the other side is Temple commit Chris Jimenez, a 6-5, 270-pound right tackle who protects Sturm's blind side. The Vikings are a little larger than normal up front.

"We have a lot of growing to still do," Heist admitted. "Our goal is to win the PAC first, as always, and then go and compete for a district championship. Our school has never won a District 1 championship in football. That's the goal. We're taking it a game at a time and not getting too ahead of ourselves. But we like the team that we have. We're playing with a lot of confidence."

Enough to be playing possibly into December.

CBS Philly's Area Top 10 Power Ratings For Sept. 23, 2016
1. St. Joe's Prep (Record: 3-0)
2. Imhotep Charter (Record: 3-0)
3. Neshaminy (Record: 4-0)
4. North Penn (Record: 4-0)
5. St. Augustine (NJ) (Record: 3-0)
6. Timber Creek (NJ) (Record: 2-0)
7. Malvern Prep (Record: 2-1)
8. Downingtown East (Record: 3-1)
9. Cedar Creek (NJ) (Record: 2-0)
10. Perkiomen Valley (Record: 4-0)

Southeastern PA Top 10 Sept. 23, 2016
1. St. Joe's Prep (Record: 3-0)
2. Imhotep Charter (Record: 3-0)
3. Neshaminy (Record: 4-0)
4. North Penn (Record: 4-0)
5. Malvern Prep (Record: 2-1)
6. Downingtown East (Record: 3-1)
7. Perkiomen Valley (Record: 4-0)
8. Archbishop Wood (Record: 0-2-1)
9. Haverford School (Record: 2-1)
10. Academy Park (Record: 4-0)