Every once in a while, during a game, Jerry Boyer will sneak a peek up in the stands at the empty seat next to his mother's. It's the spot reserved for Jerry Boyer Sr., his father. The man who helped cultivate his talent and desire. The one from whom he always derived inspiration.

Boyer, Penncrest's 5-10, 210-pound senior wrecking ball, carries his dad's memory now in his heart and on his taped right wrist each game, with the simple word 'Dad' scrawled in black marker. His father died Sept. 13, 2006, from complications due to pneumonia. Somewhere, Boyer thinks, dad is watching and smiling, especially after what he did last night.

Boyer exploded on Garnet Valley for 212 yards rushing, two touchdowns and 12 tackles in leading No. 14 seed Penncrest to a dramatic, 38-35 victory over No. 3 seed Garnet Valley in the opening round of the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA playoffs.

The Lions, now 8-3 overall, made history in winning the first playoff game in school history and will advance to the district quarterfinals, where they will meet Downingtown East. Garnet Valley ended a strong season at 9-2, co-champions of the Central League.

"This was huge for me," Boyer said. "I was frustrated the whole year, because we were capable of playing so much better than we were. It's great to see we played up to what we know we can do tonight. There were a few times this year we were down, and now we have a second chance."

Penncrest's Matt Atkinson scored the winning touchdown on a 25-yard run with 3 minutes, 57 seconds to play. But it was four consecutive Boyer runs for 45 yards that placed Penncrest there in the first place. Not to mention the job done by the Penncrest offensive front of tackles Mike Moretti and John Young, guards Nick Quintans and Dan Mills, and center Kevin Cosgrove.

"Jerry really put us on his back," Lions coach Paul Graham said. "In a tough spot, with the game on the line and when we needed him, he stepped up. He was simply outstanding, all my kids were outstanding. I couldn't be prouder of them."

The course of the game appeared to change early in the third quarter after Garnet Valley scored on successive drives to gain its first lead, 28-21, on a Mark McHugh 10-yard touchdown. The Jaguars added another score late in the third quarter to go ahead, 35-28, but Penncrest responded with Tom Weathers' 31-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Atkinson's jaunt late in the fourth quarter spelled the difference.

"It came down to them making the plays and we didn't when we had to," Jags coach Mike Ricci said. "All the credit goes to Penncrest. My kids played hard and tough, but we just couldn't stop them. When we had to stop them, we didn't."

Neither team could stop each other in the first half, with Penncrest getting the better of the offensive outburst before halftime. The Lions took a 21-14 lead into intermission, scoring on their first three possessions.

Boyer had 117 yards at halftime, averaging 9.7 yards a carry. He did the bulk of the work, scoring on two 1-yard runs in jump-starting the Lions to a 14-0 lead.

Boyer's second TD seemed to jolt the Jaguars, who proceeded to go on a 10-play, 80-yard drive ending in Marcellus Irving's 12-yard scoring run. Penncrest, however, wasn't through.

The Lions took the ensuing possession 72 yards on six plays. This time, it was Matt Atkinson hitting Phil Barbieri with a nifty screen that translated into a 19-yard TD reception and a 21-7 Penncrest lead. Again, it was Boyer setting up the score with a huge 35-yard run, featuring cartoon moves that had Garnet Valley defenders swatting at air.

But Garnet Valley had to answer, and the Jags did, needing just five plays to travel 69 yards, ending when McHugh scrambled and found Irving in the corner of the end zone. Irving made a great catch amid three Penncrest defenders to make it 21-14.

It looked like Garnet Valley was in real trouble early on. Penncrest was unstoppable on its first two possessions. The Lions took the opening kickoff 70 yards, chewing up 8:08 on a 16-play drive to go up 7-0.

By the end of the first quarter, Penncrest had garnered 104 yards of total offense to just 5 for Garnet Valley. The Lions had the ball for 10:23 of the first quarter, pounding away at Garnet Valley for 20 plays in the quarter, to just three for the Jags.