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FAIRLESS HILLS – Pennsbury’s defense should be forgiven if they took it a bit personally when Council Rock South marched 66 yards for a touchdown on the Golden Hawks’ opening possession of Friday night’s SOL opener.
It was, after all, the first time an opponent had scored a touchdown against the Falcons’ first team defense all season.“It was kind of a gut check,” Falcon linebacker Kevin Bree said. “Walking off the field and seeing that seven on the scoreboard was a weird feeling. We just picked it up, stepped it up – the coaches made the right adjustments.”
And the Golden Hawks were never heard from again.
The Falcons came back to take a 9-7 lead at halftime and then controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football in the second half on their way to a convincing 30-7 win.
When it was over, coach Vince Bedesem acknowledged that the Falcons pose a formidable opponent.
“Did you see how big they are?” the Golden Hawks’ coach asked. “They’re a great football team, and with all that talent, speed and size, they should be. They are what they are.
“They are number one, and that’s the way they played tonight. Our kids hung right there. I’m very, very proud of our kids.”
Bedesem had to love what he saw on the game’s opening drive.
It began innocently enough with a three-yard run by Braxton Ambrose, and it culminated nine plays later with Billy Fleming punching it in from one yard out. The big play of the drive was a 24-yard pass play from Fleming to Greg Welsh.
“Our scout team did an excellent job this week simulating what they do,” Pennsbury coach Galen Snyder said of going against the triple option. “But it doesn’t matter how good of a job they do – they (the Golden Hawks) are going to hit everything quicker than you can simulate just because that’s what they do, and they do it well.
“After they settled down, I thought they did a real good job.”
It was three-and-out for the Falcons on their first offensive series, but after their defense held on the next Golden Hawks’ series, the Falcons went to work. Dante Devine picked up three yards on first down, and then the Falcons went away from their trademark ‘ground and pound’ as Brandon Pepper found Eric Williams for a 34-yard gain.
After Keith Hickey pulled Pepper down for a two-yard loss on first down, the Falcons’ gritty QB went to the air again, this time hitting Devine for a 24-yard gain. Joe Brown did the rest, sprinting in from 22 yards out for a touchdown. The botched extra point allowed the Golden Hawks to maintain a 7-6 lead, but the Falcons were on the move.
“They keyed in on our running game, so something had to be open, and we had to find out what that was,” Devine said. “We ran a couple of plays, and they weren’t open.“We found out the pass was there – Eric (Williams) caught one, I caught one. The passes were open tonight, and Brandon was throwing good. We just had to go up there and catch them, and we did.”
Late in the opening half, the Falcons staged a six-minute drive that stalled on the Hawks’ 22-yard line, but Corte Rumph had plenty of leg on a 39-yard field goal that sent the Falcons into halftime with a 9-7 lead.
Then came the drive that doomed the Golden Hawks.
The Falcons took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and marched 75 yards on a 16-play drive that took close to eight minutes off the game clock. The back breaker for the Golden Hawks came when – on fourth-and-seven - Pepper found Devine for a 15-yard gain.
“That first drive set the tone,” Snyder said. “Brandon and Dante made the big play on fourth down, and that set the tone for the second half.”
Devine – who celebrated his birthday with a stellar 123-yard, two-touchdown effort – took it in from one yard out. After Richard Bruno’s extra point, the Falcons led 16-7.
“We definitely pulled it together,” senior lineman Michael Evenson said. “At the field house at halftime, a bunch of people gave motivational sayings.
“We needed to work on our blocking, tweak a couple of plays, and it worked out well. I enjoy those (long) drives. It’s tiring, but it’s fun.” Evenson as well as fellow linemen Dave Engle, James Lillo, J.J. Denman, Kevin Contento and Chris Glennie did the dirty work for a Falcon offense that accumulated 437 yards of total offense.
“Going in, we just needed to run the ball,” Evenson said. “We knew they had eight men in the box, and we had to lighten them up a little bit with the pass. Once we did that, we played them real well.”
The Golden Hawks never recuperated from the Falcons’ opening drive and did not so much as manage a first down in the entire second half.
“They just wore us down,” Bedesem said. “The kids played real well, but when you go both ways and (they)had that eight-minute drive, and (we) have to get back on offense and produce – it’s hard, it’s real hard.
“These guys gave a great effort. (They’re) a great football team. What else can you say?”
On their second possession of the third quarter, the Falcons staged a 65-yard touchdown drive. This one featured a whole lot of Devine, who accounted for 58 of those yards, and it was the senior running back racing in from 34 yards out to put the Falcons on top 23-7.
“I don’t like when our team has to get those little yards,” Devine said in reference to his team’s opening drive of the half. “It’s going to happen. We know that, and we prepare for it, but honestly, I’m a fan of the big runs – go right down the field and score and let the defense go in and shut them down.“They’re fighters on defense. They just work hard.”
For good measure, the Falcons closed it out with a 59-yard TD drive that culminated with Brown – who accumulated 67 yards on seven carries - taking it in from seven yards out for this second touchdown of the night.
“Mean Joe Brown – he’s a hard runner,” Snyder said. “I was pleased with the effort in the second half.
“I said at halftime, ‘We’re in a tight game. This is where you have to show your best.’
While Devine put up big numbers on the ground, Pepper was having himself quite a night as well. The junior quarterback ran for 71 yards and threw for 114 more.
“Brandon made some big throws,” Snyder said. “He also had some big runs. Brandon played an excellent game.
“Both offenses are run-oriented offense, and if you can pass successfully, that makes either offense tough.”
While the Golden Hawks – who will face Bensalem next week – fell to 2-1, the Falcons improved to 4-0. They will take on Council Rock North.
“I feel like we’re 0-0 every time we go onto the field,” Devine said. “If we win a game, that just means practices are going to be so much harder.
“We’re the next team’s biggest competitor. Everyone is gunning for us, so we’re going to work hard and strive for the best.”
PENNSBURY 30, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 7
Council Rock South 7 0 0 0-7
Pennsbury 6 3 7 14-30
CRS-Fleming 1 run (Bruno kick)
P-Brown 22 run (Kick failed)
P-Rumph 39 field goal
P-Devine 3 run (Rumph kick)
P-Devine 34 run (Rumph kick)
P-Brown 7 run (Rumph kick)
CRS P
First Downs 6 20
Rushing Yards 86 269
Passing Yards 52 158
Total Yards 138 427
Passing (A-C-I) 5-11-1 6-9-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 4-23 3-25
Punts-Avg. 4-32.3 2-27.5
RUSHING:
Council Rock South: Billy Fleming, 12-46, 1 TD; Braxton Ambrose, 8-25; Greg Welsh, 5-19; Mark Damirgian, 1-0; Keith Hickey, 1-(-4)
Pennsbury: Dante Devine, 24-123, 2 TDs; Brandon Pepper, 17-71; Joe Brown, 7-67, 2 TDs; Jeff Fisher, 5-14; Max Berger, 1-2; Jeff Prine, 3-(-8).
PASSING:
Council Rock South: Billy Fleming, 5-11-52.
Pennsbury: Brandon Pepper, 5-8-114, Terry Russell, 1-1-44.
RECEIVING:
Council Rock South: Greg Welsh, 1-24; William Tobin, 2-12; Keith Hickey, 1-10; Mark Damirgian, 1-6.
Pennsbury: Eric Williams, 2-63; Terry Russell, 1-44; Dante Devine, 2-42; Chris Glennie, 1-9.
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