They are coming off a performance that bordered on perfection on both sides of the football, but they are not satisfied. They won the coveted District One Class AAAA title, but they are not celebrating.
As they took the field for a late-evening practice on Wednesday, the North Penn Knights displayed the kind of steely resolve teams need if they hope to survive in the grueling world that is playoff football.
“Everyone on the field – you look at them during practice, and they have the same determined look on their faces,” junior Ralph Reeves said. “Everyone is flying around to the ball. Everyone is trying to do their jobs perfectly.“Of course, there’s going to be criticism, but everyone is taking that criticism out on the next play and doing that much better. It’s all business, it’s all focus, and it’s all motivation.”
This year’s North Penn squad is in the final legs of a journey that actually began on a bitterly night cold in early December 2009 when a favored Knight squad saw its season come to an end in a 19-10 loss to Ridley in the district title game.
“To go into that district game last year and be disappointed and have that bitter taste in our mouths and then this year to play like we did and get the district championship under our belts – it felt great,” said Reeves, who was injured on the Knights’ second offensive series in last year’s district title game and sidelined the rest of the game. “It was difficult hearing everyone say it all over the news - North Penn gets punched in the mouth but can’t punch back.
“That was really hard. Everyone on our team saw that, and it was just a slap in the face.”
The Knights worked tirelessly in the offseason to ensure there would be no reruns.
“We knew we weren’t going to be as good as in years past, and we knew we weren’t going to have anything handed to us,” Reeves said. “We worked so hard.”
The Knights fell to defending state champion La Salle 27-14 in their season opener. Since then, they have reeled off 13 wins in a row. Instead of getting punched in the mouth, the Knights are doing most of the punching.
“The loss to La Salle was definitely a shocker – losing to them on our home turf, but I think it woke us up a little bit early on,” senior Matt Donovan said. “Now we knew what we had to work on, and we worked on it to get to this point.”
In last week’s district title game – a 42-6 North Penn win, the only points given up by the defense came late in the contest when the mercy rule was already in effect and the starters from both squads were watching from the sidelines.
It was the kind of dominating performance that perhaps no one could have predicted from a Knight squad that apparently saved its best for last.
“We have been working hard all playoffs, and I think steadily each week we’ve gotten better and better,” Donovan said. “I think last week’s game was the culmination of almost our whole season.
“Every year we have a goal to the win the District One championship. Last year we fell short, and ever since January when we started lifting, that was our goal. I don’t think we were letting it slip away this time. That game showed how much we wanted it.”
“That was awesome,” agreed Reeves. “We needed to come out in a big rivalry game and play like that, but we can’t get stuck on that.
“We have to keep getting better every single week.”
While the Knights’ impressive run to Saturday’s PIAA Class AAAA Eastern Final against La Salle has been a team effort, it’s impossible to ignore the contributions of a linebacking corps that has been the heart and soul of the Knights’ defense.
Reeves and Donovan play inside linebacker while junior Matt Smith and senior Dom Taggart play outside linebacker. They have been a formidable foursome.
“We always tell our D-tackles that they are taking up blocks,” coach Dick Beck said. “The job of the linebackers is to make tackles.
“We always say we need our best players on the edges to keep contain. Our inside linebackers are the ones that have to step up and make the plays most of the time.
“The one thing is – all four guys can run well and are very smart and react quickly. When it’s pass, they get into pass drops, and when it’s run, they’re coming downhill.
“Ralphie is the big star, but I think the other guys are the guys that are the meat and potatoes. Matt Donovan and Matt Smith don’t get the pub, but they are as important as Ralph. Then you have Domonic, and one thing he’s really good at is keeping contain and being in the right position.”
It was Donovan who was in the right position to come up with a big interception in Friday’s district title game that set up the Knights’ third touchdown and sent North Penn into halftime with a 21-0 lead over the Redskins.
Donovan – who was penciled in to play only on the offensive line - was not part of the linebacker mix when the season began, even though he had been a starting linebacker as a junior.
An injury forced Beck’s hand, and once Donovan had an opportunity to play linebacker, he made it impossible to take him out of the lineup.
“Donovan coming in and being the physical player he is and being the smart player he is – it really did boost our defense,” Reeves said. “Having a smart guy like that in there along with me, Dom and Matt Smith – we get all our checks down pretty much the whole time.”
“With me – if you’re down,’ he’ll always pick you up,” Smith said of Donovan. “He’ll tell you what you did wrong and then he’ll say, ‘Go out there and get them the next time.’
“It’s a great experience just to play with these guys. They have been playing for four years, and they’re teaching me all they know. I’m just going out there and doing my best.”
Donovan admits it took no time at all for him to feel comfortable playing defense again.
“It was great to play with Ralphie – I love playing next to that guy,” Donovan said. “He’s such a fireplug, and it makes it a lot easier when we’re both working together.”
So far, that’s been the winning formula for this group of linebackers.
“We just work hard at practice,” Taggart said. “It all starts with coaching – they coach us well. Our job is to be in the right spot at the right time.”
Taggart also pointed to the emergence of the Knights’ secondary as a key to the team’s success.
“Coming into the year, everyone thought our secondary was going to be weak,” the senior linebacker said. “Our secondary stepped up a lot, and our defense played very well against Neshaminy’s offense.
“We knew they were an explosive offense, but we knew if everyone did their jobs and everyone did what they had to do, we would come out on top against their offense, and that’s what we did.”
Moving Craig Needhammer to safety loomed perhaps as large as the move of Donovan to linebacker.
“That was a big move for us because our D-backs were a little off at the beginning of the year, and sending Craig back there as a captain and as a leader really got our D-backs going,” Taggart said. “That was big for us.”
A win in Saturday’s Eastern Final would not only ensure the Knights a trip to the state title game but also avenge their only loss of the season.
“It’s pretty cool to face La Salle again, but whether we’re playing La Salle or anyone else, it’s the Eastern Final, no matter who you’re playing,” Donovan said. “It’s my senior season, and along with all the other seniors, we want to play football for as long as possible before this thing is over. Our goal is to keep winning.”
“I’m grateful it turned out the way it did,” Reeves said. “We’re the underdog, and I feel like it’s a great thing for our team. Knowing we’re an underdog makes us work that much harder.”
Game time is 1 p.m. on Saturday at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
“We just need to go out there and play our game, play as hard as we can and see what happens,” Smith said.
“They beat us the first game of the season, and we want to get back at them,” Taggart said. “We’re not going to overthink it. We’re going to do what we do every week – practice hard and hopefully come out victorious.
“We knew if we kept winning and they kept winning, we would meet up with them again. We’ll see what happens.”
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