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By Nate Oxman
SOUDERTON - There was a two-touchdown party at Souderton Area High School Friday night, and a trio of North Penn ball toters were invited.
Craig Needhammer, Todd Smolinsky and Dom Taggart ran for a pair of touchdowns apiece and accounted for 345 of the Knights’ 397 total rushing yards to help power top-seeded North Penn past 16th-seeded Council Rock North, 39-12, in the opening round of the District One Class AAAA playoffs.Council Rock North rising junior running back Brandon Cottom received an invitation as well, but found the end zone far too late to crash the party. Both of the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder’s scores came in the fourth quarter after the Indians fell behind 39-0 to the defending district champs.
“It’s a great win,” said Smolinsky, the Knights’ senior quarterback. “They’re a great team. They have a lot of good players. We knew we had to come out and play focused, and I thought we did a good job for the most part in limiting the mental mistakes.”
Cottom made an early appearance, carrying five times for 25 yards to help move the Indians into Knights’ territory on the first possession of the game before the drive stalled at the 41-yard line.
A perfect Ryan Matusz punt – downed by Cal Parker – pinned the Knights at their own 2-yard line, but the long field in front of them posed no threat to the Knights’ potent offense.
A 24-yard Needhammer run, followed five plays later by a 38-yard scamper by Taggart, put the ball at the Indians’ 7-yard line, where Taggart capped the drive with his first touchdown run to give the Knights a 7-0 lead.
Taggart, who did most of his damage during the regular season from the wide receiver position, looked well-suited operating out of the backfield all night long. He piled up 107 yards on just nine carries.
“I think we were just looking for more depth at running back,” said North Penn Coach Dick Beck of the decision to increase Taggart’s workload. “We had a lot of depth with [Ryan] Hessenius and Needhammer and Mercer, and when Hessenius goes down and [Brandon] Mercer goes down we’re looking for guys to move back there. “And Dom looks like a natural back there. He really has great vision, and he really comes downhill. We’re going to continue to move guys around, let different guys touch the ball, and feed the hot hand.”
Playing without senior dual-threat quarterback Tyler Hamilton, who was forced to sit out due to injury, the Indians offense struggled to support the strong running of Cottom, who faced heavy fire from an attack-happy Knights’ defense all night.
“It’s a very good defense,” said Cottom. “They have a lot of speed. They like to attack. They’re well-coached and they come out to win.”
Cottom finished the game with 152 yards on 27 carries courtesy of a tireless work ethic, but wasn’t able to eat up any large chunks of yardage until the game was well out of reach.
Still, Beck praised the ability of the Indians’ workhorse.
“I’m very impressed with Cottom,” the Kinghts’ coach said. “I think he’s going to just be a star next year. He’s got great vision. He’s always north and south. He’s strong as an ox and I think they’re pretty good up front offensive line-wise.”
On the ensuing CR North possession following Taggart’s touchdown, the Indians’ offense showed promise by pushing the ball 44 yards before facing a gut-check fourth-and-3 from the Knights’ 30. Electing to go for the first down, senior quarterback Kevin Hacker took an option keeper around right end, but was dragged down after a gain of just 1 yard.
The Knights were quick to capitalize, mixing hard-running from Needhammer (27 carries, 152 yards), Taggart, and Mercer, sprinkled with a pair of 15-yard completions from Smolinsky – one to junior Gerard Wendowski and one to senior TJ Gill. The moved the ball 71 yards on 10 plays in four minutes, 49 seconds for a 13-0 lead after a Needhammer 2-yard dive.Smolinsky stretched the lead to 19-0 just three minutes later after taking a designed run around left end, following some textbook downfield blocking, and streaking into the end zone for a 37-yard score.
“I thought the o-line blocked well, but I thought our receivers: Wendowski, Taggart, and Gill did a nice job kind of locking up with those guys and we were kind of breaking some runs because our guys were getting into the second level,” said Beck.
Smolinsky scored his second touchdown on the next Knights’ possession, sprinting through a wide seam up the middle from 39 yards out to make the score 25-0 at the half.
Two third quarter scores, a 15-yard Needhammer touchdown on the second play of the quarter – that was set up the play before by his 47-yard jaunt – and a 14-yard burst up the middle by Taggart, gave the Knights a perfect six touchdowns on their first six possessions.
And the key was their ability to consistently running the football.
“Especially on a night like this,” said Smolinsky. “The wind was just unbelievable and the rain didn’t help either, so it was nice to be able to come out and run the ball. And our line did a great job blocking so we could get it done.”Cottom, who doubles as a defensive back, applauded the Knights’ offense.
“They run their offense well,” he said. “They have a lot of fast kids and they have a really good line.”
Despite trailing 39-0 after three quarters, Cottom and the Indians refused to back down and both of CR North’s fourth-quarter possessions ended in scores from the big back.
The win moves the Knights (11-0) into next Friday’s quarterfinal matchup with eight-seeded Neshaminy, a 24-17 winner over ninth-seeded Abington Friday at Heartbreak Ridge.
The Indians finished the season at 6-5.
Council Rock North 0 0 0 12—12
North Penn 7 18 14 0—39
First quarter
NP—Taggart 7 run (Harris kick), 3:28
Second quarter
NP—Needhammer 2 run (kick failed), 7:37
NP—Smolinsky 37 run (pass failed), 4:27
NP—Smolinsky 39 run (pass failed), 1:31
Third quarter
NP—Needhammer 15 run (Harris kick), 11:19
NP—Taggart 14 run (Harris kick), 5:10
Fourth quarter
CRN—Cottom 3 run (kick failed), 8:02
CRN—Cottom 38 run (kick failed), 1:31
Rushing
Council Rock North: Cottom 27-152, 2 TDs; Yborra 1-8; Marvel 4-6; Venus 1-5; Hacker 5-0. Total 38-171, 2 TDs.
North Penn: Needhammer 13-162, 2 TDs; Taggart 9-107, 2 TDs; Smolinsky 2-76, 2 TDs; Mercer 5-29; Culbreath 2-13; Brosky 3-2; Padgett 2-7; Hood 1-1. Totals 37-397, 6 TDs.
Passing
Council Rock North: Hacker 6-15-0 93
North Penn: Smolinsky 5-6-0 76; Ernst 1-2-0 (-2)
Receiving
Council Rock North: Bostain 3-71; Marvel 2-14; Yborra 1-8
North Penn: Taggart 2-23; Wendowski 2-13; Mercer 1-23; Gill 1-15
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