North Penn defeated Garnet Valley 48-38 to capture the District One 6A title on Friday night. Photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos.
Stats used in the wraps are provided courtesy of Calkins Media. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web sites: http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school/fall/football/and http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/fall/football/
#1-1 NORTH PENN 48, #1-10 GARNET VALLEY 38
Reece Udinski saved his best performance for the biggest stage.
In front of an announced crowd of 6,000 fans at Crawford Stadium, North Penn’s senior quarterback – who had broken the district’s single season passing record of Downingtown East’s Pat Devlin a week earlier – threw for 447 yards and four touchdowns in a magnificent performance.
Propelled by Udinski’s mastery behind center, the Knights earned an impressive win over a red hot Garnet Valley squad in Friday’s District One 6A title game.
“There have been a lot of games on this field, and no one has played better than that on such a big stage,” coach Dick Beck said of Udinski’s performance. “I would relate it to the 250 yards and five touchdowns that 
Pete Stoll had in 2005 against Downingtown East in the District One championship (a 55-20 North Penn win).
“It was better than that…under duress. At the end of the game, I was thinking of running him, and I said, ‘No, we’re not going to run him. Let’s just let him throw the ball.’ He was so on target. He was just zoned in. Every read that we went over in practice, he attacked right away. You could just see he was super sharp.”
Udinski set the tone for a stellar outing on third-and-long after getting sacked on second down. The senior quarterback – on the move to avoid the Jaguars’ aggressive pass rush – lofted a pass that junior Nick Dillon snagged and took in for a 65-yard touchdown.
“I thought Reece did a great job moving in the pocket,” Beck said. “That first touchdown pass was all him.
“He kind of danced around the pocket, always had his eyes down the field. We wanted to be aggressive. Obviously, I think their mindset was they weren’t going to let us run the ball, and they figured if they blitzed, maybe they could get to the quarterback before he threw the ball. Sometimes they did and sometimes they didn’t.”
On the Knights’ second possession, Udinski was back at it again, this time finding his favorite target – Ricky Johns – with a perfect lead pass, and the senior speedster took it 83 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
“It was a play they just threw in there,” Johns said. “I was kind of shocked that they gave me that play. I just ran my route and scored. Reece threw a great ball.”
The Knights’ third drive came after a Justis Henley interception and included a bit of trickery when – on fourth down – Jake Hubler took the direct snap and ran for a first down.
“We’ve been practicing that play for a long time,” Hubler said. “I’ve always looked over to (coach Beck), and he’s never, ever signaled to me.
“Today someone came up to me just before we huddled up and said, ‘Listen, we’re probably going to do it.’ We got up there, we called it, I was supposed to go right in the middle. I went in the middle, but it was clogged up, so I had to bounce it to the outside, and there was broad daylight, and I had to run for it.”
Dillon capped the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run, and after Kelly Mcnamara’s extra point, the Knights led 21-0 with 1:22 remaining in the first quarter.
“The momentum kind of shifted right towards us, and that was big for (our offense) because we never really looked back and just kept pouring on the points,” Udinski said.
The Jaguars threatened to make things interesting. They got on the scoreboard when quarterback Nick Juliano found Jacob Buttermore with an 11-yard TD pass. On the Knights’ ensuing possession, Joshua Ciarrocchi returned a Knight fumble 25 yards for a touchdown that made it a 21-14 game.
But not for long.
On their next possession, the Knights marched 80 yards for a score when Udinski found Nick Vasger with a six-yard touchdown pass that put the Knights on top 28-14. A 33-yard field goal by Buttermore in the closing seconds of the half trimmed the Knights’ lead to 28-17 at the intermission.
On their opening possession of the second half, the Jaguars were whistled for a false start as they prepared to go for it on fourth-and-one. The penalty forced the Jaguars to punt, and the Knights picked up where they left off in the first half, driving 65 yards for the score. The highlight of the drive was a 46-yard pass that Johns pulled in at the Jaguars’ seven-yard line. Two plays later, Dillon took it in from eight yards out for his third TD of the night, and North Penn led 35-17.
Beck pointed to the Jaguars’ opening drive as the pivotal sequence in the game.
“When it was fourth-and-one and they jumped off-sides and had to punt, that was huge,” the Knights’ coach said. “Then we got the ball and scored.
“At that point, they were down 11, and we scored to go up 18, and that’s three scores. With their offense, three scores is a big lead.”
It was a lead that proved to be insurmountable.
The two teams exchanged touchdowns with the Knights going on top 42-24 when Vasger hauled in a 15-yard Udinski touchdown pass late in the third quarter. After Juliano scored from 34 yards out to make it a 42-31 game with 11:52 remaining, the Knights answered with their final scoring drive, this one capped with Johns shedding would-be tacklers as he bolted in from 28 yards out to put the Knights on top 48-31. Joe Thomas turned an interception into a late touchdown to account for the Jaguars’ final score.
“They’re a very physical team,” Vasger said of Garnet Valley. “The triple option is hard to game plan for.
“We just tried to play man defense. A couple of times we had a few hiccoughs, and they marched down the field on us, but I think we tightened up when we needed to.”
North Penn will face the winner of Saturday’s Parkland/St. Joe’s Prep contest in next week’s PIAA Class 6A semifinal.
Garnet Valley 0-17-7-14 38
North Penn 21-7-14-6 48
North Penn: Nick Dillon 65 pass from Reece Udinski (Kelly Mcnamara kick)
North Penn: Ricky Johns 83 pass from Reece Udinski (Kelly McNamara kick)
North Penn: Nick Dillon 7 run (Kelly McNamara kick)
Garnet Valley: Jacob Buttermore 11 pass from Nick Juliano (Jacob Buttermore kick)
Garnet Valley: Joshua Ciarrocchi 25 fumble return (Jacob Buttermore kick)
North Penn: Nick Vasger 6 pass from Reece Udinski (Kelly Mcnamara kick)
Garnet Valley: Jacob Buttermore 33 field goal
North Penn: Nick Dillon 8 run (Kelly Mcnamara kick)
Garnet Valley: Jacob Buttermore 28 run (Jason Rose kick)
North Penn: Nick Vasger 14 pass from Reece Udinski (Kelly Mcnamara kick)
Garnet Valley: Nick Juliano 34 run (Jacob Buttermore kick)
North Penn: Ricky Johns 29 run (Kick failed)
Garnet Valley: Joe Thomas 45 interception return (Jacob Buttermore kick)
Extra points:
A winning combination – On the Knights’ first drive of the second half, Reece Udinski had just found teammate Jake Hubler for 13 yards when – on the very next play – the senior quarterback connected with Ricky Johns for a 46-yard highlight reel completion that the West Virginia-bound senior caught fully extended.
The play was met by almost complete silence on the Garnet Valley sidelines, a silence that suggested the Jaguars had nothing left to try to contain Johns and the Knights’ potent passing attack.
“Sometimes they would double cover me on third downs, but the first and second down, they would leave me in single coverage with one of their corners that couldn’t stick with me, and we kind of took advantage of it,” Johns said.
Did they ever.
Johns, one of five players on the receiving end of Udinski passes, led the Knights with eight catches and more than 200 yards. If it seemed as though Johns and Udinski had special chemistry, they do.
“He came over junior year, and he happened to be my neighbor,” Johns said. “We realized he’s a very talented quarter.
“I didn’t really have a quarterback my sophomore year, so right when he came, we linked up. Outside of that, we’d go to the field, run routes, get timing down.”
“Ricky is my best friend, so I think that kind of shows on the field,” Udinski said. “We live right across the street from each other.
“In the offseason, we were working almost every day, even in our backyards, so it’s just been amazing. He’s my go-to guy, and I think that (showed) tonight.”
What a difference a year makes –The bitter taste of last year’s 46-21 loss to Upper Dublin in the District 4A title game was a motivating force for the Knights during the offseason. A journey that began the moment the final horn sounded on that disappointing loss culminated with Friday night’s district title win over Garnet Valley.
“It was a horrible game,” senior Ricky Johns said of the loss to UD. “I had a quad injury, so I wasn’t on offense the majority of the game.
“We knew this was our year, this was our revenge. We wanted to do it for our seniors and we wanted to do it for coach Beck.”
In last year’s title game, Johns – in limited action on offense – caught just two passes for 15 yards. Reece Udinski completed 7-of-15 passes for 71 yards and no touchdowns.
Fast forward to Friday night.
Udinski threw for 447 yards and four touchdowns with Johns on the receiving end of eight passes for 215 yards and a touchdown.
“Last year – the disappointing loss to Upper Dublin – I don’t think any of the seniors forgot about that,” Udinski said. “Tonight to play in Crawford Stadium with an undefeated playoff record – that was something to play for.”
The district title was the program’s first since 2011, and this one was especially sweet.
“I’m just so proud of them,” coach Dick Beck said. “After last year’s disappointment and the way it ended – it was such a bitter taste in our mouths.
“These guys were focused from day one, and I’m talking day one in January, not day one in practice.”
The determination to erase memories of last year’s district title loss was a recurring theme.
“Last year it was a shame,” senior Nick Vasger said. “As soon as we lost, we wanted to get back here as fast as we could. I’m happy we did, I’m happy we won. I’m playing with my best friends, so that’s the biggest thing.”
“Last year was awful,” senior Jake Hubler added. “It was just hard to take. Coming into the offseason, working out in January, coming out in the spring and doing some 7-on-7s, we kind of focused on it and said, ‘We’ve got to get back to the District One championship, and we’ve got to win it this year,’ so that’s been our goal the entire time, and here we are – we just won it.”
- Log in to post comments
