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WYNCOTE – Andrew Rice had been oh-so-close to turning a big defensive play into a touchdown this season.
“He just missed scoring on an interception and a fumble return,” Pennridge coach Randy Cuthbert said of his defensive lineman. “He’s been close on a couple of them.”
The days of being close officially ended for the Rams’ senior captain when he fell on teammate Anthony Fecondo’s blocked punt in the end zone late in the opening quarter of Monday evening’s non-league game against Cheltenham.
“A couple of times this season I probably could have had a touchdown, but actually getting one was nice,” Rice said of his first career touchdown. “All I was thinking was – just get the ball.”Rice’s touchdown – and teammate Dan Caya’s extra point – gave Pennridge a 21-0 lead before the game was nine minutes old, and the Rams were off and running.
“Everything just worked,” Rice said. “Right off the bat, everything was working.”
Although the Panthers rallied to make it a 24-14 game at the intermission, they never really threatened as the Rams rolled to a 39-14 win.
“We definitely wanted to win this and do just about anything we could on the field to help us win,” Cuthbert said.
The Rams pulled a few plays out of their bag of tricks in Monday’s win, including a double-reverse flea flicker and a pair of onsides kicks.
“We ran about a third of the crazy plays we have in,” Cuthbert said. “The other two thirds we’re saving for Quakertown.”
In addition to their gadget plays, the Rams also turned in a superb defensive effort against a potentially dangerous Panther squad, and they received yet another workmanlike effort from junior running back Jesse Knepp, who ran for 148 yards and a touchdown in a standout performance.
“Jesse is another guy that’s been really banged up,” Cuthbert said. “He’s had hamstring problems and injuries, and there have been a bunch of weeks where he didn’t practice and then came back and toughed it out and played.
“I thought he ran the ball really tough.”
Although the Panther faithful didn’t have a whole lot to cheer about, they were ignited by the electrifying 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the opening quarter by the elusive and talented Christopher Stephens. Later in the game, the speedy junior raced in for what appeared to be an 85-yard kickoff return only to see it called back because of a holding penalty.
“If he had made that one, that would have been his fourth kickoff return for a touchdown,” Cheltenham coach Joe Gro said. “He’s probably only had eight kicked to him all year.
“He did some nice things but what I was impressed with – he actually played some pretty good defense. He’s been a starting corner, and he made some plays at corner.”Things actually looked promising for the Panthers when they came up with a big defensive stop on fourth down at their own 39-yard line on the Rams’ opening drive.
But things went downhill in a hurry as – two plays later – the Rams recovered a fumble at the Panthers’ 48-yard line.
Carter Peters carried for five yards on first down, and then it was Knepp racing into the end zone from 43 yards out for the quick score and – after Caya’s extra point – a 7-0 lead.
Blocking for Knepp and company - according to offensive lineman Cory Cowdery - is always fun.
“It’s great,” the senior captain said. “They’re real fast, and we just have to open up the holes
“We just came out fresh today and knew what we needed to do.”
The Rams’ early touchdown was followed by the first of back-to-back onsides kicks. This one was recovered by Matt Dager on the Panthers’ 48, and it took just one play to hit pay dirt – this time a perfectly-executed double-reverse flea flicker that saw quarterback Kyle Peters find a wide open Drew Smith, who took it in for the score and a 14-0 lead.
An interception by LeKan Ajibade after Pennridge’s Carter Peters recovered yet another onsides kick gave the Panthers life.But not for long.
Rice’s recovery of Fecondo’s blocked punt in the end zone put the Rams on top 21-0. Not a bad start for a rare late afternoon game on a Monday.
“It’s a different situation – no band, no cheerleaders. It’s strange, but they played well,” Cuthbert said.
Cheltenham’s cheerleaders were at the game, but there wasn’t a whole lot of noise from either side in this contest.
“We were a little worried about it because we never played a Monday afternoon game,” Cowdery said. “It felt more like a jayvee game than a varsity game. We were worried about that, but it ended up working out.”
The Panthers got on the scoreboard when Stephens took the ensuing kickoff and raced 75 yards down the far sidelines for a touchdown that made it a 21-7 game after B.J. Stuetz’s extra point.
“My blockers block really well for me – they open up lanes, and I just have to read those lanes and do the best with what I have,” Stephens said. “We got off to a rough start, but we were able to toughen up after a while.
“I think that (kickoff return) gave us momentum and a boost of courage, but we had it in us all along. We just had to believe in ourselves.”
A 31-yard Caya field goal put the Rams on top 24-7, but the Panthers came roaring back. Damin Finley picked up 18 yards on the opening play of the Panthers’ drive, and six plays later, the senior running back took it in from three yards out. Stuetz’s extra point made it a 24-14 game at halftime.
“We made a mistake, gave them the ball on a short field, and they scored on that (first) series,” Gro said. “We come back out, they kick an on-sides kick and get the ball back on that and score. They scored again, and you’re looking at 21-0.
“Chris ran that (kickoff) back, and then we started playing football. In the second half, we didn’t play as well as we would have wanted, and that was disappointing.”After a three-and-out for the Panthers on their opening drive of the third quarter, the Rams went to work, grinding out a 17-play drive that covered 87 yards and took nearly eight minutes off the clock. Quarterback Kyle Peters, who ran for 66 yards, punched it in from one yard out, and when Dan Wolfe ran it in for the two-point conversion, the Rams led 32-14.
A 65-yard interception return for a touchdown by Chad Moyer put the finishing touches on the big win.
“It’s really important to keep winning, no matter what kind of game,” Rice said. “It would have been nice to make the playoffs, but you can’t always get what you want.”
While the Panthers will host neighboring Abington on Thanksgiving Day, the Rams will take on archrival Quakertown, and according to Cowdery, Monday’s win can set the tone as the Rams prepare for their Turkey Day showdown.
“It’s big because we’re going to come out of this feeling better than if we came out of a loss,” Cowdery said. “It gives us a little momentum throughout the week of practice.”
NOTES: Rice and Cowdery – linemen on both sides of the football - were named the players of the game by the Ram coaches. “They’ve been doing a great job all year,” Cuthbert said. “Cory (Cowdery) had been banged up a little bit earlier in the year, and he’s starting to get healthy again. Andrew has been Mr. Consistency for us up front. He’s played center, guard and tackle. He really anchors the offensive line.”
PENNRIDGE 39, CHELTENHAM 14
Pennridge 21 3 15 0-39
Cheltenham 7 7 0 0-14
P-Knepp 43 run (Caya kick)
P-Smith 48 pass from Peters (Caya kick)
P-Rice recovered blocked punt in end zone (Caya kick)
C-Stephens 75 kickoff return (Stuetz kick)
P-Caya 31 field goal
C-Finley 3 run (Stuetz kick)
P-Peters 1 run (Wolfe run)
P-Moyer 65 interception return (Zimmerman kick)
P C
First Downs 20 9
Rushing Yards 284 99
Passing Yards 92 22
Total Offense 376 121
Passing (C-A-I) 4-9-2 3-12-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 6-55 1-10
Punts-Avg. 0-0 1-45.0
RUSHING:
Pennridge – Jesse Knepp, 22-148, 1 TD; Kyle Peters, 14-66, 1 TD; Carter Peters, 5-34; Pete Leatherman, 3-17; Dylan Moore, 4-12; Nate Moyer, 1-10; Ryan Metzler, 2-4; Cody Reimel, 3-(-7).
Cheltenham – Damin Finley, 14-65, 1 TD; Basil Williams, 5-18; Christopher Stephens, 1-12; Tedi Lester, 1-11; Kenneth Cropper, 4-(-7).
PASSING:
Pennridge – Kyle Peters, 4-9-92, 1 TD, 2 INTs.
Cheltenham – Kenneth Cropper, 0-4-0, 1 INT, Basil Williams, 3-8-22.
RECEIVING:
Pennridge – Drew Smith, 2-61, 1 TD; Chad Moyer, 1-25; Ryan Metzler, 1-6.
Cheltenham – Christopher Stephens, 2-18; Justin Ferguson, 1-4.
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