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PLYMOUTH MEETING – The football stadium at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School – packed with screaming fans just moments earlier – was all but deserted. North Penn coach Dick Beck had just completed his post-game interviews when he nodded in the direction of senior quarterback Todd Smolinsky. “This kid’s awesome, isn’t he?” the Knights’ coach said after North Penn had handed St. Joe’s Prep a 28-14 loss.
If Smolinsky wasn’t on everyone’s radar before the Knights’ showdown against the Prep on Saturday night, he is now, and the senior quarterback – who was nothing short of superb – showed his mettle on North Penn’s opening drive of the game.
The Knights’ offense took over on the Hawks’ 34-yard line, thanks to a blocked field goal and ensuing 46-yard return by Matt Donovan. Smolinsky came up empty on his first two passes, overthrowing an open receiver on one.
“Believe me, he was hearing about it too,” Beck said.
Smolinsky was unfazed.
“It was just a couple of bad balls to start the game,” he said.
On fourth-and-nine, he calmly fired a strike to teammate T.J. Gill for a 33-yard touchdown reception that – after the extra point by Dylan Harris – put the Knights on top 7-0 at the 4:34 mark of the opening quarter.
It was exactly the type of response Beck expected from his senior QB.
“We always preach – it’s not how you react when things are going good, it’s how you react when they’re going bad,” the Knights’ coach said.
Things went good the rest of the night for Smolinsky and his teammates. The senior QB finished the night an impressive 11-for-18 (155 yards, 3 TDs). He also showed that he can run the football, carrying the ball five times in the first half for 41 yards and a touchdown.
“I have always liked to run the ball,” he said.The senior quarterback finished the game with 59 yards rushing, but it was a play that lost four yards on a fumbled exchange - on first-and-goal from inside the Hawks’ two - that impressed Beck the most.
Smolinsky, risking life and limb, dove on the loose ball. Two plays later, he found a wide open Ralphie Reeves for a four-yard touchdown reception that sealed the Hawks’ fate, putting the Knights on top 28-7 after Harris’ extra point.
“I told him - the biggest play was when he recovered that fumble,” Beck said. “He went after that ball. Sometimes you see quarterbacks – when the ball goes out like that, they kind of back up.
“That was a gutsy play getting after that ball –( it was almost like he said), ‘I’m not going to be denied, no way I’m letting them recover this ball.’”
Momentum actually swung in the Knights’ favor on the Prep’s opening drive of the game. The Hawks had methodically marched 60 yards to North Penn’s 14-yard line, but then the Knights’ defense toughened.
Garrett Compton was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on first down, and then sophomore quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg – after hitting paydirt on his first three passes -came up empty on his next two.
Disaster struck for the Hawks when they attempted a 31-yard field goal that was blocked, setting the stage for Donovan’s nifty run.
“I’m just the scoop and score guy on the field goal block,” Donovan said. “That’s my job. The ball fell right in my hands. I hustled as fast as I could.
“I had guys behind me blocking. Mike Culbreath got out there and got a good block. It was just a great play, a big momentum swing.”
Suddenly, instead of putting points on the board, the Hawks found the Knights knocking on their door.
“Our kicker kicked the ball into the (butt) of our own guy, so I don’t think North Penn did a lot on that one,” Prep coach Gil Brooks said. “We made too many mistakes, and they’re a good football team.
“We’re coming off two tough games, but you just can’t make those kinds of mistakes.”
The Knights capitalized on the Hawks’ botched field goal, and things went from bad to worse for the Prep on their ensuing possession when Andre Poe sacked Mornhinweg for a huge loss on fourth down, giving the Knights the ball at midfield.
They needed just four plays to capitalize.
Craig Needhammer – on his first touch of the night – raced 31 yards on first down, and then Smolinsky took it 13 yards. A nine-yard pass to Dom Taggart, who had a team-high five receptions, set the stage for a seven-yard Smolinsky touchdown run and a 14-0 Knight lead.
“Todd is an amazing quarterback,” said J.D. Dzurko, the centerpiece of an offensive line that did not allow a sack. “He rarely misses throws. He’s confident, he’s smart, and he’s tough too.
“If he’s running the ball, he’ll lower his shoulder, and he’ll take a hit. He’s a fantastic quarterback, and we try as hard as we can to protect him.”
It was four-and-out for the Hawks on their next possession, and the Knights were in business yet again. This time they took it 67 yards for the score. Highlights of the drive included runs of 16 and 10 yards by Smolinsky and Needhammer respectively. It culminated with Taggart somehow catching a ball between a pair of Prep defenders at around the 18 and then taking it in for a 34-yard TD that sent the Knights into halftime with a 21-0 lead.
“We started out slow with our passing game this season - I wasn’t catching balls as well as I usually do, but we have been practicing real hard,” Taggart said. “We came out today and showed that we can go through the ground and we can go through the air.” 
In the opening minutes of the second half, the Hawks took over after a four-and-out for the Knights, and behind the strong arm of Mornhinweg – who found Pete Hurley for 12 yards and Bobby D’Orazio for 23, they marched 57 yards with Compton taking it in from two yards out to make it a 21-7 game after the extra point by John Gregitis.
Any thoughts that the Hawks might be pulling off their third second-half comeback in as many games were put to rest when – after a Knight fumble recovery – Reeves capped a 27-yard drive with his TD reception.
The Knights’ defense – which gave the Hawks virtually nothing on the ground – limited the Prep to just 182 yards of total offense. Fifty-seven of those came on the Prep’s final drive, which was capped when Paul McGann found Hurley for a 30-yard touchdown as time was winding down.
“They’re big guys,” said Donovan, a linebacker. “We got great help from our ‘D’ line keeping the blockers off us, and we contained number one (Desmon Peoples), which was huge. It was a good victory.”
The loss was the first of the season for the Hawks (2-1).
“We had our shots, but we kind of self-destructed a little bit,” Brooks said. “But you know what – give them credit. They’re a good team, they’re well-coached.
“The thing that disappointed me is we knew Smolinsky was going to pull it out a bunch of times, and we didn’t stop it.”
The Knights – despite battling illness and minus three starters – upped their record to 3-0.
“We like to prove people wrong,” Dzurko said. “We work as hard as we can to get the big wins, but it’s early in the season. We still have a long way to go.”
NORTH PENN 28, ST. JOE’S PREP 14
St. Joe’s Prep 0 0 7 7-14
North Penn 7 14 0 7-28
NP-Gill 33 pass from Smolinsky (Harris kick)
NP-Smolinsky 7 run (Harris kick)
NP-Taggart 34 pass from Smolinsky (Harris kick)
SJP-Compton 2 run (Gregitis kick)
NP-Reeves 4 pass from Smolinsky (Harris kick)
SJP-Hurley 30 pass from McGann (Gregitis kick)
NP SJP
First Downs 16 12
Rushing Yards 149 13
Passing Yards 144 169
Total Yards 293 182
Passing (A-C-I) 11-18-0 13-27-0
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 5-50 5-25
Punts-Avg. 3-32.0 4-40.3
RUSHING:
North Penn: Craig Needhammer, 16-72; Todd Smolinsky, 12-59, 1 TD; Mike Culbreath, 5-22; Troy Brosky, 5-2; Corey Ernst, 3-(-6)
St. Joe’s Prep: Garrett Compton, 11-20, 1 TD; Desmon Peoples, 4-7; Michael Labor, 2-5; Stephen O’Hara, 1-3; Skyler Mornhinweg, 8-1, Dan Sherry, 1-(-23).
PASSING:
North Penn: Todd Smolinsky, 11-18-144, 3 TDs; Corey Ernst, 0-1-0.
St. Joe’s Prep: Skyler Mornhinweg, 11-21-112; Paul McGann, 2-6-57, 1 TD.
RECEIVING:
North Penn: Dom Taggart, 5-61; T.J. McGill, 3-57, 1 TD; Mike Culbreath, 1-17; Gerard Wendowski, 1-5; Ralphie Reeves, 1-4, 1 TD.
St. Joe’s Prep: Pete Hurley, 4-60, 1 TD; Bobby D’Orazio, 3-52; Desmon Peoples, 3-41; Dan Pellicciotti, 1-15; Garrett Compton, 1-1; Colin Rodgers, 1-0.
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