North Penn was the lone SOL survivor in Friday’s quarterfinal round of the District One Tournament. Check back for Keith Clemens’ photo gallery of the Upper Dublin/West Chester Henderson contest…CLICK HERE. Neshaminy/Garnet Valley photo provided courtesy of Jesse Garber (http://JSGarber.zenfolio.com/p56649436).
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/
North Penn will be carrying for the torch for the SOL in next weekend’s District One 6A semifinal round. The Knights are the lone SOL squad to survive Friday night’s quarterfinal round, thanks to their 28-19 win over eighth-seeded Spring-Ford.
Tenth-seeded Garnet Valley brought second-seeded Neshaminy’s district run to an abrupt end with a stunning 42-14 win. In Class 5A, fifth-seeded West Chester Henderson edged fourth-seeded Upper Dublin 17-14.
CLASS 6A
#1 NORTH PENN 28, #8 SPRINGFIELD 19
With 3:40 remaining in the first quarter of Friday’s quarterfinal contest, Reece Udinski found Justis Henley with a 21-yard touchdown pass that – after Kelly McNamara’s extra point – gave the Knights a 21-0 lead over the Rams.
This was surely going to be another easy win for the Knights, but the Rams had other ideas, scoring 19 unanswered points in the second quarter to make it a 21-19 game at the intermission. The Knights’ defense rose to the occasion in the second half, and their offense tacked on an important touchdown, but this win was anything but easy.
“We were playing so hard and we got up 21-0 and then we got an unsportsmanlike (penalty), which affected a drive,” coach Dick Beck. “I’ll be honest – the second quarter was probably the worst quarter I had in my life.
“It was terrible play calling, and every time we had a positive play, we’d get (called for) holding or we’d line up wrong or we’d get an unsportsmanlike. It was like a comedy of errors, and we did not tackle very well in the second quarter. Our safety, Jake Hubler, got hurt, and we had to make some substitutions, and they were high tempoing us in the second quarter. We had trouble lining up, and they hit us with a couple of deep plays.”
There was nothing about the Knights’ start that suggested the game would be anything but another rout. On North Penn’s first possession, Nick Dillon raced 60 yards to the Rams’ 10-yard line, and one play later, Jason Prince took it in from seven yards out, giving the Knights a 7-0 lead less than a minute into the game.
When Ricky Johns turned a Udinski pass into an 87-yard touchdown, the Knights led 14-0 less than 14 minutes into the game, and that lead grew to 21-0 before the tide turned completely in the second quarter.
“Our problem defensively was that we did not tackle well in the second quarter,” Beck said. “We were hitting the kid at the line of scrimmage and he would gain three. We’d hit them three yards downfield, and they’d gain five.
“They were running through us, and it was affecting us because our kids were pressing a little bit.”
The Knights regained control in the second half, shutting the Rams out the rest of the way.
“Defensively, we were great in the second half,” Beck said. “It was the best second half we’ve had all year.”
The Knights scored the only points of the second half when – on third and long – Udinski found Johns with a short pass, and the West Virginia-bound senior turned it into a 27-yard touchdown run.
“Ricky Johns had the game of his life,” Beck said. “He had two touchdown passes, and on the third-and-eight on our own 27-yard line, he caught an underneath route and took it 27 yards to put us up nine.”
Johns, who finished with 192 receiving yards, also delivered a key interception in the fourth quarter. Udinski had another huge night, throwing for 329 yards and three touchdowns.
“It was a game that we got challenged in, and we had to battle back,” Beck said. “I think it was a good test for us.
“This week with Coatesville, it’s obviously a huge game with the winner going to the District One championship. We’re going to have a clean slate come Monday and get moving.”
North Penn (12-0, 6-0 SOL) will host fourth-seeded Coatesville in the district semifinal. The Red Raiders – a 41-21 winner over fifth-seeded Ridley – have outscored their two district opponents by a combined 83-21 score.
Spring-Ford 0-19-0-0 19
North Penn 21-0-7-0 28
#10 GARNET VALLEY 42, #2 NESHAMINY 14
Pundits spent the better part of the regular season predicting a North Penn-Neshaminy district final, and the script appeared to be going according to plan when Mason Jones found Oleh Manzyk with a pass the sophomore tight end turned into a 59-yard touchdown.
It turned out to be the last hurrah for the ‘Skins, who were outscored 42-7 the rest of the way as the Jaguars rolled to the upset win. Garnet Valley led 14-7 after one quarter and took a 21-7 lead into halftime. The Redskins never threatened.
Jones threw for 219 yards to lead the Redskins’ offense. Manzyk had four receptions for 128 yards. The Redskins had just 41 yards on the ground.
The loss was the first of the year for Neshaminy, which closed out its season with an 11-1 record overall. The Redskins were 6-0 en route to a SOL National Conference title.
Garnet Valley 14-7-7-14 42
Neshaminy 7-0-0-7 14
CLASS 5A
#5 WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 17, #4 UPPER DUBLIN 14
The scene as the Flying Cardinals headed to their final postgame meeting was a poignant one as coach Bret Stover consoled a player who was inconsolable.
Endings are like that. They’re hard.
The tearful embraces and the reluctance of both players and coaches to leave Cardinal Stadium on a bitterly cold November night conveyed just how difficult it was to see a successful season end.
“I love these guys more than anything,” senior Justin Horn said. “It’s really a family. We say it after every game, and we really do mean it.
“I have known these guys for as long as I can remember, some of them I’ve played with for 12 years, and to see it all end now is very painful.”
Horn and his fellow seniors leave a program that has risen to new heights, capping their high school careers by winning a share of the program’s third conference title in as many years.
“My hat’s off to the seniors especially for guiding us and bringing the young kids along and for the young kids growing up on the field,” Stover said. “We had a couple of sophomores that grew up on the field, a couple of juniors that grew up on the field, but they looked to the seniors who led us.
“Three championships is something that’s never been done here. It’s something that they’ll be proud of once this pain of the loss goes away. When you lose 22 out of 24 (players), you never know what you have, and the credit goes to my staff and my players for putting us back where we were.”
The fact that this year’s team returned just two starters from last year’s District One Quad A championship squad was a built-in excuse to write off the season as a rebuilding year. The players refused to let that happen.
“The key was us believing the whole time,” Horn said. “We knew what we had the whole time. That was never an excuse for us. We replaced what we needed to, and we got the job done.”
Friday night’s quarterfinal game was an undeniable struggle for the Cardinals, but the game remained scoreless until 1:52 remained in the first half when – on fourth-and-one – junior quarterback Joe Saulino punched it in from one yard out to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead.
Michael Cottom’s 46-yard kick-off return to the Warriors’ 34 gave the Flying Cardinals field position. Horn hooked up with George Weems for a 13-yard connection and a first down at the 21-yard line, but that’s where the drive stalled, and the Warriors took a 7-0 lead into halftime.
Late in the third quarter, the Cardinals rallied to knot the score with a touchdown of their own when Cottom – on fourth-and-one – took it in from six yards out. It marked the third time on the drive that the Cardinals reached the end zone as two apparent touchdowns were called back – the first on a holding call that erased a 15-yard TD run by Cottom, and moments later, Horn’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Malik Bootman was negated as the result of a block in the back call.
It was that kind of night for the Cardinals.
“Just the elements tonight were not the best for our offense, but we had a lot in the playbook we could run,” Horn said. “We scored three times (on the same drive), and that’s pretty impressive in itself.”
That 7-7 tie was short lived as CJ Preston took it to the house from 80 yards out with five seconds remaining in the third quarter to give the Warriors a 14-7 lead. The resilient Cardinals answered with a touchdown drive of their own that was capped with Horn taking it in from 28 yards out with just over eight minutes remaining.
A blocked punt gave the Warriors possession at the Cardinals 20, setting up a field goal that won it.
“Unfortunately, we just didn’t play our ‘A’ game, and they did,” Stover said. “I give them credit.
“We knew the fullback (Preston) was good, and he only got loose once, and he put it in for seven, but we answered. Then they blocked the punt. Special teams are a third of the game. We knew they were coming – we practiced it, and they made the play. We held them, and they made a field goal. We lost two games on two field goals, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s disappointing obviously.”
The Cardinals (6-1 SOL) – co-champs of the SOL American Conference – close out the season with a 9-2 record.
“The past four years that I’ve been here have been easily the best four years in this program’s history,” Horn said. “It’s something we’re all very proud of.
“We just came together this year. We didn’t know what to expect, but we came together and we accomplished a lot, and we’re really proud of that.”
West Chester Henderson 0-7-7-3 17
Upper Dublin 0-0-7-7 14
Non-League
QUAKERTOWN 34, NORRISTOWN 6
Noah Wood was unstoppable in the Panthers’ rout of the visiting Eagles in Friday’s non-league contest, finishing with 201 yards and four touchdowns.
Christian Patrick gave the Panthers a lead they would not lose with a 43-yard touchdown run, and then Wood went to work, taking it in from a yard out to give the home team a 13-0 lead after one quarter.
The Eagles scored the only points of the second quarter, and it was a 13-6 game at halftime. A pair of Wood TD runs – the first from one yard and the second for 63 yards – gave the Panthers a 27-6 lead after one quarter. Wood’s 32-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter closed out the scoring.
While the Panthers put up close to 400 yards of offense, their defense limited the Eagles to just 127 total yards.
Quakertown (6-5, 5-2 SOL) is off until Thanksgiving Day when it will host Pennridge.
Norristown 0-6-0-0 6
Quakertown 13-0-14-7 34
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