Quakertown rallied for a come-from-behind win in Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day game against Pennridge. (Action photos provided courtesy of Lois Johnson Rowe/LJRowe.photos on Instagram)
QUAKERTOWN – They sure know how to keep things interesting.
A Panthers’ squad that has had its share of improbable comebacks this season was back at it again in Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day showdown against Pennridge, winning for the fourth straight year and giving their loyal fans who braved the elements plenty to cheer about.
“The whole time throughout high school, we haven’t lost to Pennridge, and that’s big,” Quakertown senior Gavin Carroll said. “Not a lot of people in this program can say that, so that’s exciting.”
Granted, the Panthers only trailed by one score at halftime (14-6) of Thursday’s game, and they didn’t need any last-second heroics to win it, but things didn’t look all that promising after an opening half that included a fumble – and resulting turnover - on their first offensive play of the game and enough penalties to keep them from developing anything close to an offensive rhythm.
“It’s typical of us this year,” Quakertown coach George Banas said. “We win in the most awkward ways. We turn the ball over, we give them a short porch – this is just us.
“But we’re resilient. These kids never give up, they never put their heads down. They’re like, ‘Oh, okay, this is normal.’”
While the first half started on a sour note for the Panthers, the Rams’ opening drive of the second half began with great promise but also ended on a disappointing note.
After sophomore Sean Leuthe returned the opening kickoff to the Rams 42, they marched to the Panthers 26 – thanks to several big runs by junior quarterback Noah Keating. But then came an intentional grounding call, and that was followed by a drive-killing holding call, forcing the Rams to punt.
The two teams exchanged punts with the Rams – after a three-and-out - punting from their own 28. A shanked punt netted the Rams just six yards, and the Panthers capitalized on a short field.
A pair of runs by Carroll – the first for six yards and the next for five – set the stage for a 23-yard touchdown run by junior Jackson Connelly. On the two-point conversion, quarterback Brady Martin scored on a bootleg, and the two teams were deadlocked 14-14 with 1:19 remaining in the third quarter.
“Connelly ran for the touchdown, and once we tied it with a two-point conversion, that’s when I felt like we had the momentum,” Quakertown senior Matt Thomas said. “Then we also got a stop on defense.”
Prior to the Panthers’ defensive stop, Keating connected with Leuthe for 20 yards on a screen pass, but that’s where the Rams’ drive stalled, and the Panthers took over at their own 21. On third-and-two, it looked as if Carroll was stood up at the line up scrimmage, but the senior running back somehow snuck through the wall of defenders for a six-yard gain and a first down.
“Second efforts in the second half,” Banas said.
“We just had to keep our heads and trust our team,” Carroll said. “We have a solid line up front. Everyone there is doing their best to do their job.
“Sometimes you make mistakes, but you just have to lift people up and keep pushing through it.”
The Panthers overcame a 15-yard penalty, and if there was another key moment in the game, it came on fourth-and-four at the Rams’ 34 when Martin connected with senior Aiden Burgy in stride for a 29-yard touchdown strike that put the Panthers on top 21-14 with 7:05 remaining in regulation.
And on a rainy day that made passing difficult for both sides, that play might well have been the backbreaker.
“Brady Martin was phenomenal in the second half,” Banas said.
The Panthers’ junior quarterback explained the play leading to the go-ahead score.
“We ran the ball basically the entire second half because there was nothing there to pass the ball,” Martin said. “They had two safeties, they had a lot of linebackers that were all spread out and three down linemen.
“There really wasn’t any room to throw the ball in the first half. When we started running it, they had to take account for that, so they had to bring another guy in the box, which left the one safety. You can’t play one safety against Burgy and Matt (Thomas).
“The safety has to make a decision to either guard Matt or guard Burgy – he decided to come up on Matt, and Burgy was wide open.”
That go-head touchdown all but cut the heart out of the Rams, who followed that with a three-and-out.
Things went from bad to worse for the Rams when Dylan Fenstermacher blocked their punt, and Gussy Whalen recovered it at the Rams’ 28-yard line. Five plays later, Carroll – who finished with over 100 rushing yards - took it 11 yards for a touchdown and a 28-14 lead that held until the final horn.
The unsung heroes in Thursday’s standout second half performance was a Quakertown offensive line. Seeing action on the line were senior Kieran Hennessy, junior Owen Richwine, sophomore James McFadden, senior Steven Hermann, junior William Bowen, senior Dylan Fenstermacher, junior Jacob Moises and sophomore Holden Tomlinson as well as tight end Gavin Mushrush.
“Our ‘O’ line doesn’t stop,” said senior Owen Wynne, who helped anchor a standout defensive effort. “One bad play doesn’t deter us, and we keep playing until the end. We work from Aug 5th to now every day, five days a week.”
According to Wynne, the Panthers’ inspired second-half performance didn’t just happen.
“The motivation speech at halftime – everyone’s head was down, and Coach B comes in and cheers us up, tells us to take a deep breath, and we did what we had to do,” Wynne said.
“I just told them – ‘take a deep breath and go out there,’” Banas said. “We made a lot of mental mistakes – we don’t make as many of those usually with the penalties and things like that. We had to play a clean half, and that’s what we did. The result is the result.”
It’s a result, according to more than one Quakertown player, that began at halftime.
“No matter how we go into halftime, we always have a talk,” Thomas said. “Talk to each other about how we can stay together, how we can do something better because no matter how you play, you can always do better.
“Today’s halftime, we didn’t put on no music – we just listened to the coaches, and we just understood – we’re in this, and as long as we’re together, we can win any games.”
“At halftime, no music, dead silence,” Martin said. “A couple guys were frustrated and yelling.
“Again, we were used to this all year, so we kind of knew what we had going for us, what we could do in the second half.”
The end result was a win that wasn’t always pretty, but it put the 2024 Panthers in the record books with four straight wins over the Rams.
“This means everything,” said Wynne. “I worked my (butt) off this offseason, just putting in the work with my brothers for 10 years now. It means a lot.
“The weather didn’t matter. We fought our butts off from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. It feels amazing, four years in a row.”
“This is great,” Thomas said. “I used to go to Pennridge when I was young. This means a lot. This was more than just football today.”
Special seniors: At the heart and soul of this year’s Quakertown squad is a senior class that leaves with a share of this year’s SOL Continental and a perfect 4-0 record in Thanksgiving Day games against Pennridge.
“This senior class gave us the personality that nothing fazes us and we can come back from anything,” Banas said. “Once they made a big play that is the only spark they needed to say ‘now we roll.’ It was very unique to this class as I have never seen that in a team before.
“Very rarely can you lose the turnover battle and penalty battle and still win games. This team defies the odds and did just that this year. I want to thank these 19 seniors and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.”
Extra points: In the first half, the Rams – after an interception by Zach Swanson – took over at the Quakertown 22. Keating connected with Ryan Rowe for 21 yards, and then Keating punched it in from the one for a touchdown and 7-0 lead. Thomas returning the ensuing kickoff to the Rams’ 46, and eight players later, Martin connected with Thomas for a 17-yard TD pass. A failed extra point allowed the Rams to maintain a 7-6 lead. After a defensive stop, the Rams capitalized on short field, and a one-yard TD run by Keating sent Pennridge into halftime with a 14-6 advantage. The second half belonged to the Panthers…Quakertown closed out its season with a 7-5 record overall and 6-1 in the SOL Continental for a share of the conference. Pennridge closed out its season with a 4-7 record (2-5 SOL).
Pennridge 7-7-0-0 14
Quakertown 0-6-8-14 28
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