For those who think high school rivalries are a thing of the past, guess again.
Consider only Nick Spause’s story of his neighbor’s mini-shark that was named after North Penn standout Ralph Reeves.
“It was a couple of years ago – back when I was in eighth grade and Ralph was in seventh grade,” Souderton’s senior captain said of the Knights’ star linebacker. “I went with my neighbor to buy some fish, and one of them was a mini-shark.
“A couple days later, I went over to his house and it had eaten one of the fish. The next day I go over – we had gotten three fish, and the last fish standing was the mini shark that had eaten both of them. We named it Ralphie because Ralph ate up kids back at Corpus (Christi), and he’s still eating up kids now.”That story speaks as much about the respect the two programs have for each other as it does about the friendly rivalry that exists between the neighboring schools.
“The proximity - both schools are so close to each other, and playing Cannoneers and Pop Warner for so many years, I have been playing against these guys and I know a lot of my teammates have as well,” North Penn senior Matt Donovan said. “The relationships between the players and the school – it’s always a pretty big game.
“We’re always taught to respect our opponents, and between the lines of the game, there’s a lot of respect between the two schools.”
For a player like Spause – who played with Reeves and several of his Knight teammates at Corpus Christi – the rivalry is especially significant.
“It’s always real exciting when we play them,” the Indians’ offensive lineman said. “Last year we were all hyped up to play North Penn because we thought we had the best chance to win, but this year is an even better chance than last year.
“I used to play with some of those guys, and this game means a lot. If we could come out and win, it will feel real good to know we beat a great team.”
Since moving to the Continental Conference in 2008, the Knights have dominated their competition and have not lost a game in conference play.
Four times they have faced the Indians, and four times they’ve walked away with wins.
“You talk about this being a rivalry, and to me, a rivalry should go back and forth, and we haven’t been able to get to that level yet to beat them and take that next step,” Souderton coach Ed Gallagher said. “I think one of these years that’s going to happen. I’m not saying it’s this year, but I know we’re a good football team.
“When you start classifying it, they’re closer to a great football team. We’re trying to close the gap. I don’t know if we’re getting any closer, but all I know on Friday night, we’re going to line 11 kids up on the field against theirs, and hopefully, at some point, we’re going to beat them. I hope it’s this week, but if it’s not, we’ll keep setting them as that gold standard.”
In 2007, the former Bux-Mont League rivals did battle in a non-league game for the first time since joining the SOL. The Knights won 24-0.
“There were tons of fans – it was a great atmosphere,” Gallagher said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t score, so we didn’t give ourselves a chance to beat them that night.
“I still think we had a pretty good team we took down there, and it was a neat atmosphere. Ever since then, it’s been that neat atmosphere every time we played them.”
In 2008, the Indians played the Knights the same day they buried one of their former stars – Ronnie Powell – and then did battle with them again in the playoffs.When the neighboring schools meet on Friday night, the stakes will once again be high, and the atmosphere promises to be electric. Both teams boast identical 4-0 records in conference play, and they are the only two teams without a loss.
“That’s what I like about it,” Gallagher said. “It’s been an important game every time we’ve played them, and it’s a very festive atmosphere. Hopefully, we can make it happen one of these times.”
The Knights have won six in a row since a season-opening loss to defending state champion LaSalle. They are coming off a 35-20 win over Quakertown. When it was over, much was made of the fact that coach Dick Beck was not especially happy with his team’s performance.
“Sometimes I’m overly critical of the kids because I want them to be perfect,” the Knights’ coach said. “Unfortunately, what gets mixed up in this whole expecting perfection – it’s not a lack effort.
“Our kids are definitely playing hard, but we try and throw a lot of things at them, and some of them are not sticking. As a coach, I have to take a lot of the blame because maybe I’m not teaching it right or I’m being too complicated. I’m as frustrated with myself as I am with them not picking it up.”
The questions that arise when the Knights don’t win by the decisive margin that people expect are simply a testament as to how high the expectations are on a North Penn squad that is the standard bearer for football in the area.
“With high school and college sports, there’s so much tradition with teams because the coaching staffs are so good,” Donovan said. “Me being a senior, we’re trying to live up to the standard that we’ve been playing with the last two years.
“It’s one of those things – it’s North Penn football. You play hard, and if you’re not playing your best – whether you win by 20 or win by three, you’re upset. Last week’s game definitely didn’t leave a good taste in our mouths, but I think it was a good little wake-up call at mid-season. It makes you go out and practice a little harder with a new-found respect for practicing and working hard during the week and preparing.”
The Knights boast a balanced attack offensively. Senior Craig Needhammer has over 600 yards and eight touchdowns. Dom Taggart has six touchdowns and averages over six yards a carry. Brandon Mercer, who is averaging more than 10 yards a carry, has three touchdowns.
Quarterback Corey Ernst has thrown for 783 yards and nine touchdowns, and according to Beck, the play of the Knights’ offensive line has been a pleasant surprise.“Through camp, we didn’t feel too good about our offensive line,” Beck said. “We moved (Matt Donovan) to the offensive line, and he kind of solidified things for us up front.”
The Indians – who relied primarily on their ground game in the past – also boast a multi-dimensional attack, thanks to quarterback Tanner Allem. The junior QB has completed 47-of-85 passes for 604 yards so far this season.
They also boast a potentially punishing ground attack, and in last week’s win over Central Bucks South, the Indians accumulated 397 yards on the ground with Tyler School – who has over 700 yards rushing this season – accounting for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
Javon White added 103 yards and one TD while Joe McNamara had 93 yards and a touchdown.
“We’re pretty balanced with our attack, and we’ve been a little more consistent with throwing the ball,” Gallagher said. “Tanner Allem will be key. If he can complete some passes and help us move the sticks, I think we’re going to have some success.
“Our offensive line also has to continue doing what they’ve been doing. Our offensive line has been getting on blocks and staying on blocks.”
Spause, who will be a key to the play off the ‘O’ line, credits coaches Mike Heath and Jim Rutkowski.
“They have done a great job with us,” he said. “We know we have to keep working hard because we know if we fail the whole team fails. We have to do well so our running backs have confidence in us and then have confidence in themselves.
“This is North Penn versus Souderton – we’re the top two dogs in the conference right now, and whoever wins will be top tier. We just have to go out there and win.”
*Stats used in this article are courtesy of the Intelligencer/Courier times.
North Penn at Souderton
Friday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m.
Record: North Penn 4-0 SOL (6-1 overall), Souderton 4-0 (5-2 overall)
Last week: North Penn defeated Quakertown 35-20, Souderton downed Central Bucks South 45-35
Last year: North Penn 27, Souderton 6
North Penn coach Dick Beck’s keys to the game:
1) We have to make them punt – go three-and-out. We can’t let them control the clock at all.
2) Their key to the game is they have to keep us from scoring on big plays. If we can score on big plays and we can get them in a three-and-out, then I like our chances. If they can stop us from making the big play, then their chances will be good.”
Coach Dick Beck says: “We had a good practice yesterday, and hopefully, we will be ready. I’ve got to believe when Souderton watched the film – they feel like if they can win this game they’ll be league champs. We have to be on our game with what we’re doing defensively. “
North Penn senior Matt Donovan says: “We just have to stick with the game plan. We’ve been preparing all week for their offense – stopping the run. They like to run first, so we’ve got to be coming downhill defensively. Offensively, we have to stay with our schemes, make our blocks and don’t divert too much from what we normally do. Just play North Penn football.”
Souderton coach Ed Gallagher’s keys to the game:
1) Turnovers are definitely the key to the game. I don’t want to make excuses, but we turned the ball over four times in the first half against them last year, and that really changed things. We’ve been pretty good at taking care of the ball this year, and I’m hoping that we can carry that over to Friday night. Taking nothing away from North Penn, they caused a lot of the turnovers we had last year. We have to take care of the ball.
2) Controlling the clock. We always want to do the best we can in time of possession and keep their offense off the field. They have so many weapons. They could have three kids hurt and still have kids that I’d be worried about out there. They’re always well-trained, well-schooled up front. It’s going to take a really complete effort to beat them.
Coach Ed Gallagher says: “They’re an excellent program. They’re well coached, they have good kids that work hard and don’t make a lot of mistakes. We try to pride ourselves in the same thing, but we just haven’t been able to beat them yet. Hopefully, it will be Friday. It’s always fun to play them, but it will be more fun if we ever beat them,”
Souderton senior Nick Spause says: “We’re going to try and keep them off the field, so we can limit their big plays. We can’t have another CB South showing by our defense. That was just awful. We can’t let that happen again.”
Friday night’s Pennsbury/Council Rock North game will be broadcast live on WBCB 1490 AM at 7 p.m., preceded by the pregame show at 6 p.m. The Neshaminy/Harry S. Truman game will be broadcast live on the web site www.wbcb1490.com at 7 p.m., preceded by a pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. Pennsbury games will run live every Friday night on 1490AM with a replay following a live broadcast of Neshaminy on the web site, www.wbcb1490.com. A replay of the Neshaminy game will then follow Pennsbury on 1490AM-WBCB.Friday’s North Penn/Souderton game will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on WNPV 1440 a.m. as well as the web site www.wnpv1440.com.
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