Stats used in this article are courtesy of The Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times.
They boast the coveted combination of speed, strength and versatility, and North Penn’s trio of wide receivers - Dom Taggart, Gerard Wendowski and Brandon Mercer - can burn opposing defenses in countless ways.Consider only their performances in last week’s district semifinal win over Council Rock South.
Taggart –the usual target for opposing defenses who has 570 yards and eight touchdowns – was held to a mere six yards receiving, but he was the Knights’ leading ground gainer out of the backfield with 91 yards and a touchdown.
Mercer, meanwhile, burned the Golden Hawks for a 47-yard touchdown run on a reverse, and Wendowski was flat out unstoppable, hauling in seven passes for 82 yards and a TD.
Those are the kind of wide receivers quarterbacks – and their coaches - dream about having in the lineup.
“You have Mercer who has blazing speed, you have Wendowski who is about 6-2 ½ and has great hands and runs very precise patterns, and you have a kid like Taggart who is strong and can catch the ball over the middle and can catch the jump ball,” North Penn coach Dick Beck said. “I think the quarterback can pick and choose where he wants to go.“If you put Wendowski on one side and Mercer and Taggart on the other – what are they supposed to cover? Who will they double team? Who do they put a safety over?”
Who indeed?
If it wasn’t enough for opposing defenses to worry about a North Penn ground game that has accumulated close to 3,000 yards, opponents also have to worry about the dangerous trio of wide receivers.
“We can do a lot of things,” Taggart understated. “We’re an all-around team. We’ll run the ball just as much as we’ll throw the ball. If the running game is not working, we’ll go the air.”
Taggart and Mercer are equally comfortable lining up at running back. Taggart is closing in on the 1,000-yard plateau while Mercer – with 377 yards – is averaging over 10 yards a carry. Throw in Craig Needhammer, who already has surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on the ground, and opposing defenses must pick their poison.
“With all our weapons, it could be anybody’s night,” Mercer said. “Last week, Gerard had a big game.
“Even if you try and shut down one person, all our other weapons will step up, and that’s what we showed last week.”
With the graduation of quarterback Todd Smolinsky, some football insiders were concerned about who would fill his shoes.
Taggart was not in that number.
“Even in the summer when we would do passing leagues, some people were a little worried about Corey,” the senior standout said. “I kept telling people, ‘Don’t worry. It takes a while to get it down. High school football is a totally different atmosphere than anything else you ever played. Just give him time. He’ll get it down.’“Now he is definitely getting everything down. He’s making the right decisions, and he’s being smart about what he does with the ball, so that’s also huge.”
In the Knights’ 28-14 win over Council Rock South in last week’s district semifinal, Ernst was a dazzling 11-for-11 for 130 yards and two TDs.
“We go over our passing plays every day, and we really work hard on that because we know our running game will always be there,” Taggart said. “Corey is definitely clicking, and everyone is running the right routes and the right distance.
“Coach Beck works us really hard making sure we’re at the right depth, and Corey is just putting the ball where it needs to be, where only our team can catch it.”
While the emergence of Ernst as an outstanding QB can be attributed to his development as the season progressed, some of the credit also has to go to the Knights’ marvelous receiving corps.
“That has been so helpful for Corey,” Beck said. “He has been able to use all three targets. In some games, Mercer has been the main target. In some, it’s been Taggart.
“This past week, you saw what Wendowski did. They have all had big games against different opponents. Not only do they run good patterns, they get downfield and block too.”
Wendowski had a breakout game against the Golden Hawks in last Friday’s district semifinal, and his performance was not simply a matter of the Golden Hawks focusing on Taggart and Mercer. The senior wide receiver did his part to get open.
“As we were watching the film – the key to each of his routes was the depth,” Beck said. “If it’s too deep, it develops too long, and if it’s too shallow, the linebackers can make the play. “He’s very precise in his patterns.”
“Gerard runs perfect patterns,” Taggart agreed. “If you run perfect patterns, people can’t cover you – I don’t care who you are. He has great hands, and he knows how to go up and get the ball.
“It’s awesome to see those guys do real well also. It’s a good thing when your whole team is clicking.”
Going into last Friday’s district semifinal, Wendowski had only 21 catches. Those numbers, according to Beck, are not a reflection on his talent but rather an offensive system that has not had to pull out all the stops during the SOL season.
“We don’t throw it to Wendowski enough because we do other things,” Beck said. “When we get in the playoffs, we’re being balanced and we’re getting him the ball.
“A lot of times during the season, in the second half, we’re trying to kill the clock or we’re ahead and we don’t want to throw it too much, so our receivers don’t get as many throws as they should. In the playoffs, all bets are off.
“We have to be able to do everything. We can’t let teams line up and just stop the run and not be able to counter it.”
With so many weapons in the Knights’ arsenal, it would be easy for players to become disgruntled. That hasn’t happened.’
“They’re all unselfish,” Beck said. “No one is begging for the ball, no one is complaining, and that’s what is special about the team. When one guy is playing the decoy and the other guy is running the primary route, they don’t care, they don’t complain.”
While last year’s loss to Ridley in the district final was disappointing to everyone on North Penn’s side of the field, it was especially disheartening for Mercer, who reinjured the collarbone he had broken earlier in the season.
“I broke my collarbone again against Ridley,” he said. “That hit me real hard, and it feels good to be back.
“I just wanted to get back on the field because a lot of people were saying that I’m injury prone and stuff. I just wanted to prove them wrong.”
So far, Mercer – a track star – has done just that.
“When we have Mercer flanked out – he has so much speed that teams have been putting a guy on him and a guy over the top because they don’t want to give up the big ball, and that helps our running game,” Beck said. “He’s so explosive. When he gets outside, he can outrun you, no doubt.”
On Friday night, the stakes couldn’t be any higher when the Knights line up to play Neshaminy.
“It’s the District One championship, but we try to treat it like we treat every other playoff game,” Mercer said but then added. “It is exciting.”
“It seems like every year we play Neshaminy,” Taggart said. “It’s nothing new really. We’ve been playing them every year for the past – I don’t know how many years.
“Obviously, they have a great coach, and they have a great team. They have real good size this year. It’s going to be another Neshaminy versus North Penn shootout, I guess.”
And fans of both teams wouldn’t want it any other way.
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