The Knights ended a streak of three straight losses to La Salle with Saturday's dramatic 21-14 win. To view action shots of the game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Philadelphia – North Penn head coach Dick Beck had given his team an enormous amount of homework this week as the Knights prepared for its PIAA Eastern Final game against nemesis La Salle. The test came on Saturday at Northeast High School, and the Big Blue aced the exam and graduated to the PIAA Quad-A state championship game with a 21-14 victory over the talented Explorers.
The Knights will face Central Dauphin next Saturday night at Hersheypark Stadium with a 6 pm kickoff. Central Dauphin upset North Allegheny 23-20 to advance to the championship final.
“We made tons of copies of La Salle game film and got them into the hands of the players as soon as possible,” said Beck. “I wanted our team to be very familiar with everything about them – what is their favorite ice cream – every detail. They studied hard for this game.”
“I brought home a different game film every single night of the week,” said senior Ralphie Reeves who bulled in for all three touchdowns for the Knights. “I studied the film for a long time, and I knew as much as you could know about what they did offensively and defensively.”
“Coach Beck didn’t let up on us all week, and we were the most prepared I can ever remember for a game,” said senior running back James Fielder who rushed for a game-high 104 yards on 19 carries. “We saw a lot of film of them from the first game this year (a 17-point La Salle win), and we knew that we what were going to have to do to correct those mistakes.”
“There is no question that we were prepared to win this football game,” said senior quarterback Corey Ernst who rushed for 59 yards and passed for another 81 yards and engineered the potent Knight offense. “I have never seen so much game film in my entire life.”
To be well prepared is one thing – to execute in the heat of battle is quite another. And North Penn matched its preparedness with deft execution.
The Knight offense relentlessly pounded the Explorer defense with their punishing running game, collecting 20 first downs and 363 yards of total offense. But it was the North Penn defense that came up with huge plays to limit the high octane La Salle offense to just two scores.
“They always say that defense wins championships, and our defense has come a long way,” said Reeves in reference to a pair of early season losses to La Salle (44-27) and St. Joseph Prep (51-33). “We were able to come up with the big plays when we needed them.”
The game sealing defensive play came on the final La Salle drive with North Penn holding the tentative 21-14 lead. Explorer quarterback Matt Magarity – who threw for 184 yards on 14 completions – had guided La Salle to the North Penn 37-yard line with time ticking down. On a third and six, Magarity was intercepted by North Penn junior defensive back Steve Gozur in the game’s final minute.
“This is the biggest moment of my entire life,” smiled Gozur who had the difficult assignment of matching up with gifted 6-foot, 3-inch Colin Buckley. “Number 6 (Buckley) scored a touchdown on me earlier in the game, but I felt I was in position. He just made a great catch. Every time they broke the huddle, all I had to do was look for number 6.”
La Salle scored the first touchdown of the game in the second period after securing a Knight fumble. Magarity fired a 29-yard scoring strike to Jared Herrmann, and Ryan Winslow’s point after touchdown gave the Explorers a 7-0 lead.
North Penn counter punched with a scoring drive of its own. The Knights – aided by a pair of 15-yard penalties against La Salle – moved the ball 80 yards on nine plays. Highlights of the drive included a 14-yard run by Fielder and a 15-yard keeper by Ernst. Reeves – who is used almost exclusively on the goal line – blasted in from the one-yard line. Brandon Mandas added the PAT and the score was knotted at 7-7.
North Penn took advantage of great field position to piece together its second touchdown drive. The key plays were a 12-yard burst by Fielder – a 17-yard completion from Ernst to Shayne Watson – and a 10-yard burst by Reeves. The Mandas placement would give the Knights a 14-7 lead with 2:39 remaining in the first half.
La Salle would score what proved to be its final points with 35 seconds remaining in the second period. Magarity completed three passes to Buckley on the drive – the final one being a 12-yard touchdown pass. Winslow added the PAT and the score was to be tied going into the halftime.
North Penn scored what proved to be the winning touchdown in the third period. The Knights drove 86 yards on seven plays with the big offensive plays coming on a 40-yard pass completion from Ernst to mercurial Dan Gevirtz and a 21-yard burst by senior Matt Smith. Reeves capped the drive with a one-yard TD dive.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the good times began to roll for North Penn. Fans, friends, and family all streamed onto the field amid a flurry of Hershey candy kisses to celebrate with the victorious players.
And it was all caught on film – for all the Knights to observe and study for years to come.
North Penn Knights 0 14 7 0 - 21
La Salle Explorers 0 14 0 0 - 14
La Salle: Jared Herrmann 29 pass from Matt Magarity (Ryan Winslow kick)
North Penn: Ralphie Reeves 1 run (Brandon Mandas kick)
North Penn: Reeves 10 run (Mandas kick)
La Salle: Colin Buckley 12 pass from Magarity (Winslow kick)
North Penn: Reeves 1 run (Mandas kick)
North Penn La Salle
20 First Downs 15
282 Rushing Yards 91
81 Passing Yards 184
363 Total Offense 275
2-28 Punts / Avg 4-22
1- 5 Pen. / Yds 4-50
North Penn Knights
Rushing: James Fielder 19-104; Corey Ernst 8-59; Dan Gevirtz 12-49; Matt Smith 6-43; Ralph Reeves 4-12 & 3 TD; Kyle Mayfield 3-8; and Danny Wynne 2-7. Totals 54-282-3 TD.
Passing: Corey Ernst 7-12-0; 81 yards.
Receiving: Dan Gevirtz 4-61; Shayne Watson 1-17; and James Fielder 2-3. Totals 7-81.
Interceptions: Kris Akins & Steve Gozur.
La Salle Explorers
Rushing: Tim Wade 18-78; Jared Herrmann 3-9; Chris Kane 1-7; Matt Magarity 7 (minus 3). Totals 29-91.
Passing: Matt Magarity 14-34-2; 184 & 2 TD.
Receiving: Sean Coleman 5-65; Colin Buckley 6-63 & TD; Jared Herrmann 1-29 & TD; Casey Eidenshink 2-27. Totals 14-184-2 TD.
Interceptions: None
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