Pennridge saw its memorable season come to an end when the Rams fell to Spring-Ford 35-24 in Saturday’s District One AAAA semifinal contest. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Perkasie – Any knowledgeable Suburban One League football fan knows that Pennridge has Class – as in junior game-breaker Michael Class. Class led the Rams to their PIAA Quad-A District One semifinal showdown with Spring-Ford with some ridiculous rushing numbers that included 2358 yards and 31 touchdowns in the 12 games he played.
Pennridge exited beloved Poppy Yoder Field after a 35-24 loss to the Golden Rams from Royersford – and now the fans know that their hometown Rams still have class – as in class act.
Coaches and players could have rattled off a list of excuses as to why Pennridge wasn’t able to move on in the playoffs.
But to their respective credit, nobody wanted to blame the fact the Rams had to play just two days ago on Thanksgiving Day. Nobody wanted to blame the bad luck of losing powerful senior running back/linebacker Kenny Crawford to a head injury that forced him to leave the game early in the second period. Nobody wanted to point to the equally bad fortune that Class was cleared shortly before game time from a concussion that forced him to miss the Thanksgiving Day game with Quakertown.
If excuses were for sale – Pennridge just wasn’t buying.
“There is not one kid on this football team that has a panic button,” said Pennridge head coach Randy Cuthbert. “There is not one kid on this football team who doesn’t look at adversity and want to come back fighting. We always look at things as just being a more difficult challenge.
“Losing Kenny hurt us because he is such a great leader,” added Cuthbert. “But the players knew at halftime we were going to play without him, and we had kids that were going to step in and do the job.”
“Kenny is like a coach on the field on both offense and defense,” said Pennridge senior quarterback Alex Krivda, who guided this 2012 Ram football team to a school record 12 wins. “He makes everyone play with emotion, but we knew we were going to have to make the best of it without him. We can’t make excuses.”
“We don’t make excuses,” said Pennridge senior Kyle Bigam with tears streaming down his face. “When we are playing the game, we just play hard. We didn’t think we were tired from playing Quakertown two days ago, and we didn’t stop playing hard when Kenny went down. We just wanted to win the game.”
This might have been a game that the Rams could have won if Class was at 100 percent. The flashy running back showed limited bursts through the line that have been the norm during the season. During the year he averaged 197 yards per game with a gaudy 8.8 rushing average. His totals against Spring-Ford were 61 yards on 20 carries for just 3.0 yards per carry.
“We tried to move Mike around some, but they made it very difficult for us to run the football,” said Cuthbert. “They seemed to control the line of scrimmage at times, and we were never able to get over the hump.”
Spring-Ford took advantage of a fumble recovery on the very first play of the game to take the lead. Senior Youef Lundi capped off a four-play, 20-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard run. David Gulati booted the first of his five successful placements for the Golden Rams.
Pennridge rallied with a pair of defensive turnovers and generated a 12-7 lead early in the second period.
The first turnover was also a scoring play as junior Matt Pasquale intercepted a pass and returned it 29-yards for a touchdown. The extra point – which was to become an adventure for the Rams – hit the cross bar and was no good.
On the ensuing Golden Ram drive, Jermey Xander delivered a huge hit that forced a fumble that was recovered by Pasquale.
The Rams showcased Crawford on their scoring drive as the relentless senior bulled in from the 2-yard line. In the drive, Crawford carried three times for 15 yards and caught an 8-yard pass from Krivda. The Rams ‘chased’ the missed extra point and failed on a 2-point conversion to settle for the 12-7 lead.
The lead didn’t last long.
On the second play of the ensuing drive, Spring-Ford senior quarterback Hank Coyne fired a 61-yard scoring strike to a streaking Gary Hopkins for the score. The PAT stretched the lead to 14-12.
The lead became 21-12 after Spring-Ford pieced together an eight-play scoring drive that covered 51 yards. Lundi earned scoring honors with a one-yard run with just 1:16 left until the half.
Pennridge, though, refused to go away and scored with just seven seconds in the half. Krivda fired a gorgeous 29-yard scoring strike to Bigam who made a circus catch in the corner of the end zone. However, the PAT was blocked and the Rams went into the locker room down 21-18.
Spring-Ford inserted junior running back Jarred Jones into the game in the second half. And on his very first carry, Jones tore through the heart of the Pennridge defense and jetted 73 yards for a touchdown.
Pennridge, as it has all season long, answered with a scoring drive. Class capped the drive with an 11-yard burst with 4:30 left in the third period. But the PAT was once again blocked and the Golden Rams held a 28-24 lead.
At this point – both teams had scored four touchdowns – but 4 times 7 is 28 and 4 times 6 is 24. A tough math equation for Pennridge to solve.
Spring-Ford iced the game with a fourth period touchdown. Tight end Zameer McDowell caught a 25-yard scoring pass from Coyne. Gulato’s extra point put the exclamation point on the win.
“I’m proud of the way that the kids worked this season,” said Cuthbert. “We have tried to play the game the right way.”
And they did – with a lot of class.
Spring-Ford Rams 7 14 7 7 - 35
Pennridge Rams 6 12 6 0 - 24
SF: Yousef Lundi 1 run (David Gulati kick)
P: Matt Pasquale 29 interception return (kick failed)
P: Kenny Crawford 2 run (pass failed)
SF: Gary Hopkins 61 pass from Hank Coyne (Gulati kick)
SF: Lundi 1 run (Gulati kick)
P: Bigam 29 pass from Alex Krivda (kick blocked)
SF- Jarred Jones 73 run (Gulati kick)
P: Class 11 run (kick blocked)
SF: Zameer McDowell 25 pass from Coyne (Gulati kick)
Spring-Ford Rams Pennridge Rams
14 First Downs 15
204 Yards Rushing 135
162 Yards Passing 115
366 Total Offense 250
2/30 Punts / Average 3/38
3/35 Penalties / Yds 4/20
Spring-Ford Golden Rams:
Rushing: Jarred Jones 13-98 & TD; Yousef Lundi 16-77 & 2 TD; Tate Carter 6-34; Hank Coyne 2- (minus 5). Totals 37-204- 3 TD.
Passing: Hank Coyne 10-13-1; 162 yards & 2 TD.
Receiving: Tate Carter 4-72; Gary Hopkins 2-87 & TD; Zameer McDowell 2-34 & TD; RJ Sheldon 1-2; Lundi 1- (Minus 3). Totals 10-162 & 2 TD.
Interceptions: Kyle Hoffner, Travis Daywalt.
Pennridge Rams:
Rushing: Michael Class 20-61 & TD; Kenny Crawford 5-25 & TD; Kyle Bigam 4-21; Alex Krivda 4-15; Alex Fedele 2-8; John Kim 1-5. Totals 36-135 & 2 TD.
Passing: Alex Krivda 8-18-2; 115 yards.
Receiving: Bigam 4-72; Micah Stutzman 1-32; Crawford 1-8; John Dubyk 1-7; Class 1- (minus 4). Totals 8-115 & TD.
Interception: Matt Pasquale & TD.
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