North Penn defeated Pennridge 21-14 on Friday night to capture the District 1 6A football championship, the eighth district title in program history. Photos courtesy of Greg Lindsay & Laura Rowe. Team photo courtesy of Sharon Shipe. Check back for a gallery of photos.
District 1 6A Tournament final
#1-2 NORTH PENN 21, #1-1 PENNRIDGE 14
(Game stats provided by Pennridge football)
The celebration was a long time coming, but it was worth the wait.
Nine years after winning their program’s seventh district title in 2016, the Knights – in a battle of SOL heavyweights - celebrated their eighth after a gritty, hard fought win over Pennridge in front of a packed house at Helman Field.
“It was a great night for us,” North Penn coach Dick Beck said. “It’s been a while since we won one of these. The kids were awesome. They earned it the whole way – they worked their tails off.
“Hats off to Pennridge. What a season they had. They played great tonight. It was a battle between two teams that wanted to win. I guess we came up the winner, but both teams were winners tonight.”
The win ensured this year’s North Penn squad a spot in program history.
“It feels amazing,’ said North Penn senior linebacker Nate Schepian, who had an interception late in the first half. “We’ve worked so hard for this. I’m proud of my boys. They’ve put so much work in.
“The fact that it was hard makes it so much sweeter, the fact that we worked for it makes it so much sweeter.”
Friday’s game wasn’t over until sophomore Ziyon Smith delivered an interception in the game’s closing seconds to seal the win in a contest that saw the Knights’ defense play a starring role.
“Our defensive line, our linebackers – when people went down, we stepped up,” said Schepian. “We made tackles, we beat blocks. We did amazing.”
The win helped erase memories of last year’s disappointing 35-16 loss to Downingtown West on a cold and rainy night at Downingtown.
“It’s insane,” said senior quarterback Matt Bucksar. “It’s such a blessing to be back here after losing last year.
“We knew what it takes to get back here – it was a lot of hard work. It just feels great.”
Friday’s win was the ninth in a row for the Knights, who were 3-2 out of the gate after back-to-back losses to Neshaminy and Pennridge.
While some may have written off the Knights, Schepian was not in that number.
“I wouldn’t have counted us out even after we lost those two games,” he said. “We were making it here either way. It didn’t matter who we lost to.
“After those losses, our whole mentality changed. We stopped being so soft. We stepped up on defense, and we started making blocks on offense. It’s that simple.”
There was nothing simple about Friday’s win, although the Knights came out of the gate strong, opening up a 14-0 lead after back-to-back touchdown drives. Matt Pownall capped the first – an 80-yard drive – with a 15-yard touchdown run. It marked the beginning of another big game for the senior running back, who led the Knights with 178 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.
It was three-and-out for the Rams on their opening possession, and the Knights needed just four plays to cover 82 yards. Rylei Gray accounted for most of those yards with a dazzling 67-yard touchdown run that put the Knights on top 14-0 with 1:36 remaining in the opening quarter.
“The O-line did amazing that play,” Gray said. “I had it right down the chute. It felt amazing, and we went up 14-0. In a championship game, I got the longest run in my career. I don’t even have a run past 50 yards, so that meant a lot.
“Pennridge played tough. They keyed on us a lot, they sent a lot of good blitzes. They definitely gave us a fight, and we just gave it our all.”
Down but hardly out, the Rams controlled time of possession in the second quarter, eating up a lot of clock with a 69-yard scoring drive that was capped when sophomore Trevor Picciotti powered up the middle for a three-yard touchdown that made it a 14-7 game. Setting up the TD was senior Will Dougherty with a 21-yard run to the three that included dragging several would-be tacklers with him.
“We talked about it – we knew they were going to come out swinging,” said Pennridge coach Kyle Beller, whose team trailed 14-7 at halftime. “We knew they wanted to play a physical football game and start fast. We know those backs are good, and they were going to get the ball a lot more than they did the first game
“They didn’t hit us with anything we weren’t ready for. They just did a really nice job executing. You have to give them credit for that.”
On the Knights’ second play of their opening possession of the third quarter, Pownall raced 75 yards before he was stopped at the Rams’ three by a tackle from behind. The Knights took a hit when they were whistled for a pre-snap penalty that moved the ball back to the eight. Three plays later, the Knights found themselves with a fourth-and-goal from less than a yard, but Pownall was stopped for a two-yard loss.
Any thoughts that Pennridge would have all the momentum went out the window when the North Penn defense forced a three-and-out, limiting the Rams to just one net yard on three downs.
“(It was) just being tough and making sure they didn’t get any momentum,” said Schepian. “If they would have kept on getting yards, they would have gotten momentum, but we stopped them.”
That big defensive stop gave the Knights – who took over at the Rams’ 42 after a punt – a short field. They capitalized. Bucksar completed a 10-yard pass to Pownall, who capped the drive with a six-yard run to the 16 and – on the next play – bolted into the end zone for a 21-7 lead with 3:57 remaining in the third quarter.
“That was huge,” Beck said. “If we didn’t get that touchdown, it’s a new game.
“The O-line was coming off the ball pretty good. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot jumping offsides, which kept putting us behind the sticks.”
“That was definitely huge,” Pownall said. “We have a goal, so we all knew we just had to do our jobs and step up and do it for each other. That was a huge momentum shift for us. We just knew we had to get the ball and do what we’ve been doing.”
Pennridge made it a 21-14 game after a 75-yard touchdown drive that culminated with Ryan Rowe – on-fourth-and-goal from the Knights' three – taking it in for the score with 4:46 remaining in the game.
The Knights collected a pair of first downs before the Rams’ defense held and took over on downs at their own 32 with less than a minute remaining in regulation. The Rams took the ball to the Knights’ 48 when Smith came up with the interception to bring an end to any comeback hopes for the Rams.
"This is definitely huge and just cool because it’s going to be in the books forever,” Pownall said. “It’s great for this year's team, and my brother (Christian) is on this team, so it’s going to be good to always look back on this game.”
In addition to rushing for 174 yards, Pownall also had four receptions for 51 yards. Gray finished with 92 yards and one touchdown on nine carries. Mason Franek had three receptions for 48 yards.
Bucksar was once again quietly effective directing the offense behind center, finishing 8-for-12 for 103 yards with no interceptions.
“It was very tough,” Bucksar said. “This team – they blew us out when we played them early in the regular season (34-10).
“We knew this was a tough team, and we knew we had to bring everything we had into this game. It really showed towards the end of the game – us as a team and how we can just execute.”
The Knights' loss to the Rams – on the heels of a loss to Neshaminy – was undeniably the turning point in the season for the Knights.
“Those two losses were definitely a reality check for all of us,” Bucksar said. “It mentally locked us all in – it’s not going to be easy. Honestly, without those two losses, I don’t know – they helped us a lot.”
For the Rams, Noah Keating threw for 94 yards and ran for 32. Dougherty’s 56 rushing yards on eight carries led the Rams’ ground game.
“Credit to North Penn – you have to give them credit,” Beller said. “That’s a good football team. At the beginning of the season, if you had told me they were going to be district champs, I would have said, ‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’
“It’s hard to beat a really good team twice, but I wish I had that (first) quarter back. It didn’t go our way tonight, but this is a great achievement. SOL National Conference champions – that’s what (we) are.”
Final team stats show North Penn with a 382-212 advantage in total yards of offense and a 10-minute advantage in time of possession. The Rams were a perfect 4-for-4 on fourth down conversations while the Knights were 1-for-4.
Up next: North Penn will face District 12 champion La Salle in a PIAA 6A state semifinal game at a time and place to be determined. La Salle defeated District 11 champion Easton 49-7…With 5,400 tickets pre-sold, the crowd at Fridays’ game was estimated at close to 6,000…Pennridge's season is not over. The Rams will face Quakertown in the annual Thanksgiving Day game Thursday.
North Penn 14-0-7-0 21
Pennridge 0-7-0-7 14
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