Pennridge defeated Quakertown in the annual Thanksgiving rivalry game for the first time since 2020. Check out the recap. Photos courtesy of Laura Rowe & Kim Supko. Check back for a gallery of photos. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports' FOOTBALL GALLERIES.
PENNRIDGE 24, QUAKERTOWN 14
(Game statistics provided by Pennridge footbll)
Thanksgiving 2025 was a whole lot nicer than the preceding three for Ryan Rowe and his senior teammates. For the first time in their four years of high school, the Rams defeated Quakertown in the annual Thanksgiving Day contest.
“This one feels a whole lot better already,” Rowe said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
With good reason.
Thursday’s come-from-behind win put an exclamation point on a storybook season for the Rams, who won their 13th game – the most in program history. They leave with the SOL National Conference crown and a District 1 6A runner-up finish.
All of this on the heels of a 4-7 season last year that saw the Rams finish tied for sixth out of eight teams in conference play with only two wins.
Listening to Rowe tell it, the Rams had an idea they might be onto something special after the team’s first game.
“I think after week one when we played Liberty (a 31-21 win), we really started believing in ourselves,” the senior captain said. “I think a huge part in our success this season is that we truly believed that we could do it, and obviously, all these guys stepping up and making plays is a huge factor, but I think it’s self-belief that got the job done this year.”
That self-belief was put to the test of Thursday’s game that saw the Panthers open up a 14-10 halftime lead.
On their first possession of the game, the Rams marched to the Panthers’ 18 where they were forced to settle for a 34-yard Luis Nunes field goal. The Panthers answered with an 80-yard touchdown drive that featured a whole lot of Kyler Roesener and was highlighted by a 20-yard completion from Brady Martin to Emilio Oliveras at the Rams’ 10-yard line. Two plays later – while rolling to the right – Martin completed a six-yard touchdown pass to Roesener for a 7-3 Quakertown lead.
Pennridge went on top 10-7 after a 65-yard scoring drive that included a 17-yard Noah Keating to Brody Blomgren pass and culminated with back-to-back runs by Keating, including a five-yard touchdown run. The Rams also benefitted from a costly Panther penalty.
Quakertown responded with their second TD drive that included a 20-yard Martin to Jackson Connelly pass that took the Panthers to the Rams’ two where Roesener capped the drive with a touchdown run, sending the Panthers into halftime with a 14-10 lead.
“We had some trouble in the first half - I think there’s a lot of jitters,” Rowe said. “Being the last game for our seniors and our last game as a group, I think everyone was a little amped up going into the game.
“Once we got settled into the game and got back to playing our football, a lot of good things started happening. We came out of halftime firing on all cylinders, and it was really nice to get that momentum back.”
Good things started happening on the Rams’ opening possession of the second half – a time-consuming touchdown drive that began at their own 25 and culminated with a three-yard touchdown run by sophomore Trevor Picciotti. The drive ate nine minutes and 47 seconds off the game clock.
“Honestly, the first play of the second half – they snuffed us,” Pennridge coach Kyle
Beller said of a running play that lost five yards. “Our kids just grinded it out on that drive – what else can you say? A nine-minute drive is a grinding drive - Will running, Ryan running, Noah running, Trevor running.
“Actually, Trevor ran a lot on that drive because Ryan was banged up. They did what they did all year.”
On their ensuing drive, the Panthers were on the move when sophomore Blake Landherr delivered the game-changing play – an interception that he returned to the Panthers’ 12-yard line. Two plays later, Keating scored on an eight-yard run, and with Nunes' extra point, it was a 24-14 game with 8:16 remaining.
“That changed the whole course of the game,” Rowe said of the interception. “That was my guy, Blake. He’s been stepping up for us all year. He’s been getting the job done, so I was proud of him.”
Neither team scored the rest of the way, and the Rams could at last celebrate the win that snapped a string of four straight losses to Quakertown.
“It’s a great way to send our seniors off, especially after Friday,” Beller said of a 21-14 loss to North Penn in the District 1 6A title game. “They earned it, they deserved it.
“It was really hard last year seeing those seniors going. They never had a chance to hold the trophy.”
The Rams’ coach went on to pay tribute to an outstanding senior class that led this year’s squad to new heights.
“They’re the first class I got hired with as sophomores,” Beller said. “When you’re coming in, those end up being your kids because you get them all three years. That’s not saying anything about the other classes. They were awesome too, they were very receptive.
“The reality is – we just got it back to Pennridge football. It just means everything. They’re such great kids – the way they play, how hard they play. We had two losses, but we never accepted defeat. In all of those games, our kids played to the very last second of each game.
“We talk about that and how great they are on the football field, but more importantly, as young adults growing up, the life lessons of – hey, you’re going to have hardships. How you overcome them as a father, as a husband. I think they have great character, and those are
things we talk about.”
And as endings go, they don’t get much better than this for the Pennridge seniors.
“It was definitely bittersweet,” said Rowe, who will continue his career at Princeton University. “I think this was the perfect way to end it, so I’m happy with that. I’ll miss these guys a lot.
“It was an awesome season, and these are memories that I’ll remember forever.”
EXTRA POINTS: Final stats show Keating completed 8 of 10 passes for 48 yards. He also had nine carries for 43 yards and two touchdowns. Dougherty’s 85 yards on 11 carries led the Rams’ ground game. As a team, the Rams had 190 rushing yards and converted 8 of 10 third downs…For the Panthers, Martin threw for 140 yards and one touchdown. Roesener led the Panthers with 48 yards rushing on 11 carries…The Rams held a slim 239-224 advantage in total yards…While Pennridge closed its historic season with a 13-2 record, Quakertown finished its season with a 4-7 record.
Quakertown 0-14-0-0 14
Pennridge 3-7-7-7 24
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