TOWAMENCIN – The North Penn running game, led by Nyfease West, and defense came alive in the second half on Friday night at Crawford Stadium, as the Knights shut down the Central Bucks East Patriots 27-0, securing their first conference win of the season.
In front of a loud and rambunctious crowd decked out in pink for breast cancer awareness, the Knights played a scoreless first half with both teams putting together promising drives which were stopped by turnovers.
The Knights looked to the passing game in the first half. Knight receivers got open on several plays but dropped balls and overthrown passes prevented the Knights from getting on the scoreboard.
For the second half Coach Beck turned to the running game.
With the focus on the running game in the second half, the Knights relied on sophomore Nyfease West to get the job done and he did not disappoint. On the first drive of the second half, the Knights decided to go for it on 4th down in their own territory. Taking off to the left, West broke through the Patriot line for a 24 yard gain and a first down. The drive was completed by a touchdown pass from Shearer to Wright to put the Knights on the board 7-0.
The Knight defense and special teams which had given up over 100 points in the first three games came to play, forcing six turnovers and holding the Patriots scoreless. The secondary led by Michael Liddy’s two interceptions was able to pick off three Patriot passes and three fumbles.
The night however belonged to the North Penn’s ground game with the speedy West hitting the holes opened up by the line quickly and showing excellent vision. The combination of West and the hard running of Luke Berry, who scored two touchdowns, proved too much for the Patriots in the second half. West starting his first game for the Knights rushed for 187 yards on 22 carries.
“Nyfease seemed to be running pretty hard so we gave him the ball a little bit more” noted Coach Beck.
On starting his first game in front of the Crawford stadium crowd Nyfease admitted to being a bit anxious.
“I was actually really nervous all day at school. I was just thinking about it all day… it was nerve wracking until I got the first snap and then my nerves went away and I was just in the zone.”
Both West and Luke Berry agree that the key to overcoming a tough season start is to practice hard and treat every game as a new beginning.
“We started out 0-3 and we’re just going to worry about one game at a time, and now we’re 1-0 in the conference and we have to get ready for next week,” Berry noted.
The Knights will travel to play the Quakertown Panthers next Friday night to continue conference play. Quakertown is 3-1 overall out of the gate this season.
