TOWAMENCIN- The North Penn Knights (14-0) claimed the District One Championship title after a 48-38 win over the Garnet Valley Jaguars (11-3). The Jaguars put up an impressive fight, but they were unable to match North Penn’s deep offense, and they were unable to shut down North Penn’s relentless defense.

North Penn took advantage of their aerial game early on as a pass from senior quarterback Reece Udinski took senior Nick Dillon 65 yards into the endzone (9:45).

“It was a perfect night. There was no wind so we tried to take advantage of that. Our deep passing game has worked for us all year,” said Udinski.

The Jaguars’ offense, led by senior quarterback Nick Juliano, tried to answer the Knights’ early lead by using their ground game to earn a majority of their yardage. Rushing was clearly the Jaguars’ strong suit, because after the first pass, North Penn junior Justis Henley grabbed the ball for an interception. Immediately following the interception, Udinski threw deep to find senior Ricky Johns for an 83 yard touchdown putting the Knights ahead 14-0 (6:49).

“Reece was on fire in warm ups; I could tell he was going to have a good night,” said Head Coach Dick Beck.

The Knights’ explosive first quarter ended with a 7 yard touchdown from senior Nick Dillon that put North Penn ahead 21-0 going into the second quarter (1:29).

“The momentum went to us early after our three big scores. We never looked back, and that was huge for us,” said Udinski.

The Knights’ defense was lead by senior Nick Vasger and juniors Owen Thomas and Matt Bevan who kept the Jaguars on a leash in the first quarter.

“We just played assignment football. Our coaches preached that all week, and we just came out and did our jobs as a unit,” said Bevan.

In the second quarter, the Jaguars found the spark they needed to get onto the scoreboard. A pass from Juliano to senior Jacob Buttermore cut the Knights’ lead 21-7 (9:08).

Roughly a minute later, Garnet Valley was in the endzone again after a sack on Udinski resulted in a fumble that junior Jaguar Joshua Ciarrocchi recovered and ran for another touchdown (8:05).

Udinski answered back with a pass to senior Nick Vasger who caught the ball in the air for another North Penn touchdown (6 yards, 3:24). With only two seconds remaining in the second quarter, Garnet Valley kicked a 33 yard field goal, shortening North Penn’s lead 28-17 going into the half.

In the second half, North Penn was the first to score, but Garnet Valley was quick to answer back with another touchdown (8 yards, Dillon, 7:50; 27 yards, Buttermore, 5:41). The Knights extended their lead before the half was over after a 15 yard pass from Udinski to Vasger put them ahead 42-24 (3:03).

Garnet Valley scored eight seconds into the fourth quarter from a run by quarterback Juliano (37 yards, 11:52). A touchdown pass from Udinski to Johns afterwards put the Knights ahead 48-31. The Jaguars edged closer to North Penn’s score after senior Joe Thomas intercepted a Udinski pass and took the ball 28 yards into the endzone, but the late score was not enough to end North Penn’s lead.

The North Penn Knights were crowned as District One Champions in Coach Beck’s 15th year of coaching.

“The journey has been great. The kids have been amazing, and they want to keep going on,” said Beck.

As the North Penn team was presented the District One Championship trophy, it was obvious that the win meant a great deal to the players.

“It’s amazing, it’s a dream come true,” said senior Jake Hubler with a smile. “This is what we have been looking for all year, and we won it together.”

“We are a family and have been working hard since January for this moment. I love all my brothers and wouldn’t want to win with anybody else,” said Bevan.