TOWAMENCIN – There wasn’t a whole lot of scoring on Friday night in Crawford Stadium, but the way this season has gone for North Penn, quality over quantity was just fine for the Knights.
In front of a spirited homecoming crowd game, they kept Central Bucks East at bay, hanging on for a 14-7 conference win.
Aidan Eves, started as the Knights’ quarterback instead of North Penn’s regular QB, Matt Bucksar, who is currently not playing due to concussion protocol. North Penn played tough on defense overall, led by Christian Johns-Wallace.
North Penn had five sacks (two by Johns-Wallace), and CB East wasn’t making it easy for themselves with 9 penalties that pushed them back at least 100 yards.
“I think we were pretty disciplined; we made a couple mental mistakes. I feel like they (CB East) had most of the flags which really ended up winning us the game by getting us those extra yards and extra first downs,” Eves commented.
“The first incompletes sucked, they were pretty bad throws but we got the momentum going,” Eves said.
The Knights pushed up against the Patriots, getting to a 3rd down and 5 yards. Eves handed the ball to Cobbs for 5 yards to finally get to the 10 yard line, just 30 feet from the endzone. With 4:30 on the clock, the first touchdown was a 5 yard pass from Eves to wide receiver Rashad McNeil.
In the second quarter, a 39 yard pass from Eves to Cobbs took the Knights to the 6 yard line. Patriots’ defensive back Dan Reinhardt tackled Eves at the 1 yard line, just barely before he scored the touchdown.
“I think I made a few good plays and a lot of really bad ones. I handled the bad plays well and had support from my teammates. They kept looking me in the eyes and saying, ‘It’s alright,’ which meant a lot to me,” Eves admitted.
North Penn called a timeout with 26.2 seconds on the clock, only one yard away from their second touchdown. Whatever was discussed by the team must have worked out well, as Major gave the Knights a touchdown. The extra point was good, and North Penn was up 14-0 at the half.
In the 3rd quarter, the Patriots scored their first and only touchdown of the game, a run by Voglesong for 24 yards bringing them to 14-7.
For the last 56.4 seconds, the Knights defended their end zone and kept the Patriots back just enough to prevent them from scoring. The game was over, and North Penn held on for the win.
Next Friday, the Knights will go to Pennsbury to play against the Falcons. Both teams are 3-4 overall, so the Knights will be faced with a similarly strengthened team. However, the Knights are 2-2 in conference, and Pennsbury is 1-3.
“I’d like to get a win next week and continue to get better. I hope we can get some guys healthy and we’ll get better as we go along,” North Penn Coach Dick Beck commented.
NORTH PENN 14, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 7
CB East 0 0 7 0 — 7
North Penn 7 7 0 0 — 14
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
NP — Rashad McNeill received a 5 yard pass from Aidan Eves (extra point from Ryan Bocklet)
Second Quarter
NP — Amir Major run (extra point from Ryan Bocklet)
Third Quarter
CBE — Dan Voglesong 24 run (extra point from Jack Corrigan)
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs
CBE:14
NP: 10
Rushes-Yards
CBE: 40-216
NP: 32-134
Passing Yards
CBE: 87
NP: 97
Total Offense
CBE: 313
NP: 231
Punts
CBE: 1
NP: 4
Defensive Sacks
CBE: 1
NP: 5
Turnovers
CBE: 2
NP: 1