Penncrest Lions Pull An Upset On Sun Valley Vanguards
Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News
Ted Podberesky | August 26, 2023
Sun Valley Vanguards Vs. Penncrest Lions Week One
Sun Valley Vanguards hosted the Penncrest Lions this Friday night at Dr. Wally Field with both teams looking to start their season off hot with a win. The Lions get the better of the Vanguards tonight beating them 34 to 19 to start the season. Penncrest answered right away on the first drive of the game marching down the field and scoring , coming from a 9 yard touchdown run from Quarterback Nico Tozzi. After a Vanguard punt Senior Running back Matt Ferry took control for the Lions offense leading them to another touchdown run winding down the 1st quarter. The Vanguards were rolling until being stopped on 3rd down forcing to punt again , Penncrest chewed up most of the 2nd quarter on the ground until scoring again from Running back Jeff Cropper. Down 21-0 with 40 seconds left Sun Valley unleashed Senior Running back Noah Griffin who scored on a 55 yard touchdown run to put the Vanguards up only down two scores before half. Heading into the 3rd quarter Sun Valley knew they needed to shut the run down in the 2nd half. The first drive of the game the Vanguards did just that with Senior Linebacker Ryan Creegan punching the ball loose and falling on his own forced fumble. This lead them to get the ball back and watch Sophomore Quarterback RJ Sharrer go to work running in for an 8 yard touchdown. Penncrest drove down the field and fired right back going for a trick play and scoring on a 27 yard pass thrown by Matt Ferry. Heading into the 4th quarter down 27-13 Sun Valley’s playbook started to open up more for RJ Sharrer completing passes for big chunks of yards to multiple receivers including Juniors Josh Yanonis and Jack Penzone before finding Noah Griffin out the back field for a 32 yard touchdown reception. Ryan Creegan was a huge part in Sun Valley’s defense combining for a total of 9 solo tackles and shutting the Lions down on multiple 3rd downs with help from Safety Matt Jackson and Defensive end Danny Digan. With clock winding down however in the 4th Nico Tozzi helped seal the game with a red zone interception and driving his team down the field so he could punch it in for the 1 yard touchdown to end the game. Penncrest Senior Running back Matt Ferry who rushed for over 80 yards with 2 touchdowns combined stated after the game that ” This is only week one, we build from everything we do one day at a time and focus on next week vs Chichester “. Ferry adds ” I’ve been looking forward to making a district championship since I was a freshman, I think we have a real chance this year with this group of guys “. Talking to Sun Valley Running back Noah Griffin who combined for over 100 rushing and 30 receiving yards to pair with 2 touchdowns says ” We just have to come back next week with a better mentality and know who we are and what we can do , hungry dogs run faster it’s that simple ” .
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