District One-6A Playoff Preview: Championship

Tagged under: District 1, News, pfn, Playoffs

Michael Pietrangelo | November 21, 2024

We’ve done it! We’ve finally made it to the district championship game. The winner of this game moves on to face the winner of the District 11/12 matchup of St. Joe’s Prep and Parkland in the State Semifinals next weekend. Last week, we finally got to see some more upsets. In our first game, the fourth-seeded North Penn Knights took down the number-one seed Central Bucks South Titans, who were previously unbeaten this season. The Knights avenged their earlier regular season loss (14-6) to the Titans with a 21-19 victory in the semifinals on the heels of junior Matthew Pownall, who finished the night with six catches for 133 yards and two scores while also rushing for 76 yards on 16 attempts. In our second matchup, we watched the second-seeded Whippets etch out a close one in a 28-23 victory. Junior Quarterback Cole Bricker threw for 237 yards and three touchdown passes in the victory. These two teams have met a handful of times in the last twenty years, and usually, it’s in the district playoffs. The Knights hold a 3-1 advantage in the series. The last time they clashed was the 2019-20 season when the Whippets won 40-31.  In the 2018-19 season, the Knights won 35-21. The 2008-09 season saw North Penn win 51-21.  In 2006-07, the Knights won 21-17. The Knights seem to have the upper hand overall, but the most recent matchup and the fact that it’s a home game may give the Whippets the advantage. Can the Knights continue their magical run, or does it end in Downingtown this Friday night under the lights?  Stay tuned as we bring you live updates of the action as it unfolds.

#4 North Penn Knights @ #2 Downingtown West Whippets

#4 North Penn (11-2, 5-2)

About the Knights: During the semifinals, the Knights avenged an earlier regular season loss to the Titans and beat out previously unbeaten Central Bucks South 21-19. Matt Pownall was the difference maker on the offensive side of the ball after hauling in six catches for 133 yards and two scores. He also rushed for a team high 76 yards on 16 attempts. Senior TE/DE Aidan Eves caught a three-yard touchdown and wreaked havoc on the defensive side of the ball. He caused a fumble, recovered a fumble, and intercepted a pass. In round one  the  knights took care of 13^th-seeded Ridley Green Raiders 24-14. Junior Matt Pownall handled the workload by carrying the ball 27 times for 207 yards.

In the quarterfinals, the Knights etched out Haverford 29-21. Pownall again was the force behind the motion as he rushed 18 times for 138 yards and two scores. Pownall also caught three balls for 59 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, he also had an interception.  During the regular season, the fourth-seeded Knights out of SOL-National finished 8-2. Their two losses were to conference foes CB South (14-6) and CB West (17-14) to finish third. The Knights average 28.2 points per game while yielding a respectable 13.6 points per game to opposing offenses.

The Knights’ offensive attack is led by Junior quarterback Matt Bucksar, who has completed 58% of his passes for 1,620 yards. Bucksar also has 418 yards on the ground.  Bucksar’s favorite targets are senior TE Aiden Eves 24-390-5 TDs, Junior Mason Franek 20-308-4 TDs, and senior Jackson Schurmann 15-283-3 TDs.  Junior Matt Pownall has carried the rock 149 times for 829 yards and two scores. He hauled in an additional 563 yards on 30 catches and 5 TDs. Senior Josiah Coleman has carried the ball 98 times for a team-high 718 yards and seven touchdowns.  On the defensive side of the ball, senior Christian Johns-Wallace leads all defenders with 90 total tackles. Senior Cole D’Ambrosio is second on the team with 85 tackles, and junior Nate Schepian follows with 58.

#2 Downingtown West (12-1, 2-1)

About the Whippets: The Whippets return to the District 1 Championship game after dropping last year’s Championship game 27-7 to Central Bucks South, riding a five game winning streak and an overall record of 12-1. Number #2 seed Downingtown West reached the finals by defeating Central Bucks West last week, OJ Roberts in the second week of the playoffs, after an opening round victory over ChesMont rival Coatesville. First year coach Tom Kline was able to keep the Whippets rolling after the retirement of West’s only previous coach Michael Milano.

On the year West’s offense has been a powerful run game averaging over 200 yards a game, complimented by an efficient passing game that has produced 108 yards a contest. The defense has been stingy all year surrendering just 12.5 points per game, giving up only a paltry 200 yards of total offense a game.

Coach Kline has used a trio of running backs with Spencer Dunn leading the way with 701 yards on 136 carries, scoring four touchdowns, Tommy Miller has averaged 7 yards per carry toting the ball 76 times for 536 yards while scoring 6 touchdowns and fullback Mike Taraschi has 382 yards on 66 carries, good for 3 touchdowns. Signal caller, first year starter, Cole Bricker has been very impressive guiding the offense, he has thrown for over 1.400 yards hitting on 103 of 175 pass attempts for 22 touchdowns while allowing just 4 interceptions. Bricker’s main target is wideout JD Weller. Weller has scored 9 touchdowns hauling in 37 passes for a team high 9 scores.

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