Second Half Surge: North Penn Capitalizes on Turnovers to Topple Titans

Tagged under: District 1, News, pfn, Playoffs

Michael Pietrangelo | November 16, 2024

*Featured Photo Courtesy of Kim Supko Photography

Warrington – Friday evening, the fourth-seeded Knights of North Penn knocked off previously unbeaten and number one seed Central Bucks South in a nail-biter.  The Knights capitalized on four consecutive Titan turnovers in the second half to secure their spot in the District One-6A Championship next Friday night against the number two-seeded team Downingtown West, who beat Central Bucks West 28-23 in our other semifinal thriller. It was a bittersweet victory for the Knights as they avenged their earlier 14-6 regular season defeat from week eight. The Titans held the Knights to 118 yards of total offense in that game while only yielding 2.9 yards per carry on the ground. Act two? The offensive line had different results this time around. By my account, Junior quarterback Matt Bucksar completed 73% (8 of 11) of his passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns. Junior running back Matt Pownall hauled in six catches for 133 yards and two scores. Pownall, who took home player of the game honors, also rushed for 76 yards on 16 carries.

The Titan’s defense started the game by allowing three first downs on the Knights’ first possession but took advantage of an errant snap that caused the Knights to have to punt deep in their own territory.  The Titans got right to work with what they do best, and that’s run the ball. Ground and pound, baby, and that’s exactly what they did. With 4:15 left in the opening quarter, Senior running back Jim Wade powered his way through a host of tacklers to paydirt for the 25-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked by the Knights so the lead would only be 6-0. Both team’s defense held strong, and the quarter ended still locked at 6-0.

The second quarter saw the Titans move the ball. However, they came away with nothing to show for it after their first possession. The Knights took over and proceeded to chip away at the clock as they picked up a first down after first down. From the Titans 25-yard line, quarterback Matt Bucksar was sacked by All-League defensive end Eddie Bowen, who picked up his 11^th sack of the season. After taking the sack, on third down with eleven yards to go, Bucksar fired a dart to a heavily guarded Matt Pownall, who hauled in the pass and went unscathed into the endzone for the 31-yard touchdown. After the PAT from senior kicker Ryan Bocklet was converted, the Knights took the 7-6 lead with 3:46 to go in the half. Looking for an answer, senior quarterback Owen Pinkerton called his own number and raced 36 yards for a first down. Six plays later, Pinkerton dove in from four yards out. The PAT was converted this time and with 30 seconds left on the clock to go in the half, the Titans took the 13-7 lead.

The second half got underway, and the Titans seemed to be rolling as they kept the momentum going in their favor. They picked up three first downs after five straight runs. On the sixth play of the drive, Pinkerton tried avoiding multiple defenders before trying to throw the ball but North Penn junior Jack Silvers hit Pinkerton as he started to throw and the ball went up in the air and came down in the outstretched arms of defensive end Aidan Eves. “That interception that Jack (Silvers) caused on the strip sack is what really got us going.” On the next possession, Eves forced and recovered a Pinkerton fumble. The Knights were unable to capitalize and punted the ball right back to the Titans but this time, senior defensive end Cole D’Ambrosio recovered the Titan fumble. One possession later, Bucksar found a wide-open Eves in the flat to tie the game up. After the Ryan Bocklet PAT the Knights took the 14-13 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, the Titans coughed up the ball again. Two plays later, Bucksar heaved a shot downfield into the arms of Pownall for their second connection, and a 21-13 lead with 6:52 to go in the game. On the next Titans’ possession, sophomore Braylen Cape gave the Titans some hope when he scored from eight yards out and brought the Titans within two points with the score 21-19. The Titans tried to tie the game up with a two-point conversion but were stopped by the Knights’ defense.  The Titans did stop the Knights from doing any more damage and got the ball back with under two minutes to go. On that possession sophomore Sal Colella forced a fumble and sophomore Rylei Gray recovered it to seal the deal for the Knights. The Knights would down the ball and escape victorious. After the game, I caught up with head coach Dick Beck and this is what he had to say about his team’s performance, “On defense, I thought our guys were getting the ball out, either stripping or deflecting on a pass- You know the game ended fittingly with Rylei hitting them and popping the ball out and ending the game.” Beck then talked about the adversity his team has faced. “We’ve been through a lot this year but this team has worked so hard and I told them they really earned this spot to be in this game- They are a great team and we have a lot of respect for South and for us to able to beat a team like that, I couldn’t be more proud.”  

What’s next: South ends their magical ride 12-1 overall after finishing 13-2 the season prior. An overall record of 25-3 in the last two seasons and a district championship is a great legacy to leave behind for this senior class. The Knights (11-2) will now head to second-seed Downingtown West (12-1) to face off in the District Championship. This will be the second time in two seasons that the Whippets will play in the district chip. Stay tuned next week to see what unfolds at the state level.

Stars of the Game

My first star of the game is Matt Pownall. The junior was a force to be reckoned with. Matt was dominant in the passing game, hauling in six balls for 133 yards and two scores. He also rushed 16 times for 76 yards. On the defensive side of the ball he broke up two passes.

My second star of the game was senior tight end/defensive end Aidan Eves. Aidan was a one-man wrecking crew on the defeive side of the ball. He had an interception, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and scored a three-yard touchdown.

No Students were available for my Student Spotlight feature

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