Council Rock football Indians top Pennsbury for first time in 17 years (VIDEOS)

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NEWTOWN – The battle with Council Rock North came down to one last heart-stopping fourth-down play in which the potential game-stealing touchdown for Pennsbury tipped off a receiver’s hands in the end zone, though really, the second half was anything but exhilarating – if you like offense.

The Falcons (2-3, 1-1: SONL) went into the locker room trailing 13-7 and that is exactly how visiting Pennsbury went home – with a 6-point loss, its third of the season and first in the Suburban One National League (SONL).

The Indians topped the Falcons for the first time since 1999 and registered their first win under first-year head coach Matt McHugh after coming up winless in their first three duels including last week’s 43-7 loss to Neshaminy. While CR North (1-3, 1-1: SONL) surrendered 132 points in its first three games, the Rock held the Falcons to a lone second-quarter TD scamper by Zach Demarchis that tied the score at 7-all – and that was on fourth down.

“This is one I had circled on the calendar,” admitted McHugh.

“You look at the mystique that is Pennsbury and this is one of those ones that you want to get, especially going through the track that we went through with CB South, Coatesville and Neshaminy.

“We got it and we’re very excited as a program right now.”

That second-quarter TD by Demarchis was Pennsbury’s only score all afternoon. Indeed, most of the Falcons’ offense was spurred by the quarterback with Demarchis throwing for 90 yards in the first half and over 70 in the second. For the game, junior wideout Tyrone Hodges Jr. caught eight passes for over 90 yards.

The Falcons found it tough to ever get its ground-and-pound offense going, however, with junior RB Nasan Robbins gaining just 23 net yards on 19 carries.

“We are hugely disappointed,” admitted Pennsbury head coach Dan McShane. “We thought we’d play much better but right now, we’re struggling to score points.”

After a Falcon fumble, the Indians got on the board first, taking eight plays on their second possession to move the ball 62 yards down the field to paydirt, capping the drive off with a 6-yard scoring scamper on fourth down by senior Andrew Kelly.

Pennsbury answered with a 10-play drive that moved the ball inside North’s 10 yard line. The possession stalled, however, when Indian defender Shane Oros tipped a third-down pass out of harm’s way and the Falcons came away empty when they missed a 27-yard field goal attempt.

After the game-tying score by Demarchis, the Rock rebounded with a 12-play drive that covered 57 yards and was capped by an Evan Devine 2-yard scoring aerial on a rollout to senior Mason Luff.

Up 13-6 after a missed extra point, all the Indians had to do was hold onto the lead and they did.

Despite three second-half possessions that began at midfield, the Falcons failed to score a point after the intermission. Pennsbury punted three times in the second half, turned it over on downs twice and tossed an interception. For the game, the Falcons committed three turnovers to the Rock’s one.

“They run a lot of zone-read – inside zone and outside zone,” said McHugh. “We were able to pick up on their tendencies and put our guys in position to make some plays on defense.”

Junior Nick Muro recovered a first-half fumble for CR North and the Indians got interceptions from seniors Connor Collins and T.J. Ayrer. Senior Joe Celli intercepted for Pennsbury.

NOTES: After scouring the record books to determine the last time the Indians topped the Falcons, it was determined that this was CR North’s first ever win over the Falcons. The last time the Indians topped Pennsbury was 1999, a 25-15 triumph registered under former head coach Mike Ortman. CR North went unbeaten in the SOL Continental Conference in 2006 but did not play Pennsbury that year.

Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter

Council Rock North 13, Pennsbury 6

(Sept. 24 at CR North)

CR NORTH 7 6 0 0 – 13

PENNSBURY 0 7 0 0 – 7

First Quarter

CRN – Andrew Kelly 6-yd. run (Alexio Troia kick)

Second Quarter

P – Zach Demarchis 2-yd. run (Chris Knop kick)

CRN – Mason Luff 2-yd. pass from Evan Devine (kick failed)

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Steve Sherman

Steve Sherman
Steve Sherman is the Sports Editor for Bucks Local News.

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