Pennsbury football stops Truman, remains in playoff hunt

FAIRLESS HILLS >> Although its offense remained sporadic at best, at least long-time powerhouse Pennsbury is once again playing winning football.

Playing in front of the usual huge crowd on Homecoming night, Pennsbury defeated Truman, 17-6, on Friday to improve to 4-3 and remain right in the hunt for a playoff berth.

It was a big win for the young Falcons in the sense for the first time this year, they won with relative ease. On the other hand, their play at times was disappointing in a game in which Truman suffered a huge loss when its best player, quarterback Jordan Freeman, suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter.

By that time, Pennsbury already had a 7-0 lead, courtesy of its best drive of the entire evening. On its second possession, Pennsbury drove 68 yards and scored on a 2-yard run by Tyrone Hodges Jr. This drive featured some hard running by Joe Meglen, who shared the bulk of the ball carrying duties with Nasan Robbins.

After Freeman was knocked out of the game, Pennsbury then moved the ball to the Truman 12 yard line and appeared on the verge of taking control. Instead, the Falcons turned it over on a fumble and the Tigers (2-5) had life.

This became even more the case when Truman then stunned Pennsbury with a 77-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Robbie Tressler to Sayyid Saunders.

The Truman touchdown pass started with a short throw over the middle. After Pennsbury missed a tackle, Saunders did the rest by sprinting down the right sideline and pulling away from the Falcon defense with ease. The fact Pennsbury couldn’t catch him was no surprise when you consider Saunders finished in the top five of the state last spring in the 100 meter dash.

When Truman missed the extra point, Pennsbury remained ahead and it was then able to build its lead to 10-6 on the last play of the first half when Chris Knop drilled a 28-yard field goal. The field goal was set up by a pass from Zach DeMarchis to Hodges and then a 30-yard keeper by DeMarchis to the Truman 10.

The key play of the entire game then occurred at the start of the third quarter, namely, an electrifying 80-yard touchdown kickoff return by Nate Bost, who twice appeared trapped, but was able to keep the legs moving and shake off several tacklers. Once he got free the second time around the 50 it was off to the races for the senior speedster.

“I just got the ball and ran like I know how to run,” said Bost.

Bost’s touchdown was the end of the scoring and pretty much the end of the action. Truman did have a decent drive in the third quarter, but Pennsbury eventually held on downs. It also got a big sack from

Mike Gobora in the fourth quarter.

As for Pennsbury’s offense, it did absolutely nothing in the second half and also hurt itself with a couple of holding calls.

When you’ve had as much success as Pennsbury has enjoyed over the years, you tend to get judged on style points. On this front the Falcons didn’t exactly impress, but things are looking up for a team that’s starting more underclassmen than usual.

Contact Rick Fortenbaugh at rfortenbaugh@trentonian.com, or @RickFort7 on Twitter

Pennsbury 17, Truman 6

(Oct. 8 at Pennsbury)

Truman (2-5)      0              6              0              0              —           6

Pennsbury (4-3)               7              3              7              0              —           17

First Quarter

P — Hodges 2 run (Knop kick)

Second Quarter

T — Saunders 77 pass from Tressler (kick failed)

P — Knop 28 field goal

Third Quarter

P — Bost 80 kickoff return (Knop kick)