Santiago, William Tennent run past Pennridge

WARMINSTER >> With time winding down in the fourth quarter and William Tennent trailing Pennridge, 22-21, the team faced a third and goal from the two-yard line.

The entire stadium knew who was getting the ball for the Panthers with the game on the line, it was just a matter of whether or not Pennridge could stop it.

Unfortunately for the Rams, William Tennent leading rusher Thomas Santiago took the inside handoff, his 28th of the night, and broke through a couple would-be tacklers on his way to the endzone, giving the Panthers a 29-22 win over Pennridge on Senior Night.

“This win means a lot,” William Tennent quarterback Matthew Miller said. “We’ve come a long way as a program and this win is part of that. It feels like we’ve really turned things around here.”

Santiago finished with 163 yards on those 28 carries, including two touchdowns. His first score of the night got things going for the Panthers’ offense, finding the end zone from 62 yards out to give his team an early 7-0 advantage.

“It was just the little things. Mental lapses, guys over playing things, and it hurt us,” Pennridge head coach Cody Muller said. “But that takes nothing away from Santiago, that kid runs tougher than anyone we’ve seen. He’s a great running back.”

It wasn’t just Santiago that was controlling things on the ground for William Tennent (3-5. 1-3 SOL Continental). The Panthers finished with 277 yards rushing, including 88 yards and a touchdown from Miller.

“It’s fun seeing everyone on the team run the ball well,” Miller said. “The line really opens up big holes for us and it’s just up to us to hit them and run hard.”

The Pennridge (1-7, 0-5) ground attack was led by a two-headed monster of its own in the duo of Taj Utsey and Brayden Landherr.

Landherr finished with 73 yards, all of which came in the first half, and a 35-yard score that tied the game in the first quarter.

Utsey led the team with 94 yards rushing but didn’t find the end zone.

Neither team got much of a passing game going, but perhaps the biggest play of the game came through the air.

With time winding down in the first half and the score tied at 14, Miller dropped back and hit wide receiver Nick Dejesus on a backwards pass to his right. Dejesus looked up, saw receiver Derrick Consenza running open down the field and let go of a perfect pass that found the junior for a 76-yard touchdown pass to give his team the lead at the break.

“I got the pass and saw Derrick running,” Dejesus said. “I tossed it up and took a good hit so I didn’t even see the play, but when I got up I saw him running to the end zone and just started running toward him to try and celebrate.”

After a scoreless third, Pennridge took a 22-21 lead after Jack Garner intercepted Miller to set up a quarterback sneak by Pennridge junior Bobby Croyle. The Rams lined up to kick the extra point and tie the game at 21, but an offsides penalty by the Panthers convinced Muller to go for it and take the one-point lead on another Croyle sneak.

At 1-7, the Rams will finish under .500 for the second year in a row. Last year’s losing season was the first since 2007 for the program.

“We played with heart at times, played with emotion at times. There are some plays you wish you could have back as a coach,” Muller said. “Some of those guys are giving everything they have and I wish I had more for them. I wish we came out on top in this game for a lot of those guys that do play that way.”

The win snaps a four-game losing streak for the Panthers as they prepare for next week’s game against Central Buck East.

“I’m glad we came away with the win. We’re a work in progress and today was a big step,” Tennent head coach Rich Clemens. “These kids have always played to the very end and they did that again today. Is there stuff to clean up? Absolutely. Are we playing anywhere near our potential? Absolutely not. But I’m proud of the way they fought today. I knew they’d fight to the end but it still makes me proud when it happens.”

William Tennent 29, Pennridge 22
William Tennent 7 14 0 8 — 29
Pennridge 7 7 0 8 — 22
Scoring
First Quarter
WT — 62 yard run by Thomas Santiago; 9:17
P — 35 yard run by Brayden Landherr; 00:46
Second Quarter
P — 9 yard pass from Bobby Croyle to Connor Pleibel; 11:55
WT — 16 yard run by Matthew Miller; 5:35
WT — 76 yard pass from Nick Dejesus to Derrick Consenza; 00:07
Third Quarter
None
Fourth Quarter
P — 1 yard run by Bobby Croyle; 11:08
WT — 2 yard run by Thomas Santiago; 1:54
Team Statistics
WT P
First Downs 13 10
Rushing yards 277 229
Passing yards 117 81
Total yards 394 310
Passing 5-8 7-14
Penalties 8-58 3-30
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Punts-Avg 2-32.5 1-37
Individual Statistics
RUSHING
WT: Thomas Santiago 28-161 2 TD; Fernando Delgado4-11; Matthew Miller 8-88 1 TD; Drew Forr 1-2; Stephen Ortutay 1-15
P: Taj Utsey 14-94; Jack Ferguson 3-19; Brayden Landherr 10-73 1 TD; Bobby Croyle 6-21 1 TD; Elias Dantzler 1-22
PASSING
WT: 4-7 41 Yards 1 INT; Nick Dejesus 1-1 76 Yards 1 TD
P: Bobby Croyle 7-14 81 Yards 1 TD
RECEIVING
WT: Fernando Delgado 1-13; Derrick Consenza 2-83 1 TD; Nick Dejesus 1-11; Thomas Santiago 1-10
P: Connor Pleibel 5-45 1 TD; Elias Dantzler 2-36