North Penn excels in all three phases, wins big over Abington

TOWAMENCIN >> The spotlight grew larger and larger for North Penn on Friday night, as several players made their own special contributions in a thorough 58-8 victory over Abington.

“We had fun tonight,” said a smiling Khalani Eaton, who needed just 12 carries to rack up 125 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “It does a lot to give other guys a right to shine.”

Nine different players carried the football for the Knights, six more caught passes, and a dominant North Penn defense didn’t allow the Ghosts a first down in the opening quarter.

North Penn looked strong in all phases of the game, adding a kickoff return for a touchdown and a blocked punt, in winning its Suburban One League National Conference opener and raising its record to 2-0.

“I thought the kids were focused. It was a good week of practice for us defensively,” said coach Dick Beck. “(Abington) gives you a lot to prepare for so our guys did a nice job. The scout team did a really nice job this week preparing our defense so I was really happy with that.

“The kids penetrated well. I thought we tackled, covered guys when they ran their play action, so I was very happy with how we were very sound defensively and stayed out of trouble.”

Amir Rose, Jalen Edwards, Darren Miller and Luke Cody all made significant plays defensively in a first half that saw the Knights limit Abington to 30 offensive yards, as NP built a 31-2 advantage by the break.

Meanwhile, the Knights scored on five of their six first-half possessions to put the game out of reach.

“The offense was rolling a little bit,” Beck said. “I think we can do a lot of things. We’re trying to spare Lani a little bit – we don’t wanna give him the ball 30 times a game because it’s gonna be a long season. We definitely wanna give him his touches and we’re gonna let everybody touch the ball, try to spread it and be as balanced as possible.”

North Penn went right to work on its first series of the night.

The Knights needed just four plays to reach the end zone, with Eaton breaking free for a 34-yard touchdown run to open the scoring.

After a second Abington (1-1) punt, North Penn was right back in the end zone.

Ryan Zeltt hooked up with Tyler Beam for a nine-yard score, boosting the North Penn advantage to 14-0 just midway through the first quarter.

Zeltt would hit six different targets in the first half for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Said Beck: “I really thought Ryan threw the ball well. He played well.”

Eaton’s second TD of the night was a one-yard burst on the first play of the second half, widening the margin to 21-0.

Abington got on the board with a safety (a penalty was called on NP in the end zone), but the Knights added to their lead soon after when Zeltt found James Mangine for an eight-yard touchdown and a 28-2 cushion.
After the Knights blocked a punt, Ryan Bocklet booted a 25-yard field goal to make it 31-2 at the break.

The special teams were just getting started.

Levi Carroll returned the second-half kickoff 84 yards for a score, as North Penn sprinted to a 37-2 lead and the running clock kicked in.

Saud Salahuddin caught a short pass from quarterback John Dzielawa and raced away to a 49-yard score for Abington’s touchdown.

After that, the Knights made three more trips to the end zone, getting there on a two-yard plunge by Jason Marrero, a seven-yard surge by Amir Major, and a 34-yard interception return by Max Zampirri.

“We just gotta keep that momentum going, keep working,” Eaton said.

North Penn 58, Abington 8

Abington             0  2  6  0 –  8
North Penn          14 17 13 14 – 58
First Quarter
NP-Khalani Eaton 34 run (Ryan Bocklet kick), 9:28.
NP-Tyler Beam 9 pass from Ryan Zeltt (Bocklet kick), 5:32.
Second Quarter
NP-Eaton 1 run (Bocklet kick), 11:55.
A-Safety (penalty on North Penn in end zone), 6:35.
NP-James Mangine 8 pass from Zeltt (Bocklet kick), 2:16.
NP-Bocklet 25 field goal, :02.
Third Quarter
NP-Levi Carroll 84 kickoff return (kick failed), 11:44.
A-Saud Salahuddin 49 pass from John Dzielawa (kick failed), 9:03.
NP-Jason Marrero 2 run (Bocklet kick), 3:20.
Fourth Quarter
NP-Amir Major 7 run (Aidan Hoy kick), 3:53.
NP-Max Zampirri 34 interception return (Hoy kick), 1:17.
                        A               NP
First Downs             6               21            
Rushes-yards            26-38           31-233
Passing (c-att-int)     7-13-1          9-14-0
Passing yards           95              125
Total yards             133             358
Punts                   4               0
Penalties-yards         4-17            3-35
Turnovers               2               0
Rushing
Abington: Zahmir Lee 13-27; John Dzielawa 5-(-16); Jaime Rivera 1-3; Brooklyn Brown 3-12; Jason Boyd 1-12; Michael Moore 3-0.
North Penn: Khalani Eaton 12-125, 2 TD; James Mangine 1-10; Michael Cliver 2-2; Amir Major 2-17, TD; Donovan Williams 2-8; Ryan Zeltt 2-10; Devon Stewart 2-4; Jason Marrero 4-13, TD; Michai Cuffie 4-44.
Passing
Abington: Dzielawa 7-12-95-1-0; Michael Moore 0-1-0-0-1.
North Penn: Zeltt 9-14-125-2-0; Cliver 0-0-0-0-0.
Receiving
Abington: Ryan Smith 2-5; Saud Salahuddin 1-49, TD; Josh Young 2-15; Jaime Rivera 2-26.
North Penn: Bobby Hill 1-23; James Mangine 1-8, TD; Levi Carroll 3-44; Xavier Bryan 2-25; Tyler Beam 1-9, TD; Rashad McNeill 1-16.
Interceptions
North Penn: Max Zampirri.