Dillon runs for 4 TDs, North Penn routs Pennsbury 38-0

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TOWAMENCIN  >> In its task to try and slow down the North Penn offense, there were too many questions and not enough answers for Pennsbury Friday night.

“Should we play eight man fronts, should we play seven-man fronts, should we defend the pass, should we defend the run, it’s a real quandary as they say,” Falcons first-year coach Dan McShane said. “A rock and a hard place, right?”

The Knights were more like boulder barreling downing a mountainside at maximum speed in the first half of the Suburban One League non-conference clash at Crawford Stadium.

NP moved the ball up and down the field with its passing game while Nick Dillon capped four drives with rushing touchdowns as North Penn rolled to its third straight win to start 2016 with a 38-0 rout.

“Well, when you got weapons like we have, we like to spread it around a little bit,” Knights coach Dick Beck said. “Keep everybody interested, keep the field balanced. When you got Reece (Udinski) throwing strikes all over the place, it’s nice.”

Udinski was efficient and productive, completing 19-of-23 passes for 314 yards with North Penn (3-0) scoring on six of its first seven drives and collecting all of its points before halftime.

“For me it’s easy. The line did great, they gave me all the time in the world and our receivers, they make me look good,” Udinski said. “So, I give all the props to them.”

The senior quarterback connected with Justis Henley nine times for 154 yards while Ricky Johns (five catches) and Dillon (two) each with 67 yards receiving.

“First half we wanted to go out there and play North Penn football like we always do,” Dillon said. “Just run up the score, do whatever we got to do.”

Dillon racked up a game-high 81 yards on 10 carries, finding the end zone on runs of 4, 11, 3 and 17 yards.  The senior almost had another score – he was tackled a yard shy of crossing the goal line on the game’s first offensive series with Johns punching it in on the next play.

“It’s was good to see Nick Dillon get back in the game,” Beck said. “He’s been gimping a lot, barely practiced this week. You know, he sent me a text last night saying ‘Hey, I really want to give this thing a try.’ So I told him we would let him go until he couldn’t go anymore. And I thought he had a really good night.”

After fourth straight drives ended with Dillon touchdowns, Kelly Macnamara completed North Penn’s scoring by hitting a 32-yard field goal – her second of the season – as time expired in the first half.

“It was really good. I was really excited, end of the half. It was a good way to finish it off,” Macnamara said.

Pennsbury (1-2), meanwhile, punted eight times and its deepest incursion into North Penn territory was to the 45 as the Falcons were shut out for the second straight game.

Zach Demarchis produced more than half of Pennsbury’s 119 total offensive yards – throwing for 38 on 7-of-13 passing with also running 37 on four carries.

“We’ve been struggling offensively for three weeks now, but we’re just young over there,” McShane said.

North Penn’s last shutout before Friday came against Abington 28-0 in Week 10 of the 2014 season. The Knights – 3-0 for the first time since 2009 – earned their 16 straight victory over Pennsbury, the last 11 coming under Beck.

“I think starting off the year we’re always concerned about how we’re going to look and this year we (have) just come out on fire,” Udinski said. “I think we want to keep this going into the conference schedule.”

North Penn begins its SOL Continental slate next week hosting 3-0 Central Bucks West. Pennsbury returns home for a non-conference matchup with William Tennent.

The Knights began the game’s opening series throwing – Udinski completing passes on the first three plays. He ended 4-for-4 on the seven-play, 74-yard drive that put North Penn up 7-0 at 9:51 in the first quarter on Johns’ 1-yard TD run.

“They did a good job pass protecting for him, (Udinski) does a good job of finding a little more time by sliding places,” McShane said. “And at that point his receivers are savvy enough, too, down the field. They got a lot of experience on offense and we don’t have a lot of experience right now on defense.

“And his receivers did a pretty good job of finding spaces and you give that kid that much time, it’s going to be lights out.”

North Penn recovered the ensuing kickoff at the Pennsbury 23, but the possession was the only one before half the Knights did not turn into points – turning the ball over on downs in four plays.

Facing a 3rd-and-8 on the next NP drive, Dillon took a screen pass from Udinski 38 yards down to the Falcons 15.

“They just had good blocks out there, I just wanted to keep things alive,” Dillon said.

Two plays later, Dillon had his first TD on a four-yard run at 4:09.

The North Penn advantage extended to 21-0 at 11:20 in the second quarter as Dillon bounced around the right side of the offensive line and dashed 11 yards to the end zone.

“We had a game plan coming in and we just executed well,” Udinski said. “And I think that’s what we try to do every night. We just have a game plan, try to follow it and it worked tonight.”

North Penn next took over with the ball at its own 7 but needed just seven plays and 1:22 to make it 28-0. The first 90 yards came through the air, the final three courtesy of Dillon the ground at 6:53.

Dillon finished a four-play, 65-yard drive with his fourth rushing score, weaving through the Pennsbury secondary and lunging across the goal line for a 17-yard touchdown.

“That was I just following my blockers on that one,” Dillon said. “They did a great job on that one.”

The Knights tacked on three more points after AJ Catanzaro’s interception set them up at the 50 with 1:08 left before halftime. On a 3rd-and-12 from the 30, Udinski connected with Henley over the middle for 14 and Macnamara knocked through a field goal from 32 yards out, sending NP to the locker room up 38.

Mike Cabrey

Mike Cabrey
Mike Cabrey is the Assistant Sports Editor for The Reporter and Montgomery News. Email him at mcabrey@thereporteronline.com.

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