Eaton’s 94-yard TD run helps North Penn hold off CB West

DOYLESTOWN >> North Penn coach Dick Beck described it as “probably the best run I’ve ever seen.”

With the Knights football team situated at its own six late in the second quarter, Khalani Eaton took a handoff to the right side and by the time he got to around the 25-yard line was surrounded by a crowd of Central Bucks West defenders.

But Eaton powered through tackle attempts and continued churning forward and getting just past the 35 he had broken free, found open space and quickly only the end zone was in front of him.

“I go until I heard I whistle blow, you know what I’m saying,” Eaton said. “So I just kept moving my feet, just kept moving my body and as soon as I seen grass, I just started getting big.”

Eaton didn’t let West catch him, racing away for a 94-yard touchdown with just 47 seconds left before halftime, the sensational effort putting North Penn up 28-8 in the Suburban One League National Conference contest Friday night.

“As soon as I saw the grass, I couldn’t even believe I was still running on my feet,” he said. “Soon as I got to about the 10-yard line, I was super gassed but I just had to push that too.”

Eaton’s highlight-reel run was easily the longest of the visiting Knights’ big plays before the break – all four of their first-half touchdowns coming from at least 35 yards out as North Penn built a 20-point lead then held off CB West to stay undefeated with a 28-14 victory at War Memorial Field.

“Our main goal was to come out here and throw everything at them cause their defense really couldn’t stop us,” NP senior wide receiver Levi Carroll said. “Coach Beck was saying that all week and I really do believe him on that.”

Eaton ran for 205 yards and two TDs in the first half and finished with 240 yards on 20 carries. Carroll, meanwhile, caught a pair of TDs as North Penn (8-0, 5-0 conference) earned its second straight win over the Bucks (6-2, 4-1). The victory and Central Bucks East’s loss to Pennridge has the Knights as the only perfect side left in National play with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

We’re not the perfect (team) but this was a good win,” Eaton said. “But we still have a lot of work to do.”

CB West, which had its six-game win streak snapped, kept fighting in the second half and cut the margin to 28-14 on Eli Boehm’s 11-yard touchdown run at 11:25 in the fourth.

After forcing a Knights three-and-out, the Bucks reached the NP eight after Ganz Cooper found Jeremy Goldrick for a 20-yard completion on 4^th-and-5. But on the next play, West fumbled on a run and NP’s Xavier Bryan recovered it in the end zone with 3:38 left. The Knights proceeded to run out the clock.

“I thought we played a really poor first half on both sides of the ball,” CB West coach Rob Rowan said. “And we just asked our kids, look, that wasn’t our brand of football, that’s not who we are so just come out in the second half, forget about the outcome and just play our brand of football. And I thought our kids absolutely answered the bell.

“We played for 48 minutes, really unfortunate to see that fumble down at the end cause I firmly believe that we would have scored and now you’re looking at 28-21 with about three-and-a-half, four minutes left on the clock and now it’s a ballgame.”

Vinny Cherubini paced the Bucks on the ground with seven carries for 75 yards – 54 coming on a third-quarter run. Cooper threw for 75 yards on 4-for-12 passing with an interception and added 25 yards on 10 carries.

West, which is now 10^th in the District 1-6A power rankings, looks to bounce back when it hosts Neshaminy Friday.

“I thought we wore them down, I thought they got tired and late in the third, early in the fourth quarter I thought we started wearing them down,” Rowan said. “And my message to our kids was this – we just started too late and we started playing our brand of football too late and against a really good team like that, you don’t get away with that. So like I said we’ll be OK and we’ll learn from the positives.”

North Penn quarterback Ryan Zeltt finished 6-of-12 passing for 104 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for the Knights, who are second in the 6A rankings and are home Friday against CB East.

A strong defensive start helped North Penn get out to a 21-0 lead, the Knights forcing three-and-outs on three of West’s first four drives while also coming up with a fourth-down stop on West’s second series to take over at the NP 21.

“I thought Amir Rose was outstanding tonight – he was all over the field,” Beck said. “I thought Darren Miller played a great game, too. I thought they played really well. I thought the whole d-front really was in good position all night.”

North Penn took a 7-0 lead on the ensuing possession, Zeltt capping the five-play, 79-yard drive by hitting Carroll going down the right side for a 40-yard touchdown as time expired in the first quarter.

“We’ve been running that all week,” Carroll said. “It’s like a fake block and I fake the block on the corner and then I just run past him.”

The Knights made it 14-0 at 8:51 in the second quarter on another Zeltt-to-Carroll connection, this one from 43-yards out to finish a two-play, 48-yard drive.

“Pretty much just beat him deep really,” Carroll said.

North Penn needed just one play on its next offensive series to go up 21-0 – Eaton going around the left side then dashing through the defense for a 35-yard touchdown run at 6:22.

On a 3^rd-and-7 from the West 38, Boehm took a screen pass from Cooper yards down to the Knights 14. Cooper just picked up a first down on a 4^th-and-1 at the five and a play later Donte Mancini got over the goal line from four yards out at 1:52. West could not get off the extra point, but holder Austin Hahn rolled and found Goldrick for a two-point conversion to make it 21-8.

North Penn faced a 2-and-11 from its own six when Eaton pulled off his phenomenal run for the 94-yard score in the half’s final minute

“When I was watching it I thought maybe he fumbled cause there was like a scramble with West kids and everybody was cheering,” Beck said. “I’m like ‘What happened.’”

The Knights could not find the same offensive success after halftime. On the first drive after the break, NP reached the West 49 but had to punt while its second series ended with an interception by Sean Blue at the Bucks’ six.

The following play, it looked as if Cherubini would replicate Eaton’s long run, breaking away before being tackled at the Knights 40 for a 54-yard gain. Boehm’s 11-yard TD run finished an eight-play, 96-yard drive at 11:25 in the fourth – a blocked extra point making it 28-14.

West forced a NP punt after a three-and-out and took over at its own 42 with 9:46 left. The Bucks were in position to make it a one-score game but fumble on 1^st-and-Goal from the eight – the ball bouncing into the end zone and recovered by the Knights.

North Penn 28, CB West 14
North Penn (8-0, 5-0) 7 21 0 0 — 28
CB West (6-2, 4-1) 0 8 0 6 — 14
Scoring
First Quarter
NP — Ryan Zeltt 40 pass to Levi Carroll (Ryan Bocklett kick), 0:00.
Second Quarter
NP — Zeltt 43 pass to Carroll (Bocklett kick), 8:51.
NP — Khalani Eaton 35 run (Bocklett kick), 6:22.
CBW — Donte Mancini 4 run (Austin Hahn pass to Jeremy Goldrick), 1:52.
NP — Eaton 94 run (Bocklett kick), 0:47.
Fourth Quarter
CBW — Eli Boehm 11 run (kick blocked), 11:25.
TEAM STATISTICS
NP CBW
First Downs 14 15
Rushes-Yards 28-280 46-207
Passing Yards 104 75
Total Yards 384 282
Passing 6-12-1 4-13-1
Punts 2 3
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 5-50 4-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
North Penn: Khalani Eaton 20-240, 2 TD; Donovan Williams 2-18; Levi Carroll 1-12; Ethan Spann 2-10; Ryan Zeltt 3-0.
Central Bucks West: Vinny Cherubini 7-75; Eli Boehm 13-40, TD; Donte Mancini 13-37, TD; Ganz Cooper 10-25; Connor McFadden 2-24; Graham Bradley 1-6.
PASSING
North Penn: Ryan Zeltt 6-12-1, 104, 2 TDs.
Central Bucks West: Ganz Cooper 4-12-1, 75; Donte Mancini 0-1-0, 0.
RECEIVING
North Penn: Levi Carroll 2-83, 2 TD; Khalani Eaton 1-12; Donovan Williams 1-4; Xavier Bryan 1-3; James Mangine 1-2.
Central Bucks West: Eli Bohem 1-48; Jeremy Goldrick 1-20; Connor McFadden 1-4; Vinny Cherubini 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS
North Penn: Marc Cobbs.
Central Bucks West: Sean Blue.