North Penn powers past Pennridge

TOWAMENCIN >> North Penn found its footing in the second half, namely, the hard-charging steps of Khalani Eaton.

“I felt I had to pick up my team,” said Eaton, who carried the ball 25 times Friday night for 155 yards and two touchdowns.

Eaton’s performance, which included an 18-yard sprint to the pylon for the eventual winning score, powered the Knights to a 21-14 victory over rival Pennridge on a cool, crisp night on the turf at Crawford Stadium.

Said Eaton, who helped lift his team to 5-0: “It feels real good, after last year with that weird (five-game) season, and then coming in here, brand-new year, brand-new stadium, it feels real good.”

The Knights also improved to a perfect 3-0 in the Suburban One League National Conference. The Rams, who led 7-0 early and battled throughout, are now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the National.

“I appreciate the effort of our kids. I think we played hard for four quarters,” said Rams coach Cody Muller. “When it came down to it, when we needed that much more energy, intensity, effort, we just didn’t have what it takes to win the game. We’ll get there. It’s Week Five, so we still have five more games in front of us.”

Taking a 14-7 lead into the fourth quarter, North Penn moved to the Ram 34-yard line on a 20-yard connection from quarterback Ryan Zeltt to wide receiver Levi Carroll.

Later, on 4th-and-9, Zeltt hit James Mangine for 15 to keep the drive alive.

And then, on 1st-and-10 at the 18, Eaton broke out to the left, used his speed to get to the corner, and slipped into the end zone to extend the Knight lead to 21-7.

“It felt good to see my team striving into the fourth quarter and never giving up,” Eaton said.

Open spaces created by Kevin Pownall, Avery Downing, Namir Rose, Mikai Green and Darren Miller were growing larger.

“That hole came wide open,” Eaton said of the score, “and that showed the work we do during the week.”

Pennridge got within 21-14 with seven minutes and 25 seconds to play, on a 25-yard rush by Connor Lelii, but North Penn used two clock-eating possessions to secure the victory.

Eaton rushed nine times for 41 yards on the final two drives, including a 12-yard chunk that saw him surge through multiple tacklers for the first down.

“It was a battle,” Carroll said of the win.

The defenses dug in early, as each team was forced to punt the ball away on its first possession.

But then the Pennridge offense struck, with quarterback Xavier Dantzler lofting a 36-yard strike down the left sideline – in stride – to Adam Mossbrook (four catches/88 yards).

That big connection set up Phil Picciotti’s 14-yard touchdown run on a toss left, putting the visitors in front, 7-0, late in the first quarter.

North Penn came right back.

In fact, the Knights scored touchdowns on consecutive offensive plays.

Eaton broke away for a 53-yard gain, setting up his own seven-yard TD run to even things at seven apiece early in the second.

“Big runs like that get the team going, get the momentum going,” Eaton said of the big burst.

And after a Pennridge punt, Zeltt (6-14, 129, TD) threw a strike to Carroll down the left sideline, and Carroll sprinted away for a 75-yard touchdown, as North Penn dashed into the lead, 14-7.

“It’s really nothing new to me,” Carroll said of the long strike. “(The back-to-back touchdowns) really got us going.”

Pennridge had two sustained drives in the second quarter, but the North Penn defense held both times, as the Knights took a 14-7 advantage into the break.

“They played tough. Our guys brought it. We played tough, played intense,” Muller said. “We did the things we needed to do. Offensively, we moved the ball. We just have to take advantage of those opportunities. When we have the ball down here in the red zone, we have to score.”

The Knights controlled the ball for most of the third quarter and built what would prove to be an insurmountable 14-point lead early in the fourth.

“I don’t know. It just felt like in the first half, we just didn’t have it going all together,” Carroll said. “We just clicked at halftime.”

North Penn 21, Pennridge 14

Pennridge 7 0 0 7 – 14
North Penn 0 14 0 7 – 21
First Quarter
P-Phil Picciotti 14 run (Sean Curry kick), 1:26.
Second Quarter
NP-Khalani Eaton 7 run (Ryan Bocklet kick), 11:51.
NP-Levi Carroll 75 pass from Ryan Zeltt (Bocklet kick), 9:48.
Fourth Quarter
NP-Eaton 18 run (Bocklet kick), 9:56.
P-Connor Lelii 25 run (Curry kick), 7:25.
P NP
First Downs 13 15
Rushes-yards 40-165 37-213
Passing (c-a-i) 6-11-0 6-14-0
Passing yards 96 129
Total yards 261 342
Punts 5 4
Penalties-yards 5-35 2-15
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Turnovers 0 1
Rushing
P: Connor Lelii 1-25, TD; Phil Picciotti 7-43, TD; Brennan Fisher 2-5; Adam Mossbrook 1-0; Xavier Dantzler 11-16; Tyler Wetzel 12-34; Nate Mossbrook 6-42.
NP: Eaton 25-155, 2 TD; James Mangine 4-11; Eathan Spann 3-33; Ryan Zeltt 4-11; Carroll 1-3.
Passing
P: Dantzler 6-11-96-0-0.
NP: Zeltt 6-14-129-1-0.
Receiving
P: Lelii 1-10; Adam Mossbrook 4-88; Fisher 1-(-2).
NP: Carroll 3-101, TD; Xavier Bryan 2-13; Mangine 1-15.