North Penn rolls past CB South to cap perfect regular season
WARRINGTON >> All the wind and rain Friday night did little to wash away the North Penn football team’s satisfaction in completing its regular season undefeated.
“It means everything,” Knights senior tight end/linebacker Tyler Beam said. “For us seniors we’ve come a long way with each other. Finishing 10-0 is just a cherry on top of our season.”
With the conditions making passing a struggle, North Penn relied on Khalani Eaton and the ground game to secure the outright Suburban One League National Conference title.
Eaton broke off a 94-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to put the Knights ahead as the senior collected 198 of North Penn’s 375 rushing yards as it rolled past host Central Bucks South for a 35-7 victory.
“The game plan was to try to run the ball,” North Penn coach Dick Beck said. “I didn’t realize the weather was going to be this bad ‘til yesterday but as soon as we got done warmups I said this is going to be tough to throw the balls, let’s buckle down and run at them.”
Michai Cuffie and Ethan Spann each reached the end zone on runs while Beam capped the scoring with an interception return TD in the fourth as the Knights (10-0, 7-0) earned both their first conference title and first perfect regular season since 2018.
“You don’t get a chance many times to be 10-0 so we’re going to enjoy it,” Beck said. “We’ll start our new season next week and maybe we can relax a little bit. And what I mean by that doesn’t mean we don’t want to win every game in the playoffs, obviously we want to go as far as we can but I told the kids you’re going to get that championship jacket, you’re going to get that trophy in the case in the lobby.
“And these seniors have never won a championship so I think this is something that we strive for from day one and that’s one of our goals but we want to keep going.”
Beam also had the longest catch of the night hauling in a pass from quarterback Ryan Zeltt down the middle for a 31-yard gain on a 3rd-and-22 from South 36. The completion – the last of two for the Knights, who threw just four times – set up Spann’s five-yard TD run on the next play for a 28-7 lead at 11:55 in the fourth.
“Ryan threw a great ball and I just happen to be open,” Beam said. “Catching in these conditions, I mean Ryan just put it on me great.”
Beam then sniffed out a screen near midfield on South’s next series and took it back all the way for the 49-yard pick six and a 35-7 lead with 9:23 remaining.
“That was on my mind,” said Beam of scoring on his interception. “Get as far down as I could and I luckily got it.”
Tyler Robinson ran four times for 75 yards while Zak Fisher had 70 yards on five runs for Central Bucks South (6-4, 3-4) which has lost two straight after a five-game win streak.
North Penn entered Friday second in the District 1-6A rankings and stayed in that spot as the Knights look to make a run at their first district title since 2016.
CB South was 14th coming into the game and dropped to 15th, which would have the Titans and North Penn meeting again in next week’s first round. The Knights beat South in the 2019 district opening round 35-7.
“The o-line’s got to continue to block” Beck said. “I think the more balanced we can be running the ball and throwing the ball, the more explosive we’ll be. And defensively we got to cover when we get a chance to cover and we got to tackle a little bit better than we did tonight.”
The steady rain and heavy gusts showed their impact early. On the opening drive, CB South fumbled the ball away at the visitors’ 31. But the Knights lost a fumble just three plays later to give it back to the Titans at the North Penn 42.
“It was rough but we got through it,” Beam said. “We adapted to it and we just pushed through the weather.”
South took a 7-0 lead on the ensuing series when quarterback Brett Szarko got across the goal line on a 1-yard run on 3rd-and-Goal at 4:05 in the first quarter.
North Penn responded by pulling even on its next possession. Eaton picked up seven yards on a 4th-and-3 from the South 34 then scored three plays later, rushing up the middle then cutting right to reach the corner of the end zone for a 15-yard TD with 2.5 seconds left in the opening period.
A 54-yard Titans punt put North Penn at its own six but Eaton proceeded to reel off his second 94-yard touchdown run in three weeks – pulling off the feat previously in the win over Central Bucks West Oct. 15 – as he bust through tackle attempts in the secondary then sped away down the left sideline to score at 9:47. A blocked extra point kept the Knights up 13-7.
“We when lined up on the long run that he had – what was that like 94 yards – I said to myself I said I think he’s going to break this one cause it looked like it was there,” Beck said.
A Tyler Robinson 52-yard run on the next series gave South a 1st-and-Goal at the North Penn 10 but the Titans went backwards the next two plays then threw incomplete on third and fourth downs.
The Knights took over and made it a two-score lead on a five-play, 79-yard drive capped by Cuffie’s 47-yard touchdown run with 5:19 left in the first half. Zeltt ran in the two-point conversion for a 21-7 advantage.
“I was really happy for Michai Cuffie, started the first game of his career tonight and hit that long run which was a really nice run,” said Beck of the junior, who finished with 75 yards on 12 carries. “I thought he did a great job blocking for us.”
North Penn extended their lead to 28-7 with a 15-play, 76-yard drive that used 7:46 of the game clock. Jalen Edwards moved the chains twice on fourth downs – running for nine on 4th-and-3 from the South 43 then getting a yard on 4th-and-1 at the 25.
Zeltt then hit a wide-open Beam streaking down the middle for 31 yards on 3rd-and-22 from the 36 and Spann followed on the first play of the fourth by going through the middle for a five-yard TD.
