Penn Wood offense pours it on to win going away

YEADON >> In its first home game of the season, Penn Wood had its best performance yet, using a dynamic offense to defeat Norristown, 44-14 at Kerr Field.

Norristown only led for one minute and 34 seconds, following an eight-yard touchdown pass from Eagles quarterback Izaiah Webb to wide receiver Austin Montgomery with 5:20 left in the second quarter.

Shifty running back Elijah Gleplay then broke a big run for Penn Wood, with a horse-collar tackle penalty tacked on setting the Patriots up near the goal-line. Quarterback Desman Johnson Jr. plowed it in from the one-yard line, and a successful two-point conversion gave Penn Wood a 14-7 lead.

“The line did a great job up front,” Gleplay said. “The key was trying to get outside those guys, looking to make big plays off stretches and tosses on the outside.”

Though Johnson added another touchdown run with 1:10 remaining in the first half, this one from 46 yards, Norristown stayed in the game. When Webb connected with Zhafirr Satterthwaite for a 47-yard score early in the third quarter, the Eagles only trailed by one possession, 22-14.

On the ensuing kickoff, however, Penn Wood quickly expanded their lead. Tayshon Harmon sprinted down the left sideline, past the Norristown defense, and into the end zone for a 95-yard touchdown.

“It was a screw-up by our special teams, and that cost it,” Norristown coach Jason Powel said. “When you get within striking distance and then they answer with that kind of touchdown, it kind of takes the wind out of our sails.”

The Eagles couldn’t recover from that blow, as Penn Wood scored the game’s final 22 points. Rahiem Bowens scored on a Johnson pass from 45 yards, and Micken Daley secured a 12-yard touchdown by tapping his toes in the right corner of the end zone.

Powel hopes his players can learn from their mistakes and be prepared for their game next week against Spring-Ford.

“We’re playing with a lot of young guys,” Powel said. “They get more experience each game, and we hope that they realize now, when we call their name, they’re in the football game, and they need to make it count when they go in there. We’ll go back, watch the film with our guys, and get ready for a tough Spring-Ford team, and we’ll hopefully give them all they can handle.”

With a second straight win, Penn Wood improves to 2-2. Gleplay feels the offense is clicking well heading into another home game Saturday, against the Haverford School.

“Week 1 and Week 2 we were kind of rough, but I think we’re getting into the right shape now,” Gleplay said. “Going into a big game next week against Haverford School, I think our offense is going to be on point. We need to keep getting outside of people and using our speed, because we have good, athletic guys like Kennedy Poles, Rahiem Bowens, and myself … I think we can be a really good team on the offensive side.”