Penncrest rewards Smith first victory in new job

LOWER GWYNEDD — First-year Penncrest head coach Ryan Smith preached patience and understanding coming into the season.

Smith represents the third head coach in the last four years for the Lions. They are coming off a 1-9 season in 2018. Perhaps he is a beacon of hope and stability for a program seemingly mired in constant turnover. After all, the Lions have matched their win total from last season one game into the 2019 season, beating Wissahickon 16-10 on Friday night.

It wasn’t glamorous, and understandably so. It is asking a lot of players to learn yet another playbook and buy into yet another coaching philosophy. Despite the inevitable imperfections, Smith was all smiles following the game.

“It feels great,” Smith said. “We still have a big road ahead. We made a lot of mistakes out here tonight. This wasn’t very clean. We were able to get away with some things. Our kids played hard. They competed.”

Penncrest quarterback Jimmy Cage did enough to keep the Lions afloat after beating out fellow sophomore Nick Chelo for the starting job. It is fitting that Cage’s first touchdown pass of the season was a 14-yard connection with his older brother, senior wideout David Cage.

“[Jimmy Cage] ran the offense,” Smith said. “He did what we asked him to do. He has to be a little bit tougher in the pocket. I think his reads were a little bit off. But, he led. We’re proud of that.”

Perhaps Penncrest’s best unit on the night was its special teams. Kicker/punter Kevin Mills drilled a 26-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. It put the Lions up 10-7 and drained Wissahickon of any momentum it had built. The field goal came as a result of a lost fumble by Trojans’ running back Jalen Smalls.

Later, with 6:23 left in the game, Mills delivered a punt that pinned Wissahickon inside its 3-yard line. That ensured the game would remain out of reach.

“(The punt) was huge,” Smith said. “We knew we were going to have to play the field position game. You saw early (Wissahickon) was getting chunks of yards. So, that punt was enormous.”