Pennsbury grounds and pounds Council Rock North

FAIRLESS HILLS – For the first time this year, the Pennsbury High football team looked a lot like the Pennsbury team that went 13-2 last year.

After getting off to a 1-1 start in which it only scored 13 points in first two games, Pennsbury pulverized Council Rock North (1-1) by the score of 41-19 in front of another big home crowd Friday night, Sept. 18 at Falcon Field.

Don’t be confused by that final margin of victory. Prior to coming out flat at the start of the second half, Pennsbury (2-1) had stormed out to a 35-0 lead to put the Mercy Rule into effect.

This was old-fashioned Pennsbury Ground and Pound football at its best against a Rock North team that couldn’t stand up to the Falcons physically. Pennsbury’s offensive line simply blew the Indians off the line of scrimmage and the result was a whopping 402 rushing yards in the last week of non-league play.

Leading the charge was bruising 220-pound fullback Chris Rupprecht, who ran over the Indians for 183 yards on 22 carries and scored four touchdowns for a Pennsbury team that reached the end zone on five of its first six first-half possessions.

“We have some giant guys up front,” said Rupprecht of an offensive line that includes 6-8, 370-pound right tackle Maurice Stukes. “We had a good week of practice and we did well tonight.

“I love hard-nosed football.”

After Rupprecht opened the scoring on a 9-yard run to complete a 58-yard drive, Pennsbury went 97 yards on seven plays. A 30-yard run by Daulton Hose was the big play and led to a touchdown pass of 3 yards from quarterback Mike Alley to Greg Lichtenstein.

Before the night was over, Alley also had a big game with 129 rushing yards that included a 57-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

The one constant in in the Falcons’ first two games has been their swarming defense. Make it now three games because Pennsbury completely bottled up Rock North standout quarterback Brandon McIlwain in that first half.

McIlwain was on the run for most of the game and was not effective when it counted because the Falcons were able to use their speed to contain a University of South Carolina-bound quarterback who had nearly single handedly helped Rock North score 72 points in its first two games.

McIlwain did end up end up with 144 passing yards, but nearly all of that came when Pennsbury had long since put it into cruise control. McIlwain did rush for 68, but 40 of those came on one play and he was held way below his usual rushing and passing totals.

Pennsbury isn’t as explosive as last year, but its defense appears as good as ever. With the offense coming around, there’s no reason to think another huge season isn’t in the works.

Pennsbury 41, Council Rock North 19

(Sept. 18 at Pennsbury)

CR North (1-2) 0 0 7 12 – 19

Pennsbury (2-1) 14 21 0 6 – 41

SUMMARY

First Quarter

P — Rupprecht 9 run (Sanelli kick)

P — Lichtenstein 3 pass from Alley (Sanelli kick)

Second Quarter

P — Rupprecht 4 run (Sanelli kick)

P — Rupprecht 29 run (kick failed)

P — Rupprech 5 run (Hose run)

Third Quarter

CRN — McIlwain 40 run (Cardelia kick)

Fourth Quarter

CRN — McIlwain 1 run (kick failed)

P — Alley 57 run (kick blocked)

CRN — Bibbens 6 pass from McIlwain (kick failed)

TEAM STATS

CR North             Pennsbury

First Downs: 12             23

Yards Rushing: 89             421

Yards Passing: 136            16

Total Offense: 225           437

Comp. Passes, Int: 17-31-1           2-4-0

Fumbles-lost: 0-0             0-0

Penalties-yards: 6-60      6-53

Punts-Avg.: 4-45.8           1-27

Sacked-Yds.: Lost None None

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Council Rock North

RUSHING: McIlwain 13-70, 2 TDs; Desimone 4-15; Bibbens 1-4.

PASSING: McIlwain 17-31-1, 136 yards, 1 TD.

RECEIVING: Bibbens 8-66, 1 TD; Thompson 2-36; Nowmos 4-23; Yoder 1-12; Desimone 2-(-1).

INTERCEPTIONS: None

Pennsbury

RUSHING: Rupprecht 22-183, 4 TDs; Alley 12-129, 1 TD; D. Hose 9-92; Daly 4-17.

PASSING: Alley 2-4-0, 16 yards, 1 TD.

RECEIVING: Ratamess 1-13; Lichtenstein 1-3, 1 TD.

INTERCEPTIONS: D. Hose