Turnovers derail North Penn’s hopes of reaching PIAA 6A final
PHILADELPHIA >> The hit came from behind Reece Udinski but the result was more like a gut punch.
“That last drive I think I’m never going to forget that fumble for the rest of my life,” Udinski said. “But it’s just something I wish I could take back.”
On a 1st-and-10 39 yards from the end zone and North Penn trailing St. Joseph’s Prep 28-25 late in the fourth quarter of their PIAA Class 6A semifinal, Udinski scrambled forward into open span, slipped out of one tackle attempt but a second – a diving try by Chris Lowndes – knocked the ball free.
“It’s a shame, (Udinski) made a great play to get down there and the kid made a nice play stripping him,” North Penn coach Dick Beck said.
The Hawks pounced on the loose ball recovering it with just 3:05 remaining Saturday night at Charles Martin Memorial Stadium and with it went the Knights’ chances of reaching the state final for the first time since 2011.
Prep capitalized on the last of North Penn’s four turnovers with D’Andre Swift’s 1-yard touchdown in the final minute the exclamation point in the Hawks’ 35-25 win.
“We didn’t play a perfect game,” Beck said. “We had four turnovers and you give up a kickoff return for a touchdown, that’s usually a recipe for defeat.”
The 25 points was only the third time in 15 games the Knights did not score at least 30 points in 2016 – Week 2’s 23-7 win over Downingtown East and the 28-19 win over Spring-Ford in the District 1 quarterfinals the two other time – but North Penn has success moving the ball on St. Joe’s Prep.
“Even though the score with 35-25, it was really one play away from the other way around,” Udinski said. “We hung with them throughout the game. I think both sides know how close of a game it was.”
NP totaled 390 yards of offense, 273 coming via the arm of Udinski, who pushed his District 1 season passing record over 4,000 yards. On the ground, the Knights had 117 yards on 29 carries, an average of four yards per carry.
“We tried to run the ball a little bit out of the gun cause we were having success with it and they had to spread out a little bit,” Beck said. “I think that helped us, we had some success running the ball like that.”
Here’s the fumble. pic.twitter.com/FiwBTw6wd2
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) December 4, 2016
Udinski also threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers. He connected with Ricky Johns for a 14-yard score that tied the game 7-7 in the second quarter. In the third, Justis Henley made a great catch end zone despite tight coverage for a 30-yard TD to make it 14-14.
“I kind of rolled out, just kind of threw it up to make my guy make a play and he made a hell of play Justis,” Udinski said.
In the fourth, Dillon took a screen pass 37 yards for six – Udinski to Johns on the two-point conversion pulling NP within 28-25 with 6:27 left in the contest.
“In the first half, I thought our run game was great,” Udinski said. “Of course, the second half we had a lot of injuries. Nick (Vasger) was banged up, couple of our linemen were hurting. We had to rely on the pass game, but I couldn’t be more proud.”
#FOOTBALL: 6:27 4Q @SJPrep_Sports 28, @KnightsLoyalty 25. @ReeceUdinski to @NickDillon22 37 TD Pass. Udinski to Johns on 2 point conversion pic.twitter.com/cMalZ1H1M0
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) December 4, 2016
But Prep intercepted Udinski three times, Richard Carr picking off a pair of passes in the first half. Carr’s first interception Prep turned into points – Swift’s 29-yard first-quarter TD run making it 7-0 while his second came in the end zone to keep the Hawks up 14-7 in the second quarter.
“I kind of had pressure up front and I thought Justis Henley, I tried to put in a place only he could get in the back of the end zone,” said Udinski of the second INT. “But the kid made a good play.”
Along with giveaways, a turnover on downs proved to a big blow to the Knights. After St. Joe’s Prep regain the lead 21-17 in the fourth, North Penn faced a 4th-and-1 from its own 40 and elected to go for it. Both teams burned time outs before the play, which ended with the Hawks stuffing a run to left side of the line for a one-yard loss.
“I had a play I called and I said to myself I didn’t want to be too cute there and I wished I had,” Beck said.
The Hawks used the defensive stand to add to their lead, Swift’s 12-yard touchdown run pushing their advantage to 28-17 at 7:48 in the final quarter.
North Penn cut the margin to three just 1:21 later and denied the Prep on fourth down to get the ball back at its own 40 with 4:01 left. But the possible go-ahead drive was done in by the fumble and it was the Hawks headed to Hershey.
“Obviously you can’t turn the ball over and we did and they didn’t,” Beck said. “And that was the difference.”
Top Photo: North Penn quarterback Reece Udinski’s pass, intended for Justis Henley, was picked off by St. Joseph’s Prep’s Richard Carr during their PIAA Class 6A semifinal on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. (Bob Raines/Digital First Media)
