FAIRLESS HILLS — It was a case of both the unbelievably great and the incredibly bad for the top-ranked Pennsbury High School football team.
In one of the most amazing performances you could ever want to see, Pennsbury senior running back Charles Snorweah exploded for seven touchdowns and 432 rushing yards as Pennsbury won in the first round of the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA playoffs Friday night.
That’s the very good news. The very bad was one of the worst defensive showings in the history of Pennsbury football as the second-seeded Falcons just held off Downington West, 63-55.
Yes, you read it right. A Pennsbury defense that hadn’t given up 100 points in its first 10 games got scorched for 55 last night as Downingtown West quarterback Tyler McNulty shredded the Falcon secondary for over 400 passing yards.
It was a case of seeing was believing at the way Pennsbury’s defense got lit up, but the bottom line is the Falcons will play in the quarterfinal round at home next week against Garnet Valley, which advanced with 35-15 win over Central Bucks South.
It was actually a fairly normal game at the half with Pennsbury (10-1) holding a 21-14 lead, thanks to touchdown runs of 55 and 64 yards by Snorweah and a 1-yard sneak by quarterback Mike Alley.
The second half was a much different story as all heck broke loose, including Downingtown West putting 34 points on the board in the fourth quarter alone.
Not helping matters was the fact a Pennsbury team that had been so turnover free for the first nine games of the year was sloppy and mistake-prone again for the second straight week.
Another amazing facet to last night’s game was the fact Pennsbury switched from a Wing-T offense to an I formation because of injuries to some of its running backs. The Falcons didn’t skip a beat as every time Downingtown West (6-5) came close, Snorweah ran wild out of the tailback position.
In the second half, Snorweah scored on runs of 3, 64, 11 and 16 yards. Obviously, his seven TDs and 432 rushing yards must be a school record for the Rutgers-bound running back.
Pennsbury also failed to cover an on-side kick, fumbled away a kickoff on its own 25 yard lines and got hit for all kinds of penalties by the flag-happy refs.
The result was despite all of Snorweah’s heroics, the game was not put to rest until Rob Daly alertly picked yet another onsides kick out of the air and returned it 46 yards for a TD to up Pennsbury’s lead to 63-48.
Suffice it to say there’s never been a game like this in the history of Falcon Field. But at this point, all that matters is advancing and this Pennsbury did in a way nobody could have envisioned.
