Pepper propels Pennsbury past Rock North
NEWTOWN — It’s not difficult to explain what was the big difference in the Pennsbury High School football team’s 35-20 victory over Council Rock North last Friday night.
Pennsbury has Pepper and Rock does not.
On an evening in which scrappy Indians refused to go away and gave the Falcons their best shot, Pepper kept delivering big plays whenever the issue looked like it might be in doubt.
As a result, the top-ranked team in the area improved to 6-2 and remained in sole possession of first place in the Suburban One National with a league record of 5-0.
Rock North, meanwhile, dropped to 3-5, although anyone who saw the Indians last week at Walt Snyder Stadium knows they are better than that.
The Pepper show started Shawn North right away when he ripped off a 55-yard run to the Rock North 5 yard line and scored two plays later on a 2-yard plunge.
As was the case all evening, Rock North replied with a drive of its own and was able to even the score on a 5-yard keeper by talented freshman quarterback Brandon McIlwain. The first Indian TD was set up by a 49-yard burst by A.J. Nielsen, who ran the ball hard all night.
Pennsbury regained the lead when it drove 45 yards and reached the end zone on a 1-yard sneak by sophomore quarterback Breon Clark. The Falcons’ lead was then extended to 21-7 when Clark scored on a beautiful 27-yard keeper on fourth down following an interception Tony Donovan.
Although they had very little time remaining in the half, the Indians were able
to pick up three points on the last play of the second quarter on a field goal by Max Pedinoff. This came after a somewhat bizarre scene in which it appeared the half was over before Pennsbury was summoned back to the field on a Rock North timeout with : 02 on the clock.
When Pedinoff kicked another field goal in the third quarter to cut the lead to 2113, it looked like the home team had the momentum.
Instead, Pepper ripped off a positively brilliant 65-yard touchdown run in which he broke several tackles as he weaved his way down the field.
This reestablished a two- touchdown lead, but even here, the Indians weren’t finished. Thanks to a pass interference penalty on fourth down deep in Falcon territory, Rock North got a second chance and cut into the lead on a fourth-down, 7-yard pass from McIlwain to Brandon Knotts.
No problem as Pennsbury kept feeding the ball to Pepper, who had several key runs in Pennsbury’s drive down the field that was culminated with a 17-yard TD pass from Clark to Tom Hose on fourth down.
The Indians were largely able to neutralize Falcon fullback Daquan Mack, but had no answer for Pepper, who ran for 193 yards on 17 carries. In a real plus for the Falcon offense, Clark was effective through the air by completing six passes for 102 yards.