Pennsbury pulls away from Bensalem
BENSALEM, PA. » When Bensalem successfully ran a fake punt and scored midway through the second quarter to cut Pennsbury’s lead to seven, it looked like it just might be game on in a battle of 4-1 Suburban One National League football teams Thursday night. It was all a mirage. Turning up the defensive heat and sending Bensalem reeling backwards, Pennsbury buried the Owls with 21 third-quarter points en route to a 34-13 victory in Death Valley.
With the win, Pennsbury remained undefeated in the SONL heading into next week’s collision at Truman (5-1) in a game that will receive much fanfare when the Falcons take on much of their former coaching staff, including 14-year head coach Galen Snyder.
Pennsbury’s effort against Bensalem can be described as workmanlike. Quarterback Zach Demarchis threw for only 65 yards, but he made his four completions count with two touchdown passes. Nassan Robbins led the Falcon ground game with 69 yards and also managed to find the end zone twice.
Robbins’ first TD came on a 5-yard run and capped a 73-yard drive with 1:05 remaining in the first quarter to open the scoring. Set up by a fumble, the Falcons then quickly struck again on a perfectly-led 23-yard pass from Demarchis to standout split end David Burke in the corner of the end zone.
It looked like the rout might be on at this point, but Bensalem got life on the fake punt near midfield and the elusive running of shifty quarterback Drasaun Moore. This resulted in a 6-yard TD run by Keith Parrish that left the Pennsbury lead at 14-7 at the half.
Although it looked like Bensalem had the momentum at this point, it proved to be just the opposite as the Owls came apart and started making mistakes under the Pennsbury defensive pressure.
After forcing Bensalem back to its own 5 yard line and taking over at the Owl 36 early in the third quarter, Pennsbury reestablished a two-touchdown lead on a 21-yard burst around left end by Robbins.
The next time Bensalem had the ball it had to punt from its own 12. This proved to be a disaster as a bad punt snap led to a desperation incomplete pass. Two plays later, Pennsbury scored again when Demarchis threw an 11-yard pass to a wide open Austin Palmer.
Pennsbury third touchdown of the quarter and final one of the game came on a bizarre play in which it sacked Moore around the 18 yard line and ended up falling on the ball in the end zone scramble.
While Pennsbury’s offensive showing was a bit sporadic, the same can not be said about its defense.
Other than the one Bensalem drive in the second quarter and another meaningless one at the end, Pennsbury’s defense was solid. This included Dazjae Rogers recording his third interception in the last two games and the Falcons not allowing a single pass completion.
Spearheading the Pennsbury defensive effort was linebacker Andrew Basalyga, who was around the ball all night and made one tackle after another.
Pennsbury (5-1) Bensalem (4-2) First Quarter P— Second Quarter P—
Robbins 5 run (Knop kick)
Burke 23 pass from Demarchis (Knop kick)
Parrish 6 run (Fontaine kick)
B— Third Quarter P— P— 7 0
after a wild
7 7 20 0
Robbins 21 run (kick failed) Palmer 11 pass from Demarchis (Knop kick)
P - Recovered fumble in end zone (Knop kick) Fourth Quarter B—
Moore 11 run (pass failed)
0 — 6 — 34 13