PERKASIE – Revenge tastes pretty sweet when it comes with your first district championship in nine years.
North Penn flipped the script on Pennridge Friday night under the Helman Field lights, turning a 34-10 regular-season beatdown into a hard-fought 21-14 victory that delivered the Knights their eighth District 1-6A title and sent the massive visitor sideline into pure chaos.
“It’s been a while,” North Penn coach Dick Beck said with a grin you could feel through the cold November air. “But nice, you know. They never get old. Starting to wonder if I ever was going to win one again. But the kids really lifted this team up.”
The Knights wasted no time reminding everyone why they rolled in as the hottest team in the bracket. After sophomore Ziyon Smith buried the Rams’ return man on the opening kickoff, North Penn’s offense needed just six plays to strike first. On 4th-and-2, Matthew Pownall bullied for five tough yards. Two snaps later, the senior star was in the right corner of the end zone from 16 yards out. 7-0 Knights.
Pennridge blinked, went three-and-out, and Rylei Gray made them pay immediately. The junior took a handoff left, found daylight, and was gone—67 yards to the house. Just like that, it was 14-0 with 1:36 still left in the first quarter. The Rams finally answered in the second, converting a pair of fourth downs on a grinding drive that Trevor Picciotti finished from a yard out. 14-7 at the break after Nate Schepian picked off a late Pennridge prayer to preserve the lead.
Third quarter? Same story, different hero. Pownall gashed the Rams for 69 yards down to the three, got stuffed at the goal line on fourth down, but Pennridge handed the ball right back with another three-and-out—this time pinned at their own two. Six plays later, Pownall punched in his second score from 16 yards, and North Penn led 21-7 with 3:57 left in the third.
“Kind of hard to put words to it,” said Pownall, who churned out 175 yards and both Knights’ touchdowns on the night. “All the hard work we put in in the offseason (paid off). This is awesome. It feels great, man.” Pennridge refused to fold. Ryan Rowe capped an 11-play march with a gutsy 3-yard plunge on 4th-and-2, cutting it to 21-14 with 4:46 to go. The Rams forced a punt and got the ball back at their own 32 with 37 seconds left and all the momentum.
That’s when Ziyon Smith decided the night belonged to North Penn.
On a heave down the right sideline, the 5-foot-8 sophomore corner skied, snatched the interception at the 15, and dropped to the turf with the District 1 trophy essentially in his hands. Game. Set. Championship. “I just saw the ball go up and I just had to go get it,” Smith said, still buzzing. “I did that just to celebrate with my friends and brothers and all of them.”
The Knights (12-2) now turn their eyes to the state semifinals, where La Salle awaits next weekend (date and site TBA) after the Explorers hammered Easton 49-7.
For Pennridge (12-2), the sting of coming up just short of the program’s first-ever district crown will linger, but the Rams still have the Thanksgiving tradition against rival Quakertown waiting next Thursday morning. On this night, though, Helman Field belonged to the boys in blue. Nine straight wins. Regular-season loss avenged. Title No. 8 in the case under Coach Beck.
And a sophomore named Ziyon Smith, who just announced—loudly—that the future is ridiculously bright in Towamencin.
