GAME FOUR
GAME FOUR
GAME FOUR
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Pennridge pulls away to beat LC
By: STUART LONDON
Bucks County Courier Times
The Rams scored 22 fourth-quarter points to break open a tight game.
LOWER GWYNEDD - One moment, Lansdale Catholic was involved in a tight game with Pennridge, and then, as Crusaders coach Jim Algeo put it:
"Boom-boom-boom, we're way behind," he said.
What had been a close game for three quarters turned into a big Pennridge victory as the Rams defeated Lansdale Catholic, 34-8, in a nonleague football game Friday night at Wissahickon.
Pennridge held a 12-0 lead, and the Crusaders were marching for a touchdown late in the third period.
An LC receiver dropped a pass in the end zone, and the Rams scored 22 unanswered points, helped by three LC fumbles, to pull away.
"It was big to get those turnovers," said Pennridge coach Randy Cuthbert. "When (Kyle) McCabe made that play with the strip, that really turned things in our favor."
The Rams had taken a 20-0 lead when defensive lineman Jacob Newman sacked LC quarterback Andrew Mandato, forcing a fumble at the Crusaders' 35-yard line. Six plays later, Brandon Cope scored from the 3-yard line.
On the ensuing drive, the Crusaders faced a fourth-and-six on their own 30 with six minutes to go.
LC went for it, and Mandato was struggling to reach the first-down marker on a run when he was hit by Cope and Anthony Fecondo.
"The ball came right at me," said McCabe, who starts in the secondary and is a running back on offense. "They stripped him and I picked it up and ran."
After McCabe's fumble return for a score, LC then fumbled again on the ensuing kickoff. Rams quarterback Kyle Peters followed the turnover by hitting Rocky Ferrier for a 30-yard touchdown pass.
What had the potential a little earlier to be a 12-7 nailbiter for Pennridge turned into a 34-0 lead.
"Anthony Fecondo is just an unbelievable player," said Cuthbert. "He has such a motor on him, we're starting to work him in on offense."
The Rams were coming off a 31-0 loss to Council Rock South, so McCabe was glad to see the defense rebound.
"We felt like we should have done a lot better in that game," he said. "(Mandato) is shifty quarterback, and he was giving us trouble. It took us a while to control him."
Both teams now enter their respective league schedule this week. Lansdale Catholic plays Bishop McDevitt in a Philadelphia Catholic League contest, while Pennridge takes on Souderton in a Suburban One League Continental Conference game.
"We've had the same trouble, and this is Game 4 for us," said Algeo. "We even moved the ball against North Penn, but then something goes wrong. It's really a matter of simply blocking and tackling the right way."
Cuthbert hopes the offense can continue to pile up the points like it did Friday.
"We passed a little more than we did in the first half," said Cuthbert. "They had everyone in the box so we wanted to show them we could pass."
And CR South quarterback Bill Fleming exploited that for a handful of big plays, completing 6 of 8 passes for 119 yards and a TD.
Fleming connected with Dennis Chichkin for passes covering 51 and 35 yards, and on the first play to resume the game - CR South led 7-0 with 5:26 left in the first half and was looking at fourth-and-six from the Rams' 24 when the lightning flashed Thursday - he rolled to his left and found P.J. Gallo for a quick slant that netted 14 yards and a fresh set of downs.
Three plays later, Fleming tossed a 4-yard TD pass to Brian Donnelly to make it 13-0.
"We thought they were going to run that rollout pass - and they did," said Cuthbert of the play that resumed the game. "We were sitting there telling them, 'Watch the slant' before the play happened, and they run a slant, and the kid caught it."
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The Rams managed just 167 total yards, and their lone trip inside the red zone resulted in an Anthony Alimenti interception in the end zone.
GAME SUMMARY
Pennridge 34, Lansdale Catholic 8
Pennridge 6 6 0 22 -34
6 6 0 22 -34Lansdale Catholic 0 0 0 8 -8
SCORING SUMMARY
P - Knepp 4 run (kick failed
P - Cope 3 run (pass failed)
P - Cope 13 run (McCabe from Peters)
P - McCabe 37 fumble return (pass failed)
P - Ferrier 30 pass from Peters (Ferrier from Peters)
LC - Schoenberger 1 run (Ward from Schoenberger)
TEAM STATISTICS
P LC
First Downs 11 16
11 16Yards Rushing 141 165
141 165Yards Passing 90 100
90 100Total Offense 231 265
Comp. Passes, Int 4-6-0 9-18-1
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-3
Penalties-yards 2-20 3-35
Punts-Avg. 1-52 3-39.5
Sacked-Yds. Lost 0-0 3-9
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Pennridge
Rushing: Knepp 15-69, 1 TD; Cope 7-43, 2 TDs; Peters 3-28; McCabe 3-11,
Passing: Peters 4-6-0, 90 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving: McCabe 1-41; Ferrier 1-35, 1 TD; Knepp 2-14.
Interceptions: McCabe
Lansdale Catholic
Rushing: Smith 7-73; Mandato 15-45; J. Ward-24; Barrett 3-7; Schoenberger 2-5, 1 TD; Iacono 2-4; Sabo 2-4; Vires 1-3.
Passing: Mandato 9-18-1, 100 yards.
Receiving: Pinzka 7-88; Walsh 2-12
Interceptions: None
