GAME 11
GAME 11
GAME 11
Rams roll over Cheltenham

By: TODD THORPE
The Intelligencer

WYNCOTE - This one was the warm-up act.

The main event comes in 10 days at Poppy Yoder Field with the annual Thanksgiving clash with rival Quakertown.

But Pennridge didn't head to Cheltenham for a matinee affair on Monday afternoon with the idea of treating the non-league game, which was originally scheduled for Friday, like a scrimmage. The Rams' priority was winning the game, and they were willing to dig pretty deep into their bag of tricks to get that 'W'.

In the end, Pennridge scored one touchdown on a double-reverse flea-flicker that went for a 48-yard pass; another on a blocked punt recovered in the end zone; and one on a 65-yard interception return on the way to a 39-14 victory.

"We kind of made up our minds that we were going to do some different things, because this was a game we really needed to win," Rams' coach Randy Cuthbert said. "We've kind of been up and down this season, and we wanted to go into the Quakertown game with a win."

Pretty early on, it was apparent that Pennridge (5-6) was going to have a good chance to do just that, and without all that much difficulty.

After a Cheltenham fumble four minutes into the game, junior Jesse Knepp went 43 yards untouched for first score. Then, the coaching staff noticed something about the Panthers' kick return formation and kicker Dan Caya attempted an onside kick that was recovered by teammate Matt Dager.
Advertisement Click Here!

That led to the double-reverse flea-flicker that saw quarterback Kyle Peters hook up with receiver Drew Smith for another TD, officially seven seconds after the first score.

Then for good measure, the Rams tried another onside kick, which was recovered by sophomore Carter Peters.

"On film, we noticed that they lined up on one side with just two linemen and they kind of bailed early (after the kick)," Cuthbert said. "Plus, if you kick it deep, the two guys they have back there can really return it and make big plays."

Later in the quarter, Adam Moyer blocked a Cheltenham punt in the end zone, where it was recovered by senior defensive end Andrew Rice.

"We'll try anything to score," said Rice, who had a big game defensively. "It was weird playing on a Monday. Coming off a weekend was different.

"We wanted to work on the little stuff, and it was a game, and a game is different than practice."

After Cheltenham managed to cut Pennridge's lead to 24-14 at halftime, the Rams put the game away with a pair of third-quarter scores, the final one coming on a 65-yard interception return by Moyer.

"It was important coming off of last week's game (a 39-12 loss to North Penn)," Moyer said. "We want to carry this into our next game."
PENNRIDGE                39
CHELTENHAM                   14
RAMS TAME THE PANTHERS
PENNRIDGE                39
CHELTENHAM                   14
GAME SUMMARY