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GAME 1

GAME 1

RAMS 43

ARCHBISHOP WOOD 42

Pennridge outlasts Wood in triple OT

By Andrew Marcus, Sportswriter

08/30/2008

After 60 minutes of grueling play, Pennridge and Archbishop Wood needed overtime to decide the regular season opener Friday night at Poppy Yoder Field. With a 7-0 Vikings' lead at halftime, nobody would have fathomed a 43-42 Rams' victory in triple overtime.

The first quarter was spent feeling each other out, trying to find out what worked, and what plays each team could throw away for the night.

Early in the second quarter, Archbishop Wood found out that tailback Sean Cunningham would be the go-to-guy. After the six-foot senior scored from five yards out on the first play of the second quarter, the Vikings continued to pound the rock.

Cunningham was used to eat away clock in hopes of keeping the Rams' offense off the field. And when Wood needed a first down, it called number 22 as well.

Cunningham's number was called 36 times as he ran over linebackers and moved the chains on nine carries. Cunningham ended the night with three touchdowns and 198 yards.

"I think we are a balanced offense, but Cunningham's a monster," fullback Nick Devine said.

When not blocking for Cunningham, Devine tallied 38 yards of his own.

Going into halftime the Rams lacked any rhythm on offense and went into the locker room looking for an answer. The running game, led by quarterback Brad Herrmann, stalled multiple times to pick up the first down and failed twice on risky fourth down attempts.

"I think Brad might have been a bit rusty," coach Randy Cuthbert said. "But he's a gamer, he's our leader, and he really stepped up in the second half."

Entering the third quarter Wood controlled the pace and Cunningham looked to be impossible to bring down, the Jerry Rahill to Mike Maxwell connection was rolling, and Pennridge struggled to get in space and use the speed of their playmakers.

As the game progressed and the defenses tired, the Rams put all phases in an extra gear. Herrmann took off for 37 yards to finally break through and put points on the board.

Wood's offense began to crack and three times miscommunication between the center and Rahill almost resulted in turnovers on botched snaps, but they were lucky to recover.

"We can't have that many turnovers and penalties," Devine said. "That has to be a lot better."

Rahill got a bit careless with the football at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

The Vikings' quarterback tried to force a pass between two defenders and Daniel Pasquale made him pay as he took it 60 yards to pay dirt.

"Before the play even started, I pictured myself picking off the ball," Pasquale said. "It just happened. I didn't even have time to think."

The next Vikings' offensive possession wasn't much better. The fourth fumble was a charm for the Rams as Ian Walbridge fell on the loose ball to give Pennridge the momentum.

Yet another gutsy stop on a fourth down attempt by Archbishop Wood gave the ball back to their offense and Cunningham looked to seal the win.

The Wood workhorse scampered for 39 yards down they sideline after breaking two tackles to give them a lead with only three minutes remaining in the game.

The Rams did not sweat and worked the two-minute offense to perfection. They only used 45 seconds.

Jesse Knepp gave Pennridge excellent field position as he brought the ball to midfield on the kickoff. Cuthbert's first play call was one he saved for this time and it worked flawlessly. Herrmann swung the ball to the outside to Ryan Metzler and the elusive junior flew 50 yards into the end zone to put the opener into overtime.

"I'm comfortable with that play," Metzler said. "It was the perfect time to run it."

After exchanging touchdowns twice in overtime, Pennridge decided its heart was about to lose out to exhaustion and Cuthbert decided to let his slick star quarterback send the Pennridge crowd home happy.

Herrmann easily scored from 10 yards out on a keeper for his second rushing touchdown of the night and called his own number again to claim win number one on the season.

With not one Vikings' defender two yards near Herrmann he raised his arms as he crossed the goal line in the corner of the end zone to complete the comeback.

"So many players stepped up today," Cuthbert said. "These kids are making the plays. We're just putting them in position to succeed."

PHOTOS BY KIM DIETZ

RAMS PLUNDER VIKINGS

Archbishop Wood 0 7 7 7 21 - 42

Pennridge 0 0 6 15 22 - 43

SCORING

Second quarter

AW - Cunningham 5 yard run (McFadden kick)

Third quarter

P - Herrmann 37 yard run (kick failed)

AW - Maxwell 13 yard pass from Rahill (McFadden kick)

Fourth quarter

P - Pasquale 60 yard interception return

P - J. Knepp two yard pass from Herrmann for two point conversion

AW - Cunningham 39 yard run (McFadden kick)

P - Metzler 50 yard pass from Herrmann (Herrmann kick)

Overtime

P - J. Knepp one yard pass from Herrmann (Herrmann kick)

AW - Maxwell 10 yard pass from Rahill (McFadden kick)

P - Herrmann one yard run (Herrmann kick)

AW - Cunningham 5 yard run (McFadden kick)

AW - Cunningham 3 yard run (McFadden kick)

P - Herrmann 10 yard run (Herrmann run)

Wood Pennridge

First downs 24 18

Rushing yards 261 171

Passing yards 114 176

Total yards 375 347

Passing (c-a-i) 7-18-1 12-23-3

Fumbles-lost 4-1 0-0

Punts-Avg. 1-12 2-41.5

Penalties 5-57 2-9

RUSHING

Archbishop Wood - Cunningham 36-198; Devine 8-38; Rahill 7-22; Murt 2-3

Pennridge - Herrmann 15-85; Walbridge 9-38; J. Knepp 4-37; Metzler 7-11

PASSING

Archbishop Wood - Rahill 18-7-1 - 114, 2 TD

Pennridge - Herrmann 23-12-3 - 176, 1 TD

RECEIVING

Archbishop Wood - Maxwell 7-114

Pennridge - Metzler 2-50; Smith 2-42; Pasquale 1-23;

Z. Knepp 3-22; Moyer 1-18; J. Knepp 3-15

GAME SUMMARY

VIDEO PROVIDED BY THE REPORTER