Pen Argyl opens season with an 28-6 win over Saucon Valley

PEN ARGYL – Pen Argyl’s defense capitalized on turnovers in the first half and went up 14-0 early in route to a 28-6 win over Saucon Valley Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium in Pen Argyl.

Pen Argyl’s defense set the tone early forcing two turnovers on Saucon Valley’s first two possession of the game. “We stressed to the kids about creating turnovers. Getting the turnovers early was big for us,” said Pen Argyl’s head football coach Paul Reduzzi. Pen Argyl made them pay,  Mike DePaolo scored on a 7-yard touchdown run with 3:53 left in the first quarter. Jacob Krincek’s kick put the Green Knights up 7-0.

Pen Argyl was driving again after a bad pitch by Saucon Valley’s quarterback Keith Mosher. Pen Argyl’s John Albanese recovers the fumble on Saucon Valley’s 26. The first quarter came to a end with the Green Knights having a 1st and goal on the Saucon Valley 3-yard line. One play later, Ryan Hunt went in from 3-yards out for the quarterback sneak. Pen Argyl led 14-0.

Pen Argyl’s defensive end Alex Bartleson was a force in the first half, coming up with big sacks and raising havoc in the back field. “We have high expectations for him. We are going to put him on the edge and let him make plays,” said Reduzzi.

Late in the first half, Saucon Valley got the ball back on their 36. The Panthers drove down to the one-yard line of Pen Argyl behind the hard running of Nick Savant. With time ticking down, Savant picked up the fumbled snap and ran it in for the one-yard touchdown run with :10 seconds remaining in the first half. The extra point failed.

After five fumbles and two turnovers at halftime, Saucon Valley trailed Pen Argyl by eight, 14-6.

With momentum on Saucon Valley’s side, it looked like the defense was going to get the big stop at the start of the second half. Pen Argyl was facing a third down and long when Hunt hit Bartleson for a 12-yard completion and a first down. “We didn’t get the stop like we wanted to,” said Saucon Valley’s head football coach Matt Evancho. “We talked about it at halftime to come out and get a stop and get our offense back on the field. They ate up pretty much the whole third quarter. That was a killer.”

The Green Knights capped off the 15-play drive by chewing up over eight minutes of the clock as DePaolo scored on a one-yard plunge into the end zone. With 3:47 left in the third quarter, the Green Knights led 21-6. “That second half drive the offense put together was almost a nine minute drive and that can just take everything out of a team,” said Reduzzi.

Pen Argyl iced the game in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard touchdown run by Ryan Lobb with 3:42 remaining in the game.

After a big kick off return by Saucon Valley’s Zach Thatcher down to Pen Argyl’s 30, any threat went away quickly. It was the Pen Argyl defense that finished the game strong. Bartleson came up with another big sack and Chris Muller’s defense in the secondary was strong in the end.

NOTE: Pen Argyl’s Mike DePaolo rushed for 117 yards and scored touchdowns. “He is a workhorse on both sides of the ball. He’s a tough kid”.