Excitement was in the air, as fans filled Poppy Yoder field in Perkasie, PA for the start of the 2010 high school football season, Pennridge faces off against Haverford Prep school in which should be an exciting match.
Haverford started the game with the ball, but they we’re in for a long night against senior inside linebacker #6 Brandon Cope and the nasty Pennridge defense. Haverford’s first drive was stopped short when the fumbled the football, and Pennridge junior defensive end #85 Jacob Newman was able to come up with the ball and give the offense excellent field position. Pennridge’s offense came out lead by senior quarterback #12 Kyle Peters and senior running back #20 Jesse Knepp. On their first drive Peters was able to give his team the early lead by tossing a thirty-five yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver #27 Dylan Moore, to give Pennridge a 6 to 0 lead. Pennridge’s defense wasn’t finished yet getting turnovers as junior cornerback #3 James Marrero was able to make a spectacular play and intercept the pass.
At the start of the second quarter Haverford found themselves down by six, and in trouble with Pennridge driving the ball. Kyle Peters once again called his own number to make a big play and give his team some breathing room to work with. Peters threw a sixty-four yard bomb to tight end #85 Jacob Newman, that gave Pennridge a 12 to 0 lead, Jesse Knepp though was able to take the ball up the middle for the two-point conversion which gave Pennridge a 14 to 0 lead. Before halftime the defense had to make their presence felt one last time, as Haverford fumbled the ball again and senior cornerback #19 Matt McNally was able to recover it, and take Pennridge into halftime up by two scores.
The entire second half again was all Pennridge, as Kyle Peters was leaning his way to one of his best performances in his career. The first drive of the third quarter belonged to Jesse Knepp, as he kept getting the ball and pounding it down the field it didn’t matter if he ran up the middle or to the outside. Pennridge capped off the drive with a Jesse Knepp three-yard touchdown run, Knepp finished the game with fifty-eight yards rushing and one touchdown. This night belonged to only one Ram and that was Kyle Peters, who hooked up with senior wide receiver #21 Rocky Ferrier for an eighteen yard touchdown pass Peters third of the game.
Going into the fourth quarter Pennridge found themselves with a comfortable 28 to 0 lead, and they showed no signs of slowing down. Kyle Peters again found Rocky Ferrier in the end zone this time for a twelve yard touchdown pass, this now being Peters fourth passing touchdown. Peters ended the night with one hundred seventy-six yards passing and four touchdowns. With a few minutes left in the game Pennridge had their second string offense on the field, and they wanted to keep the scoring fiesta going. Sophomore running back #10 John Kim took it to the end zone for a twenty-eight yard touchdown.
Pennridge won the game substantially by the score of 42 to 0, as coach Cuthbert’s defense was able to post a shut out on the first game of the season. Brandon Cope lead the defense in tackles as he always seemed to find a way to be involved in every tackle. I caught up with Coach Randy Cuthbert to get his thoughts about his team’s performance.
“It was a great way to start out the season especially here at home in front of this crowd” said Cuthbert. “Both sides of the ball played great tonight, Kyle has been working all summer to prepare himself for this season and his hard work showed here tonight, defensively we played great, and were able to shut out a very good team.”
Next Friday the 1-0 Rams will host Bensalem here at Poppy Yoder field at 7 p.m.
