North Penn routs St. Joe’s

TOWAMENCIN – North Penn’s junior quarterback Corey Ernst threw for 133 yards and two touchdowns as the Knights routed St. Joseph’s Prep 38-7 in a non-league game Saturday night at Crawford Stadium.

The Knights (2-1) used big plays and had a balanced attack on offense to lead the way. Defensively they swarmed the ball all night.  They scored the first five times they had the ball.

Ernst said, “It’s finally good to play up to our potential. We still have work to do, but it’s finally good to get that big win.”

The Knights got off to a good start. They recovered a Prep fumble deep inside the Hawks’ territory.  Ernst would find Gerald Wendowski for a five-yard touchdown pass with 6:36 left in the first quarter.

The Knights’ running back Craig Needhammer made it 14-0 in the first quarter on a 24-yard touchdown run.

Prep was down by 21 when Mark Casale scored on a 67-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

The Knights would add to their lead right before halftime. Dom Taggart scored on a one-yard touchdown run and Brandon Mandes hit a 24-yard field goal as the Knights led 31-7 at halftime.

The only scoring in the second half would be a Brandon Mercer 24-yard touchdown run as the Knights led 38-7.

The Knights one-two punch led the way, Mercer rushed for 88 yards on four carries. He caught three passes for 31 yards. Needhammer added 79 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Ernest put together his best game of the year, completing 11 of 18 passes and two touchdowns. Most importantly North Penn had no turnovers.

North Penn Head Coach said, “ He’s gaining confidence with every game. You can just see it.”

St. Joe’s Prep was led by Casale who finished the night rushing for 168 yards on 21 carries. Skyler Mornhinweg was held to 65 yards passing on 7 of 15 attempts.

Side note: Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley was on the Prep sideline for most of the night.