North Penn senior Aidan Eves makes a catch Friday against Neshaminy. (Owen McCue/For Eastern PA Football)
LANSDALE — North Penn senior Aidan Eves got a taste of the North Penn football pedigree as a freshman backup three years ago on a Knights team that rattled off 11 straight wins to start its season.
Eves and the Knights haven’t reached those lofty standards in the two years since — winning six games in each of the last two seasons.
The goal this offseason was to get back.
North Penn continued on that trajectory Friday night with a 37-7 victory over Neshaminy. The win helped the Knights open up Suburban One National Division play with a W and improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2021.
“The past two years were a little disappointing, especially with the amount of talent we had,” Eves said. “This year, we knew we had that talent, it was about the players. The coaches are phenomenal every year, especially Coach Beck. We really just capitalize on the leadership in the room.”
North Penn (4-0) and Neshaminy (3-1) both entered Friday night unblemished with the Redskins eyeing their best start since 2016-17. It didn’t take long to figure out which side would keep its perfect record intact.
Neshaminy’s opening drive stalled after five plays. Though the Redskins pinned the Knights deep, North Penn drove 90 yards in 11 plays on its first drive, which was capped by a one-yard touchdown run from Christian Johns-Wallace.
The North Penn ground game churned out 288 yards in the contest, including 18 attempts for 173 yards in the first half. Eves shouted out sophomore right tackle Charles Ashley with seniors Dylan Webb-Dennis and Vinnie Montmore and juniors Dominic Tranzilli and Mason Charles drawing additional praise from junior quarterback Matt Bucksar.
“It starts with the O-Line every game,” Eves said. “Our O-Line’s phenomenal. We keep pushing them every week and we still haven’t peaked yet.”
Knights senior defensive lineman Cole D’Ambrosio recovered a fumble two plays into Neshaminy’s ensuing drive. After taking over at the Redskins 31, North Penn quickly made jt a 14-0 game with a 21-yard touchdown run by junior Matt Bownall almost exactly two minutes after the first Knights’ score.
Neshaminy went for it on 4th-and-3 at the Redskins own 27 on their next possession. Aidan Eves stuffed the attempt to give the Knights another short field. They capitalized again as Eves finished off the drive with a one-yard score to make it 21-0 with eight minutes left in the half.
“That play was awesome,” Eves said of the fourth-down stop. “ I was pretty hyped up after that. Stopping them on 4th down on like their 30-yard line. We just kept the momentum rolling.”
“The only team that’s gonna beat us when we got momentum is ourselves,” he added.
Senior running back Josiah Coleman (13 rushes for 137 yards) went 89 yards for a touchdown with five minutes left in the second quarter to keep the Knights rolling. When Neshaminy finally halted a North Penn drive late in the first half, senior Ryan Bocklet booted a 49-yard field goal to add onto the lead.
Meanwhile the Knights’ defense held Neshaminy to under 100 total yards and just five first downs in the first half.
“The defense has been showing out great,” Bucksar said. “They’ve been playing great the entire season. For them to do this it’s awesome. It just set the tone for the rest of the season.
A fumble spoiled another strong North Penn drive to start the second half. Neshaminy junior quarterback Michale Eckart broke the shutout with 6:02 left in the third, but North Penn answered right back with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Bucksar to Pownall. Both teams started subbing in their reserves soon after.
Bucksar completed 9-of-13 passes for 147 yards and a score.
“It feels great,” Bucksar said. “We came into the season with a different mindset knowing this is what we can do if we just push ourselves, grind in the offseason. The feeling of being 4-0, winning our first league game, it’s great.”
Neshaminy hosts Abington (1-3) next week looking to refind itself in what’s been an upstart year for the Redskins, who are already one win away from matching their win total in each of the previous two campaigns.
North Penn stays at home next Friday to put its undefeated mark on the line against Pennridge (3-1).
“We have a great group of seniors, especially our captains who help us lead everyday,” Eves said. “Me, Christian Johns-Wallace, Vinnie Montmore, Bubba (Dylan Webb-Dennis) and Ryan Bocklet, we’ve been here for a while and we really want to set that culture this year.”
Neshaminy 0 0 7 0-7
North Penn 14 17 6 0-37
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
NP: Christian Johns-Wallace 1 run (Ryan Bocklet kick) 3:27
NP: Matt Pownall 21 run (Ryan Bocklet kick) 1:24
Second Quarter
NP: Aidan Eves 1 run (Ryan Bocklet kick) 8:02
NP: Josiah Coleman 89 run (Ryan Bocklet kick) 5:01
NP: Ryan Bocklet 49 yard field goal 1:04
Third Quarter
NE: Michael Eckart 76 run (Kaden Nicastro kick) 6:02
NP: Matt Pownall 13 pass from Matt Bucksar (try fail) 3:56
Fourth Quarter
None.
Team Statistics
………………………..NE………………NP
1st downs………..13…………………19
rush-yds……….30-202……….38-288
comp-att-int….10-14-1…………..9-14-0
pass yds……….78………………147
total yds…………280……………….435
fumb-lost……..1-1………………3-2
pen-yds…………4-30…………..1-15
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Neshaminy: Michael Eckart 1-76, TD; Cayden Weaver 8-42; Nahsir Moore 9-38; Jason Wilmot 6-21; Amir Gray 3-19; Brock WIlliams 3-6.
North Penn: Josiah Coleman 13-137, TD; Matt Pownall 8-63, TD; Brayden Cassel 5-63; Cameron Mainor 3-13; Aidan Eves 3-3, TD; Christian Johns-Wallace 3-3, TD; Mason Franek 2-3.
Passing:
Neshaminy: Michael Eckart 10-14-1, 78 yards.
North Penn: Matt Bucksar 9-13-0, 147 yards, TD; London Evans 0-1-0.
Receiving:
Neshaminy: Lucas Stewart 3-36; Connor Frederick 4-27; Michael Sassano 1-11; Jason Gilardi 1-4.
North Penn: Aidan Eves 3-81; Matt Pownall 2-25, TD; Mason Franek 2-22; Cameron Mainor 1-10; Jackson Schurmann 1-9.
Interceptions: North Penn: Mason Franek.
Sacks: None.
