Pennridge overcomes early gaffe to win big

When Central Bucks West scored on a long touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage, Pennridge found itself in the same situation it had faced in its previous outing against Council Rock South.

But the Rams' defense rebounded from the miscue, held the Bucks to 101 yards of offense the rest of the way, and cruised to a 26-6 victory in Friday night's Suburban One League Continental Conference matchup at War Memorial Field in Doylestown.

"After that play, the defense really settled down," said Pennridge coach Jeff Hollenbach, whose squad escaped C.R. South, 35-28, eight days earlier.

Junior Zak Kantor completed 8 of 11 passes for 143 yards and three scores in the road victory. "He did some pretty good things," Hollenbach said. "He's growing up as a quarterback."

Pennridge, which improved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in conference action, sacked C.B. West quarterback Josh Crecca five times.

Led by standout  linebacker Nick Tarburton, who is ticketed for Penn State, the Rams limited the Bucks (5-2, 1-2) to minus-11 yards rushing on 21 attempts and 183 passing.

"Our D-line was holding their guys up and letting us come through to make plays," said Tarburton.

The charge up front was led by a rotation that included Oliver Jervis, Brian Lafty, Austin Bishop, Ryan Rapp, and Jack Ferguson.

In addition to Tarburton, who registered three first-half sacks, the linebacking corp featured Chris Feralio and Kyle Schetter. Schetter and cornerback Joe Devine made interceptions. Said Hollenbach: "Our defensive coordinator, Mike Barainyak, threw lot of them stunts at them."

After Crecca's 71-yard TD pass to Ricardo Washington, Pennridge bounced back with three first-half scores: Schetter's 2-yard run and Kantor's TD passes of 3 and 59 yards to Shane Hartzell and Ryan Garner, respectively.

The scoring was capped in the fourth quarter on Kantor's 20-yard, left side shovel pass to Tarburton.

The Rams, with an average of 123.3 points, came into the weekend at No. 14 in the power-point rankings for the 16-team PIAA District 1 Class 6A playoff tournament; the Bucks (145) held the No. 3 spot.

Pennridge is seeking its second consecutive berth in the district playoffs; the Bucks are trying to qualify for districts for the first time since 2013.

Pennridge                     7   7   6   6 –  26

Central Bucks West    6    0    0  0 –    6

CBW: Ricardo Washington 71 pass from Josh Crecca (kick blocked)

P: Kyle Schetter 2 run (Kyle Cuthbert kick)

P: Shane Hartzell 3 pass from Zak Kantor (Cuthbert kick)

P: Ryan Garner 59 pass from Kantor (kick failed)

P: Nick Tarburton 20 pass from Kantor (kick failed)