Trick play helps North Penn down Pennsbury

On the second-half kickoff, North Penn called a trick play against Pennsbury that looked awfully similar to the "Music City Miracle" that the Tennessee Titans used to beat the Buffalo Bills in an AFC playoff game 15 years ago.

Spencer Jones threw a lateral pass across the field to Justis Henley, and Henley dashed 77 yards along the sideline. That set up a 14-yard touchdown run by Nick Isabella that proved critical in the Knights' 27-20 road triumph Friday night at Falcon Field.

"That's the first time we used it all year," said Henley, a speedy sophomore receiver and free safety. "We drew it up especially for this game."

On the game's final play, after the Falcons had moved the ball to the North Penn 42-yard line, Henley intercepted Mike Alley's Hail Mary pass in the end zone.

"The big thing was for us to stay deep and not let anyone get behind us," Henley said. "I saw the ball, and just went up and got it."

In keeping their bid for a District 1 Class AAAA playoff berth very much alive, the Knights improved to 6-2 overall and 5-0 in the Suburban One League National Conference. Pennsbury slipped to 6-2 and 4-1.

After Isabella's TD burst gave the visitors a 21-8 cushion, the Falcons closed to within 21-14 on fullback Chris Rupprecht's 2-yard dive early in the fourth quarter.

But North Penn immediately responded on Reece Udinski's 67-yard TD connection to wideout Jake Hubler. On a play the Pennsbury coaches believed should have been wiped out by a false-start penalty, Hubler broke at least two tackles en route to paydirt.

Refusing to go away quietly, the Falcons, who netted 202 rushing yard on 56 attempts, countered with a 13-play scoring drive. Alley's 11-yard pass to Luke Snyder made it 27-20 with 3 minutes to go.

In leading North Penn to its 15th straight victory over Pennsbury, Udinski completed 13 of 19 passes for 259 yards. Tailback Nyfease West, returning from an injury, ran for scores of 2 and 3 yards in the first half.

Udinski, who was sacked five times, completed throws of 15, 9, 21, and 17 yards to set the stage for West's second tally. The junior signal-caller was 11 for 14 for 181 yards before intermission.

North Penn 6 8 7 6 - 27

Pennsbury 0 8 6 6 - 20

NP: Nyfease West 2 run (kick failed)

P: Mike Alley 32 run (Chris Rupprecht run)

NP: Nyfease West 3 run (Owen Thomas pass from Reece Udinski)

NP: Nick Isabella 14 run (Kelly Macnamara kick)

P: Rupprecht 2 run (kick failed)

NP: Jake Hubler 67 pass from Reece Udinski (kick blocked)

P: Luke Snyder 11 pass from Alley (run failed)