Lifetime vs.

North Penn

11-14-0

Last Win: 2007

Last Loss: 2006

Back to the index

Neshaminy 35 – North Penn 0

Redskins sink Knights in red sea

This year of 2007 is surely going to go down in the books as the one of the best ever for Lower Bucks County football fans! For as if the last 11 weeks haven’t already been packed full of enough schoolboy grid thrills and treats to last a lifetime, Friday night featured two of the premier Pennsylvania high school programs lining up for the second time this season in Langhorne. And with Neshaminy having topped North Penn during the first go-around, 31-7, the Knights were looking for some payback while the ‘Skins were looking for more of the same in this District One, quarter-final square off. Plus with a full house of rabid Tribe fans bedecked in red and equally as fanatical blue clad Knights followers packing Harry E. Franks Stadium, the joint was jumping for this Ridge Rumble.

So getting right down to business on this game report, the Tribe won the coin toss and elected to receive. Starting on their own 20 after the return, the Moleskinners proceeded to put together a textbook eight and one-half minute, 80-yard push that didn’t end till Jason Ulmer pulled in a 13-yard aerial strike from Jason Kinney for the first score of the evening. And along the way, two terrific plays that kept the drive moving included a Kinney toss to big tightend Paul Carrezola while he found Kevin Steinberg on another. Of course, and as usual, most of the ground attack was courtesy of Mr. Ulmer. With Seth Jeffries drilling the PAT, it went to 7-0 ‘Skins after that fabulous offensive display by the home boys.

Then following the kickoff, North Penn left no question that they had come to play as they bobbed and weaved their way down the field. Knocking at the ‘Skins door for what seemed like a half-hour, that Knight effort finally fizzled when they were forced into a long field goal try that fell short. With the ball going back to Neshaminy at the North Penn 20, the Blue and Red offense was back in business once again. And making believers of everyone in the house, the Redskins traveled the distance in just 9 plays with 7 of them featuring Ulmer - including the last 4 yards as he scored his second of the game. As Jeffries didn’t miss the conversion, the scoreboard read 14-0 Langhorne at just under 6 minutes in the second period. Then after kicking off again to the Knights, the rest of the first half saw both clubs pushing and shoving on each other - but not scoring - and at the break, the ‘Skins took their 2-touchdown lead to the locker room.

Coming out for the final 24-minutes, the Redskins were obliged to kickoff to the visitors. And demonstrating that their offensive firepower hadn’t been left in Lansdale, the Knights drove right down the field once more and had themselves set up inside the Langhorne ten and looking ready to score. With the ‘Skins defense then building their own version of the Berlin Wall, they took the on-the-field situation to 4th and goal at the three for the visitors. As the Knights clearly needed to score some points, they went to the air lanes for the touchdown. And there was a touchdown all right but it was for Neshaminy as Redskin defensive back Gary Renson pilfered the Anthony Taggert throw at the 2-yard line and returned it 98 yards for the score – and what was probably the nail in the coffin. With Jeffries then connecting on the PAT, the Creek Kids went out in front 21-0 with under eight minutes remaining in the third (and why did we just experience that sense of déjà vu).

With the ‘Skins kicking away - once again, the Knights took over in their own territory – once again. And then once again failing to get their offense working, North Penn stalled out on a fourth down try at their own 40. With Neshaminy beginning to look very dominant, it didn’t take Ulmer and company long to score on a quick ‘Skins drive that was closed by Mr. Dependable’s 2-yard burst for his third score of the game. The PAT by Jeffries was right as rain and with just minutes still remaining in the third, the Redskins opened their advantage to 28-0. Then helping out on the kickoff, it was Jeffries doing more than just kicking as he helped turned back the North Penn returner just short of midfield where the Knights took over for another try at the end zone.

Starting to look a little ragged, though, the Montgomery County group couldn’t decide whether to go forward or backward on this latest possession. When it finally ended on a Taggert pass that found only the ground, it was Neshaminy with a first and ten on the Knights’ 40-yard line. What followed was another seamless effort by the Tribe as it appeared that they could do no wrong. And making a big statement on the night – and the season too - it was Ulmer again from the 2-yard line for his fourth score of the contest (and number 31 for the year). Jeffries “point after” made it 35-0 for Langhorne with the clock now set on automatic as the Mercy Rule became effective. Plus with both coaches then allowing next year’s starters the opportunity of enjoying some action from that point forward, it was just a short while before the final gun sounded. And with that exclamation point on the field festivities, we very happily announce: Game to Redskins.

So with the Neshaminy bunch looking very sharp in securing the win against a fine North Penn Knights club, it’s the Redskins that will move on to next week’s semi-final match-up against the always tough Ridley Green Raiders. And as that game will be played next Friday in Folsom, directions will be posted on the homepage for fans making the trip.

See you at the game.


	1	2	3	4	F
Neshaminy	07	07	14	07	35
North Penn	0	0	0	0	00

Videos provided by Matt Bartolacci

Neshaminy vs. North Penn

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Kinney to Ulmer for a TD, Greg Martell says "NO", Gary Renson picks off another goal line pass and takes this one home.

* Large file may need time to buffer.

On her birthday, Gary Renson gave his mother a beautiful

7-point gem. It was a goal line interception run back 98-yards

for 7-points and a commanding lead.

No contest

By STEPHEN CORNELL

Bucks County Courier Times

LANGHORNE — It was one thing for Neshaminy to rout Upper Dublin in the first round of the Class AAAA District One playoffs.

That kind of thing happens.

But blowing out North Penn in the playoffs — and for the second time in less than a month? Now that's a rare feat.

Neshaminy dominated the visiting Knights, 35-0, in the second round of the district playoffs on Friday night.

“Wow. This is exactly what we needed,” Redskins senior quarterback Justin Kinney said. “Last week, we came out slow. To play as hard and as well as we did tonight gives us a lot of confidence and momentum.”

The No. 3 seed Redskins (11-1) face unbeaten No. 2 seed Ridley (11-0) in the district semifinals next week. The Green Raiders beat Glen Mills, 33-14, on Friday.

Neshaminy couldn't be playing much better. The Redskins have won two playoff games by a combined score of 77-7. They've scored 125 points in their last three games and won five straight.

In two games against North Penn (9-3), the Redskins scored 66 points and allowed a lone touchdown. They beat the Knights, 31-7, on Oct. 20.

“People said that you can't beat North Penn twice in a season. We proved that wrong,” Kinney said. “North Penn's a great program. This feels awesome.”

“This is a very good win,” Neshaminy coach Mark Schmidt said. “North Penn is always a great team. I think we're starting to step it up. We're starting to (control) the line of scrimmage.”

Neshaminy dominated the first half on Friday and led by two touchdowns, 14-0, at halftime.

But North Penn took the second half kickoff and quickly drove 62 yards to the Neshaminy three-yard line. A touchdown would have cut the lead to one touchdown and changed the complexion of the game.

On fourth-and-goal from the Redskins eight (following a delay-of-game penalty on the Knights), North Penn tried some trickery.

Junior running back Tyler Smith tried to throw to quarterback Anthony Taggert, but fooled no one.

Redskins senior defensive back Gary Renson picked off the floating pass and ran it back 98 yards for a game-changing touchdown. It was 21-0, Neshaminy, and it was all over except for the mercy-ruling.

It was Renson's second crucial interception in two playoff games. Against Upper Dublin last week, he picked off a pass on the goal line when the Cardinals were threatening to take an early lead.

“Gary Renson is incredible,” Kinney said. “Every time the other team gets in the red zone, Gary comes up with a big play.”

Because it was fourth down, Renson actually considered not intercepting the ball. He didn't want to be tackled immediately and pin the Redskins deeper than if he'd simply knocked the pass down.

But Renson decided to make the catch and take his chances. Good choice. After catching the ball, he saw wide open spaces. Nobody touched him during the return.

“I thought, "Should I pick this off? It's fourth down.' I didn't want to get stopped on the two,” Renson said. “Then I looked and saw no one and that I had blockers. No matter what kind of team you are, that kind of thing takes the wind out of your sails.”

Neshaminy senior Jason Ulmer rushed for 153 yards and three TDs and caught a touchdown pass from Kinney.

Ulmer has rushed for 449 yards and scored 13 touchdowns in the last three games. For the season, he has 31 touchdowns and 1,801 rushing yards.

“I'm so used to that (from Ulmer),” Kinney said. “He's so good. If he doesn't take it the distance every time, I'm disappointed.”

Kinney hasn't been bad either. On Friday, he completed three of four passes for 42 yards and a touchdown on Neshaminy's game-opening 8 1/2-minute, 14-play, 79-yard drive and never threw it again. He also ran five times for 35 yards.

Stephen Cornell can be reached at stephen.cornell@gmail.com.

In the last three games, Kinney has completed 21 of 28 passes for 374 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

“Justin is running the show and making good decisions,” Schmidt said.

Neshaminy's offense will be tested next week. Ridley has given up 73 points in 11 games. Only three opponents have scored more than seven points against the Green Raiders.

“This is huge. We couldn't have asked for anything better,” Renson said. “This gives us momentum.”

Stephen Cornell can be reached at stephen.cornell@gmail.com.

November 17, 2007 8:39 AM

Heartbreak again for North Penn

By BILL KEEN

The Intelligencer

LANGHORNE — Ask a North Penn football player what he wants most for the holidays, and he'll probably say he would like to see Heartbreak Ridge turned into a shopping center.

For the second time this season, the Knights ran onto the field at Neshaminy's Harry E. Franks Stadium with high hopes and great expectations, only to leave on the short end of a very lopsided score.

The first loss, on Oct. 20, ended what had been a seven-game winning streak. Friday's 35-0 drubbing in the quarterfinals of the PIAA District One Class AAAA playoffs ended North Penn's season.

“The whole year, I thought we played teams very well. I think the kids worked extremely hard,” Knights coach Dick Beck said. “Unless you win it all, it doesn't end the way you want to, so all I can think about is (this) game and all I can say is it's extremely disappointing.”

Neshaminy scored the only touchdown it would need on its first possession. A beautifully engineered 14-play, 80-yard drive that took 8 minutes, 18 seconds off the clock, ended when quarterback Justin Kinney hit running back Jason Ulmer with a 13-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone.

Ulmer finished with 154 yards on 26 carries and three more touchdowns; but, with the exception of a pair of 23-yard runs, one in each half, he had to work for every yard as the Knights' defense hit him hard every time he carried the ball, especially on the opening drive.

“Coach said we couldn't let the big one go,” said North Penn's Kyle Harrell, who played a standout game at defensive tackle. “They went a long way to score, and (we made them) earn it all the way down the field ... we just kept our heads up. It was still in the first quarter and we still had three quarters of the game to play.”

Beck had nothing but praise for the 5-foot-11, 250-pound senior.

“Kyle's been one of our outstanding (players),” the coach said. “He had an outstanding year, got injured a little bit a couple of weeks ago, but has been one of our better D-tackles.”

With the Redskins holding a 14-0 halftime lead, the Knights took the second-half kickoff and marched all the way down field to the Neshaminy 3. After a delay-of-the-game penalty on fourth-and-goal backed them up to the 8, Beck reached deep into his bag of tricks for a gadget play — a reverse pass, with running back Tyler Smith throwing back across the field to quarterback Anthony Taggart.

However, what could have been a huge touchdown that would have put the Knights right back into the game instead went 98 yards the other way when Redskins defensive back Gary Renson stepped in front of Taggart, picked off the pass and was gone.

It amounted to a 14-point swing and, for all intents and purposes, made the rest of the contest academic.

“That killed us,” Harrell said. “If we had scored there, we could have pulled to within seven, it would have been a whole (different) game. But that killed us.”

Bill Keen can be reached at (215) 957-8158 or bkeen@phillyBurbs.com.

November 17, 2007 9:41 AM