HERSHEY, PA – Few teams in sports earn the privilege to be considered great. During the 2011 season, the North Penn Knights, despite coming up a touchdown short of a state title, earned that right.
On Saturday night, in the December cold and snow, the Knights fought hard against the Central Dauphin Rams at Hershey Stadium, but came up short, falling 14-7.
Despite the defeat, however, many players tried to not look at the loss, but to look at the season as a whole.
“We can’t be too disappointed and hang our heads. We had a great season,” said senior quarterback Corey Ernst.
“The heart our team had to bounce back [got us] to where we are,” said senior Ralph Reeves. “I knew we could [make it to Hershey]. Our team had the heart.”
The Knights did well in containing the rush first Rams holding them to only 14 points. One of those touchdowns came from a 74 yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.
The offense struggled to get much going. It seemed every time the Knights looked like they had a drive going, they were halted by a tough Rams defense. What North Penn lacked was a game changing that contributed to many of the Knights wins this season.
“[Central Dauphin] did what they did against North Allegheny,” said head coach Dick Beck. “I thought we moved the ball with some consistency, especially in the first half. But when we got the ball around the 40 or 30 yard line, we couldn’t seem to make the clutch play.”
North Penn finally scored in the fourth quarter on a run from senior James Fielder. The touchdown appeared to give the momentum back to the Knights until Central Dauphin answered back with a touchdown on the next series. North Penn was unable to gain back the momentum as they could not score again.
However, North Penn has nothing to be ashamed of in their efforts in this game and the entire season.
The Knights overcame a 1-2 start to come back to win 12 straight to make it to the state title game. No one expected the Knights to be where they were. The Knights played as a team the entire season and proved many critics wrong. They came up just a bit short in the end, but 2nd place in a season filled with doubts and injuries is something to be proud of.
“I’d be lying if I said I knew from the start we would be here,” said senior T.J. Smink. “We had a rough beginning to the season. To fight all the way back and come here, I’m lost for words. We came back and beat La Salle. We are eastern state champs. I just wish we could have it all.”
The underclassmen on the team are already looking to avenge this years loss and come back next year to win it all. The seniors believe they can do it and wish their team the best of luck.
“I loved playing on the same field as every single one of [my teammates],” said Reeves. “To the juniors and sophomores: remember this field, and have the same heart for many years to come.”
Jewel Rama • Jan 26, 2012 at 8:21 pm
What a game this was, the emotion behind it was immense. Considering how far we came, and the adversary we overcame to get there. It was all very humbling, we got a taste of what it felt like, to have all your hard work pay of like that, we want more and this season we head into it knowing its possible.
rob bennett (mr. north penn) • Jan 19, 2012 at 11:02 am
this game was crazy and a great experiance. even though we came up short its was a long hard road to get there. its been 8years since weve been to the state championship game. everyone doubted us because we started out 1-2. then with hard work and deication we turned the season around and beat out rivals lasalle and even won or conference. it was a good year for the seniors like me and im glad i was appart of this team !