TOWAMENCIN- After the game, Justis Henley couldn’t have been more proud of North Penn.

“As a team we did great. We did a phenomenal job. Everyone did their part. It was a team effort, and I’m proud of everybody,” said Henley.

The Knights (7-2) beat the William Tennent Panthers (0-9) in a blowout that emphasized their depth and versatility, and also clinched them the Suburban One League Championship. The Knights’ quarterback, Steve DePaul, played a key role in North Penn’s 56-7 win.

“Steve was on point tonight, and he has been for the last couple of weeks. All of his passes were on the money and he really lead the team tonight,” said Henley.

North Penn began the game with unmatched intensity as their offense quickly established their prowess. On just the fourth play, a pass from DePaul took AJ Catanzaro into the endzone (10:49, 37 yards).

“The safety bit on Justis, which opened me up, and Steve threw a perfect ball,” said Catanzaro, “Normally I take the safety away to open up Justis, but I think William Tennent scouted us well, so they covered Justis instead; that left me wide open.”

The Panthers were unsuccessful during their first offensive drives, and even more so when they opted to punt the ball away on the fourth down. A high snap over the head of punter Dakota Wherrity was recovered by the Knights on the 5 yard line, and they scored a touchdown three plays later (KJ Cartwright, 8:42, 2 yards).

William Tennent, already down 14-0, was lead by senior quarterback Mitchell Vierling. His go-to man was Sean Bragen, who ran the ball often, but struggled against the Knights’ line.

Steve DePaul looked composed tonight, and that was likely due to his plethora of options on the gridiron. Whether it was handing off to Cartwright, passing to Justis Henley, or handing off and passing to Anthony Andrews, DePaul commanded the Knights offense from all angles. DePaul credits the attack game to his offensive line.

“My offensive line gave me plenty of time. I just made my reads and gave my receivers  chances to make plays,” said DePaul.

North Penn also mixed things up by throwing Henley in at quarterback during some points of the game; Henley was able to score while at quarterback off of a 13 yard run (3:53).  To finish out the first quarter, North Penn extended their lead 28-0 with a late touchdown by Cartwright (0:24, 2 yards).

Starting the second quarter, the Panthers needed to score early and often in order to prevent a mercy rule second half. That game plan was thrown out of the window when Henley intercepted the first pass Vierling made, taking the ball deep into their territory. The interception was followed by two back to back plays that demonstrated the versatility of Henley. At the quarterback position, a pass from Henley to Andrews resulted in an 18 yard gain, and then on the following play, Henley executed a one hand grab on a DePaul pass for a 37 yard touchdown (10:49). Interception, pass, touchdown, Henley made an impact for North Penn at three different positions in a matter of minutes.

“I got a little lucky. I just reached my arm out and it happened to fall in my hand,” said Henley.

“That was nuts. I saw Justis grab it, and I was like ‘oh my god’,” said DePaul, “I gave him the opportunity, he did the rest.”

Another pass from DePaul to Henley finished out first half scoring (5:40, 10 yards). Since the Knights lead 42-0, the mercy rule went into effect in the second half. North Penn gave their starters a well deserved rest and got their second strings time under the lights. The Knights looked to sophomore Colby Barrow to lead the offense at quarterback, and it was RJ Macnamara who was the only third quarter scorer (1:42, 17 yards).

“We have a great group of guys who support us even when they are not on the field. It’s always nice when they get time to play, it makes me happy,” said Henley.

The Panthers prevented the Knights from shutting them out and got on the scoreboard late fourth, but even they knew that they didn’t have enough time to make up a 49 point deficit with a rolling clock.

The Knights will be under the Crawford Stadium lights next Friday to face the Galloping Ghosts of Abington.