PERKASIE — The story of the 2025 North Penn football team began last November when the Knights’ last memory before the offseason was watching Downingtown West hoist the District 1 championship trophy after a title game win.
That story took an unexpected turn in September when they dropped back to back games to Neshaminy and Pennridge.
The defeats proved to be reinvigorating not deflating for North Penn as the Knights reeled off nine straight wins, giving the Knights two more losses to avenge.
After getting redemption against Neshaminy last week, the No. 2 Knights defeated No.1 Pennridge, 21-14, in the District 1 Class 6A championship game on Friday night at Herman Field. The win gave North Penn its first district title since 2016.
“Honestly, it’s a helluva chance by us to get a second chance at winning the title,” North Penn senior quarterback Matt Bucksar said. “We knew what we had to do this entire year to get back to this point. We had one goal in my mind, that was the district chip. We wanted it all. I couldn’t be more proud of our whole time. The entire year, we just formed a brotherhood, a family, I just couldn’t be more proud of everyone.”
Senior two-way standout Matt Pownall ran 22 times for 175 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Knights offense, which rushed for 280 yards. The Knights defense forced two turnovers and held the Rams to just 216 total yards in the victory.
North Penn jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Friday. Pownall ran in from 15 yards with 5:28 to go in the first quarter before Rylei Gray (nine rushes, 92 yards) broke off a 67-yard run with 1:32 in the period
At the same time the Knights’ defense held the Rams to 14 yards on eight plays total on their first two drives.
“We knew we had to set the tone and we’re confident right now in our team,” Pownall said. “We knew we had to run the ball, and we’re doing well with that, getting to the second level and breaking some runs.”
Pennridge broke through for its first points when Trevor Picciotti punched in a three-yard score with 6:38 left in the second. Both teams turned the ball over in the final minutes of the half, including a pick by North Penn’s Nate Schepian, to prevent any more points, leaving it 14-7 at the break.
A 4th-and-goal stand at the one by the Pennridge defense highlighted the early action of the second half, but North Penn’s defense didn’t let the Rams escape their own end, and Pownall ran for a 15-yard touchdown with 3:57 left in the third to put the Knights back up two scores, 21-7.
That’s where the score stood until the Rams went 64 yards in 11 plays, pulling within a touchdown on a three-yard touchdown run by Ryan Rowe with 4:46 to play. Pownall and the Knights offense gashed the Pennridge defense for a pair of first down on the next drive, but the Rams got their offense back on the field with 37.2 seconds to go with a fourth down stop on their own 32.
The comeback drive got all the way to the North Penn 48 before Knights sophomore defensive back Ziyon Smith, who made his first varsity start in last week’s semifinal, picked off a pass with just seconds left in the game.
“Seeing the ball go up, I just had to go get it and get down, just to celebrate with all my friends and my brothers,” Smith said.
“I looked up and it was like it was in slow motion,” he added. “My heart definitely was beating. I was definitely nervous. I knew I had to come down with it though.”
North Penn will face District 12 champion La Salle in the state semifinals next week. Friday was a chance to bask, however. The Knights lost their second consecutive game to the Rams 34-10 back on Sept. 19 and sat at 3-2.
The 10 weeks that followed all built toward Friday night’s championship victory.
“It was a reality check for us,” Bucksar said. “Going to the district chip last year, we all thought, ‘Hey we’re going to get back there, easy, no problem.’ But that was really a reality check for us. It mentally checked us in and ever since then we’ve been dominating.”
“We needed to lose that because it made us hungry,” Gray said. “A lot of teams don’t get second chances and we ended up getting a second chance in the district championship game.”
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North Penn 14 0 7 0-21
Pennridge 0 7 0 7-14
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
NP: Matt Pownall 15 run (Matt Marrien kick) 5:28
NP: Rylei Gray 67 run (Matt Marrien kick) 1:32
Second Quarter
P: Trevor Picciotti 4 run (Luis Nunes kick) 6:38
Third Quarter
NP: Matt Pownall 15 run (Matt Marrien kick) 3:57
Fourth Quarter
Ryan Rowe 3 run (Luis Nunes kick) 4:46
Team Statistics
…………………….NP………………Penn
1st downs………..14…………………13
rush-yds……….38-280……….27-121
comp-att-int….8-12-0…………..11-25-2
pass yds………..97………………95
total yds…………377……………….216
fumb-lost……….1-1………………0-0
pen-yds…………5-25…………..5-32
Individual Statistics
Rushing:
North Penn: Matt Pownall 22-175, 2 TDs; Rylei Gray 9-92, TD; Matt Bucksar 6-11; Aiden Ashley 1-2.
Pennridge: Will Dougherty 8-56; Noah Keating 6-32; Ryan Rowe 7-22; Trevor Picciotti 6-11, TD.
Passing:
North Penn: Matt Bucksar 8-12, 97 yards.
Pennridge: Noah Keating 11-25, 95 yards, 2 INTs.
Receiving:
North Penn: Mason Franek 3-48; Matt Pownall 4-46; Cameron Mainor 1-3.
Pennridge: Sean Leuthe 2-34; Davis Underhill 2-28; Will Dougherty 1-8; 28 1-7; Nate Derstine 1-7;Trevor Picciotti 3-6; Chase Clontz 1-5
Interceptions- North Penn: Ziyon Smith, Nate Schepian.