LANGHORNE — Chase Clontz didn’t see the ball at first.
After he got a hand on the football, he didn’t secure it right away either.
But when Clontz felt the ball in his grasp and took a look at the scoreboard, he knew he’d made the game winning play.
Clontz’s interception in the final seconds Friday night sealed a 14-7 win over Suburban One National Division rival Neshaminy to keep the Rams undefeated.
“At first I bobbled it, so I was like I have to confirm the catch first,” Clontz said. “Then I saw it, saw the time, and I was like I gotta take a knee — and then celebrate.”
After going 55 yards and 14 plays late in the third quarter to take a 14-7 lead on a one-yard sneak by Noah Keating, Pennridge (7-0, 4-0 SOL National) got the ball back in the fourth looking to put together a game winning drive.
The Rams converted a fourth-down on their own 38-yard line, but Neshaminy (5-2, 3-1) stopped another fourth-down attempt to get the ball back down seven with 5:13 to play, leaving things up to the Pennridge defense.
“We knew we could lock down the whole day,” Clontz said. “They weren’t moving the ball much after the first quarter. We knew it was up to us. … It was just all focus until the clock hit 0.”
Neshaminy quarterback Michael Eckart moved his team down the field starting at their own 26-yard line. Chunk plays to Carson Schneider and Bobby Lager got the ball down to the Pennridge 24-yard line. Another nice gain was wiped away by a penalty before Eckart scrambled on 1st-and-15 with 29 yards between himself and the end zone looking to make a play.
He floated a ball up in the area of a receiver, but Clontz elevated to tip the pass before hauling in the deflection himself with 18.6 seconds left, taking a knee for the touchback and sprinting toward the Rams’ sidelines to celebrate with his teammates.
“To be honest, I lost sight at first,” Clontz said. “I was in a back pedal and kind of started tripping on my feet. I saw the ball in the air, knew the receiver was behind me, and went up to make a play and was there.”
It was a valiant comeback attempt for Neshaminy after being bottled up offensively for most of the second half.
“We pride ourselves on being a fourth-quarter team,” Neshaminy coach Nick Felus said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win in the end. It just didn’t go our way tonight. We’re not gonna let one game define our season. Our kids are going to turn the page quickly. Coaching staff’s going to turn the game quickly, and we’re going to get back to work.”
Both teams’ defense led the way in the contest with yards hard to come by on both sides.
Neshaminy moved the ball down the field on its first drive of the game and got on the board first with an eight-play, 93-yard touchdown drive, which was capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass from Eckart to Brock Williams with 1:17 left in the first quarter. Eckart completed 15-of-22 passes for 143 yards and a score.
Pennridge evened the score 7-7 when Will Dougherty punched in a two-yard touchdown run with 1:47 to go in the first half. Dougherty ran 15 times for 100 yards on the day. Carter Clee led Neshaminy’s run game with 19 carries for 96 yards, but the Pennridge defense bottled him up for just 17 yards on six carries after the break.
Pennridge coach Kyle Beller highlighted the play of his defensive front, including Ian Gallagher, Nolan Worman, Gary Gorman, Jameson Haberle, and Dougherty.
“We’re probably outweighed 40 to 60 pounds probably across the board, but our guys just battled,” Beller said. “Our front, they kept stuffing the run. We just kept battling.”
Pennridge is 7-0 for the first time since 1964, when the Rams went 10-0 to win the Bux-Mont League. It’s the program’s first seven-game win streak since making a run to the District 1-6A semifinals in 2017.
In Beller’s third year at the helm of the program, Pennridge already has as many wins as his first two seasons — 3-8 (2-5) and 4-7 (2-5) — combined. With three games left, the Rams are in the driver’s seat of the SOL National division with three games to play. They last won the league in 2021.
“We just keep playing as a team and grinding away,” Beller said. “These kids keep believing. It’s been three years in the making with this crew here. They love each other. They play for each other, and no matter what the odds are they just keep battling.”
Neshaminy had won three in a row, including a victory over North Penn, since a Week 3 loss to Cheltenham. Felus’ squad is still ranked No. 8 in the district power rankings and just a game behind Pennridge in the league standings.
They will close out their regular season on the road against Central Bucks East, Central Bucks South, and Pennsbury.
“I thought our kids battled hard,” Felus said. “I thought we played extremely hard. We played very well at times. I thought in the second half, they stopped us from being able to run the ball consistently. We had too many penalties. We have to get that cleaned up, but they made more plays than we did. In the end that was the difference in the game.”
Pennridge 0 7 7 0-14
Neshaminy 7 0 0 0-7
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
N: Brock Williams 20 pass from Michael Eckart (Stephen Buczzek kick) 1:17
Second Quarter
P: Will Dougherty 2 run (Luis Nunes kick) 1:47
Third Quarter
P: Keating 1 run (Luis Nunes kick) 1:37
Fourth Quarter
None.
Team Statistics
…………………….Penn………………Nesh
1st downs………..17…………………18
rush-yds……….33-142……….31-(106)
comp-att-int….9-18-1…………..16-23-1
pass yds……….105………………143
total yds…………247……………….249
fumb-lost……..0-0………………0-0
pen-yds…………4-20…………..6-41
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Pennridge: Will Dougherty 15-100, TD; Noah Keating 10-22, TD; Ryan Rowe 2-13; Brody Blomgren 2-3; Trover Picciotti 2-2; Thomas Ginetti 1-1; Sean Leuthe 1-1.
Neshaminy: Carter Clee 19-96; Brock Williams 1-8; Michael Eckart 11-2.
Passing:
Pennridge: Noah Keating 9-18, 105 yards, INT.
Neshaminy: Michael Eckart 15-22, 143 yards, TD, INT; Nick Sassano 1-1, 0 yards.
Receiving:
Pennridge: Sean Leuthe 4-66; Ryan Rowe 2-24; Brody Blomgren 1-8; Chase Clontz 1-7; Will Dougherty 1-0.
Neshaminy: Lucas Stewart 3-43; Bobby Lagler 2-30; Brock Williams 2-21, TD; Carson Schneider 1-15; Mike Sassano 3-15; Nick Sassano 1-12; Carter Clee 2-4; Josef Perlman 1-3; Michael Eckart 1-0.
Interceptions: Pennridge: Chase Clontz; Neshaminy: NIck Sassano.
Sacks: Pennridge: Blake Landherr, Thomas Ginnetti.