NORTH PENN FOOTBALL FALLS TO 0-2 IN RECORD-SETTING LOSS TO DOWNINGTOWN EAST

DOWNINGTOWN — North Penn is 0-2 for the first time since 2013, and for just the third time in 14 years. The Knights fell to Downingtown East 61-44 on Friday night at Downingtown West’s Kottmeyer Stadium. The nonleague football game set a stadium record for combined points. North Penn led by 10 late in the second quarter. But then quarterback Steve DePaul threw an interception in Knights territory. Downingtown East scored the next 27 points and outscored North Penn 34-14 in the second half. The loss followed North Penn’s 41-28, season-opening setback against La Salle on Aug. 25. Through two games, the Knights have figured out very little. The defense is allowing an average of 51 points per game. The running game has been inconsistent. And DePaul has struggled to get his timing down with receivers. “Everything went wrong tonight,” said North Penn senior receiver Justis Henley. “We played soft. They executed and gave us a good whooping.” After the game, Knights coach Dick Beck spoke to his players for less than five minutes. Beck is not panicking. He has been North Penn’s coach for 16 years. And he always schedules tough nonleague opponents to open seasons. So he has been through this before. “It was worse in 2013, when we started 0-3,” Beck said. “And we ended up going undefeated in our league and got all the way to the district championship.” That year, North Penn got outscored 118-16 in its first three games. The 2017 Knights are at least scoring a lot. But Henley, an electric playmaker on the outside, is really the only reason for that. The senior caught 11 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns on Friday night. He also set up another touchdown with a 36-yard run. North Penn needs other players to start complementing him. “Dars (Bowsky) and Khan (Jamal) ran the ball great tonight,” Beck said. “We did some other things besides Justis.” Bowsky and Jamal combined for 99 yards on 14 carries. But 57 yards came on three big runs. North Penn’s biggest problem has been stopping the run. Downingtown East ran for 370 yards and seven touchdowns on Friday night. Three Cougars ballcarriers scored two touchdowns. Brassir Stocker ran 13 times for 154 yards. “It was wide open,” Stocker said. “The holes were there.” “We have a really good offensive line,” said Downingtown East coach Mike Matta. Four of the Cougars' offensive linemen weigh more than 260 pounds. Three are returning starters. Downingtown East, like La Salle last week, may have just been a really tough opponent. But if North Penn is going to repeat as the District One Class 6A champion, it has to figure out how to beat those teams.

NORTH PENN FOOTBALL FALLS TO 0-2 IN RECORD-SETTING LOSS TO DOWNINGTOWN EAST

Photo Credit: Downingtown East Athletics

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