North Penn gears up again in Pennsylvania football playoffs

Southeastern Pennsylvania Top 10
1. LaSalle College (Wyndmoor) (9-1: Weeks rated: 10. Last Week: 1.)
2. Ridley (Folsom) (10-0: Weeks rated: 10. Last Week: 2.)
3. Archbishop Wood (Warminster) (10-0: Weeks rated: 10. Last Week: 3.)
4. North Penn (Lansdale) (9-1: Weeks rated: 10. Last Week: 4.)
5. Cardinal O'Hara (Springfield) (9-1: Weeks rated: 9. Last Week: 5.)
6. West Catholic (Philadelphia) (8-2: Weeks rated: 10. Last Week: 8.)
7. Owen J. Roberts (Pottstown) (8-2: Weeks rated: 3. Last Week: Unrated.)
8. Abington (8-2: Weeks rated: 2. Last Week: 9.)
9. Council Rock South (Holland) (9-1: Weeks rated: 6. Last Week. 6.)
10. Neshaminy (Langhorne) (9-1: Weeks rated: 1. Last Week: Unrated)

North Penn coach Dick Beck warned his team last year — Beck knew how good some of the other teams were in the District 1 Class AAAA playoffs and nothing was going to be handed to the Knights.

But it sure looked that way, as North Penn smashed through its first three playoff opponents by a combined score of 116-41.

That's when North Penn ran into a roadblock called Ridley, and a 19-10 loss in the District 1 Class AAAA championship. It was a disappointing finish for a team many thought was the best in the state in 2009. It erased a pretty amazing season by the Knights, but consequently, the only thing anyone remembers is what happened last.

It's a sting that won't go away. It's why North Penn is looking at this year's District 1 Class AAAA playoffs much differently.

The Knights, the No. 3 seed, are on a nine-game winning streak, and "We know now that we aren't unstoppable, and we know now there are teams out there like Ridley, like La Salle, that are really good teams," said North Penn starting linebacker/tight end Ralph Reeves, a 6-2, 220-pound junior who is getting attention from West Virginia, Notre Dame, Pitt and Rutgers.

"There is a difference about this team and last year's. The Ridley loss was embarrassing, because we got punched in the mouth and we couldn't punch back. A lot of last year's team thought they would walk all over Ridley. We thought they'd give us a good game, but we didn't think they'd beat us. The Ridley kids hit us like we were never hit before; we weren't used to getting hit like that by anyone. Ridley has a lot of fans up here, especially the North Penn football team — because we would love to see them again. I personally would."

If the seeds hold true, that means the Knights would meet Ridley in the district semifinals at Ridley. For now, North Penn has to get by No. 14 seed Penn Wood, which features 6-9, 260-pound Penn State-bound Shawn Oakman, this Friday at 7 p.m. at North Penn.

"We're taking this season a lot slower, and taking every game when that game happens," Reeves said. "Everyone is practicing harder, there is more intensity. I think last year was a good thing to motivate us this year. Ridley had the motivation. They were the underdog. This year, it's flipped. We're the ones with the motivation coming after them. I personally like it."

HERE COME THE CHAMPS
The talk has been nonexistent about the amazing 14-1 run and becoming the first Philadelphia Catholic League team to win a state championship in football. About a team that never thought its season would end.

La Salle keeps moving along in 2010, chopping up teams in its path as quietly as the Explorers can. They're 9-1 and poised to win their second straight Philadelphia Catholic League Class AAAA title, on the road to defending the PIAA Class AAAA (large school) state crown the Explorers won in 2009.

"It is kind of funny, I haven't heard a peep about the pressure of defending the state title from these kids," La Salle coach Drew Gordon said. "We don't talk much about it at all. I don't hear the kids talking about it. We have a team that's not thinking a whole lot into the future. We celebrated last year, and this is 2010. There were no trophy or ring ceremonies in September."

No, but La Salle did return Villanova-bound Jamal Abdur-rahman, the Explorers' lightning-fast senior tailback who's rushed for more than 1,200 yards and scored 20 touchdowns this season. And that's coming off knee problems last off-season.

La Salle has also gotten a big boost from the play of senior inside linebacker Connor Daly, who played in just three games his junior year when he suffered a massive knee injury that required reconstructive surgery.

Add those two in with Kevin Forster, who's stepped in and played some quarterback along with his safety duties, Conor Murphy, Sean Burke, Sean Coleman and Ryan Geiger and La Salle seems primed again to win a second-straight trifecta: Philadelphia Catholic League championship, Philadelphia city championship and state championship.

The Explorers' state title defense continues Friday at Northeast High at 7 p.m., when the Explorers defend their Catholic League Class AAAA championship against Roman Catholic, a team La Salle beat 43-17 during the regular season.

Junior quarterback Matt Magarity should be ready to start again for the Explorers, back from missing the last three games due to a concussion.

"I do like the way we're playing right now, but I want to see more sustained drives," said Gordon, whose team is a combined 23-2 over the last two years, with the only loss this season coming in a 22-21 setback to national powerhouse Bergen Catholic the second game of the season. "I don't want to solely rely on the home run. We had that problem when my son Brett was here in the 1990s. We had kids standing around waiting for the big play to happen. Everyone is happy now, but what happens when someone takes the running game away from us? Can we can go to the passing game and be successful? We still need some answers there."

It doesn't look as if anyone is ready to take anything away from La Salle just yet. And the state champs are still the state champs until someone wrests the title from them.

"It's awful powerful motivation knowing we're at the one-and-done stage," Gordon said. "I love the attitude of these kids right now. There's no talk of what's two weeks ahead. The kids realize one loss and that's it now. They don't want it to end."

Apparently some things have carried over from 2009.

Joseph Santoliquito can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.