North Penn

By Mike Cabrey

mcabrey@thereporteronline.com

TOWAMENCIN — Two years ago, North Penn missed the postseason for the first time under coach Dick Beck.

Last season, the Knights made the District 1-AAAA championship game for the fifth time in six years.

Do those results matter to the 2014 edition of North Penn? For Beck, not really.

“We treat every year as something different. So, whether we win the state championship or didn’t make the playoffs, the motivation is just try to work hard to be the best team we can be,” he said. “I’m not sure we’re looking at last year’s team or the year before or whatever and saying ‘This is what we want to do or not want to do.’

While the 2014 Knights may be blank slate, there is enough experience and talent returning from last season’s teams that strung together 10 straight wins after a 0-3 start to make a mark in the newly-realigned Suburban One League National Conference.

“What we do (is focus on) one week at a time,” senior offensive tackle Frank Tranzilli said. “We don’t look two weeks ahead, to who we’re play we focus one week at a time, who we’re playing that Friday night. We practice hard and we don’t care about what’s going on the future.”

Tranzilli, an all-SOL Continental first team pick last year, is one of four returning linemen that helped an offense average 334.1 yards per contest – 230.3 on the ground – and 27.3 points per contest in 2013. Seniors Andrew Thomas, Nick Argento and Ryan Nowicki are also back, with senior Marc Buchhalter and junior Dan Lare taking up the fifth spot.

“It’s real big because we all work really well together, we all mesh together,” Tranzilli said. “It’s good to have a lot of experience on the offensive line because it’s less time to go through things like learning plays and teaching guys new stuff. We’ve all done it before, so we’re all ready to get back at it.”

Junior Nyfease West ran for over 100 yards in nine of North Penn’s last 11 games – including 221 in the district semifinal win over Perkiomen Valley – with his 1,631 yards account for half of the Knights’ total on the ground. Beck is looking for big contributions from West on the other side of the ball as well.

“I want to him to play defense as hard as he does when he has the ball in the hand,” Beck said. “He’s got to play defense and play safety for us. He’s more important to safety than he is at running back.”

Juniors Justin Ostopowciz and Nick Isabella and sophomore Elgin Horton will also factor in the rushing game. North Penn graduated its top three receivers, but Beck likes the new group of pass catchers – seniors Michael Liddy and Anthony Cameron and sophomore Ricky Johns.

“We have a lot of weapons on the outside,” Liddy said. “We’re quick, we have and hands and we got Ricky, who’s 6-3, so he’s going to go up and grab some balls for us.”

Beck said the decision at quarterback between juniors Spencer Jones and Jake Bevan would be make after the second scrimmage.

Matt Ammendola should give the Knights confidence in its kicking game. The senior blasted a school-record 56-yard field goal in last year’s win over Souderton.

Defensively, the Knights gave up 21.7 points per contest in 2013, but allowed almost four points less (16.9) after its 0-3 start.

“We’re very confident, we’re strong in the secondary,” Liddy said. “We’re smart. We know what we’re doing. We run a complex defense, and we’re all getting the hang of it really quickly.”

Liddy and senior Marquise Watson are back at cornerback, with West and senior Mike Burns manning the safety positions. Senior linebacker Dorian Sebetsky returns after missing last year due to a lacrosse injury.

“We’re a little thin up front, we’re not super big,” Beck said. “Keith Earle, the defensive end, I think is a rising star. He’s only a junior, played a lot last year, so I’m hoping that he kind of fulfills his potential.”