Tough Loss Accompanied with Lessons Learned for the Panthers

By: Julia Henry

The Quakertown High School Panther football team sits at 1-1 on the season following a 49-7 loss to the North Penn Knights in a non-league game. They are fully focused on this Friday night’s game, September 9, at Central Bucks West. The Panthers started out strong, with junior Max Morris recovering an onside kick, placing the ball on North Penn’s 46-yard line. They unfortunately ended that drive without scoring. North Penn began their offense-filled night when running back Dave Dawes rushed for a touchdown four minutes into the game. He scored again with two minutes remaining in the quarter making the score 14-0, North Penn.

A minute into the second quarter, quarterback Vince Micucci completed a 13-yard pass to Morris to split North Penn’s lead in half. Following the Panther touchdown, North Penn converted two more touchdowns and took a 28-7 lead into halftime. Vinny Pellegrini, a senior offensive and defensive lineman shared that his halftime mindset was “to keep doing my job and to keep dominating my opponents,” and added, “the team’s mindset was the same.” Owen Jaegers, a senior tight end and defensive end, spoke about how “we all had a clean slate mindset at halftime. Every new half is a 0-0 ballgame.” Both seniors noted the importance of the whole team keeping their heads held high and continuing to improve in the second half.

Throughout the game, the Panthers defensively experienced trouble in maintaining coverage on North Penn’s receivers. Yazeed Haynes, a senior wide receiver at North Penn, has committed to playing collegiate football at the University of Georgia. As North Penn kept building on their lead, Pellegrini stressed how he “kept trying to lift the guys on the field” and that there are many positives to take away from the game. The Knights scored three more touchdowns in the second half for a final score of 49-7. Jaegers commented that the Panthers learned “how important responsibilities are…if one person misses their assignment it can take a toll on the whole team, but you can’t try to do more than your job.” While this game did not produce a Panther victory, it did produce many positive takeaways that can be applied when the Panthers face the CB West Bucks this Friday. They have just three returning starters and a very young team. Jaegers spoke of this loss as a “great learning experience for a lot of guys and we’ll use it as fuel going into next week.”

When asked what the team can build upon for this Friday’s game that led to success last season, Jaegers highlighted the trust from all the guys in the locker room and to “never throw in the towel despite the score.” Pellegrini answered “by having a great week of practice, and by looking sharp on offense, defense, and special teams,” and emphatically ended his interview with, “We need to look good all around!”

The Quakertown Panthers (1-1) travel to CB West (0-2) in a non-league game next Friday, September 9. CB West suffered a 35-7 loss to Upper Dublin last Friday. The Panthers are focused on playing West this Friday and regaining a winning record.

Question of the Week: What are your pre and/or post-game rituals?

Vinny: “My pre-game ritual is to go over plays and watch film while stretching and using my massage gun, while we wait to walk over to Alumni before the game. My post-game ritual is as soon as I get home to have a glass of chocolate milk and unwind from the game before watching the film and getting a good night’s rest.”

Owen: “Usually before I leave for every game I do a yoga routine that focuses on stretching. After games, I go to Wawa and watch film with my dad.”