PERKASIE — Any lingering doubts about Pennridge being deserving of its No. 1 seed in the PIAA District One Class 6A playoffs went away Friday night at Helman Field.
The Rams, facing perennial-power Coatesville, the tournament's fourth seed, in a semifinal matchup, battled back from an early deficit to score a 17-14 win in front of a large and raucous crowd.
"I don't know if it's sunk in yet, but it will by tomorrow morning," Pennridge junior defensive back Sean Leuthe said.
"We're going to the district final. It just feels great."
Indeed the Rams are and they'll face, and host, a familiar foe in No. 2 North Penn, which thumped No. 11 Neshaminy 35-7 in Friday's other semifinal.
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The Rams, who will be looking for their first district title, upended the Knights 34-10 when the two met in Week Five of the regular season.
"I can't say enough about these kids," Pennridge third-year head coach Kyle Beller said.
"Every game it's like who is going to make the big play for us and different kids keep stepping up. They bought in from Day One three years ago and I couldn't be happier for them."
One of the many Rams who stepped up was senior defensive end Will Dougherty, who turned the momentum Pennridge's way when he tackled Coatesville's Sage Bradshaw for a safety midway through the second quarter.
"That was the first play I went in on defense and I, honestly, didn't even know it was a safety. I was just trying to make the tackle," Dougherty said.
"But you could feel the game kind of change and then Ryan came through for us."
The Ryan is standout senior running back/linebacker Ryan Rowe, who, after the Rams got the ball after the safety caught a 48-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Noah Keating to give the hosts the lead for good at 10-7 (after Rowe ran in the two-point try).
Shortly thereafter, Rowe was shaken up while on defense and left the game and did not return.
"Ryan means so much to this team and when he went down we needed guys to step up and that happened," Beller said.
"(Sophomore) Trevor Picciotti came in at running back and picked up some really big yardage for us, which was huge."
What's next for Pennridge Football?
Pennridge hosts No. 2 North Penn on Nov. 21 for the district championship in a matchup of Suburban One League National Conference rivals.
What's next for Coatesville Football?
Coatesville, which was seeking its fifth district title, ends its season with a 10-3 record.
Key play
In a game with several of them, the vote goes to the touchdown the Rams scored on their first possession of the third quarter. Facing a fourth down on the Red Raiders 1-yard line, Keating found sophomore Blake Landherr in the back of the end zone to give Pennridge a 17-7 lead.
Game balls
Will Dougherty, Pennridge. His safety turned the momentum 180 degrees in the blink of an eye.
Ryan Rowe, Pennridge. Despite playing less than a half, the senior caught a touchdown pass and converted a two-point try to give his team the lead for good.
They said it:
"It was something we had in our playbook for a while," said Beller on the decision to throw the ball on fourth down from the Coatesville 1 early in the third quarter.
"We called it, and that's coach (Jeff) Hollenbach, and it worked."
Drew Markol covers local sports for. Support our journalism with a subscription.
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