The Panthers didn’t disguise their game plan Friday, letting the Redskins know from their first possession that they were in for a heavy dose of ‘ground and pound’. 

After rushing for just 27 yards in their season-opening loss at Wyalusing, North Penn racked up over 300 yards of rushing against Sayre, including 184 yards on 29 carries by senior QB Cooper Shaw. 

“This game was a great opportunity to show how we’ve improved each day in practice this week,” said Head Coach Jed Wright following the Panthers’ first win of the ’24 season. “We strive to get better every day .. better than we were the day before .. and the results took care of themselves tonight.”

Shaw carried the ball 29 times and scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground, while also adding 75 yards and a score through the air. 

Junior Luke Kreger caught Shaw’s TD pass and finished with two receptions for 36 yards while also carrying the ball seven times for 45 yards. 

Kreger also gave the Panthers their first possession of the game when he picked off Sayre on the Redskins’ initial drive. 

Starting at their own 23 yard line, NP-Mansfield put together a 14-play drive that featured 12 rushes .. seven by Shaw .. and drained the first quarter clock as Shaw ran it in from 23 yards out with 1:54 left in the first quarter of play. Brody Grinnell .. on loan from North Penn-Liberty’s soccer team .. drilled the first of his ‘no-doubt’ five extra-point attempts and the Panthers led 7-0.

After their ensuing possession took the game into the second frame, Sayre punted the ball back to NPM and the Panthers took over at the Redskins’ 48. A six-play drive ended on a Shaw 20-yard TD run and Grinnell gave North Penn-Mansfield a 14-0 lead with 8:53 left in the first half.

The Panthers continued to stifle Sayre’s offense and once again forced a Redskin punt. North Penn took eight plays on their drive this time around .. including six rushes by Shaw .. and the first-time starting QB finished it off when he found Kreger standing all alone in the end zone from 10 yards out with 3:35 remaining in the second quarter. Grinnell’s third good kick gave NPM a 21-0 lead. 

North Penn-Mansfield was outstanding defensively .. with eight Panthers making at least a pair of tackles, including Brayden Pequignot with five, Shaw, Braden Route, Luke Sexauer and Ian Snyder with four each, George Perry and Riley Oakes with three each and Kreger with two. 

“Defensively we just focused on everyone doing their individual job,” said Wright, “and giving maximum effort while keeping things simple.”

After forcing another Sayre punt, NPM took over on their own five-yard line with two minutes left in the half and drove to the Redskins’ 20 where they faced a 4th-and-1 with under :15 seconds remaining. A Sayre interception would end the Panther drive and the half, with the Panthers up 21-0.

Coming out of the break with the ball at their own 36, North Penn-Mansfield went on a 10-play drive .. aided by a pair of Redskin penalties .. and Perry would find the end zone from 10 yards out. Grinnell’s fourth kick through the uprights gave NPM a 28-0 lead with 6:49 left in the third quarter. 

Sayre was forced to punt once again, and a facemask call against the Redskins set the Panthers up at midfield. Nine plays into their drive, the third quarter came to a close and NPM was at the Sayre 25. 

The Redskins came up with a fumble recovery at their own six and had 10:37 left in the game to try and get anything going offensively. Instead, the Panthers once again forced a Sayre punt and a nice return by Kreger set NPM up at the Redskin 25 yard line. 

Pequignot took it to the 13 and cousin Oakes finished off the short drive with a TD. Grinnell was good on his 5th attempt and NPM led 35-0 to kick the running clock into play with just under seven minutes remaining in the game. 

Substituting freely for their starters, the Panthers were able to effectively run out the clock to seal their first win. 

Oakes and Perry each rushed for 28 yards and a touchdown in the game, on five and six carries respectively, while Pequignot had three carries for 18 yards. Pequignot added a 2-yard reception and Colton Pellett had two catches for 32 yards while Keaton Manikowski had one catch for five yards. 

North Penn (1-1) will follow up their first win with a large-school clash in Towanda (1-1) next Friday night. 

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