BOOSTERCLUB3

GAME 4

Adkins provides profitable return

By: BILL KEEN

The Intelligencer

Senior's punt return for a touchdown keys Archbishop Wood's shutout over Pennridge

AMBLER - Sometimes, one big play is all a team needs to turn a lackluster performance into an emotional win.

A scoreless first half of Saturday's non-league football game between Archbishop Wood and Pennridge was winding down, when the Rams punted with less than 2 minutes left on the stadium clock at Wissahickon.

What happened next was the turning point in a game the Vikings went on to win, 16-0.

Standing on his own 20-yard line, Vikings senior Scott Adkins had to drift five yards further back to catch the ball. As he caught it and turned up field, arrayed in front of him was a wall of friendly jerseys.

Adkins avoided the first two would-be tacklers and followed his blockers until he reached the 35, where he broke for the near sideline. He sidestepped a tackle at the 50 and pulled out of another. As he neared the Rams' 30, one last defender remained, and it looked as though he had the angle to make the stop.

He never got the chance, as Adkins' younger brother, Kyle, peeled back and threw a perfect blindside block that knocked the Rams player halfway into next week and allowed his brother to race into the end zone with a dazzling 85-yard touchdown.

"I didn't have full speed when I cut, and that guy would have gotten me, but my brother came across and threw the block," said Scott Adkins, while clutching the ball he carried on the return. "I really wanted to score ... but it was just a lot of my teammates throwing blocks."

Pennridge had more total yards than the Vikings in the first half, but every time the Rams had a little momentum, they found a way to stop themselves.

"There were a lot of penalties, but I don't think we really executed well on offense," Pennridge coach Randy Cuthbert said. "We had a lot of opportunities. (The Vikings) were playing a lot of heavy fronts, so we had to throw the ball some more, and there were a couple of situations where we just missed."

Pennridge quarterback Kyle Peters gained 31 yards rushing and passed for 115 more, but like his coach, he lamented the mistakes that short-circuited drive after drive.

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"We were moving the ball down field and we just stalled," Peters said. "We can't have that happen, (because) we put the defense in too much of a bind tonight. They had to play way too much."

Wood held the 7-0 lead until defensive end Kevin Hannings sacked Peters in his own end zone for a safety with 3:13 left in the game. A little over a minute later, after Pennridge's free kick, Vikings quarterback Joey Monaghan raced in from 10 yards out to close out the scoring.

"We're a good football team and we're getting better each day," said Wood coach Steve Devlin, before turning his comments toward the Adkins brothers. "Scotty is not very big guy, and neither am I, and I'm just so happy for him ... but he owes his brother a cheesesteak or something, because that block (Kyle) threw at the end (of the return) got Scotty open."

PENNRIDGE

WOOD

GAME SUMMARY

Pennridge

0 0 0 0 -0

Archbishop Wood 0 7 0 9 -16

SCORING SUMMARY

AW - S. Adkins 85 punt return (Visco kick)

AW - Safety, Pennridge quarterback sacked in end zone

AW - Joey Monaghan 10 run (Visco kick)

SEASON STATISTICS

WOOD FLOATS PAST RAMS

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs

Yards Rushing

179

Yards Passing

115

Total Offense

211

235

Comp. Pass Int 10-20-1 5-9-0

Fumbles-lost

1-0

2-2

Penalties-yards

7-48 5-40

Punts-Avg.

6-39.0 3-33.0

Sacked-Yds. Lost 4-17 1-8

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Pennridge

Rushing: Knepp 11-38; Peters 9-31; Walbridge 8-27

Passing: Peters 10-19-0, 115 yards; Walbridge 0-1-0

Receiving: Moyer 2-52; Cope 2-28; Walbridge 3-26; Smith 1-15; Knepp 1-(-6)

Interceptions: None

Archbishop Wood

Rushing: Murt 12-114; Monaghan 11-33, 1 TD; S. Adkins 4-23; Downs 1-5; Raison 6-4

Passing: Monaghan 4-7-0, 33 yards; Downs 1-1-0, 23 yards; Visco 0-1-0

Receiving: McCain 3-42; Downs 2-14

Interceptions: McCain

PENNRIDGE

WOOD