Football: Garnet Valley shuts down talk, zips past Pennridge

CONCORD >> There was a lot to talk after Garnet Valley’s amazing comeback victory over North Penn in the quarterfinal round of the District 1 Class 6A football tournament last weekend. Jaguars coach Mike Ricci still had some concerns.

During the week, as the third-seeded Jags prepared for their semifinal match against No. 7 Pennridge, talk began to build up when it was learned that the Rams would not have their standout running back/linebacker Nick Tarburton when they made the long trip to Garnet Valley’s Moe DeFrank Stadium Friday night.

Tarburton was suspended from the team following an incident at the school Wednesday, and Ricci was aware that all the talk that followed that announcement might have his players overlooking a tough opponent.

As it turned out, Garnet Valley made the most of some big plays and a long offensive possession in the fourth quarter to advance to the district final for the second year in a row with a 28-20 victory over the Rams.

The Jaguars (12-1) will host No. 4 seed Coatesville (12-1) in the 6A championship game next Friday night. The Red Raiders ripped No. 8-seeded Pennsbury, 42-2, in their semifinal matchup.

“We had a great week of practice,” Ricci said. “Then we heard about the difficulties (Pennridge) had in losing such a great player and wondered if hearing news like that might make some of our people relax a little bit.

“We let them know that (Pennridge) still had some very good players and was a tough team.”

The visiting Rams (10-3) made things tough for the Jags in the opening half. After forcing Garnet Valley to punt on its first possession, Pennridge faced a third down at its 16 when quarterback Zak Kantor lost the ball as he was hit attempting to pass.

GV junior Cade Brennan picked up the ball and had only four yards to cover to reach the end zone for the first score of the game — and his first career touchdown.

“Griffin Salus made a great play to strip him of the ball,” Brennan said. “I went after the ball, was fortunate to be able to pick it up, and I ran it in.

“We always talk about everybody just doing the job they are supposed to be doing, and how if they do that, things can happen. We knew they were going to be missing their really great player, but that didn’t change what we wanted to do. It was having everyone do their job, and now we know that we have to practice to get ready for Coatesville, which is a really great team.”

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PETE BANNAN-DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Garnet Valley runingback Matt Lassik (26) scored his first touchdown of the third quarter as the Jaguars came from behind to defeat Pennridge 28-20 in PIAA District 1 6A semifinals. Celebrating with him at (23) Colin Robinson and (37) Shane Van Horn and (87) Kyle McConnell. They will meet Coatesville next week at home.