Ridley edges North Penn in overtime to win District 1-6A quarterfinal shootout

TOWAMENCIN >> North Penn and Ridley spent Friday night engaged in an offensive slugfest and the result after four quarters was that both football teams had put 49 points on the scoreboard.

In overtime, it was extra-point execution that finally settled the District 1-6A quarterfinal contest at Crawford Stadium.

Khalani Eaton put the host Knights ahead on the first play of the extra session with his 10-yard touchdown run but Stephen O’Donovan blocked the point after try, keeping the Raiders’ deficit at six.

Ridley found the end zone on its possession as Tahir Mills hauled in a nine-yard TD from quarterback John Heller, giving kicker Nick Volpone the chance to seal the victory.

The senior missed on a go-ahead field goal try from 36 yards out in the final seconds of regulation, but his extra point in OT sailed through the uprights, sending the No. 7 Raiders to the semifinals with a 56-55 upset victory over No. 2 North Penn.

“I knew for the boys I had to come through and secure the win,” Volpone said. “It’s been a while since we won at North Penn, they gave me another opportunity and I knocked it home.”

Mills’ touchdown catch was the last of his five touchdowns, the senior running back ending the night with an astounding 337 yards and four scores on 42 carries as Ridley (11-1) survived the Knights’ fourth-quarter rally to earn its first semis appearance since 2009 when the Raiders won the District 1-4A title.

“I knew since earlier in the week that their defense is good but we got a good offense,” Mills said. “I believe it was going to be a good offensive game – two good running backs, two good QBs, receivers. I knew it was going to be an offensive game.”

Eaton ran for 157 yards and four TDs on 19 carries while Ethan Spann finished with 125 yards and two touchdowns on five carries as North Penn (11-1) had its 15-game winning streak stopped and were denied their first trip to the semifinals since 2018.

“I thought the kids really played hard,” Knights coach **** Beck said. “I’m sure it was a great game to watch, it wasn’t a great game to coach in. But we learn from it but I think the kids, this team really bonded well and worked hard and it was a fantastic year.”

Ridley advances to visit No. 3 Coatesville – which defeated No. 6 Perkiomen Valley 35-30 – with the winner meeting either No. 1 Garnet Valley or No. 5 Quakertown in the district final.

“I told the kids, this was only going to end in one overtime,” Raiders coach David Wood said. “We just needed a coin toss of playing defense first cause that was an unbelievable block by O’Donovan, we saw something a little bit this week, we got the block but if we didn’t we would of went for two and the game would have been over at that point.

“We couldn’t line up with them and go toe-to-toe and we learned kind of our lessons in the Garnet game earlier in the year, we’re just not big enough for that. We got to be a finesse team.”

Mills collected 158 yards and three TDs on 20 first-half carries then went for 178 yards and a touchdown on 22 rushes after the break. He posted five runs of 29 yards or more, his longest a 56-yarder late in the fourth.

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