CANTON–Although he could not play, nor be there Saturday afternoon, North Penn-Mansfield senior lineman Bryce Route kept pushing his teammates.

And one amazing fourth quarter play personified what Route represents.

Despite being 20 yards behind the play when he started giving chase, Colton Pellett denied Canton a 76-yard touchdown and forced a fumble at the 1-yard line which resulted in a touchback. Luke Kreger ripped off a 74-yard touchdown run four plays later and North Penn-Mansfield never trailed again, willing itself to a hard-fought 24-14 win at Miller A. Moyer Stadium.

It was not just that North Penn-Mansfield won but how it did so which made this tribute for Route, battling pancreatitis in Hershey, so special. The Panthers overcame a four-point fourth quarter deficit and now stand as the area’s lone unbeaten team, improving to 4-0 for the first time since 2014 after beating Canton for the first time in seven years.

“We made this game for him,” Kreger said after running for a career-high 166 yards and two touchdowns. “We did it for him.”

“They respect Bryce so much as a player and leader,” North Penn-Mansfield coach Jed Wright said. “They wanted to put forth the effort that Bryce would give if he was here.”

The Panthers did so, staying the course after Canton turned a 10-point second quarter deficit into a 14-10 lead entering the fourth quarter. When Rylan Wesneski hit Ryder Route on a short crossing route less than a minute into the fourth quarter, it looked like Canton would go up double figures.

Route caught the ball in stride, sprinted past two defenders and did all he could to cap a fabulous catch and run. But Pellett never gave up despite long odds. Like Don Beebe against the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVII, Pellett made a mad dash, gained ground and saved a touchdown in dramatic fashion, jarring the ball loose at the 1. It then was knocked out of the end zone and North Penn-Mansfield took over at the 20 as a result of the touchback.

Take away Pellett’s hustle and Canton leads 20 or 21-10 and North Penn-Mansfield may have had to shift its game plan. Instead, it was in its end zone less than two minutes later as Pellett’s relentless pursuit represented a seismic shift in the game’s complexion. Pellett returned the game’s opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown, but he found a way to top himself without scoring later on.

“I just saw my guys from the other side trying to track him down. I went all the way down there and punched it out and my teammates recovered the ball and it feels great,” Pellett said. “It was pretty crazy. I couldn’t believe I did it.”

“It would have been really easy for him to pull up 30 yards before he got there. He’s a fast kid but it was an effort play. It wasn’t Colton’s speed that made the play. It was the effort that did it,” Wright said. “Sometimes a play like that is the difference and today was a good example of that. It was huge. It’s hard to find the words for it.”

Still, Canton (1-3) allowed just four yards on the next three plays and North Penn-Mansfield faced a fourth-and-six at its own 26. Although 9 ½ minutes remained, Wright trusted his players to deliver. Oh, how they did.

Kreger took a toss to his right, followed his blockers and beat containment to the edge. Once he was there, Kreger turned on the jets and a player who was an all-state wide receiver last year continued showcasing his running back skills. Kreger went the distance down the right sideline and his 74-yard touchdown gave the Panthers a 17-14 lead.

“I just saw a path I needed to take. My blockers made a hole and I hit it. The rest is history,” Kreger said. “I always try and run as hard as I can. The line came up big when we needed to.”

That trend continued after Noah Musser forced a fumble on Canton’s ensuing possession which Micah VanLoon recovered at the 40-yard line. Conner Lewis, Ian Snyder, Skyler Everetts (9 tackles), Raiden Wimpelberg and Kyle Earley paved the way and Sudan Benner (95 yards) ripped off a 40-yard run to set up Kreger’s 3-yard touchdown, that put North Penn-Mansfield ahead, 24-14 with 2 minutes, 56 seconds left.

“We tell them just about every day we’ll go as far as they take us,” Wright said. “There might be times they forget that but late in games they’ve kind of been able to rally together and decide that they’re going to go win the game for us.”

Pellett sure helped, too. Long before the junior three-way threat changed the game’s trajectory in the fourth quarter, he did so in the initial seconds. The opening kickoff veered left and appeared like it may head out of bounds. Instead, Pellett picked it up on a bounce, broke two tackles and then shot through a gap, going down the right sideline untouched for his 87-yard touchdown.

Just 13 seconds into the game, North Penn-Mansfield led and Brody Grinnell’s 27-yard field goal later in the quarter, as well as his extra point, gave the Panthers 10 first quarter special teams points.

“I think it was going to go out of bounds, but my guys were already blocking, so I thought I might as well pick up the ball,” Pellett said. “I got a couple of blocks, got through the hole and was gone. It was amazing. It was the best feeling I’ve ever had.”

Canton did all it could to reverse those feelings and hung tough despite four turnovers. The Warriors broke through in the first half’s closing minutes as Bailey Gardner scored on a five-yard touchdown, making it, 10-7 at halftime.

Gardner matched his career-high with 154 yards and was poised to score again early in the third quarter. In a preview of things to come, however, Benner showed his heart also matches his speed and made a hustling tackle from behind on a 48-yard run. That series ended with a Wimpelberg interception, the team’s hustle again preventing points.

Jake Pepper, however, gave Canton momentum back when he collected a sack for a seven-yard loss and forced a punt. The Panthers lost 18 yards on the following errant snap and Gardner broke loose for a 32-yard touchdown a play later, putting Canton ahead for the first time, 14-10.

The Warriors did not allow a point in the middle quarters and forced three turnovers, freshman Grant Jennings helping set up the first touchdown with an interception. Linemen Pepper, Uriah Tallada and Blane Wesneski played outstanding games and freshman Owen Moore made seven tackles.

But all the momentum Canton had accumulated in those middle quarters was wiped away by Pellett’s hustle, an Onions-like fourth down call, excellent blocking and Kreger’s 74-yard touchdown. North Penn-Mansfield was knocked down but never out and gave Route exactly what he wanted.

“We just keep staying humble and getting after it,” Pellett said. “This game was for Bryce and we’re glad we could get it.”

North Penn-Mansfield 24, Canton 14

NP-Mansfield 10 0 0 14―24

Williamsport 0 7 7 0―14

First Quarter

N–Colton Pellett 87-yard kick return (Brody Grinnell kick), 11:47

N–Grinnell 27-yard field goal, 1:42

Second Quarter

C–Bailey Gardner 5 run (Alexis McRoberts kick), :18.6

Third Quarter

C–Gardner 32 run (McRoberts kick), 3:14

Fourth Quarter

N–Luke Kreger 74 run (Grinnell kick), 9:07

N–Kreger 3 run (Grinnell kick), 2:56

TEAM STATISTICS N C

First Downs 17 9

Rushes-yards 48-267 33-208

Passing yards 42 107

Total yards 309 315

Comp-Att-Int 6-11-1 3-17-2

Fumbles-lost 4-2 2-2

Penalties-yards 7-45 4-43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: NP-Mansfield, Luke Kreger 24-166, 2 TD; Sudan Benner 8-95; Noah Musser 13-39; Bradley Brooks 2-(-15); Team 1-(-18). Canton, Bailey Gardner 20-154, 2 TD; Rylan Wesneski 7-34; Dawson Burgess 5-19; Owen Moore 1-1.

PASSING: NP-Mansfield, Brooks 6-11-1, 42 yards. Canton, Wesneski 1-4-1, 75 yards; Moore 2-13-1, 32 yards.

RECEIVING: NP-Mansfield, Patrick Youmans 2-19; Colton Pellett 2-12; Kreger 1-6; Kaiden Pellett 1-5. Canton, Ryder Route 2-86; Wesneski 1-21.

INTERCEPTIONS: North Penn-Mansfield, Charles Aumick 2; Raiden Wimpelberg. Canton, Grant Jennings.

Records: North Penn-Mansfield 4-0. Canton 1-3.