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Muncy keeps North Penn-Mansfield winless with a shutout home win

By ALEX KIELAR 4 min read

MUNCY -- The only question Friday night when Muncy hosted North Penn-Mansfield was the final margin of victory, and that became apparent from the game's first offensive play.

After the opening kickoff went out of bounds and gave the Panthers strong field position, the Indians pounced on a fumbled snap on the first play from scrimmage.

Muncy (5-3, 3-2) failed to capitalize immediately and didn't get on the board until its second drive. A seven-play drive ended with a three-yard run into the end zone by Layken Harris with under six minutes to go in the opening quarter. It wasn't always pretty, with mistakes and 16 total penalties, including nine on Muncy, but the Indians never looked back in a 41-0 win.

"Overall, I thought they played well-we've got to be cleaner, as we had maybe three touchdowns taken off the board (and) put ourselves in bad positions," Muncy coach Chris Persing said. "We overcame some of them, but it's not a great way to go through a football game. But if we can clean up those things and put ourselves in better situations on the second and third down, I think that would be advantageous for us moving forward."

A short punt by the Panthers (0-8, 0-3) set up Muncy at their opponents' 37-yard line for their third drive, which they quickly capitalized on. Following an incompletion, Chase Boozer ran down the right side for a 27-yard gain to the 10-yard line. The drive ended with a 14-yard touchdown run up the middle by Layken Harris with 3:24 to go in the opening quarter.

Muncy wasted no time adding to their lead to begin the second quarter, as freshman quarterback Noah Walters found a wide-open Nathan Rogers down the right sideline for a 40-yard touchdown on the first play.

Special teams also played a big role for the Indians, starting with a blocked punt on the ensuing drive that set the offense up at the North Penn 30. Despite the great field position, Muncy was almost forced to settle for three, but a roughing-the-kicker call on the North Penn-Mansfield defense gave them an automatic first down in the red zone.

The Indians capitalized on the mistake as sophomore quarterback Noah Weikle capped the drive with a four-yard run into the end zone to make it 27-0 with 5:15 until halftime after the extra point went through the uprights.

Muncy didn't score again until under five minutes to go in the third quarter, another big special teams play. They had a chance to score earlier but lost possession on a sack-fumble forced by Kaiden Brooks and recovered by Jackson Raught at the 10-yard line. However, the defense forced a three-and-out, setting up another special-teams opportunity.

After a previous long punt return was called back due to a holding penalty, Rogers changed direction, juked, spun and turned upfield for a 40-yard punt return touchdown with no flags in sight this time.

"Nate does a really great job for us back there. So we thought we had the first one, which is awesome, and then we look over there and see the penalty," Persing said. "So seeing him get that second one was exciting because he's a talented player-so finally getting that one we've been trying for all year. We were all happy for him and the team, because we blocked well enough too."

The Indians added their final score of the day with 4:21 left in the game, driving down the field before capping off the nine-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone by Drew Ryder.

"Overall, I'm proud of the effort," Persing said. "Anytime you get a shutout -- doesn't matter who you're playing -- you've got to be happy."

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