Penns Valley football breezes past Mount Union in D6 Class 2A quarterfinals
Penns Valley’s matchup with Mount Union in the District 6 Class 2A quarterfinals was one the Rams were all too familiar with.
The squads kicked off their preseasons with a scrimmage against one another. According to Penns Valley coach Martin Tobias, it didn’t go too well.
On Friday night, the Rams (9-2) showed how much they improved from that point in a 55-7 rout of the Trojans (6-5).
“It wasn’t what I expected. Mount Union is a talented group of players,” Tobias said of the win. “They’ve got athletes. They are fast and physical. They handed it to us on this field (in the scrimmage). They were all over us. We were expecting a knock down, drag them out battle. We did not expect to come out on top by that score.”
It was “a combination of things” that showed how the Rams improved from that scrimmage to Friday night, Tobias said.
Penns Valley used a potent combination offensively that turned a tie game just two minutes into the start in to a 48-point rout.
Quarterback Jackson Romig played a key role in that offensive outburst. The junior was an incredibly efficient 8-for-11 passing for 241 yards and four touchdowns — to four different receivers and three alone in the first half. He also added 55 yards on the ground on four carries.
As a whole, the Rams were pretty well balanced with 297 yards rushing to go along with the 241 through the air.
“Use one and it opens the other,” Romig said of using the run game to open the passing game up.
The first score of the night saw Romig connect with Miles Brooks on a 41-yard score just over 30 seconds into the game. The play before saw Brooks snap off a 22-yard run.
Mount Union responded quickly — just over one minute — to tie the game up at 7-7, when quarterback Bryce Danish went 67 yards untouched for the lone score of the night for his team.
With just over one minute left in the first quarter, Penns Valley reclaimed the lead when running back Ty Watson capped off an eight-play drive with a five-yard run. The junior finished the night with 160 yards rushing on 22 carries and added one other rushing score. He is now two rushing touchdowns away from tying the school’s all time mark of 25 set by Derek Lucas.
The rout was then on with Romig steering the ship.
“It feels great. My line did everything they needed tonight,” Romig said, “to give me the time to get the ball to the receivers.”
After the Rams’ defense forced a three-and-out, Romig connected with Watson on an 85-yard score that saw Watson get popped just as he caught the ball, but stayed on his feet for the score. After another three-and-out, Romig found a wide open Danin Kerstetter on a 60-yard bomb. It was 28-7 with just over six minutes left in the half.
Romig finished the first half 5-of-8 for 194 yards and three passing scores.
“He’s like a number of other players on our team. They are all going to deflect that praise,” Tobias said of his quarterback, “and give credit to everybody else around them because our guys recognize they can’t do it alone. We are very fortunate to have some really fun kids to work with, some hard workers. Jackson is one of those young men.”
Romig’s final score of the night came late in the third quarter. After Mount Union ate up nearly a half of the quarter with an 11-play drive — 10 runs, that stalled out at Penns Valley’s 30, Romig went to work.
Watson used three straight runs to get the Rams to the Trojans’ 38. Romig hooked up with John Meyer, who jumped up over his defender to grab the ball, and was brought down at the Mount Union 1. Three straight runs saw Penns Valley fall back to the four. On fourth-and-goal, Romig found Hunter Lyons in the back of the endzone. It was 41-7 with 2:23 left in the third quarter.
The Rams’ Kollin Brungart and Zach Rummel tallied the last scores of the night to finish off the rout.
“I’m really pleased and happy for them. Like every team in the state, it is a goal to keep winning,” Tobias said. “At some point, it’s going to end with a win or a loss. It just all depends on how things play out. I’m really proud of our guys for showing up every day and continuing to work. I’m really proud of our guys for playing with the energy and effort that they have. I’m glad that we get another week.”
For Penns Valley, “another week” will be a matchup with Bald Eagle Area, who torched Bellwood-Antis 45-19. The pair faced off at the end of September with the Eagles dominating the Rams 42-27. BEA held a 20-7 lead at the half.
Romig has revenge on his mind, but Tobias wasn’t even thinking about the matchup.
“Honestly, I haven’t had a chance to think about it. I was focused on today,” he said. “We’ll enjoy this one for 24 hours, and then get ready to go.”
