While Pen Argyl entered Saturday afternoon’s contest against Wilson Area with a respectable 2-1 record, the Green Knights had to scratch and claw with fourth quarter touchdowns needed to seal both victories.
In a divisional matchup with the Warriors at Pen Argyl High School’s Alumni Stadium, coach Brady Mutton’s group took little time to determine the outcome as the Green Knights jumped out to a 35-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 35-6 win to extend Wilson’s losing streak to 35 games across four seasons.
“You’d like to blow teams out, but those first two games helped us for the rest of the year. We knew it, too, as soon as they finished. We knew that was going to pay off,” Mutton said. “When you do get into a game where you take control early, we know we’ll keep playing, and it’s just going to snowball and turn into this instead of a one-score game.”
Mutton’s aggressiveness and trust in his players in crucial situations helped do exactly that and turn what could’ve been an early punt into an opening drive touchdown.
Faced with a pair of 4th-and-7’s on the first drive of the game, the Pen Argyl head coach rolled the dice and trusted senior quarterback Mason Soos to come through and convert in big moments.
The converted quarterback from wide receiver two years ago delivered a strike to Zachary Metzgar for a 17-yard gain on the first and narrowly moved the chains later on with a 7-yard throw to Anthony Beltran right at the first down marker.
“We’re really confident as coaches, and they’re really confident in their own abilities. We go for it a lot of the time unless we’re in a really bad spot, so they’re just used to it now, and they’re good at it,” Mutton said. “They look forward to fourth down for some reason. I don’t know why, but we get there a lot, and we always execute.”
The Green Knights faced only two third downs, of only one and three yards, for the rest of the half on their way to enacting the mercy rule with a dominant first 24 minutes. Metzgar, who had just four catches for 44 yards coming into the day, was perhaps the biggest spark plug for Pen Argyl on both sides of the ball.
The senior doubled his catches for the season and more than doubled his yardage in just the first half with four receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown that put his team ahead 13-0 early in the second quarter.
He also found himself at the right place at the right time on the opposite side of the ball, setting up another score with an interception return down to the Wilson 11-yard line off a deflection from the intended target.
The two-way star provided the perfect explanation as to how he had the energy to come through consistently without much time to rest on the sideline.
“I love football,” Metzgar said. “Running around at practice helps me a lot. Just staying as conditioned as I can throughout the year and taking breaks when I need them. I love to hit people on defense, but I love to get the ball on offense, so I can’t choose which I like better.”
Sandwiched in between Metzgar’s momentum-shifting plays was a special moment for Pen Argyl senior tight end Evan Johnson who was yet to receive a pass in his four years with the Green Knights.
That changed on the team’s third possession when faced with a 1st-and-goal from the Wilson 8. As soon as he heard the play call, Johnson knew it was his time to shine.
“I was telling my whole team, ‘this is my play.’ This is my chance,” Johnson said. “I’ve been dreaming about this opportunity for a while.”
Soos rolled out to his right and found teammate all alone in the end zone to extend Pen Argyl’s lead to 21-0 in the second quarter.
“I knew my route. I knew their defense, and I ran it and executed it perfectly,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t ask for a better first catch or first touchdown. I loved it.”
Soos finished the day with 151 passing yards, three touchdowns and an additional 61 yards on the ground in just one half of action. Senior running back Caiden Faust added 56 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries for the Green Knights. Terrell Estes and Christopher Crespo also found the end zone for a well-balanced Pen Argyl attack.
Up next: Wilson Area (0-4) turns its attention to Saucon Valley (1-3) next Saturday after a four-year losing streak extended to 35 games against the Green Knights. Pen Argyl (3-1) improves to 2-1 in Colonial/Schuylkill White Division play with the win before a highly-anticipated clash with Palisades (4-0) at Pen Argyl High School on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Derek Bast is a freelance writer who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast. He can be reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.
WILSON AREA 13, PEN ARGYL 35
Wilson Area: 0; 0; 6; 7 — 13
Pen Argyl : 7; 28; 0; 0 — 35
ORDER OF SCORING
First quarter
PA: Caiden Faust 5 run (Reid Kotulka kick); 7:29
Second quarter
PA: Zachary Metzgar 17 pass from Mason Soos (Kotulka kick blocked); 10:39
PA: Evan Johnson 8 pass from Soos (Christopher Crespo run); 7:20
PA: Terrell Estes 2 run (Kotulka kick); 4:03
PA: Crespo 44 pass from Soos (Kotulka kick); 1:10
Third quarter
W: J’Son Johnson 4 run (Nickenson Louis Jeune kick blocked); 1:34
Fourth quarter
W: Marvin Cordon 2 run (Ben Penyak kick); 3:56
TEAM STATISTICSW; PAFirst downs; 12; 21Rushes-yards; 21-138; 30-143
Passing yards; 97; 165Comp-Att-INTs; 7-21-1; 13-19-0
Punts; 4-31; 2-38Fumbles-lost; 0-0; 1-0Penalties-yards; 4-32; 3-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: (W) Ryan Bonham 7-70; J’son Johnson 9-57, 1 TD; Evan Grube 2-7; Marvin Cordon 2-6, TD; Leonard Davis 1-(-2); (PA) Mason Soos 10-61; Caiden Faust 10-56, TD; Terrell Estes 2-20, TD; James Accatino 3-5; Will Bonatz 2-1; Anthony Beltran 3-0.
Passing: (W) Tadayesky 7-21-1, 97 yards; (PA) Soos 12-16-0, 151 yards, 3 TDs; Beltran 1-3-0, 14 yards.
Receiving: (W) Jayden Rapoli 2-57; Christian Samayoa 3-26; Cordon 1-7; Pedro Hernandez 1-7; (PA) Zachary Metzgar 4-54, TD; Christopher Crespo 1-44, TD; Anthony Beltran 2-25; Estes 4-20; Joey Pysher 1-14; Evan Johnson 1-8, TD.
Pen Argyl interceptions: Metzgar.
