NORTH PENN HIGH SCHOOL
UNDEFEATED FOOTBALL TEAM 2003
Suburban One League Champion, District One Champion
PIAA AAAA STATE TEAM CHAMPION
Head Coach Dick Beck
Assistant Head Coach Jay Jones
Assistant Coaches: Mike Carey, Dave Franek, James Williams, Ryan Major,
Jason Munn, Ed Harkins. Jim DePaul, Bob Taggart, Joe Wilus
Captains: Chris Tribanas, George Farrell, Jim Casertano, Jeff Ball, Chad Finney
Team Members:
#2 Jim Laky #18 Eric Halberstadt #37 Alex Zeblium #55 Cory Focht #77 Zach Detwiler
#3 Terence Walton # 20 Pete Stoll #40 Ian Carpenter #56 Chris Tribanas #78 Dotun Akintoye
#4 Kevin Beyers #21 Anthony Signore #41 Ian Thacker #57 Jeremy Schenkel #79 Mike Partain
#5 Jeff Gill #22 John Kalis #42 Andrew Brown #60 Dave Mims #80 Dave Kornock
#7 Kevin Akins #23 Chris Cazier #43 Jim Casertano #62 Fred Piantini #81 Jon Striefsky
#8 Adam Hearns #24 Thomas Romeo #44 Alex Johnson #66 Ryan Adams #82 Anthony Stumpo
#9 Zach Raffle #25 Shane Gallagher #45 Brian Ford #67 Greg Warwick #84 Jeff Ball
#11 Matt Burke #30 Ray Alexander #50 Andrew Sipp #70 Tom Green #85 Chris Bloom
#13 Deanco Oliver #31 Steve Wittmer #51 Alex Munio #71 Chris Knechel #87 Phil Schilling
#14 Tony Cardona #33 Chad Finney #52 Chris Hood # 74 Kevin Uhll #88 Josh Neubert
# 15 Shaun Mulvihil #34 Nick Taggart #53 Bobby Huber #75 Mark Hanna #90 Mark Koenig
# 17 Neal Kulp #36 Brandon Turner #54 Kurt Morgan #76 Eric Sullivan #99 George Farrell
Sophomores: Ken Broughton, Lloyd Casper, Nick Cope, Josh Dubois, Sean Hinkle, Andrew Kohler, Walton Lee
Paul Leslie, Evan Mackey, Dave Madara, Ben Meyers, John Rodriguez, Dave Schmeltzer, Kevin Spross, Joe Talotta
Vincent Tancredi, Joe Wagner
Dual Meets 10 – 0 District One Play Offs 3 - 0:
North Penn 35 O’Hara 7 North Penn 28 Ridley 7
North Penn 38 Bethlehem Catholic 7 North Penn 42 Pennridge 19
North Penn 49 H. S. Truman 8 North Penn 43 Interboro 28
North Penn 49 Abington 7
North Penn 35 Pennridge 10 Eastern Finals:
North Penn 45 Glen Mills 19 North Penn 38 Easton 21
North Penn 35 Neshaminy 17
North Penn 38 C B East 7
North Penn 43 Pennsbury 19
North Penn 41 C B West 7
PIAA AAAA STATE FOOTBALL FINALS:
North Penn 37 Pittsburg Central Catholic 10
USA Today ranked North Penn Football Team 8th in the Nation in 2003
Named, “The Team of the Decade” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, 2010
Inducted NPAAA Hall of Fame - 2013
Team of the Decade
A wire to wire finish is something tough to achieve in sports; whenever a squad is ranked #1 in the preseason, it is unfounded, based on hype, or filled with too much expectation. The result usually falls short. We didn’t.
After the final second ran off the clock for the 2002 North Penn Knights, the expectation for the 2003 campaign was State Championship or bust. Why wouldn’t it be? We had promising talent coming back including the already proven core of juniors and sophomores that helped the 2002 team to the State Semi-Finals. Our goal was not to meet those expectations but to exceed them.
There wasn’t an offseason that year, by January the 2003 football season began for everyone. As the months rolled on, our team mastered what our competition would be starting months later. Through lifting and conditioning in the winter, passing league in the spring and practices in the summer, our team became familiar with the technique, strength and togetherness we would need to get through camp in August and our opponents in the fall. Once Hell Week arrived, we were ready to fine tune our craft and that craft was kicking ass.
August camp was different this year; the cadence drill involved a sled for our starting offensive line to push; Coach Carey turned the bell ringer backwards and it truly turned into a bell ringer; all of position coaches made sure that every time we were running at all cylinders—especially Coach Jones during conditioning; and Coach Beck made sure to let us know when we were slacking during camp. It was hot, film was humbling, and each of us got out of bed like old men every morning – but the foundation we built in the heat of August lasted through the blizzards of December.
Before we knew it, our first test was in front of us: Cardinal O’Hara. They were supposed to have the best running back in the state: Ours was better. Their offensive line was supposed to be bigger, stronger and faster: Our defense ran through and around them. Their defense was supposed to scare our rookie quarterback: He lit them up. When the final whistle blew, everyone in the state knew that the 2003 North Penn Knights were a team that was ready to claim their crown.
Every Friday night there was a new opponent and a new test but nobody proved to be worthy of dethroning the Knights. Our four headed rushing attack seemed to run through any defense as if they were non-existent. Our defense was relentless, tallying up sacks, tackles for losses, and takeaways. Our special teams were known for returning kick returns for touchdowns and blocking punts almost every game. It was truly Knight Time in 2003.
The AAAA State Championship was the prize of all of the hard work throughout the 2003 season. The Knights galloped into Hershey in early December as an underdog and rolled over Pittsburgh Central Catholic. The final seconds ran off the clock and the Knights of North Penn were crowned State Champions completing the seldom accomplished wire to wire bid.
Though ESPN did not document the 2003 State Championship Knights, they are the only North Penn Football team to have gone 15-0 and won the only PIAA AAAA State Football Championship. The 2003 Team holds the record in points scored and the Seniors are the first class in memory to have never lost to arch-rival CB West. In 2010, the boys were named “The Team of the Decade” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, not too shabby for some kids from Lansdale.
Written by the Captains of the 2003 North Penn Knights Football Team: Jeff Ball, Jim Casertano, George Farrell, Chad Finney, & Chris Tribanas
2003 State Championship Football Team:
Coaches: Head Coach Dick Beck, Assistant Head Coach Jay Jones
Assistant Coaches: Mike Carey, Dave Franek, James Williams, Ryan Major, Jason Munn, Ed Harkins, Jim DePaul, Bob Taggart, Joe Wilus
Captians: Jeff Ball, Jim Casertano, Chad Finney, Chris Tribanas
Seniors: Ryan Adams, Kevin Akins, Chris Bloom, Andrew Brown, Kevin Beyers,
Tony Cardona, Zach Detwiler, George Farrell, Cory Focht, Brian Ford, Jeff Gill, Mark Hanna,
Chris Knechel, Mark Koenig, Neal Kulp, Jim Laky, Dave Mims, Deanco Oliver, Mike Partain, Fred Piantini, Thomas Romeo Anthony Signore, Anthony Stumpo, Terence Walton
Juniors: Dotun Akintoye, Chris Cazier, Shane Gallagher, Eric Halberstadt, Adam Hearns,
Chris Hood, Bobby Huber, John Kalis, Dave Kornock, Zach Raffle, Jeremy Schenkel,
Andrew Sipp, Jon Striefsky, Eric Sullivan, Ian Thacker, Joe Wagner, Greg Warwick,
Steve Wittmer
Sophomores: Ray Alexander, Ken Broughton, Matt Burke, Ian Carpenter, Lloyd Casper,
Nick Cope, Josh Dubois, Tom Green, Sean Hinkle, Alex Johnson, Andrew Kohler, Walton Lee, Paul Leslie, Evan Mackey, Dave Madara, Ben Meyers, Kurt Morgan, Shaun Mulvihil,
Alex Munio, Josh Neubert, John Rodriguez, Dave Schmeltzer, Phil Schilling, Kevin Spross,
Pete Stoll, Joe Talotta, Vincent Tancredi, Brandon Turner, Kevin Uhll, Nick Taggart,
Alex Zeblium