By Rich Murawski Assistant Sports Editor
PURCHASE LINE - Purchase Line head football coach Brandon Overdorff said his team would need to play a perfect football game in order to compete with once-beaten Penns Manor and star quarterback Danny Ferens.
Unfortunately the Red Dragons were far from perfect Friday night at Barry T. Madill Field as Ferens and the Comets rolled to a 48-0 victory, putting a damper on Senior Night festivities.
Penns Manor racked up 414 yards and seven touchdowns on just 10 plays in the first half alone to take the 48-point lead into the halftime break, which implemented the mercy rule and a running clock the entire second half.
"I don't know what to say," Overdorff said. "We win last week (33-14 over United) ... get our first win of the season and I thought our kids would come ready to play. They absolutely did not come to play.
"We could not lay a hand on any of their skill guys, Danny included. I have no answer for that other than we just didn't show up, and I apologize to Penns Manor for that."
All seven of the Comets touchdowns came from at least 30 yards away and five of them were 55 yards or longer.
Penns Manor had six possessions where it scored on the first play and its other series was a 3-play scoring drive.
Ferens figured in four of the Comets' touchdowns, running two times for 127 yards and two scores and completing both of his pass attempts for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Gromley was on the business end of both touchdown passes.
Chris Henderson also went over 100 yards for Penns Manor, rushing four times for 105 yards and an 80-yard score.
Cody Bytner added a 57-yard scoring run on his only carry of the game, and Ethan Marshall busted loose for a 55-yard jaunt.
"Danny Ferens is probably the best athlete around here in a long time," Overdorff said. "I'm proud for him. He's a great kid from what I can tell. And he's a great athlete, no doubt about it.
"He leads that team, and they have some other kids like Bytner and Henderson, and we just didn't touch them. And there's no excuse for that. We have to come up with a better effort than that.
"I'm embarrassed for our kids. I feel bad for our seniors because it's Senior Night. But having said that, we've had a lot of injuries and you get to a point where you can't overcome some of the adversity that you've been dealt."
Things started off on the wrong foot immediately for Purchase Line, which won the toss and opted to take the ball.
The Red Dragons committed a pair of false start penalties on the possession and punted to the Comets after a three-and-out.
Ferens hit Gromley for a 40-yard touchdown pass on the Comets first play from scrimmage in a preview of what was to come.
Purchase Line's next three drives netted three yards and all ended in Dalton Patterson punts. Patterson punted seven times in the contest, averaging 33.7 yards per kick.
The Comets scored after each Purchase Line punt and took a 27-0 lead with 2:18 still to play in the first quarter.
Purchase Line made a little noise after the fourth Comet score, getting a 14-yard kickoff return from Todd Greene to set up shop at its own 43-yard line.
Two plays later, Troy Klingensmith busted the Red Dragons biggest play of the night, rumbling 31 yards to the Penns Manor 30. He picked up eight more on the next play but Purchase Line was unable to convert a first down and turned it over on downs at the Comet 28.
Ferens dashed 72 yards to paydirt on the next play.
A Dragon fumble on their next possession gave Penns Manor the ball at the Purchase Line 33 and Ferens hooked up with Gromley down the far sideline on the next play to make it 41-0.
"We didn't do anything right," Overdorff said. "But it comes down to they have better athletes than us. That's the bottom line."
After one more Purchase Line three-and-out and a 40-yard Patterson punt to the Penns Manor 20, Henderson broke through the heart of the Dragon defense for an 80-yard score with 2:32 left before the half.
That touchdown and James Conway's sixth PAT of the night finalized the scoring.
Both teams substituted freely in the second half and neither was able to mount much of a drive.
Penns Manor outgained Purchase Line in the second half by 40 yards, 63-23, after piling up over 400 in the first 24 minutes of play. The Dragons totaled 62 yards in the game.
Both teams had just two first downs in the second half. Each of the Dragons' first downs came on Grant Syster runs.
"I don't know that we played very well in the second half either," Overdorff said. "We have to get better. It was good work for us (in the second half).
"Like I tell our kids all the time, we have the motto, ‘you either suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of disappointment', and we haven't been willing to suffer the pain of discipline.
"That means we haven't made a commitment to winning or getting better to the extent that we need to in order to compete. So we need our young kids to step up. Penns Manor is a good example of a team that has committed to winning and getting better."
Klingensmith led the Red Dragons with 39 yards on six carries. Syster picked up 34 yards on 10 totes.
Josh Huey, who needed just 75 yards to hit the 1,000-yard mark for the season, was held in check, running 13 times for only 10 yards. Purchase Line dipped to 1-8 with the loss.
The Dragons travel to Saltsburg on Friday.

Penns Manor 48, Purchase Line 0

Score By Quarters
Penns Manor   27 21  0  0-48
Purchase Line   0   0  0  0-0

First Quarter
PM-Gromley 40 pass from Ferens, (Conway kick), 9:46.
PM-Marshall 55 run, (Conway kick), 6:14.
PM-Ferens 55 run, (run failed), 3:39.
PM-Bytner 57 run, (Conway kick), 2:18.
Second Quarter
PM-Ferens 72 run, (Conway kick), 11:02.
PM-Gromley 33 pass from Ferens, (Conway kick), 9:58.
PM-Henderson 80 run, (Conway kick), 2:32.

TEAM STATISTICS
PM PL
Total First Downs 10 3
Rushes-Yards 28-404 41-53
Comp-Att-Int 2-3-0 2-6-0
Passing Yards 73 9
Total Plays-Yards 31-477 47-62
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-2
Punts-Avg 1-29 7-33.7
Penalties-Yards 1-15 3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Penns Manor-Ferens 2-127, Henderson 4-105, Bytner 1-57, Marshall 2-57, Cramer 7-24, Kowalski 3-23, Mumau 2-10, Joiner 2-8, Price 1-2, Branton 2-(-4), Aikens 2-(-5).
Purchase Line-Klingensmith 6-39, Syster 10-34, Huey 13-10, Team 2-(-1), Patterson 1-(-2), Pierce 3-(-4), Sunderlin 6-(-23).
Passing
Penns Manor-Ferens 2-of-3, 73 yds., 2 TD.
Purchase Line-Sunderlin 2-of-6, 9 yds.
Receiving
Penns Manor-Gromley 2-73.
Purchase Line-Greene 1-8, Huey 1-1.