Thanksgiving win a year ago helped Quakertown's Ferrugio emerge as a dominant force
QUAKERTOWN — He was making tackles, knocking down passes and generally disrupting Pennridge's offense.
That's when now Quakertown senior defensive end/tight end Anthony Ferrugio had a bit of a revelation.
"That was the game where I really started to believe that I belonged and could be pretty good," Ferrugio said. "They were bigger than us (up front), but we were all giving everything we had and were playing well."
The Panthers played so well in that 2022 game that they stifled the Rams' offense and came away with a convincing 22-6 win on Thanksgiving morning.
The victory was the second straight for Quakertown over Pennridge and if the Panthers can win again Thursday morning in the 94th Thanksgiving matchup between the two archrivals it would be their second-longest winning streak in the series.
The longest was a five-game Quakertown winning streak from 1947-1951. The Rams won a series-best seven straight times from 1972-1978. Pennridge leads the all-time series 58-30-5.
And the Panthers (6-5), who qualified for the PIAA District One Class 6A playoffs, losing to Perkiomen Valley 36-26 in the first round, will have to do it at Pennridge (3-7) beginning at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday.
"The great thing about the rivalry is that both teams want it so badly," Ferrugio said. "We would love to win three straight, but obviously they don't want that to happen.
"It will be a great game as usual."
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Former Quakertown standout, and current head coach, George Banas, will be coaching in his 14th Thanksgiving game against the Rams and he, too, credits what happened in the 2022 game as what kick-started Ferrugio.
"You kind of got a preview in that game of what he could do," said Banas, a 1994 Quakertown graduate. "You could see his confidence growing and he's taken off from there and just had an outstanding season this year."
Now, it wasn't just a one-game season for Ferrugio as a junior. He did have 6½ sacks a year ago and solidified himself as building block for 2023. The Pennridge win only added to it.
His offseason preparation, though, for his senior season remained the same.
"I really didn't do anything differently than I always did," Ferrugio said. "I just did our weight program, ran every other day to get my cardio up and just gave 100 percent."
This season, he has a team-best 9½ sacks to go along with three interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. He also has three receiving TDs. Ferrugio's efforts did not go unnoticed as he was named first-team All-Suburban One League Continental Conference at both tight end and defensive end.
"I never intercepted a pass until this season," Ferrugio said with a laugh. "Not in pee wee ball or anything until this year.
"On my first interception this year, after I realized what happened, I just ran as fast as I could and was telling myself just don't fumble."
He didn't.
As for his improved numbers?
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"I put on 15 pounds from last year, but that really wasn't from training — I think it was just me maturing more physically," Ferrugio said.
"I feel like I'm hitting harder because of the added weight, but it hasn't slowed me down."
Up next, he'll try and end his high school football career in style.
"I remember at the start of the season we were thinking we have plenty of time, a whole season, and the Pennridge game was months away," said the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Ferrugio, who hopes to play in college.
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"And now, just like that, it's here. It's hard to believe how fast the time goes by. I wish it had gone a lot slower."
Instead, both teams are prepping for their final game of 2023 and, like most years, it should be close.
Quakertown and Pennridge faced four common opponents in Souderton, Central Bucks West, North Penn and Bensalem. The Panthers went 2-2 in those matchups, defeating North Penn and Bensalem. The Rams were 1-3, beating Bensalem and losing to North Penn by a point.
"That's one of the many things that make this rivalry great," Banas said. "Both teams want the bragging rights, and we know this is going to be a tight game.
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"I get goosebumps every year on Thanksgiving morning, and it'll be the same thing this time."
Drew Markol: dmarkol@theintell.com; @dmarkol
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Quakertown, Pennridge to meet on Thanksgiving; Ferrugio ready for repeat
