Back for its 14th season, the popular Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features football beat writer Drew Markol. To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the Intelligencer (http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school/) and Courier Times (http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/) web sites.
Join Jeff Nolan and Kevin Cooney for the WPHT High School Football Scoreboard Show as they recap the night of high school football on Friday at 10 p.m. on 1210AM/WPHT and the Audacy app.
(Pennsbury/Cheltenham scrimmage photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. To view a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f1050704496 )
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks West is coming off an unforgettable postseason run and opens its season against defending district champ Garnet Valley. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “CB West was 9-5 last year, but there are a lot of hopes for a team that went to the district final and lost to Garnet Valley. They started the 
season 1-3, but after a big win over North Penn, they went on a run and made it all the way to the district title game. Plus, they return Ganz Cooper, the only four-year starter at quarterback West has ever had, and Conor McFadden, who missed the district title game against Garnet Valley because of an injury, is back He’s one of the most explosive players in the state. He’s a track standout, and he’s also a really good defensive back. They have the safety in Cooper Taylor, and Jack Williams on the front line. Matt Cleland is a punter, and he can be a running back. Hayden Mulligan is a really big kid that leads the offensive line. Hopes are pretty high for West. I give them credit for playing Garnet Valley again. They’re playing the best public school team, so that will be an interesting game.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks East opens its season hosting Truman. Your thoughts about those two programs.
Drew Markol: “At Truman, Cordero Newkirk has taken over as the new coach. He’s a Bensalem grad. That’s a tough task with Truman. He was hired a little bit later, so he hasn’t had as much time to get things together, and now you have to jump right off and play CB East. CB East is flying a little bit under the radar, but I think that team is going to be very good. Their offensive line is going to be one of the best in the state. You have Joe Collins, the regional wrestling heavyweight champion back for a third year. Michael Carroll (6-5 ½, 295 lbs.), who transferred in from La Salle, is the number one rated guard in the state as a junior. He’s already received offers from Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State, so you plug him in, and they’re just going to be very, very good. They have Jack Donnelly, the senior tight end and linebacker who was an all-state tight end last year. That could be a tough spot for Truman and Newkirk in that first game. I think East is absolutely legit.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn opens its season at La Salle, and Pennsbury will host Coatesville. Your thoughts about those two SOL programs that are opening the season against high profile programs.
Drew Markol: “Last year, Galen Snyder was back as head coach at Pennsbury after being away for seven or eight years. Pennsbury had been 0-10 the year before. They played Coatesville on opening night, and they lost 28-6. You’re like, ‘Well, is this the same old troubles for Pennsbury? Is it going to take Snyder some time to right things?’ Well, it took him about a week because then they won nine in a row to win the conference before losing to North Penn (22-21) in the district tournament. Pennsbury went into districts as the three seed, and North Penn was 14. You think about the season they had – they were 9-2, win the SOL National Conference, they smoked Neshaminy, their archrival. Do you even think about Pennsbury being 0-10 anymore? It was just two years ago, but it seems like forever. Now they’re back, and Snyder didn’t get any worse as a coach in the last 12 months. He knows what he’s doing. Okay, guess what? They’re going to be good. To their credit, they’re playing a Coatesville team that is number six in the state rankings and is a perennial – not district playoff team but a perennial district title contending team. I give them credit for playing Coatesville right out of the gate – it’s kind of like CB West playing Garnet Valley. They’re going to see who they are because they’ll have hard games later, so we’ll see what happens.
“North Penn was 6-6 last year. They had the nice district playoff win over Pennsbury after losing to Pennsbury for the first time in forever during the regular season. It will be interesting to see what happens – you have Ryan Zeltt, who is now at Millersville and was a four-year starter at quarterback. Now you have to get a new quarterback in there. I don’t know. North Penn’s usually very good up front, but Dick Beck plays good teams. Now they’re playing La Salle again. La Salle needed a second-half comeback to beat North Penn last year, but the Explorers come in with running back Stevie Davis, who ran for 250 yards against North Penn last year. I just enjoy the games where teams play legit teams. You’re not playing a cupcake. You’re playing somebody that – if you punch them in the nose, they’ll punch you back.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Also, in the SOL National, Central Bucks South is playing Father Judge. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “You look at Father Judge – they have a pretty good football history, but the problem now for them is they’re in the Catholic League Red Division with St. Joe’s Prep, La Salle and Roman Catholic, which has turned things around, and Archbishop Wood. We all like to talk about how good the SOL is, and it’s very good, but the Catholic League Red Division is the best. You have to look at Judge with a grain of salt. Back before they joined the PIAA, I would see them play, and they were always big up front. I think it’s a good game for South. South was a district playoff team last year. They lost to Souderton in the first round. Their quarterback, Brett Szarko, graduated, and Tommy Donnelly, their wide receiver, also graduated, so there’s some rebuilding there, but South is a team that quietly gets its seven wins, finds its way into the playoffs and is always a pain in the butt to play against. That’s a credit to head coach Tom Hetrick.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennridge – which has its third coach in three years in Kyle Beller – travels to Downingtown East for Friday’s opener. Your comments about that program.
Drew Markol: “You look at Pennridge – they just won twice last year, they have their third head coach in as many seasons. Kyle Beller comes down from Whitehall and District 11 where he was a coordinator and takes over. They cleaned out all of their coaching staff, so it’s a whole new coaching staff Beller is using. They had an issue a few weeks ago when one of their volunteer assistants was involved in some very, very nasty stuff, and that was not a good look at all. For a solid program like Pennridge and with an enrollment as big as they have, they just need to do better. They play Downingtown East opening night. They’ve lost to Downingtown East the past two seasons on opening night. It’s not going to be easy. They’ve also lost some kids to the private schools. It seems like a lot of unrest. Hopefully, that will settle down and they can turn things around, but on the surface, it just looks like a program truly in flux. Hopefully, Beller can straighten out.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Neshaminy opens its season Friday against Kensington. Your thoughts about Neshaminy.
Drew Markol: “I’m interested to see their new stadium and new artificial surface. Neshaminy was 4-6 last year. I believe they lost their last four games to teams that made the district playoffs, but you’re talking Neshaminy – another program with a rich tradition. They have a lot of kids back. Colin Baker, the quarterback is back, and that never hurts. Are they going to be down for a while? I don’t know. Look at the conference they’re playing in. It’s loaded. You look at a team like Kensington, and on the surface, you’re like – ‘Neshaminy is playing a Philadelphia Public League team?’ That just seems a little odd, but it’s not like Kensington is a dominant public school team. They’re okay, they’re a 6A program, but Kensington lost to Belmont Charter last year. Belmont Charter is a 1A school. I don’t know. As every year, we’ll learn as we get into the season. All we’re doing right now is just speculating.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin and Plymouth Whitemarsh – former American Conference rivals – are coming off championship seasons in the SOL Continental and SOL American, respectively. Upper Dublin opens its season at Kennett, and PW is at Upper Merion in a battle of neighboring rivals. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “You look at both programs with Dan Chang at Plymouth Whitemarsh and Bret Stover at Upper Dublin, both good 5A programs. They’re not teams, they’re programs. If they’re not really good, they’re good. They don’t get bad. PW is the team to beat in the American Conference, and in the Continental, if Upper Dublin isn’t the team to beat, they’re one of them. Upper Dublin lost its standout quarterback, Colin O’Sullivan, who is now playing at Rutgers, and they lost their stud two-way lineman, Kyree Butler, as well as some other talented players, but they’ll be right there every week. Come the playoffs, they’ve been playing 6A teams, and now you go into the 5A tournament, and that helps you. There are schools – Upper Dublin and PW are two of them – you expect good things every year and are surprised when it doesn’t happen. That comes back to building a program and sustaining it.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Quakertown and Souderton finished second and third behind Upper Dublin in the Continental. Souderton had one loss in league play and Quakertown had three. Souderton opens its season at Haverford and Quakertown at Southern Lehigh. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “You look at Ed Gallagher, and I believe this is his 22nd or 23rd year as head coach at Souderton. I believe his first season they were under .500, and they were not under .500 since. He’s got – I want to say 15 or 16 starters back. Danny Dyches, the receiver/defensive back, was a little overshadowed the past couple of seasons by Shaun Purvy, who’s at Lafayette, but I expect a really big year from Dyches, and with all those kids back, there’s a team that went to districts and beat CB South, shut them out. What Ed Gallagher has done there – that’s a team that falls into the list that you’re shocked when they’re not good because they’re always really good. Even in a down year, they’re 6-4 or 7-3.
“This is the third straight year Quakertown is playing Southern Lehigh. Quakertown is a 6A team and Southern Lehigh is 5A team from District 11. They’re not far apart geographically. It’s not a bad matchup for either team because Southern Lehigh is usually very, very good, and Quakertown is two years removed from a team that made a nice district playoff run. George Banas at Quakertown loses kids – he lost Jon Eatherton, the running back who is at Ithaca, and Vinny Pellagrini, their outstanding two-way lineman, and it will be hard to replace that. But Vince Micucci, their senior quarterback, is just a tough kid. He can run it, and he can throw. George has a nice thing going at Quakertown. Every year they’re very competitive. They play North Penn in week two, and that’s a Thursday night game that will be interesting to see. We’ll know a whole lot more in a couple of days than we do now.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Council Rock North and Council Rock South will both be playing opponents from the SOL American. Rock North is at Wissahickon, and Rock South hosts William Tennent. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “Rock South is going on five seasons without a winning record. They lost to Rock North by a point in the season finale in a battle of those rivals. Wissahickon has just been struggling lately. I think they’re going on their 10th season without a winning record, and Williams Tennent is the same thing. Colin Leach, a young guy in his late 20s, has come in as the new head coach at Tennent. He had been at Tennent a couple of years as an assistant and then he was at Council Rock South, and now he’s come back as the head coach at Tennent. Maybe on the bright side for Tennent – it doesn’t seem like Archbishop Wood is getting as many of the top players in the area as before. Some of those good players are going to stay with the Tennent program. For those teams – the Council Rock Souths, the Bensalems, the Trumans, the Tennents. – that have struggled, it’s hard to preach patience because if you want to get kids out for the team, you have to win, but in order to win, you have to get the kids out for the team. It can be very tough. You keep pushing the rock up the hill, and that’s hard to do.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Cheltenham is at Abington in a battle of neighboring rivalries. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Terence Tolbert makes his coaching debut for Abington. He’s an Abington grad. The Ghosts struggled mightily and lost their last six or seven games last year. They lost to Cheltenham pretty handily to open the season last year (26-8). Of course, that game should be played on Thanksgiving like it was a hundred times before somebody decided to switch it, but at least they’re playing each other. Cheltenham is in back up in Class 6A this year, so that makes life a little harder. Tolbert comes in – he played at Abington, and maybe he can get them righted. There’s too much talent at Pennridge, there’s too much talent at Abington for those schools not to be better.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Moreland is playing at Hatboro-Horsham. The Hatters have another one-year exemption from participating in the SOL but will rejoin the league next year. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “You look at Hatboro-Horsham with Tom Butts taking over as the new head coach. They’re trying to get back in the SOL, and hopefully, next year they will, but the last three seasons, they’re 1-21. That win came last year over Lower Moreland. Again, it’s the same thing. It’s hard to believe that a school like Hatboro-Horsham with a nice football tradition is in this spot with the low numbers. Who would have thought five years ago that Hatboro-Horsham would be playing an independent schedule, trying to rebuild its program. Maybe it’s a sign of a bigger issue with football, and it hit them first. Now it seems you have pockets where you have big turnouts at one place and not so good at others. In order to get the kids and the numbers you need to compete, you have to win. For Hatboro-Horsham, look at the geography. They lose players to Germantown Academy, they lose players to La Salle, they lose players to Prep. If you’re struggling, these other programs swoop in and grab your best kids. This has happened in the past too, but I think it’s gotten worst.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Springfield Township is hosting Archbishop Carroll Friday, and on Saturday, Bensalem will travel to Lower Merion. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Springfield is a smaller school, and they lost some good kids, including Dylan McKenzie, who was a stud on both sides of the football and is now at West Chester. He had over 1900 yards and 19 touchdowns and four interceptions on defense. It’s harder for a team like Springfield because there aren’t as many bodies to fill in the blanks, but the smaller programs are used to it. You usually have really good years when you have an especially good class that comes along. Then that class graduates, and you have to rebuild the foundation a little bit, but they will.
“At Bensalem, coach Alex Houston, a Bensalem grad, is going into his third season. It’s just hard. Bensalem hasn’t had a winning record since 2004, and they’re playing in the SOL Continental. Again, it’s the same kind of theme as some of these schools that are just struggling. It’s very, very difficult to turn things around because the history of losing is just very depressing. Bensalem historically has lost kids who have transferred out. Hopefully, you get a core group, you can do something with them, and Houston can build up the program as he goes along. Bensalem has just been mired in two decades of struggling, and it’s hard. Their history is not there. You can go back to the 70s in the Lower Bucks League, and they may have won a title in ’77, but that’s almost 50 years ago. For those schools, it’s very difficult. That’s why when they do play well and get off to a good start, it’s a nice story.”
Drew’s Picks
(Winners in bold)
Cheltenham @ Abington
Harry S Truman @ Central Bucks East
Father Judge @ Central Bucks South
Garnet Valley @ Central Bucks West
Council Rock North @ Wissahickon
William Tennent @ Council Rock South
Upper Moreland @ Hatboro-Horsham
Kensington HS @ Neshaminy
Morrisville @ New Hope-Solebury
North Penn @ LaSalle College HS
Pennridge @ Downingtown East
Coatesville @ Pennsbury
Plymouth Whitemarsh @ Upper Merion
Quakertown @ Southern Lehigh
Haverford @ Souderton
Archbishop Carroll @ Springfield Twp
Upper Dublin @ Kennett
Bensalem @ Lower Merion
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