Back for its eighth season, the popular Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features Drew Markol, Todd Thorpe and Jen Wielgus. Markol is the football beat writer for the Intelligencer area while Thorpe is the Courier’s football beat writer. Wielgus is a video sports reporter for the Intelligencer and Courier. Markol and Wielgus are contributors on the weekly Game On show. To view this week’s show, click on the following link: http://www.theintell.com/videos/hsgameon/ 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.
Check out the picks by our panel of experts: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/football-forecaster
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn defeated Central Bucks South 40-9 in a key Continental Conference battle. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “What I had heard from different coaches – the pecking order in the Continental was North Penn, Pennridge and then CB South was third on that list. Without Jack Johns at quarterback, that doesn’t help at all. North Penn has got things going. It’s not a vintage North Penn team, but it’s a pretty good North Penn team, and they’re rolling now. To knock off Pennridge and CB South, they’re not going to lose again in the regular season. They’re going to win the conference again and probably get a top five seed in the district. That’s what they do. You wonder what was going on when they were 0-2 and allowed all those points. Well, they kind of fixed it. Pennridge put a lot of points on them, but again, they had a convincing win over South and now they start getting ready for the district playoffs.”
Todd Thorpe: “Obviously, North Penn really took it to CB South. I can’t say that’s not expected. I thought North Penn was a pretty heavy favorite in that game, especially with Jack Johns not playing with an injury at quarterback and having to go with a sophomore who’s pretty promising, but that’s a tough, tough assignment for a sophomore to go against a North Penn team at this time of year, which is when they hit their stride. Say what you want about it, but at this time of year, the teams that have played that rugged non-league schedule are really stepping to the front. You see that in the National Conference too. Neshaminy and Pennsbury – all of a sudden they’re right there. Pennsbury has a huge game this week against Truman, but those are the teams that are right there.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Council Rock South gave Pennridge all it could handle before falling 35-28. Your comments.
Todd Thorpe: “Give Council Rock South a lot of credit. Last week they really played with a lot of emotion in the win over Abington. Obviously, they came back and led that game against Pennridge for a long time and showed they can put points on the board and that’s huge going forward. Physicality-wise, Pennridge is going to match just about anybody, so Pennridge gets credit for that.”
Drew Markol: “Council Rock South played very well against Pennridge. Pennridge is very big up front on both offense and defense, and Pennridge coach Jeff Hollenbach said after the game – ‘We couldn’t move the ball up the middle against them.’ They were very stout, they played well, and they played with confidence. That was a really good effort. I think they’ll beat Bensalem. They seem to be getting better. Their quarterback, Christian Jabbar, is a nice player. They’re improving.”
Jen Wielgus: “Council Rock South seems to have rebounded. They beat Abington, and they played well against Pennridge. Only one team is going to win the league, only certain teams get to make the playoffs, but you do root for those little moments in high school football or high school sports where kids show what they can do when they’re up against it, when they’re facing adversity. Even if you lose but you can go to Pennridge and battle – yes, there’s something to be said for that. I know we all want to see who wins, but that was really big for them. Nobody likes to hear about moral victories, but that’s kind of a moral victory.
“This week Rock South will play Bensalem. I think earlier in the season you might have favored Bensalem greatly, but you definitely can’t say that anymore. South has played well enough that you might pick them in that game.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Quakertown rallied from a 20-3 deficit to defeat Hatboro-Horsham 26-20. Your thoughts about that game and the American Conference.
Drew Markol: “I keep doubting Quakertown every week, and it’s remarkable. We talked before about how they’re in better condition than other teams, and there’s got to be something to it. I know they do all this 
CrossFit stuff – you watch it on TV, and it looks really hard. I know George Banas, the coach, does it, and the kids are doing it - running the stadium steps Saturday morning win or lose the night before. Okay, it’s all working. The only team they’ve lost to is what looks to be a pretty good CB West team. I’ve been on the Hatboro-Horsham bandwagon all season. They lost to Upper Moreland two weeks ago in that crazy game by a point (41-40). They have the lead on Quakertown, and you think, ‘All right, they’re going to win this one and get a little bit of a hold on the American Conference,’ and it doesn’t happen.
“The game plan against Hatboro-Horsham everyone seems to say is you just try and wear them down because their numbers are down. It looks like Quakertown again wore somebody down and did the whole 48-minute cliché and it worked. Good for Quakertown that they were able to do it. It’s becoming uncanny. It shouldn’t happen this often. Will there come a time when somebody gets them down and they can’t come back? Sure, but obviously, that time hasn’t come yet, and now the game with Upper Moreland next week is probably for the American Conference title. That’s really something. It’s a credit to coach George Banas, his coaching staff and his kids.”
Todd Thorpe: “You go to the American Conference, and Upper Moreland just keeps on rolling teams. Sterlen Barr is unbelievable. He’s having an incredible year. He might rush for 2,000 yards if he stays on this pace. You 
have to play a lot of games to get 2,000 yards, but they’re just mauling teams.
“Quakertown, give them credit again. George Banas is just finding a way to win there. Against Hatboro-Horsham, they find a way to pull out the win coming off a short week where they had beaten Upper Dublin the week before. Quakertown is unbeaten in the league. They’re right there with their only loss to CB West. Is Quakertown in the driver’s seat to win that league now? Upper Moreland is going to have something to say about it, but that looks like a pretty good showdown moving forward when they play.
“A lot happened last week, but I really think what you’re seeing is a little bit of separation and who these champions are going to be. Anything can happen, but North Penn is clearly the favorite in the Continental. In the National, Neshaminy and the winner of the Pennsbury/Truman game this week, and Upper Moreland and Quakertown in the American. If somebody slips, I think Upper Dublin is right there too.”
Jen Wielgus: “Most people thought that Quakertown game was over when Hatboro-Horsham went up 20-3. 
Quakertown has proven – I guess a Panther is a cat. I went to Northwestern, and we used to call them the Cardiac Cats and the Comeback Cats or whatever alliteration you want to use, and they are living up to that. You can never count them out of any game.
“We won’t go into their conditioning again – we’ve beat that dead horse, but they have made a habit of coming on strong late in games, no matter what the reason. It’s impressive. They keep doing it over and over again. The CB West loss notwithstanding when they basically looked like they didn’t show up, every single one of their games has been exciting. If you like exciting football, you should be following Quakertown around the world, watching them play. It’s insane.”
SuburbanOneSports: Neshaminy escaped with a 33-28 win over Abington last week. Your thoughts.
Jen Wielgus: “In terms of who is going to win the league, Neshaminy is in control of the National. We have to give a little bit of kudos to Abington, who everybody had written off. A big story in the Suburban One National at this point is anyone that hangs tough against Neshaminy, and that’s exactly what Abington did. We don’t expect anybody to beat Neshaminy, not even Pennsbury. I don’t think anyone does. I think everyone expects Neshaminy to run the table, but Abington hung tough. That was a close game, and Darryl Davis-McNeil – for all the hype that surrounded him last year, he certainly lived up to it in that game. He basically almost beat Neshaminy by himself. That is what passes for big news in the Suburban One National.
“The same is true in the Continental, and unfortunately for CB South, they did not hang tough against North Penn. We all expect North Penn to run the table in the Continental.”
Drew Markol: “I don’t get Abington, I really don’t. They’ll throw in some real clunkers, and then all of a sudden, they have Neshaminy beaten. Neshaminy comes back and takes it. In Darryl Davis-McNeil, Abington has got the best running back in the area. He ran for a million yards against Neshaminy. To me, Abington is an enigma. I’m very surprised by their struggles, and I was surprised that they turned it around and almost beat Neshaminy, but they couldn’t hold on. It’s just a weird year for them when I think a lot of folks, including myself, thought they would be better, but that hasn’t been the case. Then they put up a good stand against Neshaminy, but they still couldn’t quite close the deal.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennsbury will travel to Truman for a key National Conference game. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Are we going to have a new player in the National Conference? We’ll find out this week if Truman can beat Pennsbury. Truman went in sky high against Neshaminy and lost by 50. That happens, but basically, to crack the National Conference top spot between Neshaminy and Pennsbury, you’ve got to beat one of them. Can Truman do that? We’ll see. Do I think they’ll beat Pennsbury? No, I don’t, but in order to truly become a legit contender, you’ve got to get the big two off the perch.
“Perhaps there’s more motivation for Truman against Pennsbury than there was against Neshaminy because of the coaching staff that’s basically moved from Pennsbury to Truman. You can think maybe they know some tendencies or whatever. Maybe they do or they don’t, but you have to go out and beat them. At this stage, there are no moral victories. You have to go out and win the game, so we’ll see. Again, I don’t think that will happen, but I’m wrong an awful lot of times.”
Todd Thorpe: “I was at Pennsbury/Bensalem last week, and I thought Pennsbury’s defense in that game was about a good defense as I’ve seen all year. They came out in the second half and scored three touchdowns in a period of about five minutes, and their offense was barely on the field. It was just a really impressive defensive effort against a Bensalem team that’s pretty good. They’ve lost two in a row, but Bensalem is pretty good. They’re certainly a team that is in that mix for a playoff spot.
“The Truman/Pennsbury game is very interesting with Galen Snyder, David Sanderson and Mike LaPalombara at Truman now after years on the staff at Pennsbury. They’re only two years removed, and a lot of people on that staff are friendly. Pennsbury coach Dan McShane was on that staff at Pennsbury, and now he’s the head coach. There’s a lot of intrigue in that type of game.
“On the field, I think Pennsbury is a decided favorite in that game. I think their size and their physicality makes them a favorite. Truman is very dangerous. They’ve obviously scored against everybody they’ve played except Neshaminy, and they have a lot of weapons, but I think on the field, between the tackles, I think this is a game Pennsbury should be favored to win. Pennsbury looks like they are starting to come together. I think this is a big test for them because if they clear this smoothly, their path is pretty clear to Neshaminy at that point. I think that’s a real big game.”
Jen Wielgus: “I got swept up the Truman hype, I’m not going to lie, and I thought their game against Neshaminy was going to be a lot closer. I think a lot of people did. This has the potential to be another one of those games, but I think because of the history between the coaching staffs – it’s not bad blood or anything like that, but it has so much intrigue. It’s at home for Truman, and I really think those Truman kids are going to be up for it. I’m not going to say they’re going to win, although I did pick them, but I expect that to be a much closer game. I think Pennsbury is favored, but I’ve seen what those Truman kids can do. I saw them explode against a Council Rock South team that was having a down week, by all accounts. Maybe that will show the difference between Neshaminy and the next tier of the league.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Any other games that look interesting this week?
Todd Thorpe: “Neshaminy playing CB South – they’re two 5-1 teams. South has a little bit to prove. You get hammered by North Penn last week, and the last thing you want to do is get hammered two weeks in a row. South’s got a lot to prove. If they’re going to be a real factor when it comes playoff time, meaning a top eight seed, they’ve got to represent themselves pretty well this game against Neshaminy. Neshaminy is not blowing teams out – they did Truman, but last week they had a very close game with Abington. South can be there. I don’t know the status of Jack Johns. We’ll see. I was at South’s game against CB East, and he played a half. Coach Tom Hetrick said it was a shoulder issue that dates back to last year. He was punting a little bit and played some wide receiver, so it’s not like he can’t play, but there’s a shoulder issue. I know they think very highly of Josh Consoletti, and he had some moments in that CB East game where he played very well. You threw him in against North Penn, and if you throw him in against Neshaminy, that’s quite a baptism by fire. He’s a sophomore, and that’s a tough, tough game for them, but it’s a big game. I think if South is going to be a factor come postseason, this is a game they have to win or at least come close and make this a real game late.
"CB West keeps on rolling. CB West is staring at 5-1. This is a senior-laden group at West, and this is what Chas Cathers was building two years ago when he went real young. The big tests for West are coming up. The funny thing is they’re seeded third in the power rankings for District One, and they’ve already played North Penn. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think CB West is a favorite against CB South or Pennridge and they play Pennridge this week, but is it inconceivable that they could win those games and be 9-1 and be the third team in the district or maybe higher? It’s a real funny year. Give West a ton of credit. They won some close games. They have a real impressive win over Bensalem, and they’ve already played North Penn, and that’s the whammy. If you have North Penn still to go, you could have some issues."
Drew Markol: “You look at Pennridge/CB West – I just think that Pennridge has a little bit too much for them, although West is 5-1. I think Pennridge is just a little bit better.
“You’ve got to be disheartened if you’re CB South. You’re undefeated and North Penn put 40 on you, and now you’ve got to play Neshaminy. You know the Neshaminy coaches are all over that team saying – ‘You can’t do what you did against Abington. You have to come back and make a statement.’ That’s a tough spot for South, trying to rebound from the North Penn game. Now you have to face Neshaminy. That’s a tough double.”
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