Back for its fifth season, the popular Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features high school football beat writers Drew Markol and Dan Dunkin. Markol covers schools in the Intelligencer area while Dan Dunkin covers teams in the Courier Times area. Both share their perspective on the teams in their coverage area. Scott Huff, football writer for SuburbanOneSports.com, shares his thoughts about the American Conference squads. To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the Intelligencer/Courier Times web site http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/
SuburbanOneSports.com: Talk about the Pennridge-Pennsbury game.
Dan Dunkin: “Pennridge will be the best team Pennsbury has played so far. Pennsbury has steamrolled people with nearly a 40-point a game average margin of victory. And Pennsbury by far is the best team Pennridge will have played. Joe Unangst has been a real force for Pennridge. He’s been running great. Their quarterback, DeVon Balmer, has played well. Even though they lost Mike Class, everybody knew Pennridge was going to be very competitive. Coach Jeff Hollenbach just really runs a really excellent program and gets his kids ready. Look at them – they’re 5-1. They have found ways offensively, really leaning heavily on Unangst, and their play up front on both sides of the ball has been strong. That bodes well for them in this game because Pennsbury, let’s face it, is better than anybody this side of the Susquehanna at the line of scrimmage offensively and the way they’ve set the tone with their running game.
“Pennsbury is just too good, though. I see this being a competitive game, but I think Pennsbury will stay in control. This will not be a huge blowout like they’re accustomed to, but I think they’re the better team, and they will stick with what they do. With all their running backs, they will wear them down. I don’t think Pennridge’s offense is multi-dimensional enough to attack and keep Pennsbury’s defense off balance.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Truman will be facing Council Rock North. Your thoughts about those two teams.
Dan Dunkin: “This should be another terrific Continental game. Truman has been right there in their three losses, which were all winnable games. They’re that close to a big breakthrough, and I’ve picked them. I like Truman as much as I did in the preseason. They certainly have climbed a good ways as a program, and they’re still in the hunt for a playoff spot.
“Council Rock North I underestimated. They’re 5-1 for a reason. They’ve got a lot of good play from a lot of skill people. An undersized offensive line has played really well. They know how to run that spread no-huddle offense, and defensively, they have done enough. They are a bend-don’t-break defense. They’re not real big, but their offense pretty much sets the control for the game.
“I like Council Rock North to win this game. I just think with the difference-maker quarterback Brandon McIlwain is and the confidence they’re playing with, plus Truman has had trouble closing some games. It will be a really fiercely competitive game, but I like CR North.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Council Rock South will host William Tennent. Comment on those two teams.
Dan Dunkin: “Tennent is similar to Truman in that they’ve lost some very close games. It shows how much more competitive they are in their second year under Bob Rosenberger.
“Council Rock South certainly has come back nicely this year, but that was a deflating loss to CB West. They were rolling, they had two wins in a row and were 2-0 in the conference, and I thought they’d beat CB West. CB West was down, but they played with desperation. They had to have it – they’d lost three in a row.
“You have two teams here playing with desperation. The game is at CR South, and I like them in this game with running back Vince Alimenti really being the difference-maker. I think it will be a very hard fought game, and it could come right down to the wire, but I think South’s wishbone attack will win out ultimately in this game.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Neshaminy is travelling to Souderton on Friday night. Your thoughts about that game.
Dan Dunkin: “Neshaminy’s defense has gotten shredded quite a bit against the better teams. In this game, they do have a lot of playmakers offensively. Souderton is really not equipped, I don’t think, to deal with all their playmakers. This could be a fairly high-scoring game, but I like Neshaminy. Neither team has anything to play for but pride and really set the foundation for next year. It’s hard to believe you’d say that about Neshaminy especially, but they’ve lost four games, and they’re not going to make the playoffs. I’ll be interested to see how they respond these last four games. I expect them to win this game."
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks South will travel to Abington on Friday night. Your thoughts about those two teams.
Drew Markol: “If you’re CB South, there were a lot of questions because you had that long losing streak last season, and you’re an unproven commodity. You had Josh Adams back, but you didn’t know what you had. Now you find yourself – along with Pennsbury – right in the thick of the SOL National Conference race, one of the best conferences in the state, so you’ve got to be very, very pleased with what you’ve been doing. You also have to realize it just takes one loss to bounce you back. If you’re South, last week you went to Neshaminy and kind of reverted back to the old ways of outscoring teams, but they’ll fix things. With Josh Adams, who has been playing as well as anyone in the country as far as we know – I’d like to see a kid playing better in the country than he is, you always have the best player on the field.
“If you’re Abington, you’ve got a proud program, and you need to show – okay, you’ve lost three games in your conference, but you look at the teams they lost to. The Ghosts still have a lot to play for as far as getting into the district playoffs. If you want to take a big step towards that, beating CB South, which only has the one loss against a very good Coatesville team, would help your cause immensely. My guess is Tim Sorber will have them more than ready to go. They have enough talent to play with anybody.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn, which is coming off a big win over Souderton, is tied for the 19thspot in the latest district power rankings. Talk about the Knights, who will host Bensalem.
Drew Markol: “Next week North Penn will play Pennsbury. They will get past Bensalem, and just like last year – if you’re North Penn, you just want to get into the district tournament and have a chance. As long as you get in that top 16, you’ve got a chance. They just need to keep doing what they’re doing, stay healthy – don’t look past Bensalem but also realize how big next week will be with Pennsbury.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennridge will face Pennsbury on Saturday night. Comment on those two teams.
Drew Markol: “Pennridge has a tremendous offense with a lot of weapons besides Joe Unangst. They can throw it a little bit with DeVon Balmer, and they can run it. They need to tighten up a little bit on defense, and it’s a big hurdle playing Pennsbury. I think Pennsbury will be playing in the district final against somebody, I’m not sure who. Pennridge hasn’t seen a defense as good as Pennsbury’s yet, and every inch will be harder to get. If you’re Pennsbury, there are an awful lot of expectations for you for this season because there was so much back and they’ve been playing so well. If you’re Pennsbury, you can’t look at Pennridge and say, ‘This is a team we can walk over’ because that won’t be the case.
“Pennsbury with Charles Snorweah and their quarterback, Mike Alley, is rolling. I’m sure they’re being made well aware of what Pennridge can do. Undoubtedly, as far as the Suburban One League is concerned, that’s the biggest game of the week. Pennsbury is going to be in a lot of them as we go along, but right now, Pennridge has shown a lot of guts in their loss to North Penn, they showed a lot of offense in beating Neshaminy. Pennsbury games don’t tend to be 48-46. If Pennridge could get a couple of touchdowns, that would be huge. It’s a very good matchup. Pennsbury does everything well, and Pennridge will need to play defense very well if they want to stay in it.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Quakertown, the fourth seed in the latest rankings, will host Central Bucks West. Your thoughts about those teams.
Drew Markol: “By this point, we have to stop looking at Quakertown as a big surprise because they keep winning, they keep getting it done week after week. Quarterback Alec Vera is legit. He can throw it, he can run, he’s fast enough, he’s shifty enough. Their defense, led by senior linebacker Hunter Nice, gets overlooked, but that’s a pretty good defense. I expect them to keep rolling.
“For West, after a couple of bad losses, to bounce back with a win over CR South has got to help, but they’ll need to be able to throw it a little bit. They can run the ball okay at West, but Quakertown’s defense has seen some good backs, and they can stop them. You need more than one trick against Quakertown. That’s a very good defense that George Ganas has going.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Norristown is playing at Central Bucks East on Friday. The Patriots are coming off a big win over William Tennent. Talk about that game.
Drew Markol: “For CB East, you talk about a team that looked like it was just kind of stuck in the mud, and then they beat a William Tennent team that is not bad at all. Bob Rosenberger is turning that team around, and their quarterback – Nik Banks – is very good.
“Now East will play a Norristown team that has had some good wins and is also getting better under first-year coach Jason Powel. They’re improving. What looked like a ho hum game on the schedule - now there’s a little spark to it.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: William Tennent will travel to Council Rock South. Your thoughts about the Panthers.
Drew Markol: “I think Tennent can play with anybody in the Continental, and I think they can play well against Council Rock South. Vince Alimenti played with a cast on his arm last week – imagine just going through everyday life with a cast, trying to pump gas or open a door, and now imagine trying to play football with it. You can see how difficult that would be. The fact that he’s playing is impressive, but that’s very difficult. If there’s a slight edge in this game, it’s Tennent.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Souderton will host Neshaminy. Both teams are coming off tough losses.
Drew Markol: “Neshaminy needs to bounce back. They’ve lost two in a row in the National Conference to Pennridge and Pennsbury. If they have any thoughts of making the 16-team District One AAAA field, they probably have to win them all, and they have to start with Souderton. D’Andre Pollard had nearly 250 yards rushing against CB South. It looks like he’s getting a little more comfortable with his offensive line. He was the AP All-State Player of the Year last year, so you do have that in your backfield, and that always helps.
“Souderton is a younger team that might be a year away. They had a tough loss to North Penn, which was apparently playing pretty angry after losing the week before (to CB South). For Souderton, you need to take some steps, and this is a game they could win if they play well. I give the edge to Neshaminy, but if Souderton could get it together a little bit, they’d be right in there.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Hatboro-Horsham will face Wissahickon. Can the Hatters pull off their second win?
Drew Markol: “Hatboro would like to bounce back. They lost to Springfield last week. Wissahickon’s standout running back, Josh Smith, didn’t play a week ago, so if he doesn’t play this week, obviously, that makes things a little bit more palatable for Hatboro. You take out a kid who has nearly 800 yards rushing away from an offense, that’s bound to help you. With Smith, it will be a very uphill climb for Hatboro. If he can’t play for the Trojans, then Hatboro has a shot.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: This is championship week in the SOL American Conference when Upper Dublin host Plymouth Whitemarsh. Who wins?
Scott Huff: “Toss a coin – and don’t believe the answer. This should be a well-contested game that features a couple of quality teams that are constructed very differently.
“Upper Dublin (5-1, 3-0) has won five of its six games with an explosive offense led by junior quarterback Ryan Stover. Stover is the elite quarterback in the conference and has the numbers to prove it. He throws to a variety of receivers. The Cardinals have waited patiently all year for their running game to come along – and last week it arrived as junior Kaleif Lee was terrific in Upper Dublin’s 39-0 win over Wissahickon. The offensive line is quick. The Cardinal defense has given up some points this year – but is coming off that shutout of Wissahickon.
“Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-2, 3-0) has won four of its six games with an explosive offense led by junior running back Nyfeese Nasir. Nasir runs behind an enormous offensive line that features Virginia-bound tackle Ryan Bischoff (6-5, 305). The Colonials showcase a pair of quarterbacks in senior Jimmy Rodgers and sophomore Anthony Mirabile. Rodgers is more of an option QB while Mirabile is a drop-back passer. The PW defense is both quick and huge. The talent of senior defensive tackle Joe Desanto (6-3, 270) is impressive.
“Both have a win and a loss against common opponents. Upper Dublin whitewashed Wissahickon 39-0 – however, the Trojans did not have outstanding running back Josh Smith play in the game due to injury. Plymouth Whitemarsh rolled to a 47-27 win over Wissahickon with Smith in the lineup. Both lost to Abington in non-league play. Upper Dublin dropped a close game to the Ghosts 27-20 while PW was defeated by Abington 23-8.
“The bottom line might be if the skill set of Upper Dublin’s Stover will be enough to overcome the size advantage of Plymouth Whitemash.
“I’ll go out on a limb and say that in an extremely close game – size might indeed matter. Look for PW to win its 26th consecutive SOL American Conference game. And don’t be too shocked if that limb I climbed out on snaps.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Cheltenham is on a two-game conference-winning streak. Will the Panthers make it three in a row this week against Springfield?
Scott Huff: “Cheltenham should be able to continue its winning streak against a Springfield team that played very well against Hatboro-Horsham last week. The Panthers have showcased the talents of running back Greg Morris in their wins, while the Spartans continue to play well against decent competition behind the leadership and talents of quarterback Chris Stone. This could be another coin-flip game.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Wissahickon and Hatboro-Horsham both lost last week. Who rebounds to win this week?
Scott Huff: “Another tough one to call. A lot depends on if Josh Smith is back from injury for the Trojans – if he is out, this could be a very close game. The Hatters have just a single win but have been just bad enough to lose most games. Casey Walsh is a good quarterback on a team that, right now, isn’t as good as its quarterback.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Merion is still looking for its first win of the season. Any chance that the Vikings get it against Upper Moreland this week?
Scott Huff: “Slim and none – bet on none. Upper Moreland has the elite back in the conference in Tyler Whitmore and the Golden Bears still have lost two conference games in a row. Upper Merion will be hard pressed to be competitive against a team that is very hungry for a victory.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Who wins this week in the SOL American Conference?
Scott Huff: “How about [Plymouth Whitemarsh 28 – Upper Dublin 27]; [Cheltenham 28 – Springfield 27]; [Wissahickon 28 – Hatboro-Horsham 27]; and [Upper Moreland 38 – Upper Merion 13]?”
- Log in to post comments
