Intelligencer/Courier Times 'Let's Talk Football (10-21-16)

Back for its seventh season, the popular Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features Kevin Cooney, Drew Markol and Jen Wielgus.  Cooney, the Phillies beat writer, will handle the Bucks County Courier Times coverage area and also is part of a panel each Friday night on the WNPV/Intelligencer Scoreboard Show. Markol is the football beat writer for the Intelligencer area. Wielgus is a video sports reporter for the Intelligencer and Courier. All three are regular 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:  Looking back at last week’s action, what games stood out?

Drew Markol:  "Bensalem had a lead on Neshaminy - they're up 19-7 late in the first half. We've been talking all year that it's been the 'Year of the Owl,' and it continued. With that Neshaminy game, they've been up every game at halftime. Just the fact that they've done that is really something. So Neshaminy came back and won by 13 points, and if you just look at the score, you're like, 'Oh, okay,' but that wasn't the case. Bensalem out gained them and had a lead at halftime. In the past, teams like Neshaminy and Pennsbury would look at Bensalem and say, 'All right, our starters are going to play a half' and basically look past them. I don't want to say Neshaminy looked past them, but you do wonder. They were coming off a big win over CB South, and they're thinking 'Bensalem is Bensalem.' Well, it's no longer just Bensalem. Turning around a losing culture is incredibly difficult, and Ed Cubbage is doing it. It's really something. That team is probably not going to make the district playoffs, but that's okay. The fact that we're heading into week nine with two more weeks to go and we're even talking about Bensalem - let's face it, for many years and years, there's been no talk of Bensalem at the end of the season. They're usually 2-6 or 1-7 by this time. Well, that's not the case. That's a team that's just building momentum. What Ed Cubbage has done to move that program in the right direction is really incredible. If they do coach of the year stuff, usually those awards go to the team that wins the championship, but boy, that guy should be commended. Turning a program around is a really hard thing to do, and it looks like he's doing it.”

Jen Wielgus:  We’ve talked about this all season long – I don’t want to overlook Neshaminy because we could say good things about them all day long, but the feel good story out of that conference is by far Bensalem. Bensalem has been in every single game they’ve played this season. They should have beaten Penn Wood, they have that road win at CB West, and they played Neshaminy tougher than almost any other team. To think they wouldn’t be that team to make the playoffs, just for that gold star, for that ‘that a boy’ that comes with making the district playoffs, that’s a shame to me. I think Ed Cubbage should be coach of the year.”

SuburbanOneSports:  Your thoughts about Neshaminy and North Penn after week eight.

Kevin Cooney:  “Neshaminy and North Penn sealed their bid at the top. North Penn took Souderton – who could still make the playoffs – and just took them to the woodshed, blew them out in the first half and really didn’t have to play anybody in the beginning of the second half. They ran one offensive play in the entire second quarter and they were in the mercy rule.

“You have that and then you have Neshaminy who had to battle back in a really good game for them at Bensalem. They battled back to take a lead and won fairly convincingly. It showed character for them.

“North Penn is showing dominance. The only game I think that matters is four or five weeks away. I know coaches cringe when I say that and others cringe, but the rest of it is just window dressing at this point compared to what the real debate will be at the end.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Abington will travel to Pennsbury for a game that will more than likely determine second place in the SOL National Conference. Your thoughts about those two teams.

Kevin Cooney:  “Pennsbury had to fight to get past CR South, it was a two-point game (21-19). Pennsbury obviously has won three in a row, and you have to give them a lot of credit for bouncing back because after they lost to Council Rock North – their season really could have gone off the tracks. They have a really tough time scoring, they’re not putting up a lot of points, and they’re going up against an Abington team this week that has just exploded behind Darryl Davis-McNeil. They put 49 points up last week against Truman.
“To me, Pennsbury/Abington is obviously the game that stands out. I think we have this impression that the winner is in and the loser is out. I think the loser is out part is right. The winner is in part – I’m not quite sure I buy that. It’s going to need more clarity in the math. Next week Abington has North Penn and Pennsbury has Neshaminy, and they could both lose. If you lose that game, you kind of get into that murky middle kind of situation – okay, how did CB East do against Pennridge? How did Souderton do? You get into all that, and it gets a little dicey. Then you consider this, how did Bensalem do? If Bensalem could win their last two – I know Kyle Berger (1440 WNPV) has it that Bensalem can still get in. I think it’s going to be difficult, especially since their starting quarterback is out from what I’m hearing. It’s a tough go, but it’s not a guarantee that the winner of the Pennsbury/Abington game is going to make it into this tournament.
“Even if they did, let’s flip the scenario around. If Abington wins, they’ll play North Penn next week. If they lose that game, they could probably play North Penn the following week. If Pennsbury wins, they’ll go to Neshaminy next week. If they lose that game, they could face Neshaminy again. There are a lot of moving parts in this. That’s what I find interesting as we go into this week.”

Drew Markol:  "If we start with Pennsbury, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt that this season could be a blip. Pennsbury is a perennial district power. They have a new coach, a new system. We've talked about this before in previous weeks, but they've grown up in their youth program learning - rightfully so - Galen Snyder's system. Well, now you have a new coach and have kids that are not that happy with it. Some kids aren't going to come out and play for the team. You have to give it a chance. I keep harping back to graduation losses, but they lost a ton. I just think this is a very, very non-Pennsbury type year, but here we are with their game against Abington. If they can beat Abington - and I don't think they can, but they play them at home and if they can - they're having what most would consider a really, really bad season and they're probably going to be in the playoffs. Maybe that says something about there are too many teams in the district playoffs, but that's another story. I'm willing to give them the benefit of one down year because of all the transition.

" Abington with first-year coach Kevin Conlin - I covered Kevin Conlin when he played in high school at La Salle. He was really good, and you could tell even back then that he knew what he was doing. They had a slow start to the season, and now they've put themselves in a spot where they scored 40-plus points last week. If they can beat Pennsbury - and you've got to favor Abington, they're going to be in the playoffs. Very good job by Kevin Conlin.

"He's an old offensive lineman. That's his thing. That's basic football. Look at the Eagles, they lose a key component in their offensive line in Lane Johnson, and they fall apart.  It's cliche, but games are won or lost up front, no matter how you look at it. You can have the best running back in the world, the best receiver, the best quarterback, but if there are no holes to run through or no time to throw, you're cooked. What that Abington line is doing - if there were no holes, Darryl Davis-McNeil wouldn't be running for a thousand yards a week. He is having a great year. The only team that really slowed him down was Neshaminy."

Jen Wielgus:  “In the latest district power rankings, Abington is no longer sort of sniffing the playoffs, they’re in. The last good team they played was Neshaminy, and they got shut out. They didn’t score a point. They haven’t played any good teams, so you can’t be shaking your pompoms about Abington.

“They go into this game favored to beat Pennsbury. They look like they’re the better team, but how the heck do you know? They’re playing the same teams Pennsbury is playing. Darryl Davis-McNeil has had some great games, but again, against who? On our Game On show, I picked Pennsbury just to be different, just to add some spice because everyone else is picking Abington.

“Pennsbury’s game against Council Rock South was 21-19, and Council Rock South got shut out by Bensalem and got shut out by Pennridge. That was two consecutive shutouts in a row for Council Rock South. Pennsbury was lucky to beat Bensalem, they lost to Council Rock North, who then promptly went into the tank. Abington or Pennsbury – whichever one of them gets into the playoffs is going to end up playing Neshaminy or North Penn, which for Abington would be their second straight week playing North Penn. That can’t be anything to feel good about. If Pennsbury makes it, they would have to play Neshaminy and then North Penn.

“No more than two teams from the National are going to get a playoff spot, and whoever wins that game on Friday has no guarantee that you win you get in because Abington has North Penn in week 10 and Pennsbury has Neshaminy. They’re not going to win those games.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Your thoughts about the Continental Conference race with its marquee game featuring Pennridge at Central Bucks South.

Kevin Cooney:  “Kyle Berger projected out that he thinks Pennridge gets in the playoffs even at 5-5 because their three losses are obviously to the top three teams in the race. If you lose to South, that’s not a bad loss. If you lose to East, that’s not a bad loss. If you take all of that, the game kind of does lose a little steam except for the fact that if you’re Pennridge then you’re backing in and playing in that bottom grouping, which you don’t really want at this point.

“My thing with those two teams – I think you’re seeing two teams going in different directions. I think you’re seeing Pennridge trend up. I think Pennridge is really starting to play good football at this point, and on the flip side, South really struggled last week to beat West. Offensively, they’re getting a little bit out of rhythm. I think those two losses in back-to-back weeks to North Penn and Neshaminy took its toll a little bit. We’ll see if they can turn the tide this week, but I would say the trend line points to Pennridge.

“South’s quarterback, Jack Johns, was hampered by a hamstring injury in the game against West, and this is not a good team to be a sitting duck against. Pennridge’s linebackers can bring a lot of pressure, and if they believe they can get to the quarterback, that’s going to be tough for South to overcome.”

Drew Markol:  "You have to keep CB East in the mix because they're in the battle for second place in the Continental, and also, you have to think whoever comes out of the CB East, CB South, Pennridge mix on top, they're probably going to get a top eight seed in the district, and that gets you at least one home game. That in itself is a nice carrot to dangle. For those three teams, I'm sure their respective coaches are saying they have to win out to get a game at home. Who knows - if you get a team from the other side of the district and they have a two-hour bus ride because they're the ninth seed and you're the eighth seed and you have no bus ride come playoff time, that's a nice thing.

"People look at Pennridge at 5-3, and they kind of shake their head a little bit. That's a very deceptive 5-3. Those three losses are to teams that are 24-0 - Perk Valley, Neshaminy - who they had on the ropes - and North Penn. I think Pennridge is really pretty good. Would I be surprised if they were playing in the district semifinal which means they've won two districts games? No. I think they'll finish second. I think they'll beat South on Friday at South and then I think they'll beat East the following week. East beat them in overtime last year in a classic game that kind of was a springboard for East as far as the rest of what was a really good season for them. They came up to Perkasie and beat Pennridge at Pennridge. I think Pennridge is very good, not great but very good.

"I saw South against CB West last week, and South has a very stout defense, but I think the back-to-back games when South played against North Penn and Neshaminy and allowed 42 points in each - it might have taken a little starch out of them, and it's kind of hard to get that back. Now you're playing a Pennridge team, and they'll hit you too. Tyler Watson for South is a really good running back, they have a bunch of receivers, and the South quarterback Jack Johns, a junior - that kid is somebody we'll be talking about. He kind of tweaked his hamstring against West, and he wasn't able to run. That kid is big - he's like his brother, Matt Johns, and he's very deceptive. He can run quarterback bootlegs, but he couldn't do that against West because of his hamstring. It's actually a nice weapon that you don't usually get from a big mobile quarterback. Again, if he's gong to be slowed a little bit, that's not good news for South.”

Jen Wielgus:  “The good thing for South is they have a capable backup quarterback in Sam Thompson, who was actually a starter earlier in the season because Jack Johns had an injury. The game I saw them against Council Rock South Thompson played the whole game at quarterback. They’re not the same team with Thompson, but in him, they’ve got a senior who can run the offense. What offense he’s running and how potent that offense is going to be is a question mark based on what’s been happening. Kevin and Drew brought it up on the show that having to play North Penn and Neshaminy took a lot out of South. They beat them up, and maybe they weren’t as good as we thought offensively, but their defense is going to keep them in games usually.

“South’s game against West (a 14-7 win) was a ‘wow’ result. You expected them to be much more alive in that game. The Game On panel all picked Pennridge, but I honestly think you’d still have to consider them the underdog. Suddenly, we all have this faith in Pennridge. They’ve got size and they’ve got talent, but they seem to get penalties that hurt them and that’s dating back to last year. Pennridge didn’t make the playoffs last year, and that was the big story. They’re in this year, no matter what they do.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Central Bucks East is at Central Bucks West. Your comments.

Drew Markol:  "As far as East at West, West is a team - they don't ever quit. They played South last week, and South was throwing everything at them, and West just kept hanging in there and hanging in there. They lost 14-7, but it wasn't for lack of effort. That goes back to coaching. Chas Cathers is a good coach, and he's doing good things with West. They just don't have enough offensive firepower.

"For East, it's a big rivalry game. Of course, you'd like to see it played the last game of the season and you'd really like to see it played on Thanksgiving, but for them, they need to win to set up the game with Pennridge next week. I just think they have a little bit too much for West. That East receiver Wes Verbit - he's the real deal.

“This game means a ton to both teams, and West would like nothing more than to put a nice dent in East's season, but it's a game East has to have. I think that factor will help push them over the top."

Jen Wielgus:  “West probably has a lot of confidence coming out of its game against South. East has taken the lead in that rivalry in recent years – it’s been their era the last couple of years. They’ve made a resurgence while West has fallen away. They’ve had their issues with the hazing, and they’ve kind of fallen off while East made the playoffs last year for the first time since 2005. They’ve got a good buzz around the program.

“I was at the game last year at East, and I don’t know if this is a regular occurrence because I know they’re big rivals, but things got really chippy. I do know West is doing its Pediatric Cancer game, and East is joining in. They’re all wearing the gold shoelaces, and it’s nice they’re doing something unified.

“West definitely has something to prove. They started so strong this season, and I know we talked about how they hadn’t really played anybody, the records of the teams they beat early on in the season weren’t great, but they’re not a terrible team. Losing to Bensalem was the low point, but they have something prove at their home, which is now their home exclusively. East is the favored team, no doubt. East is making the playoffs and West is not, but West is trying to be like a phoenix rising out of the ashes after all of the bad vibes and all of the things that happened with the program. Their new coach – Chas Cathers – is pointing them in the right direction, whether the season went 100 percent the way they wanted it to or not. Who knows? It’s one of the best rivalries, and either way, West has something to be proud of. They have this athletic leadership council, and members of the football team are part of it. They’ve been working really hard behind the scenes for weeks, even months to put together this fundraising effort for little kids that have cancer. I stress to the kids how they can use their athletic ability and their intelligence and all that stuff that goes into being a leader – which athletes are – for good. People will forget who won the 2016 rivalry game, but maybe they won’t forget the difference they made in kids’ lives.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Quakertown notched a decisive win over Upper Moreland. Your thoughts.

Drew Markol:  "Quakertown started very slowly, but it's a credit to their coaching staff that they haven't quit. They could have, they could have packed it in, but George Banas teams don't do that.

"Upper Moreland is kind of cyclical. Every couple of years, Adam Beach gets them revved up, and they're very good. This is not a vintage Upper Moreland team, and it's unlikely that they're going to make a long playoff run. Last year they got to the district final in Class AAA. Adam Beach knows what he's doing. He went to Quakertown, and those Quakertown kids have pride. They sucked it up and got the win. A credit to them.

"That was a game that for Quakertown - it didn't really matter in the whole scheme, but it did to Upper Moreland. It sent Upper Moreland down in the power rankings in 5A. That was well done by Quakertown."

SuburbanOneSports.com:  PW defeated Hatboro-Horsham on the heels of its big win over Upper Dublin. Your thoughts about the Colonials.

Kevin Cooney:  “PW is one of the teams that is trending up. Obviously, when you win at Upper Dublin the way they did and when you beat Hatboro as convincingly as they did, I think you’re seeing the development of a program. PW has been good, but they’ve also been good to a point in the playoffs. We’ve talked a lot over the last couple of years about the American Conference’s ‘failures’ in the postseason, and PW was at the top of the list. Upper Dublin was able to break through, so that stigma is not quite there anymore. Does this mean I would like them over North Penn and Neshaminy? No. I think this is at best a three-horse race. If you want to put Perk Valley in there, fine. If you want to put Coatesville in there eventually, okay, but you’re talking about a PW team that’s going to end up having a home game and will probably get a couple rounds deep before they run into those big boys. I don’t think they have the depth necessarily that a North Penn or Neshaminy does, so that’s where I think they’ll have problems, but I think this is a hell of a job by Dan Chang. You lose in week one, and sometimes your season spins out of control. They’re the ultimate example of a team that lost week one to Souderton and used that as a slingshot to kind of put their season back on the right track.”

Drew Markol:  "If you're PW coach Dan Chang, after they beat Upper Dublin, you've got to be thinking two things: 1) what a big win and 2) we can't have a hangover from it because our second toughest game, Hatboro-Horsham, is the next week, and we can’t get upset, and they didn't do that. They beat Upper Dublin, the first loss for Upper Dublin, and then they turn around and beat a Hatboro team that had been playing well.

"PW hasn't lost since before Labor Day. They lost to Souderton in week one, and that's been it. Good for them. That was well done. How much confidence does that team have after beating Upper Dublin and on a seven-game winning streak? There's nothing wrong with that."