Back for its sixth season, the popular Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features Kevin Cooney and Drew Markol. 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. Both are regular contributors on the weekly Game On show, and 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/Courier Times web site http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/
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SuburbanOneSports.com: Last weekend, Pennsbury jumped out to a commanding halftime lead and then withstood a gutsy Pennridge comeback. Your thoughts about what that game means to those two squads moving forward.
Kevin Cooney: “I said on ‘Game On’ this week that I was all set mentally to pick Pennsbury this week. I convinced myself that this was the year – they’re at home and everything. Then the second half happened, 
and I know in high school football there’s not always a carryover effect, but if you’re not thinking that’s weird the way they played in the second half when they let up and let Pennridge back in the hunt, then you’re not being honest.
“Pennridge now is at least through the gauntlet, and if they don’t trip up, you’ve got to think they’re going to make districts. Central Bucks South is a potential trip-up game this week, and this is probably the final hurdle in the final three weeks.
“As far as Pennsbury, it was a road game, but when you combine the way they looked in the second half last week and their track record against North Penn – even if you think Pennsbury has a shot, it has to make you a little alarmed.”
Drew Markol: “Pennridge was an on-sides kick away from getting the ball back to tie with a touchdown. They had one drive stopped with a goal line interception. At halftime, I was thinking – we’ll get a mercy rule here, and all of a sudden, Pennsbury couldn’t move an inch, and Pennridge is just moving and scoring and they have all the momentum. That was something else. If that game’s five minutes longer, Pennridge may have beaten them.
“Pennridge has Pennsbury out of the way, North Penn out of the way and Neshaminy out of the way, and with three games left, they need to win the remaining three. That win over Neshaminy is going to help them – they need Neshaminy to beat North Penn or Pennsbury, but at 4-3 right now, they’re at number 19 on the district power rankings and on the outside looking in, but a lot of things could still happen. They’re good enough to be a playoff team. I’m not sure if at a 15th or 16th seed they’re beating a one or two, but they’re pretty representative in what is a bloated field.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: As a writer who covered the Pennridge several times, are there players on that squad that are difference makers?
Drew Markol: “Sophomore linebacker Nick Tarburton – that kid is 6-4, 240, and he’s fast, and it seems like he makes every tackle. He looks like a man amongst boy, and he’s a boy amongst men. He’s only a sophomore, and he goes sideline to sideline. He hit the Pennsbury quarterback who’s a good runner, but he closed the gap and drilled him. He just crushed him, and you heard that gasp from the crowd. He makes every tackle. He’s a Penn State-caliber player. Boy, is he good. They put him at inside linebacker, and he just roams. He’s big, fast and powerful, and he’s the best defensive player I’ve seen this year. I’m sure the big schools are looking at him already.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn will travel to Pennsbury on Friday night for a SOL National Conference showdown. What will be the keys to that game?
Kevin Cooney: “I think the key is simple – does Pennsbury mix things up a bit? I think one of the reasons North Penn has been pretty successful against them through the years is they’re one of the teams that can muscle up. They can match Pennsbury athlete for athlete, and Pennsbury’s bread and butter is pretty predictable. It’s ground and pound, it’s straight ahead, and against most teams, it’s good enough. A team that has somewhat equal talent can match that.
“It’s high school kids and year to year it changes, but this game is important to Pennsbury only in the sense that a) it will help obviously with their seeding and b) if these two should meet down the road, just removing the topic that you can never beat North Penn from conversation is huge. If Pennsbury finally wins, that’s off the table, and I think that’s huge.
“Statistically, you can make the argument that the game is bigger for North Penn because North Penn has kind of lost their margin for error, and they still have Neshaminy next week. I know Pennsbury has Neshaminy in a couple of weeks, but those two non-league losses hurt North Penn. For North Penn, I think they have to get Nyfease West back, I think they have to run the ball effectively just to set up the pass. If they can run the ball effectively and Pennsbury has to play everybody back in towards the line, they have the capability of throwing over it, and I think that’s a huge benefit for North Penn in this game. North Penn, at least on paper, is a little more diversified in their offensive attack than Pennsbury, which is a little more diverse than they had been.”
Drew Markol: “You look at the success Dick Beck has had against Galen Snyder – he’s won 14 of 15 or 
something like that, and the psychological thing – I don’t know if Pennsbury got a little rattled last week by Pennridge because they took their foot off the gas because they had such a big lead. North Penn, with Reese Udinski at quarterback, has a passing game. We know they can run, they can always run, but now they also can throw it. That’s not what Pennsbury does. If North Penn were to take a lead, Pennsbury would have a hard time coming back because they don’t run the type of offense that lets you get back in the game quickly. With Charles Snorweah gone, they don’t really have the guy who can score from anywhere, and North Penn is coming into its own.
“Pennsbury went and won the district title last year, but who did they lose to in the season? North Penn. You wonder about that psychological edge that Pennsbury has playing them and that North Penn has knowing they can beat Pennsbury. That’s another good game, and it’s a shame for the high school football fan that one of those isn’t Friday and the other Saturday, but they’re both Friday night. We’ve had a lot of weeks with some not so great matchups, and now to have two really good ones like this going on at the same time is a shame.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: The key game in the Continental Conference is Quakertown at Council Rock South. Your thoughts about that game.
Drew Markol: “CR South played tight with Pennsbury and almost beat Neshaminy, and they’re very good. They have that wacky offense that teams aren’t used to seeing – the triple option, which teams don’t ever see until they play them.
“This is interesting for Quakertown. I’ve heard many people say this Quakertown team is better than last year’s, but they haven’t really played anybody. Now they’re going to play a team that’s legit obviously, but what people don’t realize is that Rob Burns, their running back, has been so good that they haven’t needed to do anything, but they can throw the ball. They have Tom Garlick at quarterback, and Kyle Baskin is a 6-4, 6-5 receiver. They haven’t needed to throw the ball, so they didn’t do it because they didn’t want to show anybody anything on film, but if need be, they can throw it, and they can throw it well. They can come at you with a two-pronged attack with what is a good passing game, and Burns has been fabulous running the ball.
“I’d have to lean a little bit towards Quakertown because they can do more on offense, and their defense is really good. That’s the game of the week and one of the games of the year for the regular season, for sure. I think Quakertown and South will be really close, and I think Pennsbury and North Penn will be close too. If Pennsbury won and CR South won, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Kevin Cooney: “This is where you wonder if CR South has the advantage because of its schedule, having to play Pennsbury, having to play Neshaminy early, and if that sets them up better to face this game. Let’s be honest, Quakertown, through no fault of their own, has not really hit tough sledding. They went through the softer patch of the Continental, their non-league games were okay but not great, they haven’t been pushed, and now you have to go on the road. I think this is the last hurdle that Quakertown has to clear if CR North has no Brandon McIlwain (playing quarterback) and CB East has hit a little bit of a skid. The winner of this game is going to win the division, and I wonder if South with that offense that’s really funky and can be tough to game plan against in only a week – I wonder if South has the advantage because they’ve played a little bit higher caliber teams to this point, and they’ve already played CB East. They have that Pennsbury experience, they have that Neshaminy experience, and they know what it’s like to be in a tough game. Yes, they lost them, but maybe the eyes won’t be as big.
“Quakertown has played in playoff games, and Tom Garlick has played in a state title game (with Archbishop Wood), and maybe I’m completely reading this wrong, but I think if I was George Banas, I’d be wondering this week – did we have enough really tough reps to get us through this spot?”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Hatboro-Horsham – undefeated in conference play – will face Plymouth Whitemarsh this week. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Hatboro started out 0-3, and you’re thinking – they’re done, and then they have to play Upper Moreland. Now look at Upper Moreland – they’re 6-1, and they beat PW, so that’s a pretty good Upper Moreland team. Hatboro goes and beats them for the first time in four or five tries. Talk about jumpstarting your season – now you’re 4-3. PW right now is in the district playoffs, and Hatboro is on the outside looking in, but let’s say Hatboro beats them, and they have to think they may get in. When they were 0-3, you’re looking at the schedule saying, ‘Who are they going to beat?’ Now you look at their schedule and say ‘Who’s going to beat them?’ What a turnaround. That’s a credit to coach Mike Kapusta. That team could have quit, but that’s a heck of a turnaround. It will make for a heck of a Thanksgiving game against Upper Moreland.”
Kevin Cooney: “Hatboro has played well. Give Mike Kapusta a lot of credit for getting them to stay in it. Their three non-league games had disaster written all over it, and they’ve stabilized it to win four in a row, but they’re hitting the headwind of the schedule here with PW and Upper Dublin. This is a test on how far they’ve come, and it’s not even if you win or lose. It would be great if they won, and if they win, quite honestly, they’re in the conversation for a district playoff berth, although they’d have to beat Upper Dublin.
“It’s a sign of how far the program has come. You can beat up on the Springfields and all those teams, and they beat Upper Moreland, but this is where you find out how far this program has come. If they finish 6-5 on the year and if they get through the league with two losses, that’s a big step forward for them – it really is – from where they’ve been.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin rolled to another easy win over PW last week. Your thoughts about the Flying Cardinals.
Kevin Cooney: “This week Upper Dublin will play Upper Moreland, and it’s almost like their last warm-up before they get to districts. If you look ahead, it will be interesting to see how Upper Dublin fares if they play a North Penn, if they play a Pennsbury or if they play Neshaminy in the first round of districts, which could happen depending on what shakes down the next three weeks. Will they be ready or will those teams have a little bit of a psychological edge because of their name. Or has Upper Dublin, at this point, put themselves in the mindset that they can beat anybody. If that’s the case with their talent, they’re pretty damn dangerous.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Abington will play Souderton on Friday night. Your thoughts about that game.
Drew Markol: “I think Souderton is a notch above Abington and a notch below Neshaminy and two notches below North Penn and Pennsbury. For Abington, you wonder how much gas they have left in the tank. They had a game with CB South last week that they probably thought they could win, but that didn’t happen. It’s just hard when you’re in this losing mode. I’ve got to think Souderton has a slight edge because they’re a couple of steps better.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin routed Plymouth Whitemarsh 42-0 in a game that most people felt would be the SOL American Conference championship decider. Was it?
Scott Huff: “Maybe – maybe not.
“Upper Dublin is without doubt the favorite to win out in the conference and to earn one of the top seeds in the PIAA Quad-A District One playoffs. But maybe PW isn’t the top contender – the Colonials lost to Upper Moreland (49-35) – and Upper Moreland lost to Hatboro-Horsham (20-13). And both Upper Moreland (3-1) and Hatboro-Horsham (4-0) remain on the Cardinal schedule.
“Stay tuned.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: What was the most impressive thing about Upper Dublin’s win over PW?
Scott Huff: “The Upper Dublin defense – and that came on a night that senior quarterback Ryan Stover was 
excellent and threw five touchdown passes. The three linebackers – Jack Rapine, Henry Winebrake, and Stacey Gardner – anchor that terrific defense. And the offense with Stover at the controls and Gardner and Kalief Lee at running backs – have generated a ton of yards and a ton of points this year.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: What are the ‘numbers’ this week for Upper Dublin in respect to district and state rankings?
Scott Huff: “Upper Dublin is tied for fourth in the PIAA District One Quad-A rankings with Perkiomen Valley at 840 power points. In the Eastern Pa Football Top 20 Rankings, the Cardinals are ranked fourth in the state in Quad-A – the highest ranked team in District One. And in the PA Prep Football Penn-Live/Patriot News poll Upper Dublin is ranked 10th in the state behind only Downingtown East (8th) from District One.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-2, 2-2) has lost two straight conference games. Are the Colonials out of the playoff hunt?
Scott Huff: “Not yet.
“If the playoffs were to begin this week the Colonials would be in. PW is ranked 14th – tied with North Penn – with 700 power points which would earn them a slot in the 16-team District One playoff field. However, a loss against any conference team in the last three weeks would surely jettison them from the playoffs. The PW schedule the final three weeks has the Colonials @ Hatboro-Horsham (4-3, 4-0), @ Cheltenham (3-4, 2-2), and home versus Springfield (2-4, 1-3). Even a clean sweep in the final three games might not earn PW enough points – Springfield is a Class AA school and does not generate the power points a Quad-A school generates – again – stay tuned.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Is the door still open for Hatboro-Horsham (4-3, 4-0) for a Quad-A District One playoff invitation?
Scott Huff: “A crack.
“The good news for the streaking Hatters - who have won their last four games - is that they still have both Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-2) and Upper Dublin (7-0) on the schedule – and wins over both would generate a lot of power points in the rankings. Right now – Hatboro-Horsham ranks 19th in the district with 590 points – and the next two weeks against the Colonials and the Cardinals would determine any faint playoff hopes.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Who wins this week in the SOL American Conference?
Scott Huff: “How about / Upper Dublin 38 – Upper Moreland 13 / Hatboro-Horsham 35 – Plymouth Whitemarsh 28 / Cheltenham 28 – Wissahickon 14 / and / Upper Merion 28 – Springfield 14/ ?”
*Opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of SuburbanOneSports.com.
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