Intelligencer/Courier Times: "Let's Talk Football" (9-18-15)

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/

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Council Rock North earned a come-from-behind win over Central Bucks South last week. Your comments about the Indians.

Kevin Cooney:  “You’re looking at what could have been a slippery slope – the way the first half went, but Brandon McIlwain strapped them on his back and led them to a win. It was a little better game defensively (for Rock North), but they’re still in a spot where it seems like their margin for error is razor thin. Their quarterback is carrying them right now, and that’s great in the short term, but they need somebody else to step up. They need a defender or a running back or somebody else who’s going to take the pressure off McIlwain, but this is not the week I think you’re going to see that.

“I think this is a week where I want to see them play well against Pennsbury, but there could be such a thing as a good loss. You just want to see stability, and I don’t know if we’ve seen that yet. If I’m Adam Collachi, what I’m looking at is – get me to the league and give me somebody else who this week has their name mentioned besides McIlwain. McIlwain is going to be the echo chamber. He’s going to be the guy everybody looks at, and I get that, but you really need somebody else who’s going to step forward. They have Batman, but they don’t have Robin right now. Until they do, especially when you have Central Bucks East, who seems like they’ve established themselves in the Continental Conference, you have Quakertown, you have a number of teams who look a little more balanced than CR North at this point. Until you get somebody else there, it’s tough for anybody to look at them as a serious threat.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Pennsbury fell to La Salle last week, and the Falcons will host Council Rock North. Your thoughts about the Falcons heading into the final week of the preseason.

Kevin Cooney:  “I give Galen Snyder a lot of credit. His non-league schedule has two neighborhood games against teams that are unique. You have the triple wishbone that CR South runs, and they’re improved. You have CR North with Brandon McIlwain that runs a pro style offense, and you have La Salle.

“Pennsbury has seen a wide variety of teams that are going to use different styles, and I don’t think when you get into your league schedule and you get into districts that anything will throw you off. To be honest, I think that’s what a non-league schedule should do. It should give you a sense of focus. It should give you a sense of ‘when we face A, we’ll respond with B.’ There are no surprises when you’re watching that game film in the Pennsbury coaches office.

“Pennsbury went all the way to the state semifinals last year where they faced St. Joe’s Prep, and it was almost like a different world. I think getting a taste of that right now helps them if they get back to that point.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  What are your thoughts about the CR North and Pennsbury game?

Drew Markol:  “You’re talking about two different ends of the spectrum. You have Pennsbury – I think they heard of the forward pass, and then you have Council Rock North, and that’s what they do. They wing it around the field with Brandon McIlwain. North, I think, can score on anybody. Scoring against Pennsbury is not easy, but high school defenses aren’t used to teams that can pass it. High school defenses aren’t used to a kid like McIlwain who can really pass it and can really run it. You don’t see Pennsbury in many shootouts. When they get the ball, it’s three yards, four yards, and then the quarter’s over, and they win 8-6, but they win, and they’ve been doing it a long time that way.

“That’s a good one just to see the contrast between the two ways they approach the game.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Neshaminy will travel to Council Rock South for a non-league game between the neighboring rivals.  Your comments.

Kevin Cooney:  “This is a step up game. Neshaminy faced Montclair and then they had Downingtown West last week. You’ve had these two high end teams to start your season. How do you handle going down to a different style and going against a neighborhood team? That’s not a slap at Rock South, but for a team that is still kind of young with a new head coach, these are the type of games that are a little bit of a trap – the league hasn’t started and all that.

“I think we learn a lot about Neshaminy this week. How do you bounce back from a loss? How do handle a different style? How do you handle that tweener week before you get into your league? I’ve always viewed week three where you generally saw – maybe not the sloppiest football, but you saw teams that were most likely to snooze. You aren’t as intense as you are in week one. There’s not the immediate anger of  ‘this happened in week one’ when you get to week two.

“I don’t want to compare week three to the fourth preseason game in the NFL, but that sharpness, that excitement and mental focus you have on opening night is gone. The league season isn’t here yet, so you’re kind of in this no-man’s land.

“It’s a lull week in a lot of ways. This isn’t the type of a game where Neshaminy can get caught in a lull. I think we’ll learn a lot about them this week.”

Drew Markol:  “You look at Neshaminy/Council Rock South – I’m taking Neshaminy, but it’s similar to the CB East and CB South game. It’s a coin flip you call in the air because Rock South is pretty good. They’ve got that funky offense that people aren’t used to. They gave Pennsbury all they wanted, and they’re on the uptick. Neshaminy had a pretty good fight against Downingtown West, who blew them out last year and Neshaminy almost beats them this year. Neshaminy looks like they’re getting back to where they usually are, so that’s another good one.

“If you had to put gold stars next to games of the week, that would get one too because that could go either way. Again, going with the clichés, but a big turnover here or there, and that’s the team that’s going to win.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  North Penn will travel to Downingtown East to face a squad that is favored to contend for a district title. Your comments about the Knights, who are coming off a win over West Catholic.

Kevin Cooney:  “These type of games help you going down the road. North Penn could be 2-0. They didn’t exactly play all that crisp last week against West Catholic, judging by the reports, so I think it’s important for them to just play well. You’re going on the road – don’t get your doors blown off. Don’t do anything that’s going to sabotage your momentum because this week, in the past, has been the week that separated them whether they were going to be a playoff team or not.

“If you’re North Penn and you lose this week, you have to then beat Neshaminy or Pennsbury. Could it happen? Sure, but you now almost make those games necessities if you’re going to get in because you’re not going to get a lot of power points off of West Catholic because they’re Class AA.

“North Penn has to play well and at least build momentum. If you play well and lose, that’s still building momentum, but I think this is a game – if you’re going to make a deep run in the playoffs, you win this game.”

Drew Markol:  “Downingtown East is a true district title contender, and their tight end and defensive end – Cary Angeline, who’s going to Southern Cal – had five sacks last week when Downingtown East beat a pretty good Roman Catholic team. He also caught six passes for over 100 yards and a touchdown. He’s 6-7 and 260-270. He’s just a monster on both sides of the ball. He’s got great hands. I hate the use the old cliché about a man playing against boys, but that kid is tough.

“North Penn needs the game. You’re 1-1 and go to 1-2 heading into the National Conference – it’s not ideal at all. Hopefully, for North Penn, they got a little confidence beating a West Catholic team that’s pretty good, but I give an edge to Downingtown East.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Central Bucks East defeated Pennridge last week. Your thoughts about that game as well as East’s upcoming game against CB South, which is coming off a loss to CR North.

Drew Markol:  “Pennridge is huge up front, and I really thought that would help them and they would eventually just wear East down, but that didn’t happen. I was at the game. East bent a lot, but they never really broke. They were able to kind of just hang in there, and they did that. They take the game to overtime. Pennridge had the ball first in overtime, and East made a huge stop on a fourth-and-goal from the two-yard line. They get the ball themselves, and their quarterback, Jack Lamb, is a really tough kid. He plays linebacker too, and he drug pretty much the whole Pennridge team down to the five on a play that looked like he had no yardage at all. Then Alex Gibson just goes around the left side and scores, and boom, it’s over. Pennridge is legit, and for East to beat them – we didn’t learn much from the first week with Pennridge beating Hatboro and East beating Cheltenham, but I think we learned in that game that East is an absolute contender come the SOL Continental Conference season.

“(CB South lost to Rock North), but when you’re facing Council Rock North quarterback Brandon McIlwain – they put up points. That kid is going to the University of South Carolina for a reason, and he might be the best offensive player in the state. They score points. The question with South was how was their defense. They looked good against CB West the first week, but against a pretty potent offense, they got gashed for a lot of points. You have to wonder where that puts them. You’re not going to outscore a team like Council Rock North too often, and now against CB East, they’ll have a size advantage up front, but East is riding high. I think that’s one of the best games of the whole weekend. You could flip a coin. I think East wins a close one, but if it goes the other way, I would not be surprised.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Upper Moreland lost standout running back Tyler Whitmore to graduation, but the Golden Bears have been getting big performances from their running backs – Rodney Morgan and Nick DeLucas. Your thoughts about the Golden Bears.

Drew Markol:  “I don’t know – I don’t want to downgrade the running backs because they have had several good ones, but it’s no longer just a coincidence. They must be doing something with their offensive line that’s enabling this because Upper Moreland is not a huge school. It’s not like running backs keep coming up in the perfect order and when one leaves, the next one comes in. Again, taking nothing away from those backs, but I think the line has got to get a little of the credit too because they’re doing something right. The teams they’re playing know what they do, and they’re not stopping them, so that makes it even more impressive.

“Friday’s Conwell Egan game is a good test for both teams. Egan has turned things around, and Upper Moreland is looking at the playoffs. They’re in that conference with Upper Dublin, which is tough, but that’s only one team. They can be an absolute force in the American Conference.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Abington fell to Plymouth Whitemarsh and is 0-2 heading into Friday night’s game against Upper Dublin. Your comments about both of those teams.

Drew Markol: “I’ve been saying it since Upper Dublin lost to Pennsbury in the district semifinal – they’re good. They thumped Truman last week, and Truman is pretty good, but they just smoked them. I’m not sure who’s beating Upper Dublin. Ryan Stover is a very good quarterback and apparently can run. He can hurt you a lot of ways, and they’re big enough on their lines that they can survive. For Abington, boy oh boy, that’s a tough road. You go to 0-3, and then you’re facing the National Conference, that’s a tough go.”

SuburbanOneSports.com: The SOL will be realigning next year and going back to conferences based on geography. Your thoughts about that in reference to football.

Kevin Cooney:  “My column for Friday is that I think the realignment coming up next year is an awful idea. The geographic alignment is a brutal idea because we’re always told that football is a sport where teams with bigger numbers always beat up teams with smaller numbers. We’ve heard about the safety issues, so now we’re going back to a geographic-based alignment that really has no basis in numbers, especially when you get into the Continental and American Conferences.

“In my mind – and this is just me, I don’t think you gain anything financially except saving a little gas money. I don’t think that the caliber of the games is going to help one bit. I think you’ve diminished the caliber of the games. When you take Pennsbury and Neshaminy off of North Penn’s schedule, and with all due respect to Quakertown – you throw Quakertown in who has struggled with numbers issues compared to North Penn, I don’t see where that helps. I just don’t.

“I think they’re trying to make football like every other sport. Every other sport works geographically, but I don’t think it fits the football model. I think you’re trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, and at some point, they have to address the numbers issue, especially if the PIAA splits into 6A, 5A, 4A and all that.

“I don’t know where they’re going, I really don’t. There’s never going to be a perfect world. I get it, but trying to treat football like every sport, it’s not the case. Just set a policy. Stop this – ‘We want to be geographic.’ ‘We want to be enrollment.’ Set a policy, and live with the consequences of setting it, so when the best teams you have aren’t tested until November and you go out early, that’s on you. Some people will say this is fairness, but this is unfairness. This is taking a structure that’s working perfectly fine and has the best chance of evening the field and completely blowing it apart. You’re going back to the same lopsided divisions. I want them to guarantee that they’re not going to – in three years – change it all back.”