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. To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the web site http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/
SuburbanOneSports.com: Council Rock South will play Pennsbury in the season opener for both teams. Your thoughts about that former conference rivalry.
Dan Dunkin: “I give Vince (Bedesem) credit for playing both Neshaminy and Pennsbury in the first year of the realignment. I really respect that. I think South is on the way back internally, not on the scoreboard yet and certainly not in this game, but they’re rebuilding from within. They’re a very, very young team with only nine seniors this year, but after two consecutive two-win seasons after going to the district final game in 2011, Vince refocused the staff and everyone else. They have a good group of young players. I just think they’re recommitted. I think the league realignment will help them, but I think this game is not going to be pretty. Pennsbury is as good a team as I’ve seen on paper in the district this year. They’ve got a chance to win the district championship. They’re very powerful, and this will not be close.
“Breon Clark is a big loss, and that’s my one big question mark about Pennsbury – the quarterback position. There are two or three guys that are good athletes that are going to man this position early on. Clark was a two-year starter that really, really knew how to run that offense and was a dual threat with a really good arm. I think that was going to separate Pennsbury if they figured out ways to use him in the passing game.
“Charles Snorweah is one of the top four or five running backs in the state. He’s going to Rutgers. The kid is a complete running back and has been since his freshman year when he was primarily a blocker. He’s got pure sprinter’s speed, great attitude, great kid. He runs tough inside – if he hits the crease, forget about it. You’re not going to catch him. He’s truly one of the best all-around backs in Pennsbury history.
“Defensively for Pennsbury, Victor Delgado is a kid that stands out. Their defense is going to be lights-out again – really fast and physical. He embodies that. He’s not a big kid, he’s about 5-9, 175. He can really move, he’s got a great motor. Sideline to sideline as a linebacker, he really embodies what Pennsbury wants to do defensively – and that’s get to the ball, pursue, pursue, pursue and make it pay. He’s a kid that since he was called upon has really been a bright lights performer for them.”
SuburbanOneSports: Your thoughts about Neshaminy heading into the season under a new coach.
Dan Dunkin: “Neshaminy is going to be a huge curiosity. It’s their first year in 20 years without Mark Schmidt as their head coach, the first year of the realignment. Now they’ve got North Penn along with Pennsbury (in their conference). They’ve got Souderton, who they’ve played in their preseason schedule numerous times, Pennridge and CB South. They’ve got fewer numbers this year on their roster. They lost a ton of great seniors who really led them to the final four of the state last year. They have one of the three or four best running backs in the state in D’Andre Pollard, and they have a head coach (Mike Frederick) with no experience.
“He was a great player with a great pedigree all the way into the NFL, but I seriously question this decision of hiring this guy when you’ve had one of the most successful programs historically and certainly in the last two decades. You have qualified coaches with experience – why do you hire someone with no experience? I don’t get it. I think the administration wanted to make a splash because he’s a former Neshaminy Redskin, a great one, but I’m going to be real curious how that works out.
“On the flip side, their entire coaching staff was retained, so I don’t see a big philosophical departure in his first season, but they’re going to be a big curiosity.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Talk about some of the other teams in your coverage area, starting with Council Rock North.
Dan Dunkin: “To their credit, I think they almost overachieved last year to get into the playoffs. They really did give the number one seed, Garnet Valley, a run deep into the fourth quarter. I don’t know what they’re going to be this year though. We all know their quarterback – Brandon McIlwain – is going to be terrific. He’s being recruited by a lot of Division One schools. He’s got some new skill people to throw to, but they are not a big team. He’s a very tough kid and a terrific athlete, but this kid runs the ball a lot. He scrambles a lot, and keeping him healthy is of utmost importance.
“They – like Council Rock South – are going to be helped by stepping down into a mid-level enrollment conference in the Continental. I think Council Rock South this year has a chance to get back up to pace with Council Rock North. I think they could be just as good. I think these both could be teams that are pretty even in that league, not having to play an Abington and some of the others in a bigger conference.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Truman also will be moving to the Continental Conference, and you’re picking them to be better than either of the Council Rock schools. Talk about that.
Dan Dunkin: “Truman has been a comeback story the last couple of years. Last year they finally got to 6-6, their first .500 season in 12 years. They haven’t ever been in the playoffs. I was just out there the other day, and there’s really been an interesting transformation happening internally. You see it in the numbers. They have over 80 kids on their roster. That’s almost three times what they had four years ago when they were on the verge of disbanding the program.
“Ed Cubbage left after four years to find a fulltime teaching job, but his staff is there, and he and his staff did a great job of building a foundation for just the fundamentals – showing up, accountability, offseason work ethic in the weight room, and kids started buying in. They brought pride into the program. Kids want to play football at Truman, and let me tell you – there are a lot of great athletes. It was just a matter of them seeing a staff that cared about them, that was going to stick with it, and now you’re starting to see that they’re for real on the scoreboard.
“Now they’re in a seemingly easier – not an easy conference – but certainly an easier one for them enrollment-wise. They don’t have to play Pennsbury, Neshaminy and Abington. They’ve got a lot of speed, and their defense is going to punch you in the mouth. They’re fast and they’re physical. They’re going to be in a lot of games. I could see this team being in the hunt for a playoff berth for the first time in school history, and I think they’re going to be better than either of the Council Rocks this year."
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks South and Central Bucks West are meeting in Friday’s season opener, a rivalry game that usually happens in the middle of the season but is now a non-league game because of the league realignment. Your thoughts on the impact of the realigned conferences and that game.
Drew Markol: “A lot of the teams – since they realigned – have not been able to schedule games, like North Penn and Neshaminy. North Penn is playing La Salle this week, and they really don’t want to play that game, and Neshaminy is playing a powerhouse from New Jersey in Gonzaga. I’m sure they don’t want to play that game, but the problem the SOL coaches in the National Conference ran into is that they couldn’t get teams to play them. With the Continental Conference, I think those coaches now see an opportunity to get a district playoff spot – something they maybe couldn’t have gotten the way the old conferences were aligned, and they’ll do whatever it takes, which means perhaps not playing certain teams in order to have a better chance to do that.
“That’s why I give CB South and CB West credit for playing. It’s a rivalry game that should be played, and they’re doing it. If you’re the CB South folks, you say, ‘All right, West should do pretty well in the Continental,’ and if you’re West, you’ll say, ‘South will probably do pretty well in the National, so win or lose, we’ll get a pretty good amount of district power points regardless of the outcome.’ They’re two Quad A programs playing each other. I think it just makes a lot of sense, and sense is something that sometimes we do not have enough of. I just think it’s not right that these teams won’t play these schools – again, it’s the conference championship be damned. The end-all, be-all is getting in the district playoffs - we could lose in the first round of the district playoffs, but at least we can we got in. I don’t think it’s enough, but I guess other people feel differently.
“CB South doesn’t want to say it, but Josh Adams will be an enormous part of their offense. He’s a once in a decade or two decade type player. I was talking to him last week, and he looks tremendous. You look at him compared to the other kids on the team, and nothing against them, but he just plays a different game than they do. He’s one of the biggest kids on the field (6-2, 210), and he’s the fastest kid on the field and the most talented, so that’s a pretty good combination. They’ll try and do other stuff to keep the heat off of him because if it’s just him, the better teams will stop him. They’ll throw it a little bit and try and use other kids, but he’s obviously the go-to guys.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn is facing La Salle in a battle of two teams picked in the top 10 of the state in most preseason rankings. Comment on that game.
Drew Markol: “These kids have long memories. La Salle beat North Penn 34-7 last year. That takes a while to go away, but what you have with North Penn is four fifths of your offensive line back and the ability to do what North Penn does, which is keep the ball and go on long drives. That’s what they need to do. La Salle, with the quarterback (Kyle Shurmur) going to Vanderbilt, will throw it all around. You want to try to keep him off the field.
“Again, it’s the same situation as with South playing West. If you’re North Penn and you lose, La Salle is going to have an awful lot of wins, and if you’re La Salle and you lose, North Penn is going to have an awful lot of wins.
“The Knights’ quarterback situation is still up in the air, and North Penn has never really had a standout at that spot for as long as you can remember. Nyfease West, the running back who emerged last year, with an experienced offensive line to run behind - he’s going to be the key. He’s going to be the guy. He can provide what a lot of kids can’t, which is a touchdown on any play.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Souderton is traveling to Plymouth Whitemarsh on Friday night. How important is that game to Souderton after a 2-8 season last year?
Drew Markol: “What you hear in the rumors and the murmurings is that Souderton is a year away. If that’s the case, then absolutely you gain confidence wherever you can. If you can beat PW – PW is traditionally a very, very good team that’s going to do well in its conference, and if you’re Souderton, it’s big. Nothing helps a kid more than winning. It cures a lot of ills and makes the whole week of practice next week a whole lot easier because everything they’ve been yelling at you since August 11 – if you can get a win, 1-0 is a really good thing for a high school football team, and 0-1 is just the opposite.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennridge will be travelling to Hatboro-Horsham for its opener. Your comments on that game.
Drew Markol: “You look at Pennridge, and everybody says, ‘Mike Class is gone. How are they going to respond to that.’ They had that opener last year against Emmaus and their former coach, Randy Cuthbert, and they had a wild win, which was big for them.
“Then you have Hatboro that was steadily improving with the new coach, Mike Kapusta, last year, and you just have a sense that Kapusta is going to keep turning that team around.
“That’s a very good first week game. Those are the games you like to see. I just think Hatboro is moving in the right direction, and for Pennridge, it might be a step back as they rebuild a little bit.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Abington is playing Northeast on Friday. How do you see the Ghosts faring this season?
Drew Markol: “Tim Sorber knows what he’s doing. They’re a perennial district playoff team regardless of the conference they’ve been in. I think they will be right in the thick of things again.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: William Tennent has moved to the Continental Conference. Talk about the impact of that move.
Drew Markol: “Tennent for years would just struggle and struggle in the old conference. Now they have a chance. They’re playing schools that are closer enrollment-wise to them and games they have a chance to win. I don’t want to say it was an excuse for them to say, ‘Oh, we have to go play Pennsbury and Neshaminy, and they had so much larger enrollments,’ but now that is gone. Now you have your opportunity. Now you have to show it because you can’t say, ‘Oh, they have six million more boys than we do.’ That’s no longer the case.
“This is Bob Rosenberger’s second year. He’s been able to institute his weight lifting and everything. Now it’s time to step up and say, ‘We’re legit.’”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about Central Bucks East and Quakertown entering the season.
Drew Markol: “CB East is always kind of an enigma. You always expect them to be perhaps a little better than they turn out to be. Hopefully, for their sake, this year they’ll put it together a little bit more. John Donnelly, their coach, knows what he’s doing. They just need to produce on the field. Am I thinking they’ll be better than last year? Yes. That being said, they’re one of those teams that has to go out and prove it before anyone will believe it. They’re not established, so they need to establish something first.
“I heard good things about Quakertown. They’re no longer playing conference games against North Penn and Souderton. I’m a big fan of conferences based on enrollment. I know lots of people don’t like it. They say you do away with longtime rivals, but you can play longtime rivals at other points. It’s about fairness. You have the injury risk of a Quakertown playing a North Penn.
“George Banas, the Quakertown coach, is a Quakertown guy, a Quakertown grad, and he bleeds blue. From what I’ve heard – and it’s all rumors until Friday, they’re awfully tough on defense and could make some noise in the Continental Conference.”
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