Back for its fourth season, the popular Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features high school football beat writers Kevin Cooney and Dan Dunkin. Cooney, the Phillies beat writer, covers schools in the Intelligencer area while Dan Dunkin – who has been covering sports at the high school and professional level for 25 years - 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/
Check out this week’s GameOn by clicking on the following link: http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/videos/hsgameon/
SuburbanOneSports.com: What was the impact of Central Bucks South’s loss to Central Bucks East?
Kevin Cooney: “It’s the same thing we’ve talked about with CB South since Josh Adams got hurt. They’re going to have to adjust everything so radically, but give credit to CB East – CB East has been a tough team. They pushed North Penn in the league opener, they played pretty tough the whole way, and that was kind of a danger game for CB South with West still a couple of weeks ahead and demoralized from losing to Pennridge last week.
“Really, when you look at it, South’s story was pretty much written when Josh Adams went out. You look and you see how they’ve reacted. They haven’t played bad. They just aren’t good enough at this point.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn had a big win over Pennridge. Talk about the impact of that game on Pennridge.
Kevin Cooney: “Pennridge could still see its way through to the playoffs, but let’s be honest, they’ve lost three out of four games. They’re not playing well, and they’ve lost to two of the three teams everybody assumes are ahead of them at this point in the conference. I don’t know how much they have left. That’s a legitimate question right now. They haven’t responded well to the adversity. The CB West loss was shocking, and that was compounded by losing to Souderton. They beat South, but South without Adams is not as glamorous a win as they thought it would be. Now they’re at a point where they lost to North Penn. They played well for a half but kind of fell apart in the second half. They’re just not getting enough at this point. They could backdoor their way in as a 16 seed if they win their last two and get some help, but it would be a real tough slot. It also hurts that two of their four non-league opponents – CR South and Bensalem - are pretty bad when you look at the numbers. Even now Emmaus getting beat last weekend by Whitehall really hurts them. They could use that 10 points. Everything has broken against them the last four weeks, so you see thread lines, and the thread lines for them right now are not good.”
SuburbanOneSports: Talk about the Pennridge-North Penn game from North Penn’s perspective and also your thoughts about the call coach Dick Beck made to go for it on fourth-and-one at the Knights’ 14-yard line.
Kevin Cooney: “Dick Beck has been doing this since he took over in 2002. He’s had a little bit of riverboat gambler in him the whole time. Also, when you do that, it’s a statement of trust in the personnel that you have. I haven’t talked to Dick Beck, but I think he thought it was important to show that trust in this group because over the four weeks they had earned it. Look, North Penn played elimination games – for lack of a better term – for a month and a week now, and that’s huge. If you’re them, you almost have to feel you’re invincible at this point.
“If North Penn wins the next two weeks and gets into districts, they’re going to be that team in the lower half of the bracket – a 10, 11, 12 – that, quite frankly, no one is going to want to play. Let’s say Pennsbury or Neshaminy – whoever loses the final game of the regular season – falls to six or seven. It’s extreme, and I haven’t crunched all the numbers, but it’s possible. If you’re Pennsbury, that gives you two losses, and you have North Penn up first, a division-leading winning seven in a row North Penn, boy that’s going to be a real tough task. Or if you’re Upper Dublin and you’re having this nice undefeated season, and here’s Dick Beck coming down to Fort Washington, I tell you what - that’s a tough draw for whoever is going to get them if they get in.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn travels to Central Bucks West on Friday. Talk about the implications of that game.
Kevin Cooney: “It’s obviously for the league title unless one of them slips up in the final week, but realistically, whoever wins this game is going to be the league champion. We talk a lot about North Penn going into this game, and they’re still on the playoff bubble. West seems like they’re pretty solidified.
“Let’s flip it around for West. Even with all their wins, West has kind of been scoffed at in some circles – let’s see how they handle North Penn. This is a statement game for them. It really is. Brian Hensel has done a great job under different circumstances than have existed at West over the years. West is still a smaller school than North Penn. You have the split that fractured everything in the district, and he’s found a way to keep them above water. Now he has this group that he’s really comfortable with. They respond well in tight situations and have won a lot of close games late. I think anybody expecting North Penn to come to War Memorial on Friday night expecting West to roll over is going to be shocked. I think CB West can give them a really tough game.
“I think the other part of this game that nobody should lose sight of is to see these two names back together at the top of the standings and really for the last time because of realignment, so there is a little sentimental value in this. It’s been 15 seasons since 1999 when it was the ‘Game of the Century,’ and it was Pettine vs. Pettine. There’s something pretty cool about the fact that ‘here we are again.’ Maybe the names aren’t the same, maybe they aren’t the two best teams in the state because the state’s landscape has changed so much, but I find it really cool that we’re at this point where you can start bringing up those memories and talk about that last year of Mike Pettine Sr., again because of what happened and the way that whole thing broke down. It’s going to be sad to see West and North Penn in different conferences next year because of realignment. I think everybody who’s at War Memorial on Friday night should take a quick look around and enjoy this while it’s still there. They could meet obviously in the playoffs, but it won’t be the same.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: What are your thoughts about the CB West/North Penn game?
Kevin Cooney: “I think quarterback John Fitz is the key for CB West. He got dinged up at the end of the game last week. How he responds this week is a big factor. For West, it’s how do you stop Nyfease West. If you’re looking at matchups, it boils pretty simply down to that.
“It all boils down to who can stop the big weapon of the other team. I thought North Penn did a real good job of stopping Mike Class last week except for that one 65-yard touchdown. West did a decent job against Class, and that’s kind of the measurable here.
“The flip side is North Penn did not do well against the passing games of La Salle and St. Joe’s Prep, so how that secondary reacts if West decides to put it up and Fitz decides to throw probably is the difference in the game in my opinion. If they can shut down the passing game, I think North Penn wins it.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about the big games in the American and National Conferences, pitting Abington against Neshaminy and Upper Dublin against Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Kevin Cooney: “The one area working in Abington’s favor is – has Neshaminy started looking ahead to next week when everybody knows the title is on the line. If they are, they’re going to be in for a rude awakening. I think Neshaminy is the best team in the district. I think they’re playing the best. I had someone tweet me the other day and say, ‘Who have they played?’ That’s not the point. Their defense has played really well. They’ve found a way to get the job done. They have enough offensive firepower that I really think it’s going to be tough for Abington without Anthony Lee at quarterback. Without Lee, I just don’t see it. That’s not a knock on Abington, but you take the starting quarterback away from 90 percent of the teams, and they’re going to struggle, especially in that division. At least they have Craig Reynolds back closer to full strength than he was against Pennsbury.
“As far as Upper Dublin and PW, realistically, this is an elimination game for PW. PW gets to three losses, and now you’re talking about being on that bubble. Will they get in, won’t they get in and all that. Upper Dublin’s played really well to this point, but can they put the hammer away on a well-coached PW team. This is the problem with the American Conference now. You have these two, and I don’t think you have anybody else who forces these two to kind of rise to the moment. I think PW wins this just because PW needs it.
“If Upper Dublin wins this, they’re going to be lumped in the conversation with Neshaminy, Pennsbury and even North Penn, and I just don’t think they’re there. I think the proper way to describe the American Conference until proven otherwise – you look at the BCS. You look at the SEC and the Big 12, and then you have a Boise State or a Louisville or a TCU come along, and their fans instantly cry, ‘We can play at this level.’ Could you play in a one-game circumstance in the Big 12 or the SEC? Yes. But could you do what Alabama is doing? Could you do the week-to-week grind of having to go into Baton Rouge or into Columbia and play South Carolina and go to Auburn? I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Until proven otherwise, as someone who doesn’t cover the American Conference much, I kind of have to take that view of it. Until PW or until Upper Dublin – through no fault of their own – because of the competition level they have to face in their league, I really don’t think it’s the same as the other two conferences, and I think it really hurts them when you get into week 11 and week 12. Until proven otherwise, I can’t really put them in the same group fairly enough.
“They have a couple of AAA schools and a AA school, and some of the schools in their conference are down. Norristown isn’t what it used to be. Cheltenham is a .500 team. They’re not going through the meat grinder of a Neshaminy, Pennsbury and Abington, and the National Conference also has CR North, which is a borderline playoff team. You take CR North and put them in the American Conference, and they’re a certain playoff team. You take Pennridge, and they’re a certain playoff team. You look at CB East or Souderton, and they could be playoff teams if they were in the American Conference. It’s comparing two different levels of football, and that’s not a knock against Upper Dublin. Could Upper Dublin go and win two games in districts? Absolutely if they got the right matchups, but the matchups are a key part of this.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: The big game in the National Conference is Neshaminy at Abington. Your comments about that game.
Dan Dunkin: This is your classic trap game because that Pennsbury game is going to be huge.
“Abington has become a bit of a mysterious team lately since Anthony Lee went down for the season. This is not the same Abington team that was impressing people in the first half of the season. However – and this is a big however, Neshaminy has got to pay attention, and they will. That’s how they’re drilled, that’s in their DNA, that’s been this team’s mantra all along – really focusing, so they will not be caught looking ahead.
“I think Abington’s good number of athletes and its quickness will make this more of a test than Neshaminy has had recently. Craig Reynolds makes them dangerous. It’s at Abington, and the crowd is going to be cranked to get Neshaminy, but this Neshaminy team has just continued to impress weekly. They have too much on the line, and they’re just playing well. They’re a hell of a football team, and I don’t see them having a letdown.
“Abington is becoming less of a multi-dimensional team without Anthony Lee, and you can’t beat Neshaminy that way. Neshaminy's defense is outstanding."
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennsbury had a big win over Council Rock North. Your thoughts about those two teams.
Dan Dunkin: “Again, against a very good team, Council Rock North was exposed. As Abington did to them, as Neshaminy did to them, Pennsbury did to them. You can say CR North is the best of the second tier of the SOL National, which is far below the first tier.
"They’re hanging on for a playoff spot, but they have to win out, and I expect they will. Their last two games are not hard, so they should win seven games. Depending on bonus points and all that with the teams around them and the fact that they didn’t play a killer pre-conference schedule, that’s not going to help them now because those teams didn’t win many games, so consequently, they’re not going to get many bonus points for beating them.
“Pennsbury’s defense replaced nine starters off a very good defense, a defense I thought was the best in the entire area heading into the playoffs last year. These young kids have really developed. They had three straight shutouts. They dominated CR North. They are fast, they’re physical. It’s an exciting group to watch. They swarm to the ball. They love to hit. Their defense has come on faster than anyone thought it would this year, and that’s been a huge key in them being an excellent team. They’ve got the running game and the line, and Breon Clark has done a really good job running the offense, but this defense has really taken off since the Easton game. They’re just starting to see how good they can be.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: You’ve said repeatedly over the course of the season that this year proves the need for realignment. Comment on that.
Dan Dunkin: “This year proved it’s time to move on because there’s such a clear drop off. There are cycles in all programs, but the difference is - for the good programs, a down cycle is 5-5.
“Now you have Tennent, Truman, CR South and Bensalem in major rebuilding mode - that’s four teams in one conference. You have Neshaminy, Pennsbury and Abington, who are always real good to pretty good. Some of it is coaching continuity – Mark Schmidt has been at Neshaminy 19 years, Galen Snyder at Pennsbury 11, and Tim Sorber at Abington 14 years. They have built a program. They know what they want, kids do it. It’s a year-round commitment.
“Truman and Tennent are in the early stages of rebuilding, and they will be better off in the smaller conference. Bensalem and CR North are bigger schools, but they really don’t have the numbers. I don’t think there’s enough interest right now to make it work. Football is not important enough, and until they really see the grass roots at the middle schools, it’s not going to happen. You need the middle schools working for you and keeping kids involved and pumped up for the varsity years. I don’t think football is as important as it needs to be at Bensalem and CR North, and that has nothing to do with the coaches. I think it’s a bigger thing than that. You’ve got to get other levels involved. It’s more than just coaching at the varsity level. When these kids hit that age, they have to hit the ground running. You shouldn’t have to teach them that many fundamentals. That’s got to be sold on the lower levels.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Truman shut out William Tennent to win its first SOL game since Oct. 16, 2010
when the Tigers defeated Council Rock North 35-19. Talk about the importance of that win.
Dan Dunkin: “I’m happy for the Truman kids and the coaching staff. They worked really hard to get that conference win. I said they would get three league wins. I was wrong, but they could still finish .500 overall, which is a heck of an achievement for them. They are legitimately moving in the right direction. We’ll see more in the next couple of years because they’re going to be in a student-sized friendlier league, and I think it’s going to help them, but I want to see some tangible results, some more wins.
“Intangibly, you do measure the progress of a program like that not so much in wins but in effort and kids improving and segments of games and things they did well. Now they took the next step and won and will try to finish .500. Next year, they’ll try to build some tangible results.
“It’s been a long road for them. That’s been a tough culture to change, and those coaches have worked really hard to just build the fundamentals there, to just get kids out and keep them out. It takes all that before you can start winning games, and they literally started from the bottom. It’s a very nice developing story.”
Suburban One Sports: The game that all fans of the SOL American Conference have been waiting for is this Friday night is at 7 pm when Plymouth Whitemarsh hosts Upper Dublin. What are your thoughts on this game?
Scott Huff: “The thing that strikes me right away is how much alike these two teams offensively. Both PW and UD feature a pair of terrific running backs and a quarterback that is showcased as a runner as well as a passer. Both the Colonials and the Cardinals are teams that would love to control the game with a ball control offense.
“Plymouth Whitemarsh quarterback Connor Hanlon has become one of the best dual-threat players in the area. Hanlon has passed for 838 yards and 9 touchdowns and has rushed for 455 yards and 7 touchdowns. And the Colonial running backs have been outstanding as well. Jose Mora-Vega has rushed for 802 yards and 9 touchdowns, while Brian Afflick has rushed for 736 yards and 8 touchdowns. James Rodgers has been the # 1 target for Hanlon with 31 receptions and 5 touchdowns.
“Upper Dublin quarterback John Derr is another one of those dual-threat players, though, he is a more run-first quarterback. Derr has passed for 597 yards and a touchdown and has rushed for 526 yards and 7 touchdowns. The TD makers for the Cardinals, however, are the explosive backfield of Kyleif Lee and John Lee (no relation). K. Lee has garnered 550 yards rushing this year with 14 touchdowns, while J. Lee has added 468 yards and 10 touchdowns. Ryan Siwinski has caught a team-high 26 passes for Upper Dublin this season.
“The margin of victory for both Plymouth Whitemarsh and Upper Dublin has been high this season with PW scoring 43.0 points per game in conference and UD scoring 42.2 points per game in conference. And the ‘stats’ on defense are tough to evaluate with those large margins of victory. For the record – PW has allowed 25.4 points per game in the conference, while UD has allowed just 14.4 points per game in conference.
“Although both PW and UD are unbeaten in SOL American Conference play, the difference in record comes with the non-conference record. The Colonials (6-2, 5-0) were 1-2 in the non-conference schedule, while the Cardinals (8-0, 5-0) were 3-0.
“Both, however, had signature victories in the non-conference schedule. Plymouth Whitemarsh, after losses to both Perkiomen Valley (33-0 score) and Abington (34-12), captured a huge victory over highly touted Downingtown West (36-34). Upper Dublin opened the season with its signature win with a 45-17 rout of now highly ranked Central Bucks West. The Cardinals also claimed non-conference wins over Truman (21-7) and Lincoln (31-0).
“There might be a few slight factors that favor PW. The Colonials are the two-time defending SOL American Conference champions; the Colonials have a size advantage over the Cardinals; PW has more varsity experience on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball; and the game is being played at Plymouth Whitemarsh.
“And those factors will sway my prediction in what should be both an electrifying and competitive game – Plymouth Whitemarsh 35 – Upper Dublin 31.”
Suburban One Sports: Cheltenham rallied back to defeat Upper Moreland last week. What’s up with those Panthers?
Scott Huff: “Cheltenham has one of the most explosive offenses in the conference this season and the Panthers needed that firepower to rally and defeat Upper Moreland last week.
Upper Moreland jumped out to an early 21-7 lead and led Cheltenham 28-21 by the close of the half. The second half was all Cheltenham, however, as the Panthers roared for 21 unanswered points and a 42-28 victory.
“Once again, quarterback Mark Heimann stole the offensive spotlight for the Blue & Gold with a four-touchdown performance. Heimann – who scored 5 touchdowns in a 44-34 loss to Wissahickon last week – threw for a pair of touchdowns and rushed for a pair of touchdowns in the win over Upper Moreland.
“Next on the schedule for Cheltenham (3-5, 2-3) will be an away game against Upper Merion (3-5, 1-4). Both teams have been able to put some big numbers up offensively – but both teams have struggled on the defensive side of the ball.”
Prediction: Cheltenham 42 – Upper Merion 24.
Suburban One Sports: What are your thoughts on the ‘other’ SOL American Conference games this week?
Scott Huff: “Springfield (4-3, 2-3) plays at Upper Moreland (3-5, 2-3) in a game that means little in deciding who will become the 2013 SOL American Conference champion, but has huge implications as to where and if the Class AA Spartans and the Class AAA Golden Bears move on to the postseason (see below). Both are coming off tough losses – Springfield lost 34-7 to Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland lost 42-28 against Cheltenham – and both desperately want to put this game in the win column.
“Prediction: Upper Moreland 28 – Springfield 21.
“Wissahickon (4-4, 3-2) has a firm hold on third place in the conference and will travel to winless Norristown (0-8, 0-5) Saturday afternoon. The Trojans should have little trouble securing that third spot in the conference standings behind both Upper Dublin and Plymouth Whitemarsh against the struggling Eagles.
“Prediction: Wissahickon 42 – Norristown 20.
Suburban One Sports: The SOL American Conference has teams that compete in Quad-A, Class AAA, and Class AA. Which teams have a shot at the postseason?
Scott Huff: “In Quad-A there are 16 teams that qualify for the District One Playoffs, and right now Upper Dublin and Plymouth Whitemarsh are in that field. Upper Dublin (8-0 overall record, 1020 points) is tied for fifth place with Neshaminy, while PW (6-2, 690) is tied for 12th place with Penncrest. In Class AAA there are 8 teams that compete for a district title and both Upper Moreland and Upper Merion are just on the outside looking in. Upper Moreland (3-5, 640) is in ninth place, while Upper Merion (3-5, 620) is in tenth place. In Class AA District one and District 12 combine for its field and Springfield (4-3, 720) is currently in fourth place.”
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