Pennridge is featured in this week’s SOL Notebook. The Rams will travel to Quakertown for a Thanksgiving Day game while Upper Moreland will be at Hatboro-Horsham.
Stats used in the wraps are provided courtesy of Calkins Media. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web sites: http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school/fall/football/ and http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/fall/football/
The 2016 season opened on a decidedly high note for Pennridge.
Jagger Hartshorn made sure of that, rushing for 208 yards and five touchdowns in a memorable debut at quarterback in the Rams 49-20 rout of Norristown. It turned out to be a preview of things to come for the senior transfer, who ran for 1,131 yards and 15 touchdowns while throwing for 863 yards and seven TDs.
“Jagger has certainly been key in terms of our successes,” coach Jeff Hollenbach said. “He’s had an incredible year.
“He’s averaging 7.5 yards a carry as quarterback, and there are very few quarterbacks who can put up those numbers. He’s done extremely well running the team and also running the ball.”
Although Hartshorn excelled at quarterback, things got a whole lot tougher for the senior quarterback and his teammates after their romp over Norristown. The Rams finished the regular season with a 5-5 record, earning the 15th seed in the District One 6A Tournament, and Hollenbach readily admitted that things didn’t exactly go as planned on the offensive side of the football.
“I had two senior running backs that I kind of thought would be the guys, and that didn’t pan out,” the Rams’ coach said. “That was really a huge part of us not being as effective as I thought we would be.
“Both of those running backs I thought would be close to dominating games, and unfortunately, that didn’t happen for various reasons.”
On the defensive side of the football, there were some issues as well.
“We just gave up too many big plays,” Hollenbach said. “That hurt us in certain situations, especially teams throwing against us.
“Our run defense is very good, but our pass defense broke down at certain points.”
Although the Rams had some chinks in their armor, the biggest contributing factor to the 5-5 record was their schedule. Their five losses came at the hands of teams with a combined 46-4 regular season record in North Penn, Neshaminy, Perkiomen Valley, Central Bucks South and Central Bucks East.
“When you add that all up, we played some really good teams,” Hollenbach said. “I don’t know if anybody has ever played the top three teams in the district in one season, and that’s what we did. I knew going in it would be a tough schedule.”
Things got even tougher when - on the day of the Rams’ regular season finale at Central Bucks East - they found out that former teammate Iziah Lewis had been murdered the preceding night. They fell to the Patriots 35-0.
“I thought we were going to be okay,” Hollenbach said. “We actually started the game okay, but as soon as there was some pressure and things didn’t quite go our way, the resiliency to bounce back really wasn’t there.
“I knew the team had it in other situations, but we just didn’t have it that day. That was certainly part of the East loss. In other games, these kids played with a lot of confidence, felt like they could play with anybody. I don’t think they ever lacked (confidence) or ever wondered whether they belonged with anybody.”
Waiting for the Rams in the opening round of districts was a Neshaminy squad that had defeated Pennridge by a touchdown in the third game of the regular season (31-24). The Rams raced to a 21-7 lead and still led in the fourth quarter when the Redskins staged a late rally to eke out a 26-21 win.
In the loss to the Redskins, Hollenbach inserted junior Oliver Jervis into the lineup at quarterback and used Hartshorn as a slot receiver and running back.
“I really felt towards the end of the year people were very focused on Jagger, and because he was the quarterback, everybody knows where he is,” the Rams’ coach said. “I saw certain defenses that I want to call a surround defense. You had seven or eight people around the box just being ready for what he was going to do, and I thought, ‘We really need to do something different.’”
The strategy looked as though it was going to yield a win, but the Rams couldn’t hold onto a late lead.
“Not winning that Neshaminy game when we felt like we had it was frustrating, but at the same time, it’s a confidence booster that, hopefully, we can turn that energy into the Quakertown game,” Hollenbach said. “It’s great for us to have that game because most of these playoff teams are finishing with a loss. To have another game is great to look forward to.”
Heroes and unsung heroes – While there’s no mistaking that Hartshorn played a starring role for the Rams this season, the senior quarterback wasn’t the only player to make important contributions.
Senior Jackson Henry was penciled in to play fullback and linebacker this season. Instead, he found himself at offensive tackle.
“We had definite needs on the offensive line, and the week of our first game we realized we needed to make a change,” Hollenbach said. “I said, ‘We’ll have to change your number, but what do you think about playing tackle?’
“He said, ‘Whatever you want, coach, I’ll do it,’ so he fit right into that left tackle position. He played the whole year at left tackle, had a great year and had never played offensive line before, so I was thoroughly impressed with what he did. He was a two-way starter, and he just played incredibly well.”
Tom Koch – at 5-8, 225 – also was a fixture on the offensive line at guard and earned first team all-league honors.
“Tommy is just a warrior for us,” Hollenbach said. “He’s undersized for some of our opponents, but he just is an outstanding technician.
“He understands the game. He could pick up blitzes and just did a great job on the ‘O’ line, and he played well on the defensive line too.”
Hollenbach pointed to seniors Anthony Kelly and Ryan Cuthbert as key players on both sides of the ball.
“Anthony played wide receiver and corner for us and just had a terrific year,” the Rams’ coach said. “He did a lot of great things in his coverages and also catching the ball and doing what he had to do on offense. I was really pleased with what he did.
“Ryan Cuthbert was on the other side, and Ryan and Anthony were just great bookends for us in a sense. They played wideout for us in our spread sets and both were corners, although Ryan played some safety too. They both played extremely well.”
At linebacker, the Rams boasted a pair of bona fide stars in senior Joe Robinson and junior Nick Tarburton, both first team all-league selections.
“Our inside linebackers were just unbelievably good,” Hollenbach said. “I’ve never been with a team that had two awesome linebackers like this.
“They are just outstanding players, and Joe and Nick both did some good things for us on offense too. What I was doing with them was kind of spelling them series-wise. One series Joe would play offense and one series Nick would play offense. They just did an unbelievably great job on defense, and they really played well on offense too.”
Senior Alex Schmidt - who rebounded from a health scare in the spring to receive clearance to play – is the anchor of the Rams’ defensive line. The three-year varsity veteran earned first team all-league honors at defensive end.
“It was just awesome to have him cleared,” Hollenbach said. “Alex has a defensive mindset, plays with a lot of energy and worked extremely hard in the offseason to prepare for this year. He was an all-league defensive end from last year, and it's great to have him back."
Thanksgiving Day games – Four SOL teams will be playing on Thanksgiving Day. While Pennridge will travel to Quakertown for the annual showdown, Upper Moreland will be on the road at Hatboro-Horsham in a renewal of the longstanding rivalry. It is the first time the neighboring schools are playing on Thanksgiving Day since 2013. Last year, the Golden Bears advanced to the District One AAA title game, forcing the cancellation of the contest, and in 2014, the game was moved to the Friday after Thanksgiving due to inclement weather.
Pennridge at Quakertown (Thursday, 10:15 a.m.)
Pennridge
- 5-6 overall
- 3-3 SOL Continental Conference fourth place
- All six Pennridge losses came at the hands of District One 6A playoff teams
- Closed out regular season with three straight losses.
- Led offensively by Jagger Hartshorn (49-of-125, 893 yds., 7 TDs, 151 carries for 1,131 yds., 15 TDs), Anthony Kelly (325 receiving yds.), Josh Pinkney (62 carries for 300 yds.) and Ryan Cuthbert (240 receiving yds., 3 TDs)
- Last win over Quakertown was in 2013 (27-7)
Quakertown
- 6-5 overall
- 5-2 SOL American Conference third place tie
- Closed season with five straight wins after a 1-5 start
- Three-game winning streak over Pennridge that includes a 28-21 win in 2015 and a pair of wins in 2013 – 14-10 in the final regular season game and 8-7 on Thanksgiving Day.
- Led offensively by Noah Wood (122 carries for 885 yds., 11 TDs), Christian Patrick (109 carries for 544 yds., 9 TDs), Austin Clarke (72-of-132, 878 yds., 5 TDs) and Tim Shevlin (35 receptions for 570 yds., 3 TDs)
Upper Moreland at Hatboro-Horsham (Thursday, 10 a.m.)
Hatboro-Horsham
- 5-5 overall
- 5-2 SOL American Conference third place
- Rebounded from 0-3 start to close out year with five wins in seven games.
- Defeated Upper Moreland 35-14 on Sept. 23
- Led offensively by quarterback Chris Edwards (73-of-142, 1,133 yds., 11 TDs, 106 carries for 423 yds., 6 TDs), Calvin Broaddus (30 receptions for 413 yds., 1 TD), Brandon Brandt-Crews (16 receptions for 323 yds., 6 TDs), Anthony Kwiatanowski (77 carries for 397 yds., 6 TDs) and Adam Suder (63 carries for 369 yds., 2 TDs)
Upper Moreland
- 5-6 overall
- 3-4 SOL American Conference fifth place
- Lost three of last four games
- Led offensively by running back Sterlen Barr (161 carries for 830 yds., 7 TDs), quarterback Casey Decker (70-of-183, 661 yds., 3 TDs, 74 carries for 210 yds., 7 TDs) and Cole Kitchen (20 receptions for 205 yds., 1 TD).
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