Check out the results for SOL football teams in action on Friday night. To view photos of the Quakertown/Upper Moreland game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
(Information in the wraps below is provided courtesy of Calkins Media.)
QUAKERTOWN 31, UPPER MORELAND 14
Matt Stoneback’s face lit up when asked what it felt like to open the season 2-0 after Friday night’s convincing win over a Golden Bear squad that had shut out the Panthers a year earlier.
“It’s great because last year we only had one win, and this gives us a lot of confidence to keep pushing and keep winning,” the Panthers’ senior running back said.
It was Stoneback’s 11-yard touchdown run in the closing seconds that put the finishing touches on the Panthers’ win. On the heels of his four-touchdown, 105-yard rushing performance against Upper Perk one week earlier, Stoneback bulled his way for 60 tough yards and two touchdowns on Friday.
“I have to give credit to our quarterback (Alec Vera), and our fullback Micah Ruch did a great job blocking,” Stoneback said. “Our receivers catching the ball today – Pat SanAngelo and all of them, and the linemen just did a great job up front blocking.
The Panthers certainly had opportunities to be disheartened on Friday night. Exactly 18 seconds after the Panthers took a 7-0 lead, thanks to Vera’s 10-yard TD toss to SanAngelo, Upper Moreland’s Tyler Whitmore raced 61 yards for the score, and just like that, the two teams were deadlocked 7-7 with 1:10 remaining in the first quarter.
“We just said, ‘We have to keep pushing. We want this win more than them. Everyone has to go out there and do better than we did the last time,’” Stoneback said. “We had to keep pushing to get the win.”
The Panthers took a 10-7 lead into halftime, thanks to a 35-yard Nick Soriano field goal late in the second quarter. The field goal was set up by a nifty 29-yard punt return by sophomore Rob Burns that gave the Panthers the ball on the Golden Bears’ 34-yard line.
“He’s a sophomore, and when he gives us returns like that, it’s great,” Stoneback said of Burns. “It shortens the field and gets everyone fired up, and then we just push it in.”
The Panthers went on top 17-10 at the 6:30 mark of the third quarter after Stoneback punched it in from a yard out. Again, the Golden Bears had an answer, and again, it was Whitmore delivering, this time a highlight reel 68-yard touchdown run down the right sideline. It began with the speedy running back reversing fields after slipping out of the grasp of a would-be Panther tackler in the backfield and included more than a few dazzling moves before streaking into the end zone for a TD that made it a 17-14 game with 6:03 remaining in the third.
“He’s just a phenomenal player,” Quakertown coach George Banas said of Whitmore. “We had him bottled up. We should have never let him get those two big plays.
“It’s great for the fans, but fundamentally, we didn’t keep contain and we missed two tackles, so that’s what we need to work on.”
The Panthers went on top 24-14 after Vera scored on a tough nine-yard run at the 3:03 mark in the third. Their final TD of the night came in the final seconds of the game after Ryan Heegard intercepted a Charlie Hooker pass and took it to the Golden Bears’ 11-yard line. Stoneback did the rest, and another win was in the books for the Panthers.
“We were still questioning ourselves after last week,” Banas said of his team’s 27-6 win over Upper Perkiomen. “We still didn’t know what we had.
“I thought we showed a lot of heart in the second half and played four quarters of football. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”
While the Panthers upped their record to 2-0, the Golden Bears are 1-1.
Quakertown 7-3-14-7 31
Upper Moreland 7-0-7-0 14
HATBORO-HORSHAM 29, POTTSTOWN 13
The Hatters found themselves staring at a 13-0 hole early in the second quarter, but by halftime they had trimmed that lead to 13-9. They went on to outscore the Trojans 21-0 in the second half as they reeled off 29 unanswered points to close out the game and earn their second win in as many games.
The Hatters got on the scoreboard with a safety after a bad Pottstown snap and never looked back. Jeff Panera scored his first of three touchdowns on the night, punching it in from five yards out after Max Tuerke returned the ensuing free kick to the Pottstown five-yard line.
A 44-yard run by Zach Tuerke set up a two-yard Panera touchdown run that gave the Hatters a lead they would not lose (16-13).
Hatboro-Horsham 0-9-7-14 29
Pottstown 0-13-0-0 13
PENNRIDGE 37, BENSALEM 6
For those who thought Pennridge might be little more than the Mike Class show this season, guess again.
Class had 66 yards and a touchdown in the Rams’ lopsided win, but he was one of many Rams to contribute. Quarterback Matt Pasquale worked his magic on the ground and in the air, accumulating 93 yards rushing with one touchdown while completing 9-of-11 passes for 98 more yards. Micah Stutzman was Pasquale’s favorite target, hauling in five passes for 47 yards. Imeir Simmons also had a big night for the Rams, rushing for 76 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Rams led 8-0 at the end of one quarter and opened up a 23-0 lead before the Owls got on the scoreboard to make it a 23-6 game at halftime. A 14-point third quarter put an exclamation point on the win.
While the Owls fell to 0-2, the Rams are 2-0.
Pennridge 8-15-14-0 37
Bensalem 0-6-0-0 6
COATESVILLE 46, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 13
The Raiders looked every bit the part of the defending District One AAAA champions in Friday’s rout of the Titans, sprinting to a 27-0 halftime lead en route to the lopsided win. All told, Coatesville amassed more than 500 yards of total offense with more than 400 of those yards provided by the Raiders’ punishing ground game.
Josh Adams – who had rushed for 266 yards a week earlier in his team’s win over Council Rock South – was held to negative yardage on the ground as was the entire Titans’ team. A bright spot in the loss was the 224-yard passing performance of Matt Radwanski, who threw for one TD.
The Titans fall to 1-1 on the season.
Central Bucks South 0-0-13-0 13
Coatesville 14-13-6-13 46
NESHAMINY 39, DOWNINGTOWN WEST 0
(Check for a complete game story on SuburbanOneSports.com)
Neshaminy owned this game from start to finish, allowing the Whippets just 130 yards of total offense while the Redskins amassed 344 yards. D’Andre Pollard led the ‘Skins on the ground with 138 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Tyler Wombough completed 7-of-9 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Neshaminy is 2-0 on the young season.
Downingtown West 0-0-0-0 0
Neshaminy 7-7-19-6 39
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 19, WILLIAM TENNENT 12
(Check for a complete game story on SuburbanOneSports.com)
Marvin Todd turned in a monster performance for the Bucks, rushing for 210 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Tennent was led by sophomore Christian Mendez, who accumulated 90 yards and one TD on just four carries.
The Bucks evened their record at 1-1 while the Panthers fell to 0-2.
William Tennent 6-0-6-0 12
Central Bucks West 12-0-7-0 19
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 49, NORTH PENN 3
The Knights opened their season 0-2 for the first time since 2006. Wood accumulated more than 400 yards of total offense while the Knights managed just 110 yards. The Knights will face another formidable opponent in St. Joe's Prep next week.
UPPER MERION 34, OCTORARA 14
ARCHBISHOP RYAN 42, WISSAHICKON 7
- Log in to post comments
