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Back for a second season is the Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football,’ featuring high school football beat writers Kevin Cooney and Dan Dunkin. Cooney, who has been named the Phillies beat writer, will continue to cover schools in the Intelligencer area while Dan Dunkin – who has been covering sports at the high school and professional level for 25 years - will cover 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: A lot of people picked Council Rock South to defeat Pennsbury. Share your thoughts about Pennsbury’s win in that key SOL National Conference game.
Dan Dunkin: I would call that an upset based on South beating them handily and shutting them out last year. Galen Snyder himself said after the game on Saturday, ‘They kicked our butts last year.’ It was quite a reversal and really symbolic of Pennsbury’s progress. They’ve really come on like wildfire defensively this entire season, and they’re a force to be reckoned with. That was an old-fashioned slam-bang game of two similar offensive philosophies of run the ball 90 percent of the time. It rained, and it was who was going to be the most physical and execute the best defensively, and Pennsbury did it.
I thought South might win a tight game, but that’s how much Pennsbury’s defense has improved in concert with their deep running game, led by Daquan Mack who’s an excellent power runner. He had 25 carries for 100 yards and moved the chains, and in that kind of game of possession time and field position, that was critical. I give Pennsbury’s staff and kids a lot of credit. South is still clearly a very fine team, and that game could have gone either way, but I think Pennsbury served notice that they are back now.
Tommy Hose is an excellent junior linebacker, and he’s really the leader of that defense. He’s a tremendous sideline-to-sideline pursuit guy and is great at jumping in the gaps and stopping the run. Ethan Paraboschi made some big plays in the secondary. Front to back, Pennsbury has a very solid defense. Zach Ganie is another linebacker who’s a force. This defense likes to hit, and they’re very physical, and they’re athletic. They’re not that big, but they certainly compensate for it. These kids have gotten better every game. Even in their opener when they got shut out by Easton, it was not the defense’s fault. The offense turned the ball over and gave Easton short fields. They’ve held every team below 20 points since the opener, and they’re a factor.
SuburbanOneSports: Based on that game, what are your thoughts about CR South?
Dan Dunkin: South has been slowed down two of the last three weeks by Pennridge and now by Pennsbury. They’ve had decent rushing numbers of over 200 yards, but they’re not scoring like they were in the first couple of games. I find that significant. I think the one common denominator you find in those games is Brian Donnelly - who’s the area’s leading rusher with nearly 600 yards and is averaging around 10 yards a carry - hasn't run the ball as much. They’re taking the ball out of his hands. He’s been forced to pitch the ball more rather than keep it. They do have very good running backs and a good offensive line, but by keying on Donnelly, it has enabled Pennridge and Pennsbury to keep them out of the end zone, to keep them from getting inside the 20-yard line. I think Vince Bedesem and his staff – they’re already making adjustments. They’re a terrific coaching staff, but they’re going to have to find ways to maybe get a little more out of their passing game and more out of some of their options out of that triple option, especially when they’re playing Abington and Neshaminy.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Council Rock North was shut out by Abington. Your comments about that game.
Dan Dunkin: CR North’s defense has improved a lot, but it’s kind of been off the radar. This team, which we have talked a lot about, is an interesting topic – coming off a 1-9 season and being a big program seemingly without much depth and then suffering more injuries offensively, but they have taken steps the last couple of weeks in their victory over Tennent, and it was certainly a respectable score against a very talented Abington team that’s probably the best team in the conference. They were happy with their defensive effort, and they did impress Abington coach Tim Sorber with how much they’ve improved, especially defensively.
Adam Collachi and his staff don’t believe in moral victories, but they are pleased with their progress. They’re getting back to respectability, and their defense is the whole key because they’re just not going to score a lot this year given the injuries they have suffered offensively. Also, their quarterback, Trevor Guzy, has made significant strides. He’s thrown it an average of about 12 times a game, and he’s starting to find Billy McAlister, who’s tied for the area lead in receptions with 16, and John Devine, another nice receiver, so they’re finding ways to spread the field a little bit to give themselves some breathing room.
SuburbanOneSports.com: William Tennent came from behind to beat Truman in a must-win game for the Panthers. Your thoughts about Tennent after that win.
Dan Dunkin: Tennent has really been as good as their turnover ratio. You see signs in Tennent just about every week that they’re getting better, but they have trouble maintaining consistency over four quarters, and turnovers are often a problem. They do have some tough kids on that team. I look for them to win a couple more before the season is over. I mention Connor Geiger frequently. He’s one of the best two-way players in the area, and he’s unsung because they don’t get a lot of notice due to their record. When you have kids like that, other kids will follow.
But Tennent hasn't been able to play four consistent quarters. I go back to the Council Rock North game a couple of weeks ago. Tennent came out in the second half like a house on fire with their offense and defense and actually controlled most of the third quarter and made that a game before losing 20-9. Biz Keeny said afterward, ‘We’ve got to come to play’ because they waited too long, but Tennent is a team that will get you or certainly make it close if you’re not ready for them. The case with them is they’ve got to be ready to play and sustain it. They do have a lot of juniors, and I look for them to be interesting next year.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Neshaminy downing Bensalem was expected by most. What are your thoughts about those two teams?
Dan Dunkin: The thing that intrigues me about Neshaminy is its passing game. I think in the second half of the season as that develops, it’s going to be an indicator of how far they can go this year. They have maybe the area’s best running back in Sean Ulmer. They’re developing another couple of kids with him to run the ball. Their offensive line is very good and always is at Neshaminy. There’s a lot of pride there, and QB Joe Bianchino is making progress week to week. He’s thrown for over 400 yards, and he’s averaging about 17 yards a completion, so they have big-play capability with Bobby Marterella, Justin Andrews and Ron Smith. They have weapons on the perimeter, and I think they’ll be using them more as the season goes along. That’s an ‘X’ factor – how well their passing game keeps developing. Defensively, as I said last week, I really believe the shredding they got at Abington is going to make them better in the long run. They have a lot of good kids on defense and a lot of prideful seniors and some really good sophomores. One kid who has really stood out and emerged in the last few weeks is sophomore Luke Carrezola. He had nine tackles against Bensalem, three for losses, and was in the backfield all the time. He’s a force, especially bookended by Kiser Terry on the other side. They have guys on the flanks that are funneling things to the linebackers, and the linebackers are improving week by week.
SuburbanOneSports.com: What’s your read on Bensalem after the Neshaminy game?
Dan Dunkin: Whoever made this schedule - they had Pennsbury, Neshaminy and Council Rock South right in a row. They’re going to be competitive in every game. I stand by what I said earlier in the season – this is a much-improved team. Even though Neshaminy won going away, that was a competitive game. There were kids flying around and hitting people. Neshaminy didn’t get its running game going right out of the gate. Actually, Bensalem outgained them in that game.
Bensalem has a lot of prideful kids with 25 seniors. They are really playing their guts out. They’re giving Kevin Kelly everything they’ve got, and he appreciates that. It’s a great first year for him and the program because it’s setting the tone for the future. They could give CR South some trouble because South seems to have hit a little bit of an offensive lull. I’m interested in seeing how they bounce back mentally after losing a pretty big game at Pennsbury. If they’re not ready to play, Bensalem will punch them in the mouth.
SuburbanOneSports.com: The big upset in the Continental Conference was Pennridge beating Souderton. What are your thoughts after that game?
Kevin Cooney: Randy Cuthbert deserves a ton of credit. There are a lot of teams that would have packed up their tents and gone home after 0-3. Let's set the record straight. They’re not a playoff team. There's not going to be a mystical resurgence into a playoff team, but Cuthbert has his kids playing hard. That's exactly what high school football should be - it's about teaching lessons. I think Randy at times is not appreciated for what he is and that's a teacher first. I think Randy, in my mind, is one of the better people in the sport because of the fact that he has the emphasis on education above all, which goes back to his days at CB West. It's kind of nice to see that Pennridge has bounced back and that Pennridge has played pretty well these last two weeks.
For Souderton, on the flip side, this is just another example of why you scratch your head at them. You just can't lose a game like that. I understand the field conditions were awful, I understand there are different things, but every year there's always that one hiccup, and it ends up kind of dooming them. We're back to that one hiccup. You look at the Neshaminy game and the big plays in that game, and you look at the Abington game and the turnovers that killed them. Of course, Abington is the better team, but you get down to it, and these kinds of hiccup games end up catching up with them. Here we go again - they're going to have to win the final five, and when you have North Penn, Quakertown and CB South - they haven't even hit the heart of their conference schedule, and they're in deep, deep trouble.
Can they bounce back? Yes, they can, but the goals have now changed. They've gone from - if they beat Neshaminy, maybe they're a top five team to well, they lost to Abington, but they'll still probably be a playoff team and maybe they'll get a home game. Now, it's - maybe they can sneak into the playoffs. When you've hit that skid and you're at 2-3, you shouldn't be thinking of anything but the game in front of you. I'm sure there are injuries and all that, and I like Ed, but these things continue to pop up. They really do.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Did the field conditions for Friday's game at Poppy Yoder Field impact Souderton - which plays on turf - more than they did Pennridge?
Kevin Cooney:I will echo what Kyle Berger said - yes, the field was bad for both teams, but you have to have a little more pride in your facilities than to let it get to that level. Poppy Yoder is just a disgrace right now. It's a mosh pit, and it's almost borderline unsafe. Get a roller at this point.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks South beat CB West 45-14. Your thoughts about that game?
Kevin Cooney: That was a real good bounce-back game by South. South really benefitted from the turf. They were able to use their speed. Honestly, Dan Brown is their MVP. He's been really good in both the kick returns and running back. All the attention has been on Matt Johns, but Brown has had a great year in a conference where there really hasn't been a heck of a lot of standouts.
CB South had to stop the running game, and they did. West is obviously in a funk right now. West started the season so well, but they're at a point now where you wonder where their season is going. Obviously, at 2-3, you have to run the table and they haven't faced the bulk of the heavyweights yet.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Quakertown, which is 4-1 after beating Hatboro, is facing CB South this week. Your thoughts about that game.
Kevin Cooney: Quakertown has emerged as a legitimate threat. Zac Gravelle has played up to his level, and Justin Wieder has come up big in the backfield. Defensively, which I figured would be their weak spot, they're not allowing too many points. They're the type of team right now that is feeling very confident about themselves. That being said, they're still going to need that statement win.
This week will go a long way towards it because this is a pretty important game for South. Again, after six weeks, if you're at three losses, you're on the borderline. South needs this one. Quakertown could probably get away without it, but I wouldn't advise it, especially with North Penn up ahead.
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn, which keeps rolling along in conference play, will face CB West this weekend. Your thoughts about a Knight squad that is all but overlooked after its tough preseason schedule.
Kevin Cooney: This is the curse of being North Penn. Nothing you do at this time of year really matters. Seriously, you have these three preseason games, for lack of a better word - they have an elite schedule, and if you lose, you're damned, and if you win, you're expected to because you're North Penn. They're at a point right now where they're almost a spoiler. If you lose to Quakertown, everyone wonders what's wrong with you instead of what's right with Quakertown. They're really in a no-win spot right here.
SuburbanOneSports.com: You were at the PW-Upper Moreland game last weekend. What are your thoughts about a Colonial team that is playing for an American Conference crown?
Kevin Cooney: I told some people the other night that I think PW is the third best team I've seen this year behind Abington and Archbishop Wood. I love their speed. They have options at quarterback with Russhon Phillips. They have a lot of speed on the periphery. They had a couple of injuries last week that kind of muted that game, but I thought they were outstanding. They're the type of team that I could see making a pretty good run in districts. Remember, they played Abington close. They're the only team that really has pushed Abington. If we're going to be fair, they were closer to Abington than Neshaminy was.
Upper Moreland is in a rebuilding process. They have a new coach. I actually like the coaches, but it's numbers, it's talent.
SuburbanOneSports.com: I know your high school football beat is the Continental Conference, but were you surprised to see Pennsbury beat Council Rock South?
Kevin Cooney: Yes, a little bit. It's a huge win for Pennsbury considering everything they went through week one against Easton. They're on a pretty good roll right now. They needed a statement game, and they got it. It's interesting to see what's going to become of that league. Obviously, you have that Pennsbury, Abington, Neshaminy things that has been built up over the last couple of years and we’ll see where CR South fits in this as well. There are four teams that are playoff quality if they can hold it together. Ultimately, that's where the strength of the tournament may come from. We'll see.