Blog Post

SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks South defeated Council Rock South 42-7. As a reporter who covered that game, what were your thoughts?

Dan Dunkin: "I thought Council Rock South would grind them down like they did last year. They did lose most of their backfield and offensive line, but I did think they were in a position to reload relative to past years because they had brought their program to a pretty high point.

"You have to give CB South a lot of credit. They really prepared well, they have a very diverse offense under Dave Rackovan, and they did a tremendous job of keeping CR South off-balance with the pass and the run. They had a great mix, and it snowballed on CR South. They found themselves in a track meet, and they're not built to keep up in a track meet.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Who are the top teams in the Continental Conference heading into the 2012 season?

Kevin Cooney: "Any question about the Continental Conference has to begin and end with North Penn. Here's a team that went to the state final, here's a team that hasn't lost an SOL game since they rejoined the conference. They're a premiere team, and nobody else has shown yet that they could be in that same grouping. North Penn has some players back that they particularly like - players like Steve Gozur who's going to be moving from safety to linebacker. They have a couple of good linemen. Actually, Dick Beck thinks the line is going to be their strength this year....

North Penn's defense is driving the engine, which is not what was expected when you saw this team the first three weeks. You thought for sure that the offense would take them as far as they went, and the defense would be their weak link. It's been the complete opposite. I think their defense has been the strongest part of the whole thing through districts.

They're very surgical. It's not the sledgehammer approach that they had when, quite frankly, they marched through the conference and the league for the last three or four years with 40-point wins. They have been demoralizing - and it's not even by posting those scores. They're doing it now with forcing you into mistakes and then taking advantage of those mistakes.

I think the one thing we saw - and this is a trend with North Penn - is that they jump on teams early. I think they have gotten to the point where - when they play teams in districts and they jump out early, it's almost impossible for teams to come back on them. It's as though there's a mental thing that goes on. It's almost like they beat you up on the field physically, and they kind of rip away your fight slowly. That's kind of what I got out of this game. I thought it was one of those kind of death by a thousand paper cuts kind of a deal.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Neshaminy defeated North Penn 21-7 on Friday night. You were at that game - what are your thoughts?

Kevin Cooney: I think the story of that game was the fact that North Penn's defense was so effective. You hold Neshaminy to 119 yards of total offense - Neshaminy after its touchdown drive when they tied the game 7-7 didn't threaten that much. They were within 14-7 midway through the fourth quarter and had the ball at midfield,

SuburbanOneSports.com: You picked Neshaminy to beat Unionville, and you were on target. Talk about that game.

Dan Dunkin: Neshaminy was more physical than Unionville, and coming in, I just think it's a tougher league that Neshaminy plays in. I also thought they were really buoyed from the confidence of beating Pennsbury in an always tough, physical game. They had found their confidence after struggling at midseason. Their younger players are playing with more confidence, their veteran players are stepping up, and they were playing with a new lease on life. They were in control of that game from the outset.

Neshaminy got an early turnover -

SuburbanOneSports.com: Talk about the district playoff picture after last week's games.

Kevin Cooney: It was strange because it clarified, in a way, what is taking place. We all knew if Pennsbury won they were going to be in, but it now totally messed up the bottom of the bracket with Pennsbury having to go play Abington again.

I think what we've seen is just a continuation of what we expected all year - that this is a wide open field, this is a field that does not have a super team but a lot of balanced teams, and realistically, there were a few little upsets last week. You look at West Chester Henderson over Downingtown East. There's a lot of parity which is going to make this first round pretty interesting.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Council Rock South handed Abington its first loss of the season. Your comments about that game.

Dan Dunkin: Many people would consider it an upset, but I didn't. The way Council Rock South came out and immediately established themselves on the line of scrimmage - their strength combined with enough athleticism was too much for Abington. They pounded the ball, and Abington couldn't deal with it. They rushed for almost 400 yards, and they were in control from the outset. Abington made it interesting with some gadget plays and a couple of big pass plays, but they couldn't really rely on what they normally do. Ray Schreiner got close to 100 yards but wasn't as effective as usual because they pinned down the perimeter pretty well, and Rock was just really tough up front. I think people saw for once and for all that Council Rock South is the class of the league this year.

SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn defeated Souderton on Friday night in a key Continental Conference game. Your thoughts on those two teams.

Kevin Cooney: North Penn is starting to play the kind of football we have come to expect from them at this time of year. They're a very good closing team. It's kind of shown the last couple of years - they've found a way to really get their stuff together in late October and early November. That's proven by when you look at what's happened in the postseason, getting to the district final, getting to the eastern final. Right now they have the look of a team that's ready to make its move.