Check out the recaps for SOL football teams in action in the District One Tournament on Friday. CB West/Pennridge photos courtesy of Kim Supko of Kim Supko Photography. Upper Dublin/WC Henderson photos courtesy of Geanine Jamison Photography. Check back for galleries of both games.
Stats provided courtesy of Intelligencer/Courier. For additional football stats and coverage, visit the Intelligencer (https://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school) and Courier Times (https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/)
Class 6A
#2 NORTH PENN 49, #15 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 21
In a rematch of last week’s regular season finale, the Knights once again won in convincing fashion. That might well have been the only similarity between the two games.
Last week, the Knights – playing in torrential rain and high winds – all but abandoned the passing game. Ryan Zeltt threw just four passes, completing two for 33 yards.
“Last week’s game was just such a mess,” NP coach Dick Beck said. “There was really not much to learn, it was almost like playing a completely different team. All the plays we had drawn up last week, I said, ‘Forget it, we’re just going to run the ball. Forget this throwing stuff.’”
The Titans undoubtedly wished the Knights would have forgotten the “throwing stuff” and stuck with last week’s game plan in Friday’s rematch. Zeltt stole the spotlight, completing 16-of-18 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns in a brilliant performance. He spread the ball around, finding seven different receivers.
“Without a doubt, Ryan Zeltt had his best game,” Beck said. “Tonight’s the best we played offensively. It was really an explosive night.
“If our O-line doesn’t protect, we’re not as good, and tonight they did a really nice job of protecting our quarterback.”
Comprising the Knights offensive line were left tackle Mikai Green, left guard Namir Rose, center Kevin Pownall, right guard Darren Miller, right tackle Rymir Gray and tight end Bobby Hill.
After the Titans struck first when Cole Maholtz scored from 16 yards out, the Knights went to work. Levi Carroll – pressed into emergency duty at running back – scored on a seven-yard run.
“With Khalani (Eaton) hurting, it was great to see Levi step up and play running back for us,” Beck said. “We didn’t miss a beat. I thought he really did a nice job considering he’s been playing wide receiver.”
Then it was Tyler Beam catching a 21-yard touchdown pass from Zeltt.
“Tyler Beam has just been doing a fantastic job for us,” Beck said. “We call him our Swiss army knife. He plays a lot of positions, whether it’s tight end or fullback or linebacker or defensive end. Plus he’s our long snapper, he’s our short snapper. He’s a do-it-all.
“He ran a great pattern, Zeltt threw a BB to him for that touchdown, and it was really, really good to see.”
Carroll caught his first of two touchdown passes from Zeltt – this one from 36 yards – to give the Knights a 21-6 lead after one quarter.
The second quarter was more of the same as the Knights added three more touchdowns – the first on an Ethan Spann two-yard run. Zeltt hooked up with Jalen Edwards for a 39-yard touchdown, and then it was Carroll hauling in a six-yard touchdown pass from the junior quarterback to send the Knights into halftime with a 42-6 advantage.
Freshman Jay Ford-King returned the opening kickoff of the second half 93 yards to make it a 49-6 game.
“We put him in to start the second half because we were up 42-6,” Beck said. “He’s going to be an excellent player. He’s a back-up for a couple of positions on defense. He’s very explosive. You’re going to be hearing a lot from him in the coming years.”
The Titans tacked on a pair of late touchdowns. Maholtz scored his second TD of the night, this one from 65 yards, and Tyler Robinson had a 12-yard touchdown run. Maholtz finished the night with 19 carries for 157 yards and two touchdowns.
For the Knights, it was running back by committee with 11 different players getting carries. Amir Major’s 50 yards on eight carries led the way.
North Penn sophomore Rashad McNeill delivered the catch of the night, wrestling the ball from the defender for a highlight reel reception: https://publish.twitter.com/?query=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fmpcabrey%2Fstatus%2F1456782760799088640&widget=Tweet
“He just took it right out of the guy’s hands,” Beck said. “He’s a sophomore, and he’s getting better each week. We expect him to make those plays.”
North Penn (11-0, 7-0 SOL) will host seventh-seeded Ridley in a second round game on Friday The Green Raiders rolled to a 42-23 win over 10th-seeded Conestoga in an opening round game. Central Bucks South closed out its season with a 6-5 record (3-4 SOL).
Central Bucks South 6-0-0-15 21
North Penn 21-21-7-0 49
#5 QUAKERTOWN 33, #12 SOUDERTON 7
On Oct. 1, the Panthers defeated Souderton 36-14, blowing open a close game with an explosive fourth quarter.
In Friday’s rematch, the Panthers took control of this one early, coming up with an interception on Souderton’s opening possession and taking over on the Indians’ 20-yard line. On a key fourth-and-five play from the 10-yard line, Will Steich connected with Zach Fondl for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
After a defensive stop by the Panthers, the Indians were forced to punt. This time the Panthers drove 86 yards for the score with the big play a tipped pass by Steich that was caught by John Eatherton at the Indians’ 10-yard line. It was Eatherton taking it in from six yards out to give the Panthers a 13-0 lead.
The Indians answered with their best drive of the night that began with Jared Zimmerman’s 21-yard completion to Caleb Hageman. Sean McGoldrick’s 21 yard run also highlighted the drive that was capped with a 15-yard Brayden Porter touchdown run that made it a 13-7 game with 7:12 remaining in the second quarter.
That turned out to be plenty of time for the Panthers to score a pair of touchdowns. It took them just three minutes to score the first with Steich delivering a 30-yard pass to Fondl for his second TD of the night that gave the Panthers a 19-7 lead.
With time winding down in the half, the Indians were whistled for pass interference on fourth-and-two and took over on the Souderton eight with seven seconds remaining. That’s all they needed as Tyler Woodman ran it in for a touchdown that sent the Panthers into halftime with a commanding 26-7 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Steich scored on a quarterback keeper from the one for the 33-7 final.
Steich completed 18-of-24 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns. Fondl was his favorite target, finishing with seven catches for 83 yards and a touchdown. Woodman led the Panthers with 26 carries for 119 yards.
For the Indians, Porter had 18 carries for 90 yards in his final high school game.
Quakertown (11-0, 7-0 SOL) will travel to fourth-seeded Downingtown East for a second round game on Friday. The Cougars defeated 13th-seeded Spring-Ford 21-14. Souderton (4-2 SOL) closed out its season with a 6-5 record.
Souderton 0-7-0-0 7
Quakertown 7-19-0-7 33
#8 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 19, #9 PENNRIDGE 17
The play could have gone to anyone, it just happened to be Ganz Cooper’s turn.
CB West’s sophomore quarterback doesn’t sling the ball 20-plus times per game, and he doesn’t carry it all that often either, but he’s as much a part of the offense as anyone else. Needing one yard to pick up a first down that would all but secure the win Friday night and earn another week on the season, it was Cooper’s time to go.
“You just wait for your name to be called,” Cooper said. “It’s not always going to be called and that’s okay, but when it does, you have to be ready.”
Cooper’s three-yard keeper on a 3rd-and-1 moved the chains one last time as the Bucks had the final say in a wild finish after three quarters of a drawn-out slugfest in the second meeting between the teams this season. Much like the first, which West won thanks to a late defensive stop in a similar situation, possessions were at a premium and every drive held a little more significance.
“I knew it was going to be a fantastic game – they’re such a good football team,” West coach Rob Rowan said.
There was no shortage of standout players for the Bucks on Friday, but the engine to their offense was sophomore Eli Boehm. The running back didn’t have a big breakaway run, but he didn’t go down easily either, grinding out 132 yards on 24 carries.
“Eli Boehm runs so hard and so tough,” Rowan said. “He’s only a junior, and he’s not a guy you look at and say – ‘Man, he’s going to be this big physical power runner,’ but he runs so hard, and he finishes hard. He runs with a tremendous center of gravity. His feet never stop. He’s just so tough, and he’s a guy we know we can count on him at any moment. We know that he’s a guy that’s going to consistently run as hard as he possibly can.”
Both defenses were active and flying to the ball all game, so it wasn’t that surprising the first quarter ended in a collective shutout. Sean Blue had an interception for West to end Pennridge’s first drive while a play by Tyler Wetzel on fourth down stopped the Bucks in their tracks.
Pennridge finally got on the board on the first play of the second quarter when Sean Curry booted a 29-yard field goal. It would be the visitor’s only score until the fourth quarter, thanks to an offense that struggled to get much traction against the West defense.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach (Rob) Rowan and his program, and we knew it would be a slugfest,” Pennridge coach Cody Muller said. “We knew it would be a tight game. They made a few more plays than we did and got it done at the end there. I couldn’t be more proud of our kids, they did what we asked them to do.”
Boehm finished the game with 25 total touches, nearly matching Pennridge’s 27 non-punting offensive plays by himself.
Cooper, Boehm and Blue are part of a young nucleus that has shown tremendous growth for the Bucks. Their path has been cleared by the senior class, who led the team out of an up-and-down 2020 to a 8-2 regular season record and now a berth in the district quarterfinals.
Casey Smith, a senior tight end and linebacker, lauded the scrappy nature of this year’s team from the seniors down to the underclassmen. Getting a final showcase in front of their hometown was an added bonus.
“It means the world,” said Smith, who had a sack on defense. “Especially with this being our last game on this field, it’s a great way to go out. We know what we have to take care of next week, but we’re ready to go.”
West got its first score late in the first half after a textbook drive that featured three runs for first downs and was capped by Cooper hitting another underclassman contributor in Conor McFadden for a seven-yard touchdown. The duo has come on strong in recent weeks and later connected on a 36-yard pass that helped set up a field goal.
“Conor’s just fast, there’s no other kid like him. We played CYO ball together, so we have that connection,” Cooper said. “I see one-on-one and with Conor’s speed, he’s going to get off the ball on the slant so I know it’s there.”
Pennridge’s defense was on the field a lot on Friday but kept battling even as tired legs started to set in. Ryan Gallagher had a tremendous effort, including a sack in the second quarter, from his defensive line spot.
What the Rams couldn’t do enough of was get off the field. Every time it seemed like the visitors were in position to get a stop, West found a way to move the sticks again and extend a drive.
Much of that goes to the mauling play of the offensive line. Senior tackle Quin Whalen helped pave the way for plenty of West’s 52 running plays and chalked it up to a mentality the team started in the summer.
“We stay low, drive our legs and pound away at people,” Whalen said. “It’s just what we do.”
The only third quarter points came off the leg of Ryan Horst, who booted a 33-yard field goal for West. He added another kick, a 27-yarder, on the first play of the fourth quarter.
After being stalled and bottled up most of the game, Pennridge finally got a break on offense when Brennan Fisher broke through for a 56-yard touchdown run to make it a 13-10 game. The back had a long score called back on a hold late in the first half but finished the game strong with two scores to back up 77 yards on the ground.
West responded with a seven-minute drive that ended with Cooper pushing his way in from inside the one-yard line. The sophomore attributed his success to the guys in front of him – Whalen, Ty McGuire, Hayden Mulligan, Sam Heath and Chris Pionzio – leading the way.
“You feel great playing behind them, you feel protected and know you can go break one loose at any moment,” Cooper said. “I love relying on those guys because I know they’ll get the job done for me.”
Fisher scored his second of the game on a seven-yard dash after a couple penalties helped the Rams move down the field quickly.
Dante Mancini, who did a little bit of everything including a clutch play to save a bad snap and still get a punt off in the first half, recovered Pennridge’s onside kick. CB West still needed one more first down so when the call came for a quarterback sneak on 3rd-and-one, it was music to the offensive line’s ears.
“That’s the call we want to hear,” West senior lineman Quin Whalen said. “We don’t want to hear anything else, we want the call to pound it down their throats.”
Rowan acknowledged the efforts of several players in the win.
“Offensively, Ganz and Connor (McFadden) again connected on a couple of plays that I thought were momentum-changing plays,” he said. “Defensively, I thought Cooper Taylor just had a fantastic night causing all kinds of havoc. Sean Blue had an interception on one of their first drives that set a change of momentum there.”
The Bucks (9-2, 6-1 SOL) know they have a tall task next week, travelling to top-seeded Garnet Valley. Beating the Jaguars at their own game will take pretty much everything going right and the Bucks will go in following their seniors’ lead as they’ve done all year.
“They’ve pushed us to the limit,” Cooper said. “There’s nothing really to describe it. They make sure we’re not giving up on any plays and putting 100 percent effort in.”
Pennridge (7-4, 5-2 SOL) is off until its Thanksgiving Day game against Quakertown.
Pennridge 0-3-0-14 17
Central Bucks West 0-7-3-9 19
#6 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 42, #11 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 21
(Statistics provided by Owen McCue/PA Prep Live: https://papreplive.com/2021/11/06/kohler-totals-5-tds-as-perkiomen-valley-pulls-away-from-central-bucks-east-for-first-district-1-win-since-2017/)
Ethan Kohler, the Vikings’ veteran quarterback, accounted for five touchdowns, leading Perk Valley to the big win in Friday’s opening round of districts.
In a preview of things to come, Kohler had a pair of touchdown passes to Ryan Klimak in the opening quarter – the first a 17-yard pass and the second a 40-yarder. The Patriots made it a 14-7 game when Ethan Shine punched it in from a yard out, but another Kohler TD pass put the Vikings on top 21-7. The Patriots made it a one-score game at halftime when quarterback Pat Keller scored on an eight-yard keeper.
The Vikings led 28-14 heading into the final frame and upped that to 35-14 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. Their lead grew to 42-14 before the Patriots closed it out with a late score when Keller connected with Shine for a 23-yard touchdown.
Shine had a big night running the football, finishing with 153 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries.
Central Bucks East (4-3 SOL) closed out its season with a 6-5 record.
Central Bucks East 0-14-0-7 21
Perkiomen Valley 14-7-7-14 42
Class 5A
#4 UPPER DUBLIN 35, #13 WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 7
Coach Bret Stover – after a week off because of the Hatboro-Horsham forfeit – was concerned about his team’s approach in Friday’s district opener.
He needn’t have worried.
The Cardinals – propelled by the four-touchdown effort of quarterback Colin O’Sullivan – scored early and often on their way to the no-doubt-about-it win.
“I was a little nervous when you have that week off how the kids are going to come out,” Stover said. “We kind of worked all week getting up to game speed quickly because we had 13 days off. The kids came out and responded.
“(Assistant coach) Dave (Sowers) again had a good defensive package. Methodically, we went down the field which – to me- is better than getting that one-play scoring drive because you get to see if the kids are actually doing what you worked on for two weeks, which they did.”
Armed with a 7-0 lead, the Cardinals came up with another defensive stop, and this time, they needed just one play to get into the end zone when Colin O’Sullivan connected with Griffin Pennsabene for a 60-yard touchdown pass that put the Cardinals on top 14-0.
Then it was DJ Cerisier coming up with a pick six that gave UD a 21-0 lead.
“It was 21-0, and we just settled in,” Stover said. “We actually had a two-minute drive before halftime and got in the end zone to make 28-0.”
Noah Lee scored the TD that sent the Cardinals into halftime with the commanding lead.
“We challenged the kids to come out of the locker room and not just show up,” Stover said. “Let’s practice coming out of the locker room because we have to do that in the playoffs. They went right down the field in less than two minutes and scored. Then we got to play a lot of kids tonight, which was cool.”
The Cardinals opened up a 35-0 lead before the Warriors got on the scoreboard in a contest that saw numerous players come up big on both sides of the football.
“I thought Jacob Cornbluth at linebacker had a good night for us,” Stover said. “Riley Hackett at defensive end had a good night. Nick Rodriguez at linebacker and Kyree Butler always plays well. I thought we played well in the front seven defensively.
“Offensively, Colin O’Sullivan had a really good night. I don’t know what his final stats were, but I really can’t remember any incompletes, and the incompletes he had were drops. He probably went over 200 yards easily, and he had four touchdown passes.”
Upper Dublin (9-3, 6-1 SOL) will host former SOL American Conference rival Plymouth Whitemarsh in a second round game at Wissahickon on Friday.
“It will be like a homecoming game kind of thing,” Stover said. “We have a lot of respect for their staff and their players. They’re always well prepared.
“Dan (Chang) does a really good job over there. We know we’re going to have our hands full. It’s one of those rivalry games we miss being in this new conference. We’re excited to play it, and our kids will be excited.
“It’s a neutral site so it’s kind of cool. It’s not like it’s a home field advantage for us. I feel like we know each other pretty well. It’s certainly not going to be like tonight. It’s going to be one of those games that’s going to come down to the end.”
#5 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 49, #12 CHELTENHAM 0
(Statistics provided by Ed Morlock/PA Prep Live: https://papreplive.com/2021/11/05/plymouth-whitemarsh-dominates-cheltenham-in-d1-5a-first-round-win/)
Ask Dan Chang who ignited his squad in Friday’s opening round rout of the Panthers, and Aiden O’Brien is the first name he mentions.
Ignited might actually be too mild a word for the performance the senior quarterback put on. In the first quarter, O’Brien completed 4-of-5 passes for 148 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 38 yards and a touchdown as the Colonials raced out of the gate to a 28-0 lead.
“Aiden O’Brien – if we’re playing well, he’s playing well,” Chang said.
The opposite is also true. If the senior quarterback is playing well, it’s safe to say, the Colonials are playing well, and O’Brien was in top form in Friday’s win. On the opening drive of the game, O’Brien hooked up with Phil Taormina for a 77-yard touchdown scoring strike and a 7-0 lead.
“Phil made a great play on the first series, making a tough catch over somebody, broke a tackle and scored,” Chang said.
Then – after Seve Spruill recovered his own on-sides kick, it was O’Brien connecting with Nate Kern for a 16-yard touchdown. The Panthers fumbled on their first possession, and the ball was back in the Colonials’ hand. Once again, they capitalized, this time it was O’Brien racing into the end zone from 12 yards out for a 21-0 PW lead. O’Brien hooked up with Taormina for a 29-yard touchdown, giving the Colonials a 28-0 lead, and it was still the first quarter.
By halftime, the Colonials – who received one-yard TD runs from Kern and Zion East in the second quarter – led 42-0.
“We had a great week of practice,” Chang said. “Our kids were ready to go, and I thought they executed well. It got a little chippy, but we kept our cool. Our kids were playing tough all game.”
PW’s Thomas Montemayer returned a fumble 60 yards for the only score of the second half.
When it was over, Chang had high praise for his offensive line comprised of center Connor Capizzi, guards Kolton Gailie and Joe Troilo, tackles Louis Malfara and Jack Smith as well as tight end Jared Kolsun.
“The controlled the line of scrimmage up front,” Chang said.
On the Panthers’ behalf, coach Troy Gore received the devastating news this week that he would be without three key starters in Kam Wyatt, Matt Hoffman and Brian Cherry. Although the transfer paperwork was completed for the trio, it was not, according to Gore, “turned in in a timely fashion.”
For the Colonials, who in past years were in the large Class 6A field, this is the first year they are competing in Class 5A.
“It’s exciting for us,” Chang said. “We’re having fun, and we can’t wait for another great game.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-1, 6-0 SOL) will face a familiar opponent in next Friday’s second round – fourth-seeded Upper Dublin. The game between the former SOL American rivals will be played at Wissahickon High School.
“Those guys are going to be very, very good,” Chang said. “I love playing them. We have great games. Regardless of what is going on that season, most of the time us and Upper Dublin are very good games.
“They’re very well coached, they’ve got some good athletes, they have a great offensive line, a good quarterback and skill guys. They lost two games to two very good football teams (Quakertown and North Penn), so we’re up to the challenge. We’ll be as ready to go as we can be.”
Cheltenham (4-1 SOL) closed its season with a 5-6 record.
Cheltenham 0-0-0-0 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 28-14-7-0 49
Class 4A
#2 POTTSGROVE 34, #3 UPPER MORELAND 12
(Statistics provided by Rob Senior/PA Prep Live: https://papreplive.com/2021/11/05/pottsgrove-pulls-out-all-the-stops-in-4a-semifinal-victory-over-upper-moreland/)
The Falcons wasted little time before seizing control of Friday’s district opener, scoring on a 56-yard touchdown run by Vinny Scarnato before fans had settled in their seats. By the end of the first quarter, they led 14-0, and even more telling than their two-touchdown lead was the fact that the Falcons had accumulated 184 rushing yards in the opening frame.
Early in the second quarter, Pottsgrove opened up a 21-0 lead, and then came up with a pair of impressive goal line stands. Pottsgrove held the Golden Bears at the Falcons’ five but then fumbled it right back to UM. Once again, the Falcons’ defense delivered a goal line stand, and they went on to add a field goal, taking a 24-0 lead into halftime.
That lead grew to 31-0 before Cam Jackson’s 65-yard touchdown run put the Golden Bears on the board. The Golden Bears added a touchdown in the final quarter when Byron Hopkins scored from three yards out.
Upper Moreland (4-2 SOL) closed out its season with a 7-4 record.
Upper Moreland 0-0-6-6 12
Pottsgrove 14-10-10-0 34
About the Author
