Scott Huff not only recaps last week’s PIAA football action but also offers his selections as the SOL players of the year in each of the three conferences.
By Scott Huff
The circle once again is complete.
North Penn opened the 2011 football season with a 44-27 loss to La Salle – won 12 of the next 13 games – and as PIAA District One AAAA champions will meet the Explorers again this Saturday with a noon kickoff at Northeast High School in Philadelphia to determine the Eastern Final champion. La Salle – the District 12 champion - has lost just once this season – 41-17 to Bergen Catholic – and will also compete for a trip to Hershey next week.
North Penn opened the 2010 football season with a 27-14 loss to La Salle – won 13 straight games – and as the PIAA District One champion lost a second time to the Explorers – 38-35 in a scholastic classic – in the Eastern Final. La Salle lost just once last season but earned the trip to Hershey only to lose to North Allegheny in the state final game.
“I like (La Salle head coach) Drew (Gordon) and have a lot of respect for their football program,” said North Penn head coach Dick Beck. “They do things the right way. They always play hard, and it’s obvious that they have a good football team.
“We have a bigger goal – and that is to get to Hershey to compete for a state championship,” added Beck. “Our focus right now is to get to Hershey.”
North Penn advanced to the Eastern Final game with a convincing 34-14 over Council Rock South in the District One Final. Ralph Reeves – who ran the ball just four times – scored four touchdowns for the Knights. Dan Gevirtz – the versatile wideout/running back – scored on a 42-yard run for the winners. The North Penn defense held the punishing Golden Hawk rushing attack to only a pair of second half touchdowns.
La Salle advanced to the Eastern Final game with a 41-33 shootout victory over Nazareth – the District 11 champion - in the eastern semifinal. Quarterback Matt Magarity completed 14 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns. Tim Wade rushed for a game-high 109 yards and scored on a 56-yard bolt. Wade caught five Magarity passes for 131 yards and had TD catches of 26 and 47 yards.
Wild, Wild West
The Western Final will feature the #1 ranked teamin the state – North Allegheny – against the #12 ranked team in the state – Central Dauphin. North Allegheny advanced to the championship game with a 40-14 victory over State College. Junior quarterback Mark Leftwich, who rushed for four touchdowns and also threw a touchdown pass, led the Tigers. Central Dauphin advanced to the title game with a 24-21 victory over Wilson West-Lawn. The Rams showcased the talents of quarterback Brandon LaVia who completed 10 of 15 passes for 212 yards and a pair of scores and also scored a rushing touchdown.
Suburban One Sports.com
SOL Continental Conference Player of the Year (as chosen by Scott Huff)
Dan Brown – Central Bucks South
The numbers that senior Dan Brown accumulated this season are truly astonishing.
The Titan running back scored an incredible 44 touchdowns this season – 37 rushing, five on kick returns, and two catching the football. And that mind numbing number came basically on playing in ten football games as Brown was used sparingly in the CB South games against Council Rock South and Council Rock North in the first two games of the season.
“Dan was a little rusty at the beginning of the season after coming off major knee surgery,” said Central Bucks South head coach Dave Rackovan. “But once he showed he was back, he proved that he was going to have an amazing year.
“Dan is fearless and always plays the game at full speed,” added Rackovan. “He understands the game so well and sets up plays with his great vision and his ability to set up blocks for our linemen. He finds seams and has the great ability to change direction and cut back.”
Ironically, perhaps Brown’s best football game came in a losing cause. CB South was ousted in the final 16 seconds by a 52-48 score by Central League champion Garnet Valley in the second round of the PIAA District One Quad-A playoffs. Brown pounded the Jaguars for 250 yards and scored six touchdowns – and also caught two passes for an additional 48 yards.
“Dan really has a pair of great hands out of the backfield,” said Rackovan as Brown caught nine passes for 242 yards and a pair of scores for an average of 26.9 yards per catch. “And he had the five great runs on kickoffs and punt returns for touchdowns – and late in the season teams just refused to kick the ball to him.”
In addition to the 250-yard game against Garnet Valley, Brown also rushed for over 200 yards against Central Bucks East (251 yards), Pennridge (227 yards), and Souderton (222 yards). Brown led the SOL Continental Conference in rushing with 1836 yards on 213 carries for an astounding 8.6 yards per carry.
“There are a lot of Division I-AA teams that are giving Dan a good look,” said Rackovan who knows collegiate talent after coaching at Princeton University. “He looks great on tape, and he is the type of running back that has good things happen when you put the ball in his hands.”
And the astonishing numbers prove that point.
SOL American Conference Player of the Year (as chosen by Scott Huff)
Xavier Ellington – Plymouth Whitemarsh
Xavier Ellington – at 5-foot, 9 inches and 170 pounds – doesn’t look much like a football player.
“Believe me, Xavier Ellington is a great football player,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Dan Chang. “He is a natural athlete, but he has become a very hard worker. He is the total package.”
Offensively, the numbers speak for themselves. Ellington rushed for 1037 yards and an impressive 8.5 yards per rush. The ‘X’ man found the end zone 12 times running the football. Ellington also caught 17 passes for another 246 yards (14.8 per catch) and five touchdowns.
“Xavier is a special running back with tremendous vision and explosiveness,” said Chang. “He has a great sense of when to change direction on the football field and that ability to cut back has created some very big plays for us on offense this season. We used him on kickoff returns, and he gave us great field position to start drives.”
Defensively, the numbers also speak for themselves. As a cornerback, he collected 30 solo tackles, assisted on 10 others, and had six tackles for loss. He had two interceptions – returned those picks for 61 yards – and scored a touchdown.
“Xavier might not be the biggest player on the field, but he is a fearless tackler,” said Chang. “And he is a great cover corner, and teams have to game plan for him on both sides of the ball.”
There is no question that football could be in the collegiate future for Ellington, but right now the focus is on academics. The future will take care of itself.
“Xavier is a great kid that has become increasingly better as he moved along in the program,” said Chang. “He doesn’t say a whole lot, but there is no question that he was our leader.”
And Ellington led the Colonials to a 2011 Suburban One League American Conference championship.
SOL National Conference Player of the Year (as chosen by Scott Huff)
Brian Donnelly – Council Rock South
Brian Donnelly is not your prototypical quarterback – and that design was the perfect fit for the SOL National Conference co-champions.
“Brian has great vision, makes great decisions with the football, and the success of our offense is based on his ability to run the offense,” said Council Rock South head coach Vince Bedesem. “We ask a lot of the person that players quarterback in our system. He has to have a tremendous understanding of what we want to get done offensively.”
Donnelly – who completed just 18 passes for 308 yards and no touchdowns this year – was indeed the quarterback of the potent Golden Hawk triple-option offense. It was his excellent decision making that led Rock South to a 12-2 record and a berth in the PIAA Quad-A District One finals.
“Once the ball is in his hands at the snap, he has to be able to read what the defense is doing,” said Bedesem. “If he makes bad decisions, we go nowhere.”
Donnelly considered himself the best option enough to finish the season as the leading rusher in the SOL National Conference with 1521 yards on 204 carries. Donnelly scored 23 of his team’s 48 rushing touchdowns this season and averaged a gaudy 7.5 yards per carry.
The first option for the Hawks was powerful fullback Ryan Whiteley - who rushed for 655 yards on 135 carries and three scores; Donnelly was the second option; and speedster Anthony Alimenti – who rushed for 965 yards and 13 touchdowns - was the third option.
“Brian was in a position to be a team leader, and he was an excellent leader,” said Bedesem. “This team has been very unselfish, and Brian is also very unselfish.”
Donnelly – who has started for the Golden Hawks since his sophomore season – moved to the quarterback position after playing both running back and defensive back his previous two seasons. And although he wasn’t the prototypical quarterback – he was a darn good one.
Random Thoughts:
What if the PIAA invited just the top eight ranked teams from District One instead of the 16-team field? How about #1 Council Rock South winning the title over #2 Abington in that 8-team field. In my fantasy world, Rock South beats #8 West Chester Henderson and #5 Garnet Valley to get to the title game. Abington defeats both #7 Spring-Ford and #3 Unionville to earn its date with the Golden Hawks. And in the title game, CR South wins the trophy with a 35-31 victory.
North Penn would not have been invited to the dance as the #11 seed from the district. In fact, in the opening round games, the top eight seeds only won two of the eight contested games. The Knights, Neshaminy (#14), Pennsbury (#15), Central Bucks South (#12), Downingtown East (#9), and Coatesville (#10) – all first round winners – would have had to watch district play from the sidelines as the playoffs began. That would have been an awful shame. The season is long – very long – but the 16-team field has to remain so as not to punish elite programs from scheduling competitive non-conference games early in the season.
Woody Hayes – the legendary Ohio State University head coach – would have loved both Council Rock South (12-2) and Pennsbury (9-4) this season. Hayes was alleged to have said that if you pass the football only three things and happen – and two are bad. Three yards and a cloud of dust (turf on some fields – mud at Poppy Yoder Field) is all the offensive game plan you need.
Council Rock South used its powerful triple-option rushing attack for 91.8 percent of its offensive plays this season. The Golden Hawks rushed for a stunning 4178 yards for 6.7 yards per carry and 48 touchdowns. Rock South threw only 55 passes – 20 completed - (36.8 percent) – for 364 yards – two touchdowns – and three interceptions.
Pennsbury used its run-first Wing-T offense for 89.9 percent of its offensive plays this season. The Falcons rushed for a hefty 2943 yards for a 5.4 average and 32 touchdowns. Pennsbury put the ball in the air only 62 times – 27 completed - (43.5 percent) – for 446 yards – five touchdowns – and four interceptions.
The head of the sophomore class for the SOL this season had to be Mike Class of the Pennridge Rams. Class finished the season with 1522 yards on 244 carries and 15 touchdowns. He also caught 12 passes for an additional 158 yards and two scores. The fact that Class played eight games on grass and dirt (mud/swamp) at Poppy Yoder Field made his season closing numbers even more impressive. The talented sophomore only played one of his 12 games on artificial turf.
Suburban One Sports.com *** Great Eight***
Final Rankings
1. North Penn Knights (12-2)
2. Council Rock South Golden Hawks (12-2)
3. Pennsbury Falcons (9-4)
4. Central Bucks South Titans (8-4)
5. Abington Ghosts (10-2)
6. Neshaminy Redskins (8-4)
7. Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials (8-2)
8. Upper Dublin Flying Cardinals (7-3)
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