By Scott Huff
Upper Moreland is the smallest school in the Suburban One League in terms of enrollment.
Fact – Upper Moreland has a total of 849 students at last count. Of that number, 450 were male.
Upper Merion is the second smallest school in the Suburban One League in terms of enrollment.
Fact – Upper Merion has a total of 867 students at last count. Of that number, 435 were male.
Fact – Upper Moreland (6-1) and Upper Merion (5-2) are a combined 11-3 thus far this season. And both have SOL American Conference title hopes this season.
“We have to take care of business,” said Upper Moreland coach Adam Beach. “We can’t worry about being the smallest school in Suburban One.
“We have to make some accommodations that other schools don’t because of our numbers,” added the coach. “We don’t have a freshman team, and we expect our kids to play as sophomores and juniors.”
One junior that has made an eye-popping difference has been Chris Smallwood. Smallwood scored five times in the Golden Bears 40-14 win over Wissahickon last week.
“To be honest, we haven’t seen the best of Chris Smallwood yet,” assured Beach. “We have a week off this week, and we hope to be healthy for Cheltenham in a couple of weeks.”
Upper Merion is coming off a 14-7 classic win over Norristown last week. And the Vikings used the talented right arm and sprinter’s speed of senior quarterback Alex Phanthavong to gain the crucial win.
“Alex is the glue that holds this team together,” said Upper Merion coach Joe Powel. “This was a make or break game for us, and he came up with big plans when we needed them.
“We have some real important games left on the schedule,” added Powel as the Vikings meet Upper Dublin in a pivotal contest on October 24. “We need to play with the intensity we played with against Norristown.”
Last Fact – North Penn is the largest school in the Suburban One League with 3,129 students. Of that number, 1,659 are male.
The Week That Was in the SOL…
SOL Continental Conference
There is no question that North Penn is the elite team in the conference – but the scramble among the seven remaining teams is volatile at best.
Souderton (4-3, 2-2) was fresh off a 32-0 spanking by Hatboro-Horsham, and the Big Red appeared to be on a downward spiral.
However, the Indians rebounded with a thrilling 27-22 conference victory over Central Bucks South (3-4, 1-3).
Souderton running back Kyle Lynch scored the game-winning touchdown with just 1:24 left in the game to seal the win. Justin Powell led the Big Red in rushing with 115 yards on 15 carries and also scored a touchdown.
CB South, losers of three of its last four games, once again featured the passing combination of Tom Johns to Mike Doty. Doty, who caught two TD passes from Johns, caught a 43-yard scoring strike to knot the score in the fourth quarter.
Pennridge (4-3, 1-2) also appeared to be on a downward spiral. The Rams had dropped three straight and were coming off a stunning 45-35 loss to CB East.
However, the Rams bounced back with a comfortable 20-7 conference win over Hatboro-Horsham (3-4, 2-2).
Pennridge running back Ian Walbridge rushed for 99 yards on 14 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns. A key play was a 22-yard scoring run by Brad Herrmann at the close of the first half.
Hatboro-Horsham took a first period lead when Dan Lineberger scored on a 45-yard touchdown scamper. The Hatters, though, were shutout the remainder of the game.
Central Bucks East (4-3, 3-1) moved into sole possession of second place with a 29-6 conference victory over rival Central Bucks West (2-5, 1-3).
Patriot running back Devon Passman racked up some impressive numbers with 275 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown. East powered for 435 yards of total offense and rushed for four touchdowns, including scores from Nick Miller, Justyn White, and Kyle Bernard. Peter Benz kicked a field goal for the winners.
West has struggled since its 38-35 victory against Souderton a few weeks ago. The Bucks’ backfield combo of Rashaad Willams and Ted Conrad clipped the 100+ mark but were kept out the end zone. The lone West score was a TD pass from Ward Udinski to Dylan Jacobs.
The North Penn-Quakertown meeting featured the teams with the best overall records in the conference. But the powerful Knights (7-0, 4-0) had little difficulty in routing the Panthers (5-2, 1-2) by a 49-13 score.
North Penn running back Tyler Smith ran the ball just six times – but raced for 166 yards and a pair of touchdowns (90 & 17 yards). Knights quarterback Justin Davey completed just two passes – good for 108 yards and a pair of touchdowns (21 & 87 yards) – both to Ronnie Akins.
Quakertown scored on a pair of touchdown passes by Ryan Tinknell. Tinknell threw a 22-yard TD pass to Kurtis Roberts and a 20-yard pass to Scott Fath.
SOL American Conference
Norristown (4-3, 2-2) fell off the one-loss conference carousel with a 14-7 conference loss to Upper Merion (5-2, 3-1).
Upper Merion quarterback Alex Phanthavong threw a 37-yard scoring strike to Dexter Bridge with just 1:27 left to capture the win. Phanthavong also scored on a 20-yard TD sprint.
Norristown could muster just a single score on Homecoming night. Freshman quarterback Shannon Mayer fired a 74-yard scoring pass to Anthony Robey for the only Eagle score.
Upper Moreland (6-1, 3-1) blasted Wissahickon (3-4, 0-3) by a 40-14 score to remain deadlocked at the top of the conference standings.
The Golden Bears received another golden effort from Chris Smallwood who raced for 245 yards and five touchdowns. Mike Rosenbaum completed just four passes - but he registered 125 yards and a scoring pass – a 69-yard aerial to Tom Knox.
Wissahickon, still winless in the conference, had a pair of running touchdowns. Myron Ross (114 yards) scored on a 58-yard jaunt, while Jerome Jacobs scored on a one yard run.
Upper Dublin (5-1, 2-1) was less than impressive in a 19-0 conference win over winless Plymouth-Whitemarsh (0-7, 0-4).
Upper Dublin standout Josh Mastromatto scored two Cardinal touchdowns – one on a 48-yard punt return and one on a 14-yard run. Rob Swartz scored on a one-yard run.
Plymouth-Whitemash, which lost starting QB Blake Zucker and backup David O’Neill to separated shoulders prior to the game, kept the game scoreless in the first half. Kyle Kulak directed the Colonial attack.
The good news for Cheltenham (4-3, 2-1) was that the Panthers lost no ground in the conference title hunt. The bad news was that Cheltenham lost to powerful St. Joe Prep by a 52-23 score in a nonleague game.
SOL National Conference
Neshaminy (6-1, 4-0) remained unbeaten with a workmanlike 20-13 conference victory over visiting Council Rock South (4-3, 1-3).
Redskin running back Quilan Arnold scored the game winner in the fourth period with a 22-yard score. Jay Colbert added a pair of scores for the winners.
Rock South, which has now lost three straight conference games, led 13-7 in the first half. The Hawks Bill Fleming and Braxton Ambrose scored touchdowns.
Pennsbury (6-1, 4-0) also remained unbeaten with a workman like 19-7 conference win over Bensalem (3-4, 2-2). The Falcons passed for 97 yards and rushed for another 260 yards. Dante Devine led the rushing attack with 102 yards.
Bensalem could manage just eight first downs against the Falcon defense. The lone score came on a 75-yard TD pass from Ron Vogelei to Jerry Davis.
Abington (5-1, 3-1) took care of business with a 49-24 conference victory over Council Rock North (1-6, 1-3).
Sam ‘One of a Kind’ Kind threw five touchdown passes for the second week in a row to lead the Ghosts. Anthony Hensley caught three scoring passes. Julien Ireland raced for 180 yards that included a 75-yard TD run.
Rock North quarterback Tyler Hamilton continues to impress in defeat. Hamilton threw for 275 yards and threw a TD pass to Pete O’Hara. Hamilton also ran for a score.
Harry S Truman (1-6, 1-3) won its first game of the season with a 12-7 conference verdict over winless William Tennent (0-7, 0-4).
The Tigers scored the game winner on a defensive score as Andrew Kletcheck scored on a fumble return of 25 yards. Truman also scored on a 32-yard TD pass from Mike Schmidt to Jeff Tiberi.
ennent scored its only touchdown with two minutes left in the game. Panther quarterback Pat Traczykiewicz threw a 3-yard TD pass to Joe Brunell.
PIAA District One Power Point Standings
Quad-A Teams [ 16 teams make playoffs ]
Rank Team Record Points Average
1. North Penn 7-0 960 137.143
3. Neshaminy 6-1 760 108.571
5. Pennsbury 6-1 730 104.286
T-6 Abington 6-1 720 102.857
8. Upper Dublin 5-1 570 95.000
10. Quakertown 5-2 640 91.429
12. Souderton 4-3 570 81.429
T-13 CB East 4-3 540 77.143
16. CR South 4-3 520 74.286
T-18 Pennridge 4-3 490 70.000
T-20 Cheltenham 4-3 480 68.571
T-20 Norristown 4-3 480 68.571
Triple-A Teams [8 teams make playoffs ]
2. Upper Moreland 6-1 850 121.429
6. Upper Merion 5-2 700 100.000
Football Fever Forecast (* home team)
*Abington 42 Bensalem 20
Pennsbury 49 *William Tennent 7
CR South 38 *Truman 13
Neshaminy 38 *CR North 21
*CB East 28 Quakertown 14
Pennridge 27 *CB West 20
North Penn 42 *Souderton 14
*CB South 28 Hatboro-Horsham 21
*Cheltenham 24 Upper Dublin 21
Norristown 28 *Wissahickon 20
*Upper Merion 35 Plymouth Whitemarsh 7
Suburban OneSports.com’s Football Fever Fab Five
1. North Penn Knights (7-0, 4-0)
2. Pennsbury Falcons (6-1, 4-0)
3. Neshaminy Redskins (6-1, 4-0)
4. Abington Ghosts (6-1, 3-1)
5. Upper Moreland Bears (6-1, 3-1)
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