Back for its 17th season, the popular Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features football beat writer Drew Markol. To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the Intelligencer (http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school/) and Courier Times (http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/) web sites.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks South picked up an important 17-0 win over North Penn. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “South started the season 0-3 with new coaches, and it looked like they might be heading toward a lost season. But they’ve turned it around completely. They’re 5-4 now and have won five of their last six. If they beat Pennridge this Friday, they’ll share the SOL National title with Pennridge and CB West, provided West beats CB East. It’s a remarkable turnaround.
“Last week, South played North Penn. Both teams were 4-4 and fighting for a District 1 playoff spot, which goes to the top 16 teams. South shut out North Penn, 17-0. They had a 14-0 lead at halftime. Gavin Graham, the senior running back and defensive lineman who’s going to play football at Army, had a touchdown run late in the second quarter to make it 14-0. The only other score in the second half was a 40-yard field goal by Oliver Woodcock late in the third quarter.
“North Penn is No. 14 in the district rankings, and if the season ended today, they would play CB West in the first round. North Penn was again without Rylei Gray, their standout running back and defensive back. He’s missed several games with a bad ankle. The Knights play Abington this week. Abington has struggled and is 2-7. If North Penn wins, it’ll be interesting to see how far they move up in the bracket, or whether they stay where they are.
“If you’re in the 14th, 15th or 16th spot, you’re going to face one of the top three seeds in the first round. That can be a difficult assignment. One interesting scenario a coach mentioned to me: What if North Penn finishes 16th and plays Pennridge in the first round? That would be a rematch of last year’s district final. There are a lot of moving parts. Another thing worth noting is that eight of the top 16 teams currently come from either the SOL National or SOL Continental. Eight out of 16. Obviously, there are going to be some rematches from the regular season once everything is figured out. The Suburban One League is going to be very well represented in Class 6A.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: In the Continental Conference, Council Rock South pulled the upset of the week with a win over previously undefeated Plymouth Whitemarsh. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Of all the games last week, that was the biggest surprise. Council Rock South won the SOL Continental last year, but they’ve struggled this season. They were fighting for a playoff spot and had lost to Souderton and Quakertown, games you thought they might win. That left them at 4-3. They’re only playing nine games because they aren’t playing Cheltenham, and they were definitely on the bubble for the District 1 Class 6A playoffs. Then they went out last week and beat Plymouth Whitemarsh, which had been undefeated, 26-21. That put Council Rock South right back into the middle of the power rankings. They’re No. 11 now. They finish their regular season Friday against winless Council Rock North.
“Plymouth Whitemarsh had been cruising. It looked like they might get the third seed in the tournament and be one of three undefeated teams, along with Pennridge and Downingtown East. To Council Rock South’s credit, that was truly a surprise. Junior running back Jerry Rogers had 153 yards rushing and scored all four of their touchdowns in the win. As good as South’s offense was, they also held Plymouth Whitemarsh to fewer than 200 yards of offense. It was a complete effort on both sides of the ball, and it put them right back into the heart of the district playoff conversation. That’s a credit to coach C.J. Szydlik and his coaching staff.
“You look at that team after the losses to Quakertown and Souderton, and you might think they’re dead in the water. Then they come back and pull this off against a Plymouth Whitemarsh team that some people thought could reach the district final. They still might, depending on what happens. That wasn’t just one of the upsets of the week. That was one of the upsets of the season.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Quakertown has played itself into the top 16 in the District 1 6A rankings. Your thoughts?
Drew Markol: “Quakertown is No. 13. If they finish there, they would play the fourth seed, which right now would be Spring-Ford. If South beats Pennridge, that would really shake things up. The same could happen if Downingtown East loses. Quakertown started the season 0-4, and it looked like there was no way they could fight back into the district playoffs. But that’s exactly what they’ve done. They’ve won five in a row and are sitting at No. 13 in the rankings. They beat Upper Dublin, 35-14, last week.
“Quakertown plays William Penn of Delaware on Saturday. That’s the game they scheduled to replace Cheltenham. Otherwise, they would have played only nine games. Head coach George Banas wanted to get a 10th game, and he did. William Penn is 0-7. I don’t know much about Delaware high school football, but if you’re 0-7, you’re struggling. If Quakertown wins, that should keep them in the top 16 for the district playoffs. That’s a credit to them. When you’re 0-4, you’re not in a good spot. To win five in a row, with a chance to win six straight, is pretty well done.
Junior quarterback Carter Tucholski is getting better and better. He’s better known for playing baseball, but he’s becoming a pretty good quarterback, too. He threw touchdown passes to Ryan Berlanda and James Weirheim. Running back Marcus Baxter had a two-yard touchdown run that made it 28-7 midway through the third quarter. Quakertown also got a final touchdown run from Gavin Hanschumacher to reach 35 points. They’re rolling.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: With its big win over William Tennent last week, Upper Moreland clinched at least a share of the SOL American Conference title. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Upper Moreland has to beat rival Hatboro-Horsham this weekend, and if they do, they’ll win the American outright. It would be their first conference title since 2020. They’re No. 5 in the Class 5A power rankings. Just like 6A, the top 16 teams qualify for the playoffs. If Upper Moreland stays in the top eight, they’ll get a home game. If they can move up to No. 4, they could get two home games, provided they win the first one.
“Upper Moreland’s only loss this season was to West Chester Henderson, which is No. 15 in the 5A rankings. Depending on how things play out, they could meet again in the playoffs.
“In Upper Moreland’s win over William Tennent, senior Kyle Moore was outstanding again. He had touchdown runs of 60 and 62 yards and returned an interception 43 yards for another score. Moore has been solid all season, and Upper Moreland has a lot of momentum heading into the Hatboro-Horsham game. They know they need to win, and they’re hoping to move from No. 5 to No. 4 in the district rankings.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Truman lost to Wissahickon last week. What are their chances of getting into the District 1 6A Tournament?
Drew Markol: “They’re No. 17 right now, so I don’t want to say they’re out. If somebody ahead of them loses, they might still have a chance. They probably need several things to happen, but I don’t want to make a definite statement. Perkiomen Valley has approximately 920 power points, and Truman has about 910. I don’t know exactly how the calculations work. If Perkiomen Valley plays a weaker opponent and Truman wins, could Truman move ahead of them? It’s possible, but I don’t want to guess. We’ll have a good idea Friday night, but nothing will be official until all the games are completed Saturday.”
Drew’s picks
(Winners in bold)
Bensalem at Plymouth Whitemarsh
Central Bucks East at Central Bucks West
Council Rock North at Council Rock South
Harry S Truman at William Tennent
New Hope-Solebury at Lower Moreland
North Penn at Abington
Pennridge at Central Bucks South
Pennsbury at Neshaminy
Souderton at Upper Dublin
Upper Moreland at Hatboro-Horsham
Wissahickon at Springfield Twp
Quakertown at William Penn (DE)
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