Back for its 14th 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.
Join Jeff Nolan for the WPHT High School Football Scoreboard Show as they recap the night of high school football on Friday at 10 p.m. on 1210AM/WPHT and the Audacy app.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Souderton edged Council Rock South 7-0 in an important SOL Continental Conference game. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “I had seen Council Rock South play Upper Dublin the week before, and they just did not look – I don’t want to say inspired, but they just were a little bit sluggish. They played awfully well against Souderton last Friday, a 7-0 Souderton win. Souderton scored on its first possession – went right down the field, and Ryan Sadowski went in for a touchdown. You’re like, ‘Okay, that was too easy.’ It turns out that was it. Then it was basically a battle between the 30s, and when Souderton did get close at the end, they fumbled, and that stopped that drive. Quarterback Chase Ennis was leading South down the field, but he threw an interception to sophomore Tim Meehan. That was Meehan’s second interception of the game, and they were both nice interceptions. He stepped in front of the receiver and made good plays. He was hawking the ball, and it was just a 7-0 win.
“Those were two good teams. South showed me something in that game. Souderton was putting up a lot of points in games, and they just shut them down. 
They did a really nice job. Sadowski was very limited. They were keying on him and Danny Dyches, and that’s what you have to do. A lot of the offense for Council Rock South in that one was Chase Myers, the senior running back, who had 130 yards. He broke a long run down the sideline, and he got run down around the 25-yard line after about a 49-yard run, which obviously did not lead to any points for Council Rock South. It knocked Council Rock South in the district seedings down to number 12, but we talked about this last week too – for a team like that just to get into districts, which it looks like they may well do – they have to win out, but that’s a nice accomplishment for them.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn earned a 24-21 come-from-behind win at Pennsbury in an important game for those two squads. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “The best comeback of the weekend was North Penn, which was down 21-7 at the half at Pennsbury. Pennsbury scored two touchdowns in the final minute-and-a-half of the first half and leads 21-7 at the break with all the momentum. North Penn just fights back with its third string quarterback Aiden Eves who is normally a linebacker. He threw a long pass to Rashad McNeill for 40 yards to put North Penn on Pennsbury’s 19. They lost a couple of yards on the first two plays, but the junior kicker, Ryan Bocklet, comes in and drills a 40-yard field goal. North Penn has had a series of kickers – the Macnamaras and going way back to Brandon McManus. Bocklet is only a junior – he makes a 40-yarder, and he’s got more leg than that too. The next thing you know, North Penn wins 24-21 and continues its mastery over Pennsbury – I think that’s 22 of the last 23 games they’ve won against Pennsbury or some crazy number. That put North Penn at 14th in the district seedings and dropped Pennsbury out of it. They’re at number 17, and only the top 16 get in. We have two weeks to go, and there are going to be changes. That one was a very interesting turn of events that’s going to affect things, for sure, as we close out the regular season.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks South and Central Bucks West both had big wins, setting the stage for Friday’s showdown at War Memorial Field. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “You look at the top of the SOL National Conference standings. CB South stayed unbeaten, they shut out Neshaminy 42-0. Neshaminy has played some good games. Right now they’re number 19 in the district seedings, but they could sneak into the playoffs. Then CB West’s Conor McFadden had a couple of touchdowns and a 97-yard interception return, and the Bucks shut out Pennridge 28-0 to set up the big game this week – South at West, the two 8-0 teams going at it.
“As far as the regular season goes, this is the game of the year. Both teams are 8-0. The winner will likely win the National Conference. We hear a lot about the CB West offense, but CB South has actually scored more points than CB West on the season, but they both only allowed 64 points in their eight games. CB South beat West 21-7 last year in the regular season. West made its run to the district final last year, so you kind of almost forget about the regular season, but South did beat them last year at the same spot in the schedule. The winner of that game will clinch at least a share of the SOL National Conference title.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin at Souderton is a big game in the Continental Conference. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “It’s the same story in the Continental Conference as in the National Conference. Upper Dublin is at Souderton. The winner of that one will win a share of the Continental Conference title. Souderton hasn’t lost at home since 2019 – that’s 17 games in a row. Think about that – the seniors were in eighth grade when Souderton last lost at home. A home field advantage on the high school level – to me – has never really been a thing. I don’t know – if you’ve won 17 in a row at home, maybe it is a thing.
“I think both games are going to be very tight and may come down to the kicking game. I give an edge in the West/South game to West with Ryan Clemens, but Nick Esterly is a pretty good kicker for South. With Souderton/Upper Dublin, Rylan Zuk for Souderton is exceptional. I keep waiting for him to kick a 50-plus yard field goal with that kind of leg. Regardless, both of those games could really come right down to the wire, and that’s how it should be when you’re playing for a conference title.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks East, which rolled to a big win over Abington, is 15th in the latest District 1 6A power rankings and will face Neshaminy. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “You look at the East/Neshaminy game – it’s an absolutely must-win for both. Right now, Neshaminy is 3-5, and 3-6 is not going to help you. East at 4-4 is in the tournament right now at number 15, but they need to beat Nesahminy because they have to play West next week, and West would like nothing more than to knock East out of the playoffs if they could. That’s also another really big game. Nesahminy has to bounce back from getting shut out by CB South last week whereas East took care of Abington when they played. When you look at the current District 1 seedings: 12 is Council Rock South, 13 is Quakertown, 14 is North Penn, 15 is CB East, 17 is Pennsbury, 19 is Neshaminy and then you have Pennridge at 21. Those teams are all thinking – ‘We have to win our two last two games.’ Can they get all the way into the top eight and get a first round home playoff game? I doubt it. The eighth seed right now is Garnet Valley, the defending district champion, and they’re 6-2. Now you’re playing to get in, and you’ll go on the road, but you just want to get in.”
SuburbanOneSprots.com: Bensalem defeated Hatboro-Horsham 52-20. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Sophomore Aiden Mayfield had a huge game for Bensalem, and they put up 52 points against Hatboro-Horsham. I picked the Hatters to win that game, and Bensalem just went out and really took it to them. It’s a young Bensalem team with very few seniors. Thomas Bailey, another sophomore, is a very good player. If they can stay together, they can hopefully keep improving. Alex Houston, the coach, is in his third season. He’s a Bensalem graduate, and he’s just trying to get that program up to speed. They’ve been down for a very, very long time, and that’s hard to do, but that was the kind of win late in the season that will help you in the offseason.”
Drew Markol’s Picks
(Winners in bold)
Pennsbury @ Abington
Council Rock South @ Bensalem
Neshaminy @ Central Bucks East
Central Bucks South @ Central Bucks West
Cheltenham @ William Tennent
Council Rock North @ Hatboro-Horsham
Quakertown @ Harry S Truman
Lower Moreland @ Murrell Dobbins HS
South Hunterdon Regional HS @ New Hope-Solebury
Pennridge @ North Penn
Plymouth Whitemarsh @ Wissahickon
Upper Dublin @ Souderton
Springfield Twp @ Upper Moreland
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