Back for its 15th 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: Springfield defeated an Upper Moreland team that took a 5-0 record into the game. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “There were a couple of good games last week, but Springfield Twp beating Upper Moreland 41-17 has to be at or near the top. For the Spartans, they hadn’t beaten Upper Moreland for at least a decade, and as a 4A team, you’re going up against a 5A team in Upper Moreland, so that makes it harder. You’re playing a team with more kids, but Springfield had a 
21-17 lead at the half, and they shut out Upper Moreland in the second half and outscore them 20-0 and win going away, 41-17. It’s just an incredible win.
“CJ Johnson has been so good for Springfield, and second-year quarterback Jack McGuckin has really come along. It’s a heck of a story. Upper Moreland came in undefeated You look at the American Conference with Plymouth Whitemarsh right there at the top of the field and then Upper Moreland. Now this happens, and Springfield jumps ahead of them.
“Johnson can score from anywhere. He had a 13-yard touchdown run, he had a 78-yard touchdown run. Chris Shelly, the coach, said after the game he believes Johnson has all-state caliber talent, and he’s probably right. That’s how good he is. You look at his final numbers – they’re unbelievable. He had three touchdowns and 302 yards on 18 carries. Do the math on that. My god, that’s over 15 yards a carry. I’m not sure my math is right, but whatever the number, it starts with a one and has another number before a decimal. It’s just remarkable. You think of ‘three yards and cloud of dust’ will win you games. Well, 15 yards and a cloud of dust will really win you games. That’s what Johnson is doing.
“Springfield is 5-1, and they’re 2-0 in conference play. They play Hatboro-Horsham on Saturday, and it looks like a winnable game. Now you’re 6-1, you’re cruising.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Another big win in the SOL American was William Tennent beating Wissahickon. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “As impressive as Springfield’s win over Upper Moreland was, right up there is William Tennent beating Wissahickon 21-14. Tennent came in at 2-3, and Wissahickon came in at 4-1. On paper, it looked like a Wissahickon win. When you think about William Tennent’s quarterback, Gavin Mensch – he got hit and had to leave the game. Tennent had to go to Derrek Guenther, its backup quarterback, and he scored a couple of touchdowns. They used an on-sides kick to open the second half and got it. More importantly, Guenther finished it off after they got the on-sides kick, and he went down and scored.
“You’ve got to love moves like that, and you’ve got to give Tennent coach Colin Leach credit for calling that. In games you’re not supposed to win, sometimes you have to do some funky things. High school kids pulling off an on-sides kick is not easy, and to do it and to get it and the jolt of energy that it gives you - just a great job by William Tennent.
“AJ Alwan, one of Tennent’s linebackers, recovered a fumble. He had a great game too. You can’t say enough. Alwan finished with three tackles for loss, he had a sack. Sean Hazlett had two tackles for loss and a sack. That momentum – it’s contagious, and what a huge win. Nobody saw that one coming, just like nobody saw Springfield winning. You had two American Conference games that were absolutely terrific.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Also, in the SOL American, Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Dan Chang got his 100th win. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “It’s hard to believe Dan Chang is in his 15th year with the Colonials, and it was a nice little milestone for him. He got his 100th win when PW beat Hatboro-Horsham 38-0. They’re just cruising right along. They’re 4-2, but they’re playing a really good schedule. I believe he’s won seven titles since he’s been there, and they’re a perennial district playoff team. What Chang has done – they’ve won three (titles) in a row, and they are the team to beat, making it four in a row.
“Everett Baker, who had five touchdowns last week, had two in this one. Every year that program is just solid, and it’s a credit to Chang, a North Penn grad. He was a very good high school player He took over at PW, and they’ve been winning consistently under him for a decade and a half.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks South remained undefeated with a 12-7 win over Pennsbury. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Central Bucks South was coming off that final play miracle in beating CB West. They go down to Pennsbury, and they’re coming off that win over West, and that was such an emotional game, and you wonder how they would come back. The same with CB West, and they came back and beat Neshaminy 21-10.
“For CB South, it was kind of a crummy day, a lot of coaches don’t like to play on a Saturday. They like that Friday night thing going on. South’s defense as always shows up. They held Pennsbury to just 48 yards of offense. Pennsbury is all about the ground and pound, and they do it well, but they only ran 21 plays from scrimmage and CB South ran 73. That’s unheard of.
“The fact that it was only 12-7 is a credit also to the Pennsbury defense, which was out there forever. That was a nice win for South. Their two sophomore running backs scored their touchdown – Braylen Cape had the first one and Gavin Graham at the other. Those are two names we’re going to be talking about a lot. They’re two big bruising running backs, only sophomores that look like seniors if you’ve seen South play.
“You look at South’s defense. Eddie Bowen, the defensive lineman, is always there for South and has been doing it for a while. He led South with seven tackles. Jimmy Wade, the linebacker, was a stalwart on last year’s district district championship team. He missed the West game, and he came back and had his usual huge impact.
“Senior quarterback Owen Pinkerton had 142 rushing yards in this one. He puts up very quiet numbers, but he’s just very effective week after week. He’s just a really good high school quarterback who does a great job running that offense, and here South sits at 6-0, and they have to play North Penn who is also 6-0 this week in what looks like the best game of the week.
“You look at Pennsbury – that put them at 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the National Conference. They host CB West on Friday, and just a note – most of the Friday games are at 7:30 because of the Jewish holiday. If you’re looking for seven o’clock starts, you’re not going to find them. Pennsbury has four games to play – do you have to win three of them and go 3-1. Do you get in the district playoffs at 5-5. Maybe you don’t. A lot depends on who you played, and Pennsbury has played a pretty good schedule. If you’re Pennsbury, you’re thinking – we have to go 3-1 if we want to get into district playoffs, and they have a tough schedule ahead. Now we’re heading into crunch time in week seven. It starts to really get real.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Bensalem picked up a big win over Council Rock South. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “All but lost in the shuffle of some other impressive wins was Bensalem in the Continental – they beat Council Rock South 31-13. Council Rock South shut them out last year 24-0. You rarely see that kind of a turnaround on the high school level. For Bensalem to do that – this was a game that was 7-7 at the half, and Bensalem outscores the Golden Hawks 24-6 in the second half. Thomas Bailey, a junior running back, had a long touchdown run. He finished with 115 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and he also had an interception. Another junior, Aidan Mayfield, had 77 rushing yards and scored a rushing touchdown. Bailey and Mayfield have been excellent, and they’ve been playing for Bensalem since their freshman year. The win gets Bensalem to 3-3, and coach Alex Houston said after the game – they had some injuries and some academic issues, and they only dressed 35 players. On the 6A level, that few players is unheard of. That’s a number you’d normally see at a 2A program or a small 3A. To have that few players and to come up that big is just enormous. Look at them – they’re 3-3, and if you’re Bensalem and you’re coming off a loss to Quakertown, that is a tremendous accomplishment.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Souderton rebounded from its devastating loss to Quakertown with a big win over Cheltenham. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Bensalem goes into this week against a Souderton team that just two weeks ago had an enormous lead on Quakertown – they were up 28-0 on them, and it looked like they were on their way to a mercy rule, but Quakertown comes all the way back and beats them 35-34. That could be devastating. Coach Ed Gallagher said – it was a brutal loss, and you don’t forget a loss like that. A lot of ‘coach speak’ is – ‘Oh, we’ll forget about this one, we have to move on.’ Ed Gallagher was honest and said that was a bad loss we had against Quakertown, and we have to come back from it, and they did. They beat Cheltenham 49-13 last week. It was 7-7 after one quarter, but Souderton scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to make it 28-7 and had a comfortable lead at the half.
“JoJo Sudi scored on a long run, Elijah Hampton, who’s a very good receiver, recovered a fumble on defense and ran about 50 yards for a score. Junior quarterback Ben Walsh threw a touchdown pass to Caleb Moyer. In the second half, Hampton returned an interception for a touchdown, so he had a fumble recovery he ran back for a touchdown and an interception he ran back for a touchdown.
“That win gets Souderton back to 3-3, 1-1 in the Continental. They host Bensalem on Friday in what is shaping up to be a very important game, no doubt. You have Bensalem riding high. If you’re Bensalem, you’re thinking – ‘If we win a couple more games, maybe we get in the playoffs.” Why not think that way? If you’re Souderton that was 11-0 and reached the quarterfinals last year, you’re thinking – ‘We’re going to make it to districts, but we’ve got to win.’ If you’re Souderton and start your season 0-2 and beat CB West to go 1-2, you’re thinking you should be 4-2, but instead, you’re 3-3. There’s a big difference between 4-2 and 3-3.”
Drew Markol’s Picks
(Winner in bold)
Central Bucks East @ Abington
Bensalem @ Souderton
North Penn @ Central Bucks South
Central Bucks West @ Pennsbury
New Hope-Solebury @ Renaissance Academy Charter
Quakertown @ Upper Dublin
William Tennent @ Upper Moreland
Council Rock North @ Cheltenham
Harry S Truman @ Council Rock South
Hatboro-Horsham @ Springfield Twp
Lower Moreland @ Bristol
Neshaminy @ Pennridge
Plymouth Whitemarsh @ Wissahickon
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