10/25/24 2:00amPosted by editor
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: Pennsbury entered last Friday night’s game at Neshaminy 16th in the District 1 6A rankings. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “One of the big games last week was the archrivalry between Neshaminy and Pennsbury. Pennsbury was fighting to stay in the top 16, and Neshaminy was already in. You 
have a rivalry like that. Pennsbury didn’t know it at the time, but even with a loss, they would still make the field of 16, but in their minds, they had to win. They were down 21-14 in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, and they went on a 63-yard touchdown drive that junior Jordan Brensinger finished off with a 23-yard touchdown run that put them behind 21-20. They could have kicked s point-after and forced overtime, but they went for two and the win right away. Walker Murray, the senior linebacker, who’s a tremendous, tremendous defensive player – they give him the ball for his first carry of the season, and he takes it in and makes it 22-21, and that turns out to be the final. It pushed Pennsbury up to 14 and dropped Neshaminy to 10. Neshaminy had been number eight entering the game and would have hosted a first-round playoff game on Friday, but the loss knocked them down to number 10. Now they have to go to Owen J Roberts on Friday, and Pennsbury has to play at number 3 seed CB West on Friday.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: CB West is the number three seed, and the Bucks will host Pennsbury in Friday night’s opening round. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “We look at the first round of the District 1 6A games, and two National Conference teams are meeting in a rematch. West beat Pennsbury 27-6 the first time they met in early October. West scored three second-quarter touchdowns to pull away. Ryan Clemens had a long touchdown catch from Noah Miller. Clemens also made a pair of field goals in that one. Pennsbury didn’t score until early in the fourth quarter. It’s always hard to beat a team twice, but West goes in with a lot of momentum coming off a big win over East, 35-7, last week, so much like Pennsbury which had its archrivalry win over Neshaminy. West has only lost to CB South on the last play of the game when they played, and they lost to Souderton, and that’s it. West is a third seed, and that’s a team I think could make a run at the whole thing.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Top-ranked CB South will host #16 Spring-Ford. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “CB South, the defending district champion, goes into districts 10-0 with the number one seed. They host Spring-Ford on Friday. They played Spring-Ford last year in the quarterfinals and beat them by a couple of touchdowns. Spring- Ford this year is without Matt Zollers, their quarterback, who is a University of Missouri recruit. He suffered a nasty ankle injury in week four of the season, and he’s out for the year. Since then, they’ve gone 3-3 without him. Spring-Ford has been good for a while. They have a nice program, but without Zollers, it’s hard for them. I like South pretty convincingly in that one. Spring-Ford is also coming off a loss to Pottsgrove, a 5A, team last week. They gave up 42 points to Pottsgrove, which is the eighth seed in the 5A tournament, so it’s not a vintage Pottsgrove team either. Spring-Ford comes in not playing as well as they would like.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn is the four seed and will host Ridley on Saturday. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Another team that I think could compete with CB South is North Penn, which has the fourth seed. They host Ridley, a team they have a history with in the district playoffs. North Penn beat up on Abington last week with senior Josiah Coleman rushing for 221 yards and two touchdowns. Their only two losses of the season were CB West, the third seed, and they lost to CB South, the number one seed, by a total of 16 points in those two games. Ridley comes in 6-4. They’ve had some losses late in the season, so this is a big task for them to go to North Penn and beat a really good Knights’ team that kind of gets overshadowed by West and South. If North Penn wins, they will play the winner of the Quakertown/Haverford game, and I do expect them to win.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Neshaminy will be on the road at #7 Owen J Roberts. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “Like we spoke earlier, Neshaminy has to bounce back. That had to be a really tough loss to Pennsbury. They had Pennsbury on the ropes up 21-14 late in the fourth quarter, and they allowed a long touchdown drive and a two-point conversion that we talked about. Pennsbury came back and beat them by a point. 22-21, so now instead of hosting a game on Friday, they have to go to Owen J Roberts. Coaches will tell you– a long bus ride on a Friday – they always worry about getting a little stale. They would much rather play at home. That’s the way it goes. Neshaminy has to bounce back if they want to go on. Owen J Roberts is 8-2. They have a two-point win over Spring-Ford during the regular season. They shut out Phoenixville last week. It’s a 10-7 game with Neshaminy being the 10 seed and Owen J at seven. Those games – the 8-9 game and the 10-7 game – are the ones should be the closest.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Quakertown is at Haverford on Friday. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Quakertown, as the 12 seed, has to go down and play Haverford. Last week, Quakertown pulled out a one-point win over Cheltenham, but Cheltenham is a team that was so close so many times. Quakertown has shown the ability to come back against teams by scoring a flurry of points. Only CB South state-wide in 6A has allowed fewer points than Haverford, which is allowing a shade over nine points, and CB South is allowing about seven. Haverford is not a team you have furious comebacks against. Haverford’s offense is junior running back Liam Taylor, who’s averaging close to 230 yards rushing a game and he’s already over the 2,000-yard mark and he’s scored 26 rushing touchdowns. Just phenomenal numbers for a 10-game season. Quakertown hasn’t seen a back like that. When it comes to the district playoffs, you don’t know what you’re getting when you play teams from other parts of the district, but numbers like that are staggering. You look at Haverford, and what they do is they give Taylor the ball – he has over 300 carries. They gave him the ball and try to keep the ball away from their opponent. You do that, and it also helps your defense, which is why they have allowed so few points.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Souderton is at Plymouth Whitemarsh on Saturday. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Souderton, the #9 seed, has to go play at #8 Plymouth Whitemarsh, in what should be a really close game, and when eight and nine play each other, it’s supposed to be that way. Souderton earned a share of the Continental Conference title with Quakertown and Upper Dublin by beating Upper Dublin 47-21 last week. Souderton has been playing really, really well. Junior quarterback Ben Walsh had four touchdown passes in that game. Remember, Souderton also has a win over #3 seed CB West from earlier in the season, so they come in playing really well as does Plymouth Whitemarsh. For Plymouth Whitemarsh, senior running back Everett Baker has had a really big season. He’s already rushed over a thousand yards passing with 20 touchdowns, and he’s an enormous part of their offense. Quarterback Caiden Leszczysnki is nearing a thousand yards passing and has thrown for 14 touchdowns. It will be interesting to see. Plymouth Whitemarsh is up in 6A this year. This is a really good 8-9 matchup, for sure, with two good teams that both can run it and throw it. The winner here would likely play CB South in next week’s quarterfinals. Either one will be worthy of that spot and could make it somewhat interesting against South.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin is hosting Unionville in 5A. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Upper Dublin has to bounce back after losing to Souderton big last week. They do get a home game against #11 Unionville. Senior Kevin Etkin, the quarterback, is very composed, and he’s thrown for over 1,300 yards with 13 scores. In addition to Etkin, running back Ron Shepherd has been really good for Upper Dublin with over a thousand yards and 11 touchdowns. That’s a nice 1-2 punch for the Cardinals. I like Upper Dublin here.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Also, in 5A, Upper Moreland is at Chester, Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “Upper Moreland, the 10 seed, has to go down and play a pretty good Chester team that’s averaging over 42 points a game and can hurt you on the ground and in the air. Junior quarterback Jalen Harris has thrown for more than 1,600 yards and 24 touchdowns, and senior running back Dayshon Jackson has over 1,200 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. They’re the #7 seed with a 9-1 record, and that’s a pretty impressive 9-1 when you consider that Chester’s only loss came against Imhotep Charter, which is a perennial state power. Imhotep is in 6A this year and is probably going to face La Salle or St. Joe’s Prep for the 12A title. Chester is legit. Upper Moreland is led by quarterback Alex Foley, tight end Larry Hughes and receiver Aidan Tuffy. I think this could be a high-scoring game. Upper Moreland is going to have to put points on the board, and those three are going to have to be a big part of it. It’s not easy to go down to Chester, which is a long ride, and I think that’s a pretty big task in front of Upper Moreland.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Springfield Twp will host Bishop Shanahan in 4A Your comments.
Drew Markol: “In Class 4A, this should be a good one between second-seeded Springfield and third-seeded Bishop Shanahan. Springfield has relied on running back CJ Johnson a ton, and for good reason. He’s just been electric all year, and also, quarterback Jack McGuckin has been able to throw it around and also runs the football. I lean towards Springfield here. Bishop Shanahan – which is 8-2 - has a nice history in the playoffs, but there seems like there’s a bit of magic in the air with Springfield, and when you have a back like Johnson, that helps. He’ll be hard to stop. These teams didn’t face each other. A team like Shanahan might not have seen a back as good as Johnson. I expect a big game from him and a Springfield win.”
Drew Markol’s picks
(Winners in bold)
Spring-Ford @ Central Bucks South
Quakertown @ Haverford
Neshaminy @ Owen J Roberts
Pennsbury @ Central Bucks West
Upper Moreland @ Chester
Unionville @ Upper Dublin
Lower Moreland @ Pope John Paul II
Bishop Shanahan @ Springfield Twp
New Hope-Solebury @ Bristol
Souderton @ Plymouth Whitemarsh
Ridley @ North Penn
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