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: Central Bucks South edged North Penn in a battle of district powers. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “One of the biggest games of the year – North Penn undefeated at the time and 6-0 was at CB South in an SOL National Conference game for first place. It lived up the buildup. CB South, the defending district champions, won 14-6. CB South is known for its defense, and that defense came up really big. They limited a really good North Penn offense that 
hadn’t scored fewer than 28 points in any game, and all they could muster were a pair of Ryan Bocklet field goals.
“CB South got a touchdown run from senior quarterback Owen Pinkerton to take a 7-0 lead and then Braylen Cape, who is a sophomore running back – he’s going to be good - scored on a short run to account for the final margin.
“CB South’s defense limited North Penn to under 30 yards rushing which is unheard of, and Matt Bucksar, North Penn’s junior quarterback, was held down too. It was just a case where that South defense was so good last year and so good this year. They shut down a good offense, they go to 7-0, and they’re in the driver’s seat for the National Conference regular season title, something they didn’t win last year. CB West did, but CB South went on to win the district title.
“Friday’s game was a pretty good one. Jimmy Wade, the linebacker for South, Eddie Bowen, the defensive end, led that defense, and that was just a super win in a game between two good teams.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin scored on the last play of the game for a walk-off win over Quakertown. You were there. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Both teams were both 3-0 in the conference going into Friday’s game. Upper Dublin got out to a 28-7 lead in the third quarter. The game was close the whole way, but Upper Dublin was converting its scoring opportunities. All of a sudden, Quakertown starts chipping away and chipping away. They scored to get within four points. They tried an on-sides kick, and automatically, you’re thinking back to that miraculous comeback they had against Souderton two weeks earlier when they were down 28-0 at the end of one quarter, and they came back and won 35-34.
Well, sure enough, junior quarterback Brady Martin for Quakertown throws a touchdown pass to Matt Thomas, the senior wide receiver, who caught the winning touchdown against Souderton, and you’re like – ‘My god, Quakertown is going to do it again,’ but to their credit, Upper Dublin got the on-sides kick with about a minute to go. They were able to drive down the field, and with four seconds left on the clock, they were on the Quakertown four-yard line. They’re trailing 34-31- they could have kicked a field goal and forced the overtime, but they didn’t do that.
“I asked Bret Stover about it after the game, and he didn’t think they could stop Quakertown with the momentum Quakertown had, so either they had to win it or lose it at that point. And sure enough, they won it when senior quarterback Kevin Etkin, who has a really, really nice pocket presence -there was rushing and craziness, but he waited calmly in the pocket and hooked up with another senior, Eric Berman, in the middle of end zone for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. Game over – 37-34 Upper Dublin wins to go 4-0 in the conference.
“It was just a great win for Upper Dublin. Quakertown had so much momentum, but for Upper Dublin to be able to just move down the field very quickly to give themselves a chance was impressive. It was just a very exciting high school football game, but one of the differences that led to Quakertown having to keep battling back – Quakertown had three turnovers, Upper Dublin didn’t have any. That just makes it hard. Quakertown was shooting itself in the foot, and Upper Dublin didn’t. In the end, it caught up to Quakertown because they couldn’t quite pull off another miracle.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Talk about the implications of the Upper Dublin win and Quakertown loss.
Drew Markol: “The one thing for sure that this did – it opens the door for Souderton, who is back into the mix in the Continental at 3-1. Souderton plays Upper Dublin in the final week of the regular season on Oct. 25, which isn’t that far away actually. Souderton took care of business against Bensalem in a 44-13 win. They built a big early lead. Running back Houston Marshall scored a touchdown that made it 22-0. Ben Walsh, the junior quarterback, threw a touchdown to Mike McCormick. They went for two, and they got it. Souderton had a 30-0 lead at the half against Bensalem, so they were able to kind of cruise in that one.
Souderton – which will play Council Rock South this week - had a loss to Quakertown that can really hurt a team - well, now you’ve got a bit of a pardon from the governor because if you can win your next two games and then you go and you beat Upper Dublin, you’re going to share the Continental Conference title. It would be a three-way tie for the top spot, but if you’re Souderton and you thought that Quakertown loss was sort of an end thing – they’ve been given new life and some new energy, I’m sure.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Moreland rebounded from its loss to Springfield Twp to defeat William Tennent. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Upper Moreland took care of business right away in 42-7 win over William Tennent after suffering their first loss of the season to Springfield Twp. They rolled in this one – built a big lead, and they’re back at 6-1 with their lone loss to Springfield Twp.
On the first play from scrimmage, Alex Foley hit Jamir Williams on a 60-yard bomb to get the Golden Bears close, and then Justin Valentin scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Early in the second quarter, Aidan Tuffy scored on a 14-yard touchdown run, and then Foley connected with Williams for a touchdown. It was 21-0 Upper Moreland at the half, and it was all but over. Then junior defensive back/tight end Larry Hughes intercepts a Tennent pass early in the third quarter and runs it back for a touchdown, and Upper Moreland’s on its way. It looks like they’ve kind of righted things with that win.
“Upper Moreland does play Wissahickon on Thursday, which could be interesting.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Neshaminy put itself in a good position in the District 1 6A rankings with a big win over Pennridge.
Drew Markol: “One of the most surprising scores of the weekend was a Saturday afternoon game. Neshaminy went up to Pennridge and beat the Rams 38-3 in a game that I thought would be a whole lot closer. It looked as though Pennridge was playing better and was starting to turn the corner, but Neshaminy rolled up over 400 yards of offense. They scored on the first play from scrimmage when junior quarterback Michael Eckhart went 70 yards for a touchdown, and Neshaminy was just on its way.
Sophomore running back Nahsir Moore had a long touchdown run before halftime, and it was 17-3 Neshaminy at the half. Then Neshaminy tacks on three more touchdowns after halftime and just blows out Pennridge. Last year, I believe, it was a one-point game when these two teams played.
“You look at Neshaminy – they’re 5-2 now, and they’re 8th in the latest District 1 6A power rankings. Their only losses have come against North Penn and CB West, two of the top teams in the National Conference. If the season ended today – a phrase I hate, Neshaminy would host a home game in the first round. They still have to play CB South, but if you’re Neshaminy at 5-2 and you haven’t been to the district tournament since 2018, I believe, you have to be feeling pretty good.
“Neshaminy is at CB East on Thursday, and that should be a close game, but it’s a winnable game. It gets you to six wins – you still have to play CB South, and you finish up as always against Pennsbury in the final week of the season. If you get to six or seven wins, you’re in the district playoffs for sure, and for a team that hasn’t been there in a while like Neshaminy, that’s a pretty good roll. Their arrow is pointing up. That’s just a good win, and Pennridge’s arrow after this one flipped it to pointing down. They have to try and bounce back at 4-3 and get themselves a couple of wins, but despite the loss to Neshaminy, they’re at number 11, right ahead of Souderton.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: The District 1 playoff picture is interesting. Your thoughts looking ahead to this week’s games.
Drew Markol: “Down at 16 in the district power rankings is Pennsbury, and at 3-4, Pennsbury is not out of it yet either. I’ve said for years, the district field is too bloated. In Class 5A and 6A, they take the top 16 teams. If it was up to me, I would take the top eight – that’s more representative of the kind of regular season teams have had. I could even live with the top 12 where you have a couple of first round byes for teams.
“Right now, Spring-Ford is 15th in the rankings at 3-4, and Pennsbury is 16th at 3-4.”
Pennsbury is playing North Penn – a team they beat two years ago for the first time in forever. North Penn beat them last year. Pennsbury has got to get a win. They’ve got to beat North Penn or they’ve got to beat Neshaminy. If you’re Pennsbury, you think – ‘We have to win two of the last three, get to 5-5 and see what happens. Again, there’s just too many teams in the district playoffs.
“Springfield Twp is playing at PW in the big game in the SOL American. Last year, PW beat the Spartans 35-0. Springfield is the second seed in the Class. 4A power rankings, behind Pope John Paul II. They have a tough one this week at Plymouth Whitemarsh. PW is 5-2 and beat Springfield Twp 35-0 last year and probably will beat them again this year. It’s hard for a 4A team against a good 6A team to win that game. If Springfield were to lose, it would likely cost them top seed in 4A, but a loss to a pretty good 6A team as far as the power points go is not going to clobber them. They’ll be able to bounce back from that even if they were to lose. That will be a good one on Thursday.”
Drew Markol’s Picks
(Winners in bold)
Abington @ Central Bucks South
Council Rock North @ Bensalem
Central Bucks East @ Neshaminy
Cheltenham @ Upper Dublin
Council Rock South @ Souderton
Harry S Truman @ Quakertown
Hatboro-Horsham @ William Tennent
Lower Moreland @ Thomas Edison
Executive Education Academy Charter @ New Hope-Solebury
Pennsbury @ North Penn
Springfield Twp @ Plymouth Whitemarsh
Wissahickon @ Upper Moreland
Central Bucks West @ Pennridge
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