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 West used a big second half to defeat Downingtown East. You were at that game. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “CB West had a pretty convincing win in its quarterfinal against Downingtown East. It was 14-14 at the half, but West scored on its first three possessions of the second half, and Downingtown East finally scored to make it 35-21 with about three minutes to play. But West was very dominant. They only allowed 73 yards of total offense in the second half until 
Downingtown East’s final drive. For the game, Downingtown East could only manage 51 rushing yards. West had shut out Pennsbury in the first round for its first shutout of the season. They came out in the second half and just took it to Downingtown East to get the win.
“It was a game where Noah Miller, the quarterback, had a big night. He had 171 rushing yards on 27 carries, and he scored two touchdowns. Ryan Clemens, the senior who does everything for West, only had 12 carries, which is a low total for him, but he still had 105 rushing yards and two touchdowns. It was just a good quarterfinal win. Now they go to the semifinals. They’re the third seed, they’re playing the second seed, so they have to go on the road to Downingtown West, Downingtown East’s sister school, this Friday.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about Central Bucks West’s game at second-seeded Downingtown West for a District 1 6A semifinal game Friday.
Drew Markol: “The Whippets are 11-1. They did lose to Bishop Shanahan, a Class 4A team, for their only loss of the season, 28-22. Last week, they took care of Owen J Roberts 41-7. Owen J was the team that beat Neshaminy in the first round of the playoffs. Against Downingtown West, Owen J could do nothing. They finished with 12 rushing yards on 22 carries. Do the math - that’s a lot of rushes for losses. What Downingtown West did do – they scored touchdowns on four of their five second-half possessions to put the game away.
They have a sophomore running back, Amari Cannon, who transferred from Downingtown East and hadn’t played all season until late in the year. He had 153 rushing yards, and 145 of those came in the second half to lead a Downingtown West offense that rushed for 382 yards in the win. They’ve got be feeling very confident.
“You look at comparative scores though – CB West beat Downingtown East 35-21, and when Downingtown West played Downingtown East, their archrival, a couple weeks ago, they won that game 14-13. But with rivalry games, it can be a different story when both teams are jacked up.
“This should be a good, close district semifinal game, and that’s what you want.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks South shut out eighth-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh in a quarterfinal game. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “South continues to show why it has the best defense in the state in Class 6A. Last week, in their quarterfinal, the top seed and the defending district champion played number eight seed Plymouth Whitemarsh and shut them out 35-0. It was only 14-0 at the half, but the Titans scored three times in the second half to put it away.
“Their defense is not allowing anything all season. For the season, CB South has allowed 78 points in 12 games, which is about 6 ½ points a game. They’ve just really been taking it to teams. They’ve yet to allow any team to reach 20 points on them. The shutout was their third of the season, and only two teams – Central Bucks East and Central Bucks West – have reached double figures in points against them. In their last seven games, they’ve only allowed 33 points, less than five points a game.
Now, only two games into the playoffs, they’ve played Spring-Ford and Plymouth Whitemarsh, they’ve outscored those two 84-7. South is just primed to go. That defense has just been really good.
“Owen Pinkerton, the senior quarterback, had another solid game. He led South with 88 rushing yards and had a touchdown against Plymouth Whitemarsh. Braylen Cape, the sophomore running back, finished with 78 rushing yards.
“Plymouth Whitemarsh could only throw for 103 yards and managed just 25 net rushing yards. Again, their rushing defense, much like we just talked about with Downingtown West – South is just stopping teams cold. They’ve been doing it all season. South is going to be a tough out, and they’re going to face a North Penn team that is seeded fourth.”
During the regular season, they beat North Penn 14-6, and North Penn did not score a touchdown and couldn’t get anything going offensively. They had two Ryan Bocklet field goals in that game. I just think with the way South’s defense is playing – it’s going to be that same kind of thing again that North Penn’s going to have to play really good defensively, but I think CB South is the better team at this point in the season. I like them in this spot.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn defeated Haverford to advance to set up a semifinal date with Central Bucks South. Your thoughts about that game.
Drew Markol: “Last week, North Penn was in a battle with Haverford High all the way to the end. It was 22-21 before junior Matt Pownall had an interception and then turned around, and two plays later, he went 79 yards for a touchdown to account for the 29-21 final score. Pownall also had a touchdown receiving, and Josiah Coleman, the running back for North Penn, also ran for a touchdown.
“This one was pretty close. It was 29-21, but it was 22-21 late in the fourth quarter before North Penn was able to put it away.
“The big story going for North Penn going in was Liam Taylor, Haverford’s junior running back who has rushed for close to 3,000 yards on the season. He was basically their whole offense, carrying the ball 40 times. Head coach Dick Beck said he figured that Haverford probably only ran about 45 plays, and this Taylor kid had 40 touches, which is insane. He ran for 255 yards and had a touchdown run.
“North Penn got a pretty good test against a really good running back, and they were able to survive it, and now they have a rematch with CB South on Friday in the semifinals. It’s tough to beat a team twice, so that should be a pretty good one, although I also thought that CB South and Plymouth Whitemarsh would be a pretty good one, and CB South ended up with a mercy rule win. South has played well all season, and they’re playing really well now.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin won a wild one against Phoenixville in Class 5A. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “In the 5A quarters, Upper Dublin, the six seed, gets a wild 35-28 win over Phoenixville. It came down to the very end. Upper Dublin is used to that. They’ve had plenty of very close games. They’ve played three one-score games, and two of them came down to the final play in the game. They keep finding ways to win these.
“Kevin Etkin was fabulous again. He threw for 306 yards and four touchdowns. Three of those touchdowns went to fellow senior Ryan O’Sullivan, who had an enormous game with 14 catches for 137 yards and three touchdowns. It was just a remarkable performance. After a kid catches 10 passes, I’d cover him, but if it’s working, it’s working.
In this one, it was tied at 21 all at the end of three quarters. Upper Dublin scores twice in the fourth quarter and holds Phoenixville to just one touchdown to win 35-28. That puts Upper Dublin in the 5A semis against West Chester Rustin, which defeated Chester 45-16 in their quarterfinal game. You add in Eric Berman, who’s also a really good receiver for Upper Dublin, to O’Sullivan and the way Kevin Etkin has played all season at quarterback – this is why they’re a tough out. They go on the road, and they beat the third seed. Now they have to go on the road again, but I don’t think it matters. They just go and play. When you know you can score fast like they can, it keeps them in a lot of games.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Springfield Twp saw its season come to an end in the District 1 4A championship game, falling to Pope John Paul II. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Springfield Twp ran into a juggernaut in Pope John Paul II and lost 49-7. That Pope John Paul team recruits a lot of players, which Catholic schools do, and they just had too much firepower for the Spartans in this one.
“To Springfield’s credit, they went to the district final for the first time in nine seasons. They had a heck of a year. Midway through the second quarter of Friday’s game, it was 7-7 before Pope John Paul rattled off three touchdowns in the second quarter to lead 28-7 at the half. That was about it. PJP had a couple more scores in the third quarter to put it away, but that’s a tough spot for Springfield having to play a team like Pope John Paul that brings in a lot of players from all over the place. It’s hard to come up against them, it’s very frustrating. You can’t take anything away from the season the Spartans had. They had a heck of a year. It was just a great job by Chris Shelly, their coach.”
Drew Markol’s picks
(Winner in bold)
North Penn @ Central Bucks South
Central Bucks West @ Downingtown West
Upper Dublin @ West Chester Rustin
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