Back for its 12th 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 and Kevin Cooney for the WPHT High School Football Scoreboard Show as they recap the night of high school football on Friday 10 p.m. to midnight on 1210AM/WPHT and the Audacy app.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks West defeated Central Bucks East in the annual rivalry game that had playoff implications. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “CB West moved up from nine to eight in the power point rankings, so they got themselves a home game by beating CB East 35-15 last Saturday. It was a big win for West. They go into the districts at 8-2. They’ve only lost to Coatesville and North Penn who – along with Garnet Valley - may be the best teams in the district. West took care of business when they had to, and they’ve got themselves a home game. Pennridge is seeded ninth, and West beat Pennridge a couple weeks ago. It was a good game, 28-24.
“You look at East, and they’ve lost three in a row. Those losses were to North Penn, Pennridge and West, who are all in the district tournament, but a loss is a loss, and it knocked them down to 11. They have to go to Perk Valley to play what looks like a pretty good Perk Valley team in the first round. That’s not an easy order.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about the rest of the District One 6A games featuring SOL squads.
Drew Markol: “North Penn hammered Central Bucks South last week 35-7, and low and behold, they’re playing Central Bucks South again. North Penn is the second seed, and they’ll play CB South, which is very difficult for CB South to try and bounce back against a really good and explosive North Penn team. Is something magically going to change from last week to this week? Probably not. Again, you have to play the hand you’re dealt.
“Then we have another rematch from the Continental Conference as Souderton will play undefeated Quakertown, which is the fifth seed at 10-0. When they played 
Souderton earlier this season, it was a good game for one half and then Quakertown was able to pull away for a 36-14 win. Quakertown did everything they could this year, and they got a fifth seed. There were rumblings from a lot of different places about the fact that Neshaminy and Pennsbury didn’t play last Friday because of all the wind and the rain. The fact that they moved the game to Monday meant that it would be considered a no-contest and would not be used in the power point rankings for each of the different teams that played them. It hurt some teams. It hurt Quakertown a bit. They were hoping to get a four seed, and I know in 5A it hurt Academy Park for sure because they had played Pennsbury.
“Neshaminy and Pennsbury have been taking a good amount of heat, but I don’t think that heat is warranted. In this day and age where everyone has a turf field, guess who has grass fields? Neshaminy and Pennsbury, so if you were out in that rain last Friday like I was, that was a lot of rain, a lot of wind, and if you have a grass field, you have a mess. Could they have gone to Truman and played that game on a turf field on that short a notice? I don’t know. I don’t know the implications or ramifications, but I don’t fault Neshaminy, I don’t fault Pennsbury. Pennsbury wanted to have a home game. Okay, so move it to Monday.
“It hurts you in the district seedings if you were number 17 and then not playing you don’t get in, but if you’re in the field already – sure, it’s nice to have home games, but you’re in the field. If you want to be a district champion, you’ve got to play the good teams. It might look good on a coach’s resume to get to the quarterfinals or semifinals, but the outside world doesn’t care. Nobody cares if you lose in the quarterfinals or the semifinals. You remember who won the championship, so take care of your business and try and win a championship. If you have to play Coatesville in the second round or Garnet Valley in the second round or North Penn in the second round, go beat them. Just to say you got a higher seed and you avoided one of the heavyweights another week – that just rings very hollow for me.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: What are your thoughts about the SOL teams competing in Class 5A and 4A?
SuburbanOneSports.com: “Upper Moreland is playing a pretty good Pottsgrove team that beat Spring-Ford last week, and Spring-Ford is seeded 13th in 6A. One thing that always helped Upper Moreland is they played a lot of 5A and 6A teams during the regular season that would help them get ready for the playoffs, but Pottsgrove has also played a number of 5A and 6A schools, so there’s really not that advantage there. The winner of that game has to play Bishop Shanahan. If you’re Upper Moreland, you’ve got to be on top of your game right away. If you get a lead, you can’t let the other team back in. If you do and you end up losing, this time you lose you’re out. Upper Moreland is a good team. Byron Hopkins, the quarterback, Cam Jackson, the running back and Ryan Alexa, the receiver – they’re explosive. Their loss to Upper Darby Friday cost them a home game.
“Plymouth Whtiemarsh, Upper Dublin and Cheltenham are in 5A. It’s hard to win a district title. If someone said, ‘Are any of the Suburban One League schools going to win a district title’ – if I gave an honest answer – no, and we’re talking 6A, 5A and 4A. I think North Penn has the best chance, but when push comes to shove, we’ll see. It’s hard to do.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your general thoughts heading into postseason play.
Drew Markol: “I’ve talked with coaches and asked them – ‘Who’s the best team in the district?’ Some coaches have told me it’s Coatesville, some have said it’s North Penn, some have said Garnet Valley. No shock here. Those are three really good teams, and especially North Penn and Coatesville have longer pedigree than Garnet Valley, but Garnet Valley as of late – meaning the last decade – has really become a power. It’s going to come down to one of those three. The district winner will likely get La Salle or St. Joe’s Prep in the state semifinals, and that’s where things usually come to a crashing halt.
“I wish there were no postseason playoffs, but the fact that there is and then that roadblock is sitting there every year - the district title becomes pretty much all you’re going to get. That’s why I wish District One would make a bigger deal out of it like they do in District 7 where they take those teams to Heinz Field where the Steelers play and let the kids play there. District One will argue they don’t have a place like that within the district. They could go to Villanova, I guess, but Villanova has kind of priced themselves out. You have the district title game at the home field of the higher seed, and the kids across the state are playing where the Steelers play. Which one would you rather play?
“I also would have a parochial/private school division. It’s the same thing coming out of the west. The team that wins that semifinal game to get to go to Hershey – now you get to play Prep or La Salle. Well, good luck. The system is broken, but it’s been broken for a while. I know I sound like I’m talking in circles, but I don’t blame the Preps, the La Salles, the Woods and the Central Catholics of the world. PIAA let them in. They knew they recruited, they’ve been recruiting long before they joined the PIAA, but now you let them in – they’re not going to stop recruiting. Let’s face it – if you have successful sports teams, especially football, that draws kids to your school. If I’m Prep or La Salle or Wood, I’m going to say, ‘Hey, you can come here and win a state football title.’ Okay. If anybody was surprised that this happened or that Prep’s won the last three big school state titles, you’ve got to be kidding. Their job is to keep their doors open, to have students fill the building, and if 40 of those students are really good at football, okay. I do not blame the private schools one bit.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Postseason play aside, Council Rock North won the Rock Cup with a 7-3 win over Council Rock South. Your comments about that rivalry game.
Drew Markol: “On paper, neither Rock North or Rock South had a very good season, but Brandon Boyd falls on a fumble for Rock North in the end zone on a night when there were lots and lots of fumbles across the area because of all the rain – he falls on a fumble in the end zone, and they win 7-3. That’s something those kids will never forget. That’s an archrivalry, and I’ve said this before a million times – if they decided tomorrow to do away with the state tournament and the district playoffs, I’d be right in line saying, ‘That’s a really good idea.’ Again, that ship has sailed, and all anybody worries about is – did I get into districts? Where am I seeded?
“The district playoffs and the state playoffs – which are usually won by the same group of teams – are the holy grail for everybody. I’m a fan of neighborhood rivalries – Rock South and Rock North, CB West against CB East, Pennridge and Quakertown on Thanksgiving and those kinds of things. East and West should go back to being on Thanksgiving, and Neshaminy and Pennsbury should have been on Thanksgiving for the past 60 years, but the genie is way out of the bottle. We’ll bow at the feet of the district playoffs and then we can go watch Pittsburgh Central Catholic win the state championship.”
Drew Markol’s Picks (Winner in bold)
Central Bucks East @ Perk Valley
Central Bucks South @ North Penn
Souderton @ Quakertown
Pennridge @ CB West
Cheltenham @ PW
West Chester Henderson vs. Upper Dublin
Upper Moreland @ Pottsgrove
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