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: The big story last week was Souderton’s win over Central Bucks West in a game that West – at least according to prognosticators – was heavily favored to win. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “The biggest surprise, upset or whatever you want to call it was Souderton beating West at War Memorial 20-13. Souderton was 0-2. They had lost to Spring-Ford and CB South. West beat Easton in its opener, and then Easton went and clobbered Spring-Ford – if you do the math, you’re thinking West is going to handle Souderton relatively easily. Well, that’s 
not what happened. Souderton needed a win – that’s an 11-win team from last year, and the last thing they wanted was an 0-3 start. They go to West, and they beat them. It was a really good game that came down to a last-minute 55-yard touchdown pass that junior Ben Walsh threw to Hunter Smeltz. Just a super win for Souderton.
“You look at Souderton’s defense slowing down West’s offense. Junior safety Tim Meehan had 17 tackles. Think about that – that’s an enormous amount of tackles for a 3-game stretch let alone a one-game stretch. If you’re Souderton, now you’re 1-2 and you’re beginning conference play in the Continental this week – you’ve got to feel really good about It, and you should. You start 0-2 – does the finger pointing start? Who knows? Coach Ed Gallagher did say – ‘I saw them lose to go 0-2, and we’re starting to fray a little bit.’ You had such success a year ago, and now you can just turn it around with a win, and that’s probably what they’ve done.
“I talked to Ed Gallagher in the preseason for Souderton’s preview. He told me his first three games and said, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘You could be 0-3.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, we could. I’ll take 1-2 out of that mix,’ and that’s what they did. Who are they going to lose to in the Continental? Probably nobody. They’re playing Truman this week, and they’re going to win because he’s a really good coach.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn defeated Quakertown and enters National Conference play against Neshaminy with a 3-0 record. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “You look at the undefeated teams going into the conference schedule, and North Penn is 3-0. They played Quakertown last week and beat them 35-12. North Penn scored touchdowns on their first three possessions. Christian Johns-Wallace, the really good linebacker, scored on a 3-yard run, and then there’s a fumble by Quakertown, and then Aidan Eves, another good defensive lineman, ran a wildcat quarterback sweep around the right side to make it 21-0. North Penn was 6-5 last year, but they look for real. This week, they play Neshaminy, which is also 3-0. I’m not sold on Neshaminy and their wins. They beat Council Rock North, and Council Rock North hasn’t won a game this season. We’ll see. They have a young quarterback, Mike Eckart, who had a couple of touchdowns. They lost their running back, Carter Clee, in the first game of the season, and they’re using kind of a running back by committee since then.”
SuburbanOneSporrts.com: Central Bucks South also joined the ranks of the 3-0 teams with a convincing win over Upper Dublin. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “I think the most impressive team in the early going has obviously been CB South, which again rolled. CB South has only allowed 13 points in three games, which is the lowest number in the whole Class 6A in District 1. I looked it up, and it’s the third lowest total points allowed in 6A across the state. They’ve only allowed one touchdown, and the game was decided against Upper Dublin when the touchdown came. CB South – as good as its defense was last year when they won the school’s first district title - it might be better this year. CB South and North Penn look like the two best teams – I don’t know if they’re separating themselves. I don’t want to discount CB West. West lost to a good Souderton team, and they’re going to be there. It’s going to be interesting, and I’m glad we’re finally getting to conference play.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennsbury defeated Council Rock South and is 2-1 heading into conference play with its only loss to Northampton. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Pennsbury beat Council Rock South 23-15, but Council Rock South scored a late touchdown to make a little bit more respectable. The Falcons got a lift in last week’s game - junior Jordan Brensinger had over 100 yards again. He’s a home run hitter for Pennsbury. You look at their defense – linebacker Walker Murray holds it together. He’s all over the place. Pennsbury has some pieces. They had turnover issues in their first two games, but they played better against Council Rock South. One thing they also have as a weapon is their kicker – Angelo Pereira. He had three field goals against Council Rock South. I saw him at Quakertown – he drilled two field goals. That is an absolute weapon in the high school game where most schools – if you can make the extra point, you’re happy. To have a kid who can kick a 40-yard field goal is a big advantage. It’s something that North Penn has with Ryan Bocklet, Neshaminy has with Kaden Nicastro and CB West has with Ryan Clemens. We do have a lot of good kickers, but that’s normally not the case. Kids specialize these days. It used to be the football coach would grab the soccer coach and say, ‘Who has your best leg? ‘and that kid would become the football kicker. Well, now kickers are a lot more specialized, and it shows. The Pennsbury kid, Pereira, goes under the radar but he’s a weapon.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Bensalem is 2-1 heading into the conference season. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “You have Bensalem off to a 2-1 start under coach Alex Houston, who played at Bensalem a long time ago. He has the Owls moving in the right direction. They took a 21-0 lead into the third quarter on Abington, and Abington fought back a little and made it a 28-25 final. With junior Aidan Mayfield in the backfield – he’s a really good running back that gets overlooked. He has really good speed, he can catch the ball out of the backfield, and Thomas Bailey is a nice receiver for them too. They lost their starting quarterback – Hollis Sanders -which hurt, but Myles Annan stepped in for him and has done a nice job. He threw a long touchdown to Thomas Bailey to give Bensalem a 14-0 lead at the half over Abington. You think about Bensalem and the struggles they’ve had – they’re 2-1. They have confidence going to Quakertown to open up Continental Conference play. You look at Quakertown – it’s 0-3 and may be vulnerable, so they go there thinking - all right, they’ve got a shot. Maybe they’re a dark horse in the Continental. When we look at the Continental every year as being – Souderton, Quakertown and Upper Dublin and this year Council Rock South, maybe Bensalem works its way into the mix, which would be nice. It would be good for the league.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Hatboro-Horsham defeated Abraham Lincoln, a Class 6A school. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Hatboro-Horsham got its first win, beating Abraham Lincoln 34-32. Lincoln, which is part of the Philadelphia Public League, is not a bad team. They have a win over Germantown Academy, so that’s a nice job by Hatboro. Lincoln does not have a kicker, so they would go for two after all their scores. Hatboro is up 34-32 in the closing minutes, Lincoln goes for two, but senior Bryan Acevedo of Hatboro-Horsham makes the play, stops the run, and Hatboro holds on for the win. In that win, senior running back Luke Foley was huge for Hatboro-Horsham. He had 229 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on just 14 carries, and he caught a 32-yard touchdown pass. That keeps them away from 0-3. Hatboro is trying to rebuild, and they’re getting there. They’re getting better, but they needed a win. An 0-3 start is really, really hard to dig out of, so to get this win over Abraham Lincoln, I’m sure, is just a huge boost for Hatboro.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Any games this week that catch your eye?
Drew Markol: “An interesting game his week is 3-0 Central Bucks South at 2-1 Central Bucks East. We talked about how CB South has only allowed 13 points and one touchdown in three games, so they come in just really cooking with Owen Pinkerton, the quarterback, who is in his second year and is doing a really nice job. Ed Bowen on the defensive line leads that group, Jim Wade at linebacker is a really good player, and then Danny Gies is in the secondary. They’ve got a really strong team. East opened the season with a loss to Ridley, but they bounced back with two wins. Sophomore running back Mike Price had five rushing touchdowns two weeks ago, and he had a couple more in East’s win over Rock North, so it looks like they’ve found a threat in the backfield. That’s an interesting game. I think it’s there with Neshaminy/North Penn and Bensalem at Quakertown. They’re not great games this week on the schedule, but they’re interesting games that will tell us a little bit.”.
Drew Markol’s Picks
(Winners in bold)
Central Bucks West @ Abington
Bensalem @ Quakertown
Central Bucks South @ Central Bucks East
Upper Dublin @ Council Rock North
Harry S Truman @ Souderton
Upper Darby @ Hatboro-Horsham
Morrisville @ Lower Moreland
Neshaminy @ North Penn
Academy of the New Church @ New Hope-Solebury
Pennsbury @ Pennridge
Manheim Twp @ Plymouth Whitemarsh
Upper Moreland @ Interboro
Haverford @ William Tennent
Sun Valley @ Wissahickon
Council Rock South vs. Cheltenham (at Wissahickon HS )
Springfield Twp @ Elizabethtown Area
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