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: You were at last week’s CB South/Souderton game. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “CB South has picked up where they left off last year when they won the school’s first district title. Their defense was a huge part of last year’s success, and their defense looks really good again. Against Souderton, an 11-win team from a year ago, South just shut them down. It was a 21-6 final, but Souderton could not run the ball. They had 13 yards on 25 rushes. Do the math – that’s not a lot. Souderton would get close here and there. Late in the third quarter, they had a first-and-goal on the CB South one, and it looked like they were going in to score, but they ended up going backward on four plays, losing a total of seven yards. It was kind of Souderton’s last gasp when the South defense said, ‘All right, we’re not going to let you in.’ Souderton had to go for a touchdown on fourth down because they needed the points, and they got stopped again. That was an impressive stand by South’s defense to keep the game out of reach for Souderton.
“Souderton coach Ed Gallagher said after the game – ‘We got within striking distance a couple of times, but we never struck’. 
That was the case. South scored three rushing touchdowns. Kaden Kube, the senior running back, didn’t get to play much last year because they had two good backs in front of him in Anthony Leonardi and Corey Moore, and Kube has emerged as a senior. They have a sophomore named Gavin Graham, who’s going to be really, really good. He’s a bruising runner. That’s a name to remember. Owen Pinkerton, the senior quarterback, is back for a second year. He had the first touchdown of the game, a rushing score. They can do a lot of things pretty well.
“South is just grinding it out and getting it done. They shut out Archbishop Wood in week one, and they gave up two field goals to what I think is a pretty good Souderton team. Souderton is 0-2, but they lost to Spring-Ford, which turned around and lost to Easton last week, and now they’ve lost to CB South.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennsbury defeated Quakertown on Thursday, and you also were at that game. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Pennsbury senior linebacker Walker Murray – you hear the cliché ‘all over the field,’ but he is. He gets after the quarterback, he drops back in coverage. He seemingly makes every tackle. Through two weeks, he has double-figure tackles in both games. In Thursday’s game at Quakertown, he made an interception. Quakertown was going for it late in the second quarter, and they threw a long pass. Murray intercepted it and ran it back to inside the Quakertown 20, and Pennsbury’s Angelo Pereira was able to kick a 36-yard field goal, thanks to that interception on the way to the win. He also plays tight end, and he caught a pass near the goal line too. He’s just a tremendous linebacker who just gets after it all the time and has to be accounted for. You combine that ferocity with good speed and instincts, that’s a legit player.
“Junior Jordan Brensinger – who had over a hundred yards in week one – didn’t play in the first quarter. He got 25 carries from there on out, and he picked up 133 yards and scored a rushing touchdown. He’s a nice running back. He has good speed, he has good vision, he has nice elusiveness. Having him there is nice weapon in your backfield because he’s a game-breaker. He has enough speed to score from anywhere. Jayden Bright also had a big night running the football.
“Pennsbury needed that win. They had lost their opener to Northampton. They only scored a safety in that game, and they got that because Murray sacked the quarterback in the end zone, and the quarterback fumbled. They bounced back nicely from that. Now they’ve got a little bit of confidence. That was a big win over Quakertown.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Sophomore Mike Price had a huge performance in Central Bucks East’s win over Cheltenham. Your thoughts about that game.
Drew Markol: “You look at CB East – they opened their season with a loss against Ridley. They needed to bounce back, and they did that in a big way. Sophomore Mike Price is another name to remember. He scored five rushing touchdowns which tied a school single game record, and on a halfback option, he threw for another one in a 42-26 win, so he accounted for every score. It’s just remarkable for a sophomore to do that. He finished with 191 yards rushing and just dominated the game. A sophomore doing that in only his second varsity game is remarkable. East needed that boost. They had some things go against them with Mike Carroll, the big lineman, transferring to IMG before the season. That was a big loss, and Price has given them just a tremendous shot in the arm.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: CB West had a big win over Upper Dublin. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “CB West is off to a 2-0 start. They beat Upper Dublin last Thursday 35-14. That’s a West team that lost a ton of standout players to graduation, and they’re doing it this year. Ryan Clemens is back at running back, and he had a big night against Upper Dublin. He had a long touchdown reception in the first quarter. They moved him to linebacker and, again, not the biggest kid in the world, but he’s a really good football player. He’s a workhorse for them. Noah Miller, their senior quarterback, has stepped in. He didn’t play last year. Cooper Taylor replaced Ganz Cooper, who had gotten injured, so Miller was way down on the depth chart at the start of last year, but now he’s playing. He’s playing really well. Vance Morelli, another senior, caught a long touchdown pass, and a week earlier in the win over Easton, he had a kickoff return for a touchdown. West’s head coach Rob Rowan has a formula down. They’re really good. They play Souderton this week. It will be interesting to see how they do. Now North Penn has come on – they’re 2-0 and has absolutely made themselves a part of the race, but I think right now – CB South and CB West are the two top teams in the National Conference. North Penn is banging on the door, but time will tell.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennridge defeated a Bensalem team that hung tough. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Pennridge got its first win of the season beating Bensalem 38-27. They lost in week one to Bethlehem Liberty and only scored 14 points. They get 38 against the Owls. Junior Ryan Rowe, the running back, had a big night, finishing with 122 rushing yards and had a touchdown. Noah Keating, the junior quarterback, threw for 180 yards and had three touchdown passes, so there are some bright spots for Pennridge. We’ll see. They took an early 14-0 lead, but Bensalem fought back. The Owls are showing some spunk. They play Abington this week. Junior Aiden Mayfield is a good running back, a good defensive back. There are a couple of pieces that coach Alex Houston has that I think are going to help Bensalem. They’re not quitting or going away. They’re battling all the way. They don’t score a point in the first quarter against Pennridge, Pennridge is up 14-0 after the first quarter – we could be heading to a mercy rule, and Bensalem goes and scores 20 points in the second quarter to make it very interesting. They’ve had Myles Annan step in at quarterback after an injury to Hollis Sanders. He had a couple of touchdown passes. I like what I see from Bensalem. They’re fighting, and that’s all you can ask.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Abington eked out a 7-6 win over Harry S Truman to give coach Bruce Fleming his first win since taking over the helm late this summer. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “We talked about Bensalem playing Abington this week. Abington gets its first win for new coach Bruce Fleming in an odd game – 7-6 over Truman. Damian Mager scored on Abington’s first possession, and the kicker, Brayden Davis – I mention him because it was huge. His extra point makes it 7-0. Truman, on its first possession, scores, but the extra point is blocked by Ayden Turner, and it’s 7-6. It stays 7-6 until three seconds to go in the game. Truman lines up to try and kick a field goal to win it, and that gets blocked by Saadir Wimbush to preserve the win. After both team’s scored on their opening possession, it looked like it was going to be a high-scoring game ends up a 7-6 Abington win. The defenses maybe figured it out.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: William Tennent defeated Methacton for its first win. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Nice win for William Tennent, beating Methacton 21-13. Second-year coach Colin Leach gets the win. Tennent was decimated by injuries, and a half a dozen starters were out Friday. Their quarterback, Gavin Mensch, and receiver Joey Hebling had a big game. Hebling had seven catches for 134 yards in the game. All of Mensch’s completions went to him. Mensch was 7-for-12 with two touchdowns, and both went to Hebling. Mensch isn’t the biggest guy out there, but he had 12 carries for 38 yards in his first varsity start. It was just a nice job by William Tennent. Senior running back Justin Frederic had 104 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries. You give Tennent credit for gutting it out. When you lose that many players, it’s hard, but Leach was really happy with his defense too. Senior defensive end Sean Hazlett, who’s been a longtime starter for Tennent, had a nice game – so did Dan Ellis at linebacker, and Hebling, who plays corner back. That’s a good defensive effort. Those are the game that Tennent would a lot of times lose. To win a good close one, that’s a confidence booster for sure.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Any other games of note last week?
Drew Markol: “It was a good win for Upper Moreland. They beat West Chester East 21-14. They’re 2-0. Alex Foley, the quarterback, had over 200 yards passing. Aidan Tuffy had a touchdown run that tied it up after Upper Moreland fell behind 7-0 early in the game. Frankie McDermott, who’s a very good linebacker, scored on a touchdown run to give Upper Moreland the lead. They were able to block a field goal try by West Chester East, and then Larry Hughes, a junior tight end, scored in the third quarter to all but seal it. It was a good win. Upper Moreland flies a little under the radar being a 5A program this year, but they’re off to a great start.”
“Neshaminy also is off to a 2-0 start after their big overtime win over Emmaus in week one, and they beat Council Rock North 34-13. Brandon Garrett, the new coach at Council Rock North, is still looking for his first win, but he’ll get them going. Neshaminy’s defense had a couple of interceptions early, and Neshaminy was able to build a 20-0 lead in the first half. Nick Sassano had two of Neshaminy’s four interceptions in the game. They scored two more times in the third quarter. Neshaminy quarterback Michael Eckart threw a touchdown pass to Cole Tarapchak. Nahsir Moore, the sophomore running back, had a touchdown that made it 34-0 before Council Rock North was able to score two touchdowns. Moore came in the game in Neshaminy’s opener when Carter Clee, the junior running back, hurt his elbow. Also for Neshaminy, sophomore Brock Williams had an interception and two rushing touchdowns on the other side of the ball, finishing with 75 yards on the ground to lead the ‘Skins. Neshaminy had a rough season last year for their program, and they’re trying to right the ship.”
Drew Markol’s picks
(Winners in bold)
John Bartram HS @ Upper Moreland
Abington @ Bensalem
Central Bucks East @ Council Rock North
Upper Dublin @ Central Bucks South
Souderton @ Central Bucks West
Council Rock South @ Pennsbury
Pennridge @ Harry S Truman
Abraham Lincoln HS @ Hatboro-Horsham
Springfield Twp @ New Hope-Solebury
Quakertown @ North Penn
Interboro @ Plymouth Whitemarsh
William Tennent @ Radnor
Lower Moreland @ Jenkintown
Neshaminy @ Cheltenham
Wissahickon @ Lower Merion
About the Author
