Back for its fifth season, the popular Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features high school football beat writers Drew Markol and Dan Dunkin. Markol covers schools in the Intelligencer area while Dan Dunkin covers teams in the Courier Times area. Both share their perspective on the teams in their coverage area. Scott Huff, football writer for SuburbanOneSports.com, shares his thoughts about the American Conference squads. To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the Intelligencer/Courier Times web site http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/
SuburbanOneSports.com: You covered the Council Rock North/Upper Dublin game. Your thoughts.
Dan Dunkin: “I saw this coming. CR North crested about midseason, and they just played poorly down the stretch, especially defensively. Their lack of depth and size showed up in a big way. They lost four of their last five games, and in each of those four games, they gave up 40 or more points. I was not surprised in the outcome of the Upper Dublin game. Upper Dublin is a very athletic and aggressive team, and they jumped all over CR North early, and really, it seemed like Council Rock South and Upper Dublin – in the last two games – figured out Council Rock North’s offense, this no-huddle, spread, pass-happy offense. The offense had so much pressure on it because they were always playing from behind.
“Rock North’s relative lack of a running game put so much pressure on Brandon McIlwain to make plays. He did not have his usual big numbers the last two games. Both defenses did a really good job of containing him and the receivers to usually short gains. They just weren’t in a position to play catch-up. They couldn’t get any big plays.
“It starts with defense. Adam Collachi and his staff have brought this program back nicely, but to go further and get over the hump, it’s going to take more kids involved in football, another couple of real good off-seasons where they really get toned up in the weight room and really put a big emphasis on their defense like they have their offense. They have too many kids playing two ways. You can’t have one of the state’s very best quarterbacks playing safety all the time, I don’t think. Not a quarterback.
“I give McIlwain a lot of credit. The kid loves to play. He’s a great player. It’s going to be fun to watch his senior year before he goes off to a Division One college. He carries quite a load for them. They need to lessen it a little bit next year.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: What are your thoughts about Upper Dublin after seeing that game?
Dan Dunkin: “They have two very good running backs in John Lee and Kaleif Lee, and they’re a physical team, moreso than most teams in the SOL American. They get after you defensively, they have a good pass rush, they contain the run well, and they’ve got a lot of playmakers. Their quarterback, Ryan Stover, is very good, but he hardly had to throw the ball against Council Rock North because their running game was so robust.
“They’re a dangerous team. They went down to Florida for their season opener and played one of the state’s best teams (Coconut Creek) and beat them. That opened some eyes, and then they did what they should have done in the SOL American, and they won it pretty much going away. They’ve been building toward this. They had more players than Council Rock North did. They look like a team – because they can play physical and run the ball, they can hang in there with most teams in District One.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennsbury put 63 points on the board against Downingtown West in a 63-55 win. Your thoughts about the Falcons heading into their game against Garnet Valley.
Dan Dunkin: “The number of points they allowed is alarming, but there is no panic at Pennsbury. I was out there Tuesday and talked to Galen Snyder and some players, and Galen told me that he was not worried at all. It was a situation where they were missing two of their best defensive players, including one of the best pass rushers (Joe Maurer) and linebacker Daulton Hose. Losing Hose and Victor Delgado, also injured, also forced a change in their offense. It was one of those crazy games - Downingtown West has the kind of passing attack that can spread you out, get you out of position, and they’re constantly throwing the ball in a comeback mode, and you can get sloppy on defense. Snyder said they did not play well on defense, but it’s relative because he said, ‘We’ve played well defensively for 10 ½ games, and we had a bad half defensively.’
“Pennsbury is going to be fine. You can have a game like that. They do have some vulnerabilities on defense, but not many. They'd allowed 8.9 points per game 'til that game. You start with their speed and physicality. They’re not real big, but they swarm. I think they’re going to get those gaps filled this week with Hose and Maurer back.
“Their offensive line is the best in District One, I don’t care what anybody says. Look at what they did offensively. Charles Snorweah – you could make a case that he’s the best running back in Pennsylvania. He’s an amazing back. He’s got tremendous explosion, great toughness and physicality. He can run inside as well as outside, he’s a great cutter, he has acceleration and balance. He can block, he catches balls, he’s a great kid. I think he’s more complete than Josh Adams. Galen Snyder told me they scored so quickly that their defense was on the field a lot. They only had 44 offensive plays, and they ran up over 600 yards. Usually they consume the clock, too. When you have an offense like that, they’re a monster. A lot of times part of their defense will be their ball-control offense.
“That game was kind of an anomaly the way it went defensively for Pennsbury. If I’m Garnet Valley, I’m going, ‘Oh my, do we have our hands full with that offense.’ Pennsbury will have its other two running backs back in Hose and Delgado. They ran the I-formation last week, a big adjustment this late in the season. It was a great move by Galen Snyder and Dave Sanderson, their offensive coordinator. Now you have something else to worry about along with Mike Alley’s passing threat. They can come at you in the power-I, they can come at you in the wing-t, and they will be even harder to defend.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about Pennsbury playing Garnet Valley.
Dan Dunkin: “Garnet Valley is a solid team on both sides of the football. It will be a big challenge for Pennsbury like Galen said to me yesterday. It’s not going to be a super high-scoring game, but I think Pennsbury will take control of it. I just don’t think Garnet Valley can hang with their offensive line and their stable of running backs.
“Offensively, Garnet Valley is an option team, and Pennsbury is geared to play against an option team with their speed on defense and the way they can contain outside and turn it back inside and gang tackle. I don’t’ think Garnet Valley’s offense is diversified enough to really be a threat against Pennsbury. I see Pennsbury winning this game by a couple of touchdowns.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Quakertown came up with a big win over Pennridge. Your thoughts.
Dan Dunkin: “If I was going to vote for a coach of the year in the Suburban One, it would be George Banas. They had a tremendous year. He’s really invested in the program, he’s built it nicely and consistently, and really, this team – especially defensively – was supremely consistent all year. They’re a physical defense, and I like the way they play. They play pretty much a good old-fashioned way with a smash-mouth running game, and they can throw the ball with Alec Vera. A lot of people, including me, underestimated that team this year even when they were winning, but they’ve proven me wrong. They’re a really good team. To beat Pennridge in the first round of playoffs – what a feather in their caps. Good for them. They beat their rival. A lot of people didn’t think they could, and that can propel them. They're going to be a tough out in the playoffs."
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn fell to West Chester Henderson in an opening round game. Your comments.
Dan Dunkin: “Dick Beck had never lost in the first round of districts. I just think they ran out of gas a little bit, and their quarterback – Jake Bevan – didn’t play. Losing their quarterback really hurt them. Any time North Penn loses early, it’s a surprise, plus to lose by that amount. Beck and his group did a good job this year because they went through the gauntlet, the toughest non-conference schedule in District One by a long shot, recovered, and beat Pennsbury. That victory is going to look even better when Pennsbury is playing for a district title. The guy can coach. The kids gave a lot, and they came up short early in District One, but they’re always going to be there. Look out next year.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: You cover Bristol– what are your thoughts about the Warriors’ District One AA title game against Springfield-Montco?
Dan Dunkin: “I think it will be a very good game. That’s going to be a big challenge for Bristol. I went out to talk to Leo Plenski and the boys on Monday. There’s respect there for Springfield.
“An interesting thing about Springfield is, they’re from the SOL American, so most of the year they’re playing 3A and 4A teams. They’re playing bigger schools, so that could benefit them in a game like this. They've got good running backs, they’re a 5-6 team that’s pretty good – better than your usual 5-6 team. Bristol’s questions have been a little bit on defense. The best teams they’ve played against, two highly-ranked teams from New Jersey and then Academy of the New Church, those squads scored well on Bristol. Otherwise, Bristol has only given up an average of six points a game.
“The experience Bristol has gained by playing better and deeper teams is going to help them in a game like this. They certainly have the playmakers over there. They have the size up front. The thing is three of their big kids play on the offensive and defensive lines. They’re very tough kids.
"I don’t think Bristol is going to be denied. This is a chance for their third straight district title, their third straight trip to states, led by the great Donte Simmons, one of the best running backs ever in Bucks County. It’s basically a home game at Truman. I think it’s going to be a slugfest, but Bristol has got a lot of tough kids. I think they’ll be better defensively, and they certainly can score. Their passing game is so good now with quarterback R.J. Collins, Kyle Slivka-Fralin and their receivers. It will be an exciting game, but I like Bristol.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Quakertown earned the big win over Pennridge. Your thoughts about that game.
Drew Markol: “If you look at the box score and there’s no final score on top of it, you’d look at the numbers and think Pennridge won the game. They ran the ball down Quakertown’s throat in the second half. They just moved the ball up and down the field, but Quakertown – as it has done all year – just forced the timely fumble or made a big play. When Pennridge was going in for what would have been the go-ahead score in the closing seconds, it really wasn’t that shocking when they came up with a turnover because that’s what Quakertown has been doing all season. They’ve made every play – every unlikely play and every play - they’ve had to make. They do have some very good players. Quarterback Alec Vera is very good, and linebacker Hunter Nice – Pennridge spent the night trying to go wherever Nice wasn’t because he’s that good.
“What Quakertown really has that helps them is their secondary players that don’t get any publicity. They’re all solid. If there’s an interception to be made - last week, Tyler Kishbaugh made two of them. Jon Potynski made a huge play to force the late fumble. Their secondary guys are all good and good enough to help a team win, and that’s what they did.
“Vera doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He’s a big kid who can throw it when he needs to, and he can also run. He broke several tackles and made some big first downs that would just switch the field position a little bit and give Quakertown momentum. It wasn’t the best played high school football game ever, but it was awfully exciting.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: How important was this win for Quakertown’s program?
Drew Markol: “All the kids before the game said this was the big one – not the Thanksgiving Day game. The district playoffs have – unfortunately, in my mind – taken over from the Thanksgiving game, but this was the one that both teams really wanted to win. In the kids’ mind, it kind of made the Thanksgiving game a little anticlimactic, which is a shame, but the whole atmosphere – it was just tremendous. The place was mobbed. Pennridge has dominated Quakertown for so long in the Thanksgiving games. They’ve won five in a row and eight of the last nine, and when Quakertown managed to beat them it was always a 30-28 game, it was always close. Pennridge would blow them out a lot of the times.
“Quakertown needed this to validate its season. They had lost to CB East after their big win to clinch the Continental Conference championship. Everyone thought – Pennridge is going to come in and maybe blow them out, and it didn’t happen. Now anything after this for Quakertown is just gravy. Will they beat Downingtown East? I don’t know. They might. They might not. Could they be heading for a letdown after winning what head coach George Banas called the biggest game in school history? If you’re ever going to have a letdown, it’s the game after the biggest game in school history. Who knows? They just make timely plays, and it just seems like it’s their year. And they’re young – they’ll be good next year.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Can Quakertown follow up its win over Pennridge with a win over Downingtown East?
Drew Markol: “Downingtown East only won by three points in their district opener last week against Perk Valley. Again, Quakertown is the higher seed, not by much, in a four versus five game. Quakertown from now on is playing with house money. Could they beat them? Sure. They can run the ball, and Vera can throw it. Downingtown East has a good reputation as a district power, but I don’t think the Quakertown kids are worried about that. I think we look at history more than the kids playing because the kids playing weren’t really around or paying much attention when these teams were winning. How a team did four or five years ago doesn’t matter to a high school kid today.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your comments about Pennsbury heading into its second round game after the Falcons’ 63-55 win over Downingtown West
Drew Markol: “As good as Pennsbury’s defense has been, they don’t allow 55 points in a season. I wasn’t at the game, but from what I’ve heard and read, it was absolutely wild to have something like that. Pennsbury doesn’t usually score 63 points in a game because they win their games 7-0.
“In Pennsbury’s defense, three of its top defenders were held out with injuries with the hope being they could win that one and then keep going, and it almost backfired. If they get everybody healthy again, you add Joe Mauer, Victor Delgado and Daulton Hose – three really good defenders, that’s almost 25 percent of your defense coming back.
“If you’re Garnet Valley coming in to play Pennsbury – Garnet Valley is no stranger to the district playoffs. They’re there every year with mixed results. Garnet Valley has to have seen some things on film that have to give you hope.
“Do I think they’ll score another 500 points in this one? No, but who would have guessed it last week.
“La Salle wins games because they throw. High school teams cannot stop the pass. If a team can throw the ball even just somewhat effectively, they’re going to have success.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Were you surprised by the Central Bucks South outcome (a 35-15 loss) against Garnet Valley?
Drew Markol: “It’s a testament to how good Josh Adams is that when he didn’t play, South couldn’t do much, and when he did play, they were able to beat North Penn along the way, beat Pennridge and get a high seed in the district. You hate to talk about a one-man team because that’s not the case, but if ever it was close to one, it was South because Adams is that good. Him not at full strength really hurts a team obviously because he’s a weapon out of the backfield to catch the ball. Teams are spying on him on every play. They run him in that wildcat once in a while, and if another team knows he’s not up to snuff, that’s a huge benefit. That’s what happened. Without him going at full strength - at this level, it’s awfully hard to win. How many teams have the ability to score on one play? Well, South did, and that’s hard to find.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn saw its season end in the first round of districts at the hands of West Chester Henderson. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “I think the most surprising score for most people – even more so than Quakertown beating Pennridge – was North Penn giving up 40 points to West Chester Henderson. It hurt North Penn obviously that starting quarterback Jake Bevan was out with an injury because he had taken over early in the season and had played pretty well. Then not to have him kind of showed them their lack of offense.
“The way North Penn plays with the emphasis on the running game and to play stingy defense – they held Pennsbury to 21 points. I think that’s the thing that has to get to Dick Beck a little bit – the defense really didn’t show up. Scoring 40 points against North Penn is not easy. Give Henderson credit for doing it. I expected North Penn to win that game, but I expected something like 16-14, one of those nail biters. It’s an eight-nine game, so you expect that game to be the closest. I did expect a close one. You look at the overall district, the top eight seeds all won.
“The Ches-Mont, which has been maligned for years while the SOL has been crowing about its dominance – this time, score one for the Ches-Mont because that league did a really nice job.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin earned a 48-14 win over Council Rock North for its first district win. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “For Upper Dublin – out of any of the SOL conferences, the American Conference needed its best team to have a good effort because they get maligned for being the little guys as the small enrollment schools. They played a Council Rock North team that was fading but still has a Division One quarterback in Brandon McIlwain, and Upper Dublin goes and puts a ton of points up and just dominates the game from start to finish. It was a good job by Upper Dublin. It was obviously a good win for the team. They’ve won eight in a row, and they should be proud of what they’re doing. Now they get to keep going.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin wrote school history by winning its first ever playoff football game with its 48-14 victory over Council Rock North. What are your thoughts on that historic win and the Cardinals season to date?
Scott Huff: “Upper Dublin has flown under the District One radar for most of the season because of the relative lack of respect that the Suburban One League American Conference receives.
“Head coach Bret Stover made the most of the non-conference schedule when Upper Dublin opened the season with the trip to Florida to take on Coconut Creek at Walt Disney World. The Cardinals – in a game that didn’t end until after midnight – proved they could beat not only a well-respected team from out of state but could win a close game with the 36-28 win.
“Upper Dublin split a pair of non-conference games against strong SOL schools with a 28-21 win over Truman and a 27-20 loss to Abington. Again – close games against good competition. And it was the strength of this non-conference games that earned the Cardinals a home game in the first round of the playoffs.
“Upper Dublin went through the SOL American Conference relatively untested – with the exception its game against defending champion Plymouth Whitemarsh. And again the Cardinals proved it could win the important close ones with a 34-28 victory over the visiting Colonials.
“Upper Dublin began the season riding the powerful right arm of junior quarterback Ryan Stover. However, the Cardinals have developed a terrific running game in recent weeks with the tandem of junior Kaleif Lee and senior John Lee. And despite an undersized line - that plays more physical than its relative heights/weights – Upper Dublin has showcased an explosive offense all season.
“That offense was on display in the first round of the playoffs as the Cardinals soared to a 48-14 victory over yet another SOL opponent – Council Rock North. And it was the running attack of both Kaleif Lee and John Lee that sparked the offense on this Friday night and a swarming defense that limited CRN’s explosive Brandon McIlwain to a meager 144 total yards.
“It was not only the first win for Upper Dublin in the postseason – it was the first win for the entire SOL American Conference in the postseason. Wins don’t get much bigger than that!”
SuburbanOneSports.com: What are Upper Dublin’s chances this week against West Chester Rustin?
Scott Huff: “West Chester Rustin comes into the game as the champion of the Ches-Mont American and has only a single loss this season to Downingtown East – 28-12. Since that loss to East, the Golden Knights have scored over 40 points in the next seven games with wins over Great Valley (54-13), Oxford (45-0), Sun Valley (42-6), Unionville (41-20), Kennett (48-6), Octorara (42-14) – and last week in the first round of the playoffs with a 47-13 win over Conestoga.
“Rustin is a team much like Pennsbury that features an almost exclusive running attack. And the Golden Knights feature Terry Loper who raced for 284 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries in the win over Conestoga. Quarterback Evan Wylock threw only four passes – completed three of those passes – with two going for touchdowns.
“Upper Dublin is an explosive offense and is surely going to score points, but can the Cardinals score at least one more than the potent Golden Knight offense?”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Springfield moved into the semifinal round of the PIAA District One Class AA playoffs after defeating New Hope-Solebury 39-15. What are your thoughts on the Spartan win and the Springfield season to date?
Scott Huff: “Springfield earned its district playoff home game after traveling a treacherous road in the SOL American Conference. And the Spartans enjoyed some home cooking with an easy win over the Lions behind another fine outing by senior quarterback Chris Stone, who threw for a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another.
“Stone missed all of last season with an injury – and his return this year has insured fans that the Spartans would again become a factor in the Class AA playoffs.
“Springfield was forced to endure a rugged SOL American Conference schedule that featured schools that are much larger than the Spartans in enrollment. How much larger – here are boys enrollment figures for the 2015 season for schools in the SOL American Conference. Hatboro-Horsham (617); Cheltenham (608); Plymouth Whitemarsh (597); Upper Dublin (546); and Wissahickon (534) are all Quad A. Upper Merion (467) and Upper Moreland (408) are Class AAA. Springfield (239) is Class AA.
“Springfield will be decided underdogs this week in the District One finals against Bristol – but the Spartans have been in that role before – almost every single week in the SOL American Conference.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: What is left for the SOL American Conference this 2014 season?
Scott Huff: “Upper Dublin plays Rustin in the Quad-A playoffs on Friday – Springfield plays Bristol in the Class AA finals on Friday – Upper Moreland plays Hatboro-Horsham on Thanksgiving morning – and Cheltenham plays at Abington on Thanksgiving morning. Plymouth Whitemarsh, Upper Merion, and Wissahickon have all had their respective seasons come to an end.”
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