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: Council Rock South came back after a difficult week for the school and community to defeat Bensalem 41-0. Your thoughts about the Golden Hawks heading into Friday’s game against a Neshaminy team that dropped its first two games.
Dan Dunkin: “I think it really speaks to the character of that (Rock South) team, starting with their head coach and their staff. That’s hard to do what they did. It’s real hard to prepare well through all of that and be really focused for the game and go out and play a tremendous game. My hat’s off to them, and I think everybody’s hearts go out to that whole community.
“From the football side of it, I know when I saw Vince (Bedesem) and visited them a couple of times in the preseason, there definitely is a different feel, a different vibe around CR South. They’re always working, they’re very well coached, they work their tails off in the offseason, and they do what a lot of the good programs do. They just fell on hard times, and it happens. Their numbers were down a bit. They had a big lapse in senior participation just because of the way the numbers rotated, and they got caught. It happens. They got to the district final (in 2011), and they’ve had two tough years.
“I see a real determination to get back to a consistently competitive nature. The program is starting to regenerate, and I think you’re starting to see that.
“They can really pound you with the run, and they’re active defensively. That win (over Bensalem) was big for them and the emotional context of it was just so big. I think that could help propel them this year.
“Neshaminy better be ready. Neshaminy is not Neshaminy right now. Neshaminy has really fallen off. They’ve fallen off more than I would have expected given the big exodus of seniors. It was one of the best senior classes in Neshaminy history, getting to the state final four. They have not been good the first two games. They were decent for a half against a good Downingtown West team, and true, they’ve played two very good teams in a row, but they’ve been outscored 70-13. They’re very inconsistent, they aren’t tackling well. The fundamental soundness that you expect from Neshaminy teams is not there.
“D’Andre Pollard had a great game – 182 yards, but it was too much him. I like their quarterback, Mason Jones. He’s going to be a good one. He’s a fearless kid. He was slinging it, and he’ll get more consistent. I think he’s learning, and he learned a lot that night.. They have to get it together because they’re looking at the much tougher SOL National coming up, and they don’t look ready to me.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennsbury will travel to Council Rock North for a battle of 2-0 teams. Comment on that game.
Dan Dunkin: “Pennsbury is playing about as well as you can expect a team to play in the first two weeks when teams are working out the kinks and everything. They’ve incorporated a new quarterback and a very good quarterback, Mike Alley, who threw two TDs in only six attempts the last game. He’s going to make them even more dangerous, which is scary considering how good their running game is. They’ve got all the pieces. Their defense flies around full of confidence. They’re physical and fast. The thing about Pennsbury – if they can keep improving, you’ve got to look out. This is a state contending team.
CR North, to their credit against two pretty good teams with some good individual talent – Perk Valley and Simon Gratz, is 2-0. Brandon McIlwain is going to get a ton of credit. The kid’s been unbelievable. He has over 700 yards of total offense in two games, running and throwing and making plays. He is the real deal, but there are a lot of other things working for them. An undersized offensive line is getting it done, holding their blocks long enough. They’re able to rely heavily on their passing game in their spread. They have kids on defense that can make plays. They’re going to give up yardage, but they hang in there, so this will be an interesting test against a powerful Pennsbury team. They don’t stack up physically to Pennsbury. Not many teams do. Pennsbury is big in a lot of places, they’re strong everywhere, they’re fast, and they play physical on both sides of the ball.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Truman was in its game against Upper Dublin but fell short in the end. Your thoughts about the Tigers.
Dan Dunkin: “That’s a game that illustrates Truman’s trouble trying to get over the hump. That’s a game that really would have been a turning point for them because they lost in semi-similar fashion to them last year. They again made mistakes that cost them the game.
“From a positive standpoint, Truman knows they’re good, they’re improved, they’re together. It takes work to get over the mental mistakes. They’ll do it, they’ll get there. I think they’ll really learn from that game. I still think they’re headed for a good season. Upper Dublin will be one of the better teams they play physically, not in terms of size but just talent. They were right in there with them. I know they’re frustrated, but the glass is half-full. They’re a competitive group. Now they just have to really focus in on consistent execution, and they’ll be fine.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: William Tennent got its first win over Fels. How important was that game?
Dan Dunkin: “They really needed that win. I like Nik Banks, and they have some skill kids along with how (coach Bob) Rosenberger is building the lines on that team – this was a step in the right direction for them to get a payoff for their hard work. It’s going to be interesting to see how they compete in that little more fair conference that they’re in now along with CR North, South and Truman. Rosenberger is a guy that really learned. He knows what he’s doing. He has a great resume. I think he is the right guy for that program.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn came back from its loss to La Salle to defeat West Catholic in overtime on a field goal by Matt Ammendola. What are your thoughts about the Knights?
Drew Markol: “It was nice for them to get the win, but when they looked at their schedule, they may have taken West Catholic a little lightly because of it being a Class AA school and the kids not really knowing how good West Catholic was. If they lose that game, they could probably kiss their playoff hopes good bye because it’s going to be a tougher road this year than in previous years because of the National Conference schedule.
“The West Catholic game was a game they had to win because the game Friday with Archbishop Wood is going to be very difficult, to say the least. Then they start the National Conference where every week it will be a pretty good battle. The win over West Catholic was huge. You hate to call a week two game a must win, but that was a must win.
“North Penn has played a good defense in La Salle and a pretty active defense in West Catholic, but you’re North Penn. You score touchdowns, you knock people over with your offensive line, you run it down their throats. That’s what you do. It’s nice to have a good kicker in Matt Ammendola. Maybe he’s the best kicker in the state, but it’s hard to win a lot of games 9-6.
“North Penn is very one dimensional. Their passing game is not good, and when teams know you can’t get hurt by the pass, they’ll just play the run, and that makes you easier to stop.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Coming off its win over PW, Souderton fell to Central Bucks West on Friday. Your comments about that game.
Drew Markol: “It absolutely was a shock. Souderton had that big win over PW and had a ton of momentum going against a West team that had gotten drilled by CB South. It just looked like, on paper, that Souderton wins that game – I don’t want to say going away, but they would win it comfortably, and then it doesn’t happen.
“Is it a classic case over overconfidence? It could be. Now we have to give West credit too for bouncing back after getting clobbered.
“Souderton is playing Wissahickon on Friday, and for the SOL teams, this is the last week of the non-league games and then you’re facing teams you’re more familiar with. Not that anybody cares about conference championships anymore because the holy grail is the district playoffs, but if anybody cares about conference championships besides me, you want to win those games. If you’re Souderton, you better bounce back. You have to gain a little bit of momentum. I’m sure they’re having a rough week of practice.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: CB West will face Pennridge on Friday. Your thoughts about that game.
Drew Markol: “I think people look at Pennridge as the jury still being out because with Mike Class no longer there, they’re kind of waiting to see if they’re for real or not. Now we’ll find out more because apparently West isn’t bad. Good for Pennridge for playing them. Again, Pennridge is in a different situation being in the big conference. In theory, you’re supposed to beat the smaller guy. We’ll see. I’m still not sure one way or the other.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: You covered the CB South-Coatesville game. Talk about CB South.
Drew Markol: “Coatesville is good enough to win the district title. That team is really good. They had six kids who were half a step behind Josh Adams in ability, whereas South has just Adams. They gave them no room to breath. You take away his big runs, which you don’t want to do, but there were two kids in every hole waiting for him. I give South credit for playing that game, but boy, is Coatesville good.
“Now South gets to play East. I think they’ll handle East and get back on track.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Abington hosts Upper Dublin on Friday in a battle of two of the SOL’s undefeated teams.
Drew Markol: “You look at Upper Dublin being a small school in the new American Conference and Abington being much larger. You think Abington is going to wear them down, plus the fact that they have a win over them in last year’s district playoffs. I give Upper Dublin credit for playing that game. That’s smart – that’s how you get better.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Moreland is also off to a 2-0 start. Your comments about them.
Drew Markol: “Every couple of years Upper Moreland rises up and really gets it together. Their coach (Adam Beach) knows what he’s doing, and they’re into it. They kind of remind me of Quakertown. Every couple of years Quakertown puts a really good team together. Smaller schools like that have to build. It’s not like they have 30 seniors every year coming in, but Upper Moreland – every couple of years, when they’re good, they’re good, and it looks like so far, they have a good thing going.”
SuburbanOneSports: Norristown is 2-0 after losing 18-straight games. Can the Eagles fly to a perfect 3-0 start against Plymouth Whitemarsh this week?
Scott Huff: “Norristown is going to have its hands full with the move to the SOL Continental Conference for the regular season, and the Eagles will also have their hands full with PW even though the Colonials are 0-2. The win over Upper Merion wasn’t too unexpected, but the 14-13 win last week over Wissahickon was somewhat of a surprise. Norristown scored on a pair of outstanding defensive plays and a missed extra point by the Trojans. Not a dominating performance – but that’s how they keep score. First year head coach Jason Powel has said and done all the right things so far. Beating PW? I don’t think so – not this year.”
SuburbanOneSports: What about PW?
Scott Huff: “Plymouth Whitemarsh was 0-2 to start the season last year and finished the season as both the SOL American Conference champion and a District One playoff team. Head coach Dan Chang did not lose a conference game last season – but that will be a much larger challenge this year. Look for PW to march to its first win this week against long time rival Norristown.”
Suburban One Sports: Upper Dublin is getting a lot of ‘pub’ this season on the state ranking level. How will the unbeaten Cardinals do against unbeaten Abington this week?
Scott Huff: “The win over Coconut Creek in Florida was very impressive, and Upper Dublin came up with a nice win over an improving Truman team last week. However, Abington is one of the ‘big boys’ from the SOL National Conference and the Cardinals are going to have to play their best game of the year to beat the Ghosts. Late Friday night we will see how deserved the ‘pub’ for Upper Dublin is for 2014. The game should be a good one – toss a coin for the outcome.”
Suburban One Sports: Upper Moreland will put its unbeaten season on the line this week against unbeaten Conwell Egan. Thoughts?
Scott Huff: “Upper Moreland boasts one of the elite backs in the area in Tyler Whitmore. If the Bears can continue to provide Whitmore with running lanes, Upper Moreland is going to score points. The defense may provide the answer as to whether the Golden Bear season remains perfect against Egan.”
SuburbanOneSports: Springfield will put its unbeaten season on the line this week against unbeaten Penn Charter. Thoughts?
Scott Huff: “See above. Springfield boasts one of the elite players in the area in Chris Stone. If the Spartans can continue to allow Stone to exploit defenses, Springfield is going to score points. The defense may provide the answer as to whether the Spartan season is going to remain unblemished in their game with Penn Charter.”
Suburban One Sports: Cheltenham won its first game last week against Bishop McDevitt. Will the Panthers make it two in a row against Quakertown?
Scott Huff: “Not likely. Quakertown has come up with huge wins over both Upper Perkiomen and Hatboro-Horsham and could contend in the SOL Continental Conference this year. However, Upper Perk and H-H are not exactly Archbishop Wood and La Salle, and the jury is out on Quakertown. Greg Morris and Brandon Mack played great games last week for Cheltenham – and a Panther (CHS) win is certainly not out of the question.”
SuburbanOneSports: Both Hatboro-Horsham and Upper Merion are in search of a first win. Which team has the best shot this week?
Scott Huff: “Hatboro-Horsham. The Hatters played ‘up’ against SOL National Conference contender Pennridge in Week One and SOL Continental Conference contender Quakertown in Week Two – and lost convincingly to both. Hatboro-Horsham has winless Lansdale Catholic on the menu this week – a Class AA school. Chalk up win number one for the Hatters. Upper Merion must face Haverford this week after a tough 30-28 loss to Octorara – while Haverford blasted Lower Merion 35-0. The Vikings will have to wait until the conference schedule to secure their first win.”
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