In the fourth weekly edition of the Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football,’ high school football beat writers Kevin Cooney and Dom Cosentino share their thoughts about some of last week’s SOL games as well as several of this week’s key games. They also offer their take on the Phillies and the upcoming postseason.
Cooney and Cosentino – who boast a combined 23 years covering high school football – are two of the area’s most respected and knowledgeable football writers. To stay on top of all the latest high school football news in the area, visit the web site http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/sports_now.html
SuburbanOneSports.com: Based on the fact that Truman’s game against Council Rock South on Friday night was stopped at halftime, what do you see happening to Truman’s program?
Dom Cosentino: Their goal is to continue with the season. Barring what George Collins, their AD, referred to as any ‘unforeseen circumstances,’ they plan to finish the year. They have kids that want to play, and Ed Cubbage wants to continue to coach.
They had some unfortunate injuries last week, and I think they will be able to work around that, at least for this week’s game against Tennent, and then they’re going to try and continue to make this happen. I think it’s a good thing because the one thing that cannot be understated about this whole situation is they have kids who want to play. And that group that is still there has arguably more heart and more guts than any team in the area regardless of how many wins they have at the end of the season. Even if it’s 11 of them and if those 11 want to go out and play, the school has made the decision despite the possible safety risk here to continue with that.
Obviously, if circumstances change and kids get hurt or they’re getting their brains beaten in, I think they’ll re-evaluate that. It’s a scare that they couldn’t finish their game on Friday night, but they’re going to keep trying.
It’s going to be a long, hard slog for them the rest of the year, but they put in the work, and they’ve put in the time. It’s kind of a neat thing to see. George Collins spoke to the team before practice on Tuesday afternoon, and he let them know there are life lessons that are being learned in this – these kids are dedicating themselves to a cause greater than themselves, and that has a reward in itself.
They’re also getting Derron Thompson, their quarterback, back. He was cleared to play late Monday and resumed practice Tuesday.
Remember, too, that if they stop the season, they might not get the program back. School districts these days are all looking to save money, and rightfully so. It would be very difficult in this economic climate to convince any school board, anywhere, that it’s worth bringing back a program that couldn’t finish its previous season because it didn’t have enough players. The impact of that would be devastating not just to potential players, but for those in the marching band, the cheerleaders, the entire community. If this group finishes the season – and I adamantly hope they do it – will make for one heck of a story.
Kevin Cooney: My own personal belief is that it’s gotten to the point where the league is going to have to make a decision. This can’t happen again, and I think George Collins made that pretty clear in the comments he made (earlier this week) that if this happens again, it will probably be the end of the season. This is what I’ve said when all this started going on – you’ve now started the league season. If you get another week or two in, half the league season is gone. How fair will it be to the teams that have played Truman over the front end of the season and had to risk injuries and things like that for a program that may not finish the season? It’s a legitimate, legitimate issue. I don’t know if the league is afraid to address it, but it’s one that’s there, and it’s not going to go away either.
I respect the Truman kids greatly, and I think it’s admirable, and I think it’s great what they’re doing. I’m not trying to be a negative person here, but I think there’s a practical rationale that has to go into this too. The practical portion is you have to look at the bigger picture, and the bigger picture is – is Truman going to be able to finish the season, and if not, then what?
SuburbanOneSports.com: Talk about Bensalem’s huge win over Pennsbury after coming out of the gate 0-3. What does that game mean to both teams?
Dom Cosentino: Pennsbury has been a very difficult team to figure out over the past four weeks, no question. At the same time, Bensalem starts out with a miserable loss – there’s no other way to describe it – to Overbrook to start the season. They played a little bit better against Pennridge and a little bit better the next week against Archbishop Ryan, and then they go out and do something like this – beat a team they haven’t beaten in 12 years.
For Bensalem, the win is a shot in the arm. Any time a team can start off 0-3 and has to deal with some of the things they’ve dealt with – that kind of snowballs. We’ve seen it happen with other teams. To get a win validates the work people are putting in. It validates what the coaches are doing. It has the potential to snowball in the other direction for them. They don’t get any breaks. They have to play Neshaminy this week, but it at least establishes that they’re doing the right things. They’re not as talented as the Neshaminys of this world, but what they are doing is pointing themselves in the right direction.
In the win over Pennsbury, Christian Fernandez had two interceptions for Bensalem, and he also rushed for 67 yards, and he has been a pretty good player. Anthony Priscoe hit 7-of-9 passes and put up some pretty solid numbers for them at quarterback. They also have a pretty good line. Bensalem is better than that 0-3 record with a brutal loss to start the season.
Dan McShane has 60 kids out, so that says something that he has been able to sustain a program. He’s been there nearly 10 years, and yes, they might go 4-7 or so every year, but you have the right kind of person in there to be that team’s coach. That says a lot about what this all means beyond football
For Pennsbury, it was significant in that it’s a league loss that was unexpected. Remember, they still have to play Council Rock South, Neshaminy and Abington, so they still have to play the three best teams in the league. Now at 2-2 with six games to go, they can’t afford too many more slipups if they hope to make the playoffs. I don’t think they’re doomed by any stretch. The biggest thing is they’re a very difficult team to figure out. The Easton loss you chalk up to the fact that Easton is ranked number one in the state. Then they struggled against Frankford and lose this game. It really makes you wonder how good they might be, although I don’t think they’re that bad either, but nobody knows.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Comment about the importance of Saturday’s Council Rock South/Pennsbury game.Dom Cosentino: This is a huge game for Council Rock South. It’s not a good spot for Pennsbury to be in because Council Rock South is really rolling. On both sides of the ball, they look very good, especially defensively with three straight shutouts.
For Pennsbury, yes, you’d like to think they could take the Bensalem loss and bounce back from it, but this is not an easy spot to do it. I haven’t seen Pennsbury yet this year, but I’m going to be there Saturday. I’m eager to check them out and see what they are because it’s been really difficult to figure out what kind of team they are so far.
Gvien what Pennsbury has done so far this season, that’s a game that could go either way. It’s Rock South’s first big test, and it’s an opportunity for us to see what Pennsbury is made of given the start they’re off to. That’s certainly the biggest game of the week, I think.
Kevin Cooney: Judging from afar, Pennsbury is trying to re-establish their offensive identity, and it’s taking time. That being said, having not been there, I’m not sure if it’s fair to say they took Bensalem lightly, but this was a classic trap game, and it looks like they fell into the trap. Because of that, Saturday’s game against CR South almost takes on a must-win overtone because otherwise you’re 2-3 and you still have Neshaminy on the schedule. Their two wins – Harrisburg will probably give them power points but Frankford probably won’t. They are at the critical point at the season right now, and it could go either way this week.
Council Rock South has a program going, and in the sea of everything, that’s what has been lost. Rock South has now built a very good program. They almost made the playoffs a couple of years ago, made it last year and it looks like right now they are back again. Give Vince Bedesem credit. He turned the program around. They had been wandering for a lot of years, and he instilled discipline and has given them an identity. Their quarterback, Billy Fleming, is as good a player as there’s been so far this year. The test will be against Neshaminy, but right now, they’re a playoff team.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Neshaminy was impressive in its win over Abington. What are your thoughts about that team after the first four weeks of the season?
Dom Cosentino: I think Neshaminy has proven, so far anyway, that they’re a very, very good team. They have a lot of weapons on offense, but it was their defense on Friday night that really jumped out at me – the things they did to contain Julien Ireland. They didn’t make any mistakes where they over pursued to allow him to break off any big runs. Everyone did their jobs, and having a kid in the middle like Corey Majors really doesn’t hurt either. I really think he’s one of the best players in the state, just given what he’s doing on both sides of the ball right now. He’s one of the most valuable players anyway.
Kevin Cooney: I don’t see anything right now that would lead me to believe that anyone in the National Conference is going to give Neshaminy a run. Defensively, they’re playing really well. Offensively, Corey Majors has been a beast, and they have Charlie Marterella doing a great job at quarterback. They had the one tough non-league game against Souderton, and it’s kind of been full throttle since then.
The way the Neshaminy program has been over the years, this is the way they go - they’re either in that mid zone, which is good for the National Conference but not real promising for a district or state contender. Now they’re at the point where they’re legitimately on that upper level again. They’re back in the conversation to come out of District One.
I’ve talked to coach Mark Schmidt. They’ve gone through a lot this year with Marco Dapkey being diagnosed with leukemia, but Schmidt has them going right now. That said, maybe Rock South will give them a good game, but beyond that in the conference, I don’t see anybody else.
SuburbanOneSports.com: What did the Neshaminy game tell you about Abington?
Dom Cosentino: I still think they’re pretty good. Defensively, they did okay at times, but their offense didn’t help them the other night. That’s been an issue all season. They have won two of their games, but they’re not putting up a lot of offense, and it puts their defense in a difficult spot. That’s what you’re going to see from them, but again, their season isn’t over by any stretch. They just happened to lose to a team that I think has the potential to be 10-0 come playoff time.
SuburbanOneSports.com: After seeing Neshaminy in several games, would you put them at the same level as a North Penn?Dom Cosentino: I’m not quite ready to go there yet, but I think they’re building toward it. I like what I see from them, but it’s only been four games, and there’s still a long way to go. They still have Council Rock South, and they still have Pennsbury on their schedule. We’ll know more about them after that, but I do think they’re one of the better teams in District One without a question. Are they a state championship caliber team? It’s too soon to tell.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Souderton earned a big win over Central Bucks West on Friday night. What are your thoughts about that game?
Kevin Cooney: I think for Souderton, it was a must-win. Ed Gallagher put the gauntlet down, and quite honestly, they ended up answering the call. They are a team that right now looks the part of a playoff contender, and it seems strange to say that, but look at the fact that they’re now able to throw the ball along with the running game. The running game is still the core for them – they ran for 306 yards last week against West, but they now are not completely one-dimensional, and that’s a huge thing for them moving forward.
Souderton is tough, and they block very well. They’re a very fundamentally sound football team when they get going right. They did not play fundamentally well the week before against Abington, but they were fundamentally sound against West. What we saw last week was – in a big game - they were able to stand up to the challenge, and that’s an impressive sign for a team moving forward into the second week of league play.
They’re still in the same spot though. To get where they want to go, they’re going to have to win a couple more close games. That was one of them, and this is a bullet week coming up, for lack of a better term. They have got to beat Pennridge just because you still have North Penn on your schedule up ahead. If you lose this game and you lose to North Penn, now you have four losses, and you’re on that bubble. You win this game you’re in pretty good shape.
The way I’m looking at it – they can’t take a step back this week against Pennridge. They have to keep going, they have to keep moving, and I want to see – can they handle success? We’re about to find out.
The one thing with West that I liked was the fact that West didn’t give in. They didn’t feel sorry for themselves. They were not able to run the ball as effectively as they had been, and they took a lot of sacks, which is something you didn’t really expect them to do, but they were still in the game. They were still battling at the end. It was a close game.
Again, West has given themselves a little bit of a cushion. If they go 4-3 in the league, they’ll be fine. They’re not just the product of a weak non-league schedule. They’re pretty good.
Dom Cosentino: Souderton needed that game and proved it’s still going to be a pretty good team the rest of the way. We have said it a thousand times – North Penn is the team to beat in that league, but Souderton is right there also, and they proved that last week. It was the first real test for CB West, and Souderton beat them.
Friday’s Pennridge-Souderton game is a big one because Pennridge, which is 3-1, had a bad loss against Council Rock South, but they bounced back against a small school in Lansdale Catholic. Souderton is 2-2, but they’ve played some tough teams, and they’re coming off a nice win over CB West. They could be the second and third best teams in that league, and that could be determined this week.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennridge bounced back from a tough loss to Council Rock South to defeat Lansdale Catholic. What are your thoughts about the Rams heading into Friday’s game against Souderton?Kevin Cooney: I think some people are wondering if Pennridge is a product of its schedule. Remember, they beat a 2A team last week in LC. Haverford School is not considered to be really good. They have to rely on their meat and potatoes, and that’s Jesse Knepp. They have to really just buckle down and get him running. When they get him going, they’re real tough to beat. This is going to be an interesting game in styles, and I think it’s a statement game of where Pennridge is at.
SuburbanOneSports.com: CB West is traveling to CB South on Friday night. Any thoughts on that game?
Kevin Cooney: You have to lean toward West at this point. It’s a bounce-back game, and I expect Rashaad Williams to have a pretty good game. South has not proven that they can stop anybody at this point. Defensively, they have to get some holds.
Dom Cosentino: South is another team that’s tough to figure out. Not that I expected them to beat North Penn, but I didn’t expect North Penn to get 55 points on offense either.
Now we begin to find out how good West really is. They have three nice wins. They have established that they’re going to be competitive throughout the season, but now they have a bit of a rivalry game this week and a chance to bounce back from that first loss. We’ll see what they’re made of.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Moreland continued to impress with its win at Interboro on Friday. How good is this 4-0 team that will be facing an improved PW squad on Friday night?
Dom Cosentino: Upper Moreland is entering league play, and they’re clearly going to be right there again. Like I’ve been saying each week, they’re going out and playing good 3A programs around the district and winning those games – Pottstown, Strath Haven and Interboro and a decent Furness team from the city. Yes, they’re going to be right there.
PW is better than they have been in a few years. Dan Chang has turned that around pretty quickly, and this could be one of the marquee games in the American Conference right out of the gate. It’s a real good test for them. They have done some good things at Upper Moreland for the past several seasons, and I think they’re really going to get it together this year. Those are some nice wins for them. The Quad A powers and Quad A playoffs get a lot of attention, but I think they have three quality wins so far.
SuburbanOneSports.com: William Tennent notched an impressive win over Council Rock North. What did that game mean to both programs?
Dom Cosentino: It’s going to be a long year for Rock North. As I’ve said before, I don’t know that any team can withstand the type of injuries to the caliber of players they have. At the same time, hats off to Tennent. Let’s face it, that’s a program that had won two games in the previous three seasons, and they’ve now got three wins this year with Truman on the schedule this week. There’s a very, very good potential this team is going to be 4-1 as we go forward. It’s just a good situation they’re in. I’m not going to say they’re a playoff team, but they have handled what’s been before them, and beating Rock North was a good win for them. That’s a team that even when Tennent had good teams they had trouble beating in recent years, so it’s a good win.
Kevin Cooney: If you’re carrying an 0-for (the season) after four weeks like Council Rock North, your season is probably already over. The injuries have hurt, but you really have to question what’s going on there beneath the surface. It’s pretty obvious that something has happened. Something wasn’t right in that locker room last year, and something isn’t right this year because of the way they’re getting beat.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Comment on the job Biz Keeney has done with a Tennent program that has fallen on hard times.
Dom Cosentino: He has won there, and it’s easy to point to what they have gone through the last three years, but again, they’re dealing with circumstances that other programs aren’t. The closing of the Naval base caused a lot of families to move away, and they took a hit and lost athletes when they lost Shenandoah Woods, which is the community where the naval air base people were living.
In 2004 and 2006, he had very, very good teams at Tennent that not only got into the playoffs, but even though they lost in the first round both times, they were very good games. They were within five yards of upsetting an undefeated Coatesville team in 2004, so he’s won there. He’s proven himself. It’s just that he’s up against things that are beyond his control, but he’s proven that when he’s gotten some talent, he can put that together and win some games, and he’s doing that this year. They’re quietly one of the better stories of the season. They’re off to a 3-1 start with a chance to make that 4-1 when they play Truman on Friday.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks East had a big win over Hatboro on Friday. Were you surprised by that score?
Dom Cosentino: Not necessarily because we haven’t really seen what East is capable of. CB East has dealt with some issues these first few weeks, and that has taken away from what they’re capable of doing. Certainly two of those losses were to two of the better teams in the area in Rock South and Neshaminy.
Kevin Cooney: CB East feels more comfortable now playing without Justyn White. Offensively, they’re moving the ball more effectively. Defensively, they have been decent. Probably their game against Hatboro last week is not a very good judge, and they’re running into a buzz saw this week. How they’ll be able to manage that is going to determine a lot about where their season is going. They’ll probably have to run the table after this game, so we’ll see what happens.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Is North Penn as good as its recent scores suggest?
Kevin Cooney: North Penn is playing its best football of the year right now. I think North Penn right now is playing just as well as anybody. You can make the argument for CR South, you can make the argument for Neshaminy, and I’m sure Ridley would enter the conversation, but what North Penn has done since that first loss to La Salle has been pretty impressive.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Leaving football for just a minute, what are your thoughts about the Phillies as the post-season approaches?
Kevin Cooney: The one matchup if I was a Phillies fan that I would fear is San Francisco, but that being said, I think they’re the best team in the National League, and their pitching is the best in baseball with their three starters, but the playoffs are funny. There’s a catch phrase they always use that you can’t script October, and there’s a reason why. The Atlanta Braves only won one World Series despite that ‘big three’ staff they had. The Phillies are a favorite in the National League to get through, but San Francisco is the one team that can match them pitching and having to play at AT&T could be a big, big problem.
Dom Cosentino: With two Roys and Cole Hamels, the Phillies have the sort of top-of-the-rotation pitching that every championship-caliber team needs come October. It helps, too, that Brad Lidge is starting to resemble the Brad Lidge of 2008 more so than 2009. A lot can happen and a lot can change, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another parade later this month. At which time the Pirates fan in me will again sigh with envy.
*The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of SuburbanOneSports.com. Check back every week for more football talk with Kevin Cooney and Dom Cosentino.
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