Cheltenham was the lone SOL winner in Friday night’s District One Tournament action. Cheltenham/Unionville photos provided courtesy of Geanine Jamison. Check back for a gallery of photos. (CB West/Coatesville photos provided courtesy of Marge Bullock: http://www.margebullock.com )
Class 5A
#1 CHELTENHAM 35, #9 UNIONVILLE 21
(Statistics by Andrew Robinson/PA Prep Live: https://papreplive.com/football/2019/11/09/barnes-big-night-powers-cheltenham-past-unionville-in-district-5a-quarterfinals/)
Jamir Barnes has star qualities, but nagging injuries kept the senior running back out of the spotlight in recent weeks. All that changed in Friday’s district quarterfinal contest that saw Barnes play a starring role.
Barnes ignited the offense with 141 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and he also had 55 receiving yards and a TD.
“We remembered how good Jamir Barnes is,” coach Ryan Nase said. “The biggest difference between this year and last year is – Jamir was just ready earlier last year, so we rode him, and he took us as far as he could take us.
“Nate Edwards, Adonis Hunter, TJ Harris, Sam Sykes – a lot more guys grew up and were able to play a much bigger role this year so that we haven’t gone to Jamir as much as we had in the past. We got in a situation tonight where we just needed to feed him, and he said, ‘Hey guys, remember, I can still do this when you need me to.’
“We’re a really good team, but we have one scholarship player on our team, and it’s him. He proved it on offense tonight. The other tough part that people don’t see is that he’s been proving it all year at corner. It’s tough for people to see that because it doesn’t show up in the statistics.”
Quarterback Adonis Hunter hooked up with Barnes for a 34-yard touchdown pass to put the Panthers on the board, but Unionville answered. That 7-7 tie held up for all of 13 seconds – the time it took Nate Edwards to take the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a TD that gave the Panthers a 14-7 lead.
The visiting Indians knotted the score early in the second quarter, but Barnes took it in from four yards, allowing the Panthers to regain the lead. Again, not for long, Unionville knotted the score 21-21 with 1:11 remaining in the second quarter.
“To be honest, it was a little tougher than I would have hoped,” Nase said. “Not because Unionville is not a good team because they’re a great team. We still shoot ourselves in the foot sometimes.
“I’ve got to figure out how to make better choices myself and to help the kids make better choices. We turned the ball over a couple of times. We had a couple of just – honestly – stupid penalties, which we did early in the year but were much better recently.
“Getting deeper than just football, I feel like in the classroom and in the building we haven’t been doing those little things that we had gotten really good at. It’s almost like we forgot who we were for a little bit, and maybe we need the Mike Tyson – ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’ We got punched in the face a little bit, and then we remembered – ‘Oh yeah, that’s what we’re supposed to do,’ and then we started doing it again.”
Barnes scored from 17 yards out late in the third quarter to put the Panthers on top 28-21. Later in the quarter, Jon-Marc Foreman delivered a defensive play that swung momentum firmly in the Panthers’ favor when he recovered a fumble.
“Jon-Marc Foreman had a huge hit and a fumble recovery, and he broke like seven tackles to score,” Nase said. “Unfortunately, it was like an 80-yard return that got called back because of one of those stupid penalties, but just forcing the turnover and what he did on that play – I think it ignited the fire that we needed. That was really big.
“We had to go 80 yards and we did, and Jamir was a big – if not the biggest – part of it.”
Barnes capped the 80-yard drive with a nifty 47-yard touchdown run with 1:52 remaining in regulation to seal the Indians’ fate.
“Our lack of depth showed up a little bit today too,” Nase said. “Our linemen were fighting their you-know-whats off, but they got gassed at times. Sometimes they got beat, but at the end of the game when we needed to finish it, they gave Jamir just enough.
“We tell them all the time – we love our O-line, but they don’t need to be road graders that take their guys 15 yards off the ball. If you get Jamir to the line of scrimmage untouched, he’s got a shot. You get him three yards in front of the line of scrimmage, he’s going to go. He’s not the only one – Sam (Sykes) can do it. If we can get Nate (Edwards) the edge, he can do it. If they can give Adonis (Hunter) time to just throw it up to TJ (Harris) and Nate – obviously, we’re blessed that we have a lot of guys that can go at any moment.”
Cheltenham (11-1, 6-0 SOL) will host fourth-seeded Kennett in Friday’s District One 5A semifinal.
“I think anybody who has seen us play or watched us on film – there have been times when we’ve struggled defensively to stop the run,” Nase said. “If we can get you in a position where you have to throw the ball, we’re really good.
“Unionville took advantage of that. They run the ball well with a bunch of different guys. We’ve seen Kennett a couple times on film, especially because they’ve played Unionville. They’re going to be a team that does the same thing. They’re downhill runners. We have to figure some things out defensively how to stop that.
“As happy and as thrilled as we are to be here, the closer you get – it’s like, ‘We came this far. Now we’ve got to win it all.’ At some point in December or January, I’ll sit back and enjoy this, but now, it’s like – ‘Holy smokes, two more games and you’re district champions. We’ve got to win these.’ We’re not ecstatic yet. Now there’s more pressure on us – we’re still here, we’re the only team from our conference left. We’ve got to do this.”
Cheltenham is the lone SOL team still standing, a fact that is not lost on opposing coaches who are showing their support to Nase and his squad.
“One of the best things about tonight – I think I got text messages from almost every coach not just in our conference but even from some of the other Suburban One conferences,” the Panthers’ coach said. “To have that support and to give them our support has been really cool.”
Unionville 7-14-0-0 21
Cheltenham 14-7-7-7 35
Class 6A
#7 COATESVILLE 41, #2 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 24
Jack Fallon stood alone near the center of War Memorial Field, taking in the familiar surroundings one last time.
“There are so many memories we made this season,” West’s senior running back said. “No one expected us to come here and win 10 games this year, to even win a playoff game and have home field advantage for both (playoff) games. No one expected it, and that’s a win in our book.”
One of the cruel realities of the postseason is that only one team will end its season with a win, and while Friday’s loss was disappointing, even harder to swallow was the fact that a special chapter in all of their lives had ended.
“We grew up together playing Lenape Valley and then Lenape and Tohickon, and it’s just sad to see it end,” Fallon said. “We all love each other. It was a great year.”
“It’s really hard,” senior Jack Neri said. “Obviously, I love all these guys, I love all these coaches. It hurts immensely, it hurts in the heart.
“We’ve all grown up together. We played with 41 guys on our team, and that’s not a lot of guys to play on a football team. We’re happy with what we accomplished. Of course, we wish we could have come out on top in this one.”
For a while, it looked as though they might. The Bucks took an early 7-0 lead after Josh Jackson took it in from three yards out. Villanova-bound quarterback Ricky Ortega answered with a short TD run to even the score, but Bailey Moyer gave the Bucks a 10-7 lead when he nailed a 26-yard field goal.
Ortega’s second touchdown of the game from 28 yards out gave the Raiders a 14-10 advantage, but when Neri punched it in from a yard out, the Bucks led 17-13 at the intermission.
If there was a turning point, it just might have been on the first drive of the second half. Coatesville, pinned deep in its own end, was facing third-and-15. Ortega ran for the first down.
“We had an opportunity to get off the field and we didn’t get off the field,” West coach Rob Rowan said. “I thought that was a backbreaker. When you’re playing a team that potent offensively and you get them in third-and-long situations, you have to get off the field, and we didn’t. Ultimately, I thought that was the story of the game.
“There were probably four or five third-and-12 pluses that we didn’t get off the field, and ultimately, when you look back on film, that’s going to be the reason why. We just didn’t execute well enough in the second half, and defensively, we gave up too many third-and-longs. They spread five guys out, and at some point, you have to match up, and you’ve got to trust that your guys make plays, and their guys made plays.
“When you give a team that many chances – as talented as they are, they’re going to make plays.”
The visiting Raiders reeled off 28 unanswered points to go on top 41-17 before Neri took it in from two yards out in the final minute.
“It’s just an incredible run, an incredible group of young men,” Rowan said. “For the past four weeks, we were dressing 33 guys at practice. For those guys to be able to re-establish the standard we expect here – they did that.”
The Bucks’ coach acknowledged the important role of his team’s seniors.
“They were just an incredible, resilient, tough and just extremely fun group of kids,” Rowan said. “We’re going to miss the heck out of them.
“The group of seniors absolutely established what’s acceptable and what’s not here. They’re going to walk away from this, no doubt about it, winners. They maximized who they were as individuals, and really, that’s our definition of success.
“You lose a game, you lose a game. The sadness of it is that the guys will never be on the field together again. I think all of the classes to follow – they have an extremely high expectation to live up to. It’s tough now because the sting’s still really strong, but I think when we’re able to take a step back and look at it, this year was an absolute success in a lot of ways.”
The Bucks – on the heels of a four-win season in 2018 – won 10 games this year, equaling their win total of the previous two seasons combined.
“Honestly, I did (expect it) just based on the offseason we put in and what we’ve been through together,” Neri said. “I think mentally we were ready, and I think we came out and showed that.
“It was just knowing that everyone could do their job, trusting each other and loving one another – that’s how we got the job done.”
“Since I was a freshman, we always expected to be hard workers every offseason and come in and do the best we can,” Fallon said. “We didn’t see success sophomore or junior year, but coming in this year, we wanted to turn that around.
“Personally, I dreamt about this since I was a little kid. I did imagine it. I’ve always dreamed about this moment.”
Fallon led the Bucks’ ground game with 179 yards. Neri threw for 103 yards.
For Coatesville, which amassed 520 total yards – 330 on the ground, Ortega threw for 190 yards and a touchdown and ran for 139 more and three TDs. Dapree Bryant – also bound for Villanova University – had 12 carries for 160 yards and a touchdown. Nazeear Lopp led the Raiders with 117 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Central Bucks West (5-1 SOL) closed out it season with the SOL Continental Conference title and a 10-2 record.
Coatesville 0-13-14-14 41
Central Bucks West 7-10-0-7 24
#3 GARNET VALLEY 56, #11 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 21
(Statistics by Ed Morlock/PA Prep Live: https://papreplive.com/football/2019/11/08/third-down-defense-dooms-plymouth-whitemarsh-against-garnet-valley/)
Garnet Valley has not been especially kind to Suburban One League teams. PW is the eighth consecutive SOL opponent the Jaguars have sent home for the season in the District One Tournament. North Penn was the last SOL team to defeat Garnet Valley in districts and that came in 2016 when the Knights won the district title with a 48-38 win over the Jaguars.
Stopping the Jaguars high-powered offense has been next to impossible – they have averaged over 39 points a game in their eight wins, 56 in Friday’s win.
“They’re a very, very good football team,” coach Dan Chang said. “They’re very physical, they run hard, they know who they are, and they do it very well.”
The Colonials capitalized on a Garnet Valley fumble to take an early 7-0 lead when Brian Dresnin took it in from a yard out. The Jaguars had an immediate answer, going up 14-7 by the end of the quarter.
Dresnin evened the score when he raced 76 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Garnet Valley closed out the half with 14 unanswered points to go into halftime with a 28-14 lead. The Colonials would get no closer the rest of the way.
Dresnin led the Colonials with 157 yards on 16 carries. Michael Paciello and Christopher Pierce each had 60 yards in a contest that saw PW accumulate 276 rushing yards. Garnet Valley had 360 yards on the ground.
Despite the outcome, Chang had nothing but praise for his squad, crediting the seniors for their role in the team’s success.
“They were unbelievable,” the Colonials’ coach said. “I told our team – our senior class has gone through the lowest of lows since I’ve been here and the highest of highs.
“It’s their leadership, their work ethic that took us to where we went this year. They showed our younger guys what it takes, how to act and how to do things the right way to be successful like that. I can’t say enough about these guys. I’m going to miss them a ton. I know all the coaches are. Our team is going to miss them, but I’m just so proud of what they were able to accomplish and how they stuck through it together throughout the entire season.”
The Colonials turnaround from a one-win team the last two years to a 9-2 squad this year has been well documented. Last week’s win over Abington represented the program’s first district playoff win since 1997.
While the Colonials’ strong showing surprised most, it did not – according to Chang – surprise the players
“I talked to those guys, and everybody says, ‘Oh man, what a great turnaround. We never expected this,’ but every single one of them was like, ‘This is what we saw happening all year. We knew this was going to be a special year for us,’” the PW coach said. “Even though we only won one game the last two years, coming into this year, we felt this was the year for us and we could do some really special things.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-1 SOL) closed out its successful season with a 9-2 record.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 7-7-7-0 21
Garnet Valley 14-14-14-14 56
#1 DOWNINGTOWN WEST 40, #9 NORTH PENN 31
The never-say-die Knights stayed within striking distance of the district’s top seed for four quarters, but every time they would pull close, the Whippets answered with a big play. The Knights never could get over the hump and saw their season end in Downingtown.
On their opening drive of the game – which included a Kolby Barrow to Evan Spann 56-yard pass, the Knights had a first-and-goal from the five. They went backwards on each of the next three plays and settled for a Daniel Moon 33-yard field goal.
It took the Whippets just two plays to go on top 7-3 when Tyriq Lewis raced 51-yards for the score. They stretched that lead to 14-3 when quarterback Will Howard connected with Sean Pelkisson from 34 yards out.
Sophomore Khalani Eaton capped a Knight scoring drive when he scored from two yards out to make it a 14-10 game. The big-play Whippets needed just two plays – including a 40-yard Lewis TD run – to go on top 20-10, a lead they took into the intermission.
On their opening drive of the second half, the Knights marched down the field with Eaton’s 13-yard touchdown run pulling the Knights to within 20-17. RJ Macnamara’s 45-yard run highlighted the TD drive. Lewis gave the Whippets a 26-17 lead when he scored from 23 yards out in the closing minute of the third quarter. A 61-yard Barrow to Spann touchdown completion made it a 26-24 game, but Julian Williams delivered a play that may have been the backbreaker when he took the ensuing kickoff over 80 yards for a touchdown that put the Whippets – after a successful two-point conversion – on top 34-24.
Another Barrow to Spann 37-yard TD connection made it a 34-31 game, but again, Lewis answered with a touchdown run, this one from 18 yards.
Barrow threw for 250 yards with Spann hauling in four passes for 159 yards. Eaton finished with 95 rushing yards and Macnamara had 76.
Lewis paced the Whippets with 230 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
North Penn (4-2 SOL) closed out its season with an 8-4 record.
North Penn 7-3-7-14 31
Downingtown West 3-17-6-14 40
Class 4A
#3 BISHOP SHANAHAN 35, #4 UPPER MORELAND 0
The Eagles opened up a 14-0 lead over the Golden Bears after one quarter and doubled that with two more touchdowns in the second to go into halftime of Friday’s District One 4A title game with a 28-0 lead.
The Golden Bears never did find their offensive stride, managing less than 200 yards of total offense. Senior Dai-Jahn Dukes had 84 rushing yards to lead UM.
Upper Moreland (6-6, 2-4 SOL) is off until Thanksgiving Day when it will host Hatboro-Horsham at 10 a.m.
Upper Moreland 0-0-0-0 0
Bishop Shanahan 14-14-7-0 35
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