Be sure to check the www.SuburbanOneSports.com on Friday night for all the SOL scores. Look also for bonus coverage of Friday night’s Souderton/Pennridge and Central Bucks West/Central Bucks South contests.
Ask Vince Bedesem to name the players who have been key to his team’s dazzling 4-0 start, and the names start rolling off his tongue.
“Offensively, I have to give it to the guys up front – Jared Carp, Demitri Zoubroulis, Justin Flor, Tom Trampe and Mike Yost,” the Council Rock South coach said. “Those guys up front have been doing just a super, super job.
“Not to mention (quarterback) Billy Fleming – he’s the controller of everything offensively as far as making our checks and keeping everyone going.”
Fleming – who can burn teams in more ways than one – has accumulated 176 yards in the air and 276 on the ground with seven touchdowns, and that’s just the beginning.
The Golden Hawks’ defense has shut out its last three opponents.
“Defensively – I have to mention the whole defense because collectively they’re doing a great job,” Bedesem said. “Matt Emilius anchors the defense as the senior leader and captain on the defensive line. He’s showing the ropes to a PJ Gallo, who’s his bookend partner.
“Down inside is Andrew Cohen, Jake Presley and Anthony Miller. They’re just doing a fabulous job up front.”
Next in line are the Golden Hawks’ linebackers.
“Hunter Sholl is the quarterback of our defense,” Bedesem said. “He’s irreplaceable right now. He just does a great, great job of keeping everyone focused and wired into what we need to be doing.
“Tony Checchia – what a fabulous kid he is. Ryan Whitely is playing defense, and he and Tony double as fullbacks for us. The other guy that just does a tremendous, tremendous job on both sides of the ball is Mark Damirgian. He’s one of our go-to guys offensively, and nobody is playing better defense than Mark.”
Not to be forgotten is the Golden Hawks’ secondary.“Anthony Alimenti, Ryan Hickey, Cory Wilkenson and Ilya Gorin are just doing a really, really good job,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said.
If you’re getting the picture that the Golden Hawks’ strong start is a team effort, you’re right.
“He (Bedesem) has always preached ’11 as one,’ and that’s been a big motto of ours,” Checchia said. “On defense, we just work as a unit, and on offense, everybody has their responsibilities, and as long as everyone takes care of their jobs, we’re going to succeed.”
So far, everyone has taken care of their jobs, but the Golden Hawks will face their toughest test of the season on Saturday afternoon when they take on Pennsbury.
“It’s turning into a huge rivalry,” Fleming said of facing the Falcons. “We know what’s at stake right now, and we’re trying to be mentally tough and focused going in.
“I think it will be a real physical game. It’s going to be two hard-working teams coming out there playing hard-nosed football, playing smash-mouth football. It should be a good one. We’re hoping to come out with a win.”
The Golden Hawks have never beaten the Falcons but have faced them just twice. In 2008, Pennsbury eked out a 27-20 win but last year humbled the Golden Hawks 30-7.
While the Falcons are riding the wave of a four-game winning streak, the Falcons will be trying to erase the sting of last Friday’s 23-12 upset at the hands of Bensalem.
“The mood at practice this week was intense,” Falcon senior Jeff Prine said. “Everyone was flying to the ball. Our defense was hitting really hard.
“Our mindset going into this game – we have to come out with a passion. We have to come out and want to play and want to win.”
Prine has stepped into the role of quarterback for the Falcons, and he has added a new dimension to their offense, throwing for 451 yards and three touchdowns. Brandon Pepper is the workhorse in the backfield and has been all but unstoppable, rushing for 497 yards on 77 carries for an average of 6.5 yards per carry.
In the Falcons’ loss to Bensalem, it was turnovers – five, all told – that led to their demise.
“It was really frustrating,” Prine said. “It really was a wake-up call.
“We have to play every team like they’re a good team. Bensalem was good – they beat us. We can’t take any team lightly. Obviously, losing wasn’t good, but now we know that we have to step up.”While the Falcons – with a win over highly regarded Harrisburg but a loss to previously winless Bensalem - have struggled to find consistency in their first three games, the Golden Hawks have been a study in consistency.
Rock South has outscored its opponents 121-14 with Central Bucks South scoring the only points off the Golden Hawks this season, and that was four games ago.
“Having three shutouts – everyone wants to focus defensively, but it’s also our offense,” Bedesem said. “Our offense is maintaining ball security, and their time of possession is really good.
“They’re putting points on the board, which puts pressure on the other offense to possibly do something outside of what they normally do, and that just opens up our defense to be able to put pressure on them because they’re not doing what they want to do.
“When you look at the big scheme of things, people start pointing the arrow just defensively when collectively, it’s everybody. It’s the coaches on both sides of the ball, it’s the special teams coaches, and the kids themselves are doing a great job. They’re practicing hard, they just really buy into what we’re doing, and they have great chemistry.”
The ‘team theme’ is a recurring one for both player and coaches.
“Everyone feels like they’re a big part of it, and everyone is,” Checchia said of the Golden Hawks’ early-season success. “We’ve been working together since we lost to Ridley in November.
“We’ve been in the weight room, and it’s always a team effort. From way back in January and even before then, we were already coming together as a unit. The strength we built throughout the offseason really just carried into our season.”
And speaking of strength, Bedesem saved the biggest shout-out for strength coach John Franco.“The kids just gravitate to him, and it’s great to see,” Bedesem said. “Some people try and create certain things with team-building activities, and John has created an atmosphere just by working and having that great player-coach relationship.
“I can’t say enough about my assistant coaches. It’s a great mix of building camaraderie.”
While Pepper and Prine are the Falcons’ one-two punch, the Golden Hawks – and Fleming – boast a solid supporting cast. Mark Damirgian – who is averaging 6.7 yards per carry - has 287 yards on 43 carries with seven touchdowns. Ryan Whitely has 159 yards, averaging 7.2 yards a carry on 22 carries.
“We have a lot of younger guys who are stepping up as well as the seniors who are playing leadership roles,” Fleming said. “I think everyone is just feeding off each other.
“Our defense is playing unbelievable, and we feed off their energy, and I think they feed off our energy. It’s been working out real good this year.”
Three straight shutouts and a 4-0 record speaks for itself.
“We’re going out, we’re competing, and we’re playing hard every play,” Checchia said. “We’re not taking plays off. We’re doing our job every play.
“As long as we do that, the whole thing kind of takes care of itself. We don’t do out worrying about shutting a (team) out. We just know as long as we take care of our responsibilities, everything will take care of itself.”
If some are surprised by the Golden Hawks’ quick start, Fleming is not one of them.
“The last couple of years we were real small, but we always have a lot of heart and give it our all,” he said. “I don’t really think size matters that much – it’s the size of the heart.”
And so far this season, the Golden Hawks have displayed plenty of heart.
*Stats used in the above article are courtesy of the Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times.
Pennsbury at Council Rock South
Saturday, Oct. 2, 1 p.m.
Record: Council Rock South 1-0 SOL (4-0 overall), Pennsbury 0-1 SOL (2-2 overall)
Last week: Council Rock South defeated Harry S. Truman 35-0, Pennsbury fell to Bensalem 23-12
Last year: Pennsbury defeated Council Rock South 30-7
Council Rock South’s Vince Bedesem’s keys to the game:
1) Ball security is definitely number one.
2) Putting points on the board when we have opportunities.
3) Playing really good defense and really good special teams.
Coach Bedesem says: “First and foremost when going against a Pennsbury team, you have to have your ‘A’ game with you. It’s going to be a physical game. They’re very physical, they’re very disciplined, and they’re very well coached. Our kids have to come with their ‘A’ game - ready to play mentally, physically and emotionally.”
Pennsbury linebacker Tony Checchia says: “You know Pennsbury is going to come out real fired up. They’re a physical team, and everyone has to take care of their responsibility. As long as we all do what we need to do, we should be okay.”
Pennsbury quarterback Billy Fleming says: “We know exactly what’s at stake, and every game might be your last, so you have to go out and play 100 percent every game.”
Pennsbury coach Galen Snyder’s keys to the game:
1) Defensively, everybody has to play assignment football because of the nature of their offense. It’s an option offense, and when they run what’s called the triple option, you have to take away the dive, the quarterback, and the pitch men.
2) The key offensively is to not turn the ball over and try to establish our own running g
ame and score points.
Coach Snyder says: “We need all 11 guys playing their defensive assignments. Brandon Pepper has been stepping up for us all season, and he’s going to have to do it again.”
Falcon quarterback Jeff Prine says: “We have to obviously control the turnovers, and we have to put points on the board, no matter how good their defense is. Our defense has to play their assignments and stop their offense.”
Friday night’s Neshaminy/Bensalem game will be broadcast live on WBCB 1490 AM at 7 p.m., preceded by a pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. Saturday afternoon’s Pennsbury/Council Rock South game will be broadcast live on WBCB 1490 AM at 1 p.m. The North Penn/Central Bucks East game will be broadcast live on the web site www.wnpv1440.com. The Souderton/Pennridge game will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on the WNPV 1440 AM, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.
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