SOL Football District Wrap (11-4-22)

Check out the recaps for SOL football teams in action in Friday’s opening round of the District 1 Tournament. North Penn/Pennsbury photos courtesy of John Gleeson, CB West/CB East photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko, Souderton/CB South photos courtesy of Michael Rice, PW/Sun Valley photos courtesy of Kim Supko, and Upper Dublin/Academy Park photos courtesy of Troy Leatherbury. Check back for galleries of all five games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f745224687

Stats provided courtesy of the Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times. For additional football cover, visit the Intelligencer (https://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school) and Courier Times (https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/)

Class 6A

#14 NORTH PENN 22, #3 PENNSBURY 21

(Stats courtesy of Kev Hunter/PAPrepLive: https://papreplive.com/2022/11/05/district-1-6a-first-round-zeltt-north-penn-stun-pennsbury/)

Settle for the tie or go for the win.

That was the big question after Amir Major capped an impressive night running the football, bursting through the Falcons’ defense for a nine-yard touchdown that pulled the visiting Knights within one (21-20) with 61 seconds remaining in the contest.

Coach Dick Beck elected to go for two, and listening to the veteran coach tell it, it was a relatively easy decision.

“You tell me – do you want to give 34 (Galamama Mulbah) the ball on the 10-yard line for four plays?” the Knights coach said.

Beck didn’t want any parts of that potential overtime scenario, and after a timeout, the Knights lined up for a two-point play that saw Zeltt – under pressure from a hard-charging Falcon rush – lofting a pass into the back of the end zone that was hauled in by Bobby Hill.

The Falcons managed to take the ball to the Knights’ 33-yard line, but a desperation pass as time expired fell harmlessly just shy of the end zone, and the Knights could at last celebrate the hard-earned win.

For the Knights, the win avenged a 44-34 regular season loss at the hands of the Falcons, and their game plan was simple.

“The game plan was to run the ball, try to hit them with play action,” said Beck, whose team had just 80 rushing yards in the initial meeting. “We were down Zeed (Haynes), and Rashad McNeill didn’t play either – he has an injury, so our top two wide receivers were out.

“I thought Xavier Bryan coming in and being the number one receiver did a great job catching the ball and running patterns. Jay Ford-King caught a couple of nice passes over the middle that were big too.

“We had kids play well in a tough situation. We got Zeed out and we got Rashad out, and Dave Dawes has been injured for the past four weeks. We got guys going both ways. Kevin Adams has been playing middle linebacker for us, and he was just awesome tonight. He was all over the field. The kid played great.”

In the initial meeting between the two teams, the Knights had no answer for the Falcons’ ground and pound. Early in the second quarter, the Falcons had first and goal from North Penn’s four-yard line. The Knights – who led 7-0 thanks to a 14-yard Michai Cuffie touchdown run – came up with three straight defensive plays for losses – the first two stopping quarterback Shane McGurrin and the third a stop of Nate Beighley that pushed the Falcons’ back to the 13-yard line.

“They were huge stops, absolutely,” Beck said. “We stunted a little more up front. I thought our guys moved a little better getting off the blocks, and I thought our linebackers – we were very, very disciplined on the edge. Any time they tried to run option or keeper, we were all over the quarterback. Rarely did the quarterback hurt us at all.”

On fourth-and-goal, the Falcons’ field goal attempt failed, a series that would loom large later. After their defensive stand, the Knights marched 80 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead. The drive began with a 26-yard run by Major and was capped with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Zeltt to Xavier Bryan that sent the Knights into halftime with a 14-0 lead.

The Falcons’ special teams recovered the ball on the Knights’ 16-yard line on their own kickoff to open the second half, and Mulbah punched it in from a yard out to make it a 14-7 game. The Falcons blocked a North Penn field goal attempt, and later, a 13-yard touchdown run by Mulbah knotted the score.

With 5:08 remaining in regulation, Pennsbury took its first lead when Mulbah raced 20 yards up the middle for his third touchdown, giving the Falcons a 21-14 advantage. The Knights had an answer.

Their final scoring drive included back-to-back Zeltt completions to Bryan (14 yards) and Ford-King (12 yards). A defensive pass interference call against the Falcons also moved the chains. Major accounted for the final 26 yards on four consecutive runs, the final one for a touchdown that set the stage for the two-point conversion.

Major led the Knights’ ground game with 120 yards and one TD.

“I thought Amir Major played his best game, by far,” Beck said. “He got really comfortable finding the holes. When you run zone plays, you’re trying to find where the hole develops. Throughout the year, he’s been struggling sometimes. I thought he was right every single time tonight. He was finding the crease, getting downhill and running hard.”

Mulbah – who had 364 yards and four touchdowns in the initial meeting between the two teams – turned in another stellar outing, finishing with 273 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries.

“At the end of the first half, they had third-and-27, and all I could think about was 24 (Mulbah) getting the ball, running up the middle and breaking one for a touchdown,” Beck said. “That kid is so tough. The discipline our kids used when they kept it and ran option and keeper – that was the difference for us.”

The Knights’ coach lauded the efforts of several players on defense.

“Thomas Evans got his first start at corner tonight, which is really like an outside linebacker position for us, and he was really solid,” Beck said. “I thought that James Mangine really played well also, making big time plays.”

Zeltt threw for close to 200 yards in another standout performance.

“I thought our passing game was very efficient tonight,” Beck said. “We had some new guys in there, and Zeltt was awesome tonight. He was throwing BBs all over the place. He was pinpoint. Even some of his incompletions should have been completions.”

North Penn (6-5, 4-3 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West for Friday’s second round game. Pennsbury (9-2, 7-0) saw its storybook season come to an end, but what a season it was for a Falcons’ squad that brought a 16-game losing streak dating back to 2019 into the season. Friday’s loss snapped a string of nine straight wins for the SOL National Conference champions.

North Penn 7-7-0-8 22

Pennsbury 0-0-14-7 21

#7 SOUDERTON 10, #10 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0

Ed Gallagher isn’t quite sure if he’s ever seen Aiden Elliott smile, and that’s just fine with the Souderton coach.

“He’s vicious, he just gets after people,” Gallagher said of his junior defensive lineman. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile. He plays angry, and I love it. He’s got an edge, he gets after it, and he had his best game tonight when the lights were brightest. Hats off to him.”

Elliott was undeniably a catalyst in a glittering defensive effort by the Indians, anchoring a defensive line that kept the Titans’ offense under wraps all night.

“We performed well together as a team, helping each other out,” said Elliott. “Being in sync with the other linemen on the field – that’s what makes it a good game.

“I definitely think we should have gotten more (points), but I’m just glad that we executed and got this win tonight. I’m very happy with how we played. This was really important. I could tell the seniors appreciated it, and we owe it to them.”

Joining Elliott on the defensive line were defensive tackle Alec Sprouse and defensive ends Joey Nase and Kahlil Williams. Also seeing action at defensive end were Evan Zettle and Tom Gonce. Bryce Johnson played some defensive tackle.

“Going into the game, we knew they were going to try to pound us down the middle – we knew they were going to try and run the ball down our throats,” said senior defensive back Shaun Purvy, who recently made a verbal commitment to Lafayette. “Our D-line really stepped up, which was great to see because we’ve been challenging them all week to step up, and they really did. They played really physical. We got Joey Nase back, and he’s a big addition to the line, and he really helped as well.

“In the pass game, I feel like our secondary played really well. We allowed some stuff underneath, but to shut out a team like that – that’s got to be great secondary play, and we’ve got to keep this energy going into next week.”

While the defense was on top of its game, the Indians’ offense was carried by one big play, and it came early in the game – a double-handoff flea flicker on the Indians’ second play of the contest.

“We ran the double-handoff run several times last week, so we knew they’d practice it and they’d be looking at it, so we wanted them to bite on the first one,” Gallagher said.

The Titans bit, and quarterback Jared Zimmerman found Danny Dyches, who went down at the one-yard line. One play later, Zimmerman punched it in for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead that stood until halftime.

“To be honest with you, I knew this was going to be a low-scoring game – we had to take a chance early,” Gallagher said. “That was the only touchdown of the game. When it works, you look smart. When it doesn’t, you look stupid. It worked tonight.

“Hey, it’s playoffs – you have to pull out all the stops. That was a great opportunity for us to make a play, and our kids made plays.”

The Indians mounted a drive on their second possession of the second half. Ryan Sadowski had a 10-yard run, Zimmerman connected with Dyches for a first down, but the drive stalled at South’s 18. The Indians didn’t come away emptyhanded, taking a 10-0 lead when senior Ty Quintois split the uprights with a 35-yard field goal.

“Our kicking game has been great all year,” Gallagher said. “If it comes down to a kicking game, I like our chances. We’ve got a good one.”

Early in the fourth quarter, the Titans marched all the way to Souderton’s nine-yard line where they attempted a field goal that was blocked. South made another trip into the red zone, but Zettle’s second sack pushed the Titans back, forcing them to settle for a field goal attempt that was no good.

A late interception by Sadowski put the finishing touches on the win, although time was crawling for Gallagher, who said the scoreboard clock seemed to be going backwards.

“It eventually ran out, but it took a while to get to zeroes,” the Souderton coach said.

Friday’s game marked the return to the lineup of defensive end Joey Nase, who had been sidelined for seven weeks with an injury.

“He was first team all-league defensive end last year,” Gallagher said. “He’s just a heck of a football player, and we really expected him to have a great season. We’ve had some freakish injuries.

“Unfortunately, we lost Chris Kerns for the season, but we did get Joey back for the first round of playoffs, and that’s huge. Shaun Purvy came back tonight and played. Our kids kept fighting. That’s a very physical football team. I think we went toe-to-toe with them as best we could and did enough because they didn’t score a point. Hats off to our defense. Mike Heath, our defensive coordinator, did a great job scheming to try and stop what they do.”

South quarterback Brett Szarko threw for 214 yards with Tommy Donnelly’s 10 receptions for 137 yards led all receivers.

“We honestly tried to stop (Tommy) Donnelly, but he’s elusive. He just gets open, and they found him,” Gallagher said. “No matter what coverage we were in, he found windows, and they did a nice job getting him the ball, but hey, you know what – bend don’t break. We kept them out of the end zone and did what we had to do.”

Zimmerman led the Indians with 91 rushing yards. He completed 8 of 11 passes for 101 yards.

“They’re really good defensively, they’re fundamentally sound,” Gallagher said. “We aren’t going to be able to run a lot of our base offense because we don’t have a kid that can block 98 (Kevin Dingas). Ninety-eight is a beast. He’s a really good football player, and their linebackers – 48 (Sean Moskowitz) is a stud too. It’s hard to block all of them, so that trick play early was huge. We needed to execute it and get those points early.”

Moskowitz’s 11 tackles – six solo – led the Titans. He had 2.5 tackles for a loss.

Souderton (9-2, 5-1 SOL) will travel to #2 Perkiomen Valley for Friday’s second round game.

“We haven’t played them in years,” Gallagher said. “I think our kids are going to be excited. I think our fans will go over because it’s right next door. I think it’s exciting for our league, it’s exciting for the people in this area to go see that football game.

“I’m really looking forward to breaking down their film and seeing what they’ve got this year. I know they’re good – they’re always good.”

Central Bucks South (4-3 SOL) closed out its season with a 7-4 record.

Central Bucks South 0-0-0-0 0

Souderton 7-0-3-0 10

#11 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 42, #6 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 26

(Statistics/game info courtesy of Andrew Robinson/PAPrepLive: https://papreplive.com/2022/11/05/twice-as-nice-cb-west-defeats-rival-cb-east-again-to-open-district-1-6a-playoffs/.)

The Bucks erupted for 21 points in the second quarter, blowing open a close game and handing the Patriots their second loss in as many weeks in Friday’s rematch.

If it seems as though playing a team twice in eight days – especially an archrival on its home turf – would be tough, it might be, but the Bucks were ready and led wire to wire.

“It was unique – I don’t know if East and West have met in the playoffs before,” West coach Rob Rowan said. “We addressed it at the beginning of the week. It was about really just getting our kids and our staff in the right mindset of what it was going to take to win another football game against a really good football team.”

Ganz Cooper began what would be a big night by scoring on a one-yard quarterback keeper, a touchdown that was set up by a 28-yard Cooper completion to Ryan Clemens.

In the second quarter, after a big defensive stop on fourth-and-one by the Bucks, Cooper connected with Eli Boehm on a six-yard touchdown pass. A 39-yard Cooper to Conor McFadden pass was the big play on that drive.

“His game has evolved tremendously,” Rowan said of his senior quarterback. “I don’t think he gets enough credit around the league. Everybody looks at us – we run the ball, we run it often, we run it hard, but he has elevated his play in such a tremendous way.

“He throws an incredible deep ball, he’s made really, really sound timely decisions just throughout the game. He’s a weapon with his feet. He’s a three-year starter who’s really maturing into who he’s going to be. I don’t think he gets enough credit. I’ll take him seven out of seven days a week.”

Boehm scored from four yards out to put the Bucks on top 21-0, and after a huge sack and fumble recovery by the Bucks, Vinny Cherubini’s two-yard touchdown sent West into halftime with a commanding 28-0 lead.

“The whole offense executed at a really high level the first half – from the line of scrimmage to the backs to Ganz to our receivers,” Rowan said. “We minimized our mistakes, and we capitalized on a couple of big plays, and when you do that, good things are going to happen. I thought that was absolutely key.

“We forced a big turnover late in the second quarter, and that gave us the opportunity to go up four scores – 28-0 going into half, we probably played our best half of the year.”

Early in the third quarter, Ethan Shine scored from a yard out to put the Patriots on the scoreboard. Another one-yard Shine TD made it a 28-12 game.

Then came a defensive play that was a game-changer.

“Cooper Taylor, defensively, he just continues week after week getting better and better, and he’s playing his best football right now,” Rowan said. “I thought he had a play that really changed the game. We came out of half, and they came out guns blazing a little bit, and all of a sudden, it was 28-12, they had the ball back, and they had all the momentum. They threw a little seam ball to the tight end up the middle. Cooper came and just laid an absolute shot, jarring the ball loose.

“We always talk about – when you run to the football, good things happen, and one of our defensive linemen (Jackson Estes) was pursing the football from behind, and he intercepted it. We ended up scoring three or four plays later, and now it was 35-12. I thought it was the play that changed the momentum of the game.”

Several plays later, Boehm scored from two yards out to give the Bucks that three-score advantage.

Pat Keller connected with Matt LaBouliere for a 19-yard touchdown, but Cooper punched it in from one yard to give the Bucks a 42-19 lead. A Keller to Joe Maeglin 10-yard touchdown pass closed out the scoring.

Boehm turned in another workmanlike effort, leading the Bucks ground attack with 127 yards on 23 carries.

“Last week, Vinny Cherubini really stepped up and had a huge game, so we thought maybe they’d be keying on him a little bit,” Rowan said. “We really challenged Eli to raise his level of play this week, and I thought he answered the bell tremendously. He ran really hard – was finishing runs, and when he does that, in my opinion, it sends a message to the whole team. Guys stay on their blocks a little longer, and we’re finishing plays. I thought he did that last night. I just thought it was a huge boost for our entire team.”

Keller threw for 273 yards with both Jack Donnelly and La Bouliere finishing with over a hundred receiving yards. Shine’s 136 rushing yards led the Patriots’ ground game.

Central Bucks West (7-4, 5-2 SOL) will host #14 North Penn in Friday’s second round. Central Bucks East (5-2 SOL) closed out its season with an 8-3 record.

Central Bucks West 7-21-14-7 42

Central Bucks East 0-0-12-14 26

#1 GARNET VALLEY 63, #16 QUAKERTOWN 14

The Panthers knew they faced a daunting task taking on the defending District 1 6A champions on their home turf. For one quarter, they kept it close, knotting the score 7-7 after Vince Miccuci hooked up with John Eatherton on a 64-yard touchdown midway through the opening quarter. Garnet Valley led 14-7 after one quarter and blew the game wide open with a 28-point second quarter on their way to the big win.

Eatherton scored on a 55-yard run in the third quarter, but that would be the extent of the scoring for the Panthers.

Quakertown (5-6, 4-2 SOL) is off until Thanksgiving Day when it will host Pennridge.

Class 5A

#1 UPPER DUBLIN 35, ACADEMY PARK 0

The Flying Cardinals continued to look every bit the part of their number one seed, opening up a 21-0 lead after one quarter on their way to yet another no-doubt-about-it win.

“Our defense played great again just across the board,” UD coach Bret Stover said. “They fumbled their first shotgun snap over their head. We recovered it, and it’s 7-0 before anybody knows what’s up, and we just kept pouring it on.”

Colin O’Sullivan began a productive night by finding DJ Cerisier with a four-yard touchdown pass to put the Cardinals on the board, and later in the quarter, the UD quarterback connected with Coleman Zamborsky for a seven-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead. A 42-yard touchdown completion to Starling Reeves put the Cardinals on top 21-0.

Another O’Sullivan to Reeves touchdown – this one from 32 yards out – sent the Cardinals into halftime with a 28-0 lead. O’Sullivan’s second touchdown pass to Cerisier in the third quarter – this one from 38 yards – closed out the scoring for both sides.

O’Sullivan was 9-for-12 for 166 yards and five touchdowns in a remarkably efficient performance.

“We had guys open,” Stover said. “Starling Reeves had a couple of touchdowns, so that was big for us.

“They had a really good running back, number 7 (Terrence Oliver), and he ran for 135 yards, but we were able to get him to the ground. When he got loose, we got him. We had him on film for seven or eight touchdowns of 75 yards or more, so we were really able to bottle him up. Our special teams were solid because (Oliver) was back there on kickoffs.”

So what does Stover tell his players after yet another rout?

“You have to bring them back down to earth,” the UD coach said. “We were nervous this week. They weren’t a 16 seed even though their record’s not that good. They were probably a 9 or 10 (seed).

“For us, it was actually good. We had to prepare, and the kids respected what we prepared them for and off we went. We’re firing on all cylinders – we can run, we can throw, and we can stop you on defense, and our special teams are playing well. It’s a good combination right now. We still haven’t played the perfect game yet. Hopefully, that one’s coming somewhere down the road.”

Upper Dublin (11-0, 6-0 SOL) will host #8 Great Valley in a quarterfinal game Friday.

“We’ll have film exchange in the morning and get to work on Great Valley tomorrow,” Stover said.

Academy Park 0-0-0-0 0

Upper Dublin 21-7-7-0 35

#4 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 41, #13 SUN VALLEY 0

It was another Friday night and another big win for the Colonials.

“It wasn’t as easy as the score looks,” PW coach Dan Chang said. “I thought Sun Valley did a nice job. They’ve got some tough kids, they’re well coached. They played hard. They were physical, and our kids were battling through that game.

“I think we’re playing well right now. We got some adversity tonight, and our kids battled through. I was happy with that as well.”

The Colonials’ special teams played a starring role in the win with three blocked punts – two returned for a touchdown. The first was blocked and returned for a TD by sophomore Christian DiCiurcio for a 14-0 PW lead. The second and third were both blocked by Chase Smith with the third taken in for the touchdown by Jaeshaun Johnson, the final score of the game.

“We saw a little opening in the way they were blocking it,” Chang said. “Our guys did a great job of timing it. Even when you get a free run, it’s not that easy to block a punt, but they did a great job of timing it, taking great angles to it and getting their hands on it.”

Tommy Hannon’s long touchdown run put the Colonials on the scoreboard early, and they never looked back.

“Tommy Hannon ran the ball really hard,” Chang said. “Luke Winterbottom ran the ball really hard. Those guys were both great for us.

“At the start of the second half, Aiden O’Brien had a 94-yard touchdown run. Our offensive line again was really solid.”

Comprising PW’s offensive line are Joe Foy, Nate Mascio, Connor Capizzi, Tye Hines, Zach Smith and tight end Jared Kolsun.

Chang also credited the play of his defense.

“Our two D-ends – Joe Foy and Jared Kolsun – were again solid,” the Colonials’ coach said. “As well as our linebacking core – Tommy Hannon and Kevin Hegarty inside were good again.

“Aiden (O’Brien) was a little banged up, so we kept him out on D and moved Greg Feinberg over to Aiden’s spot, and he played well there. Christian DiCiurcio came in and played where Greg normally plays, and Christian, I thought, played really well.”

Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-2, 5-0 SOL) will face the winner of Saturday’s game pitting #5 Chester against #12 Marple Newtown.