SOL Football Notebook (10-4-16)

Neshaminy & PW are featured in this week’s SOL Notebook that also includes the league leaders in rushing, passing and receiving.

Heading into week seven of the regular season, three SOL teams – one in each of the conferences – are still without a loss. Neshaminy is atop the National Conference with a 6-0 record while North Penn – which knocked off previously undefeated Central Bucks South on Friday – is in first place in the Continental Conference with a 6-0 mark. Upper Dublin is 5-0 in the American Conference.

Not surprisingly, all three of those squads are at or near the top of the latest District One Power Rankings in their respective classes. North Penn (1,080 points) and Neshaminy (970) are one and two respectively in 6A while Upper Dublin (810) is second to Springfield-Delco (1,040) in 5A.

SOL teams also in the top 16 in 6A include Central Bucks South (4th, 890) and Plymouth Whitemarsh (T11th, 700). Pennridge and Souderton are tied at 15 with 640 points. Just outside the top 16 are Abington (17th, 610), Bensalem (18th, 600) and Pennsbury (19th, 570). Upper Moreland is tied for the 13^th spot in 5A with 550 points.

Redskins rolling – There’s no mistaking the role Neshaminy’s senior class has had in the team’s 6-0 start this season, and at the head of the class are captains Mason Jones, Will Dogba and Zach Tredway. All three are among the league’s offensive leaders with Jones behind only North Penn’s Reece Udinski in passing with 1,511 yards and 17 touchdowns. Dogba has 703 yards on the ground and is averaging 7.0 yards a pop while Tredway has a team-high 23 receptions for 477 yards.

“They’re really the catalysts of our offense and our whole team,” coach Steve Wilmot said. “They’re definitely leading with what they do on the field, and they do a lot off the field also.

“All three of them are the first ones at practice. You’re never chasing them out of the locker room – they’re always out there first. They’re just great positive role models. Not one of them has a GPA below 3.8. They just get it done, whether it’s in the classroom, leadership and definitely on the field also.”

Coming off of last year’s 9-4 season that included a trip to the District One 5A semifinals, Wilmot knew his squad could make some noise this year, and he pointed to non-league wins over Roman Catholic, Pennridge and Downingtown West to open the season as significant.

“A couple of teams in our league are kind of in a rebuilding mode, so we got that, but we really wanted to emphasize the first three games of the year,” the Redskins’ coach said. “We also emphasized – we have to keep on improving every week, no matter who we play.”

Wilmot pointed to a pair of players in the Redskins’ secondary – cornerbacks Jacob Gordon and Joel Stills – who have played key roles defensively.

“We put a lot of faith in our defensive secondary,” he said. “Coach (Neil) French really wants to take away the team’s run, and we put a lot of faith in those two kids.

“They’re both really talented kids and have done a lot to help us out this year. Abington only had one reception for the game Friday night, and a lot of it had to do with the talent and the effort of those two kids. We put Jacob, who’s a senior, on George Reid the whole game, and he did very well.”

Neshaminy took just a 7-0 lead into halftime of Friday’s 21-0 win over Abington.

“Our defense came through big for us,” Wilmot said. “Abington had two good inside linebackers, and their defensive line was formidable.

“We hung in there, we made plays when we had to. We put a lot of faith in Mason (Jones) and our receivers. We had a few drops here and there, a couple of balls that were a little high or low, but you’re going to have nights like that. You just depend on your running game and stick with what you do best.”

Neshaminy will host Central Bucks South in a key non-league battle of district heavyweights.

Colonials coming together – Plymouth Whitemarsh has reeled off four straight wins (five counting the Springfield forfeit) since falling to Souderton in its season opener.

“I’m proud of how our guys came back from that week one loss,” coach Dan Chang said. “We didn’t play our best game, but our focus every day and every week is that we get better.

“I think our guys are, for the most part, understanding that and are putting in the work we need in order to improve so that we are getting better every day.”

According Chang, it all starts with quarterback Joe Stoberl.

“He’s just done a really nice job of growing up and getting better each week,” the Colonials’ coach said. “He didn’t have a ton of experience at quarterback, but he puts in a lot of work, uses his legs well for us.

“He’s really improved his decision making and his ability to read defenses.”

The senior quarterback has accounted for 587 yards of total offense with 388 in the air and a 60 percent completion rate as well as 199 on the ground. Stoberl– a backup fullback as a sophomore – stepped into the role of quarterback in a somewhat unorthodox manner.

“We had some quarterback questions last year, and we were looking for another quarterback,” Chang said. “At practice, a bunch of kids were just throwing the ball around, and someone mentioned his name and said he had a pretty good arm.

“From there, it just kind rolled. He’s a big, athletic kid who can run, has a good arm and makes good decisions. He got basically converted to quarterback last season.”

When senior Christian Jones went down with a season-ending knee injury, the team’s third running back – Dontae Wilson – suddenly found himself receiving reps.

“He’s been phenomenal for us the last two weeks,” Chang said. “He’s got great speed, he works really hard. He’s just a great overall kid, and only being a junior, he’s going to have a real impact for us the next two years.”

Junior Khan Jamal is the team’s leading ground gainer with 425 yards (7.7 average).

“Khan is a guy who we thought was going to be a real big player for us last year as a sophomore, and he actually got hurt in week one of camp,” Change said. “We really didn’t see what he could do, but he’s a guy that can carry the ball.

“He’s a big back who’s got some speed, and he plays both ways for us. He plays strong safety, and he’s really come up big for us.”

Senior Terence Robinson (5-8, 165) has been a pleasant surprise for the Colonials on the defensive line.

“He’s small for a defensive lineman, but he is just so explosive and tough and gets off of blocks fast, and he’s really causing trouble for other teams,” Chang said.

Junior Matt Mitchell is also back in the lineup after missing his sophomore season with an injury. A running back as a freshman, Mitchell is on the offensive line this season.

“We needed some offensive linemen, so we asked him to play offensive line,” Chang said. “He ended up getting the start week one against Souderton, and he had a pretty rough game.

“The growth he has made from week one until now is just unbelievable. He’s actually just been really solid and done a lot of great things completely due to his persistence and work ethic. He comes to me all the time for extra helps and extra reps, and he’s really solidified our offensive line, so that’s been a huge boost for us.”

The Colonials will travel to Upper Dublin for a key conference matchup Friday.

“We’re going to have to be able to stop them offensively,” Chang said. “For as many kids as they graduated, they have some really good weapons, starting with their quarterback (Justin Horn). You thought after (Ryan) Stover left, you’d get a little break.

“Obviously, the story is their ‘D’ and how tenacious they are. On every play, they have 11 guys running to the ball. One touchdown scored in six games – it’s pretty impressive, so we’re going to have to find ways to move the ball and control the football.”

This week in the SOL:
Friday, Oct. 7
Abington at Council Rock North
Central Bucks South at Neshaminy
Central Bucks West at Pennridge
Quakertown at Cheltenham
Harry S Truman at Pennsbury
Wissahickon at Hatboro-Horsham
Plymouth Whitemarsh at Upper Dublin
Souderton at William Tennent
Saturday, Oct. 8
Bensalem at Council Rock South, 1 p.m.
North Penn at Central Bucks East, 1 p.m.

PASSING LEADERS (450-plus yards)

RECEIVING LEADERS (250-plus yards)

RUSHING LEADERS (350-plus yards)

About the Author

editor

Sones_admin

View All Posts