CR North, Abington, North Penn & Hatboro-Horsham are featured in the fourth of periodic football notebooks.
Four SOL teams – Neshaminy, North Penn, Central Bucks South and Upper Dublin boast perfect records at the midway point of the regular season. Two teams picked up their first wins.
There’s a full slate of games this week
This week in the SOL
Friday, Sept. 30
Abington @ Neshaminy 7pm
Bensalem @ Pennsbury 7pm
Central Bucks East @ Souderton 7pm
North Penn @ Central Bucks South 7pm
Central Bucks West @ William Tennent 7pm
Cheltenham @ Upper Moreland 7pm
Council Rock South @ Pennridge 7pm
Hatboro-Horham @ Quakertown 7pm
Upper Dublin @ Wissahickon 7pm
Saturday, Oct. 1
Council Rock North @ Harry S Truman 5pm
National Conference
Council Rock North:
Turning point for Indians – Council Rock North – in its 15-year history – has never walked off the field a winner against Pennsbury. The last Council Rock win over the perennial league and district power came before the school split in 1999. While that makes Saturday’s 13-7 over the Falcons a historic one, of far more importance than making history is the fact that the win could be a turning point for the Indians under Matt McHugh.
The Indians’ first-year coach compared the burden of his team’s three straight losses to open the season with swinging a baseball bat with three weights on it –representing losses to Central Bucks South, Coatesville and Neshaminy.
“Each week we were getting better, we were understanding what we were doing, and the weights started to come off as we started to get better at what we were doing,” McHugh said. “We found ourselves in a position where we could have folded as a team, as coaches, as players. We could have felt sorry for ourselves going into Pennsbury.
“I give a lot of credit to our seniors, I give a lot of credit to the coaching staff, and we really rallied around this game – being homecoming, being 0-3. We had some great senior leadership, and the kids came to play. With a bunch of young guys here, as a first-year head coach with a new staff, it’s definitely a turning point. It was an exciting win for our program.”
Leading the way – Keeping the Indians together during their rough start were captains Mason Luff, Pat Bartlett, Shane Oros and TJ Ayrer
“They are very good leaders on the field,” McHugh said. “Mason Luff and Pat Bartlett are our leaders by example and TJ and Shane are more vocal players.”
That leadership was put to the test with Saturday’s game.
“Our defense played a really, really good game,” McHugh said, “(Luff) is the leader on our defense. He’s an inside linebacker, he’s a captain. At the end of the game, the crowd is going and things are going and it’s tough to get calls in.”
The Indians delivered clutch plays in the end zone on the last two plays of the game to preserve the lead.
“Our defense did a very nice job of holding the line of scrimmage with their big guys up front,” McHugh said. “Mason did a great job of putting our guys in position because the calls didn’t get in.
“On the last play of the game, TJ Ayrer, who was playing safety, knocked the ball loose. The play before that Andrew Cabo, one of our cornerbacks, batted down a ball in the end zone. It was two plays in a row they threw the ball into the end zone, and we made a defensive play on the ball, and it was good. It felt good.”
Getting offensive – While the defense stole the spotlight with their goal line stand, the offensive line – featuring right tackle Pat Bartlett, right guard Mark Anastasi, center Shane Oros, left guard Ethan Himes and left tackle Dom Hipple – also has come along.
“Offensively, last year with Brandon (McIlwain) and years past, they’ve done a lot of spread and spread the ball out,” McHugh said. “We’re establishing the run a lot more, so we’re going through our offensive line and they’ve done a really nice job with the transition and pretty much controlling the line of scrimmage.”
After a season-ending injury to running back Matt Shenot in the Coatesville game, junior Michael Welde has stepped up.
“He’s about 5-7, 150 pounds, but he can flat out fly, and when he can run, it puts our offense in a better position to open up some other things,” McHugh said. “He did a nice job on Saturday of handling on the load of carrying the ball. He and Andrew Kelly have really picked up the slack in the absence of Matt.”
Abington:
Ghosts finding ways to win – Friday’s win over Council Rock South was a roller coaster of emotions for the Ghosts, who trailed 31-21 but rallied for the 35-31 win. The Ghosts – trailing by three late – were just three yards away from the go-ahead score when they fumbled the football. They got redemption when freshman defensive lineman Maliq Strother forced a Golden Hawk fumble in the end zone, and noseguard Jamil Robinson fell on it for a touchdown that gave them their 35-31 margin of victory.
Nothing has come easily for the Ghosts. Earlier in the game, the Golden Hawks converted a Hail Mary pass to go into halftime with a 28-14 halftime lead.
“A couple of our kids kind of slipped over each other, and they ran it in for a touchdown,” coach Kevin Conlin said. “Now we’re down 14, and the kids are looking around questioning themselves because that’s how we lost to PW.
“To their credit, they didn’t pack it in. Nobody really put their heads down, and that was a true statement game for our kids. Our kids had every reason to stop playing hard. Maybe a year ago they might have, I don’t know. I told them it was a character win.”
The win was the third in a row for the Ghosts, who dropped their first two games.
“We’re 3-2 and a play here and a play there and we’re 0-5 or we’re 5-0,” Conlin said. “The kids are giving everything they’ve got to win those games.
“I’ll be honest – when we were 0-2, I was really concerned about the psyche of the team. Luckily, we played Cheltenham in week three because the kids are going to get up for Cheltenham. I was really impressed with how the kids responded. The kids are putting themselves in a position to win. We talk about how hard it is to win football games. The kids learned those lessons the first two weeks. They realize they have to practice as hard as they can during the week, put as much focus in as they can on game night.”
Williams stepping up – While seniors Tom Penecale, George Reid and Barry Johnson are the veteran leaders, Shakur Williams – who plays defensive end and sees action at slot receiver – has been one of the team’s pleasant surprises.
“Shakur Williams, as a senior has really matured tremendously into a great leader,” Conlin said. “Coming into the season, it was a big question mark.
“He has just taken everything we said this year. He made a mistake earlier this year, and he called me the next day and apologized. I told him, ‘These games aren’t about wins and losses. It’s about getting kids to that next level and being a man.’
“I told him, ‘You’re taking the next step to becoming a man.’ He apologized to the team, and since that point, he’s been a real leader of the team. He’s just been an absolute positive force.”
Offense delivers – Few players had bigger nights Friday than junior Darryl Davis-McNeil, who finished with 271 yards and four touchdowns on 34 carries.
“He’s a lead-by-example kind of kid,” Conlin said. “I’m really big on being physical, and he’s been a great attribute for our team, and he’s really bought in.”
Quarterback Billy Griffenburg stepped into the role of quarterback in the second half of the Ghosts’ second game of the season against PW and has been there ever since.
“He’s doing the things right now where he’s making good decisions, and he’s not making mistakes,” Conlin said. “With a kid like Darryl, that’s what we need at quarterback. We don’t need Dave Kretschman or Kevin Morton or someone like that.
“We need someone who’s going to really manage the game and get the ball to different receivers, most importantly George Reid.”
Continental Conference
North Penn:
Knights focus on one game – It would be easy for the Knights – with a win over PCL power La Salle already in the books – to become a bit distracted by the talk floating around all but crowning them district champs with half the regular season still to go.
Easy perhaps, but that’s not happening.
If their methodical wins don’t convince you, a brief conversation with Jake Hubler might.
“We hear everyone say, ‘Oh, your biggest game’s already over – who’s really going to give you a challenge?’” the senior captain said. “That’s not really the way we think about it.
“We say – we’re going to look forward, we’re going to see who we’re playing next and prepare for them, and we’re going to play how North Penn plays.”
How North Penn has been playing has been nothing short of dominating. Some thought that Pennridge might be able to give the Knights a battle. For the briefest of moments, it looked like that might happen when the Knights came up short on fourth-and-one at their own 46, and the Rams turned that into an early touchdown.
“When we saw that we were going to get the ball, we thought we were going to go out and score,” Hubler said. “We started slow, and obviously, Pennridge came out, and they scored first.
“We all said to each other, ‘Hey, we’re going to go out there and we’re going to do what we do. We’re going to go out there and score. We’re not even going to think about them scoring on us. We going to play like it’s 0-0.”
The Knights – sparked by the dazzling five-touchdown effort of Reece Undinski – responded with 45 unanswered points before the Rams tacked on a pair of late TDs, rolling to their fifth win without a loss. It was a win that will undoubtedly fuel the district title conversation.
“That’s the noise you have to be deaf to,” coach Dick Beck said. “We always say – we’re going to worry about us.
“When we’re at practice, we’re not worried about what the other team is doing. We’re worried about us. We take it one game at a time, and we’ve always done that. When people say, ‘When’s your next toughest game?’ It’s the next game we play, and the kids buy in. We try to put a lot of pressure on our kids to stay focused on what we’re doing instead of worrying about what everybody else is doing – what the standings are, what the rankings are.”
Beck pointed to leadership of Hubler, Dan Drop and Ricky Johns as key.
“People follow those guys,” the Knights’ coach said. “What’s good about our team – our guys know how to work, but they also know how to have fun.
“We’re really enjoying it so far. We’re having fun at practice. Obviously, the games are always fun when you win, but we’re having fun while we’re working hard, and that’s important.”
Hubler pointed to the team’s good chemistry as a factor in the Knights’ success.
“We love doing stuff together,” he said. “We’re a big team, but we like to hang out together and do everything together.”
And if it seems as though the season might be a lot of fun, it is.
“It’s a dream come true,” Hubler said. “I have been playing with these guys since I was playing peewee football, and just coming out here and playing high school football with them all playing on the same field. It’s amazing. It’s amazing to play with them.”
American Conference
Hatboro-Horsham:
Hatters get on winning track – The Hatters win at Upper Moreland, according to coach Mike Kapusta, was big on multiple levels.
“First and foremost, it’s our first win of the season on the field,” the Hatters’ coach said. “We got the forfeit over Springfield, but that doesn’t really do much for your team’s psyche. It was our first league win, so we have an unblemished league record, and it’s always a goal to win a league championship.
“Then the fact that it was Upper Moreland – the rivalry between the schools is something that’s taken very seriously. To win that game, the faculty, students and community are really excited about it.”
Quarterback Chris Edwards stole the spotlight, accounting for 287 total yards and five touchdowns in his best performance of the season. Brandon Crews had three TD catches for 75 yards. Adam Suder added 60 yards on the ground, averaging six yards a carry, and also had a 36-yard TD reception.
There were unsung heroes in the win as well, beginning with the offensive line comprised of Ryan Bruno, Evan Nemath, Brett Johnson, Matt Lane and Chris Edmondson.
“We had a really great performance by the offensive line,” Kapusta said. “They had one of the better O line performances that we’ve had as a program since I’ve been here.
“It’s a credit to their work ethic and their preparation. I think it helped us having the Springfield week that we treated as the week of camp that we lost to get back to the basics and to work very hard. The kids responded well. They played pretty good against Souderton, and I think that helped them having two weeks to prepare. It really paid off and showed on the field.”
The leadership of the captains, according to Kapusta, has also been significant.
“Brandon Crews is our senior captain, and he stepped up big time the last couple of weeks,” the Hatters’ coach said. “Nick Chapman is kind of like our vocal and emotional leader, and he played well on both sides of the ball at tight end and linebacker. He didn’t step off the field once.
“Anthony Kwiatanowski is our heart and soul guy, and he played really hard and had a really good defensive game for us. Chris Edmonson is kind of our lineman captain and a lead-by-example type of guy.
“They’ve done a nice job of keeping the team together, and I think the team really came together strongly despite the rocky start this season.”
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