Check out the recaps for SOL football teams in action Friday. Abington/Truman photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Pennridge/Tennent photos courtesy of Kim Supko. Check back for photo galleries.
Football stats provided courtesy of the Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier. To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the Intelligencer (https://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school) and Courier Times (https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school) web sites.
SOL National Conference
ABINGTON 51, HARRY S TRUMAN 27
The Ghosts took care of business, rolling to a convincing win over the Tigers and setting the stage for next week’s National Conference showdown against Pennsbury. Both teams are unbeaten in conference play.
“We control our own destiny, and our kids know that,” coach Kevin Conlin said. “We’re taking it one game at a time. I told them – ‘Enjoy the weekend, let the coaches worry about Pennsbury. When we come back on Monday, it’s all business as usual.’ It’s been great this whole year. The kids have handled everything we’ve talked about.”
The Ghosts opened up a 13-0 lead, thanks to a Tamir Berthau 12-yard touchdown pass to Ahmad Stone and an Andrick Wesh 67-yard TD run. A Jordan Fant interception return for a touchdown made it a 13-7 game at halftime.
“I made a bad call – we probably should have knelt on it and taken a 13-0 lead into halftime, but we tried to go for a touchdown in the last couple of minutes,” Conlin said. “They got an interception return, and that’s on me.
“We knew what we were going to do on offense. We knew we had to buckle down with the offensive line really playing physical, match the physicality of Truman, and that was a big part of it (in the second half).”
In a wild third quarter, the two teams combined for 41 points. It began with Wesh scoring on a 44-yard touchdown run in the opening minute of the second half.
“Andrick Wesh has just been a bell cow for us this whole year,” Conlin said. “We had a lot of kids vying for that number one spot at the beginning of the year, but he’s really taken the reins over. He’s really been fantastic for us.”
Nasir Jones returned a fumble 90 yards for a touchdown. Just like that, the Ghosts led 27-7.
“They were driving down, and we had a fumble return,” Conlin said. “Nasir Jones played a phenomenal game, and that was just the epitome of him right there – making that play and just outracing everybody. That was excellent.”
A blocked punt set the stage for a Berthau six-yard touchdown run and a 34-7 Abington lead. Truman’s Dajuan Harris and Wesh traded touchdown runs of 48 and 47 yards, respectively, and the Ghosts led 40-14. A win was all but in the books.
Wesh finished the game with 251 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries in a stellar outing.
Conlin also lauded the play of several players on the defensive side of the ball.
“Marc Macione is really the leader of our defense,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “He did such a great job this week. He got banged up on Wednesday, and our trainer really worked hard to get him back on the field and got him ready to play.
“He played a tough, physical game. It was really great to see. He’s kind of the heart and soul. We didn’t know if we were going to have him this week, and we knew it was going to be that kind of game, so it was great that he was in there. He and Nasir (Jones) did a really good job.
“Another kid who did a great job was Brandon Lee. He had two interceptions, and he had a big hit at one point, gave us a little bit of momentum, a little bit of a push.”
For the Tigers, quarterback Terrell Delp threw for 187 yards and a pair of late touchdowns. Harris had 127 yards and one TD on 15 carries.
Abington (7-1, 5-0 SOL) will host Pennsbury Friday.
“It’s big week for all of us,” Conlin said. “It’s a home game, it’s going to be the last time playing there for our seniors in a regular season game. It’s going to be a lot of emotion, and we have to come out, match their athleticism – I know their offensive line is as big and physical as it gets. We’re going to try and make some plays.”
Harry S Truman (4-4, 3-2) will be on the road at Pennridge for a non-league game on Friday.
Harry S Truman 0-7-14-6 27
Abington 6-7-27-11 51
NESHAMINY 34, BENSALEM 13
Ian Sheehan has been a touchdown machine for the Redskins. With 170 yards and four touchdowns in Friday’s win to add to his already dazzling totals, the senior wide receiver not only surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving mark but he also has 14 touchdown catches.
It was Sheehan’s big night that ignited the Redskins in Friday’s win over the visiting Owls. Greg Orleski’s three-yard touchdown run put the ‘Skins on the scoreboard, and then Sheehan hauled in a 21-yard Brody McAndrew touchdown pass to put the Redskins on top 13-0 after one quarter.
The Owls interrupted the Redskins’ run when Richard Bardone found Justin Johnson with a 25-yard touchdown pass. Sheehan’s 41-yard touchdown pass from McAndrew sent the Redskins into halftime with a 19-7 lead.
Another McAndrew to Sheehan TD connection – this one from nine yards – made it a 27-7 game after Gavin O’Connor caught a McAndrew pass for a successful two-point conversion. Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards to make it a 27-13 game, but Sheehan caught a five-yard McAndrew TD throw in the fourth quarter for the 34-13 final.
Mc Andrew threw for 227 yards and four touchdowns. The New Hampshire-bound senior has thrown for 1,559 yards and 20 touchdowns this season. In a contest that saw the Redskins spread the ball around, Orleski led the way with 98 rushing yards and a TD. Chris James had 67 yards on seven carries.
Neshaminy (4-4, 2-2 SOL) will travel to Council Rock South next Saturday (2:30 p.m.), and Bensalem (2-6, 0-4) will be on the road at Council Rock North on Friday.
Bensalem 0-7-6-0 13
Neshaminy 13-6-8-7 34
PENNSBURY 21, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 7
The Falcons won for the fifth straight game after dropping their first three games of the season. Once again, the defense led the charge, keeping the Golden Hawks off the scoreboard until the fourth quarter when the outcome had already been decided and limiting them to just 159 yards of total offense.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Falcons got on the board in the second when JayVon McNeil scored from nine yards out. CJ Kohler – a catalyst for the Falcons’ offense – connected with Christian Bond on a 31-yard touchdown pass that sent the Falcons into halftime with a 14-0 lead.
In the third quarter, Jeremiah Sawbo caught a 24-yard Kohler touchdown pass that – after a Brady Burgfectel extra point – gave the Falcons a 21-0 lead after three quarters.
Jason Shragher’s 37-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter broke up the Falcons’ shutout bid.
Kohler threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Falcons. Shragher’s 93 rushing yards led the Golden Hawks.
Pennsbury (5-3, 4-0 SOL) will travel to Abington on Friday for a conference showdown, and Council Rock South (1-7, 1-3) will host Neshaminy on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Council Rock South 0-0-0-7 7
Pennsbury 0-14-7-0 21
SOL Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 27, NORTH PENN 26
Rob Rowan makes no bones about it – he likes players with heart.
His West squad might be small in numbers but has plenty of heart to go around. On Friday night, the Bucks created their own special brand of magic, playing the role of giant killer and knocking off North Penn for the first time since 2000.
“It’s just a gutsy win by our guys,” said West coach Rob Rowan in a postgame interview with Kevin Cooney of WNPV1440.com, going on to address the tremendous loss the entire West community experienced with the passing of senior Katie Gane earlier in the week. “I’m going to be completely transparent and tell you – this is one of the roughest weeks that I’ve ever had and this group of men has ever had with what transpired at school this past week.
“For this group to come out here and play the way that they played with the guts that they showed of just never being out of it and just continuing to fight, it means everything to this community for what this school went through this past week.”
If it’s heart and guts you’re looking for, look no further than senior Jack Fallon, who turned a short Jack Neri third down pass into a 43-yard gain to the North Penn 15. Making that catch and run so memorable was the fact that Fallon appeared to be in the grasp of not one but two Knights near midfield that he somehow shook off.
“I knew I had to get the first down,” Fallon told Cooney after the game. “All year, I’ve been fighting, fighting, and every time I get the ball I refuse to go down, and that’s what I did.”
Two plays later, the Bucks were in the end zone – Nick Tumolo picked up six yards on first down and Fallon took it home from nine yards out, knotting the score 26-26. Bailey Moyer split the uprights with the biggest extra point in recent memory. The Bucks led 27-26 with 2:52 remaining, plenty of time for the Knights to answer.
It looked as though they might do just that after freshman quarterback Ryan Zeltt connected with Kenny Grandy for 13 yards and followed that with back-to-back completions to Evan Spann – the first a diving catch for nine yards and the second for 10 yards.
An intentional grounding call took the Knights – who had advanced to the Bucks’ 44 – back to their own 34. On fourth-and-long, Fallon came up with an interception that sealed the win. It was the fourth turnover of the game for the Knights.
“Our kids have heart, and that’s the best compliment you can ever give a player,” Rowan said.
The Bucks served early notice that the Knights would be in for a battle. It took them just four plays and 95 seconds to go 61 yards for a touchdown, a drive that was capped with Fallon taking it in from 14 yards.
A Tyler Fasti interception gave the Bucks the ball on North Penn’s 30. Neri found a wide open Nick Olear from 23 yards out that gave the Bucks a 13-0 lead.
The Knights had an immediate answer with Kenny Grandy scoring from seven yards to cap a 62-yard drive. With 7:46 remaining in the opening half, the Knights took their first lead (14-13) when – after a RJ Macnamara three-yard TD – Grace Macnamara connected on the point after.
West went back on top 20-14 after a Tumolo 14-yard touchdown run only to see the Knights score on a one-yard Nate Brown plunge, a TD that was set up by a 37-yard completion from Zeltt to Grandy on third-and-long. Olear blocked the extra point, and the two teams went into halftime deadlocked 20-20.
The Knights took a 26-20 lead when Zeltt connected with Grandy for a 53-yard touchdown. The stage was set for the dramatic finish.
Fallon’s 118 rushing yards and two touchdowns led the Bucks. Neri threw for 111 yards and a TD.
Rowan pointed to the blocked extra point by Olear as huge.
“That made a massive difference in the game,” the Bucks’ coach said. “Ryan McKenna played tremendous on both side of the ball up front.”
For the Knights, Khalani Eaton had a big night, rushing for 169 yards on 22 carries.
North Penn (6-2, 3-1 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks South on Friday, and Central Bucks West (8-0, 5-0) will be on the road at Souderton.
North Penn 7-13-6-0 26
Central Bucks West 13-7-0-7 27
WILLIAM TENNENT 29, PENNRIDGE 22
The Panthers, according to coach Rich Clemens, played hard and played to the very end. Anything less would not have been good enough in a contest that was a roller coaster of emotions for both sides and ended with a huge defensive stop by the Panthers on fourth-and-three at their own 22 with less than a minute remaining.
“That was about as up and down a game as you could have,” Clemens said.
A wild fourth quarter began – after a Ram interception – with Bobby Croyle scoring from a yard out and then taking it in for the successful two-point conversion and a 22-21 Pennridge lead.
“Now we get the ball back, and we had just thrown an interception and we weren’t able to stop them on defense and they got the two-point conversion,” Clemens said. “Our guys didn’t put their heads down at all. We went right back to work.
“Our quarterback (Matt Miller) got hurt and had to go out for a couple of plays. Nick DeJesus came in for a couple of plays. We go down and ride Tommy (Santiago). They key on Tommy and Matt breaks a couple of runs.”
The scoring drive included Santiago converting a critical fourth-and-three. Santiago punched it in from two yards out.
“Now we need a two-point conversion,” Clemens said. “Coach Cordero (Newkirk) calls the Tennent Special which is the Philly Special, so we run the reverse.
“We flip it back to Nick DeJesus, who played a great game on offense, and he throws the ball back to our quarterback (Miller) for the two-point conversion as he’s getting tackled – he got rocked.”
The two-point conversion gave Tennent a 29-22 lead, but the excitement was far from over. The Rams converted a pair of fourth downs on their ensuing drive and faced their third at the Tennent 22.
“We drop a pick, and now it’s fourth-and-four again with 25 seconds remaining. We call a two-high safety look, and we’re pretty much saying, ‘You’re not going to win on this play. If you’re going to win, you’re going to burn your last time out.’
“Quame Moore – who we moved to D-end in our nickel package – comes off the edge and beats his man. I just talked to Quame, and he’s like, ‘I’m running down the line like you guys tell me, and in my mind, I’m thinking – he’s got to cut back, he’s got to cut back.’ The kid cut back and never saw Quame, who dropped him one yard short of the first down. We got in the victory formation and won the game.”
The win was anything but easy.
Early on, Santiago’s 62-yard touchdown run spotted the Panthers a 7-0 lead, but Brayden Landherr answered with a 35-yard TD run for the Rams to knot the score after a quarter. Connor Pleibel hauled in a seven-yard touchdown pass from Croyle, and the Rams led 14-7. Miller scored from 16 yards out to knot the score, and Tennent took a 21-14 lead into halftime after DeJesus found Derrick Consenza with a 64-yard touchdown on a halfback pass.
Clemens had special praise for DeJesus.
“We went a different way at corner, but he didn’t drop his head,” Clemens said. “He’s a senior on Senior Night, and he came in and throws a touchdown pass, he gets a huge third down conversion in the fourth quarter, and then he throws a two-point conversion.
“That’s after we decided to go a different way with him on defense. He never dropped his head. He kept playing for his teammates, and I couldn’t be prouder of him. That’s the type of thing we preach, and to see a guy who’s been here longer than us – Nick played here for four years, and we’ve only been his coaches for two – to totally buy in like that on Senior Night after disappointing circumstances on the other side of the ball – for him to step up like that – I was really proud of him.”
Neither team scored again until the fourth quarter.
“Pennridge is a hard-fighting team,” Clemens said. “We’ve been two or three plays away from being 5-2. We’ve been struggling with learning to win, and this was a very important part of that – we got this thing down where we fight to the end.
“We haven’t given up or quit or had a letdown. We’ve been trying to do a little too much in crunch time, and that’s the last step. On third or fourth down or in money situations on offense, it’s not like the guys don’t try. They try to do too much – they run before they catch the ball, they blitz where they shouldn’t blitz.
“In this game, they didn’t try to do too much. They went out and they trusted each other, and for me, it was a beautiful thing to see. It was nice to see the offense get going.”
The Panthers piled up 429 yards of total offense – 321 yards on the ground. Santiago finished with 182 yards and two touchdowns. Miller added 110 rushing yards and a TD on nine carries.
“Matt played well – he made a couple clutch throws and had a couple clutch runs,” Clemens said. “Matt hasn’t had an easy day in his life at William Tennent as far as being a quarterback. Matt had to play well for us to win, and he played well.
“Tommy had 32 carries for 182 yards. I think what sums it up the most is a gentleman came up to me after the game and said, ‘How big is Tommy to you?’ I said, ‘We’re up 7-0 with Tommy in the game. Tommy rolls his ankle and goes out for five minutes, and we’re down 14-7. We’re plus-22 with him on the field and minus-14 with him off, so that’s how important he is to us.’
“We couldn’t be prouder of the guys. I’m proud of all the coaches. Coach Cordero – our offensive coordinator/assistant head coach – did a great job calling the offensive plays. He made those calls with the halfback pass, the Philly Special. He deserves credit for that. Every game the kids play hard. I’m really glad they got this win on Senior Night. I don’t think Tennent has won a Senior Night game in over a decade. I just couldn’t be happier for them.
William Tennent (3-5, 1-3 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East next Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest. Pennridge (1-7, 0-5) will host Harry S Truman in a non-league game Friday.
Pennridge 7-7-0-8 22
William Tennent 7-14-0-8 29
SOL American Conference
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 42, QUAKERTOWN 19
(Statistics provided by Ed Morlock/PA Prep Live: https://papreplive.com/football/2019/10/11/plymouth-whitemarsh-rebounds-from-first-loss-blows-out-quakertown/)
Less than a yard separated the Colonials from a win over Cheltenham in a battle for the conference’s top spot last week. The loss left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
“It was brutal, brutal,” coach Dan Chang said. “Honestly, it kept replaying in my head tonight. It was a tough one to take.”
So how did Chang get his players back on track after last week’s heartbreaker?
“One of my coaches asked me that last Friday – how do we get these guys back?” Chang said. “I told my assistant coaches, ‘I’m not worried about that at all.’ It’s been all year – we ride these seniors. We have such a strong tight-knit group.
“Yes, the loss hurt everybody, but not to the point where we’re not going to bounce back, and it was those guys who took charge. There was no letdown from the start.”
The Colonials took out any frustration they may have been feeling on the visiting Panthers, scoring early and scoring often en route to the decisive win. They set the tone when they recovered a fumble at Quakertown’s 19, and Michael Paciello began a productive night when he scored on a 14-yard touchdown run.
“That was huge,” Chang said. “We went three-and-out on our first (offensive) series, and everyone is thinking, ‘Here we go again, another dogfight all game.’
“Our ‘D’ makes a great play – we recover that fumble, and it jumpstarted our production there.”
That might be an understatement. Paciello had a 50-yard touchdown run, and Ben Felgoise took it in from 20 yards out, spotting the Colonials a 21-0 lead after one quarter. After a Brian Dresnin TD run, Christian Pierce came up with an interception that set up a second Dresnin TD – this from one yard that sent the Colonials into halftime with a 35-0 lead.
Paciello’s 55 yard-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter put the Colonials on top 42-0 before the Panthers got on the board when Will Steich found Ben Kave with a 32-yard touchdown pass.
Paciello led a potent PW running attack with 131 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries.
“Mike Paciello had a great game running the ball for us,” Chang said. “Brian Dresnin both running and catching the ball did some nice things.
“(Quarterback) Larry (McLaughlin) is not always showing up in the stat book, but for our offense, if Larry doesn’t play well, we don’t move, so he’s making great decisions with the ball, distributing the ball where it needs to go.”
The Colonials amassed 334 rushing yards.
“Again, I think it comes down to our offensive line – that’s really where the production starts,” Chang said. “If anybody on the whole team was ready to play tonight, it was Tim McNally and Zach Davis – our guard and tackle. You could just see in their eyes they were taking charge. They weren’t going to take another loss.
“This whole group has been so good. They’re great kids, and they can play ball.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (6-1, 3-1 SOL) will travel to Upper Dublin on Friday, and Quakertown (3-5, 3-2) will be on the road at Hatboro-Horsham Friday.
Quakertown 0-0-7-12 19
Plymouth Whitemarsh 21-14-7-0 42
CHELTENHAM 54, HATBORO-HORSHAM 14
The Panthers suffered no letdown after last week’s emotional win over Plymouth Whitemarsh. Adonis Hunter threw for four touchdowns to lead the high-octane offense, but they also had three rushing TDs as everything was working.
“We were hitting on all cylinders offensively,” coach Ryan Nase said. “We were able to switch tempos. We had their number.
“They’re a really good team – they don’t look like a winless team on film. They’ve got some dudes. Jordan Collazo may be the best player in this league and Nahji Logan. They’ve got some players. They have a young quarterback, they have a good coach. They’re going to be fine. They’re just struggling right now, and we were able to take advantage of some talent we have at the skill positions.”
Nate Edwards and TJ Harris both had a pair of receiving touchdowns, and Edwards was once again an impact player on special teams, returning a kickoff for a touchdown.
“To be honest, I’m surprised every week that people still kick to him,” Nase said of Edwards, who had his fourth kickoff return for a TD. “TJ is our other kick returner, and he almost broke one today. You’re kind of darned if you do and darned if you don’t.”
Jamir Barnes and Sidiqq Williams had big nights out of the backfield.
“Sidiqq had two touchdowns, and I’ve got to think Jamir had close to 125-130 rushing yards,” Nase said. “I told them before the game that I’ve been having nightmares about Jordan Collazo all week. He definitely made some big plays, but our D-line stepped up and did a great job.
“We forced three turnovers defensively. The only place where we struggled and we have to clean some things up – we did not have a good night special teams-wise. They returned a kickoff for a touchdown. We missed two extra points and a chip shot field goal. We have to get better on special teams, but other than that, we played pretty well.”
Some young players also saw significant minutes and contributed.
“We have a couple freshmen and sophomores that now that we’re in week eight are starting to figure it out and feel more comfortable,” Nase said.
Cheltenham (7-1, 4-0 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Friday with a chance to clinch a share of the conference title with a win. Hatboro-Horsham (0-7, 0-4) will host Quakertown on Friday.
UPPER DUBLIN 28, WISSAHICKON 19
(Statistics provided by Tyler Sablich/PA Prep Live: https://papreplive.com/football/2019/10/12/fast-start-sends-upper-dublin-past-wissahickon/)
The Flying Cardinals got back in the win column, opening up a 21-0 advantage and leading wire to wire.
A pair of blocked punts led to a pair of John Kohlbrenner touchdowns and an early 14-0 Upper Dublin lead. Nick Rodriguez connected with Micah Bootman from 13 yards out to put the Cardinals on top 21-0 in the first quarter.
A Zahmir Baldwin touchdown made it a 21-7 game at the intermission.
Micah Bootman punched it in from a yard out, and the Cardinals led 28-7. The Trojans received a pair of touchdown runs from Kyle Lehman to close out the game.
Lehman led all ground gainers with 115 rushing yards.
Upper Dublin (4-3, 2-2 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Friday, and Wissahickon (1-7, 1-4) will host Eastern York in a non-league game Friday.
Upper Dublin 21-0-7-0 28
Wissahickon 0-7-0-12 19
Non-league
SOUDERTON 41, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0
Souderton bounced back from their first loss of the season at the hands of North Penn last week to earn a no-doubt-about-it non-league win.
DeAndre Wakefield led the offensive charge with three touchdowns, including a pair of second quarter TDs that send the visiting Indians into halftime with a 14-0 lead. Wakefield’s five-yard touchdown run gave Souderton a lead it would not lose, and when he hauled in a 32-yard TD pass from Andrew Vince, the visitors had a two-touchdown lead at halftime.
Wakefield made it three touchdowns in a row when he raced in from 48 yards out to ignite a 20-point third quarter for the Big Red. Vince scored an a 10-yard touchdown run, and Nick Guthre took it to the house from 23 yards out to give Souderton a 34-0 lead after three quarters. Jeriah Derstine’s two-yard touchdown run capped the scoring for the Indians.
Not to be overlooked in Souderton’s big win was the effort of its defense, which limited Rock North to less than 150 yards of total offense. Dillon Sheehy rushed for 74 yards on 15 carries to lead the home team.
For the Big Red, Guthre led the way with 121 yards and one TD on just nine carries. Wakefield added 87 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Souderton (7-1, 3-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks West on Friday, and Council Rock North (1-7, 0-4) will host Bensalem on Friday.
Souderton 0-14-20-7 41
Council Rock North 0-0-0-0 0
SUN VALLEY 27, UPPER MORELAND 23
Upper Moreland (5-3, 2-2 SOL) will travel to Cheltenham on Friday.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 55, MORRISVILLE 20
Springfield Township (6-2) will be on the road at the Academy of Palumbo on Friday.
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