North Penn & Upper Dublin were winners in SOL football action Saturday. North Penn/CB East photos provided courtesy of Kim Supko Photography. Upper Dublin/CR North photos courtesy of Geanine Jamison Photography. Check back for a gallery of both games.
NP/CB East stats provided courtesy of Drew Markol/Intelligencer/Courier. For additional football stats and coverage, visit the Intelligencer (https://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school) and Courier Times (https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/)
SOL National Conference
NORTH PENN 42, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 7
DJ Fisher laughs when he recalls his first impression of coach Dick Beck, who notched win number 200 of a stellar coaching career with a win on Saturday..
“I heard he yelled a lot, and from middle school to high school is a big transition,” the Knights’ senior captain said. “I wasn’t looking forward to it – ‘Oh yeah, if I make a mistake, I’m going to get yelled at.’
“The reason why he yells at his players is he wants to get the most out of them, and he really cares about them. He knows what his players can do, and if they don’t do it, he’s going to yell at them because they’re not performing to their full potential. I’ve been playing with him for three years, and I love playing for him. He’s my favorite coach I’ve had of any sport I’ve played.”
Fisher acknowledged he wasn’t sure he would be playing football this fall. His decision had nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, and he certainly hadn’t lost his passion for football. Rather, it had everything to do with the fact that he’d had several concussions.
“Me and my family were discussing whether I’d play this year, but (coach Beck) was a big reason why I wanted to play,” Fisher said. “I wanted to play my senior year. I love playing for him, and I love the team I’m on and the brotherhood I’ve formed. We’re blessed to be out there after everything that going on this year.”
The senior linebacker points to Beck’s consistency as a key to his success.
“He makes practice harder, that way the games are easier,” Fisher said. “He makes all his players pay attention to details, so when we get in a game, we know what’s going on. He just really focuses and studies other team’s defenses.
“The thing that sets him apart from other coaches is that he really cares about his players. He’s a really good person. Not only does he coach his players to be better football players but better young men. He’s a great coach and an even better person.”
Fisher and his Knight teammates have been steamrolling opponents in recent weeks, putting up 139 points in their last three games combined. The Patriots were their latest victim on Saturday.
Junior running back Khalani Eaton – who has 778 rushing yards and is averaging 11 yards a carry – has been a catalyst for the offense. So has quarterback Ryan Zeltt, who looks anything but the part of a sophomore.
While Eaton jumpstarted the Knights with a 50-yard touchdown run early in the opening quarter, Zeltt was all but unstoppable as well. His 43-yard touchdown pass to Levi Carroll gave the Knights a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
East’s Pat Keller – who has stepped in as quarterback in the absence of Anthony Giordano (injury) – connected with Will 
Silverman on a 42-yard touchdown pass that made it a 14-7 game, but the Knights tacked on another score in the final minute of the half. Again it was Zeltt hooking up with Carroll for the TD, this time from 17 yards out to send the Knights into halftime with a 21-7 lead.
North Penn scored three more touchdowns in the second half. Zeltt found Carroll for his third touchdown, this one from 49 yards, and the sophomore quarterback connected with Andrew Berry for a five-yard touchdown pass. A nine-yard Dave Daws touchdown run closed out the scoring. Grace Macnamara was 6-for-6 on extra points in the win.
Zeltt completed 8-of-11 passes for 153 yards and four touchdowns. Carroll was his favorite target, hauling in 11 passes for 138 yards and one touchdown. Eaten had 11 carries for 138 yards and one touchdown, and Dakari Luby had eight carries for 71 yards.
“Ryan Zeltt had a nice game, he threw four touchdown passes – three to Levi Carroll,” Beck said. “I thought the O-line played really well. We moved the ball with a lot of consistency and not just giving it to Khalani but giving it to Andrew Berry and Dakari Luby. We spread the wealth around a little bit today.”
Although the Knights will more than likely not be part of postseason play, they are making the most of every opportunity to play football.
“Our whole year, every game we talk about – it’s a blessing that we’re playing. It could have been different, so take advantage of every opportunity we get playing in these games because you never know when it’s going to end,” Beck said.
For the Patriots, Ethan Shine led the offense with 103 yards on 24 carries.
Extra points: Former Abington coach Tim Sorber has known coach Dick Beck for a long time, and the two squared off countless times on the gridiron. The long-time coaches developed a unique bond in 2007 when they had what is believed to have been the first breast cancer awareness game in any sport in the SOL. “His mother was a breast cancer survivor, and my mother was a breast cancer survivor, and I thought that was a classy thing for him to agree to,” Sorber said. As for Beck’s strengths as a coach, there are many. “There was a lot of frustration going against him,” Sorber said. “You know defensively that those kids were going to tackle well and be in good positions. If you were going to have any success – and I did not, you weren’t going to have any big plays, and you were going to have to earn it. I think that comes from his Central Bucks West background of being extremely well prepared and making sure the kids were going to be prepared. One thing he does very well too – he really defends team’s strengths very well. If you want to be successful offensively, you have to go away from what you do well. That’s one thing that always impressed me. Dick’s a character, but he’s a good guy and very well-liked.” …North Penn (3-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks South Friday, and Central Bucks East (1-3) will travel to Central Bucks West on Friday.
North Penn 7-14-14-7 42
Central Bucks East 0-7-0-0 7
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SOL Continental Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 21, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 6
(Stats provided courtesy of Andrew Robinson/PaPrepLive: https://papreplive.com/2020/10/24/cheetahs-help-upper-dublin-defense-bottle-up-cr-north/)
On a day when its offense never really got untracked, Upper Dublin turned in a stellar defensive effort to earn the bounce-back win Saturday.
“Our defense played really phenomenal,” said UD coach Bret Stover, whose team was coming off a loss to Souderton. “I 
thought our defense really controlled the tempo of the game and set us up with field position that we didn’t take advantage of, so that was a little bit disheartening for us.
“We were given the ball at midfield or better on a number of occasions and were unable to do anything with it, so that’s my fault. I’m the offensive guy, and I’ll work on that this week.”
There was nothing to suggest points would be hard to come by when the Cardinals got on the scoreboard just over 10 minutes into the contest on a 51-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Colin O’Sullivan to Micah Bootman. The Cardinals still found themselves clinging to that 7-0 lead heading into the final quarter.
“We got the first touchdown, so I was pleased that we were able to jump out, but from there, we kind of sputtered on offense,” Stover said. “Their defense played well – my hat’s off to them. They took the run game away from us, and we struggled.
“At halftime we made some adjustments, and then we were able to extend the lead and finish the game. We’re still a young team, and I think maybe everybody thought after the first touchdown was that this was all going to roll. To Council Rock North’s credit, it didn’t roll, and it was a really good football game from that point on.”
In the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, Jake Rossman scored from one yard out, a touchdown that was set up by John Kohlbrenner’s 23-yard run. The Flying Cardinals upped their lead to 21-0 on Michael Wright’s three-yard touchdown run.
The Indians avoided a shutout when Ryan McCaffery – who had a pair of interceptions for Rock North – caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Michael Sylvester with 43 seconds remaining for the 21-6 final.
The Indians did not score a point against the Flying Cardinals’ first string defense. One of UD’s impact players on defense was freshman Chris Kohlbrenner, a starter since game one of the season.
“He caused the fumble, recovered it, and he had a couple of big fourth down pass breakups,” Stover said. “For a freshman, I can’t be more impressed with his athleticism, his coolness. Nothing bothers him. He’s always in the right place, he makes tackle after tackle. I can’t tell you how happy I am that’s he’s a freshman.”
There were others who also made their presence felt.
“Jake Rossman – he’s been our leading tackler on defense,” Stover said. “(Micah) Bootman probably had four or five catches, and somebody next year is going to get a heck of a football player. With him and Kohlbrenner in the secondary, we’re pretty solid back there.
“Michael Wright came in late and finished off the game running the ball for us, and I think that helped us – having fresh legs. The two-way players on both sides were a little tired at that point, and Michael Wright coming in and running the ball – he’s a little bit of a bigger back for us. It was an obvious difference maker at the end of the game that he was able to help us close it out.”
The Cardinals are second in the latest District One 5A power rankings, but districts are secondary to just playing games.
“At the end of the day, that’s all I really care about,” Stover said. “The wins are great, but if it was losses, it would still be great for the kids. It’s not a dead year for these kids. If you’re a senior, it’s obviously a dead year when you’re going in to be recruited. It affects every other class also if you’re not playing.
“There are schools unfortunately that don’t get to do this. I still feel bad for Cheltenham and Truman. I wish everybody was playing, but that’s not my decision. This virus – you can’t mess around with it. It is what is. If we get to week five and that’s it, it was a successful season. If we get something after next week, it’s still a successful season.”
Upper Dublin (3-1, 2-1 SOL) will host Hatboro-Horsham on Friday, and Council Rock North (1-2) will face Council Rock South in the annual Rock Cup game Friday.
Council Rock North 0-0-0-6 6
Upper Dublin 7-0-0-14 21
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