Check out the recaps of SOL football teams in action Friday. Photos of the Neshaminy/Pennsbury game provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of D&R Photography.
Stats used in the wraps are provided courtesy of Calkins Media. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web sites: http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school/fall/football/ and http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/fall/football/
National Conference
HARRY S TRUMAN 44, BENSALEM 43
Bensalem’s dream of a postseason berth came to a heartbreaking end in Friday’s season finale.
For a while, it looked as though the Owls – despite being plagued by turnovers and penalties – might pull out the win, but the Tigers had other ideas, rallying for the gutsy Senior Night win over their archrivals.
“It was nuts,” Truman coach Jon Craig said. “They turned the ball over on their first play, two plays later we turned it over, and that was kind of how the game went.
“Between fast scores and turnovers and a lot of things going both ways – we were down by 12 at one point, and just to have our kids come back and stick with it and finish it off was pretty impressive. I couldn’t be more impressed and proud of our kids.”
The Tigers received a boost with the return of Jorden Freeman, who had been sidelined since going down with a high ankle sprain at Pennsbury on Oct. 7. The senior quarterback threw for 66 yards and ran for 23 more and a touchdown, but his leadership behind center was even more significant.
“He was a question mark up through Wednesday of this week,” Craig said. “We were hoping Senior Night – his last chance to play – he’d be cleared.
“Today he looked like nothing was bothering him. He looked great. It’s amazing to see him command our offense. He was a big part of our success. He moved the chains a lot for us tonight – he made checks, did all the things you want, and he barely practiced this week and hasn’t practiced in three weeks essentially. He was very happy and excited to be out there, and he deserves a lot of credit for the win tonight.”
The two teams spent the first half exchanging scores, and it was the Tigers going into halftime with a 23-21 lead with the only thing separating the two teams a pair of successful two-point conversions by Truman’s Rob Tressler – the first on a pass completion and the second on a run.
It looked like the Owls might be taking control after they went on top 35-23, benefitting from a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown and Malcolm Carey’s three-yard TD run.
That wasn’t the case.
David Akinwande raced 28 yards for a touchdown, and after another Tressler completion on a two-point conversion, the Tigers pulled to within four (35-31). Mike Nicholson’s 43-yard fumble return for a TD put the Tigers on top 37-35.
“Mike Nicholson really had a big night tonight, a lot of big plays,” Craig said. “He really came into his own tonight.”
Keith Parrish – who led the Owls with 137 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries – took it in from 65 yards out, and this time it was the Rob Fund finding Isaiah Murray for the two-point conversion and a 43-37 Bensalem lead. Freeman took it in from one yard out to knot the score. Brandon Linebaugh’s PAT gave the Tigers a one-point lead. Truman sophomore Shakell Hall came up with an interception, and although the Owls got the ball back one last time, they couldn’t capitalize.
“Shakell and the safety to that side were telling me they saw that play coming all night,” Craig said of the interception. “They kind of called it out before it happened. They identified it from film, and it obviously came together for them.”
Akinwande led the Tigers with 125 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.
“He was a workhorse tonight,” Craig said. “I don’t think he came off the field on offense or defense. He played almost every play on the D-line and at running back, which is pretty impressive because those might be two of the hardest positions to keep playing.
“He got a lot of hard yardage – three, four, five-yard gains, and he eventually cracked a couple for big gains and touchdowns. That’s kind of who he is. He’s one of the hardest workers we’ve ever had – he’s quiet and keeps to himself.”
While Bensalem closed out its year 5-5 (2-4 SOL) and out of the playoffs, there was no mistaking the respect Craig has for Truman’s former coach.
“Besides the fact that it’s become this rivalry game for us, so many of the kids know each other and it’s the end of the year and Ed (Cubbage) was coaching here and the coaches know each other – there’s a lot of respect toward one another, a lot of camaraderie,” Craig sad. “Buddy or not – you want to beat them whenever you play them. I hope Ed goes 9-1 every year, and he wishes us the same thing. It was good competition.”
Harry S Truman closed out its season with a 3-7 record. The Tigers were 2-4 in conference play.
“It’s tough,” Craig said. “We had a really tough non-league schedule with Upper Dublin and Ridley, and Souderton was a test. We kind of hung our hat on that this year – we’re going to play tough teams. It might not break our way, but hopefully, we gained some value and idea of the level of competition when we play these teams. We have a lot of young kids playing, so moving forward, there’s a lot of experience to build on.”
Bensalem 7-14-14-8 43
Harry S Truman 16-7-0-21 44
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 35, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 14
The Golden Hawks captured the coveted Rock Cup with a no-doubt-about-it win over their archrivals, and as endings go, this was an especially good one for a Rock South squad that endured some growing pains with its young squad this season. It also was a the perfect sendoff for this year’s senior class.
“We said all week that the ultimate goal was to get our seniors the win – to bring the cup back to South and to kick off our offseason on a high note,” coach Vince Bedesem said.
Mission accomplished.
And it was a strong core of underclassmen playing starring roles in Friday’s win. Junior Elias Mayo got the ball rolling for the Hawks with a 60-yard touchdown run, and after Michael Welde answered with TD run for the Indians, the Hawks took a lead they would not lose on a Nick Gallo TD reception from quarterback Christian Jabbar to go into halftime with a 14-7 lead.
Jabbar’s 24-yard touchdown run gave the Hawks a 21-7 third quarter advantage, and although the Indians pulled to within seven on an Evan Devine TD pass to Jason Walter, the Hawks closed out the game with a pair of touchdowns – the first on a 70-yard run by sophomore Chase Patterson and the second on a Mayo one-yard run.
“We played a complete game – all three phases,” Bedesem said. “The kids did a tremendous job of sticking to our game plan.
“Staying ahead of the chains on offense and gang tackling on defense.”
Jabbar finished with 115 yards and a touchdown through the air while Patterson (100 yards) and Mayo (83) rounded out the Hawks’ three-pronged attack.
“Patterson and Mayo had great games running the ball and Jabbar did a great job running the option and making great reads, keeping their defense off balance by adding a spread gun look and throwing the ball,” Bedesem said. “Defensively, we played together and gang tackled all night. It was a great win for the program.”
Welde led the Indians with 72 yards on the ground.
Council Rock South (2-4 SOL) closed out its season with a 2-8 record while Rock North (1-6 SOL) was 1-8.
Council Rock South 7-7-14-7 35
Council Rock North 0-7-7-0 14
NESHAMINY 35, PENNSBURY 0
The Redskins closed out a perfect regular season with a no-doubt-about-it win over their neighboring rival. The suspense was gone in this one by the end of the first quarter as the ‘Skins opened up a 14-0 lead and never looked back.
Mason Jones – who last week surpassed the 2,000-yard mark – was the undisputed hero, finishing yet another impressive outing with 214 yards and four touchdowns while completing 15-of-22 attempts. In the process, he broke the single season record of 25 for touchdowns. For good measure, the senior quarterback also ran for a TD.
Jones connected with Zach Treadway for a three-yard touchdown to put the ‘Skins on the board, and then he hit Oleh Manzyk for 55 yards. It was the first of four touchdown receptions on the night for the sophomore receiver.
Senior Joe Meglen led the Falcons with 70 yards on the ground.
Neshaminy (6-0, 10-0 SOL) is expected to be the second seed behind North Penn in the District One 6A Tournament. Pennsbury (5-5, 3-3) is in the unfamiliar position of being on the outside looking in with district play scheduled to begin next week.
Pennsbury 0-0-0-0 0
Neshaminy 14-7-7-7 35
Continental Conference
SOUDERTON 33, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 15
There was a whole lot of celebrating going on at Indian Field when the Indians clinched their first postseason berth since 2010. Their convincing Senior Night win over the visiting Bucks was capped with the student section storming the field when the final horn sounded.
“It was exciting for the program,” coach Ed Gallagher said. “It was exciting for the whole community.
“I’m just so happy for our kids. They deserved this. They deserved all the kids storming the field, they deserve everything they’re getting because that’s what you get when you work hard and you really want something. You have to work hard, and they really did.
“It’s been a great year here at Souderton. We had a bunch of teams make the playoffs, we have a teacher (Richard Curtis) hosting Live With Kelly. The buzz, the atmosphere has been great. It’s been great to be here this fall.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Brandon Taragna put the Indians on the board when he took it in from 17 yards out. It was his first of three TDs on the night.
“Brandon Taragna had the game of his life tonight on both sides of the ball,” Gallagher said. “All you hear about is the offense, but I thought he really did a great job defensively (at cornerback) tonight as well.
“He played well in coverage, takes good angles, he tackles well. He really had a solid two-way game for us tonight.”
Senior quarterback Joey Curotto found Shane Day with a touchdown pass to send the Indians into halftime with a 14-0 lead. The third quarter was highlighted by a pair of big plays – a 63-yard touchdown run by Koby Khan and Taragna turning a short Curotto pass into a 71-yard TD.
The Indians’ defense also did its job.
“Jack Morgan had another really good game,” Gallagher said of his senior middle linebacker. “He wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s playing through so many different injuries, and he refuses to come off the field. He’s just a warrior.”
A highlight for the Bucks – who collected a safety – was Ryan Moylan’s 48-yard touchdown pass to Kevin O’Hanlon in the third quarter. Moylan threw for 113 yards while fellow QB Joshua Crecca added 110 yards in the air. O’Hanlon finished with 129 yards and one touchdown.
“Unfortunately for them, their two best players were hurt during the game,” Gallagher said of Jake Reichwein and TJ Rakowsky. “That really made it difficult for them, especially from a defensive standpoint to try to stop us because they’re really good football players.
“I said to one of my coaches how our entire game plan – we were scheming away from those two kids, and they weren’t in the game for two-and-a-half quarters.”
Curotto threw for 211 yards and a TD while Khan finished with 145 yards and a touchdown.
The Indians rebounded from a tough three-game losing streak to win three out of four to close out the season.
“They could see the light at the end of the tunnel that there were winnable games down the stretch,” Gallagher said. “Obviously, we knew there was North Penn on the horizon, but once we got through that three-game stretch, we knew there were three that were winnable, and we went out and won all three of them, and that was good.”
While West (1-5 SOL) closed out its season with a 4-6 record, Souderton (6-4, 2-4) will await its district seed.
“It’s been six years since we made the playoffs,” Gallagher said. “We really had a nice run in the late 2000s, and we’ve just been in a dry spell. The dry spell has not been bad football teams. We play in a really good league, and we’ve just been a notch below the playoff caliber team.
“There have definitely been some good football teams that just didn’t make it just because of the schedule we play. It was a really good league then, and it’s a really good league this year. We’re making the playoffs going 2-4 in our league. That tells you how good our league is. Five teams are going from our league, and all five deserve to be there.”
Central Bucks West 0-0-9-6 15
Souderton 0-14-13-6 33
NORTH PENN 45, ABINGTON 7
The Knights raced to a 17-0 lead out of the gate, a run that was capped when Ricky Johns hauled in a seven-yard touchdown pass from Reece Udinski. Abington answered with a touchdown when Billy Griffenburg found George Reid with a 22-yard TD pass to make it a 17-7 game.
Then the Knights – who accumulated close to 500 yards of offense – did what they do best, they reeled off 28 unanswered points to effectively bury the Ghosts en route to a perfect 10-0 regular season record.
Udinski threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns in another brilliant performance.
The Ghosts, who were without Darryl Davis-McNeil, managed less than 100 yards of total offense.
Abington – rebounding from a 1-10 season in 2015 – finished the regular season 6-4 overall (5-1 SOL) while North Penn nailed down the number one spot in the district.
North Penn 3-28-14-0 45
Abington 0-7-0-0 7
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 35, WILLIAM TENNENT 7
Sam Thompson followed his standout performance in the Titans’ win over Pennridge with another strong outing. The senior QB amassed 220 yards of total offense, throwing for 141 yards and one TD and adding three rushing touchdowns.
Thompson’s three-yard touchdown run put the Titans on the board in the first quarter, and after South’s Cole Braccio recovered the ensuing kickoff, the Titans went in for their second score, this one on an eight-yard run by Thompson.
The Titans took a 28-7 lead into halftime on their way to the win.
Casey Sloms was Thompson’s favorite target, finishing with four receptions for 114 yards.
Sean Bragen’s 22-yard touchdown run in the second quarter accounted for the Panthers only points of the game.
While the Panthers closed out their season with an 0-10 mark, the Titans (8-2, 5-1 SOL) await their seed for the upcoming district tournament.
Central Bucks South 7-21-7-0 35
William Tennent 0-7-0-0 7
American Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 41, UPPER MORELAND 21
The Flying Cardinals not only got a win but an unexpected bonus on Friday night when they received word that Quakertown had upset Plymouth Whitemarsh, giving the Cardinals a share of their third consecutive conference crown. It is the first time in school history the program has won three in a row.
“First, a big thanks to Quakertown,” UD coach Bret Stover said. “With everyone we lost to graduation, it’s a credit to my seniors and staff for continuing the traditions set by the 2014 and 2015 classes.
“Winning a league title is always our first goal. If you can do that, the rest takes care of itself.”
After Malik Bootman scored from two yards out, UM’s Sterlen Barr took the ensuing kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown that knotted the score. The Cardinals closed out the half with 21 second-quarter points – all on Justin Horn touchdown passes. The senior quarterback connected with JT Breslin (16 yards), Matt Silverman (6 yards) and Mike Cottom (11 yards) to go into halftime with a 28-7 lead.
The Golden Bears – who were led by the 133-yard rushing performance of Caleb Mead – never threatened. Mead ran for a pair of late touchdowns on runs of 50 and 55 yards.
Horn threw for 105 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 71 yards and a TD. Naiim Huff led the Cardinals’ ground attack with 145 yards and one touchdown. Cottom added 66.
“Offensive tackle Max Weinberg, running back Mike Cottom and cornerback George Weems have really played lights out all season,” Stover said.
Upper Dublin (8-1, 6-1 SOL) and Upper Moreland (5-5, 3-4) will compete in the 5A District Tournament.
Upper Moreland 7-0-7-7 21
Upper Dublin 7-21-13-0 41
HATBORO-HORSHAM 35, CHELTENHAM 14
The Panthers – one week after extending Plymouth Whitemarsh to overtime – took a 7-0 lead when Yasin Abdul-Haqq found Andre Williams with a 25-yard touchdown pass on the halfback option.
It turned out to be the Panthers’ last hurrah as the Hatters reeled off 28 unanswered points. A five-yard Adam Suder touchdown run sent the Hatters into halftime with a 14-7 lead.
Chris Edwards connected on a pair of touchdown passes in the third quarter – the first for 22 yards to Brandon Brandt-Crews and the second to Suder for 31 yards.
Edwards threw for 148 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 29 more to lead the Hatters.
Abdul-Haqq led the Panthers with 77 yards on the ground.
While Cheltenham closed out its season with a 3-8 record (2-5 SOL), Hatboro-Horsham (5-5, 5-2) will face Upper Moreland on Thanksgiving.
Hatboro-Horsham 7-7-14-7 35
Cheltenham 7-0-0-7 14
QUAKERTOWON 26, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 17
The Panthers picked up their fourth win in as many weeks – which included last week’s forfeit to Springfield Township, but this was by far the biggest. It not only sends the Panthers into their Thanksgiving Day game against Pennridge with some momentum, it brought to an abrupt end PW’s eight-game winning streak and forced the Colonials to share the American Conference crown with Upper Dublin.
The Colonials led 10-0 at halftime, thanks to a pair of first-quarter scores – a 27-yard field goal by Stephen Longo and a 31-yard touchdown pass from Joe Stoberl to Dontae Wilson.
Christian Patrick’s two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter ignited a 20-0 Quakertown tear that included a pair of Nick Lefkoski TDs – the first on the ground and the second on a two-yard touchdown pass from Austin Clarke. A Stoberl TD pass made it a 20-17 game, but senior Noah Wood put an exclamation point on the win with a 56-yard touchdown run.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (8-2, 6-1 SOL) awaits it district seed while Quakertown (5-5, 5-2) is off until Nov. 11 when it will host Norristown.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 10-0-0-7 17
Quakertown 0-0-14-12 26
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