Check out the results for SOL football teams in action. To view photos of the CB East/Quakertown and Upper Moreland/Wissahickon games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Some of the stats used in the wraps below are provided courtesy of Calkins Media. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web site www.PhillyBurbs.com<http://www.PhillyBurbs.com>.
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 35, QUAKERTOWN 21
Perfect endings.
They don’t happen often in the world of sports, and on a night that saw the Panthers’ dream of a perfect regular season go up in smoke, the Patriots wrote the final chapter to their season at War Memorial Field. As endings go, this one was just about perfect.
“This is the best I have ever felt,” senior captain Connor Pattyson said. “I couldn’t be more excited and more proud of our team for fighting all the way to the end against a really good football team.”
Alex Gibson echoed similar sentiments.
“We faced adversity, we faced so many injuries this season, and just to end it like this was perfect,” the junior captain said. “I can’t describe how I’m feeling right now. “There’s not a thing in the world I would change. I love calling these guys my brothers. I wish they could play again next year with me.”
Gibson certainly did his part to make sure East’s season finale would be a memorable one. It was his dazzling 44-yard touchdown run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter that gave the Patriots a lead they would not lose (28-21). Another brilliant Gibson run set up a touchdown plunge for Jack Lamb that all but sealed the Panthers’ fate.
“He is the hardest working guy in the weight room,” coach John Donnelly said of Gibson. “He is the consummate leader, so not only is he the best football player on the field, but he’s the hardest working guy. That’s a tremendous combination to have.
“He’s a great captain for us, a great leader, and we’re glad he’s coming back next year.”
Gibson finished the night with 217 yards on 21 carries. When it was over, the junior standout tipped his hat to his linemen.
“Our line was really pumped up front,” Gibson said. “They knew they were going to push them right off the ball.
“The whole week we’ve just believed that we could win, and we just went out there and executed. I’m really proud of the holes they opened up for me. Once I got the ball I was just running out of pure instinct trying to get to the end zone. We needed to put up points. It was a back and forth game, but we needed to prevail.”
Anchoring the offensive line were Jeff Circuit, Alex Jordan, Brian Thress, Lamine Nouck-A-Nwal and Blake Szymanski. The Patriots scored 28 points in the second half.
“Against a very stingy defense,” said Donnelly, whose team found itself deadlocked 7-7 at the intermission. “Hunter Nice is one of the top linebackers in the league. We had a plan for him and what we wanted to do in terms of running at him and running away from him.
“I think we were able to do a great job of that tonight. It always starts with the offensive line. If there are no holes, guys can’t make runs. They really wore them down. It was a beautiful thing to watch.”
For a while, it looked like the team that had the football last would be the winner as the squads exchanged touchdowns and entered the fourth quarter deadlocked 21-21.
“It really was back and forth,” Pattyson said. “We would stop them first and second down, and they would convert on third down, so we knew we had to change that, buckle down on third down, pull ourselves up and make the stop, and we started doing that. We put the ball in Gibson’s hands, and he took care of it.”
Making the win especially sweet was the fact that it came on the heels of last week’s forfeit win to Central Bucks West that resulted in the cancellation of the team’s homecoming game against their neighboring rival.
“We were really looking forward to last week, so we knew once that got taken away – this was it,” Pattyson said. “That was why we decided we wanted to put everything we had into this game.
“We wanted to finish with this game. We wanted to knock off a good team. Everything we worked for last week we had to compile it into 48 minutes tonight, and we did just that. I couldn’t be more proud of my guys.”
“It was definitely emotional last week,” Gibson added. “But it just goes to show how resilient our team is.”
Consideration was given to adding a game to the team’s schedule.
“We talked about it – I talked to captains first because they’re the liaisons to the team and said, ‘What do you guys think?’” Donnelly said. “They’re all intelligent kids, and they had good thoughts about it. I wasn’t going to force anybody into anything just to try to get a 10th game. We had a game if we wanted it.
“They said, ‘We missed last week, so let’s pour 96 minutes into 48,’ and clearly that’s what happened. We came out and had a great week of practice. The guys really wanted this on so many levels.”
The idea of playing a team they didn’t know had no appeal to the players.
“It could be a New Jersey team for all we know,” Gibson said. “We just thought it would mean a lot more for the seniors to go out at homecoming. It was perfect.”
Friday’s game marked the last time an East football team will be on the home side, and Donnelly couldn’t have written a better script.
“It’s a full team in every sense of the word,” the Patriots’ coach said. “In all phases of the game, you have to get it done, and we did that tonight.
“There have been some things said in the paper last year, and we held onto that about physicality, and I think tonight we showed tremendous physicality on the football field on both sides of the football.
“I’m just proud of our guys and the way that they’ve played and the gritty performance they’ve really shown all week long. This is the healthiest we’ve been since August when we played Cheltenham. This is the kind of team we knew we could be. To us, it wasn’t an upset by any stretch of the imagination.”
The Patriots closed out league play with a 4-3 record (5-5 overall) while the Panthers fell to 6-1 in the league (9-1 overall).
Quakertown 7-0-14-0 21
Central Bucks East 0-7-14-14 35
NORRISTOWN 18, HARRY S TRUMAN 17
The Tigers had a district playoff berth within their grasp but lost any chance of advancing to the 16-team field after Friday’s loss.
The Eagles served early notice that they might have something to say about Truman’s playoff chances when Desmond Gorski hooked up with Derik Cross for a 70-yard touchdown pass. The Tigers made it a 7-6 game after Trysten Hunt took it in from four yards out, and a field goal by Tim Kenny-Schwartz sent Truman into halftime with a 9-7 lead.
A huge kickoff return by Brandon Hill to open the second half set up Hunt’s second TD of the game, this one on a three-yard run, and the Tigers led 15-7. Khalif Sinclair’s 34-yard touchdown run and a successful two-point conversation knotted the score. A field goal put the Eagles on top 18-15, but it was a one-point game after the Tigers collected a safety. They had a chance to win it but saw a field goal attempt sail wide.
The Eagles were 2-5 in conference play (4-6 overall) while the Tigers are 4-3 in the league (6-4 overall). Truman will travel to Cheltenham next Friday a non-league contest while the Eagles will host Methacton next Saturday at 2 p.m.
Norristown 7-0-11-0 18
Harry S Truman 0-9-6-2 17
WILLIAM TENNENT 47, DOBBINS 0
National Conference
SOUDERTON 14, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 10
The Souderton faithful didn’t have a whole lot to cheer about during the Indians’ first go-round in National Conference play this season.
Until Friday night, that is.
Sparked by a standout defensive effort, the Indians earned their biggest win of the season over a CB South squad that was playing for a share of the conference crown. It was a late-game goal line stand by the Indians that won it. The Titans – who were without Notre Dame-bound senior Josh Adams (ankle injury) – had the ball on the Indians’ one-yard line with less than three minutes remaining, but they netted nothing out of their first-and-goal, hurting their own chances with a pair of costly penalties.
The Indians scored all of their points in the first quarter and led 14-0 after Blake Gular took it in from 21 yards out. The Titans made it a 14-7 game at the intermission. Quarterback Kevin Ritchey accounted for his team’s lone TD with a six-yard run in the second quarter. A field goal by Tyler Fischer is all the offense either team would muster in the second half.
The Indians closed out league play with a 2-5 record (4-6 overall) while the Titans were 5-2 in the league (7-3 overall).
Central Bucks South 0-7-3-0 10
Souderton 14-0-0-0 14
PENNSBURY 17, NESHAMINY 3
The Falcons’ offense didn’t put up its usual big numbers, but the defense limited the Redskins – who were without sophomore quarterback Mason Jones (injury) – to just three points, allowing Pennsbury to clinch a share of the SOL National Conference title.
A tough season for the Redskins got even tougher when several players were suspended for a violation of the school code of conduct. The short-handed ‘Skins battled gamely and found themselves deadlocked 3-3 with the Falcons at halftime as Neshaminy’s Dylan McDonald and Pennsbury’s Josh Leon exchanged field goals.
The Falcons scored a pair of second half touchdowns, the first on a one-yard run by quarterback Mike Alley and the second on a 24-yard run by Charles Snorweah that put the Falcons on top 17-3.
Snorweah finished with a game-high 179 yards on the ground. Senior Matt Magdelinskas had a big night filling in at running back for the Redskins. He had a pair of 50-yard runs and finished with 176 yards.
The Falcons closed out league play with a 6-1 record (9-1 overall) while the Redskins were 3-4 in league play (4-6 overall).
Pennsbury 0-3-7-7 17
Neshaminy 3-0-0-0 3
NORTH PENN 28, ABINGTON 0
(For Scott Huff’s complete game story and stats, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/article/content/knights-down-ghosts-win-share-title-0048401)
The Knights put an exclamation point on an impressive late season run, shutting out the Ghosts and clinching a share of the SOL National Conference title. The win was the fifth in a row for the suddenly streaking Knights after a 2-3 start.
For one half, the Ghosts kept it close as the Knights – thanks to a Nick Isabella one-yard touchdown run – took a 7-0 lead into halftime.
A Jake Bevan to Colby Beck 10-yard touchdown pass early in the second half gave the Knights a 14-0 lead, and with the Ghosts driving in North Penn territory, junior defensive back Nyfease West came up with an interception in the end zone in a play that may have been the backbreaker for the Ghosts.
The Knights scored a pair of fourth quarter TDs – the first on a short run by West and the second on a 63-yard Isabella run.
North Penn closed out league play with a 6-1 mark (7-3 overall) while the Ghosts were 2-5 in the league (5-5 overall).
North Penn 7-0-7-14 28
Abington 0-0-0-0 0
PENNRIDGE 48, BENSALEM 14
The Rams opened up a 21-0 lead at the end of one quarter and never looked back. Senior running back Joe Unangst and Imeir Simmons combined for six touchdowns to lead the Rams.
It was Unangst opening the game with back-to-back touchdown runs – the first for 34 yards and the second for 16. A one-yard run by Simmons gave the Rams their 21-0 cushion. The Rams took a 21-7 lead into halftime as the Owls got on the scoreboard when Devante Porter connected with Malcolm Carey for a 31-yard touchdown pass.
If there were any doubts about the outcome, they were put to rest when the Rams scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to go on top 42-7
Unangst finished with 157 yards and four touchdowns. Simmons had 62 yards with two TDs.
Pennridge closed out league play with a 4-3 mark (7-3 overall) while the Owls were 0-7 in league play (0-10 overall).
Bensalem 0-7-0-7 14
Pennridge 21-0-21-6 48
American Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 42, UPPER MERION 0
The Flying Cardinals closed out their regular season in style, celebrating Senior Night with a shutout win over the visiting Vikings. A John Lee 10-yard touchdown run gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead at the end of one quarter, and another Lee touchdown – this one from 30 yards out – was followed by a Kaleif Lee 10-yard touchdown run. The successful two-point conversion put the Cardinals on top 21-0. John Lee’s fumble return for a touchdown sent Upper Dublin into halftime with a 28-0 lead.
John Lee finished the night with 65 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries. Quarterback Ryan Stover was 16-for-20 for 208 yards.
The Cardinals were a perfect 7-0 in league play (9-1 overall) while the Vikings were 1-6 in the league (1-9 overall). The Vikings will host Bensalem next Friday in a non-league contest.
Upper Merion 0-0-0-0 0
Upper Dublin 7-21-7-7 42
HATBORO-HORSHAM 35, CHELTENHAM 27
The visiting Hatters rallied in the closing minutes of the game to earn a come-from-behind win over the Panthers. The Hatters trailed 27-22, but a fumble recovery by Joseph Lee set up a Casey Walsh to Charlie Obrecht touchdown pass that gave the Hatters a 28-27 lead with just over two minutes remaining. Adam Suder returned an interception for a touchdown, giving the Hatters their final margin of victory.
Walsh finished the game with 19 completions for 254 yards. Obrecht was his favorite target, finishing with 159 yards on nine catches.
The Panthers scored 20 of their points in the third quarter when they erased a 10-7 halftime deficit. Greg Morris scored on a 12-yard run, Gregory Crowder had a four-yard TD run, and quarterback Brandon Mack hit Tyler Colon with a 63-yard scoring strike.
The Hatters closed out league play with a 3-4 record (3-7 overall) while the Panthers were 4-3 in the league (5-5 overall).
Hatboro-Horsham 0-10-6-19 35
Cheltenham 0-7-20-0 27
UPPER MORELAND 44, WISSAHICKON 21
Tyler Whitmore displayed the form that has made him one of the area’s premiere running backs, rushing for four touchdowns to lead the Golden Bears to the big win. The Trojans took a 9-0 lead, thanks to a safety and touchdown, but then the Golden Bears and Whitmore went to work. Whitmore had three consecutive touchdown runs, and quarterback Josh Abrams found Colton Hooker with a 20-yard touchdown pass, sending the Golden Bears – who scored 30 points in the second quarter – into halftime with a 30-9 lead.
Upper Moreland tacked on a pair of third quarter touchdowns, and the Trojans had no answer.
The Golden Bears closed out league play with a 4-3 record (7-3 overall) while the Trojans were 1-6 in league play (2-8 overall).
Wissahickon 9-0-6-6 21
Upper Moreland 0-30-14-0 44
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