Check out the recaps for SOL football teams in action Saturday. Neshaminy/Pennridge photos courtesy of Tracy Valko, PW/Wissahickon photos courtesy of Michael Rice Photography, CR South/Harry S Truman photos courtesy of John Gleeson & Upper Moreland/William Tennent photos courtesy of Kim Supko. Photo galleries for SOL Football can be accessed by CLICKING HERE.
SOL National Conference
NESHAMINY 38, PENNRIDGE 3
(Neshaminy game stats courtesy of Neshaminy football)
The Redskins might have known it was going to be their day when quarterback Michael Eckart took the first snap of the game and raced 70 yards for a touchdown.
Interestingly, it wasn’t the first play coach Steve Wilmot had originally scripted.
“I asked the offensive linemen yesterday – ‘What do you want to run first play of the game?’ the Redskins’ coach said. “As coaches, a lot of times we script usually 15 plays or whatever. I’m the head coach, so I get to
call the first play.
“They said they wanted to run that play, so we ran it, and it worked well.”
The fun was only beginning for the Redskins.
Pennridge’s only score came with the Redskins – after Eckart’s big run and a 26-yard Kaden Nicastro field goal – on top 10-0.
A 21-yard field goal by Pennridge’s Luis Nunez made it a one-possession game but not for long. Nahsir Moore scored on a 44-yard run, and the visiting ‘Skins took a 17-3 lead into halftime.
An interception by Nick Sassano on the Rams’ first drive of the second half set up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Eckhart to Colby Bracey, and when Eckart connected with Jason Gilardi for a 52-yard touchdown, the Redskins led 31-3 late in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Jason Wilmot’s 29-yard touchdown run gave the Redskins the 38-3 final.
“It was probably our most complete game of the year – offense, defense and special teams,” Wilmot said. “Our offensive line did a nice job, and on third down, our quarterback made some throws.
“We had that 50-yard pass to Jason Gilardi. It’s nice having some big plays. For a lot of the first half of the year, we’ve been grinding it out and grinding it out, but it’s nice to see big plays this game.”
Eckart finished the day a near-perfect 8-for-9 for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He also had five carries for 85 yards and a TD. Moore added 82 yards and one touchdown on five carries.
As a team, the Redskins had 413 yards of total offense – 128 in the air and 285 on the ground. Their defense, meanwhile, limited the Rams to 207 yards total offense.
The Neshaminy coach also credited players whose names won’t show up in the box score.
“A guy who’s been gobbling up tackles the last couple of weeks is Chris Long,” Wilmot said. “He’s like a hybrid safety/linebacker type of kid.
“Looking at the stats, he had a bunch of tackles tonight. Both Sassano brothers – Nick and Michael – did a nice job on defense. They were deflecting a lot of passes. Our linebackers – Connor Frederick and Carson Schneider did a nice job on the runs.”
Neshaminy is eighth in the latest District 1 6A power rankings.
“This was big,” Wilmot said of the win. “Obviously, we want to keep things rolling. We knew we needed at least five wins to make the playoffs.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a lot more than five wins, but the five-win mark is big, but we have a big game on Thursday against Central Bucks East.”
Neshaminy (5-2, 2-2 SOL) will host Central Bucks East Thursday, and Pennridge (4-3, 2-2) will host Central Bucks West on Saturday at 7 pm.
Neshaminy 10-7-14-7 38
Pennridge 0-3-0-0 3
SOL Colonial Conference
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 33, HARRY S TRUMAN 8
The Golden Hawks were looking to bounce back after last week’s disappointing 31-13 upset at the hands of Bensalem, and they did just that, opening up a 20-0 halftime lead on their way to the decisive win.
“Thankfully, it was a long week for us,” Rock South coach CJ Szydlik said. “It took a couple of days to get out of the shock of what just happened the week before, so the fact that we played on Saturday, got the extra day and everything else – honestly, it was in our favor.
“It was extremely disappointing how we lost last week. We unraveled pretty good. We had to get them to come back and get them all back on the same page – basically, start all over again. I think we responded. It was good.”
The Golden Hawks received a pair of touchdown runs from Gavin Lacey while Patrick Malone had one. Jake Maurer added a touchdown reception, and Michael Milewski recovered a fumble and ran it in for a score.
“Honestly, I think we were calm, and we just played the game,” Szydlik said. “We’re young in so many spots that when things start to get crazy – we unravel.
“I told the kids, ‘We’re not young anymore. You’re halfway through the season. It’s time to grow up.’ It was good to see us not panic in some of the tougher spots and just continue playing and then put the game away.”
Truman scored its only touchdown with two minutes remaining in the game.
“We have a tough couple of games coming up – we have Souderton, Quakertown and then (Council Rock) North in the big one for us,” Szydlik said. “If we can pull off a little bit of a split and get ourselves back in the playoff hunt, that’s what we’re aiming for.”
Council Rock South (3-4, 2-2 SOL) will travel to Souderton on Thursday, and Harry S Truman (1-5, 0-3) will be on the road at Quakertown.
Harry S Truman 0-8 8
Council Rock South 20-13 33
CHELTENHAM 48, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0
The Panthers raced out of the gate to 21-0 lead after one quarter on their way to the mercy rule win.
Senior defensive back Marcel Pagbaya set the tone when – on third-and-long on the Indians’ opening possession – he picked off a pass and returned it to the Rock North 19. Junior Jaden Walker scored from in close, and the Panthers led 7-0 before the game was four minutes old.
On their ensuing possession, the Indians took over at their own 20. It was three-and-out, and the Panthers special teams came up with a blocked punt that they recovered in the end zone for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
The Panthers weren’t finished yet, capping a 53-yard scoring drive when sophomore quarterback Kendall Jackson found Ahsaiah Upchurch with a 47-yard touchdown strike for a 21-0 lead.
Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Jared Higginbotham scored on a three-yard touchdown run after a long pass completion from Jackson to Upchurch took the Panthers inside the five. A huge punt return by Higginbotham to the Indians’ 18-yard line set up a Shamar Barksdale 15-yard touchdown, and the Panthers led 34-0 four minutes into the second quarter.
The Panthers – behind a suffocating defensive effort and an inspired offense – took that 34-0 lead into halftime.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Sean Alston turned an interception into a pick six, returning it 37 yards for a touchdown and a 41-0 lead. Pharoah Brooks added his name to the list of Panthers with rushing touchdowns, closing out the scoring with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Cheltenham (2-5, 2-2 SOL) will travel to Upper Dublin Thursday, and Council Rock North (1-6, 1-3) will be on the road at Bensalem Thursday.
Council Rock North 0-0-0-0 0
Cheltenham 21-13-14-0 48
SOL American Conference
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 37, WISSAHICKON 34
(Game scoring courtesy of @emor09 X)
Everett Baker is on some kind of tear.
PW’s senior running back has been a touchdown machine, scoring five touchdowns two weeks ago, two last week and then adding four more today.
“Ev was running hard,” PW coach Dan Chang said. “That kid was running so hard today, breaking tackles, getting extra yards.
“He had 185 yards and four touchdowns. He’s really delivering for us right now.”
The Colonials needed every one of Everett’s touchdown runs and then some to defeat a tough Wissahickon squad, and life in the SOL American Conference is nothing if not interesting.
The Trojans – stunned last week by William Tennent – spent Saturday’s game against PW exchanging punches, but in the end, the Colonials prevailed.
“That was a tough battle right there,” Chang said. “We were just going back and forth with scores. Luckily, we came out on top.
“They scored on the first play of the game on a 60-yard touchdown pass, and all of a sudden, we’re in a dogfight right from the start. I was proud of my guys for battling. They hit a lot of big play touchdowns on us, and we could have folded.
“Our offense continued to battle back and answer. Our defense was playing tough. We did give up some big plays. We turned the ball over – twice we fumbled the ball inside the five about to score, and those were killers. Max Peterson, our kicker, hit a big field goal and that ended up being the difference.”
The Trojans served notice that this could be very interesting on the first play of the game when senior quarterback Nolan Pounds connected with Quentin West for a 61-yard touchdown. The Colonials got that back in a hurry when Everett scored on a 48-yard touchdown run, knotting the score 7-7.
And the two teams were just getting started.
Quarterback Caiden Leszcynski gave PW a 14-7 lead when he scored on a four-yard run, but the Trojans went back on top 15-14 when Pounds found Xavier Johnson with an 18-yard touchdown pass and then were successful on a two-point conversion. A one-yard touchdown run by Everett sent the Colonials into halftime with a 21-15 lead.
Midway through the third quarter, Pounds delivered another TD pass – again connecting with West to put the Trojans on top 22-21, but Max Peterson gave the lead back to the Colonials when he connected on a 30-yard field goal in the final minute of the third quarter.
Just over a minute into the fourth quarter, Johnson caught his second TD pass from Pounds, and the Trojans led 28-24. Baker’s one-yard touchdown allowed the Colonials to go back on top 31-28, and a 21-yard TD run by Baker gave the Colonials a 37-28 lead.
The Trojans didn’t go down quietly, and with just under four minutes remaining, Pounds found West for a 21-yard touchdown reception to make it a 37-34 game.
“We’re up two scores – 37-28, and they scored quick again,” Chang said. “We recover their on-sides kick – Chase Tadeo recovers an on-sides kick, a good recovery there.
“We get it to a fourth-and-five, and Caiden (Leszcynski) throws a great ball to Marcus Laffredo, who gets past the first down marker, and that seals the game.
“Caiden didn’t put up great numbers since he didn’t throw the ball a ton today, but he made a lot of nice decisions, getting us in the right place. In our option game, he was
distributing the ball well, and when he needed to, he threw the ball really well. He did a nice job tonight.”
Not to be ignored was the standout performance of the Colonials’ offensive line in a contest that saw PW accumulate over 400 yards on the ground.
“Again, our O-line is playing well and getting better every week,” Chang said.
Comprising the Colonials’ offensive line are tackle Jared Thomas-Payne, guard Nobi Morffiah, center Max Vizza, guard Cole Ashbridge, tackle Eddie Moyett and tight end Chase Rarrick.
The Colonials improved to 2-0 in conference play, joining Springfield Twp at the top of the conference standings.
“We don’t know who’s doing what this year – you see teams beating each other all over the place, and you’re unsure what everybody is going to bring, but I knew Wissahickon was going to be good, especially offensively,” Chang said. “Rory Graver does such a nice job over there and puts you in difficult positions, and he’s got guys who can play, who can do what he’s asking. Credit to them, man – they were really tough.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-2, 2-0 SOL) will host Springfield Township on Thursday in a key conference battle, and Wissahickon (4-3, 0-2) will travel to Upper Moreland Thursday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14-7-3-13 37
Wissahickon 7-7-8-12 34
SPRINGFIELD TWP 42, HATBORO-HORSHAM 7
The Spartans broke an early 7-7 tie with 35 straight points on the way to their sixth straight win since a season-opening loss.
“Hatboro’s wing-t – we preached to our kids all week about being disciplined and knowing their assignments,” Springfield coach Chris Shelly said. “You have to give Hatboro credit. Those kids play hard.
“We’ve seen them – they’ve won some games, so they come back and tie the score 7-7. We responded right away, which was nice to see.”
CJ Johnson had a three-yard run to spot the Spartans an early 7-0 lead, but the Hatters had an answer.
Johnson – who had a five-touchdown game – scored on a 35-yard bubble screen from Jack McGuckin to put the Spartans on top 14-7, and that lead grew to 21-7 when Johnson scored his third touchdown of the game – this one from one yard out.
“We knew coming in the wing-t would give us some trouble, but we just felt like we made some good adjustments during the game, so we got it rolling,” Shelly said.
In the second quarter, McGuckin scored on a 10-yard run to up the Spartans’ lead to 28-7. Johnson hauled in a six-yard touchdown pass from McGuckin that sent the Spartans into halftime with a 35-7 lead.
Johnson closed out the scoring with a 49 touchdown pass from McGuckin for the 42-7 final.
“He just keeps on doing his thing,” Shelly said of Johnson. “I’m just so happy for him. He’s such a nice kid. His teammates rally around him. They love to see him do well.”
Johnson finished the game with 12 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns as well as five catches for 112 yards and three touchdowns.
McGuckin was a near-perfect 10-for-11 for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Bobby Hartman had four receptions for 64 yards.
“Our linebackers – after a shaky start – came on,” Shelly said. “Aaron Kaufman had six total tackles.
“Bryce McManus has been playing lights out football. He’s a captain for us. He had a sack and several tackles.
“We got our JV and our backups in the third and fourth quarter, which was nice.”
Friday’s win sets up a battle of the lone SOL American squads without a loss in league play when the Spartans (6-1, 2-0 SOL) travel to Plymouth Whitemarsh Thursday. Last year, the Colonials defeated the Spartans 35-0.
“We’re playing an NFL schedule,” said Shelly. “We play on Saturday, and we have to come back and play PW on Thursday night, but they’ve got to do the same thing.”
Hatboro-Horsham (2-5, 0-2) will be on the road at William Tennent on Thursday.
Hatboro-Horsham 7-0-0-0 7
Springfield Twp 21-14-7-0 42
Friday, Oct. 4
UPPER MORELAND 42, WILLIAM TENNENT 7
Upper Moreland celebrated Senior Night with a no-doubt-about-it win over the visiting Panthers, and for a Golden Bear squad looking to bounce back after last week’s loss to Springfield Twp, this was exactly what the doctor ordered.
“We laid out what we needed to get better at in the week in practice,” UM coach Adam Beach said. “To watch us come out there and execute, especially on the defensive side of the ball was really good to see.
“The kids really responded well. They understood the situation. They woke up a little bit as they say understood they let one slip away, and they made the adjustments. It was nice to see the results of their hard work.”
It took no time at all for the Golden Bears to see those results.
“On the first play from scrimmage, Alex Foley hit Jamir Williams on a 60-yard bomb to kind of get us started,” Beach said. “That got us down pretty close, and Justin Valentin scored on a one-yard touchdown run.
“We get a stop, they punt the ball – it’s a bad punt. We’re driving again, and we throw a pick. Number 20 (Joey Hebling) picks off the pass. We stop them again.”
The Bears took a 7-0 lead into the second quarter when they mounted another scoring drive. Aidan Tuffy capped the drive with a touchdown run from 14 yards out.
“On their next possession, we get a key defensive play by Alex Costanzo, who gets a sack,” Beach said. “That sets us up to get a 33-yard touchdown pass from Foley to Jamir Williams.”
The Golden Bears took that 21-0 lead into the halftime locker room.
In the third quarter, Larry Hughes intercepted a pass and rumbled 40 yards to complete the pick six to make it a 28-0 game.
After another UM defensive stop, Elijah Davis took it 40 yards to the house for a touchdown and a 35-0 lead. The Bears weren’t finished yet, and after yet another defensive stop, UM senior Danny Lewis scored on a five -yard run.
“It was a big night for Jamir (Williams),” Beach said. “Braden Moore caught a lot of passes, so he did some nice things too. He didn’t score any touchdowns, but he was integral to what we were doing.
“Braden Moore and Jamir (Williams) have not been getting a lot of touches because we’ve been dominated by Tuffy and Larry (Hughes), so it was good that Jamir got some big ones, and I know Braden Moore got a lot too.
“(Alex) Foley played well. Jimmy Baker is a senior captain who goes both ways – offensive line and defensive line, just being that solid guy and allowing us to make plays. Danny Lewis – it was nice for him to get out there and have success in the field.”
Beach used the opportunity to give his younger players some game action, and the Panthers scored their lone touchdown when AJ Alwan scored on a 25-yard TD reception.
Upper Moreland (6-1, 1-1 SOL) will host Wissahickon on Thursday. William Tennent (3-4, 1-1) will host Hatboro-Horsham on Thursday.
William Tennent 0-0-0-7 7
Upper Moreland 7-14-21-0 42
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