SOL Football Wrap (10-9-26)

Check out the recaps for SOL football teams in action Friday. CB West/CB South photos provided courtesy of Kim Supko. CR South/Upper Dublin photos courtesy of Shannon O’Sullivan, and Pennridge/North Penn photos courtesy of Brad Jenkins. Check back for photos galleries. (Quakertown photos provided by QCHS football). CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ FOOTBALL GALLERIES.

SOL National Conference

PENNRIDGE 20, NORTH PENN 8
(Game stats courtesy of Pennridge football)
It’s a win that was a long time coming for the Rams.
“We haven’t beaten them down there in 25 years,” Pennridge coach Kyle Beller said. “The last time Pennridge beat North Penn at Crawford Stadium was 2001.”
In other words, Pennridge’s last win at North Penn was well before anyone on either of these two teams was even born.
Friday’s win upped the Rams’ record to 7-0. It’s a spot perhaps no one – not even Beller – expected to find the team after graduating the core of last year’s district runner-up squad.
“No way,” the Rams’ coach said when asked if he could have anticipated his team’s 7-0 start. “We had a young team coming back, losing a lot of people. The league we play in – you don’t expect this.
“Every week is such a battle. It’s such a grinding league. There are not weeks off, so you don’t expect this, but it’s just the resilience of our kids. It’s just awesome to be a part of and watch.”
The game was hardly a thing of beauty on either side and featured a whole lot more defense than offense.
“They did a really nice job defensively,” Beller said. “There were a couple turnovers. They muffed a punt, and we jumped on it.
“We got an interception for a touchdown. They ended up dropping a punt towards the end of the first half, which we capitalized on the short field for a touchdown. I thought it was a defensive struggle back and forth for most of the game.”
The Knights fumbled on their opening possession, and while the Rams did not capitalize, the tone might well have been set.
On the Knights next possession, Mar’quan Walker intercepted a pass for a pick six, returning it 29 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead after one quarter.
With five seconds remaining in the opening half, Aiden Tetkowski found Nate Derstine with a four-yard touchdown pass, capping a 73-yard drive that featured a whole lot of Trevor Picciotti. Austin Keller’s PAT sent the Rams into halftime with a 14-2 lead.
“I thought our offense did a really nice job controlling the clock there,” Beller said. “Trevor was just on a mission on that drive, and the offensive line did a great job.”
Late in the third quarter, the Knights fumbled a punt that was recovered by Adam Francis and returned to the North Penn 16. Three plays later, Tetkowski found Brody Blomgren with an 18-yard touchdown pass. The kick was blocked, but the Rams led 20-2 with 2:58 remaining in the third quarter.
The Knights got on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter when Zyon Smith capped a 76-yard scoring drive with a three-yard touchdown run. The two-point attempt failed, and the 20-8 score stood the rest of the way.
“Defensively, I thought our kids were flying around,” Beller said. “Mar’quan got that interception on the screen pass, and Will Osei did a really nice job at nose (guard), making plays in the backfield.
“Our linebackers do a great job always, getting downhill and making plays. The secondary did a nice job for the most part.”
Picciotti led the Rams with 21 carries for 133 yards, averaging 6.3 yards a carry.
On a night that saw North Penn without Rylei Gray, Smith led the way with 20 carries for 122 yards and one touchdown (6.1 yards a carry). He also had two receptions for 39 yards.
Up next: Pennridge (7-0, 4-0 SOL) will travel to Abington on Friday, and North Penn (4-3, 2-2) will be on the road at Central Bucks East on Friday.
Pennridge 7-7-6-0 20
North Penn 0-2-0-6 8

CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 45, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 13
(Game info and stats provided courtesy of Andrew Robinson/ X ADRobinson3)
Preparation and mentality.
It took just those two words for West coach Rob Rowan to effectively describe the keys to his team’s remarkable performance in a contest many thought would come down to the wire.
“Number one, it’s preparation,” the Bucks’ coach said. “Friday night is a depiction of what happens Monday through Thursday.
“And I think the second thing is mentality. Our guys tonight really came to play with a certain edge and a certain mentality that we’ve been discussing really since the season started. It felt authentic tonight.”
Authentic and also dominant.
The Bucks got on the scoreboard with a safety early in the opening quarter when – on a punt – the snap sailed out of the end zone.
That 2-0 lead grew to 9-0 after a Nick Miletto two-yard touchdown run, capping a drive that included a first down run by Mason Darrows on a fake punt. Then it was Braylen Cape – who transferred from CB South to West as a senior – scoring on a four-yard TD run that gave the Bucks a 16-0 lead after one quarter.
The Titans broke the Bucks’ early-game run with a touchdown of their own when Gavin Graham scored from four yards out, but Cape got that score back when he raced 70 yards for a touchdown.
“Braylen ran exceptionally well tonight,” Rowan said.
The successful two-point conversion on a Miletto run sent the Bucks into halftime with a 24-7 lead, and they were far from finished.
In the third quarter, Josh George took it in from a yard out to give the Bucks a 31-7 advantage. Graham opened the fourth quarter with a 48-yard TD run for the Titans,
Again, the Bucks had an answer when Miletto scored on an 18-yard run, this after a run that saw the West Point commit shed one would-be tackler after another..
“Nick is absolutely one of the leaders of our team, and his style of play really permeates through the rest of the team,” Rowan said. “When he’s playing at his highest level, everybody follows suit. He’s a special player, a special young man, and he sets the tone for us.”
A three-yard touchdown run by West’s Nick Wierzbowski late in the fourth quarter put an exclamation point on the decisive win.
After a contest that saw the Bucks accumulate almost 300 yards on the ground, Rowan lauded the play of his offensive line that includes Michael Cole (left tackle), Chase Gannon (left guard), Orin Sheaffer (center), Carter Lindenmuth (right guard), Eli McGuire (right tackle), and Liam Laphen (tight end) as well as Louie Cipollo..
“I give so much credit to our offensive line, to our tight ends and to our backs who blocked exceptionally well tonight,” the Bucks’ coach said. “Louie Cipollo was an absolute warrior blocking tonight, and our offensive line was carving out holes and really establishing the level of physicality.
“All those things need to be present for ball carriers to be able to be as effective as they are, and I also give our ball carriers tremendous credit for being able to capitalize on those opportunities.”
The Bucks’ defense also drew high praise from Rowan.
“We forced six punts throughout the night,” he said. “Our guys really locked in on the game plan and just executed it in a physical way and with just a tremendous amount of pride.
“We’re really excited to get back to work and just keep improving and taking the next step. They’re a hungry group, and I think we’re just starting to scratch the surface of who we can be, so there’s a lot of reasons to be excited.
Cape led the Bucks with 155 yards on 12 carries. Miletto had 94 yards and two TDs on 15 carries.
For the Titans, Graham led the way with 142 yards on 16 carries.
Up next: Central Bucks West (6-1, 3-1 SOL) will host Neshaminy on Friday, and Central Bucks South (3-4, 3-1) will be on the road at Pennsbury Friday.
Central Bucks West 16-8-7-14 45
Central Bucks South 0-7-0-6 13

NESHAMINY 42, ABINGTON 6
Luke Howell had himself a night to remember.
The Neshaminy senior found himself playing a prominent role in the absence of star running back Brock Williams, and he looked anything but the part of a backup, running for five touchdowns and leading the ‘Skins to a win that brought an emphatic end to a three-game skid that included back-to-back shutouts.
“We’re so proud of him,” Neshaminy coach Nick Felus said. “As a senior leader of this team, he’s been our vocal leader the last few weeks of practice, our guy on both sides of the ball who’s bringing things together. To see him have the night like he did tonight, he deserves it. It’s special for him. He put the work in.
“Being without Brock, Luke really took ownership of knowing that he had to step up. That’s the great thing about our team. They play for each other. When one guy goes down, another guy picks him up. Especially in this league, there’s no time to take a breath. No one’s going to feel sorry for you. You’ve just got to get the next man up, get the next man prepared and keep playing.”
The fun started early in this one after Liam Brittingham came up with the team’s fifth interception in the last five quarters. One play later, sophomore quarterback Angel Miranda connected with Colson Hill on a 29-yard touchdown strike. The TD gave the ‘Skins a 7-0 lead and broke a string of nine consecutive quarters without scoring.
“Obviously, the last two weeks we didn’t play well offensively,” Felus said. “I’ll take responsibility for that, being the head football coach and the play caller. That’s all me, not getting our guys prepared well enough.
“This week at practice, we really focused and locked in. We just had to execute better. It was a much better performance from us, execution-wise, and that was something we really worked on all week.”
In the second quarter, Neshaminy recovered Abington’s second fumble of the game on the Ghosts’ 28 and turned this one into a touchdown with Howell the workhorse, capping four straight carries with a six-yard touchdown run.
The Ghosts got on the scoreboard when Kai Taylor – on the run – found Caleb Smith with a five-yard touchdown pass that made it a 14-6 game.
Capitalizing on Tom Schoepfer’s kickoff return to the Neshaminy 45, the ‘Skins drove 55-yards for the score. The big play on the drive was a 24-yard Miranda to Hill connection, and Howell finished it off with a 17-yard TD run that sent the Redskins into halftime with a 21-6 advantage.
The second half was more of the same. Another kickoff return by Schoepfer – this one to midfield – set up a 41-yard pass from Miranda to Hill and a six-yard touchdown run by Howell.
“Our quarterback played very well,” Felus said of Miranda. “He made really good decisions at times, the receivers caught the ball, and we blocked up front.
“Colson is really starting to come along as a solid wide receiver for us. He has the ability to make big plays. He’s another senior that has really worked hard the last few weeks and put himself in this position. It was a much better performance from us.”
A Gavin Finley interception in the end zone – the fifth turnover forced by the ‘Skins- set up a four-yard touchdown run by Howell.
The senior running back delivered one of the game’s highlight reel plays, taking it 74 yards before being tackled at the Ghosts’ one. On the next play, Howell took it in for his fifth touchdown and a 42-6 Neshaminy lead that stood until the final horn.
“We challenged them,” Felus said. “We were very disappointed in how we played. The only way you can get better is you challenge your team and work as hard as you can to fix some of the mistakes that you’re making.
“We’re still not where we want to be, obviously. But I felt like we took a step in the right direction as far as what we needed to do as a program this year.”
The Neshaminy coach went on to credit his players for sticking together during the hard times.
“The way we’re building the program, the way our kids are wired – they don’t have [quit] in their vocabulary,” he said. “That’s how we run the program. We know what the challenges are, we know what we need to do – keep playing hard regardless of what the score, whether you’re up 28-0 or down 28-0. Just keep playing hard, and something good’s going to happen. Our kids have bought into that, and we’re just going to keep playing as hard as we can for as long as we can, and we’ll let the chips fall where they may.”
Up next: Neshaminy (3-4, 1-3 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West on Friday, and Abington (2-5, 0-4) will host Pennridge Friday.
Abington 0-6-0-0 6
Neshaminy 7-14-7-14 42

SOL Continental Conference

QUAKERTOWN 22, SOUDERTON 21
This one – an intense battle for the 309 Bowl – kept fans from both sides on the edge of their seats until the final horn.
In the end, it came down to a successful two-point conversion after Carter Tucholski – with 1:36 remaining in regulation – connected on a touchdown pass to James Wehrheim. The touchdown pulled the Panthers with one, and without hesitation, coach George Banas opted to go for two.
“When we got the ball on about the 30-yard line, I was on the headset saying, ‘You better have a two-point play ready,’” the Panthers’ coach said. “We had one play called, and then we called timeout, and then they called timeout. So, we ended up changing our whole personnel group and the whole play, and it ended up being successful.”
It was Tucholski connecting with Daimon Lowande-Richardson for the successful two-point play, giving the Panthers their first lead of the game, which – it turned out – was far from over.
“Souderton drove down the field and had a really good opportunity to kick the field goal to win, and they’ve got a really good kicker,” Banas said. “We were able to get through the line – I don’t think we got a piece of the ball, but he just pulled it and it skimmed the left upright and went wide.”
The field goal attempt for the win second – which Banas estimated was around 30 yards – came after the Indians drove down the field after the Panthers went ahead.
“You take the lead with the two-point play, so you’re excited as can be,” the Panthers’ coach said. “There was under a minute to go, and they had one timeout. We unfortunately kicked it out of bounds, so they got it on the 35.
“We made some plays, and then, all of a sudden, a kid got loose, and they threw a big one on us and got it down close to the 20. They took a timeout and went for the kick.”
Early on in Friday’s game, Souderton appeared to have the upper hand, opening up a 14-0 lead, but the Panthers head into halftime with some momentum after capping a long drive with Tucholski connecting with Elliot Martin for a nine-yard touchdown to make it a 14-7 game heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, Souderton went back up by two scores (21-7), but the Panthers battled back, pulling to within 21-14 with 48 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Tucholski found Wehrheim with a 28-yard touchdown pass.
Tucholski – pressed into emergency duty in the absence of their regular kicker – kicked the extra point, and it was a 21-14 game heading into the final frame, setting the stage for the fantastic finish.
It was the absence of the team’s regular place kicker that made the decision to go for two a relatively easy one for Banas.
“Carter kicked the first two,” the Panthers’ coach said. “They weren’t pretty.
“That’s the other reason – we’re not going overtime. The rule of thumb is you go for the win at home, go for the tie away.”
The Panthers went for the win, and they got it.
“They just never gave up,” Banas said. “They had some things go against them. We were down two scores, and they just kept playing and didn’t worry about what happened in the past.
“They just kept looking forward and kept making plays. We kept getting setbacks, even in the second half, but we tried not to let them affect us. It did affect us a little bit, but that’s high school kids. You’re going to have reactions to things, but our offense felt like they could move the ball on them a little bit tonight. Certain things we put in – we started to get a rhythm.
“Carter (Tucholski) really looked good tonight, we ran the ball really well, and things just started to click, and we made some big plays.”
There was plenty of credit to go around after Friday’s win.
“James Wehrheim really has been playing exceptional on both sides of the ball,” Banas said of his wide receiver/cornerback. “He really does a great job for us.
“Marcus Baxter on both side of the ball. He typically scores. Tonight he didn’t, but he leads our defense. He calls the defense (at linebacker) and gets guys in position.”
The Panthers’ coach also lauded the play of his offensive line.
“They gave us some time to throw the ball tonight,” Banas said. “They did a good job.”
Comprising the Panthers offensive line were Preston Sell, James McFadden, Holden Tomlinson, Colin Granger and Chase Tucholski.
The win was the third in a row for the Panthers after dropping their first four.
“It was Senior Night and I was really happy for our 10 seniors,” Banas said. “This was a huge win for us.”
Up next: Quakertown (3-4, 3-1 SOL) will travel to Council Rock North on Friday, and Souderton will travel to Delaware to take on Appoquinimink Friday. The game was scheduled after the Indians lost their game with Cheltenham.
Souderton 7-7-7-0 21
Quakertown 0-7-7-8 22

COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 42, UPPER DUBLIN 7
(Information courtesy of Ed Morlock x @emor09)
It could have been a long two weeks for the Golden Hawks, and morale could have been low heading into a bye week on the heels of back-to-back losses, but that wasn’t the case.
As a matter of fact, just the opposite was true.
“Honestly, we had two really good weeks of practice,” Rock South coach CJ Szydlik said. “We had an opportunity to get after each other and get some things fixed. We got a lot of really good work from some seniors that don’t get a ton of playing time but gave us a lot of effort during practice. And it showed.”
Did it ever.
The visiting Golden Hawks jumped out to a 21-0 lead, scoring three touchdowns in a span of just over four minutes in the first quarter. Jerry Rogers accounted for all three – returning a fumble 55 yards for a touchdown and then scoring on runs of 13 and 36 yards.
The Cardinals answered with a touchdown when Lawson Tyler connected with Braeden Skahan with a 20-yard touchdown pass, but 21-7 is as close as UD would get.
Rock South got that back when sophomore Daniel McKnight scored on a 26-yard run that sent the Hawks into halftime with a 28-7 lead.
Early in the third quarter, Rogers punched it in from a yard out, and later in the frame, Rocco Szydlik scored on a 20-yard interception return for the 42-7 final.
“It was a good turnaround for us,” coach Szydlik said. “You lose two games by five points (combined), and you can basically chalk yourself up for dead. We didn’t do that.
“We know we’re still alive, and we know there’s a lot of football left to be played.”
In Friday’s win, Rogers played a starring role, finishing with three touchdown runs, an interception, and a fumble return for a TD.
“He had a big night for us,” Szydlik said. “He had a couple good touchdown runs. Jerry’s a really good football player.”
Also playing a key role in the win was a Golden Hawk defense that forced six turnovers – three interceptions and three fumbles.
“We did a really good job defensively disguising some stuff and finally started to do our right assignments,” Szydlik said. “We had a little bit of a break, and you can regroup. It showed for us.”
Listening to the veteran coach tell it, the Hawks received inspiration from players who don’t find their way into the spotlight.
“It really came from our two weeks of practice and the kids,” Szydlik said. “For us, a Manny Sigman and a Tony Cimino and an Adam Cheng – guys that are seniors that don’t get a ton of playing time but know their role and practiced really hard for us and gave us the best look. Guys like Michael Tyer and Alex Gromosaik, kids that are seniors really gave us their best for the last two weeks, and it showed.”
Up next: Council Rock South (3-3, 1-2 SOL) will travel to Bensalem Friday, and Upper Dublin (3-4, 2-1) will be on the road at Plymouth Whitemarsh on Friday.
Council Rock South 21-7-14-0 42
Upper Dublin 7-0-0-0 7

PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 63, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0
The Colonials received contributions from players up and down their lineup and dominated both sides of the football. The accumulated over 400 yards of offense while limiting the Indians to less than a hundred.
Santino Cavello led the Colonials’ ground game with 94 yards and one touchdown on just two carries. Tristan O’Brien added 59 yards and two touchdowns on two carries, and Noah Alston had two carries for 42 yards and a touchdown as well as one reception for 47 yards and a touchdown. Khamani Davis had a 30-yard touchdown reception.
Quarterback Cole Reilly completed 3 of 5 passes for 80 yards and one touchdown and also had one carry for 41 yards and a touchdown. Michael Giangiulio had three carries for 34 yards.
Up next: Plymouth Whitemarsh (6-0, 3-0 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Friday, and Council Rock North (0-7, 0-4) will host Quakertown.

SOL American Conference

SPRINGFIELD TWP 36, WILLIAM TENNENT 2
(Check back for a stats and a game recap.)