Check out the recaps for SOL football teams in action Friday. PW/Upper Merion photos provided courtesy of Michael Rice. CB West/Garnet Valley photos courtesy of Kim Supko, and Hatboro-Horsham/Upper Moreland photos courtesy of Dan Beck, and Pennsbury/Coatesville photo courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. New Hope-Solebury/Morrisville photo courtesy of Karla Donohoe. Upper Dublin/Kennett photos courtesy of Shannon O’Sullivan. Check back for galleries of all of those games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f129542182
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 21, UPPER MERION 19
(Stats provided by Ed Morlock/PaPrepLive: https://www.timesherald.com/2023/08/25/football-plymouth-whitemarsh-overcomes-mistakes-to-close-out-upper-merion/ )
When the Colonials opened up a 21-6 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter, it looked as though it would be smooth sailing to the finish line for PW. It turned out to be anything but that as the
Vikings staged a furious comeback, but the Colonials held on for the win.
“It came down to the last drive,” PW coach Dan Chang said. “We had to convert a couple of first downs to end it.
“Upper Merion played us very tough. They had a couple of nice players and did some nice things on ‘D.’”
The game turned into a nail-biter after a 34-yard punt return in the opening moments of the fourth quarter pulled the Vikings to within two, 21-19. That’s when PW’s defense stepped to the fore, coming up with a clutch interception and limiting the Vikings to just one yard of offense in the fourth quarter.
“Our ‘D’ was really playing well,” Chang said. “There were a couple of penalties that helped Upper Merion, and we had a miscue on a punt that gave them a short field.”
The Colonials also had a pair of fourth quarter turnovers, but their defense stood tall.
“Defensively, I thought Kevin Hegerty is playing well,” Chang said. “We had Andrew Iannozzi playing linebacker, who did a nice job as well.
“Taeshaun Johnson went from free safety last year to playing D-end this year, and he did a really nice job.”
Earlier, a 46-yard touchdown run by Nazye Boggs in the final minutes of the opening quarter put the Colonials on top 7-0, and that lead grew to 14-0 when Luke Winterbottom punched it in from one yard out. The Vikings scored in the closing seconds of the opening half to make it a 14-7 game at the intermission.
Anthony Iannozzi’s one-yard touchdown gave the Colonials a 21-6 lead that was anything but secure, but PW held on for the win.
Boggs led a potent PW ground game, finishing with 113 yards while Winterbottom was right behind with 108. Iannozzi had 46 yards on the ground and 56 in the air.
“It starts with our QB, Anthony Iannozzi,” Chang said. “We have a couple of guys who all can run with the ball in their hands. Nazye Boggs carried the ball a bunch, Luke Winterbottom carried the ball a bunch.
“Everett Baker had a couple of huge plays in our return game and catching the ball and running the ball. He was definitely a spark for us. He’s a guy that can really explode when the ball’s in his hands. Those guys are guys that can definitely move. We just have to protect the football. I think our offensive line is starting to come together. We have to continue to work.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (1-0, 0-0 SOL) will travel to Methacton for a non-league game on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 7-7-7-0 21
Upper Merion 0-6-6-7 19
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 27, WILLIAM TENNENT 3
(Stats provided by CR South football)
Sparked by the play of its lines on both sides of the football, the Golden Hawks opened up a 21-0 halftime lead on their way to the no-doubt-about-it non-league win over the visiting Panthers.
“I was most pleased with us up front – both the offensive line and defensive line,” Rock South coach CJ Szydlik said. “We have a veteran group on both lines with some pretty good depth, so definitely, it was our biggest advantage today.
“We worked pretty hard in the offseason to make sure we could fix some of the issues we had last year, and it definitely came through for us today.”
Comprising the Hawks’ offensive line were PJ La Badie, Dylan Nolter, Vinnie Szydlik, Garrett Hagen and Kyle Grasso. Anchoring the defensive line were Luke O’Hanlon, Anthony Cimino, Tom Gallagher and Wes Waninger.
Senior quarterback Chase Ennis – committed to Penn State for baseball – was efficient behind center, completing 9-of-12 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Nick Haurin hauled in a 37-yard Ennis TD pass to open the scoring. The Golden Hawks never looked back.
“Playing well from the start was important,” Szydlik said. “Obviously, getting up early was important with as hot as it was. When guys start going down with cramps and everything else, it was a little easier on us when you’re the one winning. That was a really big deal.”
Chase Myers had a big day out of the backfield for the Golden Hawks, running for 121 yards on and a first-half touchdown on 14 carries. Sophomore Shane Myers ran it in from 14 yards out to account for the only touchdown of the second half, putting an exclamation point on the decisive win.
“Now we have two really tough weeks with Neshaminy and Pennsbury in a row,” Szydlik said. “Now we have the confidence. We now know who we are, and we just have to keep getting better.”
Council Rock South (1-0, 0-0 SOL) will be on the road at Neshaminy on Friday while William Tennent (0-1, 0-0) will take on Pennsbury at Harry S Truman.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 42, HARRY S TRUMAN 0
The Patriots dominated play on both sides of the football, opening up a 28-0 halftime lead and rolling to the decisive win in Friday’s opener.
“We scored on the first two possessions, so we got an early jump on them, which was helpful,” East coach John Donnelly said. “We have some new players and some coaches stepping into new roles as well.”
Senior Dean Blackwell led the Patriots with three rushing touchdowns. Sophomore Joey Craig had one rushing TD, senior quarterback Dan Voglesong had one rushing touchdown and threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jack Donnelly.
“I thought our defense played pretty well tonight,” Donnelly said. “We had two interceptions – Dan Voglesong had an interception, and our defensive lineman Luke Miller had an interception.
“We have a new defensive coordinator, so it was a big night for Zach Nelson calling his first game and it was a shutout, which was great.”
Nelson was East’s quarterback 2013-14.
Central Bucks East (1-0, 0-0 SOL) will host Bensalem in a non-league contest on Friday.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 17, GARNET VALLEY 13
(Stats courtesy of Drew Markol, Bucks County Courier Times/Intelligencer: https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/sports/2023/08/25/for-cb-west-taylor-transition-to-starting-quarterback-goes-smoothly-bucks-county-football/70671101007/ )
The Bucks owed them one.
Actually, they owed Garnet Valley more than one after falling to the Jaguars twice last season, including a season-ending 35-7 loss in the District 1 6A final, and once a year earlier – also in the district playoffs to bring an end to West’s season.
In a classic battle, the Bucks did what no District 1 team had done in a long, long time – they stunned the Jaguars, who brought a 34-game district winning streak into the contest.
“It was everything we expected it to be just based on everything in week one,” said West coach Rob Rowan, whose team fell to Garnet Valley 14-7 in last year’s season opener.
And speaking of stunning, that’s exactly what quarterback Cooper Taylor was on his team’s first play from scrimmage in Friday’s season opener, racing 62 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 West lead. It was quite a debut behind center for Taylor, who found himself thrust into the starting role when three-year starter Ganz Cooper was lost to a knee injury. The senior QB finished a dazzling debut at quarterback with 176 rushing yards.
“Cooper’s a kid who has tremendous confidence in himself, our coaching staff has tremendous confidence in him, and our players have tremendous confidence in Cooper,” Rowan said. “So, when you really start looking at those three things, Cooper stepped on the field feeling very confident from all the different perspectives that he needed to in terms of himself, from his teammates and from his coaching staff.
“I’m not going to tell you I’m not surprised any time you open a game with a 62-yard touchdown, but at the same time, I would say I wasn’t surprised – just knowing who Cooper is and the way he goes about his business. I couldn’t be more proud and just elated for him to be able to get this opportunity and start his career off this way.”
The Bucks took that 7-0 lead into the second quarter, but the Jaguars scored a TD of their own to knot the score early in the frame. The Bucks were unfazed, and with three minutes remaining in the first half, they regained the lead when Matt Cleland scored on a three-yard run, sending West into halftime with a 14-7 lead.
West upped its lead 17-7, thanks to a 22-yard field goal to open the fourth quarter. With 9:58 remaining, Garnet Valley scored a touchdown, but the Bucks blocked the extra point to keep it a four-point game, 17-13, a score that held until the final whistle.
Junior Ryan Clemens also had a big night out of the backfield for the Bucks, finishing with 111 yards.
“Ryan ran incredibly hard, and he’s a guy who is only going to get better as the year goes on and the same thing with Cooper,” Rowan said. “But if you look at it, both of those guys had success running the football last night because of the guys up front, and I say up front, but it really was an entire offensive effort.
“Obviously, we thought our entire offensive line did a fantastic job against a very difficult opponent, but also our tight ends, our fullback/wing backs. Our receivers blocking downfield I thought was excellent, and when Cooper was running the ball, I thought our backs blocked fantastic, and that’s something we
stressed from the moment we took the field that it’s going to take a collective effort in terms of executing at a high level. Week one – obviously, there’s a lot of mistakes and a lot of things to clean up, but I thought the effort was tremendous from our guys.”
Comprising the Bucks’ offensive line were right tackle Finn McGowan, right guard Christian Pudlo, center Cole Patterson, left guard Gio Pellegrino (a sophomore in his first start), left tackle Hayden Mulligan (the anchor and only senior on the O-line) as well as tight ends Jack Williams and Shane Dillon and wing backs Matt Cleland and Aedan Donnelly.
The Bucks’ defense also stood tall.
“When you play these guys, it is a collective effort,” Rowan said. “We really ask our guys just to do their job.
“Our free safety, Sean Blue, got beat on a couple plays early. What I was most impressed about was his ability to respond. I thought he helped us tremendously coming down in the box to stop their run game from a perimeter perspective. I thought he really played well outside a couple times he got challenged a little bit, but I was really proud of the way he responded.”
Also coming up big on the defensive side of the ball was Jack Williams.
“He was awesome,” Rowan said. “He’s a three-year starter, a two-way starter, and going both sides of the ball in the first game is always difficult.
“Fourth quarter, we came up a yard short on a fourth down and they got the ball back.
“There was about a minute and 40 seconds left, and they had to go about 80 yards. He had a tremendous pass rush move and was able to get pressure on their quarterback, totally affected the throw as the quarterback was letting it go, and we were able to intercept it.
“We talked about it at halftime – we need our big players to make big plays in big moments, and he stepped up and did that, but he was just awesome all night long on both sides of the ball.”
Coming up with the big interception for the Bucks was junior Vance Morelli, a key sub off the bench.
“It was just really neat for him because he prepared the right way all week long, and it put him in a position where he was ready to go,” Rowan said. “His moment came, and he was in the right place at the right time and ended up sealing the deal for us.”
Central Bucks West (1-0, 0-0 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Friday in a non-league contest.
Garnet Valley 0-7-0-6 13
Central Bucks West 7-7-0-3 17
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 13, FATHER JUDGE 10
The Titans trailed for the better part of Friday’s opener, but an Anthony Leonardi touchdown run in the fourth quarter and some stout play by the Titans’ defense allowed South to escape with the hard-fought win.
“It’s the first game, so you have no idea,” South coach Tom Hetrick said. “You think you know what you have, but you literally don’t know until you show up and play.
“It was a good first win. It’s better to be 1-0 than 0-1. It was a battle. Father Judge – although they’re in a tough league – I think they’re going to have a good season because they have a very good football team. We’re happy to get the win, but we know the things we need to fix. We can’t be doing things to shoot ourselves in the foot, but that comes with experience.”
Neither team scored in the opening quarter, but Judge came up with a big play for a touchdown in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 7-0 lead.
“We controlled the clock in the first quarter and racked up a lot of yards, but we couldn’t score,” Hetrick said. “We kept shooting ourselves in the foot and stopping our drives. We were able to run the ball, but we just couldn’t finish it off.
“Defensively, we were doing really well, and they didn’t have many offensive reps in the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, first play from scrimmage (Tyler Yerkov) completed an 80-yard touchdown pass to number one (Nymeir Appling), who’s a real good receiver. We were dominating in between the 20s but we’re not doing anything, and all of a sudden, we’re down 7-0.”
The Crusaders took that one-touchdown lead into halftime.
Judge – on the receiving end of the second half kickoff – fumbled the football, and the Titans took over and capitalized.
“John Henson hit him, and the kid fumbled the ball about the 40-yard line, so we were on the plus-40 going in,” Hetrick said. “It didn’t take us that made reps – four or five plays into that drive, Corey Moore ran for about an 8-yard touchdown.”
The missed extra point allowed Judge to take 7-6 lead into the fourth quarter, and the Explorers tacked on a field goal to up their lead to 10-6, but the Titans rallied, taking their first lead when Leonardi tore off an 82-yard touchdown run. The Titans converted the extra point and led 13-10 with five minutes remaining.
“We had an opportunity to shut the door on them – they went for it on fourth down in their own territory with about four-and-a-half minutes left, and we stopped them,” Hetrick said. “But we weren’t able to finish it off and run out the clock, so we gave them the ball back with two-and-a-half minutes left in the game.
“They had a great kicker, and we’re like – they’re just trying to bleed things out and get it within field goal range, but our defense held. It was fourth-and-two, they went for it, and we stuffed them and had the ball on our plus-30 with about a minute left, so we were able to take a knee, but it was a battle. It was like a M.A.S.H. unit out there – guys cramping. We had a lot of guys that were warriors on both sides of the ball. Everyone is going to need a day-and-a-half just to recover from that one.”
The Titans’ coach lauded the efforts of several players in the win.
“Rolan Hess is our starting guard and our starting D-end – he was fighting through cramps and just doing some good things,” Hetrick said. “Sean Moskowitz was a first team all-league linebacker last year. He missed all of camp, didn’t even play in our scrimmage. He came out and did some really nice things.
“Adam Oscar was our other linebacker, and he did some nice things. They really couldn’t get much going in their run game. They were getting yards on quick passes and things like that because their quarterback was good. Nick Conte is the other guy – in the second half, I don’t think he ever came off the field. He’s our left guard and a D-tackle, and he did some really nice things.
“Corey Moore and Anthony Leonardi did what we expect them to do – they’re experienced, they were our leading rushers last year, and they came out and were a pretty good one-two punch again tonight.”
Leonardi finished the night with 196 yards on 19 carries with one TD. Moore finished with 90 yards on 16 carries, and Owen Pinkerton had 10 carries for 59 yards on a night that saw the Titans accumulated 339 yards on the ground. The Crusaders managed just 37 yards rushing against a stingy Titan defense. Sean Moskowitz led the defense with 7 tackles, which included a half a sack and 1 1/2 tackles for a loss.
Hetrick went on to tip his hat to the Crusaders.
“They were a good team,” Hetrick said. “They had a lot of experience – their three best players, their quarterback, running back and receiver from last year, and they were all good last year and were back as seniors this year.
“Listen, there’s like experience in high school football, and having those three guys have the experience, we knew they were going to be good. Their defense surprised us with how good they were. They have a couple of very good D-ends, and their front four was pretty stout. It was a great game. We knew they were going to be a bunch of tough kids.”
Central Bucks South (1-0, 0-0 SOL) will host Harry S Truman on Friday.
Father Judge 0-7-0-3 10
Central Bucks South 0-0-6-7 13
SOUDERTON 21, HAVERFORD 17
The Indians survived a shaky start to open up a 14-10 halftime lead and then held off the Fords at the end to earn a hard-fought win in Friday’s non-league opener. Senior Ryan Sadowski accounted for all three of Souderton’s touchdowns.
“You have to give credit to Haverford – they came out and they played hard,” Souderton coach Ed Gallagher said. “They didn’t do anything special, but they got first downs on third down and fourth down, and they kept our offense off the field.
“I think we only had four possessions in the second half. We scored on the first one, and then couldn’t get things going. It was kind of frustrating.”
The visiting Fords led 3-0 after one quarter, but after the Indians recovered a Fords’ fumble, Sadowski hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Ben Walsh . The extra point by Rylan Zuk gave the Indians a 7-3 lead. Haverford regained the lead with a touchdown, going on top 10-7, but the Indians responded. This time Sadowski scored a TD on a 35-yard run that sent the Indians into halftime with a 14-10 advantage.
“We had two turnovers in the first quarter, and being down 3-0 at the end of the first quarter after giving them the ball twice in good field position, you have to consider that a win,” Gallagher said. “Once we got the offense going, we got a couple of scores and felt somewhat comfortable for a little bit and then we gave the ball back to them again.
“We had a good score right at the end of the first half. They scored to take a 10-7 lead with two-and-a-half minutes left, and we drove down the field and scored to take a lead at halftime. I was pretty happy with the execution on that drive. Obviously, we had a really nice hole for Ryan to run through on his touchdown run.”
Early in the second half, Walsh threw a strike that Sadowski caught in stride at the Fords’ 40-yard line, shed a would-be tackler and raced into the end zone for a touchdown and a 21-10 lead.
“It was the same play we ran on the first play of the game, and he overthrew Danny (Dyches) just a bit,” Gallagher said. “I said, ‘I’m coming back to it when I need to,’ and it was a third-and-three. It was a running situation, and we rolled the dice and said, ‘Let’s take a shot over top.’ Ben threw a beautiful pass to Ryan, and Ryan makes people miss. He probably should have been tackled twice on his way to the end zone, but he’s a really good athlete.”
The Fords didn’t go down quietly, pulling to within four with a touchdown with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, but the Indians’ defense held the rest of the way.
“Without looking at film, I thought our defensive line overall got a lot of pressure,” Gallagher said. “Aiden Elliott and Joey Nase had some really nice plays and pressured the quarterback. Kahlil Williams made a really nice play rushing the quarter.
“We definitely had some really good push on the defensive line when they had to pass the ball. We were hoping to force them to pass a little more, but ultimately when the game came down to it and they had to, we stepped up and made plays with our pass rush.
“Overall, it was a pretty good outing. Haverford is a good program. It was a little sloppy on both sides. The good news is we got a win, and there are some things we can work on to move forward.
“We had a bunch of sophomores starting for the first time tonight. They got some of the jitters out, and hopefully, when we got to Pennridge next Friday night, they’re ready to go. They’re now experienced.”
Souderton (1-0, 0-0 SOL) will travel to Pennridge on Friday.
Haverford 3-7-7-0 17
Souderton 0-14-7-0 21
HATBORO-HORSHAM 16, UPPER MORELAND 7
What a difference a year makes.
In last year’s season opener, the Hatters – who received an exemption from participating in the SOL while they rebuilt their program – were crushed by the Golden Bears 41-0. On Friday night, they stunned their visitors, notching just their second win in the last four years.
“This was huge,” Hatters’ coach Tom Butts said. “I can’t tell you how great our kids have been. I’ve coached a lot of football, and I’ve never had a camp like we had. Our kids came and they were just warriors every day.
“We had one bad practice out of the last three weeks. They have bought in. I can’t say enough good things about them as a group. Every single kid brings it every day, and they’re just a joy to coach. They’re on cloud nine right now, and they earned it. They have been just fantastic.”
The Hatters took an 8-0 lead when Jaxson Bumpus punched it in from a yard out. A penalty set the stage for a successful two-point conversion. The Golden Bears got on the scoreboard late in the opening half on a 70-yard pass play, trimming the Hatters’ lead to one, 8-7.
“That was right before half, and our kids could have gone in and hung their heads and been like, ‘Here we go again.’ We took the opening drive of the second half – we didn’t score, but we took it right down their throats,” Butts said. “They went three-and-out, we put another long drive together.”
This time the Hatters hit paydirt with Kayden Collazo taking it into the end zone for a touchdown that gave the Hatters their final margin of victory.
“We were rotating kids – we have three halfbacks that play, and we have two fullbacks that play,” Butts said. “Kids were cramping so much. It was literally a constant rotation of kids.”
The Hatters’ coach credited the standout effort of his offensive line comprised of Owen Fischer, Dan Rash, Owen King, Stephen Stunder and Ryan McCarthy.
“We possessed the ball in the second half probably 21 of the 24 minutes,” Motts said. “They ran six offensive plays in the second half. They went three-and-out twice. Our kids blocked their rear ends off. It was just awesome.”
There were other deserving players that also earned the praise of their coach.
“Luke Foley, who’s a two-way starter for us, had an unbelievable game tonight,” Butts said. “He’s a safety and a halfback, he was on special teams. He had an unbelievable game.
“Roman Marinucci was probably our best defensive player tonight. I think he had three sacks.”
The Hatters coach also credited the defensive efforts of Kayden Collazo, Mason Bynum and Michael Clauser
“They played really well for us,” Butts said.
Hatboro Horsham (1-0) will host Wissahickon on Friday.
“We told them – ‘Enjoy this one tonight, we get right back tomorrow,’” Butts said. “You can’t win your second game unless you win your first. We don’t have a league championship to play for. Our goal is to make the playoffs, and you have to win some games to make the playoffs. You have to win the first one, and they took care of business tonight.”
Upper Moreland (0-1, 0-0 SOL) will host Boys Latin in a non-league game Friday.
UPPER DUBLIN 21, KENNETT 0
The Flying Cardinals made the long trek to Kennett worth their while, earning a shutout win over the defending Ches-Mont champions.
“It’s a good game for us,” UD coach Bret Stover said. “We’re both 5A teams. They’re the only 5A on our schedule, so it’s a good game for us to start with.”
The Cardinals got on the scoreboard in the opening seconds of the second quarter when senior Shyne Roberts scored from a yard out, and it was a 14-0 UD lead after sophomore Ronald Shepherd scored on an impressive 68-yard run. He finished with over a hundred yards in his varsity debut.
“He showed a lot of promise last year in our freshman program, and he’s been a pleasant surprise for us at running back,” Stover said. “He’s a good changeup for Shyne Roberts. It’s a nice one-two punch. Shyne is a little bigger, his body is more mature, and Ronald’s got a little more of the wiggle and shift. They can spell each other since they both play defense too.”
The Cardinals, who took that 14-0 lead into halftime, added a touchdown in the second half when Shepherd capped a UD drive with a six-yard TD run.
Earning a big share of the spotlight in Friday’s win was the Cardinals’ defense that pitched a shutout.
“Evan Sanders kind of settled us in,” Stover said of his 6-1 sophomore lineman. “He had a strip sack fumble recovery. They had just gotten a big play into our territory, and we went down and scored a touchdown after the fumble recovery to go up 7-0. He was strong.
“Shyne, who’s a linebacker, was really, really good on defense. He’s kind of special on the defensive side. Ryan O’Sullivan at middle linebacker had us in the right spots and made plays. 
He punched out a fumble that (Chris) Kohlbrenner recovered.
“Eric Berman had a big, big pass breakup where he totally laid out. It would have been a touchdown, but he laid out at the last second and broke it up. That was a big play for us defensively.”
The UD coach also credited the play of his rookie quarterback – junior Kevin Etkin.
“He did what we asked him to do, played within himself,” Stover said. “It’s tough when you follow Colin O’Sullivan at quarterback. There’s a lot of pressure that goes with that that people don’t realize – whether it’s Kevin placing it on himself or people on the outside placing it on him. He did a nice job for us.
“We were able to clear the bench a little bit and give some other guys varsity time just because we are so young, and I think that’s going to help us down the road when we get into the next two games and see what we really are.”
Upper Dublin (1-0, 0-0 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West for a non-league game Friday.
Upper Dublin 0-14-0-7 21
Kennett 0-0-0-0 0
NESHAMINY 44, KENSINGTON 0
(Stats provided by Neshaminy football)
In a game the Redskins dominated from wire to wire, it was the defense that stole the spotlight, forcing and recovering three fumbles and coming up with an interception while allowing just nine net yards of offense.
“Our defense was in command the whole game,” Neshaminy coach Steve Wilmot said. “Our defense set the tone for the whole game.
“The offense did not have to drive 80 yards at all because we were given short fields the whole night, and our defense was very dominant tonight.”
Thanks to the short fields they regularly received, the Redskins amassed just 189 yards of total offense in the rout – 157 yards on the ground. Seven players had carries with Jason Wilmot’s 44 yards on 10 carries leading the way.
Carter Clee’s one-yard touchdown and Kaden Nicastro’s extra point put the Redskins on the scoreboard. By the time the first quarter was over, Anthony Gross had hauled in a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Colin Baker, Cole Tarapchak ran it in from 16 yards, and Tristan Rivera returned a punt 15 yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead after one quarter.
In the second quarter Travis Lavelah scored on a 19-yard run, and Nicastro split the uprights on a 20-yard field goal that sent the Redskins into halftime with a 38-0 lead.
David Liberty caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Nick Sassano in the fourth quarter to account for the only points in a second half that featured a running clock.
In the end, the night belonged to a stingy Redskin defensive unit.
“I think it was a full team defensive effort,” Wilmot said. “It all starts up front with our defensive line where we have a new defensive front this year. We went to a 3-4 attack slanting type defense.
“Owen Swartz had a big sack early on. Our linebackers did a nice job, and our defensive backfield did a nice job too. Our defense set the tone for the whole day.”
Neshaminy (1-0, 0-0 SOL) will host Council Rock South in a non-league game on Friday.
Kensington 0-0-0-0 0
Neshaminy 28-10-0-6 44
WISSAHICKON 48, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 28
(Game information courtesy of @NStomsky X account)
If it’s offensive football you like, you would have loved Friday’s season opener at Wissahickon. The Trojans made a bit of history by winning their season opener for the first time since 2017 while exploding for 48 points.
“We haven’t really accomplished anything yet,” Wissahickon coach Rory Graver said. “We’re at the same spot we were last year with one win. There are some things to fix, for sure, but we did all right.”
Their ground game was all but unstoppable as they accumulated 299 yards on the ground on 42 carries and passed for 122 yards.
“Rushing for 299 yards – credit first goes to the offensive line and our tight ends,” Graver said. “I thought they did a great job of leading the way for us.”
Comprising the Trojans’ offensive line were Thomas Garvey, Jarret Federer, Cole Rogers, Aidan McGillian and Ethan Baritz along with tight end Jackson Palmer.
It took the Trojans just 27 seconds into the game to get on the scoreboard when Jaden McLean – on the second play from scrimmage – scored on a 20-yard sweep. The play was set up by a long kickoff return by Aidan Westcott.
“That was huge,” Graver said of the early score. “We talked all week about how important it was to get off to a fast start. With the kick return and being able to score on two plays was big.”
They took that 7-0 lead into the second quarter that saw McLean score on a four-yard run, and then Aidan Westcott scored on a 29-yard run.
Rock North’s Will Scibona hauled in a touchdown pass to make it a 21-7 game, The Trojans – after a Quasir Sampson TD run – took a 28-7 lead into halftime. Scibona’s second TD – this one early in the third quarter – made it a 28-14 game. That’s as close as the Indians would get as the Trojans put 20 points on the board in the third quarter to open up a 41-14 lead on their way to the big win.
There were offensive contributors galore for the Trojans. McLean led the way with 13 carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Also contributing were Sampson (12-58, TD), Pounds (8-82), Dom Harvey-Sheppard (4-44, 2 TDs) and Jason Murray (1-12, TD)
Pounds completed 7 of 9 passes for 122 yards and a TD with Westcott the leading receiver with two catches for 59 yards and a TD. McClean had two catches for 29 yards.
Wissahickon (1-0, 0-0 SOL) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham for a non-league game Friday.
“Seeing the Hatboro-Horsham score – that’s going to be a very big challenge for us,” Graver said.
Council Rock North (0-1, 0-0) will be on the road at Abington on Friday.
Council Rock North 0-7-7-14 28
Wissahickon 7-14-20-7 48
SPRINGFIELD TWP 24, ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 6
(Information will be included in Saturday’s wrap.)
SOUTHERN LEHIGH 28, QUAKERTOWN 21
The Panthers took a 14-7 lead into halftime, thanks to a pair of one-yard TD runs by quarterback Vince Miccuci. Then came a third quarter that saw Southern Lehigh score 21 unanswered points to go on top 28-14.
A late score with 2:43 remaining on a two-yard run by Gavin Carroll made it a 28-21 game, but that’s as close as the Panthers would get.
Quakertown (0-1, 0-0 SOL) will travel to North Penn on Thursday for a non-league contest.
Quakertown 0-14-0-7 21
Southern Lehigh 7-0-21-0 28
COATESVILLE 29, PENNSBURY 7
The visiting Red Raiders broke a scoreless tie with 22 unanswered points in the second quarter, including a touchdown after a Falcon fumble with less than a minute remaining in the opening half.
Pennsbury’s lone score came on a 40-yard interception return by Noah Rice in the fourth quarter.
Pennsbury (0-1, 0-0 SOL) will host William Tennent in a non-league game Friday at Harry S Truman.
Coatesville 0-22-0-7 29
Pennsbury 0-0-0-7 7
LA SALLE 34, NORTH PENN 3
The visiting Explorers scored early and often, opening up a 27-0 halftime lead and extending that to 34-0 before Ryan Bocklet connected on a 44-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
North Penn (0-1, 0-0 SOL) will host Quakertown in a non-league game on Thursday.
La Salle 13-14-7-0 34
North Penn 0-0-0-3 3
DOWNINGTOWN EAST 43, PENNRIDGE 0
The Cougars opened up a 17-0 lead after one quarter and extended that to 37-0 by halftime on their way to a rout of the visiting Rams, who struggled on both sides of the football.
Pennridge (0-1, 0-0 SOL) will host Souderton on Friday.
Pennridge 0-0-0-0 0
Downingtown East 17-20-0-6 43
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 16, MORRISVILLE 0
CHELTENHAM at ABINGTON (POSTPONED)
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