Check out the recaps for SOL football teams in action Friday. Harry S Truman/Pennsbury photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Pennridge/CR North photos courtesy of Kim Supko Photography, and Upper Dublin/North Penn photos courtesy of Geanine Jamison Photography. Upper Moreland/Wissahickon photos courtesy of Dave Tucker. Check back for galleries of all four games.
Stats provided courtesy of Intelligencer/Courier. For additional football stats and coverage, visit the Intelligencer (https://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school) and Courier Times (https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/)
Crossover Games
HARRY S TRUMAN 39, PENNSBURY 29
Terrell Delp had himself some kind of night.
In a contest that saw the Tigers’ offense accumulate over 500 yards of total offense, the senior quarterback threw for 350 yards and five touchdowns in a brilliant outing to lead the Tigers to the win in Friday’s crossover game.
“He’s a three-year starter for us, and he has absolutely gotten better each year,” Truman coach Ben Johnson said. “Tonight we made some plays and I got to see him be the coach on the field. We game planned – if they give us the soft coverage, if they press man, here’s what we want to do.
“He made some great checks tonight. I applaud the kid. He did a great job for us tonight. I could go on and on about him. He did a great job executing our game plan tonight.”
Makai Jackson was Delp’s favorite target, hauling in nine passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 93 rushing yards in a dazzling offensive effort of his own. Not to be overlooked was the performance of the Tigers’ offensive line comprised of William Brennan, Nasir Corley, Eliazar Mercado, Maxx Strong and Devan Harris.
“Our offensive line did a great job,” Johnson said. “There was a lot of heat, and Terrell was comfortable in the pocket tonight. He had more than enough time. In high school, we say two seconds. I swear tonight I counted about four seconds a couple of times. The offensive line did a great job closing down that inside penetration and that blitz.”
JB Burgfectel put the Falcons on the board with a 24-yard field goal with 5:59 remaining in the opening quarter. The field goal represented Pennsbury’s first points of the season. The Tigers answered with a TD drive that was capped by a two-yard Ronald Wilson run. The two-point conversion gave Truman an 8-3 lead. The Falcons went back on top 10-8 after Shane McGurrin scored from four yards – the first of three touchdowns on the night for the Pennsbury quarterback. In the second quarter, Jackson hauled in a 51-yard touchdown pass from Delp, and the Tigers took a 14-10 lead into halftime.
The second half featured a whole lot of offense by both sides, but in the end, the Tigers had just too much firepower.
“We gave up a lot of runs tonight, but our defense did have two nice turnovers and gave us the opportunity to keep the game in our favor,” Johnson said. “I’d also like to thank my coaches as well for the time they put in and the planning. I cannot absolutely do this by myself, and I would remiss if I didn’t give them a little bit of love as well.”
Johnson’s coaching staff includes Chris Root, James Freeman, Rondell Bradley, Leon Dodson, Dave Howe, Maurice Jackson and Lamont Seip.
Johnson acknowledged there’s still plenty of work to be done. Both teams were whistled for seven penalties in Friday’s contest.
“We couldn’t get out of our own way with so many penalties,” Johnson said. “We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds tonight. A couple were drive killers and a couple we were able to dig ourselves out. When you get first-and-20 and second-and-20, it becomes hard for you to do what you need to do, but what I will say – our kids are really, really locking into the offense, and we got to a point where we were almost able to do whatever we wanted to do.
“We had success in the run game, we had success in the passing game. We touched on all three phases even though the one touchdown after they scored the first field goal got called back due to a penalty, but I was very happy with all three phases of our game. We have to eliminate the mistakes because when you play better teams, you can’t get away with it. I was glad we were able to execute our game plan. The lesson tonight was – do your job and eliminate the mistakes. Even with the win, there’s a lot for us to learn from this. The theme next week is eliminating mistakes.”
There were some bright spots in the loss for the Falcons. Topping the list was the effort of Nathan Beigley, who had 19 carries for 181 yards. McGurrin added 86 yards and three TDs.
Harry S Truman (2-2, 1-1 SOL) will be on the road at Bensalem on Friday, and Pennsbury (0-4, 0-2) will travel to Central Bucks West Friday.
Harry S Truman 8-6-12-13 39
Pennsbury 10-0-7-12 29
QUAKERTOWN 36, ABINGTON 20
The Panthers haven’t faced a lot of adversity in the season’s early weeks, winning their first three games by an average margin of almost 33 points. On Friday night, the Panthers found themselves clinging to a two-point lead in the third quarter, but they responded in a big way, outscoring the Ghosts 14-0 to close out the game.
“We grew up,” coach George Banas said. “Last year we were in three of those games – Souderton, Perk Valley and Pennridge, and we came up short. This year it’s a different team, a different year. The maturity level is better.
“We were preaching from early on in camp that we wanted to respond and not react when we hit adversity. I reminded them at halftime about Souderton, Perk Valley and Pennridge because there was a whole lot of adversity in the third quarter. We responded when we needed to, and that was clutch.”
After the Ghosts pulled to within 22-20 after three quarters when Saud Salhuddin hauled in a 60-yard pass from Johnny Dzielawa, the Panthers – or more specifically Tyler Woodman – answered, racing 70 yards for a touchdown that put the Panthers on top 29-20. Woodman had another monster performance for the Panthers, carrying the ball 26 times for 231 yards and three touchdowns.
“He really sealed the deal in the fourth quarter with a fantastic run,” Banas said. “He came up big because (John) Eatherton was out tonight. That’s our one-two punch, so we really had to load up on Woodman, and then they were able to load up on Woodman because he was our guy.”
For good measure, quarterback Will Steich connected with Zach Fondl from 12 yards out for the 36-20 final.
Steich threw for 96 yards and two touchdowns.
“He continues to play pretty well,” Banas said of his senior quarterback. “We had some issues with some protections they were doing. They were doing some things defensively that were pretty good, doing some different things we were having a hard time picking up on, so credit to them for doing that. We’ll clean things up and improve.
“We left a score on the field. We were inside the five and fumbled going into score right before halftime. That was a big score we left on the field.”
There was nothing to suggest the Panthers would need any late-game heroics when they took a 22-7 lead into halftime. The first half include a 39-yard touchdown pass from Steich to Zach Greulich as well as a pair of TD runs by Woodman – the first for 11 yards and the second for 10. Abington’s lone score in the half was an 80-yard kickoff return by Salhuddin after the Panthers took a 6-0 lead.
Jaime Rivera’s five-yard TD run in the third quarter set the stage for the big pass play from Dzielawa to Salhuddin, and suddenly the two teams were locked in a tight one.
“When I look back and try to run through my head – what did we do to give up 20 points?” Banas said. “One was a kickoff return – we didn’t put the ball where we wanted to and we didn’t cover well. Another play – we gave up a big pass play on a third-and-long play. He got outside our D-ends, our inside backer didn’t contain, and Woodman slipped because the grass got really dewy in the second half, so that was their big touchdown pass. The other score they had – we gave them a short field. They got the ball on the 45 and they drove in and scored.
“They swung momentum in the second half. We got the ball to start the second half, we couldn’t do anything with it. We gave it to them, and they made things happen. They’re a good club. They’re physical. They’ve got some talent.”
Dzielawa threw for 115 yards, but the Ghosts managed just 71 yards on the ground as the Panthers’ defense once again delivered.
“It was a good team win to know that we can replace some pieces and still come up with a win,” Banas said. “Again, I think our D-line played exceptionally well. Freddie Retter and Blake Griesemer are playing at D-end but they also play D-tackle. Anthony Ferrugio and Owen Jaegers were playing some D-end for us and really gave us a different kind of mix along with some other D-tackles that rotated in there like (Anthony) Schiller and (Vincent) Pellegrini.”
Quakertown (4-0, 2-0 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Friday in a key conference battle, and Abington (1-3, 0-2) will host Central Bucks East on Friday.
Quakertown 14-8-0-14 36
Abington 7-0-6-7 20
NORTH PENN 35, UPPER DUBLIN 20
In a battle of unbeaten SOL squads, the Knights racked up more than 400 yards of total offense on their way to a win over the visiting Flying Cardinals. Khalani Eaton had 18 carries for 165 yards and two touchdowns, and Ryan Zeltt completed 11 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns to spearhead the Knights’ potent offense.
“It wasn’t a Picasso, but we’ll take it,” North Penn coach Dick Beck said. “They’re a pretty good team, (coach) Bret Stover does a great job, and it gave us a ton of stuff to work on which is good for us.”
Zeltt and Levi Carroll connected for a 32-yard touchdown on a screen pass that spotted the Knights a 7-0 lead just under nine minutes into the first quarter. Later in the first quarter, Eaton’s seven-yard touchdown to cap a long drive put the Knights on top 14-0.
The Flying Cardinals got on the scoreboard when Owen Carl connected on a 37-yard field goal in the closing minute of the opening quarter, but the Knights answered with their third touchdown in as many drives when Zeltt again connected with Carroll for the score, this one a seven-yard TD pass that put the Knights on top 21-3. Later in the second quarter, it was Eaton scoring from five yards out for his second touchdown of the game and a 28-3 North Penn lead. A four-yar touchdown run by Tawfiq Bartlett made it a 28-10 game at the intermission.
The Knights led 35-10 when Zeltt connected with Luke Cody for a 15-yard touchdown before the Cardinals added a pair of fourth quarter scores. Noah Lee scored on a 32-yard pass for Colin O’Sullivan, and Carl connected on a field goal.
O’Sullivan accounted for a large chunk of UD’s yardage, throwing for 128 yards and adding 96 yards on the ground.
For the Knights, Carroll had four receptions for 62 yards and two touchdowns.
“I thought Khalani really carried the team a little bit when things were not going great,” Beck said. “I thought Zeltt was playing really well, and then we got hurt with a couple pressures. Levi Carroll had a real nice game.
“I thought our kicker (Ryan Bocklet) did a great job – he made all his extra points. I thought he kicked the ball off pretty deep. I was pretty happy with that.”
North Penn (4-0, 2-0 SOL) will host Pennridge in a conference showdown Friday, and Upper Dublin (3-1, 2-0) will travel to Quakertown for a key conference contest.
Upper Dublin 0-10-0-10 20
North Penn 14-14-7-0 35
NESHAMINY 17, SOUDERTON 6
The Redskins used a stalwart defensive effort to notch their first win of the season over the defending district champion Indians.
“I told the kids – ‘The one thing we really have to do to get over the top, to get our first win is work really hard, and I think they did work really hard tonight,” Neshaminy coach Steve Wilmot said. “Our defense was good, our defense got the shutout. They got their points on a fumble by the offense.
“Basically, the story of the night was the defense and special teams. I thought the special teams did really good. We kicked our first field goal of the year, and we had two fake punts, one for a touchdown.”
The Redskins’ defense set the tone by recovering a fumble on Souderton’s opening possession and marching in for the score when quarterback Nunzio Zydzik connected with Dayvon Tinsley for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 8:56 remaining in the opening quarter. Things didn’t go a whole lot better on the Indians’ second possession, and a fumbled handoff gave the Redskins’ possession. They turned a fake punt by Brett Conrad into a 47-yard touchdown run and a 14-0 lead with 3:40 still remaining in the first quarter. Neshaminy took that two-touchdown lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Redskins benefitted from a pass interference call on a fake punt, again resulting in a first down. Tinsley came up with a 33-yard run, and the Redskins came up short on third-and-goal, settling for a 23-yard field goal that put them on top 17-0. The Indians – who were with Sean McGoldrick and Elijah Goods (both were in street clothes) – got on the scoreboard with just under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when Caleb Hageman stripped the Redskin ball carrier and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown.
Wilmot credited his defensive line for anchoring his team’s stout defense.
“You talk about hardworking – our defensive line is extremely hardworking,” the Redskins’ coach said. “There are four guys that played the whole game and worked really hard. I guess the keystone in there is Jack Dunkley. He’s the workhorse in there. Joey Zack and Nick Buchys at defensive end – they did a nice job all night, and our nose guard is Mason DiCesare. Souderton didn’t have too many yards running up the middle, and I think those guys did a really nice job.”
The win came one week after falling to Pennridge 28-14 in a game that was deadlocked 14-14 in the fourth quarter.
“I give our kids a lot of credit,” Wilmot said. “They really want to win. They’re dialed in. At no point during this week or any time this year have our kids second guessed themselves. They’re really dialed in to what the coaches are saying, and this week, every coach said, ‘You’ve got to play hard, and you have to play for 48 minutes.’
“Last week at the end, we just didn’t play for 48 minutes, and Pennridge did and they won. We have to keep getting better. Our offense turned the ball over way too many times – too many mistakes, too many lined up the wrong way type of thing, too many fumbles. Our offense has a little ways to go, but we can definitely build off this win with our defense and special teams.”
On a Neshaminy team with many young players, senior Colin Schuckert-Tohm has provided leadership.
“He’s been doing a nice job on offense – he had one catch tonight, but on defense, he’s been coming up really good and making tackles,” Wilmot said. “He’s a little undersized, but he’s our free safety, and he’s not afraid to come in there and stick his nose in there. He’s a good all-around kid, and I think he’s been a real difference maker.
“The leadership, again, I think comes from the defensive line also. They’re a really focused group, and I think the whole team really kind of feeds off of them.”
Neshaminy (1-3, 0-2 SOL) will host Central Bucks South on Friday, and Souderton (3-1, 2-0) will host Council Rock South Friday.
Souderton 0-0-0-6 6
Neshaminy 14-0-3-0 17
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 50, HATBORO-HORSHAM 8
The Titans needed a win. Back-to-back losses to sister schools Central Bucks West and Central Bucks East after a season-opening win over Plymouth Whitemarsh had left a bad taste, and the Titans took care of business in a hurry against a Hatters’ squad that found itself outmanned and outmuscled.
“It was good for us because the last couple weeks have been a little tough, losing to West and then East,” South coach Tom Hetrick said. “I just kept telling my kids, ‘It’s a long season. We have so much football to play, and I really do believe we’re still a good football team.’
“It was definitely good to get out there tonight and execute on both sides of the ball. A win is a win in the Suburban One, so we’ll take it.”
The Titans seized control of the game from the outset, putting 23 points on the board in the first quarter and 37 in the first half. Cole Maholtz capped a 60-yard scoring drive with a three-yard touchdown run to put the Titans on the scoreboard with 7:30 remaining in the opening quarter. Mark Hetrick’s sack of the Hatters’ quarterback in the end zone for a safety less than a minute later made it an 8-0 game. A 24-yard touchdown run by Ryan Smith marked the end of a 16-0 South tear that took just 65 seconds off the game clock. Later in the quarter, Maholtz scored on a 13-yard run.
Early in the second quarter Brett Szarko found Tommy Donnelly with a 69-yard touchdown pass, and the Titans led 30-0. Liam Goss took it to the house from 18 yards out to send the Titans into halftime with a 37-0 lead.
The Titans’ lead grew to 44-0 when Aidan Prestigiacomo scored on a five-yard quarterback keeper. The Hatters got on the scoreboard midway through the fourth quarter when Jaayd Vanderburg raced home on a 14-yard carry. Matt Boyce’s eight-yard TD run closed out the scoring for the Titans.
Hetrick liked a lot of the things he saw from his offensive line in the win.
“I have to watch the film, but I started three sophomores on our offensive line tonight, which I have never done in my entire career,” the Titans’ coach said. “Three sophomores = Colin Goetter, Rolan Hess and Nick Conte – with a couple of seniors. Colin Goetter has been starting for us at right tackle all year, Rolan Hess – this was his second game as a starter, and this was Nick Conte’s first real live battle. He went right from jayvee into a starting job. They were with Tim Kerstetter, our left tackle. Kevin Street has been our center. He’s a captain and he’s been doing a solid job. I’m real happy with them. I coach the O-line. They’re not gigantic, but they’re fighters, and in high school football, that’s what matters. We were able to get some things going on the ground, so I think they did a pretty nice job.
“Cole Maholtz has been running so hard for us all season. He scored a couple more touchdowns. He runs so hard, he finishes his runs. Playing this sport means something to him, and it’s cool to watch him play.”
Maholtz led a balanced offense with nine carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
Colin Kelly’s eight tackles, which included 1.5 tackles for a loss, led the defense.
“Our defense played well,” Hetrick said. “I was proud of my son (Mark Hetrick), who’s a starting D-end this year. He’s a senior, and he got a safety. Our defensive line played real, real well. The other D-end is Matt Krysko, and Terrell Pelham, Kevin Dingas. I think they played real well tonight and definitely controlled the line of scrimmage.
“It was good because we were able to get a lot of people involved, and it’s fun to do exciting things and be excited about it. Hatboro had some good kids, they played hard.”
Central Bucks South (2-2, 0-2 SOL) will be on the road at Neshaminy on Friday, and Hatboro-Horsham (0-3, 0-2) will be on the road at Council Rock North.
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0-0-8 8
Central Bucks South 23-14-7-6 50
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 27, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3
Defense is rapidly becoming a calling card for the Bucks this season. One week after shutting out Abington, the Bucks allowed only a second quarter field goal in Friday’s convincing win over the visiting Golden Hawks.
“At the end of the day without seeing film yet, I think we played assignment football, and any time you’re playing an option team, that’s critical,” West coach Rob Rowan said. “I think our guys rallied to the football again. Two young guys – Sean Blue and Cooper Taylor – had their first varsity interceptions. They’re both 10th graders. They’re great kids and players that are getting better every week. Both of those guys played well.”
The Golden Hawks managed less than a hundred yards of total offense as the Bucks’ defense once again dominated.
“We gave up three points and they got into our red zone one time,” Rowan said. “Whenever that’s happening, I just believe it’s a collective effort. I do think one guy that stood out to the naked eye without getting on film yet was Jack Wierzbowski, one of our defensive tackles up front. He’s 5-7, 175 pounds, but he is a handful. He is just tenacious, and every play maximum effort. He plays with great technique, and he was a guy that caused disruption all night.”
The game started on a shaky note for the Golden Hawks, who were forced to punt after one first down on their opening possession.
“They fumbled the snap, we recovered it, we went down, and we were able to convert,” said Rowan of a TD drive that was capped with Ganz Cooper punching it in from a yard out. “We went up 7-0 relatively quick, but we kind of stalled out offensively a little bit. Fortunately, the defense kept answering the bell.”
Gavin Hagen’s 26-yard field goal made it a 7-3 game at the intermission.
“Coming out of the half, we got the ball to start, and we went on an eight-minute drive,” Rowan said. “We had two crucial third down conversions from our quarterback (Cooper). I thought again he played really well, making good decisions and making big-time throws when we needed him to. Ganz played really well, and he was a key part of that eight-minute drive to start off the third quarter.”
West’s long touchdown drive to open the second half was capped by a 31-yard Donte Mancini TD run. The Bucks led 14-3 heading into the final quarter when they tacked on a pair of touchdowns. Cooper found Vinny Cherubini with a 50-yard TD pass, and Mancini added another touchdown, this one on a 37-yard run.
Mancini led the Bucks with 20 carries for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
Central Bucks West (3-1, 2-0 SOL) will host Pennsbury on Friday, and Council Rock South (0-4, 0-2) will be on the road at Souderton.
Council Rock South 0-3-0-0 3
Central Bucks West 7-0-7-13 27
PENNRIDGE 35, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0
It would be easy to look at the final score and assume that coach Cody Muller wouldn’t have any cause for concern, but that wasn’t the case. With North Penn waiting on the horizon next week, the Rams’ coach knows that his team can ill afford to duplicate some of the mistakes they made in Friday’s shutout win.
“We had way too many penalties,” said Muller, whose team was whistled for 12 penalties for 119 yards. “I couldn’t even tell you how many yards we had in penalties, just dumb penalties that we have to clean up and be better with, but overall, the things I am happy with – we ran the ball very well tonight and executed the plays we needed to execute. Defensively, guys flew around and made plays.”
The Rams led 14-0 after one quarter, thanks to touchdown runs by Tyler Wetzel (3 yards) and Brayden Landherr (7 yards). By halftime, that lead had grown to 21-0 with Brennan Fisher also scoring a touchdown from seven yards out.
In the third quarter, Logan McGowan scored on a five-yard run, and Fisher capped the night with a 22-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the 35-0 final.
“Brennan Fisher had two touchdowns, so he took over where Nate (Mossbrook) left off last week,” Muller said. “Tyler Wetzel had a great game on the ground again.
“Logan McGowan – we stuck him in at quarterback in the second half, and he did a great job leading us down the field.
“Defensively, it’s the usual suspects. Phil Picciotti had himself a great game, and Steve Reutlinger did well in the middle. Overall, it was definitely a great team effort, but I told the kids – we have to be cleaner because we’re getting to the meat of our schedule. Enjoy this one for 24 hours, and then we definitely have to lock in.”
Fisher (95 yards) and Wetzel (61 yards) led the Rams, who accumulated 335 yards on the ground. The Indians, meanwhile, managed just 121 yards of total offense.
Pennridge (3-1, 2-0 SOL) will travel to North Penn on Friday for a key conference battle, and Council Rock North (1-3, 0-2) will host Hatboro-Horsham on Friday.
Council Rock North 0-0-0-0 0
Pennridge 14-7-7-7 35
SOL American
UPPER MORELAND 35, WISSAHICKON 31
The Golden Bears have found a way to keep fans on the edge of their seats until the final horn. UM has four wins on the young season, and all of them have contained the kind of dramatic endings that coach CJ Szydlik would like very much to eliminate. In his team’s latest win, the Golden Bears needed a late 30-yard touchdown pass from Byron Hopkins to Paul Meyers.
“I don’t know how many lives this cat has, but it’s going to keep going,” Szydlik said with a laugh. “At some point, you have to duck out of the way of the punch that’s getting thrown instead of keep taking people’s haymakers and keep trying to fight back. We’re 4-0, but we’re not playing very well. We’ve got to keep working hard. At some point it will be nice when it all clicks, but as long as it’s going in my favor, I can’t complain too much.”
UM took a 21-17 lead into halftime only to watch Braheem Thomas return the opening kickoff of the second half 90 yards for a touchdown and a 24-21 Wissahickon lead.
“They did a very good job on special teams,” Szydlik said. “We got the ball back, we drove down the field a little bit. We lost our running back, we lost our second string running back, and we lost our wide receiver.
“Kids were cramping, we had a kid roll an ankle. It’s the same thing that was happening to the kids from Wissahickon. It wasn’t just one way. Both teams were battling cramps and stuff. At the end, we went to a couple of the young kids. You have your third string running back in and your second string wide receiver catches a touchdown pass, and you win. You win with depth sometimes too, so that’s kind of a benefit for us.”
Upper Moreland’s Cole Tucker hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Hopkins, and the Golden Bears went back on top 28-24 only to see the Trojans regain the lead with 6:45 remaining in the third quarter after a three-yard run by Kyle Lehman. Just over a minute later, Meyers and Hopkins hooked up for a touchdown that turned out to be the game-winner.
“Paul’s a very good football player,” Szydlik said of Meyers. “Paul is just stuck behind a couple of seniors. It’s not like he’s a kid you just pulled off the sideline. Paul plays a lot for us.”
The two teams spent the first half exchanging scores. Lehman’s 10-yard touchdown run opened the scoring, and Cam Jackson erased that in a hurry, returning the ensuing kick-off 80 yards for a touchdown and a 7-7 tie. A 12-yard Aidan DeFeo touchdown pass to Thomas gave the Trojans a 14-7 lead. Jackson scored on a 13-yard run to knot the score. A Nate DeVincent field gave the Trojans’ a three-point lead that was erased when Ryan Olexa caught a Hopkins TD pass for a 21-17 UM lead.
Szydlik credited several players for their efforts in the win.
“Hassan Johnson ran the ball for us at the end like a monster,” the UM coach said. “Hassan’s a really big, strong kid. He’s Jahaire’s younger brother from last year. He’s got the pedigree, and he’s tough as nails. He knows how to win football games. He ran the ball really hard for us.
“Cole Tucker, a senior who’s had a quiet year so far, had an outstanding game. Aidan Casey, a junior, played really well for us at defensive safety, and on special teams, Vince Cirino played really well. Obviously, Byron (Hopkins) and Ryan Olexa are a combination that’s pretty tough to stop.”
Upper Moreland (4-0, 1-0 SOL) will host Cheltenham on Friday, and Wissahickon (0-4, 0-1) will host New Hope-Solebury Friday.
Wissahickon 7-10-14-0 31
Upper Moreland 7-14-7-7 35
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 55, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 0
The Colonials have been piling up yardage in their wins since a season-opening loss to Central Bucks South, and Friday night’s outing against SOL newcomer New Hope-Solebury was no different.
“It revolves around our quarterback Aiden O’Brien, who played a solid game distributing the football run and pass game-wise,” said PW coach Dan Chang, whose team led 49-0 at the intermission. “I think our offensive line is just continuing to get better every game. I was happy with how they played and how they’re improving.
“All week it was – every day at practice has to be an improvement day in and day out, and that was the goal and even as we continue throughout the season.”
Comprising the offensive line are Louis Malfara, Joe Troilo, Kolton Galie, Chris Kane, Zach Smith and tight end Jared Kolsun.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-1, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Springfield Township on Friday, and New Hope-Solebury (0-3, 0-1) will be on the road at Wissahickon.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 35, WILLIAM TENNENT 21
Chris Shelly has a message for prognosticators picking high school football games.
“Tell those forecasters to keep picking against us,” the Spartans’ coach said. “Our kids feel disrespected in a sense because we know how good we can be, so we came in on a mission to take it right to them, and we did.”
The Spartans – who defeated Tennent 14-6 in a shortened 2020 season – put a pair of touchdowns on the board in the first quarter, the first on a one-yard run by Ryan Gibbons and the second on a one-yard run by Ben Cooney after a Springfield bit of trickery.
“Our first one was on a nice drive, and then we had an on-sides kick that was just tremendous by our kicker (Jack Hyland),” Shelly said. “That was the MO. We were going to come right after them in attack mode, and we were up 14-0 and we’re really rolling. We felt like our defense was shutting them down.”
Springfield’s lead grew to 21-0 after Cooney connected with Will Conlin for a 15-yard touchdown pass.
“We were really going, and then right before the half, they hit us on a screen play that goes 80-plus yards,” Shelly said. “It was nicely designed, something we practice against and talk about, but to their credit, they executed it, and now it’s 21-7 at halftime, and they’ve got momentum. They’re playing at home.
“It was good for our kids to not flinch. We preach to our kids all the time, ‘We’re not going to flinch. Stuff’s going to happen.’”
The Panthers trimmed Springfield’s lead to 21-14, and the Spartans responded with Dylan McKenzie taking a punt back 59 yards for a TD.
“That was huge,” Shelly said. “What’s funny, our assistant coach and offensive coordinator, Kevin Clancy, is telling me on the phones, ‘It would be a great time for Dylan to be special right here.’ It was almost like he called the shot, and Dylan took it to the house. It was neat to see Dylan do it. He’s getting double and triple-teamed because kids know how good he is, but we find other ways to score and make plays.
“We’re up 28-14, we had them on the ropes, and to their credit, they took it to the house on the kickoff to make it a 28-21 game. The kid did a nice job. We had some chances to make the tackle, but you have to give them credit. He took it back. What it felt like was we gave up two or three big plays and shut them down everywhere else. I don’t know how many yards they had on the ground, but we took them out of their ground game, forced them to pass.”
The Spartans all but sealed the Panthers’ fate when Cooney ran 14 yards for a touchdown and a 35-21 fourth quarter lead..
“When it was 28-21, we could have easily reeled, the whole thing could have gone south on us, but (Cooney) held us together,” Shelly said. “He pretty much looked at me and said, ‘Give me the ball, coach. Put the ball in my hands,’ so we ran him late in that game and punched it in.
“I didn’t like it that close, but I think it was good for us because it didn’t come that easily for us. Again, it’s a win against a 6A opponent, and we’ll never complain about that.”
Cooney finished a big night with 11 completions for 154 yards and a touchdown. The Spartans’ QB also had seven carries for 40 yards and two TDs. Conlin was Cooney’s number one target, pulling down seven passes for 82 yards and a touchdown.
“The Conlin kid was tremendous,” Shelly said. “Any time we needed a big play or a first down, he got it for us.
“Cooney did a tremendous job. He’s playing like an all-league player in my opinion. We had a couple of nice interceptions. Tim Saiber had another interception, John Adams had an interception, and Owen Hussie was tremendous again. I don’t have the defensive stats, but he had multiple plays in the backfield and sacks.
“Our kicker, Jack Hyland, is looking to kick in college. He’s been tremendous. I think we had five successful on-sides kicks last year, and he’s had two or three this year. He’s been phenomenal. He consistently pins teams back inside the 25. He probably outkicked our coverage when they returned a kick for a touchdown.”
Springfield Township (3-0, 1-0 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh in a crossover game on Friday.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge of these Suburban One League games,” Shelly said.
William Tennent (0-3, 0-1) will host Father Judge in a non-league game on Friday.
Springfield Township 14-7-7-7 35
William Tennent 0-7-7-7 21
Non-league
CHELTENHAM 35, NORRISTOWN 0
(Statistics provided courtesy of Andrew Robinson/PA Prep Live: https://papreplive.com/2021/09/18/cheltenham-gives-gore-first-win-by-running-past-norristown/)
The Panthers got their running game untracked, and their defense never allowed the Eagles to gain their foothold. The end result was Cheltenham’s first win of the young season.
Zaheim Salahuddin’s 31-yard TD run early in the second quarter broke a scoreless tie and gave the Panthers a lead they would not lose. Later in the quarter, Zaire Williams turned a Taylor screen pass into a 24-yard touchdown and a 13-0 lead the Panthers took into halftime.
Matt Hoffman hauled in a 16-yard Taylor pass in a crowd at the goal line to put the Panthers on top 19-0. The Panthers added two more TD’s in the fourth quarter – the first on a 54-yard run by Jordan Lilly and the second a 25-yard run by Jamal Banks.
The Panthers spread the wealth around with Lilly (83 yards) Banks (82 yards) and Slahuddin (64 yards) all contributing to their 235 rushing yards. Taylor threw for 113 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Cheltenham (1-2) will travel to Upper Moreland for its SOL opener Friday.
Norristown 0-0-0-0 0
Cheltenham 0-13-6-14 33
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