It was a night that saw two SOL football teams earn walk-off wins. Andrew Robinson – who covers girls’ soccer for the SuburbanOneSports.com – was at the CB South/CB West game, and he shares a first-hand account. Quakertown had an equally dramatic ending on what was already an emotional night -it was the Panthers’ Childhood Cancer Awareness game with community children who have battled childhood cancer in attendance. (Photos provided courtesy of Jennifer Banas/Quakertown FB)
CB South/CB West photos courtesy of Kim Supko, and Pennsbury/CB East photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for galleries.
SOL National Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 22 , CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 17
(By Andrew Robinson for SuburbanOneSports.com)
In a moment of respite following a cacophony of chaos that had enveloped all of them just a few moments prior, Titans coach Tom Hetrick didn’t avoid the gravity of what had just transpired when he spoke to his team.
“I said to them, ‘You might live to be a hundred, and the thought of this game will still make you smile,” Hetrick said of the start to his postgame address.
Indeed, anyone who was in the stadium Friday night – and be sure, there were a lot of them – won’t be forgetting the game the Titans and Bucks played for quite some time. Two of the SOL’s best teams put on a performance for the ages, a spectacle that ended in one of the most dramatic endings the league has seen in years.
On the final play of the game, it was South senior Owen Pinkerton putting one up 39 yards through the air and South senior Danny Gies, draped in defenders and teammates alike, somehow making the catch of his life
in the back left corner of the endzone for a true walk-off victory to clinch the CB Cup.
“I’ve never made a catch like that in my life,” Gies said. “That was the most insane thing I’ve ever done in my life.
“We drew it up in the moment. They were double-teaming me, and we didn’t really know what to do. There’s five seconds left on the clock, you can’t run another play to try and get a first down, but our coach said just run four verts and hope a miracle happens.”
Miracle might have been the word of the night. The amount of small, seemingly inconsequential things that needed to fall in line for that ending to occur almost seemed miraculous.
Had West’s Ryan Clemens needed to slip one extra tackler on his go-ahead touchdown run with 48.7 seconds left in the game, maybe an extra second or two slips off the clock. Had Pinkerton not left his feet upon launching the final pass into the air, maybe it loses a few inches of distance and gets batted down. Had Eddie Bowen not picked up a rusher off the left side on Pinkerton’s blind side, maybe the pass never gets thrown at all.
In a day where seemingly every little thing in sports has some kind of statistic or number to go with it, there wasn’t any other way to measure this play.
“I didn’t even see the play, I just started running down to the endzone and started screaming because I saw everyone else screaming because they thought he caught it, which he did,” Titans senior offensive lineman Nick Micewski said. “It was literally a miracle, stuff like that doesn’t happen every day and especially not in this league.”
Gies was a difference-maker all night, the senior wideout caught seven passes for 168 yards and two scores. His one-handed 29-yard grab on fourth-and-9 in the third quarter that set up a Pinkerton touchdown would have been a stand-alone highlight any other night, although he and his quarterback managed to one-up that later on.
Pinkerton completed 13-of-19 passes for 244 yards and two scores, adding 81 rushing yards on 15 carries despite the Bucks making it tough running all night. The senior quarterback and senior receiver have become a productive tandem this season, although the foundation of their connection truly started a year ago.
“We played in Little League together a little bit, we split up in middle school and came back together in high school,” Pinkerton said. “Last year we ran the ball so much, but in practice we’d mess around and throw the ball up. We didn’t throw the ball a lot, so people couldn’t see what I could do, and they couldn’t see him catch the ball a lot.”
In Friday’s classic, the Bucks jumped out to a 10-0 lead, getting a big pass play on a 48-yard touchdown connection between Noah Miller and AJ Gerace in the first quarter and a 33-yard kick by Ryan Clemens early in the second. Clemens, as usual, did a little bit of everything for the Bucks with 91 yards and a score on 20 carries, two extra-point kicks, a field goal and a lot of big hits at linebacker.
Miller rushed 11 times for 79 yards and Vance Morelli added 47 rush yards on 12 carries for West. Defensively, the Bucks made it tough going for South’s running attack and while Pinkerton did gain 81 yards on the ground, the Titans never quite established a full rhythm while rushing.
“Although our run game was getting stuffed, we didn’t give up. We kept trying at running it and running it, some plays it worked and our playmakers made plays, and some plays, they stuffed us,” Gies said. “They have a really good defense on that side, I have to give it to them, they played one hell of a game and that’s probably the toughest defense we’ll see this year.”
CB West coach Rob Rowan had nothing but praise for his team’s performance on Friday night.
“They’re a really good team and we believe we’re a really good team,” Rowan said. “I’m really proud of our guys’ effort from start to finish. We talked all week about, we’re going to find out about ourselves and find out who we are – well, we did.
“We didn’t end up on the right side of the scoreboard, they made a tremendous play there at the end, but we found out about who our guys are.”
South marched down the field on the first drive of the second half, Gies’ first tremendous catch setting up a first-and-goal with Pinkerton rushing in two plays later for the host’s first lead at 16-10 following a missed PAT.
CB South played without senior linebacker Jim Wade, a standout in every sense, on the defensive side, had a few other key players battling various bumps and bruises and lost senior Matt Harmon during the final drive of the second quarter. Harmon made a 17-yard catch on the build-up to the tying field goal, absorbing a monster hit from Clemens and staying on his feet to finish the play before exiting the game.
At halftime, Gies found his classmate in the team room and gave him a message.
“I was doing it for my boy Matt Harmon – he went down in the second quarter, he took a monster hit and stayed on his feet,” Gies said. “That’s the toughest kid I know – I was in tears at halftime, I felt so bad for that kid. I told him ‘I love you so much and I’m winning this game for you.’”
Each team only had one full possession in the third quarter. West came all the way down the field following South’s go-ahead touchdown and found itself facing first-and-goal at the Titans’ nine after a couple of strong runs by Miller, Clemens and Morelli.
CB South held CB West to six total yards on first, second and third down, setting up a fourthh-and-three. Clemens got the ball, the 5-foot-6 senior putting a shoulder down as he tried to get over the goal line. His initial push was stopped short, but he kept pushing and as a mass of defenders swarmed him, the senior ended up rolling over one of them into the endzone, only for the officials to rule he had been down before breaking the plane.
Rowan acknowledged in the moment and without being able to have seen the play on tape, it was a tough call to take, but his defense was able to get a stop on the next drive and the Bucks’ offense would put together the go-ahead drive capped by Clemens’ nine-yard run with 48 seconds to play.
“We preach it’s always reset and the next play. I have to watch the film, it looked like he was in, it looked like he rolled in over top of somebody, so we’ll watch the film and we’ll see,” Rowan said. “But, look, our guys are resilient. I love them immensely, I love the way they go about their business and we found out about ourselves tonight.”
From a tactical perspective, it wasn’t the best spot the Titans could have found themselves in – needing to go 68 yards in less than a minute. But they did have a couple factors working for them.
“We got the ball back with 47 seconds. I’m like – ‘This is not an ideal situation, but we have three timeouts – hey, let’s see,” Hetrick said. “We have some guys that make plays and continue to make plays, so let’s see what happens.”
Pinkerton hit Dan McCusker for nine yards on first down then two plays later, scrambled for a first down. The senior would misfire on his next three looks to bring up fourth down with 10.8 to play.
Then, he hit senior Dallon Smith on a toe-tap catch on the sideline, the receiver stepping out to halt the clock and keep the game alive.
“That was a great toe-tap by him on the sideline,” Pinkerton said.
South took its final timeout with 5.6 seconds left and everyone keenly aware they’d only get one shot at it.
“Five seconds left, and we’re around the 40. We called a timeout and said, ‘We’re going to run jet. We want two of you to head to the corner. We brought the third guy from the other side over and said, ‘Get to the back of the end zone. Pink, you’ve got to buy some time. Put it up and give them a shot,’” Hetrick said.
The offensive line and blockers knew their role.
“We had to max protect and give him time,” Micewski said. “He had enough time to get the ball out, and he put everything he had into that ball.”
Pinkerton dropped back, then stepped up in the pocket, took a step to his left and launched one toward the back pylon. He was putting it up for Gies, but did so knowing CB West wasn’t going to just let the Titans’ top target get to the corner unbothered.
“They were double covering him the entire last drive, so it was difficult trying to get him the ball,” Pinkerton said. “That last play, we really had nothing else, and I knew I could throw the ball up to Gies in single-coverage and have him come down 99 percent of the time, but I didn’t know I could throw it up in triple coverage and still have him come down.”
The ball found Gies, who not only made the grab in between three defenders and his teammate Smith, but managed to hold on as a defender came down on his shoulder trying to dislodge the ball.
“My eyes were just locked on the ball. I didn’t care what was around me. As soon as I saw the ball, I said to myself ‘I know I’m coming down with this,’” Gies said. “As soon as I saw it left Owen’s hands, I knew I was coming down with it.
“I didn’t care what was around me, I didn’t care if all 11 guys were around me, my eyes got locked on that ball and I went and got it.”
Asked if it was the best pass he’d ever thrown, Pinkerton didn’t even need a second to think.
“Yes,” the senior said, “for sure.”
“We don’t practice the Hail Mary,” Hetrick said. “It’s not on our call sheet, but he threw the ball the way that kind of ball is meant to be thrown.
“Danny Gies is a very long player. He’s tall, he’s got long arms, and he can jump. Literally, there’s a bunch of arms there, a lot of hands, but it ended up being a pretty clean catch. It was unbelievable.”
Once the touchdown was confirmed, Gies made for an open space behind the endzone, followed by the other receivers in the area. Then the Titans sideline and the South students poured out of the bleachers. Behind them came the rest of the players on the field, including the quarterback who couldn’t quite process what had just happened and needing to see one person in particular to make sure it was all real.
“I jogged down there just looking around because I couldn’t believe it,” Pinkerton said. “Once I got down there, I just tried to find him. Everybody kept jumping on me, but I kept screaming ‘Where’s Gies, where’s Gies?’
“I didn’t even know who caught it, but I also knew that he had to have caught it. I think I finally saw him after the handshake line, but I didn’t want to see anybody but Gies at that moment.”
CB South Coach Tom Hetrick on:
–‘The Play’: “For about three seconds – because I didn’t have a good vantage point – I thought they had picked it off, and I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s how it ended,’ but then I saw out of the corner of my eye our student section start to head down on the field and the guys just started to run at Danny, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, he caught that thing.’ It was absolutely insane.”
–Playing the Bucks: “We are very much near alike teams. Rob Rowan is an extraordinary football coach. He’s the real deal, and what he gets out of his players – I have a great deal of 
respect for what they’re doing over there because their kids are all-in, and they play tough. I think we’ve been playing a pretty tough brand of football. It was an absolute war They got us a couple times, and we got them a couple times. If either team would have won that game, everybody would have said – ‘A heck of a game. Yup, they deserved to win.’ I think both of us deserved to win, but tonight we made that last play happen. It’s just unbelievable.”
–The Ironmen: “It was the kind of game where every individual play was just very physical. There were just bodies on bodies. I have four or five guys that don’t come off the field that often, and on a night like this, that’s hard to do.
“My guard, Elliott Francesco, is also my starting linebacker, and he was out for every offensive and defensive rep. He does some of the dirty work and doesn’t get the credit for it, so I give a lot of credit to Elliott Francesco.
“Eddie Bowen – he’s gets mad if you try to take him off because he just goes full speed at all times. He always wants to be out there doing something for his team. I don’t know if I’ve coached anyone quite like him. Those guys went both ways most of the night.
“Nick Micewski is the same thing. We’re like, ‘Maybe we should give him a breather, and he’s like, ‘Don’t you dare give me a breather. I’m good.’
“Those three guys played a lot of football tonight in the middle of a heavy-duty war, so it’s that kind of performance from those kind of guys that enables us to be in the position to win it at the end.”
CB South receiver Danny Gies on:
–The post-catch celebration: “I was trying to enjoy the moment, then I saw the student section coming and thought ‘I’m about to get smushed.’ I thought I might suffocate but I just loved it.”
–The timeout before the final play: “I went over to Coach (Bart) Szarko and I said, ‘throw the ball.’ I have faith in all our receivers and my QB. I’d put faith in any of these guys to catch a ball like that. (Szarko) told us to go run to the left corner and someone go get it.”
—Props for a teammate: “Shane Beckett, he played his tail off tonight, he filled in for Jim (Wade). He hasn’t really seen the field this year, but he stepped up and he should be on top of the world right now because he played a great game.”
CB South quarterback Owen Pinkerton on:
—The passing game: “We had an edge on them passing the ball. They focused on the run most of the time, they wanted to stop me from running, wanted to stop our great backs from running behind our great O-line, so that kind of opened up our pass game and our depth at receiver, I have trust in every single guy running a route.”
–His team’s toughness: “I think it’s just mental strength. We knew we didn’t have Jimmy, everybody’s a little banged up but we didn’t care. We came out here thinking we’d punch them in the mouth every single play. I don’t know what it is, these are just some tough guys in our locker room.”
—The final throw: “The pressure was good, when we snapped the ball, I stepped up, you could probably see me jump because I threw it as far as I could to the back left because I knew Gies would be back there. I saw him jump up and come down with it and I couldn’t even believe it.”
–Throwing jump-balls: “We work on jump balls, he’s had a couple jump balls this season, but not really Hail Marys, we haven’t practiced anything like that or practiced for that situation. We drew it up right there on the field with Coach Szarko.”
CB South lineman Nick Micewski on:
—Adapting to the defense: “It doesn’t faze us if something goes wrong, the next play we’ll get them. Nothing’s different, everyone is just dialed in to that next play.”
—The ending of the game: “I was part of the district championship last year but nothing like this, nothing like going to 5-0 and beating East and West back-to-back, it’s a crazy experience having that CB Cup back in our house.”
Next up: Central Bucks South (5-0, 2-0 SOL) will travel to Pennsbury next Saturday for a 12 noon contest, and Central Bucks West (3-2, 1-1) will host Neshaminy on Friday.
Central Bucks West 7-3-0-7 17
Central Bucks South 0-10-6-6 22
PENNSBURY 17, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 14
In a contest that saw the two teams exchange touchdowns, it was a kicker that broke a 14-14 tie with 12 seconds remaining in regulation. Angelo Pereira, one of the area’s premiere high school kickers, calmly split the uprights on a 31-yard field that propelled the Falcons to the important win.
Talk about déjà vu.
Last year, Angelo – then only a sophomore – connected on his third field goal of the night from 35 yards out with 20 seconds remaining in regulation, propelling the Falcons to a 16-14 win.
“Angelo comes in and kicks the game-winning field goal again like he did last year,” Pennsbury coach Galen Snyder said. “Obviously, he’s a really good player, and we know if we’re close there, we know he’s going to make it most of the time.”
The win was as close as either team could get to a must-win heading into the fifth game. Both teams were identical 2-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Both teams were coming off losses – CB East to CB South and Pennsbury to Pennridge.
“Last week was a tough loss, but you have to put it away and move on to the next game,” Snyder said. “Every game in our league is a tough game, so you have to be ready to go.”
Early on, it was the Falcons ‘ David Kane – stepping in at quarterback – scoring on a one-yard plunge in his team’s opening drive, which included a 21-yard completion from Kane to Matt McGinty.
“David Kane did a good job – he made a couple of big passes, one to Kaiden Brown and one to McGinty early in the game,” Snyder said. “Also, credit (former quarterback) Henry Garlits, a sophomore who’s 15 years old. We move him over to the defensive side, and he played really well for us for his first week playing our whip position, which is like weakside safety.”
The Patriots, who were without standout middle linebacker Connor Simkiss (injury) – evened the score on a 20-yard Mike Price touchdown run, capping a drive that included a 46-yard pass from Logan Simkiss to Cole Wojnicki.
Pennsbury had an answer, going on top 14-7 when Jordan Brensinger scored on a six-yard touchdown run and taking that score into halftime.
It looked like momentum might be swinging in East’s favor when the Patriots recovered a fumble and set up the tying touchdown with a double pass that began with Simkiss throwing to Tommy Seiler behind the line, and Seiler throwing it to George Worster at the Falcons’ 10-yard line. Price scored from three yards out, and the stage was set for Pereira’s game-winner.
Kaiden Brown and Brensinger were all but unstoppable out the Falcons’ backfield, combining for close to 400 rushing yards. Brown had over 150 yards and a touchdown while Brensinger surpassed the 100-yard mark for the fifth time in five games.
Laying the foundation for the Falcons’ big night on the ground were the offensive line comprised of tackles Rocco May and Connor O’Brien, guards Tyler Robinson and Uriah Smart as well as center Spencer Grim.
“Spencer Grim has stepped in and is our center for the last three games,” Snyder said. “Walker Murray’s always involved as the wing back with the blocking,” Snyder said. “Dante Sciolla is the tight end, and also (Matt) McGinty and (Jacob) Parada are the split ends and are heavily involved in the blocking.”
Next up: Pennsbury (3-2, 1-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks South next Saturday at noon, and Central Bucks East (2-3, 0-2) will host North Penn Friday.
Central Bucks East 0-7-7-0 14
Pennsbury 7-7-0-3 17
NORTH PENN 31, PENNRIDGE 0
The Knights excelled on both sides of the football.
They not only scored four touchdowns and put up 31 points, but their defense also came up huge, tossing a shutout.
“I was really happy – a couple of games this year I thought we could have had shutouts, and we gave up a big play or something,” Beck said. “So, to get the shutout tonight – the kids really wanted it.
“Plus, our captain – offensive lineman Dylan Webb-Dennis – was named Homecoming King, so we were excited about that.”
Although the final score might suggest otherwise, the Knights didn’t exactly look like a well-oiled machine early on in the game.
“I didn’t like the way we played early in the first half,” Beck said. “We haven’t really turned the ball over the whole year. We had a strip sack, and we turned it over. We threw an interception in the first half
“It was a little bit of a rocky first half. We jumped offsides a couple of times, but what I was happy about – I thought our defense did an outstanding job. When Pennridge got the strip sack, they drove down to about the 15-yard line, and we stopped them on four plays and got the ball back.
“On a third-and-six, Matt Bucksar drops back and just sees an opening and runs – I want to say 75 yards for a touchdown. It was super athletic – he made a linebacker miss and just ran up the sidelines. He was flying.”
Pennridge punted and buried the Knights deep in their own territory inside the 10-yard line.
“On second-and-12, we ran a screen pass,” Beck said. “Josiah Coleman broke it for a touchdown, so this would be three weeks in a row of basically a 90-yard touchdown run. They said he stepped out of bounds at the 50. I don’t think he did, but that’s what they called.”
That drive culminated with a Ryan Bocklet field goal that put the Knights on top 10-0, and then, their defense forced a three-and-out.
“We drove down the field, and Bucksar makes a couple of really good passes – one to (Mason) Franek that gained about 17 yards that put us around the 10-yard line with about a minute to go in the half, and then he sprinted out and threw it to Franek on the corner route for a touchdown,’ Beck said.
Franek’s touchdown sent the Knights into halftime with a 17-0 lead.
“Pennridge started the second half, and they drove to about our 45-yard line, and then we stopped them and got the ball back and drove all the way down and scored a touchdown,” Beck said. “It was a really good drive. Matt (Bucksar) threw a touchdown pass on second-and-10 from maybe the 12-yard line to Aiden Ashley.”
That 24-0 lead at the end of three quarter turned to 31-0 after Bucksar scored on a naked bootleg.
“It was a great fake by Matt, and he just walked in from about 25 yards out,” Beck said. “Nobody was near him.”
Sharing the spotlight on this night was the defense, and the Knights’ coach credited several catalysts.
“I thought Azarias Fortson played a really nice game – he had a couple of sacks,” Beck said of his defensive end. “Jack Silvers had a really nice game, I thought our corners – Matt Pownall and Rylei Gray – did a great job attacking the bubble screens and playing the deep routes. I thought they played a heck of a game.
“The key to our defense tonight is when they were trying to throw – we were getting pressure on (quarterback Noah Keating). I don’t know how many times we sacked him. I would say almost every single time he dropped back – he got hit.”
Next up: North Penn (5-0, 2-0 SOL) will be on the road at Central Bucks East on Friday, and Pennridge (3-2, 1-1) will travel to Abington Friday.
Pennridge 0-0-0-0 0
North Penn 7-10-7-7 31
NESHAMINY 37, ABINGTON 0
The Redskins scored early and often on their way to the no-doubt-about-it win, bouncing back with a vengeance after suffering their first loss of the season at the hands of North Penn a week earlier.
“This was definitely our most complete game of the year – offense, defense and special teams,” Neshaminy coach Steve Wilmot said. “It was just a balanced effort. Everyone kind of made up their mind after North Penn that we wanted to turn it around this week. We just wanted to put last week behind us and move forward. I think everyone played well.”
Michael Eckart connected with Connor Frederick on a five-yard touchdown catch to put the ‘Skins on the board, and then it was Colby Bracey punching it in from a yard out for a 14-0 lead after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Frederick hauled in his second TD reception of the game – this one a one-yard pass from Eckart, and then Jason Wilmot scored his first of two touchdown on a seven-yard run.
The Redskins added a safety to go into halftime with a commanding 30-0 lead. The only thing that remained was for Wilmot to get his second touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter, taking it in from a yard out.
On the defensive side of the football, Owen Swartz had a pair of sacks on the Ghosts’ first drive in the second half and finished with three sacks in the game.
“That was big for us,” Wilmot said. “I think our secondary did a nice job. I’m not sure if they got many passing yards the whole game.
“Our run defense held them under a hundred yards. It was a total complete game by everyone.”
The Ghosts managed just 70 yards on the ground and had no positive passing yards.
Eckart completed 9 of 14 passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns.
“He did a nice job of making plays and just running the game,” Wilmot said. “Tonight was pretty much a complete team effort.”
Jason Wilmot’s 80 yards and two touchdowns led the Redskins’ ground game.
Next up: Neshaminy (4-1, 1-1 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West Friday, and Abington (1-4, 0-2) will host Pennridge Friday.
Neshaminy 14-16-0-7 37
Abington 0-0-0-0 0
SOL Continental Conference
QUAKERTOWN 35, SOUDERTON 34
This was a game for the ages.
The Panthers – trailing 28-0 after just one quarter – were on their way to a forgettable loss, but then they did something no one saw coming – they rallied for an unforgettable win in Friday’s 309 Bowl.
“I was walking away from the stadium with my wife with the trophy and my youngest son, and I was just mesmerized,” Quakertown coach George Banas said. “This is a game – anybody that was there and saw it or played in it – this is one you’ll talk about the rest of your life.”
They’ll be talking about it because of the ending, the improbable, unlikely, impossible ending. The Panthers – trailing 34-29 – took possession of the ball after a pooch punt at their own 20 with 17 seconds on the scoreboard clock. Eighty yards separated the Panthers, who were out of timeouts, from the win.
On first down Brady Martin – who already had four touchdown passes in the contest – connected with Matt Thomas at the 32, and a late hit added 15 yards to the play. As a result, the Panthers were at their own 47 with 12 seconds remaining.
“We threw our Hail Mary play, and Matt Thomas caught it at the 10, and then we had to hurry up,” Banas said. “Luckily in high school, the clock stops until you set the ball with the sticks, so we got everybody up there, and we spiked it with two seconds to go.
“Souderton burned a timeout once we set up. I thought we had a really good play call from Chris Hunter, our OC, and that was going to be it. Brady made a phenomenal throw, hitting Matty across the back of the end zone. We scored on that play earlier in the game, so we thought we had a really good opportunity to hit him again, and it worked out in our favor, and that was the end of it. It was bum rush the field. It was fun, it was exciting.”
And it was electrifying.
“We’re celebrating, we got the trophy, we’re taking pictures – all the coaches were there, and I was like, ‘That’s the first time we ever did that,” Banas said. “Fifteen years of coaching we’ve never had (a walk-off win). That’s why it was so surreal.
“We didn’t even have to kick the extra point. We had a bobble on our snap on our first touchdown, and Gussy Whalen, who’s our holder, rolls out to his left. He’s a lefty, and he was able to hit Owen Wynne in the end zone for a two-point play. That gave us an extra point, so we didn’t have to kick the extra point to win.”
It capped a wild win that was improbable – at best – after Souderton put four touchdowns on the scoreboard in the first quarter – two from Mike McCormick and one each from Elijah Hampton and Caleb Moyer – to go on top 28-0.
The Panthers put 15 points on the board in the second quarter – the points on a 40-yard TD pass from Martin to Burgy that made it a 28-8 game after the two-point conversion. With 58 seconds remaining in the half, Martin connected on a 10-yard TD pass to Thomas, trimming the Indians advantage to 28-15.
On a night when nothing was impossible, the Indians had time for a touchdown drive of their own with quarterback Ben Walsh connecting with Houston Marshall for a 10-yard TD with five second remaining to send Souderton into halftime with a 34-15 lead.
This one, however, was far from over.
With 8:25 remaining in the third quarter, Martin twice connected with Burgy for touchdowns – the first a 27-yard TD pass, and after a successful two-point conversion, it was a 35-23 game. On the second, Martin and Burgy hooked up for a 70-yard TD pass that – after a failed two-point conversion -made it a 34-29 game, setting the stage for the remarkable finish.
Coach George Banas on:
–The turning point: “We never gave up, but it seemed like our mentality flipped on one play. We thought it was a bad call, argued it quite a while – actually called a timeout to argue it, and all of a sudden – it just got us angry. It was almost like it flipped a switch, and we started playing at a different level and then started believing. We chipped away at it, and we were able to stop them a couple of times on fourth down. We just kept going at it.
“We had two opportunities to drive and score to take the lead prior to the last crazy drive. We had a high-low block, unfortunately, that put us way behind the sticks. I think it was first-and-25. One of those opportunities we had a fumble recovery, but then we had another penalty on the next drive and had to punt it away. We punted the ball away, stuffed them on first down, called a timeout, I think they got three yards on the second play, we called a timeout. They got maybe another two yards – I think it was fourth-and-five, and then they burned a timeout with 30-some seconds to go. They punted it, and we took over with 20 seconds to go.”
–The slow start: “I don’t know what’s with this team, but man, we start slow. We’ve got to fix that, for sure. You should not be able to spot a great time like Souderton 28 points and come back and win. Give our kids a ton of credit. They never, ever gave up, they never started bickering with each other. We took a deep breath at halftime and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to try and play as well as we did for the span of about 10 minutes in the second quarter where we scored 15 points, and we held them on two or three drives. I just told them, ‘We need to play the second half like we played that 10 minutes. That’s how we got to play’ And we’re capable of playing that well.”
–Brady Martin – the 5-TD QB: “What’s great is – I keep harping on him, ‘Lead by example, don’t show too much emotion on the negative side, but support your teammates. Play one play at a time and forget about the last one.’ He threw two picks tonight, but he didn’t let it bother him, which is great. It shows a lot of leadership. He was under duress quite a bit, got sacked a couple of times, but he didn’t get happy feet, he didn’t Jalen Hurts it and led us down the field and got the game-winner.”
–A team effort: “What’s great about this team is it’s not just one stud player or two. Tonight was a team win. This was a full-balanced offensive and defensive win. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh my god, that kid won it for us.’ Matty Thomas had some phenomenal catches, (Aiden) Burgy had some great catches and Jackson Connelly. Gavin Carroll ran the ball tough, played really good defense. It’s consistency across the board that way. On the flip side, unfortunately, it’s inconsistency with the whole team. There wasn’t a whole lot of blame in the locker room at halftime. We’re sitting in the locker room trying to figure out what we were going to do, and I said, ‘Listen, it’s a collective group that has to get better. It’s not like – ‘Our D-line wasn’t doing this, our linebackers weren’t doing this, and DBs weren’t doing this.’ It was everybody. Everybody had to fix something.”
–A comeback for the record books: “I don’t know if we ever came back from 28 down. We came back from 21-0 at halftime against Pennridge, but other than that, I don’t know if we ever came back from anything bigger deficit-wise.”
–A touch of class: “(Souderton coach Ed Gallagher) was super great. He gave me a big hug and congratulated me. A lot of mutual respect there.”
–A special night: “It was Childhood Cancer Awareness night, so we’re playing for all those kids in Quakertown who have battled or are battling cancer. My nephew – Parker Lutz – passed away 17 years ago when he was six years old. It was neuroblastoma. We were actually in Vermont on vacation with them – both families. He got sick and went to the local hospital. They sent him right to Vermont Children’s Hospital, and they flew him right down to CHOP. It was a year later that he passed right after his sixth birth. He was best friend with my oldest son, Logan.
“We started doing this when I took over as head coach. It’s a real emotional night. We have all the kids that have battled cancer or who are battling it. They come out for the coin toss with us. Last year, we donated $14,000 to our kids in Quakertown. We donate 100 percent of the profits. We sell shirts, we connect money game night – the whole nine yards. Our community does a great job of helping. It’s a phenomenal thing.”
Next up: Quakertown (2-3, 2-0 SOL) will travel to Council Rock North Friday, and Souderton (2-3, 1-1) will be on the road at Cheltenham Friday.
Souderton 28-6-0-0 34
Quakertown 0-15-14-6 35
UPPER DUBLIN 24, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 7
The Cardinals turned in a complete game in Friday’s conference win, limiting the visiting Golden Hawks to just seven points while putting 24 points on the board.
“I was very happy with this win,” UD coach Bret Stover said. “We played well. We were able to mix the throw and the run together. We did some different things tonight.”
If the Cardinals needed a jumpstart, they got one when freshman Sonny Watlington came up with a highlight reel interception.
“It was around our 10-yard line, and it was a one-handed interception,” Stover said. “It was a great play from a freshman. That’s exactly how our D-back coaches teach it. He did exactly what he was taught.
“Rock South was on a roll – they were moving down, and we got that and went 90 yards the other way for a touchdown.”
Ron Shepherd capped the 90-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead. Shepherd’s second touchdown – this one from eight yards – put the Cardinals on top 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
The Golden Hawks cut that lead in half when quarterback Marley Emerson connected with Nate Szydlik for a 19-yard touchdown on a big fourth down play.
“We gave up a screen pass – it was a really, really good play by them,” Stover said. “Hats off to their offensive coordinator on that call. It totally got us with our pants around our ankles a little bit.
“Now it’s 14-7, and we give the ball back to them at midfield. They’re driving in again, and our defense holds, and they turn it over with a little less than two minutes, so we stick our toe in the water and get a first down, and then we go with the two-minute drill, which we haven’t had an opportunity to do live yet.”
The Cardinals moved the ball into field goal range, and Matthew Miller connected on a 33-yard field goal to send the Cardinals into halftime with a 17-7 lead.
“I’ve got a really good kicker, and he makes a 33-yard field goal right before halftime,” Stover said. “In the third quarter, we couldn’t get out of our own way.
“There were too many penalties, personnel mistakes.”
In the fourth quarter, the Cardinals tacked on a touchdown on a Jordan Fields eight-yard run for the 24-7 final.
“It was just a great team win,” Stover said. “(Defensive coordinator) Ed Wall had a great plan. To hold that team to seven points is something.
“We were watching them on film, and we said, ‘Wow, they can put points up in a hurry.
“I think they got a little beat up at the end as we did. Because we had the ball and we were running it, we had the advantage. We weren’t in any great rush, and we kind of wore them down a little on the last drive and put them away. It’s a big 6A win for us.”
Stover recognized the strong play of his defense.
“Our guys up front – Phil Roll was sick as a dog, and he played,” the UD coach said. “He made a couple big plays on their run game for losses.
“Justin Waugh is only a junior, and he’s starting to come into his own as a defensive end. Benji Ravitz – the same thing on the other side. We’re young, we’re real young on defense, and we’re growing up at every practice every week. Those guys played well.
“Eric Berman in the secondary had a couple of big, big tackles on the edge – wrapped them up and put them on the ground, no extra yards, no run after catch. A couple pass breakups for Eric as well. The defense played really well, and we just have to keep building on it.”
Stover went on to credit his defensive coordinator, Ed Wall.
“This is only his second year,” he said. “He’s putting it all together, the kids are buying in. It’s a trust factor. I think we’re turning the corner. Now we have to go down to Levittown next week and play well. No steps backwards, as we say.”
On the offensive side of the football, the Cardinals’ coach also saw plenty of things he liked.
“We got our tight ends involved – (junior) Benji Ravitz and (sophomore) Kevin Williams,” Stover said. “They both had catches and big first downs, and we were able to get some traction and keep them off-balance because they do such a darn good job of blitzing you up the middle and on the edge. Even go back two years in ’22 – they gave us problems in ’22 with all their blitzing.”
Next up: Upper Dublin (3-2, 2-0 SOL) will travel to Harry S Truman Friday, and Council Rock South (2-3, 1-1) will be on the road at Bensalem Friday.
Council Rock South 0-7-0-0 7
Upper Dublin 0-17-0-7 24
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 16, HARRY S TRUMAN 13
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CHELTENHAM 31, BENSALEM 14
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Non-league
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 42, PENN WOOD 15
It was another Friday night and another big win for the Colonials, who showed absolutely no ill effects from their only setback of the season last week to Manheim Township. The Colonials raced out of the gate to a 28-7 halftime lead on their way to the win.
Everett Baker had himself a night.
The senior running back had five touchdowns and close to 200 rushing yards.
“Everett Baker had a really big night for us running the ball,” PW coach Dan Chang said. “He was running tough – he had a lot of broken tackles. He had some big returns in our punt and kick return.”
Quarterback Caiden Leszczynski also had another big game.
“Caiden threw the ball pretty well tonight,” Chang said. “He threw a touchdown to Mike Bongard.
“I thought our offensive line played well tonight, and after that first touchdown on defense, I thought we played pretty well.”
Chase Smith led the defense with a pair of interceptions.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-2) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham for Friday’s conference opener.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 28-14 42
Penn Wood 7-8 15
UPPER MORELAND 49, WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 7
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WISSAHICKON 51, INTERBORO 20
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SPRINGFIELD TWP 35, LOWER MORELAND 0
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