Check out the recaps for SOL football teams in action Friday night. Pennridge/Souderton photos courtesy of Kim Supko. CR South/Abington photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. William Tennent/CB West photos courtesy of Jon Sklut. Pennsbury/CR North courtesy of Mike Sperando. CLICK HERE for a gallery of photos.
Stats used in the wraps are provided courtesy of the Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web sites: http://www.theintell.com/sports and http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports.
SOL National Conference
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 14, ABINGTON 10
Vince Bedesem came close to allowing himself a smile as he walked off the field at Schwarzman Stadium on Friday.
“It’s the dirty 30,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said after watching his squad gut out a win. “We love these guys.”
And what’s not to love about a team that looked as though its season was unraveling after a week one shutout loss at Cheltenham but has gone on to win four straight. Losing quarterback Andrew Vera in that season-opening loss certainly didn’t give the Golden Hawks reason for optimism, but they displayed a remarkable resiliency.
“Twelve (Vera) is an integral part, and we were able to get him back this week,” Bedesem said of Vera, who saw action at receiver. “He’s still limited, and the best is yet to come for him.
“But the kids responded. That is the leadership of this ball club. They’ve grown together the last three years. On this field two years ago, they got their tails kicked (35-31) as sophomores. We had the lead for the longest time, but these guys were young, and they’ve grown from that over the past three years.”
So when the Golden Hawks went into halftime trailing 10-0, thanks to a late flurry by the Ghosts, they didn’t panic. They simply played with a renewed resolve in the second half.
“We got together, and we talked about how that first half was an awful showing,” senior Chase Patterson said. “That’s embarrassing. We should not be on the field if we play like that, but we got motivation throughout and picked it up.”
The Golden Hawks got on the board when Patterson took it in from one yard out, capping a drive that was set up by a Noah Caldoni pass to Vera. That scoring drive was followed by a three-and-out for the Ghosts in a series that included a Shemar Mills sack.
The Ghosts’ defense returned the favor, forcing the Golden Hawks to punt after a three-and-out. Again, the 
Hawks’ defense rose to the occasion. With Nick Gallo in pursuit, Abington quarterback Tamir Berthau was called for intentional grounding. A short punt gave the Golden Hawks possession at the Ghosts’ 45. A dazzling 30-yard run by Dawson Fresses – who switched fields and outran the Ghosts’ defense to the two – set up a two-yard TD by Patterson that gave the Golden Hawks a 14-10 lead.
The Hawks’ defense took care of the rest.
“They’re playing their tails off,” Bedesem said of his defense. “The coaches are doing an outstanding job with them. I can’t be more proud of my defensive staff and the kids themselves.”
As for his team’s turnaround in the second half, Bedesem said not a whole lot changed.
“We missed a couple of opportunities early on,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “We did have some unfortunate turnovers, defensively we were playing our tails off but we did give up 10.
“An adjustment here and there defensively so we were playing a little more sound, and offensively, we just got rolling. That’s all we needed. We needed two scores, and we understood that we were able to shut them down.”
Patterson was the workhorse for the Golden Hawks, finishing with 97 yards – every one of them hard earned – on 27 carries. Bedesem didn’t need a whole lot of words to describe his senior running back.
“He’s just a stud,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “That’s all I’m going to say – he’s a stud.
“He takes the hits and he just keeps running. He’s got great ball security, he keeps his legs churning, and he knows how to play football. He’s a football player.”
Abington’s points came late in the first half on a Reece Gibbs’ 40-yard field goal and – after the Ghosts recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff – quarterback Tamir Berthau scored from eight yards out to give the Ghosts a 10-0 halftime lead.
Council Rock South (4-1, 2-0 SOL) will host North Penn in a non-league game next Friday, and Abington (3-2, 1-1) will be on the road at Neshaminy.
Council Rock South 0-0-7-7 14
Abington 0-10-0-0 10
PENNSBURY 35, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 7
Jonathan Kane gave the home crowd reason to celebrate when he scored from nine yards out to give the Indians a 7-0 lead. That celebration was short-lived.
Eddie Dualu had three touchdown runs in the first half to send the Falcons into halftime with a comfortable 21-7 lead. His fourth TD in the final quarter capped a 35-0 Falcon run. Drew Hensor hooked up with Josh Boyda for a 34-yard touchdown to account for the other score.
Hensor threw for 191 yards and a touchdown. Boyda had three receptions for 85 yards and a TD, and Sheenan Miles had five catches for 64 yards. Brad Mickles led the Falcons on the ground with 130 rushing yards. Duala had 54 and four TDs. All told, the Falcons ran for 222 yards behind an offensive line comprised of Kyle Anderson, J Shellenberger, John Irvine, Mike Wallick and Andrew Hamacher.
On the defensive side of the football, Jacob Schilling and James Hose led the way with nine tackles each. Zachary Wales and Elijah Slaughter each contributed a sack. Sherrod had an interception.
For the Indians, Dillon Sheehy’s 95 yards on the ground led the way.
Pennsbury (2-3, 1-0 SOL) will host Bensalem Friday, and Council Rock North (1-4, 0-2) will travel to Harry S Truman on Friday.
Pennsbury 14-7-7-7 35
Council Rock North 7-0-0-0 7
SOL Continental Conference
SOUDERTON 38, PENNRIDGE 33
What a difference a couple of weeks can make.
Two weeks ago, the Indians fell to Hatboro-Horsham 8-7 in a contest that saw the Hatters come-from-behind to earn the win. It was a loss that left the Indians reeling at 0-3. They’ve recuperated quite nicely, defeating William Tennent last Friday and following that with an impressive win over the Rams.
“This is huge,” coach Ed Gallagher said. “We start 0-3 losing three non-league games, two of which we had very good chances to win.
“We go into our league and have a clean slate, and now we’re 2-0. That’s what I stressed to them after the game. We were in the National Conference for a couple of years, and it was kind of a morale beating playing with all the big boys and taking our lumps. I was looking forward to getting back to the Continental. We’ve been back in the Continental for two years, and we’ve been 2-4 both years.”
Not exactly what Gallagher expected from a program that has the most wins all-time in the Continental Conference.
“North Penn wasn’t in the conference the whole time, so it’s a stretch, but we were a very dominant force in the league for a long time, and we need to get back to that,” the Indians’ coach said. “To start 2-0 in the league with a couple of winnable games on the schedule is great. It’s pretty exciting.”
The Indians accumulated close to 500 yards of total offense in Friday’s win.
“We just executed so well tonight,” Gallagher said. “It’s weird because we have not executed that well, not only in the games but even in practice against the scout teams.
“It was so encouraging to see us move the ball up and down the field against a really good defense. They’re strong, and they have some big boys over there, but our kids fought. They fought for four quarters tonight, and again, it seemed like it was slipping away in the third quarter, but we came back in the fourth quarter and fought to finish.”
For the second time in as many games, D’Andre Wakefield sparked the Indians offensively, following his three touchdown performance against William Tennent with three more TDs on Friday night. All three of the junior running back’s touchdowns – on runs of 33, 30 and 10 yards – came in a first half that saw the Indians open up a 24-14 halftime lead.
William Leyland accounted for his team’s final three points with a 38-yard field goal just before halftime.
“We were up 21-7, and they scored with about a minute-and-a-half left (on a 16-yard Ryan Garner run), and we drove down and kicked a field goal, which was nice,” Gallagher said. “At least we responded because they were getting the ball to start the second half.”
The Indians’ defense held on the Rams’ opening drive of the second half.
“That’s kind of been our Achilles heel,” Gallagher said. “A team comes out and scores in the second half, and we get down on ourselves a little bit.
“We got a stop and then we threw an interception.”
The Rams scored 13 unanswered points to go on top 27-24. Zak Kantor found Cole Urich with a 22-yard touchdown pass, and then Garner picked up his third touchdown of the game, this from 10 yards out.
Down but not out, the Indians answered with a pair of touchdowns of their own – both on four-yard runs: the first by Andrew Vince and the second by Willie Goods – to go on top 38-27. The Rams weren’t finished yet, and Kantor punched it in from a yard out to pull the Rams to within five. The Rams recovered the ensuing on-sides kick, but Tre Samuels came up with an interception to seal the win for the Indians.
Wakefield led the Indians with 134 yards and three touchdowns. Goods had 86 yards on the ground.
“D’Andre had another solid game without a ton of carries – no one had a ton of carries,” Gallagher said. “Ethan Moyer got his first start at fullback and played well tonight.
“Nick Guthre broke a couple of nice runs, Willie Goods broke a couple of nice runs. Overall, it was just a good balanced team effort. I’m very thrilled.”
It was impossible to ignore the impact of the Indians’ offensive line comprised of tackles Austin Moyer and Kyle Jia, center Spencer Haslem and guards Stanton Godshall and Dan Villalba.
“Our offensive line was excellent,” Gallagher said. “Austin Moyer is always solid on both sides of the ball, and he played really well.
“They all played well. The offensive line just played well tonight. I’m really happy with the way they blocked.”
For the Rams, Garner had a breakout performance, running for 156 yards and three touchdowns.
Friday’s game pitted teacher against student when Gallagher went against former Souderton standout Cody Muller, the first-year coach of the Rams.
“It was incredibly emotional,” Gallagher said. “I talked to him before the game, I talked to him after the game.
“We took a couple of pictures after because we have a couple of guys on our staff and he has a couple of guys on his staff that all played for me. His sister and mom came up from Texas for the game. I’m sure his father, who was still in Texas, was going crazy listening to the game.
“It was tough, and it’s obviously bittersweet because I really want to see him do well. I’m one of his biggest fans, and I think he’s going to do well. I think the kids love him, and they’re buying into the system he wants to install, and it’s going to go. They’re just off to a little bit of a rocky start, but the kids are playing hard, they’re physical, they’re playing the brand of football he wants. They just have to clean a few things up and they’re going to be pretty good.”
Souderton (2-3, 2-0 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East next Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest, and Pennridge (1-4, 0-2) will be on the road at Central Bucks West on Friday.
Souderton 7-17-0-14 38
Pennridge 7-7-13-6 33
NORTH PENN 31, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 21
The Knights spent the first four games of their season – all wins – taking their opponents’ best shots, never flinching and answering every challenge that came their way.
So when the Patriots took an early 7-0 lead after a Jake Ventresca 55-yard interception return for a touchdown, the Knights didn’t take a whole lot of time before answering with a score of their own, knotting the score when Jon Haynes took it in from 16 yards out.
It was a pattern that continued for the better part of the night. When the Patriots went on top 14-10 after a two-yard TD run by Ventresca, Julian White scored from two yards out to put the Knights on top 17-14, a score that stood until halftime.
A nine-yard TD run by quarterback Solomon Robinson gave the Knights a 24-14 lead, but the Patriots refused to go down quietly, pulling within three when quarterback Evan O’Donnell punched it in from the one-yard line. It was anyone’s game until Shamar Edwards took it in from eight yards out late in the fourth quarter.
Edwards had another big night, leading all ground gainers with 145 yards and a TD. Ventresca’s 88 yards and one touchdown led the Patriots.
North Penn (5-0, 2-0 SOL) will travel to Council Rock South on Friday, and Central Bucks East (2-3, 0-1) will host Souderton next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Central Bucks East 7-7-7-0 21
North Penn 7-10-7-7 31
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 35, WILLIAM TENNENT 14
The Bucks raced out of the gate to a 21-0 lead and never looked back on their way to the resounding win.
West led 7-0 when Jack Spradlin recovered a fumble in the end zone. That lead grew to 14-0 when Jack Fallon – whose 99 yards led the Bucks on the ground – caught a two-yard Gavin Grondahl TD pass. The Bucks took that two-touchdown lead into halftime.
Grondahl scored on a keeper for the 21-0 West lead before the Panthers – thanks to a seven-yard Fernando Delgado run – got on the scoreboard. A 35-yard Fallon touchdown run put the Bucks on top 28-7 at the end of three quarters.
For the Panthers, quarterback Jason Schweizerhof threw for 202 yards and a TD. Ryan Savage caught four passes for 96 yards to lead the Panthers.
Central Bucks West (2-3, 1-1 SOL) will host Pennridge on Friday, and William Tennent (2-3, 0-2) will host Central Bucks South Friday.
Central Bucks West 7-7-14-7 35
William Tennent 0-0-7-7 14
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 35, BENSALEM 7
The Titans had things going their way from the outset of Friday’s contest. Connor DiLissio had a pair of first-quarter touchdown runs – the first from 26 yards out and the second from five yards out, and before fans had settled in their seats, the Titans led 14-0. By halftime that lead had grown to 35-0, and the mercy rule was in effect.
Quarterback Josh Consoletti found Colin Crabtree for an aerial TD, Matt Tobey also had a six-yard TD run, and DiLissio punched it in for his third for the Titans’ final score of the game.
Quarterback Tyler Barry found Jarred O’Connell for a 37-yard TD for the Owls’ only score.
Central Bucks South (2-3, 2-0 SOL) will travel to William Tennent on Friday, and Bensalem (0-5, 0-1) will be on the road at Pennsbury.
Bensalem 0-0-0-7 7
Central Bucks South 14-21-0-0 35
SOL American Conference
CHELTENHAM 17, QUAKERTOWN 14
Shock the world.
That was the singular goal of an underdog Cheltenham squad heading into Friday night’s showdown against a Quakertown team that boasted a 4-0 record with predictions that it could run the table to a perfect 10-0 regular season. Only Upper Dublin, prognosticators said, could derail Quakertown the rest of the way.
Someone apparently forgot to send Cheltenham the memo.
“It’s kind of been our mantra all week – if we go up there and do what we think we’re capable of doing, we’re going to shock the world,” coach Ryan Nase said.
And shock the world they did, leading from wire to wire and pulling off arguably the upset of the SOL season to date. The win represented a dramatic reversal of fortunes for a Cheltenham team that had been soundly thrashed by Quakertown in a 40-6 loss last year.
“This one was little personal for our kids, and to be honest, for our whole school community after last year,” said Nase in reference to a racial incident at last year’s game. “So it was nice to be able to go back up there and come back with a win.
“We had eight buses travel up with us an hour up Route 309 to Quakertown. Not only the school community but leaders of the Cheltenham community are really starting to rally around this team as well.”
Despite Friday’s big win, Nase insisted his team still hasn’t played well.
“We had to have over a hundred yards of penalties again today,” the Panthers’ coach said. “I haven’t looked at the stats, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we had close to 400 yards of offense and we put up 17 points. The biggest difference from last year to this year is we are not turning the ball over and we are forcing turnovers.”
The visiting Panthers – who had a turnover on their opening drive but none the rest of the way – forced five turnovers. Four came on interceptions with TJ Harris delivering three of those. The final Quakertown turnover was the killing blow. It came after the host Panthers pulled to within three after a touchdown with 2:40 remaining in regulation. They recovered an on-sides kick and appeared to be in business. That’s when Will Felix came up an interception that all but cut the heart out of the host team.
“They were driving down to score, and Will Felix, our senior defensive linemen and tight end, tipped it up to himself and picked it off,” Nase said.
There was the still the not-so-little matter of running out the clock.
“They knew we were running the ball – we needed to get two first downs,” Nase said. “We got the first one. Unfortunately, we had a bunch of penalties, and we had fourth-and-two.
“I called timeout and said, ‘We need two yards to go beat Quakertown. Let’s go do it.’ Our offensive line and Jamir Barnes put their heads down and got it by about three inches, and we got it into the greatest formation in the history of football – victory.”
Cheltenham opened up a 7-0 lead when Barnes raced in from eight yards out. The drive was highlighted by a long Siddiq Williams run. The visiting Panthers had a chance to extend that lead but saw their field goal attempt blocked. Justin Grady’s second field goal attempt of the night – this one from 30 yards out – split the uprights and sent the visiting Panthers into halftime with a 10-0 lead.
Adonis Hunter found Barnes with a screen pass, and the junior running back raced 83 yards for a touchdown and a 17-0 lead with 6:38 remaining in the third quarter. Quakertown got on the scoreboard with 1:56 remaining in the third when Michael Terra punched it in from five yards out, making it a 17-7 game heading into the final frame and setting the stage for the tense finish.
“Going into this game, I was a little nervous because of how good I thought Quakertown was up front,” Nase said. “Our offensive and defensive lines really, really played well.
“We rushed the ball a ton, and they have some really good running backs. They do a little bit of everything because they’re well coached. Our defensive line stepped up to the plate and played well. Guys like Marcus Winfield who finally got his first sack. He has been dominating games.”
Joining Winfield on the line were Ryan Felder, Daniel Gaffin, Brendan Canally, and Timi Towolawi. All of them are two-way linemen. Mike Emfinger and Felix also were part of Cheltenham’s two tight end sets.
“Emfinger is our strong side linebacker, but we used him almost as a fifth D-lineman tonight,” Nase said. “(Felix) might be the best tight end in the league to catch only two passes. We ran a ton of 12 personnel and that was hugely successful for us running the ball this game.”
While Friday’s win rocked the area football world, Nase was keeping the win in perspective.
“No disrespect to Abington, they beat us a couple of weeks ago, but to me, Quakertown is the best team we played,” Nase said. “Quakertown and Upper Dublin are like 1 and 1A. If we can beat them and finish it out, then we can change the future of this program.
“Right now, this is just a really big win to build some momentum heading into Upper Dublin, who this week was the number two ranked 5A team in District One. It’s great, and we have to enjoy it.”
Cheltenham (4-1, 1-0 SOL) will host Upper Dublin next Friday in another key conference battle. Quakertown (4-1, 1-1) will be on the road at Wissahickon.
Cheltenham 7-3-7-0 17
Quakertown 0-0-7-7 14
UPPER MORELAND 47, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 30
Caleb Mead’s 76-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game turned out to be a preview of things to come. The senior running back kept reeling off one big run after another for the Golden Bears, finishing the night with 177 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Despite Mead’s electrifying start, the Golden Bears found themselves on the short end of a 15-6 score, thanks to touchdown runs by Brian Dresnin (70 yards) and Michael Paciello (two yards).
But Mead wasn’t the only one to come up big for the Golden Bears. Quarterback Jon Knight delivered back-to-back touchdown passes to Jahaire Johnson to give UM a 19-15 lead at the end of one quarter. The Golden Bears took a 33-23 lead into halftime and led the rest of the way.
Knight finished with over 200 yards in the air and two TDs. Johnson hauled in five passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
Paciello (116 yards) and Dresnin (106 yards) both had big nights running the ball for the Colonials.
Upper Moreland (2-3, 1-1 SOL) will host Hatboro-Horsham on Friday, and Plymouth Whitemarsh (1-4, 1-1) is off next week. The Colonials host Cheltenham on Oct. 5.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 15-8-7-0 30
Upper Moreland 19-14-14-0 47
HATBORO-HORSHAM 28, WISSAHICKON 14
The Hatters and Trojans found themselves deadlocked 14-14 late in Friday night’s contest, but the Hatters put a pair of touchdowns on the board in the fourth quarter to notch the hard-earned win.
Jordan Collazo’s 16-yard touchdown run gave the Hatters a lead they would not lose, and if they needed insurance Nahji Logan gave it to them, returning an interception for a touchdown.
Amir Bookard led the Hatters with 127 rushing yards. He also caught four passes for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Hatboro-Horsham (2-3, 1-1 SOL) will be on the road at Upper Moreland on Friday, and Wissahickon (0-5, 0-2) will host Quakertown on Friday.
Non-league
PENN CHARTER 42, UPPER DUBLIN 17
Penn Charter returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and things didn’t improve a whole lot the rest of the way for the Flying Cardinals, who did keep it close for a while.
The Cardinals got on the board on a Mike Slivka TD run to make it a 7-7 game but not for long. Penn Charter scored to go on top 14-7, and again, the Cardinals responded, knotting the score when Slivka found Brody Balasa with a touchdown pass.
Penn Charter opened up a 28-14 lead. Chris Barbera connected on a 25-yard field goal to close out the first half, but that was the Cardinals’ last hurrah.
Upper Dublin (3-1, 1-0 SOL) will be on the road at Cheltenham on Friday.
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