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Back for its ninth season, the popular Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features the ‘Game On’ crew: Drew Markol and Todd Thorpe. To view this week’s show, click on the following link: http://www.theintell.com/videos/hsgameon/ To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the Intelligencer (http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school/) and Courier Times (http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/) web sites.
Check out this week’s picks by our panel of experts: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/football-forecaster
SuburbanOneSports.com: Cheltenham knocked off previously undefeated Quakertown. Your thoughts about that game.
Todd Thorpe: “That is crazy, and that is why they play the game. Cheltenham beat Council Rock South earlier this year, and you didn’t really know. You kind of think – ‘It’s Cheltenham,’ but maybe the Cheltenham program has turned the corner. They’re 4-1 right now, and that was a big win. Quakertown was riding high. I guess a lot of people thought they were going to cruise into that Upper Dublin game, and they kind of got the stop sign thrown up in front of them at home. It’s certainly not the end of the line for Quakertown, but it’s a hiccough. It will be interesting to see how that conference plays out. Cheltenham plays Upper Dublin this week, and the team that wins that game can be in the driver’s seat in that conference. Upper Dublin did lose to Penn Charter – I’m not sure what that will do to their power points. If you’re talking about the league title, it obviously doesn’t matter.
“Good for Cheltenham. That was apparently a crazy game too where Quakertown was behind and came back. They recovered the ball on an on-sides kick with a chance to win, but Cheltenham came up with an interception. You have to protect the football, and Quakertown had five turnovers.
“When you look at the potential of a program like Cheltenham, you’re not going to have huge rosters usually, but if you can get guys on the same page, you’re going to have some talent. In the American Conference, I don’t think you need to have the big, giant physical team with a 70-man roster. If you have some players and you’re organized and you think you’re going to win when you step on the field, who knows? To go from bottom to top and even bottom to middle in the American Conference is a little more of an even playing field because the school size differs drastically in that conference and number also – it’s smaller, so you’re getting 40-man rosters instead of 70-man rosters. One of the reasons Quakertown has had success is because of the program George Banas has built they’re still getting decent sized rosters and players. It’s a great win for Cheltenham. I don’t think anybody expected it, but they sure as heck got it. Quakertown and Upper Dublin looked like they were on a collision course, and Quakertown crashed a little early. Cheltenham deserved that win because it certainly sounds like they outplayed them. Trying to predict games is very difficult.”
Drew Markol: “In a week full of surprises, it’s hard to say which one is the biggest. Maybe it’s 1 and 1A, but I looked at Cheltenham beating Quakertown as a very big surprise. Quakertown was 4-0 with a ton of momentum. They had beaten Upper Moreland the week before, and I’m probably not giving Cheltenham enough credit, but I think that Upper Moreland game meant a lot to Quakertown because of what happened last year because of Upper Moreland beating them handily and winning the American Conference, something Quakertown thought they would do last year, and it obviously didn’t happen because they lost to Upper Moreland. I think they were so pumped up for that game, and they blew out Upper Moreland and might have overlooked Cheltenham – a team it had beaten 40-6 last year - a little bit. Cheltenham had a loss to Abington, but Abington is not bad. Cheltenham goes in there and beats Quakertown, and now you’ve opened up the American Conference.
“It was a great job by Cheltenham getting four interceptions – that’s a ton in a high school game, and TJ Harris got three of them. Will Felix got the one that iced things for Cheltenham after Quakertown had recovered an on-sides kick late in the game.
“I’ve said it in this space before – was it going to be a one-game season between Quakertown and Upper Dublin on Oct. 5. Well, the answer will be no. Good for Cheltenham though. Now you have a race. Last year you had Upper Moreland, Upper Dublin and Quakertown. This year perhaps it’s Quakertown, Cheltenham and Upper Dublin.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Harry S Truman defeated Neshaminy for the first time in 22 years. Your comments about that game and what it means in the National Conference.
Todd Thorpe: “Truman has been knocking on the door. The last two years they’ve really instilled an idea of belief – that they’re on par with these teams and they belong. I think that game was a perfect time for them to prove it. It was homecoming, and coach Mike LaPalombara said – they got crushed last year at Neshaminy (56-7), and they went into that game thinking they were going to win. The players all remember that. They lost to Council Rock South the week before with four starters suspended because of a fight against William Tennent. Those kids were ready to go. The second that game against Rock South was over, those kids were ready to practice, and they were fired up. And it’s their homecoming and the crowd’s in it. Truman has playmakers, and if you get into a real offensive game like that, Truman’s got the weapons to really be in it. You look at Neshaminy, and this year they’ve given up some points in the games they’ve lost, and that’s the difference. They got into a scoring-fest, and Truman definitely has the players to match you in that type of game.
“Truman has Council Rock North this week and in two weeks they have Pennsbury. That’s their next hurdle. I look at the National Conference, and I say – from week to week, we’re going to flip our coin and see who’s in first. Council Rock South who’s rolling now has to go play North Penn. It’s a non-league game and doesn’t count toward the league standings, but you take a hit in the District One standings because you’re almost certain not to win that game. That’s a bad way to put it, but the odds of Rock South winning that game are pretty slim.
“It remains to be seen, but I have no idea who’s going to win that conference. Truman has the one loss already, so anything can happen. I don’t even think Neshaminy is out of it completely. If they win the rest of their games and they go play Pennsbury the last week of the season, who’s to say that won’t be for the league title again? There’s too much up in the air, but what’s made it interesting is that there are three teams that are still very much a part of this with half the season to go aside from Pennsbury and Neshaminy.”
Drew Markol: “I’ve been following area football for a long time – I heard it’s been 22 years since Truman beat Neshaminy, and I believe it. Think about that – the older brothers of the kids who played in that game Saturday night weren’t even born the last time Truman beat Neshaminy. We’ve been wondering when a Truman or a Bensalem or whatever would break through that glass ceiling and knock off a Neshaminy or a Pennsbury. We also speculated that when Truman brought in a couple of high-powered coaches a couple of years ago that maybe they could get things going. Well, it looks like they have. Truman was coming off a loss to CR South the week before where they had four players suspended, and they came back with a vengeance. Deondre Winton, Javeer Peterson and James Koliyah led the way in the win.
“Give Truman a ton of credit because just like the American Conference has been opened up, now the National Conference has been opened up because it’s at least a three-time race with Neshaminy, Pennsbury and Truman. Who’s to say Council Rock South coming off a nice comeback win over Abington isn’t in that mix, and who knows – maybe Abington is still in that mix. Abington has a big game against Neshaminy. These are must wins. Now Neshaminy has lost three games. They’re 2-3. If the season ended today, they wouldn’t be in the playoffs, and we’re talking about a team that was the number one seed in the district last year, and now they’d be on the outside looking in.
“Cheltenham beating Quakertown and Truman with the huge win over Neshaminy – the ripple effect on each conference is huge.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Todd, you covered the Abington/CR South game. Your thoughts about that game and those two teams.
Todd Thorpe: “The team that won that game – that’s a big win because it gives them power points, and it puts you at the top of the standings in the National Conference. Rock South made the adjustments at halftime, they just kept the ball on the ground and kept on giving it to Chase Patterson and then relied on the defense. It really was a defensive struggle, and I can’t say I was expecting that. It’s a tough loss for Abington because they didn’t play very well at all offensively. They were really out of sync the whole game. I think that’s going to come back and kick them, but South made the adjustment at halftime and got good defense. That’s how you win games.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Souderton went to Pennridge and picked up a win, and CB East played North Penn tough. Your thoughts about the Continental Conference.
Drew Markol: “Souderton is starting to look like they’re turning the corner, but they’re another team Quakertown beat, which makes Quakertown’s loss to Cheltenham look even odder. If you’re Pennridge, you have to win out. I think a lot of teams are thinking that. I talked to some of the CB East players, and they’re saying, ‘We have to win out to get into the playoffs,’ and they’re a two-win team. Well, Pennridge is a one-win team. They have to win out. They’re going to have to beat East, they’re going to have to beat Central Bucks South just to get to six wins, and those aren’t going to be easy. Should six wins get you in? Probably, but they can’t afford to go 4-1 now, they have to go 5-0, and that’s hard to do, especially when you’re riding a four-game losing streak and you have to go to CB West on Friday.
“CB East gave North Penn all it wanted last week. CB East almost beat Pennsbury but lost by a point. They went for two and didn’t get it, and now they lose 31-21 to North Penn. I talked with East coach John Donnelly, and he said they decided to punt the ball away and try to pin North Penn deep, then stop them and get the ball back, but North Penn, to its credit, drove 90-plus yards to get the final touchdown. Okay, it’s a win for North Penn – they’re 5-0 and the top seed in the district now, and I don’t want to call it a chink in the armor because they won the game and they came up with a huge drive to seal it at the end, and that’s what good teams do, but CB East hung with them, which a lot of teams don’t do. Pennridge didn’t hang with them the week before. Who knows how good East is? They have Souderton this week, and the conference races are getting a little more interesting. I think part of that is due to the fact that this is more a year of parity we’re finding out. North Penn is still dominating the Continental, but maybe they’re a little vulnerable. Who knows? Probably not but East hung with them.
“The other two conferences – it’s becoming more wide open, which is good. It makes it more interesting.”
Todd Thorpe: “Souderton lost their first three games, and they came back to win their last two. To beat Pennridge and beat the team in the next town over, that’s significant for Souderton because that game means something. That’s an old school Bux-Mont League rivalry, and those two communities are intertwined along with Quakertown because of the close proximity, and they go back a long, long time. Then you go into the coaching factor – Cody Muller played at Souderton for Ed Gallagher, and now he’s the coach of Pennridge in his first year going against his former coach. It’s interesting for the coaches, but the players aren’t thinking about things like that. For the two coaches, I’m sure after the game that made it real interesting.
“Give Souderton a lot of credit. That’s a team that didn’t roll over after the first couple of weeks, and now they’ve put together a few wins, and Pennridge has lost four games in a row. A lot of people thought Pennridge was the standard bearer as the second team out of the conference, and I think clearly they’re not. To be honest, I’m not sure who that team is because the next team hasn’t stood up yet. We don’t know. I would probably lean toward CB East. East hung around for a half against North Penn, and East has some real offensive players. I think if East can beat Souderton this week, East can put themselves in pretty good shape to be the second team, but then you turn around and say – CB South lost their first two games just like Souderton – well, they came back and won two in a row. You just show up and you play. You never know. These teams all have to play one another. If one of these teams can get hot and get to 6-4 or even 7-3, you’re going to be that team in the playoffs because there are 16 spots for only 33 schools in District One, and as long as there’s a 16-team playoff, you’re in it – 6-4 can get in, you never know. I know looking at the power points and 14, 15, 16 and 17 – those are all pretty close, there’s not too much separating those teams. A successful high school football season is now based on whether you’re a playoff team or not – some people may say fortunately but I say unfortunately. It’s not based on how you do against your rival on Thanksgiving anymore because, quite frankly, there are very few of those games played anymore.
“I think a team will come out of the Continental Conference besides North Penn. We’ll see where they stand and go from there. It’s kind of wide open two through seven, and the fact that Souderton and CB South win, teams you might have wrote off earlier in the year, and Pennridge is 1-4 - you wait and see and go from there. I give Souderton and CB East a lot of credit for what they did last week.
“CB East lost that game against North Penn (31-21), and I know there’s no such thing as moral victories, but you go in and you take on the big boys - good for them. They lost the game, but hopefully, they’re a better team because of it. If they take care of business the rest of the year, they’re easily a playoff team. The interesting thing about that conference is it’s wide open. We don’t have any idea.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Looking at this week’s schedule, which games jump out at you?
Drew Markol: “You look at CB East/Souderton – can we call that an elimination game as far as making the playoffs are concerned? Probably. They’re both 2-3. Obviously, the loser is 2-4, and now that loser has to run the table from there. Even if you go 6-4, that will more than likely get you in, but it will also more than likely get you a 14, 15 or 16 seed, which gives you a first round game against North Penn, Coatesville or one of the Downingtowns, and you really don’t want that. That’s a huge game for both teams. Ed Gallagher beat one of his former players, Cody Muller, the new coach at Pennridge in a wild one, and East is coming off of nearly upsetting North Penn. Plus East is honoring one of their former players who passed away, Connor Bednarzyk, who was an Army Ranger and passed away during a training mission last month. They’re going to honor him before the game, so they’re going to be hyped up and ready to go. That will be a good one.
“Abington is at Neshaminy. Abington has to come back now after losing to Council Rock South – and Council Rock South is just a great story. They’re quietly doing a nice job. But Abington has to be saying – ‘Neshaminy just lost to Truman.’ I think Neshaminy will win, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Abington did. Now you’re looking at a 2-4 Neshaminy team that would also be fighting to get into the playoffs. We didn’t think much of last week’s schedule when we talked about it last week because we figured there wouldn’t be any upsets and sure enough there were. What happened last week made the rest of the season pretty interesting.”