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Now in its second season, the Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football,’ features high school football beat writers Kevin Cooney and Dan Dunkin. Cooney, who also is the Phillies beat writer, continues to cover schools in the Intelligencer area while Dan Dunkin – who has been covering sports at the high school and professional level for 25 years - covers teams in the Courier Times area. Both beat writers share their perspective on Friday’s district title game. To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the web site www.PhillyBurbs.com.
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn defeated Pennsbury 27-3. Your comments on that game since you were there.
Kevin Cooney: I think the one thing we saw – and this is a trend with North Penn – is that they jump on teams early. I think they have gotten to the point where - when they play teams in districts and they jump out early, it’s almost impossible for teams to come back on them. It’s as though there’s a mental thing that goes on. It’s almost like they beat you up on the field physically, and they kind of rip away your fight slowly. That’s kind of what I got out of this game. I thought it was one of those kind of death by a thousand paper cuts kind of a deal. They bled the clock early, hit the big play at the end of the half – you look up, it’s 21-3, and the game is pretty much over. North Penn is a team you better jump on top of early, especially if you don’t throw the football. Ultimately, that was what the mismatch was. North Penn jumped out early, and when Pennsbury fell behind by two possessions, they had no shot of coming back in that game.
SuburbanOneSports.com: How big was it when North Penn – with a 7-0 lead – held Pennsbury to a field goal when the Falcons had the ball on the Knights’ five-yard line?
Kevin Cooney: That was huge. I thought the momentum of the game changed there. We don’t like second guessing coaches a lot, but in a game like that, I don’t know if a field goal did that much good. I think they needed to get the seven to kind of say, ‘Okay, we’re here.’ You still need to get a touchdown at some point. It wasn’t going to be a game decided by field goals. I would have gone for it. Take that for what it’s worth. I’m not saying I’m right or he’s right, but I would have gone for it with the premise that even if I didn’t make it I’m forcing them to drive 95 yards. Instead, Pennsbury kicked off, and North Penn probably got the ball around the 35-yard line or so. That almost negates the points.
The amount of possessions were going to be limited in that game because of Pennsbury’s style, because they can’t score quickly – when you had a chance, you had to punch it home. They really didn’t come that close to scoring after that.
There was the play at the end of the first half – North Penn’s defensive stand on fourth-and-two - that I thought was bigger than that. Pennsbury had the ball with 1:20 to go and had a fourth-and-two around on the North Penn 40-yard line. Galen Snyder decided to go for it, ran the fullback dive, and the guy got tackled right on the line. North Penn hits the pass to Dan Gevirtz, and they end up scoring a touchdown after that to go up 21-3, and that was pretty much the ball game. The sequence there was huge. If you’re going to be so conservative on the other series, I think it’s fair to wonder why not be conservative there, punt it deep and go in at the half down 14-3.
If they punt it deep and pin North Penn back, I think Dick Beck probably takes a knee at that point and you’re getting the ball to start the second half. That to me was the bigger possession.
I never had the sense that Pennsbury had a lot of faith that they could win that game.
The one thing I’ll say about Neshaminy – Neshaminy tied North Penn 7-7 and they seemed at some points like they had a pulse. I think that’s what I was disappointed in. I was sure that it was going to be more of a street fight, and it never had that feel.
SuburbanOneSports.com: What are your thoughts about the North Penn/Council Rock South district title game?
Kevin Cooney: It’s strange. I’ve never seen an 11 seed that felt so much like a one. This is not bad mouthing Council Rock South, but I think it’s just a statement of reality – if you polled 10 people and asked them who is going to win this game, probably eight or nine of them would take North Penn. I think that’s more of a testament to the way North Penn is playing right now. I think this is the best they’ve played. They’re not pinning the mercy rule on teams, but they’re playing so fundamentally sound. Since week three of the season when they were blown out by St. Joe’s Prep, they’re allowing on average about 8.2 points a game. You have three shutouts in there, and really, that average is driven up a little bit by North Penn’s first round game that saw Rustin score 21. They’re at a point right now where they’re playing so fundamentally sound on both sides of the football. Their defense has really gotten overlooked in a lot of ways.
I think that Council Rock South has to hang in early, and there’s a simple game plan for me. I thought South was a little in awe of North Penn last year. They’ve got to take that out of them quickly. I’m not saying they have to have the lead, but they can’t get behind by 10 or 14. You have to stay within shouting distance because if you ever fall behind by more than seven, you’re in trouble. North Penn is not the kind of team that’s going to let you rally back. That’s where I see this game going at this point. The first quarter is going to be huge. The one problem I think Rock South has is can they be more than a one-trick pony. Can a team that does one thing that well take down North Penn?
You look at the teams that beat North Penn – St. Joe’s Prep throws the ball, La Salle throws the ball. Those are the two teams that beat North Penn over the past two years.
I think the best thing about North Penn is their balance. Their run-pass ratio was 65-35 last week, and that’s almost perfect balance.
The other thing Rock South has to do – they have to force North Penn to turn the football over. (North Penn quarterback) Corey Ernst has only turned it over five times with picks. North Penn has been pretty remarkable at holding onto the football. South needs probably three turnovers in this game just to make everybody feel comfortable. That’s where this is going to get kind of interesting. If North Penn holds onto the football and doesn’t make the big mistake, I think most people would see them winning.
La Salle could lose this week to Nazareth. It wouldn’t surprise me at all. I think Nazareth a much better matchup for North Penn, although I think North Penn has a shot against La Salle. I think they’re playing with a lot more confidence. I think they’re healthier than they had been. They would have Shayne Watson for a full game unlike the first game, but I think they match up better with Nazareth.
This is a very strange year, and it would be kind of ironic if the year North Penn wasn’t expected to win it – if they somehow got to Hershey.
Prediction: North Penn 27, Council Rock South 17
SuburbanOneSports.com: Council Rock South downed Garnet Valley 38-24. You were at that game – share your thoughts.
Dan Dunkin: Council Rock South’s offense has been basically unstoppable most of the season, and their size up front and their desire is just a formidable combination. They’re very well coached, and they’re very determined, they’re very cohesive, and they’re a very experienced group. They’ve gotten better and better. Their running game has gotten more and more dominant in the last part of the season. They’ve rushed for over 1,100 yards in three playoff games.
Friday night’s game was a case where Garnet Valley was not a terrific defensive team to begin with and was giving up 23 points a game, so I was pretty confident CR South would win and really pretty handily. They scored on their first four possessions. They scored touchdowns on their first three drives. It went pretty much according to what on paper suggested.
Defensively – Rock South’s offense controls so much of the clock that is does help their defense significantly. Playing from ahead they’re able to be even more aggressive. They gave up some chunks passing to a pretty good passing team late in the first half, but that was understandable since Garnet Valley was trying to come back frantically. Rock South has dominated through these last three playoff games and they have worn the number one seed bull's-eye very well.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Comment about some of the Rock South players that stood out to you.
Dan Dunkin: Anthony Alimenti has just been off the charts and Brian Donnelly has as well. Donnelly has really gotten good at holding that play- fake handoff until the very last split second, knowing when to pitch and when to keep. He’s a good athlete and very tough to bring down. He’s fast and is just as valuable now as a ball handler as evidenced by Alimenti’s ascension the last seven weeks. The kid has another gear. He has great acceleration, pure speed and is good coming off the edges and making cuts. Ryan Whiteley is a terrific inside runner. Christian Crane – a name you’re going to be hearing a lot of next year - has been valuable as a runner, and he threw a great pass on the option the other night for a touchdown.
Defensively what you don’t hear a lot about with South is that they have 18 interceptions. That’s a great sign going into the North Penn game. While they have given up a few big passing plays, a lot of teams have been playing from behind on them. They’ve played a lot of passing teams, and they’ve handled it very well. They force you into mistakes.
SuburbanOneSports.com: How do you see Council Rock South matching up against North Penn?
Dan Dunkin: I think if Council Rock South plays to its potential in this game – mistake-free, or maybe one turnover they can live with as long as they force one or two from North Penn – I think that they can win. It’s an odd matchup when you have a one versus 11, but please – North Penn as an 11 is a joke. They are a dominant team. They have won 10 in a row, and they’re playing better than anybody in the district on both sides of the ball. Their defense has been incredible - they’re giving up less than nine points a game over the last 10 games.
What stands out to me about Council Rock South and really gives them a chance in this game is their will. They break opponents' spirit with their running game. They stick with it even if they’re not getting big gains. They might get three, two, two, six, two, three, four, 17. They’re going to stick with the run – that’s what they do even though I think they’re going to have to throw and complete a few passes in this game to get North Penn out of its eight in the box and to change it up a little bit. But they are who they are. They’re not going to throw it more than five times.
Rock South’s running game is very difficult to defend. North Penn is equipped to slow them down, but I really think if South doesn’t put the ball on the ground and if they stick with it even if they’re down by a touchdown or 10 points, and they keep pounding and pounding, they can win this game.
That’s assuming that they play as solid defensively as they have. Rock South has as big a challenge on that side of the ball as they do offensively because this is the best offense they’ve played against all year. Corey Ernst is a terrific quarterback – he has 25 touchdown passes and five interceptions. They’ve got the best of both worlds. They have two good running backs, one of whom – Dan Gevirtz – is their top receiver with 51 catches on the year. He’s been playing a lot of running back due to some injuries in the backfield during the playoffs. Now the kid he was stepping in for – Kyle Mayfield – is back, and James Fielder has returned, and that really makes them tough. It’s a handful for Rock South’s defense. I think they’re going to need to get a turnover to get a short field. They’re going to have to play just about a perfect game to win.
Prediction: Council Rock South 24, North Penn 21
SuburbanOneSports.com: Share your thoughts about the Pennsbury/North Penn game.
Dan Dunkin: Pennsbury has to feel good about how their season ended going into next year. They were coming off that very deflating regular season finale loss to Neshaminy that cost them a share of the league title and cost them about five spots in the seeding, but they go out and win two road playoff games very impressively. They couldn’t match up with North Penn to make it a close game. They fought hard, and that’s a great stepping stone going into next year. They have a lot of juniors coming back.
Galen Snyder has that program back. They were 5-5 a year ago, but they’re back to being Pennsbury again. I look for big things from them, I really do. They re-established their trademark kind of football on both sides of the ball.