Blog Post

SuburbanOneSports.com: Were there any surprises in week three?

Kevin Cooney: "Week three to me always seems a little 'eh,' a little anticlimactic, and I think that's basically what happened here. You knew North Penn was better that Pennsbury.

"I guess Pennridge losing the way they did to Perk Valley - that was a surprise. For Pennridge, Friday's game against Souderton is basically an elimination game. Souderton has a little room to play with as far as trying to get in the field of 16. If you're Pennridge and you lose this game and you still have North Penn and CB South, who I think it's fair to say are one and two in the division if you're doing a power structure, you're looking a bad, bad, bad, bad seed right now if they lose this game.�

Drew Markol: "You look at the Pennridge-Perkiomen Valley game (a 38-20 PV win) - I think we look as the Suburban One League as sometimes being the end-all, be-all once we get to the district playoffs. With North Penn and Neshaminy, that may well be, but there are teams out there like a Perk Valley, a Spring-Ford, and I'm sure I'm missing a couple that are going to do some damage in the playoffs. I was not at the Pennridge game, but you hear the score 38-0 Perk Valley at the end of the third quarter, and it makes you wonder.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about District One's schedule proposal.

Kevin Cooney: "I thought that was the most interesting thing out of last week. Basically, it would tear the leagues up, and there would be a more centralized form of a schedule. I've really come around to it. I like the fact that it would do away with power points. It would basically do away with maneuvering your non-league schedule to get into the playoffs through a false record.

"If you look at the Springfield case as an example, they would get to play schools that are more like them than they are now playing in the mish mash American Conference where you have a 6A school, a 5A and a 4A and is really a willy nilly type structure. This works better.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about Springfield Township discontinuing its varsity football program for the season.

Kevin Cooney: "You obviously feel bad, and I believe it's a sign of bad things to come and not just for that program, but I think it's a sign of where this sport is going. Nobody really wants to talk about this, but participation numbers for a lot of programs are dipping. Springfield is not an area where there are a lot of other socioeconomic factors. There are some school districts where there are kids who can't play football because they have to work or take care of someone in their family, and that's a large reason the numbers are down. Springfield, let's be honest, does not fit that mold.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Who are some of the teams to watch in the three conferences this season?

Drew Markol: "You have the defending district champ in Upper Dublin sitting in the American Conference. You throw in Quakertown, which has become a perennial district playoff team. You still have PW in there and Upper Moreland, which reached the Class AAA final last year before losing to Academy Park. Upper Moreland beat PW last year - that's a good program. They're playing bigger schools, which I think helps them in the end, and they can't be overlooked. I've spoken to several people who say - 'Look out for Hatboro in the American Conference.' They have some talent coming back, and head coach Mike Kapusta has them moving in the right direction. Some have called Hatboro the favorite in that conference. Of the three conferences, that probably will be the most interesting because you have a couple of different teams that could win it.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Win or lose against Parkland, has Upper Dublin's win over North Penn validated their season for once and for all?

Drew Markol: "Absolutely, no matter what happens on Saturday, and they needed validation because there were always doubts surrounding them. Even though last year they got to the district semifinals and played Pennsbury tough, which they did, but they lost that one, and until you win - now they've done that. You beat the defending district champs in the semis, and you beat North Penn - you're talking the heavyweights of the district you've taken care of.

SuburbanOneSports.com: The biggest game of the season features a pair of SOL teams when Upper Dublin takes on North Penn in Saturday's District One Quad-A title game. Your thoughts?

Kevin Cooney: "In my view, these are the two best teams in the district, and it kind of proved itself over time. When you look at North Penn and you look at what they've been able to do really since game three of the season when they lost that Downingtown East game, how they've been able to surge and grow and build momentum - they're now just rolling over teams. They took Neshaminy apart pretty well, and they took Downingtown East apart pretty well in the playoffs.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Earlier in the season, Kevin mentioned that he thought this was a down year for the SOL. Are you surprised that it's an All-SOL District One Quad-A semifinal this weekend?

Kevin Cooney: "I'll admit I've been wrong on this, especially with the National Conference. I think everybody thought Upper Dublin would be okay, but they wondered about whether they played a tough enough schedule. For people who doubt Upper Dublin - like me to a certain degree, you wonder if that schedule will catch up with them at some point. We'll find out this week if it does or not.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Quakertown will host Neshaminy in an all-SOL game on Friday. Your comments.

Kevin Cooney: "Neshaminy right now just has a lot of things going for it. From a character standpoint, that was a huge, huge game for Quakertown last week. If you had lost that game and you basically lost your last three after appearing to be on your way to dominating everything in the Continental Conference - give George Banas and his guys a lot of credit for winning a grind-it-out game on the road like they did, a defensive game.

"I think though I've got to lean toward Neshaminy. I think this is the game of the weekend, to be honest. I think this is going to be the best game of the weekend. Look, there are not a lot of guys on Neshaminy from two years ago when they went to the state semis, but there is a little bit more experience.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks East beat Quakertown last week, and the two teams will play again in this week's opening round of districts with Quakertown traveling to CB East on Saturday. Your thoughts?

Drew Markol: "For Quakertown, they lost to East last year, and it was their only loss in the Continental Conference, and this was a revenge game. They all said if Pennridge was the biggest rivalry, playing East would be number two, and the East kids feel the same way. Their big rivalry is West for right now, and that's all you can go with because the life span of a high school football player is two years in most cases. The East kids didn't play West last year, and they mercy ruled West this year, so it is Quakertown.

SuburbanOneSports.com: Council Rock North - behind the remarkable performance of quarterback Brandon McIlwain - knocked Quakertown from the ranks of the undefeated last week. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: "We've been saying all year long when you have a player like Brandon McIlwain who comes along every 50 years - he can win games for you, and you're never out of it. Last year when they played, he went crazy too, but Quakertown was able to come back (in a 48-32 win). This year I'm sure Council Rock North said, 'We want a little bit of revenge,' and the kid went nuts doing what he does. He can do that to teams. That's what makes them dangerous against anybody they play because whoever they play - Rock North has the best player, and when you have the best player, you're never really out of it.

"Now you have Quakertown that has to win against CB East - the only team that beat them last year, and it's a good CB East team - in order to get a share of the Continental Conference. If Quakertown were to lose, the Council Rock North-Council Rock South winner is going to get the title.