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Back for its 13th season, the popular Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features football beat writer Drew Markol. 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.
Join Jeff Nolan and Kevin Cooney for the WPHT High School Football Scoreboard Show as they recap the night of high school football on Friday at 10 p.m. on 1210AM/WPHT and the Audacy app.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks West defeated Central Bucks East for the second time in eight days in last year’s opening round of the District 1 6A Tournament. You were there. Your thoughts?
Drew Markol: “It was funny the way that things fell. You had East and West, the archrivals, playing each other the last regular season game. West wins that one 21-14. They never trailed in the game, but it was tied a couple of times. East had everything going for it, but West takes it away from them. Then East gets another shot. There were questions surrounding Ethan Shine, East’s senior running back and linebacker, who’s just had a fantastic season on both sides of the ball. 
He’d gotten hurt in the third quarter of the first game the week before, and whether or not he would play was up in the air, but he started. I don’t know if he was 100 percent. Probably not, but they did have him back and available.
“West scored the first four times they had the ball. They were just moving at will. It was 28-0, and we’re looking at each other – are they going to have a mercy rule in the first round of the playoffs. Then East came back and made it 28-12 in the third quarter. Excitement built on East’s side, but Cooper Taylor had a big hit of the receiver over the middle. He hit him pretty good, and the ball popped up in the air, and Jackson Estes picked it off. Any time East would get any kind of momentum, West would score and take away that momentum. You never had the feeling West was in trouble. It was a good job by them.
“That game took a while to play because of all the points, and you’re hearing reports that North Penn and Pennsbury are nip and tuck. You find out that North Penn had a 14-0 lead. Then all of a sudden, it’s 14-all, and then it’s 21-14 Pennsbury. You figure Pennsbury has that game, might score another touchdown and win by a couple scores. Well, North Penn scores, goes for two, gets it and wins 22-21. Now you have West getting a home game, which they didn’t expect to get as an 11 seed because #14 North Penn beats #3 Pennsbury.
“Pennsbury finally beats North Penn during the regular season for the first time since 1996, but they get to the playoffs, and North Penn turns the tables against them, ends Pennsbury’s season and moves on. It’s funny how things work out. West had a rematch with East in the first round, and now in the quarterfinal, they have another rematch with a team they scored 35 points against and beat pretty handily in North Penn. That’s one of the exciting things about the playoffs – you never know.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your comments about North Penn’s win over Pennsbury, and North Penn’s quarterfinal game against CB West.
Drew Markol: “Junior Amir Major gave North Penn’s running game some spark. Rob Rowan, the CB West coach, you ask him about North Penn, and he said, ‘They throw and they throw and they throw with Ryan Zeltt the quarterback.’ Think about it – North Penn won that game against Pennsbury without Yazeed Haynes, the University of Georgia commit. They tried to get him eligible to play, but he transferred in as a senior, and the eligibility was denied. They took a Georgia commit away from their offense, and they still won. They also were without their other top receiver, Rashad McNeill, who was injured. Good for them.
“Now you have another quarterfinal between a pair of rivals that are seeded 11th (West) and 14th (North Penn). I always say the district field has too many teams that get in, and then number 14 goes and beats number three, and number 11 goes and beats number six. It shows how little I know.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Souderton defeated Central Bucks South 10-0 and will travel to Perk Valley on Thursday for a second round game. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “You look at Souderton. They were 8-2 during the regular season, but they were playing a CB South team in the first round of the playoffs last week that had won four in row. South beat CB West among those four wins, and they were really playing well. South was able to move the ball on Souderton – they got over 300 yards of offense, but when Souderton needed to, they buckled down and stopped them and got the shutout, which you don’t really see in a 10 vs. 7 seed, so that was very impressive.
“Now Souderton gets a Perk Valley team – they had some nice wins. They beat Downingtown West this year, and their only loss was to a really good Roman Catholic team that’s going to make some noise in Class 5A in the state. Souderton is going into this game, and they should have a ton of confidence because they beat a pretty good South team. On defense, they had 11 starters back from a year ago, and that just proves that it helps to have another year of experience. They’re playing well at the right time.
“The PAC has not always been that strong in football, but this Perk Valley team has some good wins. The Pioneer Athletic Conference isn’t known for doing very well in the postseason, but this might be a different team. We’ll see. I haven’t seen Perk Valley, but if you look at their scores, they’re pretty good. I’m sure Souderton will be ready. Perk Valley doesn’t like hearing that it’s in a bad conference. For those PAC teams years ago that didn’t do well, the kids today don’t care. They just know they’re pretty good, and they want to keep winning. If they win this one, they get to play North Penn or CB West, two very low seeds. Everybody does the math come district playoffs. It should be a good game.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin handled Academy Park with relative ease and this week host Great Valley. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “That opening round game was a 16 versus a one, and Upper Dublin just ran all over them. Upper Dublin’s test does not come in the districts. It’s going to come in the state semifinals, which will be the first week after the district championship against the winner of the Imhotep Charter/Roman Catholic game. They play Great Valley this week. Great Valley beat Upper Moreland last week, and going into that game, Great Valley had only beaten one team with a winning record. I don’t see Upper Dublin having much trouble on the district level. They’re that good.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Plymouth Whitemarsh notched a big win over Sun Valley in last week’s opening round and will host Chester. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Plymouth Whitemarsh just continues to roll. They lost to CB South in their opener – that’s a long time ago now. They lost to a pretty good Ridley team, another 6A team, so their only losses are to two district playoff 6A teams. They didn’t play Upper Dublin this year, and it looks like a lot of us, including myself, are giving Upper Dublin the 5A title, but I don’t think Plymouth Whitemarsh will lose this week, and they might have something to say about Upper Dublin when we get a little further down the road.”
Markol’s picks (Winners in bold)
Souderton @ Perk Valley
North Penn @ CB West
Great Valley @ Upper Dublin
Chester @ Plymouth Whitemarsh