Scott Huff previews all four of this weekend’s District One Class AAAA quarterfinal games.
By Scott Huff
The notorious brackets – the road map to the state title.
The teams in the PIAA District One Quad-A playoffs are seeded 1-16 – and not without serious questions to be pondered. There are sometimes heated debates about strength of league and strength of schedule. But in the end, the numbers are the numbers and the top 16 teams get the invite to the tournament dance.
Some doubted the validity of Wissahickon making the field of 16. After all, the Trojans lost two Suburban One League American Conference games to conference champion Plymouth Whitemarsh (35-21) and Cheltenham (20-6). The SOL American does not exactly have the respect that its brother conferences command in the SOL National and SOL Continental, and really, would Wissahickon be able to beat a North Penn or Souderton this year?
Maybe.
[#16] Wissahickon went to [#1] Downingtown East and upset the Cougars 38-35 to send the brackets into turmoil. In fact, the ‘top’ of the bracket had [#13] Neshaminy an easy 42-21 winner over [# 4] Plymouth Whitemarsh – an ‘upset’ – hardly. How about [#9] Coatesville being a 38-21 victory over [#8] Unionville? No shocker there. Only [#5] Central Bucks South held tight to its seed with an easy 38-14 victory over [#12] Haverford – thus making the Titans the top seed in the top half of the bracket.
The ‘bottom’ half of the bracket went according to seeding. Pennridge [#3] defended its home Poppy Yoder turf with a 35-14 win over [#14] Abington. The Rams will host [#6] Pennsbury which defended its home turf at Falcon Field with a 21-13 win over [#11] West Chester Rustin. Ridley [#2] barely defended its home field with a 20-17 victory over [#15] Downingtown West, while [#7] Spring-Ford was a surprisingly easy 43-27 winner over [#10] Garnet Valley.
The PIAA Quad-A championship journey continues this week – and the bracket busters are looming.
[#6] Pennsbury Falcons @ [#3] Pennridge Rams
Pennsbury:
The Season: Pennsbury (9-2) was the Suburban One League National Conference champion as the Falcons ran through their conference unbeaten. The lone setbacks of the season came in the preseason as Pennsbury lost its opening game of the season to Easton (32-13) and lost in week three to Downingtown East (42-28).
Last Week: Pennsburyopened the PIAA District One Quad-A playoffs with a 21-13 victory over West Chester Rustin (8-3). The Falcons led 14-0 at the half but were forced to hold off the Golden Knights late in the game. Shawn Pepper scored a pair of touchdowns for the winners – one on an 85-yard run – and the other on a 39-yard TD pass from Breon Clark. Clark – who was a perfect 3-3 passing – also threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Bullaro. Pepper led the Falcons in rushing with 136 yards on 16 carries.
Stat Stuff: Pennsburyhas scored an average of 28.5 points per game this season. The Falcons have permitted an average of 14.5 points per game. That computes to a + 14.0 points per game.
Pennsbury head coach Galen Snyder says: “I believe that both teams are going to want to establish the running game and mix in a pass or two. There is no doubt that No. 25 (Michael Class) is one of the best backs in the area – he has really good speed, good feet, and can break tackles. Pennridge can also be very physical with No. 9 (John Dubyk), No. 80 (Michael Supp), and No. 44 (Kenny Crawford). They are a hard nosed football team – just like us.”
Pennridge:
The Season: Pennridge (10-1) was the Suburban One League Continental Conference champion (pending a Thanksgiving Day win over Quakertown) as the Rams raced through their conference season unbeaten. The lone loss of the season for Pennridge came in the second week of the season when the Rams lost a 24-21 overtime contest against Bensalem. In that game, Pennridge fumbled four times inside the Owl 10-yard line.
Last Week: Pennridge opened the PIAA District One Quad-A playoffs with a 35-14 victory over Abington (7-4). The Rams had a spectacular outing turned in by junior megastar Michael Class, who rushed for 283 yards and four long distance touchdowns of 48, 49, 45, and 73 yards. Senior quarterback Alex Krivda fired an eight-yard touchdown pass to Micah Stutzman.
Stat Stuff: Pennridge has scored an average of 34.1 points per game this season. The Rams have permitted an average of 17.5 points per game. That computes to a + 16.6 points per game.
Pennridge head coach Randy Cuthbert says: “Pennsbury is going to come straight at you with the running game. We played Abington, who was a wide open football team, and now we are going to have to change our preparation and get ready for a very physical team that wants to run the football. We are going to have to match what they do physically, or we could be in some trouble.”
[# 13] Neshaminy Redskins @ [# 5] Central Bucks South Titans
Neshaminy:
The Season: Neshaminy (8-3) was the runner-up in the SOL National Conference behind conference champion Pennsbury. The Redskins suffered a non-league loss to Souderton (18-7) and conference losses to William Tennent (20-17) and Pennsbury (7-0).
Last Week: Neshaminy opened the PIAA District One Quad-A playoffs with a resounding 42-21 victory over SOL American Conference champion Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-2). Tailback Nate Hall rushed for 134 yards and scored four touchdowns to pace the Skins’ victory. Denny Lord scored on a 1-yard run, and Cole Creighton scored on a 9-yard pass from Hugh Hart.
Stat Stuff: Neshaminy has scored an average of 27.7 points per game this season. The Redskins have permitted an average of 15.1 points per game. That computes to a + 12.6 points per game.
Neshaminy head coach Mark Schmidt says: “If we want to beat Central Bucks South, we are going to have to play our best game of the year. They are so explosive with (Josh) Adams and (John) Pileggi that you better have said your prayers before the game. They have a unique offense, and we are going to have to be able to understand and react to be successful on defense. In the win against PW, the guys showed up and played well, and we are going to have to do the same against CB South.”
Central Bucks South:
The Season: Central Bucks South was the runner-up in the SOL Continental Conference behind conference champion Pennridge. The Titans lone loss of the season came against Pennridge - 21-10.
Last Week: Central Bucks South opened the PIAA District One Quad-A playoffs with a resounding 38-14 over Central League foe Haverford (8-3). Sophomore sensation Josh Adams rushed for a game-high 160 yards and scored three touchdowns. Cale Mosher scored on a 12-yard run and also caught a 52-yard scoring pass from John Pileggi. Pileggi completed nine passes for 160 yards.
Stat Stuff: Central Bucks South has scored an average of 39.5 points per game this season. The Titans have permitted an average of 15.8 points per game. That computes to an average of + 23.7 points per game.
Central Bucks South head coach Dave Rackovan says: “Neshaminy is one of the top programs in the state, and that is because Mark Schmidt has made it that way. That tradition and level of expectation makes them very difficult to play. They have talented players – the tailback (Nate Hall) is a great cutter and can keep a team off balance. They want to be physical and run the ball at you – and we have to be able to match that.”
[# 16] Wissahickon Trojans @ [# 9] Coatesville Red Raiders
Wissahickon:
The Season: Wissahickon (8-3) was the runner-up in the SOL American Conference behind conference champion Plymouth Whitemarsh. The Trojans dropped games to Archbishop Ryan (29-22), Plymouth Whitemarsh (35-21), and Cheltenham (20-6).
Last Week: Wissahickon shocked the PIAA District One Quad-A world as the Trojans marched to a 38-35 victory over top seeded Downingtown East (10-1). Dave Stellato had a terrific game with 155 yards on 22 carries that included four touchdowns. Dan Murphy added 111 yards and a touchdown for the winners. Greg McDonough booted a 22-yard field goal in the final moments to secure the victory.
Stat Stuff: Wissahickon has scored an average of 34.6 points per game this season. The Trojans have permitted an average of 22.1 points per game. That computes to a + 12.5 points per game.
Wissahickon head coach Jeff Cappa says: “Coatesville is very similar to Downingtown East on both offense and defense. They have speed guys that can spread the field and score on any play on offense. They have good size and are very impressive on defense. It is a team that really doesn’t have any real weakness. We want to be able to try and control the ball on offense and take some time off the clock. We have to be prepared and stay focused.”
Coatesville:
The Season: Coatesville (9-2) was the runner-up in the Ches-Mont National Division behind division champion Downingtown East. The Red Raiders lost a non-league game to Malvern Prep (19-14) and a division game to Downingtown East (35-34).
Last Week: Coatesville opened the PIAA District One playoffs with a 38-21 victory over Unionville (8-3). Daquan Worley rushed for a game-high 228 yards for the Raiders. Quarterback Emmett Hunt completed six passes for 82 yards and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns. Dre Boggs scored on a long distance run of 68 yards for the winners.
Stat Stuff: Coatesville has scored an average of 36.0 points per game this season. The Raiders have permitted just 12.9 points per game. That computes to a + 23.1 points per game.
[# 9] Spring-Ford Rams @ [#2] Ridley Green Raiders
Spring-Ford:
The Season: Spring-Ford (10-1) finished the season as the runner-up in the Pioneer Athletic Conference behind conference champion Pottsgrove. The Rams only loss of the season came against Pottsgrove in a 26-0 loss.
Last Week: Spring-Ford opened the PIAA District One Quad-A playoffs with a 43-27 victory over Garnet Valley (8-3). Tate Carter rushed for 170 yards and caught four passes for an additional 97 yards for the Rams. Quarterback Hank Coyne completed 11 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns. Jarred Jones caught a 21-yard TD pass and also scored on a 7-yard run.
Stat Stuff: Spring-Ford has scored an average of 37.6 points per game this season. The Rams have permitted 16.2 points per game. That computes to a + 21.4 points per game.
Ridley:
The Season: Ridley (11-0) finished the season with an unbeaten record and champion of the Central League.
Last Week: Ridley struggled somewhat in defeating Downingtown West 20-17. The Green Raiders were led in rushing by Darren Washington with 130 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown. Rich Coia added 83 yards for the winners and also scored a touchdown. Kelton Hevery booted a pair of field goals for Ridley – one of 26 yards – and the other of 23 yards.
Stat Stuff: Ridley has scored an average of 29.1 points per game this season. The Green Raiders have permitted an average of 11.2 points per game. That computes to a + 17.9 points per game.
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