Intelligencer/Courier Times 'Let's Talk Football (Wk 6)

Back for its fourth season, the popular Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features high school football beat writers Kevin Cooney and Dan Dunkin.  Cooney, the Phillies beat writer, covers 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 share their perspective on the teams in their coverage area. To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the web site http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/

(Dan Dunkin is on vacation this week but will return next week.)

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Central Bucks West pulled off the upset of the week with its come-from-behind win over Pennridge. Your comments on that game.

Kevin Cooney:  “What I think we’ve seen here is that in the Continental Conference, you can just throw it up and take North Penn, Central Bucks West, Pennridge and CB South, and how they’ll come out in this league, we don’t know. Obviously, for West, that was a huge program win. It’s as good as they’ve had since four years ago when they made the playoffs and went to Coatesville and won that game. For them to come back from down 13-0 on the road against a good football team says a lot. I think what it shows is that we’re at the point now that you can’t look past them. They have put themselves in this position. Yes, they have South, yes, they have North Penn still to go, and they’ve kind of been riding that razor-thin edge of pulling games out late or hanging on at the end, but they are a legit contender.

“Let’s take West out of the equation and look at the other three who are the expected powers. North Penn, South and Pennridge are now getting off to this alarming trend of slow starts in games and inconsistent offense. They’ve shown the ability to rally, but there are times when – if you live by that – you’ll fall short. You can’t always play on that razor’s edge. It’s working for West right now, but for the traditional powers, I’m not sure it will work if they want to have a long, deep run into November.

“Pennridge is at a point right now – if you’re them, you look at a game like that at home against a team that, quite frankly, probably isn’t as well regarded as they are, how do you lose a game like that and how do you bounce back from a game like that. Has some of that superman image been taken away from them a little bit and they are not the indestructible team in that division. We’re about to find out over the next few weeks. Pennridge will get Souderton this week and then they’ll play South and then they’ll play North Penn, and as we go down the line, they can re-establish that, but right now, they seem very vulnerable.

“West has put themselves in a position – forget just making the playoffs, they could win this division. I think everybody was shocked on Friday night. When Pennridge jumped out to a 13-0 lead, you’re thinking, ‘Okay, they’ll run Class. Here they go,’ but they never really were able to put them away.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Central Bucks West will play Central Bucks East this week. Will East pose a problem for West?

Kevin Cooney:  “It’s a rivalry game, and there’s the letdown factor for West. East is going to come in with guns blazing, especially after winning last week against Hatboro. Quite frankly, West can’t afford a slipup.  All the good work they’ve done to this point, if they lose to East, it’s kind of negated. I’m sure that’s what Brian Hensel is preaching this week.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Central Bucks South struggled in the first half in Friday’s come-from-behind win at Souderton. Is that cause for concern for South?

Kevin Cooney:  “The way CB South’s offense operates – I don’t want to compare it to Chip Kelly’s offense, but there are times when it will sputter a little bit. I wasn’t at the CB South/Souderton game on Friday, but listening to the game on the radio, there was a little sputtering in the first half. They didn’t quite get it going until the third quarter. Is it real concerning? Yes, it will be real concerning down the road when you play a better team.

“Josh Adams cures a lot. Adams is probably the most valuable player to his team because he carries so much of the load. It boils down to the fact that West was able to overcome last week, and North Penn a couple of weeks ago was scoreless against CB East at halftime, but at some point, you’re going to pay for a slow start. South got away with it last week. They’ve gotten away with it a couple of times in the non-league season, but don’t make it a trend.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  This week’s game of the week in the Continental Conference is North Penn at Central Bucks South. Your thoughts about that game.

Kevin Cooney:  “The strange thing is – South dealt North Penn its first conference loss ever last year. That was a real emotional game because everyone knew what was on the line. It’s possible there’s more on the line here for North Penn because, again, with the 0-3 start, they know if they lose this one they’re really hanging on the ropes with Pennridge up ahead and CB West up ahead. If North Penn wins, they’re right in the middle of the race, and they get revenge for what happened last year. It’s a huge, huge momentum game in that sense. I think its one of those tone-setting games. We’re entering week six this weekend, and when you’re into October, you want to get the wheels going. If you’re making a run, this is when you have to do it. If you’re North Penn and haven’t really been sharp until last week, here’s your shot. Let’s see what you are. It’s a big road game. I actually expect Dick Beck’s crew will come out ready to play. I think this is the best matchup you’ll see the rest of the season. I know a lot of people will focus on Pennridge/CB South, but I think the North Penn/CB South may be the best matchup because of everything that’s going to be on the line.

“If South wins this game and loses to Pennridge, they’ll still probably make the playoffs. If South loses this game, now you’re suddenly teetering. You have two losses and still have West up ahead. This is the kind of game that swings a lot of things. It could give you a home game if you win it. It could knock you out of the playoffs down the road if you lose it.”

SuburbanOneSports.com: The big game in the National Conference is Pennsbury at Abington. Talk about that game.

Kevin Cooney:  “We had Tim Sorber on the radio show last week (WNPV 1440 AM), and the one thing I brought up to him – ‘You guys always play close games with Pennsbury, and you always play weird games.’ This is where the loss of (quarterback) Anthony Lee and (running back) Craig Reynolds could really hurt Abington. The Abington defense has been really good and did a really good job last week battling through a muck-and-mire game against Bensalem when their offense wasn’t going. How do they handle the Pennsbury attack because you know what’s coming with Pennsbury. Sorber mentioned it – there’s nothing fancy. It’s old school, line up, hard knocking, kick-you-in-the-teeth football.

“Just like we talked about with CB South and North Penn – Pennsbury has a loss to Easton. It’s not a bad loss, but you lose again and now you have two losses, and you still have Neshaminy on your schedule. You set yourself up for down the road with this game.

“If you’re Abington, you’ve put yourself in a real good position to battle for the conference title when you play Neshaminy in a few weeks. If you’re Pennsbury and win this game, you set yourself up to win the conference title when you play against your big rival Neshaminy the final week of the season. If you lose it, maybe you lose home field. There’s a lot of different mechanisms in here.

“These games are always fun. There’s always something weird that happens. I think Pennsbury right now is healthier. It will be interesting to see how Tim Sorber pieces everything together with all the injuries.

“If you’re lining up the top three teams in the SOL combined, with all due respect to Upper Dublin, you’re taking these three and then you’re taking Pennridge, maybe Upper Dublin and CB South, but that’s your list. You’re talking two of the top three in the league are playing each other when Pennsbury faces Abington. You have CR North who is teetering on the brink of not being in contention. It’s not a good year in the conference. It’s competitive in the American, it’s top heavy in the National – the three at the top are pretty good when they’re healthy, but if you want to talk about overall great games every night, it’s just not there.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Upper Dublin remains unbeaten this season.  Why haven’t the Flying Cardinals gotten the respect of some the other unbeaten teams in the area?

Scott Huff:  “It’s the old argument that Upper Dublin hasn’t played anyone.  But that argument doesn’t continue to be relevant as now Cardinal fans can play the ‘score comparison’ game to support the notion that Upper Dublin is indeed one of the elite teams in the area.

“Take a breath – here goes.

“Upper Dublin beat Central Bucks West handily (45-21); Central Bucks West beat Pennridge (21-20); Pennridge beat Emmaus (33-27); Emmaus beat Easton (14-7); and Easton beat Pennsbury (38-28).

“Anyone want to argue that Pennsbury (4-1) isn’t one of the elite teams in the area?  Or Pennridge (4-1) or Central Bucks West (4-1) for that matter?

“The strength of schedule that Upper Dublin will play for the remainder of the SOL American Conference is not intimidating.  The Cardinals – one of five Quad-A teams in the conference – will play Class AAA schools in Upper Moreland and Upper Merion – and a Class AA school in Springfield.

“The game that will biggest test will be against defending SOL American Conference champion Plymouth Whitemarsh.

“Until then, Upper Dublin may not get the respect that it feels it deserves.  But you can only play who is on your schedule.”

SuburbanOneSports.com: Who is Connor Hanlon? Every week the Plymouth Whitemarsh QB seems to be putting up big numbers.

Scott Huff:  “Connor Hanlon has led the Colonials to three straight impressive victories.

“Plymouth Whitemarsh was routed in its opening two games of the season in losses to Perkiomen Valley (33-0) and Abington (34-12).  However, Hanlon has led the resurgent Colonials to a trio of victories over Downingtown West (36-34), Upper Moreland (48-28), and Cheltenham (49-21).

“Hanlon led a furious PW comeback against Downingtown West and came up with huge plays to secure the win.  Hanlon fired a TD pass to James Rodgers and connected with Jose Vega for a 2-point conversion to send the game into overtime.  And with the score knotted a 34-34 in OT, Hanlon scored the game winning points on a run for the 2-point conversion.

“In the win over Upper Moreland, Hanlon rushed for over 100 yards and a touchdown.  And Hanlon topped that performance in the victory over Cheltenham with three touchdown passes and two rushing scores in the huge win over the Panthers.

That’s who Connor Hanlon is!”

SuburbanOneSports:  The two SOL American Conference Class AAA teams – Upper Moreland and Upper Merion – played each other last week.  What impact does that have for the district playoffs?

Scott Huff:  “Upper Moreland beat Upper Merion 55-34 in a real AAA shootout last week.  Both the Golden Bears and the Vikings are competing for one of eight slots from District One in the AAA playoffs.  There are 21 Class AAA teams from District One, and last year Upper Moreland lost in the first round 35-23 to Academy Park.   The win by Upper Moreland is a nice way to get one of the 2013 invitations – but don’t count Upper Moreland in – or Upper Merion out – just yet.”

SuburbanOneSports.com:  Evaluate this week’s games in the American Conference.

Scott Huff:  “Upper Dublin (5-0, 2-0) will put its unbeaten season on the line with a home game against Cheltenham (2-3, 1-1).  The talented backfield of Kyleif Lee and John Lee – along with senior quarterback John Derr – should keep the Cardinals flying and unbeaten.

“Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-2, 2-0) will put its unbeaten conference season on the line with a home game against Wissahickon (2-3, 1-1).  Connor Hanlon has been terrific the last three weeks – and should make it four weeks in a row as the Colonials march to another win.

“Upper Moreland (2-3, 1-1) won its first conference game last week against Upper Merion, while Norristown (0-5, 0-2) remained winless for the season.  The Golden Bears feature sensational sophomore running back Tyler Whitmore who should have a blockbuster game against the Eagles.

“Upper Merion (3-2, 1-1) will attempt to bounce back from its first conference loss, while Springfield (2-2, 0-2) is looking for its first conference win.  The Vikings showcase an explosive offense with quarterback Carmen Fortino and running back DeQuan Mitchell, while the Spartan defense held Wissahickon to just 14 points last week.  This could be an excellent game – flip a coin to determine the outcome.”