Back for its fifth season, the popular Intelligencer/Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features high school football beat writers Drew Markol and Dan Dunkin. Markol covers schools in the Intelligencer area while Dan Dunkin covers teams in the Courier Times area. Both share their perspective on the teams in their coverage area. Scott Huff, football writer for SuburbanOneSports.com, shares his thoughts about the American Conference squads. To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the Intelligencer/Courier Times web site http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about Quakertown’s big win over Council Rock North.
Dan Dunkin: “I undersold Quakertown all year. I knew they had a very good defense. Council Rock North absolutely took that defense apart the first quarter and a half. They were up 19 points (26-7), and their hurry-up spread offense gave Quakertown all kinds of trouble. I have – in my almost 30-year career covering sports at all levels – rarely seen a game turn like that one did where it was essentially like two different games. Before you knew it, Quakertown was within six at halftime, and they just totally dominated the last two-and-a-half quarters of that game. They scored 34 unanswered points. Council Rock North could not stop their running game led by Rob Burns. Quakertown’s offensive line and Burns were just outstanding. He’s a very determined, good all-around runner and had 321 yards.
“North just played awful defense – terrible. Quakertown just really wore them down. Two me, it was a two-way revelation. One is that Quakertown is much better than I thought. I thought they were good, but they’re better than I thought. They’re a solid all-around team. They’ve also got a very underrated quarterback in Alec Vera.
“North is doing it with Brandon McIlvain and a pretty dazzling offense and mirrors. McIlvain is asked to do so much for that team. He carried the ball 25 times, and he threw it 41 times. He had almost 400 yards of total offense in the first half, and yet they lost. Quakertown really shut them down in the second half, and again, it was an amazing turnaround. All the credit to Quakertown. I think that will be tough for CR North to recover from if they make it to the postseason.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: CR North turns right around and plays CR South in the Rock Cup rivalry game. Your thoughts.
Dan Dunkin: “I’m going to raise some eyebrows, but I’m going out with guns blazing, right or wrong. I’m picking CR South in an upset. Quietly, CR South has come back and had a decent season. They have a chance to be above .500 after two tough two-win seasons. As I’ve said before, Vince Bedesem has more of the kind of kids that can play his style of physical wishbone. He has an excellent running back in Vince Alimenti. He’s been one of the best runners in the whole region this year. They’re an improved football team.
“I didn’t like what I saw from CR North last week. I give them a lot of credit for what they’ve done with the program the last two years. Offensively, they have a nice design, they’re fun to watch play, but again, you’ve got get in there and trade punches. After losing the way they did, it’s going to be a heck of a comeback in one week’s time emotionally to save their season. They might be knocked out of the playoffs or they’d fall way down – they’re number eight right now. It would be a devastating loss, but I just think they’re very vulnerable right now.
“CR South is going to pound and pound with that wishbone and make that defense stop them. It will be an up-and-down-the-field game for a while, but I could see CR South doing exactly what they did against Tennent, which was an extremely high-scoring track meet kind of game, but there it was - Tennent took the lead with three minutes left, and CR South marched all the way down the field and scored from the one-yard line with about a minute left. I could see them doing that, or I could see them just controlling the clock and have it won with a few minutes left. I’m picking CR South in an upset.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennsbury recovered from its loss to North Penn to crush Central Bucks South. Your comments.
Dan DunkIn: “I covered that game, too, and that spoke volumes of Pennsbury’s character and their competitiveness to bounce back like they did from an obviously devastating and disheartening loss to a North Penn team that has really got Pennsbury’s number. Pennsbury’s schedule was backloaded. They had North Penn, they had CB South, which is tremendously explosive, and this week they have Neshaminy. They had to recover from that loss,and boy, did they. They came out and punched CB South in the mouth, 55-7. They’re just tougher than every team they play. They knocked Josh Adams out of the game. Their running game totally destroyed CB South, which doesn’t have a very good defense. It was a joke how much better they were than CB South, and it really told me – okay, Pennsbury has got their act together quickly, and they’re ready to roll on. I do think, as I thought before that game, that the loss to North Penn could propel them and make them better, and I think it will.
“They’re a focused, grounded group, and that reset button doesn’t hurt right before the playoffs."
SuburbanOneSports.com: Truman earned a big win over Tennent and is on the bubble for the postseason. Talk about the Tigers.
Dan Dunkin: “Now Truman knows how to win. They see the playoffs out there for the first time in school history. They’re not playing like they have pressure on them. They’re really playing like they have an opportunity at hand. Having won a couple of those critical close games that saved their season put them in good shape to play a competitive team like Tennent. You pull for Truman – they’re one of the more remarkable turnarounds I’ve seen in my tenure, especially after what they have done the last two years. It would be great if they could make the playoffs. I expect them to take care of business against Norristown this weekend and then see how the power points fall. Right now they’re on the cusp. They’re number 16 out of 16 teams. They just have to take care of business. The way they’ve come down the stretch strong – they’re getting rewarded for all their hard work".
SuburbanOneSports.com: Neshaminy hung tough with North Penn. Your thoughts about Neshaminy.
Dan Dunkin: “Neshaminy still has a good amount of talent, and what’s happened in the last two years, they haven’t scored a touchdown against Pennsbury, and they’ve lost two in a row. It’s at home, it’s Senior Night, and they’d like to spoil Pennsbury’s playoff seeding and its third straight outright or share of a league championship. Coming off a very impressive performance against North Penn in a game they should have won but lost late, they’re going to come out with some momentum, and I expect them to really compete hard and well against Pennsbury. But I think ultimately they’re not going to be able to hang with them. I think it will be a close game for maybe a half or two-and-a-half quarters, but Pennsbury is going to pull away and win by two or three touchdowns. Pennsbury is too strong and too deep. They’re not going to be able to stop that Pennsbury running game all night.”
SuburbanOneSports: Can Abington beat North Penn for a shot at the playoffs?
Dan Dunkin: “No. No, because a Dick Beck team is not going to lose in such a big spot where you've had to come back a long way to get into playoff contention and stay there. You beat Pennsbury and then you weather a letdown and don't have a very good game against Neshaminy, and now they're right there. They're an 11 seed, they're going to be one of the dangerous teams in the playoffs. You just don't see a Beck team lose in this spot or get upset. You just never see it.
"Abington has certainly got players, but their pattern this year is they've lost some close games. They've been competitive, but they haven't really known how to win in crucial spots in league play. North Penn wrote the book on how to win these important games. They're just a better-rounded, fundamentally sounder team. I think it can be a fun game to watch, but North Penn is going to win it handily."
SuburbanOneSports.com: Quakertown rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Council Rock North. Your thoughts about that game.
Drew Markol: "I think Quakertown made believers out of some people. This was a true litmus test against the team that had the best player not named Josh Adams in the whole Suburban One League in Brandon McIlwain. To come back like they did and adjust, it must have been a bit of a shellshock to give up all that offense in the first half when you hadn't done that all season, but then to adjust in the second half and score the way they did - I didn't think they could score that quickly or that many points, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
"I've seen Quakertown play quite a few times this season, and it seems like on every play - even when Rob Burns is stopped, he seems to fall forward for even a yard or two. It's always positive when he gets the ball. He runs very hard. His speed is deceptive, and that offensive line - they've been able to run the ball all season. The Bonomo kid (Nick Bonomo) is not bad either, and that's a good two-headed rushing attack that's working.
"Quakertown is better than everybody thought they were. You don't keep winning like this - they've won close games, they've won some blowouts, but this was a huge game on the schedule, and everybody knew it. They went over to Council Rock and beat a pretty good team that's also going to be in the district playoffs. If there were people that didn't believe, there are fewer now because of what they did."
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennridge came back to win an emotional game over Souderton and will play winless Bensalem. What is their situation in regards to the playoffs.
Drew Markol: "You look at Pennridge's preseason schedule - Hatboro-Horsham has been struggling. CB East has been okay but not great, and then you have CB West, which had been struggling and now has to forfeit its final two games. Pennridge lost to North Penn, Pennsbury and CB South, so they shouldn't be in the playoffs. I do like the fact that they played some old rivals after the realignment, but that's going to come back and burn them because you have to play somebody better - even if they played somebody like Emmaus again, they'd be in the playoffs even if they lost, I think, because there's a team with five or six wins. It's just a lesson, I guess, that you have to try and beef up your non-league schedule a little bit and also get a little bit lucky that some of those non-league teams play well. The way it's falling with Bensalem struggling and I thought Souderton would be better this year - it kind of points to how much their non-league schedule really hurt them, and that has to be addressed.
“You have to play somebody decent. I know they wanted to play Emmaus, but they couldn’t play Emmaus because they’re in that huge Lehigh Valley League, and they have no non-league games, which, is why they had to cancel the home and home with Pennridge, but they need to go out and find somebody who’s historically good. Call Henderson or call Downingtown or Perk Valley.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Abington is facing a must-win situation when it faces North Penn if the Ghosts want a postseason berth. Your comments.
Drew Markol: "You look at North Penn, and you could see the letdown coming because beating Pennsbury was a great win for North Penn and Neshaminy is struggling, so they figured, 'Okay, we can kind of get past them.' It turns out they did, but it was tight.
"Obviously, this game means more to Abington than it does to North Penn. For North Penn, their thought process is, 'We're in, and that was the important thing. As long as we're in it really doesn't matter if we're first or 16th because we could beat anybody.'
"If you're Abington, you're 5-4, and if you beat North Penn, it's a huge win, and you find yourself making the playoffs, which a couple of weeks ago didn't look very likely. Can they do it? I think with the way North Penn has been playing of late, I would lean towards North Penn. Again, Abington has more on the line, but I think North Penn is just a little better."
SuburbanOneSports.com: Truman rolled to a big win over William Tennent. Any comments?
Drew Markol: “Truman is fighting to get into the district playoffs. They beat CR North, and they’re pretty good. It just seems like it’s a magical year for them. They’re not looking for moral victories – ‘Hey, we came close to making districts.’ They want to get in.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks South not only lost to Pennsbury but also saw Josh Adams go down with an injury. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “I didn’t see the game, but from what I heard, once he came out, Pennsbury was just pulling away. You could have had five Josh Adams out there, and it wouldn’t have mattered, so why do you put him back in. Playing Souderton – I’m sure they would like to limit how much he plays. You want to win the game, obviously, but you need him more the following week once the playoffs start, and you have to see where you might fall with a loss. Ideally, he’s healthy, he can play, and everything’s fine, but if he’s 50-50, you can put him on the sideline and if you don’t need him to win the game, then you don’t play him. You just rest him.
“CB South is tied with Upper Dublin for fifth, so a loss to Souderton wouldn’t help.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Moreland defeated Springfield in a game that saw the Spartans contain Tyler Whitmore. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “It’s surprising because Whitmore is so good, and every team that plays Upper Moreland keys on him. It’s not breaking news that you need to stop him. Springfield-Montco is not bad. You have to give Springfield credit for finding a way to slow him down. That doesn’t happen. They did something, and I’m sure whoever plays Upper Moreland in the future is going to look at the Springfield tape and see what Springfield did because it worked.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about the Central Bucks West situation and the hazing allegations.
Drew Markol: “You listen to one player, and they say this is the first time it’s ever happened. You listen to somebody else, and they say it happened 10 years ago. I don’t know. People say, ‘Oh, it’s just one angry parent.’ Either way, I don’t know if it’s an overreaction. I think it’s too early to tell.
“Every coach I talked to – the few who would go on the record and the most who wouldn’t all worry about something like this happening at their school because they all said they can’t be with the team all the time. Kids do stupid things – that’s what kids do, and it only takes a couple of stupid ones to ruin it for everybody. It just turned out it was CB West. Could this have been School X or Y? Sure. I think what it does for the other programs is coaches can reinforce the fact that this cannot happen – look what happened to CB West. Whether all the allegations prove founded or unfounded, this is a warning shot to everybody else about what can happen. West – this season and this team – regardless of the final outcome will be remembered as the team that had the hazing issue. With their last two games – they’re 2-8. You’re going to see it, and it will be there forever. There’s just a stigma attached to everybody, which is a shame, but that’s the way it is.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin can claim its first outright Suburban One League American Conference championship since 1996 with a win over Upper Merion this week. Is there any way the Cardinals don’t win the outright title?
Scott Huff: “Absolutely none – sorry Viking fans.
“Upper Merion is coming off its first win of the season when the Vikings defeated Wissahickon 14-7, and Shannon Carnard has emerged as one of the most talented running backs in the conference. However, Upper Merion does not have the firepower to contend with the high-scoring Cardinals.
“Upper Dublin will finish the regular season 9-1 with its lone loss coming in a non-conference contest against Abington (27-20) in the third game of the season. Playing in the SOL American Conference that features five Quad-A teams, two Class AAA teams, and a Class AA team, the Cardinals currently are the lowest ranked 8-1 team in the District One Power Rankings tied for fifth place with 7-2 Central Bucks South.
“If the Quad-A playoffs were to begin today – Upper Dublin would host # 12 Garnet Valley (7-2).”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Plymouth Whitemarsh will close its season at Springfield. Why are the Colonials with a 6-3 record ranked #22 in the District One Power Rankings?
Scott Huff: “Most of it has to do with the fact that PW (910 points) plays in a conference with two Class AAA teams (Upper Moreland and Upper Merion) and a Class AA team (Springfield). In fact, Pennridge is 6-3 (1010) and ranked #14 in the rankings, and Truman (960) is also 6-3 and is ranked #T-16. The team that Truman is tied with at #T-16 – Abington (960) – has a 5-4 record and # 21 Unionville (920) also is above the Colonials with a 5-4 overall record.
“Plymouth Whitemarsh – to its credit – scheduled some quality non-league games against Quad-A opponents. However, losses to both Souderton (21-14) and Abington (23-8) proved too much to overcome this year in the SOL American. The Colnials will most likely end the season 7-3 – but will have to wait until next year.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Cheltenham also has a winning record but is eliminated at # 28 from any thoughts of postseason play. Why?
Scott Huff: “See above.
“The Panthers are 5-4 (790 points) but are behind three other schools with losing records – Neshaminy (4-5 – 840 points), Central Bucks East (4-5 – 830), and Upper Darby (4-5 – 800). Cheltenham should close its regular SOL American Conference season at 5-2 with a win over Hatboro-Horsham, and the Panthers will close out their season on Thanksgiving morning with rival Abington.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Moreland looks to be a given in the Class AAA postseason – win or lose this week against visiting Wissahickon. Who might the Golden Bears play in the first round?
Scott Huff: “The way it looks now is that Upper Moreland (6-3, 3-3) might hold on to its # 6 slot in the District One Power Rankings or could move up as far as #3. The list of possible matchups should come from Bishop Shanahan (6-3), Academy Park (7-2), and/or Pottsgrove (6-3).”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Springfield will be in the Class AA playoffs – win or lose this week against Plymouth Whitemarsh. Who might the Spartans play in the postseason?
Scott Huff: “The # 2 ranked Spartans (4-5 overall, 810 points) will most likely face # 3 ranked Valley Forge Military Academy (4-4, 650). Springfield will be the home team and would face the winner of the # 1 Bristol (7-2 - 1000) vs. # 4 ranked New Hope (3-5, 630) for the District One championship.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Who wins this final week of the SOL American Conference season?
Scott Huff: “How about – [Upper Dublin 45 – Upper Merion 14]; [Plymouth Whitemarsh 42 – Springfield 21]; [Cheltenham 28 – Hatboro-Horsham 24]; and [Upper Moreland 35 – Wissahickon 13]?”
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