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09/19/19 9:43pmPosted by editor
Back for its 10th season, the popular Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features football beat writers Drew Markol and Todd Thorpe.
To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the Intelligencer (https://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school) and Courier Times (https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school) web sites.
SuburbanOneSports.com: In National Conference play, Truman pulled off the big win at Neshaminy. Your thoughts.
Todd Thorpe: “That was just tremendous for Truman. It really was one of the bigger wins in their history. To go to Neshaminy and win at Harry Franks Stadium and do it in the manner they did - they really were unstoppable on offense in the first half especially. Their junior fullback Dajuan Harris really had kind of a coming out party, at least on the offensive side of the ball with 180 yards and five touchdowns in the first half. Here’s a guy who lines up at fullback, but he’s quick enough to play tailback. In a lot of sets, they put him at tailback. On defense, he starts at linebacker where for Conwell Egan he played a little 
defensive end. On one play, he went running at full speed and stopped a pass reception with Neshaminy’s best receiver, Ian Sheehan. He’s just a kid with a tremendous amount of athletic ability and natural football ability. He’s really got a lot of potential, and he’s still getting used to the system.
“It’s a big win for Truman. Ben Johnson has really insisted on staying positive in spite of several losses in a row earlier in the year. He admits they didn’t play well against Spring-Ford, and against Academy Park, they gave the game away late. It doesn’t surprise them what’s going on over there in terms of their success. To beat a Neshaminy team at Neshaminy is huge. Neshaminy’s struggles on defense are well documented this year, which is the complete opposite of last year when their defense was tremendous. In the second half, Neshaminy made some adjustments offensively to really possess the ball a little more, and that kept the ball away from Truman, which was the best defense. When Truman did get the ball, it was still tough for Neshaminy to stop them.
“Neshaminy played a very good offensive game. They ran the ball effectively. Chris James was back from his shoulder injury, and he looked really good. He made a huge difference on that team. The passing game – Ian Sheehan is going to set records with the numbers he’s putting up at wide receiver. He’s getting almost 200 yards a game it seems like. He’s got nine touchdowns and over 700 yards through five games. That’s unheard of in high school. They’ve got the quarterback – Brody McAndrew - to throw him the ball. I don’t think Neshaminy is done yet. I think they certainly are searching for themselves defensively, and even if they get a little better, I think that will make a huge difference because I think they have the kind of offense that can score 30-plus points a game. They just need to stop teams and slow teams down. I think they’re still very in it. It’s only one league game and you have five left.
“Neshaminy has another big game this week at Abington. This is a huge bounce-back for them. I think Truman has really put themselves in position where you can look at them now and say – not only are they a playoff team, which almost certainly I think they would be at this point, but they’re a team that can win a league title again. One of the things I talked about with Drew Markol yesterday – from this week until week 10, every week there’s going to be a game you point to and say, ‘Wow, this is a huge one in the National Conference.” This week it’s Abington/Neshaminy. You’re always going to have that big game of the week feel in that conference among the top four teams. There’s a big drop-off after that, but the top teams are really, really good. It’s really competitive, and it’s going to be fun watching how they battle week in and week out.”
Drew Markol: “Neshaminy hasn’t been able to stop anybody all season. North Penn on opening night put up 55 on them. Neshaminy had to replace its entire defense from last year, but at this point in the season, I’m sure they’re not using that as an excuse anymore. I was at a practice the other day, and I had an SOL coach tell me – ‘We’re really young, but we can’t use that excuse anymore. The season is halfway over.’ Neshaminy can score. Brody McAndrew is having a big year, and the receiver Ian Sheehan is having an unbelievable year. Truman has a lot of dangerous players, and they just run at you. I’m sure after losing to Neshaminy year after year after year, tell me they weren’t up for that game. They’re thinking National Conference title, and they should be. Good for Truman, this was a big step. Abington will be a big step, Pennsbury will be a big step. In all of those games, you may point to them and say – ‘They could win all of them.’ They’re now the favorite. I think the best game in the conference – which forever and a day was Neshaminy/Pennsbury every year – is going to be Truman/Abington. That’s okay. It’s nice to have a change of pace.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts looking ahead to the Neshaminy at Abington game.
Todd Thorpe: “This week, at home, I still have to pick Abington. Neshaminy is going to have a heck of a time trying to stop Tamir Berthau, and Abington runs the ball. It’s going to be tough for them to keep that score under 30. That being said, I’m not sure Abington has played a team as good as Neshaminy. Abington’s had a great start. Give them all the credit in the world. They’re 4-1 and they deserve what they’ve done. They’ve put themselves right in the mix. They played Cheltenham, and Cheltenham is very good so that was a huge win, but this is a big game for them. This is a high-powered offensive team that’s going to throw the football. We’re going to see. It’s a big test for Abington, and Neshaminy – they’ve got to view it as their season. I’m anxious to see how they match up when the two teams are on the field.”
Drew Markol: “I think we put too much stock in week one, and when a team loses like Abington did to Northeast in week one, maybe it’s not on purpose, but we almost brush them aside. All Abington has done is win four in a row since then, and one of those wins was over Cheltenham. Neshaminy beat them last year 27-17, but I think Abington again is going to be right there with Truman trying to decide who wins in the National Conference. They’re legit and Tamir Berthau, the senior quarterback – every week he’s throwing for two touchdowns and running for two touchdowns. They’ve got it going on.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your observations looking at the SOL Continental after week five.
Todd Thorpe: “CB West is just an unbelievable story right now. They’re off to such a good start. You looked at the first three weeks and you said, ‘Well, they really haven’t played anybody great. Then they did a number on CB South, and they beat up William Tennent last week. If you followed high school football, you knew who Jack Fallon was coming into the year, but you didn’t have any idea he was this good. He might be the best two-way player in the Continental Conference right now. He’s having – it’s tough to say all-time whenever you talk about CB West because there’s so much history – one of the best years in modern memory at CB West, and that’s saying a lot. Obviously, you’re pointing toward that North Penn game eventually, but they’re definitely a playoff team, maybe a home playoff team. Rob Rowan has done a really good job there. Their numbers aren’t great, but boy do they have pretty good talent. Their quarterback Jack Neri is really good. I’m impressed with what they’re doing there. When they start playing the Soudertons and the North Penns, I’ll be curious to see what it looks like. They also have to play CB East, which is a team that I think is going to be right there, especially based on the way they played the last two weeks in a couple of losses. West is definitely one of those surprise stories in the conference.
“As far as Souderton goes, Souderton just wins. They didn’t kill Pennridge by any means last week. You kind of thought Pennridge was going to have pride playing Souderton to keep that game close, but just find a way to win, and that’s what Souderton has done. They’re a team that throughout Ed Gallagher’s career there - when they’ve had those really good teams and they’ve made playoff runs, North Penn has always been one sticking point they’ve always had, so I’ll be curious what it looks like when those two teams play.
“There are some real interesting matchups in that conference. Those three teams are really intriguing, and Central Bucks East and Central Bucks South aren’t bad teams. Even at 3-2, they’re both looking at it – if we get two or three more wins, we could be staring at a playoff spot ourselves. It’s interesting. We do all the talk, and every year you talk about the Continental Conference and how other teams are doing well, but the measuring stick is North Penn, so those games are coming up. We’ll wait and see. North Penn looked like last week it was starting to crank it into full gear. It’s another good year in the Continental. North Penn is the elephant in the room for those teams that are having those breakout seasons.”
Drew Markol: “When North Penn got it taken to them pretty good by La Salle early on in the season, everybody was like, ‘Is North Penn in big trouble?’ I don’t think they are. They’re in the talk for the district title. Playing CB East last week, East lost Jake Ventresca, the running back, and they don’t even try and run the ball anymore. They were matching North Penn for a while with Anthony Giordano, the junior quarterback who was a tight end last year, and wide receiver Will Silverman, who’s only a junior, catching a million passes.
“North Penn has sophomore running back Khalani Eaton, who is just a bruiser, and he just pounds and pounds. You watch him, and you think he’s stopped and he’s got a six-yard gain. He’s got senior fullback RJ Macnamara, who’s going to Delaware, blocking for him. Eaton had over 200 yards and scored four 
touchdowns against East. They just feed him the ball 20-25 times a day, and he just eats up yardage and eats up the clock. North Penn had to keep the ball out of East’s hands because East is good at throwing and they scored quickly, but North Penn would have time-consuming drives and whittled the clock down really fast. North Penn has freshman quarterback Ryan Zeltt who stepped in when the senior Kolby Barrow got hurt. He’s composed, he looks like he knows what he’s doing. They don’t ask him to do a lot, but he can throw it. I’m not sure North Penn has ever had a freshman quarterback. How good is he going to be? As a freshman, the experience he’s getting is just invaluable, and Dick Beck has three more seasons with him.
“North Penn at 4-1 – the big games are going to be when they play Souderton and when they play CB West. Both of those teams are undefeated. Right now I would still pick North Penn against either one. Souderton is very good. They beat Pennridge last week 24-21 in a very good game. For a Rams team that’s 1-4, they showed some very good fight against them. Pennridge could have packed it in and didn’t do that.
“CB West played William Tennent and shut them out. West is doing what it has to do. They beat Tennent 28-0. They’re just taking care of business. They play Pennridge this week. It won’t be easy, but if they win again, they’re at six wins, and that’s kind of the magic number come districts. Souderton and West are both 5-0. I’m sure they’re both thinking if we get six or seven wins they’re in for sure, but let’s get nine or 10. That’s interesting. Right now the Continental is shaping up. I think it’s going to come down to – can Souderton beat North Penn and can CB West beat North Penn? We’ll see. Most times and history bears it out, that doesn’t happen.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about the big games in the Continental Conference this week.
Todd Thorpe: “When you look at Souderton/Central Bucks East – 17-10 is probably not going to do it in this game because CB East can really score. Souderton is going to have to put up some points to win that game, and East lost close to Pennsbury and hung with North Penn for a while. They have a really potent passing game with quarterback Anthony Giordano. They had a really bad injury losing Jake Ventresca for the season – he was a two- or three-year starter at tailback, but they’ve bounced back from that. East plays on Saturdays, and sometimes you forget about them, but East has been very good this year so far. Souderton finds ways to win, and I think their defense is really good. It’s two well-coached teams with two veteran coaches. Whichever team emerges out of that is going to be in really, really good shape.”
Drew Markol: “CB East is at Souderton. East played Pennsbury right down to the wire and lost. They were hanging with North Penn for a while before North Penn pulled away. They were 3-0 and now they’re 3-2, but those aren’t horrible losses. East will come at Souderton with a passing game. That’s what East does. North Penn had trouble stopping the pass. I say this every week – if you can throw the ball in high school football, you can stay in a lot of games because high school teams have a lot of trouble defending the pass. East got beat up a little bit in the North Penn game. That will be an interesting game. Souderton had a good test last week, beating Pennridge 24-21. They’re 5-0 and I’m sure they have plans of being unbeaten when they play North Penn, but this could be a good test for Souderton because East is okay, for sure. Souderton always has a lemon or two every year. Ed Gallagher doesn’t hide from it, and he said, ‘We can’t afford to do that.’ It’s easier said than done.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Your thoughts about the SOL American Conference.
Todd Thorpe: “We’re discovering there’s a pretty wide gap in that conference like we were talking about with the National Conference. Based on some of the results we’re seeing, it looks like clearly Upper Dublin, Cheltenham and PW are the cream of the crop there, and then there’s a pretty big drop-off. I kind of thought Quakertown – after its win over Upper Moreland the week before - was going to have a pretty good game against Cheltenham. Cheltenham is talented. There seems to be a divide in terms of the talent in the league. PW is undefeated. I don’t know who their big wins are, but they’re getting the job done, and that’s the important thing. Everybody knows Upper Dublin, but meanwhile, PW is winning every week. They will play one another soon.
“Upper Moreland won their first three games, but they’ve come back to earth a little bit. Wissahickon gets its first win of the year beating Hatboro-Horsham last week. It’s a really interesting conference. In the end, a lot of these teams aren’t going to be competing in 6A, so some of these teams have potential to do something once they get to districts as well. Obviously, Upper Dublin and Cheltenham have that experience from last year. I have to go with Upper Dublin in that game. They’ve had the advantage in that series for a couple of years, and even since Ryan Nase has been there, that’s the one game Cheltenham hasn’t been able to get over, but you know what – Upper Dublin is also the standard bearer, and you’re in year three of Cheltenham. If Ryan Nase is at Cheltenham in year five and year six when you can really start honing in on a year-round program and tradition, how good is Cheltenham in a couple of years? They do have a really, really significant talent base there. A couple of kids on their team started out at Archbishop Wood. If you can keep those kids home before they go to a private school, that makes your potential even better, so I give him a lot of credit. Upper Dublin has been the one hiccough in that league, and they’re not the only team that has struggled with Upper Dublin. Since Bret Stover has been there, he’s got a class program, and they win. I had a lot of criticism when they went to six classifications, but it really does benefit a school like Upper Dublin. They were competitive for one or two years when it was just 4A. Now that they’re playing with schools their own size, they’re showing what a class program they have, and it’s definitely a more level playing field for them too.”
Drew Markol: “Quakertown had the win over Upper Moreland, and Upper Moreland was 3-0 at the time. We thought maybe this could have been an awakening for Quakertown, and then they played a good Cheltenham team. Cheltenham laid it on them and beat them pretty handily. When you look at the American Conference, Cheltenham and Upper Dublin play this week. People were shocked to see that Penn Charter beat Upper Dublin 56-0, and Mike Slivka, Upper Dublin’s very good quarterback, got hurt in that game too. We’ll see how serious that is. You lose 56-0, but that Penn Charter is pretty good football team. I didn’t think it would be that bad, but when you lose a player of Slivka’s caliber, it makes life very hard. It will be interesting to see if he can come back. Cheltenham/Upper Dublin is the biggest game of the season in the American Conference.”