Back for its 11th 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, which will feature a live blog on football Fridays.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennridge defeated Abington and – as the number one seed – hosts fourth-seeded Coatesville. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “The biggest game last week – Pennridge had to beat Abington to stay undefeated and get a playoff spot, and they did that, but it wasn’t without a struggle. Abington showed up to play. Kevin Conlin always has that team ready to go. They didn’t have much to play for because they really didn’t have a chance to make the playoffs. They would have had to leapfrog a lot of teams to get in, but Pennridge 
had gone three straight games without allowing a point, and Abington took the lead on them. It was the first time Pennridge trailed all season. To Pennridge’s credit, they came back and won, and they needed that. Pennridge had gone into the game as the second seed in Class 6A in District One for the playoffs, but that win over Abington pushed them up to the top seed. There are only four teams that make the District One 6A playoffs, and the win gives them the home field if they win this week for the district title game next week.
By moving up to number one, Pennridge ended up – instead of playing Souderton will now have to play Coatesville, the district runner-up last year and the district champion in 2018 and 2017 and obviously a school with a rich history in football. I don’t care if Coatesville is seeded first, fourth or 44th, they’re always a tough team to play. They pursue the ball. That will be a tough one for Pennridge, but if you want to win a district title, you’ve got to earn it. They will.
One thing that could hurt Pennridge a lot – their star linebacker Shane Hartzell, who was an all-state linebacker as a sophomore before getting hurt as a junior, was having another all-state season this year, and actually, he returned a squib kickoff 80 yards against Abington and went all the way across the width of the field before turning it up on the sideline and went all the way for a huge touchdown. He was injured in that game against Abington and apparently hurt a rib, and his status for Friday is up in the air. If they don’t have him, that’s a very big, big loss because he’s not only their best player – he’s one of the best players in the Suburban One League, one of the best players in the state and truly the spiritual leader of that team.”
Todd Thorpe: “Pennridge had a slow start but then they bounced back. They’ve been the best team in the league this year across the 
board, and they did what they needed to do at the end. If Shane Hartzell can’t play this week because of the injury, that really hurts them against Coatesville. He’s the heart of that team. If he plays and he’s healthy, I’ve got to think they’ve got a pretty good chance against Coatesville, but it’s interesting. For the first time, they’re stepping out of their comfort zone of the Suburban One League, they’re testing themselves outside the Suburban One. It will be interesting to see how they match up with a Coatesville team that has been strong for years. Obviously, I don’t think this is the same Coatesville team in terms of Division One talent they’ve had in the past few years, but they’re still unbeaten and they’re still Coatesville.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Souderton wrapped up a perfect SOL season with a lopsided win over Bensalem. The Indians – the third seed in the District One 6A Tournament – will travel to Spring-Ford for Friday’s opener. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “That’s a winnable game for Souderton. Spring-Ford is very fast on defense, but they’re not overly big on defense. They have some size up front on offense, but defensively, they rely more on speed and quickness than they do on bulk. People will complain about the schedule Souderton played, but they played the schedule they were dealt in the Continental Conference. Their toughest game was against Quakertown in their opener. They trailed at the half in that game, but they came back in the second half to beat Quakertown. It was a nice win because Quakertown since then has gone 4-0. Souderton played teams that are struggling – Hatboro-Horsham and Bensalem are in that mix, but again, that’s the schedule they were given. When you only have a five-game schedule in a pandemic season, there’s only so much you can do. They did what they had to do. They won five games, they got themselves a spot in the district playoffs, and they play Spring-Ford – I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat them, and the next thing you know, they’d be in the district title game.”
Todd Thorpe: “Last week there were a lot of games that went the way they were supposed to, the way people thought they would. Unfortunately, there are some pretty good teams like Neshaminy and North Penn who aren’t playing in the postseason this year. That’s unfortunate, but then you have other teams like Souderton – they picked a real good year to have a good year, so they’re going on to play Spring-Ford, which should be a real tough playoff game for them. To Souderton’s credit, they’ve really rolled everybody they’ve played. I saw Jalen White had a big game last week in their win over Bensalem, and that’s a positive. He was banged up a little bit earlier in the year. They go to Spring-Ford – I heard Spring-Ford is big up front, but who knows how that matchup is going to be. That’s the good thing about the playoffs – you don’t know how teams are going to match up until you see them on the field. It would have been nice to see a Pennridge-Souderton matchup in the playoffs, but the ball didn’t bounce that way. I think both those teams have real, real tough games this week.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin and Wissashickon both advanced to the District One 5A playoffs. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “Upper Dublin will rely on its experience. It’s not a vintage Upper Dublin team, but it’s still a good enough team to do some damage in the playoffs. You look at Wissahickon, and this is just gravy for them. To play as well as they did this season after seemingly years and years of struggling – to get themselves in the playoffs, that’s a great thing. Would it have been different if it was a 10-game season? Who knows, but it wasn’t so they played their five games and got themselves in the playoffs. It’s exciting because that’s something they have not had a taste of in a long, long time, so I’m happy for them. They went 3-2 this season, and the last time they won three games in a season was seven years ago, and that’s in a 9-10 game season. Now they’re doing it in a five-game season. Let’s face it, in the preseason, which this year was in September, not many of us were picking Wissahickon to be in the playoffs. For them to do it, they should be proud of it.”
Todd Thorpe: “If you look at these teams on paper, Upper Dublin has the experience in the postseason, and they get the home game, so that favors them. It wouldn’t shock me if they were to get a win in this tournament. As far as Wissahickon goes, this has been a remarkable turnaround year for them. West Chester Rustin is going to be a tough matchup for them, but they’ve overachieved. They had a real bounce-back year for their program and good for them. The fact that they’re playing in the playoffs is a big step for them. They could be competitive, but it’s tough to see. Upper Dublin’s program has had a lot of experience in the postseason. It wouldn’t surprise me if one or both of those teams came out with wins. We’ll have to see on Friday night.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: New Hope-Solebury will face Archbishop Carroll in a postseason game. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “They were supposed to play Neumann-Goretti, but Neumann Goretti was shut down, so they’re playing Archbishop Carroll. It was their first year in the Suburban One League, and they get themselves in the playoffs. I say it every week – the coach over there in New Hope, Jim Dutulio, knows what he’s doing. They’re playing Archbishop Carroll from the Catholic League, and kind of like District One -there isn’t a lot of 2A and 3A schools. Not surprised at all to see New Hope in the playoffs. I would not be surprised at all to see them win.”
Todd Thorpe: “I saw they were going to play Neumann-Goretti – New Hope has had that District 12 game before, and it hasn’t gone very well, whether your opponent was Conwell-Egan or whatever. I think they even played West Catholic one year, and that’s a tough matchup for them, and when I saw that, I kind of cringed about that because New Hope was a little up and down its first year in the SOL. Is Carroll a better opponent for them? I’m not sure if they are or not. I think that’s a tough game for New Hope to win, and this is a year where New Hope was pretty competitive playing in the newer bigger league, so they have to build off this, but it’s going to be a real tough game for them I’d imagine.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Many SOL teams have added games to their schedules. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “There are teams playing contingency games if they didn’t make the playoffs. Teams are trying to add games, and some teams were trying to add the biggest cupcake possible to try and get a win. Lots of teams did that, so they can get a win and get their kicks out of that. In a game that should be played, you have CB West at CB South. Rob Rowan, the West coach, said before the season, ‘We’re going to do our darndest to play that game regardless of what happens.’ This was a month-and-a-half ago when he was saying this, but he wanted to make sure they did everything they could to play it, and it looks like they’re going to get a chance. West was 0-4 – they had a tough schedule. They played Abington, they played Neshaminy, they played Pennridge, and they played North Penn. They played CB East last week and came back and beat East, which is their biggest rival. It was a nice game to get their first win. Now the CB Cup is on the line. West won the CB Cup last year for the first time in a long time when they went on and won the division and also won a first round district playoff game. Because CB South also beat CB East and came from behind like West did to beat East, now the CB Cup will go to the winner of CB South and CB West. I give a very, very slight edge to West in that one, but that’s a good game that means something and isn’t one of those games where one team found another team that they could beat up on, which doesn’t really do anything for you besides give you another win. I don’t make those decisions. It’s good that West and South are playing. That’s the idea here – to add those games, and for those schools, I’m glad we’re not going to miss it.”
Todd Thorpe: “Good job by CB West and CB South to arrange that game. It means something. The fact is the season has been so truncated and abbreviated that I think all these teams should be playing right now, and these games should matter. The playoffs didn’t need to be the be-all, end-all for all these seasons this year. Everybody should be playing. I was at Council Rock last week for that big showdown. North won that game – it was the first time in five years they won that matchup for the Unity Cup.
“You would hope all these programs would take these games as important. The important thing is the kids are playing, and this is a chance to have more of a complete season. You feel for a team like North Penn that played five games. They’re probably one of the best teams in District One, and their season is over. They handed in their uniforms on Monday. North Penn is a team that – you can’t preschedule games because I’m sure they thought they’d be in the playoffs, and then late notice like this – teams just aren’t going to play a school like that. I know Neshaminy has a game next week against CB South. Pennsbury, which has really struggled this week, thought they were playing Archbishop Carroll, but now they’re not. I talked to Dan McShane, and they’re still searching and hoping (Pennsbury scheduled a game with Manheim Township). Pennsbury only had one home game this season, and that was the first game of the season with no parents. Those are kids that would like to end their season and maybe wipe some of the bad taste out of their mouth from what’s been a rough season, a rebuilding season, but they want to play in front of their families, so you feel for them. The teams have scheduled games – you just have to go play, enjoy that you’re on the field and build towards next year. Give the seniors a chance to play a couple more games and give the younger kids a chance to get experience for next year.”
Drew Markol
Souderton at Spring-Ford
Coatesville at Pennridge
Kennett at Upper Dublin
Wissahickon at WC Rustin
Archbishop Ryan at Upper Moreland
New Hope-Solebury vs. Archbishop Carroll
Methacton at Council Rock South
Bensalem at Springfield Township
Central Bucks West at Central Bucks South
Quakertown at William Tennent
Conwell-Egan at Central Bucks East
Manheim Township at Pennsbury
Todd Thorpe
Souderton at Spring-Ford
Coatesville at Pennridge
Kennett at Upper Dublin
Wissahickon at WC Rustin
Archbishop Ryan at Upper Moreland
New Hope-Solebury vs. Archbishop Carroll
Methacton at Council Rock South
Bensalem at Springfield Township
Central Bucks West at Central Bucks South
Quakertown at William Tennent
Conwell-Egan at Central Bucks East
Manheim Township at Pennsbury
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