Quakertown football has had a season for the record books, capturing the SOL Continental Conference title and rolling to a perfect regular season record. (Article sponsored by and photos provided by Quakertown football)
Anthony Schiller had the idea that something unusual was going on prior to Quakertown’s District One 6A opener against Souderton last Friday night.
“We finished the coin toss, and I saw the whole team lined up and they didn’t let them go into the locker room like usually they do,” the Panthers’ senior captain said. “I was like, ‘What’s going on here?’”
Schiller and his teammates found out in a hurry why all the secrecy when they entered their locker room. Waiting for each player was a green camouflage jersey.
“Once we turned the corner and saw them all laid out – it was pretty awesome because everyone was super hyped and everybody was scrambling to get their jerseys off and put the other ones on,” Schiller said. “I feel like that gave us a little extra kick. Look good, play good.”
“It was crazy,” senior Zach Fondl said. “That was the last thing I would have ever expected. We usually keep it traditional. I was just surprised. It was awesome.
“Everybody got hyped up. We have to win this game now – there’s no going back. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. It did set the tone.”
Not that the Panthers needed any additional motivation heading into their district opener against neighboring Souderton, but if they did, the camo jerseys – on loan from the U.S. Army National Guard – certainly did the trick.
“They have a program where they lend out those jerseys to teams throughout the year,” said Quakertown coach George Banas. “It’s a process where you put your name in, but it’s usually a year ahead.
“It just so happened a new Army recruiter for the National Guard was in our office dropping off business cards on Wednesday. I grabbed his business card and gave him a call and said, ‘Are those jerseys available this week?’ The week coming up is Veteran’s Day, and we knew we were at home, so we knew we’d have our dark jerseys and could wear them.”
The jerseys were available, the Panthers – outfitted in camo jerseys - went out and won their game against the Indians 33-7, adding to the script of what has been a storybook season.
“It was really neat to see the kids and how excited they were,” Banas said. “Not to mention it’s Veteran’s Day this week, and that’s a cool tribute.”
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Friday’s district tournament win over Souderton put the Panthers in the record books, tying the program record set in 1954 when the Panthers were 11-0 and won the then Bux-Mont League title.
“It was a whole different mood Friday night,” Fondl said. “We came ready to go. We played a great game on both sides of the ball. We came out hot, which is something we need to keep doing.”
Friday’s win was the second of the season over Souderton by the Panthers, who defeated the Indians 36-14 in the regular season meeting but needed a 22-0 fourth quarter burst to put that game away.
“We were extremely pleased that we played four quarters on Friday,” Banas said. “We were really unhappy with the first time we played Souderton. Realistically, we played a quarter or quarter-and-a-half of really good football. That’s not typically us.
“We’ve been pretty sound all year on both sides. For us to come back out against Souderton, a rival, in district playoffs – district playoffs wrap everything up, but then to have a rival on top of it was even bigger.
“Souderton had a really good scheme. They tried to do a bunch of things differently. For us to on the fly be able to adjust and not get overwhelmed and just stay within themselves – that’s what I took away from that game. The moment wasn’t too big for these kids, and they were able to compete at a very high level for four quarters.”
This is the first Quakertown squad to go undefeated in the regular season since 1956 when the Panthers were 9-1 overall. Despite their 10-0 regular season, Quakertown was the district’s fifth seed.
“We took the seeding as a little motivation,” Schiller said. “Going into the Souderton game we didn’t think we played as good as we could have the first time, so we just focused on being the better team, showing them how much we improved.”
Friday’s win over Souderton was what has become a trademark team effort for the Panthers, whose 365 yards of total offense included 187 yards in the air and 178 on the ground.
“We are so balanced in the run game and pass game,” Banas said. “I do think Will (Steich) had one of his best decision-making nights under center as far as when to throw the ball and where to throw it.
“Our run game was methodical. We didn’t have any guys break a 50-yarder or anything like that, but three yards here, five yards there, 15 yards here. It was methodical. Same thing on defense. We would give them a couple of chunks of real estate, and then we’d come up with a stop. We got on our heels the one series, and they just caught us, but then we were able to settle down and not give up another point the rest of the night. Again, we’re balanced on defense.”
Steich completed 18-of-24 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns with Fondl hauling in seven passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. Tyler Woodman had 26 carries for 119 yards. John Eatherton had 46 rushing yards and four catches for 55 yards.
Ask Banas to name standouts, and he acknowledged – that’s the hardest question he’s asked every single week.
“You might say Steich and Fondl had a great night, but Zach Greulich had a couple catches, and Eatherton was running the ball, but so was Woodman, and Steich had a couple of key runs,” the Panthers’ coach said. “We don’t have the ‘look at me, I’ve got to be the center of attention’ player. Everybody knows – hey, we’re going to do our job. Nobody has to be bigger than the team. That’s what’s really nice with the personalities on this team.
“John Eatherton and Tyler Woodman both had an interception, they both had a touchdown on offfense. Without anybody else around them, it doesn’t happen, and they know that. if we don’t have the front five on offense and the front five on defense, nobody else does anything either.”
Friday’s win was the first in district play since 2014 when Quakertown defeated Pennridge 14-10 in an opening round game, but this season has a different look and feel to it than the 2014 season.
“You pinch yourself in the moment and try and absorb it all,” Banas said. “When we did that in 2014, we were racing through the season, trying to get to the next game, trying to get to the next game.
“We learned from that. We learned to take a deep breath and enjoy it – enjoy the win, enjoy the ride and experience because this doesn’t come around all that often, so you’ve got to celebrate those seasons. Obviously, we’re going to celebrate a heck of a lot at our banquet, but when things are still rolling, there’s a whole lot going on, so you have to keep it in perspective.”
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This year’s senior class has a long history together, beginning with their Quakertown Midget Football Association playing days.
Six members of this year’s squad – including skill players Steich, Fondl and Woodman - were part of a QFA team that advanced to nationals in Orlando when they were in sixth or seventh grade.
“I feel like after that, we knew we could do something and we just took off with it,” Fondl said. “We’ve never stopped playing football since. We just love it.
“We have a goal, and we’re just filling it out. The coaching staff is great. We have good game plans coming in every week. We’re always prepared.
“With Will (Steich), it’s been a lifelong thing. We’re best friends too, and we always throw around. We have a great connection. Our line holds up, and our skill players do what we need to do. It’s a good balance.”
It all added up to a perfect regular season that even the players didn’t see coming.
“I thought we would have one or two bad games in there. I didn’t have any thoughts of going undefeated,” Schiller said. “Once we got halfway through, we were like, ‘Okay, we could really go 10-0 here.’”
It was a 31-0 win over Upper Dublin in their fifth game that marked the beginning of a tough stretch of games against Souderton, Neshaminy and Abington.
“I think we all went into the Upper Dublin game thinking it was going to be neck-in-neck the whole game, and it was going to be a battle,” Schiller said. “It was 31-0. After that we’re like, ‘Okay, this is different than what we thought it would be.’”
“I don’t think anybody thought we would beat all those teams in a row,” Fondl said. “I feel like after that we were like, ‘This is for real, we’re legit, we can make a run,’ which normally doesn’t happen around here.”
Beyond the wins is the camaraderie the players say they share.
“I’ll make friends for the rest of my life on this team,” Fondl said. “I love all these kids. We’re just all so together and we all have the same goal. It’s so much fun too. Especially when you win – it can’t not be fun.
“Playing at Alumni Field – the cheerleaders, the band, the student section, everybody. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
“I’ll remember the brotherhood we have,” Schiller said. “We’re all super close. We’ll all have memories we’ll keep. I think the team as a whole is really good together, and we have a lot of fun times.”
On Friday night, Quakertown will travel to fourth-seeded Downingtown East for a second round District One 6A contest.
Stay tuned.
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