Back for its 16th season, the popular Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times ‘Let’s Talk Football’ features football beat writer Drew Markol. To stay on top of the high school football news in the area, visit the Intelligencer (http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school/) and Courier Times (http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/) web sites
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn had a big win over Central Bucks West. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “CB West/North Penn last week – that was a North Penn team that just looked ready for the postseason. They did an awful lot of things right against a CB West team that had just handed Pennridge its first loss of the season. West was playing very well too, but North Penn just dominated both sides of the ball. Rylei Gray, the junior running back, and Matt Pownall, the senior running back – they were just getting chunks of yards and chunks of yards, and senior quarterback Matt Bucksar from North Penn had a really nice game running and throwing the ball. That game was over at the half. Just watching, you knew West wasn’t going to be able to hang with them, and they couldn’t. It was just too much North Penn.
“I look at North Penn now – they lost to Neshaminy, they lost to Pennridge, and Pennridge got them good in the second half. We talked several weeks ago about that game, and it was so uncharacteristic for North Penn. Well, they figured things out. North Penn is still high up in the district power rankings, and they’re going to be really tough to beat. It would be interesting to see if they got another shot at Pennridge, another shot at Neshaminy, which they may well. We’ll see how the tournament brackets fall, but they just bottled up CB West at every turn.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks South defeated Neshaminy in a game where turnovers were a major factor. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “You have Central Bucks South that looked like it was going nowhere. It’s a young team. Coach Tom Hetrick is starting a couple of freshmen in the secondary. Last year, they won the National Conference title. They lost to North Penn in the district semifinals after winning the district title two years ago, but there was a team that was kind of rebuilding, but now they go and beat Neshaminy last week. South took advantage of three straight Neshaminy turnovers. Neshaminy had a lead on them early.
“Cade Crim has stepped in as the quarterback this year. Owen Pinkerton had been the quarterback for a long time but graduated last year. Crim has done a serviceable job. Now CB South gets a 24-21 win over Neshaminy. South got Gavin Graham back who’s a really good player. Braylen Cape had a long kickoff return against Neshaminy. Well, now, South is right in there – they’re number 17 in the district power rankings, which leaves them on the outside looking in. South has to go to Pennridge, and if they can beat Pennridge – not an easy task but not impossible, they’re going to jump right into the district tournament again.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: There is a scenario where five SOL National teams could win a share of the conference title. Explain that scenario.
Drew Markol: “If South happens to beat Pennridge this week, we could easily have a five-way tie for first place in the National Conference. If you look at the National Conference now and Pennridge beats CB South on Friday, all the intrigue and all the muddle is gone because Pennridge would win the conference title outright at 6-1, but if CB South beats Pennridge and Neshaminy beats Pennsbury and North Penn beats Abington and CB West beats CB East – we don’t do point spreads, but all those teams are favored to win, we’re now going to have a five-way tie for the National title with Pennridge, CB South, CB West, North Penn and Neshaminy. To have five teams sharing the title in an eight-team conference is kind of whacky.
“We talked all year, and we talked in the preseason about how it looks like almost anyone can win this thing – well, it might happen, and they’re all going to tie for the title if that happens. Pennridge does have a chance to make that all go away if they can beat South on Friday. If not, then you’ve got to hand five trophies out because everyone’s going to share first place, which is nuts.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Talk about the games in the SOL National that are making things interesting.
Drew Markol: “CB East and Pennridge don’t like each other. They always play each other tough, and now it’s the same thing again. East was coming off a 41-35 loss to Neshaminy the week before. They tried a halfback option in the last minute, and if they had completed that – and they had a receiver open, they could have beaten Neshaminy. They came within one play of that, and then they play Pennridge really close last week. Pennridge took a lead. Noah Keating threw a touchdown pass, and he also ran for one, but East tied the game at 8-8 – both teams scored and went for two. That was early in the second quarter, but Pennridge scored later in the second quarter on a Noah Keating 10-yard run to make it 15-8. There was no other scoring in the game. That was just a defensive struggle. It just shows – East is close. They’re not in this mix for the five teams sharing the title, but naturally, they would like nothing more than to beat CB West on Friday after a close loss to Neshaminy, a close loss to Pennridge. If they can beat their archrival West for the first time since 2018 – West has won seven straight against them, they’re now number 18, but they’ll jump into the top 16 if they beat West, so they get bragging rights and a spot in the district tournament.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennsbury found its running game in its rout of Abington. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “We look at Pennsbury - last week they go into the Abington game 0-8, which is very uncharacteristic for Pennsbury, but they suddenly discovered their running game. They put junior Luke Beighley, whose brother was a standout at Pennsbury a couple years ago, in at running back, and he finished with 150 yards rushing and five touchdowns. He had been playing linebacker most of the season. He had 138 yards and four scores in the first half, which is remarkable. All of a sudden, Pennsbury looks like Pennsbury. Now, it was against an Abington team that’s been struggling, but Pennsbury went back to its ground and pound with the quarterback under center. They ran their wing-t, which teams don’t see that much anymore, and it worked.
“Now, Pennsbury gets ready for Neshaminy, and they/re revitalized because it looks like they found a running game, and it looks like they found a running back in Beighley. You wonder – where was he all season? I don’t know - they had gotten away from their traditional approach. It all depends on the personnel you have but moving Beigley from linebacker to running back – we’ll see against Neshaminy if it’s enough, but it sure was last week. He went crazy with his rushing totals. They put up 35 points at the half and had the mercy rule in the bag to start the third quarter.”
SuburbanOneSports..com: Quakertown extended Council Rock South to the limit before falling 28-27. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “Quakertown played Council Rock South last week. They lost 28-27, but to Quakertown’s credit, they went for two and the win when it was 28-27 with just a little bit over a minute to go. Jackson Connelly had scored on a short run for Quakertown. They didn’t want to go for a tie. They tried a two-point pass, and it was knocked away by Connor McCaffery from CR South, but I give Quakertown a lot of credit. They’re fighting, and they want to get into the district tournament too. That’s a good Council Rock South team that hasn’t lost since week two against North Penn. George Banas, the Quakertown head coach – I give him credit. He could have played for the tie there, and then you maybe go into overtime, but I’m sure he thought maybe he couldn’t stop them in an overtime – let’s just win it here. If you make it, you look like a genius. If you don’t, okay, but I like the play, for sure.
“Quakertown senior quarterback Brody Martin is also a defensive back. He had a 62-yard touchdown run, and his game was unbelievable. He had three touchdowns – he rushed for two of them, including the 62-yarder we mentioned, and he threw for another one. He also played in the secondary, which you don’t normally see your quarterback do, but they needed him because he’s a really good defensive back too. He made seven solo tackles, and he had an interception. On both sides of the ball, he’s doing everything he can to help that team win. He’s a two-year starter, and he’s been really good for Quakertown, and he’s a really good baseball player too. I talked to him in the preseason. He’s not sure which he’s going to play in college, but he’s really good at both.
“Now Quakertown this week had to schedule a game real fast because Cheltenham’s season was shut down for hazing allegations within the football program, so Quakertown had to scramble to find a game. It’s their homecoming on Friday, so they’re playing 9-0 Chester, which didn’t have a game this week. Chester is a 5A team that’s really good. Quakertown is 19 in the district rankings. A win over a 9-0 5A team would more than likely push Quakertown and get them into districts, but that’s a tough task on such short notice. They were lucky to find a game because most teams are playing since this is the last week of the regular season, but they found Chester, but they have a tough opponent to beat to try and get into the tournament.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Upper Dublin notched a big win over Bensalem, 20-7. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “You look at Upper Dublin, which plays Souderton this week. They played Bensalem last week. Junior quarterback Lawson Tyler for Upper Dublin had 200 yards passing and a couple of touchdowns. Defensively, Upper Dublin shut out Bensalem most of the way, and sophomore defensive back Dylan Moody had four interceptions and a fumble recovery, which is just a remarkable game. Most kids – heck, a lot of teams don’t get four interceptions in a season, and he had them in one game.
“Upper Dublin – after a rough start – has kind of found its footing a little bit. Right now, in 5A in the power rankings, they stand at 15. They have to play Souderton this week. A win over Souderton obviously pushes Upper Dublin up – I don’t think they’d get as high as into the top eight and a first-round home game. A loss may knock them out. Souderton is 7-2 right now. If you lose to a really good team, it doesn’t hurt you as badly.
SuburbanOneSports.com: PW clinched a share of the American Conference title with its win over an Upper Moreland team that’s been a tough out in conference play. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “In the American, PW beat Upper Moreland 28-18 last week. PW clinches a share of their fifth straight American Conference title. Next year they’re moving up to the SOL Continental, and I believer Harry S Truman is moving down, so this will be their last American title. They beat an Upper Moreland team that’s played pretty well. This was a 14-12 game at the half. Upper Moreland scored back-to-back touchdowns, and then Cole Reilly, quarterback for PW, scored before the half to give them the lead. This was a tough game. PW’s lead runner, Mike Gianguilio had a two-yard run on a fourth down to put PW up 21-12 in the third quarter, but Justin Valentin, who also scored in the first half, had a touchdown run that made it 21-18, so Upper Moreland kept fighting back in this one before PW put it away. Gianguilio had another touchdown to give PW its final margin of victory. He finished with 85 yards rushing.
“Upper Moreland right now is in the district playoffs in 5A as the 14th seed, a spot ahead of Upper Dublin. They play their archrival Hatboro-Horsham this week. With a win there, they’re going to have to go on the road for the first round of districts. If they beat Hatboro, they’re 6-4. They played a lot of close games. They played Wissahickon tough, they played PW tough, so they could be an interesting team to face in the district playoffs.
Drew’s picks
(Winners in bold)
Abington @ North Penn
Harry S Truman @ Bensalem
Central Bucks West @ Central Bucks East
Central Bucks South @ Pennridge
Chester @ Quakertown
Council Rock South @ Council Rock North
Hatboro-Horsham @ Upper Moreland
Neshaminy @ Pennsbury
William Tennent @ Plymouth Whitemarsh
Upper Dublin @ Souderton
Springfield Twp @ Wissahickon
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