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: Cheltenham defeated a Neshaminy team that had not given up a point in its first two wins. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “We look at the Cheltenham-Neshaminy game, and on paper, it looks like a Neshaminy win. Neshaminy was 2-0 with wins over Emmaus and Council Rock North and Cheltenham was 0-2, and they’re thinking, ‘Okay, this will be easy.’ Well, it sure wasn’t, and to Cheltenham’s credit – being down 0-2 and bouncing back like that, they kind of saved their season almost. They’ll head into SOL Continental play with a lot of confidence, and they should.
The final scored was crazy – 39-28. Cheltenham’s James Smith returned a kickoff for a touchdown, he had an interception return for a touchdown, and he had a rushing touchdown. Neshaminy couldn’t stop him. Neshaminy cut it to 13-6 with 23 seconds left in the first half when quarterback Michael Eckart found Mike Sassano for a touchdown. But then they gave up a 94-yard kickoff return to Smith.
“That win was not a fluke for Cheltenham. Every time Neshaminy did something, Cheltenham answered and more. That game was legit. Cheltenham deserved it, and they got it.
“Smith finished with 126 rushing yards, and quarterback Kendall Jackson had a big night of his own, throwing for over 200 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. For Neshaminy, Eckart threw for a pair of touchdowns to Mike Sassano.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Council Rock South had a 20-6 win over Pennsbury. You were at the game - your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “Council Rock South really shut down Pennsbury last week. Rock South had lost to them 12 straight times and hadn't beaten them since 2010, but they built a 20-0 halftime lead on them. Pennsbury fumbled twice in the first quarter, and it led to two Council Rock South touchdowns. Shane Myers ran one in, and Marley Emerson, the quarterback, threw another one to Myers, and the game was really never in doubt.
“Pennsbury scored on its final possession of the game, and then Council Rock South just ran out the clock, and that was that. It was just a good win for Council Rock South. Nate Szydlik, the all-state linebacker, didn't play again. He does a lot for them on offense and especially on defense. C.J. Szydlik, the CR South head coach, who's Nate's uncle, said he would play this week. So hopefully he will, but he brings a whole other element to the game. That’s a 2-1 team that's done it without its best player. And you get him back to start conference play – they’re very viable. We talked a couple weeks ago - the Continental looks like it could be the most entertaining of the three conferences with Souderton, Quakertown, Upper Dublin, Bensalem, Council Rock South and Cheltenham.
“It could seriously be a six-team race for the top spot, which is unheard of. It's been Quakertown, Souderton, Upper Dublin. Those three teams tied for the title last year, and Souderton won it the year before, but amongst those six teams that we just mentioned, it's going to be fantastic. That gives you good games every week.
“With Pennsbury, Jordan Brensinger, their really good running back, got hurt in the Quakertown game two weeks ago, and he wasn’t able to play against Council Rock South. Hopefully, he’ll be back at some point, but they’re in a very tough spot. Can they go 5-2 in the SOL National having to play North Penn, Neshaminy, the three Central Bucks teams and Pennridge? It'll be very hard. And you need to get to five wins in the bare minimum to make the playoff. And if you just get to five wins, you're going to get a very low seed, and you'll be on your way to Coatesville or somewhere like that in week one of districts. With an 0-3 start, you put a lot of pressure on yourself, and every game going forward is a must-win, and that's hard to do.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: North Penn is 3-0 after its big win over Quakertown, and the Knights will be heading to Neshaminy. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “North Penn seemed to bounce back with a vengeance. They played a good CR South team two weeks ago, and that game was tight all the way. They won 21-14. Then they went to Quakertown, which was coming off a win over Pennsbury, and with Matt Pownall and Cameron Mainor - they both ran for two touchdowns and beat Quakertown 42-7. They righted the ship.
“Maybe North Penn had its blip against Council Rock South, but they're the favorite in the SOL National for now. I mean, I think CB West will be right there, and we'll find out a lot about CB East this week when they play at CB South, but North Penn was in district finals last year, and they look like they're maybe heading back that way again.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Central Bucks West went to Souderton and shut out a 2-0 Indian squad 13-0. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “That one kind of surprised me. Souderton had beaten a good West team last year early in the season in that spot. When I saw West against Upper Dublin two weeks ago, they looked like a team that just needed to get a little bit of experience. Their quarterback, Louie Cipollo, is good. Nick Miletto had a big game against Souderton.
“West always plays good defense - they pride themselves on that, and to shut out Souderton – Souderton was 2-0 and looked like they were going to be 3-0. I picked them to win, and then West went and beat them. There was revenge too for West, which never hurts because I’m sure the kids talk, and they heard about it.”
“If North Penn’s the top team the SOL National, i think right now West is number two, and it'll be a really good game when they play each other.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: CB South got its first win over Upper Dublin, and CB East defeated CR North to go 3-0 heading into Friday’s game between the two teams. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “CB South beat Upper Dublin 21-0. Running back Gavin Graham had a big game for CB South. He had a long touchdown run, and he had about 140 yards rushing and a couple scores. South needed that. They're 0-2 after winning 12 games last year and winning the National Conference title. It was like, wow, could CB South really go to 0-3? Well, they didn't. They got themselves together.
“Now South is 1-2 and they play 3-0 CB East, which is a big surprise, coming into this Friday. It should be a really good game. Like Cheltenham, South needed a win, and they went out and they got it, and we'll see what that does for them, but it surely doesn't hurt.
“CB West is good and CB South has been really, really good for a long spell now, and if you’re CB East, you’re always kind of the weak link. If you look at CB East, they had wins over Ridley and Cheltenham. Council Rock North, who they beat last week, is struggling. On their offensive line, they’ve got Timmy Fuhrmeister and Magnus Figueroa, who are dominant offensive linemen, and they're opening holes for Mike Price, who's a junior and one of the best running backs in the state. They're kind of one-dimensional, but it's working.
“Can they go into CB South, which is coming off a nice win over Upper Dublin, and win? I don't know. I think CB South wins a close one, but I'm not sure I'd be shocked if East won that. East has got a lot to prove.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pennridge takes its 3-0 record to Pennsbury. Your thoughts.
Drew Markol: “Pennridge is 3-0 for the first time since 2020. I was over there the other day doing a story on the fact that they're off to this 3-0 start. They credit their huge first win against Bethlehem Liberty to open the season, a team they had lost to last year. Then they went out and beat Bensalem 36-33, a crazy one that they were able to pull out. And then they were able to handle Harry Truman last week.
“They’re going down to Pennsbury with a lot of confidence. They beat them by a field goal last year, 18-15, so with Pennsbury's offense and with Jordan Brensinger’s status up in the air if he'll play or not - Pennsbury without him, their running game is kind of limited. So, you've got to favor Penridge there. They can run it with Will Dougherty and Ryan Rowe and then with Noah Keating, the quarterback, they can throw it, too. So, maybe Penridge has got something going.”
SuburbanOneSports.com: Bensalem defeated Abington 24-11 and heads into Continental Conference play with a 2-1 record. Your comments.
Drew Markol: “You look at Bensalem with Aiden Mayfield - I say this every week - every coach I talk to calls him the best running back in the SOL. You know, Myles Annan, the quarterback, had a nice game last week, threw for a couple of touchdowns. They had that crazy one to Pennridge two weeks ago, and they come back and beat Abington to right the ship again. And they have to be sky high, too. They look at the Continental Conference and say, ‘Is there anybody in this conference that's that much better than us?’ Well, the answer is probably no, so if you're them, they haven't had a league title in forever. I mean, literally forever. But you've got to be thinking that they're right there with everybody else.”
Drew’s picks
(Winners in bold)
Abington at Central Bucks West
Quakertown at Bensalem
Central Bucks East at Central Bucks South
Cheltenham at Council Rock South
Council Rock North at Upper Dublin
Souderton at Harry S Truman
West Philadelphia at Hatboro-Horsham
Lower Moreland at Springfield Twp
North Penn at Neshaminy
Pennridge at Pennsbury
PW at Manheim Township
Interboro at Upper Moreland
William Tennent at Haverford
Wissahickon at Sun Valley
New Hope-Solebury at Thomas Edison
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