www.bucksmontsportsnow.com - Like the url says, BucksMont Sports - from the phillyburbs papers.
posted by Ed at 5:06 PM

North Penn Knights Justin Davey and Ronnie Akins are listed as the #6 passing duo in the Inquirer's review of the area's top pass-catch combinations. It's nice to see a little recognition for the team.

Not much press about Friday's drubbing of CB East. The Davey to Akins connection was in full force with Ronnie getting 6 receptions for 127 yards & a TD. Ronnie Akins & Tyler Smith also each ran in 2 TD's. The final score was 42-10, but East didn't score their TD until less than a minute left in the game - by that time most of the defenders were sophomores. The North Penn Reporter article is the only one I've found about the game.

The JV game was on Saturday, and the Patriots were able to beat the Knights 18-16. It was a good game, and I have some pix and video I will post later.
posted by Ed at 2:05 PM

Christiaan DeFranco's Sports Notebook: The rise of CB West - quick link to Chris's NP Reporter blog.
posted by Ed at 1:18 PM

Varsity & JV wins over CB South

After 4 weeks, I don’t know what to think. It was nice to get the 31-14 win over CB South (and the JV pulled off a 22-15 victory on Monday), but I have the same feeling about Knights football as I do about the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies. They all have great teams and I’ll root for them like crazy, but I feel like it will take as much luck as skill to get to a championship.

Both the Knights and the Eagles are starting to get the inevitable nicks that take their toll in such a physical sport as football. North Penn football doesn’t require as much travel as NFL football, however. The next 2 weeks the Knights face the other 2 Central Bucks teams. East is this Friday and West is on 10/3 – both at War Memorial Stadium in Doylestown.

PFN's Week 4 D1 rankings:

tot pts school wins losses ties avgpts_scored avgpts_given avgpts
470North Penn (1) 4 0 0 25.5 12 117
450 Quakertown 4 0 0 25.25 14 112
440 Downingt'n Wst 4 0 0 40.25 11.5 110
410 Ridley 4 0 0 27.75 4 102
410 Upper Dublin 4 0 0 35.5 20.5 102
400 Upper Darby 4 0 0 24 9.25 100
370 Garnet Valley 4 0 0 36.75 11.75 92
360 Pennsbury 3 1 0 18.25 17.5 90
350 Neshaminy 3 1 0 21.5 7 87
340 CR South 3 1 0 26.5 20.5 85
330 Abington 3 1 0 22.25 10 82
330 Glen Mills 3 1 0 29.5 12.75 82
330 Pennridge 3 1 0 26.5 25.75 82
330 Wissahickon 3 1 0 26.25 23 82
320 Coatesville 3 1 0 22 11.25 80
320 Penncrest 3 1 0 22.75 22.25 80

posted by Ed at 12:59 PM

Friday Morning - Week 4

After beating Liberty, LC & the Prep, North Penn has moved up in the polls - to 2nd in the state in most of the polls. There have been a bunch of news stories this week, too. Anthony Ortiz was named Times Herald Defensive Player of the Week. The article credits Ortiz with five solo tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. RoxReview has a great summary of the win over St. Joe's Prep, including the frequently quoted line from Coach Beck, "do you guys know any landscapers?" Peter DiGiovanni in the Chester Daily Local is complaining about some "big schools" being to small to compete with the "big big schools." I've read that the issue of expanded size classifications has come up before PIAA, but it doesn't have legs, yet.

Tonight's contest between North Penn & Central Bucks South is North Penn's first regular season game against a Suburban One opponent since the loss that closed last season. As Ed Kracz points out, South doesn't have Eric Reynolds anymore. He heaps praise on the South QB/WR combo of Tom Johns & Mike Doty, but doesn't get into much discussion of the North Penn db's. Dennis Way writes a fine column about South's program in the Times Herald, but I think he's got a bit of revisionist history in his facts. When he states about the North Penn-South game, "Few expected the result, a South victory, the league title and a berth in the District One playoff quarterfinals," I don't think he is reflecting the sentiment I recall going into the game. The North Penn fans were optimistically hoping for a victory, but South had come back to beat Neshaminy, and Neshaminy had trounced North Penn. It was a tall order to keep Eric Reynolds in check, and North Penn wasn't up to the task.

Tonight's game will show whether CB South's program can continue to show results in the W column in Suburban One play or if the North Penn Knights really deserve to be ranked as the best team in Eastern PA. Unless Mike Doty can beat Ronnie Akins, South is going to have to win (or lose) the Suburban One way - pounding it out on the ground and in the trenches. Hopefully, Coach Beck found his landscaper and the field will be in good shape.

Labels: high school football, North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football

posted by Ed at 1:02 PM

Some quick links - if I don't post them now, I never will...

Varsity 365 has Prep/North Penn highlights. Not sure how long this front page link will work, though.

District 1 rankings from PFN - I know that this one is ephemeral. The top of the list:

AAAA 330 North Penn (1) 1 3 0 0 23.66667 11.33333 110
AAAA 330 Quakertown 1 3 0 0 24 16.33333 110
AAAA 320 Abington 1 3 0 0 29.66667 11 106
AAAA 320 Council Rock South 1 3 0 0 28.66667 18.33333 106
AAAA 310 Coatesville 1 3 0 0 24.66667 8.66667 103
AAAA 310 Wissahickon 1 3 0 0 32.66667 18.66667 103
AAAA 300 Downingtown West 1 3 0 0 42 15.33333 100
AAAA 300 Glen Mills 1 3 0 0 34.66667 8 100
AAAA 300 Pennridge 1 3 0 0 30.66667 25 100
AAAA 300 Upper Dublin 1 3 0 0 41 22.66667 100
AAAA 280 Ridley 1 3 0 0 30.66667 5.33333 93
AAAA 280 Upper Darby 1 3 0 0 25.66667 10 93
AAAA 260 Garnet Valley 1 3 0 0 40 13.33333 86
AAAA 220 Central Bucks South 1 2 1 0 25.33333 20.33333 73
AAAA 220 Penncrest 1 2 1 0 23 23.33333 73
AAAA 220 Pennsbury 1 2 1 0 15.33333 16.66667 73
AAAA 220 Souderton 1 2 1 0 24.66667 19.66667 73

(Top 16 make D1-AAAA playoffs)
posted by Ed at 11:35 AM

NORTH PENN 14 - ST. JOE'S PREP 7

15 days ago, I wondered if this team was any good. On August 29th, they showed that they could play with anyone. On September 5, they showed that they could recover from some sloppy play and put away a decent opponent. Last night, the North Penn Knights showed that they are the best team in Eastern Pennsylvania. Now I wonder, how good is this team? I'm not reserving a room in Hershey, yet, but this is a team that definitely has what it takes to get there.

As you can see from the picture, most of this game was a slog through the mud and rain. It was punctuated by three impressive plays by the speedsters - a 70 yard punt return touchdown by Ronnie Akins, a 96 yard touchdown run by Tyler Smith and a 60 yard touchdown run by Michael Yeager. After Yeager's touchdown, neither team was able to get anything going. McManus tried a 30 some odd yard field goal in the 4th quarter, but the footing was too poor to let him get any elevation on the ball. A series of bad decisions and mistakes at the end, kept the Prep from making a final bid to tie the game.

Next week - the eagerly awaited visit by CB South to Crawford Stadium.

Labels: high school football, North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football

posted by Ed at 8:42 AM

North Penn 2-0

I guess I should post something about the first 2 games. It's been 2 great wins in 2 great football games. The Knights beat Bethlehem Liberty 23-15, showing the value of having a great kicker.

The North Penn JV beat Liberty's JV by 28-0 the next day. On Friday, in a medeival contest, the North Penn Knights beat the Lansdale Catholic Crusaders 34-12. I would write more, but I want to cut the grass before the Eagles game.

posted by Ed at 11:41 AM