North Penn - Avon Grove live blog | Philly | 11/27/2009 Interesting live commentary from the game. Maybe I will record mine this Friday.
posted by Ed at 1:44 PM

PIAA football quarterfinals - Somerset - Daily American Nice summary of the remaining high school football games in PA.
posted by Ed at 9:42 AM

Lansdale Reporter Video

posted by Ed at 12:57 AM

North Penn 42 - Avon Grove 7

The Knights dominated the Red Devils - putting them down 35 points just before the half. Advice to future opponents / 20:20 hindsight - if you're down 28-0 to North Penn with 2 minutes left in the half and it's 4th down inside your 25 yard line - TAKE THE SAFETY! You're a lot better off coming out 30-0 in the 2nd half (especially if you're getting the ball) than having to try to come back under a running clock.

Here is the WNPV Overtime Show Post-game:

posted by Ed at 11:26 AM

District Semi's

Kevin and Dom give their analysis on Youtube:

Kev Hunter gives a nice summary of the teams and North Penn history in NP in semi-final showdowns tonight. It's a cold blustery day, but the game is still at Crawford Stadium. Perhaps this is a disadvantage for Avon Grove, a team that is used to playing on artificial turf. Of course, the Knights haven't played in "the swamp" for almost a month - 4 weeks ago against Hatboro-Horsham.

Everyone, except of course Avon Grove, expects the Knights to win tonight. The game plan to beat North Penn remains the same: control the ball and run right at North Penn's defense. So far, no team has been able to make this work. Kev Hunter gives his keys to the game in Avon Grove has upset in mind. (I guess Captain Obvious is writing the Reporter headlines this week). 1 - Stop the run, 2 - Balance on offense, 3 - Mix up the backs, 4 - Ball control, 5 - Improve conversions. I think there are only 2 keys for a Knights win: Execute the way you have all season and make Avon Grove fight for every inch they gain on the field.

Listen to the game on WNPV 1440 AM or on the web at WNPV1440.com.

posted by Ed at 4:01 PM

Not Again!?!?

Didn't the reporter to a search about all the idiocy that went on last time? Reclassification prompts queries doesn't look that way. Wasn't Don Beideman paying attention during the spring and summer? Maybe, just maybe, if North Penn can win 2 AAAA football championships in a row, WPIAL/District 7 will think about giving the big boys a class of their own. It seems to me that it's a lot more likely that a PIAA school with less than 600 boys will win a AAAA championship this year or next, and WPIAL's response to Chester County will be to suck it up and get a program that can win.

posted by Ed at 3:32 PM

North Penn 35 - Nehaminy 22

Well, it has taken me a whole week to post this. Now we're on the cusp of the semi-final game against Avon Grove. This post is a little (Lot?) disjointed, but I'm just going to post it so I can move forward.

In the Reporter Christiaan DeFranco crowns the Knights champions with Knights dominate Heartbreak Ridge. (Somewhat misleading headline since the game was played at Souderton's new field - in the dead tree edition, the column was titled "NP has outgrown Neshaminy.") While I certainly hope that DeFranco is correct and the Knights become the first eastern team since the CB West juggernaut to win a 2nd PIAA AAAA football championship, they are beatable. As I've previously noted, the team with the better game plan and execution wins in the playoffs. Last night, I felt that the game plans were equal. North Penn beat Neshaminy with better execution.

Listen to the post-game interview / Kev Hunter's 5 keys - I think the Knights did it.
Intel article
Reporter - A Unified Effort
Reporter - 'Big test' turns into another show for NP

WNPV overtime:

posted by Ed at 11:24 AM

In The Huddle Week 12

posted by Ed at 10:42 PM

North Penn 39 - Council Rock South 12

Once again the Knights built a mercy rule lead before allowing their opponent to score. Bucks Local News described how Council Rock North run over by Knights. The Reporter's Christiaan DeFranco reminds everyone that this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for North Penn in A North Penn Tale. The Times Herald gave Dom Taggart their nod for the Times Herald Offensive Player of the Week. The Reporter summarizes the North Penn - Neshaminy rivalry in NP football: The next chapter... Bill Kenny writes about North Penn - Neshaminy in the Trentonian's The Naturals: Neshaminy hoping to play North Penn on real grass. Based on Kenny's assertion last week that Unionville picked Pennsbury over North Penn as their opponent and that Pennsbury would use this for inspiration, maybe the worst thing that could happen to Neshaminy would be for the game to be at Crawford. For an example of North Penn performance on a muddy Crawford Stadium field, see if 6abc.com has archives of the North Penn-Prep game from last year.

posted by Ed at 8:51 PM

posted by Ed at 1:10 PM

Playoffs are here!

First of all, Kyle Berger and Mike Carey run down the District 1 AAAA bracker:

The Pottstown Mercury introduces the playoffs with North Penn back to dominating district. In the Philadelphia Inquirer, Pat Maguire suggests going to Heartbreak Ridge for the first half of the Abington-Neshaminy game and then heading to Souderton for the end of the North Penn-Council Rock North game in Preview of three PIAA football playoff games. I think that's a little risky because you may only get to see the North Penn JV by the 4th quarter.

Of course, any team left can win or lose. North Penn has dominated all season, but one bad game is all it takes to send the team home. In HS Football Previews, the North Penn Reporter predicts a big witn for North Penn, though. Both the Inquirer and Reporter note that the game has been moved to Souderton's new field with artificial turf.

posted by Ed at 1:55 PM

Ready for the playoffs?

I extend apologies to Kyle Berger about his predictions. Even though he missed some seedings, he did get 15 of the 16 teams in the bracket. Rick O'Brien got all 16 teams, but he got the CR North-CR South game result wrong and misplaced the 2 teams in the bracket. That's all done now, and the games begin on Friday. Someone is trying to stir up Pennsbury with Unionville picks its poison — Pennsbury. Aside from the fact that Bill Kenny's source is just wrong - the Pennsbury-CR North game would not have been played - the whole idea that Unionville "picked" Pennsbury is ridiculous. If Unionville had tried to keep the game with North Penn contrary to the tie-breaker rules, that might have meant something. All they did was point out that the District Committee hadn't followed their own rules for determining seedings. Perhaps this says more about the District 1 officials than it does about Unionville.

As for North Penn, in several published sources, both Dom Taggart and Coach Beck are “excited” about the playoffs. That’s good. It’s time to step up the performance because there is some serious competition coming up. Todd Thorpe notes, in a bit of a look ahead to week 2, “How tasty would a North Penn-Neshaminy showdown sound for the quarterfinals of the PIAA District One Class AAAA Tournament? Well, if both win their openers this week, that could be in store for Week 2 of the playoffs.” Hopefully, the Knights aren’t looking ahead and will just take care of business with CR North. Suburban One Sports reviews the field in SOL Teams Celebrate District Berths. Football Fever - Week 12 gives a few more tidbits on the playoffs and summarizes the results from last Friday's regular season closers.

posted by Ed at 10:28 AM

North Penn 39 - Pennridge 12

Bring on the Playoffs

North Penn didn't play particularly well, but the Knights were still able to win convincingly and Craig Needhammer broke 1,000 yards rushing for the season. The Knights finish 10-0 with the #1 seed in the District 1 AAAA football playoffs. According to WNPV's Official Unofficial Playoff Show, their opponent next Friday will be Council Rock North. You can listen for yourself on the Scoreboard Show web page.

posted by Ed at 12:43 AM

Week 10 - Playoff Implications

Kyle Berger's predictions at WNPV quickly got blown up. We'll have to see how Rick O'Brien's Handicapping the football playoffs works out for him. His District 1 AAAA Bracket: No. 16 Unionville at No. 1 North Penn; No. 15 Conestoga at No. 2 Pennsbury; No. 14 Penncrest at No. 3 Garnet Valley; No. 13 Council Rock North at No. 4 Downingtown West; No. 12 Council Rock South at No. 5 Avon Grove; No. 11 Quakertown at No. 6 Ridley; No. 10 Downingtown East at No. 7 Norristown; and No. 9 Abington at No. 8 Neshaminy.

These predicitions don't include any upsets on the order of Abington over Pennsbury. For Suburban One playoff possibilities, see Scott Huff's Football Fever: Week 11 at Suburbanonesports.com. Huff takes an extensive look at Souderton's long shot chances of making the playoffs.

Some other links:
Top Defenses Begin with their Ends - Rick O'Brien's catchily titled article puts Andre Poe at No. 3. Why Chuck Knower wasn't listed, I don't understand.
Final Weekend of Bucks Play Promises to be Dandy - big games such as Pennsbury at Neshaminy and the battle of the Rocks.
Interactive? Playoff Bracket at Keystone Sports Report
Rod Frisco's Week 9 AAAA Rankings - North Penn is #3 behind McDevitt & Gateway.
WNPV's District 1 AAAA Playoff Points

posted by Ed at 6:33 AM

Friday Football: Abington shocks Pennsbury | Bucks Mont Sports NOW The Neshaminy-Pennsbury game on November 6 looms even bigger, now. North Penn is in the driver's seat for the #1 seed in the District 1 AAAA football playoff bracket.
posted by Ed at 12:22 PM

North Penn 35 - Hatboro-Horsham 0

The Knights log their 2nd shut-out of the season at the expense of the Hatters. The North Penn cheerleaders put up a sign saying, "Welcome to the swamp." (At least I was told that the cheerleaders put up the sign). The field was definitely sloppy, and it seemed like North Penn approached the game in a very methodical fashion. As reported in the Reporter's NP Batters Hatters, Hatboro was able to gain 170 total yards, but couldn't get the ball across the goal line. Drew Markol points out in Unbeaten North Penn rolls past H-H that losses by Pennsbury and Ridley leave the Knights as the last unbeaten AAAA football team in District 1. Short of a huge upset by the 4-5 Pennridge Rams, North Penn will coast into the top seed in the District 1 playoffs.
posted by Ed at 12:14 AM