The Intel: Focus helped push North Penn into District One final against Neshaminy
The Reporter: District 1-AAAA Football Knights get points for patience
The Reporter: Ernst-to-Wendowski delivers for North Penn - Gerard had a great game on Friday. At least 6 of his 7 catches were for first downs or a touchdown. He has become the Cris Carter of the North Penn Knights.
The Inquirer: North Penn ousts Council Rock South, 28-14 - Rick O'Brien credits Wendowski with 8 catches for 89 yards.
The Reporter: DISTRICT 1-AAAA FOOTBALL: North Penn routs CR South: The Reporter gives Wendowski 7 catches for 76 yards.

And Shayne Watson will be out of the game against Neshaminy this Friday. Hopefully, he will be back on December 10 for the AAAA State Semi-final game.

But will start with Rick O'Brien's preview - Not as close as Rick though
and the Pottstown Mercury preview, Expectation remain high for North Penn
A Dark Knight - Daily Local recap of the Cougar's efforts to get back in the game.
Inquirer coverage of the game
The Reporter - No Contest for North Penn
The Reporter - with Photo and Video goodness - Dick Beck, "Another Thanksgiving we got practice, that's all we wanted."

North Penn 49 - Downingtown East 33

Some last minute Week 12 links

Dom & Kevin's week 11 review
Eastern PA Football is on Twitter Friday Nights
Twitter link

From last week & earlier
Downingtown East vs. OJ Roberts

A write-up on Mike Pettine, Sr & Jr - From the Shadows to the Spotlight
Ridley and the Hendersons - Ridley suffers stunning upset to W.C. Henderson
Let the kids play and quit complaining - rarity makes a thing more valuable - Lopsided scores raise questions about playoffs
Go Brandon -N P's Mercer A Versatile Contributor
Matt Donovan deserves the acoolades - Versatile Matt Donovan does it all at North Penn
Sums it up nicely (take THAT Reading Eagle) - High school football is postseason done right

Preview for Friday
Suburban One Sports - 2010 SOL District FB Preview (Second Round)
Bracket - PIAA District One AAAA Football Bracket - Updated
My picks - Henderson, Neshaminy, CR South & North Penn.
WNPV Preview

WNPV Overtime for Friday, November 12, 2010

Playoffs - Round 1

Friday night scores with video of Council Rock - Souderton and North Penn - Penn Wood in the Reporter. The D1 AAAA winners are Council Rock South, North Penn, Neshaminy, Henderson, CB West, Rustin, Downingtown East & Abington. I was 7-1. Rick O'Brien was 4-4. Rod Frisco was 4-3. The consensus at WNPV was 5-3. Dan Morehouse and Daryl Dobos were both 6-2.

Over the last couple of years, Suburban One has been down a little bit; Ches-Mont has been on the rise. This year, the field is down to 5 Suburban One teams and 3 Ches-Mont teams. At least one Ches-Mont team will remain since Henderson and Rustin play each other on Friday.

The Road to Hershey

Play-offs start tonight. Sixteen AAAA football teams in District 1 will be playing to take another step toward Hershey on December 18. I posted my picks for D1 AAAA a few days ago. Rick O'Brien of the Inquirer posted his picks on Wednesday, looking for Ridley, North Penn, Neshaminy, Downingtown East, Coatesville, Rustin, Cheltenham and Souderton to advance. I question picking Cheltenham - SOL American teams always seem to have a tough time in the play-offs. Souderton over Rock South is a tempting pick, but I think CR South will step up and win - at least this week.

Suburbanonesports.com predicted the outcome of the games involving SOL teams. Rod Frisco gives his playoff predictions around the state. For D1 he picks Ridley, North Penn, Neshaminy, Rustin, Abington, OJ Roberts & Coatesville - no word on Souderton-CR South. WNPV has posted their picks, too.

North Penn 41 - Pennridge 8

As Kevin Cooney notes in the Intel's Knights roll past Rams to tune up for postseason, North Penn has won 24 straight SOL Continental Division contests since the Suburban One realignment in 2008. Cooney also describes how the Knights are "kicking on all cylinders." Of course, before week 10, Joe Santoloquito was saying the same thing about Ridley in Ridley peaking at the right time. Then Ridley squeaked out a 14-7 win on Friday against 5-5 Upper Darby (with only 2 wins against AAAA teams). Not that it matters. Ridley is still the #1 seed. North Penn will be 2 or 3 depending on the outcome of the St. Joe's Prep-Roman Catholic game tonight. Rick O'Brien is picking Roman to win, despite the Prep's 31-15 win 2 weeks ago).

Of course, neither O'Brien or Santoliquito has struck me as having particularly good insight into the southeastern PA high school football psyche. Perhaps I appreciate Kyle Berger's SOL perspective more than O'Brien's Philadelphia and Santoloquito's Delco perspectives. Kyle provides his District 1 bracket on wnpv1440.com. Berger seems to be leaning toward a Prep win tonight putting North Penn in the playoffs as the #2 seed.

Play-off Hype

We are on the eve of finding out the seeding in the District 1 football play-offs. As everyone reading this blog knows (and that would pretty much be me), District 1 AAAA produces one of the 4 semi-finalists for the state tournament. This weekend's games could move a lot of teams around the 16 team bracket. Via twitter, WNPV's Kyle Berger has predicted that North Penn will rise to the #3 seed on the strength of bonus points from a St. Joe's Prep victory over Roman in the PCL play-offs this Saturday at P-W. Rick O'Brien's Forecasting some football playoff fields seems to be looking at only the points for a win and ignoring the bonus points - or predicting a Roman win against the Prep.

The Pottstown Mercury adds to the playoff speculation with Plenty of 'ifs' still surround playoff pictures. This focuses more on AAA than AAAA. It does point out that Downingtown East and North Penn have been playing well since early losses, but ignores how tough Ridley will be with 3 potential home games before a neutral site District 1 final / State quarterfinal.

Lights to go out on Roosevelt Field

This is a nice article about Roosevelt Field, closing after the Norristown-PW game Friday night. Several local coaches are interviewed about their experiences as players and coaches at Roosevelt Field.

Extra-curricular Activities

I was reading the Sound Off section of the Reporter when I read the complaint "Why did it not say "Three North Penn football players are honored" for helping an elderly resident at a scene of an accident? It did not point out that they are on the team." So I had to go back and read the "Citizens Honored" article that described how Joshua Cook, Brandon Mercer, Shayne Watson had helped an elderly woman out of her car after she'd hit a pole before her car was enveloped in flames. Pretty cool.

In other news, Kyle Berger points out that if Saint Joe's Prep beats Roman in their play-off game Saturday night, the Knights will get bonus points. He feels that this will push North Penn to the #3 seed in the District. This would give the Knights 2 home games and the only possible game against Ridley would be the District Final.

North Penn 34 - Hatboro Horsham 7

North Penn scored 7 in the first quarter, 14 in the second quarter and kept H-H off the board for 3 quarters in their 20th straight SOL Continental win on Friday. As the Record's North Penn runs over Hatboro-Horsham notes, the Knights will clinch their 3rd straight Continental Conference championship with a wind Friday over Pennridge. While things look pretty good for the conference championship, the playoffs are shaping up to be a tough road. Currently, North Penn and Neshaminy are tied for the 4th slot in the PIAA District 1 AAAA bracket. Suburban One Sports Football Fever post shows the current standings. Based on everyone in the top 5 winning their last game, I believe that Neshaminy will jump to #4 based on bonus points. This would leave North Penn opening with a home game, then traveling to Neshaminy for the 2nd game. If they manage to survive Heartbreak Ridge, they would then have to travel to Ridley for the District semi's. Unless there is an upset somewhere, which is not unusual in the District 1 AAAA football play-offs.