Scoreless Tie


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Week 9 Coming Up

2 weeks left to protect your play-off spot or drop (maybe drop out). It seems like the biggest games this week are in District 12 - Wood-O'Hara and (maybe) LaSalle-Prep. I've read that St. Joe's Prep has brought their game up since the beginning of the season. It doesn't seem to me that it could be at a level to challenge LaSalle, but we shall see on Saturday. Rod Frisco's rankings show PCC ahead of LaSalle at the top of AAAA, followed by Ridley, North Allegheny, North Penn, CV, CR South, Harrisburg, Downingtown East and Mt. Lebanon.

Of course, in District 1 AAAA, the only rankings that count are

1 - Council Rock South, 8-0
2 – Ridley, 8-0
3 - Downingtown East, 7-1
4 - North Penn, 7-1
5T – Boyertown, 8-0
5T – Neshaminy, 7-1
7 - W.C.Rustin, 7-1
8 - C.B.West, 6-2
9 – Coatesville, 6-2
10 – Cheltenham, 7-1
11 – Abington, 6-2
12 - Upper Dublin, 6-2
13 - Garnet Valley, 6-2
14 - O.J.Roberts, 6-2
15 – Souderton, 5-3
16 - Penn Wood, 7-1

Some games of interest - #1 Council Rock South takes on #11 Abington on Friday; #2 Ridley takes on #13 Garnet Valley; #3 D'town East takes on #17 Henderson. Can Henderson play desperate enough to move into the playoff bracket? #5 Boyertown takes on #14 OJ Roberts and #10 Cheltenham takes on AAA #1 seed Upper Moreland (UM dropped Upper Dublin in 14-13 squeaker last Friday).

Finally, Tom Moore wrote a very nice article about former Pennridge HS football coach Wayne Helman in the Doylestown Intelligencer today.




Monday, October 25, 2010
Video from Friday night -




Saturday, October 23, 2010

North Penn 40 - Souderton 22

The Reporter headline sums it up - Dom-inating. Dom Taggart's line from Friday night: Rushing-Dom Taggart 17-89, 3 TD; Receiving-Dom Taggart 7-147, 2 TD; Interception. Souderton jumped out to a 16-0 lead, and then Dom took over, including 2 TD's in the last 30 seconds of the half to put the Knights up 20-16. North Penn still has a lot to correct for the play-offs, but, barring disaster, they should be in the 4th or 5th seed with a 9-1 record.

Week 8 results and current record for the top 20 in District 1 -
Council Rock South Won 8-0
Ridley Won 8-0
Downingtown East Won 7-1
Neshaminy Won 7-1
North Penn Won 7-1
Boyertown Won 8-0
Upper Dublin Lost 6-2
W.C.Rustin Won 7-1
Souderton Lost 5-3
C.B.West Won 6-2
Abington Won 6-2
Cheltenham Won 7-1
Garnet Valley 5-2 (Play Sat. night)
Coatesville Won 6-2
W.C.Henderson Lost 5-3
O.J.Roberts Won 6-2
Spring-Ford Lost 5-3
Upper Darby Lost 5-3
Penn Wood Won 7-1
Downingtown West Lost 4-4



Friday, October 22, 2010
SOL Game of the Week

This is a must win for Souderton. From the linked article:

North Penn coach Dick Beck’s keys to the game:
1) We have to make them punt – go three-and-out. We can’t let them control the clock at all.
2) Their key to the game is they have to keep us from scoring on big plays. If we can score on big plays and we can get them in a three-and-out, then I like our chances. If they can stop us from making the big play, then their chances will be good.”

We shall see.




I know this post kind of stinks, but maybe I will fix the formatting later (Hah!)

It's make or break week for a lot of teams this week. North Penn at Souderton will determine where North Penn ends up in the playoff seeding and possibly if Souderton makes it into the playoffs at all. The Upper Dublin Cardinals probably need a win tonight against Upper Moreland to keep their playoff hopes alive. Will Spring-Ford reveal Boyertown's fatal flaw? Boyertown has beaten up a lot of AAA teams, but they close out with games against AAAA schools.

The top 16 in District 1 AAAA after 7 weeks:


AAAA


PTS. AVERAGE


1 Council Rock South 7-0 920 131.4


2 Ridley 7-0 840 120


3T Downingtown East 6-1 770 110


3T Neshaminy 6-1 770 110


5 North Penn 6-1 750 107.1


6 Boyertown 7-0 740 105.7


7 Upper

Dublin
6-1 730 104.3


8 W.C.Rustin 6-1 720 102.9


9 Souderton 5-2 660 94.3


10 C.B.West 5-2 650 92.9


11T Abington 5-2 630 90


11T
Cheltenham 6-1 630 90


13

Garnet
Valley
5-2 620 88.6


14T Coatesville 5-2 600 85.7


14T W.C.Henderson 5-2 600 85.7


16 O.J.Roberts 5-2 590 84.3


Cuck's Corner IS the premier blog for District 1 / 12 football


More cuck - http://www.cuckscorner.com/search/label/North%20Penn






Philly week 8 picks - http://www.mikeferris.net/2010/10/week-8-picks.html






Pittsburgh
’s 93.7 the Fan - http://937thefan.cbslocal.com/2010/10/20/mr-high-school-sports-spanning-the-states-8/




A blast from the past at Norristown's Roosevelt field





Roosevelt field is closing down.




The Intel’s Upon Further Review – Oct. 19, 2010




By: TODD THORPE


The Intelligencer


First and 10


1. This week was moving week in terms of the District One Class AAAA playoff chase. Heading into Friday, 34 teams had three or fewer losses and were still very much in the hunt for one of the district's 16 postseason berths. Eight of those teams lost their fourth games over the weekend, and at this point it's difficult to imagine a scenario where a four-loss team makes the field. The top 19 teams according to the points standings still have two or fewer losses, meaning there's a very good chances that not all of the teams that finish with 7-3 records in three weeks will find themselves in districts.


2. Council Rock South, Ridley and Boyertown all improved to 7-0 with wins last week, and all will be heavily favored to win out. If they do, expect those three to be the top three seeds.


(redwolf's note - I don't think Boyertown will pass Neshaminy even if they win out. I think the 4 seed is the best they can hope for.)


7. North Penn (6-1) has won six in a row by an average of 28.1 points, but it hasn't been nearly as dominant as has been the case the past two seasons in the SOL Continental Conference. At halftime in their last three games the Knights have lead by just eight, 10 and eight points. And judging by coach Dick Beck's pointed criticism of his team after its 35-20 win over Quakertown on Friday, he seems quite concerned about his team going into this week's rivalry game against at 5-2 Souderton.


First Down


It took a couple of career firsts for Palisades to get its first win of the season, and, in doing so, give Jim Brady his first victory as a head coach, but the Pirates' ravenous defense also deserves a pat on the back following a 32-13 win over Salisbury on Friday night.






Salisbury
junior Andy Ehrets proved to be a load out of the Falcons' backfield. On

Salisbury
's first offensive series of the night, Ehrets, who is 6-2, 225 pounds, was handed the ball six straight times, covering a total of 42 yards for a 7.0 yards per rush average.


"He's a big kid," said
Palisades junior defensive tackle Jake Thompson. "You have to wrap up (because) he runs his feet after contact. You have to give him a shoulder and drive your feet. He's a good player."


Thompson, incidentally, was one of those players who recorded a career first, making his very first interception. It came off a deflected pass and helped set up one of
Palisades' five touchdowns on the night.


At 6-3, 225, Thompson proved tough to block, too, because after Ehrets' got off to his rip-roaring start, the Pirates defense brought that heady yards-per-rush average down to a more manageable number. In Ehrets' next 20 carries, he ran for just 65 yards for a 3.25 yard average.


"We just had to hit him low, keep him inside and gang tackle him," said Justin Marsh, a linebacker, who, like Thompson, had a career night with his most yards running (133) and most TDs in a game (3).


Now 1-6, the Pirates are hopeful of winning out to end the year with four victories. This week, they play winless Notre Dame-Green Pond and they close the season against 2-5

Saucon
Valley
. In between those two, however, will be challenging date with 5-2
Southern Lehigh.


"All this hard work we did in the offseason is paying off, especially on the O-line," said Thompson, who plays offensive tackle. "We have a lot of young guys who are finally hitting their stride."


Three offensive line starters are sophomores - center Jon Anton, guard Mike Roszkowski, and tackle Jake Lynch.


- Ed Kracz


Players of Week


Offensive


Central Bucks South junior quarterback Matt Johns threw for 335 yards and four touchdowns, and also rushed for a touchdown, in the Titans' 45-35 loss to Souderton.


Defensive


Lansdale Catholic senior Michael Bradley intercepted three passes, two inside the Crusaders' 5-yard line, to help LC defeat Neumann-Goretti, 35-7, in a Philadelphia Catholic League game. Bradley also scored three touchdowns on offense.


Special teams



Upper Moreland sophomore Dan Cripps booted field goals of 37 and 22 yards, and made two extra points, in the Golden Bears' 37-6 win over Wissahickon in a Suburban One League American Conference game.


October 19, 2010 02:17 AM












http://www.neshaminyfootball.com/edthomas/2010/week_07.htm



Southeastern Pennsylvania Top 10


Districts 1, 12 and Inter-Ac


October 19, 2010





Southeastern Pennsylvania Top 10


1. LaSalle (6-1) LaSalle had no difficulty with slumping Father Judge as they coasted to a 42-14 rout. Total yards showed LaSalle with a 393 to 128 advantage. Judge hasn’t been the same since beating

St. Joseph
’s Prep 28-21 the 5thweek of the season upping their record to 5-0. Since then they’ve been handled by Roman and now LaSalle. Just the opposite is true for the Explorers who since suffering their only loss of the season to Bergen Catholic 22-21 (5-1, lost to Don Bosco 38-18) in week number two, have won five straight by an average score of 38-8. Running back Jamal Abdur-Rahman had his way with the Crusaders, rushing for 137 yards to improve his season total to 854 yards rushing. How about junior Matt Magarity’s development at quarterback this year, completing 59% of his passes for 746 yards with 11 touchdown passes? Three of his six completions (119 total yards) against Father Judge went for touchdowns. Archbishop Ryan (2-5, 0-3) is up next at LaSalle coming off consecutive losses to Carroll, West Catholic, St. Joe’s and Roman. Tough schedule.


2. Ridley (7-0)


3. North Penn (6-1) North Penn wasn’t at their best against Quakertown but didn’t have to be as they rolled to a 35-20 Suburban One-Continental win. Quakertown (3-4, 2-1) scored in the last few seconds of the game to make it look closer than it was. Still, the Panthers came to play. Their quarterback junior Zac Gravelle accounted for 244 total yards, completing 14 of 30 passes for 168 yards and two scores while rushing for another 76 yards on 25 carries. Nice, but it was not enough with North Penn feeding them a steady diet of Brandon Mercer (5 carries-72 yards), Craig Needhammer (13-53) and Dom Taggart (13-52). Quarterback Corey Ernst added 7 completions on 14 attempts for 110 yards to balance things out. Sometimes a game against an opponent like Ridley and North Penn faced last week can serve as a needed and timely wake up call. For the second week in a row, the Knights take on an undefeated Continental foe when they travel to Souderton (5-2, 4-0). For all intents and purposes, this is the Continental title game and an interesting game knowing the Indians only losses were to SOL-National Conference bullies Neshaminy (6-1) and Abington (5-2) by a combined three points. North Penn won last year’s game 27-6 with a more consistent team than this year so it could get interesting.


4. Cardinal O’Hara (7-0, AAA)


5. Archbishop Wood (7-0, AAA)


6. Council Rock South (7-0)


7. Downingtown East (6-1)


8. West Catholic (5-2, AA)


9. Neshaminy (6-1)


10. Coatesville (5-2)


Honorable Mention


Souderton (5-2)


Abington (5-2)



Upper Dublin (6-1)


Central Bucks West (6-1)


George Washington (6-1)


Roman Catholic (5-2)


Boyertown (7-0)



Upper Darby (5-2)


Strath Haven (6-1, AAA)


Rustin (6-1)




Henderson
(5-2)











Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Quakertown 20 - North Penn 35

Coach Beck wasn't very happy about the Knights' efforts last Friday. From Football Fever 2010 (Vol. 7):

Winning is something that is expected at SOL Continental Conference power North Penn (6-1). The recognized Knight program has reached that elite position in the state, and for North Penn it is not if you win the game – but how do you look when you win?

“If we don’t correct the mistakes we are making, it is going to be a short season,” said North Penn head coach Dick Beck in reference to the Knights play in a 35-20 win over Quakertown. “We just didn’t play smart – we made a lot of bad mental mistakes.

“We can’t continue to win playing football that way,” added Beck. “There are no guarantees any Friday night.”

I read somewhere else that the Knights have averaged 12 games per year under Dick Beck's leadership. The Born Power Index lists North Penn as No. 1 in District 1. (Not that it means anything). The Daily News lists North Penn at #3 in their area high school football rankings.




Friday, October 08, 2010
North Penn at CB West Preview

Everyone regards this as chance for CB West to make a statement merely by staying in the game. I would imagine that the West coaches are taking a different view - they want their team to beat North Penn. North Penn is expected to win, though, and I expect that they will.

Some links:
Intelligencer/Courier Times Let's Talk Footall (Week 6) - Kevin Cooney and Dom Cosentino discuss the current state of SOL football.
Contenders face key week - Kevin gives his point of view in the intell.
H.S. FOOTBALL: Week 6 Previews - Kev Hunter lays it out in the Reporter
Showdown in Doylestown between North Penn, CB West - The Reporter's detailed preview of North Penn-CB West.




Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Rhode Island school pulls out of game citing size of foe's players

"Football matchups between private schools can create mismatches based on a variety of factors, but it's rare that a school uses fear of injury to cancel a game." Sounds like Lawrence Academy and Buckingham Browne & Nichols should start playing community and junior colleges - and maybe a few low end D3 college opponents.




Tuesday, October 05, 2010

District 1 AAAA Playoff standings

While none of this means anything right now, it is interesting to look at.

1 Neshaminy 5-0 610 122
T2 Council Rock South 5-0 600 120
T2 W.C.Henderson 5-0 600 120
4 Garnet Valley 5-0 560 112
5 Ridley 5-0 550 110
T6 C.B.West 4-1 500 100
T6 Downingtown East 4-1 500 100
8 Boyertown 5-0 490 98
9 Spring-Ford 4-1 460 92
10 Upper Dublin 4-1 430 86
11T North Penn 4-1 420 84
11T W.C.Rustin 4-1 420 84
13 Cheltenham 4-1 400 80
14T Wm. Tennent 4-1 390 78
14T Souderton 3-2 390 78
16 Abington 3-2 360 72
17T Conestoga 3-2 350 70
17T Pl. Whitemarsh 3-2 350 70
19T Chester 3-2 340 68
19T O.J.Roberts 3-2 340 68
21 Coatesville 3-2 320 64
22T Norristown 3-2 310 62
22T Methacton 3-2 310 62
24 Upper Darby 3-2 290 58
25 Penn Wood 4-1 280 56

Interestingly, if you take the teams in the order listed, you get this Friday's match up of North Penn at CB West as a first round game. West is doing well so far, but I don't think they are up to North Penn's level of play.

Theoretically, there could be 4 10-0 teams on November 7, I am expecting 2 - Neshaminy & Ridley. Neshaminy could be surplanted by Council Rock South and Ridley by Garnet Valley, but it's not likely. In any case, we have 5 more weeks of jockeying for position before we really know who plays who.




Saturday, October 02, 2010

North Penn 28 - CB East 6

It's been a busy, busy week, and I didn't make it up to War Memorial to see the game. It sounds like the North Penn offense was a bit sloppy from Chrstiaan DeFranco's North Penn Pulls Away from CB East, but a win is a win. I plan to be at War Memorial on the 8th to see North Penn at CB West, barring bad weather.

Some football links from this week:
Which high school produces the most NFL talent? - Woodie Hills!!!
Athlete of the Week - Jack Kinniry of Jenkintown
Upon further review - Dom Taggart could play anywhere.
Unbeaten Ridley still sees room for improvement
Spread offenses in vogue