2014: District 1, Suburban One-Continental
League-Conference mini review-preview:
Central Bucks West 2-7; Things don’t get much worse than last year for the Bucks who forfeited their last two games for alleged hazing issues where no formal charges were brought! Even without those games, West was having one of their historically worst years with an anemic offense lurching along at 19ppg. The defense was equally weak, allowing 27ppg. Really sad thinking where this program was not all that long ago. This unit harkened back to the period between 2005 and 2009 where they won a total of 11 games (11 games….CB West!) while losing 40. In truth, they graduated a decent offensive team in 2013 that went 9-3 before losing to Perkiomen Valley in the second round. At 31ppg, that was a balanced and strong offense, fueled by running back Marvin Todd (6-1, 190, 1335ry) and three underrated, sure-handed receivers in Joe Ramos, Mark Claudelli and Corey Schott. They combined for 1256 yards of receptions on 83 catches their senior year after snagging 100 receptions the previous year for 1053 yards. That was a nice group. QB John Fitz (6-1, 195) wasn’t bad either throwing for 1520 yards (53%) with a 16-10 Td/Pick ratio. But a sieve like defense gave early signs of trouble that manifested itself in the debacle that was Perkiomen Valley, a 60-20 loss. Last year’s group followed suit allowing 27ppg. But the light at the end of the tunnel, not really knowing how long the tunnel is, particularly with a new head coach, could be a decent multi-threat quarterback returning in Eddie Shields (5-11, 185, sr) who passed for 637 yards and rushed for another 338 in that shortened season. Getting off to a good start should again be difficult with another respectable non-conference slate of Central Bucks South, a tough opening for both given the rivalry, Souderton, who may be the SOL surprise this year and Pennridge, always a tough out.
Central Bucks East 5-5; A .500 season isn’t much to get excited about until realizing it’s the closest East has come to a winning season since 2007’s 6-4 campaign. They did this with an offense scoring 21ppg and a D that wasn’t anything to write home about at 24ppg. Still, they won two road games then pulled the shocker with the regular season ending upset of previously undefeated Quakertown 35-21. Maybe we should key off that win for the coming season knowing the Pats were on something of a roll with a healthy team, especially with the return of running back Alex Gibson. Alex began the season as the starter but missed the next four games, Pennridge, Central Bucks South, Council Rock North and Council Rock South (0-4), returning for William Tennent week six. With his return, the 1-4 start was reversed as the Pats finished with flair, going 4-1. It was here where Gibson got his 652 rushing yards over the course of four games with CB West a forfeit. Pretty decent comp too, including Truman and Quakertown. Also, starting quarterback Connor O’Keefe (6-2, 210, 49/94/689, 52%, 2/4 ratio) went out the fourth week of the season and did not return. He graduated. Jack Lamb (6-0, 200) came in for CR North week four to finish out as the starter. He returns for his senior season after completing 45 of 87 passes for 576 yards. He rushed for 324 yards. He’ll be throwing to his leading receiver from last year, Alex Gibson (who else?), who caught 14 passes for 182 yards. Can’t wait to see him get a full season under his belt! So things should improve with Lamb and Gibson’s return. Many other experienced running backs and receivers return along with half the defense to set the Pats up pretty good for the coming season. The schedule is favorable allowing for a good start with three of their first four games in Doylestown; Cheltenham, CB South and CR North, with Pennridge on the road week two.
Tennent 5-6; Tennent showed tremendous gains last year on both sides of the ball that barely showed up in the win column. The offense improved from 14ppg to 28 (!), as the defense improved from 29 to 20. Four narrow losses prevented a 9-2 season….(9-2..Tennent!), losing to Mastery Charter 21-13, CB East 15-13, CR South 46-41 and Quakertown 21-14. Talk about snake bit! You got to win the close ones but wow; it took a lot of class to keep it together with losses like that. Like Truman, what a tough out these guys were. Remember they thought they lost their quarterback, senior Nikolas “Nik” Banks (5-11, 180, ankle) in game #4 against Quakertown for the season. Nik (Albright College) was no small loss given he was the leading passer and rusher. So it was a welcome surprise when he came back two games later against Central Bucks East to finish out the season. Probably underrated at his position with 841 pass yard (51/100, 11-4 ratio) and 929 rush yards on 119 carries in eight games. He’s a big loss plus Colin Herbert who filled in for him (Qtown, CRN) also graduated. Otherwise they’re set at the skill positions with running backs Dan Costello (5-8, 170, sr, 112/715), Derek Finley (5-11, 190, sr, 47/196) and Tyler Lynch (5-9, 165, jr, 10/117) back. Their top receiver also return in John Ryan (6-4, 185, sr, 32/614, Continental 1st team WR) who was once projected at quarterback. They lost some beef along the OL and DL in Corey Shriver (6-3, 300, Del Val U, Continental 1st team OL), Angel Santiago (6-1, 225, Continental 2nd team DL), Ryheem Powell (6-1, 225) and James Ruegner (6-2, 280). Looking at those narrow losses says that was a sneaky, capable team last year that got much of their impetus from quarterback Nik Banks. If they can just approximate him and replace a few wide bodies up front, no small task as they ran the ball well, they’ll be in the hunt with good stuff returning at running back and wide out. At the end of the day, kudos to the team and staff for hanging in there through all those tough losses to end the season on a 3-1 run.
Norristown 4-7; Norristown started the year strong beating Upper Merion 27-6 then Wissahickon 14-13, both on the road, before getting rolled over by Plymouth Whitemarsh’s mammoth OL, losing 35-6. They rallied for a 28-27 overtime win against Central Bucks West, then lost five straight before beating Truman 18-17. Rival Methacton beat them in the finale 38-10. By every measurable, it was a bad year. But compared to the previous two where they went 1-10 then 0-11, it was a significant reversal of fortunes, especially knowing they had a very young team. With only 13 seniors graduating, the Eagles could improve another few games to say 6-4….and sneak into the playoffs. Right, but the beer down. Two teams made the postseason last year with similar records, Council Rock North the 11th seed and Downingtown West, the 15th seed. 7-3 then almost guarantees you a spot in districts. Wouldn’t that be something, making the postseason then leaving for the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Liberty Division (Big Schools) for the 2016-2017 season, joining Perkiomen Valley, Spring Ford, Methacton, Boyertown and OJ Roberts. Better buckle up as teams like Perk Val and Spring Ford will knock their socks off. Methacton already does! Not sure if the idiom “jumping from the frying pan into the fire” applies but it’s sure hard seeing where they’ve helped themselves, given changing demographics. The schedule is challenging, playing four of their first five games on the road, in all cases against teams they struggled with last year. They open at Methacton who beat them 38-10, then Wissahickon at home who they beat 14-13. Plymouth Whitemarsh had no trouble with them, winning 35-6 and it took overtime to beat Central Bucks West 28-27. The fifth game of the year this season is against Quakertown who won handily last year, 34-6. They’ll at least have all those bodies back from last year especially quarterback Desmond Gorski (6-0, 185, sr, 31/77/299) and running backs Corey Davenport and Khalif Sinclaire who combined had 93 carries for 536 yards. Regardless of those returning starters, they’ll still need a major makeover on both sides of the ball for any improvement knowing they’ve allowed 25, 28, 30 and 29ppg last four years while the offense limped along at 20, 10, 13 and 14ppg the last four years. Bottom line, don’t be surprised to see the Eagles swoop down on some unsuspecting prey for an upset along the way if they survive games at the top of the schedule.
League-Conference mini review-preview:
Central Bucks West 2-7; Things don’t get much worse than last year for the Bucks who forfeited their last two games for alleged hazing issues where no formal charges were brought! Even without those games, West was having one of their historically worst years with an anemic offense lurching along at 19ppg. The defense was equally weak, allowing 27ppg. Really sad thinking where this program was not all that long ago. This unit harkened back to the period between 2005 and 2009 where they won a total of 11 games (11 games….CB West!) while losing 40. In truth, they graduated a decent offensive team in 2013 that went 9-3 before losing to Perkiomen Valley in the second round. At 31ppg, that was a balanced and strong offense, fueled by running back Marvin Todd (6-1, 190, 1335ry) and three underrated, sure-handed receivers in Joe Ramos, Mark Claudelli and Corey Schott. They combined for 1256 yards of receptions on 83 catches their senior year after snagging 100 receptions the previous year for 1053 yards. That was a nice group. QB John Fitz (6-1, 195) wasn’t bad either throwing for 1520 yards (53%) with a 16-10 Td/Pick ratio. But a sieve like defense gave early signs of trouble that manifested itself in the debacle that was Perkiomen Valley, a 60-20 loss. Last year’s group followed suit allowing 27ppg. But the light at the end of the tunnel, not really knowing how long the tunnel is, particularly with a new head coach, could be a decent multi-threat quarterback returning in Eddie Shields (5-11, 185, sr) who passed for 637 yards and rushed for another 338 in that shortened season. Getting off to a good start should again be difficult with another respectable non-conference slate of Central Bucks South, a tough opening for both given the rivalry, Souderton, who may be the SOL surprise this year and Pennridge, always a tough out.
Central Bucks East 5-5; A .500 season isn’t much to get excited about until realizing it’s the closest East has come to a winning season since 2007’s 6-4 campaign. They did this with an offense scoring 21ppg and a D that wasn’t anything to write home about at 24ppg. Still, they won two road games then pulled the shocker with the regular season ending upset of previously undefeated Quakertown 35-21. Maybe we should key off that win for the coming season knowing the Pats were on something of a roll with a healthy team, especially with the return of running back Alex Gibson. Alex began the season as the starter but missed the next four games, Pennridge, Central Bucks South, Council Rock North and Council Rock South (0-4), returning for William Tennent week six. With his return, the 1-4 start was reversed as the Pats finished with flair, going 4-1. It was here where Gibson got his 652 rushing yards over the course of four games with CB West a forfeit. Pretty decent comp too, including Truman and Quakertown. Also, starting quarterback Connor O’Keefe (6-2, 210, 49/94/689, 52%, 2/4 ratio) went out the fourth week of the season and did not return. He graduated. Jack Lamb (6-0, 200) came in for CR North week four to finish out as the starter. He returns for his senior season after completing 45 of 87 passes for 576 yards. He rushed for 324 yards. He’ll be throwing to his leading receiver from last year, Alex Gibson (who else?), who caught 14 passes for 182 yards. Can’t wait to see him get a full season under his belt! So things should improve with Lamb and Gibson’s return. Many other experienced running backs and receivers return along with half the defense to set the Pats up pretty good for the coming season. The schedule is favorable allowing for a good start with three of their first four games in Doylestown; Cheltenham, CB South and CR North, with Pennridge on the road week two.
Tennent 5-6; Tennent showed tremendous gains last year on both sides of the ball that barely showed up in the win column. The offense improved from 14ppg to 28 (!), as the defense improved from 29 to 20. Four narrow losses prevented a 9-2 season….(9-2..Tennent!), losing to Mastery Charter 21-13, CB East 15-13, CR South 46-41 and Quakertown 21-14. Talk about snake bit! You got to win the close ones but wow; it took a lot of class to keep it together with losses like that. Like Truman, what a tough out these guys were. Remember they thought they lost their quarterback, senior Nikolas “Nik” Banks (5-11, 180, ankle) in game #4 against Quakertown for the season. Nik (Albright College) was no small loss given he was the leading passer and rusher. So it was a welcome surprise when he came back two games later against Central Bucks East to finish out the season. Probably underrated at his position with 841 pass yard (51/100, 11-4 ratio) and 929 rush yards on 119 carries in eight games. He’s a big loss plus Colin Herbert who filled in for him (Qtown, CRN) also graduated. Otherwise they’re set at the skill positions with running backs Dan Costello (5-8, 170, sr, 112/715), Derek Finley (5-11, 190, sr, 47/196) and Tyler Lynch (5-9, 165, jr, 10/117) back. Their top receiver also return in John Ryan (6-4, 185, sr, 32/614, Continental 1st team WR) who was once projected at quarterback. They lost some beef along the OL and DL in Corey Shriver (6-3, 300, Del Val U, Continental 1st team OL), Angel Santiago (6-1, 225, Continental 2nd team DL), Ryheem Powell (6-1, 225) and James Ruegner (6-2, 280). Looking at those narrow losses says that was a sneaky, capable team last year that got much of their impetus from quarterback Nik Banks. If they can just approximate him and replace a few wide bodies up front, no small task as they ran the ball well, they’ll be in the hunt with good stuff returning at running back and wide out. At the end of the day, kudos to the team and staff for hanging in there through all those tough losses to end the season on a 3-1 run.
Norristown 4-7; Norristown started the year strong beating Upper Merion 27-6 then Wissahickon 14-13, both on the road, before getting rolled over by Plymouth Whitemarsh’s mammoth OL, losing 35-6. They rallied for a 28-27 overtime win against Central Bucks West, then lost five straight before beating Truman 18-17. Rival Methacton beat them in the finale 38-10. By every measurable, it was a bad year. But compared to the previous two where they went 1-10 then 0-11, it was a significant reversal of fortunes, especially knowing they had a very young team. With only 13 seniors graduating, the Eagles could improve another few games to say 6-4….and sneak into the playoffs. Right, but the beer down. Two teams made the postseason last year with similar records, Council Rock North the 11th seed and Downingtown West, the 15th seed. 7-3 then almost guarantees you a spot in districts. Wouldn’t that be something, making the postseason then leaving for the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Liberty Division (Big Schools) for the 2016-2017 season, joining Perkiomen Valley, Spring Ford, Methacton, Boyertown and OJ Roberts. Better buckle up as teams like Perk Val and Spring Ford will knock their socks off. Methacton already does! Not sure if the idiom “jumping from the frying pan into the fire” applies but it’s sure hard seeing where they’ve helped themselves, given changing demographics. The schedule is challenging, playing four of their first five games on the road, in all cases against teams they struggled with last year. They open at Methacton who beat them 38-10, then Wissahickon at home who they beat 14-13. Plymouth Whitemarsh had no trouble with them, winning 35-6 and it took overtime to beat Central Bucks West 28-27. The fifth game of the year this season is against Quakertown who won handily last year, 34-6. They’ll at least have all those bodies back from last year especially quarterback Desmond Gorski (6-0, 185, sr, 31/77/299) and running backs Corey Davenport and Khalif Sinclaire who combined had 93 carries for 536 yards. Regardless of those returning starters, they’ll still need a major makeover on both sides of the ball for any improvement knowing they’ve allowed 25, 28, 30 and 29ppg last four years while the offense limped along at 20, 10, 13 and 14ppg the last four years. Bottom line, don’t be surprised to see the Eagles swoop down on some unsuspecting prey for an upset along the way if they survive games at the top of the schedule.
