by Dave Ferris
District 1
This week’s games
Friday November 20, 7:00 unless noted (seeding in parenthesis)
(9) North Penn 8-3 at (1) Downingtown East 11-0
This could be the District 1 title game. East is the number one district seed, and they beat North Penn in the third week of the season 28-24. But, that was then. Last week East struggled to beat 16 seed PW. North Penn plays a tough preseason schedule and a difficult regular season in one of the best conferences in the state (SOL National). They demolished last week’s playoff foe with a balanced offensive attack and a stingy defense. They have momentum. They are ready for this game. East has never won a D1 title although they made it to the finals in 2005 losing to North Penn. North Penn has won six D1 titles. On paper, East should be favored, but North Penn could take this one.
(13) Neshaminy 8-3 at (12)Quakertown 9-2
Nobody wants to play Neshaminy right now. They are finally playing like the playoff-winning machine that they have always been. It took them a while to acclimate to a new coach, but they are rolling now having beaten Pennsbury and Spring-Ford back to back. Quakertown barely won last week’s playoff game against CB East and lost to East the week before. Neshaminy has momentum on their side. These two teams haven’t met since 1934 with Neshaminy winning that one. Quakertown had never won a playoff game until last year. Now they have done it back-to-back. But, this year they may lose in the second round just like last year.
(15) Pennsbury 8-3 at (10) Perkiomen Valley 10-1 (Saturday 7:00)
Pennsbury is last year’s D1 champion. They also won it in 2006. Although they do not seem to be as dominating this year as last, their win over 2-seed Downingtown West last week increases their credibility. Pennsbury is the third largest school in the state and plays in a tough conference. Perk Valley is about half the size of Pennsbury and plays in a weaker league. In spite of the seeding, a Perk Valley win would be an upset.
(6) Upper Darby 10-1 at (3) Upper Dublin 11-0
Upper Dublin appears to have all the credentials to be the favorite in this one. They have an explosive offense led by Ryan Stover, a stingy defense and a huge winning margin over opponents. But, Upper Darby has Isaiah Bruce. He has rushed for over 300 yards twice this season including last week when his team rang up 59 points on Council Rock North while he was scoring seven TD’s. He has over 2,000 yards for the season and 30 TD’s. Coming off their first-ever playoff win, they will be hungry for more. They have averaged 50 points in their last three games. If Upper Dublin is going to match last year’s semi-final appearance, they will have to win this one, but it could be difficult. This is a tough one to call, but Upper Dublin should have the edge.
District 1
Last week’s results
(1) Downingtown East 35, (16) Plymouth Whitemarsh 28
This was almost another D1 16-seed miracle. East survived by coming from behind late in the fourth quarter to win in an unexpected heart-stopper. PW tailback, Nafeeses Nasir, scored two TD’s in the first quarter to put PW up by 14-0. A 21-7 PW halftime lead had the alarm bells ringing. PW controlled the line of scrimmage as Nasir poured it on with 200 yards rushing for the game. East finally took the lead with Cary Angeline’s third TD reception with 5 minutes left, but PW wasn’t finished. With fourth and four at the East 26 and 33 seconds left, QB Joe Strobel passed to Nasir who was open in the end zone. Michael Gwoah saved the day by tipping the ball out of reach to save the win for East. So, a team that only made the playoffs due a late-season William Tennent forfeit that eliminated Pennridge, almost took out the top-ranked team in District One.
(9) North Penn 48, (8) Unionville 7
Even though Unionville was the higher seed, NP did what many fully expected. The big school from a power conference demolished the small school from a mediocre conference. North Penn always plays a tough preseason schedule. They are hardened for the playoffs. Nyfeace West (111 yards) and Nick Isabella (105) led a stable of running backs who pounded the outmanned Unionville defense. NP QB, Reece Udinski, passed for 134 yards to achieve a balanced attack that amassed a total yardage advantage of 456-161.
(12) Quakertown 7, (5) Central Bucks East 6
CB East turnovers turned out to be the difference in this one as East surrendered four of them at crucial moments. These two evenly matched teams met twice in eight days and were separated by a total of two points in an even split. A high snap on the East’s extra point try proved to be the difference. East’s Alex Gibson had a game-high 139 yards rushing and finished the season with 1,120. Quakertown’s Rob Burns was held to 87 yards and finished his season with 1,624.
(13) Neshaminy 31, (4) Spring-Ford 16
After a slow start to their season, Neshaminy handed a good S-F team their first loss of the season. Even though Neshaminy’s top running back, Will Dogba, rushed for two short TD’s, he only carried the ball six times for 19 yards because he was sidelined with an ankle injury. Joe Pirrone picked up the slack with 113 yards rushing and QB Mason Jones passed for 200 yards. The Neshaminy defense shut down Spring-Ford’s high-powered spread offense that scored 82 points against Methacton. The game was never in doubt as the winner built a 31-8 lead until S-F scored their second TD late in the fourth quarter.
(3) Upper Dublin 35, (14) Garnet Valley 3
Ryan Stover once again led his team to another decisive victory guiding them to 500 yards in total offense. He had 126 yards rushing for 3 TD’s and 212 yards through the air. As much as UD is known for its offense, it should also be known for its defense. They held GV to 170 yards total offense and an average of 5 points surrendered per game this season. They have been a demolition crew on both sides of the ball outscoring their opponents by an average of 45-5 in 11 straight wins. Can they hold up to the stiff completion that is about to come their way if they progress through the playoffs?
(6) Upper Darby 59, (11) Council Rock North 34
North QB, Brandon McIlwaine, could not counterbalance the power of the UD running game. Isaiah Bruce ran through the defense for 343 yards including seven touchdowns. That was enough to end McIlwaine’s high school career, but he will play next year at South Carolina. This was Upper Darby’s first- ever District 1 playoff win.
(10) Perkiomen Valley 35, (7) Haverford 28
Haverford’s Jack Donaghy was 21-for-42 passing and 378 yards and four TD’s, but that was not enough to beat Perk Valley who was fueled by four TD’s from running back Ronnie Arch. Haverford was trying to win their first-ever playoff game, but it was not to be as Arch took a pass 55 yards for the game winning score midway through the fourth quarter.
(15) Pennsbury 35, (2) Downingtown West 28 (OT)
This was a titanic struggle between two heavyweights not to be decided in regulation time. After recovering a Pennsbury fumble at midfield, Jake Barr scored the game-tying TD with five minutes left. Pennsbury QB, Mike Alley, scored on a two yard sneak to put Pennsbury up in OT, but West could not answer as Pennsbury’s Quentin Daly intercepted a pass in the end zone to end the game. Alley had 130 of Pennsbury’s 330 rushing yards. Although considered an upset, Pennsbury plays its regular season in the very tough Suburban One National Conference and is always a tough out.
D1 Insights
Suburban One League teams won 5 of 8 games last week. Three of those are from the powerful SOL National Conference which is made up of the largest schools in the league and includes Neshaminy, North Penn and Pennsbury. Perennial playoff power Neshaminy is once again prominent. After an off year, they are not as talented as 2013 but solid. They are possibly headed for yet another showdown with North Penn. These two have the most D1 titles and have crossed paths many times. Along with Pennsbury, they make up the triumvirate of District 1 which has won 78% of all D1 titles since the end of the CB West era in 2000. North Penn looks to be poised to make another run at the title. To get to the title game, they must beat Downingtown East and most likely Neshaminy. In the other half of the bracket sits Upper Dublin with some amazing accomplishments over the last few years such as wins and scoring margin. The questions of schedule strength and school size are always there, but last year they took the eventual champ, Pennsbury, to the wall before succumbing late in the game. Upper Dublin is better this year than last, and Pennsbury is not as good as last year. They may meet again next week.
This year’s remaining D1 playoff schools size ranking of 44 schools in D1 (males for football in parenthesis):
1 North Penn (1861)
2 Pennsbury (1384)
3 Upper Darby (1354)
4 Neshaminy (1225)
14 Downingtown East (828)
23 Perk Valley (740)
26 Quakertown (703)
35 Upper Dublin (569)
The Rest of the East AAAA
The winner of District 1 will play the District 12 vs. Districts 2/4/11 winner for the Eastern PA title.
District 12 Catholic League winner plays Public League winner for District 12 title.
This week’s games
Philadelphia Catholic League AAAA Championship
(1) St. Joseph’s Prep vs (2) LaSalle at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, Saturday 1:00
Philadelphia Public League AAAA Championship
Simon Gratz at Northeast, Saturday 4:00
Last weeks’ results
Philadelphia Catholic League AAAA Playoffs
(1) St. Joseph’s Prep 49, (4) Roman Catholic 13
(2) LaSalle 27, (3) Father Judge 6
Philadelphia Public League AAAA Playoffs
Northeast 18, Frankford 12
Simon Gratz 19, Central 6
District 2/4/11 Sub-regional
This week’s games November 20, 7:00
(4) Bethlehem Liberty at (1) Wyoming Valley West
(6) Easton Area at (2) Parkland
Last week’s results
(1) Wyoming Valley West 51, (8) Nazareth Area 34
(4) Bethlehem Liberty 44 (5) Stroudsburg 0
(6) Easton Area 20, (3) Bethlehem Freedom 3
(2) Parkland 28, (7) Delaware Valley 10
