Ed Thomas Report

Last week featured some truly exciting games as some of our “name” teams got into it. We had St. Joseph’s Prep and North Penn going at it good; LaSalle battling West Catholic in a nail biter and then Downingtown East losing a heartbreaker to mid-state power Wilson (West Lawn). Those Bulldogs will mug you but East stayed with them and, in fact, led for much of the game before falling, 40-35. Teams other than the Top 10 teams are having early season success too where 7 of 10 in the Honorable Mention group are undefeated. So we’re off to a fast and engaging start this year. And although it’s lost some of its glitter you’ve got to admit, North Penn taking down Liberty felt good! Still does. Then St. Joe’s showed the vaunted WPIAL something about Philadelphia and its Catholic League by beating a good McKeesport team. Downingtown East almost handling Wilson also says we’re in good shape locally so hold on for another exciting week of Southeastern Pennsylvania football.

1. North Penn (3-0) In one of the state's premier games of the week, North Penn vaulted to the top of the ratings by taking down previously 6th ranked St. Joseph's Prep, 28-14. The Prep scored in the final minute when Pete Hurley caught what appeared to be a tipped pass in the end zone from Paul McGann to make it look close. It wasn't. The game got off to a great start for North Penn after they stopped the Hawks’ initial drive at the 15-yard line and blocked a field goal that may have hit a Hawk player first. Matt Donovan got the bounce, returning it 50 yards to St. Joe's 35-yard line. The Hawks stiffened but the Knights went for it all on 4th down when senior quarterback Todd Smolinsky connected with T.J. Gill for a 33-yard touchdown toss and the early 7-0 lead. It was all down hill from there for the Hawks with North Penn scoring again on a 7-yard carry by Smolinsky at the 11:55 mark of the second-quarter. That one was set up after the Knights sacked quarterback Skylar Mornhinweg for a 15-yard loss and got great field position near mid-field. Later in the second-quarter, on a drive aided by a face mask call against St. Joseph's, North Penn again went for it on 4th and 8 from the Hawks’ 34-yard line and scored when Smolinsky connected with Dominic Taggert for 6. Talk about taking it to them, the touchdown was North Penn's second on a 4th down play, giving them an insurmountable 21-0 half-time lead. The Knights’ swarming defense shutdown the Hawks’ offense holding them to 166 yards passing and 9 yards rushing. Nine yards! North Penn now moves on to Suburban One-Continental action at Central Bucks South who is winless.

2. Neshaminy (3-0) Neshaminy fell behind Germantown on their very first play from scrimmage when a Bryan Dean fumble was returned 43 yards by Germantown's Brent West for the score. That evidently got their attention as they responded with 42 unanswered points to beat the Bears, 42-14. Once again, the Redskins' passing attack was led by dual quarterbacks Brian Titus and Charlie Marterella who combined to complete 9 of 13 passes for 122 yards. Titus threw touchdowns passes of 10- and 7-yards to wideout Ricky Brebner and his big tight end, Shane Quinn (6-2, 230). Marterella threw a 21-yard touchdown to speedy Ricky Williams. The ‘Skins really spread things out with seven different players catching balls. You've got to love that. Three running backs were prominent in the attack as Bryan Dean led the way with 83 yards on 9 carries. Ron Smith, a 5-8, 140 pound sophomore running back, had 7 carries for 26 yards while Corey Majors had 4 carries for 23 yards. Looks like Coach Schmidt is searching the roster to find the right mix and creating a deep corps of receivers and ball carriers. The defense looks set as the ‘Skins have shut everyone down. G-town was held to 84 yards rushing and 81 through the air with the Tribe’s “D” appearing to be especially quick and talented on this year. National Conference play begins Friday night in Abington against the undefeated and 5th ranked Ghosts.

3. LaSalle (3-0) Despite playing without two of their primary offensive weapons in running back Jamal Abdur Rahman and receiver Sam Feleccia, LaSalle was able to fend off a strong West Catholic team for the second straight year. They barely edged the Burrs last year, 27-26, and had just as much trouble this year with the two battling to a 6-6 halftime tie. With Jamal Abdur Rahman still recovering from an injury last week, Tim Wade stepped in to do solid work, rushing for 87 yards on 15 carries. LaSalle senior Mike Bennett opened scoring in the second-half with a 22-yard field goal that would prove decisive. A 3-yard run early in the fourth-quarter by quarterback Loughery opened the lead up to16-6. West countered with a 15-yard scoring strike from quarterback Jarred Evans to Jaelen Strong-Ranking but it wasn't enough as LaSalle hung on for the 16-14 win. It's great having senior leadership in the form of quarterback Drew Loughery who threw for one touchdown, ran for another and completed 10 of 17 passes for 131 yards. Nice! A few things were learned in this one; first, West Catholic confirmed they are again a very strong football team that possesses a fine quarterback. Jarred Evans completed 17 of 24 passes for 237 yards and 2 scores. Second, the defense is also big and quick. For LaSalle, they learned they are more than a few marquis names and passed a test that will have they filled with confidence this week against St. Joseph's Prep.

4. Pennsbury (3-0) Pennsbury must have thought it was Christmas with all the gifts provided by Glen Mills last Thursday. The Bulls were in a generous mood, giving early and often and by game's end, turnovers accounted for 22 points as the Falcons rolled to an easy 42-0 win. Things got off on the wrong foot when a fumble on their first play from scrimmage was returned 40 yards for the score by Chris Liccione. In the 2nd quarter, they unwisely fielded a punt on the one-foot line then stepped into the end zone for a safety. Still in the 2nd quarter, Pennsbury's Mike Ciotti rambled 67-yards with a fumble recovery for 6 more points. In the 3rd quarter, Ciotti stepped in front of a pass, and then returned it 29 yards for the score. Offensively, Dante Devine led the way for Pennsbury with110 yards on 7 carries. He has topped the century mark in rushing yards all three games this year. Quarterback Brandon Pepper was 0-2 passing and rushed for 36 yards on 10 carries. Junior quarterback Jeff Prine also played and completed both of his passes for 43 yards. All totaled, the Falcons have attempted only 18 passes in three non-conference games and have thrown less each game. (Pepper threw for 562 yards last year.) They began with eight attempts against Conwell Egan, and then tossed six against Frankford. Last week saw them drop to a season low of four passes, although it was a blow-out. At some point they will need to be more diverse in their offense, perhaps beginning this week in their National Conference opener, at home, against undefeated Council Rock South, a team they edged last year, 27-20.

5. Abington (2-0) Abington had a rare open date on their schedule last week which could give them special advantages this week in their Suburban One-National Conference showdown against Neshaminy. They already have a tremendous schedule advantage that sees the conference's best teams coming to their field. Both Council Rock North and South play at Abington as does Pennsbury and Neshaminy. Three of those opponents are undefeated while Rock North is 2-1, for a combined won-loss of 11-1. Their road opponents, Central Bucks East, Tennent, Bensalem, Truman and Cheltenham, have a combined record of 4-11 and are all under .500. Good luck finding a more favorable schedule than that.

6. Ridley (3-0) The Green Raiders jumped up a notch in the rankings on the strength of a powerful performance in their home opener against Haverford Thursday night. This one got out of hand early for the Fords who, after being penalized half the distance to the goal line on their opening possession, were forced to punt. Ridley went up top on their first play from scrimmage where quarterback Colin Masterson connected with Alex Nicolino for a 35-yard touchdown. What a great "home coming" for Coach Dennis Decker, and win for the Raiders, as they came out smoking to take a 20-0 first quarter lead. Sam Dixon-Dougan got Ridley's second score on an 11-yard run and led the team in rushing with 6 carries for 47 yards. Four other backs got at least four carries including Jalen Randolph (7-40 yds), Rob Davis (7-25 yds), Shahaid Smith (5-17 yds) and Eric Williams (4-17 yds). Shahaid Smith got the final score of the first-quarter taking a short pass 56 yards for the score. Wide out Norm Donkin contributed with 9- and 15-yard receptions for scores with sophomore Matt Ward getting Ridley's last score on a 10-yard run midway through the final quarter. Masterson had a strong outing, completing 9 of 16 passes for 168 yards. He threw four touchdown passes. The final score of 39-0 is their second shutout of the young season. If they keep performing at this level, especially the defense, we will be comparing them to the great defenses of 2006 and 2007 that allowed 109 and 115 points respectively. This year's D has allowed 6 points and but 333 total yards of offense. Look out!

7. Downingtown West (3-0) With their stellar quarterback, Bret Gillespie, relegated to the sideline in a shoulder sling (injured shoulder last week, questionable this), the Whippets struggled to find rhythm. Into the void stepped junior Ben Vanderslice (6-0, 190) to complete 4 of 8 passes for 65 yards. One went for a score in the fourth-quarter when he connected with Pete Mulville on a 48-yard touchdown. Give some credit to a stoked Chester team that came out swinging with a better than expected defense. To Downingtown's benefit, the Clippers continually hurt themselves with three momentum stopping fumbles and five interceptions. Chester drops to 1-2 with the loss but will be a difficult out next week at home against undefeated Interboro. Downingtown West had their own issues, losing 2 of 4 fumbles and being penalized 7 times for 64 yards. Chester saw 14 flags come their way for 96 yards. Despite Downingtown's power outage, the defense came to play, holding a self-destructing Chester team to 108 total yards. It wasn't pretty but it was a win. Great Valley is next at home Friday night.

8. St. Joseph's Prep (2-1) The Hawks fell from 6th to 8th in the rankings after losing to North Penn, 28-14. That was a hard loss for the Hawks who were coming off impressive wins against McKeesport and St. Peter's, New Jersey. Although the final score suggests a tight game, it was a one-sided affair where North Penn set the tone and dominated. One bright spot was quarterback Skylar Mornhinweg who stayed pretty cool under fire for a sophomore, to complete 10 of 20 passes for 111 yards. Falling behind early, the weight of the game fell largely on his shoulders. You don't often see St. Joe's pass more than they run but that was the case here where he and junior Paul McGann threw 28 passes to 26 rushing plays. Up next is the PCL AAAA-Red Division opener against LaSalle. LaSalle owned them last year, winning in the regular season, 31-17, and again in the playoffs, 31-28.

9. Penncrest (2-1) This one was all about Lions and Tigers when the previously undefeated Marple Newtown Fighting Tigers came a short ways down the pike from Newtown Square to play Penncrest's once beaten Lions. Marple came in on the heels of a 31-0 win against Archbishop Ryan and a 24-6 road win in Springfield. Not the toughest comp for sure but nice wins nonetheless. The problem with that, and it's a common scenario, is that it "telegraphs" your upcoming opponent to get ready. Ready is an understatement with Jerry "The Hammer" Boyer starting it off on a 68-yard burst for a score at the mid-point of the first-quarter. Then Junior Juhwan Young scored with 20 seconds left in the first-quarter as the Lions took a 14-0 lead and never looked back as they rolled to a 35-0 win. Quarterback Matt Atkinson had a strong outing completing 8 of 12 passes for 160 yards while rushing for another 80 yards. Boyer finished the evening with 138 yards on 8 carries! Juhwan Young added 26 yards on 7 carries. The offense has always been there with this group as they’ve scored 37, 45 and 35 points in their three games. They ground out 264 yards on the ground against Marple and earned another160 through the air while holding the Tigers to 201 total yards. Garnet Valley is next.

10. Quakertown (3-0) Quakertown got off to a slow start but came back from a 6-0 deficit to rout Cheltenham, 35-6. Quarterback Ryan Tincknell suffered a dislocated elbow to his non-throwing arm in game two and did not play. He is out indefinitely. Kurt Roberts and Nick Brandt filled in admirably with Roberts as they completed 3 of 7 passes for 51 yards. Brandt tossed a 20-yard third-quarter touchdown pass to Nick Perrine, who later rumbled for a 35-yard score on a fumble recovery in the fourth-quarter. Running back Tony Latronica was again key, rushing for two scores in the first half, and then completing a 46-yard touchdown strike to Luke Helm in the 2nd quarter. They didn't need their injured quarterback last week and probably not this week against punchless Plymouth-Whitemarsh. The following week at home against Hatboro Horsham is another story. To date, against a less than challenging slate of opponents, they are tearing everyone up by an average score of 34-4. The won-loss of those opponents is a paltry 3-6 but it still allows the offense to build a head of steam for down line encounters.

Honorable Mention (Grouped by conference or classification, otherwise random)

Cardinal O'Hara (3-0) Home Monsignor Bonner 9/25
Father Judge (3-0) At Archbishop Ryan 9/25
West Catholic (2-1) At Archbishop Carroll 9/26
Council Rock South (3-0) At Pennsbury 9/25
Norristown (3-0) Home Cheltenham 9/25
Downingtown East (2-1) Home Coatesville 9/25
Coatesville (2-1) At Downingtown East 9/25
Rustin ( AAA, 3-0) Home Unionville 9/25
Pottsgrove (AAA, 3-0) At Perkiomen Valley 9/25
Strath Haven (AAA, 3-0) Home Ridley 9/25

STATE Top 10 High School Football Rankings

September 21, 2009

The big surprise last week had to be Mount Lebanon beating Pittsburgh Central Catholic, 36-21, in the city! Mt. Lebo hasn’t had a winning season since 2005. They sure used to be something and maybe this will wake up the ghosts. They play in the rough and tumble Great Southern Conference meaning they’ll have to get past Upper Saint Clair and Bethel Park. Even Peters Township is undefeated so it will be a rough ride. They get undefeated Shaler this week. The other mild surprise was State College losing to Central Dauphin. The Rams are the real deal and if they can keep their heads on, are capable of trading points with Bishop McDevitt this weekend and pulling the upset. That will be one of many key match ups across the state this weekend. Joining them in the State Top 10 this week is Ridley. If early indications are correct, Ridley is rounding into a special team capable of challenging for district honors. Because District-11 is in turmoil, unless Easton steps up, this year looks like a private affair here in the southeastern corner of the state where District-1 and District-12 will duke it out to represent the East. Out west, it looks like there are at least 7 or 8 teams capable of getting to the final.

1. Bishop McDevitt (3-0) McDevitt is now 2-0 against other Harrisburg teams after destroying hapless Central Dauphin East, 49-16. The tone was set on the opening kickoff when Brian Lemelle dashed 94-yards for the score. After exploding for 35 first-quarter points, almost all their starters sat near the end of the second-quarter. Star tailback Jameel Poteat was done after 11 carries netted 160 yards. Quarterback Matt Johnson was on target completing 9 of 11 passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns passes. He's on fire, completing 32 of 48 (67%) for 556 yards and 9 scores through the first three games. This week's game features two of the best teams in the state when McDevitt gets on the bus for the short ride across town to play Harrisburg suburban power, Central Dauphin. The Rams are almost as explosive as the Crusaders this year averaging 42 points a game while allowing 17. McDevitt's average score is 46-13. Factor in the Rams 24-22 win against State College last week to see this one looks like a toss up, especially as it is a heated rivalry. Adding fuel to the fire is McDevitt's 47-17 win last year. But this is a new CD bunch, packed to the gills with speed, especially at running back where they prefer to ram it down your throat. The big surprise this year is the development of quarterback Lewis Correale (6-0, 185), who, like Matt Johnson for McDevitt, is on fire, completing 22 of 33 passes for 389 yards and 4 touchdowns. The outcome of this one, with West Shore power Cumberland Valley having a say, will go a long way in determining the top dog in central Pennsylvania.

2. Gateway (3-0) Like the team perched immediately above them, Gateway simply has too many weapons for most teams to manage. First up is four-year starting quarterback Rob Kalkstein (5-10, 165) who is like having a coach on the field. He is also a solid quarterback who completed 7 of 9 passes for 114 yards and a score in a blowout of Latrobe last week in the rain. They have tremendous speed at the skill positions and a hard hitting defense that all came together last week in a 49-0 rout of Latrobe. Orne Bey (5-9, 175) rushed for 126 yards and had two touchdowns while Brendon Felder (6-0, 171) returned a punt for 6 and had another touchdown rushing. Their battering ram of a fullback, junior Desmond Haynes (5-9, 210), does not get enough credit for the damage he does. To his front is a line led by OT/DT Mitchell Devall (6-2, 290, sr), Tyler Coles (5-9, 285, sr) and Jamair Henderson (5-9, 320, sr). TE/DE Sascha Craig (6-1, 210, jr) teams with Shawn Brisker (5-10, 170, sr) and Steve Veranka (5-10, 165, sr), giving them a strong receiver corps. This weekend sees the opening of conference play -- finally! The Gators travel to Penn Trafford in Foothills action where the Warriors are coming off their first win of the season.

3. North Penn (3-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

4. Upper Saint Clair (3-0) Upper Saint Clair passed a major test last week when they traveled to North Allegheny and came away with a hard fought 23-14 win. They got off to a great start when North Allegheny's running back Alex Papson fumbled the opening kickoff. Upper Saint Clair recovered and scored three plays later when Jacob Siwicki took it in from the one-yard line. This was to be their night with North Allegheny coughing it up six times. First came the fumbled opening kick off and then later running back Olatunji Idowu fumbled. Throw in quarterback Justin Brozick with two interceptions and a like number of fumbles to see how bad things got. Despite all that, North Allegheny was in it, hanging with them in terms of total yardage where USC edged them 291 to 271. Apart from turnovers, the difference in this one was special teams’ play where Upper Saint Clair's David Court kicked field goals of 32-, 25- and 22-yards. With the schedule they have coming up, this was a huge win. The next opponent is Pittsburgh Central Catholic (2-1) who is coming in off of a 36-21 upset by Mount Lebanon.

5. Neshaminy (3-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

6. Woodland Hills (2-1) Woodland Hills moved into another gear last week against what was felt to be a good team in Canon McMillan. But it was their opener at home and there were strong feeling left over from last year's embarrassing 10-0 shutout administered by the Big Macs. And what a home opener this was as the Wolverines crushed them, 37-7. One of the reasons it got that bad is they finally got a big game from quarterback John Yezovich who completed all 9 passes for 142 yards and a score. That's the piece that was missing in their season opening 13-0 loss to Ohio power Steubenville. If they can get production from the passing game, the Wolverines will be a very difficult team to beat because they already have the premier back in Dom Timbers and a potent defense. Timbers rushed for 150 yards and had touchdown runs of 15- and 71-yards. The defense was huge, holding C-Mac to 76 total yards of offense. The Wolverines cranked out 372 yards of offense. This week's game features another Great Southern team, Bethel Park, who to everyone's surprise is 3-0. Last year's 15-1 team lost in the PIAA final to Liberty, 28-21, in overtime. They also beat Woodland Hills in the regular season, 31-14, so expect another high intensity game here.

7. LaSalle (3-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

8. Pennsbury (3-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

9. Central Dauphin (3-0) Central Dauphin makes their inaugural appearance in the State Top 10 after beating powerful State College, 24-22. The Lions were ranked 8th while the Rams held down an Honorable Mention spot. As much as State College is known for their power running game, they weren't ready for Central Dauphin's bevy of quick running backs, especially Colton Charles (5-11, 180, sr) who rushed for 164 yards. Colton has an 11.9 yards per carry average. The other backs are Tyler Lee (5-7, 182) who averages 10.3 yards per carry and fullback Kyle Wolfe (6-0, 220) who picks up 8.9 yards a touch. With quarterback Lewis Correale completing 67% of his passes, it is a well rounded attack. They caught State off guard and coming off the effects of last week's game with Cumberland Valley, who they nipped, 21-17. CV took a lot out of the Lions, making a desperate comeback that fell short. Whatever the reason, the Rams jumped them hard and often to take a 21-10 lead at intermission. But with 7:00 left in the game, following an Alex Kenney touchdown (18/165yds), Rams linebacker Jarrett Brooks made a stop on Kenney just short of the goal on a two-point conversion attempt to seal the win. CD's next opponent is a rival from inner city Harrisburg, Bishop McDevitt. McDevitt plays in the Mid Penn-Keystone while the Rams play in the MP-Commonwealth with Harrisburg, State, CV, Altoona and Chambersburg where they have gone 112-38 the last 13 years. It's a great rivalry when the city plays the suburbs. McDevitt has a 27-22-1 lead in the series that dates back to 1955 when the Rams fielded their first team and tied McDevitt, 13-13.

10. Ridley (3-0) See Southeastern PA rankings

Honorable Mention

Mount Lebanon (2-1) At Shaler 9/26
North Allegheny (2-1) At Penn Hills 9/25
McDowell (3-0) At McKeesport 9/25
McKeesport (2-1) Home McDowell 9/25
Bethel Park (3-0) At Woodland Hills 9/25
Pittsburgh Central Catholic (2-1) At Upper Saint Clair 9/25
State College (2-1) Open week
Abington (2-0) Home Neshaminy 9/25
Downingtown West (3-0) Home Great Valley 9/25
St. Joseph’s Prep (2-1) At LaSalle 9/26
Wilson (2-1) At McCaskie 9/25