Ed Thomas Report

1. North Penn (5-0) North Penn jumped all over Central Bucks East as the Knights raced out to a 28-0 lead and then never looked back, throttling the Patriots 41-0 to register their first shutout of the year. The game marked the return from injury of fullback Ryan Hessnius who motored for 63 yards and a score. Tailback Craig Needhammer also had a touchdown and another productive game, rushing for 98 yards on 10 carries. Quarterback Todd Smolinsky was 4 for 5 for 98 yards. All totaled, the Knights racked up 364 total yards of offense while holding C.B. East to 190. A look ahead at the remaining games does not show a team that seems capable of slowing this freight train down. C.B. West (1-4) is next followed by Quakertown (4-1) who fell at home last week to an improving Hatboro Horsham, 26-21. Quakertown also fell out of the Top 10. They finish up with Souderton (2-3), Hatboro (3-2) and Pennridge (2-3). The winner of the Souderton-Hatboro game this week will likely pose the greatest threat to the Knights in conference, i.e., regular season play. Then it's on to the playoffs with a full head of steam, undefeated at 10-0.

2. Pennsbury (5-0) Running back Dante Devine returned the opening kickoff 82 yards to ignite a 20-point first-quarter explosion as the Falcons rolled to a decisive 26-6 win over Council Rock North. North came in averaging 23 points a game but was shut down by Pennsbury's smothering defense that has allowed but 28 points through 5 games. Nice! C.R. North has some weapons and a good back in Lee Marvel who was held to 33 yards on 9 carries. It was quite a performance by the defense as they held the Indians to 80 yards rushing and 100 through the air. For the Falcons, Dante Devine rushed for 88 yards on 19 carries and scored all of Pennsbury's touchdowns. Quarterback Brandon Pepper tacked on another 40 yards while completing 2 of 7 passes for 26 yards. If there are any flaws with this group, it's their lack of a passing game and predisposition to penalties. They were flagged 12 times against C.R. North for 108 yards. At some point that will catch up to them if not corrected. Feisty Truman (1-4) is up next. The Tigers are hanging around in games this year with a surprising win against Upper Dublin, 12-6, and narrow losses that could have gone the other way against Cheltenham, 7-6, and Benasalem, 16-12.

3. Abington (4-0) The Ghosts stumbled out to a 14-0 half time lead then came on with 21 second-half points to put Tennent away, 35-0. Everyone knows Abington has a big offense, scoring 33 points a game. What may have gotten lost in their 4-0 start is that they have a vastly improved defense over last year's which allowed 17 points a game. This year's unit has 2 shutouts and yields an average of 8.5 points per game. Tennent came in averaging 19 points a game and apart from the shutout, were held to 7 first downs and 150 total yards of offense. On the other side of the ball, the offense had another strong outing with 21 first downs, 245 yards rushing and 150 passing. Running back Julien Ireland continued his assault on opposing defenses by rushing for 180 yards on 24 carries. He scored 3 touchdowns. Quarterback Sam Kind lit things up, connecting on 12 of 19 passes for 144 yards and a score. The win keeps them in a dead heat with Pennsbury atop the SOL-National at 2-0, one game up on Neshaminy which is lurking in second. The National couldn't end in more exciting fashion with Pennsbury traveling to Abington on October 30th then entertaining the Tribe the following Friday. Dangerous Council Rock South (4-1, 1-1) is next for Abington at home on Friday night. On the other hand, it could be a long night for South, facing the same group that beat them last year at home, 42-21.

4. Ridley (5-0) The Green Raiders ran roughshod over outmanned but game Double-A Harriton to win easily, 42-0. As you would imagine, this one got out of hand early with the Raiders moving at will to score 21 first-quarter points. By half time it was 35-0. The loss drops Harriton to 1-4 with the lone win coming against AAA Octorara (1-4), 31-28. The Raiders played a lot of people in this one with 8 players getting touches out of the backfield and 4 on the receiving end of Colin Masterson passes. He had a great game, completing 8 of 9 passes for 3 scores and 180 yards. He also had a 9-yard run for a score in the first-quarter. By games end, Ridley amassed 295 yards of offense and 14 first downs to Harriton's 3 first downs and 25 total yards of offense. Double-A or not, 25 yards! Central League action continues on the road Friday night in Berwyn taking on talented Conestoga (3-2, 3-1). Spooky team these Pioneers who are often stocked with some of the best skill players in the league. And, they are a contender. Ridley always has a big bulls eye on their back and is again atop the CL, all alone at 4-0. Behind them comes Conestoga, Penncrest, Marple Newtown, Strath Haven and Garnet Valley all lumped up in second place at 3-1. In other words, they are in this thing and probably won't go down easy. Stoga has no fear of Ridley and are always ready to play them. Last year's score was 19-0 in favor of Ridley. In �07 it was 13-7 Ridley, then 7-0 Ridley the preceding year. In 2005, Stoga beat them 21-14 so look for another exciting game here.

5. Neshaminy (4-1) Neshaminy survived a so-so performance at home to beat Truman, 28-8. Following their physically exhausting and emotional four-point road loss to Abington last week, you're happy just coming away with a win. That the �Skins managed to score 28 points is a testament to the potential of this offense knowing they turned the ball over their first three possessions. Quarterback Brian Titus threw 2 interceptions but also had a touchdown toss while completing 5 of 9 passes for 53 yards. Co-starter Charlie Marteralla completed 3 of 3 passes for 53 yards and a touchdown. Bryan Dean has turned into a special back, rushing for 160 yards on 16 carries for 2 scores. Still, it was a less than expected performance that was survived only because the opponent was a 1-4 Truman team. There were 3 fumbles that were all lost and the defense, while holding Truman to 8 meaningless points, allowed 243 yards rushing. Strange game! Tennent is next and they are struggling at 1-4 with consecutive losses to Council Rock North, 38-14, and last week to Abington, 35-0. The �Skins beat them last year, 41-0.

6. St. Joseph's Prep (4-1) St. Joseph's Prep looked close to invincible as they manhandled Father Judge well into the third-quarter, finding themselves up 28-0 over previously undefeated and seemingly talented Father Judge. Up to that point of the game Judge didn't look the least bit talented whereas the Hawk's looked unbeatable. That would all change with the Hawk's coughing up 3 turnovers in the form of a fumble and 2 interceptions that allowed Judge to strike for 3 late scores and pull within 7. All totaled Judge picked off 4 passes and recovered 1 fumble but had no answer for running back Desmon Peoples. Desmon replaced Garrett Compton who is out with a season ending injury after rushing for 312 yards. Desmon, all 5-6, 150 pounds of him, was unstoppable, rushing for 272 yards on 21 carries. Defensively, the Hawk's took away Father Judge's primary weapon by holding running back Curt Wortham to 5 yards rushing on 10 carries! He came into the game with 599 yards rushing through 4 games. That left the game in the hands of the defense and quarterback Tony Smith who was held to 12 completions in 28 attempts for 73 yards. He had 2 touchdown tosses that helped get them back in the game but it wasn't enough as the Hawks prevailed, 28-21. PCL action continues this week with the Hawk's atop league standings at 2-0 (O'Hara 1-0) and home to play winless Archbishop Ryan.

7. LaSalle (4-1) As expected, LaSalle had no trouble beating a winless Archbishop Ryan team, 38-0. It could have been far worse with many starters pulled after the Explorer's opened a 24-0 first half lead. Ryan's offense has scored only 13 points the entire season while the defense has allowed 141 points. They have been shutout 3 times. Things don't look to get any better for them with St. Joe's, O'Hara, Roman, Bonner and Washington yet to play. It is just the opposite for LaSalle as they head into the second half of the season at 4-1 and healthy. Quarterback Drew Loughery was on target against Ryan, completing 11 of 13 passes for 158 yards and 2 scores. You knew he'd come out hot after the outing against St. Joe's the week before where he completed 15 of 34 passes for 189 yards while throwing 1 interception and 1 touchdown. Steve Jones caught his touchdown passes while Jamal Abdur Rahman, Time Wade and Nick Sabia had rushing touchdowns. Mike Bennett got it all going in the first-quarter with a 33-yard field goal. The opponent this week is Father Judge. There is interesting history here with LaSalle losing last year in the regular season, 28-14, then beating Judge in the playoffs, 26-20, on the heels of their first round win against St. Joe's the week before. The circumstance of last year's game mimic this year's with the Crusader's coming in off a narrow loss to St. Joe's and the Explorer's in off an easy win against Ryan. Should be a good one.

8. Downingtown West (5-0) The injury to starting quarterback Bret Gillespie and schedule have allowed head coach Mike Milano to use a number of younger players. Last week, sophomore Kenny Furhman was given the starting nod at quarterback. He only completed 2 of 4 passes for negative 4 yards but got the game experience and help lead the team to a 43-0 rout of West Chester East. They didn't need much production from the quarterback with running back Kessan Christopher rushing for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns on 25 carries. Fullback Trey Faust was steady as always, getting 52 yards on 10 attempts. Everyone played in this one, including 5 sophomore running backs. Zach Barr (5-11, 165, soph) got a 49-yard touchdown run in the fourth-quarter and 80 total yards on 5 carries. Other sophomores contributed with Pat Cutillo getting 15 yards on 3 carries and Dan Miller, Joseph Brugger and Steve Mullen also playing. To keep perspective, East High is having a horrible season at 0-5, scoring 29 points and allowing 147 meaning their average loss is 29-6. Still, Downingtown's defense did what they were supposed to do in holding East to 93 total yards of offense of which only 1 yard was gained on the ground. One yard! The Whippets rushed for 320 yards. The schedule gets far more difficult in the coming weeks with undefeated Henderson (5-0) up next at their place followed by a home game against vastly improved Avon Grove (4-1). Then comes the clash with Downingtown East (4-1). You know West has Henderson circled on the calendar after losing to them at home last year, 13-7.

9. Downingtown East (4-1) Downingtown East got a test from improved Avon Grove on the road last week where they ventured to take on the undefeated Red Devils. You've got to give the Red Devils credit, they came to play. To show you something about their character, they didn't wilt after Downingtown jumped them hard, getting 2 scores in the first 7 minutes of the game to take a 13-0 lead. Many would have folded right there. Instead, the Devils came right back in the second-quarter on a safety, a 5-yard run by Brendan McLaughlin, who had 100 yards rushing on 12 carries, and a 3-yard keeper by quarterback Kyle Kush. Kyle completed 3 of 6 passes for 16 yards and ran for negative 6 yards. They had to be feeling good taking a 14-13 lead into the locker room. Things got even worse for Downingtown in the third quarter when Jordan Harris punched in a fourth and goal from the two to make it 21-13, Avon Grove. AG's lead seemed to spark Downingtown who started playing serious defense while turning the ball over to sophomore sensation running back Drew Harris (6-2, 200). Beginning in the third-quarter and into the fourth, they kept feeding him the ball where he scored on a 5-yard burst (missed point) to pull within 2 at 21-19. For the rest of the game, Coach Mike Matta pretty much kept feeding Avon Grove a steady diet of Drew with a few Trey Lauletta passes mixed in to keep them honest as Harris pounded ahead for 2 more scores of 2- and 3-yards in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 35 carries for 209 yards and 4 touchdowns. Drew is a monster back but it wasn't all him. The defense finally stepped up to ware Avon Grove down as defensive end Mike Tucker (6-2, 234, sr, 3 sacks) and lineman Taj Alexander (6-6, 275, sr) took over. So, after racing ahead, 13-0, then falling behind, 21-13, Downingtown gathered themselves and came away with a 32-21 win. The next opponent is always dangerous Malvern Prep (2-2).

10. Rustin ( AAA, 5-0) Bayard Rustin has developed into a legitimate football power again after fielding a strong team last year. They were young in some key positions but good enough to get to the Eastern semi-final where they lost to Archbishop Wood, 37-7, in the school's third year of existence. Not bad! Rustin opened their doors in 2006 and went 3-8. The following year they were 8-4 before last year's 12-2 edition that won the district title before losing to Wood. Last year's team was run oriented and so is this year's with one notable exception, they have demonstrated the ability to pass the football. The offense has become huge, averaging 43 points a game compared to last year's average of 23 a game. It's the same story with the defense that was stingy last year at 10 points per game yield. This year's is more stingy, allowing a total of 19 points, or 4 ppg. Apart from having a solid coach in Mike St. Clair, they possess another feature many great teams have, an exceptional talent at tailback in Rondell White, a 5-10, 190 pound senior. Rondell rushed for 2,113 yards last year on 294 carries and has 880 yards this year on 67 carries in 4 games. He sat out last week against Chichester (muscle strain) but enjoyed watching his brother, Rhamier, motor for 65 yards on 6 carries. That included a 25-yard run for 6 and a 24-yard TD pass from quarterback Mike Carlin (6-1, 190, sr). Mike completed 5 of 7 passes for 87 yards. His favorite target was Lee Kurfis (6-2, 185, sr) who caught 31- and 29-yard touchdown passes. Conor Burke (6-0, 170, soph) and senior Andrew McGreevy (5-8, 195) also had touchdowns runs. Fullback Frank O'Donnell (5-11, 195, jr) had a score while rushing for 82 yards on 6 attempts. The line is anchored by captain Enrique Josesphs, a 6-3, 275 pound senior. Other lineman include Sean O'Hara (6-3, 265, sr) and Chase Hoyt (6-4, 250, jr). The game with Chi was over at the first score but ballooned to 33-0 by halftime. The final score was 47-0 with Rustin's dominance obvious. A glimpse at stats shows they held a 417 to 138 total yardage advantage. The next game is against another winless team, Sun Valley (0-5), who is coming off an 18-0 loss at Great Valley. The game is Saturday at West Chester.

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

Cardinal O'Hara (5-0) Home Roman Catholic 10/9
Father Judge (4-1) At LaSalle 10/9
Hatboro Horsham (3-2) At Souderton 10/9
Interboro (AAA, 5-0) At Academy Park 10/9
Pottsgrove (AAA, 5-0) At Spring-Ford 10/9
Avon Grove (4-1) At West Chester East 10/9
Henderson (AAA, 5-0) Home Downingtown West 10/9
Garnet Valley (4-1) At Upper Darby 10/9
Penncrest (3-2) At Springfield 19/9
Chestnut Hill Academy (4-0) Home Monsignor Bonner 10/9

STATE Top 10 High School Football Rankings
October 5, 2009

1. Bishop McDevitt (5-0) Lower Dauphin loaded the box in Hershey Stadium to take McDevitt's star running back Jameel Poteat out of the game to no avail as they ended up on the short end of a 42-6 loss. He was held to 34 yards rushing on 13 carries but still hurt them with 3 touchdowns. Nice job by the Falcons in that regard. The problem with stopping Poteat is that it plays to another Crusader strength, their 3 division one receivers. With a quarterback like Matt Johnson back there, that's a recipe for disaster. Matt completed 58 of 87 passes this year for 961 yards. He has thrown 1 interception and 14 touchdowns while completing 67 % of his passes. Last year as a sophomore, he completed 121 of 186 passes (65%) for 2,010 yards. His touchdown to interception rate was 22 to 9. Although Lower Dauphin stayed within 8 points at the half, McDevitt flattened them in the second half with Johnson completing 13 of 18 passes for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns. Salath Williams caught 5 passes for 105 yards and a score with Aaron Sye snagging 2 for 35 yards and 1 touchdown. Poteat had 3 receptions for 12 yards. Dawan Smith's punt returns gave them good field position most of the night. The final stats showed McDevitt with 117 yards rushing along with 180 passing. That was an interesting scenario for McD, coming on the heels of their near flawless performance against rival Central Dauphin the week before and playing in a different venue at the stadium. This week's opponent is Altoona who won't sneak up on McDevitt at 2-3 after upsetting Central Dauphin last week 18-17 on a successful two-point conversion with seconds left on the clock. Unfortunately for Altoona, the game is in Harrisburg where it will get ugly, especially after Lower Dauphin gave them a mild wake up call (through first half) last week.

2. Gateway (5-0) Scoring on their first 5 possessions, Gateway's potent offense flashed all kinds of speed and depth last week with an overwhelming 41-0 first half explosion against Norwin, in a driving rain storm. Everyone got in on the fun in this one with 4 players getting 2 touchdowns each. Orne Bey (5-9, 165) had two carries for two touchdowns of 51 and 55 yards then sat. Brendon Felder (5-10, 165) had TD runs of 15- and 80-yards on the way to a 144 yard rushing performance. Senior Rob Kalkstein in his fourth year under center hit wide out Stephen Vranka for two scores. The first came on the second play from scrimmage from 65 yards out. They connected again in the second quarter from 5 yards out. Kalkstein is hot, completing 41 of 64 passes this year for 867 yards and 9 touchdowns. Markie'D Jones (5-9, 185) got some action in the second half and made it count, rushing for 123 yards and getting 2 touchdowns. By game's end, the Gators piled up 375 yards of total offense. They'll probably rest most of the starters for much of this week's game against Hempfield (1-4, Youngwood) who gave up 350 yards rushing to Norwin 2 weeks ago. The Gators are looking good!

3. North Penn (5-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

4. Woodland Hills (4-1) Last week saw the Wolverines ranked 4th in the state above 9th ranked Pittsburgh Central Catholic meaning the expectations were that it would be a dogfight with Woody coming out on top. After all, the Vikings came in with solid credentials including a season opening win against Ohio power Ursiline (3-2, Youngstown), 49-22, and a unexpected blow out of Upper Saint Clair (4-1), 31-7. No one does that to USC. And you wouldn't think they'd be flat even after beating USC, at least not here in the Big East opener. One thing for sure, the Wolverines were looking for them after losing last year at Central, 20-12. That was their third straight loss, dropping them to 1-4 where they recovered for a 3-1 finish before losing in the WPIAL's first round to North Allegheny, 14-0. Whatever it was, the Wolverines tore into them with a purpose to win going away, 27-3. Matt MacZura's 42-yard first quarter field goal is all they got. The WPIAL's second leading rusher, Damion Jones-Moore was held to 81 yards on 18 carries. Quarterback Dave Smyers lost 3 fumbles and was sacked 5 times. CC is a pretty big attack, coming in with a 31 ppg average so to be held to a field goal is quite a statement by the Wolverine defense. When it was all over, Woodland Hills rushed for 252 yards while holding Central to 86 yards rushing. Central had no answer for Woodland's standout running back Dom Timber who rushed for 162 yards and 3 scores on 26 carries. What a dominating win. Big East action continues Friday at home against surprising Kiski (3-2), fresh off a nice win against Fox Chapel (3-2), 18-7. The Foxes have some players making that a strong win and serving notice the Wolverines should not look past these guys, even if they did rout them in last year's game, 41-0.

5. Pennsbury (5-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

6. Abington (4-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

7. Ridley (5-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

8. Neshaminy (4-1) See Southeastern PA rankings.

9. St. Joseph's Prep (4-1) See Southeastern PA rankings ... up from 10th.

10. Bethel Park (4-1) Defending WPIAL champ Bethel Park is back in the State Top 10 after defeating Mount Lebanon (2-3) in the Greater Southern Conference opener, 27-14. They are doing it with a new cast of players after graduating most of last year's team that won their first 15 games before falling in the final to Liberty in overtime, 28-21. They are young this year but well coached by Jeff Methany. The only loss to date was to powerful Woodland Hills, 21-17, in Pittsburgh. Their opponent last week was one of those teams that has it one week then loses a tight one the following week. That's been their MO all year although they are improved over last year's 2-8 team. They opened with a road win at tough North Hills (3-2), 17-16, got blown out at home to North Allegheny, 28-7, then upset Pittsburgh Central Catholic, 36-21, on the road. The other loss was also on the road against undefeated Shaler (5-0), so they are dangerous. Bethel Park found that out after jumping out to an early 20-0 lead late in the first half after Nick Kwiatkowski returned a punt 55 yards for the score. Not to be outdone and just maybe, catching the Hawks napping, Mt. Lebo's Luke Hagy returned the following kick off 65 yards to set up a late score bringing them within 14 at 20-6. They traded scores in the second half where the Hawks prevailed, 27-14. Hagy finished the night with 64 rush yards. Junior Kwiatkowski finished with 2 touchdowns and 93 yards rushing. Another special talent at running back, junior Bre Ford rushed for 80 yards on 20 carries. The next opponent is conference rival Upper Saint Clair (4-1, 1-0) coming in off a big win against Canon McMillan, 41-20. Bethel won last year's game at Upper Saint Clair, 10-6. Look for another war here.

Honorable Mention

Upper Saint Clair (4-1) At Bethel Park 10/9
Shaler (5-0) Home North Allegheny 10/9
North Allegheny (4-1) At Shaler 10/9
McDowell (4-1) At Latrobe 10/9
McKeesport (4-1) At Penn Trafford 10/9
State College (4-1) At Cedar Cliff 10/9
Downingtown West (5-0) At Henderson 10/9
LaSalle (4-1) Home Father Judge 10/9
Freedom (4-1) At Northampton 10/9
Wilson (4-1) At Hempfield 10/9