Ed Thomas Report

1. North Penn (7-0) Top ranked North Penn made it look easy as they stormed over out-manned Quakertown, 43-13. It was easy, with the Knights charging out to a 41-0 half time lead allowing the second-units to take over in the second half. Knowing the game occurred during a nor’easter on a rain soaked field speaks to their total dominance in this one. Wow, 41-0 at the half made Quakertown the Knights third straight mercy ruled opponent. Q-Town gave themselves little chance by turning the ball over four times. Three were lost fumbles. And their defense was non-existent with the Knights scoring on all their first-half possessions. Wide out Dom Taggart burned them for 112 yards on four receptions for two touchdowns. Running back Craig Needhammer dented them for 77 yards and two scores on 10 carries. Quarterback Todd Smolinsky completed 75 % of his passes, 6 of 8, for 114 yards. He ran for a score in the first-quarter to get things going then hooked up with Taggart on a 47-yard touchdown in the second-quarter where they erupted for a game sealing 27 points. The win keeps them perfect at 4-0 in the Continental with Quakertown falling to a disappointing 5-2 overall and 1-2 in conference play. Souderton now looks to be the only threat on the Knight’s slate. They’re in town Friday night.

2. Pennsbury (7-0) Pennsbury registered their second consecutive shutout and third of the year as they routed Bensalem, 44-0, in Suburban One-National Conference action Friday night. They’re not ranked # 2 for nothing! Like Quakertown against North Penn, Bensalem shot themselves in the foot all night with five turnovers; two picks and three lost fumbles. That’s suicide against a ball hawking, defensive juggernaut like Pennsbury. The ball was slippery for everyone! Quarterback Brandon Pepper had a big game, running for 118 yards and scoring a touchdown. Dante Devine rushed for 55 yards and also had a touchdown. All totaled, the Falcons pounded out 338 yards of offense while holding the Owls to a mere 127 yards. Nice! The win keeps them atop the National at 4-0 looking down on Neshaminy and Council Rock North, both 3-1. Before last weekend’s games the National looked like a five horse race until Abington (4-2, 2-2) and Council Rock South (5-2, 2-2) went down in flames to Council Rock North and Neshaminy respectively. C.R. North whacked Abington, 34-3, while Neshaminy destroyed Council Rock South, 42-17. Still, it would probably be a bad idea to turn your back on either one as both have demonstrated the ability to put a lot of points on the board. This week’s opponent is Tennent before wrapping up the regular season with playoff like games against Abington and Neshaminy.

3. Ridley (7-0) Ridley used some of that Green Mystique in the rain the mud and the blood in Middletown to pull out a rain soaked double overtime victory against Penncrest, 27-24. Except for the two overtime periods, all the scoring was in the middle two quarters where each team scored 14 points. Who said Penncrest couldn’t play defense or that Ridley was an absolute defensive beast? Both provided plenty of fireworks but in the end, Ridley was more. And at the end of the day, the top teams win the close ones where Penncrest seems so jinxed. This was Ridley first real “test” and they passed it. Norm Donkin got things going in the second-quarter, snagging a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Colin Masterson. Penncrest’s quarterback Matt Atkinson led the Lions right back, taking it in from four yards out to knot the score at 7 all at the half. Penncrest made it interesting with just under five minutes to go in the third-quarter when Atkinson hit Phil Barbieri for a 15-yard TD strike to take a 14-7 lead. But the Raiders came right back on a three-yard Jalen Randolph run to tie the score at 14 a piece. That’s where it ended in regulation with the two slugging out a scoreless fourth quarter. The first overtime period saw Shahaid Smith run it in from three yards out for the score only to be answered by Matt Atkinson keeping it on an eight-yard run. The Raiders got tough in the second overtime period holding Penncrest to a 24-yard field goal by Tom Weathers. Ridley responded with a Colin Masterson keeper on a faked handoff, who ran it in from the five for the winning score. Colin had a heck of a game, completing 9 of 18 passes for 136 yards and one score. He led the team in rushing with 74 yards, getting the rushing touchdown in the final overtime period. Wide out Norm Donkin led the team in receiving, catching five passes for 107 yards. The stats were even in this one with Ridley rushing for 140 yards on 46 carries to Penncrest’s 146 yards on 45 carries. The Raiders threw for 134 yards to Penncrest’s 119. The defense played well enough, holding Lion backs Juhwan Young and Jerry Boyer to a combined 90 yards rushing on 25 carries. Great playoff-like game experience for the Raiders! For Penncrest’s playoff hopes, it could be the end of the line with those three narrow losses. But if they do make it in, they could be someone’s worst nightmare, or face their own as a low seed against North Penn or Pennsbury. Springfield is next. They are only 3-4 but come into Folsom on the heels of the Penncrest struggle and before the Garnet Valley game. More than that, they have some players. This is the wild bunch that battled Penncrest ferociously before losing 66-54. They have a big, second year quarterback in Wally Rutecki (6-5, 190, sr) who motored for 138 yards rushing against Penncrest while completing 17 of 28 throws for 210 yards. Their running back, Matt Craig (5-9, 160), is the best kept secret in greater southeastern Pennsylvania but not in Delaware County where he leads all rushers with 1,098 yards. He had 136 against Penncrest on 29 carries, then 305 last week against Lower Merion. They also have a senior line in Tom Hewitt (6-1, 215), Dave Dewan (6-2, 260), Jake Voecker (6-0, 264), Tom Fox (6-0, 245 and Tom Mallee (5-11, 238). Any team that puts up 54 and 42 points on consecutive weekends bears watching. The team is headed by second year coach Dan Ellis who got them to 5-6 last year. That name may ring a bell as he was the starting quarterback for the PIAA state championship Downingtown team in 1996.

4. Neshaminy (6-1) Ricky Williams’ electrifying first-quarter 99-yard kick return to tie the score at 14-14 against Council Rock South broke open a tight game as the Redskins exploded for another 28 points to rout the Golden Hawks 42-17. The week before saw the Hawks wrack up 41 points on the road in Abington where they beat the Ghosts, 41-38. Guess that got the attention of Neshaminy who came out with a purpose in this one. Still, it was a shaky start with South High’s Greg Welsh tearing them up on two long runs of 64 and 66 yards for touchdowns in the first-quarter. Between those scores was a Corey Majors 13-yard sprint for six. Except for a meaningless field goal in the second quarter, the ‘Skins D rose to the occasion against an oft prolific offense and shut down Greg Welsh to 34 yards rushing after the first-quarter. Nice job! The big story was the firepower displayed by Bryan Dean and strong special teams’ performance. Dean rushed for three scores and was on the receiving end of a 45-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Marterella. At games end he rushed for 180 yards on 30 carries and caught two passes for 79 yards. Ricky Williams put them in good field position and had the return mentioned above for six. That was a nice all around game by the ‘Skins where after a few first-quarter adjustments, they put on a dominating performance on the road against a good football team. Council Rock North (5-2, 3-1) is up next, coming in red hot after their Abington win. They are currently tied with the ‘Skins for second in the SOL- National meaning the winner of this one keeps the pressure on Pennsbury and has second place all to themselves.

5. St. Joseph's Prep (5-1) The Hawks (5-1, 3-0) had a rare open week last week which should put them in good physical condition against undefeated Cardinal O’Hara (7-0, 3-0) this week. O’Hara got off to a 7-0 start last year then faded fast, struggling through a blizzard of injuries to lose their last four games to LaSalle, St. Joseph’s and Father Judge ( twice, again in playoffs) by a combined score of 94-35. They have not been tested this year and will have their hands full against the well rested and battle tested Hawks.

6. LaSalle (6-1) Late score: LaSalle beat Monsignor Bonner 31-6. Idle this week.

7. Downingtown East (6-1) Downingtown East flexed their considerable muscles against overmatched Bishop Shanahan (1-6) winning 34-0 despite the dreary and windy conditions at Rustin’s field Saturday afternoon. Running back Drew Harris had a special game, rushing for 212 yards on 22 carries and scoring four touchdowns. He scored on runs of 7, 15, 26 and 60 yards. Not bad for a sophomore! Wide out Dan Gianforte got in on the action, scoring on a 22-yard pass from quarterback Trey Lauletta. The win sets up a terrific rivalry game in Downingtown Friday against Downingtown West. West is coming off a disappointing 35-21 loss to Avon Grove last week, their first loss of the year. East comes in on a four game winning streak, one of which was a 32-21 win at Avon Grove. The loss was in the third week of the season in West Lawn to Wilson (6-1), 40-31. You know West is coming in pumped but so is East after losing a hard fought 21-14 nail bitter to West last year. The game will be one of the top draws of the season in southeastern Pennsylvania so get there early.

8. Rustin (AAA, 7-0) After playing a woefully weak slate of teams, the Golden Knights demonstrated they are for real to those still uncertain, when they beat always tough Henderson, 21-0. The Warriors were coming off a bitter 14-10 loss to Downingtown West while the Knights were coming in off six consecutive blow outs where starters sat for considerable lengths of time. One of the area’s top backs, Rondell White, was held to touchdowns runs of 2 and 17 yards. Wide receiver Lee Kurfis broke loose for a 61-yard touchdown pass from Mike Carlin to complete the scoring for Rustin and remind us they have a passing game where needed. The 21-0 win represents Henderson’s first shutout since losing to Malvern Prep’s great 10-0 team last year, 42-0. More and more, especially with Downingtown West losing to Avon Grove, Rustin looks as good as any team in the Ches Mont National, meaning the two Downingtown schools, Coatesville, Avon Grove, Henderson, Bishop Shanahan and West Chester East. Unfortunately we’ll never know since there is no title game between the National and the American Divisions. The American consists of Rustin, Kennett, Great Valley, Unionville, Oxford and Sun Valley. Except for their game against West Chester East, Henderson is their only team they play from the National Division. Too bad. Their remaining games are against American Division opponents Kennett, Great Valley and Oxford, in that order.

9. Avon Grove (6-1) Avon Grove makes their first appearance in the Top 10 after shocking Downingtown West in Downingtown Friday night, 35-21. The Red Devils took it to Downingtown, pounding the ball down their throats with a powerful dose of Wing-T football. The Whippet defense had no answer for fullback Brendan McLaughlin (6-0, 205, sr) who was unstoppable on 32 carries netting 200 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. The other big back, Jordan Harris (6-1, 210, sr) had four carries for 25 yards and one score. Junior Brandon Monk (5-8, 170, sr) had a memorable night rushing for 88 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries. The line isn’t big (neither is Downingtown’s) but it was strong enough to muscle through the Whippet front to gain 330 yards on the ground and 19 first downs. Their passing attack is almost non existent at 10 yards on a one of three outing by quarterback Kyle Kush. But until someone stops the ground game, Kyle just needs to take care of things and get the ball to the right back. The senior line certainly took care of things with Cory Snyder (6-3, 220, sr), Mike Jeffcoats (6-1, 245, sr), Andrew Lowe (6-2, 215, sr) Geoff Melindez (6-3, 245), Ian Woods (6-0, 205, jr) and tight end Wes Shoap (6-0, 210, sr) knocking Downingtown back on their heels. The Devils had no fumbles or interceptions. It was all tied up with just under four minutes left in the third-quarter at 21 all, but the Whippets simply could not stop Avon Groves run game that punched in two fourth-quarter scores to seal it. The win keeps them in the Ches-Mont title race and in better shape for the post season playoffs. These are big times in West Grove who has only been playing football for four years and never had a winning season!

10. Downingtown West (6-1) Downingtown West plummeted in the rankings from seventh to tenth after losing at home to Avon Grove, 35-21. Quarterback Bret Gillespie again had a sub-par outing passing the ball, making you wonder if all is well from the shoulder injury suffered in the Glen Mills game. The injury caused him to miss three games. He returned two weeks ago to complete 3 of 12 passes for 116 yards against Henderson. Against Avon Grove, he completed 5 of 14 passes for 99 yards for a two game total of eight completions in 26 attempts. That’s a 31 % completion rate! He’s still a fullback out there when he chooses to run as he got 70 yards rushing on 8 carries. The ground game is still there (249 vs AG) with Kessan Christopher gaining 145 yards on 20 attempts. He scored twice and had two costly fumbles. Both were recovered by Avon Grove. They were also penalized seven times for 50 yards. All in all it was a very uncharacteristic performance that may have them at a fever pitch for the Downingtown East game Friday night.

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

Cardinal O'Hara (7-0)
Archbishop Wood (AAA, 5-2)
Council Rock South (5-2)
Council Rock North (5-2)
Abington (4-2)
Henderson (AAA, 5-2)
Interboro (AAA, 7-0)
Pottsgrove (AAA, 7-0)
Garnet Valley (6-1)
Penncrest (4-3)
Chestnut Hill Academy (6-0)

State Top 10 High School Football Rankings
October 1, 2009

1. Bishop McDevitt (7-0) Is anybody going to step up and give these guys a ball game? The least they’ve scored is 41 points. The most another team scored on them is 17. This all occurred in the opener when they beat city rival Harrisburg, 41-16. Since then they’ve reeled off another six wins by an average score of 47-8. Many thought a revived Chambersburg (4-3) team might at least give them a road scare or two but they didn’t. It wasn’t even a little close as McDevitt stormed the Trojans 47-7. Chambersburg’s schedule was just too much, coming off the 33-15 loss to Cumberland Valley and the huge double overtime win against AAA power Susquehanna Township, 36-32, in Harrisburg. They caught a break getting the Crusaders at home but that’s where it ended with McDevitt’s big machine rolling out 475 yards of offense while holding the Trojans to 134. Quarterback Matt Johnson threw for 206 yards and four touchdowns. Jameel Poteat had three scores and 161 yards rushing. They’re on the road again Friday night in Carlisle then home in the regular season finale against powerful State College where they need a real test to get ready for the playoffs.

2. Gateway (7-0) Gateway finally got a test; in fact, they got a real scare last week. The game against McDowell opened like so many for them with Orne Bey breaking lose for a 21-yard scoring run, bringing his season total to 594 yards on 46 carries. Typical Gator football, coming out swinging. The thing is, McDowell swung back and caught them on the chin, taking their first possession 77 yards on a 14 play drive to score the tying touchdown. Gateway adjusted along the lines to counter McDowell’s off tackle option plays but still found themselves on the short end of a 10-7 score at the half. The D roused itself to stop two McDowell drives inside the Gator’s 15 yard line. The Trojans came up big in the first-half, shutting down Gateway’s powerful offense to negative 12 yards! Gateway came into this one averaging 45.3 points a game but the boys from Troy were on fire, pounding out 186 yards of offense in the half. The problem is that all those yards only netted 10 points and no doubt served to awaken the Gators. Quarterback Rob Kalkstein got it going in the second-half on a one-yard keeper to regain the lead at 14-10. Gateway was so concerned with stopping McDowell’s option that quarterback Zach Greenawalt was able to catch them napping, finding Mike Bizzaro open for a 72-yard touchdown. That seemed to be the inspiration Gateway needed as they reverted to pre-game form and scored three times in a span of four minutes! Kalkstein hit his favorite target Steve Vranka for a 30-yard score at the end of the third. At the start of the fourth quarter, he found Armistead Williams for a 45-yard TD Strike, making it 28-17. They iced it following a McDowell fumble when Kalkstein hit Dayonne Nunley for a 24-yard touchdown. Wow, this is one explosive group. That was the big game experience needed in prep for McKeesport two weeks from now and the playoffs beyond. Winless Connellsville (0-7) is up next. They’ve been shutout three times and scored 26 points the entire season while allowing 258. The Gators (7-0, 5-0) will be well rested for McKeesport (6-1, 5-0) the following week. The winner of that one gets a great seed and the Foothills championship.

3. North Penn (7-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

4. Woodland Hills (6-1) Woodland Hills won their sixth straight game with an easy road win in Fox Chapel, 35-7. The win keeps them in first place in the Big East at 3-0, a full game up on Pittsburgh Central Catholic who they’ve already defeated, 27-3, and Penn Hills (3-4, 21) who they play in two weeks. The Foxes have faded fast losing their last three after a 3-1 start. They have some players too so it’s a surprise seeing them fall so hard. Woody just keeps mangling teams with their monster back Dom Timbers and super quick defense. Dom continues to impress, rushing for 96 yards on 10 carries. He had touchdown runs of 31 and 34 yards, bringing his season total to 13. Lafayette Pitts, a junior, added a 94-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second-quarter where the Wolverines put the Foxes away with a 24 point eruption. Fullback Cameron Thompson (5-10, 230, sr) was steady as every for his running backs and team with his bruising blocking and power bursts netting 35 yards and a touchdown on five attempts. He’s a load. The defense is looking old school Woodland Hills, going back to the 52-4 run from 1999 through 2002. This year’s defense is playing at a better statistical level than all four of those power houses. Fox Chapel was held to 49 yards rushing and 47 yards passing. Plum is next (2-5, 1-2) and they are hurting. They can’t beat middle of the road AAA teams and offer no resistance when facing quality quads where they’ve been throttled by McKeesport 54-0 and last week by Pittsburgh Central Catholic, 43-0. This one should be over by the half.

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

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

7. Neshaminy (6-1) See Southeastern PA rankings.

8. St. Joseph's Prep (5-1) See Southeastern PA rankings.

9. Bethel Park (6-1) Walk in the park! These guys are starting to make it look easy after beating Peters Township last week, 40-13. Township came in 4-2 overall, 0-2 in conference play, scoring 26 points a game while allowing 23, making them sieve like defensively but of some threat offensively. They posed no threat on either side of the ball in this one as the Black Hawks raced out to a 33-0 lead before Township puts meaningless points on the board. Bethel Park was all over them, pounding out big chunks of yardage to gain 402 yards on the ground. This is not last year’s juggernaut by any means but they have rounded into a powerful team with a defense playing at last year’s level, yielding 12 points per game. The offense is down a touchdown, scoring 26 ppg. Their fine back Bre Ford has proven to be Ford tough, rushing for 224 yards on nine carries. He had touchdown runs of 14, 68 and 72 yards. The win improves them to 3-0 in the Greater Southern as they head to the back stretch against Canon-McMillan and surprising Baldwin. Disappointing C-Mac graduated a lot of people but was felt to be more than their 4-3 record to date. Baldwin is only 2-5 but shocked everyone with their 21-17 upset of Upper Saint Clair last week. USC (4-3) has been flaky, losing at home to Pittsburgh Central Catholic (5-2), 31-7, the week after they beat North Allegheny (6-1) on the road, 23-14. Go figure.

10. McKeesport (6-1) McKeesport flattened another Foothills conference member last week when they routed Norwin (4-3, 2-3), 53-10. They’ve got the Flex-Bone firing on all cylinders now as they rolled out 505 yards rushing. Wow, 505 yards rushing! It probably goes without saying they did not attempt one pass. Why would you with a quarterback like Ty-Meer Brown and fullback like Darien Robinson carrying the load. Quarterback Brown had touchdown runs of 60 and 65 yards on four carries. He finished the night with 157 yards rushing. If you think that was a good night, check out fullback Darien Robinson who had touchdown runs of 43 and 86 yards on only six carries. Those six carries netted an eye popping 245 yards! At 7-0 with a 42-8 average score, they compare favorably to the AAAA championship team that went 14-2 with an average score of 39-11. The only teams that have slowed the Tigers down are St. Joseph’s Prep in the opener and McDowell. The Hawks administered their only loss, 27-26. McDowell’s Trojans fought the good fight but fell, 16-14. Hempfield (2-5, 1-4) is up next. Then it’s on to one of the best regular season ending games anywhere when they the mighty Gateway Gators come to town. The fur will fly in that one!

Honorable Mention

Shaler (6-1)
North Allegheny (6-1)
Wilson (6-1)
Manheim Central (AAA, 7-0)
Cumberland Valley (6-1)
State College (6-1)
Easton (6-1)
LaSalle (6-1)
Downingtown East (6-1)
Rustin (AAA, 7-0)