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District 1 6A Playoff Preview

Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News

| November 3, 2021


Breaking down the PIAA District 1 6A Playoffs

By Kameron Hammond

Quakertown #5 (10-0) vs Souderton #12 (6-4)

These two teams have faced each other in the regular season, where Quakertown was victorious with a 36-14 win.  In their first meeting, the score was 14-14 going into the fourth quarter and then Quakertown just scored 21 unanswered points.  Souderton defeated Quakertown last year 28-23 and as rivals, they’ll be essentially playing for that Route 309 trophy again where it matters, in the playoffs.

Quakertown has quietly been one of the best football teams in District 1.  Their record of 10-0 and how they’ve been able to muster over 30 points per game all season has put a stamp on that this season.  Led by Senior RB Tyler Woodman who has 21 TDs total on the season.  He’s a 1100-yard rusher, who has the help with his teammates Will Steich and Zach Fondl.  These three have accounted for 36 total touchdowns on the year.  Their bread and butter is by running the football, but can throw the ball in the air if need be, primarily to senior TE Fondl with his 32 receptions for 619 yards and 11 TDs in the air.

Souderton does have a record of 6-4 but that shouldn’t discredit their performance during the regular season.  They are heavily relied on the run game, anchored by Brayden Porter.  Porter had a monster game last week against Bensalem, totaling 26 carries for 202 yards and 3 TDs.  Souderton suffered a tough loss to Neshaminy (2-8) and their 42-27 loss against North Penn was rough after being only down 3 points going into the second half, they just couldn’t stop the run, which they’ll have to do this weekend at Quakertown’s home field

Score Prediction: Quakertown 35 Souderton 27

 

North Penn #2 (10-0) vs CB South #15 (6-4)

North Penn and CB South meet for the second time this season in the 6A District 1 playoffs on Friday.  North Penn got the better of CB South in their first match up this past Friday in a blow out 35-7 win.  Both teams have a good indication of how each other will play, but anything can happen in playoffs, especially in elimination games.  The first game at CB South, now they’ll be the ones traveling to North Penn.

North Penn’s game plan is to run the ball.  Last weeks terrible weather conditions didn’t seem to have an impact on the Knights.   They rushed for 375 yards and senior RB Khalani Eaton rushed for 198, just two yard shy of 200 on the night.  Eaton, has been seen being featured on Sportscenter for running his way through the whole CB West defense for a 94-yard TD.  Eaton has reached a career high of 4,000 yards.

CB South with a short season last year, went (2-5).  They have sense turned their program around within a year to (6-4).  Out of the last four match ups, North Penn has gotten the best out of CB South three out of the four. In 2019, they edged out North Penn 36-35 in the regular season, then lost to them in the first round of the playoffs that same year 35-7. South’s Cole Maholtz leads the team in rushing with 135 carries for 714 yards and 15 touchdowns.  Look for South to have a chip on their shoulder after being torched last week.

Score Prediction: North Penn 35 – CB South 27

 

Perk Valley #6 (8-2) vs CB East #11 (6-4)

These two teams will meet for the first time in the first round of the District 1 6A Playoffs.

Perk Valley is coming of off a six game win streak after going 2-2 in the first four games of the season.  In their last three games, they have held their opposing teams scoreless, while posting up 35.6 ppg in those games.  Senior QB Ethan Kohler has thrown 21 TD’s to five different receivers, so look for Perk Valley’s offense to spread the ball to all their weapons. Also look out for Ryan Klimek who is very active in the run and pass game totaling 966 all-purpose yards, which accumulates to 96.6 ypg.

CB East started their season with a loss to Ridley in a close game.  Then they started to pick up the pace in the middle of the season, winning six straight games.  Their Offense is anchored by juniors, Ethan Shine and Patrick Keller.  Shine plays both sides of the ball registering 58 tackles, leading the team in this category.  He also has his work cut out for him on the offensive side rushing for 1008 yards and 11 TDs on 179 carries.  CB East has to score points and prevent PV from getting their offensive game rolling if they want to beat Perk Valley in the first round.  PV scores 40 ppg as opposed to CB East’s 27.4 ppg.

Score Prediction: Perk Valley 35- CB South 27


By PFN Staff

The Downingtown East Cougars will host Spring Ford Rams Friday night at Walter E. Kottmeyer stadium in the first round of the District 1 6A playoffs . The last time these two teams met in the District 1 playoffs, on a rain soaked night at Spring Ford, Downingtown ran for over 350 yards on an incredible 88 carries. The Cougar’s no huddle offense bolted out to a 25-0 lead, with the final score being 39-12. This year both teams come off of disappointing loses in their season finale, the Cougars come in at 8-2 ranked HM in the PFN poll, while the Rams come in at 6-4.

As always Michael Matta’s Cougars will feature a bruising running attack led by Junior Bo Horvath with over 1550 and Senior Co-Captain Josh Asante with over 500 yards. Junior signal caller Jamy Jenkins has throw for 1400 yards, with his two main targets being the speedy Michael Giardino and D1 recruit TE George Bousum. Bousum has had offers from the United States Naval Academy and West Point. Downingtown’s defense is anchored by strong safety Mike Waite and middle linebacker Sam Barton.

The Rams offense will feature multiple sets and formations, with alternating Quarterbacks. Junior Ryan Freed has done the bulk of the signal calling completing over 70% of his passes for over 1250 yards, with an excellent TD(15) to interception rate (3), Freshman Quarterback Matt Zollers has thrown for over 525 yards and 8 touchdowns. Zack Zoellers, a two way stand out, has 38 receptions for 500 yards and 8 TDs. While Kolten Kquina has hauled in 43 catches for 550 yards and 5 TDs. Stud running back Harry Adieyeteh has over 1,200 yards combined rushing and receiving, with fullback Will Fish leading the way. On defense Spring Ford is led by DE Matt Zoellers. The highly recruited Zoellers is the anchor of the defensive line. If the Rams hope to hold down the Cougars running attack, Zollers will have to have a big game.

 

Coatesville v Owen J Roberts

Number 3 seed Coatesville #7 in the PaFootballNews.com 6A rankings, will take on the 14 seed O.J. Roberts in the first round of the District 1 tournament. The Coatesville Red Raiders, with a record of 9-1, are coming off of a 42-7 defeat of Downingtown East for it’s sixth straight Ches-Mont title, the underdog O.J. Roberts Wildcats are coming off a heartbreaking defensive battle, losing 6-2 to Phoenixville. After an early season loss to York High the Red Raiders have been n a roll, winning eight in a row, including last second wins at Downingtown West and Chester. The Wildcats come into the game losing three of it’s last four contests, after ripping off five straight wins. The Wildcats were yearly foes of the Red Raiders until the Ches-Mont split up and the Wildcats joined the PAC 10, the last time these two team met was 2004. A season opening 42-7 win for then Coach Tom Nichols Red Raiders. Coatesville has been a regular in the District 1 finals in the past 6 years under Matt Ortega.
When Coatesville has the ball, all eyes will be on Quarterback Harrison Susi, son of OC Pete Susi a former standout QB for Bishop McDevitt. Susi is the leading rusher for the Red Raiders with over 850 yards, as well throwing for over 1,000 yards, he has combined for a mind blowing 27 touchdowns. When not running the ball himself look for Susi to give the ball to Ashon Wesley. Wesley has come on strong at the end of the regular season running for just under 600 yards. When Susi puts the ball in the air he has a plethora of speedy receivers, but no one seems to make more big plays than Coach Ortega’s son Tommy Ortega. Ortega who has made several big plays for touchdowns for the Red Raiders, proudly wear #1 as did his brother Ricky, now a Villanova Wildcat, as he ran to 4 Ches-Mont championships. The Coatesville defense, which gave up a lot of yards and points early in the season, has become one of the toughest defenses in District 1 as the season has progressed. Led by outstanding linebackers Nolan A’Hara and R.J. Rickenbach, a Notre Dame baseball commit, have become very stingy with both yardage and point. Coatesville has a plus 12 turnover ratio, due to their attacking defense, led by Rickenbach and A’Hara.
While the Red Raiders will be a tall task the for Wildcats, they will be counting on the PAC 10’s leading rusher Avery Grimm returning after an injury in the first half of the Spring Ford game caused him to miss the entire second half. Grimm has rushed for 1,650 yards in 9 games. Quarterback Michael Reed has completed 60% of his passes for over 900 yards. Reed’s favorite target is wide receiver Danny Cashman, who leads the Wildcats with 400 yards in receiving. Owen J’s defense is coming off a strong performance last week giving up just 6 point. They gave just 92 yards in total yards to the Phantoms.


By Alec Eskin

Haverford (16) vs. Garnet Valley (1)

This will be the second time that both of these teams have met this season. The last time Haverford and Garnet Valley played each other, it was a dominating victory for Garnet Valley as the won by a final score of 55-14 at Moe DeFrank field. Shane Reynolds had just returned from a high ankle sprain and made a big impact on the game. Then, Max Busenkell threw for over 100 yards in that game as well, allowing Garnet Valley to create a dangerous two dimensional offense. Haverford is starting to heat up and has won their last two games to sneak into the District One playoffs and finishing 5-5 on the season. However, with Haverford picking up that extra game against Academy at Palumbo, this gave Garnet Valley enough of a strength of schedule to get the one seed. Garnet Valley has won by 20 plus points every game this year, coming into the District One Playoffs at 10-0.

Haverford has started to figure out things on both sides of the ball after starting out the year 2-4. They have been able to move the ball down the field thanks to a historically good season by Ethan Mahan, who now leads Haverford in most touchdown catches per season. This was set by Shane Mosley who is now currently playing for Maryland. Then, Haverford defense the past two games has only allowed 21 points. They had allowed 21 or more point in six of the previous eight games leading up to that point. They have a large defensive line who has made adjustments going down the stretch of the season. That defense has been led by Pete Corcoran and Tommy Caruso who have been a big parts in Haverford’s improvement. The Fords look to cash in during the playoffs as they try to look to pull an upset.

Garnet Valley has been arguably one of the best teams in the state coming into the District One playoffs. They have multiple division one recruits on the team for multiple sports. Garnet Valley has had an advantage in almost every phase of the game against almost every team they have played this season. Max Busenkell has broken numerous records including most touchdown passes in a single season. Garnet Valley has also gotten a lot of production from Joey Halloran, Sean Gallagher, and Ndozi Okolo via the air. All of them combined have accumulated fewer than five drops all season. On the ground, Shane Reynolds, Ryan Saunders, and Jason Bernard have led the way and have fueled a potent ground game which every at Garnet Valley knows and loves. On defense, their defensive line has been creative a lot of pressure on opponents’ backfields all season long. Austin Sorkalynch and Nolan Brennan have been having career years so far, helping the defensive line create pressure. Cj Wood and Drew Van Horn have both been instrumental in both he secondary and linebacker groups.

 

Pennridge (9) vs. Central Bucks West (8)

A common theme in the playoffs this year is that a lot of teams will be playing against teams they faced earlier in the year. This game between Pennridge and CB West is no different. The first game between them was a really good one, no one could for certain say who would win until the clock hit double zeros. Central Bucks West was able to stop Pennridge from converting a 4th down late in the 4th quarter to prevent them for getting the go ahead score. Central Bucks won the game in this fashion by a final score of 28-24.

Pennridge started off the year slow but has vastly improved since their 3-3 starting, winning their final four games of the regular season. They have done this behind great quarterback play of Xavier Dantzler, who threw for one touchdown and 81 yards in the first contest between these two teams. Then, their starting running backs in Nate Mossbrook and Phil Picciotti have been their main source of yards all year. This is a team that likes to run the ball most of the time and these running backs are what make the offense work as well as their offensive line and quarterback. Defensively, they have been strong all year and have been the strength of this team. They currently only allow an average of 9.7 points per game. This is an outstanding accomplishment for the Rams.

Central Bucks West has played very well this season overall, finishing with a record of 8-2. Their offense has become one of the best in District One and a big reason why they are the eight seed in the playoffs. They have been an offense that has gained most of their yards on the ground. Led behind running backs Eli Boehm and Donte Mancini, they have been consistently good all year long. They both ran for a combined 180 yards in their first meeting with Pennridge. On defense, they have been doing a nice job of not allowing a lot of points in games. They currently allow only about 15.7 points per game (not including the game forfeited by Hatboro-Horsham). This is a very area to be in as it allows them to stay in games.

 

Ridley (7) v Conestoga (10)

Ridley and Conestoga will be playing in the exactly same place two weeks in a row. It was a fantastic game against two very good Central League teams. Conestoga had a 28-15 in the 4th quarter. However, in the end, Ridley was able to complete the comeback and beat Stoga 29-28. Tahir Mills and John Heller were both big factors in that comeback win. It will be interesting in what both teams do differently in round two.

Conestoga has been a surprise team this year in the playoffs as most people had them finishing with only four or five wins. Head Coach Matt Diamond has seen rapid success since he took over the program. Calvin Shirley has been at quarterback for Stoga and has been nothing short of stellar. He has made major strides in his game since taking over at quarterback this year and it is resulting in wins for the Pioneers. Then, the dynamic duo in Peter Detwiler and Patrick Riley have also been a big reason in why Stoga all the sudden fins themselves with a high flying offense. They had averaged 32.2 points per game during the regular season and that is one of their highest averages in the last five years. On defense, they have also made some improvement. In the trenches, Stoga is now able to win more of those battles. This has shown in games as now they only allow 21.4 points per game.

Ridley is also one of those teams that people did not expect to be this good also. Most people had them at 7-3 this year but have exceeded expectations and are now 9-1. John Heller has made vast improvements from last year to this year. He was able to put on muscle and can now throw the ball farther down the field, make stronger throws, and  more accurate ones as well. His top two recievers in Paul Jackson and Sean Harrington have taken a lot of pressure off of Ridley as Heller could just throw the ball up to them and still have a good chance of catching it. It also helps when you have two very good running backs in Tahir Mills and Nahaji Saleem who can give that Green Raider offense another dimension. On defense, they have both Saleem and Mills there two because they are such good players overall. Their defensive line also creates pressure and causes the opponent’s quarterback to throw the ball out quick. When you have both corners that can cover really well and a fantastic defensive line, you are going to have a lot of success as what Ridley has shown all year.

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