Mayhem’s Year in Review: Suburban One League Edition
Tagged under: District 1, District 12, District 3, News
Michael Pietrangelo | December 28, 2022
A Year in Review: Suburban One League Edition
The High School football season officially came to an end Saturday, December 10, 2022. Here’s a list of all the championship games & their results. Congratulations to each Champion. My local journalistic season, however, ended the week prior when class 5A Upper Dublin fell to state runner-up Imhotep Charter 21-14. This season will be one to remember. I got to witness some cool personal & team accolades from across the Suburban One League (SOL). Each week I got to see the purest form of football ever played. I got to see the raw emotion in the face of defeat as well as the swell of victory over an entire fanbase as their magical run progressed deeper and deeper into the state playoffs. Let’s take a look back on my little journey across the SOL this season.
In week 1 I traveled to my alma mater, Upper Moreland to watch the Golden Bears take on longtime rivals the Hatboro Horsham Hatters. The game was head coach Adam Beach’s first game back since leaving the program in 2017. Coach Beach’s return started with a bang as he and his Bears mauled their way to a 41-0 “Goose Egg”. The game was highlighted by senior running back Stephen Broderick who rushed for 151 yards on 11 carries & 3 TDs. Senior LB Hassan Johnson set the tone for the rest of my season & got my blood pumping as time expired at the end of the first quarter when he proceeded to lay out the ball carrier for a big loss and made the entire stadium erupt into cheers.
Week 2 was a doozy for sure. I was high on Upper Dublin last season after watching the Cards go 9-3 and had high expectations heading into the year with so many returning starters and leaders. Week two is when they made a believer out of me 100% when they took it to 6A power Central Bucks West 35-7 in the absence of star running back Nyfise McIntyre. Sophomore Dominick Paone (15-82) & Junior Shyne Roberts (5-22, 1 TD) combined for 20 carries for 104 yards & 1 TD for a 5.2-yard average. Senior Quarterback Colin O’Sullivan went 16 of 25 (64%) for 196 yards & 4 TDs.
I got to see another 1st win in the coaching ranks in week 3 when I traveled to Pennridge to watch the Rams take on non-conference for the Bensalem Owls. Head coach Chuck Burgy recorded his first victory at Pennridge in a 35-0 victory that saw Army commit, senior Brennan Fisher rush 14 times for 137 yards & 3 scores. Senior RB Tyler Wetzel shined on both defense and offense. On the defensive side, he was in on over a dozen tackles. Offensively he only carried the ball 3 times; however, he amassed 80 yards & 1 rushing TD.
Week 4 was more of a defensive battle when I traveled to Harry S. Truman to watch the Tigers take on conference foe, Council Rock South Golden Hawks. The Golden Hawks edged Truman 14-6. Though the affair wasn’t a statistical dream offensively, Junior QB Chase Ennis went 9 of 15 (60%) for 124 yards & 1 TD. He also rushed 7 times for 53 yards. Defensively, Junior defensive lineman Thomas Gallagher dominated. He lived in the Tiger’s backfield all night. He finished the evening with 12 tackles, 2.5 sacks, & 3 TFLs.
A double overtime thriller was what I witnessed in week 5 when the Pennridge Rams traveled to Central Bucks East to take on the undefeated Patriots. This game is definitely in the “Game of the Year” conversation. The Patriots escaped the slugfest 16-13. In double overtime, Pennridge took the ball first and was stopped on 4th & Goal from the 5-yard line, when senior Adam Mossbrook took the handoff around the edge with a clear path to the endzone when BOOM! He was met by junior CB Dean Blackwell at the 1-yard line and was denied the touchdown. East’s senior placekicker Jack Corrigan stepped up and nailed a 31-yarder to claim victory and the stadium erupted. I also got to witness senior running back Ethan Shine go over the 1,000-yard mark after only 5 games as he rushed for 248 yards & 1 TD. Senior running back and Army commit, Brennan Fisher also had a night. He rushed for 175 yards and had a 99-yard kick return for a touchdown.
Week 6 pitted 6A power, North Penn, against the hometown Central Bucks South Titans. While the Titans hung around most of the night, The Knights strolled out of Warrington with a 35-21 victory. Senior WR Yazeed Haynes who is committed to the University of Georgia had an awesome night as he hauled in 5 catches for 150 yards. He also took a kickoff return 99 yards to the house. Junior Fullback Dave Dawes rushed 11 times for 60 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.
In week 7 I was able to watch a team outside the SOL when the visiting Warwick Warriors from district 3 took on the Souderton Indians. Souderton was a bit much for Warwick in this 45-24 drubbing. In the winning effort, senior Jared Zimmerman threw for 109 yards & 3 scores while adding 41 on the ground. Senior Chris Kerns & Shaun Purvy combined for 131 yards & 2 scores as well for the Indians. Warwick’s Jack Reed valiantly led his team back but ultimately came up short though in his effort. He threw for 284 yards on 18 of 27 passing with 3 passing TDs. Brendon Snyder had 4 catches for 102 yards & 2 receiving TDs.
Senior night for Central Bucks West came in week 8 as visiting Pennridge came to town looking for a victory after falling the previous 3 weeks by a combined total of 7 points. West had other plans, walking away victorious 27-8. In their winning effort, senior running back Eli Boehm rushed 28 times for 161 yards & 2 TDs, while junior QB Ganz Cooper rushed 8 times for 31 yards & 2 TDs of his own. The bright spot for Pennridge in the game was Brennan Fisher rushing 17 times for 178 yards & 1 TD.
Week 9 clinched at least a share of their league title for Upper Dublin when visiting Souderton came to town & Upper Dublin won 34-3. At the time Souderton was boasting an offensive attack that was averaging over 30 points per game. Upper Dublin’s suffocating defense only allowed the Indians 82 yards of total offense, 65 yards rushing & 17 yards through the air. In the victory, I witnessed another personal accolade when UD’s senior running back Nyfise McIntyre had a career-high 225 yards on the night. Senior quarterback Colin O’Sullivan completed 77% of his passes for 213 yards & 3 TDs. The only bright spot for the Indians was senior placekicker Ty Quintois hitting a school-record 50-yard field goal.
Plymouth Whitemarsh took on Upper Moreland in week 10 which ended up being the SOL-American Conference Championship. Both teams headed into the game undefeated in conference play. The Colonials won their second straight conference championship in the 56-20 rout. On an evening that featured some big highlights, my favorite was the opening kickoff when junior Nazye Boggs took the rock and dashed 89 yards to the house to set the tone for the entire game. My first Player of the Game was junior running back Luke Winterbottom who rushed only 6 times for 122 yards & 2 TDs while adding a 13-yard receiving touchdown. Senior quarterback Aiden O’Brien had 89 yards rushing & 2 TDs while going 3 of 5 for 42 yards & a touchdown through the air.
Week 11 was the first round of the district 1 playoffs and I found myself headed to watch the 6A 11th-seeded Central Bucks West Bucks take on 6th-seeded Central Bucks East Patriots in what is well-known to locals as a huge rivalry. The week prior was the annual East vs West game where the Bucks came out on top 21-14. This time would be completely different as the Bucks rolled to a 42-26 victory. East did not go down easily and fought ferociously but came up short. Senior quarterback Pat Keller tossed 2 touchdowns. He was 14 of 25 passing for 273 yards in a very strong effort. Ethan Shine chipped in with 136 yards & 2 TDs on the ground. In the win senior running back, Eli Boehm rushed for 127 yards & 2 TDs while also catching a TD pass from junior quarterback Ganz Cooper.
Week 12 was the district 1 quarterfinals and I found myself back in Fort Washington to see the Undefeated number one-ranked Cardinals of Upper Dublin take on the 8th-seeded Patriots of Great Valley. While hurricane Nicole managed to persuade many programs across the state to adjust their playoff schedules for safety concerns Great Valley was determined to play. I was lucky because Nicole seemed to want to see the game played as she disappeared for a long enough window that it didn’t affect the game. The Cards would end up soaring past the patriots 35-0. Colin O’Sullivan completed 75% of his passes for 299 yards & 3 TDs. Running back Nyfise McIntyre rushed for 125 yards & 2 Touchdowns of his own. The defense only allowed 136 yards of total offense. My highlight of this game came when senior wide receiver Starling Reaves stretched out & dove into the back of the endzone for a 22-yard touchdown.
The district Semi Finals were played in week 13 and it pitted the number one team, Upper Dublin (12-0) against the 4th seed Plymouth Whitemarsh (10-2) which was a repeat of last year’s quarterfinal. Upper Dublin came out on top and cruised to a 30-0 shutout. UD bottled up PW’s explosive rushing attack and held the Colonials to 23 rushing yards on 34 attempts. While the offense didn’t have the flashy numbers, they didn’t need it as the defense came up clutch. Senior Griffin Pensabene returned an interception 36 yards for a score and senior DB Chris Kohlbrenner recovered a fumble for a 10-yard score.
Week 14 saw the district one championship played against the undefeated Cardinals of Upper Dublin and the 3rd seed, West Chester Rustin Golden Knights (11-2). Until this game, Upper Dublin had yet to relinquish a single point and had outscored their opponents 100-0. UD held a team that was averaging 30 points a game to just 1 touchdown. UD won the game 21-7. The game was stalled for over 30 minutes as UD lost power to its lights. Luckily for everyone, they came back on, and we were able to finish the game.
Week 15 brought on probably the second-best game of the year from my standpoint. District One’s Upper Dublin (14-0) versus District Twelve’s Imhotep Charter (10-2) in the State Semifinals. Imhotep who finished as the state runner-up to Pine-Richland came out on top 21-14. At halftime, UD found itself in a hole and down 21-0. Imhotep junior QB Mikal Davis Jr. was the MVP of the game. He rushed for 72 yards & 2 TDs while throwing for 127 yards & 1 score. The second half saw the UD defense step up and shut out the Panthers, but the Panthers defense wouldn’t let up after allowing two scores and that’s how the game would end.
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