District 1 6A Second Round Preview

Tagged under: District 1, News, pfn, Playoffs

Willie McGonigle | November 6, 2025

We have reached the Elite Eight in District 1 6A. Last week, we saw two big upsets with the 14th seed Owen J. Roberts Wildcats going on the road and knocking off the reigning District 1 and third seed Downingtown West Whippets by a score of 10-7, while the 11th seed Neshaminy Redskins under first-year Head Coach Nick Felus went on the road and knocked off their Suburban One League Rival CB-West 28-21 for the second time this season. What will this week bring? Do we have any upsets, or will things go according to chalk? Let’s take a look at the matchups

1 Seed Pennridge Rams Ranked 10th by PFN in 6A vs 8 Seed Downingtown East Cougars

Pennridge Rams: Pennridge 10-1 reaches the second round of the District One Class 6A tournament by defeating Plymouth-Whitemarsh 22-21. Trailing with under a minute to go, the #1 6A seed Rams crashed in from the two-yard line, then, rather than kicking the extra point to tie the game, Head Coach Kyle Beller went for two, by the closest of margins, converted the try for two to win the game. 

Pennridge’s quarterback Noah Keating, a Marist University commit, at 6’3”, 216 pounds, is a pinpoint passer who fits perfectly in the Rams’ wing T spread offense with a strong arm, as well as being nifty in the waggle-based pass game. Keating’s favorite target is Junior Sean Leuthe. Leuthe will catch the long ball as well as a rocket screen and will get the ball on a jett motion. Running the rock is a combination of players led by Ryan Rowe and William Dougherty, both of whom have over 600 yards of rushing this year.

The Rams’ defense features a 3-3 stack with 5 interchangeable defensive backs. Rowe, Leuthe, and Dougherty, along with Blake Landherr, Ian Gallagher, Nolan Worman, and Jackson Gregoire, are the key cogs in a very stingy, bend but don’t break defense. The Rams have been incredible in the red zone, turning back the opposing offenses time after time.

Downingtown East Cougars: Coach Michael Matta’s Cougars are no strangers to the second round of the
District 1 playoffs, this is the sixteenth time in the last twenty-two years they have made it to the second round. The Cougars made it to the second round by the skin of their teeth, defeating Spring Ford 20-16. Spring Ford took the first play of the game 80 yards, taking a 7-0 lead 14 seconds into the game. Downingtown’s super Sophomore Juelz Chiron-Robinson scored on a 9-yard off-tackle power run with 6 seconds to go, giving the Cougars their only lead of the game and the win. Like any Michael Matta team, the Cougars are a run-heavy team that relies on power running between the tackles and a play-action passing game. Tackles Zane Hassan and Cooper Ward anchor the Downingtown line that has produced almost
3,000 yards of rushing. Chiron-Robinson leads the rushing attack with1,800+yards. Seniors John Morin and Alex Rios have chipped in nearly 1,000 additional yards, with Morrin, an old school throwback, being the lead blocker on many of Chiron-Robinson’s electric jaunts.

Defensively, the Cougars are led by a strong linebacking unit, with middle linebacker Caleb Aikens calling the signals. Logan Litwinko, Anthony Massaro, and Graham Smith also rotate in the middle, alongside Morrin and Rios, as outside backers. The defensive line features Four-Star recruit Abraham Sesay at defensive end. The defensive backfield includes Luther Sehwah, a highly sought-after cornerback.

4 Seed Coatesville Red Raiders vs 5 Seed Council Rock South Golden Hawks

Coatesville Red Raiders: Coach Matt Ortega’s Red Raiders 9-2 will host round two of the District 1 6A tournament after defeating Perkiomen Valley 27-10. The 4 seed Coatesville team seems to have righted the ship after getting shut out in back-to-back games against the Downingtowns. In the week 8 game against Downingtown East, the Red Raiders’ signal caller, Buggy Ortega was knocked out of the game. He returned 2 weeks later
for limited action in the Bishop Shanahan victory. In last weeks victory over Perk Valley Buggy threw for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Coatesville’s massive offensive line is led by Max Hiller, Hiller at 6’5” 307 is a road grater who is a 5-star recruit, who is thought by many to be the top Junior Tackle in the country. Joining Hiller on the line are Jayden Smith-Alamo and TE Terry Wiggins. Wiggins was an early commit to PSU, but has decommitted after the canning of James Franklin. Much of the Red Raiders’ fate will depend upon the health of Ortega, without the Senior QB the offense was shut out by both of the Downingtown teams. On defense, the Red Raiders are led by middle linebacker Josh VanOrden. VanOrden gritty hard-nose style of play has been a nightmare for opposing teams, covering the entire field. Coatesville’s defensive front seven has been one of the
best in District 1; their defensive backfield has let up several deep balls. Last week PV had receivers running wide open deep down the field but were unable to complete the passes.

Council Rock South Golden Hawks: Last week, the Golden Hawks had no problems knocking off the 12th-seeded Haverford Fords by a score of 27-7, earning them their 10th victory of the season and ninth in a row. The Golden Hawks have become a regular participant in the District 1 Playoffs under Head Coach CJ Szydlik. Offensively, Marley Emerson has thrown for 1060 yards and 13 touchdowns. Gavin Lacey has rushed for 750 yards on 118 carries and 9 touchdowns.  Nate Szydlik has been a do-it-all for the Golden Hawks. The Sr has 385 yards rushing on 35 carries and 6 Tds to go along with 246 receiving yards and 3 more touchdowns. On Defense, Szydlik has 91 tackles,5 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, and one interception. Ben Myers has 64 tackles with 3 sacks and 7 TFL’s for the Hawks.

2 North Penn Knights vs 7 Seed Souderton Indians

North Penn Knights: The Knights easily dispatched Boyertown last week, 42-14. North Penn is riding a six-game winning streak entering this game and has only suffered two losses–both to remaining playoff teams Neshaminy and top-seeded Pennridge. The Knights enjoy a multi-threat backfield in Matthew Pownall and Rylei Gray, who have both rushed for 100+ yards in a game multiple times this season. Quarterback Matt Bucksar is very accurate and provides solid leadership. Souderton’s defense will also need to keep track of Mason Franek, a very skilled wide receiver threat.

Souderton Indians: Last week, the Indians dispatched the 10th-seeded Ridley Green Raiders by a score of 23-6. Offensively, Ben Walsh has thrown for 1508 yards and 13 touchdowns.  Jared Higginbotham is the team’s leading rusher with 456 yards and 2 touchdowns. Mujana Sudi is second on the team with 430 yards rushing and 9 touchdowns. Caleb Moyer also has 7 rushing touchdowns for the Indians. Hunter Smeltz leads the Indians in receptions with 42 and receiving yards with 742 and four touchdowns. Timmy Meehan leads the team with 6 receiving touchdowns. Defensively, Meehan leads the team in tackles with 46. Jimmy Eakins is second on the team with 33 tackles and is the leader in sacks with 6. Noah Porter, Eakins, Meehan, Jared Higginbotham, Chase Hart, Smeltz, and Nate Rusike are all tied for the team lead in interceptions with 1 each.

11 seed Neshaminy Redskins vs 14 seed Owen J Roberts

Neshaminy Redskins: Under first-year Head Coach Nick Felus, enter this week with an 8-3 record. Last week, the Redskins went on the road and knocked off Suburban One League rival CB West for the second time this season. Offensively, the Redskins are led by QB Michael Eckart. The Sr signal caller has completed nearly 72 percent of his passes for 2262 yards and 28 touchdowns compared to just 3 interceptions, but make no mistakes Eckart is just as big of threat in the Redskins run game, he’s second on the team with 689 yards rushing and 9 more touchdowns. Carter Clee is the team’s leading rusher with 1051 yards rushing and 7 touchdowns. Eckart has spread the love to his recievers. Brock Williams leads the team with 54 receptions for 650 yards and 6 touchdowns. Bobby Lagler is second on the team (20-383-3TDs). Mike Sassano has 8 receiving touchdowns to go with 25 catches and 355 yards. Nick Sassano has caught 19 passes for 368 yards and 7 touchdowns. Defensively, Carson Schneider is the team leader in tackles with 88, Dan McGarrity is right on his tail with 80, followed by Mike Sassano with 71. Corey Keenoy-Webb has been a terror to opposing QBs this season with 10 sacks. Mike Sassano leads the team with 5 interceptions, followed closely by Nick Sassano with 3.

Owen J Roberts Wildcats: Last week, the 14th-seed Wildcats sent shockwaves throughout District 1, going on the road and knocking off the reigning District Champions and a team that some thought had the potential to repeat Downingtown West 10-7. In that game, the Wildcats’ defense came up huge when they needed to stop the Whippets mere inches from the goal-line as time expired. Offensively, the Wildcats are led by a pair of Division 1 playmakers in Matt Gregory and Mekhi Graham. Last week Graham rushed for 131 yards on a whopping 37 carries.  Chris Flynn is the man in charge of spreading the ball to his playmakers. Last week, he went 3-4 passing for 50 yards.

Staff Writers Marcus Sic and Cody Brady contributed to this preview

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