District One-6A Playoff Preview: Quarterfinals
Tagged under: District 1, News, pfn, Playoffs
Michael Pietrangelo | November 7, 2024
I know this is high school football, but the elite eight in basketball is a big deal, so immediately, “And then there were eight,” bellowed out of my mouth Saturday evening after the Souderton-PW game ended. I was a bit steamed we only got to see one upset in the opening round as the eleventh-seeded Cougars of Downingtown East beat the sixth-seeded Perkiomen Valley Vikings, 17-10. This week, my fellow writers Willie McGonigle, Marcus Sic, and I compiled previews of our four quarterfinal matchups. Will the number eight-seed Colonials knock off the undefeated one-seed Titans? The anticipation is killing me, as it’s the matchup I’ll be at this Friday night under the lights. Will the Cougars upset run end against the third-seeded Bucks of Central Bucks West, or do they punch their ticket to the semifinals? Stay tuned for our updates this upcoming weekend as the games unfold. Make sure you are following us on X to get live updates of the games.
The Matchups
#8 Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials @ #1 Central Bucks South Titans
#1 Central Bucks South (11-0, 7-0)
About the Titans: The reigning District One Champion remains undefeated and looking to continue their success against the Suburban One League. In round one, the Titans dispatched the Spring-Ford Rams 49-7. The potent Titan offense is currently averaging 32.0 points per game. The offensive attack is led by none other than senior quarterback Owen Pinkerton. The dual-threat quarterback has completed 57% of his passes for 1,178 yards and 14 touchdowns while only throwing three interceptions. He also leads the backfield with 147 carries for 1016 yards and twelve rushing touchdowns. Sophomore Braylen Cape (85-595-9 TDs) and Senior Kaden Kube (65-333-2 TDs) share time in the Titan backfield and round out the dominant rushing attack. A trio of seniors leads the receiving corps: Danny Gies (27-613-8 TDs), Matt Harmon (17-324-3 TDs), and Dan McCusker (10-132-2 TDs). The defense, which only yields 7.1 points per game, is led by Junior linebacker Jack Bartolillo, who leads all tacklers with 67 total tackles. Senior defensive end Eddie Bowen is second on the team with 63 tackles and the sack leader with eight. Senior Matt Harmon leads the secondary with four interceptions.
#8 Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-2, 4-0)
About the Colonials: In round one, PW beat the ninth-seeded Indians 33-14. Christian Diciurcio rushed 13 times for 125 yards and a score, while Everett Baker carried the ball 16 times for 78 yards and three touchdowns. Round two will be a much harder task as they face the top-seeded Titans of Central Bucks South. Overall, they finished 8-2 and undefeated (5-0) for the fourth year in a row, out of the SOL-American conference. The Colonial’s two losses came at the hands of two 9-1 teams: Wilson West Lawn and Manheim Township, both out of the Lancaster-Lebanon Conference. The Colonial’s offensive attack is averaging 33.9 points per game and is led by senior quarterback Caiden Leszczynski, who has completed 56% of his passes for 1,036 yards and 14 touchdowns. He has only thrown two interceptions on the season and has rushed for 131 yards and two more scores. Senior Everett Baker leads all rushers with 1,163 yards on 142 attempts and 23 touchdowns. Senior Christian Diciurcio is second on the team with 609 yards on 76 carries and three touchdowns. Senior Marcus Laffredo leads all receivers with 21 balls for 331 yards and four scores. Senior Chase Smith is second on the team with 13 catches for 278 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Bongard and Chase Rarrick have each hauled in 11-159-2 TDs & 6-89-2 TDs. Kevin Hegarty leads the defense with 69 total tackles and 10 tackles for loss. Senior Jadon Joseph leads the team in sacks with 5.5. Junior Amir Butler is second on the team with 3.5. Junior Bongard & Senior Marcus Laffredo lead all defenders with 3 interceptions each. The Colonial’s defense is currently giving up 12.7 points per game to opposing offenses.
#7 Owen J. Roberts Wildcats @ #2 Downingtown West Whippets
#2 Downingtown West (10-1, 2-1)
About the Whippets: The Whippets enter the second round of the playoffs coming off a last second victory over ChesMont rival Coatesville by a 28-21 score. The Red Raiders and the Whippets had played two weeks before with the Whippets winning 14-7. The Whippet offense accounted for 300 yards of offense while their defense held Coatesville to under 100 yards of rushing. Their second round opponent OJ Roberts has not had much luck at the Kott, losing it’s two previous playoff games.
#7 Owen J. Roberts (9-2, 4-1)
About the Wildcats: Last week in their 38-24 First-round victory over the visiting Neshaminy the Wildcats’ defense came up with six interceptions as a team. Matt Gregory had three of them including two that went for touchdowns. Jeremy Daubert contributed two interceptions and Andrew Lehman had the other. Offensively Division 1 prospect Mekhi Grahm carried the ball 21 times for 81 yards and two scores. Corey Schock went 9-12 passing for 112 yards and a touchdown.
#11 Downingtown East Cougars @ #3 Central Bucks West Bucks
#3 Central Bucks West (9-2, 6-1)
About the Bucks: The Bucks shut out round one opponent #14th seeded Pennsbury Falcons 17-0. Senior running back Ryan Clemens went over the century mark again this season on the way to the victory. The Bucks’ offensive attack averages 25.4 points per game, while their defense only yields 10.7 points per game to opposing offenses. The offense is led by the one-two combo punch of Senior quarterback Noah Miller and senior running back Ryan Clemens. Miller has combined for 1,521 yards (826 rushing) and (695 passing) and 18 total touchdowns (9 rushing & 9 passing). Clemens is averaging 7.1 yards per carry while rushing for 1,414 yards and eleven touchdowns. He is also Miller’s favorite passing target, as he has hauled in 283 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, Clemens leads all tacklers with 72 tackles. Junior Gavin Todd is second on the team with 64 total tackles. Jeff Cappa leads all defenders with seven sacks. Senior Vance Morelli and sophomore Lou Cipollo lead all defenders with two interceptions.
#11 Downingtown East (6-4, 1-1)
About the Cougars: After a hard fought 17-10 comeback victory over the Perk Valley Vikings Coach Michael Matta’s Cougars advance to the second round to take on CB West. A Downingtown-Central Bucks West playoff match up at War Memorial stadium is a return to old school District One royalty. Both schools feature downhill running attacks and hard hitting aggressive defenses. The Cougars after a brutal regular season schedule are battle tested, led by Jackson Griffiths the Downingtown defense has not allowed a single point in the second half since week two. The Cougar offense, triggered by QB Mason Ippolito, has sputtered in the first half in games but comes roaring back after halftime. In the second half, after starter Alex Rios went down to an injury, Freshman Juelz Robinson toted the rock 10 time for 54 yards giving the Cougars the spark they needed to score 17 points in the second half.
In what maybe the surprise play of the year, standout kicker/punter Ryan Hornak completed his first pass attempt on a fake punt to Luke Kessler for 17 yards and a pivotal first down. That led to the Cougar’s first score, a Hornak field goal. From that point on Downingtown’s defense strangled the Vikings offense, including a nifty interception by Kessler, and constant pressure on the Viking QB by DE Abe Sesay and the Cougar Dline. Ippolito then drove the Cougars to two scores, including a 41 yard strike to Nick Keenan. The Cougars are looking to move to the third round of the playoffs for the third straight year.
#5 Haverford Fords @ #4 North Penn Knights
#4 North Penn (9-2, 5-2)
About the Knights: Round one saw the fourth-seeded knights take care of 13th-seeded Ridley Green Raiders 24-14. Junior Matt Pownall handled the workload by carrying the ball 27 times for 207 yards. During the regular season, the fourth-seeded Knights out of SOL-National finished 8-2. Their two losses were to conference foes CB South (14-6) and CB West (17-14) to finish third. The Knights average 29.3 points per game while yielding a respectable 12.3 points per game to opposing offenses. The Knights’ offensive attack is led by Junior quarterback Matt Bucksar, who has completed 60% of his passes for 1,277 yards. Additionally, he has 396 yards on the ground. Bucksar’s favorite targets are senior TE Aiden Eves 20-370-2 TDs, Junior Mason Franek 17-265-3 TDs, and senior Jackson Schurmann 14-270-3 TDs. Junior Matt Pownall has carried the rock 88 times for 421 yards and 1 score. He hauled in an additional 352 yards on 19 catches and 2 TDs. Senior Josiah Coleman has carried the ball 81 times for a team-high 620 yards and 7 touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, senior Christian Johns-Wallace leads all defenders with 69 total tackles. Senior Cole D’Ambrosio is second on the team with 62 tackles and junior Nate Schepian follows with 40.
#5 Haverford Fords (10-1,7-1)
About the Fords: The Fords’ remarkable turnaround from 1-9 in the 2023 season to 10-1 this season. Last week the Fords picked up their first home playoff win in school history with a 56-0 rout over the 12th seed Quakertown. The Fords tallied 413 yards total offense including 386 on the ground against Quakertown. Despite only seeing playing time in the first half last week Fords star running back Liam Taylor carried the ball 17 times for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Taylor has football blood running through his veins with his Grandfather Rick having been a legendary head coach at Springfield Delco and his cousin being Cleveland Browns Head Coach Kevin Stefanski. Taylor leads the state in rushing yards with 2486 yards which is already the school record for most rushing yards in a season. The Jr is already the career leader in rushing yards in school history. Jimmy Fusaro is a dangerous playmaker in all three aspects of the game. Last week Fusaro had an interception on the defensive side of the ball and also had a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown
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