Truman facing must-win to stay in SONL hunt
It’s the home stretch of the Pennsylvania high school football regular season and as such it’s a good time to take a look at where things stand in terms of the Suburban One National race and playoffs.
Heading into Friday night’s play, the lone undefeated SONL teams are Pennsbury and Abington. They are due to collide in Abington next week.
In the meantime, a heavily-favored Pennsbury team that was won four in a row after smashing Truman last Saturday night will host Council Rock South and Abington will travel to Truman.
A Truman win over Abington would result in two things. For openers, it would keep the Tigers very much in the chase for a league title. It also would result in a share of the league title for Pennsbury, providing the Falcons can either beat Abington next Friday or visiting Neshaminy in two weeks.
On the PIAA District 1 Class 6A playoff front, Pennsbury is the only local currently in the top 16 and will get in providing it can win two of its last three games.
Truman still has Abington, Pennridge and Bensalem on its schedule. Since both Pennridge (1-6) and Bensalem (2-5) are struggling, Truman could really use a win over Abington to secure its playoff status.
Finally, Neshaminy is also still in the playoff hunt. The Redskins will be heavily favored in its next two games against Bensalem and Council Rock South, and almost certainly will qualify if they can beat Pennsbury on week 10.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH (1-6) AT PENNSBURY (4-3), FRIDAY, 7 P.M. >> The Falcons are coming off an awesome first half of football in which they stunned Truman by racing out to a 42-0 lead. C.J. Kohler showed Pennsbury’s passing game is coming around by throwing for three TDs and the Falcon D shut down Truman’s potent running game. The potentially bad news for Pennsbury is Drew Hensor was still on crutches as of midweek after suffering some sort of knee injury at Truman. He is arguably the one player the Falcons can least afford to lose. In addition to being the team’s speed back, Hensor is an outstanding safety who has been intercepting pass with an impressive regularity. BENSALEM (2-5) AT NESHAMINY (3-4), FRIDAY, 7 P.M. >> The Owls have lost five in a row and are reeling, especially on defense. Neshaminy got back to its winning ways by pulling away in the second half against William Tennent last week. This appears headed to a Mercy Rule. ABINGTON (6-1) AT TRUMAN (4-3), FRIDAY, 7 P.M. >> Although the Ghosts’ 6-1 record speaks for itself, you could point out they have not exactly played a rugged schedule. Their best wins so far are over Neshaminy and Cheltenham. This game will say a lot about where the Truman program stands. Will there by a hangover from the Pennsbury game or will the Tigers come out fired up and get their potent running game once again cranked up. It won’t be easy because Abington does play pretty good defense and has the speed to limit the opposing team’s big plays.
SOUDERTON (6-1) AT COUNCIL ROCK NORTH (1-6), FRIDAY, 7 P.M. >> As if things haven’t been tough enough in John Greiner’s first-year at the Rock North helm, now the Indians must face a non-league game against a Souderton team riding high at 6-1.
JENKINTOWN (5-1) AT BRISTOL (1-5), FRIDAY, 7 P.M. >> These teams have exact opposite records and there’s little reason to think that will change this week. By the way, the best Thanksgiving Day game between Morrisville and Bristol in years appear to be in the works. Mo’ville has not beaten Bristol in 19 years, but at this point might very well be at least a slight favorite.
MORRISVILLE (4-3) AT SPRINGFIELD MONTCO (5-2), FRIDAY, 7 P.M >> In all three of its losses Morrisville was clearly overmatched and this appears to be another one of those games. Slated to join the Sub One next year, Springfield is a Class 4A team that could be headed to the playoffs. CONWELL-EGAN (2-5) AT WEST CATHOLIC (4-3), AT NORTHEAST HIGH, FRIDAY, 7 P.M. >> This isn’t one of West Catholic’s most powerful teams, but the Burrs are still pretty tough. Among its victories was one over Lansdale Catholic, which beat Conwell-Egan. A series of close setbacks appear to have hurt the Eagles, who have now lost five in a row. Last week against Bonner-Prendergast it fell behind 45-0 in the first half.