Times Herald area Week 7 football capsules

UPPER DUBLIN AT PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m., Plymouth Whitemarsh High School
RECORDS: Upper Dublin is 6-0, 5-0 after defeating Wissahickon, 49-0. Plymouth Whitemarsh is 5-1, 2-1 after losing to Upper Moreland, 49-35.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Upper Dublin won, 34-28.
OUTLOOK: See Sideline Insider

UPPER MORELAND AT UPPER MERION
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m., Upper Merion Middle School
RECORDS: Upper Moreland is 5-1, 2-1 after defeating Plymouth Whitemarsh, 49-35. Upper Merion is 2-4, 0-3 after losing to Cheltenham, 22-14.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Upper Moreland won, 42-6.
OUTLOOK: The Bears showed themselves to be legit with last week’s dismantling of PW, but still have a date with Upper Dublin a week from this Friday to show their true grit.
Meanwhile, the Vikings have dropped three in a row and need something positive to happen to rally the troops.
Keep an eye on Bears running back Rodney Morgan, another in a long line of Upper Moreland feature backs, who has the power and speed to take over a game.
Upper Merion overcame mistakes and turnovers to stay close at Cheltenham, but will need to play a near-perfect game to come away with a win here.

METHACTON AT POTTSGROVE
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m., Pottsgrove High School
RECORDS: Methacton is 0-6, 0-5 after losing to Boyertown, 38-13. Pottsgrove is 3-3, 3-2 after losing to Spring-Ford, 22-13.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Methacton won, 20-7.
OUTLOOK: The Warriors step into the fire once again against a Falcons team that, while not the PAC monster of seasons past, is still mighty formidable and mighty physical.
“Their physicality concerns me more than anybody in the league,” said Warriors head coach Paul Lepre.
As for a season that has seen Methacton play with as few as 25 bodies in some games this year, Lepre said he still likes the character of his team.
“My guys have been resilient,” Lepre said. “They’ve been able to put a lot of the losses behind them and are getting ready to play every week.”

BOYERTOWN AT PERKIOMEN VALLEY
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m., Perkiomen Valley High School
RECORDS: Boyertown is 3-3, 3-2 after defeating Methacton, 38-13. Perkiomen Valley is 6-0, 5-0 after defeating Pope John Paul II, 56-8.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Perkiomen Valley won, 33-7.
OUTLOOK: Will anyone but Spring-Ford be able to challenge the Vikings?
While those two seem to be on a collision course of major proportions, the Boyertowns and Owen J. Roberts of the world have shown their willingness to butt heads with those standings leaders – with sometimes surprising results.
Bears quarterback Lawrence Garnett had a big hand in the Bears’ win over Methacton last week, and he’ll have to shoulder the load again this week.
By the way, who will toss their first interception of the season first – PV’s Stephen Sturm or S-Ford’s Ricky Venuto?

SPRING-FORD AT OWEN J. ROBERTS
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m., Owen J. Roberts High School
RECORDS: Spring-Ford is 6-0, 5-0 after defeating Pottsgrove, 22-13. Owen J. Roberts is 3-3, 3-1 after defeating Upper Perkiomen, 37-6.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Spring-Ford won, 49-13.
OUTLOOK: The Rams have survived the bulk of their challenges this year, and should be favored to follow suit this week against the Wildcats.
OJR QB Mitch Bradford leads the team in rushing, passing and scoring, so he should be a target of the S-Ford defense.
That defense came up big against Pottsgrove and will have to do it again this weekend.

HATBORO-HORSHAM AT WISSAHICKON
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m., Wissahickon High School
RECORDS: Hatboro-Horsham is 3-3, 3-0 after defeating Springfield (M), 63-21. Wissahickon is 1-5, 0-3 after losing to Upper Dublin, 49-0.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Hatboro-Horsham won, 28-14.
OUTLOOK: Head coach (and former North Penn running back) Mike Kapusta has the Hatters playing great football these days, and those in the know continue to heap praise on H-H QB Casey Walsh as one of the reasons.
The Trojans are on the short end of a five-game losing skid, and need a strong showing if they’re going to turn around their season.

NORTH PENN AT BENSALEM
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m., Bensalem High School
RECORDS: North Penn is 4-2, 3-0 after defeating Souderton, 39-14. Bensalem is 0-6, 0-3 after losing to Pennsbury, 52-12.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: North Penn won, 58-13.
OUTLOOK: The Knights went airborne more than usual a week ago to stop Souderton, although that’s not likely to be necessary this week.
The Owls are struggling to stop the run, and gave up 356 rushing yards to Pennsbury a week ago.
That’s good news for the Knights, who prefer the overland route, keyed by Nyfease West and Nick Isabella.

CONWELL-EGAN AT LANSDALE CATHOLIC
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m., Hatboro-Horsham High School
RECORDS: Conwell-Egan is 4-2, 1-0 after losing to Episcopal Academy, 42-14. Lansdale Catholic is 4-2, 1-1 after defeating Bishop McDevitt, 20-6.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Lansdale Catholic won, 7-6.
OUTLOOK: The Crusaders, who got back on the winning track a week ago, try to continue the trend against an Eagles team that is enjoying a good year despite its small squad size.
QB Kendall Jones and RB Patrick Garwo are the weapons to stop for LC.

CENTRAL BUCKS EAST AT NORRISTOWN
TIME: Saturday, 3 p.m., Norristown High School
RECORDS: Central Bucks East is 4-2, 1-2 after defeating William Tennent, 28-3. Norristown is 3-3, 1-2 after defeating Council Rock North, 44-43.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Central Bucks East won, 31-14.
OUTLOOK: The Eagles dedicate their stands and pressbox before the game and acknowledge the move of the scoreboard from Roosevelt Field to Norristown High at halftime.
In between, the Eagles will try and build on last week’s incredible overtime win while doing what they can to stop the Patriots’ attack which is led by Alex Gibson (118 carries, 612 yds.) and QB Jack Lamb (453 passing yds., 338 rushing yds.)

ST. JOSEPH’S PREP AT LA SALLE
TIME: Saturday, 1 p.m., Plymouth Whitemarsh High School
RECORDS: St. Joseph’s Prep is 3-2 after defeating St. Joseph’s (N.J.), 28-5.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: St. Joseph’s Prep won twice, 35-31 and 46-13.
OUTLOOK: It’s Prep-La Salle. Who would pass this up?
Both programs have a very uncharacteristic “2” in the loss column through five games, although both have played a very rugged non-league schedule.
La Salle will have to key on All-World running back D’Andre Swift (104 carries, 663 yds., 7 TDs) while keeping QB Kevin Shaw (50-for-100, 605 yds.) under wraps.
The Prep will have the two-headed monster of Syaire Madden (104 carries, 532 yds.) and QB Chris Ferguson (37-for-70, 523 yds.)

PHOENIXVILLE AT POPE JOHN PAUL II
TIME: Saturday, 1 p.m., Pope John Paul II High School
RECORDS: Phoenixville is 1-5, 1-4 after losing to Pottstown, 20-0. Pope John Paul II is 0-6, 0-5 after losing to Perkiomen Valley, 56-8.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Phoenixville won, 24-6.
OUTLOOK: The Golden Panthers are desperate for a win, and have a decent shot this week against a Phantoms team that is probably a little better than its record indicates.
In a nifty sidelight, the Phantoms feature the worst statistical offense in the PAC, while PJP “boasts” the worst statistical defense.
Sounds like somebody should make a little hay this week.

GERMANTOWN ACADEMY AT SPRINGSIDE CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY
TIME: Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Springside Chestnut Hill Academy
RECORDS: Germantown Academy is 5-0 and was idle last week. SCHA is 4-1 and was idle last week.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Springside Chestnut Hill Academy won, 35-34.
OUTLOOK: The Inter-Academic League is pumping on all cylinders in the early going, with the six schools combining for an .833 winning percentage (25-5).
How will those programs do when league plays begins? We’re about to find out.
GA has to find a way to slow down QB Matt Rahill (53-for-114, 836 yds., 7 TD) and RB Jordan Young (74 carries, 549 yds., 5 TDs).
The Blue Devils will have their hands full trying to put the skids to GA RB KJ Cartwright (82 carries, 459 yds., 6 TDs) and QB Kyle McCloskey (47-for-104, 597 yds., 9 TDs).

ARCHBISHOP CARROLL AT ARCHBISHOP RYAN
TIME: Saturday, 7 p.m., Northeast High School
RECORDS: Archbishop Carroll is 2-4, 1-1 after defeating Cardinal O’Hara, 22-21. Archbishop Ryan is 3-3, 1-1 after defeating Bonner-Prendergast, 35-12.
LAST SEASON’S GAME: Ryan won, 42-7.
OUTLOOK: Coming off a big win over O’Hara, the Patriots travel to Northeast High for a Saturday night showdown with a Raiders team that is much more pass-oriented than those Ryan three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust teams of years ago.
Now the Ryan offense features a lot of QB Matt Romano (58-for-113, 892 yds., 10 TDs) and receiver Jeremy Smith (24 catches, 322 yds., 4 TDs).