Neshaminy football faces tough trek to Pennridge

With the Neshaminy football team sure to be a solid favorite in at least the majority of its Suburban One National games, it’s the non-league portion of its schedule that stands in the way of a potentially monster regular season.

Last week the Redskins opened with a tight home win over Roman Catholic. It was closer than most expected, but in hindsight it’s often a mistake to underestimate what a Philadelphia Catholic League Red Division team brings to the table.

This week presents an even bigger challenge as Neshaminy (1-0) will make the long trip to take on Pennridge (1-0) Friday night.

The Rams might no longer play at the cozy confines of Poppy Yoder Field, but they have traditionally played Neshaminy tough. This includes victories over the Redskins in the last two years, including a 17-7 triumph at Harry Franks Stadium last season. Furthermore, one publication has Neshaminy as the No. 6 team in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Pennridge at No. 9.

While Neshaminy was rallying past Roman Catholic last week, Pennridge opened with a 49-20 destruction of Norristown.

In that game, quarterback Jagger Hardtshorn ran wild with five touchdowns and 209 yards on just 11 carries. Pennridge only put the ball in the air four times, but this could very well have been because they didn’t have to throw at all.

The Perkasie team is also solid defensively and has two linebacker in Joe Robinson and Nick Tarburton who fly to the ball.

In short, this will be one of the biggest tests for Neshaminy during the regular season. A victory would certainly help validate all the hype Neshaminy received during the pre-season.

La Salle (0-1) at Pennsbury (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

La Salle fell to North Penn, 33-24, in its opener, while Pennsbury was squeezing out a tight 10-6 victory over Frankford. A young Pennsbury team has the potential to win a lot of games, but it will be hard pressed to emerge on top tonight. La Salle is one of the heavyweights in Pennsylvania Class 6A football and will not be in a good mood after seeing its seven-game winning streak against North Penn come to an end. Its big gun is Syaire Madden, who ran for 196 yards on 33 carries last week. If Pennsbury can limit the damage and keep it close, it will be a very positive sign.

Council Rock South (0-1) at Central Bucks West (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

Although Rock South got crushed in its opener, don’t read much into that because Father Judge is easily one of the best teams it will play all season. C.B. West beat Hatboro-Horsham, but that’s not much to go on either. The Bucks do have a tough runner in T.D. Radowski and a capable receiver in Kevin O’Hanlon. If Rock South gets it ball-control offense going, it should be enough.

Strawberry Mansion (0-0) at Morrisville (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

You have to figure the Dawgs have a chance here. Strawberry Mansion barely beat Mo’ville, 20-19, last season and this is the first game for the Philadelphia team. The big challenge for the locals is stopping Basil Wilson, who ran for 770 yards last year, passed for over 300, and had five TD receptions. Although Morrisville is coming off a lopsided loss to Steelton-Highspire, the Harrisburg-area team is supposed to be good.

William Tennent (0-1) at Bensalem (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

The Owls nearly ended a 28-game losing streak last week, but were unable to hold a fourth-quarter lead against Penn Wood. Tennent obviously can play some defense. In its opener it fell to Upper Moreland, a team that was hit hard by graduation, but also won 10 games a year ago. Better go with the Panthers in the Battle of Street Road.

Upper Dublin (1-0) at Truman (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

After graduating 10 starters on both sides of the ball following last year’s outstanding 14-1 season, Upper Dublin is clearly not the same team. Still, the defending district champions did open with a 41-0 romp over Methacton and have a very good running back in Naiim Huff. Truman was drubbed at Ridley in its opener. Give the Tigers credit for playing a tough non-league schedule.

Kensington (0-1) at Bristol (0-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

Kensington of the Philadelphia Public School League lost to Samuel Fels last week, 24-0. That’s not good. Bristol is making its season debut after losing a couple of key players who transferred out, but does have a tough returning running back in Eric Bell (over 800 yards last year). Bristol won this game last season, 20-6, and should be able to emerge on top again.

Archbishop Carroll (0-1) vs. Conwell-Egan (0-0) at Wildwood, Friday, 5 p.m.

For the third straight year these PCL teams are going at in what’s informally known as the Boardwalk Brawl. It’s the season opener for C-E, while Carroll is coming off a 42-13 drubbing at the hands of Marple-Newtown. Look for Eagle quarterback Kendall Jones and running back Kyree Bronson to make it three straight wins over Carroll.

Council Rock North (0-0) at Central Bucks South (1-0), Saturday, noon

In a real oddity, Rock North did not play last week and has only nine games on its schedule. C.B. South is coming off a 13-6 win over Abington, but keep in mind Abington is rebuilding following the resignation of long-time coach “Tiny” Tim Sorber. Sam Thompson directs C.B. South’s spread offense in a game that’s really difficult to predict.

Contact Rick Fortenbaugh at rfortenbaugh@trentonian.com OR @RickFort7 on Twitter