Football playoffs are in the sights of New Hope-Solebury
New Hope-Solebury brought back football as a varsity sport in 2009, and the Lions have mostly enjoyed success as a smaller program tucked away in bucolic Bucks County.
New Hope-Solebury brought back football as a varsity sport in 2009, and the Lions have mostly enjoyed success as a smaller program tucked away in bucolic Bucks County.
Despite losing 11 seniors from a group that went 12-2 and won the PIAA District 1 Class 2A title, Jim DiTulio's squad is 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the Bicentennial Athletic League.
"Over the course of the year we have found guys to fill the void," said DiTulio, whose team of about 34 players won its first four games by a combined score of 152-44.
To fill one of two bye weeks, DiTulio scheduled a challenging nonleague contest against Germantown Academy. The Sept. 30 game against the Patriots, currently 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the Inter-Ac League, resulted in a 40-0 drubbing.
"We're striving to get to the next level in the playoffs, and the only way you do that is by going up against strong competition," DiTulio said. "I was proud of our kids because they never quit."
The Lions' catalysts in a spread/power I offense are quarterback Nick Garritano, halfbacks Jack McKenna and Jesse Capriotti and senior fullback Brendan Shadle.
The 5-foot-9, 175-pound McKenna has carried 72 times for 606 yards and seven touchdowns. "He's not real big, but he's put together well, and he works hard in the weight room," DiTulio said.
The rotation up front includes Matt Fest, Max Adar, John Mangan, Marcus Hems, Alex Young and Connor Fitzgerald. Cole McGowan, a junior, suffered a season-ending knee injury in a 35-12 win last month at Jenkintown.
Fest, a 6-3, 270-pound senior left tackle, sat out the last two games due to a sprained shoulder and is questionable for Friday night's homecoming game against George School.
A 4-3 defense is keyed by linemen Fest, Adar and Hems, linebackers Shadle, Andrew Wheelan and Alex Young, free safety McKenna, and cornerbacks Capriotti and Patrick Tangradi.
DiTulio said Hems, a 5-10, 165-pound senior, has deadlifted 415 pounds 12 times. "He creates so much havoc in the backfield," the eighth-year coach said.
New Hope-Solebury, which has already clinched the BAL title, is getting ready for the four-team District 1-12 Class 3A subregional playoffs.
In the playoff rankings, KIPP DuBois (160-point average) is first; New Hope-Solebury and Conwell-Egan (both 131.43) are tied for second; and Del-Val Charter (125) is fourth.
Neumann-Goretti idled
Catholic League athletic directors voted Wednesday to cancel the remainder of Neumann-Goretti's football campaign because of the Saints' shortage of players and injuries.
On Monday, Neumann-Goretti (0-7 overall, 0-4 Blue Division) notified Cardinal O'Hara and Conwell-Egan, its final two regular-season league foes, that it was forfeiting those games.
N-G athletic director Chalie Szydlik said the Saints were down to about 19 varsity players. He said they lost three players to injuries in each of their last two games.
"It's all about safety," Szydlik said. "Our roster is at a number where it's not feasible for us to play anymore."
Barring a change, the vote means N-G's Thanksgiving Day game against neighboring Southern (N-G leads the series, 56-20-3) will be canceled.
Scrapped
The Public League Independence Division matchup between Imhotep Charter and host Del-Val Charter, which was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Northwest Super Site, has been canceled.
"Due to previously scheduled school events, the game had to be rescheduled, and a new time could not be agreed upon by both schools," said James Lynch, the Philadelphia School District's executive director of athletics. "It will go down as a 'no contest.' "
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