Five games to watch in Week Two of PA high school football in Bucks County

Just like that, we're getting ready for Week Two of the 2024 Pa. high school football season in Bucks County and Eastern Montgomery County with games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the holiday weekend.

Yes, it's strange, but most PIAA teams across Pennsylvania will have two games played in the books before Labor Day and prior to many districts even opening their doors for the start of the new school year. But lucky us, we have already seen some great football moments, like Neshaminy's instant classic overtime win last Friday night.

Let's take a look at the top five games to watch for Week Two in Bucks County:

Pennsbury at Quakertown, Thursday, 7 p.m.

Two teams with high aspirations entering the season both need to bounce back after Opening Night losses .

The Falcons fell behind early against Northampton of District 11 and couldn't recover in what ended up as a 24-2 home loss. A highlight for the Falcons was the play of senior linebacker Walker Murray, who had a game-high 15 tackles and also added a sack in the end zone for a safety, giving Pennsbury its only points.

The host Panthers also slipped up in their opener, falling 31-13 to Class 4A Southern Lehigh. Quakertown was unable to contain University of Michigan commit tight end Andrew Olesh, who had 153 receiving yards.

North Penn at Council Rock South, Thursday, 7 p.m.

The Knights had one of the most impressive wins of opening week as they rallied past visiting Downingtown East 28-25.

North Penn , which was coming off a 6-5 season in 2023, took the lead for good when junior quarterback Matt Bucksar ran in from 6 yards out with just over four minutes to play to hand the Cougars, who went 11-1 a season ago and reached the PIAA District One Class 6A semifinals, the loss.

The Golden Hawks , who played their first home game in school history last week, made it a good one by upending Frankford of the Philadelphia Public League 43-20.

Junior running back Shane Myers helped lead the way for CR South as he ran for a game-high 101 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns.

Central Bucks South at Souderton, Friday, 7 p.m.

The Titans , coming off a season in which they won their first PIAA District One Class 6A title , took a little while to get going in their opener before they pulled away from Class 4A Archbishop Wood, 35-0.

The game was scoreless after a quarter, but four second-quarter touchdowns, including a pair of TD throws from senior quarterback Owen Pinkerton, enabled the Titans to roll to the shut out.

As for the Big Red , which won a school-record 11 games last season, they fell to Spring-Ford 31-13.

Junior wide receiver Elijah Hampton had a big game for Souderton as he caught nine passes for 62 yards, but the Rams were able to jump out to a 19-0 lead that was too much for the Big Red to overcome.

Senior quarterback Matt Zollers, a University of Missouri commit, threw for 255 yards and a score for Spring-Ford.

Malvern Prep vs. La Salle College High, Friday, 7 p.m. (at Ocean City)

This is the season opener for the Friars, an Inter-Academic League power , who are coming off a 9-1 campaign in 2023 that saw them only lose to undefeated (15-0) PIAA Class 5A champion Imhotep Charter.

One of their wins was a 13-7 verdict over the Explorers. In 2022, the Friars thumped La Salle High 35-0.

Malvern Prep senior Zade Johnson, a United States Air Force Academy commit, is one of the top defensive backs in the state and is coming off a season in which he had four interceptions and broke up 10 passes.

The Explorers opened their season in style last Saturday as they traveled to central PA and crunched Harrisburg High 45-7 to give new head coach Brett Gordon his first win. The Cougars had been ranked as high as No. 2 in the state in the preseason in Class 6A by some websites.

La Salle High junior quarterback Gavin Sidwar, a Rutgers University commit, threw five touchdown passes in the win and finished with 270 passing yards. Junior wide receiver Joey O'Brien caught two of those touchdowns and finished with nine catches for 152 yards.

Central Bucks West at Upper Dublin, Thursday, 7 p.m.

The Bucks , 12-1 a year ago and a PIAA District One Class 6A semifinalist, got off on the right foot with a solid 21-12 win over Easton, a perennial District 11 power coming off a subpar 3-8 season in 2023.

Central Bucks West was led by senior running back Vance Morelli, who returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and also had a 15-yard touchdown run. The Bucks attempted just five passes in the win, completing two, but piled up 247 rushing yards led by Noah Miller with 86 and Ryan Clemens with 82.

In their opener, the Flying Cardinals rallied from a 14-10 halftime deficit to knock off rival Wissahickon, 38-21.

Quarterback Kevin Etkin had a touchdown pass and completed eight of nine throws in the win.

Other games:

Friday

(all games at 7 p.m. unless noted)

Abraham Lincoln vs. Germantown Academy, noon (at Ocean City, N.J.)

Bensalem at Pennridge

Bristol at New Hope-Solebury

Top offensive players in Bucks County: Best PA offensive players in Bucks County high school football for 2024: See our ranking

Cheltenham at Central Bucks East

Conwell-Egan at Chichester

Council Rock North at Neshaminy

Harry S. Truman at Abington

Hatboro-Horsham at West Chester Henderson

Methacton at William Tennent

Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech at Morrisville

Top defensive players in Bucks County: We rank the top 25 defensive players in Bucks County for 2024 PIAA football season

Saucon Valley at Palisades

West Chester East at Upper Moreland

Archbishop Wood at Cardinal O'Hara

Saturday

Father Judge vs. Lansdale Catholic, 11 a.m. (at Ocean City, N.J.)

Drew Markol covers local sports for PhillyBurbs.com . Support our journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Five games to watch in Week Two of PA high school football in Bucks County