It's almost time. Heat acclimatization for most Pennsylvania high school football teams in the Bucks County area begins Monday, Aug. 5, with scrimmages Aug. 16 or 17 and the first PIAA games scheduled for Friday, Aug. 23.
Here are 25 questions with the start of the season 32 days away. The answers to these questions will be revealed in the next five months.
But we're not waiting. The Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer sports staff is working on the fall sports season now and today we start our preseason coverage. Each week leading up to the season, look for our player position rankings and our overall rankings for 2024-25 high school football. We'll have team previews, videos, galleries and our ever-popular polls leading up to our first Friday night football game day.
Let's get into it. Or as we like to say, Game On.
1. Who will be this year's surprise team in the District One 6A playoffs?
A year ago, fifth-seeded Central Bucks South defeated No. 6 Downingtown West in the District One championship game. In 2022, four-loss Central Bucks West was seeded 11th in the 16-team field and reached the district final. Coatesville (No. 7, 2019) also made the title game.
2. Will more than three Bucks County area teams win 6A district playoff games?
Eventual champion CB South, CB West and Souderton won at least once in the 2023 playoffs.
3. Can an SOL school repeat as district 6A champ?
Central Bucks South became the first Suburban One League team to win 6A districts in a full season last fall since North Penn in 2016. Souderton prevailed in the abbreviated '20 tournament caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other than Souderton winning districts by defeating Pennridge during the shortened 2020 season, the last SOL team to capture the 6A crown was North Penn in 2016.
North Penn (2010-11) is the last school to repeat as champ back when there were only four classifications. The SOL's Upper Dublin (2015), Pennsbury (’14) and Neshaminy (2013) also earned 4A crowns.
4. Can a team repeat as SOL National or Continental champion?
No team has repeated as the SOL National or Continental champion since the league switched to the current alignment of schools.
Central Bucks West (2023), Pennsbury ('22), North Penn (2021) and Pennridge ('20) won the SOL National while Souderton (2023), Upper Dublin ('22), Quakertown (2021) and Souderton ('20) secured SOL Continental titles. Souderton became the first school in either division to win a second title during that span.
Plymouth Whitemarsh won SOL American championship during each of the past three seasons after Upper Moreland captured the conference title in 2020.
5. How many all-state selections will come from Courier Times/Intell area?
In 2023, there were three Courier Times/Intell all-state picks for the second year in a row. Senior tight end Jack Donnelly (Penn) from Central Bucks East was a repeat selection, with Central Bucks South senior running back Anthony Leonardi (West Chester) and CB East junior offensive lineman Mike Carroll (an Alabama commit) also making the Class 6A squad.
6. How will the enrollment changes affect the district playoffs?
Plymouth Whitemarsh moving up from 5A to 6A is significant, as is 2022 6A champ Garnet Valley dropping to 5A. Wissahickon and Cheltenham, who qualified for the 6A tournament as the No. 15 and 16 seeds in '23, are also switching to 5A. The changes are in place for the 2024 and '25 football seasons.
Top 25 returning offensive players:In Bucks County area high school football
7. Who did the new enrollment figures not benefit?
William Tennent and Council Rock North have the lowest enrollments among the 30 Class 6A football schools. Tennent's 626 boys in grades 9-11 is nine fewer than CR North (635). North Penn (1,711 boys in grades 9-11) and Upper Darby (1,689) have the highest enrollments in District One.
8. Who wins the Central Bucks Cup this year?
The CB Cup, awarded to the top Central Bucks school in head-to-head football meetings, went to CB West (2-0) in 2023 and 2019-21 while all three went 1-1 in 2022. CB East last won it in 2018 and CB South in '17.
9. Who will open the season as No. 1 team in our big- and small-school rankings?
A year ago, it was Central Bucks West (big school) and Conwell-Egan (small school).
10. How many Bucks County running backs will rank in the state top 15 for rushing?
In 2023, Bristol's Kendell Cottrell (ninth, 2,085), CB South's Leonardi (12th, 2,006) and Morrisville's Raymond Holman (13th, 1,954 yards) ranked in the state's top 15 for rushing yards. Cottrell and Leonardi are at West Chester, while Holman is a senior this year.
11. What numbers can Holman put up this fall at Morrisville?
Holman already owns the school single-season rushing record (1,954 yards) and surpassed Juan Jones' 249 yards in 1997 for the Morrisville single-game record with 268 yards in the '23 District One Class A championship game victory over Jenkintown.
Top 25 returning defensive players:In Bucks County are high school football
12. How will Hatboro-Horsham fare in the SOL American?
After two years as an independent, the Hatters will play in the American Conference in 2024. Hatboro-Horsham qualified for the 5A district playoffs last fall with a 5-5 regular season record in Tom Butts' first season as head coach after going 1-7 in 2022. Rival Upper Moreland also qualified for 5A districts a year ago with a 4-6 mark.
13. How will Brandon Garrett's first year as head coach go at CR North?
A former CR North assistant who played at Pennsbury, Garrett guided New Hope-Solebury to a 4-6 record and the District One 2A title game in his second season with the Lions last fall, which was two years after the Lions had to forfeit a game due to low numbers. CR North went 2-8 overall (2-4 SOL Continental) in 2023.
14. How many games can La Salle win this fall?
The Explorers have a solid roster in former star quarterback Brett Gordon's first year as head coach. La Salle's best season in the past eight years was 2021 (9-2).
15. What about the rest of our Philadelphia Catholic League teams?
Conwell-Egan (6-5, 4-3 PCL Blue) and Lansdale Catholic (5-5, 3-4 PCL) had good '23 seasons, with La Salle (6-5, 2-2 PCL Red) and Archbishop Wood (1-8, 0-4 PCL) competing in the PCL Red Division.
16. Can anybody in Pennsylvania beat St. Joseph's Prep?
The loaded Philadelphia Catholic League powerhouse secured its fifth 6A state title in six years last season, outscoring opponents 148-44 in its four PIAA state playoff victories.
17. How does Central Bucks South follow up its superb 2023 season?
After winning the school's first district football title behind a stellar senior class, Tom Hetrick and the Titans have a tough act to follow.
18. How will Mike Carroll's departure impact Central Bucks East?
Mike Carroll, a five-star offensive lineman who verbally committed to Alabama on June 10, and younger brother Liam are transferring to IMG Academy in Florida. The elder Carroll is a physical 6-foot-6, 310-pounder capable of dominating at the line of scrimmage.
19. Who will be the best football team in Lower Bucks County?
Pennsbury might've been the answer in a balanced 2023 campaign. The Falcons went 5-5 in the regular season, defeating Council Rock South and Neshaminy along the way, and qualified for the district 6A playoffs. CR South was 7-4 (4-2 SOL Continental) and Neshaminy 4-6. Bristol (8-4) won the district AA title by edging New Hope-Solebury 7-6 before falling to District 12 champion West Catholic.
20. What should we expect from Pennsbury?
Pennsbury has been a consistent winner under Galen Snyder, who is in his second stint as head coach (2002-15, 2021-present). The Falcons' 5-6 final record last fall, which included three one-score losses and a district playoff appearance, marked only the second losing season in Snyder's 16 as Pennsbury head coach (the other was 2007, when the Falcons went 4-6).
21. What about the Neshaminy football team?
Neshaminy is aiming for its first winning season since going 5-1 in the abbreviated 2020 campaign. It went 4-6 a year ago (3-4 SOL National) with a pair of one-score conference defeats.
22. What about Bensalem football?
The Owls were 2-8 in 2023, but showed their physical offensive line and sophomore skill-position players Aidan Mayfield, Hollis Sanders and Thomas Bailey in a 52-20 SOL Continental win over Hatboro-Horsham.
23. How will William Tennent, Pennridge and Morrisville fare in coaches' second seasons?
The Panthers went 3-7 (1-4 SOL American) in Colin Leach's first year at Tennent after a 1-9 record in 2022, while the Rams were 3-8 (2-5 SOL National) in Kyle Beller's initial campaign at Pennridge following a 2-9 mark in '22. The Bulldogs ended up 6-7 and won the district 1A title in Mitch Cohen's first season at Morrisville after a 1-9 record.
24. How will Souderton follow up its record-breaking 2023 football season?
Ed Gallagher's '23 team set a high bar. The Big Red established a school record with 11 wins and won the SOL Continental Conference a year ago before losing to Downingtown West in the district 6A quarterfinals.
25. What can record-setting Germantown Academy duo do with new head coach Kyle Donahue?
Patriots receiver AJ Towsen and quarterback Xavier Stearn enjoyed record-setting 2023 seasons. Towsen established single-season school records for receptions (70), receiving yards (984) and receiving touchdowns (11) as a junior. Stearn set records for single-season completions (188) and completion percentage (62) as a sophomore.
Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist forPhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
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