High school football: We preview the 20 Bucks County area games kicking off Week One
Here we go — it's time to get started with Week One of the high school football season.
Or, as a former colleague used to say, it's "Christmas morning" if you love football.
Here's a preview look at every game involving Courier Times/Intelligencer schools as the season kicks off Friday night.
All of the games are non-league affairs except for Bangor at Palisades.
Friday, Aug. 25
Garnet Valley at Central Bucks West, 7 p.m.
There are plenty of intriguing matchups on the Week One schedule, but this one tops the list.
The Bucks, coming off a 9-5 mark in 2022, host the Jaguars in a rematch of the PIAA District One Class 6A championship game won by Garnet Valley 35-7.
Garnet Valley, which won its first 13 games before a 48-7 loss to eventual state-champion Saint Joseph's Prep in the PIAA semifinals, has gone 27-2 over the last two seasons with a pair of district crowns. Both of the losses came against The Prep.
And, with 15 starters back from a team that scored 30-plus points nine times and hasn't lost to a District One team since October of 2019 (a streak of 34 straight district wins), the Jaguars' No. 4 PIAA Class 6A preseason state ranking is legit.
As for West, which also lost to Garnet Valley on Opening Night last year, 14-7, it overcame a 1-3 start to win eight of the next nine games before the loss to the Jaguars in the district finale.
The Bucks, whose losses to the Jaguars both came away from home, enter the season ranked No. 8 in PIAA Class 6A and are looking for their first district championship since 2000.
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Belmont Charter at Bristol, 6 p.m.
This is a tough test right out of the gate for the Warriors.
The Tigers, a PIAA Class A program, went 8-4 a year ago and three of those wins came against Class 6A teams in George Washington, Kensington (which plays Neshaminy in Week One) and South Philadelphia.
Belmont Charter also had a nice run in the postseason before losing to eventual PIAA Class A champion Steelton-Highspire (District Three) in the opening round of the state playoffs.
Bristol, a PIAA Class 2A program, started out 4-0 last season on the way to a 9-2 mark.
The Warriors advanced all the way to the PIAA District One/Three/12 title game before losing to West Catholic.
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Archbishop Ryan vs. Archbishop Wood (at William Tennent), 7 p.m.
These long-time rivals get together again after a brief respite for a 56th time in a series the Raiders lead 28-27.
Ryan, a PIAA Class 4A program of the Philadelphia Catholic League Blue Division, went 6-5 last season and had good wins over a 7-3 Lansdale Catholic team and a seven-win George Washington team, which is a PIAA Class 6A program.
The Vikings, a PIAA Class 5A team, struggled to a 1-7 mark, last season against a brutal schedule that didn't help matters.
Wood lost its final six games of 2022 against teams that went a combined 49-21. The schedule doesn't get any easier this season, but that's life in the PCL Red Division.
Cheltenham at Abington, 7 p.m.
It's not played on Thanksgiving, like it used to be 100 times between the Ghosts and Panthers dating back to 1915, but at least these two sides, separated by less than two miles, are facing each other.
The Panthers were 6-4 a year ago and that includes a 26-8 win over the Ghosts in which then-junior running back Tre McLeod scored three rushing touchdowns.
Abington, under new head coach Terence Tolbert, an alum of the school, won just twice in 2022 and is riding a seven-game losing streak from a year ago in which it was shut out four times.
Coatesville at Pennsbury, 7 p.m.
Here's something we could have guessed: Coatesville is supposed to be pretty good at football.
The Red Raiders, one of District One's elite programs, and ranked No. 6 in the state in PIAA Class 6A, are coming off a 9-2 season that included a 28-6 win over the Falcons on Opening Night.
Pennsbury, which will now be playing on its new artificial turf surface for the first time, shrugged off the Opening Night loss a year ago and went on a nine-game winning streak that took it to the PIAA District One Class 6A tournament.
Not too shabby when you consider that just two years ago the Falcons were 0-10.
Galen Snyder returned to the sidelines as head coach last season for the second time (he also coached his alma mater from 2002-2015, winning 116 games and a pair of district titles) and the turnaround was astounding.
Council Rock North at Wissahickon, 7 p.m.
After opening last season with a 21-7 victory over the Trojans, the CR North dropped its next five games to slip to 1-5.
However, John Greiner's team rebounded nicely by going 3-1 the rest of the way including a one-point win over rival CR South.
As for Wissahickon, its struggles continued as it won just once in 2022, beating William Tennent after starting the season 0-7. The Trojans are looking for their first winning season since 2013.
Father Judge at Central Bucks South, 7 p.m.
The Crusaders are coming off a bumpy 2022 in which they started out 2-2 before losing four straight games on the way to a 4-8 mark.
As a member of the Philadelphia Catholic League's Red Division, they annually face the Saint Joseph's Prep, La Salle High, Archbishop Wood, Roman Catholic gauntlet that can take it out of a team.
The Titans also rode the roller coaster a year ago as a 3-0 start became 3-3 before a four-game winning streak propelled them into the PIAA District One Class 6A tournament, where they fell to Souderton to end up 7-4.
Harry S. Truman at Central Bucks East, 7 p.m.
New Tigers head coach Cordero Newkirk and his team get a rugged test right away in the Patriots.
Cordero, a Bensalem graduate who was the offensive coordinator at William Tennent for the last five seasons, inherits a team that went 2-8 last season and 1-5 in the Suburban One League Continental Conference.
Truman opened its 2022 season with a victory over Chichester, but ended things with a four-game losing streak.
As for the Patriots, they came out flying a year ago, winning their first five games on the way to going 8-3. That mark qualified East for the PIAA District One Class 6A playoffs where they lost in the opening round to rival CB West.
Haverford High at Souderton, 7 p.m.
The Fords started slowly in 2022, winning just once in the first four weeks before finishing strong with a three-game surge to end up 6-5.
However, they were hit hard by graduation as only five starters return from that team.
On the flip side, the Big Red have 15 starters back from a team that went 9-3 and reached the PIAA District One Class 6A quarterfinals.
A fast start, including a 27-7 win over the Fords on Opening Night, resulted in Souderton winning seven of its first eight games a season ago.
Kensington at Neshaminy 7 p.m.
Neshaminy christens its new turf field and fully refurbished "Heartbreak Ridge" complex against a Tigers team that was 6-4 in 2022.
Kensington, of the Philadelphia Public League's American Division, dropped its first two games last season before going on a 6-2 run to close things out, including two wins in their final three games over PIAA Class 6A programs.
Neshaminy, which returns 15 starters, started well a year ago, winning its first two games, but ultimately ended up 4-6, closing its season with four straight defeats all against teams that qualified for the PIAA District One Class 6A playoffs.
Morrisville at New Hope-Solebury, 7 p.m.
The Mitch Cohen era begins with the Bulldogs as he takes over as head coach after four seasons as the team's defensive coordinator.
Morrisville, which started 0-6 last season before beating Jenkintown on the way to a 1-9 mark returns a whopping 19 starters, the most of any Courier Times/Intelligencer-area team.
The Lions, who are playing an independent schedule for the second straight season in hopes of rejoining the Suburban One League American Conference next year, went 2-9 in 2022.
One of those wins came by forfeit against Renaissance Academy and the other was on the field against George School.
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La Salle at North Penn, 7 p.m.
Another good one here as the Explorers, one of the big boys of the nasty Philadelphia Catholic League Red Division, tangle with the Knights, a perennial PIAA District One Class 6A power.
La Salle, coming off a 4-5 campaign in 2022, used a second-half rally to upend the Knights 37-28 on Opening Night a year ago.
From there, though, the Explorers, who return eight starters on offense, lost their next three games and had to scramble the rest of the way.
And it doesn't get any easier after the Knights as La Salle faces powerhouse Malvern Prep, defending PIAA Class 5A champ Bishop McDevitt and then defending Inter-Academic League champ Haverford School over the next three weeks.
The Knights were 6-6 a year ago, but qualified as the 14th seed for the PIAA District One Class 6A playoffs and knocked off No. 3 Pennsbury in the opening round before losing to Central Bucks West in the quarterfinals.
It will be a quick turnaround for North Penn, too, as it hosts Quakertown on Thursday in Week Two.
Pennridge at Downingtown East, 7 p.m.
The Rams, under new head coach Kyle Beller, who is the program's third head coach in as many seasons, tangle with the Cougars for the third straight year on Opening Night.
Downingtown East won last year's meeting 30-9 and the 2021 game, 14-7.
Beller, the former Delaware Valley University team captain, had been the defensive coordinator at Whitehall in District 11 for the last four seasons, before taking over a Pennridge team that went 2-9 last season.
The Rams had a solid start to the season, going 2-2 after four games, before dropping their last seven in a row, including a Thanksgiving defeat at the hands of rival Quakertown.
Downingtown East started its 2022 campaign with seven wins in its first eight games on the way to a 9-4 season in which it reach the PIAA District One Class 6A semifinals before losing to Garnet Valley.
Quakertown at Southern Lehigh, 7 p.m.
The Panthers take on the Spartans for the third straight year on Opening Night after recording victories over them in 2022 (42-28) and 2021 (42-7).
After the win over Southern Lehigh, Quakertown dropped its next three games before rallying to finish 6-6 and earn a spot in the PIAA District One Class 6A playoffs. The Panthers closed their season with a win over rival Pennridge on Thanksgiving.
The Spartans, a PIAA Class 5A program, rattled off eight straight wins after the loss to the Panthers, finishing 9-3, and reaching the PIAA District 11 quarterfinals.
It will be a short week for Quakertown as it plays at North Penn on Thursday in Week Two.
Upper Moreland at Hatboro-Horsham, 7 p.m.
Like Abington-Cheltenham, these two played forever on Thanksgiving before that tradition went away a few years ago.
So we get this rivalry matchup on Opening Night. Last year's game went well for the Golden Bears as they cruised to a 41-0 win over the Hatters on the way to an 8-3 mark and a PIAA District One Class 5A playoff berth.
In fact, UM started the season 8-1 before ending the regular season with losses to Plymouth Whitemarsh and Great Valley, who went a combined 18-7.
The Hatters, who are playing an independent schedule for the second straight season in hopes of rejoining the SOL Continental Conference next year, went 1-7 last year with their lone win coming against Lower Moreland.
New H-H head coach Tom Butts, an H-H grad, has a rebuilding project ahead of him as he takes over a program that has gone 1-20 over the last three seasons.
William Tennent at Council Rock South, 7 p.m.
New Panthers head coach Colin Leach, a former assistant at CR South and Tennent, takes over a team that went 1-8 last year with the lone win coming over Hatboro-Horsham.
One of those losses came against the Golden Hawks on Opening Night by a 21-7 count.
Tennent, which has a 11 starters returning from 2022, dropped its last five games of last season, yielding 219 total points in those losses. The Panthers are seeking their first winning season since 2006.
The Golden Hawks, who are looking for their first winning season since 2018, started 2-2 in 2022 before dropping four of their last six games, including a 21-20 heartbreaker to rival CR North in the season finale.
Bangor at Palisades, 7 p.m.
This is always a tough Opening Night test for the Pirates since the always-strong Slaters are a PIAA Class 4A program while Palisades is Class 2A.
Last year, when Bangor went 7-4 and reached the PIAA District 11 playoffs, they beat the Pirates 27-7 on Opening Night (and 35-0 on Opening Night in 2021).
Palisades, 8-3 a year ago, got hot midway through last season and ran off six straight victories to end the regular season and secure a berth in the PIAA District 11 playoffs.
Remember, unlike the rest of the area teams, Palisades plays in the Colonial League and every game is a league game from Opening Night until the end of the 10-game regular season.
Saturday, Aug. 26
Bensalem at Lower Merion, 1 p.m.
Both these teams went 2-8 last season and are looking to end long droughts as far as a winning seasons goes.
The Owls, who dropped their last five games to end last season, scoring just 26 total points in that span, will be trying for their first winning campaign since 2004.
Take a look: High school football: How do Philadelphia Catholic teams in Bucks County area measure up?
The Aces opened 2022 with an Opening Night victory over Pottstown before losing eight of their last nine outings. A winning season would snap a five-year skid of being under .500 for Lower Merion.
Lansdale Catholic vs. School of Future (at Germantown Supersite), 7 p.m.
The Crusaders enjoyed success right away in 2022, going 5-1 in their first six games with the lone loss coming against PIAA Class 3A runner-up Neumann-Goretti.
Lansdale Catholic, a PIAA Class 3A program, finished 7-3 and just missed earning a spot in the PCL Blue Division playoffs.
The Firebirds, a PIAA Class 4A team, rebounded from an 0-2 start to finish at 6-5 despite a two-game skid to end the season.
Sunday, Aug. 27
Conwell-Egan at Holy Spirit (N.J.), 4 p.m. (at Ocean City High School)
The Eagles scratched back from a 2-3 start to go 6-5 last season and reached the Philadelphia Catholic League Blue Division playoffs.
Now, they get to go down The Shore to face a solid Spartans team that finished 9-3 last season thanks, in large part, to an 8-1 start.
Holy Spirit is a team that can put up points when you consider it averaged nearly 37 points a game in 2022.
Next Friday, in Week Two, the Eagles will play a home football game for the first time in school history and do it on their new artificial turf field. They'll host Kensington, which opens against Neshaminy, at 4 p.m.
Check it out: High school football: Souderton stands tall in SOL Continental with experience in trenches
Drew Markol: dmarkol@theintell.com; @dmarkol
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: High school football: Check out the previews of 20 Week One games
