South Preps for Another League Title Run

Council Rock South’s 2010 football season was, in a word, historic.

The question now, though, is what the Golden Hawks can do for an encore. They will have to replace some important pieces, for sure, but there is no reason at least the same amount of success of last year’s 11-2 campaign can’t be achieved.

“We look good,” said P.J. Gallo, the Hawks' tight end/defensive end. “We’re coming out of here better and better each week.”

Now after nearly two full weeks of practice and a scrimmage under their belts, the Hawks are putting the pieces together for the season opener against pass-oriented Central Bucks South Sept. 2. They have already scrimmaged Spring Ford and Malvern Prep. CB South is up next.

One key for South prior to that is the continued development of Brian Donnelly, who is switching from his running back spot to replace the outstanding, but now graduated, Billy Flemming at quarterback. He has big shoes to fill, as Fleming’s multi-threat with both his arms and legs helped propel the Hawks the past few seasons. Included in his achievements was a game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter to lift his team past Souderton, 24-17, in the opening round of the District I Class AAAA playoffs in November.

Using an option-style attack piloted by Flemming and perfectly balanced with a mix of power and speed running backs, the Hawks nearly dominated their way through the Suburban One League (SOL) National Conference last year.

Other than a 45-35 shootout loss to Abington, South was perfect in the regular season. Included in that was an 8-0 start, a streak of four straight shutouts and five overall thanks to a dominant defense with Gallo and fellow two-way players Ryan Whitely and Mark Dimirgian. They also had big league wins over Neshaminy and Pennsbury and wound up splitting the SOL National title with Abington and Neshaminy since each was 1-1 against each other.

After knocking off Souderton, the Hawks got into another scoring fest but wound up besting Central Bucks West, 52-41. That proved to be as far as they got, though, as state power North Penn was too strong in the semifinals. The Knights scored the only two touchdowns of the first half, and despite a strong effort, the Hawks couldn’t recover and ultimately fell 28-14.

“It was tough and it left sour tastes in our mouth,” Gallo said.

That said, more than enough talent has returned to be right back in contention. While Dimirgian, who had 231 yards in the CB West playoff win, has graduated, Whitely is back at fullback. He and Donnelly will be the center pieces of the ground attack. It will also help to have Gallo, who has committed to play football at the University of Maryland next fall, on the field as a receiving threat.

Several defensive players, including defensive backs Ryan Hickey and Cory Wilkenson, are also returning.

While the schedule is not easy, it does pit some of the more manageable games toward the beginning. October, though, features Pennsbury, Bensalem, Neshaminy, William Tennent and Abington before the annual season final against Council Rock North Nov. 4.

But looking ahead, at least for Gallo, is certainly not the answer.

“Right now, we’re focused on coming out tomorrow morning and doing better,” he said.