AMBLER — Ethan McCune knows his days on a football field are numbered.

With no plans to play at the next level, the Unionville senior entered the District 1 Class 5A playoffs looking to extend those days as long as possible.

The Longhorns defense was on its heels Friday night against Wissahickon, hoping to hold off a Trojans comeback drive when McCune sprung out of the fog to pick off a pass and earn himself and his classmates at least one more game.

The interception sealed No. 11 Unionville’s  21-14 comeback win over No. 6 Wissahickon in Friday night’s District 1 Class 5A first round game, a rematch of last year’s district opener that the Longhorns also won.

Unionville will face No. 3 Great Valley, a 42-35 winner over West Chester Rustin, next Friday in the quarterfinals.

“I didn’t want to go home because I’m a senior and this could have been my last game,” McCune said. “ I’m so hype we get another round. With this team, this is the best group ever. This is the best group we’ve had in the past four years.”

Wissahickon (8-3) took control early when it marched 65 yards in seven plays on its opening drive. Senior running back Quasir Sampson (15 rushes, 107 yards) did most of the heavy lifting before senior Ryan Kim scored an eight-yard touchdown with 8:30 left in the first to make it 7-0 Trojans.

The Longhorns (8-3) went three-and-out on their opening drive before answering back on their second drive. Unionville capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive when junior Darren Hovington punched in a one-yard score with 11:11 left in the second quarter. He finished with 32 rushes for 180 yards.

“Our physicality is unmatched,” McCune said. “When we want to run the ball, we run the ball, and we get it down their throat.”

Wissahickon marched right down to answer Hovington’s score with an eight-play 65-yard drive. This time junior Evan Dixon ran in a seven-yard touchdown to make it 14-7 with 8:04 left in the second.

A fumble and a missed field goal prevented Unionville from cutting into the deficit before halftime, but 11 combined runs from Hovington and junior quarterback Chase Johnson took the Longhorns 80 yards on the opening drive of the second half. Johnson punched in a one-yard keeper to cap the nearly eight-minute drive and tie the score 14-14 with 6:11 left in the third.

“We were just shooting ourselves in the foot the whole game, so as soon as we started locking in, getting a rhythm going, started playing our brand of football, we were pretty good,” Johnson said.

Unionville’s defense slowed down Wissahickon’s rushing attack in the second half, holding the Trojans to 46 yards on the ground after the break compared to 114 in the first half — in part because the Longhorns did such a good job of controlling the ball themselves.

The game still stood deadlocked when Unionville got the ball on its own 42-yard line with just under seven minutes to play. The Longhorns again went to the ground attack to push the ball down the field, though a 13-yard, third-down completion from Johnson to senior Dean Stang was a big play on the drive.

Then with 1:11 left on Wissahickon’s seven-yard line, Johnson made another key third-down toss, throwing the go-ahead touchdown to Liam Guidotti.

“When you’ve got a running back that good, they tend to look for the run, and that opens up the passing game as well,” Johnson said.

“I saw pre-snap I was looking there and the flag at the back of the end zone, but my guy’s gotta make the catch and get in the end zone.”

Dixon and the Trojans pushed the ball down the field quickly as they tried to even the score. A toss to Kim and three to senior Avery Godoy got Wissahickon down to the Unionville 24-yard line with 37.7 seconds left.

That’s when McCune found a way to make a play, jumping a slant route to secure a pick before going down and eventually making his way to the Longhorns sideline for a celebration. He said it was similar to an interception he made in last year’s district playoff win over the Trojans, though this one came at a much bigger moment.

“Same thing last year I got a pick off that as well,” McCune said. “When I saw him hit the slant, I jumped the ball and I got it.”

Unionville lost heartbreaker, 21-20, to Strath Haven in last year’s second round after taking down Wissahickon. The Longhorns opened their season this year with another one, a 35-28 overtime loss to their next opponent Great Valley.

They’ll hope to ride the momentum of Friday’s second half into a revenge win over the Patriots that gives McCune and his fellow teammates even more football.

“Keep working, keep doing the same thing we’re doing, our brand of football,” Johnson said. “Stop shooting ourselves in the foot and we’ll be good.”

“I’m not playing anywhere next year, so I’m definitely savoring this one,” McCune said.

Unionville 0 7 7 7-21
Wissahickon 7 7 0 0-14

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
W:Ryan Kim 8 run (Ben Hinchcliffe kick), 8:30

Second Quarter
U:Darren Hovington 1-yard TD run (Ethan McCune kick), 11:11
W: Evan Dixon 7-yard TD run (Ben Hinchcliffe kick), 8:04

Third Quarter
U: Chase Johnson 1-yard TD run (Ethan McCune kick), 6:11

Fourth Quarter
U: Liam Guidotti 7 pass from Chase Johnson (Ethan McCune kick), 1:11

Team Statistics
……………………U………………..W
1st downs………..23…………………16
rush-yds……….49-239……………28-160
comp-att-int….5-12-0…………..10-17-1
pass yds……….62………………92
total yds…………301……………….252
fumb-lost……..2-1………………0-0
pen-yds…………2-15…………..8-59

Individual Statistics
Rushing:
Unionville: 32-180, TD; 12-52, TD; Ethan McCune 4-7.
Wissahickon: Quasir Sampson 15-107; Christian Norcum 2-16; Ryan Kim 3-16, TD; Evan Dixon 8-21, TD.

Passing:
Unionville: Chase Johnson 5-12, 62 yards, TD.
Wissahickon: Evan Dixon 10-17, 92 yards, INT.

Receiving:
Unionville: Liam Guidotti 2-27, TD; Dean Stang 1-13; Brady Nelson 1-12; Ethan McCune 1-10.
Wissahickon: Avery Godoy 4-33; Ryan Kim 3-30; Quasir Sampson 1-21; Brody Micenec 1-8; La’Rod Potter 1-0.

Interceptions: Unionville: Ethan McCune.

Sacks:
Unionville: Nick Rassias, Ryan Quinland
Wissahickon: La’Rod Potter.

Springfield’s Zion Culbreth

SPRINGFIELD, PA — Zion Culbreth is built like a human speed bump. The Springfield (Delco) stubby 5-foot-8, 250-pound three-year starting defensive tackle has arms the size of most people’s legs. He can bench press an astounding 450 pounds.

He does the kind of selfless, nasty job few like to do on a football field. It comes with no bravado, hardly any stats, and unless you have a trained football eye, he is barely noticeable, until you notice the moving pile, which often finds Culbreth underneath.

He’s “Captain Congestion.” His job is to disrupt and makes obstacle piles on the field.

Springfield has one of the best defenses in the state—possibly the country. The Cougars have not been scored on since September 3—over two months ago. Springfield has pitched a school-record eight-straight shutouts, that spans 34-straight quarters after the Cougars’ 35-0 victory over Kennett in the opening round of the PIAA District 1 Class 5A playoffs on Friday night.

Springfield is 10-0, while No. 15 seed Kennett fell to 5-6.

The defending District 1 5A champion Cougars will now host No, 7 seed Upper Perkiomen next week.

A big reason why Springfield is in this position is the play of Culbreth, who often takes on two or three blockers to free up the linebackers and defensive backs behind him to make tackles.

It is a thankless job, but Culbreth has done it now for three years. He was so eager to get started playing football at Springfield that he urged Cougars’ head coach Chris Britton if he could start working out with the team when he moved up from eighth grade.

“Zion is not in any of the papers, no highlight films, he plays the kind of role where the only people who love you is your mom, and us, all of us,” Britton said. “When we play him in our shade-odd look, he takes on double teams every play. Thank God he can bench a house. Zion is a rock in water, you’re going to have to detour, because he is not going to move. He keeps our linebackers protected, they love him.

“But that is our deal, we have a lot of players on this team that are ‘wes’ not ‘Is.’ Zion is a ‘we guy.’ No one on this team has 100 tackles, they do their jobs. Zion does the nasty work and he been doing it on both sides for three years. Any college would love to have Zion. For me, he makes my life easier. It all starts from him and what he does in the middle of the field. Zion is usually the strongest kid on the field, and he works at it. He came here the summer of eighth wanting to lift early with the team.”

Britton does not bring up the shutout streak at all. In fact, Britton makes the point that he would not have had his second and third team defense on the field—as he has done in the majority of the games this season—if the Cougars were that self-conscious about keeping the shutout streak alive.

Culbreth himself could care less. His only priority is to repeat as district champions. He is the starting right tackle on offense and starting defensive tackle, and nose tackle on defense.

What he does is demanding.

“I’ll put ice bags on my legs for about 30, 40 minutes after a game, because I’m running into someone every game, stuffing the run, trying to control each gap and trying to make sure teams bounce things outside for the linebackers,” Culbreth said. “Stats do not mean anything. Winning does. Everyone on this team sacrifices something. It’s why we won (the district championship last year). I wanted to work on my speed in the offseason, and technique, and make sure I knew every play on offense.”

Springfield was a state semifinalists last season. The Cougars lost to eventual state champion Roman Catholic.

“The attitude coming into this season was to make sure our focus was on the next game in front of us,” Culbreth said.

Springfield linebacker TJ Valletti, who scored twice, is certainly appreciative of Culbreth.

Culbreth makes his life easier.

“Zion definitely does, he takes on two or three blocks every time, and makes those big plays, like he did tonight for a fourth-down tackle for loss, and teams see that,” Valletti said. “People see his height and on film you see what he does, which is huge. He is really good at his job. He’s 100-percent one of the unsung heroes on this team.”

The Cougars made it look easy Friday night. They scored on their first five possessions, as 14 different players touched the ball.

Scoring Summary

Kennett (5-6) 0 0 0 0-0
Springfield (Delco) (10-0) 14 14 7 0-35

1st Quarter

Spr. – TJ Valletti 13 run (Zarel Suarez kick), 6:19

Spr. – Valletti 5 run (Suarez kick), 2:04

2nd Quarter

Spr. – John Hopkins 16 run (Suarez kick), 6:47

Spr. – Mason Becker 20 pass from Hopkins (Suarez kick), :17

3rd Quarter

Spr. – Jackson Sheffield 12 run (Suarez kick), 7:29

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.

Wil Rittenhouse caught three touchdown passes Friday night in Perkasie as #14 North Penn defeated #3 Pennridge (9-2) 38-21 in the opening round of District One 6A playoffs. Knight quarterback London Evans completed 9 of 12 passes for 250 yards.

North Penn “had their two linemen back and they played really physically,” commended Pennridge coach Kyle Beller. “I thought they did a really nice job controlling the game there and credit to them. And we had trouble on the deep ball.”

North Penn drove to the Ram-12 on the opening series but Marquan Walker forced a fumble that the Knights recovered for a four-yard loss. North Penn had to settle for a 33-yard field goal.

After Pennridge punted came one of the wildest sequences of the year. Evans threw a 54-yard bomb to Duke Horgan, who was tackled at the Ram one. Jamison Dulin stuffed Sal Colella for a two-yard loss, but Colella’s halfback option pass to Rittenhouse extended the lead to 10-0.

Michael Ferguson then returned the kickoff 93 yards to put Pennridge on the board 10-7. On the ensuing kickoff, Chuck Long recovered a North Penn fumble and the Rams were in business at the Knight-25. North Penn ultimately blocked Austin Keller’s 51-yard field goal attempt.

The Knights entered halftime up 17-7 after Rittenhouse caught an eight-yard touchdown late in the second quarter.

A previously sluggish Ram offense came alive in their opening second half drive, moving to the North Penn-20 before turning it over on downs. Evans hit Horgan on a 62-yard bomb to extend North Penn’s lead to 24-7.

Pennridge countered, moving 70 yards on seven plays and ending with Trevor Picciotti’s 19-yard touchdown run with 48 seconds left in the third quarter. The failed conversion made the score 24-13.

“We came out with a couple of new formations and went back to playing our style of football,” Beller commented. “We moved the ball well and got some scores there. We just couldn’t get a stop.”

Rittenhouse responded with a 42-yard touchdown catch, but with 4:03 remaining, the Rams sliced the lead to 10. Aiden Tetkowski connected with Bradley Dornon on a 15-yard touchdown to end a drive where Picciotti had two touches for 39 yards. Colby O’Connor’s conversion made it 31-21.

The Rams nearly recovered the onside kick, but Colella’s 52-yard insurance touchdown with 2:11 left sealed the game.

Pennridge went to Lansdale on week seven and came home with a 20-8 win. The Rams held the Knights to 218 total yards and forced three turnovers, with Walker’s pick-six being the most impactful.

Picciotti had 138 yards on 17 touches against the Knights. In week 10 against CB South, Picciotti went over 1,000 yards rushing while Tetkowski exceeded 1,000 yards passing.

North Penn faces Saturday evening’s winner of #11 Council Rock South at #6 Downingtown West.

Pennridge, the SOL National co-champs, still can get a double digit win season. They play Quakertown for the 97th time on Thanksgiving morning.

“We want to play to the standard of physical football. We had a couple of hiccups at the end of the season,” Beller said. “But that doesn’t take away from the season and what these guys did. We just have to re-group and go from here.”

Defensive Lineman Abraham Sesay Honored as a 2027 Navy All-American as Part of Navy All-American Bowl’s Road to the Dome Tour

NBC and Peacock to Present Live Coverage of 2027 Navy All-American Bowl on Saturday, January 9, 2027, at 1 p.m. ET from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas

STAMFORD, Conn. – November 2, 2026 – Defensive lineman Abraham Sesay (Exton, Pennsylvania/ Downingtown East High School) was officially honored as a 2027 Navy All-American by America’s Navy and NBC Sports representatives during a live jersey presentation as part of the Road to the Dome tour.

Sesay will play in the annual East vs. West matchup inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 9, 2027, live on NBC and Peacock, which marks the twenty-seventh anniversary of the event.

The nationwide Road to the Dome tour will honor 100 Navy All-Americans with live and virtual jersey presentations. The series will be released weekly through social platforms across NBC Sports.

Sesay was selected by the Navy All-American Bowl Selection Committee, comprised of the All-American Bowl, Andrew Ivins (247Sports), Brandon Huffman (Rivals), and NXGN. Navy All-Americans are eligible for the Navy All-American Bowl Player of the Year Award, Anthony Muñoz Lineman of the Year Award, Navy All-American Bowl Defensive Player of the Year Award, Navy All-American Bowl Man of the Year, and Navy All-American Bowl Game MVP Award.

About the All-American Bowl

As an NBC Sports-owned property, the All-American Bowl is part of a marquee lineup of elite events that includes the Olympics and Paralympics, the NBA, WNBA, Major League Baseball, Notre Dame Football, the Premier League, and primetime’s #1 show for an unprecedented 15 consecutive years: Sunday Night Football. The All-American Bowl is annually the most-watched, most-talked about, and most-prestigious high school all-star event with more than four million unique television viewers and more than 25,000 fans in attendance. The history and tradition of the All-American Bowl is unparalleled, as it features: 665 draft picks; 110 Super Bowl champions; 300 Pro Bowl selections; and 18 Heisman finalists. For more information, visit nbcsports.com/college-football/navy-all americanbowl or follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram (@AABonNBC).

The win gave Upper Moreland the outright Suburban One American title, the school’s first solo championship since 2006.

“I think they’re a great group,” said Upper Moreland coach Adam Beach. “They did it the right way and I am just happy and so proud.”

Next up for Upper Moreland (9-1, 5-0 in conference) will be a District One Class 5A playoff game next weekend (opponent, date, site, and time TBD).

Upper Moreland took an old-school route to Friday’s win. Put the ball in the hands of your veterans and let them go to work. Kyle Moore ran for one touchdown and caught a pass for another. Santino Rodriguez ran for 97 yards and a touchdown. David Adamski threw for three scores.

The win came against Upper Moreland’s longtime rival; the Golden Bears and the Hatters have faced off for nearly a century and while the two schools no longer pack the stands on Thanksgiving morning, there was an extra helping of intensity in the air.
Upper Moreland gained the advantage near the midway point of the first quarter Hatters (3-7, 2-3 in conference) failed to convert on fourth and-two from their own 47-yard line. Joe Biermaas was stopped for a two-yard loss, and the Golden Bears took advantage of the short field. Adamski found. Donnie Dinkins on a 33-yard connection to give his team the lead.

The Hatters answered however with an 80-yard drive that concluded with Brendan Heaphy finding Biermaas on a seven-yard connection with 9:20 left in the first half.

But the hosts would not score again. Upper Moreland took the lead back on a two-yard effort from Moore to cap a 54-yard march and from that point on the Golden Bears had all engines running.

Beach praised the maturity of the veterans on his roster.

“I can’t say enough good things about them,” he said. “I can’t remember a group I’ve had that’s been this strong of a group.”
Hatboro-Horsham coach Tom Butts cited the intensity his players brought with them and the intensity of the rivalry itself.

“When we play them it’s kids that have grown up playing each other in the backyard their whole lives,” he said. “Records don’t really matter at that point. And honestly, I think our kids are that way every game.

“They bring it every game, they fought hard in every game, they never quit.

“Obviously, in this game there’s a little more juice to it, I think. But that’s our kids, that’s what they do.”

Sidelines: The Golden Bears and the Hatters first played each other in 1928. Beginning in 1935 and continuing well into the 21st century, they maintained the oldest continuous Thanksgiving Day rivalry in Montgomery County until Turkey Day games went out of fashion.

Upper Moreland 7 7 14 14—42
Hatboro-Horsham 0 7 0 0—7
Scoring
UM – Dinkins 9 pass from Adamski (Rohn kick)
HH-Biermaas 7 pass from Heaphy (Heaphy kick)
UM-Moore 18 run (Rohn kick)
UM-Rodriguez 16 run (Rohn kick)
UM-Moore 28 pass from Adamski (Rohm kick)
UM-Holcombe 31 pass from Adamski (Rohn kick)
UM-Murray 43 run (Rohn kick)

Upper Moreland Hatboro-Horsham
First downs 19
Yards rushing 272 57
Passing; att.-comp-int 9-15-0 7-13-0
Passing yards 130 92
Total offense 402 149
Fumbles/Lost 0-0 2-0
Punts 1-23.0 5-33.6
Penalties 5-40 2-20

Upper Moreland
Rushing: Rodriguez 14-97 TD; Moore 10-74, TD; Murray 1-43, TD; Adamki 4-40 Dinkins 2-23; Holcombe 1- (-5)
Passing: Adamski 9-15-0, 130 yards, 3TDs
Receiving: Moore 4-40, TD; Rodriguez 2-38; Holcombe 1-33, TD; Underwood 1-12; Dinkins 1-8, TD

Hatboro-Horsham
Rushing: Heaphy 10-49; Gartland 6-19; Biermaas 8-13; Clark 1- (-2); Edwards 1- (-2); Staub 2- (-11); Center pass 1- (-9)
Passing: Heaphy 7-12-0, 92 yards, TD; Staub 0-1-0
Receiving: Edwards 3-63; Biermaas 2-10, TD; Boehm 1-12, White 1-7

Gavin Graham is not known as a receiver. The Army-bound running back has just six catches all year.

But playmakers make plays.

Graham snagged Trent Haviland’s pass and barreled through to score with 23 seconds left Friday night against previously unbeaten Pennridge, giving his CB South Titans a 19-14 lead they would not relinquish. Javin Kube caught the two-point conversion for the final 21-14 score.

The win also created a three-way tie between Pennridge (9-1, 6-1 National), South and CB West for the SOL National title.

“It all comes down to our O line. They really helped push the defense to create the big running lanes,” praised Titan running back Colin White, who led South with 76 yards on 18 carries. “Our coaches drew up some great schemes tonight. We trusted the schemes, I hit the holes and ran where I needed to run.”

CB South started 0-3- albeit to teams with a 20-6 combined record entering Friday. Since then, the Titans have won six of seven on the backs of an excellent defense. South (6-4, 6-1 National) allowed no more than 14 points in those six wins and held five of their last seven opponents to under 200 total yards.

“All the practice we do. All of the formations and plays: we run them over and over again,” credited junior defensive end Jacob Friedman, who unofficially contributed to five tackles for loss or no gain.

“Practice stinks honestly,” he smiled, “but clearly it works out!”

A late first quarter muffed punt snap gave the Rams the ball at the Titan-35. But Pennridge went backwards thanks to a third down sack from Friedman and Jameson McCuen, followed by a fourth down Graham pass deflection.

“We try not to let the last play affect us,” Friedman said.

Set up by 35-yard bomb to Andrew Rizzo, Graham punched it into the end zone from the three. “Coach is setting up those play action plays,” White said. “You pound the run to set up the pass.”

Pennridge’s last drive of the first half was eventful. Trevor Picciotti went over a thousand yards for the year on a 44-yard burst. Aiden Tetkowski’s first completion of the night was a fourth down aerial that bounced off of Dornon Bradley and landed into the arms of Nate Derstine.

South killed the drive when Friedman hurried a fourth down pass that Sean Bulicki broke up.

“We knew they had other plays and we planned for them to start running other stuff,” Friedman shared. “We made a couple of adjustments. But the big thing was keeping the energy high and going 1-0 every play.

“The D Line works together amazingly. The secondary works together amazingly. Everyone comes together, works together and it makes us win games,” he concluded.

Jaylen Waldspurger’s interception gave Pennridge the ball at the Titan-35. Derstine converted a fourth down and Picciotti scored from the two four plays later to knot the game at 7 late in the third quarter.

Graham returned the kickoff to the Titan-45 and then punched it in nine plays later with a four-yard touchdown. The missed PAT made it 13-7 South.

Pennridge regained the lead, 14-13, on Derstine’s 25-yard touchdown catch with 3:09 remaining. South coolly countered with a 13-play drive, ending in Graham’s touchdown reception.

Graham had 17 touches for 85 yards. Haviland completed 7 of 11 passes for 83 yards.

“In short yardage situations, Gavin is definitely there to get us those yards. When he needs a breather, I can do the same thing. We compliment each other even when we’re both on the field,” White noted. “We both can go out for a pass.”

Picciotti led Pennridge with 110 yards on 18 carries. Tetkowski threw for 114 yards on 19 attempts.

South was the first team to score as many as a dozen points against the Rams, who also got strong special teams play. Austin Keller had two touchbacks and averaged over 40 yards per punt.

Post-season brackets will be formalized on Sunday. Pennridge will likely potentially host two games, while South almost certainly earned themselves a first round home game with the win.

NBC and Peacock to Present Live Coverage of 2027 Navy All-American Bowl on Saturday, January 9, 2027, at 1 p.m. ET from
the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas

STAMFORD, Conn. – October 28, 2026 – The Navy All-American Bowl Road to the Dome tour will visit Downingtown East High
School in Exton, Pennsylvania, on October 30th to recognize Abraham Sesay as a 2027 Navy All-American. Downingtown East High School will honor Sesay before classmates, teammates, family, and friends during a school-wide pep rally.

Sesay will play in the annual East vs. West matchup inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 9, 2027, live on NBC and Peacock, which marks the twenty-seventh anniversary of the event.

The nationwide Road to the Dome tour will honor 100 All-Americans with live and virtual jersey presentations. The series will be released weekly through social platforms across NBC Sports.

Road to the Dome Event Details:

What: Abraham Sesay to be officially honored as a 2027 Navy All-American and presented with his honorary Navy All-American jersey.

Where:
Downingtown East High School
50 Devon Drive
Exton, PA 19341

When: October 30, 2026

Event Start Time: 11:00 AM ET

About the All-American Bowl
As an NBC Sports-owned property, the All-American Bowl is part of a marquee lineup of elite events that includes the Olympics and Paralympics, the NBA, WNBA, Major League Baseball, Notre Dame Football, the Premier League, and primetime’s #1 show for an unprecedented 15 consecutive years: Sunday Night Football. The All-American Bowl is annually the most-watched, most talked about, and most-prestigious high school all-star event with more than four million unique television viewers and more than 25,000 fans in attendance. The history and tradition of the All-American Bowl is unparalleled, as it features: 665 draft picks; 110 Super Bowl champions; 300 Pro Bowl selections; and 18 Heisman finalists. For more information, visit
nbcsports.com/college-football/navy-all-american-bowl or follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram (@AABonNBC).