WARMINSTER — William Tennent and Hatboro-Horsham were tied in the fourth quarter of last Friday’s Suburban One League American Conference football opener.
The more experienced Hatters scored the game’s final 10 points to win 24-14.
Tennent head coach Biz Keeny, who’s in the first year of his second stint as the Panthers’ head coach, wasn’t especially surprised by what happened, given his young roster featuring numerous first-year varsity players.
“Our inexperience gets us sometimes,” Keeny said. “We’re making too many mistakes and missing some tackles. They’re all part of the growing pains and the process of teaching the importance of all the little things. Hatboro did a nice job of converting third downs.”
Tennent running back/defensive back Gavin
Mensch is the lone senior starting at an offensive skill position.
“Not returning a lot of players is definitely hard,” Mensch said. “A lot of guys had to fight through not playing last year. It was kind of hard for the team morale.”
Keeny returned as Tennent head coach in January to take over a program with a 48-149 record since he guided the Panthers to their last District One playoff berth and winning record (6-4) in 2006. He was previously the school’s head coach from 2001-12.
Tennent hasn’t won more than three games in a season since Leo Plenski’s 2015 squad went 4-6.
Keeny knew the 2026 squad would be young and inexperienced so patience would be essential. The hope was to build the foundation for future success – perhaps as soon as next season.
“We’ve got to change the mindset and the way we do things,” Keeny said. “We’ve got to set the framework, continue to do what do well and fix some of the problems. There will be a group that gets you over the top, (though it) may not be this year.”
The Panthers are 2-4 (0-1 SOL) heading into Friday night’s conference matchup at Springfield-Montco.
The defense, led by senior linebacker Joe Gentner, has kept the Panthers in games. It limited three opponents to one touchdown, including in a 20-7 season-opening win over Council Rock North and a 35-7 Week 5 victory against New Hope-Solebury. The CR North win was Tennent’s first in an opener since defeating Upper Moreland in 2018.
Gentner had nine tackles against Hatboro-Horsham.
The speedy Mensch, who was the primary quarterback as a sophomore, has accumulated 882 yards from scrimmage, including 681 rushing yards, and nine touchdowns. He ran for 211 yards and three TDs vs. CR North and added 180 rushing yards with three more scores against New Hope.
Junior quarterback Braydon Rementer has also been an offensive factor, highlighted by a 64-yard touchdown pass to Mensch and a 40-yard TD run vs. New Hope.
“Rementer and Gavin Mensch have kind of carried the offense,” Keeny said. “We need more guys to step up, offensively. If we can do that, it would really help us.”
Among the non-seniors other than Rementer playing key roles for the Panthers are junior running back Teegan Stanfield, junior tight end/defensive end Joey Ceballos, junior lineman Connor Maguire, junior receiver/defensive back Aidan Garvin and sophomore receiver Braylon Ward. Freshman Ben Thomas starts at defensive end.
“I want to give the young guys as much critique as possible while still being humble and trying to lead the team to a good season,” Mensch said. “The young guys are picking up the game of football pretty well.”
While Tennent has been more competitive as Keeny and his staff learned how to better utilize team personnel and stressed accountability, there is work to do.
“Being in the game in the fourth quarter is one thing – winning it’s another,” Keeny said. “That’s the challenge that lies ahead. In the offseason, we’ve got to make some strides. There’s no quick fix to this – it’s going to take some time.”
Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Tennent, Biz Keeny hoping to take first step toward football success
