Week 7 of the high school football season in Bucks County should be a good one with plenty of critical matchups on the docket as the playoffs grow closer and closer.
Let's take a look at the Five Games
to Watch (all games Friday at 7 p.m. unless noted):
Pennridge (6-0) at North Penn (4-2)
Here's a good one that's going to go a long way to determining the Suburban One League National Conference champion and seeding in the upcoming PIAA District One Class 6A tournament.
The Rams, whose last loss came against the Knights in the district final in November of last year, are one of just four Class 6A teams in District One still undefeated (Plymouth Whitemarsh, Downingtown East and Ridley are the others).
Last week, Pennridge, which has allowed just five total touchdowns, topped Pennsbury 28-6 in a game that was only 15-6 late in the third quarter before the Rams scored a pair of touchdowns to pull away.
Junior running back Trevor Picciotti led the way for the Rams with 132 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
North Penn, whose losses have come against 4-2 Central York (District Three) and 5-1 Central Bucks West (who lost only to Pennridge 14-7), blanked Neshaminy 28-0 last week.
In that one, the Knights allowed only 100 yards of offense and were led offensively by senior quarterback London Evans, who ran for a touchdown and also connected with North Penn senior Rylei Gray for another score.
Central Bucks West (5-1) at Central Bucks South (3-3)
The Bucks have been as good as everyone thought they'd be since Day One (their only loss came against unbeaten Pennridge, 14-7, in Week Four), and they come into this one after a 44-0 blanking of Abington last week.
Senior running back Braylen Cape led the charge with 201 rushing yards (on just nine carries) and a pair of touchdown runs.
While good things were expected of the Bucks, the same couldn't be said of the Titans after they started the season 0-3.
Since then, though, they've rattled off three straight wins, over Abington, Neshaminy and CB East, averaging 36 points a game.
Last week, the Titans crunched the Patriots 35-6 as senior running back Gavin Graham caught a touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Trent Haviland and also scored a pair of rushing touchdowns.
La Salle (3-3) vs. Saint Joe's Prep (3-1), noon (at Lafayette College)
This one was originally scheduled to be played at Central Bucks South, but it was moved to Lafayette College due to the expected large crowd.
And what the crowd will see are two teams from the rugged Philadelphia Catholic League Red Division that have won the last four PIAA Class 6A state titles (the Explorers last year and the Hawks in 2022-24).
A year ago in this spot, La Salle topped the Prep 31-20 and then beat the Hawks again (24-14) in the PCL Red title game.
Last week, the Explorers, aided by a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by senior defensive lineman Josh Simmons, thumped Father Judge 42-0 while the Hawks downed Cardinal O'Hara 28-7.
Prep is led by junior wide receiver Jett Harrison, an Ohio State commit, who has four receiving touchdowns this season.
Worth noting is that both teams have played Malvern Prep with La Salle falling 21-0 to the Friars while the Prep edged Malvern Prep 12-7.
Upper Moreland (5-1) at Harry S. Truman (3-3)
The Golden Bears bounced back from a loss to West Chester Henderson (33-6) two weeks ago with a 14-0 blanking of rival Wissahickon in a key SOL American Conference game last week.
In that one, senior Kyle Moore ran for a pair of first-half touchdowns, and also ran in a 2-point conversion, to account for all of the scoring.
The win gave Upper Moreland a leg up in the SOL American race and also moved the Golden Bears up to fifth in the PIAA District One Class 5A "power point" rankings.
As for the Tigers, who moved from the SOL Continental to the SOL American this season (Plymouth Whitemarsh went from the SOL American to the SOL Continental in a corresponding move), they sit 15th in the "power point" rankings in Class 5A.
The top 16 teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the district tournament.
Truman, which hasn't won more than four games in a season since 2018, topped Springfield (Montco) 22-20 last week in large part due to a late goal-line stand in which the Tigers stopped the Spartans four times from the 1-yard line led by senior lineman Zamir Moore. Junior running back Koko Johnson rushed for two touchdowns.
Council Rock South (2-3) at Upper Dublin (3-3)
The Golden Hawks, who didn't play last week (it was their week to play Cheltenham, which isn't playing this season due to last year's hazing incident), haven't won since beating Perkiomen Valley in Week Two.
Since then, CR South has lost to Pennridge, Souderton and Quakertown and is 19th in the "power point" rankings in Class 6A (the top 16 teams make the tournament field).
They'll face a Cardinals team that started the season 0-3 (against teams that are a combined 13-5) before winning their last three to put them 16th in the Class 5A "power point" rankings.
Last week, Upper Dublin defeated Council Rock North 38-7 in a game in which senior quarterback Lawson Tyler threw a touchdown pass and also ran for a score.
Bonus game:
Souderton (2-4) at Quakertown (2-4)
Both of these teams are on the outside looking in right now in the "power point" rankings in Class 6A.
The Big Red sits at No. 17, and the Panthers are No. 21.
With six wins likely needed to qualify for the district tournament, the winner of the "309 Bowl" will stay alive for a district berth while the loser will, even if it wins out after this week, only be able to get to five wins.
Last week, the Big Red fell behind unbeaten Plymouth Whitemarsh 17-0 before rallying on a touchdown run by sophomore Levi Lopez in the third quarter and another touchdown run by senior quarterback Brett Pollock with just over two minutes to play in a 17-14 defeat.
The Panthers, behind a pair of touchdowns from junior quarterback Carter Tucholski (one passing, one rushing) and two touchdown runs from Quakertown junior Marcus Baxter, topped Bensalem 56-13.
Drew Markol covers local sports for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Here are the 5 games to watch in Bucks County high school football in Week 7
