Get important news about your town as it happens Get the top stories from across our network Are you sure you want to unsubscribe from daily updates A 15-year-old boy was killed in a violent rollover crash and his teen friend is now facing vehicular homicide charges Pennsylvania State Police in Skippack announced on Monday was driving a Kia Sorrento south on White’s Mill Road between Reeler Road and Badman Road in Salford Township when he lost control and flipped the SUV onto its roof just after midnight on Thursday was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle The crash was only discovered after the Kia’s automated emergency system alerted authorities to the wreck and its location troopers determined speed was a major factor in the crash Charges were filed against Freed on Friday He surrendered to police on Monday morning and is now being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility pending a preliminary arraignment Details about the victim were not immediately available; his family is invited to share information with Daily Voice by emailing jpikora@dailyvoice.com In-depth analysis and commentary on today's biggest news stories as only the BBC can deliver BBC "Newshour" covers everything from the growth of democracy to the threat of terrorism with a fresh The legal action challenges the district’s response to controversy surrounding school board member Bill Formica Ahead of the Souderton Area School District's school board meeting on Sept The meeting venue had a maximum capacity of 110 people The lawsuit argues the current system leaves too many cases for too few attorneys Rose said they “completely deny that any of the actions by these plaintiffs was threatening or aggressive.” “The school district has their version of what happened,” she said but even under the school district version Rose said there were no criminal charges or police involvement and the district’s decision to ban the plaintiffs is “a violation of their due process rights.” “If the government’s going to take away your ability to attend meetings that you have a right to attend and that you have to attend in order to speak at then they have to provide you with notice and opportunity to be heard,” she said “They never provided these people with an opportunity to be heard.” The lawsuit also asks the district to drop photo ID checks at board meetings, and to allow demonstrations on school grounds. It also alleges the district’s actions were unconstitutional when it required Souderton Area For All, a parent advocacy group, to hold their protest against Formica by the roadside ahead of the Aug. 30 school board meeting while allowing another group supporting the board to form a prayer and song circle by the school’s entrance The district said in its Wednesday statement that it asked for meeting attendees to show IDs to ensure parents and residents had seating priority It said it did not require identification to attend the meeting The district was sued in October over the ID issue and subsequently dropped the ID check Rose said the issue goes beyond the three plaintiffs’ case. “When school districts do things like ban people from school property for expressing disagreement with things that the school board has done it not only affects the people who are banned but it really sends a chill to the community and inhibits other people from speaking out,” she said “And that’s what we’re really concerned about here.” The free WHYY News Daily newsletter delivers the most important local stories to your inbox WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today. Education stories from across the Keystone State including District Superintendent Steven Yanni have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by an external law firm Community members testified about staff shortages and advocated for support for unhoused and immigrant students the city school district and Esperanza College aims to address the shortage of health care workers Emily Neil is a WHYY News reporter covering Bucks and Montgomery counties Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal local news and information and world-class entertainment to everyone in our community WHYY offers a voice to those not heard, a platform to share everyone’s stories, a foundation to empower early and lifelong learners and a trusted space for unbiased news. Learn more about Social Responsibility at WHYY and you have the sense that either of them will not be gone for long from coaching Souderton’s longtime girls’ coach Lynn Carroll decided to step down Bensalem’s boys’ coach Ron Morris who after four Suburban One League Patriot Conference titles and 96 wins in six years told his team he would be stepping down on Tuesday by today’s carousel coaching world standards Carroll began coaching at Souderton at 24 and stayed 21 years Morris began at 25 in the Bensalem School District becoming a beloved fixture serving 20 years at Bensalem his first 14 as an assistant under previous Owls’ head coaches Mike McCabe and John Mullen Lynn Carroll (above) stepped down after 21 years at Souderton Both are leaving coaching to spend more time with their families Antonio (Mercer County Community College) and Noah (Bucks County Community College) and his youngest is in seventh grade (and will go to Bensalem) and plays travel and AAU basketball (Souderton boys coach Okoteh Sackitey also resigned this spring after four seasons, citing family reasons as well) Juggling their schedules was becoming difficult for both and not long after that went public with her decision to leave the commute started to get harder,” said Carroll who guided Souderton to two PIAA Class 6A state semifinals (2017 and 2018) and to the school’s only district championship (2018) but this was the best decision for my family It was one of the most difficult things that I have ever done These girls and this team are going to be successful moving forward “Whoever is lucky enough to get this position they will walking into something that will be pretty good Most of the girls I coached have children older than mine what made it a lot easier was reconnecting with my past players wishing me the best in whatever I do next It also gave me an opportunity to express my gratitude People think I’m an idiot for stepping down (so close to 300 wins) and coaching for one more year I have had some incredible assistant coaches She took over the Souderton program at the fresh young age of 24 after coaching stints as Abington’s freshman team coach and Norristown’s junior varsity coach She says she was “a baby,” not much older than the girls she was coaching “Those girls were very kind to me,” Carroll said about her first team “I look back then and I didn’t really know much (laughs) I was lucky to get the job in the first place and do it as long as I have I wanted to make sure the kids knew that they were valued I did not really realize until later in my career the impact you can really have as a coach or a teacher I continued to remind myself that it is so much bigger than what your record is or accomplishments on the court being happy where I arrived at the end of my career." Carroll stressed how grateful she is to the Souderton School District Carroll She reflected on the numerous times she told her team how much she loved them during her February announcement though the toughest part came when she told her son she would not be coaching anymore Those two (state semifinal) years were awesome We lost two heartbreakers in both of those years I’ll miss the relationships the most The best thing for me after a bad loss was seeing the kids at practice the next day I was very lucky to be involved with girls who all had the same goals.” Ron Morris (above) had been at Bensalem for the last 20 years Carroll recently signed up to coach her son’s baseball team this spring his coaching staff on Monday night and called his team down at school on Tuesday morning to tell them in person he was going He guided the undersized Owls to four Suburban One League Patriot Conference in six years (2020 including consecutive Patriot titles the last two years Bensalem reached the District 1 Class 6A final four in 2020 the Owls last won the SOL Patriot was in 2003 guard-oriented teams were always competitive against athletically superior teams who received a business degree from Temple and went back to get his graduate degree in education still teaches business/technology at Bensalem He has taught the last 18 years in the Bensalem School District the first six in middle school and last 12 at Bensalem High School who is leaving coaching for to spend more time with But he said he received advice from countless people in and around coaching that this is a precious time that cannot be missed with his sons in their late-teens and early 20s and his daughter about to enter high school Morris received a scare when he endured a stroke in 2020 I don’t know what would have happened,” said Morris It helped me get through that very difficult time We’re blessed to have great people and the facilities we have at Bensalem I remind our kids of that they have the chance to take advantages of the opportunities we have here “I have a lot more than three kids and I had to tell them face-to-face what my decision was Tough decisions have to be made when you’re a leader We preach family and that is how I ran this program You know you hit on something when one kid came to my room personally and had to give me a hug “The camaraderie of the other coaches It’s why I get emotional even talking about it We had a great tradition of Saturday morning practices and after practices Other coaches stepping down locally include Academy Park boys’ coach Todd Hryn Conwell-Egan girls’ coach Chris Brennan and Archbishop Ryan girls’ coach Tom Dillard Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on BlueSky here The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and Ramsingh Legal are suing Souderton Area School District on behalf of five taxpayers and a community group The school district said Wednesday it would "legally defend these decisions" and that it banned the three residents in response to their "aggressive and threatening behavior" after a board meeting were allowed to demonstrate just a few feet from the meeting entrance preventing Souderton Area For All members from demonstrating on school property was meant to quash dissent and represented viewpoint discrimination The school board does not have a policy covering demonstrations outside school board meetings though it does have rules for signs permitted in the venue Demonstrators were asked to move off of school district property again at a second board meeting School officials said they implemented the policy after non-district residents were filling up the meetings before all residents could get a seat The policy was first announced to the public by police officers working the door at a committee meeting Sept meaning that some residents were turned away because they showed up without identification The district stopped enforcing the ID rule after residents who were denied entrance at meetings sued on Oct which requires school board meetings be open to the public a media lawyer for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association She said that it's school officials' responsibility to use a larger venue if meeting attendance begins to exceed capacity The school district argued in a statement on Wednesday that it did not exclude attendees who couldn't provide ID and only used the IDs to provide preferential seating to parents and residents residents banned from school propertySchool officials banned three residents from district property in October in response to the residents' confrontation with a board member after a meeting Sept were leaving the meeting with Wheeler's teenage daughter when they were heckled by protesters who were standing several parking spaces away from the members' cars Christopher Spigel — assuming that the teenager was Formica's daughter —asked if she was aware of her father's social media posts Wheeler confronted Spigel and another protester Wheeler did not respond to a request for comment by press time the district notified Spigel and two other protesters that they were banned from district grounds for the rest of the school year because of the incident with Wheeler were told that they would have to remain in their cars when dropping their kids off at school The wives of both Spigel and Kitt are board members of Souderton Area For All violate the three residents' due process rights under the 14th Amendment argued in an email included as an exhibit in the suit that the protesters' actions were not constitutionally protected "Your constitutional arguments are merely a guise for uncontested bad conduct," district counsel Jeffrey Sultanik wrote the ACLU is asking the court to compel the district to lift its ban on the three residents and to allow Souderton Area For All members to hold demonstrations on district property before school board meetings Reporter Jess Rohan can be reached at jrohan@gannett.com This story was updated to add new information NPR's Morning Edition takes listeners around the country and the world with two hours of multi-faceted stories and commentaries that inform Morning Edition is the most listened-to news radio program in the country The complaint alleges the school district violated the state Sunshine Act by excluding people without photo IDs at two recent board meetings Complaint against Souderton Area School District by WHYY News on Scribd With the school board meeting room at maximum capacity residents stranded outside donned “cricket” clickers to voice their dissatisfaction “I think that what they’re doing with this photo ID requirement it’s such a red herring,” Ramsingh said “Why spend taxpayer money fighting over trying to keep people out of a public meeting when you could just address underlying issues and govern and tend to your business at hand … This should not even be something that we need to fight over.” Scores of community members have continued to call for Formica’s resignation, most recently at the Sept. 26 board action meeting 110-person capacity room normally used for board meetings said she was “pleased” the district dropped its photo ID requirement for tonight’s meeting and said the lawsuit against the district is “justified.” Bowers and other community members who are part of the Save Souderton Coalition plan to attend Wednesday’s meeting and peacefully demonstrate outside the meeting room until doors are opened and they’re allowed inside We understand the importance of the need for the school district to conduct its business,” Bowers said we still have objections to the silence of the entire board as well as the continuation of Bill Formica being on the board.” Board President Ken Keith and district Superintendent Frank Gallagher said Formica’s post does not represent the district’s views, but the school board has not released an official statement on the issue. Formica will remain on the board unless he chooses to resign The school board and the district lack the authority to remove a member except under very rare circumstances FRANCONIA >> After a turnaround fall season in soccer that came with renewed success and confidence Souderton’s Julia Purvy and Emily Dick wanted to bring it inside with them for basketball The duo made sure Souderton came out of the Jim Church Classic with a trophy combining for 33 points in Saturday’s 48-44 win over William Tennent in the championship game They’re not the only two stepping up early on and their energy seems to be catching on around a team that’s looking for a little more success and confidence of its own coming off a difficult 2023-24 season It’s early and there’s still plenty of work to do “We had a comeback type of season in soccer and I believe we can have it in basketball too,” Dick said “We have that confidence and we’re bringing it into this season as well.” “Everyone here works really hard,” Purvy said “We all want to get better every day So I knew good things were going to happen.” both earned Honorable Mention All-SOL Colonial honors this fall Souderton finished the season 8-10-0 with a 2-8-0 mark in the division placing 32nd in the District 1 Class 4A rankings the team finishing four slots out of a district playoff bid The team as a whole was much more competitive which Dick and Purvy attributed to first-year head coach Melissa Lollar and individually they both saw a rise in their level of play Souderton basketball coach Lynn Carroll has seen it as well with both players stepping into more prominent roles “The way Julia is stepping up and the way Emily is stepping up they’re playing with such confidence,” Carroll said “They helped turn around the soccer program all conference nominations for both of them it definitely came to our team with them.” Purvy began last season as a swing player between varsity and JV That didn’t last long and she’s only continued to improve earning tournament MVP honors on Saturday with a 20-point effort that included the go-ahead free throws late in the fourth quarter Carroll said Purvy has been shooting the ball well but against Tennent she was at her best going to the rim and slicing through the lane to score or draw contact I took more shots and practiced more,” Purvy said “It starts with overall hard work and being accountable you want teammates who are there for each other.” While Souderton doesn’t have a lot of size Dick doesn’t mind playing big on the inside who is pretty athletic in her own right as more than a few soccer players who tried to score on her in the fall would attest finished with 13 points against the Panthers to earn All-Tournament honors “There’s no one on this team I wouldn’t believe in,” Dick said “I like the offense we’re playing but I think it’s our defense that’s really helping us this season We still have to work on boxing out and getting rebounds but it’s something we can all do.”  Saturday’s win improved Souderton to 3-1 in the early season so they’ve already equaled their win total from a year ago a week into the season but there’s still plenty of work to do Souderton has also stayed resilient despite losing a couple expected contributors to injury Jac Bermel went down for the season in the fall while sophomore Kiera Fadden - who Carroll expected to be a significant piece defensively - is out for an extended amount of time There’s not a true standout or go-to player on this team Purvy has confidence in any of her teammates to shoot and Dick added when she subs out she plays good defense and she hustles,” Carroll said “The way Madison Bealer is defending basically for 32 minutes the other team’s best player losing Kiera was a huge blow and Madison stepped into that role and is doing it really well Carroll kept her team busy in the summer and fall and she lauded the entire group’s participation throughout the offseason Dick and Purvy were regular attendees with plenty of motivation to make that time “I realized in the fall that we were growing as a team,” Dick said “It was something where I wanted to be there because I knew in the winter that team chemistry would help us a lot.” which went shot-for-shot with Souderton in a very entertaining game is in a similar place of looking for more success this season The Panthers brought back two all-league starters in junior guards Avery Kocur and Halie Staub but have a young team around them  Staub had nine points and five steals while sophomore Megan Volz finished with 14 points despite first half foul trouble the two-time first team All-SOL Freedom pick adding four steals but none in the fourth quarter as Souderton paid her full attention defensively with Bealer getting most of that work Carroll also made sure to give Brooke Fenchel her props Fenchel - who now plays at Messiah - made it her goal to put the program on the path to better things even if she wouldn’t be there to benefit from that growth Last season was not fun but they hung in and hung in,” Carroll said “We played a lot of basketball together this summer and I think it’s why we are where we are right now but it started at the end of last season.” Upper Dublin captured the boys' tournament trophy The Cardinals have already seen a lot and they’re just four games into their schedule UD wrapped up a busy first eight days of the season with a solid win over host Souderton to repeat as the Jim Church Classic champions the Cardinals used an 8-0 run in the first quarter to gain some control then worked to extend their lead with stout defense and patient offense taking home tournament MVP while Idris Rines was also named to the All-Tournament team you want to go 4-0 but 3-1 is a good start,” UD coach Derek Brooks said we played a bigger team in Dowingtown West (Friday) night La Salle who is super-physical and Lower Merion who is super-fast but we still have some stuff we need to build on.” Souderton point guard Chanse Salone was a focal defensively UD giving Kobe Bazemore and Reilly McLaughlin plenty of reps defending the talented facilitator and tried to limit Salone’s passing as much as anything The junior did finish with 15 points but UD was able to contain Nolan Watkins holding Souderton’s other top scorer to just two points his first game he had 11 assists and he can score,” Brooks said “Kobe loves to take out the opposing team’s best player and we just said make (Salone) work for everything today and Kobe and Reilly did that.” Rines swished a fadeaway at halftime for a 30-20 lead Souderton hung around until the early fourth quarter when a 9-2 run by UD to start the frame helped the Cardinals pull away While Upper Dublin may have its eyes on bigger championships this season Brooks noted it’s never a bad thing to leave an event with a big trophy like the Cardinals did this weekend it’s always good to win a tournament,” Brooks said “This is the third time we’ve been in this one we’ve won it two years in a row and a kid gets to go home with a nice big trophy FRANCONIA – With star players like Jacob Nguyen and Tommy Kelly getting most of the headlines for Spring-Ford senior Jordan Marsilio tends to get lost in the shuffle from time to time His toughness and football mentality helped 10th-seeded Spring-Ford hold off seventh-seeded Souderton 51-42 on Friday night in the second round of the District 1 6A Tournament The win advances the Rams to the district quarterfinals with a date against No 2 Coatesville and also punches a ticket to the PIAA playoffs Jordan Marsilio scored six points and grabbed nine rebounds on Tuesday night “I am mainly a football player,” Marsilio said “I come out and pride myself in getting boards and doing the dirty work Every team needs a guy like that and I don’t mind doing it.” The way the game started it didn’t seem like Marsilio would ever have to get his hands on an offensive rebound Spring-Ford was ready for Souderton’s vaunted zone hitting their first four 3-pointers of the night.  the Rams (19-7) didn’t miss a shot in the first quarter with Nguyen (14 points) going 3-for-3 from long range The only problem: Souderton was matching them as Nate Rusike Trey Bui and Chanse Salone all hit 3-pointers as well Spring-Ford despite not missing a shot was only up 16-13 after one quarter “The first quarter was pretty fun,” Kelly said they have a lot of good shooters on that team They were going shot for shot with us that first quarter “Their coach is a good coach,” said Spring-Ford head coach Joe Dempsey of Souderton’s Okoteh Sakitey It didn’t hurt that we made three or four 3s in the first quarter and it made the basket look pretty wide Thankfully we did some good things after that we are shooting the heck out of it but we are going to have to do some different things here mostly focusing all their attention on Nguyen through a series of switching defenses This led to a more deliberate offense on both sides of the court with each possession becoming magnified Point guard Syaire Barnes picked up the slack by scoring five of nine points in the second quarter offensively Defensively the Rams were content to sit in a zone defend and hold Souderton to one possession.  “I have some dogs behind me,” Kelly said high point it and come down with it.” picking up six of his game-high nine rebounds in the second quarter including two offensive boards on the same possession When the dust settled and Turner hit a bucket at the buzzer Spring-Ford was still up 25-20 at the break “When we were playing without Jordan you could tell the toughness went down a notch,” Kelly said “Having him around on the court is so valuable there are things you can’t even see and all of us feel it The game continued to slow down in the third quarter with the Rams content to sit in their zone and also struggling to get open looks for Nguyen five assists) were responsible for the first seven points of the quarter Spring-Ford led 33-27 after three quarters We practice going inside every day and we love it.”  Souderton hung around and eventually cut the deficit to 37-33 with six minutes left off a 3-pointer from Rusike (14 points) Nguyen finally got some breathing room for a basket 3 steals) answered with an acrobatic scoop of his own “I don’t want to toot my own horn but me and Jacob have played in a lot of these types of games,” Kelly said We are trying to do the same for these underclassmen.” scoring off a bucket from Marsilio and a 41-35 lead Marsilio then scored six consecutive points “I was standing there wide open and they got me the ball Marsilio’s stat line of six points and nine rebounds might not still get the attention of opposing teams Still his play has Spring-Ford headed to states for the third consecutive season “If we play like we did tonight we can make it all the way,” Marsilio said “We have made deep runs the last three years I think we can do that again with this squad.” Before states though comes a big step up in competition with a date on the road against No “When you get to be my age you want something for other people,” Dempsey said “Getting to the state tournament is a thrill for any coach To go three years in a row and have had the success that we have is a credit to them Coatesvillle is going to be an absolute monster challenge for us We are going to show up and see where it takes us I just want to keep extending the season for these guys.” Souderton (42): Rusike 14; Salone 13; Bui 3; Watkins 10; Kovach 2 handed out "cricket" clickers which he said symbolized "the complete silence or crickets" from other school board members on Formica's comments Formica apologized for lewd comments he made about Kamala Harris He also bemoaned “hearing the tired old labeling applied to all white alpha males to shut up.” “I think if they claim to uphold democracy that they should be focused on elections and not trying to unseat someone,” she said “Because he said something that was offensive I don’t know what more a person can do character is acknowledging when you’ve made a mistake.” a resident of Upper Salford whose three children graduated from the district spoke during the public comment portion on Thursday supporting Formica “The overall aspect of the First Amendment is the ability to let people speak,” he said one of the problems that we saw was the people in opposition would not let the other side speak And when they’re the ones saying the character counts I think that was an extremely bad example of it The next election for the Souderton Area School Board will be held in November 2025 although Formica will not be up for re-election until 2027 Formica will remain on the board for his four-year term SOUDERTON — Last time the CB South boys basketball team didn’t practice for two days entering a game Most notably a 10-game win streak and now perfect 5-0 mark in the SOL Colonial after handing Souderton its first conference loss in a down-to-wire thriller 51-50 on Tuesday night Danny Gies (left) and Benjamin Harrison helped the CB South boys basketball team win 51-50 over Souderton on Tuesday (Dan Arkans/CoBL) The final seven seconds probably felt more like seven minutes to the Titans but when reserve 6-foot-5 center Kayode Adebayo tipped the ball into the diving hands of senior guard Danny Gies off a Souderton inbounds play the CB South bench could finally take a deep breath “It’s huge,” said South’s Benjamin Harrison who hit the game-winning shot seconds earlier “I feel like this really kind of stands aside from the other games a lot of games there was never a big doubt we were going to lose We were trailing in the second and to end the third I thought the fourth quarter was our best quarter executing at the most important time.” The win exemplified what CB South (10-3) is all about Nine players scored in all for the Titans with the bench finishing with 24 points In fact at the end of the game Harrison (12 points) and Cole DiEmidio were the only starters on the court “We have faith in all of our guys,” Gies said “It doesn’t matter if the 12th man is in It doesn’t matter if the first man is in They all have the same priority and it’s just to get the job done I am really happy to be a part of this team.”  If this game was going to indeed end in a heavyweight battle the first half was just some light sparring The score was 18-16 at the half with CB South struggling to solve Souderton’s 1-2-2 zone but still staying in the game with its trademark defense coming off the bench to shadow Soudy's talented point guard Chance Salone (15 points “He’s a great player,” said Gies of Salone Coming into this game we knew he was the high scorer I thought I was the guy to get into his head and I think that worked out tonight It just shows he’s a good player and I have a lot of respect for that kid try to get in his head and I think that worked out.”  When Souderton’s Nolan Watkins opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer South began to find openings in the zone as well Souderton took control with a 36-29 lead in the final minute of the third quarter Adebayo got free in the post for a bucket and then the momentum really shifted off an unlikely offensive hero Gies took a pass at halfcourt and somehow heaved a bank 3-pointer between two defenders and it was 36-34 after 3 “Someone needed to step up,” Gies said “There’s only three seconds left I was going to give it back to (Brett) Barrett The fourth quarter certainly lived up to the billing of two undefeated SOL Colonial teams with nine lead changes with the largest lead being two points “It was a chess match trying to find the right matchups,” said South head coach Louie Ditri “My coaching staff did a great job of subbing guys in and out We only played about 10 but all 12 deserved to play It’s a testament to our guys and their willingness to work hard If they get a minute they give it everything they got which helps us out.” Adebayo was a big hero for South with the first four points of the frame but Souderton answered with a pair of buckets from Watkins When Salone hit his only 3-pointer of the day Souderton led 44-43 with four minutes to go Harrison came right back with a basket of his own and a 45-44 South lead “It’s fun when you win and it’s also scary at the same time,” Harrison said There was a second when it’s getting  away from us it feels sweet to pull out the win.” senior Connor Thompson (9 points)  hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter as a back-and-forth battle gave the Titans a 48-46 advantage with 2:20 to go Souderton kept answering and a nifty move under the hoop from Nate Rusike (10 points) gave his team a 50-49 lead with 1:22 left “We started off that fourth quarter great,” Gies said Harrison had the final answer off an inbounds play with seven seconds remaining taking it right to Souderton big man Grady Kovach for a basket and a 51-50 advantage “I knew I was going to catch it and I figured they were going to be in man but they weren’t,” Harrison said I figured I was going to the rim and I was going to have a layup All that was left was one final inbounds play with 2.1 seconds to go Reserve players Adebayo and Gies did the rest “We had a bunch of guys who stepped up blocking Chance (Salone) and getting second chance rebounds He could be player of the game.”  Souderton was certainly impressive on both ends of the court with Trey Bui coming through with 12 points and Ruiske 10 more Watkins added 9 points while big man Kovach finished with 4 points and 13 rebounds Souderton coach Okoteh Sackitey had no comment after the game Souderton (50): Salone 15; Bui 12; Rusike 10; Watkins 9; Kovach 4 Stephanie Jamison speaks into a microphone at a rally ahead of the Souderton Area School District board meeting on Aug Jamison and other parents and community members called for board member Bill Formica's resignation a leader of the local conservative group who organized the counter-protest said the purpose was to “be here to say not all the community is demanding Bill Formica’s resignation.” we’re not bowing to the harassment and the threats that they have sent our way.” a parent and organizer of the pre-meeting rally said those demanding Formica’s resignation are not representing “cancel culture”— they’re calling for “accountability.” “He hasn’t even offered any meaningful action of restoration,” she said even really acknowledged that what he said was incredibly offensive but we’re gonna hold him accountable for what he says.” Jamison said she and other parents will continue to demonstrate. I know we’re gonna be here every meeting until this man does resign,” she said The backlash against a Souderton Area School District board member continues to grow as news of a lewd social media post about Kamala Harris spreads online A Change.org petition calling on board member Bill Formica to resign after saying that the presumptive Democratic nominee in the 2024 Presidential Election “b— a lot of dudes” for political gain has grown by more than 1,200 names since Friday Over 30 people have also indicated their plans to attend the Aug 29 school board meeting to demand Formica’s resignation according to a Facebook events page created by local parent and creator of the online petition Stories about the outrage over Formica’s post have spread through local media outlets and beyond even getting picked up by the London-based Daily Mail was a response to another user’s post criticizing the current vice president’s political accomplishments and was deleted at some point last week That account bearing Formica’s name also no longer exists apparently deleted after a deluge of users berating the board member for sexist comments unbecoming of a school board official Formica’s post has drawn the ire of local parents, teachers and even a school board member in neighboring Quakertown Community School District calling the remarks “disgraceful” on Facebook. “There is no place in a community for the language Mr Formica used to describe an accomplished politician and a woman,” wrote Brian Reimers from his personal Facebook account “As a School director it is our responsibility to lead by example and Mr Formica failed to be the example for the kids and the community he serves,” Reimers added Reimers said Wednesday that he used to work in the Souderton school district and spoke up because he has friends who work or live in the area Demands for Formica’s resignation from the school board have also resurfaced other past controversies around Formica’s past and actions by the board Here’s everything we know about the embattled Souderton school board member Formica, 61, has lived in the Harleysville area of Montgomery County for over 50 years and founded First Financial, LLP in 2007, according to information on a campaign website that backed five Republican school board candidates in last year’s municipal election The Keep Souderton Strong website describes Formica’s platform of one of “fiscal responsibility” who would bring a “solid business sense and skills … to run the school board.” I want to ensure that your children are being taught the necessary skills to flourish in our society … students have a right to a balanced and unbiased education,” Formica is quoted on the website Like most candidates running for school boards in Pennsylvania Formica crossfiled in the May Primary for the Democratic and Republican nominations Voter registration data from the Pennsylvania Department of State show Formica has voted as a Republican in every election since at least 2016 and remains a registered Republican in the voter records updated on Monday How long has Bill Formica been on the Souderton school board?While Formica and his four GOP running mates were elected to the board last year, he was appointed several months earlier to replace an outgoing 12-year board member who won a higher office the previous year Current State Rep. Donna Scheuren was elected to the 147th District in the House in 2022 and sworn in last January but the Republican official kept her seat on the school board until after the May 2023 primary The appointment raised transparency concerns from local residents Post outrages Souderton residents: Souderton residents call for school board resignation after sexist Kamala Harris post Giving Formica a seat on the board he was also a candidate for and the timing of Scheuren’s resignation almost five months after becoming a state lawmaker appeared to some as an organized effort to give Formica a political boost Formica was also the treasurer for the Friends of Donna Scheuren political committee when Scheuren ran for the state House There also doesn’t appear to have been any other candidates publicly interviewed to replace Scheuren according to a review of meeting minutes from the night Formica was appointed also reportedly raised other concerns about Formica’s apparent support of an extremist group The past week’s social media buzz around Formica have also drudged up previous claims that he supports a militia group known as the Three Percenters Three Percenters refers to a “a sub-ideology or common belief that falls within the larger antigovernment militia movement,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center which tracks extremism and hate groups nationally Members of groups donning the Three Percenter banner have at one time boasted thousands of members in chapters across the country and have been included among other anti-government groups that participated in the Jan 2021 Capital Riots to overturn the results of the last presidential election More on beheading suspect Justin Mohn: Levittown beheading suspect sought mental health treatment before crime. Why it never happened The Bucks County Beacon reported after Formica’s appointment that photos of the new board member’s vehicle with Three Percenter decals had circulated online that month A reference to Formica’s apparent support for Three Percenters was also referenced in multiple stories last week The Daily Mail story about Formica suggests the elected official could be “fired” from his position on the board The Pennsylvania School Code doesn’t appear to include any provisions allowing the school board to remove one of its members A group of “ten resident taxpayers” can petition a county Court of Common Pleas to remove board members under a limited scope including if the members “refuse or neglect to perform any duty” required of them under the state code There have been previous cases where courts have ordered the removal of school board members, like a case in Chester County where parents claimed five members of one district committee “medical battery” on students by imposing mask mandates and other coronavirus mitigation rules Nearly 30 parents in the Oley Valley School District, in Berks County, are suing to remove a recently appointed board member who allegedly had “Heil Hitler” and a faded swastika painted on her garage abutting a district high school, according to WITF Moms For Liberty blocks TItle IX change: Bucks County schools named in Title IX injunction. Where are they and what's next? Those parents are also suing to remove four board members who voted to appoint board member Christina Moyer earlier this year While Oley Valley officials voted to “censure” Moyer earlier this summer to require her to publicly apologize there isn’t any reference to censuring a board member in the state code’s section on school board members School boards can declare a member’s seat vacant if that member is absent for two successive regular board meetings unless that member is sick or “prevented by necessary absence from the district.”  That could mean that the only way Formica can be removed from office is to be voted out at the end of his four-year term a political group that backed the five Democrats in last year’s election is calling on the board to demand Formica resign and appoint Elise Bowers who secured the highest number of votes behind the Republicans in November “The five highest vote getters in the 2023 general election won seats on the Board … The Board must demand Mr Citing "other opportunities," Souderton Borough Police Chief Brian Newhall will resign April.The search for his successor has begun Citing 'other opportunities,' Souderton Borough Police Chief Brian Newhall will resign April 4 and the search for his successor has begun Souderton Borough Police Chief Brian Newhall will resign April 4 “Other opportunities have come (to) my attention and after 26 years (in law enforcement) I feel it’s time to move on to another chapter,” Newhall said I’ve achieved the goals that I was tasked with when I was hired The support from the elected and appointed officials in Souderton has been tremendous and it’s been an honor and a pleasure to work with and for the people in Souderton.” Newhall arrived in Souderton in 2021 from Valley Township Police Department near Coatesville in Chester County But he had spent the bulk of his law enforcement career with the Upper Moreland Township Police Department in Montgomery County where he ascended to the rank of patrol sergeant and also served as its emergency management coordinator Souderton Mayor Dan Yocum posted an elegant tribute to the outgoing chief on Facebook he stated: “Chief Newhall assumed the position of Souderton’s Police Chief after the retirement of Chief Jim Leary in January 2021 Brian brought 22 years of policing experience along with 30 years of fire and EMS service to Souderton.” Newhall’s accomplishments during his tenure with Souderton include upgrading its equipment training and administration; initiating the Police Accreditation Program in Souderton; and expanding relationships with civic and business leaders “We have appreciated Chief Newhall’s time of service to Souderton and wish him luck in all his future endeavors.” Souderton has begun its search for the chief’s successor it was recently announced that Souderton Borough Code Enforcement Officer Steve Toy has retired after 11 years with the borough His last official day on the job was March 7 recently reported that the organization has six new board members and has elected Kyle Harrington Registration is open for the upcoming 3rd Friday season (running May through October) and for this year’s Souderton Art Jam (Sept they are in receipt of three more façade grants was a successful community event that was sponsored by Cinema Brewing Northbound Restaurant and Broad Street Italian Cuisine & Pizzeria also participated in the event representative of Indian Valley Public Library reminded the council that IVPL has the Library of Things and museum passes available to library card holders Souderton produced and distributed its inaugural edition of the Souderton Borough Spring Edition Newsletter; copies can be found in the entranceway of the borough office Yocum reminded council and the audience that Souderton will celebrate Earth Day on Saturday April 26 with a community clean-up Public Works Director Steve Coll advised that his department recently repaired a clogged sewer main on Broad Street Coll had previously reported that February storms sent the team out 10 times to salt the road and twice for plowing The use of salt for roads required them to reorder more salt Work continues on the Souderton Community Park currently the crew is working on completing the sculpture gardens Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today The Bucks County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame welcomed the Class of 2025 on Thursday at Brookside Manor in Feasterville The Langhorne-Middletown Fire Company’s Super 21 Truck will be returning for the very special 25th anniversary Kiwanis-Herald Sesame Place Classic on Sunday Central Bucks South posted a 4-0 lead in the first inning en route to a 7-0 shutout of visiting Central Bucks East in Tuesday’s Suburban One League Colonial Division game the Doylestown Rugby Academy high school girls team traveled to Downingtown to play the Downingtown girls team Doylestown was victorious by a score of 43-26 The Archbishop Wood baseball team guaranteed itself a winning Philadelphia Catholic League season with Monday’s 7-0 victory over Cardinal O’Hara Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Our guide features topics that range from home buying to home maintenance and repair delivered Friday afternoons Have the latest local news delivered every afternoon so you don't miss out on updates A weekly guide to Arts & Entertainment delivered Wednesday evenings Delivered Saturday mornings with a recap of the best stories from each week Have a notification delivered on Thursdays to your inbox Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account FRANCONIA >> When it comes to playing point guard Souderton knows the ball will be in safe hands under the control of Chanse Salone The junior is not only an excellent passer he’s exactly the right kind of facilitator for a high-energy group that aims to fly around on defense and run the floor at any opening playing point guard at Souderton is a bit of a family tradition and he’s hoping to orchestrate a return to the playoffs for the first time in five years Chanse Salone (above) is following in the footsteps of his brother Ty “I trust all my teammates to hit their shots and they do the same thing for me,” Salone said Friday after Souderton defeated West Chester Rustin “It’s just me growing as a player from the position he plays on the court to the No There’s a few years between the brothers Ty Salone graduated from Souderton in 2016 but that never held them back from going at it in their driveway playing some tough-love one-on-one While Ty Salone has moved on from basketball and into music where he’s now a DJ in Philadelphia he left quite an impression on Chanse that’s led to a lot of assists the last three years Fourth-year Souderton coach Okoteh Sackitey never coached Ty but he’s thankful for all the lessons older brother imparted on little brother “It’s his decision-making,” Sackitey said other teams have to game-plan for him and he’s doing a good job this year of not forcing anything In our first game (against Faith Christian) he was so efficient and that’s the go and what we’re going for is efficiency out of him.” Chanse remembers going to Souderton games when Ty played for Big Red then going home and having his older brother beat him up a bit in their one-on-one games While he’s emulated plenty from his older brother Chanse has also grown into his own identity as a player but the junior is certainly capable of pouring in some offense of his own and he’s an eager defender just like the rest of this year’s team plus six rebounds and five steals per his coach He was close to double-digit assists again on Friday and that was on a night where Souderton simply couldn’t buy a basket from outside the arc Salone also has an excellent passing eye and he’s turned the lost art of the outlet pass into a legitimate asset for a Souderton squad with a lot of players looking to run the floor “I think every point guard should be able to do everything on the floor so that’s what I try to do,” Salone said “That’s where I got my competitiveness I’d always lose to him so that made me just want to win as much as I can when I play basketball.” Salone feels like he’s gotten stronger he mentioned getting a little bouncier so he could jump with bigger players and not get deterred in the paint He estimated that he’s been honing his passing since he was four years old and the junior guard can throw pretty much any look there is I think I can make any pass in a game,” Salone said Sackitey had a pretty good floor leader in Chris Towsen during his first season at Souderton and Salone came right in to pick up the torch at point guard Having a floor leader like Towsen and now Salone has allowed Sackitey to install some complex sets knowing his point guards will be able to handle them a complete point guard,” Sackitey said “Even when the best defender is all over him he’s going to stay poised and take care of it He’s the point guard you want on your team “He’s only taking good shots and he has a bunch of assists so he’s just making the right plays and not forcing it himself.” The younger Salone played this past summer with Penn Warriors and his ultimate goal is to play basketball in college his focus is on living up to Sackitey’s motto of “practice like a champion every day,” setting up his teammates for assists and guiding Souderton back to the postseason something his brother also did as a junior “I wanted to be him growing up,” Salone said “It’s definitely where I got my competitiveness He liked to talk a lot of trash to me growing up so that’s where I get my passion either when I score or a big play happens and borough Mayor Dan Yocum following his swearing-in ceremony to formalize his promotion and an asset to the Souderton Police Department.” “Officer Lukens has been with the department for 13 years He is responsible for fleet maintenance and the schedule He has served as the officer-in-charge in the absence of the chief borough council approved the promotion of Officer Lukens to sergeant.” The chief expounded on the extensive evaluation process to select a candidate for the position of sergeant “The borough conducted an extensive promotional process for filling the sergeant’s position," Newhall said "Five members of the department participated in the testing process which consisted of a written and an oral examination The oral examination was conducted by a third-party company borough council voted unanimously to promote Officer Jeffery Lukens Souderton’s new police sergeant had the support of residents including officers from Souderton and Telford council president Tracy Burke thanked borough manager Sara Jarrett-Eaton for the job she has done since her recent hiring Saying she was on track with her goals of fiscal responsibility restructuring the office team and her work on the upcoming police contract Tracy also advised that with the 2025 election approaching there may be as many as six vacancies on council 31: Mayor Yokum; and council presidents Burke (Ward 2) Andy Richter (Ward 1) and Stephanie Hall (Ward 3) Indian Valley Public Library representative Penny Price reported that February is "Love Your Library Month." Library attendance There will be a wine tasting event at the library on Feb Council passed resolutions setting the 2025 Police Pension Contribution rate (5%) and Nonuniform Pension Contributions (3%) and appointed Sara Jarrett-Eaton to the post of zoning officer for 2025 Council also appointed Calvin Munden to the planning commission 2028; Craig Silsbee to the industrial development authority Kelli Scarlett to the zoning hearing board Councilor Julie Munden advised council of a fundraising event on Feb to benefit Souderton Area High School’s Big Red Marching Band The Designer Bag Bingo Event will be held at St Maria Goretti Roman Catholic Church in Hatfield Township Big Lots has filed for bankruptcy and is closing up to 315 stores But where does that leave its two Bucks County locations in Fairless Hills in Falls and Souderton Bankruptcy Big Lots announce store closings. Here's the one closing in Pennsylvania “We’re not on the list,” said assistant manager Sean McCaffrey, at the Fairless Hills store “An email was sent to all managers and associates about a month ago “We’re not closing,” said the manager on duty at the Souderton store Staying alive Big Lots will close stores as it mulls bankruptcy. There are a handful in Bucks and Montco décor and other items out of reach for its cost-conscious customers economy has continued to face macroeconomic challenges including elevated inflation which has adversely impacted the buying power of our customers,” a corporate financial disclosure filing states Hard times How much does the American Dream cost after historically high inflation? Big Lots had planned to open three stores in the past year but now plans to close up to 315 across the nation Big Lots has five stores in the area in Montgomery County The chain has some 1,400 stores across the nation. It will be acquired by Nexus Capital Management JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane@couriertimes.com Slide from Souderton Area School District's latest budget presentation shows the relationship between the district's special education-related costs and funding from state and federal sources over a 10-year period The Souderton Area School Board recently called attention to the widening disparity between costs of state-mandated special education requirements and federal and state funding of special education The Souderton Area School Board is digesting a proposed $162.7 million budget for the 2025-26 school year — an almost $9.2 million increase from the current year — and board secretary and finance committee member Michael Taylor made special mention of the widening disparity between costs of the state-mandated special education requirements and federal and state funding of special education Taylor stated previously that any anticipated tax increase would not exceed 4% which is the statewide Act 1 index for 2025-26 a single slide in Taylor's budget presentation gave a stark visual representation of a 10-year period (2013-14 through 2023-24) of significantly escalating expenditures versus the minimalistic increases in federal and state funding special education expenditures rose by about $14 million —from $17.9 million to $31.9 million state funding went from $2.9 million to $3.9 million and federal funding went from $983,000 to $1.47 million Meanwhile district enrollment of students with special needs is rising while their needs are becoming more complex and Josh Shapiro recently released the proposed 2025–26 budget Here’s what has been proposed for Souderton: • Special education funding: $4.26 million whose son Evan is an eighth grader at Indian Valley Middle School with special needs frequently asks pointed questions to the board on many issues “Legislators and decision-makers must understand that behind every budget number is an individual and cuts to funding will harm valued community members," said Rothholz who has previously traveled to Harrisburg and Washington D.C "Adequate support for students with disabilities is essential for their academic and social success as insufficient resources create significant barriers to their inclusion and educational success "An inclusive and supportive educational environment benefits all students and investing in this is both a legal and moral responsibility has thrived thanks to dedicated educators and a caring community that supports his growth.” District superintendent Frank Gallagher said he's regularly in contact with the legislatures to secure more funding and board member Michael Barnacz frequently calls on residents to write to their legislator on the topic Board member William Formica recently suggested that writing to them seems to have a bigger impact than calling the proposed budget continued to reflect that contracted salary and benefits generally account for the bulk of the expenditures it represents about two-thirds of the spending stated that salaries and benefits are competitive and place the Souderton Area School District in the middle third of other school districts in Montgomery County Hey continued his work to review and update all school policies The first reading of Policy #916 (volunteers) was held Second readings were held for policies related to curriculum review by parents and students; exemption from instruction; student discipline; and weapons The board meets again next Thursday at 7 p.m Souderton Area School District’s board of directors unanimously passed a balanced 2024-’25 budget of $153,550,804 Souderton Area School Board president Stephen Nelson is looking to turn the page after a difficult 2024 During the Souderton Area School Board's December action meeting new board president Stephen Nelson tried to set a new tone for public comment that prioritizes student education over divisive political rhetoric Souderton Area School Board's new president Stephen Nelson recently hit on several points: “We need to move forward.” “Kids need to be educated.” “The need to agree to disagree.” “If you ever need to talk “We have a mission in this district and that is to make sure that our children are educated,” he said During the board's December action meeting Nelson made a specific request of the audience: When comments are made make sure that those comments are moving the district toward that goal For a board that spent the latter half of 2024 caught in the fallout from board member William Formica's online comments about Vice President — and then-presidential candidate — Kamala Harris over the summer “I’m a simple person," Nelson told the audience on Dec He thanked outgoing school board president Ken Keith saying that his predecessor served the board and community well He also thanked the board for trusting him and new vice president Andrew Landis with the task of leading the group forward Telford resident John Waldenberger voiced an objection under the Sunshine Act He said the minutes from the board’s last meeting were not attached to the agenda and the meeting minutes from October were incorrect “Can we make sure the minutes from this meeting reflect the objection under the Sunshine Act.” Waldenberger accused the board of violating the Sunshine Act in October as well after the district declined to move a meeting after the Formica incident to a larger venue and because he said items on the agenda were not explained Keith responded by saying they would note the objections District Superintendent Frank Gallagher thanked the school district’s faculty and staff for their generosity in the Giving Program The prior week they filled two SUVs with gifts for students in need throughout the community He also complimented the performance of the Souderton School Band in the Souderton Holiday Parade on Dec Public nonagenda comments included Corinne DeGeiso making a plea to the board for live streaming and the permanent storage of all committee and action meetings DeGeiso chairs the political action committee Souderton Area for Responsible Leadership The next SASD action meeting will be held Jan Souderton Area School Board this month awarded a construction contract of $22.57 million to ICS Inc. and a $7.5 million general trades contract to Twining Construction Co. for the district's West Broad Street Elementary School renovations More than 500 people packed the auditorium of the Indian Valley Middle School auditorium Thursday night, weeks after a board member made a lewd comment about Vice President Kamala Harris and set off calls for his resignation The meeting was the first time Souderton Area School District board member William Formica addressed in-person his social media post saying Kamala Harris “b— a lot of dudes” to advance her political career and his comments before a 90-minute public comment period only seemed to incense those calling for him to step down The now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, launched an online petition against Formica’s seat on the board in early August and even made international headlines as news spread online On Thursday, Formica lambasted social media and the “level of hatred” he said he has received from some in the district serving Montgomery and part of Bucks counties while echoing a written apology posted on the district’s website last Friday aimed mostly at his supporters and fellow board members Demand for Formica's resignation grows: Souderton board member Bill Formica faces more pressure to resign over Kamala Harris post “After hearing about some of the vicious attacks against me and my family members posted on social media … Tonight I anticipate hearing the tired old labeling applied to all white alpha males to shut up,” Formica said speaking over boos from the crowd at times “This is being twisted by my opposition into a convenient narrative,” Formica added “We all know what this backlash is really about We all know this is about partisan politics.” Formica also said he had personally received death threats over his post Formica wasn’t without his supporters Thursday night About 10 of the 30 speakers during public comment said Formica was exercising his First Amendment rights or that those angered by his post should move on said Formica’s comments were “being blown out of proportion” and that calls for his resignation were an attempt at “essentially undoing a democratic process of an election.” Big truck ban in part of Morrisville: PennDOT bans tractor trailers on this neighborhood street in Morrisville “My question is if there are any derogatory posts made by administrators teachers and or staff about former President Trump and I cannot help but wonder if the response would be the same for both official and the community,” Blomgren said Blomgren is also an elected school board member in the Pennridge School District the embattled Souderton school board member’s post was just one example of a long list of problems that made Formica unfit for office Several people read older posts from Formica’s deleted social media accounts where he allegedly diminished the role of teachers and hinted at a transphobic conspiracy theory about former First Lady Michelle Obama saying she was “a dude.” Others also brought up past controversies over Formica’s appointment to the board last June Formica was appointed to replace former board member and current state Rep who was sworn in to the state House of Representatives last January but didn’t resign until after the May 2023 primary New ruling on curing mail-in ballots: Why a Pa. judge says county can't toss mail-in ballots without telling voters A review of meeting minutes shows the school board didn’t appear to interview any other candidates when they appointed Formica, who was also the treasurer for the Friends of Donna Scheuren political committee when Scheuren ran for the state House One of the more rousing comments came late in the meeting from Telford resident Souderton High School graduate and Purple Heart recipient Brian Farrell “I have a mild traumatic brain injury and PTSD but I can say that going through that experience the one thing that I do feel qualified to comment on is leadership — and the lack thereof,” Farrell said Chris Ullery is the Philadelphia Hub Data Reporter for the USA Today Network Reach him at cullery@couriertimes.com or find him on Twitter at @ulleryatinell SOUDERTON — There were plenty of reasons Souderton's Jayden Bergey wanted to make it back on the football field for his senior season After tearing the ACL in his right knee not once the linebacker had his doubts about if he would return "I thought about it a little bit (not being able to play) but I was going to do everything I could to make it back," Bergey said "I don't plan on playing football in college so my senior year of high school was going to be it for football and I wanted to play "We have a really good team and I wanted to be a part of it." That really good team looked really good on Thursday night as the host Big Red rolled past Council Rock South 35-6 for their third straight win "We just need to keep taking care of business and this was a good win for us," Souderton head coach Ed Gallagher said "I was really pleased with how the kids played tonight Junior quarterback Ben Walsh threw four touchdown passes in the win and completed 18 of his 23 attempts for 286 yards All but two of his attempts came in the first half Eight of his first-half completions and two of his touchdowns went to junior wide receiver Hunter Smeltz "Ben played a great game and when he squares his shoulders he throws a great ball," Gallagher said tight ends and running backs that can all catch the ball." Souderton's defense didn't restWhile the Big Red offense was clicking the defense was able to stymie the Golden Hawks and didn't allow a score until it was already 35-0 "Being a part of this has been great," said Bergey, a starter as a sophomore and a second-team Suburban One League Continental Conference pick that season "I was a little nervous about my knee when the season started but after I made my first tackle (against Spring-Ford) everything was fine I'm just enjoying the chance to get on the field and really feel like a part of the team." The loss was the third in the last four games for the Golden Hawks who dipped to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the SOL Continental The Big Red improved to 5-3 and 4-1 in the SOL Continental Trailing 14-0 in the final minutes of the second quarter CR South drove to the Souderton 24 before a fumble ended the march then went 65 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0 right before halftime The senior defensive back had an interception a fumble recovery and also scored a rushing touchdown "He's a great kid and his father was in from Oklahoma and got to see him play," Gallagher said the junior quarterback had a huge night and would have had even better numbers if not for a couple of drops a tackle for loss and also caught two passes for 42 yards They said it"We're so young (that) we fix one thing and then something else goes wrong the next week," said CR South head coach CJ Szydlik who had just two seniors starting Thursday night "It's not for a lack of effort — our kids are giving their all But Souderton is a really good team and Ed (Gallagher) has a program and just knows what he's doing." Latest big-school football rankings: Here's the top 5 in Bucks County high school football big-school rankings after Week Seven "We don't play again until a week from Saturday (at Council Rock North) and the break will be good for us," Gallagher said The Golden Hawks host Quakertown on Oct The Big Red visit Council Rock North on Oct Drew Markol covers local sports for PhillyBurbs.com Support our journalism with a subscription.