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Which Teams Advance?

Written by: Joe Stokes on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

By Joe Stokes

This first week of the 2008 PIAA football playoffs offered more than any fan could ask for in hard fought competition. The selection of a team to the higher seed and home field advantage offered no guarantee of victory as a few of those squads found out.

The first round saw several upsets in District One including wins by lower seeds Abington, Conestoga and Ridley. Those surprises have set up some great second round contests for us to analyze. The Ridley Green Raiders are defending District One champions but must travel to third seed Neshaminy this year to keep the dream alive.

The top ranked teams on Ed Thomas’ Southeastern Pa Top Ten faced some tough competition last week. However their rankings stood the test of time and they now must fight it out to keep their seasons alive.

Over the last two seasons a little bit of observation and a lot of luck have allowed this writer a prediction record of 105-36. This season is has been a little tough but a 38-17 prediction record going into the twelfth week is fine given how competitive these teams continue to be this season.

Last weekend Garnet Valley, WC Rustin and Pennsbury all won as predicted while Interboro and Glen Mills suffered playoff set backs despite this writers predicted victories.

The match up between Ridley at Neshaminy offers some interesting history in this AAAA showdown. The Skins have lost both meetings with the Ridley Green Raiders in 2002 and 2007. However this is the first time Ridley has had to travel to Neshaminy in playoff action. This may well be the difference along with the running tandem of Bryan Dean and Jay Corbert putting constant pressure on the always resilient Green Raider defense.

Prediction: Neshaminy 31 Ridley 28

The Pennsbury victory over Central League’s Penncrest broke the Suburban One’s 0-3 run against Central League teams on Friday night. They now must face Central League Champion Garnet Valley. This is going to be an upset win as quarterback Brandon Pepper is going to use not only his own great talent but the running skills of Richie Applegate and Dante Devine to surprise the home favorite Garnet Valley.

Prediction: Pennsbury 21 Garnet Valley 20

The Abington Galloping Ghosts forced several turnovers in their come from behind win over Glenn Mills last weekend. However that earned them trip to top seeded North Penn and they will not have an answer to Knights running back wonder Ronnie Atkins.

Prediction: North Penn 35 Abington 14

Here is the rest of the fearless forecast:

Prediction: LaSalle 27 Father Judge 20

Prediction: Conestoga 38 Downingtown West 35

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6 Responses to “Which Teams Advance?”

Keith says:
November 15th, 2008 at 2:23 am
The Berwick bulldogs on to the next round.. I can see a showdown with selinsgrove in the near future..
Bye the way Hazleton people regardless of whether you beat us 3 weeks ago, you guys are done and we are moving on.
jammer20 says:
November 13th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Neshaminy all the way baby!! I smell some revenge!
Jay says:
November 13th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I see 0-3 for the Central league, but oh well. Would love to see Neshaminy vs. Garnet Valley, but who knows.
Coach says:
November 12th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I see the Central league going 3-0.
Joe Britton says:
November 12th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Go Ridley. Neshaminy is a great club but Ridley always shows up with its A game, This should be a great game!!
LouDog says:
November 12th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Go Ridley. They can and will beat Neshaminy!!!

Which Teams Advance?

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6 Responses to “Which Teams Advance?”