Are you ready for some football?
Welcome to the official blog on high school football for the 2013 season.
During the off-season let’s talk about players, recruiting news, teams and everything about high school football.
During the season each week let’s talk about match-ups and how teams did. Let us know what player(s) stood out each week.
2,248 Responses
@ joe
I agree: Never say never. Catty has a very good team and would probably beat quite a few teams in higher classifications, but Imhotep is huge and has a ton of team speed.
@ dan
ok i was asking because i havent seen imhotep but catty has three quality division 1 guys but ive heard imhotep has plenty of D1 guys. obviously you never know with high school football but i guess they are a little outmatched from what ive heard. hey theres been greater upsets pulled!!!
@ joe
Not to disparage Catty, but if they meet Imhotep, there is a better than average chance they will be mercy-ruled.
When do the District standings come out? After Week 6? Thanks!!
Hey mmguy like your analysis except that Mifflin left LL 1 to Berks to have more success in winning. Wilson is staying in LL not only for match ups with 4A teams for power points but with better competition than Berks has to offer year over year. LL is based upon male student enrollment which is reviewed every two years, that’s why Lancaster Catholic is going to LL2 and I believe Conestoga is moving to LL1 next year.
if catty meets imhotep in the playoffs do they have a shot?
The LL is also enrollment based, sec 1 is all 4A except Lancaster Catholic and they are going back down next year. Sec 2 tends to be 3A. One of the big reasons Wilson has stayed in LL is for 4A games, if they came back to Berks too many 3A in section 1. I believe Mid Penn also follows size. From what I have seen schools tend to go with 2 year contracts out of league unless it is a local rivalry (e.g. Wilson/Mifflin).
Thank you Buddy and Rev for confirming what I was trying to say.
Congrats to Garnet Valley 4-0 start!…keep working hard Jags!
@ Buddy
Up in D2, classification matters a little bit in scheduling because sometimes the divisions are changed based on it. More so in the Wyoming Valley Conference where divisions are, for the most part, determined solely by PIAA classification. In the Lackawanna Football Conference, divisions are based partly on classification and partly on competitiveness.
Because what classification a team is has such a huge impact on league and divison scheduling, the entire schedule – non-division and division – is based entirely on the 2 year cycle.
So up in D2, it’s uncommon and really unheard of for a team to change non-conference scheduling in the middle of a 2-year cycle. It just doesn’t happen in D2.
@ Jim B
I heard that exact same scenario regarding contracts being made in D1.
Typical is 2 year agreement, that is the min. So they get a Home & Home. Has nothing to do with classifications. Separate matter.
I believe NP/LaSalle is a 2 year contract that keeps getting re-newed every 2 years.
Senseless to argue OL Coach.
No, I hear you PCL Fan. When we’re dealing with high schools within a big city it’s not as cut and dry. The catchment area may not be based on strict neighborhood boundaries. When a team like Don Bosco though, plays a team down South I’m torn. On the one hand, I’m totally partial to the Northeast but on the other hand I still have memories of that Bosco/O’Hara game a few years ago at Granatell Stadium. The arrogance of SOME of the fans was palpable.
Phillyboy you do know that Central of Miami is a magnet school with open boundaries covering most of Miami?
OL Coach
O’Hara pulled out of the Tep game most likely because they didn’t want to get crushed.
As far as the scheduling, I’m not lumping anything in together. I’ll say this again, in D2 the non conference schedules are set for two years. The 2012 and 2013 schedules are the same. So were the 2010 and 2011 schedules. These two year schedule commitments run concurrent with the PIAA classification cycles. What don’t you understand? The AD’s schedule non conference game for home and home series. They wait for the PIAA to announce the classifications for the next two years, and then find teams to play. Also, I never said teams don’t play above or below their classifications either. What I am saying is that the AD’s don’t schedule non conference games more than two years in advance because they don’t know who will move up or down.
Take Wilkes-Barre Coughlin for example. In 2010 & 2011 their two non-conference games were AAAA Stroudsburg and AAA Valley View. In 2012 and 2013 their non conference games were AAA Western Wayne and AAAA PM East (take note that the PIAA enrollemnet cycles were also 2010 & 2011, and 2012 & 2013). After this season and their two year schedule commitment is over, Coughlin’s AD will wait until Decemeber when the PIAA announces the classifiacations for the next two year cycle. With this info, the AD will then find two AAA or AAAA schools to play for the next two seasons. And the AD can now be certain those two teams he does schedule will remain AAA or AAAA and won’t drop down to A or AA.
Hope this ends your confusion. It is possible other districts don’t follow this pattern.
Good morning I’ve read every ones opinions this season thus far, and everyone has good valid points. But for some division the game play is so weak. I don’t know why some community s and school district let some of these programs go on.
Don Bosco Prep goes down big time. Central of Miami, FL wins 50-21. And Mission Viejo took them out last week. Don’t mess with the public teams.
What an intriguing several weeks it will be for the CL AAAA. All 5 teams will be in contention for the 4 playoff spots. LaSalle and SJP should be shoe ins. Ryan and Father Judge will not be push overs if the the 1st 4 games for each mean anything. Ryan seems like they’re putting up 50 a game and no one has scored on Judge in their last 3 games. Roman will be Roman… fast and athletic. LaSalle is still trying to find itself through 4 games thus far. Can SJP overcome its demons of last couple of years? Buckle up your chin strap and fasten your seatbelt as CL league play begins.
@Jim B, O Hara was scheduled to play Imhotep Charter and pulled out; O’Hara played Del Val Charter instead. Teams change scheduling all the time; there is no “etched in stone” 2 year schedule.
Not sure why you’re lumping in classification with scheduling; they are two entirely different things. Teams play outside their classification all the time
JAY
Wood was winning 42-0 at halftime. Started raining and I left. Total domination by Wood in first half.
It’s impossible to compare and rank teams so early in the season. Rankings have no bearing on outcomes and really do absolutely nothing but infuriate people and make for great reading on this blog. Who cares what SJP or Coatesville is ranked in September? That’s what the playoffs are for.
Really interested to see the outcome of WC vs Wood. I really can’t see anyone in AAA blocking Wood from another trip to Hershey. A rematch with Cathedral Prep would be fantastic.
And not like many readers here will care too much since it’s about the WPIAL, but Clairton’s PA state record 66-game win streak ended this weekend at the hands of the Greyhounds of Monessen… the team the Bears beat to start their streak over 4 years ago… Could it be two in a row? Monessen’s only loss this season is to 4-0 Fort Cherry, who faces Clairton next week.
Go Birds.
OL COACH
Teams can not change their schedules every year. The schedules are set every two years. Each and every D2 team is playing the same schedule they played last year. Just like the schedules for 2010 and 2011, which were also identical to each other. The reason the enrollment cycle and the two year schedule cycle run concurrent is because the AD’s have to wait for the PIAA to announce the classifiactions (usually in December), and which teams have moved up and moved down. Based on those classifications and changes, the AD’s can then make their schedules for the next two years. Again, that is how it works in D2, and D11 for that matter.
OL Coach
Up here in D2 the schedules are set on two year cycles. Teams schedule non conference games for home and home series. Theses schedule cycles follow the PIAA enrollment cycles. Every D2
@Jim B, by 2 year cycle, I’m assuming you mean the 2 year cycle of classifying teams by enrollment. That has nothing at all to do with non-league scheduling; teams drop and add games all the time.
Some leagues, due to the number of league games, don’t leave much flexibility for non-league scheduling but teams have the ability to change their non-league games at will.
Jarrico,
You need more info before you post.The PIAA has 2 year schedule cycles based on enrollment. That means schedules are made every other year. We are currently in the 2nd year of a cycle. That is why this years schedules look a lot like last years schedules. It would have been difficult for Coatsville, or any team, to add/drop teams in the middle of a cycle.
Having the opinion that Coatsvile plays a soft schedule is fine for you to have. Just understand it’s not that easy to simply add/drop teams from your schedule.
PS, I’m from Wilkes-Barre. Not a D1 guy, or a coatsville fan by any means.
@RRMark, I’m gonna up you one and predict their D doesn’t give up a point this week.