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
One last point. Let Imhotep and other charter or prep schools pick ONE youth program (the closest) to get players as do all the schools defined by school districts in PA. Let them play by the same rules. And sorry if anyone is offended by my calling them an “all star team”. That is a criticism of those officials who are allowing this situation, NOT on the kids at Imhotep. The kids have no control over that. And I seem to be singling out Imhotep. But that is only because they play as an AA team. I am against any team that has an unfair size/talent advantage being included in the PIAA state football tournament.
Imhotep should not be in AA. Case closed. Common sense tells you that they have an unfair advantage. But rabid Philly football fans want so badly to see a non perochial inner city school dominate at states that they are willing to do whatever it takes. I bet they cheered with a fever pitch after ever one of Imhotep’s 83 points over Future.
As for Berwick faking a punt up 36-0… You practice that in practice where it belongs, not in a blowout game. In the case of Imhotep’s 77 point win. It only reinforces the fact that they have an obscene competitive advantage in AA falling outside the spirit of PIAA regulations.
@The Facts
You prove my point that Imhotep has the unfair advantage of a talent pool many times larger than the vast majority of public schools in PA at all levels. Hence, they beat a Future team 83-6 after pulling starters at 40-0 early in the game. Furthermore, they have the ability to recruit talent from outside of their immediate area. That amounts to compensation in the form of enticing athletes to play on a team stocked with elite talent and a good shot at winning a title. You play for us and you’ll be a champion. As of now, PIAA defines a non amateur and ineligible player as one who (or parents) receives “money or property”. I think that should include enticement via other means as mentioned above.
LOL.. no, I am not a Quips fan. That is why I am on the EASTERN Football forum. I am a proud Catasauqua Rough Rider. I just think the Quips will most likely end up as the western rep against the philly all stars.
Ah RRMark now I get it, your Quips. You sound like someone pumping themselves up for a big game but prepping the excuses just in case it doesn’t go your way.
How about we let the kids play the games and in the end if your Quips and The Tep face off we let the best team win instead of trying to denigrate what Teps program is doing. By the childish name calling of All-stars you diminish the accomplishments of these young men on the field.
Good luck to your Quips and I’m rooting for them to face The Tep in Hershey. These two programs have the making of an epic showdown.
@ all
I’m gonna put this out there to give props to a great football coach. Someone in an earlier post asked the question, “Where is the feeder school for La Salle?” “They pull all the talent from the area public schools!” Well go look at the CYO program for St. Genevieve of Flourtown, St. Philip’s in Lafayette Hill, OMC of Chestnut Hill. The St. Genevieve Wildcats. Check the names out of all the players. The Buckleys, Feleccia, Kerrigans, DiGiacomo, Maginnis, Magarity, Loughery, alot of the names you pick will be from that CYO feeder program run by a great coach named “Doc” Dougherty. He is in the PIAA Football HOF and one heckuva guy. So don’t say that the Catholic schools take from the public. CYO kids feed the Catholic league.
@ With Out A Doubt Berwick in the 80 and 90 a cup cake schedule !! Did you see any on their games back them i got news for you the MT. Carmel Valley View,.North Pocono,and Dallas team of that time could play with any one in the state
@Doug D oh wnep that a real good judge of the strenght of the teams that Southern And Berwick are playing you compare Abington games to Berwicks even the WVC guys will tell you the conference is weak . my advise is get up off you couch and my be see a team play before you start awarding state champs.Hey what was the Lakeland and Susquehanna score ?
@ Without a doubt, Why did USA TODAY name Berwick in 1983 1992 and 1995 as # 1 high school football team in USA ? Because they DESERVED it !!!
Garnet Valley cruising right along!!…Go Jags!…Good Luck vs Penncrest!…..
@RRMark
You sound like a brokenhearted husband crying in his beer begging the bartender to give you another round..
THE FACTS:
-The 2012 4A Championship was played by two Public Schools..
-The 2012 2A Championship was played by two Public Schools..
-The 2012 1A Championship was played by (wait for it, wait for it) two Public Schools (one with the all-time win streak)..
-The 2011 4A Championship was played by two Public Schools..
-The 2011 1A Championship was played by two Public Schools…..need I go on?
Sorry Charlie, your theory does not hold water and your facts are merely speculation based on the perception of a school having the same talent as the MIGHTY-MIGHTY QUIPS & POWERFUL CLAIRTON who both are small public schools mind you..
Now,next round is on me Buddy, and I got the keys.. Try not to drop a tear in your suds on that one..
Oh, one other tidbit, Imhotep High is sounded by SEVEN of the Top 10 Youth Football Programs in the City and arguably the state. A two mile radius at least.. 3 of these teams made it to the Fla Super Bowls (unheard of) Google it!
Also, did you know Philly has middle school football.. YES, they do! Did you know the championship team plays in Northwest Philly where Imhotep is located (Leeds)? Yes!! Hurry up, ask for another round, LAST CALL!! Did you know there are only two High School football programs in Northeast Philly? Yes!! Imhotep and King (whose on their way to being a powerhouse)..
Come on buddy, time to go home.. I’ll drive..
Jeez, quit with this “school choice” BS. That is for academics. Athletics has its own regulations and rightly so… to keep things equitable and competitive so kids enjoy their chosen sport and have a shot at a championship. I’m actually happy non catholic philly team can finally give their kids a glimpse at the glory North Penn, CB West etc… have attained ethically over the years. They didn’t have to build an all-star team to compete. They did it the right way. I am saddened that Imhotep’s kids are being taught that winning is more important than the spirit of competition. If my team can’t beat em… Go Quips!!! Beat those all-stars.
As for being bitter. I have seen the same 5 teams come out of D12 since they’ve been included in PIAA. They are all prep, charter or catholic schools. The best of public in recent years, GW, got smoked when they faced D11. Give me a holler when your public schools show up for a game.
@ TRAD
about Berwick”s pounding of the Seal”s
up 36-0 and faking a punt . Ok this is how I
look at it . try different plays to get ready for states in case a fake punt is needed in a clutch
game . just like years ago Coach Curry has his “AAA”DAWGS looking like a fine oiled BUZZ SAW
like wise Coach Roth and his Southern Columbia Tigers they as well are the BUZZ SAW of class “A”
best of luck DAWGS AND TIGERS .
and to all the haters deal with it their
B”AAA””A”K!!!!
There is absolutely no doubt that the best high school football teams in the history of Pennsylvania were the CB West dynasty teams of the 80’s and 90’s. 2nd place not even close. Berwick? They play that cupcake schedule against teams that they totally overmatched. Some of the teams mentioned below were very good teams, but no match for the Bucks.
Don’t forget about the 2011 Archbishop Wood team, many CB West people compare that team favorably to their best teams.
@ Kmac
I never saw any old Berwick games. I remember they were highlighted on ESPN’s Scholastic Sports America show back in the 80’s. Got the DVD for CB West’s ’98 and ’99 state title. I saw that ’04 PCC team in person when they annihilated Neshaminy. If they had pressed it they might have won that game by 70 points or so. When I watch that CB West DVD you could tell they were special and playing at a higher level than what I have seen lately. I would give honorable mention to the ’03 SJP and North Penn teams.
@ Jive
Jive, just observing your input that recruiting doesn’t have much effect on the outcome of a teams success. Well I guess Mack Brown (Head Coach for Texas) has it all wrong when he says “It is not about the X’s and O’s but the Jimmy’s and Joe’s.” My point is, when a school has an opportunity to take in more talented players than anyone else, they will most likely win the game.
You are right about the mountain schools, they have the same kids playing in their programs for 9 straight years before high school. Problem is, they only have the kids that are in their Pop Warner program. They don’t get the #1 kids from 20 Pop Warner teams. That is why New Jersey has a separate State Championship for Private/Charters. I am not saying one is better than the other as I think Imhotep is a nasty team this season, as they were last season. They should have to play in AAAA division. Or draw a boundary around where their kids can come from like every other public school district.
@Jive love the post. It goes to my other point and that is coaching. You are right these kids don’t grow up running Imhotep’s system. In fact if you look at most of these youth teams they don’t run anything near what Imhotep runs offensively or defensively. But what they do learn is to compete. When they get to Imhotep they get the chance to compete under the eyes of a large number of coaches and to be taught. You can’t discount the teaching when you can have 1 or more coaches for each position group working with a kid.
@Rollie-
Thanks. Respect PGrove and what Pennypacker teaches those kids about football and life. The same for the SFord Coach and his staff. I appreciate your comments. I apologize if I misconstrued your initial assessment. I still don’t think they lost composure except for the tack on… It was a war all night long.
Good luck the rest of the year!
Not somuch…
I wasn’t trying to take any shots. I have lots of Spring-Ford friends. I was merely commenting on what I saw. Sincere best wishes for Spring-Ford. Loved it when they made it to the district finals last year and loved it when the girls won the state hoops title.
@Jive
Imhotep benched their starters in the middle of the 2nd quarter. Their JV team put up those points. I would agree with you about the disgrace but I put it on the School of the Future because for 2 1/2 quarters, it was all JV.. I even saw the 2nd string kicker playing. #20 only had 3 carries I believe and #22 had 2. What can the Imhotep staff tell their JV? Don’t compete? Don’t score? That’s how players get injured.
@Unknown
Shame on DelVal.. I heard this may give Imhotep a bye next week due to suspension.
I will not comment on your post as I have way too much respect for Pottsgrove, both Coaching staffs and the way both teams played Friday night.
I do not accept your unauthentic apology and you are able to have your opinion.
Good luck to the Falcons the rest of the Season!
Nicely put jive, gotta agree. On another note, I am a D3 and Berks County fan, a shout out to Fleetwood for their win last night, 2 weeks in a row they knocked off an unbeaten, first time ever in first place half way into a season. There is more to football than just a few teams.
Just gotta chime in on this one more time. When you look at the youth programs, as far as pound ball goes, the area of the city where Imhotep is, is pretty good. Here’s the thing about the youth programs, or as some people are complaining about, lack there of. Most schools up in the mountain areas have youth programs that directly feed into a particular high school. Them kids will be together from 1st through 12th grades. They run the same offense and defense as the high school teams. I don’t care how many Pop Warner teams are around Imhotep, they don’t run Imhotep’s offense from 1st grade on. I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. Two years ago Holmesburg had the best midget team (180lb 8th-9th grade) in the country. That team feeds Lincoln and Judge, how is that working out for Lincoln and Judge? Last year Somerton midgets were second only to a team from upstate NY. Don’t think the NY kids are going to school in Philly, so hands down best around here. That team feeds Washington, how is that working out for Washington? Stop trying to find an excuse as to why a team is better than yours! People can go on all day about recruiting, but you have all given Archbishop Wood a pass for years with it. Which youth teams feed Wood, Prep, LaSalle? I have an idea. You wanna hit Imhotep where it hurts? Tell your team to go out there and beat them. Until that happens, let the kids play football, and enjoy it. Remember West a few years ago? Remember how much fun they were to watch? Sit back and watch Imhotep for a game. Love em or hate em, they are fun to watch.
@jive
We’ll said jive and try to tell that to RRMark