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
Let’s talk about current football.
Trad
We will never see eye to eye on this topic. You see it as poor sportsman ship, which I respect and understand, and I see it as a no risk opportunity to practice a trick play in a game situation. To me, it’s you that is missing the point. To the victor, go the spoils. That’s how I was raised. I was taught to be a humble winner, but when you are getting your butt kicked, there is not much you can say. IMO, losers blame refs, complain about being disrespected, and make excuses, etc etc. I prefer to keep my mouth shut, and let the butt kicking serve as my motivation to get better.
I don’t feel sorry for Sellingrove one bit. If they feel disrespected, they should go to Berwick and win next years game. That’s the greatest revenge.
I agree “some teams are blessed with a lot more talent and maybe have more years of coaching experience on their side than the other”. But, the way I see it, some teams prepare better, sacrifice more, work harder, and have a bigger desire to win then other teams.
@RRMark, by your argument, you imply that any school from a big city with open enrollment policies should play at the AAAA level. Does that even make sense to you?
You’re right you are entitled to your opinion, but come with facts to support them. Otherwise you still sound like its whining and giving up.
@tsaf77, can’t answer your question about the schools admissions policies, I don’t work there.
I do agree with phillyboy, the kid Anzelone was the best athlete on the field that day. Totally dominated. Wyomissing was a better team that day and deserved to win the game. Goes to prove that a small town team can beat what some have termed an all-star team. You just helped me debunk RRMark’s theory of Imhotep world dominiation, thanks.
@ phillyboy
You can lose a game and still have good coaching. You can lose 8 games and still have good coaching. Great coaches and programs in PA have had losing seasons having the same people on their coaching staff that they had when they won state titles.
The point I made which was just reinforced was that talent propels the team to wins over coaching at the High School level more times than coaching will. When great coaches have the most talent on the field they usually finish undefeated. The issue I had with the Facts was that he boasts coaching is why they are winning. Watch the La Salle game on youtube and tell me based on the film who the more talented team is. Also, La Salle is a more disciplined and better coached team however they did not have the talent that IC possesses, hence why they lost the game.
Which is why I stated to “give it the the KIDS of IC” as the reason why they are a power. I am sure coach Crosby is a good coach and also the IC staff however he and his staff are not greater than La Salle’s, Berwick’s, Dunmore’s, Southern Columbia’s, Aliquippa’s, Wyomissing’s, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc……………………………..
@trad31 i think if you dig a little you find that the fake punt was a payback for something that happen a few year ago.As they say what goes around comes around
@Jim B you are missing the point. It’s just a low move and i don’t really care what Lou Holtz did or said because he is not the end all be all when it comes to football. And you say don’t get down 36-0 to a team if you don’t want that to happen. Well obviously some teams are blessed with a lot more talent and maybe have more years of coaching experience on their side than the other. Its not that easy to say “don’t get down 36-0”. the kids for selinsgrove were trying their best. All you can ask for. I wonder how Berwick would have liked it last year if WVW faked a punt in there game. Or in the 2009 district semi’s when Abington Heights destroyed berwick 53-19. Don’t think it would have been appreciated. Also, you don’t have to keep reminding us every post about what Berwick did in the 80’s and 90’s. They were good. We get it. We all know.
What is the population that Imhotep draws athletes from? If it is comparable to suburban and small town schools, great. That’s the way athletic cookie crumbles. But if they do attract students from a much more populous and wider area, much like a Div. 1 college team can draw more with scholarships etc…, then they need to move up in class or play in their own athletic association.
Let me put it one final way. Say the PA state education system or whoever decides Parkland High in Allentown with 1300 male students is too big and should be split up into Parkland East and West. Both will now drop down in classification. But East gets to keep the best football players and can draw from all the potential players they used to draw from. So now they have AAA enrollment but the same AAAA talent pool. But West has to build a team only from their new school district boundaries and the kids that currently live there who don’t decide to go to the new juggernaut East to play football. Do you think it is right for East to compete in a lower class?
As to the question “Who are you to tell me or anyone else where I can send my child to school?”
I certainly have no say in where they attend for study nor athletics. But the PIAA certainly has the right to decide they don’t belong in AA or in the PIAA at all for that matter. And I certainly have a right to express that opinion. Sorry to tell you, but that is exactly what will eventually happen. Maybe not this year or the next. But it will happen. And any of Imhotep’s championships should then get an asterisk next to them like a Barry Bonds juiced HR record. Until then, we will play the teams that we have to.
As for quitting on my team… well, I will leave that comment alone. Good luck to whatever team you root for. And I will root for whoever is playing Imhotep this week. Fair enough.
@Jim B again let it go like you said a
lakeland fan living in the past thinks you a Valley View guy.Hey Doug he one of your Berwick Bulldogs they did share the Big 11 title in 81 and 82 losses to Valley View both years 87 was their only team that won an A title. if you keep it up he only going to tell you how they had a close lost to Blakey in 63 so like i said let it go
Wyomissing also had a lot of talent. In fact, they probably had the best all around player on the field. Alex Anzelone had a scholarship to Notre Dame and then decided to go to Florida. tsaf77, is a team allowed to lose one game and still have good coaching?
DoudD,
First, I am NOT from Valley View. Lets get that straight.
Second, no one outside of Chapman Lake cares what happened at Lakeland in the 1970’s or 1980’s. Sorry to be the one to break that to you, brah. Lakeland never won a state title, and never reached a state title game. Valley View, Dunmore, Riverside, Dallas, heck even Hanover Area with their State Title, and one title game loss (I won’t even mention Berwick) are all more accomplished programs. It’s 2013 and Lakeland is a NON FACTOR. Doug, stop living in the past, and learn to evolve. Now you are reduced to boasting about close losses to Mt Carmel and Northern Lehigh? That’s desperate Doug. And how can you seriously compare Lakeland with Dunmore? You’re the one listening to Bob Marley and smoking something while you are at it. Doug, Dunmore has one state championship, and two title games losses. You know what everyone outside of Lakeland calls that? State Level Success! Which is something Lakeland has never experienced.
Oh ya, glad you mentioned your boy Evan Kraky. I was up there at Chapman Lake back in 2001 for a playoff game versus W-B Meyers. Remind me how that game turn out Doug? I really had fun jumping the fence and ringing that victory bell you guys have in the back of the end zone! It’s just too bad Kraky dumped your best shot at that state title down the drain. lol that!
PS. We can, at least, agree on Berwick. I am, and have been for many years, a George Curry fan.
@tsaf77
Calm down, I merely stated an opinion based on the perception of all their kids being elite; I am American and I have that right to an opinion. Last year I believe IC was 14-1 and they lost to a GREAT Wyo team who also has great coaches and they were 16-0. So what you’re saying is very irrelevant to the rant of RRMark to whom I was addressing.
Now, as it was told to you before, there are no boundaries in Philly. Washington High can get kids to attend there from anywhere in the city. I graduated from a NE school and lived across the city. I had to catch two buses and the sub each way each day. You are clueless to Philly’s system. This also includes Northeast, Central (depending on grades), Lincoln, and Frankford who are all able to accept kids from ANYWHERE in the city without a lottery. That’s why the Charter/Catholic advantage argument doesn’t hit home in District 12. They all have opportunities to the pot of gumbo..
You can relax..
@ Doug
Get your facts straight. Lakeland did not win the Big 11 in 82. The Cougars crushed your Chiefs. Valley View had the most Big 11 Championships in the Division until it ended in 97. By the way, how did your Chiefs fair in the 1990’s?
@ That Guy Philly
I have been misinformed about the Philly SD and boundaries as others have told me that Philly has specific boundaries to attend their schools and charters are able to gain any students within the entire Philly SD.
The question then about Imhotep, is do they accept the majority of “known athletes” to the school and cut out others in the “lottery?” Is that question too obvious!?
So by just taking the quality athletes in the “lottery”, you can have an AAAA quality team and only maintain AA numbers. Not exactly playing fair but playing within the rules based on this. Something the PIAA needs to address?
Basically, if the “best athletes” get informed that the former WC coach is taking over IC which would cost them nothing to attend and they are great football players from the many talented youth programs, they can just attend IC and create the powerhouse that has already begun.
@ Facts
If you think IC is good because of coaching then why didn’t they beat Wyomissing last season?! They are obviously the MOST TALENTED team in PA (and were last season also) as their coach boasted about having more D1 players on one team than anyone else in the state. It is pretty easy to motivate 4.3 speed and D1 talent. If you think this team is good because of coaching you didn’t watch the La Salle game. I watched it on youtube. IC is not even disciplined on Defense. Give it to the KIDS of IC! They are an awesome talent that should not be stopped with their team speed. The IC kids are fantastic. How dare you think the coaches of IC deserve more credit than the kids! Take your coaches and let them take the Schools of the Future team over next season to a state title this season. All they need is motivation right!
@ Jim B 🙂
first things first
my goal is most def not to brag about Lakeland’s Championship years. but for you to say the 70’S ment nothing is clearly crazy dude…further more we entered the big 11 in 1980 and buzz sawed everyone including your valley who cougars 43-8 and we also won the big 11 81 -82 -87 how about in 2001 when our state passing leader Evan Kraky and company
HAMMERED valley view 32-0 oh yeah forgot were nothing and onto states the mighty mount carmel just getting past us and also northern lehigh nipped us 10-7 in the other state game 2 years later …with northern lehigh coming within 6 points of almost beating Darrel Rivous and Alaquippa in the state title game so.. no shame here brah 🙂
haha we don’t come close to Riverside YOU MAKE NO SENSE !!!
You say we don’t come close to Riverside because they made states in 97 and 2010
well chief WHO beat the healthy VIKINGS in 2010 besides CLAIRTON haha LAKELAND 21-20 FOR THE DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP at Riverside week 9 your lost dude
also we don’t compare to DUNMORE ??? lol
I guess you went on vacation from 2000 to 2006
when Dunmore who was HAMMERING teams except LAKELAND infact they couldn’t beat us in 11 straight games regular season and D-2 AA TITLES
fact’s brah look’em up…..
have a great week Lakeland hater
GO CHIEFS….. DAWGS and TIGERS
just an idea: put some Bob Marley on and listen to ONE LOVE….might cheer ya up big guy ;P
WHO DAT? …WHO DAT?… WHO DAT? THINK THEY BEAT THEM DAWGS !!!!!
Best of luck to all P.I.A.A HS football teams
at the end of the day its just a game .
win or lose we all have to go to work on monday
just enjoy life 🙂
be kind to others and do your part to make America the BEST IN THE WORLD .hey bro if you look at it that way were on the same team as AMERICAN’S so I guess its a small world after all
USA….USA …USA…USA
You’re correct Jive.. It wasn’t factual it was misquoted. They are ranked #6 in the state of Maryland as per MaxPreps.
Facts, #6 in the country? You gotta change your name my man. Eastern Christian from MD is 4-1, ranked 302 in the country. Should be a real fun game, but when you are giving us The Facts, you can’t miss a ranking by 296 spots.
Jim, did you compare Curry to Lou Holtz? Hold on, give me a second to go back and read it again. You can call it vision beyond the game, hell you’re entitled to call it whatever you like. Here’s how I call it. Lou Holtz coached men getting a $200,000 scholarship against men also getting a $200,000 scholarship. Curry coaches boys, and gets his thrills by kicking other boys when they’re down. Great role model! You can throw out there every game he won, every great player his teams have beaten. On Friday night his team won the game, Curry took a big loss in morality.
@facts
I heard the same this may be a great game I have faith in imhotep to dominate but in a close win
@tsaf77 I agree that I don’t RRMark means to be derogatory. However I need to ask what boundary lines you think Imhotep may be crossing in terms of students from outside the district. They are bound to the same geographic district that all Philadelphia schools are, meaning that any kid from within the city limits is eligible to apply to this school. So in the statement you made about a kid transferring there from a school like Pennsbury, just can’t happen unless the kid moves into the Philadelphia school district boundaries. This is not a private/catholic school where kids can transfer in from any city/county/state to attend the school. The vast majority of these kids are from low income neighborhoods within the city.
Just heard Imhotep will be playing Eastern Christian High from Maryland (#6 in the country) at Germantown Field Saturday at 6pm.. Oh my!!
Those charter schools might act or seem like private schools but they definitely are not. The bottom line is ‘is the school subsidized and funded by taxpayer money’? The answer: yes. Those schools function like mini school districts. I’m cool with the neighborhood charter schools that guarantee admission from everybody within a certain catchment area but the magnet schools are bogus. First of all, who wouldn’t have success if the most talented kids are cherry picked. Second of all, it lessens the success of the schools from which they were taken.
DougD
Typical Lakeland fan. You’re boasting about Suburban Conference Titles and Division B championships. All those titles you mentioned from the ’70’s and ’80’s were in a horrible Suburban Conference. And everything from 2000 to present are division B championships. Furthermore, what did Lakeland do in the state playoffs those six years you guys won D2 AA ? The answer is NOTHING! Lakeland had a nice program for years, but the Chiefs will always be second fiddle to Valley View, Dunmore, and even Riverside. No one outside of D2 is even remotely familiar with Lakeland. Until they win a state tiles, or even makes a state title game, Lakeland is a non factor on the state scene.
A little more Berwick love.
In the two season of 1996 and 1997, Berwick played five (5) future D1 quarterbacks. Dave Ragone of Cleveland St. Ignatius; Byron Leftwich of Washington, D. C.’s H. D. Woodson; Matt Senneca of Allentown Central Catholic; Matt Smoker of Manheim Central; and Rod Rutherford of Pittsburgh Perry. Four were defeated. Only Dave Ragone was able to beat Berwick.
In 1998, St. Ignatius from Ohio came to Crispin Field. Berwick gained 511 yards and won 30-28.
Trad31,
No excuses for Curry. He certainly doesn’t need me to defend him, as I would say his record speaks for itself. (400+ wins, 6 state titles, 3 national championships, produced dozens of D1 players) IMO, if you dont like a Berwick faking a punt when you are down 36-0, don’t get down 36-0 to Berwic. Play better, and don’t point fingers.
No excuses for Lou Holtz either. Like I said, if you read the Holtz autobiography you will find Holtz himself talking about how he would fake a punt in a blowout for the two reasons I mentioned below. It’s called having vision beyong one game, or the regular season. Yes, George is looking well beyond the regualr season.
@ Phillyboy
I honestly do not know all of Wins/Losses with Berwick’s out of conference results. I know They were undefeated in 92, 95 and 97 so they were perfect in those crossovers. I would imagine they would have losses to those types of schools. Berwick did only lose 13 games throughout the 1990’s with 3 losses coming in 1999.
@ OL Coach
I think what RRMark is saying is taken in a more derogatory way then what he means. IC is a great program that has put together a great team. That is not even debatable.
The fact they are considered AA classification is debatable. The fact that some people on this site call them a “public” school is laughable. Because that would mean they would have to follow public school regulations to which they don’t. Especially concerning boundary lines of a public school district.
Also, no you can’t live in one public school district and send your child to another without that schools approval and you pay the per/pupil rate to the school you plan to attend. The administration of the school you are leaving also has to approve of you transferring to that school in order to participate in athletics. That is how it works, especially if you school district is not a failing one. For example, if my son attends Abington Heights and wants to transfer to Dunmore, I would need administrative approval for my son to participate in sports for that season. I would also have to pay the per pupil rate to Dunmore for the transfer if I am still living in Abington Heights.
In Philly, that may be how it works however I would never let my son leave a school like Pennsbury just to play football at Imhotep. The academics are not comparable.