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
@BCfootball
Yes, however the PCL first round begins while other districts are playing their final league games which gives District 12 a bye week the week of Nov. 22nd and 23rd.
I am not just focusing on District 12 as there are other major flaws in PIAA bracket. That is just an obvious flaw. No teams should have a bye week in state playoffs. It is an advantage any way you look at it.
@tsaf77
Just a correction to your PCL 4 games to reach Hershey. They have 5 playoff games before they would get ther. The same as any other district. They have PCL semi-final, PCY final, district 12 championship, than they play the winner from district 11 combination, & than the winner from district 1. That is a very tough schedule.That is 5 games to get to Hershey.
All’s fair in love, war and… District 12 football.
tsaf77… Stop looking for excuses for when D12 destroys everyone! Just let these fine kids play the game!!! lol
@Tank
I have seen Neshaminy twice. Of course Coach Schmidt is in his 19th season and Biz Keeney of Bensalem and Tennent is over this year as QB’s coach. They were young last season but mature this year. They are solid on both sides of the ball, and exceptionally so defensively. The D allowed no scores against first D for the first five games. I believe in 9 games the first D has yielded 5 TDs total. Offensively they are averaging a flat 37 points per game. RB D’andre Pollard has 1808 yards and 24 TDs; a 10.4 yards per carry average and is quick, elusive and hard to stop one-on-one. Denny Lord is a bruising FB-type backfield mate. QB Tyler Wombough is efficient, poised, and has completed 42 of 73 for 604 yards and 8 TDs. His completion average is 57.5 and he has but three picks. Coach Schmidt has taken two similar talented clubs to state finals in 2001 and 2004, so I believe this is one tough out.
@ That Guy Philly
I understand what you mean however why would the bracket even list the games between Roxborough and Prep Charter or Imhotep and Future. They are not playoff games are they? How can there be District playoffs on Oct. 25th when most other schools still have 2 regular season weeks of football left. The only schools in AA that should be playing District games this week are from District 7 due to the 16 teams that qualify.
I think schools have to drop the past or make for better planning if they want to keep their current league championship format in place because the Public and PCL championships are not adhering to the scheduling that all other schools have to follow.
Districts 1,2,4 and 11 all had to drop the Eastern Conference and accept Districts as the berth to the PIAA playoffs in the early 1990’s.
I understand the history of championship games, especially the PCL, however teams like these are getting a bye week when they only play a 9 game regular season. I understand the regular season games not reaching 10 however only 4 games gets you to Hershey isn’t fair.
I am sure any of the teams from Districts 1,2,3,4 and 11 would love the opportunity to move from districts to a bye week to the eastern semi’s but if they want to smell Hersey, they have to show 15 games played on their schedules. PIAA needs to step in and at least give fairness to all teams by having them play 5 playoff games before they reach the PIAA Championship. Otherwise lets go back to 1987 and create regional champs like New Jersey through the Eastern Conference, etc.
Keep rolling GVHS Jags!!!…
Must be a typo, cuz in the schedule on this site it has “PCL Class AA Final” vs. Prep Charter.
Oh no, I knew Imhotep plays on T-day too. Just relating Catty’s experience.
@That Guy Philly
wow that makes it even more interesting! if catty does play imhotep maybe they wont play their starters.much in the turkey day game regardless.of score to try and gain an edge. plus say one bad play could change everything one guy from either team falls the wrong way it could mean him being out for the next game. itll be very interesting to see how each coach approaches the games. if i were catty id pull my starters early hoping to have the fresher legs to pull the upset late in the 4th quarter. might not matter but could be the extra something they need. if that scenario happens itll be very exciting and interesting!
@steve
GV played in the AAA state championship game at Hershey in 2007..went to the 3rd round of the AAAA districts in 2008 and to the third round of the AAAA districts in 2011. Glad to clear that up.
I don’t see much about Neshaminy on here but from what I read on news sites they look very good, Anyone have any insight?
@GV fan, you just mentioned them. Talk up your team. Many of us know nothing about them because we haven’t seen them play.
@ches mont Chuck I think Loper and Steinmetz play just as well as Worley and Burke. I think Rustin has a better QB and passing game. Ridgeway is a playmaker for Rustin as well. Coatesville’s D is great but you cant overlook that their offense has struggled at times this year against solid Ches Mont Teams. Rustins D is pretty damn good too only giving up around 8 pts a game.Too bad they didn’t meet up during the regular season, would have been a great one. I agree that anyone can win 1-16 especially in HS football.
@ KMAC:
yep, it doesn’t get much bigger then the Pennsbury/Neshaminy game. I see pennsbury winning only due to home field.
I heard it’s possible that the winner will be #1 seed. Not sure how true that is.
Great game, they always are.
GVFan,
I guess you have not seen my recent posts referencing Garnet Valley. Thanks who you’re are talking about, right?
@ chesmont chuck
im very confident in rustin. this is the best team they have had since they won district one back in 2009. im socked through the years that rustin and coatesville have not played but hopefully will in the playoffs. Rustin should win that matchup and probably would be favored especially at home. Also dtown east was not very good rustin beat them easily so that game doesnt have anything to do with anything
GV-
Hear you. GV will make some noise this year in the Playoffs. Coatesville was an 11 seed last year and they made some noise. D1 Playoffs will be fun to watch. There are a lot of good teams this year. The quality is deeper than in some previous years IMO. Good luck!!
Just found out New Hope got extra power points from their Nativity BVM win so if my scenario breaks down like I think New Hope is #3 and Springfield is #4.
@RRMark
Not sure where you see Imhotep playing for the PCL (Catholic League) title they are playing this weekend for the PPL (Public League) title.
Also, Catty’s not the only team playing on T-day, Imhotep will be playing that day too, they are going to play MLK high school who is a neighborhood rival. I wouldn’t want you to think they had a bye two days before if they are playing you guys that weekend.
@tsaf D1 and D12 have a subregion for class A and AA. Class A is pretty simple the top 4 teams regardless of district get in. For class AA the winner of D1, the PCL Champ and PPL Champ get in, then the team with the most power point gets in and are ranked by power points. As of today the teams would be 1. Imhotep (D12), 2. West Catholic (D12), 3. Springfield-Montco(D1), 4. Neumann-Goretti (D12). However, D1 still has a week of games left in the regular season, while D12 is done. By my calculations if New Hope-Solesbury wins and all the other teams that should win that they played earlier this season then they would bump Neumann-Goretti. If Springfield loses their game (they play PW), they could wind up tied in power points with New Hope but would both have more than Neumann-Goretti.
Coming down to the final week of the season as it should.
@gvfan,
1st time to the big stage, to be expected??
I suppose most of the posters on this forum discuss/debate the teams they follow who’ve been on top for some time. Just human nature??
Top seeded D1 teams haven’t shown to be automatic once playoffs begin, we’ll see..
If Garnet Valley wins this week, they will be 10-0 and in the top 5 in the D1 AAAA rankings….yet there has been virtually no mention of them in 1300+ comments…..Interesting.
General
A big matchup this week is the Neshaminy-Pennsbury game at Falcon Field. Although win or lose, both teams should be ok for the playoffs it is a big rivalry match. Perhaps more important is the Upper Darby-Penncrest matchup as they are presently deadlocked for the last playoff position and incentive to win this one should be big. Getting back to Penns-Nesh this is of special interest to me as they are the two teams I have seen most in my life (Penns 191 times, Nesh 154 times); and I have seen them bat heads 21 times. Penns holds the overall series edge 39-32-7 (remember when ties were allowed; Ugh!). There was a supposed Neshaminy “jinx” at Falcon Field because they played there from 1968 until 1999 without gaining a win; only a 7-7 tie in 1970. The ‘Skins went 16 games; 31 years before winning there. But, dissecting the “jinx”, there were really only two of those years where the Neshaminy record came in to the game better than the Falcons. The three Falcon undefeated seasons were three of those years. A Neshaminy School strike caused a forfeit one year. The tie was a year Neshaminy had the superior record coming in. This year’s game has the makings of a “classic”. I have seen them both this year more than once; both are solid everywhere. My prediction – one of them will win! Enjoy all of the games.
@17th
I wasn’t downplaying the Prep loss, I’m downplaying Ryan the giant killer. Prep should have won that game with their JV team, very poorly played game by Prep. I know you’re a Prep guy, and I’m sure you follow the team. #7 at no point this season has become the ball pounder of the team. #1 has led the team in RB carries in every game except the first in Dallas, and Saturday against Ryan. #7 lines up at the slot receiver spot about 70% of the time.
Catty will play on T-day no matter what… well, barring a hurricane. It is Northampton’s Super Bowl. It’d be nice if they played the game on Sunday, Dec. 1 at least. Oh well…
Future is an A school but plays in the PL AA/A division. I don’t know why they have IC playing in the “PCL” Final. Is that the public charter league? Not sure what any of these would have to do with the PIAA district tourney.
Jive,
Thanks for down playing the loss for SJP but RYan deserves some applause here! They flat out beat the Prep!!!!! The freshman has become the ball pounder of this team. There was no hidden message there. Martin was not having a good day and he was replaced by the back up. The back up qb delivers a completely different game and that difference allowed the Prep to put a quick TD on the board. It also allowed them to drive right back down the field until he turned the back up qb threw a pick. A second TD would have made it interesting.
Teams have bad days but they still have to be motivated regardless of the situation. They will be fine! Lessons learned.