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
@ Jive Turkey
The fault doesn’t lie with the kids. It lies with the PIAA.
Tsaf
Ben Franklin is allowed to play kids from 3 other area High schools who do not have football programs, that’s why they are in 3A. King can utilize two other schools also. As matter of fact all Philly schools are allowed to play and utilize kids who either attend neighboring schools without football programs or utilize kids who attend schools across the city but live in that schools neighborhood.
All of the city public schools can do this in D12, Charters and Catholics can’t!! So the playing field is even in D12, plus I’m hearing IC will be moving up next year. You’re only allowed to do it every two years I believe.
IC’s team is awesome but it wasn’t a powerhouse when these kids playing now were Freshmen and Sophomores. Their current QB took them to the states as a freshmen QB. That massive offensive line all started as freshmen and were getting their butts handed to them. Now, they’re Seniors and you see the results but for God’s sake, most of them never even been in Hershey stadium before and they’re being criticize for trying to get there.
I can see if they were all brought there this year as all-stars, but they were nobodies as freshmen and now they are being criticize for becoming better student athletes today..
I’m done, let the questions be answered by the kids on the field and not by old geezers like us behind a computer screen.. Stay warm fellas..
I don’t think Old Forge is balanced enough on offense.
Once again, who is knocking the players??? No one!!! I’ve said all along it is a PIAA rules issue. And I have cited Catholic, private, prep and charter schools equally. Of course, I am a fan of an AA school so I am going to focus on that classification. I would do the same if Prep Charter hired a high profile coach, started bringing in the best players and grew their roster to one third of male enrollment. Eastern Christian has 53 cyber students who all play football at an elite level. Do I, would anyone, think they should be put in class A if they resided in PA? Yeah, they might even beat Southern Columbia, lol. I even mentioned the Unger kid from Fleetwood switching to Wyomissing for last year. He certainly added another dimension to that team in the playoffs (passing). He sat out 12 games or whatever. And that was only because Fleetwood SD balked (Unger’s dad moved he an his son into an apartment in Wyomissing shortly before requesting the transfer). I would have excluded him from playoffs too. Did David Williams sit out any games last season? What does Wood crying have to do with the anything? If there is a problem with the rules, they should fix it to benefit all. Yes, some teams will protest. Wood could certainly stay at AAA in other sports while moving to AAAA in football. As has been pointed out, Aliquippa and others compete above their technical classification.
Again, I think there are a few of us in here who agree there is a problem. I can confidently say that no one is blaming the kids. If any kids should suffer as a result of rule changes, that is the fault of the PIAA and other adults who have inexplicably let the situation continue to the benefit of a few.
From what I have heard, Catty’s Ra’Von Burton will be sitting out the Lake-Lehman game (knee). Likely to return after that. Rushing duties will be handled by senior Devin Flores. Note: this is intended solely as a courtesy update for anyone interested.
I’m gonna throw my 2 cents in this classification/school choice debate. It all comes down to bringing in the best players without breaking PIAA rules. Do the rules need to be changed, probably. I just don’t see how Imhotep is the only school catching heat on this. The QB at Wood live in Quakertown, does anybody say anything about that? I could go on and on about players they bring in from other towns, schools, and states. Do they get a pass because they’re Wood and Imhotep is Imhotep? Do all of the Tep kids walk to school? Of course not, but the rules are that they can live in the city, and go to any school in the city. The big D1 lineman at Tep lives closer to 5 other high schools, 3 of them charters with much better academics. I could argue for or against these schools all day, but they are not breaking any rules. There has been a vote in the CL over the past few years about all of their schools playing in AAAA. Two schools continually vote against it, Wood and West. West had dominated AA football in the area up until 2 years ago, and Wood has been the AAA state champ in many sports since joining PIAA. Imhotep has zero state titles and zero state title appearances in football, yet folks are crying for a move up to AAA or AAAA. If Tep moves up to AAA you know who would be crying from the rafters? Wood! There is no easy way. Maybe classification should be based on the population your school draws from? I don’t have the answer. I just don’t understand why a team of kids, playing by the rules set forth for them, are getting knocked for being good. By no means am I saying the rules are right, but as of now, they are the rules.
How about the SCA Tigers. Does Old Forge even stand a chance? I say mercy rule by halftime.
@ That Guy Philly
I am using the numbers that were given to the PIAA for the current 2 year cycle. The new numbers were gathered in October but were not made public for the next cycle yet.
I am not very familiar with the cap on Charters but I was able to do some digging on the subject and it revealed some interesting data on them. I don’t want to beat a “dead horse” with the Charter saga and I am not attacking the kids as they are having a fantastic year and deserve all the credit for their superior play. The institution that uses them as a business by allocating state funds to these charters and holds no accountability for the money spent there is at fault. Look at how your charters are performing in comparison to the SD of Philly. I don’t see the better performing schools to be Charters.
These Charters get over $8,200 per student and over $22,000 for students with special needs. These rates also include transportation which the charters do not provide. The reason for the Cap, as you say, is that the SD of Philly had to set aside tens of millions of dollars from their budget because they can not account for 4,000 students whom supposedly were attending Charters. The Charters in return, refuse to sign their PA Charter licenses to function. The Charters want the $$$$ without the accountability of these students. I think I have a problem with that and don’t blame the SD of Philly for holding the funds and thus capping these institutions.
Now to the concept of “manning up.” I think schools have manned up pretty well against overwhelming odds and have played the Philly schools fairly well. To say that you understand the 6000 population and Catty as an AA school and answer my questions about the possibility of athletes all choosing to attend the same school in Philly, well that is just ludicrous!
For example, I am more familiar with northeastern PA. The school districts in my area that boarder each other are Abington Heights(AAA), Scranton(AAAA), West Scranton (AAA), Dunmore(A), Lakeland(AA), Valley View(AAA) and Old Forge(A). Each School District has their own youth programs. If the districts all merged into one like Philly, than the best football players can actually attend Dunmore or Old Forge and remain in class A when they are actually drawing from a population that includes 3 AAA schools, 1 AAAA school, 1 AA school and 2 A schools. How should Dunmore or Old Forge remain class A when their enrollment of 95 boys holds the top 50 players in the whole region. I understand it is hard to police that however give a little more respect than a phrase like “Man Up.”
By the way, Aliquippa (AA) and Jeanette (AA) along with Allentown Central Catholic (AAA) and Bethlehem Catholic (AAA) are all playing up one class. Actually, so is Ben Franklin High School in District 12 (AAA) with an enrollment of 257. I am just saying, your school can declare to move up in class this next cycle with those great youth programs. One of your schools already did this.
While I am at it, I understand the Thanksgiving Day games that take place and their impacts on the community. If this is such a priority, than don’t complain about playing 3 games in 8 days like the teams from other districts that do it. If Easton beats Parkland, they will play THREE GAMES IN EIGHT DAYS. Same with Catty. So, no sorry, I don’t see why D12 doesn’t have to play a PIAA 1st round game in class AA, AAA, and AAAA. Needs to be changed.
Back to the games to be played this week.
Fwgritty,
Congrats to them and all the Imhotep players, coaches, parents and fans!
Wilson & CV
just a guess based on seedings.
I have no idea whose who up there.
I have decided to not censor my comments just because others are unreasonable. As I normally do, I will not disparage anyone for their own opinions. I am adult enough to calmly debate any topic and I will continue to comment on any football related subject I see fit. If you feel “disrespected”, I say man up and grow up.
The benefits of “big cities”, or bigger populations, in terms of athletics (which is what we are talking about) are normally offset by being placed in a higher classification. The PIAA has decided that male enrollment numbers is the best way to do that. And it has worked well in the past when nearly all schools were easily defined and limited by geographic boundaries. If a school doesn’t abide by a boundary, and is allowed (or forced) to stay in a lower classification, all the while continuing to enroll whichever and as many football players as they wish, then there is a competitive advantage. That is not even debatable. If they suddenly decided to let Liberty High School in Bethlehem, PA cut their male enrollment to class AA numbers but still be able to enroll whatever players they wanted from the entire city, I don’t think anyone would seriously say it was fair. Yet oddly, some people would continue to argue that it was just so it wouldn’t taint their favorite team’s state title. They could argue that their school doesn’t seek out the best athletes for admission. But the evidence proves otherwise. And, in any case, not taking advantage does not mean the situation doesn’t need to be changed. They don’t make drag racing legal just because the vast majority of drivers would never think of doing it. A few COULD. And if they own a tuned up hot rod, chances are good that it wasn’t just by accident.
The only way I can see to remedy the situation would be to, yes, segregate those schools into their own athletic association (non-public) ala New Jersey. New Jersey is smart enough to know that Don Bosco Prep should not compete against say a Phillipsburg, which I believe has roughly the same male enrollment. Is there anyone in here that would honestly admit they think that would be right? I guess they would say I was “whining” again.
Any thoughts on who will win Friday nights semi-final games in D3. Wilson (1) vs Lower Dauphin (4) in one and Dallastown (3) vs Cumberland Valley (2)in the other semi ??
@RRmark
Just to humor you for the record:
DeAndre Scott/ATH verbally commits to ASU on Monday.
Aaron Ruff/OL committed to Temple.
There are no outstanding stats on this team due to the fact by halftime the games mostly are under the mercy rule. Over 20 players have scored TDs this season. Those are just 2 of many more student/athletes to get scholarship offers. Lastly 19 student/athletes from the FB program received scholarships, 18 athletic/1 academic.
@tsaf77
Are you basing those enrollment numbers from 2 years ago when they had to declare their classification for the 2-year period or the number now since the School Disfunction of Philadelphia illegally capped and reduced the number of students they could enroll?
Not to speak for my man Facts, but to answer your question, yes it would be possible for the students to go to ANY of the schools in the area.
I get your point about Catty pulling from a small 6000 person community, I’m sure the residents there enjoy benefits of small town life. However they choose to live there and therefore shouldn’t complain about the benefits of big cities. Because of the big city there are more youth programs to expose kids to the game. The fact that a charter school with AA enrollment offers better academics and a safer environment than the majority of public high schools in the area shouldn’t be held against them.
@tsaff77 the rest isn’t directed at you specifically, but a general comment to all the people whining about teams having an advantage
I have no problems with anyone who wants to come on here and debate the pro’s and con’s of Imhotep on the field. But if you want to come on here and whine about community sizes I say man up. If you want to complain about the advantages charter schools have, I say go talk to the legislators that forced the charter schools on Philly as part of the school takeovers. I come here to talk about the accomplishments of these kids on the field and classroom, can we move on to doing that.
@Trad31 ya strap it up real tight i think you going to see a good old fashion coal area football war!
By the way Facts,
Just because you keep that ambiguous name, Imhotep is 13 kids away from being AAA. I don’t consider that (small AA). Now Aliquippa being an A school like I said is the smallest in class AA with 130.
@ Facts
I think you completely missed the point of the Catty reference in having a population of 6000 vs Philadelphia with 1.5 million (5th largest city in the U.S.). Yes IC is surrounded by many other schools that kids can CHOOSE to attend. If the kids of Philly wanted to choose a team (school) knowing the success they can have, can they? You said these schools have no boundaries so would it be possible for the best players to choose to go to IC? I hope that is a clear question.
By the way, your hilarious rant after you mentioned the size of the Catty receivers was very difficult to divulge which reminded me of the movie Billy Madison with the quote
“what you’ve just said… is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul…”
Yeah, that quote is relevant of your rant. No offense, just humorous.
Hey buddy… It’s not the coffee, it’s the empty banter you follow up with when asked a question. Your supposed to be able to have a dialog about your predictions, back it up, add an ounce of thought, something.
There are 3 guys in Seattle sleeping under a rock who could explain why a team won or loss after the game is over!
Ohhhh I get it, this way you can’t be call a “flip flop”! Lose some of your credibility since you been saying for 3 months they have to rebuild, they are not that good, the QB, bla, bla, bla. He is efficient and that’s all he needs to be. Lol!!!!!
PV is overmatched across the board and will most likely get blown out. It’s really that simple, I could go on and on with specifics, but not necessary.
@ rrmark i know what you mean im a die hard catty fan went to all the gamrs and im so proud of what these kids accomplished with catty being the smallest school in the league im going to enjoy the ride till the end
@JiveTurkey
My apologies, I thought you were trying to attack this program. I too am familiar with the kids on this team. I’m one of the harshest critics of their play. I told them not to underestimate ECA. I love these young men for what they are accomplishing and want them to achieve more. I make no excuses for them. Thanks
@rrmark i love people that hide behind blogs as yourself and try to insult others you coward. This suppose to be about football and you making this personnel. But hey that’s what cowards do.
Lake lehmans opponents record is a combine 41-62 cattys is 52-53
@D11,
Both Easton or Parkland can beat St Joes prep. I saw Parkland twice this year. They look pretty good. Peaking at the right time. Easton is always Easton. Watched the D12 final on the web. Prep did not play well but you have to credit Frankford for that as well as the Prep probably looking past them……Heres how I see it. If Prep’s starting QB plays I think they will beat either Parkland or Easton. If he doesn’t The D11 rep has a good chance to win…Just the way I see it.
If catty takes the lead lake lehmen is in trouble and there one dimentional whete catty isnt
@ Joker 1:
I’ll give you my explanation after the game.
Until then, try the decaf.