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:
Admit it, you were wrong.
O L Coach-
I appreciate your support of LS, SJP and the PCL…
However, your comment is like comparing apples to oranges! You CANNOT compare a Public School that all local/community kids attend to a school that “selects” its applicants based on scholastic aptitude. Those schools can cherry pick the better applicants based on academic achievement and the potential for athletic achievement. I understand that some parents choose to send their children to those schools if their Public School is not academically good and/or their Football program is suspect. I am not calling that “recruiting” to be clear.. Parents can choose.
Some Public Schools are very, very good and combine academics and good athletics. They are in the minority. Other Public Schools are not good at all in either or just good in athletics. Despite your comments, there are kids in Public Schools that attend Ivy and Patriot League Schools. However, the numbers (%) clearly are NOT as large as the LS, SJP, and other PCL Schools in D12.
Not a hater, but you need to be careful comparing a Public School to a Prep/Charter/PCL School as the enrty criteria are clearly NOT the same.. The Public Schools ACCEPT ALL “applicants”. LS, SJP would probably not allow a kid with poor academics into one of those Schools no matter how good a Football player they were..
Just Saying bro..
If you guys actually read posts instead of jumping on people for unjustly bringing down the mighty catholic league you would have read this guy was not bashing mighty Philadelphia Catholic League. In fact if you did even just a little research you would see that Mighty PCL has not really dominated anything 4A State Titles: D7-2, D12-1, D11-1, D3-1; 3A State Titles: D11-1, D12-1, D7-1, D10-1, D4-1; 2A State Titles: D3-3, D12-1, D10-1. All since the PCL has joined the PIAA, I wouldn’t say that it is dominance I would say that is parody.
@OLCoach again I am not talking about the PCL!! @Jiveturkey again I am not talking about the PCL when referring to CL Colonial League, the Philadelphia Catholic League is not by any stretch a JV league. I don’t know who is whining about anything? In fact I actually complimented the Philadelphia Catholic League. If by saying that D12 is bad football with exception of most of the Philadelphia Catholic League schools (meaning they are good, for our friends who cannot comprehend) I don’t know how that is interpreted as saying something negative about the PHILADELPHIA CATHOLIC LEAGUE (PCL) when I simply stated that the COLONIAL LEAGUE (CL) is really bad football which judging by the state playoff score of the 2A D11 reps I’d say it is pretty bad football. Since the PCL has joined the PIAA D11 has only beaten D12 twice both resulting in state titles giving them 2 state titles since 2008, one in 4A, one in 3A the same as D12 with the exception of the 2A state title. While certainly D12 has owned D11 head to head.
We are going round and round, which is actually pretty fun. Gets the blood flowing for the start of football. Here’s my whole point. The Philadelphia CL is more than Wood, Prep, and LaSalle. If the 5 AAAA teams joined any of the leagues we are discussing, there is a pretty good chance of them finishing first through fifth. Ryan and Judge are very good football teams. Prep and LaSalle are, well they’re Prep and LaSalle. Roman is like the kid everybody forgets about until they knock off Prep or LaSalle, like they have 2 out of the last 4 years to play in the PCL finals.
I’m not talking about the Catholic League I am talking about the Colonial League. I was using WC as a barometer for the 2A league saying they would own the Colonial League which is all 2A and 3A. So in essence I am saying how good the Catholic League is. I am saying that the best Catholic League Schools would be great in the other Districts. No Arch Bishop Ryan, Judge etc would not win the LVC. Would they compete yes absolutely. But they would not come out of D11 as the rep.
@Buddy, go back and read the conversation. Wood, Prep, LaSalle, West, and O’Hara were a few of the teams mentioned. Pretty sure none of them are in the Colonial. I love the conversations, however, please read the whole conversation before you jump in.
@Buddy-
You are spot on!! Mike was referring to the Colonial League (CL) not the Philly Catholic League (PCL). Teams in the Colonial League include: Palisades, Southern Lehigh, Salisbury, Bangor, Wilson (not Wilson West Lawn), Palmerton, Norhtern Lehigh, Panther Valley, Pen Argyl, Catty, etc.. All AA Schools in the Lehigh Valley area..
With all due respect, outside Pen Argyl and Catty, the League is not that strong overall.
@ Jive
I believe when Mike referred to the CL, he was talking about the Colonial league in the D11, not the Catholic league in D12.
You seemed to be in a hurry to stone anyone that is not a Catholic league fan. Now that’s hate.
Let’s turn the table on this recruiting crap; I have a challenge for all the D11 whiners.
Pick any ONE academic statistic that places your D11 school higher than SJP or LS. Average SAT score, % of National Merit Scholarship winners, % of graduates attending Ivy League schools, average scholarship award; just pick one.
This should be good!
@Caleb, I don’t see any AAAA Pub teams heading to states any time soon. It’s a shame cause I think there is a lot of talent in some of them schools. Just not enough resources, or whatever it may be, to get 20 strong players at 1 school together. Aside from Imhotep, A, AA, and AAA seem to be stuck in quick sand and can’t climb out. It’s kind of a weird dynamic. Seems the smaller schools attract most of the basketball talent, and the big schools get the football talent. That being said, Imhotep at AA, in the past year or so, is drawing a ton of football talent.
@Mike, The truth is that D12 wins at over 70% playing outside of their district. You bash the CL and the fact is that any of the 5 teams in AAAA would finish above .500 in any of those districts. You love watching Wood? They can’t touch CL AAAA. O’Hara? Almost fell out of my chair laughing when I saw that. West Catholic would have absolutely destroyed the CL last year? They were in CL AA last year, and were not a very good team. Half of their good players transferred to Imhotep. I think you watched the state championship games in the 2008-2012 years and feel you know the CL from top to bottom. Good hustle, and I give you an “A” for enthusiasm, but you have no clue about the CL or D12.
@Mike, I’m well versed in both D11 and D12; it’s clear you are not.
First, do some research on D12 vs. D11 head to head.
Second, you want to use WC as a barometer to compare D11 to; please remember WC is a AA school and not far f5rom an A school. How do you think Father Judge and A. Ryan would do in the LVC? I can assure you they would compete for the LVC title every year; in D12 they have been perennial 4th and 5th place teams out of 5 AAAA teams.
Just what is this idiotic statement supposed to mean?
“However I would still say that the CL is JV league football and everybody who is not invested in the CL from the Lv will tell you that”
Tell you what, until D11 steps up and starts beating D12 which they’ve done a good job of proving they can;t do, D11 should just shut up. Win some games against D12 and earn some respect; until then it’s just all hot air.
@JiveTurkey I am not hating on D12 I am speaking the truth tell me who is successful in D12 besides Prep, Lasalle, and Wood (and to a lesser extent O’Hara)? I’m not a hater I’m a realist. Do I think that D1, D11, D3, and D7 are better districts from top to bottom? Yes absolutely anybody who has ever played football can see that. However D12 with maybe the only exception being D7 is the best at the top. However I would still say that the CL is JV league football and everybody who is not invested in the CL from the Lv will tell you that. West Catholic would have absolutely destroyed the CL last year and a big part of why is because who WV plays and who the the CL teams play. I’m not hating I’m just being honest. D12 good teams will always be state title contenders regardless that the district stinks. I love watching wood it reminds me of CBW and ACC in the 1990’s. But don’t think for a second that you could import all of D12 into any district and still think that they could own the other districts.
@JiveTurkey9, Thx – I needed a refresher on D12 history… I grew up with D7 football and live in Eastern PA now. Love this site and the active posting – not so active in Western PA. Philly Public league joined PIAA in 2004 and PCL in 2008. I see Northeast also played in at least 3 District championship games losing to either GW or Frankford. GW beats LaSalle in ’08 and its been all LaSalle since then. It seems STJ is already being penciled into Hershey vs. Gateway – when will the D12 pubs challenge again? I’ve heard one of the STJ teams from the early 2000’s would have made a strong run through states if they were in the PIAA at the time.
Wow Mike, that’s a whole lot of hate towards the Catholic League, and D12 for that matter. Looks like the past few days have been a D12 bash. All they do is produce state title contenders in every sport. All they do in football, when playing outside of the district, is win at a 70-75% clip. Why all the hate on the CL and D12? Jealousy has a very ugly face, perhaps you haters should walk around with a bag over your heads. We only have 2 months until kickoff. I hope that’s ample time for the haters to get together, and come up with some great excuses as to why their team got trounced by them bums from D12.
To dominate the colonial league and really be in the state title picture catty would have mercy rule every team in the colonial league. The CL is awful football, catty beat PA yes abd look what Imhotep did to PA and look what wyomissing did to Imhotep, that’s how far away a CL team is from competing on the state stage. The CL teams are more than happy staying in there bubble and beating up on Salisbury, Palmerton and so forth… Why wouldn’t catty or PA try to play (I know they can’t cause of the league) play a good 3A team or at least scrimmage them? West Catholic has played Wood and Lasalle over the years that’s a 3A and 4A state title contender. West didn’t become simply by “recruiting” they played up. The CL teams will never challenge themselves to do that. I’ve been a D11 fan all my life, and the state of D11 football makes me want to throw up. It has gotten progressively worse since the 90’s with the exception of 08 Liberty and 10 ACC
@Caleb, George Washington 5 times. Frankford 4 times.
In reference to the “PA Dynasty” teams at 4A:
Going back to 2000, 15 current 4A teams have played in at least 3 of their respective District Championship games:
D1: North Penn, Neshaminy, Ridley
D12: SJP, LaSalle (considering D12 in the 2000’s)
D11: Easton, Parkland, Liberty
D3: Cumberland Valley, Wilson West Lawn
D7: Woodland Hills, Pgh CC, Gateway, NA, USC
SJP, Easton, and Gateway have not been to Hershey (yet) – the rest have been mostly familiar names on the December stage.
Here’s hoping for another Fresh Face this year e.g. Coatesville (12), Central Dauphin (11), State College (09), Bethel Park (08)… fun to see the school spirit build up through the season!
@Mike
Only thing i am confused is what you mean by a team that dominates the colonial league? Last year Catty was undefeated unitl the district championship in which Pen Argyl beat them because catty was overconfident. Catty lost one wide receiver and he wasnt even their leading receiver. Catty beat every team by at least 28 points including Pen Argyl… How is that not dominating the colonial league. Catty was a better team than Pen Argyl so Catty certainly could have made it to imhotep. Unfortunately imhotep is probably where there chances end. But i dont know how Catty did not dominate the colonial league last year and they certainly and looking at their personnel coming back they should do it again. (barring injury)
Yeah, Saint Joe’s Prep has the potential to take the AAAA state gold and be nationally ranked. Could see this storm brewing for the past few years. But we’ll see, that’s why they play the games.
District 11 will not get any further than they currently do until they start playing better teams. ACC will be the only 3A team that ever comes out of D11 and they open with Allen, the 4A schools in the LVC for the most part play the MVC schools out of conference which is like playing a 2A school. And in 2A the only D11 team that will ever get out is a team who completely dominates the colonial league. Catty will not make a state title run, ACC will make another serious run in the next 5-7 years it always seems they get 2 good classes back to back and make a 3-4 year run out of it except the 90’s when they were in the same class of cb west, and berwick. In 4A Parkland is the only school who will ever make a run and they will need 2 really good classes back to back. Easton if they get rid of shudders stop playing on turkey day and go outside the Easton family they will win one.
mgguy
Thank you very much. That spreadsheet with all that you mention is what I had too, but i could not remember the site either after my computer dilemma. Thanks again, District by District will do if i can get it.
Kmac, try PIAA website, schools tab, classifications, football, and you will get a list of districts with the breakdown by size. At the bottom you can choose all. Hope that helps. I used to have a single spreadsheet with all schools on it, but can’t remember where I got it!
Anyone?
Someone had suppied a website that gave the enrollment classifications for high school football for the entire state of PA by District last year. Due to a virus and computer repair I had it and lost it. I have been all over the PIAA website but cannot seem to pin it down there. Can anyone help? Thank you.