2018 Football Forum
Written by: David Mika on Monday, January 1st, 2018. Follow David Mika on Twitter.
Are you ready for some football?
Welcome to the official forum on high school football for the 2018 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.
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February 22nd, 2019 at 5:42 pm
I closed the 2018 forum….Here is the link for the 2019 forum….https://www.easternpafootball.com/gotw-8/2019-football-forum/
You can find this forum at the bottom of the main page.
February 21st, 2019 at 1:15 pm
@KevinX – i am unaware of the 2019 forum but if there is one I would gladly move any further info onto that site.
David???? what you say on this matter of 2019 forum?
February 17th, 2019 at 10:55 am
So are there two forums going on here concurrently, the old 2018 and a new 2019?? I’m confused…….
February 15th, 2019 at 1:43 pm
Love it, the ball is rolling and will not be stopped. Only a matter of time before our mess and true state title games are finally cleaned up!!!
https://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-spt-piaa-bill-20190215-story.html
February 5th, 2019 at 11:57 am
Former Archbishop Wood assistant Chris Lampart will take the reigns at Archbishop Ryan
February 4th, 2019 at 10:21 am
These 50 public high schools are the best for sports in Pennsylvania, says report
https://www.pennlive.com/expo/sports/g66l-2019/02/efdfd0fe655380/these-50-public-high-schools-are-the-best-for-sports-in-pennsylvania-says-report.html
February 1st, 2019 at 12:51 pm
just saw the three divisions of the new Colonial/Schuylkill league and they look pretty good. I see some really good match-ups and rivalries starting with this new formation. Only sad part were the two votes short of not letting notre dame-gp in the league in the middle division.
Lehighton, JT, Tamaqua N.Schuylkill and Blue Mt. make for some fun and new opponents down in the Valley and cool road-trips up into the hills.
They were smart by doing three divisions so that still leaves the old rivalries room to be played like the Saucon Valley v Palisades and game. I would have hated to see that game lost to scheduling or an extra team being in the league that really shouldn’t be taking up a spot.
January 29th, 2019 at 11:00 am
Fleming had a few snaps when Stone was hurt as insurance if Zachman got hurt. I think he threw the ball 2 times and was 1 for 2. I’m sure Fleming could be quarterback and receiver at the same time (LOL). He’s very talented and a rare athlete to see at the high school level.
January 29th, 2019 at 2:26 am
Hatboro-Horsham and their new staff looks really impressive.
January 28th, 2019 at 10:23 am
@Brian – thanks bud for the info. my mistake, I thought zachman was also a senior. Has Fleming ever played quarterback for SCA in any of your games??? tx.
January 27th, 2019 at 5:11 pm
@D3Commish – word is Berks and Beth Cath are both looking into the Erie Prep model of “coaching kids up” to fill in some holes that appear from graduation and things like that, lol.
January 26th, 2019 at 7:43 pm
Nick Johnson from Wilson West Lawn, 5’ 11”, 227lb Linebacker has committed to play football at Millersville University. After having a breakout junior season, he was poised to lead the Bulldogs this season. In the second game he suffered a season ending ankle injury. We would like to thank the Wilson Bulldog community. We also want to thank the coaches at Wilson along with the coaches, players and fans from the LL league for all of the well wishes and support. Finally we want to congratulate all players who have received offers to play at the next level. Thank you all.
January 26th, 2019 at 5:55 pm
Sausmann, last year when stone broke his hand and missed about 5 weeks Preston zachman filled in at QB. He’s part of the incredible junior class and will be in line to be the starting QB. He will do just fine and the offense won’t miss a beat. Oh zachman was a QB in junior high before switching over to receiver.
January 26th, 2019 at 10:59 am
I’ve been told a RB / LB from Exeter, a RB from Muhlenberg, a RB / LB from Schuykill Valley, and a QB from Schuykill Valley have all enrolled at Berks Catholic. Looks like the new rules are working great.
Three teams get worse and one team gets better.
January 25th, 2019 at 7:10 pm
SCA question – with Hollenbach gone to graduation, does Fleming get moved to quarterback??? Who was behind Hollenbach last season??? tx.
January 20th, 2019 at 8:19 am
Mark Schmidt previously of Neshaminy and Imhotep Charter to be named new head coach at Hatboro Horsham pending board approval this Tuesday night.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:39 pm
Pa. commission looks at school district’s ‘Redskins’ nickname, could order it to be removed (Neshaminy)
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/01/pa-commission-looks-at-school-districts-redskins-nickname-could-order-it-to-be-removed.html
January 7th, 2019 at 9:50 am
OT: Did the WesternPA board move? Die? I see the 2018 one, but can post or find a 2019 one?
January 4th, 2019 at 11:41 am
Well that was fast. Coaches have been using Temple as a stepping stone to a more prominent program for the last 10 years now. Started with Al Golden rolling down to Miami, then Addazzio put in a couple years before hitting Boston College. Then Matt Rhule bails on Temple for Baylor seemingly in the middle of the night. Then this Geoff Collins dude assumes the reigns at Georgia Tech (I dunno, it that really an upgrade?). The replacement, Manny Diaz, lasts about 2 weeks before before cold, flat rejecting Temple — couldn’t resist the overtures from Miami. Somewhat understandable, but sheesh, what ever happened to ‘letting your yes mean yes and your no mean no?’ Makes me think of Mike Pettine back in 1999 when he declined ESPN’s offer to do the CB West documentary because he already agreed with somebody else. Anyway, this is what they should do — promote Gabe Infante to HC. Be nice to root for him full steam for a change.
January 3rd, 2019 at 8:38 pm
Live4Fridays….Yes….
January 3rd, 2019 at 10:02 am
David, will you be finalizing your championship brackets to show the final results at some point? I like to save them for posterity and yours are the best I’ve seen, but I might as well have the ultimate winning teams and final scores on them.
December 28th, 2018 at 10:29 am
Merry Christmas all!!!
Working from Best to Beast, I mean West to East, I just sent out all games and/or emails regarding games. D3 Steelton fan – your game was a tough one to find but its on its way 🙂 D2 guys you are next up and last on the list due to that dang Berwick game – I just CANNOT find a copy of the Berwick v Williamsport game at Crispin back in 02′ when Port had Blackman and Brooks in the backfield. Sorry! I did include the 93′ game Berwick v Blackhawk tho since it was mentioned as well as Berwick’s Decade of WETSU’ing opponents, lol, enjoy.
Quicksbro – where you at my man, still out there somewhere???
Pantherfan/pantherman (sorry forget which you are) I am trying to send you your two playbooks (80 Ok w/ Switzer and 96 UN w/ Osbourne) but keep getting them back. send me another POC via email or mailing address. I still have two copies in print version and yes both have the sigs. 🙂
Happy and safe New Years to all.
December 25th, 2018 at 3:13 pm
Merry Christmas David and everyone else in this community. I love being a part of it every year, even if it’s only for about 6-8 of the final weeks of the season.
Also, does anyone watch other states championships, through NFHS or another streaming service? I watched the Texas championships and those boys can PLAY it was very entertaining, especially the final game North Shore vs Duncanville. If you don’t know the result of that game, check out the highlights online. Craziness!
Here’s to a great 2019, and a Coatesville 6A championship!!
December 25th, 2018 at 7:42 am
Merry Christmas!
December 24th, 2018 at 12:46 pm
Maybe somewhat off topic, as Holy Ghost Prep does not have a football team, but is a PIAA member school and participates in District One, does anyone know why their application to join the Catholic League was rejected by the PCL?? All I saw stated was that it was “an internal matter” whatever that means and that they can apply again at sometime in the future. I thought they would of been a shoe in when they applied back in September, especially after Devon Prep was admitted last year and HGP being a very similar type of school and situation as DP (small-medium size all boys private catholic school with no football program and a member of the Bicentennial League of District One). Just seems a little odd and bizarre to me. Disclaimer, I have no association with HGP or any PCL schools, just curious, as I thought they would of been a perfect fit and a quality member.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to allll!!!!
December 23rd, 2018 at 2:49 pm
You’re basically hoping a team wins a beauty pageant, though. I mean, who on planet earth actually takes any of these national rankings seriously? The last supposed “#1” (Allen) loses 1 game to another top 5 team… and falls all the way to #15? Makes sense. Meanwhile, the new supposed best football team in the entire country… is a team with two losses? Makes even more sense.
St Joe’s is the PA state champion because they won their games on the field. If they want even more national recognition (and who knows if the program cares – seems as if their fans care more), they should schedule IMG and Mater Dei non-league and the MD/DC private school winner on Dec 22. Then they’ll be as close to “national champs” as you can get, and gain far more respect than a best guess title from USA Today.
December 22nd, 2018 at 9:56 pm
Infante will coach LB at Temple under Manny Diaz. SJP is not looking for a new coach. They are promoting Assistant HC/Off Coordinator Tim Roken to be the new Head Coach.
December 21st, 2018 at 4:28 pm
Gabe Infante to Temple, unsure of the role but he’s done at SJP. Looking for a new coach at 17th and Girard—heard it here first.
December 21st, 2018 at 12:08 pm
@D-3 Commish – My point is, as The Artist so eloquently stated, that it would be nice if PA can bring home the National #1 ranking again instead of IMG Academy and other FL schools, Mater Dei and other CA schools, Texas schools, Bishop Gorman, etc. No matter what one thinks of St. Joes as a private school, one has to admit they are well coached and have a plethora of talent. Do not be jealous of the kids as many are trying to play at the next level. I don’t care where they (PA kids) go to college, I root for them all to do well!!!!! So Mr. Commish, spare me your nasty comments. You don’t know me and obviously your presumption of my post was way off base. Go PA high school football!!!
December 21st, 2018 at 7:52 am
@ mca4ever – not sure about youtube but drop me a line sausmann9@hotmail.com and I’ll send you an updated games list to choose some really good PA games from.
after that you can put them on youtube all day long, lol. merry christmas.
December 20th, 2018 at 9:27 am
Saw that Coatesville RB Aaron Young jumped ship so to say from originally verbally committing to Michigan State and now ended up signing with Rutgers.
December 19th, 2018 at 7:58 pm
@mca4ever Cumberland Valley-Central Dauphin 2015 for District 3 AAAA championship – 7 OT’s
CV went on to lose 24-7 in the semi’s to eventual state champion Pittsburgh Central Catholic who held off a 4th quarter Parkland rally to win 21-18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f72O_Ma-a38
P.S. I was at this game
December 19th, 2018 at 12:09 pm
Can anyone recommend any great PA HS football games that were ‘not’ State Championship games that I could find on YouTube?
Other than some MCA classics (vs Dallas ’94, vs Bishop McDevitt ’96, vs ACC ’98, vs Lakeland ’00), my favorite has to be Berwick vs Manheim Central 1994.
I remember there was a thread from a previous year about best games of all time but I don’t think it can be accessed anymore.
December 19th, 2018 at 11:23 am
@ sausmann9
Interesting question about Southern Columbia’s QB Stone Hollenbach walking on at Bama. I think it’s a question of what he wants to do AFTER college.
If I thought that I had a shot at the NFL (assuming that I wanted to play in the NFL), I’d go to a school where I would play. I agree with you that it is going to be a heck of a lot harder for Hollenbach at Bama given the high-profile scholarship talent who are much more likely to get the coaches’ attention/practice reps than he will as a walk-on.
However, if I wanted/planned to go into coaching (at any level) after college , there is no place I would rather be than riding the bench at Alabama and absorbing as much as I can from Nick Saban. Washington State QB Gardner Minshew almost did that in 2018, but instead decided to go play (instead of apprentice-coaching at Bama). Learning coaching from Mike Leach is not a bad consolation prize, but it still pales in comparison to Saban.
December 19th, 2018 at 11:04 am
@ District 3 Commish — I hear what you’re saying, but I don’t think Phil was being mean spirited or cocky, just making an interesting, matter of fact point. I always back the public teams, but all things being equal, if Prep was going to win the state title anyway, I’d just as well PA win the national #1 ranking. Tired of seeing all these CA and FL glory teams take it. Not that anybody cares but ‘The artist’ would love to see Prep kick Mater Dei’s bootox. PA’s last high school boys’ national champion in any sport iirc was Haverford School (Inter-Ac) in lacrosse a few years back. The last Philadelphia boys’ national champ was Simon Gratz in basketball back in 1993.
Although I think it’s unfair that private schools give out scholarships or significant financial aid to attract top talent, from a philosophical standpoint it DOES suggest that privates can be run more effectively because there’s freedom to get something accomplished without the political encumbrances that the publics face. Even if a top public program like Pine-Richland wanted to give out scholarships, undoubtedly there would be push back from the administration and taxpayers whereas a private doesn’t have to deal with all that gobbledygook; you got a few smart people at the top, procure the funds from alumni or whatever and it becomes a turn key operation.
December 18th, 2018 at 5:09 pm
As for SJP being nothing but a “finishing school” I just wanted to give my opinion. I went there, unwillingly as I would have to leave my childhood friends behind and go to a different neighborhood. It wasn’t easy, but it’s a decision now I’m very happy I made. I played football but went to the Prep for their academics. At least around here it’s a pretty prestigious school. Kids come from all over the place and I understand the advantages SJP has over public schools. But the problem with the argument I have is that this only happens in the world of athletics. Academics drive kids in from all over the place, the same way their football team does. All students take a modern and classical language and their is no gym class. For a lot of students the rigorous academic demand is very challenging. Say what you will but the football players are no exception there. Also, it’s much different here where you go to elementary/high school than in other parts of the state. A lot of kids in the city and surrounding suburbs go to Catholic grade schools, and go to several different high schools. The reality is the Prep doesn’t have to recruit kids in the same sense they don’t need to beg kids to come to the school to pursue an excellent education. So you can suggest you separate the public’s and private’s which I’m actually in favor of, but no need to degrade and bash an entire school community and the kids who choose to go there.
December 18th, 2018 at 1:18 pm
Buddy –
In the District 3 area – The schools that I see regularly….Cumberand Valley, CD, Manheim Township & Central, Wilson, Governor Mifflin, Hempfield all draw well……. although the constant Friday night flooding did not help this year
December 18th, 2018 at 10:40 am
Honest question here – Stone Hollenbach heading to UA = AWESOMENESS for sure!!!! Now for the question; is this a smart move??? Alabama just gave a schollie to a 4-star out of FL, they have Tui’s little brother there who is a beast at quarterback and they also have Bear Bryant’s grandson coming in as a 4-star recruit. I see the Justin Fields sage ala UGA happening to Hollenbach here.
Why not go to a school that needs a quarterback from the start and play three or four seasons as opposed to riding the bench at UA for three or four years???
December 18th, 2018 at 10:34 am
Hey Phil – WHAT IS YOUR POINT?????
St Joe has 10 million people to that can commute to their school. As long as the system stays the same they will have the best team. In case you didn’t figure it out yet Public schools can’t do that.
Does the term competitive balance mean anything to you non-public school defenders? PIAA is one of the few organizations that doesn’t get it.
NCAA has scholarship limits and other rules in place for all schools to help keep recruiting fair. Not perfect but the rules are the same for everyone.
Pro sports have the draft, salary caps etc….
Only the DOPES at PIAA will allow 12% of the schools to acquire players from ANYWHERE and 88% of the schools to have players from within a set geographic limit!
Then we have to listen to people like Phil (who have some kind of inadequacy issue) brag about his school.
BUNCH OF COWARDS!!!!!!! Go compete and earn something!
December 16th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
@ Frank & Kevin:
I was at the NP/C’ville game. The C’ville side was full 1/2 hr. before game.
They were spilling over to the NP side. By KO, stadium was damn near at compacity ( whatever that is).
Ironically, much more C’ville fans than NP fans. Considering the travel time for each, that’s fascinating.
Never could fathom that NP is a state power every year, yet their fans simply don’t travel well.
Must be they are complacent , since they win most of the time.
December 16th, 2018 at 3:20 pm
@ Kevin X No, I wasn’t at North Penn-Coatesville. I was going on reports that the attendance wasn’t as high as expected. Maybe those reports were wrong–or maybe the expectations were too high. My general point is that, perhaps inevitably, people on sites like this sometimes assume greater or wider interest than there really is the hometown high school football team. People often refer to times in the past when crowds were often large. And obviously that still happens for Easton-Phillipsburg, but I’m wondering how many schools regularly have more than, say, 1,500 if they are a large school and 1,000 if they are a small school at their home games. Maybe I’m wrong, but from what I see on TV and read in the papers attendance is pretty low,
December 16th, 2018 at 1:47 pm
St. Joes Prep is scary good and should be better next year considering the strength of their roster is the sophomore class. Add in some key juniors coming back and the fact they are very well coached and could we be looking at PA’s first national champion since Berwick in the early 90s? According to USA Today last week they are ranked #6.
December 15th, 2018 at 9:37 am
@ FrankG
Obviously you were not at the C’Ville/North Penn game. I was. The crowd was sizable. Maybe not SRO or sold out, but the Pennridge stadium has a good amount of seating on both sides, probably one of the largest in D1, and for being an impromptu neutral site game, I’d say the stands were 90% full. One of the best attended games that I went to this year, and I bounced around the area to many well attended games.
December 14th, 2018 at 7:40 pm
@JC
I did hear about the Colonial league and Schuylkill merging for football. It’s still in works so may not happen. I think this benefits the Colonial league way more. Gives them 3 games to play outside league which they couldn’t before the merger. All games were league games in the Colonial league. Gate money will be way down due to travel. This is why Pottsville and Blue mt. left the Berks League. Now this only gives some of the teams in the Schuylkill only 2 non league games, considering rivalry games. The idea seems intriguing since they play each other in playoffs and would be pretty nice to see these teams play in the regular season. It’s only good if it benefits both leagues which it’s doesnt
December 14th, 2018 at 2:55 pm
I get it that Easton-Phillipsburg gets a huge crowd every year at Thanksgiving, but from all I’ve heard big crowds (over 5,000) at high school football games are very rare in Eastern PA. This year there was lots of talk about what a big crowd there would be at North Penn vs, Coatesville, but apparently it just didn’t happen.
As for the Catholic schools, it depends on which schools, what locations, which games, and the weather–as it does for public schools. Not many SJP people went to Altoona–not surprising–but there was a pretty good crows in Hershey. The LaSalle regular season game had a good crowd, but the playoff game–when the forecast was awful and the weather bad but not awful–got a fairly small crowd.
December 14th, 2018 at 2:23 pm
I don’t find it impressive that schools like SJP, ECP and ABW are winning it all almost every year, they should be. Other than watching talented kids play, I have pretty much zero interest in the outcome of games of these schools. With all the recruiting/transfers, the signing day, games between national powers on ESPN, HS football has almost become college football over the past 20 years.
Also, I think the reason majority of private schools don’t win championships is bc there are only so many players and so many championships to go around. I remember seeing the championship brackets the last few years where 4 our of 4 or 3 out of 4 teams in the semifinals were private schools. Also, when players in say Allentown all decide to go to ACC or whatever program is good at the time, there is less available at other surrounding private schools, so they’re obviously not going to be as good. As much as I feel this issue hurts HS football, I don’t think separation of private/publics is the answer. I don’t know much about the situation in NJ, but it makes sense that if they are separated, more of the talented kids are going to migrate the successful private school programs. I think there has been a clear trend over the last decade and this would only make it worse.
December 14th, 2018 at 11:08 am
Never say never. Never is very definitive and a very very long time. Assuming you are correct about the financial arrangement with Hershey Stadium, who’s says the Hershey COC will continue to support that arrangement? Maybe their membership will determine it is a waste of money and resources. Maybe another group or COC will offer a better deal?? Maybe the PIAA membership will push HQ to make some changes, including location. Sure, Hershey does have a lot in it’s favor, good size stadium, good geographic location, lots of parking, tradition, familiarity/experience of hosting the event, a known commodity and relationship, PIAA HQ right down the road. Doesn’t mean another location can do just a good or better job and maybe (IMO) add some new life to the championship games. Amazon didn’t pick their duel HQ2 locations of NYC and suburban DC because they offered the best financial deals and packages (if so, they’d be in Newark, NJ).
December 14th, 2018 at 10:52 am
@ Artist
The only thing I would add in your SJP assessment, is that I would put a “well-oiled” in front of your machine. I saw them once in person, against Wood, they scored a TD on their first 6 possessions (against still a very good Wood team and defense), and were leading I believe 42-7 less than two minutes into the third quarter. At that point it was game set and match as far as I was concerned that I just saw the 6A PA state champion. Yes, H-Burg gave them a nice game, but if SJP didn’t turn the ball over on their first two possessions, including the pick 6, game might of been over at halftime. I don’t believe Harrisburg stopped them in the first half, other than the turnovers and the half itself. Scary part, the nucleus of McCord, Burrell, Harrison, jr. and Trotter, jr. and the usual supporting cast of characters will be back next year. Would love to see a SJP v. ECP game this year, as I do think they are the best two teams in the state, go at it for an overall PA state champion.
December 14th, 2018 at 9:04 am
@Craig: well stated
@D3 Mike: Give it time before Berks Catholic gets in on the act just like Conwell Egan and others have.
Recruiting by all has ruined high School football. D12 Catholic league once a great league (not talking talent) no longer.
December 13th, 2018 at 11:22 pm
Colonial League and Schuylkill League in D11 appear to be set to merge in football for the 2020 season. Divisions would be organized by classification. Helps the Schuylkill teams get more division games and helps the Colonial League teams get more games against teams close to them in enrollment. Should overall be a good thing for District 11.
December 13th, 2018 at 8:47 pm
Craig
As much I understand your frustration and it is justified. It is great to win a state championship but not the end all be all. For some playing for their community and fans and with their friends is great. For others more exposure, better competition, sometimes better coaching, different experiences like playing in CA, OH, NJ, FL, TX, plus possible discipline of a religious education is what they want. Remember with most things in life, it is the journey not the destination that is remembered and relished. HS players will play anyone anywhere, they don’t care where the players come from, only parents and old men do….
If PIAA keeps 6 classifications and separates privates it will be a complete joke, at least go back to 4 or even 3 classifications as more talent will migrate to privates like when NJ did it. PA football demographics are going in the wrong direction and PIAA knows it and trying to stay relevant.
December 13th, 2018 at 6:31 pm
I think looking at every catholic or private school as if they are all the same is a mistake. Just as there are huge differences in district wealth, program support, youth systems, and transfer exemptions between public schools. The difference between a St Joe’s Prep, PCC or ECP and an average, regional catholic school is a larger distinction than the difference between an average catholic school and a strong public program.
Berks Catholic has exactly zero kids from outside of Berks County, let alone outside PA. I have a number of friends who coach at their mite / midget levels, helping to teach the wing-t offense to the next generation of players, and I can assure you that 90% of BCs kids play together for years before high school. Then what happens is 3-4 high profile players from public programs (almost always from mediocre programs btw) transfer in out of the 70 on the roster. And they don’t need coaches to “recruit” them there. They are well aware that their school goes 4-6 every year and they have limited exposure to college scouts if they stay put.
YMMV in Easton but what you describe is simply not the case in Reading, and I wonder if you’re just looking at those 3-4 top transfers and assuming that’s the bulk of their team. To that end, Liberty, Wilson and Parkland are D11 publics that have all won state titles since BECAHI last did way back in 1990. ACC has a few but there are also plenty of very successful public programs in D11.
I think some fans get a little bitter over a couple of lost players and proceed to conveniently forget about the players that transfer in, especially from other publics. And I know they forget the advantages they have accrued as a talent magnet once they’ve built a successful public program. Non-boundaries have a definite advantage but the vast majority of catholic/ private/ charter schools actually don’t win district, let alone state titles each year. Just ask Southern Columbia, CB, Berwick, Clairton, Aliquippa, etc.
December 13th, 2018 at 6:23 pm
@ Craig Jones,
Most SJP players do not come from junior highs. Many come from Catholic elementary schools and CYO teams. Very few come to SJP after freshman year. The Prep also has its own summer football camp for elementary school kids.
Do you really want the Jersey system where the non-public playoffs and state champions get a whole lot more attention than the public school playoffs and champions?
December 13th, 2018 at 4:54 pm
@Craig Jones
The private schools may have the advantage of recruiting players from all over but they probably don’t realize they are missing out on the best part of HS football. IMO, playing with the guys you grew up with and the community support is what its all about. The Silver Bowl had ~7200 seats before the end zone bleachers were torn down a few years ago and there were many games over the years where the stands were overflowing. I see the crowds at Hershey for a lot of these private schools and it doesn’t seem like much more than the parents. HS football has always been my favorite but I am losing interest as the years go on and it loses what used to make it great.
December 13th, 2018 at 4:16 pm
Craig Jones – Well Said!
Easton is a great school and football program and should be proud of their tradition! It is sad to see young athletes leave the schools and community in which they live to be part of a “System” that allows them to win more games as part of an All Star Team. Quite frankly it is cowardly to join an easier path to success. Fight a little. Learn to lose in with dignity.
I would like to see the Public schools separate as well…….. and in the short term just stop scheduling any non-boundary school during the regular season.
December 12th, 2018 at 10:14 pm
@SCA_Pete I agree 100% . Like I said in my last post for a team to play Southern you need to play 4 quarters of football if you want to be successful. I firmly believe they have a great conditioning program which works in their favor year after year.
December 12th, 2018 at 5:03 pm
Will you people stop calling the prep and catholic schools programs. They are finishing schools. They raid the public school JR HI teams for the best players. I’m an Easton High School fan. Over the last 4 yrs we have lost some of our best players to Bethlehem Catholic and Notre Dame. Easton and the public schools have programs nurturing young kids from elementary school thru High School. The private schools are all-star teams. And some have kids from multiple states. Every game Easton has 4,000 to 6,000 fans in the stands. On Thanksgiving we sell out Fisher Field at Lafayette College (app 13,000-14,000 fans) when we play Phillipsburg. How many go or even care about St Joe prep other than a handful of you. The PIAA needs to do what New Jersey has done and separate the private from the public. I’m all for Easton to withdraw from the PIAA. In our area Bethlehem Catholic and Notre Dame don’t even try to hide the fact they recruit.
December 12th, 2018 at 1:11 pm
Mike’s Final 6A Rankings
Mike’s Eastern 6A Top Ten 12/11/2018
1) St. Joseph’s Prep 85.5
2) Harrisburg 73.1
3) Coatesville 73
4) Central Dauphin 61
5) Bethlehem Freedom 58.8
6) LaSalle 53.8
7) North Penn 52.4
8) Garnet Valley 51.8
9) Downingtown East 51.7
10) Manheim Township 50.3
Honorable Mention
Wilson 49.9, Emmaus 49.7, Downingtown West 49, Neshaminy 45.5, Easton 45.2, Parkland 45.1, Truman 43.3, Chambersburg 42
Mike’s State 6A Top Ten 12/11/2018
1) St. Joseph’s Prep 85.5
2) Harrisburg 73.1
3) Coatesville 73
4) Pine Richland 69.5
5) North Alleghenny 61.8
6) State College 61.1
7) Central Dauphin 61
8) Bethlehem Freedom 58.8
9) Seneca Valley 57
10) LaSalle 53.8
Honorable Mention
North Penn 52.4, Garnet Valley 51.8, Downingtown East 51.7, Pittsburgh Central Catholic 51.5, Manheim Township 50.3, Wilson 49.9, Emmaus 49.7, Downingtown West 49, Neshaminy 45.5, Easton 45.2, Parkland 45.1, Mt. Lebanon 45
December 12th, 2018 at 12:50 pm
@High School Football Insider: “Farrell would of beat Southern Columbia this year. They don’t do well with teams with speed. Remember Steel Valley mercy ruled them. Remember Clairton beat them. They struggle. Wilmington was too one dimensional that is why they won two years in a row.”
PA…LEASE. WC was the fastest AA team out of the Philly area – we shut them down. What is, for all intents and purposes, the same SCA team as last year – beat up on NG’s massive D-Line last year that had 342-pound Oregon commit Justin Johnson and a roster total of seven players that weight 275 pound or more and an eighth that is 274 pounds. Looks pretty similar to 2018 Farrell roster on MAxPreps to me. We are no longer one dimensional. Sorry, not buying your pitch.
December 12th, 2018 at 11:59 am
PIAA Championships will never move from Hershey. Little known fact, the PIAA doesnt pay any fees to use the venue for 3 days. The Hershey Chamber of Commerce picks up the tab for the use of the stadium.
December 12th, 2018 at 11:37 am
@Kevin X – I agree with your comments about Erie Prep playing up, would list them as 1A and Southern Columbia as 1B as the 2 schools that should be playing up a class, and both may be come the 2020-21 cycle, not sure if SoCo will meet the required 5 transfers, but they will almost certainly meet the point threshold for the new rules, and as previously stated appears Erie Prep will meet both of the criteria to move up, Bishop McDevitt could also meet the criteria if they win D3 again, I know they typically have some transfers but not sure how many for this year, and who knows about next year. Does Manheim Central typically have some transfers? I think they will be preseason #1 in 5A next year, or certainly in the top 3, and there’s a pretty good chance they’ll be back in Hershey.
December 12th, 2018 at 7:36 am
To the PIAA… Pick a better venue for the Championship game. Hershey Stadium sucks. The players out of the WPIAL enjoy the experience of playing at Heinz Field for the WPIAL title, then if they make it to the states it is a down grade from their experience. Also to the PIAA… the middle of the state, no matter how much they cried, only won 1 PIAA Championship. Move the brackets back to East vs. West.
December 12th, 2018 at 7:09 am
@D10
Hello my friend. I was expecting to see you again. Please stop insinuating, reading into things, and making stuff up as far as my posts go. In no way shape or form, intended or implied, did I degrade what high school boys accomplish. Please re-read my post, In fact I will help you, specifically: “as far as classification choice.” Nothing to do with degrading kids and their accomplishments. I congradulate all the teams who had the opportunity to participate in the Championship games this past weekend in Hershey. Now do you want to accuse me of degrading the ADs, coaches, ECP administration, alum, boosters, etc., and/or anyone else who has the the decision making power to voluntarily to play up in one (or even two) classifications, that would be a good ‘ole loud and clear HELL YEAH!!!!!
Here is a challenge to you and everyone else, name one football school/team that is more deserving (if that is the right word), or should be playing up in classification (who already isn’t) more than ECP???
December 11th, 2018 at 6:25 pm
@ Kevin X — What can you say about St. Joe’s Prep this year? They were pretty much a machine. Got to keep it real, was rooting against them in the playoffs. Against my better judgment went to the Freedom game over at Northeast High. Had to turn off the free live stream at halftime in the semi versus PR. Got to give a salute to Harrisburg; a case could be made that they were the second best team overall in the state this year. They played admirably, showed some fight and were still in the game well into the 3rd quarter. That Kane Everson kid is very explosive, almost like a young MIchael Vick. Unlike last year, made a decision not to go to Hershey; didn’t think the public team had a realistic chance to take gold. If Coatesville had beaten Harrisburg would have been so there. Conspicuous by its absence is any explanation as to what in the world happened? Red Raider Nation left this forum faster than Bill Belichick leaves the field after a Patriots loss. It WAS pretty disappointing though, oh well.
December 11th, 2018 at 1:48 pm
@D3 Mike – agree with you that Harrisburg and Manheim deserved to be in Hershey, and you can make a legitimate argument that both of them were the 2nd best teams in the state at their respective classes. Based on how both fared against SJP I would consider Harrisburg the favorite against Pine Richland, sure PR could have won and would have been a very competitive game, but think Harrisburg would be the favorite, and they did beat the consensus 2nd best team in the state in Coatesville to get to Hershey.
Also think some people forget that only the 5A and 6A brackets were changed, all other classes had the same brackets as the prior 2 years, so Middletown would have made it to Hershey regardless, just like they did the prior 2 seasons.
Regarding Erie Prep vs. Imhotep, you were correct about their offense being down compared to the prior few years, they certainly didn’t have enough offense to keep up with Prep. Speaking of Prep they have a tremendous coaching staff, one of the best in the state, I’d include their staff with those at SJP, Southern Columbia, and Pine Richland as tops in the state, there are some other great coaches/staffs as well so I’m not trying to slight anyone, but those staffs stand out imo. With the new success factor and transfer rules they will almost certainly be playing 5A for the 2020-21 cycle, they will have the requisite 6 points, and I know they had at least 4 transfers this past year, so one more transfer would push them into 5A starting in 2020, which is where I’ve argued they belong for the last 3 years. Still haven’t gotten confirmation the new rules went into effect for 2018-19, and will affect the reclassification for 20-21, but everything I’ve read indicates that’s the case.
December 11th, 2018 at 10:43 am
@Sausmann9
I like your ideas, especially paying the flat$20 and having it be 2 days. Great points/ thoughts on your part. Like your posts brother.
December 11th, 2018 at 7:11 am
Kevin X – nothing pathetic about winning a state championship. What’s pathetic is you on an anonymous forum trying to degrade what high school boys accomplish. The ECP team this year was filled with a bunch of clowns, goodballs, and degenerates, but somehow they came together and were able to succeed on the football feild when it mattered the most.
The last two teams could have competed at 6A, last years team wins it all, this team and the future, atleast right now are right where they belong in 4A with possibly an enrollment bump or success factor them to 5A in the next cycle. If Imhotep doesn’t want to play Prep anymore than stay in your lane Panthers. Look at both rosters, the Imhotep players looked like a varsity playing a JV team when they played Prep. It came down to coaching, character, and the kids buying into said coaching. What’s not pathetic is the 5th state championship ring being designed.
December 10th, 2018 at 1:20 pm
@Kevin X – if the PIAA ever wants to fix their mess with the state championships at Hershey there are a few things they could do that would greatly encourage many fans to come back to the stands for the games.
first and foremost – let us buy one damn ticket for the weekend. charge $20 and allow that one ticket to get into all games. let the ticket matchup with your drivers license or school ID or something like that but its absolutely doable – few states already have a system like this.
second – eliminate one week out of the 16 week season, some teams (private mostly of course) have by-weeks scheduled in their season. we can get rid of the ridiculous first round of playoffs (you know the week that pits your 10-0 vs 2-8 teams). Many people already doing other things b/c their season ended two or more weeks earlier. Keep the football momentum for ALL fans.
third and lastly – lets get three games on two days, not the ridiculous two games on three days junk!!! Make it an event for the football fan, not the Red Robin owner in Hershey!
December 10th, 2018 at 1:07 pm
Oh, you’re right about 5A. I forgot Manheim would have played Penn Hills, not Wood, in the semi-finals based on last year’s brackets. re: Harrisburg vs Pine Richland as a toss-up… eh. Harrisburg represented better against Prep and had to beat Coatesville to get there – but I’ll at least concede you a “maybe”.
Either way, Harrisburg and Manheim provided the two most competitive finals games this weekend and you could make a strong case that they had the second best teams in their respective classes, so I’m not sure why anyone is implying that those two teams didn’t deserve to be in Hershey.
Of all the things to crow about within hours of championship football games, I find bracket alignment to be a bizarre choice.
December 10th, 2018 at 10:48 am
@D3 Mike
I believe you are correct once, wrong once, and a “maybe” in the third regarding your D3 assessment. Just off the top of my head, anyone feel free to correct me on this, but based on last years bracket, yes, Middletown would of reached the state final this year in 3A. Manheim Central would not have as they would of played Penn Hills in the 5A semi’s, and they already lost to them in the final, so I would deduct that they would of lost to them in the semi’s, and therefore not reach the finals. Probably would of been looking at a Wood/Penn Hills 5A final this year. Harrisburg would of played Pine-Richland in the 6A semi’s, and frankly, I would rate that game as a toss-up (would of been a nice “Public School” 6A championship game), so maybe, maybe not, Harrisburg would of reached the state final this year.
I do agree with you on your assessment of Imhotep. I also give them, and any other school props and kudos for voluntarily playing up. Just continues really makes a certain private D10 school in 4A look really pathetic as far as classification choice.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:02 pm
@ High School football Insider I enjoy reading your posts. I believe the reason Wilmington lost was mainly a conditioning factor. They ran out of gas. I was at the game as it was obvious. To be a champion you must be prepared to play 4 guarters. Fatigue sets in and mistakes are made. After enough mistakes then frustration sets in and breakdowns occur that is what happened to a good Wilmington team.
December 9th, 2018 at 2:53 pm
IMG would be all them teams combined.
December 9th, 2018 at 1:01 pm
@Jut all three district 3 teams would have made the state finals under the old brackets. The best 6 teams won and congrats to each.
re: Imhotep, they barely have a weight program, lack practice goalposts, and are playing up a class. Their kids also don’t have the booster programs, strength coaching, nutrition regimens, etc. of most of the teams they are playing, and lord knows they have more real life issues to contend with. That they make the finals every year is commendable.
The fact is Imhotep is probably playing one of the best programs in PA at the end of the year, each year, in ECP. They just didn’t have the offense to stay with them this season as I predicted heading into the game. Their 2015, 2016, 2017 teams each scored 24+ in every game but one. Their 2018 team scored under 24 points 5 times this year. Tough ending but I’m sure they will be back. They’d have a set of titles by now if they stayed at their enrollment class.
December 9th, 2018 at 12:28 pm
Also wondering if any of you guys attended any of the games this past weekend in Hershey in person and your thoughts on your time there and your game. The good, the bad, the ugly??? Weather looked dry, but cold and breezy at times. Was there still the ability to attend both games on any given day for one admission?? Been a few years since I’ve been there in person myself. Sometimes I miss it, sometimes I don’t. Wasn’t really missing it this year.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:50 am
Heard last night during the H-Burg/SJP game that total attendance for the six games this weekend was 15,001. Basic math has that a 2,500 average per game. I went through the box scores where attendance was listed for each game and that total was 12,457 for the six games. Don’t know what the 2,500 difference is, actually attendance vs. ticket sold maybe?? Anyways, the 6A game had the best attendance at 5,557, which leaves 6,900 for the other five games (if using the lower individual game figures) making an average of 1,380 for the other five games. Don’t know how that compares to previous years, but got to think that is low, especially with no snow or rain (cold yes) and 3 teams, with one each in the larger 5A and 6A schools playing Friday and Saturday night, and all three being within an hour of Hershey.
December 9th, 2018 at 8:28 am
I think southern has done well against teams with speed. Let’s see in recent years playing the philly catholic league schools. They beat west catholic a few times. They beat nueman Goretti last year with all those division 1 recruits they had. They beat Aliquippa. Most of the times southern lost it was within 8 points or less. In fact when they lost to clairtons team during clairtons run it was a 2 point game with about 6 mins to go and then an 8 point game with a few minutes left. That was when Tyler Boyd took over and made the score look worse then it was. When southern lost those games back then they were one dimensional.
December 9th, 2018 at 12:52 am
Once again I want to be clear about SoCo, I have the utmost respect for them. However when I hear how they can beat anyone from their faithful, why don’t they at least schedule a powerhouse like ECP with Pgh Central Catholic or Pine Richland with IMG Academy, Aliquippa vs an Ohio team for a game. If they are not willing to play up, schedule a game with a powerhouse and see how they do. One other point, ‘Tep is a highly overrated team. They have a collection of athletes, not a team. I remember a few years back when they played South Fayette in the final, read an article from a Philly paper talking about all their D1 talent and how they would blow S. Fayette off the field. S. Fayette had no D1 players and blew them off the field 35-0. They were out coached and outplayed, just like the past few years vs ECP. No offense to them, but they have athletes, not a team. Well all said and done, the West was 4 out 6! WPIAL has at least 1 State Champ every single year since ‘92!!
December 9th, 2018 at 12:33 am
All respect to SoCo, I remember PLENTY of people on here talking how they were gonna beat Steel Valley 2 years ago. They have a great program and coaching staff. However if they are so confident and unstoppable, why don’t they play up a class. Like Aliquippa a small class A that plays 3 A because they know there is no competition for them in A or AA. Jeanette playing up all those years so they could have competition, they always been a small A school. Just a reminder, SoCo is 5-8 vs WPIAL Teams. I sincerely respect their accomplishments, but if they are capable of beating everyone, why don’t they bump up and test themselves??
December 8th, 2018 at 9:22 pm
Hahaha District 3 got what they wanted!! With all the byes and change of the brackets in states, they got 3 schools to the state championship. They all lost, good for them. I have nothing against those schools. Just the laughing at what the PIAA did to get those teams there
December 8th, 2018 at 6:45 pm
I never said for a whole season. I said for a single game I believe they would hang with anybody because of their line and athletes this year. I agree depth would play a factor throughout a season.
Farrell would of beat Southern Columbia this year. They don’t do well with teams with speed. Remember Steel Valley mercy ruled them. Remember Clairton beat them. They struggle. Wilmington was too one dimensional that is why they won two years in a row.
About the points this year in the state of PA 779 was the highest. Never said the record. I am well aware Jeannette has it with 860 if Farrell never subbed they would have hit 1,000 points no doubt I’m sure in anyone’s mind.
I know my sports. I would of loved to see Farrell and SoCo as well as Farrell and Aliquippa they both would of been great games.
Aliquippa is a single A school playing AAA.
December 8th, 2018 at 3:58 pm
Lehigh Valley People:
Has anyone heard anything about the Whitehall HS job? I have heard that is going to be a college coach? Anyone have any info on that?
December 8th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
Yes spinal teams beat southern. Rochester 3 times south side beaver, Farrell 2 times Clairton and steel valley. Those losses made what southern is today. They couldn’t throw the ball and had trouble with the speed of those wpial teams. They went to speed camps and imported a passing offense to their wing t. Nobody ever said southern was going to beat steel valley. In fact most of the sca faithful were surprised they made it that year with a bunch of freshmen and a sophomore QB. They graduated 20 seniors from the 2015 state champ team. They were definitely overmatched with steel valleys senior laden team and division1 recruits. Southerns freshmen overachieved that year. This group of kids are now juniors with 2 state titles and a strong possibility of another next year.
December 8th, 2018 at 10:37 pm
Jeff H. I will get a answer for you.
December 8th, 2018 at 10:15 am
@Robert A – I have read multiple articles from various sources that indicated the points start accumulating this year and in 2019 and will be implemented starting with the reclassification in 2020, I think there’s a lot of confusion on how the system works and when it will be implemented but everything I’ve read seems to state it went into effect August 6 of this year with the points starting for this season.
Dave Mika – can you shed some light on when the new rules will start forcing some teams to move up a class?
December 8th, 2018 at 9:44 am
To be honest only watched about a half, but the Officials in the Manheim Central – Penn Hills game were poor, you are in a Championship game, you deserve Championship quality officials. I can think of at least 6 calls in the second half allow that at the very best were very questionable.
December 8th, 2018 at 6:57 am
Jeff – regarding your comments on the “success factor,” those are factually inaccurate. The “success factor” MAY be implemented beginning in the next two year cycle (20-21). My interpretation is that is when “point” (success points?) will begin accumulating. Therefore, schools will not be effected (move up) until the following two year cycle (22-23).
December 8th, 2018 at 12:51 am
@BoJangles
Clairton team from a few years ago has the record for points scored. Not sure if you guys are talking in 2A, or overall in State history. But Clairton without doubt has the record for points scored in a season.They are actually 2nd most points scored Nationally, too a team in I believe N. C. or Texas where they do not employ the Mercy Rule. Without the Mercy Rule Clairton would have blown the National record out of the water for points scored in a season, easily have been over a 1,000, I believe they finished with like 960 give or take.
December 7th, 2018 at 11:23 pm
@High School Football Insider…had to read your post twice to make sure I read what I thought I read. Absolute nonsense. It’s almost comical. Farrell could play with anyone? Southern would beat them by 3 scores. They wouldn’t touch Aliquppa, ECP, Imhotep, Mcdevitt, Penn Hills, Gateway, St Joes, north alleghany, I would go on but you get my point. And you better get a new inside source, because your claim of Farrell’s 779 was tops is just not true. SoCol was tops with 860, tied the 07 Jeanette team for most ever. FACTS
December 7th, 2018 at 10:40 pm
@JC – the PIAA pushed the success factor and transfer rule through in July, went into effect August 1, based on number of points accumulated in 2yr cycle for advancing in playoffs and number of transfers, Erie Prep will be playing 5A starting in 2020, but they will definitely be the preseason favorite next year to win their fourth in a row in 4A before they get moved up the following year, and they will absolutely be a contender in 5A. Being from the WPIAL our 5A champ will have a better chance against them than our 4A champ, that’s for sure.
@ HS Insider – yeah, I know, Farrell’s line averages 6’3″ 290, which is huge for any level of high school, and unheard of for 1A, coupled with all their skill players and speed I agree they could play with just about anyone outside of SJP, at least in a single game setting, but I don’t think they wouldn’t have the depth to compete at the top 2 classes for a full season. Would be great to see a D10 championship game between Erie Prep and Farrell, that would be fun to watch.
December 7th, 2018 at 8:52 pm
Daquean Hardy from PH May be the best Athlete/Player we will see this weekend. But we still have Will Gipson, MJ Devonshire and Avante McKenzie from Aliquippa too check out tomorrow.
December 7th, 2018 at 8:28 pm
Not sure Manheim is used to speed and athletes like Penn Hills has, the speed and athleticism that PH possesses is something else. Not too shabby for a public school, all those D1 skills. Like too see what would happen if PH played St. joes. There is absolutely no margin for error putting the ball up in the air vs that D1 secondary of PH. It’s only halftime, lot of football left to play, but PH is GOOD. PH has athletes, wait to watch Aliquippa tomorrow. Even though they are a small A school playing in 3A, got 4 D1 skills and 2 D1 linemen. They will impress, and should put a show on vs M-Town. Quips team speed and skill is off the chart, especially now since they got rid of Zmimanjac and his Power I offense. Coach Warfield spreads the field and Pass is not a 4 letter word to him. Would be really nice to see MJ Devonshire get the national record for Punt Return TD’s in a season, something tells me he will get plenty of chances. Either that or M-Town will Punt out of bounds which could make that game really ugly. Aliquippa is not afraid to keep their foot on the gas.
December 7th, 2018 at 6:51 pm
@ Jeff H. High School Football Insider says ” They would have played with anybody in any classification “. And you said I was ” delusional “. I would like to hear a response to that statement. CP would eat them alive and they are only 4A. And yes Farrell had a great year but let’s put 5 great years together. Now we have something! and remember we agree to disagree my friend.
December 7th, 2018 at 5:56 pm
Cathedral Prep owns Imhotep & that class. You would think just for their own competetive spirit they would challenge themselves & play up a class!
December 7th, 2018 at 5:14 pm
@Mick – in most smaller schools cases kids play both ways, while bigger schools can play 11 and than sub a new 11. Last year Imhotep played Harrisburg game wasn’t even close. Think it was 30-0…
Would you really like to see a team that fields 30 players play a team that field 90? Absolutely not.
PIAA if it’s gonna do something they will make the playoffs like New Jersey has done.
December 7th, 2018 at 2:19 pm
@Jeff H: Farrell would beat Southern Columbia this year. They would have played with anybody in any classification. The line they had was a 6A size line. Some of the top high school teams in the country have those size lines and some even smaller.
779 Total points in a single season. Best in the State of PA in any classification. ( They only played the starters all 4 quarters in only 1 game this season. If they would of kept their starters in all year, their point total would of been well close if not over 1,000.)
December 7th, 2018 at 12:55 pm
@Mick – there are only a handful or at most 10 private schools that are a major factor on the state level, you think the solution is to have small 1A and 2A catholic schools that currently aren’t competitive with the better public schools play up in the best class? Are you serious? That would be a recipe for disaster and could get some kids seriously injured, there is no issue with the catholic/private schools in 1A-3A, the biggest problem is at 4A, as that’s where the private schools have dominated the most since the move to 6 classes.
December 7th, 2018 at 9:38 am
There has to be a way to require non-boundary teams play up a class after accumulating a certain number of performance metrics. Having one non-boundary team dominate a class is just not interesting, but there are also non-boundary schools that struggle. For non-boundaries, enrollment is essentially meaningless.
*Does not apply to 6A as there is no higher to go
December 7th, 2018 at 6:54 am
@Mike
Why? Some schools are small? Doesnt matter they recruit at most positions on the field
December 6th, 2018 at 11:00 pm
@ Jeff H.
Much agreed on both counts!!!!
December 6th, 2018 at 9:59 pm
@Mick that is a horrible idea about the private schools playing up. No offense
December 6th, 2018 at 9:58 pm
Day one synopsis in one four letter word: YAWN
December 6th, 2018 at 5:30 pm
Another alternative, all private/Catholic schools play at the 6A level.
December 6th, 2018 at 4:49 pm
Lackwanna Trail had a great season and should be proud of making it to Hershey for the first time in school history, they ran into a buzz-saw today like I expected, I tried to warn everyone this game would probably get out of hand, too bad Farrell couldn’t play SoCo.
December 6th, 2018 at 4:25 pm
@Jeff & D3 MIke
I have been firmly entrenched in the “CP is fine in 4A camp” for the past few years. I always felt the playoff competition was there and had no problem having matchups with TJ/Berks/McDevitt/Imhotep. However, I have to admit I am leaning the other way now. This was supposed to be the year the competition caught up with ECP but as you can see, it hasn’t. They have a very strong Junior class as well so they will be the favorite again in 4A next year. Win or lose tonight I feel they would do just fine in 5A. The only concern is enrollment. Erie High has affected CP’s enrollment and I wouldn’t be surprised if its even lower for the next cycle. I still don’t think that excludes them from the “playing up a class” talk but it might not be as much of a slam dunk. Looking forward to the game tonight, it should be a good one.
December 6th, 2018 at 3:26 pm
@ GaryZ
Your “A” game pick, that was meant that to be your halftime score prediction, right?? (just say yes :))
December 6th, 2018 at 12:53 pm
My picks:
6A… Harrisburg 34 – Tri State All Stars 31
5A… Penn Hills 27 – Manheim 21
4A… Cathedral Prep 42 – Imhotep 40
3A… Aliquippa 41 – Middletown 28
2A… Southern Columbia 49 – Wilmington 13
1A… Farrell 34 – Lackawanna Trail 6
December 6th, 2018 at 12:06 pm
By all rights St Joe’s Prep should run Harrisburg right out of Hershey Stadium but there is something about these Harrisburg kids & this Harrisburg team that I think will surprise everybody & especially St Joe’s Prep. I’m not saying they will win but I think St Joe’s will know they were in a fight!
December 6th, 2018 at 11:09 am
I don’t follow the lower two classes that closely but here is what I got for 3A thru 6A
AAA
Aliquippa 38
Middletown 24
AAAA
ECP 30
Imhotep 24
AAAAA
Manheim Central 34
Penn Hills 30
AAAAAA
SJP 34
Harrisburg 22
December 6th, 2018 at 10:22 am
Picks
St. Joe’s 35 – H-burg 13
PH 41- MC 20
ECP 28- TEP 20
Aliquippa 49 – Middletown 6
SoCo 42 – Wilmington 13
Farrel 42 – LT 6
December 5th, 2018 at 8:41 pm
I just love championship week! As a SoCo fan, I very thankful and fortunate that my son was able to experience several championship games. There is nothing like the week leading up to the big game. I wish everyone could witness what the kids get to do. Monday-Wednesday is a lot of media coverage. Thursday is busy with school pep rally, team meal and then the community pep rally. Friday team breakfast at Masser’s. Friday night celebration at Ralpho gym. Good luck to all players and teams. Enjoy this special moment.
December 5th, 2018 at 7:45 pm
@D3 Mike – agree with you about Erie Prep, I have argued with the D10 guys on the western board for the last 2 years that an elite program like Prep should be playing 5A, if not 6A, they have the 2nd largest enrollment in 4a just behind Bishop Shanahan, and there’s no reason they should play in 4A, Wood has 351 boys to Preps 382, yet Wood plays in 5A. I’m hoping the PIAA passes the success factor because that would help balance things out a little bit, I think Imhotep should probably be playing 5A as well, but Prep is a more glaring example because they have 50% more boys than Tep, which is a 3A school playing up.
As for the WPIAL switching back to 4 classes I have also heard the rumors, think it’s just in the very early discussion stages and would not expect any changes for next year, the move to 6 classes has obviously affected having all the finals at Heinz, and that doesn’t sit well with the WPIAL, played the 5A final at Norwin HS this year, and that’s not what the WPIAL wants.
I am not aware of any controversy regarding Aliquippa players, have not heard of any rumors of kids from outside Aliquippa playing for them, and don’t recall any recent transfers.
On the bracket switch in 5A and 6A the rumors out west were it was largely due to D3, and to a lesser extent D1, with D3 tired of losing to D7 and D1 to D12, and teams like Wilson, CV and CD were leading the charge, not sure how accurate that is but that seems to be the consensus opinion.
December 5th, 2018 at 7:04 pm
I know there are some Western PA folks on here. A couple interesting things from the Post-Gazette football chat the past few weeks.
1) Mike White mentioned this week that attendance was way down and the WPIAL was considering switching back to 4 classes (yet still sending 6 teams to states). Is this a serious possibility or just something being kicked around by a few ADs?
2) a couple of folks have commented about the “Beaver County All-star team” Is that a valid shot at the Quips or just sour grapes?
Also re: the bracket switch, from what I heard that largely stemmed from Wilson getting obliterated in the state semi-finals a couple years ago by Pittsburgh CC and some of the top 6A programs contending that they would never beat both PCC and Prep in the same year. A stupid over reaction considering Publics win the WPIAL more than PCC but that’s what I’ve heard. Same schools leading the charge on the public-private split.
December 5th, 2018 at 5:37 pm
@Mike – and not only made the finals but in 6A and not 5A like last year, I think last year they felt it was a foregone conclusion they were going back to the final since they made it in 2016, and Mifflin pounded on them in the cold and rain, tremendous accomplishment for them this year, I think they will be competitive with SJP for a while but SJP pulls away in the 2nd half, we’ll see, either way it was an excellent season for Hburg.
@Dennis Pascoe – we agree to disagree about how well SoCo would do in 4A, I certainly think they would be very competitive and beat a lot of teams, but I just don’t think they would beat either Erie Prep or Imhotep, they obviously have one of the premier programs in the state, as a fan of the game I wish they would play up to see how they would fare, because the are so much better than any other 2A team, they are going to crush Wilmington again just like last year. Too bad they can’t play Farrell, that would be a good game, SC would win, but Farrell would compete with them, massive offensive line averaging 290 and lots of speed and skill with a few D1 kids, their QB is 6’3 240 and also plays LB and is going to Pitt, they beat Wilmington 31-19 giving them their only loss this season, and they are probably going to mercy rule LT tomorrow.
December 5th, 2018 at 2:32 pm
Rewatched the HB/CRR game, To say the QB for CRR didn’t lose that game for them I would be lying. It was raining but instead of handing the ball to #4, Tried to pull the ball down and run every play. When a pass play was called he wouldn’t sit in the pocket as soon as he saw the rush he would try to escape. His throws we’re wobbly. No screen plays, no short intermediate routes, everything was downfield. Game plan looked horrible. To explain how Harrisburg got a bye two games before a state playoff game is a joke.
December 5th, 2018 at 11:33 am
@Jeff H – I know it is. Probably just the D2 left in me hoping they win. Hopefully they shock everyone tomorrow.
December 5th, 2018 at 10:19 am
@ Mike if the PIAA didn’t mess with the brackets, Harrisburg may have faced Pine Richland in the Semis. Central PA complained that District 7, 1 and 12 were dominating going to Hershey every year. So, St. Joe’s Prep got an easy team to beat to get the PIAA Chip! And Central PA finally got to go to Hershey for Football! GO PREP Represent Western PA! They beat Pine in the Semi Finals!
December 5th, 2018 at 10:05 am
@Mike Yea…I believe that last year’s Harrisburg team with Parsons and Anderson-Butts was better. They lost that game in a torrential downpour that helped to even the playing field for a good, if not great, Governor Mifflin team that was good at running the ball and controlling the clock. Harrisburg was completely throttled by penalties, Mifflin, and the inability to execute in the horrible weather. They started to panic and everything just steamrolled against them. Had that game been played on a beautiful fall afternoon I’d still take Harrisburg by at least 3 TD’s.
December 5th, 2018 at 6:50 am
It’s problematic to compare teams across seasons but Berks Catholic played at 2A before the classes changed and they moved up to 4A. In 2015 they played Southern Columbia in the state quarters. In 2016 and 2017 they played Erie Prep in the state semifinals. They lost all 3 games by 2 touchdowns and all three opponents went on to win state titles. So that’s a little evidence that SC could compete at 4A, at least some years. And IMO just looking at their D1 players and the “eye test” suggest they can compete at that class.
The trouble for SC against a top 4A team would be the same that someone like Erie Prep gives most good opponents: no one can match their talent depth and experience. Erie Prep doesn’t just have 4-5 college scholarship players. They have so many scholarship players that they have future D1 10th graders on special teams. And then in the second half, much like St Joe’s prep, they wear you down because they don’t need their superstars to play both ways. Add to the mix their coaching and schedule and it’s obvious why only Imhotep has been able to keep up with them in PA. They have 3 losses and still mercy ruled everyone so far in the playoffs. They should at least be in 5A if not in 6A. And considering that Imhotep has now played in what, 5 state title games in the last 6 years, they aren’t far behind.
December 4th, 2018 at 10:52 pm
Still amazed that this years Harrisburg team made the finals but last years team couldn’t.
December 4th, 2018 at 10:24 pm
@GaryZ – out of curiosity I went back and checked on SoCo’s record against the WPIAL, and you were correct, they are 5-8 against WPIAL teams in state finals, and 3-0 against other districts, giving them a record of 8-8, and soon to be 9-8 against another non-WPIAL team. In case some of you SoCo fans haven’t figured it out yet we play some pretty good football in the WPIAL, having won at least 1 state title every year since 1992, and we don’t play up to avoid anyone, period, to suggest otherwise is not supported by the facts.
December 4th, 2018 at 10:05 pm
@Neutral Observer – agree with all but one of your picks and think you will be in the ballpark for the scores for most of them, disagree with you on Penn Hlls/Manheim, I would be shocked if MC beats them by 2 TD’s, they might pull out a close one, but doubt by 2 scores, they too are going to have some problems with Penn Hills team speed, just like LT is with Farrell and Middletown with the Quips, my predictions as follows:
1A – Farrell 48 – LT 14
2A – SoCo 42 – Wilmington 7
3A Aliquippa 42 – Middletown 20
4A Erie Prep 41 – Imhotep 27
5A Penn Hills 28 – MC 20
6A SJP 42 – Harrisburg 14
December 4th, 2018 at 9:51 pm
@GaryZ – very well stated in all your posts, you are 100% correct, it’s a absolute joke to think any team in the WPIAL plays up to avoid anyone anywhere else in the state. As I previously stated the WPIAL puts all teams in the same class in the same conference, they change conference alignments every two years to match schools geographically the best they can in the same class. Aliquippa played 2A for decades because that’s where Beaver Falls, Beaver, Hopewell, Quaker Valley, New Brighton, etc. played, if their traditional rivals were 4A schools, there’s no doubt they would play 4A. You are also correct about Farrell trying to get back into the WPIAL, they would definitely take them back, but D10 is not letting them go, at least not at this time.
December 4th, 2018 at 8:08 pm
My earlier post was mainly centered on Southern Columbia’s DEFENSE. they are as good as any defense in 4A or 5A (as good not better). As for a total team effort they could go deep in the 4A playoffs and possibly win it all. Yes POSSIBLY is a big word ! Not saying they WOULD win 4A but they would be right in the mix with the big boys. And this is not being delusional. Yes Roth is a legend in Pennsylvania but his staff is at the top also. It takes more than person to create a program like Southern Columbia has.
December 4th, 2018 at 7:14 pm
@Brian
So basically I do give them all the respect in the and believe they will win vs D10 Wilmington. However you are just completely wrong to say the ‘Quips play up in 3A to avoid them. That is uneducated and a little crazy to say. They have a losing record vs WPIAL teams since ‘88 and the start of the States. Again all the respect in the world to PUBLIC SCHOOL SoCo. But I heard it in ‘16, how bad they would beat S. Valley, now it’s Aliquippa plays in 3A to avoid them, crazy. I don’t predict games that will not be played, I promise you though, that SoCo would not blow this years Aliquippa team away.
December 4th, 2018 at 6:43 pm
@Brian
Actually SoCo is I believe 5-8 vs WPIAL Schools, could be off by one. Yes I included Farrell when they played in WPIAL, which they are still trying to get back into. Just going off memory, but my point is that no school in the WPIAL is changing classes to avoid SoCo. Yes they are an excellent team coached by a legend, give them all respect. But to say a WPIAL school is thinking that far ahead to avoid SoCo is crazy, plus the school you referenced is a small A, should they play up 3 classes? How many classes up does SoCo play??
December 4th, 2018 at 6:20 pm
@Brian
Actually Aliquippa played double A when it was 4 Classes, they play AAA now so to stay in their Conf. in Beaver Co. which is a AAA Conf. Pretty sure S. C. does play a factor in it. Ya they are a great team, but let’s not pretend WPIAL Teams have never beat them. Yes they beat the Quips a few years ago, but also got Washed by Steel Valley a couple years ago. They are a great team and program, but I don’t think any teams here in the west play up or down to avoid SoCo. They have had great success, but it’s not like they never got beat by someone in the West. Regardless of what you think, the Quips are a Small Class A school that plays 2 classes up. I am not saying they would win or lose vs SoCo, but if you think they would be that premeditated too attempt to avoid SoCo, you are wrong. SoCo has a great team, but the Quips do as well with 5-6 legit D1 kids.
December 4th, 2018 at 3:53 pm
@Dawg Pound – if Lackwanna Trail beats Farrell that will be one of the biggest upsets in PIAA finals history, I think Bojangles has the score pegged about right, 51-14. Farrell has crushed everyone this year, including a very good Sacred Heart team last week 41-10, I think LT will do well to keep this game within 4 scores, they have not played a team all year anywhere remotely close to Farrell, and I think Farrell’s overall team speed is going to overwhelm them. I hope it’s a good game but just don’t think LT can come close to keeping up with them, we’ll see in a few days.
December 4th, 2018 at 3:37 pm
@bogangles I appreciate your input to my post but I will stick to my guns. And again I will say this year’s defense on SCA is the best ever to come out of that program. And yes they could play with the big boys in 4A. Good luck to all the teams this weekend.
December 4th, 2018 at 1:18 pm
@D3 Mike – this years Penn Hills team is comparable to last year’s Gateway team on offense, but their defense is better than Gateway, I think this game will be similar to the Gateway/MC game from last year. Penn Hills is a bit undersized on both the offensive and defensive lines, but that didn’t seem to hurt them against Wood, I and a lot of other people who follow the WPIAL thought Wood would run the ball a lot more effectively against PH than they did last week. I do think this game will be competitive and quite possibly the best game of the weekend.
December 4th, 2018 at 1:11 pm
@Brian – you are absolutely wrong that Aliquippa went to AAA to avoid Southern Columbia, I can guarantee you that had nothing to do with their decision, and shows your ignorance of how football works in the WPIAL. The reason they are playing in 3A is because all their local rivals are in 3A, including Beaver Falls, Hopewell, Quaker Valley, etc. The WPIAL only puts teams from the same classification in a conference, they don’t have schools from different classes in the same conference as is common in other parts of the state, so if they played in 2A they would not be playing any of their natural rivals and would have to travel greater distances to away games. They have played in 3A for the last 3 years since the PIAA went to 6 classes, and in 2A for quite a few years before the move to 6 classes, so check your facts before you make incorrect statements. You are also incorrect that last years Jeanette team would have beaten Quaker Valley, I’ve followed the WPIAL for 45 years and QV was definitely better than Jeanette last year, and last years Aliquippa team would have beaten Jeanette if they played in 1A where their enrollment puts them.
@Dennis Pascoe – you are delusional if you think SoCo could beat Erie Prep or Imhotep, Bojangles is absolutely correct, agree with everything he stated, SoCo is a fantastic team, Roth is a legend, but let’s not get carried away thinking they could beat the powers in 4A and 5A, no doubt they could beat a lot of 4A and 5A teams, but they would not beat the best teams in those classes.
@GaryZ – as I stated before I don’t like Middletown’s chances against Aliquippa, I was at their game over the weekend against Sharon and they are loaded, way too much speed and D1 talent for Middletown I think the Quips win something like 42-20. MJ Devonshire (#9) is a game breaker, don’t punt the ball to him or you’re playing with fire, he’s also a shutdown cornerback and a weapon on offense and reminds me of a young Darelle Revis who scored 5 TD’s in the 2003 state title game.
December 4th, 2018 at 12:10 pm
My predictions:
6A: St. Joe’s Prep 35, Harrisburg 17
5A: Manheim 28, Penn Hills 14
4A: Erie Cathedral Prep 49, Imhotep 28
3A: Aliquippa 49, Middletown 13
2A: Southern Columbia 49, Wilmington 7
(Mercy rule game)
1A: Farrell-42, Lackawanna Trail-14
(That pains me as a District 2 guy)
December 4th, 2018 at 9:40 am
Mike’s Eastern 6A Top Ten 12/4/2018
1) St. Joseph’s Prep 84.1
2) Harrisburg 74.9
3) Coatesville 74.3
4) Central Dauphin 62.2
5) Bethlehem Freedom 59.2
6) LaSalle 54.5
7) North Penn 53.2
8) Garnet Valley 52.5
9) Downingtown East 52.4
10) Manheim Township 51.3
Honorable Mention
Wilson 51.2, Emmaus 50.5, Downingtown West 49.7, Neshaminy 46.3, Easton 46, Parkland 45.9, Truman 44, Chambersburg 43.1
Mike’s State 6A Top Ten 12/4/2018
1) St. Joseph’s Prep 84.1
2) Harrisburg 74.9
3) Coatesville 74.3
4) Pine Richland 69.7
5) Central Dauphin 62.2
6) North Alleghenny 62
7) State College 61.9
8) Bethlehem Freedom 59.2
9) Seneca Valley 57.2
10) LaSalle 54.5
Honorable Mention
North Penn 53.2, Garnet Valley 52.5, Downingtown East 52.4, Pittsburgh Central Catholic 51.7, Manheim Township 51.3, Wilson 51.2, Emmaus 50.5, Downingtown West 49.7, Neshaminy 46.3, Easton 46, Parkland 45.9, Mt. Lebanon 45.2
December 4th, 2018 at 8:41 am
Kevin X….Yes they don’t do it anymore since we went six classes.
December 4th, 2018 at 8:29 am
@ Dave M.
I’m guessing not, as I took a peek at the PCN TV upcoming schedule on-line, and I did not see it on their schedule for tomorrow, but are you and/or PCN reviving the PIAA Football Championship preview show?? Don’t think its been on since going to six classification. I did enjoy it.
December 4th, 2018 at 8:17 am
@Kevin X – Yeah, probably. I could not find the previous info page about him.
All – after disparaging the 2015 WC team for showing poor sportsmanship, i have to say that this year’s team showed none of that. While they were understandably frustrated, they represented their school well.
December 4th, 2018 at 7:37 am
Let’s not kid anyone. Aliquippa is in AAA to avoid southern Columbia. They got steamrolled by them 3 years ago. Yes ALiquippa has played up for years in AA and when they went to 6 classes they stayed in AA the first 2 years. As soon as Southern stomped them they went to AAA which is the easiest class. Lasts years A and AA champ would’ve won the AAA title. As for moving up to play tougher competition hogwash. They went to AAA to make it easier. Staying in AA or moving up to AAAA would’ve been for better competition.
December 4th, 2018 at 12:27 am
State Title Predictions…
Farrell-51
Trail-14
SoCol-49
Wilmington-21
Aliquippa-34
Middletown-20
Imhotep-42
ECP-38
Manheim-28
Penn Hills-20
St Joes- 48
Harrisburg-14
December 4th, 2018 at 12:21 am
@Dennis Pascoe….while SoCol is a fantastic team and I believe they would win 3A. 4 and 5A are a different animal. SoCol would be competitive in 4A until they ran into Tep or ECP. Either would ruin Columbia. 5A might be an easier division to win than 4 BUT SoCol would lose to Manheim, Penn Hills, Gateway, Peters and probably a few more. I am a fan of Roth and SoCol but they have limits just like any other team.
December 3rd, 2018 at 6:22 pm
re: Manheim Central I guess it depends on how Penn Hills compares to the 2017 Gateway team. MC is pretty comparable to last year’s version which lost 31-28 to Gateway in the state semi-finals. They moved the ball well on offense but struggled a bit defending Gateway’s speed. If this year’s 5A state final delivers half the game that one was it will be the game of the weekend for sure.
re: Middletown they aren’t quite as strong on defense this year but otherwise they bring a similar team. They do have decent speed – not Aliquippa speed but really who does except for Imhotep and the 5A/6A powers. FWIW they lost 40-14 to McDevitt – they might be a decent comparison to Aliquippa, at least at the skill positions.
re: Harrisburg vs Prep – yikes.
Best of luck to all of the teams still playing.
December 3rd, 2018 at 4:26 pm
@D3Mike – agree with you about the brackets in 3A and the built in advantage for the WPIAL winner, it’s been that way for the last 3 years since the move to 6 classes. Like everyone else I’m hoping for a good game but think the Quips speed is going to overwhelm Middletown.
I hear what you’re saying about Manheim not playing a team all year with the speed of Penn Hills, but I have to believe MC is at least as good as Peters Twp and West Allegheny, both of them hung in there with Penn Hills, and both had the lead at halftime, I think PH will win but I will be surprised if it’s more than 10 points, or 14 at the absolute most, I see the final something like 28-20. And of course the one state title MC won was a classic in 2003, who could ever forget the OT game in the snowstorm against Pine Richland and Neil Walker!!!
I still think Imhotep has the players and athletes to play Erie Prep tough, they lost by 7 points 2 yrs ago and 10 last year, and I’d be surprised if Prep blew them out like they did McDevitt, still shocked at that score. Tep needs to stop Billy Lucas and force Prep to throw, they also can’t let Preps QB run wild like he did against McDevitt, if they can’t then your’re right game won’t be close.
December 3rd, 2018 at 10:38 am
Lets hear everyones predictions for this week:
A: LT 28
Farrell 27
AA: SC 52
Wilmington 7
AAA: Middletown 28
Aliquipia 31
AAAA: ECP 28
Imhotep 14
AAAAA: MC 28
Penn Hills 21
AAAAAA: Harrisburg 21
SJP 42
December 3rd, 2018 at 9:26 am
Some scuttlebutt coming out of Central Pa social media sites suggests that one of the District 3 semifinal winners used academically ineligible players in their semifinal victory. Not specific as to which team. If anyone has seen this or has any more information about such an occurence, they can expand on it. I would rather focus on the what if because without any clear definitive information I would rather just examine the position the PIAA would be in after the Wilson soccer fiasco incident of using an ineligible player. If ineligible players are reported to the PIAA, what should they be expected to do? By rule do you declare the team that used ineligible players to forfiet the games ineligible players were used hence declaring the the championship opponent the automatic victor without playing the game? My guess would be the PIAA would say they need to do an intensive investigation of the incident which will clearly take at least two weeks. Hence, the team with ineligible players would be allowed to compete in the final at Hershey Park on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. PIAA then makes the $4 student, $8 gate fee and they can kick the can down the road hopint the team in question loses in the championship. Is this the righ tthing to do? Are there any other options? Hopefully, for the sake of high school football in Pennsylavania this example never comes to fruition. I feel like it was an embarrasment in soccer and it will be an even bigger black eye if something like this was to tarnish one of the classes in football.
December 3rd, 2018 at 4:08 am
Just asking a ??, not being ignorant… can Middletown actually give the ‘Quips a game? The previous two years they have been blown out by a Beaver County team from the same Conf. This year they draw the best of the bunch, Class A Aliquippa, who plays up in 3A but has as much talent or more than most programs around. I think this year the ‘Quips have 6 D1 recruits, 4 power 5 Conf. players. Just wanted too know about M-Town, either way they made it 3 years in a row to the finals. Also big up too Aliquippa for having one of the smallest enrollments for Class A, but choosing too play in 3A for competition. That place is just an incredible area for producing Elite D1 Athletes.
December 2nd, 2018 at 11:43 pm
All of this talk about Southern Columbia’s high powered offense you hardly hear about their defense. It without question is the best in my opinion to ever come from that program. I will not go into specifics. I will ruffle some feathers here but I feel they are just as good as any 4A or 5A team in Pennsylvania. As a total team Southern could go deep in 4A. If not win it all. Anything can happen but if they lose on Friday it would be a shock.
December 2nd, 2018 at 6:23 pm
Herb & Frank, I saw a Prep map like that when my boys went there between ’93 & ’06 & Jersey came in at about 20% maybe 25% & I was surprised that NE Philly had a very large percentage & South Philly had more than you would think. In addition to my boys I had 6 nephews & a Grandfather (1905) graduate from Prep but I never heard the term “Stile Streeters” before. Stile St gets interrupted by the school building & would go down the hall & continue out the back door. I dont know much about this Harrisburg team but I heard many play both ways & although undersized they are very talented, fast & athletic. I also imagine they are well coached so lets see how conditioned they are going against the 22 different starters that the Prep fields.
December 2nd, 2018 at 4:30 pm
Legit ??, not trying to be rude… does anyone know if this years Middletown team is a little more competitive than the previous couple. This will be the 3rd year in a row they play a team from Beaver County, same Conf. as well. The past couple were not competitive, see if they a stronger team this year playing the Class A Quips.
December 2nd, 2018 at 1:54 pm
Yes Frank I am also a Prep grad, heard that stat at a reunion few years ago maybe got some bad facts. Point is a good portion of the students come from New Jersey who don’t play any sports at all. It is simply the nature of the beast residing so close to the bridge.
The artist- the Prep was once located on Stiles St, where the church still stands today. They expanded onto Girard Ave when the fire happened shortly after my time there. Stiles Street used to be open from 17th to 18th and the campus only went back to Thompson. Hence Stiles Streeters. Back then we were the Hawklets too. As for the Prep’s passing game and McCord you are spot on. Kid is as talented as anybody I’ve seen play there and will most surely be slinging it on Sundays. I think Harrisburg will fair better than Pine Richland did offensively, but the mighty SJP offense will be too much- 38-20 Preppers.
Hey how about Imhotep-Cathedral Prep does D12 have a shot at a PPL winner as well or is Cathedral too strong this year? Saw Imhotep take on LaSalle week one and I was impressed I hope they can make it a game.
December 2nd, 2018 at 12:19 pm
@Herb That 41% looks awfully high. I’m a Prep grad in pretty close touch with the school and thought something closer to 20-25% was more accurate. Not that many years ago the school magazine had a cover showing where all the students came from, and it indicated no more than a quarter came from Jersey. I sure don’t think 41% of the football-playing students do, though I know McCord and the Johnsons are from Jersey.
December 2nd, 2018 at 9:38 am
@ Herb G ’66 — Yeah St. Joe’s Prep started in 1851, 3 years before the city annexed the rest of Philadelphia County thereby making the city and county coterminous. Anything north of Spring Garden Street was suburbs, amazing.
What’s really amazing though is Prep’s passing game. For the most part they tend not to do the dink and dunk thing nor do they throw the bomb; it’s all about the mid range pitch and catch. It’s very effective, has almost a numbing efficiency. Throw in some runs here and there by very talented runners and there you go, mercy rule everybody before the half. With that precision passing game, their offense is seemingly unstoppable. Conversely, the offenses of Prep’s adversaries are totally stoppable. If they keep playing at this level they should schedule a home and home with the likes of Mater Dei, the Bosco from California or heck, IMG Academy so as to win the #1 end of year ranking.
I googled ‘Stiles Streeters’ and nothing came up. I was forced to think about it and as a long time Philadelphian was able to quickly realize that there’s a Stiles Street parallel to Girard just north of it. So it must be a nickname for Prep — good one.
December 2nd, 2018 at 3:09 am
Here’s a guess at scores for this upcoming championship weekend.
A: LT 20 Farrell 35
AA: SC 47 Wilmington 13
AAA: Middletown 14 Aliquippa 33
AAAA: Erie Prep 40 Tep 26
AAAAA: MC 27 Penn Hills 20 (game of weekend)
AAAAAA: Harrisburg 17 St Joe’s Prep 35
I wanted to see Prep vs Coatesville like many others but Harrisburg earned the right to play Prep. I do think Prep vs Coatesville would have been a better title game in AAAAAA. It mostly the same teams in Hershey with a few exceptions. In AA and AAAA we have rematches. Good luck to all teams playing this upcoming weekend!
December 2nd, 2018 at 12:38 am
St Joe’s Prep football program started way back in 1889, about 48 years after the school was founded. By the early 1930’s students from New Jersey were commuting over to go to the Prep. Today about 41% of the students are Jersey kids, and some play sports but many do not. Always been a thing always will be. But I agree strange to see a PIAA state champ from NJ but that’s just how it is these days.
Anyway, what’s the biggest factor of Harrisburg vs the Stiles Streeters? Does SJP have too much speed, is McCord breakable and can the Cougars rattle the first year starter, and can it be a good game?
December 1st, 2018 at 9:20 pm
Jeff, yeah, it’s more wishful thinking than anything. I saw Middletown play vs Wyomissing – very solid 3A team but they don’t do anything special. Good speed, good size but nothing about them jumps up and wows you. If you look at their total points allowed 2016 vs 2017 vs 2018 you can see that their defense is a notch below prior versions, too. But Aliquippa has been tripped up before this year so we’ll see.
FWIW Aliquippa should be the favorite for being a great team and winning the WPIAL. In fairness though, Sharon is not great and the Quips got a bye into the semifinals. You might as well just pencil the WPIAL winner in at Hershey at 3A with these brackets.
Honestly there might not be a game closer than 2 touchdowns next week. As I already stated, I think Imhotep’s offense is down a bit this year so I can’t see them keeping up with Cathedral Prep.
At 5A, Manheim is a really good team but they haven’t seen anyone with half the speed they will see next weekend. D3 5A is solid but filled with traditional plodders, just like MCs farmboy schedule in the Lancaster-Lebanon league (I’m a farmboy, I can say that). They played Wilson non-league in one I saw live but Wilson is built much the same. They might want to get a Harrisburg, McDevitt, or even a Berks Catholic on their schedule moving forward just to get used to the faster pace. There’s a reason they have 17 district 3 titles but only 1 state title.
December 1st, 2018 at 7:06 pm
@d3 Mike – you mentioned yesterday you were curious whether Middletown finally breaks through this year, after taking the drive up I-79 to Slippery Rock U. and watching Aliquippa crush a decent Sharon team 41-7 this afternoon I don’t like their chances, it was 34-7 at half and final would have been a lot worse if the Quips didn’t call off the dogs. This Aliquippa team is definitely better than the Quaker Valley team last year that beat Middletown, so unless they have improved significantly from last year I don’t see them keeping up with Aliquippa, I would make the Quips about a 20 pt favorite, but we all know upsets can happen, just ask Coatesville.
The trend the last several years has been blowouts in many games in Hershey, unfortunately think that will continue this year, don’t think 1A or 2A will be close, think Quips win fairly comfortably as noted, 4A and 5A should be good games, but I don’t think Harrisburg is going to keep up with SJP and they win going away, we’ll see, hope Hburg can make it a good game, but I have my doubts.
December 1st, 2018 at 5:15 pm
@BlakelyBear – because Farrell is that good, they crushed a very good Sacred Heart team last night,, and I don’t think Lackwanna Trail can handle their speed, I would be surprised if Farrell doesn’t win by at least 3 scores and probably more. We’ll see, I’ve been known to be wrong, but this is a special Farrell team and you don’t often have 1A teams with 3 big time D1 recruits. You reference Old Forge and Dunmore, to that I say I’m sure you remember when Clairton had some dominant teams in winning 4 straight championships from 09-12, Farrell has that kind of team, and I don’t see LT keeping up with them.
Not sure what you meant when you said boundary vs. non-boundary shouldn’t even be debated, if you’re suggesting there should be separate playoffs I vehemently disagree.
December 1st, 2018 at 4:53 pm
False starts, false starts, poor play calling by Coach Ortega, underestimating Harrisburg, and the Harrisburg defense was crazy good. Oh and false starts.
Not using it as an excuse but I still think it’s incredibly bad form bordering on unforgivable by district 3 or PIAA or whoever decided to give Harrisburg a BYE WEEK THE WEEK BEFORE THE EAST FINAL.
Good luck against SJP. That’s gonna be an ugly ugly game.
December 1st, 2018 at 3:47 pm
Harrisburg 27 Coatesville 24 FINAL
Coatesville had one last chance at the HBG 38 with 6 seconds left but Ortega is sacked as time runs out.
Congratulations to the Cougars on a great win and to the Red Raiders on a great season!
Harrisburg holds off the Red Raiders and will compete for the 6A crown next week against St. Joseph’s Prep
December 1st, 2018 at 3:39 pm
Harrisburg to punt to Coatesville with 34 seconds left up 27-24.
Coatesville has one last chance at their own 30 with 25 seconds left.
December 1st, 2018 at 3:37 pm
Everson picks up the first down again as Coatesville uses its last time out. HBG may be able to run out the clock here. 2nd and 10 at the HBG 37.
December 1st, 2018 at 3:35 pm
Harrisburg starts inside their own 15. Great kick coverage by Coatesville.
An Everson run pick up a HBG 1st down. Now at the 25 yard line.
3 minutes left in the game! Harrisburg up 27-24.
Coateville calls time out with 2;30 left, HBG with 2nd and 3 at their own 32.
Sorry but whoever said Coatesville was going to won this one by 3 scores severely under rated this Harrisburg team!
December 1st, 2018 at 3:28 pm
Harrisburg 27 Coatesville 24
Coatesville TD an Aaron Young 2 yard run.
Less than 5 minute left in 4th QTR
December 1st, 2018 at 3:26 pm
Coatesville gets a good KO return and a penalty on HBG sets them up near mid field in HGB territory.
Coatesville moving via the air inside the ‘burgs 30. About 6:30 now left in this one.
Coatesville inside the 20 now on a HBG pass interference
This one may be coming down to the wire folks!
December 1st, 2018 at 3:21 pm
Harrisburg 27 Coatesville 17
Donte Kent interception of an Ortega pass at the 40 and runs it back nearly all the way has Harrisburg set up inside the Coatesville 1 yard line.
Plant with the short TD run and Harrisburg extends its lead to 27-17. XP was no good.
December 1st, 2018 at 3:18 pm
Jeff H
Why bring the mercy rule into the conversation about Farrell and Lackawanna Trail? Have you ever seen Trail play? They have a bunch of tough kids. Small schools in District 2 usually do well at this stage against teams from the West. Reference Dunmore and Old Forge from years past. And let’s not cite numbers of public vs. privates in he finals. Depending on the district, some publics have no shot to get past their district final, some with generational teams. Take out the large schools, Coatsville, Harrisburg, Philly area, and Southern Columbia, the others have no chance. Everybody works their tails off in the offseason, but boundary vs, non-boundary shouldn’t even be debated.
December 1st, 2018 at 3:14 pm
Coatesville shanks punt from their own 3 and Harrisburg takes over at the Coatesville 5. Coatesville with great goal line stand and takes over at their own 3 yard line.
This is an INCREDIBLE game folks! Too bad there has to be a loser.
December 1st, 2018 at 3:10 pm
Ortega sacked deep in Coatesville territory by Andre White and now Harrisburg has the ball again near midfield. Just over a minute left on the 3rd QTR.
Harrisburg punted and Coatesville takes over inside their own 10.
Harrisburg 21 Coatesville 17 End of 3rd QTR
Coatesville’s defense has stiffened considerably in the second half but the last several possessions the offense has been stopped by Harrisburg also. I don’t think Coatesville has been in a game this close, this late, all year. Both teams are playing very tough now.
SJP is beating Pine Richland 30-0 after 3 QTRs. Looks like the winner here today gets SJP
December 1st, 2018 at 2:54 pm
With 5 minutes left in the 3rd qtr Coatesville goes for it on 4th and 4 and the run play is stopped. Harrisburg will take over at their on 24. Harrisburg now moving the chains in the other direction with an Everson run and pass and now the Cougars are in Coatesville territory. Harrisburg drive stalls and with short punt and Coatesville now has it at their own 35.
Harrisburg 21 Coatesville 17 under 3 minutes left in 3rd qtr
December 1st, 2018 at 2:46 pm
Computer glich on last post!
Harrisburg now ahead 21-17 after a Coatesville TD pass, Ortega to Miller.
Coatesville forces a 3 and out on Harrisburg’s first possession of the second half takes over at their ~20 with 8 minutes left. Coatesville now getting fired up after that 3 and out. Coatesville driving into Harrisburg territory again after a Cougar face mask penalty.
December 1st, 2018 at 2:14 pm
Harrisburg 21 Coatesville 10 HALF
Harrisburg scores a TD with 5 seconds left in the half. Everson with a 7 yard jaunt. Extra point fails.
December 1st, 2018 at 2:07 pm
Ortega trying to rally the troops now at the HBG 16. Bryant with the Coatesville TD. Less than 2 minutes in half.
Harrisburg 15 Coatesville 10
Everson with pass to Gantt now down to the Coatesville 40. The offenses have awoken after a slow start.
Lots of penalties by both teams in the first half.
December 1st, 2018 at 1:56 pm
Harrisburg’s Plant with a short TD run in the 2nd qtr
https://twitter.com/i/status/1068940923797688325
December 1st, 2018 at 1:53 pm
Ortega scramble and pass puts Coatesville at the HBG 3 but after a near interception the Harrisburg “D” holds them to a FG.
Harrisburg 7 Coatesville 3 with 7 minutes and change left in first half.
Harrisburg then immediately answers with a long Plant run to the Coatesville 6.
A holding penalty move the Cougars back to the 20 but an Everson run to the Coatesville 3 and a Plant TD run makes it 15-3 after the 2 point conversion is good.
Harrisburg 15 Coatesville 3 with 6 minutes left in the half
Harrisburg’s first TD video https://twitter.com/i/status/1068935858550640641
December 1st, 2018 at 1:34 pm
Harrisburg 7 Coatesville 0 10:55 left in 2nd qtr
Everson to Donte Kent for a 30 yard TD strike
Everson previously had a TD run on this drive called back for holding.
December 1st, 2018 at 1:28 pm
Harrisburg and Coatesville no score after 1st quarter. Defenses dominating so far.
December 1st, 2018 at 11:48 am
@d3Mike & Kevin X – I never said it was balanced, and it will never be balanced, completely agree with you about the transfer rules, PIAA has started to address and obviously more work to do, I’m also in favor of a multiplier for non-boundary schools. No doubt Erie Prep should be playing 5A, and I would argue maybe McDevitt and a few other privates as well. What I don’t want to see happen is a split between public and privates and 2 separate tournaments, because I don’t think that will be good overall for HS football in this state. There are a group of disgruntled public school officials going to the legislature and asking for separate playoffs, and I hope the legislature doesn’t cave to their demands, that’s what I mean.
@ChiefRedRaider – I have seen PH play twice, just highlights of MC, but I think that will be a very competitive game and would be surprised if it’s more than a 1 score game either way, I think MC definitely has a chance.
December 1st, 2018 at 10:37 am
*make that 3 games this afternoon. My bad. Then again, not expecting much from the Aliquippa/Sharon game.
*Leddie Brown, not Leddy, sorry my man. My Bad 2.0.
Also, thanks to CCR and Deo and others for the streaming info. Will take a pass on the NFHS streams as I have some other things going on. Good to know for future games tho. May check out the second half of the SJP/P-R on the freebie stream if have time.
December 1st, 2018 at 9:49 am
@ Jeff H
When you say “I just hope and pray the state legislature doesn’t get involved and screw things up” what do you hope does not happen specifically?? They are already nibbling around the edges on this issue.
December 1st, 2018 at 9:36 am
Jeff, as far as public – private, I’m thrilled to see a wide open 5A and 6A field. But there are only a few 5A and 6A private schools. And you still have Prep and Wood in the state semi finals. Just because 1 of the 85 public schools can beat them once every two years doesn’t prove it’s balanced. It just means that it’s hard to win 5 games.
And you still have the same 5 teams in the 4A semi-finals all THREE years since they changed the classes. Valley View and TJ go undefeated regularly and just have no shot. And I’d hate to be a 4A public in district 3. They just aren’t going to beat McDevitt / Berks until they figure out the player movement issue.
That’s why I’m so focused on the transfer rules. Fixing that will balance things better (not completely) so that the same dominant schools – public or private – aren’t so dominant year in and year out. Despite Wood being out of it, it’s still St Joe’s, Manheim, Imhotep, Cathedral, Aliquippa, Middletown, Southern Columbia, Farrell … broken record.
December 1st, 2018 at 9:28 am
Watched much of Manheim Central/UD and Penn Hills game. I’m rooting for the eastern teams, but I think Penn Hills team speed will be too much for MC — could get out of hand pretty fast. Any thoughts?
December 1st, 2018 at 9:26 am
Sweet Jesus, I’m not claiming that there is literally a hotline set-up between the Southern Columbia school district and the Geisinger human resources department. Have jokes not made their way to district 4 yet? It’s a known fact that many of the new-to-the-area talent have parents that work at Geisinger since it’s based in Danville and growing so much. Add in the transfers, per the article, and the influx of talent has helped the team.
When you mix outsourced and homegrown talent to coaching and a football culture you get dominance at the lower classes. It’s tougher for a public to do it at the bigger classes since a few players don’t make as big an impact.
As far as commenting on transfer rules instead of the SC-West game itself, well, you saw why many had no interest in talking about the game. It wasn’t one, which was predictable.
I was right about Wood being somewhat down – the new coach, plus key injuries, meant that the offense was never quite there all season. Still, they were a state semi-finalist is a great season and they are the pick to win 5A next year.
Was wrong about Cathedral Prep. Wow. After that dismantling I don’t see the 4A final being quite the game you do, Jeff. I’d have to think Erie by a couple of touchdowns, Imhotep hasn’t had the offense of past years. Don’t think they will keep up.
Also interested to see if Middletown finally breaks thru. And of course it should be great finals in 5A and 6A. Good stuf.
December 1st, 2018 at 8:40 am
Two decent close competitive games out of nine last night. Ridiculous at this state semi final level. If not ridiculous, at least boring. This is why I start to loose interest after districts, along with the travel for games, holidays and weather (tho last night was fine in Ambler, can’t complain there). Let’s hope for two decent games this afternoon. Wrap-up the semi’s on a positive note. Not holding my breath for three days of classic epic games and non stop excitement next weekend in Hershey.
December 1st, 2018 at 6:08 am
1 down, 2 to go
November 30th, 2018 at 10:18 pm
@DawgPound – I said on here earlier in the week SC would win by at least 3 scores, and they did even better than that with a 42-6 win, they will roll over Wilmington again next week, and actually Farrell from 1A would give them a better game than Wilmington, they beat them by 2 scores in the first game of the season and have 3 D1 players, they very well might mercy rule Lackawanna Trail next week, expect both of those games will be blowouts, the 4A and 5A games on the other hand are going to be real battles and have the potential to be great.
November 30th, 2018 at 9:54 pm
Well, we now know 9 of the 12 finalists for next week in Hershey, and 7 of them are public schools, we are guaranteed public school champions in 1A, 2A, 3A, and 5A, and a private school champ in 4A., and there is definitely the possibility of a public champ in 6A, SJP has to beat 2 really good teams to win the title. We can only hope this will quiet some of the complaining and whining about how much of an advantage the private schools have, but I won’t hold my breath. I just hope and pray the state legislature doesn’t get involved and screw things up, because publics can compete with privates and we’re sending the wrong message to kids in publics if some people keep telling them it’s an unfair playing field.
November 30th, 2018 at 9:43 pm
Erie Prep and Imhotep each coast to surprisingly easy victories to set up round 4, that should be a heck of a game. I was right about Manheim Central rolling, but wrong about Penn Hills, they upset 2 time defending champion Archbishop Wood 20-13, very surprised they held them to 13 points, that should also be a very good game next week.
November 30th, 2018 at 8:10 pm
Imhotep Winning 21-0 H
CP winning against BM 42-0 H
Penn Hills winning 8-6 H
Farrell winning 28-3 H
Wilmington 12-6 H
November 30th, 2018 at 7:04 pm
@D3 Mike: Citing to that transfer article is not the same as accusing SCA of having a “hotline to the HR Dept at Geisinger to set up guided tours of Catawissa*” is simply irresponsible. That’s what I find problematic. It’s a heck of an accusation to make without any cited proof. That’s why I called your comment yellow journalism. The end.
PS: The correct phrase is actually “I couldn’t care less” not “I could care less.” To say you “could care less” implies that you do care at least a little.
Just sayin’, is all….
*Sheesh, you would think the guided tour would actually include Elysburg or at least Knoebels and its world-renowned Crystal Pool…
November 30th, 2018 at 6:49 pm
Mr Mika: You’re doing a great job! I appreciate the hard work you put in on this site.
November 30th, 2018 at 6:19 pm
I know it’s a last minute question but does anyone know if any of tonight’s games are being live streamed?
November 30th, 2018 at 5:33 pm
@Dave….I think a lot of people that complain about the comments taking a while is that they think the comments post automatically but I think you read them before approving them to post which takes time. Is that correct? Thanks!
November 30th, 2018 at 4:39 pm
Deo….I work a full-time job….I am sorry it takes a little longer. I am doing the best I can. I appreciate your support.
November 30th, 2018 at 4:06 pm
What ever happened to this forum? It was so much better lastyear & before! I had a hard time finding it this year & it takes forever & a day for comments and/or responses to post!
November 30th, 2018 at 3:12 pm
@SCA Pete – Several of the private schools in the Philly area have players from NJ, SJP has a number of them, they’ve done it for decades prior to joining the PIAA in 2008 so this is nothing new, and was one of the reasons some people were opposed to allowing D12 to play for PIAA titles. I personally don’t have a problem with it as long as they abide by the rules, they do draw some other students from NJ as well and not just football players.
November 30th, 2018 at 1:57 pm
@ Michael and SCA Pete: Think you guys might be referring to TB4 from Conwell Egan. He was that high profile junior controversial late season transfer from NJ to CEC last year. Believe RB Leddy Brown, now with WVU, was from Delaware and transferred to N-G last year. Think he is/was originally from South Philly. Basically it seemed like half of their (N-G) team last year were transfers. Granted, many from a Charter school that abruptly closed and a new popular HC. Appears tho to be a one year hit wonder for the South Philly All-Stars. SJP has Jersey kids too. Just the natural of the beast for Philly area privates and Catholics. The most egregious one in my option tho was last years N-G GBB out of state late season transfer. I think she was the final straw (along with Parsons and TB4) that woke up the public and got the PIAA off their butts and got serious with this transfer and competition issue.
November 30th, 2018 at 1:26 pm
Anyone have any actual predictions on tonights SCA v. WC game? Tired of hearing about them moving up, etc. Let talk about the game.
November 30th, 2018 at 12:57 pm
@Matt – agree with you about Fleming, he’s very likely to be playing on Sundays in another several years, I’ve followed HS football for 40+ years and you can tell when kids have what it takes to have a shot to make it to the NFL, I live in the Woodland Hills school district and we’ve had our share of NFL players over the years, saw them all play and even in HS knew that Steve Breaston, Ryan Mundy, Jason Taylor, etc. had a good chance to make it to the big show. I do agree with you that SC would win 3A this year and would have won 3A last year, and they would compete in 4A, but don’t think they would beat the power schools in 4A, particular the private schools that dominate that class. I suspect with the next 2 yr cycle starting in 2020 that SC will be playing in 3A, either due to their enrollment or the success factor rule that’s being discussed by the PIAA.
November 30th, 2018 at 11:30 am
@Jeff…..I didn’t say they would win AAAA, I said they would compete which they would. I’m a d11 guy but I respect what SC and Aliquippa has done over the years. I do think SC would win AAA. I was just using a point of reference saying Aliquippa is the best AAA team this year. I know players and coaches have changed for the Quips. But I have seen Southern play a couple times this year and they are as advertised. Julian Fleming is a beast. The kids does it all….catches, tackles, blocks. No wonder every D1 college wants him. I know it’s hard to say what a Junior in hs will do but I would bet we will be seeing him on Sundays in five years.
November 30th, 2018 at 10:36 am
SCA_ Pete who is th kid you talking about that was from NJ?
November 30th, 2018 at 12:20 pm
SCA_PETE Its reviewed by a human….:)
November 30th, 2018 at 9:20 am
Sorry for the double post……………..I can’t figure out the delay on this forum. Any idea why there is an indeterminate delay in posting to this forum? Is every posting reviewed by a human first?!
November 29th, 2018 at 8:22 pm
@Matt – what happened 3 years ago between SoCo. and Aliquippa is irrelevant to what would happen if they played this year, this is a completely different team with a new coach and new offense that throws the ball way more than they have in the past, were you aware their QB has thrown for over 2800 yards this year with a TD/interception ratio of 35/3, which is unheard of for recent Aliquippa teams, they also have quite a few players with D1 offers, maybe more than SoCo. I do think SC would probably beat Aliquippa, but I would be shocked if they rolled over them like they have the rest of 2A this year or like they did against them in Hershey in 2015. Another point conveniently forgotten about Aliquippa is they have 110 boys in the school, so they are a single A school playing in 3A, had they played at 1A every year where their enrollment put them they would have won a boatload of state titles.
I’m not taking anything away from SoCo, their sustained excellence is unmatched, and Roth is obviously a legend, but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say they would compete against the top teams in 4A, they could certainly beat a lot of 4A teams, but if you think they would beat Erie Prep or Imhotep I think you are wrong, as good as they are they would be over matched by the size and speed, think McDevitt and Becahi would beat them as well, they would be a solid 4A team but wouldn’t beat the big boys, and a team like Imhotep might run them off the field.
November 29th, 2018 at 7:53 pm
Surprised there’s not more talk on here about the games this weekend so I’ll see if I can get the conversation going.
Practically everyone feels Coatesville will handle Harrisburg, think it will be a little closer this time, but Cville still wins by 3 scores. A month ago I thought SJP would beat the WPIAL winner by at least 3 scores, I’m not so sure now, PR has been playing very well since their loss to NA, I was surprised how easily they handled a good State College team last week, if PR can limit the big plays by SJP and not turn the ball over I think they can keep it close well into the 2nd half, expect this game to be closer and more competitive than the Coatesville game, 2 of the best coaches in the state and rematch of last years championship game, I still think SJP wins to set up the much anticipated showdown with Cville.
In 5A I think Manheim Central is going to roll over Upper Dublin just like they rolled through the D3 playoffs, UD hasn’t played a team anywhere close to the caliber of MC this year, and I think they win easily. On the other side I’ve been saying for the last 2 months that Wood is still the team to beat in 5A until someone knocks them off, and I don’t think Penn Hills will do it this week, think PH will struggle to slow down Wood’s vaunted rushing attack and will get worn down in the 2nd half, Wood will definitely have an advantage in the trenches, PH will put up some points as they have a well balanced offense with Terry “Tank” Smith at RB and several very good receivers, and QB Hollis Mathis will make some plays, but I see Wood winning something like 35-20, I’m a WPIAL guy and would love to see PH win, but I don’t see it happening, I do think MC has a legitimate chance against Wood in Hershey.
In 4A expect Imhotep to get past Becahi again, and think the game between McDevitt and Erie Prep is a tossup I will say McDevitt better slow down Billy Lucas or they will be in for a long night, he ran for 342 against South Fayette last week, and ran wild last year in the semi-final win over Berks, I was at that game and they couldn’t stop him in the 2nd half, if he gets 200+ Prep wins and we have Tep vs. Prep round 4.
In 3A think Middletown will beat Scranton Prep, and Aliquippa will roll over Sharon, setting up Middletown vs.a WPIAL team from Beaver County for the third year in a row.
November 29th, 2018 at 5:38 pm
Frank, also the transfer list was just descending order by class. St Joe’s didn’t have the most. They were just the only 6A school to go over the point limit that year so they were listed first.
Finally, IIRC it’s based on a playoff point system. So a team making the state final with 3 inbound transfers receives more “points” than a team making the district final with 5 transfers.
November 29th, 2018 at 5:33 pm
Hey Kevin X: I used the NFHS network last year to watch the CV/Prep game — You can cancel after a month and only pay the $9.95 — otherwise they will auto-charge you each month. They did a professional job, but I don’t think the guys were from the area. I doubt they are showing the final game — I think PCN has the corner on that.
November 29th, 2018 at 5:30 pm
Frank, it’s a database with the PIAA. Schools are now required to submit all transfers and receive “points” for each. Above a certain number it impacts their future classification. Since the article was from July 17, 2018 it’s not for the 2018 football season. It might even be 2016-2017 transfers that affected the 2017 season. Idk. It was a detailed article. Mike White does a great job covering the Pittsburgh high school scene.
Pennsyltucky, I don’t argue opinions with fans – it’s a complete waste of my time. I provide evidence. I linked the article which anyone with Internet access can also Google, detailing the FACT that Southern Columbia was the only 2A school on the high transfer list for football in the year analyzed. The end.
Regarding “sour grapes”, I love how fans live vicariously thru 16 year olds to the point where they think that everyone who takes a contrary point is out to get them. Much like Wood and the PCL: I could care less. I like watching Southern Columbia play. Love the wing-t. And they run a classy program. I’ve got no real issue with their transfers, either.
But I do enjoy crapping all over people who make awful points. It offends my sensibilities, sorry. That 1) Southern Columbia’s opponents just “don’t work as hard” as they do or 2) that Catholic schools are the only ones exploiting transfers are both blatant falsehoods.
November 29th, 2018 at 5:11 pm
@kevin:
NFHS wants your credit card info up front. Then they say you will not be charged anything.
Bull….! I don’t trust that at all. I believe it’s under the guise of free for 30 days.
No need for credit card info under that premise.
See DEO below. I assume one can get that thru Comcast also.
November 29th, 2018 at 5:04 pm
On Southern or any successful school ‘moving up’ – Although they have had great success at the level they are at, they and anyone else are not guaranteed a championship from year to year (although this year and next might be an exception). It might be the same program to others who get sick of seeing them winning but are but these are different kids from year to year. IMO playing through state playoffs and a possibly bringing home a championship at your own class is going to be a much more memorable experience for those kids than maybe losing in the playoffs playing up. Mt. Carmel played up to AAA for years in the 80s and early 90s. 1994 we dropped to AA and win it all 5 times in the next 9 years. Instead of a legit shot at a championship, a lot of teams only get to say they lost to a bigger school in the playoffs. Playing and winning in your own enrollment class is not picking any low hanging fruit, unless you are a non-boundary school that gets to pull their players from all over the area.
November 29th, 2018 at 3:52 pm
SJP versus Pine-Richland will be broadcast live at the following:
https://www.pinerichland.org/Page/5664 or via Armstrong and Consolidated Cable Companies.
Armstrong Cable Subscribers may view it on digital cable channel 211. Consolidated Subscribers may watch PRTV’s programs on channel 404.
November 29th, 2018 at 1:52 pm
@Levi Waters
The recruiting has been beat to death. But to your comment about all fighting for the same talent in the Philly Area , Neumann Goretti had a kid on the roster last year that was from NJ?!
Offensive my comments might have been, but don’t shoot the messenger! I was at the game and I’m just telling it like it was. Their player taunted our sidelines and our bleachers after he get’s called for a penalty. Their coach never so much as admonished him for his blatantly unsportsmanlike behavior. Ask anyone you know went to the game. It was in the 2015 playoff run, after we beat (then AA) Berks Catholic – who by the way showed the utmost of class even in defeat.
November 29th, 2018 at 7:53 am
@ Buddy, et al
Did a little digging and tooling around, and the only thing I came up with as far as streaming of any games this weekend is the NFHS Network (link below). I’ve never used it, but I have heard of it. Must pay to view. Looks like only one subscription option, that is a monthly pass for $9.95. Appears you get access to a ton of nationwide high school sport events, including archived on-demand access to past events. As far as this weekend, looks like they are broadcasting live the C’Ville/H-Burg game, as well as the two 5A games and Middletown/Scranton Prep. Does not appear that the SJP/P-R or Becahi/’Tep games are being broadcast. Like to know if anyone has used this service before and what they think. Might be worth pulling the trigger for this weekend. Wish there was a Roku App to play through a television (or if there is, please tell me about it!!!!)
https://www.nfhsnetwork.com
November 29th, 2018 at 6:23 am
2012 38-3 Prep (Terry and Williams show)
2013 47-42 BMD scores with 30 seconds left
2015 38-34 This game went back and forth the entire time.
I expect this year to be another great one between 2 of the best programs, at any level, in the state.
November 29th, 2018 at 6:20 am
Prep-villa facebook account will more than likely be live streaming the Cathedral Prep/Bishop McDevitt game. I know it’s two private schools playing and everyone hates them but when these two teams get together it has historically been a great one:
2010 McDevitt 24-21 after Prep was up 21-3
20
November 28th, 2018 at 9:41 pm
@D3 Mike: Sour grapes and pure yellow journalism. Back up the Geisinger comment with proof. SCA won multiple state titles at A before moving up to AA. So they were an A school “in rural PA” for years. Before they won those multiple A titles, they were a perennial doormat. Not for lack of trying on the part of those players to be sure; heck, there were plenty of boys whose families simply couldn’t spare their sons during harvest season on the working farms. So no, your baseless and irresponsible accusations are obnoxious.
@MCAforever: You are correct; no dynasty lasts forever. Your teams in the 70s were fearsome and intimidating. Jazz had a lot to do with that. Roth is surely SCA’s Jazz/Curry. And no, he won’t be there forever.
@Kevin X: It’s not as if SCA has been at AA for 10 yrs; I think it’s only been 5. So come on, be fair here. It is indeed strange to think of them in AAA, but maybe…
@LeviWaters: I agree partially with your respo to SCA_Pete. Yes, his recruiting comment was way off as it applies to West Catholic. They are in no way similar to SJP or LaSalle in their ability to woo and land those caliber of athletes. They are not the financial juggernaut that those schools are, nor are they remotely close to the Inter-Ac 6 in their available resources. But yes, in that 2015 Eastern AA Semi, the WC kids were ill-behaved and exhibited poor sportsmanship. Sorry dude, that’s the truth, plain and simple.
November 28th, 2018 at 9:28 pm
@Kevin….Southern Columbia would win 3A too. Best team in AAA this year is Aliquippa and Southern proved three years ago they can beat them as well. Southern would win A, AA, and AAA last year, this year, and next year. They would even compete in AAAA.
November 28th, 2018 at 9:06 pm
D3 Mike
Do you mean the piece in the Post Gazette appeared on July 17 of this year or in July of 2017? In any case I don’t understand how SJP came out first in the list of schools accepting transfers, though if it includes transfers out as well as transfers in that might be more understandable. (SJP typically loses some players, especially freshmen, every year–because they find the commute too long or the academic workload too much, or because they just think another school would be better for them.) As for transfers in, I can’t think of a starter on this year’s team other than Harrison who transferred in–and he did so after freshman year at LaSalle.
November 28th, 2018 at 8:58 pm
@Levi Waters
I’m not going to beat the recruiting horse to death here. Everyone knows it’s an issue that has been discussed at length, here and within the PIAA. Catholic schools can do it, public schools can not. PERIOD. I rest my case. Oh, and so much for “fighting for the same talent ” in the Philly area. Nuemann Gorretti had kids on last years squad from NJ for crying out loud.
As to my “offensive tone”, sorry, but everything I said was completely factual. If it offends you, than deal with the root cause as I’m just the messenger. Go ahead and find someone who was at that game. Their players taunted our sideline and our crowd. I stand by my account.
November 28th, 2018 at 8:39 pm
@D3 Mike
Very interesting, I’m glad to see this is monitored. I knew of a few higher profile players that Southern ‘acquired’ over the years but didn’t know it was this prevalent to be listed along with the Catholic schools. Moving your family to a new school district is a little more permanent than being able to switch Catholic schools from year to year but the reason is all the same.
November 28th, 2018 at 7:51 pm
I won’t comment on actual recruiting but it’s obvious talented kids seem to somehow ‘aggregate’ at some Catholic schools. E.g. Neumann Goretti goes 0-9 in 2016, then 11-0 the following year? Now back to 2-5 in 2018. And if i remember correctly it wasn’t just kids from WC bc they thought it was closing. Lots of discussion on this last year.
November 28th, 2018 at 7:34 pm
I thought the note about Southern Columbia moving up was implying that they might want to challenge themselves. It’s not that they have to move up, or should move up. It’s more that after yet another (probable) state title appearance and another season where their closest game is by 20+ points that they might want to class up for better competition. IIRC, Steelton-Highspire was 1A and played at 4A in basketball for awhile for that same reason.
Beyond that, to say “why don’t other teams get better and get off their butts in the off-season” is obnoxious. Southern Columbia has a great coach, tradition, and program. They are also a 2A school in rural PA … with 17 state title appearances and at least 3 kids currently slated to go to top 25 football schools. That’s not just coaching and off-season work-ethic.
It’s mathematically implausible to the point where it’s no wonder the district has an administrator dedicated to attending transfer eligibility hearings. In fact, Southern Columbia is the ONLY 2A football school in the state which would have been affected by the new transfer competition rules – including all the 2A catholic schools. Just because your program is successful doesn’t mean other teams aren’t working just as hard. They might be working hard – but lack a hotline to the HR department at Geisinger to ensure that every employee with a talented son gets a guided tour of Catawissa.
FWIW, per the analysis from the Post-Gazette (Mike White July 17), here are the “high transfer” football schools from the past year:
St. Joseph’s Prep, Archbishop Wood, Berks Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Erie Cathedral Prep, Imhotep Charter, Middletown, Southern Columbia, Wilmington, Bishop Guilfoyle, Farrell, Steelton-Highspire.
November 28th, 2018 at 7:15 pm
@SCA_Pete
Not sure what the enrollment is but its been on a steady decline no doubt. The town has gotten remarkably worse in the past 15 years and it is not a nice place to live anymore. Most people who stay in the area move over the mountain into SCA district and who could blame them. I’m sure everyone notices the growing number of past MCA (and Shamokin) names on the SCA roster. Half my family lives in SCA school district now. Kids will be playing for Southern in another couple years. I have always rooted for SCA other than than 1 week a year (now 2 weeks), but I think a lot of SCA fans need a reminder that this level of success isn’t gonna last forever. It didn’t for MCA and I’m sure it will be no easy feat to get back there in the future with the state the area is in. That said, you could tell the MCA kids put in a ton of work during the offseason last year under Darrah, but right now there are only ~35 kids on the roster. With numbers like that and everybody going both ways its hard to beat a team like SCA who has like 1 kid going both ways. You could tell in in our games the last couple years, 1st half is always close and we get worn down in the 2nd half. Agree with you, I always enjoyed when we both made it to states. 1994 was the best with MCA/SCA/Berwick winning it all.
November 28th, 2018 at 6:49 pm
Guess the PIAA didn’t give much credence to that C’Ville petition to move their game to Friday night. I assume we’re game on for both 6A semi finals Saturday afternoon as originally scheduled. Of course, if the PIAA didn’t monkey around with the 5A and 6A brackets, we’d be looking at a re-match of last years classic game between C’ville and SJP, probably Saturday evening at Northeast, same as two years ago with North Penn/SJP. Then in 5A we’d have two schools separated by less then 10 miles, Upper Dublin and Archbishop Wood, playing Friday night. No road trips or SAT conflicts with that schedule.
November 28th, 2018 at 6:39 pm
I look at it this way, SoCo can stick around for one more year at AA to pad their stats against the low hanging fruit of the Heartland conference and the rest of D4, grab one more trophy against less than stellar statewide 2A competition, or play up to 4A (or 3A) next year to get use to playing up against better opponents in the coming years. They’ll be 3A in 2020-21 and possibly 4A in 2021-22.
November 28th, 2018 at 5:18 pm
@SCA_pete
How many ways can I tell you I disagree with your post.
First of all, West Catholic nearly closed in 2012 along side North Catholic and Cardinal Dougherty. They are a standard Philadelphia Arch-Diocesan school, not a private school. To suggest they have some windfall of cash “recruiting” their players is incorrect and outlandish.
To recruiting (and I’ll ask the field if they care to respond) how many superstars do you assume the Philly area has to draw from in contrast to the amount of schools who have great programs? Look who he’s “recruiting” against: SJ Prep, LaSalle, Wood, Imhotep, Malvern, Penn Charter, Haverford School, Germantown Academy and Springside Chestnut Hill. Somehow they are all equally recruiting the same never ending caliber player from this city that I don’t recall in the 35 years I’ve been following the PCL, PPL and Inter-Ac.
Lastly, the beginning portion of your post will not be commented on but the tone was highly offensive.
I’m a “public school” graduate but if you’re from this city we’re thrown in with the rest of the so called private schools you all mention so much so this weekend I’m rooting for Imhotep St Joe Prep and West Catholic to bring it home!
November 28th, 2018 at 4:21 pm
Live streaming?
Anyone?
November 28th, 2018 at 2:33 pm
MCA4ever,
I always respected MCA and wish the program the best. Call me old school, but I always rooted for the entire area. When we were single A, I always rooted for you guys to make it to states. Just curious, what’s been the trend in HS enrollment at MCA? From outward appearances, the town ain’t what it used be and I would posit a guess that enrollment is down. But then again, there’s not man “coal” towns in PA that are what they used to be.
And yes, Roth is getting to the same status that JoePa got to towards the end before the universe changed (But that’s another topic all together). All of us are now wondering how much longer the dynasty will last and if the next coach can match up. But I have to tell you, it’s been a heck of a ride!!!!!
If I had a nit to pick with SCA, it’s that they have a most modern football facility but still don’t have a pool?! Crazy!!! When I was in HS, MCA had the best divers in the Area.
November 28th, 2018 at 1:39 pm
sausmann9, If you remember, SCA embarrassed Aliquippa in the 2015 state final.
All,
So here we go, a rematch against West Catholic. I’m trying to remember the last playoff year SCA played them, but I want to say it was 2015 because it was before the reorg to 6 A’s. But I have to put it out there. That West Catholic team was the dirtiest team I’ve ever seen in the modern playoff era.
They had players strutting and taunting on almost every play on their defense. They even got a roughing the passer penalty and they taunted the crowd while the penalty was marked off. An all the while their coach did nothing to discipline the players involved. What a looser of a coach. Fittingly, their worst “taunter” was knocked out of the game in the third quarter by a blocking fullback and let me tell you, by that time I was shouting “How you like that!” as he wobbled off the field.
Personally, I’m hoping we can trounce them again and send Fluck crying into next year as he recruits more players with all his private school money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 28th, 2018 at 11:53 am
@saussman9
I watched Aliquippa the other night against Derry and IMO think SC would win by 3-4 TD
@ren
MCA is not going anywhere.
This is an exceptional Jr class for the Tigers, enjoy it while it lasts. Coach Darrah has the MCA program on the rise again and Jim Roth wont be at Southern forever.
@Jeff Hoener
Agree, I’ve only seen a few highlights of this WC team but I am predicting SC by 21. I’d be surprised if they don’t score in the 40s again.
November 28th, 2018 at 2:00 pm
I have it on the site.
November 28th, 2018 at 9:31 am
Notwithstanding the date and time, anybody know WHERE the Coatesville – Harrisburg game will be played this weekend?
November 28th, 2018 at 7:31 am
I know this won’t happen this season but I would love to see an Aliquippa v SCA game. I think that would be one heck of a great game. Two very solid, tradition rich, public school programs that get it done! I think that would be one for the ages.
November 27th, 2018 at 8:54 pm
Mike’s Eastern 6A Top Ten 11/27/2018
1) St. Joseph’s Prep 80
2) Coatesville 79.3
3) Harrisburg 72.2
4) Central Dauphin 62.1
5) Bethlehem Freedom 59.8
6) North Penn 55
7) LaSalle 54.8
8) Downingtown East 54.5
9) Garnet Valley 54.3
10) Manheim Township 51.7
Honorable Mention
Emmaus 51.5, Downingtown West 51.3, Wilson 51.1, Neshaminy 47.6, Parkland 47.1, Easton 47, Truman 45.3, Chambersburg 43.4
Mike’s State 6A Top Ten 11/27/2018
1) St. Joseph’s Prep 80
2) Coatesville 79.3
3) Pine Richland 75.4
4) Harrisburg 72.2
5) North Alleghenny 63.8
6) State College 62.8
7) Central Dauphin 62.1
8) Bethlehem Freedom 59.8
9) Seneca Valley 59.4
10) North Penn 55
Honorable Mention
LaSalle 54.8, Downingtown East 54.5, Garnet Valley 54.3, Pittsburgh Central Catholic 53.8, Manheim Township 51.7, Emmaus 51.5, Downingtown West 51.3, Wilson 51.1, Mt. Lebanon 47.9, Neshaminy 47.6, Parkland 47.1, Easton 47, Truman 45.3
November 27th, 2018 at 8:06 pm
Why is it that because SCA is so successful people start wanting them to move up in class? They are the second smallest school in the Heartland Conference so why should they move up. I have an idea. Why don’t the other schools who want them out of their classification because they can’t compete start working harder and get off their butts in the off season. MCA probably should move up so they have a chance to win a district title because D4 is and will be ruled by the Tigers for many years to come.
November 27th, 2018 at 7:45 pm
Good question.
Any live streaming on these semi-finals?
All classes ( 6a, 5a etc.)
Appreciate the sites.
November 27th, 2018 at 3:03 pm
Anyway to see the Pine Richland/Prep semifinal game without driving a few hundred miles?
November 27th, 2018 at 2:16 pm
There are SAT dates in August, October and November. If I play for Prep, PR, Coatesville, Wood, SC,Quips, or a few others. I take the SAT my Junior year and another date not Dec. 1st. Whether you play in Harrisburg, Chambersburg, or Altoona, Friday night you get home after 1am and win or lose not focused on SAT, and almost impossible to focus on SAT Saturday morning even if you could make a 7pm Saturday night game, which would be a challenge. To each his own….
November 27th, 2018 at 12:17 pm
Is SC moving up to 4A next year?
November 27th, 2018 at 11:36 am
@MCA4ever – completely agree with you about SoCol, I’ve stated on here before the playoffs started they are the biggest favorite in any classification, they are head and shoulders better than every other 2A team in the state, West Catholic might hang in there for a half, but would be very surprised if they don’t end up losing by at least 3 scores, and SC will handle whoever wins the west, might very well be a rematch of last years championship game with Wilmington as I think they will beat Steel Valley this week.
November 27th, 2018 at 9:37 am
I think phillyboy raises an excellent point. Why worry anything about your future when a high school football game is on the line? Might be one of the most bizarre statements I have ever read. Donning a championship jacket like Wilt Chamberlain? That will certainly get you far in life. You guys like to censor negative posts but the last two from that guy are troubling.
November 27th, 2018 at 9:05 am
@phillyboy: It’s not “rationalizing” anything. You not agreeing that the SATs are important does not make it truth. Schools have one primary purpose: educate. PIAA’s job is to account for that. Sports, while important, need to come second to academics.
November 27th, 2018 at 5:05 am
About the SAT’s, I hear you guys. Here’s the thing, anything can be rationalized. Heck, maybe one of the kids has a Boy Scouts camping trip this weekend. Maybe one of the families had a family reunion scheduled months ago. I mean you could go on and on. Can’t be farting around with all this other stuff. In my personal opinion college is BIG TIME overrated anyway but that’s a whole other topic of conversation. GO Coatesville!
November 26th, 2018 at 9:16 pm
@DWAG Pound
I’d be shocked if anyone gets close to SC. They have their entire team back that beat Neumann Goretti (and pretty much everyone else) soundly last year. I think they would win 3A this year and certainly be competitive in 4A. I see them play multiple times per year and believe this is their best team ever. Better than the Hynoski years bc they are solid at about every position. Next year its not getting any easier for the rest of us since they have everybody back except their QB. This is coming from a diehard MCA fan. Small consolation that we gave them their toughest games the last 2 years.
November 26th, 2018 at 4:46 pm
@phillyboy: You can’t just “reschedule the SAT time”. There are designated testing times for the SAT and the next one isn’t until March, which is after most college application deadlines for seniors. The right thing to do is for PIAA to change the game time and prevent kids from having to choose between their future and high school football glory.
November 26th, 2018 at 4:11 pm
Play the two Saturday games Sunday if they are serious about the SAT conflict. I don’t think Friday night is much better. Gonna get home after midnight everybody but the Harrisburg folks, get up after only a few hours of sleep, after a physically and mentally draining evening, not exactly going be at your best to take the test. Steelers play Sunday night, Eagles Monday night, so no local NFL conflict Sunday afternoon. Besides, then SJP can watch their alum run all over Alabama Saturday afternoon 🙂
November 26th, 2018 at 3:56 pm
What is everyones thoughts on the 2A semifinals? Any chance WC knocks off SC? They may be able to jeep up with their speed but can they go score for score with them or stop them? Really looking forward to watch it this Friday!!!
November 26th, 2018 at 3:56 pm
@PhillyBoy
It’s not quite that simple to just simply reschedule the test to another date. The SAT’s this Saturday is being administered statewide at 130 schools. Everybody that is taken the test had to register the beginning of November for the test. I doubt they would be given a refund, so if they decide to play in the game is the PIAA going to refund the $50-$65 per athlete? Highly doubt it!
If the kids miss this test they can’t take it again until March 9th, 2019, which in that case they would have to go to Downingtown or a nearby school as Coatesville is not a testing site on that day. For the juniors, it’s not as big of a deal as they can take it again at a later date either in March or in May 2019 when the school is again administering the test. For seniors trying to improve their scores or just taking it for the first time waiting until March might not be an option. College’s aren’t going to wait to accept these students if they don’t have the prerequisite score for acceptance.
November 26th, 2018 at 2:58 pm
@Chief Red Raider
Harrisburg has some very good athletes on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Everson is a legitimate QB who can take broken plays to the house much like Ortega and also hit big plays in the passing game. Emerson has passed for nearly 2000 yards and 26 TD’s. Jamir Plant is a shifty back averaging nearly 7 yards per rush and also had 24 receptions for 238 yards. Rynell Gantt has come on strong late in the season and is averaging over 10 yards per carry rushing and nearly 23 yards per reception (19 receptions for 434 yards) and 6 TD receptions. Donte Kent is averaging 26 yards per catch and has over 600 yards receiving with 10 receiving TD’s and 13 total TD’s. Andre White Jr. leads a very good defense that is very strong against the run. This game should be much closer than the season opener but the edge goes to Coatesville. I see Coatesville as about a 10 point favorite but if they aren’t on their game or make some critical mistakes Harrisburg has enough talent to take advantage and could definitely pull the upset. Conversely, if Coatesville is firing on all cylinders this could be similar to the season opener. I’m going with Coatesville 31-21.
November 26th, 2018 at 12:25 pm
Just felt compelled to respond to this SAT concern over at Coatesville. There is no way in the world it should be the slightest bit controversial, they should reschedule the SAT time, not the other way around, are you kidding me?! They have a chance to possibly win a big school state high school football title and they’re worried about the SAT’s, really? That’s completely ridiculous and I’m not kidding. If they win a PA state football title at the “heavyweight” classification, they’ll be able to don their championship jackets like Wilt Chamberlain — well into their older age, pretty neat.
November 26th, 2018 at 11:01 am
Wow! You guys are great on the info! Thanks for the feedback. I got smart and looked up Hersheypark Stadium on the internet — should have known it was artificial — I must be getting old(er).
November 26th, 2018 at 10:24 am
@Kevin X
I’m assuming they could move it to Saturday night. I guess the issue with moving it is the logistics finding a venue that wants to host it as well as having the seating capacity to accommodate the number of fans that will be coming to the game.
I think Coatesville trying to get the game moved to Friday night is the mental exhaustion/fatigue that the SAT test has on these kids. It’s anywhere from a 3-4 hour test. The PIAA should take that into account as the SAT’s are only administered a handful of times each year and in most cases, the high schools only hold testing twice in a calendar year.
November 26th, 2018 at 10:23 am
Hey Chief Red Raider –
No worries C-Ville will win by 21 over the Burg.
Harrisburg is better than previous years because their lines are better and Kane Everson transferred from CD East. Their team speed has got them here but that will be negated by C-Ville’s team speed. Harrisburg has no kicking game and goes for 2 every time they score. C-Ville will break some runs and the difference is Young or Ortega will take it to the house instead of getting caught. Offense is very simple and most big plays come from busted plays with Everson making something out of nothing. Defense is all about keeping Andre White accounted for as he is a legit D1 linebacker and heading to Texas A&M (I believe.)
To sum it up…… Anything Harrisburg can do C-Ville can do better
Also the Harrisburg fan base is very small.
November 26th, 2018 at 10:17 am
Teams are not going to have their players take SAT saturday morning and then travel to Altoona and Hershey and play even a 7pm game. SAT done by around noon then get organized and drive 4 hours by bus to Altoona? Game day routine for the Prep and I’m sure Cville and most other programs is 4/5 hours of walk through, meal, and preparation. Leave SJP at 1 get to Mansion park at 4:30/5 after sitting on bus for 4 hours, get off bus and play state semi in 2 hours is not happening. Friday would be the only option or miss SAT.
Hersheypark Stadium has been turf for a very long time.
November 26th, 2018 at 9:08 am
Couldn’t they just push back the two Saturday afternoon games to Saturday late afternoon or night?? Three of the four teams playing on Saturday have some traveling to do.
November 26th, 2018 at 8:44 am
Coatesville is petitioning the PIAA to get the game moved to Friday night. Coatesville Area School District is holding SAT testing Saturday morning and a large portion of the juniors on the team and probably some seniors have already registered to take the test.
I believe St Joe’s is also administering SAT testing Saturday morning as well. Not sure if there is any conflict for them, but I would assume there would. Just by looking at the remaining teams it looks like 6 schools will be having SAT testing this Saturday (Coatesville, St. Joe’s, Bishop McDevitt, Cathedral Prep, Upper Dublin and Penn Hills). It’s possible that some of the small schools could be sending kids to another location for testing. Hopefully, the PIAA gets it straightened out because we all know the PIAA is all about the education of the kids and not about the money they can generate from ticket sales, etc.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:42 pm
This is probably up Mike A’s alley — what’s the scouting report on Harrisburg? I watched the game against CV and both teams looked a bit rusty being the first game. I don’t remember HB having a great RB, but their QB got off some long runs. Also, CV didn’t run the ball well, but now they are doing well against pretty tough teams (they basically wore NP down — which it used to always be the other way around). Anyway, any thoughts from the prognosticators out there? Also, is Hershey an artificial turf field? (I don’t think it is).
November 24th, 2018 at 1:28 pm
Great job by NPTV. Just wondered if anyone knows of any other games streaming online today? I wanna keep this high school football weekend going after attending Berks and Bishop McDevitt yesterday.
November 24th, 2018 at 1:03 pm
Middletown beat Conwell-Egan, score one for the publics!
November 24th, 2018 at 12:42 pm
@ Chief
Just my wild, absolutely no insight, guesses, in order……
1. Central Dauphin (Landis Field – middle school)
2 Milton Hershey
3. Manheim Twsp.
@ Buddy, et al….
Mmmm, 2016 North Penn vs 2018 Coatesville……interesting……obviously we will never know…..
November 24th, 2018 at 12:38 pm
Was curious to get KNIGHT Times observations on last nights Distict 1 Final. Reading all year about how undisciplined Coatesville is and that a good running attack who controlled the ball would beat Coatesville. Worked for close to a half but Coatesville was able to lose time of possession battle, take stupid, some iffy unsportsmanlike foul penalties, and still mercy rule a very good North Penn team. Guess he is out of time for the holidays and missed th egame. Its a shame. I always like to watch my mistakes. It helps me become better and keeps me from sticking my foot in my mouth in the future. Good luck to the Red Raiders moving forward.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:55 am
Any idea where the CV/HB game is next Friday? I remember CV playing Wilson at Millersville U. back in the 90’s — if it wasn’t for Kerry Collins, they might have won:)
November 24th, 2018 at 10:34 am
Congrats to Coatesville on a second straight District One 6A championship, and good luck over the next 2 weeks!!! Also congrats to North Penn on a great undefeated regular season and a deep playoff run. I don’t think many, if any, of us predicted back in the summer that North Penn would run the table, secure a Number 1 seed, and still be fighting for a district championship at halftime of the championship game after in essence 4 straight non true home playoff games against a well oil machine like Coatesville.
But let’s take a ride down Rte. 309 for a moment and congratulate Upper Dublin on a District 5A championship as well. Probably the game of the night. 5A seems to take a back seat in D1 to the bigger guys up at 6A. Good luck to U Dub next week. No Wood this year, but still a very tough Manheim Central team to face. That game maybe in Downingtown next week??? Also a final shout out to Bayard Rustin on really nice season as well and giving UD all they could handle last night.
November 24th, 2018 at 8:56 am
@ my fellow NP fans:
NP went a helluva lot further than most of us thought.
I figured they win 1 playoff game, they won 3.
Good year, and here’s a rhetorical statement…………………………..they’ll be back!
November 24th, 2018 at 8:40 am
@ Uncle T:
Yep, C’ville is good, almost as good as NP was 2 years ago.
Pine-Richland level ? Please!
@ all you C’ville fans:
Alright Raiders, you now represent D1, but most importantly, you represent the public school system.
So if you get to play the preppies……………………………………school ’em!
November 24th, 2018 at 12:47 am
Coatesville blew me away with their performance tonight against North Penn, and once the first half started with the long kick return I starting getting that feeling that the rout was about to be on. North Penn came out strong though, and their running back (forget his name at the moment) followed up a 300+ yard performance at Downingtown West with an impressive game tonight. The entire first half I was scared every time he touched the ball and I’m sure I’m not alone among the Red Raiders fans.
After a 42-7 drubbing of Garnet Valley and now a 42-13 win against North Penn, one wonders what is in the cards or how they could possibly take it up yet another notch in a week one rematch against a well-rested Harrisburg team looking to avenge their only loss, and a bad one at that, to start their season. Since then, both teams have been destroying their opposition.
I watched the game tonight on NPTVs YouTube channel, and I have to say that they did a terrific job. Also, from what I saw, Pennridge has a beautiful field and stadium. Hopefully North Penn will get something similar being the deserving athletics powerhouse that they are.
November 24th, 2018 at 12:10 am
I forgot, CV’s defense needs to be talked about a lot more. On top of that, I bet probably more than half of the points they’ve given up all year were on their 2nd team (somebody probably has the stats on that). Also, anyone think SJP has trouble tomorrow? I have not seen either team play, but I think LaSalle gave SJP trouble.
November 23rd, 2018 at 11:38 pm
WNPV a class act as well as NPTV — Coatesville too after bringing in the 2nd string during mercy rule. NP had a nice year. Hope the Ville can stay healthy. Hope all the D1 fans on this site will jump on the CV bandwagon. I would love to see them win it all by beating SJP — but both teams need to get there first. PR and SC aren’t too shabby, and Hburg has definitely gotten better.
November 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 pm
Coatesville 42 North Penn 13 FINAL
After taking a 14-6 lead into the half, Coatesville erupts for 28 unanswered points in the second half and rides a relentless offense and a dominant defense to a mercy rule victory over North Penn. North Penn adds a late TD with a little over 2 minutes left to account for the final score.
It’ll be Coatesville and Harrisburg in the semifinals next week.
November 23rd, 2018 at 11:11 pm
@ Knight Time: No mercy rule, eh?
November 23rd, 2018 at 10:59 pm
Coatesville is up 28-6
3rd Quarter
November 23rd, 2018 at 10:58 pm
Can’t, Can’t, Can’t turn the ball over against Coatesville. North Penn knew that going in, but it’s obvious now.
NP/Garnet Valley would have been a great D1 final. But Coatesville is way too good this year, approaching last years Pine Richland level of good.
November 23rd, 2018 at 10:27 pm
Bishop McDevitt 41 Berks Catholic 31 FINAL
November 23rd, 2018 at 10:08 pm
West Catholic won
Coastesville is winning 14-6 at halftime, North Penn is trying to pound and hold the ball.
November 23rd, 2018 at 6:53 pm
Burrs win 35-7.
November 23rd, 2018 at 6:05 pm
Well just like that its 35 -7. A long run and pick 6 with 38.8 left in 3rd pd.
November 23rd, 2018 at 6:02 pm
West Catholic up 21-7 in 3rd pd. They recovered short kick to start pd. Turnover then gave burrs field goal. Richland scored on long pass.
November 23rd, 2018 at 4:45 pm
12-0 west catholic. My bad they missed the 1st ex pt
November 23rd, 2018 at 4:41 pm
West Catholic up 7-0 in 2nd and in red zone after fumble recovery..
November 23rd, 2018 at 4:01 pm
Bishop McDevitt 20 Berks Catholic 10 HALF
November 23rd, 2018 at 12:57 pm
I’m going to go out on a limb that “D12fan” is not a Prep grad. Please don’t let his incoherent ramblings lead you to believe we’re actually that classless. Thank you from an actual alumn.
November 23rd, 2018 at 11:59 am
Looks like NPTV is carrying the game — on youtube (youtube.com/nptv). This should be a good game — hope all the players are healthy and play their best (and that the officiating is good 🙂
November 23rd, 2018 at 10:15 am
@ Michael
I believe it was 13-7 SFA late in the 3rd qtr. What I saw/read, it was a fairly even and competitive game up to that point. Shame that they couldn’t reschedule the game later in the year. SFA was having trouble finding opponents after being effectively ostracize from their league. SFA came up to Philly later in the year and basically ran over Northeast. I remember posting suggesting of trying some fancy last second scheduling maneuvering to switch some opponents around so SFA and SJP could try again.
November 23rd, 2018 at 12:48 am
Kyle Berger is in the house. Thanks for the broadcast info — a Shop Rite run is the only thing left to do, this is officially prime time now.
November 23rd, 2018 at 12:23 am
@Jim B It is true Berwick is considering a move to the Heartland in all sports in 2020.. Didnt hear anything about Williamsport playing football in Heartland. Williamsport is in Heartland already but does not play football or basketball. If Berwick joins Heartland they will not drop to 3A, because their enrollment falls above 3A. Berwick has an important school board meeting in December when they will decide if they want to join Heartland.
November 22nd, 2018 at 10:28 pm
When St Joes Prep played the St Frances team what was the score before it was cancelled? Did it look like a mismatch?
November 22nd, 2018 at 7:49 pm
@ D12 Fan:
I never heard any of us public school fans say they would destroy the PCL ( either catholic & private).before they joined. Never.
Hell, we knew nothing about you guys! ( having seen you in action, glad we didn’t!)
The post wasn’t incoherent to anyone else…………….. just you ( the Prep grad!).
We don’t hate the PCL per se, just the fact they are exempt from our rules ( recruiting & boundaries).
If pubs & privates split, there will be no measurable talent leaving public schools. . Why? Most people can’t afford privates or catholic!
Finally, this forum is all about ” what you think”. So yes, he was asked!
Therefore………. carry on………… you pompous ass!
( I know Dave, you must omit that last line, true as it may be).
November 22nd, 2018 at 3:37 pm
Happy Thanksgiving from EasternPAFootball.com!
November 22nd, 2018 at 12:45 am
D3
Sorry, but I’m a Prep alum and that post was one of the most incoherent things I’ve read in quite some time. My nephews went to Wood and I enjoy following quality football. I love how you hate on the PCL and try to find ways to try undermine their success anonymously on a forum. No one asked you what you think. The ironic thing is they have been playing football for over 100 years long before most public schools even existed. Before 2008 the public schools all talked about how they would destroy the PCL and other Catholic schools, how did that work out. The PIAA solicited D12 to join to add credibility and grab cash. I vote to separate pub and private again and watch even more talent leave the public system to compete against the best and gain exposure, like NJ. The PIAA can then expand to 8 classes and have 60 school classifications and everyone get a trophy. After that you can complain about NP and Pennsbury being too big. Even funnier is that D3 allows in season transfers to top players in the country, and even then couldn’t beat Wood. Best of luck this year!! Carry on…..
November 21st, 2018 at 10:45 pm
WNPV’s Broadcast of the NP/Coatesville game is available three ways:
Over the air at 98.5 FM (you can get this signal at Pennridge’s stadium)
Online at wnpv1440.com if you’re at a computer
On your phone via the TuneIn App (it’s free) – search WNPV
Pregame show begins at 6:30pm Friday night.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
November 21st, 2018 at 6:08 pm
@ D10 Insider
Dude, you lost me. Maybe that was your intent. I’ll try this one more time, and then I’m moving on……
ECP 2016 Weeks 1,2 and 3: Bye-Bye-University Prep (D8) = Cakewalk
ECP 2017 Weeks 1,2 and 3: Bye-University Prep (again)-Bye = Cakewalk
Yes, “some” other teams have had a relatively easy path to Hershey as well (not as easy as above)
When did I ever say ECPs was the hardest?? Hardest what??
Top teams having trouble getting out of districts?? Lots. SJP in week two had a dogfight with LaSalle as they were loosing to them in the 4th qtr., also in week 2, even after a bye, Wood was tied in the 4th qtr. with a very good Ryan team before prevailing, D11 6A top 4 teams, rivals, all very good teams, beat each other up before Freedom came out on top, D11 3A you had four teams with a combined record of 36-4 going at it, North Penn in D1 6A, the top seed, has had 3 games that were in doubt until late in the game, and if they are going to win D1, they are going to have to beat one of the top teams in the state, and maybe nationwide. Really don’t know what you’re looking for here, but I said my peace, feel free to respond, but I’m done, moving on, with or with out my credibility…….
November 21st, 2018 at 5:37 pm
@ Jay and BR&B:
You can listen live to the WNPV 1440 am radio broadcast on their website (WNPV1440.com). Just audio, no video. Like the others have been saying, possible the North Penn Television YouTube channel will have the game live with video.
Easton/Phillipsburg live tomorrow morning at 10:30a on WFMZ-TV Channel 69 for those that receive the channel via cable of over the air.
November 21st, 2018 at 5:16 pm
et al:
NPTV on youtube is streaming the game live.
All for you bed-ridden folks!
November 21st, 2018 at 5:13 pm
Coatesville Area School District Facebook page has confirmed that the game will be broadcast on NPTV.
Expect a huge crowd (at least from Coatesville) as they had a presale for tickets to the game this morning from 9am-noon and sold over 500 tickets.
November 21st, 2018 at 4:58 pm
I have heard that both Williamsport and Berwick are considering leaving the Wyoming Valley Conference and joining the PA Heartland Conference. If Berwick leaves the WVC, they would also leave District 2 and join District 4, and probably drop to down to AAA going forward. Heartland Conference officials have already voted unanimously to allow Berwick to join. Berwick and Williamsport would join Shikellamy, Selingsgrove, Shamokin, Central Mountain, Jersey Shore, and Mifflinburg in PA Heartland Athletic Conference, Division I. Although I have also heard a few of those teams like Jersey Shore and Mifflinburg will drop to PA Heartland Athletic Conference, Division 2.
Anyone else hear anything?
If this is indeed true, the WVC will look totally different in the coming years. Coughlin (AAAA), Meyers (AAA), and GAR (AAA) will be combining all athletic teams next year and compete as The Wilkes-Barre Area Wolfpack (AAAAAA).
November 21st, 2018 at 3:44 pm
Jay,
NPTV YouTube channel streamed all of the “home” games at Wissahikon but did not stream at Dtown last week. Not sure if they will or will not be at Pennridge this week but give it a look.
November 21st, 2018 at 12:45 pm
D12FAN – I just lay out the facts. In contrast, you’re clearly a Wood alum, so spare me the notion that you’re not the one who is trolling. Your blind loyalty makes you oblivious to any counterpoints. None of you PCL fanboys are remotely objective and it’s painfully obvious when you have program ties. I honestly don’t know how you hold your pom poms and keyboards at the same time.
I have no dog in the fight. I could care less about either of these two teams. But I do enjoy actual logic and such, so you’ll have to forgive me for putting people who call Malvern “clowns”… or that they’d “get smoked”… or that “the Inter-AC is a joke” in their place when they have a common opponent which one team beat by two touchdowns and whom the other lost to by two touchdowns. It doesn’t take a brilliant football “acumen” to use that common opponent to discount the claim that Wood would “destroy” Malvern.
If you think they would, then you should support that view with what is called “evidence” instead of just waving your worn varsity jacket above your head and getting hyper-defensive anytime someone doesn’t bow down at the altar of the PCL. The other common opponent is good evidence! … The Born Power Index would be ok evidence… The coach and the injuries aren’t, though, not when you’re talking about a FOUR touchdown swing. Those are excuses. Coaches matter, injuries matter, but a 5A power with an established system and waves of talent brought in by the alums at $9K a pop should be able to handle 2 and 3 win teams to qualify as the Superteam (TM) you make them out to be.
D3 5A Final:
Manheim 35, Cocalico 21
D3 4A Final (It pains me to type it):
McDevitt 42, Berks Catholic 28
November 21st, 2018 at 4:35 pm
Chief Red Raider….It’s all good. I know there is a lot of talk on the site during playoffs.
November 21st, 2018 at 12:43 pm
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the info — I figured it was more a server or tech thing — hope I didn’t offend! I probably should have made that clearer! Again, I like the forum
November 21st, 2018 at 12:31 pm
@Jay
On the Air: The game will be broadcast on the radio on WNPV 98.5 FM/1440 AM.
That is from the Time Herald article. Not sure how great the coverage signal is for those stations and most likely you won’t be able to listen via app on the phone, etc. The only place that might broadcast/stream it online is the NPTV youtube channel. They broadcasted Rds 1&2, but not last week assuming it was because of the location change to Downingtown the day of the game.
November 21st, 2018 at 12:28 pm
Anyone think Valley View has a shot against Imhotep this week. My feel is the game will be a lot closer than last year but Tep still wins by a couple of scores, although I can see VV making a game of it for awhile. Also, intriguing matchup in 3A with 2 time runner-up Middletown going against Conwell Egan, think that will be a close game that could go either way. Whoever comes out of the east in 3A is going to have their hands full with Aliquippa in Hershey, as usual they have a lot of great athletes and team speed, and this year a different offense with a new coach that throws the ball a lot more effectively than in years past. They also play in the same conference that produced the last 2 3A champs and at this point I think they are definitely the favorite to win 3A.
November 21st, 2018 at 12:08 pm
Jay:
Not sure, but NPTV on youtube usually streams home games.
Even at Pennridge, it is a NP home game.
Of course, they didn’t stream last week.
November 21st, 2018 at 11:46 am
Anyone know where the North Penn vs Coatesville game will be streamed online? I can’t make it to Pennridge HS unfortunately.
November 21st, 2018 at 11:41 am
Chief Red Raider…..I am at work during the day and try to keep up…I can’t be on this forum 24/7…
November 21st, 2018 at 11:27 am
I like this site and I appreciate that I can participate in the conversations. Has anyone noticed, however, that there usually is quite a delay from when comments are sent to when they are actually posted? It seems like there is a couple hour gap, and that really detracts from the ebb and flow that makes these sites interesting. Personally, it is to the point that it doesn’t even make sense to share a post or follow others because nothing is happening for awhile and when it does it’s probably old news. Anyway, I know it was not always like that. It is 9:27 AM — I check and see when this shows up.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:47 am
D3
You continue to show your lack of football acumen and are just a troll. If you knew anything about Wood football you would know that the Mcdonogh game was the new coaches first game and the Wood QB played the game with a lacerated spleen thinking it was a broken rib and playing through it. New coach settled in very nicely and QB is now back, and RB Santiago emerged as a punishing tail back, since that game, in line with the long line of Wood backs. Wood line improved drastically from first game. I like how you do not, bring up the other common opponent, lasalle which both teams beat, or the fact Wood beat AB Spalding who beat McDonogh. Malvern has a great team this year and would be a good game vs Wood, they match up pretty well, but I do agree with the others that Wood is more physical and would prevail. I have no idea if Malvern has any kids that reclassified or are 5th year seniors this year, but that is why the inter-ac is not in the PIAA. Kind of funny too that this website now ranks non-piaa teams when Malvern is having a good season, just another shot at Wood’s success. Most posts on here are about open boundary and transfer issues, and now the website is ranking non-piaa teams that don’t meet the piaa age requirements. Hmmm, carry on….
November 21st, 2018 at 10:30 am
Mmmmm, so much for seeing you all in Lansdale Friday night. Field must be worse then I would of thought. Wonder if the D1 or PIAA officials put pressure on North Penn to move the game. Anyways, at least:
1. They game us 3 days notice and didn’t drop this on everybody at 2p on Friday afternoon.
2. Pennridge’s stadium is one of the nicest facilities in all of the D1/D12 area (of the one’s that I’ve been to). Plenty of seating for both home and visitors, concessions, parking, restrooms, all relatively new at that. Just a little out of the way, so a little more travel time.
Happy Thanksgiving all, stay warm, safe travels all weekend!!!
November 21st, 2018 at 8:55 am
@HP;
Soon as us publics get our recruiting in gear and eliminate boundaries……………..different story.
November 21st, 2018 at 8:00 am
Kevin X – every top team (especially the one in the state) usually has it pretty easy coming out of their district. One could argue in 4A, the WPIAL and District 3 favorites clobber everyone until the field of 16 or 8. When you say CPs first 3 weeks were cakewalks, then say other teams had it easy, but then say CPs was the hardest makes you lose credibility. Tell me, how many top teams have trouble getting out of districts. I’ll hand up and listen.
Roll Ramblers
November 20th, 2018 at 9:24 pm
I now recognize that I need to be careful with what I say so as to not post (see: attempt to post) anything that could be construed as confrontational since this is a fun-loving forum.
Regarding Wood and Malvern, I guess I’ll just ask what circus McDonogh performs in? Can I buy tickets? And if I purchase tickets, will Wood’s offense also be in attendance, or will they be taking the night off again?
November 20th, 2018 at 6:42 pm
Remember that these ratings are based on the entire body of work for the season and strength of schedule skewed somewhat towards the latest performance, not just an individual game or upset. Therefore, the rankings may have a team that is out of the playoffs ranked higher than a than a team that is still alive. Note also that a teams rating may change even though it didn’t play due to the performance of a team that it had played. Of course we all know that ratings are a factor of mathematical input and can not digest strategies, match-ups, play calling, and many other factors that determine a result. I prefer to see games and all the teams but that is impossible. These ratings are purely mathematical and based on strength of schedule, weighted margins of victory, and indices derived from my calculations and are purely intended for fun and discussion.
NOTE: A NEW #1 TEAM
Mike’s Eastern 6A Top Ten 11/20/2018
1) Coatesville 79.2
2) St. Joseph’s Prep 77.6
3) Harrisburg 73.5
4) Central Dauphin 63.7
5) Bethlehem Freedom 61
6) North Penn 58.1
7) Garnet Valley 55.5
8) Downingtown East 55.3
9) LaSalle 54.6
10) Manheim Township 53.2
Honorable Mention
Downingtown West 52.6, Wilson 52.1, Emmaus 50.9, Neshaminy 48.6, Parkland 46.8, Truman 46.3, Chambersburg 44.9, Easton 44.5
Mike’s State 6A Top Ten 11/20/2018
1) Coatesville 79.2
2) St. Joseph’s Prep 77.6
3) Harrisburg 73.5
4) Pine Richland 72.8
5) State College 66.5
6) North Alleghenny 64.4
7) Central Dauphin 63.7
8) Bethlehem Freedom 61
9) Seneca Valley 59.4
10) North Penn 58.1
Honorable Mention
Garnet Valley 55.5, Downingtown East 55.3, LaSalle 54.6, Pittsburgh Central Catholic 54, Manheim Township 53.2, Downingtown West 52.6, Wilson 52.1, Emmaus 50.9, Neshaminy 48.6, Mt. Lebanon 47.8, Truman 46.3
November 20th, 2018 at 5:49 pm
Malvern is the tallest midget in the circus and would get destroyed by WOOD.
They need to stay safely in the Inter-Ac where it’s warm and they can win a few games.
They would get beat by most of the PCL.
Just like the public schools b4 2008,
who used to brag that the PCL could never compete with the big bad,
North Penns and Pennsburys…… Smacked them around like rag dolls.
Malvern is soft but always manages to win a few games in the Inter-Ac
November 20th, 2018 at 4:42 pm
I just heard Coatesville game moved to Pennridge
High school
Can anybody confirm this
November 20th, 2018 at 3:55 pm
Coatesville vs North Penn District 1 Championship will be played at Pennridge HS on Friday @ 7pm
November 20th, 2018 at 3:20 pm
Hot off the press…….Friday Night’s 6A District Final @ Pennridge HS. What a downer.
November 20th, 2018 at 2:43 pm
Rumor has it the NP/C’ville game is at Wissahickon.
I hope not, but can anyone verify?
November 20th, 2018 at 1:56 pm
I just saw they moved the CV/NP game to Pennridge — I’m assuming it is an artificial turf field? I’m sure NP fans probably aren’t that happy, but I think one would have to admit that a D1 championship should be played on a good field — for the safety of players and quality of play (and so that no team has an unfair advantage :)) — I would be saying the same if the situation was reversed. Moreover, I don’t know anything about Coach Beck personally, but my guess is that he wouldn’t want to play in a swamp as an advantage. I hope both teams don’t have to worry about field conditions and that the best team wins. Also, I think it is fairly recently that they changed from a neutral site in the final and maybe even some earlier rounds.
November 20th, 2018 at 1:23 pm
@Deo & SC – the reason the PIAA changed the brackets is because D1 was tired of getting beat in the semi-finals by D12 and D3 was tired of getting beat by D7, so they complained enough to the PIAA that they flipped those districts at 5A and 6A for this 2 year cycle, that way at least D1 or D3 will make the final in 5A and 6A instead of both getting shut out, simple as that. PIAA is getting a lot of heat over the separation of boundary vs. non boundary schools and they are trying to do anything they can to quell the uprising. This year it’s probably going to work out that we have the 2 best teams in 6A playing in the final, assuming Coatesville and SJP both get there, and let’s face it, would be a big upset for either of those teams not to make the final this year.
November 20th, 2018 at 1:19 pm
District 1 Championship game Coatesville vs North Penn game Friday night has been moved to Pennridge’s Helman Field at 7pm
November 20th, 2018 at 1:16 pm
Cville/NP game moved to Pennridge HS according to Kyle Berger on twitter.
November 20th, 2018 at 1:11 pm
Remaining non-boundary schools in each classification:
6A: 1/7 (SJP)
5A: 1/8 (Wood)
4A: 5/8 (Imhotep, Beca, Berks, McDevitt, Cathedral)
3A: 2/7 (C-E, Scranton Prep)
2A: 2/7 (West Catholic, York Catholic)
1A: 1/7 (OLSH)
Aside from 4A, the balance isn’t too bad. But it could be better. If PIAA implemented a multiplier system where non-boundary schools would get a higher enrollment multiplier by winning titles or making finals/semis, it would hopefully result in more competitive playoffs in 4A and 5A.
November 20th, 2018 at 1:00 pm
Mmmmm, so some of you guys did not like my ECP cakewalk comment. Fair enough. We all have our opinions. Ok, let me back step a bit and re-phrase. The last two years (’16 and ’17) ECP’s first 3 weeks of the playoffs, were a cakewalk. More like like joke. I’ll stipulate again to the TJ and BC games. Bottom line, one of the easiest overall paths to Hershey in that time period. Not saying that other schools didn’t have it easy as well. I would be fully on board with Jeff’s thought’s on seeding 1-16 or 1-32 type bracket/playoffs, but I agree probably never happen. Still I would hope maybe for tightening up (less teams) of the districts and maybe creating super regionals for districts that don’t have say more than 8 schools in specific classification.
Funny thing about 4A, for all of you who have been clamoring for a separate private/catholic/charter playoff, you have had it all along disguised as 4A!!! Last 3 years, 5 teams have ruled, ECP, McDevitt, BC, Becahi and Imhotep. Guess D10 is the only one who got the memo to play up to 5A and let us do our thing. Maybe Valley View or So. Fay. will crash the party this year.
November 20th, 2018 at 12:41 pm
@D3 Mike SOS for Top 4A schools in PA
1. Cardinal O’Hara 21
2. Imhotep Charter 20.8
3. Erie Cathedral Prep 19.4
4. Valley View 14.7
5. Bethlehem Catholic 12.7
6. South Fayette 12.5
7. Blackhawk 12.1
8. Bishop McDevitt-Harrisburg 10.1
9. Dallas 10
10.Thomas Jefferson 9.8
Others:
Berks Catholic 7.6. Clearfield 6.9, Belle Vernon 6.8, Pottsgrove 2.2
November 20th, 2018 at 1:39 am
You guys are funny. Let’s see, a “torched” Wood, and now a “smoke” Malvern. Mmmm, I smell an incendiary theme here. I’ll fight fire with fire and just say it would be a hell of a game that unfortunately we will not see……
They do have two common opponents in McDonogh and LaSalle, so you guys can pick that apart as well….
November 19th, 2018 at 11:40 pm
Archbishop Wood would smoke Malvern. They beat them bad in a 7v7 this summer.
That format actually favors Malvern(skill guys). Malvern wouldn’t schedule Wood this year despite being asked.
Wood would physically punish Malvern. Look at Wood’s non-league schedule……it’s definitely in the top 5 in the state……..no questions asked.
November 19th, 2018 at 3:33 pm
@ Kevin X. – I wouldn’t exactly call Erie Prep’s trip to the finals the last 2 years a cakewalk, you mentioned they had to beat the D7 and D3 winners just to get to Hershey, which is certainly no cakewalk. Yes, they played some weaker teams in the early rounds, but they have no competition in D10 because almost all the other schools their size avoid them by playing up in 5A, and they have to play someone in the early rounds of the state playoffs, they just crushed an undefeated Clearfiled team over the weekend from D9. With the move to 6 classes the great teams and traditional powers are more spread out, so naturally a power program like Erie Prep is going to face some weaker competition in the early rounds. Same is true with Wood in 5A, they don’t have much competition in their own district at 5A, then they get to play some of the historically weaker districts in the next few rounds. I don’t pretend to know the solution and there probably isn’t one, short of getting rid of district playoffs and seeding all teams 1-32 or 1-16, and that’s not going to happen, I would say in most years the best team usually wins regardless of their path to Hershey.
@FrankG – agree about the D12 champ in 6A (and formerly 4A), there are no easy paths to the final in the biggest classification, in most years the D12 winner has to beat one of the better teams in the state in their own district, then the D11 champion who is usually very good, and this year the D7 champ (or State College) and then the D1/D3 winner, in prior years it was D11 and then D1 and then in most years the D7 champ in the final, if any district has an easier path for this 2 year cycle it’s D3 who gets a bye this week, but then they get Coatesville or North Penn next week, and good luck with that, especially if it’s Coatesville.
November 19th, 2018 at 2:32 pm
@d12 fan – really, I’m hating on high school kids, give me a break. AW is a tremendous program and I have all the respect in the world for them, I was just simply pointing out they have a much easier path to the semi-finals than most of the other power districts like D1, D3 and D7, and that’s a fact. And I have stated on this board on numerous occasions that I am not in favor of splitting the publics and privates and think it would be a disaster for high school football in this state. I knew Wood was going to smash Gateway last year and I said so at the time, I saw Gateway play several times last year and knew that Wood was going to run the ball down their throat the whole game, and they might have done it again this year.
And D3 Mike is right about 4A, Wood would have a tougher time winning 4A than 5A, to start with would have to get past Imhotep in their own district and not Gratz, would also face Becahi in the semi-finals and then likely Erie Prep, McDevitt or Berks Catholic in the final. Anyone who doesn’t think it’s harder to win 4A than 5A hasn’t been paying attention the last few years.
November 19th, 2018 at 2:10 pm
Westsider here, does anyone think Valley Veiw has a chance to knock off Imhotep?
Also, skimming through this site I noticed talks of easy paths to Hershey and saw someone who must be kidding saying ECPs path has been a cakewalk. One could argue, Imhotep had to beat Bethlehem catholic and they’re in. The east in 4A is an embarrassment. Prep had to play the WPIAL champs (Pittsburgh) the D3 Champ (Harrisburg) and then District 12 (Philly) not sure many teams have to go through the best teams in the highest populated areas. Of the top 10 teams year in and out it’s a philly school, Beth cath, and everyone else from the west. Thanks for the effort.
November 19th, 2018 at 1:30 pm
Malvern Prep would beat Wood
@D3 mike
November 19th, 2018 at 1:18 pm
Stupid me. I meant “Parkland” when I wrote “Liberty” as the team that beat LaSalle in 2015.
November 19th, 2018 at 10:44 am
SoCo vs York Cath is Sat at 1 in Shamokin
November 19th, 2018 at 10:41 am
@SC: In 6A, if D12 would be moved to the west side, they would take the automatic berth to the semis most likely. The D3 champ would play the D11 champ in the quarterfinals. You still have the issue of the D7 and D12 champs meeting before the final.
November 19th, 2018 at 8:58 am
The reason the inter-ac schools like Malvern do not join the PIAA is they have 5th year seniors and kids that reclassify after 8th grade or later and do meet the age requirements of the PIAA.
November 18th, 2018 at 11:29 pm
@Kevin X and others.
To those who think the D12 champion in 6A has an easy and unfair path through the playoffs, I’d suggest looking at what’s happened over time.
The PCL and PPL joined the PIAA in 2008. That year LaSalle had to beat a very good SJP (in the district quarterfinals) and a very good Father Judge team in the semi-finals before losing to George Washington in the district final. (Washington was good, but what probably cost LaSalle the game was the very strong wind which negated their passing game.)
In 2009 LaSalle, which lost to SJP in the regular season, beat SJP in a very close championship game and then went on to win the state title. The SJP game was their toughest playoff game by far.
In 2010 and 2011 I, like a lot of Prep guys, was waiting for the Prep to emerge from the hole Brooks’ sudden and controversial departure put them in, but as I recall Judge and Roman had fairly good teams that would not have just let LaSalle walk over them.
In 2012 LaSalle beat SJP by one point in OT in the PCL championship. SJP was undefeated going into that game and among the teams it had beaten very handily was North Penn. So one of the best teams in the state (SJP) did not get past their district semi-final and LaSalle had to beat them to move into the district final.
In 2013 and 2014 LaSalle (with Shurmur and Zaire Franklin and some other very good players) would almost certainly have made it at least to the D1 final (if they had been in D1), so playing them in the district semi-final was a very tough game for SJP. Also in most of these years Roman and Judge were not nearly as weak as they were this year–as their records against non-PCL teams will indicate.
In 2015 an SJP team with junior D’Andre Swift didn’t make it past the district semifinal because of a one-point loss to LaSalle. That LaSalle team, in my view, got robbed in their game against Liberty. But the point is that LaSalle and SJP presented each other with much tougher competition than other 4A (at the time) teams faced at that stage in the playoffs. Pretty much the same thing could be said about ’16 and ’17. LaSalle had a falling off this year, but by the time the playoffs started they were playing much better.
So maybe that first playoff game has sometimes been close to a gimme for SJP and LaSalle and the D12 championship game hasn’t often been competitive–though it certainly was in 2008 and 2013. But for most of the last 11 years, the D12 big school champion has had to beat one of the best teams in the state in the district semi-final. And I’m not sure playing a weak PPL champion is all that great an advantage going forward for the PCL champion.
November 18th, 2018 at 11:10 pm
When and where will the Southern vs York Cath game be played next weekend?
November 18th, 2018 at 9:54 pm
Makes no sense to move D3 to the east side and D12 to the west side. D12 and D7 have accounted for most the 6A championship appearances and now D3 gets an automatic bid into the semifinals?
November 18th, 2018 at 9:17 pm
Trying to think ahead a bit here and it looks like I won’t be able to make it to any of the games in Hershey as I’ll be away that weekend and there’s no getting out of it. What’s worse is I’ll be out of state so no access to PCN channel on Comcast.
Does anyone know if I can stream the games on the PCN app or some other way online? I need a hero!
November 18th, 2018 at 4:55 pm
@ Jay
They are not members of the PIAA. As you said, they are independent prep schools and/or members of the PAISAA (Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association). They have tournaments and playoffs for other sports, but not football.
November 18th, 2018 at 3:44 pm
I genuinely don’t understand why Malvern Prep and the other independent schools don’t play in the PIAA playoffs. Can someone explain to me why this is? Probably a dumb question, I know.
November 18th, 2018 at 1:31 pm
Just saw the big school brackets seeing D12 on the other (West side) this year. Is this an attempt to keep less D12 teams from getting to the State Championship ? If not what is the reason then?
November 18th, 2018 at 12:55 pm
@Al (you don’t mind if I call you Al as an Al Bundy reference, do you?)
The discussion was about the joke that is Wood’s playoff path. Not their regular season schedule. On the original point, I’ve already laid out the facts and I rest my case – since there is no counter.
As far as what little Wood does with 350 (hand-selected) boys (sarcasm), that’s more of a testament to the program’s skill at recruiting from a pool of almost 2 million residents (more sarcasm) coupled with the alumni’s commitment to providing limitless scholarships so that Philly’s best and brightest can receive a true Catholic education (most sarcasm).
I’m just glad you and the program have your priorities in order, Al.
November 18th, 2018 at 11:44 am
OK, not going to disagree with any of you who are saying Wood’s current path to Hershey is a joke. The whole D12 playoff is a joke. Is there another district or bracket where you have separate playoffs to determine league champions, in this case the PCL and PPL?? Figure out your champion during the regular season. It can be done. Disgrace that all four 6A PCL schools play each other in the regular season, then do it all over again in the first two weeks of the playoffs, with inevitably SJP and LaSalle meeting up in week two. UGH!!!
So what’s the answer?? What would you guys do to change things??
BTW, in recent years Erie Cathedral Prep in my opinion had an absolute cakewalk to Hershey. Basically scrimmages and bye weeks, then the D7 champ, D3 champ, then Hershey.
Here’s a little hindsight 20/20 for Valley View. Should of played up to 5A. Easier path in the east.
November 18th, 2018 at 11:32 am
D3
HAHAHA, you want to compare schedules of any 5A team to Wood’s. They have top 3 schedule in state the last 3 years all classifications. Toughest 5A schedule by a mile. Bergen Cathloic St. Joes Prep, McDonogh MD, Archbishop Spalding, Wayne OH, Oxbridge, FL, LaSalle, Paramus Cathoilc etc…
Sorry their playoff path doesn’t include perennial powerhouses Kiski, or franklin regional who Ryan would beat both. Or the powerhouse latrobe and Shaler….They still have to BEAT D7, D11-2-6, and D1 or D3 winner. Sorry they don’t have to get beat up by north hills, Gratz more physical btw.
Based on your premise I guess Seneca valley and NA really stink because PR whooped SV 34-7..
As far a 6A goes in the east Lasalle has 813 boys in grades 9-11, Prep 725, North Penn 1555, Pennsbury, 1150, Nesh 983, Coatesville 789…little archbishop wood has 350. Why so scared….
November 18th, 2018 at 2:36 am
Jeff
So last year Wood also had to beat the district 11/2 champ and the D1 champ in addition to beating the wpial champ, and being up 42-0 at half over the wpial champ who was supposed whoop Wood this year and can’t even get out of d7 semi’s….I guess district 11 and district 1 don’t count. Keep hating on hs kids, very becoming.
Watch what you wish for, when piaa seperates public and privates more top talent will go to the privates and the public schools will be even more watered down than they are now with less kids playing and PA demographics getting older and older. Publics used to say they would kill the privates, how did that work out?
November 18th, 2018 at 2:21 am
Archbishop Wood’s path into the state semi-finals, with current MaxPreps 5A ranking, along with a couple of comparisons:
#17 Ryan
#33 Simon Gratz
#22 Hollidaysburg
West Allegheny (7)
#11 Mars
#1 Gateway
#4 Penn Hills
Manheim Central (3)
#25 Mifflin
#6 Cedar Cliff
#7 Cocalico
It’s not a matter of hating. It’s a matter of pointing out that Wood’s path to the state semi-finals is, objectively, easy. That’s because just like all the D12 winners, Wood is given 3 weeks to play thru 10 mostly mediocre teams (see tonight’s district title game with 5-6 Simon Gratz?). Then they get matched with the 2/6/11 winner – three districts with a combined ZERO schools currently in 5A that have ever played for a state title at any class. Meanwhile, the WPIAL grinds its teams up for a month (I didn’t even list the first round games since Wood had a bye), the District 3 and District 1 winners have over 50 combined teams to play thru just to get out of the districts (55% of the teams in the state)… and Wood gets a path with fewer total teams and much lower quality.
tl;dr WOOD HAS BEEN THE BEST 5A TEAM IN PA OVER THE PAST DECADE but you would have to be unbelievably biased not to admit that showing up in the state semi-finals less injured and better rested than anyone you’re playing against is a big advantage.
As far as doing anyone a favor by playing at 5A, there are a ton of state titles at 4A since that’s where many of the private school powers play – Cathedral Prep (who beat Wood in 2012 and probably would have beaten them last year, too), Imhotep, ACC, BECAHI, McDevitt, etc, so I’m not sure that move hurt Wood much. Not to mention that after 5 state title appearances in 7 years, most of them won by mercy rule, anyone with half-a-set would have stepped-up to 6A by now.
November 18th, 2018 at 1:36 am
Sure they are going to play at Crawford Friday night. Nothing to loose, will be the final game on that field this year regardless of the result. They’ll have 9 months to get it playable again. Unless a higher authority from the PIAA or District One deems the field unsafe and unplayable, see you all in Lansdale Friday evening.
Will dip my toes into this Wood discussion. Don’t know if any of you guys actually have seen them in person this year, I did twice. A competitive fun game early in the year against PJ23 and later against SJP. They got their doors blown off against Prep. Easily their worse game of the year. Then barely got by Ryan last week. With that said, if they were in D1 and a member of the SOL, they would probably be 9-1, maybe 10-0 in the regular season and eventual D1 5A champs. Now with Colyar and Blackstone back in the mix, expect another trip to Hershey.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:14 pm
@D3 Mike – completely agree about D12 having by far the easiest path to Hershey for any district in PA, and your point about the schools in the other power districts going through a meat grinder is well taken. With that being said at least AW has to beat the WPIAL champ and another quality team to win the title this year, last year when they were in the eastern bracket they cruised through the playoffs and only had to beat the WPIAL/D3 winner in the final, this year they will likely need to beat both if MC is as good as I think they are.
TJ just got beat 31-24 at Heinz in a thriller, TJ lead 21-10 at half, but South Fayette had a big kick return to start the 2nd half and scored within the first minute to pull within 21-17, and took it to them the rest of the second half. They have a sophisticated passing attack, very savvy QB, excellent coaching with Joe Rossi who’s won 2 state titles in 2013-14, and their kicker is a serious weapon, he’s a Temple recruit and all of his kickoffs are touchbacks, can make field goals of up to 50 yards and also booms the ball on punts, TJ had horrible field position most of the 2nd half thanks to the kicker. I haven’t heard a score on the Erie Prep-Clearfield game yet, but I think SF will give the winner of that game all they can handle and wouldn’t be surprised if they win and go on to meet the D3 winner in the semi-finals, they looked very impressive today.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:42 pm
@ Chief Red Raider. I think the administrators are not dumb and will find a way to get that field ready for Friday is the elements hold up. Dtown game was played there because Wissahickon said they couldn’t get their field/stands ready after the snow.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:21 pm
Harrisburg fumbles with 3:17 left and CD recovers. CD drives to HBG 25 but is picked in end zone.
Harrisburg will win the District 3 6A Championship!
It’ll be Harrisburg against either North Penn or Coatesville in two weeks in the state semi-final.
FINAL Harrisburg 16 Central Dauphin 6
Harrisburg linebacker Andre White Jr., a Texas A&M commit, with 22 tackles!
November 17th, 2018 at 10:05 pm
CD finally on the board with 3:30 to play.
Harrisburg 16 Central Dauphin 6
November 17th, 2018 at 10:02 pm
Harrisburg 16 Central Dauphin 0 6:38 left 4th QTR
CD with a fine defensive performance against Harrisburg but Harrisburg finally breaks through in the 2nd half with 2 TD’s and the Harrisburg defense has buckled down several time when CD had the ball deep in Harrisburg territory.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:44 pm
Harrisburg 8 Central Dauphin 0 END 3rd QTR
November 17th, 2018 at 9:00 pm
@ Mike A
…..and I thought District 1 was dysfunctional with their scheduling 🙂
Should of been put off until next week regardless to eliminate that ridiculous bye week that the D3 winner would of had (and I suppose now still does have) prior to the game with the D1 champion.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:58 pm
Harrisburg 0 Central Dauphin 0 HALF
November 17th, 2018 at 8:32 pm
Harrisburg 0 Central Dauphin 0 END of 1st QTR
Early 2nd OTR: CD elects to go for it on 4th down at the HBG 15 and it’s incomplete.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:08 pm
I think the game was moved from Wissahickon to Downingtown because somebody at Wissahickon decided that they weren’t going to spend the money, manpower and effort to clear a field for a game that didn’t involve their team. Only logical explanation as to why it was moved to the school of the “away” team. I think Coatesville/Garnet Valley game being played last night also had an impact. The PIAA and District 1 didn’t want to put the winner of the North Penn/Downingtown West game at a disadvantage if they had played it today and them having 1 day less of rest for the championship next Friday.
Just my honest opinion.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:00 pm
D3 mike
You don’t make much sense, If Wood beats the district 11-2-6 subregional winner, the WPIAL champ, and the winner of the D1 vs D3 game, they earned it. Who else in 5A do you want them to play? Also, Wood is a 4A team playing up to 5A which and now PIAA changes the bracket because D3 and D1 complained. Wood will show up and play anyone, keep hating, carry on…..
November 17th, 2018 at 7:40 pm
@ Knight Time: Glad you have a sense of humor. So where do you think they will play the game? And any word on how/why the game was played at D-town? I’ll give credit to NP for finding ways to keep winning. If the game is on turf, I think the Ville should do pretty well, if in the mud, not so confident. If at NP I hope C’ville has some updated spike kits (or whatever they need).
November 17th, 2018 at 7:39 pm
Fair enough, Jeff. And after all of their success, I’m sure part of it is Wood being a bit bored with the regular season. I’m just frustrated with the competitiveness of the D12 field and the winners’ paths to get to Hershey, generally. Not to take anything away from Prep, Wood, and Imhotep, who have all been top 1 or 2 teams in the state in their respective classes for most of the decade, but just once I’d like to see one of them actually have to play another top 5 program on the way to Hershey (heck, I’d even take a couple of top 10s).
Depending on the class, some of the top WPIAL, D1, D3 and D11 teams simply get ground the heck down on the way there. We’ll never know if Gateway or North Allegheny could have matched up with St. Joe’s or Wood this year since the former actually had to play a month’s worth of A-level football just to get there while the latter spent the better part of November mercy ruling the field.
Was at the Berks Catholic-Milton Hershey game this afternoon. Really, really emotional scene as the doctors allowed the young man diagnosed with brain cancer last month to play today, and he ended up with two touchdowns. BC can flat out run the football (as usual) but they still have issues in the secondary. On the other side of the D3 4A bracket, McDevitt lit it up through the air (also as usual). We’re probably looking at a 42-35 type of game next weekend in what should be a classic contrast in styles. It will most likely be played in Lancaster (Manheim) on Friday afternoon.
And in case you missed it, after announcing that the 6A title game would be played next Friday – psych!!! – we’re actually going to play it tonight after all…
November 17th, 2018 at 6:44 pm
What a fiasco. HBG-CD postponed and rescheduled for Saturday at CD, then postponed again and rescheduled for next week at Central York, and and now rescheduled again for TONIGHT at CD 6 PM. Many fans watching the 11 o’clock news are going to be be surprised when they see it was played tonight and not next week as reported this morning.
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/2018/11/harrisburg-central-dauphin-district-3-6a-title-game-now-slated-for-saturday-at-landis-field.html
November 17th, 2018 at 5:02 pm
Last night was one of my fondest moments at a high school football game, or just in general, in a long time. Went to Coatesville game with my girlfriend (who went to Garnet Valley) and my two godchildren who I hadn’t seen in a couple months. Got there at 7:05 but still ended up getting good seats for the four of us around the 40 yard line.
Coatesville’s defense made it abundantly clear from the start that GV was not going to execute their normal gameplan with success. And with the offense firing on all cylinders like it was, this game got out of hand pretty quickly. This has been the case for most/all of their games, which worries me a bit, because it makes me wonder how they will handle adversity when they see it, whether in the form of North Penn next week and/or if they advance to play the D3 champ and possibly in Hershey. North Penn has thwarted my teams so many times in the past that I’m almost expecting it to happen again just because it’s North Penn. I am curious to find out where the game will be played!
Congrats to North Penn by the way, for continuing to find ways to beat good teams. Finding out only hours before the game that it’s now an away game and still making the trip and showing up and winning… they are an awesome program and deserve to be here. I just hope Coatesville can keep the train rolling. But I also agree with @Buddy, I just wanna see someone beat SJP. Preferably CV since they should’ve beaten them last season at Kottmeyer, but anyone will do.
And now my girlfriend has to wear my Coatesville hoodie all week (she still lives in Garnet Valley lol). But to be honest it hasn’t taken much to convert her to a Coatesville fan, this team is just so exciting to watch. Next week win or lose will surely be a memory I won’t ever forget. And I’m not taking kids to that game! It’s crazy how much more difficult it is to watch a sporting event when you have to monitor children simultaneously!
Good luck to all teams involved, and I hope everyone enjoys their weekends and has a happy thanksgiving!!
November 17th, 2018 at 2:58 pm
Lol…you got me Chief Red Raider. I’m praying the game this Friday is at the “swamp” but if not NP will play on blacktop and make it a game for 4 quarters.
November 17th, 2018 at 1:49 pm
@d3 Mike – I agree with most everything you said about AW and you make some very valid points, their path to the semi-finals is a joke, and they are nowhere near the juggernaut they’ve been the last few years. However, they just got their QB back last week after being out since September, and expect that to be a big help going forward and their offense to be more balanced. From what I’ve seen from the WPIAL teams AW is going to have an advantage in the trenches, and think that will be the difference, although if West A wins next week they will have certainly have the edge in coaching, Bob Palko pulled out all the tricks last night against Gateway, and if I had to pick a coach to win a game against a superior opponent he would be at or near the top of the list. He’s also retiring after the season and his kids are clearly motivated to send him out on a winning note.
I think Manheim Central is one of the top teams in the state and I do give them a legitimate chance to beat Wood, but I don’t think any of the other D3 teams will if Manheim gets upset in districts, and I don’t think any of the D1 teams would beat Wood either. Like just about everyone else in the state I certainly hope someone beats them, and agree if no one beats them this year they might end up winning 5-6 in a row.
November 17th, 2018 at 1:24 pm
DTW and North Penn… good tight game until NP pulls away late. NP being gritty and closing to game out once again.
Coatesville and Garnet Valley…what more can you say, either Garnet Valley was significantly overrated or Coatesville is just that good.
Nice win for North Penn and Coatesville rolls again by mercy rule, this time over an undefeated Garnet Valley.
North Penn/Coatesville next. OK NP…here is your chance to show what you got. First time playing a team that most believe is better. Neshaminy, LaSalle, and DTW are pretty good teams but I never thought they were better than North Penn, maybe evenly matched to a degree, but certainly not better. NP has shown they can win the close ones with very good terms now they have to show they can defeat a superior team. Coatesville is a different animal but North Penn can win. It’s not a mismatch IMO.
North Penn could definitely make it interesting, especially if they can slow down Coatesvilles offense just a little and take advantage of Coatesville’s lapses on defense, especially with the passing game. They need to run the ball efficiently and have an effective ball control passing game and mix in a few shots downfield. IMO, any kind of game that gets into a scoring fest in any way favors Coatesville.
I got Coatesville 35-17…BUT if NP plays disciplined error free or somewhere close to that and takes advantage of its opportunities they can pull an upset.
November 17th, 2018 at 12:28 pm
Harrisburg, Central Dauphin District 3 title game moved to next Friday
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/2018/11/harrisburg-central-dauphin-district-3-title-game-moved-to-next-friday.html
November 17th, 2018 at 12:05 pm
@ Good Knight Time: Don’t forget the prediction that said GV was going to win because they were the more disciplined team 🙂
November 17th, 2018 at 11:18 am
Must shout out an expression of graditude (after somewhat trashing probably the same people yesterday) to the peeps in charge of moving the NP/DTW to Kottmeyer. Was originally planning on heading out to the ‘Ville for the GV/C’Ville weeks ago, and plans did not change (well sort of). Enjoyed the first half of that game, which was basically over in the early second quarter after Ortega’s incredible (that was a thing of beauty) 50 or so yard TD scramble which put the Red Raiders up 21-0 (BTW, some off season maintenance is going to be sorely needed on that field after the snow removal effort. Field looked a mess, guess played OK). Then at halftime, did the Lincoln Highway shuffle and got to Kottmeyer before the second half kickoff in a 14-14 tie to see DTW run back the second half kickoff. Was able to see in person a much more competitive half of football and see Edwards set a new stadium record for rushing yards (over 300).
November 17th, 2018 at 11:07 am
@Knight Time – I don’t think Coatesville will mercy rule NP next week, but I do think they will beat them by 2-3 TDs. I’ve thought all year Coatesville was at least 2 scores better than any other team in D1, just like Pine Richland was head and shoulders better than everyone in the WPIAL last year. I give NP credit for getting this far, definitely an impressive win last night, and Beck is a great coach, but Coatesville is a juggernaut and like I said before I don’t think NP can score enough to keep up, I see the final something like 42-21 or maybe 42-28, I’ve been known to be wrong before, we’ll see, that’s why they play the games.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:54 am
Jeff, you might be right, but until December, you, me, and everyone else is just guessing when it comes to Archbishop Wood.
They’ve essentially received a bye into the PIAA semi-finals after going an entire season without beating anyone great. Last night, in the THIRD week of the playoffs (after a true bye in week 1) they played a 5-5 Gratz team that has now been outscored on the season. Next week they will draw a 3 or 4 loss team out of 2/6, known across the state as perennial big-school power districts (sarcasm intended)… Seriously, their path to the state semi-finals is ridiculous They will get there without playing a top 15, maybe not even a top 20, 5A school.
If you examine their body of work on the field it’s a mixed bag. On one hand, they didn’t get embarrassed in losing to probably the best two teams in PA and NJ. On the other hand, they lost to a 3-6 McDonogh squad and beat a 2-9 St Pius team by 2 points. The offense just doesn’t seem to be clicking under the new coach.
To take a historical perspective, Wood outscored opponents by 300 points in 2016 and 2017 en route to state titles. So far in 2018, they’ve outscored opponents 242-166. So if the District 3 winner (Manheim still has to beat two MaxPreps top 6 teams in Cedar Cliff and Cocalico just to win the district) or WPIAL winner can’t beat Wood this year, the PIAA might as well cancel the 5A tournament going forward. P.S. it’s a shame Malvern Prep isn’t in the PIAA because I think they would torch Wood.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:21 am
I do hope they play at NP’s crappy field, we need all the help we can get.
I didn’t expect them to get this far. I’m glad, cause the Eagles are hard to follow.
All I can say is this……………..someone has to beat SJP !
November 17th, 2018 at 3:57 am
My, my, my…..lets see who is going to confess that they were wrong about NP being overrated and had no shot at making it to the District finals . Oh by the way it was also said that NP couldnt beat either of the Downingtowns and they beat west in their own building. Waiting on the geniuses to start talking out the sides of the necks predicting CVille mercy rules NP next Friday..
November 17th, 2018 at 1:45 am
I have to give credit to NP, I was one of the naysayers who didn’t think they would make the final when the playoffs started, pretty impressive win tonight at Dwest, especially considering the circumstances. I still don’t think they can score enough to keep up with Coatesville next week, but we’ll see.
Big upset in 5A in the WPIAL, West Allegheny shocked previously unbeaten Gateway 42-28, Gateway had given up 50 points all year until tonight, I saw WA struggle to beat Woodland Hills last week and thought they had very little chance in this game, tremendous coaching job by Bob Palko.. In the other 5A game Penn Hills came back from a 14-0 first half deficit to beat Peters Twp 22-14, I was at that game and was not all that impressed with PH, lots of skill but undisciplined and both O line and D line decent but not great. What I think this means on the state level is neither West A nor Penn Hills will be able to stop Archbishop Wood’s running game in 2 weeks, and you can pencil in AW right now for Hershey, think Manheim Central is the only team that has a chance to beat them. Lots of guys on here thought I was crazy a few weeks ago for saying AW was still the team to beat in 5A, well, looks like they are the team to beat until proven otherwise, cause I don’t see anyone preventing them from getting to Hershey.
November 17th, 2018 at 12:51 am
What more can I say? Great win by the Knights, especially considering the circumstances. Finding out only hours before the game that you lost any home field advantage and needed to get on a bus all the way to Downingtown. Sure, they get Coatesville next week but for now, this is to be enjoyed. All year they’ve been questioned and all year they have found some way to win. Go Knights!
November 16th, 2018 at 11:35 pm
Coatesville is very, very good. Let nothing I say after this take away from that. They’re neck and neck with 2016 North Penn as the best D1 team in a long time.
But Garnet Valley got taught a humiliating lesson. I hate to say this about a 17/18 year old kid, but their QB totally blew the game for them in the first half. Their passing game had plenty of very basic opportunities to get them on the board. He completely under-threw a big play on the second drive and shorted his receivers for big gains repeatedly after that. They muffed an option on 3rd and short down, then the QB bricked a simple hook route that gave Bryant an “easy” 90 yard pick six.
GV’s coaching staff should take a long look in the mirror after this. They’ll continually roll their league with an occasional hiccup or 2, but they need a QB who can execute simple out routes to be able to compete with the big boys. Granted, they’ve run into 2 dominating programs the last 3 years, but they need to decide whether competing for a state championship is really their goal.
November 16th, 2018 at 11:22 pm
Coatesville wins 42-7, mercy rule. GV played hard — they’ll be back. I liked how C’ville just pounded the ball up the middle (I think they rely on the pass too much sometimes). Hope C’ville doesn’t have to play on NP’s crappy field (I would guess not, but . . . )
November 16th, 2018 at 11:20 pm
As for Imhotep it doesn’t look like teams from the past, they struggle on offense
November 16th, 2018 at 11:18 pm
Np 35
DW 21
November 16th, 2018 at 11:17 pm
North Penn did what a lot of people thought they couldn’t reaching the District Finals. Now they will play Coatesville and good luck with that.
NP 28
DW 21
November 16th, 2018 at 11:16 pm
@ Michael
Please post NP score when final. Thanks
November 16th, 2018 at 11:13 pm
Lost feed with 4 minutes left with C’Ville up 42-7 and GV at the C’Ville 10 but this one’s been decided.
November 16th, 2018 at 11:06 pm
GV was out played from start to finish. Really disappointing.
NP 28
DW 21
4th Q
November 16th, 2018 at 10:53 pm
Coatesville 42 Garnet Valley 7
11:11 left in the 4th QTR
Ortega with the 7 yard TD run. 25 yards in 3 plays.
Mercy rule now in effect
November 16th, 2018 at 10:49 pm
Coateville 35 GV 7 END of 3RD QTR
GV just held C’Ville at own ten, then GV with nice play but a fumble on a strip is recovered by C’Ville and returned to the GV 25 as time ran out in the 3rd quarter.
DTW 21 NP 21 I believe it’s 3rd QTR
November 16th, 2018 at 10:43 pm
GV stopped deep in own territory and forced to punt.
Coatesville takes over at GV 42 yard line.
A little over 3 minutes left in the 3rd QTR.
Barring a miracle, this one is about over folks!
GV is way over matched on athletic ability tonight. I thought they were a little better than this!
November 16th, 2018 at 10:39 pm
TD Coatesville now 35-7 over GV
2 plays
A Young with the 43 yard TD run after an Ortega scramble.
GV rushing defense quite disappointing.
November 16th, 2018 at 10:34 pm
GV starts the second half with the ball from their own 30.
GV moving the ball on the ground out over midfield then mysteriously throws two incompletions.
A gain of 8 on a keeper and an offside gets them a 1st down.
GV converts another 4th and one on a keeper down to the 12.
GV touchdown now 28-7
Drive took up more than 1/2 of third qtr. 5:39 left in 3rd
November 16th, 2018 at 10:22 pm
@ David Mika No problem…I figured may as well update while watching the live stream. C’Ville has looked shaky at times in pass defense but has been able to make stops when GV penetrated deep into C’Ville territory. Some GV receivers have been wide open and weren’t seen.The athletic ability of Ortega and Young have taken over the game along with superior run blocking by the offensive line. The C’Ville ‘O’ line has blocked well for the run but has had numerous leaks when pass blocking. The vaunted C’Ville passing game doesn’t seem to be in sync. Also a few too many bad snaps from center, mostly low. A few nice completions but several coverage sacks also.They are going to have to clean those things up against a better team or they may not make it to the 6A finals. Some tough games before that! To answer your question though…yes I believe they can beat SJP if they’re playing well.
Second half now underway.
November 16th, 2018 at 10:01 pm
Mike A….Nice job updating us….The question is can they beat St. Joseph’s Prep in the Class 6A finals?
November 16th, 2018 at 9:59 pm
C’Ville 28 GV 0 Half
C’Ville has scored on every possession except the first when they went out on downs deep in GV territory.
GV moved the ball a little better in the late 1st and 2nd QTR as they mixed it up a bit but couldn’t punch it in.
C’Ville hasn’t been able to pass much, good pressure by GV, but they really haven’t had to because of the running game with Young and the scrambles by Ortega.
GV receives second half kickoff
November 16th, 2018 at 9:50 pm
C’Ville now up 28-0 after C’Ville return interception 91 yards for a TD 4:12 left in 1st half.
GV coverts two 4th and one on the drive before the INT
Previously a long scramble run by Ortega I believe, about 50 yards, made it 21-0.
This one’s going to be a mercy rule soon if GV can’t score!
November 16th, 2018 at 9:34 pm
C’Ville 14 GV 0 End of 1st QTR
2 Aaron Young TD’s, both up the gut, one was 69 yards.
GV run game being stuffed for the most part. Going to the air now to try to loosen things up. Guys getting open but some being missed.
C’Ville pass defense a little shaky in the 1st QTR
C’Ville just stopped GV with a 4th and 6 on the C’Ville 19 with 46 seconds left in 1st qtr.
A Young in beast mode tonight
November 16th, 2018 at 8:22 pm
Newman:
1st, this is not the district final
2nd, the D1 final 2 years ago was played at NP ( grass)
@et all:
So gang, no live streaming ( free of course) of the NP/DTW game tonite that you know of?
November 16th, 2018 at 7:33 pm
Here is the updated list of games being moved to Saturday >> https://www.easternpafootball.com/news/piaa-hs-football-playoff-schedule-changes-for-nov-16th-2018/
November 16th, 2018 at 6:58 pm
Hello Newman……..wth (only on turf??)?? Don’t think so. Played at Crawford 2 years ago (I believe)…….
November 16th, 2018 at 6:57 pm
Entire District 3 football tournament slate rescheduled
http://highschoolsports.pennlive.com/news/article/-8157027890412064788/entire-district-3-football-tournament-slate-rescheduled/
November 16th, 2018 at 6:40 pm
My guess as to why they are playing the NP/DTW game at Downingtown?? $$$$ I’m sure NP was already paying to use the Wissahickon stadium, why would they want to pay more for snow removal?? Or maybe Wissahickon wasn’t going to bother cleaning the stadium period. At least now it is at one, if not the best football facility in all of the D1/D12 area.
November 16th, 2018 at 6:01 pm
@ Bleed Black and Red – completely agree, as I’ve stated on this board in the past, just hard to understand why NP has not installed turf yet, if they lose tonight have only themselves to blame, maybe now the school board will see the light and figure out they need to fast track the renovations at Crawford. Agree with Kevin X .that it’s absolutely ridiculous and embarrassing to change sites only hours before the game is scheduled, wouldn’t be surprised if some fans aren’t aware of the change and show up at Wissahickon and wonder what the heck is going on.
November 16th, 2018 at 5:36 pm
@Chief: the Garnet Valley football website has a link to their webcast. It is listing the game tonight as on the schedule, so perhaps they ponied up the $ to broadcast.
@KevinX: how could that work? That would be some loooong commutes. I thought it was ridiculous when Sun Valley went in the Ches Mont since they have no natural rivalry at all with any of the teams and the distances just don’t make sense, but this would be crazy.
November 16th, 2018 at 5:11 pm
@ Chief Red Raider – I heard that GV is live streaming the game on their football website.
November 16th, 2018 at 5:09 pm
@Kevin X
Something is in the works, the initial move of the West Chester East and West Chester Henderson that was approved a couple weeks ago has now been rejected by the league principals and AD’s.
The logical move would be to just do district-wide scheduling for 6A. If this merger does take place you are going to have 22 of the 35 6A teams in the same division/conference. In addition to that at least half of D1 schools from 4A and 5A will be involved in the merger.
Would be interesting to see the alignment of the division since the logistics make it crazy for a team such as Avon Grove. I would assume they would stay linked to Coatesville, DTE and DTW. The rest of the division is going to have to be comprised of some SOL schools and possibly a school like Chester. Most if not all SOL schools are some 50-75 miles from Avon Grove. Might not seem bad, but I can just imagine parents/fans making those treks on a Friday night in rush hour traffic. In addition to the added cost of the school districts for the transportation cost of for players/band/cheerleaders.
November 16th, 2018 at 5:07 pm
Zack, Knight, Buddy…I’m pretty sure District finals are required to be played on turf so there will be no more games at Crawford Stadium this year.
November 16th, 2018 at 5:04 pm
Rumor has it the NP / DTW game moved to DTW! That’s Bull…………. if it’s true!
Will it be live streamed anywhere? And why did they do this.
You NP fans, NPTV will not be streaming it.
November 16th, 2018 at 5:02 pm
…..and tonight’s Unionville/Upper Dublin game has been moved to tomorrow at 1:30p. These last minute changes are an absolute disgrace and joke. The people who run these events, are they completely clueless???
November 16th, 2018 at 4:56 pm
I just read on another site the DTW and NP game has been switched to DTW tonight from Wissahickon, anyone else hear that? And if true why was the game moved, doesn’t seem to make any sense.
November 16th, 2018 at 4:54 pm
North Penn vs Downingtown West game moved from Wissahickon high school to Kottmeyer Stadium at Downingtown West
HAHA
Maybe now the powers-at-be in North Penn will install some turf. It’s bad enough that home games are being moved to a neutral site, but it’s downright embarrassing when the game is now being played on the home field of your lower-seeded opponent some 40 miles from your school.
November 16th, 2018 at 4:51 pm
So much for that……
“The latest ChesMont realignment passed two weeks ago tat would have an eight team American Division and a five team National is dead. Principals and AD’s rejected the plan this morning.”
November 16th, 2018 at 1:01 pm
This has been re-tweeted a few times recently……..thoughts???
“Suburban One League still discussing possible merger with DelVal and ChesMont for football only.”
November 16th, 2018 at 12:40 pm
I might have missed it, but can anyone tell me if (and where) the CV/GV game is televised? I’d even settle for a radio broadcast 🙂 Thanks in advance.
November 16th, 2018 at 12:19 pm
@Jeff H. I agree with both your GV-C’ville and HBG-CD analysis. I think you pegged the score about right for GV-C’ville. I think HBG-CD may have a few more points than last time also. I’ll go with HBG something like 27-17. I think CD needs a critical turnover or two to win. If HBG gets some big plays in the kicking game, which they have lately, that will make it real tough on CD, who does have a very good defense. Everson can really frustrate a good defense.
November 15th, 2018 at 8:50 pm
@ Knight Time – you better hope GV pulls the big upset over Coatesville because if you face them in the final I don’t like your chances, because I don’t think NP can score enough to keep up with them. I do have to give NP credit, they keep finding ways to win, which is the mark of a really good team, and I think they’ll likely find a way tomorrow to beat Dwest. The only chance GV has in the other game is to control the clock and limit Coatesville to 7-8 possessions the whole game, and not turn the ball over, the other thing is they can’t fall behind by 2 TD’s, because if they have to play catchup think the rout will be on, I like Coatesville by at least 2 scores and maybe 3, something like 38-21.
In D3 I think CD gives Harrisburg all they can handle, expect a pretty low scoring slug-fest, CD did shut them out in the first half of the earlier game, think they score more points this time and anticipate it to being close well into the 4th quarter with Harrisburg scoring a late TD to win, but I wouldn’t be surprised if CD upsets them.
November 15th, 2018 at 5:56 pm
@ Zack:
So NP wanted to play all these games away from home? Saving the really tough ones for Crawford eh?
Or maybe they will find another field to play on that’s grass, just to screw C’ville?
In 2003 , when they won states, they didn’t play a single playoff game at home, and they were #1 seed.
@Booby:
Isn’t LaSalle & SJP all boys schools? I read last year that SJP has 999 students. I assumed all boys.
November 15th, 2018 at 5:53 pm
@ Bobby A – I’m aware of Wood’s enrollment, and give them credit for playing up in 5A, I didn’t mean to imply they were a “big” school based on enrollment, given their tradition and 5 state titles in the last 10 yrs I put them in the category of “big” privates, or more accurately powerhouse privates along with Erie Prep, who actually has a larger enrollment than Wood but still plays at 4A. My point was you can’t expect the smaller 1A and 2A private schools that struggle to compete against public schools their own size in the same class as the powerhouse private schools, there are several smaller catholic schools in the WPIAL like Greensburg Central Catholic, Serra Catholic, Seton LaSalle, etc. and if any of them had to play Pittsburgh Central Catholic they would get crushed and could get some kids injured due to the disparity in size and speed of the players. I think all this talk about splitting between privates and publics is nonsense and not workable in PA due to the lack of private schools in many areas of the state.
November 15th, 2018 at 5:32 pm
@zack hopefully I get to see 1 more game @ crawford this year. I think it will be against GV because they are the more disciplined team.
November 15th, 2018 at 12:02 pm
@Jeff H.
I understand your point; however, Wood is not a large catholic school. They have 351 boys, which makes them the smallest school in the PCL Red. They are actually 4A by enrollment. For comparison, LaSalle has 813 and SJP has 660. Again, your point is well taken, but to say Wood has a large enrollment is just a misrepresentation.
November 15th, 2018 at 9:12 am
Anyone want to place bets on the D1 final (if its NP/Coatesville) that it will be played in Crawford on the grass? It could have 20 inches of rain(it won’t) and I’m sure they would find a way to make sure that game would be played on grass.
November 15th, 2018 at 1:36 am
Gonna give this Coatesville/Garnet Valley game a little more hype – should be the most intriguing game in the state this weekend along with Thomas Jefferson/South Fayette in 4A.
I’d love to see a replay of last year, when Coatesville was forced to dig deep and rely on their best players to make the big plays at big moments. If not, this side of the bracket is going to be a snoozefest. I’ve said it before on here and I’ll say it again- GV is the is only team that can threaten Coatesville until the state final. As much as North Penn seems to have gotten their act together (at least defensively), I don’t trust Dick Beck in games against elite teams- he graduated from the Andy Reid school of clock management. Further, Harrisburg just simply has to prove it can win big games at 6A before I take them seriously.
Ville would be a minimum 16.5 pt favorite to give them a 3 score headway. Their defense is very underrated in comparison to their overwhelming offense, and we’re going to see them move the ball at will until they get in the red zone. GV’s defense is a prototypical bend-but-don’t-break, so they’re going to have to force a turnover or 2 (on downs or otherwise) inside the 20 for this game to be competitive. The GV offense is going to give the Coatesville D a disciplined gameplan unlike anything they’ve seen or prepared for so far, and they have depth that will just keep coming in waves. But if Coatesville has their typical success with 20+ yard scoring plays, they will roll as usual. The skill position talent gap is lopsided, as it will be with anyone until they potentially meet SJP.
November 14th, 2018 at 8:25 pm
@Knight Time…Me too! I got NP/DTW as a virtual toss up. Hoping NP moves on to face either Coatesville or Garnet Valley.
November 14th, 2018 at 5:40 pm
@Mike A, glad your rankings don’t hold any weight.
November 14th, 2018 at 4:56 pm
@Buddy, @Bleed Red & Black is correct the game is at Wissahickon
November 14th, 2018 at 1:26 pm
@Buddy
@bergerkg
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It’s official –
The District One 6A Semifinal between North Penn and Downingtown West will be played at Wissahickon High School on Friday night at 7pm.
8:16 AM – 14 Nov 2018
November 14th, 2018 at 11:18 am
Remember that these rating are based on the entire body of work for the season not just an individual game or upset. Therefore, the rankings may have a team that is out of the playoffs ranked higher than a than a team that is still alive.
Mike’s Eastern 6A Top Ten 11/13/2018
1) St. Joseph’s Prep 78.9
2) Coatesville 77.6
3) Harrisburg 72.9
4) Central Dauphin 64.4
5) Garnet Valley 58.8
6) Bethlehem Freedom 56.2
7) Downingtown West 56
8) Downingtown East 55.8
9) Emmaus 55.3
10) North Penn 54.7
Honorable Mention
LaSalle 54, Manheim Township 53.8, Wilson 52.3, Neshaminy 49.1,Truman 48, Parkland 46.7, Easton 45.3, Chambersburg 45.3
Mike’s State 6A Top Ten 11/13/2018
1) St. Joseph’s Prep 78.9
2) Coatesville 77.6
3) Harrisburg 72.9
4) Pine Richland 69.3
5) State College 65.9
6) North Alleghenny 65.2
7) Central Dauphin 64.4
8) Seneca Valley 62.5
9) Garnet Valley 58.8
10) Bethlehem Freedom 56.2
Honorable Mention
Downingtown West 56, Downingtown East 55.8, Emmaus 55.3, North Penn 54.7, Pittsburgh Central Catholic 54.4, LaSalle 54, Manheim Township 53.8, Wilson 52.3, Neshaminy 49.1, Truman 48, Mt. Lebanon 47.8
November 14th, 2018 at 10:57 am
@ Bleed:
You sure?
I thought they wait til Fri. morning to call that.
November 14th, 2018 at 10:00 am
@Buddy
It’s going to be played at Wissahickon again Friday night.
November 14th, 2018 at 8:21 am
Anyone know where the DTW/NP game will be played?
I be shocked if it’s at NP. The school board might wait ’til the last minute to decide.
November 13th, 2018 at 11:08 pm
@Jeff H
I see what your saying about the smaller schools. Just throw them all the hell out then.
November 13th, 2018 at 5:24 pm
@Mick – there are some very small private/catholic schools, are you going to put the 1A and 2A schools in with the very large privates like SJP, Archbishop Wood and Pittsburgh Central Catholic? That’s not fair to anyone, particularly the smaller schools that aren’t even competitive against public schools their size, that would lead to a very dangerous situation, and isn’t a practical solution. When you think about it there are only maybe 10-12 private schools across all 6 classifications that are a factor in the state playoffs, it’s most noticeable of course at the higher classes, as the public schools typically dominate the lower classes, with the exception of Bishop Guilfoyle’s run in 1A a few yrs ago.
November 13th, 2018 at 5:23 pm
@ Mick
Basketball YES!!!
Football and other sports NO!!!
November 13th, 2018 at 2:21 pm
Mmmmm, SoCo vs. Scranton Prep, Middletown, CEC, the Quips of D7, all of AAA fame??? Run that table?? No idea, but would love to see it play out on the field!! SoCo vs Valley View for the Great NE/NoCentral Overall Championship and bragging rights, be worth a drive up the NE Extension!!!!
November 13th, 2018 at 2:01 pm
@Bojangles – in a word, no, expect SoCol to beat either LV or Richland by 3 TD’s, they are that much better than everyone else in 2A, agree they would likely win 3A, but 4A is a whole different story, doubt they would beat the traditional powers in 4A.
@d3 Mike – you are right, Erie Prep is not nearly as good as their prior 2 teams state championship teams, but they are still very good, I’ve seen them play once this year, I just don’t see them winning the title again. TJ has a mental block against them, that’s why I don’t like their chances to beat them, but if South Fayette upsets TJ on Saturday I give them a chance against ECP because they have a very good passing game and might be able to exploit Prep’s secondary. The only flexibility TJ has with their schedule is the week O game, and they have a scrimmage instead of scheduling a game, imo they would be better off playing a powerhouse team from 5A or 6A than another scrimmage, other than that the WPIAL makes the schedule, although they could ask the WPIAL to schedule tougher non conference games, this year they played a horrible 5A Connelsville and a mediocre 3A Central Valley as their 2 non conference games, which did absolutely nothing to prepare them for the state playoffs.
The Prep vs. Tep trilogy was entertaining, but would be nice to see some new teams this year, maybe Becahi or VV will upset Imhotep, and the D3 winner will get past the Prep/WPIAL winner, we’ll see, expect some very competitive games the next few weeks.
November 13th, 2018 at 10:28 am
I don’t know the other teams you mentioned but York would be one and done most years. District 3 isn’t great at 2A now that Lancaster Catholic and Wyomissing moved up. (Both won state titles at 2A within the past few years and play at 3A now).
And this isn’t most years, since Southern Columbia probably has the best small school team in memory. They might mercy rule the field.
November 12th, 2018 at 11:34 pm
I know that S Columbia could most likely win 3 and compete in 4A…but is there any chance for York or the Richland/ligonier winner
November 12th, 2018 at 11:32 pm
@D3 Mike,
Disclaimer: I am a Valley View alum but I won’t tell you or anyone they are the best and will smoke all of 4A. I was interested to see what neutral people have to say.
What I will say is this…I was at the VV/Tep game last year when isheem young pretty much beat us by himself. They are not AS good and we are better. They are most certainly beatable. Like You said, was there enough of a change to eliminate a 41 point gap? The gap is definitely narrowed, by how much? I don’t know. They still have a Baylor commit and a WV commit, plus more D1 prospects. So for sure the whole east, including us are all u underdogs. I can only hope for a great game.
@Jeff H
I watched ECP get steamrolled in 2015 by Tep. Of course Tep had something like 8 or 9 D1 guys and their line averaged 6’5 308 that year I believe. And then of course ECP regrouped and beat Tep the next two years. It was fun to watch the trilogy but it’s nice to see new teams in.
I agree with D3 Mike that 4A is wide open this year. And any “predictions” once we get to next week could literally go either way it’s that close imo. TJ vs SF..fayette could win that game for sure. Berks/mcdevitt…same thing. Bechai/pottsgrove…Bechai prob wins that. And then Tep/VV. It’s going to be fun to watch.
November 12th, 2018 at 10:23 pm
I propose that the PIAA creates another class for all Catholic and privates schools no matter what size the school. Too much recruiting by these schools and nothing gets done. I went to Catholic high school and I am sick of all of them.
November 12th, 2018 at 10:17 pm
@Sky I wasn’t there so I can’t comment on what happened Friday night. But I’ve seen several LaSalle-SJP games in recent years and a fair number of other Prep games (often a computer screen, which of course offers a better view than almost anyone at the game has) and I’ve never seen the Prep hit the opposing team’s center when in a goal line defense in a way that would likely or even very possibly cause an injury. If two Prep defensive linemen hammered LaSalle’s center in the way you say they did, I think the officials should at least have thrown a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct or unnecessary roughness. And if there was clear intent to injure or, since such intent is hard to be sure of, reckless action that could lead to injury, the players should have been thrown out of the game. (I’m next to certain the officials can do that.) And, frankly, if what you describe is what the officials saw, I have no idea why they didn’t act accordingly.
The context of my comments is hearing from a few LaSalle people myself in recent years and from family and friends in contact with other LaSalle people–I’m a Prep guy–that the Prep has thrown a lot of money at the football program, brought in a lot of “athletes,” and is way too cocky and aggressive while LaSalle plays a cleaner, more disciplined game with players who may not be as talented but who “play their hearts out” and, in a case of “virtue rewarded,” spring the occasional upset over the Prep. (Maybe a combination of factors had LaSalle thinking lightening would strike again on Friday.) I know I’m not entirely objective, but I can recall a few LaSalle-Prep games, Including ones the Prep won, e.g. regular season 2015, where the officiating struck me as strikingly biased in favor of LaSalle.
November 12th, 2018 at 10:03 pm
Jeff, why doesn’t TJ schedule better non-conference foes? Does the WPIAL restrict it in some way?
And yeah, Cathedral Prep plays a tough schedule but they do every year … and they were still undefeated 6 of the 7 times they made the state finals previously (1 loss the other time). This year they have 2 losses, so just based on the prior year comparisons I don’t think they’re as good as their previous state final teams (FWIW I’ve seen them play exactly zero minutes). Just read a bit in the Erie paper.
Should be a good game out west, though. I’d love to see BC get another shot at Prep but will be pulling for TJ just so I don’t have to hear their coach crying about non-boundaries in the post-game again 🙂 Where will that one be played this year?
Also, agreed on BC needing to control tempo in D3. A true contrast in styles with BC grinding the wing-T and McDevitt airing it out.
PS If anyone has access to the MaxPreps tool (I can’t find it) I’d be curious to see the strength of schedule ratings for the top 4A schools. McDevitt and Berks both played decent slates this year and Imhotep always does.
November 12th, 2018 at 9:38 pm
@Sky – I’m from Pittsburgh and have a lot of respect for the job Infante’s done at SJP and by all accounts seemed to be a class act, but if the reports I heard about Friday’s game against LaSalle are true then I agree with you 100%, bush league and classless move. And some of the LaSalle guys have been saying that’s not the first time something like that has happened, not sure how accurate that is but my respect for Infante just went down several notches. I root against them just because I’m a public school fan and from the other side of the state, but all the more reason to hope Coatesville or someone else beats them.
November 12th, 2018 at 9:17 pm
@D3 Mike & Bojangles – ECP is starting to get healthier and got Billy Lucas back last week, and I give them the edge over the WPIAL winner, which I think will be TJ for the 4th yr in a row, but expect South Fayette to give them their toughest challenge of the year on Saturday at Heinz. ECP plays a way more difficult schedule than TJ (or SF for that matter) and that comes back to haunt TJ when they play Prep, if they are ever going to beat them this is probably the year, but I don’t see it happening (and I hope I’m wrong because I’m a WPIAL guy) I do think the D3 winner has a good chance to beat ECP this year, and think McDevitt and BC is a tossup, if BC is going to win think they need to control the clock and limit the number of possessions McDevitt gets, because I don’t think they are going to beat them if it turns into a shootout.
In the east I agree and don’t see anyone beating Imhotep, think the D3 winner and Imhotep would make for a good final in Hershey, before the playoffs started I picked BC vs.Imhotep on this board, and I’m sticking to that prediction for now.
November 12th, 2018 at 9:04 pm
@FrankG..come on, a team as disciplined as Prep is, jumping offsides twice before cadence even starts is just crap….this cheap shot maneuver is bush league at best. Its hard to respect the best team in the state when they do this kind of garbage. Coaching staff should be ashamed of themselves for coaching this behavior.
November 12th, 2018 at 6:39 pm
@Bojangles now you’re talking!
It’s a lot closer this year – any of 6 schools could realistically win the state title.
Thomas Jefferson is stronger and Cathedral lost a lot of talent plus has had injury issues. I’ll take TJ in a close one in that quarter (assuming TJ makes it past a very good South Fayette team).
McDevitt is a bad match up for Berks Catholic. I’m an alum and have been to most of their games – great front 7 but inexperienced and a bit slow in the secondary. Malvern torched them up top as Cathedral did in years past. We’ll see if BC can get to the QB or not. Should be a great game but I’d have to pick McDevitt in a shootout.
Valley View is improved but have they narrowed the Imhotep gap by 41 points?Imhotep isn’t amazing this year but they’ve been to a bunch of consecutive state finals now. With their schedule, experience, and D1 talent that side of the bracket is still theirs to lose.
Imhotep
TJ
Erie
McDevitt
Berks
Valley View
November 12th, 2018 at 5:12 pm
How bout a break from 6A for a bit…since imhotep and ECP are not the monsters they’ve been the last few years…any thoughts/predictions on 4A?
November 12th, 2018 at 2:35 pm
I’m pretty sure 3CTV is not covering the C’viile/GV game — announcer said it was their last game on Friday. I think the cost is prohibitive (thanks to the PIAA). They did the district final last year, so I guess if they got the finances they would cover it.
November 12th, 2018 at 2:08 pm
I doubt 3CTV broadcast the Cville/Garnet Valley game. I believe they made mention this past week on the broadcast that it was going to be there last of the year.
The PIAA is charging these stations anywhere from $350-$500 per game for 5A/6A. To broadcast the entire D1 playoffs a station is going to be spending almost $2,000. Although it is a luxury to have (especially if you stayed home the past 2 weeks with the weather) I doubt these stations have the sponsorship revenue to be able to do it more than a couple weeks. Not sure about the NPTV, I think according to PIAA rules they get a discount if it a school-owned station. Even still the school is going to be paying out hundreds of dollars to broadcast all the games.
November 12th, 2018 at 1:38 pm
@ Buddy, et al…..
3CTV is done broadcasting/streaming football games this season. Their last game was last Friday. No GV/C’Ville game (or any other game) broadcast/stream this week from them.
November 12th, 2018 at 10:59 am
Friday: NP was 11th seed in 2011, went to state final lost to CD 14-7.
But I say so what. If you aren’t in a group of 8, you don’t make playoffs.
Of course that year ( 2011), it would have been a travesty if NP didn’t make it.
Also, D1 lowers to 8 teams, the rest of the state will follow suit. They almost have to.
@ et al:
3CTV covers Chesmont football live. I assume they will cover C’ville / GV.
But will they also cover DTW/NP ? Or can they only be in one place at a time?
November 12th, 2018 at 9:48 am
@Buddy:
With the way the PPL works, Central is in the toughest division (i.e. with Imhotep, Northeast, Gratz, Bartram, Frankford) so they have recently struggled in the regular season. Then they play some of the teams in the lower divisions in the playoffs (the seeding system is super wonky) and win a couple games before losing again. The PPL playoffs also start a week before the rest of the state. In general, that playoff system could use some (read: a lot of) tweaking, but I guess they want all the city public schools to play in a playoff if they make it through the season without forfeiting.
November 12th, 2018 at 9:40 am
My updated, revamped, streamlined, even steven no bye week, 32 team 5 week 6A playoff bracket suggestion that still reasonably retains and crowns district champions (really not too much different from what we have now)………..
D1 – 8 teams (this was tough as you have 33 teams competing, but hey, we have all chalk right now with the final four)
D3 – 8 teams (well done D3, already in place)
D11 – 4 teams (we had the best 4 D11 teams playing this past weekend, question is, would we originally have Parkland or Stroudsburg as the 4 seed)
D12 – 4 teams (sorry no separate PCL and PPL over the top useless playoff, figure it out during the regular season, and figure out your 4 reps)
D7 – 4 teams (sure that will send shivers up the spines of WPIAL traditionalist and messes with their Heinz Field final, but oh well, something has to give)
D 2/4/6/8/10 – 4 teams (State College and 3 other sacrificial lambs to fill out the bracket and have some form of inclusive representation)
November 12th, 2018 at 9:38 am
Buddy-
Remember though, NP has made it to the final or won D1 from lower than the 8th seed on more than 1 occasion. I believe the year they lost to CD in the state final they were either the 9th or 11th seed. Not sure if going down to 8 actually gives you the best teams in the district.
November 11th, 2018 at 11:56 pm
@Friday
NPTV has never, in the past, streamed games live.
When did this start and are you sure?
BTW, did you see the last game on NPTV? Horrible. Film was fragmented. It would freeze, when started again, play was over.
November 11th, 2018 at 11:52 pm
There just isn’t a great way to do the brackets when every district has a different number of teams, and so many districts now have only 1 or 2 schools in a class.
If you break down the 90 teams in 6A to get to the semi-finals you have:
D1: 33 schools
D11/D12: 22 schools
D7/D2/D4/D6/D8/D10: 18 schools
D3: 17 schools
D1 has the most teams by far; D3 second most by almost a half dozen. There just isn’t a cleaner way to split them up IMO. I think the PIAA did their best on that.
BUT… they should require all districts to have their bye week in week 11 instead of week 14. That’s within their control so I think the PIAA dropped the ball there.
Of course that still doesn’t change the fact that the D1 winner still needs to be the best out of 33 teams as opposed to 17, 18, or 22. So it will never be “fair”; the best the PIAA can do is make it less unfair with how byes can be allotted by the districts.
November 11th, 2018 at 11:31 pm
@Sky I find it very odd that if such unsportsmanlike and even dangerous play is so obvious to those of you in the LaSalle stands watching those plucky Explorers playing their hearts out SJP has yet to be appropriately penalized, especially since, according to you, it’s been common practice for SJP to take such cheap shots for several years now.
November 11th, 2018 at 5:08 pm
Buddy-
NPTV on youtube has been streaming all home games, including playoff games at Wissahickon. If the weather is decent I will be there, if not I will be streaming it on the TV with a fire and an adult beverage.
November 11th, 2018 at 3:05 pm
No question a bye late in the playoffs is an advantage, part of the problem with the move to 6 classes is there’s not enough teams to field a full playoff bracket in each class, the way things are set up now some teams have to get byes, as Kevin X. mentioned there are 5 situations out of the 12 brackets where this occurs. The WPIAL winners in 1A and 3A have a bye after the district championship next week, just like the Harrisburg/CD winner. In fact the WPIAL 3A winner the last 2 years has had a bye after the WPIAL championship, then had to win 1 game to get to Hershey, and both of course subsequently won the state title (Beaver Falls & Quaker Valley). I think those 2 teams were the best teams in the years they won, but there’s no doubt they had an advantage by having a bye in the quarterfinal round while everyone else was playing. The way to avoid that is to eliminate a week off the playoffs so you can put together a full playoff bracket where no one gets byes, and maybe it still doesn’t work, but it’s something I think the PIAA needs to address.
November 11th, 2018 at 2:43 pm
Prep/LaSalle—-LaSalle played their hearts out against a better team. They gave St. Joes Prep all they wanted. Infante is a great coach, that can’t be denied. Personally, I think that any coach that would coach their defense to purposefully jump offsides at the goal line to get a free hit at the center and qb is a classless jerk who should be penalized severely for this lack of sportsmanship and potential for injuring a player. For more clarification, LaSalle was first and goal from the Prep 1. Not once, but twice in a row, as soon as the offense was set before cadence was started, the defensive lineman over the center jumped off the line of scrimmage and hammered a cheap shot at the center and the qb. This is, and has been a common practice for Prep to do this to opponents for some years now. I myself have seen this activity numerous times. When it is obvious what they are doing, why is it tolerated? At some point in time this activity is going to cause an injury, most likely a neck considering the impact. Any input by any refs in the forum would be appreciated.
November 11th, 2018 at 2:41 pm
@Kevin X
MaxPreps Strength of Schedule Top 5 in PA
1)Roman Catholic 44.4 (wow!…brutal ) includes SJP twice, Malvern Prep, Acrhbishop Wood, Conwell-Egan Catholic, Downingtown East, Archbishop Ryan, LaSalle, Springside Chesnut Hill Academy, Father Judge
2)LaSalle 37.7
3)Archbishop Wood 36
4)Cumberland Valley 35.8 * see below
5)Mt.Lebanon 34.6
SJP came in at 32.7 (8th) just behind PCC at 33.5 (6th) and Seneca Valley (7th) at 32.9
*Cumberland Valley’s Schedule MaxPreps State Rankings (Other rankings may vary slightly)
Teams on the Cumberland Valley schedule:
Coatesville #2 6A
Harrisburg #3 6A
State College #5 6A
Central Dauphin #7 6A
Chambersburg #22 6A
Central York District 3 6A qualifier
Bishop McDevitt #5 4A
November 11th, 2018 at 2:15 pm
Kevin:
Agree with a lot of that. D1 6A: 16 teams make playoffs. Absurd. I think it should be 8 ( used to be), or at best 12 teams with 4 byes.
D1 5A is the same ( 16 teams), in that case, it gets more absurd. There’s where you have a lot more sub .500 teams get in.
Some coaches have stated the a bye week hurts their teams. There’s some validity to that. You lose your roll.
The PPL in D12 is really a shame. Don’t they have enough public schools in Philly that play football?
Ironically, an 0-9 team has won their 1st two playoff games! So………. who the hell knows.
November 11th, 2018 at 12:16 pm
@ Jay
Yes, hard to disagree with you or anyone else stating that a mid playoff bye week is not an advantage and is unfair. A quick look at the brackets, D3 6A is one of 5 situations where this plays out statewide. First round byes on the other hand, I’m all for if it means cutting down on the number of teams in the playoffs, especially these 2-8 and 3-7, etc. teams. Call it a reward for a team that has a great regular season and getting a week break and a subsequent home game to commence their playoff run.
The SJP situation, kind of neutral on that. Believe for the last several years they have only 8 regular season games scheduled. They had 8 again this year, but their opening game against St. Frances was called in the 3rd quarter due to weather conditions (yes, weather). But their regular season schedule is in my option the toughest in the state, by far. Six of their eight games (St. Frances, St. Peter’s Prep, Our Lady of Good Counsel, LaSalle, Wood and Ryan) are not exactly chopped liver. The only other PIAA team that may be in the discussion is LaSalle (Imhotep, North Penn, Malvern Prep, SJP, Wood and Ryan). I think playing high caliber opponents week in week out versus a schedule full of average teams evens things out.
November 11th, 2018 at 11:53 am
Will the DTW vs NP game be live streamed?
If so, where?
November 11th, 2018 at 12:00 am
@ Knight Time or anybody else
Any word on White? He is so important. Seemed like a number of NP players got banged up in that game. Hopefully they will all be available Friday. Another hard fought win for the Knights!
November 10th, 2018 at 11:35 pm
How far can Rustin go? They have only lost to Coatesville and East. Also, any predictions on the 6A games? I have no idea concerning NP and DTW — NP ekes out wins and DTW is hard to figure.
Plus they might be playing on the crappy NP field. For C’ville to basically lock down DTE’s running game is a good sign for them against GV, and I’m not sure GV can stop C’ville’s offense. C’ville needs to watch the penalties (still not sure how many are legit — 2 TD’s called back in row last night???).
November 10th, 2018 at 5:06 pm
FINAL Harrisburg 36 Wilson 12
Harrisburg led 30-0 at halftime. Wilson had 53 total yards offense in the first half. Wilson scored its final TD with about 6:30 left after Harrisburg had built a 36-6 lead.
From my previous post: Wilson has given up a lot passing and I’m sure they haven’t seen anyone as dynamic as Everson so Harrisburg should thrive Saturday. I got Harrisburg winning by 3-4 TD’s. Something like 38-14 with Wilson scoring a late TD.
I get prediction right once in a while.
November 10th, 2018 at 3:39 pm
So much for all those who said NP would be knocked out early in the districts. They continue to do what they have done all season. Play tough D and find a way to win. 1st 2 playoff games won without their starting fullback Julian “Thunder” White who is a vital part of NP’s strong running game. Hopefully he will return Friday night against DTW.
November 10th, 2018 at 3:29 pm
I can only speak for myself, but for me the big deal about moving a football game for weather is that it’s misaligned with the values instilled in me by playing the sport.
Football taught me about obstacles, adversity, and perseverance. It follows that I just don’t believe in moving games due to rain, or wind, or snow … or skipping practice due to aches and pains … or transferring after junior year because my team sucks. All of these things are related in that they reflect taking the easy way out.
To me, high school football is as much about getting smoked on a miserable November night, losing with the guys I grew up with, as it is about getting featured on a state ranking on PennLive.
Playing in bad weather represents everything I loved about high school football; moving games reflects the artificiality of what so much of the sport has become. My two cents.
November 10th, 2018 at 3:06 pm
@Jeff H. Central Dauphin definitely has a chance. I think they’ll be about a 14 point underdog. In the first contest they shut out Harrisburg in the first half and were leading 5-0 at the half. Harrisburg finally got rolling in the second half and won 20-5. The defense actually only gave up 2 TD’s to Harrisburg, the third coming on an interception return. Harrisburg’s defense is underrated. They have improved over the season and are very tough. The question will be can CD score enough to beat Harrisburg. A big play or two or a turnover would help. Burkhart had been a beast over the last several games. I think the next one will be a little higher scoring, something like 28-14 Harrisburg.
@All Thanks for the input on the ratings I’m sure I’ll have a few tweaks next week, especially after that Seneca Valley win…IMPRESSIVE!
November 10th, 2018 at 2:05 pm
Well we’re down to the business end of the D1 tournament, and 3 of the 4 teams I expected to see are playing in the semis. I’m unsure of what to expect from DTW because the only two times I saw them play this year were the blowout loss at Coatesville and the 14-13 near loss against Bishop Shanahan. Clearly they’re a good team, or they wouldn’t still be playing. I just can’t see them beating North Penn. Heck of a win last night though. I keep thinking what if Truman didn’t get that penalty for celebrating after going up 22-21, which gave DTW great field position in the final drive… hats off to both teams for an exciting game.
Coatesville is just scary good. I had to watch my neighbors kids because they had an emergency, but we live a mile from the stadium so it was torturous for me to have to watch the game online (great stream though) while listening to the crowd outside. Small crowd but still.
I don’t know enough about Garnet Valley to make an educated guess on next weeks game, but I know they’ll be Coatesvilles toughest challenge yet, and it’s also a revenge match. I know that they run the ball a lot, but to be honest, despite Coatesvilles highly talented offense, I honestly think their defense is even better. If they hadn’t taken out their starters last night, that game would’ve been 50-something to nothing. But I mean DTE absolutely no disrespect. They are a good team, and as I read in the paper today, Coach Matta pointed out that in the last two seasons they are 19-5, with four of those losses coming to Coatesville.
And on another note, I think it’s wildly unfair that the D3 champion gets a bye week before the Eastern Final. And that SJP has played three fewer games than the field. How does the PIAA allow this? Do you guys agree that the bye week is a huge advantage, or am I overreacting because I’m obviously a bit biased?
November 10th, 2018 at 12:30 pm
I went back and re-read recent posts about the playing of some of the games last night. Seems to be about a 50/50 split on those who commented about playing (or not playing). I was one against playing. Maybe I should say not so much against playing, but more of what is the big deal about simply postponing these game 18-24 hrs?? Anyway, maybe more on that later. But maybe D1 (and others who played) did look ahead and see that today the forecast was for very strong winds. I believe wind wreaks much more havoc to a game then plain old rain. Sure its uncomfortable for fans who attend a game, cheerleader, band, officials, stadium workers, etc. but play will go on and affect each team equally. Unless like someone stated before, if lighting or real serious situation, games can soldier on (and take a nice financial hit, but again, maybe more on that later). Wind however, just really messes with the passing and kicking games, and has a much greater negative effect on the game itself. Here’s hoping for calm, cool (not cold), dry weather next Friday night.
November 10th, 2018 at 11:45 am
Hats off to North Penn for a tough win. Defense on both sides played very well. Key points in game Neshaminys line could not give the QB anytime to throw when needed. North Penn’s McNamara is a player. DW & North Penn should be a tight game.
November 10th, 2018 at 1:15 am
If I had to guess I would assume Coach Matta from Downingtown East left the majority of the starters in like QB Davis, WR’s Riley/Choi and RB’s Jonassaint/Hamilton in the game in the blowout was because they were all seniors and you would hate to see their high school careers end in that fashion. I personally didn’t have a problem with it, but a large portion of the Coatesville fans took exception to it thinking they were just trying to pad the stats while running against the JV team.
As much talk as the Coatesville offense gets and rightfully so, it’s about time people start taking notice to the defense. They’ve been allowing less than 11 points per game this season and that is with the backups playing large portions of the 2nd half in almost every game this year. Tonight was no different as DTE was lucky if they had 50 yards of total offense in the 1st half before calling off the dogs at halftime.
They will get their biggest test to date next week against a very good Garnet Valley team. As others have said they don’t do anything fancy on offense. You basically know what is coming and hope that you have the gameplan to stop/slow it down. The extended weather outlook looks promising for next Friday, so I expect the stands to be filled at Coatesville
November 9th, 2018 at 11:56 pm
Big surprise in the WPIAL with Seneca Valley taking down previously undefeated and top ranked NA 31-14 on NA’s home field. PR rolled over Mt Lebo 46-16 to set up the final next week at Heinz. Can SV slay the big 3 in the WPIAL 3 weeks in a row after taking out PCC last week. Whoever wins is going to have a battle with State College in the quarterfinals, and SJP will beat the winner the following week pretty comfortably.
@ Buddy – you and I agree to disagree, it is in no way unfair for the fans, prepare accordingly for the weather, that’s why they make raincoats and umbrellas. I can guarantee you the players would prefer to play no matter the conditions. Football was meant to be played in the elements as long as the conditions are not dangerous, that’s part of the charm of the game, period.
@Mike A – how do you like CD’s chances against Harrisburg, assuming they beat Wilson tomorrow as expected
November 9th, 2018 at 11:42 pm
As many of you probably know, the NFL Oakland Raiders stink. Its a shame, as their famous motto “Just win, baby” is pretty much useless, to them anyways. So I propose we give it to a team that is much more deserving, the North Penn Knights!!!
November 9th, 2018 at 11:32 pm
@Chief Yep…not sure why some thought East was going to be any different this time around. Clearly, Coatesville has the superior athletes.
November 9th, 2018 at 10:56 pm
FINAL Central Dauphin 27 Manheim Township 0 It appears CD’s defense is firing on all cylinders (kind of thought they’d get revenge for that early season loss)
FINAL Cedar Cliff 33 Warwick 23 These two teams were pretty even coming in IMO
November 9th, 2018 at 10:39 pm
Coatesville was leading 38-0 at the half — mercy rule 2nd half. Unbelievably the D-town coach played his starters (if not all — most of them) the entire 2nd half against C’ville’s 2nd team (scored 19 points — what does that prove?). I was hoping Ortega brought the 1st team back in to send a message, but I guess he wasn’t as worked up about it as I was.
November 9th, 2018 at 8:53 pm
Looks like a lot of fans dressed up as an empty bleacher tonight in the ‘Ville……….
November 9th, 2018 at 7:06 pm
I’m in Coatesville right now and the rain isn’t heavy at all. Not sure what the forecast calls for, or how saturated the field is already, but currently the conditions are not that bad.
Unfortunately I’m unable to make the game tonight, so thank God for online streaming.
Go Red Raiders, but best of luck to all the teams leaving it all out on the field tonight!!
November 9th, 2018 at 6:12 pm
Rainfall expected in the 7PM-10PM time frame tonight:
Generally places west of Coatesville to Reading to Wilkes-Barre will get .1″ or less. Places to the east from Wilmington, DE north to Allentown and should get about .1-.25″. Areas east of that south of the turnpike and east of 476 and north of the turnpike along and east of the route 611 corridor (i.e. Easton, Doylestown, Stroudsburg, etc.) could get more than .25″, especially farther east near the PA/NJ border and NE of Philly. A few isolated spots far east along the border could receive up to .5″. The good news is that most of MOST of the moderate to heavy rain should be over by 7 PM in the western areas and by halftime or a little later in the eastern areas except the far eastern areas next to the PA/NJ border. The latest high resolution models show the heaviest rain is over for most by 8-9 PM except the extreme eastern region near the border. So expect conditions to improve slightly, at least as far as intensity is concerned, as the evening progresses.
Have fun and take plenty or rain gear, especially if you are in the eastern areas.
Disclaimer: As a retired former DOD meteorologist and National Weather Service employee I am no longer authorized to issue official weather watches, warnings and advisories. This information is intended for specific users. These are my projections, opinions, and analysis and as such should be used by others only for information and planning at your own risk and not used in lieu of currently certified, licensed, and authorized meteorologists or certified and trained weather forecaster technicians from sources such as local media, National Weather Service, Accuweather, The Weather Channel etc.
November 9th, 2018 at 5:40 pm
Bull……………… if you have an option of playing the next day, then do it!
Not to mention the players, it’s unfair to the fans. The stands will be deserted.
Has any D1 games been postponed? Curious.
November 9th, 2018 at 4:58 pm
As a follow-up to my previous comment great teams win in any kind of weather, rain, snow, wind, etc., if they play the games tonight and one of the top teams gets upset so be it, part of the game. Anyone really think GV is going to lose to Quakertown tonight? If anything their offense should have a big advantage in this weather and they may win by a bigger margin than if it was nice, NP/Neshaminy is a toss-up in any kind of weather, and if Coatesville somehow goes down tonight how good were they? I still think GV and Coatesville win big because they are much better than their opponents and being experienced teams and great programs they should be able to handle the weather conditions.
November 9th, 2018 at 3:40 pm
Completely agree with @Jeff H and @ Bleed Red & Black. The elements is where it’s at. Makes the games intriguing. Stoked for tonite!!!!! You know what time it is????
November 9th, 2018 at 1:48 pm
@Bleed Black & Red – completely agree with you, football is meant to be played in the elements, unless the field is unplayable or there’s lightening, which is a different story, it’s raining steadily now in Western PA and has been since before dawn and by the look of the radar it’s going to rain all day and into this evening, and the WPIAL has not rescheduled any games as of yet and would be shocked if they did so. I’ve sat through many high school football games over the years in the rain/snow/cold, deal with it, it’s part of the game. And I’ll bet if you left it up to the players/coaches the vast majority would say let’s strap em on and play, moving football games because of rain is just another sign that our society is becoming a bunch of wimps, the thought of moving games because of rain would have been laughed at 20-30 years ago, and now today the majority thinks it a good idea, I’m sorry but that’s not progress in my opinion.
November 9th, 2018 at 8:36 am
I’m with you Chief. This makes no sense. Especially after last Friday’s games. I went to a game last Saturday night and it was just about a perfect November evening for football. I saw that all D2, D4 and D11 games have been postponed to Saturday, only two so far in D1?? If they play the Nesh/NP game I will like last week be warm and dry with beverage of choice in hand watching the game from the comforts of home on the big screen with my Roku device thru NPHS YouTube app and checking in on the DTE/C’Ville game as well via the same set-up. Thank you modern technology and NPHS TV and 3ctv/chesmont football……..
November 9th, 2018 at 7:48 am
@ chief
Good point. D11, and I believe D3, have moved ALL their games to Sat.
I mean it’s 100% chance of rain tonite. D1 should move all their games.
Maybe they will yet. Let’s hope so.
November 9th, 2018 at 1:08 am
I don’t get it either Chief. Tomorrow is going to be a wipeout with a clear forecast Saturday.
Big advantage that levels the playing field for lower seeds to keep competitive and possibly steal a playoff win, only to get slaughtered the following weeks when/if the weather is better. Top half of D1 is a toss up between all 4 teams, but I think everyone wants that Coatesville/Garnet Valley game to happen in the bottom half. Would be a shame if one them is neutered by weather.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:51 pm
@Chief
Football is supposed to be played in the elements be it rain, snow, heat or wind. Unless the field is unplayable I see no reason to move games to Saturday.
I could be wrong but I would assume the PIAA doesn’t have a say to move the games to Saturday. I would think it would be decision or AD’s, Principals and Superintendents of the host site to make that type of call.
I had no problem sitting in the rain last week at Cville and will be right back in my spot tomorrow night with more wet conditions expected.
November 8th, 2018 at 9:09 pm
Does anyone know why all the games are not moved to Saturday? I doubt there would be facility use conflicts and better conditions would benefit the players and the spectators — who wants to sit on stiff bleachers in the pouring down rain? (Plus the PIAA would make more money at the gate). It seems like such a no-brainer.
November 8th, 2018 at 4:23 pm
Would be interesting if the D3 champ had to play the D11 champ in a quarterfinal instead of getting a bye to the semifinal. Would definitely prefer this as a D11 fan than having to face the D12 champ (i.e. SJP) in the quarters, lol.
November 8th, 2018 at 2:50 pm
@b – I’m sorry but I refuse to believe the NP school board couldn’t find the money for a turf field if they really wanted it, virtually all of the larger schools in western PA have turf, as do some of the smaller schools in 2A and 3A, districts that have a much lower per capita income than NP, so seems from afar they don’t want turf for whatever reason, perhaps the coaching staff prefers a grass field, I dunno, but it’s sure not helping them for the playoffs, maybe if they lose to Neshaminy tomorrow night the school board will finally see the light and install turf.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:14 am
It’s a shame. NP gets #1 seed and home field through out playoffs
and probably won’t have any home games. Home field is a big deal
in high school football ( college also, less with pros).
Of course this has happened many times before for NP.
We need someone like the Koch brothers to donate a new field!
November 8th, 2018 at 12:16 am
@Buddy
Was referring to prep and LaSalle, as far as Neshaminy they looked pretty good in the rain/mud where Haverford seemed to struggle
Neshaminy running and passing is clicking right now. Also, it has been a while since the 1st string D has allowed a TD
November 7th, 2018 at 9:20 pm
@D3 Mike The sad thing is we will never really know because barring an upset the better teams will advance and IMO there are teams that will beat Wilson and North Penn in the next several weeks.. Wilson did play bad against Warwick but gave Manheim Central a tough game, led at the half and MC had to score two late TD’s to seal the win. MC had less than 200 yards of total offense and Wilson also beat Manheim Township. Sometimes bad games just happen and let’s not lose sight of the fact that Warwick is a very good 5A team with a lot of studs, especially on the line, but also some good skill players. The upcoming game with Cedar Cliff should be a good one. Warwick is definitely a top 10 5A team and maybe a top 5 5A team. Wilson isn’t as good as past Wilson teams so maybe they are rated a bit too high.
P.S. Wilson beating Harrisburg is a long shot even though they have been playing better of late. Wilson has given up a lot passing and I’m sure they haven’t seen anyone as dynamic as Everson so Harrisburg should thrive Saturday. I got Harrisburg winning by 3-4 TD’s. Something like 38-14 with Wilson scoring a late TD.
November 7th, 2018 at 5:55 pm
@ buddy….i have to admit when I wrong. NP game switched to wissahickon field Fri. 7 pm
November 7th, 2018 at 5:50 pm
Here you guys go…….from the North Penn School District Twitter feed…….
“Due to current field conditions and Friday’s forecast for more rain, the playoff football game against Neshaminy will be played at Wissahickon HS at 7:00.”
November 7th, 2018 at 5:11 pm
According to the updated bracket the Neshaminy/North Penn game will be played at Wissahickon on Friday @ 7pm
November 7th, 2018 at 5:10 pm
@Mike – nice work putting together the rankings, I too would probably make a few tweaks but overall a very solid list, I agree with Jay that I would have GV a few spots higher, think they are slightly better than the D3 teams CD and Manheim and also Seneca Valley. Also agree with Jay the top 4 teams are likely to be the 4 semi-finalists, although NA will get challenged by State College in the quarterfinals, expect that game to be very close and could go either way. That’s assuming NA gets there, think they are going to have their hands full with Seneca Valley this week, and if they get past them will likely have a rematch with PR in the WPIAL finals, from here on NA will only be playing teams in your top 10, talk about a brutal schedule to just make it to Hershey!
November 7th, 2018 at 3:00 pm
@ et al
Just heard NP game moved to wissahickon , still on Fri.
Anyone verify?
November 7th, 2018 at 2:02 pm
Re: the rankings, in case anyone missed my prior rants:
The D3 6A teams remain overrated outside of Harrisburg. LL1 is perpetually trash with the exception of Wilson, who is down this year.
Wilson lost 3 games, including by almost 30 to the 5-seed in 5A (Warwick). Central Dauphin and Manheim Central are quality losses … but Wilson scored all of a combined 2 touchdowns in those 2 games. Plus they had a lot of close wins.
Manheim Township is a bit better but has won ONE district title in its history and ZERO state playoff games. If they are playing, say, North Penn on a neutral field in the state playoffs, who are you taking there? That’s how I look at state rankings.
As for Central Dauphin, great program, brutal schedule, but they seemed to lose steam after the player death in September. They ended with 3 losses, and just as with Wilson, I don’t know how 3 loss D3 teams can ever be ranked above 1 loss teams from districts that consistently perform better in the state playoffs (D1 and D11) at 6A.
Just my 2 cents. Now watch Wilson beat Harrisburg on Saturday 🙂
November 7th, 2018 at 12:27 pm
@Mick – weather could be a factor but still don’t think Lasalle has much of a chance, both programs going in different directions, just don’t think Lasalle has the talent to keep up with SJP regardless of the weather. I think the only team in PA that has a realistic chance to beat SJP this year is Coatesville as I expect them to beat everyone else by at least 2 TD’s and probably more, including the D11 winner and then the WPIAL winner or State College, would love to see someone beat them but just don’t see it happening unless Coatesville can outscore them in Hershey.
November 7th, 2018 at 11:44 am
@Mike
I like the statewide rankings because I think the top four will wnd up as the semifinal teams.
I admittedly don’t know much about the D3 teams since I’m a D1 guy, so the only tweaks I’d make would probably be Garnet Valley a spot or two higher (as a Coatesville fan they scare the hell out of me) and also I think North Penn would destroy either Downingtown team.
Thanks for putting that together, that’s the type of thing that keeps me coming back to the forum!
November 7th, 2018 at 10:28 am
@ mick
Not sure who “they” is, but if it’s Neshaminy, they have a more effective passing game, so rain might hurt them.
However, if their RB is a “mudder”, that bodes well for Neshaminy.
I fully suspect the game to move to Sat. Don’t know where though.
Doubt it’s at NP, unless they have a set of massive fans.
@mike
I put North Penn above Emmaus & Wilson. Maybe even Neshaminy above Wilson.
Watch Truman shock us all!
November 6th, 2018 at 11:29 pm
@Ndgp82
NDGP vs. North Schuylkill should be a hell of a game! I don’t think NDGP will move the ball like they did with Tamaqua last week. Yes they have a best offense in the bracket. A bracket of 9-1 teams. Still have no idea why they didn’t keep distict 11 AAA a 8 team field. Crazy when you are the lowest seed at 9–1. PIAA will never make sense to me. It’s going to be a tough game for either the following week in states. But I do think it will be a low scoring game maybe like 21-14, 28-21 going either way
November 6th, 2018 at 9:15 pm
@jeff
I saw the weather for Friday and thought they may have a shot in the rain.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:41 pm
OK…here we go. Some further research and this is what I got. I attached an index I developed as I compiled the ratings. A few tweaks up and down but still mostly the same teams just in a slightly different order. Notice the close rating from 4 through the first half of HM in the East and 6 thru HM in the state ratings. I’m only posting to encourage thought and discussion. You can agree, disagree or just call me crazy!
Mike’s Eastern 6A Top Ten 11/6/2018
1) St. Joseph’s Prep 82.7
2) Coatesville 76.8
3) Harrisburg 69.4
4) Central Dauphin 59.9
5) Manheim Township 57.5
6) Garnet Valley 56.2
7) Emmaus 55.5
7) Downingtown West 55.2
8) Bethlehem Freedom 55.2
9) Downingtown East 55
10) Wilson 53.1
Honorable Mention
North Penn 53, Neshaminy 51, LaSalle 50.2,Truman 48.6, Parkland 48.4, Easton 46.2, Chambersburg 44.7
Mike’s State 6A Top Ten 11/6/2018
1) St. Joseph’s Prep 82.7
2) Coatesville 76.8
3) North Alleghenny 70.6
4) Harrisburg 69.4
5) Pine Richland 66.7
6) State College 61.6
7) Central Dauphin 59.9
8) Seneca Valley 57.6
8) Manheim Township 57.5
9) Garnet Valley 56.2
10) Emmaus 55.5
Honorable Mention
Downingtown West 55.2, Bethlehem Freedom 55.2, Downingtown East 55, Pittsburgh Central Catholic 53.8, Wilson 53.1, North Penn 53, Neshaminy 51, LaSalle 50.2, Mt. Lebanon 49.6, Truman 48.6
November 6th, 2018 at 4:07 pm
Notre Dame Green Pond vs. North Schuylkill in Lehighton. Notre Dame should win with the high power offense they have. Thoughts?
November 6th, 2018 at 12:52 pm
@Knight Time – I think the NP/Neshaminy game will be extremely competitive and could go either way, should be a great game and probably the closest game of any of the quarterfinal match-ups, although DTW and Truman should also be a very interesting game, expect both Coatesville and GV to cruise in their games and win by several scores.
@Mick – that’s quite a limb you’re going on by predicting Lasalle to knock off SJP, that would be an even bigger upset than Governor Mifflin knocking off Harrisburg in the D3 semi-finals last year that sent shock waves around the state. I think it’s more likely the game will be a mercy rule, because unfortunately Lasalle just doesn’t have the talent to stay with SJP this year, I don’t see this being a repeat of 2015 when they beat them in the playoffs to prevent a likely 4peat.
@D3 Mike – best games in the WPIAL this week, at least among the big schools, are Seneca Valley at NA, first game ended up 10-6, and I think this will be a similar type game, defensive struggle and a real battle in the trenches, expect NA to prevail again, I’ll say 17-10. In 5A the best quarterfinal game is Peters Township vs. Penn Trafford, winner likely gets Penn Hills in the semi’s, assuming they get past McKeesport, and I think the Peters/PT winner will give Penn Hills all they can handle next week, Gateway will cruise to the finals as they are in the weaker half of the bracket.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:01 am
District 3, Round 2 Picks:
Harrisburg, Central Dauphin
Manheim Central, Warwick, Cocalico, York
Bishop McDevitt, Berks Catholic, Milton Hershey, Conrad Weiser
Lancaster Catholic, Middletown
York Catholic
Minor upsets with Central Dauphin, Warwick, and York. Wyomissing has a punchers shot against Middletown.
If you enjoy football, Central Dauphin and Manheim should be good. If you enjoy scoring, Warwick and Cedar Cliff will be playing 7v7. First team to 50 wins.
What are the games to watch outside of district 3 this weekend?
November 5th, 2018 at 10:21 pm
I am gonna go out on a limb and say the big upset this weekend will be LaSalle over St Joe Prep
November 5th, 2018 at 9:27 pm
FridayNightLights,
Liberty beat NP 14-12. Liberty’s best defensive player (Rutgers commit) Andre “Hoagie” Morales got thrown out of NP game for a baloney punch call. Liberty then got beat by McKeesport in the State Final 49-14. When Libertys leader wasn’t allowed to play in that final the team was devastated. The following year Liberty beat Pennsbury and got beat bad by Upper Saint Clair.
November 5th, 2018 at 9:08 pm
Knight Time,
Obviously Haverford laid a big egg that had a lot to do with Neshaminy. I had them above North Penn when I did (week 9) based off a very good season from their skill positions and going toe-to-toe with Garnet Valley down to the final minute in week 2. Hindsight obviously, but that GV game was probably as close as it was because it was during the week that flooded out most games in the area- GV/Hav played 1 quarter Friday night, then had to finish the last 3 quarters Saturday night. GV is also the Central League measuring stick so they tend to get everybody’s best shot like a backyard rival.
We’ll see how the Knights do this week against the Skins. Should be a great atmosphere (weather permitting) for a playoff game.
November 5th, 2018 at 8:32 pm
@ BR&B
Funny, right after I posted that copied tweet and my two cents, I got curious and did some digging. I came across an article that quoted the BC HC of what you said. I suppose it does make sense in a few ways for BS to continue to want to play the “Big 3” in the Chesmont. They haven’t been embarrass that I recall by C’Ville or DTE, and have played DTW close and even beat them previously. So guessing I’m guessing the 4 no votes came from the 4 6A schools. Their late season scheduling I believe is going to be a challenge. Everyone else that time of year is committed to their league play. May be able to get Malvern Prep, EA, or Haverford before they start Inter/AC play. They may be forced into a bye week or some other real crafty scheduling.
As far as BS jumping to the PCL, I think it could be good move for them overall, if they take PJPII with them. Devon Prep started play in the PCL this year, and I’m assuming Holy Ghost Prep will get the acceptance for next year as well. Be a nice little “western” PCL football division with BS, PJPII, Carroll, Bonner and O’hara.
The bigger issue in all of this is, that I believe these western D1 conferences need to realign, at least for football. Put the 6A PAC, C-M, Central and DelVal teams together, the 5A, etc. Easier said then done, I know.
November 5th, 2018 at 6:54 pm
@Jay:
Last year. One of the Downingtowns beat NP ( rather easily I believe). Game might have been at Downingtown tho.
Pat Devlin’s team must of had the comeback against Neshaminy..
NP beat that team ( Devlin’s) rather convincingly that year. It was 55 to something.
Shocked me a little ( the size of victory), but NP had a really good team.
Devlin was DTE’s leading rusher in that game.
NP last game ( Ridley), they passed well. Need to do that again, or they will lose.
November 5th, 2018 at 6:13 pm
@Jay,
DT East beat a very good Neshaminy team to get to the district final against NP. The game was played at Crawfird Stadium (NP) and NP won 55-20 I believe. You were right, it was Pete Stoll at RB/FB for the Knights who ran all over almost everybody that year. They ended up losing the east final to Liberty 14-12 and Liberty got hammered in the state championship but I forget by who… maybe Upper St Claire or PCC. I also do not recall NP losing to either of the Downingtowns in the playoffs during the Beck era. I can only recall 3 meetings though. The affore mentioned D1 final, 1 at West that NP won in 2006 I think, and the game against DT East in 2015.
November 5th, 2018 at 5:54 pm
@Mick thank you! I’m almost tempted to just go to that game instead but I haven’t missed a CV home game all season and now isn’t the time to start. Especially when it’s a rivalry match like Dtown who played well last week and also played Coatesville well the week before. For one quarter… But still.
@Buddy looks like our predictions are pretty much the same… but if NP beats Neshaminy, I think they beat DTW too… granted my history is a bit hazy, and despite growing up in Downingtown/Coatesville and following HSFB for many years now, I can’t recall a time where either DTE or DTW won at North Penn. Did Pat Devlin lead DTE to a comeback win over NP, or was that against Neshaminy, and then they lost to NP the following week? Not sure where I’d even look that up.
All I know is that I’ve gone to most-if-not-all DTE/DTW @ NP games, and I can’t ever remember leaving happy haha. I still have horrible nightmares where I hear a crowd screaming and then as if from the voice of God himself, “PETE STOLL FOR ANOTHER NORTH PENN TOUCHDOWN!” At least I think that was his name.
And yes I’m kidding about the nightmares. Maybe.
November 5th, 2018 at 2:04 pm
@ Jay, to live stream Neshaminy game on your phone, type in WBCB radio station and you will find it there
November 5th, 2018 at 1:46 pm
No doubt about it, it will be C’ville & GV in the D1 semi.
I suspect that winner to play DTW in the final.
Also predicting the D1 winner will play H’burg for the east.
I just want someone to beat SJP !
November 5th, 2018 at 1:32 pm
@jeff h That was not you saying Haverford was good it was that “genius” @uncle t who had Haverford and Truman rated higher than NP going into the District playoffs.
Neshaminy wants revenge. Looking forward to Friday Night
November 5th, 2018 at 12:58 pm
@Jeff H
I see what you mean about 6A WPIAL. I hadn’t really done my homework, just knew that NA went undefeated and beat really good teams along the way. I’d love to see SJP get beat but I’ll probably he disappointed as usual. Last years state final notwithstanding.
You don’t think that North Penn or Garnet Valley would have a shot? I like to think Coatesville is the best chance to topple SJP but after witnessing the CV-GV D1 final last year and how close CV was to losing, I just have this nagging feeling that GV is going to come to CV and play the game of their lives.
November 5th, 2018 at 12:26 pm
Can anyone stay with Southern in 2A. Starters only seem to play the first half of play which is great for the subs as they get to play often.
November 4th, 2018 at 10:13 pm
@Jay – trust me, the 6A WPIAL is not stacked, it’s way down this year from past years, NA is very good and so is PR,Seneca Valley is solid and that’s about it. PCC had their worst team in many years and just finished their season at 7-4 with a 15-14 loss to Seneca,, Mt Lebanon is average as their 6-5 record would indicate and got beat up by 2 5A teams, granted one was Gateway, but the other was a slightly about average Upper St. Clair team who’s already out of the 5A playoffs.. I live in Pittsburgh so obviously root for the WPIAL teams but think NA is going to lose to SJP by 3 touchdowns, assuming they win the WPIAL title and beat State College in the quarterfinals which is no sure thing, in fact I think Seneca Valley is going to give NA all they can handle this week. IMO there’s only 1 team in the state that has a chance to beat SJP and that’s Coatesville, anyone else in the final except them and it will be 3 score game for SJP, if not worse.
You are right about the WPIAL 5A being stacked this year, the winner will likely be Gateway, and if not Penn Hills, and will challenge Archbishop Wood in the semi-finals, and yes,I already have AW in the semi’s because I would be shocked if anyone beat them before then.
@Jut – where have you been, the top 3 classes in D3 have played in the western bracket for the last 7-8 years, maybe longer, and in 6A the WPIAL winner has beaten the D3 winner for the last 6 years in the semi-finals, the last D3 6A team to beat a WPIAL team was Central Dauphin over NA in 2011, and the next week of course they beat North Penn in the final. My hunch is the PIAA got tired of seeing the WPIAL winner versus the D12 winner (i.e. SJP) every year so for the next 2yr cycle including this year they flipped D12 and D3 in the brackets for 5A and 6A, but their 4A winner is still in the western bracket.
@Champ Guy – if you were referring to me I never said how good Haverford was, just that North Penn was going to lose before the D1 final, and I stand by that prediction, they are definitely going to have their hands full with Neshaminy and could very well lose that game. I specifically said Ridley would play them tough but end up losing and given the final score it certainly appears they gave them a pretty good game.
November 4th, 2018 at 9:26 pm
@Kevin X
Bishop Shanahan coach has already said he has no interest in moving to the “weaker” side of the Ches-Mont and wants to play with the big boys. There has been talk and “rumors” of them jumping ship to the PCL for years and nothing has happened yet, nor do I think it happens anytime in the near future.
I feel bad for schools like Sun Valley, Oxford and Kennett that now are going to have to face Coatesville and the Downingtowns. What good is going to do the league by having them get beat by 60 points.
If the WC East and Henderson want to move then dont schedule any cross over games… It does nobody any good! Just let Cville, DTE, DTW, AG and BS schedule an extra 2 or 3 non conference games a year. It wont be hard for BS and AG to find those games as other schools will view them as “winnable” games. Cville and the Downingtowns could have some issues however finding additional games.
November 4th, 2018 at 5:23 pm
@ et al:
No doubt about it. Nesahminy / NP game of the week in D1.
I think the other games will be one-sided. Don’t know anything about Truman ( ’cause they’re never here).
But it’s at DTW, that’s the clincher. Out west you got two #1 seeds goin’ at it.
Wonder if that will be game of the week on PCN?
November 4th, 2018 at 4:25 pm
“By a voye of 8-4 ChesMont League principals have decided to realign the league for next year. One Divsion will have the 6A schools plus Bishop Shanahan. The other division will be all the 5A schools. Schools on each side will play one or two non division ChesMont League games”
Wonder if the AD from Shanahan has placed (or will) a call to the PCL??? Might be a good time to jump ship…….
November 4th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
Jay….Your good!
November 4th, 2018 at 4:22 pm
@David Mika
Sorry to blow up the forum with three posts in a row! Just wondering if there’s a way I can stream any other D1 games on my phone while I’m at the CV-DTE game this Friday. Specifically NP vs Neshaminy, but the DTW and GV games would be great to see too. I wish they staggered the games half on Friday and the other half on Saturday so I could double up!!
Thanks!
November 4th, 2018 at 4:13 pm
As a follow up to my last comment, I forgot how strong North Allegheny is this year, and could definitely see a Harrisburg vs NA state final. SJP is always strong, and have played three fewer games than the field, so that’s why I tend to go with them, but NA has rolled through their schedule which has included defending 6A champion Pine Richland, PCC, and off the top of my head I think also Seneca Valley?? Man, the 6A WPIAL is stacked! So is 5A for that matter, maybe even more so, at least as far as the number of teams.
Screw it. Coatesville all the way. Final answer!
November 4th, 2018 at 4:07 pm
@Chief fellow Coatesville resident and fan, but I went to and played for Downingtown before the district split. So DTW I guess would be my alma mater, though I root for both, as well as Coatesville. That said I’m firmly in the Coatesville camp and have been since the year they went to the state final. I do believe they’ll beat DTE this week but in a close game. I’m more concerned with Garnet Valley as I think they have the weapons to win D1 and beyond. I see Neshaminy beating NP and losing to DTW. DTW at Coatesville or Garnet Valley in D1 final. If I have to pick now, then Coatesville, but I have to admit my bias possibly factoring in there, because I continue to have this sneaking suspicion that Garnet Valley will lose to Harrisburg, who will lose to SJP in Hershey. Hopefully I’m wrong. Go Raiders.
November 4th, 2018 at 2:23 pm
Watched the GV/Pennsbury game. Impressed with GV’s offense (not so much by their defense — but not bad). Not dumping on Haverford, but curious how they shut down GV (14 points), when seemed overmatched by Neshaminy — any feedback? I know C’ville had a tough time figuring them out last year, but I think their defense is a bit better and GV’s offense might not be quite as good as last year. Just hope C’ville has a good game plan for DTE — I’ve been telling folks that the D-town teams are pretty good — any predictions? P.S. the weather looks like it might be bad again this Friday.
November 4th, 2018 at 11:07 am
@Buddy I have Garnet Valley as #2 in District 1 behind only Coatesville, North Penn is #3,that said I think you are right that Quakertown is in a world of Poop, the IF there is if Quakertown plays their kind of game, and keep it clean (no 3 turnovers in the first half like Pennsbury) they can keep it closer than most think.
November 4th, 2018 at 7:50 am
@ Knight Time:
Wow, you’re apparently off you’re meds again aren’t you?
I thought PV would beat Q’town just because I thought PV would beat Q’town…………… period.
Better than 50/50 chance NP doesn’t play at Crawford stadium this Fri. Why? It’s gonna rain 3 days this week including Fri.
Hope I’m wrong though. But if I’m not, I rather see it at Souderton because it’s closer to my house ( as opposed to wissahickon).
@Smoll:
PV couldn’t stop the run, plus PV simply had a bad game ( rain was a factor, PV passes quite a lot, weather stifled that).
Hate to tell you, but Q-town is in a world of poop next week.
November 3rd, 2018 at 10:26 pm
Just came back from watching Garnet Valley live for the first time since week 6. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team do what they do in my 3 decades + of following high school football. They’re more than just a “typical” triple-option, and threw a couple of wrinkles in that makes you think there is more from where that came from. It used to be that the old ground-and-pound methods of Pennsbury circa 2000’s and the glory years of CB West would be fundamentally overwhelming line play followed by a hammer like Picciotti or a super freak athlete like the Jones kid from Strath Haven in the late 90’s. GV has that line but backs it up with 5 or 6 (yes, 5 or 6) carbon copy scat backs (plus 2 athletic QBs) that will either run right down the teeth of a D line or make 1-3 shifts after getting the handoff and bounce it for 10+. Granted, Pennsbury was down this year and were overmatched from the opening kickoff, but GV was impressive.
If their seemingly inevitable matchup with Coatesville comes to pass, there is no question that Ville will move the ball on that D. Pennsbury ran a spread offense that got a fair share of yards when they weren’t turning the ball over, and Coatesville’s talent dwarfs Pennsbury. If Coatesville plays a clean game, they win by at least 14, but if GV can force a couple of turnovers that game will get very competitive. Would be an awesome high school football game.
November 3rd, 2018 at 8:43 pm
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a closer game for DTE, but Coatesville still wins by 14-17 points. I was at the first game and the scoreline didn’t tell the whole story. If DTE can come out like they did last week in the week 10 matchup, and control the tide a bit longer, who knows? Can’t wait to see it live.
Good to see DTW, Rustin and Unionville with some impressive wins too. Ches-Mont is strong this year.
November 3rd, 2018 at 8:08 pm
@buddy you know why you stayed until the end of the q town/PV game. You thought the SOL team would fold because you believe the SOL is inferior. Such a NP hater…..”Almost guarantee it won’t be at NP field. On that assumption, hope it’s at Souderton.”
Wish I could bet and take your money. If you think they won’t play at Crawford Stadium next week I do have to check your NP hate card because obviously you have no clue.
November 3rd, 2018 at 7:46 pm
Harrisburg 42 Hempfield 0 FINAL
November 3rd, 2018 at 6:02 pm
So how did Q-town look, keep in mind they beat Central Bucks East, Souderton and Central Bucks West to start the season, not exactly killers row, but Souderton gave North Penn their toughest league game. They will need their A game for next week though, key for them is playing clean, control the clock, no penalties, no turnovers and solid D.
November 3rd, 2018 at 2:20 pm
You guys should have two options to live stream the Pennsbury @ Garnet Valley game tonight @ 7p
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/gvfootball/
http://www.wbcb1490.com/watch-pennsbury-high-school-football-live-on-wbcb-1490am/
CEC and HSOTF game at 6p on same above wbcb 1490 web site.
A little preclude before settling in to watch LSU kick some ‘bama butt…………
November 3rd, 2018 at 1:21 pm
Quakertown plays good D & has above average line play, that keeps them competitive. I can’t remember a game they gave up more than 17 points. If they play clean the can be a tough out. Upper Dublin is clearly a top 5A contender, Cheltenham is a program on the rise they have always had the skill people.
November 3rd, 2018 at 12:04 pm
@ Smoll:
I was the PV/Q-town game. Stayed the whole game. Why? Don’t know, I’m obviously not all there.
Good game most of the time. Did not expect that result. Guess it shows difference between the PAC and SOL league.
@Kevin:
Garnet will “save face” in a big way, Take it to the bank.
@et al:
Game of the week might be NP/Neshaminy. Redskins has improved exponentially. .
Almost guarantee it won’t be at NP field. On that assumption, hope it’s at Souderton.
Question: will C’ville have a close game?
November 3rd, 2018 at 9:20 am
Interesting that SOL American sent 3 teams to the District Playoffs One to 6A where #11 Quakertown knocked off Perkiomen Valley, and two to 5A where both Upper Dublin and Chelthenham both won. So all 3 teams from the weak sister of the SOL won, maybe it’s not such a down league after all.
November 3rd, 2018 at 9:16 am
In 6A D1 last night……SOL 4-2 (one loss to another SOL team), Chesmont 3-0, Central and PAC combined 0-5. Let’s see in Garnet can save a little face for the Central league tonight.
November 3rd, 2018 at 1:04 am
Where is the guy who talked about how good Haverford was and that NP and these other schools would
Be in trouble? Smh.
November 2nd, 2018 at 11:21 pm
@Buddy it does have lights and a scoreboard however the only thing you stated corectly is the limited
November 2nd, 2018 at 10:11 pm
It would help if we knew what class you were referencing. Just to get into the state playoffs half of the District 3 classes require teams to play thru 4 rounds. It’s the largest district in the state apart from the WPIAL.
This year it looks like District 3 gets a bye between districts and states for 6A and 2A. For 6A, I think there are 17 teams in the class and I don’t know if the PIAA gave them 4 weeks to play that bracket. Many districts would have a 10 or 12 team field there (4 rounds). District 1 has 16 teams out of the 25 teams in their 5A class, for example. I think a fair compromise would be that if you’re allotted 4 weeks and choose to only invite 8 teams that you have to play those district playoff rounds in weeks 11, 12, and 13, instead of week 10, 11, and 12 (how it is now). That lessens the impact of the bye week (probably for Harrisburg) so that it’s before the district playoffs instead of after them.
For 2A, there’s no reason the district should have a bye because they don’t need 3 weeks at that class. I couldn’t even guess at a reason on that one. Although they could give York Catholic a month-long bye and it’s not going to help them stay with Southern Columbia.
As for the District 3 conspiracy, half the time I hear it’s a conspiracy to send them out west, other times it’s a conspiracy to keep them in the East. I wish someone would tell me which conspiracy to believe. It’s a huge district geographically and in number of school districts. It’s in the center and eastern half of the state… but so is most of the state’s population. So it could really go either way. You have to beat both a Philly school and a WPIAL school most years anyway so I’m not sure it matters all that much.
November 2nd, 2018 at 10:01 pm
Cedar Cliff 50 Exeter Township 6 FINAL
November 2nd, 2018 at 9:59 pm
I believe there is a proposal in the works for a long term athletics update/upgrade at NP. It would include improving all fields including the stadium. This would include snack stands, bathrooms, signage, and turf in the stadium. It would take multiple years. That’s what I have heard. NP did re-do all of the athletic fields some years back and built the small turf stadium. I would say NPs grass field has at least held up better. I remember the 03 team played all home games at Wisahickon after the first game destroyed the field.
November 2nd, 2018 at 9:50 pm
Nice win by Neshaminy tonight. Players continue to improve. Coaching staff doing a really nice job. Hats off to both.
November 2nd, 2018 at 9:28 pm
Central Dauphin 42 Central York 6 Halftime (Mercy rule in effect)
Central Dauphin 49 Central York 21 FINAL
November 2nd, 2018 at 8:25 pm
@Jeff H and @D3 Mike
That’s okay have byes in district play for top seeds I would like to see more of that since there are 0-10, 1-9, 2-8 teams in playoffs. What I don’t get is in other classes for district 3 if they win districts they aren’t playing the following week in the state tournament? Why not play district 2 the week after and have a District 4 have a bye or any other district have a bye in states? Just an example. Or play any other district why is it only district 3 have byes in the state tournament and nobody else? Having rest helps out any team. That’s all I’m saying. Say next year district 11 get those byes? Most likely not cause district 3 will get them again since PIAA headquarters are in District 3 and they will try to help them out as much as possible like moving them out west so they don’t have to play Philly schools now until the state finals
November 2nd, 2018 at 8:14 pm
@ Jeff H Seneca Valley lost to PCC earlier in the year and then defeated Mt. Lebanon by 3. PCC Seneca Valley should be a good game, probably a toss up but Seneca Valley has been playing well so a victory would not be surprising at all. I only have PCC rated one notch higher because they did win the head to head earlier this year. Maybe I just got some bad info from the media but didn’t Freedom lose handily to Liberty last week or did they not play starters? If they threw in the towel then I should have rated them higher but no way to know that just looking at scores. That’s why I moved them down a few spots. Ridley could put up a fight but I think NP is at least 2 TD favorite in this one. Never know when you have the rain like tonight though. Rain seems to help the underdog. I think NA and Gateway are pretty even. I agree that PCC is down this year. The WPIAL is normally pretty tough though with NA the best this year. I rated the WPIAL teams a notch or two higher based on schedule and past performance but a few eastern team could be right there too. Hard to tell with such different competition.
November 2nd, 2018 at 5:42 pm
Kevin:
I don’t think it has lights. That’s why they played Pennsbury on Sat. afternoon.
I know it has no scoreboard. limited seating is an understatement.
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:38 pm
Jeff:
You gave one of the reasons in you rebuttal.
Big doesn’t mean wealthy.
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:25 pm
Actually, North Penn does have a very nice turf field (with lights). It used for field hockey, soccer, lax and I’m guessing softball and baseball practice in the spring if needed. It is also stripped for football, maybe the freshman and JV have games there, and I guessing varsity uses it for practice. The varsity team did play their week 3 home game against Pennsbury on that field on a Saturday afternoon after Friday’s night’s game was postponed due to weather. There are bleachers, but very limited. I’m guessing why would they want to spend the $$$ for a new turf field for what, simply 5 to 8 or so home football games a year???
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:21 pm
NP may not be Main Line levels of wealthy but they’re not hurting for cash either. Plenty of schools in less wealthy areas have converted to turf.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:49 pm
@Buddy – I find it hard to believe NP can’t afford to put in a turf field if they truly wanted to, seems to me they have enough alums and boosters that could raise money for the field if necessary, just seems odd that one of the largest school districts in the state with much higher than average teacher salaries can’t afford a turf field. Any of the NP faithful want to chime in on this?
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:27 pm
@ Kevin:
Yep, heard the same thing about the NP game. Apparently, 3 people peed on the field, hence it is un-playable. Absurd!
@ Jeff:
About 10 years ago ( maybe 15 now) NP re-did the field at a million dollars ( that’s what I heard, hard to believe it was that much).
NP was trying to keep it real grass, but it certainly is not working out. That’s why they had to move tonight’s game.
And no, they can’t obviously afford a turf field. NP isn’t as wealthy as you apparently think.
November 2nd, 2018 at 11:18 am
From Twitter (NPSD and Kyle Berger): The NPHS Football Playoff game vs Ridley High School has been moved to the Wissahickon High School Stadium. Game is Friday, 11-2-18 starting at 7:00 p.m. 521 Houston Rd, Ambler, PA 19002
So much for a true home field advantage tonight for NP.
November 2nd, 2018 at 9:29 am
Can someone please explain why in this day and age North Penn still has a grass field and not turf, obviously the school district could afford to put in turf if they wanted to, is it because they feel the grass field gives them a bigger home field advantage? I would think most 6A schools in the state have turf, all the 6A schools in D7 do, and for that matter to my knowledge all the 5A schools in D7 also have turf. Doesn’t give them much of a home field advantage if they have to move a home playoff game to a turf field due to the weather. I think Ridley is going to give them a battle tonight, not saying they are going to win, but I have a feeling this game is going to be close well into the 2nd half.
@Mike A – agree with much of your state top 10 with the exception of Mt Lebanon and PCC, I’ve seen both of them play and neither of them is top 10 in the state, if they are then the level of play is down substantially state wide, because both of them are only slightly above average. I think Seneca Valley is better than both of them and will beat PCC tonight, also think a few of the D11 schools like Freedom and Emmaus are better than both of them as well, this is PCC’s worst team in a number of years, they are going nowhere in the WPIAL playoffs even if they manage to win tonight.
I know you were just ranking 6A, but in my opinion Gateway is the best team in the WPIAL this year, better than even NA and PR.
November 1st, 2018 at 9:29 pm
Some potential barnburner playoff games this weekend (tongue firmly planted in cheek if you don’t realize):
D2: Abington Heights (2-8) @ Valley View (10-0)
Carbondale (3-7) @ Dunmore (7-3)
Hanover (3-7) @ Wyoming Area (10-0)
Honesdale (3-7) @ Dallas (9-1)
Scranton (1-9) @ DelVal (7-3)
W-B GAR (1-9) @ Scr. Prep (9-1)
D3: Fairfield (2-7) @ Halifax (9-1)
D4: CMVT (4-7) @ Jersey Shore (5-5)
Line Mtn. (4-6) @ SoColumbia (10-0)
D11: Blue Mtn. (3-7) @ Becahi (7-3)
D12: And maybe the Game of the Weekend: Roman Catholic (0-9) @ SJP (7-0)
Please just call these games (and many others that I decided not to list) simply what they are, and that is, nothing more than an easy money grab!!!!
November 1st, 2018 at 3:56 pm
Just for fun…
Mike’s Eastern 6A Top Ten
1) St. Joseph’s Prep
2) Coatesville
3) Harrisburg
4) Downingtown West
5) Manheim Township
6) Central Dauphin
7) North Penn
8) Garnet Valley
9) Emmaus
10) Bethlehem Freedom
Honorable Mention
Downingtown East, Wilson, LaSalle,Truman, Perkiomen Valley, Parkland, Neshaminy, Easton, Chambersburg, Red Lion
Mike’s State 6A Top Ten
1) St. Joseph’s Prep
2) Coatesville
3) North Alleghenny
4) Harrisburg
5) Pine Richland
6) State College
7) Downingtown West
8) Manheim Township
9) Mt. Lebanon
10) Pittsburgh Central Catholic
Honorable Mention
Seneca Valley, Central Dauphin, North Penn, Garnet Valley, Emmaus, Bethlehem Freedom, Downingtown East, Wilson, LaSalle, Truman, Perkiomen Valley,
November 1st, 2018 at 2:06 pm
I’m torn on the idea of teams opting out of the playoffs.
Obviously, teams that finish 0-10, 1-9, 2-8, etc. have no business making the playoffs. Might as well hand out participation trophies right at the start of the season. I’m all on board with the idea of fewer teams making the playoffs and BYE weeks.
Having said that, I think that since the current situation is what it is (those teams with losing records do make the playoffs), that opting out sends a bad message to the kids. “We’re probably going to lose this game, so let’s not even play it.”
November 1st, 2018 at 1:15 pm
@D3 Mike – you couldn’t be farther from the truth. A bye in week 10 or 11 absolutely helps a team if they make it to week 14. Any extra week of rest is huge going into a playoff stretch, not just for the following week. We call it “heal time”. It also gives the players an extra week to scout. Coaches love to get players into the AV room and sit w/ Hudl studying the guys who will be covering them, tackling them, and blocking them. That “heal time” carries into weeks 12, 13, and 14.
November 1st, 2018 at 1:08 pm
@artist – that would be pretty cool to see games there. I was a huge fan of the early years (during the 90’s) when the PIAA said they were going to make a HUGE push to have the Eastern Finals at Lehigh University; sadly however they only scheduled two games there and that was it. Both games were a HUGE HUGE success nearly selling out the stadium – Lehigh doesn’t even do that!
Fans begged the PIAA to keep games there but it was, as usual, one excuse after another.
November 1st, 2018 at 11:58 am
@Jut & D3 Mike – just to follow up on Mike’s comments District 7 has 24 teams in 5A, and were also allotted 4 weeks by the PIAA, but instead of giving the top teams byes they went with a 16 team field with no byes, so as a result we have 5 teams in the 5A playoff field with losing records, including the aforementioned #16 Kiski at 3-7 vs. #1 Gateway at 10-0 which will almost certainly be a mercy rule game, those teams were in the same conference last year and Gateway won 61-21, this game is likely to be even worse because Gateway has a much better defense this year and there’s a distinct possibility Kiski will not score in that game My feeling is its an awful lot to ask high school kids to play 16 weeks in a row, not even the NFL does that anymore, so any time a district can give their top teams with state title aspirations a bye I think it’s good for everyone.
November 1st, 2018 at 9:04 am
@Jut it’s up to each district to structure it’s playoffs within the allotted weeks.
For example, D3-5A has 28 schools and they were given 4 weeks by the PIAA. They could have chosen a 4 round tournament with 16 teams but to lessen the likelihood of teams with losing records in the playoffs they settled on a 14 team bracket, with the top 2 seeds having first round byes.
Byes really only benefit a team the following week, and it’s mostly from extra film time for the coaches. Having to play a team in week 14 that had a bye in week 10 disadvantages no one.
November 1st, 2018 at 8:55 am
@Jut – each district is responsible for how they conduct their district playoffs, all the PIAA does is slot them into the state tournament after their district playoffs are completed, other districts could have byes too for the top teams if they wanted to, but most have decided it’s more important to have more teams make the playoffs than give the top teams byes. I think D3 has the right idea in giving their top teams a bye this week, and hope other districts follow their lead in the future, there are way too many mediocre or below average teams that make the playoffs in many districts.
November 1st, 2018 at 5:23 am
Always respected how the WPIAL plays their championship games at the Steelers stadium. Couldn’t imagine the eastern finals ever being played at the Eagles stadium. As it is, they’re gouging Temple to rent their stadium despite the fact it was partially subsidized by taxpayer money. Speaking of that, if Temple gets their on-campus 35,000 seat football stadium built at 15th and Norris I could see PIAA playoff games being played there. They’ve hinted it will be community friendly. To be able to take a half hour walk to a PIAA semifinal would be pretty cool.
October 31st, 2018 at 5:18 pm
I fine it so funny. That for years district 12 schools got byes during state championship or had a week off of some sort. This year it’s distinct 3 in every class. Even the classes that that don’t have a bye. They have the top teams with byes. I find this unfair. What makes that district so more deserving of a bye then other districts?? Is it because the PIAA is out of district 3? Will next year some other district get the byes? Can someone explain it to me
October 31st, 2018 at 1:22 pm
Kevin:
Your scenario does not correct the problem of 6A teams in D7. They would still be woefully short.
5 classes should correct that. That said, too many teams in the playoffs? I agree.
October 31st, 2018 at 10:42 am
@ Kevin X – as I’ve previously stated completely agree too many teams make the playoffs statewide, your solution for the WPIAL in 6A sounds logical, but being from Pittsburgh I can guarantee you the WPIAL would never agree to that because that would mean they might not have a district 7 6A championship at Heinz Field, that tradition has been going on for decades and they are not going to change for the sake of the PIAA no mater how much sense it makes. The move to 6 classes already has interfered with all the WPIAL championships being played on the same day at Heinz, the last 2 years 3A-6A were at Heinz and 1A and 2A were at Robert Morris college the following weekend, in this 2 year cycle several 6A teams dropped to 5A, so now we have a 16 team field and 5A championship will be played at Norwin high school and not Heinz, with the 2A being played at Robert Morris. In my opinion the short term solution is for less teams to make the district playoffs and give the top seeded teams a bye week, but good luck getting the various districts to agree to that, especially the WPIAL.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:10 am
Anthony had a seizure after the Schuykill Valley game a few weeks ago and a brain scan showed that he has malignant anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare and deadly form of Brain Cancer. His world and the Myers Family has been turned upside down. Anthony is a fantastic kid and the Myers are a wonderful family, both parents are educators and big brother Nico is a Sr Center and defensive tackle on the team. A fundraiser is being planned for Nov 17th at the planetarium in Reading. I will fill everyone in when I get the details.
https://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/community-tackles-devasting-cancer-diagnosis-for-berks-catholic-player
October 30th, 2018 at 3:52 pm
@ NO
Yep, that makes sense. Hopefully they aren’t on any sort of probation or disciplinary action. Wish more teams would use some common sense and wake up and smell the java, and opted out.
Which leads me to…..
@ Buddy
Six classifications are fine, the problem/issue is that you have way too many teams in the post season across all classifications. Aprx. 2/3rds of all teams are playing this weekend in some form of playoff post season games. Ridiculous. Hell, you have 3 teams in D12 that are playing in playoff games that haven’t won a game all year!!!!! Unbelievable. I’ve climbed high atop this soapbox before, and guess it is that time of year to do it again, as I’d advocate cutting the brackets down to 32 deserving schools/teams (with teams at least having a better than .500 record), and 5 weeks of post season play. Add an 11th week if you want another game, schedule more contingency games, bring back the old Thanksgiving Day games, whatever, if you need or want another game, just not in the playoffs/post season. As far as D7 and 6A, make it a regional 8 team bracket with D6, D8 and D10. I guess that though would mess up the purity of traditional WPIAL only playoff and possibility of a non D7 champion.
October 30th, 2018 at 2:15 pm
@Buddy – only 9 teams in 6A in the WPIAL, most of the traditional power schools are in 5A, including Gateway, Penn Hills, McKeesport, Upper St Clair, Woodland Hills, Bethel Park, North Hills, etc. I completely agree the PIAA expanded too far, I have argued for the last few years they should have added 1 class, not 2, every time they expanded in the past it was 1 class at a time, went from 3A to 4A in 1980, so were due to add another class, just think they went too far going to 6, but I don’t think they’ll ever admit that and go back to 5.
@D3 Mike – completely agree with you about the expanded district playoffs, it’s been a problem in the WPIAL for years even before expansion, not sure how blowouts and mercy rule games in districts benefit anybody, perfect example in the WPIAL in 5A is #16 seed Kiski at 3-7 taking on #1 Gateway, which will be very ugly, Kiski lost 47-0 to a mediocre 4-6 Woodland Hills team, imagine what Gateway is going to do to them, they could literally put up 100 if they wanted to, instead it will probably be 49-0 at half and they’ll sit their starters for the 2nd half, I think it’s much better for all involved to give the really great teams a bye and not have some really bad teams make the playoffs just to be canon fodder, it’s better for kids at both schools, and better for the game in general.
October 30th, 2018 at 12:10 pm
@d3 Mike – thanks for the info on BC, didn’t realize they are so young in the secondary, think one of the keys will be how much pressure they can get on Chase Diehl, if they can get consistent pressure that can help mask some of the inexperience in the secondary. I’m guessing Malvern’s OLine is better than McDevitt, but I’m not sure, skill guys are probably comparable. I just have a hunch this is Berks year to take the next step and get to the state final, I certainly could be wrong, the fact they played a much tougher non-conference schedule has them better prepared than years past for a long playoff run. Also agree the Middletown and Lancaster Catholic match up should be a very good game. In the larger classes I’m not sure if any team is going to seriously challenge either Manheim Central or Harrisburg, in 5A I think the team that might give Manheim a run is Warwick, assuming they can get past Cedar Cliff, think CD is the only team in 6A that might pose a challenge to Harrisburg in the final.
October 30th, 2018 at 11:14 am
@Buddy – D7 brackets were announced last night at 7pm, virtually all first round games will be this Friday at 7;30, may be a few in the lower classes on Saturday afternoon, I haven’t checked the full schedule yet. 6 teams made the playoffs in 6A, NA and PR have byes and will host home games next week in the semi-finals, PR plays the winner of Mt Lebo and Canon Mac, and NA plays the winner of Seneca Valley and PCC. Winner of the district title enters the state playoffs in the quarterfinals to likely play State College with the winner of that game playing SJP in the semi-finals.
In 5A 16 teams made the playoffs with Gateway as #1 seed, Penn Hills #2 and Peters Twp #3, top 8 teams have home games this week, next week and thereafter are neutral site games. Winner of the 5A district title this year enters the playoffs in the semi-finals where they will likely be playing Archbishop Wood.
October 30th, 2018 at 10:53 am
@ JC Regarding D11 3A, can you say loaded bracket? Of the four teams, Notre Dame would stand the best chance of beating Conwell-Egan because of their high-powered offense. They need to ramp up their defense.
October 30th, 2018 at 10:04 am
@Neutral Observer
Agreed about Nanticoke. It’s disappointing how districts keep expanding the playoff brackets on top of expanding the number of classifications. District 3 used to send 16 teams into the district playoffs. Most of the games were competitive. Now they send 38 teams and the vast majority of first-round games are blowouts. Looking across the state, half of the district brackets contain 5-5 teams, if not teams with losing records. I have no idea what sending seniors out on a mercy rule loss is supposed to accomplish.
@D3 Commish
Wyomissing has beaten BC 4 times since the school was founded in 2011 and won a state title during that time (BC hasn’t). They will probably be just fine. BTW, Wyomissing is 23-10 vs BC/Holy Name over the past 30 years… and is 102-3 vs. other Berks County public schools this century. So again, they will probably be fine. Lost in the hysteria around non-boundary schools is the fact that transfer exemptions, foundations (a la Manheim Central) and district wealth (like that at Wyomissing) lead to a greater unbalance than anything else. Across all sports, Wilson and Wyomissing have 10 state titles for every 1 won by a Berks County private school. It’s just that the advantages are less obvious and more difficult to stop.
tl;dr as soon as Southern Columbia isn’t in the state title game just about every season for an entire generation I’ll shed a tear for public schools.
October 30th, 2018 at 10:02 am
D7 must really be hurtin’ for class 6A teams. They got 8 slots ( 4 games) and they have 2 byes ( i.e. 6 teams in playoffs). Terrible
Now here is a case for NOT having 6 classes. It is AT LEAST one class too many. PIAA should review this during off-season.
October 30th, 2018 at 8:33 am
@ Kevin X
RE: Greater Nanticoke Area declining District 2 playoffs
Nothing from the actual team/coaches, but my personal guess (with no supporting evidence whatsoever) is that they knew they would be in the bottom half of the 4A playoffs and would rather play a win-able Eastern Conference game than get chewed up by Valley View, Dallas or Berwick.
October 29th, 2018 at 7:58 pm
Buddy…They have a special show on Monday….there is a game today.
October 29th, 2018 at 5:40 pm
What’s up with D7? Do they have games today?
October 29th, 2018 at 4:54 pm
Sausmann9…Yes…We are working on that bracket
October 29th, 2018 at 1:20 pm
are the Eastern Conference championships being played this season??? if so, anyone have the game days, location, and times. tx.
October 29th, 2018 at 10:24 am
IMO the amount of Seniors playing is the often overlooked when comparing teams. Obviously they must be good players, but generally speaking Seniors beat underclassmen. For this reason I see Harrisburg and CD in the D3 Final with CD pulling the upset.
MT and Wilson are very young on defense. Both teams will peak next year and be favorites for the Final next year. Keep an eye on MT Freshman Anthony Ivey (WR) as he matures. Also Wilson Soph Class is very athletic.
CV finished 3-7. They did finish strong and almost beat SC but ended up on the short side 16-13. Look forward to them bouncing back strong next year!
5A 2nd round game should be Warwick vs Cedar Cliff – If you like passing this is the game to see. I’m picking Warwick 72 – 71. Warwick WR Trey Glass is the fastest human in the world! Winner of this game will most likely go to Manheim Central. Central plays the winer of E-Town and Mifflin in the 2nd round.
Shout out to Conrad Weiser for pulling a big upset and beating Mifflin to win the Berks 1 Division. The QB for Weiser – Alex McKenzie – is a gamer and would be getting lots of attention at a bigger school. Looks like a PSAC QB in the future.
Was at the “Backyard Brawl” for the BC vs Wyomissing game. BC won 28-7. First time there and it is a great atmosphere to see a game……. However when you look at the size of the players you see clearly the advantage of Non-Boundary Schools. Two schools a mile apart with similar enrollments and to a man BC was 6 inches taller and 50 lbs bigger. How does this happen! Wyo is better coached and has a wonderful tradition but they will only beat BC once every ten years now. This was once an even rivalry. I wonder how Ross Tucker feels about this?
October 29th, 2018 at 9:48 am
That D11 3A bracket is going to be a grinder with 4 9-1 teams. Notre Dame definitely has the talent to win, but they’ll have to get through two very tough teams. The winner likely gets rewarded with Conwell-Egan.
October 29th, 2018 at 9:48 am
@ Neutral Observer
Thanks for the Nanticoke info. Any idea why they chose the EC over Districts/PIAA???
October 29th, 2018 at 9:32 am
@Jeff H Agreed. I’m a Holy Name graduate (one of the two schools that merged to form BC) and have seen them play a few times. Their non-league schedule has gotten them ready for the district final and state playoffs far better than schedules of years past. I just don’t know if they have the experience in the secondary to match up with McDevitt. They start a Freshman and a Sophomore back there and Malvern Prep absolutely torched them earlier this year. While Malvern Prep might have won 5A if they actually played in the PIAA, it’s still a fair comparison for what BC will see from McDevitt’s offense. That final should be one of the best games in the District 3 playoffs. Also interested to see Middletown vs. Lancaster Catholic and if anyone can give Harrisburg or Manheim Central a football game.
October 29th, 2018 at 9:20 am
@Ndgp82 I’ve only seen North Schuylkill play but from what I’ve heard you can pretty much flip a coin on all of those games. I think Tamaqua beat NS who beat Jim Thorpe who beat Tamaqua… so around and around they go. NDGP has the best offense but has also played the weakest schedule so it will probably depend on November weather and turnovers. A final with Jim Thorpe would be entertaining since Jim Thorpe’s defense averages around 4 PPG while NDGP scores 44 PPG.
October 29th, 2018 at 1:46 am
District XI 3A Playoffs: Jim Thorpe at North Schuylkill, Notre Dame Green Pond at Tamaqua. I think Notre Dame has a great chance to win Districts. What are your thoughts?
October 28th, 2018 at 9:35 pm
@Kevin X
Greater Nanticoke Area announced a few weeks ago that they would voluntarily decline any invitation to the District playoffs. They decided to go Eastern Conference instead.
October 28th, 2018 at 9:20 pm
Appears North Penn has a much tougher draw than Coatesville, as Uncle T. noted face a hot Ridley team coming in with some confidence, get either Neshaminy or Haverford in the quarterfinals, then likely either DTWest or Truman in the semi’s, as I’ve stated on here before I have a hunch before they lose before the final. I don’t see any team in the bottom half of the bracket preventing a Coatesville/GV showdown in the semi’s.
@D3 Mike – completely agree there’s about a half dozen teams that have a legit shot at the 4A title, unlike the last few years when it was pretty much a foregone conclusion in would be Erie Prep and Imhotep. Whoever wins D3 might be the favorite, or at least be the favorite to get there from the west, I think either of those teams have a good chance to beat the Thomas Jefferson/Prep winner, expect the TJ/Prep game will be much closer than the last few years and TJ has a chance, game will be in the Pittsburgh area this year and not Erie. If I’m picking now I’d say Berks vs. Imhotep in Hershey and BC would definitely have a shot in that game.
October 28th, 2018 at 3:24 pm
Hey Uncle T,
I don’t think DTE will beat C’ville (if both get that far), but DTE’s first drive went 92 yards and took over 9 minutes (I think) and the quarter was basically over (and C’ville looked a little rattled). I think it depends on the adjustments and game plan (and turnovers). I want to see C’ville go all the way and beat Prep (if they have the chance), but I think both D-town teams have been underestimated a little bit in this forum and can be tough outs.
October 28th, 2018 at 1:58 pm
Tough bracket for North Penn. They get a hot Ridley team that’s won 6 in a row after a dreadful start, then would stare at the winner of Neshaminy/Haverford (one of the best games of the whole tournament). DTown West vs. Truman will be really fun in round 2.
Bottom half should be steamroll city for Garnet Valley until the semis, and Coatesville/DTown East part 2 looks likely (not sold on Spring Ford.) Chief- do yo think East can play with them if they have a clean game (no bad penalties/turnovers)?
October 28th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
The D1 playoff brackets are posted on the District One web page. They are “unofficial” until noon tomorrow (Monday).
October 28th, 2018 at 11:32 am
Buddy, Not sure about D-1…We are working on brackets today..I will have most of the games set today.
October 28th, 2018 at 7:34 am
When does the seeding committee meet?
October 27th, 2018 at 5:59 pm
Looking at the power rankings for District 2, under the 4A teams, Greater Nanticoke Area is highlighted in red, are they illegible for post season play?? Probation or something?? What’s the meaning of the red highlighting???
October 27th, 2018 at 3:52 pm
Solid win this afternoon for Berks Catholic, 28-7 at rival and 3A ranked Wyomissing.
4A appears more balanced than its been in awhile. IMO Imhotep is still the favorite but there are a half-dozen teams with a realistic shot at the state title this year.
October 27th, 2018 at 3:52 pm
Add Bethlehem Freedom to that list.
October 27th, 2018 at 11:48 am
Michael, Upper Dublin won…A newspaper had the wrong score
October 27th, 2018 at 11:22 am
Aliquippa – Lost
Pine Richland – Lost
Upper Dublin -Lost
Cathedral Prep – Lost
Academy Park – Lost
Haverford School – Lost
Good teams lost lost this week
October 27th, 2018 at 8:35 am
As a C’ville fan, I still think they are the odds on favorite to win D1 and possibly more, but don’t count out DTE or DTW for some D1 tournament wins — would love to see them play NP. The DTE game last night appears to be a blowout, but 3 turnovers, a bad punt, and some holding penalties really turned the game around. They also hit on the formula on how to beat C’ville by grinding out a 92-yard drive for the lead in the 1st (C’ville was frazzled — but their defense adjusted well). The DTE defense played well — subtract some improbable throws and a long run on 3rd and forever — they were pretty good. Looking forward to seeing the playoffs — hope all the teams stay healthy, and the weather is good (and the refs are too). Oh, I almost forgot, why in the bleep was C’ville throwing backwards passes!?? — some weird play calling last night. Also, if one were to look at the playoff brackets, the not-so-awesome Ches-mont League looks like the best (3 in the top 9 or 10 for 6A (and the best team), 4 in 5A (Rustin might even be the best team), and Shanahan in 4A).
October 26th, 2018 at 4:31 pm
Tonight’s rain:
Most places will receive .25″ or less through 10 PM tonight so I don’t see a problem playing games Friday evening. About .1″-.2″ should fall in the southern tier counties south of York, Lancaster, Coatesville, and West Chester. Areas to the north of those cities will generally receive .1″ or less. Places near the PA/MD border between the Susquehanna river and just south of Oxford could get .25″ by 10 PM. The Allentown area and points north should receive little rain while areas north of Harrisburg to Williamsport and Wilkes-Barre will just see about .1″ or less although a few isolated areas may get a bit more than .1″.
Have fun at the games!
October 26th, 2018 at 8:22 am
Did they move the S-F/PJPII game to Spring-Ford tonight?? PJPII’s field does not have lights, so I am assuming they are not play at PJPII, or maybe down at Conchy “A”???
October 25th, 2018 at 11:43 am
Kevin X…I am sure more will be coming…I will have a list ready.
October 25th, 2018 at 9:36 am
I saw that the Malvern Prep @ Haverford game has been moved up from Saturday afternoon to Friday @ 3p. Anybody know of any other schedule changes for Saturday’s game due to this impending weather??? Pennridge @ CB East is a huge game with playoff implications for both teams that is scheduled for Sat. afternoon, but at least they have a turf field and maybe they’ll just soldier on. S-F @ PJPII Saturday afternoon tho has the makings of an epic slog fest mud bowl game 🙂
October 24th, 2018 at 9:14 pm
Neshaminy is improving on both sides of the line. Top player has been hurting the last 2 games. Sophmore running back playing very good..Tough little guy. Don’t be surprised if they are in the D1 semis. Must beat Pennsbury this week.
October 24th, 2018 at 9:07 pm
Neshaminy is improving on both sides of the line. Top player has been hurting the last 2 games. Sophmore running back playing very good..Tough little guy. Don’turprised if they are in the D1 semis. Must beat Pennsbury this week.
October 24th, 2018 at 7:47 pm
I see that our boys from Baltimore, St. Frances Academy, that is, are heading up I-95 on Friday to play Northeast. Any chance someone can pull some stings and/or work some magic, and have St. Frances meet up with SJP again (@Northeast, Widener, heck anywhere in the DelVal), and have Ryan simply go down the Boulevard and play the Vikings?? That actually might be a good, competitive game. Otherwise Its going to be ugly, real ugly, on Cottman on Friday evening.
October 23rd, 2018 at 6:14 pm
@Buddy: I don’t now about handily, and I shouldn’t have said Coatesvile was probably than that NP team. We’ll have to see how Coatesville does in the playoffs before we can say more definitively. The thing about that ’16 NP team- even with how good Swift was, NP was the clear better team for most of that game vs. SJP. Udinski just had all those interceptions and the fumble on the last drive as they were marching in for the game winning score. I felt so bad for the kid. They would have smoked PCC in the final too like Prep did.
@Knight Time: Man, I don’t have anything against your team. They’re always a threat, and still could be this year if they get it together over the next 2 weeks which should basically be scrimmages. But even a loyalist has to admit they’ve looked very vulnerable, like Buddy has. As for seeds, I’d have Coatesville, GV, Truman, Haverford ranked above NP, and yes, at least one of the Downingtowns too depending on how East looks this week vs. Coatesville. You can bring up schedules and the 5A/6A stuff all you want, but the fact is that NP barely survived Neshaminy while DTown West clobbered them, and likewise to a lesser extent with CB South. I’ve said that I don’t think the DTowns are anything special, but those head to head comps favor West. They would be in a 3rd tier of quality with Truman, Haverford, NP, and East (tier 1- Coatesville; tier 2- GV; tier 3). You can interchange tier 3 any way you want, but that’s just how I would have them based off of performance this year.
October 23rd, 2018 at 5:47 pm
Not sure Uncle is insulting anyone — look at common opponents — DTW beat CB South 37-0 (NP 21, CB South 10), DTW beat Neshaminy 35-14 (NP 34, Nesh 33 in OT)
October 23rd, 2018 at 4:33 pm
@Uncle T there you go again spewing your madness. If they were ranking like the NCAA please tell me the 5 seeds you have ahead of North Penn in District 1 and please insult me with DTE and DTW
October 23rd, 2018 at 1:01 pm
Uncle T:
The 2016 NP team would beat this years C’ville team rather handily, maybe worse then they did in 2016.
NP was best team in state that year except for one player………………… D’Andre Swift,
Having said that, NP is most definitely over-rated this year. Not very stellar performance against mediocre teams.
Going to the PV/Pottsgrove game Fri. P’grove will be favored I’m sure, but if the avid PV student body has anything to say, it won’t matter.
Best fans I ever seen in District one!
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:00 am
@Kevin X and @Buddy
The game is being played at Pottsgrove, Rick Pennypacker field.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:38 am
No, I definitely said Harrisburg was good and I gave them credit for beating a good State College team (non D3 btw). What I said was that Wilson, CD, and Manheim Twp were not good because unlike anyone at any of the outlets trying to rank 559 schools in PA I’ve actually seen those 3 teams play multiple times. I mean if you cover the date on any of those ratings you would have zero idea what year they were published, let alone what week. You want the PennLive state rankings for Oct 2019? I can give you probably 9 of 10 in each class right now.
Wilson just got done going 10 years without a league loss. 9-1 every other year year. Smoked in states every other year. I live a block from the school. This year’s 3 loss team is just not good. I don’t know if they have a true D1 player. And they are probably the second best team in the district. CD isn’t the same team they were at the start of the year. Manheim was like 3-20 in districts until last year or whatever it was. Their recent success is a function of Wilson being down as much as anything. They’d get beaten by Downingtown and mercy ruled by either North Penn or GV.
Where I’ll agree with you is that the middle and bottom of the Mid Penn is superior, so overall Harrisburg’s schedule is probably better. So I will grant you that part of the argument. I was focusing more at the high end teams they will have each beaten before playing each other again and I stand by my assertion that State College will be the only real notable win for Harrisburg on the way there, including districts. I’ll even take DTE off the list for you, but Coatesville will probably have beaten Harrisburg, DTW, North Penn and GV. That’s after playing St Joe’s and the D1 gauntlet last year while Harrisburg was at home. I just don’t see how beating 7-3 teams in districts will prepare them for that game.
October 22nd, 2018 at 10:48 pm
Mike A
As a D1 guy, respect teams like Wilson, CD, and Manheim. Solid programs with legacies/pedigree, but a Tier under D11. Harrisburg has had a great last few years, but D3 Mike is right to say that their playoff loss last year was a bad blow to the district’s reputation. They were supposed to be on par with Wood, and well, yeah.
I think you’re highlighting how flawed and irrelevant the ***preps algorithm is. Just look at their rankings this year: DTown West is ranked way too high- they looked like a JV team against Coatesville just off of their own gameplan, and the fact that they handled DTown East doesn’t bode well at all this week for East vs. C’Ville. Even at this site, the rankings are flawed to anyone who pays attention to the games instead of the final scores. North Penn is ranked where they are solely off of reputation, and you’ll get no argument here that any of the big boys in D3 would beat them this year. NP is a 6 or 7 seed in the district if we were ranking like NCAA.
Coatesville is one of the most talented D1 teams of the last many years (probably better than 2016 North Penn, who was the best team in the state that year in my opinion and only lost to SJP because their QB Udinski had his worst game of the year at the worst time). But they have some flaws- mainly the fact that their competition has been woefully underwhelming and we don’t know how they’ll react if they’re trailing at halftime or in a 2nd half. If talented Haverford gets the 7 seed, we’re gonna see just how good Coatesville is if they have to beat them and battle-tested, undefeated Garnet Valley in consecutive weeks. As D3 Mike himself said previously, Coatesville in the state final is written in pencil, however dark the shading may be.
October 22nd, 2018 at 9:30 pm
Not sure I want to wade into the discussion, but hard to figure why the Downingtown teams are being somewhat dumped on. Yes, the Chesmont league is weak (and a real problem for the good teams concerning D1 rankings), but hard to say how the mid-level teams would fare in other conferences. I know that both Downingtown teams have put the smackdown on a number of teams (I’m just not seeing upwards of 4 losses each playing in D3). As far as the Coatesville/CV game — C’ville was well on their way to the mercy rule (then a fumble and a TON of penalties — could have piled on another TD in the last minute too but took a knee — probably their worst game to this point). DTE could give C’ville a challenge this Friday, but we’ll have to wait and see.
October 22nd, 2018 at 8:43 pm
@D3 Mike…Just for fun I ran CD’s schedule with DTE and DTW. Here are the results. Pretty much as I expected but some very close games that could go either way. Here is the site if you want to play around. You can even match teams from other years against each other. I’ve found it to be pretty reliable as far as ratings go.
http://www.calpreps.com/cgi-bin/2018/project_matchup1_new.pl
Ratings: http://calpreps.com/2018/ratings/Pennsylvania_all.htm
DTW with Central Dauphin Schedule -Projected scores (all neutral field)
DTW 28 Wilson 20
DTW 28 Berks Cath 21
DTW 22 Manheim Township 21
DTW 35 Cumberland Valley 14
DTW 44 Carlisle 13
Harrisburg 31 DTW 20
DTW 42 Altoona 13
State College 31 DTW 26
DTW 35 Chambersburg 21
W 7 L 2
Projected outcome of a CD/DTW match up (neutral field)
Central Dauphin 22 DTW 21
*****************************************************************************
DTE with Central Dauphin Schedule -Projected scores (all neutral field)
DTE 31 Wilson 26
DTE 31 Berks Cath 28
Manheim Township 27 DTE 26
DTE 38 Cumberland Valley 20
DTE 48 Carlisle 19
Harrisburg 35 DTE 21
DTE 44 Altoona 19
State College 35 DTE 28
DTE 38 Chambersburg 27
W 6 L 3
Projected outcome of a CD/DTE match up (neutral field)
Central Dauphin 28 DTE 22
Projected outcome of a Manheim Township/DTE match up (neutral field)
Manheim Township 27 DTE 26
October 22nd, 2018 at 3:02 pm
@D3 Mike So you’re saying the State College, Harrisburg, Manheim Township, Wilson, and CD are not very good. I agree that D3 is also down a bit except for Harrisburg bjut these are still pretty good teams. My guess is that DTW and DTE would both have 2-4 losses if they had to play those teams. While I agree with you about the SOL historically has been very good but aside from North Penn they are also down this year. However, DTE and DTW are part of the weak Chestmont League. Although the National division is the best they are still well below the Mid Penn Commonwealth in ratings. Coatesville is the only outstanding team there. The BEST teams fall 3-4 TD’s or more under them while the rest are pretty much mercy rule fodder. Even Cumberland Valley, with their worst team in nearly 50 years, avoided being mercy ruled by Coatesville at Coatesville. In addition to conference games the D3 teams that CD and Manheim Township have played (each other, Berks Catholic, Warwick, Cocalico, Wilson) outside their conference are much better than the teams that DTE and DTW have played in the Chestmont, SOL and outside their conference. It’s not just me saying this it’s various rating sites (CalPreps/MaxPreps and Born) also. While not always perfect they are usually in the ballpark as to who is pretty good and who isn’t. Like I said before we’ll never get to see any of those teams play each other unless some upsets occur. While the D3 teams have lost decisively to the West teams such as PCC and North Allegheny and most recently Pine Richland not many eastern teams have played them close either except for St. Josephs Prep and occasionally LaSalle College. CD did win a state championship in 2011.
League ratings-2018
http://calpreps.com/2018/ratings/Pennsylvania_leagues.htm
October 22nd, 2018 at 2:49 pm
@ Buddy
I was wondering the same thing. Saw on MaxPreps (granted I take things I see and read on that site with large grain of salt) they had PV @ Pottsgrove Friday night, and as I call the runner-up PAC game, Spring-Ford @ PJPII on Saturday at 1p.
October 22nd, 2018 at 1:16 pm
Will the PV/Pottsgrove game be at Pottsgrove or neutral site?
October 22nd, 2018 at 12:37 pm
@Jay – current power rankings are available on the DI website, as of today the top 16 teams are as follows, also noted Ridley at #17 for all the Ridley fans, you are correct about the top 3 but Coatesville and GV are reversed:
1) North Penn
2) Coatesville
3) Garnett Valley
4) DT West
5) Truman
6) Perk Valley
7) Haverford
8) DT East
9) Spring-Ford
10) Quakertown
11) Neshaminy
12) Pennsbury
13) Upper Darby
14) Owen J. Roberts
15) CR South
16) CB East
17) Ridley
As I’ve stated before I think Coatesville is significantly better this year than any team in D1, just like Pine Richland was significantly better than every team in the WPIAL last year, we’ll find out over the next month, but I would be very surprised if any team in D1 or D3 for that matter beats Coatesville, and if the D3 winner is not Harrisburg it could get ugly in the semi-finals against Coatesville.
October 22nd, 2018 at 12:25 pm
@Jay
PIAA District 1 website has the playoff rankings.
Top 3 are pretty much locked in unless something bizarre happens. 1. North Penn 2. Coatesville 3. Garnet Valley
North Penn ends up #1 basically because they play an all 6A schedule and the fact that Coatesville ended up playing W.C Rustin who only played a 9 game schedule this year and Middletown South from NJ who only played 8 games. If they would have both played 10 game schedules Coatesville might have edged NP out with bonus points for #1.
Coatesville will edge out Garnet Valley for #2 (assuming both win Friday). They will both end up with the same number of win points but Coatesville has a nice lead in bonus points thanks to a tougher schedule.
October 22nd, 2018 at 10:15 am
@Knight Time – and same to you, don’t get lost when NP loses in the district quarters or semi-finals, you guys better hope you don’t draw Haverford in the quarterfinals or you could be in trouble, I don’t see them even making the final to get beat up by Coatesville. Last year it was pretty obvious early in the season that Pine Richland and SJP were the 2 best teams in 6A, this year it’s been equally obvious the 2 best teams are Coatesville and SJP. Can one of them get upset, of course, but highly unlikely.
I expect PR to win the WPIAL title, and I think SJP beats them by 2-3 scores this year, I could see a reversal of the score from last years final of 42-21 for SJP.
@D3 Mike – yes, the McDonough game was a bad loss for Wood, no doubt about it, but as usual they have gotten stronger as the season has gone on, and just ran the ball all over Lasalle over the weekend. Gateway’s defense is much improved, but whether they can stop the vaunted Wood running game is a whole other story, I’m just not sure Gateway has made up the huge gap from last year. I for one would not be surprised at all if Wood ends up in Hershey again, don’t see them getting challenged until they play the WPIAL winner in the semi-finals, I sure hope someone beats them because it would be nice for any school besides AW to win the 5A title.
@Mcd – agree with you about Egan, I can see them in Hershey taking on Aliquippa, who is a big favorite to get there from the west, also agree Berks Catholic has a good chance to beat Erie Prep this year assuming they can slow down Billy Lucas which they couldn’t do last year, winner will more than likely face Imhotep in the final.
October 21st, 2018 at 8:44 pm
Is there a way to see the current rankings in D1 6A? That would determine the playoff rankings I mean? I assume that North Penn, Garnet Valley and Coatesville would be 1-3 at this point even if Coatesville is considered better, since they have a couple wins over 5A schools, am I right?
I live in Coatesville but went to Downingtown (prior to the split) and would love to see CV, DTE or DTW go very far or even win the state championship. I know that Coatesville has the best shot out of the three, but I haven’t seen DTE play yet this year and am very excited to see them at CV this week.
Also I went to the DTW vs Shanahan game and I feel like despite their 8-1 record (and they’ll probably finish 9-1 based on their next opponent it seems) DTW could easily be beaten in the first round of districts. Big emotional win over DTE but almost lost to Shanahan and got absolutely smoked by Coatesville a couple weeks ago.
October 21st, 2018 at 1:44 pm
You can get 3 losses from playing great competition. Another way you can get 3 losses is from just not being very good. You’re saying the former and I’m claiming the latter, and I guess time will tell.
The D3 teams you cited often go 9-1 or 10-0 and proceed to get smoked in states. So, by extension, their 7-3 versions this year are probably not as good as year’s past, right? Meanwhile, the winner of the SOL has played for how many state titles now? And when they lose in the semi-finals, they are at least competitive.
I’m just not sure where you’re getting this supposed district strength from this year considering the district has posted all of one big school state title since they opened it up in 1994 and historically performs poorly in the semi-finals and the team records are all worse than usual.
October 21st, 2018 at 1:04 pm
@ D3 Mike…You get three losses when you play tough teams. You can play a bevy of inferior teams even if they are 6A like the DTE and DTW teams play and only lose once to Coatesville. This happens every year with the York county teams as I am sure you are well aware. Those teams come into the D3 playoffs with no or one loss seeded high and are usually gone after the second round. I’m not saying the schedule for DTE/DTW is York County easy but it’s not CD tough either. Playing inferior teams doesn’t mean a one loss team is better than a three loss team that has lost to State College, Manheim Township and Harrisburg. If you take strength of schedule into account these teams are also very good despite 3 losses. CD has also defeated Chambersburg, Berks Catholic, and Wilson. All those teams are better, at least according to several rating sites, than any team that DTW has beaten except DTE. Other than Coatesville and the other Downingtown team, Perkiomen Valley is the best team they have played. While Perk is a decent team they fall well below Chambersburg in the ratings. CD has played SIX teams rated higher than Perkiomen Valley. The three teams CD lost to are all rated as good or better than DTW by those same rating sites. I’m not saying CD or Manheim Township would give Coatesville a close game but they are solid squads and are just as good, especially CD and one loss Manheim Township, as the Downingtown teams IMO. Unfortunately, we will probably not get to see a match-up between any of those team because Coatesville is so dominant.
Calpreps PA Ratings
Coatesville 2
Harrisburg 6
State College 10
DTW 20
Manheim Township 21
Central Dauphin 23
DTE 32
Cedar Cliff 36
Berks Cath 45
Wilson 50
Chambersburg 57
Perkiomen Valley 67
October 21st, 2018 at 4:40 am
I give Harrisburg the State College win but Central Dauphin and Wilson are 6A teams with 3 losses (with a lot of 5As on the schedule for Wilson). They are solid squads, either could win the district since they’ve done it so many times before, but Coatesville would probably have a running clock on them by halftime. It’s just not a great year for either program IMO. And D3-6A generally doesn’t look strong if you look at the records of the top teams this year compared to recent years. Also, the marquee wins for Cedar Cliff and CD are against 4A schools (albeit great 4A schools).
Meanwhile DTE and DTW are 8-1 (one a loss to Coatesville) while playing almost exclusively 6A programs in suburban Philadelphia. Maybe I give them too much credit but that league actually produces teams that play in the state title game at the highest class, regularly, so I feel like they’ve earned it. But to be fair I’d defer to some of the people who have seen SOL teams play this year.
If you’re saying 34-21 Coatesville you won’t get much of an argument out of me. I just wasn’t seeing any basis for expecting a Harrisburg win in a rematch short of “any given Friday”. And yeah, Warwick is having a great year. One of a couple sleepers with a puncher’s shot to upset Manheim at 5A.
October 20th, 2018 at 9:54 am
RE: My post to D3 Mike Sorry…Warwick is a 5A team not 6A. My bad! They are tough though!
October 20th, 2018 at 9:38 am
@D3 Mike While I agree that D3 6A is somewhat down this year I disagree that Harrisburg has played ‘meh’ teams. Harrisburg has played three teams the quality of DTE and DTW , those being Cedar Cliff (who beat Bishop McDevitt I might add), Central Dauphin and State College. I would argue that Harrisburg’s regular season schedule is stronger than Coatesville’s and the D3 playoffs will include the likes of Wilson,Warwick, Manheim Township, and Central Dauphin. In Cumberland Valley’s 1992 championship season they played Harrisburg during the regular season and won 38-0. They played Harrisburg once again in the D3 playoffs and had to scratch and claw to win 10-7. In the first game, some of the long catches were highly contested and yes there were several “trick’ plays that Coatesville used. Harrisburg also had quite a few new players around a solid nucleus so it’s sometimes hard to judge on a first game, especially when playing against many seasoned Coatesville skill players. Don’t count out Harrisburg just yet although Coatesville is the better team anything can happen in one game as we saw when that Harrisburg team who demolished everyone last year got beat by Governor Mifflin and their ball control on a sloppy field. If Harrisburg can survive D3 I would expect a much closer game perhaps in the order of 34-21.
October 19th, 2018 at 7:02 pm
I’m just not seeing what you’re seeing in Harrisburg. First, they had a better team last year, were playing at a lower level in 5A … and couldn’t make it to the district finals, let alone the state finals. It’s a big jump in class going up against the elite, greater-Philly teams, as they learned in getting trashed by Wood in ‘16.
Second, it wasn’t just trick plays and jump balls in Week 1. Coatesville had the game under control from start to finish, put up around 400 yards of total offense, and kept Harrisburg off the board with the exception of one bad snap.
Finally, Harrisburg is hurt by the Mid Penn and D3 being down overall at 6A this year. They basically will have beaten State College and a bunch of meh teams to get to the state semis. Coatesville will have beaten Harrisburg, Down East, Down West, and run the D1 6A playoff gauntlet, which is an even tougher set than usual this year.
Add in the St Joe’s Prep game last year and I think both the talent and tough-game experience favor Coatesville.
October 19th, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Hey D3, I think H-burg is a top team, but I watched the C’ville game — I’m pretty sure I remember C’ville pulling their starters — plus it was their first game too and they always improve as the season progresses. The other side of your equation seems flawed as well — SJP will probably be the favorite no matter who they play (P-R and NA might have something to say as well). Moreover, other than their QB, what playmakers does H-burg have? (I don’t remember any standouts from the C’ville game).
October 19th, 2018 at 2:34 pm
With all due respect to all the Coatesville lovers out there, but Harrisburg will beat Coatesville (or Garnett Valley if it’s them because Garnett Valley is a running team). Anyone who watched their first game saw that Coatesville didn’t beat Harrisburg as much as Harrisburg beat themselves. Coastesville hit some 50/50 jump balls and hit a few trick plays but they didn’t move the ball up and down the field on Harrisburg. Harrisburg probably has the best defense in the state at any level (top 3 at least). No team is going to run the ball on them. I am fairly certain Harrisburg hasn’t given up 100 yards rushing to anyone this year, including to Coatesville, and also Ortega had a lot of pressure in that Harrisburg game too. Lastly, Harrisburg will also have a bye week the week before playing Coatesville, assuming Coatesville makes it out of D1. I think Harrisburg ends up in the state championship game vs whoever comes out of the west(PR or NA), er…east (SJP).
October 18th, 2018 at 10:08 pm
Jeff, I’m usually big on “the champ is the champ until someone beats them” but I’m going to make an exception for Wood. I’ve been skeptical since they lost to a middling McDonogh team (2-4 out of Baltimore) in week 1.
For comparison, the following two weeks McDonogh proceeded to lose to both Berks Catholic and Malvern Prep, so I don’t think Wood is even a top 4, 5A team this year let alone the team to beat. Btw I saw Malvern Prep in person and they might be the best non-PIAA school I’ve seen in quite awhile. Would probably win 5A this year.
Sorry, can’t answer your question on the QB but I think Gateway would be the stronger team with or without him.
October 18th, 2018 at 10:00 pm
Hey Bubba C,
As a Coatesville fan, I think they can be beat. In general, they are H.S. kids, they have committed (or been called for) a lot of penalties, the H.S. game is short, it could be raining or snowing, they could cough up some turnovers, or they could play on a muddy, tundra-like field that could slow them down. Specifically, some issues I have seen this year are as follows: 1. Although they have a huge O-line, it seems like they have problems sometimes with run and pass protection. 2. They don’t feed the rock to Young or Bryant enough. 3. A team that can grid out first downs and eat a lot of clock would definitely limit their scoring ability and keep a game close. 4. Not sure their pass defense is up to snuff — can a good passing team stay with them? 5. Special teams — it’s great that coach Ortega lets a lot of guys play, but I think you should have your best personnel out there on kick-offs (WC burned them last week). With all that being said, I don’t see any defense stopping them. Yeah, Coatesville lost to SJP last year, but I don’t think any team lit up the vaunted Prep D like C’ville did, and their offense might be better this year.
October 18th, 2018 at 6:20 pm
Jeff H , Archbishop Wood may run out of gas this year and for sure the next few years based on what I have seen and their roster. They could make a run this year if Colyar returns which I hear is doubtful. St Joes/ Coatsville final which most folks are predicting would be a shootout for sure. I like the Prep in another close one. Watch out for Conwell/Egan in AAA . Their RB Garwo is a beast. So Columbia should be a 2 TD winner over any of the other finalist . Imhotep can be a tough opponent , but Berks is my pick in AAAA.
October 18th, 2018 at 3:56 pm
@Jeff H please don’t get lost when the districts are over and it’s time to comment when the rubber meets the road.
October 19th, 2018 at 1:26 pm
CoalRgnFrballFan….Both are AA teams
October 18th, 2018 at 2:30 pm
@ Matt – Is Delone AAA or AA? I thought they (and york catholic) were AA. I could be incorrect.
October 18th, 2018 at 12:21 pm
@Bubba C
I can speak for myself and pretty much everybody in the city of Cville that we believe this team will get to Hershey. I think the only team that has a shot of derailing them is Garnet Valley in D1 just because they play a grind it out, eat out the clock type of game with that offense. They’ve been ahead by 21 points at some point in the 1st quarter in 6 of their 8 games. They’ve scored 26 TD’s and only given up 1 in that same 1st quarter. As I’ve said all year about their opponents particularly the all hyped up DTW team if you start off slow against them, you might get run off the field.
As for D3 Manheim and Harrisburg look to be the favorites and Coatesville already beat Harrisburg handily the 1st week. Granted Kane Everson got hurt as did Andre White, so if they do happen to meet again I suspect it will be a much closer game.
If they happen to meet SJP they will be an underdog as one would expect, but the kids from Coatesville will not be scared. If anything they might be hungrier than ever knowing that they should have won the game last year in the Eastern Final. SJP has some new faces in McCord and Harrison, etc but basically, the entire Coatesville team with the exception of Avery Young and a few other contributors are back from last year.
If they do somehow pull off an upset there will be a parade like you will not believe down the main street of Coatesville that Saturday night and a huge party at the high school to welcome them back!
Lots of IF’s mentioned above and still a lot of football left to be played. Hopefully, all teams can avoid the injury bug and we can honestly see who has the best team and settle it on the field and not speculate about if this person was healthy or if this person would have played it would have been a different outcome.
October 18th, 2018 at 10:16 am
@ Bubba C – I’m from Pittsburgh and a WPIAL guy but I closely follow football statewide, Coatesville is clearly the favorite to get to Hershey from the eastern bracket and will almost certainly have a rematch with SJP for the state title. I think Coatesville is at least 2 TD’s better than any team in DI, including North Penn, and they will be a big favorite to beat the D3 champion in the Eastern Finals, where they could have a rematch with Harrisburg, or perhaps Manheim Township, last years 6A D3 champion.
As for winning the state title they will be underdogs to SJP, but I give them a shot in what could be a great game, I certainly hope they win the state title because I’m a public school fan and I think the only public school in the state that can beat SJP this year is Coatesville.
October 18th, 2018 at 8:55 am
Has anyone who follows the PCL heard whether Wood QB Jack Colyar will be back for the playoffs. Appears AW is down a bit in overall talent since the last few years and this team is pretty one dimensional without Colyar. They are still the favorite in 5A until proven otherwise, but if Colyar is not coming back they may be beatable, I anticipate a great game in the west finals between AW and the WPIAL winner, which will likely either be Gateway or Penn Hills, both of whom are very talented and have several D1 players, Gateway’s defense is substantially better than last year giving up less than 5 points/game with 4 shutouts.
Manheim Central clearly the favorite in D3, not sure there’s a D1 team that can beat them, at this point looks like Manheim Central vs. the WPIAL/AW winner in Hershey.
October 17th, 2018 at 10:25 pm
All out honest ? For everybody on here who knows this team , or follows this team and who is a true fan…
Please answer I want see what everybody thinks..
Do you think that Coatesville can get to Hershey this year ?
If you think not , who or what will stop them.from getting there…Thanks FBall Fans
October 17th, 2018 at 11:34 am
Also Delone Catholic looks to be very good in AAA East but I think WC is toughest comp for Southern in East.
October 15th, 2018 at 6:17 pm
@coal….I’m a d11 guy but I think WC will be southerns toughest comp in postseason….that being said Southern I believe would win by 2-3 scores….maybe 35-20.
October 14th, 2018 at 11:20 pm
SOL folk: how good do you think Truman is? Everything I’ve read on them continues to be the same praise about a program “taking a leap”, but that doesn’t mean much other than kudos to their current staff and roster. If they beat Pennridge, it looks like they’ll be the 4 or 5 seed and a likely 2nd round matchup with an enigma in D-Town West. The winner of that goes to the semis against the winner of North Penn and the 8/9, which looks like it will end up being a bit of a break for NP in the 2nd round. D-Town East is likely to get smoked by Coatesville, and Upper Darby likewise with Garnet Valley, so that leaves an iffy group of Perk Valley, Neshaminy, Quakertown, and CR South to emerge as the 8 and 9.
I don’t think North Penn wants any part of Haverford, who would grab the 7 if things play out like I said. Haverford has a 3 year starter at QB and a ton of talent at the skill positions, and would be a track meet with Coatesville in the 2nd round. They took Garnet Valley down to the wire and have handled everyone else with ease. They’ve also been at NP the last 2 years in the playoffs, so there would be no ignorance of what it’s like to play at Crawford in November.
October 14th, 2018 at 1:39 pm
Can anyone offer insight on West Catholic this year? I’m guessing they will play a role in the AA eastern state playoffs. Compare them to their 2015/2016 versions.
October 14th, 2018 at 5:53 am
Buddy….I post the scores on the main page every day….There’s a banner that says SCOREBOARD<<<<<
October 13th, 2018 at 7:21 pm
Where’s the scoreboard?
Also, this site went 2 weeks without a comment posted.. I doubt that very much.
Throw this out, go back to the old site!
October 11th, 2018 at 9:03 pm
Jeff H: I agree with you on North Penn.
October 10th, 2018 at 11:51 pm
Big weekend for the PCL as 7-0 Conwell Egan hosts 6-1 West Catholic on Friday night, and SJP visits Wood Saturday afternoon.
October 10th, 2018 at 11:48 pm
Thanks guys!!! Guess the bracket I was looking at had slots for 16 teams. So does then the D3 6A teams start their playoffs a week after everyone else or will the winner have a bye week before meeting D1??
October 10th, 2018 at 9:49 am
Kevin X – D3-6A Eight teams qualify. 5A 14 teams qualify. 4A 10 teams qualify. PIAA should never have made 6 classifications for football as many small schools don’t have teams and more are dropping or should. Kutztown only has 16 players. Columbia and Pequay Valley are not far behind. Needs to go back to 4 classifications. As Berks Catholic has improved more players from small schools want to play there for a chance to win……. This has affected Hamburg, Fleetwood, Kutztown and Wyomissing the most.
6A Update :
Harrisburg has moved to the top since the early season loss to Coatesville. The transfer of Kane Everson from CD East to Harrisburg has made them a force to reckon with. He is amazing to watch and dominated in the win of State College on Saturday. Most likely a rematch with Coatesville in November……. But they were in the same position last year and gave up against Mifflin on a cold rainy day that was won in the trenches. They should win out and be the one seed.
CD has been sputtering since the tragic loss of one of their players. Still an awesome team and hopefully they can finish strong in his honor. They have State College this weekend. Their two losses have been to MT and Harrisburg. If they win they will mos likely end up as the two seed
Manheim Township beat Warwick last week and lost to Wilson the week before. I saw both games and am still not sure about this team against the best teams. The QB, Harry Kirk is a natural passer and very fluid, but appears a bit reckless under pressure. They have tall athletic skill players and can break a big play. Both of their lines are smallish but quick. They beat Warwick in the turnover battle and that was the difference. Could not move the ball against Wilson but did hit a few big plays to get their points. Township will win out and be the three seed if CD beats SC or the two seed if CD loses.
Wilson is still an unknown. Saw them against Manheim Central and Township. Still have a lot of injuries but are starting to get a few players back. Their defense is very young but is dominating teams. Held Evan Simon to 3 for 16. Offense had many opportunities in the first half and only scored 10 points and this came back to cost the game. They also had 2 turnovers that set-up short drives for Central. Township was also stymied against the defense. Offense is dink and dunk. If they get Lockhart and Johnson back they can play with a TE and might be able to pound their way to the D3 final. Wilson is at Warwick this week. Wilson will be the four seed unless CD loses to SC then they will be the three seed.
I don’t believe any other team will beat any of these teams in D3 playoffs……. Sorry York County.
5A Update
It’s all about Manheim Central. I spoke highly of the QB but I may have placed him a little higher than I should. From the teams I have seen, I would rate him behind the QB’s at MT, Harrisburg and Spring Ford. 5A is very weak this year so Central will win the D3 5A again. The only upset I could see is if Mifflin can get healthy and make a run.
Warwick is interesting because of the pedigree of their line. Three D1 players- Hayden Rucci (Wisconsin) Coomer (Delaware) and Nolan Rucci who is a Sophomore but is 6′ 8″ and 270 and has about 20 offers to the top programs. He is athletic for a big guy and I believe also plays b-ball. Will be interesting to watch him mature.
4A will be Berks Catholic vs Bishop McDevitt – Either of these teams would win 5A this year
October 9th, 2018 at 10:29 pm
@Kevin X
D3 playoffs are Top 8 teams for 6A
October 9th, 2018 at 7:41 pm
Haha, no, 8 teams in D36A. And that’s a touchy subject in these parts. They just expanded the playoffs for 2018 in most of the middle classes in what was an obvious money grab. Why they insist on having so many of these kids get mercy ruled for their final football memory is beyond me. For forever there were 16 TOTAL teams in districts. Now it’s up to like 44 or some crazy number.
On an unrelated D3 note, almost every district title game since 1982 was played at Hershey Stadium. They just ended that relationship due to rising costs from the park to host games there. Interested to see if the costs also push the state title games elsewhere.
October 9th, 2018 at 2:13 pm
To all of you D3 folk, is D3 seriously going to have a 16 team playoff in 6A for 17 (or is it 18) schools???
October 9th, 2018 at 2:00 pm
@D3 Mike – completely agree about Harrisburg, and don’t forget about Manheim Township, they’re not giving up their title from last year without a fight. I personally think Coatesville is a bigger favorite to win D1 than Harrisburg is to win D3.
@Knight Time – NP is winning close games against average or above average teams, not very good or great teams, Neshaminy, Pennridge, Pennsbury and LaSalle are all down compared to prior years, and Souderton and CRS are not known as powerhouse programs. NP is good, but I don’t think they are anywhere near as good as Coatesville, and if they manage to beat them in the playoffs I’ll be the first one to admit I was wrong, although I have a hunch NP is going to lose before they have a chance to face Coatesville in the D1 final. If you’re insinuating Coatesville would not be undefeated if they played in the SOL I completely disagree as they are significantly better than all of the teams NP has beaten thus far.
October 9th, 2018 at 12:22 pm
yo Knight:
I don’t think uncle T was dis-respecting NP, just telling it like it is. They are missing some key elements this year. That will catch up to them.
If C’ville handles DTE easily, then you can’t say they have weaker schedule ( hell, they played CV and Harrisburg!).
NP needs a passing game AND a pass defense. Got 3 games to find it. If not, they won’t even meet C’ville or GV.
October 9th, 2018 at 8:08 am
@Uncle T and all you other Coatesville forecasters that have them cruising through the Districts better wake up! @Uncle T you are comical when you say about NP “they have gone down big in games against some above average SOL competition.” The key is we play above average competition in the SOL and no 5A completion like CVille. If CVille was in the SOL believe me they would not be looking like the “greatest show on turf”. LOVE THE NP DISRESPECT!!!!!!
October 8th, 2018 at 11:02 pm
We need some sort of ticketing system as every HS football fan in the state tries to get back on the Harrisburg bandwagon, all at the same time…
That program got to the state title game in 2016 … and then with a far more talented team in 2017 failed to get out of the district semi finals.
Now they’ve moved up to 6A, and while it’s not D7 or D1, running the big school gauntlet in D3 is far from a gimme. They have the best team again, but I’d still take the field over Harrisburg winning 3 straight. Cumberland Valley is down this year but Wilson West Lawn and Central Dauphin are still on the board with their 10 district titles, all at the biggest classification.
The less talented but more disciplined (and pedigreed) programs often give the headline teams trouble in November, so that Harrisburg vs. Coatesville rematch should definitely be written in pencil.
October 8th, 2018 at 2:46 pm
@Buddy
SJP run this year will be similar to recent years past, with the exception of the state semi final and Championship game. Not exactly going out on a limb here, but guessing Round 1 PCL semi final vs. RC/FJ, Round 2 PCL final vs. LaSalle, Round 3 D12 championship vs. Northeast (stop me if you heard this before), state quarters against D11 (Parkland/Emmaus/Freedom) (anybody else on board with a 16 team 6A Super Regional bracket consisting of D2/D11/D12??), then the state semi’s (PR/NA) and the championship game vs. the D1/D3 winner.
October 8th, 2018 at 2:11 pm
Buddy
While it is new and I am far from certain, it seems that if SJP were to come out of D12, they would play the D11 rep; and the then the D7 rep.
Meanwhile, the D1 champ in 6A meets the D3 champ, and the winner meets the D12-D7 champ in the state championship.
I think that the Class 5A is similar, but again its different, so I can’t even envision the brackets yet.
October 8th, 2018 at 1:00 pm
@Kevin District 3 is listed on the top line of the bracket for the semifinal game, which means (if the past years brackets are good indicators of which district gets the home game) that District 3 will host this year.
October 8th, 2018 at 11:56 am
@ Buddy – yes, SJP will play the D11 winner in the quarterfinals, just like in previous years. Big game this week in D11 when the 2 lone unbeaten 6A teams face off when Bethlehem Freedom travels to Emmaus, I think Freedom’s a better team but game is on the road. Parkland may still be heard from come playoff time, they lost to Freedom by 1 point earlier in the season and play Emmaus in the last game of the regular season.
@Kevin X – could very well be a rematch of week 1 in the eastern finals, although Manheim Township might have something to say about that come the D3 playoffs, wouldn’t count out CD just yet either, although at this point looks like Harrisburg is the favorite to win D3.
October 8th, 2018 at 9:52 am
When does SJP enter the playoff picture? They play any eastern teams?
October 8th, 2018 at 9:10 am
@ Uncle T – completely agree with your assessment, the only team in the “east” that has a chance to keep Coatesville from Hershey is GV. Barring some unforeseen circumstances it appears we’re headed for Coatesville-SJP round 2, but this time for the state title. I think SJP has too much for Pine Richland this year and will beat them in the “west finals”, expect PR to beat NA for the WPIAL title and then beat SC in the quarterfinals, just like last year.
October 8th, 2018 at 8:35 am
Starting to smell like a C’Ville/Harrisburg week #1 re-match for the D1/D3 6A state semi final. That stinks IMO, nothing against those two teams, I just hate post season re-matches of regular season contests. At least these two games would be as far apart on the football calendar as you could get. Pretty sure if this game does come to fruition, this will be a much more competitive Harrisburg team and game overall. Speaking of, anyone know who (district) will host this game (regardless of the D1 and D3 reps), D1 or D3?? Guessing if D3 the game will be at Hershey, D1 maybe, hopefully at D-Town (if not DTE playing, already ruled out DTW).
October 7th, 2018 at 8:37 am
uncle T, that’s about right. NP should win 1st playoff game, then it’s over
October 6th, 2018 at 10:37 pm
@ Bleed Red & Black, Chief, et al…
I’ll say this: Coatesville is obviously the team to beat in District 1- they are more talented on offense than any team in the state (including SJP). But they have gotten some very, very weak competition so far. D-West looked thoroughly psyched out with their game plan, and the Whippets defense was boneheaded with some of the things they did (jumping offside on a 4th and 5 with Coatesville’s punting team on and no hard count?). I don’t want to take anything away from the Ville since they can play with anyone, but some of the things I’ve seen in their opponents are simply not what they are going to see in the later rounds of the playoffs.
In my opinion, North Penn is overrated. They have gone down big in games against some above average SOL competition, and teams like Coatesville and Garnet Valley will simply run them off the field if that situation occurs in D1. But NP’s remaining schedule means they will almost assuredly win out and be the 1 seed, which is tough for you guys because GV is the only team I think can give ‘Ville a serious challenge in the new “eastern” side of the bracket. The GV defense is big, athletic, very well-coached, and deep, and that time-consuming running attack is kryptonite to a team with Coatesville’s overwhelming offense. If they both win out, it will be a district semi’s matchup. They are even in playoff points now and have just about identical remaining points available, so home field would come down to how the teams on their schedules do. That’s the D1 final in my eyes, and GV is the only team in the way of Coatesville being in the state finals.
October 6th, 2018 at 5:21 pm
Harrisburg defeats State College 32-17.
October 4th, 2018 at 9:41 pm
@Jeff H
Sure Dtown has a chance if they can get off to a quick start which is something they haven’t done the last 2 games. The didn’t score until early in the 2nd quarter last week against Avon Grove and were clinging to a 21-14 lead in the 3rd the week before to a not so good 1-5 Great Valley team.
Obviously, this will be the best offense DTW has seen all year, and if they start off slow it might be similar to last year’s 42-7 score. Howard has made remarks that he has had this game circled on the calendar and wants to prove what he is capable of doing. He isn’t very athletic so if the Coatesville front of Kirk, Holmes, Limper and LB Thompson can get in his face he will get uncomfortable. Howard is athletic but he isn’t really a threat to run the ball. They need to get a balance going early with RB Lewis so all the pressure isn’t solely on Howard’s arm.
For Coatesville, they just need to keep doing what they have been doing all year with the addition of one thing. Aaron Young needs to get 2X as many touches as he has been getting all year. Ortega had more rushing attempts last week than AYoung. Being one of the best RB’s in the state I would expect a little more than 11 carries a game. I understand all the games the starters have been out before the start of the 4th quarter but Coach Ortega, Coach Cantafio need to recognize he is the most dangerous weapon on the team and let him get 20 touches. I don’t get if it’s 20 carries or incorporating him into the passing game, which is something we haven’t seen all year. I think 20 touches is possible, but Ricky calls his own number a little too many times in the read option. I expect a high scoring game and a ton of penalties to be called on Coatesville like there always are but Coatesville comes out victorious.
Ricky has yet to lose a Ches-Mont game in 2+ years and I don’t see that changing. It’s the Homecoming game for Coatesville so the players might be a little more amped up. Biggest game of the year in Chester County so far this year so expect a packed house. Although I’m loyal to the Red and Black I kinda wish this game was at Downingtown. Hands down the best place to view a game in district 1 and always a treat when Coatesville and either of the Downingtown schools face off against one another.
October 4th, 2018 at 1:55 pm
Anyone think Dtown West has much of a chance against Coatesville tomorrow night? I think West is a bit overrated and not as good as their record, expect them to score some points but not nearly enough to keep pace, I see the final being something like 49-28.
Another big 6A game tomorrow is State College at Harrisburg, with SC looking to avenge last years thumping. Harrisburg has been on a roll since their season opening loss to Coatesville, but I think SC has too many weapons on offense and wins a close one. Harrisburg appears to be the favorite to win D3, although defending champion Manheim Township might have something to say about that,while SC again seems headed for a quarterfinal match-up against the WPIAL winner, which will either been Pine Richland or North Allegheny, at this point I give the edge to PR.
October 2nd, 2018 at 12:06 pm
Has anyone heard anything the SOL possibly starting a small schools division? With the BAL teams enrollments being down and Teams like Springfield-Montco, New Hope and Lower Moreland would leave Bicentennial League and join.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:04 pm
North Penn is getting some good work during this regular season. They have been tested a few times and have won 2 double OT games. Good for preparing for the district playoffs.
September 18th, 2018 at 10:33 am
@Knight Time
I agree, they do have some weapons. I am also curious as to what Intrieri can add when he’s healthy. The have lacked a tight end which is something they have had dating back to Ralph Reeves. Reeves, Earle, Vasger, Thomas have all been weapons from the tight end position is recent years. Hopefully Beck can get it figured out because I do like the potential of this team. Especially with Robinson’s ability to run. He is their best running threat at QB since Hearns. They have plenty of games to try and develop so here’s to hoping.
September 17th, 2018 at 11:39 pm
@Knight Time
You are spot on with your overall assessment of North Penn. Beck was working on the passing game when they were up by 28 points. North Penn has the receivers to get the job done. Jon Haynes, Shamar Edwards (when they go to multiple receivers), Evan Spann and Kaleem Corbin can make plays but lets hope the qb Solomon Robinson can get in sync. He has a good arm but needs to be more consistent with his accuracy. If he cleans that up the sky is the limit because North Penn would be well balanced with their strong running game already in place.
September 17th, 2018 at 11:13 am
@Knight Time
NP should definitely run the table and I think that should be enough to give them the 1 seed despite what Coatesville and Garnet Valley do. Same goes for the Downingtowns I believe. That would be extremely important for North Penn. They would still have to beat at least one VERY good team on their way to the final if they are to get there though and that is definitely not a given. They need to continue to develop that passing game. It has shown some flashes but is not consistent enough. You can tell Beck is trying to work on it though. When Pennridge started coming back they went back to pounding the ball, which they do very well, but it will take more than that.
September 17th, 2018 at 9:13 am
@Mgguy – because I don’t think there’s a 6A team in D3 that’s going to beat Coatesville, that’s why. I realize there are multiple state champions from D3, but not many at the highest classification, if memory serves me correctly CV in 1992 and CD in 2011 are the only teams from D3 to win at the highest classification, and I just don’t see it happening this year, that’s all.
I know the North Penn faithful will disagree, but I don’t like their chances in a game against Coatesville, even at home, we’ll see, that’s why they play the games.
September 16th, 2018 at 12:50 pm
@Friday Night Lights
Book it now. North Penn runs the table during the regular season and will get #1 seed.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:06 am
Wilson West Lawn had Manheim Central on the ropes until the beginning of the 4th quarter when the Bulldogs fell apart terribly. Their QB was somewhat comfortable in first half but exploded in the second half. He appears only to focus on one receiver and then when pressure comes he gets rattled and that’s when miscues happen and they are costly turnovers into the opposing team to score. It happened in the first game and now the fourth game. Wilson needs to reevaluate their QB issue NOW……………. People tell me that they have a sophomore QB that has good potential. Maybe it’s time for a change. They have at least 3 tough games ahead with Manheim Township (Away), Warwick (Away) and Hempfield home sort of. This game is being played at the Reading Phils baseball complex. A change may well be what this team needs for the future.
September 14th, 2018 at 8:19 pm
So why do you assume that D3 is “bye” and D1 wins. Multiple D3 State Champions.
September 14th, 2018 at 4:00 pm
@ Uncle T – I tried to post earlier in the day but guess the moderator didn’t like the verbiage I used, so I’ll try again. District 11 got the short end of the stick with the bracket realignment, they still have to play SJP in the quarterfinals, and the winner of that game will take on the WPIAL winner, which will either be PR or North Allegheny. That’s assuming the WPIAL winner beats State College in the quarterfinals, which is no sure thing as SC is very good this year and expect their game against the WPIAL winner to be very competitive. So, for the D11 winner to get to Hershey they would have to beat SJP in the quarterfinals and then likely the WPIAL winner in the semi-finals.
The District 1 winner will play the District 3 winner in the eastern semi-final, as both districts enter the state playoffs in the semi-final round. At this point the DI winner will definitely be favored to get to Hershey, especially if it’s Coatesville.
As I stated before I have no inside information on how the PIAA operates, but the rumors I’ve heard were DI and especially D3 lobbied the PIAA to change the bracket and flip the D12/D11 winner to the west and the D3 winner to the east, makes no sense geographically but that’s how the PIAA operates.
September 14th, 2018 at 2:36 pm
@Uncle T
Quakertown is not in the same conference as North Penn. They’re in the conference with all the teams you listed on their schedule.
September 14th, 2018 at 1:31 pm
@ Uncle T North Penn and Quakertown aren’t in the same conference for Football. All other sports they are (since those are based solely on geography).
September 14th, 2018 at 1:03 pm
@Uncle T – District 11 got screwed, they still play SJP in the quarterfinals, the winner of that will take on the WPIAL winner in the semi-final, assuming they beat State College in the quarterfinal, which is no sure thing because SC is very good this year. So, in order to just make it to Hershey the D11 winner would have to beat SJP in the quarterfinals and then the SC-WPIAL winner in the semi-finals. The D1 winner will play the D3 winner in the other semi-final, and right now the D1 winner would be the favorite in that game, especially if it’s Coatesville.
Like I stated previously I have no inside information but sure seems from the outside the PIAA was getting pressure from D1 and particularly D3 to flip D12 to the western side of the bracket and D3 to the eastern side, of course it makes absolutely no sense geographically but that’s PIAA logic for you.
September 14th, 2018 at 8:51 am
@Uncle T
My understanding is that non-PIAA schools classifications are set using the PIAA standards, so Middletown South should be classified as a 6A school due to their enrollment. The NJSIAA has them as a Group IV classification (Group V is the highest) in the state with an enrollment of 1,096.
As I mentioned in a previous post they only play 8 games during the designated PIAA 10 week season so Coatesville will likely be impacted by that in regards to bonus points, unless run the table and go 7-1.
September 14th, 2018 at 8:36 am
Ok, I’ll bite…
I will preface this by saying I am a North Penn fan through and through. Coatesville can be beat. I will say it again, Coatesville can be beat. Now, that being said, I must be honest when I say they are the definitive favorite in D1 and for a team to beat them in districts it will take a monumental effort with just about everything going right. I also think it will take a team that can play a physical style ball and control the clock to beat them. North Penn and Garnet Valley come to mind. One thing North Penn has been able to do this year is run the ball. If North Penn can go on long, clock consuming drives and limit the number of possessions Coatesville has then maybe they can keep it manageable with a shot to win in the end. North Penn does have somewhat of a three headed monster in the run game With a dangerous QB when he runs, a very good back in Shamar Edwards, and a tough running fullback in Julian White. NP is starting 5 new O linemen this year so it is reasonable to think they will continue to improve. Getting the 1 or 2 seed in Districts would also be important. I would much rather play Cville at Crawford Stadium on the grass if we are able to earn our way there. In the end, Coatesville is extremely talented and I for one recognize that talent. I would love to see NP get a shot at them but at the same time I would certainly be worried. Coatesville deserve a lot of respect.
September 14th, 2018 at 6:39 am
Uncle T
Quakertown is in the American Conference of the Suburban One League. The teams you listed ARE their conference.
September 13th, 2018 at 10:35 pm
You D2 guys still out there?? Two big games this week, Scranton Prep @ Valley View and Berwick/WVW. Is this the week someone is finally going to score on Prep?? Thoughts/predictions??
September 13th, 2018 at 10:31 pm
Uncle T, Q-Town is not in the same conference as North Penn. They are in with UDub, P-W, Wiss, UMoreland, H-H, and Cheltenham. You would think geographically they would be in with the likes of NP, Pennridge, the Central Buckes (mmm, spelling??) and Soudy.
Also, and if someone can actually confirm this, I believe, based on the “preliminary” proposed brackets that I saw some time ago for 6A, unfortunately for the the EPC teams, they (D11) still get D12 in state quarters. Then the D11/12 winner gets the winner of the D7/D2-6-8-10 (did I miss anyone??) in the semis. D1/D3 meet in the other semi. 5A is laid out in similar fashion, now D1 gets D3 in the semis (hey no more Wood in the semis for D1!!!) and D7 meets (I’ll just say the rest of 5A) in the other semi final. 4A appears to be the same as the last 2 years, which is looking like it is going to be a lot of deja vu all over again……
September 13th, 2018 at 7:18 pm
Knight time: I remember 2016. Ortega was a Freshman, Young was a soph., and no Bryant (and C’ville scored 25 points too — not a lockdown IMO). Most importantly, however, I was talking about this year’s team. You’re comparing apples and oranges. If you want to go back to 2016, why not go back to 2017? (More recent and more similar to this year’s team)
September 13th, 2018 at 6:22 pm
To all Suburban One folks, how is it possible that Quakertown does not play North Penn even though they are in the same 7 team conference? Their next 5 games are against Upper Moreland, Cheltenham, Wissahickon, Upper Dublin, and Plymouth-Whitemarsh. Is this standard operating procedure in the SOL?
September 13th, 2018 at 5:56 pm
@ Buddy
My extended family is mostly all DelCo (frown), so I tend to pay more attention to what goes on there than I do elsewhere. I’d be very surprised if GV doesn’t win out. Haverford was their biggest test of the year, and they gutted that one out for the W (keep an eye out for Haverford- they have lots of skill around a 3 year starter at QB. They’re not going to be an easy out in the playoffs, reminding me stylistically of Perk Valley 2 years ago when Sturm was at QB. They should win the rest of their games as well, and be a dangerous 5-10 seed). 5A Springfield DelCo is 3-0, but they have struggled big time in their last 2 and don’t seem to have the level of offense they had a year ago. For comparison, GV crushed a slippery slope Ridley program 55-21, 500+ yards rushing, mercy rule at halftime, with 2 of Ridley’s scores being kickoff and fumble returns and the other after the mercy rule; Springfield needed 3 overtimes to beat Ridley after not scoring at all in regulation. I’d put GV as at least a 2 touchdown favorite over Springfield right now with blowout potential. The only other team that has a remote possibility of challenging GV in the Central League is 5A Radnor, who has one of those teams with a core that has been together since pee wee days. It would still take the collective game of their lives to knock off GV, whose depth on 3 platoons is incredible for a high school team.
@Jeff H
Interesting, possibly shady, theory about D12 going out West. So I take it that the D1 winner will play the D11/D? winner in the semis? Parkland/Freedom/Emmaus must be dancing a jig over not staring at SJP in the quarterfinals again.
@Bleed Red & Black
Good math. It looks like it will be close between Coatesville and GV for the 2 seed, since one of the DTowns will likely have 2 losses and either Springfield DelCo or Haverford will have 2. Weird how it’s gonna work out better for the Raiders to not play Unionville this year. Do you know what kind of points, if any, C’ville gets for that Middletown game? That could be the deciding factor in what would be a huge difference for either team being home or away in the district semis.
September 13th, 2018 at 2:58 pm
@Knight Time
2016 when Ortega and Bryant were freshman and Aaron Young was a sophomore? Is this year’s North Penn team trotting out Ricky Johns, Owen Thomas, Justis Henley, and Reece Udinkski?
Not sure if this NP team is the caliber of that team. It took an almost 300-yard effort and 4 TD by the best RB in the country (Swift) to knock them off from playing for the state championship.
September 13th, 2018 at 12:57 pm
@bleed red& black and @ chief red raider
Outscoring the tougher opponents and can’t seeing anybody locking them down. How quickly you forget 2016 and the District Playoffs with the great skill players and high scoring team of that year
September 13th, 2018 at 10:23 am
@Uncle T
I agree that Shanahan dropping to 4A could come back and hurt Coatesville and both DTown’s at some point, but I think teams in every league outside of the SOL National and SOL Continental are in similar situations. Coatesville and both Dtown’s have 3 5A schools and Shanahan 4A on there schedule so if they win all of them they will get 460 pts. Garnet Valley, on the other hand, has 4 5A schools which will net them 480 points. The 20 points are essentially 2 extra wins awarded by bonus points. The 100 point difference North Penn would have by playing all 6A schools is a little more difficult to overcome.
There are only 7 undefeated 6A D1 teams remaining (Cville, Dtown East, Dtown West, Garnet Valley, North Penn, Quakertown and Truman) if standings are correct and I didn’t miss somebody.
The big separator is going to be the bonus points come the end of the year. Coatesville already has 170 bonus points (tops among the undefeated teams) at the moment thanks to strong starts by basically everybody on their schedule outside of Cumberland Valley and Henderson. North Penn, on the other hand, has the lowest with 90 bonus points due to slow starts by pretty much everybody on their schedule. Granted all of that changes once conference games start this week and the likes of Shanahan (2-1)and WC East (3-0) both have to play Cville and Dtown East and West, and should be 3 losses.
Can’t speak for anybody else but Coatesville is going to rack up a ton of bonus points by having Harrisburg, Dtown East, Dtown West, Rustin and possibly Middletown South on their schedule. Although they could also be hurt by Rustin deciding to play the 2nd scrimmage thus only playing 9 games and Middletown only having 8 games scheduled before the conclusion of the PIAA defined 10 week season.
September 12th, 2018 at 7:21 pm
BR&B, please re-read my post. I’ll specify…..”not impressed last night with the Red Raiders, at least from the middle of the second quarter after the muffed punt.” If you or anyone else who is familiar with C’Ville and watched from that point on (muffed punt), I really don’t know what else to say. Up 28-0, complete domination, getting the ball back at worse mid-field, looking at going up 35-0 and then not putting them away at that point. In fact, they were outscored 19-7 from that point on, and the D did not stop CV for the rest of the game (3 TDs and the half). That from a top ranked team playing at home, with an x-tra day of rest/prep, against a struggling, re-building team, yes, that does not impress me. I’m not saying I’m not impressed with the Red Raiders and their past history (and a congrats are in order for being the first D1 team to reach 700 wins with that win Friday night), or this year’s team overall, just that game the other night. I can see Will Howard picking that D apart, or Garvey Jonassaint running all night long on that D, if they play like that again. Yes, they are still in my mind the favorite to win the D1 6A title, but North Penn, Garnet, D-East and West will have a lot to say about that as Uncle T laid out.
September 12th, 2018 at 5:32 pm
You’re the man Bleed Red and Black — nice synopsis concerning Coatesville. If they can stay healthy, they should go pretty far. I am a bit concerned with the defense, but maybe they will just outscore the tougher opponents — I don’t see any team locking them down.
September 12th, 2018 at 4:42 pm
@Uncle T
No one is belittling C’Villa but at the same time we are not going to act like they are going to just tip toe through the tulips in District 1…….Please!
September 12th, 2018 at 2:20 pm
@ Uncle T – just my opinion and have no information to support it but I think some of the powers that be in the PIAA got tired of the 6A final (and previously 4A) always being District 12 vs. District 7, so for the next 2 yr cycle that’s not going to happen because they moved District 12 to the other side of the bracket, so D12 vs. D7 will occur in the semi-finals and not the final. State College will be in the mix as they will take on the D7 winner in the quarterfinals, but as of now I would expect either Pine Richland or North Allegheny to play SJP in the “western” final in a couple of months.
@Foleman – great win for BC over McDonogh, I thought they lose by 10-14 points. Certainly appears BC and McDevitt and headed for a rematch in the D3 final, and since Imhotep is now on the other side of the bracket the winner of that game has an excellent chance to face Imhotep in Hershey for the title (Erie Prep is down a good bit this year, don’t think either ECP or TJ from the WPIAL will beat Imhotep in the semi-finals).
Also surprised like most of you that Township beat CD at their place, looks like they are a strong contender to repeat.
Regarding Coatesville I think most neutral observers would have them as the favorite to win DI, yes, I realize because of the playoff format they will likely have to beat several very good teams in a row, possibly GV and NP on the road, I think the team that poses the biggest threat to them is GV, don’t think NP has the front 7 on defense to slow down Ortega and company, and doesn’t have the firepower on offense to outscore them.
September 12th, 2018 at 1:48 pm
allright. name goes in top block ( under “leave a reply”), next block email, comment under “website”.
Or what?
September 12th, 2018 at 1:45 pm
C’ville has dates with both D’towns. Could be a wrestle there.
Will GV go undefeated?
September 12th, 2018 at 1:41 pm
Saw film on Malvern Prep vs LaSalle, Explorers had all the chances in the world. TO’s killed them. A young team that will be back.
They have 2 Freshman that start at LB. #22 Carter is a absolute stud, he was the best player on the field at times maybe 8 Tackles 2-3 Sacks. I was also very impressed with Lasalles 6’6 WR, man is this kid good. D1 material. BIG, Great Hands. He has to get the ball
Malvern was so so, Scored on the same play 3x Rocket Screens
September 12th, 2018 at 12:43 pm
Coatesville is the team with the highest ceiling, but they are set up for a difficult D1 path. It’s still a little early, but the way things look, North Penn and Garnet Valley are both likely to run the table and their schedule points will give them the 1 and 2 seeds respectively. Bishop Shanahan dropping to 4A is gonna be costly for C’ville’s points, but they should win out as well and get the 3 seed if they are as good as advertised. That will likely mean either DTown East or West (who both look quite legit), in the 2nd round. So we’re talking about a round 1 cakewalk, a home rivalry rematch against one of the DTowns in round 2, then 2 long road trips against GV and North Penn. That’s a tough ask, so they’ll have earned every bit of it if they just get back to where they were last year.
Does anyone know why the PIAA moved D12 to western side of the playoff bracket this year?
September 12th, 2018 at 9:25 am
Bleed Red & Black – Coatesville has an awesome Team and a great tradition. Don’t let these grumpy old men get to you. Way too many positive things to talk about in high school football. Not sure why some need to belittle other teams to make their schools seem better.
September 11th, 2018 at 5:00 pm
To say that you weren’t impressed with Coatesville by watching 1 game is just plain ignorance. There are 2+ years of tape/film, newspaper articles, etc with the same core group of guys to prove that they are impressive. Since the trio of Ortega/Bryant/Young have been on the field together they are 27-4 with the only losses coming to start powerhouses SJP, Cumberland Valley (twice) and North Penn. In that time frame, they are averaging over 42 points a game.
You can go back to plays for teams every year and pick apart why players did certain things. They are high school 15-18 year old KIDS. They are going to make mistakes. Professionals NFL players do stupid stuff and they are getting paid millions of dollars. Coatesville basically did whatever they wanted in the 1st half against Cumberland Valley hence the 28-7 score with the only points coming off the fumbled/muffed punt. They only had 2 possessions in the 2nd half and scored on the 1st and ran the clock out on the 2nd.
Is their stuff that Coatesville could improve on? Yes, of course, there are. But the same can be said about most high schools in the country at this point in their season. I would expect Coatesville as well as any other playoff team to be vastly improved come playoff time compared to week 2-3. Coatesville is has been inconsistent on the defensive side of the ball stopping the run the last 2 games, but they are also working in a handful of guys with limited varsity snaps at both the LB and DL positions.
The “lack of discipline” and penalties have been an issue forever at Coatesville. At times I think the calls come out of reputation more than anything. They won the D1 championship last year with those “issues” as well as making it to the state championship game in 2012 with those “issues”. You can go back to the last 10-15 years if not longer and find Coatesville getting the raw end of the deal on many occasions when it comes to penalties and refs calls.
Coatesville is going to be right in the thick of the D1 playoff talk and trip to Hershey talk(barring injury) come the end of the year. Coatesville is going to score points, the question will be is there a team in the area with that can either match their offensive firepower or make enough plays on the defensive side of the ball to give them a chance to win. Coatesville isn’t a one trick pony if you sell out to Aaron Young from running the ball Rickie is either going to beat you in the passing game or with his feet. If you try to take the passing game of Rickie/Dapree away then Aaron is going to kill you on the ground. They’ve got 5 guys right now with D1 offers/commitments (Young, Ortega, Bryant, Santiago and Holmes) as well as a couple other at least that have a chance to play high level ball (Nichols, Thompson, Kirk)
September 10th, 2018 at 10:11 am
Hey Derrick and Mike Smoll. I didn’t see the Central – Warwick game so I can’t comment on his performance, but I do know that Warwick has three D1 Linemen in Big Rucci (Wisconsin) Little Rucci (Wisconsin) and Coomer (Delaware) so they are certainly a formidable team. Also, Simon already has offers from Pitt and West Virginia so evidently some college coaches feel he is an OK QB.
Did not envision Township beating CD. That’s makes them the favorite now in D3 6A.
Cocalico with a big win over Mifflin makes them 3-0 to date and a challenger to Central maybe??? Mifflin is struggling at 0-3 however.
Three former LL QB’s in the NFL. Nagy and Reich are coaching and Henne is back-up with the Chiefs. That is amazing! I’m guessing there isn’t another High School league with two former players as head coaches in the NFL.
BC with a nice win over McDonough 14-13. McDonough went for two at the end of the game and missed.
September 9th, 2018 at 10:01 pm
I do think that Coatesville will win the east this year, but there will be a lot of tough teams in the District 1 playoffs, they may have to get through a really good North Penn team and then SJP after that, but I think they can do it. And if not, I’m still just really excited for this season.
September 8th, 2018 at 11:39 pm
Sounds like Knight Time is making a prediction — we’ll see if “any” playoff team with a good defense and a run game game can take out Coatesville. It’s a bit of cheap shot to say C’ville can be taken out year after year because of their emotions and undisciplined play — they won District 1 last year (beat GV by the way) and were a play away from going to the state championship (and they didn’t lose because of their emotions or penalties). I’m definitely not in awe of C’ville, they are H.S. kids after all, but if anyone has seen many of their games over the past few years, it’s hard to deny their talent. Young, Ortega, and Bryant are genuine D1 prospects — I just want to enjoy watching them light up the scoreboard for a little bit longer. By the way, I like that “Greatest show on turf” thing. It’s been said before, but it’s still pretty catchy.
September 8th, 2018 at 8:59 pm
To all the followers in this forum in awe of CVille and their greatest show on turf. Their Achilles heel for years has been their discipline (unecessary penalties) and can be taken out of their game because year after year they play with their emotions on their sleeves. Any playoff team with a good defense and can run the ball (NP and GV) can take them out
September 8th, 2018 at 2:11 pm
District 3 Commish watch the QB you recommended on TV last night for 2 1/2 Qtrs, a very good High School ball player, but “Definitely a Power 5 QB” seems to be a stretch, from the limited time I saw he’s got a lot of work til he’s in that company.
September 8th, 2018 at 1:37 pm
@ Foleman. I watched Evan play last night on PCN. He is good, but I don’t see what you see. I have definitely seen better QB’s in high school.
September 8th, 2018 at 10:32 pm
TAKE THE S off HTTPS://
September 8th, 2018 at 12:25 pm
Where is the scoreboard?
September 8th, 2018 at 10:47 am
Hey Kevin X, as a C’ville guy, I don’t necessarily disagree with you. However, it seemed to me that without all the penalties (or lack of penalties) it would have easily been a mercy rule game. The big question is: were most of the penalties (or no calls) legit? If so, then I’m more in line with your thinking. I definitely saw some poor tackling from C’ville and some secondary issues, but I think it will take a very strong defensive team to slow down their offense — Ortega’s arm is fine. I think the Downingtown games could be good, but I think they will be shooting matches and C’ville has the heavy artillery.
September 8th, 2018 at 10:05 am
Last night Southern Columbia freshman Gavin Garcia 3 TD this kid can play. Southern has so many weapons. This could very well be the best Southern team to date. And that comes from a Dunmore bucks fan.
September 8th, 2018 at 8:51 am
Also, and you C’Ville folks feel free to jump down my throat or set me straight, but I was not impressed last night with the Red Raiders, at least from the middle of the second quarter after the muffed punt. He should have never been near that punt. Then the penalties. And the run defense. Ortega’s mid to long range passing accuracy. Does make the games against the two Downingtowns’ in October a lot more intriguing.
September 8th, 2018 at 8:24 am
Why didn’t CV attempt an onside kick in the middle of 4th qtr after their 3rd TD?? That was the only way they had a chance to win that game if they got the ball back right then. That made no sense to me.
September 8th, 2018 at 8:23 am
Watched the Coatesville/CV game. Coatesville had a ton of penalties — not sure how many were legit (some seemed ridiculous). 3 holding plays in a row? Maybe. Not sure CV had any penalties (even though an end left early on half a dozen plays). A win is a win, but with all the talent C’ville has they need to clean it up. I’ll give C/V credit for not folding after the initial onslaught.
September 7th, 2018 at 10:18 pm
Derrick, this comes from someone who has seen Simon play, he’s the real deal and will you will probably be watching him on TV on Saturday’s in a few years. He will probably wind up at a school like Pitt or Wisconsin and tear it up.
September 7th, 2018 at 10:08 pm
Jeff H Berks Catholic 14-13 over McDonough BC led 14-0 with a little over 2 minutes to go, McDonough scored twice and went for 2 but was stopped. Then they recovered an onside kick but BC held. Fantastic game. Gives District 3 some cred, was surprised Manheim Township beat Central Dauphin. 6A up for grabs in D3
September 7th, 2018 at 9:40 pm
Coatesville uses big first quarter to defeat Cumberland Valley.
Coatesville 35 Cumberland Valley 19.
After falling behind 28-0 to one of the top 6A programs in the state this year, CV showed signs of grit, determination, and growing up a little with several nice long drives over the last three quarters. CV closed to 28-13 late in the third quarter but Coatesville sealed the victory with an impressive drive culminating in a touchdown with just over 10 minutes left. CV answered with a TD drive of their own but time was running out and Coatesville was able to run out the clock. CV hung in there and battled back after the initial Coatesville onslaught but D1 players Aaron Young and Ricky Ortega for Coatesville were just too much for the CV defense to handle. Coatesville improves to 3-0 while CV starts the season with an un-CV like 0-3 record.
September 7th, 2018 at 2:36 pm
Thank You Evan Simon’s dad. Nice touch adding a couple smaller opinions on other boys to throw us off.
September 7th, 2018 at 1:39 pm
Really nice to see some of the crossover games in the early season in D3, Berks has been criticized on this board and elsewhere in years past for having a cupcake schedule in the regular season, which I think clearly hurt them in the state playoffs when it came time to take on Erie Prep. To their credit they’ve significantly upgraded their schedule this year, will have their hands full with McDonogh tonight and will do well to keep it within 2 scores, but playing teams like CD and McDonogh and Malvern Prep in a couple of weeks will get them better prepared for the playoffs.
Also nice to see McDevitt play Middletown, expect this game to be a battle but think McDevitt with Chase Diehl and company have too much firepower and will end up winning by a couple of scores.
Game of the week among big schools in the WPIAL is Pittsburgh Central Catholic travelling to North Allegheny, those 2 along with Pine Richland have won the last 8 WPIAL titles at the largest classification, and one of those 3 will win again this year, there’s a very large gap between them and the rest of the 6A schools. I like NA at home tonight in a slugfest, they mercy ruled Norwin last week in a game I thought was going to be pretty close, as Norwin has a good QB and some nice skill players, but NA dominated in the trenches.
September 6th, 2018 at 8:54 am
Mike A and Jeff H – Thanks for the feedback and also the update on your area schools. Let’s try to make this an informative forum as much as possible.
I would encourage everyone to try to see Evan Simon of Manheim Central before he graduates. He is a Jr this year. He will definitely be a starting QB for a Power 5 college and has a chance to go further. I believe he is more advanced at this age than some other D3 QB’s that have played on Sundays. Doesn’t mean he will surpass them, but he is a complete player. An actual passing QB not a high school / college running QB He beat Mifflin in the D3 final with a shoulder fake that froze the corner and then threw a perfect ball for a TD……Game Over! I am not from Central either so I don’t want to hear that. He is special.
Adam Burkhart from CD is incredibly physical. Probably won’t get D1 offers because of size but he is awesome to watch. Against BC he was the most physical LB for both teams. Watch his HUDL video for that game. He literally knocks people over to get to the ball. Amazing!
Nick Singleton is a Freshman at Mifflin and is their best player. He will become their FB and his ceiling is very high. Amazing athlete.
And another reminder that Wilson is at Manheim Central next Firday 9/14 @ 7pm. These schools have not played each other in about 5 years due to different classifications, but they have had some epic battles over the years. Two amazing programs that have been the standard in D3 along with McDevitt, CV and CD. Great fan bases and it will be a sellout. Amazing long tenured coaching staffs that have mutual respect for each other. Complex defensive schemes and players finish tackles. They have progressive offenses that have grown legendary QB’s such as Nagy, Smoker, Collins and Henne. This will be the best atmosphere at a high school game in Central PA all year……. and again next year at Wilson.
September 5th, 2018 at 10:44 am
@District 3 Commish – great summary, I’m from the Pittsburgh area but follow football statewide, my impression from afar when I saw CD handle Wilson and then beat BC 7-0 was they were the team to beat in 6A. Also agree with your assessment Coatesville will be in Hershey in December barring something totally unforeseen, if I was making a state poll I would have them #1 followed by SJP and Pine Richland,
Regarding 5A I think Manheim Central has a good chance of making it to Hershey, appears they are better than any of the D1 teams in 5A, out here in the west the WPIAL is loaded in 5A this year with Gateway, Penn Hills, and McKeesport the top 3 in no particular order, and several other solid teams like Bethel Park and West Allegheny, whoever survives the WPIAL playoffs will likely play AW in the semi-finals, but early indications and the talk out East is this is not the same vintage AW team we’ve seen the last several years, time will tell, they are obviously still the team to beat in 5A until someone knocks them off.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:45 pm
Hi guys. I am enjoying all the football talk on here. If anyone is interested in helping us promote high school football let me know. I am always looking for more reporters and if you want to send me a weekly recap of games in your district let me know.
You can reach me at Dave@easternpafootball.com
Thank you!
September 4th, 2018 at 7:30 pm
@District 3 Commish Nice summary…pretty much right on the mark.
Cumberland Valley Outlook for 2018:
CV had 4 turnovers against Central York but the reality is this is probably the weakest and most inexperienced team CV had fielded in the last 20-30 years. They were hit very hard by graduation of some very good players.15-16 starters this year are basically JV players with little to no varsity experience. The pass defense has been nonexistent and the offense is inconsistent and mistake prone. There are several very skilled players and as the younger players get some experience they should improve but they lack the overall team speed and athleticism of past teams. A 5-5 record would be a successful season but 4-6 is more likely from what I have seen so far and the difficulty of the upcoming schedule. They will be very large underdogs (probably 3-4 TD’s) to Coatesville (mercy rule is possible) and considerable underdogs as well to CD and Harrisburg in the following weeks.
September 4th, 2018 at 2:09 pm
My humble opinion on district 3 big school classifications:
– Central Dauphin is the team to beat in 6A. Have not seen a front 8 that strong in D3 in a long time. Plus they are all seniors. BC saw that first hand this week on their new home turf. I believe
they will beat Manheim Township soundly this week.
– CV is having a down year. Not enough team speed to win consistently at the 6A level this year.
– Is this the year York County has a contender in D3 playoffs? Central York beat CV and is 2-0 and Red Lion is also 2-0.
– Cedar Crest is a confident team. Will be interesting to see how that offense performs against MT, Hempfield and Wilson this year.
– Wilson is very young, only starting 2 seniors on defense. A solid team this year but will not peak until next year. But keep an eye on Elijah Morales as he ran away from a very fast Mifflin
secondary multiple times.
– Warwick has two D1 beasts on their Lines in Rucci and Coomer. Not sure who can block these two?
– MT has a nice QB in Kirk and some tall athletic players. If their line play is solid they will be strong again. Not CD strong, but a battle for the silver medal in D3.
– No D3 team will beat Coatesville this year. Put Coatesville in the State Final….. Book It!!!!
-5A is all about Manheim Central. D! QB and a beast of a line! Mifflin, Cedar Cliff, Cocalico, Warwick are all playing for 2nd.
– Next weekend Wilson is at Central in a mandated LL crossover game. Central QB against Wilson running game!!!!!!! Central is the favorite in this game for sure.
Good Day Good Sports!
September 3rd, 2018 at 6:50 pm
Looking for high quality videographer for highschool games in eastern pa area for the rest of the season. Professional quality.
August 31st, 2018 at 10:40 am
Anyone know if the SJ Prep/St. Frances game will be televised or streamed live anywhere tonight?? Looking for a “Plan B” if going to be overly wet this evening.
August 30th, 2018 at 9:57 pm
Why no squawking about how MCA is going to get pummeled by SCA tomorrow? I remember years when Mount Carmel supporters wouldn’t keep their traps quiet. Can’t wait to go sit in the “Toilet Bowl” and watch another SCA beat down!
August 30th, 2018 at 3:45 pm
Maybe its a Chester County thing, these Thursday night games before Labor Day weekend. I count 5 games in Chester County this evening…….
August 30th, 2018 at 2:48 pm
Thanks guys!!! Saw it initially slated for 6p, but more recently @7p. Trying to motivate myself for a little road trip this evening. Figure I’ll be down there next week for CV, so might be tough to head out there two weeks in a row. We’ll see.
A few games today. Believe follow Ches Mont folk WC Rustin and WC Henderson are going at it as well, plus a few others. Middletown has a bit of a ride, easier to make I suppose on a Thursday then the Friday before a long 3-day summer holiday weekend. Makes for a short week for C’Ville coming off a Sat. road game in Harrisburg. But I believe this is M-Town’s fist game, so at least C’Ville got some work in. Yeah, guessing C’Ville might of had to take what was offered to them for an opponent this weekend. I see that Wood is idle this weekend. No takers there either. Oh well, would of loved to have seen that match-up.
As far as Garnet and North Penn, both will be there high in the rankings I am assuming when all is said and done. GV, of their 10 games, 6 are against 5A schools. Their schedule is OK, not overly tough. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them run the table. All of NP’s games are against 6A competition, and a tougher schedule. If they can escape the next 3 unscathed (or even drop one of the games), good chance they will run the table as well and probably a top 4 seeding (and minimum of 2 home playoff games). Wild card in all of this IMO is Pennridge. A good team with an all 6A schedule against fairly decent teams (similar to NP) and who made the D1 6A semi’s last year. Let the fun and games continue!!!!!
August 30th, 2018 at 9:34 am
Coatesville’s game time is 7pm…they just moved it back last week.
I think they heard alot of feedback and pushed it back last minute.
First home game of the season, should have a decent crowd before the holiday weekend.
August 30th, 2018 at 9:27 am
2018 ratings?
August 30th, 2018 at 12:10 pm
I am working on them, Cobra01
August 30th, 2018 at 6:55 am
Where are the 2018 Rankings?
August 29th, 2018 at 10:23 pm
PastorZack
I would assume they would be classified as a 6A team. NJSIAA has them as a Group IV classification (Group V is the highest) in the state with an enrollment of 1,096.
I agree they need all the bonus points they can get for playoff seeding. Hurts having only Dtown East & West and Avon Grove as the only 6a schools in the Ches-Mont National. They will be losing points every week against the 5A West Chester schools (East, Henderson and Rustin) and 4A Shanahan.
August 29th, 2018 at 10:15 pm
Kevin X,
Game tomorrow is 7pm!
Does anybody have a clue as to why they are playing on a Thursday night? Believe last year they played at Cumberland Valley the Friday of Labor Day weekend. Not sure if Jersey has some weird rule not allowing teams to play on a day that schools are closed or if it. Could also be because this was basically the only team that showed any interest in playing them this week.
August 29th, 2018 at 6:20 pm
@PastorZack, et al……What time is the C’ville game tomorrow, 6p or 7p??? I’ve seen it listed at both times.
August 29th, 2018 at 3:38 pm
Does this work?
August 29th, 2018 at 8:42 am
Any comparison for size of school that Middletown South High (NJ) is and how that you transfer over to PIAA division for points purposes? Coatesville needs all the extra points they can get just to keep up with GV and NP since Bishop Shanahan moving down to 4A. Sometimes these conference affiliations hurt going into playoff time. I’d much rather play GV or NP at home rather than away come playoff time.
NP (wet and long) grass could hinder the speed come playoff time and just having to play ground and pound with GV in Delco is not something that I’d want to revisit. Too much for cardiac arrest.
August 28th, 2018 at 3:57 pm
@Friday Night Lights, not serious will return in a few weeks
To everyone else thanks for the history on Heartbreak Ridge.
August 27th, 2018 at 6:43 pm
@Knight Time
Any idea if Intrieri’s knee is serious? Hoping to have Edwards back for La Salle but cant rush head injuries with kids.
August 27th, 2018 at 5:49 pm
Knight Time –
Neshaminy’s current playing field was completed in time for the 1956 season (the new school was finished for the 1954-1955 school year but some construction continued for a few more years and that included sports fields so the ‘Skins played at the old field in “downtown” Langhorne for two seasons). Then notably the concrete stands were put in just in time for the 1963 season (prior to that they were using “standard” wooden bleachers) while the official name back then was Playwicki Field or the Neshaminy Athletic Field.
Anyway, from 1956 through 1965 Neshaminy played very well at home. And aware of that fact, Dick Dougherty (the head of the Sports Department at the Bucks County Courier-Times) had it in mind while he was writing an article just prior to the Pennsbury game in ’65 (that was late in the season with Neshaminy having just one more game after the Falcons contest and Pennsbury might have had one more too). The game was at Neshaminy and Dougherty, knowing the ‘Skins record, was describing how difficult it was for a visiting team to win there (Neshaminy’s tally “at home” to that point and at their home field from 1956 to 1965 was actually 55-4-4). So looking to be colorful, no doubt, Dougherty referenced Neshaminy’s field as “Heartbreak Ridge” for visitors — and it stuck.
Then part of the reason for the use of the “Ridge” term is due to geography (the “Heartbreak” is understandable). In that regard, the school’s location is right at the edge of the land mass that would form or be part of the more mountainous region leading up to the Appalachians (that would be to the north and west of the school, generally). To the south and east of that site is the beginning of the flatter land mass that runs through that part of Lower Bucks County and then New Jersey through to the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, there is a steep drop off from the school site down to the Neshaminy Creek (to the north and west where the Creek is the boundary of the school grounds) and then also to the “flatlands” to the south and east (and all of that is not far from the field’s location). Thus, and as you would suspect, the school grounds and the field essentially sit on the high top of a “ridge” area and which allowed “it” to fit nicely into Mr. Dougherty’s article.
August 27th, 2018 at 3:39 pm
Attended the Valley View Wallenpaupack game friday night.Not really sure how good either team is .but boy what a war in the trenches! One of the most physical games i have seen in some time and some really big time hitting.Play either of those teams you better buckle up the chin strap !!!
August 27th, 2018 at 12:47 pm
@mick, Robinson had no time to throw ball all night (all new starters on NP o line this year). If rb/lb Edwards didn’t suffer concussion in 1st half and lb/te Intreri, knee on opening kick off remained in game it wouldn’t have been that close nor would have gone to OT with our without Manzyk
August 27th, 2018 at 12:44 pm
I was at NP/Neshaminy game on Friday. Wow. So glad I made the trip. I agreed with the choice to go for 2, and thought Neshaminy was rolling and would score. I knew that 5 would get the ball, I just didn’t think he would be stopped. NP QB Robinson came up big when he had to. Honestly, Neshaminy would have won the game if one of the following three things didn’t happen. #5 dropped a long pass. #25 dropped a sure TD pass and tipped it to NP. #5 was assed a roughing the passer penalty (which I thought was BS). Neshaminy QB was on the run all night. My group questioned why he didn’t throw more. He showed great composure in the 2 minute drill. Definitely helped us by him not passing more. Anyway, a great game by both sides. I am hoping for a rematch in November.
August 27th, 2018 at 6:14 am
Knight Time
Newspaper man, the late Dick Dougherty initiated the name Heartbreak Ridge in a news article about Neshaminy in the mid 1960s. Since they opened the stadium in 1956 they were something like 55-4 there at the time, and Dougherty felt it was heartbreak for most opponents coming in. The name stuck. Check out the Neshaminy football website, it is one of the best you will find.
August 26th, 2018 at 2:06 am
Knight time,
It was a great game at Neshaminy. Couple things I noticed: North Penn QB did not look good most of the game but did make a few big throws in the 4th. Neshaminys line on both sides of the ball needs to get stronger. QB on the run every time he drops back. Manzyk js unbelievable, but he can not do it alone. This kid is all over the field and can chase down anyone. Great acceleration
No disrespect to the coaches and players but without this kid they may win 4 games. Give the Redskins credit, though, this game was over but they always find a way to come back. Steve Wilmot excellent coach and great guy/role model.
August 25th, 2018 at 10:48 pm
What a barn burner at heartbreak Ridge. Double OT win by North Penn over Neshaminy. Still trying to find out why they call Neshaminy stadium heart break ridge.
August 25th, 2018 at 5:27 pm
Coatesville demolished Harrisburg. I will admit, I don’t know much about Harrisburg, but I know they were very good last year and people were surprised when they didn’t make the 5A final. And I saw how bad they beat teams etc. but I don’t know if they kept their best players or anything like that. So that’s the first thing.
Also, we all knew going into this season that Coatesville retained many of their key players from last seasons run, one that ended 21-3 up against SJP in the east final before eventually losing to them in a wild game overall.
Coatesville will undoubtedly 10-0 or 9-1 if they have an off night and have a high playoff seed. Will they win D1 again? Will they get revenge on SJP?
From Coatesville btw. Go Red Raiders.
August 24th, 2018 at 11:54 am
Are the team previews over? No Cumberland Valley this year? I know they lost a lot and have a tough schedule with McDevitt, Coatesville, Central Dauphin, and Harrisburg all in the first half of the season and then State College in the finale. Will be a difficult year. Maybe I can dig up a little and give it a shot like I did last year.
August 23rd, 2018 at 8:13 pm
Thoughts on CVille vs Harrisburg??? Who you guys got?
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:41 pm
Prayers also needed for the Jersey Shore player who was seriously injured in a helmet to helmet collision in practice last week. He has been in a coma ever since.
August 23rd, 2018 at 10:45 am
My thoughts go out to Dunmore and coach Jack Henzes for a speedy recovery. Get Well Jack.
August 23rd, 2018 at 7:03 am
Dunmore coach Jack Henzes will not be on the side line as Dunmore opens the season he is recovering from open heart surgery and most are saying we will not see him this year.join me in prayers for his recovery
August 22nd, 2018 at 4:45 pm
Kevin X, probably go with McDonogh vs. Wood or Imhotep vs. LaSalle. North Penn against Neshaminy should be interesting. Curious to see how Coatesville does against Harrisburg also.
August 22nd, 2018 at 1:23 pm
@ Kevin X
Bishop McDevitt @ Cumberland Valley Friday
Coatesville @ Harrisburg Saturday
August 22nd, 2018 at 8:23 am
NP @ neshaminy
August 22nd, 2018 at 6:49 am
NDGP82…Friday
August 22nd, 2018 at 12:38 am
When will preseason rankings be out?
August 21st, 2018 at 5:18 pm
When will the preseason rankings be published?
August 21st, 2018 at 9:28 am
Wow 3 days to opening night kickoff, and it seems to be a little quiet around here. You guys getting your game faces on?? Two questions……..
1. If you are headed out Friday night, just curious what game you guys are heading to across our eastern coverage area.
2. If you had a choice of games to go to anywhere in the D1/D12 area, what game would you most like to attend Friday night. I must have at least 6-8 games on my radar.
August 19th, 2018 at 12:12 pm
Neshaminy easily handled laslle at lasalle. Nesh scored on a pass to Manzyk who was the best player on the field. Neshaminy also scored on 2 pick six’s, 2 of the 4 interceptions thrown by lasalle. Neshaminy O line needs work as they could not get running game going and qb was on the run. Lasalle’s only score was called back on penalty. Not much O for either team. Lasalle lucky not 5 or 6 picks in about a half. Lasalle did have a nice field goal. Running game for lasalle was decent at times and some poor tackling by neshaminy. Neshaminy line on both sides will need to grow up fast, if they can Neshaminy should win their conference but it is down this year.
August 19th, 2018 at 9:30 am
Was anyone at the Neshaminy/Lasalle scrimmage on Saturday? How was it? North Penn QB looked good in the scrimmage with PW. NP overall looked solid but I take it with a grain of salt considering the level of competition.
August 17th, 2018 at 7:51 am
Hey guys, the rest of the PCN TV “Game of the Week” season schedule has been posted on their website (other than week 10, which is a TBD game).
https://pcntv.com/2017/09/03/gameoftheweek/
August 16th, 2018 at 5:53 pm
@SCA Mom Your response on the comment from GSM is most appreciated. Most contributors and readers in this forum can see right through the statements that were made. When you are winning like Southern is you will always have negative criticism. I have followed Southern football 25+ years and attended many games I have nothing but respect for the football program. And that comes from a Dunmore bucks fan
August 15th, 2018 at 9:44 pm
Joepa,
Calm down, learn to take defeat, and every kid shouldn’t get a participation trophy
August 15th, 2018 at 3:33 pm
GSM you clearly are just trying to stir the pot, anyone can say I heard or I was told without the facts to back it up. My son plays on the varsity team for SCA (always lived in the district) and has been in school with all these kids since, at the latest I can think of someone moving here being 6th grade. There are only 2 kids on the varsity roster I believe who moved into the district at some point in high school.(I don’t know the younger kids JV/JH so to make a statement about them without knowing the facts would be wrong.) One boy on the roster always lived in the district but went to Christian school and transferred two years ago back to Southern (and 2 out of the 3 I mentioned aren’t starters). So if you really believe what you are saying go ahead and contact PIAA and do a walk through everyone’s residence. But please be sure to come back on here and eat crow and give an honest report. I will speak for my son and say that he works year round for football. The mentality is to always get better. So I choose to applaud the work ethic of our boys. Also, I venture to say the a majority of our fans route for the surrounding teams to be successful; when they aren’t playing us of course.
August 15th, 2018 at 8:27 am
Saw on the PCN web site that their first “Game of the Week” is Coatesville @ Harrisburg on Saturday August 25th @ 1p. Did not see the rest of the PCN Game of the Week season schedule listed on the web site. Guess it will tho be released shortly.
August 14th, 2018 at 10:55 am
Go turn them in then GSM.
August 14th, 2018 at 10:53 am
Gsm- Not sure where you are getting your information but its really incorrect.
August 13th, 2018 at 7:42 pm
I was standing next to a junior high coach from one of Southern Columbia neighboring school districts and as they introduced the players, he said that five of the kids played for him in junior high school. I’m not sure when the last time they started an entirely home grown back field there.
Over the summer I was talking to a head coach from one of their opponents and he said at least five of their players still live in the neighboring district I alluded to earlier.
August 13th, 2018 at 5:19 pm
Johnny C, if that’s for real, those are two really bad options.
August 13th, 2018 at 11:26 am
@Phillyboy
North Penn has part of their 2018 roster uploaded and I do not see Gorski’s name on there. Looks like they moved Shamar Edwards to RB.
August 12th, 2018 at 10:00 pm
Heard there are three options being discussed in Boundary / Non Boundary issues with PIAA and School Administrator Attorney’s Two of these are true and one is not.
1.) Classifying Non Boundary schools by the amount of students available within the geographic radius of all students enrolled in each respective school district. For example if two students live 50 miles apart, then all of the students available attending ALL schools would be counted as available to that Non Boundary district. In essence this would establish a boundary for that school year. This available population would determine their classification for that year. Most schools would then be 6A
2.) Eliminate all boundaries for all schools. Students would no longer need to live in the district they choose to participate in for athletics, band, chess club etc… This would negate the relocation advantage of Non Boundary schools.
3.) Allow Trump to decide. Since it has become a circus why not let the biggest Clown make the decision. 🙂
August 12th, 2018 at 3:30 pm
@ Knight Time
That’s not good if Gorski is not at North Penn anymore. I considered him one of their returning stars. Almost reminded me of Needhammer or Laky or Smith. Oh well.
August 12th, 2018 at 3:00 pm
JoePa, I guess your “English as a second language” course isn’t going as well as planned.
August 12th, 2018 at 8:34 am
@Knight Time
Interesting. Like I said, that’s what I think I thought I might know lol. Any idea who might be the RB this year?
August 12th, 2018 at 8:22 am
@dave Thank you! I dont know How I forgot about that one!
I have always been interested in the rivalries that pitted two schools in close proximity up agianst each other. My dad told me all kinds of stories about the Sunbury Owls playing against the Northumberland Pineknotters and I went to college in Lock Haven and heard all kinds of stories about Bald Eagle Nittany and Lock Haven High School. Are there any rivalries like this still around? I know Bloom and Central is a good example as well as Loyalsock and Montoursville. Consolidation is a killer =/
Unrelated note…. I wish Midd-West played more D4 teams in their inaugural season. Hopefully next year they get their schedule straightened out – This year they are all over the place, but thats to be expected of a brand new team.
August 11th, 2018 at 10:40 pm
@D4 FB, another good D4 rivalry to consider is the yearly “Battle For The Bridge”, Montoursville / Loyalsock.
August 11th, 2018 at 6:51 pm
Mick POLITICS, you got to be kidding me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What I referred to is the truth about the most powerful person in the world. Guest you were brought up to answer creatively but I call it not telling the truth it’s a lie in my book. If you are parent I guest that’s fine if your children’s up bringing, but not in my family and that’s the cold harden fact/truth..
August 11th, 2018 at 6:46 pm
@Friday Night Lights
Xzavier Gorski is no longer at North Penn. I don’t even think he is playing football
August 10th, 2018 at 11:00 pm
Hey guys, I am thinking of going to some games this year and recording the games and uploading them to youtube.
1. I am not affiliated with any schools (I am a teacher in the area, but probably wont record any of their games.
2. Is there any reason I wouldn’t be allowed to record / post online? I cant see any reason seeing it is a public event, but you know…
3. Does anyone hae any recs for a good digital camera? I have a decent one, but I could probably upgrade.
4. Bonus question: What are the best D4 games this season? I am going to check out the schedule, but I think me and my crew will be looking mostly for rivalries. Big ones I can think of off the top of my head are Shik/selinsgrove, bloom/central, Milton/warrior Run.
Thanks folks!
August 10th, 2018 at 2:34 pm
Joepa: Really!!! You are bringing politics to this forum. Show a little respect. This is high school football not the NFL
August 10th, 2018 at 9:34 am
Here is what I think I know about NP. The QB is new and is a senior. He is originally from NJ but did play basketball for NP last year. Don’t know much about his arm but he is apparently pretty athletic. His main two targets will be Shamar Edwards and Jon Haynes. Haynes is a third year starter and Edwards is a second year starter. They have been larger contributors on defense thus far because NP has had some good receivers the last two years in Ricky Johns, Owen Thomas, Justis Henley, and Jake Hubler. I expect them to both have a good seasons now that they will be focal points on offense. Xzavier Gorski should be the RB. He saw varsity minutes as a sophomore behind Nick Dillon and last year behind KJ Cartwright so there is some experience there. Good, shifty runner with some speed. TE is a question with Owen Thomas and Nick Vasger all gone. Nick Intrieri, who was a 6’3″ 200 lb WR/LB last year could be a candidate. Jake Walton was listed as a TE last year at 6’3″ 220 but he is now up to 245 so he could switch to the line. The o line replaces all 5 but that has become fairly normal under Beck because of his preference for starting seniors along the o line. They do have some larger bodies that were on the team last year but I do not know how good they are. Could be a slightly bigger line than recent years. Defensively the return third year starter Julian White at D end. They have some other D linemen that saw minutes last year as well but none were starters. Should be a camp battle but with some solid candidates. Linebacker could be a strength with Nathan Brown (5’11” 205) and Nick Intrieri (6’3″ 200) playing a lot of minutes and even starting at times last year. Shamar Edwards (5’11” 190) should play the strong safety in Becks preferred 4-4 front. Haynes (6′ 195) was a safety last year but could switch to corner. Kaleem Corbin plays for Philly’s Finest 7v7 looks like a solid bet to start at the other corner. Again, this is what think I know. Looking forward to week one.
August 9th, 2018 at 4:39 pm
Brain
I have nothing but respect for SCA. They have a great program and tradition there. They have by far the best High school Football coach in Pennsylvania. You could be correct it was probably JV but still out numbered their opponent by 20 some girls and the opponent probably had their Jv girls too. It was a State playoff game. Just looked weird considering they were in the same class. I get it is a unique VoTech not many have sport teams but the kids that go to other vo techs count towards the school they originally had to go to. Not saying that is wrong or anything since others schools in the area send their students to the same Vo tech. But would SCA ever play up a class. A boys basketball school in Single A killed Lourdes in the state championship and now is moving up to 6A. We all know the next 2 years have SCA championships written all over it in AA. Unless something crazy happens.
August 9th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
RE: Foleman ——- TOM F. the same. You can’t help yourself can you to be accurate. Seems your similar to our President just can’t get the facts and truth correct. It appears that you have an inside path to Berks Catholics internal bureaucracy and that’s fine. First of all Wilson does not openly, actively attract athletes from around Berks County. But non boundary schools do quit well. Where I live two brothers are athletes, one goes to Berks Catholic and one to Wilson. You know this has been around for decades and can you blame parents wanting their son/daughter to get a good education and at the same time get extra exposure to advance their athletic skills to further their education beyond high school with potential scholarships. Why would a parent not do this. In a recent case a Wilson RB parent’s inherited a home in the Muhlenberg School District yet the RB transferred to BC. BC’s AD could have nixed it but did he and why? BC is well know to subsidize tuition costs for special students. And your fact that 3 players transferring into Wilson, in fact these boys transferred in from another state into Wilson (Illinois). The father went to Wilson, played for Wilson and when his boys were younger played football in the Wilson feeder program. It is very clear that non boundary schools have huge advantages over boundary schools and can derive techniques to recruit. Oh by the way regarding Callaway. Why not talk to his father on the reason to transfer. You have the open path at BC Tom F. but get your facts correct.
August 9th, 2018 at 2:19 pm
Not going to lie, I’m biased towards my team, Neshaminy, but they should be better than last years team. With Manzyk leading the D, and also returning on O with QB McAndrew, WR Joyce, and almost all of the skill players, it should be a fun year. The lines will be the biggest question mark, but the D line should have no problem replacing last years seniors. The O line will be OK, mostly because Coach Wilmot is by trade an O Line coach. I’m sure he will have the right guys in place with the right game plans. Not to sure about NP, other than they are usually a great team and they have a new senior QB.
August 9th, 2018 at 1:52 pm
FNL
Nesh lost all 5 O linemen from last year with this year’s line with no experience and undersized in a big way. Also replacing 3 or 4 DL line with similar issues. Also, expected starting RB transferred to Bensalem, and Hebron is not playing sticking to track. While manzyk can create plays on both side of the ball. Playing a NP or Pennsbury with their size and depth up front will be a problem if Beck and McShane figure out in time. Nesh will still make playoffs as SOL national is not very strong again. Pennsbury needs to repalce qb, but has decent size and speed back.
Haven’t heard much either about NP, other than QB situation.
August 9th, 2018 at 8:29 am
@Skat
North Penn-Neshaminy should be very competitive. I agree with you that I am hearing little about either team. North Penn has some solid skill position players and a new QB who they need to break in. From what I understand Neshaminy has some good skill players too but might struggle early along the lines. Curious as to what other people think.
August 9th, 2018 at 8:22 am
Jut,
There is no sending of students to vo-tech to keep numbers down. A handful of students choose to go to vo-tech in 9th grade to study a trade because they have no desire to stay in the academic setting. Those students who opt to go there spend the entire day there and if they are interested they play athletics there. It’s a unique vo-tech school because it’s all day and they have their own sports team. Also the other surrounding schools like bloom, central Columbia, Berwick, among others have students who attend that vo-tech school. It’s not done to duck numbers just another attempt of haters to put down a successful program. Also that soccer game you went to could’ve easily been the jv team dressed on the sidelines too.
August 8th, 2018 at 9:29 pm
I’m thinking about going down to the North Penn-Neshaminy game week 1. Will that game be competitive? Hearing little about either side. Thanks
August 8th, 2018 at 2:40 pm
Why would a high school QB with a legitimate chance to play QB in college want to play for a high school that runs a Wing T?
August 8th, 2018 at 10:40 am
District 3, no, not the same person,are you a Wilson coach? Or maybe you are the wealthy Real Estate Alum who finds all of the “move ins’ cheap housing in Sinking Spring! Ask Menapace, Hess, Ferrandino or any other of the AD’S in Berks what they think of Wilson’s recruiting. 4 basketball players from BC transferred in to WIlson last year. Everyone pleaded with Hess to not sign off on the Calloway transfer when Wilson’s coach, who was coaching him all summer in AAU was actively recruiting him. I can’t imagine the negative publicity this would generate if the situation was reversed. Kids do move for athletic purposes, but when a School is actively reaching out to parents and recruiting their sons and daughters for athletics like Wilson does, that’s wrong and they should be punished. MacFoy you say! Who is Wilson’s starting tailback this year? What school did he transfer in from?. I also see your baseball and girls basketball teams had some high profile transfers, more move in’s? One from Wyomissing, which happens to be one of the top SD in the State.
August 8th, 2018 at 9:19 am
District 3 commish
About SCA you are right it’s crazy the amount of kids that are on their sport teams considering they are a A/AA school. I went to a state playoff single A girls soccer game a few years ago and SCA must of had 40 some girls on their team. That’s crazy for a single A. Not sure the rules with the school. Maybe if you attend SCA you have to play a sport or something. Did hear a rumor way back which is a rumor no truth behind it that I know. Is they send most of Thur students to Col Mont. Vo-tech to keep their numbers down so they could stay playing at A/AA level. Funny thing with that is that if they did play AAA/AAAA they would compete and win there too. But it is fishy that the number of athletes on their sports teams is crazy high for a small school
August 7th, 2018 at 9:02 pm
Foleman, are you and Irish 1 the same person? Has your kid “Foley” decided where he is going to school this year? Who else would ask about a kid know one else has heard about?
Manheim Township had the Emge family move from Fleetwood to MT so the kids could play football there. MT also had a WR move from Hempfield last year. They all had to move to another district to play though…… not just enroll there.
Somehow Southern Columbia, who has approximately 75 male students per class, has a large percentage of large athletes in that district. Not sure how they end up there but they all live in the district. The best receiver in the country and a QB heading to BAMA?
Last year Wilson lost 3 seniors that all started for other schools…. One to Mifflin, one to Warwick and one to Cocalico. They all started for these respective teams and they all moved to those respective districts to play football. This year one kid moved from Mifflin to Wilson and two kids moved from Wilson to Mifflin
In the Harrisburg area kids are always moving between CD, CD East, Harrisburg, etc…. It happens.
Families are always going to move to other districts for whatever reason and that can’t be stopped. There is no moving required to attend BC.
MacFoy transferred to BC because his parents used a Muhlenburg address and Wilson would not allow him to enroll in the district without being a resident. Based on that he should be attending Muhlenburg this year. I would wager a LOT of money he is not paying tuition to attend BC this year.
Maybe one year BC will quit being scared and play 6A.
August 7th, 2018 at 4:46 pm
@Foleman Wilson West Lawn has had more transfers the last two years than Cumberland Valley has had in more than 30 years!
August 7th, 2018 at 10:35 am
@Matt I agree with who your top 4 in the Colonial League are but I have them in this order 1. Notre Dame Green Pond 2. Palisades 3. Southern Lehigh 4. Saucon Valley. 5 through 10 could go many ways. The last 2 either way. The good news for Notre Dame is that they are home against all three of their top 4 opponents. September 7 Southern Lehigh September 28 Palisades. October 19 Saucon Valley.
August 7th, 2018 at 9:39 am
Wilson West Lawn needed a quarterback, 3 Sophomore QB’S transferred in including 1 which started as a Freshman at Hamburg, which is located 20 miles at the opposite end of Berks County from Wilson. Iggy Reynoso, Berks Counties all time leading rusher also started out at Hamburg and somehow found his way into Wilson’s Zip Code. Berks Public School AD’s are livid, especially Hamburg and Wyomissing, where Wilson has been contacting their athletes for years about transferring. District 1 has NP, District 3 has Wilson, and Wilson had the Stones to show up at the meeting regarding separating Public and Private schools. A few years ago, Wilson’s starting QB, RB and Receiver were all transfers.
August 6th, 2018 at 11:45 am
@Colonialfan…I’m going to take a guess at CL records and ranking this year for the fun of it
1) Palisades 9-1
2) SL 8-2
3) NDGP 8-2
4) SV 7-3
5) Bangor 6-4
6) NW 6-4
7) NL 5-5
8) Wilson 5-5
9) PA 4-6
10) Palmerton 4-6
11) Salisbury 2-8
12) Catty 1-9
As you can see from 5-10 I have alot of teams aorund 500….the top 4 are clearly top 4 then it’s a lot of parity. Should be a fun year!
August 6th, 2018 at 7:48 am
@Knight Time
Thanks for the update. I tried researching him a bit but it seems there isn’t much film available. How does North Penn look this year? I know a little bit about them but not as much as I usually do.
@Mike Smoll
It looks like he is from New Jersey but played basketball for NP last year.
August 6th, 2018 at 7:24 am
On 8/24/18
August 5th, 2018 at 9:32 pm
@David Mika
Are you close to posting class rankings for 2018?
August 5th, 2018 at 8:52 pm
@Matt I’m with you on the Colonial League! Would love to see them sit into divisions…north/south or east/west. Issue is we have 11 teams. Would be no extra to have divisions and play 5 division games, 2 to 3 crossover games and then you have the opportunity to schedule 1 or 2 out of league games where you could schedule up and have the opportunity for extra power points when’s it comes to districts. Would definitely make things more interesting and fun for the kids to get to see new opponents.
Since you’re a Colonial League I am interested to see how you think the league will shake out this year??
August 5th, 2018 at 10:07 am
???!
I guess we’re not really saying anything different. Imhotep recruits for athletics, as do some other charters and most of the privates. The rules allow it. The playing field is not level between those programs and the real public schools, particularly in the densely populated areas of the state where not only are public schools playing against a stacked roster, they’re actually playing against some of their own, best players. A “super” 7A class, like CA’s “Open” Division might be a solution.
August 5th, 2018 at 9:57 am
First where did North Penn’s new Quarterback come from? Is he a product of their program or a transfer in? Note: Colonial League Saucon Valley and SOL American Quakertown, has in the past tentatively scheduled a game the 1st week of the playoffs (don’t know about last year or this year) but the years it was done both teams made their respective divisions playoffs so the game wasn’t played.
August 4th, 2018 at 8:16 pm
Used the Internet thingy and answered my own question about Romeo Gunt. Went to CA to play JC ball and wound up at Portland State.
August 4th, 2018 at 4:27 pm
Phillyboy, go to the toolbar up on top of the website, go to Extras, scroll down to forum.
August 4th, 2018 at 3:07 pm
@Friday Night Lights
The new quarterback at North Penn is Solomon Robinson. Pretty athletic. I’m hoping he is accurate.
August 4th, 2018 at 2:29 pm
@Dave…..thanks for the info. As a colonial league guy I wish they would have an open week the first week to play another team not from league but it’s always been a 10 game league schedule in the CL. And I used to like when the old LVC (now EPC) schools played a non league game first week. Parkland used to schedule some good matchups week 1. But it is what it is I guess.
August 4th, 2018 at 2:27 pm
@PS Futility
Most of Imhotep stars come from the same lil league program 4x national champions Northwest Raiders jus to name a few Nasir Bonner – Naseir Upshur FSU – Deandre Scott ASU commit transfer N graduated from Maine U- Najee Goode Maine Graduate – Carl Jones Imhotep current runningback #1 – Isheem Young – Another kid from the program upcoming stud Deshuan Seals from Northwest raiders Imhotep 2020-2021 class has some really toughnose physical kids coming up. But on Rome Gunt note he went to Juco N played SS idk which one out Cali but he currently playing a a AA D1 school.
Tbh in my opinion I feel like they should make that super class 7A have all the schools in that class non boundary school so the playing field is even then let each power house fight it out for the the title to own the state. Also I think for this super class there shouldn’t be a West N East side of the state playoff bracket the should jus random the match ups. Something like how they did that Texas bracket on Friday night lights they random the match ups so teams can all have a equal playing field of playing each other
August 4th, 2018 at 1:54 pm
@ phillyboy http://www.westernpafootball.net/news/2018-football-forum/
August 4th, 2018 at 11:50 am
Alabama wanted him and got him ! Southern Co. Stone Hollenbach commits. Not to bad for a 2A school quarterback. Best of luck and congratulations from a Dunmore bucks fan.
August 4th, 2018 at 11:45 am
@ ???!
Funny you should mention Romeo Gant, who was one of my favorite HS football players. The kid dominated as a 160 (probably more like 150) pound OLB/DE at West Philly Catholic then, lo and behold, he winds up at Imhotep as an All City DB. Imhotep is in the middle of MLKs district, yet they get most of the best ballplayers and I’d be willing to bet many, if not most, of their best kids cross other HS boundaries to go to Tep. That’s well within the rules and while those rules are stricter than the basically non-existent private school rules, they aren’t nearly as strict as the ones most publics have to play by. I really don’t care who recruits who, but let the neighborhood kids from the real publics play each other and let the privates and charters fight it out for a separate championship. Mixing schools with different enrollment rules in the playoffs doesn’t make sense. If everyone has a need to see the best open enrollment and boundary schools play each, they can schedule non-league games.
On another note, do you know what happened to Romeo Gant? I didn’t see him as a D1 kid, but thought he could be great at the D2/D3 level.
August 4th, 2018 at 9:58 am
Was just wondering, does anybody know what the situation is with westernpafootball.net? Can’t seem to find the forum for comments. Does it still exist or did it possibly change to ‘tweets’ only? Always appreciated getting the take of western PA — jack1234 and Billy have been great in that regard.
August 4th, 2018 at 9:29 am
Does anyone know who North Penn’s QB will be this season? That and improvement on defense will be key to any success this season.
August 4th, 2018 at 7:17 am
Live4Fridays…We are working on fixing the time
August 3rd, 2018 at 2:55 pm
Are all of the times on the Master Schedule List on this site off by 3 hours?
August 3rd, 2018 at 1:24 pm
@LBC
Nothing but athletes wanna go to Imhotep. Imhotep has branded its self as a legit ticket out of Philadelphia every kid in Philadelphia knows that. Furthermore, Imhotep is a lottery school but the lottery goes from Family if you have a relative or past grad in your family that attends the school you have a better chance of getting in. Example Rome Gunt #5 for Imhotep in 2014-2015 younger brother is currently Imhoteps #5 and Virginia U commit. Also like I said in my last post relationship from Imhotep staff gives kids ahead start to apply let’s say your kid is 8th grade but plays good lil league and Imhotep coach is currently his head coach he can ask the parents to look into Imhotep. (if this is there school of choice, no force or bribes involved aka scholarship that ALL catholic schools offer top talent to come play for them) if so they can apply to Imhotep for his/her 9th grade year in advance so not only does he have a head start into getting into the school but he is currently already ahead of the lottery.
August 3rd, 2018 at 9:08 am
@Matt, Several Heartland Conference teams have regular season games scheduled with non- conference teams. For example, Loyalsock and Mt. Carmel both play North Schuylkill, so I don’t believe there is any league only rule.
August 2nd, 2018 at 1:50 pm
Doesn’t Imhotep have an enrollment lottery? Yet it seems all the top athletes who apply seem to get in? I don’t care if they have a top notch coaching staff or not. If they are keeping other students out of the school so they can enroll the athletes that is violating their charter.
August 1st, 2018 at 8:19 pm
@kevin, they play every school in the division I believe then have crossover games….kind of like how the EPC in the Lehigh valley is set up with Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, etc….they play two cross over games with the EPC North but have no outside league games anymore. They do play Selingsgrove who is a good 4A school. Selingsgrove actually took Bethlehem Catholic to the final minutes last year in 4A quarters. I’m not sure actually how crossover division games work in the Heartland conference as I’m a D11 colonial league guy but I know looking at thier schedule every year it’s only heartland conference games which leads me to believe it’s a league only reg season league.
August 1st, 2018 at 7:04 pm
@Foleman
If you did research instead of what you’re hearing from others you would clearly see that all those schools you listed was shut down just for that. Only school on that list still open is Imhotep you wonder why cause they where not found guilty of any of those charges or statements you put there name with. Crazy thing is every team that plays Imhotep in Philadelphia doesn’t complain they are excited and thanks Imhotep for putting the public league on the map. Only people that complain is other district champions Imhotep beats up on.
@Phillyboy
Imhotep welcomes all cultures to the school but I think that being considered a Public school scares off people that would rather put there kids in catholic schools. Imhotep has that QB from North Penn but other than that idk really.
Everybody thinks Imhotep is just taking kids from programs when Imhotep losses a lot of kids every year. Imhotep lost 1-3 D1 players this upcoming season they lost there young LT to Maryland powerhouse and nationally rank Saint Frances MD also lost Omar to Northeast I’m not gone name the rest but Imhotep losses more kids than any stable program in the state.
August 1st, 2018 at 3:47 pm
@ Foleman
Look, everybody is entitled to their opinion. I think the public charter schools are a total gimmick. On a larger level they were created to circumvent the teachers’ union and to cut down on expenses. The proponents of charters are playing dumb — they’re acting like they want the charters because of the poor quality or bad results of the traditional publics in low income areas. The bottom line is it’s about having prepared students and engaged parents. The charters make things more complicated. If they want to break the union or whatever then they got to stop the games and just play hard ball. I’ve always had some sentiment for labor unions as it evokes a greater sense of professionalism — as opposed to being a rented, expendable schnook. I don’t think new teachers are overpaid. It’s those with tenure and some administrators. Where a lot of money is being lost is in the PSERS program. Pensions are fine but there’s no way retired teachers or any profession should be getting close to full salary for the rest of their life. It’s simply too generous. It should be a helper or supplement. The other thought is for the retirees to tone down their life style. Anyway just some thoughts.
August 1st, 2018 at 2:54 pm
@ Mcd65 Thanks for the clarification. I was afraid people might think me and phillyboy were one in the same or some kind of weird conjoined twins. Scary thought 😉
@Tnd775 What is the issue you are referring to??
@ Matt Looking into the Heartland Conference, 19 schools, with 3 divisions?? So if you play another school from a different division, that counts as a conference game?? Is the divisions set up enrollment or classification wise, or geographically?? Does the conference mandate that you only play and schedule conference games?? Kind of a small pet peeve of mine that it seems like every D2 and D4 schools only play other D2 or D4 schools in the regular season. I enjoy the first few weeks of the season when you get to see teams play each other that they normally don’t. I’ll give kudos to Del Val up in D2 for hitting the road ever year for their first game the last several years and taking on some tough competition. Two trips to Florida, Parkland, Upper Dublin (at their recent peak), Downingtown East, and this year Pennridge.
August 1st, 2018 at 11:43 am
@ ????
I absolutely root for Imhotep when they play private teams like Erie CP etc. but not when they play traditional publics. On a side note was just wondering why they never have any white players on their team. But yeah the youth football programs are awesome, I’m proud of those guys when they win national titles as Philadelphia teams. Lastly, just wanted to say that Imhotep this year has a very aggressive schedule; they open up with LaSalle, DeMatha, and St. Joe’s Regional…..that’s no joke. Would love to see them go 3-0 there.
August 1st, 2018 at 11:10 am
????? This is what The State Investigation showed for the PSSA test:
The cheating at Imhotep Charter is very severe. The data shows the answer sheets that were modified was at a substantially high rate vs. standard deviation, higher in some grades than any other school in the state. And after the investigation was completed, TEP’S PSSA scores plummeted! HHHMMMM, wonder why? Plus, remember who the Philly Superintendent was at that time-Arlene Ackerman, who was busted for giving out million dollar no bid contracts to her friends.
Here is a list of the charter schools in Philly that were red flagged for modified answers:
CHARTER SCHOOLS
Alliance for Progress Charter
Charter High School for Architecture and Design
Imhotep Institute Charter High School
Maritime Academy Charter
Walter D. Palmer Leadership and Learning Partners Charter
Wissahickon Charter
Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter
August 1st, 2018 at 8:53 am
Big 33 game on the move…….
https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/sports/hs-football-big-33-game-gets-new-name-and-date-1.2368426
July 31st, 2018 at 9:14 pm
@Foleman
“But some how all these great football players from the city somehow wind up there” – Your lack of knowledge about the program is where your down fall is. But to answer your question Imhotep coaching staff is full of head coaches from elite Pop Warner teams in Philadelphia like Northwest Raiders, NorthPhilly Aztecs, NorthPhilly Blackhawk, Enon Eagles so when you know the parents of those kids you’ve been teaching football to 4 years plus you get a relationship with parents. If your parent who has a son who has potential talent but u don’t have catholic school money or your child hasn’t received a scholarship for you send them to catholic school. You send your kid to Imhotep I’m not saying Imhotep is the best school but it’s better than sending your child to other public’s in Philadelphia. Plus on the cheating note if you really think Imhotep got caught CHEATING ON A STATE TEST AND GOT CAUGHT BY “THE STATE” YOU REALLY THINK THEY WOULD STILL BE OPENED. Imhotep education speaks volumes for itself when you say there down near the bottom on academics but continues to put kids in college and it’s not like there dropping out there actually staying in school and maintaining college GPA’s for major athletic programs.
July 31st, 2018 at 8:35 pm
Like to hear from the Berwick boys. How will the “DAWG’S stack up? Also the boys from Dunmore a favorite team of mine. What is going on up there?
July 31st, 2018 at 11:39 am
@Kevin….yes….all of southerns games are heartland conference games. They play a ten game league schedule like the colonial league does in dist 11. And actually like the EPC does now as well. The old LVC used to have a non league game first game but when they went to the EPC they are all league games now. That’s why Parkland, etc doesn’t play a non league game anymore like they used to play Glen Mills, Harrisburg etc.
July 31st, 2018 at 11:37 am
???? David Williams, Omar Speights, Nasir Boykins, Chris Wells, Andre Mintz, Steve DePaul and dozens of others have something in common, they all transferred into Imhotep Charter from other schools. Tep is ranked near the bottom in academics in the State, the school was almost closed a few years ago due to poor test scores and cheating but somehow all of these great football players from the City somehow wind up there. TEP is one of the schools often listed by the PUBS as the main reason for separate playoffs. Your 2015 state champ squad had about a dozen transfers on it. Don’t give us the Northwest Raiders, no one is buying it.
July 31st, 2018 at 9:51 am
PIAA should remove boundaries from all schools and just have one classification. They should also allow high school kids to be paid. In 5 years there will only be 10 schools remaining so we won’t need to hear how great Southern Columbia is in 2A. Move up or Shut up!
July 30th, 2018 at 7:01 pm
kevinx/phillyboy, That was me posting. DUH !!!! sorry for the mistake.
July 30th, 2018 at 5:27 pm
Cracks me up about all this public/private when it’s literally only a few teams causing the issue
July 30th, 2018 at 4:57 pm
Imhotep doesn’t recruit. When you have the #1 Pop Warner program in the nation practicing @ the same field where one of the top Highschools in the state play your gonna have a lot of talent coming. Jus cause 1. Northwest Raiders And Imhotep practices @ the same field 2. Head Coach of the 4x defending national champions is a Imhotep coach 3. Northwest Raiders kids watch Imhotep practices all the time before there own practices starts (which starts right after Imhotep) 4. Imhotep was very young this year and still made it to the state finals with barely no seniors 5. Imhotep school is in a very high area that produces a rich amount of talent for Philadelphia 6. Proof of Talent Zaire Franklin David Williams Dj Moore Deandre Scott Deandre Swift Jaelen Strong etc the list can go on but most of those players came from lil league programs that are all no more than a couple blocks from Imhotep
July 30th, 2018 at 3:11 pm
@mark
I have no idea. I never even knew about the meeting until I stumbled upon a couple of articles about it on Pennlive while checking out some Penn State articles. Who knows what will become of it. One interesting note is that of the 150 or so attendees listed, no District 12 school (or City of Philadelphia) was present, and only one or two D1 districts are present.
@Matt
All 10 of SC games are conference games?? I believe Fleming is No. 3 nationwide on ESPN’s Jr. 300 for the class of 2020. Hoping he commits to play an hour or so west.
July 30th, 2018 at 2:56 pm
Some info on the new transfer rules and “playing-up” stuff…..
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/highschool/2018/07/24/Superintendents-principals-ADs-meet-to-discuss-PIAA-playoff-equity/stories/201807240128
July 30th, 2018 at 2:39 pm
I enjoy all the controversy about Southern Co.football it is good for this forum. I heard the word (peak). Watch the underclass they are diamonds in the rough and are extremely good. Look to them in the future. Can’t wait for the season to start.
July 30th, 2018 at 2:12 pm
@ndgp82
Yes, ND could very realistically win the Colonial League this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened. I’m just giving the edge to Palisades based on their size and physicality on the offensive and defensive lines. ND hasn’t handled more physical type games well.
I understand how the classifications are set. However, if you look at roster sizes for other 3A schools it is no where near 75/80. Why is that? It’s not just because more kids decided to play at ND, it’s because ND recruits kids to specifically play football their. And yes, any co-ed non prep Catholic school has an advantage when they are able to do that. Just look at schools like Beca and Berks Catholic to name a couple.
July 30th, 2018 at 2:07 pm
@ndgp82
Yes, ND could very well win the Colonial League this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. I’m giving the edge to Palisades due to their physicality and size on the offensive and defensive lines. ND hasn’t handled more physical types of games recently.
I understand how classifications are set. However, look at other 3A schools and their roster size. It’s not just that more kids want to play at ND, it’s that ND recruits kids specifically to come there and play football. Yes, that puts them at an advantage. There are plenty of co-ed non prep Catholic schools that take every advantage of this…Beca, Berks Catholic, etc.
July 30th, 2018 at 1:59 pm
Im a fan of what So. Columbia has accomplished and will accomplish the next couple of years ,but to suggest a game against Archbishop Wood or Imhotep would not be a good idea. Those two are just too powerful and fast. So. should stay where they are. Lets not get carried away.
July 30th, 2018 at 1:34 pm
I like to see stricter rules on transfers, but not separate playoffs.
July 30th, 2018 at 12:05 pm
@ Dennis
Bishop McDevitt or PCC
July 30th, 2018 at 10:07 am
@Kevin……Southern Columbia unfortunately plays a ten game reg season schedule in the league they are in and have no open dates during the reg season. Most smaller leagues in D11 (Colonial) have no open dates during season unfortunately. However, I would love to see then play a good 5A team or even 6A team. I just saw in a addition to Fleming who has offers almost everywhere that southerns senior QB Stone Hollenbach has 8 D1 offers and just received a preferred walk on offer from Alabama.
July 30th, 2018 at 9:59 am
@Colonial Fan….Let me go over your post point by point.
thoughts on Notre Dame Green Pond. The Colonial League will come down to Palisades and ND, but Southern Lehigh will also have something to say. At this point, I’m giving the edge to Palisades. Response: Fair enough, but it’s conceivable that ND could win based on your comment.
I hope to never see ND win a league championship after a local writer claimed a few years ago that they would change the league forever and referred to it as the “good old boys” league. Response: Notre Dame has only won one league championship in its history (1979, Centennial League as a Class A school) as well as two District championships (2015 AA, 2016 AAA) so I fail to see the relevance of the “good old boys’ comment. As an alumnus of ND, I hope they do win a few championships.
The fact that their team preview said they expect to have a roster of 75/80 kids is just ridiculous. If your roster is that big, you shouldn’t be playing 3A!
Response: Classification is based on male enrollment not roster size. You should not punish a school for having success in getting students to participate. I can only imagine that 75/80 includes a lot of JV’s. My guess is 35/40 are realistically Varsity.
Not even the bigger schools in the league have rosters anywhere near that size. Southern Lehigh is 5A and they are lucky to even have 50-60 kids in 9th-12th grade. It’s ridiculous. Response: Yet Southern Lehigh has had a great deal of success in football. Their problem is that Whitehall is 5A as well. Also, other league schools have historically greater success than Notre Dame. Notre Dame has never won a Colonial League title in football so I don’t honestly know why you’re complaining.
These are the reasons we are in the current predicament of boundary vs non-boundary. Response: Prep schools like St. Joe’s and charter schools like Imhotep Charter have greater advantages than a co-ed non-prep Catholic School could ever hope to have.
July 30th, 2018 at 8:20 am
@Kevin X on that meeting at state collage what did you hear about it ? i heard a rumor the D7 along with D2 and 4 talked about going back to the old playoff systems and forgetting about the PIAA I thought is was just bull do you know if their any substance to it ???
July 30th, 2018 at 8:05 am
@phillyboy Who would you like to see Southern play in 5A or 6A.? Just curious.
July 29th, 2018 at 9:29 pm
@Ndgp82….thoughts on Notre Dame Green Pond. The Colonial League will come down to Palisades and ND, but Southern Lehigh will also have something to say. At this point, I’m giving the edge to Palisades.
I hope to never see ND win a league championship after a local writer claimed a few years ago that they would change the league forever and referred to it as the “good old boys” league. The fact that their team preview said they expect to have a roster of 75/80 kids is just ridiculous. If your roster is that big, you shouldn’t be playing 3A! Not even the bigger schools in the league have rosters anywhere near that size. Southern Lehigh is 5A and they are lucky to even have 50-60 kids in 9th-12th grade. It’s ridiculous. These are the reasons we are in the current predicament of boundary vs non-boundary.
July 29th, 2018 at 9:17 pm
@Foleman….separate playoffs? Absolutely! Yes, some of the best games in history have been public vs Catholic, but those days are over. Catholic/charter schools have ruined it. Some public schools, that aren’t traditional powerhouses, only have one shot. I’ll use Saucon Valley from 3 years ago as an example. They had an outstanding team that did big things and were even able to knock Beca off in the district championship. One a game or two in states until they run into the Imhotep buzzsaw…they go into the game knowing they have no chance. Saucon a small public school who just happened to have a great core group that played together forever against a school that had 10+ D1 recruits. That’s BS.
It’s time for a change and more of a change than just the recruiting rules PIAA has put in place. You could get creative and have the public school champ play the non-boundary school for the end all, be all championship. Would be a little more work in football, but Jersey has the Tournament of Champions for basketball.
July 29th, 2018 at 5:01 pm
@ phillyboy
Also looks like Imhotep has an open date week 4. Julian Fleming v. Tykee Smith, might be worth the price of admission and little drive to a mid point neutral field……….
July 29th, 2018 at 4:49 pm
@ Phillyboy
Love to see that as well. I believe Archbishop Wood still has an open date week 2 (Labor Day weekend).
July 29th, 2018 at 12:55 pm
Foleman, are you sure the transfere rule keeps players out of playoffs this year? The article i read was confusing. It sounded like to me that if a transfere who
enrolled before rule went into effect (Aug 6) that the player would be eligible to play in districts and or state playoffs.
July 29th, 2018 at 12:44 pm
@Phillyboy….Southern Columbia is in the Heartland conference which plays a ten game league schedule which allows no no league matchups currently. All the games are in conference. Like alot of smaller leagues in D2 D11 and D4 they play a full 10 Game league schedule and there are no non league games until playoffs. I would love to see then play a good 5-6A team as I think they would compete with them but they do play some decent 4A teams in league schedule like Selingsgrove who had made state playoffs in 4A a bunch of times recently and almost beat Beth Catholic last season in state quarters. They would have won A and AAA last year in my opinion and they prob could win all three smaller classes this year as well. We all saw what they did to NG last year and with all the talent NG had
July 29th, 2018 at 8:30 am
I don’t know if it’s too late but I think Southern Columbia should schedule one of the big boys in the regular season. That’s right, a legit 5A or 6A team. You want to do that when you’re at your peak. It’s high risk, high reward. You win that game and it creates a lasting community buzz.
July 28th, 2018 at 10:38 am
Heard that Southern Columbia recently dispatched the third ranked team in the nation at a 7 on 7 at Penn State.
July 28th, 2018 at 10:38 am
Do the majority of fans really want separate playoffs? I don’t think so, some of the greatest playoff games in PIAA History were Private VS Public, I could watch the Epic 2 game championship series between Erie CP and CB West all day, and would it be for all sports or just football and basketball? Do the Pubs really want Pa to turn into NJ where the Private School juggernauts get to recruit who they want? What really ticks me off is that its only a handful of renegade private/charter schools that are the reason for this mess. If the PIAA put the hammer down on the TEP’S, Beca’s, N Goretti’s and McDevitt’s of the world, we would not have this problem as most of the Private schools abide by the rules. Western Pa seems to do a much better job on reviewing transfers for athletic purposes than Philly/Eastern/Central Pa. The Parson’s transfer to Harrisburg was an absolute joke! The transfer rule will also hurt the Public’s too, one Principal at the meeting stated he had 40+ kids move into his district last year and now transfers this year wont be able to participate in the playoffs. Enforcement on this rule is going to be a huge mess. One other thing, several of those public schools at the PIAA meeting should be ashamed of even showing their faces as some of them benefit more from recruiting/transfers than most of the private schools.
July 28th, 2018 at 10:18 am
Heard recently that Southern Columbia dispatched the third ranked team in the country at a 7 on 7 at Penn State.
July 28th, 2018 at 5:08 am
What is the outlook for Notre Dame Green Pond as far as Colonial League, District XI, and States?
July 27th, 2018 at 8:29 am
We missed all of the fun when the forum was down regarding the PIAA’s fast tracking changes to transfer rules with the sitting out of the following years post season (or something like that) and a formula for “playing up” based on recent past dominations. Any thoughts guys?? I believe this is just for football and basketball.
Also, the real fun IMO was the 150 or so AD’s, superintendents and other school representatives having their own meeting in State College. I do like the nuclear option mentioned about simply leaving the PIAA. Get off the pot and just do it guys, talk is cheap, we all know it. Someone may actually start paying attention and wake up.
July 26th, 2018 at 10:06 am
Glad to hear you are back up and running!
July 26th, 2018 at 5:36 am
Great to have you back and running Dave! I am lost without this site, even off-season!
July 25th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
Hi all. Someone signed in and deleted all the files and backups. But thank god we found the most recent backup. I have a weeks of work to catch up. We are backup and running.
July 25th, 2018 at 2:40 pm
Good to see you’re getting everything up and running again.
July 15th, 2018 at 12:28 pm
@Matt Looking at your 5A predictions, I’m going to say Whitehall is going to have a bit of a down year. Their starting QB transferred to Emmaus, they lost some quality starters and also have a brand new head coach. Those things point to possibly a rebuilding year, time will tell. Also, in 5A, district 11 and district 2 have now combined for a sub regional which will include Wyoming Valley West and Wallenpaupack making for a more competitive bracket with 7 teams vying for 4 spots.
July 15th, 2018 at 10:57 am
@Matt, looking at your 5A predictions, I’m going to say that I think Whitehall I going to have a down year this season. Their starting QB transferred to Emmaus and they did lose some quality starters to graduation. Add in a new coach and this could be a rebuilding year. Also, making the 5A playoffs out of district 11 this year will be a little more difficult as there is now 5 teams from District 11 and Wyoming Valley West and Wallenpaupack from District 2 have been added to form a sub regional.
July 14th, 2018 at 8:59 pm
@Basketcase…thanks….then I would put West Catholic in their place. I would then put NG in the mix in AAA. They might have a better chance on AAA than AA with Southern in AA.
July 14th, 2018 at 4:18 pm
Matt, Neumann-Goretti is AAA for the upcoming 2-year cycle.
July 13th, 2018 at 12:26 am
My early 2018 top 3 in East (based on the east teams covered here)
A: 1) Old Forge 2) Williams Valley 3) Marian
AA: 1) Southern Columbia 2) Dunmore 3) NG
AAA: 1) Middletown 2) Scranton Prep 3) Conwell Egan
AAAA: 1) Tep 2) Bethlehem Catholic 3) Bishop McDevitt
AAAAA: 1) Wood 2) Manheim Central 3) Whitehall
AAAAA: 1) SJ prep 2) Coatesville 3) North Penn/ Parkland
July 12th, 2018 at 8:59 am
The PDF team schedules don’t say whether the game is a home game or an away game.
July 12th, 2018 at 5:55 am
Late August.
July 11th, 2018 at 4:48 pm
@david mika when will the class rankings for 2018 be updated?
July 9th, 2018 at 12:47 pm
@boroboy you are absolutely wrong on almost everything you said. No idea how you got this information. PR head coach is not suspended 4 games, I’ve already said on here that’s wrong. Assistant coach was fired because he had prior incidents. Also, the head coach wasn’t doing any of this, it was two assistant coaches. The kid your talking about didn’t even play WR, he’s a top ten sprinter in the country and he moved back for track. the kid legit has a shot at the Olympics one day. And what about the QB last year being from ohio? Don’t think pine township is anywhere near ohio lmao. Your post makes no sense, just exaggerated rumors to make PR look bad. If you wanna complain about transfers, go up the road to NA they seem to get plenty more than PR but no one bats an eye.
July 9th, 2018 at 11:40 am
Irish, heard the coaches and players from BC were trying to get him back in the fold. He’s currently not on their roster. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was PJP.
July 9th, 2018 at 7:28 am
@ Boroboy,
Please have your facts straight before posting on the board. NE best player left the Prep on his own in January of his freshman year with a 3.3 GPA. Her left because he did not like wearing a sport coat everyday, and he did not get preferential treatment for being an up and coming football player.
July 7th, 2018 at 7:24 pm
Ricky Ortega Jr looked good today @ 7×7 slinging the ball around the field. Picked up another D1 offer from Lehigh University also during the passing camp
July 6th, 2018 at 1:04 pm
any word on where rb from Berks C who transferred is going? Heard it may be PJP
July 6th, 2018 at 11:56 am
Boroboy, the difference between public and non-boundary schools is PR is being punished for recruiting, while it would have been perfectly legal for a private. I see no problem with non-boundary schools recruiting or publics being penalized for doing it (and we all know some do). The problem is applying different rules to schools that compete for the same championship. Imagine if some colleges were allowed to recruit nationally, while others could only recruit in state.
July 6th, 2018 at 11:32 am
Pine Richland head coach suspended First 4 games and assistant coach fired for recruiting Ohio kids. A public recruiting and no outcry. Northeast HS got 9 transfers from NG and Imhotep but that is ok. NE top player , good kid, couldn’t handled the academics atPrep and told he couldn’t come back after freshman year. Prep has 6’8” freshman basketball player transfer because mommy and daddy thinks he should gotten time on Varsity. Mommy and daddy shopped him to other schools, I know for a fact, before he transferred to Bishop Eustace. The kid was lucky to be even be suiting Varsity. He might have gotten time this year on Varsity but mommy and daddy know better than a coaching legend who has over 1000 career wins. They all recruit except probably the small town schools in PA. Oh by the way Pine Richland ‘s WR from last year, who is a relative of a steeler, transferred back to Florida after state football championship game and won a state championship in track. And I believe their QB was originally from Ohio, hmmm.
July 5th, 2018 at 11:29 pm
@Foleman
Yes PJP was senior heavy last year. Return 4 starters from what I can saw both sides. Yes rumor has it that a handful of Carroll players transferred to PJP. New Hope returns 6 offense and 8 on defense. Offensively, they return 4 up front and should be fine in the pass game. After Capriotti graduated they will need to figure who is running the ball.
July 5th, 2018 at 4:46 pm
@Foleman –
Carroll QB to PJP confirmed. Evidently the move was motivated primarily because of baseball, but the destination is the same. A rising junior lineman is headed from Carroll to PJP as well.
July 5th, 2018 at 9:57 am
PJP and New Hope meet in week 2. Should be a good barometer of where both teams are. Not sure if its confirmed but I’ve heard that Archbishop Carroll’s QB is now at PJP.
July 3rd, 2018 at 9:27 pm
Everyone talks about the higher classes I am going to show some love to 3-A…it should be interesting this season with Neumann Goretti moving up and PJP moving down to that class…Egan, NG, New Hope, Lansdale, PJP, Future, KIPP, Prep Charter….Egan(12) and New hope(1) look to be favorites. Both Return a tons of starters.
July 1st, 2018 at 9:19 am
OK, I think I got it.
Nothing slow ’bout me!
June 30th, 2018 at 7:17 pm
Testing 1, 2 ,3
June 29th, 2018 at 9:11 pm
Is there any team that can challenge Coatesville in District 1? How is Garnett Valley looking for this year? I think that coach at GV has done a terrific job the last few years. Love the way his offense pounds the ball. Blue collar.
June 29th, 2018 at 1:38 pm
Love the new website layout!!!
June 28th, 2018 at 5:34 pm
I really like the new format. Very easy to maneuver . Great job !!!
June 28th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
@Mick it looked like the qb from Pennsbury carried that team last year, especially with his legs. Looks like it will be NP or Neshaminy this year
June 28th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
Love the new look – good work!
June 28th, 2018 at 4:36 pm
@Mick it looked the qb from Pennsbury carried that team last year, especially with his legs. Looks like it will be NP or Neshaminy this year
June 28th, 2018 at 1:55 pm
GREAT JOB ON THE NEW LOOK
June 28th, 2018 at 11:39 am
Whoa, look at you, you guys outdid yourselves; easternpafootball.com will never be the same. Like the dude who suddenly appears with a new hottie out of the blue, or the person who nonchalantly pulls up in his brand new car and acts like everything is normal, whistling to himself. Got it going on.
June 28th, 2018 at 9:51 am
WOW! Great new-look website!
Best of luck going forward, Dave.
June 26th, 2018 at 10:37 pm
Derrick, Pennsbury was the team to beat last year, but I believe they lost a lot of starters. Neshaminy returns some skilled players so I would think they would be the favorite. Players to watch Neshaminys QB and the TE/MLB/RB (Oleh) who is a very nice kid, and the TE from CR South are very good players.
June 25th, 2018 at 12:25 am
jtrun
Not sure on Chambers but heard he is gone.
Im going
JT
Tamaqua
NS
BM
Pottsville
Lehighton
June 24th, 2018 at 7:28 pm
Anyone have any predictions for Suburban One?
Standings? Leaders? Who stands out this year?
June 24th, 2018 at 11:30 am
PIAA oversight committee recently had a meeting in june and is recommending to its members at its july meeting that all students who transfer after 10th grade to play football or basketball at a private or public school must sit out a year. Hopefully this will stop students from transfering. If passed rule would take effect in 2020-2021 season.
June 23rd, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Anybody have predictions for the Schuylkill League? I heard the running back from Lehighton-Bradley Chambers has been dismissed
June 22nd, 2018 at 3:12 pm
Don’t forget that Berks picked up talented soph to be Larkin at hb from Wyomissing last year, and this year freshmen hb to be cacchione from Wyomissing as well.
June 22nd, 2018 at 11:08 am
Hey Foleman,
BC does deserve credit for adding those teams this year. Will be some great games on that new turf!
I still believe “Football Schools” that attract athletes from other areas, whether public or private, should want to play at the highest classification if they want the full respect of the football community. I am not impressed by smaller schools that have established a great football program, which then attracts great football players to come to their school, but continue to play at lower classifications and destroy other small schools . Move Up and challenge your team!
Week two will be a great week in Berks County football as CD @ BC and Mifflin @ Wilson. Two great games within 5 miles of each other.
I believe CD has the toughest schedule in D3 as they have Wilson, BC, MT, CV, H-burg, State College and the rest of the Mid Penn schedule. WOW!
June 21st, 2018 at 7:25 pm
Toby, I heard Daniel Boone or Pope John Paul, He wasn’t happy with his number of carries as BC tried to make all of their stud backs happy with everyone getting carries-Lutz, George, Dabney,Garcia, Foley, Myers, Newton. Too many talented running backs and not enough touches for everyone. All but Lutz & Dabney are back and now add MacFoy. Brandon George who just verballed to Pitt didn’t even have much film to show colleges. MacFoy will play but he will have to battle a talented Soph RB Myers to even start. Cant complain about BC’S schedule this year-Central Dauphin, McDonough, Malvern Prep, Exeter, Wyo is as tough as any.
June 20th, 2018 at 3:11 pm
Foleman,
Foley may be a better player than Macfoy and I’ll admit I’ve never seen him play but you can’t compare stats between BC and that cupcake schedule, to Wilson or MT or CD or CV. Foley may be the next Barkley but you can’t compare stats.
So where is he going? And why did he leave BC?
And yes Lockhart should be the feature back and would have been even if MacFoy stayed there. MacFoy is a scat back / slot receiver / returner. Prefers to run wide vs hit the hole.
June 20th, 2018 at 12:35 pm
Toby, Sausmann, MacFoy wasnt even living in Wilson’s SD, his Grandpop died and his parents moved into his house in the Muhlenberg SD. Wilson found out and was going to kick him out. Quinn Foley, the top tailback in the region is transferring out of BC, he averaged 14.5 YPC to MacFoy’s 4.5 YPC and lit it up at PSU’S elite camp. But thats not big news.
And who is taking MacFoy’s tailback position at Wilson? Avanti Lockhart, a transfer from Berks Catholic. BC loses more players to transfer’s and turns down Football transfers who want to transfer in. Don’t lump them in with the TEP”S, ECP”S, McDevitt’s and Beca’s.
June 20th, 2018 at 11:58 am
Saussman, MacFoy wasn’t even living in Wilson’s SD, his grandpop died, his parents inherited the house in Muhlenberg’s SD and moved in, Wilson found out and was going to kick him out of school. Quinn Foley, the top tailback in the region is transferring out of Berks Catholic, he averaged 14.5 yards a carry VS MacFoy’s 4.5 and lit it up at PSU’S elite camp. And BTW, who is going to take MacFoy’s place at Wilson? Avanti Lockhart, formerly of Berks Catholic. BC turns down football transfers and has more kids transfer out than transfer in. Don’t lump them in with the McDevitt’s and BECA’S of the world.
June 20th, 2018 at 11:43 am
@Sausmann9
As a Lehigh Valley person, fill me in on the Beca transfers. I know of an incoming freshman who left our local public school to head to beca citing the usual nonsense. Grew up in our feeder program and played two years of public MS with a very talented group of kids with some undefeated seasons as well as a couple youth league championships.
Won’t be a factor as a freshman, but down the road will be.
June 20th, 2018 at 10:34 am
PIAA is thinking about 7 classes.
Can’t quite figure that one out.
June 20th, 2018 at 9:55 am
Hey Sausmann,
I watched BECA destroy BC in basketball last year and then lose to Imhotep at the Geigle. They had some really tall “Catholics” But Imhotep had better recruiters I guess….. cause they won.
June 20th, 2018 at 9:14 am
@ Toby – well Berks has to keep stride with Becahi (bethlehem catholic) who just picked up two underclassmen transfers since june 11. both will start and one has some decent offers.
“That” season is upon us.
June 19th, 2018 at 2:52 pm
Another transfer to Berks Catholic……
Abdul Macfoy is leaving Wilson and transferring to BC. He already has a D1 offer as a Sophomore.
4.3 in 40
10.8 in 100 – good for 6th in PA State Meet
5’7 170lbs – Think Darren Sproles
June 18th, 2018 at 6:56 am
Hey guys, a quick update on the PA Athletic Oversite Committee’s hearing on sport championships for public and private schools, I believe it will only be a free live stream of the hearing this morning @ 10:30a (not live on PCN TV), but will be replayed on PCN TV tonight at 8:15p.
June 17th, 2018 at 3:59 pm
Tomorrow (Monday) on PCN TV live at 10:30a and then re-broadcast @ 8:15p is a PA state oversight committee’s hearing on the Public and Private sports championship issue. Free streaming of the hearing live if you don’t have PCN. Check out their web site and schedule for more info…….
June 16th, 2018 at 7:17 pm
That’s because there’s no schools up there that anyone wants to transfer to. Maybe from.
June 15th, 2018 at 10:57 am
Hey did you hear about all the transfers up here in district 2? oh forgot their are none !!!!!
June 15th, 2018 at 9:32 am
@Mick
I know one was from that class. Kratee was at neshmaniny. He started at DT for them in 2016. He transferred to Egan and starts on both sides of the ball for them now. No idea the reason he transferred.
June 15th, 2018 at 8:17 am
Mick
I did not say after jr year. I was referring to your comment about leaving nesh, it happens and with very good D1-D1AA players.
June 14th, 2018 at 10:10 pm
Ragles1
You are telling me 7 kids left after their junior year? Share the starting positions? And if so shame on those parents
June 14th, 2018 at 11:17 am
@Tony Ramos
Just a note on D1 recruits and transfers. As a Cumberland Valley fan since the mid 80’s, the fan base gets exited when we have ONE D1 recruit at a skill position. A D3 championship or two will likely be in the works along with a top 10 6A ranking. When we have two (a skill position and a lineman), and that’s rare, we are expecting to be in the top 5 6A and possible compete for a state title. CV competes based on teamwork, running an offense that can be difficult to defend, wearing opponents down, and a bevy of good if not great role players. Even during the state championship run in 1992 Jon Richie and Askari Adams were the only D1 recruits and Adams was just a sophomore at the time. Over the course of the last ten years I can only remember three Div 1 recruits (Kevin Snyder-Rutgers, Kyle Friend-Temple, and Charlie Katshir-Penn State), and “no” they weren’t transfers. I can’t imagine having 3 or more Div 1 recruits/transfers like a lot of these schools have every year.
June 14th, 2018 at 10:08 am
Mick
There are at least 7 players to leave Nesh for a variety of reasons from class of 2019.
D1Coach
I believe the deciding factor for PIAA is you cannot turn 19 before september first, however IA does not have these rules that is why you see some athletes who stayed back or reclass along the way finish back at an IA school.
June 14th, 2018 at 7:46 am
@Newman, @Knight Time
Do tell, I like good gossip. Is there a name or team he has played for that one might know?
June 13th, 2018 at 11:33 pm
Can’t wait until Imhotep kickoff it season on August 31st against DeMatha at the NW Super site! Friday night lights! Don’t know of any transfers other than Speights but the Panthers will have a Senior heavy lineup on both sides of the ball! Mixed in with juniors and sophomores at key positions! 3 of the top 40 players statewide.
June 13th, 2018 at 1:11 pm
FootballDad,
Your comment about what a kid does in middle school is not completely true. Unless the PIAA has again changed their eligibility rules (which is possible I’ve been out of the AD loop for a couple years now) a student athlete’s eligibility (clock) if you will actually starts in 7th grade. They have six years from the time they start 7th grade to finish their eligibility. AD’s are responsible (at least in theory) for tracking that. I don’t know how the student athlete mentioned would be regarded since he was at non-PIAA member institutions when he allegedly repeated but at least in theory he could potentially be ineligible for his senior year. Now because it was before high school I doubt it will be enforced but I know there have been students who have transferred from PCL and Public League schools to Inter-Ac schools, repeated a grade, then transferred back and were, at least initially, ineligible for their “Senior (5th)” year of HS. This was many moons ago when the entrance of PCL schools was new.
June 13th, 2018 at 9:39 am
I saw that Coatesville is scheduled to play Middletown South from New Jersey at home on Thursday August 30th at 6p. I am assuming that is correct and official. If so, that is a quick turnaround for the Red Raiders coming off a potentially tough opening road game the previous Saturday afternoon up in Harrisburg. Guess on the plus side, at least for us fans, gives us an early Labor Day weekend game to check out.
June 13th, 2018 at 8:57 am
@ Knight Time
I heard he’s from North Jersey and he’s not meeting expectations just yet.
June 13th, 2018 at 8:54 am
@ Knight Time
I heard he’s from North Jersey and I heard he’s not meeting expectations just yet.
June 12th, 2018 at 11:09 pm
@Derrick….no one from Neshaminy.
June 12th, 2018 at 10:22 pm
I did not hear anyone leaving Neshaminy. If so, Why? To leave Steve Wilmot,his staff, and that packed stadium every week?
June 12th, 2018 at 9:52 pm
Someone mentioned Neumann Goretti and Egan about transfers and returning players…very interested to see what players both teams bring in this season. NG apparently will be very young but talented and Egan has a bunch of starters returning including last years post season transfer.
June 12th, 2018 at 10:43 am
Footballdad99
100% correct….And agree you reap what you sow, transfers are one thing but when you make promises and do not allow competition you are in trouble…
June 11th, 2018 at 10:08 pm
@knight time, if you know, why don’t you tell us? I heard it was a Neshaminy kid. Truth?
June 11th, 2018 at 11:01 am
I think North Penn will steal that 1st game against Neshaminy. If these posters are alarmed about transfers wait until the find about the new QB at North Penn
June 10th, 2018 at 3:04 pm
Westy, not sure anyone anywhere is gonna give a rats backside about a kid leaving lasalle and going to prep. Who cares. And what a kid does in grade school is his biz. sounds like you may me too close to this one. And explore other than the qb at wood tell me one kid who left lasalle previous to this year. keep in mind the kid at wood lost his chance to compete to a transfer from another school. You reap what you sow big man.
June 10th, 2018 at 12:04 am
I’m with you @Route54. Too much whining about transfers. North Penn might steal that 1st game against Neshaminy. Thesee guys on here are really going to be alarmed when they find out who the starting QB is.
June 9th, 2018 at 9:59 pm
@Route54… I and everyone else in the state would be shocked if Southern Columbia doesn’t win the state championship in AA the next two years. The top 4 players return and Fleming and Garcia are only juniors. Fleming I believe is #1 WR in 2020 recruiting class and good size 6’3 200lbs. He should be fun to watch in 3-4 years at the D1 level.
June 9th, 2018 at 9:34 am
Maybe we can talk Dave, Billy, etc. into hosting an easternpafootball.com kickoff pre-game happy hour and/or post game party at the NBI on Friday August 24th around the CBW/Hatboro game 🙂
June 9th, 2018 at 6:16 am
et al:
CBW plays AT NP on 10/12.
You guys wanna meet, I’ll join the party.
June 8th, 2018 at 10:23 pm
Neshaminy very talented this year at the skilled positions. However the line on both sides of the ball is a ?
June 8th, 2018 at 9:16 pm
Dont post here often but I have to clear the air. 1st, the player ennis is at king high not northeast. 2nd, goretti loss a lot of players from last year to many schools throughout the city due to demerits and tuition. 3rd lasalle loses good young players every year due to transfer and no one whines.
June 8th, 2018 at 6:35 pm
@wpial rules where did you get that the head coach was suspended 4 games? I didn’t hear that anywhere. I do know the head coach and QB coach were suspended until school ended, and the one assistant had prior incidents and was fired. I’m pretty Sure most schools private or public do some form of recruiting
June 8th, 2018 at 3:16 pm
Can we move forward and get away from this boundary transfer talk for a change? What about this. Who will be the top teams for each class on the east? What about power SCA? Any roadblocks or will Southern once again be state champ.
June 8th, 2018 at 10:35 am
@McD65 – sounds like a plan, I know the Bucks have two home games before Sept and if not one of those lets shoot for that North Penn game if possible. I do want to see them once this season somewhere.
June 8th, 2018 at 8:59 am
Talk about Transfers, Marvin Harrison Jr who has transferred from LaSalle to St Joe’s Prep which is a total joke and i don’t know how the PIAA is letting this happen, He has transferred from Chestnut Hill Academy after 7th grade to Penn Charter for 8th grade to stay back in 8th grade to transfer to La Salle for 9th grade to now Transfer to Prep for 10th grade. I mean Cmon, PIAA is complete joke and so is PREP.
June 7th, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Well,last year it was Neuman/Gorretti and this year Northeast. I believe Northeast with the transfers and a very competent Head coach and now an experienced OC will be a factor and win the Pub going away. They will of course have a tough time getting by the Prep which is Nationally ranked by ESPN. These multiple transfers are getting out of hand and are for athletic reasons IMO.6-2 Stack Monster, Sauseman9 how about we pick a CB West game early in the season and get to the NBI.
June 7th, 2018 at 3:07 pm
Just wondering why no one has stated that the Pine Richland head coach has a 4 game suspension and another PR coach was fired for trying to recruit a player from Ohio? I thought only private schools recruit?
June 7th, 2018 at 11:50 am
Stack Man, thank you very much for the GA information, very interesting. I know that area very well. On the southeast corner of School House Lane and Greene is the PA School for the Deaf. It’s those buildings, wow, never knew that. Germantown Friends HS is right by there also which of course is still in existence. There are still two major leagues that are independent of the PIAA: the Inter-Ac and the Friends. Don’t know if any of the Friends League teams even have a football program; they’re more basketball oriented.
Of the big three, Wood seems to me to be the most blue collar, almost like the CB West of the PCL. Also give them props for hanging tough against top out of state competition. And no admission charge for home games at Tennent is right on. Meanwhile Prep IMO bought a team, and to a slightly lesser degree LaSalle.
June 7th, 2018 at 9:31 am
@6-2 Stack Monster
Ive been coaching 15 years. Ive been all over …SOL, PCL, BAL, Ches-Mont and PAC-10. I agree the volume of transfers is out of control. I think in these players in general who transfer show zero loyalty in general to the programs that bring that up. Yes there are the legitimate exceptions of kids who’s parents actually move districts, However most in really are just switching schools. You see kids now, like the Prep QB, that are being offered scholarships being they have even stepped foot onto a HS varsity field. Some these programs and coaches are like leeches to the players while they are still in elementary school. Then you have the coaches who go to 7v7’s and passing camps and big man camps to promote their schools. Then when it comes to the playoff its only common sense that when you allow teams who can recruit which student-athletes they have in their school vs. schools that pull directly from their immediate district, there is an unfair advantage. Then you have the schools like West Catholic and Egan who receive a huge donation to use for scholarships, can use that to recruit players, who ordinarily did not go to catholic school to be able to transfer. Its Insane now!
June 7th, 2018 at 7:32 am
@ Coach D –
Thanks for the verification. That makes sense. Those transfers would appear to be athletics-related, but with the state of affairs in Philly schools, any type of leadership and stability from adults is a positive thing. Good luck to those kids and coaches – it will be fun to watch Northeast this season and see what they can do.
June 7th, 2018 at 12:47 am
@phillyboy-
When I said that the volume of transfers was getting crazy, I was really just stating the obvious – that’s just the world we live in now. Kids transfer for all kinds of reasons and at the end of the day those reasons, whatever they may be, are for the benefit of the kids. I’m agreeable to some type of rule on senior transfers not playing in an effort to curtail trophy chasing, but there would still have be some leeway – there will always be legitimate exceptions to the rule, though they should be heavily scrutinized. That said, you still confuse me. I understand that you are good with a public school “benefitting from favorable developments”, as am I. However, you noted that you “think they should discourage transfers regardless of the type of school.” So as it stands, you will be running the sidelines with your viking helmet but, and I ask this question sincerely, what would your reaction have been had all these kids gone to Prep, LaSalle, or Wood?
And speaking of those three, you seem to have a particular grievance with Prep, while giving LaSalle and Wood a pass. Why is that? I get that to an extent everyone looks at them as the evil empire due to their success, but are they doing something so different from the other two? Or any anyone else, some publics included, for that matter?
Again, not looking to pick a fight, just open a dialogue.
As for your question about Germantown Academy:
School was originally located at Greene St. & Schoolhouse Lane (south of Germantown Ave.); that’s just less than a mile from the current location of LaSalle University, who moved there in 1930. While at this location sports were played on a field on campus, but the school also utilized the facilities at the Germantown Cricket Club – I believe that football was exclusive to the school’s own field, but verification of that fact may have been lost to time. GA moved to its current location in Ft. Washington in 1965. The tale I’ve heard is that some rich dude who owned the land offered it up to all the city academies for free, with the only stipulation being that the school would have to become co-ed. GA obliged. Bonus fun fact: The GA/Penn Charter football rivalry is the oldest in the United States, dating back to 1886.
@McD65 & @sausmann9 –
I’m no spring chicken, but would gladly pick up the tab at any watering hole in Doylestown to hear some stories from a couple of old-timers (original gangsters?) like you.
June 6th, 2018 at 9:36 pm
@Brian
NG was no guarantee to even make it out of districts this year. They are at AAA the next two years with Egan, Lansdale, New Hope, PJP, SOF and KIPP. NG was a senior heavy last season and only returns a handful starters on both sides. Even Less now with Britt and Ennis headed to NE. In District 12, Egan the favorite in AAA. Egan returns all skill positioned players on offense and 2/3 starters on the line and if they are smart they move majors to guard because they have Harris..defensively they returned majority of the front 7.
June 6th, 2018 at 8:38 pm
the NG players know that they have to go through Southern Columbia the next two years and they couldn’t do it this year with their so called 7 division 1 players.
June 6th, 2018 at 4:54 pm
Sausman9, yes I used to go to the NBI quite a bit after West games years ago. I cant get around very well due to health issues , but maybe after a game this year I can make it over and get together and talk about the sport we love. I sometimes get to the Candlewick . Philly boy, cant help you with the GA info. As far back as I remember GA has been in Fort Washington.
June 6th, 2018 at 3:15 pm
@Tony Ramos
“Both the RB’s on CV were transfers in state title year (Gumby & McKillop)”
Brandon McKillip was not a transfer. Gumby transferred from East Pennsboro in 1992 and they didn’t “bring in” Regis Perry in 2001. Regis Perry moved here from Ohio (I thought originally it was western PA) in 2001. The Perry transfer was from Cleveland, Ohio because his family moved here to Silver Spring Township AND he only played the second half of the season. Gumby had a bad leg most of the second half of the season and actually made more of an impact at LB on defense than at running back.
“Over the years everyone has benefited.”
I don’t think one transfer every TEN years qualifies under the category of “everyone has benefited”. Private and some public schools have three or more every year!In addition, although Gumby and Perry were good high school players we’re not talking about Division I transfers here. I may be mistaken but I have never seen a Division I transfer INTO Cumberland Valley since the mid 80’s when I started attending their games. 99%+ of CV players are home grown.
June 5th, 2018 at 9:37 pm
I thought this was a “football” talk forum. What is all this whining about tranfers? Sound’s like a NCAA delegation meeting
June 5th, 2018 at 7:41 pm
@sausman9 NBI was my home in college lol!
@PhillyProper I am not debating you on this nor am I discrediting anyone. Its a moot point! Fact is How many parents have you ever heard come out an say “yes we believe its a better athletic opportunity for our son” Someone made comment that they heart sever NG and Imhotep players were transferring to NE…I simply confirmed that yes indeed that is true.
June 5th, 2018 at 2:07 pm
@Mike A,
Both the RB’s on CV were transfers in state title year (Gumby & McKillop)….then when they had Dan Lawlor they brought in Regis Perry. Most public schools do not bring in all kinds of transfers. Over the years everyone has benefited.
June 5th, 2018 at 1:30 pm
@ McD65
“BTW,moved 40 years ago to Doylestown from Philly”
oh boy, so youre telling me I could have been rubbing elbows with you at the NBI over a burger and beer for the last 20 years or so and not even known it???
ever chat w/ some really cool dude over trading games there (assuming you go to NBI), I’ve met quite a few football gurus there and picked up/dropped off games.
LOL, small world.
June 5th, 2018 at 11:29 am
McD65, once these transfer rules get implemented, of course they have to apply to all types of schools. Having said that, I don’t have a problem with a public school benefiting from favorable developments. At places like Prep, they have all the favor and advantages in the world. You got multiple former NFL players sending their kids there, come on. It’s like the unspoken, agreed-upon place for anybody with resources and promise to meet; in effect it’s a passive conspiracy. The District 12 final (PCL champ vs. Public League champ) for all intents and purposes is a bye for the PCL. Like the recent snarky comment from Kevin X insinuated: if Prep kept their starters in the whole game, the final could be 77-0 or so. So to be indignant over the good fortunes of Northeast is outlandish.
Yeah back in the day downtown Germantown was basically King of Prussia before King of Prussia — the most prominent retail shopping district west of Center City. Was always curious about something, maybe you know. When Germantown Academy was actually located in Germantown, where exactly was it located and where did they play their home games?
June 5th, 2018 at 10:38 am
Kecin X, From what I read, if an athlete enters a school in 9th grade and transfers to another school, he will be eligible to play during the regular season but not eligible for the playoffs in years 10,11 and 12. Originally it looked like the transfer rule applied to only Senior transfers and playoffs, now, the Pubs want it to extend to all transfers for their entire career.
June 5th, 2018 at 9:06 am
@Coach D so your assumption is that you know why any of these kids transferred basically. Because to say it’s not too difficult to figure out what’s going on is just that an assumption on your part. So are you saying you discredit a parent? I have talked to many parents and heard many horror stories of things done to their kids all in the name of a sport, by coaches.
June 4th, 2018 at 12:06 pm
@ Foleman
What do you mean that the transfer rule is to harsh as it stands??? Where are you getting the 2-3 years from??
June 4th, 2018 at 9:36 am
@Philly Proper Off hand not sure names of what other Imhotep players transferred. Gore has already updated his profile to saying Northeast OC and and the now former goretti QB has also already updated his twitter to saying Northeast HS. Just like the big OLinemen from Lincoln HS switch schools to School of Future Hs. Coaches talk to each other. What are the parents going to say? The standard “better education” , “Better environment” When you have A coach and players at the same DVC, NG and now NE its not that difficult to figure out why the players is transferring. Following last season Goretti had kids transfer out due to “Scholarship Issues”, again its not that difficult to figure out what was going on.
June 4th, 2018 at 8:34 am
@ D12FAN
Mmmm, so Garlick is going to be reunited with his old coach at Ursinus this season……what goes around comes around……or small world???
June 4th, 2018 at 7:05 am
Phillyboy,You confuse me .You were cheering the transfers to Northeast and now going off on players staying put. Im very familiar with those two players you referenced and both transfers were for good reasons at the time. BTW,moved 40 years ago to Doylestown from Philly.
June 3rd, 2018 at 12:52 pm
Phillyboy
Please don’t reference those two players when you have no idea what you are talking about. The coaches son was QB at UD and Chris made the best decision for himself, got a good education, started and beat prep senior year, got scholarship and started at Maine last year as frosh. Garlick took a chance and competed won at state chip, he had a great opportunity. Don’t start second guessing HS kids choices, dude. There are plenty of other situations that worked out worse, garlick started at Ursinus last year….This is still the United States of America and people are free to chose where they go to school, no matter what cape may boy thinks.
June 3rd, 2018 at 12:42 pm
@Coach D what other Imhotep players transferred to Northeast? You’ve named Goretti kids but not these other Imhotep kids. The players from Gorretti that you said transferred to Northeast, do you know why? Have you talked to the kids parents? I’m just asking because it seems everyone has knowledge about kids and what’s going on by coaches, but not by the parents who I would rather hear information from, not outside sources who I’m sure are angry about the transfers.
June 3rd, 2018 at 3:38 am
@6-2 Stack Monster a few coaching buddies of mine have confirmed that coach gore who was the HC of former Del Val charter and last years OC at Goretti left to become the OC at Northeast. He also took with him Goretti starting QB (Britt) and LB (Ennis) and few others with him. They all played at Del Val for him. I was also told that few Imhotep kids also transferred into Northeast besides Speights.
June 2nd, 2018 at 7:51 am
Foleman, ….politics? Got to work that stuff out, deal with it man. ‘I’m not happy, I deserve better, I need to go find myself, I know what I’ll do …I’ll find another man, I mean team.’
Depth chart issues? Very few teams have this “problem”. That’s the breaks if a kid is going to transfer to a great program. A couple examples: a few years ago there was a kid by the name of Ferguson who transferred from Upper Dublin to LaSalle. But there was already another very good QB there. Kid ended up bench warming for a year or two. The solution: just stay where the heck you are, Upper Dublin. The thing about it, UD already had a pretty decent program anyway. Same thing with Garlick; should have stayed at Quakertown all four years. When he got bumped by the ‘new kid on the block’ it was almost a form of justice.
June 1st, 2018 at 10:42 am
@Route54. Yes, sad and creepy indeed. The scary thing to me is exactly what you said these are grown men saying these things, bashing this kid as I’m sure they have done to many others. Makes me wonder the motive? What is also scary is I’m sure they have kids of their own, to have the audacity to say something about Speights Mother and your a grown man bashing a teen age kid….very sad. Speaks volumes about who they are.
June 1st, 2018 at 10:13 am
The transfer rule is too harsh as it stands. I can see an athlete who transfers having to sit out the playoffs for the year they transferred in, but for 2-3 years, that’s excessive. Some kids have to transfer for a variety of reasons-Politics, depth chart issues, scheme. I can give several examples on why some kids had to transfer to another school that makes perfect sense.
June 1st, 2018 at 8:40 am
@phillyproper. Agree 100%. Certain handful of folks around that rip and bash teenage athletes. Where they transfer, where they live and what “boundary ” school they attend. That’s quite sad and creepy if you ask me. And these are not kids , they are grown men.
May 31st, 2018 at 9:23 pm
So much hate for this Speights kid. I gotta wonder why? I’m confused I talked to a tep coach who told me He was a great kid, I also have first hand knowledge of him and his Mother. I think we should be careful throwing around accusations, I’m sure we all want to know why the transfer but to smear a kids name in the process? It’s a shame because what your saying is just not true, you should be more responsible than that. Where exactly was he home schooled if the head coach in a newspaper article stated he transferred may 1st? And please if you want to speak on a kid make sure you state, the kid that transferred that you referred to, he was kicked out of Imhotep for punching another football player in the face. But you didn’t say that, you painted him as a victim and Speights I see nothing but lies.
May 31st, 2018 at 4:21 pm
this is a test
May 31st, 2018 at 10:33 am
@ knight
I suspect coach Beck doesn’t know yet
May 30th, 2018 at 8:13 pm
Has anyone heard who will be the new qb at north Penn now that Steve depaul transferred to imhotep?
May 24th, 2018 at 3:43 pm
BREAKING NEWS: https://www.easternpafootball.com/news/piaa-addresses-competition-imbalance-at-recent-meeting/
May 24th, 2018 at 10:43 am
McD65,
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/football/article_2967f540-edad-11e7-ab41-47ccd4a7f003.html
May 23rd, 2018 at 8:52 am
McD65, Toney was suspended last year at the Fiesta Bowl.
May 23rd, 2018 at 8:02 am
@ McD65
Possible. But he did not play in the Fiesta Bowl and I understand a suspension. I know nothing more about it. Not a big deal or real issue in the overall big picture and grand scheme of that game. I’m guessing he did something, just enough anyway to irk Franklin in having him not play in the game.
As far as this rumored mass migration to Northeast, so that basically will mean then that Prep will probably have their starters start the second half in the D12 6A finals.
May 22nd, 2018 at 10:01 pm
In D2, the Wilkes-Barre Area School board voted tonight to consolidate all sports teams beginning in the 2019-2020 school year. That is three schools merging into one; Meyers, GAR, Coughlin. This new team will most certainly be 6A in football and basketball.
Coughlin started playing football in 1892 as Wilkes-Barre High.
May 22nd, 2018 at 7:51 pm
Kevin X, I don’t believe there were any issues with Shaka Toney at all.
May 22nd, 2018 at 6:18 pm
Wow Stack Man, you fill me with excitement. Did Albie Crosby just become the head coach at Northeast? LOL I sure hope the rumor is true. For a traditional public in the Public League to be able to contend for or win a state title would be amazing, especially at 6A. Since the Public League joined the PIAA their best team was probably that first year when George Washington almost beat Easton in the playoffs. They had a really talented RB who went to Wisconsin. Hypothetically speaking, if Northeast could beat Prep in the D12 final, in local high school football circles that would be tantamount to Argentina beating the Dream Team at the 2002 World Basketball Championship. Are you kidding ME?! I’ll be out there at Charlie Martin Stadium running down the sidelines with the horned Vikings helmet and concomitant fur get-up like that dude in the 70s NFL Films clip.
May 22nd, 2018 at 12:03 pm
And exactly how much interest does Penn State really have in Tykee Smith?? He has at least 24 offers, but not from PSU. Nor does his current teammate, Yusef Terry, have an offer from PSU. Both are in most recruiting site’s PA top 10 for the class of 2019. Interesting that Smith’s 24 offers are more than twice that of Speights’, a consensual top 5 recruit in the PA class of 2019. Maybe the two incidents last year with Young and Shaka Toney are giving PSU Imhotep grads reservations. Or just that PSU’s patients has worn thin with these kids from ‘Tep. Also though, PSU has a limited number of spots for their class of 2019 recruits, so they are being very selective and looking outside of PA. They got verbals from a bunch of 4 and 5 star recruits just within the past week, and are eyeing western PA’s Joey Porter Jr. as well. And finally, this years PA recruiting class is down, if not way down, from recent years (one ESPN300, the aforementioned Porter). Will be interesting to see how things play out between now and mid/late December.
May 22nd, 2018 at 11:08 am
Summer must be upon us, as the rumor mill is starting to crank up. Heard that Speights might be the tip of the iceberg at Northeast. Word on the bricks is that there are NINE kids from Imhotep and Neuman-Goretti that will be transfering to Northeast for this season. Anybody hearing anything similar? If true, that is quite the power shift, and should make D12 all the more interesting.
May 22nd, 2018 at 7:50 am
News from the Lehigh Valley, Whitehall head coach Brian Gilbert has resigned to take Athletic Director job at Palisades.
May 21st, 2018 at 8:08 pm
The Speights transfer is definitely intriguing. You have a kid that’s a 4 star player but his head is not in school. He stayed in trouble at Imhotep. One of the games he didn’t play go into a fight with another player who later transferred. His mother tries to defend his antics and he was being home schooled after the football season was over. A coach from NE recruited him while he was home schooled. It’s their problem now, I wonder how long he will last. And as for PSU recruiting Panthers, it’s a player they’re in the hunt for and his name is Tykee Smith.
May 21st, 2018 at 4:14 pm
After McDevitt got squashed by Berks Catholic in the District 3 4A final last year, you knew they were not going to stand pat. I wonder how many other transfers will flock to McDevitt this year? 4a football is transfer Central with Erie Cathedral Prep, TEP and McDevitt. A few renegade schools are making a mockery of the PIAA rulebook.
May 20th, 2018 at 10:01 am
Bishop McDevitt football adds another weapon in Elizabethtown transfer Devyn Clair
http://highschoolsports.pennlive.com/news/article/-832944006411403315/bishop-mcdevitt-adds-another-weapon-in-elizabethtown-transfer-devyn-clair/
He said he transferred to Bishop McDevitt in January, and his decision was based, in part, on academics.
“in part” = ?% academics, ?% football
May 20th, 2018 at 9:07 am
@phillyboy –
Thanks for the clarification. I’m a public school product myself (and was an average football player on a good day), so I understand where you’re coming from. I agree the volume of transfers is getting crazy. The whole thing is the proverbial slippery slope – what’s best for a kid versus what team benefits/suffers as a result. I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Not allowing senior transfers to play is a good move.
The games you mentioned were great, but I think last year’s C’ville/SJP semi game was epic – you should add that one to your list. I’ve heard that somewhere it was voted the PA “game of the year”
My 6-2 Stack Monster handle doesn’t have a specific meaning, but it is a specific reference. I’ll let you think about it a little more… Nevertheless, if you’re telling me that Wendy’s has a new burger in the works, I’m in!
May 19th, 2018 at 1:00 pm
@ WestyBoy
So what you are saying then is that Speights was home schooled if he didn’t go to class??? 🙂
Maybe he’ll stay and play for Northeast this upcoming fall, then over Christmas break transfer once again, but this time to someplace like MaST Charter to graduate on an academic high note and add a STEM type of academy/school to his resume?? Why not, try them all out, become a very well rounded and diversified young man!!!
May 19th, 2018 at 9:29 am
I believe the PIAA is going to propose (unless they already have) another rule to their recently passed transfer rules that would make a junior who transfers after their junior year to be ineligible to participate in post season (Districts and PIAA states) games during their senior year. They’d still be eligible to play for their new school in regular season games during their senior year. They were talking about fast tracking this as well and quite possibly, but unlikely, to take effect as soon as this fall. Don’t know if this effect the recent high profile transfers we are talking about here if passed.
May 18th, 2018 at 9:17 pm
Stack Man, the short answer is yes I think they should discourage transfers regardless of the type of school. Apparently the PIAA still allows this practice for now. So I like it when a public benefits from a favorable development. The early thinking is that among publics Coatesville may have the most promise this year, so to enhance that with a 4 star player is all the better. He would have had to move there; not realistic, I know. At the end of the day it’s about great competition. I don’t want PA to turn into another Ohio where a public wins the state title once every 8-10 years, it’s corny. When there is a legit public team it makes for some compelling matchups and great high school football. Last year’s 6A final between PR and Prep and the 2016 eastern final between North Penn and Prep were fantastic. I consider PA a top 10 state for high school ball and if it meets its potential, could crack the top 5.
Btw, 6-2 Stack Monster is a nifty handle. That’s got to mean something specific. What does it denote, what does it mean? Possible candidates: a new Wendy’s burger, a breakfast special at IHOP, a surround sound system installed by the Geek Squad, the box set of Unsolved Mysteries with Larry Stack…..wait no I got it, I think I’ve got it — it’s a defense or defensive formation. Anyway phillyboy here, I’m out.
May 18th, 2018 at 1:58 pm
@ stack
Phillyboy was joking. trying to make a point.
This kid can’t transfer to Coatesville unless he lives there ( or with some family member).
That’s the ol’ boundary dispute.
May 18th, 2018 at 1:08 pm
I’m guessing he’s saying Tep & LS will be a good game?
Maybe? Who knows?
May 18th, 2018 at 12:46 pm
WHAT?! How are the privates and charters supposed to compete when the big 6A publics keep taking their kids? LOL
@phillyboy: Agreed that Speights is a 4 star stud; he’ll help Northeast yawn THEIR way to the D12 final – once there, who knows. But I’m curious about your stance on transfers – you mention you would have liked to see him go to Coatesville. That’s a hike from Philly to go to school, a distance (across several good school districts) that some folks would have issue with if the player were headed INTO the city. Are you okay with it so long as the player is going to a public school? Not trying to pick a fight here – just want to understand what is deemed a ‘legit’ transfer in your opinion.
May 18th, 2018 at 10:27 am
These Transfers is getting out of hand, there are more to come, some bigger then others that have not been announced yet. Speights wont last in college either, 3 schools 3 years, he didn’t even goto class at TEP this year is the rumor . If i was a college coach i would not offer him a trail pass. PIAA has to get something going with this Rule, if you transfer you should not be able to play that coming season especially in the same division. High School Football is becoming a complete joke anymore and uninteresting.
May 18th, 2018 at 8:35 am
@ phillyboy
huh???
You people are loosing me with these posts.
May 18th, 2018 at 7:41 am
Phillyboy, SPeights actually hit all 3 school classifications -Private-St. Joe Prep-Charter-TEP and Public-Northeast. The next rule the PIAA should implement is Multiple transfers. 1 transfer and that’t it. Such is life in Philly.
May 18th, 2018 at 6:48 am
Interesting about Speights who is the number 1 rated player in Pa. Penn State hasn’t offered which is puzzling to me ,unless Tep has gotten a rep due to last years player incident. Guess we will never know for sure. Anyway,no matter where he plays he will be a great asset. Another transfer issue to discuss.
May 17th, 2018 at 10:09 am
That’s what I’m talking about: a 4 star junior transfers to a 6A traditional public ….are you kidding ME?! As long as the current rules allow for this, you’re darn right this phillyboy approved. Really wish he would have joined Coatesville but this is very fine. Kudos to the Speights family. Hopefully some other youngsters will join him there; then maybe Prep won’t be able to yawn their way to the District 12 crown. Omar, you’re the man ….I mean boy ….oh never mind.
May 17th, 2018 at 7:07 am
@ Jason Port
???????
Go on…..
May 16th, 2018 at 12:57 pm
This is interesting….usually the other way around…..or maybe a move to South Philly and N-G…..
http://highschoolsports.pennlive.com/news/article/6191347666741700154/four-star-omar-speights-pas-top-player-in-class-of-2019-transfers-to-northeast-from-imhotep-charter/
May 16th, 2018 at 9:55 am
Omar Speights transfers from Imhotep to Northeast
His 3rd school in 4 years-St. Joe Prep, TEP now NE
http://highschoolsports.pennlive.com/news/article/6191347666741700154/four-star-omar-speights-pas-top-player-in-class-of-2019-transfers-to-northeast-from-imhotep-charter/
May 16th, 2018 at 8:43 am
Imhotep vs. La Salle
May 14th, 2018 at 9:22 am
kevin x, looks like only 5/6 changed the brackets for the next 2 year cycle.
http://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/BOD_Agenda/2018/January/Sports/Fall/Football.pdf
May 12th, 2018 at 1:37 pm
Anyone know how the Scranton Prep Off. And Def. Lines are gonna look this season? THx.
May 10th, 2018 at 7:29 am
Yes, forgot that the PIAA tweaked the playoff bracket for 6A (other classifications as well I suppose??), or at least they are proposing it. Are they official?? Any idea why they are doing it (or proposing it)?? Looking at D1 vs D3 and D7/west vs D3/D12 in the semi finals now???
May 9th, 2018 at 12:48 pm
Harrisburg moved up to 6A this year, so Coatesville gets two D3 powerhouses in the regular season. They will run the gauntlet in D1 against Neshaminy, Garnet Valley as well as NP.
Coatesville’s biggest challenge will be keeping its Defense fresh and at times maybe scoring too quick. Look for Aaron Young to have more carries this year, especially early due to the youth out wide.
May 8th, 2018 at 5:03 pm
Tom Foley,in a way too early prediction I would take the Prep in another shootout. Both squads are loaded offensively. Should be another classic assuming they both make it to the finals.
May 8th, 2018 at 12:51 pm
to:Mark Tyer SJP will always be a major problem in PCL they are the best team money can buy.That being said you must worry about your own program and it’s progress.At the end of the day if you are good enough player and student no matter were you go the college coaches will find you.
May 8th, 2018 at 9:21 am
Who wins this year? St.Joe Prep or Coatesville? With the new playoff structure, I don’t see anyone in District 3 giving Coatesville a game and it looks like anyone out in Western Pa can give Prep a game unless some of the younger players on PCC and Pine Richland can develop quickly. PCC already lost one of their top players who transferred to a Public School.
May 8th, 2018 at 8:46 am
Mike A.
Cumberland Valley is one of the great football traditions in PA. Always in the hunt for at least a District Final and sometimes even more. Looking forward to the CV vs Coatesville game this year. Always neat to see two contrasting styles of play as power goes against speed.
Also look forward to CV and Wilson battles when they match up in District 3 playoff games. Those two programs are the leaders of D3 for sure.
May 8th, 2018 at 7:12 am
SJP will be a major problem this year. The incoming QB, Soph Kyle McCord, probably should have started last year as a freshman. He already has offers from Michigan, West Virginia, Boston College, Syracuse and Rutgers…before starting a game. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (yes the Ax Man’s son) is an incoming soph with offers from Maryland, Syracuse and Temple. They return RB Kolbe Burrell, who just ran a 4.4 garners offers from Rutgers and Temple. O Line comes back very strong and have a slew of young offensive playmakers. I’m a Judge guy, this is going to be an uphill battle for anybody to stay with this team in the PCL. We’ll see how these young guys can play.
May 8th, 2018 at 7:01 am
Sorry, NP plays AT Pennridge.
May 8th, 2018 at 6:30 am
@Kevin:
re. NP, very possible.
Pennridge would have won against GV if they had
Tarburton, no doubt about it. Not sure what happened between those two. C’ville was looking past them? They had a great game against Prep.
One positive, NP has Pennsbury & Pennridge at home. might help.
May 7th, 2018 at 6:43 pm
@ Buddy
NP could easily start the season 0-4 (Nesh, LaSalle, Pennsbury, P-Ridge (nasty)), then run the table, finish 6-4, get a 13 or 14 seed, with the 3 or 4 seed going, really??
Speaking of Pennridge, any crystal ball thoughts on them this year?? The old “what if” as in if Tarburton was “available” for that playoff game against Garnet, would they have prevailed in that game and gone on to face C’Ville, who had their hands more than full with Garnet…….back to the “what if”……….
One more PCL question. C-E?? Can Garwo carry them this year, does he have help, is Jersey boy playing the whole season on this side of the river or doing double duty again……as the HS football world turns……
May 7th, 2018 at 4:50 pm
Coatesville QB Ortega is good, but looks like he put on some weight in the offseason. He won’t be as quick as he was last year. I’m waiting for the week 1 NP/Neshaminy match up. I like Redskin QB McAndrews to take a huge leap from the very good year he had last year. They should repeat as Suburban One National Champs. Wouldn’t mind a Neshaminy/Coatesville matchup in the playoffs.
May 7th, 2018 at 3:18 pm
@ kevin
Watching the state final last year, I was amazed at all the underclassmen SJP had starting. No re-loading, already loaded.
LaSalle always good. It’s just that in recent years prep has out-recruited them.
NP could be disappointing this year. Unless they have some unknowns under wraps.
NP has missed the playoffs once in the last 20 years. This could be the second time.
May 7th, 2018 at 12:58 pm
@Daryl I have followed Cumberland Valley football since the mid 80’s and I can tell you they haven’t had more than 4 or 5 players transfers from nearby districts over the last 30+ years. In fact, they have lost way more good players to other schools in the area like Trinity. I may be missing someone but Corey Gumby (East Pennsboro) 1992 when they won the state championship and Steve Smith (Trinity) are really the only two I remember that have had an impact. They did get a big fullback in from the Pittsburgh area in the early 2000’s but that was a legitimate transfer as the parents moved here.
May 7th, 2018 at 9:53 am
Looks like schedules are 90 % complete. Noticed a few with week #1 missing. When will schedules be completely done?
May 7th, 2018 at 9:46 am
phillyboy back at it again — cause you know this stuff is therapeutic man.
Toby, not a bad rant, came out swinging with some creative lines, fueled by sincere exasperation. I sure hope you’re right about Coatesville. They got a stud QB coming back, started last year as a sophomore. Kid has what it takes to win a 6A state title: confidence, hunger, football instincts plus a nice skill set. Kid can scramble like nobody’s business; not to THAT extent but he is almost a little reminiscent of Eugene Jarvis how he bounces off players. And if I’m not mistaken they have most of their excellent skill players back — I hope I’m right on that. I’m all in with Coatesville BABY! — this year’s version of the ‘great public hope’ — at least on this side of the state.
Daryl, yes, apparently some publics do acquire some players here and there but here’s the thing: the privates tend to pluck the elite players (must be nice) and the publics are then left to deal with the fallout. Look, if McCray hadn’t absconded to the Prep, North Penn wouldn’t have had a need to accept the Norristown transfer. I absolutely and totally appreciate the young man’s efforts this past year (the problem with 2017 North Penn was the D) and am disappointed that he’s now at Imhotep. For that matter there’s a good chance DePaul would have stayed at Norristown if Isaac Jones hadn’t been recruited to LaSalle. It creates a domino effect. Poor Norristown — they lost 2 QBs. They should have called 911; they were victims of a ‘home district invasion’.
May 7th, 2018 at 9:16 am
Awwwwww……. Did the Big Bad Non Boundary Schools get their feelings hurt? Well just go to the nearest Youth League and ask their best players to come help your football team. That should make it all better. After all you need to keep the Boosters happy. Or is that college? Basically the same thing right.
May 7th, 2018 at 7:43 am
I’ll follow along with Toby’s football talk…..
What’s the outlook for our beloved D12 PCL top teams, SJP, LaSalle and Wood?? SJP just re-load?? Their defense carried them for a good part of last year, until they implode the last two games (or were very over rated). I’ll assume another deep playoff run from them. Lasalle I though last year they’d make more noise, but still played well. That same old same old week 2 playoff meeting with SJP again. Really wish they would figure out a way to avoid each other so early in the playoffs. Injury to the QB, but the back-up stepped up nicely. Wood, new coach, lost D1 RB and TE (ok, they loose D1 talent every year, I get it), but like SJP, just reload?? Playing up in 5A shouldn’t be an issue and another deep playoff, if not another championship game appearance in the cards?? Any word on that possible rumored week 2?? match-up with Imhotep???
OK, the South Philly All-Stars, aka Neumann-Goeretti. One hit wonders?? Appears that they lost a ton of top talent. Any thoughts??
May 7th, 2018 at 5:47 am
@ Darrl
NP does not get 3 or 4 transfers every year! Tired of hearing that crap!
The privates entire student/athletes are recruits, in effect. I mean nobody HAS to go to prep, LS or wood. One doesn’t have to go to a public school either, but if they don’t have the $$$, then they HAVE to.
Also, the privates CAN and DO give scholarships based on academics and NEED base. Let’s not pretend there’s little difference between boundary & non when recruiting!
May 6th, 2018 at 6:39 pm
Toby as I can see you like to target non boundary schools but why is it OK for.boundary schools to recruit? Just a coincidence north Penn gets 3 or 4 transfers a year that are great athletes? Same with other top public programs? Now I can agree changes need to be made bit please don’t act like public schools don’t play the same game.
May 4th, 2018 at 1:10 pm
Toby,
Just because it doesn’t occur in a classroom, doesn’t mean it’s not education. Most professionals will tell you that athletics and extra-curricular activities is every bit as important or more in the development of a student than Math, English, and Science Class. Also when talking about urban school districts especially successful athletic programs greatly increase the climate and culture of those buildings and have been universally proven to diminish high risk behaviors. Making the statement that athletics is not a part of the educational experience goes against everything most data and research by “the experts everywhere” that has been presented for the last 30 years.
May 4th, 2018 at 9:40 am
Football it is then….
Coatesville will have the fastest team in the state
Manheim Central has a quarterback – Evan Simon – who already has an offer from West Virginia as a Sophomore and will be the best QB in the state before he graduates.
Cantral Dauphin and Wilson are both young and will be strong, but should peak next year.
Cumberland Valley lost a lot but will still be a tough squad as always.
And the reality is none of these proud, accomplished, awesome football programs, that are filled with tradition, have much of a chance against a Non Boundary School in the Philly area. They have 10 million people within an hour drive which make the probability of finding great athletes a lot easier.
There is a reason there are classifications in athletics…… The more kids in the school district the better chance of having more great athletes. The only people that can’t understand that are the same people that think Trump doesn’t know why the $130k went to Stormy 🙂
May 3rd, 2018 at 9:32 am
Hey Toby
While we are at it, let’s return the school property taxes to the people who send their children to Private/Catholic schools.
Someone mentioned Catholic schools budgets, let’s give equal time, public schools spend about 10k-15k per student per year and budgets are unbalanced and pensions severely underfunded and in crisis. Would be great if the constituents on here would be as passionate about real education reform in PA as they are about little timmy from public school getting state trophy..
We are on here because a love a HS football, let’s some, any football talk….
May 2nd, 2018 at 2:17 pm
Since it has been confirmed (by the experts here) that Non-Boundary Schools have been established with the intent of a better education, perhaps they could dissolve their extracurricular activities and have the children participate in the Public School in which they live?
Then they could use all of the tuition just for educational purposes!!!
I’m sure this change would also increase enrollments from other families that just want the “educational benefit”.
May 2nd, 2018 at 10:44 am
Yes. It’s an issue in wrestling, volleyball, lacrosse, etc. Football and basketball just get the majority of the press. Here’s a good article that touches on other sports.
https://www.ydr.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/03/29/img-academy-other-elite-programs-take-top-athletes-what-high-school-sports-pennsylvania/344020002/
May 1st, 2018 at 7:33 pm
Outside of football and basketball (boys and girls) is this private/catholic/charter vs public boundary schools an issue?? Especially when talking about separate playoffs and championships??
May 1st, 2018 at 1:53 pm
Someone asked “what makes a Catholic education better education?” I worked in the admissions office of a University in Florida and we had schools ranked and graded based on their academics. Catholic and Private schools ranked much higher than Public schools in every state. A “B” grade at a Public school in Florida or a 3.0 GPA for example, wouldn’t tell us much because many of them would arrive to school and not be able to read or write well enough for college level courses. SAT and ACT scores on average were routinely higher, much higher in Catholic and Private schools. Typically classroom size is smaller in Catholic schools and discipline is higher leading to an atmosphere of excellence and character development.
April 30th, 2018 at 5:00 pm
Any news on last week’s meeting with Senator’s? That’s what I thought, nothing. Next time bring Donald Trump. Nothing will change the laws and by laws created by the PIAA. I guess a few hard heads thought bringing government officials would warrant automatic change and separation of playoffs.
April 30th, 2018 at 3:15 pm
Lol at the religious background comments regarding schools in the Philadelphia catholic league. Watch those schools play and you’ll see quick that they don’t behave like a school who promotes religion would.
April 30th, 2018 at 10:54 am
ColonialFan – I agree completely with you!!!!
April 30th, 2018 at 6:31 am
@colonialfan
From my experience yes catholic schools provide a better education for those that want it,however I do see a problem with a lot of these transfers but please don’t act like public schools don’t do it either.north Penn had 4 or 5 studs transfer in last year.cb west and neshaminy are the same.
April 29th, 2018 at 3:39 pm
@D12FAN…by the way it was the poster Daryl that offered up “better education”. It hasn’t just been him, better education is often used by Catholic school proponents.
April 29th, 2018 at 3:36 pm
@D12FAN….better education is one of the arguments that has always been used. If a kid grows up going to a Catholic school his entire life, I’m fine with that. The issue stems from kids, who happen to be stud athletes, showing up in 9th grade, 10th grade and sometimes even 12th grade. See all the previous examples of the kid showing up to Conwell after already completing his season in NJ, or the girls who shoes up to NG in late February just in time for the stretch run of playoffs, etc. I’m from the Lehigh Valley and last year a girl transferred from Central Catholic to Bethlehem Catholic for her senior year. Are you telling me she did that for educational purposes?? The school was that much better that she needed a change for her senior season?? By the way, Beca won a state title that year. People that continue to say there is not an issue are blind and biased. It’s ridiculous. There’s no inferiority comPlex. Facts have been laid out by more than one source. If you can’t even admit to seeing the disparity between boundary and non boundary you are flat out delusional.
April 29th, 2018 at 11:48 am
@ McD65 and D12FAN
CapeMayboy?? LOL Been living in Philadelphia since 1995 and probably can count on two hands the amount of times that I’ve visited CM since then. But you can use that moniker if you so desire. Even President Obama, after some ribbing, acquiesced and accepted the term ‘Obamacare’. This message has been approved by phillyboy.
April 29th, 2018 at 7:32 am
My apologies to Mike McGlinchey from Wm Penn Charter in Philly, the No. 9 overall pick in the draft. That would make 3 of the top 24 players picked from Eastern PA.
April 28th, 2018 at 9:07 pm
@ GK
You should of just stopped at “……best academic schools in the state.”
April 28th, 2018 at 7:11 pm
St Joe Prep and LaSalle are two of the best academic schools in the state. Last two mayors of philly went to Prep, Johnny Doc etc the networking that school provides you after you graduate is a major benefit. But at this point just take the catholic schools out of the PIAA this conversation is getting old.
April 28th, 2018 at 2:14 pm
Heard a rumor that a couple LL schools are being investigated for full contact practices at Spooky Nook indoor facility this winter. I don’t know those rules. Anyone else heard of this?
April 28th, 2018 at 12:37 pm
ColonialFan
I didn’t see anyone say it was catholic was better. Sounds like an inferiority comlex…
April 27th, 2018 at 10:10 pm
Can someone tell me what exactly makes a Catholic education a better education??
And please explain the kids that transfer from one Catholic school to another catholic school?? That catholic school offers a better education??
April 27th, 2018 at 9:41 pm
Saquon Barkley, Whitehall, Number 2 pick, D.J. Moore, Imhotep, Number 24 pick, not a bad evening of representation for Eastern PA Football in the NFL draft’s first round……
April 27th, 2018 at 6:58 pm
CapeMayboy-
You can chose to send your kids where ever you want, God Bless America. Prep and Wood offer a football program experience and national prowess and competition like few others, couple that with the religous background and athletic competitive culture these schools offer and it is a no brainer. Assuming you embrace competition and are unafraid to take on all comers to get on the field….
April 27th, 2018 at 3:52 pm
CapeMayBoy.,You are a like a broken record with the local Public School Rah Rah stuff. Look,I have NOTHING against deciding to send your son to the local public school, but you act as though this is something that is a must do or you are a traitor. FYI,it used to be if you were Catholic you almost automatically sent your child to the Catholic HS and Not the public school. Those days are gone for most,but there are still a percentage of us that continue to choose a Catholic education for our kids. NO KIDDING !!! We are not Wussies my man.
April 27th, 2018 at 1:35 pm
@phillyboy
Your going to try and tell me if your kid got a chance at a better education and program you’d still send him to a lesser school?
April 27th, 2018 at 9:26 am
@ Route54
What are you kidding yourself man?! The true wussies are the dads who send their kids to these specialty schools, all in a tizzy like a school girl crying that she only got a 98 on her test. If I had a son of high school age I would absolutely send him to the local traditional high school; go Edison BABY! If the kid is an out and out stud he’ll be noticed, if not then has a great chance to get a whole lot of playing time, excel and have some nice memories.
Growing up down in Cape May County in the 80’s I remember at one point being tempted with the idea of playing ball at Holy Spirit HS which has a pretty nice program. Glad that didn’t happen. It’s up to the parents to steer the ship. Like a first century traveler once said: ‘When I was a babe, I used to speak as a babe, to reason as a babe; but now that I have become a man, I have done away with the traits of a babe.’
April 26th, 2018 at 8:14 am
What you don’t understand. Pennsylvania legislation are laxed and have back logs of laws they want to pass. Desks are piled high to the ceiling. They still have not passed a simple law of no cell phones while driving, so what makes you think they are going to drop everything for a few “wussies” that cry unfairness because their team got roughed up in eastern finals.
April 25th, 2018 at 3:08 pm
Any news on the big meeting with Piaa and our beloved Senators? I Was told by a friend from Dauphin county that it was a total blow off. In other words, nothing more than a listen and “sweet talk” session. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Waste of time and overhyped news. I was also told from a lawyer friend it will be very hard to change 1972. PIAA is not going to lay down and look incompetent. They have lawyers too. You can’t tell anyone what school they attend or living preferences. Especially when you pay for education.
April 24th, 2018 at 6:04 am
sausman, will be publishing an updated east west roster later today. There have been many changes since the original announcement
April 24th, 2018 at 6:02 am
good read here: https://www.easternpafootball.com/gotw-1/private-problem-public-debate-delving-into-the-debate-of-the-public-vs-private-transfers-issue/
April 23rd, 2018 at 4:39 pm
Foleman thanks. I am in the philly area, not mentioned down here. I don’t see any changes coming. None. Get ready for more of same old.
April 23rd, 2018 at 1:56 pm
Footballdad99, the hearing was broadcast on Channel 12, I watched it, and yes, the Catholic League did send in the Big Guns-(Lawyers)
http://www.genedigirolamo.com/NewsItem.aspx?NewsID=267391
April 23rd, 2018 at 10:14 am
Foleman,I have a hard time believing Philly Cath league sent some shark lawyers to Harrisburg for a PIAA meeting. They can barely afford to heat their schools. The issue is the PIAA charter. The PCL probably read it aloud and case closed. Clearly states Championships for all. The charter has to be changed, and that will allow for the different championships. Until then nothing will change and not worth talking about.
April 20th, 2018 at 3:34 pm
Colonial fan. they can have all the meetings they want with the senators. Nothing is going to change.
April 20th, 2018 at 3:31 pm
I’m hearing Marian is loaded up again in Single A. Any truth to this?
April 20th, 2018 at 2:48 pm
Cantafio is in way over his head. Mike Williams, the former HC of Manheim Central had a hearing in front of Several state reps and had his head handed to him by the Philadelphia Catholic league Lawyers. It was embarrassing. In fact, many of the State Reps wondered why there was even a hearing in the 1st place. Seperate playoffs between Public and Private will never happen.
April 20th, 2018 at 6:14 am
Also regarding boundary vs non-boundary, if you follow Coach Cantafio of Coatesville on Twitter, he is pushing hard for separate classes. He has a meeting with Pennsylvania state senators upcoming regarding the issue.
April 20th, 2018 at 4:34 am
Article on some WPIAL superintendents calling for change on boundary vs non-boundary issue.
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-football/2018/04/18/WPIAL-to-survey-schools-on-separate-state-championships-for-public-and-private-schools-PIAA-Tim-O-Malley-John-Sarandrea/stories/201804180223
April 19th, 2018 at 12:32 pm
let me rephrase that and ask does anyone know of any other kids that have opted out of the East v West allstar game on May 6??? I don’t need a reason, just which kids might be out or might have been invited to join. tx.
I heard;
Rakowsky from Palisades is not in due to Lehigh Univ request.
The kid from Prep going to Bucknell was also asked not to participate by Bucknell.
tx.
April 18th, 2018 at 12:15 pm
Draft of PCL schedule link from Ted…Also hear Wood may play Imhotep 8/31..In addition to the 2 Maryland teams and 2 North Jersey teams…WOW!
http://www.tedsilary.com/FBCLmastersked18.htm
April 18th, 2018 at 9:11 am
Does anyone have an updated roster for the East v West game on May 6th??? tx. I have already heard of two players recently opting out due to college requests.
April 16th, 2018 at 4:59 pm
George
Why can’t a rising sophmore transfer after Freshman year?
Schmidt had accepted DC posistion at NP, but fell apart….Back at TEP
April 16th, 2018 at 1:44 pm
Wasn’t there a rumor or talk (or maybe just something I read here??) about the Ches Mont and PAC getting together for a football only league?? Or maybe that was just something circulating in my feeble mind. Anyways, kind of like the idea of an 8 team 6A western D1 division consisting of C’ville, DTE, DTW, P-V, S-F, rounded out with Avon Grove, OJR and B-town. Better yet, swap out AG and plug in Garnet from the Central.
April 16th, 2018 at 1:02 pm
@ GeorgeP
“If that’s true how does PCL let this happen?”
Please tell me that’s sarcasm.
April 16th, 2018 at 12:58 pm
Kevin X, I doubt anyone wants to play Imhotep, they might be the most talented team in PA this year and just got better with a Div 1 QB just transferring in which is a joke. They are PA’S version of IMG academy. BC has Malvern Prep, McDonough, Exeter and Haverford on the schedule. The merger of the Lancaster/Lebanon and Berks County will be a win-win for football in Central Pa.
April 16th, 2018 at 12:49 pm
Phillyboy, the recruiting free for all in Philadelphia started with the Del Val Charter Boys basketball team starring the Morris Twins. The Philly Public league boys basketball teams got their head handed to them in the PIAA playoffs their 1st year in..when it was an even playing field. Del Val lost due to the team having no guards. Presto, 3 guards get recruited to join Del Val and the Morris twins and District 12 and the PIAA looked the other way while Del Val wins Multiple State Championship. Other schools in Philly took notice and followed suit. NC and Dougherty closing helped the Charter and Pubs more than the Catholic schools, Judge should be a powerhouse sports school, NC and Dougherty athletes headed elsewhere due to recruiting.
April 16th, 2018 at 12:47 pm
Is there any words on who will new Coach will be at Archbishop Wood? Rumors?
April 16th, 2018 at 12:12 pm
I AGREE WITH SKINSFAN ABOUT NESHAMINY HS FOOTBALL..IT SHOULD BE BETTER THIS FALL THAN LAST YEAR BUT NOT YET GREAT BETTER WAIT AND SEE I AM GOING TO BE 61ST FOOTBALL DEAF FAN WOW THANK Y
April 16th, 2018 at 10:22 am
Rumor around the D12 PCL, Freshman WR Marvin Harrison from La Salle transferring to Prep this summer? If that’s true how does PCL let this happen?
April 16th, 2018 at 10:00 am
I really need to better proof read my post……..
My previous post should have read…….”would be ineligible to play in post season games”…….sorry.
April 16th, 2018 at 9:55 am
Some more transfer stuff for you guys to chew on. A new proposal being floated is regarding a transfer at the end of their junior year would not be ineligible to play in post season games during their senior year. Interesting…….
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/high_school/piaa-transfer-rules-guidelines-resrictions-changes-football-basketball-20180414.html
April 16th, 2018 at 9:54 am
@Zack Felter
After the news broke with the reclassification of teams and Shanahan going to 4A I had a brief discussion with Ches-Mont AD and he mentioned that they had discussions with the Del-Val League about a possible merger. Not sure how serious it got, but for football purposes it does no good as only Chester is 6A and the other member schools are either 4A or 5A.
As for Coatesville this year they should be explosive as ever of offense. They are returning their top 3 weapons in Ortega, Bryant and Aa Young. Young has recently picked up offers from Stanford, Vandy, Ole Miss, Arkansas as well as about 20+ others.
I haven’t heard much about what the freshman and JV teams looked like this past year, but I know a large chunk of them where probably on the Bert Bell unlimited team that won the championship a couple years ago, so the talent should be there.
April 16th, 2018 at 8:35 am
@SkinsFan:
Thanks for the info. I did not believe it when I read it.
April 15th, 2018 at 5:12 pm
Phillyboy
That is a great post and very insightful. I agree with all you said. I will add that I think the public schools didn’t recognize quick enough the situation you described and did not adabt.
April 15th, 2018 at 1:47 pm
@Friday
Coach Schmidt will not be with North Penn this season as instead, he will be assisting at Imhotep.
April 15th, 2018 at 1:23 pm
The more I think about it, West Snyder and Middleburg merged in the late 1990’s. West Snyder was located in Beaver Springs,Snyder County. Neither school had a football team.
April 15th, 2018 at 1:15 pm
Midd-West High School formed when they combined West Snyder High School and Middleburg High School in Snyder County. I think they combined the two schools in the 1980’s.
April 15th, 2018 at 8:44 am
@ Friday:
No I haven’t. That’s the old Neshaminy/Imhotep coach. I assume he’s a defensive guru. I certainly hope he is, we could use that.
April 15th, 2018 at 7:53 am
Buddy,
I saw a post in another board that said Mark Schmidt is North Penn’s defensive coordinator now. Heard anything?
April 14th, 2018 at 7:11 pm
@PastorZack
“finding a plug in the middle of their D”
Well that gives me a bit of hope as a CV fan. Perhaps they can grind it out with the running game and keep it close.
April 14th, 2018 at 12:10 am
@Kevin Coatesville has Middletown South High School out of NJ in Week 2 for a home game. They have had problems with other PA 6A teams to come play them at home.
I’m assuming the Harrisburg is a home/home with them coming to Coatesville next year. Gratz had been wanting to get out of our deal since they made it a couple of years ago.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:30 pm
@ D12FAN
When the PCL first joined the PIAA St. Joe’s Prep lost to North Penn twice in the regular season. In that first year LaSalle even lost to the Public League champ in the District 12 championship (I realize that was a bit of a fluke but still). And then Wood got destroyed by Thomas Jefferson in the state final. Imagine that. Why is that? In a few years things have changed drastically. TJ is pretty much the same solid program. I have a theory: generally speaking the top public programs back in the day would have had their way against the top privates. But membership in the PIAA has been a catalyst for PCL recruiting because of the excitement and glamour of being able to compete for state championships and crisscross the country playing big games. So the top PCL teams today are better than they used to be. Those first few years when the PCL struggled a bit, represented the time it took to benefit from the heightened recruiting.
Then sure, the elimination of North Catholic and Cardinal Dougherty among others tended to help consolidate talent at less schools. Lastly, you got school districts like Downingtown and Central Bucks who hurt themselves by adding extra teams. Anyway just some thoughts.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:10 pm
Looks like a good chunck of the 2018 schedules have been posted, sans D12. Any idea when they might make an appearance??
Are we done with “week 0?” D3 appears now to be starting the weekend before Labor Day weekend, joining the rest of (at least the east) in making that their first regualar season games.
For you C’Ville folk (Pastor Zack??) any idea if C’ville has a game scheduled (or will have) the second week, between H-Burg and CV?? I’ll continue beating the drum for them to hook up with Imhotep, or even Wood, in an early season non league battle. That tho would be quite an opening first 3 game stretch for the Red Raiders.
Speaking of ‘Tep and H-Burg, no home and home match-up this year?? No Berks Catholic/’Tep game this year that was rumored to take place when the game late last year never materialized??
April 13th, 2018 at 9:10 am
@sausmann9
You paint everyone in philly and the pcl with the same brush but it’s not the case.take wood,sjp and lasalle out of the pcl and what teams left dominate? Most are made up of local kids.and other than imhotep what school is dominating the city? What you don’t think north penn or neshaminy recruits? Cb West Dominated For Years And Recruited Like crazy.
April 13th, 2018 at 8:36 am
@PhillyBoy:
Could very well be the case with less pressure and expectations. You never know with high school kids. A lot of their success will be determined by how they can figure out the QB situation. Sounds like that opening game could be a pretty good battle.
April 13th, 2018 at 8:19 am
Live4Fridays
Thank you for the additional information on Midd-West. You also gave us the deal with East Juniata and Juniata as well. We did not add another team as now EJ won’t play FB, its a wash. Thanks again.
April 13th, 2018 at 8:08 am
Sausman
As a D12 fan I agree with you. But you forget it was the PIAA that came calling for the PCL in 2008. Before that every year we heard how the top public school would beat the top PCL teams. I guess that didn’t work out as planned. You also fail to point out 2 other fatctors with the public schools. 1. Is that most of the top successful public schools get transfers as well due to their success, like the successful private schooLs.. 2. Once the PCL is gone from the PIAA, guys like you will go back to complaining that norht penn and pennsbury have too many kids and will start asking for 10 classifications to make it more fair…
BTW plans are in place for the strong PCL schools to play national schedules and the state championship an after thought. With more archdiocesan consolidation that is coming the successful teams will just get stronger. We will see if they can pull it off..
April 13th, 2018 at 5:20 am
@sausmann:
You will be stoned…………….but you’re essentially correct.
Yea, I know D12FAN………… nice work, carry on………
April 12th, 2018 at 3:54 pm
@PhillBoy:
North Penn will be competitive as always, and I agree that less prssure may help them. That said, I think Coatesville will be the team to beat in District 1. They return a boatload of talent, but I believe that Sanders graduates this year and is headed to Bucknell.
April 12th, 2018 at 12:44 pm
@ PCL whiners – NO I was not telling anyone from the beloved PCL to drop their beloved, recruited up football programs especially to all those that tossed the “ignorance” tag around as if you actually know what it means.
What I was recommending is that the PCL and Philly schools leave the PIAA for athletic reasons. They can keep their beloved programs and all the kids they bring in from ANY surrounding states, not just PA. If a STUDENT of any of those PCL or Philly schools wants to participate in PIAA sports such as football, they may join the public school district’s team they reside within and pay taxes to.
You all throw the idea around that my suggestion is the “wussification” of sports – actually you are 100% wrong and if anything its the EXACT OPPOSITE. By letting the PCL and Philly schools build and recruit a team together every year, they are not really competing but cheating their way through the season. Anytime any other school CANNOT do what the PCL and Philly schools can, that’s the unfair and dangerous advantage PCL and Philly teams have. Take Ihop for example – went out and got them a quarterback. SJP needs a few skill playyers and they got one already (public school transfer from NJ).
If anything the “wussification” of high school sports is brought on by schools like those in the PCL and city of Philly by only being able to compete by ASSEMBLING a team of already coached up and developed players. Teach them to battle through the tough season instead of teaching them to go out and get the running back and lineman and quarterbacks they need from other teams and then act as if it was a great accomplishment to actually beat the teams who you took best players from, lol.
April 12th, 2018 at 11:38 am
Ken/Billy
To be accurate, Midd-West was in a CO-OP with EAST Juniata in the Tri-Valley League. EJ was AAAA because of the CO-OP. Most of the players on the EJ team were actually from the M-W school district so they should not have trouble generating interest for their own team. The other half of the story is that EJ will now not have a FB team and their players will play for Juniata which has always fielded a pretty decent team.
April 12th, 2018 at 11:24 am
Neshaminy returnees starts with its QB from last year, Brody McAndrew (6′ 3″, 190 lb – last year). He was 136 of 232 in 2017 with 17 TDs against 4 INTs — he will be a junior this year (he’s very, very good and with another inch and a few more pounds expected he’ll have good size).
The receivers coming back include Zack Canimore, Cory Joyce and Oleh Manzyk who had 12 catches for 128 yards, 48 for 610 and 28 for 438 respectively last season (88 catches in total for just shy of 1,200 yards). They’re all good (and all seniors).
Running backs include the Hebron brothers (back as seniors — Vaughn’s kids) along with Henry Hill, who was a sophomore last year and looks to have potential (there are some other names too who were sophs and a freshmen in 2017).
The O line will see some new faces.
D wise they have Luke Hitchens along the line (6′ 2″, 210) with Bobby Buchys (6’4″, 210 – again, last year). Manzyk is all over the place on D but will probably be an LB or DE with Chris Majors (5′ 11″, 205 last year, Corey Majors younger brother, junior this year) another LB.
They have at least two of their DBs back (Joyce and Marcus Griffin who is another senior).
As it is, and skill-wise, they have what seems as everyone back except Joel Stills (RB and DB) and Zach Canimore (receiver and DB). Then as said, they’ll be some new faces on the line.
McAndrews is very good and took them to an 11-1 season as a sophomore so watch for a lot from him and his arm (he’s got the receivers too).
Stills was making noise as the RB by season’s end in 2017 so we want to see the group as mentioned above fill that in (they seem to produce RBs every year).
Manzyk is an impact player (he was all state as a sophomore and junior at two different positions) so expect plenty from him.
The defense should be solid.
April 12th, 2018 at 8:44 am
Multiple transfers should be next on the agenda. HS athletics should not be about “Hired Guns” DePaul should not be allowed to play for TEP. The PIAA is a joke!
April 12th, 2018 at 8:40 am
@philyboy Coatesville does return some skill position players, but lost 3 of their 4 starting WR’s. Lost two OL’s and TE. On D, is where the losses sting a bit, they lost both DT’s, a SDE and WLB, and half of their secondary.
They should be fine on O, but finding a plug in the middle of their D and replacing Avery Young at one corner spot will be their defenses main challenge.
April 12th, 2018 at 7:58 am
While this site was down for a few weeks last month, some of you might of missed that the PIAA inched along in their attempt to deal with the transfer issue. This only applies to in-season transfers, and IMO it is still way too little, and too late, especially after this N-G girls hoops issue. If anyone in familiar with it, you already know how much of a complete disgrace it was/is.
http://highschoolsports.pennlive.com/news/article/-8985422966390870277/piaa-board-of-directors-tightens-procedure-on-in-season-transfers/
April 11th, 2018 at 8:53 pm
@FNL
Neshaminy returns their QB McAndrews. I believe he will be a senior. He returns with fellow seniors Joyce and Manzik who will get D1 offers if he hasn’t already. Not sure about their running game, but the defense seems to be pretty good every year. If NP lost their QB from last season, I will give the way to early to tell nod to Neshaminy.
April 11th, 2018 at 7:21 pm
@phillyboy
“But from what I gather Coatesville may be really good this year”
Cumberland Valley lost a lot from last year so Coatesville should be able to finally win one against them this year. CV reloads pretty quickly though so don’t count them out just yet but the talent will be younger and inexperienced. I’ll know more as the season approaches but I’d expect Coatesville to win this one fairly handily this year.
April 11th, 2018 at 2:03 pm
Billy Splain
Thank you for the information regarding Midd West
April 11th, 2018 at 9:52 am
Thanks for that FridayNightLights. Who knows, ironically maybe they’ll have a better season this year now that there’s seemingly less pressure. But from what I gather Coatesville may be really good this year. If I’m not mistaken they have most of their best skill players back. Any Red Raiders fans out there that can shed some insight into this? Would be awesome if they could talk that Sanders kid into returning to the home team for such a promising year, you feel me?
April 11th, 2018 at 1:30 pm
Foleman: the wpial is not considering leaving the PIAA. no district can leave the PIAA, the member schools can leave the PIAA but very doubtful any would consider that.
April 11th, 2018 at 8:24 am
Time for the PIAA to step in and stop the “Philly Sports School” DePaul goes from Norristown to North Penn to Imhotep…I’m sure he transferred to TEP for academics. No wonder the Western shools, i.e the WPIAL, are considering leaving the PIAA. This is now what, the 4th straight year TEP will be in the AAAA finals and will probably mercy rule the competition. This school should not be allowed to compete in the PIAA.
April 10th, 2018 at 10:09 pm
Chris & Ken, Midd West was in a co op with Juniata for several years.
April 10th, 2018 at 12:31 pm
@Phillyboy:
North Penn definitely underachieved last year. Never seemed to come together. They had a fair amount of players go to D1 schools from last year’s team. Henley went to Delaware, Thomas to Villanova, and Jamal to Delaware State. DePaul holds at least one D1 offer, as does Cartwright. Jon Haynes has also received D1 interest and it seems a matter of time until he receives his first offer. That’s a lot of talent on one high school team. Goes to show that a collection of talent doesn’t mean a team. Hopefully they uncover some diamonds this year. They usually find a way to develop.
April 10th, 2018 at 11:46 am
Buddy
Already enrolled at TEP..
https://twitter.com/stevedepaulqb
April 10th, 2018 at 9:11 am
Will have to manage my expectations for North Penn this year. Going into last year there was all kinds of hype, it almost took on a life of its own. Somebody with the handle ‘District 1’ was talking some serious smack. Heck, even the WNPV guys bought into it. Must confess I started to get a little excited. Drove all the way up to Lansdale from North Philly on that humid late August evening. MAN, felt like I finally reached Wall Drug only to realize there was no ‘there’ there. It reminded me a little of the Eagles infamous ‘dream team’ from a few years back. Like a great coach once expressed: ‘If you start believing your press clippings you’re in trouble. Your butts got to make it happen’.
April 10th, 2018 at 6:49 am
@ Buddy:
DePaul’s twitter says Imhotep ’19 now. Looks like he’s gone. He had some talent. Not sure what they have in the pipeline talent-wise. Feiser’s younger brother is there and Feiser is the QB coach I believe. Any ideas?
April 10th, 2018 at 6:32 am
@Buddy
PW because PW coach Chung is a former North Penn Knight, I think it was like 5-7 years ago they scrimmaged Don Bosco, as I went down to that scrimmage, Don Bosco handled them fairly easily.
April 10th, 2018 at 4:53 am
David Mika
Dave, as basically a fan interested in the history of PA high school football, new schools, or those not playing football anymore, or consolidations always interest me. Can you (or anyone) tell me about D4 Midd West?
April 9th, 2018 at 5:34 pm
@ Friday:
DePaul to Imhotep? Find that hard to believe. Need to get verification on that.
@ Smoll:
NP scrimmages PW. Or at least they scrimmage at PW’s field.
You can find NP schedule at northpennfootball
April 9th, 2018 at 5:26 pm
What Heartland division is Southern Columbia in this year?They’re schedule shows a lot of Division 1 games and Division 3 games. Very little division 2. I find it bad for football if they are in the small school division and I’m sure they don’t want to be in that one either.
April 9th, 2018 at 11:26 am
@Derrick:
Not sure what to expect from NP this year. Pretty much everyone now gone from that strong team that lost to St. Joe’s 2 years ago and a lot from last year’s team that I thought underachieved a little bit. I’m also not sure about who’s moved in or out, with the transfers we see nowadays. I saw on another message board that DePaul, NP’s starting QB from last year, has left the school to go to Imhotep. I believe NP will have a solid running back in Gorski and a couple of experienced receivers in Jon Haynes and Shamar Edwards, assuming they are all still there. They have a few other good players as well but it will definitely need to be a quick re-stock. I would say the edge goes to Neshaminy right now. Does anybody know how Neshaminy looks?
April 9th, 2018 at 8:21 am
Thx Buddy!!!
I did a little digging and found NP’s full 2018 schedule and saw that they have Pennsbury game 3 to wrap up their non league schedule. From there it is the usual suspects of their SOL division.
I’m not a big NP fan, but I do appreciate and respect them for scheduling more established competition the first few weeks of the season. I remember 4 or 5 years ago they had a three headed monster of a schedule with Lasalle, Wood and SJP to start the season, which just lets say was ugly. But they picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and proceeded to run the table I believe and made a nice deep run in the post season that year.
April 9th, 2018 at 4:17 pm
Yes, Chris.
April 9th, 2018 at 4:31 am
Is this Midd West in D4 a new team?
April 8th, 2018 at 10:15 am
Typical North Penn scheduling to me, take on someone really tough week 0 and 1, possibly take a loss or two, toughen up the troops, and turn North Penn into the tough North Penn and watch out near the end of the season. Generally they schedule a really tough scrimmage too, a few years ago if my memory was right it was Don Bosco Prep at North Penn.
April 8th, 2018 at 10:01 am
anyone heard any news on ChesMont adding teams or combining since Octorara has moved to D3 and Bishop Shanahan is now a 4A school?
April 7th, 2018 at 9:41 am
@ kevin:
NP first game ( not counting the 1 scrimmage they have) is at Neshaminy.
Second game is LS at NP. Rather play LS the last game, but 2nd game is better then first.
April 7th, 2018 at 8:48 am
@ Buddy and Derrick et al……
No traditional LaSalle match-up for the first game of the year for North Penn this year?? Or is the Nesh game the second week of play (week 0, week 1, gets confusing).
April 6th, 2018 at 3:32 pm
@ derrick:
Two traditional powerhouses. NP loses a lot from a so-so year ( by NP standards). NP is rebuilding, although I hope they are just ” reloading”.
NP typically starts out slow, so this could be Neshaminy’s game to win. I’ll know more when I see what kind of roster both teams have.
April 6th, 2018 at 9:23 am
mgguy, Wyo will end up in LL league Div 3-(3A schools) while Berks Catholic moves up to Division 2-(mostly 5A schools). I’ve heard the Backyard Brawl will now be the 1st game of the year for both teams. The move will make the LL much stronger and competitive. You had to feel for WYO and BC, they both had great difficulty getting out of conference games scheduled. Although I am really excited about the BC/Malvern Prep game next season.
April 6th, 2018 at 9:22 am
Someone posted on another board that Mark Schmidt is NP’s D coordinator now. Can anyone confirm if there is any truth to this?
April 6th, 2018 at 7:20 am
Neshaminy hosts North Penn week 1. Thoughts?
April 5th, 2018 at 8:00 pm
an interesting development for D3, Berks League and LL League looking to combine. That creates some interesting sections, Wilson Mifflin Reading, Hempfield Manheim Township; Manheim Central and Berks Catholic in same section? Where does Wyomissing end up? Sounds like a lot to work out yet and most likely 2 years out, but will solve a lot of scheduling issues for a lot of schools.
April 5th, 2018 at 8:35 am
Kutztown Football Coach Charly Maddocks resigned. Team had only 13 healthy players at the end of the year and forfeited a game. You have to wonder if Kutztown will have a program in the future.
April 4th, 2018 at 8:18 pm
Forum is back up and we are done moving to a new server.
April 4th, 2018 at 5:00 pm
testing
March 11th, 2018 at 7:23 pm
We are moving the site to a new server. The forum will be shut down until we are done. I am going to shut it down at noon, Monday. Thank you!
March 10th, 2018 at 10:26 am
@WPIAL Rules, yeah too bad they didn’t play last year, that QB might have been able to keep the game close, not sure I would want to be in that game, possibly on TV, not a good way for the kids to start a season.
March 10th, 2018 at 7:47 am
Coach Devlin leaving Wood for DC position at Ursinus. He did a great job with that program. Who takes over ?
March 9th, 2018 at 5:41 pm
Buddy
So in case you don’t realize Wood competes against Prep and LaSalle and other open enrollment schools, plus a national schedule against other open enrollmnebt schools from other states including Oh, NJ, FL. NP welocmes many transfers and then competes other public schools in PA SOL…Just so you know….Nice try, DB
March 9th, 2018 at 6:49 am
@ Mike Smoll it is already set to happen week 0 at Pine Richland!
March 7th, 2018 at 7:53 pm
I’m so confused about what exactly these private schools are selling to kids? So say a kid from Lansdale goes to St. Joes Prep. He’s driving all the way downtown to go to school, to play for a football program that has to practice off campus, and play their games even further way. When he could stay home and play for North Penn a pretty respectable program. I’m just confused… Better example for Sausmann a kid from Parkland goes to play football at ACC, what in the world has ACC sold him that Parkland doesn’t have or do better. Sausmann I don’t disagree with your sentiment but your blatant ignorance and the way you conduct yourself is a mirror image of where our society is today. Run from competition, everyone gets a trophy, it’s the coaches fault etc. Nobody can possibly be ignorant to believe all of these are recruited, it is such a baseless argument. Other than Wood, does SJP and Lasalle take many transfers? Doesn’t sound like it to me. Do they get them in 8th grade and develop them yes. Why hasn’t North Penn invested in their program to make it more attractive? This is just so silly.
March 7th, 2018 at 6:24 pm
Buddy, stop already.That PCL enrollment statement is pure BS. I get that several of the posters here do not like and even despise the PCL, but you don’t have to sling that exaggerated garbage .
March 7th, 2018 at 5:35 pm
@WPIAL Rules, you actually want to do that? IMG is a national Prep All-Star team, that runs their football program all year. The saving grace may be to play them in game 1, while they are still getting their feet wet, that way they only beat you by 30 instead of more.
March 7th, 2018 at 5:28 pm
Sausman, you’re a clown and the epitome of the wussification of america in todays day and age.
March 7th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
@ D12:
So you’re comparing transfers at Pine-Richland and North Penn to the likes of Prep, LaSalle, Wood etc.?
Those entire ( PCL) school enrollments is made up of “transfers” ( i.e. recruits)…….nice work, carry on………….
March 6th, 2018 at 7:49 pm
Sausy
From what I hear Ohio public school transfers make the PCL, Pine-richland, and North penn transfers look like nothing. Basically open enrollment for public schools. So if the goal is to level the playing field, disrciminating against Catholic does nothing.
In PA, you can implement, then go back to complaining about the public schools that take transfers and which public school is too big etc. Then in few years start spouting off how the public schools would beat the private schools if they met….Nice work, carry on….
March 6th, 2018 at 3:33 pm
Wait saussman 9 did you just recommend private and parochial teams to disband their football program? So Roman Catholic whose been playing football since 1893 and St Joe Prep since 1888 END their football history at the drop of a hat? HAHAHAHAHA!!!
March 6th, 2018 at 1:52 pm
Not everyone know who “IMG” is.
March 6th, 2018 at 11:54 am
News breaking out to the western part of the state… Pine Richland to host IMG week 0.
Sound off!
March 6th, 2018 at 9:08 am
sausmann9 .
i just looked at this description, and i completely agree. This is the format that the PIAA should look at, but we all know they won’t.
http://ohsaa.org/Portals/0/SchoolResources/CompetitiveBalance/CompetitiveBalance101.pdf
March 5th, 2018 at 10:23 am
@Matt and Route 54
District 11 predictions
A Marian over WV both are weaker so its a close call.
AA Haven over Palmerton
AAA Palisades over Jim Thorpe Both return strong teams. Dont sleep on JT this year.
AAAA Bechai
5A No idea
6AParkland again
March 4th, 2018 at 4:34 pm
JT in Dist 11 3A should challenge this year. They return 17 of 22 starters.
March 4th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
@Matt-Yes, SL’s consistency over the last 10 years has been probably one of the more under-reported/under appreciated things in the Lehigh Valley and they’ve probably been one of the more underrated teams in the area. However, coming from the Colonial League that’s to be expected. The numbers discussion in an interesting one. Using East Stroudsburg South as an example from last year’s playoff, they had a roster of 62 with no freshmen. SL had 52 with 20 freshman on the roster. That’s a pretty significant difference and when it comes to playing a team as talented as Whitehall that usually ends up being the difference in the game as they don’t have near as many kids, especially linemen playing both ways.
@sausmann9-agree with your Kyle Haas sentiments. I had my son at the Berwick QB Camp last year and Haas was in charge of his group. Very impressed by his way of inspiring and motivating kids in just that small window of time. He will have no issue getting kids to play for him.
March 2nd, 2018 at 12:59 pm
COMPETITIVE BALANCE – I love the idea!!!
Its the next best thing to getting rid of parochial/private school sports teams and making those parochial/private school kids return to their district school after they get their religious education (you know, the real reason they went to those schools) to participate in football, wrestling, basketball, etc…
https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/sports/has-competitive-balance-impacted-high-school-football/s1DWVZfEsUFmC9M94Hg4IP/
March 2nd, 2018 at 10:57 am
@colonial fan…. as a CL fan too, I also would like to see SL beat Whitehall for dist gold but Whitehall will be favorite again. SL has been CLs most consistent winner in league last 10 or so years….teams like PA, NL, Catty, NW etc have a couple really good years but with smaller numbers can’t compete year in and year out. SL has numbers so hopefully that can get Whitehall one of these years.
March 2nd, 2018 at 10:54 am
Route 54….agree but in AA Haven has to beat Southern Columbia to get further and we all know Southern will be state favorite in AA for next two years. In A Williams valley had very good teams last two years but couldn’t make it past state semis. In AAA dist 11 I think that’s the most wide open class. Notre Dame, Palisades and Lehighton all could win it.
March 1st, 2018 at 1:17 pm
@ StackMonster – this is all Northampton needed; a qualified experienced motivator. Northampton has athletes; both size and speed walking those hallways and they used to have (and still could) excellent feeder programs.
Wait til Haas gets his staff in place at the freshman level, middle school level, etc… give him three seasons or so and I’d bet he’s in the mix for an EPC title. Northampton area STILL GROWING on three of four sides and fast.
March 1st, 2018 at 11:17 am
Thanks guys. Not a big all star game fan on any level of sports, but may be intrigued by a PA/NJ Big 33 showdown, in late April/early May (current game in mid June have beach and baseball on brain, not football), at Villanova stadium…………Yeah, that might work…..
March 1st, 2018 at 11:03 am
Matt,interesting picks. It would be nice to see a D11 team finish stronger in A,AA.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:58 am
Hearing some rumors of a sub-regional being proposed for District 11 and District 2 at the 5A level. Did some snooping on the PIAA website and they already have the proposed brackets posted for next season, showing those districts combined. Definitely make things more interesting as District 11 will jump from 4 teams the past two years, to what was 5 after the new relcassification and now 7 teams, with Wyoming Valley West and Wallenpaupack.
@Matt…mostly agree with your District 11 picks. I think Palisades might still have the horses to give ND a run, although that may be wishful thinking on my part. Beca has young talent, but will have an uknown at QB to start the season, but probably a good pick there. 5A will definitely become more interesting with the possibility of added teams. Don’t forget WVW beat them last year and they were not near as talented as Whitehall and I think Whitehall will be a little down this year. I’m not saying bad, but they lost some good talent. One of these years Southern Lehigh will break through for a District gold. The last two championship games have been more competitive than the final score has indicated.
Definitely looking forward to the start of spring practices, high school TEAM 7 on 7s, and start of a new season!
February 28th, 2018 at 2:07 pm
Matt
Agreed Parkland likely still the king at 6A for some time, but new coach Kyle Haas should breathe some life into struggling Northampton. I don’t know if they have the horses, but I think there is a young, athletic QB there that Haas could work with. Should be interesting to watch them over the next few years to see if they can build a contender.
February 28th, 2018 at 11:21 am
Route 54…..
Dist 11 I’ll go Marian in A, Haven in AA, Notre Dame in 3A (Palisades will contend but lose some seniors), Beca in 4A, Whitehall in 5A and Parkland in 6A….pretty clear except for maybe 3A and A in dist 11. I’d like to see a new winner in 6A but Parkland wins it every year.
February 27th, 2018 at 6:03 pm
Way to early predictions. Anyone want to predict the District winners, east coast.
February 27th, 2018 at 12:51 pm
@ KevX – no our Big 33 has only ever been against Texas (65 – 67), Maryland, and Ohio. In the late 80’s and early 90’s PA played Maryland and back to Ohio for many years. PA used to have an instate “Big33” back in the day as well called the Blue/Grey game I think. The only all-star games involving NJ are local ones (county level) b/n the states and that hasn’t happened in YEARS. Now PA brings in Pburg kids to play in our Lehigh Valley allstar game in June at Nazareth HS.
@ Dave -I agree NJ would be a lot of fun to play in the Big 33 plus I think PA fans are more familiar w/ Jersey players and teams. JMO
@ NO – that move was personally motivated. The Quips just lost the best thing that happened to them in 21 years.
February 27th, 2018 at 8:45 am
Kevin…I don’t think so…I rather see them play New Jersey than Maryland.
February 27th, 2018 at 8:21 am
Has Pennsylvania every played NJ in the Big 33 game?? Wouldn’t mind seeing that match-up.
February 26th, 2018 at 1:14 pm
I’m happy to see the All-Academic teams. Amazing how the kids can play such a high level of football while keeping the grades up.
How about Aliquippa firing head coach Mike Zmijanac? In 21 season, his record was 237-36.
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-football/2018/02/22/mike-zmijanac-fired-aliquippa-football-school-board-vote-wpial-western-pennsylvania/stories/201802220194
February 26th, 2018 at 12:45 pm
Starting in March we are going to enter them.
February 26th, 2018 at 12:07 pm
Any word on 2018 schedules?
February 26th, 2018 at 9:45 am
@ sausmann9
Ironically one of the Prep players, to the best of my knowledge, got into trouble with the law from the ’03 team. A few years back was surprised to see in the news that their dynamic starting tailback from NJ was mentioned in the story.
February 24th, 2018 at 7:23 pm
@ Buddy – PA has not only played Ohio in the
Big 33 but they also played TX in the past (way past). Ohio started selected their top studs for their own in-state all star game (North v South and its a great game) and then sent the remainder of the all stars to PA for our game. That started around 2005/2006 sometime.
Maryland was another logical choice and shouldn’t really be underestimated. MD has some really nice talent for a small state as well as some very solid, nationally recognized football teams.
@ anonymous – you called out an entire football team from 2003 as an embarassment and criminals that lost scholarships. I am pretty familiar with that team; seen them in person quite a few times in 02 and 03 and still watch four of their games from those seasons from time to time. Of the starters I remember, these are the ones that I think went on to play college football on scholarships;
Kevin Akins
Eric Halberstat
George “Mauler” Farell
Casertano
Adam Hearns
Jeff Ball
Deanco Oliver
Chris Finney
Chris Tribiani
can’t remember where Laky or Raffle went but those are the ones I do.
can you tell me which players YOU were referring to???
February 23rd, 2018 at 9:58 am
Yo Buddy, I attended one Big 33 game in my life, back around 12 years ago for the experience of it. It was the year Ted Ginn Jr. played for Ohio (and had a nice TD catch). I tell you what, won’t do it again though. There was major gridlock in the roads around the stadium. Then they charged to park, I wasn’t feeling warm and fuzzy about that. I’ll give Hershey Park props for free parking at the PIAA state finals, but they don’t extend that same courtesy for the Big 33.
February 23rd, 2018 at 8:15 am
To clarify Jimmy’s comment, I believe you are referring to John Smith of Pen Argyl?
February 22nd, 2018 at 11:55 am
The Big 33. We used to play Ohio, now Maryland.
Why the switch? Maryland is usually a mis-match.
Is it because Ohio used to beat us most of the time, and Maryland is easier?
If that’s the case, shame.
February 22nd, 2018 at 10:46 am
Yo Mike A., That ‘project a matchup’ feature at calpreps.com is super cool — good looking out.
February 22nd, 2018 at 9:52 am
I need a geography refresher, The Perk School (and Pennsburg) is in Upper Montgomery County.
http://papreplive.com/2018/02/15/perkiomen-school-transitioning-to-eight-man-football-in-2018-names-upper-perk-grad-perlstein-coach/
February 22nd, 2018 at 8:37 am
Pa football fan. Smith started his first meeting with players and parents with taking credit for pocono mountain east at diffrent times during this meeting. Rob Meloski must be so glad that he does not have to deal with that guy. Plan and simple, old school con man. Who ever voted for this man to be the next coach should be ashamed.
February 22nd, 2018 at 8:12 am
I saw an article that the Perkiomen School (independent private prep school in Upper Bucks County (Pennsburg)) is transitioning to 8 man football for this upcoming season. The first 8 man team in Pennsylvania. So how long before other schools follow suit??
February 19th, 2018 at 8:45 am
@phillyboy
CALPREPS.COM
Your source for high school football scores, standings & rankings
PROJECT A MATCHUP
neutral field
[2003] North Penn (Lansdale, PA) 34, [2003] St. Joseph’s Prep (Philadelphia, PA) 22
February 16th, 2018 at 1:02 pm
The problem with the North Penn ’03 team was most of the star players wound up in jail at the end of the season. All lost scholarships.
Great team, but a total embarrassment!
February 16th, 2018 at 10:09 am
They got a carryout special going on at Dominos right now; large 2 topping for $5.99 a pop. Decided to break out the old North Penn – PCC DVD to enhance the experience. Man o man, are you KIDDING me?! It had been a while since I’ve seen that game. That ’03 North Penn team was a beast, the last hurrah of the late great Suburban One. I give a hearty honorable mention to the ’16, ’08, and ’10 teams but ’03 was on another level. It was a true power team with elite talent at several skill positions. Hearns was a great running QB who could heave the ball quite nicely as needed thank you very much. Then you had Kevin Akins and Casertano in the backfield, are you KIDDING me?! Got that Casertano screen pass play etched into my memory, dude was like Daryl Johnston. Then you had role players like Laky and Halberstadt who could take it to the house. Then you had the formidable defense with Carey at the helm.
From time to time heads of state will extend a formal apology for past misdeeds and news anchors will sometimes apologize for a recent faux pas. Well I’m here to tell you that phillyboy needs to set something straight. A while back I opined that ‘the ’03 SJP team might have won if they had played NP that year.’ Even when I wrote that it didn’t feel right, have had some misgivings about it ever since. So I hereby retract that statement. Although that Prep team was very good, I say there’s a better chance than not that NP would have taken them.
February 12th, 2018 at 12:44 pm
I think Phillyboy got it right.
February 12th, 2018 at 12:18 pm
Two LL League Alumni now NFL Head Coaches….. Congrats to Matt Nagy and Frank Reich!!!
February 12th, 2018 at 8:28 am
Honestly, the real issue to me is the number of teams that makes the playoffs. 4 classes, 6 classes, I’m kind of indifferent on that front. Just make the playoff format worthwhile and meaningful. If doing that requires contracting the number of classes, then do that.
February 9th, 2018 at 10:45 am
In case anybody was wondering what phillyboy’s take is on PA expanding to 6 classes: I don’t like it, I’m not feeling it one iota. I was against it from the get-go and still am. Don’t fix it if it’s not broken. 4 classes was very fine. No way in the world it should be any more than that. Heck, if anything you could make a case for 3 classes; small, medium and large schools — but 4 was okay. Here’s the deal, in the east they can get away with the extra classes, albeit watered down, due to the sheer abundance of larger schools. But out west the weakness of it is really exposed. Come on man, let’s be real, the highest classification in the WPIAL is a shell of itself. Before, there was depth, a larger pool of quality programs. Now it’s basically PCC, NA and PR. McKeesport, Gateway, Upper Saint Clair etc. should still be in the same classification. They should go back to 4 classes. It’s okay, they experimented, made a mistake, humbly recognize it and duly make the correction, no harm no foul. And while I’m at it, 2 other things to undo: no way the first game of the season should be in August, and WAY too many teams qualify for the playoffs. Don’t get me wrong, I love the playoffs and all, don’t mean to be a party pooper, but the quality starts to plummet when it’s too much. Just look at the NBA or NHL playoffs, talk about overkill, yikes, that’s some boring stuff until maybe the final. They need to lessen the amount of playoff spots and if a team doesn’t qualify then so be it, win your games or beat it. Play your Thanksgiving game and see you next year.
February 9th, 2018 at 8:55 am
There are approximately 95 schools in each football classification for an approximate total of 570 football schools in PA. Again this is football only. This comes directly from the PIAA classification website for the 2018 – 2019 seasons.
FYI…. Wikipedia isn’t always correct 🙂
Link below
http://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/Report_18_19_and_19_20_Football.pdf
February 8th, 2018 at 3:41 pm
Buddy said:
2000 high schools in Cali., 1800 in Tx.
All other states under 1000.
This was all in argument for 5 classes in Pa, instead of 6 ( like Cali & Tx).
I still believe we have 1 class too many.
February 8th, 2018 at 1:44 pm
@Billy – did you try reaching out to Eddie Walker or Bob the video guy at Berwick??? I got some games from both of them in the past and they were older Berwick games. Might be worth a try, both of really cool guys.
February 8th, 2018 at 12:02 pm
@ kevin X
Here is what you are missing: Buddy said there were 1500 to 2000 HS in FL. and TX. and under 1000 in PA., Sooooo, I looked up how many HS in PA both public and private and the wiki page said there was about 1500 in PA. That’s were you came in.
February 5th, 2018 at 7:15 pm
Sorry Billy I do not have that game and the only person I knew that might have an oldie like that said no as well. He had the same idea as I and that is sending a message out to someone like Bo Orlando. 07′ or 08′ was the last time I spoke w him but he’s still out at McDowell. Maybe somebody from the Coughlin side of the ball might be sitting on a vhs copy in their attic but I don’t know anyone from there, sorry again.
I really didn’t start collecting any games until about 86′ or so but I did lose quite a few to water damage down in GA in 95′. shoot me an email and I’ll send you an updated copy of the games I still have if you want.
February 5th, 2018 at 2:39 pm
The long term quality of football has been diminishing for 20 years simply because top athletes are playing other sports and there are less athletes in the game.
Just look at professional sports. Baseball and basketball have players from all over the world. Hockey has Europe and North America. These sports are getting the best out of several billion.
The NFL is getting the best out of 150 million. 40% of NFL players come from three states: CA, FL & TX.
High school football teams will continue to contract until only schools with 100 plus boys per class can survive. And the reality is 4A and below is a different game than 5A & 6A. Much smaller players.
February 5th, 2018 at 2:22 pm
@ jj D2 (and I suppose Buddy as well??)
OK, so what are your guys respected points?? What am I missing??
February 5th, 2018 at 12:47 pm
neither do all of them in Pa.
That stat was from US news & world report of 10 years ago. NO state has over 1000 except Cali. ( 2000) & Texas ( 1800). Many are just under 1000, Pa., Ohio, Fl, IN. Ill, etc.
This is all high schools ( Public, Catholic, private charter) Not all, but most, in Pa. belong to the PIAA.
February 5th, 2018 at 5:30 am
@kevin X
the original topic was the number of high schools in PA. I dont think all the high schools in the other states that were mentioned have football programs.
February 4th, 2018 at 9:38 am
@Kmac. All we can do is hope it gets better. The teams I was referring to are coal region teams. Not sure what’s going on. I think more families are moving towards the city for work. I also believe more and more parents are not letting their kids play football as someone mentioned below.
February 3rd, 2018 at 7:04 pm
Phil
Ok I’ll deal with it thanks…Of course coaches and AD’s will be in favor it give more chances for trophies and more money. I’m sure it is here to stay and probably go to 8 some day for same reasons. Hershey used to be fun, now there are even fewer good games, 6 classifications certainly not the only reason, but doesn’t help. You can argue the degree to which it is watered down, but by definition going from 4 to 6 is less competition in each class, thus watered down. Look at WPIAL in 2018 vs 3 years ago. Carry on….
February 3rd, 2018 at 12:28 pm
@ D12FAN
Let me stand corrected. I re-read your post regarding your transfer suggestion, and mis read it originally, thinking you meant a transfer sitting out in August at the beginning of practice in early August, not the start of the season of regular season games later in August, at least that is what I am assuming now. My bad. I may be able to get on board with that idea of a transfer sitting out once the regular season officially kicks-offs for his respected team in late August. I still may find this tough to swallow if you’re a senior, and this is your last opportunity of playing in any kind of organized football.
February 3rd, 2018 at 10:54 am
Route 54
You are certainly correct. An example down here in the big schools in Bucks County When the Council Rock School District split in 2002 each of the two teams Rock North and Rock South were getting 70 to 80 players per squad. Last season it was about 45 – 50 players per squad. I witnessed a Pennsbury practice of 108 players about 7 or 8 years back. Squad looked to be about 70 last season. It’s worse with the smaller schools.
February 3rd, 2018 at 9:52 am
@ D12FAN
Because life happens, people/families move. There is more to this transfer issue then that of timing. I feel your idea of sitting out the whole season once practice starts is a little draconian. Granted, its a no muss no fuss zero tolerance solution, and I’d sign up for that over what is taking place now. I was tossing out a middle of the road option when transferring early in the in season and/or after practice commences. Maybe move my date back from Sept. 30th to 15th, or after the third or fourth game, or sit out any post season games. Just tossing options out there. Really other than 2 or 3 recent high profile incidents, I don’t think this is huge issue. No one batted an eye when that kid from Norristown transferred to Methacton mid season.
Also, how do you define or describe “watered down” as it pertains to 6 classes?? I’ll keep hammering the point that it is the playoffs, being a combined district and state drawn out concoction that is currently in place where we attempt to hand out trophies left and right (really, do we need a playoff for all 3 5A teams in D2 for example??). 1 state champion out of a give or take field of 96?? Hardly watered down.
@ phil
Thank you, agreed and well said……
February 2nd, 2018 at 1:23 pm
@D12
Going from 4 champs out of 570 teams (.007) to 6 champs (.0105) is hardly watering anything. You do know PA is still in the top 5 out of all 50 states with the most teams in a class vying for a championship, so 96 is more than plenty to be competing for a title. Besides 6 classes are here to stay. Deal with it! I travel around the state and from talking to ADs, players and coaches, they are overwhelmingly in favor of six classes.
Probably the best thing to do when playoffs begin to get to the place where there are no byes is go to a 32 team field and have four regions OR as someone stated just rank them somehow and go with it. The district concept has always been a sticking point for the playoff picture going smoothly. How ’bout this – the team that gets the deepest into the playoffs is the district champ.
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:19 am
@ Tom F. I’ve witnessed it myself. 3 teams I watched in 2016, 2017. You can see the numbers going down. When you see 11 on the field and 8 on the sideline, that’s bad.
February 2nd, 2018 at 9:08 am
Way too early for any schedules right?
February 1st, 2018 at 5:22 pm
Looks like Coatesville and Harrisburg may have a two-year agreement to play each other starting in Harrisburg in 2018 and Coatesville in 2019.
February 1st, 2018 at 4:09 pm
Kevin
Why would you be in favor of playing 4-5 games in AUG/SEPT then transfering sitting out a few weeks and playing a couple games and playoffs for another team?
6 state champs with only 96 teams in each classification is watered down, no matter how you format the playoffs…
February 1st, 2018 at 10:22 am
@ jj D2
Per the PIAA website….there are 570 schools participating in football in PA within the PIAA. Add a handful of others playing at the independent level, you have aprx. 600 schools participating in HS football in PA.
@ TomF
Changing demographics, kids/parents not wanting to/or having their kids to play football, opting for soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, and in the expense of running a football program, yeah, the numbers and quality are going to go down.
I’m assuming you were not at the 6A Eastern final between C’ville and SJP @ Downingtown?? Full house in a large stadium, raucous, energized crowd, fun crazy game, should of ended the season there on an up note, but no, we had blowouts and empty stadiums for 3 days the following weekend in Hershey.
@ Buddy
Still prefer the 6 classifications. Those who say its watered down, it is the playoffs system that makes it watered down. Like I posted previously, go with 32 teams (the best and most qualified teams at that as well) in each classification for the playoffs, that is about a third of all schools in each classification. Now its like 2/3rds of all schools that participate in the playoffs/post season.
@ D12 FAN
I wouldn’t. You misread my post or maybe I wasn’t clear. Any kid transferring from October 1st to the end of the current season would not be eligible to play that year, period. I’d institute 4 game sit out/wait period for any transfer transferring between game one and Sept. 30th.
January 31st, 2018 at 11:19 am
@buddy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a complete list of senior high schools in the state of Pennsylvania, United States.
There are 952 public high schools and 549 private high schools.[1]
January 30th, 2018 at 6:49 pm
hey Sausmann, wouldn’t happen to have the Berwick/Coughlin 1981 EC Title game would you?
January 30th, 2018 at 9:16 am
Football and wrestling are taking a major hit in Pa. Teams struggling to field teams, the multi sport athlete Disappearing. Quality of football and wrestling athletes on the downtrend. Kids sick of losing and transferring to winners. I thought 5 classifications would have been fine. 6 is a watered down version with teams being in the playoffs that will get mercy ruled in the 1st or 2nd round. I long for the old days when BECA and CB West played in front of 20,000.00 fans, the titanic battles between Erie Cathedral Prep and CB West, Berwick taking on all comers. I don’t think we will ever see Pa football like that again.
January 30th, 2018 at 6:34 am
Has the PIAA committee even considered dropping down to 5 classes? I never understood the jump from 4 classes to 6. California & Texas has 6 classes, but they have 2000 & 1800 high schools respectively. Pa. has under 1000.
Wouldn’t that solve this re-alignment fiasco? You gotta keep an East vs West team in the state final.
January 29th, 2018 at 12:37 pm
i agree you potentially have the best two teams meeting up in the semi-finals with the bracket change. But i actually like the idea of changing up the matchups every couple years. Get some different teams playing somebody else. District 3 never runs into District 1, so that will be a nice change up for two seasons. I think they should change up the smaller classes as well, give them so different matchups.
January 28th, 2018 at 2:34 pm
Kevin
As much as I love PA football for a very long time the fact is, loss of population and player participation has diluted the level of play. Add (right or wrong)the private schools attracting more of the talent pool and drop to only 96 teams per classification and you have an even more watered down system. We don’t have to agree, 4 classification playoff system started in 1988, a heck of lot more kids playing HS football then and over the years, the only thing I can think of that drove the move to 6A was more balance between size of schools, so more trophies, and more chances for trophies. Now that there are 6 classifications several conferences are finding it hard to support the current system with the their number of teams. Nots sure what it accomplished? Still have a big disparity in several classes top to bottom, and ECP, PREP, BG, WOOD, SC, PARKLAND, and the D7 winners still rule…
Why allow an October transfer to play for 2 teams same season….
January 27th, 2018 at 3:01 pm
@ D12FAN
Maybe I’m not the common sense HS football fan that I may think that I am, as I actually like the move to 6 classifications. In fact I believe it was long over due IMO. People will always find something to complain about, especially when things don’t go their way.
I do agree with you on the rest of your points………(except maybe wait until after October 1st for a transfer sit out the rest of the current season, and say 4 games from the start of practice to Oct. 1st??)
January 27th, 2018 at 12:46 pm
@ WPIAL Rules
I agree, at least with the 32 team part. I’ve mentioned this some time ago, do away with the districts (really like trying to put a square peg in a round hole for football playoff purposes), and figure out the best 32 teams in each classification (I really don’t care how they do, it will still be better then letting every mediocre Tom Dick and Harry team into the post season), and get it done in 5 weeks. Seed each team 1 to 8 in a regional/geographical 4 bracket common sense manner, while attempting to avoid early round re-mateches (enough of SJP and LaSalle meeting ever round week 2 for example) and then you can either move the finals up to the first weekend of December, push the start of the season back to Labor Day weekend, have a mandatory bye week, or even an 11 game regular season schedule. I’m tired of all these mis-matches, routes, mercy rules games, and re-matches of the same teams every year. Mix things up for once guys!!!
January 27th, 2018 at 9:51 am
I don’t think any common sense high school football fan agrees with any of the last 3 big decisions by PIAA.
1. 4 classes to 6: PA football already watered down by demographics, going to 6 did nothing, people still complain about larger school enrollment in each class. This decision is part of the reason for the realingment decision this year, one bad move leads to another…
2. Transfer rule: 21 day sit out period. Just simply say once season offically starts in August you can’t play for another team period.
3. Realigment: Completely transparent move to give D1 and D3 teams a better chance of getting to Hershey. It totally disadvantages D11, having to get through D7 and D12. Also, creates a very likely scenario best 2 teams in state will meet in semi’s especially in 5A and 6A.
Doens’t matter to Prep and Wood they will play anywhere, but these three decisions lack common sense for all schools and continue to make PIAA football less appealing for all.
January 27th, 2018 at 7:40 am
Sorry JC my bad!
January 27th, 2018 at 6:43 am
Go to 5 classes instead of 6.
That should help the WPIAL problem and many others too.
January 26th, 2018 at 1:29 pm
@Zack
Of course they have the potential to be “epic”, but why should SJP or LaSalle have to play a neutral site game in front of 187 people against a team from Pittsburgh in a state semi-final to make that happen? Quite frankly, I would like to see more of these out of conference games but I suspect the opposite will happen. If Coatesville (or other D1 power) and CV (or other D3 power) have the potential to meet in the playoffs I suspect they may be less apt to want to play each other during the regular season.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:08 am
The PIAA ruling directly helps teams in District 1. Not having to play the Non-boundary schools before the championship game is a comfort.
D1 and D3 battles will be epic. Good showdown will be Coatesville and Cumberland Valley in week 3 again.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:34 am
@WPIAL RULES: You may have misunderstood me; I was agreeing with you.
January 25th, 2018 at 2:53 pm
JC, but why have a team from the furthest east play a team from the furthest west? Pull a 6A from Central PA to fill the number of teams. Balance out the numbers that. PIAA is just pissed that most of the championship teams are from one of the 3 district. I’m spotting D11 from 2011.
January 25th, 2018 at 2:53 pm
@Dawg Pound good schedule but for a tough one check out Abington Heights
January 25th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
I think it’s time for the PCL and WPIAL to get out of PIAA. Have their own state title game. Best in the PCL Vs best in WPIAL. PIAA has become irrelevant.
January 25th, 2018 at 11:04 am
Berwick football schedule 18-19:
Abington Heights
Pittston
Williamsport
WVW
Selinsgrove
Valley View
Hazleton
Crestwood
Dallas
WB Coughlin
Toughest schedule in District 2
January 25th, 2018 at 9:18 am
@WPIAL RULES: I’m inclined to agree, as this really screws D11, who now has to get through D12 and D7 just to make the final. 2011 was the last time a team outside of D7 or D12 won the title in the highest classification; common sense says keep them on opposite sides. If this is a response to the number of 6A WPIAL schools declining to 9, it feels reactionary.
January 25th, 2018 at 8:58 am
I forgot LFC Division IV:
http://timestribuneblogs.com/football/hs-football-2018-lackawanna-football-conference-division-iv-schedules/
January 25th, 2018 at 8:55 am
Lackawanna Football Conference (LFC) schedules have been released (sort of):
http://timestribuneblogs.com/football/hs-football-2018-lackawanna-football-conference-division-i-schedules/
http://timestribuneblogs.com/football/hs-football-2018-lackawanna-football-conference-division-ii-schedules/
http://timestribuneblogs.com/sports/hs-football-2018-lackawanna-football-conference-division-iii-schedules/
I think the most interesting match up is Dunmore (2A) playing Scranton Prep (3A) to start the season.
January 25th, 2018 at 8:36 am
District 2/LFC approved new league alignment and schedules. Schedules for Lackawanna league were posted in today’s Scranton paper but are not in online article.
That much wanted Prep Vs. Dunmore game will happen week 1.
The article discusses the new make up but doesn’t have the schedules.
http://m.thetimes-tribune.com/sports/hs-football-liaa-accepts-alignment-and-schedule-for-lfc-1.2294419
January 25th, 2018 at 5:41 am
http://tribhssn.triblive.com/piaa-puts-philadelphia-football-powers-in-wpial-champions-paths-to-hershey/
What a joke. It’s time for the WPIAL to pull out of the PIAA. What is the purpose of having an eastern and western champion? Why not just rank the top 16 or 32 teams in the state in each conferance and go from there?
January 24th, 2018 at 2:20 pm
LL-Berks merger has little chance of happening.
LL is unsure of Mifflin as they left once before when they struggled with a tough schedule and their roster numbers dropped due to lack of success. Same concerns are there for BC over the long haul. Their own AD admitted such and was hesitant to even move up to Berks section one.
That league tries to mess with Wilson’s schedule and they will leave and go to the Mid-Penn. The presence of Wilson gives Township, Hempfield, Warwick, Penn Manor a bar to strive for. They don’t want that measuring stick to leave. Just ask Mark Evans what Wilson has done for their program.
January 24th, 2018 at 11:56 am
Reading Eagle reported today LL and Berks League looking at football merger. Could be interesting if it happens.
January 24th, 2018 at 9:21 am
WOW! Berks County might merge with Lancaster Lebanon league-article below. Scheduling problems were the main reason’s cited. Berks Div 1 and 2 have only 7 teams each. Blue Mt and Pottsville exited Berks several years ago which hurt their scheduling. Some interesting matchups could occur with berks Catholic, Cocalico and Manheim Central in the same division. Wilson and Governor Mifflin already play each other annually.
http://www.readingeagle.com/sports/article/scholastic-football-berks-football-league-may-join-lancaster-lebanon-league
January 23rd, 2018 at 1:14 pm
@ phillyboy – won’t be Bosco. They just got their guy in place ala Mike Teel. Infante’s ego will never let himself be an assistant at HS level, he’s got to be the head man in charge and its one of the reason’s he ended up where he did. Maybe another school in BNU but highly doubt DBP.
January 23rd, 2018 at 10:40 am
If anyone has 80 to 100 lb dumbbells in good shape they’re looking to get rid of, I’m your man! Please email me at mcoyne51@yahoo.com.
January 23rd, 2018 at 9:57 am
Dan Connor steps down at Carroll to be Widener’s defensive coordinator. He had a 4-18 record at Carroll.
http://papreplive.com/2018/01/18/connor-steps-down-at-carroll-will-be-wideners-defensive-coordinator/
January 22nd, 2018 at 10:33 am
Like the Whoopi Goldberg character in Star Trek The Next Generation, my intuition tells me something. I don’t know why, just have a hunch that Coach Infante is gonna bail from the Prep. Not necessarily this year but relatively soon. He’s already snagged 3 state titles, reaching a high point in 2016 with the #12 team in the nation in USA Today final rankings. With his resume and people skills I could see him getting offers to coach at a higher level. The most likely scenario though is that he returns to North Jersey to take over one of the big boys like Don Bosco. Plus it’s a natural desire to want to return to your roots later in life, so an overture by Bosco etc. could be what makes it happen.
January 22nd, 2018 at 9:29 am
District 2 released a unapproved schedule. I believe it gets voted on for approval this week.
http://m.thetimes-tribune.com/sports/hs-football-liaa-schools-to-discuss-proposed-schedule-1.2292130
January 17th, 2018 at 9:29 am
Any Truth to LaSalle’s Brett Gordon moving on to College? Possibly NFL?
January 11th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
Next month I will start working on schedules.
January 10th, 2018 at 10:34 pm
When do 2018 schedules start coming out? I know some leagues post schedules in January.
January 10th, 2018 at 9:06 pm
@Alex B – go back to 2017 season and look in month of March. around posts 2280’s. Billtown, Neutralobserv, etc.. had conversation about it. not sure if POC info included. good luck.
January 10th, 2018 at 8:34 pm
@David Mika
“Its up top Mike A. Click on 2017 Football Forum.”
OK..thanks. I was looking at the top of the page where the menu’s are.
January 10th, 2018 at 2:09 pm
Tamaqua is on our schedule for 2018. I know they were pretty good in 2017 and have a good number of kids back. Can someone provide any further info on them and how they will be in 2018?
January 10th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
https://www.easternpafootball.com/gotw-8/2017-football-forum/
January 10th, 2018 at 10:42 am
@Alex B – if nobody replys, go back on the 2017 eastern forum and find a reply that had ALL the contact info for PIAA officiating. I don’t have the time to find it but somebody else might have it handy. hope that helps.
January 9th, 2018 at 10:54 pm
Hey guys,
I am interested in becoming an official this coming year. I am just doing some research and trying to find any information I can. I’m more so looking for dates or timelines of when I should start the process and when different referee clinics will start popping up. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
January 10th, 2018 at 8:50 am
Its up top Mike A. Click on 2017 Football Forum.
January 9th, 2018 at 9:04 pm
Wonder if they could put up a link to last years comments for a while?
January 9th, 2018 at 6:53 pm
Congrats to Matt Nagy on being chosen new Chicago Bears head coach. Nagy played qb at Manheim Central in 94 and 95, losing in state playoffs to Berwick both years. Nagy then went on to be qb at Delaware where he was a very good qb. Nagy recently was OC for KC Chiefs before getting bears job. Good luck Matt, I’m sure you will do a good job in Chicago.
January 9th, 2018 at 9:55 am
Justin, you would need to determine a number of things, What level – Physically/Academically is a fit for your son? I’m sure his coaches will give him an honest assessment. Revisit the schools that were initially interested in your son, contact them to see if they have any additional scholarships open.
Contact recruiting sites like Go Big Recruiting and explain your son’s situation. There is still time to get your son in the mix for a scholarship somewhere.
January 9th, 2018 at 9:09 am
Jusin E
It is very late for FBS/FCS schools. Without knowing anything about your son at all. I would say he would have known if FBS/FCS schools were heavily interested in him. We can be relentless in contacting prospective student athletes. So if any FBS/FCS schools contacted him I would start by contacting those schools. I would have him ask his HS coach what FBS/FCS schools came into school and asked about him. Regardless of how much his HS coach has or has not done for him, if schools at that level think a someone can play for them. At the very least they were asked about when the coach was in the school in January/May 2017. If no schools even asked about him, it is highly unlikely that no matter what the coach did, he was going to be recruited at that level. I would start contacting D2/3 schools. My personal opinion is that D3 football is much a much better route than D2 UNLESS the D2 school is bringing significant scholarship money to the table. It is not too late for D2 either. Hope this helps.
January 8th, 2018 at 9:47 am
My post right before the new year is gone with the updated forum so I will repost.
My son just finished his senior year of football. He made all-state and 1st team Eastern PA football as a linebacker. He has been on varsity since 9th grade(class 5A school) and led his team in tackles since 10th grade. He was dead set on going to the military so we did nothing as far as recruiting goes. His coach did nothing for him since he was also under the impression my son was going to the military. Well now my son has chosen not to peruse a military career and its very late in the recruiting game I would guess. Im looking for suggestions from coaches or a parent that went through the recruiting process this late on where to start. My kid will be perfectly happy just going to community college but I figured if there was a school out there that would have interest in him he can continue playing football. I have not personally talked to any coaches about him and any that contacted his coach were basically brushed off. What do I do now?
January 8th, 2018 at 8:44 am
Predicted champions for this year:
St Joe’s Prep
Archbishop Wood
Imhotep Charter
Aliquippa
Southern Columbia
Bishop Guilfoyle
Even with these off-the-cuff guesses that took me about 2 minutes to think about, I’d be surprised if I didn’t get at least 50%. That’s including Imhotep-Cathedral, where I’d be surprised if those aren’t the final two teams again. I’ll hold out hope for a more unpredictable year, though.
January 7th, 2018 at 10:05 am
Some NJ and D12 games next year:
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/high_school/philadelphia-catholic-league-north-jersey-football-rivalry-games-20180106.html
January 5th, 2018 at 12:45 pm
Yeah just noticed that Ohio’s Division I state champion this year is Pickerington Central, located just outside of Columbus. Wow, it’s been a minute since PA and Ohio both had public state champs in the highest classification in the same year — that’s what’s up. I think I’m gonna out and get me a Wendy’s chili as a nod to Columbus, baby!
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:03 am
Happy New Year everyone!!! Hey all, remember Thursday is the Under Armour All Star game at 1pm and then on Saturday at 1pm is the US Army All Star game. Enjoy and good luck to our PA players!!!!
January 1st, 2018 at 8:54 am
Happy New Year!