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.
881 Responses
@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.
@ 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.
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.
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
Also Delone Catholic looks to be very good in AAA East but I think WC is toughest comp for Southern in East.
@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.
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.
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.
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!
Buddy….I post the scores on the main page every day….There’s a banner that says SCOREBOARD<<<<<
Jeff H: I agree with you on North Penn.
Big weekend for the PCL as 7-0 Conwell Egan hosts 6-1 West Catholic on Friday night, and SJP visits Wood Saturday afternoon.
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??
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
@Kevin X
D3 playoffs are Top 8 teams for 6A
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.
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???
@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.
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.
@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!!!!!!
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.
@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.
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.
@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.
@ 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.
When does SJP enter the playoff picture? They play any eastern teams?