2024 Football Forum
Written by: David Mika on Monday, January 7th, 2019. Follow David Mika on Twitter.
Are you ready for some football?
Welcome to the official forum on high school football for the 2024 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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March 27th, 2024 at 2:34 pm
@Keith Tripp – that’s exactly what Aliquippa is doing, they have recruited a few other big time players this offseason in addition to the 2 you mentioned who are Aliquippa kids who went to Pittsburgh Central Catholic last year and are now enrolled back in Aliquippa, people in western PA are jokingly referring to it as the Aliquippa transfer portal! I think their administration has taken the position if the PIAA is going to force us to move up we’ll actually go and recruit, because as I previously noted their 5 transfers in the last 2 yr cycle contributed virtually nothing to the teams success, but their “recruits” this year are Power 5 players who will have a significant impact.
Shoutout to both Aliquippa and Imhotep, pretty impressive for a school to win a state championship in football and basketball in the same year, even for a non-boundary school.
@Foleman – I agree, don’t know how Imhotep is still competing in 5A in basketball, apparently they don’t have the requisite transfers to be moved up, one would think they would play up voluntarily since they rarely lose to a PA school, whether public or private.
I would love to see Lincoln Park play Imhotep, that game would be worth the price of admission, I saw LP a couple of times this year, most recently against Hampton in the semi-finals, Cummings and Thomas are a terrific duo and as good as any pair in the state.
March 26th, 2024 at 8:52 am
It’a easier for a private school to build a powerhouse in Basketball than it is in football. You only need a few stud basketball players to have a great team in hoops. Look at Devon Prep, for years they were a doormat in basketball, they join the Catholic league, hire a coach who can recruit and wala! 2 State Championships in 3 years. Their star player is from Berks County, over an hour away from DP DP’S coach saw him play in a tournament in 8th grade and sold his vision, dad gets a flat on the main line and now the kid has 2 State Championships under his belt, a great education and next year will have plenty of scholarship offers. I think the transfer rule is working in football, however, it’s not working in Hoops. I can’t believe TEP is 5A in basketball. They would have won 6A for the last few years easily.
March 24th, 2024 at 1:27 am
@Kevin X
Yes, I agree with you. I don’t think it’s ever gonna change but to be honest with you. I actually feel bad for Scranton prep and also holy cross obviously And Mountain View, even though In the beginning, I was completely against private schools, winning any Championships away from public schools I actually felt bad for them to get that far to lose at the end of the day they are somebody’s grandkids, sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, and I have to turn the page with my opinions because they truly aren’t important at the end of the day, either way you look at it as long as everybody gives the best effort that they possibly can and work as a team that’s truly what matters and learns from being a team.
My hope for these youngsters is to be productive citizens in our society, regardless of any championship trophies they have earned they all go to the wayside regardless of their high school days. What really matters is the kind of individual they truly form to be giving back to this beautiful country We live in my friend that is truly what matters to me these days not trophies only quality people
God Bless ☺️
March 23rd, 2024 at 4:19 pm
@ D2 LFC
Well, you got your wish, Blackhawk beat Prep, but as the saying goes, thinking you may have won the battle, but lost the war. Second year in a row true traditional public boundary schools, (however you want to classify them), only won 3 of 12 hoop titles again this year.
I’m still standing at the bus stop not willing to jump on the separate public private football separation bus, even though my mind is still open to change and willing to listen to any suggestions (but haven’t bought into any yet), but I’d gladly hop on the bandwagon bus for separating publics and privates when it comes to basketball. Really think there is great opportunity for both sides on this front, but I’m not holding my breath for any change, at least in the near future.
March 22nd, 2024 at 12:22 pm
@ Kevin X
Yes, I was actually thrilled for Dunmore last year the
Lady Bucks Bringing home the gold and Going forward I’m thrilled for any public school doing such from around the
District 2 Region only because it should be a public school championship bracket you know my stance on that as you mentioned, I fully support any public school
Going against teams that can pull talent Out of their school boundary area. it’s still amazes me that nobody seems to care about how many state championships private schools have won and taken away from public schools for example, look at the
Saint Joseph’s prep football team it’s so amazing how I believe I quoted 24 players from their roster last year were from New Jersey. How was it even legal players that don’t even live in Pennsylvania to capture a Pennsylvania State football championship that’s so corrupt Definitely gray water. The well has been tainted so long nobody even knows who to call to clean it up so they look the other way and tip a brewski as they did in the old European times when the water was tainted
However, on the other side of things, if Scranton prep classics were playing in a private bracket as they should have to play, but it’s not made yet I would absolutely support them. I think it’s one of the best private high school institutions in our area for academics and also their giving back to the community With fundraisers And such the teachers and the students are great people I have family and friends who have gone there over the years, but I stand strong on the boundary non-boundary with athletics nothing will change my mind on this
To be honest, it’s quite hilarious………..
The majority of my friends and colleagues are from scranton prep how awkward does that make that for me when their football team or their other sports teams are winning and I can’t enjoy it with them. Definitely an awkward situation. I definitely don’t pretend I just don’t engage in the conversation.
March 21st, 2024 at 4:33 pm
@ D2 LFC
Ahhh, yes, I do recall your are not a big fan of the privates, or at least them going head to head against a traditional public boundary school in playoff situation. You may get your wish, Blackhawk is very good basketball team.
If I also recall, the traditional public boundary schools won all of 3 of the 12 basketball championships last year. Yet the D2 Dunmore Lady Bucks did get one of those ‘Chips.
Let’s see if they can win more than 3 this year. Can at least put a “W” in the 6A boys game.
March 21st, 2024 at 4:26 pm
2024-2025 PIAA football brackets……..
https://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/24_Football.pdf
March 20th, 2024 at 12:22 pm
Good Luck !!!!!
Mountain View Gals
Get that gold !!!! 🙂
March 20th, 2024 at 12:19 pm
Best of luck to the BLACKHAWK Gals basketball team
DISMANTLE ——-The Scranton PREP CLASSICS !!!!!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Should be fun !!! 😉
March 6th, 2024 at 4:22 pm
If the people of aliquppa could simply follow rules they would be ok. Stay in your lane, if you were a class a or AA school why didn’t you be happy with that, rules come out for transfers and can’t follow those rules, and then the racial socio economic bull starts
March 5th, 2024 at 2:33 pm
D4 is currently trying to change the divisional system (which will probably take effect in the 2026-2027 school year) to base the divisions off of geography, rather than enrollment size. (I personally think that would be great to get Berwick out of WVC.) Port moving would probably not readily affect Division 2, given Miff is way closer to the Division 1 schools. Mifflinburg to Danville is 45 minutes, and I know Danville expressed concern for the number of early dismissals athletes had. MCA, I’m not sure about since OLOL also does co-op.
I’m not aware of any school going indie since the private schools are all small enough to co-op with a public (e.g., Sock w/ Neumann, Milton w/ Meadowbrook Christian.) It’s not like Holy Redeemer or Wyoming Seminary out your way, where they are big enough budget-wise to hold their own programs.
March 4th, 2024 at 11:59 am
Two things
1. Question for the D4 folks.
I know Williamsport is now a Heartland member. How does this affect the rest of the divisions? I know PHAC Division 1 is them, Central Mountain, Shikellamy, Shamokin, Shore, & Selinsgrove.
How does this domino effect impact Divisions 2 & 3. I assume Mifflinburg drops to Division 2, but maybe 3. Maybe even Mount Carmel jumping up a division because they’re 3A this season? Did one move to an indie status?
2. Delaware Valley Football
I noticed they have an open date on Week 7. It intrigues me because there aren’t many teams that have an opening. Could this mean they’re playing 9 games, or are there some leagues that release late schedules that could still be lying in the weeds? I’m thinking two ideas.
A. I’m wondering if they consider a road game to Washington Massillon, & leave an open game for 2025. If there’s one thing all of us know about DV, it’s that they aren’t afraid to play the best teams. They won’t match up well, based on CalPreps, but it’d be a lot better than the last PA rep (Sun Valley).
B. The other idea is if WPIAL or City League schedules aren’t released. I don’t see them playing Westinghouse, since they’re much larger, but is there an opening for a power like Aliquippa (that’s a pipe dream) or one of the other 5A teams? The D-10 teams in mind all play each other that week, so they weren’t included in this.
March 4th, 2024 at 6:57 am
Hi guys. We moved the site to a better server. Just checking to make sure we can still post on here. Look forward to the football talk!!
February 22nd, 2024 at 4:59 pm
@jeffh.
It doesn’t help the Quips case when 2 recruits announced their intention to transfer to Aliquippa to play FB. But if the PIAA is gonna force you to play up, I say recruit like the private schools Aliquippa.
Ps, Southern didn’t have any transfers in the last cycle, thus can remain AA
February 21st, 2024 at 1:07 am
Seems the WPIAL cartel is at it again. They’re forcing Butler to play a full 6A division schedule despite Butler’s clear intention to play as an independent. Neither the PIAA nor the WPIAL seem to have the interest of the kids at heart. Both organizations are complete clown shows at this point.
February 19th, 2024 at 5:43 am
@ Jeff H
I hear what you’re saying, I understand.
February 16th, 2024 at 1:13 pm
@LFC D2 – I don’t see the problem with a parent coaching their child in a high school sport, it happens in the WPIAL occasionally, most notably at Mars HS several years ago when Rob Carmody coached both of his sons, both of whom were very good and would have played regardless of who was the head coach. A coach with any integrity is going to play their best players, and any coach who does otherwise should not be coaching. In my experience good head coaches are even harder on their kids than other players, and if a coach gives deferential treatment to their child they should not be coaching, period, but I don’t think you can make a blanket statement that a parent should never coach their child in HS sports.
@Joshane85 – for the record the Quips had 5 transfers in the last 2 year cycle, none of whom was a starter or contributed much to the team success, they would have won the state title this year without any of those transfers, and none of them transferred for athletic intent. A lot of people in Western PA are very upset with the PIAA for forcing the quips up, by the letter of the rule they had the requisite transfers and success points, but there needs to be some nuance on the transfers and not just the numbers, the 5 transfers combined for 1 touchdown, 136 passing yards and 4 rushing yards over the last 2 seasons. During their appeal Aliquippa’s attorney noted a school is penalized for having transfer students who never get one minute of playing time or who have no impact on the teams success.
This is a bad look for the PIAA, Aliquippa is a transient, low-income predominately black community that has a lot of kids moving in and out of the district for family reasons, and they get penalized and forced to move up while a rural, predominately white school district like Southern Columbia gets to compete in 2A every year. I think the PIAA should reexamine the success formula to take into account the impact the transfers had, and not just go by numbers alone.
February 15th, 2024 at 4:19 pm
@Pennyltucky Proud — Good looking out, thanks, appreciate the tips for a future tour of the area. Interesting history and decent country folks up there who ‘can skin a buck, run a trout line, ain’t too many things them old boys can’t do’, lol. If it wasn’t for PA’s relatively high property taxes, some land in that area would be enticing. Be fun to check out though.
February 15th, 2024 at 12:14 pm
@Pennsyltucky Proud
I’m not sure if you’re being facetious or not lol but I have always wanted to go down to Catawissa. It’s a beautiful area down there at least it looks that way on WNEP when they show it , I guess it all depends on if I’m on duty or not that day, if I can make the trip down .
God permitting one day I will get there .
I also hope Philly boy has a good time visiting as well, and not just regarding the Southern Columbia football team
But just to check out the nice area.
Peace out and buckle up
February 13th, 2024 at 12:03 pm
@ LFD D2: There’s room for you on Phillyboy’s SCA Tour as well. Just sayin’ is all… 🙂
February 13th, 2024 at 12:01 pm
@phillyboy When you go up for your highly anticipated All Things (and quasi-related) SCA Tour, jump off the NE Ext at the Allentown exit and catch 309N. Stop at the Beacon Diner in Hometown for a vanilla milkshake before making your L onto 54. Then you’ll snake thru the lower anthracite belt towns-that-time-forgot of Shenandoah (pronounced chen-do) and Mahanoy City. That’ll take you to 42N and the “only in Pennsyltucky” minefire town of Centralia. The greatest living example of a ghost town west of the Mississippi. But there are other sites for you than just Knoebels with its famous Crystal Pool and Playland. Check out the strange reverse gravity dirt road to the L of the bottom of the mountain on 42N, and then maybe the hooded graves and the Bluff outside Catawissa. Or the old race track in Numidia. Or the Beaver Dam look-out point btw Catawissa and Danville. Or the old Magee factory in Bloomsburg and the old family mausoleum on the outskirts of Bloom. Stop in at the Cracker Barrel in Catawissa for a brew. Maybe play 18 holes at Three Ponds and then grab a burger at the Nickel Plate. Maybe camp out at J&D’s and have an root beer float across 487 there. And then go up 487 about a mile, and there’ll you be…at the shrine that is Jim Roth Field! Go ahead–soak it up. It’s all there for ya.
February 13th, 2024 at 3:02 am
regarding the field goal going from 3 points to 2, i gotta think that teams would be much less likely to try them. if your down by 14 points a 2 point field goal seems less likely .in addition you do not have the non atheletic type guy playing such a major role from what is starting to be routine from 55yards out. also ,as we here are high school football fans, remember that in a majority of games at the high school level kickers play a much smaller role via field goals ,mostly because of the lack of talented kickers. I would say we enjoy the game just fine without all the field goal attempts. more likely in high school, games are won and lost because of a missed extra point. better kickers at the pro level would negate that situation. thanks!
February 12th, 2024 at 9:29 pm
@NE PA This would be the biggest change in football since the big break from rugby with the allowance of the forward pass. There’s hardly a game at the hs, college, or professional level where a decision whether to go for a field goal or not doesn’t factor in either the outcome or (at least) the momentum of a game. It prompts some of the best debates. And kickoff returns are often the most exciting and memorable plays in a game. (Don’t we all miss kick returns from lots of college games and almost all NFL games?) Do you really want to take all of that away?
It used to be that kickers were players who also played other positions–Lou Groza (an offensive tackle) being the most famous. Was it the Gogalak brothers who ushered in the new era?
February 12th, 2024 at 5:15 pm
@bub I think if you’re going to go that direction, I would lean towards taking out field goals completely. Kick offs are just irrelevant as well, so they should be moved back or taken out. I don’t think we would see that much of a difference between kicking and going for it if the scores are only worth one point less. Instead of a score being 27-20, it just lowers it to 25-18. It’s still a 7 point game
I wish they would just take them out completely because letting a kicker decide the game just doesn’t make sense.
February 12th, 2024 at 2:52 am
anyone care to comment on my thought to reduce field goals to 2 points because of the ability to score from 60 yards out . The super bowl was good example .kickers play much too important role anymore in a game where they are probably the worst athelete on every team.
February 11th, 2024 at 5:43 pm
Kevin X, yes, high school wrestling has also been affected by recruiting. For several years now seems that the majority of the NJSIAA individual state finalists are from schools like Don Bosco, Bergen Catholic, Delbarton, St. John Vianney, St. Joe’s Montvale, St. Joe’s Metuchen, and on and on. There were always strong private programs but in my opinion the trend has taken a turn for the worse, noticeably so. Back in the day even South Jersey had some stalwart public programs that produced a number of individual state champs; teams like Paulsboro and Absegami were prime time and well represented. Then you’d have schools like Vineland, Clearview, Washington Twp., Pinelands, Pennsgrove, Southern Regional (alma mater of Penn Stater Frank Molinaro — who incidentally beat the great Jordan Borroughs in a state final at Atlantic City) etc. who would have one off state champs, in a somewhat alternating fashion. Nowadays not so much, or fewer and farther between.
Regarding the PIAA individual wrestling state championships, what I never understood is why they have two separate tournaments, 2A and 3A because the size of the school, its enrollment is not relevant insofar as individual titles are concerned.
February 10th, 2024 at 10:28 pm
@ Kevin X
I get your point, but I can’t imagine Holy Family is more than a mile from the city limits. It was probably the availability of parking and the rental cost that determined the site.
February 10th, 2024 at 8:56 pm
Kevin X, Bethlehem Catholic has always been a powerhouse in wrestling, geographically they can draw from a huge wrestling hotbed where wrestlers come from all over, even NJ. They just won another State Championship this year and will probably be favored at AAA next year. The new kid on the block-Faith Christian academy-(AA) is like BECA on steroids, several coaches who have ties to the local youth wrestling clubs in District 1 got together and formed an all star team. Like Beca, the kids come from all over the place. FCA is even out recruiting Malvern Prep for District 1 talent which is crazy given Malvern Prep’s accomplishments the last decade. Stud wrestlers want to go where they have the best practice partners and wrestle on a national level, unfortunately, at many public schools thats just not possible.
February 10th, 2024 at 6:00 pm
@Kevin X
I agree with you 100% the crime tape is everywhere from all the stolen hardware from the public schools. It’s definitely disgusting and should be ended immediately.
But the truth is it won’t, because too many high empowered people in high and mighty places are from private schools growing up so they will never go back on their own kind
February 10th, 2024 at 12:51 pm
@ Michael D
Good questions, I’ll get back to the football issue later. But since we’re in hoops league tourney time, I’ll jump on that. Not a PAC fan (just neutral), as I’m in SOL Land. Seen that year after year as well, with those two schools hosting. S-F appears more than PV. No definitive answer, just a lot of guesses on my part. Guess one, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Less preparation needed, less change to deal with, everyone know the ropes. Seems to be working well for the league. Maybe the other schools aren’t interested in hosting or don’t have the personne?? Better financial deals with S-F and PV?? They both do have very nice facilities, so like you said, I would think that would come into play as well. S-F is centrally located within in the league. They are two of the larger schools with pretty passionate fan bases, so you may have larger crowds that can be expected??
Being in SOL territory, I have my own question. Why the heck is the SOL basketball finals are being contested at Holy Family U.?? OK, a small college, but Holy Family is in Philadelphia, District 12 territory. And not exactly a huge gym either, not that based on past SOL finals they really need one. But there wasn’t a SOL high school willing and able to host?? Souderton and P-W have in the recent past. Tennent, CB South, HH, Wissahickon more centrally located with nice decent size gyms?? Frankly tho, I find these league tournament a waste of time anyways. Just basically another easy money grab and a wash, rinse and repeat cycle of regular season play. But at least with the SOL tourney, it’s CASH ONLY at the gate!!!!!
February 10th, 2024 at 12:29 pm
Just to play the role of resident troublemaker, and re-stoke the flames of the ever popular public/private debate, the PIAA team wrestling championships are taking place today at the the Giant Center in Hershey. I don’t follow wrestling at all, but seen a lot of social media feeds about the tourney, so I took a peak at the brackets. Three of the four schools in the two finals (only 2A and 3A classifications) are private schools. In the 2A semi finalist, 3 of the 4 participants were private schools. Like I said, I don’t follow wrestling, but is that par for the course?? I do know that Becahi is perennial wrestling power.
Go…….. 🙂
February 10th, 2024 at 8:52 am
Thanks! It was fun being part of the documentary.
February 10th, 2024 at 1:05 am
@phillyboy
Hey brother, I actually just watched it last night. Unbelievable great documentary fine work by the people who did it our own David Mika did a great job as well in the documentary Little by little, I’m starting to understand the culture, the true culture of southern Columbia, and respect it more and more as time goes on, especially the 2022 season against all adversity against all odds athletes getting hurt left, and right, they truly played the season from their hearts and how awesome was that that the kicker became such a driving force on defense? Unbelievable, great athlete and not only was he a great athlete, but his mindset and his heart about God and giving glory where it should be given tremendous job to the staff who put it together I also liked after every game even if they lost they all got together and said state champs on three that truly shows teamwork and believe in each other and furthermore to that 2022 team fantastic job guys congratulations you truly earned that state championship.
it’s official name is…..
ROAR
February 9th, 2024 at 11:04 pm
@JCo Personally, I’d like to see a complete District 1 super conference of all 5 leagues (small bicentennial league excluded sorry) like South Jersey did in creating the WJFL.. I know it will never happen …but I’d settle for a PAC/CHES merger in football unless PV,SF,BOY and OJR rejoin the Ches-Mont and the remaining PAC schools join the SOL …I’d like to see Norristown back in the SOL anyway but i just realized I dissolved the PAC…lol
February 9th, 2024 at 6:25 pm
Very rarely does phillyboy come out of his winter hibernation, his off season slumber. Every now and then though, once in a great while circumstances align such that an impromptu declaration of his inner thought processes is merited, and yes, even his very cogniition and perspicacity is evinced. Lololol. Prishy8choo guys though. Anybody else out there see the apparently newly posted PBS Southern Columbia football documentary on YouTube? Their algorithim knew phillyboy would like it, and indeed I did. It’s about an hour long and chronicles their program and in particular the ’22 season, pretty well done. One of these days I’m gonna have to do a Catawissa day trip, maybe combined with a stop at Centralia and Knoebels, got it going on.
February 9th, 2024 at 5:31 pm
@Michael D: good question. I wonder if it has anything to do with Norristown being a 6A school, so they are “ranked” ahead of the smaller PAC schools for scheduling purposes, even though their actual program strength doesn’t reflect that. But I don’t actually know.
Personally, I think the two leagues should just completely merge for football, like the Colonial and Schuylkill Leagues have done in D11. A fully merged league would compete well with the SOL. I suspect that individual team interests will prevent that from happening.
February 9th, 2024 at 12:17 pm
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February 9th, 2024 at 11:23 am
Everything surrounding my comments on anything on here is about fairness and equality, never to cut anyone down or to harshly criticize. If I have been taken out of context, I stand corrected, but I’m sure lots of other people understand my point of view to this I say fellow enthusiast may you enjoy the Super Bowl And may God be the peace of your life .
Peace be with you️
February 9th, 2024 at 9:16 am
ignorant as in just clueless. and it is a statement based on all of your posts in general. and again, I don’t really understand why you care about any of it. None of what you comment on really has any impact to your life. You mostly just sound like a jealous/whiny, busy body.
February 8th, 2024 at 11:50 pm
@ seriously
Thank you for the compliments that’s so nice of you. To be honest I don’t really understand that I’m ignorant, because if I was ignorant, I would be saying the schools name and the players names and I have more respect for people and schools than that so you can shut your pie hole going forward from here on out.
The only purpose that I brought that up for about players that their jerseys retired is because they didn’t in my opinion and many others deserve to have anything like that. Their team got destroyed by three opponents this past year yes, they were in the state playoffs against the tiddlywink school and then they got buzz sawed and didn’t even make it into the state championship so you tell me why is it that they deserve to have three players retired jerseys on the wall from this team that really didn’t do much and then from the same school players from a few years back when they went to the state championship and just lost narrowly and that state championship loss was their only loss of the season and they had stout players on that team. Now you tell me, sir or ma’am how is this even right I don’t know is it political is it who has money? Who knows?
But you can stop in your footsteps before you call me ignorant look in the mirror, my friend before you cast judgment it was a simple question if you don’t like it, don’t read it end of story.
Good day !
February 8th, 2024 at 8:20 pm
Question for District 1 people………Can anyone enlighten me about the new scheduling alignment for the PAC/Ches-Mont? I thought it was to level the playing field where they were gonna schedule teams based on standings? If that’s the case then can someone explain to me how Norristown drew Rustin? bottom of PAC against a Ches-Mont forever contender? I mean shouldn’t they of been scheduled against Avon Grove or whoever was last in that division? I’m just wondering?
Also to anyone that is a PAC fan…..Is there ever a playoff or tournament in all of the sports offered that is not held at either Spring-Ford or Perk Val?…….Why do these two schools get an advantage like that year in and year out? I get they apparently excel and maybe i’m wrong and I don’t know about all the sports….but it seems to me there has to be other great facilities from the other schools…Shouldn’t they spread it around to make if fair?? I’m not a PV or SF hater by any means…again….just wondering…Any thoughts?
February 8th, 2024 at 11:35 am
LFC D2 – why do you care? What is it impacting you? I think you most likely need to find something else in your life to focus your attention on.
I don’t understand all your questions and rants about “unnamed schools”, “unnamed players”, “unnamed coaches” out of respect. Maybe you should run for the school board in the district(s) you have so many issues with and try to initiate change instead of getting on here and asking questions about things that really have no impact on your life. Unless you’re going to be part of the solution to fix all these “injustices”, please stop posting all these so called issues the LFC has.
In my opinion you just sound like a whiny, ignorant, know it all who has opinions on everything.
February 8th, 2024 at 3:23 am
Here is a question that I’m not sure will ever be answered. How is it possible? For not one, but three players from a high school that I will not mention out of respect for the players to have their jerseys retired when the school they play at we’re literally manhandled by three teams last season. The one team being a single A school keep in mind this is a AA school who does have deep championship tradition. Which is why I bring up the question in other years when this particular school had outstanding years in some of the years undefeated seasons up until they lost in the state championship game not too many years ago and they had a lot of talented players, which to my knowledge. None of them had their jerseys retired. It’s just weird to me could someone explain how not one but three players from the same school can have their jerseys retired after a season of getting beat up by three teams, keep in mind this team did not reach the state championship this year . yes this team reached pretty decently far in the state playoffs only because they went up against lighter teams, but ultimately got beat by the buzz saw badly and may I add years ago when they reached the state championship here and there I believe one of those years they beat up on was the team that was the buzz saw this year, so I just don’t understand the reasoning behind the retiring of jerseys, these players certainly didn’t stand out too much in the sports media realm for sure, and that’s a guarantee they were average players not cutting them down or anything but I’m just wondering it’s quite the conversation piece in the LFC .
I think there’s a lot more questions than answers for sure I only bring this up in respect of past players of this championship Rich school that at times could have had other players with retired jerseys, and they did not. But like I said, no disrespect to these players to me, and other people, they were mediocre to average, nothing that stood out all year. Keep in mind this is not to belittle the players it’s only to get a handle on why the jerseys were retired.
February 5th, 2024 at 1:31 pm
In response to a question about Aliquippa and the number of transfers they had, I believe they had 5 for the last cycle which moved them to 5A based on their overwhelming success and the fact they had 3 or more transfers. I might add, for your information, they already have 3 transfers for the 2024-2025 football cycle.. Two players transferred in from Pittsburgh Central Catholic and one from Central Valley. Two will be sophomores and one a junior. I believe all 3 have at least one Division 1 offer to date. And one of them has a plethora of offers so far. With that said, don’t be surprised they get moved to 6A in two years because they are loaded again and could possibly go very, very deep in the playoffs this year for sure. I am not saying they will be successful enough at 5A to get moved to 6A, but they have the talent and the transfers already, so…
February 2nd, 2024 at 6:57 pm
@ Foleman
Thank you for responding to my public pole. That’s really disgusting and sad of what happened at that school with the youngster , that should not have been starting over more quality players . I just don’t understand what goes through peoples thought processes. I understand obviously if that’s their son, they want the best for them but overall they look very unintelligent and all about themselves and their needs not the teams needs. And to be honest like I said earlier, I’m the kind of coach that would make sure everyone got in the game no matter what , they might not start from the beginning but they would trickle in as the game went on so everyone got a taste of the game because that’s why they’re there. That’s why they put all the hard hours of practice just like everybody else but thank you for your input. I agree completely with you. That’s horrible. There should be more of a balance a governing filter that goes into place from the PIAA however, as you know, they have enough to take care of that they sometimes get wrong. Also about coaching. Legend, Jim Roth. from Southern Columbia lol need I say where he’s from he does it right I realize that I tip my hat to him. He makes responsible individuals going forward into society that learns the hard work pays off.
Another issue that should be looked into at the high school level. I remember last year I couldn’t believe this watching a football game in the Lackawanna football conference one of the players on the team before the game was greeted by his father not a big deal right well to me it is because his father was one of the referees. YIKES !!! Not cool 🙁
February 1st, 2024 at 3:21 pm
LFC, a local private high school in my area had a coach who’s kid played on the team. His kid came from an awful public school football program and he did not play on the CYO team which was a powerhouse. HIs kid somehow managed to start for 2 years over more talented kids who played in the CYO program. Numerous complaints were sent to the Athletic Director who was also an assistant coach on the team, the AD did nothing. The Coaches kid started at linebacker and was one of the worst players I have ever seen! Well, this caused several CYO kids to transfer to several area Public schools and most of them went on to be star players. The Private School, which once was a football powerhouse now is a doormat as many of the CYO players don’t matriculate to that school. I coached youth sports and the best players always started, no politics involved. Jim Roth-S Columbia’s Genius football coach once said “We treat everyone the same, from the best to worst player on the team”!
January 30th, 2024 at 6:37 pm
@CoalRgnFtballFan
Hey, thank you for your input. It means a lot and yes I agree with you. It would not exist if they did not coach, but the sad truth is you’re right the double edge sword does exist and unfortunately they want to put their little darlings first and I get that to a certain degree but if their athlete is mediocre, and there are players better and play less time, it doesn’t show class or even make sense in my opinion when I was a head coach. I always did that. I made sure everyone got to play and yes, we actually made it to the playoffs. I had players come up to me and thank me for being one of their best coaches because everybody got to play on that team.
I coached basketball I coached football I’ve been around and the one thing I will never do is show favoritism never !!!
it’s about teaching them the right way to play the sport and teaching people to respect each other it’s not always about winning trophies thank you for your input. I agree with you 100%.
January 29th, 2024 at 3:09 pm
I won’t speak in regards to high school athletics or Jr High. That said, the state of youth sports today, there wouldn’t be many teams if parents didn’t step in and fill the roll of coach. When I was young there were the coaches that coached, didn’t have a kid on the team, just liked coaching – whether that was youth football, little league baseball or youth basketball. In fact growing up I was never coached by someone who doubled as a mother/father. By the time I became a parent, that was no longer the case – just a revolving door of parents coaching. Every couple years as one group ‘graduates’ a new parent (or two) steps in to fill the void. There are some coaches/parents who can separate the two and coach fairly and I’ve witnessed some who cannot for the life of them see their little one as anything other than the next coming of……yep. It’s a double edged sword. The coaches that I knew as a kid, at least in my area, don’t exist anymore. So without the parents, options for youth sports dwindle significantly. Perhaps more populous areas of the commonwealth have the luxury of coaches who volunteer their time to coach kids they don’t know, but in the small communities that surround me, that doesn’t exist.
January 29th, 2024 at 3:48 am
@ anybody interested in taking a public pole
I realize we talk a lot about football. But here’s a question for you all. Is it acceptable for an athletic team from junior teams all the way up to high school but in this particular situation, I’m talking about basketball teams to have a head coach that is a parent of one of the athletes on the team?
Now before answering this quickly, just ponder this for a moment, I say this because just north of the Scranton PA area I won’t say the name of the school out of respect for the student athlete because it’s easily identifiable because the head coach is a woman so lots of people would narrow it down and I don’t want to do that to them , but my question is, how is it even right that a parent can be the head coach of their kids team because you know exactly what’s gonna happen. Their kid is going to get tons of playing time even if he or she is just not quality and in this situation it’s exactly what the situation is.
Because the student athlete on this junior basketball team that I support obviously he is not the best player on the team and he’s not the worst, but to my opinion and many others there should be equal playing time, especially when the record of the basketball team is horrendous . At this younger age group this is the time to get the basics down. Not trying to win a ribbon at the end of the year that says you’re awesome and in that situation if somebody’s team is awesome go for it that’s awesome but because of this particular team that I follow, they only have I believe two or three wins out of what 15 games and every game teams are up by 33 points to our two points. Come on where we going with this ? I mean to be honest, the ages of this team is second and third graders so this coach what they do is they put their son in most of the game at one point it was timed it was over 12 minutes. Her son was in the game and at a meeting she called she said and I quote I don’t put my son in more than anybody else. How funny is that so I just thought I would ask all of you sports enthusiast out there what your opinion is of this situation it should be about learning at this age, not about favoring players that are all mediocre on the team, because to be honest, look at their record. If they were all stars, the record be a lot more than two or three wins trust me, and like I said, I’m not naming schools, or even the head coach I have more respect than that especially for her son .
In conclusion, I think the head coach position should be an outside sourced position not any type of parent situation, and to be honest the assistant coaches should also be outside sourced not parents
Thank you for your time. I would love to hear what you guys think about this sensitive yet, aggravating situation.
January 26th, 2024 at 4:54 pm
PIAA are a bunch of thugs who just want to hand out participation trophies. Forcing Aliquippa to move up because of transfers, but allowing non-boundry schools to just keep recruiting is wrong.
For sake of just wanting to know, how many transfers did The Quips have in the past cycle?
January 26th, 2024 at 8:50 am
A couple of questions:
If the transfer rule is thrown out in regards to the success factor formula and teams are moved up strictly on success-(The S. Columbia Rule), what stops the recruiting factories from loading up?
Can Aliquippa screw the PIAA once they are done competing in 5A and move to 2A based on their enrollment? That would be interesting!
January 25th, 2024 at 10:32 am
* Mika
Sorry
UGH!!! my typing recently!!
January 25th, 2024 at 10:34 am
They didn’t fight the appeal.
January 25th, 2024 at 10:30 am
@ David Mike
The chickens are finally coming home to roost……
I assume Bishop McDevitt and Imhotep are being moved up as well to 5A and 6A respectively?? They just didn’t fight it/appeal?? Any others being moved up?? I have not seen an official list of all schools being moved up for the next two year cycle.
January 25th, 2024 at 9:37 am
Thoughts on the PIAA Board of Directors votes? Three programs are moving up due to the PIAA transfer rule and success factor rule.
– Aliquippa to 5A
– Bishop Guilfoyle drops to 1A (Won their appeal)
– Steel-High to 2A
– Wyomissing to 4A
January 25th, 2024 at 3:30 am
to whom it applies my opinion of southern columbia football team is one of respect, awe, congratulations, and amazement. i believe that your enrollment numbers dictate that you should compete with teams of similar numbers. i mean if southern competed 2 or 3 classes up and never won let’s say 80% of the titles it has won then the legacy of the greatness of thier accomplishments would be unwritten. i have followed d2 for 60 years,primarily as a fan of dunmore. to see what southern has accomplished is amazing and i congratulate you guys on an outstanding program. and i like trying to beat you guys because it is certainly a feeling that you have truly beat the best. over the years d2 teams have done a fair job competing with southern. we have lost more than won but have won some and it was more satisfying facing and competing with the southern columbia tigers. for that reason i hope you guys stay where your enrollment dictates. one last thing though i still dont get how dunmore can be moved up without winning the state title no matter how many regular season games they have won. if you are not the best in your class how can you get moved up and the team who actually won does not get moved up. makes NO sense. and as to kids transferring in , sometimes it does happen with no sinister plot behind it. lots of new residents moving into the area from NYC and NEW JERSEY and they gotta go to school where they now live. and the kid who was on the basketball team only played when the starters were taken out. she was not transferred in for sports. thank you.
January 24th, 2024 at 7:46 pm
* WPIAL
January 24th, 2024 at 7:42 pm
Looks like the PIAA is finally growing some brass ones. In their meeting today they denied Aliquippa’s appeal request to remain at 4A for football, so the next two years (as of now, who knows what might happen from here) they will play at the 5A classification. They also denied Farrell’s request to be allowed to move to District 7/WPAIL. This after the WPIAL unanimously voted not to accept them in something like a 23-0 vote. You’d think you’d get the message that you are not wanted after a vote like that. Yet you still want to join that Family?? Also, looks like the only school to win their appeal in the Competition Formula not to be forced to move-up was Bishop Guilfoyle. Looks like then Wyo gets to play football at 4A for next next two yers. Ahhhh, you public boundary schools be careful for what you wish for…..it may (and will) come back to bite you.
January 24th, 2024 at 12:19 pm
stand corrected. just saw this article. Aliquippa is also protesting their move up to 5A.
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/2024/01/we-get-penalized-for-success-aliquippa-football-coach-says-as-piaa-moves-to-bump-team-up.html
January 24th, 2024 at 12:14 pm
My understanding from an article I read about Steel High fighting their move from A to AA is that Southern is getting bumped to AAA for the next 2 year cycle and this time they are not fighting it. The article read like out of all the teams that have been identified to move up, only Steel High has fought their ruling.
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/2024/01/steel-high-says-piaas-reason-for-moving-football-up-in-classification-is-flawed-what-should-we-have-done.html
January 24th, 2024 at 10:20 am
@ Bub
Yes, you are correct, you can be forced to move up without winning a state title. In fact, a team can advance to back to back state semi final contests, get mercy ruled in both, and still be on the hot seat for being forced up in classification. On the flip side, a team can win back to back state titles and not be force to be moved up. Pure epic PIAA delusional twisted logic. I can go on forever with my opinions and suggestions with regards to the Competition Formula, but I’ll what I type below I’ll stick to the facts the best that I can.
To be forced to be moved up to the next higher classification (and I’m just talking basketball and football for now, I believe the PIAA expanded the CF to other team sports), you need to meet two components over a 2 year cycle.
First, you need to accumulate 6 or more “success points” based on how far to advance in the state playoffs. The Dunmore Lady bucks achieved 6 point for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 basketball seasons. 4 for appearing in a championship game, and 2 more for the 2019-20 playoffs (that was one huge point of controversy), so check one.
Second, you need to have been deemed to have one transfer for basketball, and at least 3 for football over the same time period. What qualifies as a transfer in this situation, well, your and anybody else’s guess is as good as mine. Evidently, Dunmore was deemed ot have at least one qualifying transfer (another point of contention as I understand, I do not know the background of that issue tho), so check two.
So therefore they qualified for be forced to play up in the next higher classification (4A) for the next two year cycle (2020-21 and 2021-22). Schools can, and most do, appeal the ruling.
To fall back to a lower classification (if your new enrollment figs allow it) is based on different thresholds, that are less than the move requirements. Dunmore was able to move back down to 3A beginning with the 2022-23 cycle. But don’t look now, they are on track to be moved up again after this season 🙂
More questions???……..
January 24th, 2024 at 9:29 am
@LFC D2 Your Dunmore argument is invalid. PIAA doesn’t “ask” people. If the have BOTH parts of the competition formula, they move up. Dunmore had winning success (Finals and Semis appearance) AND transfers (two transfers. The rule for basketball is one.) Plain as that. SCA doesn’t have transfers. So aren’t required to move up. Mighty Dunmore fit BOTH criteria so lets not make it sound noble that they moved up willingly. People spend so much time crying about why they can’t beat them rather than spending that energy and time trying to beat them. Maybe SCA should just play in the Big Ten next year. Maybe the Chiefs should play the Bills and the Ravens since they keep winning.
@seriously There has been movement in and out of the district but the district enrollment has dropped steadily since 2016. That is not unique to SCA but very common among the entire state with a select few areas maintaining or slightly growing.
here is an article to explain the formula and BOTH parts of the rule.
https://www.pahomepage.com/sports/high-school-sports/dunmore-girls-basketball-team-denied-appeal-will-compete-at-class-4-a-for-next-two-years/
Stop trying to level a playing field that is fairly level for public schools that don’t meet the transfer numbers. The real problem is charter or private schools winning and taking opportunities away from public schools that have to play by different rules. Private schools can have a new roster and draw from anywhere.
January 24th, 2024 at 1:28 am
Someone sour puss apparently does not know what a trade school actually is or how the completive balance formula works which caused Dunmore Girls BB to be moved up. All the success means nothing unless you have transfers too and all you need is 1 in Basketball. That is why Dunmore Girls got moved up. Not because they are good but because they had a transfer and are good.
January 23rd, 2024 at 11:33 am
TD21. Thanks. I would have thought there were more kids that went to CMVT than that. The Southern district seems like there are more people moving in and living there than that. Seems to me only to be growing but I guess maybe that is not the case.
Yes I know enrollment numbers are down in the HS. And yes I know that students from all those schools go to CMVT.
If your male student numbers are what they are and the amount of kids that are going to CMVT from your school is what it is, then yes by all means I feel like Southern should stay AA. I don’t think they should be penalized for the success at a classification by rule they belong in.
January 23rd, 2024 at 3:57 am
@TD21
This comment goes toward your comment about the future teams of Southern Columbia Being potentially punished for the prior teams success the year before, by moving them up, is like punishing them.
No hard feelings intended. I have to say cry me a river because too bad that’s what the PIAA did to Dunmore girls basketball team years ago not because they went to the state championship every year like your mighty Tigers do in football, but just because they have great basketball seasons, every year, with only at most two or three losses, so they said to them because of their quality of play, they must move up, that’s what they did years ago to them, so why is that not applied to you guys?
Southern Columbia people are unbelievable it’s like you can’t do any wrong you’re always the first ones to wave the white flag saying everyone’s trying to blame you for wrongdoing. I mean look at the hard facts you’re basically bullies of high school football in Pennsylvania. Here are some statistics to look at black and white.
Since the beginning of the PIAA state playoff system in 1988 the tigers have competed in 22 of the 34 state finals winning 14 state championships. I have to say to that, sir, cry me a river. Nobody wants to hear the story of younger teams being blamed for the success of years prior look at your winning record that’s a slap in everyone’s face not only in the state, but district 4 you’re not speaking any sense you’re speaking nonsense, Do you know your history ??everyone else does !!!!
Including a state record winning streak in state championship titles from 2017 through 2023 .
The tigers appeared in every class A state championship game from 1998 through 2006.
Let’s look at the District 4 Championship history
Class AA
2023 Southern Columbia
2022 Southern Columbia
2021 Southern Columbia
2020 Southern Columbia
2019 Southern Columbia
2018 Southern Columbia
2017 Southern Columbia
2016 Southern Columbia
2015 Southern Columbia
Class A
2013 Southern Columbia
2012 Southern Columbia
2011 Southern Columbia
2010 Southern Columbia
2009 Southern Columbia
2008 Southern Columbia
2006 Southern Columbia
2005 Southern Columbia
2004 Southern Columbia
2003 Southern Columbia
2002 Southern Columbia
2001 Southern Columbia
2000 Southern Columbia
1999 Southern Columbia
1998 Southern Columbia
1997 Southern Columbia
1996 Southern Columbia
1995 Southern Columbia
1994 Southern Columbia
1993 Southern Columbia
1992 Southern Columbia
1991 Southern Columbia
Now Mr or Mrs TD21
This is why I say cry me a river and I mean nobody nobody wants to hear any of your crocodile tears because Southern Columbia has been destroying teams year after year after year it’s time to move up in classification if not, you’re official name should be changed from the Southern Columbia Tigers……. To the Southern Columbia Hogs
Because that’s all you are just a bunch of hogs you hog all of the hardware from the championship realm you don’t wanna remove up I mean what’s the difference you guys play Danville you play Selinsgrove you play Jersey shore I believe I may be wrong. I stand corrected but you guys already play up in classification. Why not just officially move up to AAA or
AAAA
All you readers out there could you imagine what it must be like in class AA and just accepting the fact that you will never win a district championship because no matter who you are you’re not going to beat this team because obviously they have a firm grip on the success level however they obtain it no ordinary team will ever stop this ridiculous dog and pony show just face it. If I were you guys in district 4 , I would just move out of that District just give it to them. They have it anyway every year unbelievable just all you guys down at the black and gold you’re just delusional you don’t see it for what it is let’s just believe in the system hard work lift weights run the ball, pass the ball Win state championships it’s just not that easy folks. If it was that easy, you would have more teams doing this year in and year out. I would love to know what kind of Kool-Aid they’re drinking and with that I will sign out no matter what you say going forward you’re going to defend your mighty tigers, so whatever.
Also @BuB
The Dunmore girls basketball team might not win the state championship every year but the reason the PIAA suggested they move up years ago is because of their winning streak every year ,they only have two or three losses every year. I think that’s a pretty successful system to hang your hat on.
With or without winning a state championship !
Being that they are so many games in a basketball season as we all know.
January 22nd, 2024 at 11:54 am
@seriously As stated in your post about you “hearing” how things work at SCA and how they are actually are two entirely different things. If it would have been known the 2016-2020 kids were going to be epically awesome(Lots of D1 talent), then yes I would say move up. Fleming was the only sure thing on the recruiting trail at the time (Haladay, Garcia, and Zachman received offers much later.) This last season was typical SCA kids that were not even close to D1 level talent, but they played as a team and were able to earn a title. The amount of kids going to CMVT is smaller than everyone thinks. Roughly 20 Students (boys and girls combined) per class. SCA is almost at A numbers. To think that a public school “asks” kids to go to a Vo Tech school to protect the football team is completely asinine and you aren’t aware how public schools and sports actually function. Not sure if you are aware but CMVT also receives kids from participating schools in Columbia – Montour counties (Danville, Bloomsburg, Central Columbia, and others.) CMVT requires an application process to attend. Admission is not a guarantee. I hear and understand everyone’s idea to move up however how is that fair to the people moving through the program. Numbers are lower as they are everywhere. By moving up, you’re asking kids that are potentially not even part of the successful team to continue the success and basically punishing them for the team winning even when they were not part of the success. That makes little sense to me. But, everyone will blindly say move up because SCA wins.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:05 am
in reply to kevin x and lfc d2 like yourselves the facts that were in play that caused the piaa to force the dunmore team to move up were not then and are not now clear to me. if they went from 3A, to 4A and then back to 3A as you stated, i do not doubt that if you state that is what happened. and speculation as to whether they would have won in either class is speculation on my part and yours. i am saying that the main issue was and is ; How do they get bumped up a class when they never won a state title? since they had never won a state title in thier original classification how does it make sense to be moved up when they had not conquered the class they were in? especially when teams with much greater sucess such as winning state titles are not moved up. not sure how this works?
January 20th, 2024 at 10:16 pm
@ BUB
Somewhat confused by your Lady Buck’s post. Appreciate it as I follow HS hoops as much as football during the winter season, and girls b-ball as much as the guys, maybe even more for various reasons, one that there are usually higher level of girls teams in my immediate area (this year PV, NP, LC, U Dub, Wood). Anyways……Dunmore won the PIAA girl’s title last year at 3A, after the previous two years being moved up to 4A (I agree, their situation was ridiculous, more on that if you want). But in my opinion, they weren’t going to win a title last year if they were still 4A.
So what exactly is you question(s)/concerns and what do you mean by an easier path to the title??
Keeping football in the conversation, any of you western guys still around?? Looks like the Quips will be bumped up to 5A this cycle (as well as they should if the had the 3 or more transfers, as they should have two years ago) unless they bring in the really big hire guns to plead their case. And what is the deal with Farrell?? They give the middle finger to District 10, then the WPIAL returns the favor and gives it right back to them?? Kind of boring in the off season here in District One.
January 20th, 2024 at 7:36 pm
@BUB
fellow sports enthusiast, I do have to say about the Dunmore girls basketball situation. I’m not too sure about the transfer athlete, but I do know for a fact it was in our local newspaper sports section that reported the PIAA requested Dunmore to move up and I quote “ because of the teams quality of play”
I would think in layman’s terms that means because it is well known the Dunmore girls basketball team always performed well every year basically for a long time just like the Scranton Prep classics, they play quality basketball as well. I’m not sure if they moved up just yet, but I know Dunmore had to because of the quality of play was mentioned I thought I would add that to your comment. Hope everyone’s basketball teams are doing well.
January 19th, 2024 at 8:16 pm
commenting about the dunmore girls basketball situation, they were forced to move up and they had never won a state title until last year AFTER they had moved up. They had great teams and made it to the finals and lost a great opportunity 2 years straight because of the covid situation, but they had not won a title but yet were forced up reportedly because they had a girl on their team that transferred in. although she rarely played they were forced to play up. the odd thing is that the higher classification might have been an easier path to the title. nonetheless i also kinda wondered why they were forced up but others with much more success were not. thank you.
January 18th, 2024 at 10:27 pm
@TD21
You are obviously a fan of Southern Columbia
I wouldn’t expect anything less of you in the rebuttal of my research that being said, why is it, for instance the PIAA
Requested I will give an example the Dunmore girls basketball team to move up in classification because of their level of play and what did they do? They complied years ago I don’t know much more about that. I am not affiliated with Dunmore or am I a fan of Dunmore, but I do know they complied, and that’s very honorable, I have no idea why, Southern Columbia cannot comply as well why is it so unforeseeable them being even AAA if they don’t wanna go up to AAAA ?
I mean to be honest, you and I and the rest of the state know the level of play of the Tigers and Yes, the coaching staff is superior, compared to the rest of the coaching staffs around Pennsylvania which at this point in Jim Roth’s life I have no idea why he doesn’t try to go to the collegiate level which he would absolutely be successful. I’m sure it is what it is though, to be honest, I would love for him to coach Penn State much better than our current disaster of Coach Franklin but that’s another topic for another day. I just have no idea why it’s not even in the cards why not move up and give it a try for a year I mean they moved up from class A, and destroyed everybody going forward in class AA.
I think as a fan of the sport of football I personally want to see what they can do at a higher level even at AAA
Honestly, I think they would give the teams like
Wyomissing Area and others a strong challenge at state .
Trust me, I’m not battering the Tigers. I respect them for quality play and their coaching staff. I just have no idea why they wouldn’t want to move even to AAA For more of a challenge like they did when they went to AA from A
I too respect Coach Roth I look at it this way even all of the private schools the big private schools, Allentown Central, Catholic Pittsburgh Central Catholic you name if they have a plethora of talent coming through their doorways , and they can’t even accomplish what the Southern Columbia Tigers and the coaching staff of Jim Roth do every single year that’s a testament to quality coaching and Weight room, workouts, and personal training as well even mentally I’m sure that makes those youngsters much better human beings going forward, so good job coach and staff
So to that my friend I tip my hat . that’s why I truly believe that the Penn State University football team should interview Coach Roth I truly believe maybe not the first year but at least the second year we would take home a Big Ten championship moving forward even going to the national title way closer of a chance rather than Coach Franklin and all he has done yes Coach Franklin he’s OK he’s mediocre he beats the Iowa’s he beats the Purdue’s when it comes to Michigan and Ohio State might as well not even waste the money on a ticket going to the game because we know what the outcome is going to be. He has no coaching skills to get our talented squad up for the game. Trust me we do have talent on those Penn State teams. They’re just not directed the right direction.
Well anyways, no hard feelings I do hope the tigers have a successful season 2024 and I’m sure they will but I would love to see them in class AAA
Be safe with the snow that’s moving through
January 18th, 2024 at 3:42 pm
I haven’t seen any releases about EPC schedules, but this site has a lot of them it seems like. Below is what I can find between here and the D2 schedules. Lots of extra intra-EPC games being scheduled, but most teams have scheduled at least one out-of-D11 opponent.
EPC West:
ACCHS: Trinity (D3), Liberty, Freedom
Dieruff: PM East, Pleasant Val, PM West
Emmaus: Neshaminy, Becahi, Reading
Parkland: G Washington (Phila), Freedom, Northampton
Whitehall: WBA, Nazareth, ES South
William Allen: ???, Thomas Edison (Phila), ???
EPC East:
Becahi: East Pennsboro, Emmaus, Berks Catholic
Easton: CB West, Spring-Ford, Northeast (Phila)
Freedom: ???, Parkland, ACCHS
Liberty: Pennridge, ACCHS, Stroudsburg
Nazareth: Hazleton, Whitehall, ???
Northampton: Pennsbury, ES South, Parkland
EPC North:
ES North: Honesdale, Wallenpaupack, ???
ES South: Abington Heights, Northampton, Whitehall
Pleasant Valley: ???, Dieruff, ???
PM East: Dieruff, Honesdale, Scranton
PM West: Scranton, ???, Dieruff
Stroudsburg: Wallenpaupack, WBA, Liberty
If I had to guess, ES North and William Allen are probably playing each other week 3, but I guess we will find out. I will say it is a little bit surprising that neither Del Val nor North Pocono are playing any EPC teams, since they would seem to make the most sense geographically.
January 18th, 2024 at 12:14 pm
TD21, seriously? Yes I personally support Southern and the continued success they have because it is honestly unbelievable and they do a super job prepping in the off season and they are a great coaching staff. They do so much the right way and I completely respect what they continuously get out of those kids.
HOWEVER, don’t pretend that they should be a AA school. I would like someone to tell all of us, how many kids live in that school district that go to Columbia Montour Vo-Tech. There is a reason CMVT is such a large school and that it just happens to seem that almost 100% of the kids that don’t go to CMVT play sports at Southern.
I don’t know this for a fact, because I am not there at SC in the guidance office, admin, career planning offices…. But I have heard, that essentially, if you do not play sports/cheer/band, you are politely asked to continue your education at Columbia Montour Vo-Tech. And that is how they keep their numbers so low when in reality, the number of boys and girls they pull from that live in the district is much higher. So if you have 250 boys that live in your district, but 100 of them decide to go to CMVT, then SC only has “150” boys in the school.
If anyone could show us the numbers and show me that SC doesn’t send a large number of students to CMVT I would then get completely on board with SC and the sustained success they maintain at AA level and I would argue anyone that would suggest they should move up a class to compete.
January 18th, 2024 at 9:13 am
“Trade School” means, lets make up something false so people can all feel better when a good program keeps winning. I really love when people “spend time researching” and speak “facts” about something they clearly know nothing about. Southern is as far from a “trade school” as you can get. Probably the same type of person that doesn’t understand the competitive balance rule and thinks SCA pays PIAA to stay down or something dumb like that. What a joke. If you were all about public schools, you would support one of the only public schools (SCA) that continues to do things the right way while maintaining success.
January 17th, 2024 at 11:58 am
@JCo
You’re welcome! This was much needed for both parties, & it’s only going to grow from here. We need some D2 vs. Colonial-Schuylkill battles in the next go-around, if possible.
@ Anyone who knows
Have there been any other announced opponents outside of D2 that the EPC teams have scheduled? If not, when does the schedule normally get released down that way?
January 15th, 2024 at 4:17 pm
@D2 Fan: Thanks for the summary, some really interesting non-conference battles on deck. The return of D2/D11 cross-district play is very welcome.
January 15th, 2024 at 12:26 pm
@LFC D2 I don’t get it. How is SCA a “trade school?” Pls provide your definition of a “trade school.”
January 15th, 2024 at 3:17 am
I can’t believe another football season is in the books. But one thing I can’t believe even more is that the elephant in the room has not been taken care of yet,
And that gigantic elephant is the hot topic that will never go away until it is corrected. And that topic is public vs private boundary vs Non-boundary. However you put it however you say it I still can’t believe it is 2024 and this corrupt system has not been corrected yet.
Now hear me out, before I begin I want everyone to know this is not to cause friction. This is only for fairness, across-the-board.
Since the P.I.A.A State football championship was born in 1988, there have been a new number of state championship trophies, stolen from public schools. How could anyone sit there and give an explanation that will clarify the right for a private school that literally has the capability of getting athletes from all around the region and state and beyond to win a state championship, and or district championship in result of competing against public schools that literally have their talent from their boundary they reside that doesn’t even make sense nobody will ever say anything or do anything that will set this right except to divide the state championship from public and private schools they should have separate brackets in this should start in the district playoffs where many public schools are knocked out because of private schools. I will give you two examples of why hundreds of school administrators meet to discuss this because people want change and they want it now there is a committee that was formed and that committee is called the P.I.A.A Equity steering committee, that hundreds of administrators and coaches, even state senators, gather to try to figure out how to correct this problem and to this date, nothing has been resolved. I can say my true belief is that many people in high-powered decision-making roles obviously have gone to private schools so since this has began back in 1972 at the general assembly level,
And because it is at a state level, it must be taken care of at the state level in the court system. I really hope and pray that somebody reading this will get the ball rolling yet again to try to overturn all of the thefts that go on year after year after year of championships from public schools it’s just moronic.
So since the beginning of the state football championships began in 1988 there have been countless private schools who have been winning these championships year after year after year and not only private schools
This also includes” trade schools” one in particular that everyone knows throughout the state this has been confirmed by many sources but nobody wants to poke the bear. I have no idea why ????? all this has to be discussed and settled immediately I did my research and I compiled list of basketball and football to show everybody really what is going on when you see this in black-and-white it may open your eyes a little bit wider to what really is going on and how the public school system is being screwed to the wall.
This is not fair at all to all the public school student athletes, who put blood sweat and tears into every year and walk away, empty-handed, because of a privileged institute that has a plethora of talented athletes from all over the region and beyond this is totally bonkers and should be dealt with because these kids don’t deserve to be treated this way .
I will move forward and I will list what I have found in my research I only went from 2023 back to 2022. There’s just too many to list for basketball, I didn’t even get into the other sports. It’s just craziness.
PIAA STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Girls (2023)
CLASS
AA KENNEDY CATHOLIC
AAAA LANSDALE CATHOLIC
AAAAA ARCHBISHOP WOOD
AAAAAA ARCHBISHOP CARROLL
Boys
CLASS
A IMAINI CHRISTIAN
AA OLSH (our Lady of Sacred Heart)
AAA PHILADELPHIA WEST CATHOLIC
AAAAA IMHOTEP CHARTER
2022
Girls
CLASS
A NORTHUMBERLAND CHRISTIAN
AAA NEUMANN GORETTI
AAAA ARCHBISHOP WOOD
AAAAA CARDINAL O’HARA
Boys
CLASS
A BISHOP CANEVIN
AA OLSH (our lady of Sacred Heart)
AAA DEVON PREP
AAAA NEUMANN GORETTI
AAAAA IMHOTEP CHARTER
AAAAAA ROMAN CATHOLIC
Now I can move onto football ,(so unfair.) It’s just craziness to see all this in black-and-white. There should be crime tape all over this. because of all the stolen trophies from the public schools, this is why we need two separate state and district championships!!!
PIAA STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
1988
BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC
CENTRAL CATHOLIC
1989
UPPER SAINT CLAIR
PERRY TRADITIONAL ACADEMY
1990
MARION CATHOLIC
BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC
1991
STRONG VINCENT -X
1993
ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC
1994
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA ( trade school)
1995
BISHOP MCDEVITT
1998
ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC
2000
CATHEDRAL PREP
2002
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA ( trade school)
2003
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (trade school)
2004
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (trade school)
LANSDALE CATHOLIC
PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC
2005
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA ( trade school)
2006
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (trade school)
UPPER SAINT CLAIR
2007
PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC
2009
LANCASTER CATHOLIC
LASALLE COLLEGE
2010
PHILADELPHIA WEST CATHOLIC
ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC
2011
LANCASTER CATHOLIC
ARCHBISHOP WOOD
2012
CATHEDRAL PREP
2013
NORTH CATHOLIC
ARCHBISHOP WOOD
2014
BISHOP GUILFOYLE
ARCHBISHOP WOOD
SAINT JOSEPH’S PREP
2015
BISHOP GUILFOYLE
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (trade school)
IMHOTEP CHARTER
CENTRAL CATHOLIC
2016
BISHOP GUILFOYLE
CATHEDRAL PREP
SAINT JOSEPH’S PREP
2017
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (trade school)
CATHEDRAL PREP
ARCHBISHOP WOOD
2018
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (trade school)
CATHEDRAL PREP
SAINT JOSEPH’S PREP
2019
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA ( trade school)
ARCHBISHOP WOOD
SAINT JOSEPH’S PREP
2020
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (trade school)
SAINT JOSEPH’S PREP
2021
BISHOP GUILFOYLE
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA ( trade school)
2022
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (trade school)
BISHOP MCDEVITT
SAINT JOSEPH’S PREP
2023
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (trade school)
IMHOTEP CHARTER
SAINT JOSEPH’S PREP
There is a complete list of all of the private Catholic schools and trade schools and before we go further I know all of you tigers will dispute the trade brand it is what it is you know what you’re doing we can move forward from that nothings changing you guys on your way of doing things.
Not even the PIAA requesting that you move up a classification because of your quality of play and what was your reply NO . You all want to stay in AA .
How funny is that maybe you might be intimidated by the fact that you might not win the state championship a gazillion times in a row or even districts , what is it at now 32 districts in a row now ? how pathetic is that ? if I was in your district, I would request to be put in another district that’s ridiculous !
Lastly, I did my research on SAINT JOSEPH’S PREP
For fun and this is what I have found I couldn’t believe it I was actually quite angry not just my regular upset feeling about this but this was disturbing Saint Joseph’s prep has 24 players that are from New Jersey on their 2023 state football championship team ?????Let that settle in for a little bit you’re telling me that there are 24 players from a completely different state than Pennsylvania that are competing for a Pennsylvania state football championship. Let me tell you something the system is broken and it Has to be fixed. That’s all I’m saying .
And keep in mind this is nothing personal with any of the players because lots of them are quality D1 prospects and I wish them well and awesome futures. This has something to do with a broken system that has been broken for many years and shame on those who don’t fix it.
January 13th, 2024 at 2:18 am
Good luck Coach CJ Curry
And the Berwick Bull DAWGS
January 10th, 2024 at 4:44 pm
Per usual a challenging non conference slate for Perk Valley.
Vs. Chester
Vs. Governor Mifflin
@ Downingtown West
Vs. Coatesville
January 5th, 2024 at 1:53 am
D2 Notes
CJ Curry takes over as head coach for Berwick starting next season. He’s got huge shoes to fill, but I’m hoping for the best.
D2 Opponents came out not long ago, & I’m loving a lot of the showdowns. I’ll share some non-division games.
LFC 1
– Abington Heights gets ES South & Dallas, as well as West Scranton & Hazleton
– Delaware Valley has 2 TBD opponents (I’d assume one’s in Florida), Jersey Shore (we should root for a home & home), & Upper Moreland
– North Pocono gets Nanticoke, Pittston, WVW & Dallas. The Western Wayne rivalry goes on the back burner, surprisingly
– Scranton has WVW & both Pocono Mtn teams, & of course the Battle Of The Bell
– Scranton Prep finally heads out of PA with Blakesfield (MD) & Canisius (NY) & also has Jersey Shore & Mid Valley
– Valley View has Crestwood & Wilkes-Barre, as well as a date with WVW & Honesdale
– Paupack keeps their rivalry with Honesdale & faces off with ES North & Stroudsburg for the first “Monroe Co.” games in about a decade, while also getting Pittston in WVC.
LFC 2
– Dunmore stays in Lackawanna play with the most notable games being Trail & Old Forge
– Honesdale has the Paupack rivalry, along with Nanticoke, ES North, & PM East
– Lakeland gets Wyoming Area, but stays in the local area, including rival Carbondale
– Mid Valley gets Pittston, Berwick, Prep, Old Forge, & Trail
– West Scranton plays Old Forge, Abington Heights, Hazleton, & Wilkes-Barre
– Western Wayne plays LFC 3 powers Trail & Old Forge, as well as Wyo Area & Crestwood
LFC 3
– Carbondale starts their 4A tenure with Holy Redeemer, Montrose, Nanticoke, & rival Lakeland
– Holy Cross has Montrose, Hanover Area, & CMVT. They face off against rival Redeemer, too.
– Lackawanna Trail plays Tunkhannock, Berwick, Dunmore, & Western Wayne, as well as Mid Valley
– Old Forge crosses counties to play Hanover Area, but get Dunmore, West Scranton, & Western Wayne
– Riverside plays both Hanover Area & Lake-Lehman in the WVC, as well as games against Lakeland, Dunmore, & Montrose
– Susquehanna gets a decent mix of opponents: Western Wayne, Holy Redeemer, Montrose, & Lakeland
WVC 1
– Crestwood has both Valley View & Western Wayne, but crosses over to play Wyo Area & Nanticoke
– Dallas gets Jersey Shore, Wyoming Area, & North Pocono, & the Old Shoe Rivalry
– Hazleton plays Nazareth, Williamsport (an old WVC team), West Scranton, & Abington Heights. Berwick is in WVC 2, so that’s not a division game
– Pittston plays Mid Valley, North Pocono, Paupack, & rival Wyoming Area
– Wilkes-Barre gets Whitehall & Stroudsburg from the EPC, while LFC’s Valley View & old foe Williamsport round out the rest
– WVW plays Williamsport, Scranton, North Pocono, & Valley View
WVC 2
– Berwick plays here now, & they get Mid Valley, Trail, & two PHAC teams (Selinsgrove & Williamsport). They also face off with Hazleton, as well
– Hanover Area plays Marian Catholic, Old Forge, Riverside, Holy Cross, & CMVT
– Lake-Lehman has their rivalry with Dallas & gets Riverside in D2. They also get a pair of D4 challenges with Shamokin & Northwest Area
– Nanticoke plays North Pocono, Carbondale, & Honesdale in LFC, but get a game with Pittston & Crestwood, in league.
– Tunkhannock plays Trail, Crestwood, GNA, & Towanda. They even get indie Montrose
– Wyoming Area plays Crestwood & Dallas in the WVC, but Wester Wayne & Lakeland as LFC crossovers. They also get Pittston Area in the rivalry.
Indies
– Holy Redeemer plays Holy Cross, Susqy, & Carbondale in LFC, m WVC foes Hanover Area, Tunkhannock, & Lake-Lehman, plays Nativity out of D11, & CMVT, Midd-West, & Montgomery in D4
– Montrose has both Holy Cross & Redeemer, fellow AAAA opponent Carbondale, Riverside, Tunkhannock, CMVT, & the Battle For The Bluestone against the Susquehanna Sabers
We’re one step closer to a merger, I feel, but this is a very intriguing non-divisional slate. Wish Southern, more D1 & D12 teams, or a WPIAL team would play out here, but we all know beggars can’t be choosers.
January 4th, 2024 at 11:42 am
Welcome back, Julian Fleming. We kept the light on for ya. Despite what famous novelist Thomas Wolfe once wrote, you can indeed go home again. Here’s hoping you have a fantastic year for Penn State this year!
December 22nd, 2023 at 2:43 pm
i have a general football thought for a few years now. with place kickers now kicking field goals from 60 yards out{mostly pro football} ,does anyone else think maybe field goals should only be worth 2 points? i don’t believe that kickers were meant to or should have as great an impact on the game that they do. in fact it is absurd that the guy on the team who has the least football ability is so often the deciding factor as to win/lose, playoff/no playoff, super bowl winner/ super bowl loser. making the kick worth only 2 points would certainly reduce attempts and create more actual football plays and football players deciding the better team. thank you.
December 21st, 2023 at 2:15 pm
@JCo,
I have to hand it to you. I like your proposal more than mine.
– Your point about the 5A/6A might be the better idea. Outside of DV, the rest of the placements might be wide open, as most play basically in the same record bracket every year (4-6 to 7-3 on a good year).
– The Red division you came up with makes a marquee matchup every week.
– The Black division with those teams makes it evenly matched. Western Wayne would be the favorite almost every year, if the last five years are of any indication, but that’s a good compromise to what I came up with. Carbondale would work well there, too, with them being a 4A team with the new cycle’s numbers. Bit of a trek for ES North, but not too far to be logistically off-putting. They travel farther for Allentown area games.
– The Blue division makes total sense. All of those teams aren’t that competitive in the sections they’re in now, but it’s mostly WVC 2 with the weakest WVC 1 & LFC 2 team. It makes a lot of sense.
– The white & gold divisions are basically the same as one of my proposals, but with not as many teams.
I can see the first two divisions with 7 in-section games, a crossover with the other, & two open dates. You’d have to assume a game would go to the local rivalries (Battle of the Bell, Old Shoe, Wilkes-Barre or Berwick/WVW, & the PMSD/ESASD in-district)
The other four, I could see 5 division + a game in the opposite division of Black/Blue & White/Gold, the 7th game being Black/Blue vs. White/Gold, & at least three open dates, which benefits a lot of the weaker teams, to find like opponents.
DV can have a schedule in your league like (& if I were a scheduling guru, I’d go by alphabetical match in the first cycle, then go by prior year’s placement): FL or state power, Paupack (mini-rivalry), Abington Hts, ESS, PMW, PV, S’burg, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, & Scranton
Meanwhile, a weaker team like GNA might have a schedule like this. Athens (comp. Non-League), ES North, Redeemer, Hanover Area, Lack Trail, Pittston, L-L, Tunk, West Scranton, & WVW. Luckily, in the case of GNA, the draw of divisions gave them their actual rival, to open up an extra game for them against a like opponent.
Honestly, I wish that non-section games weren’t all home & home, & that crossover games in the league are against teams with comparative last year’s records, so teams can avoid mismatches & unnecessary blowouts. Then again, one team might have a different 5-5 than another, but if it happens to be two historically weak teams, it’s a better game than having to lose 56-7 to a team that can easily win a district. Schedules in the PIAA need a lot more flexibility.
Yeah, the Executive idea might be a stretch, but I could see them trying to add a team to not be at an odd number.
December 21st, 2023 at 7:48 am
@ foleman, I saw that same podcast he also mentioned how PJP can just go out and replace players while they cant. SF is 4 times the size enrollment wise. There always seems to be alot of whining and complaining coming from that camp. They have a good bit of talent coming back so they should be good again,but to me they will always run into trouble with more physical teams. PJP is losing some talented players,they have some good ones coming back but might be tough repeating in the Pac again.
December 20th, 2023 at 5:09 pm
Chad Brubaker-Spring Ford Head coach was on a podcast and was lukewarm to playing both Downingtowns along with Souderton next year. If they go 0-3 and then lose to Perkiomen Valley and maybe Pope John Paul again in the Pac 10 championship they could be out of the District 1 playoffs, he was complaining about the lack of flexibilty in scheduling. Spring Ford has 8 on offense and 7 on Defense back next year so I don’t know why he is complaining. A merger makes sense as many of the large schools used to play one another in the old Chestmont league. It won’t work for Shanahan and maybe 1 or 2 of the West Chester schools but it works for the rest of the 6A Schools.
December 20th, 2023 at 2:41 pm
I just realized I just put Crestwood twice in the first proposal. It was meant for Pittston to be in the Black division. They’d be the only 5A school in that division, but probably fares better there, looking at this cycle’s WVC Division 2.
December 20th, 2023 at 1:37 pm
@D2 Fan: the proposal of a D2/Monroe super league is interesting. I don’t think the Colonial/Schuylkill have any interest in Executive in any capacity, but the 40 teams you have make for a solid assumption.
As for that White division, I don’t really think any of the Monroe schools would have much interest. If the idea is to play smaller schools, they might as well just try to join the Colonial League. I think the only way to lure them away from the EPC is with the promise of a 5A/6A super league, and then forming the rest of the divisions from there:
Silver (5A-6A): Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Stroudsburg, PM West, ES South, Del Val, Pleasant Val
Red (3A-5A Strong): Abington Hts, North Pocono, Crestwood, Dallas, Valley View, Berwick, Wyoming Area, Scranton Prep
Black (3A-5A East): PM East, ES North, Paupack, Honesdale, Carbondale, Western Wayne
Blue (3A-5A West): Valley West, West Scranton, Pittston, Nanticoke, Tunkhannock, Lake Lehman
White (1A-3A Strong): Mid-Valley, Dunmore, Lakeland, Riverside, Lackawanna Trail, Old Forge
Gold (1A-4A Weak): Montrose, CMVT, Hanover Area, Susquehanna, Holy Redeemer, Holy Cross
December 20th, 2023 at 9:58 am
@D11 Matt: No way there should only be 3 public classes. Those classes would be gigantic. 4 minimum, 5 ideal.
Private I think you can go either 2 or 3, with 2 you probably need uneven classes otherwise the top class is very inequal.
December 20th, 2023 at 9:03 am
Next year the Pac and Ches-mont begin their non league crossover 2 game schedule thing, which may lead to a football only merger at some point. Not sure of some of the other match ups but PjP will play Rustin and Shanahan along with other non league games vs Neauman-Goretti,and Springfield-Montco. I believe Spring -Ford plays both the Downingtowns.
December 19th, 2023 at 6:04 pm
@Boomer there is seeming logic in your statement regarding players going both ways. yet high school kids have done this for decades,and as soon as the season ends many go right to the basketball team and track. if kids have done this before and all along why do we assume they are less capable today. sometimes coaches take their best athelete off the field in theory of resting them. i am older been going to games since 1961. in all that time dunmore even when they had twice the enrollment they do now mainly played the same kids on both offense ,defense, and special teams. also the proof is evident in small schools already playing up with great success. i can see your point but believe my point more.thanks.
December 19th, 2023 at 3:15 pm
I think the perfect amount of classes would be 3 public, 2 private (non boundary). 5 classes total.
December 19th, 2023 at 12:46 pm
@Foleman: figures that’s where the PIAA’s attention is, because tweaking the success formula doesn’t actually accomplish much. The greatest inequity in football is in 6A, where SJP has nowhere higher to go. At the moment, they can play over 50% of their schedule out of state, with plenty of out-of-state players, and still compete in the PA playoffs. That has to change. Either there needs to be schedule and/or roster requirements that dictate Pennsylvania participation, or there needs to be a completely separate bracket for non-boundary schools. Anything else is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
December 19th, 2023 at 12:14 pm
@ Michael D
Great question! They’re due in a few years. It’s needed, especially to open up non-district play. I don’t know the best way to get the ball rolling. If anything, the more people or coaches in the league that’d be for it, the faster it can happen.
My proposal might need some changes with a lot of the new numbers. With the 24-25/25-26 numbers, I think this could work. I’m still a very strong supporter in having the Monroe County teams playing there. I’ll do two versions of this, one with & without. Williamsport leaving for the Heartland adds a curveball, but I have a plan. I’m going to use CMVT as the team that moves into the league. I don’t see a new team or Sem going from Prep football, so I’d throw an invite to play here. Replace CMVT with ES North, if they throw an invite to Solehi, Bangor, or P’burg in the EPC (Executive goes to Colonial-Schuylkill)
D2 Only: This is mostly by size, with divisions being set by how good you are. 5A/6A is their own animal, so they need their own league, & I think Scranton Prep goes there.
Games
– 7 Div. Games in Red & Gold + 3 Open Dates
– 5 Div. Games in Blue, Black, White, + 2 Crossovers + 3 Open Dates (at least one MUST be out of league)
D2 Only + CMVT (34 Teams)
– Red (5A/6A): Abington Heights, Delaware Valley, Hazleton, Scranton, Scranton Prep, West Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, WVW
– Blue (Good 3A-4A): Berwick, Crestwood, Dallas, North Pocono, Valley View, Wyo Area
– Black (Avg. 3A-4A): Crestwood, Honesdale, Lake-Lehman, Paupack, Tunkhannock, Western Wayne
– White (1A-2A Good): Dunmore, Lack. Trail, Lakeland, Mid Valley, Old Forge, Riverside
– Gold (1A-4A Weak): Carbondale, CMVT, Nanticoke, Holy Cross, Holy Redeemer, Montrose, Hanover Area, Susquehanna
If I were to add Monroe County (40 Teams), I might have to go more regionalized. I wonder if Paupack, Honesdale, & Western Wayne could work well in an (almost) all-Monroe division. A lot of the divisions are the same, with a few of the switches being forced due to the addition of 6 Monroe County teams.
Games
– 7 Divisional Games
– 3 Open Dates (1 MUST be out of league)
Divisions
– Red: Abington Heights, Delaware Valley, Hazleton, Scranton, Scranton Prep, West Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, & WVW
– Blue: Berwick, Crestwood, Dallas, North Pocono, Pittston, Tunkhannock, Valley View, Wyoming Area
– White: ES South, Honesdale, PM East, PM West, Paupack, Pleasant Val, Stroudsburg, Western Wayne
– Black: C’dale, Dunmore, Lake-Lehman, Lack. Trail, Lakeland, Mid Valley, Old Forge, Riverside
– Gold: CMVT, ES North, GNA, Hanover Area, Holy Cross, Holy Redeemer, Montrose, Susquehanna
Thoughts?
December 19th, 2023 at 9:34 am
bub
Not just injuries, it’s more kids going both ways play after play against fresher kids, week after week. If you think that wouldn’t be a problem just ask the coaches.
As far as the old Big 11, everybody on most teams went both ways.
December 18th, 2023 at 10:05 pm
@D2 Fan…..How do we get the ball rollin on the D2 super conference??? I know classifications have already been set for next 2 year cycle…but maybe it can be put in place in 3 years….just starting again….I know I brought this up a few months ago but I would still love to see it happen…..lol
I know this won’t be popular to post….but to any SJP/PCL fans out there…..have there ever been any rumblings about them trying to score a game against Mater Dei of Cali?????
December 18th, 2023 at 5:17 pm
@Boomer fan i know you are correct about the bigger teams not wanting to play down,especially to a good team that may very well beat them. but as far as getting beat up, i don’t buy that .the kids on bigger enrollment teams can get hurt just as well. I do acknowledge that there are more kids available to replace injured players, and of course that is an advantage. however other small enrollment teams play up with success. i believe the advantage of facing stiffer competition more than outweighs the possible injury factor. it is football, injuries happen with 22 kids all at risk while playing. if it was done in the big 11 not so long ago ,it can still be done.thanks.
December 18th, 2023 at 3:31 pm
PIAA should go back to 4 classifications organized as :
Division 4 – would be 1A – 2A combined
Division 3 – would be 3A – 4A
Division 2 – would be 5A – 6A
Division 1 – would be an open division that allows transfers and kids to go across school lines to play for SCHOOLS ONLY ELIGIBLE FOR OPEN DIVISION PLAY. Meaning if I kid attends a Division 3 school but would like to play for a better and bigger name school for exposure like a division 1 school the PIAA should allow it. But if a kid wants to join a division 2 school but plays for a division 3 school it wouldn’t be allowed meaning all TOP athletes would want to play for D1 high schools meaning schools that have no problem bringing kids into the culture would play in D1. Imagine every school that recruits and stack there team in 1 division and all playing fields would be equal SJP could continue there great run and schools like PCC PINE RICHLAND NA QUIPS PENN-TRAFFORD TEP LASALLE ROMAN HARRISBURG WOOD ETC ALL TOP PROGRAMS THAT HAVE NO PROBLEM RECRUITING CAN COMPETE. EVEN SCHOOLS LIKE SOUTHERN COLUMBIA would be able to participate. I know there school size is small but if they generate kids from there area to transfer there from other schools they should have a pretty good chance of beating other programs in the division. This is strictly for playoff format. Teams would play there respective schedules TILL PLAYOFFS then they would play all top programs that all recruit on the same levels. Nobody would complain even playing field
December 18th, 2023 at 12:19 pm
KevinX, there has been talk of the PIAA scraping the transfer component for the success formula. It seems several powerhouses that you see every year in the states somehow don’t meet that criteria. It’s a double edged sword, do you penalize a team for being successful year after after year? Quips are a 2A School, TEP a 3A school, both schools already play up classification wise. The blowouts in the State finals show that something has to be done or you will see the same teams blowing out their opponents on an annual basis.
December 18th, 2023 at 10:42 am
@bub
If Dunmore played the teams you mentioned, with the bigger rosters, they’d be too banged up come playoff time. Plus, it doesn’t pay for the bigger tp play 2-3 classes below them
That’s the old Big 11, which was disbanded precisely cause of state playoffs.
December 18th, 2023 at 2:20 am
@Dennis regarding dunmore it seems that being in a smaller classification has forced them to play a weaker schedule and they are not being challenged resulting in being less prepared against tougher competition. i believe they should play prep,valley view, abington,and scranton to better prepare for the playoffs, and reverse the downward slide that seems to have occurred by playing down to the competition. Also the attendance may actually rebound somewhat by playing these former rivals. attendance at dunmore games is way down from years past. playing lopsided games against weak opponents where the 1st team is on the bench by halftime does no good for either team. also to drive 35-40 miles in lousy weather against teams that you have no rivalry with also does not help. thanks.
December 17th, 2023 at 3:06 pm
@bub I do not have any specific theories about the Bucks program it was just in my head about going backwards. To be frank they are a much better team than that performance at Hazleton against Southern. To be honest it was a bit embarrassing as a buck fan to watch. I would like to know your theories bub?
December 17th, 2023 at 10:29 am
Here is my very unofficial list of teams/schools that have accumulated the requisite 6 or more “success points” over the just completed 2 year cycle to be eligible to be promoted to the next higher level of classification for the next 2 year cycle.
This list is only success points, it does not take into account of any transfers, which is the other half of the equation that needs to be satisfied to obtain promotion.
The 6A schools obviously won’t be promoted, but is only for any teams that may be eligible to move down in classification due to decreasing enrollment numbers. They may not be able to, I really don’t know the nuances to that situation. The PIAA appears to move the goalpost in all of this every time it is announced. Someone I’m sure will come up with a new definition of what a transfer is or some other wacky excuse.
Those teams and their current classification:
1A Steelton Highspire
2A Southern Columbia
2A Westinghouse
3A Belle Vernon
3A Wyomissing
3A Northwestern Lehigh
4A Aliquippa
4A Bishop McDevitt
5A Imhotep
5A Cocalico
6A St. Joe Prep
6A North Allegheny
6A Harrisburg
December 17th, 2023 at 9:10 am
a question for dennis regarding his statement concerning dunmore going in reverse. as a longtime d2 spectator and fan i have my own thoughts on this and was wondering if we are thinking alike. thank you.
December 16th, 2023 at 12:11 pm
Well stated, Jc . Love the sarcasm!
December 16th, 2023 at 12:09 pm
Well stated, Jc
December 16th, 2023 at 9:19 am
I do not understand what motivates individuals to talk smack about who would beat who and by how much about a game that’ll never occur. Such nonsensical drivel. The FACT is that Southern Columbia has played Aliquippa once and beat them soundly with a team that had NO superstars on it.
December 15th, 2023 at 9:07 pm
D1 matt, agree with you totally about the 2018-19 southern team. They would have won every class except 6a. Fleming- starting wide receiver – Ohio state, cal haladay,- starting middle lb – michigan state, Preston zachman- starting safety- Wisconsin, gauge garcia- running back- Lehigh, sophomore gavin garcia- starting rb- Kent state. Pretty impressive for. Small 2a school.
December 15th, 2023 at 6:27 pm
I think aliquippa would lose by 50 against st, joes prep and the Kansas City Chiefs with len Dawson at qb
December 15th, 2023 at 11:57 am
@Jeff, agree about Aliquippa and Southern. Aliquippa would beat Southern by atleast 3 scores. Bell Vernon probably beats them by 2 scores. 7 straight for southern is something incredible but they wouldn’t win any other class (including maybe A, Steelton would give them a good game). That’s this year though, and probably last few. The 2019 Southern team (who beat south Carolina team on ESPN, Wyoming area 42-0 who won 3A and put up 74 in state championship) was best southern team ever. That team could have won every class except 6A that year. But that was the team that had fleming, oldest Garcia, and Cal halladay). While southern is still a top team and state champion, these past few years talent wise for them doesn’t compare to 18 or 19 teams that could have won almost every class. The competitive playoff game this year shows that. In 18-21 the playoff scores were blowouts every game. This year southern really had to earn that championship and had to have a 99 yard drive to do it. Might have been the most rewarding champ for them.
December 14th, 2023 at 4:02 pm
Man I wish aliquippa would move to Ohio so I don’t have to hear about them playing up and we r almost number one every year..
December 14th, 2023 at 11:20 am
@ Dennis – we all know Southern mercy ruled Aliquippa in the 2015 state final, then Southern got mercy ruled the following year by Steel Valley, but what does 2015 have to do with 2023? Totally different players and a different coach, if you think this years Southern team would beat this Aliquippa team you are watching a totally different game than I am, because it would not be close and Aliquippa would very likely put up 60 points on Southern’s defense like they did against Dallas, they would have put up 60+ the week before in the game I saw against Selinsgrove if they didn’t pull all their starters early in the fourth quarter when they led 52-20. Also, Southern is a 2A school based on enrollment, they are on the lower end of 2A, but their enrollment is 2A, Aliquippa has always been a 1A school by enrollment. SJP would likely mercy rule every public school team in the state this year, so I don’t understand your point about them mercy ruling Aliquippa, but I can guarantee you the Quips would welcome the challenge of playing SJP, the attitude in the community is they would take on anybody, they were frankly disappointed they didn’t get a chance to play McDevitt again in the final and avenge last years loss.
@Phillyboy – I agree, the Quips against Imhotep would be a fantastic game. Their football field is right next to the high school in Aliquippa, they just had a major upgrade to their facility last year and the Heinz corporation donated over 1m dollars for the project, so the school renamed it Heinz Field. I went to a regular season game there this year against Montour and the atmosphere was electric. Yes, the Quips do get some kids that transfer into the district, but it’s mostly home grown talent and tradition. This small school has won more games than any other school in WPIAL history (Jeanette is a very close 2nd), has the most district titles (20, the next best is Clairton with 14), and now is tied with TJ at 5 for the most state titles in the WPIAL, pretty impressive numbers in the best and deepest district in the state. And no one on this board can comprehend how impressive it is that Aliquippa has played in 16 straight district finals, there’s not another school in the WPIAL that can come close to that amazing streak.
December 14th, 2023 at 4:14 am
MikeS, , last time I checked it’s a free country and no one is being forced to attend any school. By the way if you think public schools don’t recruit think again. Not all Catholic schools are in the PCL. I don’t know why you can’t seem to comprehend the concept of prep school . They draw students students from all over.thats the point. They existed when CB west ,Np had their runs didn’t seem to bother them then,so just maybe the North Penns and others have more issues that have caused them to be down other then those big bad Catholic schools.Just because a player lives in a certain public school district doesn’t mean that public school is somehow entitled to have that player attend that school.
December 13th, 2023 at 6:27 pm
Mike S. No one is forcing these athletes to attend the Private schools. They are CHOOSING to go there.
December 13th, 2023 at 5:57 pm
Shout out to Aliquippa, pound for pound the best high school football team in the state and possibly the best overall. We’ll never know though unfortunately — if only they could play Imhotep to settle it. The level of success they’ve sustained is astounding. They’re a traditional public in a small town. Do they recruit, or encourage families with talented kids to relocate there or is it good old fashioned tradition? Ironically, their best player ever, Tony Dorsett, attended nearby Hopewell High. Is their football field right in town? If so, that must be a pretty happening scene on fall Friday nights.
Shifting gears a bit, just found out this morning about Kyle McCord. What in the world is all that about? Thought it was a fait accompli that he’d be back. From the little I could glean online, sounds like he was under a lot of pressure and his starting position at QB was shaky going into next year. Far as I could tell, dude did pretty well, just lost one tough game at Michigan. That transfer portal is a mess, seems like Kyle beat them to the punch, preempted their demotion as it were or at least alleviated the stress. Same thing happened with Tate Martell a few years ago and Quin Ewers too for that matter. Remeber when speedster Josh Hannum, former Strath Haven star, transferred out of Penn State about 20 years ago. In an exasperated and heartfelt way, he mentioned that Division 1 college football is big business.
December 13th, 2023 at 4:57 pm
Just a few things to add here:
1.) Prep does everything possible to play the absolute toughest possible schedule every year. It’s not realistic to think they can play a schedule entirely of national opponents.
While they have been dominating football recently, this is not an athletic boarding school like IMG, its primary focus is still being a great academic institution.
2.) The Prep is located in the heart of Philadelphia and has a long tradition of drawing STUDENTS, not just athletes, from New Jersey and Nothern DE dating back to the 80s.
3.) I agree that the top Philly players do tend to go to the same few schools. I don’t think it is only three though. Really Prep, Tep, Malvern Prep, LaSalle, and now Roman all have very strong programs and routinely field very competitive teams. NE, GW, Frankford, Ben Franklin, Ryan, Neumann, and Judge also are good for 1-2 really good teams per decade.
4.) Prep is beatable, just ask Mt. Lebo and Pine Richland. I am sure they would tell you they’d rather have beaten the Prep than blown out another public school.
5.) Tremendous respect to Imhotep for what they have built and accomplished. If there was ever a year they could beat Prep, it would be next year. They used to start the season scrimmaging each other when Imhotep was just starting to build the program under Albie. Would love to see them play for real and have an actual City Championship for once. And the rest of PA can stop crying because if this happens either Imhotep or Prep would knock the other out of the 6A tourney.
December 13th, 2023 at 1:54 pm
@ Tep6225 I thought there was another at about the same time as Speights. In any case, if a kid transfers during or at the end of 9th grade, he’s fully eligible to participate in playoffs the next year. I have no problem with that. My main point is that it’s not the case that the Prep gets lots of already polished players and just refines them a bit more as they prepare to play for high-profile college while Tep gets only “more raw” players and works hard to get them to the same level as those privileged Prep players.
As for Tep’s “national schedule,” the only two teams from outside the Philly area they played this year were Spalding from Maryland and Life Christian Academy, which I think is is Virginia. I don’t think they needed Tyseer for that game since they won it 87-0. (How does a team win by that score?)
The best thing I’ve read about Foulke and other kids with D1 offers when they’re in 8th or 9th grade was posted on another forum: “Early offers seem to be as much about how the athlete has been marketed / shopped at camps as it is about their ability vs other top athletes in their class. Not that many families have their kids with top QB trainers at 12/13, taking them on college visits in 8th grade, playing the social media game (both athlete and parent) in middle school, etc… the offers themselves are meaningless, but, if the athlete does become big time, then they can say ‘hey we’ve been in your camp since 8th grade, these other guys are knocking on your door a bit late.'”
My view is that those very little offers not only represent no real commitment but are sometimes a problem to the kid and his teammates. They can go to a 13 or 14 year old kid’s head. Last year Foulke was the #4 QB in the Prep program. If he turns out to be even close to Samaj, great. But it’s much too early …
Don’t get me wrong. I think some of the criticism of Tep has been unfair and uninformed. Seeing what they’ve accomplished with what they have is inspiring. We sometimes draw attention to the challenges PCL schools face (e.g. lack of onsite practice facilities at Roman, SJP, West Catholic, etc.), but anyone who knows Philly knows the PPL situation is far more difficult. I sometimes wonder if racism is behind some of the criticism of Tep. I’ve also thought some of the comments I’ve heard about SJP–“they must be relaxing their academic standards for all those Black players–are based on prejudice–at best.
December 13th, 2023 at 11:09 am
TEP6225 Off the top of my head I remember Omar Speights stud LB started out at Prep then transferred to TEP. He was going to transfer to NE HS his Sr year then his mom sent him to HS out West….I believe Oregon due to gun violence in the City, he’s now at LSU after spending 4 years at Oregon State. So that’s School #5 in the last 9 years for Mr Speights….he probably got a ton of NIL $$$ to transfer to LSU.
December 13th, 2023 at 7:53 am
@Irish1 Yes, and if you had read, I said I used 3 schools to look at where they recruited/or where their kids are coming from, 2 Catholic League and 1 Inter-Ac. I used Malvern because I know a young man in the Souderton School District who is being recruited there. Also, I did it when his mom said they had gone to the LaSalle/North Penn game, where she said he played with 6 LaSalle players from Pop Warner football and was talking to them after the game. So that’s why I started with those two school and then of course there was the monster in the room SJP, So that’s why those schools got selected, just was amazing where the football players were coming from, 15 from Central Bucks, over 10 from North Penn, 6 from Wissahickon, 4 from Upper Dublin, Geez I wonder why people think the SOL is down, I’d be shocked if they were down when they lose that many players. Defend the PCL and Private Schools at all costs, though please.
.
December 12th, 2023 at 6:37 pm
@FrankG
I’d like to know those names of players that transferred from SJP to Tep. I know for sure no players from Prep went to Imhotep they would have to sit out like Tyseer did. 2) Imhotep dominates states playoffs. I didn’t say they dominate the state championships. Also making it to the final 8 out of 10 years is an accomplishment it self. The part on losing 7 finals I did mention that COACHING and RESOURCES are a big part of why the PUBLIC LEAGUE is not in good shape if they could get good coaching in Public league the Catholic league wouldn’t stand a chance. 3) I said Tep only accepts transfers to help with their NATIONAL SCHEDULE guess you missed that part and there is never more than 1 this year being Tyseer and last year being that LB from Wood/McDevitt 1 year rentals that had no affect in STATE PLAYOFFS. How bout you do your research on that freshman QB Prep ( Charlie Foulke ) that had Power 5 offers in 7th grade from Jersey or that LB/DE kid ALSO FROM JERSEY jus a freshman with power 5 offers the kids they get are highly touted kids. If it was up to me PA high school football would be in shambles with out Philadelphia in it. Imagine PIAA sending its best team to play another state best team and they send PCC or NA or Pine all great programs that has great traditions but competing with Maryland Jersey or even OH power houses they would get smoked bad. People talk down on Imhotep how there grades are so bad or there undisciplined they are. But in reality college coaches swarm to Imhotep because there kids keep there grades up in order to be eligible to get offers. Also Imhotep is in 5a with a 3a enrollment them and quips are schools of the same boat. Name any school playing up to compete with bigger schools and successful @ doing it. For example southern plays bigger schools on there schedule and beat them but year after year they play in 2A states playoffs that’s crazy to me honestly.
December 12th, 2023 at 4:59 pm
@Tep I respect what IMHOTEP has done, but to say after all the losses in state final games before this year that Tep dominates the state playoffs is quite a stretch. Of course, getting to all the finals is an accomplishment, but just about everyone who has been watching them has said that they lost several finals despite clearly having more talent than their opponents. As for not relying on transfers, they had a very prominent senior transfer this year who wasn’t eligible for the playoffs but who probably made the difference in the very close game against Spalding. I can also recall a couple of players transferring from SJP to Tep after freshman year in recent years.
To say SJP gets “All-Americans” right out of middle school and that Tep gets kids with only raw talent is a huge generalization that needs major modification.
December 12th, 2023 at 11:57 am
I appreciate the kind words, Jeff H & D11 Matt! I’ll admit: I sometimes surprise myself with what I know. I think the wealth of knowledge I have on my local scene is credited to the outlets up this way being HS sport centric (BRC 13, SEN, NEPA Football, local news via TV or papers, & random social media outlets). And of course, this site. I don’t know if I’d have the same interest if I was in a market that doesn’t focus all too much on the scene.
@ Kevin X
First of all, you’re welcome!
I’m talking across the board, correct. I think your proposition is the right answer. There HAS to be a better balance in the regular season scheduling. As for mergers, District 2 should be next to do this, as they can definitely use it to be better in the later stages. District 4, I’d argue could fall into this, if it was of any interest. Seriously doubt the latter.
I feel like all teams should be required to play a game out of district in Week 0 (WPIAL is exempt, as they have a lot more teams), or have no more than three out-of-conference teams on the schedule, as long as travel & size isn’t an issue. I was going to also work on a theoretical Week 0 schedule plan, & use CalPreps as a tool with their sim (not as reliable because of how many blowouts came in the final, but it gives an idea of what can be a good matchup or a complete mismatch).
Districts 5, 6, 9, & 10 need this the most, & not be all in-league. District 2 & 4 absolutely need it, but it isn’t as bad as the others, while District 11 may only just need it in the EPC. Colonial-Schuykill can afford a few extra non-league games for some of the teams. Solehi & North Schuylkill were the only teams that played out of league with quality teams. Some teams could afford to go the Hollidaysburg route & play as an independent. DV, Williamsport, & some of the teams that are outliers in their own conference, travel wise (or size), could benefit.
I took a quick look at some of the teams that made it to the Elite 8 & beyond, I noticed some things. Most of the teams below played solid non conference games, & the farther you went, the better the schedule was (mostly). I’m not going to count most merger leagues, as they’re basically a mixed bag of out of conference & not. WPIAL could count because of how deep those classes are or not because of how the 6A teams were forced to have mostly 5A teams out or league.
1A: Steel-High & Lackawanna Trail were the only team to play multiple games out of conference or district champions in the other classes. South Billtown played a 4A Heartland team, but all NTL after that. Heritage teams like Cambria Heights play only league games. Fort Cherry was the big outlier, while South Side punched up to 3A. Cambridge Springs & Redbank Valley are outliers in this, as D9/10 are merger/sectional.
2A: Southern obviously played Wyo & Berwick. Dunmore played Mount Carmel. Camp Hill had a weak YAIAA team, but played Steel-High in their division. BEA played LHAC teams, which was a merger of two leagues. Westinghouse plays half of the games as an indie. Farrell played a team from Ohio & ECP, even in a merger league. The WPIAL was mixed, with Beaver Falls playing a weak non-con schedule & Washington playing Clairton.
3A: Northwestern plays in a merger, so it doesn’t really focus on non-con. Prep played a tough LFC 1, but didn’t have a good non-con. Danville played three teams out of league, while Wyo’s non-Berks/LL team was okay. Hickory was a district wide league (Farrell being the only good team there) & so was Central’s as more of a merger of two leagues. Belle Vernon played up to 4A, while Avonworth had a decent mix.
4A: Dallas’s non-conference was all 4A LFC teams. Bonner-Prendie’s only notable game was against Salesanium (DE). Manheim played in a merger league with a D1 5A team & Smyrna in DE as opponents, while McDevitt played two out of state teams in NJ & MD. Selinsgrove played DV & Juniata (who played Troy). Aliquippa had all 4A, but are an outlier. McKeesport played the defending 5A & 3A champs.
5A: DV is known for out of league play. Imhotep played in VA & MD, as well as an Inter-AC team. Strath played mostly in-league, while Chester had a decent D1 non-league team. Cocalico & Ephrata stayed in a merger league. Peters Twp doesn’t truly count. ECP played Farrell & went out of state (& Canada).
6A: SJP all non-conference outside of PA. The EPC seems to be against non-conference (but probably will have some next year), so I cannot count Naz. CB South played Father Judge, while D’town West had Perk Valley, who was solid. Harrisburg had William Penn & DV. Manheim had Spring-Ford as a notable non-con. North Allegheny only has D10 champ McDowell, while State College had Downingtown East & a middle of the road Williamsport.
All six champions & about 3/4 of the finalists played a tough out of conference schedule, with a few going out of district or crossed state borders. Moral of the story: You want to be a champion in HS football? Play more than just the local league teams! Then again, a lot of teams probably don’t because it’ll affect their playoff standings, which is a lot like the College Football Playoff teams.
December 12th, 2023 at 1:13 am
@Foleman
I think your getting developing players vs talent wrong none of these kids mentioned started with a D1 offers as freshman or sophomore season @ Tep. 2) Imhotep has a great network system with recruiters @ all levels from D3-D1. 3) Most of the kids with offers are players that been there since freshman. So they put the work in to deserve the offers you see. Also when you say talent SJP gets kids that are freshman and all american players from middle school. They come into prep with high talent IQ already and some coming in from 8th grade with D1 offers. Imhotep develops there players better because kids come in more raw. For example Imhotep has probably 5-6 under classman with SEC offers. Think im lying look into Jesse Moody LT for Imhotep 10th grader stud and doesn’t play varsity but already holds a georgia offer. So talent always goes to Prep. Imhotep develops there kids where nobody knows about them till the end of there junior year. By then they already recognized as top player in state. Also lack of coaching in public league and resource’s are a big thing. Ppl say Imhotep picks kids from other public league teams and they end up D1 offers not because there not talent its more so Imhotep has resource’s to get kids the spot light they need to succeed. Imhotep doesn’t really need transfers they dominate in state playoffs without any.
December 11th, 2023 at 9:14 pm
@ D2 Fan
Devil here 🙂
Thanks for the acknowledgment.
I agree, blowouts, and otherwise mis-matched games are an issue. I assume you are talking across the board, regular season, playoff, and championship games?? One thing that I believe would help, in a small way anyways, is simply better scheduling, at least with the regular season (playoffs are a whole different animal). I can’t imagine that AD’s, coaches, league and district reps. can’t figure out, or know, who the better teams will be vs teams/programs that are struggling or looking at a down year or two. Realign the leagues/divisions as needed like the Lebanon/Berks did, give teams more flexibility in making early season inter district games with like opponents and not all or majority district or league games. I think, at least in the east, I see Districts 1, 3 and 12 playing a lot of non league games. Simple thought, but I think many in power at the district level want to keep the power of scheduling and revenue local.
December 11th, 2023 at 6:05 pm
@Tep6225
Not that long ago Northeast, George Washington, and Frankford–Bartram too if my memory is right–had some very good players. Do most of those types of players now go to IMHOTEP?
December 11th, 2023 at 4:15 pm
TEP6225 Took this list from another site Here’s a list of the 4 star and 3 star Senior recruits in PA, like I said in Philadelphia most of the talent goes to 3 schools, Roman would have several more except most of thier star players are Sophomore’s and Junior’s. Not 1 player from the Philadelphia Public League when you subtract TEP. Northeast HS is huge, they occasionally produce some top end talent.
2024
Belle Vernon ::Four Star::
Erie McDowell
Pope John Paul II
Monsignor Bonner – Mylachi Williams (Penn State)
Malvern Prep – Pete Jones (Notre Dame)
Bishop McDevitt
St. Joseph’s Prep – Omillio Agard (Wisconsin)
Imhotep Charter – Tyseer Denmark (Penn State)
Pittsburgh Central Catholic
St. Joseph’s Prep – Semaj Jones (Cincinnati)
Pittsburgh Central Catholic
Aliquippa ::Three Star::
Imhotep Charetr -Kenny Woseley (Penn State)
Imhotep Charter – Jahshear Whittington (Pittsburgh)
Wyomissing
St. Josephs’ Prep – Brandon rehmann (West Virginia)
Neumann Goretti – Deshon Dodson
Neumann Goretti – Kahmir Prescott (Wisconsin)
St. Joseph’s prep – David Washington (Kentucky)
Manheim Township
Wyoming Seinary
Pine-Richland
Cheltenham
Bishop Canevin
Central York
Pittsburgh Central Catholic
Downingtown Est
Penn Charter – Ohifame Ijeboi (Minnesota)
Penn Hills
Imhotep Charter – Zafir Stewart (Illinois)
Erie Cathedral Prep
Neumann Goretti – Khari Reid
Dleawre Valley
Jim Thorpe
Roman Cahtolic – Jah Jah Boyd (James Madison)
Keyston Oaks
Pittsburgh Central Catholic
Spring Grove
Downingtown East
Central Duaphin
Chester
Conwell Egan – Sam Cooper
William Penn
West Catholic – Jayzen Flint (Boston College)
St. Joseph’s Prep – Elijah Jones (Cincinnati)
Bishop McDevitt
Downingtown West
South Park
Butler
Bishop McDevitt
December 11th, 2023 at 4:11 pm
@ Jeff H. I must be brain dead I cannot remember whom Southern beat in the 2015 2A championship.game. I believe it was won by the mercy rule.I just can’t remember. One thing I do know if Aliquippa ever played the Prep they would be mercy ruled by halftime. Somebody else told me Southern is actually a 1A school by enrollment would you know? I do know my Dunmore bucks are going backwards instead of forward! It bothers me to say that.
December 11th, 2023 at 3:34 pm
My last post was a copy and paste job, but I think the 3A and 4A totals should be flipped. That is just a guess on my part. It would make a lot more sense if that was indeed the case.
Curious, did anyone here actually attend any of these games in person, either this year or last year?? Your impressions, thoughts, reviews?? Not so much the games themselves, but the facility and overall experience.
December 11th, 2023 at 3:11 pm
Via Twitter/X and NW PA’s very own Mr. Bob Greenburg:
PIAA State Championship Football – Paid attendance
A = 1829
3A = 1458
2A = 1747
5A = 1352
4A = 2304
6A = 1510
Total 10,200
December 11th, 2023 at 1:28 pm
@Mcd65 – agree with you about Samaj Jones, he was very impressive in the final to say the least, he reminds me of a young Jalen Hurts. Kinda interesting that he and his top receiver are both going to Cincinnati while the last great SJP QB-receiver combo went to Ohio State.
@Jc – Aliquippa was forced to play 4A due by the PIAA due to the success rule, and for the 4yrs they have been in 4A they have been the best 4A team in the state, with two state titles and one runner up finish, all while having single A enrollment, if that’s not impressive I don’t know what’s your definition of impressive. I understand why Southern doesn’t play up, they wouldn’t win a state title or even make the finals every year, there’s no way this Southern teams beats either Belle Vernon or Aliquippa, and anyone who disagrees with that is wearing blinders and not watching the same games I am.
@D11 Matt & D2 Fan – appreciate both of your insights with your respective districts, great to have the local info you bring to the Forum. I never would have guessed you were that young D2 fan, you have a lot of knowledge for a youngster, coming from someone who is more than twice your age!
December 11th, 2023 at 1:06 pm
@Foleman
If you think 3 highschools get the the most talented kids your wrong Philadelphia public league and inter ac league has great talent and size its there coaching/Resources in the public league that holds back many kids. ( With one exception being Imhotep ) don’t speak on something you know nothing bout.
December 11th, 2023 at 12:13 pm
@ Mike S, you keep mentioning Malvern Prep, they arent in the PIAA and its a ” Prep school” as in college prep school. They can draw students from a wide area. Do you expect a college prep school to only draw students from Malvern? The school has been around a long time, public schools like Cb West, North Penn etc had many successful runs while Malvern Prep was drawing students back then. It didnt seem to hurt them then. Inter ac schools such as Malvern Prep dont just take get potential students from public districts, I graduated from a small catholic school in district one and know of other similar small catholic schools most of which dont exist anymore that lost many really good athletes to inter ac schools and this was well before open enrollment ever came into play for catholic schools. Those athletes could have made a big difference to the success of those schools teams many yrs, but its just the way it is. Parents who can afford it and want to send their kids to a prep school like Malvern or Penn Charter have a right to do so. People can say what they want but most if not all of the complaining goes away if St joes prep decides to just play a national schedule and not be a part of the PIAA. No one be it another catholic school or charter school is going to dominate for an extended period like they have, its not happening at the 6A level anyway. A school may go on a run for a few yrs but not for as long as SJP and not with this level of dominance. Several of the same public schools continue to dominate the state finals every yr and there are plenty blowouts many of which occur even when its two public schools playing. There are many factors playing into that and seperating the schools isnt changing everything and making all the problems go away in fact it could very well make the overall level of play get worse.
December 11th, 2023 at 11:33 am
During the 6A game one of the announcers was saying how cool it would be for some of the players of the losing team to be able to say “I played on the same field as that guy and now he is in the NFL”. Wow, what a consolation prize!!! I bet it would be even better if the kids could walk on to the field of the PIAA 6A state championship game knowing they actually had a shot of winning a state title. I haven’t had a kid play in over 10 years but this crap is just too ridiculous. I just don’t understand how the PIAA can think this is the best thing for high school football.
December 11th, 2023 at 9:42 am
@Foleman You have obviously never really have taken a hard look at SJP roster, they have a few kids out of South NJ, but would love to hear this year’s “Studs” that came out of there. They draw far more kids from the Suburban Leagues (SOL, Ches-Mont, PAC, Central), which not only strengthens them but hurts Suburban schools. I checked Malvern Prep, LaSalle and SJP and those 3 schools had 15 kids who listed their home address as the Central Bucks School District, North Penn school district had 10 kids listed as players at those 3 schools. How much better would CB or North Penn be? My only issue is that there is no limit to the size of the school’s area, whereas all the Public schools have a defined school district. There needs to be some limitation on the distance they can draw their students from. I know a young man ,9th grade, from Souderton who had two visits to Malvern Prep, according to MapQuest 33.8 miles door to door. Just my opinion just too far in my humble opinion.
December 10th, 2023 at 1:10 pm
I watched the 2A game for the 3rd time. Southern knew going in it would be a dog fight. Coach Roth and staff never flinched. The play calling was spot on. I remember when Roth was suspended for two games that being said he had no chance of getting his 500 win he has 499 wins and will have to wait until the new season. Hard to imagine 500 wins! My hats off to Westinghouse they are a great team. And for Southern it is back to the weight room Monday. Time to reload.
December 10th, 2023 at 12:13 pm
When the majority of high end HS football talent in the Philadelphia area goes to 3 schools-Prep, Roman and Tep, its tough for any school to compete with that based on demographics. And with Prep getting studs out of S. Jersey, it’s almost impossible to compete. Based on past performance, a Public school will win a state 6A championship maybe 2/10 years. Even if you take away the S. Jersey players Prep would still probably win the State Championship. Tep will move up to 6A next year based on the success formula, get blasted by Prep for a couple of years, then move back down to 5A. Next year, Roman will rule 5A Prep’s classification, 6A is the highest Classification, there is no where for Prep to go. What’s crazy is if you took the top football players that played in the State Championship games from 1-6A Example Andrew Erby at QB, Tiquay Hayes at Tailback etc would a PA all star team be able to beat the Prep? I’m not sure they could. Pa football is way down and getting worse, numbers are down, Coaching is down, The coal region where former Powerhouses like Berwick and Mt. Carmel are gone and not coming back. Even the mighty WPIAL is not anywhere near where it was in past. I don’t see any solution in 6A except sit back and watch Prep winning the State Championship most years. I wish a 6A school had the Coaching staff and dedicated players like S. Columbia does but we will never see that. Mcd 65 I never saw a QB that lowered the boom on defensive players like Semaj Jones did yesterday.
December 10th, 2023 at 11:16 am
@ D2, it’s been a fun year discussing Eastern PA football with you and others on here. Looking forward to next year already. Love your insight from District 2. It was fun following Northwestern and the hell of a year they had. Knew it would be an uphill fight vs Belle Vernon and it was. But they exceeded expectations and even gave d11 the first finalist in 8 years. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and looking forward to next season!
December 10th, 2023 at 10:21 am
Hope everybody ready for next years 6a Philadelphia city title game Imhotep 5a champs vs SJP 6a champs. Everybody mocks imhotep about transfers and education but Imhotep never has more than 1 transfer most of there kids are in grown talent ALL there kids are FROM PHILADELPHIA and if they do get a transfer its never for weak piaa playoffs its more for there national schedule but even then there transfers can never play in playoffs so ppl complain bout nothing every D1 talent they have was home grown expect for that roman kid. Please stop wit the disrespect cuz we all know imhotep is #2 in state regardless of class and there coming for #1 this year to knock off SJP and show who really run the city this game will be closer than most think
December 10th, 2023 at 12:43 am
Semaj Jones is a tremendous QB. Many mock the prep ,but give this guy his just due. He throws accurate passes,makes great fakes and overall decisions. His running ability is superb with speed and power. He hurts people that tackle him head on. Fun guy to watch.
December 10th, 2023 at 12:14 am
And the season is over.
I only watched a few minutes of the 1A, 4A, & 3A games, but what a letdown the state finals were, overall.
An overall summary of the weekend was that the teams that usually win these titles…won. Not going to lie: It was more predictable than Hallmark movies are.
Credit to Southern for at least not putting us to sleep while winning their 7th championship & having the downright game of the year. I must watch it the next time I have some free time to watch on PCN. That was the only close game of the bunch.
The rest, I expected to win, but not at the level they did (except SJP).
As I said before, I truly believe the biggest issue in HS football, overall, are the blowouts. Five of the six games in this round were either mercy rule or pretty close to one. I know there’s not an easy fix, but I wish the haves & have nots were a lot closer.
Would’ve been awesome to see a new face win it all, but we’ll have to wait until 2024 for that. It’s sad that the season is over.
I’m going to release a link to my big playoff proposal idea sometime this week, with the sample being the 2023 season data. I only have 1A down, so it’s not a lot. I haven’t worked on it in a while, & I think I’ll wait until after Christmas to continue working on it.
Before I go, I want to thank each & every one of you in this forum for being so welcoming, as well as expanding my knowledge on the PA football landscape. Whether it’s giving me more insight on WPIAL football from Jeff H, Kevin X playing Devil’s Advocate, D11 Matt & JCo for bringing in some D11 knowledge that I didn’t know about & others that I may or may not have had a single conversation with about anything else on here. Even though I might seem tame with some of my conversation topics, I’m pretty opinionated on a lot of the hot button topics in the state. I try not to stir the pot, but always love the debates that get people riled up in the overall landscape, & I tend to agree with the majority of the state on hot button topics. I even wrote a paper on the public/private debate in college.
I’ll be real. I’m the only person I know who is that into the HS football landscape in PA. Even all of the people that went to my Alma Mater aren’t as into the HS football. Then again, when the team you watch every year isn’t usually better than 5-5, it’s not the same as the powerhouses. That might be the reason why I follow the state HSFB landscape as much. I might call myself D2 fan, but I’m a HSFB fan at heart. I’m a fairly younger fan of the sport (I’m not even 30), so I’m not as knowledgeable about the sport as many of you are. I never even played the sport either, so I’m a true “fan”.
Thanks again everyone! I’m sure I’ll have some D2 notes during the off-season & talk about the schedules once they are announced.
December 10th, 2023 at 12:08 am
It’ll never happen, but PIAA needs to reform its HS football system. Roster sizes and outright recruiting should be examined. The games this year were not fun to watch except, of course- the 2A game.
December 9th, 2023 at 11:31 pm
So Jeff h your gonna use aliquippa playing up in your argument and giving there wins and losses. Lol please don’t use playing up as anything but there stupid choice. Pretty impressive numbers til you look at 7 state titles in a row and counting. Lol
December 9th, 2023 at 9:18 pm
Looks like the regional all-star team (SJP) is on its way to another championship (31-7 with 6 minutes to go in the 1st half) — what an accomplishment — the PIAA is great.
December 9th, 2023 at 4:13 pm
Well we got 1 fantastic game to go along with 5 laughers. Not the best way to end the high school football season but a couple of great runs by a couple of teams throughout the state
December 9th, 2023 at 3:12 pm
Really really rough first half for Northwestern. The slow start and stuffed on the goal line will probably end up costing them. They have a little bit of momentum heading into half but it may be too much to overcome.
December 9th, 2023 at 1:30 pm
Imhotep was a machine. Peters Township was way overmatched. I thought PT would be better after all I read about them. It would be nice to watch a Tep/prep game this year. I believe Tep is moving up to 6 A next year so that game may in fact happen.
December 9th, 2023 at 12:25 pm
Do public schools/public school districts take non resident tuition students? If so the Catholic school/SJP argument goes out the window?
December 9th, 2023 at 9:39 am
@Jeff H. First of all, no one is “riled up.” Just a confused perception of your part. Second, Jim Roth and company has ALWAYS looked to challenge themselves and is exactly why the program has continually improved over the years and is quite evident for anyone who wishes to see it. Thirdly, if Aliquippa was “a much smaller school,” they’d be single A in size because Southern Columbia is closer to single A than triple A. Lastly, I never mentioned that it was on this board that people were calling for the Tigers to travel all over the country in order to find teams that would be at them. I am almost certain it was on score stream. The fact is that it has been suggested. What is leftist mentality is setting in place rules and guidelines then when some people aren’t happy with the outcome they cry foul or claim the success achieved is illegitimate.
December 8th, 2023 at 6:36 pm
The holding call on 4th and 18 was a killer for Westinghouse. Why in the world did Their defensive coordinator not move the safety over to take away the 8 yard down and out on 4th and 8 is mind boggling. Everyone on the planet knew that play was coming. Same with the counter, every defensive lineman from Westinghouse was bunched up in the middle of the field, Roth always runs the counter against that front. Discipline, calling the right plays at the right time is why S. Columbia has #7 State Championship in a row.
December 8th, 2023 at 6:29 pm
What a game! Southern won first 6 min (14-0) and last six. Westinghouse won the middle 36. Southern had a 6 minute 99 yard drive to take lead with 42 seconds left. They converted a 4th and 8 that was called back by holding and then got a hold call on 4th and 18 and then converted a 4th and 8 again. Great game and glad we atleast had one competitive game. Hopefully the 3A game tomorrow is a good one.
December 8th, 2023 at 6:11 pm
@Jc – totally disagree, the Quips players and community enjoy the challenge of playing much bigger schools, and hard to argue with their success in 4 yrs of 4A, lost in the 2020 WPIAL title game in OT to eventual state champ TJ in an instant classic, beat McDevitt in a fantastic game in 2021, lost to McDevitt last year, and blew out Dallas last night. As I noted in an earlier post they are 74-6 the last 6 years under coach Mike Warfield, pretty hard to argue with that kind of success, particularly when they are playing schools 2-3 times their size. The Quips have made 16 straight appearances in the WPIAL title game, all while playing up at a couple a class or two, and in the last 4 yrs 3 classes up, no other school in the WPIAL has come remotely close to that streak playing in their regular class.
@WPIALguy – I disagree with you, the DB clearly reached out and grabbed the receiver after he got past him at the line of scrimmage, the shame about it was he didn’t have to do it because they got a big pass rush and the QB would never have had a chance to complete the pass anyhow, but no way for the the kid to know that, he made a mistake and got caught, he shouldn’t have been playing that tight of coverage on 4th and 18.
December 8th, 2023 at 5:20 pm
Ah another sweet victory. Listen to be the best ya gotta beat the best (soco smashed aliquippa a few years back) and the game today had many penalties but they were against both teams. The hate will only fuel more titles. Experience won out today
December 8th, 2023 at 5:05 pm
Well I was certainly wrong about Southern winning by several scores, when they jumped out to the early 14-0 lead I thought we were headed for another lopsided affair like yesterday, but what a great HS football game. I feel really bad for the Westinghouse kids, what a heartbreaking way to lose, they outplayed Southern for 3+ quarters after the early deficit, but credit Southern for their 99 yard drive for the winning TD. I also thought both holding calls on the last drive were legit, so neither team has a beef about the officiating. Westinghouse was trying to win the first title for the Pittsburgh City League (district 8) since Perry defeated Berwick in 1989, it would have been an unbelievable win for the community and football in general for the downtrodden city league, hats off to both teams for a tremendous performance.
December 8th, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Wow Westinghouse was cheated… referee must have pulled that flag out of Jim Roth’s pocket. Complete BS. Congrats to southern Columbia. 7 straight titles for a public school with no transfers and never moving up a class!! must have the best genetic pool in North America… yeah right.
December 8th, 2023 at 4:32 pm
If your goal is to almost be the best most years than I understand aliquippa playing up. If it’s to be the best then your doing a disservice to your kids by costing them titles
December 8th, 2023 at 4:22 pm
Southern. Columbia. That game today epitomizes Southern Columbia and a group of winners.
December 8th, 2023 at 1:34 pm
@Jco – I disagree with you on the level of play, its definitely down in the WPIAL compared to 10-15 years ago, and I think it’s down statewide, in D11 I don’t think there’s been a team as good as 2015 Parkland since then, and in D1 no team has been close to as good as North Penn in 2016 or Coatesville in 2017. In the meantime SJP has gotten better, as success breeds success, they have players coming to them now because kids want to play for a winning program, and the school is very good academically. I don’t know what the solution is, I do give the PIAA some credit for the success factor and transfer rules, but there’s only so much they can do, I’m just not a fan of separate playoffs because I don’t think that model will work well in PA given the demographics. On top of that the good public schools have proven they can complete with and beat the vast majority of the non-boundary schools outside of SJP, so I don’t see the point of revamping the state playoffs because of 1 or 2 great private school programs.
December 8th, 2023 at 11:04 am
Thoughts and predictions for today’s games, hoping for more competitive games than yesterday, but I have my doubts
2A Southern Columbia vs Westinghouse – I made the mistake of picking Westinghouse last year so I’m not going to do it again, some on this board think this game will be close but don’t think it will be, Southern’s defense has been lights out in the playoffs, and Roth has said this may be his best front 7 ever on defense, they are clearly better than last year. I think Westinghouse struggles on offense just like every other team has in the playoffs, while Southern will grind out yards and points on offense, Southern wins 27-7 for their 7th straight 2A title.
5A Peters Township vs. Imhotep – I said before the playoffs started the winner of D12 between Roman and Imhotep was the favorite, and I still feel that way. After I watched Peters handle defending champ Pine Richland in the WPIAL final 3 weeks ago I thought they had a shot against Tep because they have a balanced offense and excellent defense and are very well coached, but their close game against Cocalico last week does not bode well for their chances, no offense to Cocalico, but they are nowhere near the level of Tep, I expected Peters to win that game by 3 scores and they were fortunate to survive. Peters defense is very good at stopping the run, but they have not faced a passing attack anywhere remotely close to Imhotep’s all year, and especially not in the playoffs, all 5 teams they have played have been very run orientated with mediocre or worse passing games. Imhotep has too much speed and skill, and they finally beat a WPIAL team in the final, it may be close for awhile, but Imhotep wins 34-14. I wish we could have a game next week with Aliquippa vs. Imhotep because that would be a helluva matchup.
December 8th, 2023 at 10:07 am
@D2 Fan. Sad thing is they probably won’t be better matchups. At least not in 5 or 6A. We’re looking at blowouts there. In 2A, if Southern gets going, then that could also be a route. In 3A, I’m really not sure what to think there, I thought going into this weekend, that could possibly be the best game.
I totally agree it’s tough to watch state championship games where one team is just head and shoulders over the other and it’s a mercy rule by half.
December 8th, 2023 at 1:10 am
@Jeff H: It should not take a historic effort to take down a single program. I don’t really think D11 or D1 are down that much, they just haven’t produced that singular outlier team like that P-R team or that Mt Lebo team. It’ll happen eventually, but it shouldn’t have to come to that.
Maybe separating the playoffs would dilute interest. I’d bet money it wouldn’t.
December 8th, 2023 at 12:26 am
Some of you may recall I said after watching Aliquippa in week 3 against Montour that Tiqwai Hayes gained about 15 pounds of muscle in the off season and was running with more power than his first 2 years but hadn’t lost any of his speed, I think the rest of the state got to see what I meant tonight and why I think he’s the best running back in the WPIAL since Miles Sanders graduated 8 years ago. What a performance by the Quips, too bad they can’t play Imhotep, that would be well worth the price of admission and then some to see that game with all the speed and talent on the field. And how about Mike Warfield’s record as coach since taking over in 2018, 74-6 with 3 state titles and one runner-up finish, in the 20yrs before that they won 1 state title with Mike Zmijanac as coach, if Warfield had been coaching them they would have won a lot more state tiles, just another classic example of how much coaching matters in HS football, you can have all the talent in the world, but if they are not well coached and disciplined they won’t win consistently like Warfield has.
December 8th, 2023 at 12:07 am
@78CatFan – I haven’t heard one person all year on this board call for Southern to travel all over the country or not play in their conference or in district 4, all we’re saying is Southern has dominated the competition in 2A so why not challenge your team a little more and play in 3A or 4A like the Quips, who are a much smaller school than Southern. With all due respect that’s not a leftist mentality or insane, that’s about as American as you can get, to challenge yourself against better competition, the Southern fans really do live in a bubble and are very defensive about your school, it doesn’t take much to get you riled up!
@ Helen Ann Long – you just proved my point, Southern can compete with and beat much larger schools, so why do you beat the bigger schools in the regular season, then play 2A in the playoffs and mercy rule the competition. There is no jealousy involved, I don’t care is Southern wins every 2A title from now until Roth retires, in still pales in comparison to what Aliquippa has done the last 4 years in 4A as a 1A sized school. You think I don’t know about football history in this state and Southern beat Aliquippa in 2015, I’ve forgotten more about football than you ever knew in the first place.
December 7th, 2023 at 10:27 pm
D2 Notes: Dallas Edition
I’m writing this as the game is in the second half. The Quips absolutely destroyed Dallas. There’s not much to say. Dallas made some mistakes & it was a (mostly) one team show, but it isn’t that big of a surprise. Yeah. I don’t have much to say. Great season by the Mounties, nonetheless.
Today was a letdown with the results of the games. Steel-High looked to be too powerful for Fort Cherry, & the game we had tonight was all Aliquippa. One of the biggest gripes I have with HS Football is blowouts, & it feels like there’s so many & it somewhat waters down the product. I know that there’s no easy fix, but it feels impossible to watch some of these matchups in the playoffs (& in the regular season).
Let’s hope tomorrow & Saturday are much better matchups.
December 7th, 2023 at 9:13 pm
I’m truly grateful for coach Roth and that he doesn’t allow the idiotic comments by simple minded people to affect his decisions. My goodness, we have individuals calling for a small rural school to travel all over the country to find teams that will beat them instead of playing in their own Heartland Conference and District 4! That’s pure leftist mentality and frankly, INSANE!
December 7th, 2023 at 9:03 pm
The X factor at Southern Columbia is coach Jim Roth… period. He won’t be coaching forever and has to be in his mid 60’s. Does anyone believe that when he hangs up his whistle, the Tigers will maintain their current success?
Southern only played ONE AA team this year in the regular season and that was Mount Carmel, who by the way is moving up to AAA next season. Everyone else on their schedule is either 3A or 4A. With a game such as football, injuries can be a big factor and smaller schools have a tougher time of absorbing those injuries due to numbers.
December 7th, 2023 at 4:58 pm
Well I thought Ft Cherry would be a little more competitive, but Steel-High was head and shoulders above everyone else in 1A, I knew when they blew out Lackawanna Trail a few weeks ago they were going to coast to the title, because Trail is very solid and maybe the 2nd best 1A team in the state. The announcers hinted about realignment next year, but they didn’t say anything about Steel High being forced to 2A under the success rule, I have no idea if they have had any transfers or not, maybe the guys who follow D3 can chime in.
December 7th, 2023 at 4:46 pm
One blowout in the books. Glad I stayed home. Hope the 2A game will be better tomorrow.
December 7th, 2023 at 3:38 pm
Any updates on 1A game?
December 7th, 2023 at 12:32 pm
Wow! The jealousy never ends with these guys on this forum. First of all, Southern plays in the 2A field because that is where the PIAA says they have a right to play. If your school can’t compete get them into the weight room and have them going to speed and agility camps all year long instead of crying about how SCA wins every year. As far as Aliquippa goes, it is their choice to play up. They have undefeated seasons every year but then lose in the state final game. BTW, SCA beat them soundly just a few years ago, look it up. The Tigers have also beaten Jersey Shore and Selinsgrove many times, look it up. Southern also destroyed Newmann-Goretti the year NG brought a whole new team in from all over creation and no one complained about that move. Some of you complainers need to get a life and live in the real world. When you work hard, go by the rules and give everything you have on game day, you win games. Why should they have to move up and play against schools three and four times bigger than them just to satisfy the likes of a few disgruntled people on this forum? I’ve just given you the formula for success, now go and use it.
December 7th, 2023 at 12:17 pm
Great article on TribLive previewing the Aliquippa-Dallas matchup, with some quotes from the Dallas head coach talking about their last trip to the final in 2019 when they got steamrolled by TJ 46-7, here are some of his comments in the article.
That loss to Thomas Jefferson led to changes in the Dallas program, coach Rick Mannello said. “When we were at Hershey, we got on the bus and said, OK, that worked and got us to a point, but we’re going to get back to a state championship … and we need to adjust what we’re doing,” Mannello said. “Because when you get on the western side of the state, there’s a pretty good chance we’re going to be out-gunned in different phases. So we went to work that next day.” After that 2019 loss, Mannello said the coaches focused on increasing the pace of play, adding new formations and getting the ball in the hands of their top athletes. “The trick to it was not losing the physicality of the run game,” he said. “That’s Dallas football. It has been that way forever here.”
Here they are 4 years later back in the state championship, which is a credit to the coaches and players. If they weren’t playing a WPIAL team I’d be rooting for Dallas in this game, it sounds like they have a great coaching staff who wasn’t afraid to make changes within the program to improve and get better.
December 7th, 2023 at 11:46 am
I’m with you Dennis Go Prep !!!
December 7th, 2023 at 3:04 am
Go Prep! Now go get what is yours!
December 6th, 2023 at 6:06 pm
I’m going to do the state final previews and predictions a day at a time, here’s my thoughts for tomorrow’s games
1A – battle of 2 great QB’s, I’ve mentioned on here a few times about how Fort Cherry’s sophomore QB Matt Sieg has come up with really big performances in all of their big games this year, last week against Redbank Valley was no exception, as he completed 9-16 passes for 138 yards and rushed for 258 yards on 34 carriers with TD runs of 2, 1, 20, and 37 yards, with the latter 3 coming in the fourth quarter. For the season, Sieg has thrown for 1,650 and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 2,234 yards and 42 scores. On the other side is the state’s all-time leading passer in Alex Erby, who has thrown for over 4,000 yards this season and more than 13k in his career. I would love to see Ft Cherry cap off a dream season with an upset, but I think Steel High has too many weapons and Fort Cherry won’t be able to keep up, final score Steel High 34-21, as Erby gets his third state title in his illustrious career. I am very curious to see if he starts as a true freshman next year for Navy.
4A – we all know Aliquippa is loaded and pretty familiar with their players having been to the finals now 3 straight seasons, surprisingly they have never had an undefeated season that ended with a state title (they had undefeated seasons prior to the state playoffs starting in 1988). There are 5 times the Quips have gone to the state final undefeated only to lose, with last year being the most recent. To have a chance to pull the upset Dallas needs to limit the Quips big plays, both John Tracy and Tiqwai Hayes had numerous long runs last week against Selinsgrove, and QB Quinton Goode hit on some deep balls, including a 24 yard TD pass to Tracy in the back of the end zone, he is 40-2 as a starting QB the last 3 years. The other thing Dallas can’t do is turn the ball over, Selinsgrove had 5 turnovers last week and they were chasing points the whole game and were never really in the game after the first quarter. If Dallas can limit the big plays and turnovers and force Aliquippa to sustain long drives they have a chance to keep it close, but I think the Quips have too many playmakers and too much speed and win 33-20.
December 6th, 2023 at 4:21 pm
@Helen – nobody here misrepresents Southern Columbia’s success. The list of state titles is there for all to see. Disregarding that success, you’re on the right path….more like respect, or the lack thereof. While this season hasn’t been the mercy rule rampage through the playoffs like prior years – nobody outside of the SCA bubble is impressed with another run through AA. Play up like the Quips and make some noise and the respect will come.
And also – lets no go on like 7 on 7 camps or offseason conditioning are exclusive to SCA kids
December 6th, 2023 at 2:14 pm
@ Helen Ann Long – who on this board is disrespecting Southern’s success, certainly not me, as a neutral observer and lifelong HS football fan I would like to see them move up and take on tougher competition, how many state titles in a row do you have to win in 2A before you move up and challenge some bigger schools. I agree Roth is one of the best coaches in state history and Southern has a phenomenal program, but Aliquippa has proven small school powerhouse programs can compete with and beat schools that are 2-3 times their size, and Southern could do the same thing, I would love to see if Southern could beat Belle Vernon or Aliquippa this year, both of whom are significantly better than Westinghouse, but we’ll never know. Do you not think Southern could compete with and beat Jersey Shore or Selinsgrove in your district?
December 5th, 2023 at 6:48 pm
State Finals time! Posting my predictions early.
1A (Steel-High vs. Fort Cherry): It feels good to see a new face in the 1A final, although I feel it isn’t going to be an upset. The Rollers are such a juggernaut, & I feel they’ll find a way to win a very competitive game. If Fort Cherry wins, the state should give them a lot of respect. It could be a team you may see return in the future.
4A (Dallas vs. Aliquippa): The sneaky good showdown of the six is this one. The Quips are easily one of the best teams in the state, but if they want to win, they can’t do what the last two teams did: overlook Dallas. Eagles must say the same in their matchup on Sunday. The last two games by the Dallas Mountaineers were thrillers, so if they keep their momentum, they can hang with the Quips. I just don’t see a third magical win happening. D2 ends a very nice season empty handed in football State trophies.
2A (Southern Columbia vs. Westinghouse): As a movie fan, I know there are usually sequels that stand out like Terminator 2, The Empire Strikes Back, etc,. Same goes for football. You liken the Alabama-Clemson, McDevitt-Quips, & Wilmy-SCA battles of the past. We can now add this to a potential list. Southern is the better team, but I feel like after the whole controversy last year (the SCA banner that made the news), I think Westy will be out for revenge. I don’t think they’ll win, but game of the weekend is expected here, I feel.
5A (Imhotep vs. Peters): The most puzzling of the games for me is this matchup. It can easily be any result. Imhotep is a charter school that is like the ECP & Archbishop Wood type teams, talent wise. However, 5A has had a trend of WPIAL champs against Imhotep. I think that streak ends, but it’ll feel close for a lot of the game before the Panthers pull away in the end.
3A (NW Lehigh vs. Belle Vernon): This is a trap game for Belle Vernon. They cannot overlook a very good Tigers team. Northwestern did start a bit slow the past two games. I feel it’s the case. I think it’ll be a very tight game with the last score being the difference. Also, thanks again to all who complimented my call on the East Final. I had a gut feeling about it.
6A (St. Joe’s Prep vs. North Allegheny): The no-brainer pick or the week is this. We know history of 6A games, & unless you’re Pine-Richland or Mt. Lebo, you probably get mercy ruled. It’s a fact that’ll happen again Saturday Night.
Scores: I wish that more of the games would be closer, but I feel half of the games will be within 10 pts.
– Steel-High 34, Fort Cherry 24
– Quips 35, Dallas 21
– Southern Columbia 28, Westy 26
– Imhotep 34, Peters 19
– Belle Vernon 23, NW Lehigh 19
– SJP 45, North Allegheny 10
I do hope I’m wrong on all of these.
December 5th, 2023 at 6:16 pm
Isn’t it interesting how some people on here look at certain teams like Southern Columbia and misrepresent their success in a way that totally disregards this program. The reason they are
so successful is simple. These kids work all year long on conditioning, they go to camps in the Summer time and participate in 7 on 7 competitions. The coaches have been together
almost as long as Roth has been there and have seen just about everything you can see in high school football in the last 40 years. My son played back in the 90’s and one of the best
things about the players is that they are all really good students. The school turns out young men who go out into the world and make a difference in people’s lives. They are not only
winners on the football field but more importantly, in life. One of the things we hear every year is (why don’t they move up). Well, right now Southern is one of the smallest D2 schools
in district 4. So there is no “Secret” to their success. If you want to have the kind of success Southern has you have to put in the work, not only on the football field, but in the class room.
December 5th, 2023 at 3:59 pm
@Jco – I hear you and agree there’s an issue in 6A, but I don’t think the solution is having separate playoffs for boundary and non-boundary schools, my concern is that will further dilute interest in the playoffs. There have been 2 public schools that have beaten SJP in the state final, so it can be done, I have numerous friends who live in Mt Lebanon, some of whom went to the title game 2 years ago and said it was exhilarating watching Lebo beat them, the question is why is the level of play down considerably in both D1 and D11 so they can’t even come close to challenging SJP. North Penn almost beat SJP in 2016, same with Coatesville the following year, why has D1 taken a pounding the last few years? I know the non-boundary schools in D12 draw some of the best players from D1 schools, but since Wood has dropped off the radar the Bucks schools should be able to retain some kids who previously would have gone to Wood, so why is D1 no longer competitive like they were 5-7 years ago? I’m sure there are a myriad of reasons but it can’t all be because of SJP.
@D11 Matt – I understand, there’s no question BV is the favorite but I do think this will be a very competitive game and maybe one of the best of the weekend
December 5th, 2023 at 11:59 am
@Jeff H: The main problem is that, in 6A, there’s no “higher” to go. Until a split happens (or until rules on Pennsylvania residency or scheduling are implemented), whoever the top non-boundary school is can roster whoever they want, play whoever they want, and then run rampant in the playoffs, and the schools in the top class are stuck with them. No school wants their final playoff game to be a mercy rule loss to an all-star team, no matter how high their enrollment might be. It doesn’t matter if it’s SJP or someone else, there WILL be an all-star team in 6A, it’s just a matter of who happens to be at the top of the pecking order.
I believe that non-boundary schools make up approximately 10% of PIAA. If you hold that ratio to the state finalists, 1 of the 12 schools would be non-boundary. 2 out of 12 is above the average ratio, but still within the bell curve. The issue is that right now, 2 out of 12 represents a LOW number, as the past two years had 4 and 5 non-boundary schools, respectively. There’s a small chance that 2 out of 12 represents a new normal, sure, but there’s no way to actually know that until we have 2-3 more seasons’ worth of data.
As the highest class in PIAA, 6A generates the most interest and attention throughout the year. Imagine if the final was North Allegheny vs. CB South, or North Allegheny vs. Nazareth… you’d have two proud communities rallying behind their teams’ quest to be the king of PA. But now that we’ve reached the state final, people are mostly uninterested, and that’s a major problem for PIAA that isn’t going to fix itself.
December 5th, 2023 at 11:42 am
District 2 alot better than all you professionals
December 5th, 2023 at 2:21 am
@ Jeff H. Not concerned about the officiating at all. I have friends who are working the games problem is they won’t tell me what game. LOL.Please don’t read into something that is not there. I would like to see Southern win another title with this team. We will see the best team will take home the title for sure.
December 4th, 2023 at 11:57 pm
@Jeff….I’m just picking northwestern because I hope they win as a d11 fan and alum of their rival. Normally I would pick belle Vernon .
December 4th, 2023 at 10:23 pm
OK, I should have checked the PIAA website before I asked the question. Just checked, answer is an indirect no.
December 4th, 2023 at 9:56 pm
Any of you guys know if you get admission to both championship games on a given day with one ticket?? Last time I was at Hershey, many years ago, one admission got you into both games. With the downsizing of the stadium, thinking that might not be the case anymore. Weather looking pretty good for Sat. and an interesting 3A match-up, something out of my usual game that I attend during the year (all 5A and 6A games). If trek out there, might as well stick around for the season final game.
December 4th, 2023 at 8:18 pm
@ Dennis – Southern has won 6 state titles in a row and rolled over most teams in the playoffs and you’re concerned about the officiating? Seriously? Regarding Westinghouse, they are not as talented as last year, but they are probably just as good. I and most people expect Southern to win this game but we’ll see, I think the vast majority of the state will be rooting for the House just to see a different team win a state title for a change in 2A.
@MCA75 – it’s great to see some new teams in the finals, or teams that haven’t been there for quite a while, the WPIAL has had 6 new first time finalists in the last 3 years with Mt Lebo and Penn Trafford in 21, BV and Union last year, and now Fort Cherry and Peters Township this year, it’s a great experience for the student body and the communities going for the first time in school history.
@D11 Matt – I agree NW Lehigh will be very competitive against Belle Vernon, and I could see them winning, although BV is better than last year, and they don’t rely on 4 star recruit Quinton Martin nearly as much on offense and use him as a decoy at times, he lines up as a receiver more than RB, they are a very well balanced team. I am pretty confident in saying BV is the best team NW Lehigh has played all year, while BV has played teams like McKeesport, TJ and Penn Trafford who are probably better than NW, so I think BV has the edge in terms of the competition they have played, but I would not be surprised if NW Lehigh wins.
December 4th, 2023 at 7:42 pm
What Jeff H. just stated.
Saved me a lot of typing…..
December 4th, 2023 at 5:14 pm
@Mike S – the PIAA’s argument is they don’t have the authority to create separate playoffs for private and public schools due to a law passed by the state legislature in the early 70’s, their position is its up to the legislature to pass a new law if they want split playoffs, which I don’t see happening anytime soon, particularly when it’s only an issue in 1 out of 6 classifications in football…if we’re talking basketball that’s a different story. Of the 12 teams competing for state titles this week 10 are public schools, and 2 are non-boundary schools, with 1 of them being 1-6 in state title games, including 0-3 against public schools, so where’s the problem with the current system other than SJP in 6A?
December 4th, 2023 at 12:47 pm
State picks
A: Fort Cherry 28 Steelton 21 (upset)
AA: Southern 21 West 19
AAA: Northwestern Lehigh 35 Belle Vernon 28 (upset)
AAAA: Aliquippa 34 Dallas 14
AAAAA: Tep 33 Peters 20
AAAAAA: SJ Prep 35 NA 14 (Its never closer than 2 scores). A late NA TD makes it three scores win for SJ prep.
December 4th, 2023 at 12:42 pm
@D2 Fan – good call on the NW Lehigh upset of Wyomissing, I was right about Ft Cherry winning a tight one against Redbank Valley. I took the 75 minute drive to Ebensburg out Rt 22 in the fog and rain to watch Aliquippa dominate Selinsgrove, to say their offense was impressive would be an understatement, they pulled their starters early in the 4th quarter after building a 52-20 lead. I’ve seen a lot of great running backs in the WPIAL over the years, and Tiqwai Hayes is the best I’ve seen since Miles Sanders graduated 8 yrs ago. His backup John Tracy would start for probably 95% of the teams in the WPIAL and he had some breathtaking long TD runs, including a 93 yarder early in the fourth quarter, they accounted for over 400 yards rushing and 6 TDs. I said on this board prior to the playoffs I didn’t think the Quips would win because they weren’t as good as last year, I will retract that after watching them again on Friday, their offense is better than last year, but their defense maybe not quite as good. I think Dallas will give them a battle but I like the Quips chances.
Regarding North Alleghany, they are very good, but SJP is on a different level, NA will do well if they keep it from being a mercy rule, I see it ending something like 42-14.
December 4th, 2023 at 12:42 pm
@ D2 Fan I don’t try to predict scores or winners of games. I can tell you this Southern columbia team is much better than last year’s team. I cannot honestly say that about Westinghouse. Yes they are hungry for the rematch as I wish for a clean injury free game. Dying to see who the referees will be. Yes they need to be counted into equation also. Good luck to all teams this is your time!
December 4th, 2023 at 8:46 am
@ assistant coach, Mike unger
At half time walking to the locker room
I could have several people that could verify what was said by 2 coaches to the Wyo kids “they are all stats but don’t let up on these guys” FACTS
Not trying to start any rumors.
See you guys next year around same time.
December 4th, 2023 at 12:37 am
@ Cw. That literally never happened. No coach ever mentioned that NW Lehigh was all Stats. Stop spewing rumors. Makes you look stupid. Verify, then post.
December 3rd, 2023 at 10:27 pm
I decided to do some research on who’s in the CFP from PA. I’’m shocked it’d just four. There are four PA natives who have a shot at a National championship this year.
– CJ Dippre (Lakeland): Alabama
– Jalen Klemm (Pine-Richland): Washington
– Semaj Bridgeman (Imhotep): Michigan
– Grayson Dee (Mt. Lebanon): Michigan
Coach Wise
– Ben Herbert (West Allegheny): Michigan Strength & Conditioning
– Kirk Campbell (West Allegheny): Michigan QB Coach
Pretty neat to see some local ties in the playoffs. There will be more when there’s 12 teams next year.
December 3rd, 2023 at 9:17 pm
@MikeS It seems to me your fundamental issue is with the PIAA’s decision to include the PCL. It was known to ALL when the PCL joined that SJP had a large number of students (including student-athletes) who lived in Jersey. SJP never tried to hide the fact, and I didn’t hear a word of complaint about it until SJP started winning state championships five years after the PCL joined the PIAA. I see no grounds to complain about SJP on this issue–a point you seem to agree with. Take it to the PIAA, but know that it will look like complaining about SJP rather than arguing a point in principle. (Other PCL schools have had players from Jersey, though not in the numbers SJP has had. But you say even having one should be disqualifying.)
December 3rd, 2023 at 7:17 pm
@D11 Matt
This is why I take part in this forum. To learn more about the state’s history (or to remind myself of certain things I’ve forgotten)
I completely forgot the Northern Lehigh 2003 team, although I think you had mentioned it before. Escaped my mind.
I did not know Wilson Area had a title. I know that they aren’t a powerhouse in the area, but I didn’t know they had that kind of success back then. Same goes for Pen Argyl.
I’m gonna also say this. This Northwestern team has a couple of similarities to the 2018 Wyoming Area team. I don’t know how similar, but there’s something about this team that makes it feel a bit like that championship team.
For note, I put in some CalPreps matchups to see how every team pairs. I’m going off of final scores with favoring. I don’t think there’s other ways to figure that out.
– 1A: Favors Steel-High by 1
– 2A: Favors Southern Columbia by 7
– 3A: Favors Belle Vernon by 2
– 4A: Favors Quips by 14
– 5A: Favors Peters by 10
– 6A: Favors SJP by 3
I’d say the closest to accurate one is Quips or maybe Southern. The others are tricky, because they’re too close or could go either way, which is probably the 5A one.
Thanks @ Kevin X!
There’s four guarantees in life in PA. Everyone knows the first two, Southern Columbia in the state final, & District 12 winning in mercy rule in State Semifinals.
December 3rd, 2023 at 9:55 am
@FrankG Again this isn’t about SJP, but everyone likes to go there, why is that? It’s about 1st having ANY SCHOOL that has NON-PA KIDS on a team playing for a PA CHAMPIONSHIP! 2nd, IT’s about ANY School that has no GEOGRAPHIC Limitations, playing schools that do have Geographic limitations. How in the world is that fair to the vast majority of Kids in Public Schools in Penna? How can the PIAA in any kind of Honesty be preaching FAIRNESS, & SPORTSMANSHIP & EQUALITY they can’t. Either you need to create a new Class of schools, that allows kids from other states and no Geographic limitations. OR you need to give them Geographic Limitations and not allow ANY NON-PA athletes to participate in PA Championships. I don’t care if he’s the best or worst athlete on the team, he shouldn’t be there. It’s an Either, OR, a new Class or Limitations! You’ve totally missed the point FrankG! This is the Kids championship, not the adults rooting for their schools. lets’ not let a few steal it from them.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:30 am
@FrankG:: having players that share commonalities is a minimal advantage compared to being able to pull players from a wide geographic area. If having players with similar backgrounds was such an advantage, there would be more teams that are able to defeat the top non-boundaries… but it’s a rarity.
Occam’s razor applies here. Not having a geographic boundary is an advantage, so the top-performing program in the state is most likely to be a non-boundary school. Whether it’s SJP, La Salle, Imhotep, Roman, whoever happens to be at the top of the pecking order will have an advantage because their success will draw other athletes to them.
It’s never just about SJP. If they weren’t the big bad, it’d be someone else.
December 2nd, 2023 at 10:51 pm
@ D2 Fan
Wow, you nailed the D1/D12 game for the second day a row!!!
I have a lot to say about that game, and I have nothing to say about that game. Good luck NA.
December 2nd, 2023 at 7:04 pm
@MikeS This is the first year SJP has had a player–one player, Sean Molley–from DE in many years. Not that it matters, but he’s not a starter. They also have a player from Clayton, but that’s, I’m pretty sure, the Jersey Clayton. He’s not a starter, either.
in looking at the hometowns of the players, I do notice that they are coming from a wider geographic area than five or ten years ago. I suppose that’s the result of several things, including the program’s profile and success.
I noticed that the NA coach is already boasting/complaining that all his players come from the same community. It reminded me of what the ML coach did in 2021; he had tee-shirts or sweat shirts made indicating all the players could walk to school. That too was probably a boast and a complaint. Of course it’s an advantage for SJP not to have the boundaries that a school district has, but having players who all live within walking distance–or even a 10-minute drive–of the school is also an advantage. Many if not most of the players have already been teammates before they start high school, they probably have very common backgrounds, their families probably know one another and scheduling practices and getting to and from them is never a problem. At SJP it’s the opposite. I doubt one of the players live close enough to walk to school. For many it’s more than an hour’s commute each way. Their backgrounds and circumstances are very different. There’s not even a practice field on the school grounds, and this year they had no home field of any kind. There is a school community, but it’s one that has to be built carefully over time.
December 2nd, 2023 at 5:02 pm
Congrats to teams like Dallas, Northwestern Lehigh, Peters Twp and Fort Cherry – Its great to see some new faces in the final this year and makes it more interesting to a fan with no dog in these fights.
Its also nice to see a few close games for once. Seems like most of the playoff games have been blowouts lately. I was keeping track on scorestream and Dallas/McD and NWL/Wyo games seem like fantastic games to have watched live.
Looking forward to most of the games this weekend and rooting for upsets in 5A and 6A. Seems like Peters Twp has a better shot at Imhotep. NA is probably a great team but I think has almost zero chance vs SJP.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:56 am
@Jim Watt another who needs to read, “a few miles” is not 1, note correction!
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:53 am
@mcd65 The point is to somehow limit those type of schools, while competing for Pennsylvania State Championships. You can’t allow kids from other states (& I don’t care if it’s 1 or a dozen) from playing, you can’t allow most of the schools to be limited by the size of their school district to have to play against schools with unlimited school size (area wise). I just don’t understand how that is fair to other schools in Pennsylvania. Let’s just take the best Football Players from the whole Central Bucks school district, if you are a good football player they all go to. let’s just say Central Bucks West, and all the other kids are spread around CB East & CB South. Or tonight have a CB West, CB South, CB East all-star team and see how they would compete tonight & every year, what do you think would happen?
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:37 am
@D2….yeah I would have belle Vernon as two TD favorites but that’s why they play the game right. Northwestern will compete. Also, colonial league has actually sent 4 teams to the finals. 2001 Pen Argyl who lost 19-12 to Washington, the 2003 Northern Lehigh team who lost 32-27 to Darrell Revis led Aliquippa in a classic, 2005 Wilson Area who lost to South Park and the 2006 Wilson Area team that beat Jeanette. This will be 5th team and first since 2006 for the colonial league to reach finals and they are trying to be second to win it all after 2006 Wilson Area.
December 2nd, 2023 at 10:36 am
My last D2 Notes of the year. It’ll become a “Dallas” note on Thursday Night.
We musr start with the game of the night in District 2. How about Dallas? I said they were a team that can play tough & I hope that McDevitt didn’t overlook them. I can say that even though the WVC was weak this year, it didn’t affect Dallas at all. This is a quality team I think a lot of people slept on. All three games in the “state” rounds were very close.
They went toe to toe with Bishop McDevitt & not only played a hard game, they beat them in a thriller. All I saw was that Dallas scored, then McDevitt (sometimes vice versa), & the pattern kept going. They went to overtime in a 16-16 battle, & it went to not one, but TWO OT, & got the defense going & game winning field goal needed to win in the double OT. The best scenario for District 2 happened. They get Aliquippa, & they throttled Selinsgrove, to spoil NEPA from an all-WNEP final (that’s never happened in any sport). Would I say Dallas has the upper hand, after playing two good teams to OT? No, but if they can beat two of the best teams in Eastern PA, then the Quips can’t overlook them at all. I’m very excited for Thursday Night.
Hate to end on a bad note for District 2 teams, but Southern Columbia, not shockingly, ended Dunmore’s season. It was nowhere close to the game I thought it’d be. I surely thought it would be a lot closer, but Southern is almost guaranteed a finals appearance every year, like they made the same deal Joe Namath made for that one Super Bowl. Great season for Dunmore, overall. The LFC misses out on a state final, but at least D2 has one rep in the end.
I do want to conclude with D11 notes, as I got to watch the entire NW Lehigh-Wyo battle. WHAT A GAME! An all-timer in the Berks & Lehigh Valley region, & there was no better spot to play than where a Division 2 legend played (Andre Reed Stadium). This was a battle of field position for most of the game. Wyo dominated the first half, & it felt like they were going to beat them soundly, but after the first Wyo score, the game opened up Northwestern. The game was tight at the half, but the momentum went the way of the Tigers. They got some after a turnover, & found their way into the lead as the third quarter went along. Wyo evened it up late after a roughing call on a field goal try. Northwestern found a way to get a score on the ensuing drive, held Wyo to a turnover on downs & scored the game sealing TD shortly after. Wyo couldn’t score the points needed (got intercepted in the end zone), & Northwestern wins 33-24.
Thanks D11 Matt for the words. My gut didn’t let me down, but they didn’t make it easy. I don’t think that Northwestern Lehigh can win against Belle Vernon, but they can compete with some of the best in the state, after today. Feels good to see a District 11 finalist (I don’t ever recall a Colonial League team making it to the finals before, so that’s huge for Lehigh Valley football). The SEN crew (if they’re doing the PCN call again) will have a “home team” for once.
Thanks Kevin X, about the Imhotep call. I knew that Imhotep & SJP games are normally blow out games in the Final 4, so I had to go with prior history. Will be interested to see what happens with Peters in the final. I feel this could be very similar, but I’ll probably wait until Wednesday to make my judgement.
December 2nd, 2023 at 10:01 am
Mike S, FYI I am not a St Joe person. Excuse me if I thought You were speaking specifically about the Prep. I just get tired of the banter about as if they are doing something wrong. They are doing what they have always done. Those schools you mentioned have always had players from surrounding areas. BTW , I am a CB West supporter .
December 2nd, 2023 at 9:37 am
@ D2 Fan
Very nice call on the Imhotep/Strath Haven game!!! Once again, I kept my fingers off the keyboard when I first saw some of your predictions, and I’m glad I did. Thought it be much closer. Guess I still had last year’s 5A Eastern semi final Imhotep/Upper Dublin game in my head. Thinking it be a 2 or 3 score game in favor of the Philly public all-star team. Also made the right choice of opting for the warmth and dryness of my living room and the Oregon/Washington game instead of dealing with bad weather Philly area Friday rush hour traffic and traveling over an hour (if lucky) to the ‘Ville for that game.
I do hope your are wrong on today’s CBS/SJP spread, as I’m taking the much shorter trip over to Crawford Stadium for that one and my 2023 swan song. Hope its at least interesting heading into the 4th quarter.
Also, apparently Dallas doesn’t suck!!! 🙂 (OK, guys settle down, it’s a Philly thing).
December 2nd, 2023 at 9:35 am
MIke S 46.5 plus 1 is 47.5 not 50
December 2nd, 2023 at 8:19 am
@mcd65 1st you need to read, I said I checked the rosters of LaSalle, Malvern & St. Joe’s and found players (that’s plural-not just one from Delaware) from New Jersey & Delaware. I know you want to defend SJP at all costs, but again I checked 3 schools, there is one player from north of Quakertown on one of the rosters, I don’t remember which school as I checked the rosters months ago at the beginning of the season. But I googled Quakertown to SJP at 46.5 miles, and this kid is an additional few mile, that’s 50 miles my good friend. Did I google the mileage of every player hometown, no, could there be someone in that group of a couple hundred kids even further out, Absolutely. So 50 to 60 miles isn’t really an exaggeration, again I know you are trying to protect them at all costs, so you can downplay it if you’d like. I’d like to see a Pennsylvania State Championship won by EXCLUSELY Pennsylvania Football players, not by kids from Jersey or Delaware thrown in, by a school district that has no size limit, which is what we are dealing with now. You handcuff some schools, by playing within their school districts and a few schools play by none of those rules, how is that fair. In the name of FAIRNESS mcd65, and No I’m not talking exclusively about your beloved SJP, there needs to be some semblance of everyone playing by the same rules.
December 2nd, 2023 at 12:17 am
The PIAA has to move their playoffs out of Altoona and the Altoona Officials. The officials took over the Cocalico-Peters Township game tonight. I don’t remember so many flags in a playoff game. They made calls you don’t often see in the NFL. Every other drive was stopped by a penalty it seemed. I saw this in the State semi-final in 2017 at Mansion Park.
December 1st, 2023 at 10:33 pm
@D2….good gut feel on northwestern a few weeks ago. I of course knew they were good and had a shot but you called them getting to state final. They made a bunch of uncharacteristic mental mistakes in first half but man did they turn it on after halftime. They held up very well against that Wyo run game. Good for them. Bring it home for dist 11 next week!
December 1st, 2023 at 10:33 pm
NW LEHIGH
I HEARD THE Coaches from Wyo at half time telling their players that NW IS ALL STATS!
Wyo got punched in the mouth!
Never wore northwestern down !
Wyo was out played and coached after halftime!
Go NW TIGERS
December 1st, 2023 at 10:31 pm
Josh Snyder and the Tigers do it once again. They truly didn’t play a great game by any means, but down the stretch they made all the plays and he called absolutely perfect plays. What an amazing season for Northwestern.
December 1st, 2023 at 8:36 pm
I lied about Dunmore. They’re getting absolutely clobbered by Southern.
December 1st, 2023 at 3:31 pm
@ Mike S., Prep had 1 player from Delaware several years ago that had moved from Phila. They dont have anyone who lives 50-60 miles from school. I would hope these exaggerations would stop by now. No one had an issue with the Prep for years until they began winning. They are doing nothing different than before except improve. Players are choosing to attend Prep.because of winning. What happens if they end this cycle? Will folks say welcome. LOL
December 1st, 2023 at 12:39 pm
I didn’t forget. My picks for the weekend.
1A: This is Steel-High’s state championship to lose. South Williamsport doesn’t have the team, I feel, that can beat them. Redbank Valley has a little bit of experience here in recent years, which I’ll give them over Fort Cherry. I expect it to be close, since Fort Cherry has played a tough schedule.
– Steel-High 34, South Billtown 10
– Redbank Valley 31, Fort Cherry 25
2A: Southern Columbia is going to punch their ticket again to their “invitational final”. Dunmore will hang, but you know SCA will pull away in the second half. Dunmore has been a little more dominant as the season has gone along. They’ll hold their own better than some of you might think. Westy wants a grudge match, if it’s possible. Beaver Falls has had a nice run, but I don’t see them going past this round.
– SCA 21, Dunmore 14
– Westy 28, Beaver Falls 20
3A: I have Northwestern Lehigh as my upset to make the next round. They have a team that I feel can beat Wyo. Belle Vernon is much better than Hickory. I don’t see an upset here.
– Northwestern 35, Wyomissing 28
– Belle Vernon 41, Hickory 12
4A: Dallas will make this a real challenge, but McDevitt will pull away in the end, with the play of Stone Saunders. Quips will pummel Selinsgrove. They aren’t as good, but they’ve beaten some very good teams this year. We’ll see if they bring D4 back to the 4A final.
– McDevitt 34, Dallas 20
– Quips 38, Selinsgrove 14
5A: Imhotep gets past Strath Haven easily. The better game will be Peters/Cocalico, at Mansion Park. I feel this will be close, with Peters getting the late game momentum.
– Imhotep 45, Strath Haven 14
– Peters 23, Cocalico 19
6A: No reason to talk about the East final. The West final is going to be a good one! Harrisburg is better than North Allegheny, I feel. It’ll be very close, I think.
– SJP 49, CB South 6
– Harrisburg 21, North Allegheny 20
December 1st, 2023 at 10:18 am
It’s where they go to school not where they live that matters.
December 1st, 2023 at 8:25 am
@JCo Actually I think that may be a nice start, 60%-75% of their games should be against Penna schools, but it’s not just SJP that these rules should apply too. It’s a Pennsylvania State Championship Series, which should be played by Penna kids, not kids from Delaware or New Jersey, also somehow you need to limit the range they can reach out. 25 miles should be enough, you don’t need kids from 50-60 miles away. I know you are going to hear from the Philly Catholic schools that they’ve always had kids from Jersey, and that may be true. But having Delaware & New Jersey kids playing for a Pennsylvania State Championship is just Wrong! You want to have kids from 50-60 miles away, and from other states, you are some kind of all-star team and as such should be ineligible for the Pennsylvania Title. Just my opinion.
November 30th, 2023 at 8:29 pm
@Cw – as I mentioned before I think this game can go either way and wouldn’t be surprised if NW Lehigh wins, but I’m picking Wyomissing because I have a hunch they were them down in the 2nd half, I’ll say Wyomissing 27-21. In the other 3A game I expect BV wins by 3 scores, something like 34-14
As for the rest of the games, its been a great year for CB South, but they likely get mercy ruled by the SJP juggernaut, something like 49-14. The NA-Harrisburg game should be very competitive and could go either way, I’ll pick NA by a TD 35-28, I do expect this game to be pretty high scoring.
In 5A Imhotep is a bad matchup for Strath Haven, I don’t think they can keep up and may struggle to move the ball on offense, I think this game ends up 34-7. I doubt Cocalico has seen a team as well rounded and complete all season and Peters rolls like they did last week by 3 scores 34-14, setting up a very good 5A final next week
McDevitt got quite a scare last week from MC, which makes me wonder if they are as big a favorite to repeat as I thought before the playoffs started, I do think they get by Dallas by a couple of TD’s 28-14. Selinsgrove has not seen a team all year with anywhere near the speed and skill as Aliquippa has, they were impressive in beating a very good McKeesport team last week, I see the Quips winning 42-20 setting up the rubber match with McDevitt
In 2A Westinghouse will end Beaver Falls cinderella run and win 35-20, while Southern will roll over Dunmire 31-7 setting up another rematch from last year. In 1A Steel High will handle South Williamsport 35-7, the other semi-final should be a very competitive and close game, wouldn’t be surprised if either team wins, but I’m taking Fort Cherry based on playing a much tougher schedule than Redbank Valley, and they will have the best player on the field in sophomore QB Matt Sieg, who has rushed for almost 2,000 yards and thrown for almost 1,500 and has come up big in every single one of their big games this year, including both games against Bishop Canevin and last week in the WPIAL championship game against South Side.
November 30th, 2023 at 3:12 pm
@ Berk County Fan – thanks, my hunch was right, I see they have completed 44/78 on the year for 765 yards, while rushing for 4,068 yards, obviously one of the keys to the game is whether NW Lehigh can slow down their rushing attack.
November 30th, 2023 at 2:50 pm
@Jeff H
@Saul T
Re: WYO Sounds Like what I’ve been told only seen them last year. They play physical football and have the fundamentals in order. This should be a great game!
Anyone have any predictions?
Do most there guys play both ways?
November 30th, 2023 at 1:19 pm
Here you go Jeff H
https://lancasteronline.com/sports/highschool/stats/?site=default&tpl=TeamInfo&TeamID=314&Season=2023
November 30th, 2023 at 11:14 am
@Cw – I’m trying to find Wyomissing team stats for the season but thus far haven’t been able to locate them, they are primarily a power running team out of the Wing T and don’t throw it very often, I’m guessing they have less than 100 passing attempts this season in their 13 games, they have 6-7 different backs that typically get carries each game so none of them pile up big individual yardage numbers, but combined they rushed for 472 last week against Danville. They wear teams down in the 2nd half and the question for me is whether NW Lehigh can hold up to their rushing attack for 4 quarters.
November 30th, 2023 at 11:04 am
@ Cw No they don’t throw much. Usually 5-6x a game. They’ll try and wear you down with body blows
November 29th, 2023 at 10:47 pm
Looks like enrollment numbers are out, PW moved up to 6a PJP down to 3a
November 29th, 2023 at 6:59 pm
Wyo – Nw Lehigh
Does wyo throw the ball much? Last week they had almost 500yds. I think this is gonna be a great game, both teams have smart coaching staff who adjust well. Nw has great line backers who all have a nose for the ball. That stood out to me the few games I’ve seen this year.
November 29th, 2023 at 4:32 pm
@ Trug – I agree with you, I think this will be a very competitive game that could go either way, I too wonder if Wyomissing’s Wing-T power rushing attack will be too much for NW Lehigh’s defense to handle. I don’t think the other semi-final will be as close as Belle Vernon will be too much to handle for Hickory, BV shut out a very good and undefeated Avonworth team 26-0 last week in the WPIAL final and I don’t think Hickory is as good as Avonworth. On another note this is BV’s last year in 3A as they will be moving back to 4A next year due to enrollment, however, in the just published enrollment numbers Central Valley will be moving back down to 3A after spending the last 2 yr cycle in 4A, I wouldn’t be surprised if Central Valley is preseason #1 in 3A next year.
November 29th, 2023 at 2:25 pm
Anyone have any opinions on the Wyo-Northwestern game? I’m not sure there’s much to say, it seems like a great matchup with two really good teams. If I had to make a choice, I may go with Wyo, but it’s tough to pick against a team that’s undefeated and has smoked a few really good teams. Wing-T and power may be a little too much for Northwestern to handle. Very interested to watch this one.
BRCTV13 has it live Friday night at K-Town.
November 28th, 2023 at 10:13 pm
It’s fair to say that there would be less public/private debate if SJP wasn’t in the picture. But the reality is… SJP *is* in the picture, and they’ve hijacked the system to an annual state title game berth. If it wasn’t SJP, it would be someone else. So you either take the shortcut, which is to separate privates out entirely, or you have to find some alternative.
How about this: If you’re a school that isn’t run by a Pennsylvania school district, at least 75% of your opponents must be from Pennsylvania to be eligible for the state playoffs. Seems fair enough to me.
November 28th, 2023 at 5:36 pm
The Classification Reports are out!
I’ll give a District 2 angle first, but willing to give a few notes elsewhere. I don’t know if there’s any announcements on teams moving up, so I’ll keep my eyes out.
6A
– Just three teams
– Hazleton & Wilkes-Barre don’t change, as expected with history.
– Scranton moves up from 5A.
– I’d maybe expect a four team Subregional with Williamsport, once again. It wouldn’t be shocking if District 4 goes with District 6, while District 2 partners with District 11 for another two year cycle.
5A
– Five teams in the mix
– Same teams as last year: Abington Heights, DV, Pittston, West Scranton, & Valley West round out the field.
– It’ll definitely be a four team playoff. There’s no subregional concerns to worry about.
4A
– As of right now, nine teams are in the class
– Seven teams return to 4A: Crestwood, Dallas, Honesdale, Nanticoke, North Pocono, Valley View, & Wallenpaupack
– Montrose returns to 4A, due to the co-op with Elk Lake & Mountain View
– Carbondale’s jump in cyber students puts them in 4A. I don’t think they’ve ever been higher than a 3A equivalent before. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
– This might be an 8-team bracket & Dallas & Valley View’s to lose. The drop-off between the very good & bad teams here is astounding.
3A
– There are currently eight teams vying for the district title
– Just four teams return, which was this year’s 3A bracket: Hanover Area, Lake-Lehman, Scranton Prep, & Western Wayne
– Dropping down are Berwick, Tunkhannock, & Wyoming Area, from 4A
– Mid Valley returns to 3A for the first time since the COVID cycle.
– I don’t know how the brackets will be with this. This could be a 50/50 bracket, which benefits with the new teams.
2A
– Only five teams play in this bracket.
– All of them are returning teams: Dunmore, Holy Redeemer, Lakeland, Riverside, & Susquehanna.
– This will definitely be a 4-team bracket.
1A
– Three teams are battling for the title.
– Lackawanna Trail & Old Forge don’t go up to 2A.
– Holy Cross drops back down. This was the 2018-19 & 2019-20 region (or the previous cycle)
– Does District 2 keep their District 1 ties with the four team subregional? District 11 & 12 also have a lower number of teams. Maybe I’ll break it down further tomorrow.
I already know the WVC has their divisions out. With these changes, I don’t see Lackawanna League fixing divisions.
I’d consider going by size & competitiveness. I’d also add Montrose back, just for this instance.
– D-I (Large Comp.): Abington Heights, DV, Prep, Scranton, & Valley View
– D-II (Large Weak): Honesdale, North Pocono, Paupack, West Scranton, & Western Wayne
– D-III (Small Comp.): Dunmore, Lakeland, Old Forge, Riverside, & Trail
– D-IV (Small Weak): Carbondale, Mid Valley, Holy Cross, Montrose, & Susquehanna
If no Montrose
– D-I (Large/Competitive 3A/4A): Abington Heights, DV, North Pocono, Prep, Scranton, Valley View, & Western Wayne
– D-II (Mid-Sized/Mid-to-Weak 4A/High-End 2A): Dunmore, Honesdale, Lakeland, Mid Valley, Paupack, & West Scranton
– D-III (Small/Weaker 3-4A): Carbondale, Mid Valley, Holy Cross, Lakeland, Old Forge, & Susquehanna
I put Western Wayne in Division I in this instance because they’ve gone toe to toe with the North Poconos & Valley Views of the world.
Can’t wait to see how the D2 landscape goes in this cycle.
November 28th, 2023 at 9:15 am
Former Downingtown West standout and now former Kansas State QB, Will Howard, has entered the transfer portal. Interested to see where he ends up.
November 27th, 2023 at 12:13 pm
@ Frank G – totally agree with you, I’ve said in the past if SJP was out of the picture there would be very little or no discussion about public vs. private. And your common them is correct, dominant programs have great coaching, you could add Erie Cathedral Prep to your list, dominant under previous coach Mike Mischler, not so much since he retired for the 2nd time
November 26th, 2023 at 10:57 pm
Your Sunday night fun fact…….Today’s NFL contest between Jacksonville and Houston featured two kickers who are both North Penn grads, Brandon McManus for Jax and Matt Ammendola for Houston. Ammendola missed a game trying 58 yard FG that doinked off the crossbar in the waning moments of the game.
Also, two grads from an all boys catholic prep school located in Philly had themselves a nice day for the Eagles down in South Philly earlier today.
November 26th, 2023 at 7:23 pm
Interesting and curious how the 5A semi final game between Imhotep and Strath Haven ended up in the far western ‘burbs of District One and Coatesville. Imhotep and District 12 should have been “hosting” this game. Last year’s eastern 5A game was in D1 and Wissahickon. ‘Tep is on top of the bracket this year. Thought the game for sure would have been at the NE SS. If not at NE, then somewhere just north of the city, like Wissahickon again, Upper Dublin, or maybe even Norristown, who recently hosted a playoff game and a handful of District 12/PCL games this year. Wonder if this is another case of simply no one else in SEPA is willing to host on a Friday night and no other PIAA suitable facilities in D12. The PA high school hoops season tips off on Friday, so guessing many schools will be putting their attention and resources on any basketball games and tip off tournaments. Holiday events going on as well. If I’m Imhotep, I might be a little peeved at this, especially after a very long trip on Saturday. A very nice facility in Coatesville tho.
November 26th, 2023 at 5:04 pm
I’ll correct myself now.
You could say that Wood was dominant for several years, especially when Devlin was coach, and that Pine-Richland was also at least somewhat dominant, especially before they fired Coach K. When you throw in Southern Columbia under Roth, you can see a theme in there somewhere.
November 26th, 2023 at 4:52 pm
@Walter D11 Small correction: SJP has won 7, not 8, of the last large school state championships. They did not win in 2015, 2017 or 2021. Also, I’m interested in what schools you have in mind when you refer to “all star teams.” The only other school that wins lots of championships is Southern Columbia. Scranton Prep and Bonner lost to public schools this weekend and McDevitt almost did. Has IMHOTEP won even one state championship? If it’s just SJP. say it
November 26th, 2023 at 2:41 pm
In the last 10 years, St Joes has won 8 6A state championships. In the previous 10 years no one, (including Pitt Central) won more than 2 with 8 different schools winning at least 1. It is sad that the PIAA doesn’t kick these all star teams in to their own division. No backbone and certainly not looking out for the best interest of the sport and the kids that work so hard all year for a shot at state gold.
November 26th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
Wow, did I get lucky for the upcoming semi finals or what!! Eastern 5A game between Imhotep and Strath Haven at Coatesville Friday night, Eastern 6A game between CBS and SJP at North Penn Saturday afternoon. Now just need the weather to cooperate as well. Guess I will have to postpone my first visits to a local gym for the beginning of hoops season.
November 26th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
I have not commented on here in quite a while, but to be honest, I’m very surprised to see 2 district. 2 teams and Eastern finals have been following football in this area for 60 Years and I thought the area was fairly weak this yeaao so 2 teams advanced to the Eastern finals. I think is a great year for the district. I don’t think it’s happened since 92. So good luck to all.
November 26th, 2023 at 9:57 am
@phillyboy, well it really doesn’t matter who wins to face St. Joes in the Eastern Finals, I thought CBW had a before their QB went down before the season, they adjusted well, but when by the end of the season and they had lost 3 more key starters (two of which were both way starters) I thought that was too much to overcome. Funny at least 3 of them (I think all 4) were ACL’s all on their home field, field issue? Manheim Township sure looked for real, DTE looked for real, Parkland and Nazareth were the best in the Lehigh Valley. But as long as St. Joe’s can pull players from South Jersey, and all-over Southeast Penna, it’s an all-star team playing everyone else. I looked up the Rosters of St. Joe’s, LaSalle & Malvern Prep before the season, between the 3 schools, they had 15 players from the Central Bucks School District on their rosters alone. Found players from as far north as Quakertown as far west as Coatesville. I just don’t get it, how does the PIAA, honestly feel this is fair competition, there needs to be some kind of limitation on it, or their own Class.
November 26th, 2023 at 9:50 am
The Dallas /Bonner game was a great contest,but how can a ref throw a flag for excessive celebration after a team scores in OT? That flag was nonsense . Another contest ruined by someone who feels the need to influence an outcome.
November 25th, 2023 at 11:44 pm
D2 Notes sticks around for one more week! Next week will have two teams to talk about. If you’re in an even class, you had a great week. An odd class? Not really. Let’s start with winners.
4A: Dallas/Bonner-Prendie was definitely an all time classic. I told you guys that B-P or PJP II shouldn’t overlook them. Dallas played exactly how you’d want them to against B-P. The game was just as back & forth as you could imagine & went into OT, to add suspense. Dallas blocked Bonner’s PAT in overtime & the Mounties took care of business answering it & getting the PAT. They get a tough battle with McDevitt. Dallas is better suited against them than Crestwood was. I don’t think it’ll be enough to win though.
2A: Dunmore played a great game against D3’s Camp Hill, but it was pretty close all game long, up until the late stages of the second half. The Bucks got themselves through this battle & need all the luck they can get against that Southern Columbia team. Then again, Southern will end up as the 2A champion the next 10 years it seems.
1A: Trail didn’t play as close of a game against Steel-High, as I hoped. Their undefeated season ends after a blowout loss to the best team in 1A. Steel-High vs. South Billport for a spot in the 1A battle next week. 1A is Steel-High’s to lose.
3A: A close battle all game long with Prep & NW Lehigh, but as I said, Northwestern feels like a team that can get go all the way to Mechanicsburg. Wyo will have a tough battle. I think the Tigers can upset, as it’s my bold prediction. Prep had a great year, & had a signature win in the state playoffs. They usually don’t get as far as they do (except in the 2017-18 seasons), so this is one of their three best seasons ever.
5A: We knew the outcome heading in. The game was closer than any of us up north imagined, if you go by the first half. DV couldn’t overcome a lot of mistakes. I’m proud of DV for making it this far & making it a real game for a half! Imhotep was just too much for them in the end. We’ll see if a District 1 team has a good enough team to surprise people. No clue how Strath matches up.
6A: For the sake of the Subregional, it might be best to not talk about it. District 11 will never win against St. Joe’s, who should not even be in the state playoffs, or at least be in its own bracket with other private schools. The PIAA needs to let D11 play the D3 champ in the first states round, & then get the D12 champ, or District 1. Let’s face it: CB South has zero shot next week.
Honestly, private school tournaments should be run by the NFHS, & be regional. Eastern PA (SJP, Roman, Wood, etc.) can combine with NJ & NY. Western PA (PCC, ECP, etc.) can mix in Ohio, WNY, & WV. Bishop McDevitt maybe can fit in with Baltimore/DC (Proximity). NEPA teams can blend in with NY & NJ. It’ll never happen, because of logistics, but if done right, you’d get real intriguing games. Imagine a playoff with SJP/Bergen Catholic or PCC/St. Edward? I have zero clue who’s good in Upstate NY, to give a Scranton Prep example.
Anywho, Predictions For States. Two changes right now, but not a champion’s change. It’s as predictable as a Hallmark movie now as to the teams making the finals, IMO. I hope I’m wrong on at least a few of the finalists.
– 1A: Steel-High over Redbank Valley
– 2A: Southern (crown them already) over Westinghouse
– 3A: Belle Vernon over Northwestern Lehigh
– 4A: Aliquippa over McDevitt
– 5A: Imhotep over Peters
– 6A: SJP over Harrisburg
One more update on the project I’m working on: I don’t think many will be interested, but for ones who want to know. I have just a few teams in a WPIAL division (the one South Side & Union are in) left to fill in, along with power rating numbers for opponents in 2A/3A leagues for some teams, before I finish the 1A teams up.
I’ll probably post the project sometime this week (Maybe Wednesday) & showcase what I have so far. I needed a break for Thanksgiving weekend. I’ll explain how I did it, & you guys can follow the rest regularly to see what’s updated. That way, I don’t have to constantly share every class. Who knows? Some of you might see me working on it, over time.
There are some intriguing showdowns in both the Northwest & Allegheny brackets, just like the East’s bracket came up with. There’s some good contingency “True EC type” games, which are for all remaining .500 or above teams. It’s just an 8-team playoff for 4 regions. 32 teams in total, so WPIAL & bigger districts can have at least an 8-team playoff in their biggest fields.
All in all. It’s sad that we’re almost at the end of the season. At least the new classifications will be released soon, to see who moves to new classes & who moves up for the success points side. That’s always fun to look at, when it’s released.
November 25th, 2023 at 8:31 pm
What’s up with all these previously undefeated 6A teams getting unceremoniously bounced? I never bought into Parkland being legit, not for a second, nor CB West. Even though it was dubious, thought maybe just maybe Downingtown East might have had something going, but the biggest flop was Manheim Twp. Seemed like they were blowing teams out like they were the high school version of the1981 San Diego Chargers and with their recent state success exuded a certain understated confidence. Man, would be nice if any district outside of D7 could produce a state championship caliber team at least once or twice a decade — is that too much to ask?
November 25th, 2023 at 4:03 pm
@MCA75
A few years ago the Richland or BG game was played at Mansion park in Altoona and I believe that’s their home stadium? It’s been a change since Covid. SCA had one there at home two years ago for the semi final round. Danville probably got eliminated due to them having a game last evening. Regardless if the game was there or not. Not sure if Shamokin is still in the rotation for games any more. That was a common site for D4 state semis previously.
November 25th, 2023 at 1:57 pm
@Kevin X thanks for the info. I just thought it was odd because I have never seen any school get a home playoff game after districts. There are multiple stadiums close by in D4 that should be suitable to host a game.
November 25th, 2023 at 12:52 am
A tale of two Manheims, but the end of the road for both. Manheim Central did everything it needed to and then some to pull off a shocking upset of Bishop McDev. In the end the game was 5 minutes too long. Props to them for an outstanding game plan and an even better effort. On the other hand, Manheim Twp. basically played 30 minutes of football and then went to sleep. The outcome was another Harrisburg furious rally and the ultimate shocking outcome for Twp. All season long Twp. got away with dumb penalties and an offensive line that was highly overrated. That all caught up with them in the end and when their offense needed it the most in overtime, they came up empty. Harrisburg deserved to win and now will be fed to the lions when North Allegheny destroys them.
November 25th, 2023 at 12:21 am
@ MCA75
From a PIAA link that I posted a few weeks ago……..nothing nefarious going on here:
SITE SELECTION PROCESS
The location of first and quarter-final round PIAA Football Contests may be at the home site of the team at the top of the bracket if:
1. Both competing teams are located in PIAA Districts on the East or West Regions of the state.
2. Competing teams are located in separate East and West Regions, but the PIAA Districts of the competing teams are contiguous.
3. Otherwise, Contest will be held at a location between the two involved PIAA Districts at a site selected by the PIAA Football Tournament Director
If the home site does not meet the requirements of the Facility and Field Checklist, the contest may be played at a site in the PIAA District of the team at the top of the bracket that meets those requirements.
The final determination of the host site will be dependent on the appropriateness of the site while using the Facility and Field Checklist.
The PIAA Executive Director is the final authority on Contest Site Selections.
November 25th, 2023 at 12:17 am
@Foleman
Hahaha, your a dime a dozen cupcake. On any Board????? Again, you continue to spew incompetence. Banished after beating in an apartment? So there was an apartment? I need more details….Do you understand how foolish you continue to look? You can say whatever you want about me Mr. incognito, but we can meet up and you can mention my son face to face. Just a friendly suggestion. And you still haven’t answered one question. So next time you are sitting down to pee, come up with something of substance to provide to the Forum. Google “Fact and Fiction”, to increase your IQ before you spew more. You’re the real blow hard, but with a mask on. I’ll give you one little fact here on the web…there was nothing to out, so no one outed. Way deeper than that. But you can buy my book when it’s done. I may even use the fictional character name “Foleman”. And Still State Champions.
November 25th, 2023 at 12:14 am
Wyomissing with 480 on the ground against 12-1 Danville. Nice W, 48-27. Should be a slobberknocker next week against NW Lehigh
November 25th, 2023 at 12:13 am
Ouch, tough night, rough night for the greater Lancaster area. Ephrata, Manheim Central and Township all see their respected seasons come to an end. Central and Township, yeeesh!!!, you guys had them!! Thought I’d have some more interest going into the semi final weekend. Oh well, at least I get one more local game to go to as Central Bucks South should be playing somewhere within a stones throw from me.
November 24th, 2023 at 11:37 pm
Mike Unger, Your back! The biggest blow hard on any HS football board. I thought you were banished forever after the beating you took years ago with your apartment dwelling son. If BC is giving out free scholarships then they are doing a pretty lousy job doing it as they have been getting blown out by every good team they played the last few years. One thing I would love to know who outed your son years ago to the PIAA.
November 24th, 2023 at 11:36 pm
Nw Lehigh is playing some great football!
I know there scout/coaches have been in person scouting wyo .prep, NG, Danville for several weeks already. This team is very well prepared. They adjust very well in game situations.The kids have bought into the game planning which is many hours each week. It’s special to watch.
Good luck to all teams still playing this time of the year it’s all about the kids with their desire and commitment.
November 24th, 2023 at 11:00 pm
@D11 Matt. I know JC is disgusted that Northwestern blew their doors off.. lmao.
November 24th, 2023 at 10:37 pm
Maybe you should ask the PIAA, they make the schedule. BTW, Southern 18 Bald Eagle Area 8. Go Tigers!
November 24th, 2023 at 10:14 pm
@JC…Yes.
Northwestern won a pretty convincing 27-6 win over Scranton Prep. Looks like they get Wyo next week. They do have one common opponent…..Pottsville. NW won 56-14, Wyo won 41-7. Wyo is favorite but Northwestern will give them a game.
November 24th, 2023 at 9:53 pm
Northwestern Lehigh is for real!
They are very physical on defense!
They are very disciplined on offense and the play calling is something special to see!
They take over a game and it’s lights out!
November 24th, 2023 at 9:49 pm
@JC What a phenomenal performance by NW Lehigh once again. Josh Snyder continues to do his thing.
November 24th, 2023 at 8:02 pm
How does Southern Columbia get a game at their home stadium in the state playoffs?
November 24th, 2023 at 1:00 pm
@Foleman,
11yrs later and you need a life. Didn’t look into any facts (just as any other butthurt person out there). I assume with your false screen name, you are a BC person, or an old Fwood person who still has no idea what they spat. Let’s meet up and chat about facts. I’ll let you buy me a beer as well. I’m not hard to find. So tell everyone…who stashed my son in an apartment in Wyomissing? Who paid for that? Was he living there? Tell us all please since you think to know what the situation was. Tell everyone what role Unger had with the team during the season???? Come on FOLEMAN lol. Also, what does Wyo have on the PIAA ? I can school you with facts on here or in person and make you look silly both ways. As for recent transfers to Wyo, you are clueless on that subject as well, but keep spatting your inept info behind a screen. Trust me, you are just making so many laugh. Oh, and Unger would never have transferred to BC,,,even with those free recruiting scholarships.
November 23rd, 2023 at 3:13 pm
@D11 Matt did you graduate from northern lehigh
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:19 pm
Santa, or shall we call you Bad Santa as Kris Kringle can’t possibly be as old and crotchety as you?
I’m not sure why you’d think I never played or how you think I could give a complete description of the horrendous conditions of that cow patty you call a field if I wasn’t actually at the game standing in the rain. Seeing as though the majority of Troy fans were under the cover of the grandstand roof or their canopies they put up behind the end zone, I’m not sure you have much leeway to suggest SCA fans are the weak ones here. Not everyone that comes to games is equipped to slide through mud and SCA has some very dedicated disabled fans who have just as much right to enjoy the game as you or I do.
Perhaps your side did partake in too much whiskey before the game and that explains so many commenting that this game was the equivalent of states.
I personally wouldn’t call kids names because I’m a grown adult who clearly has more empathy for others than you do. Over a million Americans died from Covid. SCA’s previous AD was one of them. It wasn’t created by anyone, but it certainly was poorly handled by that administration.
@78TigerFan, I think their coach thought their team would have the advantage in those conditions until he saw they did not. They may use this as reasoning to build a real field. There certainly is a valid argument they need one. Do they have the funds though to pull it off? Is there enough land by the school to put up a field? I can’t imagine people are still defending that abysmal facility.
November 23rd, 2023 at 10:45 am
Predictions and comments on the Western games this week
6A – NA beat McDowell by 3 TDs early in the season up in Erie, this game is on their home field, it might be close for a while but I would be surprised if NA doesn’t win this game by 2-3 scores, setting up a very interesting matchup next week with the winner of the MT-Harrisburg game.
5A – as I outlined last weekend Peters was very impressive in blowing out Pine Richland for their first WPIAL title, very good defense, balanced offense, and their sophomore QB Nolan DiLucia is a rising star, Erie Prep doesn’t lose to a WPIAL team at home very often, but I think Peters is a complete team and wins this game by 2 TDs
4A – I picked McKeesport to beat Aliquippa before the playoffs started, and I’m not going back on that prediction now, then again I thought McKeesport had a good chance against them last year, and in a game I attended Aliquippa dominated from the start and won 42-7, after beating them in double OT the year before. McKeesport’s triple option running game is tough to defend, and with 6’2″ 255 lb fullback Keith Spell and a couple of really good tailbacks in his younger brother Kemon and leading rusher Anthony Boyd they are a handful to stop, all three have scored double digit TDs this season. I think McKeesport has the advantage in the trenches this year, which was not the case the last 2 years, and I think they manage to squeak out a win. This is Aliquippa’s 16th straight appearance in the WPIAL title game which is mind boggling in a district like the WPIAL, that’s like the Chiefs or Patriots playing in 16 straight AFC championship games.
3A – rematch from last year’s final, Avonworth is very good, but Belle Vernon is on a different level, I think BV wins by 2 scores and will be back in the state final in a few weeks to defend their title
2A – another rematch from last year won by SV 34-14, BF has been rolling in the playoffs, and SV is not as good as last year, but I still think they win their 2nd straight WPIAL title by 10 points
Westinghouse travels to Farrell in another rematch from last year, I picked Farrell to get to the state final before the playoffs started, but the House has been more impressive the last 3 weeks, so I’m picking Westinghouse to win and then win again next week and advance to the final for a rematch with Southern
1A – great matchup with 2 undefeated teams in the first game of the day at Acrisure, Fort Cherry has never won a WPIAL title and has a superstar in sophomore QB Matt Sieg, South Side has not won a WPIAL title since 1999 and counters with a Wing-T offense and punishing ground game, both teams have very good defenses, I’ll take South Side by a TD.
Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving and enjoys the games this weekend!
November 23rd, 2023 at 10:23 am
Saul T, yes it was Unger who should have not been allowed to play at all and Wyo should have had been put on probation for knowingly stashing a football player in their school district. Does Wyo beat Imhotep and Alliquippa without Unger? That’s up for debate, Unger was clearly better than the starting QB who moved back to wide receiver during the Semi and state finals to make way for Unger. Here’s another tidbit, Unger was practicing with the team the entire season so it wasn’t like he was thrown in there without any practice for the semi’s and state final. Answer me this, if Unger transferred to Berks Catholic do you think the same rules would apply?
November 23rd, 2023 at 8:53 am
@santa
Do you feel superior now?
November 23rd, 2023 at 7:39 am
Hey Brian,
Do you think that Coach Smith’s comment about the field conditions at the Troy game was his way of getting the attention the right people of their school district to build their own stadium? I’m sure it’s been talked about over the years.
November 22nd, 2023 at 5:35 pm
Brian,
I bet you never even played any sports and probably you are still wearing your mask from a virus that your president created. There’s nothing wrong with mud and the game was played in mud for 80 years. Stop eating your Doritos and live-streaming the game and go watch it in the rain. If you are too weak for the conditions then drink some whiskey to get the blood flowing. Mount Carmels two timer Mike was there in the rain calling Troy kids names so you can too. By the way pass it on that I’m having an open try out for mike to be one of my elves. Good luck to southern go win another and to Brian just stay warm I’d hate for you to get your sneakers dirty in the November rain.
November 22nd, 2023 at 4:01 pm
When your undefeated you usually do execute better than anyone you play. What’s worse me saying northwestern Lehigh coaches are not one of the best in the state yet and they had a great season with a weak schedule ( not there fault) league was down, and in this coaches tenure they have never one a state playoff game so don’t put them there yet or you people not having any sense and somehow making them better than they have shown yet. I don’t hate nw Lehigh, they can win a state title this year, but they have never moved past this point in this coaches tenure, so why is he one of the best?
November 22nd, 2023 at 10:58 am
JC. No one is saying he’s clearly the best in the state by any means. I do believe he’s a great coach, and their staff as a whole is also great. Their team is well run and execute very very well.
A lot of times in high school football, you see a lot of wacky things for lack of better words. You don’t see that with Northwestern, it’s clean football with really good execution on both sides of the ball. And that directly goes back to the head coach and staff.
November 22nd, 2023 at 10:46 am
@Foleman – apparently he must have met one of the exceptions to the rule, but the PIAA is usually pretty strict about them, so I would like to know which exception he used to qualify, does the family live in the Wyomissing district or did they move into the district? Here’s the section in the PIAA bylaws that cover transfers and postseason eligibility after 9th, 10th and 11th grades
1. A waiver of Section 7 A1, A2, A3 and B, postseason
ineligibility may be granted upon submission of necessary
documentation to a District Committee and the determination by
the District Committee upon clear and convincing evidence by
the student, through the student’s school, that the transfer was
necessitated by exceptional and unusual circumstances beyond
the reasonable control of the student’s family. The District
Committee has discretion to grant such waiver without a hearing
upon receipt of appropriate supporting documentation, as set
forth below, demonstrating that a waiver is justified. Requests
lacking the required documentation, or, in the opinion of the
Committee, providing inadequate documentation, may still be
considered under Subsection 2 below.
a. A transfer following a local child welfare agency approved
change in residence;
Documentation required: proof of child welfare
organization approval of change of residence.
b. A school-initiated administrative transfer within a school
district;
Documentation required: the official school district
transfer document.
c. A transfer following a court order directing such transfer or
change in residence;
Documentation required: copy of the court order.
d. A transfer caused by a military reassignment of a parent;
Documentation required: copy of the military transfer
document.
e. A transfer caused by release from a juvenile facility;
Documentation required: copy of the official release
document.
f. A transfer following a school’s decision to terminate its
interscholastic athletic program;
Documentation required: copy of the minutes or
directives confirming the school’s official action.
g. A transfer following a bona fide change of residence
resulting from a change in employer of a parent;
Documentation required: proof of (1) new residential
arrangements (lease or purchase documents); and (2)
the change of employer (a job reclassification or shift
hours change with a current employer will not support a
request under this provision).
h. A transfer following an involuntary substantial change in
financial condition and resources that compels
withdrawal from a school.
Documentation required: documents showing (1) a
substantial reduction in family income and, (2) that
tuition assistance was sought and denied or was
insufficient to overcome the substantial reduction in
family income.
i. A transfer occurring after a school closes;
Documentation required: proof of school closure.
j. A transfer resulting from bullying, harassment, or other
misconduct directed at the student.
Documentation required: (1) written corroboration from
persons unrelated to the student and/or the student’s
family that the alleged misconduct occurred, and (2) a
letter from school administration that confirms the
student timely sought assistance of appropriate school
personnel to address such misconduct and that the
school agrees that a transfer was appropriate.
k. A transfer because of violence, or a threat of violence,
directed against the student.
Documentation required: copy of the police and/or
school report(s) of the incident(s). A general assertion
of dangerous conditions in a school or community will
not support a request under this provision.
So, which of these exceptions did he meet to be eligible, would love to hear an explanation from someone that knows. As for the 2012 situation I don’t believe these transfer rules were not in effect at that time but sounds like they got around the residency requirement by nefarious means.
November 22nd, 2023 at 9:35 am
JC, I’m not saying he’s the best in the state. Others on here are not either. We are not saying the team is the best in the state, nobody else is either. We are just saying they are a very good team and have a chance this year. What’s wrong with that? This topic is done as far as I’m concerned. You seem to have it out for northwestern and or the colonial league. Best of luck to Northwestern and Nazareth next weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody!
November 22nd, 2023 at 9:12 am
@Foleman. “Wyo is a school that won their only state championship with a Quarterback from fleetwood”….You must be referencing Unger. Who was deemed ineligible for 1 year from date of transfer and wasn’t able to play until the state semis vs Imhotep….and he was hardly the difference maker vs Quips in Hershey
November 21st, 2023 at 10:38 pm
I love when someone makes no sense in what they say but don’t know there making no sense. Yes yes NW Lehigh 25 years ago made it further than they will this year. Yes the coach now was a player and an assistant coach back then. But what the hell does that have to do with him being possibly the best coach in the state, he’s never won a state playoff game as a head coach. The colonial league blinders you people put on make ray Charles look like a hawk. Southern Lehigh is not a state caliber team, nor is blue Mt, Notre Dame was down and palmerton one trick pony. I’m not saying they didn’t play great I’m saying winning against colonial league teams and beating the best r not the same. There coach might be the best, This team might go all the way, ahhh no they won’t
November 21st, 2023 at 10:20 pm
@Kevin X, Heywood did not play beyond the Pac title game not eligible due to transfere rule. I can’t confirm this but I believe the Pac coaches voted him 2nd team all league in the ultimate act of pettiness.Had a great year invited to All American bowl and yet not on the first team. Lot of sour grapes in that league,
November 21st, 2023 at 8:03 pm
PJP’S Heywood and Tep’s Denmark ineligible for the playoffs but Wyomissing’s Marvin Armistead, who transferred over from Berks Catholic his Sr Year is eligible? What gives here? Who does Wyo have pictures of at PIAA Headquarters? And Wyo is a school that won their only state championship with a Quarterback from fleetwood who transferred in his Sr year that was stashed in a Wyomissing apartment and still somehow got to play. People complain about the Private School transfers from Public Schools but I can tell you that several Public School programs in Berks County are among the dirtiest in the State!
November 21st, 2023 at 2:29 pm
Sending my picks for Thanksgiving & Elite 8 early. Hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey Day!
Thanksgiving Week Picks (First one was played, but I had a prediction written down by then).
– Gratz (PPL) 23, Kensington (PPL) 19
– Future (PPL) 30, Belmont Charter (12) 7
– O’Hara (12) 28, Marple-Newtown (1) 14
– Easton (11) 21, Phillipsburg (NJ) 20
– N’Hampton (EPC) 45, Catty (C-S) 14
– Roman (PCL) 33, Frankford (PPL) 10
– Arch. Ryan (PCL) 27, Geo. Wash. (PPL) 6
– Ben Franklin (PPL) 24, Dobbins (PPL) 11
– Father Judge (PCL) 38, Lincoln (PPL) 8
– Haverford (Central) 23, Upper Darby (Central) 15
– Neumann-Goretti (PCL) 49, South Philly (PPL) 8
– MLK (PPL) 42, Olney Charter (PPL) 0
– West Philly (PPL) 29, Overbrook (PPL) 16
– Ridley (Central) 25, Interboro (DVL) 14
– Quakertown (SOL) 36, Pennridge (SOL) 22
– Bristol (BAL) 24, Morrisville (BAL) 3
– Northeast (PPL) 42, Central (PPL) 6
– Chichester (DVL) 24, Sun Valley (Central) 7
District 2 Picks
– 1A: Steel-High 29, Lack. Trail 28
– 2A: Dunmore 37, Camp Hill 14
– 3A: NW Lehigh 34, Scranton Prep 24
– 4A: Bonner-Prendie 27, Dallas 16
– 5A: Imhotep 35, Delaware Valley 14
1A
– Cambria Heights (6) 35, South Williamsport (4) 25
– Redbank Valley (9) 42, Cambridge Springs (10) 10
– WPIAL Final: Fort Cherry 26, South Side 23
2A
– So. Columbia (4) 28, BEA (6) 10
– Farrell (10) 28, Westinghouse (8) 14
– WPIAL Final: Steel Valley 35, Beaver Falls 20
3A
– Wyomissing (3) 32, Danville (4) 21
– Central (6) 31, Hickory (10) 13
– WPIAL Final: Belle Vernon 31, Avonworth 16
4A
– D3 Final: McDevitt 35, Manheim Central 15
– WPIAL Final: Quips 31, McKeesport 22
– Selinsgrove (4) 41, Juniata (6) 16
5A
– D1 Final: Strath Haven 31, Chester 19
– D3 Final: Cocalico 23, Ephrata 20
– Peters (7) 24, ECP (10) 21
6A
– SJP (12) 30, Nazareth (11) 11
– D1 Final: D’town West 28, CB South 17
– D3 Final: Harrisburg 38, Manheim Twp. 24
– North Allegheny (7) 22, McDowell (10) 16
November 21st, 2023 at 12:52 pm
Heywood – PJP – Not eligible
Denmark – Not eligible – has not played
Bonner is 10-2 and playing two Freshman QB’s. They are young, I’ve been impressed with what they do
Chester has played very well, can definitely see them winning this week against Strath Haven
CB South – I believe will beat DT West
November 21st, 2023 at 12:04 pm
@ Kevin X – I did not make it to the WPIAL 6A game last Saturday as I had a prior commitment, but I’m not surprised NA won, once PR exposed PCC’s defensive weakness in week 6 I thought NA had a good chance to win the rematch, they ran for 358 yards against PCC’s defense that has 3 Power 5 linebackers, including 240 by QB Logan Kushner. The game started with a 99 yard kickoff return for a TD by PCC, but NA took control from there. For the 4 WPIAL playoff games at Acrisure on Friday it will be cash at the gate, tickets also available online if fans prefer that method that you and I hate! NA should beat McDowell on their home field this week, they beat them by 3 TDs early in the season up in Erie, I think NA against the D3 winner next week will be a very good game.
Tyseer Denmark is ineligible for the playoffs due to the transfer rules
@MCA75 – Steel Valley is good but not as good as last year, and they are going to have their hands full with Beaver Falls in the WPIAL final, I think the winner of the Westinghouse-Farrell game this weekend will face Southern in the state final, very well could be a rematch of last year. Speaking of Beaver Falls, they gave up 3 pick 6’s to Wash High last week and still managed to win 28-26, has anyone ever heard of a team giving up 3 of them and still winning? BF was one of the preseason favorites to win WPIAL 2A, but they had a rough regular season with some injuries and lost 3 games by a field goal or less, they are peaking at the right time and will give SV a battle this week.
November 21st, 2023 at 10:51 am
Also JC,
Josh Snyder was a senior in the 97 district championship team that lost in eastern finals to South Williamsport and was an assistant on the 02 team that lost to Mount Carmel in eastern final. He was a WR at Lehigh from 98-01.
November 21st, 2023 at 10:08 am
Berks Catholic Head Coach Rick Keeley Resigns. Keeley coached a total of 48 years, 38 years as a Head Coach at Holy Name, Hamburg and Berks Catholic, his overall record was 280-160-3. He went 118-41-3 at Berks Catholic, his teams won 4 District 3 titles. He started Coaching out of College at St.Pius X in Pottstown where he played for legendary coach Jim Mich. keeley was also an all conference nose guard at Kutztown. You wont find a nicer man than Coach Keeley. His program has been on a downward trend the last several years with the last 2 being losing seasons. Several big time transfers out of the program to Public Schools has had a negative affect on the program. The transfer rule also has neutered their ability to reload. Assistant Head Coach Dave Stahler will probably get the job, I doubt many BC folks will be happy about this as he and a few of his assistant coaches were the reason for the mass exodus of talented players leaving the team.
November 21st, 2023 at 9:59 am
@JC, really? What do you have against Northwestern Lehigh. Nobody said they are winning a state title. People are just saying, me included, that they are a very good team. As an alum of their rival, I haven’t seen a northwestern Lehigh team this good since the early 2000s. Does that mean they win this week? No. But they are a fun team to watch. They beat a 5A team that was in dist championship by mercy rule, a good blue mountain team, a solid Notre Dame GP team and then beat a 12-0 team that has an all state QB. I’m not sure what more you want. Anyway, good luck to Northwestern this week.
November 21st, 2023 at 9:32 am
@ Foleman & Irish 1
Do you guys know if Heywood played?? If not, was he ineligible due to the transfer rules?? Did he play in the two District One playoff games?? Not that I think it really mattered in ultimate outcome with all of the PJPII turnovers.
Speaking of transfers, any sightings of Tyseer Denmark?? Ineligible, injured, other?? I watched some of the Imhotep/MLK 5A PPL Championship game 2 weeks ago and he was nowhere to be seen on or off the field.
November 21st, 2023 at 3:06 am
D11 matt and there coach now was probably 13 years old. How does that make him one of the best? NW Lehigh will lose. You don’t agree that NW Lehigh played in a week division. Who played for a district title in there division? That’s right nobody. The colonial likes playing all conference schedules. Which makes for them never seeing different competition. I think it costs them in states. Pottsville plays wyomissing and jersey shore, ns plays Mt. Carmel. NW Lehigh plays the same old teams. And whoever you are that mancrushes NW Lehigh, so this brilliant mind decided to build from the lower levels and run the same offenses thru school, no one’s done that before accept bucktail maybe. You have made NW Lehigh a state power before they have won a state game. The only thing they have going for them is they can compete with prep, goretti no.id rather listen to Harry kalas calling routine pop ups home runs then here u give NW Lehigh state power cresentials
November 20th, 2023 at 10:11 pm
Coach Roth and his staff are well aware of Bald Eagle’s strengths and weaknesses, and will have a defensive plan prepared. My prediction is the starting defense doesn’t give up a point, and BEA scores late, long after the outcome has been decided. Southern 42, Bald Eagle 7.
November 20th, 2023 at 9:21 pm
Idk how good Westinghouse/ Farrell/Steel Valley are this year but I don’t see Southern being challenged by anyone left in the East. I’ll be surprised if BEA keeps it within 3 TDs and the next game will probably be over by halftime.
November 20th, 2023 at 8:22 pm
@ Jay
DTE had a game scheduled at Academy Park mid season that was cancelled because of threats. They considered playing that Monday, but ultimately just cancelled the game and I guess called it a no contest. No forfeit loss or win was given. Just an unintended bye week and move on to the next game.
DTE RB Ayden Harris was also very instrumental in their record. He was the leading RB in District One this year. I saw him against DTW in their regular season game. No way did I see what happened Friday night coming. I was all set to come back to Kottmeyer this Friday for the Championship game with DTE against CB South. Guess the silver lining for me is that CB South is a lot closer, unless I decide to mix with things up and head north to the Lehigh Valley (Prep/NWL).
Thinking if DTW wins (and SJP does as well) that the 6A eastern final next week might be in Coatesville. District One is on the top of the bracket this year and will host. If CB South wins, guessing Upper Dub or Wissahickon will have the honors, or crazy thought, CB West.
November 20th, 2023 at 8:07 pm
@ Jeff H
Thank you Sir!! That tho was only half my prediction, as I do believe I mentioned that Scranton Prep would also beat the D11 champ. I have no reason to go back on that statement, nor will I. Good thing that was my only on the record prediction. I would not have fared too well otherwise. Only had DelVal, CS South and Chester winning. Parkland, Valley View, PJPII, DTE, RC and Springfield Delco would have all done me in. I was at the latter’s game against Strath Haven Friday night. Another excellent contest in Wallingford on a perfect night in mid November for football that came down to a final seconds field goal attempt. This one tho was short by about 5 yards and this time SH prevailed. I will reiterate, the Strath Haven band rocks!! Fleetwood Mac, Bruno Mars, Blink 182!!
Did you make the WPIAL 6A championship game?? That one appeared to have been a crazy fun barnburner of a game.
Good to hear your are still using good ole US paper currency to get into games. That game two weeks ago you went to that you had the issue with still strikes me as odd. Guess it was the home school’s call and policy. Curious to know what the arrangement is this weekend with the games at the Steeler’s stadium. You are aware I’m sure that once games reach the PIAA level, all are via on-line ticketing only. I’ve been adjusting for football (not liking it), but other sports (and playoffs), not so much. We’ll see what this upcoming hoops season brings.
November 20th, 2023 at 6:32 pm
Not to bring back the good old days, but all talk about Troy’s muddy field brings back memories of a Blakely/Minersville Eastern Conference final in the 60’s.
Granted, it’s a different world today with state playoffs, but that game was played in almost a foot of mud. They just played and made the best of it. Safety of players wasn’t considered.
Now with turf fields, all games should be played there. BTW Blakely won.
November 20th, 2023 at 4:22 pm
@Brian – I don’t have any information about the Farrell players in question but don’t believe everything you read on Facebook, the PIAA is pretty strict with the transfer rules and ineligibility for the playoffs, so unless the players met certain well defined exceptions to the rule they will not be playing in the playoffs, maybe NW PA can chime in because he’s a D10 guy.
@D2 Fan – the WPIAL has been using neutral sites for playoff games for decades, most quarterfinals and all semi-finals and finals are played at neutral fields, all must have turf and adequate seating, sounds like D4 should consider adopting a similar policy as the WPIAL and D11 have.
November 20th, 2023 at 2:40 pm
@jc
I don’t agree with you regarding NW Lehigh being in a weak division. You have a right to your opinion. Nw is a program that has been working towards improving to be at the next level of hs football started many years back starting with youth program.
The coaches have been together since head coach josh Snyder took over the program and set expectations. Most of the kids in the program grow up in the school district and started at youth especially the past 4years it’s been the same kids up through. I saying facts this program has all the things needed to be at that level with the teams you say are regulars in state bracket. Now they must prove they belong!
That’s why they play the game.
Scranton prep won that game with NG because they were disciplined. They have a good all around team. NG was big in size but they took many plays off. NW is a very disciplined team I have seen them in person this year 2 games they are well coached!
November 20th, 2023 at 2:21 pm
@ Brian
What you said makes me think: Should District 4 take a page out of District 11 & have neutral site finals in 1-4A? Anyone else can chime in.
Seeing what you said makes me think that District 4 should. More fields, honestly, should be available for the playoffs, if they’re suited. Williamsport, Danville, Selinsgrove, & maybe Shamokin (I believe they had a neutral site state game once, correct me if I mixed it up) are probably good enough fits to host finals. It’d be cool if they made a deal at Bloomsburg’s stadium (the college).
November 20th, 2023 at 11:32 am
@ Foleman, i agree with your points. I do believe if PJP and Bonner played ten times PJP probably wins most of them. Bonner came to play and I dont think PJP adjusted to Bonner’s quickness on defense fast enough and it cost them. They could get away with a screen pass inside their own five against most teams on the schedule.Then fumbling inside their own five right after that kind of gave you the feeling it wasnt going to be their day.The drive where they could have changed the game and cut the lead in half was the back breaker. I will never understand why coaches feel the need to get away from what got them down the field when they get near the goal line. . That should have been six points there. .PJP is a well coached team so cant complain too much,I think they would probably like to have a few of those calls back. In the end everyone is probably just playing for the right to get handled by McDevitt by multiple scores, it just would have been fun to keep playing and get a chance against them. Great season,anytime you win 12 games, league and district titles lot to be proud of. Good luck to the remaining teams.
November 20th, 2023 at 11:09 am
@Brian – Very well said. Hopefully it changes going forward because that venue just simply isn’t suited to host championship games. Not everyone has a great facility to host these games, which is perfectly fine. It’s not about fans crying and complaining, it’s about having a venue that works for both sets of fans, and will provide adequate playing conditions for both teams. And that game on Friday just wasn’t even close to providing that.
November 20th, 2023 at 10:59 am
@Helen Ann Long – I agree with you, especially since the game is at Southern, I think Bald Eagle will keep it close into the 2nd half but Southern will eventually wear them down and win by a couple of scores, I don’t expect this game to be a blowout win for Southern. Bald Eagle has a very good QB and passing attack so it will be interesting to see how Southern defends against their explosive offense.
@D2 Fan – Redbank Valley vs. the WPIAL winner will be a very competitive game and I wouldn’t be surprised if Redbank Valley won, but I think the WPIAL winner has the advantage in playing a much tougher schedule. I also think the winner of the Westinghouse-Farrell game will beat the WPIAL winner next week in the semi-finals, that game is at Farrell so they certainly have a bit of an advantage playing on their home field.
November 20th, 2023 at 9:54 am
It may have been a blessing that the District 4 AA final was played at Troy as an official from District 4 had to show up to present the trophy. Certainly he noticed the small muddy area on top of the visitor’s bleachers the cheerleaders had to themselves (maybe 5 feet wide) that they were slipping around in, the fact the visiting band couldn’t safely go onto the muddy field at halftime to play, and the fact that SCA fans had to stand on the top of the 5 high bleachers in order to see over the football players and cheerleaders on the sidelines to still have an abysmal view of the field. He certainly had to walk over the same mud that the rest of us slopped through in order to get to the SCA sidelines. The comments by the Troy coach that his team lost because of the field conditions is ridiculous. SCA was sliding around in the same mud that Troy was and it certainly slowed them down and threw off their passing game as well. They insisted they play there and the only advantage to them ended up being that their fans could sit under the cover of their grandstand and stand under their portable canopies they set up behind the goal posts. Die hard SCA fans stood in the rain on crappy bleachers and many stayed home and watched it online. The idea that SCA fans are bandwagon fans is pretty funny since many of these fans have been following the Tigers religiously since the 80s and have even traveled as far as South Carolina to watch them play. We have now gone to this field twice and last year cars had to be pulled out of the mud in the parking lot behind the visitor’s bleachers. This year many of us opted to park with the home team but then had to slide our way on foot a distance to get to the visitor’s side. Yes, Troy had far more fans that attended their local game, but this is the same group of fans that when the game was at SCA in previous years didn’t have enough fans in our bleachers to represent parents for each kid playing and they had a decent set of bleachers awaiting them. As stated earlier, games aren’t won by how many fans you have at a game. We’re excited to have an unexpected home game this Friday. I’m sure that our fans will be excited to pack the stands from this point forward. There definitely needs to be a bar set for what is acceptable conditions to host these games. Thankfully none of the kids were injured because of these conditions, but no team should have to play in that mess. Troy fans wanted to say that Friday’s game was the equivalent of the state championships for AA….SCA isn’t that naive to think that they won states at this point.
Now, moving forward, has anyone heard that there were a few players on western teams that the PIAA wasn’t sure it was going to allow play because of transfer rules? I read a post on a Facebook group where someone mentioned two of those players were key players for Farrell. Wouldn’t the PIAA rules have kept these players from participating in previous games?
November 20th, 2023 at 9:17 am
JC. Northwestern has won some state playoff games. They lost in the eastern final in the mid 90s and in 2002.
November 20th, 2023 at 4:51 am
Ok lets face facts, I dont think nw lehigh has ever won a state playoff game out of a district title. They have been great, there coaches seem to be great coaches but lets have them or any other team from district 11 win a state playoff game before they move ahead of the countless teams who have went deep into state playoffs. Nw lehigh is the best 3a district 11 team, that might not mean much. Southern lehigh, blue mountain, palmerton and notre dame r the only meaningful wins, nd was over rated, southern lehigh was the second best team in a weak division, palmerton should never have even been in the 3a title game if ns had a coach with a brain, so who did nw lehigh beat? Maybe they are one of the best ever or maybe scranton prep will bear them and d11 3a will go out with a wimper again. Thats my guess
November 20th, 2023 at 1:05 am
In my comment below, first paragraph, I’m talking about East’s defense of course. A case of poor syntax and no editing.
November 20th, 2023 at 1:02 am
I went to the Downingtown East vs. West game on Friday. This was the first time seeing East and second time seeing West (the other being when they beat Coatesville). Looking at their schedule and seeing all of those shutouts and a total of something like 33 points allowed the whole season leading into this game, it was obvious that their defense was the main reason they were 11-0 (they only played 9 regular season games, I’m not sure what happened tbh, I haven’t looked into it).
My first reaction after about a quarter and a half was that East plays an incredibly predictable offense. I understand that they have a very good RB, and I also understand that many high school programs are extremely run-heavy. I get all that. But when that stops working for you, when you continue to get stuffed for little to no yardage, some semblance of a passing game is crucial. Now I’m not sure if this game was just a fluke for East, but they just did not adjust. Aside from a couple long runs, West sniffed out everything that East did.
West’s offense, on the other hand, was quite dynamic. Of course they didn’t light up the scoreboard but again we’re talking about a juggernaut East defense. West’s two touchdowns were a beautiful Hail Mary pass as the clock expired at halftime (which I’d love to see an instant replay of… that was incredibly close from my view… the very back of the end zone and I think one foot and just barely…) and the second score came at the end of the fourth quarter after they had East pinned back on the one yard line after a beautiful punt. They forced a three-and-out and an East punt from the end zone that only reached I think the 35 yard line. From there, the West QB took charge and used all of his offensive weapons to get down to about the five yard line, and then he ran it in on a QB sweep to the right with about 20 seconds to go. That was it.
A very scrappy game. West was the scrappier of the two. They needed to be. I don’t know a thing about CB South other than they squeaked by Coatesville in a game that should’ve gone to OT, and they routed an injury-riddled CB West. So I don’t know how to predict this game, aside from mutual opponents which is only Coatesville, but I’ve always found that method faulty. I went to Dtown before the split so I’ll root for West but idk. I haven’t looked at the bracket setup but I assume the winner will have the honor of being shellacked by The Prep.
Regardless… I love this time of the year.
November 19th, 2023 at 10:30 pm
Bald Eagle Area looks good on paper, but most of the teams they played have poor W-L records. Not saying they aren’t a good team but SCA will come up with a game plan to win this one as they always do. Troy gave them an admirable first half, but SCA knows how to wear teams down. Richland gave them good games in the past but could not keep up with them in the second half. BEA will give them a good game but not good enough to win this one.
November 19th, 2023 at 6:43 pm
SCA’s recent 14 point margin of victory will likely be the smallest it incurs, on their journey to another state title.
November 19th, 2023 at 2:32 pm
@ Jeff H & D11 Matt
About the West Final possibility; Redbank Valley definitely doesn’t have the schedule that WPIAL goes through, that’s a great point. I’ve noticed that in the project I’m working on, & think most D9 (D10 too) programs should schedule outside of district in the first few weeks. I gave Redbank an edge because the program has recently been there before. The spotlight might not be as big for them as a team that hasn’t made a run past the WPIAL in a while (or ever).
Trail is going to give Steel-High a game. Maybe WQMY will be nice enough to broadcast it this weekend. They’ve been close to being knocked out of the playoffs the last few years, but I’m not going to say Trail will win. Shoutout to NoBedCo on a hard fought battle. District 5 never shows up in states, so that’s the best effort I’ve seen from a team that way.
Yeah, I might be premature with Southern, but I might be half-joking. It feels like they’re almost unstoppable. Bald Eagle does look like a solid team. If they upset them, that’d be something. I think we’ll get a rematch of ‘17 in the East final, & whoever comes out west will give them some good competition. Farrell/Westinghouse is going to be a good one. I’d love to see Westy one more time in the finals. They’d have revenge on their minds because of all that went on last year. However, Steel Valley looks great, too. Beaver Falls is basically 2023’s Union Area. The West is difficult to predict.
Northwestern Lehigh/Prep is going to be a great game. I don’t think Prep is as good as NW, but they play a slightly tougher schedule up north than them (LFC 1, except for Paupack/North Pocono is a gauntlet). That gives them a bit of an edge. The Danville/Wyomissing winner probably ends their run, but something about NW Lehigh this year thinks they’re going to Mechanicsburg in two weeks.
Also: Somehow, I didn’t realize North Allegheny got PCC, so give me a rematch of last year, with Harrisburg as the West team.
November 19th, 2023 at 1:02 pm
A few thoughts from the west. Look for Westinghouse to handle Farrel, probably something like 35-21. The House looked really good last week. Central will take out Hickory by 2-3 scores. Peters Township should beat Cathedral by a couple scores but it will be close for at least the first half. Also I saw that the game was gonna be at the Prep Events Center, for those of you wondering there are only stands on one side of the field and the other side is usually roped off. It’s a nice facility with good concessions none the less and between the 2 lots there should be enough parking. The facility can comfortably hold around 2000 people but again, only one set of stands on the home side. North Allegheny beat Mcdowell once already and should have no problem doing it again.
November 19th, 2023 at 12:04 pm
Northwestern Lehigh continues to impress. Their coaching staff could be one of the best in the state, and I don’t believe that’s an exaggeration. Defensively they’re always aligned properly, and rarely get caught out of position. Offensively, it’s a well oiled machine. Two point plays seem to always work. Josh Snyder is a really good coach and maybe underrated. I’m always impressed with him when I watch them play. They’re going to be a tough out, but at this point it’s all great matchups and I wouldn’t be surprised at any outcomes
November 19th, 2023 at 9:53 am
Scranton prep 35 nw lehigh 21
Wyomissing 20 danville 7
November 19th, 2023 at 8:54 am
@Jeff H
I concur with your opinion on Bald Eagle Area football team. Their quarterback is superb and will be the key to the game. SCA will have to utilize a solid, consistent ground game to reduce the number of snaps by the Bald Eagle offense. The Tigers defense will need their best effort to date to get the win. Lots of very good teams in AA.
November 19th, 2023 at 12:28 am
@Foleman – yes, there will be a lot of familiar faces in the finals, but there will be some new teams as well. I was really hoping Roman could hang on and beat Tep to see a new team advance, but we’re probably going to have a first time finalist in Peters in 5A, we might have McKeesport for the first time in 18 years in 4A, and I think the Scranton Prep-NW Lehigh winner might very well beat Wyomissing In 3A. In 1A Steel High entered the playoffs as a big favorite, but I think Lackawanna Trail will give them a real battle next week, you could have another first time finalist in Fort Cherry, or if South Side advances they haven’t been to the final since 1999, so there will almost certainly be some new/different teams this year.
November 18th, 2023 at 11:28 pm
@ D2 Fan – both Fort Cherry and South Side are 13-0, both are very good 1A teams and it should be a great WPIAL final, I know Redbank Valley is solid and also undefeated, but they have not played the type of competition the WPIAL teams have, so I give the winner of the WPIAL final the edge over Redbank Valley, and I think the WPIAL winner will give Steel High all they can handle in the final.
In 2A I wouldn’t crown Southern champs just yet, I said if they won D4 they would be a big favorite to win their 7th title in a row and they are, but they will face a stiff challenge next week from Bald Eagle, they destroyed a very solid Richland team today 49-0. In the western bracket Westinghouse meets Farrell again in a rematch from last year dominated by Westinghouse, this should also be a very competitive game, I picked Farrell to get to the final but this game could go either way.
November 18th, 2023 at 11:07 pm
@ Kevin X – good call on the Scranton Prep upset of NG today, should be a very good game next week against NW Lehigh. Also happy to report the semi-final last night at West Mifflin between McKeesport-Montour and the WPIAL 5A final this afternoon were cash at the gate.
Peters was extremely impressive in dismantling PR today, after PR kicked a 48 yard field goal midway through the first quarter Peters proceeded to score 36 unanswered points over the next 3 quarters and coasted to a 43-17 win for their first WPIAL championship. Peters is the most complete team I’ve seen all year, and that includes all the WPIAL powers from 3A-6A, great defense, very balanced and explosive offense, and their sophomore QB is special both passing and running. Peters junior QB last year was first team all conference, but the sophomore beat him out for the starting job, so that says something about how good the kid is to start over a senior who was first team all conference last year. I think Peters beats ECP up in Erie next week and then handles the D3 winner, presumably Cocalico, and then meets Imhotep in the final, and we’ll see if Imhotep is finally able to beat a WPIAL team. The bad news for Tep is this Peters team is better than either PR from last year or Penn Trafford from 2021, so Tep is going to have their hands full, right now I’d make that game a pick em if I were setting a point spread. The other factor is TJ Plack is a very good coach, and we’ve seen Tep get outcoached in the finals before.
McKeesport was also impressive in beating a very good Montour team, 6’2′ 255 lb fullback Keith Spell ran for 190 yards and 3 TDs on runs of 12, 13, and 14 yards and had 5 sacks from his DL position, his younger brother had a 57 yard TD run on the last play of the 3rd quarter to give McKeesport a 21-14 lead. McKeesport has a dominating running game with a bruising FB in Spell, 3 very good tailbacks and are very good on both lines, the game against Aliquippa next week will be an absolute heavyweight battle. The Quips have beaten McKeesport the last 2 years in the semi-finals, now they meet for the title, with the Port looking for their first WPIAL championship since 2005, I expect this to be a great game that could go either way.
November 18th, 2023 at 9:59 pm
@D2…. I agree with most of your state predictions. I do think Lackawanna Trail can beat Steel High. Northern Lehigh and Canton nearly got them (steel won both in last minute) last year and Northern Bedford played them tough and had a halftime draw. They have big playmakers but sometimes can be their own enemy with penalties. That’s gonna be a good one. Also, the Northwestern and Prep could be a good one but as an NL alum (their rival) and watching them play a few times, I think this could be best team Northwestern has had since the 90s. I think them vs Wyo or Danville in eastern final could be a real classic too (if they get past prep). Although, Scranton Prep is no slouch as they showed today. That Danville/Wyo game will also be a good one next weekend. I would love to see Northwestern get to the championship. They just handled southern Lehigh and Palmerton who both were undefeated at the time they played them (SL was 9-0, Palmerton was 12-0) and they mercy ruled both before halftime. That’s a good team.
November 18th, 2023 at 8:25 pm
D2 Notes (One more week of weekly notes coming!)
– 4A: Dallas & Valley View was a game! The Mounties led most of the game, lost a lead in the 3rd quarter, got it back late & didn’t look back. Give credit to the Cougars. They played well. Bonner will have fits against Dallas. Do I think Dallas can win? I’m not sure, but it wouldn’t shock me if it’s an upset.
– 1A: This was a no-contest. Trail dominated Minersville, which isn’t surprising. Trail vs. Steel-High could technically be for the 1A title, the way both are playing.
– 2A: Dunmore dominated Williams Valley in the 2A first round. A solid win, & they get a date with Camp Hill next week, who had a wild game against West Catholic. Dunmore will likely play Southern for the first time in a couple years, since the Fleming era.
– 3A: Prep somehow slayed the PCL dragon! What a game for Scranton Prep to show that District 2 can compete with some of the PCL powerhouse programs. They get a tough Northwestern Lehigh team, who is dominant. I got a bold prediction coming, maybe.
– 5A: DV-Whitehall was worth the hype! This game started slow with scoring, but once the second half came around, both teams traded TDs almost for a while, but Ryder Machado went all out in the second half, & had 5 TD last night. This was also a HUGE win for D2: A Lackawanna Division I team mercy ruled a EPC South team, in the end. That doesn’t happen, & the teams up here aren’t ever that competitive against ones down there. DV finally gets past the Sweet 16, in a non-COVID year. I don’t see them going any farther, unless they use that early season schedule to their advantage. It’s Imhotep Charter. They’re going to be outmatched. Maybe if DV is much more disciplined, like how Penn-Trafford was in the ‘21 final, they could win. DV would be a very tough out if they upset the D12 winner, the rest of the way.
It’s amazing how all five district champs are alive heading into the Elite 8s. District 2 doesn’t usually have this kind of success. & it makes me super excited.
Updated State Predictions
– Canevin loses, so Redbank might be the best remaining team standing out west. I don’t know South Side or Fort Cherry as well to say they’re better.
– Southern Columbia. Sharpie. No NTL team will ever beat a Coal Region team in 2A. It’s just impossible.
– I’m going to take a risk in 3A. NW Lehigh might be the best team in the East in 3A. The way they dominated Palmerton gives me that feeling. Don’t sleep on them. They mercy ruled two undefeated teams.
– 1A: Steel High over Redbank Valley
– 2A: Southern Columbia (might as well crown them now) over Farrell
– 3A: Belle Vernon over Northwestern Lehigh
– 4A: Aliquippa over McDevitt
– 5A: Imhotep over Peters
– 6A: SJP over Central Catholic
Update on my “project”
– Both of my 1A Eastern & Allegheny Regions are done. It helps when Inter-County & the Heritage League are primarily 1A programs. It took me an hour to compile the Heritage League theoretical Power Rating numbers, & about 90 minutes for the ICC.
– Working through the 1A WPIAL & Northwest regions as we speak, fairly rapidly.
– 2A Eastern & Central have a good majority of team data entered. It’s mostly lots & lots of LHAC teams. Breezing through D9 & 10 1A also potentially breezes through their 2A counterparts.
– 3A is moving along swimmingly, too, as so many Eastern PA teams play 1A/2A.
– I’ve barely made a dent in 4A-6A, since so many teams don’t play below 3A.
– As I said last week, it’ll be a lot quicker to finalize things once more teams have data. I pick a team in said region, run through the schedule, & file the numbers that the D2 system uses, while adding all opponents at once, to figure out the opponent weighted % number. By the time I get to a couple of teams, I may only need 1-2 teams before I’m done with that team, (usually if it’s out of state or non-PIAA).
– I’ll hopefully have 1A done soon. 2A should be finished shortly after, 3-6A longer than that. I should have all of this done before the competitive balance hearings (AKA: Quips case to not move up to 5A).
November 18th, 2023 at 7:44 pm
Irish, PJP gave away that game, 3 turnovers in the 1st 4 possessions of the 1st half, Head Coach Scott Reed not giving the ball to Skarbek down at BP 1 yard line. Your team is down 21-0 in the 2nd half and it took forever to get the plays in? Very disappointing ending to a great season. BP defense is tough, strong front 4, athletic on the back end. BP’S Offense didn’t do much the entire game except 1 long pass for a TD. If PJP played BP 10 times they would win 8-9 times, today wasn’t their day. Would like to see some new teams in the finals, looks like many of the same ol same ol teams-Tep, St Joe Prep, McDevitt, Wyo etc
November 18th, 2023 at 4:44 pm
We (NG) lost 23-16. It was a good game.
November 18th, 2023 at 4:42 pm
Well for a few weeks we were debating whether Northwestern Lehigh could hang with NG this year. I thought they could, however, Scranton Prep took that away. Should be a good game between Northwestern Lehigh and Prep!
November 18th, 2023 at 4:41 pm
We lost 23-16. It was a good game.
November 18th, 2023 at 4:29 pm
Pjp goes down to Bonner thanks to a barrage of turnovers , including a picksix on an attempted screen pass inside their own 5 yard line,followed that up with a fumble inside their own 5 again basically gift wrapping Bonner a 14- 0 lead. Then with Pjp driving to cut the lead in half the pjp coaching staff decides to get creative on the one yard line turning the ball over on downs. Five first half turnovers in all. Bonner had one of the more athletic defences pjp has seen. Hard to win a football game playing that poorly especially at the state level. Great season 12 wins Pac and District title disappointing finish.
November 18th, 2023 at 2:00 pm
Let’s not pretend that the Troy fans weren’t saying some pretty awful things to players and coaches. Good thing they award the district championship for the team that actually wins the game and not the most fans. SCA has been criticized for not being tough enough and not having the fans. Guess they were tough enough and maybe everyone was saving up for next week. The Tigers don’t need much. Any field will do. Any weather will do. Let’s not forget, four quarters. Fans are great, but their validation comes from winning. Great game played by both teams. Troy was very tough and formidable. Those SCA fans have another week to increase the attendance numbers. Like most others say every year, there is always next year…
November 18th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
Hard to beat a Jim Roth prepared team in any field condition. Happy Thanksgiving everyone from a Dunmore bucks fan.
November 18th, 2023 at 11:23 am
Troy has a very good team but the thing they don’t seem to realize is that the game has four quarters and if you only play two of them you are going to lose. SCA knows that if you are going to advance in the playoffs you have to be in great physical shape, if not you lose it in the fourth quarter. What I don’t understand about last nights game is the fact that Troy chose to play on that mud pit of a field. SCA has played in every kind of weather you can imagine and always came out a winner. I have seen the field at Wellsboro and it would have been a great venue to play that game. If Troy was thinking they had an advantage playing in the mud, I’m sure they are rethinking that, especially when playing a team like SCA. That game was a tale of two halves and SCA made all of the right adjustments at halftime.
November 18th, 2023 at 2:56 am
To all,
Many truths and many lies came to a head tonight. First of all there was no snow at all at the Troy fair grounds but I landed my sleigh anyway. Earlier forecast predicted possible snow. I learned many new things tonight one of which what the NTL stood for. The No Talent League. I learned this from a very short round approximately 5-3 in height man chanting obscenities after the game. I will touch back to that subject later so let’s talk about the game. For 3.5 quarters it was an old school defensive battle. Troy that will return 85 percent of the teams roster closed the gap from last years beat down. Let’s face it tonight was the AA state title. Troys youthful team which started 5 sophomores and several juniors put the future 7 time state champs to a test. Another false statement like the snow prediction was southern travels 3-1 to the opponents fans base. The facts are Troy was 68 percent to southerns 32. For being the 6 time defending champions where are your fans other than the short fat one that screams at minors after the game. All in all the KIDS on both sides played hard and as a spectator the game wasn’t dirty. Ya have to give it to southern/Roth era and the dynasty they have built. As a D4 fan all I can say is go win another but for the livestreamers that are eating Doritos and running your mouth on here cause it’s cold and rainy so you watch it at home I have one thing you can pass on for Santa. Tell the the short fat guy that harassed the Troy kids after the game that’s name is mike that hails from mt Carmel I’m offering him a job as an elf for me and mrs clause. Unlike knoebles who won’t let him in because of the height restrictions I’m offering him a full time job with benefits at the North Pole. We will teach him people skills and how to be humble and don’t even think about shooting my reindeer with the use of a spotlight. Good look to southern and a 7th straight and I mean that. I’d recommend sending the short man back to mt Carmel or to the North Pole to learn people skills because people like him give your storied program a bad name. Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho
November 18th, 2023 at 12:33 am
@Blacknight and Santa’s Helper: As usual, @Brian comes correct re Southern. Much respect for Troy’s undefeated season, but logic would dictate Southern’s inevitable victory. There are but 3 unavoidable destinies in everyday life: Death, Taxes and a Southern District 4 AA Chip. So to the victor go the spoils; hopefully free admission to Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland for the next calendar year! At the very least, Blacknight and Santa’s Helper, if you say 10 Hail Marys and 5 Our Fathers, I’m fairly confident Brian, 3HS, FG30, TD21 and WH will spot you a few freebies of Skeeball @ Playland.
November 18th, 2023 at 12:18 am
Watched the troy-southern game on YouTube. Man that field looked awful. Between the 40s was all mud. Anyway, Troy took advantage of the home field in first half and played to a draw. And then southern adjusted and I knew it was over. On a turf field, southern probably wins by 28 instead of 14. Troy had a very good team though.
As for Northwestern Lehigh….I believe even more they have a chance to do damage in state playoffs. They just destroyed a 12-0 Palmerton team 58-8 and it was 43-0 at half. They did same to undefeated (at the time) 5A Southern Lehigh. Mercy ruling two undefeated teams late in the season is impressive.
Lackawanna Trail looks like they could give Steelton a game like Northern Lehigh did last year. Steelton has all that talent back but Lackawanna was building for this year and beat a solid Minersville team 40-0. Steelton won 21-7 over Northern Bedford.
November 17th, 2023 at 10:06 pm
After watching the Southern Troy game on youtube. I cannot believe the game was played on that field. I thought maybe the people were overreacting, but as a neutral fan, that game should’ve never been played on there. An absolute mud pit where you cannot move. In true Southern fashion, them farmers wore Troy out, which happens every year lmao.
On a better field, it’s a mercy rule.
November 17th, 2023 at 9:26 pm
Northwestern Lehigh is ready for the next test!
This team peaking at all phases.
November 17th, 2023 at 6:47 pm
@ Jeff H
The more I think about it, I went that way for the thought (& hopes) of an alternating pattern. I’m also a bold prediction kind of guy, so I feel like the 2A & 4A picks are entirely bold. I know Troy is probably getting blown out tonight, but there’s a hunch that makes it think that they’ll win their games & go as far as they do. Same with my picks for a few others this week, in my area.
I will say this, if McKeesport stuns the Quips, I’ll be making McDevitt my pick there. If PJP, B-P, or Dallas/VV beat them, the original prediction probably doesn’t change.
November 17th, 2023 at 6:38 pm
Thoughts on other key games across the state tonight
D1 – I think CB South wins the rematch, all the injuries finally catch up to West, the loss of McFadden is too much to overcome. I think DTE rolls over DTW like they did in the regular season. In 5A I like both Chester and Strath Haven to win to set up a much anticipated matchup next week
D3 – I think MT will handle CV again, although probably closer than the regular season game, and I like Harrisburg over Central York in the other semi-final
D4 – I think most of the state would love to see Troy upset Southern, but it ain’t happening, I see Southern winning by 3 scores, something like 41-21
D6 – I like Bald Eagle to beat Richland in the 2A final, I expect a very close game but I’ll go with Bald Eagle
D11 – I like Nazereth over Parkland in the rematch, Parkland is pretty banged up and without their starting QB so I’ll take Nazareth for the right to get blown out by SJP next week. I like NW Lehigh by at least 2 scores over Palmerton
D12 – think RC vs. Imhotep will be very competitive but I’ll take Imhotep, as I stated before I think the winner of this game is the favorite to win 5A, would like to see RC advance, always nice to see teams advance that have never been there before.
The weather may have an impact on games in the western/central part of the state, but at least it’s in the mid-50s and raining here in Western PA and not colder, don’t think it will impact the passing game much but wet balls can certainly lead to more fumbles, and slips by defenders can result in big plays for the offense or vice versa.
November 17th, 2023 at 4:32 pm
@Foleman – totally agree about McDevitt and very good comparison to ECP teams from 2016-18, I don’t think any team in 4A can keep it within 3 scores, I saw D2 fan pick Aliquippa to beat them in the final but I don’t see how, they are not as good as last few years and McDevitt is better, and that’s assuming the Quips win the WPIAL and get to the final but that’s no sure thing. I too heard they are moving to 5A next year and they will be preseason #1 and favorite to win 5A.
November 17th, 2023 at 4:08 pm
WVC News
Divisional Alignments for the next cycle have been released, per the Times Leader.
– Pittston joins Division 1 with Crestwood, Dallas, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, & WVW
– Berwick drops to Division 2 with Wyo Area, Lake-Lehman, GNA, Hanover, & Tunkhannock
– Holy Redeemer will opt out of division, but has requested to not play games against Berwick & Wyoming Area
– Williamsport is moving to the Heartland, but hopes to have a scheduling alignment with the big schools.
I haven’t heard anything on the LFC just yet, or if Montrose returns to the league. We’ll possibly have two Indies in 2024 & 2025 football in D2, which is interesting.
Honestly, with the WVC being a shell of what it used to be, I’d rather see a District 2 merger at this point, & work on a scheduling agreement with Williamsport, Hollidaysburg, & the EPC for the big schools. As for the small schools, why not a co-op with either the Colonial-Schuylkill, Heartland, or NTL for small school teams, or maybe a rotation of one of the leagues every year. I’ve made my divisions before & I’ll likely wait for enrollment numbers next year before making any changes.
November 17th, 2023 at 1:55 pm
Here are my thoughts/predictions for the WPIAL games this weekend:
6A – long anticipated rematch between PCC and NA, I said on this board early in the season I thought PCC would win the WPIAL and get to the state final, so I will stick with them, but I would not be surprised at all if NA wins, I think this game will be pretty high scoring, something like 35-28.
5A – I picked PR before the playoffs started to win the WPIAL and lose to ECP next week up in Erie, but after watching Penn Hills defense shut down PR’s running game I’m not so sure they are going to win this game, Peters has an excellent although a bit undersized defense, if they can contain Ethan Pillar and the PR ground game like PH did I think Peters will win their first district football title, I’m going with Peters 21-13
4A – I think both games should be pretty competitive, Montour has one of the best QB’s in the WPIAL and some really good skill position players, but I don’t know if their defense can stop McKeesport rushing attack, and it’s going to be raining and windy tonight, so I’ll take McKeesport. In the other game Aliquippa tries to make it to their 16th WPIAL championship game in a row, but Mars will be a good test for them after beating Central Valley last week, I’ll go with the Quips but it will be closer than a lot of people expect
3A – Belle Vernon will blow out East Alleghany, and in the other semi-final I like Avonworth over EF by a couple of scores, those 2 schools played for the title last year and they have been on a collision course all year, clearly the 2 best teams in WPIAL 3A
2A – Steel Valley struggled with Western Beaver last week, but I think they beat Mohawk, who is making their first ever appearance in the WPIAL semi-finals, Beaver Falls vs Washington should be a very competitive game, BF is trying to make their 4th straight appearance in the final and I think they continue their run and beat Wash High, as a #10 seed they are by far the lowest seed left in the WPIAL playoffs, I thought before the season started BF was one of the favorites to win 2A, but it’s taken them awhile to hit their stride.
1A – 2 really good matchups, South Side is outscoring their opponents by an average of 44-8, and I don’t think Clairton has seen a rushing attack like South Side’s all season, they have won 10 in a row after an 0-2 start but I think South Side wins this game by a couple of scores, something like 35-21. The other semi-final is a regular season rematch that was one of the best games of the year regardless of class, Fort Cherry won 48-41, with both QB’s accounting for over 400 yard of total offense, I think Bishop Canevin wins the rematch and makes their third straight appearance in the WPIAL final.
November 17th, 2023 at 1:18 pm
@TD21 It seems like the last 30 years and 6 straight championships isn’t enough haha. Roll Tigas by about 9 million points.
It’s a different brand of football, and they have shown that to those northern tier teams time and time again. What makes this time different???
November 17th, 2023 at 11:34 am
McDevitt reminds me of those Absolutely Loaded Erie Cathedral Prep Teams of 5-6 years ago that had Division 1 Talent across the board, ECP didn’t belong in 4A back then and looking at the scores McDevitt doesn’t either, I heard they will be 5A next year. PJP has 1 Div 1 Player-Offensive Lineman-Kevin Heywood who is not eligible for the playoffs, he would have come in handy if they played McDevitt. Right now, I don’t see how any team, and that includes Alliquippa if they make it that far, that can come within 3 touchdowns of McDevitt who beat Mount St Josephs out of the powerful Maryland Catholic League, Depaul Catholic out of the Powerhouse NJ Catholic League and LaSalle in the beginning of the season. Maybe Manheim Central can give them a game but I doubt it.
November 17th, 2023 at 11:02 am
@ Kevin X – I went to Penn Hills vs Penn Trafford in the first round and was cash at the gate, but last week at North Hills it was online only, which is the first time I’ve ever encountered that for a WPIAL playoff game, or regular season game for that matter. Tonight I am going to see McKeesport play Montour at West Mifflin which is a 5 minute drive for me, I tried calling the athletic department but no one answered and mailbox was full, I went to a playoff game there 2 years ago and it was cash at the gate, so I’m hoping that’s the case tonight but we’ll see. I’m also going to the 5A final tomorrow at noon between Pine Richland and Peters and I’m not sure if that is online only, would sure be nice if the publicized it better because when i know it’s online its easier for me to buy on my computer and print the ticket than try and do it on my phone.
@ Irish 1 – agree with you about McDevitt, they may be the 2nd best team in the state and I think they would win 5A, would love to see them play Harrisburg or MT, I think those would be great games but I’d like McDevitt’s chances
November 17th, 2023 at 10:13 am
I really am enjoying the disconnect from the NTL fans and to the rest of D4. Santa thinks the 6 time champs don’t want to play football because of a little grass?? Fans won’t travel? Guess all of the trips to all of the playoff games for the last three decades aren’t enough proof for dedicated fan travel. Santa might need to fire up the workshop after this week…
November 17th, 2023 at 6:09 am
@ Kevin X, thats def a case of be careful what you wish for, McDevitt is loaded. I believe they would win District 1 6a and probably District 3 6a. Division one signees at QB and WR and thats just to start. I know Shanahan gave them a game a few yrs ago but this McDevitt team is better. Going to enjoy the games one game at a time like you said hope it continues.
November 16th, 2023 at 9:57 pm
@ Jeff H
This part of the southeast of the state is with you. I’m actually finding this back and forth with this Troy field/stadium issue mildly amusing. Guess we got lucky with the two games schedule for the South Philly site getting moved out of there (and honestly, I think it may have to do with on-line ticketing, or should I say, the legal issue of cashless sales in the City of Philadelphia). It does benefits 3 of the 4 teams, but does screw over N-G.
I find this ironic, that if SoCol was playing up at 3A, they probably would be in the same division, with the same schedule, and be either the #1 seed in 3A, playing at home this weekend, or at worse, the #2 seed and just taking a short ride over to Danville to play in a very nice facility.
Back to your on-line ticketing issue………you did not have an issue two weeks ago (week 11), the first round of the playoffs?? I assume you went to a game then, and both that game and last week were WPIAL playoff games?? Just odd if that is the case. They do it on a school by school basis?? So where are you headed this weekend?? Will on-line only tix be required??
November 16th, 2023 at 7:56 pm
Waaaaaaaaaaa, waaaaa, waaaa. I heard that the southern “fans” (band wagoners) are whining about where they are going to sit not about the actual playing surface for their kids. Go figure…. Bums… Troy fans real fans would travel and watch them play in a hay field with their boots on and a smile on their face. Stop bitching and a field sit in the stands like an adult or stand on their sideline, where there is ample space and shut up. Good game but Trojans 28-14. At the palace.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:52 pm
@Brian – my point is that with the system that District 4 uses for their playoff format Troy earned home field advantage, maybe D4 should take a page out of the WPIAL’s playbook and have a committee seed their teams, in which case Troy might have been the third seed behind Southern and Mt Carmel. The WPIAL regularly seeds teams with better records that play in a weak conference lower than teams with worse records that play in tougher conferences, and maybe other districts should do the same. I don’t think you’re going to get too much sympathy on this board about Southern having to travel to Troy and play on an inferior field with lack of seating, why don’t you call the District office and complain about it. And by the way the WPIAL plays all semi-finals and finals at neutral sites to avoid this issue, maybe you can ask your district officials about that as well.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:07 pm
The South Philly site, because of its location (just off the Expressway and fairly close to the subway) would be very good for lots of regular season PCL games and for many playoff games IF whoever is in charge of it could do some basic upgrades. Much better location than the Northeast site. Not holding my breath, though.
November 16th, 2023 at 2:38 pm
Roth says: the troops are ready. It is time to look at the eye of the Tiger. This comes from a Dunmore bucks fan.
November 16th, 2023 at 2:24 pm
The Civil War of D4 is wild haha. Brian also won the battle against non-competitor Blackknight09. Blackknight doesn’t even know what a football is playing up there in Canada. Those farmers are a coming. After the farmers smoke them again for the 67th year in a row, the Troy hype can be put to bed.
Go Tigers
November 16th, 2023 at 12:25 pm
@D11 Matt – Thank you!! I only looked at the listing but I do see the promotion now. Awesome! That listing has to be wrong then, no shot they should have a soccer replay over this game
November 16th, 2023 at 12:23 pm
@ Jeff H I think what you’re proposing is that SCA should make an easier schedule like Troy has so that they don’t have any losses and therefore gain more points in the regular season. I’m not so certain that the majority of people in this group would agree that this is a good tactic to ensure that you get home field advantage. Seeing as though a group on this board regularly thinks SCA should voluntarily jump classes, I’d have to make an educated guess that playing fluff teams to get points isn’t something they’d find admirable to gain that top spot to get home field advantage. SCA went to Troy last year to play at this subpar field. They beat that team regardless of the location. However, SCA’s players would like to have a large crowd on their side cheering them on during the game and that’s not possible with the lack of bleachers this particular field has. You say that Troy earned the right to the home field, but I’d argue that Troy had an easier schedule to get them that “right” and that it should be every team’s right to have their playoff games at a field that is comparable to others within the district. Why insist that the game be played at a field that is so unusually bad when there are neighboring districts that could host the game and still give Troy a home field advantage because SCA certainly hasn’t played there and couldn’t practice there? Is the home field what Troy thinks will gain them that win? If so, that might be an unusual advantage that other teams with adequate fields don’t have within the district.
November 16th, 2023 at 11:18 am
@ Brian and @ Blacknight09: Southern ruled triumphant over its neighbor Mt Carmel as the Battle for Knoebels was waged, thereby staking its claim to that strategically-placed and much coveted plot of geo-politics. Now, bring on the Battle for Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland as North meets South in the Civil War of D4. May the best men win.
November 16th, 2023 at 10:58 am
NE17……just check brctv13 website. They have that soccer replay on listing but are promoting at bottom the live 3A championship at 7 on channel 13. With a preview show before. So I’m guessing they are playing that live (which they should!!!!!) And the soccer listing is wrong. If they play a soccer replay over a live championship that would be insane.
November 16th, 2023 at 10:54 am
NE17….that’s odd. They always carry the district championship live when it’s one of their coverage are teams. Is it live on the other brc channel????
November 16th, 2023 at 10:46 am
@Brian – I get it, the stadium/field Troy uses sucks, but they have earned the right to host the championship game on their home field, per D4’s playoff guidelines, and not some other more adequate stadium in their neck of the woods. At the WPIAL stadiums I mentioned fans from opposing teams sit near and together with each other, McKeesport fans sat among both Gateway and TJ fans at the respective games that I attended, I still don’t get the issue with opposing fans sitting together, it happens all the time. I’m sure Roth and the kids care less where they play, it’s the parents who are bitching and whining as usual, if Southern is so concerned about going to the subpar field at Troy perhaps they should put more emphasis on the regular season and earn home field advantage, and I think most of the rest of the people on this board and around the state who follow HS football would agree with me.
November 16th, 2023 at 9:43 am
@ Irish 1
Well if the Luck of the Irish is strong and true, good chance you could be looking at a PJPII/McDevitt 4A Eastern final at either Downingtown or Coatesville. Game two years ago between Shanahan and McDevitt was at Coatesville, I believe. But first things first, one week at time.
November 16th, 2023 at 9:36 am
Speaking of the BRC channels. How in the hell is Northwestern Palmerton not on live tomorrow? We have to wait until a replay on Saturday morning to catch it. They’re putting a replay of a girls soccer semifinal on before that…
Probably the reasoning behind it is ticket sales and money of course, but this seems ludicrous. Both of those teams are on there all the time, I thought for sure the game would be shown live. Last year the district championship was on when it was NS and Northwestern, so I’m not sure what changed
November 15th, 2023 at 7:30 pm
Southern has played in many of big games. 8 straight state championship appearances winning 7 of 8 and the last 6. They also played that huge game on ESPN in 2019 in South Carolina where they drove down and filled the stadium with tiger fans. Troy is good but southern is a different animal. They have won almost all their state playoff games by mercy rule the past 8 years. I expect a Southern 3 score (atleast) win.
November 15th, 2023 at 7:22 pm
Sweet Sixteen, here we are! Nearly 96 teams left to see what six are champions. I’ve added my picks for who I think goes to Mechanicsburg in a few weeks.
District 2 Picks
The big game this week is Dallas/VV, which is going to be a clash! VV played a better schedule than Dallas, so they’ll have the advantage, but Dallas looks dominant.
Trail/Minersville & Dunmore/WV will be fantastic. Kinda fun that they’re both playing minutes apart. I think Prep can battle with Goretti, but I feel N-G will get the edge late. As for DV, this is the year they get past the “Sweet 16 hurdle” for the first time since the COVID season. I don’t want to be wrong, if I picked against them. This’ll be a fun game, & if you have BRC 113 in the area, it’ll be worth watching.
– 4A Final: Dallas 24, Valley View 20
– 1A: Lackawanna Trail 40, Minersville 21
– 2A: Dunmore 35, Williams Valley 24
– 3A: Neumann-Goretti (12) 31, Scranton Prep (2) 28
– 5A: Delaware Valley 21, Whitehall 20
The Rest
Class A (Prediction: Steel High over Canevin)
– Steel-High (3) 43, NoBedCo (5) 13
– D4 Final: Muncy 23, South Williamsport 14
– D6 Final: Cambria Hts. 28, Purchase Line 9
– WPIAL Semi: South Side 28, Clairton 23
– WPIAL Semi: Canevin 42, Ft. Cherry 17
– D10 Final: Lakeview 35, Camb. Springs 19
– D9 Final: Redbank Val. 37, Port Allegany 27
Class AA (Prediction: Farrell over Troy)
– Camp Hill (3) 31, West Catholic (12) 27
– D4 Final: Troy 27, Southern Columbia 20
– D6 Final: Richland 32, Bald Eagle Area 14
– D10 Final: Farrell 29, Mercyhurst 23
– Westinghouse (8) 34, Central Clarion (9) 30
– WPIAL Semi: Steel Valley 42, Mohawk 7
– WPIAL Semi: Prexies 43, Beaver Falls 10
Class AAA (Prediction: Belle Vernon over Wyo)
– D11 Final: NW Lehigh 38. Palmerton 28
– D3 Final: Wyo 32, West Perry 16
– D4 Final: Danville 45, Loyalsock 15
– WPIAL Semi: Belle Vernon 35, E Allegheny 7
– WPIAL Semi: Avonworth 36, Eliz. Forward 8
– Central (6) 34, Clearfield (9) 23
– D10 Final: Sharon 32, Hickory 27
Class 4A (Prediction: Aliquippa over McDevitt)
– PJP (1) 35, Bonner-Prendie (12) 21
– D3 Semi: McDevitt 45, L-S 14
– D3 Semi: Manheim Cent. 35, Twin Valley 13
– Selinsgrove (4) 46, Becahi (4) 24
– Juniata (6) 28, Meadville (10) 9
– WPIAL Semi: Quips 43, Mars 17
– WPIAL Semi: McKeesport 49, Montour 16
Class 5A (Prediction: Imhotep over ECP)
– D12 Final: Imhotep 34, Roman Catholic 14
– D1 Final: Chester 36, WC Rustin 22
– D1 Final: Strath Haven 29, Springfield 8
– WPiAL Final: Peters 24, P-R 22
– D3 Semi: Ephrata 27, Hershey 26
– D3 Semi: Cedar Cliff 44, Cocalico 21
– Cathedral Prep on BYE
Class 6A (Prediction: St. Joe’s over PCC)
– D11 Final: Parkland 21, Nazareth 20
– D12 Final: SJP 49, Lincoln 6
– D1 Semi: CB West 33, CB South 10
– D1 Semi: D’town East 16, D’town West 12
– D3 Semi: Manheim 23, Cumb. Valley 16
– D3 Semi: Harrisburg 34, Central York 20
– WPIAL Final: PCC 28, North Allegheny 13
– State College (6) 43, McDowell (10) 12
Curious to know if the Inter-AC & Prep season is over. I couldn’t find any PA games on here or MaxPreps.
Stay tuned for Turkey Day picks next week, alongside my Elite 8 Weekend picks.
November 15th, 2023 at 3:57 pm
@ Blacknight09- Better strap up those chin straps. SCA will be coming to play, you can bet on that. Hard nosed and humble people down in these parts too. I have much respect for the NTL due to roots up there from my youth. You obviously haven’t been to some games where Southern Fans outnumber the opposition 2 or 3 people to 1. Not saying it won’t be contested or that it will even be a Tiger win, just emphasizing the talking down to very consistent and well run program is playing with fire…Should be a great game.
November 15th, 2023 at 3:14 pm
They changed our game location and time. So NG vs SP will be at Northern Lehigh High School at 1pm on Saturday. I see alot of games have been rescheduled times and locations.
November 15th, 2023 at 2:42 pm
Some quick picks for this weekend for some big games
Northwestern Lehigh 41- Palmerton 27
Parkland 21- Naz 17
Southern 35 – Troy 14
Lackawanna Trail 34- Minersville 20
November 15th, 2023 at 1:19 pm
No love for South Philly…….
“PIAA Class 3A First Round game between Scranton Prep and Neumann-Goretti has been moved to Northern Lehigh HS at 1pm on Saturday.”
Both this game and the Bonner/PJP2 games we’re scheduled for the not so supersite in South Philly. Curious to know why the change of venue for both games.
November 15th, 2023 at 1:06 pm
Dear Blacknight 09,
You talk a lot of smack for a guy whose team got their ass handed to them last year. I realize your team has never made it far into playoffs for you to have experience, but a decent field with adequate bleachers is actually the norm in playoffs. The fact you even think these two teams are the two best in the state shows you’re not even looking that far ahead. You’ve pinned a championship on a team when you have several more to get through. Perhaps reality isn’t your thing. Reality is your stadium is shit. Sorry it hurts your feelings, but it’s sub par and shouldn’t be used for a playoff game. It has nothing to do with the outcome of the game. It has to do with it being fair to both sides….guess that doesn’t concern you. Your empathy for the elderly is overwhelming with your solution they lean on a cane.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:46 am
Blacknight09 is feisty. This game is going to be awesome….. for a quarter maybe a half. Then those farmers from Southern wear and wear and wear you down until you look up and its 35-7 and the game is over.
Who shall I take in this game? A team from Troy who gets smoked every time they play Mount Carmel or Southern. Or a team that has won 13 state championships, has one of the best coaches in the state, and just mercy ruled a Mount Carmel team last week to get here? I think the latter.
Blacknight. Friday I’m a Tiga. Let’s roll
November 15th, 2023 at 6:39 am
@ Kevin X, thankyou for the info. If PJP can find a way to win and that is not a given by any stretch can you work some magic and have the next round in between somewhere lol. I know thats not happening but Im glad I get a chance to see this weeks game.
November 14th, 2023 at 11:21 pm
Dear Brian,
Southern won’t bring 1/3 of the fans that will be there supporting Troy. Yea that’s correct 1/3. You better bring your lawn chairs if you want to sit or a cane if you prefer to stand. The state champs will be decided at Alparon park Friday night and I hope the lights go out and the game is finished with the headlights of cars. The situation the Troy players are in is not their fault but it’s still the field they call home. You act like you are bringing so many people to this game and maybe you are. Im gunna say this and that is the crowd you will see Friday night will be as large as any crowd southern has ever played in front of. Our area is filled full of great people that are hard working and humble. You Brian don’t seem to be to humble. This is a violent game and both teams play by the same rules. If I were you I’d be glad you are playing Troy on grass and not turf cause it’s your only chance. Friday I’m a Trojan along with the whole ntl. Shut these complainers up. Go Trojans
November 14th, 2023 at 10:10 pm
If I (and everyone else, I assume) survived a Roman Catholic/LaSalle game 2 years ago all sitting together on one side at Springfield Montco, you guys will survive Friday night at Troy.
November 14th, 2023 at 10:06 pm
@ Irish1
They heard you 🙂
“Football: site change for the PIAA 4A playoff game between Pope John Paul II and Bonner prendergast. The game will now be played at Norristown, Saturday at noon”
November 14th, 2023 at 8:59 pm
@ Jeff H, you are preaching to the choir with the online ticket thing most of District one has been dealing with this for a few years now. It’s annoying and takes something as simple as going to a high school football game on a Friday night or Sat afternoon and makes it headache at times. The alternating of district home sites instead of putting a little effort into finding a host school somewhere in between just bugs me. Sometimes change isn’t always for the better.
November 14th, 2023 at 7:53 pm
@ Jeff H. I’d have to assume those Western stadiums you speak of are large enough that fans aren’t intermingling. That’s not necessarily the case here. I think you first have to understand this isn’t your typical high school football stadium. It’s basically a local fairgrounds that on one side has seating for fair attendees to watch say a tractor pull, etc. It isn’t the school’s football field but a community field they pay to use. The opposite side is a small set of bleachers they throw in during the football season. The field itself is also subpar. They certainly don’t employ a crew to maintain the turf. I don’t think if you even intermingled fans that it has adequate space. It’s just not fit for a high school football game of this caliber. Perhaps the local peewee team would be better suited to play there.
November 14th, 2023 at 6:15 pm
To add to the conversation about one-sided seatings…
How common of a case is this other parts of the state? The only closest example to a Troy (Alparon Park) that has one-sided bleacher seating that I can think of, at least in D2/4/11 (& not J. Birney) is Wallenpaupack. It does have a quality amount of seats, & I believe they have their own visitors section, at least. Then again, when the stadium itself is almost on the lake, you don’t have that much room to make a visitors side.
November 14th, 2023 at 4:15 pm
@ Brian – I don’t understand the issue with fans from both teams sitting on the same sideline, as long as there is adequate seating to accommodate the number of fans. There are numerous stadiums in the WPIAL that only have stands on one side, including notable programs like Gateway, TJ and Aliquippa, but many others as well, so I don’t get your comment that at no game should fans from both teams be forced to sit together, we do it on a regular basis in Western PA and there are rarely any problems.
November 14th, 2023 at 1:06 pm
@JCB, I’m thinking that this Troy team is better than most people realize, and that Southern is in for a battle. If they can avoid costly mistakes and injuries, they may even pull off the upset. But, as we are all aware, nobody gets his team prepared better than Roth.
November 14th, 2023 at 12:03 pm
@ Neutral Observer It seems you misunderstand that this is a District championship and that SCA has a HUGE fan base. The bleachers in that stadium are more of an issue than their crappy ripped up grass field that was a mud pit for last year’s game. The kids don’t care if they play on grass or turf. The kids, however, care that their fans will have somewhere to sit to cheer them on. And, why should any major game be played at a subpar field that can’t accommodate the fan base that will be looking to attend that event? Troy would still be able to be the home team and would still make SCA drive a long distance to play this game if they had the game at an appropriate field for this caliber of game. At no game should fans from both sides be forced to sit together. One Troy fan suggested in a FB group that SCA should be happy just standing on the sidelines. I find that ridiculous that we’re assuming that all fans (some of which are elderly) should stand through the entirety of the game and have trouble seeing the game over those standing in front of them. I wouldn’t expect Troy to come to play at SCA and we play at a peewee football field that has accommodations for only a few fans. At this level, the facilities should be adequate for the event. Troy certainly has to know their facility is not adequate…there becomes a point where “home field advantage” perhaps should mean that you’re just in your neck of the woods. Troy likely plays on no other field during the year that is as bad as their own. It’s not like there are no other options up there.
@ Dennis Garcia says he’s playing and it’s just a sprain. The brace he wears saved him from greater injury. He’s a tough kid and I think Roth will have a hard time holding him back. I certainly hope he’s able to play since it’s his senior year.
November 14th, 2023 at 12:00 pm
@ Irish 1 – totally agree, things changed during Covid and not for the better, one of my other pet peeves is online sales only, I know that’s an issue for a lot of D1 schools as Kevin X. and others have pointed out, I ran into it for the first time this season last week at the Pine Richland/Penn Hills game which was played at North Hills stadium (the WPIAL has neutral sites for the finals, semi-finals and some quarterfinals in the lower classes), first 11 games I went to at various stadiums were all cash at the gate, but last week was online only, so it took me 10 minutes to buy a ticket on my phone to enter the game, and cost me $8.35 instead of the $7 cash price. I haven’t been to a regular season game at North Hills in 3-4 years so I don’t know if they do that for all their games, or if they just did it for this playoff game, but IMO all schools should offer cash sales at the gate, including PIAA playoff games, I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
November 14th, 2023 at 11:38 am
Troy/Southern are still districts, my mistake. In D11 all championship games are on turf/neutral site.
November 14th, 2023 at 11:25 am
The field won’t matter much after about a half of play when Southern is up by 3-4 scores. It’s usually the same scenario every year, where Troy looks good on paper but when they match up with the big boys from Southern and Mount Carmel, it’s a drubbing.
I do hope that somehow this year is different and we see a better game then years past.
November 14th, 2023 at 9:38 am
Don’t state playoff games have to be played on turf? I don’t think Troy’s field is turf, it isn’t some nefarious conspiracy.
November 14th, 2023 at 8:38 am
This Troy field issue is a district issue (at least at the moment, conceivably at some point (legal issues, etc.) the PIAA can get involved. This is all assuming it is really an issue to begin with.
November 14th, 2023 at 7:57 am
Rumor is that the field is riddled with holes from voles. A little cute puffy Animal with lots of fur. They are very cute. I get them in my yard. Not much of a concern. Apparently, someone is trying to move the game closer to home. If you ask me stop whining about it and play the game. Football cleats do more damage.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:17 pm
@Brian, I have never been to Troy’s field but if it is as bad as you described, then a more suitable location should be sought. The Endless Mountain Sport Complex in Towanda is a very nice facility with a capacity of almost 3,000.
November 13th, 2023 at 9:39 pm
@ Boomer
Yes, firmly planted. Been there many times over the years. Heck, if things fall certain multiple ways over thanksgiving weekend, I may even find myself there next Friday night.
@ 610
Thanks for the info!!
November 13th, 2023 at 9:26 pm
I guess the big question I have is why the field in Troy all of a sudden unsafe. It’s week 13 and now finally it’s deemed unsafe to play on and unfit for fans to watch. I guess I’m confused why it’s unsafe now? Who determines this the Piaa or southern Columbia? Again as an outsider looking in this looks fishy. Troy earned home field advantage and was never told for 12 weeks their field was not safe until now. How about head north and play Troy on their home field. You are the 6 time defending champions and it shouldn’t matter where you play. This has sparked an urge to make the trip north. As far as fights breaking out Brian as you say could happen that would be a horrible idea. I have no prediction on this game as of I know nothing about Troy other than they are undefeated. I will say this I’ve got friends from old forge that have a camp 15 minutes from that area and they travel in packs in that area and where there’s one there’s a hundred. Hopefully it’s a good clean game and the adults as well keep it clean. I may make this trip an overnight one. Does anyone know if the Trojan bar is still serving wings. Good luck to both teams
November 13th, 2023 at 6:01 pm
I think the Troy field is OK as long as they fill in the groundhog holes! LOL Might have some snow up there Friday nite. Any word on Garcia? Good luck to both teams.
November 13th, 2023 at 5:26 pm
@ Jeff H, I get what you”re saying but finding a school to host as a neutral site never seemed to be an issue in the past. I remember several yrs ago the team I was following playing at a neutral site three straight weeks. I think covid has played a part in this ,I know it did in basketball and the Piaa just never went back to the old way. It won’t change now. I just think it kind of stinks for the fans.
November 13th, 2023 at 2:46 pm
@Dave Any field other than Troy’s would be a blessing. We’re now hearing it’s back on the crappy Troy field. Such a shame that a District championship would be at a sub-par stadium. Fans from Troy are saying their field is fine and there’s plenty of seating, but not with what they had available last year. They also said SCA fans could sit on their side of the field. I don’t think this is a good choice either or that the PIAA would want fans from two sides sitting on the same sidelines. Sounds like a recipe for a fight to break out. At this stage of the game, home field advantage shouldn’t mean that you play on a torn apart field or a field whose stands can’t hold your fans. Kind of sad if it stays this way. I wish the PIAA would stick with their original assessment and it could be at Towanda or Wellsboro if they are typical fields. This is reminiscent of Canton’s old football field that sloped off on one side and the sidelines with the rickety bleachers that were so short you couldn’t see over the cheerleader’s heads.
November 13th, 2023 at 1:50 pm
@ Irish 1 – I agree it would make more sense to play games at neutral sights in the earlier rounds, but I think part of the problem is finding schools to host the games, where you need volunteers to run the concession stands, handle the gate, security, etc. and there may be additional costs involved for the PIAA to use the field, so that makes it more problematic. WPIAL 5A has that issue with Erie Cathedral Prep, every year Prep plays the WPIAL winner in the quarterfinals, one year the game is in Erie on Prep’s home field, the next year it’s in the Pittsburgh area, last year Pine Richland played ECP on their home field on the way to the state title, and this year the WPIAL winner will have to travel to Erie for the game next week, that’s one of the reasons I picked Erie Prep to beat the WPIAL winner this year.
November 13th, 2023 at 1:03 pm
@Kevin X
I hope you’re reference to Peckville being lovely was tongue in cheek, cause it is a great small town, born and raised there. But you’re right, Valley View has a nice stadium, plenty of parking, easily accessible, Dallas is a little tougher to get to. Not sure if game will be there or in neutral site in northeast. As for Scranton Prep, they have a very balanced team offensively, lot of speed and athletic, quarterback especially. NG beat them last year, but a one score game.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:54 am
@ Kevin X – I would very surprised if SP beat NG this week, then again, I was shocked that Beca shut out ACC 29-0, I figured ACC was going to make a run to the semi-final and have a very competitive game against the WPIAL winner, now I don’t know what to expect from Beca, any of you D11 guys have some insight into that game, did ACC have some key players out? I thought ACC was arguably the 3rd best team in D11 behind Parkland and Nazareth and then they get blown out by Beca.
@610 – I picked NG before the playoffs started to have a rematch in the final with Belle Vernon and I still think that’s going to happen, being a WPIAL guy I’ll be rooting for Belle Vernon but I suspect that will be a very competitive game like last year that could go either way.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:46 am
@610 – He’s going to Lehigh but it’ll be very interesting to see what happens there. That’s a completely different animal than high school football in the northeast. All of those Houdini plays and juking out 4 guys and throwing a dart or running for 30 yards won’t happen at that level. He obviously probably won’t break in as a freshman, but I think if he sticks with it, he can be a good two year starter at an FCS school
November 13th, 2023 at 10:50 am
I want all of these kids to get offered, get a free education and leave college debt free. I’m not just talking about NG players, I want all the kids from 1A-6A to go to college for free.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:38 am
@Kevin X,
There’s another player that’s ineligible, he’s our backup TE. He transferred over the Summer, he’s a 2024. Other than that, we’re at full strength.
@NE,
You’re right, in alot of areas, the competition isn’t that good. 3A in Philly area, there’s only 3 maybe 4 good teams. Good for him but rushing for 5000 yds as a QB a good or bad thing when being recruited? A college coach might asks him to play WR.
November 13th, 2023 at 9:50 am
@610 – The east is definitely loaded, but if I had to pick somebody to come out of it, I would go with NG. This is a horrible way to do it, but basing off scores, it seems like the defense is outstanding. That was the calling card last year and I think this year will be more of the same. Just too much speed all over the place.
A guy that has done something that no one else in the history of the state has ever done has to mean something haha. Throwing for 5,000 and rushing for 5,000 yards is mind boggling. And watching some of the plays he’s able to pull off just makes you shake your head. And I’m aware that the competition isn’t the greatest but I wouldn’t take too much away because of it.
November 13th, 2023 at 9:19 am
@ 610
I do. I’ll take it a step further and have them beating the D11 reps as well.
Prescott is ineligible. Anybody else of note ineligible for N-G??
November 13th, 2023 at 8:42 am
@ Kevin X, I stiil think they should have the state games somewhere in between, but if they are going to do the home district thing, no way it should be at the actual home stadium of the team playing in the game. That is an over the top advantage for a team especially when you are talking about the 2nd or 3rd round of states. I would say that for any team even if they were playing against a team I may be rooting for. Im sure the PIAA wants to make as much money as possible,just seems like they could have more of a chance for a big crowd with both teams having as many fans as possible at the game. They have started doing this in basketball as well, and the home court advantage is really a factor even more so then football.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:59 pm
@ Irish1
Also, for your future Thanksgiving weekend planning, the winner of the Bonner/PJPII game WILL be traveling north to either the Back Mountain area of suburban Wilkes- Barre (Dallas) or lovely Peckville PA (Scranton ‘burb) (Valley View) for their their next game. I do not know if D2 fan will be hosting. Valley View does have a nice stadium. Believe Shanahan was up there two years ago.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:46 pm
@ Irish1
A lot to digest with your post. I don’t disagree, but I kind of, sort of, understand where the PIAA is coming from. Doesn’t mean that I agree with them tho. Kind of complicated, similar to the transfer issue. Been trying to wrap my head around both, and I don’t know what issue will make my head explode first. Anyways, check out the link below, the first two pages lays out info on game site selections and facilities.
https://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/GENERAL_INFORMATION%20MEMO-FOOTBALL-2023.pdf
November 12th, 2023 at 7:49 pm
Wow, it’s nice too see someone root for NG, thanks JC. How many of yall got SP beating NG? Speak up, because alot of you had SP, NL and Wyo beating us last year. I’m taking the over, 33.5. I wish were in different bracket because it seems the path to the title game is SP, NL and Wyo. The team wants the trilogy against Wyo but anything can happen.
What makes Matt Machalik one of the best athletes in the state? What does he do that separate him from the rest? Palmerton only competition this year was NS.
November 12th, 2023 at 6:31 pm
Pjp- Bonnor at South Philly super site I don’t think it’s so super for fans wanting to go. In fact I think the Piaa would make out much better and the fans would too if they went back to playing the state games somewhere in between for both schools, instead of taking the easy way with this alternating home districts each yr. Whoever wins the pjp – Bonner game gets to take a lonng trip up north or the district 2 winner will have to take the long trip south. Wouldn’t it make more sense to play that game say maybe in the Allentown area making easier for the teams or maybe more importantly the fans.
November 12th, 2023 at 10:53 am
JC,
With all due respect. Didn’t you have North Schuylkill and Notre Dame winning?
November 12th, 2023 at 7:43 am
@Jc
I follow this forum because I learn about
Hs football in various parts of the state.
I think that as a football program to be successful southern sets the standard and that coach Roth and staff are very good at it. Most people on here are knowledgeable of football programs they talk about.
Can Nw beat Goretti this year yes they will play them to win. First both need to win and get there! I have seen a lot of these teams in person this year. Play that game outside of Philly it will be great to see.
Nw has a great program and community support. A great coaching staff to guide this team. First they must contain one of the best high school football players in the state this week (Matt machalik)
At this point in the bracket it separates the program culture and who wants it more moving forward!
That’s the difference between southern and why they continue year after year!
Everything else said is just talk!
Nw is a better team this year because it started years earlier!
November 12th, 2023 at 12:42 am
Why would troy have a chance against southern? Why is northwestern lehigh better than they were last year? I dont think they are. They wont hang with goretti, undefeated means they beat 0 teams so far who have a chance at a district title. There 2 best wins southern lehigh and blue mountain do not look as great right now. NW LEHIGH IS A REALLY GOOD FOOTBALL TEAM WHO WONT BEAT GORETTI
November 11th, 2023 at 9:44 pm
D2 Fan’s Notes From Week 12
– 1A: Lackawanna Trail dominated Morrisville, which wasn’t a shocker. They get another ‘Ville next week, as Minersville is next. I don’t know much about them, but Trail will be a decent favorite here.
– 2A: Dunmore wins the AA title, & it was just like the last meeting with the Vikes: A tight battle. Speaking of Vikings, Dunmore gets Williams Valley, who is a quality team. Have these two ever played each other?
– 3A: Prep once again reigns supreme in 3A. They get Neumann-Goretti in a rematch of last year’s game. Let’s hope it’s a better game this year.
– 4A: The final is set! Dallas vs. Valley View. I’ll give credit to GNA. They scored more than I thought they’d score. Valley View got the best of Wyoming Area. Winner gets PJP or Bonner-Prendie, who I think the winner can compete with. Dallas might put up the best fight & has the best chance to upset.
– 5A: Delaware Valley dominated Abington & will face Whitehall in a rematch. With the game in D2 territory, I hope that DV can finally get over the hump in this round. They are better than the Zephs, I feel, although both teams are battle tested because of the opposition they faced earlier in the year. Winner gets Imhotep vs. Roman, & we can assume which team that’ll be.
– 6A: Parkland vs. Naz final. Parkland had a scare against Emmaus, who kept it close. Nazareth looks good. Parkland is #2 in the state in 6A for a reason. The winner will get SJP, unless David beats Goliath in the most improbable way.
If you were to ask me to rank the five classes remaining with how far they can go.
1. 1A: I truly believe Trail can compete with Steel-High. They’ve looked dominant this year, & I think they have the best chance to get to Hershey of the D2 teams. Can they beat Steel-High? Not sure, but this is one good team.
2. 4A: For the sheer fact that the champ gets to the Elite 8 next week, they have some advantage. PJP/B-P winner shouldn’t try to overlook either Dallas or VV, but a D2 4A team might not win that one.
3. 2A: Dunmore has an easier matchup than last year’s 2A matchup in this round. I don’t have it higher than 1A or 4A, because I feel the Dunmore-WV game might be a coin flip.
4. 5A: Both 5A & 3A can flip around. I’ll give the edge to DV, as they’ll have home field advantage. I don’t think they’ll get past Whitehall, but I’ve doubted DV too much this year. I’m likely not going to make the same mistake.
5. 3A: Prep’s playing Neumann-Goretti in D12 territory. Odds are against them. The 3A field is stacked, as well, so a Northwestern Lehigh-Palmerton & Wyomissing or Danville path isn’t going to be easy at all.
Before I end,
1. Thanks Jeff H, for the help with the Serra question. I didn’t even hear about that. The Penn Hills part: I’m impressed with how that outcome of last night’s game went down & I can’t argue about your take on Peters. I still think the experience of the P-R program might give a tiny edge, but they’re not as high of a seed as in years past. Gonna be interesting to mull over who I’d pick.
2. Is this Troy team good enough to challenge Southern for the title? I don’t follow the NTL too much. I do hope that it’s a great game. Also, has the NTL ever won a class with a Southern or Mt. Carmel in it? I know that they have a few titles in the current era with 1A, like Canton & probably a Muncy. I feel like it’ll be a first if it does, but correct me if I’m wrong! My D4 knowledge is comme ci, comme ça.
3. I’m about a quarter to about a third of the way through the Class A part of the playoff proposal (starting at the bottom). Trust me: Things will move quicker after more teams are added in (overall, I have at least 75-80 teams data for with the schedules). Most of the teams entered so far are the Colonial-Schuylkill, Mid-Penn, NTL, & Lackawanna II/III teams. The D2 Power Ratings system is very easy to follow, & not as confusing as I thought it was. Once I finish 1A, I’ll share a Google Doc with how I was able to come up my data, over time. I have the East Region about done (Finishing Steel-High’s division & numbers for Exec., as Tri-Valley played them).
Before I get any backlash or extra feedback (as I read some last week), I know that WPIAL & D3 would be against this for the reasons Jeff H said earlier on. This is just a hypothetical “what-if”. Based on my 1A ratings results so far with the Easternmost 5 districts, there’s more appealing games.
The best part of working on this idea is actually seeing how Western PA & Districts 1/12 would fare with D2/4/3/11’s system.
November 11th, 2023 at 6:31 pm
PJP manhandled Shanahan 42-14. Things get turned up a notch against a good Bonner team next week. Bonner will have to play well PJP is hitting on all cylinders right now. Anyone have any idea where the game may be played? Hoping it’s in the burbs somewhere.
November 11th, 2023 at 6:19 pm
@ Jeff H
Especially since Scranton Prep will beat N-G next weekend 🙂
November 11th, 2023 at 5:01 pm
@Brian, Wellsboro and Towanda both have nice stadiums and would be excellent choices to host the game.
November 11th, 2023 at 4:50 pm
Congrats to Southern on a dominating performance. Not surprised SCA won but even with SCA adjustments from the week 8 game, I thought it would be much closer. MCA offensive game plan was great a few weeks ago but this week forgot to include blocking #43. Good luck the rest of the way.
November 11th, 2023 at 3:05 pm
@78CatFan Good to hear. After the year MCA boasted their goal was to take out SCA’s QB and an illegal hit took him out for the year, it makes me a bit suspicious when you see a play maker go down. I couldn’t see it at all from my side of the field. Hope it’s not as serious as his season ending injury last year.
In other news, Troy needs to find a new site for Friday’s game as the PIAA has ruled their field unsafe. One might argue it’s always been unsafe, but hopefully they find a decent host near there. If they wouldn’t be able to, SCA would be hosting. I’d guess they’d do anything to make that not happen.
November 11th, 2023 at 2:45 pm
@Foleman
Brubaker not going for it on fourth down early in the 4th, was really puzzling considering how much CB South could eat up the clock.
November 11th, 2023 at 2:42 pm
@ D2 Fan – Penn Hills did a great job of shutting down PR’s rushing attack and outplayed them for 3 1/2 quarters, but their defense ran out of gas and they made several mistakes in the last 5 minutes that cost them the game. I give PR credit for hanging in there and playing hard until the end, but they were very fortunate to win that game. I picked PR to win the WPIAL title because I thought Peters would have a tough time stopping their rushing attack, but it they can slow them down like Penn Hills did last night I think they will beat them, I also think Peters has a better chance to advance in the state tournament than PR because they are a more balanced team.
@Jc – I would be very surprised in NW Lehigh loses to Neumann by 4 scores, I think that game will be competitive and close into the 2nd half, we’ll see
November 11th, 2023 at 12:22 pm
I saw nothing nefarious with the tackle by the Mount Carmel player who tackled Garrett Garcia. Garrett’s leg became pinned beneath the body of the tackler as they rolled.
November 11th, 2023 at 10:59 am
Nw lehigh 48 palmeton 202
Neuman goretti 35 nw lehigh 7
November 11th, 2023 at 10:11 am
Big Game Brubaker strikes again for Spring Ford. He tries to get cute at the start of the game and has his kick returner run left and then throws a pass-(Lateral) across the field which wasn’t anywhere near the other Spring Ford kick returner, CBS returns the fumble for a TD, it took all of 7 seconds for Spring Ford to fall into a 7-0 hole. 1st time I ever saw a 6A school not complete a pass in a game. CBS attempted 1 pass which was intercepted. SF could have had 11 in the Box and CBS still wouldn’t attempt a pass, then again, they didnt have to the way they were pushing around Spring Ford’s defense.
November 11th, 2023 at 10:02 am
@Jc – horrible. Horrible. Horrible. If they would’ve utilized that plan earlier, they may win the game by 2 scores. In the first half, you force 4 three and outs against them, which is really tough to do. And they get the ball inside Palmerton’s 35 three times, and another at midfield. And you come away with 3 points on a 42 yard field goal. That is absolutely horrendous and where the game was lost. Then inevitably Machalik gets going and starts making plays and it’s a dogfight down the stretch and a fumble by NS in Palmerton territory is the final straw.
And again the in game decision making was horrible down the stretch. Palmerton has the ball inside the 5 first and goal with about 2:30 to go in the game. Game is tied. NS has all 3 timeouts. Palmerton runs a play for a one yard gain. Wally lets the clock drip down to 1:50 with no timeout…. Does it again on 2nd down… clock is down to about 1:10. Palmerton runs out of bounds on 3rd down, and scores on 4th and a foot. NS gets the ball back with about 45-50 seconds where they should’ve got it back with about 2 minutes. Now, does that mean they score to tie it up.. no. It’s just the point of playing the game the right way and giving your team a shot. And they left two timeouts on the board to end the game anyway. It was abysmal clock management.
November 11th, 2023 at 9:37 am
@Jc I watched the SCA MCA game and unfortunately what Neutral Observer predicted was there, but wasn’t called. Lots of cheap shots by MCA players towards the end of the game. 77 in particular was literally throwing punches at the end of plays. The game was more than in the bag at this point, but some of the MCA kids were trying to injure SCA players. I’d like to say this wasn’t expected, but unfortunately it’s often par for the course when SCA plays them. The game was over and one MCA parent had to be dealt with by the police as she was in the faces of the SCA players calling them cheaters. Her son didn’t have the stellar game he had last time they met, but it certainly wasn’t because of cheating. Other MCA players were helping SCA players up after plays, but there definitely were a few bad sports that give them the bad reputation they have for poor sportsmanship and playing dirty. I’d like to see the film of when Garcia was injured to see if that was a cheap shot as well.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:51 am
@Jeff,
Well Northwestern won by 22. About what I expected. They are a very good 3A team. They probably beat Palmerton next week. Although Palmerton has one of the best players in the area, if not the state. If it’s Northwestern and NG, I would expect a closer game than last year. But this Northwestern team might be best iv seen seen from them. Im a Northern alum so I have seen a bunch of northwestern Lehigh teams as their rival starting from early 2000s.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:37 am
Does District One have buried in their bylaws somewhere a flex scheduling option for playoff games?? Can they get CBS to go play DTE (next Friday, a week early instead of the champ game in two weeks) and DTW head to Doylestown play CBW??
The two D1 6A games, S-F Delco/S-H, Naz/Parkland, DelVal/Whitehall, and very likely Scr. Prep/N-G and ‘Tep/RC (any chance that game can be played next Friday night in the ‘burbs?? Please?? Pretty please, with sugar on top??) all rematches from last year’s playoffs or regular season games from this year.
@ John, I understand now how Township hung 63 points on S-F earlier this year. S-F defense is a slow train wreck.
Your thinking was correct, and your answer is/was an emphatic NO!!
November 11th, 2023 at 12:35 am
Wally hall!!!!!!! Up 3-0 and 4th and 2 in palmerton territory he punts. 3rd quarter realizes carrabelllo as a lead blocker and stanakis as your rb works and does it until the drive they need it to work on in 4th qrt with an 8 pt lead. 10 for 10 on 2 point conversions against you.
November 11th, 2023 at 12:21 am
Northwestern Lehigh is a program that is gonna make a run in the state. They have some talent on both sides of the ball.
Palmerton has one of the best high school players I’ve seen in years On both sides of the ball #2 Machalik
Good for palmerton and that community!
I think nw win D11 and then plays NG out side of Philadelphia both good defense Nw will make a statement
Great to see pa football this time
of year
November 11th, 2023 at 12:05 am
Very dramatic finish to a physical, defensive battle between Penn Hills and Pine Richland. The first half was a field position game dominated by the defenses, with Penn Hills taking a 3-0 lead into halftime on a 32 yard field goal midway through the 2nd quarter. Pine Richland was forced to punt on their first possession of the 2nd half, then Penn Hills went on an impressive 90 yard drive to take a 9-0 lead with a couple of minutes left in the 3rd quarter, but the extra point was blocked and I thought to myself that might come back to haunt them. But it looked like it wouldn’t matter with the way Penn Hills defense was playing, doing a great job of slowing down PR’s power running game. PR finally scored with 3 1/2 minutes to go in the game to make 9-3, but Penn Hills recovered the onside kick and needed 1 first down to ice the game as PR only had 1 timeout left. However, Pine’s defense held and forced Penn Hills QB Julian Duggar out of bounds on a third down run to stop the clock, and after the punt Pine got the ball back with a little over 2 minutes to go on their own 31 yard line with no TO’s left. Freshman QB Aaron Strader proceeded to complete several passes on the ensuing drive and scrambled for more yardage, and aided by a roughing the passer penalty set up first and goal from the 9 yard line with 20 seconds left. 2 incompletions made it third and goal with 10 seconds left, but Penn Hills jumped offside to move the ball to the 4 yard line, and on the next play Strader rolled left and scrambled for a 4 yard TD with 2 seconds left, and the ensuing extra point made it 10-9. Penn Hills had 1 play left from their own 20, but they fumbled a hook and ladder attempt and Pine scooped it up and ran for a TD with no time remaining to stun Penn Hills 16-9, scoring all their points in the last 3+ minutes, one of the more dramatic finishes I’ve seen in quite awhile.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:27 pm
The District 1 6A semis are set-
4 Seed CB South vs 1 Seed CB West
2 Seed Downingtown East vs. 6 seed Downingtown West
Both rematches between huge rivals. I have heard that all 4 looked impressive tonight.
November 10th, 2023 at 5:53 pm
@JC & D11 Matt – you guys follow D11 a lot closer than I do, but from what I’ve gathered I think NW Lehigh is really good and has a chance to compete with Nuemann in a few weeks assuming they get out of the district. I know it’s dangerous to rely on comparable scores against the same team, but Southern Lehigh beat ND by 40 early in the season and NW beat Southern by 30 last week, so it seems like it would be a pretty big upset if ND wins tonight.
November 10th, 2023 at 5:31 pm
Jeff Lang resigns as Governor Mifflin Head Coach. Lang was 50-26 in 7 seasons, he coached a total of 33 years, 27 as an offensive line coach, he’s retiring as a teacher and coach to help with his wife’s family business-Whippoorwill Campground in Lehighton. Living in Berks and seeing several Mifflin games the last several years I can tell you that the Governor Mifflin faithfull saw Lang as a great Offensive Line Coach…..he is in the Berks County Hall of Fame as an Assistant Coach, but a Poor head coach. Critics point to the total collapse in the State Semi’s against Pine Richland…GM had a 22 point lead in that game, and the District 3 Playoff loss against rival Exeter where super back Nick Singleton barely touched the ball in that game. GM had 2 losing seasons the past 2 years and Mifflin is used to winning. That being said, he is to be commended for working with HS kids for 33 years. It will be interesting who GM picks as his successor.
November 10th, 2023 at 5:06 pm
@ jeff h I think north schuylkill and notre dame have under performed all year. I think the talent both teams have is beyond what any other teams they played. So just a hunch that nd upsets nw lehigh. I think one of the two games will have an upset. I also think if nw lehigh plays palmerton they will win by at least 4 tds
November 10th, 2023 at 4:38 pm
Jeff,
I agree. Northwestern just put it to Southern Lehigh two weeks ago who was a 9-0 5A school who is playing in 5A champiomship. I think Northwestern Lehigh wins by three scores like 48-31.
November 10th, 2023 at 3:51 pm
@D2 Fan – that game was cancelled because on Wednesday of that week a Serra student was killed and a few other students injured in a bus van accident driving to school, and Serra cancelled classes on that Thursday/Friday, the WPIAL ultimately ruled it a no contest instead of a forfeit due to the circumstances.
November 10th, 2023 at 1:26 pm
Question for the WPIAL folks. Did Imani not play Serra this year?
I know this is old news, with that brawl at the end of the Week 4 Imani-Steel Valley game, but was that ICA-Serra game cancelled, or did Imani forfeit? I see no records of anything, although it’s still on the schedules on here (& other websites).
November 10th, 2023 at 12:18 pm
We’ve seen this script before, most notably last year, I would be shocked if Southern loses tonight, and if they get past Troy next week they will be a big favorite to win their 7th state title in a row.
@JC – you think Notre Dame is going to upset Northwestern Lehigh? I think NW will put up 50+ and win this game by at least 2 scores.
November 10th, 2023 at 3:03 am
Southern will probably beat mount carmel, i expect it to be fairly close, how does mt. Carmel getting a game from wyalusing last week mean more than mt. Carmel already pounding southern? I dont get the logic? Southern may not be as good as even last years team. The offense isnt what it was. Unbiased but your predicting personal fouls and ejections late when mc loses? Lol Im a mt. Carmel hater but i wont even predict that. Southern 27-19 selingsgrove 28-14 troy 34-20 palmerton 35-31 notre dame 49-42 haven 27-7 minersville 28-6 acc 21-14 southernr lehigh 27 -24
November 10th, 2023 at 1:50 am
@Neutral observer, agreed. Nobody gets the troops ready for playoff battle better than Roth. Expect a SCA at Troy district final.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:31 pm
The game of the week is definitely the southern and MCA rematch. Very uncharacteristic playing this one in the semis and not next week. I believe this time it will be different. Roth has spent a couple weeks in confinement and you gotta know he has a game plan with all the free time he had on his hands. Also southern holds the home field advantage this time. Look for it to be close early with southern wearing MCA down later in the game. MCA struggled stopping a very young mediocre Wyalusing team last week. So see this one get away from the red tornadoes late and expect late personal fouls and possible ejections out of frustration. If Troy doesn’t get upset against line mountain then next week the Troy fair grounds will be as packed as knoebles amusement park on a warm summers day. Southern 38. MCA 17
November 9th, 2023 at 8:17 pm
Here’s my take on some key WPIAL games, it goes without saying that Penn Hills vs. Pine Richland is the matchup of the week. Everyone knows Penn Hills won the regular season game at Pine 26-20 back in early September, but this is a completely different offense Pine is running now than they did in the first meeting. PT had some pretty good success running between the tackles last week against Penn Hills, and that’s PR’s bread and butter, I would think Pine would have the same game plan as against PCC and Woody and just try and run the ball right at them until they get stopped. If they get 4-5 yards/rush like they did against Woody it’s going to be a long night for PH defense and keep their potent offense off the field. PR also has the edge in coaching, John LeDonne has won 2 state titles in the last 5 years, and is very good at adapting his game plan to maximize his players talents, and making in game adjustments, this game could go either way, I picked PR to win the WPIAL title and I think they get past Penn Hills in a one score game. The other game is also a rematch, Peters will win again although it will likely be a good bit closer than the regular season game that Peters won 41-7, I just don’t think Moon’s offense will be able to move the ball consistently against Peters defense, they certainly didn’t in the first game that I attended.
4A has 2 interesting matchups with #4 Mars against #5 Central Valley, and #3 Montour hosting #6 TJ. Both games should be very competitive, I wouldn’t be surprised if both of the lower seeds win, although Montour hasn’t lost since I saw them lose to Aliquippa in week 3 and they are tough at home, and TJ isn’t as good as I expected them to be this year, so I’ll take Montour at home.
I see an upset in 3A and like #6 West Mifflin to beat #3 Elizabeth Forward at EF, West Mifflin has a couple of dynamic running backs and lots of team speed, they did lose to EF 24-7 in week 1 but were missing a few key players in that game, they also played a much tougher schedule than EF and I think they win the rematch
Mostly chalk in 2A and 1A, I think #5 Mohawk has a good chance to beat #4 Imani Christian who is without their starting QB who is a D1 recruit because he transferred after his sophomore season and is thus ineligible for the playoffs, in 1A the most interesting game to me is #4 Clairton against #5 Union who is the defending champ, Clairton has won 9 in a row after starting 0-2, and Union has been up and down and got blown out by South Side in the last game of the regular season, I like Clairton to win a very close game.
November 9th, 2023 at 12:45 pm
@Kevin X
I heard Garnet got their QB back, I don’t know if he played in the first game vs. CB West, but still a huge return for them since the QB heads the triple option. I still think CB West will take care of Garnet in the trenches and win in a tight one.
For CB South-Spring Ford, I think will come down to Spring Ford’s defense and if they can stop CB South.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:16 pm
@ John
I hope you are right, as I’ll be rooting for CBW from afar. Really tho, I believe the GV/CBW and CBS/S-F games are toss ups. Both Downingtown’s will take care of their respected businesses relatively comfortably, especially East.
Fun fact, District One contested 18 playoff games last weekend between 4A, 5A and 6A. All 18 winners were the higher seeds. I do not expect they (the higher seeds) will go 9 for 9 this weekend.
November 8th, 2023 at 8:41 pm
@NEA Here is the thing, north schuylkill can put carrabello, flail, chowansky, halford, mcgee or stanakis in the backfield and run the ball every play and probably not be stopped by palmerton 1 time. They wont do that. Defensively your guess is as good as mine. The defense gets worse every year. 9 guys back almost every year and there isnt improvement. Its clearly not the players, they dont have a killer instinct. I know 15 years ago palmertons qb wouldnt run for 250 yds against them. The thing that concerned me the most was 6 for 6 on 2 pt conversions. Thats bad. This team has more talent then any they have played this year. I know everyone is so high on palmerton but i think they are a 1 trick pony. There qb wants to run, make him pay for that. Bottom line is i have no faith ina wally. Joey flail on most nights is the best offensive player on the field, hes under used, chowansky is the best lb on most nights, why have you not heard more, hes been hurt but god wouldnt it be nice to say here u go go get him to your lb this week. It just seems like wallys players peak while soph. And juniors
November 8th, 2023 at 4:30 pm
@Jc Any thoughts on the Palmerton NS game? Will this time around be different?
November 8th, 2023 at 2:18 pm
@Kevin X
I heard about McFadden, really unfortunate, still think CB West will handle Garnet. I think all 4 D1-6A games have the potential to be good, though I think CB South-SF will be the best
November 8th, 2023 at 12:18 pm
@D2 Fan: KIPP forfeited their game against N-G, so it will not be played.
November 8th, 2023 at 2:04 am
Predictions For Week 12 in PA. Getting them in early, so I can work on that “project”. If anyone’s wondering, so far, so good. Slowly, but surely getting through Class A. It’ll be quick work when there’s fewer teams to compute data for.
District 2 Based Picks
– D-I/II A Subregional: Trail over Morrisville 49-0
– D-II 2A Final: Dunmore over Riverside 27-24
– D-II 3A Final: Prep over Western Wayne 37-20
– D-II 4A Semi #1: Dallas over GNA 38-9
– D-II 4A Semi #2: Wyo. Area over Valley View 23-19
– D-II 5A Final: DV over Abington Hts. 28-10
– D-II 6A Subregional Semi #1: Parkland over Emmaus 38-14
– D-II 6A Subregional Semi #2: Naz over N’hampton 33-22
District 2 Possibles
– D-XI 1A Final: Minersville over Marian 16-10
– D-XI 2A Final: Schuylkill Haven over Williams Valley 30-28
– D-XII 3A Final: N-G over Kipp-DuBois 56-0
– D-XI 5A Final: Solehi over Whitehall 28-24
The Rest
1A
District 4
– Muncy over Northwest 30-12
– Canton over S. Williamsport 31-18
District 6
– Northern Cambria over Cambria Hts. 28-7
– Purchase Line over Penns Manor 26-22
District 5 Final: NoBedCo over Windber 35-13
District 3/12 Final: Steel-High over Belmont Charter 55-0
WPIAL
– South Side over GCC 44-23
– Union Area over Clairton 24-20
– Fort Cherry over Rochester 32-23
– Canevin over California 23-21
District 10
– Lakeview over Mercer 42-14
– Camb. Springs over Eisenhower 35-8
District 9
– Redbank Valley over Coudy 34-14
– Port Allegany over Brockway 35-14
2A
District 3 Final: Trinity over Camp Hill 27-20
District 1/12 Final: West Catholic over Bristol 45-3
District 4
– Troy over Line Mtn. 62-7
– Mt. Carmel over SCA 28-22
District 6
– Bald Eagle over Forest Hills 38-19
– Richland over Mt. Union 46-20
District 10
– #1 Farrell over #4 Wilmington 35-16
– #2 Mercyhurst over #3 Sharpsvill 30-28
District 9 Final: Central Clarion over Brookville 57-26
District 5/8 Final: Westinghouse over Berlin 38-10
WPIAL
– Steel Valley over Western Beaver 44-8
– Imani over Mohawk 33-14
– Neshannock over Beaver Falls 38-30
– Washington over McGuffey 30-14
3A
District 3
– Wyomissing over Schuylkill Valley 42-14
– Lancaster Cath. over West Perry 30-19
District 4
– Danville over Lewisburg 49-14
– Loyalsock over Warrior Run 33-7
District 11
– Northwestern Lehigh over NDGP 36-29
– Palmerton over North Schuylkill 42-20
WPIAL
– Belle Vernon over Deer Lakes 48-7
– East Allegheny over South Park 42-10
– Avonworth over Beaver 33-9
– Eliz. Forward over West Mifflin 26-16
District 9 on BYE
D6 Final: Central over Penn Cambria 38-13
District 10
– Sharon over Oil City 35-28
– Hickory over Grove City 40-14
4A
D12 Final: Bonner-Prendie over Bartram 42-8
D1 Final: PJP over Shanahan 35-10
District 3
– McDevitt over Milton Hershey 59-6
– L-S over East Pennsboro 35-24
– Twin Valley over ELCO 34-13
– Manheim Central over Susq. Twp. 42-10
District 11 Final: ACC over Beca 24-19
District 4 Final: Shore over Selinsgrove 28-14
District 8/10 Final: Meadville over USO 35-14
District 6/9 Final: Juniata over DuBois 32-14
WPIAL
– Quips over Greater Latrobe 52-14
– Central Valley over Mars 24-20
– McKeesport over Trinity 33-14
– Montour over TJ 34-14
5A
District 12
– Roman on BYE
– Imhotep over MLK 42-14
District 1
– Chester over Phoenixville 36-24
– Rustin over Plymouth-Whitemarsh 20-13
– Strath Haven over Upper Dublin 28-27
– Springfield Delco over M-N 30-20
District 6/10 Final: ECP over Hollidaysburg 52-0
WPIAL
– Peters Twp over Moon 23-14
– Penn Hills over Pine-Richland 28-19
District 3
– New Oxford over Hershey 23-18
– Garden Spot over Ephrata 25-13
– Cedar Cliff over South Western 41-24
– Cocalico over Con Valley 32-13
6A
District 1
– CB West over Garnet Valley 28-27
– Spring-Ford over CB South 26-20
– D’town East over Perk Valley 28-20
– D’town West over Soudy 23-19
District 12
– Abe Lincoln over Northeast 21-15
– SJP over La Salle 38-11
District 3 (Predicted Champ: Harrisburg over Manheim Twp.)
– #1 Manheim Twp. over #8 William Penn 33-13
– #4 Cumb. Valley over #5 Wilson West Lawn 25-23
– #2 Harrisburg over #7 Cedar Crest 42-18
– #3 Central York over #6 Central Dauphin 28-13
WPIAL (Predicted Champ: PCC over North Allegheny)
– #1 PCC over #4 Mt. Lebanon 43-8
– #2 North Allegheny over #3 Canon-Mac 34-7
District 6 Final: State College over Altoona 35-0
McDowell on BYE
Other Games
– Malvern Prep over Springside 34-24
– Episcopal over Haverford 31-23
– Germantown over Penn Charter 29-22
– Wyo. Sem over Trinity-Pawling 17-14
November 7th, 2023 at 9:42 pm
@ John
CBW’s Conor McFadden tore an ACL in his knee on the opening kickoff Friday against Cheltenham. Obviously done for the year. So I wouldn’t even call it an upset if GV beats CBW Friday. CB South @ S-F and DTW @ Soudy are the two games that I find interesting and I’m considering. Leaning towards a trip over to Royersford Friday night at the moment.
November 7th, 2023 at 7:40 pm
@FrankG: Yes, La Salle is better than Bonner, but for simplicity I just assumed that a 7-2 team would get in over a 6-4 team. Perhaps with 8-team brackets, it would be easier to select teams by committee, rather than by a formula.
I think some fans of the boundary schools might say those sorts of things, but I’d predict it to be a vocal minority. Plus, you can always have a Pennsylvania Bowl between the winner of the highest boundary class (you could go down to 5 classes) and the highest non-boundary class. That’s not a difficult thing to add.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:09 pm
@Irish 1 – I agree with you about enjoying physical, old school type football, where the game is determined in the trenches, you would love watching McKeesport’s rushing attack, just a thing of beauty to witness in person, I saw them against Gateway and TJ this year and they just play physical, hard nosed football and are very good at it. You would also appreciate Pine Richland’s rushing attack, their team strength is their O-line, and they just line up and run it right at you out of the wildcat formation and dare you to stop them, will be very interesting to see if Penn Hills defense is up to the task this week.
November 7th, 2023 at 4:59 pm
@ D2 Fan & Kevin X – I can tell you the WPIAL would be adamantly opposed to restricting their 6A playoffs to 2 teams and the lower classes to 8 teams, there’s a lot of complaining around here already that 5A is restricted to 8 teams now out of 18, when solid teams like Upper St Clair and Woodland Hills miss the playoffs. I know there are some flaws we’d all like to see fixed with the current bracket setup, but as I’ve stated before many of these problems, particularly the bye weeks for certain districts/teams was caused by the move to 6 classes and therefore unavoidable in the current district playoff format. And the districts are not going to want to get rid of their current playoff format, particularly districts like the WPIAL and D3, and DI for the larger schools. There’s already consternation in the WPIAL about not being able to play all their championships at Acrisure stadium like they did for decades in the 4 class era, and the WPIAL will balk at any further changes that don’t allow 1A-4A to all have their championships on the same day at Acrisure.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:15 pm
Very interesting.
No LaSalle because they lost to SJP in the regular season? They are almost certainly better than Bonner-Prendergast.
Some of those first round games would require almost no travel, but others would require long trips. Not a deal-breaker in itself.
How long before supporters of some of the boundary schools would begin saying “we would have a good chance of beating …” or “if only we could play …” ? My bet is that it would all start up in year one.
November 7th, 2023 at 9:57 am
As a brief thought experiment, I tried to see what a three-class non-boundary playoff might look like. The classes had 18 (>255), 17 (155-255), and 19 (<155) schools, respectively. 8 teams in each playoff.
Class A: St Joe's Prep vs. Bonner-Prendie, Imhotep vs. Roman, Bishop McDevitt vs. Cathedral Prep, Pittsburgh CC vs. PJP II
Class B: Neumann-Goretti vs. Conwell-Egan, Lancaster Catholic vs. Trinity, Allentown CC vs. Notre Dame-GP, Scranton Prep vs. Mercyhurst Prep
Class C: Bishop Guilfoyle vs. Executive Education, Delone Catholic vs. Marian Catholic, Canevin vs. Seton LaSalle, Imani vs. Greensburg CC
The big losers are the lower-enrollment teams in Class A, clearly, and I think that's what ultimately dooms this. But I can't deny that many of the semifinal and finals matchups in these brackets would be really interesting. Combined with the fact that you could do away with competitive balance measures, and I think there are merits here.
November 7th, 2023 at 9:46 am
@Dave – Thanks for pointing that out. I didn’t realize they were on a path to meet again. That will be a very very emotional game.
November 6th, 2023 at 9:54 pm
Another good one in district 4 is the rematch between Jersey Shore and Selinsgrove. Meeting on the same field where the first game was called with the score tied, due to tragic circumstances. Going to be a lot of emotion in this one.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:40 pm
@D11 Matt
MCA live streams every game on WKMCTV YouTube channel. Its a student run TV studio that does a fantastic job.
https://www.youtube.com/@WKMCTV/streams
I think this game could go either way but will be tough for MCA to come out on top again. MCA got out to a fast start in the first game with 28 pts in the first quarter and forced multiple turnovers which I don’t see happening again. They started the last 2 games against Shamokin and Wyalusing off very slow and the Defense allowed way too many yards on the ground. MCA starting RB also was out last week due to an ankle injury, so not sure what his status will be for Friday. SCA has a key defensive player back who did not play in the first matchup and but was a difference maker last year in the playoffs. I also heard SCA made another change to bolster their Defense in the playoffs similar to last year. Interesting fact – the starting QBs for both teams are 1st cousins. Lots of ties between these 2 communities. Should be a good game.
November 6th, 2023 at 3:40 pm
Some big games this weekend in D11 and D4. I got Palmerton over NS 35-28
Northwestern over NDGP 48-27
MCA over Southern 34-28 in overtime. Maybe this is the year??? I have great respect for southern and this game could go either way. Will this game be streamed on YouTube? I know MCA does home games on YouTube. Do they do away games??
Marian over Minersville 21-20
Schuylkill Haven over Williams Valley 27-20
November 6th, 2023 at 3:18 pm
Anyone intrigued by the CB West-Garnet Valley rematch. I know they played early on in the year and CB West won 17-13, but the score was not the best indicator since I heard West dominated upfront ran for 400 yards on them and GV barely could move the ball. GV looks down this year, but they always come out in the playoffs. Does anyone see a chance of an upset?
Also I think the CB South-Spring Ford game should be great. South has not played a team that could throw the ball like Spring Ford. But I’m leaning towards South because of the Spring Ford defense. If South could move the ball against Coatesville and CB West, they should be able to against Spring Ford.
Does anyone else see some other upsets brewing around the state?
November 6th, 2023 at 11:48 am
Two interesting matchups in D11 3A.
Palmerton – NS. Palmerton ran all over them in the first matchup, but NS was missing their best defender. It’ll be interesting to see if they can contain Machalik (somewhat) this time around with a different gameplan and personnel. What a career for Machalik as well, rushing for 5,000 and throwing for another 5,000. That is more than video game numbers. NS also lost their quarterback last week, and Minalda stepped right in and did a great job. He would have to play outstanding this week for them to have a chance. Look for a high scoring ballgame.
Northwestern Lehigh – Notre Dame. Northwestern Lehigh is the better overall team without a doubt. With that being said, Notre Dame still has a scary offense that can score with anybody. I expect another high scoring ballgame here. I expect Northwestern to win, but wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a 42-30 type of ballgame.
November 6th, 2023 at 6:23 am
@Dennis , I’m thinking that Troy will easily get past Line Mountain by a minimum of 20 points.
November 5th, 2023 at 9:00 pm
District 2 Notes
1A
– The 1A Subregional Final is set. Trail rolled past Old Forge in their quest for a perfect season. They’ll take on D1’s Morrisville. This is a no contest, in my opinion.
– Winner gets the District 11 champion, which is Marian vs. Minersville. This should be a good one. Saw Marian on TV 13 on Friday & they looked competitive. This is a rematch of a 41-39 shootout in Week 2 that the Battling Miners won.
2A
– As predicted, Dunmore vs. Riverside. The Bucks took the earlier meeting, 20-16, in Week 4. I think it’s Dunmore who takes it, but Riverside has a good chance to exact revenge on them.
– Winner gets the District 11 champion, as it’s Schuylkill Haven vs. Williams Valley. Haven has played dominant, & it’s a rematch of Week 3, which was a 3 Pt win for Haven.
3A
– Prep vs. Western Wayne: This is a rematch of last year’s final. Give credit to the Lake-Lehman Black Knights, as they made it much closer than I had thought it’d be.
– Winner gets the District 12 champ, as it’s Kipp-DuBois vs. Neumann-Goretti. I think we know who’s winning that.
4A
– Dallas dominated the #8 seed, Paupack. It wasn’t even close. That was also the last game coached for Mark “Doc” Watson at Wallenpaupack. I wish him nothing but the best. Although the record isn’t anything to be impressed at, he did help make Paupack a district champion, which hadn’t even been done before.
– Stunner of the weekend was GNA taking down Crestwood. They impressed me & a lot of the doubters that thought the Comets would be the better team. Just imagine the scenes if the little team that could beat the powerhouse of Dallas football.
– Wyoming Area got a good fight from North Pocono, 31-19. They’re such a sleeper in 4A & playing Southern helps them.
– Valley View beat Berwick, but it was closer than any of us thought, 12-7. Next week, VV & Wyo Area is going to be entertaining. This may be an all-WVC final, but Valley View is legit, too.
5A
– Delaware Valley rolled past Pittston & heads to another district final. Abington Heights got past Scranton, so it’s a Week 10 redux.
– Winner gets District 11 champs, as Solehi & Whitehall will duke it out. It may be a 2022 rematch, but I’d like to see if Southern can continue the non-repeat streak.
6A
– Williamsport & Wilkes-Barre saw their ‘23 seasons end. No surprises there. Wish the gap between the Lehigh Valley & NEPA was much smaller in the big school category.
– Semifinals are Parkland vs. Emmaus & Nazareth vs. Northampton. It’ll likely be an all EPC South final.
November 5th, 2023 at 7:42 pm
@Jc I agree, I don’t really think there’s a major problem with the PIAA playoffs right now. The big possible improvement, IMO, is the non-boundary question, because I think having separate playoffs would ultimately yield more interesting finals. But the first rounds are fine.
Are there a lot of blowouts in some districts? Yes. But the districts can always opt to qualify fewer teams to the playoffs. I don’t want the state to force everyone to send fewer teams.
November 5th, 2023 at 1:17 pm
I think the Southern and Mt. Carmel rematch could go either way. Roth will be back on the sidelines. I just have this thing about Line Mountain going up to Troy and knocking them off. I guess it is just me LOL. Anybody else thinking this?
November 5th, 2023 at 10:06 am
@ Jeff H
As far as the playoffs and D1 6A being affected, short answer: It depends. Depends on the format. Like I said before, we can go from the extreme, such as blowing up the whole current system, to just some minor tweaking. For instance with the minor tweaking in 6A, and this would not really eliminate many, if any, teams from the playoffs, more of a tightening it up so there are no (or reduced) byes, and a much more of an even bracket, as everyone will be playing in the round of 32 (week 12) and winners going forward. Basically go with an 11 week schedule, teams/districts can play a full 11 game regular season slate of games, start the season a week later, or schedule an in season bye week. Leave that up to the districts and individual teams. With the exception of D1 6A, playoffs for everyone would begin week 12. Around the bracket, D1 6A would actually get a jump on things and start their normal 16 team bracket per usual in week 11, with the current 10 week regular season schedule. Then have their quarter finals, the round of 8, week 12. The other half of that bracket would be the current D2/4/11 regional. That would set up the D1 winner playing the D2/4/11 winner in the PIAA state semi final. On the other side, D3 would remain the same, 8 team bracket starting week 12 (they can have a bye week like they do now in week 11, or have another week of regular season games), move D12 to this side of the bracket with 4 teams playing in the round of 32 (basically the same as now, they can still do their silliness that they do now in this scenario) and the WPIAL have 2 teams in their final with the other two spots for D6/8/10 final. They can use week 11 for any semi finals that they may want to conduct. Or go with a 4 team regional with D6/D7/D8/D10. D12 winner would play the winner of D6/D7/D8/D10 four team bracket. Winner then play the D3 champion in the other state semi final. It will involve some give and take, not everyone will be happy or on board, but guessing many are not right now either.
In summary:
D1 (16 teams a week early), then 8 teams
D2/D4/D11 8 teams
D3 8 teams
D12 4 teams
D6/D7/D8/D10 4 teams
(or D7 2 teams and D6/D8/D10 2 teams)
November 5th, 2023 at 9:32 am
@ Jeff H
I wouldn’t say that I went to the wrong game (Chelt. @ CBW), but I suppose I could have chosen a better game. Really any D1 6A game Friday night other than the Wiss @ DTE game would have been a really good choice. No regrets, Chelt was up 6-0 early in the 3rd and poised for a #16 seed over #1 seed upset. Then the Chelt implosion that I mentioned before happened. 24 points for CBW in the 3rd qtr. after a nifty long TD run by Chelt’s Tre McLeod.
Curious if anyone knows why CBW’s Conner McFadden did not play (I assume injured, and if so, to what extent). He was on the sideline all game. If he’s done for the season, it will be a tough go going forward for CBW. I believe he is their best all around player, an integral piece on both offense and defense.
November 5th, 2023 at 12:27 am
@Helen The Battle for Knoebels is on! Tigers v Red Tornadoes for control of the Crystal Pool, Playland and The Alamo!!
November 4th, 2023 at 11:37 pm
I figured out how to fix the problem with the state playoff format, just keep it the way it is. The non problem is fixed. Get over it
November 4th, 2023 at 4:31 pm
I want to follow up on my statewide Eastern Conference experiment. I’m going to classify these as my regions. I might combine everything into one Google doc, & show updates every couple of weeks. This is an offseason project. I think I have the solution to fix the PIAA playoffs.
Season
– 10 Week Season, as per the norm
– 32 Teams per class
– Top 8 in District 2/3/4/11’s Power Rating style are accounted for, with the exception of 6A, which is dually split into two 16-team playoffs (East vs. West adjace)
– Figuring out out-of-state opponents will be guesstimated based on school size
– Avg. amount of teams per section is approximately 23
1A
– Eastern Conference (Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, & 12): 22 Teams for 8 Spots
– Allegheny Conference (Districts 5 & 6): 20 Teams for 8 Spots
– Northwestern (Districts 9 & 10): 23 Teams for 8 Spots
– WPIAL (District 7): 30 Teams for 8 Spots
2A
– Eastern Conference (Districts 1, 2, 3, 11, & 12): 26 Teams for 8 Spots
– Central Conference (Districts 4 & 6): 26 Teams for 8 Spots
– Great West Conference (Districts 5, 9, & 10): 17 Teams for 8 Spots
– WPIAL (District 7 & 8): 26 Teams for 8 Spots
3A
– Eastern Conference (Districts 2, 4, & 11): 25 Teams for 8 Spots
– Southeast Conference (Districts 3 & 12): 20 Teams for 8 Spots
– Great West Conference (Districts 5, 6, 9, & 10): 22 Teams for 8 Spots
– WPIAL (District 7): 20 Teams for 8 Spots
4A
– Eastern Conference (Districts 1, 11, & 12): 21 Teams for 8 Spots
– Capital Conference (District 3): 23 Teams for 8 Spots
– Northern Conference (Districts 2, 4, 6, 9, & 10): 23 Teams for 8 Spots
– WPIAL (Districts 7 & 8): 25 Teams for 8 Spots
5A
– Southeastern Conference (District 1): 24 Teams for 8 Spots
– Eastern Conference (Districts 2, 11, & 12): 26 Teams for 8 Spots
– Central Conference (District 3): 26 Teams for 8 Spots
– WPIAL (Districts 6, 7, 8, & 10): 22 Teams for 8 Spots
6A
– Eastern Conference (District 1 & 12): 44 Teams for 16 Spots
– WPIAL (Districts 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, & 11): 44 Teams for 16 Spots
November 4th, 2023 at 9:48 am
@ Kevin X – I totally agree with you about the D1 6A bracket being one of the best and most exciting in the state. The problem is if we shorten the playoffs like you’ve suggested to eliminate teams in other districts with losing records you can no longer have that 16 team bracket in D1 6A. I would also point out that WPIAL 5A and 4A are pretty solid brackets, not too often a bracket has 4 of the last 5 state champs (PR twice, Penn Trafford and Penn Hills), along with 11-0 Peters Township who is ranked #2 in the state in most polls and may not even get out of the district. I will say the 5A bracket would have been a lot stronger this year if 8-2 Upper st Clair and 6-4 Woody qualified instead of 4-6 Bethel and 6-4 Franklin Regional. 4A isn’t too shabby either when you have 4 schools with multiple state titles to their credit in Aliquippa, McKeesport, TJ and CV, and as good as WPIAL 4A is this year next year Belle Vernon will be back in 4A due to enrollment after the last 2 yrs in 3A, so the toughest 4A district in the state gets even better.
November 4th, 2023 at 9:00 am
@ Kevin X – hope you picked the right game to go to because I picked the wrong one! I chose Penn Hills vs. Penn Trafford instead of Gateway-Moon, thinking PH would win but PT would keep it interesting for a while, and I hadn’t seen PH since early in the season. PH jumped ahead 14-0 early, but PT came back to make it 21-14 midway through the 2nd, then tried an ill advised onside kick that was recovered by PH and returned for a TD, and from there the floodgates opened as PH rolled to a very impressive 63-28 victory, Meanwhile the Moon-Gateway game turned into an instant classic, with 9 lead changes, including 6 in the 2nd half with Moon holding on for a thrilling 35-31 victory. It appeared Gateway scored the go ahead TD with about 30 seconds remaining in the game on a 16 yard run by QB Brad Birch, but play was called back due to holding, and on the next play Birch threw an INT in the end zone to seal the victory for Moon, they now get a rematch with Peters who beat them 41-7 last month, but it was only 13-7 going into the fourth quarter, I was at that game and Peters defense dominated and totally shut down Moon’s offense.
@D2 Fan – you may be on to something with your prediction of PH to win WPIAL 5A, I did not think they would manhandle PT the way they did, huge game next week against defending champ Pine Richland. I was right on my other disagreement picks with California, Western Beaver and West Mifflin winning comfortably, and Trinity destroyed North Catholic 49-0. The other shocker last night in the WPIAL was Latrobe crushing West Allegany at WA 39-7, they now get a quarterfinal matchup with Aliquippa, while Trinity has a rematch with McKeesport, TJ plays Montour and CV plays Mars, the later 2 should be very good games, but the game of the week in the WPIAL will be Penn Hills vs. Pine, which is one of the marquee matchups in the state.
November 4th, 2023 at 8:50 am
Was at Spring–Ford NP game last night crazy back and forth game with SF going up 21-0 only to see NP come back and take the lead 28-21. Game tied at 35,NP driving and their QB got hurt that really hurt NP and SF was able to pull it out. I thought NP was much more physical team rb really runs hard good player. Was actually nice to see a team line up with QB under center and play a physical style so much of today’s game is all spread offense. Too many teams have lost the physical part of the game
November 4th, 2023 at 8:07 am
I posted this back on October 25th:
“As far as I’m concerned, 6A D1 is the best bracket going in the state right now and the last that needs messing with. The largest pool of schools, in the largest classification, all public boundary schools, makes for the best competition.”
Any questions??
November 4th, 2023 at 8:04 am
For those of you in the greater Doylestown area wondering what those loud booms were around 8:30p last night, no worries, that was just the Cheltenham football team self imploding. Block punt near their goal line, fumble in their territory, unsuccessful and ill advised 4th down conversion attempt in their territory, illegal man down field on a long touchdown pass, personal foul penalties, other various penalties. Did I say penalties??
November 3rd, 2023 at 9:18 pm
Heck of a night we have had in District 1-6A with 5 games going down to the wire
November 3rd, 2023 at 8:38 pm
28-21 North Penn leading in the late 3rd, Spring Ford defense is getting pushed around
November 3rd, 2023 at 8:11 pm
Some odd halftime scores in D1-6A:
1. CB West 0 16. Cheltenham 0- I thought Cheltenham would compete, but did not expect a draw at half
3. Souderton 0 14. Pennsbury 3- Not as much as a surprise, should be interesting if Pennsbury can continue to contain Soudy’s offense
2. Dtown East 49 15. Wissahickon 0- Knew East would win but did not think it would be this bad
5. CB South 14 12. Coatesville 7- This game is the yearly version of two teams who are probably good enough to be playing each other in a later round.
8. Garnet Valley 21 9. OJR 7- The Jags have looked impressive in the first half from what I heard
4. Spring Ford 21 13. North Penn 21- Spring Ford’s defensive struggles continue to haunt them
7. Perk Valley 15 10. Quakertown 14- As expected this one is close
November 3rd, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Also I’ll give my D1-6A picks for this weekend:
1. CB West over 16. Cheltenham- Ham has athletes that could keep this game closer
2. Dtown East over 15. Wiss
3. Souderton over 14. Pennsbury- Pennsbury is tough, and were upset in the first round a year ago, but I still think Soudy will win
4. Spring Ford over 13. North Penn- NP is on a winning streak. Spring Ford just lost a heartbreaker in the PAC title. I think Zollers and the Rams offense will be too much for the Knights to handle
5. CB South over 12. Coatesville- A lot of people have this game going either way. Coatesville’s defense can keep them in any game. But CB South is improved on offense compared to prior years and the Red Raiders offense has been unable to consistently move the ball against better competition, so I will take CB South in close one.
6. Dtown West over 11. CR South- West took a huge loss to their rivals last week. I think they will bounce back, but CR South will be in this game till the end.
10. Quakertown over 7. Perk Valley- Qtown is better than their record indicates and Perk Valley is pretty banged up. I will take Qtown in a close one.
8. Garnet Valley over 9. OJR- Garnet Valley always puts in together come playoff time. I do not see them losing in the first round, but I see this game going down to the wire.
Yeah I know these picks are kind of boring, with really only one upset. But I see about 4-5 of these games going down to the wire.
November 3rd, 2023 at 4:16 pm
@Kevin X
I don’t know why Cheltenham can’t produce a better team considering how many kids on the team have D1 offers. They could keep it closer than some may think against CB West, but I doubt they are walking away with an upset
Also for anyone who follows District 1, Spring Ford QB Zollers was offered by Penn State last night. I am pretty sure he is the first District 1 QB to be offered by the Nittany Lions since CR North McIlwain (class of 2016), and the only the second District 1 QB to be offered by PSU in the James Franklin era. Also Spring Ford WR Scott, picked up a FBS offer from App State as well.
November 3rd, 2023 at 4:09 pm
You have a mental block on the participation trophy. Each district bases qualifiers on how many schools are in each classification. This aint bocce ball. This is football. People are getting hit every play. If they qualify let them play. Tamaqua didnt get a participation trophy losing by 40 but they got to play one more game and they had a chance. Rest your breath
November 3rd, 2023 at 2:37 pm
@ Mike S
Thanks for the heads up. Did not realize that. They were up something like 32-0 at half, so could have kept him out for precautionary reasons. Same thing happened when I saw them/him against PV mid season. Got banged up early in the second half, and ended up only playing some limited D the rest of the game. Still undecided on which game……will see what link I click when I enter the D1 web site later this afternoon…..
Have a bonus game tomorrow night down in D-Town.
November 3rd, 2023 at 10:26 am
@D2 Fan – I like most of your WPIAL picks for tonight but I’ll disagree with a handful, in 1A I don’t think Jeanette has the defense to contain California’s potent passing attack, they’ve had a nice bounce back season after 2 very down years, but I don’t think they beat California on the road tonight. I also think Western Beaver will beat Serra, they played in a tougher conference and I think they will win this game by a couple of scores. In 3A I think West Mifflin will handle Mt. Pleasant and win pretty comfortably, and I would not be surprised if Trinity upsets North Catholic in 4A. I also expect the Penn Hills vs. PT game to be a lot closer than you predicted, and likely a 1-2 score game, PH needed a very late TD to beat Woodland Hills last week, and PT has been playing better recently, I also think the Moon-Gateway game will be very close, Gateway has had trouble stopping teams that have a good rushing attack, and Moon is a run heavy team, if they can pound the ball on the ground and keep Gateway’s high scoring offense off the field they have a chance to beat them like they beat Penn Hills in the regular season, although I’d lean towards Gateway at home.
November 3rd, 2023 at 9:44 am
@John – one of the big advantages ECP has is the game will be in Erie, they rotate every year between Western PA and Erie, not sure why they don’t play at Slippery Rock or Grove City, but I’m pretty sure this years game will be in Erie, last year it was played on PR’s home field and they beat them by a TD. Historically the WPIAL has not fared very well when travelling to Erie to play ECP, I can’t remember the last time a WPIAL team beat them in the playoffs up there, PR is a 90 minute bus ride to Erie, Peters is closer to 2 1/2 hours, we’ll see and I certainly will be rooting for the WPIAL team, but Prep has a big home field advantage. I think Peters probably has a better chance to beat ECP than PR because they have a very good defense and a lot more balanced offense than PR, but I don’t know if Peters can hold up against a bigger and stronger PR O-line, that should be a very good WPIAL final if they meet which I expect they will.
November 3rd, 2023 at 8:22 am
@Kevinx Not sure if you heard, but Cheltenham’s Tre McLeod was injured last week and only carried the ball 6 times, albeit for 130 yards & 2 TD’s but didn’t make it until halftime. Don’t know if it was minor and they were saving him, or if he’s out, just a heads up there. Still could be an interesting game. Coatesville will certainly give CB South a run.
I’m going to quote the Doylestown Intelligencer newspaper because it is my sentiments almost exactly- “Drew Markol: “Again with Quakertown/Perk Valley, that’s a 7/10 game and another one that can go either way. Perk Valley has a nice program. They played West really tough in the district semifinals. That game went back and forth down to the wire before West won. Quakertown beat Upper Dublin last week 21-17, which was a nice win for them to clinch the 10th seed. Quarterback Vince Micucci, a senior, is as good as anybody around, and when you have that ‘X’ factor, a guy like him, you’ve got a shot. I don’t think Quakertown is fearing Perk Valley. If I had to pick it, I would probably pick Quakertown. I have to think about it, but your 8/9, your 7/10 – they’re supposed to be good games. That’s how this thing is supposed to work.” If Vince Micucci is on, he’s as good a QB as anyone in the SE.
November 3rd, 2023 at 8:13 am
@ Jc
Naw, let’s go all in, and invite all 555 schools into the playoffs. We already have aprx. 2/3rds of the teams playing in the tournament, what is one more week?? West Catholic, who is 0-9, get a bye this week, before they start their march to CV, guess everyone should have their chance too, no??
November 2nd, 2023 at 10:39 pm
Yes kevin x just play state title games. 1 game a year. St joes vs southern
November 2nd, 2023 at 9:59 pm
Actually, make it a perfect 4 for 4. Palmerton was up 37-0 in the 3rd qtr. Gotta love consistency!!! Way to go D11 3A, you set the bar high for the rest of the state!!!!
November 2nd, 2023 at 9:54 pm
Well we’re off to a rip roaring start to the annual PIAA football playoffs participation trophy weekend. Three D11 3A mercy rule games to whet our collective appetites for the rest of the weekend.
November 2nd, 2023 at 8:05 pm
Which Central Bucks game do i check out, Coateville @ CB South or Cheltenham @ CB West?? I asked for a C’Ville @ CB South game a few weeks ago which has been granted, but having a weird feeling that The Ham will give CB West a game that I’m sure many are not expecting. CBW has not seen a RB as fast and quick as Tre McLeod all year. QB Ingram is a shifty duel threat as well.
November 2nd, 2023 at 5:38 pm
@D2 Fan: very thorough predictions, I don’t have many issues with them from a D11 perspective. My main disagreement would be 5A, I think Whitehall will beat Solehi pretty comfortably in the final. Whitehall plays a much more difficult schedule, and Solehi looked pretty outclassed when they came up against a superior opponent in NW Lehigh. I expect a similar outcome in the 5A final.
November 2nd, 2023 at 12:51 pm
First round will be easy to predict in 2A. The best game will be next week when SCA meets MCA. The Tigers have their best defensive player back after concussion protocol kept him out of the first meeting of these two and that will make all the difference. SCA will win this one and meet Troy for the title.
November 2nd, 2023 at 12:16 pm
@Jeff H
I don’t think ECP will beat the WPIAL 5A champ, I don’t know much about their team this year, but they seem kind of down compared to some of their past teams. Their defense seems kind of weak and their best win was over St. Francis (who is one of the best teams in NY), but still I would take PR/Peters over them right now. Again I don’t know too much and I’m sure they have some D1 guys, but just looking at the schedule, they are certainly haved played the competition the WPIAL teams have. But then I am from the complete opposite side of the state from Erie, so I may be underrating them.
November 2nd, 2023 at 12:03 pm
It’s playoff time in PA! Time to see what six teams will be champions at the end of the season.
I was going to break this up over three days, but with games starting today & me forgetting to finish it yesterday, I’m just going to post all of them now.
D2 Picks
1A (Predicted Subregional Champ: Lack. Trail over Morristown)
– D2 1A: #1 Trail over #2 Old Forge 42-17
– D1 1A: #1 Morristown over #2 Jenkintown 24-23
2A (Predicted Champ: Dunmore over Riverside)
– #1 Dunmore over #4 Susquehanna 42-14
– #3 Riverside over #2 Mid Valley 23-19
3A (Predicted Champ: Scranton Prep over Western Wayne)
– #1 Scranton Prep over Hanover Area 63-0
– #2 Western Wayne over Lake-Lehman 38-7
4A (Predicted Champ: Dallas over Wyoming Area)
– #1 Dallas over #8 Paupack 43-16
– #4 Crestwood over #5 GNA 49-17
– #2 Valley View over #7 Berwick 29-8
– #3 Wyo. Area over #6 North Pocono 38-10
5A (Predicted Champ: DV over Abington Heights)
– #1 DV over #4 Pittston 49-7
– #2 AH over #3 Scranton 31-20
6A (Predicted Subregional Champion: Parkland over Nazareth)
– #1 Parkland over #8 Williamsport 49-0
– #4 Freedom over #5 Emmaus 34-17
– #3 Northampton over #6 Stroudsburg 39-7
– #2 Nazareth over #7 Wilkes-Barre 56-7
State 1A
District 4 (Predicted Champion: Canton over Muncy)
– #1 Muncy (BYE)
– #2 Canton vs. #3 South Williamsport (BYE)
– #4 Bucktail over #5 Northwest 33-13
District 6 (Predicted Champion: Northern Cambria over Juniata Valley)
– #1 Northern Cambria over #8 Marion Center 42-7
– #4 Cambria Heights over #5 West Branch 28-18
– #2 Purchase Line over #7 Moshannon Valley 38-14
– #3 Juniata Valley over #6 Penns Manor 44-14
District 11 (Predicted Champion: Minersville over Tri-Valley)
– #1 Minersville over #4 Nativity 28-20
– #3 Tri-Valley over #2 Marian 38-19
District 5 (Predicted Champion: Northen Bedford over North Star)
– #1 Northern Bedford over #4 Meyersdale 46-7
– #2 North Star over #3 Windber 34-14
District 3/12 (Predicted Champion: Steel-High over Belmont Charter)
– District 3 Final: #1 Steel-High over #2 Halifax 70-3
– Belmont Charter has a BYE
WPIAL (Predicted Champion: Bishop Canevin over South Side)
– #1 South Side over #16 Monessen 57-7
– #9 West Greene over #8 Greensburg CC 30-24
– #4 Clairton over #13 Laurel 30-14
– #5 Union Area over #12 Burgettstown 42-14
– #2 Fort Cherry over #15 Jeff-Morgan 42-10
– #7 Cornell over #10 Rochester 23-19
– #3 Canevin over #14 Leechburg 44-13
– #11 Jeannette over #6 California 38-20
District 10 (Predicted Champion: Lakeview over Cambridge Springs)
– Lakeview has BYE
– #4 Cochranton over #5 Mercer 30-15
– #3 Eisenhower over #6 Reynolds 31-14
– #2 Cambridge Springs over #7 Maplewood 43-11
District 9 (Predicted Champion: Redbank Valley over Port Allegany)
– Redbank Valley has BYE
– #4 Coudy over #5 Cameron Co. 33-22
– #2 Port Allegany over #7 Keystone 43-14
– #3 Brockway over #6 U-A/C Valley 38-13
State 2A
District 11 (Predicted Champion: Schuylkill Haven over Williams Valley)
– #1 Schuylkill Haven over #4 Executive 26-17
– #2 Williams Valley over #3 Catty 54-28
District 3 (Predicted Champion: Trinity over Annville-Cleona)
– #1 Annville-Cleona over #4 Camp Hill 34-24
– #2 Trinity over Delone 48-14
District 1/12 (Predicted Champion: West Catholic over Bristol)
D1 Final: #1 Bristol over #2 New Hope-Solebury 38-7
West Catholic has BYE
District 4 (Predicted Champion: Mount Carmel over Troy. I said it)
– #1 Troy over #8 Hughesville 63-7
– #5 Towanda over #4 Line Mountain 28-18
– #2 Southern Columbia over #7 Mansfield 62-7
– #3 Mt. Carmel over #6 Wyalusing 57-7
District 6 (Predicted Champion: Richland over Bald Eagle Area)
– #1 Bald Eagle Area over #8 Guilfoyle 24-20
– #4 River Valley over #5 Forest Hills 29-14
– #3 United Valley over #6 Mt. Union 33-13
– #2 Richland over #7 Penns Valley 44-14
District 10 (Predicted Champion: Farrell over Mercyhust Prep)
– Farrell/Wilmington & Mercyhurst/Sharpsville on BYE
District 9
– Central Clarion on BYE
– #2 Brookville over #3 Karns City 31-22
District 5/8 (Predicted Champion: Westinghouse over Chestnut Ridge)
– Westinghouse on BYE
– District 5 Final: #2 Chestnut Ridge over #1 Berlin 33-13
WPIAL (Predicted Champion: Steel Valley over Washington)
– Steel Valley & Neshannock on BYE
– #8 Serra Catholic over #9 Western Beaver 36-14
– #4 Imani Christian over #13 Waynesburg 28-10
– #5 Mohawk over #12 Burrell 40-13
– #7 Keystone Oaks over #10 Beaver Falls 29-25
– #3 Washington over #14 Ellwood Lincoln 43-10
– #6 McGuffey over #11 Derry 28-17
State 3A
District 3
– Wyomissing & Lancater Catholic on BYE
– #4 Schuylkill Valley over #5 Littlestown 28-14
– #3 West Perry over #6 Bermudian Springs 43-7
District 4 (Predicted Champion: Danville over Loyalsock)
– #1 Danville over #8 Athens 62-7
– #5 Montoursville over #4 Lewisburg 33-16
– #2 Loyalsock over #7 Cow Valley 51-7
– #3 Mifflinburg over #6 Warrior Run 32-13
District 11 (Predicted Champion: Northwestern Lehigh over Palmerton)
– #1 NW Lehigh over #8 Lehighton 35-7
– #4 NDGP over #5 Saucon 27-24
– #2 Palmerton over #7 Jim Thorpe 34-8
– #3 North Schuylkill over #6 Tamaqua 41-16
District 12 (Predicted Champion: N-G over Vaux)
– PPL: #1 Vaux over #2 Kipp-DuBois 24-13
– PCL: #1 Neumann over #2 CEC 28-7
WPIAL (Predicted Champion: Belle Vernon over Eliz. Forward)
– Belle Vernon, East Allegheny, Avonworth, & Eliz. Forward on BYE
– #8 Deer Lakes over #9 S’moreland 24-12
– #5 Knoch over #12 South Park 39-14
– #7 Beaver over #10 Shady Side 28-19
– #11 Mt. Pleasant over #6 West Mifflin 23-19
District 5/6/9 (Predicted Champion: Central over Clearfield)
– Winner gets BYE to Sweet 16
– D 5/9 Final: #1 Clearfield over #4 Punxsy 49-15
District 6 (Predicted Champion: Central over Penn Cambria)
– #1 Central has BYE
– #2 Penn Cambria over #3 Tyrone 29-13
District 10 (Predicted Champion: Sharon over Hickory)
– #1 Sharon over #8 Fairview 48-12
– #5 Oil City over #4 North East 32-14
– #3 Grove City over #6 Ft. LeBeouf 23-14
– #2 Hickory over #7 McLane 37-14
State 4A
District 12 (Predicted Champion: Bonner-Prendie over Bartram)
– PPL: #1 John Bartram over #3 Future 44-24
– PCL: #1 Bonner-Prendie over #2 O’Hara 49-14
District 1 (Predicted Champion: PJP over Pottsgrove)
– #1 PJP over #4 Pottstown 35-7
– #3 Pottsgrove over #2 Shanahan 38-33
District 3 (Predicted Champion: McDevitt over Manheim Central)
– McDevitt, East Pennsboro, Lampeter-Strasburg, Twin Valley, Manheim Central, & Susq. Twp on BYE
– #9 Eastern York over #8 Milton Hershey 23-19
– #7 ELCO over #10 Big Spring 28-14
District 11 (Predicted Champion: ACC over Becahi)
– #1 ACC over #4 Bangor 38-12
– #3 Becahi over #2 Blue Mountain 45-7
District 4 (Predicted Champion: Jersey Shore over Selinsgrove)
– #1 Selinsgrove over #4 Shik 35-7
– #2 Jersey Shore over #3 Milton 35-14
District 8/10 (Predicted Champion: Meadville over USO)
– USO has BYE
– D10 Final: #1 Meadville over #2 Corry 40-13
District 6/9 (Predicted Champion: Juniata over DuBois)
– DuBois has BYE
– #1 Juniata over #2 Bellefonte 34-6
WPIAL (Predicted Champion: Aliquippa over McKeesport)
– Aliquippa, McKeesport, & Montour on BYE
– #8 West Allegheny over #9 Latrobe 23-16
– #4 Mars over #13 CharVal 24-7
– #5 Central Valley over #12 Highlands 49-8
– #7 North Catholic over #10 Trinity 42-20
– #6 TJ over #11 Kiski Area 49-13
State 5A
District 11 (Predicted Champion: Southern Lehigh over Whitehall)
– #1 Solehi over #4 ES South 38-17
– #2 Whitehall over #3 PMW 42-3
District 12 (Predicted Champion: Imhotep over Roman)
– PPL: #1 Imhotep over #7 Ben Franklin 34-8
– PPL: #1 West Philly over #4 MLK 32-14
– PCL Teams on BYE
District 1 (Predicted Champion: Strath Haven over Chester)
– #1 Chester over Upper Moreland 35-13
– #8 Phoenixville over WC East 23-20
– #4 P-W over #13 Hatboro-Horsham 38-14
– #5 Rustin over #12 Chichester 38-17
– #2 Strath Haven over #15 Great Valley 42-8
– #10 Methacton over #7 Upper Dublin 30-29
– #3 Springfield Delco ove #14 WC Henderson 42-14
– #6 M-N over #11 Penncrest 27-24
District 6/8/10 (Predicted Champion: Cathedral Prep over Hollidaysburg)
– Cathedral Prep on BYE
– D6 Final: #1 Hollidaysburg over #2 Central Mountain 18-13
WPIAL (Predicted Champion: Penn Hills over Peters)
– #1 Peters over #8 Franklin Reg. 24-7
– #4 Gateway over #5 Moon 33-13
– #2 Penn Hills over #7 P-T 44-13
– #3 Pine-Richland over #6 Bethel Park 41-14
District 3 (Predicted Champion: Cedar Cliff over New Oxford)
– New Oxford, Garden Spot, Cedar Cliff, & Cocalico on BYE
– #9 Exeter over #8 Hershey 24-20
– #5 Ephrata over #12 Lower Dauphin 23-10
– #7 S’Western over #10 G-A 20-13
– #6 Conestoga Valley over #11 Dover 39-10
State 6A
District 1 (Predicted Champion: D’town East over CB West)
– #1 CB West over #16 Cheltenham 35-7
– #8 Garnet Valley over #9 OJR 28-24
– #4 Spring-Ford over #13 North Penn 31-14
– #12 Coatesville over #5 CB South 28-21
– #2 D’town East over #14 Wissahickon 29-10
– #7 Perk. Valley over #10 Q’town 28-20
– #3 Soudy over #14 Pennsbury 42-10
– #6 D’town West over #11 CR South 38-14
District 12 (Predicted Champion: SJP over Lincoln)
– PPL: #1 Abe Lincoln over #6 South Philly 35-0
– PPL: #2 Northeast vs. #5 Geo. Washington 28-7
– PCL: #2 La Salle over #3 Father Judge 21-14
– PCL: SJP has BYE
District 6/8/10
– D6: State College on BYE
– D6: #2 Mifflin Co. over #3 Altoona 28-13
– D10 Final: #1 McDowell over #2 Erie 27-24
WPIAL & D3 on BYE!?
Other Games (Eastern Conf. + Inter-Ac)
Eastern Conference
– Mahanoy Area vs. Pen Argyl (Pen Argyl 32-30)
– Berks Catholic vs. Hamburg (Berks Cath. 38-7)
– Fleetwood vs. Shamokin (Shamokin 41-14)
– Gov. Mifflin vs. Pleasant Valley (Mifflin 41-9)
– Springside vs. Episcopal (Springside 28-7)
– Penn Charter vs. Haverford (WPC 23-19)
– Wyo. Sem vs. Hun (Sem 27-22)
– Lawrenceville vs. Hill (L’ville 13-10)
– Germantown vs. Malvern (Malvern Prep 38-20)
November 2nd, 2023 at 11:33 am
Santa is back and Santa is here, the weather is getting colder, so get me 10 beers.
Wally Hall is checking his playbook and writing down notes, for Coach of the Year, he should get a lot of votes.
Palmerton is looming and they run the spread, Matt Machalik may put you to bed.
The winner moves on, the losers will flee, Jaxson Chowansky and defense is key.
Take a word from Wally, because he knows all, “This time of year, we have to run the football.”
Don’t ever doubt him and his in game decisions, they are all calculated with unreal precision.
If you see him on the sideline, losing his mind, the zebras missed a call, because they are blind.
Raiders, Bombers, and then the Tigers, here is the path, Wally, can you get by Josh Snyder?
First it’s Bonner, then it’s Walkowiak, look in the stands, is that Steve Bobiak?
November 2nd, 2023 at 12:00 am
Santa is back and Santa is here,the weather is getting colder and Xmas is near
I’m checking my list and taking down notes, I’m gunna write ya a poem with all the good quotes.
The postseason is here and for those that run the spread ,please hang up your gear and go back to bed
The winners will grind while the losers will flee, running the football is the one single key.
So you can take a word from the wise or the one that knows all, to live for next week you better run the foot-ball
Don’t ever doubt me the one that was chosen, keep the ball on the ground is where champions are Rosen
So if you see my red sleigh with all the deer out in front, and you’re running the spread you better be ready to punt
Good luck to all ho ho ho ho ho
November 1st, 2023 at 1:39 pm
Here’s my WPIAL playoff outlook and predictions
6A – this class is very straightforward, both NA and PCC will win their first round games against Canon Mac and Mt Lebo by wide margins and have a rematch in the WPIAL final, I picked PCC early in the season to win the WPIAL and make it to the state final, so I’ll stick with them, but I would not be surprised at all if NA beats them, it will be a much closer game than the first one and could go either way
5A – first round matchups are Peters against Franklin Regional, Penn Hills against Penn Trafford, Pine Richland against Bethel, and Moon against Gateway, both Peters and Pine will win easily, PT may hang with Penn Hills for awhile but expect PH to win by a couple of scores, Moon against Gateway is a tossup. In the semi-finals PR will avenge their regular season loss to Penn Hills, they only lost by 6 and turned the ball over 4 times, and they were not running the offense they are now in that game, I don’t think PH will be able to stop their power running game, Peters will roll over the winner of the Gateway-Moon game. In the final I’ll take PR due to their experience and I don’t think Peters undersized D-line and linebackers will be able to withstand PR’s rushing attack
4A – is this the year McKeesport finally gets over the hump and beats the Quips for their first WPIAL title since 2005, they lost to them in the semi-finals the last 2 years, in OT in 2021 and the Quips blew them out last year in a game I attended, I really thought McKeesport had a chance in that game but the Quips rolled them. Some very interesting quarterfinal matchups if the seeds hold, Aliquippa could play West Alleghany again, who lost on a last minute TD this year and by 3 last year, they could definitely throw a scare into them, other games could be Central Valley vs. Mars, Montour vs. TJ, and McKeesport against either North Catholic or Trinity. I expect the Quips and McKeesport to meet in the final and I’ll take McKeesport to pull the upset with their thunder and lightening rushing attack and stout defense.
3A – Belle Vernon is a big favorite, Avonworth is also very good and the #2 seed, they met in the final last year and I would be shocked if they don’t meet again this year, Belle Vernon is the WPIAL’s best shot to win a state title.
2A – lots of good teams in this class but no great teams, Steel Valley and Neshannock are the top 2 seeds and have byes this week, other contenders are Washington, Imani Christian, Mohawk and Keystone Oaks, I expect Steel Valley to repeat
1A – this is the only class with a full 16 team playoff bracket, so everyone plays this week, top seed is South Side Beaver, who got the nod over Fort Cherry due to playing in a tougher conference, both teams are undefeated, other contenders are Bishop Canevin, Clairton and defending champ Union. I think South Side Beaver will beat Bishop Canevin in the final, as Canevin avenges their regular season loss to Fort Cherry in the semi-finals, Clairton and Union should be a very good quarterfinal with the winner getting South Side in the semi-finals
November 1st, 2023 at 10:26 am
@John – yeah, given their track record in state finals it’s tough to predict Imhotep winning 5A, but I think this is their best team in the last several years, and I don’t think there is a WPIAL team that will beat them this year, PR is too one dimensional compared to last year, the other two serious contenders in the WPIAL are Peters Township and Penn Hills, and I don’t think either of them would match up very well with Tep, although Peters is very similar to the Penn Trafford team from 2 yrs ago and very well coached. Peters is the best program in the WPIAL never to win a district title, losing in the semi-finals to eventual state champion Penn Hills in 2018, and in the finals in 2019-20, they inherited that title from PT when they won their first district and state title 2 yrs ago.
Regarding NW Lehigh, I think they are D11’s best chance to win a state title, I agree they had an impressive regular season capped by their blowout over 5A Southern Lehigh, but to beat Neumann, Wyomissing and then Belle Vernon in a row is a pretty tall task.
November 1st, 2023 at 7:04 am
@John, I went to last year’s but not this year’s scrimmage which PV won 3-1. I think this has the best possibility of an upset; Quakertown has played as tough of a schedule as anyone. So. Lehigh top 15 in 5A, CB West & Souderton top 15 in 6A, North Penn, PW, & CR South and that will help them, they are somewhat familiar with PV, and they have been getting healthier as the year progressed. But Perk Valley is at Home (which is big) and are the higher seed. This should be a good game.
October 31st, 2023 at 3:29 pm
@MikeS
I don’t know anyone who saw the PV-Qtown scrimmage. But if you are correct on who Qtown is returning from injury, and from what I am hearing about how banged up Perk Valley is, I will probably give Qtown the edge in the playoff game on Friday.
@Jeff H
I agree, the Tep-Roman game may determine the state champion of 5A. My only problem with Imhotep is that they have historically came up short in the State Title, but none of the WPIAL teams or ECP have nearly as much D1 talent as them. I think Imhotep/Roman will beat the District 1 champ, Upper Dublin looked like the best D1-5A team since PIAA moved to 6 classes and they could not overcome Imhotep last year. My favorite for D1-5A is Chester, but I would not be surprised if they do not win the district since they do have some issues with discipline and penalties, but they are by far the most talented team in D1-5A, which is really down this year even compared to other years.
I also would not be surprised if Neuman Goretti loses to NW Lehigh, NW looks pretty legit this year after they tore through their conference and previously unbeaten and D11-5A favorite Southern Lehigh by 30 on Friday night.
October 31st, 2023 at 12:59 pm
I also think that Northwestern Lehigh would have a tough time against Goretti. They would almost certainly have to beat them in a very low scoring ballgame with the way Goretti plays defense. Just too fast and too strong up front. But it’d be a good matchup if both of them get there. Still a long way away and a ton of variables in play. At the end of the day, it’s high school football and anything can happen haha
Good luck to everyone this weekend.
October 31st, 2023 at 10:27 am
@JCo – I agree Parkland is very good, but I’m not sure they are better than Manheim Township who also has been very impressive, North Alleghany on this side of the state is also very good, and they very well might beat PCC in the rematch in the WPIAL final.
@CW – Parkland has to play SJP in the quarterfinals and it would be a massive upset if they beat them, as JCo pointed out it’s too bad they don’t get to play the D1 or D3 winner. As for Northwestern Lehigh they will likely have to beat Neumann Goretti in the quarterfinals and if they get past them Wyomissing in the semi-finals, so they have a tough road to get to the state final and I would consider them the underdog in either of those potential matchups, if they make it to the state final they will likely play defending champion Belle Vernon who is better than last year, so I don’t see Northwestern Lehigh winning 3A.
October 30th, 2023 at 6:47 pm
I have to say in reading the comments
I understand the private v public
Being on the east side of pa this is the year for 6a parkland in a good well prepared way they have a chance!
I also believe that same thing with 3a northwestern Lehigh.
It is high school I understand odds are against these public programs! But these programs are very well prepared and they have talent on both sides.
They have to get there first!
Just an opinion!
Any body agree?
October 30th, 2023 at 4:36 pm
@ D11 Matt
The D1-2 vs. D11 game doesn’t play District 4 in the bracket. It’s the District 3 vs. 5 winner, then District 4 (or 6). That’s what I saw here, at least.
Also, @ anyone who’s interested
Since the playoff conversation opens up a big can of worms, when it comes to its format. I’m going to take the playoffs & offseason to showcase a playoff proposal idea for football, in the future. I talked about the Eastern Conference being this super region, & cutting down the fields at least to 32 per class.
I have to learn & study the PIAA D2 power rating format, as I’m going to have to do the math for over 400 schools in Districts 1, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, City League, & the WPIAL. It’s a project I’m willing to take some time to do.
October 30th, 2023 at 2:34 pm
@NW PA – I’m not so sure ECP loses to Pine Richland in the quarterfinals this year, that game should be in Erie, and PR is a very one dimensional team and does not throw the ball well at all (they were a run heavy team last year but Ryan Palmieri could throw the ball and their passing attack was a lot better than this year). I’ve seen them in person 3 times so far this year and with the offense they’ve been running the last 4 games since they were blown out by NA they line up and run it right at you and dare you to stop them, and so far no team in the WPIAL has been able to. PR against Peters will be a very good WPIAL final, Peters has an excellent defense but are a bit undersized upfront and I’m not sure their D-line and linebackers can stop PR’s ground assault, but if ECP has a good defensive line that can match up with PR’s O-line I give them a pretty good chance to win that game.
I too applaud Farrell for taking on ECP, I think they have a good chance to beat Westinghouse in the quarterfinals and the WPIAL winner in the semi-finals and make it to the state final again.
October 30th, 2023 at 12:30 pm
@D2 Fan: in my opinion, Parkland is the best public school team in the state. They’ll get bounced early just because they happen to line up with SJP, but they are loaded and they’ve run through a very tough league without breaking much of a sweat. That’s very difficult to do.
Wish we could see how they stack up head-to-head against the champ of D1 instead of trying to compare who loses to SJP by fewer points.
October 30th, 2023 at 11:18 am
@ D2 Fan – I’ll play along with state final predictions, I agree there will be quite a few repeat champions, maybe as many as 5
1A Steel High over South Side Beaver – Steel High has too many weapons on offense for other 1A teams to handle
2A Southern Columbia over Farrell – still the 6 time defending champs until proven otherwise, I picked against them last year and not going out on a limb this year, although it would be nice to see someone beat them, if they get out of districts I think they win their 7th in a row
3A Belle Vernon over Neumann Goretti – rematch from last year, BV is better this year and I expect them to repeat
4A Bishop McDevitt over McKeesport – several very good teams in 4A but McDevitt is on a different level, they would win 5A, is this the year McKeesport finally gets over the hump and beats Aliquippa after losing to them the last 2 years in the WPIAL semi-finals, WPIAL winner vs. Allentown CC in the semi-finals should be a very good game
5A Imhotep over Erie Cathedral Prep – I think the winner of D12 between Roman and Tep is the favorite, although if Chester wins D1 they might be very competitive in the semi-finals against the D12 winner, PR will beat Penn Hills in the WPIAL semi-finals to avenge their regular season loss and beat Peters for the WPIAL title, but they are too one dimensional to win a state title and lose to ECP in the quarterfinals.
6A SJP over Manheim Township – think the WPIAL winner vs. the D3 winner in the semi-finals will be a very competitive game, all for the right to lose in the final to SJP by 3-4 scores.
October 30th, 2023 at 7:01 am
@ mcd 65
Possibly?? I believe tho you are ineligible for state post season play (and maybe district and league based on district) if you transfer after your sophomore or junior years. No issue after freshman year. But only if the transfer was deemed to have some sort of athletic connection behind it (don’t like coach, like a coach, college recruiting, more playing time, etc., etc.), but a bunch of exemptions and waivers can be involved as well. One of those I thought I remember seeing has to do with transferring of schools within a school district or diocese or archdiocese or within a private school system, if for an admin purpose, whatever that is. So that could have cleared Wharton, and help Heywood this year. Again, need to be a lawyer…..
October 30th, 2023 at 6:36 am
@ Kevin, I’m right there with you on the transfere rules. Doesn’t seem right if the piaa lets some districts play by different rules. But this is the Piaa which must use the NCAA has a model on how to do things ( that’s not a good thing). If PJP gets to states I would imagine they would have to use a neighboring schools field. The two district games would be at PJP I think. Maybe someday bleachers on both sides and lights will appear,but that’s a fund raising issue.
October 29th, 2023 at 8:53 pm
I did take myself down to Upper Dublin last night for the SJP/RC game. Your crazy Sunday night post…….I was thinking to myself at halftime, that if SJP plays like they did in the first half for a full game against a quality team later in November or early December, they can be knocked off. It was only 17-7 Prep at half, and that was in part to a Prep first qtr. pick six, and a plethora of typical RC penalties shooting themselves in the foot. Granted, RC did not look like a real threat (their only TD came on a 2 yard drive after an almost scoop and score), and I did not expect them to really make a game of it, and I guess I was right, as it ended up being a mid 4th qtr. departure for me for the trip home up Rte. 309. A good passing team with a stout defense that is disciplined, a bit crafty, meeting up against the first half lackadaisical Prep that plays that way for a full game, maybe, just maybe…….
……and DTE Friday night, like someone else noted, not the game I expected either. Ground and pound to perfection, with a lock down rock solid D. If I saw a passing game from DTE (it wasn’t needed), see above…..
October 29th, 2023 at 7:43 pm
@D2, I would expect Minersville to win d11 in A. The sub region with D2/1 plays D4 winner first this year. D3 Steelton would play D5 winner. According to A statewide bracket. I think Lackawanna trail beats Minersville and then beats Canton/Muncy then loses to Steelton in eastern A final.
October 29th, 2023 at 6:22 pm
Playoff Notes in District 2
1A
– Lackawanna Trail takes on Old Forge, that being a rematch of a Week 6 game. Trail is a perfect 10-0, & they’re expected to be the favorite in the Subregional.
– Morrisville hosts Jenkintown in the D1 final. Should be interesting to see how the rubber match goes (they split in regular season).
– Winner gets whoever wins District 11, which has no Northern Lehigh. I think the winner of the subregional will likely lose to Steel-High.
– Prediction: Trail over Jenkintown
2A
– Both games are rematches.
– Dunmore played Susquehanna in Week 4, winning convincingly. I don’t know if this is the Susquehanna team to do something.
– Mid Valley beat Riverside in Week 2, in a very close affair. I feel like Riverside might be the better team this year, but Mid Valley is a sleeper.
– Winner gets District 11 champ. Schuylkill Haven is the favorite there, you’d think, or Williams Valley. I think the D2 winner gets up to at least D3 (assuming that’s Trinity). If it’s a different team, I don’t know if they can get past D11.
– Prediction: Dunmore over Riverside
– Sleeper: Mid Valley
3A
– Prep takes on Hanover Area. This should honestly be a forfeit. It’s a mismatch.
– Western Wayne & Lake-Lehman play for a second time. Western Wayne dominated the game in Week 1. I expect the same to happen here.
– Winner gets District 12, which probably will result in a loss. I don’t expect the winner of D2 to get past Neumann-Goretti.
– Prediction: Scranton Prep over Western Wayne
4A
– This is the best playoff bracket, due to the depth of the teams.
– Dallas hosts Wallenpaupack in a rematch of Paupack’s homecoming three weeks ago at the Lake. This should be a cakewalk for Dallas. Great story for Doc Watson to get in the playoffs in his final season, but the 2-8 team isn’t going to pull it off.
– Crestwood/Greater Nanticoke is the 4/5 game. Nanticoke was the 2nd best team in WVC 2 this year & surprised a lot of folks in the area. I think Crestwood gets past GNA.
– Valley View plays Berwick, in a rematch of Week 2, where the Cougars won. This one is going to be a challenge for Berwick. This should be a Cougars win.
– Wyoming Area hosts North Pocono in the best game on the docket. North Pocono is a super gritty team & have won some battles against good teams like Western Wayne & Crestwood. I don’t think they’ll upset, but if I’m Wyoming Area, I’d be very scared.
– I’m going to say the 4A champion could go the furthest, possibly by default. They get the D1/D12 champion. I truly think PJP or Bonner shouldn’t overlook whoever comes out of this bracket. Dallas is dominant, & the other two I think can win aren’t that far behind & can be tough outs. I’m going to go with a risky play & say that the Final Four in 4A will have a D2 team.
– Prediction: Dallas over Wyoming Area
5A
– The more things change. The more that stays the same. These are the same two playoff matchups from last year.
– DV takes on Pittston, as the road to the 5A title goes through Milford. DV shut up a lot of critics who felt like their 0-3 start would possibly be a concern. They ran the table in LFC 1. They’re better than 7-3 indicates. It’ll be a cakewalk for them.
– Abington Heights hosts Scranton in a Week 7 rematch. Heights took the first meeting against the Knights there. I think this’ll be the closer matchup of the two.
– The winner gets the District 11 champ. The two Lehigh Valley teams will likely be what they’ll face. I think DV can beat either team, but HAS to play a perfect game. They won’t get past the District 12 team.
– Prediction: DV over Abington Hts.
6A
– Two teams in leagues associated with D2.
– Parkland should roll over Williamsport, who came from the outside looking in, after the 7th Week of the season.
– Nazareth should roll past Wilkes-Barre, but this Wilkes-Barre team may have the better chance to shock a D11 team than Billtown.
– I’m intrigued with Emmaus/Freedom. This is a rematch of Week 9, which Freedom got a close win in. I think Freedom wins that one.
– Northampton/Stroudsburg is the only EPC North battle on the ledger. Northampton has been dominant. In the final EPC North battle of this era, I hope it’s a good one.
– We know the winner isn’t getting past SJP. If it happens to snow in Miami between now & that game, I’ll believe you then.
– 6A: Parkland over Nazareth (Williamsport & Wilkes-Barre eliminated in first round)
State Predictions
– 1A: Steel-High over Redbank Valley
– 2A: Mount Carmel over Farrell
– 3A: Belle Vernon over Wyomissing
– 4A: McDevitt over Aliquippa
– 5A: Penn Hills over Imhotep
– 6A: SJP over PCC
October 29th, 2023 at 5:08 pm
@ Kevin, I believe the transfer rule applies to a player that transfers his junior year. In the case of the Neuman /Gorreti player ,he transferred his sophomore year thus he was eligible for playoffs.
October 29th, 2023 at 2:47 pm
Well, I asked this question back in August, anyone go to the Quakertown @ Perkiomen Valley Scrimmage? Well, looks like a replay of that scrimmage in August, only this time it’s the District One Playoffs. Still love to hear the answer to that question?
October 29th, 2023 at 11:38 am
Irish1, I thought the 1st PI on 4th down on the last drive was BS, home cooking, the 2nd was legit. Also on replay, Mason Scott’s left foot was out of bounds on the PJP 38 on his Kickoff TD, the ref missed that call even though he was staring straight down the sideline.
October 29th, 2023 at 10:22 am
Kudos to Farrel for playing up against Erie Cathedral. They lost, but that experience should help them in the playoffs. Look for them to make it to the state semi finals in AA. Cathedral will probably sit for a week or two and then loose to Pine Richland in the quarter finals in another close game, much like last years game.
October 29th, 2023 at 9:43 am
@ Irish1
Good question. The more that I try to learn and understand the PIAA transfer rules, the more convoluted it becomes. Specifically with PJPII’s Heywood, he may be sitting starting next week. Last year NP’s Yazeed Haynes did not play in the districts (I don’t think he was hurt), yet I saw others (N-G’s QB Wharton for example) in D12 playing right on through the playoffs. I believe it comes down to how each district determines who is and is not eligible, then if a team has an issue with the ruling, they’ll appeal to the PIAA and even the courts/arbitrators (see this all the time in the WPIAL). I think District One is stricter on transfer eligibility than the likes of District 12 where transfers are normal operating procedure (the originators of the modern day transfer portal). Again, I am far from an expert on this issue (then again, who is??) so if anyone has legit knowledge on this, please chime in.
Other thing with PJPII, how many of their playoff games will they be able to play at home?? Two district games maybe, but a potential future game with Bonner almost certainly will not be even tho D1 has the home field this year. Then they’ll (D1/D12 winner) be heading north to play one of D2 Fan’s Group of 3.
October 29th, 2023 at 7:24 am
@John,Foleman, one factor not on PJPs side is I believe their Wisconsin commit offensive linemen is not eligible for the playoffs due to the transfere rule.They should be ok in districts but that is a tough loss to make up for at the state level. There are some other very good teams besides McDevitt who is on another level. Allentown Central Catholic plays in a very tough league up there in the Lehigh Valley and Bonner Prendie has a few D one comitts on their roster. I could be wrong but looks like Spring -ford gets North Penn in the first round. One last thing on Fridays game Spring – Ford benefited from three huge penalties on that last drive a couple of which were debatable.But it all added to the drama of great game. I wish we got more of those type of games, too many Friday nights are filled with running clock games.
October 28th, 2023 at 9:39 pm
Correction: Valley View stayed at #2 by a few thousandths in Power Ratings. Must’ve been because of the stronger opponents weighted winning %.
October 28th, 2023 at 6:23 pm
John, I was thinking that Brubaker didnt want to the game to go to overtime or double overtime with the 6A playoffs next week. PJP is going to have their starters out of the game in the 4A playoffs by the 3rd quarter while SF might have a tough opening game with possibly Coatesville.
October 28th, 2023 at 4:27 pm
D2’s Week 10 Notes. Very few. Nothing major happened.
– DV wins LFC 1 & DOMINATED Abington Heights. It wasn’t even close. Home field advantage for DV in the 5A playoffs (& they’ll roll past these teams).
– Valley View was no match for Scranton Prep. Valley View drops a peg to #3 in 4A.
– All bubble playoff spots held steady this week.
– Wilkes-Barre & Williamsport win, but are #7 & #8 in 6A. Good luck against Parkland & Nazareth is all that I can say.
The one playoff battle that came down to the wire was Wallenpaupack vs. Honesdale. It came down to the OWP (Opponent Weighted Win Percentage Points), which I have zero clue is calculated. Paupack was 9th in 4A after the loss to Scranton. Honesdale jumped them over, but Valley View/Prep & DV/AH were the deciding factors. Paupack beat Honesdale in after both games, due to strength of schedule (.639 to .568).
And for those who thinks PJP will roll all the way to the McDevitt game (assuming they go that far), Dallas, Valley View, & Wyoming Area aren’t entirely slouches.
October 28th, 2023 at 3:58 pm
@3gs….Absolutely. I thought southern Lehigh was damn good as well and thought they would win a close one but Northwestern Lehigh is by far the best team in D11 3A. Palmerton might have best overall player but Northwestern Lehigh has better overall team. They might hang with D12 AAA this year. Who knows. But they steamrolled a 9-0 5A team and who still has a good chance of winning 5A dist 11 (Whitehall will have a say in that).
October 28th, 2023 at 1:58 pm
@Foleman
I understand the reasoning for SF going for 2 there because they could not stop PJP’s running back, but PJP had no answer for Zollers and Scott the whole 4th quarter, PJP saw that fade coming from a mile away on the 2pt conversion.
PJP is going roll through 4A it looks like, until they face Bishop McDevitt (D3)
October 28th, 2023 at 11:25 am
I know this is Eastern PA football but would/could anyone explain to me the WPIAL playoff formula that an 8-2 USC team sits home in favor of a 5-5 and 4-6 teams in which they beat one of them?
October 28th, 2023 at 10:54 am
@NE, I saw Troy play early in the season and they were impressive. They have a lot of size on the lines. I’m looking forward to their likely match up in the district championship game with the winner of SCA vs MCA round 2.
October 28th, 2023 at 10:52 am
@ BRIAN Thankyou for your response. I was told coach Roth will not be on the sidelines for the game on Sat. game either according to Dave fegley
October 28th, 2023 at 9:37 am
@Foleman…..PJP – Spring–Ford was a super game with an electric atmosphere. A big game where the top players on each team kept coming up with big plays. I thought PJP was more physical and did about as good a job as anyone has done at at least keeping the SF QB contained for three qts. He is so tough when he starts scrambling and throwing down field. PJP running back had a tremendous game, a great team effort for PJP
October 27th, 2023 at 10:58 pm
While this 6A has been absolutely unstoppable on offense this year, the coaching staff must be pulling their hair out with ridiculous penalties and a defense that got completely exposed against a very ordinary Wilson team tonight. Wilson coaching staff gave away two early gifts. First gift was winning the coin toss and deferring. Who defers to one of the best offenses in the state, 7-0. Number two early mistake, going for it on 4th down in your own territory, 14-0. Take those freebies away and Wilson played Manheim straight up. Manheim defense could be a real problem at some point and Harrisburg may be licking chops second time around. Max Preps had Township state number 2 last few weeks, can’t see it after tonight.
October 27th, 2023 at 10:37 pm
Pjp 28 Spring–Ford 27 pjp breaks up SF two point attempt with 20 seconds left. Great high school football game.
October 27th, 2023 at 10:23 pm
Pope John Paul 28-27 over Spring Ford. My god, what a game! This was the game everyone was looking forward to since the beginning of the season and it lived up to the hype and then some! 2 Great Champions going back and forth all game. Game was tied 7-7 at the half, PJP took the lead twice in the 2nd half only to see SF come back and score a TD with 27 seconds left on an amazing throw by SF QB Zollars. SF decided to go for 2. PJP batted down a pass to secure the win. I would not have gone for 2 and played for OT as Zollars was on fire and SF had momentum on its side. I have seen many fantastic HS QB’s and I can tell you Zollars is as good as any of them, he’s worth the price of admission. I heard the game was streamed on youtube, it’s worth watching if you are a HS football fan.
October 27th, 2023 at 9:40 pm
Some final scores from big games in district 1:
Downingtown East 35-Downington West 7 – Was expecting East to win, but not by this much. West could not get anyting going all game, their only scoring drive, happen mainly because of 2 15 yard penalties by East. West also could not stop the run all game.
PJP II 28-Spring Ford 27- A great game. Skarbeck for PJP ran for 4 tds and Zollers for Spring Ford threw for 4 tds, 3 going to Mase Scott. Spring Ford failed on a 2 pt conversion with 25 seconds left to seal the deal for PJP.
CB West 24-CB East 7- Was tied at half 7-7, West pulled away at the end. Was not expecting it to be as close as it was.
October 27th, 2023 at 9:26 pm
Northwestern Lehigh Tigers
Great program
O line D line is very good
What a great team!
October 27th, 2023 at 9:06 pm
@D11 Matt. By a landslide, we found out who the best team in D11 3A was tonight. That was an impressive performance. They are the best coached team in that bracket by FAR. Josh Snyder and his staff are tremendous. They will win that tournament going away
October 27th, 2023 at 7:53 pm
In a score I was not expecting in the least bit, Downingtown East is currently beating Downingtown West 28-0 at half. East is completely dominating the line of scrimmage
October 27th, 2023 at 3:07 pm
Any of you D3 guys think Wilson has a chance to upset MT tonight? I think it will be close for awhile but MT ends up winning by a couple of scores, curious how those of you that follow D3 closely see this game.
October 27th, 2023 at 3:00 pm
@D2 Fan – you’re welcome for the info, I’ll add a little commentary to your picks, I like most of them! In 5A I would be shocked if Bethel puts up 22 points on Peters defense, they have given up a combined 37 points in 9 games, and the 10 Canon Mac scored last week is the most they’ve given up all year, I think it will be something like 31-7. One game I will differ on is the game I’m going to, TJ vs. McKeesport, I’ve seen both play in person and I think TJ is going to have trouble stopping McKeesport’s rushing attack, particularly their bruising 6-2 255 lb fullback Keith Spell, and if you stack the box they’ll run an option play to one of their speedy tailbacks or throw the ball. Not very often TJ faces an opponent who has the advantage in the trenches against them, but TJ’s lineman are a little undersized by their previous standards, I think McKeesport controls the line of scrimmage and wins a 1 score game 28-21.
October 27th, 2023 at 2:16 pm
Does anyone have info on Troy? I know the competition isn’t that great but their scores are pretty impressive. Would they have the fire power or line to compete with a Mount Carmel or Southern Columbia? More than likely it will be the same ole story when they meet them in the playoffs, but just wondering maybe this year is different
October 27th, 2023 at 12:19 pm
The rest of the Best Of The Rest: WPIAL Playoff & Misc. Games.
WPIAL (Thanks for the quality info @ Jeff H)
Big 56 (5A/6A)
– Mt. Lebanon vs. Canon-Mac (Mt. Leb 24, Canon-Mac 16)
– Bethel Park vs. Peters Twp. (Peters 39, Bethel Park 22)
– Baldwin vs. Moon (Moon 36, Baldwin 3)
– USC vs. South Fayette (USC 30, SF 13)
– Woodland Hills vs. Penn Hills (PH 42, Woody 14)
– Pine-Richland vs. North Hills (P-R 40, North Hills 14)
– Penn-Trafford vs. Franklin Reg. (P-T 24, Franklin 13)
4A
– McKeesport vs. Thomas Jefferson (TJ 30, McKeesport 28)
– Hampton vs. Highlands (Hampton 35, Highlands 10)
– Armstrong vs. Kiski Area (Armstrong 26, Kiski Area 23)
– Ambridge vs. Chartiers Valley (CharVal 25, Ambridge 3)
– New Castle vs. Blackhawk (Blackhawk 21, New Castle 20)
3A
– Elizabeth Forward vs. Belle Vernon (BVA 42, EF 19)
– Mt. Pleasant vs. Southmoreland (Mt. Pleasant 24, S’moreland 9)
– Shady Side vs. East Allegheny (East All. 24, SSA 15)
– Freeport vs. Deer Lakes (Deer Lakes 37, Freeport 9)
– West Mifflin vs. South Park (WM 41, South Pk. 14)
– Beaver Area vs. Hopewell (Beaver 49, Hopewell 7)
2A
– Serra vs. Steel Valley (Steel 44, Serra 15)
– Ligonier Valley vs. Derry (Derry 24, LV 9)
– Burrell vs. Apollo-Ridge (Burrell 23, Apollo 7)
– Washington vs. McGuffey (Prexies 35, McGuffey 20)
– Brentwood vs. Keystone Oaks (KO 31, Brentwood 12)
– Waynesburg vs. Charleroi (Waynesburg 41, Charleroi 8)
– Mohawk vs. Neshannock (Neshannock 29, Mohawk 17)
– Beaver Falls vs. Western Beaver (BF 49, Western Beaver 24)
– Ellwood City vs. Riverside (7) (EC 34, Riverside 0)
1A
– OLSH vs. Cornell (Cornell 31, OLSH 27)
– Burgettstown vs. Ft. Cherry (Ft. Cherry 35, B’town 7)
– Clairton vs. Jeannette (Clairton 27, Jeannette 21)
– Greensburg CC vs. Leechburg (GCC 38, Leechburg 6)
– Monessen vs. Beth Center (Beth Center 39, Monessen 12)
– California vs. Bentworth (Cal PA 48, Bentworth 10)
Non-Playoff Deciding: Best Of The Rest
Public League Playoffs
– Skipped Northeast/Kensington (Would’ve Been NE 31-0)
– Lincoln vs. Palumbo (Palumbo 27, Lincoln 22)
– Central (12) vs. George Washington (GW 34, Central 3)
– Olney vs. South Philly (South Philly 24, Olney 14)
– Future vs. Boys Latin Charter (BLC 20, Future 16)
– Bartram vs. Overbrook (Bartram 31, Overbrook 0)
– West Philly vs. Mastery North (Speedboys 25, Mastery North 7)
– Martin Luther King vs. Frankford (MLK 42, Frankford 8)
– Simon Gratz vs. Benjamin Franklin (Gratz 17, Ben Franklin 12)
Eastern PA
– Schuylkill Valley vs. Lancaster Catholic (Lanc. Cath. 21, Sch. Valey 14)
– St. Joe’s Prep vs. Roman Catholic (SJP 38, Roman 19)
– La Salle vs. Father Judge (Judge 22, La Salle 20)
Western PA
– Central vs. Richland (Central 28, Richland 23)
– Brockway vs. Cameron Co. (Cameron 27, Brockway 14)
– Central Clarion vs. Redbank Valley (Redbank 49, Central Clarion 42)
– Otto-Eldred vs. Port Allegany (Port 43, Otto-Eldred 27)
– Punxsy vs. Union/A-C Valley (Punxsy 30, Union/A-C 10)
– Cathedral Prep vs. Farrell (ECP 34, Farrell 29)
– Sharpsville vs. Fort LeBeouf (Ft. LeBeouf 40, Sharpsville 19)
WPIAL
– Aliquippa vs. Central Valley (Quips 35, Central Valley 24)
– PCC vs. Gateway (PCC 34, Gateway 24)
– Rochester vs. South Side (South Side 28, Rochester 17)
– Mars vs. North Catholic (Mars 22, North Catholic 20)
– Brownsville vs. Uniontown (Uniontown 24, Uniontown 8)
Crossover, Non-PIAA, & City League Final
– Westinghouse vs. USO
– Greater Latrobe (7) vs. Butler (7/10)
– DuBois (9) vs. Hollidaysburg (6)
– Coudersport (9) vs. Cowanesque Valley (4)
– Kipp-DuBois (12) vs. George (PA)
– McDowell vs. St. Francis (NY)
– Canisius vs. Erie High (10)
– Pennington (NJ) vs. Harriton (1)
– Episcopal vs. Germantown
– Haverford vs. Springside
– Hill vs. Kiski
– Malvern vs. William Penn Charter
Scores
– Westinghouse 42, USO 7
– Greater Latrobe 24, Butler 3
– H’burg 24, DuBois 17
– Coudy 28, Cowanesque Valley 8
– George 24, Kipp-DuBois 7
– McDowell 20, St. Francis 19
– Canisius 38, Erie High 7
– Pennington 21, Harriton 16
– Germantown 31, Episcopal 10
– Springside 35, Haverford 11
– Hill 16, Kiski 10
– Malvern Prep 30, WPC 24
October 27th, 2023 at 11:15 am
@Dennis Sorry, busy week and I just saw your question about Coach Roth. Yes, he is not permitted to be on the sidelines for tonight’s game. He’ll be on campus and will have the ability to talk to his staff and see the game as it occurs, but just won’t be on the sidelines. I guess he felt this game wasn’t worth arguing about????
October 27th, 2023 at 8:41 am
I’d actually been thinking that some sort of scheduling agreement between the Ches-Mont and PAC would make sense. I know many of the PAC schools broke off from the Ches-Mont initially, so I wasn’t sure if there was any bad blood. But the National division always felt like it should have some agreement with Spring-Ford and Perk Valley, who mostly run through the PAC every year. Glad to see they’re working together.
Could it be a step towards a full merger in football? Between the two, they could create a top division that could be the most competitive in D1.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:37 am
Speaking of S-F, and the PAC and Ches Mont agreement, I’d take it one step further and take a page out of the L-L and Berks leagues and merge just for football. Put together a 3 division combined league featuring an 8 team top division featuring DTE, DTW, C’Ville, Shanahan, PJP2, OJR, Perk Val and the aforementioned S-F, with the rest of the Ches Mont and PAC in either their current Ches Mont/PAC set-up of or based on enrollment or competition levels or whatever else they come up with.
Off to the Battle of the Brandywine tonight. Probably head down to U Dub for The Prep and Roman tomorrow evening to wrap up my regular season tour of SEPA.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:22 am
I may just be rooting for Spring-Ford to win the 6A D1 championship. The S-F coach’s comments versus St Joe Prep in the State semi final would be absolutely priceless!!!
October 26th, 2023 at 7:44 pm
Best Of The Rest Part 1: I’ll put the scores next to the game because there’s a lot of games in this week’s schedule. I missed three Thursday games, but I won’t lose sleep over those two. One was a 6A PPL playoff game, I think. I’m sorry for the long list, but I think these games are worth watching. I’ll do Districts 1, 3, 4, & 11 tonight & save the WPIAL & Western PA for tomorrow. It’s too much to add in one post.
Thanks @ Kevin X for sending the D1 playoff format link. It’s familiar to me, as it used to be the old D2 format, minus bonus points.
District 4
Battle For 2A 1-Seed
– Troy vs. Canton (Troy 42, Canton 34)
– Shikellamy vs. Southern Columbia (SC 56, Shik 0)
2A Seeding
– Towanda vs. Wyalusing Valley (Towanda 45, WyVal 9)
3A Seeding
– Loyalsock vs. Montoursville (Sock 28, Montoursville 14)
– Mifflinburg vs. Lewisburg (Miff 35, Lewisburg 14)
– Warrior Run vs. Milton (Milton 48, WR 6)
Colonial-Schuylkill
– Lehighton vs. Jim Thorpe (JT 21, Leh 20)
– Blue Mountain vs. Schuylkill Haven (Sch. Haven 31, BM 14)
– Nativity vs. Minersville (Minersville 34, Nativity 20)
– Southern Lehigh vs. NW Lehigh (NWL 31, Solehi 23)
District 3
2A Playoffs
– Annville-Cleona vs. Northern Lebanon (A-C 30, NL 12)
– Halifax vs. Trinity (Trinity 55, Halifax 7)
3A Playoffs
– Steel-High vs. West Perry (Steel-High 38, West Perry 17)
– Wyomissing vs. Lampeter-Strasburg (Wyo 41, L-S 28)
4A Playoffs
– Hatboro-Horsham (1) vs. Twin Valley (3) (TV 28, H-H 21)
– Manheim Twp. vs. Exeter Township (3) (Manheim Twp. 33, Exeter 27)
– Waynesboro vs. East Pennsboro (East P’boro 36, Waynesboro 10)
– Susquehanna Twp. vs. Gettysburg (Susqy Twp. 31, Gettysburg 9)
– Eastern York vs. New Oxford (New Oxford 41, Eastern York 8)
– Cedar Cliff vs. Milton Hershey (Cedar Cliff 51, Milton Hershey 14)
5A Playoffs
– Cocalico vs. Conrad Weiser (Cocalico 59, CW 3)
– Solanco vs. Garden Spot (Garden Spot 33, Solanco 13)
– Elizabethtown vs. Ephrata (Ephrata 41, Elizabethtown 8)
– Conestoga Valley vs. Muhlenberg (ConVal 36, Muhlenberg 10)
– South Western vs. Spring Grove (S’Western 31, Spring Grove 14)
– Hershey vs. Palmyra (Hershey 33, Palmyra 15)
– Bishop McDevitt vs. Lower Dauphin (McDevitt 42, LD 7)
– Shippensburg vs. Greencastle-Antrim (G-A 21, Ship 19)
– West York vs. Dover (Dover 24, West York 23)
6A Playoffs
– Manheim Twp. vs. Wilson West Lawn (Manheim Twp. 36, WWL 14)
– Harrisburg vs. Central Dauphin (Harrisburg 49, CD 21)
– William Penn vs. Central York (Central York 35, William Penn 24)
– Cumberland Valley vs. Altoona (6) (Altoona 20, CV 13)
– Lebanon vs. Cedar Crest (Cedar Crest 62, Lebanon 0)
District 1
6A Playoffs
– CB East vs. CB West (CB West 34, CB East 16)
– Bensalem vs. Souderton (Soudy 45, Bensalem 6)
– Pope John Paul II vs. Spring-Ford (PJP II 29, S-F 13)
– Downingtown East vs. Downingtown West (DTE 35, DTW 31)
– Pennridge vs. CB South (CB South 31, Pennridge 10)
– Phoenixville vs. Perk Valley (Perk Vally 28, P’ville 8)
– Upper Darby vs. Garnet Valley (GV 56, Darby 0)
– Pottsgrove vs. Owen J. Roberts (OJR 37, P’grove 13)
– Council Rock South vs. Council Rock North (CRS 35, CRN 13)
– Upper Dublin vs. Quakertown (Upper Dub 30, Q’town 13)
– Coatesville vs. Avon Grove (C’ville 41, Avon 7)
– Cheltenham vs. Wissahickon (Wissa. 43, Chelty 9)
– Conestoga vs. Lower Merion (Mamba Mentality 24, Conestoga 20)
– Neshaminy vs. Pennsbury (Nesh 33, Pennsbury 24)
4A/5A Playoffs
– Chester vs. Academy Park (Chester 51, Academy Park 13)
– Strath Haven vs. Truman (Strath 45, Truman 0)
– Springfield Delco vs. Radnor (Delco 59, Radnor 7)
– Upper Moreland vs. Plymouth-Whitemarsh (P-W 35, UM 17)
– WC Rustin vs. Unionville (Rustin 38, U’ville 9)
– Penncrest vs. Marple-Newtown (M-N 23, Penncrest 14)
– WC East vs. WC Henderson (East 34, Henderson 13)
– Pottstown vs. Methacton (Methacton 29, Pottstown 22)
– Chichester vs. Shanahan (Chichester 24, Shanahan 7)
– Kennett vs. Great Valley (Great Valley 24, Kennett 14)
– Sun Valley vs. Oxford (Sun Valley 23, Oxford 6)
– Penn Wood vs. Interboro (I’boro 44, Penn Wood 3)
October 26th, 2023 at 5:08 pm
@Irish1
I agree with you on PJP and other non boundary schools. I think the recent success of St Joes Prep, has deluded people on the non boundary schools especially every other school in the Catholic League outside of SJP. Most catholic schools in the state are operating below capacity and one shuts down every few years. You’ve seen many PCL schools drop classes in recent years due to declining enrollment. So I do not really mind non boundary schools competing in PIAA outside of St Joes Prep because they have recruited at such a high rate. Most catholic schools in the PIAA are on par with the publics or are worse than them, outside of SJP, Bishop McDevitt (D3) in 4A, and to an extent Roman and PCC. You will probably start to see more philly catholic schools merge similar to PJP or fold like Bishop McDevitt (wyncote) did.
October 26th, 2023 at 3:58 pm
News of scheduling agreement between the Ches-Mont and Pac. Starting next year the leagues will have crossover games the third and fourth week of the season,based on enrollment and district points over two seasons. Sounds like a good idea more of this type of thing between leagues would make a lot of sense.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:12 pm
Sorry, last post got cutoff. They will determine the matchups between the C-M & PAC by enrollment numbers and power rankings to try and keep competitive balance.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:10 pm
FOOTBALL: Ches-Mont, Pioneer Athletic Conference enter into non-league scheduling agreement
The Ches-Mont League and Pioneer Athletic Conference have entered into a football scheduling agreement for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The scheduling partnership will see Ches-Mont and PAC teams face off in their third and fourth games of the season. “As two of the state’s premier leagues, the CM and PAC created this agreement to provide student-athletes, schools and communities…
October 26th, 2023 at 1:25 pm
Suburban One League Picks
In my Swan Song week of Regular Season Picks, after 5 years as a Contributor to Short Picks on PFN and the last 9 on Eastern Pa Football as my own picks of only doing SOL, Under PFN I covered all of District’s 1, 11 & 12. I want to say it’s been a lot of fun.
So here goes my last Regular Season Picks.
NORTH PENN OVER Abington – Well fittingly I have picked North Penn numerous times, so just make sense North Penn as my 1st of the last picks.
SOUDERTON OVER Bensalem – Souderton is at home, so since they haven’t lost there in years, this week will be no different.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST OVER Central Bucks East – This won’t be easy, this Rivalry game never is, then coming off of last week’s big win against South, West needs to be ready to play.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH OVER Pennridge – Another one of those games, better not have a hangover from last week, Pennridge is better than most think.
CHELTENHAM OVER Wissahickon – This is a District Playoff maker or Breaker, Wissahickon has the better record & will score, Cheltenham has played a much tougher schedule & is on a roll,
Cheltenham it is.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH OVER Council Rock North- Another Rivalry game, because of that it will be a tight game, but CR South is better, especially at QB.
STRATH HAVEN OVER H.S. Truman – One of the best in District, Strath Haven should have an easy night, as they rest up for District 1 play.
TWIN VALLEY OVER Hatboro Horsham – Well Hatboro takes the long drive out to District 3 to play 8-1 Twin Valley, this may be closer than many think, but it’s at Twin Valley.
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY OVER Lower Moreland – More of a Hunch than a I know, neither have been overly consistent. NHS.
PENNSBURY OVER Neshaminy – Another one of those big rivalry games where anything can happen, probably with a District 1 Playoff Berth on the line, Pennsbury.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH OVER Upper Moreland – PW is solid with only one loss, a win and they open the districts at home PW.
QUAKERTOWN OVER Upper Dublin – Gut feeling call, as the coin has let me down, Quakertown is on a roll & getting healthier every week, UD coming off big loss to Souderton, Panther’s win.
SPRINGFIELD OVER Wm. Tennent – Springfield has played well for the most part, it’s been a long season for Tennant, so Springfield it is.
Well, there you got it, my last Regular season picks after 14 seasons of picks, I wish you all well, hope someone picks up the Suburban One League, I’ll check in, but 14 years is enough.
Get out Support your teams, it’s going to be a gorgeous weekend, and the last of the Regular season.
October 26th, 2023 at 11:42 am
@ D2 Fan – WPIAL qualifiers are based on conference records only as nonconference games generally don’t count for playoff purposes, and then the WPIAL seeds all the teams that make the playoffs, 6A is very straightforward, with only 5 teams the top 4 make the playoffs and all have already qualified, Canon-Mac plays Lebo tomorrow night, winner gets to play NA in the first round, loser plays PCC, all have a bye next week.
In 5A top 2 teams in each of the 3 conferences qualify, with 2 of the 3 third place teams making it as a wildcard, PT plays Franklin Regional, winner clinches, loser has an outside shot at a wild card, Woodland Hills plays at Penn Hills, if PH wins they clinch the conference and probable #2 seed in the playoffs, if Woody pulls the upset (unlikely without their starting QB) there is a 3 way tie for the conference and all 3 teams qualify, assuming Pine Richland beats North Hills. In the other conference Peters plays BP, Peters has clinched a playoff spot and will clinch the conference title with a win and #1 seed in the playoffs, Bethel has already clinched at least a wild card, if Moon beats Baldwin they clinch as well and USC with an 8-2 record is left out of the playoffs, USC needs Bethel to upset Peters to get in as they would win the tiebreaker with Moon for third place and the wildcard.
In 4A top 5 teams in Parkway Conference qualify, and top 4 in the other 2 conferences. Aliquippa plays Central Valley and West Alleghany plays Montour, all 4 have qualified and are jockeying for playoff positions, McKeesport plays TJ, winner wins the conference and gets a #2 seed, both Trinity and Latrobe have also qualified from that conference, Mars and North Catholic have clinched n the other conference, the other 2 spots are still to be determined with Kiski hosting Armstrong and Hampton visiting Highlands
In 3A top 4 teams in each conference qualify, big game is Elizabeth Forward vs. Belle Vernon, winner will be #1 seed, loser is likely #3 seen behind #2 Avonworth, 10 teams have already clinched, still to be determined are 3rd/4th place teams in Alleghany 6 conference, EA is first and Knoch is 2nd, winner of Freeport-Deer Lakes qualifies, Shady Side Academy is also in the mix.
In 2A a total of 14 teams qualify, top 5 in the Midwestern Athletic and Allegany conferences, along with top 4 from Century Conference, thus far a total of 11 teams have qualified, still to be determined is 5th place in Midwestern between Elwood City and Riverside, and 3rd/4th place in the Century with Brentwood, Keystone Oaks and Waynesburg battling for the last 2 spots.
In 1A top 4 teams for all 4 conferences qualify, thus far 13 have qualified, Shenago plays Laurel and winner clinches, loser is out, Cornell plays OLSH, winner is in and loser is out, and in the Tri-County South Beth-Center, Monessen and Benworth are still alive for the final spot, if Beth Center beats Monessen they clinch, if Monessen wins they clinch unless Benworth upsets first place California, in which case it would go to tiebreaker points and Benworth would get in as the 4th place team.
October 26th, 2023 at 10:47 am
@Irish1: I agree it is a little bit silly for S-F’s coach to be making those comments… S-F is HUGE and has a winning tradition, that attracts football families moving to the area. They might not be actively recruiting, but they’re not struggling either.
Now, does PJP have an advantage over most 4A public schools, especially those without winning football traditions? Yes, absolutely. Tuition or not, when you’re pulling from a wider geographic area than schools similar to your size, it both raises your floor and your ceiling by comparison.
Schools the size of PJP are the biggest snag when it comes to proposing that non-boundary schools have their own brackets. Not small enough to fit with the small or mid-size non-boundary schools, but still much smaller than the behemoths: La Salle, SJP, Pittsburgh CC, Judge, and Roman. The nature of high school classification is that SOMEONE gets the short end of the stick… where do you draw the line?
October 26th, 2023 at 7:36 am
@ D2 Fan
You opened somewhat of a Pandora’s Box with your playoff inquiry. Long time folks around here probably already know, that I have issues with the current PIAA football playoff system. Anyways, I’ll probably chime in here and there with my old gripes and old and new ideas on different playoff ideas which are anywhere from minor tweaks, to complete overhaul, from the mundane to being off the rails. But hey, it’s all in good fun and conversation starters.
This weekend looks like an absolutely perfect weekend for football, especially for the last Friday/Saturday in October. Let’s enjoy the final week of the regular season before we enter the second season. Like MikeS says, get out and support!!
October 26th, 2023 at 7:08 am
@D2
I’m surprised more teams don’t opt out to EC too.
Maybe it’s a pride thing, teams don’t want to admit they aren’t going to be able to compete in districts.
But no one can convince me getting rolled in a district game is better for a program than the chance at competing for an EC Championship.
October 26th, 2023 at 6:19 am
Was watching on show on the Spring Ford district site, their coach was previewing the Pac Title game. They were talking in general about the teams and of course he said how when they graduate players they have to make due with whoever is next in line while PJP can just go out and bring someone else in. I have to laugh when a coach from a school that is four times the size enrollment wise then PJP breaking out that tired old way of thinking.. PJP is certainly not running out and bringing in talent like a SJP or LaSalle or a few other schools for that matter. They are trying to survive like alot of other catholic schools as tuition rises yr to yr to cover cost. PJP has a roster of 50 or so players 26 or 27 of which are freshmen hardly sounds like they are running out far and wide bringing in all this talent.Must be tough making due over there at SF with 85 or 90 on their varsity roster every year.
October 26th, 2023 at 12:46 am
The regular season ends this week. HOW!? I feel like just yesterday we were talking about D1.
A little different formula for picks this week. I’ll still have my 10 best, but the best of the rest consists of any leagues with District 2 ties, de-facto elimination games or seeding implications, some rivalries, & any games that feature .500 or above teams that may move the needle. The last week I’m going big or going home. I’m leaving D1 out of my 10, because the race is all but settled, so I’ll give a tribute to someone coaching his final game.
– Valley View vs. Scranton Prep (LFC 1): Game of the year in LFC 1. Prep would clinch a share of LFC 1 with a win & DV loss. This should be a fun one. The winner will get some great momentum heading into the playoffs. I feel the Cougars will take this one.
– Honesdale vs. Western Wayne (LFC 2): A game that’ll be aired on WQMY 53. Western Wayne is playing for momentum’s sake. Honesdale needs a win to squeak past Wallenpaupack in the playoffs, as well as other teams that may challenge. However, I don’t think Honesdale is ready to take down the Wildcats this year.
– Susquehanna vs. Lackawanna Trail (LFC 3): This game has zero meaning for playoff hopes, but I’m going to say Trail takes this one, easily.
– Hazleton vs. Berwick (WVC 1): Berwick needs a win to help guarantee a playoff berth. They’re in the 4A playoffs right now. I think they’ll hold that spot & gain some bonus points in the power ratings to maybe give them some cushion from the other teams.
– Pittston vs. Wyoming Area (WVC 2): A classic rivalry at the Jake to decide where Wyoming Area is seeded in the 4A field. They’re rooting for a Valley View loss to guarantee the #2 seed. Wyoming Area should be fine here. I don’t see this as a look-ahead game.
– Delaware Valley vs. Abington Heights (LFC 1): The Pit is the place to be on Saturday, as the winner of this gets the #1 seed in 5A. I expect them
– Williamsport vs. Tunkhannock (WVC HM): I had to place this as one of my picks, because it’s a de-facto elimination game for Williamsport. A win gets them in. A loss? Not so much. They may have to play in the Eastern Conference 5/6A game. I did lie when I said this is a nothingburger, but I feel Williamsport will hold on, regardless of Easton/Nazareth outcome. I’ll pick them here in my riskiest pick of the week.
– Crestwood vs. North Pocono (D2 HM): This game could decide the #5 & #6 seeds in 4A. A North Pocono win could jump them to #5 & slot Greater Nanticoke down to #6. I doubt that, but I think this one’s a sneaky good game this week. Crestwood is my pick here.
– Wallenpaupack vs. Scranton (Tribute): I’m putting this here to pay honor to Wallenpaupack’s head coach, Mark Watson, who is coaching his last game as a Buckhorn. I’m going to go biased here, as the only thing that’d be fitting is a Paupack win. They’ll make the playoffs with a win, you’d think.
– Easton vs. Nazareth (6A Game): There’s implications for this one. Easton is in the same place that the Millionaires are in. Williamsport losing means they must win to challenge. Doubtful. I think Nazareth ends their season.
Scores
– Valley View 23, Scranton Prep 19
– Western Wayne 38, Honesdale 14
– Trail 42, Susquehanna 20
– Berwick 24, Hazleton 23
– Wyoming Area 38, Pittston 14
– DV 31, AH 28
– Williamsport 27, Tunk 21
– Crestwood 30, North Pocono 19
– Paupack 24, Scranton 21
– Nazareth 35, Easton 13
Best Of The Rest (D2 Area)
Lackawanna
– West Scranton vs. Dunmore
– Carbondale vs. Old Forge
– Mid Valley vs. Lakeland
– Riverside vs. Holy Cross
WVC
– WVW vs. Wilkes-Barre
– Dallas vs. Lake-Lehman
– Greater Nanticoke vs. Hanover Area
D2 Misc./Former
– Holy Redeemer vs. Montrose
– Northwest Area vs. South Williamsport
– Blair (NJ) vs. Wyoming Seminary
Scores
– Dunmore 35, West Scranton 10
– Old Forge 31, Carbondale 17
– Mid Valley 35, Lakeland 14
– Riverside 49, Holy Cross 3
– Dallas 45, Lake-Lehman 7
– Nanticoke 29, Hanover Area 13
– Montrose 7, Redeemer 6
– South Williamsport 31, Northwest 10
– Wyo Sem 20, Blair 14
Bicentennial/EPC
– Morrisville vs. Renaissance
– Jenkintown vs. Bristol
– Emmaus vs. Parkland
– Liberty vs. Freedom
– Whitehall vs. Northampton
– Stroudsburg vs. Pleasant Valley
– Becahi vs. Central Catholic
– PME vs. PMW
– ES North vs. ES South
– Dieruff vs. Allen
Scores
– Morrisville 38, Renaissance 0
– Jenkintown 21, Bristol 18
– Parkland 38, Emmaus 16
– Freedom 33, Liberty 16
– Northampton 24, Whitehall 18
– ACC 30, Becahi 29
– PMW 28, PME 14
– ES South 42, ES North 10
– Dieruff 16, Allen 12
De-Facto Playoff/Eastern Conference 1A/2A
– Tri-Valley vs. Williams Valley
– Palmerton vs. Northern Lehigh
– Pen Argyl vs. Bangor
– Executive (11) vs. Danville (4)
– Hughesville vs. Muncy
– Wellsboro vs. NP-Mansfield
Eastern Conference 3A Key Games
– Pine Grove vs. Marian
– Upper Dauphin (3) vs. Line Mountain (4)
– Littlestown vs. Bermudian Springs (#6 vs. #7 in D-3 3A)
– Hamburg vs. Columbia
Eastern Conference 4A
– Mount Carmel vs. Shamokin
– North Schuylkill vs. Pottsville
– Fleetwood vs. Daniel Boone
Scores
– Williams Valley 38, Tri-Valley 20
– Palmerton 49, Northern Lehigh 14
– Bangor 35, Pen Argyl 13
– Danville 49, Executive 8
– Muncy 35, Hughesville 10
– Wellsboro 42, Mansfield 0
– Lehighton 38, Jim Thorpe 17
– Marian 45, Pine Grove 9
– Upper Dauphin 26, Line Mtn. 13
– Littlestown 28, Bermudian 13
– Hamburg 20, Columbia 12
Best of the Rest still to come…
October 25th, 2023 at 8:20 pm
@ D2 Fan
D1 ranking system:
https://www.piaad1.org/sports/fall-sports/football/power-ranking/
October 25th, 2023 at 8:12 pm
I’d have the vehemently disagree with you guys as far as a 6A D1/D12 regional. As far as I’m concerned, 6A D1 is the best bracket going in the state right now and the last that needs messing with. The largest pool of schools, in the largest classification, all public boundary schools, makes for the best competition. I’m not sold on their ranking system, but so be it. But it is simple and straight forward. No muss, no fuss. I want nothing to do with D12 as far as the larger classifications go (6A and 5A) in any type of regional or sub regional. I’m guessing they don’t either, as they are trying like hell (and failing miserably) to hold onto tradition with the catholic league vs. public league city championship.
As far as the District 12 playoffs go, that’s simple, it’s the original participation trophy district, just about every team (hell, maybe every team) gets to participate in the district post season (and by default, the state championship). How they seed, I don’t know. One small kudo that I will give the public league, is that they do re-seed the brackets after the first round games, which some are actually this weekend. I wouldn’t mind seeing District One do the same after the first round, and maybe the second round games as well, especially if it eliminates or reduces regular season re-matches.
October 25th, 2023 at 7:40 pm
@D11 Matt I agree that’s the problem haha. I don’t give NS much of a shot against Northwestern as well.
October 25th, 2023 at 6:03 pm
@ John
Thanks for the insight. I’d love to see a D1/12 Subregional in any format.
In fairness, if you make District 1 Top 16 & maybe include D12, because there’s over 32 teams, that’s probably better. I’d just move the WPIAL region with the D3 teams.
@ Anyone
Can you guys explain to me how seedings in District 1, 12, & WPIAL work? At least with how they sort them. Same for 5, 9, & 10, if possible. I’m compiling a lot of games that have implications that I can predict. Thanks in advance!
October 25th, 2023 at 3:52 pm
@JC and NE,
I would never count North Schuylkill out, however I think Northwestern loses to Southern this week and Palmerton takes over 1 seed. That would mean a semi final between NS and Northwestern.
October 25th, 2023 at 1:40 pm
JC I hope you’re right. I’m with the Spartans all the way
October 25th, 2023 at 10:21 am
@D2 Fan
In regards to your state playoff ideas, I like them at least for 6A. Though I do think it should stay 64 teams in the state tourney or at least Top 16 for D1-6A, since there is usually upsets in first two rounds and one low seeded team usually makes a run to the semis, last year the 11 (CB West) and 12 (Dtown East) seeded teams made the semifinals and CB West made the D1 final and Dtown East probably would of if Horvath did not get hurt in the 2nd quarter (they couldn’t move the ball when he went down). I would honestly be cool with a D1/D12 6A region, if there was no St Joes Prep (no beef with the prep, will always root for them against out of state teams). I think the system of districts works well for other sports, where you can play multiple games per week and have double elimination, it just causes some really weird brackets in football.
In regards to St Joes Prep, I have no beef with the school or the admin, or any of the catholic school programs in the state. I will root for the Hawks when they play out of state teams, I just think they are too overpowered to compete in PIAA football. I personally think they should go the route of St Frances Academy in Maryland and just play a full national schedule.
Another idea I have is for them is to join the Inter-AC and then Inter-AC forms a small 4-8 team Playoff with the MIAA in MD (Spalding, Calvert Hall, Blakefield) or another group of Independent prep schools in NJ/NY (think Hun, Hill, Pennington, Poly), I believe we could see some interesting games in that tourney with or without SJP. Though I doubt that will ever happen, I just thought of it because there was an MIAA/Inter AC championship lacrosse tournament in the mid 2010s.
October 24th, 2023 at 10:54 pm
@ Jeff H
Forgot to say thanks to your compliment on the East Allegheny game. That was a shot in the dark, honestly. Hoping to have a few of those in this week’s games.
@ D11 Matt
I’d have to agree. They’d compete for a spot in the 1A playoff if they played that schedule. Still a good learning experience for the kids. Curious to see if they’ll stay there or go to 2A next year.
@ Coal_Cracker
That’s really interesting. I’m surprised that other schools haven’t done that in recent years, that have seeds. I’m not talking the ones that forfeit their playoff games like 5A teams do to ECP.
@ JCo
You & me both. I think they’re definitely missing out on that opportunity for a last game for all of the seniors or an exhibition against a team that you don’t see in the regular season.
@ Anyone who’s interested in giving $.02
I think the Eastern Conference is a great idea in the northeastern corner of the state. With that said, I think it’d be great that it’d actually have .500 or better teams playing.
What I think would spice things up, & maybe be a way to not have a completely watered down playoff in every district is to combine districts in a format like this. I’d even argue that the state playoffs can be 32 per class, rather than what we have now (64). They probably won’t drop six classes to four, but it can definitely be done. It’d be close to what wrestling regionals has across the state.
What that does is eliminate the blowouts in the first round that seem to plague them. Any teams that miss have two options.
1. Teams above .500 that miss the playoffs will be eligible to play in a neutral site bowl game that’s basically the Eastern Conf. (Or top below-.500 teams)
2. Any below .500 team that isn’t eligible for a “bowl game” can play an 11th game, like it was for some teams during COVID.
Regions (Top 8 Per, via D2/3/4/11 Power Rating)
1A
– Eastern (D1/2/3/4/12)
– Central (D5/6)
– Northwest (D9/10)
– WPIAL
2A
– Eastern (D2/4/11)
– South (D1/3/5/12)
– Northwest (D6/9/10)
– WPIAL/City
3A
– Eastern (D2/4/11)
– South (D1/3/12)
– Northwest (D5/6/9/10)
– WPIAL
4A
– Eastern (D1/2/11)
– South (D3/12)
– West (D4/6/8/9/10)
– WPIAL
5A
– Eastern (D2/6/11/12)
– Southeast (D1)
– Central (D3)
– WPIAL/City/D10
6A
– Eastern (D2/4/11/12)
– Southeast (D1)
– Central (D3)
– WPIAL/City/D6/10
Thoughts? Would anyone be interested in seeing what my theoretical brackets & standings would be?
October 24th, 2023 at 5:15 pm
Ne id be willing to bet ns beats palmerton when they play again
October 24th, 2023 at 4:16 pm
@D11 Matt, JC may disagree. He thinks Wally Hall and the Spartans are getting to the championship game
October 24th, 2023 at 2:45 pm
D2,
As a northern Lehigh alum, they are young and will finish 3-7. Maybe if they played an A schedule instead of tough AAA schedule they would have been around 5-5 and maybe made dist 11, however, they took their lumps this year and will be much better next year. The veteran line was disappointing and they ended up playing more young guys on the line as season went on. Almost all skill were freshman or sophomores with their two juniors starters from last year injured most of all of year. They will get them back as seniors and all the experience and maybe an easier schedule next year. They will lose probably by mercy rule and I expect Mahanoy will beat Shenandoah and they will play PA in EC. Looking forward to the upcoming district playoffs. Especially in AAA. Palmerton and Northwestern final would be a good one.
October 24th, 2023 at 1:54 pm
@D2 Fan
Shamokin opted out of district playoffs because they felt an EC game was a better option for the program.
Their head coach mentioned it after their win over Nanticoke.
https://pafootballnews.com/pfn/shamokin-pulls-away-in-win-at-nanticoke/
October 24th, 2023 at 1:13 pm
I don’t really understand all the Eastern Conference opt-outs. It’s a chance for your seniors to get one more game, with the chance at a championship. What pride do you gain by opting out, assuming you have the numbers to participate (which ES South and Easton definitely do)?
October 24th, 2023 at 9:40 am
Eastern Conference Playoff Notes
1A/2A
Pen Argyl vs. Northern Lehigh is the game, as of right now. Neither team is essentially in. Let’s go to the home team. Pen Argyl (.451) isn’t locked into their spot just yet. They have to play rival Bangor, to have a chance at a spot. A loss will likely seal their spot, but there’s two teams that will challenge, if an upset happens.
Catasauqua is 4th in District 11 2A (.465). A loss & a Pen Argyl win can decide their fate. They’re up against Salisbury, so that should be an easy win. If they win, they’re in the D11 2A playoff. On the other side, Executive Education can slip from #3, with a loss & possibly be in the game. They have to play Danville, which looks to be a loss. If points come into play, they have a shot. I think it stays this way.
As for the road team, Northern Lehigh (.361) will have to be on scoreboard watch. They’re going up against Palmerton, at home, who is good. A playoff spot in 1A might be out of reach.
Battle
– Northern Lehigh: .360
– Mahanoy Area: .356
– North Penn-Mansfield: .355
– Hughesville: .348607
– Wellsboro: .348604
– Palisades: .344
A loss can throw these teams into play. I’ll start in District 11
– Mahanoy Area is right behind them in 1A. In Week 10, they host Shenandoah Valley. The chances of a win locking them in is likely, as Northern Lehigh *should* lose to Palmerton this week.
– Palisades isn’t far behind either. They host a decent Saucon Valley team. An upset by the Pirates could get them in.
District 4 is opening up a can of worms. In 1A, the only way they play in this game is if Bucktail opted out of the playoffs. They’d likely host. 7th through 9th in 2A is close. 8th & 9th are within a few hundred thousandths of a point.
– North Penn-Mansfield is holding that 7th spot in hand. They have #9 Wellsboro, in a will be a playoff deciding game. A win gets either team in, you’d believe. A loss could arguably decide who gets the other Eastern Conference spot.
– Hughesville is barely holding onto the last spot. They have to travel to Muncy, who’s in a battle for the #1 seed in 1A, depending on the outcome of the Canton/Troy game. A loss & a Wellsboro win can possibly lock in Hughesville at the final spot.
3A
The game is about decided. It’s Berks Catholic vs. Hamburg. No other teams in D2-4-11 are in the running, barring any opt-outs in that area. However, let’s look at the D3 playoff race. The Top 6 get in.
Battle for 5th/6th
– Littlestown: .575
– Bermudian Springs: .545
– Berks Catholic: .529
Battle for 7th/EC
– Berks Catholic: .529
– Hamburg: .486
– Upper Dauphin: .457
In the battle for playoff spots, Berks has a very good chance to challenge for a spot. They get ELCO at home. However, if they win, they might squeak into the 3A playoffs. That’s because it’s Littlestown vs. Bermudian Springs in a de-facto elimination game for Bermudian. A loss to rival Littlestown drops them out of the 3A playoffs.
That opens up a spot for either Hamburg/Upper Dauphin. Hamburg is traveling to Columbia this week, while Upper Dauphin hosts Line Mountain. A Berks Catholic win means those other two will be the game, regardless of seeding.
In 4A, the game is mostly decided. The District 2 representatives will need Fleetwood & Pottsville to opt-out, or possibly everyone wins & both the above teams lose.
– Shamokin is essentially in. They’d be in the D4 playoffs, but opted out. Locals to the area, please explain why they’re out. Did they impose a playoff ban this year? They’ll host either Fleetwood or Pottsville.
– Fleetwood (.486) challenges Daniel Boone, who is way too far to have a chance at this event.
– Pottsville (.460) needs a win & help from a 1-9 Daniel Boone team. That won’t be easy for them, as they play North Schuylkill.
5/6A is a nothingburger.
– ES South opted out of this game, & if they stayed in, they’d host.
– Easton & Boyertown also opted out, which is wild because they’d have a shot at being in the game.
– Governor Mifflin is basically the home team, & would be too far to challenge Dover in the D-3 5A race.
– Liberty (.435) needs a LOT of help to get in the D-11 6A Subregional.
– Dieruff (.393) & Pocono Mtn. East (.387) are too far behind, I think, to challenge. If a Liberty loss gives them an opportunity, the Huskies of Dieruff need to beat Allen, while PME has to beat PMW.
All of these teams will be in my picks this week. Stay tuned. I’m going to have a lot of fun with it.
October 23rd, 2023 at 7:46 pm
Just curious….anyone from D6 area? Is the Central @ Richland game a championship game for the LHAC title?
October 23rd, 2023 at 12:58 pm
Seems like a great week 10 matchup between unbeaten teams, Northwestern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh. I know these two teams don’t get talked about much, but does anyone have any thoughts on this game?
October 23rd, 2023 at 10:42 am
@John @Kevin X,
I agree with most of your current 6A top 10.
In regards to PV, they are down to their backup QB (starter got hurt against S-F) and their 3rd & 4th RB. In fairness to the RB’s, they’ve done a nice job and have been playing basically since week 3 or 4. They have traditionally embraced the next man up mentality and are very well coached but I’d be surprised if they win more than 1 game in districts, hope I’m wrong. Both the PJPII/Spring-Ford and PV/Phoenixville should be great games.
Agree that CBW and DTE are on a collision course barring any upsets.
October 23rd, 2023 at 8:14 am
Pennnsyltucky proud, you must be from shamokin or its ugly cousin coal township. Cardinal brennan morphed into chernobyl, lol once again, dont get it? They closed because of low attendance, the school and fieldhouse is still there, owned by north schuylkill. Nativity and marian catholic are also close by. You must be from bunker hill. What does 70’s rivalries have to do with mt. Carmel having no connection to knoebels in your joke
October 23rd, 2023 at 6:46 am
Looking back at a season that as usual goes by way too fast. I dont think there is a sports season that goes by faster then the high school football season, maybe its me just getting older and wishing time would slow down some. Father Judge who I got to see play PJP has to be the best team with a losing record in Pa. I thought they were well coached with a good qb and skill players around him. They have to have the toughest schedule in Pa ( taking SJP and their national schedule out of the equation) . Opened up with Central Bucks South lose by 3 to a team that didnt lose again until last week against CBW. Two weeks later lose to Spring -Ford, two weeks after that lose to PJP. Beat Tennant and Conestoga then a loss to Roman by 8,followed by SJP and this week they get LaSalle,quite the gaunlet.
October 22nd, 2023 at 8:08 pm
Even having Miles Sanders on the sidelines couldn’t help Woodland Hills against PR on Friday, as they emphatically showed they have the best O-line in the WPIAL and used their punishing running game to break out to a 21-0 halftime lead and coast to a 28-0 victory. Making matters worse for Woody is their QB went down in the 3rd quarter with a knee injury and was on crutches after the game, rumor is he has a torn ACL and is out for the season, so I give them little chance to beat arch rival penn hills on the road on Friday. PR will likely be the 4th seed in the WPIAL playoffs but IMO they are now the clear favorites, Peters has a very good defense but are a bit undersized upfront, and I don’t think they can withstand the PR ground and pound attack, they will likely be seeded to meet in the semi-finals, which may be the de facto championship.
Wildest game of the night was USC’s 2 OT victory over Moon 43-42 when they converted the 2 point PAT for the win, which keeps their playoff hopes alive, they could go 8-2 and still miss the playoffs due to tiebreaker points, ironically they would benefit from their neighbor and fierce rival Bethel upsetting Peters on Friday.
And reminiscent of Mario Lemieux scoring 5 goals 5 different ways against New Jersey on New Year’s Eve in 1988, Jon Tracy from Aliquippa scored 5 TDs 5 different ways, on a fumble return on defense, kickoff and punt returns, and receiving and rushing on offense in the Quips 53-0 win over Chartiers Valley.
@D2 Fan – good call on the EA upset of Knoch, they won in OT when they blocked the extra point to preserve the 14-13 win, I got lucky and nailed the McKeesport score on the nose! And watch out for South Side, I said they were a serious contender in 1A and I may pick them to win the WPIAL when the brackets are announced, they average 45 points a game while giving up only 8, wing T attack with big rushing numbers.
@Kevin X – totally agree about tweaking the playoff seeding to avoid regular season rematches, as you mentioned the WPIAL does everything they can to avoid first round rematches when they seed the teams, sometimes coaches moan and complain about the seedings but I think it makes sense to adjust a team’s seed up 1 or down one to avoid a rematch, tougher to avoid rematches in the 2nd round, especially in classes with fewer teams making the playoffs The WPIAL announces the playoff brackets on Monday evening on the radio and livestreamed, and it’s fun to look forward to the brackets being announced.
October 22nd, 2023 at 5:53 pm
@ John
I liked your D1 6A rankings, think I’ll toss mine out for comparison:
1. Downingtown East – A few weeks ago I listed my top teams in each district regardless of classification. I had DTE #1 in District One. I see no reason to change that (at the moment).
2. CB West – Will be the #1 seed in the D1 6A playoffs barring a major upset against rival CB East. They have done nothing wrong. Consistency, balance, disciplined.
3. Downigntown West – Lost to Chester did not bother me as much. Mentioned previously I may nominate Chester as my D1 5A team to beat. Game against them was on the road, on grass, late Saturday morning, in a steady rain (yeah, lots of excuses)……but future games will be at the cozy, friendly confines of Kottmeyer on turf under the lights.
4. Spring-Ford – The 63 points that they gave up to MT does bother me. Was it a one off?? Fluke?? Is MT that good?? Throw away game?? Seemed to have righted the ship.
5. Coatesville – Yeah, pretty high. 3 teams from the Ches-Mont in the top 5. Is this based on reputation?? Their 3 losses to DTE, DTE and CD?? No shame in that. Scary long shot bet, especially if all healthy and they don’t shoot themselves in their collective feet with boneheaded decisions and plays.
6. CB South – Hung with CB West Friday night. Love their QB. Gonna be a handful for someone. Flashbacks to last year and Bo Horvath.
7. Souderton – Hello, there you are. Just don’t see them beating any of the 6 above if it comes to that. Will get a top 4 seed and at least 2 home playoff games (where they have not lost in quite some time), if they get by the first game, which they should easily. Then the quarterfinals with one of the above could be the end of the line.
8. Perk Valley – Steady as she goes. Same as above, will get first round home game, take care of business, then maybe run into one of the top 6. Interesting game Friday with Phoenixville.
9. Garnet Valley – Not what they have been the past few years, but still solid. Like the two above, first round home game, business as usual, then the rubber meets the road.
10. OJR – I’ve never seen OJR. I know nothing about them. I had to slide someone into the 10 spot, might as well be them.
October 22nd, 2023 at 3:03 pm
Oh, the not best SOL division, Souderton was District 1 6A champs in 2020, Upper Dublin was District 1 5A champs in 2020 & 2022. & Quakertown was District 1 6A Runners-up to Garnet Valley in 2021. Where’s the rest of the SOL, if they are the not among the best Divisions in the SOL?
October 22nd, 2023 at 2:53 pm
@John Agreed Quakertown could be an interesting opponent, Lost to CBW Top 5 in 6A, Lost to Souderton Top 10 6A, Lost to Southern Lehigh Top 7-8 5A, Lost to Council Rock South (7-2) while playing without 8 injured starters. They’ve slowly been getting healthy, 3 back last week, 2 more back this past week, 2 more expected back? maybe this week. Top running back from last year, back now after 2 off season surgeries and has 7 TD’s on the ground the last 2 weeks after only team had 14 in 1st 7 games. The team’s they have lost to have a combined 34-2 record and they only team to beat 8-1 Plymouth Whitemarsh.
October 22nd, 2023 at 1:56 pm
Where can I find the district 4 points standing for AA?
October 22nd, 2023 at 12:28 pm
D2 Notes Heading Into Week 10
– Dallas squeaks past Wilkes-Barre. This was a trap game from the beginning.
– Wyo Area didn’t have last year’s magic, to challenge Southern enough. That’s a tough loss for them, but a learning experience for playoffs.
– DV gets a share of the divisional crown in LFC 1. Big win over Scranton. They have the biggest game of the week in Week 10 at Abington Heights.
– Carbondale Area played really, really tough this week, but Susquehanna has been the better team. A 14-7 win for the Sabers gives them a .500 season.
– Williamsport barely squeaks past Hazleton, who needed that win. The Cougs are out of the 6A playoffs.
– Playoff Battles To Watch: 4A Top-3 Seeds & #6-8, as well as #4-6 Seeds & #8/9 seed in 6A Subregional.
Waiting for Eastern Conference rankings on Monday, to give some battles to watch for those, but I can give a sneak peek at the playoff races.
Playoffs
D2 1A
– #1 Lackawanna Trail vs. #2 Old Forge is the matchup, obviously, being played up on Tunnel Hill.
– Trail ends with Susquehanna at home. Old Forge plays Carbondale at home.
D1 1A
– #1 Morrisville vs. #2 Jenkintown is the final in D1. Renaissance is eliminated.
– Morrisville will host, as of now. I don’t know how D1’s formula works, so I expect this stays the same.
D2 2A
– We know Dunmore will host Susquehanna in the first round.
– Mid Valley vs. Riverside may depend on who wins their games. Mid Valley plays Lakeland up at Chapman Lake, while Riverside heads to Holy Cross. This matchup is locked in, but the home field is the concern. Both should win, so this may be status quo.
D2 3A
– Scranton Prep & Western Wayne are guaranteed a home game.
– Lake-Lehman jumps to #3 after a big win against Hanover Area. The Hawkeyes drop to #4. Carbondale is on the outside looking in.
– Lake-Lehman plays Dallas in a rivalry game. Hanover plays rival Greater Nanticoke. Carbondale plays Old Forge. Neither have a good chance of winning.
– L-L should hold in power rankings (.361), due to playing a much better team. It’s Hanover (.333) vs. Carbondale (.309). An upset by Carbondale makes it close, but I think the field stays put.
D2 4A
– This is the best battle to watch. A lot of scenarios here.
– It’s Dallas vs. Valley View for the #1 seed. Dallas plays at Lake-Lehman, while Valley View has to take on a tough Scranton Prep team, on the road. A Dallas win *should* lock up the #1 seed. A loss & a Valley View comes down to mere points.
– However, if Valley View loses, Wyoming Area (#3) can sneak to #2, assuming they get past Pittston Area, at “The Jake”.
– Crestwood seems to have the #4 seed in hand. GNA might be too far back, although they’re at #5 & could slip to #6, depending on the Crestwood/(#6) North Pocono game. A win vs. Crestwood may mean a rematch in next week’s (North Pocono is home for Week 10)
D2 4A (#8 Seed)
– North Pocono (3-6) holds the #6 seed. A loss could put them in a sticky situation, but a slight upset over Crestwood will challenge for #5, as mentioned above.
– Berwick (2-7) is at .442 in the power rtings (+ .019 over #9 Honesdale & .022 over #10 Tunkhannock). The Bulldogs host 2-7 Hazleton, who is essentially eliminated from the 6A Subregional. A win locks them in. A loss could be disaster.
– Wallenpaupack (2-7) somehow jumped to the #8 seed (+ .003 ahead of Honesdale & + .006 of Tunkhannock), even though they lost to Valley View. They have to go to Scranton High in a must-win game. The Buckhorns MUST win to keep the #8 seed. A loss could spell a bit of trouble.
– Honesdale (3-6) is the first team out. They play a tough Western Wayne team. A loss might not be the end of the world for them, but an upset essentially locks them in.
– Tunkhannock (4-5) is #10 out of 10. They host Williamsport in the last game for Williamsport as a WVC member. A win for Tunkhannock would lock them in. A loss eliminates them, but depending on power ratings, can sneak in.
– I expect Tunkhannock to be the spoiler, but CalPreps favors the Millionaires over the Tigers. This is a HARD one to predict.
D2 5A
– Delaware Valley vs. Abington Heights, at The Pit is for all the marbles.
– The #1 seed is up for grabs in this one. Winner plays Pittston Area. Loser get Scranton.
D2-4-11 6A
– The Top 4 are essentially locked into the playoffs, possibly in their spots.
– Parkland has the #1 seed & will take on Emmaus, who is in a fight with Wilkes-Barre for the #5 seed.
– #2 Nazareth plays Easton who NEEDS this win, but has to worry about Williamsport.
– #3 Northampton should have the #3, as they take on Whitehall, who’s locked into the 5A battle. A loss could drop them to #4.
– #4 Freedom’s locked in, but has to take on Liberty. Liberty is about eliminated. A loss shouldn’t drop them down to #5.
– #5 Emmaus plays Parkland & holds a .03 pt lead over Wilkes-Barre. A loss may drop them at least down a spot. Not sure about two.
– #6 Wilkes-Barre needs to win to get a #4 vs. #5 matchup. They get 1-win Valley West, so that should be a simple win.
– #7 Stroudsburg is in, & could jump up to #6 (I don’t know about #5). They play Pleasant Valley, who has to hold off Eastburg South (who plays ES North).
– #8 Williamsport holds a .021 pt lead over Easton & is playing Tunkhannock in a MUST-WIN game for the 4A Tigers, who aren’t far behind in their playoff race. A win locks them in. A loss puts them in trouble.
– #9 Easton plays Nazareth, which is a much better team. It could come down to opponent power rating pts, to lock in Easton, with a loss.
– It may come down to points for Williamsport & Easton, depending on how power ratings shake out. A win by either team should lock them in.
October 22nd, 2023 at 9:56 am
@ John, Pjp is a legit very good team that can handle plenty of the better 6a teams in District one, now as far as Spring – ford goes they will have to play very well to win. SF has a talented QB and good skill around him. Not sure if the OJR or PV games prove a whole alot about their defense. I believe Phoenixville is the third best team in the pac this yr. They only had one loss prior to yesterday’s game with PJP and that was to a Chester team that beat Dtown west a few weeks ago. PJP will have to be balanced on offense to win and force SF to be one demensional on offense, easier said then done. Should be a good game and a fun atmosphere
October 22nd, 2023 at 9:11 am
@ John
Does PJP2 have a chance to beat S-F?? Sure. I’d also say doubtful. I’d give them a 20%-25% chance of winning that game Friday night.
Do not want a C’Ville/DTE/DTW first round re-match. Don’t want any first round rematches. Love to see D1 take a page out of the WPIAL playbook and use a little human brain power and adjust/tweak the brackets if needed to eliminate any first round rematches, and if possible, avoid any potential quarterfinal rematches as well. Really don’t see much of a difference for instance say between a #13 seed and #14 seed, etc.
@ Jc
Umm, ok. Whatever.
October 22nd, 2023 at 8:16 am
John, PJP has a legitimate shot to beat Spring Ford, they match up well up front, the question will be weather they can match up on the back end. SF QB and receivers are much better than anyone PJP has faced this year. Yesterday PJP had to go deep into the 4th quarter to put away a solid Phoenixville team, they came out flat and Phoenixville jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Plus they had several penalties. SF is the favorite in this game, the small school champ has never beaten the large school champ since the PAC playoffs began, although I believe the Covid PJP team would have beaten the large school champ that year.
October 22nd, 2023 at 2:48 am
@JC: The Battle for Knowbels is real. Growing up from Summer of 76 thru the Summer of 83 were the glory days of high school rivalries there. I mean, we had SCA, M Carmel, shamokin and Lourdes (our only Cath school w/i like 75 miles) except for gritty Card Brennan which sorta morphed into Chernobyl.
October 22nd, 2023 at 2:04 am
Kevin x I know something wyoming area has that pjp never will, a state title.
October 21st, 2023 at 11:19 pm
What does the battle for knoebels mean? Does mt. Carmel have something to do with knoebels that i dont know about? Or is it an attempt at comedy?
October 21st, 2023 at 10:42 pm
District 1 6A rankings-
1. CB West (9-0)- Have looked great on both sides of the ball. Dominated basically every team they played. Was initially worried due to their loss of their Starting QB to begin the year, but the backup has filled in well in his place. Beat a really good CB South team last night and will probably be the 1 seed heading into the playoffs. As of now, District 1 runs through Doylestown.
2. Downingtown East (8-0)- Defense has not been scored on since Week 2 against State College. Look complete on both sides of the ball. Offense is the most balanced it has been in years. Defense dominated Coatesville last night. I had my worries with them since they have not faced much competition outside of State College, but they cleared most of those after last night. Huge game next week against Downingtown West in the Battle of the Brandywine, with a chance to clinch their first outright Ches-Mont National title since 2015.
3. Souderton (9-0)- Struggled to start the season, with two close wins against not so great teams. But they have been dominant since, I know they do not play in the best SOL division, but this team should not be counted out of D1 title contention.
4. Spring Ford (8-1)- Have bounced back well after their big loss to Manheim Township, especially on the defensive side of the ball. If defense continues to improve, this team has the talent to make a serious run for the D1 title. Will have a big test the last week of the season against probably the best non-6A D1 team in PJP.
5. Downingtown West (8-1)- Want to rank them higher, but that Chester loss left a bad taste in my mouth. On the paper, they are probably the most talented team in D1, especially on offense. If they play to their potential, they can compete with any team in District 1.
6. CB South (8-1)- Rough loss last night to the best team in the District in CB West. Still have a great defense and should not be slept on come playoff time.
7. Perkiomen Valley (7-2)- Have two losses to two of the best teams in the District in Spring Ford and Downingtown West. Otherwise, they have some wins against some pretty good teams. They are well coached and have talent, do not know if they can compete for a title, but definitely could pull off an upset to a higher seeded team.
8. CR South (6-3)- Have certainly had their ups and downs this year, with losses to some teams I thought they would beat (UD and Pennsbury), but they had a big win over a good Quakertown team and only loss by 7 to a really good Souderton team. Their defense is really good. I do not know if they can contend for a title, but definitely not a team that should be overlooked in the playoffs. Nice to see them bounce back this season after a few rough years.
9. Owen J Roberts (7-2)- Outside of the loss to Spring Ford, they have looked really good. They nearly beat Perk Valley for the first time in years and have beaten up on basically all their other opponents. Like the two teams ranked just ahead of them, probably not a contender, but should not be overlooked.
10.Coatesville (6-3)- I know their offense has struggled mightily against the better they have played, but they still have one of the most talented rosters in the district. Their defense is still one of the best in the district. I know they are not as good as some of the Coatesville teams of the past, but they should not be taken lightly. Still have multiple future D1 players and their defense can keep them in any game.
Honorable Mentions-
Garnet Valley (7-2)- Not as dominant as years past. Have just squeaked by against some not great teams. Still really well coached and almost always find a way to pull it out in the end in close games regardless of opponent. Do not think they are one of the top contenders like past years, but could pull off a surprise win in the early rounds.
Quakertown (5-4)- All 4 losses have come against some good teams and 3 of those losses were decided by 1 touchdown or less. Currently seeded at 11, maybe could pull off an early surprise upset.
October 21st, 2023 at 8:04 pm
I believe this is a first for me. Coach Roth got the boot from the Officials at Friday’s nite game. Will he not be able to coach next Friday nite? What is the rule on this one?
October 21st, 2023 at 5:16 pm
@Kevin X or anyone else who follows the PAC teams-
Do you think PJP has a shot to beat Spring Ford? Spring Ford’s offense is legit, and Zollers has been my D1 MVP so far this year, but PJP has been dominating everyone. My gut still tells me Spring Ford cause of the offense and the Perk Valley and OJR games erased some of my doubts I had about their defense. Also, PJP just has not played a team nearly as good as Spring Ford.
October 21st, 2023 at 4:38 pm
Troy certainly appears to be a force to be reckoned with. It will be interesting to see how well they match up with SCA or MCA.
October 21st, 2023 at 4:29 pm
@Kevin X-
With the way the rankings seem to be playing out, we could have a potential Coatesville-DTown rematch in the first round.
October 21st, 2023 at 4:26 pm
How did I fare this week? Assuming I get Hickory over Sharpsville correct.
– D2 Picks: 8-2 (losses being subregional picks)
– Rest of State: My picks went about as well as the Penn State offense did today. 33-19 (I had 52 picks, actually had 54, & thought I had 55. Forgot the P-W game, but also messed up a D10 pick, so that’s why 52).
– 41-11 on the week, which is 78.8%.
I didn’t add up cumulative % yet, because of the remaining game, so I may be 40-12 on the week & 32-20 on the best of the rest.
I don’t want to get into what I got wrong. I’ll leave what I got wrong & if anyone has any thoughts on the games, just let me know what I was missing. I didn’t give any effort this week, so it’s whatever. I was lazy & showed little preparation. I don’t know if I even want to make picks/predictions next week, as I wanted to chime in on some de-facto elimination & Eastern Conference hopefuls. Maybe even look for decent rivalry games, too.
What I got wrong
– Emmaus over Freedom
– Morrisville over Jenkintown
– Canton over Milton
– Bangor over Blue Mtn.
– Methacton over OJR
– Upper Dublin over Souderton
– Hershey over Lower Dauphin
– Exeter over Conestoga Valley
– Annville-Cleona over Schuylkill Valley
– William Penn over South Western
– United Valley over River Valley
– Woody over Pine-Richland
– Union Area over South Side (Jeff H should just make picks for me & I should just do scores. I’m kidding!)
– Punxsy over Brookville
– Otto-Eldred over Cameron Co.
– GNA over Shamokin
– Bucktail over Coudy
– Juniata over Line Mtn.
– William Penn over Episcopal
– Mercer over Cambridge Springs (I confused teams or something. I won’t count it).
D2 notes coming tomorrow. I’ll bring up the playoff battles & seedings. I’ll at least give my effort this week there, since I was 8-0 in District 2 vs. District 2 (9-0, if you include the Best of Rest game).
October 21st, 2023 at 12:49 pm
@ Kevin X: Regardless, we all know where the AA path to states is heading…another chapter in the lore of The Battle for Knoebels!*
*Unless the presently undefeated Troy throws a monkeywrench into the usual formula…
October 21st, 2023 at 9:40 am
Wyoming Area?? Seriously?? Another team with an over inflated record by playing no one. Best team that they played?? Crestwood?? Scranton?? Please. I was actually looking forward to a 4A State quarterfinal between the D2 4A winner and PJP2. We’ll see how PJP2 does today and next week against S-F or PV, but getting a feeling that PJP2 would beat any D2 4A team fairly handily (then proceed to get smoked by McDevitt in the state semi’s).
October 21st, 2023 at 8:56 am
Looks very likely that the road to the District One 6A Championship will be going through Doylestown, which is more than cool by me. I spent more time, 3 games, including last night, at War Memorial than any other location this fall. Can I get a Downingtown East @ CB West 6A final?? Since I am requesting future games, how about a Coatesville at CB South or Spring-Ford first round game in two weeks??
October 20th, 2023 at 9:34 pm
Southern Columbia 34 – Wyoming Area 7, enough said.
October 20th, 2023 at 5:23 pm
They have 2 offensive lineman back, they have carroballo and many dl who played meaningful minutes on the dline. The secondary seems to have the same guys for at least 3 years now. Here is why i dont know why its an uphill battle, palmertons qb doesnt want to throw hes looking to run all over the field, do u know how u stop a running qb? You make him pay everrytime he runs with the ball, even if he gains 20 yds you stick him, make him not want to run, wally hall does not know how to stop a running qb?
October 20th, 2023 at 7:42 am
@Buddy Hensler
My bad North Penn is at Home, not Pennridge. However North Penn is currently ranked #14 in District 1, top 16 go to Playoffs, win & they are in. Pennridge is currently #19, if they win out and get a little help, they could be in. Also, North Penn is down to their #3 QB, & I’ve said all along that I think Pennridge is going to surprise someone & after 3 coaches in 3 years, I’d like to see them do it. But Dick Beck always has his team playing their best at the end of the season, but I think this is going to be a good, tight game.
October 19th, 2023 at 11:05 pm
@JC. It was an all around horrendous game by them. They may get another shot at them in the playoffs and Chowansky will obviously make a big difference to the defense and running the ball on offense, but it will still be a tough hill to climb. The problem is they lost everyone on the line and they don’t block on offense and they get blown off the ball on defense. Too many blown assignments, and bad tackling when they play a better team. And yes a lot of in game decisions by, you know who, are really bad.
October 19th, 2023 at 8:34 pm
@D2 Fan – I sure hope you’re correct with your Woodland Hills prediction, I’d pick Woodland Hills with my heart, and after I saw the way the NA receivers ran past the PR DB’s a few weeks ago I thought Scoop Smith and the rest of the WH receivers would be licking their chops after watching the game film, but then PR came out and ran the ball down PCC’s throat the next game and their defense held PCC to 19 points. These might be the 2 best offensive lines in the WPIAL, certainly 2 of the best, and I think PR will have a similar game plan as they did against PCC to run the ball and manage the clock and keep Woody’s offense off the field, senior night at the Wolvarana and I will be there, unfortunately I think PR spoils the party, hopefully D2 is correct with his prediction and I’m wrong.
As for some of your other WPIAL picks I think McKeesport beats Latrobe by a much larger margin, something like 42-14, and the BV vs. Southmoreland game won’t be close, that could possibly be a mercy rule game. I do think Knoch will beat East Allegany, and I wouldn’t be surprised if South Side beats Union even though the game is at Union, I think South Side is a serious contender for the WPIAL title, and this game could go either way.
October 19th, 2023 at 8:11 pm
@MikeS
I believe that NP/Pennridge game is at NP. Not grudgingly. BTW, best NP can do is 6 and 4, doubt that makes playoffs
October 19th, 2023 at 2:13 pm
SUBURAN ONE PICKS
PENNSBURY OVER Abington – Pennsbury sits at #17 in District 1, top 16 are in, they are in must win, Abington is playing for pride.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH OVER Bensalem – Council Rock South wins easy.
CENTRAL BUCK EAST OVER Neshaminy – Central Bucks at home, one of the Central Bucks schools will lose, it won’t be East.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST OVER Central Bucks Sout – OH BABY, A Central Bucks Slobber Knocker, my head says West, my gut says South, West gets revenge for last year. Game of the Year in SOL. Two top 10 teams in Pa, depending on which poll you follow.
CHELTEHAM OVER William Tennent – Cheltenham is on a roll and Tennant is on a slide.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH OVER Hatboro Horsham – Council Rock North in a mini-Upset. Local Paper has Hatboro, not so fast. Council Rock North.
QUAKERTOWN OVER Truman – Quakertown goes over 500 for the year as they get healthier, Truman goes down.
DOBBINS OVER Lower Moreland – Dobbins wins this fairly handily.
SOUTH HUNTERDON OVER New Hope – Don’t know a lot about Jersey teams, but this one is 7-1, that wins it.
NORTH PENN OVER Pennridge – I suspect this will be really close, North Penn really needs this to stay in the District Playoff picture, Pennridge is home and getting better, grudgingly North Penn.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH OVER Wissahickon – Plymouth Whitemarsh is in the driver’s seat, Wissahickon is the challenger, PW stays in the driver’s seat.
SOUDERTON OVER Upper Dublin – OH Baby, this is going to be a great game, Souderton hasn’t lost at home in forever it seems, that’s enough to get them through.
SPRINGFIELD OVER Upper Moreland – I read two Pundits that have picked Upper Moreland, this is a toss-up game I think, the coin reads Tails Springfield it is.
Get out and see your favorite team or one of the several BIG GAMES in the SOL this weekend.
October 19th, 2023 at 11:57 am
My eDistrict 2 HM is Susquehanna vs. C’dale. Completely forgot I had one missing
Score: Susq. 23, Carbondale 9
October 19th, 2023 at 11:51 am
Can’t ya believe we’re at Week 9? The penultimate week of District 2 regular season football has a handful of good games. I’m going to go with a larger slate this week, as there’s some great games across the state. If I had more time, I’d add some more de-facto playoff games. I’ll do that for Week 10.
– Scranton vs. Delaware Valley (LFC 1): Easily the game of the week, & it happens to be minutes from the Tri-State line. DV is winning LFC 1, barring something catastrophic. I think they’ll roll past a quietly .500 Scranton team. Scranton does need home field advantage, so they’ll play tough.
– Dunmore vs. Honesdale (LFC 2): Jekyll & Hyde, I mean Honesdale, has had a crazy season. They start off at 0-4, especially with a loss to rival Wallenpaupack. They then got an easy break in the schedule. They lost last week close to Mid Valley. They have to win against Dunmore & Western Wayne to crack .500, & win LFC 2, but that doesn’t seem likely. Two Bucks will beat them this year.
– Old Forge vs. Riverside (LFC 3): This is a rivalry. When both teams are good, it delivers. Old Forge is down this year, but have impressively gotten to .500. Riverside has been competitive. I think the Vikes will send their rivals back to Pizza Town unhappy.
– Wilkes-Barre vs. Dallas (WVC 1): This is the best game in the WVC. Wilkes-Barre has always been gritty, but it’s a true trap game for Dallas. I don’t expect it to go the way of Western Wayne-North Pocono, but I wouldn’t be shocked if this is a close game. Wilkes-Barre should at least earn a subregional spot, but will need help to get any home field advantage.
– Lake-Lehman vs. Hanover Area (WVC 2): While most of WVC 2 is playing out of league, the Black Knights & Hawkeyes will play in the other part of Wilkes-Barre in a de-facto elimination game for Lake-Lehman. In a miracle, Hanover Area has a 3-5 record. If they want to hold the #3 seed, it has to be a win for them. I think Lake-Lehman will take this one. This isn’t the greatest game on the calendar, but it’ll do for now.
– North Pocono vs. Abington Heights (LFC HM): This is really the only other noteworthy game in Scranton & the surrounding area. North Pocono cannot afford to lose, as they are #6 in 4A. They have Berwick & Tunk right behind them, & arguably Honesdale. An upset would be helpful, but also a loss won’t effectively hurt them either. Berwick has Crestwood, Tunkhannock travels up to Towanda & Honesdale has Dunmore. These teams are the four that will fight for that spot. Wallenpaupack’s essentially eliminated, possibly even for the Eastern Conference. I’d assume the #9 in D2 4A will be in contention for an EC spot. I’ll take the Comets.
– Hazleton vs. Williamsport (WVC HM): A de-facto elimination game for the Millionaires. They are ranked at #9 in the 6A seedings & they must win. Easton gets Parkland, which could be a loss for the Rovers. I think Williamsport uses this to control their destiny next week in their final game in the WVC.
– Wyoming Area vs. Southern Columbia (D2 HM): I cannot leave this out of my picks! Wyoming Area takes on a great Tigers team who will be playing with a chip on their shoulder, as they lost to Mount Carmel. Wyoming Area wants to make it back-to-back losses, as well as a step closer to a perfect season. I’m going to take Southern here, but all of District 2 would love to see an upset.
– Freedom vs. Emmaus (6A HM): This WILL decide who could get the last home field venue, more than likely. Freedom takes on Liberty next week & Emmaus plays Parkland. I like the odds for Emmaus, but I feel this might be a close one.
– Morrisville vs. Jenkintown (1A D1): Morrisville seems to have home field for the 3rd matchup (in two weeks) to decide who gets Lackawanna Trail. I’ll go with the Bulldogs, since they won last time they met.
Scores
– DV 38, Scranton 16
– Dunmore 35, Honesdale 19
– Riverside 36, Old Forge 24
– Dallas 34, Wilkes-Barre 20
– Lake-Lehman 19, Hanover Area 10
– Abington Hts. 28, North Pocono 15
– Williamsport 22, Hazleton 17
– Southern Columbia 35, Wyoming Area 20
– Emmaus 28, Freeedom 24
– Morrisville 33, Jenkintown 21
Best of the Rest
District 2/4
– D2 HM
– Canton vs. Milton
– Troy vs. Loyalsock
District 11
– Central Catholic vs. PMW
– Bangor vs. Blue Mountain
– Minersville vs. Schuylkill Haven
District 1
– CB South vs. CB West
– Downingtown East vs. Coatesville
– Garnet Valley vs. Marple-Newtown
– OJR vs. Methacton
– Plymouth-Whitemarsh vs. Wissahickon
– Upper Dublin vs. Souderton
– Phoenixville vs. PJP II
District 12
– MLK vs. West Philly
– Bonner-Prendie vs. Conwell-Egan
– Roman Catholic vs. La Salle
District 3
– East Pennsboro vs. Susquehanna Twp.
– Lower Dauphin vs. Hershey
– Trinity vs. Steel-High
– Exeter Twp. vs. Conestoga Valley
– Schuylkill Valley vs. Annville-Cleona
– William Penn vs. South Western
District 5/6
– Northern Bedford vs. Windber
– River Valley vs. United Valley
WPIAL
– Pine-Richland vs. Woodland Hills
– Greater Latrobe vs. McKeesport
– Belle Vernon vs. Southmoreland
– Central Valley vs. West Allegheny
– East Allegheny vs. Knoch
– Jefferson-Morgan vs. West Greene
– South Side vs. Union Area
– Western Beaver vs. Mohawk
– Canevin vs. OLSH
District 9
– Redbank Valley vs. Brockway
– Brookville vs. Punxsutawney
– Cameron County vs. Otto-Eldred
District 10
– Cambridge Springs vs. Maplewood
– Erie vs. Cathedral Prep
– Hickory vs. Sharpsville
Inter-District/Non-PIAA/Playoff
– Perry vs. USO (City Playoff)
– Taylor Allderdice vs. Westinghouse (City Playoff)
– Tunkhannock (2) vs. Towanda (4)
– Shamokin (4) vs. Greater Nanticoke (2)
– Danville (4) vs. Hollidaysburg (6)
– Coudersport (9) vs. Bucktail (4)
– Juniata (6) vs. Line Mountain (4)
– Chestnut Ridge (5) vs. Richland (6)
– Clearfield (9) vs. Central (6)
– New Oxford (3) vs. Fort Hill (MD)
– SJP (12) vs. Archbishop Spalding (MD)
– Vaux (12) vs. Executive (11)
– William Penn vs. Episcopal
– Germantown vs. Springside
– Malvern Prep vs. Haverford
Scores
– Canton 26, Milton 13
– Troy 33, Sock 13
– Central Catholic 49, PMW 6
– Bangor 35, Blue Mtn. 14
– Haven 31, Minersville 21
– CB West 27, CB South 14
– D’Town East 28, Coatesville 27
– Garnet Valley 30, M-N 27
– Methacton 29, OJR 19
– Upper Dub 24, Soudy 23
– PJP 33, P’ville 16
– MLK 21, Speedboys 10
– Bonner-Prendie 25, Conwell-Egan 20
– Roman 32, La Salle 20
– East Pennsboro 38, Susqy Twp. 15
– Hershey 26, Lower Dauphin 22
– Steel-High 34, Trinity 24
– Exeter 25, Conestoga Valley 19
– A-C 29, Skook Valley 13
– William Penn 39, South Western 14
– NoBedCo 42, Windber 23
– United Valley 35, River Valley 28
– Woody 28, Pine-Richland 20
– McKeesport 40, Greater Latrobe 28
– Belle Vernon 35, S’moreland 27
– Central Valley 23, West Allegheny 13
– East Allegheny 31, Knoch 21
– West Greene 20, Jeff-Morgan 12
– Union Area 38, South Side 27
– Mohawk 27, Western Beaver 24
– Canevin 45, OLSH 20
– Redbank Valley 48, Brockway 20
– Punxsy 28, Brookville 15
– O-E 23, Cameron Co. 19
– Maplewood 21, Cambridge Springs 16
– ECP 52, Erie 7
– Hickory 22, Sharpsville 17
– USO 39, Perry 19
– Westinghouse 49, Allderdice 7
– Tunkhannock 26, Towanda 24
– GNA 20, Shamokin 19
– Danville 46, Hollidaysburg 7
– Bucktail 24, Coudy 12
– Juniata 19, Line Mtn 13
– Richland 33, Chestnut Ridge 25
– Central 31, Clearfield 12
– Fort Hill 35, New Oxford 14
– SJP 38, Spalding 10
– Executive 20, Vaux 9
– William Penn 21, Episcopal 18
– Springside 28, Germantown 3
– Malvern Prep 33, Haverford 18
October 19th, 2023 at 10:56 am
JC, one of the reasons for the decline of HS football in PA is the lack of highly skilled coaches. In the last several years I have seen a dramatic decline in coaching in PA. If a young coach does have success at the HS level, he moves to a college job,,,,,,,see Archbishop Woods last few coaches. I watched the Daniel Boone/Penn Manor game a few weeks ago, a 1-4 team vs an 0-5 team. I wasn’t expecting St Joe Prep Vs IMG but I could not believe what I was seeing, Penalties on both sides for what it seemed every other play, bizarre play calling, 3rd and 1 inch at the 50 and the QB threw 2 long bombs which were incomplete, 3rd and 24 from their own 36 and the PM coach goes for it in the middle of the 2nd quarter! Bizarre! The game was so bad it went into overtime and I told the guy behind me who’s son was playing in the game that I can’t watch this garbage any more and that I wish his son well. He said ” I can’t watch this anymore either and I am leaving too!
October 18th, 2023 at 3:52 pm
How can a defense with almost everyone back give up 6 touchdowns and let the team convert on all 6 2pt conversions. Let the qb run at will, give up td’s on 2 trick plays and then run an offense that could score with anyone but run it like a pee wee coach wanting to throw the same screen pass to your star wr who should be in the backfield at rb or running the wildcat sometimes. It took the same coach 1 1/2 seasons to realize the 2nd string qb was better than the 1st team qb. Guess the coach.
October 18th, 2023 at 10:20 am
@D2 Fan – its hard to summarize the WPIAL playoff fields for classes 1A-4A since so many teams make the playoffs, with 13 qualifiers in 4A, 12 in 3A, 14 in 2A and 16 in 1A, so I’ll just focus on 6A and 5A for now. In 6A PCC is first, NA 2nd, and the winner of Lebo-Canon Mac in week 9 will be third and the loser fourth. Teams get a week off and then the top 2 seeds host playoff games the next week, would take a massive upset for PCC not to play NA in the final.
In 5A a total of 8 teams make the playoffs, top 2 teams in each of the 3 conferences, plus 2 third place wild cards. In the eastern conference Gateway has clinched first place, Penn Trafford plays Franklin Regional in week 9, winner clinches 2nd and a playoff berth while loser hopes for a wild card.
In the northeast conference Penn Hills and Woodland Hills are tied for first at 3-0, with Pine at 2-1. All 3 teams control their own destiny, if PH beats Shaler this week they clinch a playoff spot, PR clinches a spot if they beat Woody and North Hills the last 2 weeks. Woody clinches a playoff spot with a win over PR and sets up a showdown next week at Penn Hills for the conference title, if Woody loses to Pine and then beats Penn Hills all 3 of them would finish 4-1 and all would make the playoffs, hard to not see all 3 of them making it, even if Woody loses the last 2 they will probably still be a wild card at 6-4.
In the Allegany Six conference which is the south hills teams Peters has clinched a playoff spot and clinches the conference with a win over Bethel in week 9. Both Moon and Bethel are 2-1, and USC is 1-2, USC hosts Moon this week, if Moon wins USC is eliminated, if USC wins they are still alive, not sure what happens if all 3 teams end up 3-2 having all lost to Peters and all beat each other.
October 18th, 2023 at 9:53 am
@MCA75 #43 was out for two weeks with a concussion he suffered in soccer. He’s back already this week playing soccer and is cleared for Friday’s game. Definitely his absence was felt on defense as well as his kicking game. However, I thought SCA played flat for three weeks in a row now. I’m not sure what is up with that, but they didn’t play like they really wanted to win. The defense also made zero adjustments, which is uncharacteristic of Coach Mills. How many times could MCA burn them on the same screen pass?….as it stood, quite a lot of times it seemed. Usually Mills makes adjustments that fix the holes, but I didn’t really see much of that in the second half. The D continued to rush the QB and leave players uncovered in the backfield. I expect to see them learn from their mistakes the second time they play. However, if they don’t play with more heart than they did, they don’t deserve to win. MCA definitely was more pumped up for that win and certainly did their homework.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:20 pm
I credit darrah with the 2 losses as well. Who does this guy know that he can have no district titles and cancelling seasons but still be a fake legend
October 16th, 2023 at 8:55 pm
@MCA75: Brilliant offensive scheme by Tornadoes. Much respect. The likely rematch is givin’ me chills already. I’ll leave your inquiry on #43 to @Brian, as I do not know the answer. Brothers were there and said MCA’s O was impressive.
October 16th, 2023 at 7:26 pm
@ Kevin X
That was a mistake by me. I must’ve read the score wrong, when I was going through ScoreStream on Friday. Make it 28-12 out of area, & 37-13 on the week. I’m surprised that I got the margin of victory almost on the number. Might be the first time all season that’s happened.
@ D11 Matt
I’m reading into it the same. They’ll get the revenge game when it matters.
@ Jeff H
USC going 7-3 & missing playoffs shows you how solid 5A WPIAL is. I’ll have to keep a close eye on that one, if it has implications. I know the WPIAL playoffs go off of a different system, compared to the teams out east, so I’ll be curious to find out the scenarios for some of the playoff fields. I may try to put in some de-facto playoff games in Weeks 9 & 10, to keep an eye on seedings. Good to hear about the McKeesport game, too. The Tigers look like they can challenge the Quips. Still a tall task, as they’re still class of the field out there.
October 16th, 2023 at 6:34 pm
Have to credit Coach Darrah and the MCA staff for an excellent game plan Friday night. That was the best MCA performance I’ve seen in a long time against a quality opponent.
How much did not having #43 in the lineup hurt Southern? If he is back for playoffs and since Roth will have time to adjust, I would not be surprised if it is a repeat of last year.
October 16th, 2023 at 5:45 pm
@D11 Matt – totally agree with you regarding SCA, we’ve seen this script before, I think if they beat MCA in the rematch in the district playoffs they are the clear favorite to win 2A again, I certainly wouldn’t bet against them in November/December!
@D2 Fan – that McKeesport-Gateway game was very entertaining, one of the better games I’ve seen all season, Gateway jumped out to a 14-0 lead halfway through the first, but McKeesport returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD and took a 17-14 lead into half and never trailed, trading TDs in the 2nd half. Very interesting contrast in styles, Gateway passed for over 400 yards, with QB Brad Birch connecting on 27 of 40 pass attempts and McKeesport ran for over 400 yards, with McKeesport dominating in the trenches, that and turnovers were the difference, Gateway fumbled twice inside the McKeesport 5 yard line and were stopped on downs at the 1 yard line. McKeesport recently moved their 6’2″ 255 lb tight end Keith Spell to fullback, and he was a beast against Gateway, rushing for 202 yards on 24 carries, including a 79 yard TD run in the third quarter where he ran out of gas and was caught at the 10 yard line by a Gateway DB but he gave him a stiff arm and swatted him away like a fly before rumbling into the end zone. For those of you old enough to remember the late, great Jim Brown he would have been proud of that stiff arm, one of the best I’ve ever seen. I think McKeesport will beat TJ in 2 weeks and be the #2 seed in the WPIAL 4A playoffs and is the biggest threat to Aliquippa winning their third WPIAL title in a row.
Regarding USC, they have an elimination game coming up this week against Moon, lose and they are out of the playoffs even though they will likely finish 7-3, win and they still may need some help getting in, Moon beat Bethel Park last week, and if they beat USC this week it knocks USC out of the playoffs.
October 16th, 2023 at 2:42 pm
@Margaret – The Spartans got steamrolled on Friday. What do you think happened? I know Chowansky was out, and he would definitely make a huge difference on defense, but that Michalik is just too much to handle
October 16th, 2023 at 12:34 pm
@ D2 Fan
Yes, you missed something, not sure what tho. Score was Spring-Ford 30-7 over Methacton. You did pretty well on your score prediction with that one 🙂
October 16th, 2023 at 11:02 am
@D2,
We saw same thing with southern and MCA last year. Southern lost and were 7-3 in reg season. Then they started steam rolling teams including MCA in playoffs. I am hesitant to say this is the year southern doesn’t win it all because of last year.
October 16th, 2023 at 12:57 am
Recapping the week with my picks
– 9-1 in the District 2 picks, with the DV game being the only wrong pick.
– Not too great for the rest of the state. 27-13 on the week (67.5%)
– 36-14 on the week, overall (72%)
– D2 Picks (Season-To-Date): 66-14 (82.5%)
– Rest of PA (Season-To-Date): 222-97-1 (69.5%)
– Overall (As Of Week 8): 288-111-1 (72.1%)
What I Got Wrong
– Kevin X & Jeff H. might need to start picking for me, because I’ve gotten all of their “counter” picks wrong. Their DV, Redbank, & Clairton picks were correct. On second thought, Port-RV might’ve been picked via CalPreps, so the simulations got it wrong.
– Chester, well done upsetting D’Town West. I wasn’t aware of your game!
– Harrisburg beating the Little Lions isn’t a surprise, but I wish I would’ve looked into that game more.
– Who expected Mount Carmel to control that Southern game like they did! Is this Mount Carmel’s year or was this just a fluke?
– Should I start buying stock into USC? Second time they’ve burned me in the picks.
– Marple-Newtown over Strath Haven might’ve been a toss-up for me, but that was a surprising outcome.
– D1 folks: Methacton winning was a stunner, right, or did I miss something?
– My CalPreps-based picks took things personally. Otto-Eldred was a surprising outcome, as was (I think) East Allegheny over Deer Lakes. Consider them coin flips, or ones I didn’t know much about.
– I guessed on the other two I got wrong: Milton & Ephrata. Didn’t know much about their matchups & went with better record, especially Twin Valley being at a perfect 7-0.
I have to do better next week. I’m so inconsistent in non-NEPA.
October 15th, 2023 at 11:55 am
D2 Fan’s Week 8 Notes
1. Delaware Valley basically has LFC 1 on lock, after a dominant win over Valley View. Was a very good one on defense early on, but DV’s offense pulled away at the end.
2. Honesdale almost got the comeback completed over Mid Valley, but lost by a point. Honesdale was in the race for LFC 2, but that’s about over, unless they upset Dunmore next week.
3. A Williamsport loss to Wilkes-Barre doesn’t actually end their subregional hopes. Easton lost their game to Freedom & they have Parkland & Nazareth to go. The Millionaires play Hazleton, who is 2-6, & a middling Tunkhannock, who is in a battle for the #8 seed in 4A with Honesdale, so that could be a HUGE showdown, in their final ever WVC game.
4. Dunmore/Western Wayne was a good one. These two teams have played each other tough in the last few meetings, except for the blowout last year. Dunmore’s biggest threat in LFC 2 won’t take the division, unless there’s a slip up.
5. Playoff Battle To Watch: The 4A #1 Seed. Wyoming Area has the #1 seed, but by .002 pts over Dallas. The Valley View loss drops them to 3rd, but Crestwood & GNA aren’t close to overtaking them. Wyoming Area gets Southern, who you’d think are going to play with a chip on their shoulder. Dallas plays Wilkes-Barre in a game that could be a trap. Valley View will get an easy win over struggling Wallenpaupack next week (Do you remember when they were 2-0 this year? Tale of two seasons at the lake). The playoff seeding will shift at least once in the next two weeks. I guarantee it!
6. Other Playoff Battle To Watch: 3A’s #4 Seed. Carbondale vs. Lake-Lehman for #4 is going to be a fun one to watch! Carbondale has to play Susquehanna & Old Forge, which are two probably guaranteed losses. As for the Black Knights on the other side of the Back Mountain, they have a possibly winnable game against 3-5 Hanover Area & their rivalry game against Dallas, which they aren’t going to be competitive in. Carbondale holds a lead over L-L (.332 to .326), so a win could essentially lock either team in.
October 14th, 2023 at 3:22 pm
I know I have been inactive most of this week. But the biggest upset of the year so far (at least on the east side of the state) happen today with Chester beating previously undefeated Downingtown West 28-19. Prior to this game, I had Dtown West as my number 1 in D1-6A
October 14th, 2023 at 8:27 am
WOW!!! JUST WOW!!! My first trip down to Strath Haven was well worth the dealing with Friday Blue Route rush hour traffic and an evening of having to listen to Delco accents!!!!
And they accepted cash at the gate too!!!!!
And one more thing, the Strath Haven band rocks!!!
October 13th, 2023 at 2:49 pm
@D2 Fan – Redbank Valley is 7-0 and Port Allegany is 6-1, and Valley is playing at home, I admittedly know virtually nothing about either team, but Redbank is ranked #2 in the state in some polls, and I lean on recent history, they made the 1A final 2 years ago and were the first D9 school to ever make the final, so that’s why I’d pick them to win this game by 2 scores, but who knows!
I agree with you in leaning towards McKeesport, because I watched them dominate Gateway last year, but the game is at Gateway and they are rolling after their rough start, don’t forget some preseason polls had them in the top 3 in the state in 5A and local polls had them #1 in the WPIAL, which I thought was a stretch and still do. I think this is a very intriguing matchup for both teams, it doesn’t matter for either one in terms of playoff standings, so it’s going to come down to which team plays harder and is more motivated and who can make more big plays on offense and defense and the return game, lots of playmakers and speed on both teams. I dismissed Gateway as a 5A contender after I saw WH shut them out 27-0 in the second game of the season, but as previously mentioned that was without some key players, if they beat McKeesport tonight I may have to reevaluate whether I think they have a shot in WPIAL 5A.
As a follow-up to Rochester vs. Clairton, these are the 2 most successful programs in WPIAL 1A dating back to the 1980’s, they have won a combined 18 WPIAL titles since 1989, with Clairton winning 11 and Rochester 7, and they met five times in the final, with Clairton holding a 3-2 advantage, pretty cool they are playing a nonconference game.
October 13th, 2023 at 10:21 am
@ Jeff H
I tried to put higher records together, so that’s why I left out the Gateway/McKeesport game. I’d likely lean McKeesport there.
As for our disagreements, Clairton has definitely surprised me after their very tough start. I just have a hunch that it’ll be Rochester. As for the Port-Redbank game, my knowledge on District 9 isn’t good, so I might’ve just gone with records over mindset. Both are games that feel like a coin-flip to me. There’s a decent amount of them in Week 8, out west. The games out west in the smaller districts aren’t impressive at all, & I had to wait until one of the other websites put out a few noteworthy games to decide what D6 vs. D6 game was best, as all of the solid teams were playing outside of their district.
@ Kevin X
The Valley View pick might be one of the bigger risks I’ll take this year, but the fact that they’re undefeated was why I did go that way. As with the Port-Redbank pick, I usually tend to lean toward the better record, unless I’m confident or feel it’s a true upset worthy pick.
And that’s my bad about messing up the two teams. I think I accidentally read the neutral site than the actual team. That error doesn’t change my pick.
I don’t really put an emphasis on getting scores right. They’re more of an idea of what kind of game I feel it’s going to be. I surely undervalued Chester, now that you mention that. I don’t know anything about them, so seeing that they might be a 5A challenger is interesting. I’ll take a look at them over the next few weeks, to see how the 5A race in D1 goes. It’s one of the classes I tend to follow more than the others in November, as my alma mater used to be 5A, before COVID & now that DV is, I sort of have to pay attention to a lot of those games, in case they make a very shocking run past the D12 game.
Always appreciate the counter discussions by both of you, & anyone else that ever chimes in. You know your area better than I do.
October 12th, 2023 at 10:11 pm
@ D2 Fan
You actually had two other D1 games. I’ll let the M-N @ SH game ride. No idea about that one, I just hope is a good one and close. And limited freaking penalties!!!! FYI, Soudy is playing CR South, not North. The game is being played at South’s sister school, CR North.
October 12th, 2023 at 10:01 pm
Since I didn’t embarrass myself giving my other side of the coin picks to some of your games last week, I’ll play for another week……
Only interesting game for me up your way tomorrow is Del Val @ Valley View. I don’t see your outcome. Del Val 35-14, 28-7, something like that. Look at their one common opponent.
Now my neck of the woods. Kind of the opposite from last week, I don’t disagree with your 2 winners, but you are taking it easy on Methacton. Will be a bigger score spread. The other game (DTW/Chester) is interesting to me since I saw last year’s version in person. God awful game. Still gives me nightmares. Anyways, I believe Chester will keep it a lot closer than your score. I may even go out on a limb next week and pick Chester to win the D1 5A championship. Let’s first see how they do Saturday morning/early afternoon. I am also giving Strath Haven the in person eye ball test tomorrow night, so that will come into any early 5A predictions as well.
October 12th, 2023 at 8:13 pm
@ D2 Fan – you missed a big nonconference rivalry game in the WPIAL this week and the game I am going to, 6-1 McKeesport at 4-3 Gateway. McKeesport’s only loss is in OT to Belle Vernon, they play TJ in the last week of the season and winner will be #2 seed in 4A playoffs behind the Quips. Meanwhile resurgent Gateway has won 4 in the row by decisive margins after starting the year 0-3, they are the only WPIAL 5A team to clinch a playoff spot as all 4 of their wins were in conference and they’ve won the conference and will more than likely be the #3 seed in 5A playoffs. I went to this game last year and McKeesport dominated winning 42-17 and running at will on Gateway’s defense. This game will be a good measuring stick for each team to see how they might fare in the playoffs, I saw Gateway in week 2 when their QB and star receiver were out so I’m curious to see how much better they look now that they are fully healthy.
I also disagree with a couple of your western picks, Clairton has quietly been flying under the radar winning 5 in a row after opening the season with loses against a couple of 2A teams who are still undefeated in Westinghouse and Washington, I think Clairton goes to Rochester and wins this game. Would also be very surprised if Redbank Valley loses at home to Port Allegany, I know Port is good but I think Redbank Valley will challenge the WPIAL winner for a berth in the 1A state championship, they beat Canevin 2 years ago to make it to the final.
The Harrisburg-State College game should be very competitive, curious what the D3 guys think about this game, I have a hunch Harrisburg wins even though the game is at SC.
October 12th, 2023 at 5:08 pm
Best Of The Rest in PA
District 2/4
– Honesdale vs. Mid Valley
– Southern Columbia vs. Mount Carmel
– Milton vs. Mifflinburg
– Jersey Shore vs. Montoursville
District 11
– Bethlehem Catholic vs. Parkland
– Northwestern vs. Bangor
– North Schuylkill vs. Palmerton
– Schuylkill Haven vs. Pen Argyl
District 1/12
– Marple-Newtown vs. Strath Haven
– Souderton vs. Council Rock South
– Spring-Ford vs. Methacton
– Downingtown West vs. Chester
– Neumann-Goretti vs. Conwell-Egan
District 3
– Camp Hill vs. Trinity
– ELCO vs. Lampeter-Strasburg
– Manheim Central vs. Conestoga Valley
– Twin Valley vs. Ephrata
District 5/6
– North Star vs. Northern Bedford
– Windber vs. Berlin-Brosvalley
– Northern Cambria vs. Penns Manor
WPIAL/District 8
– Penn Hills vs. PCC
– USC vs. Canon-McMillan
– Belle Vernon vs. Mt. Pleasant
– Armstrong vs. Mars
– Clairton vs. Rochester
– Cornell vs. Fort Cherry
– Deer Lakes vs. East Allegheny
– Westinghouse vs. Brashear
District 9/10
– Port Allegany vs. Redbank Valley
– Cambridge Springs vs. Cochranton
– Sharon vs. Farrell
Crossovers/Indies
– Danville (4) vs. Berwick (2)
– Hollidaysburg (6) vs. Selinsgrove (4)
– Executive (11) vs. Springfield Delco (1)
– Harrisburg (3) vs. State College (6)
– Clearfield (9) vs. Richland (6)
– Otto-Eldred (9) vs. Bucktail (4)
– Upper Dauphin (3) vs. Juniata (6)
– Bishop Guilfoyle (6) vs. Chestnut Ridge (5)
– Episcopal vs. Malvern Prep
– Springside Chestnut Hill vs. William Penn Charter
Scores
– Mid Valley 23, Honesdale 16
– Southern 35, Mt. Carmel 21
– Mifflinburg 38, Milton 23
– Jersey Shore 49, Montoursville 22
– Parkland 34, Becahi 19
– Northwestern 39, Bangor 14
– Schuylkill Haven 33, Pen Argyl 12
– Strath 31, M-N 20
– Souderton 31, CR North 19
– Spring-Ford 37, Methacton 13
– D’Town West 49, Chester 7
– N-G 28, CEC 15
– Trinity 38, Camp Hill 26
– L-S 38, ELCO 13
– Manheim Central 35, Conestoga Valley 16
– Twin Valley 34, Ephrata 14
– NoBedCo 28, North Star 15
– Berlin 30, Windber 14
– Northern Cambria 26, Penns Manor 13
– PCC 38, Penn Hills 15
– Canon-Mac 24, USC 21
– Belle Vernon 38, Mt. Pleasant 16
– Armstrong 22, Mars 31
– Rochester 35, Clairton 21
– Fort Cherry 20, Cornell 16
– Deer Lakes 26, East Allegheny 24
– Westinghouse 49, Brashear 6
– Port Allegany 31, Redbank Valley 23
– Cambridge Springs 31, Cochranton 8
– Farrell 30, Sharon 29
– Danville 49, Berwick 8
– Selinsgrove 42, Hollidaysburg 13
– Springfield 32, Executive 25
– State College 29, Harrisburg 17
– Bucktail 44, Otto-Eldred 40
– Juniata 30, Upper Dauphin 24
– Chestnut Ridge 35, Guilfoyle 26
– Malvern 28, Episcopal 3
– Springside 28, WPC 6
October 12th, 2023 at 12:53 pm
SUBURBAN ONE PICKS – FRIDAY THE 13TH
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST OVER Abington – CB East needs to win at least 2 of 3, with one being CB West to have a shot at District 1 Playoffs, they need this one, I think they get it.
HATBORO OVER Bensalem – Hatboro is in the Playoff race after almost dropping football 3 years ago, I love a good story, Hatboro.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH OVER Neshaminy – Can’t have their eyes on CB West next week, but CB South gets it done.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST OVER Pennridge – Also can’t look ahead to CB South next week, but Pennridge at home is a more dangerous animal than CB South faces, CB West, but it might not be easy.
CHELTEHAM OVER Upper Moreland – I see mini upset here, Cheltenham has been snake bit all season and still has an outside shot at a District 1 playoff spot, one step in that direction.
QUAKERTOWN OVER Council Rock North – Quakertown must have for shot at Districts, currently #13. At Home, but CR North playing better, could be close.
SOUDERTON OVER Council Rock South – I’ve had Souderton all season, but this & next week’s game against Upper Dublin will define their season. Souderton in a dogfight.
UPPER DUBLIN OVER Wm Tennant – Upper Dublin can’t look ahead to Souderton next week but should win even if they do.
NEW HOPE OVER Harriton – total Coin Flip, Heads its New Hope, fingers crossed.
NORTH PENN OVER Pennsbury – total gut feeling, logic says Pennsbury at home, both teams in Must win to have a shot for District playoffs, win probably in, lose and out. Deep Breathe.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH OVER Springfield – PW is the best team in this division, so barring a Friday the 13tth debacle, PW.
WISSAHICKON OVER Wm. Tennant – Another game where Friday the 13th could come into play, but Wissahickon scores enough to win.
LOWER MORELAND OVER Thomas Edison – love games where I know little about either team, geez, flip the coin, another Heads, Lower Moreland.
Get out support your teams! Game of the week is Souderton vs Council Rock South, note this is being played at Council Rock North.
A number of games that could go either way, and then there is the Friday the 13th Effect, I guess I’ll see how I do.
October 12th, 2023 at 5:16 am
@ Kevin X, lol yes Spring- Ford and yes not only do they charge for baseball games but I think they do for softball too. The arrogance of some of these districts is amazing. I like to go see different games in different areas also, although I dont get to do it as much as I did in the past. PJP has to do the online thing for playoff games because they are forced to by the PIAA. I thought all the SOL teams were still cash. Thanks for the info on that. Last one I was at was NP- LaSalle a year ago and they took cash for that. I like to go to basketball games too and the fact that people have to take the time to go on school websites to know how to get in to a high school game is crazy.
October 11th, 2023 at 8:09 pm
Week 8 of football happens to mainly be a Friday The 13th. Which teams will have a lucky day? Let’s see what the best games in District 2 & its friends are.
– Delaware Valley vs. Valley View (LFC 1): The game of the week has to be in Peckville. DV is riding a LOT of momentum, but Valley View is undefeated. The undefeated streak will continue after this weekend.
– Western Wayne vs. Dunmore (LFC 2): Dunmore is the favorite for Division 2, & this game basically locks up the division, I feel like. Dunmore should win this, but the Wildcats are very pesky.
– Riverside vs. Susquehanna (LFC 3): Susquehanna has a solid chance to be above .500, but this Riverside team is solid. I don’t think the Sabers will steal this one, but I’m hoping it’s close.
– Wilkes-Barre vs. Williamsport (WVC 1): Williamsport’s not having that bad of a year, but a win here can change EVERYTHING. The Millionaires need this win to help increase their chances of being in the D2-4-11 subregional. I don’t think that’s the case here. Expect this to be the one coin flip game this week.
– Pittston vs. Tunkhannock (WVC 2): WVC 2 is the weakest division up here, but this is a quality game. The Tigers out of Tunkhannock have put together a solid season, but Pittston’s having a quiet year. I think it ends up being very close, as it’ll be a fun ride home down Route 92 for the Pates.
– Abington Heights vs. Scranton (LFC HM): Abington Heights needs this win to keep up their amazing season, & Scranton just needs a win for momentum’s sake. The Comets are the much better team here.
– Wyoming Area vs. Lake-Lehman (WVC HM): This game’s an easy decision, but it’s the only other good WVC game on the ledger, if you look at playoff stakes. A win for Wyoming Area & a Valley View loss could give them the #1 seed & momentum heading into the Southern Columbia game.
– Easton vs. Freedom (6A EPC): Two games in the EPC to keep an eye on. Easton vs. Freedom has a chance to shake up the subregional standings. Easton at #8 could be in trouble, if Williamsport wins. Their schedule doesn’t favor them. Freedom is at #5 in 6A & can drop a bit with a loss. With those four teams, including a Williamsport/Wilkes-Barre game that can have a say with seeding, you can’t pass this game up. I’m taking Freedom here, which will bring them to .500.
– Stroudsburg vs. Eastburg South (6A HM): Traveling up Route 33 with this one out of the EPC North. Even though South is a 5A team, this is a HUGE game for both teams. Stroudsburg is 4-3 & is the better team of the two (ESS being 2-5). Stroudsburg’s played three of the weakest teams in the EPC back to back to back, & South’s only played two of them. This is also a big game for the Cavs, being on the outside looking in, as Pleasant Valley (#4 in D11 5A) has both Nazareth & Stroudsburg to go, & Pocono Mtn. East sandwiched in the middle. If PV loses those two, ESS has some reason for hope, as Dieruff & Eastburg North are remaining after Friday. I’m going to go with the upset here, although CalPreps has Stroudsburg as a 4 pt winner.
– Jenkintown vs. Renaissance (1A D1): I don’t think there’s anything to discuss. Fun fact, the Bicentennial League teams are playing each other twice, so you’ll see all three matchups again.
Scores
– Valley View 28, DV 21
– Dunmore 31, Western Wayne 21
– Riverside 28, Susquehanna 19
– Wilkes-Barre 27, Williamsport 24
– Pittston 23, Tunk 19
– AH 33, Scranton 23
– Wyo Area 49, L-L 10
– Freedom 35, Easton 18
– ESS 21, Stroudsburg 17
– Jenkintown 49, Renaissance 0
October 11th, 2023 at 10:04 am
@phillyboy – playoff brackets the same as last year, so the D1 winner will be playing SJP in the semi-finals (no disrespect meant to Parkland and Nazareth in D11, the winner of D11 gets SJP in the quarterfinals). The WPIAL winner will likely play State College in the quarterfinals and the winner of that game gets the D3 winner in the other semi-final.
October 10th, 2023 at 10:33 pm
Meant District 1 and 3.
October 10th, 2023 at 10:30 pm
Not being able to pay cash at any high school football game is pure poppycock. Is it a holdover from the fugazi pandemc, one of the greatest psyops in the history of mankind or is it merely a business scheme from lazy, unempathetic, oblivious administrators? Either way it’s totally not working. Can’t control what others do but phillyboy will never subject himself to that ridiculousness. As if the inane, hoop jumping, red tape protocol isn’t bad enough, what adds insult to injury is the service fee that they charge to do the transaction. Anyway, just wanted to get that off my chest, lol, the passion.
Otherwise, anybody happen to know if District 1 and 12 are in the same bracket this year for 6A or is it District 1 and 3 like a few years ago?
October 10th, 2023 at 7:43 pm
@ Irish1
I had a feeling your culprit was Spring-Ford. My first experience with them was last spring looking to go to a baseball game over there. They are one of the few (hell, maybe only) school that charges for a regular season baseball game. Glad I checked their web site first (had a sneaky feeling). On top of that, they required you to “sign-up” for an account. Efff that. They are still the only school that I’ve come across so far this fall that requires that “sign-up” requirement to buy on-line. As if forcing one to purchase like you said a $5 ticket on-line isn’t bad enough. Like Jeff H out west, I jump around to games throughout the area. The current madding part for me is not knowing which schools requires on-line digital tix and who still take cash. Guessing most people who go to games just go to their local schools home games and know the drill. Luckily I now have a decent idea who does or doesn’t, and if not, I have to go digging through a schools website, which isn’t always clear or transparent.
For the rest of the regular season (sorry, if you are looking forward to a District One and/or PIAA playoff game, you will be SOL using cash), try games at any of the Central Bucks schools (big game next week with South at West), Pennridge or Q-Town. They still accept cash at the gate. Steer clear of North Penn, Souderton, Plymouth White-Marsh, the Downingtowns and Coatesville. Those are just from my experience this year. Odd though, Methacton in the PAC is cash only. Boyertown might be. You know the PJPII situation (interesting to see what they are going to do for the D1 playoffs)
Other option is to take in an Inter-Ac game. Their league season starts this weekend and their games are FREE!!!!!!!! Most of their games though are Saturday afternoons. EA does have two Friday night games the rest of the way. Real nice campus too.
October 10th, 2023 at 12:21 pm
@ Jeff H, totally agree with you on ticket issue. Sounds like the schools on the western part of the state have more common sense.To be fair I believe a certain league in the eastern part of the state is the main culprit. ( looking at you Pioneer athletic league ) yes the PIAA has joined in with this nonsense for all playoff games. You are correct this all started with the pandemic and certain schools just decided to use that as an excuse to keep it up. I believe Ohio passed a law forcing schools to at least have the cash option. Walking up to a gate at a high school and handing over five dollars to see a high school game doesnt seem to be asking too much.
October 10th, 2023 at 11:42 am
@ Kevin X….. just getting back on here now,yes it was a Pac game. I think pretty much every school in the league except PJP which charges 10 dollars per car and takes cash at least for regular season games does this. I felt kind of dumb for complaining again. Its just frustrating having to go thru all that to buy a five dollar ticket for a high school game. I ended up going to the gate at Spring-Ford and ask if there was anyway to buy a ticket. They directed me to another table where you could use a credit or debit card. It just will never sit well with me. Anyway Spring-Ford is a good team very good QB with plenty of skill around him. If it ends up being Spring-ford vs PJP ……( PjP still has to get past a tough game prior to that) the league championship game should be a good game. PJP can certainly match up with them, but have to go do it.
October 9th, 2023 at 3:46 pm
@ D2 Fan – here’s my f/u to your take on the WPIAL games you referenced. The Montour win over CV was a bit of a surprise, I was impressed with Montour when I saw them against Aliquippa earlier this year even though they lost by 3 scores, CV is good but they graduated a lot and not quite as good as the last few years. I have not seen McKeesport yet in person but it certainly looks like the Quips are still a pretty big favorite to win WPIAL 4A, especially with the TJ loss to Trinity which was a stunner, particularly the way they won, racing out to a 23-0 lead with TJ scoring in the fourth quarter to break up the shutout. I’d have to do some research to find out the last time Trinity beat TJ but my buddy who lives in the TJ district said he thinks its 20+ years and they play every year being in the same conference.
Here’s a little twist on the PR vs. PCC game, the new PR offensive coordinator this year is Steve Bezilla, who was the longtime OC at PCC and was thought to be in line to be the head coach at PCC when Terry Totten retired, instead the PCC administration hired Ryan Lehmeir from Seneca Valley who was the OC at PR under Coach K, so Bezilla ended up at PR. He obviously had some inside info from coaching at PCC and drew up a perfect game plan against their defense, so that win had to be especially rewarding for him. I don’t think anyone around here saw the PR win coming, most guys I know thought PCC would blow them out just like NA did last week.
October 9th, 2023 at 1:12 pm
@ Foleman – I agree with you about Wyomissing, I would be very surprised if Neuman Goretti or Wyomissing are not the eastern rep in the 3A state final, I don’t see Scranton Prep or anyone else beating either one of those teams.
@ Kevin X – what I have noticed in most games this year is a plethora of pre-snap penalties, it seems like every game there are at least 6-8 pre-snap penalties, mostly by the offense but also offsides by the defense, it has to drive the coaches crazy because I know it sure frustrates the fans!
October 9th, 2023 at 12:22 pm
Week 7 Picks Recap & D2 Notes.
A tale of two areas this week.
– District 2 picks were a PERFECT 10-0.
– Oh boy. Best of the Rest took things personally. 26-14 on the week.
– Overall, 36-14 isn’t bad, but the picks I got wrong were absolutely troubling.
Season To Date
– D2: 57-13 (81.4%)
– Best Of Rest: 195-84-1 (69.82%)
– Overall: 252-97-1 (72.14%)
What I got wrong
– Boneheaded pick(s) of the week: Anything Kevin & Jeff were right on. If you want to know thoughts, look at my post from late Friday.
– Shocking Result: Montour over CV. I know Montour is good, but Central Valley losing shocks me.
– Pine-Richland must’ve played angry, because I don’t think many that one coming.
– D7 Trinity is having a quietly good season. Big win over TJ. Shocking loss in my book.
– Nativity/Tri-Valley was a better team won game, I guess. A little surprised about the outcome. That’ll be a loss they may regret having, as Minersville just might have locked up the #1 seed.
– D3 folks, give me some info on Twin Valley. Didn’t expect that one to be what it was.
– Anything else was a bonafide guess, including WPC getting upset by Lawrenceville.
I think I’m going to rely on CalPreps for the rest of the season in eight of the districts because good lord, those picks were absolute whiffs. Unless I’m entirely convinced. I’ll try & do better next week.
D2 Notes From Week 7
– Trail & Riverside led up to the hype! It was a one score game at the end & was a solid win for Trail.
– DV & Abington Heights are in a battle for the 1-seed. My guess is that’ll depend on who wins the DV-Abington Heights game in Week 10. DV has Valley View & Scranton, while AH has Scranton & North Pocono.
– Good golly. Blowouts. Blowouts everywhere. There were only five games within 16 pts of one another..
– Playoff Race to Watch: 4A, again. Wyoming Area & Valley View are battling for the #1 seed. Wyoming Area plays a weaker schedule compared to Valley View, but it’s highly likely both will enter undefeated.
– Wilkes-Barre is now in 6th in the 6A subregional standings. They have games against Williamsport, Dallas, & WVW to go. Winning two of the three should get them in. If not, the winner of Freedom-Liberty might be the team to steal a spot. Williamsport is still alive in the 6A race, with Wilkes-Barre, Tunkhannock, & Hazleton left. They need some help with Easton, who probably need to lose two of three for Williamsport to get in.
– Lake-Lehman vs. Carbondale for the final spot in 3A could be interesting. C’dale has Trail, Susquehanna, & Old Forge left. L-L has Wyo Area, Hanover Area, & Dallas. Both are in comparable positions with their final three games, sort of (Susquehanna isn’t a slouch). The last one in will get annihilated by Prep, so making it in may be bragging rights.
October 8th, 2023 at 5:54 pm
Went to the Spring Ford-PV game, had to pay through my credit card to get in. SF dominated the game, Zollars is the real deal and his receivers are good. Defense was stout, still stunned that Manheim Township scored 63 against them. 1st round Pairings of District 1 6A playoffs is going to be very interesting, whoever gets the best draws in the 1st 2 rounds could win the District. On another note, Wyomissing’s 41 game regular season win streak is over, losing to 5A Cocalico, who might be the favorite in District 3 5A. While I don’t think this version of Wyo is as strong as the last 3 teams, I still see them making it to the State semi’s as no one in District 3 will give them a game and I don’t see Scranton Prep, if the make it that far, beating Wyo.
October 8th, 2023 at 4:58 pm
@ Jay M
Sorry, my bad. I should have been more clearer. 201 yards, to be exact, in penalty yards combined between the two teams in the game. C’Ville 14 for 114, DTW 8 for 87.
Yes, I was one of the thousands of drowned rats Friday night as well 🙂
October 8th, 2023 at 9:08 am
Really surprised Quakertown won as easily as they did, with 3 first time starters on the OL, both 1st team RB’s out, their all league QB banged up and missed part of the game. Quakertown’s REALLY banged up, 12 of their starting 22 against Southern Lehigh are out. If they win their last 3 games and get healthy, its possibly they could be a scary 6-4 playoff team.
October 7th, 2023 at 5:43 pm
@Kevin X
You make several great points.
First, thank you for clarifying the weather issue. You’re spot on – we didn’t see lightning from the Coatesville side. So it was the right decision after all. On a related note, I came completely unprepared for inclement weather and paid the price for it LOL. To save my phone from destruction I had to stick it in my armpit and keep my arm locked to my side!!!
Ortega threw some great passes in the first half, but when he missed receivers downfield, he REALLY missed them. The second half must have been a nightmare for him. Seemed as though West blitzed on almost every play. Remember the one sack where he dropped back, then turned toward the West side and got absolutely mauled? Then stayed on the ground for maybe a spell of ten seconds that seemed like an eternity to the Coatesville faithful. It was just a shocking scene to me to witness 2-3 of his teammates forcefully leading him off the field toward the end. Never before had I seen that. And you’re damned right that the refs have some culpability there as well.
He’ll improve, but I don’t think he’ll be close to Ricky’s skill level. Wasn’t Ricky a sophomore the year they played SJP at Kottmeyer and was throwing bombs, including one down the western sideline to Dapree Bryant that put them up 21-3 rather early? That team was insanely good. Ahh, memory lane.
Anyway, between Central Dauphin and D-West, Ortega has gotten some serious lessons in adversity. They’ll continue, too, unless they find themselves an offensive line and extra blockers. Teams will take note of last night’s game and try to follow suit.
This won’t be Coatesville’s year. I’ll root for them until they’re done, but I’d be more than happy to see West or East make a deep run as well. I have allegiances to all three schools, so my loyalty is sort of complicated.
Oh, and the 14 penalties… YOU SAID 200 YARDS?
Coach Ortega won’t be going easy on them in practice for a single second.
Switching it up next week… going to see Garnet Valley beat Conestoga at Stoga. Would be nice if I’m wrong though.
October 7th, 2023 at 2:30 pm
@Jay M
Coatesville has a lot of talent at the skill positions and on defense this year, its crazy how they can’t get a decent o-line. Lack of discipline has always been Coatesville’s achilles heel as well. It’s what probably cost them the 2017 6A semifinal against St Joe’s Prep. Their defense should keep them in the Downingtown East game and the playoffs though. But a loss like last night this late in the season is worrying. Still would not want to face a low seed Coatesville in the first round, they are currently seeded at 11, but I still think they are better than a few teams who are ahead of them.
@Jeff H
I thought PCC was going to mercy rule PR. Heck of an effort by the whole PR team, especially coming off the big loss to NA the week before. WPIAL 5A playoffs are going to be great this year, probably the most competitive district in the state this year.
Also for any other D1/Central League fans, I watched the Strath Haven-Garnet game last night, and Haven snapped the Garnet central league streak. Haven ran all over the Jags (I think they only threw the ball 2-3 times all game) and if wasn’t for 2 fumbles by the Panthers and fizzling out in the redzone in the 3rd, they probably would of won by more than 9 points. Doubt Garnet will be a factor in the D1-6A playoffs this year.
October 7th, 2023 at 1:17 pm
@ Irish1
More on your ticketing issue later. You are triggering me to climb back on my on-line ticketing soapbox 🙂
I was going to post something about just asking you guys where this is taking place (specifically outside of District 1) and how it is going for those who have to deal with it. Guess I have your answer!!!
I assume it involved a PAC game ??
October 7th, 2023 at 1:10 pm
@ Jay M
I was at the game as well. The game was delayed due to lightning in the area. That is an automatic delay. I’ve been to baseball games where its been 20-30 minute delays. So 15 was not a big deal, especially since there wasn’t any further strikes and it was before kickoff. I assume you were on the C’Ville side, the lightning was behind you. Very visible from the D-Town side.
Anyways……yes, the penalties were not good. More chipiness in the first half on both sides, and then C’Ville self imploding in the second (so what else is new). They had 14 for the game. Over 200 yards combined. It was like a first game of the season for C’Ville in the second half. I don’t know, but I am just finding games lately with penalties galore.
I thought Ortega played well in the first half, but then in the second horrible accuracy and decision making took over. Only a sophomore?? He’ll learn and get better.
As far as his injury late the game, I agree, don’t know what they were thinking. I kind of put some of the issue on the refs, they should be much more health and safety aware. They seemed completely disorganized as well late in that game. I initially thought he just got a nasty case of getting the wind knocked out of him as he was big time pancaked. Hopefully he’ll be fine going forward.
October 7th, 2023 at 12:18 pm
@Irish1 – totally agree not being able to buy a ticket at the gate for any regular season game is ridiculous. Fortunately we don’t have that issue in the WPIAL, i go to a different stadium every week and all of them sell tickets at the gate, t too would be very annoyed if I had to go online to buy a ticket every week, its bad enough to have to do if for the PIAA playoffs. Where it gets bizarre around here is the same stadium I bought a ticket at the gate for a regular season game I can only buy online for a PIAA playoff game, and the people at the host schools are apologetic about not being able to sell tickets at the gate but the PIAA won’t let them. Case in point last year PCC played NA at West Mifflin, where you could buy tickets at the gate, but when Steel Valley played Westinghouse in the 2A semi-finals at the same stadium it was online only per the PIAA rules. The pandemic is over, time for all schools to get back to selling tickets at the gate again.
October 7th, 2023 at 4:16 am
I’m not quite sure where to start about the Coatesville @ Downingtown game. Maybe how the refs suspended the game due to inclement weather in the area, at which time the weather was perfect. The game started 15-20 minutes later and it was pouring for a solid half hour. They could have gotten in most of the first quarter before it started.
But the weather didn’t make a huge difference in this game, despite a couple of dropped balls slipping through fingers. Quinn Henicle took West down the field in grand fashion on their first offense drive. Between his incredibly accurate arm and his speed while scrambling, he is a top-tier player and I fully expect him to lead West pretty far into the playoffs.
However, Coatesville responded and went up 14-7. Their stingy defense tightened up and took it to the West running game and sacked Henicle multiple times. The halftime score was 14-14.
But that was the highlight of the night for the Red Raiders. The second half was something very hard to watch for me, and it’s not because they ended up losing. It’s the events that transpired along the way. Penalty after penalty after penalty – unsportsmanlike conduct, and what seemed like endless false starts.
But my main grievance, and I was far from alone here, was the night that Coatesville QB Matt Ortega, Jr. had. He did have a handful of nice throws, but for the most part he either underthrew or overthrew his targets by several yards. Alas, this still isn’t what most upset me.
Ortega, Jr. took many, MANY hits. In the second half, West blitzed an incredible percentage of the time. Did the Coatesville coaching staff do anything to mitigate this? Perhaps a tight end or two, or a running back to help block the relentless pass rush? NO. Ortega was blitzed and pummeled hard. At one point he remained on the ground for a time. He came out of the game as the team punted the ball, came to the sideline, and lay down on his stomach. At this point I’d like to say that I was almost positive he had been concussed at this point.
But it gets worse. Ortega showed true grit in returning to the game in which he had an offensive line that couldn’t stop a group of sixth graders, and on one play in particular, he was sacked and hit so hard that I thought it unfathomable for him to return. Yet he did… and things did not get better. With maybe a minute or two remaining in the game, I was leaving the stands, and witness his teammates FORCEFULLY PUSHING HIM TOWARD THE SIDELINE. I can only guess, but it’s not hard to figure out that he was likely severely concussed and was either stumbling around or having trouble processing things and/or communicating with his teammates.
I saw his face when he reached the sideline and I’m telling you, heads should roll for him remaining in the game so long – important game or not. He underperformed and was for the most part incredibly inaccurate on his throws and hasty on many others (can’t blame him considering his team wouldn’t protect him) and then got punished on seemingly every single play. But the fact that his teammates had to ESCORT HIM off the field forcefully indicated to me that the adults in the room – the coaches – were derelict in their duty to prioritize safety above all else.
All in all, it was the longest game I’d ever been to, not even counting the rain delay. I think I left at 10:30. Aside from the Ortega debacle, my main takeaway from this game is that Quinn Henicle is a dual-threat stud and has a stable of very good position players with great hands to catch his consistently accurate throws. West is very good. If it weren’t for the skill of the Coatesville defense, West would have put up double their score without a doubt.
This Coatesville team, despite their tremendous defense, could be in some serious trouble now.
October 6th, 2023 at 11:53 pm
Yeah, you guys were right on your disagreement picks.
@ Kevin X
I went 0-3 on your flip side picks in D1. I’ll give you credit where credit is due.
Honestly, I didn’t know much about the Strath Haven game, so it was a guess. Got it wrong, but my Central League knowledge is terrible. I usually go by past history in those situations, & since GV has been competing for district titles in recent years, I went there.
I also went that route with Coatesville, as I know Coatesville is usually a dominant program. At least it was by one score, so it was a toss up.
Perk Valley was the most confident of the picks. I usually did well when picking them, so I blame my success for getting the best of me.
Prep & DV absolutely dominated tonight. They were mercy rule games, or close enough to it. The VV-Scranton game was much closer.
@ Jeff H
I’ll be honest. My knowledge on D10 is terrible. All I’ve paid attention to is Farrell & ECP, & some of Bob Greenberg & Tom Reisenweber’s stuff (& their #blamesixclasses tweets). I kinda made that game a guess. Wasn’t the best game to choose from.
A little surprised about the Hollidaysburg game. They play a good schedule. Wish a few more of the bigger schools played indie schedules, to test themselves. Even though they aren’t a powerhouse, you have to respect them for being on their own island when it comes to football.
Also, my dumb self forgot about the Cornell game against Canevin. I don’t know why. I tend to go through the WPIAL with a fine tooth comb on the website. I’ll have their game against Fort Cherry next week.
I did rush picks this week outside of D2-4-11, as I was in limbo on whether or not I was going to have anything in before any Thursday games, so I might have a bad week outside of my area of following interest.
October 6th, 2023 at 11:32 pm
@ John – NA was extremely impressive when I saw them last week and I knew they were going to roll Lebo, I told all my Lebo buddies it was going to be ugly. They were up 35-7 on PR at half last week by scoring on all 5 possessions in the first half. The stunner of the night was PR beating PCC 26-19, running wildcat with Ethan Pillar right down PCC’s throat to the tune of 295 yards on over 50 carries, I haven’t seen any of the game highlights yet but just a stunning reversal of the team I watched get dominated by NA last week. Neither of PR’s QB’s looked good last week so I guess coach LeDonne figured he had nothing to lose by going back to the wildcat they ran to a state title last yr with Ryan Palmieri. That win thrusts PR back into the picture in 5A, the 5A playoffs in the WPIAL are going to be brutal, whoever wins is going to have to beat 3 quality teams in a row.
Another stunner in the WPIAL was Trinity beating TJ 23-6 and it took a late TD from TJ to avoid getting shut out, I can’t remember the last time Trinity beat them, also in 4A Montour knocked off CV 21-20, when CV went for 2 and the win after a very late TD pulled them to within a point.
October 6th, 2023 at 8:37 pm
@Jeff H
I thought NA would win big, but I didn’t think they would be up 43-0 at half.
October 6th, 2023 at 6:13 pm
So fed up with having to do the whole online thing to buy a five dollar ticket to a high school football game. After repeatedly not being able to reset my password and no help from customer service Im done. Not being able to buy a ticket at the gate is assinine. Judging by some of the crowds these days you would think they wouldn’t want to turn anyone away. I’m sure they don’t care what I think, so maybe it’s time to find something else to do on Friday nights in the fall.
October 6th, 2023 at 2:45 pm
@Kevin X-
I am not sold on Coatesville, but their defense is legit and always steps up in big games, especially against the Downingtown Schools. Downingtown West can’t come out flat and needs to play a complete game. Overall, this Downingtown West team is more talented on paper than their 2019 team with Will Howard. The defense is certainly better, but they are not destroying teams like they were in 2019 and their nonconference schedule this year is nothing compared to 2019.
I agree with your take on PV-SF. I think Spring Ford will win, but the game is always close and Spring Ford’s defense is unreliable at times, so I think the game will be closer that some suggest.
I am leaning towards Garnet Valley because they always find a way to win it at the end. Also, while their offense has looked rough at times, their defense has looked solid outside of CB West game. I think they will continue their Central League streak this year, but I doubt they will make a playoff run this year.
October 6th, 2023 at 11:27 am
@ D2 Fan – I’ll take a page out of Kevin X’s book and comment on your western picks, I don’t disagree with any of your WPIAL picks, but I’d be very surprised if NA only beats Mt Lebo by 2 scores, that will be closer to a mercy rule than 2 scores, I saw NA last week and they are very good and it’s hard for me to envision Lebo keeping this within 2 scores
I do disagree with your pick of Meadville over Erie McDowell, Meadville hasn’t played anywhere near the competition McDowell has, and they beat ECP last week in the battle of Erie, so I suspect McDowell wins this game comfortably, I also think Oil City vs. Hollidaysburg will be much closer than you predicted and could go either way, I don’t know much about either team but think Hollidaysburg has played better competition than Oil City has.
October 6th, 2023 at 10:26 am
Week 7 Predictions:
Coatesville over Downingtown West- Both teams are stacked with talent and are arguably the two most talented teams in District 1, but I think Coatesville surprises everyone and pulls out a win over the Whippets. The Red Raiders have flown under the radar after the loss to Central Dauphin. I think it will be similar to the 2019 regular season game between the two, when Coatesville handed Downingtown West, the eventual D1 Champs that season, their first loss that year. I want to pick Downingtown West, but they have only really played one complete game this season, they usually start out fast and burn, or start slow and are close with teams who they should blow out. So I’ll go with Coatesville in a close one. Score Prediction: 28-21 Coatesville.
Garnet Valley over Strath Haven- Garnet Valley looked rough last week against a Lower Merion, who is usually a cupcake among the Central League teams. Haven has looked great this year on defense, but Garnet Valley always seems to pull it out in the end, especially against Central League teams. I will take Garnet Valley in a defensive battle. Score Prediction: 14-7 Garnet Valley
Spring Ford over Perk Valley- Perk Valley always seems to pull this one out, even in years when Spring Ford seems like the better team. But I think the Rams offense will be too much for them this year. Both teams have a common opponent in Owen J Roberts, who Spring Ford blew 37-0, and Perk Valley. I think Perk Valley will be able to keep it close, but I think it will be similar to their game against Downingtown West and the Rams will pull away at the end. Score Prediction: 35-21 Spring Ford
Manheim Township over Cedar Crest- Cedar Crest is having a great season thus far, though I think Manheim will be too much. Score Prediction- 42-17 Manheim Township
St Joe’s Prep over La Salle- Everyone knows St Joes is the best team in the state regardless of class. La Salle is their biggest rival and has some impressive wins this year. I do not think they can beat the Prep but it will be closer than some expect. I have noticed that the regular season game between these two tends to be a blowout, while the playoff games between them tend to be closer. Prediction 38-14 St Joe’s Prep
CB East over North Penn- The Knights have looked rough the past two weeks against the other Central Bucks teams. I think their game with East will be closer, but I believe the Central Bucks schools will sweep North Penn for the first time in I don’t know how long. Score Prediction: 21-7 CB East
North Allegheny over Mt Lebanon- NA is coming off a blowout win against the defending 5A state champs, I believe they will carry that momentum and win big against Lebo. Score Prediction: 42-14 North Allegheny
October 6th, 2023 at 9:55 am
Amusing that when Southern fails to mercy rule an opponent, it must be scrutinized to determine a reason/excuse why.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:40 pm
A pretty good night for Imhotep grad and current Chicago Bear WR DJ Moore this evening.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:35 pm
I love people taking credit for this bloomsburg fair conspiracy that i said first. Lol brian they won 21-0. Easy win. Bloomsburg fair and an hour drive to montoursville a bigger school all played into a 21-0 easy win.
October 5th, 2023 at 9:44 pm
@ D2 Fan
OK, just for fun once again…..going to give out some flip side picks and comments for the 3 marque games down here in District One that you picked.
1. Not sold on Coatesville, just yet. Maybe 24 hours from now I will be jumping on their bandwagon. Their schedule to this point has been meh. And that goes for last week with Rustin, whose schedule has been even more meh. Again, I’m playing this angle, who have all these team played?? I will give credit for C’Ville’s “D” regardless, in there 5 wins, they’ve only giving up 7 points. That’s not too shabby. I tho like D-Town West in this one, in a close one score game. My first visit to Kottmeyer this year, so I hope it is a good one regardless who wins.
2. The other game I was considering this week when I was road mapping my fall Friday ventures, Perk Val @ Spring-Ford. This game lost out to the above game quite easily, I see S-F winning this one fairly handily, rivalry or not.
3. Garnet by 21 over SH?? Yikes!!! I’ll take SH to win this one outright. Garnet is good as always, but not the past several seasons good. They did win their last 3, but only by a total of 8 points to just all OK teams, all at home.
Now getting out of my D1 lane, and heading up the NE Extension into your neck of the woods……I don’t disagree with your 3 big boy football games, Prep, Valley View, and Del Val all winning, but think all 3 games will be by much larger margins. Not mercy rule territory, but 3 or 4 scores. Feel free to tell me to get back in my lane or my side of the Lehigh Tunnel later tomorrow evening 🙂
October 5th, 2023 at 3:10 pm
@ BRIAN That makes alot of sense., 4th quarter they looked spent.. I do realize that Montoursville had two weeks of rest also. Thanks for for fair info.
October 5th, 2023 at 3:04 pm
SUBURBAN ONE LEAGUE PICKS
Thursday night game
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH OVER Upper Dublin – this is going to be a barn burner, CR South has Souderton next week and can not afford to look ahead.
Rest are Friday Night
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH OVER Abington – should be an easy 3-4 TD win for CB South
QUAKERTOWN OVER Bensalem – Quakertown rolls, Q-town has played 3 ranked teams in the state in their respective divisions, with combined record 31-5, 3 undefeated teams,
more manageable part of the schedule starts now!
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST OVER North Penn – Whoever wins is still alive for a District 1 playoff berth, should be a close competitive game.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST OVER Neshaminy – the Central Bucks schools just continue to roll, Easy.
SPRINGFIELD OVER Cheltenham – Just have a feeling this could go the other way, but Springfield is coming off the big Upset.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH OVER Harry S Truman – Two one-win teams, but CR North has played the tougher schedule and played some tough.
HATBORO HORSHAM OVER New Hope – Hatboro has a good season going and is a solid team.
HARRITON OVER Lower Moreland – Just a gut feeling on this one.
PENNSBURY OVER Pennridge- I’ll probably regret this pick as I still think Pennridge is going to get someone just not this week.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH OVER William Tennant- This may be a blowout.
SOUDERTON OVER Warwick – This very easily could be a TRAP Game for Souderton, Warwick played Exeter very tough (28-21) Souderton has CR South next week for the league title, no
looking ahead Souderton! This could be close. Will Souderton start/play their banged-up 1st team QB or make sure they have him next week.
WISSAHICKON OVER Upper Moreland – Just expect Wissahickon to re-find their explosive offense.
Well, there you have it from the SOL. Get out and support your teams.
October 5th, 2023 at 2:00 pm
The Bloomsburg fair information regarding Southern is hilarious haha. That place can definitely leave you spent after walking around and eating everything is sight for 8 hours straight
October 5th, 2023 at 12:56 pm
Getting down to crunch time in the regular season, lots of big games with playoff ramifications tomorrow night in the WPIAL, especially in 5A. Peters Township hosts Moon, who has won 3 in a row after losing 3 close games to start the season, and USC travels to Bethel Park, the winner of that game has a good chance to make the playoffs, the loser may be in trouble, only 2 of these 4 are guaranteed to make the playoffs, with the third place finisher in the conference hoping for a wild card. I think Peters Township beats Moon by 2 scores, and USC gets by BP in a close game between longtime rivals.
Another big game in 5A is Gateway vs. Penn Trafford, both are 3-3 but undefeated in conference play, winner likely wins the conference and gets a top 3 seed in the playoffs, Gateway’s offense has been rolling the last 3 weeks now that everyone is healthy and I don’t think PT can score enough points to win, they need to run the ball down Gateway’s throat and control the clock and keep Gateway’s offense off the field to have a chance.
Among the big schools PCC plays PR, this game won’t be close and I expect PCC to mercy rule them like NA did last week, NA travels to Mt Lebanon and that game won’t be close either with NA winning by at least 3 TD’s and maybe more, NA is the 2nd best team I’ve seen in person this year behind PCC.
In 1A undefeated Cornell hosts preseason favorite Bishop Canevin, and next week Cornell plays Ft. Cherry, so we’ll know the pecking order in that conference by next week, I think Canevin bounces back from their loss last week and beats Cornell on the road. Rochester has a big conference game at Union, I like Union at home by 2 TD’s, they need to win to keep pace with South Side in the conference.
October 5th, 2023 at 7:16 am
@Dennis Just a little insider information on the Southern game against Montoursville. Southern’s school board decided this year to give them only one day off for the Bloomsburg Fair rather than the two that they are used to having. The last time I remember that being the case was when Henry Hynoski was still playing and he was out with an injury that Friday night game against Warrior Run. The team then barely squeaked out a win. After that, Roth instructed his players they could go to the fair on Thursday, but they were not to go on Friday as they were completely spent after a day walking around the fairgrounds. I’d guess this was another year that the players took a day and spent it at the fair. They looked completely lackluster while Montoursville was hyped to play. If they continue this schedule in years to come, I certainly hope the AD never schedules a tough game that day as they certainly looked like a tired team.
October 4th, 2023 at 8:45 pm
Week 7 has arrived in the LFC & WVC. Combining this & the best of the rest tonight.
– Abington Heights vs. Scranton Prep (LFC 1): This is a quality game that’ll be played at Dunmore on Friday Night. Prep’s looked good, even with the one loss. Abington’s coming into this game with a tough loss to Valley View. Give me Prep here.
– Mid Valley vs. Western Wayne (LFC 2): Lake Ariel is home to a sneaky good game in D2 this weekend. Both are 4-2 & want to go 5-2. I think the home team steals this one.
– Lackawanna Trail vs. Riverside (LFC 3): The winner here takes Division 3, I feel like. Both are coming off of good wins. This should be a close game, if not, a good game. I like Trail here.
– Berwick Area vs. Dallas (WVC 1): I’m not really impressed with the WVC 1 slate this week. This has some implications in the seeding, depending on outcomes. Dallas may just be 4A’s best, so I’ll take them.
– Tunkhannock vs. Greater Nanticoke (WVC 2): These are two sneaky record teams. Tunkhannock is impressively 4-2 on the year, while GNA is batting .500. Coin flip game here & I’ll take GNA.
– Scranton vs. Valley View (LFC HM): 4-2 vs. 6-0 here, as Scranton travels to Peckville. I love the odds of the Cougars here, but Scranton should give them a game.
– Delaware Valley vs. Wilkes-Barre (WVC HM): This is the only good crossover game on the ledger & the only other okay game in the WVC. DV is back to .500 after a win last week. Wilkes-Barre’s a tough team to beat. DV takes them this week!
– Nazareth vs. Whitehall (D-II/IV/XI 6A): Not one but TWO 6A Subregional games to watch this week. This is the EPC South’s best game. Nazareth is coming off a great win against ACC. Whitehall needs a get right game after a loss to Parkland.
– Easton vs. Emmauus (6A HM): This game could be a seeding scenario to watch. Both are 3-3 & are in the playoff field by a decent margin. This is #5 vs. #6, & the winner could move to #4, depending on the DV outcome.
– Renaissance vs. Morrisville (D1 1A): Morrisville. Sharpie. Won’t need CalPreps for this one.
Scores
– Scranton Prep 35, Abington Heights 26
– Western Wayne 24, Mid Valley 13
– Trail 34, Riverside 24
– Dallas 41, Berwick 14
– GNA 28, Tunkhannock 24
– Valley View 31, Scranton 25
– DV 35, Wilkes-Barre 22
– Nazareth 40, Whitehall 23
– Emmaus 24, Easton 14
– Morrisville 38, Renaissance 2
District 2/4
– Susquehanna vs. Old Forge
– Montoursville vs. Danville
– South Williamport vs. Muncy
– Troy vs. Towanda
District 11
– Pleasant Valley vs. Northampton
– Nativity vs. Tri-Valley
– Minersville vs. Catty
District 1/District 12
– Coatesville vs. D’town West
– Strath Haven vs. Garnet Valley
– Perkiomen Valley vs. Spring-Ford
– Neumann Goretti vs. Bonner-Prendie
– Northeast vs. Imhotep
District 3
– Garden Spot vs. Twin Valley
– Lower Dauphin vs. Cedar Cliff
– Wyomissing vs. Cocalico
– Harrisburg vs. CD East
– Cedar Crest vs. Manheim Twp.
– Bishop McDevitt vs. Hershey
District 5/6
– Northern Bedford vs. Meyersdale
– Northern Cambria vs. River Valley
– Central vs. Penns Valley Area
– United Valley vs. Purchase Line
WPIAL/District 8
– Central Catholic vs. Pine-Richland
– North Allegheny vs. Mt. Lebanon
– Thomas Jefferson vs. Trinity
– Rochester vs. Union Area
– West Greene vs. California
– Montour vs. Central Valley
– Brashear vs. USO
District 9/10
– Brookville vs. Bradford
– Grove City vs. Hickory
– Sharpsville vs. Farrell
– Meadville vs. McDowell
Crossover
– Halifax (3) vs. Line Mountain (4)
– Westinghouse (8) vs. Butler (7/10)
– Chestnut Ridge (5) vs. Penn Cambria (6)
– Hollidaysburg (6) vs. Oil City (10)
– Clearfield (9) vs. Bald Eagle Area (6)
– George Washington (12) vs. ANC
– William Penn Charter vs. Lawrenceville
Scores
– Old Forge 30, Susquehanna 17
– Danville 37, Montoursville 12
– Muncy 30, South Williamsport 10
– Troy 42, Towanda 21
– Northampton 30, PV 7
– Tri-Valley 31, Nativity 29
– Minersville 28, Catty 27
– Coatesville 35, D’town West 25
– Garnet Valley 41, Strath Haven 20
– Perk Valley 44, Spring-Ford 29
– N-G 30, Bonner-Prendie 24
– Imhotep 42, Northeast 9
– Garden Spot 23, Twin Valley 19
– Cedar Cliff 43, Lower Dauphin 14
– Cocalico 27, Wyomissing 26
– Harrisburg 51, CD East 13
– Manheim Twp. 40, Cedar Crest 23
– McDevitt 49, Hershey 18
– NoBedCo 35, Meyersdale 8
– Northern Cambria 32, River Valley 23
– Central 40, Penns Valley 20
– United Valley 21, Purchase Line 14
– Central Catholic 55, Pine-Richland 28
– NA 35, Mt. Lebo 22
– TJ 41, Trinity 20
– Union Area 31, Rochester 20
– West Greene 28, California 17
– Central Valley 31, Montour 30
– USO 38, Brashear 10
– Brookville 21, DuBois 11
– Hickory 25, Grove City 23
– Farrell 38, Sharpsville 19
– Meadville 27, McDowell 22
– Line Mtn. 23, Halifax 17
– Westinghouse 45, Butler 9
– Penn Cambria 22, Chestnut Ridge 13
– Oil City 44, Hollidaysburg 16
– BEA 25, Clearfield 20
– G-Dub 31, ANC 7
– WPC 35, Lawrenceville 6
October 3rd, 2023 at 7:39 pm
Thanks for the insight, Jeff H!
I knew USC wasn’t this powerhouse team, so I’m shocked by the outcome. Maybe this gives them a spark for the final few weeks. Didn’t realize that P-R was down this year. That game definitely could’ve been closer if P-R didn’t have that bad of a game. I’d have to agree with your three picks for 5A. As for 1A, I’m hoping it’s a public school, but that’s going to be a fun bracket to watch. It’s always wide open, in the last few years. Even the years when Jeannette or Canevin won convincingly, it seemed like there’s always a team or two that gives a good scare.
October 3rd, 2023 at 7:05 pm
I think what happened the other night was southern was 21 points better than montoursville. Any other week maybe 50 points better, but last week they were 21 better. Maybe a bloomsburg fair hangover on top of the hour drive. Imagine if north schuylkills qb would have started as a freshman? Nobody seen that did tgey
October 2nd, 2023 at 12:39 pm
@D2 Fan – most people in western PA don’t think USC is a serious contender in 5A, especially after they got shut out 2 weeks ago by Peters Township 31-0. They had an impressive win over Mt Lebo, but they are only ok this year, winning a lot of close games against average competition, and the USC vs. Lebo game is a huge rivalry, so I wouldn’t read too much into their win on Friday.
I agree PR getting dominated by NA was shocking, I expected NA to win by a couple of scores but thought it would be a competitive game, I was there and PR was totally overmatched, I haven’t seen them look that bad against a WPIAL team in years. PR’s defense could not stop NA, 6 drives with 6 straight TD’s, after racing to a 35-7 halftime lead they scored on their first possession of the 2nd half to take a 42-7 lead and start the mercy rule. PR is no where near as good as last year and I don’t think they will be much of a factor in the WPIAL playoffs, no playmakers on offense, they have problems moving the ball against good defenses due to a lack of big plays, and their secondary struggles against top notch receivers. Right now Peters Twp and Penn Hills are the co-favorites to win WPIAL 5A, but keep on eye on Woodland Hills, they are starting to get their act together under their new coaching staff and walloped Shaler on Saturday 56-14, scoring 42 points in the first quarter alone.
There are a lot of very good 1A teams in the WPIAL this year and the playoffs will be a real battle, I wouldn’t call Ft Cherry the favorite, they are 1 of about a half dozen teams that could win 1A, including Canevin, Union, South Side, Rochester, etc.
October 1st, 2023 at 6:18 pm
@LaSalle FrankG give a lot of great insight. To add mine because I had a son at LaSalle. Class of 2018. The schedule LaSalle plays has something to do with it. I can tell my son did get the attention of power conferences. The team was better and the PCL has more teams with great competition. Wood, Prep were good. The out of league schedule was good as well. Malvern was great back then. Dematha etc. The corner you are talking about didn’t get the attention I expected. I think I know who you are talking about and he is a friend of the family. I don’t know if he showed well enough at camps or had enough on film. You as a parent will need to do a lot of work to get your son exposure at LaSalle. I did. I did all my sons highlights, sent them to coaches. I did get a little assistance for the LaSalle coaches when getting camp invites. I would ask them to contact to the schools to ensure there was true interest. Without the schedule you are going to need to camp frequently to get your son exposure. Don’t get fooled by non-college camps asking for a ton of money and recruiting services. Build locally first and then branch out. If not for an ACL tear my son would have played for a P5 school. Best of luck to you and your son. It’s going to be tough sledding. Coach’s I talked to over the years love PCL players. I have heard that consistently.
October 1st, 2023 at 12:27 pm
@ D11 Matt They also play Selinsgrove yet. I watched them on YouTube Friday nite. To me not a good performance all around..
October 1st, 2023 at 11:22 am
D2 Notes From Week 6
– Valley View keeps on winning. A solid win over Abington Heights.
– Susquehanna could absolutely get to be above .500 on the year. Dominant win over Holy Cross.
– Dunmore is still the king of 2A. Dominant win over Mid Valley. Dunmore & Mid Valley separated by .01 pts in the Power Ratings, after that result.
– Wilkes-Barre Area is legit this year & maybe could give one of the EPC teams a run, after a solid 20 point win over Crestwood. The latter statement is an extremely tall task.
– Upset Of The Week: Nanticoke over Pittston. Very impressive win from them.
– Playoff Battle To Watch: The 4A race is a log jam. The #1-3 seeds are close, & can change with a loss. 7th-10th is absolutely close, as GNA (.476) & Honesdale (.472) hold slim leads over Wallenpaupack (.465), & North Pocono (.461). Wallenpaupack & North Pocono play one another next week. Winner could jump to the 8-seed, depending on the outcomes of GNA & Honesdale games.
Recap of my picks, for the folks who like to follow long. I’m sorry if I seem annoying with that.
D2: My worst week. 6-4 in the picks. 47-13 on the year, making me bat .783 in that department.
PA: 30-10 on the week, batting 75%. That makes me 169-70-1 on the year there (70.42%).
Overall: 36-14 (72%) on the week, making me 216-83-1 on the year (72.17%).
What I got wrong
– 3 teams from the WVC gave me fits. Wilkes-Barre is fighting for home field in the subregional & I’m not mad about it. Just more shocked with the GNA & Williamsport outcomes.
– Valley View is just better & they haven’t missed a beat.
– I’m using CalPreps for District 1 1A picks for the rest of the year.
– Nazareth/ACC was a toss-up.
– Alright WPIAL folks, going to need some knowledge on USC. That’s an impressive win, coming from someone who overlooked them.
– Fort Cherry winning over Canevin was something I didn’t expect. WPIAL folks, are they the team to beat this year in 1A?
– North Allegheny is best of WPIAL 6A & I wish I considered that before making a pick. That has to be my headscratcher pick of the week.
– District 8 is that bad to where I struggle with anyone not named Westinghouse.
– District 3 folks, please fill me in on Garden Spot. How are they as a program? It seems like they’ve had some bad years & this is the first good year in a while, but I could be wrong. This is the first I’ve seen them as a competitive team. Completely missed that Ephrata pick.
– Really thought that OIl City would win. District 10 is a weak spot for me.
Honestly, I rushed my prognostications this week & didn’t give enough effort, although this was the first week where my out of area picks did better than my local. I’ll do better next week.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:06 am
It is possible that Montoursville had a good defensive game plan, and executed it well, rather than assuming that Southern played poorly. Either way, I will be surprised if Southern does not add another state championship to their collection.
October 1st, 2023 at 7:50 am
Anybody know if there are any changes, tweaks, adjustments, etc. to the playoff brackets?? Guessing the home team situation will be the same, other than the brackets being flipped from last year??
September 30th, 2023 at 9:37 pm
@Dennis. I’m sure Southern will win another state title. They were 7-3 and looked vulnerable last year and then starting rolling teams in AA playoffs. And that was the year to get them. They do have two tough games against Mount Carmel and especially Wyoming Area but they will roll coke playoff time. We have seen it 7 straight years.
September 30th, 2023 at 12:54 pm
Although a 21-0 win coach Roth cannot be pleased with Southern ‘s performance last nite against Montoursville. They will need to play better if they want another state title. NO I would never bet against them.
September 29th, 2023 at 9:49 pm
I follow and have allegiances to Coatesville, Downingtown West, and Downingtown East, in that order. So when I looked the scores up just now, assuming they are accurate, I wondered when the last time was that all three schools pitched a shutout on the same night.
Coatesville won 28-0, marking their FOURTH shutout in six games, only this time to an undefeated opponent in WC Rustin.
East won 42-0 and West won 28-0. Over the next four weeks, the three games where these teams play each other should be very good games.
Maybe one of these three can make it all the way to lose to SJP.
September 29th, 2023 at 6:59 pm
For those wondering why I had two sets of scores in my D2 area picks, I never moved that off of the list & didn’t notice until today. My bad.
September 29th, 2023 at 1:38 pm
Surburban One League Picks
Well, had my worst week in as long as I can remember 7-5, in my defense, one was a pick-em between 2 No win teams& the coin said tails, it was wrong, & I went way out on a limb & picked 4 upsets and lost on all of them. Pennridge lost in Double Overtime (close but no cigar), Quakertown lost by 3, so it was a, would of, could of, should of, have week. Ok, that’s behind me.
This week’s picks I feel a little better about…..
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST OVER Abington This is about a sure as it gets.
HARRY S TRUMAN OVER Bensalem If Bensalem couldn’t beat a no-win team at home, well.
PENNSBURY OVER Central Bucks East This is being picked the other way by 2 of the Media I follow, this could go either way, one of my 2 upset picks for the week.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH OVER North Penn if North Penn can’t score against CB West, this could be another shoutout, seems odd picking against North Penn so much in one year.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH OVER Cheltenham well PW is 3-1, Cheltenham is 0-4, thought Cheltenham would be better with 3 high D1 recruits.
UPPER DUBLIN OVER Council Rock North well Council Rock North got their win, and Upper Dublin found their offense last week.
PENNRIDGE OVER Neshaminy Well Pennridge was a double OT 1 point loser as an underdog last week, they are going to win one of these, Upset pick #2 for the week.
SOUDERTON OVER Quakertown This is the Rte. 309 Bowl & is never easy, but Souderton is 5-0 & Quakertown is 2-3 (see note on this), this may be the game of the week to see.
WISSAHICKON OVER Springfield Wissahickon will score a bunch of points, don’t think Springfield can keep up.
WM TENNANT OVER Upper Moreland Tennant is playing some solid football.
Note: Quakertown may be as good as any 2-3 team in District 1, their opponents have had a combined record of 19-5, Central Bucks West is ranked #4 in 6A by PennLive, Southern Lehigh is ranked #8 in 5A, lost to Southern Lehigh by 7, other loss was by 3 to 4-1 Council Rock South. I expect them to play Souderton tough. But I have had Souderton as the team to beat in the Conference since the preseason & I’m sticking with it.
Games to see- Pennsbury-CB East, Pennridge-Neshaminy, Quakertown-Souderton would be my picks this week.
Get out there and support your teams tonight.
Final note: Learned my lesson, will not be picking 33% of the games as upsets again, 2 is enough.
September 29th, 2023 at 1:05 pm
@ LaSalle It might not be a good idea for a Prep guy like me to be the one to respond to your post. But here goes … The simple reality is that LaSalle as a program has regressed. Last year they had a losing record for the first time in many, many years and it’s not because they played an especially challenging schedule. Playing Calvert Hall is not the same as playing St. Frances or DeMatha (which Roman played this year). This year LaSalle got smoked by McDevitt and lost to a Malvern team that lost decisively to Tep. Last year’s three-TD loss to Roman was a clear sign to many that LaSalle is no longer #2 in the PCL. LaSalle won memorable games against SJP in 2015 and 2021, but the fact is that since 2013 SJP has beaten LaSalle 16 of the 18 times they’ve played and in recent years it’s most often been in a blowout.
September 29th, 2023 at 9:58 am
@ John – have not seen North Catholic’s Brady O’Hara in person, he’s tall at 6″6″ and about 245, he plays TE now but could end up playing tackle in college if he puts on more weight, he told TribLive the PSU coaches have been recruiting him as a TE but also talking about tackle.
September 28th, 2023 at 11:20 pm
I dont ever remember rooting against north schuylkill.
September 28th, 2023 at 2:08 pm
@Margaret, The Spartans have a big one tomorrow, will you be rooting for Wally and NS to bring it home?
September 28th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
You keep referring to no lehigh as playing up as an a school as if they were and have been an a school and they are doing the best with what they have been dealt. Do you not know there history? They have never been an a school. They wont be in the next cycle either. They have always played the colonial league teams on there schedule and in districts they have always played the schuylkill league teams they r playing now.
September 28th, 2023 at 1:28 pm
@ pa only if he robs a bank in ashland and is on the news.
September 28th, 2023 at 12:08 pm
Oops. Forgot my Best of the Rest D2 game (usually the one other game I consider as the HM): Scranton Prep vs. Wallenpaupack
– Score: SP 42, Wallenpaupack 11
September 28th, 2023 at 11:38 am
Week 6 in the 6 counties of District 2. I’m combining both this & best of the rest today.
– Valley View vs. Abington Heights (LFC 1): This is a dandy of a game at The Pit, on Saturday. Valley View, even with the changes, are still a legit team. The Comets are riding momentum, especially after a nailbiter against Wallenpaupack. I’m going with CalPreps & saying AH pulls off an upset.
– Dunmore vs. Mid Valley (LFC 2): How about this. The top-2 teams in 2A go head to head in Throop. This could be a statement win for either side. I like Dunmore here.
– Old Forge vs. Lackawanna Trail (LFC 3): These two teams are the 1A finalists. Trail has the #1 seed in hand. No upset here.
– Wilkes-Barre vs. Crestwood (WVC 1): The WVC is average this year, except Dallas & Wyoming Area. This is really the only good WVC 1 game here. Wilkes-Barre & Crestwood are hunting for home field. I feel Crestwood might be in better shape to win.
– Greater Nanticoke vs. Pittston (WVC 2): WVC Division 2 is a mess, unless you’re Wyoming Area. This may be the only good game here. Both winning would get them to .500. I’ll say Pittston’s better.
– North Pocono vs. Delaware Valley (LFC HM): DV’s traditional Saturday homecoming game seems to be a good choice for this category. North Pocono is coming off of a tough loss, while DV upset Prep. DV usually wins on homecoming, so I have to go by the trends.
– WVW vs. Berwick (WVC HM): Remember when this was a bitter rivalry? It seems like an eternity since both were good. It’s an HM on here because of the classic rivalry & that’s it. Berwick’s better than WVW, or so I believe they are. They need to put 48 minutes together.
– Wyoming Area vs. Scranton (D2 HM): This is the only good crossover game on the ledger. Both teams are quite stout, & I hope this is a good game. The better team is undefeated.
– Liberty vs. Easton (6A HM): If Williamsport was better, I was going to go with their showdown against Central Mountain, but this matchup is more appealing. Both are #5 & #6 in 6A & either outcome would shake up the power ratings, a bit. I’d take that over one of the 4A games (ACC/Nazareth will be in Best of the Rest). I’d say Easton’s the better team here.
– Morrisville vs. Jenkintown (D1 1A): The top 2 in 1A are going at it. These two are the clear-cut ones to go head to head in the 1A District 1 championship to have a date with probably Trail. Appropriately, both subregionals are going at it this week, so that’s fun.
Scores
– Abington Heights 31, Valley View 26
– Dunmore 31, Mid Valley 10
– Lackawanna Trail 32, Old Forge 13
– Crestwood 30, Wilkes-Barre 19
– Pittston 31, GNA 14
– DV 35, North Pocono 24
– Berwick 35, WVW 8
– Wyoming Area 29, Scranton 24
– Easton 26, Liberty 16
– Jenkintown 23, Morrisville 19
Scores
– Scranton Prep 38, DV 17 (X)
– Trail 24, Dunmore 20
– Lakeland 23, Old Forge 16 (X)
– Wilkes-Barre 31, Berwick 24
– Valley View 42, Pittston 23
– Mid Valley 25, Susquehanna 24
– Crestwood 16, Williamsport 7
– Abington Heights 29, Wallenpaupack 15
– Nazareth 42, Liberty 21
– Jenkintown 55, Renaissance 0
The rest of the state comes tomorrow afternoon.
Best Of The Rest: Here we go!
District 2/4
– District 2
– Mifflinburg vs. Selinsgrove
– Southern Columbia vs. Montoursville
District 11
– ACC vs. Nazareth
– PM West vs. Pleasant Valley
– Saucon Valley vs. Northwestern Lehigh
District 1
– Methacton vs. Perkiomen Valley
– Rustin vs. Coatesville
– Owen J. Roberts vs. Spring-Ford
– Pottsgrove vs. PJP II
District 12
– Boys Latin vs. MLK
– Imhotep vs. Bartram
– Cardinal O’Hara vs. Neumann-Goretti
– St. Joe’s Prep vs. Archbishop Wood
District 3
– CD East vs. State College
– Cocalico vs. ELCO
– Ephrata vs. Garden Spot
– Gov. Mifflin vs. Exeter Twp.
District 5/6
– Meyersdale vs. Berlin-Brothersvalley
– United Valley vs. Penns Manor
WPIAL/District 8
– Canon-Mac vs. Central Catholic
– Pine-Richland vs. North Allegheny
– Mt. Lebo vs. Upper St. Clair
– Deer Lakes vs. Knoch
– Washington vs. Waynesburg Central
– Fort Cherry vs. Bishop Canevin
– Perry vs. USO
District 9/10
– Redbank Valley vs. Union/AC Valley
– Sharon vs. Sharpsville
– Oil City vs. Meadville
Crossover
– Bucktail (4) vs. Cameron County (9)
– Jersey Shore (4) vs. Executive (11)
– Williamsport (4) vs. Central Mountain (6)
– Penns Valley (6) vs. Clearfield (9)
– Central Cambria (6) vs. Chestnut Ridge (5)
– Somerset (5) vs. Richland (6)
– Westinghouse (8) vs. Hollidaysburg (6)
– Mastery Charter North (12) vs. Marple-Newtown (1)
– Hun (NJ) vs. Malvern Prep
– Peddie vs. Germantown
Scores
– Selinsgrove 42, Mifflinburg 16
– SCA 49, Montoursville 20
– ACC 24, Nazareth 19
– Pleasant Valley 20, PMW 14
– Northwestern 41, Saucon 13
– Perk Valley 38, Methacton 12
– Coatesville 35, Rustin 13
– Spring-Ford 32, OJR 26
– PJP II 41, Pottsgrove 9
– MLK 21, Boys Latin 20
– Imhotep 63, Bartram 13
– N-G 26, Cardinal O’Hara 13
– SJP 49, Wood 7
– State College 33, CD East 13
– Cocalico 35, ELCO 20
– Ephrata 18, Garden Spot 13
– Exeter 41, Mifflin 7
– Berlin 31, Meyersdale 29
– United Valley 42, Penns Manor 10
– Central Catholic 52, Canon-Mac 13
– P-R 31, North Allegheny 20
– Mt. Lebo 41, USC 25
– Deer Lakes 29, Knoch 19
– Washington 48, Waynesburg 12
– Canevin 39, Fort Cherry 13
– USO 42, Perry 9
– Redbank Valley 33, Union/AC 21
– Sharon 42, Sharpsville 15
– Oil City 49, Meadville 29
– Cameron Co. 21, Bucktail 13
– Jersey Shore 44, Executive 17
– Central Mtn. 23, Williamsport 6
– Clearfield 17, Penns Valley 16
– Chestnut Ridge 26, Central Cambria 23
– Richland 36, Somerset 12
– Westinghouse 41, Hollidaysburg 11
– Marple 23, Mastery North 8
– Malvern Prep 35, Hun 10
– Germantown 21, Peddie 8
September 28th, 2023 at 10:53 am
Why dont players from LaSalle get more than just a passing note here and there? They had a CB who had tremendous outings his soph season. His jr season teams just would NOT throw to his side, which means he’s a “shut down” corner, right? I am guiding my son through this program now, and i’d like to know the truth, if there is anyone on this board able to share, about this program. Is this a good program? Do power conference coaches pay any mind to LaSalle players?
September 28th, 2023 at 9:10 am
Week 6 Predictions:
Souderton over Quakertown- Soudy is undefeated so far, QTown has 3 losses to solid teams. I will take Soudy in a close one.
Coatesville over West Chester Rustin- Coatesville is kind of flying under the radar in District 1 right now since their loss to Central Dauphin. I have mentioned they have been in similar situations before and have made playoff runs and I think most people know you should never count them out. Rustin is the current one seed in D1-5A and undefeated so far, but they have faced a team with the Red Raiders speed and talent. Chesmont American teams have historically struggled against Chesmont National Big 3 (Cville and the Dtowns), I’ll take Coatesville by at least 2 touchdowns.
Pennsbury over CB East- I believe the falcons will bounce back after last weeks tough loss to CB South
Hun School (NJ) over Malvern Prep- Malvern’s defense has looked great this year. The Hun School is one of the best schools in Jersey. I think Hun will pull it out in a defensive struggle.
Germantown Academy over Peddie School (NJ)- The patriots are out to a 4-0 start, I believe they will continue that streak and enter conference play undefeated.
North Allegheny over Pine Richland- I think NA will bounce back and win a close one over the defending 5A state champs. Should be a good one, last year PR surprised everyone when Palmieri lead the 2-3 Rams to hand NA their only WPIAL loss of the 2022 season.
Erie Cathedral Prep over Erie McDowell- Both teams offenses have looked great. ECP will win in a shootout.
Kind of a slower week in D1/Philly region, though next week there are 2-3 big D1 games and then the following week Inter-AC conference play begins.
September 27th, 2023 at 3:38 pm
@Margaret Do you know if Carson Long is on TV this week?
September 27th, 2023 at 2:58 pm
Margaret,
I agree. Probably 4-6. Worst case 3-7, best case 5-5. They beat PA and if they play a good game like that they could beat JT. Not likely though. I went into this year thinking 5-5 with all the young players but that was when I thought NL would have their junior QB/safety. They play a tough 3A schedule as an A school. And a lot of team they played this year are up this year (Catty, PA, Palmerton, NW, NS, even ND). If they played an A or AA schedule like all A schools they would be 6-7 win team. They would beat PV, Shenandoah, Mahonoy and be competitive everyone else. Although, this year Lackawanna trail is very good so Dist 11 A champ probably loses to them (NL beat them last two years in state first round). Then they lose to Canton and or Steelton. Steelton is going to win state A again.
September 27th, 2023 at 2:56 pm
@Jeff H
From what I heard from PSU journalists/insiders is that the PSU staff sees Martin as a Safety/WR, which is not surprising considering most recruiting sites have him listed as an athlete.
Do you know anything about that North Catholic O’Hara kid who just committed to PSU? He is listed as an athlete, word is he will be a TE or OT for the lions.
September 27th, 2023 at 10:16 am
@ Mike S – pretty sure Hayes is being recruited as a RB and doubt they will shift him to receiver even if he is 6’1″, I could see him playing cornerback because he plays corner now and he is very good and closes quickly on the ball, but my hunch is he gets his first crack at RB since Singleton will be gone by then. Quentin Martin from BV is 6’3″, so I would assume he’s being recruited to be a receiver, he’s also very good at safety and I could see him playing that position at Penn State, he’s too good of an athlete not to play somewhere.
September 27th, 2023 at 8:57 am
@MikeS
I agree, CB West has looked great this year, especially their defense. I was surprised they have been as dominant this year considering the grad losses of Boehm and Cherubini and the injury to QB Cooper, but the backup QB has filled in his place well.
September 27th, 2023 at 12:12 am
Northern lehigh will be 4-6 best case and 3-7 worst case scenario
September 26th, 2023 at 11:49 pm
@Margaret,
Trust me. They are good. They also played because of injuries to upper classman. The junior starting QB was injured two days before opener. And Tout has had a lot of success at NL and is longest tenured coach in Lehigh valley. I trust him when he says he thinks this might be his best class. It’s a big class too. The sophomore running back is 8th in league in rushing. The freshman corner (Chris frame, another frame!) has 4 ints which leads the CL Schuylkill league. They will be a very very good A or AA team in a year or two.
September 26th, 2023 at 8:27 pm
Just because you start freshman it doesnt always mean your going to be good. Sometimes it means that your upperclassmen r that poor.
September 26th, 2023 at 2:27 pm
@Margaret,
Northern Lehigh will be very good in a year or two. Although they might be back up into 2A next year. They are starting 3 freshman including QB. Tout has said he thinks could be best freshman class he’s had in 17 years (he’s had some good freshman classes. 2010 comes to mind when they were freshman in 2007). They also have a very good sophomore RB in Grady Newhard. They will be on edge of qualifying for playoffs because of tough schedule and playing alot of underclassmen, but if they make A playoffs this year, they might have a shot. Minersville looks like favorite though in dist 11 A this year.
September 26th, 2023 at 12:28 pm
@John CB West still has a few tough games to go, undefeated CB South, which is part of their 3-way Backyard Brawl with CB East, and they play them back-to-back, then waiting in ambush sits Pennridge, who is better than many think. And Pennridge gets CB West after they play back-to-back Backyard Brawls. Still CB West is the best team I’ve seen this year.
September 26th, 2023 at 12:21 pm
@JeffH
For what it’s worth I checked 5 websites, they all have him at 5’10” which I hope he is, in his hope to be the next big RB at Penn State, since you are a knowledge football fan the trend for the last 5-10 years has been to the shorter RB, there is rarely a 6’1″ RB anymore, so they can hide behind the monsters playing OL today, if he’s really 6’1″ they will probably be shifting him to WR, or even DB, as those are positions where that height is an advantage as your know.
September 26th, 2023 at 11:47 am
Halfway home with the regular season. For those that don’t mind me talking about how I did…
– D2 Picks: 8-2 on the week, making me 41-9 (82%) on the year.
– Rest Of State: 29-11 (.725) on the week & 139-60-1 (69.75%) on the year.
– Overall: 37-13 (74%) on the week; 180-69-1 (72.2%) on the year.
What I got wrong
– Boneheaded Pick of the Week: Accidentally calling Quakertown CB South. Someone PLEASE correct me if my plethora of picks has something different in the scores. 2nd week in a row. Got it right, though.
– Note To Self: NEVER pick against Southern Columbia.
– DV game was just an underestimation on my end. Yes, Prep dealt with an injury to one of their star players. It may or may not have been the difference.
– Lakeland over Old Forge was a gut pick gone wrong. Both are down, so I’m not mad about this.
– WPIAL picks were bad this week. Was about 50/50 there. Props to TJ for beating Belle Vernon. Gladly will take that loss. The rest were guesses.
– Central is good. I should’ve known to pick them over Guilfoyle. An overtime thriller, from what I’ve heard.
– Matt Mahalik is solid. Getting that pick wrong doesn’t surprise me, but I could’ve easily done better with the research, especially to a team I can watch on TV.
– Pennridge/CB East & the D5 picks were pure guesses (& going with higher MaxPrep ranking). District 5 took my picks personally.
– Brashear/Perry was the last game I put on the list. I’ll keep doing only D8 game a week.
– I’m a buffoon for picking Sem over William Penn. Again, indie teams aren’t a strong suit.
I’ll try & do better in the second half.
September 26th, 2023 at 11:09 am
@Kevin X-
If CB West runs the table, they will be the 1 seed in 6A-D1, regardless if Dtown East or Dtown West finishes the regular season undefeated. The rest of CB West’s schedule is 6A teams, the Dtown teams have only 2-3 6A games left each, the rest are against 5A teams, so the Dtowns will not be able to garner enough points to be the 1 seed. There are bonus points factored in as well, but I still do not think they will be enough for a Dtown team to top CB West for the 1 seed, as long as CB West finishes 10-0.
September 26th, 2023 at 11:04 am
@ Mike S – The article on TribLive noted he was 6’1″ 198, I’m not sure of his actual height but when I saw him play 2 weeks ago he looked taller than 5’10” which is what he was listed at as a freshman. IMO he’s the best RB in the WPIAL although something to keep an eye on is his number of rushes, he’s had a ton of carries in his HS career already and he’s only a junior, reminiscent of Rushel Shell at Hopewell back in the late 2000’s, he was a tremendous HS running back but by the time his college career was over his body was shot and he only had a short stint in the NFL and CFL.
September 26th, 2023 at 8:58 am
Bucktail has been lighting up the scoreboard, it’s on my bucket list as well Margy.
September 26th, 2023 at 8:39 am
@JeffH Yeah I saw that Hayes recruit too, nice pickup, & he may have put on 15 lbs, but when did he grow 3 inches, I was just checking him out on numerous websites, including Penn State’s, 247 Sports, and other recruiting sites, all have him listed at 5’10” not 6’1″???? That’s a Huge difference.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:37 pm
I just want to introduce myself. Im margaret and im new to the forum, wink, wink. I love montrose, wally hall, aliquippa playing up 10 classes and southern in the nfl. I think northern lehigh will be good in 2 years and i hope to get to a bucktail game before i die. Also does anyone know if the conawesque valley game will be televised this week? Asking for a friend and ty before any answers.
September 25th, 2023 at 4:52 pm
Aliquippa star junior RB Tiqwai Hayes committed to Penn State this afternoon, choosing the Nittany Lions over Ohio State, Pitt and a host of other Power 5 offers. I have seen him play several times in person including 2 weeks ago against Montour and he has gained a solid 15 pounds of muscle since I first saw him as a freshman, and is now listed at 6’1″ 198 lbs. I personally think he is a more natural and instinctive RB than BV senior Quinton Martin who is also going to Penn State next year, and I predict he will end up starting at PSU over Martin once Nick Singleton moves on to the NFL, and Martin will end up playing a different position at PSU. Interestingly enough BV is using Martin more as a wideout this year than RB, as he was lined up as a receiver a lot more than RB against TJ on Friday and caught a 20 yard TD pass on the last play of the first half on a beautiful route to get open in the back of the end zone, he only had 6 rushes for 34 yards, I wonder if James Franklin whispered in the BV coaches ear about playing him at receiver!
September 25th, 2023 at 4:21 pm
@ John – yes, I was a bit surprised by State College’s margin of victory, especially with the game being at CD, thought that game was a tossup going in. Will be interesting to see the outcome of SC vs. Harrisburg in a couple of weeks with the game being at SC.
September 24th, 2023 at 10:13 am
I really need to proofread my post before hitting the submit button. To clarify, Prep’s “starting QB and one of their top players” is one in the same, one individual (Paris??), not two players.
September 24th, 2023 at 10:08 am
@ D2 Fan
I understand Scranton Prep was without (injury from last week) their starting QB and one of their top players yesterday.
September 23rd, 2023 at 6:31 pm
D2 Notes
– I doubted DV. A solid upset over Prep. Now it looks like DV is in the catbird’s seat for LFC 1…for now.
– Paupack/Abington Heights makes a case for best game of the week. Paupack was down 21-7 at the half, came back to tie at 28 & Abington Heights took it towards the end. The Comets are “officially” back.
– Trail might be the best of the small schools, in D2, as they defeated a good Dunmore team. Is this the team to beat Steel-High or Canton?
– So, Mid Valley is the 1-seed in 2A now. Big win over Susquehanna. Who saw that as an outcome halfway in?
– Wilkes-Barre is in the 6A subregional battle. They’d get home field in the first round, if the season were to end today. I’m impressed with their effort against Berwick.
– The race for the final spots in 4A are going to be fun to watch. Tunkhannock, Paupack, Honesdale, Berwick. & GNA are all within a tenth of each other in power ratings. North Pocono as the 5-seed isn’t that far off of all of those teams, either. Looking at some of the power ratings, the District 2 4A & even the Eastern Conference game battle in 4A, is exceptionally tight. I may do a weekly EC check, for those interested.
I need to look for District 8 scores, so I’ll review my week later.
September 23rd, 2023 at 3:52 pm
Couple of pretty dramatic games involving 4A teams, West A has a knack for playing Aliquippa really tough but end up losing in heartbreaking fashion, last night was the latest, tied at 15 at half with WA taking a 22-21 lead with 52 second left in the 4th quarter on a 17 yard TD pass and subsequent PAT, then the Quips answered with a 34 yard TD pass with 8 seconds left and 2pt PAT to win 29-22.
TJ fell behind BV 12-0 at the end of the first and 19-10 at half, then scored 2 late TD’s in the fourth quarter to stun BV 24-19. The first score came on a 1 yard TD run halfway through the quarter, then they forced BV to punt on their next possession and the punter dropped the snap and was tackled before he could get the punt off, and a few plays later QB Luke Kosko threw a 49 yard TD pass with a little over 3 minutes remaining for the winning TD. This is not your typical TJ team with dominant O-line and power running game, they rotate 2 QBs who threw for a combined 327 yards, and rushed for less than 100 yards, their line is decent but smaller than normal. BV was hurt by losing one of their best 2 way players in the first quarter, they will cruise through the next 4 weeks until playing EF on the last night of the regular season, same with TJ until they play McKeesport
September 23rd, 2023 at 12:59 pm
Was anyone surprised by the outcome of the Central Dauphin-State College game? State College won 31-13 and were in control most of the game. Thought it would be closer after Central Dauphin’s performance vs. Coatesville
September 23rd, 2023 at 10:29 am
@John – yep, PCC made a statement like I expected, they have a good bit more talent than NA and now they having the coaching to get the most out of their talent. PCC had been running the spread offense with 4 receivers and throwing it all over the field the first 4 games, this game they ran it down NA’s throat and outrushed them 306 to 151, including 229 yards and 4 TDs on 32 rushes by Elijah Faulkner. PCC is by far the best team in the WPIAL this year and I agree they are a top 5 team in the state, I would like their chances on a neutral field against any team other than SJP, I said on here 3 weeks ago they will go undefeated and play SJP in the final and that becomes more evident every week, although I do think Manheim Township will be competitive if they meet in the semi-finals. I don’t think the rematch with NA in the WPIAL final will be much closer, PCC is just a much better team than NA.
Peters Township also made a statement in 5A by shutting out USC 31-0, for now they are the top team in 5A and could have an undefeated regular season, their toughest remaining opponent is a nonconference game against 6A Canon-Mac in the next to last game of the season. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the WPIAL final is a rematch of 2020 with Peters against PR. Penn Hills is certainly still in the mix, and keep an eye on resurgent Gateway, they blew out Plum on the road last night 42-7, now that they are healthy they could reel off several more wins in a row.
September 23rd, 2023 at 12:28 am
@D2 Fan
Margaret thinks she’s funny asking that
September 22nd, 2023 at 10:38 pm
@Jeff H
NA talked a lot of smack to lose by 4 touchdowns. Statement win by PCC, they are definitely the 2nd best team in 6A right now and probably top 5 in the state regardless of class. The rematch should hopefully be closer.
September 22nd, 2023 at 10:25 pm
Nice win for Wilson WL over previously unbeaten Cedar Crest. They still made too many mistakes which they’ll have to clean up if they expect to challenge mighty Manheim Township, but they proved they could beat a quality opponent on the road.
September 22nd, 2023 at 5:42 pm
@ Margaret,
I don’t think Montrose broadcasts on radio & there isn’t a YouTube feed, that I’m aware of. They’re playing against Ithaca NY. If Ithaca High football does broadcast games, ICSD athletics would have them on YouTube, but if they’re playing out of state, I don’t think they’ll have a live game there.
September 22nd, 2023 at 4:27 pm
Anyone know what radio station the montrose game is on tonight?
September 22nd, 2023 at 11:24 am
@ Kevin X
Two great questions posed.
I didn’t even consider the weather. If that’s the case, I’d say the game could be closer, like you said, within 2 scores. When I do scores, I don’t intend to get them right. It’s a gut feeling more than anything. Maybe I should start looking at that aspect to help the score part. I’d assume it’ll be a lot of rushing plays. Wouldn’t shock me if it was low scoring.
DV playing all four opponents would be easily be 4-0. Lake-Lehman or Lakeland wouldn’t probably be on the schedule, though.
As for Prep against all three opponents, they’d also be 1-3. CalPreps had them losing by 14 to Selinsgrove, which honestly would be a winnable game for Prep. Their offense & defense is good enough to compete, so if you flip that game, at best 2-2. They’d be completely inverse.
September 22nd, 2023 at 10:33 am
@ John – yep, lots of chatter from NA this week, kinda ironic they refer to PCC as the Western PA Vikings when NA has had more transfers over the last several years than PCC, including several kids from out of state, there is certainly no love lost between these teams, I think PCC makes a statement tonight that they are the favorite to meet SJP in the final in December, would take a shocking upset in the playoffs for these teams not to meet again in the WPIAL finals.
September 21st, 2023 at 8:27 pm
Several really big games in the WPIAL this week, headlined by PCC at NA, both rolling at 4-0 and putting up tons of points. I went to the game last year as it was played less than 10 minutes from my house and it was a snooze fest with NA winning 7-3, very sloppy game and probably the least entertaining I saw all year. They will probably score more points in the first 6 minutes than the whole game last year, think this will be a shootout but NA doesn’t have enough offense to keep up, something like 49-31 for PCC. .
in 5A Peters Twp hosts Upper St Clair in a battle of unbeatens, Peters has played a slightly tougher schedule thus far and last week beat a decent South Fayette team 35-0, I like Peters at home by a TD, winner becomes the favorite the win the conference and be a high seed in playoffs
4A TJ at 3A Belle Vernon – this is one of the more intense rivalries in the WPIAL, having played almost every year since the 60’s and some years twice when they met again in the playoffs, they were conference rivals for decades before BV dropped to 3A last year, BV has won the last 3 meetings, TJ holds the series lead at 37-23, this should be a great game, their game 2yrs ago at BV was an instant classic with BV winning 28-21 on a last second spectacular 45 yard TD run by QB Devin Whitlock when the game seemed headed to OT, I like BV to win again by 1 score, I’m going with a high school buddy who lives in the TJ district
Other interesting games are 4-0 Shaler at Franklin Regional, curious to see how Franklin responds after the Gateway onslaught in the 2nd half last week, Shaler hosts WH next week and if they can get by Franklin and go into that game 5-0 they have a chance to be a sleeper playoff team in 5A
in 4A Aliquippa goes on the road for the first time to play West Allegheny who is 3-1, the Quips eked out a 19-16 win last year at their home away from home at Freedom HS, but I don’t think this game will be as close, Quips by a couple of scores.
In 3A another battle of unbeatens with Knoch travelling to Elizabeth Forward, EF has been one of the best 3A teams in the WPIAL the last several years, and lost a few times in the finals, so this will be a very good test for upstart Knoch, who was 1-9 last year, EF by a 2 TDs
September 21st, 2023 at 7:57 pm
@ Jeff H
Yeah, I’d probably have CBW at #2 overall in District 1. They have a fairly moderate schedule the rest of the way and should run the table and secure the #1 seed in the D1 6A playoffs (unless one of the Downingtown’s do the same). DTE, DTW and C’Ville all get to play each other the second half of the season, so we’ll see what comes out of that annual fun.
September 21st, 2023 at 7:48 pm
@ D2 Fan
Oh, just for fun, gonna sort of, kind of, push back a teeny weeny bit on your marque game of the week up there, DelVal @ Prep. Not saying DelVal will win the game, but wouldn’t be surprised in the least if they did. At a minimum, I believe it will be a 2 score or less victory for Prep. Guess I’m a big proponent of who the heck have you played?? Would Prep be 4-0 going into this game if they played Del Val’s schedule?? Would DelVal be 1-3 if they played Prep’s schedule?? Heck, they be 4-0 as well. And the weather?? You guys up there expecting the same rain and wind that we are down here in the Philly area for Saturday afternoon?? If so, don’t know who that would help and/or hinder more.
September 21st, 2023 at 5:34 pm
Suburban One League Picks
With the conference games beginning in earnest this week, now are the games that will lead us to the Playoffs.
NESHAMINY OVER Abington Neshaminy by 2 TD’s as Abington has struggled this year.
BENSALEM OVER Council Rock North Well someone has to win, and Bensalem is at home and shown a little more life so far.
PENNRIDGE OVER Central Bucks East I really believe Pennridge is getting it together, all the Media Pundits I’ve seen have picked CB East, Not me, Pennridge at Home
PENNSBURY OVER Central Bucks South Well another upset as I’m going against the undefeated team, two reasons, CB South just played a backyard brawl last week and it’s at Pennsbury.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST OVER North Penn Probably closer than most think, North Penn has shown a little life, and CB West played a tough game last week at Pennsbury, but CB West wins.
ROMAN CATHOLIC OVER Cheltenham Catholic League school, over a team that is down a bit as their season has unraveled some.
QUAKERTOWN OVER Council Rock South Another upset pick, every media pick I’ve seen says CR South, & this may be a homer pick, as Q-town is a bit beat up, but plays at Home.
SOUDERTON OVER Truman This is a no contest, Souderton wins this going away unless their bus gets lost going to the game.
HATBORO HORSHAN OVER Lower Moreland Hatboro has been playing for the most part good football, & it’s been a long year for L. Moreland
UPPER MORELAND OVER New Hope A game between two teams that have struggled so far, Upper Moreland has played the tougher schedule.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH OVER JP McCaskey PW to rebound from last week, last year they beat McCaskey by 40, this year more like 20.
WISSAHICKON OVER Upper Dublin Surprisingly the media all agrees this is the year Wissahickon finally beats Upper Dublin, probably this year or…..?? I agree.
FATHER JUDGE OVER William Tennant I’ll keep taking Catholic League teams until proven wrong.
So, there you have it from the Suburban One League, my best guesses. Get out there and support your teams.
Barring Major Major Upsets, some real key games moving toward the playoffs
Pennridge-CB East
Pennsbury-CB South
Quakertown-CR South
September 21st, 2023 at 3:35 pm
Interesting game in District 11 3A. Palmerton – ND Green Pond.
Both teams can absolutely light up the scoreboard, so it looks like a shootout on paper. As Notre Dame is averaging 47 points a game, and Palmerton 44. Both defenses are suspect as well, so it makes for an exciting back and forth game.
Notre Dame is probably slightly better overall. Palmerton will no doubt have the best player on the field in Lehigh bound Matt Machalik. It’s that type of game where he can take it over by himself and score 5-6 touchdowns to outscore ND. Will be very interesting to watch.
BRCTV13 has the game live
September 21st, 2023 at 1:53 pm
Best Of The Rest: Got enough for 40 other interesting games across the state.
District 2/4
– North Pocono vs. Scranton
– Danville vs. Southern Columbia
– Jersey Shore vs. Mifflinburg
– Canton vs. South Williamsport
District 11
– Parkland vs. Allentown Central Catholic
– Northampton vs. ES South
– Northern Lehigh vs. North Schuylkill
– Notre Dame vs. Palmerton
– Executive Education vs. Tri-Valley
District 1/12
– CB East vs. Pennridge
– CR South vs. Quakertown
– Ridley vs. Marple-Newtown
– CB West vs. North Penn
– Owen J. Roberts vs. Perkiomen Valley
– Imhotep vs. Abraham Lincoln
– Cardinal O’Hara vs. Bonner-Prendie
Distict 3
– Lampeter-Strasburg vs. Cocalico
– Bishop McDevitt vs. Cedar Cliff
– Wilson West Lawn vs. Cedar Crest
– Harrisburg vs. Cumberland Valley
– Steel-High vs. Big Spring
– ELCO vs. Wyomissing
District 5/6
– Berlin-Brothersvalley vs. Northern Bedford
– North Star vs. Windber
– Bishop Guilfoyle vs. Central (6)
– Penn Cambria vs. Central Cambria
– Richland vs. Forest Hills
WPIAL
– Central Catholic vs. North Allegheny
– Thomas Jefferson vs. Belle Vernon
– South Fayette vs. Canon-McMillan
– USC vs. Peters Township
– Knoch vs. Elizabeth Forward
– Avonworth vs. South Park
– Deer Lakes vs. Southmoreland
District 8
– Perry vs. Brashear
– Allderdice vs. Westinghouse
District 9/10
– Port Allegany vs. Brockway
– St. Marys vs. Punxsutawney
– Sharon vs. Wilmington
– Farrell vs. Hickory
Inter-District/Non-PIAA
– State College (6) vs. Central Dauphin (3)
– Loyalsock (4) vs. Williams Valley (11)
– Haverford School vs. Garnet Valley (1)
– Wyoming Sem vs. William Penn Charter
– Germantown vs. Blair Academy (NJ)
Scores
– Scranton 26, North Pocono 16
– Danville 35, Southern 28 (Will regret this)
– Jersey Shore 50, Mifflinburg 14
– Canton 35, South Williamsport 12
– Parkland 31, ACC 20
– Northampton 36, ES South 21
– North Schuylkill 38, Northern Lehigh 14
– Notre Dame 35, Palmerton 22
– Tri-Valley 23, Executive 19
– Pennridge 32, CB East 19
– Quakertown 31, CB South 13
– Marple-Newtown 25, Ridley 20
– Perk Valley 52, OJR 20
– Imhotep 49, Lincoln 3
– Bonner-Prendie 28, O’Hara 26
– Cocalico 37, L-S 24
– McDevitt 49, Cedar Cliff 18
– WWL 28, Cedar Cres 22
– Harrisburg 49, Cumberland Valley 13
– Steel High 50, Big Spring 21
– Wyomissing 35, ELCO 12
– Berlin 23, NoBedCo 12
– Windber 31, North Star 8
– Guilfoyle 38, Central 31
– Penn Cambria 21, Central Cambria 15
– Richland 49, Forest Hills 24
– Central Catholic 48, North Allegheny 13
– Belle Vernon 34, Thomas Jefferson 28
– South Fayette 31, Canon-Mac 22
– Peters Twp. 34, USC 18
– Elizabeth Forward 36, Knoch 30
– Avonworth 45, South Park 15
– S’moreland 30, Deer Lakes 26
– Perry 24, Brashear 15
– Westinghouse 55, Allderdice 10
– Port Allegany 41, Brockway 13
– Punxsy 24, St. Marys Area 12
– Sharon 28, Wilmington 27
– Farrell 42, Hickory 22
– State College 36, Central Dauphin 33
– Loyalsock 27, Williams Valley 24
– Garnet Valley 35, Haverford 29
– Sem 21, William Penn Charter 20
– Germantown 42, Blair 26
September 21st, 2023 at 12:37 pm
Pittsburgh Central Catholic over North Allegheny- NA has been going at PCC on twitter a lot this week (calling them the Western PA Vikings). I’m going with PCC, they are loaded on both sides and look like the best team in 6A outside of St Joe’s Prep. I expect both these teams to play each other again in the WPIAL/D7 finals
Haverford School (Inter-AC) over Garnet Valley- Garnet has won 3 straight since their opening loss to CB West. Though, some of those games have been a lot closer than I expected, considering they were facing some team who they traditionally beat by more. Haverford has had two big losses to talented opponents La Salle and Imhotep, but Inter-AC schools will always have talent. Should be a close one, as much as I want a public school to win, I’m going to go with the Fords in a defensive battle.
CB South over Pennsbury- South is 4-0 to start the season and have looked like the second best team in the SOL-National behind CB West. Pennsbury has two losses against quality opponents in CB West and Coatesville, and beat a good CR South team. Pennsbury’s offense is just not the same without a stud RB like they had in Mulbah last year, so I will take CB South in a defensive battle.
Wilson West Lawn over Cedar Crest- Cedar Crest is out to an unusual 4-0 start to begin the season. Wilson has bounced back the last two games after two losses to good teams to begin the year. I’ll take Wilson by one touchdown, though I am worried about how one dimensional their offense has been.
Central Dauphin over State College- Another big game between two central pa schools. Both teams have looked solid on both sides of the ball. CD’s defense looked great against a Coatesville offense with 3 receivers with D1 offers. State College’s passing offense has been this year as well. I think CD pulls this one out in a close one.
Marple Newtown over Ridley- I think the Tigers will bounce back after last week’s tough shutout loss to Springfield Delco
Quakertown over CR South- The winner of this one has the best shot of competing with Souderton for the SOL-Continental title. I will take Qtown in a game that could go either way
September 20th, 2023 at 10:06 pm
It’s Week 5 in the area known for giving us Old Forge Pizza. This week separates the haves & have-nots. No teams are playing in division in LFC 2 & 3 yet, but LFC 1 is well underway. WVC play is in full swing. It’s time to see whee I’m going here.
– Delaware Valley vs. Scranton Prep (LFC 1): This is a must-win game for DV, if they want to be a pure threat to win LFC 1. Prep has been the better team this year. I think the better team takes it.
– Lackawanna Trail vs. Dunmore (LFC 2): Oh, this could be an electric game down in Dunmore. Both teams are the class of the field in D2’s two smallest classes. I expect this to be a nailbiter.
– Old Forge vs. Lakeland (LFC 3): Both teams are down this year, but this is an important game for the momentum of either team. Both could use the win, but I’m gonna take a risk with the Chiefs here.
– Berwick vs. Wilkes-Barre (WVC 1): I’ll admit it. None of these games were purely appealing. However, this should be considered MUST-WIN for Berwick. I don’t think that’s the case. WBA has some players!
– Pittston Area vs. Valley View (WVC 2): This was the only notable game among WVC 2 teams. It’s a big game for Pittston. I know they likely don’t have a shot, but I’d love for them to be a sleeper here.
– Susquehanna vs. Mid Valley (LFC HM): A very overlooked game in 2A this weekend. The Spartans & Sabers are #1 & #3 respectively in the 2A standings. The winner will have good momentum heading into division play, something that both teams honestly need. I think the team from Throop wins & wins close.
– Crestwood vs. Williamsport (WVC HM): Speaking of Comets: This isn’t a glitzy-glamorous game for the area, but I think it has to be one of the best games in the WVC involving WVC teams. Both need a 2nd win to help their cases in playoff races. I like Crestwood here, but I think it may be low scoring. I just have a hunch.
– Abington Heights vs. Wallenpaupack (D2 HM): An overlooked game in District 2 happens to be at Lake Wallenpaupack on Friday. Abington Heights is riding some momentum, with a big win over Western Wayne. The Purple & White are going the other direction after a surprising 2-0 start. I think it’ll be close, but Abington Heights pulls away late.
– Liberty vs. Nazareth (EPC 6A): #2 vs. #4 in the 6A rankings go head to head on Friday. This could be a massive game, if Nazareth slips up. I don’t think it’ll be the case, however.
– Renaissance vs. Jenkintown (D1 1A): These games count now in 1A. The head to heads are starting to show up. Jenkintown should have this. Renaissance may be the weakest team in the state.
Scores
– Scranton Prep 38, DV 17
– Trail 24, Dunmore 20
– Lakeland 23, Old Forge 16
– Wilkes-Barre 31, Berwick 24
– Valley View 42, Pittston 23
– Mid Valley 25, Susquehanna 24
– Crestwood 16, Williamsport 7
– Abington Heights 29, Wallenpaupack 15
– Nazareth 42, Liberty 21
– Jenkintown 55, Renaissance 0
The rest of the state comes tomorrow afternoon.
September 20th, 2023 at 5:36 pm
Margaret, IF you want to talk football, talk football. Stop with the negative comments.
September 20th, 2023 at 3:01 am
Just a heads up for those in the Lackawanna football conference region ,
BIG show down this friday night between
Undefeated Lackawanna Trail and 1 loss
Dunmore which came to the hands of a very talented Mount Carmel Area squad
The game will be played at Dunmore on
Friday Night
Also an interesting game between
Scranton Prep and Delaware Valley will be this weekend aswell …
Can the Warriors get back on track after playing all these far away teams ?
Or are they truly having a down year ?
If they want the ( W ) they will have to stop very well balanced Scranton Prep offense ,and a very
stingy Prep defense.
Scranton Prep makes every team they play earn every bit that they gain .
My picks
Lackawanna Trail 17
Dunmore 14
Scranton Prep 33
Delaware Valley 12
Good luck to all your teams ..
God bless ,stay safe .
September 19th, 2023 at 8:34 pm
@Dave
Agreed…What a great tribute by Shik!
September 19th, 2023 at 7:42 pm
I just want to give a shout out of recognition to the team and coaches of Shikellamy, for their respectful display in honoring the memory of Max. Well done, guys.
September 19th, 2023 at 6:52 pm
I love wally hall, if he coached somewhere else.
September 19th, 2023 at 4:01 pm
@JCo
I couldn’t have said it any better myself. I completely agree with you about your comment about Margaret, my feelings is truly that every one of those players on every one of those teams puts in tons of hard work no matter if they’re 0-10
At the end of the season, or 16-0
At the end of the day we all know football is extremely demanding on the body on emotions on school work on relationships the list goes on. no matter if you’re the best or you are the worst. Growing up playing football I always remember the dedication that had to be put forth obviously putting focus on school was number one and then obviously the many hours of working out weight lifting and conditioning and then obviously the season keeping up with school so that I can keep on the team that was the regulation set forth by our school district which I completely agree many others I’m sure do the same some do some don’t, and then jobs at home to keep everything running smooth so no matter who we are talking about isn’t the meat and potatoes still football at the end of the day ?
doesn’t matter what caliber of team it’s still football. And no doubt it is exciting to talk about the good schools for sure and especially when they’re facing another good schools to see who will win and successfully continue their season sure I agree with that but please don’t cut the schools that don’t matter to you down just like I had to put aside my jealousy for
Southern Columbia and I’m a man to admit it lots of people won’t !!
what I would like to see is a national documentary made on Southern Columbia that would be very impressive WVIA did do a wonderful job with that documentary called “Roar” it was very well put together and very deserving it’s kind of hard to believe that someone’s first comment was about Susquehanna and Montrose and in that same criticizing comment nothing was said about Max you have to wonder sometimes where priorities lay at the end of the day………
( it’s still only a game ! )
September 19th, 2023 at 3:29 pm
@ Kevin X – agree with your picks for top teams in the eastern districts as of now, CB West looks like a serious contender in D1, and Manheim Township has been extremely impressive in D3, I think if they played McDevitt that would be one heck of a game. The usual powers are the top teams in D7 & and D10, with PCC (6A) and ECP (5A) respectively, with Westinghouse (2A) again being the best team in D8, the Pittsburgh City League, and State College (6A) the best team in D6. Huge game this week with PCC traveling to NA, will have more on that matchup later in the week
September 19th, 2023 at 3:14 pm
@JCo – I agree, there are several similar stories in the WPIAL this year, in fact 21 teams have already matched or surpassed their win total from all of last season after week 4, most notably Waynesburg who was 0-10 last year and is off to a 4-0 start. In their first 4 games last year they were outscored 147-28, this year against the same opponents they have outscored the opposition 93-16, and the school and community are buzzing about the turnaround. Knoch is another school that was 1-9 last year and off to a 4-0 start and have a good chance to make the 3A playoffs. Its stories like this that make HS football so exciting, not just talking about the blue blood programs all the time.
September 19th, 2023 at 3:09 pm
High school football is awesome. I’m not sure how someone could have such a negative outlook on mostly all teams/players/coaches. Btw North Schuylkill and Wally has won a very competitive district the past 3 of 5 years
September 19th, 2023 at 2:40 pm
Margaret, I don’t blame your thinking one bit, but I have to agree with JCo.
Being from a generalized area who has just one powerhouse program (DV) & the rest being average to bad, it doesn’t hurt to discuss the programs from time to time & what games are going on for them. It’s a reason why my mini agenda on here is league realignment & competitive balance.
I feel for teams that can’t consistently be above .500, mainly for programs that never see winning seasons in any sports. I see the Pocono teams, Allen/Dieruff, CMVT, Montrose, Shen Valley, both Diocese of Scranton teams, & a host of others & I feel bad for them. They may thrive in one random sport (like Allen & Cross in basketball), but in the most popular sport in the state, they’re always struggling to put together wins. I get why, usually due to funding & economic related things, & participation. I want these teams with not-so-great histories to have that one year (or group of years) where it clicks.
Being an alum of a school that basically has the “Jeff Fisher mantra” of being average, but with decent talent, (3-7 to 7-3 on a good year), I can understand some of the struggles of other teams & want them to be underdogs. When my school won the district about five years ago, things clicked with an experienced team. We had that one magical season, & the rest has been inconsistent. I dream of having one of those state title runs that the powerhouses have. I don’t expect a Southern type dominant run, but I’d love to see a state title or two for a team up my direction.
I think that’s the best part of this forum. A lot of us here like to talk about the good teams, myself included, but bringing up the stories & conversations about have nots is awesome. I’m a newbie here, but I appreciate you guys letting me talk a lot about the teams we don’t pay attention to. I’m sure the people running this forum may feel the same way.
September 19th, 2023 at 11:18 am
@Margaret: What a dumb comment. Giving attention to overlooked programs is the best part of these comments. Maybe you should stop wasting space with your incessant Wally Hall complaining, every one of those comments is essentially the same.
September 19th, 2023 at 10:11 am
Oh Margy
September 19th, 2023 at 8:27 am
Id rather talk àbout cardinal brennan football than susquehanna and montrose, so as mad as you get about southern being good, i get mad about someone wasting spacing talking about montrose.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:42 am
@D2 fan
I completely agree that would be fantastic if Susquehanna or Montrose or even going a little deeper out Tunkhannock had successful seasons that would be great for the players and the community and all the families.
@ Southern Columbia
And I would also like to at this time apologize for being a jealous brat regarding Southern Columbia it’s quite a football machine for sure they are well oiled well put together and amazingly coached the truth of the matter is because their culture is so strong for football and they work so hard year after year no matter who goes through the system they believe in their coach and what he represents and it’s not just him all of the coaching staff aswell.
It truly is an amazing program LOL should be one of the( Seven Wonders of the World )but again I humbly ask of all of you who were offended to accept my apology .
I was definitely off track and it was not acceptable for my opinions if any of you on here do play for Southern Columbia keep up the great work you should be really proud of yourselves to be the best High School football program in the country hands down !!!!
regardless of what people’s opinions are about larger schools throughout the states clearly nobody comes close to Southern Columbia so I tip my hat to an amazing program and say I am sorry
years back I had an opportunity to communicate with a few coaches from Southern Columbia and also some players I have to say they are the most polite respectful team and coaches I have ever met.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:19 am
R.I.P MAX #4 Jersey shore (forever a Bulldog)
Words can’t take the agonizing pain away that the family and friends and Community are experiencing at this moment , keep strong in the Lord for in his word it says there is a time and a season for everything and he knows the timing of Our Lives from beginning to end.
Psalms 23
2 Corinthians 1-7
You are all in our prayers .
God bless everyone close to this tragedy
And also everybody in this forum.
September 18th, 2023 at 10:11 pm
My heart aches for the Engle family, his Jersey Shore teammates and the Jersey Shore community. Simply put, an unfathomable tragedy.
September 18th, 2023 at 7:46 pm
@D2 Fan – PT is down this year by their standards, they lack playmakers on offense, they have been shut out twice and only scored 7 against McKeesport, I’m still trying to figure out how they managed to put up 28 on WH a few weeks ago. PT may still make the 5A playoffs, but they won’t be a factor and will likely lose in the first round if the make it. Also keep in mind that BV was 4A for years before they dropped down to 3A for this cycle due to enrollment, they are one of the bigger 3A schools, so there’s not a huge disparity in numbers between them and the 4A and smaller 5A schools. Really looking forward to the BV vs. TJ game on Friday, that’s the game I’m going to, I’ve seen Quentin Martin 4 times in person in his career, including twice in his sophomore year against TJ, these 2 schools are longtime conference rivals and should be a very good game that could go either way, BV has won the last 3 meetings including 21-7 last year, I’m expecting a sellout crowd at BV and the place will be rocking.
I saw Aliquippa in person last week and as usual they are very good, they may have the best running back tandem in the state outside of SJP, their backup Jon Tracy would start for 95% of the teams in the WPIAL, and their passing attack looked more polished than past years, so I’m using the BV game as a measuring stick to see whether I think TJ has a legit chance to beat Aliquippa in the playoffs. TJ likely won’t be tested again until they play McKeesport on the last night of the regular season.
September 18th, 2023 at 7:04 pm
My top teams is each of the Eastern PA districts regardless of classification after 4 weeks:
District 1: Downingtown East (6A)
District 2: Scranton Prep (3A)
District 3: Bishop McDevitt (4A)
District 4: Southern Columbia (2A)
District 11: Parkland (6A)
District 12: St. Joe Prep (6A)
I’m only seeing the District 1 top dog possibly changing by the end of the regular season. Any western guys (or anybody) have a western list or different top eastern team(s)??
September 18th, 2023 at 5:21 pm
@ Jeff H.
Ah, I remember you telling me that a month ago. I honestly thought a 5A program, & one of the best in the class, would’ve been a tougher out.
@ Distract 2 LFC
I guess I am making a mountain out of a mole hill there. I’m just impressed with the record, so far & hope it’s a sign of things to come. Football in Susquehanna County hasn’t been that good, so if they could be competitive, that’d be such a great story.
Also…
I’d be remiss if I didn’t send condolences to the Engel family after hearing the news of Max’s passing the other night. Such a heartbreaking story.
September 18th, 2023 at 11:37 am
@D2 fan – Belle Vernon is better this year than their state championship team from last season, they returned 16-17 starters, I thought their game against PT game would be a little closer but BV winning did not surprise me at all, they play their last nonconference game this week against TJ at home, and if they beat TJ they will roll into the state playoffs undefeated. The big shocker of the night in the WPIAL was previously winless Moon upsetting #1 ranked Penn Hills 14-13, guess PH had a big letdown after beating PR last week. And Gateway may have salvaged their season with a 37 point explosion in the 2nd half to stun Franklin Regional 44-24, as QB Brad Birch threw 3 TD’s to Woodland Hills transfer Steven Jenkins who is going to Bowling Green, its the fist time all season those 2 have been on the field together, as Birch missed the last 2 games after a car accident prior to the WH game in week 1.
September 18th, 2023 at 10:02 am
Going to be a very emotional scene in Jersey Shore tonight, for their game that was postponed Friday, due to the passing of their player that collapsed in the previous game.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:25 pm
@ D2 fan
Don’t be so hard on yourself about your
Lakeland- Susquehanna pick.
However Susquehanna isn’t that great , their only wins came to two perennial losing teams teams
And then to Lakeland who is a known perennial winning program and defending District 2 AA
Champion from last year who beat Dunmore 20-14
for districts and also beating Dunmore a historic
55-14 thumping at Dunmore in the regular season.
The District game however was much different when Lakeland’s quarterback Domenico Spataro The Scranton Times player of the year was injured early in the championship game and also Dippre was also injured aswell.
From that 12-1 season last year the Chiefs lost 14 players to graduation.
Definitely hard to bounce back from that ..
And to that NO Susquehanna isn’t for real.
September 17th, 2023 at 7:06 pm
Wj I think that north schuylkill is better than any team they will play in the regular season and they already lost once. 8-2’or 7-3. Wally halls defenses can stop u for -10 yards on 3 drives but then give up a 78 yard td pass on 3rd and 30. They dont blitz, they dont ever improve. There lb should be wreaking havoc in the backfield instead hes playing both ways and getting 2 carries in the 1st half and 12 in the second. Why even put him in if you dont use him. Why dont you play the wildcat with flail or have flail and chowansky back there. Why do you throw downfield so much when your qb was so inaaccurate. Why did you put weitz in the backfield for 1 game last year. Why do you have so many players play there senior years and take a step back instead of forward? Yeah wally halls my hero
September 17th, 2023 at 12:35 pm
Combining the two things I’d post after a busy week of games.
D2 Fan’s D2 Notes
– DV is back on track after a pounding against Wallenpaupack. This was the easiest game on the league schedule. It’ll only get tougher there.
– Berwick decided to do the same thing & got back on track with a MUCH needed win against Williamsport.
– Crestwood finally won, which is a positive. It was against struggling Valley West (man, they’re not the same team they once were).
– Dunmore is still the king of 2A after a quality 20-16 win over Riverside.
– Scranton Prep shut out Scranton High with a big 34-0 win. I think they’re the team to beat in the gauntlet that is Lackawanna Division 1
– Is Susquehanna for real? Surprising win for me. I thought Lakeland would win that, for some reason.
Now, as for how I did this week, for those who like to follow along. This week was the best one yet with my picks. 8-2 on the week in the D2 games to watch, with the lone incorrect picks being Montrose, which was a coin flip game & a desperation Division 3 game & the 1A game, which was a shot in the dark. As for the rest of the state, I had my best week yet! 34-7 on the week, giving me a season best 82.9% for the week. 42-9 on the week, giving me an 82.3% success rate.
– D2 Games To Watch: 33-7 (82.5%)
– Best Of The Rest: 110-49-1 (68.75%)
– Overall: 143-56-1 (71.5%)
– Boneheaded pick of the week has to be Lakeland/Susquehanna. Susquehanna is for real, this year, I’m guessing. Wow.
– Bonheaded Pick #2: Put DuBois twice on my original predictions. The loser was meant to be Bradford. I did get it right, at least. I’m sure someone caught it.
– Belle Vernon winning isn’t too surprising of an upset, but a surprising result to a casual WPIAL follower. I thought Penn-Trafford was the better team heading in.
– Imani/Steel Valley? I tried.
– Wilmington & Forest Hills picks looked great, in hindsight. Can’t get them all right, especially as LHAC & D10 knowledge isn’t that great.
– Chalk up my Haverford/La Salle pick as being no savant on Inter-Ac & Indies.
– The Montrose pick was a theoretical coin flip. Neither team is a world beater, nor a winning program.
– The D1 1A game came back to bite me. I mean, I’m not going to lose sleep over it, but I could’ve done a better job there. Tried something different & didn’t work.
You know the drill. I’ll try & do a bit better next week. I want a 90% overall week, but I think anyone would agree that getting an 82% success rate for the week is pretty solid!
September 17th, 2023 at 10:53 am
Margaret you’re back! Your thoughts on North Schuylkill this year?
September 16th, 2023 at 9:12 pm
Achieved a first this weekend, three live games in three consecutive days. The last two, Cheltenham @ Perk Valley and Fr. Judge @ PJPII gave me bad case of yellow flagicitis. I assume just some rest, give it a few days and it will pass, and I should be good to go for next Friday.
September 16th, 2023 at 5:39 pm
@margaret
Should have known not to open my mouth.
Terrible performance all around from MCA. No clue why they kept running a hurry up offense and the defense couldn’t stop one kid running the ball. They will be lucky to make it to the district final to lose to Southern again this year.
September 16th, 2023 at 1:22 pm
Since 2018 mount carmel has now lost only to southern, north schuylkill and milton. Not a bad 2 1/2 football teams to lose too.
September 16th, 2023 at 12:21 pm
Manheim looks great. I thought they would beat Spring Ford, but to score 63 on them was something I did not expect. I still think Spring Ford is a solid team, that no one in District 1 should sleep on. But Coach Brubaker needs to fix that defense if they want to make a playoff run.
September 16th, 2023 at 9:50 am
There’s a great video clip of Braeden Wisloski’s 98 yard kickoff return for a touchdown for the Terps last night on the web. I’ll bet that has to make Coach Roth smile!
September 15th, 2023 at 3:59 pm
@Maynard Plumm
Thank you so much , Lol
I embrace your comments , gave me a lil
Chuckle , although not as much of a nod wink and a small chuckle regarding all those
“PAWSOME” comments about hard work and determination and yada yada yada gotta love it.
although it is truly bandwagon season and for the homers of course I understand your view….
It really is kind of funny though that all of you took from that comment section about SCA that I was pointing at them for potentially using any substances they shouldn’t be ,if you reread that I said all athletes across Pennsylvania should be tested not just SCA so after you reread that I did not just say SCA I said all schools so if the shoe fits lace it up bro.
Dude never did I ever say that southern Columbia doesn’t work hard it’s true I get it .it’s their job description they eat sleep and drink football that’s the only thing they’re ever going to do the rest of their lives when college is over that’s it, I get it they are football machines and then they will all come back and work in Catawissa and then start families cool beans.
So you could all relax and just chill I will formally say yes your Southern Columbia Mighty tigers are wonderful there you have it YAYYYYY !!!!
The only thing I take very seriously is I never pointed any finger at any school in particular I said they all should be tested
Good luck to all your respective schools tonight especially SCA
GO GET’TEM TIGERS !!!
I might just play some eye of the tiger song while watching WNEP Sports waiting for Southern’s score
GREEEEAT and maybe some frosted flacks
Tony the Tiger style
September 15th, 2023 at 2:27 pm
Dist LFC, many factors go into SC Success, having one of the best, if not the best HS HC in Pa history helps, not having any area private schools in the area also helps. In addition, as some have pointed out, changing demographics in many coal mining towns have families moving into the SC School district. I recently drove through Mt Carmel after many years and it was sad to see a once thriving town disintegrate like that. I do wonder if some redshirting is going on up there, a tactic that Berwick and Mt Carmel used in the past. My son wrestled a couple kids from S. Columbia in age related elementary tournaments years ago and was very surprised to see the same kids 2 years behind him when they hit High School.
September 15th, 2023 at 1:15 pm
@Jeff H from what I can tell by just searching the web, it looks like Columbia Montour Vo Tech and Dobbins Randolph Vo Tech are the only schools that have their own football teams. The latter looks like two separate Vo Tech schools in the Philly area that must have an agreement to have a combined team. I’d expect that all other schools within the state would be affected by this new rule since their Vo Tech students would be eligible to play on their own teams. Someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. I really couldn’t figure out which Philly schools would be sending students to those two Vo Tech schools. It could be interesting to see if this rule has an impact. It seems from reading a few articles that there were some schools that were counting those students as eligible to play and others that were not, which is why the PIAA decided to be more specific about this rule.
September 15th, 2023 at 11:27 am
@Dist LFC: Yours is the worst kind of yellow journalism. To outright accuse the kids @ SCA of steroid use with no evidence whatsoever is gutless and slanderous. @Brian is right. Your stated posture and baseless accusations are pathetic, and smack of childish jealousy. Wow, you must be so proud.
September 15th, 2023 at 11:18 am
@ Brian – thanks for the detailed explanation as it pertains to SCA, I’m curious which of the smaller schools will be affected by the new vo-tech rule, guess we’ll find out when the new classifications are unveiled later this year
September 15th, 2023 at 10:46 am
I will piggyback on what @Irish1 and @Brian were saying.
I can speak to Perk Valley as my son played there. Their continued success is due to the culture built by old coach, Scott Reed (now at PJPII) and current coach, Rob Heist. They have built a PROGRAM that the boys are proud to be part of and look forward to their turn to keep the success going. This seems so simple but I have witnessed so many teams that used to be very strong that have really fallen off, my alma mater for one down in the Chesmont league. There are plenty of teams that have a great group of kids come thru and have a couple good seasons and then fall off for a couple seasons so the consistency of certain programs is truly a testament to what goes in “behind the scenes”. PV has amazing community support as well that makes it easier for their players to “buy in” to continue the success.
September 15th, 2023 at 10:41 am
@MCA75 I think you’re correct on both counts. SCA has seen an influx back in the 80s with Centralia being bought out, which is the first increase in population I remember seeing. We definitely have families that have moved to the Elysburg area in particular from both Shamokin and Mount Carmel as jobs just seemed to dry up in coal country. The death of places like Shamokin is pretty sad to see from when I was young. What were active areas are now filled with buildings that are condemned and empty. It makes sense that people would leave these dying towns. Most of those students though have been in the district their whole lives, but their parents or grandparents did originate from coal country. I think the boys themselves, however, dislike when people suggest they’re from coal country since they never lived there themselves.
I absolutely agree with you that Roth has a strength in the fact he can field an almost completely different defense from his offense. Southern can often be a second half team then because they wear down their opponents. When there is a player that goes both ways such as Garcia is now, the fans start to worry it’s too much…which is kind of funny since nearly every other team they play has most of their players playing both ways.
September 15th, 2023 at 9:52 am
Since 2018, Mt. Carmel has only lost to North Schuylkill (all close games)and you guessed it, Southern Columbia. MCA would likely have made some noise in the state tournament a few times but faced SCA in the district final every year (except 2020 which was COVID shortened and MCA season cancelled).
I’ve said this before many times but people outside may not realize the what happened in the area over the years. People left Mount Carmel and Shamokin (who could blame them) and many who stayed moved to Southern Area. Look at many of the names on SCA roster the last couple years. Their dads were the stars of the 90s for Mt. Carmel and Shamokin. It also doesn’t hurt that they occasionally somehow get a good player here or there from another district.
I can’t argue with what @Brian said about SCA being in the weight room and having a great coach and system. However I think their biggest strength is being able to develop kids enough that they are able to have mostly 1 way players which is a huge advantage for a small school. In many recent games with SCA, MCA has kept in close in the first half only to get worn down in the 2nd.
September 15th, 2023 at 8:48 am
Disrtact 2 LFC
No one cares about your picks.
September 15th, 2023 at 8:20 am
@ Jeff H I read that article as well. That rule wouldn’t affect Southern Columbia. First, they don’t send that many students to Vo Tech. Second, the rule is regarding students who could still play for their “home district” because their school doesn’t offer sports teams. Columbia Montour Vo Tech actually is a full time Tech school. They offer their own sports teams and those kids aren’t eligible to play for their home districts. So, in this case, the rule shouldn’t apply to the few kids going to Tech from Southern. Even if you did add in those couple of kids, it wouldn’t increase Southern into the 3A category as their population they send to Vo Tech is quite low and they’re at the low end numbers for 2A. I think Columbia Montour Vo Tech is probably not the norm of Vo Techs in that they do offer their own sports teams, however, that’s because the school districts that send kids are so spread out it has to be a full day program and those kids would never be able to return to their home districts to participate in athletics on a daily basis (they are bused by the home districts, but arrive later and stay later every day to put a full day in). Cyber students and home school students could participate in Southern’s athletics and would be counted with this rule, but they have few, if any, students in that category.
September 15th, 2023 at 7:42 am
@ D 4 LFC WOW! You actually believe that the only way a program could be that successful is that they’re on steroids?!! I hope to hell you’re not a coach or teacher if that’s your opinion. What a great lesson to teach young men: You will only win consistently if you take roids. You should be ashamed of that belief, but I fear that shame just isn’t in you.
I work in a school that used to be a power house. Let me tell you why they’re not anymore: The kids don’t buy into the program and they don’t put in the work that they do at SCA. Plain and simple. The entire community and the kids buy into Roth’s program. It has to start from the ground up and it has to be year round. There is a huge amount of pressure on those kids to continue that winning condition. They grow up watching the big kids playing and winning and want to do the same thing. Roth has taught them that they can’t do that if they don’t put in the work year round. The fact that you don’t believe it and you refuse to watch Roar because you have already made up your mind about it being steroids, transfers or some other lame excuse is quite sad. It says far more about you than it does about the young men in that program busting their butts all year long to make sure they’re not the team that lets down the community. I’ve worked in other districts and I’ll tell you it’s not the same. The work ethic isn’t there in other schools and for other coaches. If your team and your community don’t buy in, you’re not going to reproduce this. To say that they should be penalized and hobbled so that other teams that don’t put in this level of work is a bad lesson to give to these kids.
Perhaps you should stick to analyzing teams you know something about rather than disparaging a group of young men based on rumors and inuendo just because they’re consistently successful.
September 15th, 2023 at 7:13 am
@Distract 2 LFC, i dont really know much about S Columbia other then they win alot,. Its a long way away from District one where I am. As far as CB West goes a coach like M Pettine doesnt come along very often and when that district split into three high schools the talent was spread out even more, so its easy to see why they arent what they used to be ,but they are still a respectable program. There are many factors that play into why once powerful programs arent quite what they used to be. Doesnt mean that they were once cutting corners or anything like that. I can point to a program like Perk Valley that used to be a doormat for many years,,then that area got built up with new homes and now PV is a power. Norristown is the direct opposite.. Norristown was a power program with over 500 wins and turned out plenty of division one talent thru the years,but changing demographics have resulted in it now being a shadow of what it once was. Times change and parts of the state change. Mt Carmel is still a good program but its doubtful they can ever be what they once were being from the coal area. Those schools much like the ones from the old steel towns rode the wave of those industries.
September 15th, 2023 at 6:19 am
Workman like effort by Q-Town last night. They got the job done. Little disappointed in the crowd turnout with a perfect night for a football game. Thursday night, Eagles game, both?? Thumbs down to the P-W student section for bailing in the 3rd qtr. Guess they did see the writing on the wall tho.
September 15th, 2023 at 2:06 am
Lackawanna Football Conference
District 2 picks
Susquehanna 22
Lakeland 7
Western Wayne 17
Abington Heights 14
Scranton 22
Scranton Prep 18
Dunmore 31
Riverside 8
Mid Valley 28
Old Forge 12
North Pocono 14
Valley View 13
Lackawanna Trail 33
Honesdale 20
September 15th, 2023 at 1:59 am
Imagine how far some of these ns teams could have went with rick geist
September 15th, 2023 at 1:57 am
Wally hall? Wally hall? Why do you play a soft defense. Why dont you get after people and hit. You have the players. Why do you think you need to throw 50 times in a row? Imagine having carroballo, flail and chowansky back there together. Or having chowansky and flail back there. Imagine mixing up run and pass. Imagine putting flail in the wildcat. Imagine improving as the season goes on and not losing games you shouldnt lose
September 14th, 2023 at 10:38 pm
Garnet Valley edged Haverford High 14-13 tonight. Last week, they did not pull away from Penncrest until late. They definitely look beatable. They play Haverford School (Inter-Ac) next week who were getting blown out by La Salle 28-3 late 3rd quarter last time, but still could be a close game. They also have to face Strath Haven and Marple Newtown later in the season, does anyone think their Central League winning streak will come to an end this year?
September 14th, 2023 at 7:49 pm
Not a lot of big time matchups this weekend in the WPIAL, D2 fan highlighted most of the games I will mention, next week there are several marque games
PCC vs Mt Lebo – may seem like a good matchup on paper but Lebo won’t be able to keep up with the PCC offensive machine, this game won’t be close and could be a mercy rule game like last week, will end up something like 49-21
3A Belle Vernon vs. 5A Penn Trafford – BV continues their big boy non-conference schedule after beating McKeesport in OT last week, if you like hard hitting defensive football and line play this is the matchup for you, this game could go either way, PT is tough at home and they beat them last year at BV, but I’ll pick BV in a close, low scoring game 17-14
5A Peters Township vs. 5A South Fayette – first conference game for both teams, SF blew a 17 point 2nd half lead against Montour last week and lost 42-35, Peters is rolling at 3-0 but they haven’t played anyone of note yet, I think Peters wins a pretty close game on the road.
4A Aliquippa vs. 4AMontour – also the first conference game for both schools, Montour is 3-0 with nice nonconference wins over Mars and SF as mentioned, I think they keep it interesting for awhile but the Quips end up winning by 3 scores, Montour is the third best team in this conference behind the Quips and CV.
2A Steel Valley vs. 2A Imani Christian – another big conference matchup, can SV bounce back after a very surprising loss last week to Seton LaSalle, winner of this game is the favorite to win the conference and be a high seed in the playoffs, I like Imani to win by a TD
September 14th, 2023 at 3:52 pm
Suburban One League
Rough week last week, even though Council Rock South didn’t beat Pennsbury, they played them very tough, really Surprised, and then again not, that Souderton beat CB East, Souderton has been highly touted all season but hasn’t played up to it until last week.
So, we start with Divisional games and finish with the last of the Crossovers.
PENNRIDGE OVER Abington, – and regardless of what everyone says, this may not be close, I got a feeling Pennridge is getting their MOJO Back. 2 TD’s or more.
UPPER DUBLIN OVER Bensalem- I’ve seen UD favored by as many as 28 points, don’t think that’s going to happen I see it 14-17 pt win.
CB EAST OVER CB South – everyone has CB East, and I’m taking a deep breath, after they disappointed me last week, this is going to be a great game to view, 3-7 pt difference.
SOUDERTON OVER CR North- which Souderton shows up? Doesn’t really matter Souderton easy.
CR SOUTH OVER HS Truman- as long as there is no letdown after a strong effort against Pennsbury, CR South by 3 TD’s
HATBORO HORSHAM OVER Wm Tennant- two neighboring schools, I’m so surprised HH could be off to a 3-1 start, after almost dropping the sport a few years ago, closer than most think, 7-10pts.
NORTH PENN OVER Neshaminy- can’t even believe I’m picking North Penn, they are a shell of the team they were even 2-3 years ago, but North Penn by 7 to 10 pts.
CB WEST OVER Pennsbury- I keep seeing the local Pundits saying this is a close game, I think CB West puts the hammer down & it’s 14 pts at least.
CROSSOVER GAMES (non-divisional)
PERK VALLEY OVER Cheltenham- this is easy, Cheltenham played Saturday, finished Monday, has 2 days off and has to play PV, PV by 3 TD’s
QUAKERTOWN OVER Plymouth Whitemarsh- this is going to be an excellent game, I’ve got Quakertown pulling this one out by 3pts, the media Pundits seem to be split on this game.
So, there you go from the SOL, hope everyone enjoys the great weather and gets out and supports the team of your choice.
September 14th, 2023 at 2:17 pm
@Kevin X
My argument was not against the Dunmore lady hoopsters as you say.
I only used them as an example because in the Scranton Times news article it was reported that the PIAA was forcing the Dunmore girls basketball team to move up a classification because of their “quality of play” and that was the exact wording of the article , so my argument was that if Dunmore had to move up then Southern Columbia football team should then have to move up as well, because of their quality of play not so much how many players they have this debate will be endless. All I know at the end of the day is whatever is in that water down there it’s something special if you know what I mean !
nobody’s going to tell me that just because of hard work and determination a team’s going to go and win 11 state championships sorry don’t believe it and I never will ! and something like 27 straight District titles overall 30 some.
It’s funny because the other gentleman that was trying to basically guard his wonderful tigers was saying that it’s about jealousy and not teaching young men how to win the correct way sorry I don’t buy into it WVIA can make all the documentaries they want but something’s not right in Catawissa and there’s a lot of people that know it !
There are lots of other programs that were very successful and fell off the Earth and that very well happens for instance look at Berwick –
Mount Carmel- Central Bucks West -Tyrone Blackhawk- Manheim Central these were all perennial powers that are no more you’re not going to tell me all of a sudden the football Community just gets up and says we’re done even when coaches pass on or move forward that Community Drive to keep winning would still be there, so all I’m saying is like I said I don’t buy into it and there’s lots of people who don’t because they’re likely is something not right nobody’s going to come on and change my mind so I will step aside respectfully not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings so if you are a tiger’s fan or just like to be on their bandwagon congratulations I’ll say it now to another state championship season and on to many more LOL it’s actually quite hilarious not honorable.
Just a thought I also feel the PIAA should mandate that all athletes no matter what team or sport they play should be tested for performance enhancing drugs , just saying and I said ALL teams not just SCA.
Good day mates
September 14th, 2023 at 1:51 pm
@ D2 LFC
Tread lightly my friend, SCA has always been a third rail on this forum (I’ve been zapped numerous times). Looks like you stepped in it/on it this time 🙂
An ooops, my bad, for me. I should not attempt any further discussions of girls basketball and football in the same post 🙂
September 14th, 2023 at 12:50 pm
Best Of The Rest: I guess it’s 50 combined every week for me. I added SC/Altoona to make up for the cancellation last week.
District 2/4
– Lakeland vs. Susquehanna
– Loyalsock Twp vs. Danville
– Towanda vs. Canton
– Selinsgrove vs. Shamokin
District 11
– Allentown Central Catholic vs. Freedom
– Saucon Valley vs. Bangor
– Williams Valley vs. Minersville
– NW Lehigh vs. Pen Argyl
District 1/12
– CB South vs. CB East
– CB West vs. Pennsbury
– Quakertown vs. Plymouth-Whitemarsh
– Downingtown West vs. Avon Grove
– Springfield vs. Marple-Newtown
– Lansdale Catholic vs. Neumann-Goretti
District 3
– Governor Mifflin vs. Exeter Twp.
– Central Dauphin vs. Chambersburg
– Cedar Cliff vs. Hershey
District 5/6
– Altoona vs. State College
– Bald Eagle vs. Tyrone
– Meyersdale vs. Windber
WPIAL/District 8
– PCC vs. Mount Lebanon
– Belle Vernon Area vs. Penn-Trafford
– Peters Twp. vs. South Fayette
– Steel Valley vs. Imani
– Canon-McMillan vs. Bethel Park
– Montour vs. Aliquippa
– USO vs. Westinghouse
District 9/10
– Bradford vs. DuBois
– Port Allegany vs. Cameron County
– Hickory vs. Wilmington
– McDowell vs. Erie
Inter-District & Non-PIAA
– Mifflinburg (4) vs. Central Mountain (6)
– Spring Ford (1) vs. Manheim Twp. (3)
– Forest Hills (6) vs. Chestnut Ridge (5)
– Bucktail (4) vs. Otto-Eldred (9)
– Haverford (Ind.) vs. La Salle (12)
– Malvern Prep (Ind.) vs. Imhotep Charter (12)
– Roman Catholic (12) vs. DeMatha (MD)
– St. Joe’s Prep (12) vs. Don Bosco Prep (NJ)
– Episcopal vs. Hill
Scores
– Lakeland 42, Susquehanna 12
– Danville 36, Loyalsock 21
– Canton 41, Towanda 20
– Selinsgrove 38, Shamokin 19
– ACC 34, Freedom 23
– Bangor 34, Saucon Valley 13
– Williams Valley 21, Minersville 18
– NW Lehigh 42, Pen Argyl 19
– CB South 23, CB East 20
– CB West 34, Pennsbury 14
– Quakertown 27, Plymouth-Whitemarsh 10
– Downingtown West 23, Avon Grove 14
– Marple-Newtown 24, Springfield Delco 23
– N-G 45, Lansdale 18
– Exeter 32, Governor Mifflin 23
– Central Dauphin 29, Chambersburg 13
– Cedar Cliff 28, Hershey 22
– State College 48, Altoona 10
– Bald Eagle 35, Tyrone 12
– Windber 42, Meyersdale 12
– PCC 38, Mt. Lebo 21
– Penn-Trafford 45, Belle Vernon 24
– Peters Twp. 24, South Fayette 15
– Steel Valley 41, Imani Christian 31
– Canon-Mac 34, Bethel Park 33
– Aliquippa 40, Montour 23
– Westinghouse 55, USO 0
– DuBois 34, DuBois 15
– Port Allegany 46, Cameron County 18
– Wilmington 42, Hickory 10
– McDowell 34, Erie 13
– Mifflinburg 28, Central Mountain 21
– Manheim Twp. 34, Spring-Ford 14
– Forest Hills 21, Chestnut Ridge 14
– Bucktail 29, Otto-Eldred 19
– Haverford 28, La Salle 16
– Imhotep 31, Malvern Prep 28
– DeMatha 38, Roman 13
– St. Joe’s 35, Don Bosco Prep 28
– Episcopal 34, Hill 23
September 14th, 2023 at 11:45 am
Just read an article on TribLive about the PIAA changing the formula for how they count school enrollments. Since 2016 public schools had to count only 10% of all their students who attend class in an alternate setting like vo-tech, charter, cyber charter or home school, now starting for the next 2yr cycle schools will have to count 100%. The PIAA admits this will have a much bigger impact on the schools in the smaller classifications than larger schools, and will have no impact on private schools. I know there has been debate on here for years about Southern Columbia and their vo-tech connections, I have no details whatsoever and have not looked into it, but if SCA or any other school was benefiting from the 10% rule we’re going to see some smaller schools moved up in class starting next year.
September 14th, 2023 at 11:34 am
My predictions for some of the bigger games this week are:
Manheim Township over Spring Ford- Should be a great game. Spring Ford’s offense lead by QB Zollers and WR Scott has been amazing this season but have not faced a team like Manheim yet. I am going with Manheim due to their blowout win over Harrisburg last week, but this game could go either way.
Marple Newtown over Springfield Delco- Marple Newtown looks like the best team in District 1-5A so far. In my opinion, they are probably the team in the Central League with the best chance of upsetting Garnet Valley this season. They have some good athletes at the skill positions as well. Though Springfield Delco is by far better than their three previous opponents, so this game should be close.
Quakertown over Plymouth Whitemarsh- Quakertown has had two tough losses against good teams to start the season (CB West and Southern Lehigh), but if they play how they did against North Penn, they should beat PW.
CB East over CB South- CB South has raced out to a 3-0 start, blowing out Truman and CR North. CB East is coming off a tough loss vs. Souderton, though I think they will rebound and come out on top in a defensive battle.
CB West over Pennsbury- Pennsbury defense is solid and should keep the game close. CB West looks like the best team in the SOL and possibly all of District 1, I expect them to pull away at the end.
Imhotep Charter over Malvern Prep- Malvern’s defense will be able to keep this game close, but I do not think it will be enough to overcome Imhotep.
DeMatha Catholic (MD) over Roman Catholic- Roman is loaded this season and probably the best Philly Catholic Team outside of St Joe’s Prep. DeMatha is a consistently top 100 team in the nation and plays in the ultra-talented WCAC conference. I expect a good game between the two.
Parkland over Nazareth- Both teams are clearly the best teams in the Lehigh Valley and favorites to win D11-6A. Both have been dominant thus far and are strong on both sides of the ball. In my opinion, this game will determine the EPC South champion since I do not see any other team in the Valley being either of these two. I have Parkland coming on top in a close one though, expect a rematch between these two in D11-6A playoffs.
Bethlehem Freedom over Allentown Central Catholic- ACC is coming off a last second victory over Emmaus last and is one of the better teams in 4A statewide. Freedom was able to keep it close with one of the best teams in 6A in Nazareth last week. I think Freedom will pull off the upset.
La Salle over Haverford School- La Salle has lost back-to-back after their week one win over North Penn. Haverford lost to Imhotep 35-0 to start the season and rebounded against last week against a struggling Academy Park team. I think the Explorers will win in a defensive battle.
September 14th, 2023 at 10:46 am
@Dennis
According to the easternpafootball season preview, Southern Columbia has 2 returning starters on the offensive line (1x Jr and 1x Sr) so its not all freshmen. The others might be freshmen or just first year starters but you can’t tell since they don’t post an updated roster online that Im aware of. Southern is good again regardless but I’ve seen this posted before and it doesn’t appear to be true.
September 14th, 2023 at 10:43 am
@Distract2LFC it is obvious you’re not familiar at all with the Southern Columbia program. I might suggest that there is actually a documentary made by PBS called “Roar” that actually addresses some of the rumors you mention. I’ll try to enlighten you a bit though.
First, I have no idea where you came up with the “trade program” that you claim is a “talent feeder to their team” and is “where they get all their quality players from.” This is the first I’ve heard that particular claim, but I’m going to guess you’re confusing your rumor mill. Southern has students that can attend Columbia/Montour Area Vo Tech, which is a trade school that is full time. It’s been suggested over the years that Southern is lowering their numbers by forcing kids to attend Vo Tech so that they don’t count towards their total count for the PIAA. This claim is preposterous for several reasons. First, of the “sending schools” in those two counties, Southern sends few kids to Vo Tech. You also couldn’t force a kid to attend Vo Tech. They have to apply to the school and can also be sent back to the sending school if Vo Tech does not feel they are worthy of the placement or there are behavioral problems. Southern is also on the low end for 2A and almost at the 1A classification. There is no way the couple of kids that they send to Vo Tech is keeping them in 2A. They’d have to be sending a much larger population for that to be true, which would make their elementary population much larger than it actually is.
If by “feeder” to their team you mean the elementary level football programs, you would have a great point. The coaches at that level teach their players the Wing T offense and use many of the same plays that the high school team is using. Those kids grow up familiar with the offense and defense used by the Tigers and it really isn’t as much of a learning curve when they reach the high school level.
You suggest that the PIAA was playing favorites when it didn’t make SCA move up. You must be unfamiliar then with the rules as SCA does not have the transfers that are necessary to make them move to 3A. Many of the kids playing on that team I remember growing up with their parents. There are not a ton of kids transferring into the school to play football like we see at many of the private schools that are even pulling kids from outside the state to play on their team.
You suggest they should move up to 4A. How did you come up with that classification exactly? What teams nearby would SCA play that would fill their schedule in 4A? How far would they have to travel since they literally have a school in the country hours from a major city. Who wants to travel that far to play Southern and why should Southern’s kids have to travel that far each week to play a game? They have enough trouble filling their schedule with teams willing to play them. Even Berwick wanted to get out of their agreement this year and not play them because they didn’t want the loss. For a team that is, by numbers, almost a 1A school, you want them to bump up because you feel it’s fair…what exactly is fair about penalizing a team because they work harder and therefore win more often? Because, quite frankly, that’s what it boils down to. If you’re familiar at all with SCA’s program, you’d know that these kids eat, sleep and breath football. They are in that weight room the day after they win states. They are in there every day all year long and they spend the time working on their game all year long. It’s not a sport they pick up in the summer thinking about again. It’s a sport that is a commitment to them.
The PIAA classifications are based on school size and should definitely consider the kids that transfer. I personally think private schools should play in their own league as that’s not fair. But to argue that a team who’s dedication has led to continual success and continual buy-in by the next generation should be punished for their success is a really crappy lesson to teach to young men.
You argued that they played a team in South Carolina as your reasoning that they’d be able to play with big name teams, but it seems you’re not aware that the 2019 team that did so was a step above any SCA team that ever passed through that school. They were not the norm and shouldn’t be used to judge all the teams that ever played for Roth. That particular team probably could have won states in higher classifications, but that doesn’t mean that every other team at Southern should be held to that unreachable standard.
Perhaps rather than teaching your kids to quit if they think they can’t beat a Southern, you should use Southern as an example of what that level of hard work can lead to if you choose to dedicate yourself to the game. What lesson do you wish for football to teach these young men? Roth has taught them that hard work, team work, and determination can lead to success. It’s sad the adults who think that such a program couldn’t exist within the rules and there must be cheating…and that we must find a way to make that team less successful.
September 14th, 2023 at 9:38 am
@ D2 LFC
One quick follow-on……
“I have no idea why they would not move up they truly have Ballers every year personally they should be in class 4A there’s no way they should be in 2A.”
You are talking about the Dunmore Lady Bucks hoopsters. Yes, they do have ballers. But three letters on why they don’t want to move up to 4A: P C L
If their enrollment figures fall within the 2A parameters (they are 3A now), then yes, they should play in 2A, unless they choose to play higher.
September 14th, 2023 at 8:14 am
@ D2 LFC
Interesting you used the two best examples of the egregiousness of the PIAA Competition Formula of one team that has never been promoted and should be, and one school that was that should not have been. I’ve been following this Competition Formula (or whatever they call it) since its inception, and it still gives me a combo of a headache and upset stomach whenever i try to understand it. I think when I attempt to inject outside common sense into the methodology and purpose, that is when my symptoms reach their peak.
September 14th, 2023 at 6:07 am
@Distract 2 LFC, first you have the catholic schools all figured out when you really dont know anything about them. Then you go on and on about S Columbia but finish by saying you are big fan of their success after saying they get most of their talent by funneling in players thru a school program. Talk about damning with faint praise. I guess we should all be thankful for all those squeaky clean public schools in District 2
September 13th, 2023 at 10:52 pm
Week 4 has arrived in Talkback 16 Country! A new format for me this week, since conference play is up & running in D2. I’ll showcase a game in every division. LFC 2/3 aren’t playing for a week, so I’ll feature the best or a random matchup. A LFC & WVC honorable mention, D2 crossover (if applicable), & the two sub-regional showdowns of note fill out my 10!
D2 Games To Watch (+ Subregionals!)
– Scranton Prep vs. Scranton (LFC 1): Whenever Scranton’s top teams square off, it’s usually a good matchup. However, the Prep team is running on all cylinders. Easy win.
– Dunmore vs. Riverside (LFC 2): This game could be a huge implication game for 2A. The winner of this may get the 1 seed. I think Dunmore will do their thing & take it from Riverside.
– Holy Cross vs. Montrose (LFC 3): Montrose, while opting out of D2 playoffs, is playing a fairly winnabl game. The rest of the LFC 3 teams are playing mediocre teams.
– Wilkes-Barre Area vs. Hazleton (WVC 1): This game is huge for 6A standings. It could decide who is the team missing the playoff in a DEEP 6A field. I think Wilkes-Barre has some studs on offense, & it may be the thing that gets them the dub. I’ll go with the Wolf Pack here.
– Greater Nanticoke vs. Wyoming Area (WVC 2): GNA is on this list a lot. That’s because they’re a team that can surprise. I’m not making this upset of the week, but if GNA stumbles, just imagine the huge shot of confidence they’ll get.
– Wallenpaupack vs. Delaware Valley (LFC HM): This is a fairly one-sided rivalry between the two Pike County D2 teams. Both teams are coming off of tough losses against 6A teams. DV’s going in the wrong direction. The “get right’ game is real with these two teams. I’ve seen the Buckhorns get blown out 70-0 some years & hold their own others. I fear it’s the prior. DV can’t afford to go 0-4.
– Berwick vs. Williamsport (WVC HM): This is the only decent game in WVC 1 that isn’t WBA/Hazleton. A Berwick team that’s had a rough three weeks against a Williamsport team that neds to keep up in the 6A playoff race. I think Berwick turns it around here. It’ll be hard times at the Columbia-Luzerne line if they drop to 0-4.
– Western Wayne vs. Abington Heights (D2 HM): BIG game at “The Pit” Saturday. The winner of this game will have some great momentum. AH is stronger than in years’ past. Western Wayne’s a solid 2-1. I’ll take the home team here
– Nazareth vs. Parkland (EPC 6A): The Top 2 in the 6A standings will go head to head here. A huge win for either team. Parkland is the better team here.
– Renaissance Academy vs. CMVT (D1 1A): Don’t laugh at this. Hear me out. Jenkintown is playing New Hope-Solebury, who based on CalPreps would get blown out. The Drakes haven’t had the luck in the last few years, except for an oddball 6-3 win last time out. Morrisville gets Lower Moreland, who they’ve had success against. As for Renaissance, this is their first game since losing to some team named Vaux Big Picture. CMVT, like Lower Moreland, is 4A, but they’re bottom of the barrel in D4. CalPreps favors Renaissance by one point. I’d take a huge risk with the closer game, & will go with the projection outright. I feel this will be the more competitive game. If I’m wrong, so be it.
Scores
– Scranton Prep 49, Scranton 14
– Dunmore 23, Riverside 19
– Montrose 21, Holy Cross 14
– Wilkes-Barre Area 32, Hazleton 22
– Wyoming Area 38, GNA 12
– Delaware Valley 42, Wallenpaupack 10
– Berwick 31, Williamsport 16
– Abington Heights 24, Western Wayne 20
– Parkland 31, Nazareth 24
– Renaissance 21, CMVT 20
September 13th, 2023 at 9:25 pm
Loyalsock is 3A and let’s see how good they are this week against another 3A school in Danville. They didn’t look all that impressive at home against a very average, at best, 3A school in Berks Catholic week one.
I believe one of the out of state catholic schools Scranton Prep is playing next year is Canisius up in Buffalo. Wonder if that is a Pegula connection game.
September 13th, 2023 at 8:42 pm
@Dennis
Thank you I appreciate that information about watching them for free at least their home games anyways. Yes this year should be interesting Mount Carmel playing them a good friend of mine has a son who plays for Dunmore and I went to that Mount Carnel game Dunmore actually held their ground at halftime 14-7 but after that Mount
Carmel’s wind was too strong for them.No pun intended lol sort of
I think Dunmore still has a good chance if they could just pull it together and work as a team.
From a Chief good luck the rest of your season
September 13th, 2023 at 4:49 pm
@ Distract 2 LFC Southern Columbia just destroyed a very good 4A team in Loyalsock with a freshmen O line. Should they play up probably. We will see how they stack up with the other 4A schools they play this year. And they still have to play Mt. Carmel yet. The season is young but boy they look pretty good. This comes from a Dunmore bucks fan. You can watch them on YouTube for home games at no charge.
September 13th, 2023 at 2:55 pm
@Kevin X
I completely agree with the others about Scranton prep I think that would be great changing up the competition. The only drawback is making sure they are playing quality Catholic schools and not schools that are comparable with District 2’s
Holy Redeemer and or Holy Cross not all Catholic schools are created equal as we all know some Focus their interest in other sports not all in football but if they are going to be playing quality teams I tip my hat to them that’s great .
I take partial credit for poking the bear they’ve never done that in the history of their school someone must have been reading my rustling of the leaves and thought it was a good idea lol .
whatever gets the job done I wish them the best though out of state can always be very interesting.
On the other topics that have circulated many years for instance Southern Columbia football I believe they still have a trade program at their school that basically is a talent feeder to their team so that’s where they keep getting all their quality players from let’s face it if it wasn’t for that they wouldn’t be state champions that many years in a row and over all something like 11 state titles
That’s not even normal but on the flip side I have to say kudos to coach Roth because no matter how he got the players he still focuses them on Winning State titles either way they’re still winners , so congratulations on that note but to be honest the PIAA DID SUGGEST !!! they wanted them to move up in classification years ago and Southern Columbia refused so how does that work?
The PIAA did the same thing to the Dunmore girls basketball team because they were destroying everybody in the lower classifications and Dunmore did not want to move up and when they opposed it the PIAA made them move so where’s the disconnect with the PIAA and
Southern Columbia?
I have no idea why they would not move up they truly have Ballers every year personally they should be in class 4A there’s no way they should be in 2A.
The PIAA has a formula to acclimate teams to their skill level of play and Southern Columbia should absolutely be forced to move up for the fairness to all the other teams could you imagine being a team down in District 4 and just thinking wow we have to play this Mega buzzsaw who is the Perennial winner of the District championship every single year basically there’s no chance for any other team to snag that, to be honest I would probably just fold the football program or at least pull out of District 4 if I was any teams down there I would put up a protest and just not play them there’s no fairness and equality in that at all !!!
when you’re playing a perennial Buzz saw with diamond bit blades every year even if they do get their players from the trade program they run for a tiny school in Catawissa PA they still play BIG TALENT FOOTBALL what’s fair is fair.
If they could break out of their comfort zone and play the team down in South Carolina and destroy that team from South Carolina years ago by the way that South Carolina team was the champions for how many years down that way why can’t Southern Columbia just man up and do that other times if they can play teams down south why can’t they bump up the 4A that makes no sense okay I’m finished I’m going to put my poking rod down hopefully the bear has awoken and but in this case the mighty tiger with diamond bit teeth. Keep in mind I’m not a hater of Southern Columbia I think it’s fantastic how many times they won the state championship I imagine that would be very hard no matter who you have on your team great coaching for sure and the players themselves how many times over they have to keep themselves in shape it’s great dedication but it’s the the details that surround it that’s all I’m talking about.
September 12th, 2023 at 2:41 pm
Week 3 Picks Recap.
Thanks to ES South/Pleasant Valley being rained out, it had to wait until today.
– I went a PERFECT 10-0 in District 2’s noteworthy picks, to go to 25-5 (83.3%). Emmaus almost killed that perfect record for me.
– As for the rest of the state, a 26-12-1 (71.25%) record, to go to 76-42-1 (~64%). I’ll explain the tie in the next part. One game was cancelled, but I’ll give the team with the more important battle love.
– Overall, this week was 36-12-1 (~73.5%), & I’m 101-47-1 (~67.8%) on the season.
Notes
– Jersey Shore & Selinsgrove played to a 21-21 tie, due to a serious injury by a Shore player in the 4th quarter. Hope whoever that was is alright. Not sure how to treat it in my picks, but I’ll give it a half win for now. They at least played.
– Should’ve included Wyo/Trinity. Great come from behind win. Now if a lot of these other teams in the state could take some notes, that’d be great.
– This week, my head scratching loss was Coatesville/Central Dauphin. Not that bad of a loss, but quite a shocking result. Coatesville seems like a better team, but what do I know?
– Lancaster-Lebanon teams took my picks personally. Got both wrong.
– Montour over South Fayette. I have zero clue how good Montour is. Is this a sneaky team in 4A?
– Getting the Penn-Trafford pick wrong was bad judgement on my part. I went with the higher rank.
– The other incorrect picks (Roman & Reynolds losses) were just due to lack of knowledge, & ES South/Pleasant Valley was a coin flip game.
– State College/Hollidaysburg was cancelled. Man, wish I didn’t add that game & did Wyo/Trinity. I’ll do SC-Altoona next week, just for the extra pick. It may mean jack squat, but it could depend for 6A & the last team in.
And last but not least, FINALLY! I got my D1 1A pick of the week correct. Prior history was the best move. I doubt Week 4 will do the same.
I’ll try & do better next week in the non-D2 stuff. One day I’ll have a perfect week there.
September 12th, 2023 at 9:35 am
Shout out to formal Central Valley standout Jordan Whitehead with 3 INTs last night against Josh Allen and the Bills on MNF. He was the star of their 2014 team that started the season 15-0, including beating Bishop McDevitt 26-21 in the semi-finals, before they lost to Wood in the 3A final 33-14. They also beat West Alleghany twice, who was undefeated and ranked #1 in most state polls when CV beat them in the last game of the regular season 28-17 and again in the WPIAL final 35-28, this was the year CV announced their presence on the state level after being formed in 2010 with the merger of the Monaca and Center school districts.
September 11th, 2023 at 10:13 pm
WBCB1490.com livestreams Pennsbury, Neshaminy amd Conwell-Egan games.
September 11th, 2023 at 2:00 pm
@ JCo & Kevin X
Absolutely agree that they should dial it down a tad. I feel those level District 1 & the EPC games should be on the schedule. I don’t remember the East Stroudsburg games with DV. Keep in mind, I’m probably the youngest person here, so some of my knowledge of before-2010s PA football is a bit low.
I didn’t hear about the Scranton Prep news. That is a major step in the right direction. I’d assume it’d be among the likes of Moore Catholic in NYC or Group A Jersey schools, which they could be fairly competitive with, except for the national powerhouses.
I feel Valley View, Old Forge, & Trail should do similar & find a few strong teams to the west to schedule. Valley View hosting a home & home with Shore would be cool. I’d be curious to see how the two other teams can compete with the 1A or 2A teams in the WPIAL (doesn’t need to be powerhouses, either).
@ Jeff H, I know of a few.
– WQMY out of Williamsport has NEPA games in District 2 & 4. They are the MyNetworkTV affiliate for Scranton.
– I believe WHP is the CBS affiliate for Greater Harrisburg HS games (please correct me if that’s a different channel).
– Blue Ridge 13 & 11 do, which are only able to be accessed by BRC customers (or the rare game on PCN)
– SEN is the big one that does the state games at the end of the year with PCN. They are only accessible to customers of Service Electric & recently Blue Ridge.
– Astound in the Lehigh Valley does one, I know. They simulcast their game on PCN, but it doesn’t matter unless you have their channel.
– I don’t know if Black Diamond Sports Network in Coal Country has a live feed.
– Webb Weekly Live’s website has some of the Williamsport games, which I think do air on their local Comcast feed. They’re pretty good, but I miss the Gary Chrisman era. It felt so nostalgic.
– Check out NEPA Football’s website, as I think they do some live feeds of D2 football games. They usually have radio feeds.
– SFBN out of Philly covers District 1 & 12, I know. I talked to the lead guy there earlier this year & he explained to me how the D12 basketball playoffs worked (was curious as a few local teams were matched in first round).
I’m sure I’m missing one or two. I also wish there were more live broadcasted HS football games. Some of the newspapers should broadcast games, if they have resources to.
September 11th, 2023 at 11:53 am
Here’s a question for the board, are any of the high school games in eastern or southeastern PA televised on local TV? I know PCN usually does a game of the week, but I’m wondering about any local stations. One of the local stations in Pittsburgh does a WPIAL game of the week, this past week it was naturally the PH vs. PR game I attended, which because of the myriad of TV timeouts and some cramping issues the game that started at 7pm didn’t end until 10:15pm, absolutely ridiculous for a HS game to take longer to play than the average NFL game. It’s great to show a local game to give these teams some more exposure, but they need to do a better job of streamlining things so these games don’t take 3+ hours to play, there’s no flow to a game with so many frequent TV timeouts.
September 11th, 2023 at 7:48 am
@ D2 Fan
I’ll continue to tip my hat to the Del Val program for taking on all challengers early in the season (and any other school that does). Maybe tho they can dial the competition level back a notch or two. The Selinsgrove team and game appeared to be competitive, but maybe trade the likes of Harrisburg and DTE for teams such as Q-Town, Pennridge, Souderton, etc. (schools I’m more familiar with down my way) who play several non league games/teams in the early season. Also a little less and easier travel for the road games. I remember that Del Val did play Pennridge a few years ago, as well as Upper Dublin (I was at that game with UDub, kind of ugly for DelVal if I remember, an early drinking night).
I understand Scranton Prep is following in Del Val’s footsteps and stepping out of their D2 comfort zone and have scheduled two out of state catholic schools next year. I never heard of them, and I don’t remember off hand who they are.
September 10th, 2023 at 4:43 pm
@D2 Fan: It could be good timing for Del Val to schedule some closer non-con games, with the EPC teams now having open dates. I remember when ES South and Del Val played each other frequently, that was a good series that I’d love to see revived.
September 10th, 2023 at 9:27 am
@ Jeff H,
Yes, wear down they did! Wyo’s rushing totals were 57/419. I’m sure the Trinity DL guys were tired on Sat AM. No on runs the Wing T like Wolfrum and Wyomissing.
September 10th, 2023 at 8:37 am
@ EmanD3
Why?? Why are the picking that game up Monday afternoon?? Is it really worth it for Cheltenham to trek back up to Reading from North Philly to continue a 26-0 beat down in mid 2nd qtr. in game that is destined for a running clock?? Nice that they agreed to play on short notice, gave it a shot, but regroup and get ready for a district game at PV Friday night.
@ Foleman
I may be joining you heading west Friday. Slime pickings for good games in District One Friday night, with most games being played Thursday due to the Jewish holiday Saturday. Not getting overly excited about a Cheltenham @ PV game Friday night at the moment.
September 9th, 2023 at 11:43 pm
@EmanD3- guess technically I was right when I said Wyomissing would wear down Trinity in the 2nd half, but what a great game, I kept checking scores while at the PR vs PH game and saw Trinity maintaining their big lead and then was shocked when I saw the final score and the amazing comeback by Wyomissing. I said I thought Trinity was the biggest threat in the east to SCA and they may be, but with the way they handled a very good Loyalsock team last night it certainly appears they are a big favorite to win their 7th state title in a row.
September 9th, 2023 at 11:25 pm
Observations from last night’s games in the WPIAL. Penn Hills confirmed their status as the favorite in 5A with a 26-20 victory at PR, there were 3 lead changes in the first half which ended with PH leading 18-17, then a 60 yard TD run late in the 3rd quarter by QB Julian Dugger and subsequent 2 point conversion pass put PH up 26-17, and they held on for the victory. Dugger hurt PR with his feel more than his arm, rushing for 150 yards and 2TDs, and also throwing for 2 TDs, he has improved significantly since I first saw him play in 2020 as a freshman against Woodland Hills. PR hurt themselves with 4 turnovers which lead to 2 TDs for Penn Hills. PR’s kicker Matt Argilo is a serious weapon, all 5 of his kickoffs were at least 5 yards deep in the end zone, and he made 2 field goals, including 1 in the first half from 48 yards that gave PR a 10-6 lead, it’s a huge advantage in HS football to have your opponent starting at their own 20 yard line after every kickoff. These appear to be the 2 best 5A teams in the WPIAL and very likely they meet again in the playoffs.
Don’t be fooled by the final score in the PCC- Bethel Park game of 62-46, it was 35-6 at the end of the first quarter and 62-20 at half, with QB Peyton Wehner throwing for 5 TDs and rushing for 2 more, and they put it on cruise control from there. PCC plays Mt Lebo next week and they will win that game comfortably, setting up the big showdown in 2 weeks with NA. Scoring 62 pints in the first half against a decent team like BP is mind boggling, this PCC offense is the replica of the PR offense in 2017 with Phil Jurkovec, only they have more talented receivers.
Belle Vernon outlasted McKeesport in OT 21-14 in a very physical game, BV plays Penn Trafford next week, who got their first win of the season 28-26 at the Wolvarena, after jumping out to a 21-0 lead at halftime and withstanding a furious 2nd half comeback effort by WH.
Avowworth rolled over Sto-Rox who is down this year, after their impressive victory over Central Valley last week they appear to be on a collision course with BV in rematch of the 2022 3A WPIAL final.
2A is wide open with Steel Valley’s loss in OT to Seton LaSalle, there are several good teams in 2A, but I don’t think whoever emerges will beat either Farrell or Westinghouse in the state playoffs.
1A is also wide open with Union losing to unranked Cornell 30-14, there are 4-5 teams who have a legitimate chance to win 4 playoff games and the WPIAL title, 1A is the class with the most teams in the WPIAL, similar to 6A in D1.
September 9th, 2023 at 7:52 pm
WWL, up 26-0 after 1st Q, over Cheltenham. I thought Cheltenham OL might cause some issues for the Bulldogs..but not so much. Supposedly WWL all league WR wasn’t playing again tonight. I was wrong. First time he touched the ball this year he goes 74 yds for the score, then another 34 yd TD catch as well..he’s a difference maker!
September 9th, 2023 at 6:46 pm
D2 Fan’s Notes From Week 3. Not a lot, because most of the games were blowouts.
– What do you guys think about Delaware Valley? Is it time for DV to take a step back from their tough scheduling? I fully expect them to destroy Wallenpaupack next week & would be stunned if the Purple & White pull off a statement win (I know the rivalry all too well), but it piques my interest. They play these non-con/non-district games & it hasn’t helped in the playoffs.
– Could Berwick go winless this year? 0-3 to start the year (when was the last time that happened?), after a loss to Abington Heights.
– On the other hand, is Abington Heights officially back? They’ve had some down years since 2017, but they look pretty good!
– Western Wayne is winning the games they have to. 2-1 on the year & the clear #2 in 3A. Absolute pounding against Old Forge.
– Crestwood must’ve had a dream season last year, because they’re starting off not that hot. I believe the team is younger, so growing pains are happening. Let’s see what they’re made of in division play. There’s time to turn it around, & I’ll give them credit that they’ve been in games.
– Holy cow. So many blowouts. District 2 desperately needs to allow for more inter-district scheduling or something. This is why I want to do a CalPreps based Week 0 schedule experiment to see what the most ideal non-conference game for each team would be. It’s obviously hard to know exactly with graduation & dropping participation numbers, but I’d love to see what would offer the most competitive games.
Seeing how my picks do will wait until Monday, as a Pocono game will have to be continued (a tie game at 6 for East Stroudsburg South & Pleasant Valley).
Spoiler: Yours truly had a perfect week (somewhere) & finally got the monkey off his back in one of his picks!
September 9th, 2023 at 5:57 pm
Manheim Township and Spring-Ford have been obliterating teams this year, I might even make the 1 hour 20 min drive next Friday to see that game….although Friday traffic is brutal heading West on a Friday. MH beat Hburgh last year but Hburgh got them back in the playoffs, wouldn’t surprise me to see them meeting up once again in D3 playoffs. Central Dauphin has an absolutely huge offensive line that will make them dangerous in the playoffs. PJP wont be challenged until the PAC 10 Championship against Spring Ford or Perkiomen Valley. What is in the water in S. Columbia? All freshman on the offensive line and they blow out Loyalsock, you would think an up and coming program would poach one of their coaches and mimic what S. Columbia does. Many top legendary coaches from top programs will probably hang it up in the next few years-Woolfrum at Wyo, Dahms at Wilson, Keeley at Berks Catholic, it will be interesting who takes their place.
September 9th, 2023 at 5:24 pm
@EmanD3
I think Wilson will handle them. Cheltenham has a bunch of talent, but they can’t seem to put it all together.
Looking forward to the Manheim-Spring Ford game next week!
September 9th, 2023 at 4:54 pm
Manheim beat Harrisburg 38-6 today. Was surprised by the outcome, even though Harrisburg usually has an early season loss and they tend to get better as the season goes on, but still losing by 31 was unexpected. D3 guys, is Manheim Township that good this year?
Another Surprising score was Coatesville vs Central Dauphin, Central Dauphin won 35-13. Coatesville came out slow and dug themselves a 21-7 hole, then failed to score from the CD 5 on the last play of the first half. Then to start the second half Coatesville threw 2 ints in their own territory that lead to 2 short CD touchdown drives, not trying to take anything away from CD, they were clearly the better team last night. I am somewhat not surprised by the outcome since Coatesville usually has an early season loss in years of transition, like years with a new starting QB. This situation is similar to 2016 (Ortega’s freshman year), where they lost early on to Cumberland Valley 42-21, then figured things out at QB and went undefeated in Chesmont, beating a Downingtown East 42-7, who had 3 D1 seniors on defense, and made it to the 3rd round of playoffs before losing to the eventual district champ North Penn. What I am trying to get at is, don’t count Coatesville out, they have a talented roster and their staff has been in this situation before (2016, 2019, 2021 are all examples), and they were able to overcome early setbacks to win the Chesmont and make a deep playoff run.
Salesianum (DE) over Bonner Prendie 36-0 was surprising as well. I do not know a ton about either, but I know Bonner has PSU commit Williams and two others with FBS offers. Considering they had beaten the NFL Europe Academy in Dublin by a decent margin last week, I thought this game would be closer.
Lastly, PJP and Spring Ford look to be the frontrunners in their divisions of the PAC. Both of them dominated last night. I do not see anyone in the Frontier division beating PJP, the only team that could beat Spring Ford in the Liberty division is Perk Valley, but we are still a couple weeks from that game. I think PJP will be able to make a playoff run in 4A this year.
September 9th, 2023 at 4:48 pm
WWL with a tough loss against CD last week, 36-35. Missed a 39 yd FG in reg. to end it. Then scored first in OT, but let CD score from 4th & 3, then give up a 2pt. conversion. Cheltenham has a big Sr. laden OL and WWL missing their all league WR..must win for them
September 9th, 2023 at 4:41 pm
I guess Manheim Township is for real. Pounded Harrisburg today, 38-6!! There was a lot of pre season hype about MT. I guess that was put to bed. After 3 games, outscoring their opponents 129-12. MT QB the real deal!
September 9th, 2023 at 2:50 pm
Was very impressed with how easily Southern Columbia handled Loyalsock especially with their O line all freshman and only one sophomore and one senior. Again we will see how they handle Danville.
September 8th, 2023 at 10:48 pm
Rough weather night in District 3. Storms in all directions. Many games will finish or start Saturday. Our game at Cocalico was finally stopped for lightning. Many of these games should have been moved to Saturday.
September 8th, 2023 at 10:37 pm
Wyomissing down 34-14, with less than 2 minutes left in 3Q…win, 35-34 @ 2-0 Trinity. Amazing game. Wyo., 400 yds on the ground!
September 8th, 2023 at 9:30 pm
Matt Seneca is happy he left Whitehall. Whitehall 27-0 over Easton.
September 8th, 2023 at 8:58 pm
PJP wins lightning shortened game up 35-0 with 4 min left in first half. PJP hasn’t given up an offensive td in three games. Pac 10 has three very good teams in PJP, SF and PV.
September 8th, 2023 at 5:25 pm
I do think Wilson should win over Cheltenham – albeit not based on a lot of info. Wilson has a fair number of talented players- not 4 or 5 star guys, but a lot of players who will take it to the next level. The QB is pretty good and they have decent receivers. The early season losses were mainly because of the huge losses the defense suffered through graduation. Cheltenham has apparently just played one game – a loss to Chester- which I doubt is a better team than Central Dauphin. We’ll see what happens.
September 8th, 2023 at 3:54 pm
I see someone said that Wilson has picked up Cheltenham, ok, what happened to the Lincoln vs Cheltenham game scheduled for tonight? Did that get cancelled too? What is the Philly Public League doing? No one is going to want to schedule them anymore, & if I’m an AD somewhere, I don’t need that hassle. For the guy who thinks this may be Wilson’s 1st win, Cheltenham has at least 3 legit Div 1 recruits, so it may not be easy.
September 8th, 2023 at 2:09 pm
Jason your speaking my language! I can’t believe this illegal alien/murderer hasn’t been caught yet. Maybe we can go the local zoo’s have them not feed the lions for a couple of days and let them loose in Longwood Gardens, a nice snack for the lions.
September 8th, 2023 at 11:29 am
@Hitman66 – agree coach Plack has built a strong program at Peters, they were very good in 2018-2020 during the Donovan McMillan years, but they haven’t been quite as strong the last few years since I watched PR wipe them out in the 2020 WPIAL final. I haven’t seen any of the south hills teams yet in person but will at some point this season, I think Peters is the favorite to win that conference over BP and USC, but for now I’d rank them below PH, PR and Woody in WPIAL 5A, I think they win this game comfortably tonight over Trinity.
September 8th, 2023 at 11:08 am
@D2 Fan
I don’t know as much about D3, compared to D1 and D11, but Trinity looks like they have a solid team. Messiah Mickens is one of the best sophomores in the country and just committed to Penn State, so he could keep them in just about any game. They also have a class of 2025 WR/DB who has picked up 2 FBS offers recently. Though, Wyomissing is big up front. I don’t enough about the two either to give a great prediction, but I suspect it should be a close game.
September 8th, 2023 at 9:42 am
Another interesting game in the WPIAL this week is 5A Peters Twp (2-0) @ 4A Trinity (2-0). These Rt 19 neighbors couldn’t be much further apart on the football field. Trinity is making strides, but hasn’t really played anybody…..and tonight they get what might be the best 5A team in the district! Peters has finished state ranked in 4 of the past 5 years for our scouting rankings and on MaxPreps (and finished #1 in the state in the final MaxPreps 2019 tally), but they don’t get much hype/respect in the local published rankings. The reason is they don’t really pass the “look” test (are smallish for a 5A team)…..but they certainly pass the “play” test. Coach Plack has built a strong reloader program in what was traditionally not a football school. Peters is a strong favorite in this game, but it should be a measuring stick to see how far Trinity has come.
September 8th, 2023 at 8:16 am
@ Irish1 and Foleman
Well that worked out nicely for Wilson, they get some better 6A competition and a home game to boot!!! And maybe even dodging some iffy weather.
Ahhh, changing the play at the line tonight, heading down to Delco for my second look see of Roman at EA. Wasn’t planning on seeing RC again until the end of the season against SJP and/or LaSalle. Had the DelVal @ DTE game on my week 3 early season road map before the season started, but that game has lost its luster for me and my FNL partner in crime. Always enjoyed games on Inter-Ac campuses. I have much closer to home CBE @ Soudy and CBW @ Q-Town as last minute back games if need be.
September 8th, 2023 at 2:32 am
@KevinX
Imagine Danelo Cavalcante actually showing up at the Kennett football game lmao. He might blend right in so I take back the lmao. I live very close to that wooded area and me and two of my “rougher-type” ex-military buddies want to go in past the perimeter and bring the guy out — dead or alive. The law enforcement agencies that have allowed this to go on for nine days now are completely inept. Yes it is a large area. But those of us with a good knowledge of it and knowing where the cameras are that caught those stills of him know more or less exactly where he’s holing up. Also it just rained so I’m sure he’s good for water for a few more days on top of whatever food he stole during his 1-2 burglaries in the area.
We would have him unconscious in cuffs or hamstrung with rope using no weapons aside from bowie knifes, a cattle prod/stun gun, maybe a Flashbang, and either my trusty Kukri or badass Roman Gladius (yes I’m serious) and then just drop him at an officers feet along the perimeter they don’t seem to leave like “here ya go, you got him, great job” lol. Def No firearms. Can’t risk him obtaining one so that option was out. Heavy canopy may make flare gun an iffy option too. Tough luck for him, I would drag him like Achilles dragged Hector however far was necessary, minus the hooks through the lower legs.
Anyway… We already planned it all out on maps and planned a triangulation technique that would maximize the chance of capture but called it off for… reasons. A law enforcement friend of a friend suspects there’s more at play. Gang $hit, complicity… all I can and should say… moral of the story is that some people really suck, man. Other takeaway? There is NO excuse for this man being on the loose for nine days. 200-250 man search party? HAH YEAH. Really doing a great job. Enjoy that overtime. (Another reason).
I write all of this because this is how much value I place on high school football… To the extent that I’d attempt to apprehend a murderer just so a game could be played as scheduled! No but seriously, this is my home area and all the people living near there don’t deserve this. Even up in my neighborhood people are on edge. Meanwhile I’m having a smoke holding a Remington and wishing I could gear up and finally put an end to this.
Also Downingtown West looks great and I’m interested to see how well Matt Ortega, Jr. follows in Ricky’s footsteps.
– JM
September 7th, 2023 at 10:51 pm
@D2 Fan
Salesianum is legit. They are consistently one of the best teams in DE. It is tough to gauge them against PA teams since they rarely play them. Though their middle school teams use to play and compete with the inter ac middle school teams
September 7th, 2023 at 8:47 pm
@ Jeff H
I almost added Trinity vs. Wyomissing to my Best of the Rest, but the rankings on MaxPreps didn’t really make it as appealing to me. I don’t think the Shamrocks can pull off an upset, but I like your thinking.
Didn’t even think about Shaler/Plum at all, but based on how 5A works, I think that may be the sneakiest game out west.
@ John
Great pick with Perk Valley/Smyrna. I saw that on the master schedule & it looked intriguing. Didn’t realize they were class of the field in Delaware. I just don’t know much about either team to make a pick.
@ Anyone that’s in the know of the Brandywine Valley teams, how good is Salesanium? They’re facing Bonner-Prendie this weekend.
September 7th, 2023 at 7:57 pm
I’m curious what you D3 guys think of the matchup between Wyomissing travelling to Camp Hill to take on 2A Trinity. I think Wyomissing has a big advantage in the trenches, I know Trinity has a lot of speed and skill and perhaps the best player in the state in the class of 2026, but I’m thinking Wyomissing wears them down in the second half and wins, anyone like Trinity to pull the upset? Trinity may be the biggest threat in the East to SCA this year, their streak has to end some year, doesn’t it?
September 7th, 2023 at 7:50 pm
Not very many marque games in the WPIAL this week, by far the most significant is the conference showdown of Penn Hills at Pine Richland, which is the game I’m making the 45 minute drive north to see. Penn Hills won 33-28 last year on a number of big play TD’s, this was before Coach LeDonne came to his senses and put Ryan Palmieri at QB and proceeded to win 12 games in a row en route to the state title. Penn Hills in the meantime managed to lose to North Hills and then Woodland Hills 7-3 on the last night of the regular season to miss the playoffs altogether. Hard to go against Pine at home, but PH has more experience and a significant advantage at QB and the skill positions. winner has the early lead in the toughest 5A conference in the WPIAL, neither of these teams play WH until the last 2 games of the season.
Another big game is 3A Belle Vernon hosting 4A McKeesport, I was at the game last year won by the Port 14-6, their defense totally shut down and frustrated Quinton Martin and held him to his lowest rushing total of the season by far. BV avoided the shutout with their only score midway through the forth quarter on a quick pass to a wideout who broke a tackle and ran 80+ yards for a TD. This game is at BV and I like them to win in a close, low scoring game.
PCC plays Bethel Park, BP is solid but I’d be surprised if they keep this game within 3 TD’s, NA travels to Erie to play McDowell, and I don’t think they have too much trouble with this game
Woodland Hills hosts Penn Trafford who is 0-2, PT won this game last year 48-14, but they have only scored a total of 7 points in 2 games and I don’t think their offense will do much better against Woody’s defense, not sure the last time PT started 0-3, and they play Belle Vernon next week, could be a long year for them.
An under the radar game in 5A is 2-0 Shaler vs. 2-0 Plum, either or both of these teams could sneak into the 8 team district playoffs, particularly Plum who is in the same conference as Gateway, Penn Trafford and Franklin who all appear to be a bit down this year, they have a very good rushing attack, while Shaler has a good QB and a balanced offense. Shaler’s problem is they are in the same conference as PR, PH, and WH, and only the top 2 are guaranteed to make the playoffs, although the third place team will almost certainly get 1 of the 2 wildcards, Shaler did beat WH on the road last year and they have good numbers returning, should be an interesting matchup.
September 7th, 2023 at 6:12 pm
My predictions for some of the bigger games this week are:
Perk Valley over Smyrna (DE)- Smyrna is the defending Delaware state champion and usually have a few D1 players. They are big upfront, but they lost 2 D1 RBs from last year and their QB and 3 leading receivers. I think Perk Valley wins in a close one.
Spring Ford over Cumberland Valley- The eagles look really down this year, especially on offense. Spring Ford should win this one.
Downingtown East over Delaware Valley (5A-D2)- Cougars should take care of business against Delval for the third year in a row.
Downingtown West over Neshaminy- Neshaminy looks down again, as long as the Whippets don’t come out flat, they should win this one.
CB West over Quakertown- This one may be closer than some expect, but the Bucks have been rolling this season and look like the best team in the SOL.
CR South over Pennsbury- Should be a close one, but this looks like CR South’s year to win the SOL Continental.
Coatesville over Central Dauphin (D3)- Central Dauphin is still a good team, but not the powerhouse they once were. I think the Red Raiders will be too much for them to handle.
North Penn over Upper Dublin- Should be a tight one, both teams had a rough game last week and lost a lot of talent from last season. I don’t see the Knights starting the season 0-3 though.
CB East over Souderton- The Patriots look strong again. Souderton has not yet lived up to the preseason hype, squeaking by a Pennridge who had just been blown out by Downingtown East.
Nazareth over Freedom- The EPC South or D11-D2 6A district looks to be a two team race between Parkland and Nazareth this year. The Blue Eagles should handle business.
Harrisburg over Manheim Township- This one of the best happening statewide this year and will be both teams first big test of the year. I think Harrisburg wins in a close one.
Bishop McDevitt over La Salle- La Salle’s defense might keep them in the game for a bit. But, McDevitt is probably the best team in the state outside of St Joe’s Prep.
September 7th, 2023 at 5:35 pm
@kevin x @ foleman, looks like Wilson picked up Cheltenham they are playing Sat night.
September 7th, 2023 at 5:28 pm
Looks like Wilson Bulldogs have secured a game with Cheltenham. Good because Cheltenham is 6A. I’m guessing that Wilson should win this game, but who knows?
September 7th, 2023 at 11:52 am
Week 3’s Best Of The Rest. 50 picks combined between the two sets. As always, if I missed a good game, let me know.
District 2/4
– Dunmore vs. Susquehanna
– Jersey Shore vs. Selinsgrove
– Southern Columbia vs. Loyalsock
District 11
– East Stroudsburg South vs. Pleasant Valley
– Southern Lehigh vs. Bangor
– Northwestern Lehigh vs. Blue Mountain
District 1/12
– CB East vs. Souderton
– CB West vs. Quakertown
– Ridley vs. Strath Haven
– Conestoga vs. Springfield
– Archbishop Wood vs. Northeast
District 3
– Harrisburg vs. Manheim Township
– Hempfield vs. Central York
– Manheim Central vs. Cocalico
District 5/6
– State College vs. Hollidaysburg
– Bald Eagle Area vs. Penns Valley
– Windber vs. Tussey Mountain
– Westmont Hilltop vs. Richland
District 8 & WPIAL
– Penn-Trafford vs. Woodland Hills
– Penn Hills vs. Pine-Richland
– Central Catholic vs. Bethel Park
– McKeesport vs. Belle Vernon Area
– North Catholic vs. Aliquippa
– OLSH vs. Clairton
– South Fayette vs. Montour
– Perry Traditional vs. Westinghouse
District 9/10
– Central Clarion vs. Union/AC Valley
– Punxsutawney vs. Redbank Valley
– Reynolds vs. Sharpsville
– Sharon vs. Hickory
Crossovers
– Coatesville (1) vs. Central Dauphin (3)
– Pope John Paul (1) vs. Berks Catholic (3)
– La Salle (12) vs. Bishop McDevitt (3)
– Steelton-Highspire (3) vs. West Catholic (12)
– North Allegheny (7) vs. McDowell (10)
– Salesanium (DE) vs. Bonner-Prendie (12)
– St. Joe’s Prep (12) vs. Lakeland (FL)
– Roman Catholic (12) vs. Episcopal (Ind.)
– Archbishop Spalding (MD) vs. Imhotep Charter (12)
– Delbarton (NJ) vs. Malvern Prep (Ind.)
Scores
– Dunmore 38, Susquehanna 7
– Jersey Shore 44, Selinsgrove 23
– Loyalsock 35, Southern Columbia 28 (Going to regret this pick)
– ES South 23, Pleasant Valley 19
– Whitehall 31, Easton 25
– Solehi 34, Bangor 20
– CB East 28, Souderton 14
– CB West 35, Quakertown 21
– Springfield 24, Conestoga 18
– Strath Haven 29, Ridley 24
– Northeast 28, Archbishop Wood 23
– Harrisburg 38, Manheim Twp. 13
– Central York 41, Hempfield 24
– Manheim Central 38, Cocalico 12
– Bald Eagle Area 34, Penns Valley 20
– State College 38, Hollidaysburg 10
– Windber 32, Tussey Mountain 28
– Richland 39, Westmont Hilltop 21
– Woodland Hills 29, Penn-Trafford 21
– Penn Hills 24, Pine-Richland 16
– PCC 42, Bethel Park 11
– Belle Vernon 35, McKeesport 13
– Aliquppa 31, North Catholic 19
– OLSH 36, Clairton 21
– South Fayette 27, Montour 26
– Westinghouse 35, Perry 7
– Central Clarion 31, Union/AC Valley 21
– Redbank Valley 45, Punxsy 20
– Reynolds 28, Sharpsville 26
– Sharon 14, Hickory 13
– Coatesville 42, Central Dauphin 23
– PJP 38, Berks Catholic 20
– McDevitt 37, La Salle 13
– Steel-High 23, West Catholic 14
– McDowell 29, North Allegheny 19
– Salesanium 35, Bonner-Prendie 23
– SJP 49, Lakeland FL 7
– Episcopal 28, Roman 22
– Imhotep 38, Spalding 12
– Malvern Prep 35, Delbarton 16
September 7th, 2023 at 10:39 am
@ Foleman
Guessing the Henderson/Kennett game was cancelled due to the unwanted tourist who is overstaying his welcome at Longwood Gardens. That game has been rescheduled for Saturday morning (11a) at Henderson.
@ Foleman and Irish1
Maybe a very small silver lining with regards to the Wilson/MLK cancellation?? Looking like a decent chance for rain and storms tomorrow night, so that now may play into things for all games, or at least make the game not as enjoyable, especially for any fans in attendance. Also, it wasn’t a home game for Wilson, and now they (and their fans, who already travelled to Upper Dublin 2 weeks ago) don’t have to travel to the G-Town SS in NW Philly on a Friday evening and play at that mediocre facility. It does probably mess up Wilson with regards to their playoff points and standings. Don’t know how D3 compute their ratings, but this may push Wilson out of any home playoff games, maybe even the 6A playoffs if they loose another game and go 6-3. Think only 8 6A teams make the D3 6A playoffs??
September 7th, 2023 at 7:56 am
Wow! Now teams are cancelling games because it’s too hot out! Or is it they want to avoid a certain beating! How does this affect Wilson and Henderson’s playoff points? Do they even get points for a forfeit? Wilson has already lost 2 games and needed the points for the District 3 playoffs. Maybe Wilson and Henderson can play each other.
September 7th, 2023 at 6:10 am
Cancelling games because its hot out at the last minute, good reason to not schedule games with the philly public league in the future.. Season goes by fast as it is, most teams only get ten games after working all off season. Seems like if they were intent on doing something maybe they could have pushed them back a day or two,the heatwave is suppose to break in a few days.
September 6th, 2023 at 7:51 pm
Week 3 has arrived in Dunder Mifflin’s neck of the woods. A better slate of games up here.
Update: I’m counting ECP/Canisius (after Jeff H. brought it up, last week), due to the mistake that I made with William Penn Charter/Neumann-Goretti (a game that didn’t exist). I said that I wouldn’t doubt ECP & was right. I would’ve used the same score, to be fair.
Heading into Week 3 at 65-35 overall, & 15-5 in my games to watch up here.
Week 3 Notables Among D2 & Subregionals
– Scranton vs. West Scranton: I’d be a fool to not showcase the Battle Of The Bell this week. Both teams can use a win here. It’s going to be Scranton taking down their in-city rival, in my humble opinion.
– Crestwood vs. Wyoming Area: Crestwood has to win this to turn their season around, but Wyoming Area is looking like a threat in 4A. I feel the better team is the latter. This may be the “trap game of the week”, though.
– Lackawanna Trail vs. Greater Nanticoke: GNA almost took down Old Forge, then. Just imagine if they pulled it off here. That feels less likely, to be fair. This pick is to give props to a GNA team that almost did something crazy.
– Riverside vs. Lakeland: A sneaky showdown with two of the Lackawanna League’s best. Riverside has a better team & feels like a good pick, but don’t count out Lakeland.
– Western Wayne vs. Old Forge: The Wildcats took a brutal loss last week. Not to fear, they have a better team than the Old Forge one that’s rebuilding.
– Abington Heights vs. Berwick: This is a quality crossover game in NEPA. Berwick’s start hasn’t been all that great & Abington’s looked a lot better than in recent years. Berwick needs this win to turn around their season, but I’m going with the Comets here.
– Downingtown East vs. Delaware Valley: DV may stare 0-3 in the face again. This one is a tough matchup against the powerhouse Downingtown team. I don’t like their odds, but I’m hoping they play tough. They’ll have a real “get right” game next week against the Buckhorns.
– Emmaus vs. Allentown Central Catholic: Time to see these two return, as this is the marquee 6A subregional game for D2 fans to watch for. Emmaus could have a date with any of the three teams up north, but ACC seems to be a team to watch. This game is going to be a major decider as to how the seeding could end up.
– Stroudsburg vs. Northampton: This could be important for the three WVC teams, as the Mounties can take a game here & steal a spot from the D2/4 teams. Northampton will be a top seed, so a win (or loss) could set the stage for who the D2/4 teams play. Northampton always looks good, so it’s an easy pick. Stroudsburg’s never a slouch, though.
– Jenkintown vs. Lower Moreland: This week, it’s the Drakes that return to the District 1 A game to watch. They’ll make a trip over to Huntingdon Valley in a game that feels like it’s beatable. Morrisville challenges, Jersey indie, Pennington, & I want to avoid this, as I’m not knowledgeable on them . I’ll go the opposite to see if my problem is that I just don’t know the 1A teams well. Lower Moreland has a win streak going against Jenkintown, so I’ll go off of recent history. If I lose, I’m going to use CalPreps with this featured game for the rest of the regular season.
Scores
– Scranton 28, West Scranton 13
– Wyoming Area 24, Crestwood 20
– Lackawanna Trail 42, GNA 13
– Riverside 22, Lakeland 13
– Western Wayne 35, Old Forge 16
– Abington Heights 21, Berwick 15
– D’Town East 38, DV 10
– ACC 35, Emmaus 26
– Northampton 42, Stroudsburg 20
– Lower Moreland 23, Jenkintown 17
Starting next week, I’ll highlight a game in each division that has importance in D2, another key game in each league or two, a crossover, the D11 subregional’s best game(s), & the D1 1A game to watch.
Best of the Rest coming soon.
September 6th, 2023 at 5:32 pm
The WC Henderson/Kennett game is at Kennett, so that might be an issue of a little bad guy on the lamb in the area as opposed to the heat.
September 6th, 2023 at 4:58 pm
Wilson West Lawn @ MLK Friday and WC Henderson/Kennett Thursday both postponed/cancelled. What do you guys think, just these two games, or is this just the beginning of cancellations/postponements??
@ Neutral Observer
They are a PIAA member school for other sports, so guessing they would be allowed. Hell, their field hockey team has won the “A” PIAA state title 4 of the last 5 years.
The Inter-Ac schools choose not to. They operate athletically just fine the way they do and I believe they like it like that.
Kind of like ice hockey, there is no desire to mess up a good thing that is working (and they can make and play by their own rules).
September 6th, 2023 at 3:36 pm
RE Wyoming Seminary:
I may be wrong, but I think Sem has post-grad students so I’m not sure Sem is even allowed to be in the PIAA.
Isn’t that why the Inter-Ac schools in the Philly suburbs are not in the PIAA?
September 6th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
RIP DREW GORDON!
Next SUBURBAN ONE LEAGUE this week
CB SOUTH over CR North EASY
ABINGTON over H S Truman EASY
PENNRIDGE over Bensalem EASY Good game for Pennridge to get on track after good showing against Souderton
CB EAST over Souderton Should be a good game, CB East OL too much for Souderton,, Souderton hasn’t lived up to pre-season billing thus far
CB WEST over Quakertown May be closer than most expect, CB West coming off two big games and Pennsbury next week, let down? Quakertown coming off huge win & 1st game at home.
LINCOLN over Cheltenham Lincoln has played two tough teams very tough, strictly a hunch.
CR SOUTH OVER Pennsbury CR South is good folks and Pennsbury may be peeking ahead to CB West. Will CR South make me look good 2 weeks in a row?
HATBORO HORSHAM OVER Springfield win #2 for the Hatters
DOWNINGTOWN WEST Over Neshaminy EASY
UPPER DUBLIN Over North Penn they beat them last year in Lansdale, they will beat them again at home
INTERBORO Over Upper Moreland ??? I know little of either team
UPPER MERION Ove Wm Tennant should be easy
LOWER MERION Over Wissahickon in a pick up game
There is the SOL (Suburban One League) picks of the week
September 6th, 2023 at 11:18 am
@McD 65. After Gil Brooks started the whole resurgence of the PCL, Drew Gordon finished the job with his State Championship. High times in Wyndmoor, Pa. RIP
September 5th, 2023 at 12:34 pm
FYI to the PCL followers,Drew Gordon , former QB from Bishop McDevitt D-12 ,former Villanova QB and former Lasalle HS HC passed away. Prayers to his family.
September 5th, 2023 at 12:35 am
A couple of quick thoughts on the Prep vs. Sem comments…
1.) Sem couldn’t play the local public schools and expect to win if they tried. Northwest had to leave D2 and join the Heartland Conference (D4) because they were getting outsized and did not amount to any winning season (I could recall.) Luzerne County’s smallest public school (outside of Northwest) is Hanover Area, which is the only 3A school in Luzerne County. For Sem to do this is a pretty steep ask for a football program to play 10 weeks (plus playoffs.) How do you go about scheduling games? Mash a bunch of D4 schools of similar size (which has some of the best 1A/2A schools in the state, by the way) with some D2 to mitigate this problem? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
2.) Part of the allure of Sem’s track record for colleges is to get athletes signed to D1 or selective D3 colleges (think Wash U in St. Louis, Johns Hopkins, or MIT.) (As a reference, Danville is the closest public school that signed as many D1 athletes as Sem and even that was a once-in-a-blue-moon occasion.) This is due to 2 non-revenue sports programs of theirs being world-class (field hockey and wrestling) that take a sizable portion of the signings each year. Many of those kids do not come from the local area, which helps explain the 25% of the international student population. (As a tangent, there was a field hockey match I could remember Sem sweeping Donegal solely using a player on the German national field hockey team.)
Prep doesn’t align closely with the type of highs that Sem gets, even with the number of district titles Prep gets in non-revenue programs. So yeah, talk about a huge difference with a way bigger budget that Frank mentioned.
September 5th, 2023 at 12:18 am
@Frank G
I understand what you mean brother
September 4th, 2023 at 9:06 pm
Prayers for Mason Martin, his family and the Karns City High football community!
September 4th, 2023 at 1:23 pm
@ John and JCo,
I expected LaSalle to beat Malvern and certainly to score more than seven points. Also a bit surprised by the score of the Tep-Haverford School game, though not by Tep coming out on top. Probably a mistake to make a lot out of results this early in the season.
September 4th, 2023 at 12:41 pm
@JCo
That is a surprising score even though Wood is really down this year. Another PPL program that is looking pretty good is Abraham Lincoln, they have had two surprisingly close losses to two great teams. They lost to one of the best teams in District 1 in Downingtown West 32-27. But Lincoln turned the ball over like two times giving Dtown West a short field to score, and dug themselves into 23-0 hole in the 1st quarter. But the rest of the game they outplayed with the Whippets and contained their offense that has at least 5 future Division 1 players on it. Lincoln also kept it close with an elite Roman Catholic team, only losing 28-14.
September 4th, 2023 at 10:55 am
A really interesting score from last week: George Washington 25, Archbishop Wood 15. Wood seems way down this year, even compared to last year, but still a massive win for a PPL program that’s currently in the third tier of the league.
September 4th, 2023 at 10:31 am
@District2 LFC
Sorry if I came across as a grammar policeman. You were perfectly clear in that message except at the end.
It’s good to get different points of view. I can see how a small school in the Scranton area can feel really aggrieved if two or three kids who would make a real difference to their program go to SP instead. Several factors like demographics (especially in he Scranton area) and the push to get offers from colleges earlier and earlier–a problem that begins with the colleges–are changing the environment of high school football just about everywhere. I just think too much is attributed to the boundaries / no boundaries issue. But I know the situation is different in different parts of the state.
September 3rd, 2023 at 11:50 pm
@ Irish 1 & Frank G
Hey guys no hard feelings about the previous topic and no hard feelings to Scranton prep either I would also like to apologize to one of you who said about my grammar it was never my strong suit so if you can get by it so be it.
Having two family members who graduated from Scranton prep with high honors and also having many friends from Scranton prep that are alumni’s who are doctors and lawyers LOL of course but they are all very nice and that’s no cut to any of the alumni or the school district but all I was referring to about throwing fundraising parties they truly do this to raise money for scholarship money for students to attend who regularly can’t afford it and that in itself is awesome that they do that for the students who can’t afford it I think that’s fantastic. The one gentleman was saying that all that money would be going to paying teacher salaries and such not the case for Scranton prep I was just saying this factually because I know one of the people who just held a fundraiser for this purpose and it’s to get the students who are especially athletes to attend Scranton prep who can’t afford it but to be honest yes I think it sucks for all the area schools who they take all their athletes who genuinely would be good assets to their teams plenty of good linemen were drained from lots of area schools like Lackawanna Trail Valley View
Dunmore Lakeland etc……
Well anyways The Beat Goes On as Cher would sing it, no hard feelings to anybody such is life it is what it is don’t care anymore best of luck to your respective teams gentleman have a good season
September 3rd, 2023 at 4:38 pm
@ Frank G……thanks for attempting to enlighten some of the many people on here who have no clue about catholic schools and what they are about and how they operate. Have to admit some of the comments have an anti Catholic vibe at times.As a someone who went thru twelve years of Catholic school I get kind of tired of these type of comments. Some people seem to think because of the tuition they charge that somehow means they are rolling in money. Tuition goes to pay teachers salaries and building expense etc . Schools like Pjp have to put together fund raising campaigns for years just to maybe be able to get lights at some point for the football field. My personal favorite is when someone talks about the coaches being in it for the paycheck. Anyone who knows anything about coaching at a typical Catholic high school knows they get very little if anything to coach,they coach cause they love to coach. Meanwhile many of those poor old public school districts with multi million dollar budgets and state of art facilities have to muddle thru lol.
September 3rd, 2023 at 4:24 pm
District 2, comparing an elite Boarding school to a local catholic school doesn’t make any sense. 25% of Wyoming Seminary students are international, they have over 60 million dollars in their bank account and at 60K+ for room and board I’m sure some families could use the help with that pricetag. I’m sure you have heard of Sem’s world renowned wrestling program. I believe in the not so distant past, the Scranton area had 3 catholic schools, 2 of which closed and merged with Scranton Prep. Even with that consolidation Scranton Prep is still a 3A School population wise. Changing demographics in that area is causing a decline in both football talent and numbers for area High Schools. As someone pointed out the Lackawanna conference hasn’t been very successful in the PIAA playoffs in a long time. Evan Kraky at Lakeland, Ron Solt at Coughlin, The Ismael Brothers at Wilkes Barre Myers left a long time ago and talent like that is never coming back to that region..
September 3rd, 2023 at 2:45 pm
@Foleman, I agree with you about last year’s game pjp outplayed PV for large part of the game. Some strange play calling in the second half of that game. Think the QBs at both PJP and SF, make the difference both juniors similar in size. Pjp big strong up front good RB ,and a kicker that gets alot of touchbacks forcing teams to go the length of the field. Not sure if the D1 lineman they have will be eligible for playoffs since he transferred this year. They are also well coached.
September 3rd, 2023 at 2:40 pm
@ District 2 LFC
I had a really hard time understanding your last paragraph–punctuation would help–but I got your drift.
Wyoming Seminary, like most of the other private schools you list, is a boarding school. So the students who attend it have little if any connection with the communities in and around Wilkes-Barre. So what would be the point of playing local high schools? Scranton Prep has no boarders and all of its students come from easy commuting distance of Scranton. So it means something for them to play Dunmore, West Scranton, etc.
Also, tuition at Wyoming Seminary is $30,000 and room and board is $33,000. No surprise that they can afford to travel regularly to CT and MD, etc.to play away games! Tuition at Scranton Prep is just over $15,000 with lots of students getting financial aid. You may not believe it, but they don’t have the funds to send a football team hundreds of miles away every other week.
You know a whole lot more than I do about high school football in the Scranton area now than I do. But I do have to wonder why, with the occasional exception of Dunmore (and even they haven’t made it to a state final in the last many years I’ve been following the PIAA), no schools from the area have made any noise outside District 2. Can that really be because Scranton Prep takes lots of talented kids from other schools?
Finally, I wonder if, while there are obvious advantages to having no boundaries, there are any disadvantages Scranton Prep has in relation to other local schools. Are there academic standards that restrict admission or that see some students leave? Are their facilities equal to that of local public schools?
September 3rd, 2023 at 12:00 pm
For those that followed along with my picks, Week 2 was better for me, but I still need to do a better job to get closer to an 80% overall win rate.
– In the D2 Games to Watch, I was 8-2, with a trap game & District 1 1A’s best being the two I got wrong.
– As for everything else, a slightly better job, going 26-14 (65%).
Season-To-Date
– D2’s Best: 15-5 (75%)
– Best Of Rest: 49-30 (62%)
– Overall: 64-35 (64.64%.)
Things I got wrong
– Biggest stunner for me was not getting the West Catholic pick right. I guess Northeast is pretty good. At least the Roman pick was correct.
– I technically said Western Wayne vs. North Pocono was a trap game, so I was right on that. I’m cool with that being the lone loss among District 2 teams.
– Not complaining about the Jenkintown pick at all, since the PPL is so hit or miss with these crossovers. I wish 1A was more fluid down there. If they had a team consistently 8-2 to 10-0, it’d be a bit easier.
– Southern Lehigh’s usually very good, but I thought Notre Dame was great, so that’s why I picked them. Is Solehi the team to beat in 5A once again in D11?
– I guess CB West is stellar this year, as they normally are, & I’m not a savant on D1, so my Suburban One League picks were…I’m not going to say it because I’d get kicked off this website.
– Getting both Downingtown picks wrong doesn’t shock me. Probably could’ve done East over State College, but SC’s usually a power.
– Will gladly take the loss with PCC/St. Iggy. Any of these out of state games are usually a coin flip for me, involving good teams.
– I’ll be honest, the rest of the picks I got wrong were a bit of a coin flip, or my lack of knowledge in D10. Would’ve been an easy win to use ECP over Eisenhower in D10. I did say I wouldn’t doubt them against Canisius Prep, so I got an unofficial pick right.
– I made a bad choice not including Canevin vs. GCC. I don’t know why I dropped it from my original list, but that may’ve been the best all-1A matchup in state. I didn’t even see the state rankings, so shame on me.
– I think WPC/Neumann-Goretti didn’t happen. I could’ve sworn that I saw it on the Master Schedule this week. Did they cancel that game or was it never actually a thing? The crazy part, this is the 2nd time that the master schedule on here either gave me wrong info or I’m looking at a different team. Looks like I’ll do another indie game next week.
Anyway, I’m either a jinx with my best of the rest, or these games not in my area are a lot harder to pick than I thought. I may use CalPreps to sim a projection & see if I buy it, if this remains the pattern. I’ll try & do better next week.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:48 am
Irish, Spring Ford will have to get passed Perkiomen Valley this year, I think they will, both teams could be undefeated when they meet in the PAC 10 Championship which would be a first. Thought PJP should have won it last year, they pushed PV all over the field but came up short on the scoreboard.
September 2nd, 2023 at 10:42 pm
Pjp has outscored first two opponents 67-7, Spring-ford looks strong. Long way to go but if both teams stay healthy that could be a great title game matchup.
September 2nd, 2023 at 9:43 pm
Just a thought
On the discussion we were all having about public versus private schools here is an idea just as an example of course here up in the Lackawanna Football Conference District 2,
We have a few private schools one that stands out successfully has been the Cavaliers of Scranton Preparatory,
When I say successfully I mean clearly just locally they do nothing in States, but do well locally. what I’m trying to get at is just a few miles south near Wilkes-Barre PA I believe that they are located in Kingston to be honest a town over the bridge from Wilkes-Barre but this team is called Wyoming Seminary
Here is their schedule they don’t even compete in the PIAA and they are a very small school nowhere near the size of Scranton prep and nowhere near the money preppies raise at their fundraisers for scholarships and all the fundraisers that all the former preparatoryans hold for all the quote on quote scholarships that’s getting off track but it’s factual.
Wyoming Seminary football schedule
New England Preparatory School athletic Council League
9-9 Capital prep Harlem (NY )
9-16 Kiski school
9-22 William Penn Charter
9-30 Suffield academy ( Connecticut))
10-7 Beacon Hill ( VA)
10-14 St Francis Academy (MD)
10-20 Rock Creek Christian Academy (MD)
10-27 Blair academy (NJ)
11-4 Hun school ( NJ )
11-11 Trinity Pawling school ( NY )
So if Wyoming Seminary has the guts to play all out of state teams I can’t understand why Scranton Preparatory can’t do this as well instead of playing all of these Public Schools sort of seems like they’re not brave enough they certainly have the money to travel you can clearly tell that and if they didn’t have enough they have all of their former alumni who throw parties for them all the time to raise money for quote on quote scholarship money AKA to support the football feeder program that’s hilarious to be honest if they think they’re that big and bad let them compete against other private schools and see how well they do!!!
The challenges is on Coach Terry Gallagher and staff I dare you to leave the Lackawanna Football Conference and do what Wyoming Seminary is doing any real private school would do this look at the Philadelphia Catholic League same deal it’s only fair the only reason you won’t do that is because you don’t want to get hammered every week so instead you won’t do that you will just play all the schools that use their players from inside their boundaries of their school district as you guys use your feeders from all over the place not cool not cool good luck in state playoffs well at least the first round LOL
September 2nd, 2023 at 5:55 pm
Some thoughts out of District 2 this weekend
– GNA was close to sending shockwaves all across the area, losing by 1 to Old Forge. They did lead a good chunk of the game.
– Wallenpaupack doubled their win total from last year, in a hard fought game against Hazleton, 28-21. They may not be a 4A playoff team, but they’re looking gritty.
– Trap Game it was for the Wildcats, as they lose a lower scoring affair. Credit to The Rick on NEPA Football getting the upset right.
– Delaware Valley should consider going back to reality, as this non-conference schedule isn’t helping too much. A close loss to Selinsgrove & a huge blowout by Harrisburg. D’Town East will give them fits.
– Berwick is going to have a long season. The conference play should be better for them, but I don’t know what the season will be for the Bulldogs.
– Credit to Dunmore for at least hanging in there a tad against Mount Carmel in the first half.
Waiting for a few games tonight to finish up before I get to see how I did with my picks. District 1 took my picks almost personally.
September 2nd, 2023 at 4:08 pm
@phillyboy Never said Beck was a bad coach, he knows his football as well as anyone, the problem is he has lost or is losing his kids> Unfortunately the Fire is gone.
September 2nd, 2023 at 4:00 pm
@Kevin X 1st Upper Dublin’s last year’s team would beat this year’s CB West, they just wouldn’t have beat them by 28 like last year. Next Upper Dublin will beat North Penn at Upper Dublin next week. Finally The Dick Beck of 2003 is as good a coach as the 2022 version of Stover, unfortunately, he’s lost the kids. Oh & please these guys aren’t volunteering their time, they are getting paid for it.
@Paul White, same thing, North Penn loses next week at Upper Dublin, and yes Upper Dublin lost a ton, but they are a program they reload a down year is 6-4, 7-3, which after you lose 7 3rd year starters, a Big 33 All-State QB, and 7 total playing college ball this year, it’s a reloading year.
September 2nd, 2023 at 12:04 pm
The Coatesville vs DTown games and the Battle of the Brandywine (DTown East vs DTown West) are going to be great games this year. All 3 teams are undefeated right now with each having a win over a quality opponent. Coatesville beat Pennsbury week 1, DTown East beat one of the best 6A schools in the state in State College last night, Dtown West beat Perk Valley by 3 TDs last night as well.
DTown East almost blew the game last night. Were up 28-7 in the third quarter and were driving until two lost fumbles lead to State College scoring drives. State College brought it to 28-26, but a missed FG as time expired. The new RB Harris looks to be just as good as Horvath, and he also won’t have as big as a load because the other RB #30 is solid as well. The O-Line looks much improved compared to last year. The main concern with the cougars would be their pass defense. It isn’t bad, but needs improvement especially considering Coatesville and DTown West are both pass happy teams with a lot of talent at WR.
September 2nd, 2023 at 10:35 am
Upper Dublin may beat CR North and Bensalem but that may be about it. I think you can pencil in NP’s first win next week. UD just lost too much from last year.
However, not sure I’ve ever seen a UD team so ill-prepared and disinterested in playing a game before.
September 2nd, 2023 at 9:20 am
Regarding North Penn, have always appreciated Coach Beck and still do. The dude’s a cool cat, a player’s coach, almost reminds me of a union boss a la John McNesby (head of the Philadelphia FOP). He’s had a ton of success but just one chip. He’s been there now, what, 22 years. Just seems like it is what it is at this point. Wasn’t one of Newton’s laws ‘objects at rest tend to remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force’. On the other hand maybe Coach Beck senses a lack of meaningful cooperation and support from the school district/community and is like ‘whatever’, numb to the routine as it were.
September 2nd, 2023 at 8:31 am
@ Jeff H
Nope. I’m sure I’ll get some blowback from this, but I don’t care. I’m probably coming from a very different perspective, but I don’t care if they go 0-10, unless he (or the coaching staff) is doing something nefarious, egregious, or simply gives up (and this goes for any high school coach in any sport), and I don’t see or hear any signs of any of this, at this time, I don’t see making a change just because the hand that your are dealt isn’t living up to past experiences. And this non recruiting talk is childish. Kids in the district have the opportunity to attend school (if they are admitted) and play football at 3 (or possibly more) very good private high schools in the area (LaSalle, LC, and GA). They have a choice. Choice is good. I like choice. It is hard enough these days to get good, decent and dedicated responsible adults to give their time to working with these kids (how’s that officials thing going??). There is a lot more than wins and losses and “Championships” in my high school athletics playbook.
Yes, 1979 was the last time Q-Town beat NP. I was at a game last night where the defending District One 5A champion got mercy ruled in the first half. Now that is not good look. Shall we relieve Stover and his staff of their duties as well??
September 2nd, 2023 at 8:05 am
Would have been nice to see last year’s Upper Dublin team play CBW last night.
@ MikeS
Yes, NP has a very good chance of beating UDub next week.
September 2nd, 2023 at 7:00 am
@Buddy Oh North Penn will win some games, maybe 4-6, 3-7, won’t beat Upper Dublin, CB East or CB West, Pennsbury, CB South, so what’s that 3-7. Quakertown is probably a little better than you/most people give them credit for. They lost to AAAAA Southern Lehigh who’s a top 2 in District 11, on Opening Stadium home game on a Pick6, Southern Lehigh just beat a very good Notre Dame Green Pond by 40. But Quakertown is young and a year away from being very good again. That all said I spent some time checking Rosters around the top Non-Boundary schools and found 15 kids with roots back to the North Penn School District on either Varsity or JV teams. How do you compete, when 15 kids leave your school district to play elsewhere? You wonder why North Penn isn’t as good as they used to be, heck put 10 of the 15 kids back on North Penn, and you have a whole different team. Unfortunately, the coaching staff is not keeping them home, they have lost their interest.
September 2nd, 2023 at 6:45 am
@Jeff H Not sure it’s not that they didn’t play two good opponents in a row. Quakertown got beat by a Southern Lehigh AAAAA team that is probably the best in District 11, on an Opening the New Stadium night, & Southern Lehigh just killed Notre Dame Green Pond (a very good team) by 40. That said I truly believe it’s time for a dismantling of the coaching staff, they aren’t retaining the kids in the school district, don’t seem to have a lot of interest in the kids. I was at the JV Game with Quakertown, & Quakertown’s whole staff was there, I was told None of the North Penn staff (other than the JV coaches) were there. BTW Quakertown won the JV game too.
September 2nd, 2023 at 12:39 am
@ Kevin X – i know you said earlier this week you were\t on the bandwagon to get rid of Dick Beck, but after the debacle last night against Qtown I wonder if any doubt is starting to creep in, I read on another board NP hasn’t lost to Qtown in 44 years, I realize they don’t play every year and not even sure how often they have played in that time span, but to lose by 3 TD’s to a team that hasn’t beaten you since the 1970’s is not a good look. NP hasn’t played defense in the last 6-7 years, you can’t win consistently, or contend for district titles, without playing defense. I am not familiar at all with the defensive coaching staff, have they had the same coordinator for the last several years, or what’s the story? Seems to me at the very least they need a total overall with their defensive coaching staff if not the head coach.
September 2nd, 2023 at 12:07 am
Well, looks like my prognosis and predictions for 5 of the 6 WPIAL games I highlighted were pretty accurate, but I whiffed on the CV game, as Avonworth pulled one of the biggest upsets of the night with a 28-20 win. I was right about the Woody vs. Gateway game showing which team was a contender and which was a pretender, WH totally dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and coasted to a 27-0 shutout, after jumping out to a 20-0 lead at halftime on three TD receptions by super sophomore wideout Scoop Smith from 22, 30 and about 40 yards on a halfback pass. This kid is 5’6′ and when wet maybe 150 pounds but he’s the fastest guy on the field and a dynamic player, he’s being recruited by D1 schools in both football and basketball. It didn’t help Gateway that starting QB Brad Birch didn’t play, but it wouldn’t have mattered, Gateway’s line play is substandard for 5A and there’s no chance they contend for the WPIAL title, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don\t even make the playoffs. I thought in the preseason Penn Hills, Pine Richland and Woody were the 3 best teams in the WPIAL in 5A, and from what I’ve seen thus far that appears to be the case, all 3 are in the same conference, and next week Penn Hills travels to PR for the game of the week in the WPIAL. Some publications in this area had Gateway preseason #1 in the WPIAL, and PennLive had them at #3 in the state, apparently these guys didn’t do their homework, you can have all the fast skill players you want, but if your line play is substandard you’re not going very far in the WPIAL, on virtually every passing play the Gateway QB was running for his life and took a pounding.
I thought PCC had a chance to beat St Ignatius in Cleveland tonight, but very surprised they won 47-6 on the road! I said they were extremely impressive against a good WH team last week, and with this win tonight they are rolling and brimming with confidence. Huge game in 3 weeks on the road against NA, I really like PCC this year and think they run the table in the regular season and will end up playing SJP in the final in December, and they will be competitive in that game, not saying by any stretch they will win, but they have the athletes and skill to make that a very interesting game, we’ll see what happens, but if PCC ends up in the final in December you heard it here first. The new coaching staff appears to have reignited the program which had become a little stale under long time coach Terry Totten, they massively underachieved last year going 7-5, I think PCC is one of the best 5 teams in the state.
September 1st, 2023 at 11:20 pm
@Scott Hagy – thanks, I appreciate that, I too agree there are improvements that can be made, great conversation among lifelong, diehard HS football fans!
September 1st, 2023 at 5:32 pm
@Kevin X I had a feeling, as I just couldn’t see the Qtown QB have 2 games in a row like he had against Southern Lehigh, but it was North Penn in Lansdale, just didn’t have the guts to pull the trigger. Q-town is going to be an enigma all season, they are pretty much a young team, who like I said is a year away. Q-town played 6-7 Sophomores & Freshman in significant roles last night. CB West will beat them even if Qtown plays well, Souderton I think does too. Upper Dublin & PW should be good games & don’t sleep on Council Rock South, I think they are a sleeper, I see Quakertown as anywhere from 5-5 to 7-3. I did a little homework and did some Roster searching, between the top 4-5 non-boundary schools, I found 15 players from the North Penn School District, now that is Varsity and JV, which is the same as the CB schools, divided by 3. But how do you compete when 15 of your top players are not going to your school? I lay that on the Coaching staff, I was at the Q-town-NP JV game today, and all the Q-town coaches were there, maybe I don’t know the NP coaches, but was told they weren’t there. You better show some interest in your kids, or you are going to lose them.
I think tonight you are going to a good game but have to believe that CB West has some revenge to hand out, after getting whooped by 35 last year by UD.
September 1st, 2023 at 4:32 pm
@ et al
re. North Penn, been following over 25 years, by far the worse NP squad I ever seen. I believe LaSalle is decent team, but you can see their losses
coming up (possible Malvern this weekend). Q-town won’t go undefeated as someone mentioned below, CB West will be tough this weekend.
Quite possible North Penn doesn’t win a game this year. If they play William tenant, maybe.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:38 am
@ MikeS
I was at the NP game last night, and it was funny, NP ran the opening kickoff back for a TD, and thought, OK, the LaSalle game is in the rear view mirror. Not so fast…… Outside of a nifty 50 yard pass, catch and run from NP right before half, that cut the lead to 8 at HT, those two plays were basically it from NP the whole game. Was obviously hoping for a competitive second half, but most of the action was from the trainers attending to cramping. They are young, so hopefully there will be improvement as the season progresses.
I will have to find another game this year with Q-Town. Maybe even next week vs CBW, or another Thursday game in a few weeks with P-W, or down the line with UDub.
Speaking of UDub and CBW, looking like I’ll be heading over to Doylestown for that one this evening.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:08 am
@ Jeff H. – you make good points and I enjoy the info you contribute to the Forum. I still think improvements can be made to the system though.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:02 am
I guess the North Penn lose to Quakertown takes the shine off of the La Salle win last week. Definitely get a better reading about La Salle from this weekend’s game against Malvern.
September 1st, 2023 at 7:00 am
@KevinX Yes, I said that North Penn was going to have a long year earlier, and am not surprised that Quakertown beat them, by 21 in Lansdale is the surprise! I also noted that QB Miccuci, who threw for 2 interceptions last week, after only 6 in 12 games (&1300 yds) last year, wasn’t likely to have another game like that. He didn’t he threw for 5 TD against North Penn. Quakertown is going to be a tough team to figure this year, if they bring their “A” game they can win almost all their remaining games, but…. I think they are a year away from being pretty good. North Penn is going in the wrong direction, & it’s their coaching staff, to me it looks like they have lost the kids.
September 1st, 2023 at 12:48 am
@ Kevin X,
Thanks for the insight. I knew Malvern has been good for years, but I’m not surprised about the other two. I fell in the trap for Life Christian last week, as I thought they were a good team in VA. It is what it is, though. Rookie mistake.
I absolutely forgot that game happened during the pandemic. The only D2 vs. Independent one I remember was Riverside vs. ANC, because of the Holy Cross shutdown that happened a few years back, before they came back. Wish there were a few more of those up in the north or D11. I’m surprised that Wyoming Seminary or Blair Academy (NJ) doesn’t play a game or two with the smaller schools in D2 or D11. Seminary as a PIAA team in most sports, but independent in football’s strange to me.
@ Jeff H.
I somehow passed through District 10 & didn’t even notice that. I probably would’ve traded the Eisenhower game for that, but I should keep an eye on the small school battles. I’d never bet against ECP against New York teams, though. Wish there’d be more of those games against the two states, honestly. If PA wanted to get some 8-man teams rolling, it’d benefit a few smaller programs that can’t compete or can’t get a consistent roster.
I tried to lean towards small schools this week, out west & included Allderdice/Altoona, since Altoona was a former WPIAL team. Can’t believe I didn’t see Penn-Trafford vs. McKeesport at first. That should be a fun game!
August 31st, 2023 at 10:20 pm
Gonna be a long year in Lansdale. Maybe the LC Crusaders can be the knights in shining armor…….
August 31st, 2023 at 8:49 pm
@ Scott Hagy – roster size can vary significantly from year to year for a variety of reasons, so I’m not sure how you take roster size into account for classification purposes for a 2yr cycle, seems a bit far fetched to me. Some teams also dress all their JV players while others only dress their varsity. I’m certainly not saying the current system is perfect by any means, there are a lot of changes that could be made, but I don’t think splitting the publics and privates into separate playoffs is the solution and would quite possibly make the situation worse, because the rich (i.e privates) would likely get better and the publics will get worse, which is what happened in NJ when they went to separate playoffs, the private schools got better and the public schools got worse. Outside of SJP in 6A the good public schools can compete with the private schools in all 5 classifications, and the state playoffs have proven that, just 2 yrs ago we had the instant classic Aliquippa vs. McDevitt game, and the rematch last year. In fact, since the move to 6 classes in 2017 here’s the breakdown of the state title winners by classification
6A – privates 5, publics 2 (SJP)
5A – privates 3, publics 4 (Wood)
4A – privates 4, publics 3 (ECP 3, McDevitt 1)
3A – privates 0, publics 7
2A – privates 0, publics 7
1A – privates 2, publics 5 (Bishop Guilfoyle)
Due to the transfer/success rule, BG, ECP and Wood were all moved up a class, and none of them has won a state title since then. Before they were moved up BG lost a 1A final to Farrell in 2019, and also in 2019 ECP lost to TJ in the 4A quarterfinals after beating them in 2015-17. I don’t often agree with the PIAA and think they screw a lot of things up, but the success rule has had its intended effect of trying to level the playing field for the privates that accept a lot of transfers, and the rule requiring a transfer after the 9th grade to sit out the playoffs also helps. This to me is not a system that is completely broken and needs a total overhaul. I have witnessed a lot of tremendous state playoff games between Erie Prep and WPIAL teams over the decades, including one of the best HS games I ever saw in 1999 when ECP came back to beat Woodland Hills with a late TD 27-23, there were no less than 5 future NFL players in that game, both of those teams along with CB West were ranked in the USA Today top 10 in the country, and it would have been a shame if those teams didn’t get a chance to prove who was the best on the field.
Before D12 and the PCL were admitted to the PIAA playoffs in 2008 there was a lot of speculation and debate about who had the best team in the state, I remember in 2003 when NP won their only state title SJP was also very good that year, and there was a lot of debate on boards like this about who had the best team. SJP has grown into a national power in the last decade, but they were still beaten twice in the state finals by a public school, I still maintain if SJP opted out of the state playoffs all this public vs private debate would become a whimper.
August 31st, 2023 at 8:26 pm
What has happened to Academy Park? They used to be a really good team, also seeing their Head Coach has some health issues, a walks around with a cane.
August 31st, 2023 at 7:53 pm
Here’s a 6 pack of the better matchups in the WPIAL this weekend, starting in 6A with the first conference matchup of the young season
NA vs. Canon Mac – CM had a nice shutout win last week 14-0 at Penn Trafford, while NA was mercy ruling a totally overmatched Taylor Allerdice team from the City League, NA likes to play an inferior opponent in week 0 and treat it as a glorified scrimmage rather than taking on a school of their caliber. Canon Mac is solid and I think they keep this game close for awhile but NA wins by 2 scores.
6A Mt Lebo vs 5A Bethel Park – these neighbors and bitter rivals both had impressive wins last week under new head coaches, BP beat North Hills 33-10 while Lebo shocked a lot of people around here, myself included, by dominating Gateway 28-7. My Mt Lebo buddy was at the game and said they dominated the line of scrimmage and had Gateway QB Brad Birch running for his life all night. BP won this game last year at Lebo, I think Lebo controls the line of scrimmage again in this game and wins by 1 score, this should be a very good HS football game
5A Gateway at 5A Woodland Hills – see above for neighbors/bitter rivals, except these schools got blown out by 6A teams last week, this game will give us a good idea of which of these teams is a contender and which is a pretender. WH has a very good offensive line and solid D-line, and if they can control the line of scrimmage and run the ball on Gateway’s defense and limit the big plays from Gateway’s offense I like their chances to win, although that may be my bias showing, in any event I will be there. Gateway beat Woody last year 21-0 in a game that was much closer than the final score as they scored 2 very late TD’s.
5A Penn Trafford at 4A McKeesport – think McKeesport has too much team speed for PT, and their triple option offense is tough to defend, McKeesport beat them last year and even though they graduated a lot the Port typically reloads each year and I like them to win this game something like 21-10.
4A Armstrong vs. 4A Aliquippa – first game in the newly refurbished “Pit”, Aliquippa played all their home games last year at Freedom HS while their field underwent a total renovation, Kraft/Heinz donated a ton of money for the rebuild that’s now been renamed “Heinz Field”. These 2 played last year in a game won by the Quips 28-14, but Armstrong has to replace a lot of starters from last years team including the best QB in the WPIAL in Cadin Olson who is now at Penn, they do have the advantage of having played last week while Aliquippa didn’t, but the Quips have too much firepower and expect them win by a larger margin than last year.
4A Central Valley at 3A Avonworth – I believe CV is the only PA team to beat an OH team last week with their thrilling 36-35 victory over Austintown-Fitch from Youngstown. Avonworth is one of the better 3A teams in the WPIAL and may keep it interesting for a half, but CV will end up winning this game by at least at couple of TD’s.
August 31st, 2023 at 6:26 pm
My picks for pigskin friday
Key games to press the restart button
for any chance to salvage a productive season
( * )
DISTRICT 2
Lakeland 21 ( * )
Carbondale area 8
Abington Heights 23 ( * )
Wilkes barre area 19
Western Wayne 28
North Pocono 12
Scranton Prep 32
West Scranton 14
Valley View 24
Berwick 18
Scranton 30
Wyoming Valley West 27
Old Forge 31 ( * )
Nanticoke area 17
Lackawanna Trail 44
Lake Lehman. 12
DISTRICT 4
Southern Columbia 67
Shamokin 7
DISTRICT 12
St Josephs Prep 48 ( * )
St Peter’s Prep. 0
DISTRICT 11
North Schuylkill 35
Blue Mountain 10
Bangor 31
Jim Thorpe 14
DISTRICT 1
CB WEST 24
Upper Dublin 21
Strath Haven 28
Springfield Delco 12
Best of luck to all the teams
“eyes to the sky ” when wrapping and tackling no unnecessary injuries ( play smart ) !!
August 31st, 2023 at 4:56 pm
@ Scott Hagy – roster size can vary significantly from year to year for various reasons, so I’m not sure exactly how you would calculate roster size to factor into a school’s classification for a 2yr cycle. No one said the current setup is perfect, far from it, but I think splitting publics and privates into separate playoffs would result in the rich getting richer (i.e. privates) at the expense of the public schools and exacerbate the current problems, not improve them. That’s exactly what happened in NJ when they went to separate playoffs, the private schools got better and the public schools got worse. In every classification except 6A the top public schools can compete with the top private schools, the state playoffs have proven that, just 2 years ago we had the instant classic Aliquippa vs. McDevitt game, and the rematch last year. I have been to some fantastic state playoff games over the decades with Erie Prep against a WPIAL school, and it would be a shame to discontinue that by splitting into separate playoffs.
August 31st, 2023 at 2:27 pm
Well time for some SOL picks, & doubt I will do nearly as well as last week, so here goes
Wissahickon @ Hatboro Horsham, well love to see Hatboro Horsham win their second game in a row, but not this week, WISSAHICKON
Souderton @ Pennridge I’m a little disappointed in Souderton so far, too much reading the headlines about being the team in the Continental Division, doesn’t matter SOUDERTON
Pennsbury @ William Tennent Pennsbury starts their return, after getting throttled by #5 Coatesville PENNSBURY
Bensalem @ C B East lets just say it’s going to be a long night if you are a Bensalem fan CENTRAL BUCKS EAST
Harry Truman @ C B South another long night for the visitor to the Doylestown area CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH
Council Rock South @ Neshaminy oh boy like I said several weeks ago CR South is going to get someone, is tonight the night? COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH
Upper Dublin @ C B West oh this is going to be a gr8 game, if CB West has a letdown, nah revenge on last years 35 point drubbing CENTRAL BUCKS WEST
Quakertown @ North Penn I suspect this game is going to be a nailbiter, can’t imagine Miccuci throwing 2 more INT after only 6 all last year, if this was in Quakertown, but….. NORTH PENN
One out of the SOL
Perkiomen Valley over Downingtown West
There you go from the Suburban One League!
August 31st, 2023 at 2:25 pm
@ Jeff H. – I fully realize that Classification is based on male enrollment. IMO, that should obviously be a major factor, BUT considering the reality that private schools have an advantage in drawing players, that should be factored in as well – And yes, again IMO – roster size should be considered in assigning classification. Not trying to ruffle feathers, but I suspect there’s a fair number of people who aren’t happy with the current setup.
August 31st, 2023 at 12:18 pm
Best Of The Rest Picks
I found enough quality games to reach 40 picks + the one make up for the gaffe of last week, being in District 12, using some rankings elsewhere. If I miss a matchup of notoriety anywhere, let me know, & I’ll include it, just to give it a crack.
Also, forgive me if I’m bad with making picks with Inter-Ac & similar independent teams. Nowhere close to my strong suit. May use CalPreps for future indie picks.
Best Of The Rest
District 2/4
– West Scranton vs. Scranton Prep
– Line Mountain vs. Danville
– Troy vs. Montoursville
District 11
– Northern Lehigh vs. Northwestern Lehigh
– NDGP vs. Southern Lehigh
District 1/12
– Upper Dublin vs. CB West
– Perkiomen Valley vs. Downingtown West
– Pennridge vs. Souderton
– Academy Park vs. Coatesville
– Abraham Lincoln vs. Roman Catholic
– West Catholic vs. Northeast
District 3
– Central Dauphin vs. Wilson West Lawn
– Donegal vs. York Suburban
District 5/6
– Bald Eagle vs. Central Cambria
– Tussey Mountain vs. Southern Huntingdon
– Westmont vs. Bellwood-Antis
District 7/8
– Gateway vs. Woodland Hills
– Central Valley vs. Avonworth
– Aliquippa vs. Armstrong
– Clairton vs. Washington
– Sto-Rox vs. Steel Valley
– Rochester vs. OLSH
– Allderdice vs. Altoona
District 9/10
– Brockway vs. DuBois
– Central Clarion vs. Port Allegany
– Cambridge Springs vs. Eisenhower
Inter-District & Out Of State
– Downingtown East (1) vs. State College (6)
– Selinsgrove (4) vs. Juniata (6)
– Spring-Ford (1) vs Father Judge (12)
– Executive (11) vs. Berks Catholic (3)
– Penns Valley (6) vs. Bedford (5)
– Windber (5) vs. Curwensville (9)
– Clearfield (9) vs. Forest Hills (6)
– Morrisville (1) vs. ANC (Ind.)
– Neumann-Goretti (12) vs. Penn Charter (Ind.)
– Imhotep (12) vs. Haverford (Ind.)
– La Salle (12) vs. Malvern Prep (Ind.)
– St. Joe’s Prep (12) vs. St. Peter’s Prep (NJ)
– PCC (7) vs. St. Ignatius (OH)
– Eastern (DC) vs. Steel-High (3)
– Episcopal (Ind.) vs. Cardinal Hayes (NY)
Score Predictions
– Scranton Prep 35, West Scranton 10
– Troy 28, Montoursville 21
– Danville 48, Line Mountain 13
– Northwestern 42, Northern Lehigh 13
– Notre Dame GP 35, Southern Lehigh 31
– Upper Dublin 24, CB West 20
– Perk Valley 30, D’town West 19
– Pennridge 29, Souderton 28
– Coatesville 35, Academy Park 12
– West Catholic 45, Northeast 13
– Roman Catholic 63, Abraham Lincoln 16
– Wilson West Lawn 34, Central Dauphin 14
– Donegal 26, York Suburban 19
– Tussey 45, SoHudCo 13
– Bald Eagle 38, Central Cambria 19
– Westmont 26, Bellwood-Antis 14
– Gateway 42, Woodland Hills 23
– Central Valley 28, Avonworth 16
– Aliquippa 52, Armstrong 13
– Washington 34, Clairton 21
– Steel Valley 45, Sto-Rox 20
– Rochester 23, OLSH 21
– Altoona 21, Allderdice 7
– Brockway 37, DuBois 27
– Central Clarion 35, Port Allegany 17
– Eisenhower 35, Cambridge Springs 20
– State College 24, Downingtown East 16
– Executive 28, Berks Catholic 24
– Selinsgrove 38, Juniata 17
– Father Judge 29, Spring-Ford 13
– Penns Valley 35, Bedford 17
– Windber 35, Curwensville 14
– Clearfield 38, Forest Hills 23
– ANC 42, Morrisville 6
– Imhotep 38, Haverford 27
– N-G 21, William Penn Charter 20
– Malvern Prep 24, La Salle 21
– SJP 45, St. Peter’s 26
– St. Ignatius 27, PCC 16
– Steel-High 24, Eastern 23
– Cardinal Hayes 55, Episcopal 20
Also, I apologize if these are long. There’s still plenty of non-league games going on, so there’s a bunch of quality games to choose from.
August 31st, 2023 at 11:14 am
@ D2 Fan – as for big schools out West PCC plays St Ignatius in Cleveland tomorrow and ECP travels to Buffalo to play Canisius from NY. To say PCC looked impressive last week against a solid Woodland Hills team would be an understatement, their defense is very stout, and their offensive play calling showed more imagination and creativity than PCC has shown in years. This will be a great test for them and I’m curious to see how they perform, Ignatius will likely be the best team they play until the state playoffs. Right now I make PCC the favorite in WPIAL 6A ahead of NA, they play on 9/22 so we’ll know soon enough. I’ll post my thoughts on some of the key WPIAL games later.
August 31st, 2023 at 11:00 am
@Scott Hagy – the classifications are based strictly on male enrollment in grades 9-11 and not the number of players on any given team. I think it’s great if a 3A school or a school at any level has 60-70 players, we need to encourage more participation in sports, not put a limit on team rosters, this isn’t the NFL. Schools that have a great coaching staff and a winning tradition will naturally have a bigger turnout from the student body than schools that are mediocre or worse and have no tradition. I’ve seen plenty of big schools in the WPIAL with a relatively low numbers of players, and smaller schools with large numbers, are you saying a 3A school with 60-70 players should be forced to play up in class just because they have more players suited up than their competitors?
August 31st, 2023 at 12:38 pm
Kevin X…I am covering the games in Delaware this weekend, I said to them maybe next friday would be better.
August 31st, 2023 at 10:14 am
Are the rumors true, that one Dave Mika will be a guest on tomorrow night’s WPHT 1210am Scoreboard show??
August 31st, 2023 at 10:10 am
@ D2 Fan
Far from an expert, but I have been following the Inter-AC more closely the past few years. I try to get to a few of their games each year, it helps that many of their league games starting in mid October are on Saturday afternoons, so it makes for a nice Friday night/Sat. afternoon double dip, weather and other fall weekend scheduling permitting. Different atmosphere at these games as well. Like being at a small ivy league college game. Always feel under dressed 🙂
Anyways…….6 teams/schools in the league, starting their seasons this weekend, no playoff or post season games, non-PIAA schools, and I think possible 5th year graduate kids playing (not sure how that works/rules). Last year the top three teams being Haverford/EA/MP, in that order order. I see those 3 being the top 3 again this year, with maybe MP being on top (but who knows, a very competitive league). MP’s QB got hurt mid year last year, and is back as a junior, and he’s a nice dual threat QB. Two big games this weekend, Haverford and Imhotep down in DE, and LaSalle and Malvern Prep down the Jersey shore. Should be a nice barometer for all 4 teams involved. Imhotep played the latest version of Bishop Sycamore last weekend, and LaSalle, well, we all know about that game last Friday. Next week, EA host Roman, that one looks interesting as well, and I may check that one out in person if I don’t do the DelVal/DTE game.
Do you remember a few years ago (think the covid shortened 2020 season??) when Malvern Prep played Valley View??
August 30th, 2023 at 11:41 pm
@D2 fan
I completely understand my friend ,
All is well.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:21 pm
Week 2 has arrived in NEPA. I’ll be frank. This isn’t the best week of games we have this year, but I can still give 10 that stand out. There’s five good in-district matchups, two big crossovers, & three games among the related subregionals.
10 Prime Matchups To Watch Involving District 2 & their Subregionals
1. Dallas vs. Crestwood: HUGE game for WVC Division 1 in Week 2. Winner of this could be the division winner when it’s all said & done. This is where I have Dallas winning, as they happen to be the better team.
2. Mount Carmel vs. Dunmore: This would be a “Best Of The Rest” game in a typical pick post, with other districts. We know MCA is the better team, so my hope is that it’s a good game. District 2 needs to see how they stack up.
3. Valley View vs. Berwick: This is a quality matchup in 4A. Berwick needs a get right game, or else it’s a long season. Valley View could use momentum. I like the Cougars here.
4. Montrose vs. Susquehanna: Susquehanna had a highly convincing win last week against Holy Redeemer. There’s the Battle For The Bluestone rivalry this week, which’ll be the start of Montrose’s season. The Meteors wants to be competitive again, but I believe the Sabers may be the better team.
5. Old Forge vs. Nanticoke: This has a chance to become a good game up here. I’ll go with Old Forge here, but GNA winning this could send shockwaves across D2.
6. Western Wayne vs. North Pocono: This may be the best Lackawanna League showdown of the week, although West Scranton/Prep may be better. I’m sort of biased adding it, because this is a local rivalry that feels just a bit competitive every year. Wildcats are the better team & they’ll take as much of the momentum as they can get. I wouldn’t be that shocked if I get this wrong, as this is a trap game for WW.
7. Delaware Valley vs. Harrisburg: Not one, but two notable out of district showdowns in D2, this week. The Warriors along Route 6 host Harrisburg in a showdown of two of 5A/6A’s best! The better team is down I-81, but maybe DV will have some unfinished business after the tough loss on Friday.
8. Parkland vs. Freedom: This is a game that can determine the #1 seed in 6A. Parkland is very good, but can Freedom challenge? The Trojans will keep a perfect season rolling.
9. Nazareth vs. Emmaus: Both teams are the best of the best down in the valley. This is a quality game that could also play a key for the #1 seed, & who could be a matchup for the District 2/4 6A teams.
10. Kipp-DuBois vs. Jenkintown: The last game here is my District 1 noteworthy battle. Although they’re against the odds in the Subregional, it doesn’t hurt to see who can be the team to stun Trail or Old Forge. None of the three teams are playing anyone that could be a major implication win. Morrisville takes on ANC (who I don’t think they’ve ever beaten, while Renaissance Charter will be idle until it plays CMVT in a couple weeks. Neither of those games move the needle, but from the looks of it. Jenkintown has the best odds to win. I’ll add the other game to “best of the rest” to see if I made the right choice, being the game I’ll make up for last week & my mistake.
Note: The Inter-Ac & Indie teams are programs that I have zero knowledge on, so please guide me on what I should expect in 2023, as I’ll also have the Haverford game here & a couple others. I’ll try to even pick an Inter-Ac game every week in the best of the rest, if it’s quality.
Score Predictions
– Dallas 23, Crestwood 19
– MCA 35, Dunmore 14
– Valley View 28, Berwick 19
– Susquehanna 27, Montrose 20
– Old Forge 35, Nanticoke 17
– Western Wayne 31, North Pocono 17
– Harrisburg 38, DV 13
– Parkland 24, Freedom 20
– Nazareth 35, Emmaus 21
– Jenkintown 49, Kipp-DuBois 7
Best Of The Rest picks are yet to come. I have to find some good non-WPIAL games out west.
August 30th, 2023 at 2:25 pm
mcd65 – I stated that Max Prep listed 288 players; I didn’t say that was their final roster. Yes, I remain skeptical about Prep and the other private schools which clearly draw players beyond their general neighborhood. They have a big advantage which the PIAA should address. Certainly roster sized should, IMO – be a factor they should consider. For example a few schools are allowed to play in 3A yet have 60-70 player rosters. Then they beat up on other 3A schools with barely half those numbers. Not good.
August 30th, 2023 at 10:29 am
@ Distract 2 LFC,
I was just using Lakeland as an example, based on what happened last week as a general statement. You could replace that matchup with several more here in the eastern half of the state. I definitely know how successful they are as a program, what happened the last couple of years, & that they’re rebuilding this year. It was just a generalization, & the one notable mercy rule blowout from up here last week. I should’ve maybe used Wyoming Area/Tunkhannock instead.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:39 am
Scott H. St. Joe does not have students from Maryland and Delaware . You stated Roman had like 288 players on their roster and now your skeptical about the Prep . Both are untrue of course. There are folks on here that have the correct information if you ask the question .
August 30th, 2023 at 5:47 am
My last post was at D2 fan
NOT Kevin X
Regarding competition
August 30th, 2023 at 5:39 am
@Kevin X
In regards to the other conversation you were having with the other person about competition and when you said about the Monroe County teams being basically Mercy ruled the second they step on the field.
I don’t know much about Monroe County but I do know quite a bit about the Lackawanna Football Conference So when you say that you would rather see a better game than Scranton prep blowout Lakeland did you forget about last season when Lakeland blew out Scranton prep Lakeland was winning at halftime 33-7 and won 41-14
The Chiefs also own Scranton prep in the overall series with a record of 26 and 16 also not sure if you know this but Scranton prep has not reached the PIAA Eastern final and while I’m not certainly bragging about the Chiefs reaching the Eastern final at least they reached the Eastern final when they faced off against Northern Lehigh only losing a very close battle 10-7 then northern Lehigh the following game played Aliquippa in the state championship and almost beat them and need I say Lakeland has more championships overall than Scranton prep even back when they were both in the BIG 11 Conference. The Chiefs also gave
Mount Carmel a scare in the state playoffs back when Mount Carmel was on a state championship winning streak when Lakeland had PIAA State passing leader Evan Kraky .
I guess my point is not to brag about lakeland’s history but rather don’t be so down on the Chiefs When comparing them to the Scranton prep Imports.
Plus I know a lot of you public forum enthusiasts only care about who’s winning state championships but I can guarantee you one thing I would rather stay consistent and keep winning championships even if a team has to go through a building season to get back to the championship winning ways then go and win a state championship and not get back to it after winning 30 years ago and then be muddling through the years I’d much rather be consistent winning league and districts rather than win a state championship 30 years ago and then never do it again and never have consistency one team I can reference is the Hanover area Hawkeyes I believe they want it back in 1990 or at least in that general area of time and then going forward you don’t hear from them they don’t even have a plaque in their High School area acknowledging it which is crazy to me I think the school should have acknowledged it back then at least to give credit to the guys well I’m done talking your ears off have a good one ya’ll
August 30th, 2023 at 12:27 am
@Scott and Ryan It’s amazing how the “SJP has players from four states” myth gets re-circulated. Here are the facts. SJP (because of its academic reputation and its location) has ALWAYS drawn students from SE PA and Jersey. When I attended (in the late 60s / early 70s) we had a couple of students who took the train in from Reading every day and one who took the train from Trenton, but the vast majority came and come from the city, the parts of Delaware, Montgomery, and Bucks counties closest to Philly, and the parts of Camden and Burlington Counties (in south Jersey) closest to Philly. A few students come from Chester County and more are coming from parts of south Jersey further from the Prep but still within daily commuting distance. A handful of students each decade have come from Delaware. I can think of only two football players who lived in Delaware–one (Chambers?) who played end for one year as a freshman over ten years ago but who then transferred to a Jersey school when his family moved there and one (Armen Ware) who went to elementary school in Philly and then moved with his mother to northern DE when he started high school . I think she commuted to work every day in Philly. Ware graduated about 7 years ago. No players from DE since then. I have never heard of a kid from MD attending the Prep let alone playing football for the school. I admit to not knowing where each player sleeps every night, but I do know the school does not have a dorm and I know that the school and the football program go to a fair bit of trouble to facilitate transportation–much of which consists of car-pooling, using parents and a few seniors with driving licenses–for players who live at particular distances from the school.
At least a few other PCL schools (including Roman and N-G) have had students from Jersey but never as many as the Prep has had. (My understanding is that about 25% of SJP students come from Jersey.) All this was widely known when the PCL joined the PIAA.
There is no doubt that being able to draw students from an area with such a large population is a significant advantage, but I would add two other things to consider. First, there are many other private schools in that area that also place some emphasis on sports: all the other PCL schools, including LaSalle, all six Inter-Ac schools, and other private/Catholic schools in outer regions of SE PA (e.g., Shanahan, JPII, and Holy Ghost Prep) and in south Jersey (Bishop Eustace, Camden Catholic, Holy Cross, St. Augustine, etc.). Second, there are obvious difficulties in running a football program in a school that has significant academic demands–it loses promising players every year during and after freshman year–and logistical challenges. Not everyone wants to go to 6:00 am practices in the summer, especially when the practice field is 20 miles away and not everyone want to have a 20 mile commute at the end of practice on a school day. Note that I am not saying everybody at SJP is an especially bright outstanding student, but it has academic demands and standards that deter some from even applying and that result in transfers out–and not just by athletes but certainly including athletes.
August 29th, 2023 at 4:39 pm
@bkg – exactly correct, I’ve been pointing out for years there are not enough big private schools in this state to effectively fill a 16 team bracket, and you’re right, the only 2 in the entire western half of the state are ECP and PCC, along with McDevitt in Harrisburg, every other school would be from the PCL or a D1 team like Bishop Shanahan or PJP II. Or as you mentioned to balance things out you would have to include Allentown CC and Berks Catholic, or North Catholic from the WPIAL in 4A, but they aren’t even much of a factor in 4A , maybe even schools like Scranton Prep. How fair is it for smaller or mid sized private schools that have never won a state title or even made the finals to have to play in the large school bracket because of a lack of teams? I realize North Catholic won the 1A title in 2013, but they have been 4A for the last several years due to enrollment and they usually get beat pretty handily by the 4A public school powers like Aliquippa, TJ and McKeesport when they play them.
August 29th, 2023 at 4:20 pm
@ Kevin X
Being from the Pike-Wayne area myself, I tend to tip my cap to them for being the only team that ever goes out of the area regularly each year. I wish the weaker teams in the area would do this with similar competition. Maybe the new division format in EPC will allow this to come true. They are rivals to my school, but I have more respect for them than a lot of people would think.
In District 2, the most notable ones I can think of are the two you mentioned. I think Dunmore can count for this year. A big test for them this week against Mount Carmel. Berwick regularly has at least one or two Heartland games a year. There was also Hazleton, who played Harrisburg one year (I believe) & Donegal in a home & home. I think it’d absolutely help our district to have all of the good teams travel to District 3-4 or even WPIAL for a change.
You posed a fantastic question that I’ve been wanting to bring up myself for quite some time. I honestly feel that every Week 0/1 (whatever you consider it) game should be outside of district, if travel isn’t too, too much of an issue. There’s so many excellent inter-district games that are very intriguing in the first week, & more great games would be better. I’d rather that than seeing Prep blow out Lakeland or the Monroe County teams being flat out mercy ruled the second they come on the field.
I’d love to make a list someday using CalPreps of all of the best possible matchups that would work with PA teams using out of district matchups.
@ D11 Matt
I fully trust Tout with developing these players & hearing that it’s one of the best classes they’ve had makes me stoked.
@ Anyone that can answer,
Could anyone give me some info on Inter-Ac teams or the indie teams. I’m putting a handful of the Week 2 games as predictions, so I want to make sure I don’t seem like a yo-yo who knows nothing.
August 29th, 2023 at 4:13 pm
At Frank G. – You sure about St. Joe’s? I was told they had kids from Jersey, Delaware & Maryland. They may not be “boarders,” but they could be housed by nearby families. If I’m wrong, then so be it- but I remain skeptical.
August 29th, 2023 at 1:35 pm
Anyone notice Thomas Edison beat Jenkintown last week? It’s been a few years since they won a game, but how long has it been since they defeated an opponent from outside the city? A good sign of progress.
@Jeff H: You pointed out Erie Prep had to be moved up to 5A to stop winning state titles. Being a private school isn’t a guarantee of domination, since public schools are more plentiful and there’s always a chance that one of the many has a special year. But you can be reasonably sure that in any given year, Erie Prep will be a contender. Down years don’t have as much impact.
I don’t have any issue with public schools playing private schools during the regular season. By all means, teams should challenge themselves. I just think that if the postseason was split, it could be organized to suit both forms of schools, rather than trying to have “one size fits all”.
@bkg: Sure, the large-private division would be very Philly-heavy. But I don’t think it’s a problem if the playoffs have “usual suspects”. I think it would be fantastic to see matchups like Erie Prep vs. PCC, SJP vs. McDevitt, develop into rivalries. It would certainly serve Erie Prep better than having to wait through two bye weeks before having to play a state quarterfinal. Perhaps 3 8-team brackets would suit private schools better, but either way the concept works, IMO.
August 29th, 2023 at 1:33 pm
@Frank G : Did you really just say that SJP has players for the Philadelphia Area? They have players from 4 different states.
August 29th, 2023 at 12:51 pm
@JCo – as far as the public/private argument that gets rehashed multiple times each season, the only private team in the state the publics can’t compete with on a regular basis is SJP. so I have a hard time seeing why there’s a huge need to split the publics and privates because of 1 school. None of the other privates in this state dominate the way SJP does, Erie Prep has not won a state title since they were moved up to 5A, and in fact TJ finally got over the hump and beat them in the 4A quarterfinals in 2019. McDevitt won their fist state title last year since 1995, although they did have several runner up finishes between their titles. Pittsburgh Central Catholic has 4 state titles since the state playoffs started in 1998, with their last one in 2015, so it’s not like PCC dominated the state prior to the SJP era. I know for a fact none of the big schools in the WPIAL have a problem playing PCC, most of them relish the opportunity to play and beat them despite their advantages, I think the same is true in district 3 for the most part, no one really complains about McDevitt’s advantages and it’s just more incentive for the good public schools to try and beat them. If SJP opted out of the state playoffs I think all this public vs. private debate would go radio silent for the most part because it’s not nearly as much of a factor in the other 5 classes.
@ Mike S – couldn’t agree with you more about the importance of active and engaged coaches in keeping their players, it’s all about coaching and the culture within the program, most schools in the WPIAL with good coaching staffs rarely lose kids to PCC, it’s the mediocre schools with little or no tradition where PCC gets the vast majority of their players
August 29th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
JCo……just my opinion, your 16 team big school bracket for private schools would be difficult to do. competitiviness on a year to year basis would not change much as long as st. joe prep is around. i think the bracket would be heavy with philly schools. offhand, i can only think of two western schools that could occasionally compete: erie cath. prep and pitt cent. cath. mcdevitt (hbg) would be included. enrollment number would have to be low to fill remaining 16 team bracket. now you’re including the likes of scranton prep, allentown c.c.,,berks cath. all good programs, but doubtful to compete consistently on this level. it could easily be the same 16 teams every year with no qualifying rounds needed. i certainly don’t have the answers, just my opinion
August 29th, 2023 at 9:50 am
@Scott You seem to equate SJP with IMG in having players from all over the country. All of SJP’s players come from the Philadelphia area and none are boarders. IMG’s players come from all over and, as far as I know, all are boarders. That could look like an unfair advantage for IMG, but that’s obviously not how SJP thinks.
August 29th, 2023 at 9:28 am
District 2 I watched Scranton Prep play against a Public School- Wyomissing in the PIAA playoffs and was surprised at how easily Wyo demolished them. Wyo scored every time they had the ball. I guess the talent pool in the Scranton area is not what it used to be. One of the great mysteries in PA football is how Wyomissing-a 3A school, has all of these 280 lb lineman year after year, yet the largest School District east of the Mississippi-Reading SD, located right over the Bridge from Wyomissiing can’t seem to find any large lineman. Wyo won its only State Championship with a Quarterback who was from Fleetwood stashed in a Wyomissing apartment.
August 29th, 2023 at 9:20 am
@FrankG: I don’t think schools like McD, PCC, Erie Prep… or even smaller schools like Guilfoyle… are excluded from the public/private debate. SJP is a lightning rod because they’re the best by far. But the debate encompasses all non-boundaries.
Also, key to distinguish that not all public schools in Philly are operated by the School District of Philadelphia. For the purposes of the discussion, I think it’s fair to say that charter schools that aren’t operated by the District (for example: Imhotep, Boys Latin, Belmont Charter) should not be considered on level footing as typical public schools.
August 29th, 2023 at 9:20 am
@ scott H. Many teams do not update their rosters. They have carry over from previous years. Roman does not have the players you mention on their squad this year. Wood claims about 177 ,I know this is 3 years worth of roster LOL. No team has what you mention.
August 29th, 2023 at 9:20 am
Scott Hagy, the 288 number is way off, Roman’s true numbers are 1/2 of that. 90-95 players max, same number they had as last year. Wilson did not have the athletes in the secondary to keep up with Roman’s speedy receivers. Plus Beals-Roman’s QB is probably the best QB Wilson will see all year. Cam Jones graduating is a big loss for Wilson, I know Edison Case is injured but that’s not an excuse. We will see how Wilson’s defense, which was a big question mark rebounds against Cental Dauphin, neither team wants to go 0-2 to start the season as this will have major playoff implications.
August 29th, 2023 at 8:50 am
OK, my intent was NOT to start the schools with Boundaries vs those without, my point is the schools with good active coaches often keep their kids home, CB East had 2 transfers back this year, Garnet Valley/Upper Dublin are both very strong, the common denominator is they all have a Coaching staff in place that are active, North Penn does not! Cheltenham is another school where when they changed coaching, the kids left without boundary schools to come back to play including 2 D1 recruits. It’s the Coaching folks not the recruiting! North Penn if as one of the largest school districts in the state, want to get back to being consistently at or near the top, needs to bring in a Coaching staff, that are active in keeping the kids home. The current coaching staff doesn’t even have enough interest to go to their own Middle School, Freshmen and even JV games, COME ON MAN! Show a little care!
@Scott Hagy- I’ve found MaxPreps to be very inaccurate and getting worse, they are dependent on local reporters which if the coaches or someone in the public doesn’t send in the current information they are in trouble. I suspect but have not looked & I’m not going to waste my time, but you may have 2 or 3 years of rosters rolled into one. Just be careful what you believe on MaxPreps.
August 29th, 2023 at 8:47 am
@ FrankG
Two small minor corrections for you….
First, just last year Prep (not to be confused with “The Prep”) was eliminated by Neumann Goretti (not a public school as you well know) in the round of 16. As far as making the state quarterfinals, good question. Maybe a few years ago when the D2 winner played the D4 winner. I’ll defer to the D2 and Prep historians for that.
Second, jumping into your conversation with PB, public school districts in PA are required by law to offer transportation to private school kids who live in their district if the district offers transportation to their public school kids in the same grades (ultimately at the taxpayers expense).
August 29th, 2023 at 8:30 am
@ D2 Fan
Sorry, forgot to add this to my multi post last night.
Whatever the results of Del Val’s games are the next two weeks, I will always tip my hat to the program for going out of their District 2 comfort zone and seeking quality competition early in the season. Your thoughts on if other D2 should follow their footsteps and find some out of district opponents?? Seems Wyo Area is the only other D2 team doing this, playing SoCol the past few years.
@ Scott Hagy
Please, and this goes for everyone, take anything you see on MaxPreps with a world record size grain of salt. I saw that too and it appears just to be list of players of the team in the last several years. Name never removed or updated.
August 29th, 2023 at 7:55 am
@FrankG
I get what you are saying and I do understand completely especially about the crowd size that compares to years ago when semi-pro football was popular even way back when it was the Scranton Eagles then changed to the Electric city Chargers
With the Scranton Eagles the Memorial Stadium was always full Fast Forward many years for the Chargers it looked like you were watching a freshman football game I do get it times change but one thing is for sure private verse public should not be because there are clear advantages and disadvantages across the board we will never see eye to eye on this issue ever I’m sure and that’s okay have a good day brother.
August 28th, 2023 at 9:48 pm
@District2 LFC
A few points:
1) Odd that given the advantages you say Scranton Prep has that, as far as I can recall, they’ve never made it to a state semi-final and have always been eliminated by a public school team. Have they even made it to a quarter-final?
2) At least in SE PA the situation is different in a few key respects. None of the public schools in Philly have boundaries, which most obviously helps schools like IMHOTEP. Then there are the large number of private (some Catholic, some not) school, most of which put a lot of emphasis on sports. There are the 14 PCL schools and the six inter-ac schools as well as Catholic schools a little outside the PCL area (Shanahan, JPII). None, of course, have boundaries. It appears things are also different–though not as different–in the Lehigh Valley, the Harrisburg area, and Pittsburgh. I haven’t heard anyone really complaining about the advantages McDevitt or PCC have, even though both have been quite successful.
3) I know there’s a feeling that if the private schools recruited less–a lot less–then things would go back to the good old days, e.g, the powerful public school teams in Bucks County (especially Central Bucks West), the Ridley and Strath Haven teams in Delco, etc. (When I was a young child I even went to Blakely Bears games in their golden era, so I know why some people are nostalgic.) But here’s the thing: all the private schools could close tomorrow and high school football would not be anything like what it was 30-60 years ago, even 20 years ago. There have been so many changes in terms of how many kids are playing, what kids are playing, who and how many attend games, etc. that the future isn’t going to be like the past regardless. I travel a lot in far upstate NY and northern New England and have noticed how many public schools (in areas where there are no private schools or at least private schools that are very competitive in sports) have either no football team or football teams that play to crowds of 100-200 people. I know PA is different but not entirely different.
August 28th, 2023 at 9:38 pm
I wasn’t at the Wilson/Roman game, but I noticed on Max Preps that they had an astounding 288 names on their roster…..seems absolutely ridiculous for any school – let alone one allowed to compete in 5A. I’m curious as to how many they suited up. I certainly feel strongly that the PIAA should examine their policies regarding private school inclusion when they obviously are drawing – if not outright recruiting players from states outside PA. Was interesting watching the game between IMG, Florida and St. Joes. Listening to where so many of the players came from it was like they were colleges- not prep schools.
August 28th, 2023 at 9:01 pm
@ D2 LFC
Interesting posts. I do have my opinions on this subject (probably not like them, certainly disagree), but not feeling like going down that rabbit hole at the moment. There will be a time.
@ Jeff H.
Not a close follower of the NP program, more of a casual observer of many of their athletic teams, including football. Like with the above topic, maybe I’ll weigh in more later, but the short of it I am not in the camp of ousting Coach Beck, contrary to the current vibe currently taking place on this board. Newsflash to some of you, LaSalle has a really good team this year, with probably the best Sophmore QB in the state. Let’s see how it goes Thursday night with Q-Town. Also, NP is only 2 years removed from an undefeated regular season.
@ ScottyB
Had the PV/DTW game on my short list for Friday as well. Removed Soudy @ P-Ridge. Maybe I’ll end up in D-Town Friday as well. Wondering now how good of a game Upper Dub will give CBW. UD lost a good number of players from last years very talented team.
August 28th, 2023 at 8:24 pm
@D2.
Yep, Northern Lehigh’s coach Tout has said that he thinks the incoming freshman class could be his best freshman class he has coached in his 17 years at NL and maybe best ever in his time at NL (and that includes the 03 team that reached Hersey and lost to Revis led Aliquippa when tout was a young assistant). It’s also a huge class in regards to players for them. But playing that many freshman due to injuries won’t bode well for this year but look out in a year or two. They should be back as a threat statewide in A soon enough.
August 28th, 2023 at 4:57 pm
@Frank G
I completely understand what you are saying,
But it’s off track of what I was referring to
What I’m saying is it’s completely not fair for public schools to have to compete with private schools on the basis that private schools are allowed to have talent from up to an hour or two away from their school….and public have talent within a few mile range…
Which means the talent pool is much smaller for the public schools thus giving the private schools a greater advantage overall….to be honest the advantage only goes to the private schools whose coaches know how to recruit…because their are some private schools that are not competitive at all because the coaches are only there for a paycheck and not championships .
This is the most comprehensive split any reasonable person would understand the only people who oppose it are of course the fans and family members of those who are playing for the private schools.
When you said earlier that public schools do not own them I never said they did that was only a suggestion to solve the problem if they don’t want to separate public and private schools throughout the year and also the state championship then they should play where they live .
I will give you a perfect example up in the Lackawanna Football Conference there are a few Catholic schools there’s Holy Cross there’s Scranton prep and down the line in the Wyoming Valley Conference this Holy Redeemer out of these three private schools Scranton Preparatory is more successful at scouting and bringing in Talent no matter if it doesn’t benefit the student athlete in the classroom or not they still obtain them and give them a quote on quote scholarship which was created for families of low-income that have students that otherwise would not be able to go but of course there’s twists and turns through all situations and they worked it through the system very nicely I guess for them I truly completely disagree with it but such is life
I give Scranton prep as an example for the unfairness and here we have a public school the Lakeland Chiefs who on average have competitive years and do have many championships under their belt however last year’s 12-1 season for the Chiefs had a plethora of senior Talent their quarterback was the athlete of the year for the Scranton Times and many other athletes were in the running, okay so now step back a little bit Scranton prep who just reloads with all of their recruits from all over the place and beats Lakeland 70-7 and Lakeland that only brought back two athletes from that Stellar year one lineman and I believe the other was a defensive back Scranton prep was loaded the preparatoryans or as I like to say the Scranton prep Imports won the game 70-7
The Prep players were saying it was payback from last year when Lakeland beat them 41-14
I get it !
pay back is necessary for all teams but I guess I’ll go off the track a little bit to put up 70 points against the team that only returned two starters from last year let me just say……
NO- C L A S S (Coach Terry Gallagher !!! )act like you’ve been there brother trust me there will be teams down the line that will HAMMER you guys hard and most likely will be a Catholic School in the state playoffs unless Western Wayne stops you which I hope they do.
GO WILD CATS
August 28th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
Many of you on here who follow D1 have started to wonder if it’s time for Dick Beck to be replaced at NP, seems to me from afar he’s kinda been coasting on his laurels the last several years and as the late Chuck Noll used to say about players past their prime perhaps it’s time for him to get on with his life’s work. For those of you who follow the program closely have there been any rumors of him retiring or being forced out, and who are some of the candidates who might be in line to replace him?
August 27th, 2023 at 11:16 pm
@ D11 Matt
That’s the analysis I was looking for! I do agree that small schools seem to have the hardest of times rebuilding, just in general. Well, except if you’re Southern Columbia, because they reload no matter what. There must be something in the water, or the Big Ben’s soda (If you know, you know).
I had zero idea that Palisades was rebuilding & young. It makes sense now. It seemed like a neat game on paper, based off of last year. The same goes for Tri-Valley. This 1A battle now looks really interesting.
I knew Northern Lehigh did lose a few more from last year’s quarterfinal team. I expected they’d take a step back, but seeing how they have a lot of underclassmen makes me feel that it’s not going to be a season like the last two. I just hope they find a way to be competitive in their division, because there’s some quality 3A teams there.
As always, appreciate the insight on teams down there!
@ JCo
I’d be all-in for a bowl game at the end of the year, if there’s a split. ESPN could get the rights & put a massive spotlight on PA, which doesn’t have the luster other states do (or at least of what it used to be). Unless you’re in CA, TX, GA, FL, & the Carolinas (& respectfully so, with them all being pure hotbeds), you’re just out there if you’re a Top 25 team in the country or one of those Week 0/1 deals like Southern had in 2019.
August 27th, 2023 at 7:56 pm
@ District 2 LFC
Our fundamental disagreement is over the notion that kids somehow belong to the public school district in which they live. I went to a Catholic elementary school. My parents of course paid local taxes to the public school system, but I never set foot in a public school–except for one year in kindergarten. I’m sure you’d agree it would have been absurd for me to have been forced to play on the local public high school team. Of course, lots more players now on private school teams went to public elementary or middle schools, but I would still maintain that to require them to play for the team of the high school they never attended would be ridiculous, and I doubt the coaches or the players (who do go to the local public high school) would be very happy to have them representing a high school they don’t attend.
August 27th, 2023 at 7:51 pm
On the topic of public/private… yes it gets rehashed on here very frequently. But I continue to believe that a split would benefit both boundary schools and non-boundary schools. The non-boundary schools wouldn’t have to deal with things like PIAA’s competitiveness formula, or massive playoff brackets, or being bound to PIAA districts. Just split into a large-school and small-school division by male enrollment, and have a 16-team bracket for each division. I firmly believe that it would be more interesting to fans all around.
If the state really wants, they can set up a Pennsylvania Bowl between the winner of the largest public class and the large-school private class. Maybe, having a single game with extra attention could secure broadcasting rights.
I don’t really expect any of this to actually happen. But a split, done right, would be a game-changer for Pennsylvania high school football for everyone involved. I 100% believe that.
August 27th, 2023 at 7:09 pm
@D2, some D11 insight.
Palisades is young this year and Bangor returned a lot. As you know solid programs that are small schools go through rebuilds as they can reload as much as big schools (however there are exceptions). Minersville should be solid in D11A, but Tri Valley Lost a lot. They should compete but like Northern Lehigh, they lost a lot of multi year starters at skill positions. Speaking of Northern Lehigh (my alma mater), I expected father to be decent even though they lost some skill players because they returned a lot on the lines. However, they play a very tough 3A schedule as an A school and it’s relentless. They don’t have many easy games. They play Notre Dame North Schuylkill, Northwestern, etc. And this year most teams they play are up. So I expected they to win about 5 games and then have a chance in playoffs against A schools again. But, they lost their junior starting QB/Safety to a season ending knee injury last prior prior to season and then lost a two way lb/RB and then in second quarter of opening game had another LB/WR taken out. That’s brutal for them. They were playing a 5’6 freshman QB and had all underclassmen in secondary. That killed them. And the schedule won’t be forgiven. They will have to grind it out this year. Making playoffs will be tough for them playing that many freshman. But should be good for future years.
August 27th, 2023 at 1:12 pm
FrankG, excellent point, if their is no discount or break on the property taxes for those who send their kids to private schools, couldn’t the private schools at least be able to use the public school facilities rent free? That’s completely reasonable. Especially in states like NJ and IL that have the highest property taxes in the nation. No doubt Jersey is one of the best states in the country for quality of life, creature comforts, culture, the whole thing, but to have to pay, what, about 8k per year for the average house — not happening. Regarding Prep’s lack of a field, right, there is the issue of urban density. Phladelphia’s apogee population-wise was about 2.2 million in the mid-50’s. That dropped to 1.5 mil (now 1.6) over the course of the next several decades. You mean to tell me they couldn’t have cobbled together some real estate parcels close by the campus during that time for a field/stadium. Heck, as recently as the 90’s you could still get a 2 story row house for $5k in some instances in the greater Prep/Girard College/Temple area. Too late now, but if Temple ever builds their on-campus stadium at 15th and Norris maybe that’s the ticket.
August 27th, 2023 at 12:47 pm
@Kevin X……
lol yes !
It’s almost laughable that it’s 2023 and the
Public private situation is still not delt with
No matter what people say defending it
it’s still ridiculously unfair .
For a school to obtain athletes from anywhere
they desire and to give scholarships to those
who play a sport is Crazy !
and is not fair to the regular students who earned their way into a Preparatory school and takes their
education future seriously .
Trust me it happens my two nieces graduated with honors at a Preparatory school and said lots
of athletes are not quality in the classroom as they are on the gridiron …..
How I think it should be handled is ALL students of private schools should play sports at the schools where they reside if not then make separate playoffs and only play other feeder programs in the regular season aswell.
Look at how many state championship titles
have been stolen from all the solid public schools
over the last several years .
At the end of the day money and people in powerful positions in life will always be a roadblock of changing the current situation !!
Keep in mind I’m not against private schools just how current situation stands
August 27th, 2023 at 10:58 am
Yea, NP has 3 middle schools ( Penndale, Pennfield & Pennbrook). Penndale might be a junior high, not sure. From my understanding,
NP is 2nd largest public school in Pa. (behind Reading). Beck is just phoning it in. I’m sure he gets paid well. He might be
damn near fireproof because of his previous success. Many of us believe a change is due. Don’t think it will happen soon, unfortunately.
August 27th, 2023 at 10:31 am
My first predictions of the season were, in a word, troubling. For those that kept score,
– I went 7-3 in the District 2 games to watch. Two losses were within one score in coin flip games, so I can’t be mad.
– In the best of the rest, I was 23-16, a .590 success rate.
– Through 49 games, I’m 30-19, batting .612. I’m either a jinx or awful with picks. It was that way when I did predictions last postseason, too. I need to be better.
– Somehow I had West Catholic vs. Northeast for this week. That game is next week. Well, I’ll throw in an extra game next week to make up for the one I missed. I have a plan for that.
My biggest mistakes
– We don’t talk about my Imhotep pick, but we can about them getting RedditCFB’s Cobra Kai Award for the biggest blowout victory of the week. That’s probably the worst pick I’ve ever made.
– NFL UK was such a bad pick by me, too. I just didn’t know anything.
– Crestwood game was a theoretical coin flip. I think I flipped my pick before I sent it out. Not even mad about that one.
– I don’t know what the heck I was thinking with the Bangor vs. Palisades pick. I thought Palisades was really good. Should’ve read the summaries before.
– As for DV/Selinsgrove, I’m impressed with the Seals. Wasn’t aware of their game.
– The Morrisville loss was more of lack of my small school knowledge down south.
– Loyalsock beat Berks? I didn’t expect that. I ask the same question Kevin X did with DV.
– Is Bishop Guilfoyle down this year or is BEA actually good? That’s one I was confident with.
– A little surprised with ACC. I underrated them, I guess. I guess it’ll be the 8-2 season for the Kids this year.
– Minersville either looks legit this year or Tri-Valley isn’t as strong as they look to be.
– The rest of my wrong picks were ones I felt could’ve gone either way, or had absolutely zero knowledge of. I’m no savant on District 5 or 9 at all, & even the Ohio teams.
Just like Tony Kornheiser says on PTI, I’ll try to do better next time.
August 27th, 2023 at 8:28 am
What is going on with Berwick? Surely they are a better team then that.
August 27th, 2023 at 8:19 am
@Buddy Hensler I was talking to the mom of one of the North Penn kids, after the game he was talking with 5 LaSalle players who he played with at Penndale Middle School (that’s only one of North Penn’s middle schools), so North Penn is losing a ton of talent to the Catholic Leagues, that said he doesn’t seem to really want to keep them either. He hasn’t been showing up at Middle School, Freshmen, JV games & the kids see that. I personally think he’s given up trying to keep the talent there. North Penn has the smallest OL/DL I’ve seen in years, there doesn’t seem to be cohesion among the staff. I don’t get it. It’s time to change the coaching staff, bring in some aggressive young coaches, who actively are trying to keep the kids at home. Dick Beck is living off his State Championship from years ago and the School Board is allowing it. How far will the mighty fall before they attempt to fix it? Oh, they will get some wins, after all they are the largest school in the SOL, but a school with that many students, should consistently be at the top.
August 27th, 2023 at 4:41 am
@phillyboy
You don’t have to go back 15 years for the NP/LaSalle game to be competitive. 5 years is far enough back. Not sure what’s goin’ on.
Mabe Beck has lost it. Maybe the kids aren’t coming out for football like before. Don’t know. Painful to watch though..
August 27th, 2023 at 2:14 am
@ Kevin X
I follow DV a good deal. I honestly didn’t expect Selinsgrove to pull that off. Harrisburg’s going to crush them. The Cougs are just the better team. Downingtown East has had their number in the last few years, too. Knowing DV, it feels they’ll go undefeated in district play, as that’s usually how it shakes out.
The best way I can describe last night was that they basically had a game like Belle Vernon vs. Neumann-Goretti, but with much more scoring. They had a 4th & goal from the one & couldn’t capture it. I think Selinsgrove was just the better team. I don’t know if they’re good enough to beat the Shore, but that’d be something!
I wish I can give more analysis, but Times-Tribune newspapers are under a paywall & I don’t think Yahoo Sports has they’re free to read article with that game just yet.
District 2 just doesn’t match up well with other teams in the highest classes, it seems.
Also, & this goes to @ Distract 2 LFC, I don’t mind stirring the pot, just a tad.
I’ve always been a separate playoffs believer. I’m so against it that I wrote a paper about it in college, a few years ago. My opinions are about the same as those who feel the same way, so if a few of you already said something about how you feel about it that’s against it, I’d probably echo it.
Also, I wouldn’t say my knowledge is deep, but it’s decent enough. Then again, I follow the other teams more than mine probably because I went to a school that’s been very average in football. We got a district title a few years back, but we play in a gauntlet every year. To be fair, my Prep knowledge is from 2014 & beyond, which was around the same time they started being the somewhat elite team they are.
I have to go back to see how my predictions on all of the teams fared later. I know I made some rough picks & whiffed a bunch. One in particular was frustratingly surprising because of how bad of a blowout it was for the team I gave a loss to.
August 27th, 2023 at 1:38 am
Thanks Kevin X. But I was only trying to get the results from the local scrimmages in the Berks County area that we didn’t get any media coverage for this year. I don’t know why. GO BULLDOGS.
August 26th, 2023 at 11:01 pm
@Phillyboy Rental charges for public high school fields have gone way up–a big reason SJP and LaSalle no longer play at P-W. You could, of course, get into an interesting discussion about whether private school teams (made up of players whose parents pay public school taxes but whose children don’t cost the public school system a penny) should have to pay the full cost (and sometimes more) of using the public school facilities when the public school itself is not using them.
The answer to your question, at least as it applies to SJP and Roman is simple. Unlike Don Bosco and Bergen Catholic and O’Hara, they are by no means in suburban areas where the land needed and the space for parking are available. You could also ask why Temple plays where it does.
August 26th, 2023 at 3:00 pm
Kevin X, dag, they had the audacity to charge $10 at the Roman game. I guess they had to pay rent for the facility, but still that’s high. Wouldn’t have suggested that game had I known. What gets me, on a larger level: how do Roman, LaSalle and SJP not have their own field a la Don Bosco Prep, Bergen Catholic or even Cardinal O’hara? Don’t they have a few billionaire alumnists type o’ thing that could finance it? Btw, 15 years ago I would have said to check out NP/LaSalle. What’s going on at NP, for years they bent without breaking. Seems like they finally broke. That’s a program that’s full on going through the motions.
August 26th, 2023 at 2:28 pm
Kevin X,
I was thinking at heading to Kottmeyer next Friday for the annual Perk Valley/Dtown West battle. Should be a good one per usual.
August 26th, 2023 at 2:08 pm
Very disappointing performance by Wilson against Roman. I expected Roman to win, but I thought it would be closer. Wilson has injury issues, but no excuses, guys have to step up. It’s possible Roman is an elite team this year – we’ll see. I expect Wilson will look much better against Central Dauphin next game.
August 26th, 2023 at 1:31 pm
@Kevin X- I don’t know too much about Delval or District 2, but it does not look great for them the next two weeks. Harrisburg will probably blow them out. Dtown East as well, they were close with Dtown East last year, mainly because East’s Starting QB and Backup QB were injured, so all Dtown East did was run Horvath out of the wildcat. Now East has a healthy QB and a 2-3 RB rotation including a FBS commit Harris and return 4 out of 5 O-Lineman from last year, I do not see how Delval will come out with a victory.
August 26th, 2023 at 1:08 pm
What has happen to Pennridge’s program? I knew they were probably not going to beat Dtown East, but to lose 43-0 (37-0 at half), and only able to have 19 yards of total offense is wild to me.
August 26th, 2023 at 12:08 pm
@kevin….nope! Just said PA because this is a pa football site haha. I’ll be rooting for prep tonight.
August 26th, 2023 at 10:52 am
Also, while its fresh in my mind, and hopefully others as well, any of you guys upstate in District 2 and/or 4 can give me a read and review of the Del Val/Selinsgrove game?? Are the Seals that good?? They going to give Jersey Shore a challenge in 4A D4 this year?? Moreover, what is up with DelVal?? Injuries?? First game out of sync ness?? Was I drinking too much of the preseason Kool-Aid hype surrounding them?? They are looking to get smoked the next two weeks (Harrisburg and DTE). I actually had their game at DTE as my first trip of the year to Kottmeyer in two weeks. Should I be re-thinking that??
August 26th, 2023 at 8:27 am
Mike S, congratulatins on your predictions !!!!! 100 %
August 26th, 2023 at 8:23 am
Mike S. My guess is that the Doylestown paper had done the article prior to Coopers diagnosed injury. He was injured earlier ,but appeared to be ok until an MRI was done. I believe he is scheduled for surgery this week. He is still walking around and looked ok but isnt. He was at the GV game but of course not dressed.
August 26th, 2023 at 8:13 am
@ Wilson4ever
That’s fine, to each his own. You enjoy. There is a handful of scrimmages today you can check out.
@Mike S
The article was probably written weeks ago. Today’s print media is in shambles. An editor, nah.
@Roman Catholic
Seriously?? $10??
@mcd65 & @PB
Picked the wrong game. Maybe I’ll check them (CBW) out next weekend against Upper Dub.
@Distract 2 LFC
You really want to go down that road and stir up that hornets nest??
@D11 Matt
“Good luck to all the teams playing this weekend in PA!” Was that a subtle jab at St. Joe Prep who are playing tonight in Jersey (not PA)?? 🙂
August 26th, 2023 at 2:36 am
Kevin X. No you relax dude!!! I just happen to love scrimmages and they are certainly part of the football season. They can be very interesting if two powerhouse collide. There is nothing wrong with trying to find out scrimmage results if the media drops the ball on reporting results like they normally did in the past. GO BULLDOGS.
August 26th, 2023 at 2:07 am
Kevin X! NO YOU RELAX DUDE!!! Sorry but I just happen to love scrimmages as much as regular season games. Good ones can be very interesting and they are still part of the football season. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that or trying to find out about results in our local area if the media drops the ball and doesn’t report anything. We all love high school football here. right? GO BULLDOGS.
August 25th, 2023 at 10:03 pm
CB West dominated Garnet Valley even if the score doesnt indicate it.They ran at will and Ganze Coopers replacement Cooper Taylor was very good.
August 25th, 2023 at 5:48 pm
Dtown West wins 32-27 over Abe Lincoln. Game was surprisingly close, considering Dtown West got out to a 23-0 lead. Perk Valley vs Dtown West next week will be an interesting matchup.
August 25th, 2023 at 5:44 pm
@ Jeff H.
Thank you! Had to do a little research to find the key western games. I may have under-pointed Imani, but scores don’t entirely matter to me. Hope it’s a great game, though.
@ JCo
I almost considered Pleasant Valley/Becahi as a sneaky good game. It seems to be a much closer to even matchup than the rest of them. I hope one team up north just goes “enough!” & decides to pull off a monumental upset.
August 25th, 2023 at 5:38 pm
@ D2 fan
I appreciate your deep knowledgeable views
on high school football,
What are your views on the old yet logical debate
about public vs private ?
A state representative friend of mine had many conversations with me agreeing there should be definitely a separate schedules for both public and
private.
He said lots of interest has been on this matter
in legislation to change the way the system works because it’s clearly not fair to the public kids who play on teams that use players from a small jurisdiction area of their School District versus a private school that can use kids from Miles and miles away sometimes 2 hours away for instance Scranton prep they never used to be as competitive as they are in the mid-2000s to current status because other coaches in the past never capitalized on the ability to quote on quote recruit players but coach Gallagher and staff have really honed in on the ability to do so in the same sentence I will
say he is a solid talented coach who finds ways to win.
Years back PREP set there sights on the very
talented London montgomery who at the time
played for the North Scranton Jr Vikings as a
youngster….while “coaches went to practices and
games” they also learned of other talent aswell
such as current PREP WR – DB Tae Weeks.
And as much as this is very well publicly known
it’s not completely wrong because as a private school they have every right to do so.
As much as I completely am opposed to this practice atleast the student athletes get a solid
education as long as they are ” actually learning “.
To me it’s completely wrong and unfair to the schools who use the players they have in their school district…I chuckled when you said before
that Scranton Prep is always good…years back
before this new direction of obtaining players Prep
was traditionally a mid grade team at times just bad.
I realise this practice is normal with private schools
But it doesn’t mean it ok to do.
There should be a separate State Championship
Aswell .
Any thoughts on this age old debate ?
August 25th, 2023 at 5:33 pm
@Jim Watt it’s being played at North Penn HS, but technically is a Home game for LaSalle.
August 25th, 2023 at 5:16 pm
@mcd 65 As they say VERY INTERESTING! Why would the hometown Doylestown paper have him playing, & oh you and I’ve corresponded for a while, so I believe you, the questions is but why?
August 25th, 2023 at 5:03 pm
Abe Lincoln (Philadelphia) is giving Dtown West a game. It is 23-20 Dtown West at halftime right now. West was leading 23-0 in the first quarter but according to twitter Abe Lincoln has scored 20 unanswered points.
August 25th, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Mike S. Yes Ganz Cooper is out with an ACL tear.
August 25th, 2023 at 3:54 pm
We made it! Football is back! Great time of the year, with HS and some college starting this weekend and pro starting in two weeks. It’s great having football to watch for next five months. Good luck to all the teams playing this weekend in PA!
August 25th, 2023 at 3:05 pm
Where is LaSalle North Penn game being played this evening? It’s listed as a home game for LaSalle but they don’t have a home field.
August 25th, 2023 at 1:46 pm
HHhhmmm, just read the Doylestown Intelligencer’s “Let’s Talk Football” which is a weekly article about the SOL, National Division primarily. The article is dated yesterday 8/24/23 and states speaking about CB West that, “Plus, they return Ganz Cooper, the only four-year starter at quarterback West has ever had”, so I have to believe the hometown paper would know if their star QB had a torn ACL. Have to believe it’s an incorrect report.
August 25th, 2023 at 12:34 pm
Always find it interesting that the SOL Continental is considered the weak sister of the SOL, when 3 years ago league champ Souderton was District 1 champs, 2 years ago Quakertown lost the District 1 championship game to a pretty Good Garnet Valley, Last year Continental Champs, Upper Dublin, lost in the State AAAAA semifinal game to Imhotep Charter 21-14. It’s been Souderton, Quakertown & Upper Dublin, back & forth for a number of years, and looking forward, as it looks the same, I have Souderton this year, followed by guess who, Quakertown I think is a year away. Upper Dublin losing their Super 7, including Big 33, All State QB is in reload mode. Yet, the National & American Divisions get all the ink.
I saw someone wrote that the CB West QB has a torn ACL, which is hopefully not the case, as he is/would be the 1st 4 yr starter at QB in CB West history and is instrumental in their run at a SOL National & District 1 title. With him I have them upsetting Garnet Valley at home tonight, without him not so much. I suspect it’s going to be a long year for North Penn, oh they will get their wins as the largest school in the SOL & a State Championship Coach in Dick Beck, but they are in rebuild mode. CB East is intriguing, as they have the best OL in the league, with a DIV 1 player coming back and two DIV 1 transfers coming in, & All-State TE they will be a player. Pennsbury is going to be strong. We’ll find out more about Pennsbury tonight as they take on state ranked Coatesville. Quakertown plays at Southern Lehigh, who’s one of the better AAAAA teams in District 11. It’s a New Stadium home opener for Southern Lehigh, so will emotions take them to a home opening win against Quakertown, I suspect this will be a very competitive game.
Well everyone have a Great season.
August 25th, 2023 at 10:44 am
@D2 Fan – nice work identifying the few marque games in the WPIAL tonight, those were the exact same 4 games I was going to mention, I’ll elaborate a little bit on each game
5A Gateway vs. 6A Mt Lebanon – Gateway beat them last year in the season opener 21-6 in a game I attended, Lebo in rebuild mode this year with new coach Mike Collodi, I expect Gateway will win this game by 2 TD’s like they did last year, and Gateway QB Brad Birch will throw for 300+ yards and a few TD’s
5A Woodland Hills vs. 6A PCC – these long time rivals have not met since the move to 6 classes in 2016, their last meeting was in the WPIAL 4A semi-finals in 2015 when WH had Miles Sanders as a senior and were undefeated and ranked #1 in the state (after SJP got upset by LaSalle in the PCL playoffs a few weeks earlier), PCC won that game 24-6 en route to the state title, WH outgained them by a 2-1 margin, but PCC returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for a TD, and had a 90 yard pick 6 near the end of the first half to make it 17-0 when a WH TD would have made it 10-7 at half. Both of these teams have new coaches this year after longtime PCC coach Terry Totten retired and Tim Bostard was fired at WH after compiling a 30-35 record in 6 yrs after replacing the legendary George Novak. PCC has the most D1 players of any school in the WPIAL, whether or not they are the best team remains to be seen, all 3 of their starting LB’s are being recruited by Power 5 schools, Anthony Specca has already committed to Penn State, the other 2 have not decided yet. WH has one of the best OL’s in the WPIAL, but they will probably struggle to sustain long drives against PCC’s defense, I’ll be there and would love to see WH pull the upset but I don’t see it happening.
On an interesting side note PCC was originally scheduled to play nationally ranked St. Edwards from Cleveland tonight, but they backed out of that game to play WH instead, they play St. Ignatius from Ohio next week, and appears they didn’t want to risk starting 0-2 with a new coach so they cancelled on St Ed’s to play WH to get a win, certainly some locker room bulletin board material!
4A TJ vs 5A Franklin Regional – as I mentioned a few days ago I think TJ is the biggest threat to Aliquippa in 4A this year, as I expect Central Valley and McKeesport will not be as good as they have been the last few years. Franklin was a surprise winner of their conference last year which includes Gateway and Penn Trafford, but WH dominated them 21-0 in the first round of the playoffs. Good test for both teams, I like TJ but think it will be a fairly close game.
1A Clairton vs. 2A Westinghouse – these 2 schools played in the opener last year with Westinghouse winning 40-8. I think this game will be a good bit closer but Westinghouse still wins
Regarding your Steel High prediction I think that game will be a lot closer and would not be surprised at all if Imani wins. Westinghouse announced their presence last year in week 2 when they travelled to Steel High and dominated them, and I have a feeling Imani announces their presence as a 2A sleeper in this game, if I lived in the area that would definitely be a fun game to attend.
August 25th, 2023 at 8:38 am
@D2 Fan: No, you’re pretty much right regarding the EPC crossovers. The other top teams in the North are mostly stuck playing the elite of the South (ESS vs. Nazareth, Sburg vs. Freedom). If Pleasant Valley continues on their upward trajectory, they might be able to give Becahi a game, but they lost several of their main skill players so I’m not holding my breath.
I have my issues with the future alignment of the EPC, but I am very glad for this to be the final year of the week 1 crossovers.
August 25th, 2023 at 1:22 am
A District 2 fan should also give his thoughts on D2’s best matchups & some of the interesting games across the state.
10 Notable District 2 Related Games This Week
1. Crestwood vs. Valley View: Easily the game of the week up here. I’m curious to see if the D2 4A champs will have the same success this year. Winning against Valley View is a good indicator, as the Cougars are with a new coach & a younger roster, so it may be a bit of growing pains.
2. Old Forge vs. Dunmore: These are two of the best programs in the smallest classes. This has the makings of a great game. I feel Dunmore is going to take it, as Old Forge is a rebuilding team.
3. Lakeland vs. Scranton Prep: Lakeland lost a lot of talent, but this is a great test for them to start the season. Prep is always very good, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a cakewalk for them, either. Game played at Dunmore.
4. Wallenpaupack vs. Honesdale: Neither team is a world beater, but this is a great rivalry in District 2, although one-sided in recent years. It means a lot to me, as an alum of one of the schools. This year’s will be played at Western Wayne. This feels like a coin flip, as Paupack got their lone W last year against them, while Honesdale had a strong .500 regular season last year. I’ll go with recent series history over “what have you done for me lately”. Also, quick shoutout to Coach Mark “Doc” Watson, as it’s announced that this is his last season (18 overall) under the helm for the Buckhorns.
5. Scranton vs. Wilkes-Barre: I always think these two going up against one another is notable. Two big cities going head to head in a newer “rivalry”. I think Scranton takes it, & starts a potential sleeper season off on a high note.
6. Carbondale Area vs. Greater Nanticoke: These two teams could have some quietly decent seasons. I think Nanticoke starts off potentially one of their best seasons in a while with a stepping stone win.
7. West Scranton vs. Riverside: It was going to be between this & Abington Heights/Dallas. I went with this because of the old rivalry. I know Riverside is the better team, but this is a trap game, too.
8. Southern Columbia vs. Berwick: I expect to see Southern blow the doors off of the Bulldogs, but I’m putting it here because it’s two of the best programs in PA history.
9. Morrisville vs. New Hope-Solebury: Why do I have a District 1 game here? Because of the Class A subregional. This has major implications, as whoever Trail or Old Forge play could be dependent on who wins this week. Sure, an entire season has to be played, & New Hope is 2A, but this may be the game that gives Morrisville the edge. I’ll try to find a game each week with the most importance in the subregion.
10. Central Catholic vs. Northampton: I’ll do the same thing with District 2/4/11 6A. In a week where everyone in the EPC South is stuck playing an equivalent of a cupcake game in the SEC, this is the headliner. It’s no secret Northampton’s always the best of the North, so I think they’ll take a hard fought win against the 4A Western Semifinalists from last year. Pocono natives, correct me if there’s another eye-popping game in the EPC that may be close.
Score Predictions
– Crestwood 28, Valley View 24
– Dunmore 27, Old Forge 13
– Scranton Prep 35, Lakeland 13
– Wallenpaupack 16, Honesdale 10
– Scranton 28, Wilkes-Barre 20
– Nanticoke 27, Carbondale 16
– Riverside 28, West Scranton 16
– Southern Columbia 38, Berwick 14
– Morrisville 26, New Hope-Solebury 7
– Northampton 28, Central Catholic 21
Best Of The Rest
District 2/4
– Abington Heights vs. Dallas
– Danville vs. Bloomsburg
– Lewisburg vs. Shamokin
District 11
– Bangor vs. Palisades
– Minersville vs. Tri-Valley
– Palmerton vs. Lehighton
District 1
– Garnet Valley vs. CB West
– Pennridge vs. Downingtown East
– Perkiomen Valley vs. Chester
District 3
– Central York vs. Central Dauphin
– Cocalico vs. Warwick
– Kennard-Dale vs. Wyomissing
District 5/6
– Bishop Guilfoyle vs. Bald Eagle Area
– Northern Bedford vs. Southern Huntingdon
WPIAL & District 8
– Gateway vs. Mt. Lebanon
– PCC vs. Woodland Hills
– Thomas Jefferson vs. Franklin Regional
– Westinghouse vs. Clairton
District 9/10
– Central Clarion vs. Brookville
– General McLane vs. Slippery Rock
District 12
– Archbishop Wood vs. Archbishop Ryan
– West Catholic vs. Northeast
Notable Inter-District
– IMG Academy @ SJP (12) (in Ocean City NJ)
– Central Valley (7) vs. Fitch (OH)
– Pine-Richland (7) vs. Pickerington North (OH)
– Archbishop Hoban (OH) vs. Cathedral Prep (10)
– Neumann-Goretti (12) vs. Cincinnati Elder (OH)
– Life Christian (VA) vs. Imhotep (12) (in York)
– Bonner-Prendie (12) vs. NFL UK (in Dublin)
– Imani (7) vs. Steel-High (3) (in York)
– Wilson (3) vs. Roman Catholic (12)
– La Salle (12) vs. North Penn (1)
– North Schuylkill (11) vs. Mount Carmel (4)
– Juniata (6) vs. Troy (4)
– Pope John Paul (1) vs. Chambersburg (3)
– Berks Catholic (3) vs. Loyalsock (4)
– Upper Dauphin (3) vs. Williams Valley (11)
– Williamsport (4) vs. State College (6)
– Delaware Valley (2) vs. Selinsgrove (4)
– Avonworth (7) vs. Grove City (10)
Score Predictions
– Dallas 35, Abington Heights 17
– Danville 35, Bloomsburg 10
– Shamokin 20, Lewisburg 16
– Palisades 33, Bangor 19
– Tri-Valley 27, Minersville 10
– Palmerton 49, Lehighton 20
– Garnet Valley 42, CB West 21
– D’town East 31, Pennridge 16
– Perk Valley 21, Chester 17
– Wood 27, Ryan 19
– West Catholic 45, Northeast 13
– Central York 34, Central Dauphin 23
– Cocalico 23, Warwick 14
– Wyomissing 42, Kennard-Dale 14
– BG 42, BEA 13
– Northern Bedford 34, SoHuntCo 15
– Gateway 27, Mt. Lebanon 21
– PCC 45, Woodland Hills 20
– TJ 42, Franklin Reg. 23
– Westinghouse 28, Clairton 20
– Central Clarion 31, Brookville 14
– Slippery Rock 28, McLane 27
– IMG 42, SJP 16
– Fitch 28, Central Valley 27
– Pine-Richland 42, Pickerington North 28
– Cathedral Prep 49, Hoban 21
– Neumann-Goretti 35, Elder 20
– Life Christian 23, Imhotep 19
– NFL UK 35, Bonner-Prendie 7 (I literally don’t know what NFL UK is or how good they are)
– Steel-High 38, Imani 21
– La Salle 21, North Penn 16
– Roman Catholic 24, Wilson WL 14
– MCA 34, North Schuylkill 16
– State College 31, Williamsport 9
– Delaware Valley 38, Selinsgrove 6
– Troy 31, Juniata 13
– PJP 28, Chambersburg 8
– Berks Catholic 35, Loyalsock 13
– Williams Valley 27, Upper Dauphin 9
– Avonworth 22, Grove City 19
If I miss any notables, please let me know. I’ll see what this weather nerd can predict. Also, I won’t have that many every week. It’s Week 0/1. You’re due for a lot of inter-district games.
August 25th, 2023 at 12:58 am
@ Distract 2 LFC
Thank you! I’m looking forward to that Dunmore/MCA game, hoping for a great game, but I feel the same way. Those Coal region teams are always on another level. And I feel like the idea should be sent into District 2 on competitive balance. It just feels inevitable to me that a merger could happen. I’ve been thinking about that idea since at least 2019.
August 24th, 2023 at 8:47 pm
Jeff H. – lots of solid info on a lot of teams – good work. Only quibble is your prediction about Doug Dahms’ eventual successor at Wilson. Much more likely to be Chad Henne, not George Eager – although I would admit Eager is a pretty good HC
August 24th, 2023 at 8:22 pm
@D2
Bravo
Except don’t get to pumped for the Bucks
Mount Carmel will serve Dunmore a second
serving of bitter humble pie like last year FACT !
Honest “projection”
Mount Carmel 33
Dunmore 7
August 24th, 2023 at 4:59 pm
@D3 Commish – Apparently Wyomissing has not had the requisite 3 transfers to be forced to move up in addition to their success on the field, they also have not won a state title since 2012 so I don’t begrudge them for not moving up in class, especially with McDevitt in 4A. I will also point out that Aliquippa did not voluntarily move to 4A, and fought the PIAA on that decision, they also fought and won their appeal when the PIAA tried to force them up to 5A 2yrs ago for this cycle. They have voluntarily played up a class or two for decades, but to be fair they did protest the move up to 4A prior to the 2020 season, although it hasn’t hurt them on the field, in 3yrs in 4A they lost an OT classic to TJ in the WPIAL title game, and have a state title and runner-up in the last 2 years.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:17 pm
District 3 Preview
Mifflin –
They have some OL/DL guys returning but if the report is true that Mykel Ford transferred to Roman that will be a big loss, as he was their best player. They will be slightly improved from last year but still not a great team.
I believe Mifflin moving to the LL Section 2 will prove to be a great challenge for them for this reason – Historically their pass defense has been horrible and has cost them several District titles and probably a state title. For example, in 2017 D3 5A final against MC they could not stop Evan Simon, and again in 2020 against Pine Richland with two separate 20 point leads they could not stop simple go routes. The latest was 2021 D3 5A final against Exeter, even with 50 mph winds. My point is MC, Exeter & Warwick all try to throw the ball and until GM improves their pass defense they will struggle. Their offense runs a Wing-T so they rarely practice against a good passing game.
Manheim Township –
Intriguing team here. Evans has been circling this senior class for three years now and he finally gets his chance. They have a lot back on both sides of the ball, starting with Hayden Johnson at QB and Landon Kennel at WR. They are both low level D1 players and are the most advanced pass-catch combination in the state. Although not overly athletic, if I needed a 3rd and 6 this duo would be my first option. They also have an almost unstoppable fade route utilizing Kennel’s 6’3” frame. Johnson is one of the most accurate QB’s I have ever seen.
After this, they have some other tall WR’s and a hard-nosed RB in Clancy, but their team speed is average at best. Not sure if Nick Good will be available at RB as he is coming off a knee injury last year.
Defense also has a lot of guys back with some height but also not super athletic.
The biggest question mark is the inexperience on the OL and DL as well as overall talent on both lines. Julian Larue, a McCaskey transfer last year is the most physical of the bunch.
Lastly, Coach Evans has been there for 12 years now and most of his teams have a strong QB but fade down the stretch. They made it to the D3 final last year but that was mostly due to the teams they played, as they avoided Wilson and Central York and Harrisburg until the final. He does have one D3 title in 2017.
Exeter
They lost a ton from last year (the most accomplished class in school history in all sports) so a repeat of the two previous years is a long shot. Zandier is a tall athletic TE heading to Coastal Carolina, and they have some other nice pieces but they will not beat MC this year. Most likely will finish 2nd in LL Section 2 and win a couple games in Districts.
Their coach, Matt Bauer, is phenomenal and should be coaching in college somewhere.
Wyomissing-
What a run this school has been on for several years and they are loaded again this year. They have another Power 5 lineman in Caleb Brewer who is heading to Penn State and a bunch of other great athletes, including a freshman RB named Justice Hardy, who will be a Power 5 recruit in no time.
How does a 3A school that graduates 150 kids a year have two Power 5 lineman in consecutive years? As well as about ten other lower level D1 players? This is the same school that complained loudly when Berks Catholic was kicking their butt, and went so far as refusing to play them again, but now that they have created a pipeline of D1 talent everything is OK.
Also, how are they still 3A after their recent success? Have some courage and move up….. or are they now afraid of Bishop McDevitt in 4A? Aliquippa has moved from 1A to 4A but SC and Wyomissing still have not moved up in class. What are they afraid of?
Wilson –
Wilson has a lot of experience returning on the offense and specifically the OL. They have a nice WR / TE group and QB. They need to establish a RB after graduating the amazing Cam Jones.
Defense will be a work in progress, but that school always finds a way to make that happen.
They will battle with MT for LL Section 1 and overall, I have them slated 2nd in D3 6A behind Harrisburg.
Side note – I’m told they have a super athletic Freshmen class led by TE-DE Michael Glover, who will play as a Freshman.
Hempfield-
Last year was one of their best teams in school history as they won LL Section 1 and beat Wilson for the first time in 17 years and MT for the 2nd straight year. They lost a lot to graduation but do have Deyvid Palepale a stud OL/DL heading to USC and QB Jackson Landis returning.
I see them giving MT & Wilson tough games but falling a bit short of repeating as section champs.
Side note – Their head coach George Eager is a great young coach and will have lots of options if he chooses to pursue them. Future prediction – He will replace Coach Dahms at Wilson when he retires.
Manheim Central-
They have a bunch returning at skill positions including Hahn at QB, Enterline at WR and Armold at RB. Need to rebuild the lines but Hahn is very good at that. Most years, with this talent returning they would be the favorite to win D3 4A but not with McDevitt in the same classification.
To my knowledge MC has never won a D3 title when in the same classification as McDevitt. Can anyone confirm that?
Last little nugget – Stone Saunders, the Jr QB at McDevitt heading to Kentucky, is from Manheim but did not trust that he would get a fair shake at MC with Hahn’s kid at QB, so he transferred to McDevitt.
Cumberland Valley –
Solid team returning but they did lose a strong Sr class. The first game against MT will tell a lot but in two games last year they could not stop MT passing game. They did split the games but were severely outgained.
Harrisburg-
They are the class of D3 6A again. They lost a bunch but have a bunch back. Sean Lee at QB, Elias Coke D1 So. WR heading to PSU, and Kevin Brown So. OL with D1 offers. Coach Cal has turned this program around.
Have a great shot to return to the state final where they get to lose to the scam artists known as St Joe Prep.
Central Dauphin-
Aiming for a bounce back year after a 3-7 year. Expect a solid year but I don’t know enough about their team. Great program and coach.
Central York –
Another solid team with some returning, but not enough to challenge MT, Wilson or especially Harrisburg.
D3 6A Prediction:
Harrisburg
Wilson
MT
CY
D3 5A Prediction:
Up for grabs – from a talent perspective they slot under 3A this year.
D3 4A Prediction:
McDevitt
MC
No one else is close.
D3 3A Prediction
Wyomissing
No one else is close
August 24th, 2023 at 2:39 pm
I feel for these kids who lose eligibility hearings because of adults. Archbishop Ryan transfer QB lost his hearing to play for the Raiders. It was found that coaches on Archbishop Ryan staff were illegally recruiting him away from his previous school. It is terrible when kids get caught in the crosshairs of adults who refuse to play by the rules and practice integrity like they preach. This is not the first time this has happened and I am sure it won’t be the last. Now the young man pays the price because of adults misleading him.
August 24th, 2023 at 12:24 pm
@Kevin X – yep, the SJP vs. IMG game is the third of a quadruple header on ESPN/ESPN2 at 7pm, 7 of the 8 teams playing are ranked in the top 15 nationally, the 4pm game is St Thomas Aquinas vs. St John Bosco from CA who was ranked #1 at the end of last season, and the nightcap at 10pm has #1 Mater Dei against Carlsbad, CA, who is unranked but QB is going to Alabama, definitely an amazing HS lineup on Saturday on TV and will try and catch some of those games I watched some of the HS game on ESPN last Friday between GA powerhouses Carrollton and Langston Hughes, lots of scoring and Langston held on to win 39-34 by stopping Carrollton 3 times inside the 5 yard line in the last 15 seconds, the Langston QB is going to Ohio State, and the Carrollton QB is the top ranked prospect in the class of 2026 and just a few days ago committed to USC, I can’t believe Kirby Smart let him get away.
August 24th, 2023 at 12:24 pm
My District 1 6A Top Ten-
1. Downingtown West- Return 5+ D1 Seniors on offense. A little concerned about the defense though.
2. CB West- Big losses include Cherbubini and Boehm on offense. Also heard their QB tore his ACL. Still return a lot on both sides of the ball, and should be the main contenders in SOL National
3. Coatesville- Main loss is QB Harrison Susi. Also lost some on the O-Line. But still return two D1 WR/DBs, and return a good portion of the defense including all state DT Hall. Ortega always puts out a contender. Has been one of District 1’s most consistent programs.
4. Garnet Valley- Always has a great program regardless of graduation losses. Probably District 1’s most consistent program.
5. Downingtown East- Main loss on offense is Horvath. Also lose a few multi year starters on defense. But still return a solid core on both sides of the ball, including 4 of 5 starters on the O Line and just got a FBS Transfer Running back in Harris. Has been one of District 1’s most consistent programs.
6.Perk Valley- Lose a lot to graduation, but return a QB and few others on both sides of the ball. Should be the one of the frontrunners for the PAC title.
7.Spring Ford- Return D1 QB in Zollers, also return a solid core on defense. Should contend for conference and could make a deep playoff run.
8.CB East- Lose a lot on offense in QB Keller, RB/LB Shine, OL Powers. But return some studs as well, including D1 and all state TE/LB Donnelly. Also heard they got two D1 transfers on the O-Line as well
9.Pennsbury- Lose their main back in Mulbah, and lose a good portion of their front, but Snyder is a great coach and should field a competitive team this season.
10. Cheltenham- Return a lot on both sides. Were talented last year, but did not seem to be able to put it together. Have a D1 running back in Mcleod as well, definitely not a team who should be taken lightly.
August 24th, 2023 at 10:48 am
I think I should give my District 2 projections for this year. I may do my thoughts on the favorites in the other districts later, but I’ll leave thoughts here. I don’t deep dive into teams as much as others here do, so I go off of my gut feelings, returning depth, & past success over analysis.
Lackawanna 1
– Favorite: Delaware Valley
– Sleeper: Scranton (They had a pretty solid year last year, so a few upsets could get the job done)
Lackawanna 2
– Favorite: Dunmore
– Sleeper: Western Wayne (Whoever wins the division will be dependent on head-to-head & common opponents not in Division 2, so a stumble by Dunmore could benefit WW)
Lackawanna 3
– Favorite: Lackawanna Trail
– Sleeper: Riverside (They brought a good amount back this year, & could be the favorite. I’ll just go off of recent success & make them a sleeper)
Wyoming Valley 1
– Favorite: Dallas
– Sleeper: Berwick (While not the Berwick of old, they’re still a good team).
Wyoming Valley 2
– Favorite: Wyoming Area
– Sleeper: Nanticoke (Yes, this may be their best chance to win a division title in quite some time)
Playoff Teams
– 6A (2/4/11): Williamsport & Wilkes-Barre, joining D11’s Parkland, Emmaus, Freedom, Nazareth, Northampton, & Easton
– 5A: Delaware Valley, Pittston, Scranton, & Abington Heights
– 4A: Dallas, Crestwood, Berwick, Nanticoke, Valley View, Honesdale, Wyoming Area, & North Pocono
– 3A: Scranton Prep, Western Wayne, Lake-Lehman, & Carbondale
– 2A: Dunmore, Lakeland, Riverside, & Mid Valley
– 1A: Lackawanna Trail & Old Forge (Default)
– Best Chance for Eastern Conference Qualifiers: West Scranton (4A) & Montrose (3A), & Mid Valley (2A)
Predicted District Champs
– 6A: Parkland (Best 2/4 Team: Williamsport)
– 5A: Delaware Valley (Sleeper: Scranton)
– 4A: Dallas (Sleeper: Crestwood)
– 3A: Scranton Prep (Sleeper: Western Wayne)
– 2A: Dunmore (Sleeper: Riverside)
– 1A: Lackawanna Trail
Who do I think has the best chance to go the farthest, before the season, of the teams I mentioned?
1. Dallas (or the eventual 4A Champ) would be my guess, as long as they can get past the District 12 winner. They’ve done it before, so it wouldn’t shock me. It may highest because they could be the last team standing, once the Elite 8 gets going.
2. Dunmore’s (or the 2A champs) probably second on this list. It’s the team that could make it to the Eastern final, but I have them below Dallas because if Executive returns, it could be a repeat of last year. They could easily be #1, with a date against Southern Columbia (maybe a Mount Carmel), if not for that.
3. Scranton Prep would be my 3rd choice. It depends on who they face, & if District 12 is a road block.
4. I’d say Lackawanna Trail would be 4th. It depends on who they get. District 3, 4, & 11 have a few great teams every year.
5. Delaware Valley, for similar reasons to the below. If they got past Whitehall last year, I’d have them much higher.
6. For obvious reasons, 6A would need pure insanity to see a district champion from the northeast this year. The EPC is miles better than the WVC.
August 24th, 2023 at 9:29 am
@D2 fan
I like your way of thinking, you should submit
your ideas to the P.I.A.A
August 24th, 2023 at 2:09 am
My predictions for friday night
lots of upsets .
( DISTRICT 12 )
ARCHBISHOP RYAN. 22
ARCHBISHOP WOOD. 21
LIFE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (VA) 14
IMHOTEP CHARTER. 12
WEST CATHOLIC 28
NORTHEAST. 23
NEUMANN- GORETTI. . 35
CINCINNATI ELDER (OH) 7
( DISTRICT 3 )
KENNARD DALE. 21
WYOMISSING AREA. 20
IMANI CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 31
STEELTON HIGHSPIRE. 24
( DISTRICT 4 )
BERWICK. 17
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA. 14
NORTH SCHUYLKILL. 28
MOUNT CARMEL AREA. 17
LOL
some of these will make you say
WHAT ?
Just remember ladies and gentlemen
It’s not always who has the most talent
……it’s who wants it more DRIVE IS EVERYTHING
August 24th, 2023 at 2:05 am
@ Mike S
How did I miss the 5A fun fact? That’s quite impressive & shows just how stacked that class is year in & year out.
I definitely forgot about Mars. I’ll have to keep an eye on them. Kasperowicz is one of the best coaches out west. It definitely will be a difficult test for them once they get to the playoffs. I’m sure Coach K accepts the challenge. If he can come up with a game plan to beat SJP, then I think he has an opportunity to do the same with the 4A powerhouses. It’s a possibly much taller task just because of how good those three teams are in 4A.
August 24th, 2023 at 1:57 am
Some District 2 news you may have missed.
Williamsport is bolting from the Wyoming Valley Conference after this year, to join the Heartland. They hope to keep their relationship with the WVC in Non-Conference in the future, especially with the 5A/6A teams & Berwick.
With the Williamsport move, I feel that means we’re getting one step closer to a football league merger. The best way is to make five divisions. If I were running the show up here, I want to avoid having an odd number of teams in a league. I’d make a call to East Stroudsburg North to join at least the Lackawanna League from a competitive standpoint. Southern Lehigh takes their spot in the EPC & Executive joins Colonial-Schuylkill.
The large schools can go by region & small schools would go by competitive balance.
Large School (5 Divisional, 2 Crossovers, & 3 Open Dates (At least one game out of district)
– Blue: Abington Heights, Delaware Valley, Honesdale, North Pocono, Valley View, & Wallenpaupack
– Red: Pittston Area, Scranton, Scranton Prep, Tunkhannock, West Scranton, & Wyoming Area
– White: Berwick, Crestwood, Dallas, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, & WVW
Small School (7 Divisional Games & Up To 2 Crossover Division Games & an Open Date against non-district OR large school league team)
– Black: Carbondale, Dunmore, Lackawanna Trail, Lake-Lehman, Lakeland, Old Forge, Riverside, & Western Wayne
– Gold: ES North, GNA, Hanover Area, Holy Cross, Holy Redeemer, Mid Valley, Montrose, & Susquehanna
August 23rd, 2023 at 6:41 pm
The IMG/SJP game will be on ESPN2.
August 23rd, 2023 at 4:03 pm
@D2 Fan – I agree it was very exciting to finally see a Pittsburgh City League team do well and make it to Hershey (or I should say Cumberland Valley!), it’s been 3 decades since any team in the City League was relevant on a state wide basis, back to the days of Rod Rutherford and Perry Traditional Academy. Westinghouse does have some talent returning but they were a senior heavy team last year, so it’s pretty unlikely they make a run again this year.
Another note on 5A, no WPIAL team has repeated since the move to 6 classes in 2016, the WPIAL 5a champs in order were West Alleghany, Gateway, Penn Hills, Gateway, Pine Richland, Penn Trafford, and of course Pine Richland last year, so the question is can PR buck the trend and be the first team to repeat in 5A. I personally don’t think they will, Ryan Palmieri was dominant for them last year so they have a huge hole to fill at QB, to say nothing of replacing him on defense. Whoever wins WPIAL 5A will be an underdog to Erie Prep in the state playoffs, I hate to say this but I think we could very well see an ECP vs. Imhotep state final in 5A, particularly now that Tyseer Denmark is no longer at Roman.
Another team to keep an eye on in 4A is Mars, they are in year 2 of the Eric Kasperowicz regime, and in his second year at PR in 2014 they went 15-1 and lost 49-41 to SJP in a very good state final. I expect Mars will have a very good regular season and maybe only lose a game or two, but they do play in a pretty weak conference and are not playing anyone close to the caliber of Aliquippa, TJ, or McKeesport during the regular season, so they will have a huge step up in competition come the playoffs.
In 3A I don’t see anyone in the West beating Belle Vernon assuming they stay healthy, I think there’s a good chance we see a rematch in the 3A state final between BV and Nuemann Goretti.
August 23rd, 2023 at 3:46 pm
@mcd 65 I think you picked a good game, call me nuts, but just got a feeling the CB West will find a way to beat Garnet Valley at home. North Penn will get beat easily by LaSalle, Pennridge will get beat by Downingtown West. Quakertown if it was home game….., & not at Southern Lehigh, who’s opening a new stadium, but Southern Lehigh is going to be one of the top 2 or 3 AAAAA teams in District 11, plus the home opener, hhhhmmm emotions of new stadium win out, Southern Lehigh by a nose. Father Judge vs CB South could also be an interesting game, Philly Catholic League teams are generally very good, CB South is supposed to be good, equals good game. Have an enjoyable year
August 23rd, 2023 at 3:40 pm
@ Jim Watt – I never said Wood didn’t deserve to win, but when you lose a 4 star recruit that went to LSU and had offers from every Power 5 team in the country and was a force on both sides of the ball I don’t think you can say that didn’t have an impact on the game, who knows, maybe Wood would have won anyhow had he been healthy, but I saw him totally dominate games in person on several occasions and I think Gateway more than likely wins that game with a healthy Derrick Davis.
August 23rd, 2023 at 3:28 pm
SOL One Continental Well looks to be Souderton’s year, a number of skill people and Linemen, coming off a 9-3 District 1 playoff year. Wish I had heard how they did in the scrimmage with Parkland as that may have answered some questions, but they are my pick. Quakertown and Upper Dublin are my next two, Upper Dublin, lost their Super Seven including their Big 33, All State QB, so even though they generally reload, & as AAAAA State Semi-Finalist I think they end up 3rd. Quakertown is the tough team to figure, they could be 1st or 4th, 6-6 made the Dist 1 playoffs, but they only had 2 returning starters last yr. and they played 7 playoff teams, yes finished 1-6 in those games, but 4 of the 6 they lost big, that said, they have a good QB, good skill people, and they played a lot of young people. So do they take the next step? It will be up to the line play, I think yes, so have them slotted at #2, Council Rock South, has a bunch coming back, took a step forward last year, & honestly I am expecting them to surprise someone this year, could they move into contention, not out of the realm of possibility, 5th Harry S Truman, 6th Council Rock North 7th Bensalem & Hatboro Horsham 8th.
In the National, I like CB West, next group is CB South, Pennsbury & North Penn. North Penn is the enigma, last year they returned most of their Offense, had a Georgia recruit WR/DB & still ended up 6 & 6, so this year they are in rebuild/reload mode, so do they surprise in the other direction and do better than everyone thinks? Another one of those I could answer better if I had heard how they did against Wyomissing scrimmage, but less comments than previous years.
August 23rd, 2023 at 3:20 pm
I will be heading to the CB West/ Garnet Valley game. Roman losing denmark is huge !!!!! @ Philly Boy ,The Ocean City stadium only holds about 2800 or there abouts so if your going get there in the afternoon LOL. IMG is really loaded as usual as is the Prep.
August 23rd, 2023 at 11:06 am
Kevin X, I’d go with WWL vs. Roman. You got an intriguing matchup of a quality 6A pulic from a different region against a PCL stalwart. Just a cushy saunter across the northern suburbs on a late August, Friday night — that’s the ticket. What I’m wondering about is the SJP game this Saturday night at Ocean Cit, NJ against IMG Academy. Talk about a monster opener — shut up! Does anybody know if you can just show up and buy a ticket and what the parking situation entails? Thanks.
August 23rd, 2023 at 7:28 am
Mmmmm, that takes a little luster off the Roman/WWL game for me. But even with that said, I have 3 games on my radar for Friday night. Help me choose….
Wilson West Lawn/Roman Catholic @ Upper Dublin
Garnet Valley @ CB West
North Penn/LaSalle @ Crawford
@ Wilson4ever
Dude, relax. Scrimmages are in the rear view mirror. Move on. The stuff that actually matters begins in a few days.
August 23rd, 2023 at 4:10 am
If any fans in the Reading-Berks County area attended and scrimmages in our area last week please report and post something about the results and your opinions on what you thought about the overall scrimmage you saw. There wasn’t enough information reported by the media in our area last week. Thank You.
August 23rd, 2023 at 3:49 am
We need Reading-Berks County schools and fans to respond with some posts on some of the scrimmage results from last Saturday 8/19/23 if you attended them. We have great teams in our area and all our fans deserve to know the results if you were there or heard anything before we begin the 2023 football season. There were some greatly anticipated match ups and the football fans in the Reading-Berks area would love knowing how of our schools made out in these scrimmages, Please report any scrimmage information you may have. Thank You.
August 23rd, 2023 at 12:37 am
Here are my much anticipated predictions for week #1
for district 2 football, you all have been patiently waiting for LOL
WEEK 1 FRIDAY
RIVERSIDE 34
WEST SCRANTON 17
ABINGTON HEIGHTS 22
DALLAS 14
DELAWARE VALLEY 44
SELINSGROVE 21
DUNMORE 48
OLD FORGE 7
WALLENPAUPACK 12
HONESDALE 10
LACKAWANNA TRAIL 52
MID VALLEY 12
CRESTWOOD 24
VALLEY VIEW 8
WESTERN WAYNE 48
LAKE LEHMAN 7
CARBONDALE AREA 27
NANTICOKE 12
NORTH POCONO 14
WYOMING VALLEY WEST 12
SCRANTON 32
WILKES BARRE AREA 20
SATURDAY
HANOVER AREA 21
HOLY CROSS 17
SUSQUEHANNA 14
HOLY REDEEMER 0
LAKELAND 17**
SCRANTON PREP 14
**(UPSET OF THE WEEK)
with a tip of my hat……………
…………………….that’s all folks
August 22nd, 2023 at 11:51 pm
Can anyone in the Reading-Berks County area report on some of the scrimmages they may have seen in our area especially many of the ones that were hyped up? We have been getting results from a lot of schools in our area and their fans for years. We’ve also had an abundance of great teams and great reporting for years. Why the silence this year? It sure would be fun to hear about how our Berks teams are doing going into the 2023 season if anyone went to some interesting scrimmages they could report on.
August 22nd, 2023 at 10:49 pm
Can anyone in the Reading-Berks County area report on any big important scrimmages they saw? Hardly anything was posted about our area this year and we would like to hear about how more of the other schools in our area did including some scrimmages that were supposed to be hyped up. Thank you.
August 22nd, 2023 at 5:26 pm
Kevin,Yes he did.
August 22nd, 2023 at 1:36 pm
Did Tyseer Denmark transfer from Roman to Imhotep??
August 22nd, 2023 at 10:17 am
@ Jeff H
Thanks for the insight!
3A seems like it isn’t as competitive, due to the great teams that moved up to 4A. I’ll be curious to see if they can repeat.
I love following the 1A teams come postseason time, so the Union Area team was such a cool story to follow. I always forget about Rochester being one of the better teams in class. Bishop Canevin seems to be a solid team year in & year out. I’m always used to Jeannette & Clairton as the best teams, so maybe we’ll see either or them make a run again. I’ll definitely keep an eye on Imani, especially with some Division 1 talent in the horizon.
I didn’t realize that was a senior heavy team at Westinghouse, last year. I’m hoping the winning tradition continues. Seeing a city league team from Pittsburgh make a run was fun. I’d love to see them try to make another run, but I’m with you, Steel Valley (or WPIAL champ) vs. Farrell may be the more likely outcome once we reach Thanksgiving.
Interesting to see some of the teams in 5A that you mentioned. I completely forgot about Penn Hills. They’ve been super consistent, over the last 5-6 years. Gateway’s always a scary team out west, so I’ll be excited to see how it shakes out.
I’ve learned in 4A, over the years, that you never can count out Thomas Jefferson. It wouldn’t be shocking to see them take the district crown to stop the dominance of Aliquippa.
August 22nd, 2023 at 10:16 am
Regarding Wood versus Gateway, if you lost a game because of one player you didn’t deserve to win
August 21st, 2023 at 1:04 pm
@Kevin X – not to take anything away from Wood and their 2019 championship but the stars were definitely in alignment for them that year, if 4 star recruit Derrick Davis doesn’t sustain a severely sprained ankle in the WPIAL championship game against Peters Township the week before I’m not sure they would have beaten Gateway in the semi-finals with a healthy Davis, he was a significant force on both sides of the ball.
@ D2 Fan – if you want a true sleeper in the lower classes in the WPIAL keep an eye on Imani Christian, they have 2 kids that are high level D1 recruits and have offers from Pitt, Penn State, WVU and several other schools, the linebacker is a junior and the RB only a sophomore, they return a lot of starters and still may be a year away, but they have a lot of talent for a 2A school. They play defending 1A champ Steelton Highspire in the York showcase this weekend so that will be a good barometer for them.
August 21st, 2023 at 10:39 am
@ McD 65
I saw that Wood picked up a game on 9/23 vs the High School of the Future, 4A school out of the PPL. Home game at Tennant Sat. afternoon. Per Wood’s web site, they still have an open date for the weekend of 9/15-16 (and week 10). I see on this site a posting from Olney High School (I assume they are the same as Olney Charter) that they are looking for a game that same 9/15-16 weekend. They had a game with Germantown Academy scheduled for that weekend, and now off (or was that game recently scheduled??). Per the GA website, no GA football games are scheduled for that weekend. Anyways…..maybe GA or Olney, if either are willing and able, can schedule Wood 9/15-16??
I saw Wood in a scrimmage a few years ago vs. Imhotep. They did not look good. From there that year, they went on to win the 5A PIAA Championship against Cheltenham.
August 21st, 2023 at 10:23 am
@D2 Fan – I live in the Woodland Hills district and have followed WPIAL football closely for the last 50 years, so I’ll give my input on answers to your questions and then WPIALGuy can add his thoughts, I’ll answer the last 2 first because they are more straightforward
Belle Vernon has most of their kids back including of course Quinten Martin so it would be a shocker if they don’t roll to the WPIAL 3A title, they may lose a game or two like they did last year to a 4A or 5A school before conference play starts, but they are head and shoulders better than all the other 3A teams in the WPIAL. Union will be very good too but 1A has a lot more depth than 3A, Rochester is going to be good, and so is Bishop Canevin, they might be the favorite, there are several other solid teams as well
Westinghouse graduated a lot, so they will take a step back this year, I think Steel Valley is the team to beat in the WPIAL in 2A, and that’s the team Westinghouse beat last year in the Western Finals, if the House gets that far and I don’t think they will I would take Steel Valley in that hypothetical rematch, this year I think it will be Farrell against the WPIAL winner in Western 2A final
As far as other teams in the WPIAL in 6A it’s PCC and North Alleghany and a huge drop off from there, Penn Hills is the favorite in 5A, they have the best QB in the WPIAL in 4yr starter Julian Dugger, and a lot of other skill and speed, Woodland Hills will be good, those 2 and PR are in the same conference which is going to be a war because only the top 2 are guaranteed a playoff spot, although 3rd place is eligible for 1 of the 2 wild cards available. Gateway is also very good and 2 starters from WH transferred to Gateway this summer, and those arch rivals play in week 2 in a nonconference game, so that will be interesting, those 4 teams are the best in 5A, but Penn Trafford or Franklin Regional could make some noise, both USC and Bethel graduated a lot so expect them to not be as good this year.
In 4A I think TJ will be the biggest challenger to Aliquippa in 4A this year, I don’t think McKeesport will be as good as the last few year as the graduated their top RB and several other starters.
As previously mentioned 3A is all Belle Vernon, 2A is Steel Valley, Beaver Falls should be good, would expect one of those 2 to win 2A, and several good teams in 1A, I would say Bishop Canevin is the preseason favorite
August 21st, 2023 at 1:57 am
Lol,
It feels like it’s 1978 and my
CB radio mic has been disconnected
But my speaker is working fine
Hahaha ,
you guys are a tough lane
to merge into even with my imaginary blinker on .
It’s all good fellas have fun
Best of luck to all of your teams
August 20th, 2023 at 1:13 pm
WILSON-COATSVILLE SCRIMMAGE. What Scott Hagy said in his post was pretty accurate from what he saw from his limited time he was there. I am going to make some very minor changes from what I tried hard to recall overall. I always try to be as objective and accurate as possible but that can be very hard sometimes in scrimmages because the coaches try manipulate things to get a better look at things for their teams even if it doesn’t end up looking positive sometimes and possibly leading to a score against their own team. (Non game conditions 1 TD for Coatsville and 0 TDs for Wilson) & (Game conditions 1 TD each for both teams). I hope this is more accurate but it is hard to be 100% accurate when watching scrimmages. Good luck to both of these teams for healthy and successful seasons and great scrimmage by both of these proud programs. GO DAWGS.
August 20th, 2023 at 10:26 am
@ WPIAL Guy, I have three questions, & if someone beat me to any of them, then similar minds must think alike.
1. Who are some sleeper teams to keep an eye on in the WPIAL? I know Quips, Central Valley, Central Catholic, & Pine-Richland are going to be themselves (& quite a few I’m missing), but I’m curious to see who are some teams that may dethrone them. I know I only have the 4-6A teams, but the same question applies for 1-3A.
2. Will Union Area & Belle Vernon be as good as they were last year?
3. Although not a WPIAL team, what are your thoughts on Westinghouse? Will they be a force again this year, or did they lose any talent to where they may take a step back?
August 20th, 2023 at 1:13 am
WILSON-COATSVILLE SCRIMMAGE. I thought Wilson looked better in the non game condition portion with more longer drives and much more run stuffing plays and harder hits, (One TD each in this portion) But I honestly thought the game condition portion was pretty even. The only bad thing for Wilson in this portion was a backup QB that kept throwing long and high into a strong wind leading to two interceptions and one TD. No QB should ever try doing this because it can only lead to bad things.(One TD for Coatesville on the ill advised passes by the Wilson backup QB and 0 TDs for Wilson in this portion) Overall it was a very competitive scrimmage. Good job to both teams. They should both have great successful football seasons. GO DAWGS.
August 19th, 2023 at 8:51 pm
CB West ran very effectively against Wood,without their starting QB who is injured and their top wr. West was well prepared,Wood
was not. West is not big ,but they appear well coached and have decent speed overall. Wood on the other hand has some big lineman and a stud RB ,but they are definitely not the Wood of old. Hopefully The new coaching staff can move them forward because from what I saw against West they will struggle again this year.
August 19th, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Only caught the late stages of Coatesville/Wilson. From what I saw, difficult to say who had the upper hand. In the Game situation portion Wilson scored a TD on an interception and Coatesville took advantage of an interception of a back-up QB to gain favorable field position – which they eventually turned into a TD. I was told that Wilson clearly dominated the earlier action which I did not see.
August 19th, 2023 at 9:56 am
Hope people are going to leave scrimmage observations, love to see them
August 18th, 2023 at 8:38 pm
Been very busy and have not frequented this forum much in the offseason. Now that the season is right around the corner, i wanted to come by and ask if anyone had any wpial related questions for this year??
August 17th, 2023 at 12:42 pm
Flipping a coin for which scrimmage this Sat. in Berks County.
Coatesville @ Wilson
NP @ Wyomissing
Should be two Slobberknockers!
August 17th, 2023 at 11:53 am
Just a thought
Remembering back prior 1988 when the Eastern Conference football championship was the premier game that was the goal of having a solid winning season to reach the EC championship and Win It
Now fast forward and the game has been reduced to a runner-up game of a mediocre season to some that is the Pinnacle of their season I get it I understand it but for those who worked hard to achieve at times undefeated seasons and to claim that trophy for the trophy case in their school trophy case to now be mixed in with teams that can enter that bracket of championship caliber with records of three and seven or a five and five record just doesn’t seem fair or even just . picture it this way if the PIAA decided to diminish the district championship down to a runner-up game how do you think that would make all those people who fought tooth and nail to win and at times having undefeated seasons doing it I think you all agree not too good my idea is to have the Eastern Conference Championship name retired as it should have been when the districts came out I think the name of the current Eastern Conference Championship should be called something like the NEPA Bowl or something similar in a society where players get trophies Just for participating I think personally that’s damaging because it takes the work ethic away keep in mind in no way am I cutting any team down that reaches the Eastern Conference Championship now down at all because let’s be honest some teams will never ever reach the district championship and Or Win It and get in the state playoffs it’s just not in their nature or their team history this is just mere thought and public opinion poll let me know what you think respectively I’m not throwing mud on anybody it’s just something to put into the pot of stew to talk about
August 17th, 2023 at 8:02 am
Should have added that I screened District 1 teams. I think the most interesting is Souderton @ Parkland, Souderton has alot of pieces coming back from a 9-3 team and Parkland is fresh off a District 11 championship, so I think that scrimmage is going to be a good indicator. Quakertown @ Perkiomen Valley is another interesting scrimmage, as Quakertown only had 2 starters coming back from 2021, got to play 7 playoff teams & somehow still made the District 1 playoffs, this year they have more experience back including their QB, Perkiomen Valley is going to be very good again. Have heard about Wilson WL in recent posts, going against the always good Coatesville, should also give a glimpse of what their season may be.
August 16th, 2023 at 2:47 pm
Looking forward to the Wilson/Coatesville scrimmage. Should be interesting. Wilson definitely has a challenging schedule, but should have enough talent to have a good season.
August 16th, 2023 at 12:17 pm
Friday 8/25 Wilson/West Lawn at Roman, then CD the following week. Should find out early what The Bulldogs are made of. A lot of “O” back from ly, including QB, 2(WR), TE & 3(OL)…but only 4 back on “D”. Plus you don’t replace a Cam Jones on both sides of the ball/special teams…I think CD is the sleeper in the Mid Penn this year. Lots of D1 talent on the lines..no 3-7 record this year. Go Bulldogs!
August 14th, 2023 at 9:28 am
Well, time for the preseason scrimmages to begin. I’ve picked out what I think will be some of the better ones involving top or potentially upcoming teams
All scrimmages I believe are 10am on Saturday, but please check the schedules of any teams you are interested in
Cheltenhem @ Pennsbury Cheltenhem has a number of DI recruits including 2 in the top 300
Coatesville @ Wilson WL
Garnet Valley @ Downingtown East Year in & Year out two of the better District 1 teams
North Penn @ Wyomissing
Pennridge @ Southern Lehigh Pennridge new coaching staff vs Dist 11 top AAAAA contender
Quakertown @ Perkiomen Valley Both teams expected to contend in their respective Leagues/Divisions
Souderton @ Parkland Much is expected of Souderton, will be interesting to see how they stack up against a District 11 power.
Upper Moreland @ Pope John Paul II two of the better school’s year in
I’m sure there are more, find one and get out. Who are you all going to see?
August 11th, 2023 at 10:25 am
WQMY 53 has posted their Friday Night Rivals schedule.
Notable games include
– Dunmore vs. Mount Carmel on September 1st
– Southern Columbia vs. Loyalsock on September 8th
– Delaware Valley vs. Valley View on October 13th
Those are some pretty decent matchups, in my opinion. Also, there’s quite a few Lackawanna League games. I don’t see any Northern Tier or Colonial-Schuylkill games, which would’ve been great.
August 7th, 2023 at 10:26 am
Per the Morning Call, the EPC is indeed changing its scheduling format in the 2024 season. The divisions will be based on county:
Lehigh: Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Dieruff, Emmaus, Parkland, Whitehall
Northampton: Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Nazareth and Northampton
Monroe: East Stroudsburg North, East Stroudsburg South, Pocono Mountain East, Pocono Mountain West, Pleasant Valley, Stroudsburg
Teams will have the ability to schedule non-conference. Easton vs. Northeast (Philadelphia) is already confirmed.
Overall I view this as an improvement, but this is going to be very difficult for Dieruff and Allen. To me, this puts the hypothetical Allentown combined football team on the fast track, as I can’t see how they’re going to compete otherwise. It’d be much better for everyone involved if they were in the Monroe division, and if the other Lehigh teams combined with Northampton.
August 5th, 2023 at 12:01 am
@D2 fan…Solehi would work …I only mentioned Bangor because I remember an article in one of the Allentown papers about the thought of Bangor and Phillipsburg possibly joining
August 4th, 2023 at 8:41 am
3 weeks…….
(2 for Utah 🙂 )
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:50 pm
I’ve long wondered about Southern Lehigh’s position regarding joining the EPC. It would certainly be a big step up in competition, but they generally have to go through EPC teams in districts. It would make sense.
Bangor probably doesn’t want to abandon Pen Argyl if they can help it. If Solehi made the jump, perhaps they’d consider it, but Solehi would need to take the leap of faith first.
The ESNorth question has a lot of possibilities but no clear solution. An independent football schedule is certainly an interesting option, and it’d be a good way to get some D2 teams in. ESN vs. Montrose would be fascinating, though North would probably be the favorite. Full Lackawanna League membership might be tougher, but certainly worth investigating if a co-op isn’t on the table. In the end I think the most likely outcome is that they stay in the EPC, but hopefully steps are taken to ensure they don’t have to get their doors blown in against EPC South programs for 2 weeks every year.
I have to wonder: if an Allen/Dieruff football co-op does come to pass, and things haven’t gotten better at ESN by then, the EPC might “nudge” them to co-op with ESS to keep the EPC at an even number of teams. Part of the reason for the mandatory crossovers was to make scheduling easier, and I can’t imagine the conference wanting to deal with 17 teams long-term.
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:04 pm
@ Michael D, I want to give my $.02 on your proposals, although thar part of the reply was meant for JCo, I think.
I seriously doubt Eastburg North would drop to Colonial-Schuylkill. The travel to Pottsville & Blue Mountain would probably be too much (we’re talking close to a 2 hour drive from Bushkill). The Lackawanna League might be easier for them, from a conference realignment standpoint. At least the travel would be similar, & even in other sports, they can still play the other Monroe County teams.
Or they could go play an independent schedule, like we’ve seen Montrose, James Buchanan, Albert Gallatin, & Midd-West have done in recent years. I think Montrose fared a bit better as an indie, last year. I have no clue if that’s the same for this upcoming season. Allen & Dieruff could even go that route, if they really wanted to. There should be more indie teams in football, especially some of the good teams.
Instead of Bangor, would Southern Lehigh work better? I mean, they’re competitive in about every sport & win district titles in classes that have EPC teams there. Honestly, if you add them & invited DV & keep somehow find a way to keep North, you’d still have a great 20 team league. If North were to leave & those two did expand, then maybe Bangor would be the next best choice.
August 2nd, 2023 at 9:43 pm
@JCo…Thanks for the insight buddy……I still would love all 3 to happen…just think it would make the EPC even stronger than it is…maybe even add 2-3 more teams if set on 18….would love to see P’burg join but NJ state playoffs would probably prevent that in making them ineligible for that state…Also glad someone responded as when i read my one post I wanted to add that I do realize South has a very competitive and stable program and also realize that Pocono West has been in Districts recently…..never meant to assume that all the programs were struggling…Any chance North would go to D2 or look at Colonial-Schuylkill if they’re now 4A? Maybe a school like Bangor could go into EPC?
August 2nd, 2023 at 8:47 pm
I have a LOT to catch up on here.
@ JCo
To answer the first comment about travel. You make a great point, but I can counter an argument here, especially being very close to the area, myself. I calculated a few distances to some schools in D2 & 11. The average distance to most District 2 sites are about the same as most of the EPC teams down in the valley. It actually has an inverse effect on PM East/West, & be almost neutral for Stroudsburg & ES South, save for the ones that are a short drive down 33. ES North would average maybe 10-15 minutes closer for some Lackawanna League teams. It takes them about an hour to travel to Lackawanna County, while Allentown may be a 75 minute trek.
I think the EPC North dropping to 8 & having a South 1 & South 2 division would work wonders for the entire league. I feel the North division should make a scheduling co-op with both Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley conferences, & even Colonial/Schuylkill’s 4A/5A teams (Southern Lehigh & Bangor play in levels of the north teams). I don’t think there’s a 10-team league in the PIAA that’s big enough, but a PAC, Suburban One, or Berks/L-L Co-Op scheduling agreement would do the trick.
@ Maynard Plumm
The reasons for the dissolvement of the league make sense. I knew the travel was an issue.
@ Michael D
To answer that question, I’m sure it could. There’s only 34 schools, counting Williamsport from D4. I guess you could with this.
D2 Large 1: Abington Heights, DV, Honesdale, North Pocono, Paupack, Prep, Scranton, Valley View, West Scranton
D2 Large 2: Berwick, Crestwood, Dallas, Hazleton, Pittston, Tunkhannock, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, WVW
D2 Small 1: Dunmore, Lakeland, L-L, Mid Valley, Old Forge, Trail, Western Wayne, Wyo Area
D2 Small 2: Carbondale, GNA, Hanover, Holy Cross, Holy Redeemer, Riverside, Montrose, Susquehanna
As for Mount Carmel getting a District 2 invite, I’ll say this. I’m not opposed to the idea, & I’ll go as far as saying if you include them, you have to also include Southern Columbia. I think the idea of moving the the Large School division is a very interesting thought. Honestly, both should play up to 3A, as that’s a battle tested classification.
As for Allentown, I never absolutely considered it. I mean, a merger isn’t the worst thing for them. I had zero thoughts of combinations for PMSD & ESASD teams. Great question to pose, there!
@ Anyone who wants to chime in.
Would it be feasible for East Stroudsburg North to break away from the EPC & be an equivalent of the two Keystone Central teams (Central Mountain & Bucktail)? An apples to oranges comparison, but The way the population is trending down & how they aren’t as competitive in sports, in a league they’re way outmatched for, overall, it’s food for thought.
I’m also curious if anyone here would be opposed to an idea of East Stroudsburg North as a Lackawanna League team & maybe instead adding Delaware Valley to the EPC (they can compete in a LOT of sports, & have very successful Lacrosse & Volleyball teams)? The travel wouldn’t be ideal for DV, but they have to deal with it with volleyball & lacrosse anyway. It may actually be closer to some teams than some they go to in District 2. DV would also make the North Division a lot better & who knows if they can actually be a team that beats a South team in football.
One more question: Would Allen/Dieruff fare better if they were football-only for Colonial/Schuylkill & play against their 4A/5A teams? I know they’re 6A, but from an overall competition standpoint, would they be able to compete against Lehighton, Bangor, Pottsville, or maybe teams of that size?
August 2nd, 2023 at 3:44 pm
Kevin X, From what Im hearing ,the program is still a mess. I heard their starting QB transferred to Ryan compounding the huge transfer losses of a year ago.At least 3 brothers of former very good players have decided not to attend Wood and attend The Central Bucks schools. Dave Armstrong has a massive rebuilding job if its at all possible. Something very strange happened there IMO. I dont have the answer and hope someone can chime in here. I followed Wood for many years since all 3 of my kids went there ,and to watch what happened is very disturbing. Any input ??
August 2nd, 2023 at 3:38 pm
Kevin
I may have ES North and South mixed up, but from what I can find, the first year for the ES split was 2000. In 2000 and 2001, the “new” school played 20 out of 21 games against D2 opponents and was a member of the Northeastern Football Conference D3 (South AA) . In 2001 they also played Fleetwood. Apparently they were AA at the time, so I guess this route was the best way to schedule similarly sized schools.
Before the split in the 1990’s, ES played several WVC teams, including Coughlin six times. I remember watching James Mungro run wild on the turf at WB Memorial back in 1995.
August 2nd, 2023 at 2:39 pm
@Michael D: honestly, as an Eastburg native, I wouldn’t mind it. East Stroudsburg North has really had a tough time in most sports lately, and the rivalry was always more like a big brother/little brother deal. Back when East Stroudsburg split, there was massive growth happening in the area, so the district put the new school complex on a cheap tract of land in Pike County. That growth completely stopped between 2010 and 2020, and has even reversed in some areas, which was way sooner than the district projected. So that’s why they’re now a AAAA school, far away from any population centers, which makes it difficult for them to maintain student engagement, and they’re mostly outmatched in a conference against larger teams, even against the other Monroe teams. A co-op for varsity would offer the North players the chance to play in a more stable program and have a greater chance to succeed.
Slightly off-topic, I would love to see the district redevelop the old Fernwood resort and move the North high school there. From a sunk cost perspective, I don’t think the district is willing to sell off the North campus completely (though it’s probably the smartest option), and I’m not sure if the South high school has the capacity for the entire district. But just having the school be more accessible for students and community members would make a big difference.
As for the other programs, Allentown seems to be the closest to actually consolidating their football programs. When Allen’s most recent coach resigned, he mentioned that the middle schools had benefitted by combining, and felt that the high schools would benefit as well. Considering the issues with facilities that Dieruff has experienced the past few years, and the lack of success both teams has had, it probably makes more sense than not. The Pocono Mountain programs are a bit trickier… they’ve been more evenly matched than South/North, and the more historic school (East) is the one that has had less success lately. I think they’re the least likely to enter a co-op, though perhaps a particularly dry period could change things.
August 2nd, 2023 at 7:35 am
Do any of you Wood and/or PCL/D12 guys know if Wood picked up any more games this upcoming season?? They still appear to only have 7 scheduled, which if stays that way, that will be back to back season of only 7 regular season games. And will the likes of Roman and Imhotep in D12, not looking like a potential deep playoff run.
@Maynard
ES South was part of District 2 years ago?? Or were they just playing in that league as an invitee or at-large or an associate member or whatever you might want to call it.
August 1st, 2023 at 9:55 pm
@D2 fan….I’ll ask….any chance of your EPC co-op idea involves merging the Allentown football programs together and likewise with the 2 East Stroudsburg and 2 Pocono Mountain programs…I wanted to post that but was afraid I’d get put on blast for that….just wonder if they could turn into 3 solid football programs unless there really hated rivals of one another…it’s not like there’s no programs in the state already that merged their football teams (although I will assume some of them were numbers issues)
August 1st, 2023 at 8:33 pm
@D2 Fan…wouldn’t this still work without those EPC teams involved…….two divisions of nine w/one crossover based on your large school teams? I wasn’t factoring them in when I first posted but I did like them included just for football purposes…If this were to ever happen…in your opinion would there be an interest to D2 in inviting Mount Carmel in large school?
August 1st, 2023 at 3:32 pm
The Northeastern Football Conference existed in 2000 and 2001. It was abandoned for several reasons. The two most prevalent reasons were poor game attendance and travel. Here is the breakdown of the divisions, and the division champions.
D1 (AAAA) – Abington Heights, Del Val, Hazleton, Scranton, Williamsport, WVW.
Champions- 2000 WVW 5-0, 2001 Williamsport 4-1 & WVW 4-1
D2 (South AAA) – Berwick, Dallas, Lake Lehman, Pittston, Wyoming Area, WB Coughlin
Champions – 2000 Berwick 5-0, 2001 Berwick 4-1 & Wyoming Area 4-1
D2 (North AAA) – Crestwood, Honesdale, North Pocono, Tunk, Wallenpaupack, West Scranton
Champions – 2000 Paupack 5-0, 2001 North Pocono 4-1 & West Scranton 4-1
D3 (South AA) – East Stroudsburg South, Hanover, Montrose, Nanticoke, WB GAR, WB Meyers
Champions – GAR 5-0, Meyers 5-0
D3 (North AA) – Dunmore, Lakeland, Mid Valley, Scranton Prep, Valley View, Western Wayne
Champions – 2000 & 2001 Lakeland 5-0
D4 (A) – Bishop Hafey, Bishop Hoban, Bishop O’Reilly, Bishop O’Hara, Carbondale, Lackawanna Trail, Northwest, Old Forge, Riverside, Susquehanna
Champions – 2000 Trail 8-1, 2001 Trail 8-1 & Riverside 8-1
July 30th, 2023 at 6:26 pm
@D2 Fan: I don’t really see a D2/EPCN super conference happening unless the Monroe teams separate completely from the EPC. That’s partly due to the distances involved, but also partly because they’d really be leaving Allen and Dieruff out to dry. I cannot imagine the conference allowing something like this to happen if they didn’t have a plan for the Allentown programs. And I don’t really think the Monroe teams would seek to leave the EPC unless Monroe County becomes part of D2.
But also, I don’t really think it’s necessary. The optimal solution is staring the EPC right in the face: move Northampton to the EPC South and run with a 10-team South and an 8-team North. Allow teams to schedule non-conference games. That way, 1) you’re not forcing Emmaus and co. to make the trek up to Bushkill to beat ESN by 80+ points, 2) the North teams have a couple weeks to schedule D2 teams, and 3) the South has the flexibility to schedule marquee matchups against D1/D3/D12 if desired. It should be a win-win.
July 30th, 2023 at 10:59 am
You’re welcome, @ Michael D
Yes. You’re thinking of the NEPFC. I don’t recall the years it was, but it only lasted at least two years.
I’m trying to find an old article to see why it was disbanded. My guess would have to be logistics. That’s always the drawback with this. However, with Colonial-Schuylkill & District 9 adopting similar ideas recently, I think it’s not impossible.
I’d honestly love for this to happen. There’d be a ton of teams that’d benefit greatly from this. I’m all for that or a similar idea to Jersey’s NJSFC, where you take all “Eastern Conference” teams from D2-4-11 & do divisions based on classes with the bowl games. Travel would be a bear, if you’re on polar opposites, in some cases.
Also, I just realized I forgot North Pocono. Since I made a few omissions, I’m gonna revise it, so I don’t confuse the others who want to add to the conversation. It’s hard to keep track of almost 40 teams, & when you move teams around, you sometimes forget things.
Large School
– Red: Delaware Valley, ES North, ES South, Paupack, Pleasant Valley, PM East, PM West, Stroudsburg
– Blue: Abington Heights, Honesdale, North Pocono, Pittston, Prep, Scranton, Valley View, West Scranton
– White: Berwick, Crestwood, Dallas, Hazleton, Tunkhannock, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, WVW
Small School
– Silver: Dunmore, Lakeland, Lake-Lehman, Old Forge, Riverside, Trail, Western Wayne, Wyoming Area
– Gold: Carbondale, Holy Cross, Holy Redeemer, GNA, Hanover, Mid Valley, Montrose, Susquehanna
Since I forgot North Pocono, I dropped Central Mountain from the original proposal. That was the long shot of the idea, anyway.
Two other adjustments
1. Since DV would run away with the “Pocono” division every year, I’d swap Honesdale & DV, to help competitively. Both do have to travel a decent amount for division games, to begin with.
2. I never included Allen & Dieruff to my idea, but if I was responsible for this, I’d throw an invite to them. You’d probably have to make four large school divisions to make it work. For the sake of logistics, they can stay in the old LVC.
Scheduling for this would be the following.
– All divisions have 7 Division, 2 Crossovers, & 1 extra Non-District game.
– These non-district games would be against Eastern Conference programs, but teams can get exemptions to play in Florida, WPIAL, or Philly.
– For a rivalry like Honesdale-WW, Dallas-LL or Pittston-Wyo, it can count as a division crossover, although they’re two “separate” leagues. Same if WW, GNA, or Lakeland want to play some 4A competition.
– I’d also allow for a team to forgo a second crossover to play a second non-conference game. Only to help with a competitive standpoint. A good team like DV can play a better team in Philly or the Lehigh Valley, & a team like a Montrose to play a like opponent (CMVT, a NY team, or Shen. Valley to name a few). I’d assume most would take advantage of the crossovers anyway.
July 29th, 2023 at 5:12 pm
Thanks D2 fan….sounds good to me……I know they tried a ways back (Northeast Football Conference or something like that)…any idea why it didn’t work? I think your breakdown of divisions is perfect……maybe someday it could happen….who could one float around the idea to? Lol
July 27th, 2023 at 2:40 pm
@ KevinX
You’re right. It’s not as if hurricanes are common in PA, even around the end of summer. But, increasingly, really bad storms–some the offshoots of hurricanes–have been causing problems. A couple of years ago, the trio of games at Rutgers on Labor Day weekend were all cancelled or moved because of flooding caused by torrential rains. Not long ago, an early September SJP-Bosco game was ended in the second quarter by lightning–same for an SJP-DeMatha scrimmage at the end of August on what for most teams was a regular season weekend. (Obviously my frame of reference is SJP, but there must be lots of examples involving other schools.)
Maybe this is the most important point. Lots of people on here have been noting that hs football games, at least in SE PA, have been drawing fewer and fewer people–students, family members, people in the community, etc. One reason, not the main reason, may be that often a team plays two regular season games before school starts–when just about everyone not directly connected to the football team is in summer mode. HS football used to be a fall sport, often including a very community-focused Thanksgiving game. Now, increasingly, football kind of stands apart, with fewer and fewer players involved in other sports or school activities, partly because, as you point out, it’s a year-round commitment for many. Same for basketball–as you say.
As a player I enjoyed practicing and playing in October and November much more than I did in August and September. And as a fan, I prefer a crisp November day or evening–we very rarely get snow and ice in November or early December any more–to a sweltering late August / early September day or evening.
July 27th, 2023 at 1:53 pm
I forgot Mid Valley, too. Oops. Replace CMVT in my last one with them.
Apologies Dave, for any potential spamming. I had to adjust a few things while making it & forgot a team or two. It dawned on me immediately after I posted.
July 27th, 2023 at 1:49 pm
I forgot all about Wyoming Area. How dare I disrespect the 2019 3A champs like that? They’d be a smaller 4A, but they play an average 3A schedule, most seasons.
Small School would then be
– Silver: Dunmore, Lakeland, Lake-Lehman, Old Forge, Riverside, Trail, Western Wayne, Wyoming Area.
– Gold: Carbondale, CMVT, Holy Cross, Holy Redeemer, GNA, Hanover, Montrose, Susquehanna
July 27th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
@ Michael D
A little late to the party on this one, but I think it would work wonders for District 2 to make a super conference. I’d also try to work with the EPC to make a deal with the Monroe County programs that seem overmatched against all Lehigh Valley teams.
I’m thinking this
Large School
– Red: Delaware Valley, ES North, ES South, Paupack, Pleasant Valley, PM East, PM West, Stroudsburg
– Blue: Abington Heights, Honesdale, Pittston, Prep, Scranton, Tunk, Valley View, West Scranton
– White: Berwick, Central Mountain, Crestwood, Dallas, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, WVW
Small School
– Silver: Dunmore, Lakeland, Lake-Lehman, Old Forge, Riverside, Trail, Western Wayne
– Gold: Carbondale, Holy Cross, Holy Redeemer, GNA, Hanover, Montrose, Susquehanna
For the big schools, I went geographic areas, as it goes Pocono, Scranton, & Wyoming Valley.
The small school divisions are adjusted to help teams that struggle in their leagues to play who they can win against, & the other pits all of the competitive teams together. GNA is 4A, but is a smaller school, overall, that doesn’t have that much success against WVC I schools.
I also added Central Mountain, as they can play like class opponents. I know that the travel would be a bear, but it’s an idea I could see. Plus, it gives Williamsport a somewhat natural rivalry. If not that, I’d move Western Wayne to the Large School section & add CMVT from the NTL.
I may or may not share my idea for an idea for a EPC co-op, if the Lackawanna/WVC doesn’t merge. I have some bold ideas when it comes to that.
July 26th, 2023 at 10:07 am
@ FrankG
I do not disagree with you at all. Except for the hurricane part. Seriously?? Hurricanes?? Maybe the occasional nor’easter, but you are going to have some type weather issues in PA every month of the year for every sport.
From a former player, parent, guardian, etc., point of view, feel free to call me out on any issue because I was not, nor currently, any of them.
From a long time observer, these kids are involved in their respected sports year round it seems (I am so done with the Tweets of all these AAU or off season basketball updates, can’t believe people care). So like its been said for football, 7x7s, various camps, personal/individual working out and training, unofficial get togethers, other off season activities, playing other sports, these guys (and girls) I think are a much more well oil machine then kids were back in the day.
From a fan view, I’m still back and forth about the season starting the weekend before Labor Day weekend. Not really in full football mindset until after Labor Day. But when I’m doing a real good Michelin Man imitation at a playoff game in late November or early December, kind of long for those early season games wearing t-shirts, shorts and sandals.
A little early for me to climb back on my playoff soap box, but if the PIAA wants to push the regular season start date back a weekend or 2, go for it, but chop a week or 2 off the playoffs, if they still want to contest a 10 week regular season. At a minimum, get rid of week 11, AKA mercy rule weekend, where we get to enjoy watching 9-1 teams throttle 2-8 teams.
July 26th, 2023 at 7:37 am
I stand corrected, first regular season games in Utah are Friday the 18th, those games the prior week games are scrimmages (fun, but useless fact, they call them “endowment” games). 9 week regular season schedule.
July 25th, 2023 at 8:32 pm
@ Kevin X And in Utah you have to join a club to get an alcoholic drink! No interest in making Utah our model in anything.
There’s a reason there’s never been much interest in playing or watching football in real summer weather. And here’s something else for the mid-Atlantic states: mid August to mid-September have always been the prime time for hurricanes and the tropical storms some hurricanes become. There are going to be more of them and the ones we get are, on average, gong to be more severe. When it comes to football, give me a typical October or November day or evening anytime over August weather.
July 25th, 2023 at 6:45 pm
It is with great sadness to announce that legendary former Head Football coach of the
Dunmore Bucks Jack Henzes
Has passed away… his success at Dunmore will be difficult to match going forward .
May God truly bless his family and the Dunmore community rest in peace coach
July 25th, 2023 at 6:43 pm
@Kevin. Yep, a lot of southern states have school starting first or second week of August which means Football season starts mid Aug as well and playoffs start mid October. By end of Nov (thanksgiving) state championships are happening or done.
July 25th, 2023 at 5:47 pm
And then there’s Utah, which commences their high school football regular season August 10th (regular season ends second weekend of October).
July 24th, 2023 at 2:01 pm
BC, that’s kind of my thought, you have a week of heat acclimatation, so yes you can do some walk through’s & start installing your offense, but it’s not like the real thing, then you get a week, then you have a scrimmage, 5 more days of practice (assuming the weather is good) and you tackle the first game that counts for Playoff position, not sure how you do all that. Also agree with FrankG, that the season begins and ends 1 week too soon. Some states have the week of acclimation and then 3 weeks, Pa it’s one of acclimation and 2 weeks of practice, Colleges are beginning this week. But more concerned about the safety of the kids, it’s one thing to throw the ball around and walk throughs, a completely different thing getting hit.
July 24th, 2023 at 8:57 am
MikeS. 100% not enough time. Have never been happy with this new schedule that took out a week of scrimmages. And with school’s like ours starting mid August, you miss out on all kinds of practice time. Last season (counting heat acc) we had a total of 21 practices before our first game because we couldn’t even have real 2 a day’s. Had to split what should have been time for 1 practice in to 2 small practices to even get to 21.
From first day of Heat ACC to the first game day, 19 total days is NO WAY enough to be prepared physically or mentally.
July 24th, 2023 at 12:56 am
@MikeS I couldn’t agree with you more. When you compare the timelines you cite for hs teams with the time NFL teams have between the opening of camp and 1) the first “pre-season” game and 2) the first regular season game, the absurdity is obvious. But of course, how much those timelines reflect reality is another matter. When I was in hs a long, long time ago most of us had regular summer jobs and had our first football practice the evening of Aug. 15. Now there are 7 on 7 competitions in the spring and all sorts of camps and informal workouts from late spring on.
Still, I think it’s a mistake to start the season before Labor Day weekend, in part because of safety issues. To me it’s ridiculous that lots of teams in PA play their last game before Halloween when November is much better suited to football than August.
July 24th, 2023 at 12:24 am
Here is a continuation of my prediction for district 2 high school football
The Valley View cougars
The Cougars will have a new head coach for 2023
Scot Wasilchak
Scot replaced George Hawanitz who is stepping away from coaching so that he may watch his son Adam continue his football career at the University of Pittsburgh.
Scot comes from a family of talented head coaches starting with his father the late Jerry Wasilchak Coach Jerry was a legend at Lakeland High School, leading the Chiefs to 4 Eastern conference championships when they actually meant more than they do now you couldn’t go any further that was pre-1988 when the state championship was formed 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977,
Jerry also LED Lakeland to seven Suburban championships 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979. Then went on to lead the Chiefs to the BIG 11 championship titles 1980, 1981, 1982.
Scot is also joined by his brother Jeff as an assistant for the Cougars who is no stranger to coaching success Jeff was the head coach at Lackawanna Trail High School football and also for Lakeland High School football.
Jeff led Trail to 7 districts 2 A titles
As Scot and Jeff were growing up as youngsters
Their father would bring them to the football practices and games to help out at Lakeland where they learned all of their brilliant coaching Talent this is also where coach Scot received his two nicknames from the Lakeland football players Scrappy and scrap iron these nicknames would ring true to this day for his toughness of the game
Coach Jerry,
Was a legend in a league of his own he always taught class along with Smash Mouth football he and the other coaching staff would always have sport coats with slacks for class he always made sure every player’s cleats were white and clean for the playoffs every player would wear dress clothes “Dress for Success” his more notable saying was
( GOTTA BELIEVE )
Scot was an All-Star athlete at Valley View with his jersey being retired on the wall he excelled at running back and defensive back
The Cougars went 10-3 last season beating Rival Scranton prep in a very close game to the end
22-16 as much as prep lost standout Penn State football commit London Montgomery to an ACL injury that ended his before it began Scranton prep still boasted plenty of Talent last season they narrowly lost to State Powerhouse Neumann Goretti in the state playoffs 22 – 14
Preps only losses came to the hands of
Lakeland 41-14
Scranton 21-9
Valley View 22-16
Neumann Goretti 22-14
Valley View has enough chemistry returning to make a solid run they have a solid weight program that will get everybody ready for this upcoming season and with the solid coaching staff in place expect Valley View to do big things in the Lackawanna football conference and into districts
Best of luck Scot and Jeff continuing your father’s coaching Legacy ————GOTTA BELIEVE !
July 23rd, 2023 at 11:41 pm
My next projection for the 2023 High School football season,
The Valley View cougars
July 23rd, 2023 at 8:28 am
Was just looking at the preseason for all/most of the football teams in Penna. Heat Acclimatation begins Aug 7th for a full week with 5-3-5-3-5 hour maximums, so on Aug 14th most teams begin full contact practice, then have 4-5 days and then their first scrimmage, followed the next week by start of their regular season schedule. I know this has been going on for a long while but is 1-3 weeks enough to institute offense/defense/special teams, get the kids into Football shape, get a real look at incoming new players? Personally, I’m thinking that’s not enough time and we should be moving up the Heat Acclimation week one week, so that the players can have 2 full weeks before their 1st scrimmage and 3 before the regular season starts. I think with a little more time to get ready & be in Football shape, we’d see less injuries and a higher level of football. Obviously, this is the way things have been forever, so am I missing something?
July 22nd, 2023 at 4:07 pm
As the 2022 HS Football season came to an end for the Abington Heights Comets one might think a 3-8 ending was dismal …..Not fast to judgment.
I would confidently say many of those games that were lost were only by a mere few points with a touchdown deciding the final the Comets have found their much needed fire that once made teams fear playing them …Are they the teams of the mid 90’s to early 2000’s ? Not yet, to that I confidently say I would not look past AH for 2023
They have regained that winning desire that in recent years fizzled out the Comets will be ready to challenge for the league title and possibly districts as a faithful Lakeland football former player and enthusiast I always enjoyed going over to the pit on those gorgeous Saturday afternoons with the trees that swallow the stadium up with their bright colors as the Giants of the Midway would make their way down long hill like a fine oiled machine…. I feel it !!! it will be here again,
to the players of Abington Heights keep up the good work fellas never let that drive leave your hearts teamwork is everything.
God permitting there are other teams I will comment on in the upcoming days that I feel that will contend for the Lackawanna football league and possibly districts
God bless
July 22nd, 2023 at 2:56 pm
Any Chance of reinstating a super conference in football for District 2? I believe it was tried years ago but never knew why It didn’t work…seems like its working well in District 11 (I could be wrong)…..any thoughts?
July 20th, 2023 at 4:21 pm
@Kevin X – thanks for sharing that article on the new OH law, this seems to be more of an issue in the eastern part of the state and of course the PIAA playoffs. I went to a WPIAL game every Friday last year at various stadiums and all accepted cash for tickets at the gate, I’m not aware of any schools in western pa not accepting cash. The problem on this side of the state comes when the PIAA playoffs start, because as you know you can’t pay cash at any PIAA event, I went to several PIAA football and basketball games this past year and all ticket sales are online only, and that’s not going to change unless the state legislature passes a law like this which unfortunately I doubt will happen.
July 20th, 2023 at 12:35 pm
Hopefully this is finally the last season of Northampton in the EPC North. Moving them back to the EPC South and getting rid of mandatory crossovers is LONG overdue.
July 19th, 2023 at 11:00 am
Wilkes-Barre Area seniors Mekhi Nelson and Naquon Johnson have both transferred to a prep school in Connecticut.
Both were WVC all star selections last season. Nelson rushed for over 1,600 yards and is getting D1 looks.
July 13th, 2023 at 5:43 am
@ Kevin X, what Ohio did is great. Love the part where it says if a school doesnt take cash they are required to give the person a free ticket. Hope pa gets around to doing this,but I doubt it.
July 13th, 2023 at 5:33 am
Got it. TY
July 12th, 2023 at 11:09 pm
@David
Just a heads up , I just emailed you my contact
information regarding District 2 reporter
July 12th, 2023 at 10:06 am
WOW!!! Well done Ohio!!!! Your turn PA state legislators………..
https://www.wcpo.com/sports/high-school-sports/ohsaa-schools-required-to-accept-cash-for-tickets-concessions-in-october
July 12th, 2023 at 8:46 am
I forgot to change the year. Thank you for the reminder.
July 12th, 2023 at 8:26 am
David Mika, did I jump the gun? haha
July 12th, 2023 at 7:19 am
Now…LOL
July 11th, 2023 at 9:05 am
How soon are you going to make the annual switch from 2022 Forum to 2023 Forum?
July 11th, 2023 at 1:47 am
@D Mika , Thank’s will be in touch soon,
July 10th, 2023 at 4:52 am
Here is my email. Dave@easternpafootball.com Thank you!
July 9th, 2023 at 3:23 pm
Thank’s David, I appreciate it,
Also the other day ,I tried to send you some information
about what we were discussing. The site seemed
a bit slow I may resend in a few days.
Thanks again
July 9th, 2023 at 5:31 am
Chris is working on all the schedules. I will see when he is going to do Lakelands.
July 8th, 2023 at 6:43 pm
@ David Mika
Just wondering if your staff will be doing the graphic schedules for all the school’s or just a select few ?
Trying to get Lakeland District 2 AA….
The others look fantastic !!!! awesome job brother
I’m hoping my Chiefs can regroup after getting hit
extremely hard by graduation this year
July 6th, 2023 at 4:15 pm
@ Buddy
LaSalle/NP game is at Crawford.
LaSalle has an aptly named nickname in the Explorers. Seen them have “home” games at Springfield Montco, Wissahickon, Upper Dublin, P-W, Crawford (only against NP) and Franklin Field (St. Joe’s).
July 6th, 2023 at 3:53 pm
Where’s Margaret to start the bashing of North Schuylkill football? Lol.
Looking forward to this season. Should be a great one.
July 6th, 2023 at 7:16 am
@Buddy…Lasalle at different times has used Springfield-Montco or PW for home games. I believe they did put in lights and turf at their campus location several years ago but Im not sure if they use that on a regular basis.
July 5th, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Where does LaSalle play their home games?
July 5th, 2023 at 4:12 pm
At D11 Matt
I’m from District 2 .
I like your picks , it would be nice to see Whitehall bring the gold home .
I remember long ago in the late 90’s
When Abington Heights was a powerhouse
And did very well only until they hit the
Central Bucks West WALL like most teams did back then …
They also played Whitehall and I remember the Zephyrs always gave AH great games in the playoffs….
Best of luck to your projected teams brother
July 5th, 2023 at 12:02 pm
Since we are only a month away from start of heat acl., A little preview of what I think will shape out in D11 this upcoming season with contenders.
A: Northern Lehigh, Tri Valley
Both these teams have good programs. Northern lost skill players from another deep state run, but they return a lot on lines and should be in mix for another dist title.
AA: Executive Ed, Palisades, Catty
AAA: Notre Dame, North Schuylkill, Northwestern Lehigh (same top three in AAA).
AAAA: Beca, Central
AAAAA: Southern Lehigh, ESS, Whitehall
AAAAAA: Parkland, Emmaus, Freedom, Naz
Basically same teams as last year. Hopefully we get a good surprise or two of some teams.
July 4th, 2023 at 8:05 am
Congratulations , Henry on your new journey at Southern Columbia High School.
May God truly bless you at this new position.
And may you lead by example as you have on the field as a player and as a coach.
Stay focused
July 4th, 2023 at 7:02 am
In todays breaking news
Henry Hynoski has stepped down as Shamokin’s head football coach to accept the HS principal job at Southern Columbia.
Former Lewisburg head coach Marc Persing will take over for the Indians. Move expected to become official at Monday’s school board meeting.
July 1st, 2023 at 2:23 am
I would like to make one small correction
On one of my posts from the day about the Eastern conference titles Lakeland won , I mistakenly put 81….it was 1987 …. just one year shy of the official PIAA state championship bracket just to think we may have had one state championship in our trophy case amongst all the other championships that would have been outstanding
Lakeland went 13-0 that season , and at the seasons end we were ranked third in the state
Only behind larger AAAA and AAA powerhouses
We played Williamsport for the EC playoffs
Then faced Tunkhannock who very surprisingly beat the mighty BERWICK BULL DAWGS to face us in the championship game Lakeland won 28-15
Fun fact Berwick went on to win the state championship the following year in 1988 and then the rest follows with their Dynasty.
rest in peace George Curry
Some might think why bother to make the correction well my friends it’s very important because so many of those championships that I wrote in the prior message that Lakeland captured there were lots of Blood Sweat and Tears that went into those Championship seasons and every one of those years every one of those players still matter to this day in our football community we are a tight knit family up here at Lakeland once a chief always a chief
Have a safe holiday
June 30th, 2023 at 12:04 pm
Good Morning David,
Thank’s for getting back so quickly.
I completely understand I may be of
Assistance to you I know the District landscape very well, and know who is the top projected teams from the rebuilding ones .
I’m familiar with many of the perennial rival matchups that draw large crowds no matter the records aswell.
God permitting I will reach out to you in the near future also happy 4th of July to all and may God bless all of our military and veterans who put so much on the line for all of us to enjoy the simplicities of life such as high school football and other sports without our veterans and Military our landscape of life would be much different if any of you know a veteran or see one out and about take time and thank them for their service they truly do appreciate it when people thank them it’s the least we can do.
June 30th, 2023 at 6:43 am
I do have a reporter up there covering District 2. I am looking for one more reporter.
June 30th, 2023 at 2:44 am
Hello all
First I would like to congratulate all of the state champions throughout all of the sports for 2022 great job on your dedication to Excellence.
My next comment is only for a suggestion and also a tip of my hat to say thank you to all of the eastern PA high school football volunteers and staffers for all the hard work and dedication this is a great place to go for a lot of useful information.
To David Mika the PIAA District 2 representative
Is there any way of possibly covering the Lakeland Chiefs football team a little bit more I only ask this because this past year we had another Stellar year no we did not reach the state championship but the guys put in a lot of hard work with a 12-1 record it seems as though your coverage of Scranton prep and also Valley View and Dunmore were far superior and more concentrated than we ever could get with lakeland’s Rich tradition of Championship history I kind of think it’s strange it is this way
Beginning in the early 1970s the strong history began
Eastern Conference titles 72,75,76,77,81
Keep in mind these are titles pre-1988 before the state championship was organized this was the furthest you can go Eastern Conference Championship was the elite Championship back in the day now it is a runner-up game for teams that have 5-5 season
Division titles
71,72,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,87,
00,01,02,03,04,05,06,10,18,19,20,21,22
P.I.A.A District 2
00,02,03,04,06,20,22
Keep in mind many of these championships came in seasons playing Valley View cougars and the Dunmore Bucks and the Riverside when the Vikings were more potent and dominant like for instance 2010 Riverside was dominating everybody what an outstanding team the Vikings had lots of talent nobody could do anything against them we were on a rebuilding year but we still mustered up enough to beat them for the league championship 21-20 as they went on to play the Clarton bears and almost beat them 36-32 in the state championship game .
Riverside it was in class A and we were in class AA
That particular season
And what an amazing season to remember in 1980 for the BIG 11 championship
LAKELAND VS VALLEY VIEW
Beating the king of the mountain 43-8
Frank Pazzalia was always a high caliber coach as he led the Cougars too many championships including the 1992 State title and then of course who can forget the mighty BUCKS led by all-time great coach Jack Henzez leading the Bucks to a State championship Win In 1989
What an honor it was from 2000-2006 to sweep Dunmore going 11-0 vs the Bucks through that time frame
But to this I say don’t forget about the Lakeland Chiefs the red white and blue we may not be going to the state championship every year but we hold our ground in District 2 .
June 28th, 2023 at 5:05 pm
NP plays at LaSalle 1st game, where do they play?
June 19th, 2023 at 3:00 pm
Mykell Ford transfers from Governor Mifflin to Roman Catholic. A local sports reporter recently reported this. Big pickup for Roman and a big loss for Mifflin as the 6’0 260lb lineman had 60 takles and 12.5 tackles for loss as a sophomore for Governor Mifflin. Ford was all Berks and 1st team DT in the Lancaster Lebanon League, also heard he’s been tearing it up at summer camps. It’s interesting that this is the 2nd big time lineman from the suburbs that found their way to Center City Philadelphia. Austin Ramsey-Owen J Roberts transferred in a couple of years ago and is an incoming freshman at Kentucky.
June 8th, 2023 at 10:55 pm
Recent 1951 Mythical State Championship Post featuring a Ted Silary Tribute:
Now let’s move on to ’51…..
1951 PA Scholastic Football State Champs (Mythical)
1951 might best be described as “The Year of the West” — not “West” as in Western PA, but rather “West” as in “West”inghouse, “West” Catholic and “West” Scranton!!! All 3 of those then-large schools made what was perhaps their greatest-ever impact on the statewide football stage during the fabulous ’51 campaign.
Pittsburgh’s Westinghouse gets our lead AA position for PIAA schools, but not far behind was a West Scranton team that purportedly “won” a pre-season scrimmage against ultra-loaded Class A claimant Swoyersville.
And if there was a post-season poll that included non-PIAA teams, Philly’s West Catholic High would’ve certainly challenged for the top — the Burrs set a then-record for points and victory margin in Philadelphia City title contests…..blitzing Bok Vo-Tech 42-0! [See TED SILARY TRIBUTE below]
Also stellar in 1951 AA was a barely-challenged Erie Cathedral Prep juggernaut that defeated powers from 4 states…..including the legendary “barnstorming” Mooseheart program from Illinois, 37-13! A 1951 West Catholic vs Cathedral Prep Diocesan State Championship would’ve been an evenly-matched all-time classic! Rounding out our very crowded AA field are 2 WPIAL schools, undefeated Uniontown and once-beaten District and Saylor Ratings champ Farrell.
Previously-mentioned Swoyersville (B playing up to A) was legendary in 1951, but not legendary enough to get the lead slot over Ridley Twp! (LOL) The Green Raiders dominated a strong schedule, with only perennial AA toughie Lower Merion staying reasonably close (28-14) in their game for suburban (Philly) bragging rights. Western Conference champion Conemaugh Twp joins them in a stacked Class A group, along with fellow unbeatens Lewistown and non-PIAA Johnstown Catholic from the District 5/6 Region. WPIAL back-to-back champ New Brighton and the “Zinc Lads” from Palmerton in the Lehigh Valley round out the group.
Class B is once again headed up by Kulpmont, but the Wildcats have plenty of company at the top. Boiling Springs’ best-ever team and WPIAL co-champions Wilmerding and Jefferson Twp are right there as well. Conshohocken (“Conshy”) and Jessup were also deemed worthy after navigating difficult schedules.
Last, but certainly not least, is the Class C grouping…..and they were exceptionally-strong this time around. For example, lead entry Beaverdale dominated strong B program Adams Twp (8-2) by a 20-0 count, while Class A top claimant (and .500+ Saylor) Conemaugh Twp had a much-rougher time with them (a 34-32 nailbiter). Beaverdale would go on to end powerful Bellwood-Antis’ 20+ game win streak in what was probably the most-hyped Inter-County Conference Championship game of all-time…..B-A was defeated 14-7 @hollidaysburg in a fiercely-contested classic!
Scotland School was also top rung, losing only a 14-13 heartbreaker to Class B top claimant Boiling Springs on the Bubblers’ home field. Included among the C Class Cadets’ victories was a 14-7 win over tough AA rival Chambersburg, a team that gave strong Class A Gettysburg (8-0-1) its lone blemish when the squads battled to a 20-all tie! Royersford’s schedule wasn’t as tough, but the Eagles came through it with “flying” colors — winning all games by at least 3 scores!
And finally, we have created another special category…..but this one should only be temporary. That’s because we’ve basically green-lighted Kanty Prep for a top claim in either the B or C Class — trouble is, we don’t yet know where to classify them for 1951 at this juncture! But we don’t want to hold things up any further, so we’ll just mention them and move on for now. We’ll update the thread like always if/when the additional data comes in. Kanty was a clear C in 1950, and was a B-enrollment school in 1952. Either way, they’ll eventually come in as #23 on our top claimant list, which is a clear record that we don’t expect to ever surpass for any other year!
1951
Class AA (Large Schools)
(PITTSBURGH) WESTINGHOUSE (9-0); WEST SCRANTON (8-0); Uniontown (10-0); Farrell (9-1)
Non-PIAA, Private/Special: (Philadelphia) West Catholic (10-0); (Erie) Cathedral Prep (9-0)
Class A (Mid-Sized Schools)
RIDLEY (TWP) (11-0); SWOYERSVILLE (11-0); Conemaugh Twp (10-0); Lewistown (9-0); New Brighton (10-1); Palmerton (8-0)% (tie)
Non-PIAA, Private/Special: Johnstown Catholic (8-0)
Class B (Small Schools)
KULPMONT (10-0); BOILING SPRINGS (10-0); WILMERDING (9-0-1); JEFFERSON (TWP) (8-0-1); Conshohocken (9-0); Jessup (8-0-1) (tie)
Class C (Smallest Schools)
BEAVERDALE (10-0); SCOTLAND SCHOOL (8-1); Royersford (8-0)
Class B or C ??
Non-PIAA, Private/Special: (Erie) St John Kanty Prep (7-0)
% – Denotes cancelled game.
TED SILARY TRIBUTE: In closing, I’m posting a special tribute to a fallen comrade. The PA Scholastic Sports Community lost a legend a few weeks ago when Philadelphia HS sports guru Ted Silary passed away on May 18th at 72 years of age. I originally thought it would be fitting to honor Ted in this 1951 post not only because of the timing, but also because of how dominant West Catholic was during that particular year (After all, so much of our Philly research has come from Ted’s records @his infamous website). However, another special reason has been discovered — ironically, Ted’s birth year was 1951 (March) ….. so now it just totally makes sense, irregardless of other factors. So “Thanks, Ted” for your immeasurable contributions. RIP.
LINK to Ted Silary Archive Website: tedsilary.com/
LINK to Philadelphia HS FB City Title Game Recaps: tedsilary.com/FBCitytitlegames.htm
1951 West Catholic City Title Game Write-Up:
1951
At Franklin Field
West Catholic 42, Bok 0
Jack McEachern rushed for 118 yards and a TD and passed 6-for-12 for 75 yards and another TD for West, which never punted en route to completing its first perfect season (10-0) since 1943. Art Dettra ran for two TDs and John Bauer kicked six PAT. The Burrs won the total offense battle, 341-71. Bok advanced to the West 13 late in the first half, but was immediately pushed back to the 37.
June 6th, 2023 at 1:40 am
The fun thing with basketball is, that for any first round game (not championship games mind you) this weekend, a single game will cost you, out the door, nearly $10. Inflation or greed?? But I’m sure that hard earned money will be well invested to see teams such as the ones below in action with the potential for some instant classics in the games that they are involved in:
7-17 Nativity BVM (A girls)
8-16 Weatherly (A girls)
10-14 Jenkintown (A girls)
5-18 Jamestown (A girls)
8-16 Lancaster Mennonite (AA girls)
3-7 Belmont Charter (AA girls)
8-7 Mast II (AA girls)
8-12 Pickett Mastery (AAA girls)
12-14 Clairton (AA boys)
9-13 String Theory (AAA boys) (cool name tho)
10-14 Bedford (AAA boys)
9-15 Bishop Shanahan (AAAA boys) (who are playing 9-10 Audenried, so at least the equal mediocrity should make it competitive)
Etc…….
Yet the defending 6A girls state champs, Plymouth Whitemarsh (23-4, I think), are not involved because they picked a bad time to loose 2 of their 4 games this year, the last two they played as they played themselves out of the D1 playback bracket. But that’s OK, as we get to see 15-12 Garnet Valley out of D1 6A instead. And I’m sure many will have no love loss for seeing a St. Joe Prep team not making the state playoffs, but they may just be a top 10-15 boys team in 6A in the state this year, but, hey, that’s the way District 12 decides their state reps (it’s a Philly thing), without a true district playoff. So we get to see Central out of the D12 PPL instead.
Enjoy the next 3 weeks of PA high school hoops playoffs. Please choose your first round games wisely, I know I will. Once the participation trophies are handed out this weekend, it should actually be a very good tourney going forward.
May 10th, 2023 at 1:57 am
@Kevin, I guess as a D11 guy, I’m just used to d11 finding host schools. They even require dist championships to have a neutral site since 2018. I heard NL (I’m an alum) had a problem with steelton hosting the quarterfinals a week after they hosted the first round (2 home games on state playoffs). They didn’t have to even get on a bus until eastern final. And I heard they were not happy with the facilities. No showers available? For a state quarterfinals game, where NL had to travel an hour and 45 my minutes on a bus? It is what it is. However, starting at state quarterfinals, it should be neutral in football and basketball, and every sport for that matter.
March 10th, 2023 at 2:11 pm
@Kevin, I guess as a D11 guy, I’m just used to d11 finding host schools. They even require dist championships to have a neutral site since 2018. I heard NL (I’m an alum) had a problem with steelton hosting the quarterfinals a week after they hosted the first round (2 home games on state playoffs). They didn’t have to even get on a bus until eastern final. And I heard they were not happy with the facilities. No showers available? For a state quarterfinals game, where NL had to travel an hour and 45 my minutes on a bus? It is what it is. However, starting at state quarterfinals, it should be neutral in football and basketball, and every sport for that matter.
March 9th, 2023 at 12:31 pm
@D11 Matt, I agree its not right for any of the sports at the state level. I think its even worse for basketball because the home court is really a big advantage just because of the crowds in a packed gym. Its a more intense atmosphere then football I think in most cases. For every year prior to covid they never had a problem finding neutral courts to host. I think they just said we did it that year lets just stick to it and the heck with fairness. Its just that some schools may not be able to make a run to states many years so seems like they should get a more level playing field.
March 9th, 2023 at 10:22 am
@ Irish1
Like Matt said, they do that for football as well. Don’t know about other team sports, guess I’ll pay attention this spring with baseball and lax. Why, my guess is simplicity and money. You have 192 basketball games being played over two days this weekend. I would think it would be much easier just saying if your the team on the top of the bracket for the first round, you can host if you have a PIAA suitable/approved gym/facility. Probably cheaper too not have to spend the time negotiating all these potential neutral sites and then compensating a school/district for the use. I personally have little problem with it. Yes, I’d like to see some better geographical common sense in these brackets, but maybe that is asking too much. Also would love to see a human element/selection committee type system to seed and select the teams (for football as well), but that is a delusional pipe dream. As far as Williamsport (D4 6A boys champ goes, ummmm, they are the only 6A school in D4. They were in a 6 team sub regional with D2, and they lost to D2 Scranton in that final, so they are actually a second seed out of 6 school regional playoff. Coatesville has to travel north to #1 seed Scranton. At least these games are on a Friday and Saturday, and not mid week like the round 2 games will be next week.
@ Foleman
True. There are 4 4A boys teams in D1, and only one with a winning record (12-10). Shanahan beat that 12-10 school (some charter school I never heard of) and got in. Love to see the PIAA implement a rule where a team has to have at least a .500 record to participate in states, even if you are a so called district champion, and this would go for all sports.
@ Matt
I disagree. I think a lot schools and school districts don’t want to be bothered or take the responsibility.
March 9th, 2023 at 7:14 am
@Irish,
It has been that way for football as well. They used to just let first round home team host, but last season they had state quarterfinals with home teams hosting. They say it’s because it’s hard to find neutral hosts. I find that untruthful. They find them for state semi finals.
March 8th, 2023 at 6:20 am
@Kevin X, I know they played first round state playoff basketball games at schools home courts during the covid year,but I dont understand why they are still doing that. There is no way schools should get a home game once reaching the the state tournament. In 6A the district 4 champ has to play at Lower Merion and its the same with many of the other games. To me its just the PIAA taking the easy way out rather then having to come up with neutral courts like they used to prior to covid. Its just an unfair advantage for teams that shouldnt exist in the state tourney.
March 7th, 2023 at 5:21 pm
Imhotep jus got the best QB FRESHMEN IN THE NATION ( JOE MCLEISH ) jus committed to Imhotep from 8th grade kid had a Michigan offer in 7th Grade crazy how Imhotep keeps collecting talent. Zahir Mathis #6 Junior in the nation DE. I know Imhotep doesn’t finishes its season but boy do they send kids D1 that place is a factory for D1 talent.
March 7th, 2023 at 9:04 am
KevinX, I’m thinking that most of the teams with losing records that are participating in the playoffs are playing due to the fact that their are very few small schools in the District. In District 1, the majority of schools are 6A and 5a. Only a handful of 4A Schools in District 1 and Shanahan had to play many schools that were much larger Class wise.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:52 am
J.D. Okuniewski is named the new Head Coach at Daniel Boone. Looks like Another Good Ol Boy hire by the Boone Administration. Okunieski’s dad was involved in the program for many years and coached locally at Exeter. JD is a former Boone football player and teaches at the High School. I would love to know how many applicants interviewed for the job. Boone has some talent returning so JD should get off to a good start next year.
March 6th, 2023 at 3:34 pm
Very quiet around here. Since that is the case, I will take some liberties and dust off my football on-line ticketing and playoff rants and direct them to PA high school basketball. State playoffs in boys and girls hoops start this weekend. And once again, tickets for all games, all rounds, will be available on-line only. I bit the bullet (are you still allowed to use that saying??) last fall, and pulled the trigger (and that one??) and got tix on-line for a few football games, mostly D1 6A playoff games. And yes, it was painless enough and it worked out fine, but I still held my nose firmly while plugging in my credit card info and hitting the submit icon. The fun thing with basketball is, that for any first round game (not championship games mind you) this weekend, a single game will cost you, out the door, nearly $10. Inflation or greed?? But I’m sure that hard earned money will be well invested to see teams such as the ones below in action with the potential for some instant classics in the games that they are involved in:
7-17 Nativity BVM (A girls)
8-16 Weatherly (A girls)
10-14 Jenkintown (A girls)
5-18 Jamestown (A girls)
8-16 Lancaster Mennonite (AA girls)
3-7 Belmont Charter (AA girls)
8-7 Mast II (AA girls)
8-12 Pickett Mastery (AAA girls)
12-14 Clairton (AA boys)
9-13 String Theory (AAA boys) (cool name tho)
10-14 Bedford (AAA boys)
9-15 Bishop Shanahan (AAAA boys) (who are playing 9-10 Audenried, so at least the equal mediocrity should make it competitive)
Etc…….
Yet the defending 6A girls state champs, Plymouth Whitemarsh (23-4, I think), are not involved because they picked a bad time to loose 2 of their 4 games this year, the last two they played as they played themselves out of the D1 playback bracket. But that’s OK, as we get to see 15-12 Garnet Valley out of D1 6A instead. And I’m sure many will have no love loss for seeing a St. Joe Prep team not making the state playoffs, but they may just be a top 10-15 boys team in 6A in the state this year, but, hey, that’s the way District 12 decides their state reps (it’s a Philly thing), without a true district playoff. So we get to see Central out of the D12 PPL instead.
Enjoy the next 3 weeks of PA high school hoops playoffs. Please choose your first round games wisely, I know I will. Once the participation trophies are handed out this weekend, it should actually be a very good tourney going forward.
February 28th, 2023 at 12:44 pm
@foleman Boyertown isn’t the only place with dirty politics running the football program. Pennridge ousted their HC after an extremely late hire and a five-month season. AD there doesn’t have a very good track record. The same type of scenario – kids vouched for him, the guy was a long-time teacher there, etc. They just board-approved the next guy last night…I wonder how long he’ll have on the job. Why would anyone want to coach high school sports?
February 23rd, 2023 at 8:54 am
Justin Konnick is being pushed out after 1 year as Boyertown’s Head Football Coach. The guy breathed life into an underperforming dead in the water 6A football program and the kids loved him. I have no idea what he did that the school board and AD want him out. He received over 1,000 positive comments on change.org Nothing surprises me about this, the politics that go on in Boyertown has been going on for decades. Their AD is not getting a lot of support from the Boyertown fanbase over this.
https://papreplive.com/2023/02/17/konnicks-status-as-boyertown-football-coach-in-question-after-call-for-resignation/
February 16th, 2023 at 12:35 pm
PJP opening the season on the road at Chambersburg High instead of LC followed by Ryan, West Philly, and Judge
February 6th, 2023 at 2:09 pm
Here are the new rules for 2023 high school football: Biggest change is that fouls behind the LOS (think holding) will now be enforced from the previous spot (like college and pro).
Clarified That Towels Do Not Have To Be The Same Solid Color For Each Player [1-5-3a(5)a 4, 5 (NEW)]
Player towels may contain one manufacturer’s logo and/or one school logo neither exceeding 2¼ square
inches. Towels must be a solid color but now do not have to be the same solid color for each player. Towels
may not be ball- or penalty-flag colored.
Clarified When A Player Is Inbounds After Being Out of Bounds [2-29-1]
This change clarifies when a player is inbounds after being out of bounds. There is no change to any foul or
subsequent penalty provisions, or any rules related to illegal participation or the provisions regarding eligibility
to catch a pass.
Added A List Of Criteria To Help Identify Players Who Should Be Defined As Defenseless Receivers [2-32-
16d, 9-4-3g]
This change adds to the list of criteria to help identify players who should be defined as defenseless receivers
related to application of unnecessary or excessive contact. This clarification should help game officials and
coaches by defining allowable contact against defenseless receivers.
Intentional Grounding Exception Changed [7-5-2 EXCEPTION 2a, c (NEW)]
This change permits the exception for intentional grounding to the first and only player to possess the ball
after the snap ends.
Removed “Intentional” From Pass Interference in TABLE 7-5 [TABLE 7-5(2)c (DELETE), 7-5 PENALTY]
By removing “intentional” from pass interference, this change puts the rule in line with how it is already
enforced which is a 15-yard penalty.
Changes In Basic Spot Penalty Enforcement [10-4, 6]
This change restructures and clarifies the amendments to Rule 10 to eliminate the excessive penalty
enforcements for offensive fouls that occur behind the line of scrimmage. This revision stipulates the basic
spot for enforcement of fouls behind the line of scrimmage is the previous spot rather than the spot of the
foul. Current penalties for illegal kicking, batting and participation fouls, and provisions for offensive fouls
occurring in the end zone that may result in a safety remain intact
January 11th, 2023 at 10:02 am
Perk Valley 2023 non-conference schedule:
Week 0 – @ Chester
Week 1 – @ Downingtown West
Week 2 – vs. Smyrna (DE) – Finished 12-1 in 2022
Week 3 – vs, Cheltenham
January 7th, 2023 at 6:53 pm
@foleman, no I didn’t know about any transfere, that is big news .Adding a division one recruit to a team already bringing back alot is huge. @ Kevin X ..I think one reason PJP and Shanahan haven’t played may be since they are both 4a schools and don’t want to possibly end up with a rematch in the playoffs. Scheduling these days is hard to figure out sometimes. Sadly I think the Turkey day games are just a memory.It would be a good matchup.
January 5th, 2023 at 5:28 pm
@ Irish1 and Foleman
Do you guys know why PJPII and Bishop Shanahan never hook up in the regular season?? Seems like such a natural rivalry. Maybe even a future Thanksgiving day match-up.
January 5th, 2023 at 2:08 pm
Irish 1, I’m hearing that PJP got a big time transfer from Wood, it has to be offensive tackle Kevin Heywood, who used to live in Pottstown, I guess his family moved back to the area. My niece said the transfer is really tall, Heywood is 6’7 so he fits the description, Penn State is recruiting him hard.
January 4th, 2023 at 7:34 am
PJP’s non conference schedule next year Lansdale Catholic, Arch Ryan, West Philly, and Judge. Would have liked to see one or two suburban teams on there for a little variety,but being a 4A school Im sure its not easy getting bigger public schools on the schedule, since everyone wants to build up playoff points. Interesting that every home game except one listed as 7pm start time. I know the school has a campaign to raise money for lights, hope this means its going well.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:35 pm
As a follow-up to my prior post a quick google search that took about 5 seconds shows that over 98% of the student body at Westinghouse HS is minority, with over 93% being African American. Now maybe some of you SCA supporters and apologists will understand why many of the rest of us thought the “Whip Westinghouse” sign was in bad taste. Notice I did not say it was racist, others may have made that comment, but accusing someone or something of being racist is thrown around so frequently today it’s lost some of its meaning, just like Peter Pulisky falsely accused me.
December 21st, 2022 at 12:40 pm
@Peter Pulisky – I only stated facts, Westinghouse is an inter city school in a poor minority neighbor that is majority African American, how is reporting the facts a stereotype? I never put them down in any way, they had an excellent season and in prior posts I complimented the coach and kids on a great year, I saw their last 2 games in person against Farrell and Steel Valley and was rooting for them to win, like much of the rest of the state, so please explain to me how that is racist? Are you implying a “Whip Westinghouse” sign with a drawing of a bullwhip was not in bad taste given SCA was playing a team primarily of African American student athletes? My point is it wouldn’t have taken too much research to find out the team SCA was playing had mostly African American players, so please spare me your righteousness.
December 21st, 2022 at 10:09 am
@ D2 Fan
Thank you for your kind comment on my article. The purpose of it was exactly what you suggest, to promote thought and discussion on the issues. Thanks again.
December 21st, 2022 at 12:51 am
@ Brian
That’s been the way I see Berwick. Government is more Columbia County, & associates that direction. Although, I do partially associate it with Luzerne via the zip code.
I will admit, It’s very interesting to me that they play in District 2, & in the WVC, especially since it likely makes logistical sense to play in District 4 & the Heartland. I’d be curious to see how they’d fare in the league. Speaking of which, I think Northwest Area made a great decision moving to District 4, from a logistics standpoint. They’re so small of a school for the WVC, so I thought it was a smart decision on their end. Northern Tier & that other Mid-Penn league seem to be working out just fine for them.
@ Jeff H
Yeah, I wasn’t even around for those titles. Didn’t think of them as a prior powerhouse. I don’t think I know a lot about HS basketball before 2000 outside of my local stuff, the Kobe years, Chester’s run, & the Carbondale/George Republic upset. I’m not as much of a PIAA historian, but always curious to learn more about that stuff.
@Phillyboy,
We must be! Haha. I used to collect a bunch of atlases & maps from across the country. I still collect a few from time to time. You can’t go wrong with a good ol’ fashioned truck atlas.
Also @KMac,
What a great article you wrote about the playoffs! I might have a proposal or two of my own for the whole playoff & districts dilemma. I might come up with something after Christmas on what I’d fix, because you’re sorta on the path of what I want to do.
December 20th, 2022 at 10:02 pm
@ Jeff H. You literally insisted that a inner city impoverished district is typically made up of primarily african americans. That is not only a terrible stereotype but far more racist than anything sca ever did. Stereotypes are why racism wont die. Keep feeding it fool. Dont put them down because they are inner city and impoverished. They are people too. How dare you make that comparison to african americans.
December 18th, 2022 at 10:22 pm
@ Brian – let’s have St Joes Prep move to inter ac because they win so much but when SCA does, no big deal.
Can’t have it both wins when it comes to winning
December 15th, 2022 at 9:52 am
Might as well weigh in here…
The righteous indignation toward that Southern sign is contrived and misplaced, and falls under the category of “let’s find something to complain of bc well, that’s where we are now as a society.” Optics, to quote @WPIALGuy, are exactly what you choose to perceive based upon your pre-conceived baggage, bias and filter you bring to the sign. I wholeheartedly do not believe that the assumedly 16 year-old girl who created that sign was scheming “gee, how can I most effectively marginalize and oppress the typical Westinghouse kid with my super-sneaky words of hate?!” Really now, @WPIALGuy, do you honestly believe that was her intent?! If you do, then I absolutely feel sorry for you. Maybe there is no hope for us collectively as representatives of the human condition. Me? I choose to feel otherwise. Back in our day, I recall cheerleaders making little candy bar pins for us that said things like “Whip the Whippets” “Scalp the Indians” Cage the Panthers” and yes, even, god forbid, “Cage the Black Panthers.” I can assure you that in my admittedly pretty much predominantly Caucasian world, I was NOT sitting in 6th period Trig, wondering how my little sign was going to hurt/opress/marginalize my opponent. I was just nervous about how I would measure up against the opposing team’s feisty and talented point guard. Point being, a kid made that sign. She was not thinking of the admittedly horrific traits of the Confederacy and the history of the Reconstructionist South when she, yes possibly thoughtlessly wrote “Southern State of Mind.” And if you think she was, well then again, I kinda feel sorry for you. And to @814fball (aka Sour Grapes) Really, dude? Suspend the WHOLE program because of the admittedly stupid TikTok video?!? I dont know those 2 boys (yes, BOYS), but I can imagine they’re feeling pretty ashamed right about now, and are deeply embarassed by their actions. Maybe I’m being too pollyanna-ish right now, but I’m guessing they are learning the right lesson to be learned in this situation. I guess you’ve never done a stupid, thoughtless action in your teenage life, right?! You were always nice and thoughtful to everyone, right?! Never made fun of anyone when you were 16 or 17, right?! If you proclaim such on this site, well then I’m thinking ol’ Margaret has a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge to sell our readers…Everyone just take a breath, and then exhale. Jeez, we’re talking about KIDS…lids, like we (sometimes yes, stupidly) were once upon a time…Sorry for rambling; thank you for listening. Now bring on the Hoops Season!
PS: @Jeff, do you remember that Central Columbia team that won the 81 AA title? One of the best ever, to my now admittedly fading recall.
December 15th, 2022 at 9:08 am
Rob Flowers is out at Daniel Boone. Flowers had a 17-29 record in 5 seasons which included 2 winning seasons, they were 2-8 this year. The kids loved Coach Flowers but they lost their share of close games. Daniel Boone has been mostly a doormat in football for as long as I can remember, they had one good run under Coach Dave Bodolus 15 years ago, they were also a 6A program at one time and now are at 4A with the school population dropping every year. I believe the Boone administration thinks they can return to the Bodolus years, that’s a pipe dream.
December 14th, 2022 at 3:48 pm
@TigerAum79 – please don’t insult our intelligence, we know the definition of alliteration, the fact is the “Whip Westinghouse” sign was clearly in poor taste and the adults should have realized that and never put it up in the first place, I won’t go so far as to say racist, but no doubt in poor taste, And common sense says an inner city school in a poor, minority neighborhood is going to be primarily made up of African American players, so I’m not buying it that the folks in Southern Columbia didn’t know the makeup of the team they were playing.
With that being said it is a shame all we’re talking about are the racial overtones and not the game itself, because it was an excellent high school football game, intense, physical, and played the way the game should be played. I agree the SCA offensive line wore down a very good defense in the 2nd half. I knew Braeden Wisloski was a very good player, but he’s better than I thought and put on one heck of a performance, it’s special players like him who put a very good team over the top, you could say the exact same thing about Ryan Palmieri of Pine Richland, those were the 2 individual performances who stood out to me over the weekend.
December 14th, 2022 at 3:29 pm
@ D2 – Uniontown’s last state basketball title came in 1981, they also won state titles in 1925,1962 and 1964, they have won 8 WPIAL titles, the most recent in 2002, they did make it to the PIAA finals that year but lost to Harrisburg 69-82 before a sold out crowd at Hershey Park Arena, they also lost in the 2000 finals to Chester.
December 14th, 2022 at 1:02 pm
@Ryan I think you miss the point that both of those schools are putting transfer students on their teams. SCA doesn’t move up because they’re playing in the class they belong. I’m going to throw another one out at you that you might also not like, but they actually might technically be a A team by numbers. SCA counts the Millville boys numbers in with their numbers because of a student that participates in another sport (not on the football team). However, once you allow one kid from another school, you need to count all of their enrollment. So, more than likely, SCA is already playing up by playing AA. Do you really think AAA was that much better than AA this year or even most years? What is your reasoning to move them up? Are you just going to keep moving them up until they lose? What lesson are you trying to teach by making them play schools with much larger enrollments and who also pull kids from other geographic regions? They work hard all year long to be successful. I’d argue that individually there were more talented teams this year in AA, but SCA just worked harder to win. I’m not sure why them having a harder schedule throughout the year to prepare to compete in the class they belong in (or, most likely one above where they belong) is somehow hurting anyone. Please explain your intentions and what you think moving a team up is teaching these young men? It seems that the goal is just to see them lose. If they win at AAA, I guess that means they keep moving up? You realize there really are no AAAA teams within a a reasonable driving distance from the farm country that is SCA I hope.
December 14th, 2022 at 11:13 am
@TigerAlum79
That is crazy to say they didn’t the race of the Westinghouse team.
I understand you’re from SCA, so you will defend them but the comments that have been made are silly.
Question is why Southern Columbia will play AAA teams and maybe a AAAA team during the regular season but won’t move up to play better competition. ALiquippa Imhotep but play up for better competition, yet SCA after winning 6 straight titles won’t.
December 14th, 2022 at 11:13 am
@ TigerAum79 –Wow, didn’t know there was a vowel counterpart word for alliteration, right on.
@ mcd 65 –Was actually wondering about SJP possibly playing IMG, Mater Dei, or Aquinas again because next year’s version might be the peak for this group, scary thought. So it’s not the time to hold back, if there’s ever a time to schedule the absolute best, this may be it insofar as national championship ambitions are concerned. Btw, the game may be played at Ocean City? I assume it’s the NJ variety, not MD. That could make for a nice outing coupled with a Borgata buffet at AC.
@D2 Fan –We’re kindred spirits, man, I’m a huge map nerd as well. Of course, Google maps is incredible, but to this day I still proudly use my giant Rand McNally trucker atlas where every page is laminated in conjunction with a big dollar store magnifying glass, lol.
December 13th, 2022 at 8:33 pm
@D2 Fan Being from the Columbia County area, I never thought of Berwick as being part of Luzerne. Technically they are part of Columbia County. In fact, commissioners for the county often are elected out of Berwick. I always think more Wilkes-Barre-Scranton area for Luzerne. Berwick has a different vibe to it than Luzerne, IMO.
December 13th, 2022 at 5:34 pm
@Wpialguy – The sign shown at a pep rally was a simple play on words. “Whip Westinghouse” . One of my best friends coaches the 7-8 grade team and he assures me the person who made the sign did so because the they wanted to use an “Alliteration” (Alliteration Definition = Alliteration is a literary device where each word in a string of words starts with the same consonant (as opposed to assonance, in which a vowel sound is repeated)). They likely did not even know the racial make-up of the Westinghouse team, let alone mean it in some racist way.
The original twitter video made by the two 10 graders (non-starters) did not have any words at all on it. If you have any link, you can see their mouths don’t even speak. Somebody took it and dubbed speech over it. WHO did this – who can tell in this internet day and age? It was not the SCA team.
Look at any of the comments made by the SCA starters and posted in the media after the game. They all said that Westinghouse played harder and hit harder than any team they faced all year. So please, stop the ridiculous banter. There was respect all around.
If Westinghouse’s QB had a better day and hit some of those long balls, things would have been different. But in the end it was the play of SCA’s O-Line that made all the difference. They sustained blocks just a bit longer in the second half.
December 13th, 2022 at 4:23 pm
@ Jeff H
Yeah, I noticed that it’s fairly split between the two counties. I didn’t realize most people out west considered Belle Vernon to be more Westmoreland. I’m a big map nerd, so that sorta interested me a bit.
It’s strange how that happens. Then again, PA is so unique with school districts. It doesn’t completely fall in the same umbrella as other states, like NY or OH where it feels like the boundaries aren’t 100% in the townships, or down south where every county is its own district. Although, we have that, to some extent, with the small counties (Forest, Cameron, Sullivan, Mifflin, & Juniata. That doesn’t include Philly. That doesn’t include Philly, which is just a city county).
Since I’m on the subject: Curious to know where you guys would consider Berwick to be. It’s a D2 school with a Luzerne/Columbia zip code. I’d lean more Columbia than Luzerne, but I’m curious if others liken it to the latter.
I didn’t know Uniontown was a basketball power. It must’ve been a bit before I was born, because I don’t remember ever seeing them make a run in my lifetime. I probably would’ve remembered a late 2000s/2010s run.
December 13th, 2022 at 4:05 pm
Hey never too early to look ahead to next year. So we know St Joe Prep will be very good next season along with some of the usual suspects. Who else out there looks like maybe they could make a run? Maybe a team that was a little young this year but returns a lot a guys next year and could make a run. One team im keeping an eye on is Westinghouse. Wanna see if they can keep things going next season after a great run to the champ game. Another is NG. It seems like they have a few younger players would could make an impact next season. …fire away…would like to hear some peoples thoughts
December 13th, 2022 at 11:28 am
@D2 Fan – the Belle Vernon school district straddles Westmoreland/Fayette counties, about half the district is in each county, the high school and football field are in Westmoreland County, so most people in Western PA consider them a Westmoreland County school and not Fayette. You’re right no Fayette county school has ever won a PIAA football title, however, Uniontown has won 4 PIAA basketball titles and has a very rich basketball tradition. Fayette County is pretty rural, so there’s not very many districts in the county, I think less than 10 total.
December 13th, 2022 at 11:12 am
I understand St Joe Prep is opening with IMG academy in Ocean City next year. I see Malvern Prep is looking for games and I thought it would be a dandy double header if Malvern were to play one of the North Jersey schools like Bergan Catholic or Don Boscoe Prep.
December 12th, 2022 at 9:19 pm
@Foleman,
You’re right, Albie built something good at Tep but he left for some reasons I don’t know about. Everywhere he goes, he wins.
Alot of parents can’t afford or basically don’t want to pay for high school, so they send their kids to public/charter schools for free. If NG was free or let’s say half the costs of what it is now, they’ll be loaded every year.
And NG isn’t a football school, they’re Basketball program gets all the attention. There’s good athletes that goes to Northeast, I’m surprised they didn’t come to NG. Again, MONEY. I think financial aid (FACTS) should shell out more money to students.
December 12th, 2022 at 5:25 pm
610, why do all of these great players go to TEP vs NG? If its economics, I can understand, however, Albie won a State Championship at TEP while the rest of Coaches hired after Albie left choke every year. NG better school, Albie better coach, if he could get 1/4 of the players that matriculate to TEP to play for NG they would win multiple state championships.
December 12th, 2022 at 2:30 pm
814fball, that sign wasn’t at the school. That sign was at a community pep rally and had nothing to do with the school. The video was stupid and should have not been made, that kid will be held accountable.
The sign however, is being made out to be more than it is. No difference than when they play shamokin and say scalp the indians.
December 12th, 2022 at 2:27 pm
@814fball Let’s see now you cannot say “Whip Westinghouse” on a banner. And you absolutely cannot say “Beat Westinghouse” on a banner. God forbid you cannot say “Cage the Bulldogs”.on a banner either. Not much you can say on a banner. Maybe PIAA should ban all banners! Let’s not also forget the Westinghouse fans chanting during the national anthem with hats on.Oh I forgot that is an expression of freedom of speech which is OK. Where does this end. It starts with the parents in the stands not the kids on the field.
December 12th, 2022 at 2:16 pm
@mcd_65
Having Battle is a plus but we could’ve of beat BV without him. A lot of nerves, MISTAKES were made offensively. We move on, learn from it and now they’re getting ready for 7on7 season.
December 12th, 2022 at 2:14 pm
@Brian,
There were cops, in and outside the stadium. Everyone was tailgating at 10am, cops were cool, they knew what were in our cups. No metal detectors or some type of security where someone with a wand is checking people coming in the stadium. Like I said, the stadium is nice. Is that where the HS Championships going to be for now on? I wish our game was at night.
December 12th, 2022 at 1:27 pm
@814fball You’re a bit late to this conversation, obviously. If you look back, we’ve already figured out that the sign was hung at a community pep rally, not at the school and that it was removed immediately once a parent decided it might be in bad taste. They use alliteration in all their signs and Westinghouse later said they also thought “Wreck Westinghouse” was in poor taste, as well as one they use at all major events that refers to winning as a Southern way of life. It has nothing to do with racism or the deep South, but how things are done at Southern Columbia. Westinghouse didn’t know about any of that prior to the game, so screaming F U N****** at SCA sidelines was not in retaliation for something they knew nothing about.
You also missed the part where there was obviously a TikTok thing going around because numerous teams made similar videos as those two boys at Southern. In the case of the others, it was their whole team, not just two bench warmers. Those two bench warmers have gotten punished for their actions by the coach, but will anything be done to the members of all the other teams? These two underclassmen were following what starters at other teams were doing because they probably thought it was the cool thing to do. What punishment did those that are supposed to be role models get for their videos? The N word used in rap songs is a whole other discussion, but these kids think in songs it’s acceptable because it’s become ordinary to them. So far, I’ve heard of no other teams getting punished except SCA’s two kids. You want to punish the whole program for the actions of two underclassmen that didn’t play? Seems you might want to re-evaluate what you have against the rest of the program. Do you punish everyone in a group if just a few who do something wrong?
I accused Westinghouse of blowing this out of proportion in order to try to do exactly what you seem to want, which is to change the outcome of the game. They probably have seen the similar videos. They also were then trying to say that SCA was all racist, down to a kid in a black Southern coat and signs that had no racial connotations. They’re grasping at straws because they have free time to divert their energy to excuses after losing. They spent a great deal of time on social media taunting before the game and the only racial slur that anyone remembers during the game on either side came from their sidelines, not SCA’s. Should we assume that everyone at Westinghouse is racially biased against white people and suspend their team based on that? Perhaps they’re too focused on race if they felt the need to call a predominantly white team the N word and now think everything is about race when clearly it wasn’t intended to be on SCA’s side.
December 12th, 2022 at 1:08 pm
@WPIALguy – the time to beat SJP is when they are young and a great, senior dominated team comes along, like Lebo last year and PR in 2017, both of those years they were young after graduating a tremendous senior class in 2016 (Swift, etc.) and 2020 (McCord, Harrison Jr., etc.) No one is going to touch SJP next year with their returning starters, maybe in 2024 there will be a team that emerges that can challenge them when their current junior class graduates, but I expect SJP to win 4 out of every 5 state titles for the foreseeable future, they have of course won 7 of the last 10, and no reason to think that type of dominance won’t continue.
With that being said it will be very interesting to see who PCC hires as their next coach, because if they get the right guy and he brings in the right staff I think they can challenge and perhaps beat SJP in some years.
December 12th, 2022 at 12:58 pm
@610 – BV was the consensus preseason #1 because the WPIAL has dominated 3A since the move to 6 classes, and BV was clearly the best 3A team in the WPIAL when they moved down from 4A. I said at the beginning of the season on this board Belle Vernon would win 3A when the question was posed about newcomers who would break through this year. I thought that was a great game, a real defensive struggle on both sides, and both teams played their hearts out. I figured it was going to be a one score game because BV does not have an offense that puts up lots of points against good defenses and NG certainly has a very good defense (the 2 games BV lost they scored 6 and 13 points against very good defenses in McKeesport and Penn Trafford). As you saw BV does have an excellent defense, to not allow a 2nd half touchdown since their 14-13 loss to PT in week three is incredible, and their goal line stand to preserve the win was legendary. That was the type of game where it was a shame either team had to lose. My question is why doesn’t NG have a kicker, couldn’t they recruit a kid from the soccer team to kick? The same issue caused Clairton a state title in 2014 against BG when they didn’t have a kicker and lost 19-18, after scoring 3 TDs and not converting any of the 2 point conversions.
December 12th, 2022 at 12:32 pm
Don’t forget mount Lebanon just beat St. joes prep last year. I know it’ll be tough but it is possible to beat them
December 12th, 2022 at 10:50 am
@610 How was the security for your game? For the 2A game, it definitely could have been improved. Unlike at Hershey where they kept the two sides apart, this venue often had them intermingling. There was not a metal detector like we had at Hershey and anything and everything could be brought into the game (saw alcohol and could smell weed at one point). There were probably more security guards outside and inside the game than at Hershey, but the restrooms and food vendors were all shared and there wasn’t really a security presence at either. I could see this going poorly with some of the animosity you see at some games. The field was beautiful, but not sure what they could do to fix some of those potential issues. I saw they brought some extra security from Pittsburgh schools, but I wasn’t sure if there was much for other games as well. I could definitely see the benefits of the separation that Hershey allows.
December 12th, 2022 at 8:46 am
I’m curious to know how many viewers watched it on PCN network. Unless your team ifrom home, there isn’t much incentive to travel when you can watch all 6 games for 15 bucks from home.
The 5A numbers do and and don’t surprise me. The Pine Richland side looked filled but Tep doesn’t have a huge following. They always bring just 2-3 hundred.
December 12th, 2022 at 8:37 am
@Brian,
did you happen to see the sign that was hung in the Southern Columbia gym for their pre-game pep rally? You should probably look into that before accusing Westinghouse of anything. That combined with the racist tiktok made by a couple SC players and the PIAA called for an internal investigation — I think much more needs to happen because the sign at pep rally was EGREGIOUS and DISGUSTING. Suspend their program.
December 11th, 2022 at 8:21 pm
Attendance figs:
1A 2,139
2A 2,416
3A 1,676
4A 3,769
5A 1,717
6A 4,012
15,729 total for the 3 days
December 11th, 2022 at 5:02 pm
@JCo I think your idea is great in theory. I would say based on the sentiment of people on this site and what we have seen this year, teams would opt out of the “bowl game” with SJP and happy to say they won state. To me in theory is the same as winning their district, city etc. You proved your the best from you locale, but not the best in the state. The bowl would be designed to say who is the best in your state at 6A, which is what the state championship game is.
Interestingly enough I saw someone on twitter state he thinks SC can beat SJP.. WOW. So if we have that with 1A School, I can imagine what 6A would be like without the actual game.
I must say the Harrisburg band, cheer leaders and flag carrier where rocking, cheering the entire night. WELL DONE!
GV put on quite the show for the state playoffs. Must better game experience than Hershey. WELL DONE!
December 11th, 2022 at 4:56 pm
@610, If Battle played NG would have won no doubt IMO.
December 11th, 2022 at 12:02 pm
Just my take on the Southern Columbia/ Westinghouse game. It was one of the best, hardest fought games I believe I have ever seen. Both teams left it ALL ON THE FIELD. The emotional energy was electric and intense, not because as one young lady on Twitter claims was racially driven, but because the Tigers were not heavy favorites as in previous years. I too was a bit complacent in recent years. But this year’s version of the Tigers went into this game against a Westinghouse team that seemed to have everything going for them, as underdogs. Donta Green is an excellent head coach and will only improve with experience, as has Jim Roth. My father, wife, grandson and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
December 11th, 2022 at 11:12 am
Two items for thought:
SJP’s game against La Salle was their toughest test of the playoffs. You think La Salle prefers going out early? Or would they prefer having a chance to test themselves against other privates in eastern PA and not face SJP until a later round?
Parkland probably gave SJP their toughest test of any public. They might have been the best public in the state. Would a game between Harrisburg and Parkland have been more interesting than the game between Harrisburg and SJP? I’d say probably. Then whoever wins that can play SJP in a bowl game, so we know for a fact both teams are getting their best test. I can see both those games being draws.
Again, this is not about making things easier for public teams. This is about making Pennsylvania football better overall.
December 11th, 2022 at 10:13 am
My take on the game between NG vs BV. I hope you guys l believe in constructive criticism.
-Congrats to BV, hell of a stop on the goal line. I like games that come down to the end.
-I like the Stadium
-Why was BV the consensus #1 in the beginning of the year, what is it about them that made everyone on here thinking they were going to blow out NG? Well alot yall had us losing every playoff game.
-NG kept Martin in check, I believe he had and I’m being nice, probably between 70-80 yds rushing and receiving combined with a TD.
-NG play calling wasn’t good, I think the coach should’ve of kept pounding the ball up the middle because BV couldn’t stop it. He got away from what was working. NG’s offense was only clicking on the last drive of the game
-QB threw 3 interceptions in the first half. Coming into the game, he only threw 4 INTs all year. BV didn’t convert any points from the turnovers.
-I don’t know why NG didn’t have someone spy on Martin on the drive BV scored a TD. It look like the same play Wyomissing did to put them in the lead in our semifinal game.
-As for BV QB, anytime he dropped back, he only looked for Martin.
-NG offense only had 1 possession in the 3rd quarter. BV did a good job of using the clock.
-The people at the game, watching on a stream at home and college coaches got a treat. It was a good game
-I spoke to the QB after the game and he took it hard because he wanted to do it for the Senior class. I told him that the stance at the goal line didn’t cause us to lose, there were alot of factors that costs us the game.
-Hopefully we see BV again next year.
December 11th, 2022 at 9:11 am
District 3 could put an all-star team of the best 6A players in the region and they still would not beat St. Joe Prep. 37 players on Harrisburg says it all. Northeast, who Prep played in the State playoffs had even less and the school has 3,600 kids in the school. I read that in 1970 Pa had 75,000 HS football players, today 25,000 players, The football talent level and participation in Pa is way down and the top players are headed to winning programs. I really can’t blame them for going to the Prep, Prep’s academics are top notch. I don’t see the 6A Pubs challenging Prep in the near future.
December 11th, 2022 at 9:09 am
Now it looks like Belle Vernon posted the exact same video on tik tok after their win. What do i know.. maybe kids are just unbelievably stupid nowadays. Social media, the downfall of society.
December 11th, 2022 at 8:47 am
If westinghouse would have won there would be nothing. Its ok to lose gracefully. Not paying attention to the national anthem to means you dont care about this country so why would all the rest of the things in this beautiful country pertain to you. You disrespect the most sacred thing in this country please dont cry disrespect elsewhere
December 11th, 2022 at 8:35 am
@WpialGuy the more I learn, the more this looks like something made out of nothing and blown out of proportion. The video is actually using a song multiple other teams used after winning in TikTok videos. If you’re going to punish the two kids who didn’t even play in the game for mimicking older kids, you need to punish the ones they’re imitating too. In the other videos it’s actually starting players, not bench warmers.
The N word was used at the game, but not by SCA. A member of the National Guard came out to not only talk about the disrespect during the National Anthem, but to say he heard the Westinghouse side scream FU N***** towards the SCA side. You can’t claim afterwards you have a problem with the use of the word if you’re using it yourself as a taunt to the other side. SCA didn’t repeat this racial slur, but I don’t think you get a free pass to scream it at a bunch of white kids if you want to keep race out of the picture.
Since the original complaint, they’ve gone on to say that sign, plus one that said A Southern State of Mind (which SCA uses in games against white players and has nothing to do with racism), one that says Wreck Westinghouse and a picture of a cheerleader with a black “Southern” coat on all claiming they’re examples of racism. Some are calling for the game win to be given to Westinghouse. So, what’s the motive here?
Kudos to their assistant coach who stated that nothing he heard from the field or his players during the game was about racial slurs being used on the field. Thankfully someone is being honest on that side.
Still waiting to hear why this is a bigger deal than a threat of violence. Seems more like a ploy to try to steal a win they don’t deserve.
December 10th, 2022 at 10:48 pm
What a ballgame in 3A. The goal line stand of a lifetime by Belle Vernon to hold off Neumann to win the championship. Without a doubt the game of the weekend.
December 10th, 2022 at 10:05 pm
Brian you are awfully defensive.
1. They are not “my team”. I am reacting to things i saw on social media.
2. I did not attend the game because frankly i live on the west side of the state and also work, so it is not to my liking the piaa even holds games during weekdays.
3. I didn’t know about the national anthem.
4. You need to understand the optics better. Whip Westinghouse may not seem bad, but when there’s an actual picture of the whip, and Westinghouse is majority black, and southern Columbia isn’t exactly the most diverse place, people will question.
5. Obviously someone in the SC community took the original picture of the sign and posted it because how would anyone from Westinghouse or elsewhere even see the sign. If someone in the own community thought the sign was wrong it probably shouldn’t have been put up.
6. The sign by itself might not have gained a reaction, but combined with the video and you have a clear argument.
December 10th, 2022 at 9:58 pm
I think the sign, I’m sure which was made by cheerleaders, wasn’t intended as a racist thing. The whip drawing maybe not a great idea though. Like when they play shamokin and say scalp the Indians, or club the seals when they play Selinsgrove. Whip westinghouse was a play on words that I really don’t think was intended in the way people are taking it. People are also taking issue with a sign that said “southern state of mind”. Saying it in conjunction with the other sign are clearly racist. It’s not, southern state of mind is something they’ve says for a long time. It implies a winning state of mind if that makes sense. Nothing racial.
The tik tok video was pure stupidity. That kid screwed up. And he should be held accountable for that video.
December 10th, 2022 at 9:51 pm
My observations on the remaining five games.
Didn’t catch much of the Aliquippa game, but that was a tough loss for them. I didn’t think it would be a rout like that. Don’t be shocked if we see it become a trilogy next year, but the fan of parity in me would love a new face or two. I think Bishop McDevitt is returning a lot of players next year, so they may be primed for another run.
Good victory for Steel-High. They should’ve blown out Union, based on the eye test (they’re the better team), but it was a lot closer than anyone else would’ve guessed. Still wish it was Northern Lehigh, because that would’ve been just as neat of a matchup. If it was Canton, it would’ve been intriguing for a grudge match.
That Pine-Richland/Imhotep game was pretty good. Only caught the second half, though. I said earlier I the week how I trusted Pine-Richland in these kinds of matchups, & it showed. Palmieri might’ve had the best performance of championship weekend.
I didn’t get around to watching the 3A final (yet), but from the looks of it, it seemed like a classic. Gotta say. Holding a team to a goal line stand that late into the game, at the goal line, is incredible stuff. Congrats to Belle Vernon.
A question, if anyone can answer. Before anyone corrects me on semantics, I know the high school is in Westmoreland, but the zip code is Fayette, so I must ask: Is this the first state title in football for a Fayette County school. What about first title in anything? WPIAL faithful, correct me if I’m wrong.
I don’t have much to say about 6A. Kinda wish they’d go down the IMG & St. Frances route, but the likelihood of that happening is the equivalent to six classes being removed. I wonder how much of a game Garnet Valley or even a Parkland would’ve made it if they made it. The world may never know. I’m more impressed that I got the right score for SJP. Just needed 10 more from the Cougs.
Overall, every playoff game was intriguing this year. The 4A & 6A games being the more lackluster or the group. Not entirely surprised about that outcome. Private school teams are almost always too much for most public programs.
Now the season is officially over in PA, save for any all-star games & awards that haven’t been done yet. Then again, the former is usually done in the spring, so it’s just accolades. Look on the bright side, we only have 258 days left until football season kicks off again in the Keystone State, but who’s really counting?
December 10th, 2022 at 9:34 pm
The 3A champions post the exact same style video
https://youtube.com/shorts/RwJMtDNVmkk
December 10th, 2022 at 7:15 pm
@78CatFan I’ve now seen the video. It’s not first string players in it. It’s music in the background, not anything they say as they don’t say anything. Definitely dumb on their part, but I’m sure Roth is addressing it.
I’ve also seen this being blown up by some at Westinghouse. A picture of an SCA cheerleader with her black cheer coat on is somehow proof she’s racist because it says Southern on the back. Are we supposed to now change the name of the school because they find it racist? Seems more like they’re deflecting after a week of hyping they could sleep through the game and still win. And yet we’re hearing about this while they’re keeping the threat silent. Where’s the priorities?
December 10th, 2022 at 6:23 pm
The tiktok was a player from SCA with his hands in his face with laughing audio in the background and then he lifts his face up with a sign that says 2A state champs. And at the end of the video, it says “gotcha n word”. How stupid can you be to post something like that on social media?? These kids are ridiculous
December 10th, 2022 at 5:04 pm
I think Southern Columbia are just big Devo fans.
Does this now mean that Downingtown West will have change their nickname??
This is kind of reminding me of the PJPII GBB incident from a few years ago. Still waiting to see that video 🙂
December 10th, 2022 at 5:04 pm
What’s the context of the TikTok video? Was it music being played?
December 10th, 2022 at 4:21 pm
@Ed I learned the sign wasn’t from the game nor the school. It was at a community pep rally and was removed immediately when discovered. The school can’t control everyone in the community’s actions. Catawissa actually used to be the state seat for the KKK, so to think an old racist still lives in the community would not be a far stretch. However, that certainly doesn’t mean the team itself is loaded with racists. You are correct that Roth would not let that slide. I have not seen a Tik Tok that was racist, but Roth definitely would have strict consequences. As I said before, one of their most beloved team members is black, so I can’t imagine they as a group would promote anything racist. I also read where the Westinghouse coach said that nothing racist was said on the field. I’d assume a racist group of kids would follow that up on the field, which leads me to believe this isn’t coming directly from team members.
December 10th, 2022 at 3:19 pm
I can recall a sign back in the mid 70’s that read, “Whip the Whippets.” The Whippets were the team from Freeland, Pa, now part of Hazelton school district. No one batted an eye, nor should they. This is more “woke” bs. Folks upset at this banner probably would have found fault with Beat Bulldogs too. Stop creating issues where there’s none.
December 10th, 2022 at 2:27 pm
My goodness now sca is racist because they had a banner that said whip Westinghouse with a whip. Oh no not that. Every week southern has banners that tailor to the school name or mascot. They’ve had trample the tornadoes but nobody thinks they’re going to actually trample over them with something. Smash the shamrocks for Trinity, nobody thinks that they’re really going to slap someone. Maul the marauders for BG. Nobody thinks they’re going to actually maul someone. It’s called use of alliteration and pumping your team up. As for Southern state of mind. That wasn’t just made up for Westinghouse. I mean they are the Southern Columbia Tigers and they have an exceptional state of mind when it comes to football mentality and has nothing to do with the song. That phrase has been used for years as has SOCO crazy but I guess they should be put in an institution since they’re crazy. Stop grasping at straws to take attention away from the fact that your team lost.The only people who are bringing up the race card are the ones who were expecting to come in and beat the pants off of southern and didn’t. Would you rather their sign say something like bulldoze the bulldogs or would you’ve been offended thinking they’re coming there with bulldozers? As for the video, yeah I’m not a fan of that. This race card stuff is for the birds.
December 10th, 2022 at 12:50 pm
@Brian. I seen pictures of the whip westinghouse sign. And I saw the tik tok video. The sign, although seems racist, may have been made by a kid that doesn’t know any better, but than how did it make it up on a wall? How did no adult see it and think it was in bad taste?
The video there really is no excuse for. And if that kid is on the team, he needs removed and held accountable. It is true that we have freedom of speech and can say what we want, but it’s also true that words have consequences and these kids need to learn that.
I do know that Roth hates ANY distraction at all to the goals of the team. And he won’t tolerate it.
December 10th, 2022 at 11:55 am
@Wpialguy Just wondering if you attended the Westinghouse Southern game? I watched it on PCN. I did hear the disrespect on the Westinghouse side during the Anthem. I lost all respect for the Westinghouse fans at that point also. In this case a few bad apple’s did spoiled the whole bunch. If there was any disrespect on the Southern side you can be sure it will be dealt with by Roth and the school administration.
December 10th, 2022 at 11:49 am
The sca game was one again a testament to the coaching staff at sca. Over the years I’ve seen them beat teams with more talent so many times. Their team play and execution are second to none. Both those teams yesterday played their hearts out. Defenses came to play and were hitting fast and hard. Coaching won that game.
Yes Wisloski is a great rb and Barnes compliments him well. But I think westinghouse had a more talented team. I think mca was more talented this year as well. Westinghouse has great team speed and that took away getting to the edge, but sca always has great line play and still opened holes in the middle for the rbs. If you want to beat sca, you need to utilize more than one good player, sca will negate your best player. Westinghouse tried too much with their qb and sca knew they would. All I heard leading up to this was how dominant and fast westinghouses defense was, but I don’t think people realized that sca’s was even better.
Congratulations to both teams for getting to this game and both played a great game.
December 10th, 2022 at 9:33 am
@Wpialguy And please send proof of what you saw to SCA. Their administration as well as Roth would take care of such behavior. I just doubt it happened. One of their most loved players is black. Why would they make posts and signs that would be hurtful to him? Surely someone has pictures if such a thing happened.
December 10th, 2022 at 9:28 am
@Wpialguy Racial undertones? How is repeating the words they used in any way racial? Dude, you’re grasping at straws now because a team that supposedly couldn’t be beaten was pounded by SCA. I saw no sign. What I saw were a Westinghouse player getting into the face of Barnes at the coin toss and having to be removed by the officials. I saw classless fans cheering through a young lady trying to sing the National Anthem. I saw fans do a cheer that culminated in them giving the middle finger to the SCA sidelines. Prior this week some of the Westinghouse players seemed to make it their job to taunt SCA players on social media. Perhaps they should have spent more time practicing to handle smash mouth football. You can be sure Roth would discipline his players if there were any racist or unsportsmanlike conduct on their part. What is Westinghouse doing to fix the classless behavior we witnessed?
December 10th, 2022 at 9:09 am
The sign said “whip Westinghouse” with a picture of a whip drawn. Also there is a tik tok going around with the use of the N word. I didn’t hear about the national anthem stuff
December 10th, 2022 at 8:45 am
Thru the 1st 4 games im not that surprised by who won. Each team was certainly capable of winning their respective games.
1A Steel was the better team but Union was certainly scappy but it seemed so much of their game relied on the QB who was certainly good. Steel just had a few more players on their side.
2A was maybe the most physical HS I’ve seen in a while. Both defenses were crunching bones out there. Gonna be a lot of sore players this morning.
Credit to SC for sticking to their game plan. Westinghouse was very impressive. Definitely question their coach going for it in their own end so early.
4a McD was very impressive. Certainly didn’t see them handling the Quips like that. The Quips RB not being 100% didnt help them for sure. That Mcd nose takle is a complete game wrecker.
5a im at a complete loss to describe Imhotep. Ive never seen a team with so many superior athletes at so many positions continually come up short in the title game. They seemed powerless to defend anything PR was doing. PR just kept grinding. They were a pleasure to watch.
December 10th, 2022 at 8:30 am
Just looking at things if southern was in 3a this year they wouldnt have won 2a in my opinion.
December 10th, 2022 at 8:11 am
Roth’s Coaching won that game, he is the best in the business, what in the world was the Westinghouse Coach thinking going for it on 4th and 2 at their own 26? Too many HS Coaches are now trying to emulate Doug Petersons riverboat gambling style, I saw the the PJP coach do the same thing against Perkiomen Valley in the PAC 10 Championship and it probably lost the game for them. Newsflash for HS coaches, this isn’t the pros. Seen Southern Columbia many times, they run the Wing T to perfection, pound, pound, pound, their guards are fullbacks in disguise with all the trapping/pulling they do, they just wear down opposing defenses. Plus, look at SC’S players physique’s, I would hire their strength coach in a second. Roth said SC’S offseason training program is the most important part of his program.
Palmieri? Pine Richland’s QB is one of those special HS players that make a good team great, he was fun to watch.
December 10th, 2022 at 7:57 am
@Wpialguy WHAT DID THE SIGN SAY? BECAUSE I DID NOT SEE THE SIGH THAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. I DID LEAVE RIGHT AFTER THE GAME WAS OVER SO I MIGHT HAVE MISSED IT. AND I DO NOT SUPPORT ANY RASISM AND IF THERE WAS ANY I WOULD HOPE THE COACH WILL DISCIPLINE THE PLAYERS. BUT LETS ALSO TALK ABOUT THE DISRESPECT THAT WESTHOUSE HAD WHEN THE YOUNG LADY WAS SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. THE WESTINGHOUSE FANS WERE CHANTING AND WOULD NOT EVEN TAKE THERE HATS OFF.
December 10th, 2022 at 6:14 am
Where’s the guy talking about Westinghouse going gangster now with obvious racial undertones??? Did you see the video or sign from southern Columbia after the game??? Classless and racist. For all the love you people give southern Columbia on this board and say such a great coac that guy is. Maybe he should teach his players respect and how to win with dignity.
December 10th, 2022 at 2:15 am
I think if southern didnt score those last two touchdowns they may have went to overtine or lost by a point or won by a point, but the game would have been much closer. The stadiium looked to have stands like the others and it seemed to be a 100 yard field so it had many of the same things, nice goal posts too.
December 9th, 2022 at 10:59 pm
I would just like to put the transfer stuff aside and promote credit where it is due. If you grew up in the coal region and were a successful athlete it meant you were motivated and self determined…..period. a lot of those people come from this area. It is also known if your a driven self motivated person circa 30 years ago you likely moved away (5 miles) from the 3rd world coal region into a nice district (over the hill) both academics athletics. (15k for a row home vs 115k for a nice ranch house and some land in southern district) you can complain that it is recruiting all you want but the matter of fact is coach roth gets the best athletes because their motivated parents decades ago made something of themself and got out of poverty. He is a great coach but he also gets the best people out of those regions because they are motivated and determined. It is not recruiting. He lives the best of both worlds. However can you hardly blame the people who moved out of the coal towns to better themselves. Keep talking recruiting if you want but understand the economics and culture of the coal/farm region. The best make it out, some dont………
Statistics dont lie thats why you see the successful names of years ago playing for southern.
Its not recruiting, its what everyone would do if they could
December 9th, 2022 at 9:07 pm
D2 fan. Southern would have no business being in 3A this year. They wouldn’t have even made it out of districts and many felt they wouldn’t even make it out of districts this year after they lost to mca in the regular season and would have to play them again in districts. Moving up in class because you keep winning doesn’t do justice in any way shape or form for competitive sports. It sends the message that if soMeone is too good they should move up so that teams not as good has a chance. Imagine when someone beats southern in the playoffs the magnitude of it will be. Southern moves up and loses its they’re not that good etc etc etc. the only way moving up should ever be an issue is with nonboundary boundary schools that can have anyone from anywhere go to their school. It’s not like southern dominated and mercy ruled they’re eat this year. The 15 point win today was much closer than the scoreboard and the mercy rule win against BG was misleading if you watched the game or were there. BG was driving to take the lead late 3rd and ended up having a fg block and their wheels fell off after that. They scrapped and clawed for this state title and proved doubters wrong To be the best you have to beat the best not force them to move up. That’s not beating the best that’s hoping someone else makes changes to a system so others to penalize success.
December 9th, 2022 at 8:59 pm
@MikeS
McDevitt scored and the Quips answered. The team traded a couple of possessions until McDevitt intercepted a pass and returned it inside to 10 midway through the 2nq quarter. They scored and then forced a fumble and scored again with 3 minutes left in the half to go up 20-6 at halftime. After that it was all Crusaders in the 3rd quarter as they built a 34-6 lead nearing the end of the 3rd quarter. The Quips were in real danger of being mercy ruled 41-6 until they intercepted a pass and returned it 55 yards for a TD with 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter to make it 34-12. After that each team scored a TD for the final score. McDevitt had intercepted an overthrown pass and was in the red zone as time expired. McDevitt doubled the Quips yardage, 278-140, and had 3 turnovers, all interceptions. The Quips had 4 turnovers, 2 fumbles, 2 interceptions. The Quips had 20 yards total passing. Each team ran for about 120 yards and had roughly the same amount of penalties.
December 9th, 2022 at 8:30 pm
Ok, just got home from the AA game. First of all, it never gets tired. Sorry, not sorry. Secondly, great tailgating. No hassles. Stadium was very nice.
Alright, where to begin…
@ Marg: Pls tell me you had a few belts of Irish Coffee before you posted that stream-of-consciousness missive…
@D2: Knoebels is indeed a national treasure. I spent the GNP of a small third-world country in Playland from 76-83. Viva la Evel Knievel!
@NEPA: It’s the well water…
@GaryZ and JeffH: Not gonna lie, first half caused much nervousness, yet at the end, SCA just did what it always does; that is, the collection of rings.
Westinghouse fans were really nice; good dudes. Classy all around. Lots of fun today.
December 9th, 2022 at 5:42 pm
Congratulations Southern Columbia. Coach Roth and staff are the absolute best. Many people counted them out I did not. From a Dunmore bucks fan.
December 9th, 2022 at 5:01 pm
I’ve been quiet all playoff. I’m sure you wanted to hear from me, because I did the ultimate jinx.
Told you guys I’d take the blame if Southern won. Blame me for talking about Westinghouse, or even discussing theme. I should’ve just picked Southern, & said Southern. Sharpie, & it would’ve done the job. I should just shut up & stop talking in this forum, because I know the other teams are gonna lose. Haha.
All joking aside, my true thoughts. I thought going for it on 4th at your own 26 that early on was the ultimate head-scratcher for me. I would’ve punted far & aimed it out of bounds, if I was the coach. I knew that moment would cost them the game. You don’t give Southern that good field position, not even with a great defense.
Not gonna lie, we need new blood in 2A. It does get boring to see Southern win every year, or making the finals in the East. If I was student in the district, I’d honestly be bored. It’s like yeah, we won, but winning 6 in a row is boring. I’d rather see someone else win. That’s just my opinion. Then again, I went to a school that goes 3-7 to 6-4 every year, & has only won a District once. I’d dream to have Roth or one of the good ones coach up here & change the culture of the area football scene, because it’s not good.
The only thing that gives me enough resistance to avoid hating the dynasty is that they’re so close to Knoebels. I pass by it every time, so it feels cool to pass by greatness every time I go to the greatest place in the world. Hopefully they get to success factor requirements & they play 3A, or have the guts to play 4/5A. Kennedy Catholic did in basketball at 6A, & I gained more respect for them, even though I am one of the ones who think they should play separate playoffs.
Now, I did read somewhere (might’ve been Bob Greenberg) that the success factor rule is remaining the same for the next cycle, so that’s probably not gonna happen. That’s a shame, to be honest. That probably means we won’t see either Southern or Aliquippa move up next year, assuming both make it back to the respective rounds they need to.
I’ll break down my opinion on the other games later, but you guys can blame me for Westinghouse losing.
December 9th, 2022 at 4:11 pm
Read two different sports articles on the McDevitt-Quip game, & boy were they different, one I got a feeling the game was a total blowout, and the other the Quips were in the game till late, anyone actually at the game, that can give a real report? For that matter someone at all the games that can give a completely nonpartial report on the games?
December 9th, 2022 at 3:48 pm
The Southern machine does it again. 6 years in a row. What a program. Most, including myself, thought this was the year the might not make it…..but we were wrong.
December 9th, 2022 at 3:44 pm
How about those SoCo Tigers , and the best Coaches in the land Jim Roth and company !!
December 9th, 2022 at 3:33 pm
Absolute fantastic job by Coach Roth and his staff. An absolute coaching masterpiece all around. A lot of people wrote Southern off this year, and they turn around and dominate through the playoffs once again.
What a game this afternoon against Westinghouse. Will probably go down as the game of the weekend. In good ole farm boy fashion, they wore em out.
December 9th, 2022 at 3:16 pm
Southern dominating Westinghouse to another championship. Not a southern fan, but when the city boys meet the farm boys, we know who wins! Congrats southern!
December 9th, 2022 at 10:22 am
#55 on McDevitt had one of the all-time best performances in Championship history last night.
I Don’t know if they win that game without him. He was that good.
December 9th, 2022 at 9:48 am
@Foleman & EmanD3man – agree with both of you, very impressive win by McDevitt, I thought the Quips defense might be the difference, but turned out to be McDevitt’s, their D line and linebackers were tremendous last night, Robell was a beast up front. I do think they are the second best team in the state and would be competitive with SJP, and agree they would beat Tep if they played them again. Would not be surprised at all if these teams meet again next year for a rubber match, could be similar to ECP-Tep from 2015-18.
December 9th, 2022 at 9:31 am
After watching the video that the “thrown punch” was committed by Shawn Battle, the PIAA need to review it and reverse the call of the suspended. Absolutely no punch was thrown. What a joke.
The Zips were missing their starting center. They will be back.
Did anyone see that Harrisburg only has 37 players on their roster? While SJP has 85
December 9th, 2022 at 8:00 am
Nice W for McD….not sure they got a lot of love west of Harrisburg, but D3 knew how loaded they were! Everyone talks about Saunders and his weapons on O, but they were very underrated on the D side of the ball. Quipps QB was under pressure the whole game, and I think that surprised them. McD loses 8 guys on O next year, including their whole OL, but they still have Saunders for 2 more years and a 1300 WR returning in ’23, so they will be a force next year as well. Saunders has thrown for 8 TD’s the last two state finals, and he’s only 15…so be prepared…plus Erby, the QB from Steel High is back too, and he’s a beast. Nice job D3…2/2 so far
December 9th, 2022 at 7:25 am
McDevitt was on a mission all year and has been preparing for Aliquippa for a while. QB Saunders was a freshman last year and the sophomore version was amazing. Thier was a huge difference in talent and production between the Quipps QB and Saunders. Robell was a one man wrecking crew. McDevitt is probably the 2nd best team in the State behind Prep, I would take them over TEP if they played again, TEP beat McDevitt early in the season.
December 8th, 2022 at 10:35 pm
Bishop McDevitt routs Aliquippa 41-18. McDevitt scored on its1st play from scrimmage to take a 7-0 lead. After the Quips scored to make it 7-6 it was pretty much all Crusaders. McDevitt built a 34-6 lead late in the 3rd quarter before the Quips scored 2 quick TD’s aided by interceptions but McDevitt righted itself in the 4th quarter to claim the title.The Quips were a step slow or late most of the night. McDevitt had more talent, more speed, and more play makers on both sides of the ball. I’m not sure how good the teams that Aliquippa played were but they certainly weren’t prepared for the likes of this McDevitt team. Either Aliquippa was extremely overrated or McDevitt was extremely underrated because this was pretty much a no contest from the start as McDevitt scored on their 1st play from scrimmage via a slant pass that went for 70 yards and continued to score at will most of the game. While the Quips did make a few plays on offense and defense it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the Crusader onslaught. Despite 3 interceptions, Stone Saunders (5 TD passes), Marquese Williams, Tyshawn Russell, Rico Scott and rest of the McDevitt offense, especially the passing game, were too much for the Quips to handle while Crusader DL Riley Robell wreaked havoc with the Quips offense.
The Mid Penn Conference goes 2-2 Thursday in the State Championships as Steel High wins the 1A title also. A 3rd Mid Penn title will be much harder as Harrisburg goes up against bully SJP on Saturday.
December 8th, 2022 at 7:11 pm
If a team is forced to move up in the state playoff, say from AAA to AAAA how do they ever move down.
December 8th, 2022 at 6:28 pm
For those attending the championship games at Cumberland Valley, let me know what you think of the campus and stadium. I know there are some big campuses and stadiums in western PA. Does this venue remind me of any other schools, east or west PA, where you have attended games?
December 8th, 2022 at 5:54 pm
I think the 42 cass township team beats the 68 mt. Carmel team by a safety
December 8th, 2022 at 4:25 pm
@Wpialguy Cumberland Valley will have virtual classes for the high school on Thursday 12/8 and 12/9 is a scheduled Staff in-service day, no school for all students. Nice to have these games here at my alma mater. They did a great job on the new artificial turf field and lights. There is a red light on a pole at the end, maybe both ends, of the field that is somewhat annoying during night games. I think seating capacity is about 8,000 with plenty of room for standing. Not sure if they will put the bleachers in at the north end zone.That should be more than enough though. One thing I noticed is that there is no light on the new scoreboard at the south end to identify which team has the ball. Not sure if they fixed that but wasn’t fixed last I saw.
December 8th, 2022 at 10:28 am
@ Brian
I sincerely could care less. You said the PIAA would investigate and do it quickly. Whatever. Hey all I said was NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. If it does I’m wrong. Post it if it does. Congrats on 26 years as a teacher. I’m bout to watch some games. I’m good on your critiques of me and my ability as a teacher. Post it if this investigation into someone saying “go gangster.” Anyway, enjoy the games @Brian.
December 8th, 2022 at 9:33 am
@GaryZ
Let me rephrase what I said, I’m sure Martin is a great player. But when I said NG players don’t know who the RB from BV is, what I’m saying is, they look at him as just another player. NG is not just going to focus on 1 player, NG has done great against the run all year, especially against Wyomissing and NL. I’m excited for both teams.
December 8th, 2022 at 9:24 am
I keep picking against Union every week, and they keep winning, but I think the magical run ends today, Steelton has too much offensive firepower even without one of their key players and I think they win another high scoring game like the last 2 weeks, I’ll say 35-28.
I think Bishop McDevitt has a good chance to avenge last year’s loss, but its very tough to go against Aliquippa, their defense has been outstanding the last several weeks, I think they slow down McDevitt’s rushing attack and do enough to contain their passing game to win another high scoring game, I can see the final score being similar to last year, 34-27, expecting a really good game between 2 of the best teams in the state outside of SJP. I agree with Gary Z, the Quips have played much tougher competition in the playoffs and dominated them defensively, they will be by far the best team McDevitt has played this year since they lost to Imhotep in the opener.
December 8th, 2022 at 8:09 am
Steel High 28- Union 21
This game is hard one to pick, but I am gonna go w Steel High. I certainly hope I’m incorrect. I think S-H makes a play or two more than Union. I believe Union may play better team football, and their coach will have them prepared. But my gut says Steel High in a close one.
Aliquippa 35- B.M. 21
This one should be fireworks. I believe the ‘Quips have the better talent and team. They are close with each other, I feel the ‘Quips got a better team all around, plus they have played some really good competition in WPIAL and blown them off the field.
Hopefully day 1 is great games. Good luck to all the teams, it’s an accomplishment just getting here.
December 8th, 2022 at 7:35 am
@Gary Z Please find for me where I told you that there would be swift action by the PIAA. I never said that dude. I may have said there should be actions by the PIAA as this sort of thing will set a precedent. If there would be violence in a game where there was a known threat to the PIAA, they’d be opening themselves up for lawsuits. What we’ve seen so far is that they’re letting it up to the PSP to do an investigation and they’re increasing security. IMO that’s not enough. For you to dismiss the threat like it means nothing is questionable since you don’t even know who the source of the threat was. I do think it should have been made known that this threat existed as parents are going to choose whether to let their kids attend this game. Do I think that the PIAA would make a decision to keep it quiet so their attendance remains high? Sure as shit I do. Do I think you as a teacher should take a threat to a high school event more seriously, yeah, that too. BTW, I have 26 years in education and have certainly learned that schools need to take these threats seriously because this society isn’t the same as when you and I were in high school. Adding more security and metal detectors might make it safer inside the stadium, but what does it do to increase safety in the parking lot? It sounds like the PIAA is going to pick profits over doing what is in the best interests of the kids once again and for that I’m definitely highly disappointed. Am I shocked though? Heck no. It seems to go with their past decisions. That doesn’t mean it won’t eventually come back to bite them in the backside.
@Brian C I too agree SCA should not be forced to move up in classification merely because they are winning. It sends the wrong message to players that hard work and success will mean you are penalized. That’s not a good lesson to teach kids.
December 8th, 2022 at 6:16 am
Two questions… does Cumberland Valley have school in session during two of these games??
Also, i believe there’s going to be a slight uptick in attendance this year cause Cumberland valley community will come out for games. That alone will make the piaa thump their chest that they made the right decision.
December 7th, 2022 at 11:41 pm
@Jeff H.
Great analysis and breakdown in that post. I agree 100% with your thoughts. I will also tip my hat and give SCA even more respect than I already do if they beat Westinghouse.
December 7th, 2022 at 11:35 pm
@610
By me saying that N-G coaches n kids DEFINITELY know who Q. Martin is, does not mean I think they will sit around and talk about his 5stars or ask for an autograph. What I hear from you, is exactly how they need to handle both situations. But I promise you, they will be aware of everywhere he is, and always account for him. You are right, they gotta play with what they have and not get caught up in the hype. I wanted to add that. Again congrats to you and your family. AWESOME EXPERIENCE. Memories for the rest of all your lives.
December 7th, 2022 at 11:27 pm
@610
You got it, next man up attitude. 100% correct. However that is more so applicable to the NFL. You just don’t replace a kid like battle. Here is how him not playing the game will go. Now BVA does not have to constantly focus on where he is at. I will use Quentin Martin (theRB) from BVA, just cause I’m more familiar w him, being from the WPIAL. N-G will not punt or kick to him. They will account a Safety n CB to him when he splits out, they will be aware when he is in the backfield. When N-G is on O, they will be aware when he is at Safety on obvious passing downs. N-G will know and adjust when he is at LB. That’s how a Q. Martin or Battle effect the game. All 3 phases. It allows you to focus attention other places, you know the saying, ‘ can’t be strong in 2 places.’ Now I am not saying Battle not playing means a loss, NOT AT ALL. However, it made things a lot easier for BVA. Athletes of that caliber don’t grow on trees. Yes, N-G knows who Quentin Martin is. THEIR COACHES DO AS WELL. Just by not referring to the kid by name, says a lot. Kids like that literally impact all 3 phases from the jump. As a Coach, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I did not make the kids aware of him and where he is at all game. Again, one player will not decide this game. But a kid of Battles ability n especially Q. Martins ability, effect the game big time. Same works if they don’t play, their is def a little thought in all their heads, that their DUDE, is not playing. I want a good game, hope we get one. @610, good for you and your Son. A great lifelong memory playing in this game. Hope you all enjoy every minute of it, so few kids get this experience. Hope your boy does well, and best of luck to both teams. Here’s to a good game.
December 7th, 2022 at 10:35 pm
Looking forward to a lot of good games this weekend. Its a shame a few teams best players are out.
Here are my picks:
Steel High 41 Union 21
Steel High star player out, I think they still win convincingly
Southern Columbia 35 Westinghouse 31
SCA has a tough run defense but has shown to be vulnerable in the pass at times. SCA has almost no passing game but doesn’t matter since nobody has been able to stop their run game in the playoffs. If SCA avoids shooting themselves in the foot with penalties (which they have had a ton this year), I think their experience in this game and their coaching staff will be the difference.
Belle Vernon 24 Neumann Goretti 20
NG start player out, I think they lose a close game
Bishop McDevitt 31 Aliquippa 28
Imhotep 28 Pine Richland 21
SJP 48 Harrisburg 14
December 7th, 2022 at 10:30 pm
Jeff H, wyomissing beating southern last year was without Southerns Qb who was out with a broken neck from the mca game earlier in the year plus one of the Running backs in their wing t was playing on a bum ankle. Southern wasn’t at full health. Not saying southern would’ve won but when your 10th grade Qb threw 4 picks in his first ever start against a top ranked 3A team it makes for a long night. I would’ve loved to see that game played with both teams 100%. Also, I never said the A or AA team this year could beat the AAA team this year. This is one of Southerns worst teams since 09. However a few years back southern mercy ruled Wyoming area who won the state title that year so yeah southern would’ve won the AAA title that year and southern thumped jersey shore who was in the AAAA state quarters or semis. The southern team this year and next year wouldn’t be able to compete at the state level. They lost bad to Danville in AAA. Southern is right where they’re supposed to be.
December 7th, 2022 at 9:17 pm
I am not the brian that has been commenting on the social media thing. I’m the brian commenting on the sca should move up thing. Hope that clears it up somewhat.
December 7th, 2022 at 8:34 pm
@Brian – none of the 1A teams would have beaten Central Valley the last 2 years, nor Aliquippa in 2018, all were very good teams (Aliquippa beat Middletown 35-0 in the final and had a few DI players on that team), I think 2020-21 CV might have beaten SCA, or at least been a very competitive game, after all Wyomissing beat them last year, and CV beat Wyomissing. Belle Vernon is very good, you will see that on Saturday, I don’t think this SCA team nor Steel High would beat Belle Vernon, and I think Westinghouse is better than Belle Vernon, I’ve seen both of them play this year, although I saw BV early in the season and they are a much better team now than when I saw them against McKeesport.
My point with SCA moving up is not for them to lose or “punish” them for their success, but to play teams more commensurate with their talent, it gets old watching them mercy rule teams in the state final year after year, as a neutral fan I would have much rather seen them play CV in 3A the last 2 years than blow out the schools they did in 2A, in general it’s not good for the game when 1 team wins titles year after year in any sport, not just HS football. If the PIAA passes the new success rule next year SCA is going to be playing in 3A for the 24-25 cycle whether they want to or not.
With that being said they are playing a really good team on Friday that looks more like a 4A or 5A team than 2A, I never count out SCA with their track record and coaching, even with their regular season struggles this year I knew the playoffs would be a different story, but if they manage to beat Westinghouse I will be very impressed and tip my hat to them, because they haven’t played a team like this in the final since Steel Valley mercy ruled them in 2016.
December 7th, 2022 at 7:41 pm
My son just told me that Shawn Battle (NG) isn’t playing, so what does that mean for Neumann-Goretti, next man up. They played over a little of a quarter against Wyomissing without Battle. They’ll be good.
The team don’t know who the RB from BV is or care about how many offers or stars he has. He will get the same treatment as Scranton Prep, Northwestern Lehigh and Wyo recieved. I want to see a good game from both teams.
December 7th, 2022 at 4:59 pm
@EITHER Brian
I am just going by what I know, and how such matters are handled. I know one Brian questioned my ability to be a teacher for 24 years, which is fine. I am not making this a competition. But ‘one of the Brian’s’ said there would be swift repercussions and also explained to me how the instagram machine works as well. Said it before, to whatever “Brian” claims their words… please post it when the PIAA hands down these swift penalties and repercussions. I say it does not happen. NOT AT ALL. If I’m wrong, I will own up to it and acknowledge your the smarter man. Brian whoever, please post what you said WOULD HAPPEN when it does.
December 7th, 2022 at 3:06 pm
@ GaryZ
Apparently he had 2 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, one being a late hit out of bounds and the other a slap to an opposing player.
December 7th, 2022 at 2:15 pm
Been thinking a little more regarding SCA v Westinghouse. Obviously comparing teams by using team x played team y and the outcome was z and so I think the winner will be…..has plenty of holes. That said I’m going to do exactly that and use Steel High as the somewhat ‘common’ opponent linking Westinghouse to Trinity and therefore SCA. First let me begin by using the Easternpafootball season previews for Steel High and Trinity.
Steel High went 9-3 last year and returned 9 on offense and 10 on defense including 2021 3200 yard passer Erby. That seems like a great nucleus to bring back. Trinity also returned a nice nucleus – 9 on offense and 6 on defense – but that was from a 3-6 team.
In week 7 Steel High beat Trinity 35-28 in OT. On the surface it would seem like a well contested game. In week 2 Westinghouse beat Steel High 39-18. Again, without digging, this would seem like a well contested ball game.
SCA beat Trinity 42-7 and to be honest the game wasn’t that close. I read somewhere that the Shamrocks had 15 yards of offense in the first 3 quarters and then SCA pulled their starters. This doesn’t necessarily change my mind in regards to SCA being the underdog. That said, sometimes there is merit to comparing scores/games and extrapolating. The 2016 Steel Valley team was a machine, they mercy ruled every team they played. The scores say Westinghouse has not performed to that degree of domination. This will be a good game.
December 7th, 2022 at 12:11 pm
@Jeff H There’s been nothing in the papers here either. The school administration here says it’s an “ongoing investigation” and so far the PIAA has responded by saying there will be heightened security. So, it seems both the PASP isn’t moving too quickly on this, nor is the PIAA making any decisions that takes a stand against threats. “Go gangster” could mean a multitude of things, but I don’t believe any of those things are being positive role models of prosocial behavior.
BTW, it appears there are two Brians on here…which probably means only he and I know who wrote what.
December 7th, 2022 at 11:14 am
SCA/Westinghouse. Lots of chatter about this game. On paper the House holds all the cards. I watched some videos of their highlights.
SCA has a very tall order to fill on Friday. Very tough task at hand for SCA.
December 7th, 2022 at 9:44 am
@Phillyvs everyone…Tep plays a very aggressive style defense in coverage and on offense their line holds all the time. You could literally call a legitimate penalty on them almost on every play. Not a fan of penalties but if any team attracts the flag its Tep.
December 7th, 2022 at 9:43 am
@ Brian,
You’re right. It’s not a bold prediction by any means. Usually I’d go with experience in a matchup like this. Southern’s been there & done that, but I think Westinghouse the better team. Can’t wait to watch on Friday.
You’d be right about them being the underdog, based off of CalPreps: They have Westinghouse winning by 13.
@ PhillyVSEveryone
I mixed that matchup up with Cathedral Prep. I mean, either team is usually in the 4/5A finals each year, it seems, so I’m not surprised that I messed that up. My bad. I should’ve checked first.
December 7th, 2022 at 9:15 am
It is a shame that a couple of the teams best players won’t be playing in the championship that just sucks. And that is an overall bad look for the player, team, and coach too. They’re fantastic athletes but it’s not a good sign for the players at the next level. If they continue that kind of attitude, they won’t sniff the field in college.
December 7th, 2022 at 8:35 am
I just read that Steel High is gonna be minus one of their star players. Kid seemed to be one of their most potent weapons. It’s a shame to hear about, this case appeared to be a little different from the N-G player who can’t play. I read an article, that honestly was kind of confusing as to the exact reasoning for being ejected. Maybe someone knows something on here. These teams being minus a stud athlete, definitely effect my predictions. But mostly it’s a darn shame for the teams, and players involved.
December 6th, 2022 at 11:48 pm
I been looking at some of the teams from the East, preparing for my picks. This is shaping up to be a really nice final. Hopefully I didn’t jinx that. Looking forward to these games. I was disappointed to hear the stud from N-G will not play because he got ejected. Looking forward to seeing him vs Quentin Martin, the 5Star Stud from BVA. Hopefully still a good game. Looking forward to Union vs Steel High, and SCA vs Westinghouse as well as the rest. Hoping we get some really good games, picks tomorrow. Good luck to All the teams.
December 6th, 2022 at 10:07 pm
@OC21 I don’t have that information readily at hand, but it seems to me that schools like St. Edward’s (Ohio), Duncanville, Westlake, and North Shore (Texas), STA, Miami Central, and American Heritage (Florida), Bishop Gorman (Nevada), and Mater Dei, John Bosco, and Serra (California) are in their state championship games within their classifications pretty much every year. Anyone can look at any ranking of high school football teams in the U.S. and note that there are a whole lot more Catholic schools on the list than the proportion of Catholic schools in the country might lead you to expect–though public schools are still the slight majority in the current USA Today ranking. We could go into all the reasons for this, but that would take lots of time. Plus, I don’t pretend to know them all, though I’m pretty sure of some.
For kids in the Philly area who are very keen on football and who show some talent (and for their parents) SJP offers a combination that no other school in the area offers: proven academic strengths, an active and supportive network of alumni (who show their support of the school and its students by donating substantially to the scholarship / financial aid fund), excellent coaches (most of whom have been there for many years), lots of exposure because of high-profile (sometimes nationally broadcast) games, and an impressive record of former players going on to play not just in top tier D1 schools (Georgia, Michigan, Penn State, Virginia, etc.) but in very good–especially academically–D2 and D3 schools (Harvard, Princeton, Penn, Amherst, Colgate, etc.). It also, by intention and by its location, makes it easy for students of quite different backgrounds to feel at home.
Is it for everyone? No. (I know a very active alumnus who sent one of his sons to LaSalle because of their program for students with learning disabilities.) Is there a danger the football program–and the students in it–will become a world of its own within the school? Yes–and I am not keen on the current practice of having the football players going on their own service trips instead of mixing with other students on such trips. But from what I’m told and from what I’ve seen with my own eyes, the danger is understood and being actively combatted.
Who knows? Harrisburg might win this weekend. And next year maybe a team from the WPIAL or the Lehigh Valley will knock off SJP. Not sure that even if both things happen the charge of unfairness will disappear.
December 6th, 2022 at 10:03 pm
D2 fan going against southern isn’t that bold of a move this year. Many thought they wouldn’t be here after how they started and the injuries they had. Here they are and Westinghouse is going to be tough it knock off. This might be as tough as trying to beat the Farrell teams in the mid 90s or steel valley that was loaded with all that D1 talent. In fact southern may be the underdog in this one.
December 6th, 2022 at 10:00 pm
This has nothing to do about the right thing to do. This has to do with the type of society we’ve become that we want someone who is successful to change what they do so others can have a chance. It’s the participation trophy mentality. Kudos for aliquippa for playing up. That’s their choice. Moving up to 3A won’t matter much most years as I have always felt 3A was the weaker class and most years the A or AA would beat them. Not this year but many of the years so had southern moved up and won 3A the past few years you’d want them up to 4A and keep on going until they eventually get to 6A against st joes prep. Before you say no way on 3A/4A they played jersey shore for a few years and handled them easily and jersey shore has been to the state quarters semis and finals recently. So it’s not so far fetched. Anyways playing up in class isn’t the right thing to do. A public school that can stay consistent for so long without recruits and transfers being the reason says a lot for the program and community. The only reason people want them to move up is so they get beat, don’t keep winning, and that other AA teams in the state can have an easier chance to win instead of the AA teams knocking them off. Southern lost to 2 AAA teams this year and 1 2A team that they beat in the rematch in districts. I guess st joes prep should go independent and play small colleges by this logic because it’s the right thing to do.
December 6th, 2022 at 7:08 pm
@D2 Fan when was that first meeting between Imhotep and Pine-Richland I follow the Philly Pub and Catholic leagues pretty closely and don’t recall Tep playing PR before.
There seems to be a bias against the Philly teams around here. Many seem afraid of big bad SJP who haven’t broken any rules, and continues to dominate. Tep and NG seem to get the undisciplined “city team” stereotypes applied to them. I wonder how many people who make these claims have actually seen these teams play. I had one of the head refs in District 12 tell me the other day how bad the refs from both Tep and NG’s games last week were and how many calls they were blowing or how the refs were injecting themselves.
My point is let’s let the kids show up and perform this weekend. I’m obviously biased (see my name) in the three games Philly teams are in, but I want to see great games in all 6 classes.
December 6th, 2022 at 6:04 pm
@FrankG two of the four states you mentioned are probably the two biggest high school football states in the country. Texas and Florida I don’t know for sure but can almost guarantee that both of those states have multiple teams that are nationally ranked. I just read an article on Twitter from Joe Santoliquito about the chip game coming up and he wrote “ The hawks top the list of large school state championships 6. Two at 4A and 4 at 6A . Prep has been involved in every Class 6A state championship. Wow! I don’t have the facts but is it like that in any of the states you mentioned?
@JeffH I’m pretty sure the catholic league joined the PIAA in 2007. The dates you mentioned were just prior to that. They started recruiting kids from the public schools. Every team is beatable on any given day but for a team to make it to the final round every year and usually with ease is concerning. Something is wrong and it needs to be fixed. Overhaul the whole system? They need to be playing up a level. Like I said , join the NJ private league.
December 6th, 2022 at 5:15 pm
Predictions
Steel-High/Union Area: You’d think Steel-High has the advantage, but Union Area is playing good team football. I’ll go with the better program. Clock strikes 12 for the Scotties, as they’ll get steamrolled 45-17.
Bishop McDevitt/Aliquippa II: The Sequel will be hopefully be up to the likes of The Godfather Part II & Terminator 2. Regardless if it’s good, or a dud, it’s Aliquippa’s world & we’re just living in it. I got them 42-21 to defend their title.
Southern Columbia/Westinghouse: I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna to go against Southern. This historic season might need its own media installment. A documentary, feature film, 30-for-30, Peacock original, whatever. Westinghouse is my pick to win. I’ll gladly take fault for the jinx, if it’s the other way around, but a story like this is what the PA football scene deserves to have. Westy over SCA 31-28, & I’ll say it’s done in OT.
Imhotep/Pine-Richland: 2nd meeting in 3 years. I trust Pine-Richland a lot more. Imhotep has the better players, but P-R always plays great team football. I think the better “team” will pull away late. Rams over Panthers 38-27.
Neumann-Goretti/Belle Vernon: I’m gonna take Belle Vernon. They feel like the better team. I don’t know much about either side, so I’ll keep it short. I’ll say 35-20 Leopards. Watch this be a 42-7 blowout for Neumann-Goretti, & we all complain about private & public once more.
St. Joe’s Prep/Harrisburg: I don’t have much else to say. In the style of Seth Davis’ jinx of Virginia in March Madness, a few years ago: St. Joe’s. Sharpie. 42-17 Hawks over Cougars.
December 6th, 2022 at 4:07 pm
@Brian – there has been absolutely nothing in the media in the Pittsburgh area regarding this alleged threat on Twitter, I would think if something was going to come of this there would have been some mention of it by now. And what exactly does “go gangster” mean, do you think the Westinghouse kids are going to carry a gun or knife on the field and use it after the game if they lose? Do you not think the PIAA already has significant security measures in place for these games? We’ll see what happens, but I’d be very surprised if anyone is suspended for this game because of something they may or may not have said or implied on Twitter, like Gary Z I’ll be the first one to admit I was wrong if the PIAA does something.
Regarding Aliquippa, you are right about the number of transfers because many of these kids come from broken homes and move around quite a bit, but the difference between them and SCA is they have voluntarily been playing up in class for decades, because they know its the right thing to do for their program, at some point don’t you challenge your kids and voluntarily move up a class to play better competition in the state playoffs? One of the main reasons the PIAA is considering dropping the 3 transfer criteria and just moving schools up based on success alone is because SCA continues to play and dominate 2A every year and not voluntarily move up, I can hear all the whining now if this new rule passes, how unfair it is, punishing kids for winning, blah, blah, blah.
December 6th, 2022 at 2:50 pm
@Brian
Brian I never said it was not a stupid thing to do, making an alleged. I’m simply saying please lemme know when the PIAA brings about the swift action to said kid. That’s all, I really don’t care about what you think of me, and asking me if I know this or that. Just lemme know when the PIAA takes the action you stated. Please. Good day.
December 6th, 2022 at 12:45 pm
First off sca and Roth are not cowards. First in class A it was move up to AA and you’ll never win. You’ll never beat Mt. Carmel etc. well they move up to AA and have been in all but 1 state title since moving up. They don’t move on because of being cowards they stay in their class piaa puts them in. They petition to stay in AA because they don’t have the transfers/recruits. They petition because piaa counts any new student on the roster as a transfer so all in coming players are considered a transfer when they’ve all been at southern. Aliquippa has moved up because of their transfers they get. They’re in an area where people move in on a regular basis. Not the same like southern. Next nobody in the sca camp feel this is a shoe in against Westinghouse. Many of sca people didn’t think they would be this far this year. This is not one of better teams but they’re playing well and gel at the right time. I think southern is in for a dogfight and may lose by multiple scores. However I could also see them winning a close game too because they have proven many wrong this year.
December 6th, 2022 at 10:56 am
@OC21 – Back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s there were several PA public schools that were nationally ranked, including North Hills, Penn Hills, CB West, Woodland Hills, Gateway, etc., in fact in 1999 there were 3 PA schools in the USA Today top 10 with CB West, Woodland Hills and ECP. I don’t dispute anything you are saying about SJP being a national program and draws the most talent of any school in the state, but they are beatable, since the move to 6 classes they are 4-2 in the state final. There may come a day when SJP decides to opt out of the state tournament, and I like your idea of them competing with the Jersey privates for a SEPA/NJ title, but that’s going to be for the school to decide because I seriously doubt the PIAA is going to ask SJP not to participate.
The fact is outside of SJP the current system is working ok, since the move to 6 classes in 2016 public schools have won 24 titles and the private schools have won 12, in the largest 3 classifications the privates are 10-8, in the smallest 3 the publics lead 16-2. Only 4 privates have won those 12 titles, SJP with 4, Wood and ECP with 3 each, and BG with 2 in 1A. All 3 of the later schools were forced to move up a class due to the success rule, and none of them has won a state title since being moved up, so despite it’s flaws the current system is not too bad. I have stated on this board several times in the past that I think it would be a disaster for HS football in this state to split into public and private championships, are we going to totally overhaul the system because of 1 school?
December 6th, 2022 at 10:10 am
@OC21 I am extremely interested in your response to FrankG and all those other nationally ranked teams that play in state playoffs. The “not fair” narrative really falling short with this information because it’s establishes what occurs in other states as well.
@Vaugh Jones- I was a prep outsider and rival with my older son. My younger son chose Prep on his own. Being a Prep parent my eyes were open to so many lies people outside prep spread and I was very disappointed in myself because I believe them and even spread them when I was an outsider. FrankG laid it our perfectly for you and all that information is available on the website. Don’t believe the hype. There isn’t a school in the United States where tuition is paid that some particular aid is offered for academics or athletics to students so let’s also stop acting like this is something to even discuss.
December 6th, 2022 at 9:55 am
@Gary Z I do question that your response is such and that you’re a teacher. Do you not go through the same mandatory drills and procedures for threats of violence and for intruder drills that other schools go through each year? Do you not realize that a Twitter account is actually linked to an individual? That isn’t a random threat whose owner can’t be located. It’s specific and it’s easily traceable. The idea that the PIAA has no responsibility to do anything is utter BS. They ARE responsible for the safety at this game. In previous cases like the one Foleman mentioned, the PIAA was able to let the schools involved decide what the penalties would be. That is not a similar scenario here. This isn’t a case where the school that is hosting can make a decision to keep the players and fans safe, but is being hosted at a neutral field. The game itself in this case is under the control of the PIAA, not either participating school. If the PIAA does nothing about this to ensure the safety of those in attendance, who do you think would be sued if there actually was violence after an open threat on social media? You aren’t being realistic if you don’t realize the society we live in now is very quick to sue. The PIAA as we know it would go bankrupt and cease to exist if they were to be held accountable for the safety of those in attendance if such violence occurred and they did nothing. You’re expecting every parent who has a child in attendance to trust your opinion (of a student whose identity you don’t even know) that this was a blind threat and won’t be carried out? I don’t know about you, but any time our school ever had a threat we found a number of parents kept their kids home from school for their safety if school wasn’t cancelled. Your blind faith in the morality code of a student you and I know nothing about doesn’t instill great faith in me that this was just an empty threat. To think you had issue with me calling posting something like that “stupid” is laughable at best. You must be the same teacher who says there are no such things as “stupid questions.” In this case, threatening another school online prior to a game is, most definitely, stupid.
December 6th, 2022 at 8:35 am
I think it’s time the PIAA institutes a rule and punishment for threats by players on social media against other HS Players or teams. I know in some cases it’s difficult to investigate, however, something needs to be done. I found out what happened when a threat on a Pope John Player came from someone who was either a player or fan from Phoenixville. I won’t discuss the details online but it was flat out sickening what was posted which included personal info about the kids family. The game had to moved with only family members allowed to watch. As far as I know, no investigation by anyone-school, police etc happened. Whoever posted that threat should be in Jail.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:56 pm
@Vaughn Jones From what I hear, about 60% of Prep students receive some kind of financial aid, so –no–most families don’t pay the whole $26,000 in tuition. And SJP does accept transfers after freshman and sophomore years and those students do not have to have taken Latin before coming to the Prep. I understand they do have to take Latin after they arrive. (The Prep no longer requires any student to take Latin for four years, but they do require two years of Latin.)
December 5th, 2022 at 10:44 pm
@OC21 Last I saw SJP is ranked #25 by USA Today. I also saw on the list that St. Edward’s (Ohio), Duncanville (Texas), St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida), Bishop Gorman (Nevada), and many other schools are ranked higher in the poll and are playing in state playoffs and are not segregated into a classification with other “privates”–in the cases where they are private schools. Last year I don’t think the Prep appeared in any top 25 list. In 2019, having lost to Marietta and to IMG, they were certainly not near the top of any list if, in fact, they were nationally ranked at all. I can’t imagine they were “nationally ranked” at the end of 2017. They certainly weren’t in 2015. And I think they lost three games in both 2013 and 2014. Can’t imagine they were “nationally ranked” in those years either.
I get it. SJP has been the dominant big-school program in PA for a decade. They also have an advantage–their ability (because of their location) to draw students from nearly all of the Delaware Valley–that very few other PA schools have. They also have some disadvantages, most obviously the lack of an onsite practice field. They also have requirements that are higher than those of many other schools–a reason they lost two starters before the season began.
Yes they recruit students from “multiple states,” but that number is two. They have always had many students from South Jersey, and, like all private schools, they have to recruit to stay open. There are other PCL schools that get students from Jersey. I don’t know about public schools. I know of two students at SJP in the last ten years who lived in Delaware: a wide receiver named Chambers who played his freshman year at SJP but then left the school. The other was Armen Ware, a lineman who went to elementary school in Philadelphia and who decided–with his family–to go to the Prep for high school when his family moved to northern Delaware.
If you are not from the Philadelphia area you may not know that SJP is far from the only school that recruits students, including those who play football and basketball and, yes, in some cases especially those who play football and basketball. (They also make special efforts to recruit those with very high academic promise and those from disadvantaged backgrounds who show academic promise.) The Prep competes with all the Inter-AC schools, all the PCL schools, and with public schools in recruiting these students. And it’s not as if there aren’t schools in Jersey that are trying to recruit many of the students SJP is also recruiting.
One thing I guarantee if SJP leaves the PIAA. Within two years and maybe even within one there will be claims from some public school coaches and supporters that team x or team y could beat SJP if only … (I’m not taking a win over Harrisburg for granted.)
December 5th, 2022 at 9:50 pm
@Brian
I get it, your implying I’m naive. I’d say I’m realistic, and I am applying a little common sense. Please post when this “blows wide open” and the PIAA hands down these swift “repercussions.” I’m not trying to be smart. In reality the PIAA has nothing to do with it, if this threat of going ‘gangster’ is true. It would need to be forwarded to the PA State police. The PIAA is not a criminal investigation unit, they govern sports not law. When you post that this has blown wide open and we all know the repercussions… I will acknowledge I am wrong and your the smarter man. I assume your a teacher as well. In all seriousness, let’s see what the PIAA CAN DO. I want to see the repercussions that come swiftly. I bet that there are not any repercussions or major developments before the kickoff this week. Remember the PIAA is not a criminal investigative body, has to be turned over to State Police. But if I am wrong, I will certainly own up to it. That’s something you can count on.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:41 pm
My understanding is that kids can’t just transfer into SJP unless they have 3yrs of Latin and 4yrs of Spanish along with 26k, So most times they have to work with kids who came in as a freshman.
Now to me that seems like a disadvantage. Congratulations to all the teams playing this upcoming weekend.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:29 pm
@Brian
I’m not shocked by anything kids say. I refrain from referring to kids as stupid though. Maybe the HS you teach at that’s ok, not for me, or the District I teach at. What do you think the PIAA can/will do? Prove its not a dummy account and then formally sanction a kid for saying they will go gangster after they lose? Come on, I’m not the smartest guy, but do have a Masters Degree and 24 years teaching. Do you honestly think that there is some plot for after they lose to do something “gangster.” I don’t. Nobody knows who the account even belongs to. I will tell you right now what the PIAA will do… ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. To hard to prove, and common sense allows adults to get an idea of the situation. Come on now.
December 5th, 2022 at 7:35 pm
@Jeff H
SJP is a nationally ranked team year in and year out. In what other classification do you have that. None. There is no other team like SJP in the state. I’m sure if each classification had a school like SJP there would be a lot more complaining going on. I find it hard to believe that even one other school in the state recruits the way they do from multiple states. As I said nothing against the school or the kids. There are some phenomenal athletes on that team. All I am saying is a team that has multiple D1 players on their roster year in and year out should not be playing in the state tournament. Why can’t they play in the private school division in NJ. A lot of good teams and most on their level. Not far to travel.
December 5th, 2022 at 7:15 pm
@GaryZ. Oh, I’m certain you’ll be reading and hearing about it. This is a new investigation. You think the PIAA made any decisions on their first day back to work after this just occurred just this weekend? Adults have viewed the tweet and reported it. In today’s day and age, anything you put on social media is permanent and can be located despite the fact the poster removed it.
I’m surprised you work with kids and don’t think they’re dumb enough to do this. I too work with kids and I absolutely believe kids say stupid crap online thinking only their friends will see it and think they’re cool.
I’m quite certain this story is going to blow wide open this week. There’s no way the PIAA can keep it quiet. They’re only going to have a few days here to come to a conclusion and decide what repercussions will occur. You’re absolutely wrong in implying that this is simply trash talking. Trash talking and threats of violence at this level are completely different. I’m not naive enough to think kids don’t say dumb crap they shouldn’t. I’m sure the PIAA doesn’t want the cat out of the bag before they decide what they’re going to do, but this investigation will have to be pretty speedy.
December 5th, 2022 at 5:33 pm
@Brian
I have no connection to Westinghouse, other than watching them in the same 7v7. Just seems odd that one kid, got a screenshot from “several” Westinghouse players… and they were already launching an attack for after they lose. Come on. Plus after they made said contingency plan for losing, they said “go gangster.” Sorry, I work with HS kids all year. They don’t talk like that, actually sounds more like someone who has no idea thinks an inner city kid would talk. I check on a lot of student athlete accounts, there is trash talk for sure… but saying after we lose, we will “go gangster.” That is really corny if said House players made that comment. Again sounds more like an older person saying what they think kids from that environment would say. Who knows, I may be wrong. But please show me where this is, so I can read it. If it’s brought to SCA attention, they have to make it known. I have been a teacher in PA for 24 years, I know how it works. I am not calling anyone a liar but show me something. Plus Westinghouse players don’t strike me as the type of kids who already are making revenge plots after they lose to SCA. When I watched them in 7v7, and in person… pretty darn confident group. I could be wrong, just throw some direction as to where we can read about this or read about the validity of it. I am being serious, when people say things like threats were made. We should see some proof, at least something. How could they do quickly prove what kid(kids) made the “go gangster” threat after we lose. Seriously.
December 5th, 2022 at 4:57 pm
@Brian
In all seriousness, is this in the paper? Was a police report made? Seems odd a kid or kids would say “go gangster.” But kids are kids. I’m not being a smart arse here, but what should the PIAA do to these kids. They may or may not be players, who knows who actually posted it, if it got posted.idk. I mean some SCA kid took a screen shot, and “shared it.” Idk how you really boil this down. Just seems to cast a wide net w little facts. I may be wrong, but it’s SCA and once parents here about it. I would assume it would be everywhere n all over the place. I’m not calling nobody a liar. But that seems a little bit all over the place. I don’t think anyone needs to worry. I know the term “hood” was used, but they are HS kids about to play a HUGE GAME. Your right violence occurs at football games and everywhere else. I just don’t think kids talking trash is more than that. If this actually happened.
December 5th, 2022 at 4:56 pm
@OC21 – every year we hear the same whining and moaning about the advantages the private/non-boundary schools have. I assume you realize 5 out of the 6 champions last year were public schools, the only private/non-boundary winner was BG in 1A. In 4A, 5A and 6A you had public schools beat non-boundary schools in the final, and you will likely see some public schools beat non-boundary schools this weekend, we’re guaranteed to have a public school winner in 1A and 2A. There are 4 new schools in the finals this year that have never been there before, 3 public schools in Union, Westinghouse and Belle Vernon and Neumann Goretti from the PCL, so we’re not getting the same teams every year. There were also 4 newcomers last year and 2 of them won gold in Penn Trafford and Mt. Lebanon. Obviously there are some great programs in every classification that have a good chance to get to the finals each year, both public and private, that’s more due to coaching and the culture at the school than anything else.
@TheJoneses – you are absolutely right, this is all about SJP and we hear the same crap regurgitated every year and it does get old. Only in 6A is there a perceived problem with the non-boundary schools due to SJP, in no other classification do we have an issue, I guess people have short memories and forget how good the game was last year between Aliquippa and Bishop McDevitt, I for one am excited to watch those 2 schools clash again, I’ve had Dec 8 circled on my calendar for awhile in anticipation of this rematch. I also guess people forgot SCA blew out private school Serra Catholic in the 2A final and no one said anything about the advantages of the private schools after either of those games.
December 5th, 2022 at 4:39 pm
@CoalRgn
Very astute post for the first of the year, I only post during semis and finals. You definitely did your homework and watched tape. Your assessment was on point, and the comparisons spot on! Westinghouse is really aggressive but almost oddly disciplined. Their DC really knows his craft, he is highly thought of in the WPIAL, so is the HC. Great post and analysis. Just like @Jeff H. I am not saying they are unbeatable, or can speak on what some kid posted to another kid… but they can really play. Yes 100% they can go 4 quarters of hard nosed football. Just go Google Westinghouse football highlights. They played a 6A 2X’s, and Butler which is a 5or6A. Also chose to schedule Steel High and Clairton consecutively. They can play 4 quarters. I didn’t think they could make BerlinBrothers Valley look easy and they did. Thought Steel Valley would be the biggest test, not so much. Hey let’s see what happens, I am betting on The ‘House to be able to play 4 quarters at a very high level. Best of luck to both teams.
December 5th, 2022 at 1:52 pm
@CoalRgnFtballFan – very good synopsis of Westinghouse on both sides of the ball, it’s crazy to say this but I too think SCA is the underdog in this game, they are going to have a lot of trouble sustaining any long drives on this defense. This Westinghouse team is comparable to Steel Valley 2016 in terms of size and speed, I think their defense is better than that SV defense, as I stated in a prior post their closing speed to the ball is tremendous. I also agree coach Roth and staff have done a great job this year because this team in the regular season certainly didn’t look like they’d be back playing for a 6th straight championship.
December 5th, 2022 at 1:40 pm
@ Dennis – I’ve watched Westinghouse play the last 2 weeks and trust me, they bring it for all 4 quarters, their defense is extremely impressive, Southern Columbia may end up winning, but this is the best team they have played in the state final since 2016, and I bet coach Roth would admit that after he watches the tape. I expect this to be a highly competitive, hard fought game and one of the better ones this weekend, I also think the Aliquippa-McDevitt rematch will be a tremendous game, Pine and Imhotep will be very competitive, and so will Belle Vernon and NG, I think there are going to be several compelling games this weekend.
December 5th, 2022 at 1:36 pm
@Brian I agree with you 100000 percent. There’s only one correction need to be made. You didn’t state the tweet mentioned a gun. Let’s please careful when we put our personal inference in as a matter of fact.
Note I am not saying you cannot make the inference as to what they meant by going gangsta. I am saying don’t say they threatened to use a gun because it changes everything. They will find him and that kid should not be allowed to play in the game. Period.
December 5th, 2022 at 11:45 am
B.S. with cowardice! As a Dunmore bucks fan you better be able to play 4 full quarters with Southern or you are going to pay the price. I hope it is a close game. My question is can Westinghouse play hard nose football for 4 quarters.we will see. You can have all the strength and speed but can you play 4 quarters. Southern has strength and speed also. This will be the best game of the championships.This game will be a toss-up. Good luck Southern from a Dunmore bucks fan!
December 5th, 2022 at 11:10 am
@Jay I 100% disagree with you. SCA is playing in the class set by the PIAA based on the number of boys they have available in their school to pull from. Their schedule is not filled with single A or even mostly AA schools, but with many AAA schools and schools that are more competitive so that it can get them ready for the playoffs. This year’s team was not expected to get this far. Those kids turned their whole team around at the end of the season and started playing greater than anyone expected they were capable. They aren’t a bunch of D1 recruits like we saw in the 2019 team. They’re a bunch of kids from a small school that spends their entire year in the weight room and are dedicated to the sport. What you’re implying is that other schools aren’t capable of the same level of success if they have the same number of kids to pull from…why not? Why should a school that hasn’t put in this kind of effort to stay at that level of play be crowned the champion when there is a better team who had the same limitations that moved up to play bigger schools? Is our lesson for kids that they should be penalized for putting in the hard work? If they stay in AA if their enrollment falls to A, would that make you happy, or do they have to keep moving up classes until they don’t make it into the playoffs? Does your job penalize you for being more productive and working harder than others they employ? Athletics in schools are supposed to help teach life lessons…what life lesson are you looking to teach by forcing a successful school to move into a classification above where they should be? I’ve yet to hear a good argument for why they should be playing in a classification that doesn’t apply to them.
On a related note, I recently read an article that Westinghouse’s coach wants his players to first be respectable men on and off the field and that he wants them to change the image that comes with living in “the hood”. I was very inspired to read that he had high expectations of these young men. I was then a little more than disturbed to learn over the weekend that several of their players make a Twitter post threatening to “go gangster” on the SCA sidelines if the result of the game isn’t what they wanted. Time will tell what the PIAA will do with this threat, but this is certainly not a team I’d be rooting for after hearing this. The PIAA needs to set a precedent and come down hard on this before it gets out of control. There have been too many instances where the schools playing have been left to decide how this type of situation will be handled. The threat was removed from Twitter, but it was saved by an SCA player who then shared it with others. SCA’s administration was notified and I’m sure that today the PIAA will have this matter on their plate to deal with. I certainly hope they keep in mind that they moved the game to a less secure facility than Hershey and that another school will be in session when this game is occurring. Long gone is the day when you can threaten to use a gun on anyone in a school environment and have no repercussions. These young men should have been made well aware of that over the course of their education and their actions should be made into a example so that these types of threats don’t continue to happen in the future. There have been several shootings at school football games this year, so I don’t think any of us should just see this as an empty threat and ignore it. I’m very disappointed that these young men thought this was an acceptable thing to do and I’m interested to see how their coach handles it despite what the PIAA decides to do. In my eyes, it will speak volumes on his character and if that article was telling the truth about his intentions as a coach.
December 5th, 2022 at 11:02 am
@GaryZ – Totally agree with you on Westinghouse’s defense, their physicality, play recognition and closing speed is tremendous, I’m pretty sure Southern Columbia has not faced a defense like this all season, no disrespect at all meant to Mt Carmel and all the other teams they have played. Westinghouse’s defense gave up 13 points combined the last 2 weeks to 2 of the best offensive teams in 2A in the state in Farrell and Steel Valley, and the only time SV scored on Friday was when the House fumbled the second half kickoff and they recovered at the 6 yard line, otherwise they were never in the red zone the rest of the game. I don’t foresee SCA’s offense putting together too many long drives on this team, I feel very confident in saying SCA will be playing their best opponent in the finals since they lost to Steel Valley in 2016.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:15 am
First post of the year – Thought I’d add my 2 cents. I believed from the summer through week 8 that MCA would represent the East in the state final. That said, after week 8’s game my tune changed. MCA may have beat SCA, but the team I saw play could not compete with the top teams in AA. Locally, there was chatter than SCA wouldn’t make it past the 2nd round of districts (Troy). Based on how they had played through the regular season, that wasn’t a stretch to imagine. In my opinion this is the SCA coaching staff’s finest job. This team is not remarkable. But they are playing well together and the chemistry has come around. In my opinion, making it this far was a surprise to most if not all fans of the program.
That said. Westinghouse is impressive. From what I’ve seen, their defense is very fast and very aggressive – very impressive. Their offense is solid. I believe SCA would have to play a nearly perfect game to win. It’s a must they limit/eliminate penalties and turnovers to be in the game. I have no doubt the SCA coaching staff will have the defense in position and alert for the Westinghouse tendencies, but being able to stop them is another question. Offensively I just don’t know if SCA will be able to get to the outside.
Farrell was hyped last year. I knew they would not present a challenge to SCA – and in fact didn’t make it to the state final. This team is different. Completely different. The only team I can compare them to that SCA has played in recent times is the 2015 Aliquippa team – but Westinghouse is superior to that team. By a wide margin. That team relied on a strong ground game and big play (heave the ball downfield) pass game. Westinghouse seems to run a disciplined spread offense with a very good QB who doesn’t rely on deep fades, but hits seams and intermediate routes efficiently. I have to think SCA is not just underdogs, but underdogs by a fairly wide margin.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:00 am
@Frank G- I agree no way the Inter-AC welcomes the Prep. Malvern was able to travel once when Coach Brady was there, but that’s about it. I have only EA and Malvern play Friday nights. The Erasmus Hall game was a great game. I met some of their players during the St Peters prep game at Rutgers as they were scouting. Great group of kids. Talked to a few after our game against them and they admitted prep were tough, but were more excited to show what they are made of. I am hoping this is a 2 year agreement between the schools.
I was very sad UD didn’t come away with the win. Colin had a great career there. I’m hopeful he ends up somewhere. I know Boston college has shown a lot of interest. I think he is scholarship player.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:41 am
I am so sick of people sounding so immature and saying “its not fair”. The definition of fair is “in accordance with the rules or standards; legitimate.”. EVERYTEAM competes by the same rules in the PIAA. They are governed by the same rules. PERIOD.
Public or boundary schools have enrollment policies enforced by their districts. Schools like Northpenn has established policies that allows a work around the boundary. The athletics department at each school has decided to participate in the PIAA.
I won’t generalize like others and say private schools because if we’re honest when this is said what’s really meant is SJP.
A private non-boundary the school. Family’s from all areas always sent their son’s there because it is a great academic institution. Always has a high percentage of students from Nj attend. The athletics department decided with the rest of the PCL they wanted gain membership into the PIAA, at which time was granted membership.
No rule or policy states where a student lives impacts the schools ability to participant in PIAA sports.
People through recruiting around and it’s been established public schools recruit.
What PIAA rules or standards does SJP operate under that other schools do not. Yes SJP has a talent pool greater than many schools for football players. I am certain we can find schools that have a better talent pool for other sports.. It’s such a sad state of thought and I am seeing the children adopt this train of thought, which I think is sadder.
Congrats to NG who put the pundits to sleep with their win and not, “roll over” or get run over by Wyoming.
December 5th, 2022 at 8:21 am
@OC21 At least a few years ago Catholic (non-boundary) schools and public schools competed against one another in the playoffs in Ohio and Florida–maybe other states too. I know they don’t in Jersey, but I’m not sure that’s a situation you would want to duplicate in PA.
December 5th, 2022 at 7:09 am
@Jay
I agree on SCA with you, 100%. I will not use the word cowardice though. I think it’s about rings and banners more than testing themselves. I DO NOT blame the kids. Coaches and Administration, yes I blame them. Roth is a great coach, but DOES NOT WANT TO PLAY UP. That is common knowledge based on their response and appeal to avoid moving up. I would say the same about Aliquippa if they did not play up 3 classes, and I have coached for 21 years in the WPIAL. Because if they played where they would in Class A, games would be ridiculous. Same if they played in 2A or 3A. They would just humiliate teams. I really excited to see SCA n Westinghouse play. The ‘House is from Homewood in Pittsburgh, very high crime rate, low income and really no facilities. Hard not to root for them. I said it before, they are NOT Farrell or Wilmington. Just look at the teams they chose to play to fill open dates. They want to be tested, and have answered the call each time. I saw them in 7v7 in summer and watched them a good bit. This team is loaded everywhere. They are great on O, but those LB’s and the D are just phenomenal. I have not seen a D that hits that hard and plays w that much speed in 10 years. I am putting my picks up later, in no way am I taking a shot at the kids or fans from SCA. They don’t have a say in the matter, Roth and the Administration do. I don’t buy into the travel argument either. Let’s see what happens Friday. Best of luck to both teams.
December 5th, 2022 at 5:30 am
@610 “Just give credit where it’s due and move on”… it’s a lot more complicated than that, get real man.
I’ve lost almost all interest in PA HSFB a because of the lack of fairness with public vs private and the recruiting. I keep an eye on it out of habit but it’s lost a lot of allure for me. I love seeing new teams in the state final like NG and both 3A teams.
Someone asked below why shouldn’t SC move up… the answer is pure cowardice… the audacity of that team to appeal a bump to 3A or even remotely whine about it when they’ve enjoyed so much success at 2A absolutely screams cowardice to me. Just my humble opinion, whoever disagrees let’s hear it.
Good luck to all 12 teams this upcoming weekend. I won’t be watching.
December 4th, 2022 at 8:03 pm
I have never seen a sports league or tournament where there are two different sets of rules for the teams playing in the league or tournament. In this case non boundary schools against boundary schools. How can you tell one team they can get kids from anywhere they want but the other teams can only draw from an area around their school and expect to have a fair league or tournament. NEVER in my life have I seen that at any level except in the state of Pennsylvania. Nothing against the schools that recruit or the kids. It’s the PIAA and from what I am told the politicians that control the PIAA. Only they can make the change. When the same schools are dominating and going to the state championship every year obviously there is problem. The PIAA has to come up with a solution to make it fair and the politicians have to let them do it.
December 4th, 2022 at 6:08 pm
As another season of HS football comes to an end, my 2022 Championship picks.
A: Steel High 28- Union 14 (steel with back to back wins with under a min left against Northern Lehigh and Canton gets them to the final and they have been best A team all year but had close games last two weeks which should help them if it’s close).
AA: Southern 26- W House 20 in OT. Could be best game of weekend. Southern looked like this could be the year they don’t make it to state championship but they got healthy and a Roth led team isn’t going away that easy. I’m not picking against Roth team who hasn’t lost a playoff game since 2016 Final. In fact, they haven’t had a playoff games within 2 scores in those 6 years. They might Thursday.
AAA: NG 18- BV 28.
AAAA: Aliquippa 35- BM 21
AAAAA: Pine-Richland 23- Tep 16
AAAAAA: Prep 38- Harrisburg 21
I think AA and AAAAA have chance to be best games.
December 4th, 2022 at 3:41 pm
@Pennsyltucky Proud, thanks, the team did great.
@mcd 65, so penalties is what you got from Imhotep/NG winning their games too advance to the State title game. WOOOOW
It seems like there’s no love for Philly HS teams, alot of people make excuses or have something bad to say. The best HS football team in PA is SJP, I didn’t go to SJP, I went to Norristown.. Just give credit where it’s due and move on.
Yesterday’s game between NG/Wyomissing, that wasn’t a Hail Mary play, secondary was sleep. Wyo rushed for 145 yards on 45 carries, Shawn Battle had 190 on 19 carries.
And there’s nothing wrong with the turfs at either supersite, yes the goal post is bent but Wyomissing’s kicker didn’t have no issues kicking a FG and 2 XP.
I want everyone who didn’t give NG a chance against Wyo, keep that same energy when we play BV.
December 4th, 2022 at 12:42 pm
I get so frustrated with both Imhotep and Neuman/Gorretti and their amount of penalties each game. Its obvious after years of displaying a lack of discipline that Coaching has to be at the core. I know Albie does a great job getting his players into college ,but it would be nice to watch them play with more cohesion and less stupid mistakes. I may be a bit harsh with this ,but damn I hate not seeing better results from these two.
December 4th, 2022 at 12:35 pm
It’s time for the PIAA to make a change. Private schools need their own class. What is so hard do 5 classes of public school and one for private. When it comes down to it simply just not fair private schools have no rules they can recruit and they do affectively. Anyone that argues that either has a kid that goes there or has been a fanboy of the school. If you’re not going to change it then let public schools be able to recruit also. Furthermore I’m sure that’s why the games are out of Hershey and at Cumberland Valley now because you can’t fill the stands because no one comes to watch a private school Unless you have a family member on the team. Public schools put a lot more fans in the seat because they have a town behind them also. Most public schools will get a D1 athlete every 5 to 10 years if they’re lucky private schools that recruit well and are always winning state championships have 5+ on their team every year. I’m sure they’ll be comments like oh he’s crying because his team didnt win I didn’t even have a team in the fight this year I just have enough common sense to know that it’s not even close to a level playing field.
December 4th, 2022 at 12:29 pm
Uh oh, that only leaves North Penn 🙂
Maybe I should look on the sunny side of life and toss out some schools that maybe outdid themselves. Off the cuff: Crestwood, Executive Education, CB West, Pennsbury. I’d even toss in Scranton Prep after loosing arguably the best RB in the state in their scrimmage. Others????
December 4th, 2022 at 12:05 pm
Correction to my last.
D3 vs D12 in the Third to last paragraph line; not D13, of course.
December 4th, 2022 at 11:47 am
@ Brian,
Good questions. Like I said, I know it will never happen, especially since it brings up the same issues Aliquippa had with 5A.
To answer the first question, I don’t think they’d need to commute much. They already have 4A in their conference, & play a couple of them every year. I know it’s really only Shore who’s good in class, but they can still play in-league, at minimum. They got good District 2 teams nearby (VV & Dallas, especially). I’m not saying they should go independent. I’m not saying they should play all Philly teams. They can still be in the league. I wouldn’t doubt that a good D3/11 would entertain the idea of a home & home. Why not Middletown? Manheim? McDevitt? If the EPC had non-con, why not Beca/ACC? The commute might be a pain, but it’s not like they’ll have one every week.
I’ll say this, if I was a coach or AD at a really good D2/3/11 school & saw Southern came up to our classification, I’d be licking my chops & entertain the idea of a home & home to them. Win or (most likely) lose, it would be a great experience. You know, I sorta believe that Wyoming Area state title season was helped in part of that scheduling change. It gave them some lessons.
My thinking is more for the playoffs. I think for the playoffs, they’ll have a slightly tougher road. With the bracket Shore was in, you could make the argument that it could go either way in the ACC game (never count out the EPC South teams). Assuming they made it past, Aliquippa probably would be the roadblock. 5A is a mystery. Depends on the subregional & bracket. They’d be the lone 5A team in D4, barring something very crazy. They’d wipe the floor with D6/8, & maybe D2’s region.
I did not realize they were that close to 1A. I’m curious to know how they would stack up against all of the 1A teams that came out to states. My gut is they’d beat anyone out West. Canevin would’ve maybe given them the toughest game, if they survived. The East is a mystery.
“Why shouldn’t they?” is a good question. I do think that the schools should step it up to beat them. Crazy how D4 hasn’t caught up to them. You’d think more teams would be like “enough’s enough!”
My hope is that, regardless of outcome, they get enough points to be in 3A. Looking at this year, they got beat by good 3A teams in their district, & Wyomissing would stack up nicely against them. Maybe one of the 3A private schools, too.
Also @ Kevin X,
Lakeland wasn’t entirely overrated. The injury bug got them at the wrong time. I think a healthier team would’ve made it all they way to Southern. I don’t think they’d have the team to beat them, but they were really good.
December 4th, 2022 at 9:55 am
Random musings on the coming state championships.
First, a new house for the next four years – Cumberland Valley High School stadium in, or near, Mechanicsburg. It is about 20-26 miles west of Hershey on the other side of the Susquehanna, about a half-hour or 45 mins further west. Not significant in time or distance and the stadium appears to be able to hold the crowds that have attended these games in recent years. Of this years entrants, Harrisburg and Bishop McDevitt have certainly played there.
I like to see “new faces” among the entrants and this year we have four first-time entrants – from the West side Union (1A); Westinghouse (2A); Belle Vernon (3A); and from the East – Neuman-Goretti (3A). This makes the 3A game between two first-year entrants. And Westinghouse from D8 is that district’s first entrant in 24 years and only the 2nd team ever from District 8. And NG is the first new team from D12 since 2013 when Imhotep first appeared.
That said, we have five returnees from last year in St. Joe’s, Imhotep, Bishop McDevitt, Aliquippa, and Southern Columbia. This makes one rematch from last year in 4A – McDevitt versus Aliquippa. The remaining three teams return from prior years other than last year and include Harrisburg, Pine-Richland, and Steelton-Highspire, commonly referred to as Steel High.
As to matchups I think the 2A bout between D4’s Southern Columbia’s top participating and championship holder school and D8’s Westinghouse could be a classic. Opinions have been that it will just be “another day at the office” for SCA, but Westinghouse brings a strong opponent to the table. First, they are responsible for the one loss on the 1A entry Steel High’s record this year. And their defense has allowed three TDs to Steelton in beating them and two TDs each in only two other games; otherwise no more than 8 points to 11 other opponents including 6 playoff games. Impressively in the playoffs they met undefeated Berlin-Brothersvalley, who had shutout 8 of their 11 opponents and allowed 6 tds in 11 games, and Westinghouse prevailed 59-7! I do not see any easy win for either side here.
Prevailing opinion seems to be that the Hawks of St. Joe’s Prep will not be troubled winning their next Chip. This may be truth in fact as there is no doubt that they appear on the field as “men among boys” to most opponents, and match their size with talent, coaching, mindset, routine, speed, and lots of prospects for D1 college ball.
Again, just from all I read and see, Aliquippa is also given a strong nod in the 4A contest. The Quips have been here 8 previous times in several classes and are 4-4 overall. However, it has been said that this is their strongest outfit in years.
In 5A we have Imhotep versus Pine-Richland. From what I read the key is for the PR outfit they took a 1-3 season start and have greatly improved since that time; peaking at the right time is the adage. Imhotep is certainly no stranger; however wins have not flowed to them in that they are 1-5 in their 6 prior outings across 4 classifications.
The 3A match will be two “newcomers” versus each other in Neuman-Gorreti vs Belle Vernon. I have seen BV mentioned as the “strongest D7” competitor in some cases. NG is a bit of an enigma to me. I happened to see one of their losses and they were far from impressive in that, marred by mistakes and penalties in their own backyard South Philly site. However some speed was certainly apparent for them.
As to participating districts, only 5 of 12 districts are here in 2022. There are two D7-D12 matches; two D7-D3 matches; one D3-D13; and one D4-D8. Representatives are four from D7; 3 each from D3 and D12; one D4 and one D8 vs each other.
I hope all teams do their best, play smart and clean, escape injury, and may the best effort in each game get the gold.
I won’t lay any predictions out there as I often say, “My brain is where knowledge goes to die!”
December 4th, 2022 at 9:49 am
@ Pennsyltucky Pride
I do not see SCA dealing with the size, speed and overall skill of Westinghouse. Potent passing n running the ball, Great QB. O-Line is huge. The D plays so fast n physical, plus hit like nobody I have seen in 10 years. This is not Farrell or Wilmington, trust me. Think more of Steel Valley who SCA couldn’t handle. Not saying it will be a game like that one. But ‘The House beats SCA Thursday. My humble opinion.
December 4th, 2022 at 9:47 am
Man oh man, what’s up with Garnet Valley? 48-0 at the half, eesh, obviously Prep unloaded their bench in the second half. Otherwise they literally could have hung a C note on them. And that’s the best District 1 has to offer? You know what would have been hilarious, if they ‘opted out’ like some teams did against Erie Prep. I’m half kidding but you know what, I’m darn near half serious. If your prospect is to play a team that’s literally a hundred points better, an utter humiliation, heck, a protest forfeit might be a little more gratifying. Because let’s be real the final score, 48-7, is a total fraud, had the starters remained for the entire game they would have hit triple digits — that’s what’s salient.
Otherwise, is there any chance SJP could enter the Geico Bowl Series after the state final, would the PIAA be cool with that if they received an invite?
December 4th, 2022 at 9:42 am
@EmanD3
I’ll mark you down as a no. Fair enough, some good points.
I have no ill will or animosity towards Wyo. Totally neutral, no dog in their fight.
To be clear tho, as Foleman stated, that was no Hail Mary at the end. They did show great moxie retaking the lead in the final two minutes after NG went ahead, albeit with the usual help from NG shooting themselves in the foot with penalties. But after taking the lead, to let a team score with 30 seconds, with one time out, and arguable one of the top 3 offensive players in D12 on the sidelines, is not good look. Yes, they were very lucky to be even playing yesterday. Great season, great run, regroup for next year.
@ ScottyB
Yes it was and it is.
@ Henry
Your proposal??
December 3rd, 2022 at 10:44 pm
@D2 Fan, what kind of commute would SCA need to make on a weekly basis to play 4A and 5A schools? Please, look at the geography and tell me which city hours away you think wants to travel there or that they should travel to?
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they’re presently only sitting a few kids above single A and their enrollmentis dropping. This present team is one nobody saw making it past the district championship, but now that they improved they should play schools four times their enrollment? The logic is kind of lost on me. Why shouldn’t the other 2A schools up their game if they can’t compete?
December 3rd, 2022 at 8:00 pm
Past time to separate the recruiting schools
December 3rd, 2022 at 7:41 pm
@ Pennsy… I think of the Schuylkill as more of an east west rather than a north south river, but I realize that depends on what part of the river you’re looking at, In any case, Germantown and Chestnut Hill are part of what I guess you could call NW Philly. My point is that the Inter-Ac schools, with the exception of MP are 15-20 minutes from one another by car. They’re a long way–not just geographically–from Mayfair, Ridley, Lansdale, etc. SJP gets students from all over the Delaware Valley. I don’t think that’s at all true of the Inter-ACs. The PCL covers a much larger gedographic area than the Inter-AC and I think that appeals to the Prep.
December 3rd, 2022 at 7:15 pm
Imhotep’s offense is meh, honestly they should’ve lost to Upper Dublin, UD out played them the second half.
Coaching has to be better for Imhotep if they win it all.
Find it funny that not one person had a problem with Prep losing in the final, but win they win it’s issue.
December 3rd, 2022 at 6:55 pm
@610: Congrats, I tip my hat to NG. Good luck to your son next week.
@Frank G: Of the 6 Inter-Acs, 3 are on the W side of the river (Hav, MP, EA) and 3 are on the E side of the river (GA, PC, SCH), just as a clarification on your geography.
I believe Westinghouse will give SCA a run for their money, but in the end, SCA will do what it does best; that is the collection of rings.
December 3rd, 2022 at 6:53 pm
Congrats to former District one and Downingtown West standout, Will Howard on leading Kansas State to the Big 12 Championship today. Always great to see local kids performing well at the next level.
December 3rd, 2022 at 5:42 pm
Just watched the last TD by NG, NG was at Wyo’s 44 yard line, Wyo had 7 in the box and 2 safeties about 10 yards off the ball while covering no one with their Cornerbacks covering NG’S receivers one on one with a few seconds to go. My God, I knew where the ball was going the minute the ball was snapped, Wolfrum said it was a blown coverage which is an understatement. Lucky for the Wyo defensive coordinator this isn’t college or the pro’s, he would be unemployed the minute he got off the bus.
December 3rd, 2022 at 5:31 pm
@ Matt, I’m a Prep alumnus too and see where you’re coming from. I also think that if other years were like this year, your argument would be stronger but in every year but the really odd Covid one (2020) the Prep has not had the series of blowout playoff games that they’ve had this year. Maybe next week’s game will be different. I’d rather it be a game where the outcome isn’t known before halftime and I think the Prep players and coaches would agree.
About what you’re suggesting: I’m not sure it’s possible for the Prep to leave the PCL for one sport and stay in for all the others (where it does not dominate except for rowing, a sport in which only a few PCL schools compete). And I wonder whether LaSalle and Roman would want them to leave for football since, at least in LaSalle’s case, the game with SJP is by far the biggest game of the year.
As for joining the Inter-Ac, the main obstacle would be the Inter-Ac’s culture, which it is very proud of and attached to. Their football teams don’t travel, seem to play nearly all their league games on afternoons (not so difficult for families since they are all in the same geographical areas–on the western side of the city and in the western suburbs (e.g. none in Bucks or Montgomery counties), and appear to want the football season to end by mid-November–Malvern’s last game this year was Nov. 11. And I just can’t see the six Inter-AC schools (which have been the same for a century) welcoming SJP to their tea parties.
The problem with trying to play an independent schedule is that all the schools that you might think of and that are within 150 miles (the North Jersey Catholic schools like Bergen Catholic, Bosco, St. Joe’s Montvale, and St. Peter’s Prep and the the DC area schools like St. John’s, Good Counsel, DeMatha, and Gonzaga) are members of leagues and so pretty much all their weeks in October and November are filled with league games (regular season and playoffs). Of course the Prep has played most of these teams at least once, but always in September when schools have some availability. Some schools (like IMG in FL and St. Frances in MD) are willing to fly around the country for games against high-profile (and sometimes not-so-high profile) opponents, but the Prep thinks one long trip a year is pretty much its limit, which I think is sensible.
It’s interesting to note that the team that beat SJP at the start of the year (St. Thomas Aquinas) is in a league with public schools and not all of their victories are by large margins, Remember also that Erasmus Hall, a public school from Brooklyn, gave the Prep a very good game in early September.
December 3rd, 2022 at 5:14 pm
GUYS, OMFG!!! WHAT A GAME, IT REALLY LOOKED LIKE SOMETHING FROM A MOVIE.
December 3rd, 2022 at 5:46 pm
He threw a punch and got ejected from the game. I think if that happens you can’t play the next game.
December 3rd, 2022 at 5:11 pm
Congrats to NG!!!! Huge win .@ Dave Mika, so whats with Shawn Battle possibly being ineligible for the biggest game in schools history ?????
December 3rd, 2022 at 4:40 pm
@ Kevin X
When a team like Wyo, who is 41-3 the last 3 years, with 2 state title appearances and a semi final appearance, loses on a Hail Mary with 8 sec left, from 45 yds….I would doubt anyone but you thinks they were overrated this year. Sounds to me like you just don’t like them for some reason. It’s a crappy way to lose, but it is what it is….know they know what Danville felt like last week
December 3rd, 2022 at 4:31 pm
From Paul Roberts who was covering the Wyo/NG Game:
Paul Roberts
@PaulRobertsCuse
·
16m
I’ve been covering high school sports for nearly 25 years. Don’t know that I’ll ever see a more thrilling finish than Wyomissing vs. Neumann-Goretti.
A tip of the cap to both teams. Outstanding effort!
3 Touchdowns scored in the last 2 minutes of the game, you just don’t see that in High School Football. 610 Fill us in!
December 3rd, 2022 at 4:25 pm
The season is over among District 2 teams. It was a tall task for Crestwood to beat McDevitt, anyway. No one thought they’d make it that far, so I tip my cap to the Comets on a great season.
Other observations
– I honestly thought Port Allegany would have the advantage over Union. It’s mind-blowing how the #11 seed in 1A WPIAL will play for a title in Mechanicsburg. When was the last time that low of a seed ever made it that far? I feel like it’s recent, but I don’t think it happens that often. Steel-High is going to be a tough matchup for them. Then again, what do I know? Union Area is playing great team football right now.
– That Wyomissing/Neumann-Goretti outcome was a stunner. Would Belle Vernon be favored in that one?
– Westinghouse/Steel Valley looked to be a great game. I hope Westinghouse can match up with Southern Columbia. Then again, Southern will likely mercy rule their way to another state title.
– I know it will never happen, but I honestly think Southern should pull a Kennedy Catholic like move & play 4/5A in the upcoming two-year cycle. I’d love to see what they do against higher level competition. If Quips can do what they’re doing in 4A, I wouldn’t be shocked if Southern did the same at that level. I’m sure the same issues with Aliquippa would fall into Southern’s hands, when it came to why they protested the success factor move, but voluntarily moving up to a higher level could make their state playoff run a bit more of a challenge.
Before I go,
– Heck of a career for the Canton seniors. Hate that both of Steel-High’s last two wins were against those two teams. Both would’ve been great representatives for East PA 1A.
– Central (Martinsburg) gave Belle Vernon a much better fight than I thought they would. Can’t wait for how the Mountain League teams will handle the LHAC, moving forward.
– ACC looked like they made it a game early, but Aliquippa might be the best program in the state not named St. Joe’s (& that’s coming from someone who absolutely can’t stand private schools playing in the state playoffs, & even wrote a paper on it back in college).
– Didn’t really follow along on the other games, but fingers crossed Harrisburg & Pine-Richland stun the world.
December 3rd, 2022 at 4:19 pm
Kevin X…That is a good question. Based on the rule he may not be.
December 3rd, 2022 at 4:10 pm
Will NG’s Shawn Battle be eligible to play next Saturday??
December 3rd, 2022 at 4:09 pm
Do I have permission to add Wyomissing to my list of most overrated teams in eastern PA this year?? They will join Lakeland and North Penn.
Ironic that I sat thru a scrimmage between two of those teams back in August.
December 3rd, 2022 at 3:42 pm
I want to hear all about this Quinton Martin guy????
December 3rd, 2022 at 3:30 pm
NG WON!!! SOOOOOOO………
December 3rd, 2022 at 2:02 pm
10-8
Wyo
Halftime
December 3rd, 2022 at 12:07 am
@ Paul White
Yup, 100%
December 2nd, 2022 at 11:46 pm
I like the teams who will represent the West. Got my picks right, didn’t see Westinghouse pulling away from a VERY GOOD Steel Valley team that easy. That team has speed to burn, size and a NASTY D, that really likes to hit. Pine Richland was just to big, to fast and to strong for Cocalico. Not to mention, P-R is so well coached. Union didn’t shock me, coaching makes a difference, they are well coached. The ‘Quips did what the ‘Quips do, make it look easy. Belle Vernon looked awesome in second half, shutting out Martinsburg. Loving the fact that 4 WPIAL Teams and 1 Pgh. City League team will be representing the West. All 5 teams are very good, I like are chances. But not making my predictions yet, some good teams from the East.
December 2nd, 2022 at 10:53 pm
Good game between Upped Dublin and Imhotep tonight. UD had its chance to take the lead at the end but fumbled the snap on 4th down on TEPS 25 yd line.
Imhotep has a lot of nice players but they aren’t as good a team as they should be with the talent they have. Offense is meh. They get by with individual talent. I’ll pick Pine Richland in the final
UD was probably giving 70 lbs a man up front but did a nice job defensively against TEPS o-line despite the size difference.
O’Sullivan is a very good QB. He’s fun to watch..
December 2nd, 2022 at 8:15 pm
Packed house at West Mifflin for the 2A semi final between Westinghouse and Steel Valley. Estimated crowd of over 4,000.
December 2nd, 2022 at 3:06 pm
@ Wpialguy
Meaning???
I myself will be down at Wissahickon HS for Imhotep/Upper Dublin. If the game wasn’t a few minutes away, I’d find myself at the Souderton gym for their annual tipoff tournament. Been seeing a lot this week of people getting bent out of shape with basketball and the winter sports season is starting today, raining on their football parade and feeling for all of the poor football players who won’t be playing basketball this weekend. They make it sounding like there with be 4 players on the hoops roster and that when the plethora of kids coming off of the football season that they won’t be ready to play basketball. Maybe someone also needs to remind these folks that the girls winter sports season starts today as well, zero to do with football. Amazing and hilarious.
December 2nd, 2022 at 1:26 pm
I will preface this by saying I am an SJP alum. So, I do love to see their success. They most definitely recruit, but at this point, with how much success they have had, if you are a stud 8th grade football player why would you not want to go there? Basically, if you start you will go D-1 and you are essentially guaranteed at least 1 state title over your 4 years.
That being said, I think if SJP really wants to achieve what seems to be their goal of being a perennial national power like the Bishop Gorman’s, IMGs, or Mater Dei’s of the world, they would be better served leaving the PIAA. As much as I love winning state titles, it is getting to the point that it seems like they need a new end of year goal. While there are other teams in the state that can challenge them, it seems like it takes other school’s “once in a decade” type of team to compete with them. Even I have to admit it seems a little unfair for a school to go up against the talent and size assembled by Prep. If you look at their roster, their back up o-line is all 6ft+ 250lbs+. That is insane for a high school team.
I think that the best move for Prep, and what from what it sounds like would really appease the rest of the state, would be to remove themselves from the PIAA. I know the PCL has a tremendous amount of tradition and Prep is one of the founding members. While that would be sad to lose, escaping the PIAA would allow for them to schedule even more national programs. Ideally, they could join the Inter-Ac, which would also help the academic prestige, which is important to Prep. Inter-Ac might not be interested however, and some kind of independent status might also work.
Interesting to see if Prep would consider such a move. As someone who went there, the school’s philosophy is essential to always keep accepting new harder challenges. I would think at this point they have to be close to realizing the rest of the PIAA isn’t able to keep up and other challenges could await.
December 2nd, 2022 at 11:41 am
@610 – BV has plenty of other very good high school players, but when you have the top ranked recruit in the state he tends to overshadow everyone else on the team. BV is going to have their hands full with a very good Central Martinsburg team who has a QB who has thrown for 3,768 yards this season with 50 TD’s and set the state record last year with 57 TD passes, so Martin is going to be a very important factor in the secondary this game.
There is no doubt NG is an underdog against Wyomissing, but that doesn’t mean they can’t upset them, look at Union in the WPIAL, they were a #10 seed and no one thought they were going to get to the district final let alone beat Bishop Canevin last week, same with Cocalico, they were a #12 seed and very few thought they would upset Exeter.
December 2nd, 2022 at 11:21 am
610, Wolfrum has coached against 2 Crosbie coached teams-TEP and NG and I love Albie, however, the total combined scores of those 2 games was 77-19. Wyo scored 6 straight TD”S 42 points against NG last year, it looked like men vs boys out there. However, never underestimate the power of emotion, NG will remember last years blow out and is playing on their home turf. I am expecting a closer game than last year but only 1 team has beaten WYO the last 3 years Central Valley, and they were one of the best AAA teams I have seen in a long time.
December 2nd, 2022 at 10:54 am
Here are my picks coming from the West.
Union over Port Allegheny
Westinghouse over Steel Valley ( honestly think this is for the State Champ.) Teams are so close, could flip a coin. Happy to see either win, both from the Westside. But would enjoy seeing the ‘House finish the dream season.
Belle Vernon over C. Martinsburg
‘Quips over Allentown C.C.
P-R over Cocalico
Yes I am bias to the WPIAL/City League, but honestly feel this is how it shakes out. Next week is different, deal w that tomorrow. Best luck to all teams East n West.
December 2nd, 2022 at 8:53 am
@Paul White.. Almost, there have a been few students to attend NP and not pick up move. They provided a multiple occupancy form, which basically means you have someone who actually lives in the NP school district sign a form saying they live there and at their normal address with the their parents. One utility bill to substantiate the residency in the district and magic happens.
Unsure how many other districts have this policy. It was big in Philadelphia when I was kid. So NP, No move and no tuition. “Not comparable by a long shot”.
December 2nd, 2022 at 6:16 am
Does every other state hold their state semi finals on basketball season opening night? I mean… what are we doing here?
December 2nd, 2022 at 5:32 am
@Pennsyltucky Proud, I backhanded slap Danville?!? I never said they were a bad team, all I said is majority of their wins were shutouts and as I looked at their schedule and scores, I thought, what is their competition like. If you read my comment, I never said any team was bad, every team plays soft teams.
If Wyo beats NG 100-0, hey, the better team won. Then I would pick Wyo to win the CHIP, so I can say, we lost to the Champs. But if NG beat Wyo, then was it luck or Wyo was out coached?
If NG and BV wins, everyone is going to pick BV to win. Then all I’m going to hear is about BV’s running back. Is that all they have because that’s the only player people on this forum talks about.
NG isn’t going too lay down for any team.
December 1st, 2022 at 11:16 pm
My picks for this weekend:
1A Canton over Steelton 41-35, Port Allegany over Union 21-20
2A Southern over Trinity 41-20, Westinghouse over Steel Valley 28-21
3A Wyo over NG 35-10, Belle Vernon over Central Martinsburg 31-20
4A McDevitt over Crestwood 40-7, Quips over ACC 35-14
5A Upper Dublin over Imhotep 21-14, Pine Richland over Cocalico 28-14
6A SJP over Garnet Valley 42-7, Harrisburg over State College 35-21
December 1st, 2022 at 9:52 pm
@Jeff H I still bet on UD because Colin O Sullivan is a winner. I love the way he plays. I hope I am right.
December 1st, 2022 at 9:34 pm
@Foleman… The Private Schools in the area are different today than they were 25-30 years ago. Most of the Catholic Schools had boundaries and there wasn’t this mindset that you had to play for certain teams to get noticed and recruited by colleges. The Catholic league teams that played in the 70’s-90’s were good but they wouldn’t stand a chance against the typical Prep and LaSalle teams that are put on the field today. Same for the inter-ac teams. They are much more competitive today. Top players from D1 get plucked away by these schools and dilute the talent pool.
How people think is irrelevant. The record of who’s winning the past 20 years speaks for itself. The Publics are at a disadvantage. If the Prep wants me to play for them, I just go there at a discounted tuition. If North Penn wants me, my family needs to sell their house and move to their township. Not comparable by a long shot.
December 1st, 2022 at 7:56 pm
@610 Good luck to your son but you’re backhanded slap against Danville was so wrong. Danville had an incredible team this year. I will be curious to see if NG does better against Wyo than Danv did. I suspect as @NEPA said, NG will fare no better against Wyo than it did against SCA about 5 yrs ago. But that’s why they play the game.
December 1st, 2022 at 5:14 pm
@Bones – I saw him play 3 times last year and once this year against McKeesport and he is a stud, no doubt about it, he’s all over the field on defense and I think that’s where his future is at the next level, but he’s a pretty dynamic running back as well, he can change the game on 1 play, and don’t even think about punting of kicking off to him as you’re playing with fire, he had a great punt return for a TD last week at Acrisure Stadium against Avonworth in the WPIAL final.
@610 – I’m not familiar with the NG coach but Bob Wolfrum with Wyomissing is one of the best coaches in state history and his record speaks for itself. Finishing up his 36th season he is 350-86-1, and the second-winningest active coach in Pennsylvania. He has won ten district titles, been to the state semifinals six times and finals three times, winning it all in 2012 and losing the last two years, to Central Valley. Wyomissing did hammer Cocalico this year who won the D3 5A title and is still playing this week, they also beat a pretty good Lampeter-Strasburg 4A team, as well as Berks Catholic and Pottsville, so it’s not like they’ve played a bunch of cream puffs every week. Good luck to your son and team this week but I think they are going to be overmatched by Wyomissing.
December 1st, 2022 at 4:54 pm
@Foleman – I agree with you, it’s a mystery to me why DI hasn’t won a state title since Lansdale Catholic won 2A in 2004. Even when the PIAA flipped the brackets for 2 years so D12 (i.e. SJP) played the WPIAL winner in the semi-finals in 2018-19 the DI winner still lost to the D3 winner in the semi-finals. Like you mentioned the PCL and Inter-AC were siphoning off kids prior to D12 joining the PIAA in 2008, so there’s got to be other explanations for why DI football has not been as competitive on a state wide level for quite awhile. North Penn in 2016 was very good, and so was Coatesville the next few years, but neither of them could quite get over the hump. Maybe UD will surprise everyone and beat Imhotep, I do think that game is going to be a lot closer than most people expect, but GV is probably going to get mercy ruled again by SJP, we’ll see.
December 1st, 2022 at 4:09 pm
Why are yall taking shots at players and coaches? What makes Wyomissing coach better than NG coach? Are you guys writing NG off because of what happen last year, a lot of you had Scranton Prep and NL beating NG and no one said anything NG won both games. When they played NL, alot of you were saying , “Cade Christopher is going to run all over NG”. From what I saw, he probably had close to 50-60 yds rushing and 1 TD, he got hurt in the game and I hope he’s doing ok. As far as Wyomissing, who did they beat this year, their toughest game this year was Danville, so what does that tell you about their competition. They shutout 9 out of 12 opponents during the regular season. Alot of people get fooled by records, I look at competition. When you guys get a chance, look at Danville and Wyomissing schedule, look at the scores. Don’t get me wrong, everyone plays bad teams, that’s just what it is. BV also, they have 2 loses but look at who they played, they shutout majority of the teams they played. If Wyomissing beat NG, the best team won. And if you haven’t figured it out, I have a kid who plays for NG.
December 1st, 2022 at 4:06 pm
@Jeff H. Looking forward to the Belle Vernon Wyo matchup. Haven’t seen much of Quinton yet but just looking at highlights, he’s an absolute monster. For how big he is, he can still change directions really well and still run away from people. And he’s only a junior haha
December 1st, 2022 at 2:18 pm
@All the SJP haters. NE PA basically Any can beat SJP (A Philly Team) because they don’t want to get hit by running down hill on them. I couldn’t help to have fun with that comment.
On another note I was surprised hearing from a parent from Texas that he feels we in PA and Ohio hit differently (better) than in Texas. I was shocked since Texas is considered a hot bed for football.
December 1st, 2022 at 1:54 pm
@mcd 65. I’m not insulting the players by any means. Goretti is not used to power football (the kind that Wyo will bring to the table tomorrow). They’re used to just outrunning everyone and not getting smacked in the mouth every down. Over the years, it’s very apparent that once you get a team like that down, they will quit and roll over. Seen it with Southern Columbia and Wyo over the years. Just go back to last year’s matchup when Goretti went right down the field and scored on their first drive. Wyo gets the ball and goes right down the field and scores then they get a stop and its 35 straight points and a mercy rule. If you get them down and continue to pound the football, it’s over.
December 1st, 2022 at 1:03 pm
Paul White “I think a lot of people in District 1 value the district championship more than ever” There’s the problem, if you don’t think you are good enough to beat the best, you will lose. District 1 had several State Champs back in the day-N.Penn, Strath Haven, Lansdale Catholic, Neshaminy, CB West-(4) Downingtown when they were 1 school. District 1 has more 6A and 5A schools than anywhere in the State, they should be churning out Powerhouse teams every year. What happened? The Catholic League and Inter-Ac were around then too and it didn’t affect the Pubs, something changed over the years and I don’t have an answer for what happened to District 1 football.
December 1st, 2022 at 12:55 pm
I too see Wyomissing winning this game by at least 2 scores, if not more, but let’s wait until we crown them state champs, they will still likely have to beat Belle Vernon in the final, and district 3 is 0-5 against WPIAL teams in the 3A state final since we switched to 6 classes in 2016, with Middletown losing the first 3 and of course Wyomissing losing the last 2 years to Central Valley. Assuming Belle Vernon does win this week the rest of the state will get introduced to Quinton Martin, who is the top ranked recruit in the state of PA in the class of 2024 and can pretty much pick wherever he wants to go to college.
December 1st, 2022 at 11:56 am
@ NE PA, I agree with you about Wyomissing beating NG by a wide margin ,Your comment about not wanting to be hit is insulting and just ridiculous. NG does not have the coaching to get them beyond a first round imo.. Do some home work on their players success at the Division ! level. They certainly didnt get there not wanting to be hit. Make your point without insulting players. Thanks
December 1st, 2022 at 11:02 am
I think a lot of people in District 1 value the district championship more than ever. They realize with the private schools in the way in getting to the final, it’s unlikely they get there. Most people expect D1 to lose in the semis
December 1st, 2022 at 9:10 am
@EmanD3 I believe Wyo will run Goretti into the ground fairly easily. Once Wyo gets the wing-t going, I believe at some point Goretti will say they’ve had enough and pretty much lay down. Very similar to last year and previous years. Most of those teams from Philly just want to outrun you and don’t want to get hit. But once they meet a team like Wyo/Southern Columbia who will just come at you all game running downhill, it gets apparent that they don’t want to tackle anymore. And I believe Wyo is just simply a better team, more disciplined and well coached.
December 1st, 2022 at 8:42 am
EmanD3, NG had the same guys last year and got run over by Wyo, unless their coaches can some how find a way to slow down the WingT Wyo probably wins by at least 2 TD’S. Even with all of that talent NG lost to the 3 best teams on their schedule while Wyo blew out the District 3 5A champ Cocalico and beat a tough Lampeter squad and a very talented Danville team. Wolfrum is one of the best coaches in the State and has beat very talented teams in the past like Alliquippa and Imhotep so he will have a plan for NG. I think Wyo brings home the Gold this year.
December 1st, 2022 at 5:57 am
@EmanD3 Wyo will play team ball and NG will hang for a quarter and get wore down and frustrated just as SC exploited them several years ago. Wyo 42- NG 14
December 1st, 2022 at 12:24 am
What’s everyone’s thoughts on the Wyomissing/Neumann Goretti game on Friday?
I saw NG has six D1 guys and their D is giving up 48 yds rushing per game, and 2.1 yds per rush. Plus barely giving up 110 yds total/game. Pretty impressive!
Wyo is averaging 326/game on the ground. Have punted 13x in 13 games. They have two RB’s over 1,000 and another with 850. Their last two games they have rushed for 950 yds and 11 TD’s. Those two teams had a combined record of 23-1…sounds like it could be a real slobberknocker! Something has got to give.
November 30th, 2022 at 12:44 pm
What everyone is missing in this whole debate about setting up brackets and separating publics and privates is the individual districts would have to give up having their own championships, which I know the WPIAL and I assume district 3 and district 1 in particular would not be in favor of doing, I can’t imagine the WPIAL ever agreeing to a system that would eliminate the WPIAL playoffs which they have been holding for decades longer than the state tournament. The PIAA has to manage its tournament around the district playoffs, and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon, if ever.
I think the vast majority on this board agree it was a big mistake for the PIAA to go to 6 classes in 2016, but I doubt they will ever admit that, you could fix many but certainly not all of the problems that plague the tournament now if you went back to 4 or at most 5 classes.
November 30th, 2022 at 10:01 am
@FrankG the JCo is mentioning is one I have heard as well. I have no idea why people think that. Way to run the history.
@Philly_Plug215 I like that idea also. Teams that don’t give into the narrative are teams the either beat SJP/LaSalle or perform at very high level and make it a great game.
November 30th, 2022 at 6:32 am
PIAA needs a ranking bracket instead of east and west so many missed opportunities for a great tourney instead of east and west take top 16 programs that have no problem drawling kids in or getting kids to play for them like Quips Tep Hawks Pine PCC Lasalle Roman NA Mcdevitt etc these schools have no problem obtaining high level players that’s why Quips (1a-2a) school can play 4a and compete. Again Tep is a (3a) school plays competitive in 5a not because they recruit but because kids actually wanna play there and the same can be said bout any of the schools listed above. Not only would these schools compete @ a high level but the games would be more exciting. Let the traditional power houses slug it out against each other for a PIAA open division title. This league will also be a non boundary league. PIAA should only have 5 division making the 5th an open division. Also if there is another school dominating in 1a-4a the success factor should move them into the 16 man tourney in the open division and the worst team in the open division moves back to its respectable classification. For instance if Parkland dominated 4a and won its title 3 years in a row they would move to 5a open division and let a team struggling in open division drop down to play in there respectable classification. The way it set up now Philadelphia talent pool gets watered down bad from Philadelphia city championship. Teams like Roman and Lasalle get sniffed by SJP AND TEP when really they should have been in the tourney to add a competitive play. Only way I see PIAA football getting better.
November 29th, 2022 at 10:17 pm
@JCo I don’t know where you get the idea that the LaSalle-SJP game was ever considered the “real final.” From 2008 to 2012, LaSalle was the PCL rep in the big school classification and only in 2009 did they win a state championship and in only one other year were they in the final. In 2013, SJP was considered by most the decided underdog in the state final against PCC. In 2014 they beat LaSalle in a blowout but had very close games against Parkland and P-R. In 2015 LaSalle won the PCL again but lost to Parkland in the quarter-finals. Are you getting the picture? No reason to think of the PCL championship as the real state final. In 2016 SJP won a very tight semi-final game against North Penn–a much closer game than the earlier LaSalle game. In 2017 there was all the anticipation of playing Coatesville and P-R, the latter in unquestionably the “real” final. In 2019 the PCL championship game against LaSalle was a blowout, but the semi-final against PCC was a classic. In 2020 and 2021, the Prep blew out LaSalle again in the championship games, but of course M-L won the “real final” last year.
I agree that the public-private debate is more nuanced than many recognize.
November 29th, 2022 at 6:16 pm
In the discussion about the role of privates, I want to provide the following perspective: in many years, the game between SJP and La Salle was considered the “real final”, and yet the champion still had to slog through multiple additional weeks to be declared the state champion, and the loser goes home early. This is a game that deserves to be played much closer to the actual final. A private-only bracket would allow more of eastern PA to be mixed together, allowing schools to play across boundary lines for the right to advance. These games would be hotbeds for potential college recruits. Sure, there might be more travel per game, but that can easily be offset by simply having fewer total rounds.
The public/private debate is more nuanced that just the publics avoiding perceived heavyweights. The private schools could stand to benefit quite a bit as well.
November 29th, 2022 at 2:22 pm
@Pennsyltucky Proud – must be a REAL Minimal as 2 of the parents are single moms, and one has several kids, parents don’t have it & she’s really struggling, so it’s got to be bare minimum. That was my conversation with her, how do you afford it? “Well it doesn’t cost me a dime” is what I was told.
November 29th, 2022 at 1:24 pm
@D2 Fan – I agree with all your picks, so that’s probably the kiss of death for some of these teams!
In 6A I’ve been saying all year it would be Harrisburg vs. SJP, and with the way Harrisburg has played the last several weeks I think they beat SC and avenge their regular season loss, just like they did with Manheim Township last week
In 5A Pine Richland is on a roll and I think they beat Cocalico by a few scores this week and have a legitimate chance to beat Imhotep in the final, never thought I would be saying that a couple of months ago when they started 1-3 and looked disjointed on offense
In 4A the much anticipated rematch happens, I think both Aliquippa and McDevitt are better than last year, and that should be a tremendous game next week
Belle Vernon has been the favorite to make it from the West all season, just like Wyomissing in the East, no surprises there
Westinghouse vs. Steel Valley will be a battle and the game I am going to see since it’s being played 10 minutes from my house, its’ been 20 years since a WPIAL team played a Pittsburgh city league team in the state semifinals, I said yesterday I think Westinghouse will win, goes without saying So Columbia will be there for the 8th year in a row
In 1A the dream run has to end for Union sometime, upset winners in the WPIAL finals sometimes struggle the following week in the state playoffs, as it’s tough to come back from the emotional high of winning at Acrisure Stadium (still feels weird typing that and not Heinz), Bishop Canevin lost in this round last year, and I think Union loses to Port Allegany, hard to go against Steelton, I’ve thought all year they were the best team in 1A.
November 29th, 2022 at 12:56 pm
After all of the jinxes, this is who I see making it to Mechanicsburg next week
1A: Steel-High vs. Port Allegany
2A: Southern Columbia vs. Westinghouse
3A: Wyomissing vs. Belle Vernon Area
4A: Bishop McDevitt vs. Aliquippa
5A: Imhotep vs. Pine-Richland
6A: St. Joe’s vs. Harrisburg
I’d love to see Crestwood, Upper Dublin, & Garnet Valley take a page from Union Area & take down the private school powers, but this isn’t the year.
If I’m wrong, so be it.
November 29th, 2022 at 11:42 am
@JC you also made some good points. The bowl games are the best Idea I have heard yet. It gives the non-happy side an avenue to win a championship of sorts and then you have one for best team in the state (bowl game). I like it.
I am sure everyone sadly believes public schools don’t recruit. If the public HS coach says to any 8th grader somethin on the lines of ,” that will be you in year when you come play for me”. Guess what that’s called. You guessed it. Sure you can say they wouldn’t have to do it if there weren’t other options, but who really wants their to not be other options. 2 sons, 2 experiences, HS coaches recruit. Period. I don’t need to guess, assume or fabricate a story. Now people can be naive and think this is few and far between and you can also believe your pictures are stored in cumulus clouds you see floating by in the sky.
November 29th, 2022 at 11:20 am
It must be state playoff time because we are back on the separate playoffs to make things fair. Does anything if it was deemed unfair when the PCL joined the PIAA it would have gone through? I was thinking about this two weeks ago when SJP was facing Northeast. The public league teams, parents, players get hit the hardest. They loose to the SJP or LaSalle year in and year out. The last public school district 12 Champion was in 2008. No MT Leebo, no Pine Richland, no parkland knocking out LaSalle in 2015. Yet they play on. No tweets saying we play a school that recruits and “we actually have to go class”. I found the second part hilarious. I guess it’s easy for someone to say they don’t care enough. Once you make a more for the privates, the charter schools will have to be next, but since there is currently only one school fitting that mold, and they don’t always come home with the trophy, I guess there’s time there.
@KevinX laid out so good points on this as usual.
November 28th, 2022 at 6:45 pm
@BigBoy: I’m not trying to antagonize but merely trying to edify here. Those big Catholic schools (LaSalle, SJP) charge close to 26K/yr, not 10K. For perspective/reference, the Inter-Acs cost approx 43K/yr now. I believe @814FB was chirpin’ the other day about BG in Altoona charging 13K/yr. Well, the Inter-Acs (MP, GA, etc) were charging that for Pre-K back in the mid-00s. BUT, and again not trying to antagonize but merely to clarify, @Mike S, even the “free-riders” hv to pay a little or as these schools define it, “what it is deemed they can afford.” If those undefiined Cath schools charge not one cent, then that is news to me.
PS: Was heartbroken for Danville.
November 28th, 2022 at 6:15 pm
@JCo
You may have mentioned only ECP, but the great majority of what I read here and elsewhere about how unfair mixing the private schools and the public schools focuses on SJP–not Scranton Prep, Bishop McDevitt, Bonner-Prendergast, PCC, ACC, etc. Isn’t this the case? As far as I can tell, few if any are saying that ECP’s problem would best be addressed by having them play only other Catholic schools in the playoffs. The change that would solve lots of problems with the playoffs would be going back to four classifications. Going to five would help, but not as much.
And tell me how going to separate public and private playoffs will make PA teams more competitive when playing teams from other states. Are Jersey’s public school teams better because they have “public” and “non-public” classifications?
November 28th, 2022 at 6:07 pm
@ JCo
My two disclaimers, I have no problem with a separate playoffs for public boundary schools and private/non boundary schools. But one, hoops first. Second, still waiting on a reasonable, fair, workable solution for football. I’ll accept your reasonings (to a degree, rebuttals below), but they don’t move the needle for me as “issues” to proceed with separate football playoffs.
First: There are 24 5A and 6A schools in the WPIAL, 29 total in D7, D8 and And D10. If you can’t figure out scheduling with that many schools, that’s on you. A good number of 4A WPIAL teams that could be in the mix as well. That’s not a statewide private/public issue.
Second: I don’t disagree that the competition formula has basically been a joke as implemented. But the PIAA is in the process of removing the transfer clause from the equation. Then it will be a straight forward success is success formula for everybody. We’ll see if it passes on the third and final reading, as it became fairly close on the second reading. I’ll guarantee you tho, if Southern Columbia wins another championship, it will pass. If you still want to tweak it for private/charter schools, use a multiplier factor like Alabama does.
Third: This is lovely, so in your proposal you’d probably end up having ECP playing PCC every year in the first round of a large school private playoffs, it there is any geographically sense worked into that bracket. Then based on recent history, SJP winning that bracket year after year for the foreseeable future. Exciting. It’s time for the WPIAL and western large schools to come to grips with reality that demographics are changing, and not in their favor with respect to large schools (unless they actually start consolidating), and work out western sub regional brackets for 5A and 6A.
Forth: Who cares at that point. What about the rest of the schools/classifications??
November 28th, 2022 at 5:38 pm
@BigBoy, well I agree with you whole heartedly except for one point, and that is “Yes contrary to what everyone believes, every kid’s family pays something” NOPE I KNOW 3 young man that go to Catholic Schools and unless the parents are lying on all three occasions, they pay NADA, ZIPPO, NOTHING, & you know what I don’t think all 3 parents are lying.
November 28th, 2022 at 5:11 pm
@FrankG: I did not mention SJP in my post. In fact, there was a team I namedropped, but you conveniently ignored it. Seems like your mind is on SJP specifically. So my answer is yes, if SJP were taken out of the mix, my position would not change. We’re talking about playoffs here, travel is going to happen. If publics are that concerned with losing these showdowns, then shrink the playoffs and schedule in time for “bowl games” across public/private lines. There are creative solutions to this.
@BigBoy: The “loser’s mentality” argument is lazy and tired. This is about allowing both publics and privates to reach their fullest potential without worrying about transfers, competitive balance measures, or whatever else people will complain about. The top teams in Pennsylvania REGULARLY lose to the top teams in neighboring states, we can’t pretend that having combined playoffs doesn’t play a factor in that. This is about coming up with creative solutions for the betterment of Pennsylvania football, not sticking with the old ways for tradition’s sake.
November 28th, 2022 at 1:29 pm
The “boundary / non-boundary” playoff talk needs to stop. It facilitates a loser’s mentality. Do Catholic schools recruit? Absolutely. And ya know what? Too bad. It’s not going to change.
Places that complain about losing kids to charter/catholic schools need to sit down and look at their own programs and ask themselves “what are we doing to lose kids to schools where they have to pay $10k a year?” And yes, contrary to what everyone believes, every kid’s family pays something.
I’ll use Parkland as an example. As soon as St. Joe’s beat LaSalle to get into the quarter finals, Parkland already began with the sob stories of how it’s not fair that they have to play them. “Their players are so big and fast, they all come from New Jersey, blah blah blah.” Instead of trying to rise to the occasion to win a big football game, it automatically turns to ‘let’s blame the catholic schools because we cant win’. Parkland has roughly 1700 boys in grades 9-12. I dont want to hear any part of anything being unfair to them. Get better. It’s plain and simple. Teach your kids to overcome adversity, not become a victim.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:49 pm
@Jeff H.
I agree w your assessment of Westinghouse, the team is absolutely loaded. Huge upfront, speed to burn at all skills. I was VERY IMPRESSED W that D. Those LB’s are grown men. The entire D flys to the football, and those kids HIT! Very interested to see them vs Steel Valley. Either way being a Coach in the WPIAL, happy for either team who wins. Should make for a great game. Yes, either team should be the favorite regardless of who they play in finals. Can’t wait to watch this. Best of luck to both teams.
November 28th, 2022 at 11:23 am
@ JCo
I wonder if the issue you are addressing is private vs public or SJP vs publics. If SJP were taken out of the mix (or decided themselves not to take part in the PIAA playoffs) would you still be in favor of such a big change? The solution you propose would separate Bishop McDevitt, PCC, ACC, BC, Scranton Prep, etc. from all the schools in their areas when it comes time for the playoffs, even though, as far as I can tell, nobody is saying there’s something unfair about these schools playing public schools at various stages of the playoffs. Your solution would also have private schools –with the exception of PCL schools in some cases–travelling very long distances for all playoff games.
Also, think of how your plan would have played out last year. Garnet Valley was very keen to play SJP and many thought they were the favorite in the game. Something similar for Coatesville in 2017, North Penn in 2016, and Neshaminy in 2013.
November 28th, 2022 at 11:01 am
@Scotty B…..yes should be interesting to see who both PJP and PV schedule to start the season next year. Its fun to see some new teams now and then.
November 28th, 2022 at 10:18 am
@Kevin X:
*Large Western PA publics have had issues with scheduling as the number of 6A and 5A publics have diminished. A 4-way split of the publics would reduce the level of segmentation.
*Separating publics/privates for the playoffs would reduce the level of nonsense when it comes to trying to enact competitive balance rules, because now you’re comparing apples to apples. You can use different eligibility sets that suit private schools without having to worry about how they impact public schools, and vice versa.
*I almost guarantee that Cathedral Prep’s “extended bye” would not have happened in a private-only bracket. The bracket would have been set up in such a way to prevent this from the beginning.
*There could still be a “state championship” between the 6A public champion and the Large private champion, but at least this way you know it’s the best of the best of both. Nobody’s getting eliminated early by running into a buzzsaw.
There’s nothing wrong with playing across private/public lines in the regular season, but keeping everyone together is like putting a square peg in a round hole. It just doesn’t provide maximum benefit to anyone.
November 28th, 2022 at 10:15 am
Wpialguy and I have been saying on this board all year to keep an eye on Westinghouse from the Pittsburgh City League/District 8, and on Saturday they totally dominated Farrell 34-6 to advance to the western finals against an undefeated Steel Valley team. Westinghouse has a great defense, holding Farrell to minus 3 rushing yards and only about 60 yards of total offense. Farrell was playing without their primary offense weapon in receiver Kylon Wilson, who was ejected from last weeks game and therefore ineligible to play in this game, and without him Westinghouse’s defense just totally shut down Farrell’s offense. I think Westinghouse beats Steel Valley this week and has a good chance to beat SC in the state title game to win the City League’s first state title since Perry Traditional Academy in 1989.
@EmanD3 – the WPIAL team had to travel 2+ hours to get to Altoona for those games as well, so it’s not like Altoona is close to the WPIAL schools either, this week Aliquippa has a 3+ hour bus ride to Bald Eagle HS in Bellefonte to play ACC.
@Kevin X – these sites are picked in advance, and I’m assuming Altoona is the site of the 6A game anticipating it would be a WPIAL team against the D3 winner like it is in most years, more often than not the 6A Western final game is at Altoona, last year Mt Lebo beat State College there, and in 2019 SJP beat PCC in OT after the epic TD catch by Marvin Harrison Jr. on 4th and 10 in the closing seconds of regulation to force OT.
November 28th, 2022 at 8:30 am
@ Kevin X
I agree! Maybe the PIAA should cough up some more $ to host these games. I heard CV HS in D3 got over $1 mill to host the state championships for 4 years? There has to be a better way, prior to the finals, I would think….in 2012 and ’16 Wilson West Lawn had to travel 150 mi. to Altoona to play in the final 4. It was almost a 6 hr. drive, round trip, just for the fans. Imagine what that is like for the players/coaches and staff..
Heck, I can drive to Cape May at the Jersey Shore in less than that time….It’s tough on a lot of teams.
November 27th, 2022 at 10:02 pm
@EmanD3
Where do you suggest they play the game?? Better question, what suitable facility is available and willing to host?? N-G is on the top of the bracket, they get the better part of the deal, this year. Next year when the brackets are flipped, the same game will be/should be somewhere in D3. Schools/facilities are not knocking one another over to get to the front of the line in order to host a game this time a year. Fall sports are done, they shut them down. Focus is now on winter sports. How do you think Harrisburg feels having to travel out to Altoona?? Logic would have it you would think that their game with State College would be somewhere off of Rte. 322 between the two schools.
@ JCo
What are the “lot of issues” that would be solved at once??
November 27th, 2022 at 6:13 pm
I understand why Wyomissing had to drive 75mi. to Danville last week…but why do they have to drive 50 mi. to Philly SS to play NG, who is only 14 mi. away? For the Final 4 it should be a bit more neutral….just my opinion
November 27th, 2022 at 4:06 pm
@Brian: I am in favor of splitting privates into separate brackets. Boundary AAAA, AAA, AA, and A, and Non-Boundary Large and Small. I think it solves a lot of issues at once.
November 27th, 2022 at 12:11 am
@Paul White. No, as I said before I had no dog in the fight. I wasn’t at the game and my comment from before could’ve been misled by the announcers of the game who were stating how chunks of turf were missing from the field and the goal post was messed up. My point is if that’s the case, then the piaa shouldn’t allow a state playoff game to be held there.
November 26th, 2022 at 9:48 pm
@MCA75 SCA’s stands were all collectively holding their breath as we got updates on the Danville game. That final 7 seconds had to be a ton of pressure on that kicker. We all let out a collective sad sigh when we heard his kick went wide. Poor kid. Though the stats looked as though Wyo was pretty dominant throughout the game, we know from experience that Danville can score quickly on you. We were all rooting for them. Wyo is just a beast of a team.
I’ve honestly never heard of Trinity before this postseason. Though I’d never heard of the Executive charter one either. I still feel these private schools need their own league. I’m sure I’ll get crap for that opinion. Lol
November 26th, 2022 at 9:01 pm
The South Phlly supersite is your basic turf field. It just doesn’t have your typical custom painted end zones and midfield because its used by more than one school. I was there a couple times. Nothing wrong with it. Calling it a dump is a reach. Sounds like somebody didn’t like driving from Lehigh County to lose.
November 26th, 2022 at 7:10 pm
@Brian I can honestly say I have never heard of anyone trying to take anyone out and if they did, I obviously don’t condone it. I still think its highly improbable to take someone out that way but ok.
I saw the highlights from the SCA/BG game and was glad to see no nonsense like last week. For next week, It looks like Trinity’s losses were all to tough teams but I’d be surprised if this game is close for SCA.
Also, its a shame for Danville to lose like that on a missed FG. I really feel for the kicker.
November 26th, 2022 at 6:22 pm
The state playoff game between Neumann Goretti and Northwestern Lehigh was played in a dump. They were saying on the broadcast how bad it was and how in the world could the piaa allow a state playoff game to be held there. It looked horrible, horrible playing surface, goal post was bent. I don’t have any dog in the fight, but I’m sure fans that made the trip from Northwestern Lehigh to the super site in Philly weren’t happy
November 26th, 2022 at 4:59 pm
Any snowballs chance in you know where it can be arranged for a true District 1 Championship game next weekend between Upper Dublin and Garnet Valley?? Gonna be ugly otherwise for D1.
November 26th, 2022 at 4:19 pm
Hell of a game by Northern Lehigh. They were in control and were eating clock until end of third qtr and then Steelton’s offense started getting big plays in very little time. They came back down 8 with 3 min to go and tied but too much time left with 27 seconds. Steelton scored TD with 4 sec left. Northern did what they needed to do….long drives and score and get a few stops. Just came up a little short. Steelton Canton(if they win) should be another great game next week in A eastern finals.
November 26th, 2022 at 3:52 pm
Crestwood manages to beat Bonner-Prendie. D2’s lone team rolls on. Tall task for them to beat McDevitt, & possibly Aliquippa. Looking likely at a rematch of last year’s final.
Also, gutted for Northern Lehigh. They were so close to forcing OT, but Steel-High steals it at the end. They played a fantastic game.
Not a fan of the home field advantage in states, because I would’ve liked to have seen how this would’ve played out on a neutral site. Feel like the outcome would’ve been a bit different.
Rough weekend for District 11, overall. This is why I think the EPC should play non-league games. Actually, maybe all of District 11 needs to go non-conference/district for a week. Saving grace for D-11 was Central Catholic, who I hope can challenge Aliquippa. Maybe the EPC South’s battle tested schedule can rival the powerhouses of 4A WPIAL.
My jinx managed to get Northern Lehigh, Cathedral Prep, North Allegheny, & almost got Wyomissing, this weekend. I should just stop talking about teams, or making predictions. Then again, I am a weather enthusiast, so I have to love making predictions.
Lastly, shoutout to Westinghouse. What a story! I’ll shut up before I say anything about their next matchup.
November 26th, 2022 at 2:02 pm
@814fball I think it’s a shame you only saw that game with a negative light. I saw many SCA players help BG players up after the plays. I also had to chuckle when your QB lost his towel on a play and Carter gave it back to him and patted him on the butt like he was from his team. To say that your team lost players and SCA didn’t is also not true. Defensively we lost one of our best players on the first play of the first game. Garcia would have reaked havoc on your QB all night had he been able to play. You play with what you have. Your line was getting pushed all night and I don’t see that one player as making a big enough difference on either side to change the results.
BTW, after the game one of your fans stopped to tell us how impressed he was by SCA and how he felt they were superior in almost every area of the game. I told him your QB was definitely superior and you do have some great receivers. He felt this year’s BG team just didn’t really play as a team this year. He said you have a great group coming up in two years. I didn’t disappoint him by telling him that’s a group coming up in SCA that is also undefeated, so perhaps we’ll meet again in two years.
Your comment that SCA should be forced to move up is just old at this point. They continue to do well with a declining enrollment. They couldn’t be forced to move up because they don’t have the transfers from out of the district that you do. I personally disagree with the practice of simply penalizing a team because they’re successful. It teaches that hard work and dedication have penalties. What kind of lesson is that to them or other teams? Are we giving away participation trophies next?
November 26th, 2022 at 12:03 pm
814fball. You keep saying is a shame I didn’t know how many great football players bg has this year. Well guess what, at this point in the season all the remaining teams have great players. That’s how they got to this point. You are right though that sca is not as good as they have been. This is definitely a down year for them, this is the year to knock them off, too bad bg couldn’t do it this year. I’d say this is the weakest sca team in the past decade, but they are playing the best ball they have this year.
And I never said anything about bg recruiting. All private school can recruit, sca usually still goes through them. All schools that can and do recruit should play up a class to even things out a little. Especially small schools where one or two players can really have a big difference on a team. bg is playing where they should.
November 26th, 2022 at 11:52 am
814fball. Injuries and sickness really aren’t an excuse. Sca has had a key player out the whole season. He’s not only a great all state linebacker but also was a running back this year. He won’t be back until next year. They also were without barnes most of the year. BG had a good year, but they were outplayed and outcoached. Imagine how much worse it could have been if sca cleans up their penalties. Sca had more speed on the field and played more physical. Sca’s coach says after they beat mca that the mca line was the best they’d see this year, and with how much sca was in the bg backfield i would tend to agree so far. When’s the last time you seen a football taken off a rb and returned the other way for a touchdown? That physicality resulted in some penalties, but also resulted in a win.
And say what you want about sca not moving up, you realize that their enrollment is so small they couldn’t field a freshman team this year. And their enrollment is falling every year. They weren’t forced to move up because they do not have the number of transfers required to force the move. There’s more to the rule than just winning. This is a common complaint we hear when sca mercy rules a team that thought they could just show up and beat sca. BG really is a one man show by what I seen. I’m sure the team is full of good players, but you really only need to stop the qb and you stop the whole offense. They had a great season and should be proud, not bitter.
November 26th, 2022 at 10:48 am
@814fball. Guilfoyle was outplayed, plain and simple. You can recite all the excuses you want but after watching the game in person and the highlights on the news it’s clear as day. Defense wins championships and Southern has one heck of a defense.
As far as the comments about Guilfoyle only having one player. I agree they have many other players but only one that they rely on. A simple look at their stats shows you this.
November 26th, 2022 at 10:45 am
814 football I dont care that you have no air conditioning and 5 kids had a cold. I wonder if you were to snap.your fingers and gwt all your hurt players back if southern could get garcia back to in your world of make believe
November 26th, 2022 at 10:36 am
I might be wrong but dont they still use a success and transfer formula to bump you up a class? If bishop guilfoyle is such a close tight nit group you would think they would have backing from alumni and have fundraisers during home footaball and sporting events that would get you ac in the school and help with tuition for students that it could help. If you dont have anything like this maybe its not so tight knit and u dont deserve an ac unit. Please bring the pics that you have as evidence that you dont recruit of kids that mostly all of us dont know and couldnt decipher who is who. Its ashame your not recruiting, your allowed to to an extent in pa.
November 26th, 2022 at 10:20 am
@815 You can make all of the excuses in the world for BG losing to SCA but what it comes down to is that SCA outplayed them, outcoached them and didn’t cry when they were down in the first half. And as far as all of the injury’s and bad colds go, every team has them and you have to learn how to play with adversity. SCA lost one of their best players on the first game of the season and another one half way through the season but they did what they had to do to make the team better with the players they had. BG had plenty of good players but they didn’t hold up against the run after being pounded the entire game. Maybe you should try a better conditioning program so you can last a whole four quarters. Watch the Eastern final next week and maybe you can get some tips from SCA on how to get there and win. And, BTW, losing by more than 30 points is more than just a loss, it’s a trouncing.
November 26th, 2022 at 10:09 am
@814fball OK I will bite! What were the many circumstances beyond OUR control that contributed to SCA win. BG was clearly out played on all sides of the ball. Officials were fair…. Alot of sour grapes on your part. This comes from a Dunmore bucks fan. But I do follow district 4 football.
November 26th, 2022 at 8:55 am
Caught the PR/CP live stream last night. Hats off to PR. Looks like they were able to expose the limitations of CP’s passing game. CP lived and died (mostly lived) by just tossing it up to its playmakers running go routes or wheels out of the backfield. While I believe those plays were there last night, it seemed to me that the plan was to make the QB as uncomfortable as possible to affect those passes. And live with the results. And it worked. CP had opportunities there but it looked the PR was able to get just enough pressure to force the QB to miss on some of those throws. If that didn’t happen, might’ve been a completely different game. Good gameplan and execution. Gotta give them their props.
November 26th, 2022 at 1:22 am
@Ed ok I have to redo what I originally wrote because something messed up with my computer.
For starters, we don’t just have “one good player.” We lost another good player you apparently don’t know exists last week to an ACL injury which ended his high school football career (he does have college programs interested in him though). Additionally, 5 of our starters came down with a respiratory virus and strep throat earlier this week. Had we been healthy, we would have won that game. SCA isn’t as good this year as people seem to think.
I also want to clear up some things I’ve read far too many times to count regarding BG. Obviously private schools “recruit” students otherwise the school wouldn’t exist. What doesn’t happen at BG is the “recruitment” for football program. Do you know what the yearly BG tuition costs? It’s close to $13k/year. The school does not even have air conditioning that works properly, do you think they have money to hand out to kids specifically for football? (Hint: the answer is no. No, they don’t). Every starter this year has played on same teams with each other going back 6-7 years—the majority of them have parents and grandparents who are BG alumni. I mean; if you want to consider the exchange student from Spain who never played one minute of American football recruited—that would be a stretch—especially if people knew how not great his English was and coaches were using google translate to teach him how to kick (he turned out to be a heck of a place kicker and was decent with field goals—made 39 yard FG during Richland game). There were many circumstances beyond our control that contributed to SCA’s win. I wish those who speak poorly of BG could spend a couple weeks observing how much effort and dedication these boys have to the game and the program. It’s a shame people don’t give them the credit they deserve. They exceeded expectations winning four district titles in a row, especially this year’s at 2A when we are still technically a 1A school looking at enrollment.
To circle back though—it’s a shame you just aren’t aware of how many good players we had this year, because there are most certainly more than what your limited information told you.
November 26th, 2022 at 1:04 am
@Ed I think I responded to you but I don’t see my comment yet.
November 26th, 2022 at 1:00 am
@Ed my son plays for BG and we most definitely have more than “one good player.” Just to set the record straight, we lost one of the many other good players we have last week to a knee injury that ended his high school playing career. Several others also came down with an upper respiratory infection and a couple even had strep throat diagnosed earlier in the week. It’s a shame how many people don’t give BG the credit they deserve. I try to stay silent about it mostly, but I’m so fed up at this point with a lot of things that have been said about the team.
Let me be clear: obviously private schools recruit students otherwise the school would not exist. The current roster has no kid recruited for sports and the starters have played on teams together since elementary school (and I have photos that prove that). We did have an exchange student from Spain who joined team but had never touched a football his entire life and ended up being an amazing kicker for us (has a soccer background). The coaches were literally using Google translate this teach him how to place kick and to kick field goals because his English skills weren’t so great. BG is still essentially a 1A school and the fact we were moved to 2A based on success factor and SCA was able to appeal and win their move to 3A is downright criminal. Their sportsmanship left a lot to be desired as well and even while we were losing we continued to help their players up. Did they do the same? No.
Am o bitter about this game? Absolutely. Because we could have beat them with a 100% healthy team. Regardless, I’m proud of our kids and feel bad because if people when aren’t close to the program would see how much time, effort and dedication they put into their seasons is something special. And they can still hold their heads high winning their 4th district title in a row—with the last at 2A when they had so many people praying for their downfall this year. It’s amazing how awful grown adults act towards kids who just love the game.
November 26th, 2022 at 12:27 am
@MCA75. Yes, I played and I think you’re delusional to think it’s hard to break a player’s neck. How many neck injuries have you seen over the years? I’ve seen plenty. Was it easier for them to break Rankin’s leg? You make it sound like we’re playing touch football here. I find it a bit too much of a coincidence the number of times MCA players have threatened to hurt a player who then ends up injured in that game. Odds aren’t that great that the kid they labeled would always be the one taken out by coincidence. This is honestly the first year I didn’t see them throwing cheap shots after the play ends, so maybe they can shed that reputation…but it’s definitely their reputation.
My panties weren’t in a bunch, but I also didn’t hold the other team to the level where celebrating their achievements meant they shouldn’t be cheered on in future winnings as you did. I just thought for a guy who’s school has lacked as much class as yours has, perhaps you might want to lower your expectations of the opponent. When you come to a game with F you as face paint, you haven’t exactly been taught good sportsmanship and you might just be trying to pick a fight. Perhaps you can have some influence on the program to earn them a better reputation. F you face paint, I hate Southern postings and claiming you’re going to take out specific players isn’t just kids being kids. Maybe your new coach can fix the environment that makes that acceptable.
Congrats to SCA on a great game. Hopefully they can decrease the penalties and stop shooting themselves in the foot, they may need those yards in a tougher battle if they want that gold medal again.
November 26th, 2022 at 12:21 am
Wyomissing 21, Danville 19
Yes, Danville is a good team, and yes they missed a 33 yd fg with 10 sec. left, but let’s put this game into perspective. The bottom line is, Wyo played better on both sides of the ball. Danville never once.had the lead. Their 1100 yd rusher had 36 yds on 6 carries, their 1100 yd, all state receiver had 4 catches for 21 yds. Wyo actually did some self imploding in the 2nd half to keep this game close. Stopped on 4th down at Danville 1/2 yd line when up 21-6. Fumbled on Danville 20, missed a 29 yd fg., mis-handled the snap on 3rd and 5 at midfield, with 1:32 left and no Danville TO left. Her are some stats:
Plays.. Wyo 59 Dan 32
1st downs.. Wyo 22 Dan 11
Rushing yds.. Wyo 325 Dan 96
Wyomissing 3 RB’s ran for 157, 109 & 61
The bottom line was that Wyo won the trenches on both sides. Danville Ave. 50 a game scored 19. Danville D with 8 shutouts and giving up 4.8/game gave up 21 pts and 325 on the ground. I only brought this up because their was a lot of chatter after the game about how well Danville played, “should have won”, etc….but no one mentioned how well Wyomissing played? It was a great game all around, but actually wasn’t as close as the final score. Props to the Danville D though, they had to be gassed after that game.
November 25th, 2022 at 10:41 pm
Union wins its first WPIAL title since 1959 (tie with Avonworth). That 26-0 blanking of Canevin has to be one of the biggest upsets ever in our state!
November 25th, 2022 at 9:56 pm
814fball, BG showed up to play tonight, but by the sounds of it all they really have is one good player to stop and you can win. He is a great player, but as you seen tonight, like I said in an earlier post, it’s about team playing. I think Sca had a lot more speed on the field than bg. It’s going to take a team effort to beat sca. And this is the weakest sca team in a decade or so. This is the year to knock them off. Congratulations to bg for a great season and for getting to this point.
Danville and Wyomissing was a heartbreaker, those kids battled back and just lost the game by a wide left field goal. What a great game. And a lot of people had Wyomissing winning big in this one.
November 25th, 2022 at 9:53 pm
@Brian If you ever played football, you know it would not be an easy thing to intentionally injure someone’s neck even if you wanted to. Pretty sure you’re the one who’s panties got in a bunch when I said I wasn’t gonna root for Southern. I didn’t say it was the entire team but like your opinion of MCA, a few bad apples ruin it for the whole bunch. Really seemed to make big impact as I listened on my couch tonight lol. And sorry, I don’t pay attention to the student section to see what kids have painted on their face. Isn’t this just kids being kids talking trash?
Also a quick YouTube search shows the Garcia’s being at Shamokin until at least 2013.
@814fball you were so confident and you let me down! If you would have paid more attention to the genealogy of our area, you might have realized what you were up against!
November 25th, 2022 at 9:47 pm
SCA again has shown why they have won 12 state titles. They put 42 points on a good BG team and will be playing for another Eastern title next week. For all those who counted them out, think again. They got off to another slow start but after the half they completely dominated BG. The Tigers are winners and it doesn’t matter who the opponent is, they have beaten three of the best 2A teams in the East. Go Tigers!
November 25th, 2022 at 3:21 pm
@Ed
@814
Well let’s see what happens if we see S.Valley n SCA. That’s my bet, SV vs SCA. I think S. Valley wins by 4 TD’s. Should be fun, wish both the best. But of course I am pulling for D7, WPIAL.
November 25th, 2022 at 3:17 pm
Union stuns Bishop Canevin in 1A. This might be the break that Northern Lehigh, Steel-High, &/or Canton needed to have a legit shot at winning the state title.
Not sure how they’ll fare against Port Allegany or Reynolds, but that has to be the stunner of the PIAA playoffs.
November 25th, 2022 at 2:46 pm
814fball, they just beat an mca team that was the highest scoring mca team in history. They have a state gold medalist in the 100 with wisloski. Don’t to fooled into thinking sca doesn’t have speed.
Sca’s biggest strength is how well they execute and play as a team. Several years ago they beat a nuemen goretti team that was loaded with d1 recruits, and was definitely more talented than sca. Don’t underestimate the coaching staff at sca. There’s a reason they have 12 state titles, and superior talent isn’t really one of them. Look at their history, how many d1 guys did they ever have, and how many went on to play in the NFL? Only one went on to the NFL, yet they mercy ruled Aliquippa in the state title have, and Aliquippa is easily one of the best programs in the state. They very well may not win a title this year, or may not beat BG, but don’t be surprised if they do.
November 25th, 2022 at 2:36 pm
Sca beat a lot of teams in the past that were brimming with D1 talent.
November 25th, 2022 at 1:36 pm
Union Area shocks Bishop Canevin 29-0. Wins first title since 1978. 1A with a Big surprise to start wpial championship day
November 25th, 2022 at 1:05 pm
814fball So I guess BG is invincible, might as well give them the state title now.
November 25th, 2022 at 1:05 pm
@814
I am sure they will see some speed. Not D1 level elite type speed. I know BG n SCA are very talented n have speed, but Westinghouse n S. Valley have a couple D1Linemen and a couple D1skill positions. Hey let’s see what happens, but I just don’t think either team from the East will see. Best of luck to all. BTW I am familiar w the speed n Athletes at BG.
November 25th, 2022 at 12:43 pm
But if a shocker in WPIAL 1A final. Union is leading bishop Canevin 20-0 after 3. Union was the 10 seed in the wpial and hadn’t made a final since like 1978 or something. This is the union located outside new castle. Their coach ran the defense for Mount Lebanon last year. He’s a Bob Palko longtime assistant. Coaching matters.
November 25th, 2022 at 11:15 am
Danville will have their hands full. It might be the end of the season for a very good Danville team. Not sure about Southern. BG has speed but will it last 4 quarters? Injuries? just too many questions on this. In 2A the west looks to tough to tame Good luck everyone!
November 25th, 2022 at 9:06 am
@Pennsyltucky Proud I can tell you what awaits the Dist 4 AA champs in Altoona — a quarterback who can outplay anyone not only due to his athleticism but his pure determination. That goes for every starter on BG’s team. SCA has their work cut out for them.
November 25th, 2022 at 8:51 am
@Margaret I don’t know about anyone else, but I really don’t care about the genealogy of that area.
November 25th, 2022 at 8:47 am
@GaryZ SCA will see speed tonight with BG — I guess you’re not very familiar with Guilfoyle this year.
November 25th, 2022 at 8:08 am
@Margaret It still doesn’t get you past the fact the SCA kids have more in common with kids who live in the rural areas of Bloomsburg and Danville than they do kids who live in Shamokin and Mt Carmel. Heck, even the language is different in these areas. It doesn’t matter that your family doesn’t farm if you live in a farming community to make the lifestyle and culture completely different than that in a coal mining community. SCA and MCA might be rivals, but that doesn’t make those schools alike in any way. I’ve actually worked at both schools and the culture is vastly different. Just because a family has their roots in coal country doesn’t mean their kids were brought up in that culture if they never lived there. That’s like the US assuming the Japanese born in the US were the same as those who immigrated from there during WWII. Where your parents or grandparents grew up doesn’t affect you like the culture of the area where you actually grew up. Kids live in the present, not in their parents’ past.
November 25th, 2022 at 7:31 am
Well, great to see a number of Thanksgiving games till survive, such a great tradition, I went to Quakertown (22)-Pennridge (6) for a half and watched half of the Easton-Phillipsburg game on TV. P-burg won. Looking for this evening’s & Tomorrow’s playoff game results. Would not be totally surprised if CB West beat Garnet Valley, after all they played earlier this year 14-7 GV. We here in Quakertown are looking forward to 2023, although anything can change, but only 1 Q-town Starter from 2021 Pennridge game was back for 2022, Q-town should have 18 starters back in 2023, and another 6-8 who had significant minutes, from a surprising 6-6, playoff team. 2023 looks Bright.
November 25th, 2022 at 3:15 am
Lol do you realize that north schuylkill’s biggest rival is mt. Carmel in football. And since you seem to be stuck in the 60’s describing these schools as coal and farming areas then we can say shamokin, mt. Carmel and north schuylkill r all closely tied together in all sports during the schuylkill league era. Just wrestling alone we can have a go with, garcias, lanes, caseys, biscoes and in hynoskis in football and these were just quick off the top of my head. And this is so they can get out of the coal mines that none of theee parents worked in and moved to the farms for a better life where none of them farmed.
November 24th, 2022 at 10:21 pm
@MCA75 your family must not talk much if you didn’t know about the broken neck as many SCA fans wanted the parents to push for something to be done. If you weren’t at the first game you also missed your MCA students wearing face art that said “F@#$ Southern” too? Seriously, you must be living under a rock or have never had other schools tell you the reputation MCA has earned. I’ve heard it from numerous other schools that they expect the cheap shots, late hits, and kicks in the pile when playing your team. Yet you got your panties in a bind because a player looked back over his shoulder while running into the end zone? My point is you live in a glass house and shouldn’t be judging teams for how they respond when this is the atmosphere your team has cultivated. Yes, I’d still cheer for MCA because I’d like to believe not all their players are like that. You, however, seemed to want to lump all SCA kids under one category for some reason as that’s what you did by saying they were show boating and you’d not cheer for them.
The Hynoskis and Garcias went to elementary school at SCA, yet people seem to think they were recruits or transplants. People move out of coal country for the same reasons they move out of dead steel towns, which is economics. It has nothing to do with football. Those kids you mentioned grew up playing ball as children in SCA’s program that starts them young. Having a parent that graduated from coal country doesn’t mean THEY are from coal country. Claiming the fact their family originated from coal country as meaning they’re one of yours is a pretty far stretch. The kids themselves didn’t grow up in coal country.
Roth also is a transplant…he can trace the families back to the 80s and has coached more sets of dads and sons than he probably can count, but he wasn’t born here either. I’m not sure Roth knows how long some of the families have lived here. He turned the program around with what was available to him in a small community and deserves loads of credit for it, but we certainly don’t see him as an outsider because he wasn’t born here. SCA community members, however, do not identify as being in any way part of coal country because we’re just not.
November 24th, 2022 at 9:55 pm
There very well may be 50 farmers and 80 coal miners lefr in the area. I hope you get caught up with life. One time in my doctors office i saw a picture of the spot where hoffa was buried. You had to walk real close to see the town on the map because it was so small of text. When i got real close the doctors fist came flying out from it and knocked me out. Turns out it wasnt hoffa it was showing where he was gonna knock me out on the map.
November 24th, 2022 at 9:25 pm
Marg: Your line about NS, MCA and Shamokin moving into Columbia Co and thinking they landed in Ibiza is pure gold. Omg. You nailed it. So…hats off to you!
PP
November 24th, 2022 at 9:04 pm
Marg: I want to slag you off but omg that Ibiza line is pure gold , not unlike a Flannery O’Connor bon mot. I was literally just reading that to my better half, and she was like “Marg has the last laugh.” So hats off to you, Marg. We shall see what awaits the Dist 4 AA Champs in the Big ‘Toona. PP
November 24th, 2022 at 5:45 pm
I hope S. Columbia makes it to the PIAA Finals. I want to see them match up w Steel Valley or Westinghouse. I am a WPIAL guy. They will see speed like they are not used to. Also S.V. has a huge line, to go with multiple D1 skill position players.Westinghouse just has so much speed and Athletes. If they make it, gonna have their hands full. Not gonna be playing a Farrell or Wilmington, but a WPIAL power in either of those schools. I don’t see Farrell pulling an upset. I think S. Valley makes it, but flip a coin… because Westinghouse outta the Pgh. City League IS ABSOLUTELY LOADED. Best of luck two all teams mentioned.
November 24th, 2022 at 4:53 pm
@Brian maybe ‘most’ SCA families don’t come from coal region roots but certainly a significant amount did in recent years, even Jim Roth admits it. And many that did have made some of the most significant contributions to your programs success. Was Southern successful before this generation of transplants and would they have been successful without them? Absolutely, they have one of the top PA coaches and strong tradition going back to the 80s. Would they have been as successful without families like Garcia’s or Hynoski’s or countless other families moving from MC and surrounding areas to the SC district? Absolutely not.
And who considers a HS football team the enemy? Most of my own family lives in SCA district. In fact, I just had Thanksgiving dinner in Catawissa Lol! Not to mention my siblings and I have had many friends (many we graduated with at MCA) whose kids played for Southern.
The dirty play is a new one for me. The fact that players were able to purposely break someone’s neck during a game is actually pretty impressive (eye rolls). Being that MCA is such a dirty team, I’m surprised you would root for them in the postseason!
@Margaret the Ibiza comment is hilarious and spot on!
November 24th, 2022 at 4:16 pm
My uncle has a pic of lou holtz wearing a go penn state sweatshirt, it didnt make it real but now u have me thinking it has to be
November 24th, 2022 at 4:14 pm
Oh ok. Mount carmel is north schuylkills biggest rival. There is 1 street in frackville that goes to Shenandoah. Ringtown goes to ns but some of the buses go thru shenandoah. At the soccer field in gordon heading to 901 in lavelle, the cut off line for tri valley and north schuylkill exists. Kids who r 2 miles from north schuylkill go 14 miles to hegins to public school. Some in wilburton go to mca some ns. Ashland, frackville, girardville, lavelle, gordon, ft. Springs, ringtown, brandonville, creswell gardens, locustdale, oakland avenue, go to north schuylkill.
November 24th, 2022 at 4:05 pm
I dont remember saying coal miners and farmers, north schuylkill, todd lane, kent lane, jarret lane, shane casey, off the top of my head i forget the southern wrestler who finished second as a freshman and then never placed again but he is north schuylkill, mca u have the garcias. The ns and sca school district meet in wilburton,aristes, and the ringtown mountain. They dont have a history other than they transferred into southern. I didnt know of any farming or coal mining. I didnt realize they made a comeback. I even know of the lanes living at knoebels cabin until they bought a house in elysburg. You must be to busy farming in numidia to know you take from the strictly coal miners, lol circa 1900. There are more jobs on the gordon mountain in distribution centers than there r coal miners and farmers in each district your talking about. You need to get the flux capacitator rebooted and come back to 2022
November 24th, 2022 at 9:54 am
@Margaret you clearly don’t actually know who lives in SCA’s district. Most did not come from coal country roots, but lived in this farming region for many generations. It seems a few who moved out of coal country (because, really why would they stay) want to claim that SCA is primarily made up of ex-coal country families, but the vast majority are not. SCA’s district isn’t coal country, but primarily a farming community. That divide “over the mountain” is a large one of great cultural variation.
The fact other schools consider SCA the enemy because they continue to beat their teams and don’t instead focus on what is making them successful and try to replicate that in their own program is the problem. Many make excuses for why SCA must be consistently winning, but if your kids aren’t ready to devote the time and effort SCA’s team does, the fault lies on your team.
BTW, it isn’t just SCA the MCA kids have purposely injured. My Dr’s office still has a picture on the wall from when they took out Bloomsburg’s QB Rankin after touting that was their plan. The area schools expect this when you play them because it’s been their reputation. I can only hope their new coach puts an end to it.
It’s also interesting you lump North Schuylkill in with Shamokin and MCA. The latter do share quite a bit of history and culture. NS does not. That district pulls from some coal country, but it’s certainly not all coal country. If you want to label and classify schools, maybe you should learn more about the history and culture of the people that populate those areas.
November 24th, 2022 at 8:03 am
The playoffs are great ,but waking up on Thanksgiving morning just isn’t the same anymore with so many of the great crosstown , public- catholic ,games played on this day that no longer exist. Been to plenty of playoff games and not too many could match the atmosphere and intensity of so many of those games.
November 24th, 2022 at 6:14 am
People have a hard time cheering for southern or mount carmel because some of there fans throw out some of the most idiotic claims and complaints against the teams they play win or lose. And the sad part is southern is just mt. Carmel, north schuylkill and shamokin people who think they moved to Ibiza. Your arguing with you. And thats how a called broken neck to the back up qb sits up there with the bambino years earlier calling his hr.
November 24th, 2022 at 5:02 am
I heard southern is threatening turf toe to the opponents punter this week.
November 23rd, 2022 at 12:15 pm
@ Irish1 – I think you are correct as the same is happening to Perk Valley. They had a multi year deal with Coatesville that ran out last season (2021) and also with Downingtown West that may also have run out, not sure if they are set to play in 2023 but I know Coach Heist likes to challenge his team in the non conference, hence adding Roman Catholic along with DTW this season. Should be interesting to see who both PJP and PV are able to fill in the open dates with.
November 23rd, 2022 at 10:17 am
@MCA75 There was a huge amount of trash talking from MCA around both games. This isn’t new. They actually said their plans to take out specific players most every year we played them. Do you remember them breaking the neck of the QB several years ago? They called that online before it happened. It explains why the backup QB looked so scared during the first game this year as that’s how he got his position two years ago.
Not all SCA fans and players were complaining about the player who had to sit out the game. He retaliated and the rules are the rules. However, the hit before that was an intentional cheap shot on BW that was way late and out of bounds. The Troy player wasn’t standing up for his friend…he was taking a cheap shot at the ball carrier. That field didn’t give much room before kids out of bounds could have been impaled on posts, so he’s lucky he wasn’t seriously hurt.
If you don’t think both teams also trash talk while on the field, you’re not very familiar with high school football. We were actually surprised MCA didn’t start playing dirty as that’s been the expectation any time they’re losing. Your team is notorious for that enough that other schools discuss it. Perhaps you shouldn’t be expecting great sportsmanship from teams your team hasn’t generally shown it to in the past.
Not cheering for the local team seems pretty petty to me, but you do you. If it were the other way around, I’d still want MCA to continue winning.
November 23rd, 2022 at 9:01 am
@Cat#1 & Kevin X – several home games out West as well, Pine Richland is playing Erie Cathedral Prep on their home field, same with Westinghouse from the Pittsburgh City League against Farrell, this started 2 yrs ago during Covid when they couldn’t find neutral site hosts due to the pandemic and still continues, pretty sure the semi-final games next week will be at neutral sites.
November 23rd, 2022 at 8:36 am
@MCA75 BG has an advantage playing at Mansion Park in Altoona — and trust me when I say that when they see people picking SCA to win, it only motivates them to play harder. People may laugh at this, but BG plays better when they are seen as the underdogs (and yes, they’ve been viewed as the underdogs most of last year and all of this year with the move to 2A). This group of starters have been on a mission to prove themselves since their season in junior high when they went 1-8. If SCA comes into this thinking that they have it in the bag, they’re going to be in for a big surprise. I’m not sure if you have seen our QB, but he has a knack for making big plays when they are most needed. It won’t be easy, but I believe we can win this game.
November 23rd, 2022 at 7:32 am
Yes, strength of schedule does become a big factor in the post season. 3A Wyomissing was up 35-0 over 5A Cocalico earlier this year, and now Cocalico is playing Exeter for the D3 final this Friday. Wyo played a good 4A Lampeter Strasburg team a few weeks ago and won 21-0, they got over mid field once. So, all of that should help Wyomissing this Friday @ Danville. The PIAA has that game at Danville this year, because in 2020 that same match up was at Wyomissing. Still not sure why they are doing that. Danville and Wyo are almost 75 miles apart? Having said that, Danville has a lot of good skill position players…WR, RB, QB, LB/TE(all SR’s). Actually their WR might be the best in the state at his position. He will be a 3x all state pick once this year is over. 4000/50 for his career. We shall see. Danville has been in one close game all year and Wyomissing was behind once all year, and that was last week, 7-0, but then they scored 63 straight with 9 rushing TD’s. This might be closer than some people think….Go Wyo!!
November 22nd, 2022 at 9:39 pm
District 1 final was at GV last year also. The next round is at a Neutral site.
November 22nd, 2022 at 7:28 pm
Just wondering how does Danville get a home game in the state playoffs
November 22nd, 2022 at 7:02 pm
@Brian of course I’m disappointed in the outcome but no sour grapes here. MCA was outplayed and outcoached so there is no question SCA deserved to win.
These antics were not only against MCA, I watched multiple SCA games this year, so from my perspective its not just about social media posts. Last week SCA fans and parents were complaining about a player who wasn’t able to play against MCA because he got ejected against Troy. They said it was so unfair because he was just standing up for his teammate. Apparently they missed the SCA ball carrier standing over the Troy player he knocked down trash talking him before another Troy player stood up for his own teammate and walloped the SCA kid. Last week, the same SCA player looks around behind him running for a TD like he’s Usain Bolt and another makes a tackle and high steps toward the crowd like he’s Ray Lewis. With all those dominant teams SCA had from 2017-2019, I don’t remember those players ever acting like that.
I was actually surprised at the amount of sportsmanship between MCA and SCA during the first game this season. What I saw was players from both teams were helping each other up and MCA players hugging each other after the win like yeah we finally beat them, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I did see on a few occasions this year where MCA kids acted foolish on the field but from my understanding it was addressed by the coaches. If MCA kids were talking trash online, I hope they learned a lesson. I don’t care if its my team or yours, if I want to watch that nonsense I’ll turn on the NFL. SCA can be proud of their comeback after 3 losses, but I’ll still be rooting against them this year.
November 22nd, 2022 at 6:16 pm
Hey guys, just curious on your thoughts/opinions, assuming you have any or care, on how the PIAA (and most districts) are having the team on top of the bracket having home field during the playoffs (for the most part). Guessing we’ll be back to neutral fields for the state semi’s/eastern-western finals next weekend.
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:17 pm
@WpialGuy – agree with all of your analysis, BF vs. Steel Valley is the most unpredictable game of the 4 WPIAL championships on Friday, that game could go either way, surprised BF dominated Sto-Rox last week, I thought that game was a tossup. I also expect Avonworth to hang with BV for awhile, but too much Quinton Martin and BV pulls away in the second half, will be a big upset if BV doesn’t get to the state final.
As I mentioned yesterday I was at the Aliquippa game on Friday night and they were extremely impressive against a very solid McKeesport team, CV needs at least a few more turnovers than the Quips and to control the clock to have a chance to win this game in the fourth quarter.
I give the House a decent chance to upset Farrell, would be great for Pittsburgh to have Westinghouse face the WPIAL winner next week with a trip to the state final at stake, I also think Pine vs. ECP and NA vs. SC will be very competitive games and could go either way. I don’t see either SC or NA beating Harrisburg next week though, they were very impressive in dominating Central York last week and have been playing well down the stretch, they were my pick before the season started to face SJP in the final and I’m sticking with them.
November 22nd, 2022 at 1:29 pm
WH, I think Danville will score some points but will get worn down by Wyo’s huge offensive line in the 2nd half. Wyo 42-21
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:50 pm
@ Foleman….I think in the case of the open dates for PJP next year I think might have just be a case of those contracts running out. Berks catholic may have been a 4 year home and away,maybe they wanted to schedule someone new. Maybe Berks catholic with their new league schedule wanted to possibly lighten things up but they havent in the past. Now I could see Caroll looking to go in another direction they have been handled by PJP and are down program wise right now. I think the Judge game might have just been a one year thing, they played that In Ocean City NJ this year. I think PJP is hurt some by the Pac frontier being on the weak side when it comes to playoff time. They could benefit by a bit tougher non league schedule.
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:40 pm
@MCA75 Sour grapes much? I’d say after the way that MCA acted both before and after the first game and before the game on Friday, you could say the same about some of your own players. SCA is not the dominant team they were in the past. They should be proud to have made it as far as they have this year despite three losses. If they don’t make it any further, they can still hold their heads high. I’d hate to see your reaction to the social media posts I saw stemming from MCA after their earlier win if you think that only one side has players that are self-aggrandizing. If you didn’t see any of that coming from MCA, maybe you don’t understand why it would come back your way after Friday’s game. I’m not surprised if SCA players are pounding their chests after being told they were “over rated” when they were the ones coming into the game without a ranking of worth. MCA players are getting what they had coming to them. These are kids…you can’t expect one side to dish it out and other to then remain silent when they have the chance to retort.
November 22nd, 2022 at 11:42 am
Sounds like someone can’t handle seeing his team get whooped in the playoffs.
November 22nd, 2022 at 11:21 am
@MCA75 I’m a little biased because my kid plays for BG, but glad others are supporting them as well. They are all good kids and they have worked so hard the last couple years. It’s been a ride!
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:46 am
@814fball that makes 2 of us rooting for BG. I usually root for coal region teams in the playoffs but the self-aggrandizement by certain players on this SCA team really rubs me the wrong way.
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:00 am
Westinghouse vs Farrell
Farrell won 24-7 last year. Westinghouse is improved and playing on their home field. Would be an absolutely crazy story if a city league team wins this game and then has a state semi final vs the wpial champion. City league football teams just do not have the success Westinghouse is currently having!
Pine Vs ECP
Pine is on a roll. They’ve won 9 straight games and ECP hasn’t played in weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if Pine pulls the “upset”
NA vs SC
I’m not going to pretend i know anything about state college, but NA is a solid team who might’ve played their best game last week. It’ll be a close one.
November 22nd, 2022 at 9:56 am
My Wpial Champ previews
Class 4A
Aliquippa has proven they are a class above the rest. A rematch of the last week of the regular season, Central Valley has to control the ball and limit turnovers. They also have to force a few turnovers. If not, Aliquippa runs away with it. Aliquippa over CV
3A
Belle Vernon has yet to play a close game against a 3A opponent this year. But don’t sleep on Avonworth. I think they keep it close for a half and Belle Vernon pulls away in the 2nd half.
2A
I think that this game is the most up in the air out of any of them. Steel Valley and Beaver Falls are both very good. My gut says go with Steel Valley but I won’t be surprised if Beaver Falls pulls it out. This game is a true toss up.
1A
Bishop Canevin vs Union Area
Union area the 10 seed and made the finals. Truthfully, i don’t expect this one to be close. Union is scrappy though. Bishop Canevin wins their 2nd straight.
November 22nd, 2022 at 9:36 am
Anyone have thoughts on Wyo Danville on Friday? I’m not too sure what to make of this game. Most likely, Wyo will just be too much. Too strong up front and they run the wing-t to absolute perfection. The angles they get on blocks is almost impossible to stop.
November 22nd, 2022 at 8:29 am
EmanD3, Looking at Wyomissing’s schedule and who they would play in the playoffs, I didn’t think they would have a close game until the State Championship. One thing about the playoffs, teams with weak schedules get exposed in the playoffs, I watched undefeated Solanco against Daniel Boone and came away thinking that they were just an average team with a weak schedule, same with Lancaster Catholic and it showed in the playoffs. Now you are seeing teams trying to dumb down their schedule to accumulate playoff points. Pope John Paul had 3 teams – Carroll, Judge and Berks Catholic……..how the mighty have fallen….beg off the schedule for next year. Perkiomen Valley and Pottsgrove also looking for teams to play. Say what you want about the upper level Catholic league teams, they will play the best and it pays off in the playoffs.
November 21st, 2022 at 10:24 pm
@D2 Fan I hope you jinxed SCA. I am pulling for Guilfoyle.
November 21st, 2022 at 8:35 pm
So west and east 8 teams per class
What everyone thoughts & picks
November 21st, 2022 at 8:28 pm
Ok what is picks for this week??
I enjoy all the great pa football talk
Thanks
November 21st, 2022 at 5:36 pm
I thought the D1 final was always played at a neutral field. I see it’s at GV. I always thought it should be played
at the higher seed, but I didn’t think it has been.
November 21st, 2022 at 4:54 pm
Only one D2 team left: Crestwood. I don’t think even the biggest die-hard fans of NEPA football expected that heading into the playoffs, or even this year.
Curious to know how Bonner-Prendie is. Tall task for a D2 public school to beat a PCL private school, but I’m gonna hope for the best.
Interesting observation that came to me today: Each of the District 11 champions hail from Lehigh County.
1A: Northern Lehigh (Slatington)
2A: Executive Education (Allentown)
3A: Northwestern Lehigh (New Tripoli)
4A: Central Catholic (Allentown)
5A: Whitehall
6A: Parkland (Orefield)
For the historians here (as I’m probably 20-30 years younger than a few of the people here): When was the last time one single county won districts in all four or six classes, that wasn’t District 12?
Before I go, my State Final predictions
1A: Northern Lehigh vs. Bishop Canevin
2A: Southern Columbia vs. Farrell
3A: Wyomissing vs. Belle Vernon
4A: Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg) vs. Aliquippa
5A: Imhotep Charter vs. Cathedral Prep (again)
6A: SJP vs. North Allegheny
Knowing what happened last week with who I talked about, I wouldn’t be shocked if everyone lost this week that was mentioned in the 12 here. I’m kind of a jinx, when it comes to football.
November 21st, 2022 at 12:27 pm
@QuipTown – agree Coach Warfield has done a tremendous job since he was hired in 2018, I was very impressed with the Quips performance on Friday and never would have predicted they would mercy rule McKeesport, they totally dominated right from the start. I have seen all the top 5a and 6a teams in the WPIAL and I would like Aliquippa’s chances against any of them, looks like they are headed for an epic rematch with Bishop McDevitt in a few weeks, although Central Valley will be a tough game on Friday.
@NW PA – agree the PR vs. ECP game should be very competitive, PR is on a roll and playing very well with 9 wins in a row, and game is on their home field, I think the 4 week layoff is going to hurt Prep, at least early, wouldn’t be surprised if this game is decided in the fourth quarter, think the winner likely beats the D3 champion next week and advances to the state final.
I also think Farrell vs. Westinghouse in 2A on Saturday will be a very good game and much closer than Farrell’s 24-7 victory last year.
@PhillyBoy – I think the NA vs State College game this week will be very competitive and could go either way, still think Harrisburg will be the team that gets to the final from the Western bracket and beat Manheim Township in the rematch this weekend and whoever wins the NA-SC game next week.
November 21st, 2022 at 9:24 am
Some major rumors out in the west here the Pittsburgh Central Catholic coaching staff is either a) not going to return or b) receive a major shake-up. Would without a doubt impact the balance out here if that job comes open.
November 20th, 2022 at 7:09 pm
Hats off to North Allegheny for taking care of business and advancing. I realize the consensus is that 6A is down this year in the WPIAL but they’ve built a pretty respectable 11-1 record, plodding along in consistent if underwhelming fashion. My perception is that NA is the prototypical rich suburban coed high school, kind of like the North Penn of Pittsburgh. I remember their run from 2010-2012. They pounded LaSalle in 2010. I remember the hype video — the coach’s pregame speech, pretty intense. Also, their star QB Leftwich, the son of a Pitt coach who had just relocated to Pittsburgh from Oklahoma as I remember, went to NA, not PCC — major props, major respect, goes to show there still are some individuals out there who have old school principles and critical thinking skills, enough sophistication to take the road less traveled if it makes sense. That’s the thing though, when you’re running a program organically, it’s hard to have a peak team consistently. It might require a Mars or Jupiter-like revolution whereas the Preps of the world have the Mercury cycle down pat.
November 20th, 2022 at 11:18 am
Erie Cathedral/Pine Richland should be a great game. Pine is playing their best football of the year. Cathedral should be healthy, but also hasn’t played in 3 weeks. Should be a very close game. After seeing them play several times this year I’ve noticed that most teams they’ve played have made the mistake of stacking the box and blitzing frequently to stop their run game, but Cathedral then starts running bubbles, screens, and RPO’s. They have athletes all over the field and a lot of team speed. PR probably has the advantage with their line. Whoever wins this game probably makes a strong run at the title.
November 20th, 2022 at 10:09 am
@CW,
I have been saying since preseason to watch Northern Lehigh in A. As an Alum, I am hopeful about this upcoming weekend, but the road will.be tough. They would need to be at Steelton and Canton to get to championship and then probably play Bishop C. That’s the top three in the state and have been all year. That’s as tough as you can get having to play top three. This week to have a chance they need to control clock and keep Steelton offense off field. And yes, Ramos, is a stud. He was out from week 3-End of reg season with a broken collarbone but he has returned an gave Northern Lehigh another playmaker. He had 6 tds in three games before getting injured. He was a returner starter from last year’s state semi final run. Ramos (WR/RB/CB), Frame (QB/S), and Jimenez (DE,RB) are a damn good trio for Northern Lehigh. Ramos is a shutdown corner who will cover Steelton’s top WR this week. We shall see how they stack up against a very good Steelton team.
November 20th, 2022 at 2:29 am
Hats off to the Ironmen. Great year, Purple and Orange!
November 19th, 2022 at 10:25 pm
Northern Lehigh (1a) has a state championship team this season! Well Coached! WR/RB Ramos he is a baller
Northwestern Lehigh (3a) has one of the best in the state of pa in Cade Christopher (deserves way more Recognition) great athletes & program that is very well coached. This program is gonna Open some eyes.
Allentown Central Catholic (4a)!!!!!!!!$
Parkland (6a)
Whitehall (5a)
Executive (2a)
DO NOT BE SHOCKED
These teams are gonna make some noise!
District 11
November 19th, 2022 at 8:15 pm
Jc 10/31/22 love your thoughts on northwestern
November 19th, 2022 at 5:09 pm
So I went over to the 3A D3 title game between Wyomissing and West Perry @ Wyo. WP was 11-1 and just had put up a 60+ burger on an undefeated Lancaster Catholic team last week. Plus they had 426 yds rushing. Thought they might give Wyo some issues. First drive of the game WP goes 70 yds, with a 41 yd TD pass and goes up 7-0. Little did I know that Wyo would rush for 9 TD’s and 626 yds(not a mis print), and score 63 straight. Final 63-7. Quite mind-boggling, actually. Next week 12-0 Wyo @ 12-0 Danville #1 vs #2 in Pa, should be a good game…one would think, but who knows??
November 19th, 2022 at 3:54 pm
OUCH!!! Oh for five for the D2’s LFC this weekend.
November 19th, 2022 at 3:02 pm
Northern Lehigh took care of Trail 40-7. Sets up a quarterfinal matchup with Steelton (winning 24-7 over Windber) next weekend. Northern definitely needs to control clock with long drives and end those with TDS. Keep Steelton’s offense off field.
District 11 will have all six champions playing next weekend (Thanksgiving weekend). Last year, they only had Freedom and Northern Lehigh playing that weekend. Can’t remember last time all district 11 champs were playing thanksgiving weekend….has to be years. Good year for D11 football!
November 19th, 2022 at 12:34 am
@Jeff
With Mike Warfield as the head coach Quip is on another level. How was the view from the stands? Always have faith in my Quips but was surprised by the total domination.
November 18th, 2022 at 11:13 pm
D2 Takeaways (& a bit more)
Looks like the injury bug had a bigger impact on Lakeland than anyone here expected. Shocker of the playoffs is the upset by Executive Education, 42-15. I think Lakeland was close to leading around late 2nd quarter. This likely guarantees Southern or Guilfoyle as the east representative.
Watched most of the DV-Whitehall game on BRC 13 (113 actually) this evening, & it was sort of a hard fought game for the first half. Game definitely got out of hand for DV in the second half, & they were leading at half, mind you. Zephs get Imhotep/Roman winner.
Crestwood holds on to beat Valley View & earned first district title since 2014. They’re waiting for Interboro or Bonner-Prennie, which the latter is probably not a good draw. Anyone know how good Bonner-Prennie is? or Interboro? I barely pay attention to Delaware Valley League & the small schools in the PCL.
Looks like Neumann-Goretti was the better team, as Scranton Prep season’s finished. They lost by one score. A what-if season for the Cavs. If London Montgomery was playing this year, I’d think it would’ve given them a better crack at advancing.
Also, slightly stunned with the ACC win over Shore. They advance in the West bracket (Thanks to six classes) to take on Meadville/Juniata. That’s quite a distance between those two schools.
One more thing: Classic SCA is back. I’ll be interested in seeing what they do against Guilfoyle next week. That’s gonna be a must-watch game.
November 18th, 2022 at 10:40 pm
Play-Off Score: @Helen, @DENNIS, @Brian 1
@Bub, @NE PA, @Marg 0
November 18th, 2022 at 9:50 pm
SCA routs undefeated MCA 48-18 for D4 title number 30 and 8 in a row. After a slow start the Tigers took over the game with a running game that was unstoppable. Both Wes Barnes and Braeden Wisloski ran for over 100 yards. I said before on this forum that this was a different SCA team than earlier in the season and coach Roth proved again why he holds the record for wins in Pa.
November 18th, 2022 at 9:35 pm
Proclaimed: SCA has been deemed the victor of The Battle for Knoebels. Deeded thusly for the full term of the season of Nov 2022 until Sept of 2023 to SCA shall be control of the Crystal Pool, Playland, the old skating rink, the Alamo and of course, the Whip and the Flyer.
November 18th, 2022 at 8:54 pm
It is very apparent and always will be that Wally hall gets outcoached in big games. It is unbelievable how many mistakes he makes during a big game when you have real game time decisions to make in a close game.
November 18th, 2022 at 5:01 pm
Any of you guys know if the D12 games tomorrow at the NE SS take cash or are on-line ticking only. If so have a link??
November 18th, 2022 at 2:48 pm
Aliquippa has played in the WPIAL district finals an astonishing 14 yrs in a row, no other school comes close to that sustained excellence, in this century they are 17-2 in the district semifinals. However, their streak is in serious jeopardy tonight against McKeesport, these 2 played a 2OT thriller in the semi-finals last year won by Aliquippa 27-21, and both schools returned almost all of the key players from last year, don’t be surprised if McKeesport turns the tables tonight and ends the Quips streak, definitely one of the marque games in the state this weekend in any district.
November 18th, 2022 at 2:25 pm
@Jeff I expect Tep to win. Roman has talent, but strong defenses stifle them ( See SJP, Malvern). I agree it should be a good one. I started the season picking them to go deep in 5A playoffs. This is a major test.
November 18th, 2022 at 12:57 pm
@ Jason and @ D2: Glad you liked my “Battle for Knoebels” moniker for tonight’s game! I just might have to trademark that. 🙂 Anyway, good luck to all the kids on both teams. Let’s see a clean and hard-fought game! Once upon a time MCA had what SCA wanted and now SCA has what MCA wants. Funny how life is so cyclical.
November 18th, 2022 at 10:43 am
@mcd 65 – yeah, I think it may very well be a one score game, turnovers and penalties could be the deciding factor. I’m going to the Aliquippa-McKeesport game tonight which is going to be a real battle, I’ve seen most of the top teams in the WPIAL in 5A and 6A this year and McKeesport is as good or better than any team I’ve see. I think this game goes down to the wire and could go either way, I give Aliquippa a slight edge because they have a more balanced offense than McKeesport, but Port’s defense is excellent, should be a great game.
November 18th, 2022 at 9:58 am
@ Jeff H. , Talent wise I think both Imhotep and Roman are close. Coaching could be the difference in this one. I would call it Roman ,but they sure got rolled by the prep a few weeks ago. Tep beat McDevitt at the beginning of the year so that of course gives them much deserved recognition. Should be a good one if stupid penalties dont ruin it.
November 18th, 2022 at 9:20 am
Great games as mentioned before in the northeast tonight. Danville – Loyalsock is a great rematch. North Schuylkill – Northwestern Lehigh absolute great matchup with NS’s great defense against a potent rushing attack featuring of the best runners in the district. It’ll be interesting to see how NS’s offense matches up against Northwestern’s defense, they fly around to the football and can cause havoc. I can see the game going both ways as being high scoring or a slugfest defensively. It’s almost impossible to completely shutdown guys like Christopher and Clymer for NW or NS’s guys like Flail, Tinari, and Chowansky so I think it makes for one of the most interesting games of the night. And not to mention probably the one game that everyone is waiting for in the Knoebels championship. Mount Carmel – Southern. Is this the year Mount Carmel breaks through and finally beats big brother?? I think it is.
November 17th, 2022 at 4:59 pm
Any of you guys that follow D12 think Roman has a puncher’s chance against Imhotep? Seems to me like that should be a pretty competitive game, expect Tep to win, but would not be surprised if Roman upsets them.
November 17th, 2022 at 2:58 am
@ Kevin X,
I did see that Lakeland has been a bit banged up at a few positions. I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s a closer game than expected, because of that. EE had one of the most intriguing schedules of any team in the PIAA this year. Yes, Dunmore does have turf now. Looks great from the pictures I’ve seen.
@ MCA75
Lakeland/Mt. Carmel would be an excellent East final. I feel like they’ve been the best two teams in 2A East. Not sure how the whole CalPreps thing works. From what I tried to understand on the website, it looks like they use margin of victory as a tool.
@ D11 Matt
The schedule is exactly the kind they need to prepare them for games like this. It’s not gonna be easy to beat Steel-High & Canton, but this team is battle tested enough.
November 17th, 2022 at 12:19 am
Picks for the round of 16
1A- northern Lehigh over trail
Steelton over a very good windber team(close)
Penns over cambria
2A- Steel over neshannock
Sto rox over beaver
Westinghouse sets up a showdown with Farrell
Guilfoyle over penns
I think So col beats Carmel convincingly
West catholic over trinity
Lakeland over ex ed
3A- Goretti too fast and athletic for prep
N schuylkill over Nw Lehigh
Danville and wyomissing set up a monster clash for next week
4A- quippa and CV will set up a rematch nxt week
Meadville comfortably over Juniata
Jersey Shore beats ACC by 2-3 scores
Mcdevitt vs manheim for D3 nxt week
Interboro vs Bonner is a great game..Bonner squeaks by
Valley View gets revenge on crestwood for D2 title
5A – Dublin and Strath nxt week for D1 title
Tep over Roman
Whitehall over DV
6A- SC over McDowell in a close one
N Allegheny over PCC
Hemp field and Harrisburg meet next week
Freedom earns the right to get rolled by SJP nxt week
Garnet vs Perk for D1 title
November 16th, 2022 at 8:27 pm
@ D2 Fan
Good to finally hear some NEPA chatter. Missed you guys. Some responses:
Isn’t Lakeland somewhat banged up?? Thought I saw their QB has issues as well as Dippre?? They barely squeaked by a decent, not great, Dunmore team last week?? Not saying EE will pull the upset, but think the game could be closer than many expect. I have no connection to them, but what I like about them as a second year program, they went out (maybe by necessity since they aren’t in a league and don’t have any built in completion) and took on all comers. Jersey Shore, Berks catholic, a really good D1 5A Upper Moreland team. So they’ve been battle tested as well. Playing with the houses money. Also, isn’t the game in Dunmore, being played on turf?? These guys have some speed, which translates very well on turf.
I think Scranton Prep has a real decent chance of knocking off N-G. Maybe you D12/PCL guys can tell me if N-G’s QB Wharton is playing. Being a transfer from Wood, is he eligible for the post season?? I know Shawn Battle is a one man wrecking crew, but a real good and big starting QB not playing doesn’t help. The four keys to beating N-G, the first three are obvious to any team, any game, ball control, limit mistakes, limit turnovers. The forth, to beat an Albie Crosby team, get them rattled. Goad them into stupid penalties. Play with, and get into their heads. Get them complaining and whining. Works like a charm 🙂
5A – Umm, no.
November 16th, 2022 at 5:10 pm
@D2 Fan I think Lakeland could compete with either and may even be favored. Would love to see Lakeland vs MCA east final.
Also, this is the first I have heard of the CalPreps site. I’m wondering if it uses the same algorithm as the old Born Power Index which apparently took margin of victory into account in rankings/predictions.
November 16th, 2022 at 4:04 pm
@MCA75 – agree with you on Jersey Shore, I think they beat ACC in a tough, physical game and will end up playing the survivor of the WPIAL in 2 weeks, I went to the Jersey Shore-Aliquippa game last year, and JS had the Quips back on their heels in the first half, Aliquippa finally scored a TD on the last play of the half on 4th down to cut the lead to 10-7 going into the locker room, and then scored on an 83 yard TD pass on the first play of the second half and from there just overwhelmed them with their overall team speed and athleticism and won going away.
November 16th, 2022 at 2:26 pm
@D2,
As an Northern Lehigh Alum, I agree and have said all year, just like last year, the tough AAA schedule prepared them. However, they will earn if they get to state final. They would have to beat Steelton and then Canton in all likelihood to get there. They have the talent and size to do it but it won’t be easy
November 16th, 2022 at 12:07 pm
Jersey Shore vs. ACCHS should definitely be a good one. They played last season and Jersey Shore won a hard-fought game 20-7, so Central Catholic will be up for it and looking for revenge. They are physical and defense-oriented, so another low-scoring showdown is likely in the cards. I anticipate whoever wins this will have an easier time with Meadville or Juniata.
November 16th, 2022 at 11:26 am
District 2 has some very interesting games, this weekend.
1A has Lackawanna Trail taking on Northern Lehigh in what should be a fun one. Rematch of this round last year, but in 2A. Northern is my pick to rep the East in 1A. They played the schedule to make a deep run. They look like a team that can beat Canton/Steel-High.
2A has Lakeland taking on Executive Education. I don’t really know how much of a threat EE is, because they’re a charter school in the playoffs (not as potent as Imhotep, I know), but I have to give them credit winning districts at the #4 seed. I don’t see Lakeland falling to them.
Hot take: I think Lakeland can compete with Southern & Mt. Carmel, if they can get to the semis. Lakeland has beaten some really good teams, this year. They beat Scranton Prep, Old Forge, & Dunmore in the regular season (all by at least 27 pts). I know CalPreps will not favor them, but don’t be shocked if the East runs through Chapman Lake.
3A has an All-Private showdown: Scranton Prep vs. Neumann-Goretti. I’m curious to know how a LFC team like Prep can stack up with N-G. I hope it’s a close game, but gut feels it’ll be a blowout.
4A has Crestwood seeking their first title since 2014, against Valley View. I expect this to be a great game. I haven’t followed Crestwood as much as I do with Lackawanna League teams, but I think they could take care of business. Valley View does have the experience to get it done, though, & I feel this will be a revenge game for them.
5A is a case of “the more things change, the more they stay the same”, as can also be said Northern Lehigh. What I mean is that DV is a district champions, but in a new class. They got Whitehall in a EPC/LFC Division 1 showdown. DV is battle tested, so they could beat Whitehall. Then again, District 2 doesn’t always fare well against the EPC South, as seen in the playoffs this year. Then comes the fun part: Wondering if the winner of this game can stun the Imhotep/Roman winner. Wishful thinking.
@ Pennsyltucky Proud
I might have to start calling it the Knoebels Bowl. As someone who loves Knoebels, I’m shocked they haven’t put something on the line for the game. Something like winner getting the entire school a day at the park, at the end of the year would be fun & add a twist to the rivalry. It doesn’t need it, but I’d love it.
November 15th, 2022 at 11:41 pm
@DENNIS and @NE PA
The Battle for Knoebels will be epic. May the best team win!
November 15th, 2022 at 7:26 pm
One thing MCA does have going for them is Spears is back at QB (although still not 100%) which they did not have in the first matchup. Another thing is after 7 straight games played in Catawissa, the game is at the Silver Bowl. MCA has to come out strong and win the turnover battle again. I believe SCA is also without at least 1 defensive starter who was ejected against Troy. I also read another starter was hurt in the first half against Troy and wasn’t clear on whether he would be playing this week.
Another game to watch this weekend is the Danville vs Loyalsock rematch. Danville won the first game 17-14 I believe. Loyalsock struggled with Troy who just got blown out by Southern. I think Danville wins this one again and will end up having to beat Wyomissing to get to the final.
One game I am curious about is Jersey Shore vs Allentown Central Catholic. ACC doesn’t have the best record this year but looks like they lost to some of the better big schools in the Lehigh Valley. I see Jersey Shore winning this one and making it at least to the ‘Western Final’ to battle one of those tough 4A WPIAL teams.
November 15th, 2022 at 6:17 pm
I don’t think I ever recall a district semi-final where all 4 schools had won multiple state titles like we have with the 4A semi-finalists in the WPIAL this Friday. I have seen all the 5A and 6A teams in the WPIAL this fall in person and I think McKeesport is as good or better than any of them. I have thought since the beginning of the season McKeesport is the biggest threat to Aliquippa getting out of the district, and nothing has changed my mind, this has all the makings of another instant classic, like last year when Aliquippa beat McKeesport 27-21 in OT in the semifinals. In the other semi-final Central Valley takes on resurgent TJ. Most people I know are anticipating an Aliquippa vs. Central Valley rematch from the last game of the regular season, but don’t be surprised if McKeesport and/or TJ spoil the Beaver County showdown.
In 5A I think USC and PR are pretty evenly matched, and if USC’s defense can slow down PR QB Ryan Palmieri they have a pretty good chance to beat them, Woody knew he was going to run the ball on most plays last week and they still couldn’t stop him, on one drive in the fourth quarter he ran on 14 straight plays. I think Erie Prep beats either of them next week, although they are going to have to shake the rust off after not playing for the last 3 weeks.
In 6A I think PCC will beat NA and avenge their early season loss, I was at that 7-3 game, and it appears to me PCC has improved more since then than NA. I think the winner of State College and Erie McDowell has a decent chance to beat the WPIAL winner next week, both PCC and NA are solid but not great teams.
November 15th, 2022 at 6:08 pm
@ NE PA Might be the other way around. However Southern is beat up a bit. Southern is a different team then the first time around. We will see!
November 15th, 2022 at 6:04 pm
Northern Lehigh should get past Lackawanna Trail this Saturday. Both teams played last year with Northern Lehigh winning 35-14. Lackawanna did pull an upset over 7-3 Old Forge two weeks ago, so Northern can’t take them lightly. I’ll go Northern 28-7. That would set up a big quarterfinal matchup thanksgiving weekend against Steelton. Steelton would be the favorite, but Northern I think gives them a game. We shall see.
November 15th, 2022 at 5:54 pm
See a lot of discussion on MCA vs SC and NS vs Northwestern. Both should be great games. I’ll go MCA over Southern 36-35 in double OT. Northwestern (who has been playing great since Bangor loss) over North Schuylkill 28-21. Freedom over Parkland 24-14 as a bonus.
November 15th, 2022 at 2:04 pm
All about winning and advancing at this point Sir Brian. They beat a great North Schuylkill team and blew out a great Dunmore team. I know it was week 1 and 2 but they still threw them around. This week will be very tough and will probably be a grind but I think they will eventually wear Southern down in the second half like Southern is used to doing in the past years. Give them a taste of their own medicine.
November 15th, 2022 at 12:36 pm
Sorry Bub, but I’m not sure that this year’s team is as impressive as you imply. Yes, they’re the size of a college team, but do we see them dominating opponents like they’re a college team playing a high school team? What great teams did they blow out? A below par SCA team had five turnovers and that still wasn’t a blow out. They had issues with Milton. Heck, they struggled with Shik. Who has Shik beaten this year? You’re not exactly comparing apples to oranges as this year’s team hasn’t played great teams thus far. With their size, they should be able to do a Henry Hynoski and drag multiple players with them into the end zone. Sorry, I’m just not seeing it. They have a soft schedule, they start slow, and they make a multitude of errors. I think they’ll have issues when they hit a well disciplined team that will use their weaknesses against them. I guess time will tell, but I just wasn’t impressed with what I’ve seen so far. Everyone looks great when playing teams that have losing records or also don’t play anyone. MCA is 12-0, but hasn’t really hit a quality opponent to test their strengths and weaknesses. I personally think the 95 team would have beaten this team. But, we’ll see how far they get.
November 15th, 2022 at 10:22 am
@ Bub I guess we’ll see. I just don’t see them as a state champion quality team. Too many errors, lack luster starts to their games, and really struggles with teams that weren’t that impressive. This MCA team looks like the size of a college team. They should be totally dominating their opponents. That’s not really been the case. They have struggled in several games. You’re impressed with their performance with Hughesville, but who exactly did Hughesville play and beat that was any good? How did they not completely dominate Shikellamy in the first half of the game? They should have been mercy ruled by the half, at least. Shik beat nobody this year. Milton also kept it close with them. SCA turned the ball over 5 times and the game wasn’t a blow out. Truly, they may be an undefeated team, but they’ve not been a dominant team against sub par opponents. They have kids the size of Hynoski on their team. They should be able to drag multiple players down the field to the end zone like he did. I’m just not seeing that, are you?
November 15th, 2022 at 9:58 am
Who cares if this years Mca team scores the most any other team has. Where does that get you. Mca has a great team. Ultimately I think there coaching will cost them as well. Darrah is a Wally hall stooge. With the exception of southern, north schuylkill and Milton they have played very bad teams. It’s hard to tell how good Diaz is because it seems like he has big games against very bad teams but I don’t think he’s that good against the good teams
November 15th, 2022 at 9:01 am
MCA is 12-0. I read in the Shamokin Item that this years team is on pace to have more points per game and more yardage than any team in Mount Carmel football history, yes that includes all of it’s great eastern conf. champs from the 60’s and 70’s and it’s state championship teams from the 90’s – 2000’s. But @ Brian is just not impressed. He thinks this team should be even more dominating! He isn’t even happy with 41 points on Hughsville in the first half, he wanted it in the first quarter! If your married, I pity your wife….LOL.
November 14th, 2022 at 10:03 pm
@Bub MCA should have been able to do that in the first quarter if their team were truly a state champion caliber team. This was Hughesville, who was a sub par opponent. I’ve seen MCA play and I’ve really not been that impressed. For their size, they should be dominating all of their opponents. They’ve not shown that dominance and their schedule wasn’t all that challenging. I don’t think they should be resting on their laurels.
November 14th, 2022 at 3:41 pm
@Bub
I realize it may sound silly to complain with the score but I expected MCA to come out and dominate Hughesville from the get go. This team has started off many games slow this year, which I don’t think they can afford to do from here on out. Also, yeah I have a high expectation of play at this point in the season. That was game 12, stupid mistakes and penalties (although there were some bad calls) should be minimized by now.
November 14th, 2022 at 2:51 pm
@MCA75
I guess coming out and putting 41 on a team by the half is playing flat and uninspiring to you. Yeah kinda tough to get up to your expectation of play against hughsville.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:42 pm
And I’m a big north schuylkill fan. An even bigger Rick Geist fan. I don’t adapt from shenandoah
November 14th, 2022 at 1:40 pm
North schuylkill wins. Wally and his offensive coordinators will keep it close. But north schuylkill won’t lose to a team who only runs the ball
November 14th, 2022 at 11:55 am
Margaret, I remember before that you are a big Wally Hall and NS fan. What are your thoughts on the North Schuylkill game?
November 13th, 2022 at 11:45 pm
A great game on paper for the district 11 AAA title. North Schuylkill v Northwestern Lehigh. One deciding factor in the game. Can North Schuylkill stop Cade Christopher? They’ve been stellar against the run all year it’s going to be a very interesting matchup. If they can bottle him up, they should have a good shot to beat them.
November 13th, 2022 at 8:02 pm
Every thing at 5A in D1 went as planned. The 4 best teams are still in. You could say Chester could have a top four but the game at PW wasnt even close. PW pushed them around all night. Any one of the final four could win it. I suspect Upper Dublin and Strath Haven will play in the final but Rustin seems to be playing at a much higher level since they got healthy and if one team that gets in Upper Dublins head, it’s PW. They know each other well and last years playoff was a crazy game with PW coming out on top. A lot of starters returning for both teams. I’ll give the advantage to UD but don’t be shocked if there is an upset.
November 13th, 2022 at 8:01 pm
Mount Carmel needs to start playing football from the opening whistle if they want to continue playing. If they come out flat and uninspired like they did yesterday, their undefeated season will come to an end quickly on Friday night. Too many penalties and stupid mistakes will cost them dearly at this stage of the game.
November 13th, 2022 at 7:51 pm
The only thing worse than a southern fan winning state championships is a southern fan who won’t let go and always thinks they r the best in the state no matter how much you beat them by
November 13th, 2022 at 2:05 pm
Just an observation on the ongoing discussion regarding the “correct’ number of playoff seeds for District One 6A and 5A.
In 6A this year seeds 11, 12, & 14 made the second round and indeed 11 & 12 will play in the semi finals. Seems to indicate that 16 is not too many for 6A.
On the other hand seeds in 5A making second round were 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 perhaps indicating the correct count for 5A is 8 seeds.
Always different year to year, but just an observation.
November 13th, 2022 at 1:17 pm
Looking forward to a couple of anticipated rematches in district 4 this coming weekend. Looks like Mount Carmel will have it’s hands full with a rejuvenated Southern Columbia. Loyalsock and Danville played a great one in the first meeting and expect the same in round 2.
November 13th, 2022 at 9:04 am
I think SCA answered a lot of questions this week in their thrashing of a very good Troy team on Troy’s home field. The return of Barnes and the adjustments to the SCA defense has made them a team to reckon with in the playoffs. This weeks matchup with MCA should be a good one for the D4 championship. SCA’s ability to stop the run was notable against Troy who had been impressive in games against Loyalsock and Canton.
November 12th, 2022 at 9:10 am
Option #1 was the correct choice. Spring-Ford taking Garnet to OT and finally giving them a game since the first game of the season.
Do I really have to wait 6 days until Downingtown East at Garnet Valley??
November 12th, 2022 at 6:28 am
The NP/CBW was one helluva game! No one could stop the other. It was NP’s to win, but like the Upper Dublin game,
they just blew it at the end. It was 38 to 35 with 71/2 min. to go, NP blew the KO from west, and west got it on the 4 yd line.
That was game. Then NP threw a pick with 4:40 to go. Their 1st meeting was 35 t0 14 West. Big improvement. If PV has
any run defense ( NP has none) , they can beat West. GV won’t get past D-town west.
November 11th, 2022 at 10:57 pm
@Buddy
You tell me. How’d it turn out tonight?
By the way, my forecasts were 100% correct but sometimes mother nature didn’t cooperate! LOL
November 11th, 2022 at 10:36 pm
Wild night here in District 1-6A
1 Seed Garnet Valley beats 8 seed Spring Ford in overtime.
Bo Horvath runs for 5 touchdowns and leads the 12 seed Dtown East to a 34-9 win over their rivals 4 seed Dtown West in the Battle of the Brandywine rematch
11 Seed CB West beats 14 seed North Penn 44-35
November 11th, 2022 at 6:52 pm
@ ScottyB
Option #3 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPMS3SzZyuc
November 11th, 2022 at 5:29 pm
@mike
Thanks, but it begs the question: how often were your forecasts spot on?
@Scotty
Yea, I know. But you got to sign up for min of 1 month for $12 per. (don’t mind that), but they say cancel anytime.
Therein lies the problem. I’ve done that with several other venue’s and played hell trying to get ahold of them to cancel.
Keep charging my card every month ’til I had to cancel the card! So, I’m a little gun-shy.
November 11th, 2022 at 5:28 pm
Pittsburgh daily rainfall record for Nov 11 was broken and there’s still 7.5 hours left in the day.
Allderdice-McDowell games was moved because Mcdowell’s field is flooded. Oh.. and the field is TURF!
November 11th, 2022 at 4:48 pm
@All concerned about the weather…
I’ve seen worse conditions with just the passage of a strong cold front. Most of the eastern half of the state should be fine through 10-11 PM, albeit a little windy. The western half is another story. Rain will pick up sometime after midnight. Looking at 0.1″ or less for most spots during game time tonight so no monsoons likely. The NE could have some showers or a T-Storm early i.e. 7-8 PM and possibly up to .25″ in some spots in that area early. Winds should be 10-20 MPH with higher gusty. Temps generally in the 60’s for the eastern half of the state. Just for the record, I am a retired meteorologist, a former NOAA-National Weather Service employee, and a former employee of the DOD’s U.S. Army Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory.
Enjoy the games!
November 11th, 2022 at 4:08 pm
@ Buddy
Looks like that game is only available on the NHFS Network
November 11th, 2022 at 3:09 pm
@ et al:
Anyone know if the NP/CBW has live streaming? Free of course, I know I can pay for it.
November 11th, 2022 at 3:04 pm
Like other districts lots of rematches tonight in the WPIAL, and the team that won the first matchup is likely to win most of the rematches, In 6A Mt Lebo hosts PCC, Lebo came back from a 16-0 fourth quarter deficit to shock PCC 17-16 on a walk off field goal, even though the game is at Lebo I like PCC’s chances tonight to win and get to the final next week against NA, who should beat Canon Mac by a couple of scores. In 5A the South Hills neighbors battle again, I watched Bethel Park pound the ball on the ground en route to a 27-14 win over previously undefeated USC in week 6, I have a hunch USC finds a way to win the rematch, they have played better than Bethel the last few weeks and think their comeback win last week over Gateway gives them momentum and confidence going into this one. Going to Woodland Hills vs. Pine Richland tonight, would love to see Woody pull the upset, but PR playing too well, they beat Woody 35-21 3 weeks ago and would be very surprised if they don’t beat them again, although game maybe a little closer.
One of the most intriguing games of the night is in 4A with McKeesport taking the one hour trip to Kittanning to take on Armstrong. Both teams are 10-1, Armstrong QB Cadin Olsen is the WPIAL’s leading passer with just under 3,000 yards for the season with 40 TD passes, McKeesport has one of the best defenses giving up only a little more than 6 points/game and a relentless rushing attack, These 2 teams played in the playoffs last year with McKeesport winning 35-21, I think McKeesport wins again tonight to set up a monumental showdown next week with Aliquippa in the semi-finals.
@Kevin X – that is definitely not a bad option 2 to see those schools battle for a trip to the district semi’s.
November 11th, 2022 at 2:22 pm
Mmmmm, option #2
DTW/DTE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPmsMQ7GxSw
November 11th, 2022 at 2:03 pm
@ Kevin X
If not, there is always the Battle of the Brandywine part 2, which I’m sure will be streamed.
I’m also hoping to find a live stream of the PJPII @ Interboro 4A championship game. Bucs RB Abu Kamara is 127 yards away from breaking the all-time Delco single season rushing mark, he comes into tonight’s game with 2392 yards rushing and 34 td’s.
November 11th, 2022 at 12:39 pm
D3 games postponed from tonight until Sat.
Dover @ Exeter 7:00
Ship @ Solanco 6:00
Trinity @ Annville Cleona 7:00
November 11th, 2022 at 12:28 pm
If anyone wants to read two great stories about 2 western PA teams i am posting the links below. The first is about Westinghouse.. the Pittsburgh city league team who’s now become very good. Their coach has completely changed the culture and program around in one of Pittsburgh’s poorest areas.
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/highschool/2022/10/26/westinghouse-coach-donta-green-city-league-football/stories/202210230139
The 2nd is a story about the mapletown maples. One of the smallest schools in Pennsylvania situated on the PA/WV border. Graduates 32 kids and they are 11-0 and in the wpial quarterfinals for the first time in history. These are the stories that aren’t told when newspapers decide not to cover high school sports.
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-football/2022/11/09/mapletown-high-school-wpial-football-playoffs-community-george-messich-landan-stevenson/stories/202211090079
November 11th, 2022 at 12:11 pm
@Kevin X – Westinghouse is very good and will give Farrell all they can handle in the quarterfinal round in 2 weeks, I said on this board earlier this year to keep an eye on Westinghouse in 2A, particularly after they traveled to Harrisburg in week 1 and dismantled a very good Steelton Highspire team who might win 1A.
November 11th, 2022 at 12:07 pm
@Buddy – I don’t particularly want to sit through a monsoon either, but it’s the playoffs and I’m going to see a game regardless of the weather conditions likes lots of other fans. We’ve had beautiful weather for the most part for the first 11 weeks of the season, no rain at all here in Western Pa on Friday nights, so tonight we have to deal with the elements…at least it’s not going to be very cold with temperatures in the mid-50’s, I’ve been to playoff games over the years in far worse conditions than what it looks like for tonight.
As far as rescheduling, its not as easy as you might think in a district as large as the WPIAL, there are 20 district playoff games tonight, and moving all 20 to tomorrow would be very difficult logistically, because the WPIAL is not going to reschedule some games if they don’t reschedule them all.
November 11th, 2022 at 11:21 am
Uh oh, the first D1 game change of the day, Springfield @ SH now tomorrow afternoon.
I really hope the S-F/GV remains a go for tonight, if it isn’t, it will throw a wrench into my evening plans…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTodU5yQxeQ
November 11th, 2022 at 10:42 am
I’ll just say I very much enjoyed a game last night in just about perfect November weather, and hope to, and looking like, will do it again tomorrow afternoon. Crowd probably not as big as it would have been on a nee Friday evening, but still a very nice crowd, but larger for sure then for what is being predicted weatherize. For you guys heading out tonight, your call. Enjoy. Looking like the Philly area may be getting lucky tonight with a somewhat dry window in the early evening. I tho still just don’t get it, if you could move a game a day up or back a day to avoid certain conditions, not a question of why, but why not?? Other than an immovable conflict, or personnel issues (game workers, etc.), again, I don’t get it. But so be it….
November 11th, 2022 at 10:29 am
Rooting for a Westinghouse/Executive Education 2A final!!!
November 11th, 2022 at 7:25 am
@Jeff:
What about the fans? Other than you, no one wants to sit thru a monsoon. This isn’t the NFL or college ball where it costs a fortune to
move a game. This costs nothing. One should want the best game possible, D11 felt that way.
November 11th, 2022 at 12:29 am
@ Jeff H….I understand that football is played in all types of weather been going to the games for years. But playing games in tropical storm like conditions even on turf iwhen it can be avoided doesn’t make that much sense to me but it doesn’t matter since they don’t care what I think. I was at a game for a league title in District one last year played in similar conditions on turf where the teams were actually going for it on 4th down inside their own 20 yard line in the 2nd qtr because the wind was so bad was impossible to snap the ball to the punter. Seems to me that teams work all year to get to this point to have a game affected to that extreme isn’t real smart. Hopefully it doesn’t turn out to be like that tomm night.
November 10th, 2022 at 10:10 pm
@Irish1 – why does it make no sense to play to games Friday night, particularly if they are being played on artificial turf like virtually all of the WPIAL playoff games are. All district 7 semi-final and quarterfinal games will be played as scheduled tomorrow night “It’s an outdoor-weather sport,” said WPIAL administrator Vince Sortino, who sent an email update to athletic directors Wednesday morning. “As of right now, we’re on as scheduled.” Lightening and thunderstorms are obviously a whole different matter, but rain and wind…play the games, that’s what makes football unique. By the way the WPIAL makes the decision for all WPIAL playoff games, not the individual schools, and I for one will be at the game of my choice with rain gear and a big umbrella!
November 10th, 2022 at 11:03 am
District 11
A – Northern Lehigh 27 Tri Valley 14
AA – Executive 34 Catty 7
AAA – North Schuylkill 42 Palmerton 13
Northwestern Lehigh 34 Notre Dame GP 28
November 10th, 2022 at 1:36 am
I understand football is played in the elements but playing district playoff games in tropical storm like conditions makes no sense either move them up or push them back to Saturday night. But why make a common sense decision it wouldn’t fit in with how the rest of this season has gone
November 9th, 2022 at 9:53 pm
@ Paul White
They probably got a nice early on-line ticket sale business, so they got their $$$. No refunds, so fans be damned!!! Can’t believe only one D1 game has been moved as of this posting.
I myself shall enjoy a nice early November evening overlooking SCI Graterford with Soudy @ PV, with nice pre game happy hour at the Trappe (and maybe even a post game embellishment as well, off for Vets Day Fri.) and then catch the best game of the weekend bar none Saturday with Haverford @ EA (with warm dry streaming Friday night). A good long weekend of football on tap (no pun intended)!!!
November 9th, 2022 at 9:34 pm
In response to MCA75’s statement that everyone is ready to crown SCA state champions due to one player returning from injury. No one is saying that at all. SCA is going to be a much different challenge now that changes have been made to their lineup to bolster the run defense and take the pressure off Wesloski since opponents will no longer be able to key on him. Any team that can put 69 points on an opponent in the first 16 minutes of a game obviously has transitioned to a team to be concerned about in the playoffs. The team that lost to Loyalsock is not the same team that will be playing now. Troy as you might know had it handed to them by Canton, a single A team. As I said previously, SCA will be a tough out.
November 9th, 2022 at 8:01 pm
@buddy you’re participation trophy comment doesn’t make much sense. I guess those trophies this year were for cb east, coatesville, and pennsbury. District 1 is too big to have only 8. You guys would be the same ones complaining that teams don’t challenge themselves and the games stink. 9-16 seeds win and advance every year.
November 9th, 2022 at 7:15 pm
Don’t expect CB West, Great Valley or StrathHaven to move their games. Those conditions improve their chances.
November 9th, 2022 at 6:47 pm
@D2:
Yea, don’t see many ” Mud Bowls” anymore, everyone has artificial turf.
@Football guy
I’m careful about what I wish for………….. I wish for 8 team playoffs. Teams won’t be afraid to lose anymore then they are now,
and if they do, too bad. Like I said, it’s giving out “Participation Trophies” to the bottom 8 seeds (9 thru 16).
@all
OK, Souderton & PV got it right, will the others follow?
November 9th, 2022 at 4:56 pm
@JCo- So is CB West, CB South, & CB East all under the umbrella of Central Bucks School District, as is Bethlehem & Freedom, your point is? @ Buddy- yeah I did go off a little, I didn’t think Garnet Valley really ran up the score, & I had real mixed feeling about whether Quakertown should be included, but also saw some value in it. Wouldn’t be surprised if Souderton beats Perk Valley, I wouldn’t put money on it, just wouldn’t be surprised. @Phillyboy- I kept saying a “Dangerous Precedent” because that’s what it is, So someone not happy Central Bucks isn’t winning State Championships regularly, so they combine, or the Philly schools get tired of the Catholic League and decide it’s time for a “Combined” team to compete, or Bethlehem School district decides to combine Liberty & Freedom, where do you stop or who’s to say they can and can’t, just really think we’ve got enough can of worms with the PIAA without opening up another one. Thus…. I do think, that cutting the number of teams in D1 down to 8 is important, plus gives the kids heading into the playoffs an additional week to get healthy before the big games.
November 9th, 2022 at 12:56 pm
Souderton @ Perk Valley moved to tomorrow night at 7pm
November 9th, 2022 at 11:38 am
Looks like the return of one of Southern Columbia’s key players has everybody ready to crown them state champs again.
Wasn’t he in the lineup earlier in the season when SCA lost to Loyalsock 27-10? Troy only lost to Loyalsock 36-35 a few weeks ago…
Interesting matchup for MCA fans, hoping everyone stays healthy.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:44 am
You guys discussing 8 team playoffs – be careful what you wish for. If that happened, you wouldn’t have big out of conference games to start the season. Teams would be afraid to lose early, so you’d have weaker match-ups and possible blow outs. So since NP, West and other teams played difficult games and improved throughout the year, they didn’t deserve to be in playoffs and move to the 2nd round? 16 teams is great bc it allows and teams to grow and be at their best by the playoffs. You want the best team to represent the district in November/December, not the best teams from September/October.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:34 am
@ Buddy
I think some people dubbed it the “Mud Bowl” because of the poor playing conditions. A very rainy, muddy field led to a OT victory for Lakeland, winning by a score of 6-3. Believe it or not, the game was scoreless in regulation. It was hard for a lot of players to get traction because there was 2” of rain that fell before game time, leading to a very muddy surface. A lot of games up here were affected by that same system.
I’m sure a handful of players might’ve enjoyed the rare opportunity to have a game played in those conditions, even if it was a difficult surface to play on. I obviously can’t speak for every player, or even the coaches. I could only imagine how tough playcalling was.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:47 am
Buddy…All good. I emailed D1 PIAA and they said they are going to have a meeting at 9am….It’s up to the schools.
November 9th, 2022 at 8:49 am
My bad. Mis-read
Anyone hear anything about the D1 playoff games for Fri.? I see D11 moved to Thur. nite due to pending storm.
I know D12 has done same in the past. Here’s hoping.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:48 am
Steve…I agree. I am glad they added more teams this year.
November 9th, 2022 at 8:41 am
The KSFL 8man football is a great league, the PIAA should look into it, it is starting to take off. More teams should get involved. Well ran and very organized, exciting to watch.
November 8th, 2022 at 8:52 pm
Strange off the cuff topic here, but does anyone feel there could be a need for 8-man football in the PIAA?……..i know its popular in midwest states but it could help smaller schools that just don’t have the numbers to compete or maybe for larger schools where there are no numbers turnout but still may want to field a team…could also open up some small schools in the state that don’t have football to start up football (not sure if its a cost thing)…I know there is the 8-man KSFL already in the state…..any opinions?
November 9th, 2022 at 6:31 am
Buddy…It says While kids not White kids….
November 9th, 2022 at 6:30 am
Buddy….I have someone montior post. I will take care of it. TY
November 8th, 2022 at 8:48 pm
@D2
What the hell does ” played in a 6-3″ Mud-Bowl”, & white kids loved it ” mean??
@MIKA
You do monitor these comments, right?
November 8th, 2022 at 6:35 pm
All forecasts calling for heavy rain Fri nite.
November 8th, 2022 at 6:24 pm
@John
I’m a weather nerd, so I can give some insight.
Tropical Storm Nicole is supposed to affect lots of places in PA on Friday, with 2-4” of rain possible in some places. I think the heavy rain could make some fields borderline unplayable.
I read somewhere in a Times-Tribune feed on FB that Lakeland/Lake-Lehman a few years ago played in a 6-3 “Mud Bowl”, & while kids loved it, it’s also a bit dangerous with no footing.
I commend them for playing it safe. Don’t want to see any star players to have their season & career ended because of poor field conditions.
November 8th, 2022 at 3:12 pm
I’m behind. But why are games being rescheduled in the first place? Is it because of the weather forecast?
November 8th, 2022 at 2:30 pm
@Smoll:
What does Q-town’s current & future football prowess have to do with GV running up the score? You went on a bit of a tangent there eh.
However, 100% agree with dropping down to 8 team playoffs instead of the current 16 team playoffs in D1. Used to be that way and it was fine.
Teams like Q-town, and yes, North Penn, and some other teams should have not made the playoffs. Over-saturation. it’s like giving out
“Participation trophies ” for having a losing season, like in little league baseball & Connie Mack football.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:02 pm
Games are being moved to Thursday night…Here is what I have so far…
– Delaware Valley (6-5) @ Scranton (8-3) 07:00 PM
– Notre Dame GP (9-2) @ Northwestern Lehigh (9-2) 07:00 PM
– Parkland (7-4) @ Northampton (11-0) 07:00 PM
– Dunmore (8-3) @ Lakeland (11-0) 07:00 PM
November 8th, 2022 at 1:37 pm
So how many games are actually going to be played Friday night as scheduled?? This should be fun 🙂
November 8th, 2022 at 1:13 pm
MikeS — It seems that some of these big public school districts have been availing themselves of phillyboy’s thought process. They must have been secretly absorbing his insights, good on them. They can even act like it was their own original idea, no fuss no muss. But why on earth are you triggered by the merging of two football programs that are in the SAME district? How many times are you going to refer to it as a ‘Dangerous Precedent ‘? Goodness gracious, I feel like I’m reading a 6abc Action News article.
Those programs have obviously been struggling for many years, gives them a fighting chance going forward. Why are you so against a pragmatic solution to a chronic problem? Are you afraid Allentown SD might actually be able to compete? The merger may be a few things, but I don’t think dangerous is one of them. Btw the precedent was already set a few years ago with Erie High.
November 8th, 2022 at 12:11 pm
@ Buddy Hensler
When Perk Valley hit 56 in the 3rd quarter they started emptying the bench and then OJR scored the games final 13 points. PV almost blew a 20 point lead @ OJR during the regular season so it appeared they were not playing around this time with the Wildcats.
November 8th, 2022 at 9:47 am
@MikeS they’re not separate school districts. Allen and Dieruff are both part of Allentown School District. And you might be surprised how many of the Philly public schools are co-ops.
It’s clear we will not agree on this, so I am not particularly interested in taking this any further. Ultimately it’s up to the district to decide what is best for its students.
November 8th, 2022 at 7:58 am
@Buddy Hensler – Garnet Valley played their 2nd and 3rd teams the vast majority of the second half, which was then a fairly even game, but you do realize, Quakertown had 3 starting seniors in their starting 22 right, so 19 of those kids will be back next season. Also, from what I’ve been told Quakertown’s JV & Freshman teams had 1 loss and 1 tie, so I suspect they may be alright next year. Even though they got smoked there was some value for this young team to get some playoff experience. Similar to the 2020 season and then last year when they went 14-1. Now on a personal thought, I think it ought to get cut down to top 8 instead of top 16, which gives each team a week off, like most other districts, and yeah, I get North Penn and CB West both won & would have been left out, I just don’t think their body of work was strong enough to be in. I mean Erie Cathedral Prep doesn’t play until the Quarterfinals of the state tournament, should be a very healthy football team, all healed up from the bumps and bruises of the season, big advantage there. Also puts more value on in season games.
November 8th, 2022 at 7:44 am
@JCo My problem is with the mergering of two of the largest school districts to be able to compete. You have schools like Nazareth, Quakertown, CB West that would have 1/4 of the numbers of students to draw from and compete in 6A. It’s the combining of the 2 I object too. If you can’t draw enough kids to compete, then maybe you need to drop the program. I mean if they were closer to 500 students each than over a 1000, maybe, a big maybe but maybe. It’s a Very Dangerous Precedent to allow 2 of the larger school districts to combine in order to be competitive. I get they are city schools, but so is Bethlehem, & Philly schools etc, & I don’t hear them crying to combine. Just a Dangerous Dangerous Precedent. I also understand you’d like to see Allen-Dieruff to be competitive again, but mergering sports programs is not the correct way. Dangerous Precedent.
November 7th, 2022 at 5:13 pm
@MikeS: Allen and Dieruff already are in the North division and still finish well below .500 every year.
November 7th, 2022 at 1:40 pm
Two interesting games in the D11 AAA bracket. North Schuylkill v Palmerton. NS is much better overall but arguably the best player in the district will be running the show for Palmerton. Machalik is very hard to contain and he can throw the ball all over the field. NS will without a doubt get pressure on him, but bringing him down could be a different story. If they contain him, they should have no problem winning the game. Palmerton also struggles on defense. NS shouldn’t have much a problem running their offense especially on the ground. Flail can have another big game if they can get him the ball.
Northwestern Lehigh v Notre Dame. Another interesting game with two completely different types of teams. Northwestern Lehigh will look to control the game on the ground and manage the clock. I think Christopher is going to have a huge game as ND will most likely struggle against a team who is mostly a power run team. On the other hand, ND looks to air it out and score as much as possible. Northwestern Lehigh hasn’t been giving up too many points, it’ll be interesting to see if they can contain their air attack. If Lehigh can get a few stops, I think they’ll be able to control most of the game on the ground and win a pretty high scoring game.
November 6th, 2022 at 10:15 am
@Hammerhead, I think it set a very dangerous precedent, if it was two borderline sized 6A schools, but assuming the schools are even close to what I found online, with Allen at over 1450 male students and Deriuff with over 875 male students, that just opens it up to mega schools athletically. You mean you can’t find 15-18 players out of a class averaging 330 students, for 60-72 players, really maybe they need to either go to the North Division or devaluing football. I think combining schools of that size just is a very dangerous precedent. You are not talking about a school of 500-550 male students in grades 9 thru 12, you are talking schools two to three times that size. Something REALLY wrong. Drop down but don’t combine
November 5th, 2022 at 3:20 pm
Someone please tell me that garnet valley played their 3rd & 4th stringers after half time. Maybe suited up some
parents from the stands for the 4th quarter. Otherwise…………shame. Same could be said for Perk Valley, to a lesser extent.
November 5th, 2022 at 9:24 am
Nothing earth shattering in D7 as most of the top seeds had byes this week, but two defending wpial champs were eliminated.
In 2A #5 seed defending champion Serra Catholic was ousted by Washington.
In 5A Penn Trafford was eliminated by Pine Richland.
One big surprise was Woodland Hills winning. They snuck into the playoffs the last week of season and will now play Pine Richland in the semis.
One very good game next week is McKeesport vs Armstrong. Two teams that were under seeded at 4-5 now playing each other in the quarterfinals. Winner will get Aliquippa after they dispose of Montour.
The other 5A semi final is a big rivalry game. Bethel park vs Upper St Clair.
2A and 1A continue to be competitive.
November 5th, 2022 at 12:22 am
Finally got my butt down to the ‘Ville for a game this year. Worth the hour plus drive to witness another scintillating rendition of the Bo Horvath Show.
November 4th, 2022 at 10:52 pm
Also, another here was a pretty big upset tonight in District 11 6A. Parkland beat Nazareth 42-14. Nazareth was without QB Sasso (who is one of the best HS wrestlers in the country), but I still was surprised by the outcome. They play EPC North champion Northampton next week, which should be a good game. EPC North teams have traditionally struggled with EPC South teams, but this should still be a good one, considering Northampton blew out a Whitehall team that beat Parkland, but they struggled tonight against a Stroudsburg team who they beat by 40+ in the regular season.
Emmaus v. Freedom in the other D11 semifinal should be another good one. A rematch of week one where Emmaus beat Freedom 19-13. Definitely one of the biggest games on the eastern side of the state next week.
November 4th, 2022 at 10:17 pm
Hey Yall.
Was busy last week, so could not post playoff previews.
But huge night in District 1 6A. 2 of my 3 favorites to win the district were eliminated in the first round (Downingtown West, Coatesville, and Pennsbury). 12 Seed Downingtown East knocked off 5 Seed Coatesville. These really should of been playing each other in a later round. Both teams seeding got messed up with the whole Downingtown West Coatesville game cancellation and Coatesville having to forfeit. We all knew the Cougars were better than the 12 seed, but still I thought the Red Raiders would pull out a victory, considering they were up 15-0 with 3 minutes left in the first half, and I am pretty sure Downingtown East has never beaten Coatesville in the playoffs. This sets up a second Battle of the Brandywine this year, since Downingtown West beat Conestoga. Should be another great one, I think its already been mentioned but DTW WR Hangey, cannot play in the playoffs due to PIAA transfer rules.
Also, 14 seed North Penn knocked off 3 seed Pennsbury. This is not surprising. I did think Pennsbury would win though and we all knew North Penn was better than the 14 seed and had been playing better football down the stretch. Sets up a rematch with 11 seed CB West next week.
Looking back at D1-6A rankings last week, all three teams I had ranked in top 3, 1. Coatesville, 2. Pennsbury, 3. CB East lost tonight. Really surprised about CB East losing back to back weeks against CB West. I know CB West was better than their record showed, but I did not expect CB West to win the Week 10 since they were coming off a tough loss to CB South. And tonight was even more surprising considering CB West was leading 28-0 at half.
We are in for a great slate of second round games in D1-6A.
November 4th, 2022 at 9:47 pm
Feel good story of the year out here in the west… Latrobe wins their first playoff game since 1968 in 4A. Play TJ in the quarterfinals next week. I’ll have more on the first round in the morning.
November 4th, 2022 at 9:22 pm
SCA is back to being a tough out. They led Line Mountain 69-0 with over 8 minutes left in the second quarter and the subs played the rest of the game. They will take on Troy next week at Troy. Barnes and Wesloski were unstoppable and Barnes only played offense. The run defense was improved by several adjustments this week and as I said previously this is a different SCA team with the changes that have been made and I wouldn’t want to be any team playing Southern over the next few weeks. Yes, they will be playing a few more weeks.
November 4th, 2022 at 6:20 pm
Even if Allen and Dieruff combine programs, they still won’t beat any of the other teams in The EPC south. I don’t see the harm in letting them combine.
November 4th, 2022 at 5:02 pm
Happy Participation Trophy Weekend everyone!!!!
November 4th, 2022 at 10:52 am
SCA has Barnes back for the playoffs and this will be a different football team with him in the mix. Teams won’t be able to focus on Wisloski now and Barnes bolster the defense as well as the offense. Other changes to the defense will also make them very dangerous in the playoffs.
November 3rd, 2022 at 11:15 pm
@Mike S: They’re both inner city schools with struggles that other schools could only dream of. Both teams’ football programs have struggled with numbers for a while. Comparing them to Central Bucks is highly disingenuous and a bad faith argument.
November 3rd, 2022 at 7:29 pm
@ ScottyB
Nope.
Only game that I would even consider that would be an upset of the 5 that you listed would be OJR over PV, which is not going to happen. Even #14 North Penn over #3 Pennsbury I would not really consider an upset. NP is playing pretty well of late (finally) and I’m still not sold on Pennsbury. Only other 2 games in D1 6A that I would consider an upset would be Garnet and DTW getting knocked off.
November 3rd, 2022 at 3:29 pm
@JCo REALLY ALLENTOWN needs to consolidate to field a competitive football team, You mean Allen HS with a male enrollment of the north side of 1400, and Dierfuff HS with an enrollment of over 850 need help to compete? You’ve got to be kidding? They need an enrollment of over 2250 to be competitive with schools smaller than either one of them. I’m at a loss, maybe the 3 Central Bucks schools should consolidate, as their enrollment would be less than Allentown consolidated, you wouldn’t touch them. Revive the program or drop the program, if there isn’t any interest, maybe the best thing to do is just drop it.
November 3rd, 2022 at 1:50 pm
***My mistake on the first matchup, should read DTE @ Coatesville***
November 3rd, 2022 at 1:21 pm
With 5 of the 8 games in 6A pitting league rivals against one another, any potential upsets?
DTW @ Coatesville
CB South @ Souderton
OJR @ Perk Valley
North Penn @ Pennsbury
CB West @ CB East
***Also just read that DTW will be without Junior WR, Dean Hangey (24 Catches, 610 yard, 7 td’s) due to the PIAA transfer rules. Could be huge in their potential next game against the winner of Ville/DTE.
November 3rd, 2022 at 12:16 pm
And then you have the Butler Poop Show out in the west/NW part of the state…….
November 2nd, 2022 at 8:10 pm
Mel Thomas, the coach of two years at Allen, has resigned. Interestingly, in an article with the Morning Call, he suggested that it would be beneficial for Allen and Dieruff to consolidate football programs, and that this had already been done at the middle school level, to some amount of success. To my knowledge, this is the most concrete indication so far of consolidation happening. If they can work it out logistically, I think this could be a tremendous help for Allentown football.
November 2nd, 2022 at 4:53 pm
Seriously…. How can the PIAA let that happen…. That’s all you need to see to know that 6 classes is one too many. Bye to the quarterfinals?? And i know that teams opted out.. but frankly you have to set up the bracket better than that.
November 2nd, 2022 at 8:20 am
Gotta love that lower left quadrant of the 5A bracket.
Joke, disgrace, both, or other???
November 1st, 2022 at 1:48 pm
@WPIALguy – IMO seedings should have been Aliquippa, CV, McKeesport, Armstrong and TJ #5, I was looking forward to McKeesport vs. CV in the semi-finals, I just don’t see how you can justify TJ at #3 ahead of 9-1 McKeesport/Armstrong given their record is 7-3, if they lost to McKeesport they are likely an #8/#9 seed for finishing third in the conference, and that one win vaults them to #3? And I’m pretty sure that Armstrong-Aliquippa game was tied at 14 going into the fourth quarter and Quips scored 2 TDs in fourth, sort of like they took over in third quarter against CV the other night. I watched the Quips do the same thing against Jersey Shore in the semi-finals last year, they had Aliquippa back on their heels and ahead by 2 scores in the first half, but Aliquippa scored a TD in last minute of first half to close the gap and then came out and dominated in the second half and won going away.
November 1st, 2022 at 12:34 pm
@jeff h i completely agree about TJ. The wpial gifted them a run to the semis and simultaneously screwed Armstrong and McKeesport by seeding them 4-5… if you’re making McKeesport the 5.. at least make TJ the 4 and make them Duke it out again. Especially as Armstrong’s only loss is by 14 to the 1 seed Aliquippa.
November 1st, 2022 at 11:36 am
@WPIALGuy – agree with your analysis and the winners in each classification. I am shocked and disappointed the WPIAL committee seeded McKeesport #5, they may be the best #5 seed in the history of the WPIAL. IMO it’s a joke TJ was seeded third, yes head to head is important and they beat McKeesport 20-10 on Friday, but they lost to both Laurel Highlands and Belle Vernon, and McKeesport handled both of those teams, McKeesport also has quality wins over Penn Trafford and Gateway, so their whole body of work is far superior to TJ at 7-3. Not only does McKeesport not get a bye this week they have to play Armstrong in the quarterfinals, Aliquippa in the semis and presumably CV in the final, if I am McKeesport I am really ticked off at the selection committee because they got screwed..
I also have no clue how 3-7 North Hills was the final wildcard over 6-4 Peters Township in 5A, who lost to the #1 seed Bethel Park 27-21 on Friday, while North Hills got blown out by PR 47-0, would love to hear an explanation as to why North Hills goes ahead of Peters, makes no sense to me. Since they didn’t take Peters they had to seed Woodland Hills ahead of Penn Trafford, which is illogical since PT beat them 48-14 earlier in the season, if I’m Pine Richland I’m not thrilled about drawing PT in the first round, that’s the high seed on upset alert in the first round, if PR wins I think they win the WPIAL title then lose to Erie Prep in the quarterfinals.
November 1st, 2022 at 10:05 am
I don’t believe NW Lehigh has much of a shot to beat NS. A team that is run heavy won’t do well against NS, their front 4 and linebackers are very very solid and quick to the ball. That’s why Notre Dame always has a shot to beat them because NS struggles in pass coverage and Stambaugh runs a very good spread offense. But I do give NW Lehigh a good shot against Notre Dame if they meet because ND struggles on defense and Cade Christopher may run for 250 yards. In their last game, Southern Lehigh was without their QB and their offense was awful so I’m not putting much into that game.
October 31st, 2022 at 10:29 pm
Nw lehigh will not win the 3a title. North schuylkill or notre dame. I’m not saying they can’t beat notre dame but they won’t beat north schuylkill. Please don’t look at scores so much. Ok yes they beat a southern lehigh team 42-7 but southern lehigh is a big school playing in a small school league. They may have been the worst 8-1 team in the state. If we go by your score comparison then I could also tell you northwestern lehigh needed a late score to beat a bad pottsville team, they lost to a northern lehigh team that got crushed by ns. Bottom line is northwestern lehigh won’t beat ns. Based on talent
October 31st, 2022 at 8:54 pm
I agree north schuylkill vs notre dame. NS has the better team based off the first matchup even though they lost by two touchdowns. Avoid turnovers and the deep ball from ND and they should be alright. Offensively they should be able to run the ball against them Notre dame doesn’t stop anyone with a decent offense. It’ll come down to gameplanning
October 31st, 2022 at 8:29 pm
I think your over valuing the district 11 aaa and aa teams to boost northern lehigh up. If we base everything on how you decipher things, North Schuylkill lost 4 4tds to 1 in a scrimmage with danville . Danville beat loyalsock by 3. Loyalsock beat Troy by 1 and Troy lost to canton. And ns destroyed northern lehigh. Ns line dominated northern lehighs line. It doesn’t matter if you have a line rotation if they r being dominated. Northern lehigh beat a 3-7 jim thorpe team 14-13 in a game thorpe should have won. Steel high will beat northern lehigh. I’m not even saying canton would beat northern lehigh, but steel high most certainly will. Keep in mind the ns loss was at northern lehigh.
October 31st, 2022 at 7:13 pm
D11 finals predictions (what I think the championships and teams in them will be)
A: Northern Lehigh over Tri Valley 28-14.
AA: Palisades over Williams Valley 24-21
AAA: Northwestern over North Schuylkill 22-20
AAAA: ACC over Beca 28-21
AAAAA: Whitehall over Southern 35-14
AAAAAA: Emmaus over Freedom 14-10
October 31st, 2022 at 7:08 pm
@JC…..don’t count out Northwestern in dist 11AAA. They destroyed a 9-1 Southern Lehigh team last week.
October 31st, 2022 at 6:18 pm
I’d let u know but they only post 1% of the things I send
October 31st, 2022 at 2:45 pm
In 3a north schuylkill has the best team. I just don’t think wally hall can beat notre dame this year. He will do the exact same thing with Weitz out of the backfield and it will work but he will over use it, everytime they put him in they know he will run it, he wont use chownasky and they will only try to throw the same bubble screen to flail not realizing he can get open on other routes, the defense will continue to try and blitz off the ends and darno will run, chowansky on blitzes straight up thru the center would do some damage they never do it. There will be 0 adjustments so unless they don’t turn it over I see notre dame beating them. If they play nw lehigh I see them beating them. If northern lehigh thinks they can bully tri valley they may be in for an awakening, not a loss but a close game, but then again I have minersville upsetting them. So if they play tri valley, close game, minersville its a blowout for northern lehigh.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:18 pm
@thejoneses,
I think Northern Lehigh could win a state championship but I would put Canton, Steelton and Bishop A above them. Those might be only three A teams I would have favored against Northern Lehigh. Tri valley is a good A team but played an A schedule and Northern beat 4 out of top 5 dist 11 AAA schools. They also beat Catty who is in AA playoffs. That’s 5 playoff teams in class AA and AAA that they beat. They rotate on the lines which is rare for A. They also have been playing without Ramos who scored 6 tds in 3 games before getting hurt. There was hope he would be back towards end of regular season, maybe he will be back this week? If he is, Northern gets a returner starter and top RB back for a playoff run. Could they slip up in dist playoffs? Sure. But I don’t expect it and I expect them to reach state quarters when they would most likely play Steelton.
October 31st, 2022 at 1:19 pm
@Frank G. Good points. I haven’t looked at LaSalle enrollment numbers, but I think they are still doing well and recruiting from their usual areas. Their DB Coach has deep roots in Philly after leaving SJP, which should/could help them pull more talent there.
October 31st, 2022 at 12:41 pm
Wpial favorites heading into playoffs
6A North Allegheny, however i could see any of the 4 teams in playoffs somehow winning. Not a state championship contender.
5A
Bethel Park, Pine Richland.
Another very competitive class. Think that cathedral prep will end up beating the winner of this game in the semis.
4A
Aliquippa, Central Valley, Thomas Jefferson, McKeesport, Armstrong
I’d argue these 5 are 5 of the 6 best teams in the state in 4A. I expect Aliquippa to win, but don’t sleep on any of the others.
3A
Belle Vernon will roll to the state championship.
2A
Steel Valley, Beaver Falls, Sto Rox
I expect steel valley to win. Sto rox and beaver falls can compete. Ultimately i see Farrell, Westinghouse or steel valley making it to the state finals out of the west.
1A
Bishop Canevin is the odds on favorite. Laurel can surprise people.
October 31st, 2022 at 12:28 pm
@D11 Matt proved my point with his post about Northern Leigh. That’s a program the prepared for a state championship with it’s schedule.
October 31st, 2022 at 12:05 pm
@Phillyboy and KevinX can anyone realistically say they saw ML in 21. NOOOOOOO. So I think people thought Prep was going to have an easy go of it last year and then were jubilant when it happened. I can tell you the Prep players won’t take it for granted in 22. You don’t know until you know. ML did not have names like some of the others winners in past years and got it done. I still ask why more schools can’t be great like them. It starts with coaching and preparation in my opinion. Before anyone goes there, yes I know they all practice and prepare. It’s how you practice and how you prepare. Yes you have multi-sport players on the Prep football team. Some coaches/players see Prep and all they have in their minds are the excuses echoed on sites like this. Instead of being reminded of what teams like ML did in 21. The game was lost mentally before anyone even touched the field. I know for a fact LaSalle practices for Prep harder than any other team, which, in my opinion is why they fell in 15′ to parkland.(I’m still bitter about that game, if you can’t tell) When your preparation and dedication to win a State Championship starts in January, it shows up in your non-league schedule and results are produced in December.
October 31st, 2022 at 11:14 am
@jc Who do you have coming out of 3A. District 11 is pretty wide open this year in 2,3, and 4A. NL should roll in A but the other 3 are fairly open.
October 31st, 2022 at 11:03 am
Good point, Paul.
Just wondering: Does Roman get many players from outside the city? Is Wood right now getting players inside the city or from outside its traditional area in Bucks County? And does LaSalle have many players from outside the areas where it has always drawn students?
One of the things that has happened is that the large network of Catholic grade schools has shrunk. Not only are there fewer such schools but the schools that still exist are smaller. So kids who until 10-20 years ago would have gone to Catholic grade schools and played in CYO leagues are now going to public elementary schools and playing in other leagues. This makes some public school people think the kids are being poached or even stolen by Catholic/private schools. At the same time–for reasons having nothing to do with football–Catholic high schools, including SJP, LaSalle, Roman, WC, Wood, etc.–are now recruiting (because they have to recruit to stay open) non-Catholic students. Of course there are other factors too.
But if you look around the country–rather than just around PA–it’ll become obvious that the phenomenon is far from unique to Philly.
October 31st, 2022 at 10:58 am
@D2 Fan
I hadn’t thought of a formal scheduling agreement with D2 but that’s something I’d love to see in tandem with changing the EPC structure. I remember East Stroudsburg and Del Val used to have a good series going, as did Stroudsburg and Hazleton. Would love to see some of those games return to the early season.
You can see some of the discourse lately bemoaning the fact that SJP looks to dominate 6A this season. The D11 champ has a history of playing SJP tough, most recently Freedom’s 24-21 loss last season, but wins have been hard to come by. Would non-con games against the best of the East have helped D11 get over the hump more frequently? Maybe, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt. It certainly would help more than 80-0 wins over ES North.
I think *something* is going to change; Northampton moving to the South feels inevitable, since the EPC is at the end of their two-year divisional cycle in football. But I hope we do see more change than just swapping Northampton with Liberty, Whitehall, or one of the Catholics. An 8-team EPC North feels like such a no-brainer for the coaches, players, and fans in both divisions, so at the very least, I hope we see that.
October 31st, 2022 at 10:46 am
I’m not saying this is gospel, but according to the Erie Times, it’s possible Erie Cathedral doesn’t play for 3 weeks in a row with their first playoff game being a quarterfinal showdown against the WPIAL champs. I guess a bunch of teams are opting out, which I agree with, there are way to many teams that shouldn’t make the playoffs that somehow get in. Cathedral is pretty beat up, but 3 weeks would help to get everybody healthy. That being said 3 weeks without a game isn’t good for a football team.
October 31st, 2022 at 10:26 am
If Troy doesn’t send SC home, Mount Carmel surely will.
October 31st, 2022 at 8:06 am
It’s not just the Prep that’s the problem, it’s the ten the almost 10 schools in D1 and D 12 that recruit. Prep just does it better than them. D1 has to deal with Prep, Lasalle , all the Interac, Wood. RC. It adds up.
October 31st, 2022 at 12:41 am
Northern lehigh 49 mahanoy area 6
Minersville 28 tri valley 27
Palisades 35. Cattasaqua 13
Williams valley 49 executive education 33
North schuylkill 38 Lehighton 14
Nw lehigh 28 jim thorpe 21
Notre dame 48 Saucon valley 20
Palmerton 41 tamaqua 7
Bethlehem catholic 20 blue mountain 0
Allentown central catholic 35 Bangor 7
October 30th, 2022 at 5:38 pm
@irish
No, I wasn’t at the game. And I didn’t say PV was “much” better than PJP, “just” 7 points better.
@ Foleman
Agree. It gets to be a drag. The best the East can look forward to is being in the Eastern Final (state semi-final). Then lose.
Yes, D1 is down this year. Doesn’t sound like we can count on the west to do anything either. And the beat goes on.
October 30th, 2022 at 3:22 pm
Don’t think for a minute that the Prep doesn’t wish there was a Neshaminy in ’13, a Parkland and an P-R in ’14, a North Penn in ’16, a Coatesville and a P-R in ’17, a PCC in ’19, or a ML in ’21 to face in the playoffs. Of course, there could be but that’s not what the chatter on here and elsewhere suggests. Better to play a really good team, even if you lose, than to be win a big mismatch. Again, I don’t know enough to say all their games ahead with be big mismatches, but that’s what I’m hearing.
If D 1 is way down, that can hardly be the Prep’s fault. As many on here have commented, the Prep gets kids from all over the Delaware Valley–yes, including NJ–so it’s not as if some team in the PA Philly suburbs would be a whole lot better if players from that school district weren’t going to the Prep. As for District 3, 7, and 11, their being down can’t be related to SJP since obviously the Prep doesn’t get players from those districts and it isn’t credible that potential football players are not coming out because they might have to face SJP in the playoffs.
Going to six classifications was a big mistake. With all the demographic changes in PA and the decline in participation in football in many schools, going to six classifications has just watered down competition that much further.
October 30th, 2022 at 12:37 pm
Brackets have been released and they have Coatesville and both Downingtown schools in the same half of bracket. Wow.
October 30th, 2022 at 10:18 am
@ Kevin X
You’re wondering why 6A isn’t getting much love this year. Fair point, it HAS been pretty quiet insofar as the top classification is concerned, not much chatter. In a nutshell it’s what you implied, looks like SJP is going to romp through the tournament fairly easily, 6A fans are resigned to that fact. As a 6A guy it can be a little demoralizing. There’s no ’10 North Allegheny, no ’14 or ’17 Pine Richland or ’21 Mount Lebanon waiting in the wings, no hopium this year. If District 7 is having a down year, not good. District 3 and 11are gritty and have some heart, deserve a salute, but by rights, in theory, District 1 should be among the stiffest competition for District 12 each year. Don’t mean to belabor the point, but District 1 plays some pretty lousy ball. I mean come on man, lately they can’t even beat the Harrisburg or Allentown area’s best team. Unlike the WPIAL, no serious threat ever emerges from PA’s Philly burbs, total homogeneity.
October 30th, 2022 at 8:30 am
Kevin X, very few HS fans are not excited about 6A due to the fact that it would take some sort of Miracle to have any team win 6A this year that’s not named St Joe Prep. The West 6A teams are weak this year and looking at the rest of the top 6a Teams in the East-Nazareth, Hburgh, Cumberland Valley, State College, none of those teams could stay within 3 touchdowns of Prep. District 1 6A? We see how that plays out every year. Man, do I yearn for the old days of District 1 large school football-CB West, Downingtown, the Old North Penn etc
October 29th, 2022 at 11:36 pm
@buddy were you at the pv- pjp game? I kind of doubt it, so not too sure how you would have much of an idea whether PV was really much better then pjp or not. @ foleman really don’t understand some of the play calling for pjp in the second half. Pjp was controlling the line of scrimmage after giving up that early score. There was no reason to go for it on 4th and 2 from their own 25 in third qtr. They ended up giving PV a cheap td when they were having trouble moving the ball despite having great field position the entire game. Pjp out gained them 302 to 198. Pjp is well coached, but kind of felt like they thought they had to get away from what was working for them when there was no need to.Just punt and keep playing. PV took advantage of those breaks and that was the game. Frustrating way to lose.
October 29th, 2022 at 9:12 pm
Sorry guys, one more for tonight, then I’ll crawl back into my hole……..
Want to give a shout out to two local Philly area kids, Marvin Harrison, Jr. (St. Joe Prep/Ohio State) and Will Howard (D-Town West/Kansas State) who both had career days today on the national stage. I saw them both numerous times a few year ago, and one of coolest things for me about HS football is seeing guys on Friday nights (or Saturdays) and then in top college programs and if really lucky the NFL.
October 29th, 2022 at 8:26 pm
@ Helen Ann Long, sent packing back?? The bracket I saw has the game being played at Troy.
October 29th, 2022 at 7:07 pm
@ Buddy,
Mmmm, maybe slightly better (PV) at most. They were fairly equal of what I saw this afternoon.
Please help me then to get enthused about 6A in our Commonwealth. Yes, District One 6A is going to be fun the next 4 weeks, and to a lesser extent D2/11 and D3 the next few weeks, but after that??? 6A this year to me is what 2A has been the last 5 years.
October 29th, 2022 at 6:54 pm
@ Foleman
Yup, that going for it on 4th and 2 early in the 3rd I did not get at all. Probably the game right there.
October 29th, 2022 at 5:57 pm
@ foleman:
OR…………… PV is just better.
@kevin
Yes……………….me
October 29th, 2022 at 5:11 pm
Does anyone out there care about PA 6A football on statewide basis this year??
October 29th, 2022 at 5:00 pm
Perkiomen Valley 21-Pope John Paul 14 2 Bonehead decisions by the PJP coaching staff cost them the game. PJP started out the game trying to be cute with an onside kick which was recovered and returned to the PJP 40 a few plays plays later they were down 7-0 Halftime score was 7-7 Bonehead decision #2 was early in the 3rd quarter, game tied 7-7 PJP inexplicably goes for it on forth down with about 2 and half yards to go on their OWN 38 yard line! They were stuffed which led to another PV TD. It didn’t help that PJP’S QB who has completed 75% of his passes this year overthrew 2 sure TD”S and had another sure TD dropped. Once again the PAC small school division takes it on the chin.
October 29th, 2022 at 10:31 am
For those who have suggested that Troy would be favored over SCA in the playoffs, think again. SCA will have Barnes back for that game and Troy will be sent packing back to the Northern Tier.
October 28th, 2022 at 10:34 pm
Northern Lehigh finished reg season 9-1. They played top 5 in Dist 11 AAA as an A school. They were 4-1 against those AAA schools only losing to North Schuylkill. That schedule should help them in playoffs. Also should move up in state rankings with Tri Valley losing.
October 28th, 2022 at 11:21 am
@ JC Fan
All salient points here. Most of your points were ones I figured were to be reasons.
I always forget socioeconomics come into play with a lot of programs. I definitely see the comparison between inner city & both schools. The population stagnation also is showing up in Pike County a lot, which ES North mostly serves. DV & Paupack have been going down in recent years, as well. DV used to be consistently around 600 boys in enrollment, & have dropped to 5A (which is beneficial to them until they face ECP or Wood). Paupack used to be old 4A/5A in football, but it’s stagnated & dropped in recent years. Not the sharp dropoffs of the Monroe schools, but it’s noticeable in these parts. Even most of the state. It shocks me how Northern Lehigh went from low-3A to high-1A in four years. ES North possibly being a 3A school is very interesting, considering they were a 5A program for most of the 6-class era.
I did forget that ES South & Whitehall has usually been close. That’s really the only matchup I remember of the more competitive ones. I feel like ACC, when they have a down year, is the second closest. It’s been a few years since they swapped with Northampton, so I don’t fully remember their run in the two-division format. I think they held their own.
Lehigh Valley football is a religion down there, indeed. I try to watch a few of the games on BRC 13, which shows a lot of the SEN games. It’s amazing to see how invested those communities & cities are. Every divisional game feels like a marquee matchup when they’re on. Something that this area doesn’t have the same vibe with.
Your answer about District 2 is the first thing I thought of, after posting: Transportation. It takes an hour for PV, South, & Stroudsburg to head to Paupack or DV, & if you include Honesdale, that’s pushing 75-90 minutes. They would need to raise the transportation budget to do it. That’s the most likely way. It would remind me of Williamsport in the WVC. Most of their games are about over an hour away, & they are usually at/about the same enrollment as a Pocono school. The relationship & rivalries thing is one thing that’s not easy to take away. Those Allen/PMW games have been good in the past, with hoops.
Im hoping for a change in their setup, like you. Best case scenario, if they keep their two division plan, is that should make Week 0/1 (whatever people call it) as an open week, & let them play whoever. Either that or do three divisions, & let them have at least two open weeks to schedule who they please. If on either schedule, a team wants to play all ten in a gauntlet, that’s their choice. You can’t speak for every school.
If I was an EPC head, this what I would do.
1. Three division format. 8 for the Monroe & Allentown schools, & two five-team divisions for the rest. It’s basically the old Mountain Valley & Lehigh Valley without splitting.
Monroe: ESN, ESS, PME, PMW, PV, Stroud, Allen, & Dieruff
Northampton: Becahi, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, & Nazareth
Lehigh: ACC, Emmaus, N’hampton, Parkland, & Whitehall
2. Make an agreement with District 2 (I believe the district as a whole aligns 90% of the schedule), to have their 4-6A schools (3A allowed for ESN) play at least two games with North Division schools. It doesn’t matter the week, as if a school wants to play DV, they don’t have to play them in Week 1, when DV schedules a Florida game. It can all be done before Week 9, so it doesn’t interfere with any rivalries.
3. Schedule a two-year agreement with a different conference in each cycle (one cycle can be with SOL, the next with PAC-10) for one of their teams to play an EPC South team.
4. EPC South can either do a two-division round robin or have at least 5 games (division + 1 crossover) & free choice. The PAC-10 idea would work in round-robin format well because they can do it Week 1 or 10, & they can find equally close matchups. It can be set up via last year’s records.
The above leads to nine games for the North. One game can be open to any program, even if it’s EPC South (in three divisions). The South would either have their ten-game schedule filled out, or at least have six games that they know they’ll play, & four games that can lean however they please. It would offer an opportunity to do more non-league/district games if there are openings, & even allow for some District 2 teams like Hazleton, a taste of subregional play.
It would be a lot better than what they have right now.
October 28th, 2022 at 10:45 am
Regular season game of the year tonight in the WPIAL with Aliquippa taking on Central Valley, two undefeated defending state champions battling for the conference title and #1 seed in WPIAL playoffs. CV is on a state longest 36 game winning streak, and is the last team to beat Aliquippa 21-12 in week 1 last year. Aliquippa is 55-5 the last 5yrs, with 4 of those loses coming to Central Valley, including the aforementioned game last year and a 13-12 loss in the 2019 WPIAL 3A final at Heinz Field. Overall these schools have played 6 times since Central Valley was formed in 2010, Quips won the first 2, CV the last 4. Should be an awesome game, unfortunately Freedom Stadium only holds 2,500 people, they could have sold 3-4x that many tickets if they played in a bigger stadium. Aliquippa thought about moving the game to a larger stadium, but stuck with Freedom since they allowed them to play all their home games there this year while their stadium is being renovated, and the Freedom football/band boosters are getting the proceeds from concession stands, so they didn’t want to stiff those folks which is admirable, but sure would have been nice to have this game at a bigger stadium. This game could go either way, I’ll take Aliquippa in a close one to end CV’s 36 game winning streak.
October 27th, 2022 at 12:42 pm
@D2 Fan,
I think there are a few factors as to why the EPC South is so superior in football:
1) The Monroe County schools are much smaller on average; only Stroudsburg is 6A and they’re half the enrollment of Easton and Parkland. The population boom that fed Monroe County in the early 2000s has dried up at this point, ES North is now a 4A school and I wouldn’t be surprised if 3A is in its future. ES South at least proved it can hang with Whitehall in a good year, but there’s no way they could compete consistently with the top of 6A.
2) Socioeconomic factors are not in the North’s favor; Allen/Dieruff are inner city schools, ESN and PMW have economic demographics that resemble city schools, and Monroe in general isn’t as well-off as Lehigh/Northampton counties. Population stagnation isn’t helping.
3) Football (and sports in general) are a religion in the Lehigh Valley in ways that it simply isn’t in most of the North. They definitely still matter, and usually you’ll see one or two schools able to do well in other sports as well. But the amount of resources being dedicated to sports isn’t the same. The only reason Northampton is in the North at all is because they used to really struggle in the South, so they got placed in the North where they could be more competitive. Now they’ve definitely outgrown the North and resemble an out-of-place South team. Swapping them with Liberty would only restart the cycle.
As for playing in D2, the Monroe schools would probably be better off from a competitive standpoint, but it’s more of a trek transportation-wise. For PV, Stroudsburg, and ES South in particular, transportation needs would go up quite a bit. Plus, some of the schools have formed relationships and rivalries with Allen/Dieruff over the years, particularly ES North and PM West (in basketball specifically, PM West/Allen is actually a premier matchup). It’d be interesting to see but ultimately I think it’s six of one, half dozen of the other.
I know the EPC AD’s love having all the games scheduled for them. But they’ve got to realize that the current setup isn’t what’s best for the athletes. The upper tier of the EPC South NEEDS to test itself against non-conference opposition if they’ll have any hope of taking down the best of D12. The bottom of the EPC North NEEDS games where they won’t be completely overwhelmed. Hopefully, common sense wins out here.
October 27th, 2022 at 6:29 am
@ Kevin X, shame on you for expecting any of these school districts to exercise any common sense in regard to tickets. Taking the very short ride over to PJP for Saturdays Pac title game. Hopefully the game will go on without any nonsense. These days thats not a given sadly. For anyone not familar with PJP, bleachers only on one side of stadium, as the school is in the process of what will probably be a long stretch of raising money for upgrades ..lights,homeside bleachers, and possibly turf down the road. Hopefully it is an entertaining game.
October 26th, 2022 at 9:53 pm
@3GS yes Troy has proven to be a serious contender. They opted to go for two, rather than the tie and overtime, but were stopped short.
October 26th, 2022 at 6:58 pm
C’mon, a glitch?? I thought today’s technology was glitch free. I can’t wait for the “glitches” with the gadgets that scan your phone or printed at home tix as you are waiting in line forever and day to enter the stadium for a big a game.
“PLEASE SHARE: East vs West football tickets are still available. We are aware of a glitch with the online ticketing. Please attempt to buy tickets after 12 noon today. Important: you must use DASDFOOTBALL22 to purchase tickets.”
I don’t ever recall any of my five dollar bills ever experiencing a glitch before (just that they don’t buy as much as they use to).
October 26th, 2022 at 2:47 pm
It looks like Troy is a serious threat probably will be favored to beat Southern before the Mount Carmel rematch. Didn’t see any of the game but based off the score they must be a pretty tough team losing by a point to Loyalsock.
October 25th, 2022 at 8:03 pm
@ Jco,
A little late to the party on this one, but I have to agree on your EPC North thoughts.
To add on, to those that follow it down there, I’m curious to know why the EPC South is miles better than the North. I don’t remember the last time a North team not named Northampton went toe to toe & lost close, or beat a Parkland, Emmaus, Becahi, Naz. As a fan from D2, whose alma mater borders four of the schools in the North division, it makes me wonder about the gap.
I think the EPC would benefit with a divisional shakeup, or even going to the three divisions they offer in most sports. I think a reason why the 5/6A Champs haven’t gone past SJP, ECP, or Wood in recent years is their lack of out of conference.
It would benefit Beca or ACC to face D3 teams like a Lampeter or McDevitt Harrisburg. It would benefit Parkland, Northampton, or Nazareth to play a D1 or D12 school to gain experience. It would benefit Allen, Dieruff, or Eastburg North, who regularly goes 0-10 to 3-7 to play some non-competitive schools in other leagues in a Week 0/1/2 game.
Follow-Up question: Would those same Monroe County EPC schools benefit playing in District 2, whether in its own league or division with Delaware Valley, Paupack, & Honesdale or with Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, & Williamsport in the WVC? Although I think DV would run the table with those teams, those schools might fare to be more competitive, overall, against D2’s schools.
October 25th, 2022 at 3:01 pm
@Mcd 65 – yep, basic vanilla offense that can be contained by very good defenses, and a tendency to take foolish undisciplined penalties. Football is the ultimate team sport, the teams with the most talent don’t always win, you need very good coaching and discipline to go with all the talent to win state titles. I will also add that the coaching staff’s ability to make in game adjustments is a big factor, and for whatever reason Imhotep has not shown the ability to make those adjustments over the years, there’s no question the PT staff outcoached them in the final last year. Maybe this year is different, we’ll see, but for all their talent Imhotep has shown they are beatable.
October 25th, 2022 at 1:49 pm
Jeff H. , I agree ,Imhotep has had the talent every year ,but lack the coaching and discipline to win the title every year. AA Neuman/Goretti is the same. Both teams produce great individual players that continue on to excel in college .
October 25th, 2022 at 10:27 am
I know there has been a lot of talk on here about online sales only, I’ve been fortunate in going to 9 games this year at 7 different venues and bought a ticket at the gate for every game. For the regular season game of the year in the WPIAL and one of the games of the year in the state Aliquippa vs. Central Valley is all presale, no tickets sold at the gate, which is what I expected. What is a surprise is there are no online sales, you must buy in person at one of the high schools, so I need to drive 45+ minutes to Aliquippa HS some evening this week just to buy a ticket. I am still contemplating doing it for such a massive game, but I could take the easy way out and 10 minute drive to watch arch rivals Woodland Hills and Penn Hills battle for a playoff spot.
October 24th, 2022 at 7:06 pm
@John – not many people thought Penn Trafford had much of a shot last year against Imhotep, and frankly I didn’t think they would win either, but they showed the formula for keeping the game close into the forth quarter and then pulling off the upset, They only had 1 Power 5 player in Cade Yacamelli who went to Wisconsin, so there’s no question Imhoptep had way more top end talent than PT. Imhotep overwhelms lesser teams with their speed and athleticism, but their offense is pretty basic and they struggle to put together sustained drives against very good defenses, so if either of those teams has an excellent defense and can run the ball and limit mistakes and turnovers and excellent coaching they might have a chance to keep it interesting into the 2nd half, agree if Imhotep has some big plays or gets it rolling in the first half it could get out of hand. I also think RC has a decent shot against Imhotep in the D12 final, will be interesting to see how they fare this week against SJP.
October 24th, 2022 at 6:21 pm
@Jeff H-
I do not follow WPIAL and D3 as much, but I agree with you on Erie Prep. On what I heard about Erie Prep, they will probably beat the WPIAL and D3 winners. They beat a good 6A in McDowell 41-0, but they did lose to a NY school. Maybe the WPIAL or D3 champ has a shot.
I remember Imhotep and Erie Prep played in four years in row in the 5A state champ (2015-2018), till I think Imhotep moved up to 5A. It looks like we may be stuck with that, until one is moved to 6A or a really special public school makes a run.
October 24th, 2022 at 6:14 pm
@Jeff H-
As much as I want the D1 schools to win. I do not see Strath Haven or Upper Dublin beating Imhotep at all. Imhotep is arguably the most talented team in the state. I checked 247sports and Imhotep has like 4-5 juniors and seniors who are 4 star recruits. The team overall has probably 10+ kids who will play D1 football, with around 4-6 playing power 5. I just do not see Upper Dublin or Strath Haven competing with that. Upper Dublin has one P5 kid in O’Sullivan, and probably a few kids who could FCS or high level D2-D3, but nothing that compares to Imhotep’s talent. Strath Haven from checking twitter has 1-2 kids with patriot league offers I think, and maybe a few other kids who could play at that level or high level D2-D3 or maybe are going D1 in another sport, but still nothing that compares to Imhotep. I just do not see how either of them would be able to pull off a victory against that loaded of a team in Imhotep. Imhotep will also be better rested and have less wear and tear as well, they are only playing 7 regular season games and will probably have a first round bye and will most likely destroy their first playoff opponents until the D12 championship. By the time the semis roll around Imhotep will be on game 12, when UD/Strath Haven will be on game 15. I know its only 3 games by it makes a difference, considering Imhotep has had multiple bye weeks. Not trying to make a excuse for the D1 teams, its just my observation. Overall, Imhotep would probably beat Upper Dublin/Strath Haven by 3-5 touchdowns.
Upper Dublin/Strath Haven may have a shot against Roman. Roman’s offense has kind of looked shaky against their better opponents, they were shut out by Malvern. I know Roman has that Denmark kid who is P5 and a few others who are have P5 looks, so still the talent difference will present. Perk Valley (who to me is a two round 6A at best this year) kept it close with Roman, so to me there is a chance Strath Haven/Upper Dublin could do the same. Overall, Roman would most likely beat Strath Haven and Upper Dublin, but the D1 schools could possibly pull off an upset.
Not trying to take anything away from the Upper Dublin/Strath Haven. Those kids put their heart and soul into the game. They are both great teams filled with great high school football players and should be proud of their seasons and accomplishments. I just do not know how either of them would beat teams as stacked and loaded as Imhotep and Roman Catholic.
October 24th, 2022 at 5:44 pm
UGH!!! Friday Night!!! Phillies in WS Game #1 or do I get back in the saddle with Friday Night Lights after a good choice of taking a bye week last week?? If the latter……The Battle of the Brandywine (D-Town East vs. West) or Roman @ St. Joe Prep??
@ Jeff H
Since you directed the question @ John, I’ll let him take a crack at your potential 5A D1 v D12 match-up. I’ll just say that I did see 3 of the 4 teams live earlier in the season (did not see SH).
But in my sticking my neck on the line predictions from mid September (yeah, NP running the table in the regular season, maybe I should just stop typing, but naw), I did say expect to see UD, SH, and WC Rustin, with an unknown 4th team in the D1 5A final four. I’ll take a chance of now adding Chester to that 4th spot, despite seeing them against D-Town West in one of the worse HS football games that I’ve seen in my life. What I am also getting at, is don’t count either Chester or Rustin, and especially Rustin, out of being the last 5A team standing in D1.
October 24th, 2022 at 2:49 pm
North Schuylkill has a good shot to make a run to the eastern final this year. It’s set up pretty well. It’s much better than being in the bottom half of the bracket where there is Danville, Loyalsock, and Wyo who are loaded. If they can get out of the district it seems like District 12 is wide open with Neumann, Lansdale Cath, and Conwell Egan but you never know what those schools do down there. In District 2, I’m unsure about Scranton Prep and Western Wayne but it doesn’t seem like they’re powerhouses by any means. I think NS fans should be looking forward to what could be a fun playoff run. If they see Notre Dame again and they can limit the turnovers, that game should be a different story.
October 24th, 2022 at 12:09 pm
@John – curious how you think Upper Dublin or Strath Haven would match up against the D12 winner, presumably Imhotep or Roman Catholic. In the west I think Erie Prep will beat the WPIAL winner and also likely beat Exeter to get to the final, assuming they win D3 like they did last year when they shocked Gov Mifflin. Nothing against ECP or Imhotep but I would really like to see a different matchup than those 2 schools playing again for the umpteenth time and I think a lot of people feel the same way!
October 24th, 2022 at 11:54 am
@WPIALguy – I went to the Armstrong-Highlands game to see if 8-0 Highlands was a threat to the big 3, and also see Armstrong’s Cadin Olsen, the leading passer in the WPIAL the last 2 years. What I saw was one of the best passing performances from a high school QB in a very long time, as he threw for 447 yards and 5 TDs and also ran for another TD in their 56-35 win. Armstrong is a very dangerous team with Olsen at QB, and wouldn’t shock me if they make a run to the finals by knocking off one of the powerhouse teams. Olsen is committed to Penn and I think he will do very well in the Ivy League, he sure looks look a power 5 QB to me, 6-5, 210 with room to grow, good arm strength and made all the throws on Friday night, hits receivers in stride and lots of YAC when they get behind defenders. Even though I think McKeesport deserves #1 seed it will be the winner of the Quips-CV as #1 and loser as #3, with Port #2 and Armstrong #4.
Also don’t be surprised if Woodland Hills beats Penn Hills on Friday, those 2 are bitter rivals, and Woody would like nothing more than to beat PH at home on senior night and possibly knock them out of the playoffs while clinching a playoff spot of their own, assuming PR beats North Hills, I would be shocked if they don’t win that game by a couple of scores.
October 23rd, 2022 at 5:56 pm
@John, I followed the SOL (all divisions close for years), Quakertown especially early in the season was in total rebuild mode. They had 3 Senior starters back, 3 others who had lettered, Beat Southern Lehigh (District 11 #1 seed 5A at last look) in the opener, lost a couple kids, played North Penn lost a few more, a 5-5 season with 18 out of your starting 22 underclassmen, I feel is a win, get them some playoff experience this year, schedule a bunch of usually tough opponents, CBW, NP, PW add in the usual in conference Souderton, & UD plus Pennridge at the end of the year, throw in a playoff game and they should be ready to make another run next year
October 23rd, 2022 at 3:36 pm
Mr. Mika wally hall is my son
October 23rd, 2022 at 1:45 pm
Margaret gets mad watching 16-17 year olds play high school football
October 23rd, 2022 at 1:41 pm
Margaret – I agree they struggle to win the big one. Wussification? Yeah because that’s a real thing. You can talk about personnel, game plans, or game management. Those are the real things as to why they struggle to win the big one and it falls back onto Wally for some of those things.
October 23rd, 2022 at 1:40 pm
Margaret – I agree they struggle to win the big one. Wussification? Yeah because that’s a real thing. You can talk about personnel, game plans, or game management. Those are the real things as to why they struggle to win the big one and it falls back onto Wally for some of those things.
October 23rd, 2022 at 12:18 pm
I agree that PAC championship game should be a good one between two talented, well coaches teams. They know each other well as PJP is being lead by former PV coach. Scott Reed.
Something that has flown quietly under the radar is that PV has been lead by their sophomore backup QB a majority of the season after losing Senior starter Danny Koehler against DTW. He really had done a nice job.
October 23rd, 2022 at 9:21 am
Well the cancer is spreading, and spreading fast. Saw on the District One website, a new link has been added on their home page to purchase District One playoff tickets for all fall sports, including football. Plus the price for all tickets for all sports are now $7 (always remember them being the same $5 for regular season contest) plus the good old service/processing fee. To be fair, I don’t know if this is an “on-line only” situation for tickets for these upcoming playoff games, or just an option for fans, with day of game walk-up cash tickets being still available (barring a game being sold out prior).
Hey District One, instead of being just another follower, how about being a little contrarian and do something admirable, like let fans and community members (taxpayers) into these playoff games for free (sans football). You are not exacting hosting SRO crowds on a 40 degree drizzly Tuesday afternoon at 4p. Charge for the finals and get some bodies in the stands for the kids to play before for the rest of the playoff and playback games.
October 23rd, 2022 at 8:50 am
Irish1, you are right about that 2020 PJP team, they were strong at every position, probably would have beaten the PAC large school champ and would have made a strong run in the PIAA playoffs, it was sad that the kids only got to play 3 games due to covid. PJP is the underdog against PV next Saturday but they are well coached and tough. Should be a packed house at PJP and yes, you pay cash there for entrance!
October 23rd, 2022 at 2:27 pm
Margaret…..It seems you have an issue with North Schuylkill, Correct? Do you have a kid on the team?? Just wondering. If you’re going to attack a coach or kid it won’t be on here. If you want to talk football you can. Okay!
October 23rd, 2022 at 6:54 am
WH, you sound like a tball mom who doesn’t want to keep score and everyone wins. The difference between a 28 pt win and an 80 pt win is 52 points, That’s 7 touchdowns, 7 extra points and a field goal, big difference. That attitude and the wussification of ns football is why they can’t win the big one
October 22nd, 2022 at 11:34 pm
Margaret – there’s no difference between winning by 30 or 80 haha. Wally does some dumb stuff but to be mad at him for taking his guns out for the second half is craziness. Salisbury was pretty much a bye week and it’s pretty good to have one before pottsville this week who they should be able to handle and then gear up to try and make a playoff run. It’s going to be tough to make it out of the district but they will most likely be the favorite to do so but district 12 and 2 are down this year and that’s who they’d match up with after the district final.
October 22nd, 2022 at 10:38 pm
@ Buddy
I know, NP beat LaSalle in the ’16 opener and at least one other time plus they beat them in the 2011 eastern final. Actually NP beat SJP in Infante’s first two years as I remember. NP beat Prep something like 17-14 at Plymouth-Whitemarsh and 14-7 or thereabouts the next year at Crawford Stadium. I was at both of those games. Actually Andy Reid was at that second meeting. Huh huh, phillyboy and Coach Reid at the same game, smh, classic times. But that was before Infante got all his recruiting infrastructure set, hence NP’s early success against them. Buddy, things are relative, is Lansdale as nice as Doylestown, Newtown (Bucks Co ), or Narberth? No, but you’re definitely not slumming in Lansdale or Towamencin Twp., it’s staunchly upper middle class. Besides, Lower Merion has a really crummy football program, lol. Lastly, the smart people to whom I alluded at the Prep etc. wasn’t the coaches per se, but rather the powers that be, the admins, the sigma male so to speak.
October 22nd, 2022 at 8:07 pm
@Irish1-
Oh geez didn’t know that about the 2020 team, I kind of forget that year when talking about team’s legacies. Definitely think next week will be a good game. Perk Valley is pretty talented across the board, but are definitely not unbeatable. PJP II has a lot of momentum going into the game, did not expect them to beat Phoenixville like that.
October 22nd, 2022 at 8:02 pm
@MikeS-
I kind of meant before Pennridge lost Picotti, I thought they were a contender for the D1 title, definitely a contender for their conference. I don’t blame him for transferring to IMG, they have pro level coaches down there. His transfer was probably more for development and coaching than playtime. Can’t blame the kid for wanting to be the most prepared for Power 5 football.
Pennsbury turnaround is remarkable. Should be interesting to see if they can make a playoff run, they really only run the ball and seem to rely on Mulbah kid a lot. He is one heck of a running back though.
I didn’t know Quakertown had all those starters missing, makes sense, the 49-0 lost to PW seemed odd, as well as giving up 56 to CB West. Still don’t know if they will be able to keep it close with Upper Dublin next week. If they are playing all those underclassmen, they should have a good team in the years to come.
October 22nd, 2022 at 7:48 pm
@John….Pjp was not beaten easily by Spring -Ford in 2019 title game . Was 21-21 at half game went down to last 2 minutes before Spring-Ford was able to put it away. Also Pjps best recent team was the 2020 team that unfortunately was a victim of covid. That team trounced PV 38-22in a game that wasn’t as close as that final score. I don’t know if they will win next week or not PV has a nice team,but PJP has a talented well coached team that I think will play well
October 22nd, 2022 at 7:41 pm
phillyboy:
Where you been? These North Penn loses are old news. Hell, we’re entering the last week of the regular season! We didn’t lose to LaSalle every year
in the opener. When we used to play SJP……..yes. North Penn’s defense is the ineptest, by far, I’ve seen in the 24 years I been following them. Don’t know why.
NP is a huge public school, but “well to do”? Not anymore (used to be). Their loses to CB east and Pennsbury were not terrible illogical. Not bad teams.
But their lose to CB west and U. Dublin (a really good team) were. Up 11 points with UD with UNDER two minutes to play and lose! Please! If Picciotti stayed
at Pennridge, and played defense only, they still wouldn’t make the playoffs. If he transferred to NP (would have to set up residency, like Udinski did), and
played both ways, NP might be undefeated. The main difference between Public and Private schools: one recruits, one can’t. Except for the aforementioned
rare exception. I doubt the private school coaches are that much smarter, but they get paid more I’m sure, that has a tendency to make you smarter.
October 22nd, 2022 at 7:11 pm
I might as well do a District 1 5A top ten
5A D1 Top Ten
1. Upper Dublin (9-0)- Current one seed. Weapons on both sides of the ball and are lead by a Boston College commit QB O’Sullivan. Beat North Penn early in the season in a nailbiter and also dominated 6A playoff teams in Souderton and CB West. Defense is only surrendering 9 points a game and 85 points on season, 28 of those coming against North Penn. Should roll through early rounds and will most likely face the number two team in the championship
2. Strath Haven (9-0)- Current two seed. Arguably the best team in the Central League, sucks they are not playing Garnet Valley this year because that would be a great one. Have one of the best run games in the area. Have studs all over the field in RB/LB Crawford, RB/LB Fooskas, DE/RB Conner, LB Farabaugh, and QB/SB/DB Milligan. Also have a couple good O-Lineman. Should cruise through the early rounds.
3. Plymouth Whitemarsh (7-2)- Started the season off at 1-2 with losses to 6A teams CB South and Ridley. But have blown out every team since including a 49-0 win over potential 6A playoff team Quakertown. Offense and defense have looked great the past 6 weeks. Though they have been playing weaker competition as well. Beat Upper Dublin in second round last season in overtime and could possibly rematch them in R3 this year. Solid team, but I do not know if they are good enough to overcome Strath Haven or Upper Dublin.
4. Chester (8-1)- Have dominated weak competition all year and defense has looked great all year. Though are very undisciplined, nearly having 20 penalties in their game against Downingtown West. Actually were close with the Whippets and kept their explosive offense at bay, I think Downingtown West had only around 230 yards of total offense, Downingtown West needed two big special teams plays to win 34-19. The offense has been shaky at times and they only have two wins over teams with winning records, Interboro and Phoenixville.
5. WC Rustin (6-2, but D1 says 7-1)- Awarded forfeit win in their 38-7 loss to Coatesville, because of ineligible player on Coatesville, so D1 says they are 7-1. Had a bit of a slow start losing to Kennett and Coatesville, but have found their strive and dominated the 7-2 and current D1-5A six seed Great Valley last night. Have made the district championship, 3 of the last 4 years, losing in the R3/semis to Academy Park in 2019, but lost all 3 times in the title game (2021 to Strath Haven, 2018 and 2020 to Upper Dublin). Maybe not as good as previous years, but still a team that should not be slept on. They have traditionally always played well in the playoffs.
6. Kennett (6-3)- Current 7 seed. Good team, had a big win over Rustin early in the year. Have some good athletes as well, especially RB Sparacino. Still were overwhelmed by Downingtown East and Upper Dublin early in the year. Big game next week against Great Valley. Probably good enough to make it to R3/semis, but will most likely have to face Upper Dublin or Strath Haven in R2.
7. Springfield-Delco (6-3)- Current 9 seed and has a really good defense. Kept it close with D1-6A one seed Garnet Valley and shut out 6A playoff team Conestoga. Should at least win R1 game.
8. Upper Moreland (8-1)- Solid record against weaker competition, have victories over two nonplayoff 6A teams and beat Springfield Montco a D1-4A playoff team, but were blown out by 4A one seed Interboro. They are the current eight seed in 5A. Next week’s game against Plymouth Whitemarsh will reveal in they have a chance at a run or not.
9. Great Valley (7-2)- Like Upper Moreland, solid record against some weak opponents. Beat 5A playoff team Phoenixville week one and defending 4A district champs Bishop Shanahan as well. Though were dominated last night by WC Rustin last night. Will be interesting to see how they rebound against Kennett next week.
10. Marple Newtown (5-4)- Had a tough loss to 6A Ridley last night 42-7. Though there first 3 losses were only by a couple points each, including a one point loss to 6A playoff team Conestoga and a 3 point to 5A playoff team Springfield Delco. Their game against Strath Haven next week will determine if they are able to pull off a possible R1 upset.
Honorable Mention-
Phoenixville (6-3)- First winning season in 10 years for the program. Though were dominated today by 4A two seed PJP II and 5A Chester earlier in the season. Unlikely to win a playoff game, but should not be counted out.
Oxford (3-6)- I know the past two weeks they have looked rough. They lost last night to the previously winless WC East and barely beat WC Henderson who is 1-7. But prior to those two games, they kept it really close with some high seeded teams. They lost to 6A Downingtown East only by 14, lost to 5A three seed WC Rustin by 8, and Great Valley by 7. Also beat 6A Avon Grove in week 1. Don’t know what happen in some of their other losses though. Probably not a threat to pull a R1 upset and might not qualify cause they are current 16 seed and a lost next week will knock them out of the playoffs most likely, but still kind of a surprising team who kept it close with some good teams.
5A is not nearly as wide open or competitive as 6A will be. Maybe some good early round games between teams 3-10 on my rankings, but I really do not see anyone beating Strath Haven or Upper Dublin in the first three rounds.
October 22nd, 2022 at 6:51 pm
@Phillyboy, People have been screaming to get Beck out for years now, you have the biggest school district around with nearly 1700 eligible male students, playing schools like CBW 650, & Quakertown 475, man you better be able to beat them on an insane amount of the time. He’s running the same offensive and defensive systems they ran in 2005. As far as Picciotti, it’s not like he’s not playing at all, he’s getting some playing time, just not ever play & down like he would have here, the old pretty big fish in a much larger pond. IMG does a great job of preparing the kids for college football. He gets harder looks from more of the big schools at IMG than he ever would have at Pennridge. That said Pennridge lost 3 or 4 games by under a score, as a LB, TE, RB would he have been a difference maker in those games, you bet. He was the best player returning to any of the SOL National schools. Was it a right or wrong decision, only time will tell.
October 22nd, 2022 at 6:36 pm
@John -Well didn’t hear anyone say that Pennridge was a District 1 contender with their lost IMG Recruit but did see where people thought they would be a contender in SOL National, as no one even suggested Pennsbury would go from unwinnable to undefeated in that league. North Penn can score, they just can’t stop most teams either, I don’t know if they changed personnel or not, but early it seemed to be personnel issues. Also note, Quakertown only had 3 returning starters back and all 3 were out for CBW< NP<PW, as well as a couple other starters, you take your best 3 football players off any team in the SOL & they are in trouble, I don't put a lot of weight on the scores of those games, would they have won, probably not, but they wouldn't have been blown out by 40 either. Unfortunately, their 2nd team all SOL RB in 2021 & 1st team all SOL DB from 2021, may miss the Upper Dublin game. Quakertown has the same feel & look as 2019-2020, lots of Freshmen, Sophs, Juniors starting only 4 or 5 Seniors playing, most of them back next year. Also note with the forfeit loss & a missed game, I don't see Coatesville as deserving of a #2 seed. Saw Perk Valley early in scrimmage against Quakertown, they won by1 score, really surprised they have done as well as they have. @Buddy Garnet Valley is a hike.
October 22nd, 2022 at 5:17 pm
Goodness gracious, is North Penn really 4-5?? What’s that all about? Their modus operandi has always been ‘bend but don’t break’, lose to LaSalle in the opener, mop up in the SOL, win a couple, few games in the District 1 tournament and then bow out. The bottom fell out this year, they finally broke. Ouch, losing to CB East made it official, they’re about as vanilla as it gets. Truth be told phillyboy doesn’t officially have a favorite team (don’t want to get anybody jealous), but NP comes the closest. It checks a lot of boxes: big, well to do, public school district in Phila. burbs with a good tradition. Originally it seemed like they were the de facto heir apparent to CB West. Major respect to Dick Beck and company for taking out a very talented PCC team in ’03 (which was arguably the best team in the country the following year), can never take that away from them. But come on, man, I don’t know, at some point the question arises, have they been underachieving? The short answer is yes, but ultimately it has to do with the culture and will of the community/district. Although I’m partial to the classic public power team the private programs can make it happen, they got smart people, winners, who have the freedom to make decisions in their best behalf — and they do, as opposed to the complacent, sometimes arrogant numbskulls in the publics who to a large extent are ROADs (retired on active duty).
Shifting gears, somebody mentioned that this Picciotti kid who transferred to IMG Academy is barely getting any playing time. I don’t know why people keep going for the bait, would have been better off staying at Pennridge (better yet could have transferred to NP). You never know, maybe they would have had a special year, a special team that might have made a serious run at a state title. Instead you’re sitting on the bench at some lonely athletics factory on the outskirts of cookie cutter Bradenton, FL. Unless you’re Najee Harris or Derrick Henry what’s the point of dealing with all that.
October 22nd, 2022 at 4:43 pm
Marg: I like your spirit!
October 22nd, 2022 at 1:37 pm
@Buddy
I don’t think Coatesville will garner enough points to jump to the 2 seed, even though they are deserving of it. Coatesville is the one team I don’t think North Penn will ben able to pull an upset against, too much speed and their DB’s could definitely be able to keep the North Penn WRs in check.
Also it looks like Perk Valley and PJP II will play next week in the PAC crossover. Does anyone think the PJP has the talent to knock off Perk Valley yet. They beat Phoenixville 42-0 today, who is having their best season in years or will lose again. They have been the team to beat in the PAC- Frontier the past few years, but have never been able to get over the hump and beat the PAC-Liberty champ who has been either Spring Ford or Perk Valley. Even in 2019 with 2 future D1 seniors, they were still handled easily by a Spring Ford team would did not even make it past the first round in 6A.
October 22nd, 2022 at 1:15 pm
@Buddy
I think a NP-Garnet Valley would actually be a great first round matchup. North Penn has struggled on defense this season, but this Garnet Valley offense has not been nearly as good as it was in the past, GV’s defense has looked great but they have yet to face a passing attack like Zeltt, Haynes, and McNeil. Also, Garnet Valley has yet to really play anyone that great with their best wins coming against a 5-4 CB West in the first week and 6-3 Ridley. North Penn while 4-5, has not really been blown out this season outside of their loss to CB West 35-14 and lost close ones to Upper Dublin (arguably the best team in D1 regardless of class), Pennsbury, and CB East. I could see North Penn upsetting a higher seed. They play in a super competitive conference, last night’s win over Pennridge is a step in the right direction. Pennridge is only 2-7, but lost a bunch of close ones to playoff teams like Pennsbury, Souderton, and CB East. If you put North Penn, Neshimany, or Pennridge in the SOL Continental they would all have winning records and would be the second best team behind Upper Dublin.
October 22nd, 2022 at 9:59 am
WH lol. No you put some 2’s in with 1’s all year long and have them ready. 35-0 at half with 4tds by your offense and your number 1 defense plagued by personal fouls and other penalties you let them play the first drive of the second half. Maybe you put your 2nd string qb in to work with your 1st team offense. When your playing a team who huddles up on offense 20 yards from the line of scrimmage and who has there qb run to the sideline and get the play call on every play even if it’s 30 yards away and then has to run back to the huddle 20 yds from the line of scrimmage, you want to shut out that team. When that team controls the ball the whole second half and drives down the field calling timeouts with 20 seconds left to score, u want to shutout that team. And you ask do I want it it to be 35-7 or 80-0, I’ll take 80-0.
October 22nd, 2022 at 9:49 am
@kevin:
You’re dating yourself with that ” Woodward & Bernstein ” comment, probably lost many of our younger commentators, then, maybe not.
@et al:
With all this C’ville drama, the only repercussion is changing a W to an L? Just curious.
October 22nd, 2022 at 9:29 am
Finally, someone in authority has facts to report. This is an email response I got from D1 this morning:
“Thank you for your email.
I believe the Coatesville administration will be able to answer that question for you.
However I can tell you, this week Coatesville HS reported the use of an ineligible player to the District One Committee.
Regards”
October 22nd, 2022 at 9:23 am
@Margaret What did you want Wally to do? Keep the 1s in there and beat them 80-0?
October 22nd, 2022 at 8:47 am
The always ever popular “no comment” :
“When asked for the reason of his leave, Ortega replied: “No comment.”
Related to Ortega’s leave, Coatesville self-reported an ineligible player to District 1 this week, and was forced to take a forfeit against West Chester Rustin, in a game the Red Raiders won, 38-7. The game is now documented as a 2-0 win by forfeit by Rustin, making both Coatesville and the Golden Knights 7-1.”
But I’m sure those bloodhounds and the next generation of Woodward’s and Bernstein’s at the Daily Local News are all over this story/situation like they’ve been since the get go.
October 22nd, 2022 at 8:00 am
6A
1. North Allegheny vs 4. Seneca Valley
2. Central Catholic vs 3. Canon Mac
5A
1. Bethel Park vs 8. Penn Trafford
4. Upper St. Clair vs 5. Gateway
2. Pine Richland vs 7. Peters Twp
3. Franklin Regional vs 6. Penn Hills
Play in game between Canon Mac and Lebo. Who said 6A doesn’t have drama??? Seneca Valley needs Canon Mac to win. But Seneca could also shock the world and beat NA
In 5A, the last wild card is up for grabs. I think Penn Trafford could seal it with a win vs Franklin Regional. Could also lead to some interesting seeding if the defending state champ is the 8 seed and gets to travel to the feel good 1 seed story in Bethl Park. Pine can lock up the 2 with a win over Notth Hills and pretty much knock them out. Penn Hills can clinch with a win over Woodland Hills.
October 22nd, 2022 at 7:59 am
4A
1. Central Valley (Bye)
8. Thomas Jefferson Vs 9. Hampton
4. Armstrong Vs 13. Blackhawk
5. Laurel Highlands Vs 12. Montour
2. McKeesport (BYE)
7. Highlands Vs 10. Latrobe
3. Aliquippa (BYE)
6. West Allegheny Vs 11. North Catholic
The big question will be answered this Friday. Aliquippa vs Central Valley. How will they seed 1-4??? McKeesport has the best resume. Armstrong only loss is to Aliquippa. Central Valley/Aliquippa will only have one loss to each other. My gut says Armstrong will get the 4 seed, but if McKeesport gets the 1, it is easier to split up Quip/CV and put them at 2/4 and Armstrong 3. Hampton, Mars, and North Catholic all still in contention for the final two spots in 4A.
October 22nd, 2022 at 7:58 am
3A
1. Belle Vernon (BYE)
8. Mt. Pleasant Vs 9. Shady Side Academy
4. Freeport (BYE)
5. East Allegheny Vs 12. South Park
2. Avonworth (BYE)
7. Beaver Vs 10. Deer Lakes
3. Elizabeth Forward (BYE)
6. West Mifflin Vs 11. Southmoreland
Another big game Friday as EF and BV take each other on. Winner will get the 1 seed. Can pencil Avonworth into 2 seed and Freeport into 4.
October 22nd, 2022 at 7:57 am
2A
1. Steel Valley (BYE)
8. Ligonier Valley Vs 9. McGuffey
5. Keystone Oaks Vs 12. Riverside
4. Neshannock vs 13. Apollo Ridge
3. Sto Rox Vs 14. Mohawk
6. Serra Catholic Vs 11. Burrell
7. Western Beaver Vs 10. Washington
2. Beaver Falls (BYE)
Serra Catholic losing to Apollo Ridge changes up the seeding in 2A. Serra gets bumped down to 6. KO up to 5. Neshannock up to 4. Could argue Western Beaver could be the 6 and Serra the 7.
October 22nd, 2022 at 7:56 am
Here is how I see the WPIAL playoffs being seeded with one week to go.
1A
1. Bishop Canevin Vs 16. Carmichaels
8. OLSH Vs 9. Union
4. South Side Beaver Vs 13. Monessen
5. Leechburg Vs 12. Rochester
2. Laurel Vs 15. Jeanette
7. Burgettstown Vs 10. Clairton
3. GCC Vs 14. California
6. Mapletown Vs 11. Fort Cherry
Very difficult to seed. I am trying to give mapletown the benefit of the doubt. OLSH threw things in a loop with their loss to burgettstown. Seeding 5-10 is very difficult. I honestly do not have an idea of how they will seed
October 22nd, 2022 at 7:47 am
Maybe some of the rumors had some credence after all:
DLN’s Nate H. via Twitter:
“New information has come in regarding Coatesville’s record. Due to a self-reported case of an ineligible player the week of the WC Rustin game, Cville is forced to take a forfeit for that game and is now 7-1 in the District 1 standings. Rustin’s record is changed from 6-2 to 7-1.”
October 22nd, 2022 at 7:12 am
@irish et al:
100% agree. These cancellations due to over-paranoid school districts, (I know, the safety conscience fans will say you can’t be too safe, and there’s some validity to that),
will just encourage these kids (and I’ll bet my house it’s kids), to increase these threats exponentially. Soon it will be like covid year, no fans whatsoever.
@john:
Excellent summation. I believe it will be Garnet Valley #1 and C’ville #2. that does not bode well for my team (North Penn). who will 15th or 16th seed.
As for me, living where I live, that’s a helicopter ride.
October 21st, 2022 at 11:37 pm
Not a Coatesville fan, but I do not agree with District 1 if they are taking a win away from Coatesville. Ortega looks to have been cleared of wrongdoing. They are the clear number one so far with a week one blowout win of Pennsbury and win tonight over Downingtown East.
Also the 5A favorites are pretty much clear to me as Strath Haven and Upper Dublin, both look like they could make a run in 6A. But I would give the upper hand to Upper Dublin. They have been beating up on 6A teams all year, and dominated 6A six seed Souderton tonight. The only teams I could possibly see knocking them off are Plymouth Whitemarsh and Chester. PW outside of losing two games to 6A teams in CB South and Ridley have dominated everyone they played this year including a 49-0 victory over 6A Quakertown. Though they have beaten up on inferior competition and have not faced anyone like UD or Strath Haven. Chester at 7-1 is definitely talented, only loss being to a good Downingtown West team, but just like PW all of their wins have been against some pretty weak competition.
Souderton imo is overvalued at six seed in 6A. Best wins were against a 5-4 Quakertown (who were dominated by North Penn, CB West, and Plymouth Whitemarsh) and 2-7 Pennridge. Though Pennridge is better than there record shows, lost one score games to 3 playoff teams in Souderton, CB East, and Pennsbury, but have kind of dropped off the past two weeks in blowout losses to North Penn and CB West. Losing Picotti (Oklahoma linebacker commit) to IMG was a huge loss, I remember hearing people saying Pennridge were one of the favorites for the district.
October 21st, 2022 at 10:54 pm
Close game at Kottmeyer tonight. 14-10 Coatesville, but still a good game from both sides. Both teams look strong, the Battle of the Brandywine should be a good one this year.
District One 6A looks up for grabs, no one is clear really a clear number one yet or looks unbeatable. The three favorites to me are probably Coatesville (always play well in playoffs), CB East, and Pennsbury. But both the Downingtowns look solid, and you cannot count Garnet Valley and Perk Valley out either.
Top ten (6A) to me though are:
1. Coatesville (8-0)- Not as explosive as previous teams. But still all around great team. Run defense is very solid and QB Susi has looked great this year.
2. Pennsbury (8-1)- Great run game and amazing turnaround for program. Worried about playoffs a bit though since they have a very one dimensional offense
3. CB East (8-1)-
4. Downingtown West (7-1)- Only loss was to Perk Valley without QB Henicle and RB Mulville. Explosive offense lead by Henicle, Kucera, Muville, and Hangey. Face biggest test yet next week against Downingtown East in the Battle of the Brandywine
5.Perk Valley (8-1)- Solid team as usual, though it has been awhile since they have really made a playoff run. Should finish 9-1 and win their conference. Will probably draw a higher seed. Had a big win earlier in the year against Downingtown West.
6. Downingtown East (7-2)- Two close losses to two top 10 teams in 6A- Coatesville and State College. Team is very talented, might draw a lower seed due to their tough regular season schedule.
7. Garnet Valley (8-0)- Will probably draw the one seed in the 6A bracket this year. Have not really played anyone that great this year, biggest win was probably against 5-4 CB West week 1. Defense has looked great this year, but offense seems kind of questionable. Outside of them and Strath Haven the Central League looks down this year. Tough to judge how good they really are since they are not playing Strath Haven. Have made playoff runs in the past, though they seem like they are primed for round 1 or 2 upset
8. Spring Ford (5-3)- Solid team with a close losses to a good Perk Valley team and two solid District 3 teams in Cumberland Valley and Manheim Township. Should win last two games and enter playoffs at 7-3. Could be a threat to beat a high seed team in the first round
9. CB West (5-4)- Tough loss tonight, but still I would rank them over CB South. Kept it close with Pennsbury and Garnet Valley and beat North Penn. Should be able to keep it close with CB East next week. Do not know if they are good enough for a playoff run, but could pull off an early round upset.
10. CB South (6-3)- Surprising win tonight over CB West. Look like a good team, but probably not good enough for a playoff run.
Honorable Mention-
North Penn (4-5)- Look like are having a down year, but still I had to resist the urge out of putting them in the top ten. But their offense is legit with QB Zeltt and WR Haynes. 3 of their losses were really close to great team. With a last minute loss to Upper Dublin (the best team in D1-5A) and two close losses to Pennsbury and CB East, this team should not be counted out. Though in recent years they have struggled in the playoffs, they have not made it past the second round since 2018. If they can fix things on defense this team could definitely knock off a higher seed and may rematch CB East or Pennsbury in R1.
1-7 to me are teams I could possibly see winning the district or making a playoff run at least. There is little difference between them and we are primed for some great playoff games this season.
October 21st, 2022 at 10:42 pm
Did they take a win away from Coatesville? The PIAA D1 website has their game with Rustin as a loss — 2/0 ??????????? This seems very fishy, because I think they would be ranked number 1 after beating DTE tonight. Is this what Ortega’s administrative leave is about?
October 21st, 2022 at 8:59 pm
Take your foot of the pedal wally hall. You were just outscored 7-0 in the second half by one of the worst teams in the state. Lol
October 21st, 2022 at 7:03 pm
@Kevin X,,,, I’m done. This has become a joke. These school districts letting every lunatic with a computer get away with this nonsense by giving in and cancelling or postponing all these games. The school district announcement breaking out the old ” with an abundance of caution” right out of the covid playbook. What type of a message are school districts sending by letting these cowards win.Its a shame for the teams to have the excitement of a big game,crowd etc taken away. The whole online ticket thing is a joke,by the way I hope they plan on refunding the money for tickets purchased. As far as the game you were thinking of attending once they sent out all those marching orders I would say no thanks. The powers that be have managed to take something as high school football on Fridays nights in the fall and drained all the fun out of it. Oh well guess can watch the Phillies now.
October 21st, 2022 at 4:59 pm
@ Irish1
So much for your game…….
“Due to an unsubstantiated threat of violence made on social media, the football game scheduled for tonight between Phoenixville Area High School and Pope John Paul II has been POSTPONED until Saturday, October 22. ONLY PARENTS FROM BOTH TEAMS WILL BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND.”
Maybe someone had enough of the on-line only ticketing.
October 21st, 2022 at 12:24 pm
@ Irish1
Ahhh, the on-line ticketing only. That still has me less than 7 hours before kickoff up in the air about going to the Coatesville @ Downingtown East game. Guess the longer I wait, the less chance I’ll be making a return trip to Kottmeyer. And now this gem with regards to tonight game:
“To assist with crowd control for this Friday’s(10/21) game, Downingtown fans will use the left side of the stadium for entrance (as you face the stadium), Coatesville will be using the right side. Downingtown will use the “away” snack bar and Coatesville will use the “home” concession stand.” Guess as a neutral fan, I’m not welcome or allowed.
May just be a local Route 309 game tonight, southbound Soudy @ Upper Dub, or northbound North Penn @ Pennridge. Basically a play-in playoff game for North Penn.
Or a night of Phillies and streaming. Decisions decisions……..
October 21st, 2022 at 6:36 am
For anyone who may be looking for a game to go to tonight… PJP vs Phoenixville should be a good one. The game is for the Frontier Division title of the Pac 10 with the winner advancing to the Pac title game next week. PJP comes into the game undefeated. Phoenixville has its best team in several years. PJP is favored but this is a rivalry game, should be a good crowd. Both teams starting lineups are largely sophmore and junior dominated so should be a key battle for next few years. For anyone who may want to go be aware its online tickets only as is sadly the case with most Pac 10 schools.
October 21st, 2022 at 5:36 am
MCA75..Thank you! Huge win for Mount Carmel!
October 20th, 2022 at 11:44 pm
@Dave – Just watched your podcast for the first time, great stuff! Hopefully you can make it up to Mt. Carmel for a playoff game.
October 20th, 2022 at 11:06 am
@MCA76 – Westinghouse is in the Pittsburgh City League, District 8, which is not part of the WPIAL. They made the state playoffs last year and lost in the third round to Farrell 24-7, they are very good and will give Farrell or the WPIAL winner all they can handle. For reference they traveled to Harrisburg last month in week 1 and beat Steelton-Highspire 39-18, they also beat Clairton in week 0 40-8, the rest of their schedule is against weak competition in the city league, other than blowing out Butler a few weeks ago.
October 20th, 2022 at 6:40 am
@WH, Loyalsock had over twice the yards of offense as Danville in the first meeting but were hurt by turnovers. Should be a great rematch.
October 19th, 2022 at 9:19 pm
According to Coatesville Football’s Facebook page, Coach Ortega is back and will be coaching this weekend. One would guess the rumors of Philly players living with coaches, staying in hotels, or going home to attend do school, etc. are unfounded (and didn’t pass the smell test) — don’t think Ortega would be back if they are true. Still haven’t seen confirmation as to why he was on leave (the text message thing seems plausible), but the rumor mill looks a lot like fake news right now.
October 19th, 2022 at 3:38 pm
District 11 AAA shaping up to be a great tournament in a couple of weeks. The semi-finals and final look to all be pretty good games and if North Schuylkill and Notre Dame meet in the final, and it looks like there’s a good shot for that to happen, it will be another great rematch just like Mount Carmel/Southern. Continues to hang in the balance for the quarterback play at North Schuylkill, if he can stop turning the ball over they will be a tough team to beat. Wyomissing and Danville seem to be on a collision course in the bottom half of that bracket. Unless Loyalsock can knock off Danville in the District 4 AAA final.
October 19th, 2022 at 3:25 pm
As Northampton bludgeons their way through the EPC North with mercy rule win after mercy rule win, I’m hoping the EPC comes to their senses and moves Northampton to the South to create a 10-team South and a 8-team North. Yeah, Liberty’s struggled in the South lately, but they would still be massive favorites in the North, and they have no natural rivalries there. Keep them in the South, go to even-numbered divisions, get rid of mandated crossovers, and let teams play out-of-conference.
Hopefully common sense wins out here, for the sake of all the athletes.
October 19th, 2022 at 2:37 pm
@Bub nobody from MCA is counting Southern out. Its tough to beat anyone twice in a season and I’m sure Roth will make adjustments for the rematch. I’m also not counting out an 8-0 Troy. Kelley has not been playing but I have seen him on the sidelines as of last week so unless he quit recently, I’m not aware. Still hoping he can make it back for the playoffs. MCA’s O-Line has been playing well all year but it would certainly benefit them to have someone of his size and talent back in the lineup.
@Jeff H. those are all familiar names on the western side, except for Westinghouse. I don’t recall ever hearing about them in the playoffs. I also forgot Richland may be a part of the eastern bracket since they played Southern a few times the past few years.
October 19th, 2022 at 2:07 pm
@Bub, completely agree. It would be foolish to count out Southern. Another, that has been flying somewhat under the radar, is 8-0 Troy. They finish the regular season with two strong opponents in Loyalsock and Canton. Will be a good indicator whether they are contenders or pretenders.
October 19th, 2022 at 9:42 am
In district 4 AA and eastern state, I would not count out Southern just yet, They will likely get Barnes back for playoffs. Wisloski has been hobbled with hamstring issues, you could see he wasn’t running well in the Mount Carmel game. Roth and his staff are still there too… best around. One more thing, local papers writing about Mount Carmel’s very good offensive line keep mentioning Matt Kelley as a starter, he hasn’t played since the 2nd QTR of week three and in fact I believe he has quit the team.
October 18th, 2022 at 10:09 am
@WPIALguy – thanks for the reminder, I was, aware Aliquippa is playing their home games this year at Freedom since the PIT is being renovated, will also buy a ticket in advance, I don’t typically do that but will for this game. Yeah, they had them beat last year in the semi’s, I haven’t seen Aliquippa yet in person this year but in the two times I saw McKeesport against BV and Gateway they were very impressive and are going to be a really difficult out in the playoffs.
@MCA75 – I’m with you, appears MCA and Lakeland are the two favorites in the east to get to the final, although I haven’t’ seen the brackets yet, Richland from D6 in Johnstown is very good and they may be in the eastern bracket.. Several good AA teams in the WPIAL with Steel Valley, Sto-Rox and Beaver Falls the most notable, also have Farrell in D10 and Westinghouse from the Pittsburgh City League, so the western side appears to have a lot more contenders than in the east.
October 17th, 2022 at 7:37 pm
@ScottyB
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll assume this has to due with all of the BS going on at Coatesville. They took cash with their game against State College earlier in the season and at the West game the other night. Saw that there was another incident at the school today. Game may be a pass for me this week.
October 17th, 2022 at 4:08 pm
Just a heads up for anyone planning on heading to Kottmeyer Stadium on Friday for the Coatesville @ Downingtown East game.
They are doing online ticket sales only and will not be accepting cash at the gate.
October 17th, 2022 at 12:48 pm
@jeff H i agree with your thoughts on McKeesport. I’ve been high on them all year. Remember, they should have beaten Aliquippa last year in the wpial semis. All they had to do was make a 20 yard field goal and they missed. Aliquippa hasn’t shown the offensive firepower to beat them. I think McKeesport should be #1 as well due to their non conference wins.
October 17th, 2022 at 12:45 pm
@ Jeff H just a heads up that game is being played at Freedom High school due to Aliquippa field renovations. I would also buy tickets before you drive out there for that reason.
October 16th, 2022 at 8:18 pm
@WPIALguy – yep, looking forward to that game and will make the 1+ hour drive to see it. I was at the McKeesport game on Friday and they dominated Gateway, after falling behind 10-0 midway in the second quarter they proceeded to score 41 unanswered points until Gateway tacked on a touchdown in garbage time to make the final score 41-17. McKeesport’s rushing attack is relentless, they have 3 or 4 guys who can go the distance on any play, and had numerous long runs. I’ve been saying for weeks McKeesport is the best team I’ve seen this year, better than any of the 6A and 5A teams. Crazy thing is McKeesport would win 6A or 5A WPIAL title but will have to go through 2 defending state champions to win 4A. I personally think McKeesport should be the #1 seed in 4A playoffs, they’ve played a tougher schedule than either CV or Aliquippa, and their defense has given up a total of 37 points in 8 games with 4 shutouts.
In one of the craziest finishes you will see in any game Central Catholic stunned Penn Hills 33-28. Trailing 28-27 with 1 second to go in the game, PCC tried a 49 yard field goal that was blocked. While the Penn Hills team ran on the field to celebrate, a PCC lineman picked up the ball and ran 50 yards for a touchdown, because the ball was still behind the line of scrimmage the offense was allowed to advance the ball, and the lineman ran unmolested down the sideline for a winning touchdown, as the fans looked on stunned by what they had just witnessed. This was such a crazy ending it make the national news wire, my buddy’s friend who lives in Chicago saw the replay on a local news broadcast!
October 16th, 2022 at 7:47 pm
@JC if you are gauging the win by the talent of the teams, I agree that NS was the better of the two. I think the win over Southern was bigger because MCA has had to get by them to get out of districts since they moved to AA. The win over SC was the first in 11 years and 14 games, keeps MCAs undefeated season alive and in the driver’s seat for D4 playoffs.
@wiley1 maybe? Haven’t heard about any other good AA teams in the east besides Lakeland.
October 16th, 2022 at 6:14 pm
I would think mca win over north schuylkill was much bigger. Southern Columbia is not a good football team. I would not be surprised if southern doesn’t even make it to the district championship game. They r just not a good football team. There qb play is really bad. There lines r really bad.
October 16th, 2022 at 5:28 pm
2 weeks away from a mammoth matchup in 4A. Aliquippa vs Central Valley. 2 defending state champions that are a few miles apart that are now in the same section and classification. Winner of that will probably get the 1 seed in 4A playoffs.
October 16th, 2022 at 4:56 pm
The district 4 AA winner won’t make it very far in the state playoffs this year.
October 16th, 2022 at 1:52 pm
Mt. Carmel’s win over Southern on Friday was probably their biggest win since 2011. I thought MCA was in trouble when the 2nd QB went down but was really impressed with the freshman QB. He came in the game in a pressure situation and the MCA offense didn’t miss a beat. Hoping everyone gets healthy and MCA gets back to full strength for the playoffs.
October 15th, 2022 at 11:21 am
Kevin x chester and Downingtown west is canceled until Monday. They will play In Wilkes barre at 6:28 am. According to Joey buttafuco.
October 15th, 2022 at 10:42 am
@ Paul White
Really? I had no idea. They should, I repeat, should, win their last 2 games. Frankly, no team with a 500 record should make the playoffs.
But hell, I’ll take it! Keeps their record of always making the playoffs intact. The obvious problem is they will draw a high seed (like C’ville),
and lose in the first round. But it’s something to look forward to. Once again……………………wait ’till next year.
October 15th, 2022 at 8:35 am
@ Kc
🙂
October 15th, 2022 at 8:34 am
Chester @ Downingtown West
No comment or next question
October 15th, 2022 at 7:48 am
Well even after losing last night, North Penn has risen in the rankings to no. 16. If they win their last two games, they should get in with a 500 record at probably the 15 spot. All but 3 spots are locked in.
October 15th, 2022 at 5:37 am
Kevin x the only guy I know who can continually report wrong info and then want to talk about something else
October 14th, 2022 at 3:52 pm
**Update**
Coatesville @ Shanahan is back on for 7pm tonight but with no cheerleaders, no bands and only 2 parents per player.
This is wild.
October 14th, 2022 at 3:44 pm
I’m done……hope they are too……
“Here we go again. Official for the third time. Coatesville at Bishop Shanahan back on tonight at 7. No band, no cheerleaders and only two parents per player.”
Can we please talk about Southern and Mt. Carmel or Emmaus and Naz or……..
October 14th, 2022 at 3:24 pm
Surprised there’s not more chatter on here about the Mt Carmel vs Southern game tonight, can MC finally get over the hump and beat their arch rival. I realize they will almost certainly meet again in the district playoffs, but I think this is a big game as far as Mt. Carmel’s confidence heading into the post season.
@Kevin X – I realize this is a big step up in competition for Chester but I have a hunch they hang in there with DTW and game is competitive into the 4th quarter. Looks like the strange happenings are continuing with Coatesville, really bizarre in today’s age there’s not more info available and just rumors and innuendos.
I am going to see Gateway vs. McKeesport, very intriguing game, old rivals that haven’t played as much in recent years since McKeesport dropped to 4A 3 yrs ago, Gateway’s explosive offense against a very stout McKeesport defense. This game doesn’t mean anything as far as playoff standings so will be interesting to see how the coaches handle it, they all whine about these nonconference games so late in the season.
October 14th, 2022 at 3:19 pm
The latest update from Mr. D:
“Tonight’s Coatesville at Bishop Shanahan football game has been postponed due to online threats. Game will now be played Monday at 3pm at Bishop Shanahan.”
I better start looking into a “Plan B” for next Friday, as I have C’Ville @ D-Town East penciled in on my calendar.
October 14th, 2022 at 2:11 pm
Per DLN’s Pete DiGiovanni:
“Archdiocese of Philadelphia has postponed tonight’s Coatesville at Bishop Shanahan football game. Game will be played Sunday at a time to be determined.”
October 14th, 2022 at 1:42 pm
@ Kevin X
Yeah, it seems like you have been on a good run….Keenan was rocking last Friday night! Hope you get another good one tonight.
Poor Shanahan catching the Red Raiders in a bad mood, should be a runner for the officials.
October 14th, 2022 at 12:12 pm
@ ScottyB
Yup, pretender or contender night for Chester. Hoping for a good game. I have gotten really spoiled this year with really good, close games. I’d like to keep that train rolling.
More poop going on at CASD today. Last I heard, their game at Shanahan is still on. Shanahan must be lovin’ this.
October 14th, 2022 at 12:05 pm
Mt. Carmel vs Southern Columbia
Tonight is MCA’s best chance to beat Southern in a decade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKVjo8JFxPQ
Regardless of the outcome of this game, these teams will most likely meet again in 4-5 weeks in districts
October 14th, 2022 at 9:05 am
@ Kevin X
I think tonight’s matchup with the Whippets will tell us a lot about the Clippers squad that’s been flying under the radar and hasn’t played anyone of DTW caliber yet this season. Beautiful football weather expected tonight at Kottmeyer, definitely a great place to catch a game.
October 14th, 2022 at 8:36 am
@ Chief
I agree. The DLN reported on the Ortega and coaches issue last Thursday, then nothing. No follow-ups, updates, nothing. Were they at practice this week?? Their status for tonight’s game?? Statement from the Coatesville school district?? They are public employees after all. I believe Ortega is a teacher in the district. No follow-ups either regarding the “threats” that cancelled the game last week. Any arrests?? Suspects?? The threats themselves?? Nothing from the DA’s Office, Coatesville police, school districts (Downingtown and Coatesville), Ches-Mont league, District One, PIAA, Daily Local News, nothing from anybody on either issue, unless I simply haven’t seen something.
Oh well, hope all play tonight without incident, especially the Chester @ D-Town West game, as that is where I am headed this evening.
October 13th, 2022 at 4:47 pm
ScottyB: Thanks for the info — what you say sounds much more likely. I could be wrong, but the idea that they would have players from Philly living with the coaches seems so ridiculous — I grew up there — the people would know, the players would know, etc. (I do remember when a star basketball player in the 80’s moved from Avon Grove to live with a family member — but that’s all I’ve ever heard or seen). Many Coatesville players have generational connections to the team and the family names have stayed the same. It’s just weird that it’s so quiet.
October 13th, 2022 at 12:39 pm
@ Chief Red Raider
I have a buddy that is a District One official and they were told the reason for the coaches suspension stemmed from an inappropriate text sent to players on the team that included some sort of “slur”. As far as he knows they are playing Shanahan tomorrow night but he’s not sure if the coaches were cleared to coach the game.
That’s the latest “rumor” I heard regarding the situation.
October 13th, 2022 at 12:08 pm
Crickets & Coatesville. I’m trying to figure out why there is absolutely zero information on C’ville (unless I’m missing something). No news on if they are playing Friday, no news if the coaches are coming back and when (and why they were on leave in the first place), no news on why they couldn’t make up the DW game, etc. — It’s like the FBI in front of Congress — no answers. I haven’t even seen any new “rumors” lately. One would think somebody would have a clue.
October 12th, 2022 at 11:27 pm
The cancelled DTW/C’Ville game will have negligible affect on the District One standings. Maybe Pennsbury, Perk Val, or Neshaminy might loose 10 bonus win points, dependent on the outcome. Control what you can control and take care of your own business the next 3 weeks. As far as a forfeit, that was my initial gut reaction, but not so much anymore. These so called credible treats that were at the center of the cancellation supposively came from both schools, and the ultimate decision to cancel the game came from law enforcement opinion. I’m also guessing both schools agreed to the cancellation. Don’t know if this could have been an option, but I would have moved the game to West Chester East Saturday morning around 11a or noon (the societal bottom feeders making the threats would still probably be asleep) and maybe limit fans to the 21 and over crowd (i.e., no students).
October 12th, 2022 at 9:07 pm
Haven’t posted for a while, but here are a few WPIAL tidbits.
Pine-Richland is for real. I’ve been able to watch their last couple games and everything Jeff H says is right on. Palmeiri is a stud at QB. Mostly running but can throw the ball as well. He’s last kid trained by the old staff. They dominated NA and PCC. Spread offense, but mostly spread to run. Also, they moved their TE to OT and that’s helped things alot. They are massive up front. Probably average 6’2.5 250 and not sloppy. They are a contender to win WPIAL for sure.
Other big news – Dave Fleming, PCC DC left the school and took his on with him. Word is Coach Totten was going to bench him and he wasn’t having it. Will know more if this is true this weekend.
October 12th, 2022 at 9:37 am
@Buddy- Well I tried to let you know early in the season about North Penn, I don’t know if they made an adjustment in personnel, but earlier in the season, they didn’t always have their best players on the field. Part of the problem is Coach Beck, he’s trying to run the same offense and defenses he used back in 2005, especially at the HS level you need to make adjustments to the personnel you have, I’ve heard this for years. This year he’s got a Georgia Recruit WR and a 3rd year Senior starter and those two should be lighting up the scoreboard, they’ve done well, but not as well as I thought they would. Boy how many 1 score games can Pennridge lose, it’s a shame Phil Picciotti transferred to IMG, he would have been a difference maker for them, besides in the two games I’ve seen on TV, he did not get a lot of playing time. Lastly what the heck is going on down at Coatesville, they need to make that game up with D-town West, as that’s big on Conference and District 1 standings, if they cancelled the game & don’t make it up, it needs to be viewed, in my opinion, a forfeit.
October 10th, 2022 at 7:34 pm
@JC….yeah I saw that too in regards to NLs prep for Notre Dame. As an NL alum, I appreciate that Tout has them ready and adjusts after a lose like they had to NS a couple weeks ago. They got it handed to them so they adjusted and had them prepared vs Notre Dame. Tout is the longest tenured Lehigh valley coach (17th year at NL and has 108 wins). NL is lucky to have him. Hopefully they get his third (and schools 5th) district championship this year.
October 10th, 2022 at 4:12 pm
@3jk it’s pretty bad when northern lehighs coach in his preparation for notre dame green pond mentions that north schuylkill ran the ball down notre dames throat but for some reason would stop running the ball in key situations. The sad part of it all is you don’t need a good passer in high school football to win championships. But you have to know what you do have to win those championships.
October 10th, 2022 at 11:56 am
@WPIALguy – I was at the BP-USC game and Bethel Park was much more physical at the line of scrimmage and pretty much ran at will on them, their running back Austin Caye got at least 4-5 yards on every carry and they rarely had a negative play, I think he ended up with about 180 yards on 35+ carries. Agree Gateway is back on track and flying under the radar is Pine Richland, ever since they moved Ryan Palmieri to QB and went back to running the spread offense they ran under coach K they have been on a roll, I expect them to win out in the regular season and go into the playoffs as a #2 or #3 seed on a 6 game winning streak.
October 10th, 2022 at 10:46 am
@kevin
Yep, put a fork in ’em, they’re done. This will be only the second time in the last 24 years they (NP) missed the playoffs.
They got some offence, but never seen a NP defense this inept. Hell, not sure if I ever seen any team in the SOL with a
defense this bad. Here’s a rare statement for NP fans…………. “Maybe next year”
October 10th, 2022 at 8:58 am
Rough weekend for North Penn football. North Penn looses again, to go below .500 and are now on the outside looking in on a D1 6A playoff spot at #17 with 3 games to go. Then yesterday, North Penn grad Matt Ammendola misses a game tying 43 yard field goal in the closing moments in the Arizona Cardinals loss to his hometown Eagles.
October 10th, 2022 at 8:39 am
Could be an interesting week in the “Ville. Lots of crickets over the weekend. Not getting the warm and fuzzies for a much to do about nothing type of outcome. Suspecting a lot of lawyering up is taking place.
October 9th, 2022 at 5:15 pm
@jc Agree with absolutely everything. It’s a shame because they do have the capability to be a great football team but Wally holds them back. The dynamic at quarterback is awful. I’m not sure how the game plan after throwing 4 picks is to come out and sling it. And it lead to 2 interceptions in the first quarter. There’s no variety in the offense what so ever. But they get away with it because their kids are so athletic they can win football games. But with competent coaches on the offensive end they would be unstoppable. But the play calling sucks and Wally’s too stubborn to make any changes. That’s why anytime they play a similar football team they struggle to win because of the offense. It could be a great year at NS but the offense is ultimately going to cost them in the playoffs.
October 9th, 2022 at 12:12 pm
Bethel Park takes over the #1 spot in WPIAL 5A with a win over Upper St Clair. Bethel was winless 2 years ago with these starters playing as sophomores. Now they are all seniors and look to be very good. Gateway has also turned it around.
In 1A Bishop Canevin looks to be a head above the rest.
2A Sto Rox and Steel Valley. Maybe Beaver Falls.
October 8th, 2022 at 9:16 pm
I guess when Ryan finds out his “rumors” are facts he’ll let us all know — he seems like a stand up kind of guy.
October 8th, 2022 at 6:12 pm
Rumors are that Coatesville has kids from Philly on the team and are living with the coaches. As well as having videos of locker room issues
October 8th, 2022 at 9:56 am
It does seem weird that some of C’ville’s coaches would be of administrative leave (if that is even correct), then the threats, then looking like they won’t ever play the game (that is really fishy). But I hope people will not just repeat “rumors”. I have no idea what’s going on, but some of the rumors seem ridiculous to me. Let’s wait and see how it plays out (no pun intended).
October 8th, 2022 at 12:19 am
I can’t believe what wally hall gets away with at ns. Great teams that can only get district championships and sometimes not even that. What could be a great team this year won’t be. The qb can’t throw, not on target anyway. They came out throwing. When they ran early it was with the qb who can’t run. They ran Weitz for about 60 yards last week, chowansky ran for a big td that was Called back last week and it looks like teams don’t like tackling him, one didn’t play at all in the backfield and the other did on two plays and had 0 carries. The qb throws into double and triple coverage almost exclusively. Flail played qb had a 60 yard run. Your linebackers blitz off end and never get any pressure. Blitz up the middle, do you not ever blitz up the middle. They had over 200 yds in penalties easily tonight. On the two jim thorpe drives they had at least 60 yards in penalties. When up only 24-14 and after either blocking or almost blocking every jim thorpe punt they don’t try and block the punt and it’s a bad snap and they get it off. It’s typical of wally halls teams, take your foot off the pedal. Your starting qb after seeing flail play there tonight is the 3rd best qb on the team. Whoever calls your plays on offense is not capable of being an offensive play caller. Wally has mismanaged players from the time he has become coach. He almost did nothing with the Hummel brothers early at ns. And cost the youngest one any kind of hs football career he could have had. Didn’t start him all year and he has 6 or 7 sacks in the first playoff game they start him. Wally hall is a pee wee coach
October 7th, 2022 at 9:40 pm
Northern Lehigh with a huge win over state ranked AAA Notre Dame GP. Second huge win over a good AAA school (Northwestern Lehigh in week 2). I know i said it before but Northern will be tough against any A team. They rotate on offensive line and defensive line which is rare for an A team. They have also played without arguably their best player (Ramos) who has been out since week 3 and they hope to get him back by end of regular season. He had 6 tds already when he went out after week 3. Looks like it will be Northern vs Tri Valley for dist 11 A title (minersville looked good until last two weeks when they lost to Pen Argyl and Catty who Northern beat already). Northern has played a much tougher AAA schedule than Tri Valley. They have played Northwestern Lehigh, North Schuylkill, and Notre Dame GP. Tri Valley has played none of those three and Northern Lehigh is 2-1 vs those three dist 11 AAA top teams.
October 7th, 2022 at 5:27 pm
Coatesville game canceled
October 7th, 2022 at 5:25 pm
The situation with Coach Ortega and two assistants seems weird as well. They were placed on admin leave by the school district. I haven’t any reason why yet though.
October 7th, 2022 at 3:34 pm
Other things going on at coatesville than just that….
October 7th, 2022 at 3:13 pm
Downingtown West v. Coatesville is now canceled due to online threats. Feel bad for the players on both teams, they are not reason the game got canceled. The online threats were from fans.
October 7th, 2022 at 2:49 pm
Rumor is that Coatesville got caught cheating, using kids with Philly addresses
October 7th, 2022 at 2:16 pm
DTW @ C’Ville now cancelled:
“Due to additional information received by local law enforcement authorities, tonight’s Coatesville Area High School and Downingtown West High School football game will be canceled.”
October 7th, 2022 at 1:49 pm
*UPDATE*
The DTW @ Coatesville game scheduled for tonight has been cancelled.
Looks like you made the right call @ Kevin X
Sad times we are living in.
October 7th, 2022 at 11:58 am
WOW.
Due to multiple threats received tonight’s game between Coatesville & Downingtown West will be played with NO FANS.
It’s also Coatesville’s homecoming, feel terrible for the kids.
October 7th, 2022 at 8:20 am
@ Irish1
Should give you a thanks for your previous post about the PAC schools doing the on-line ticketing. Without it, it would have been interesting to see our reaction tonight at the S-F/PV game as we find out there is no the ticket booth to be found and are then told our United States legal tender that we were planning on using to gain admission to the game is basically the same as monopoly money tonight.
Funny thing is, if one of the MO’s in all of this is to go cashless for whatever reason, why don’t they accept credit cards at the gate and concession stands?? I’ve been using one of my Visa cards at businesses/merchants where I just wave it over some gadget, there’s a beep, and viola!!!, I’m good to go!!! No touching anything, no signature, couldn’t be easier.
October 6th, 2022 at 9:21 pm
Very weird, strange, bizarre, etc….
From PA Prep LIve:
“With the biggest game of the year thus far this season, Coatesville may be without head coach Matt Ortega and multiple assistant coaches against Downingtown West, Friday.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Ortega and assistant coaches Steve Brazzle and Will Keylor have been away from the team this week. If, or when, they return is still unknown.
Reasoning for their absence is presently undisclosed after calls, emails and texts to Ortega, Coatesville Director of Athletics Brian Chenger and Coatesville High School Principal Michele Snyder were not returned.
Undefeated Coatesville (6-0) hosts Downingtown West (5-1), Friday at 7 p.m., for Homecoming.”
October 6th, 2022 at 12:53 pm
@ Kevin X….your suggestion to at least have the cash at the gate option makes sense. If people still want to buy online fine but give the option for others to pay at the gate. For a regular season football or basketball game that isnt too much to ask.
October 6th, 2022 at 11:10 am
@philly:
For a $5 purchase. Asinine.
October 6th, 2022 at 10:22 am
Must get high school game tickets on line ??? Well how ridiculous can things get/ looks like if I ever go to one of those games i will be watching from outside the fence. What a joke !!!!
October 6th, 2022 at 8:44 am
Oh boy, maybe I’m a hypocrite. Or maybe I’m one of those who caved as PB would say. For the first time, I pulled the trigger yesterday, while firmly holding my nose, and bought 2 tix on-line for tomorrow’s Spring-Ford Perk Valley game. There, I said it. There, I did it. Don’t like it one iota. Talked myself into it with a few reasons. One, I at least wanted to try the procedure at least once to be able to talk about it honestly. Second, this may be the one reason in the future where I’d do it again, that is being a game that I really want to go to (especially if I have to travel a good distance) and there may be good chance that said game will be sold out, as the last thing I want is to walk up to the ticket booth and the “sold out” sign is thrown in my face. Third, I had this game circled (along with the DTW/C’Ville) on my 2022 roadmap of games. I’ll see DTW next week against Chester and C’Ville in 2 weeks against DTE.
A few observations. First the system for this game did not require you to sign up for anything, create a password or user name or the like, or give up your first born. I can’t speak for other ticketing sites. They did require a telephone number, (I gave a fake number, Jenny, I’ve got your number :)), but a legit e-mail address is required, as that is how I got my tix, via e-mail. Ordered on my laptop, I was able to print out at home, so phone was not even needed. I did have to pay via credit card (would have been nice for a PayPal or other payment option). Overall a very simple, easy, straight forward procedure. They did whack you for service charges, which was an additional $1.50 or so total.
Am I convert?? F no. This on-line only ticketing requirement is asinine, a disgrace, and a complete joke. I have no problem with buying tickets on-line in advance (as an option) as long as there is still a day of game cash option at the gate. In fact, I would encourage that. I do unfortunately see this as something that will be gaining traction and be more widespread in the future. Most will adapt, cave, or it’s already not an issue. I do not see it as having an affect on attendance, especially going forward. On-line streaming probably has more. I see this as nothing more than another money grab, but also an accounting issue, and maybe a security issue (figure a big game, $5 a person, 5,000 people at game, that’s 25k in cash exposed in these lawless times that we’re currently living in).
October 6th, 2022 at 8:05 am
Thanks, Scotty. Being 5A somewhat explains why they’re flying under the radar. I’m not thrilled about seeing a team beat someone 80-0 (was that really necessary?) but I like seeing new blood making some noise, especially a place that could use more good news.
October 5th, 2022 at 8:14 pm
My lands, to order HS football tickets online it’s now necessary to create an account with a username and password? That’s even worse than I thought. LOL, goodness gracious they are taking themselves way too seriously. Did they also require 2 in-person interviews, 3 character witnesses (other than family and friends), an 800 or better credit score, and a 500 word essay explaining why you might be a good candidate to attend a local game? Then with the committee’s approval you’ll be set after the obligatory 90 day waiting period. In all seriousness I’ll never attend another game in person if that becomes standard operating procedure, the phillyboy golden age will have been relegated to PIAA lore. Problem is, there’s too many people who will cave like nobody’s business thereby enabling it to continue unabated. Oh well, it is what it is.
October 5th, 2022 at 6:51 pm
@ 4th & Forever
Chester is actually a 5A school for football and yes they are having a great season. I definitely think they’ll be a tough out come playoff time. I believe they have a newer coaching staff and have really done a good job of revitalizing the program.
October 5th, 2022 at 3:59 pm
Anyone know anything about Chester? I get that they’re not know for football and their schedule is weak, but as an outsider who’s doing nothing more than looking at scores, they’re taking care of business every week. The strength of the basketball program tells me there are athletes at the school and it seems like a team that could make it to the 6A D1 semifinals with a little luck.
October 5th, 2022 at 1:25 pm
Like I said, they will lose fans. I have a smart phone and can print tickets, but I think it’s ridiculous.
As long as NP doesn’t do it, and I don’t believe any SOL team is doing it, I’m fine.
October 5th, 2022 at 12:28 pm
Sorry for the duplicate posts. @Buddy I havent been to enough games involving other leagues this year so not sure if they are taking cash other then the NP-Lasalle game which had a large crowd and they took cash that night. The Pac 10 is a little full of themselves with making something as simple as going to a high school game handing over the 5 dollars and watching the game for a few hrs harder then it should be. Making people go online create an account and use a credit card for a 5 dollar ticket is crazy.
October 5th, 2022 at 8:59 am
@Buddy,
I think most schools or leagues will eventually all be online sales. I know PIAA does online only for state playoff games now. I think even with covid not being an issue anymore schools find online sales more convenient. It does limit sales with older fans who don’t have smart phones or a way to print tickets. StubHub and pro events are mostly online/digital now as well.
October 5th, 2022 at 7:27 am
Anyone know the reason the PAC10 is selling tickets online only? This will cost them, attendance-wise, I’m sure.
A friend and I (both seniors) were thinking about going, but the online ticket sales changed our minds (amongst other things).
If this has anything to do with covid, someone should tell the PAC10 ……………it’s over.
October 5th, 2022 at 7:21 am
@ Kevin X, that sounds like par for the course. Not sure who most of the Pac 10 schools think they are. PV must think they are the second coming of the old CB West teams with all the marching orders they give out,for someone just trying to go see a high school football game on a Friday night. In time they might only have parents and students going to games if the average fan says the heck with all this and thats coming from someone who has been going to high school games since the 70s.
October 5th, 2022 at 6:46 am
@ Kevin X, that sounds about right, not quite sure who these pac 10 schools think they are. Perk Valley must think they are the second coming of the old CB west with all the marching orders they give to anyone who just wants to go see a high school football game on a Friday night. Might get to the point where the only people going are parents or students, after a while the average fan who may not have any connection to a school might just say the heck with it,and this is someone who has been going to high school games since the 70’s.
October 4th, 2022 at 3:38 pm
@ Irish1
Yep, Friday’s Spring-Ford @ Perk Valley game is on-line tix sales only. No cash at the gate. Called PV today and confirmed. Also, this was buried on their ticketing portion of the schools website:
“Join us Oct. 7th 2022 at 7:00pm, at Thomas J. Keenan Stadium for a varsity football game between Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley. No outside food will be permitted inside the stadium. Unopened water bottles only. No re-entry allowed. Doors open at 6:00pm and close at the end of the 3rd quarter. Tickets will not be sold at the gate. Tickets are nonrefundable.”
October 4th, 2022 at 1:30 pm
Looking quickly at the schedule for this week in district one, these games standout…
Downingtown West @ Coatesville – Should be a good one at Coatesville Memorial Stadium in what will be the first of a few pivotal match ups the next few weeks in the Ches-Mont National Division.
Spring-Ford @ Perkiomen Valley – If you have never been to Keenan stadium for this intense rivalry, you are really missing out. The winner of this game usually ends up winning the PAC Liberty Division and in the 38 all-time meetings the teams are deadlocked 19-19.
Any other games I am missing?
October 4th, 2022 at 6:48 am
@NE PA . Not to mention the qb on a few plays ran right into the pressure he had from 1 lineman and ran directly into that pressure. Didn’t step up in the pocket ran right into the guy. I honestly believe he is the slowest guy on the field. There is no point in running any pass to the sidelines on a deep ball because there is 0% chance the pass is completed. Chowansky, Tinari, Weitz, Carabello, flail with the freshman handing it optioning to those guys and they would be without a loss. Its not against the law to blitz a linebacker up the middle passed the nose guard.
October 3rd, 2022 at 2:47 pm
@NW PA – agree that was a very impressive win by ECP, I figured they would finally beat McDowell this year, but didn’t expect them to totally dominate like that. I have seen most of the WPIAL 5A top contenders in person, and I think ECP is on a higher level than any of them, with the possible exception of Gateway if they get their act together like they finally showed on Friday in crushing previously undefeated Hempfield 60-7, it was 53-0 at half, I was at the Upper St Clair vs. Mt Lebanon game and was just totally blown away by that score, no one saw that coming. Speaking of Upper St Clair they are a very solid, well coached team, good size on their lines, experienced senior QB, decent receivers, good running game, and sound defense, but with that being said I don’t think they have the overall talent or athleticism to beat Erie Prep. Upper St Clair plays Bethel Park this week and Gateway plays Penn Trafford in 2 games that will have big implications for playoff seeding, my dilemma is I have to decide which one to go see!
October 3rd, 2022 at 2:05 pm
@Jc NS is a mess on offense. No reason why they shouldn’t play the freshman and see what he can do at this point. He’s probably better than the starter anyway and it will develop him into a really good player when he’s a junior and senior. Against Notre Dame, four interceptions and they were really horrific ones, a couple strip sacks, probably five fumbled snaps, has no chance to complete a deep ball, and can’t run. That’s the play at quarterback you’re getting when you play a good team. Against the bottom feeders in the district you don’t really see it because you’re just three times as good as them, but against comparable teams you lose. Hence, Mount Carmel and Notre Dame. He can’t get Flail the ball at all. Teams are doubling him every play and pretty much taking him out of the game anyway. I think they should get Flail in the backfield and just keep him involved more. Changes on the O-line also have to be made but for some reason they won’t make them. Their D-line is stacked and they would be much better off just having those guys go both ways and rotating the other guys in when they need a break. If the changes aren’t made or fixed, it’s going to be a disappointing season in Fountain Springs.
October 1st, 2022 at 9:31 pm
@Kevin X
That’s a great idea. Saturday afternoon are much more doable for me than Friday nights. Although I’m going to do anything I can to make it to Coatesville this Friday for the Downingtown West game. I think this will be the first true test for both squads, not with the Central Dauphin game earlier this season and I believe a close loss to Perk Valley for West. I know that for Dtown East, they have a bruising running attack, so Cville will be tested there, but I don’t know much about West aside from their record and scores.
But going back to Malvern Prep, I’m going to circle 10/22 on the calendar, to see them play the Haverford School. If I don’t make that there are two more home games to end the season and I’d love to see them play Episcopal on 11/5. Dates circled.
October 1st, 2022 at 8:12 pm
I follow football across the state, but mainly follow district 1
A player who I feel is not getting a lot recognition this year is Bo Horvath, running back for Downingtown East. Kid has looked incredible this season. He is committed to play lacrosse at Lehigh, but I would imagine some D1 schools might look at him for football. He has ran for 1200 yards and 16 touchdowns this season already. The Cougars look dangerous on offense, especially with the return of QB Jenkins, who missed some games due to injury. Only loss was a one point heartbreaker to State College, who is considered a top 10 in 6A. They also did not have Jenkins that game either and were running Horvath out of the wildcat in the second half. Though the pass defense has looked shaky all season. But as usual the Cougars have been running the ball really well all season and also have a really solid front 7 on defense.
Downingtown West has also had a great bounce back thus far, after a disappointing season last year. 5-1 right now, with one close loss to Perk Valley (another good team), and there starting QB Henicle was hurt. Offensively QB Henicle has played well and the team is loaded with other offensive skills like Kucera, Hangey, and Mulville. Also the upfront on the O line they have two D1 guys in Howard and Young. Downingtown West vs Coatesville next week at Coatesville Memorial Stadium is shaping up to be a great matchup.
Coatesville as usual has been very good. One of only two undefeated teams left in D1 6A(along with Garnet Valley). Though not as dominant as some of past teams (like the 2012, 2017, 2018 teams). Ortega’s team is still one of the best teams in District 1. QB Susi has looked really good, though has not been used as much in the last two games. They have blown out the last teams they played. As usual, should be a threat for the title when playoffs roll around. The offense is still very explosive, you do not want to get down against Coatesville ever, because you will have a really hard time catching up.
D1 6A looks wide open as ever. No clear number 1 yet. I thought for sure it was CB East until last night against Pennsbury and the week before that when they struggled against Pennridge, but still they look like a threat for the D1 title. Pennsbury has had a great turnaround this season, it is nice to see the program back to its old ways. The SOL national title looks like it is up for grabs now. No other 6A SOL teams have really blown me away, Souderton is having a pretty good year though, Upper Dublin is currently my 5A D1 favorites, and Neshaminy is bouncing back after a couple of down years.
Surprised about North Penn this year. Thought they would be 6-0 or 5-1 right now, but right now they are sit at 3-3, and there is a decent chance they do not make playoffs. With WR Haynes (who is probably the most talented player in D1 6A this year) transferring in from and Zeltt returning at QB, I thought they were the favorites in the SOL National, but the defense has looked shaky all season. Have two big games coming up against CB East and Pennsbury. Both games I think are winnable for them.
In the pioneer league, Perk Valley and Spring Ford have looked good, though I still do not know if they are D1 title contenders. Perk Valley has the win over Downingtown West, but West was without their QB and kind of gave that game away. The Perk Valley defense has looked great, and they fought with a loaded Roman Catholic team. The matchup between these two, should be a great game as always.
Garnet Valley is good as usual and will probably finish undefeated in the regular season and be the one seed in the playoffs. The defense seems solid, but the offense is not nearly as explosive as last years, I am still mixed on if they are a district contender or not, just because the Central League seems down this year. The only team that seems like they could compete with them in the central league appears to be Strath Haven (5A), but they are not scheduled to play each other this year. I know Conestoga is 5-1, and is the current 6 seed in the 6A rankings, but I do not think they can beat Garnet. The district 1 website has them as the one seed though.
Unable to really rank teams of D1 6A right now just. Will be able to have a better look in the coming weeks as there are many big conference games coming up and we will see who are the true contenders. Though it looks like we are in for some good late regular season and playoff games in district 1 6A this year.
October 1st, 2022 at 12:02 pm
North schuylkill is a mess. Your starting qb can’t run or throw. Play the freshman. He can at least run. Weitz didn’t run all year. They ran him. Put the young freshman in. Put a full house backfield in. Run it right down there throats. They wouldn’t and didn’t want to tackle chowansky. Tinari was gashing them. When it mattered and they drove down field they either passed the ball or fumbled the snap. Your Play calling and qb cost you the game. 3 long td passes after ns should have scored and a kick return after u did score. It’s the first time I watched a team that clearly should have won lost on undisciplined, lack of coaching and bad qb Play lost u a game. Wally let them run the hurry up offense against him. See how good it works walter
October 1st, 2022 at 9:36 am
Erie Cathedral absolutely crushed a good McDowell team 41-0 last night. Cathedral executed their game plan on both sides of the ball perfectly. Mcdowell was completely out coached, they’ve done the same thing on both sides of the ball the last few years and Cathedral finally made the adjustments. A couple of their starters got injured unfortunately, but something tells me their depth can handle it. If Cathedral starts hitting their stride they could make a deep playoff run in 5A. At this point I’m not sure Mcdowell gets by State College. Only time will tell.
September 30th, 2022 at 11:52 am
Lots of interesting games tonight in the WPIAL. In 6A PCC takes on Canon Mac in a must win game, PCC is already 0-2 in the conference with this game and Seneca Valley the last 2 conference opponents left, if PCC loses this game there’s a distinct possibility they don’t make the 4 team playoff. I am going to see Upper St Clair play Mt Lebo, this is one of the bigger rivalries in the WPIAL, Lebo has owned them in recent years but I like USC to keep it rolling tonight, at the midway point of the season USC and Hempfield are the only 2 unbeaten teams in 5A Another big rivalry game tonight is NA vs Pine Richland, they haven’t played since 2019 when PR was still in 6A and beat them twice that season handily.
In 5A Hempfield has another huge game hosting Gateway, if Hempfield wins they will be in the drivers seat for the conference title and high playoff seed, if Gateway loses they are in jeopardy of not making the 5A playoffs, and will likely set up an elimination game next week against Penn Trafford, before the season everyone assumed PT and Gateway were locks to make the playoffs. An interesting nonconference game is Penn Hills at Bethel Park, with Penn Hills looking to get back on track after last weeks collapse against previously winless North Hills, where they raced out to a 20-0 lead only to lose 27-26 in OT, Bethel has been solid with their only loss coming to PCC.
September 29th, 2022 at 2:48 pm
@3HJ this was the first I’ve heard he’s out for any length of time. That’s a shame. Another 2 way starter was also injured, haven’t heard anything about his status either but hoping he’s ok. The backup qb is a soph I believe. I thought he did a nice job against Bloomsburg.
September 29th, 2022 at 2:39 pm
@3HJ
Matt Balichick will QB Mount Carmel. Soph. played most of the Bloomsburg game when Spears got hurt early in 1st Qtr. Has 2 games to get ready for Southern. He has a great arm, he’s tough, can run hard, Not as quick as Spears and might not be as accurate as a thrower but he’s definately a baller and IMO they will be more than fine.
September 29th, 2022 at 8:48 am
Does anyone know anything about the new quarterback that will be replacing Spears in the Mount Carmel offense? That’s a very tough loss for a team that looked destined to reach a state final this year. Hopefully they can bounce back. The Southern game just got a lot more interesting
September 27th, 2022 at 8:14 am
@ Jeff H
I was sort of kind of in your shoes Friday night. That RC/MP game was a good game, competitive, but somewhat sloppy and at times, well boring. 10-0 MP. RC had their chances. MP’s only TD came on a whopping 4 yard drive. I was waiting all night for RC’s Tyseer Denmark to break one. They had him all over the field on offense. He is fun to watch.
@ Jay
If your schedule permits a Saturday afternoon game, I’d suggest a ride down Rte. 30 and take in your initial Malvern Prep game. They host 2 Inter-Ac games against The Haverford School and EA in late October and early November. All 3 of these teams are right now undefeated. It is a different atmosphere at these Inter-Ac games.
@ Phillyboy
Welcome back!!!
September 26th, 2022 at 2:46 pm
@WPIALguy – you nailed it, 2A, 4A, 5A and 6A are pretty wide open, BV big favorite in 3A, think Canevin will win 1A, although OLSH has looked pretty solid. Also agree the WPIAL 6A winner could lose to either McDowell or State College in the quarterfinals before they even get to the D3 winner in the semi-finals. I was not impressed with either NA or PCC on Friday and think McKeesport would beat either one of them, they are the best team I’ve seen in person so far this year (better than Gateway and those 2). Very surprised North Hills beat Penn Hills, I saw Woodland Hills beat them 14-0 the previous week and they didn’t do much on offense in that game.
September 26th, 2022 at 2:00 pm
For the life of me this schuylkill/colonial league thing I don’t understand. North schuylkill should just leave the schuylkill league and join the heartland conference. Basically this is the 2nd year of the league. It’s now the 2nd year they r traveling to notre dame. Never should a team have to Play anyone 2 years in a row on there home field, let alone an hour and 45 minute drive. It’s ridiculous. North schuylkill already has mount carmel as it’s natural rival, shamokin, Danville, loyalsock, mountoursville, central Columbia they have histories with, they share a border with southern Columbia, enough already.
September 26th, 2022 at 9:14 am
NS’s defense looked very solid last week against Northern Lehigh. Will be interesting to see against a team like Green Pond if they could defend a team that could sling it.
September 26th, 2022 at 7:32 am
@ Kevin X, I know its online only at Spring-Ford, Perk Valley and OJ Roberts, they take cash at PJP, no sure about some of the other Pac 10 schools. I know PJP takes cash. @ Buddy, dont think my responce was juvenile at all and no I have never been a bully at any time in my life. I do get tired of some of the comments made on here in regard to catholic schools that have an anti catholic tone in general to them.
September 24th, 2022 at 5:46 pm
@Joneses @KevinX @Foleman
Thanks all for chipping in on the Malvern Prep question. I’ve never done my own due diligence on the matter, and partially because I know the contributors here will know much more than I do. Still a shame, I’d love to see the Preps go at it.
Now that I think about it, I’ve never even seen Malvern Prep play. When I can make a game I go down the hill to Coatesville or just a few miles down 30 to Kottmeyer Stadium to watch whichever Dtown team is playing. I used to travel a lot more. Like I said in my last comment I hope to change my schedule soon so I can have the excitement of picking a game to see each week again.
September 24th, 2022 at 3:50 pm
Chowansky came back this week for ns not flail. He played about half the game and was limited on offense. He is an all state linebacker and only a junior.
September 24th, 2022 at 9:55 am
Irish1,
I hear what you saying about the no cash thing. My school is a PAC10 squad(Upper Perk) and are still doing cash entry. Went to the Boyertown game and it was on line only IIRC. Its kinda frustrating when something as simple as plopping down 5 bucks is an issue nowadays. The funny part is they ask you to pay on line to enter but you can still pay cash at the food stands. Its not just HS football doing it either. Im involved in the youth baseball circuit and many snacks stands are now card only. Wont accept cash. In the end its kinda silly but what can you do.
September 24th, 2022 at 7:25 am
Looks like Jeff H beat me by 15 minutes… but we pretty much said the same thing. What will stink for Hempfield and their dream season is that the 5A game is not being played at Heinz Field! Hempfield would have brought probably 10,000 to that game.
2A, 4A, 5A, and 6A are all up for grabs in wpial. Ultimately in 3A Belle Vernon should run away with it. In 1A i don’t see anyone beating Bishop Canevin but you never know!
6A.. also do not see any state contenders. I could even see McDowell beat the wpial team in the quarterfinals.
September 23rd, 2022 at 10:33 pm
Things are getting absolutely bonkers here in the west… in a good way.
6A— central Catholic is now 0-2 with losses to mt Lebanon and North Allegheny. Top 4 teams make playoffs. They’re currently in 5th. Seneca valley Canon mac, and mount Lebo all 1-1… can make the argument right now that all 5 teams could win the championship on any given day.
5A—Hempfield beat defending state champ Penn trafford. Hempfield 5-0 for first time since like 1971.
North Hills beats preseason favorite Penn Hills. Upper st Clair wins a big game vs peters. And have i mentioned only 8 teams make playoffs?
4A— once again very interesting. Aliquippa beats West Allegheny 19-16. Quips win a close one but show that they won’t run away with 4A. Belle Vernon (3A) beat Thomas Jefferson. Central Valley won another mercy rule game.
3A- Belle Vernon maneuvers through very tough non conference schedule at 2-2 but the odds on favorite to win.
2A- Sto Rox, Steel Valley, Beaver Falls, Washington… all look very strong.
1A- Bishop Canevin and olsh look very good. But don’t be surprised if a team like Laurel or South Side Beaver can surprise people.
Honestly looks to be some of the most competitive football seasons in recent memory playing out. The playoffs should be a blast. Usually you can tell who’s going to win early on.. there are so many good teams. Every week becomes very interesting.
September 23rd, 2022 at 10:16 pm
I am having the opposite luck of Kevin X, this year, I keep picking the wrong game to go to each week! I went to the NA-PCC game tonight won by NA 7-3, to say it was uneventful would be an understatement. 6A is WAY down in the WPIAL this year and whoever emerges is not a contender on the state level, I would be very surprised if the WPIAL winner makes the state final, looks to me like it will be the D3 winner vs. SJP, could Cumberland Valley play for the title on their home field?
In 5A Hempfield continued their dream season by beating Penn Trafford 28-17 before a SRO crowd, next up is Gateway, appears Hempfield will be a big factor in the WPIAL playoffs. Upper St Clair beat Peters 17-10, right now those 2 teams are playing the best in 5A in the WPIAL
In 4A in the game I should have gone to see and would have if it wasn’t an hour drive Aliquippa edged West Alleghany 19-16, while in a nonconference game 3A Belle Vernon got back on track and beat 4A TJ 21-7 on TJ’s home field. Now that Belle Vernon is done with their brutal nonconference schedule expect them to cruise through their conference in 3A, I don’t think there’s anyone in 3A in the WPIAL that will beat them.
September 23rd, 2022 at 8:59 pm
What was a competitive first half (10-0) halftime. NS pulled away. They are a very good AAA team. Northern hung tough defensively in first half but NS too much. I expect NS to win dist 11 AAA again. Northern still is a very good A team that didn’t play well for first time this year and I expect them to bounce back big against Salisbury next week and then against a good Notre Dame GP in two weeks. They will be a tough A team once playoffs start. Of course flail had to be back this week for NS haha.
September 23rd, 2022 at 6:39 pm
Have a drink on me irish1
September 23rd, 2022 at 4:24 pm
I watched the Wood/Northeast game which Wood won 14-6. Coach Armstrong has done a very commendable job since taking helm mid-summer without much support.It has been noted before that Wood lost 9 good players to transfer as well as most of their coaching staff. Northeast has a solid team with 3 of those ex Wood players starting. The Wood team has a Soph. QB who did a good job. They are low on numbers with many players now going both ways,but they still have some studs .The coach has switched several players positions to account for the transfer losses and instilled a disciplined approach that I found impressive. I dont know if they will win many games ,but Armstrong has done a great jod pulling thing together thus far.
September 23rd, 2022 at 3:55 pm
@Dazed and Confused – I was referring to Wood being nowhere near the level they were at in 2016-2017 when they steamrolled everyone in the state playoffs en route to back to back 5A titles. I didn’t say they aren’t competitive, just not at the level of domination they were 5-6 years ago. My point is this annual public vs. private whining and complaining is almost solely due to SJP now that Wood is not as dominant as in the past.
@Margaret – maybe you need a geography lesson, I didn’t say anything about the PCL or Bishop McDevitt and mentioned that west of Harrisburg there are 2 private powerhouse schools, Erie Prep and Pittsburgh CC, pretty tough to have a playoff when in the whole western half of the state you have 2 teams.
September 23rd, 2022 at 2:56 pm
Irish1 — Totally feel you man, completely ridiculous how it’s increasongly becoming amazingly annoying to do something incredibly simple. For crying out loud, can I just attend a HS football game, throw you a few bucks and call it good. They pulled that stunt at the Prep/GV eastern final last year. Ended up watching for free from outside the fence. I won’t deal with that BS, I’ll show them, no more phillyboy sightings until they come to their senses. The coof nonsense might have been the reason originally but now they can’t let it go, it’s some sort of bizarre power trip of faux sophistication. I mean what else could it be? It’s illogical, total gobbledygook. Anyway why don’t I tell you how I really feel?! Lol
September 23rd, 2022 at 2:36 pm
@ irish
Had that happen at a D1 softball final this past year. And yea, it involved a pac10 school ( Springford). Because I’m technology challenged, they finally let me in free.
After trying to bring up an app on my phone, to no success. Is all this necessary? Is cash now passe?
BTW, that response to Margaret was juvenile. Were you the middle school bully?
September 23rd, 2022 at 2:31 pm
@ Irish1
Short answer no. I’ve been to several games so far this season, and all were either $5 cash at the gate, or in the case at Malvern Prep (which will be the case again tonight), no charge. These were all District One games, except for one D12/PCL game. A game a few weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon at PJPII, a PAC team (but playing Berks Cath), they were charging a flat $10 cash for parking (no gate).
So are you saying PAC league games, they are not accepting cash at the gate?? I have S-F @ PV on my radar in two weeks. If that’s the case (no cash), a “Plan B” game will be in effect.
September 23rd, 2022 at 12:43 pm
Latrobe’s top running back transferred back to their school from PCC. He had like 6 yards last year for central Catholic. This year he’s almost leading the wpial in rushing. Sometimes it hurts these kids going to Catholic schools and sitting behind kids.
September 23rd, 2022 at 12:10 pm
@ margaret, get over it already, work on your grammer
September 23rd, 2022 at 12:07 pm
Has anyone else had to deal with not being able to pay cash for admission at any games this year? Seems like all the Pac 10 schools are forcing people to go online and sign up from there and then having to use a credit or debit card to pay 5 dollars for a ticket to a high school game. Is this still in regard to covid or is there something else going on with this? Been going to high school football games for years, this just seems ridiculous. Is it asking too much to just be able to walk up pay the 5 dollars and go watch the game.
September 23rd, 2022 at 11:24 am
Jeff…to say that Wood has fallen off is quite a stretch. Obviously there’s been plenty of changeover. However, having to play up to 6A while being a 4A school is tough, let alone in the PCL having to go through Prep twice last year. Not only that, Wood almost knocked Prep out of districts last year. Yes, they’ve been jeckly and hyde, but now being 5A, theyre still a contender. Pump the breaks.
September 23rd, 2022 at 7:21 am
I guess imhotep charter, archbishop wood, Neumann goretti, Erie cathedral prep, bishop mcdevitt, Pittsburgh central catholic don’t count lol. The problem with the Philly catholic and private schools every couple years they decide, hey we r gonna stack this school and try to win a state title but alot of times they still don’t win it, it still shouldn’t be able to be done. Conwell Eagan has tries, west catholic was working hard to steal titles, Neumann goretti has tried very hard to match its stolen basketball titles. Also factor in the football players who transfer to these schools that were very good at there proper schools who r not superstars at there non traditional school. That’s a big hit to the proper school. I can give an example of a wr from shamokin pa. Who transferred to archbishop wood and did nothing there last year.
September 23rd, 2022 at 6:39 am
@ Buddy, there is really only 2 or 3 catholic schools that have any major advantage, SJ Prep, Wood for a stretch, Lasalle is good most years but isnt going to dominate. Its mainly SJ Prep. Most of the other catholic league schools used the same model as they always have drawing students from their local feeder schools. The worst decision Lansdale catholic ever made was joining the Catholic league. PJP and Shanahan both have good programs but they arent making yearly treks to Hershey. Take SJ Prep out of the picture and I would think most of the never ending moaning and groaning would stop, in football at least. Maybe North Penn’s program is just a bit overrated. Its been very good to great at times over the years. They usually have decent skill players but for a school that big they dont have great size up front the times I have seen them, which shows up every time they play Lasalle
September 22nd, 2022 at 5:44 pm
Never said I was worried about North Penn beating the privates this year, or any year. Just pointing out the huge advantage privates have over publics.
I suspect NP will have another L (or two). That collapse against UD did their defense in, it was obvious against Neshaminy. But worried………….not really.
September 22nd, 2022 at 6:27 am
@ buddy, seems to me North Penn should be more worried about being able to beat the other public schools before worrying about “the recruiters” as you like to call the catholic schools. Needed OT to beat a mediocre Neshaminy team. Lost to U Dublin,who has a very good team, NP several other potential L’s on their schedule.Lasalle who handled N Penn by two scores hasnt won since.
September 22nd, 2022 at 12:50 am
@ Foleman and the Joneses
SJP and Malvern Prep last played each other in 2015. Between about 2007 and 2010 they played each other on Thanksgiving, usually at Villanova Stadium, and then they played games earlier in the season in 2013, 2014, and 2015. I don’t know why they haven’t played each other in seven years. The freshman teams have continued to play each other pretty much every year. Last week the SJP freshmen–which I’ve been told is a very strong class–beat Malvern’s freshmen 35-14. Of course, one should never read too much into the score of a freshman game. Last year, Malvern won by a point.
I think it would be great if the two schools could play every year, preferably at Villanova.
September 21st, 2022 at 7:19 pm
As of now, in the wpial I’d say 5/6 classes are up for grabs and could be very competitive. And the interesting one in 3A is Belle Vernon is 1-3, but should be the odds on favorite to win the whole thing. They e had a very difficult non section schedule to begin year. 6A could honestly be 5 different teams any day of the week. Although i still think PCC will win it. 5A is absolutely crazy. There’s probably 10 teams that could win the wpial title, but only 8 make the playoffs. Should be a crazy finish to the year
September 21st, 2022 at 5:31 pm
This story might not interest many of you, but those of you that are diehard high school football fans might appreciate it, I know I enjoy hearing about upstart teams in other parts of the state. Hempfield HS located in Greensburg has been an afterthought in the WPIAL for decades and rarely have a winning record, let alone make the district playoffs, they got beaten up in 6A the last several years but their enrollment dropped to 5A for this cycle. This year they are off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1971 and have the 2 biggest home games in school history coming up the next 2 weeks, with defending state champion Penn Trafford this week and preseason WPIAL #1 and perennial contender Gateway coming up next week. Both of these are conference games and If they can manage to win one of them they would be in a pretty good position to make the playoffs, win both and they turn WPIAL 5A on its head and totally scramble the playoff seedings, and in the process maybe knock either PT or Gateway out of the playoffs altogether which would have been unthinkable before the season started.
Hempfield HS field is more known for hosting PIAA playoff games than big games for the home team, I’ve seen a number of state playoff games there over the years, including the epic ECP 27-23 last minute win over Woodland Hills in the 1999 state semi-finals in a game that featured several future NFL players, and PR and Phil Jurkovec thrashing State College 49-28 on their way to the state title in 2017, that game was tied 14-14 at half before PR scored on their fist 5 possessions of the 2nd half. For the next 2 weeks though it will host 2 of the biggest games in the WPIAL so far this season.
September 21st, 2022 at 5:11 pm
@Jeff H. Well said on both points. Imhotep has grossly underachieved.
September 21st, 2022 at 12:34 pm
@Kevin X – totally agree with you on the public vs. private debate, have not yet heard of a workable solution, just a lot of complaining, there are not enough private school powerhouse programs in this state to make separate playoffs viable, in the entire western half of the state you have 2 schools, PCC and ECP. This annual argument is primarily about SJP, Wood was part of that conversation several years ago, but with the way their program has fallen off the last few years they are not currently part of the equation, so all this public/private debate really boils down to SJP.
@Buddy – no doubt who is going to win 5A? Everybody said the same thing last year, then Penn Trafford shocked the state by upsetting Imhotep. For all their accolades and talent Imhotep has won exactly 1 state title, so until they prove to me they can win another one I won’t be assuming anything in 5A, and with the way Roman has looked there is no guarantee Imhotep even gets out of their district this year.
September 21st, 2022 at 12:10 pm
@Foleman I would be surprised if Malvern and Prep didn’t play each other next year. Malvern use to play SJP and LaSalle during the season. It changed maybe 2019. You are right the Inter-ac does allow 5th year seniors and they allow 8th graders to play High School ball, which messes with PIAA eligibility rules.
@Buddy– winning recruits by itself. I was at the PennState game two weeks ago and just watched some private and public school recruits quiz the SJP kids about the Prep, should they come to Prep, we will never win a state chip, is it truly harder classes etc. Anyone under the pretense that public school Coaches don’t call kids and say come here and not just the local school. I know because I got two calls. One from the local high school and one from another public high school in another area. I did share that before.
@Kevin X is correct and based on how long it has been that way, football shall not change in our lifetime.
September 21st, 2022 at 8:52 am
The Inter-Ac likes things the way they are and don’t want any Governing Body-(PIAA) telling them how to run things. In addition, a major sticking point is the use of 5th year Sr’s in the Inter-Ac which wouldn’t flush in the PIAA, I know that Malvern Prep doesn’t take Sr transfers, you have to repeat your JR year if you are transferring in which is essentially redshirting. Would like to see MP and St Joe Prep go at it again as MP is one school that can compete with Prep during the regular season.
September 21st, 2022 at 7:20 am
Why not look at states that have the solution? Must we invent our own? Does anyone doubt who the state champ will be in 6A? 5A too?
That scenario gets old quick. I’m being a bit hypocritical here. I actually like, sometimes, the current set up. My team has beaten LaSalle,
also beaten SJP a few times (very few times). Gives one hope. But the disparity has gotten greater the past several years.
September 20th, 2022 at 8:13 pm
@ Buddy
Do you (or anyone else) have a realist, workable, fair recommendation/solution for an implementation of a separate public and private football playoff format?? A certain state that PA could/should emulate?? I’d be persuaded to jump on board if I would ever hear of one. I have not.
Do you follow high school basketball (boys and/or girls) in PA?? The public/private/non boundary situation there is many many times the issue there than it is in football. And a solution should be much more workable. Let’s deal with hoops first, and if the PIAA can get that right, maybe then we can move on to football.
September 20th, 2022 at 5:51 pm
@KevinX:
In many states, I dare say most, the privates have separate playoffs from the publics. To put it another way, the recruiters have their own playoffs,
the non-recruiters have theirs. Yet another way: the non-boundary schools have theirs, boundary laden schools have their own. My undergarments
have never been in a bunch…………my groin is safe. Signed
Separatist
September 20th, 2022 at 2:51 pm
@JCB, absolutely. I would give the edge to NS as well. NL defense might be more impressive than the offense. They starting defense this year have given up 0 points in 3 of 4 games. The JV defense gave up the points after big leads in carry, PA and last week’s game. They rotate 6 guys on the dline which in A in impressive. Playing a top 10 AAA school they will need a complete game. They already have a huge win vs Northwestern who was #7 in AAA at the time and is HM in AAA at the moment. I expected a few loses like last year in regular season with them playing a good AAA schedule as an A team (last year AA). Max Preps has NL at #3 now in A ahead of bishop C and below Canton and Steelton.
September 20th, 2022 at 2:38 pm
@Foleman
I expected Roman to win, especially with PV backup QB still getting his sea legs. This is my first time seeing Roman this year and they are very talented with several Div. 1 recruits but man are they undisciplined, way too many silly penalties. Their D-Line really dominated the line of scrimmage and lived in PV’s backfield all night as you surely saw yourself. I’m interested to see how they do against a super solid Malvern squad on Friday.
Season a 1/3 way thru and things are starting to take shape in district one, we will continue to find out who are the contenders and pretenders.
September 20th, 2022 at 2:22 pm
@ The Joneses
I was going to take a shot at Jay’s question, but really not that familiar with the history of the Inter-Ac and other PA Independent schools. Plus you nailed it pretty well.
I may be in the minority here, but I’d love to see those non PIAA schools in a PA football playoffs with the PIAA schools. Add some smaller schools to the SEPA arsenal. But like you said, the Separatists would be coming out of hibernation at breakneck speeds and getting their collective undergarments is such nasty bunches I’d be afraid they’d be doing permanent damage to their groin areas and end up suing the PIAA into oblivion. Would not be pretty.
September 20th, 2022 at 11:25 am
@D11 Matt Should be a good one on Friday in Slatington. NS is getting their best player back for Friday which might put them over the edge. Will be interesting to see if they can slow down NL’s offense.
September 20th, 2022 at 9:00 am
@Jay I had this conversation with family over the weekend. People would RIOT in my opinion if that was allowed. All of the individuals who hate the fact SJP plays in the PIAA never allow that top happen, unless they actually created a public playoff and private playoffs.
The Inter-Ac is heavy on tradition. The other teams in the league are not interested in change and most are traditionally considered or known for sports other than football. Both of my sons went to Inter-Ac schools before leaving. I have 4 close friends who’s son’s played football at Malvern. Malvern is big on their football program and they get a ton of Alumni support. GA and Penn Charter seek more to beat each other than win the Inter-Ac championship. Malvern has tried in the past to get the league to move and at most they got one other school (Haverford I believe) to side with them. Since they have a tradition, they will not break off and leave the Inter-Ac on their own. Fun fact Cameron Reddish of the NY Knicks last played football in Middle School at Malvern Prep. He was quite the QB.
September 20th, 2022 at 4:14 am
Due to my overnight schedule I’ve relied heavily on this site to catch up with results because it’s incredibly difficult to get to games at 7pm, which is equivalent to about 3am for normal people. Hopefully not too much longer.
But the point of this post is that looking through some schedules and results, it’s a dang shame that Malvern Prep doesn’t compete in the state tournament. They’ve taken care of three solid opponents (I understand LaSalle is having a down year but still)…
Has it always been this way? Why does that league not participate in the tournament? I understand they aren’t part of the PIAA (correct me if I’m wrong) but how come? How awesome would it be to see them part of the tourney (at any classification apparently)?!
September 19th, 2022 at 5:57 pm
I mentioned a few days ago about the big game between #5 A state ranked Northern Lehigh and the #10 AAA state ranked North Schuylkill……turns out PCN also thinks it will be a big game and are having that game as game of the week live from Slatington Friday night.
September 19th, 2022 at 5:22 pm
@WPIALguy – totally agree with you, I think McKeesport and CV are the 2 biggest threats to Aliquippa, I saw McKeesport play Belle Vernon 2 weeks ago, they have an excellent defense and totally shut down Quinton Martin. Will be interesting to see how TJ does this week against BV, who of course beat them twice last season. I may go see the West A-Aliquippa game this week, West A is much improved and this is clearly their best team since Bob Palko left.
@NW PA – agree with you about Cathedral Prep, at this point I would consider them the favorite to beat the WPIAL winner in the quarterfinals, especially if that game is played in Erie. 2A is pretty loaded in the western bracket, Westinghouse from the city league is very good and expect them to make some noise in the playoffs, they had a very impressive win at Steelton Highspire a few weeks ago, there are several very good teams in the WPIAL in 2A, so there should be some pretty competitive playoff games in 2A on this side of the state. .
September 19th, 2022 at 4:14 pm
West Allegheny is 4-0 and is a new top 5 team in wpial 4A. To be honest it looks like TJ is going to have a down year. They only beat Latrobe by 14. TJ will still lose 1 or less games but frankly i think Aliquippa, McKeesport, and Central Valley are stronger title contenders than TJ at this point.
September 19th, 2022 at 12:08 pm
@Foleman I agree they must clean up the penalties especially the personal foul calls. No place for that in the game. As far as the WWE wrestling moves you’re referencing, I didn’t catch those.
September 19th, 2022 at 12:07 pm
A few thoughts from the great northwest. In 6A Mcdowell is looking tough, they were beating NA for 3 quarters in a very close game and NA turned on the offense in the fourth and won. The next few weeks in the WPIAL will dictate how 6A shapes up. Cathedral is looking strong and should give Mcdowell a close game next Friday. I believe Cathedral has the ability to beat whoever comes out of the WPIAL in 5A, though it will be a very close game. In 4A Meadville has been putting up a ton of points, they have the kids to run that Wing T, but they are no threat to anyone from the WPIAL. Meadville should make it to the quarters none the less. In 3A Oil City is the team this year, but much like 2 years ago, should win a couple playoff games before losing in the quarters. 2A looks to be Farrel again, but Sharpsville is also tough. Not sure about the 2A road in the playoffs so I have no opinion. In 1A Reynolds looks to be the team but again I’m not sure about their playoffs.
September 19th, 2022 at 10:59 am
@ The Joneses
And especially since the Inter-Ac doesn’t charge for games (at least the ones that I’ver been to in the past), I really got my monies worth!!! Guess tho I was able to offset some of the gas and tolls for the trip down there.
Looking very much like a return trip to Malvern Friday for Roman Catholic and Malvern Prep. If anyone can find me a potentially better game in SEPA Friday night, let me know!!!
September 19th, 2022 at 8:51 am
Roman 26-Perkiomen Valley 10 Roman’s aggressive defense kept PV’S offense in check the entire game. Roman once again shot itself in the foot in the 1st half with several penalties which included 5 personal infractions plus an interception and a fumble. Roman’s super frosh QB was off in the 1st half but shined in the 2nd half throwing several long strikes to his speedy wide receivers. Roman is very talented, but their staff has to clean up the penalties as it will cost them a game down the road. Roman’s defense talks a ton of trash, you can’t sack the QB and then get up off the turf and start screaming, when gang tackling a ball carrier, you can’t put the RB in a headlock and try to rip off his helmet. It’s clear that the ref’s don’t like the constant chatter from their players.
September 19th, 2022 at 8:36 am
@Kevin X it looks like you got your monies worth Friday.
September 18th, 2022 at 7:35 pm
As mentioned before, I did take in the Imhotep Malvern Prep game Friday night. Another great game and perfect evening to enjoy some big time big boy high school football (a lot of beef on that field Friday night) in an almost small college atmosphere. The only blemish on the evening was a potentially serious injury to Imhotep’s defensive Sophomore Zahir Mathis in the 3rd quarter. Game was stopped for 20 plus minutes as they attended to him and he was then transported by ambulance to a local hospital I assume. Guessing an upper body/neck/head injury. Always a very scary and serious situation. I was going to ask you guys if anyone had any updates on his situation, but I found some real good news on his Twitter page:
“Thank you everyone for the prayers. I am officially home and doing well. I will be back soon!”
September 17th, 2022 at 12:09 pm
Huge game next Friday in D11…..3-1 AAA North Schuylkill (defending dist 11 3A champs) visits 4-0 and #5 A state ranked Northern Lehigh (defending AA dist 11 champs). North Schuylkill’s only lose to to a very good Mount Carmel. Northern Lehigh s biggest win was against rival AAA Northwestern in week 2 (state ranked #7 at the time in 3A ( who played Allen central Catholic in dist 11 4A champ game and lost a close game). Northern Lehigh moved up from 10 to 5 in pennlive last week. They have given up -25 rush yards last two weeks against teams that actually have a win already. They gave up 12 to PA and last night in a 61-0 win over Pine Grove gave up -37 rush yards…. Should be a great game. Northern will be tested next week, in a few weeks against Notre Dame GP and in week 10 vs rival Palmerton. They could very well have a loss or two but these are all games against good bigger schools.
September 16th, 2022 at 11:02 pm
Wow, couple of stunners in the WPIAL tonight, defending 6A state champ Mt Lebo came back from a 16-0 deficit in the fourth quarter to shock Central Catholic 17-16 on a walk off 18 yard field goal with no time remaining. Its looking like for the first time in a decade NA is the favorite to win the WPIAL, they play PCC next week so we’ll see.
5A #1 Gateway lost at unheralded Franklin Regional 16-7, they face upstart 4-0 Hempfield in 2 weeks on the road in a must win game, if they lose that game they likely will need to beat Penn Trafford just to make the playoffs. Speaking of Hempfield they host PT next week and then Gateway the following, so we’ll know a lot about that conference soon enough, only the top 2 are guaranteed to make the 8 team playoff field but the third place team might make it as one of the 2 wildcards. I think right now Upper St Clair looks like the best 5A team in the WPIAL, followed by Penn Hills.
PT beat Belle Vernon 14-13 tonight, despite 2 tough loses in a row Belle Vernon remains the clear favorite to win the WPIAL 3A title.
September 16th, 2022 at 4:21 pm
Malvern bound this evening. Going preppy and Philly tough tonight. Imhotep @ Malvern Prep. Hope the game continues my Friday night lights roll of excellent games. An intriguing one regardless.
September 16th, 2022 at 3:43 pm
Not much chatter on here about any big games tonight, the Danville-Loyalsock game may give us an indication of who is the biggest challenger to Wyomissing in the East in 3A.
Imhotep against Malvern is also an interesting matchup to see if Imhotep can bounce back after their loss to Archbishop Spalding last week, I think Malvern wins that game
Not too many marque games out West tonight, Mt. Lebanon takes on PCC in a rematch of last years WPIAL title game when Lebo mercy ruled them, so PCC obviously will be motivated to avenge that loss, I think PCC wins but closer than most people expect. The other nice game is Belle Vernon in 3A hosting 5A Penn Trafford, both were held to a touchdown the last 2 weeks by McKeesport. Belle Vernon beat PT by 3 TD’s last year but I think PT wins tonight on BV’s home field, playing this level of competition can only help Belle Vernon in the long run, because they won’t face anyone better in 3A than the teams they’ve played the last 2 weeks. .
September 16th, 2022 at 2:05 pm
@Michael D: I doubt it, personally. One of the major issues facing those programs is the general unavailability of suitable practice facilities, so I have my doubts that combining the programs would help in that regard. But certainly, if the logistics could be worked out, it would make the program more competitive.
I will never understand why the EPC forces an entire week of crossovers. They moved it from Week 1 to the middle of this season, but the fact remains that the skill gap between the EPC North and EPC South is, by and large, significant. It would be much better for nearly every program to have a non-conference week where the top of the EPC South can test themselves against the best of other districts, and the bottom of the EPC North can find smaller schools they’d have competitive games with.
September 16th, 2022 at 8:50 am
NW, it would be nice if Mt. Carmal gets another State Title, it’s been a long time. Back in the Day, MC was winning a State Championship every other year and played many of the area powerhouse programs-Berwick, SC, Allentown Central Catholic, they were a machine. The MC area has really taken a turn for the worse in the last few decades and S. Columbia has profited from players moving into their district.
September 14th, 2022 at 9:09 pm
Random football question………I know they are rivals but any chance Allen and Dieruff can combine their football programs? Just a thought
September 13th, 2022 at 1:55 pm
I’m not convinced MCA will beat Southern this year but I knew going into this season it would be their best chance in years. MCA had some pretty decent teams the past 5 years that could have gone far in AA if not for having to go through some of SCAs best ever teams to get out of districts. Gavin G was the difference maker last year. Used to be a great rivalry before Southern went on another level. Communities are very close, there have been many recent SCA players who are kids of MCA (and Shamokin) star athletes from a generation ago. At least looking forward to a competitive game (probably 2) this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if Southern has another loss to Danville coming into the MCA game.
September 13th, 2022 at 12:38 pm
Mount Carmel is going to play for a state title this year. This is the year they beat Southern and I think they do it pretty handily. The mammoths up front are too much for anyone to handle
September 13th, 2022 at 9:36 am
Pennlive new rankings jumped Northern Lehigh from 10 to 5 in state in A. They are starting to get state recognition now. They also put Mount Carmel ahead of Southern Columbia in AA after Southerns lose.
September 12th, 2022 at 8:46 pm
@Kevin X – I think your prediction of the 3A-6A runners-up winning Gold this year has a distinct chance to become reality in 3 months. Obviously SJP and Imhotep are big favorites, I don’t see a Penn Trafford type team coming out of the WPIAL this year in 5A, there are quite a few very good teams but none I think will beat Imhotep, and that’s if the WPIAL winner beats Erie Prep in the quarterfinals, which is a very big if, right now I’d make ECP the favorite in that game, especially if it’s played in Erie.
In 4A I don’t see anyone in the East beating McDevitt, and Aliquippa has to run the gauntlet to get out of the meat grinder WPIAL, with McKeesport, TJ and Central Valley standing in their way. As for 3A I went to the McKeesport vs. Belle Vernon game, and McKeesport’s defense totally shut down Quinton Martin and held him to about 30 yards, he’s the #1 ranked recruit in PA in the class of 2024 by some recruiting services. Fortunately for Belle Vernon they won’t face a defense anywhere near as good or fast as McKeesport in 3A, although they do play another very good defense in Penn Trafford this week, if they make it to the state final Wyomissing will have a big advantage in the trenches and probably outweigh them by 30-40 pounds per lineman, their line play was their weakness last year and the main reason they lost to Aliquippa in the 4A final, and nothing I saw last Friday has changed.
@WPIALguy- you are right about WPIAL 5A, I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say all eight playoff teams could win, but I could make a pretty good case for 6, Gateway, Penn Hills, Penn Trafford, and the 3 south hills teams – Bethel, Peters, and Upper St Clair. I’m not sold yet on Pine Richland or any other 8th team winning 3 in a row, i also would not be surprised if Hempfield is the final qualifier, very interested to see how they match up with PT and Gateway, they play them back to back after their game this week against Shaler.
September 12th, 2022 at 1:30 pm
@Mike S
Zero (again, that’s 0) both ways? So, you’re sure? If so, this is the first year that has happened. Never said NP will run the table, Kevin X did.
Beck is same coach as 20 years ago……….. so elite. Went to state final 11 years ago, had a state championship team 6 years ago if it wasn’t for
SJP (mainly, D’Andre swift). Granted, this is the worse defense I have seen in 20 years, btw, seen them play thrice. I have no answer. Personally,
I don’t think they will run the table, might even miss playoffs. But I hope Kevin X is right……and I’m wrong.
September 12th, 2022 at 12:46 pm
@ Mike S.
Perk Valley is very strong again this year but I have concern about their QB situation. They had to start their sophomore backup this week against Cheltenham and he filled in admirably but I would assume they want their normal starter back this week for Roman, who looks to be very good. I am actually going to try and get to that game on Friday as the atmosphere at Keenan stadium is typically pretty awesome.
Anyone have any intel into the senior QB’s injury/health?
September 12th, 2022 at 11:35 am
@Jeff H although SJP got the win. They showed me they can get in their own way. A well coached team with no fear could come away with the win like Erasmus Hall almost did. Maybe this was the wakeup call for them to not read the press clippings. LaSalle being down as they are could put them in a lull.
September 12th, 2022 at 8:38 am
@Buddy Hensler, I’ve seen North Penn twice this season, and they start ZERO (that’s 0) both ways, they do bring in players in situations and to give players a rest, but the answer is ZERO in the two games I’ve seen! of course, as you said they could run the table, but suspect their defense will cost them at least one more game, and may cost them a run at D1 playoffs, not impressed though with 13 starters back, plus 2 that missed last year due to injuries, plus a transfer in of a Georgia Recruit and a 3 yr starter at QB, thought they would be better. @Chief Red Raider Coach Beck is not the same one you remember from 15-20 yrs ago, still a good coach, but not elite> Perk Valley is very good, I haven’t seen enough games/teams to say, but I would not rule them out.
September 11th, 2022 at 4:43 pm
@WH……it should be a dog fight. NL has a very good veteran line (they played 15 games last year as juniors and sophomores) and a handful of good skill players (Ramos, Jimenez, N. Frame, Tosh, Abidelli). They played a close game vs Northwestern last year and got them this year. They also played North Schuylkill close last year. I thought NL would be around 7-3 again and then when they play A schools in playoffs go off like last year in AA. They still have Notre Dame, Palmerton, and Jim Thorpe left ….all good AA or AAA teams. Should be a dogfight in two weeks in Slatington. They have some history playing in three straight playoffs from 09-11. I just think by watching this team they are a top 5 A team. Behind Canton, Steelton, Bishop C. But I think they would be a few TD favorite over Tri Valley in Dist 11 A. Lackawanna looks like they could overtake Old Forge in A in dist 2. NL beat them in AA playoffs 35-14 last year. We shall see. Should be another fun season in Slatington.
September 11th, 2022 at 3:58 pm
Wilson displayed its continued improvement since its first game debacle against Roman. They won big against M.L. King getting out to a 37-0 lead and then playing their backups for most of the second half. Still experiencing turnover issues and too many dropped passes, but the defense played solidly. This team will need to keep improving, but there’s reason to believe they will. Their top running back has yet to play, and his return should take some pressure off of Cam Jones and the new QB.
September 11th, 2022 at 2:52 pm
@ foleman, the 10 parking thing actually isn’t bad they don’t take gate, so you can have a car full of people get in for 10. Was expecting more from Berks Catholic even with graduation losses. They lost by a couple tds to couple decent teams first couple weeks. Pjp starts soph qb and several other sophs on both sides along with a freshman in secondary should continue to improve if they stay healthy.
September 11th, 2022 at 11:05 am
Kevin X, I don’t get the $10.00 Parking fee but since they have no gate to the field I guess they have to charge the fee for admittance. Yes, that Roman collapse a few years back was frustrating, however, I never felt that BC’S defense could stop PJP’S offense, BC has a new defensive coordinator this year and they were out of position on several pass plays.
September 11th, 2022 at 9:13 am
@ Foleman
Not sure I’d say they “cruised the rest of the way,” as I though a little scare was thrown in when BC cut the lead to 42-28 mid way thru the 4th qtr. and had the big Mo squarely in their corner. I just witnessed an epic collapse less than 24 hours prior and thought maybe this going to be a case of deja vu all over again?? Also I was thinking about PJPII’s opening game and second half implosion against Roman a few years ago. But they responded nicely with a time consuming drive to salt it away. They have a nice QB in #9 and a versatile big workhorse RB in #13. “D” played very well in the first half.
Also, a shout out and TY to the parking attendant who didn’t whack me $10 for parking. Much appreciated!!!!
September 10th, 2022 at 11:07 pm
First, I agree with Chief.
Now I’m going to make some predictions, and I hate making predictions, because I hate being wrong, but desperate times calls for desperate measures, as I will try my best to get some of you North Penn peeps who drank waaaaaay too much of the pre season hype Kool-Aid to take a step or two back from the ledge.
First prediction: NP will run the table the rest of regular season (and make the 6A D1 playoffs).
Second: They’ll advance to at least the District One 6A semi finals/final 4.
Third: Upper Dublin, maybe as Buddy said, “is not that great,” but personally, I don’t see that many “great” PA teams out there. Maybe I’m just a tough grader, but they are indeed a very good football team and are well coached (I now how many of you love that cliche). They, like, NP will make the District One 5A semi finals along with Strath Haven and Rustin, and one other TBD school (feel free to fill in the TBD).
Forth: Both the District One 6A and 5A classifications are totally wild open this year (not really a prediction, more of an observation). And as for the most part, a neutral fan, II’m more than fine with. The usual suspects will be there for sure, but no clear cut favorites. I’ll even really put my neck on the line and take flyer with Ridley winning 6A.
Fifth: Unrelated to North Penn, but in an oddity, I can legitimately see 4 state champion runner-ups from last season getting over the hump and winning a chip in CV (Oh, that just doesn’t sound right, but it is what it is). For the record: 3A Wyo, 4A McDevitt, 5A Imhotep and 6A, you guessed it, Saint Joseph Preparatory School.
Now feel free to skewer me……… 🙂
September 10th, 2022 at 9:10 pm
What are we thinking D11 Matt in the North Schuylkill NL game. NS is capable of giving up the big play which can benefit NL but NS may be too much in the trenches like last year. Hammer the Spartans
September 10th, 2022 at 7:13 pm
Pope John Paul 49-Berks Catholic 28 PJP led 35-7 at half and cruised the rest of the way, they didn’t punt the entire game as BC’S defense was a sieve. PJP’S 6’3 Soph QB Terlesky throws a nice ball and has a bright future ahead of him. BC’S program is in the tank and is looking at an 0-4 start for the 1st time in the school history with With hated rival Wyomissing visiting BC on Friday.
September 10th, 2022 at 4:59 pm
Northern Lehigh should make an appearance in A top 5 East on this site this week. Pennlive has them 10 in the state in A and pafootballnews has them 7 and they won today 44-14 (leading 37-0 at one point). Old forge lost again which should knock them out of most rankings. NL should roll next week and that would set up a huge week 5 game hosting North Schuylkill. Could be 4-0 NL vs 3-1 North Schuylkill.
September 10th, 2022 at 1:01 pm
I wouldn’t write the obituary for North Penn just yet — it’s way too early. What is the expectation for such a storied program anyway? With the private schools recruiting advantages it hard to see anyone beating St. Joe’s — though I still think it is possible — it’s high school football — short game, turnovers, bad refs, bad weather, injuries, fluke plays, etc. My guess is North Penn will make the playoffs and win a couple games — but who knows? And don’t sleep on the Red Raiders — not the powerhouse they’ve been — but they always get better as the season moves along.
September 10th, 2022 at 12:07 pm
Foleman
Time to let Beck go? Maybe you wanna check his record for the past 22 years. @ MIKE S: Not sure how many players Beck has playing both ways this year.
In the past, he has played his most skilled players both ways. Maybe he’s lacking skilled players. Not sure who calls the defense for NP,
but they failed terribly. Gonna be a down year I expect. D1 in the SOL isn’t going far this year. Maybe the Chesmont. Best they can hope for is
the Eastern final tho. State final is a foregone conclusion.
September 10th, 2022 at 11:11 am
Southern lost first game at home since 2010 and first game against an AA opponent since 2016 title game. What a run. Mount Carmel looks tough this year. They play in regular season and probably playoffs (I think MCA is AA again). They might get Southern this year.
September 10th, 2022 at 10:21 am
Well, kinda shocked at the poor football being played in the SOL of late. North Penn’s defense cost them another game, I still don’t get it, Beck is trying to play 2 platoon football without having the players to do that, he needs to be playing his better players both ways, I’ve said that before and it’s cost them again. What I don’t get is why a school with one of the highest enrollments in the state can’t come up with 24 quality starters? Watched Quakertown scrimmage Perk Valley (3-0) & saw them against Southern Lehigh (2-1) and thought maybe they’d be ok, but after being beaten by 80 some points in the last two games, have serious second thoughts. There is no one in SOL capable of making a run to the D1 title, for a league that’s had 8 or 9 6A state champions they are really down, and don’t really understand why.
September 10th, 2022 at 8:58 am
Bishop McDevitt 56-LaSalle 7 it was 42-7 at the half. LaSalle’s win over N. Penn……..how bad is N.Penn who just lost again, time for Beck to go…..was fools gold. 2nd game in a row LaSalle got blown out, St Joe Prep wont have to worry about a close game with LaSalle this year as the explorers are down. Expect to see McDevitt representing the East in 4A
September 10th, 2022 at 7:52 am
I been following NP for over 35 years. That’s the ineptest defense I ever seen. UD isn’t really all that great (I believe that will come to light in the playoffs),
So that collapse is inexcusable. Maybe they have the wrong defensive coach. Not sure if NP makes the playoffs (only missed one in the last 23 years),
but they sure as hell won’t go far. Sour grapes? Sure, all part of being a fan.
September 10th, 2022 at 7:37 am
Over in the west, i can honestly say it might be the most competitive i can remember in all classes. 5A is going to be brutal. 8 teams make the playoffs and i can honestly say all 8 teams will be good enough to win the wpial. 6A is down on this side but it should be very competitive. You can pretty much pencil in SJP as state champ in 6A.
September 10th, 2022 at 1:31 am
Aliquippa lover you don’t read well. Since your dealing in your fantasy “it they played in A” u clearly missed the part where I said the level of competition is greater here then in any other rise or drop.
September 9th, 2022 at 11:09 pm
Wow, three in a row (great in person games) to start the season. Choose to stay local and popped over to Crawford Stadium and U Dub and North Penn. Good choice X!!! Great game, and even a greater comeback for Upper Dublin. Coach Stover and Nyfise Mcintyre maybe feeling the best this evening. Thumbs down tho to you Upper Dub fans and members of the student section bailing early. I saw you. Not a good look.
September 8th, 2022 at 8:37 pm
@ The Joneses – interested in seeing if SJP finally put it together?? I watched their whole game against St. Thomas Aquinas and they looked pretty darn good considering they fell behind 21-7 in the first quarter and played most of the game without 2 of their top defensive players, playing against a team ranked #5 in the country in the heat and humidity of South Florida in August, their performance in that game told me they don’t have very far to go to “put it all together”.
September 8th, 2022 at 8:19 pm
@Margaret – try to follow along here, Aliquippa is a single A school by enrollment and always has been, had they played where their enrollment put them every year they would have dominated A and won a boatload of state titles, I don’t think anyone who has followed HS football in this state for the last 50 years would disagree with that. Notice I did not say where they should play, just where their enrollment put them. Every year Aliquippa has 2 goals, win another WPIAL title and compete for and win a state title, if you are insinuating Aliquippa’s goal every year is not to win a state title you have no clue what you’re talking about. Yes, they lost to both Mt Carmel and Southern Columbia in state championship games, they also lost to Wyomissing in 2012, all were for the AA title when they were an A school.
You started this argument by taking a shot at Aliquippa and I’m merely responding, you criticize Aliquippa for playing up and not winning more state titles, but are criticizing Northern Lehigh for not playing up this cycle when their enrollment is A, you can’t have it both ways. Aliquippa is one of the top 5 winningest schools in state history so obviously they are doing something right and have been for 100+ years. And before you make a counter argument I am aware Mt Carmel has the most wins in state history, and yes, both Mt Carmel and Southern Columbia are 2 of most storied programs in the state, and Aliquippa is right there on the list of all time great programs, why is it so difficult for you to see that?
As for your snide remark that maybe we will catch on out here in the western part of the state, the 4 state titles the WPIAL won last year and 15 overall in the last 6 six years since the switch to 6 classes seems to indicate we’ve caught on!
September 8th, 2022 at 6:23 pm
Many people in the eastern part of the state used to think an Eastern conference championship meant more than a district title but then the 1980’s ended and they adapted. Maybe u will catch on out there
September 8th, 2022 at 6:20 pm
Oh no I didn’t say Aliquippa would duck people, I’m just saying with your logic of them winning all these titles if they were in double aa when they haven’t ever beaten southern or Mount carmel before for titles. But they have lost to both. Here is my story, you play to win championships and titles it sounds like Aliquippa had decided a wpial title means more than a state tite
September 8th, 2022 at 5:37 pm
@Margaret – I’ve explained several times in the past on this board why Aliquippa plays up, I’ll give it one more shot, Unlike any other district in the state the WPIAL only puts teams in the same classification in the same conference, and all of the Quips natural rivals are bigger than they are. When there were 4 classes they played 2A and not 1A so they could be in the same conference with Beaver, Beaver Falls, and the rest of their Beaver County rivals, if they didn’t play up all their conference games would have been against schools that are a pretty far distance from Aliquippa. When the PIAA went to 6 classes in 2016 most of their rivals were in 3A, including new rival Central Valley, so that’s why they played 3A for 4yrs until the PIAA forced them to play up to 4A for the last 2 cycles. Trust me, it had absolutely nothing to do with avoiding Southern Columbia, if you still believe that you have no clue how the WPIAL operates, or the mindset of the people who live in Aliquippa, they don’t duck playing anyone and never have. .
September 8th, 2022 at 3:40 pm
Yes Margaret, NS’s offense will be there downfall in close games. And the debacles with clock management and game time decisions Wally makes doesn’t help. Gonna be interesting to see what happens against green pond in a few weeks
September 8th, 2022 at 2:28 pm
@Margaret – Obviously you are not familiar with and don’t follow western pa football or you would understand 18 WPIAL titles is a VERY big deal in this part of the state, and making the district finals 14 yrs in a row is off the charts good, no other program in the WPIAL has ever come close to that record of excellence. THE WPIAL is by far the largest district in the state in terms of number of schools, and you have to win 2-3 playoff games in the district every year just to make the finals. No one is talking about participation trophies, I am merely making the point that if Aliquippa played where their enrollment put them they would have won at least half the A state titles over the last 35 years. Do you disagree that Aliquippa is one of the most storied programs in the history of the state? If so you are definitely in the minority and not a very good student of PA HS football history.
September 8th, 2022 at 12:23 pm
@Kevin X I would stay away from Malvern vs Wood due to the offseason would had and what Malvern did to LaSalle. Unless you are looking for an early night. UD vs NP seems like a really good one. McDevitt @ LaSalle maybe just to see if they are as bad as Malvern made LaSalle look. I am interested in seeing if the SJP team has finally put it together or if St Peter’s Prep was just that bad.
September 8th, 2022 at 12:22 pm
Lol I love your argument. If Aliquippa would have played in the class they were supposed to be in they would have as many state titles as southern, lol. I don’t know how many state titles southern has let’s say 12, so Aliquippa has 4, so your telling me 4 times there playing up didn’t matter. But they lost out on 8 others because they played up and were not the best. You don’t get a playing up trophy. 4-8 isn’t a good record of being wrong in playing up. Who cares about wpial titles. Why does that matter
September 8th, 2022 at 11:59 am
@JWS69 – Having followed HS football since the early 1970’s I am fully aware of Aliquippa’s history, having won more WPIAL titles than any other school with 18. They have made the WPIAL final an astonishing 14 years in a row and counting, all while playing up at least 1 class, and in the last 6 yrs 2 or 3 classes, that run is unprecedented in a district as big and competitive as the WPIAL.. All of their state titles have come in classes above their “A” enrollment, and the schools you mentioned they lost to were bigger than they were, particularly Berwick. The fact is if Aliquippa played “A” ball since the inception of the state playoffs in 1988 they would have won at least as many, if not more state titles than Southern Columbia. Also consider how many NFL players and Hall of Famer’s have come through Aliquippa, the list is practically endless. By any objective standard Aliquippa is one of the most storied football programs in state history, period.
@Kevin X – Regarding Aliquippa playing up to “AA” the last several years, I think they would have beaten Southern Columbia the last 2 years, they would not have beaten their 2017-19 teams.
The 2 games on your list that I think are the most intriguing are UD vs. NP and McDevitt-LaSalle, I would vote for one of those 2, I expect both of those games will be very competitive.
I have a similar dilemma , do I go see Penn Hills host Pine Richland, with PR coach Jon LeDonne facing the team he coached for the last 5yrs and lead to a state title in 2018, or Belle Vernon vs. McKeesport, I’m leaning towards the latter because I think both of those teams are better than either PH or PR.
September 8th, 2022 at 9:52 am
Aliquippa has won 4 state titles. My argument with them always has been why not dominate and them move up. They felt they were better than they were. Maybe they needed to or they would lose rivalry games for being a smaller school idk maybe they moved up because they could never beat southern or mt. Carmel.
September 8th, 2022 at 7:48 am
Kevin X,
They are all interesting games for different reasons but I’d probably head to Coach McNelly Stadium to catch the 2-0 Eagles and the 2-0 Rams.
Hoping to hit the Roman @ Perk Valley game next week.
September 8th, 2022 at 7:02 am
I don’t think they did lose 8 starters on offense. 3 lineman a tight end and wr r back and you can almost say 4 lineman back. So with 3,1,1 that’s 5 starters back and 6 starters graduated.He has already blew it with the talent that has come and gone in the last 10 years. Ashland and frackvile pee wees and ns junior high should be running the same offense and defensive ideas. Every 2 years he completely changes his offense because his qb graduates. Leiby was the real option, best running qb they ever had, erratic throwing the ball, His son comes in and they bring the hurry up offense ok runner, good passer but his passing and offense was greatly helped by always having the defense tired and on there toes. I really think it will destroy there season. He isn’t arrogant enough to think only his son could run a hurry up offense I hope not. And to whoever there defensive coordinator is- please watch videos of lmid to late 90,s and early 2000 games from North schuylkilll. They intimidated offenses. Jim thorpe would be undefeated 2 or 3 years in a row at 6-0 and north schuylkill would beat them 49-0. You have a good defense but somehow you get 3 3 and outs and then you let the team drive right down the field, a defense can’t take plays off and drives off. Bob wehry was a linebacker in 95 and 96 and they sent him after the qb it seemed like on every play, I don’t think ns has a sack from a lb in 2 years.ans that’s not a knock on there lb*s because if u sent them they would be there.Two more things, practice in pads wally and stop giving days off this ain’t badminton and when you have a 35-0 lead at half please tell your backups and younger Spartans there objective is still to score and not be scored on. Nice guys finish in the turkey run housing
September 7th, 2022 at 9:33 pm
Need some help this week (and probably next week as well) of choosing a game to attend Friday night. I have 5 games on my radar:
Central Dauphin @ Coatesville
Malvern Prep @ Wood
Upper Dublin @ North Penn
Cumberland Valley @ Spring-Ford
Bishop McDevitt @ LaSalle
Where do I park my butt for 2 1/2 hours Friday evening???
September 7th, 2022 at 8:53 pm
Hey Jeff, When they played years ago, Mount Carmel beat Aliquippa 26 – 6, and Southern beat Aliquippa 49 – 14. And when Aliquippa was ranked number two in the country, Berwick beat them 14 – 0. No doubt, Aliquippa has had an excellent program, but in face to face competition they have lost to other powers, and they have won…in other words they have not dominated as some would suggest. They may very well have had a better record had they stayed in A, but the actual results of on the field competition show they aren’t as dominant as you have surmised.
September 7th, 2022 at 6:01 pm
@ Jeff H
Too bad the ‘Quips didn’t “play-up” at “AA” since 2016.
September 7th, 2022 at 3:34 pm
@Margaret – Aliquippa is an A school by enrollment and if they played A ball every year they would have won more state titles than even Southern Columbia, can you imagine if last years team or their 2018 3A championship team played A ball every game would have been a mercy rule.
September 7th, 2022 at 12:34 pm
It looks like chowansky will be back for the green pond game until then we rely on the genius of wally hall. They did lose 8 starters on offense and wally has this O running like a well oiled machine.
September 7th, 2022 at 12:36 am
If northern lehigh plays canton In the state playoffs it might be on the radio. Imagine having to drive all the way to canton cursing at your wife after getting lost only to have to drive back to northern lehigh 3 hours later praying you get lost.
September 7th, 2022 at 12:25 am
Well Matt you don’t seem to understand that its so bad in class a football in pa. that a state title from a historically AA school would almost be irrelevant. Teams like nw lehigh and notre dame and north schuylkill won’t play them after this year because of there drop and they will be lining up against Shenandoah valley and nativity in the regular season with the hopes of beating Tri valley in districts and getting by canton before losing to steel high. Loss of male students in grades 9-12 doesn’t always mean you should lower your athletic standards. My guess is n. Lehigh will be AA in the next cycle and you stay in AA. Now Aliquippa always plays up and I knock them sometimes because they may lose out on titles but even playing down where they should be they still would have a battle to win a state title. I’d rather beat Palmerton, west catholic, Dunmore and lose to Southern or mt. Carmel than beat Tri Valley, Bristol, old forge and lose to steel high..There used to be an all American conference where cardinal Brennan would beat Lourdes or nativity for the conference title after playing bucktail, col. Mont. Vo tech, east Juniata. Class a is the all American conference. Good luck
September 6th, 2022 at 10:00 pm
Also, You say why did NL drop down? Why wouldn’t they? They won thier first dist championship since 2010 last year. It’s not like they were winning district titles every year lol. In 2016 4-6, 2017 they were 0-10, 2018 they were 5-5, 2019 6-4, 2020 5-4, 2021 7-3. They have a good program last 25 years but have had down years. The enrollment also dropped significantly last few years. After this year, they might have a few down years again. They just happened to have great classes last few years. Most small schools have ups and downs last decade or so. Southern being the exception.
September 6th, 2022 at 9:51 pm
Margaret,
Iv said on this forum Northern Lehigh is a very good A team. The dropped down after being AA state semi finalists….but they have had down years recently (winless in 2017). They return entire lines, and a few good skills players. They upset state ranked AAA Northwestern Lehigh last week. Pennlive has NL ranked 10 in A this week and Pa football news has Northern Lehigh at 7 in A. I think they have a chance to be top 5 soon. They do play a tough 3A schedule and with play NS, NDGP and Palmerton yet. They play no A schools. I think besides Canton and Steelton High they might be third best A team in East. They should be 4-0 going into the NS game in a couple weeks. Last year they went 7-3 with same tough schedule and went on a run once they got to playoffs.
September 6th, 2022 at 8:42 pm
Anyone hear anything on how northern Lehigh will do this year? Rumor is they just reload and drop a class. It’s hard to get excited about moving from AA to A. Northern Lehigh never has been an A school. Class A is so watered down that really there is no reason to move down really unless your not competitive or you were A and moved up but then back down. Williams valley is AA in d11 now so it’s only little tri valley that can stop them there. And steel high is really one of the only good eastern A schools left. What are you winning if you do win for northern Lehigh. I can tell you this Mt. Carmel has been declining in student population. They will never be a single a school because it’s not there caliber of competition there. It isn’t northern Lehighs either. If Williams valley moved back down in 2 years I could see that, they have been A all along, it’s there level of play and they r good there. But cmon northern Lehigh has been a very good AA school. It’s the one class drop you can’t make if your northern Lehigh. 6A to 5A 5A to 4A 4A to 3A and 3A to 2A I could see the drop isn’t off the charts but 2A to A is off the chart drop in competition
September 6th, 2022 at 6:23 pm
@Kevin X – I couldn’t find a box score for the PCC- Abraham Lincoln game, I know it was 21-6 at half, but not sure of the 2nd half scoring, I agree the final was a bit closer than most expected including me. I too was very surprised at the Malvern Prep-LaSalle score, will be very interesting to see how they fare against McDevitt this week, i know it’s early and Wood hasn’t even played a game yet but from this side of the state it appears Roman may be the 2nd best team in the PCL this year.
@WPIALguy – totally agree with everything you said about Westinghouse, nice to see a city league team win a big intra-district game and think they will give the WPIAL winner all they can handle if they make it that far, they would meet in the state semi-finals
September 6th, 2022 at 4:41 pm
I think Wally is the best head coach that was ever at mahanoy area and north schuylkill coaching and who played at Shenandoah valley.
September 6th, 2022 at 4:35 pm
Wally hall should be a red head. It would make sense then. The hurry up offense go go go to feeeeeeeeaaaaaarrrrrrr thhhhhhheeeee tuuuuuurtttttlllle offense. It appears your qb is very erratic. Ok runner, tinari is a bruising running back, carraballo is the defensive lineman he made a fb this year, Halford is ok, flail is a superstar, did weitz somehow become so overweight he can no longer run at RB? He couldn’t have gotten too much bigger he was like 330 last year, so why not run it down peoples throats, not with the same plays and formations, run the hurry up and run it down there throat. They need chowansky back to straighten out both offense and defense. Did flail ever play qb? And Wally hallski 21 against blue mountain with the ball inside the 10 at least 2 times in the first half without any points and the ultimate end of half blunder I would say the offense was offensive. If chowansky ain’t back soon they can lose to no. Lehigh, Notre dame, Palmerton, Jim thorpe or Pottsville. Because it looks like the snail speed offense is in.
September 5th, 2022 at 11:12 am
Looks like Wally Hall is the best coach ever.
September 5th, 2022 at 8:53 am
Westinghouse of the Pittsburgh City league beat Steelton High 38-19. That’s one of the biggest wins for city league in years. Westinghouse made the 2A quarterfinals last year. First city league team since 2012 to do that. I’m thinking they can compete with the WPIAL champ in 2A this year. Good to see a city league team have some success. Former Westinghouse player Dayon Hayes also helped Pitt beat WVU last Thursday. He’s a DE. Great potential.
September 4th, 2022 at 2:11 pm
Pottsgrove 20 West Catholic 6 WC hung in there in the first Half as the score was 7-6 at Halftime. 2nd half Pottsgrove’s huge line took over scored 2 touchdowns to close the game out. Game was penalty filled and very sloppy. WC must have jumped offsides a dozen times. WC has some size and athleticism and they can hit, they need to find a passing game if they are going to do any damage in the 2A playoffs. Pottsgrove is big and strong up front and has 2 small, but very quick backs. Not sure who’s the favorite in 4A in District 1 but I don’t see many losses for Pottsgrove with their remaining regular season schedule, their game with Pope John Paul looks like the only competitive game left for the Grove.
September 3rd, 2022 at 5:01 pm
Wow, awfully quiet around here a day after the second weekend of games. You guys all down the shore or away for the holiday weekend??
I found myself back at my favorite HS football venue in Downingtown’s Kottmeyer stadium. Nice game between State College and D-Town East. Questioning the DTE passing game (or lack thereof) during the game, then heard afterwards their starting QB went down with an injury in last weeks game against Pennridge. Hopefully he’ll be back in good order in a few weeks as expected. DTE’s Bo Horvath was fun to watch.
So what is the story with that questioning PCC and Lincoln game?? All I saw was the final score, 35-22, which I’m guessing most people thought a lot closer than expected. But scores always don’t tell the full story, so was the game that close, or was it 35-0 PCC at half with a subsequent second half running and the PCC JV guys got some second half action??
Malvern Prep 35-0 over LaSalle. Yikes, didn’t see that one coming especially after seeing LaSalle come back and beat North Penn last week.
September 3rd, 2022 at 2:54 pm
Wilson rebounded fairly well on the road against Central Dauphin. Had some of their injured back and it showed, particularly on the defensive side. Still missing their top running back, but he’s expected to play in their next game.
September 1st, 2022 at 9:36 pm
I said a few weeks ago watch Northern Lehigh in A…..tonight they beat their rival AAA Northwestern Lehigh who is PAfootball news #8 team in state in AAA. NL was #8 team in A. Northern lehigh had tons of talent returning and dropping to A. Now are they top 3 in A…..not yet but top 6 or 7 and top 4 in East (right now behind Steelton, Canton). Northwestern is a heck of a team that returned a lot from a close district final AAA lose to central Catholic last year. Northern has a few more big games…..against Notre Dame GP and North Schuylkill but this team is a very good A team.
September 1st, 2022 at 10:19 am
@mcd65 – everyone I know in Western PA is wondering exactly the same thing, why in the world is Abraham Lincoln driving to Pittsburgh this weekend, this isn’t college where Duquesne goes to Tallahassee to get mauled by Fl State for a nice payday. I get PCC has more openings on their schedule this year since they only have 4 6A opponents in the WPIAL but surely they could have found a better game with an opponent closer to Pittsburgh.
August 31st, 2022 at 4:01 pm
Why would Abraham Lincoln drive 6 hours to Pittsburg just to get mauled by PCC? Makes no sense to me . Also, what is the latest on the fiasco at Archbishop Wood this year. They have cancelled 2 and possibly 3 of their games at the beginning of their schedule, There is still no current coaching staff listed or current roster on Max Prep. I know Dave Armstrong was named HC and they had At last count 9 starters transfer. SOOOOO Whats up??
August 31st, 2022 at 3:19 pm
Roman won the ballgame, get over the ref situation.
August 31st, 2022 at 6:42 am
Scott you could have called holding every single play on the Wilson O Line. They were getting abused by the Roman D Line. Cut it out. The refs called an overwhelming amount of penalties(timely) on Roman bc they were only looking at Roman.
Moving on.
August 30th, 2022 at 2:35 pm
robert – there were a few penalties called on Wilson- granted Roman had more, but deservedly so. That’s not to take away from their effort- Roman is obviously very good, but they could run into trouble against a good team which is healthy, experienced and unintimidated- if they don’t subject themselves to numerous penalties.
August 30th, 2022 at 11:03 am
Sott,That was THE problem during the game . The Refs were ONLY looking at Roman .
August 29th, 2022 at 7:35 pm
I’m pretty darn sure I saw a lot of holding going on by Roman’s line – most not called. And I, too got a second look. That’s my considered opinion.
August 29th, 2022 at 6:46 pm
Scott G, I would expect that ref response from a Wilson follower,but it was soooooo obvious there was home cooking at its best. I just watched the game again and came to the same conclusion. BTW I like Wilsons program and wish them the best going forward and NO Im not a Roman guy I just like to watch good HS football.
August 29th, 2022 at 3:43 pm
The refs in the Wilson/Roman game were not one-sided. Roman deserved the penalties they incurred. Roman was the better team obviously, but Wilson was missing several key players on defense which contributed to the problems they had stopping the Roman offense. Also, Wilson’s top running back got hurt almost immediately which crippled their running attack. Wilson has a largely inexperienced team this year, but I expect they will improve as the season progresses.
August 29th, 2022 at 1:14 pm
@JC
Does Wally Hall have the best offensive mind in the game?
August 28th, 2022 at 9:38 pm
@CYOBall, I just watched the game and the refs may have been the most one sided as I have ever seen. What a joke. Roman to me was the far superior team. Their speed is exceptional as well as their size.
August 28th, 2022 at 6:23 pm
@EmanD3 after 12-0 WWL didn’t move the ball without the help from the refs the rest of the game. That drive you referenced when they were down 11 was manufactured entirely by the officials. I could be mistaken but I believe that was the same drive they ran the fake punt, Roman had them stopped 4 yards shy of the first down and the ball was fumbled forward out of bounds and they were given the first down. Officials stated that the spot is marked where the ball goes out of bounds, not where forward progress stopped.
That was just one of the bogus calls that rained down from the officials all night.
Roman had some sloppy play at times that needs to be cleaned up however I don’t believe this game was as close as you’re making it out to be.
WWL- 8/21 81 yards passing. 29 rushing attempts for 52 yards. They were dominated up front all night.
August 28th, 2022 at 6:33 pm
All good. I appreciate the help!
August 28th, 2022 at 6:14 pm
Dave…never mind….Winslow’s Twitter page listed it as scrimmage and it wasn’t recognized at Gridiron NJ site……..sorry
August 28th, 2022 at 5:18 pm
I will double-check. On the Public Master Schedule, it showed as a scrimmage. I will let you know. Thank you!
August 28th, 2022 at 5:13 pm
Dave…….Just saw replay of Northeast against Winslow Twp (NJ) on youtube….NE won 34-14…how sure are you that was a scrimmage? that looked like a legit game to me but there was no audio…just wondering
August 28th, 2022 at 4:54 pm
@mcd65 I don’t quite get, North Penn he’s trying to play as many kids as possible I guess, but he really needs to play some of them both ways. @Buddy I agree, Pennridge has a bunch of kids back, although losing their Oklahoma recruit to IMG and a New coach, may have some growing pains, @Chief Red Raider, I haven’t been down in your neck of the woods in a few years, how’s Coatesville looking? D-town East & West? Any sleepers down there? Well I think Quakertown is at the same stage they were two years ago, playing lots of underclassmen, think North Penn & CBW in next two games will beat them up, at least a reality check. Depending on injuries (they aren’t overly deep) and progress of the underclassmen, 6-5 or 7-4 is what I see, 8-3 if everything breaks right. In the SOL who’s really going to beat North Penn, Pennridge? CBW? are the challengers, Upper Dublin is my favorite with Quakertown/Souderton. Souderton is interesting, 2 yrs removed from a dist 1 title & their 2 best players back after missing last year to injury. PW is the popular pick, but Cheltenham is my pick and will have at least have a say, Upper Moreland? Have a good year guys!
August 28th, 2022 at 4:08 pm
EmanD3: Brilliant summary of the Wilson/Roman game. I only saw the second half and it was stunning to see Wilson implode. I wasn’t aware of their injury situation, but I’d never seen a Wilson team collapse like that. The game should have been close instead of the blowout it became. Wilson play calling has been dreadful in recent years, but that’s another story. Could be a tough season for the Bulldogs
August 28th, 2022 at 4:00 pm
LaSalle had a huge game from their RB and Freshman QB. North Penns QB will continue to be a force this year . I agree with the NP followers that Their Defense is pretty shoddy. I do expect NP to get a lot of wins outscoring their opponents. IMO CB West outplayed Garnet Valley . Their RB is a tough character . They will be competitive this year for sure. coach Rowan is making a significant impact there.
August 28th, 2022 at 12:37 pm
@MikeS
Either CBW is better than we thought (probably not), or GV lost a lot (probable). GV has been an RB factory for years.
We’ll be able to tell more after they both play a couple of more games. Thought Pennridge would have a better game with DTE,
but they been a powerhouse for years. Yep, we need more games in order to figure this out.
August 28th, 2022 at 12:29 pm
So, a couple of things about the WWL/Roman game. RC wins 46-15!
WWL, 7 TO’s, 4 inside their own 40!
WWL down 11 with 5:30 left..on the RC 15 and driving. WWL QB throws a 90 yd pick six and then all H broke loose inside 5 min.
WWL up actually 12-0 and was about to go up three touchdowns, but WR dropped a wide open ball, behind the D at the RC 20.
WWL starting RB hurt on the 3rd offensive play of the game and on crutches for the rest of the night. His replacement was a non factor..so that will have to be fixed. WWL QB play..not good, both were ineffective. Both QB’s had basically no playing time ly, so we will give them a pass.
Finally…the game was hard fought for 3 1/2 Q’s and not really the blowout on paper. RC is very talented and should do some post season damage in 5A. They play 2A Trinity(D3) next week, so it will be hard to tell where they actually stand.
On the other hand WWL travels to Harrisburg to play a rebuilding CD team. If they lose that one, I’m not sure what they do going forward. Not worried about their D, but the QB/RB situation needs to improve.
August 28th, 2022 at 12:25 pm
Yeah Mike, all polls have their flaws, I just think the one here might be the worst — is it the Pennlive one? (They charge for a lot of sports content on their site — so I’m not sure). I don’t know how good Quakertown is, but they did win. It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds. And, the games are won on the field, not on paper anyway. Enjoy the new season.
August 28th, 2022 at 11:45 am
Went to the Hoban/Erie Cathedral game Friday. A few thoughts. For whatever the reason Ohio high school football is overall better than Pennsylvania. The game was closer than the final score, but Hoban was clearly the better team. Prep was unable to stop Hoban’s offensive juggernaut no matter how many scores they left out. There MIGHT be 2 teams in all of PA capable of beating Hoban. And look what Ed’s did to Central Catholic. None the less Cathedral is still a top 5 team in 5A and I stand by that. Mcdowell looked really good against a tough Walsh Jesuit. I still don’t think they can beat the WPIAL champ but I stand by it being a close game.
August 28th, 2022 at 7:35 am
North Penn does not have a bonafide RB, plus their defense is same as last year…….terrible. They do have a passing attack that will just get better
as the year progresses. I think NP’s team last year would have beat this year’s LS team. But that’s water under the bridge. They got to find a
good RB plus shore up their pass defense. I think they win more then they lose, might even make the playoffs, but won’t go far.
August 28th, 2022 at 6:22 am
@Chief Red Raider I thought the rankings were not good from the moment I saw them, too much based on what occurred last year. PFN has Quakertown in their others to watch. Are you kidding me? They have 2 starters back, a bunch of lettermen who played a bunch in last year’s blow out wins, but only 2 starters. Then they play, North Penn game 2, CBW game 3, PW game 4, still have Souderton (2 yrs. from D1 title) Upper Dublin, & Pennridge, being a homer, I’d love to see them go 7-4, but that means they win 2 of those games and win the rest of the schedule. There were other teams that made no sense either. I still say Pennridge is going to be more than ok, yes, their stud now plays for IMG, & yes, they have a new coach, but they have talent, they are going to beat some teams they aren’t supposed to.
August 27th, 2022 at 5:41 pm
Well, thought North Penn could take LaSalle this year, once again it was the defense that let them down. Perhaps they need to play a few kids both ways and give them a rest when necessary? Pennridge is going to continue to be an Enigma, I think the talent is there, may take them a week or two learning under the new head coach, they’re going to beat someone they are supposed to.
Hhhhmm, Quakertown, saw them against Perk Valley which Perk Valley won in a competitive scrimmage, only 2 starters back, although a number of lettermen, due to playing time last year. I know nothing about Penn Wood, who Perk Valley beat 66 to something, original thought was long year but maybe Quakertown a little better than I thought? Garnet Valley 14-7 over CBW, not sure what to make of that one, any thoughts?
August 27th, 2022 at 10:59 am
The 6A pre-season rankings haven’t been good so far — 5 of the 15 teams lost last night (and I think a few that haven’t played yet probably will). The PFN rankings have done better so far.
August 27th, 2022 at 7:44 am
Gavin Sidwar is a pretty good QB.
August 26th, 2022 at 11:24 pm
With 11 guys back on defense Wally has been able to throw away the season already. Ran the hurry up offense that worked great for 2 years. I guess only his son could run it. You can’t change your offensive philosophy by leaps and bounds. You should have a system in place in your feeder towns. Instead Wally hall thinks he can re invent the wheel every 2 years with a different qb. Get flail the ball. Did you ever blitz in your life?
August 26th, 2022 at 9:01 pm
North schuylkills coaches stink. Apparently the hurry up offense could only be run by his son. The defense with 11 starters back got worse, look to who the defensive coaches are, it’s on you if you got 11 guys back and your way worse than you were. The offense, who knows, they huddle now, slow terrible change. Joey flail is a star. Get him the ball. Wally hall has tried to completely change his offense instead of keeping a system in place. Now he’s found his system, hand off, qb run, hand off, punt qb run,qb run, pass incomplete.I don’t know if chowansky is hurt but I haven’t heard his name once. Apparently they even put a different defensive tackle at fullback now as well. Why can’t u run the hurry up and still run the ball. I guess his son only could do it
August 26th, 2022 at 2:55 pm
@The Joneses – Mt Lebo had a tremendous senior class last year, Bob Palko knew than when he took the job 3 yrs ago after resigning at West Allegheny, so they are not going to be as good as last year. With that being said Palko is one of the best coaches in WPIAL history with 9 district and 2 state titles on his resume, and I expect Lebo to be very competitive in WPIAL 6a, as of now I’d put them behind PCC and Seneca Valley but ahead of North Alleghany, I wouldn’t be surprised if all the WPIAL 6a teams beat up on each other and none of them make it through the regular season without a conference loss.
Lebo is playing at 5A Gateway tonight, which is preseason #1 in the TribLive WPIAL rankings (I personally have defending champ Penn Trafford #1), that’s the game I’m going to, will be a very good test for both teams, Gateway struggled upfront last year on both the O and D lines, reports are they hit the weight room and several kids put on some muscle, will be interesting to see how they fare against Lebo in the trenches, last year in their week 0 game they got absolutely dominated in the trenches by TJ, and we knew right away they were going to struggle against the best teams in 5A as they ended up 7-4.
@Kevin X – thanks for the link to the brackets, I had a hunch ECP was back in the west this cycle since WPIAL 5A enters the playoffs in the quarterfinals instead of the semi’s so they have to play someone that week before the semifinals against the D3 champ.
August 26th, 2022 at 11:25 am
@Sausman – I’ll take a stab at some of your questions
1) Which teams will repeat – obviously 5 time defending champ SCA has a good chance to repeat in 2A, as does Aliquippa in 4A, although the WPIAL is loaded in 4A this year and they will get a stern test from McKeesport, who took them to OT in the WPIAL semi-finals last year and TJ, they also now have 2 time defending 3A champ Central Valley to contend with in 4A who gave them their only loss last year, so they are going to have their hands full just making it out of the WPIAL. I do like Bishop McDevitt’s chances to get back to the 4A final again.
We know we won’t have repeat champions in 1A and 3A because both defending champs moved up a class, and I don’t see either Penn Trafford or Mt Lebo repeating, although I think PT is the still the favorite to win the WPIAL 5A title again.
As for sleeper teams I think Bishop Canevin has a very good chance to win 1A, they play Steel High tonight in the opening game of the Peach Bowl Classic which could possibly be a preview of the 1A final, I also like Belle Vernon to win 3A, the WPIAL has owned 3A since the move to 6 classes in 2016 and Belle Vernon is the team to beat in 3A in the WPIAL, they were undefeated in 4A last year including 2 wins over TJ until they lost to Aliquippa in the 4A WPIAL final, they have one of the top rated recruits in PA in the class of 2024 in running back/safety Quinton Martin.
As far as 6A goes, I’ve said on this board for the last several years the PIAA erred when they went from 4 classes to 6, I think 5 is the right number, but don’t expect the PIAA to ever admit they made a mistake.
August 26th, 2022 at 12:37 am
Maybe they can cover it up like mount carmel did a few years ago. Most crooked town in the state. Where cops eat for free in eating establishments that have illegal gambling and where the town has been taking money off these establishments for over 20 years allowing the illegal activity to occur. Lol
August 25th, 2022 at 4:38 pm
Yep, and now two of the “hazed” Mtown players have lawyered up! A nightmare about to unfold.
August 25th, 2022 at 1:25 pm
If it was a few, they could kick those few off team but from what I am reading it’s more than a few and in that case they probably has not much of a choice than to shut it down. Tamaqua went through this end of last season. Police were involved and it wasn’t good.
August 25th, 2022 at 9:22 am
Not a fan of taking down a whole program for a few bad apples. What about seniors that might have had college scholarships? What about all of the Middletown cheerleaders, band members, plus food vendors that help with fund raising? Are they going to refund all of the advertisers who have placed ads in the programs for the entire year? For the record, I’m not from Middletown, but don’t like the decision..just my opinion
August 25th, 2022 at 9:15 am
From the news reports, police officials have all the video and there are far more kids involved than originally thought. PIAA has stated any transfers must sit 4 weeks before beginning practice and any transfer will be on a case by case basis. Also ANYONE who is involved will NOT be eligible for this transfer process.
August 25th, 2022 at 7:57 am
Let the transfers begin! Bamm Appleby Middletown’s QB has transferred to Steel HIgh, it looks like he will have to sit out the 1st 3 games of the year, No idea if he will be eligible for the playoffs. Middletown has approximately 60 kids on the team, A video is out there documenting the hazing, will the AD at Middletown let the AD of another school who was involved in the Hazing if a player wants to transfer out? Does District 3 get involved in a situation like this? Appleby, according to the Athletic Director at Middletown “was in good standing” How does this affect the playoff power points/seedings now that Middletown has cancelled the season and 9 teams have to find a last minute team to schedule at the last minute which is next to impossible now.
August 24th, 2022 at 4:26 pm
From WGAL TV News:
More footage of the on-going investigation into the Middletown Area High School Football hazing incident has been obtained.
In a letter from the Superintendent on August 24, 2022, they say a video shows more involvement from students then originally thought.
Due to the new found information, a decision to cancel the 2022 football season has been made.
The video has been shared with law enforcement, and they will continue to work on the investigation. Any student found to be involved will face disciplinary action, the letter continues to say any staff who were found to ignore the hazing will also face disciplinary action.
The Superintendent reiterated that this will not be tolerated. There was mention of putting programs in place to avoid this from happening in the future.
The administration is working to plan other opportunities for the cheer leading team and marching band as this cancellation will also impact their season.
August 24th, 2022 at 2:26 pm
Welp, there are now 10 more open dates on this season’s calendar as Middletown just cancelled its football season due to a recent hazing issue. You D3 guys want to chime in??
August 24th, 2022 at 10:29 am
@sausmann9 “and supporters of private schools.. LOL.. Well done. I like the SJP call 8o)
Was Mt. Leebo a one hit wonder or do you think they’ll be back again this year?
August 24th, 2022 at 12:54 am
Good Day ladies, gentlemen, and supporters of private schools, lol
Happy 2022 Football Season and safe travels throughout the season to you all!!!
Okay a few quick questions just before the start of our season.
1. Which teams will repeat as state champions?
2. Who is your “sleeper” team for the season (who might win a championship that we didn’t expect)?
3. Which district will have the most state titles for this season?
4. If you had the power to do so, where would YOU have the state championships? why?
5. If you had the power to do so, would you keep or get rid of the 6A classification?
Upset of the week – St Joes Prep beats St Thomas Aquinas in overtime!!! lol, just kidding. I’ll go with Emmaus over Freedom in Bethlehem.
August 23rd, 2022 at 10:41 pm
ACL I understand.
Believe he was also playing defense when he hurt his shoulder/arm against Wyo in their playoff game last year.
August 23rd, 2022 at 8:49 pm
Kevin X I was at the scrimmage. He was playing defense and came down awkwardly and was limping right after the play.
August 23rd, 2022 at 6:55 pm
This really really sux:
Via Twitter:
“@NEPAFootball
Bad news for football in the area. Sources have confirmed Scranton Prep and Penn State commit RB London Montgomery suffered an injury on Saturday and most likely will be out for the season.”
August 23rd, 2022 at 6:20 pm
Don’t know if these are 100% official, but this is what I’m going with until I hear otherwise……
Yes, ECP is back in the west. Rematch with Imhotep in the 5A Championship Game (they just can’t get enough of each other) 🙂
https://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/2023-24_Qualifiers/Football.pdf
August 23rd, 2022 at 5:42 pm
@NW PA – agree ECP will be very good as usual, given their schedule I think they will lose a couple of games but would be surprised if they lost all 4 you mentioned, I’m not sure yet if the brackets are the same as the last 2 years with them being in the “east”, the WPIAL 5A champ enters the state tournament in the quarterfinal round this year and not the semi-finals like the last several years, so I’m thinking they may be slated to play the WPIAL winner in the quarters and not Imhotep, like they played TJ all those years in 4A.
I am not as confident as you are with McDowell giving the WPIAL winner a good game in the quarter finals, a lot can obviously change over the course of the season but right now I’d make the WPIAL champ a 3 score favorite in that game.
Anyone know yet how the brackets are set up this year, when does the PIAA release them?
August 22nd, 2022 at 1:25 pm
A couple quick thoughts from the great Northwest. Erie Cathedral looks good as always, but they have a tough schedule. Look for them to loose to Hoban this week and probably Benedictine and maybe Mcdowell and Football North. They will still be a top 5 team in 5A despite the losses. Mcdowell has a great offensive line but are no threat to the WPIAL champ. Cathedral should cruise to the quarter final where they probably loose to Tep. Mcdowell should also make it the quarter finals where they loose a close game to the WPIAL champ.
August 21st, 2022 at 3:06 am
@ Scott & Kevin X…thx for the info, and yes I agree, it’s tough to judge these scrimmages..was just curious. I’m sure, Wilson, Wyo, NP and Coatesville will be post season bound, when it’s all said and done. Wyo’s weekly schedule will be a bit tougher since they have joined the LL league, but I still think they could run the table again. If Wilson beats Roman and CD in the first two weeks, I will have a better feel for them. They lost a lot of O from last years team. I’m hoping 0-2 doesn’t happen. I have a feeling they will have to lean on the D for a few weeks to start
August 21st, 2022 at 12:59 am
Was not at the NP-Wyomissing scrimmage but have heard different things from different people. First off, NP offense, as expected looked very good. A lot of athletes and strong. Second, The defense, which is the key to their success, was ho hum, especially against the run. However, from what I heard, linemen didn’t play both ways so any O linemen who might start or play on d line, only played on O. Third, WYO runs a wing t from what i was told. Highly unlikely NP actually game planned for that and was fairly solid against it, all things considered. Fourth, NP has athletes outside and limited any passing attack. Fifth, La Salle players and staff were in attendance so NP did not want to show much. They even switched jersey numbers. Some other notes, Yazeed Haynes, receiver committed to GA from NP looks the real deal. Caused problems every time he was targeted. All in all, NP will have to play strong defense to reach the levels they expect. Still the same story.
August 20th, 2022 at 11:06 pm
North schuylkill vs danville ns looked terrible. Offense should be behind defense with 11 guys back on defense but north schuylkill has let the wally hall Era go by with no defensive philosophy, no energy, no toughness. Somehow it became ok to give up 15 a game. They have cost ns in an era of great teams and great players by just being average every year on defense. Here would have been a good idea, get the geists back to coach defense. Let them toughen these kids up. This ain’t shendo wally.
August 20th, 2022 at 8:35 pm
@ EmanD3
Yes, I took myself over to the NP/Wyo scrimmage this morning. Don’t know what I can tell you (or anyone else), as I put just about zero credence in these scrimmages to predict the future, really there to familiarize myself with NP for when things get real Friday night against LaSalle, which will probably be their stiffest test until the D1 6A quarter or semi finals.
It is a shame that Wyo is not playing SC this year. That would have been worth the drive up to the Reading area on a fall Saturday afternoon.
August 20th, 2022 at 6:04 pm
Wilson/Coatsville was “even” Coatesville scored on a long run on first scrimmage play, but that was it. The 2-Q game play ended 0-0. Both teams had chances to score, but neither did. Wilson’s pass coverage was shaky at times, but so was Coatesville’s Wilson’s QB had some nice runs and Coatsville had some good running plays. Difficult to tell what the score would have been in a real 4 Q game.
August 20th, 2022 at 4:10 pm
Anyone at the Wilson/Coatesville or Wyomissing/North Penn scrimmage this am?
Wilson/Coatesville should have been fairly even, I would guess. And although Wyo graduates about a 1/4 of what NP does, they are loaded again this year, even after losing some big names from last years state final team.
August 20th, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Back from PV-Q-town scrimmage, 2-2 when I left on last set of offense/defense, starting special teams, I thought Q-town looked better than I anticipated, a little bigger than I thought they would be, with only 2 starters back. PV with 12 starters back, I thought had the overall edge in the scrimmage, as their offense with 7 back looked a little better. I was talking to a father (of one of their DL starters) and former coach at PV, and he felt they would be very competitive within the PAC. Q-town probably a tad better than my original thinking, PV is going to have a solid year. So there is the 1st scrimmage report, looking to hearing from many many more.
August 20th, 2022 at 6:23 am
@pygymy Well I suspect that North Penn-Wyomissing will be a good challenge for both, I don’t know alot about Wyomissing, I do know that North Penn should (key word-should) be pretty good, but am looking for some parts to be ready to play LaSalle next week. I have North Penn 1st-Pennridge 2nd (close) in their division of SOL> I hope to be at the Quakertown-Perk Valley scrimmage, & as I’ve said Quakertown is in total rebuild mode with only 2 starters back. That said I was told their JV-Freshman teams last year had a total of 1 loss. Is there enough there to be a contender again?? Probably not…. but…
August 20th, 2022 at 2:17 am
Wyomissing scrimmages North Penn on Saturday, 08/21/22 at 10:00 AM at North Penn. I would be interested on anyone’s observations about both teams.
August 17th, 2022 at 11:56 pm
@MikeS
Year of the Knight? I wouldn’t say it can’t be, certainly in D1. But the fact is they haven’t played defense since 2016. Yes, that was a terrific team, second only to the 03 champs in NP history in my opinion. But, in my opinion Beck seems to have changed philosophy toward playing less players two ways. The problem is, many of the best athletes were on offense and not playing as much defense. Last year Khalani Eaton and Levi Carroll were the two best offensive players. Neither played defense. In 2016 they had Ricky Johns, a star at receiver, at the SS spot with Owen Thomas, a star at TE at MLB. Both went D1. Also on that team the #2 receiver, Henley, started at corner and went D1. All three went D1 as defensive players, not on offense. Heck, the 03 state champs started the QB, Hearns, at corner. Play your best athletes regardless. They do return Cody at LB with Mangine at the SS spot. With the top two receivers playing corner they have athletes on the outside. The Dawes kid is coming back after missing through injury last year at MLB/DE. He played significantly at D End as a freshman which is rare at NP. If they can turn the corner defensively they can be major players beyond just D1. But it ALL rests on the defense. The offense should be powerful.
August 17th, 2022 at 5:47 pm
@FridayKnightLights Yeah about as I remembered from last year, I had it coming down to North Penn or Pennridge, but that was before their Oklahoma Commit went to IMG, he was a two way beast for them, playing LB, FB and TE. Still Pennridge is your main in league competition. Would have loved seeing Quakertown play North Penn last year, this year that game should be over by half time as Quakertown has all of 2 kids coming back, from what I was told their JV & Freshmen teams were very good, but way too many holes to be playing North Penn the second game of the year. I think Quakertown will be ok in league. I have North Penn & Pennridge as the two favorites on their side. Pennridge has a ton coming back but have a new coach (thus the unknown) and the loss of their Stud. So is it Knight Time?
August 16th, 2022 at 8:48 pm
@Mike Smoll
Been a while since I posted on here. Saw your question about the East. NP “should” be very good. Key word SHOULD. 3 starters return on the o line including center and dual 300 LB starting tackles. RB is little known since Eaton ruled the roost last year but showed burst and physicality when he did get the ball. Listed over 200 and I’ve heard good things. As you mentioned, WR committed to Georgia and they return their #2 receiver from last year as well who had a very solid year. All this to go with Zellt returning as a 3 year starter at QB. Defense remains the question. The receivers are slated to start at corners from what I’ve heard. They have a beast who missed last year for injury. He played lot at d end as a freshmen but was slated to be a FB and MLB last year before injury. 240 lbs. If the defense is right they are a force. IF.
August 12th, 2022 at 2:48 pm
Also, my definition of committal offer is if a program would accept the player right away if he decided on that school .Some colleges and Universities throw out offers to well over 100 high school players but will not accept a committment except for those at the top of their recruiting list.
August 12th, 2022 at 9:50 am
@ Bill, Roman has at least 5 players with committal offers ,with the rest not sure. The fact is that they have many talented players on their roster. As you pointed out they have yet to put all this talent together which to me is a coaching and leadership issue. Their opener against Wilson should be an indicator if they have finally jelled or,stay in the dumps .
August 9th, 2022 at 1:11 pm
Remember @Wpialguy, offers are committal and non-committal. It will be interesting to see if those offers materialize given their wins and performance the past few years. They are a young team with alot to be excited about. But they have not really produced on the field. I had said in a previous comment that it just does not add up, or maybe I and other observers are missing something. The coach could be trying to help his kids collect non-committal offers to promote the program. It is the same as an 8th grader getting an “offer.” No college can offer admission without a HS transcript, hence the offer is non-committal. A roster with that much legitimate talent should be more than a 3 – 5 win team every year. Maybe this year will be different. But another season like last year would leave alot of questions. If the talent is really there, why only a few wins? Or are kids talents being embellished to college coaches to help gain exposure…which will hurt the program down the road. They are young from what I have heard, so maybe this year the maturity takes over and they do some major damage on the field.
August 9th, 2022 at 11:37 am
@Kevin that’s great news.. Looking forward to it.
August 8th, 2022 at 6:47 pm
Wow, even a pre-season show on the 19th!!! (WPHT 1210 AM Philly High School Football Scoreboard Show)
Sorry, just got lazy, a little public service announcement via cut and paste job from Twitt
“Kickoff is coming. The @WPHTScores show begins on Aug. 19 with our pre-season show from 10-12 pm
And then, we are every week until Thanksgiving on Friday night on @1210WPHT and the @AudacyCorp app!”
August 8th, 2022 at 8:08 pm
They are 5A this year
August 8th, 2022 at 6:14 pm
Have noticed many players on Roman Catholic getting offers recently. Are they 6A?
August 8th, 2022 at 9:21 am
WWL has home opener against Roman Catholic on 8/26. I’m hearing RC might be a sleeper this year. Any word on their team? Although Wilson lost their QB, RB and most of their OL…they still have a few studs returning including Cam Jones. D should be solid. Should be an interesting game and litmus test for both teams. Then WWL heads to CD in week two…so it could be a tough road ahead to get back to D3 final.
August 8th, 2022 at 6:17 am
@D11 Matt. I was at the NL SCA game. I left at halftime. I wasn’t impressed at all with NL performance. Clearly put, NL didn’t look enthused to be there. They looked completely tired, hands on hips, letting others make the tackles.
August 7th, 2022 at 10:28 pm
D11 Matt I know a Homer when I can smell a Homer. When you say they have almost everyone back, but they lose there qb, rb and top wr and u think they r not gonna skip a beat your insane. There offense clearly will not be as explosive. There defense stunk against anyone who was good. My guess is North Schuylkill is a definite loss and notre dame is probably a loss. They can go 8-2. But I can easily see them go 5-5. They will probably make districts, probably win districts. They won’t win a state title because there defense stinks. If anybody on there defense made all state I question it. Check out there defensive numbers against nw Lehigh, notre dame, North Schuylkill and Southern, they were slightly worse than whatever horrible word u can come up with. And your gonna say but look at how good those teams were, exactly dim wit Anybody good they play the El matador defense. So if a guy plays I’d look less into there 15 games last year and more into the 4 that mattered. And wutu the expansion in classes to 6 the class a state title almost doesn’t matter. When there were 4 classes it was less watered down. With 6 class a is pathetic. Good luck on winning that
August 6th, 2022 at 12:02 am
Also JC…..NL went 7-3 last year in regular season and still were top seed because they played a very good 3A schedule. They rolled once they dropped to 2A in playoffs until southern (who also beat everyone else by mercy rule).
August 6th, 2022 at 12:00 am
@JC ….Do you even know what you are talking about with NL?? In dist 11 A there is 6 teams and 4 get in. They are only team that plays a mostly 3A schedule. They could win 5 and get in and maybe a top 2 seed with points…. Also when you return an entire line and TE that played 15 games last year and the fullback who was all state at DE and two athletes (one of which threw 3 tds as WR passes last year who will be QB this year) you will be very good. Yes they lost three very good players but return 8/11 started on both sides. Also add two players that got big time playing time and that’s 10 players that played 15 games in a AA playoff environment. They will be top 10 maybe top 5 in A this year.
August 5th, 2022 at 2:49 pm
I will correct myself, actually Bishop Canevin and Steel High play the opening game of the 2 day Peach Bowl Classic at Chambersburg in 3 weeks. Ron Coursey is the new AD at Chambersburg after previously being at Woodland Hills, he was the mastermind behind the WPIAL vs. everyone showcase at the Wolvarena the last several years, and now he’s establishing the same type of kickoff classic at Chambersburg.. Its too bad he took his show on the road because I got to see Imhotep vs. PCC and Harrisburg vs. Pine Richland among other top notch games in my backyard on opening weekend, the boys from Erie Prep also made a few appearances at the Wolvarena.
The Bishop McDevitt-Imhotep game on Saturday at 5:30 looks like a great matchup and the most intriguing game of the 6 scheduled. If WH was better I might be tempted to take the 3 hour drive to watch them play Wm Penn followed by the McDevitt game, it was a lot nicer to see intra-district games like this that were a 10 minute drive!!
What other big time matchups are everyone looking forward to on opening weekend?
August 5th, 2022 at 8:17 am
No Lehigh lost there qb, rb, wr, heart and soul of the offense. There defense stinks and they will lose 3 games again this year. Move down to A will help but there would be a chance they wouldn’t even make districts with 4 losses. They don’t Play even a little defense.Parkland, Nazareth, Northhampton, freedom, becha,, acc, Wilson, Bangor, southern Lehigh, blue mountain, east Stroudsburg south, Pottsville, Notre dame, north Schuylkill, Palmerton, minersville, pen argyl, Williams valley. Tri valley, Northern Lehigh, marian catholic
August 4th, 2022 at 10:14 pm
When it comes to officials… i mean.. they have to show up at what? 4:00-5:00? And they won’t leave until probably 10:00. That’s on top of their normal job. Add in the commute times and you’re probably talking 6 hours of work for maybe $70-$80. Is it worth the time and stress to work 6 more hours? Add in todays gas prices and you run into trouble. I understand it’s for the kids, but One thing about officiating nowadays is i believe with tv and social media people want officials to be perfect. People don’t want to officiate because they’re terrified of messing up. In today’s world there’s always video evidence and it’s very easy for people to come into an uproar. I’m someone who has thought about becoming an official, but anytime i honk about it. What they need to do is have better recruitment programs or offer referee certification as a college elective or something at various universities. College kids looking for extra money could take a class and be ready to officiate on Friday nights. That would take cooperation between the universities though. One final idea would be to go to various d2 or d3 football programs and find players graduating that would be interested. People aren’t going to come to you. You have to go get them.
August 4th, 2022 at 7:09 pm
Kevin X…Not to get deep into it but I have firsthand knowledge of the officiating issues….Official shortages definitely not a D10 thing, it’s National, in most sports. Numbers aren’t dropping they are falling off a cliff. There isn’t the same volume of new officials joining the ranks, which makes maybe older, or less capable officials do these games. MS games in every sport boys and girls get cancelled due lack of officials. The people that assign the games are putting in whoever is available, no matter skill or experience. It’s not their fault…working with what they have. Poor pay, amount of time officials are at games for the pay, poor behavior from spectators, coaches, players…the list goes on. Not a lot of guys interested, and when you can go out and do 2 kids games on a Friday night and make more then a Friday night Varsity game in the same or less time where do you think guys will go if their main focus is financial? It’s only going to get worse..so be prepared for more Thurs/Sat games in the very near future.
August 4th, 2022 at 5:53 pm
Central Catholic opens with St Edwards Ohio on August 26th at Tom Benson Hall of Fame stadium. Would be shocked if they could keep it within 30. St Ed’s and Ohio high school football just seems miles ahead of PA at the moment.
August 4th, 2022 at 12:30 pm
Well got a feel for the WPIAL but not much from the East, who’s the Players in the LV, Parkland, Easton, etc? What’s going on with Coatesville, the Downingtowns and others? North Penn has the kid going to Georgia and is normally good, Pennridge lost their stud (Oklahoma recruit to IMG) but have a Ton coming back, Upper Dublin, PW, CBW? Quakertown huge rebuilding year, but may surprise. Up North have no clue? Help guys is 3 weeks til kickoff
August 3rd, 2022 at 10:08 pm
I’ve been seeing a bunch of Tweets coming out of District 10 about games being moved from Friday night to Saturday due to lack of officials. Anybody know if any games in the east are being moved from Friday night to Thursday or Saturday due to a lack of available officials?? Seems for right now its only a District 10 issue.
August 3rd, 2022 at 10:42 am
@WPIALguy – agree with all of your analysis, particularly with McKeesport being a big factor is 4A. Bobby Boyd is a very sold RB and they bring a lot back from last year, 4A is loaded in the WPIAL with McKeesport moving down a few yrs ago and Aliquippa/CV up, for quite awhile it was TJ and everybody else in 4A.
@D11 Matt – agree 1A is pretty open with several contenders, as WPIALguy said Bishop Canevin is the favorite in the WPIAL, they return quite a few starters from their team that lost to Redbank Valley in the state semi-finals last year, they have a game with Steel High in early September that could potentially be a preview of the state final and will be a good measuring stick for both teams.
August 2nd, 2022 at 3:48 pm
In 5A things get very interesting. As of now I’d say Penn Hills is the favorite, but after that there is probably 6 or 7 teams that could compete. Penn Trafford will be big up front again but they lose their main athletes. Moon graduated 20/22 starters. Gateway will have athletes but weakness up front. Bethel Park, upper st Clair, pine Richland will be strong teams as well. Should be a very very competitive class.
August 2nd, 2022 at 3:45 pm
Wpial also had a school or 2 drop from AA TO A. I would say watch out for Laurel in A. They were a wpial semi finalist in 2A and drop down. They are the Laurel out of Lawrence County. Bishop Canevin should remain the team to beat in the WPIAL class A though.
August 2nd, 2022 at 2:17 pm
@Michael
Watch my alma mater Northern Lehigh in A. They were a state semi finalist in AA (losing to Southern….not surprising haha). They drop to A but don’t play a single A school. Mostly 3A (north Schuylkill, Notre Dame) and rival NW Lehigh who is 4A. It’s a very good AAA schedule like they played last year. Went 7-3 and then went on a run in 2A playoffs. They return entire Oline, TE, FB and two athletes who will play QB and RB this year. And return 7 on defense. They should be top 5 in A east with Steelton, Old Forge, Canton. The schedule should prepare them again. A in my opinion statewide is wide open. Last year’s champ moved to AA.
August 2nd, 2022 at 9:38 am
I am very high on McKeesport as a surprise team in 4A. They should have beat Aliquippa in the WPIAL semis last year. Took them to overtime and would’ve won but missed a 20 yard field goal. The problem is 4A in the WPIAL is very deep. Aliquippa, Central Valley, Thomas Jefferson, McKeesport all very good. I expect Central Valley to take a bit of a step back. They lost some talent. TJ will be massive upfront again. Quips are once again loaded.
August 2nd, 2022 at 8:55 am
Pre-season Rankings will be coming out when, we’re just a tad more than 3 weeks til the start of the season. Who’s the shakers and movers, who are going to be the surprises?
August 1st, 2022 at 7:48 pm
Yes, Tep is 5 A
August 1st, 2022 at 4:59 pm
Is Imhotep still 5A?
August 1st, 2022 at 11:13 am
Happy August 1st everyone! That means we are officially in the same month as the start of football season! Only 26 days away from games that count!
July 31st, 2022 at 1:47 pm
@ Austin, I also heard Shabbaz transferred to Roman thats 9 now.
July 31st, 2022 at 12:52 pm
Some people aren’t able to access the PA Sportsboard Link, so I’ve UPDATED this with the more direct “Statewide & National” Link:
Just wanted to share a few links where the ongoing PA HS Football State Champion Project can be viewed: We now have updated grids from 1890-1934!
https://pasportsboard.proboards.com/
Go To: “Statewide & National” Section
https://pasportsboard.proboards.com/board/5/statewide-national
https://www.facebook.com/Hitmans-PA-HS-Football-History-Huddle-191350881638281/
July 30th, 2022 at 6:20 pm
WPIAL Guy, In the East Wyomissing in 3A is loaded once again, not as deep as last year but their lines will average 275 lbs a man, they also return their QB, tailback and 2 headhunters at linebacker, Berks Catholic, now down in 3A is also loaded with talent, whoever wins 3A, IMHO between those 2 schools will represent the East. In 4A McDevitt is once again loaded and will probably be headed for a rematch with the Quips.
July 30th, 2022 at 1:49 pm
Just wanted to share a few links where the ongoing PA HS Football State Champion Project can be viewed: We now have updated grids from 1890-1934!
https://pasportsboard.proboards.com/
Go To: “Statewide & National” Section
https://www.facebook.com/Hitmans-PA-HS-Football-History-Huddle-191350881638281/
July 29th, 2022 at 8:53 pm
UGH!!! Correction in my just posted post:
*basketball playoffs, not baseball!! (guess that’s what you get when you try to multitask while watching the Phils/baseball)
July 29th, 2022 at 8:49 pm
@ Dr. Sheldon Cooper, aka Austin
Yes, that was sarcasm.
@ FrankG
Yeah, I’m with you. This whole transfer thing is a mess. Seems like unless it’s a 100% obvious athletic transfer, they can find an excuse or loophole to play the whole season. The more I try to understand it and figure it out, the more confused I get. Just this past post season in the baseball playoffs, saw a team get disqualified from states for playing a transfer in a playoff game, another team had to forfeit the majority of their games due to a transfer who was deemed “ineligible,” yet they proceed to play in the state playoffs, sans the player in question, and still go on to win a state title, and a third scenario where another school had an obvious and known transfer, no issues (that I know of, so guess everything was on the up and up), and go on to win a state championship with said player playing. Oh, and all of these 3 situations involved PCL teams 🙂
July 29th, 2022 at 3:06 pm
@Wpialguy….. 2A- Southern (5 time defending champions are heavy favorites lol.
July 29th, 2022 at 12:30 pm
As of now i see the wpial being favorites to win 3A and 4A state championships. The other classes are all tossups to me. Once i see what the teams have.
July 29th, 2022 at 10:44 am
Austin, Kevin was jokng with the co-oping statement for sure. I dont read anything that was over stated about Woods issues. All those facts you mention are true and have been stated before. Yes they have some good players returning including Gardener who I agree is a stud, but they are far weaker than before the transfers occurred. I would still say they are not a contender now and surely would have been if all this wouldnt have happened.
July 29th, 2022 at 2:18 am
Lot of talk about Wood on this message board. Most of it is overblown. They’ve lost some really talented players after their coaching fiasco. Most notably Temple commit LB Tyrese Whitaker, Michigan commit LB Semaj Bridgeman, 2023 LB Khadir Rowe (D1 Offered), 2023 RB James Bermudez, 6’5 2024 QB Mekhi Wharton, 6’5 OL Kevin Towns (D1 Offered) and a pair of talented 2025 CBs Dymere Durham (Imhotep) and Bryce Williams (Souderton). Yes, these losses hurt, but Wood is still returning a great core of 2023s headlined by Power 5 DE Eric Garner (the best player in the state if you ask me), Clemson commit Markus Dixon, fast rising 2024 OL Kevin Heywood, and many other kids I’d consider shoe-ins to eventually play high level college football at Division 2 and 3 universities. The notion that they’d have to Co-op with a public school is silly, they’re returning most of the team that took State Runner Up Saint Joe’s Prep to the brink of the District 12 championship. Their new head coach is very old school from what I’ve heard, I’m not surprised that Wood Football is not super active on social media or Maxpreps. I’ll admit I think their original schedule with Walp at the helm was a little ambitious for this group. Pre-flurry of transfers I’d say they had a good chance to battle Imhotep in the D12 title in Class 5A and make a deep state playoff run, now I would predict they perform similarly to the last 2-3 years of Wood Football, an unfairly judged .500 team that plays one of the toughest schedules in the state regardless of class.
July 28th, 2022 at 5:10 pm
The PIAA says that if a student played a sport in 10th grade and then transferred, the student cannot play in the postseason unless it’s a different sport. However schools can appeal on the following grounds:
What reasons can a District Committee consider a waiver?
Change of residence necessitated by Employment / Military reassignment
School initiated – Administrative transfer / Court ordered transfer
Demonstrable change of income or resources
Court approved family separation
Other considerations on a case by case basis
That last item, of course, is very vague.
Curiously, they say a waiver can’t be given on these grounds: “Transfers to address academic, developmental, spiritual and/or social reasons.” I would think transfers undertaken for such reasons, IF GENUINE, should not make a student ineligible for post-season play. Looks like the PIAA created a mess.
July 28th, 2022 at 3:16 pm
D1 Lifer, not so sure that is the case anymore. Out here in District 3 Kids that transferred their Sr year into Wilson, Governor Mifflin and Berks Catholic were somehow eligible to play in the playoffs. Anyway, the rest of the PIAA should cry foul if any of these transfers into Imhotep are eligible to play in the playoffs. This reminds me of several years ago when TEP had about a dozen players transfer in from all over the place when they one their only State Championship by crushing everyone. That was the final straw and the PIAA finally took action implementing the transfer rules and competition factor.
July 28th, 2022 at 9:08 am
I may be mistaken but I’m pretty sure that if you transfer after the start of your sophomore year you are not eligible for postseason play in any of the following years. If that’s correct I don’t see the point in making a move. And I can’t imagine the team would be like ok you play our 1st 12 games but then let’s put in your backup for playoffs.
July 27th, 2022 at 3:29 pm
Wood may have to petition the PIAA to create an emergency co-op with Tennant or Hatboro Horsham (might not be too far fetch with H-H who had to forfeit a bunch of games last year due to low numbers).
July 27th, 2022 at 9:52 am
WHEN WILL IT END ? Another player from Wood just transfered to Imhotep This one a CB .Thats 6 that I know of so far.
July 26th, 2022 at 5:12 pm
@mcd65 & Kevin on this one the Mekhi and his dad gave Wood every opportunity to make it work. It started when Wood was operating without an OC for months. The rest just spiraled. It’s his junior year and ultimately he had to take matters into his own hands. This one was not for academic reasons and it was not a rash decision.
July 26th, 2022 at 3:25 pm
@ Kevin, Another very talented player gone. Wood could have been a real threat this year in 5 A. Now, they will be fortunate to win a few games. What in the heck occurred over there to degrade the program so much. I still hope they can be competitive but have my doubts for sure.
July 26th, 2022 at 8:15 am
@ mcd 65
Saw recently that another one of your Wood guys, 6’5″ jr. QB Mekhi Wharton transferred to Neumann Goretti (guessing you may already be aware of this). Guess N-G had a roster spot as earlier N-G’s WR Yazeed Haynes transferred to North Penn. Haynes originally committed to Rutgers, decommitted, then committed to Penn State, and now has decommitted from Penn State. Good to see that the PIAA transfer portal is alive and well and that these top level recruits are 1000% committed!!!
July 25th, 2022 at 4:49 pm
It would be nice if Wood would update their roster and coaching staff on Max preps. They continue to have Walp as head coach and have 156 players listed on their roster.Oh yeah, they have still included the players that have transferred and many of last years graduates. Come on coach get with it.
July 25th, 2022 at 9:08 am
Looking thru some schedules this weekend, saw that Archbishop Wood, Neumann Goretti and Bishop Shanahan all don’t have a first week (August 26-27) game. I would think 2 of 3 of these Philly Archdiocesan schools would get together for a game, assuming that they are interested in playing that first week. I’d assume Wood would be especially active in this possibility, as they only have 7 games on their 2022 schedule at the moment (per their school’s website). Anybody else looking for a first week game?? Getting late…….
July 18th, 2022 at 10:39 pm
@ Michael Smoll – while I agree with you about the Catholic league kids maybe getting more looks, if you’re good the colleges will find you. With camps and social media being a driving force now.
I know many kids who were invited to be on sidelines of the top tier schools but choose to stay at there local HS
July 18th, 2022 at 4:08 pm
Pittsburgh Central Catholic has been raiding Canon Mac and Peters Twp here in the west. They are both about 45 minute commute to the city. Canon Mac is perennial struggling program. Supposedly they’ve had good middle school teams but it doesn’t look like it’ll matter if they’re raiders by PCC.
I’ll have to post my season projections here relatively soon.
July 18th, 2022 at 4:06 pm
PIAA changing the way they count next cycle again. Said they are going back to counting every student in schools and not the 10% rule for non traditional students. I could see the wpial 6A class benefitting from this as a few of the more rural schools won’t have to count just 10% of their vocational school students.
July 19th, 2022 at 7:00 am
On August 1st
July 18th, 2022 at 1:09 pm
Hey Dave,
When will the team previews start?
Thanks!
July 17th, 2022 at 3:22 pm
mcd 65 Wood is not that far, maybe 10 miles, several years ago several Quakertown kids made the hike to Wood, and Pennridge is 8 miles closer. Kids in the SOL don’t get as many looks from the colleges as kids from the Catholic league do, so there is always that benefit.
July 17th, 2022 at 9:03 am
mcd 65, Actually Wood (about the same as CB West)is only a 8-10 mile drive and LC is about 5-6 (in Lansdale same as North Penn) Both those schools are very much in play. I know a young man who as an 8th grader was invited down as a sideline guest to both Malvern Prep & LaSalle, who will be a 9th grader at North Penn this year.
July 16th, 2022 at 1:53 pm
@ Michael Smoll, I agree that Pennridge would be a very strong team with Picciotti this year. IMO there would beno advantage for player transfers to Lansdale Catholic and Wood and Lasalle are a hike for sure. Wood could certainly use some replacements for their 5 solid player transfers.
July 16th, 2022 at 10:25 am
Kids from around the SOL are getting looks from the Catholic League, know of 3 of the top freshmen (1 from North Penn, 1 from Pennridge and 1 from Souderton) who had visits to a few of them and are considering the switch.
July 16th, 2022 at 10:22 am
mcd 65 Yeah, I actually read the article after I posted, but I suspected IMG. Pennridge had/has a pretty loaded team coming back, with a number of solid returning vets, there is always the catholic league, Wood comes to mind, as does LC. Pennridge with Picciotti would have been favorites to unseat North Penn, even without him a strong maybe. Both Wood and Lansdale Catholic are right on Pennridge’s doorstep.
July 16th, 2022 at 8:12 am
@ Michael Small, I did hear Picciocotti will attend IMG this year . Where would any other players from pennridge transfer to ??
July 15th, 2022 at 2:06 pm
Just heard from one of my old coaches, that Oklahoma Recruit Phil Picciotti, will not be playing his last year at Pennridge, but is going to a Florida school for his Senior year. Rumors are a couple other of the top Pennridge players may be going elsewhere also. Anyone able to fill me in on any of this?
July 15th, 2022 at 9:32 am
@ Harry
What, no Chico Bail Bonds???
Seriously, I think it will be very much to do about nothing. 99% + of PA high school athletics it will not affect whatsoever. Who will be, your 5 star highly touted kids, mostly from urban areas, and (I got to be careful here), your very attractive extrovert female athletes with care free parents.
July 14th, 2022 at 4:52 pm
I’m guessing Southern will be playing 4A in 4 years if it’s just based on success now. If this was in place five years ago they would be 5A.
July 14th, 2022 at 10:13 am
Wow….um…so what could POSSIBLY go wrong?
Nearly three years after the college sports world changed forever with the legalization of name, image and likeness compensation, the PIAA is following suit.
At the PIAA board meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the association approved on first reading an NIL policy that will allow student-athletes to profit off their image, per Bob Greenburg of Sports Radio 96.7 FM.
The policy, which will still require two more readings to become official, will give athletes avenues—with stipulations—to make money off of commercial endorsements and promotional activities.
“We really need to probably get ahead of this and address it and put some parameters in place to guide students and their families so that they’re educated and they know what they’re getting into,” PIAA Assistant Executive Director Melissa Mertz said, according to WGAL.com.
Athletes cannot wear their school uniforms in any of these promotions, and may not make reference to the PIAA or their school or team name. Boosters, coaches and alums also cannot provide or negotiate any NIL deals.
Certain products are not permitted to be endorsed by athletes, including adult entertainment, alcohol, controlled substances, opioids, casinos, gambling and weapons, firearms or ammunition.
WGAL also reports that the PIAA will hire a company to educate athletes about tax laws and help them avoid “being taken advantage of” by companies.
With two more readings required, it is unlikely this policy takes effect until 2023.
July 14th, 2022 at 7:50 am
@ Matt
I really think its just an ending of a co-op like my follow-up posted below noted. At least I hope so. Sorry if I jumped the gun on that one.
Well they did it. Past on the first reading the elimination of the transfer clause as being part of competition formula for school promotion to the next class level. Strictly will be on a points basis unless they come up with something else. I understand that Southern Columbia will be appealing this development and are already in contact with Governor Wolf’s staff 🙂
PA high school sports are inching closer to being NIL friendly. Needs to pass two more readings. Wonder if they will offer NFTs as well.
July 13th, 2022 at 10:17 pm
If GW is disbanding football, that is a shame for the Pub and Philly football as a whole. GW has a great legacy and many times was the class of the Pub and City as whole. Hopefully it is temporary.
PCL&PUB>WPIAL!
July 12th, 2022 at 11:41 am
Just a follow-up to my GW question/issue. Think I just read it too quickly and incorrectly. Looks like just a termination of a co-op agreement??
“District XII – George Washington and Swenson Arts & Technology High Schools to terminate football”
July 12th, 2022 at 9:24 am
PIAA meeting tomorrow. Saw one of the items that will be discussed is the elimination of the transfer clause in the completion formula. Go to a straight points system for promotion. Also expanding the competition formula to other sports (only applied to football and boys and girls hoops at the moment). Also saw that George Washington HS in Philly is looking to disband their football program. Thought GW was one of the larger, legacy public schools in Philly. Maybe you PPL/D12 guys can expand on that.
@Wpailguy
What are they suppose to do?? WPIAL/D7 only have 6 6A schools. I’m thinking they are lucky that the PIAA is still allowing them to conduct their own district playoff at this point. They should be in a “western” 8 team subdivision with D6,D8, and D10. Times and demographics change, not always the way people want them too or can control.
July 11th, 2022 at 6:10 pm
Wpial getting screwed with the new state brackets as 5 and 6a games won’t be able to be played at Heinz field because they’re entering state brackets a week early. I guess screwed is a strong word but it stinks not having the two biggest classes at Heinz field. This is what hurts tradition and high school football attendance.
July 8th, 2022 at 12:18 pm
Harry, This hire looks like politics at its best on Myers returning to coaching. I hope that Twin Valley crossed the T’S and Dotted the I’s on Olsen’s termination especially after leading TV to their best season in 15 years in his only season as Head Coach. Myers is going to find out quickly that the talent he had at Middletown is light years ahead of what he’s going to have at Twin Valley.
July 7th, 2022 at 10:33 am
It looks like Brett Myers is about to be back in business as a high school football coach.
The former Middletown Blue Raiders coach is slated to be named head coach at Twin Valley pending board approval on July 18 according to Paul Roberts of BerksSportsReport.com
Roberts said that Myers will continue to work as the assistant principal at Twin Valley Middle School.
July 6th, 2022 at 7:22 pm
Kris Olsen dismissed as Head Football Coach at Twin Valley. This is really weird, Olsen stated he has no idea why he was dismissed, but with heat acclimation practices starting in 30 days and Olsen leading TV to their 1st winning season since 2007 and a playoff birth, their has to be more to the story. Even Mike Drago, who wrote the article about Olsen’s firing is pretty vague about the situation and if he can’t find a reason for the termination no one can.
July 1st, 2022 at 5:24 pm
@ Kevin, I can only speculate at this time ,sinc eI have no insider info on the cancellations. I do know that those two teams have very solid programs and Wood was in a chaotic position with no HC and losing at least 5 solid players to transfer. This should have been avoided for sure. I hope Armstrong can pull the program back together. Wood still has I believe 4 Division 1 players but not at skill positions. Such a shame .
July 1st, 2022 at 11:33 am
@ mcd 65
Since you are our go to Archbishop Wood point person, I just saw on this site that they are looking for two games to start the season. Saw in different places previously a game against Red Bank Catholic in OC to start the season and a game against St. Anthony’s (NY) for their second game. Are both those games off (assuming that they were ever on in the first place) do you know??
Seems like a very choppy off season for Wood.
I know Harrisburg was looking for a Week 1 (OK, or is it still officially Week”0″) some time ago. They still looking?? That could be a nice first game match-up.
June 20th, 2022 at 9:30 pm
@mcd_65 the starting QB just left Wood for Imotep. I am guessing the hire was too late to stop the bleeding.
June 13th, 2022 at 10:56 pm
Dave Armstrong named Head Coach at Archbishop Wood. he was a stud fullback at CB West and recently was an asst coach at Wood. Good luck to him.
June 4th, 2022 at 3:56 pm
Well its June and both Pennridge and Wood are still without a head coach. Whats up here????
May 14th, 2022 at 4:40 pm
Well,Wood lost 2 more starters that had transferred there from McD last year and a there is a mention of another considering it now. Mikw Watkins would not have left Wood if Walp had left earlier. Wood is in a bad situation as it stands now. @ Thomas ,what the devil is going on there??
May 11th, 2022 at 8:13 am
In todays transfer portal era, kids are far more likely to move around. Especially with the 7 on 7 or AAU teams. Community based teams are the rarity anymore and as a result kids are far more likely to change teams.
May 10th, 2022 at 3:53 pm
@Bill it’s 2022 kids transfer ALL OF THE TIME. And look around the PCL and the city as a whole it’s happening in every program. I just saw the other day that a kid is leaving SJP to go back to NJ. Should we sound the alarms on the Prep program? Judge, LaSalle, Ryan etc. lose kids every year as well. This is nothing new.
May 9th, 2022 at 6:19 pm
@SWoods22
I had heard that they had lost a kid or 2 to Northeast. I must have been mistaken. I did hear about the cheltenham transfer as well as another going back to Middletown. It was not just one kid who transferred. Could have been tuition issues, but that is everywhere. This will be a big year for them to take a step forward. Hopefully they finally do.
May 9th, 2022 at 1:18 pm
Anyone hearing about who the candidates are for the Head Coaching positions at Wood and Pennridge ??
May 9th, 2022 at 8:18 am
@Bill can you name the kids who they lost to transfer? They lost 1 player to Cheltenham to my knowledge, 0 to NE. So perhaps it’s one kid transferred, rather than a bunch of kids leaving like you lead on.
May 8th, 2022 at 7:27 pm
Since there seems to be a roll on PCL football talk at the moment, can you guys confirm or correct me on what I see are the classifications on the larger schools in the PCL for the next 2 years:
6A: SJP, LaSalle and Judge, who moves up to 6A
5A: Wood and Roman, both move down from 6A
Everyone else 4A and below.
May 8th, 2022 at 7:07 pm
@Frank
They have alot of talent. But they did lose some to transfer as well which has kind of been under the radar. A couple left for Cheltenham, a few to Northeast high school and other institutions. Do not know the story there, but it may seem that kids and parents are starting to think the same thing you are. Even with the departures they have the talent to do something this year. Whether or not they finally do is another story.
May 8th, 2022 at 10:42 am
@Frank I can see where the disappointment comes from. You probably look online, twitter, instagram, etc. and see all of the offers rolling in for kids on Roman’s roster and then see W’s and L’s and think that doesn’t add up. I get it. But like I said they were very young the past two seasons. This season they have more experience returning and I would think they would be more successful. Can I give you a record prediction, no.
Romans best player last season was a sophomore, he’s 15 years old. Their QB, also a sophomore. Defensive backfield was littered with sophomores and a couple of freshman. These were kids competing against men.
In my opinion the next step would be stacking up some W’s beating some of the tougher opponents on their schedule and fewer let downs against opponents that some may see as inferior.
Without a doubt, they are going to have one of the more talented rosters in the city/state this coming season. Lets see where they stand in November.
May 7th, 2022 at 4:05 pm
@ S Woods22. What is the next step? Aside from the regular season win against LaSalle, I thought Roman was a big disappointment last year.
May 7th, 2022 at 10:43 am
There are a lot of moving pieces at Roman(speaking on the school not program) that create some disadvantages for the program however Coach Prete is doing the most with what he has.
He is attracting tons of talent from all over the city, suburbs and now S. Jersey.
As far as the wins and losses go, keep in mind the team as a whole has been very young. This season is the year I expect them to make the jump. Their junior class, Coach Prete’s first class is very talented and I expect those kids to mature this season and take the next step.
May 6th, 2022 at 5:23 pm
@ BILL, Any school with 17 players with offers [committable or not] indicates colleges have been noticing the talent drifting Romans way, and in turn that school SHOULD be on the rise. I definitely hear you in reference to their on field record. I would think with McD closing more North Philly athletes that may have gone there, will head towards Roman,Northeast and Imhotep. This season will tell a lot about your mention of coaching ability at Roman. They are loaded with talent.
May 6th, 2022 at 4:12 pm
Being 5A means nothing in the wins and loss column. It only matters for playoffs. And 5A still goes the (maybe) Wood and Tep. Romans regular season schedule still consists of the teams they play year in and year out. Don’t expect much difference from them.
May 6th, 2022 at 1:09 pm
@Bill,
I don’t disagree with offers being committable and non. The cycle of things on the rise is the truth about it will come out. If it is as advertised results will match. If it is purely hype, the results will match. Some might argue they have nothing to prove because the expectation has never been high. It’s simply a sound marketing plan bein implemented like never before. They participate in events none of the other PCL school participate in. I don’t necessarily think they are promote a winning team/culture. It appears it’s simply a different one with some different bells and whistles. Prep has the national schedule, ESPN games, deep playoff runs and is top of the pecking order. Roman is carving a space. Could merely be a flash in the pan. I think being in 5A now will increase there wins.
May 6th, 2022 at 12:43 pm
@thejoneses while that is true, how is it not translating to wins on the field? Their schedule is similar to every other pcl team, in fact they have played a few teams from the interac and lower enrollment schools. Offers are also committable and non-committable. There is a difference between the types. And that difference between the types is considerable. I just think there would be more wins and the trend would not be downward if they are all the hype. Players could be being improperly pitched to higher level schools power 5 schools based on raw measurables (which will hurt them long term) or the talent is truly there and the on-field coaching is just not there. Just a strange situation but definitely a talented team with alot to prove.
May 6th, 2022 at 8:52 am
@Bill it depends on your perfective. Roman is drawing talent more now then ever before. The players are getting scholarship offers to play at the next level from Power 5, Group of 5 etc. institutions. Only one team can be the state champion. If you can play, not win a state championship and still get to the next level, Roman becomes a legitimate options for Athletes that would have previously considered LaSalle, Prep and IMOTEP, which they weren’t doing at a high level previously. It is definitely an elevation in standing in my opinion.
May 5th, 2022 at 8:15 pm
Wood definitely has alot of issues right now. Most of which seem to be self inflicted. Roman most certainly is not on the rise. Their record actually got worse over the years despite bringing in talent. That team has the most to prove given all the buzz they attempt to generate for themselves on different websites and social sites.
May 5th, 2022 at 2:41 pm
Does anyone know where Mike Watkins is coaching now ?? Thomas C. Im sure Wood did good by the guys that left. I have 3 kids that attended Wood and each one had a positive experience there. I just wonder what the heck happened with those two since they apparently had no issues at McDevitt for their first 2 years before the school closed.
May 5th, 2022 at 10:15 am
As far as the kids getting expelled…i hear it was a “transfer now or be expelled” type of thing. Lots to unravel at Wood. Gotto assume with most assistants leaving and no positions being filled, that there was something going on within the staff. Is Watkins next in line?
May 5th, 2022 at 9:07 am
@mcd65: regarding the ‘transfers,’ Wood did what was best for the kids despite not having to, nor should they have IMO. These kids were not good students academically or disciplinary wise. Regarding the program – what happened is the program changed hands three times over and the third hire was an absolute disaster. Devlin took what he had learned at SJ Prep and implemented it at a school that had the makings of being a good team (none of us ever expected that grand success they had). He then passed it off to Kyle A. who knew exactly what it took to continue that, and he played for Devlin. This current (well now former HC) just was not at all a good hire – he wanted to do it his way and that way was never successful let alone with a program that was used to winning state championships.
May 5th, 2022 at 8:34 am
@mcd 65: regarding the ‘transfers,’ Wood did what was best for the kids despite not having to, nor should they have IMO. These kids were not good students academically or disciplinary wise. Regarding the program – what happened is the program changed hands three times over and the third hire was an absolute disaster. Devlin took what he had learned at SJ Prep and implemented it at a school that had the makings of being a good team (none of us ever expected that grand success they had). He then passed it off to Kyle A. who knew exactly what it took to continue that, and he played for Devlin. This current (well now former HC) just was not at all a good hire – he wanted to do it his way and that way was never successful let alone with a program that was used to winning state championships.
May 5th, 2022 at 8:28 am
GO FIGURE – I checked in with someone closely involved and you’re right – it’s being chalked-up as the good ole’ gentleman’s leave.’ I’m being told it was to save face and protect the kids (which I’m sure helps them in the long run with that thing called accountability…).
May 5th, 2022 at 8:08 am
@mcd_65 I think the plan was for him to take over because Walps was supposed to step down and said he wasn’t. He was staying one more year so he took a position elsewhere, which many weren’t happy with. I too was shocked about the players being expelled. Sad but true. Wood is in shambles right now. Roman looks to be on the rise.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:08 pm
@ Thomas C.
They were expelled? Are you sure about that? If they were, THE PIAA CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS Article 6 Section 6 states:
Transfers Following Expulsion or Anticipated Expulsion.
Not withstanding the provisions of Section 3 of the article, a student who is expelled from a school, or who withdraws pending likely expulsion, for conduct which, had the student been allowed to remain at the sending school, would likely have resulted in loss of the opportunity to participate in interscholastic athletics at that school is ineligible to participate in interscholastic athletics at the receiving school for a period of one year from the date of transfer or, if the student demonstrates by compelling evidence that the period of ineligibility at the sending school would have
been less, for the demonstrated period of ineligibility at the sending school.
Where a school has prohibited a student from participating in interscholastic athletics at the school, the student shall be ineligible to participate in interscholastic athletics at any other PIAA member school for the shorter of (1) one year from the imposition of the school’s prohibition, or (2) the period that the student would have been prohibited from participating at his/her school.
So will District 12 follow their own bylaws or will they ‘let it slide’ at it as usual?
May 4th, 2022 at 7:34 pm
@ Thomases, I know what I read and that was both transferred. So whats up with the football program . This is upsetting after so many years of success.
May 4th, 2022 at 7:31 pm
Mcd 65 – also, was just informed that Walps has resigned.
May 4th, 2022 at 7:29 pm
@ Jonses, Whats up with Mike Watkins ,former McD HC.? I would think he would have been taking over at Wood.
May 4th, 2022 at 7:22 pm
Mcd 65 – please do some homework, man. Neither player you mentioned (Tyrese, Semaj) ‘transferred,’ they were expelled.
Also, the problem is the assistants were/are growing tired of the coaching style and environment Walp’s is trying to implement. The OC resigned, OL/DL coach resigned, DB coach hired to be HC at Radnor.
Lastly, Tyrese and Semaj are talented kids but to be dismissed from Wood is incredibly hard to achieve – that should be all you need to know about those two.
May 4th, 2022 at 7:20 pm
Mcd 65 – please do some homework, man. Neither player you mentioned (Tyrese, Semaj) ‘transferred,’ they were expelled.
Also, the problem is the assistants were/are growing tired of the coaching style and environment Walp’s is trying to implement. The OC resigned, OL/DL coach resigned, DB coach hired to be HC at Radnor.
Lastly, Tyrese and Semaj are talented kids but to be dismissed from Wood is incredibly hard to achieve – that should be all you need to know about those two.
May 4th, 2022 at 4:18 pm
@mcd_65- I don’t think the exodus is complete. I was told Wood has not hired a new OC there which isn’t making some on the offense feel comfortable going into junior year.
May 4th, 2022 at 5:25 am
@ Foleman, I think the rosters on max preps are pretty much left up to the head coach of each school to provide info. PJP is actually been much better with providing info. I saw all PJPs games last year. From what I can see I think most of the key players minus Williams are back. Most are from traditional PJP familes. I did see one linemen that looks like is no longer there. Not sure who the receiver is that may have gone to Perk Valley. PJP actually plays Chestnut Hill again this year.I agree that he isnt big enough to play at Div one level. I could see a div 2 school taking a chance on him. A player with that kind of speed could be a factor in the return game and get reps at receiver.
May 3rd, 2022 at 11:39 am
Irish1, those Maxpreps roster’s are cut and paste from the previous season and are not 100% accurate. I heard that 2 lineman are at Pottsgrove, 1 receiver is at Perkiomen Valley and Williams is at Chestnut Hill Academy. From what I heard about Williams was that he was not happy with the offers he was getting and he thinks he is a Division 1 player. Williams is fast and a good HS player, but played at 135lbs last year and missed a few games due to injury. At 135, he’s not even a Division 2 player, and shame on any school that he was talking to that was telling the kid they can get him a Div 1 ship.
May 3rd, 2022 at 10:15 am
Archbishop Wood lost its second Division 1 LB to transfer. the first was semaj Bridgeman to Imhotep. He has offers from about 35 schools including almost every SEC school. .Alabama and Georgia were the most recent offers. Tyrese Whitaker has transferred to Northeast . I WAS expecting Wood to be a solid contender for a 5 A run ,however this has certainly changed the scenario for sure. Im wondering if there is something awry going on there.
May 1st, 2022 at 6:12 am
@foleman, Looking at max preps roster for pjp I only see two transferes a lineman and Williams. Surprised to see a senior and captain transfere. Any word on a reason? Only thing I can think of is if they need Graver was thinking of leaving. Reed was an assistant coach on last year’s team. They had a solid staff guessing some went with Graver. Getting Reed is very solid hire
April 28th, 2022 at 9:03 am
Irish1, glad to see Reed get the Head Coaching job at PJP, he will do a good job there, I was hoping PJP would stay in house. First order of business for Reed is to stop the bleeding as 4 kids transferred out which included Lightning quick wingback and captain Kece Williams, there could be more transfers that I don’t know about.
April 27th, 2022 at 8:52 am
Foleman…. You are very right. The problem is that people don’t want to give up their fiefdoms and when schools have debt, mergers mean schools have to take in the other schools debts. You also have the problem of parents not wanting to bring in certain areas or classes of people. I’ll leave it at that buts certain districts will not want mergers. For every Central Valley, there is a Woodland Hills type merger that has led to a lot of unhappy people. I think beaver county is a great example though. You have New Brighton, Beaver falls, Rochester, Beaver, Freedom and Western Beaver all within 10 minutes of each other, none of the schools are larger than 4A.. and all but beaver have dwindling student populations. And you may see more people move into the area if the school is bigger and can provide more resources for their kids.
April 26th, 2022 at 9:16 pm
Is there anyone from Districts 5/6 than can outline the new football league memberships for this upcoming season and/or that following season? Is United Valley a new school? Much appreciated
April 26th, 2022 at 8:19 am
PA needs to put politics aside and place the taxpayers first, so many small School districts could merge and save the taxpayers millions but the local politicians……many of them who attended these schools don’t have the will to close these schools. One more thing, the number of school age children is dropping dramatically across the State. My Local Public SD was a 6A school 10 years ago, a 5A School 5 years ago and now is a 4A school. Less kids in the Public SD means less athletes at these schools and when a star athlete transfers from a Pub to a private, it really hurts the local Pub SD, if more schools followed the Central Valley model of consolidation then maybe we would see more Pubs able to compete against the Private schools in sports.
April 25th, 2022 at 6:35 pm
Scott Reed is new head coach at PJP. Former head coach at Perk Valley where he won two Pac Ten titles
April 22nd, 2022 at 7:40 am
Kevin x
I have been a big proponent of school district consolidation. There are too many small districts. Most of the development and families are moving into new suburbs and not the old steel towns.
April 21st, 2022 at 11:38 pm
It is being widely reported out here (WPIAL) that Eric Kasperowicz will be named the new head coach at Mars Area high school. Mars Area is a 4A school immediately to the north of Pine-Richland. Its also being reported he already owns a house there and his son (who would have been starting QB at P-R) will be transferring to Mars. Mars will compete in the same classification as Thomas Jefferson, Aliquippa, Central Valley, and North Catholic.
April 21st, 2022 at 2:03 pm
@ Wpialguy
Thanks for the reply. I’ll stay out of this for the time being other than to say it would be interesting to see the WPIAL go after separate public/private WPIAL playoffs than regular season contests. Also, I think the bigger issue out your way is demographics, that being a dwindling younger population mixed with too many small schools/school districts. Would not be surprised in the next 10-15-20 years of seeing some big time school district consolidation throughout the state, especially out west, which would drastically change the landscape.
I’m guessing you probably saw this doozy of an article/situation:
https://tribhssn.triblive.com/simmering-public-vs-private-dispute-leads-bishop-canevin-contingent-to-protest-at-carlynton-track-meet/
April 19th, 2022 at 10:22 am
Kevin x… right now the smaller schools are the ones leading this charge. There are only two private schools in wpial 4A or above.. north Catholic and central Catholic. Those two schools will play publics no matter what.
In the smaller classes, you have a lot of private schools. In essence, the public schools don’t want to be put into sections with the private schools and don’t want to play them in the regular season. Their reasoning is that these schools can poach the athletes they see as the best on the public school teams after seeing them in The regular season. They want to have the private schools compete in their own section and then enter the playoffs. It could work as you could have a section with
Seton lasalle, greensburg cc, Serra c, OLSH, bishop Canevin, Imani Christian and shady side academy, And more basketball schools like sewickley academy, Eden, Geibel.
In essence, there were schools who were poaching athletes that were in the same section and the schools were leading teams to wins against schools they played for last year. For small schools, this hurts, as 1 and 2a schools sometimes have only a few good athletes, so if they are poached it hurts.
April 18th, 2022 at 10:36 am
@ EPA’s Western PA Correspondent Bureau guys:
So is the WPIAL going to reorganized their sections, conferences, etc. into separate public and private divisions?? They really did get stung pretty good by those D12 teams in the hoops tourney didn’t they. Guess the PIAA isn’t going to do anything further in the public/private debate, so this is how D7 intends to take matters into their own hands?? I don’t get it, but maybe you guys can enlighten me. I also heard another option is to reclassify teams based on competitiveness and not so much strictly on enrollment. That I get. Would go back to the traditional enrollment classifications for the playoffs, but regular season at least theoretically would have some semblance of a competitive balance, and therefore better, more enjoyable/watchable games.
April 18th, 2022 at 9:43 am
@Foleman, also never saw this coming. He had PJP program rolling. I guess getting a higher paying teacher job might have something to do with it,but Wissahicken doesnt draw great talent and seems to go thru coaches every few yrs. PJP has been on such an upswing,didnt really hear anything about players transferring out. Its a shame this happens at late stage with August not far off. Hope they are able to bring in a quality coach.
April 14th, 2022 at 10:01 am
WOW! Pope John Paul’s Rory Graver named Head Coach at Wissahickon. Didn’t see this one coming at all, Graver completely turned around a program that was dead in the water and in my opinion is one of the top offensive minds in the State. I thought he might leave for a college program but not for a Pa Public School program. PJP would seem to be a better job due to the large geographic area it has to draw from VS a Wissahickon. I am wondering what led to his leaving? I heard a few studs were looking to transfer out of PJP a few mos ago. I don’t think it would be difficult for PJP to find a top notch coach to replace him whether it’s internal or external.
April 12th, 2022 at 7:58 am
What’s interesting is that North Catholic, located a mile or 2 from Mars and who plays at Mars’ home field for their home games will be in 4A and the same section as Mars. Kasperowicz will no doubt have to get kids to return from North Catholic and play at Mars instead. Mars ran the wing T offense. Kasperowicz runs a pass heavy offense. Will be a year or two of growing pains in my opinion but they should be a good team. I would also expect Mars to be on the edge of 4/5a every two years. Also Mars and Pine Richland are mostly the same socioeconomic status, made up of suburb housing plans. The districts intertwine with each other in certain neighborhoods. I wouldn’t be surprised if some Pine Richland players end up in the Mars district as a result.
April 11th, 2022 at 9:38 pm
It is being widely reported out here (WPIAL) that Eric Kasperowicz will be named the new head coach at Mars Area high school. Mars Area is a 4A school immediately to the north of Pine-Richland. Its also being reported he already owns a house there and his son (who would have been starting QB at P-R) will be transferring to Mars. Mars will compete in the same classification as Thomas Jefferson, Aliquippa, Central Valley, and North Catholic.
March 26th, 2022 at 4:47 pm
Well it happened. All 10 hoop games that involved a private/catholic/charter school won their respective games. That include all 6 boys games. I believe the PIAA will be getting an earful, directly and indirectly, with these results. Curious to see if there will be any reactions or comments by the PIAA. I understand that they shut off/disabled their Twitter “reply to.”
Don’t know if it was a one off for football this past season with the true publics taking 5 of 6 championships. Guess we’ll see in about 9 months.
@ Foleman, I agree, if Reading was full strength going into states, I believe that they would at least be playing tonight.
March 26th, 2022 at 8:24 am
When the Public and then Catholic Leagues joined the PIAA, it was pretty much a given that they would be the dominant force in Hoops across the State in Boys and Girls Basketball. Basketball is a city game, and when you factor in the number of kids to chose from, their’s a lot more 6’6 hoops players in the Philadelphia area Vs a coal mining town. I do think Reading would have won 6A again if their Center didn’t get hurt before the playoffs. Reading also has 2000+ boys to chose from. I think the playing field is starting to even out in Football, hoops is a different story, you only need a couple of stud basketball players in the starting 5 to be a powerhouse. Kennedy Catholic won the 6A title a few years ago and they were a Class A school. Will be interesting to see if Bridgeman is ruled eligible for the playoffs at Imhotep in Football, if he is, the PIAA should just throw out all the transfer rules.
March 25th, 2022 at 9:34 am
A slight correction on my part, as I stated that 11 of the 12 hoops champions could be private/non boundary schools, but make that only 10 of 12. Both the 2A and 6A girls games are all public boundary match-ups. Off to a good start, 4 of 4 champs are in the private/catholic/charter/otherwise non boundary category. The Twitterverse is very much enjoying this 🙂
Football question, District 4’s Jersey Shore, are the playing 4A or 5A the next two years?? Thought they got bumped up to 5A. If so, did they loose their appeal?? Did they even appeal or just accept it??
March 24th, 2022 at 10:33 am
Basketball is just another level. Imhotep is nationally ranked, with a kid who won a state championship in Tennessee last year. Imhotep plays public new castle. Neumann gorretti plays public Quaker valley. And poor Freedom area girls from out here in district 7 have reached the schools first ever basketball state championship and play Neumann Goreti girls. OLSH is one win away for tying the state record for wins in a row at 68. Private schools are definitely dominating basketball
March 24th, 2022 at 10:30 am
Fair enough. I guess there is a different side to every story
March 24th, 2022 at 9:01 am
I see that LaSalle is back playing North Penn (@ North Penn) in the first game of the 2022 regular season (so it that Week 0 or Week 1??). Then North Penn travels up Rte. 309 to Quakertown for their second game of the season. I don’t recall them playing Q-Town recently. That would have been a good game last year.
March 23rd, 2022 at 2:30 pm
Commute wasn’t the reason Bridgeman moved on from Wood. Maybe it had something to do with him being dismissed from the school…
March 23rd, 2022 at 10:55 am
I’ll take some liberties with post since it is the off season and it has been fairly quiet around here up until the past few days. Tomorrow starts the final 3 days of the winter sports season for the PIAA with the basketball championships in Hershey. Being the instigator that I can be at times, I’ll give this sleeping bear a big poke, that being one of our occasional favorite topics of private/catholic/non boundary schools versus public boundary schools. For those of you who may not be aware, there are 24 teams competing in both boys and girls divisions, with 15 of those 24 teams being non-boundary schools. Or another way to look at it, only a third of the teams that are playing for a state championship are public boundary schools. I think this conversation/debate was at least temporarily put on the back burner for football as the WPIAL took care of business in December against McDevitt, Imhotep and SJP. It is conceivable, come Saturday evening, there could be 11 of 12 champions in basketball this year that are non boundary schools.
March 22nd, 2022 at 7:21 pm
WPIAL guy, Bridgeman lives a great distance from Wood ,and close to Imhotep as well as McD. He tried the commute to Wood since many of his teamates from McD went there. I dont blame him , the bus ride one way is over an hour.
March 22nd, 2022 at 3:10 pm
WPIALguy, Welcome to SE PA. Did you notice none of the schools was his local public school? In fairness, as was said, McDevitt (Philly) did close, so he had to transfer at least once.
March 22nd, 2022 at 10:36 am
3rd school in 4 years for that kid? Wonder how long into his college career he will be in the portal.
March 18th, 2022 at 4:25 pm
@Mcd_65 Yes that transfer was huge. I had Wood ready to contend for a state championship as well. It definitely changes the landscape.
March 16th, 2022 at 6:42 pm
Semaj Bridgeman LB/TE from Archbishop Wood formerly from McD which closed , is transferring to Imhotep. I thought Wood had the makings of a very good year and would challenge TEP for District 12 ,5 A title and maybe States. With this one transfer , it changes this scenario for sure. Bridgeman has 35 offers at last count including Georgia ,Texas A@M, Michigan ,Florida ,Florida State ,PennState among others. Too bad for the Vikings. Imhotep was already pretty loaded as usual.
March 1st, 2022 at 10:46 am
Mike Mischler retires as Erie Cathedral Prep’s Football Coach, 20 years at the school, 23 total in HS. Many thought he would resign when his son graduated and he won his last State Championship. One of the top coaches in Pennsylvania-(5 State Titles), he will remain as Director of Facilities at ECP. He’s still young enough to get a college coaching position somewhere, I doubt he goes back to Coaching High School. Class act through and through.
February 28th, 2022 at 12:04 pm
@ Drew
@ Foleman
@ FrankG
@ 4th
@ Route 54
Thanks for your responses guys. I may chime in more later with all of this.
February 28th, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Very interesting and detailed article on the bidding for the football championship games. For those of you thinking that they should be at Penn State, their bid was absolutely hilarious, and then add in the James Franklin angle. Plus the natural grass field.
I have no issue moving the games out of Hershey. Hershey had its pluses and minuses, but not enough pluses to keep them there year after year. I’d personally love to see the championship weekend moved around the state year to year, or every two years within their classification cycle. My question is though, if there is a delay or issue with the instillation of the new turf at CV, then what?? Hope they have a “Plan B.” Lots of potentially negative moving parts, supply chain issues/product availability, labor issues/availability, cost overruns, build quality, who knows what else can rear its ugly head in today’s world.
https://www.altoonamirror.com/sports/scholastic-sports/football/2022/02/piaa-bidding-war-altoona-proposal-included-free-rent/
February 27th, 2022 at 8:59 am
Responding to PIAA move of Championship games.
They got it right. Hershey was getting stagnant for location. The Penn staters wanted happy valley to land DI players. The committee got it right with Cumberland. Time for change.
February 26th, 2022 at 4:21 pm
@Kevin X
If I’m understanding correctly the WPIAL voted to not let Butler compete in D10 this cycle . Butler appealed and lost. D10 won’t let them in either unless the WPIAL allows it.
Originally left to compete in D10 because of low numbers. Program has grown in recent years so WPIAL says they need to be in WPIAL. Butler still holds that they don’t have the ability to compete on a weekly basis yet and won’t play in WPIAL.
They will not be eligible for any playoffs this cycle.
February 24th, 2022 at 5:22 pm
Kevin X, this is what I have for who’s moving up and down:
Redbank Valley (1A -> 2A)-Appealed, staying at 1A
Bishop Guilfoyle (1A -> 2A)
Southern Columbia (2A )-Staying at 2A after appeal, mixed feelings on this one, they are just too good for 2A, you would think they would want a challenge for a couple of years.
Central Valley (3A -> 4A) Enrollment growth causing the move up to 4A
Wyomissing (3A -> 4A)-Appealed the ruling a 2nd time and won, staying at 3A, stated a transfer was homeless, parents divorced etc, not buying a word of it but it worked.
Aliquippa (4A -> 5A)-Appealed-Staying at 4A due to blowback from all over the State and that they are already playing up 3 classes
Jersey Shore (4A -> 5A) Moving up to 5A
Cathedral Prep (5A -> 6A)-Appealed, Staying at 5A, cited blowouts to TEP and Pine Richland the last 2 years in the playoffs, Population really declining in Erie, Villa Marie and ECP merging next year to from 1 coed school.
Lackawanna Trail (2A)-Appealed, staying at 1A
Farrell (2A)-Appealed lost, now 2A
Imhotep (5A)
Archbishop Wood (6A -> 5A)-Back in 5A, TEP and Wood will battle once again for East Supremacy.
So 5/6 appeals won. Why even keep this stupid rule. Base it on on the field results and do not include the transfers. Once again the PIAA doesn’t get it right.
February 24th, 2022 at 4:46 pm
@Kevin X
I understand Hershey had its downsides, e.g. shabby locker rooms, a mediocre playing surface, but it had tradition and felt like it was a bigger stage than a usual high school field / stadium.
As someone asked on another board, how is Cumberland going to handle games on Thursday and Friday without closing the school on both days? It does, however,look large enough for the crowds that have been attending in recent years. That means there’ll be a be a better atmosphere than in a 15-25% filled Hershey Park.
Penn State’s stadium would make even a good crowd (e.g. 8-10 thousand) look small and would make most of the crowds of recent years (2-5 thousand) look tiny. Hard to imagine it would be a good atmosphere–and it would be harder to get to for people from the Eastern part of the state. I assume the drive from Pittsburgh is about the same as the drove from Pittsburgh to Hershey. Correct me if I’m wrong about that.
If you’re just thinking about the site itself and not the travel, Bucknell strikes me as ideal: bigger and nicer than any high school stadium but not overwhelming. I doubt the PIA would pay the cost, though.
A big problem is that with six classifications the games are now spread over three days. That makes hosting difficult or impossible for many sites.
February 24th, 2022 at 2:40 pm
Not a D3 guy (never even heard of CV) but my understanding is they are going to have an 8K+ seat stadium, new press box, Jumbotron, new locker rooms, two turf practice fields. IDK if PIAA is covering some of those costs, but sounds top notch and it underbid Hershey.
February 24th, 2022 at 12:26 pm
Can any of you D10/NW or D7/WPIAL guys fill me in on what the heck is going on with Butler?? Guess I’m just too lazy to research or look into the situation myself, but what are they, D10, D7, ostracized from both and potential subsequent district playoffs and therefore any PIAA state playoff possibilities?? Looks like another fine district and/or PIAA mess that has been gotten into (at least to these eyes from the other side of the state).
February 24th, 2022 at 8:19 am
I’m guessing most of you guys have already heard that the PIAA is moving the football championship games 20-25 miles west from Hershey to Cumberland Valley High School (along with soccer and field hockey (FH formerly at Whitehall HS)) for the next 4 years. I believe the the other options/choices were Altoona, Penn State and remaining at Hershey. Any thoughts, comments?? Curious to know from you D3 guys, or anyone who has been to a game at CV, how do you think it will work out.
February 23rd, 2022 at 2:27 pm
Route 54, Wyo signed a 2 year home and home contract with S. Columbia in 2020, the 2020 game was cancelled due to covid. Berks County has merged with the Lancaster Lebanon league next year to form a super league, Wyo, along with Berks Catholic are going to play in Div 4A, one division up as they are both 3A schools. They might not have room on the schedule for S. Columbia or the schedule just might have been a little too tough as they will be playing Berks Catholic, Pottsville, Cocalico, Conrad Weiser and Lampeter-Strasburg which is very difficult for a 3A school.
February 22nd, 2022 at 10:19 am
I was informed back in October that SCA would play Wyomissing again in 2022. Now I’m being told that it has changed. Anyone know why? Wyomissing had no troubles with them. Wyomissing could have hung 60 on them if they wanted.
February 21st, 2022 at 8:16 am
Hey guys, anybody have a final (if it is final) list of schools that are actually being moved up in classification do to the success formula?? The bits and pieces I’ve seen, it appears just about everyone was winning their appeals. Bishop Guilfoyle (and ECP??) the only team(s) moving up?? Central Valley is moving up, but that is due to increased enrollment I believe. I also understand Wood and Lackawanna Trail are moving down in classification. Anybody else in this category (of schools that have been moved up previously)??
Also, any idea of how the playoff brackets will look over the next 2-year cycle?? Any interesting changes??
February 20th, 2022 at 4:19 pm
Buddy, 4th & Forever:
Here is an article from a few years back regarding EITC credits and the BLOCS program in Montgomery County… I have attached the link to the entire article but copied the nuts and bolts of the program. This is totally legal.. What is interesting is that the BLOCS funding can be directed to specific directives of the LLC and 96% of the funds are directed that way.
https://www.penncapital-star.com/education/eitc-explained-how-pennsylvanias-educational-tax-credit-program-works/
Since 2001, Pennsylvania’s EITC program has allowed businesses and individuals to lower their tax bills by donating to private schools, scholarship organizations, pre-K programs, and other educational enrichment initiatives. The bulk of the tax credits — $110 million per year — are reserved for donors that give to scholarship organizations, which provide financial aid to children attending K-12 private schools. Businesses can donate up to $750,000 each year to EITC-eligible organizations, and then claim 75 percent of that donation as a credit that offsets their state tax bill. The credit can increase to 90 percent if they commit to donate funds for two consecutive years. For instance, a business that pledges a $100,000 donation for two consecutive years could receive a $90,000 credit each year, which chops $90,000 off their tax bill. Critics of the EITC program say it deprives the state of potential tax revenue and subsidizes private school tuition for families that choose to leave public schools. But lawmakers who support EITC tout it as a win-win for businesses and school students. The businesses get attractive tax credits that encourage them to stay in Pennsylvania, they say, and students get scholarships that offer them an alternative to public schools. The program is most popular in Montgomery County, where businesses and individuals claimed $35 million in tax credits on $39 million in charitable gifts. Some of the largest contributors to EITC programs are Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs). These “special purpose entities” represent individual donors giving to private charities, according to Bill O’Brien, executive director of Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools, a leading recipient of EITC funds. O’Brien’s organization, which predominantly grants scholarships to children attending Catholic schools in the Philadelphia area, operates more than a dozen organizations named BLOCS Scholarships LLC. Those groups were some of the largest donors to EITC programs last year, giving a total of $15.6 million to claim $14 million in tax credits. O’Brien said the LLCs represent hundreds of individuals who donate to the BLOCS scholarship fund. The foundation passes the tax credits on to its donors, and manages the special purpose entities to save them the headache of doing it themselves, he said. O’Brien said that most of the donors are “high-net-worth” individuals making sizable gifts. Individual donations usually start at $5,000, he said, but most are closer to $15,000 or $20,000. The vast majority of EITC donations fund private school scholarships for children whose families meet certain income criteria. BLOCS was the single largest recipient of EITC contributions last year, taking in $18.5 million in contributions, according to DCED data.
The vast majority of the children who receive BLOCS scholarships go to Catholic schools, where tuition can run $4,500 for elementary students and up to $10,000 for high schoolers, O’Brien said. O’Brien said that poorer families may receive larger grants that offset most of their tuition. But most families pay at least something out of pocket to finance their children’s private education, he said. “Families pay what they can — maybe $100 to $50 a month — because we want [them] to have some skin in the game,” O’Brien said. “This is a decision they are making for their child, and we want them to want it. If you’re just giving it away it doesn’t do anyone any good, but we try to help as many families as we can.”
Since the state doesn’t collect data on the income level of children who receive scholarships, Williams argues, there’s no way to know if the scholarships make private education accessible to low-income children, or simply subsidize families whose children would enroll in private schools anyway. “What I’m concerned about is that there is virtually no accountability,” Williams said in a Senate Education Committee meeting last week. “We don’t have hard facts about who is benefitting and how these kids are doing in the schools.”
February 19th, 2022 at 3:43 pm
Joneses, all of the schools in FCS have the same recruiting/scholarship limits unless further restricted by their school or conference. In Pennsylvania HS football there are different rules for where a school’s players can come from. Public schools are supposed to play with the kids in their individual school boundaries, though some districts like Philly have open enrollment. Private schools have no boundaries. City limits, county and even state lines mean nothing. On the flip side, most of the kids in private schools have to pay to attend. Regardless, I’d hardly call that the same rules.
February 18th, 2022 at 8:45 am
4th & Forever your right and it actually proves my point. First we know PIAA rules are the same for All schools. Many state and believe in their minds SJP has a different set of PIAA rules. They do not. NDSU example just merely shows people will always complain when things are they way they want them.
February 16th, 2022 at 6:48 pm
Joneses, unlike SJP, NDSU plays by the same rules as everyone else in FCS. As far as Aliquippa and SC, I think they should be allowed to compete at whatever level the want, at or above their natural enrollment classification. I think forcing schools that play by the same rules as everyone else to move up a classification because of the “Success Formula” is ham fisted at best.
February 15th, 2022 at 5:24 pm
Foleman, I can’t give you all of the reasons why individual schools football fortunes wax and wane. In general, sports (especially football) participation is down. When I was in HS, all but a couple of the “football type” (strong, athletic) kids at least gave the game a shot. Now there are a lot of kids who are physically made for the game who want no part of it. Places where football is more a part of the culture no doubt do better, but that trend of decreasing participation is almost universal across the country. The PCL might have always been the best league in the state, but its participation in state playoffs coincides with the decline of District One.
As far as your son… that sucks. There’s probably not enough tape for a PWO offer, and those rarely lead to scholarships at most schools. If he’s interested in continuing to play, his coach can reach out to small colleges and explain the situation. D2 schools often won’t offer significant aid until your sophomore year anyway. D2 football is in a weird niche most places, but it’s still fairly strong in PA. D3 is also an option, but no $ and he doesn’t have the tape for the coaches to help him with the admissions department, so he’s going to qualify strictly on his academic record with no push from football. Best of luck to him.
February 15th, 2022 at 3:57 pm
@4th & Forever, I don’t like name calling, however, anyone who thinks one division just needs to try harder is a moron. I think good coaching and preparation can be a gauge. No one has the ability to simply say they need to work harder. The western PA request should be answer grant as you stated because it mirrors the what happens in the SE.
Wow Foleman that really sucks. Especially bc the AD didn’t know the rules that governs the tasks he was hired to perform.
It doesn’t end at the HS level as I was reading once North Dakota state won yet another FCS national championship people were calling for them to be forced to move up to D1 A. They one every year from 2011-2021 missing only 2016.
February 15th, 2022 at 11:08 am
4th & Forever, the Catholic League for decades was the most powerful league in the State hands down. For example CB West had the longest win streak in the State at 55 games and just came off a State Championship, who stopped the streak? The Catholic Leagues Cardinal O’Hara, which ended up with 6-4 record. Changing demographics in Philadelphia caused the weakening of both the Catholic and Public League-many stud Catholic football players today head to St. Joe Prep and TEP is where where many of the Public School stud football players go. Prep was an also ran in the Catholic League for years until Gil Brooks took over, Prep always got football players in the Philadelphia area and S. Jersey to go there but nothing like today. How TEP gets all those players to go there is another story, Prep is one of the top academic schools in the region, TEP was almost closed due to poor test scores a few years back. I will give you District 1 was better a few decades ago but the Inter Ac schools were there back then and the Ridley’s, N. Penn’s, Coatesville’s, Neshamany’s, Downingtown’s, and CB Wests-(the latter 2 were 1 large school back then) were much better than they are today and it’s not due to Private School Poaching. A few years ago, I watched District 1 Champ Downingtown West play District 3 Central Dauphin in the State Playoffs, I was STUNNED how small Dwest was and that they only had a few good football players, CD scored every time they had the ball, scored 65 points and could have scored 100 if they wanted to. 2A S. Columbia and 3A Wyomissing and Central Valley would have beaten District 1 6A Champ Garnet Valley this year. My son went to the local Private school which was a powerhouse in football, the Public school football team was trash and not a very good school academically, quickly found out the Private school was promoting 2 Div 1 running backs at the expense of my son, transfers to Public School his Sr year, the AD at the Public School didn’t know we could appeal the transfer and be eligible right away, he sits out the 1st 3 games, scores several TD’S in his 1st couple of games he was eligible, then he twisted his ankle and broke his hand the next game, end of scholarship.
February 15th, 2022 at 9:42 am
Joneses, I admit I’m a broken record (I wonder how many even understand that reference) on the public vs. private subject. I just found the move by the small public schools in western PA to be a pretty small ask. Being from the SE, I admittedly don’t know a lot about schools outside of D1 and D12 and didn’t realize the request to split privates and publics is primarily driven by basketball. However, I do take issue with the “D1 sucks, you just need to try harder” narrative. From ’96-’04 D1 had a finalist in 4A every single year. It wasn’t just one school, either. CBW, NP, Neshaminy and the combined Downingtown all made the finals. Since then, there have been two D1 teams to make the finals, the last in 2012 and both lost. The top talent didn’t suddenly take a nose dive, it just went somewhere else and now those public schools are playing against their own kids. SJP has made every final since 6A was instituted and the lower classifications are similarly stacked. The “D1 (and D12 public) coaches and players are lazy” mantra is demonstrably BS. In a state where public schools outnumber privates 8:1, individual public schools will catch lightning in a bottle and win a lot of championships and they deserve kudos. Aliquippa is nationally recognized and SC is a truly amazing program, but at the top classifications individual publics can’t match the year in year out dominance of the D12 private schools. I don’t know if there’s a solution, but I tire of the “D1 sucks” comments… things are different in the SE.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:31 pm
@4th & Forever I was wondering when we would come back to this narrative. Are we saying MT Leebo taught us nothing? That was not fluke to me being there live. Maybe the players and Coaches there not only worked their butts off, but also didn’t believe they were at a disadvantage against Prep? We didn’t make it deep into the year before it went back to the same ole stuff. Are we really saying no one else can do that with their typical talent pool? I don’t know much about MT Leebo. Did they have a bunch of transfers this year. I think Freedom made the semi-finals for the first time this past season. Where private schools in their way the entire time?
February 13th, 2022 at 7:31 pm
Shout out to the D7 (WPIAL) guys… Tyler Boyd&Aaron Donald. #WESTSIDEBESTSIDE D7. #WPIAL
February 12th, 2022 at 12:48 am
Just saw Northern Lehigh’s 2022 schedule on the school website. They will be A next year. They will be playing a tough 3A schedule again vs North Schuylkill, Northwestern and Notre Dame green pond. They could be 6-4 and be a favorite not only in dist 11A but eastern A. Return entire lines, TE, and four skills starters (from a team that made final 4 in AA last year). And they wouldn’t have to play southern if they went deep into playoffs….or Bishop G who moved up. Watch Northern Lehigh in A next year. Would love to see a Northern Lehigh-Old Forge state playoff game!
February 10th, 2022 at 1:02 pm
The smaller public schools are the schools leading this charge. The smaller publics have been the ones hurt by the smaller privates. Specifically in basketball. Bishop Canevin is beating every single a team by 40 plus. In 2a, OLSH set the longest winning streak in the WPIAL history at 64 games. These smaller schools with 30 kids on a football roster are decimated if one or two of their best players leave. The AD’s have said if they play them in the playoffs so be it, but they don’t want to play these teams in the regular season and give them a look at their best players who they can then take the next year.
February 9th, 2022 at 9:52 pm
Foleman, you’ll get no argument that the PIAA transfer rules are a mess. However, D1 was a dominant football district until about two decades ago and Philly even had some decent programs. In basketball, Philly public school competition was legendary. Then something happened that made the privates more attractive. At first, it was the chance for a better, or for many, a religious education. Those reasons have always existed. I suspect as some of those schools won, they were able to attract talent that just wanted to win or play against the best. Whatever the reasons, it’s not whining because the results are undeniable. You left out NG, LaSalle, and pretty most of the Inter-Academic in your list of schools that are getting the D1 talent. 80% of the schools in the SE are public, but over 80% of the “blue chip” football talent and about 2/3 of all D1 players come from private schools or Imhotep. The handful of publics that are still competitive tend to be further out like Coatsville, Downingtown, and NP. This isn’t a new thing, or unique to SE PA, but the degree of private school dominance hasn’t been seen before to my knowledge.
What does it all mean? We don’t have a level playing field and calling it whining ignores the reality of the situation and is demeaning to the players and coaches busting their tails out there only to come up short on natural talent. I find the public schools desire to separate the private schools out west into a separate league to me modest, bordering on naive, but things are different out there as well.
Curious about your son and why he went to a private, then transferred back to a public and how it cost him a scholarship? None of my business if you don’t want to expand on it. I lacked D1 talent, but in the end, I loved the small college experience. School was always first, because there was no scholarship to hold over your head and the coaches understood that. Between financial aid and first shot at the easy “work-study” jobs, the debt was pretty minimal, but it was admittedly a different time and place.
February 9th, 2022 at 8:55 am
4th & forever, Only 3 schools-St.Joe Prep, Archbishop Wood and Imhotep charter seem to get the pick of the litter for players in football in the NE. You can also add in Malvern Prep, but they are not in the PIAA. District 1, with more 6A and 5A schools than anyone in the State absolutely stinks in football, can anyone blame them for going to those schools. Many of the good Public league players go to Imhotep because they win. It seems like a few AD’S out West are crying foul about a few players transferring in to Bishop Canevin, I don’t know the story but I bet they transferred in from a few Lousy Public schools. The NCAA took the right approach, you get 1 transfer without penalty and that’s it. The Piaa put in a rule where you have to sit out a part of the regular season and no playoffs if you transfer in your Jr or Sr year. My kid transferred in from Private to Public and this stupid rule, which penalizes the kids cost my son a scholarship.
February 8th, 2022 at 4:49 pm
The WPIAL ADs have set a pretty low bar IMHO by asking to separate the private schools into separate leagues from publics. Seems like a very reasonable ask. I hope they can keep the public schools competitive there, because in the SE, the only public schools that are still competitive on a state level are far enough away from the population center of Philly so it limits the number of private schools that can recruit their players.
February 3rd, 2022 at 11:23 am
D11 Matt. Mid February I will start entering them. First, I am going to do a update first before we switch over to 2022.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:43 pm
Hey Dave,
When will schedules be released and listed for upcoming 22 season?
Thanks!
January 31st, 2022 at 1:45 pm
Rumor is pine Richland is moving to hire Ledonne away from Penn hills.
January 30th, 2022 at 10:17 pm
Foleman, true about Wyomissing Borough, but you’re forgetting about West Reading and the demographic that’s been key to Wyomissing’s recent success.
WPIAL, that knife cuts both ways. I know area Catholic programs that lose players that have attended Catholic school from K-10 but transfer to power public programs when the latter is better positioned for success. It tends to be cyclical and snowball — as soon as Canevin has a couple of 5-5 seasons, watch what happens in subsequent years.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:07 pm
Small schools on this side of state are getting upset about private schools poaching players…on the surface it looks like sour grapes.. but it is an advantage. How can a public school compete if say… bishop Canevin beats them by 40, what is stopping the best player on public school to transfer to canevin? When a school only has 30 kids on the team, one or two best players transferring can be killer.
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-football/2022/01/28/WPIAL-athletic-directors-public-private-schools-Ed-Dalton-recruiting/stories/202201280109
January 27th, 2022 at 8:14 pm
Thanks for the update Foleman…never knew the reason why
January 27th, 2022 at 9:15 am
With Aliquippa, Wyomissing and S. Columbia winning appeals, the PIAA should just scrap the success formula. Erie Cathedral Prep hasn’t presented yet and something tells me since they are a private school, they have no chance of winning an appeal. What was interesting is that Wyomissing used “Unique Circumstances” to counter a transfer and stated divorce, homelessness and financial difficulty in its presentation. Wyomissing isn’t Aliquippa, its the wealthiest area in Berks County, the average home price in Wyo is over 300K, highly doubtful if anyone in Wyomissing is homeless.
January 26th, 2022 at 5:11 pm
Quip’s big day with their PIAA appeal hearing. Wyo’s also.
OK guys, its very simple, get rid of this whole transfer clause garbage and you’d clean up this debacle of a success formula/competition formula immediately. Good luck to those teams trying to appeal success only points when they are faced with promotion (see, I didn’t use that cowardly word “punish”).
January 26th, 2022 at 7:38 am
nice piece D3 Mike makes since so you know it won’t be considered
January 25th, 2022 at 4:39 pm
Regarding the Aliquippa op-ed, someone with access to the info and basic knowledge of statistics should be able to calculate football vs. athlete vs. non-football transfers into these schools. If movement is truly driven by socioeconomics, I would expect to also see a high number of transfers that *don’t* play football, all of which could be used by the PIAA to refine the transfer rule. For example, if Aliquippa turns over 10% of the sophomore class each year, I would also expect 10% of the sophomores on the football team to be transfers, on average. If that’s the case, Aliquippa should get a waiver; they shouldn’t be penalized for poverty.
However, the flaw in the logic used in the op-ed is the notion that socioeconomics and athletic transfers are somehow mutually exclusive. It’s entirely possible that there are a lot of transfers into Aliquippa due to socioeconomics… AND a number of kids switching for athletics. Comparing the baseline, student population transfer rate with the number of transfers to specific athletic teams would help tease out this distinction.
January 24th, 2022 at 1:23 pm
Michael D, I remember vaguely that the Head of the Catholic League at the Time-Father Joseph McFadden, first said something about their application was rejected due to internal matters, whatever that means, and that they could reapply in the future if they wanted, they applied in 2018 so it looks like they wont be reapplying anytime soon. Devon Prep, a similar school who also does not have a football program was voted in in 2017. Holy Ghost Prep was rejected not only by the Catholic Principals but also by the Catholic League Athletic Directors which tells me a few schools had it out for Holy Ghost Prep.
January 22nd, 2022 at 9:37 pm
I know this is football forum…but got a basketball question if I can…….looking for D12 or even D1 people………Does anyone know why Holy Ghost Prep was not accepted into the Catholic League a few years back when they applied….not assuming but did Wood or Egan maybe have an issue with that? Seems with all the schools that closed they would of wanted them….great hoops tradition but I could see them maybe starting football somewhere down the line….Just curious and im not picking on AW or CEC
January 19th, 2022 at 2:40 pm
Hey Buddy, he had a couple of visits to schools, gal is a single mom, so think it’s more about the opportunity to play at a higher recruited school and unless I misunderstood, it’s not costing her a dime more than she is presently paying. She also said she hasn’t heard a word from anyone on the North Penn coaching staff,
January 19th, 2022 at 8:57 am
Wyomissing also appealed, they lost, they are going to continue the appeal process. They met the points criteria for moving up but I am not sure about the 3 transfers. I know one kid moved from NY State to Wyomissing, another kid was in the program in 9th grade, transferred to Berks Catholic and then transferred back to Wyomissing his Sr year, those are the only 2 I can think of that played on the team.
January 18th, 2022 at 7:47 am
what happing to Aliquippa is probably not fair .I don’t like the rule because it penalizes a team that hasn’t played yet . a team wins states them everyone graduates and a bunch of inexperienced players have to play tougher competition. seem wrong to me you penalizing kids on what their kids did before them..Aliquippa says that kids don’t go their to play football it a lot of other reasons ,but i have to wonder how a school with 118 boys come up with 4- 300 lb athletic line men when all the district 2 had about 8
January 17th, 2022 at 5:31 pm
@smoll
Yea, what else is new. Don’t know how the average family affords this. Besides the tuition at a private school, they still
have to pay the school taxes for NP. I assume these are people of means. Ironically, I heard NP is not a bad school district.
In the top 5% of public schools in Penna. Beats me.
January 15th, 2022 at 7:15 pm
https://www.dailyitem.com/news/southern-columbia-will-remain-in-2a-for-football/article_211e467a-7547-11ec-bc29-cb463e445477.html?utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0bASFrXqBZrIqq8aIFyvc9ZT8_A3alWYqYzHYIAN232c4B8lC8Erj3bAc
I said that this would be the outcome.
January 15th, 2022 at 6:51 pm
Hey Buddy Just an FYI, District 1 North Penn, most probably lost their best Middle School running back this past year to one of those schools without boundaries, or so his mom has strongly hinted.
January 15th, 2022 at 5:42 pm
In regards to the Aliquippa situation… why don’t they go to AA in this enrollment count and have the competition factor put them in 3A or go to 3A and the completion rule will put them in 4A. This is a new cycle so they can choose where to play first and then allow the completion factor to bump them into the class they want to be in. I agree this is no reason they should have to play in 5A. They’re A enrollment option already to play up 2 classes and the completion factor put them into 4A. Just my thought.
January 13th, 2022 at 10:42 am
Aliquippa controversy is gaining political steam. State representative is pushing hard and congressman Conor lamb who is running for senate has also written a letter to the PIAA. We will see if they budge.
January 13th, 2022 at 9:43 am
https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/2022/01/piaas-new-high-school-football-classifications-show-the-games-rigged-opinion.html
January 7th, 2022 at 1:37 pm
I can almost sat with certainty that southern will not be moving up to 3A. This is just like it was a few years ago when they graduated so many seniors. The 2015 team and the 2019 team. The problem with piaa and the transfer rule is that according to piaa any player who was not on the previous roster count is considered a transfer and the school has to petition them to show that they were in 8th grade the previous year. Once those students are removed then the numbers will be under the transfer amount. This happens with all school but most schools don’t care because they don’t hit the success points so there’s no reason to petition. Here are 2 examples of how an athlete is looked as a transfer but really isn’t. They’re in 8th grade and will move up to 9th and now are added to the varsity team or they’re a 10th, 11th, 12 grader who didn’t play the previous year. They’re also considered transfers but really aren’t. Schools who reach success points and are told they’re over the transfer will in most cases petition knowing that piaa does this. they don’t really reach the transfer limit.
January 7th, 2022 at 8:03 am
congratulation to Old Forge HS the 2022 district 2 class A champion as they are the only class A school left in the district so if they go 0-10 their still in the playoffs ? going to be interesting. Also SCA is appealing going up in class. Really think someone need to look at High School football in PA every year it seems to get more screwed up !!!
January 6th, 2022 at 1:34 pm
Northern Lehigh loses Matt Frame, Smoyer, and Amorim. But they have Ramos returning at RB (shared time with frame) Jimenez at FB, and Nick Frame who played WR this year and backup QB ( I assume he will be the guy at QB next year). He had a WR pass for a TD against North Schuylkill and West Catholic last year.
January 6th, 2022 at 1:31 pm
Just saw some of the D11 classifications. Watch Northern Lehigh in A in 2022. (I’m shocked they are down to A with only 116 males)( as an alum from about 15 years ago we had 300 males in the HS). But in D11 there are only 6 A teams and Northern Lehigh returns all lineman, TE and 4 skill players for a total of 17/22 starting positions. They will be a top 5 eastern A team. Up there with Old Forge, Steelton High. Playing in eastern AA finals will help this returning lineman.
January 6th, 2022 at 10:33 am
Read red bank valley will be appealing their bump up ruling. They said PIAA said they had 10 transfers, but claims they only had one. See no reason red bank valley should be forced up a class after two good seasons.
January 5th, 2022 at 12:10 pm
Here’s the list of teams moving up due to the competition formula, Wyomissing will now have to battle it out with McDevitt in District 3 4a-Tough task! TEP and Wood will go at it in 5a in the East, Aliquippa in 5A West. S. Columbia to 3A which will make it more difficult to win a State Championship, same with Central Valley moving to 4a
Redbank Valley (1A -> 2A)
Bishop Guilfoyle (1A -> 2A)
Southern Columbia (2A -> 3A)
Central Valley (3A -> 4A)
Wyomissing (3A -> 4A)
Aliquippa (4A -> 5A)
Jersey Shore (4A -> 5A)
Cathedral Prep (5A -> 6A)
Lackawanna Trail (2A)
Farrell (2A)
Imhotep (5A)
Archbishop Wood (6A -> 5A)
January 5th, 2022 at 9:19 am
So Woodland Hills numbers put them in 3a, however, they have stated that they will continue to play in 5a as they want to continue their tradition and rivalries. Although I’m not sure why as I think they would dominate 3a and win wpial. But kudos to them for challenging their kids.
Also Belle Vernon has moved from 4A to 3a and will replace Central Valley as the favorite in that class in my opinion.
4A is absolutely loaded with Central Valley, North Catholic, Thomas Jefferson and McKeesport.
5a is also loaded. Don’t know if Aliquippa can keep up and dominate but they have shocked me before. They will be playing against teams with flat screen tvs analyzing film on the sidelines running college type offenses. Depending on the conference, it will be pretty funny seeing some of these wealthy 5a schools have to travel to aliquippa to play a section game. I think aliquippa will make playoffs, but it will be quite a story if they can keep winning at the rate they do.
Aliquippa controversy is gaining political momentum as well. Local state representative has written a letter to PIAA and the beaver county NAACP has also written a letter to the PIAA. Don’t know if PIAA will fold from the pressure but there is a full court press on them.
January 4th, 2022 at 2:31 pm
You guys can digest the new classification numbers (and those caught up in the success formula spider web) for the next two years, and start firing up those comments once again……..
BTW, those schools who are looking to voluntarily play up, they have until tomorrow to make that known.
https://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/Football_22_24.pdf
January 4th, 2022 at 1:46 pm
New class reports are out. Wpial 5 6A schools. 29 1A schools. Time to merge man. I know it’s hard because of community identity but it’s a huge waste of taxpayer dollars having that many small schools.
December 22nd, 2021 at 5:26 pm
@Brian agree, I think Mt. Carmel was one of the top 5 teams in AA the past few years but are not ranked high because we didn’t make it out of districts. ’18, ’19 and ’21 MCA was 10-3 with 2 of the losses coming against Southern (one regular season, one in Dist. championship). Southern was on a streak for 4 years with the ridiculous team that graduated in 2020 and blew everyone out so bad it was almost impossible to tell how good anyone else in AA was. I hoped MCA would be more competitive this year but G. Garcia was the difference. Up until the early ’10s, the MCA/SCA games were always pretty competitive. I am not one of those fans hoping Southern moves up just so MCA can get out of districts. If you wanna be the best you have to beat the best. 20-30 years ago, MCA and Berwick were best in the area, now Southern is the team to beat. Most of the D4 AAA teams MCA and Southern play during the regular season were AA in the previous 4 classification system so I don’t think there is much difference there anyway. MCA beat the AAA district champ Danville by 2TDs this year during the regular season. Southern is always good, but I think with Garcia gone and MCA having some good young talent coming up, the games and D4 AA will be more competitive again the next few years. Or maybe thats just wishful thinking, we’ll see.
December 22nd, 2021 at 12:01 pm
Thanks a lot, I suppose we ’re at contrary ends on the diapason with these academy quarter each- star brigades. Some you guys and your glories and crowns, again, i suppose I ’m in the nonage being a Friday night in, Friday night out addict, find a good game and enjoy the evening, and if your platoon claims palm in Hershey, its a nice perk and icing on the cutlet of a really good season. The only way I ’d be in favor of what you’re proposing is if there’s a real low number of guys coming out to play and you need a hutch situation. Ever I do n’t suppose that would be an issue with a 5A or 6A academy.
December 22nd, 2021 at 11:58 am
I do recall something about Central Valley moving up based on enrollment
December 21st, 2021 at 5:13 pm
Kevin X, funny you say that because I was asking the same question regarding Mt. Carmel. They are in the same district as Southern and haven’t been able to come even remotely close to beating them in districts in recent years. I mentioned that it would be easier for Mt. Carmel to move up to AAA and win a district title there. They probably would’ve won the AAA district 4 title this year and many years they may be one of the top AA schools but can never prove it against the other teams in the state because of being in the same diarist as southern. I think they would’ve would’ve been able to win a state playoff game or 2 in AAA.
December 21st, 2021 at 1:53 pm
Once the new classes come out, I will try to analyze and post a synopsis if I’m not too busy
December 21st, 2021 at 1:49 pm
Kevin x, South Fayette and Mars have been schools that have tripled their populations. Peters TWP is also steadily growing. South Fayette is now one of the bigger schools in the wpial in the middle of 5a. 10 years ago they were in the old 2a. The population growth in Pittsburgh is heavily in the suburbs. The old steel town areas are where you see population going down. In mike white’s sports chat today, he mentioned that as of now he only sees 5 wpial schools in 6A. That could be corrected if a few of these smaller schools are absorbed by their larger neighbors. North Catholic has also gone from a 1a school to a school that will go to 4A after they closed their north side school and built a new school in the suburbs north of Pittsburgh; which is why I think a school such as Pine Richland, which is near North Catholic has gone from 6 to 5a even though it’s a really good district. There are also different charter schools popping up each year which is why schools near the city are dropping population. Most of these charters do not offer football though. One difference between western and eastern pa is that in the east there are very few schools in 1a and 2a. Out here in the west, those schools make up most of the classes in PIAA.
December 21st, 2021 at 12:19 pm
ok i confused about this transfers rule if you have 3 transfer pulse the success to earn the 6 point you move up a class correct ? now if a Catholic school or a charter has let say 10 players come in to the freshman class who look like they will be ball players do they count as transfers ? if the star qb from valley view his jr year family moves to Dunmore is that a transfer>? it seem to me schools who are up front are getting screwed ! or an i missing something
December 21st, 2021 at 9:55 am
One more thing, for those of you who are tired of hearing about Southern Columbia hiding out in 2A (assuming that they will stay there for the next 2 years), and especially you 2A schools, here is a thought, take a page out of District 10’s playbook from a few years ago (when all of the 4A schools played up to 5A to avoid ECP), and volunteer to play up to 3A. Make a statement. Shake things up. I think it would be absolutely hilarious to see every 2A school statewide voluntarily playing up to 3A. Never happen, but fun to visualize.
December 21st, 2021 at 9:46 am
@ Jeff H
Yes, I do recall something about Central Valley moving up based on enrollment. They seem like an outlier out there in the west, going up in enrollment as opposed to decreasing enrollment. Interesting seeing all these schools possibly moving down in classification, Garnet, Del Val, Scranton, etc. the two former I find odd as I thought they were in either growing, or at least stable population areas. Anybody other than CV moving up via enrollment figs only?? Speaking of, I believe it was wpialguy who mentioned (with an article) the screw up in schools counting vo-tech and/or other other enrollment numbers, and the PIAA asked for re-submissions and extended reporting deadlines. Well, here are the new and updated enrollment parameters for football:
The NEW PIAA parameters had significant changes in the football ranges:
1A was 138 and below, now 123 and below
2A was 139-207, now 124-180
3A was 208-280, now 181-262
4A was 281-402, now 263-382
5A was 403-585, now 383-557
6A was 586 and above, now 558 and above
Wonder if this affects Central Valley or anyone else who previously referenced moving down (or up).
December 21st, 2021 at 9:37 am
@ PB
Thnx for the response, I suppose we’re at opposite ends on the spectrum with these school district all-star teams. Some you guys and your trophies and championships, again, i suppose I’m in the minority being a Friday night in, Friday night out fan, find a good game and enjoy the evening, and if your team claims victory in Hershey, its a nice bonus and icing on the cake of a really good season. The only way I’d be in favor of what you are proposing is if there is a real low number of guys coming out to play and you need a co-op situation. Somehow I don’t think that would be an issue with a 5A or 6A school.
December 20th, 2021 at 12:19 pm
Wpial success in 3a is mostly due to beaver county schools. Aliquippa, Central Valley, beaver falls, and Quaker valley which is right over the border. Old steel towns that don’t have the population they once did but still have a good football culture entrenched. In my opinion there needs to be school mergers within beaver county. It that’s an argument for another day
December 17th, 2021 at 6:49 pm
Just wanted to point out that the WPIAL winner has won 5 of the 6 state titles in the new 3A… and if you extend that run to include the old 2A, the WPIAL winner has made it to Hershey 10 straight years in that class and won 7 of the last 9 state titles, with those state titles coming from 5 different programs. It follows that the WPIAL favorite will probably be the favorite to win the state title in that class, again. The WPIAL has great 3A public programs and many of the 3A Catholic schools in the East have been playing up in 4A. No non-boundary school has even appeared in the final in that class since Lancaster Catholic way back in 2011. That’s a good combination for another WPIAL title in 3A from Woodland Hills — or from whomever else manages to come out of the Pittsburgh area in 2022.
A separate point that I haven’t seen discussed in the forum recently: next year Berks County (which includes Wilson, which is already in the league, plus Governor Mifflin, Exeter, Berks Catholic, Wyomissing, etc.) will be joining the Lancaster-Lebanon League. The league will now have 38 teams, mostly in 4A, 5A & 6A. Hopefully that improves the overall quality of league play in the area. Section 4 will be especially competitive, with Cocalico, Lampeter-Strasburg, Berks Catholic, and Wyomissing all having appeared in the state semifinals and/or state finals since 2017.
December 17th, 2021 at 9:12 am
@jeff h. I agree that Woodland Hills coaching staff is not great, but they have competed with the best in 5a despite their coaching. I think if they drop to 3a they will just dominate. Maybe not state champ favorite but I can see them being the wpial favorite. Can also seeing them play up to 4A because frankly a Woodland Hills- derry section game doesn’t exactly seem like it will go well for one party. I think the team to watch next year is Penn hills. Wpial semi finalist and they return almost their whole team. They were playing sophomores all over the field.
My wpial sleeper next year is Seneca Valley
December 16th, 2021 at 8:51 pm
Jeff H… Julian Fleming is on Ohio st and has seen the field every game. He doesn’t start because of olave. He was injured for a few games and didn’t play but over the last few weeks he’s been returning kicks and getting on the field. He scored his first career td against Michigan st. There was a cool picture of him scoring the td with his high school teammate cal Haladay on the field for Michigan st. Cal was named a freshmen all American. Fleming will get his time to shine when olave graduates and he will only be a sophomore.
December 16th, 2021 at 3:58 pm
@Irish
Never said lower classes couldn’t beat 6A. Governor Mifflin would have beat North Penn, hell, so would Southern Columbia!
NP last Hershey trip was 2011. However, they been in the playoffs 21 out of the last 22 years. They been in the
eastern final (state semi-final) more than any other public school. You don’t have to go to the big dance every
year to be successful team. Give NP no boundaries, then see how often they are in the state finals.
December 16th, 2021 at 3:32 pm
@Jeff…. Fleming is the starting punt returner and plays snaps here and there at WR. He was behind 3 very good wrs. Hopefully next year he will get playing time at WR. He had four catches last year in big ten championship when they had injuries to some WRS. He still had three years of eligibility due to last year being given back by NCAA due to covid. So he has three years left of eligibility. Maybe he transfers if he doesn’t get into starting lineup next year? He also didn’t red shirt so has that also.
December 16th, 2021 at 12:01 pm
@Buddy – since District 12 joined the PIAA in 2008 non-boundary schools are 8-6 against publics in 6A/4A, with public schools winning 2 of the last 5, in 5A/3A the non-boundary schools are 9-5 against the publics, although the publics have won 3 of the last 4,.and it would have likely been 4 in a row had Derrick Davis been able to play for Gateway against Wood in the semi-finals 2 years ago. As I and others have stated despite it’s flaws the success rule is having some positive impacts in helping to level the playing field a little bit, that’s one reason the publics have won 3 of the last 4 in 5A, and also a reason the games were so competitive last weekend, those championship games as a whole were the best we’ve seen in a long time in this state.
@D3Mike – did a little research and you are correct, Singleton is the first Gatorade player of the year from PA since Ron Powlus in 1993. Speaking of Julian Fleming, is he still on the roster with Ohio State? They have a lot of great receivers but I have not seen him play a down in any of the Ohio State games I’ve watched so I’m wondering if he is still on the team? They are also loaded at QB so it will be interesting to see whether Kyle McCord transfers to another school like Phil Jurkovec did in transferring from Notre Dame to BC.
December 16th, 2021 at 11:31 am
@Wpialguy – I hate to disagree with you about Woodland Hills since I live in the district and my both of my kids graduated from the school, but they are not going to be a state championship favorite in any class with their current coaching staff, by all accounts good men, but very mediocre football coaches, their record is very poor since Coach Novak retired after the 2016 season, and the school board has bigger issues to deal with than the declining football program. I totally agree with you about 5A, there will be different winners every year, just like there has been the last 4 years with Penn Hills, Gateway, PR and now Penn Trafford. If Aliquippa is forced to 5A which it appears they will be I make them the favorite next year with all the talent they have coming back.
@Kevin X – I think it may have been mentioned on here already but Central Valley is moving to 4a next year due to enrollment so the success rule does not come into play for them.
@JC – you should check your facts before you make stupid comments about Aliquippa, they have won 2 state titles in the last 4 years, or did you miss that title in 2018. They have also made the WPIAL final an amazing 14 years in a row all while playing up in class every year, which no other school in the WPIAL has come close to accomplishing, and you say they are an also ran? They lost in the WPIAL 4A final in OT to TJ last year, had they won that game they would be the two time defending 4A state champion, not too shabby for a school with 1A enrollment. There is no doubt in my mind if Aliquippa played 1A where their enrollment is they would win the state title almost every year, or at the very least 4 out of every 5 years. Fact is Aliquippa is one of the most storied programs in the history of high school football in PA, look how many of their players have made the NFL and are in the Hall of Fame. Aliquippa should be admired for playing up, not disrespected because of it, and football in this state would be better overall if some other schools followed their example.
@D3Mike & Wilson4ever – totally agree with you guys about Nick SIngleton, he is a tremendous talent and it boggles the mind that he had 1 carry in the 2nd half against Exeter. I still think GM was the best team in 5A, had they beaten Exeter I think they would have likely beaten both Penn Trafford and Imhotep, but unfortunately we’ll never know. As we’ve all seen in the playoffs coaching can make a huge difference at the high school level
December 16th, 2021 at 11:20 am
It should be called the cheating and winning rule. Southern will not have to move up because they have won but have not had the transfers come in. Aliquippa has, thus the cheating and winning rule applies.
December 16th, 2021 at 9:41 am
@buddy, there are plenty of 3a,4a,and 5a teams that can and do whip up on “those big boys” in 6a every year across the state. Those North Penn ‘big boys” havent visited Hershey in quite sometime. They dont have to worry about those catholic schools you a such a problem with cause they have enough of a problem getting past the other “publics” in District one.
December 15th, 2021 at 6:20 pm
If woodland hills drops to 3a, I think they immediately become the state championship favorite in that class.
December 15th, 2021 at 6:19 pm
SO, it seems to me that a lot of schools are dropping to 5a, from 6a. So where are the 6a schools? Wpial 5a will be extremely competitive. One program will not dominate that class and I think you could see a different team winning for the next couple years.
December 15th, 2021 at 6:17 pm
D3 Mike, I believe Southerns Julian Fleming was named Gatorade player of the year 2 years in a row but I could be mistaken. Maybe he was just a nominee for it.
December 15th, 2021 at 1:30 pm
talking about numbers for 2022 it my understanding that Scranton and Delaware Valley are both going to 5A that will change that class big time in the northeast
December 15th, 2021 at 9:41 am
@ Kevin X
Yes my man, I’m serious about what I said — that large school districts should streamline and condense to have one football team, 100 emoji. Right off the bat though, it would never happen, there’s way too much complacency and inertia, these gyno administrators and school boards would have a hissy fit. (Allow me to digress for a moment, tbh that’s where I can appreciate the privates, they’re not constrained by group think idiocy, rather they see what the situation is and act accordingly, with free will are able to make deliberate, specific decisions to bring about a desired result, pretty nifty how that works.) But hypothetically speaking, if a school district like Central Bucks had one team, are you kidding me?! I’m smh in a good way. It stands to reason that the quality and strength of the team would improve as the best players would come together into the same starting lineup. Hey Bethlehem, you hear me clucking big chicken? If Liberty and Freedom combined, got to believe the D11/D12 state quarterfinal might finally have some intrigue. Heck, phillyboy might even start attending those quarterfinal games again. No, check that, not with the new ticket purchasing protocols in place, complete and utter BS — but that’s a whole other topic of discussion. Now there’s another possibility that’s more realistic: have open enrollment within these larger school districts that have multiple teams, becoming in effect a microcosm of the Philadelphia school district. That way the best players can all go to the same team a la Imhotep. Unofficially one team within the school district would be the de facto ‘A’ team.
December 15th, 2021 at 9:37 am
I follow the big boys ’cause my team is one of the big boys, whether they’re good or bad. Don’t follow the CFL cause my
team is in the NFL., don’t follow junior high wrestling cause my team is NCAA D1 wrestling. Having a hard time wrapping
that around your head, eh?
December 15th, 2021 at 8:30 am
@Buddy
My bad. I thought you were saying that the PCL was ONLY represented in the 5A and 6A. So what you’re saying is…..and let me get this straight……you only follow the big boys but if they’re no good you could care less about them. You don’t want to waste your time with draigs. Narrow minded?? Buddy, did you ever play the game??
December 14th, 2021 at 7:14 pm
Here are your 2022/23 – 2023/24 nominees (based only on my unofficial calculations) for promotion (sorry, can’t use the word “penalized”) to the next higher classification of competition by virtue of obtaining 6 or more “success points” during this past two year cycle:
A: Bishop Guilfoyle and Redbank Valley
2A: Southern Columbia
3A: Central Valley and Wyomissing
4A: Jersey Shore and Aliquippa
5A: Erie Cathedral Prep
Of course this is only half of the equation, as you still need to have 3 or more athletic transfers during the same time period to be promoted. I have no clue who has what in terms of transfers. Fairly strong and consistent rumors that I have seen are that Guilfoyle, Aliquippa and ECP are in that 3+ transfer boat. Then there are the inevitable appeals, and who knows……even lawsuits???
December 14th, 2021 at 4:57 pm
@ paul:
Hmmm. Trying to think how many times Bonner, Carroll & O’Hara have been to the states. Somewhere in there must be
Ryan, Lansdale catholic, Devon prep and Conwell Egan, just can’t seem to pin-point when. Give me the 5A & 6A private
schools that been in the finals in the last 15 years, instead of grabbing at straws on schools that never make it.
BTW, what lives in my head is what happened to SJP this year. Looking forward to that again.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:14 pm
I love how every year the same people use the same school as evidence that southern Columbia should move up in class. Aliquippa, aliquippa is all you here every year. And you base this on aliquippa moving up for more competition. You never talk about the fact that aliquippa rarely wins championships anymore and that quite a few state titles were taken away because they thought it was more important to perceive yourself as better than what they r. You never take away championships for hs kids and that’s what aliquippa did. Sure they won a state title this year, but that’s not a given. So it’s better to take winning and championships away and it’s better to prove yourself as an also ran? I don’t get it.
December 14th, 2021 at 1:33 pm
Congrats to Gatorade National Football Player of the Year, Nick Singleton of Governor Mifflin! I think this is PA’s first winner since Ron Paulus?
Pepperidge Farms remembers… just two years ago, when multiple people in this forum said that this kid was “overrated”, and that his rushing yards were “empty” as they came against “the Little Sisters of the Poor” in the Berks League. Look at him now.
Shame that the GM coach only gave him the ball once in the second half versus Exeter. Would have loved to have seen him go up against PT’s and Imhotep’s great front-7s.
Wishing him best of luck at Penn State. The program needs all the help it can get.
December 14th, 2021 at 12:33 pm
@Buddy
Sorry McDevitt is gone. My bad. But I’ll raise you Lansdale Catholic, Devon Prep and Conwell-Egan. My gosh, you really don’t know what you’re talking about do you? Or you’re just blinded by the notion of the PCL.
December 14th, 2021 at 12:26 pm
@Buddy
Geez I forgot about Ryan and McDevitt too. There ain’t as many as there were but just enough to get in your head. Have a great Holiday thinking about next year’s St. Joe team!!
December 14th, 2021 at 12:05 pm
@Buddy
Well let’s see: West Catholic, Bonner, Carroll, O’Hara, those are just a few who are not in 5 or 6. You should know what you’re talking about.
Only care about 6A. Who narrow minded?? St. Joe lives in your head rent free!! Enjoy!!!
December 14th, 2021 at 10:08 am
@ Buddy, I agree that SJP was (probably) the more talented team, but the difference in experience was evident, e.g. the Prep getting signals crossed on a couple of kickoff returns and their QB trying to do a bit too much at times, e.g. trying to force the ball on at least one of the interceptions.. There were also a couple of bad coaching decisions at the end of the half when they were inside the ten, going for a field goal when the ball was on the hash mark being one of them. That’s a super difficult kick to make, especially in a strong wind. Credit, though, to ML for making a couple of tough stops on the previous plays.
The first quarter fumble was obviously huge, but there was another possibly game deciding play a few minutes into the fourth quarter. After the Agard interception the Prep, down 21-17, ran a passing play where Washington was wide open at about the SJP 40, but the ball was very underthrown. It’s the kind of pass Jones was making in the first half, and as we saw how Washington can run with the ball after a catch. But because the play didn’t work the Prep had to punt from fairly deep in their territory which is where the whole rest of the game was played. Of course, this is from a Prep perspective.
As for 2003 I remember both North Penn and SJP fans saying their team would have beat the other team. All seemed to want a game between the two to prove it.
My guess, after watching the Prep play both GV and ML, is that a ML-GV game would have been over pretty early. And if SJP’s season had ended after the second LaSalle game, there would have been something like the 2003 talk about the “what ifs”? No?
December 14th, 2021 at 9:38 am
Ryan:
I thought Wood was 5A. My bad. So GV is that small they qualify for 5A?
That’s a shame. They’re a powerhouse at 6A. SJP probably chased them.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:24 am
Yo Paul:
You said public won 18 and privates 6. But the privates don’t have schools in the lower classes! Privates are essentially
5A & 6a. So give me a stat on those classes the last 15 years. Mull that over in your narrow little mind!
December 14th, 2021 at 8:47 am
@ Buddy
So you choose to follow only the BIG BOYS. That is your choice. But in the grand scheme of things you can’t just throw out the rest of the results because you don’t like them, you don’t care or you just like to argue. You can’t see the forrest for the trees. “I follow 6A only!” Snob!! And there are no sour grapes on this end. St. Joe and the rest of the PCL aint going anywhere. Have fun with that thought!!
December 14th, 2021 at 7:37 am
Wood, Roman, Garnet Valley going to 5A
December 14th, 2021 at 6:48 am
@Frank:
Frankly (bad pun), i think SJP is a more talented team then Mt. Lebo. The breaks went Mt. Lebo’s way.
Even more so with Tep and PT. Tep is definitely the better team, PT got the breaks. If garnet Valley had beat Prep,
yes, Mt. Lebo would have been just as satisfied. I think your point is if the privates weren’t in the PIAA playoffs,
would the publics be satisfied winning the final? Well, we wouldn’t know the difference. Just like before 2008,
we didn’t really know how good the privates were. North Penn won the states in 2003 (destroyed PCC), Wound up ranked 8th in the
country. Same year, SJP was ranked 3rd in the country. The SJP fanatics on this site said SJP would have beat NP by 3 TD’s.
Maybe they would have or maybe not (wouldn’t have won by 3 TD’s tho). But we didn’t know. So yes, we were satisfied.
December 14th, 2021 at 1:21 am
ONE LAST THING!!! Is it just me or does the State Championship Trophies look rather dull and not very exciting to look at the last few years. They just look like a hunk of wood with some writing on it? They used to look great before with a Golden Football and a map of the State of Pennsylvania on a nice wooden base. It’s supposed to represent WE ARE THE VERY BEST!!! These trophies should be BOLD, BRIGHT, and SHOWY representing the blood, sweat, and tears to took to claim this very difficult prize. I don’t know who changed them and for what reason but IMO they don’t POP OUT AT YOU and look very uninspiring to me.I don’t know if this was a cost cutting thing to save money for the PIAA but that should never be the case because all these young men and their communities deserve something very special that they can look at and treasure in their high school trophy cases forever. Because if some high schools ever win a state championship it might be the last one they ever get. But if they ever get more they are all supposed to represent a very special moment in time. Maybe it’s just me but let me know how others feel about this. They should always look extremely special and never cheap IMO.
December 13th, 2021 at 10:14 pm
(Jeff H) BTW Jeff H I did agree with you on last year’s Governor Mifflin-Pine-Richland game and I’m not really trying to flip flop hear. The point I’m trying to make is that I just thought the blown call that lead to a touchdown against GM just made it a little easier for PR to win but I have no doubt the main reason they beat Mifflin last year was because PR’s coaches made the better critical adjustments through out the game and the Governor Mifflin staff didn’t. Like you said in high school football a lot of times teams with lesser talent beat better teams because of better coaching. A huge case in point this year was when one of the biggest upsets in District III history happened when Exeter Twp. beat Governor Mifflin the heavy favorite to win this year’s 5A State Title. I think that came down to a coaching breakdown for GM. I hate to say it but I feel that should have never happened.
December 13th, 2021 at 9:53 pm
(Jeff H) I also think that Governor Mifflin lost this year’s 5A District III championship game in a huge upset to Exeter Twp.because they were out coached and that was a terrible thing for GM because that should have never happened because I feel they had a hell of a lot more talent than Exeter Twp. especially with having Nick Singleton the #1 running back in the country on their team who is a beast. From what I heard there is quite a few outraged Governor Mifflin fans who would agree with me. Governor Mifflin was loaded this year and probably could have even beaten most of the 6A teams in the state except for the two in the 6A Final IMO and were even better than last year’s 2020 team that lost that close game to that powerful Pine-Richland team.
December 13th, 2021 at 9:29 pm
Over on this side of the state, i am just wondering when some of these smaller schools will be forced into mergers. Economically irresponsible to have as many small schools as we do. Keeps taxes high and resources low. But the same pride that allows these public schools to win and band together is also the pride that does not want consolidation. Some of these single a schools need saved, and the kids deserve more. Part of why wpial individual talent is down is in these smaller schools the kids do not have to compete against anyone within their own school for spots.
In beaver county, you could merge half the schools and most would still be within the 3,4,5A range. Biggest school in the county is one of the smallest schools in 4A.
December 13th, 2021 at 9:24 pm
Garnet Valley is going down to 5A
December 13th, 2021 at 9:22 pm
(Jeff H) Oh BTW I honestly do agree with you Jeff H 100% about last year’s Governor Mifflin-PineRichland 5A Semi-Final game and I’m not trying to flip flop here. What I mean is even though I didn’t mention it I also feel very strongly that better coaching can win many important high school games even if a team might have less talent. But the exact point that I was trying to make was that I thought that blown call against Governor Mifflin made it a little easier for Pine-Richland to beat GM but I have no doubt that the PR coaching staff made better adjustments the entire game and agree with you that it was probably the main reason they won.
December 13th, 2021 at 9:02 pm
@Buddy Do you think the Mount Lebanon players would have preferred playing Garnett Valley on Saturday? Do you think victory would have been as satisfying? And do you think the game would have been as good?
December 13th, 2021 at 7:38 pm
@phillyboy
For the love of God, please tell me you’re joking. I toss out my fair of sarcasm on this board, maybe it’s a case of I can dish it out, but I am clueless when I see it. I enjoy your posts, but man, if you are serious, you went completely off the reservation with this one. Combine teams within a school district that have multiple schools all in the name to win precious championship for District One?? Have you ever been to a Downingtown West/East game before?? If not, I suggest you put it on your HS football bucket list. There is more atmosphere at that game year in year out than the six games played this weekend in Hershey combined. I can rant on forever with your post in so many different directions, but I’ll leave it where it is.
December 13th, 2021 at 4:51 pm
Yo Paul:
I follow 6A only. Prep won 3 out of the last 4 finals. Big school publics still don’t have parity!
Go back to eating your sour grapes!
December 13th, 2021 at 3:48 pm
@Jeff H
If you watched the game you would of realized southern didn’t “go for 2”. It was a bobbled snap that turned into a 2 pt conversion.
How do you teach kids to “take plays off”. I’m assuming your team didn’t make it far by your mentality on things. And no one cares if you respect them or not.
December 13th, 2021 at 3:41 pm
Jeff & Thomas, I’ll put this into perspective, because it’s something I didn’t realize until recently… I always thought boundary vs. non-boundary was an issue throughout the state. While it is to some degree, it’s much more acute in the SE. According to 247 (eye roll) 19 of the top 47 seniors in the state are from D1 or D12, which is statistically in the ballpark for what is should be. However, only three of those 19 play for public non-charter schools (two in D1 and one in D12). The talent is there, but it’s very concentrated and it’s not at District One schools.
December 13th, 2021 at 2:26 pm
Play the game!! Just like Mt. Lebanon did. Instead all we get are Johnny’s daddys complaining how life aint fair!! Good thing Lebo didn’t listen.
December 13th, 2021 at 2:23 pm
@Buddy. Parity between the pubs and privates?? The pubs have won 18 chapionships to the Privates 6. Parity is supposed to be 50-50. “Oh they’re too big, too strong, too D1 for us.” You guys are a bunch of cry babies when it comes to this subject.
December 13th, 2021 at 1:39 pm
Some of you guys have been diplomatic in hinting or implying that District 1 has been coming up small. As a long time resident of SE PA I can be a little more blunt. In the past I’ve desribed District 1 as “a malaise of mediocrity”. After further review I feel compelled to downgrade it to ‘pure dreck’. I’ll give a little consideration or credit to North Penn and Coatesville, but that’s about it, they have a little bit of fight in them. By and large, though, District 1 football is the epitome of ‘going through the motions’ and yes, mediocrity. In fact Salieri from the movie Amadeus is their patron saint, lol. Outside of getting a sudden dose of heart, what can D1 do? There is something very practical that some large, suburban school districts can do right away. A commenter recently parroted an idea that phillyboy himself mentioned a while back — delete redundant teams within the same school district. For example, Central Bucks could have 1 team instead of 3, Downingtown could have a unified team once again hearkening back to their dominant 90’s teams. Or how about Central Dauphin with a single team? If necessary they could rename the HS to original name albeit with E and W campus, or whatever. Conversely, could you imagine if North Penn had succeeded in splitting into two several years ago? A North Penn East and a North Penn West would be a joke, so watered down. As far as less kids getting a chance to play, I say tough bananas, beat it, join the French Club or something. Football already has 22 positions plus special teams whereas basketball only has 5 positions.
December 13th, 2021 at 12:45 pm
Major congrats to Mt. Lebo. Huge victory and excellent performance to cap an amazing season. As always, Prep will be back next year. Really have to hand it to Mt. Lebo though, what an excellent team.
December 13th, 2021 at 12:23 pm
Total attendance for Hershey: 19,822 Breakdown:
2563 for 1A
4306 for 4A
3174 at 2A
2679 for 5A
3405 for 3A
3965 for 6A
3,304 average per game.
I do not know if those number represent tickets sold or actual people thru the turnstiles and physically at the game(s) (or some other form of calculations).
December 13th, 2021 at 11:13 am
@ TF
As a follow-on observation, if Imhotep did play last year, hypothetically, and probably probability wise, ECP and Imhotep would have meet in last year’s 5A quarter final like they did this year. Who knows who would have won that game, but If Imhotep won that game, ECP would not have accumulated the 6 or more success points this recent cycle to qualify to be bumped up to 6A. What is also interesting in their case from last year, they only played in one playoff game (two Covid FFWs) to advance to the championship game to get those 4 points that you get slapped with in playing in that game. And to add insult to injury, they proceeded to get smoked by Pine-Richland in that game.
December 13th, 2021 at 9:35 am
Jeff makes good points about both the tradition of Heinz Field and the fact that high school football receives exponentially more coverage on the TV, radio, and newspapers in the WPIAL. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh doesn’t have an NBA basketball team and has nothing like the Big 5 in college basketball. That area (Pittsburgh) shares similarities in those regards to the coal region of northern PA. When those facts get coupled with the specialization of sports due to increased competition for scholarships, you have to wonder if that doesn’t translate to a higher percentage of athletes in those areas playing football than they do in other parts of the states. I remember when it was a given to go from football to basketball to baseball if you were a decent athlete, but that’s less and less the case these days. Kids have to make more choices and I wonder if more players in the greater Philadelphia area, for example, don’t choose to specialize in basketball. It’s mind-boggling to me that Reading High can win 2 of the last 6A state titles in basketball but can’t get any of those athletes on the football field to run a spread offense, but that’s today’s world.
One thing overlooked amidst the discussions about the WPIAL winning 4 titles and the public schools performing better this year is the competitiveness of the state final games. Thomas makes a good point about the success factor seeming to make an impact in terms of public programs performing better in recent years. The games were also much closer this year than in years past. This was the first year where 5 of the state title games were within a touchdown in the 4th quarter. I think the success factor played a part in that, and hopefully it continues.
Last thing, not sure if it was mentioned and I didn’t watch the game, but from what I read on Twitter, SCA was kneeling the ball up 30 with 2 minutes left and Serra was using their timeouts to stop the clock. That’s when SCA stopped kneeling, ran the ball, and scored their 70-yard TD. In that scenario, I don’t have a problem with SCA running a play. If it were me, I probably would have still kneeled it but I at least understand why they ran a play. I do take issue with them going for the 2-point conversion, though.
December 13th, 2021 at 8:26 am
The success factor, which was implemented in 2018 is having an impact. Publics have won 18 championships to the privates 6 10-2 the last 2 years 4 of the private wins during that timespan came from Prep-(3) and Wood-(1) what’s interesting is that if TEP played last year and McDevitt didn’t get screwed out of the playoffs last year due to points both programs would have been placed in the next highest classification next year. TEP to 6A McDevitt to 5A. Next year with Wood moving down to 5A, you have Wood and TEP going head to head in the East. Erie Cathedral Prep is moving up to 6a, in the past ECP could have played with St. Joe Prep, however, Erie’s population isn’t what it used to be and they have no chance of winning a State Championship at that level. St. Joe Prep is in the highest classification so the success factor has no impact on them. The elephant in the room is District 1, their is no reason, with all of those large schools in the district that they can’t produce a Penn Trafford or Mt. Lebanon type team every once in a while.
December 13th, 2021 at 8:15 am
Well, it was a very good year. My team didn’t go as far in the playoffs as I was hoping (and thought), but that’s ok.
The publics showed there is a little bit , not much, parity in high school football. Probably won’t happen again for quite some time.
Temporarily halts the discussion of splitting the privates and publics, not sure if that’s good or bad.
So, I’ll babble at you guys’ next year.
December 12th, 2021 at 9:27 pm
@Brian – my mentality is what’s wrong with sports and life? You have it exactly backwards, I don’t think SC should voluntarily move up to give other schools a chance, I’m not one for participation trophies, the reason they should move up is to challenge their kids, and because it’s the right thing to do. Many schools voluntarily play up, most notably Aliquippa, but there are plenty of others, because they want to push their kids and play a higher level of competition. I don’t care if SC wins 10 state titles in a row, they are head and shoulders above every other program in 2A and prove absolutely nothing winning 2A year after year. Why just continue to coast through 2A when you can play tougher competition, you don’t improve much at anything in life unless you challenge yourself, I frankly think SC is doing their kids a disservice by not playing up in the playoffs, they play up a lot during the regular season, but come playoff time they go back to destroying 2A just so they can say they won another state title.
As for their game on Friday, when you have a 30 point lead in the last minute you do not run regular plays that result in a 70 yard touchdown run, you show some class and take a knee, or instruct your players to run out of bounds and not go on a 70 yard run, because it’s the right thing to do, I don’t care if if it’s the 2nd string or the ball boy playing, you do not score on a 70 yard touchdown in that situation, period, end of story. I stand by my earlier comments, I lose more respect for SC’s program every year because all they care about is demolishing the competition in 2A, time to man up and play up in the playoffs, because it’s the right thing to do for your kids.
December 12th, 2021 at 9:01 pm
Since D12 joined the PIAA in 2008 in the state playoffs the WPIAL public schools are 7-5 against their powerhouse non-boundary schools, 2-2 vs SJP, 1-0 against LaSalle, 2-0 against Imhotep, and 2-3 against Wood, although if Derrick Davis doesn’t get hurt in the WPIAL championship game against Peters Twp 2 years ago and is able to play the following week Gateway more than likely beats Wood, they lost on a last minute field goal, and with Davis playing they probably win that game. So the question is why can the public schools in the western part of the state compete with and beat the non-boundary D12 powerhouse teams while other districts struggle and often get blown out.
D3Mike is absolutely correct, part of the reason is the only big school non-boundary in the WPIAL is PCC, as I’ve stated on here before the publics have been competing with PCC for decades, and the traditional powers don’t lose too many players to PCC, its usually kids from schools like Fox Chapel and Norwin and others that don’t have much of a football tradition. All the other Catholic schools in the area are 1A-3A, with North Catholic being the largest, but they aren’t drawing too many kids from the top public programs
Another part is coaching, I disagree with D3Mike on the coaching aspect, look at the list of coaches who beat the D12 schools, Bill Cherpak at TJ, Eric Kasperowicz.at Pine Richland, and now Bob Palko with Lebo, just phenomenal coaches who built programs from grade school on up. I told my Mt Lebo friends, a few who were at the game last night, that when they hired Palko 3 yrs ago they would win a WPIAL title and compete for a state title within 3 years, because I knew he would change the culture and have the talent to be competitive on the state level.
D3 Mike also makes a very good point about playing for a “regional title”, the WPIAL encompasses 7-8 counties, and the goal for these programs for years has been to get to Heinz Field for the “regional championship”, and before that it was get to 3 Rivers Stadium, there is an awful lot of pride for these schools just to get to Heinz to compete for the district title. Western Pa takes its high school football very seriously, what other district has all 6 of their championship games on local TV? The Lebo game last night was on KDKA radio, the dominant AM radio station in the area that can be heard in a dozen or more states, I can’t imagine a Philly radio or TV station doing that, hell, the Inquirer doesn’t even cover high school sports anymore.
There is a different mindset around this part of the state, we know the non-boundary schools have some big advantages, but the top schools around here will take on anyone and try and figure out how to beat them, not make excuses or complain about the system being unfair. Yes Palko made some comments about SJP being an all-star team and drawing kids from multiple states, Bill Cherpak made the same type of comments about Erie Prep several years ago, but both of these guys made these comments to inspire their players it was and create the mindset it was them against the world. TJ lost to ECP 3 straight years from 2015-17, then finally got over the hump and beat them in 2019, I was at that game at North Hills and I can tell you the pride in finally beating ECP was very evident and meant more to the players and the community than if they had just beaten another public school.
Yes there are flaws with the system, but I think I speak for the vast majority of people in the western part of the state that we in no way want a separate playoff with publics and non-boundary schools, if you want to be considered the best team in PA you have to beat the best, and figure out ways to improve your program to compete on a statewide level, I realize that’s a lot easier said than done for a lot of schools, but it can be done, there’s no reason a school like North Penn, for example, can’t win a 6A title
December 12th, 2021 at 5:17 pm
What’s being missed in some of these arguments is yes, Philly area has more options as far as Catholic schools and private schools, but the population of the Philly metro area is about 3.5 million more than the population of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh area only has 7 6A schools. The sheer amount i of schools in the East should, in theory create more chances for them to win.
December 13th, 2021 at 5:56 am
Thank you, D11 Matt! Happy Holidays!
December 12th, 2021 at 4:48 pm
Guys,
It was a great season that ended with some great championship games! Most competitive games in Hershey that iv seen in a while. Hopefully that continues next year! Have a Merry Christmas and a great holiday season! Only about 8 months until next season!
Dave…..thanks for running this site! A great high school football site that is a go to during the season and also in the off season with schedules, historical info, etc!
December 12th, 2021 at 12:46 pm
Jeff, my bad about saying N-G won a state championship. Looked that up after I posted it and saw I was wrong, unfortunately this format doesn’t allow quick corrections. As for the rest, I should just say “see D3 Mike” because he gets and articulates the issue with privates in D1 & D12. Nowhere else in the state are public schools getting beat by their own kids like they are in SE PA, so if you’re in the other 10 districts it’s easier to say “what’s the problem?” Because this forum tends to focus on championships, it doesn’t even recognize the seven or so Inter-Ac schools who don’t participate in the playoffs but get many of the best athletes in the region.
Also, I take slight umbrage at the implication the public schools in SE PA don’t work as hard or aren’t coached as well as the rest of the state. There are no doubt some cultural differences regarding what football means to different communities, but 20 years ago SE PA public schools were as competitive as anywhere else in the state. Beyond a handful of programs like Coatesville, who because of its location doesn’t face the same pressure to keep players from being recruited that schools closer in do, that’s no longer true.
Anyway, enough “airing of grievances” (for now) about things that aren’t gonna change. Congratulations to all the fans of the winners of some great games and upsets, and for the rest of us, the preseason begins today. Wait ‘til next year!
December 12th, 2021 at 12:37 pm
@D3 Mike Thanks for your explanation of the difference between the Pittsburgh area and the Philly area. It makes a lot of sense.
Just a note: it is by no means the case that Catholic schools in the Philly area have recently started “draining” top talent from public schools. You could go back to the great Bishop Egan teams of the 60s, to Bonner (which had John Cappelletti, Heisman winner while at Penn State) in the late 60s. There was Maurice Stovall at Carroll, Kevin Jones at O’Hara, Rich Gannon at SJP, etc. If anything, the shrinking of Catholic schools in the Philly area has meant that public schools get a higher proportion certainly of students and, in many cases, of student-athletes than they did two or three decades ago. Maybe one big difference is that Catholic schools, including SJP, in the last decade or two have started welcoming non-Catholic students–something that was not done for athletic purposes. But it has certainly had an impact on sports.
One thing not mentioned on this board is race. I’m sure everyone has noticed that a higher proportion of both players and star players are Black. That’s increasingly obvious. At least in the Philly area because the great majority of Blacks are not Catholics, most Black people didn’t consider Catholic schools. Now more of them do–again, mostly for reasons having nothing to do with sports. But it has meant that, for instance, D’Andre Swift (whose family, I’m 98% sure, are not Catholics) considered both LaSalle and SJP before choosing SJP.
December 12th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
@Jc
They will be bumped up, and still will perform. I don’t know bout ladies on this site… I know the WPIAL is dominant. I know D7 is the biggest. Trust me the programs w Sr. Heavy teams, don’t rebuild, they reload. SCA is what it is. I respect their achievements. But they will do all they can to stay outta 3A
December 12th, 2021 at 11:53 am
Kevin, we disagree on what the results show. For clarity, there is no Malvern Prep outside of Pittsburgh, let alone anything approximating the Inter-AC. The traditional of Catholic schools around Pittsburgh is also nothing like the tradition in other parts of the state. Of equal importance, the public school tradition of playing for things like regional titles in Pittsburgh is stronger — it goes back generations, whereas in the East it’s always been a county and league based system. As a result, WPIAL public programs tend to keep more of their talent.
Beaver County has zero Catholic schools. None. And the County sends a public to the state finals each year. Before the last HS closed, that Catholic school had no football pedigree. Do we really think this is a coincidence? Similar situation with SCA, Mt. Carmel, Berwick, and the historic coal region powers.
The publics that win don’t win because they have better weight programs or coaches. And don’t get me wrong, they all have awesome weight programs, community commitment, family buy-in, a strong work ethic among the players, etc. They do EVERYTHING right. So this is in no way a bitter grapes argument.
My point is that many of them win state titles, in part, because they keep 95% of their elite players instead of only 80% of their elite players — which is what happens to a lot of other public schools in the East. If you dropped Prep in the middle of Beaver County, you wouldn’t see a 3A state title winner every year because those schools wouldn’t keep all of their players. I’m not saying those programs wouldn’t still be awesome. My argument is that losing 1 or 2 players makes the difference between a win or a loss in Hershey. This weekend’s results highlight how much privates drain talent, where they exist.
December 12th, 2021 at 11:44 am
Interestingly 3/4 of the wpial teams that won were completely senior loaded. Trafford, Lebo, and Central Valley will all have difficulty making it back next year so i predict we will have new blood once again. Also Central Valley is moving up to 4A on enrollment alone, so they will have to make it past Thomas Jefferson, McKeesport, and others.
December 12th, 2021 at 11:40 am
If the wpial seem to be built better and r quicker then they should forced to be bumped up another class. Every wpial school should be moved up because they have an unfair advantage and they enjoy winning state titles a little to much. Lol losers. Southern Columbia is won a state title easily with 38 kids playing on there football team. Deal with it. I don’t even have anything to do with southern football. I went to north schuylkill and I don’t care about southern Columbia but I love getting on here every year and listen to cry babies whine about southern Columbia. Let me just explain something to you people. If you move teams up based solely on them being good how do you take care of a team like st. Joes prep? They’re already in the highest bracket so all you do is penalize the class a thru 5a schools??? You tell a school that your to good and we don’t want you to win anymore? R these woman who r messaging on this site??? Lol
December 12th, 2021 at 11:22 am
About southern playing in class that they are put in….that’s correct. But after five state championships in a row where no playoff or state championship has been within three scores at end, they have the option to challenging themselves and playing up. I respect them and what they have done but they would have had a much more competitive 3A tournament then mercy ruling everyone in the 2A tournament. They would have been a top 5 3A team and would have probably had a rematch with Wyomissing. And that game would have been close. The first one they turned it over five times. Yes…..they play challenging regular season schedules every year but then don’t get challenged at all when titles are on the line. Like they said…..they know they will be in Hershey every year and kind of coast through the playoffs. Even St Joe’s gets challenged every once in a while (2015, 2017, Freedom and LaSalle and in state championship this year).
December 12th, 2021 at 10:47 am
@Foleman
Your right, Mt. Lebanon is a Very Nice place. They are actually probably the wealthiest school district in WPIAL. If not, very close. That’s a big money area to say the least.
December 12th, 2021 at 10:37 am
SCA fans I’m not hating, but if ya truly believe your that good. You should walk through 3A. The Quips will be moved to 5A, I know, @Jeff H said it best. It’s ok for the Quips, because they have 3 transfers who never see the field. I hope the Quips win the 5A. I think the would have beat ‘Tep or St. Joes. I honestly do. To big, to athletic and too much speed. Remember the QB is a Soph, the RB is a 14 year old FR. I wanna see em win 5A. C.V. will be bumped up, they won’t appeal it. Heck CV and the Quips play each year in a non conference game. Just think if the Quips played in 1A. It would be so absurd week to week. Much worse than what SCA does to teams each week. You would see at least 4 teams forfeit each year.
December 12th, 2021 at 10:21 am
@Wpialguy
Two great posts, completely agree with you.
@Foleman
Great points. I actually noticed, the WPIAL kids seemed to be built a little better, thicker n more muscular. Also seemed to be way more physical n stronger at the point of attack. Maybe I am being biased and don’t know it, but I certainly feel that way. I know where I coach, and all schools I have been at, have EXCELLENT off season weightlifting programs. Just my observation. Also, I said it before, SCA does not want to compete in State playoffs. They want to win blowout State championships. PIAA move em up to 3A. SCA fans, if they are that good you will have no problems. Prediction here, they get bumped up by PIAA… Roth will retire. I call it now.
December 12th, 2021 at 9:05 am
Great games this weekend with some incredible coaching and some heads scratching decisions. The HC from Central Valley played to win, the TEP Coach played to lose, which they did. When you have a stud running back like McLeod and you can’t think you can get 1 yard with a few minutes left, you deserve to lose. The WPIAL is the king of Pa football, however, the Prep with all their talent will still probably win on average 3 state championships every 5 years, I don’t know what to say about S. Columbia, no doubt the top program in the State, but they skirt the transfer rule by having football players move into the district after 8 grade, they physically looked like a college team playing against a Jr High team, step up SC! Not surprised about Mt. Lebanon beating the Prep, I was in Mt. Lebanon-(Very nice area) last year and I saw several of their lineman walking about down town and I came away thinking, Man, you just don’t see many lineman that look that way up East.
December 12th, 2021 at 9:05 am
@ Michael D
Imhotep’s whole team this year could have been made up of transfers and it would still be a moot point for moving up to 6A (or at least forced to by the PIAA). To answer your question, yes, you get 4 points for loosing a state championship game. You get 4 points for winning a state championship game (another PIAA head scratcher there, in essence, you get 4 points for playing in a state championship game, win or loose). They did not play last year (during the fall season), so no playoffs, no points. They only have 4 total success points accumulated over this current 2 year cycle. Team needs 6 or more success points with 3 or more transfers to be bumped up a classification.
December 12th, 2021 at 7:42 am
Everybody happy this morning??
Can we finally put this overblown public vs private debate/conversation to bed for good (or at least until late March when it will become a real legit issue).
And why we’re at it, this 6 classifications talk is too many to rest as well.
December 12th, 2021 at 7:41 am
@Frank G
I really don’t care bout it my friend. Point is everyone knows what the score is w University of St. Joe’s! I honestly don’t discuss it cause it’s a waste of time. They have multi state players… they got blown off the field by a WPIAL Public school. Their behavior was not so good at the end of the. Kids didn’t know how to handle adversity n it showed. #WPIAL
December 12th, 2021 at 6:59 am
Frank, although they may not have players from Delaware or Maryland, i have no doubts they were using that as motivation all week. Sometimes coaches find ways to motivate their players and i think he was playing that up all week to get them focused and playing with an attitude. Seemed to work!
December 11th, 2021 at 11:30 pm
@GaryZ Mount Lebanon played a great game and deserve congratulations. They made plays at key moments in the game.
Their coach is mistaken, maybe intentionally, if he thinks SJP gets any players from Maryland, and I’m next to certain they have no players from Delaware either. As always, they have many players and many more students from Jersey. You can’t keep a Jesuit secondary school open in the Prep’s location without busses.
December 11th, 2021 at 9:55 pm
Wow, what a weekend for the WPIAL! 4 titles in the four biggest classes. Individual talent may be down but is it?? These college coaches need to get their butts to this side of the state and offer some of these players. What we saw this weekend is that some teams on this side of the state still have that pride and togetherness that is needed in high school football. And two schools win their first ever state championships! Awesome year of high school football. I can’t wait until next year. I’m already going through predictions in my head. Looking forward to seeing how the new classifications changes things.
December 11th, 2021 at 8:47 pm
Congratulations to Mt Lebanon! I am a D3 person but happy to see the Prep go down! 35-17. Public wins!
December 11th, 2021 at 8:46 pm
If you want to read something good, go to the Tribune Review. Palko gives an interview where he talks bout Mt. Lebo being a walking only District. They use NO busses. He goes on to talk bout what they are facing in St. Joe’s having players from NJ, Maryland and Deleware I believe. He was definitely taking a subtle shot, especially if ya know him and his style. Good article. MT.LEBO THE GIANT SLAYERS. Just AWESOME!!!!
December 11th, 2021 at 8:43 pm
BADA BING BADA BOOM!
Why hell yes………………there is most certainly a Santa Claus!
December 11th, 2021 at 8:34 pm
Actually thought Mt. Lebo was more disciplined and better coached. Especially at the end. How bout WPIAL new record of 4 State Titles from Hershey. Nice flex from the WPIAL. @THETRUTH is one happy man right now.
@Jeff H. Great point bout WPIAL schools getting up for privates, and your thoughts on SCA. You nailed it brother.
December 11th, 2021 at 8:29 pm
MT Leeboooo. Wow. Great game plan great coaching. No more no less. Same. All Star team. I’m sure this doesn’t change anything for most. Incredible. No history for Prep tonight. Party on Mt Leebo
December 11th, 2021 at 8:26 pm
WOW!!!! What an upset. Mt. Lebo was prepared, hard nosed and those kids played their tails off. Bob Palko is an EXCELLENT COACH. This was beautiful to watch. A big time upset. Just can’t say enough about Mt. Lebo. I know this board is gonna be blowing up.
December 11th, 2021 at 7:29 pm
Michael D – no a lot of the kids from McDevitt went to Wood.
December 11th, 2021 at 5:56 pm
@ Jeff H. Not sure if Roth called for the 2pt. conversion as he was cleaning himself up from the Gatorade bath. Not his style.
December 11th, 2021 at 5:15 pm
@ Jeff H. The southern backups were in just as were the Serra Catholic backups. It’s not Southerns fault that they couldn’t stop them. You can’t tell the future players to not play when they get in. I’m sure nobody on southern thought they were going to score there. It was like a 70 yd run. You want the 2nd string player fall down or go out of bounds. Also, they didn’t go for 2, they were kicking the PAT and it was a bad snap and they were lucky enough to turn it into 2 points. As for your comment about sca fans thinking it’s their right to win a state title every year you have your thinking wrong. They set the expectations to get there every year. Do the right thing and move up? They’re playing in the classification they belong in as dictated by PIAA. Youre mentality is what is wrong with sports and winning in life. Someone is better so they should move up to allow someone else a chance. How about beat the teams work at getting better to beat them. Remember southern lost 6 in a row and couldn’t beat the wpial teams. Did they cry about Rochester moving up when they won like 3 or 4 state titles? No they figured it out and worked at what they needed to. People said move up to AA and southern wouldn’t do squat. That they’d never beat mt. Carmel. Now they say move up again because they’re winning in AA. I guess st. joes prep should play in college level so other teams could get a chance besides them.
December 11th, 2021 at 5:01 pm
All good Gary z.
So lookin into SJP, i see they start sophomores all across the field. Lebo, in opposite starts 10/11 seniors on defense. I think Lebo needs to force SJP into uncomfortable situations where the inexperience causes mistakes. Also, seeing SJP having that much young talent makes the next few years seem inevitable. Hope Lebo can keep up tonight. Knowing Palko, he will have that team playing with a huge chip on their shoulder.
December 11th, 2021 at 4:33 pm
@the truth Where I work, anyone who uses all caps is sent to HR for counselling.
Thanks for the Sacca example. His hometown, Delran, is where Holy Cross High School is and it’s at least 15 miles from the Prep. So he and his parents chose the Prep, even though he is playing safety and not QB, the position he played in junior football and the position his father played at Penn State. And there’s not much chance he’ll play QB at SJP for at least two more years since both Jones and O’Connor are sophomores. Clearly, the Saccas think the Prep is worth the investment.
December 11th, 2021 at 2:55 pm
@Buddy
Same thing happened to me. I’d been up for almost 48 hours and feel asleep right before the fourth quarter. When the announcers in todays game mentiones it went into overtime I looked at the box score and cursed at myself. Always have to miss out on the exciting finishes.
December 11th, 2021 at 2:51 pm
Wow what a game at Hershey!!
CV 7, Wyo 0. Wyo had 1st and goal at the 6, with about 6 min. left..and no pts. Then CV coach has a 4th & 2 at their own 18!! with 4 min left and goes for it…and they get it…What a game!! Both teams had five 1st downs in the first half.. Some great games this weekend…crushing loss for Wyo
December 11th, 2021 at 2:27 pm
CV beats Wyomissing in a great defensive battle 7 – 0. WOW. Game had it all, defensive stops in red zone, gambling for first deep in own territory. Two great teams slugged it out.
December 11th, 2021 at 2:21 pm
I’m all for a Defensive battle, but this was beyond. Hats off to Wyo, tough hard nosed kids. Very well coached. BOTH COACHES are excellent. Very happy that C.V. found a way to win. At the end, they played to win. Huge call going on 4th that deep. Landon Alexander and Fitzsimmons are just studs. Great game. That’s 3 for the WPIAL, so hopefully we get a huge upset and make it 4. In reality that would be a HUGE UPSET. But that’s why we play the game. #WPIAL
December 11th, 2021 at 1:26 pm
Do you get success points even if you lose the state final? Only asking cause wondering if Imhotep will be put in 6A next year….Didn’t they get a handful of Philly McDevitt kids when that school closed?
December 11th, 2021 at 12:29 pm
Thanks Tornado Fan! Wasn’t hating on SCA at all…I just didnt understand the rule and didn’t know about the transfer aspect of it…….Makes sense now….Thanks
December 11th, 2021 at 12:18 pm
CANT WAIT TO WATCH THE PREP TONITE. DID U KNOW THEY ARE PLAYING FOR THE NEW JERSEY / PENNSYLVANIA FOOTBALL 6A CHAMPIONSHIP ANTHONY SACCA FROM DELRAN NEW JERSEY. TROTTER THE D1 RECRUIT FROM NEW JERSEY . THE D EFENSIVE END FROM NEW JERSEY ALSO A DI RECUIT.SACCA WILL BE A D1 RECRUIT STARTS AS A FRESHMAN 6’3 190 POUNDS. I AM SORRY IF I LEFT OUT ANY OTHER NEW JERSEY PLAYERS.MR. LOMBARDI AND THE PIAA KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, IN CLOSING I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE PROPS TO THE PREP FOR MAKING THE ST,ATE TITLE 8 OUT OF THE LAST 9 YEARS. THANK GOODNESS THERE IS A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.GO MT. LEBO.
December 11th, 2021 at 11:50 am
The spread just came out for next years 6a game SJP -22.5 PTS. I will check and see if i can find spread for 2023 .
December 11th, 2021 at 11:44 am
Watch for FitzSimmons on Central Valley. Pitt recruit and absolute dominant defensive tackle.
December 11th, 2021 at 11:23 am
Anyone else have a problem with Southern Columbia scoring a touchdown in the last minute and then going for 2? I thought their program and especially their coach had more class than that, I guess they enjoy rubbing it in, my respect for their program just went down a few notches with that bush league move.
@JC – so it’s wrong for people to think SC should play up a class or two given their level of dominance in 2A, but it’s completely OK for Aliquippa to be forced up to 5a because of some transfers who have not played a down all year? Yes, Jim Roth is a tremendous coach, and it goes without saying SC has one of the best programs in the state, but what’s so wrong with challenging your kids and move up to 3A. I and many others would have absolutely loved to see a rematch in the playoffs with Wyomissing, it’s very possible SC would have beat them. SC fans act as if it’s their birthright to win a state title every year, so keep on dominating 2A instead of doing the right thing and voluntarily play up a class.
I think CV vs. Wyomissing is going to be as competitive as the McDevitt-Aliquippa game, 2 very evenly matched teams, I think CV wins by a touchdown. Why their star running back “Alexander the Great” is not getting any D1 offers, at least from MAC schools, is completely beyond me. As Gary Z stated I think he and Sean Fitzsimmons will be the difference along with their overall team speed and CV wins a close and exciting game.
I also think Mt. Lebo has a legitimate chance to win tonight and will give SJP all they can handle, they remind me a lot of Pine Richland’s 2014 team that lost to SJP 48-41, doubt this game will be nearly that high scoring, especially given the weather conditions, but I’ll be surprised if this game is not close well into the 2nd half.
December 11th, 2021 at 11:03 am
@Wpialguy
I sincerely apologize for coming off like that. I read a little too much into a couple of your posts. I agree with most of your posts. Respect! All good my WPIAL brother. I know a little bit, trust me I do not consider myself a know it all. Again I apologize for coming off like that, not my style.
December 11th, 2021 at 10:49 am
@Wilson4Ever – totally agree with you about GM, they had the talent to win 5A the last 2 years, but I disagree with you about the game against PR last year, I was at that game, the reason GM lost had a lot more to do with coaching than any late penalty call that was not reversed, the fact is PR’s coaching staff made a lot of adjustments in that game and GM didn’t. As I stated in my prior post, coaching matters A LOT in high school football, and teams with less talent and superior coaching occasionally beat teams with more talent, just ask Imhotep.
@4th&forever – Neuman has never won a state football title, they have obviously won a boatload of basketball titles, but none in football, the only football programs from the PCL that have won state titles are the big 3 along with West as you mentioned. Wyomissing doesn’t seem to have any problems with Neuman or any other non-boundary school they play. I think D1 would be better served to stop whining about the obviously advantages the PCL and non-boundary schools have and focus on their own programs and the steps they can take to improve. It’s a mindset, I can tell you the top schools in District 7 do not have any qualms playing the non-boundary schools and go into the games thinking they can win, do you think Lebo feels they don’t have a chance tonight?
December 11th, 2021 at 10:31 am
@D3Mike & Frank G – I agree with both of you, obviously the playing field is not level, and the private/non-boundary schools have some big advantages. For many things in life the playing field is not level, so it’s how you react and handle that reality that’s important. Do you think Penn Trafford’s players felt that Imhotep had overwhelming talent and didn’t have a chance to win last night? It appears from afar many of the District 1 teams go into games against non-boundary schools feeling they don’t have a chance to win, and if that’s your attitude your chances of winning are almost zero. For those of you who think talent trumps everything and coaching doesn’t matter I give you last nights game as a prime example of why coaching is so critical at the high school level,.
Obviously SJP has the most talent in the state year after year, but they also have some of the best coaching, and when you match superior talent with great coaching that’s a really tough combination to beat.
I have yet to hear any practical solutions for dealing with the imbalances that exist between the top level non-boundary schools and everyone else, separate playoffs would not work, there are not enough non-boundary schools in the lower classes. The success factor despite it’s flaws has helped, D3 Mike’s suggestion of automatically moving non-boundary schools up a class is interesting, but do you do that across the board with the smaller non-boundary schools, why for example should Serra Catholic be forced to move up to 3A?
Here’s a suggestion for District 1, start putting more emphasis on defense. It’s a lot of fun to put up gaudy numbers and score 50+ points each game and win 62-49, and that mindset and style of play seem pretty prevalent in D1, but that will get you in trouble when you go out of district and play teams with equal or better talent that take defense seriously, regardless of whether you are playing a non-boundary or public school. I said on here the other day Penn Trafford’s defense would keep them in the game, and that’s exactly what happened, I did not go out on a limb and predict PT would win, but I knew that was going to be a competitive game because of PT’s defense and coaching. I saw PT’s game against Peters Township in week 4 when they lost 28-14 to fall to 2-2, at that point I and probably no one else would have predicted they would win a state championship, but they kept working and improving each week which is a great testament to their kids and coaching staff.
December 11th, 2021 at 9:55 am
GARY Z you hit the nail right on the head.Great reply. amen.
December 11th, 2021 at 9:45 am
SJP 42- Mt. Lebanon 21
We all know the talent and big time players Prep has. I don’t waste my time on public/charter/private debate. With these certain few teams, everyone knows what’s up. Not worth talking bout, cause it’s not changing. My. Leno has some great players, and one of the best HS coaches in the game. I expect Mt. Lebo to make it competitive and play very hard nosed football. Ultimately I see SJP and all their depth and abundance of talent to take over. I so hope I am wrong. But gotta give my honest opinion. One side note, interested to see what factor weather plays here. Let’s go Mt. Lebo shock the state n pull off an epic upset. Good luck to both programs.
December 11th, 2021 at 9:35 am
Very good potential to be a real fun weather day for the final two games today, especially the night game.
December 11th, 2021 at 8:44 am
@Berksguy that post was possibly one of the best I read here.
What do you say reading Garyz’s great post. I feel he expresses my sentiment. PT outplayed and out coached Tep (per Gary I didn’t see the game). I don’t know if PT has D1 players and tep has more than Prep. Do we quickly say “well it’s only one year” or it’s only tep. Do we say if you work, game plan and adjust at a high/higher level than your opponent you can win regardless of all the talent. Or sadly does it all not matter because it isn’t Prep?
December 11th, 2021 at 8:32 am
Imhotep had a point in the 4th quarter they had a 4-1 that they should’ve gone for it. The 50 stack is easy to beat if you know what you’re doing
December 11th, 2021 at 8:19 am
Boy did I screw up! I turned the Tep/PT game off early 4th quarter after Tep went up 14 to 7. Reason being,
PT couldn’t stop Tep and PT couldn’t move against Tep. If anyone has video of that game, especially 4th Quater, please send.
December 11th, 2021 at 8:16 am
Gary z don’t take everything so personal. I was wrong. I guess you’ve never been wrong before. Gary z the all-knowing football guy. Relax dude. My fault i didn’t realize ihmoteps 2 4 star defensive ends would be a combined 300 pounds. They looked like defensive backs. Understand they have talent, but wow they are going to need some development in college. What frustrates me is these teams out East have multiple division one fringe guys, and it seems out west here if you’re not a superstar, it’s like pulling teeth trying to get offered. So many good players passed up over here. Moon, mount Lebanon and Central Valley all come to mind. Central Valley running back, Alexander doesn’t have offers, neither does Lebo RB. We’ll see if they continue to be best player on field.
December 11th, 2021 at 7:51 am
Yes, there is a Santa Claus!
December 11th, 2021 at 7:49 am
Central Valley 28- Wyo 14
I believe CV is to athletic and have an extremely physical team. Plus the team speed is heavily in favor of CV. I look for Landon Alexander the RB, and Sean Fitzsimmons their beast G/DT to be big here. Fitzsimmons is going to Pitt, this kid can literally take a game over from the DT position. Both teams are very well coached. Just think CV has to many weapons n ways to score. Wyo is a hard nosed team for sure, and anything can happen. So hopefully the WPIAL gets its 3rd. Good luck to both, hope we see more great football.
December 11th, 2021 at 6:03 am
Yea Inhotep Charter had a very bad night. They lost the 5A state title 17-14 in OT to Penn-Trafford and also their #12 nationally ranked basketball team lost 75-68 to Reading High who was ranked #21 nationally all in the same evening. And getting back to football again I would like to say that I really feel that Governor Mifflin was fully capable of winning state titles in 5A in 2020 and also in 2021 IMO. I heard if it wasn’t for a bad call leading to a very late Pine-Richland touchdown that wasn’t reversed in last year’s state 5A Semi-final game Governor Mifflin could have won and went on to win the 2020 5A State Title and also if GM didn’t get upset by Exeter Twp. this year in the 5A District III Championship game I also feel they could have won this year’s 2021 5A State Title but that’s just my opinion. But Pine-Richland last year and Penn-Trafford this year were both great deserving teams but I also think GM was equally as good as both of them or even better IMO but it just wasn’t meant to be. And that is why I think Pennsylvania high school football is the greatest sport. And lastly I also think Governor Mifflin must really feel snake bitten with two very bitter pills they had to swallow from last year and this year especially because GM had their two best teams ever in 2020 and 2021 and for having Nick Singleton on their team who was ranked the #1 running back in the country in the class of 2022. GO MUSTANGS!
December 11th, 2021 at 5:38 am
Southern doesn’t meet the transfer part of the success factor. Yes they obviously meet the success factor by winning states every year but they don’t meet the transfer rule. In the past with some of their teams they would of competed and wins states at a higher level but I don’t think this years team would of won 3A. Aliquipa has success at the next level because they have kids move into their district some from surrounding areas (as evidence by transfer rule).. So even they are a small school, they are getting the top talent from around their area.
Congrats to PT. Glad to see a public school win. I can only imagine how that community is celebrating.
December 11th, 2021 at 3:57 am
Great 5A title game.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:58 pm
Penn Trafford deserves lots of compliments for a very good win tonight. Looking at their crowd, I thought of all the support (of various kinds) that no doubt has helped make the team successful. I felt sorry for the IMHOTEP players. They work hard and seem like a close team but–as others have noted–something always seems to make them fall short of their potential. I don’t follow them closely so I hope someone can say whether a lack of continuity in their coaching staff (if, in fact, that’s the case) is part of the problem.
@thetruth. You have obviously been obsessing about the Prep for a long time. Hysteria is evident; just look at your posts. I’ll just take one instance where you couldn’t keep your finger off the all-caps key. You seem convulsed that the Prep draws players from South Jersey but you want to pretend that players from Hainesport or Mount Laurel or Vineland don’t have to get up earlier to get to school than if they were going to their local public school, don’t as a rule get home later from practice, and don’t have much further to travel for summer workouts or practices. And you seem determined to deny there are higher academic standards at the Prep than at most other high schools. I’m not for a moment going to suggest all the Prep players are outstanding students–though some are as evidenced by the number who go to Harvard, Penn, Amherst, Princeton, etc.–but they’ve lost many good players (usually during or after freshman year) to academic difficulties. I have no interest in asking for anyone’s sympathy for the Prep or its players, merely some recognition that what they’ve accomplished hasn’t come easily and certainly not automatically. For one thing, there are lots of potentially conflicting expectations to manage. It didn’t, for instance, work out with the Reids.
As for IMG: it strikes me that IMG and SJP take quite different approaches. IMG does everything it can to make things easy for its students/athletes: on-site dorms, customized meal plans, facilities that almost no high school can match, classes built around team schedules, and no summer practices at dawn in North Philly.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:40 pm
@mcd 65
You said and so did I. Great individual athletes, undisciplined as a team though. Routinely out coached. You could see it on the sidelines, coaches yelling, asking for penalties every play. Their coaches did not adjust, or coach em up. P.T. routinely got yards on the counter split zone w Yaccamelli. Ran it a dozen times, didn’t adjust. ‘Tep was missing blocks when PT would shift last minute from an Odd Stack to a 50 front. That’s on the coaches. Yes mcd 65, the ‘Quips would handle ‘Tep. Actually not being a homer, I truly believe ‘Tep loses to WPIAL 5A runner up, Moon.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:34 pm
Rough night for Imhotep, not only the football team looses, but their nationally ranked boys hoops team gets beat by Reading in their opening game.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:30 pm
Congratulations to Penn Trafford. They were a much more disciplined squad and much better coaching for sure. Imhotep has athletes ,but cant seem to put together a good game when facing a solid coached team . How many times did they squander opportunities with stupid penalties. Aliqippa would beat them by a bunch.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:08 pm
Let’s go C. Valley! Bring another one home to D7(WPIAL). I already picked C.V., let’s get to 3-1 before the showdown at Nt. Make my pick on that later. However us being HS Football fans in PA, along with all the kids involved, are the real winners. We are seeing some great football. Just outstanding. Congrats to all the teams, hats off for giving us the pleasure seeing such awesome games.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:57 pm
@Wpialguy
“Trafford will not have an answer. Yaccamelli will have nowhere to run. Imhotep wins big. 42-0.” Do U make blind picks? Do you analyze the teams. Listen I have been an Asst coach in the WPIAL for 20+ years. However you don’t need to have that experience to know ‘Tep does not have a kicker and not the best disciplined team. They will have trouble when they can’t just run around w all their D1 Athletes and play backyard ball. Check out some film when you do your analysis. See which TEAM is more complete, and well rounded. Maybe tell us who transferred in and that’s why they won/win. Maybe just stick to talking bout school boards, boundaries and other negative stuff. I don’t do the boundary,public/private debate. I break teams down, try to stay positive and make my best pick. From one WPIAL guy to another… with all respect. #WPIAL!!
December 10th, 2021 at 9:54 pm
Yes Bob Sundin when you win championship games and they aren’t close, you should move up.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:47 pm
Imhotep lost 17-14.. tried to you about the offense
December 10th, 2021 at 9:40 pm
PENN TRAFFORD!! What more can you say other than what a great TEAM. Imhotep has a great group of D1 All Stars. Hats off to them on a good season. However, they lose to teams who are disciplined and play TEAM football. They also get OUT COACHED! Just being honest. Remember ‘13 when the writer from whatever Philly paper wrote before the game how ‘Tep w all their D1 players would blowout S.Fayette? Then S.F. humiliated them 41-0. S.F. Had NO D1 players. Played TEAM FOOTBALL and thoroughly OUT COACHED ‘Tep.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:34 pm
The advantage which non-boundary schools have over public schools is substantial and is reflected in the rosters of the non-boundary schools. The success of St. Joseph’s Prep speaks for itself.
However, let’s look at Imhotep Charter whose single state championship is sometimes cited as evidence that the difference between non-boundary schools and boundary schools is not that great.
According to the PA Football News Imhotep has 14 players who have received offers from Division 1 schools and Imhotep’s offensive line averages 319 pounds. There are many years when the entirety of Berks County (population over 400,000 people) does not have 14 Division One players. As for the size of the offensive line, a 2020 article published by ESPN indicates that the average NFL offensive lineman weighs 315 pounds. Imhotep is usually vastly physically superior to the teams which it plays. The factors which have prevented Imhotep from winning multiple state championships are coaching and discipline.
The suggestion that the playing field can be leveled by boundary schools declaring themselves to be non-boundary schools is unworkable for legal and societal reasons. Most of Pennsylvania’s present school districts were created by the Pennsylvania Legislature pursuant to Act 14 of 1949 which established districts based on municipal boundaries (cities, towns, boroughs or more than one municipality with the agreement of the municipalities involved). Although this law has been amended numerous times, no amendment permits school districts to unilaterally change or eliminate boundaries. That would require action by the Pennsylvania Legislature.
The societal problems which would be caused by allowing boundary schools to unilaterally become non-boundary schools would make the above described legal obstacles seem trivial. Reading High has become a state playoff basketball power. What would happen if Reading High’s best basketball players transferred to Wilson West Lawn because Wilson has more resources and fewer problems than an inner city school. Reading residents would be unhappy to see an exodus of their best athletes. Wilson taxpayers might be unhappy to be subsidizing students whose parents pay their taxes to other municipalities. Academics pose the same kinds of problems. Suppose the best and the brightest students at Reading High transferred to Wyomissing. The proposed solution of allowing individual school districts to declare themselves non-boundary schools would benefit some schools and destroy other schools.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:33 pm
to tep 215 imhotep institute charter has no boundries its right on their website.They only draw the players from philadelphia is like saying st joe prep only draws their players from pennsylvania new jersey and delaware. My bad st. joes does do that. How many football players are in philadelphia tep215 about 75. Sorry just kidding but did u really say they only draw players from philly.In 2015 the tep had a o line that averaged 6’5 307 POUNDS. IN THE SEM-FINALS THEY PLAYED aTEAM THAT WAS 14-0 SAUCON VALLEY .,THE WHOLE TOWN CAME TO THE GAME TO SEE A FIRST TIME STATE TITLE WINNER. DO U KNOW WHAT THEY GOT THE TEP SCORED 60 POINTS IN THE FIRST HALF AND SCORED 72 FOR THE GAME THEY COULD HAVE PUT UP 100 IF NOT FOR ALL THEIR PENALTIES.To get into tep u have to go thru a lottery system.but tep 215 do u know that the most amazing thing… happens .some of the best basketball players and football players just happen to get picked ahead of a student on the lottery list. I ask u isnt that amazing the luck of those players.The tep uses a randomization software application to select names from all applicants. If you are not as lucky as the athletes taken ahead of you maybe u can go on the waitlist for next year.since u werent. picked this year. Not so fast my friend u are taken off the list and must re-apply the next year again.JUST wondering tep215 if the reason for that rule is to keep more spots open for future d1 recruits. Shame on me for thinking that..Just thinking about the poor disadvantaged minority youth that apply to tep and dont get in because of the software system that keeps picking athletes ahead of them.Did u really say that tep is not like the catholic schools,From wear i sit they are exactly like catholic schools and its winning at any cost .Last but not least what happened to albie crosby that leader of men why did he step down with that powerhouse?
December 10th, 2021 at 8:57 pm
Only on this website would people ask why they keep playing in the same classification if they keep winning!!!!!! Lol So if your good you have to keep moving up until your not good, lol. They play in the classification that they r supposed to play in. Teams in AA should get better. Cry babies
December 10th, 2021 at 8:40 pm
Cry me a river frankg , could u send me a handkerchief for xmas i have tears coming down my face right now ,not from crying but from laughing ,you have the audacity to compare 2 nfl players financial situation to the rest of the sjp athlectic families. what a brillant statement by you. Why dont u bring up andy reid, john runyon ,marty mornhinweg, lets do a this is your life series.Gabe could host the series he has some free time now. He recruited better at sjp then.he did at temple.Maybe prep could hire him back as a recruiting guru. oregon is hiring back kelly. who says u cant go home again.No i will not check out all your former players biographys i have to go outside and watch my grass grow. DID YOU KNOW PUBLIC SCHOOL KIDS GET UP EARLY IN THE MORNING AND. ALSO AND TAKE A BUS TO SCHOOL. Public school athletes also have to stay academically elgible. We also have football practices late into the evening’. we also take buses home.ST. joes could build a state of the art football facility next week u got plenty of deep pockets . Why dont u come down from ur ivory tower and help fundraise the monies .Im sure u would be good at it. I didnt realize the football players at st. joes are at such a disadvantage. i would like to apologize for my complete lack of sympathy. by the way do u have any idea how much st. joes has spent on AIRPLANE rides for the football team the last 10 years . probably could be used for a new football facility. Could u answer me one more question frankg.in 2019 when saint joes played that fine upstanding institution IMG ACACDEMY IMG was being investigated for arguably the worst college admissions scandal in high school history and found guilty. Numerous high ranking officials were fired or stepped down.The philadelphia catholic archdiocese athletic director stephen haug and other catholic league officials and ST. JOES ALUMNI DID NOT WANT ST, JOES TO PLAY THE GAME. ST.JOES PRESIDENT FATHER SWOPE AND ATHLETIC DIRECTOR DENNIS HART REFUSED, REFUSED, REFUSED, COMMENT WHEN ASKED WHY . WERE U AT THAT GAME? BE HONEST FRANKG u of such high moral standing. One more thing the penna. football news had freedom at NUMBER 4INTHE STATE when they played the prep again u gave out misinformation to the readers .
December 10th, 2021 at 7:59 pm
It’s simple with SCA. I’m not hating either, but they are about winning championships not competing in state playoffs. Why they have not been moved up, I have no idea. Let em play a Central Valley in the finals if they could make it in 3A. Wouldn’t work out well. But they are a class group of kids and well coached. They play who they play. But come on, let’s see ya compete.
December 10th, 2021 at 6:53 pm
I respect the heck out of Southern but they went through the playoffs in AA like butter again. No AA team even touched them. 5 in a row. At some point you think they would challenge themselves in the state playoffs. They were have had a heck of a rematch in AAA playoffs with Wyomissing. I get it…..they are a small school but when you have won 6 of 7 last AA championships….and all by blowouts……anyway AA would have been interesting if southern was AA this year. Mount Carmel, Northern Lehigh, Richland, Serra, and Farrell would have been a heck of a top 5 and it would have been wide open. All got blownout by Southern except Farrell who lost to Serra
December 10th, 2021 at 6:22 pm
I believe SCA hasn’t met the transfer part of the rule yet to bump them up.
December 10th, 2021 at 5:57 pm
@Michael D and others – they have not been forced to move up because they have not triggered the transfer portion of the PIAA Competition Formula
In order to be moved up, you need both ‘success points’ and >3 athletic transfers in a 2 year cycle. The last cycle they had enough success points and seemingly had enough transfers but appealed and won because 2 of 4 students transferred between 8th and 9th grade. From looking at their roster this year, I am only aware of 1 football transfer (not sure if there are more). If that is correct, they again wouldn’t be forced to play up in the upcoming cycle unless the PIAA makes some kind of exception.
December 10th, 2021 at 4:40 pm
sca vs serra catholic: approx same student population, why should they move up? because they are consistently good? The refs tried to even the game out. PIAA ought to look at it’s officiating staff.
December 10th, 2021 at 3:39 pm
As SCA is about to win a title again…..can someone explain again why they get to stay put in a class they dominate and the handful of schools that were forced to move up a year or two ago? Not really hating on them but I never knew the explanation as to why….shouldn’t they have to go to 3A next year? any feedback
December 10th, 2021 at 2:20 pm
When will the PIAA grow a spine and make Southern Columbia move up in class? How many more blow-outs do we have to sit through? How have they not been forced to move up yet? Five state titles in a row and somehow that doesn’t generate enough competition points to force a move? Give me a break.
December 10th, 2021 at 2:19 pm
Southern Columbia – Why not move up to 3A
December 10th, 2021 at 2:12 pm
@ ThatGuyFromPhilly – You consider yourself the top team in the state correct? You scored 14 points against an ok Dematha team. Scoring only 12 points versus an ok PCC, Why not play better out of state teams, St Joes Prep played against Milton a team who is in the 7A Georgia final.
Until Tep gets passed this middle school offense they draw up they won’t be able to beat state champions in other states.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:54 am
Not much to say besides “see D3 Mike” because IMHO, he’s done an excellent job defining and articulating the boundary vs. non-boundary issue.
215, yes Imhotep kids all come from Philly, but they produce almost four FBS players per class, year in… year out and beat the other Philly public programs by 40+. I doubt an all star team from the rest of the district could beat Tep. Gotta say I was wrong about the program falling off when Crosby left.
Jeff H, you’re looking at this from the perspective of state championships, not consistent local dominance, because it’s not just Tep, SJP, Wood and LaSalle who are running roughshod through D1 and D12. Neumann-Goretti has a state championship and is always in the hunt to advance in states. West Catholic has a state championship and is usually in the hunt to advance in states. Conwell-Egan is a cut below, but in usually in the hunt to win districts and advance a round or so in states. Before they closed D12 Bishop McDevitt, same thing. Meanwhile, D1 has 6A schools that are forfeiting games due to a lack of players. In SE PA you can name about a half dozen or so 6A teams that have consistently good programs, while the rest of the teams kind of muddle along hoping to catch lightning in a bottle like Cheltenham did in ‘19. The first order of business is recognizing the reality of the situation, which I think is demonstrably obvious. The second is deciding if it’s a problem. That’s a legitimate question, but I’d argue why have enrollment classifications at all if we’re willing to have schools play by different rules? Continuing on the present course is okay if “we” ( the PIAA) think it’s acceptable. If we don’t, something needs to be done. Maybe having separate boundary and non-boundary brackets and merging them in at the semifinal stage. You’d probably get similar results in the end, but at least more public schools would make it to that point.
One correction… girls basketball (not soccer as I had said) participation is falling in line with football.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:04 am
@D3 Mike I agree, as I hoped I had made clear, that the playing field is not level. I just want to suggest that it’s not as tilted as some suggest and that the only tilt isn’t between private and public schools. I also agree that some public schools (like Reading and like many of the ones in Philly) deal with realities many suburban schools don’t have to deal with–or deal with to a much smaller degree.
Most Prep football families pay tuition, often substantial amounts of tuition. Of course, I don’t know the specifics of the Trotter and Harrison families’ finanances, but I strongly suspect they are not at all typical of most Prep families, including football families. You might check the stories of Shane Davis (now in med school), Justin Montague (now a doctor?), Malik Cooper, Giambi Nesbitt, etc. to get a more complete picture.
My only point in referencing games from several years ago is to counter the claims that the Prep routinely demolishes public school teams. I don’t expect anything like a demolition this weekend. Frankly, I’m surprised, though I shouldn’t be, by some of the outrage over last weekend’s game against G-V. The week before Freedom–not touted as an especially good D11 champion–gave the Prep a very good game.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:56 am
@Tep215 What people mean is that within Tep’s boundaries–and the boundaries of every other PPL school–live more than1.5 million people while within the boundaries of most school districts live far, far fewer people. I have no problem with Tep and understand all PPL schools face challenges most public schools in the state don’t face. You can begin, in most cases, with facilities.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:33 am
Frank, I totally agree with you. People don’t talk enough about how each year St. Joe’s Prep has to overcome the logistical burdens placed on the car service drivers of the Trotter and Harrison families, or how much money wealthy parents have to shell out for private tutoring. (Just busting chops here).
Reading High loses dozens of athletes each year due to academics, more who drop out to work to put food on the table for their families, and even more to drugs, arrest, and in some cases, murder. For many programs, the playing field is definitely less level than what most people think.
None of which is the fault of Prep or it’s fans, but propagating a “private schools have it rough, too” false equivalency certainly is. I don’t find “Prep played a close game in 2014 against this one suburban boundary school” or “see, McDevitt lost to a 1A program!… one with 51 kids on the roster, multiple D1 recruits, and 14 consecutive WPIAL finals appearances” to be compelling arguments that the system is fair. Those examples represent little but exceptions to the rule.
Non-boundary football programs comprise only 12% of the high schools in PA but won 49% of the state football titles contested in the 2010s. They won 75% of the state titles in the higher half of classifications. And no, all 24 of the state titles were not all won by St Joe’s Prep. The numbers don’t lie when it comes to exposing a ridiculously uneven playing field, and I’m sure outside of the WPIAL the district title numbers are even more skewed toward privates in the classes where non-boundary schools exist.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:23 am
@#Tep215 you are RIGHT! I forgot someone told me last year you had to live in Philadelphia to attend Tep. Welp down goes another argument.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:28 am
@D3 Mike I’d love to see some of those match-ups too, so why do you think they don’t schedule each other in their non-conference games? I love the games Tep and La Salle have played or games that the D12 teams play against the Inter-Ac teams. And I miss the old La Salle – North Penn matchups.
Part of the problem as I see it is that many schools in PA play their league and other teams they are comfortable with. I’m sure Prep, La Salle, Wood, Northeast or Tep would love to have a home and home arrangement with any of those schools you mentioned.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:18 am
I’ve doubted Serra all year. But it seems like they have a knack for creating turnovers. I think SC will be smart with the ball, and Serra won’t be able to score. Something like 28-0.
Trafford will not have an answer. Yacamelli will have nowhere to run. Imhotep wins big. 42-0
December 10th, 2021 at 8:15 am
I have no problem with any students wanting to attend a private or charter school. If you step foot in some of these public schools, you would understand why kids leave. Pittsburgh public school board just refused to pass a new rule allowing for stricter discipline for students who disrupt class too much. In essence, the school board ignored the principals and won’t let them discipline kids enough. And these schools must wonder why charter schools are growing at the rate they do. I think the easy answer is to provide private and charter schools their own playoff division. But that is easier said than done as there wouldn’t be enough teams in certain parts of the state. There is a difference between a private school like Serra Catholic, who has one state championship in their history and won one wpial title since 2007 and a school like SJP.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:55 am
Gonna go w an upset here.
Penn Trafford 21-6.
Cade Yaccamelli always plays best in big games, he gets loose and scores a few. P-T will make a big play or two on D.
Serra gives some fight to S.C. but SC pulls away.
SC 42- Serra 14
December 10th, 2021 at 2:23 am
Idk how people call Tep a non-boundary school when ALL THERE PLAYERS COME FROM PHILADELPHIA there literally in the PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC LEAGUE meaning all there students must be Philadelphia residents. Imhotep gets greats athletes cause of the number of great Popwarner teams around it and kids see how lil league stars go there and become national recruits. Also Teps offense is very young @ the skills position. Most of there seniors are lineman or backers. Tep plays the hardest schedule in the state behind SJP playing national powers year in and year out. Imhotep is nothing like the catholic schools like Wood n Lasalls n SJP they dominate the city with kids WANTING TO ATTEND the school.
December 10th, 2021 at 12:13 am
I am not an Alliquippa alumni, resident or coach. Just really respect what they do and how they do it. I am a fan of all D7 (WPIAL) schools, respect them playing up and beating a 4A private. Imagine if they played in their true class of 1A. Even bump em up to 2A, be a different landscape in Hershey that’s for sure. Serra will give Southern some fight, but Southern will pull away. I would love to see Southern bump up to 3A, wonder how they would fair against a C. Valley. I think I know that answer. No disrespect to S.C. great program, and win with class. But come on, voluntarily play up like the Quips have ALWAYS DONE. I don’t see Wyo beating C.V. too many Athletes, too physical up front. Maybe we get lucky and have a game like tonight.
December 9th, 2021 at 11:20 pm
What a great game. The 1A Quips beat the private 4A McDevitt. Gotta respect those Quips, year in and year out they perform. Hats off to B.M. was an awesome game. I see Beaver Co going 2-0, take C.V. over Wyo, 28-14.
December 9th, 2021 at 11:12 pm
@thetruth Yes, I know Milton is one of the top public schools in Georgia. Their one loss came to another Georgia public school. SJP was scheduled to play a public school from Texas last year, but the game got cancelled because of Covid. SJP lost to Marietta in 2019, lost to Pine-Richland in 2017 after a very close win against Coatesville, had a very close win over North-Penn in 2016, didn’t get past LaSalle in 2015, had very close wins over Parkland and P-R in 2014, and close wins over Frankford and Neshaminy in 2013. They don’t schedule many games against public schools, so it’s pretty clear that they don’t simply blow away public school competition in the playoffs. And it would be far from a shock if Mount Lebanon wins this week.
I guess you are thinking any public school with a very good football team is not a “normal school.” How many public schools has North Penn or Coatesville, who play 12 games or more a year against public schools, lost to in the last ten years?
No Prep guy I know denies that there is a large advantage in not having boundaries. There is also an advantage to not having to take a bus to practice, to having your own home field for games, to having all your players within a 2-5 mile radius of the school (especially when it comes to scheduling practices and getting home from practices), to not losing players because of academic standards, etc. Does this mean there’s a level playing field? I don’t think so, but I don’t think it’s as tilted as many think.
I have no idea what this means: “Since u know everything about garnet valley freedom maybe u let us all know their record its not the least bit lopsided im sure.” Nor do I know what a jeff cap is, but if it’s something that calms the wearer why not give it a try yourself?
December 9th, 2021 at 10:21 pm
@Football 1 – you still think the publics and privates should be split after today’s games, with a thrilling Aliquippa victory over Bishop McDevitt, a school with almost 2 1/2 times the enrollment This whole boundary/non-boundary debate comes down to 1 school, or maybe 2 if you want to throw Wood into the equation, if it wasn’t for SJP we wouldn’t have to listen to the same arguments year after year. The PIAA knew exactly what they were getting into when they invited D12 to join, they maybe didn’t envision SJP becoming so dominant, but looking back this was pretty predictable. The results on the field show publics can compete with and beat privates at every level except 6A, and even there several public schools have played close games against SJP, so I don’t think an across the board split into separate tournaments is a very practical or desirable way to go. Despite its many flaws the success formula has worked in moving some privates up a level or 2 which has helped the publics in both 4A and 5A (see ECP and AW, we’ll see what happens next year when they are back in 5A)
For tomorrow’s games I have a feeling both of them are going to be closer than most people expect. Serra’s defense has forced an amazing 20 turnovers in the last 3 playoff games, which is a stunning number given the level of competition, hard to believe they can keep that up, but if they can somehow be +3 tomorrow they can hang in with SCA, if they don’t get some turnovers they will probably lose by 3-4 scores. I also think PT’s defense will keep them in the game against Imhotep, at least for awhile, but like most other teams PT is going to have lots of problems sustaining any drives against Tep’s defense and aren’t going to score very many points.
December 9th, 2021 at 10:05 pm
McD/Quips
What a great performance by both teams. Thoroughly impressed with quips coaching ,,discipline and talent .Their big guys can really move and that Freshman RB plays like a senior.
December 9th, 2021 at 9:17 pm
@FrankG
Yikes man, I caught a backdraft from that sick burn. Feverishly excited for the retort.
Also this 4A game is even better than I thought it would be. I think 3A will have a chance to be just as tight. The others may not… unless my prediction aka pipe dream comes true in 6A.
December 9th, 2021 at 8:40 pm
“Never had either but I can spell both”… I’m dying. And I’m planning to steal that.
I don’t think it’s about morality or ethics, but someone’s views on amateur sports does say something about their values; specifically, about their conception of fair play. Some people are in the “well, if it’s legal, it’s fine” camp. I’m not one of those people. You’re also allowed, per the rules, to try to win 84-0 every game but I don’t think that makes it right when a coach attempts it. Personally, I think there would be major drawbacks to splitting the championships into public / private and it probably wouldn’t be good for football, overall, in PA. I might be wrong on that point and I would be interested in hearing the counterarguments on why a split would be healthier. That said, although I support keeping things mostly the way they are, it’s still nice to hear fans of non-boundary programs at least admit that the current system does not represent a level playing field. Toward those ends, I think remedies such as the transfer rule represent improvements. I’d support other changes such as moving every non-boundary up a class or two, automatically. Maybe start a 7A for the major Catholic programs, IDK. I’d love to see a public power tournament with Central Dauphin, Parkland, Harrisburg, North Allegheny, State College, Coatesville, North Penn, etc. Those schools don’t get to face off against each other often enough and I think most HS football fans would be intrigued to watch.
December 9th, 2021 at 7:59 pm
U like to manipulate wording to fit your narrative. It is not only my opinion it is also shared by alot of high school football coaches. fans and politicians around the state of pa. Having morals means u should have a sense of good to do the right thing and admit that the playoffs in penna. is tilted towards privates and charters . I am far from lazy although i have never rowed a boat like u. I bet titanic is your favorite movie .Did u really say your views are on a very minor area of eligibility for football .Thats like asking mrs. lincoln how was the play? At least u were honest on one thing having no standards we can all agree on that.Oh by the way u put out there that sjp lost to a public school team this year but u did not elaborate upon. The team they lost to. Number one it was not a public school from pennsylvania it was a school in georgia that currently is ranked 19th in the country . and is 13-1.U sort of glossed over that by implying that a normal public high school team beat the prep. but thats what people like u do . hey frankg could u tell all of us how many normal public school teams have beaten st. joes in the last 10 years . Since u know everything about garnet valley freedom maybe u let us all know their record its not the least bit lopsided im sure . u will be diligent in doing that it shoudnt take u long.Looking forward to your reply have a nice day . Are u wearing your jeff cap and letter sweater tomorrow,. take your oar tomorrow so we can locate u.
December 9th, 2021 at 7:39 pm
@Kyle, guessing you don’t consider Dematha “Top out of state talent”. Tell me who in PA you consider having played a tougher schedule that Imhotep’s opening 3 of PCC, Dematha and La Salle. Maybe SJP, but they are just as hated in this forum so I’ll wait to hear a D1-11 school listed.
December 9th, 2021 at 7:20 pm
Wow…McD up 13-0, 10 min left in the first!!
December 9th, 2021 at 4:53 pm
@thetruth
–“my statement is confusing.” Agree completely
–“but i did say u cannot have football players from outside of pennsylvania playing for a pennsylvania state. title” That is not a PIAA regulation, just your opinion.
–“what is confusing to me is your total lack of morals regarding high school athletes who would like to compete on equal footing” It may be a matter of ethics; it’s not a matter of morality.
–“lasalle and the prep said screw u we are a separate enity we do what we want to do.because we are elitist.” Not what either school said. If their decision was partly to get the PCL to change its decision, it worked. Calling someone or an institution “elitist” is just lazy.
–“no morals just like u sir.” You’ve never met me and know nothing about me other than my views on the very minor area of eligibility for PIAA football players.
–“the privates and charters take the standards to a whole new standard” No idea what this means.
–“you and people like u feel entitled” I guess you can’t be “elitist” without being “entitled.” To what do I feel entitled? And who are the people like me?
–“i heard the tailgate will consist of watercress sandwhiches and cavior” Never had either but I can spell both.
–” have a nice day.” Thank you. You too.
December 9th, 2021 at 5:37 pm
Its posted
December 9th, 2021 at 4:16 pm
@Dave
Sorry, I didn’t refresh the page and see that comment was already posted.
December 9th, 2021 at 4:14 pm
Ahhhh I made a post with all my predictions but it’s gone now. Sad 🙁 it had scores and everything
Recap:
– Bishop Guilfoyle 30-20 (that second half was exciting)
– Southern Columbia 49-14
– Central Valley 30-28
– Bishop McDevitt 23-21
– Imhotep 34-13
– MOUNT LEBANON 42-35 HELLYEAH GET IT
@thetruth I like the PA/NJ idea… for a few years now I’ve just called prep the tri-state all-stars… it really riles people up on Twitter, it’s great fun
December 9th, 2021 at 2:04 pm
Over/under on number of fans Imhotep brings to Hershey? I’d set the number at 30.5
December 9th, 2021 at 1:40 pm
my statement is confusing. i never said the prep cant have students from new jersey only to you and the prep faithful and nobody else.i never said the prep cant have students from new jersey .but i did say u cannot have football players from outside of pennsylvania playing for a pennsylvania state. title .what is confusing to me is your total lack of morals regarding high school athletes who would like to compete on equal footing.Can u tell me why when the pandemic hit and the catholic league . ,said they would not play football till further notice, lasalle and the prep said screw u we are a separate enity we do what we want to do.because we are elitist. no morals just like u sir. ARTICLE 11of the PIAA constitution states promote. UNIFORMITY of STANDARDS in all interscholistic athletic competition.the privates and charters take the standards to a whole new standard .Its people like yourself that refuse to see this is unfair to the public school kids because you and people like u feel entitled .On saturday get up there early i heard the tailgate will consist of watercress sandwhiches and cavior .take your wine glass i heard they only have paper cups.Is there a bus or two coming from new jersey ?Will u be there frankg or will u be out recruiting? have a nice day.
December 9th, 2021 at 1:38 pm
Jeff, sadly, the HS sports participation rate in America is down across the board, I think about 10% in the last decade or so and girls soccer is down as much or more than football. I won’t get into the negative effects on us as a society, but from the “what does it mean to HS football in Pennsylvania?” perspective, I think it depends. The larger the school, the smaller the problem, but for some smaller schools, we’re already seeing a transition to eight man or dropping football entirely. From a “quality of play” viewpoint, I don’t see a difference for the big programs, but the play at the weaker small schools can be distressingly bad.
As far as the boundary vs. non-boundary issue, I think there are a variety of solutions everyone would find acceptable to some degree. However, I have little doubt the PIAA will use none of them.
December 9th, 2021 at 1:31 pm
Shooting from the hip here because I don’t know much about half of these programs… but predictions are fun either way.
Thursday
1A) Bishop Guilfoyle 30-20 over Redbank Valley
4A) Bishop McDevitt 23-21 over Aliquippa
Friday
2A) SCA 49-14 over Serra Catholic
5A) Imhotep 34-13 over Penn-Trafford
Saturday
3A) Central Valley 30-28 over Wyomissing
6A) Mt. Lebanon 42-35 over SJP
December 9th, 2021 at 11:48 am
@Jeff H – Not sure you seen it but we both agreed on Imhotep having a terrible offense. I know they have a sophomore quarterback but it’s like they don’t trust him or have trusted there quarterbacks for some time, always running wildcat.
They might beat 6A teams on taken but not the top tier teams and certainly not top tier out of state talent
December 9th, 2021 at 11:35 am
@Football1 I agreed with everything you said in the last post until you threw, “fair playing field” in there. The playing field is “fair” Same age group, no post grad players, same rules of practice, preparation etc. Access to resources in my opinion and based on the Webster’s definition of fair, conforming with the established rules” still makes the playing field fair.
This isn’t a bad idea “I still feel the best football for PA would be the top publics for a title and the top privates for a title. Then you’ll have apples for apples may the best team win” you just would have a public champion and a private champion and no state champion, which in theory is that what the district championships are and then we get into the state tournament? I think if we do your model you will have banter back and forth about lets see who’s best in the state, with no one willing to play a game because of scheduling etc.
Let me make my stance clear though. The model may need to change. It may not provide the most competitive championship experience. Prep is not doing anything immoral, outside the rules, unfair. It was fine when Prep joined the PIAA and probably was fine until what 2012-13 when Prep actually started winning. This tells us even a new model is likely to become flawed over time.
December 9th, 2021 at 11:01 am
@TheTruth, ““There is a reason why they call it the 6a penna. state, penna st 6a pennsylvania st football playoffs because u have to be should be from the state of pennsylvania” It’s about where the school is. Classification is about how many students are enrolled at the school. District is determined where the school is located. Its has nothing to do with where the students live and it shouldn’t have anything to do with where the students live. If so, we go back to my previous question of why not ask the school districts to not have borders and you can pull from all other areas. Would that not level playing field? No because many public schools wouldn’t draw the students without football let alone with football. I know of people who relocated to attend Prep, Malvern and Lower Merion (2) personally.
@JordanKing Bethlehem Freedom had a legitimate chance to win that game. I thought they would. Why does that game not quelch the argument? Is it because Prep still won? Is it only fair system is Prep looses and not be competitive, you all keep saying the games aren’t? I guess outside of Philadelphia HS football was about the town. In Philadelphia students are from all over and we came together as a team, wait almost like the college and the real world. How is this a moral issue? Value can possibly be argued, but please share how this is immoral.
December 9th, 2021 at 9:05 am
@Jordan King. Clearly, GV should not have been ranked #1. Some people get mesmerized by lots of points scored against weak teams. Think of Central York last year. Based on their games against SJP, Bethlehem Freedom should have been ranked ahead of GV. Same for Mount Lebanon.
SJP lost to a public school earlier this year, as they did in 2019 (the last normal season). What you’re asking for is throwing all the Catholic schools and the public schools in big cities (at least Philly) out of the PIAA since their students/players don’t come from one “hometown.” I have no idea what you mean about values and morals being long lost. Are you talking about the PIAA? Or are you suggesting values and morals reside in “hometowns” and the their public high schools but not in cities or in non-boundary schools?
December 9th, 2021 at 8:52 am
“There is a reason why they call it the 6a penna. state, penna st 6a pennsylvania st football playoffs because u have to be should be from the state of pennsylvania”
Your statement is confusing. No, there is no rule stating all players have to be from Pennsylvania. Whether they should be is a matter of opinion, not of law or regulation. There is no point telling Prep people they shouldn’t have students from Jersey; the school has had them from the start. Make your case to the PIAA.
December 9th, 2021 at 8:25 am
Jeff, I totally agree with you on that point. Top talent is down everywhere in the state. I read in a recent Mike White chat that last year’s WPIAL class sent the fewest players ever to Power 5 programs (six?).
WPIAL Guy, those are solid picks. In 3A, I’ve seen Wyomissing play a few times and much like last year in the finals and Middletown and Berks Catholic, previously, their run-heavy wing-T is often at a disadvantage when they play more balanced programs. Surprised none of them have mimicked Southern Columbia and modernized their attacks to include more passing options. I will say that last I checked it was supposed to pour on Saturday and that might affect things. I ran the wing-T in high school and believe it or not, even though it’s run-based, it’s a tough offense to execute in inclement weather. Lots of movement in the backfield, two pulling guards, etc., tends to bog things down. I do think it ends up a competitive game, either way.
I think 6A is also competitive. Best game of the weekend might be in 4A. It would be nice for McDevitt to deliver a win for district 3. Our district reps have lost 10 of their last 11 trips to the finals and no one has won a state title in the top half of the classifications (now, 4A/5A/6A) since Central Dauphin back in 2011.
December 9th, 2021 at 8:07 am
D3 Mike’s comments about boundary and non-boundary schools are spot on. To think that the public school coaches and players are not trying hard enough is truly asinine thinking. It is true, having 1 or 2 stud athletes not attend their public school and enroll in a non-boundary school would change the whole makeup of that team. There is nothing wrong with a parent or child deciding to attend a private school, it is totally their choice for their future. The problem lies with the fair competition between the two programs. You’re lying to yourself if you feel it’s a level playing field. I still feel the best football for PA would be the top publics for a title and the top privates for a title. Then you’ll have apples for apples may the best team win
December 9th, 2021 at 6:59 am
GV got smacked by St Joe’s. All that undefeated number one in the state crap goes out the window against these college programs I mean high schools. This happens every year and it’s a shame. At least Bethlehem Freedom gave the prep a run for their money. Would love to see a state wide public only playoff. Just to see which town truly has the best talent. Isn’t that what high school football os all about? Representing your hometown. The values and morals are long lost.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:59 pm
State final previews
2a Serra will be overwhelmed. SC wins big. 42-10
3A wyomissing is one dimensional. Running on Central Valley will be tough. CV wins a low scoring affair 17-7
4A. Admittedly don’t know much about Mcdevitt, but Aliquippa will hold heir own. I think Mcdevitt wins something like 28-21
5A Penn trafford will be overwhelmed by the size and speed of Imhotep. Imhotep wins 35-7
6a i want mount Lebanon to compete with SJP, but i don’t see it happening. They may hang with them for a quarter or two. 35-17 prep.
1a don’t know much about either team but would like to see red bank valley win as d9 hasn’t been to a final since 1990.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:30 pm
Frank and McD, I’m a relative newcomer to the area (23 years) so I’ll defer to your superior knowledge on the history. What I do know is a disproportionate number of top college recruits from SE PA go to privates and Imhotep. I don’t think that was the case when CB West was #3 in the country circa 2000. And while D1 schools lose some of their of top players, in D12 Imhotep and the private schools have absolutely decimated pretty much the rest of Philly public school football. That doesn’t happen anywhere else in the state to the degree of SE PA.
Back to coaching. I used to see a lot of HS football. Occasionally, you’ll see some bad coaching. A little more often, you’ll see things that make you scratch your head. The HFC is the most important person in the program, but there is no magic. Usually, differences in staffs are marginal and might make a touchdown difference or so, but in the end… NFL… NCAA… HS… talent wins.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:12 pm
frank g. u did not address any point i made about prep other then say players have come from new jersey for years. so i will identify your nonsense for what it There is a reason why they call it the 6a penna. state, penna st 6a pennsylvania st football playoffs because u have to be should be from the state of pennsylvania. your prep players from 50 years ago up to right now are not grandfatherd in . Ithink if u are playing any championship sport u should. be from that state. did somebody hit u over the head with an oar yrs. ago . saturday every player on mt. lebanon will be from pennslyvania the other team there cant say that. dont u think in your private moments there is a reason why the prep is so much better then everyone else ?Next year lets call the 6a championship game by the new moniker the pennsylvania /new jersey championship . john runyon could hand out the trophy.
December 8th, 2021 at 6:28 pm
Just as i alluded to earlier in the week, the piaa was not specific enough in counting vo-tech students. PIAA said schools were inconsistent in counting vo-tech students. Enrollment numbers delayed until January.
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-football/2021/12/08/PIAA-sports-classifications-realignment-2021-vo-tech-students/stories/202112080156
December 8th, 2021 at 5:57 pm
@D3 Mike & 4thandforever – both of you guys make some good points about D1 football, my contention is talent is down across the state compared to 20yrs ago, so there are fewer top quality players to go around which exacerbates the issues you raised.
Here are some thoughts on the 2 games tomorrow
1A – I thought Canton and Old Forge were the 2 best teams in the bracket, and the winner of that game was the favorite, but Bishop Guillfoyle shut down Canton last week. I also expected Bishop Canevin to win based on District 9’s track record against the WPIAL, and Redbank Valley fell behind 14-0 in the first half, but they scored 23 unanswered points to win 23-14 spoiling a WPIAL sweep in the Western Finals. Rooting for Redbank to win the fist football state title in D9 history, but hard to go against Guilfoyle, there’s no doubt they have played a much tougher schedule than Redbank and I think they win a pretty close game.
4A – I think these are 2 evenly matched teams and this has the potential to be one of the best games of the weekend, both obviously have lots of speed and athleticism, and most of the skill players for both teams are underclassmen. I give the slight edge to McDevitt, some Aliquippa guys got a little banged up last week against Jersey Shore, and after battles in the WPIAL playoffs against McKeesport and Belle Vernon they may be a little worn down, so I’ll take McDevitt by a TD, but this game could go either way.
December 8th, 2021 at 4:48 pm
@Kyle – I agree with most of your comments about Tep, they overwhelm teams with their size, speed and athleticism, but their offense is very basic, I was at their 12-6 win over PCC back in August, and that game set offensive football back decades, the talent on the field was something to behold, but the offense was horrible by both teams, very basic an unimaginative play calling. I do think Tep would beat the vast majority of 6A teams based on sheer talent alone and as others have mentioned their defense is tremendous, but they are no where near SJP’s level as an overall football team in all 3 phases of the game. Penn Trafford has a very solid defense and are very well coached and I don’t see Tep scoring much offensively against them, PT is not going to do much against Teps defense, so I think this is going to be a pretty low scoring game and closer than a lot of people think, something like 20-10.
December 8th, 2021 at 4:30 pm
@CoalRgnFtballFan – I don’t consider TJ a large school if that’s what you mean, with about 350 boys they are a mid-sized 4a school.
Being from Pittsburgh and closely following WPIAL football since the 70’s I know the history of small school football in the WPIAL and all those great teams from the decade of the 90’s, but I disagree with you about the lack of depth today in the WPIAL, they don’t have as many great teams or great players as in the past, but each class in the district has several quality teams each year, with the exception of 6A that only has 8 schools and in the next cycle 7 schools Look at 2A this year, there were 4 undefeated teams, and Serra with 1 loss was a #6 seed in the district playoffs, how does that not speak to the level of depth…again, not to confuse depth of very good teams vs. great teams. Another factor in the lack of depth you cite is 6 classes vs. 4, if you combined 1A and 2A in the WPIAL, which is basically what you had with 4 classes, you would have the depth you talk about.
I am not disagreeing Mt Carmel is very good and an excellent program, and I think they get don’t get the respect they deserve, but lets face it, most of the state wide polls, including Penn Live, are just taking educated guesses and don’t watch film or drill down on these teams to post any true state rankings. For example, I seriously doubt anyone on this board doesn’t think LaSalle is at worst a top 5 team in 6A, and maybe top 3, but Penn Live has them honorable mention, that’s a joke if these polls are trying to rank teams honestly.
December 8th, 2021 at 2:51 pm
4rth and Forever
Those non boundry catholic schools located within District 1 always drew players away from Public schools as well as the inter-ac schools. Years ago when those same Catholic schools had boundaries [assigned parishes] they connected throughout the region. In essence ,having so fewer catholic schools with half or more of the students they used to have is no different from now except if they recruit its also against each other. Bonner had 3000 boys then, now they play in 4A.
December 8th, 2021 at 2:09 pm
I might be right, I might be wrong, but “the results on the field” are irrelevant to my contention that D1 is down because more talent has drifted from the D1 publics into the PCL & Inter-AC. Whether or not North Penn would have beaten PCC in 2016 if D12 weren’t in the bracket is a non sequitur. It’s not about losing on the field. It’s about losing the recruiting wars. And bleeding just 1-2 players a year (and increasingly, losing them in 7th & 8th & 9th grade) can make all of the difference when your goal is to compete for a state title.
The D1 publics simply don’t have the talent they had 20 years ago because college doesn’t cost what it did 20 years ago, the competition for scholarships isn’t what it was 20 years ago, the PCL and the Inter-AC powers are far more visible, regionally, than they were 20 years ago, and family/player movement is far higher than it was 20 years ago. There’s a reason the transfer rule was implemented in 2018, not 1998. Because of population density (thank you 4thAndForever), pedigree, and the number of suitable alternatives, Greater Philadelphia sees a lot of player movement. That’s why D1 publics are down. It’s also down in basketball, field hockey, you name it. The notion that 64 school districts in 5A and 6A, ALL can’t find competent football coaches or that NONE of the 64 communities in SE PA have “a commitment to winning” is one part insulting, one part asinine. States with dominant non-boundary programs have weaker public programs. States with weak private school options still maintain thriving public programs. The same is true within states, districts, and counties. This is not rocket science so there’s no need for these quaint, bootstrapping remedies.
P.S. the Wyomissing example omitted the facts that 1) they’ve never had to face a Catholic school in the state playoffs, and 2) they’ve appeared in back-to-back state finals during the cycle when Bishop McDevitt, Berks Catholic, Allentown Central Catholic, and Bethlehem Catholic all volunteered up into 4A. Wyomissing does a tremendous job but 3A isn’t 6A and Berks County isn’t Bucks County. “Quakertown should just do what Wyomissing does” is a simplistic way of viewing things.
December 8th, 2021 at 12:27 pm
@ 4thandForever, You don’t think coaching is a factor at all?
You have a point, but it’s somewhat at odds with history. Take Delaware County. You don’t have to go back all that far to remember when Bonner and O’Hara had very good teams–and were much bigger schools. (You could go back further and include St. James.) The Prep also drew quite a few students from Delco–including quite a few good football players. I highly doubt that PCL schools now have nearly as many good football players from Delco as they did 10-40 years ago. And do you really think CEC is more of a magnet for football players now than Egan was in the old days?
December 8th, 2021 at 12:25 pm
Frank G,
I’ll do you one better. Jim Leonard played for the Prep 1927-1930 (they were also very good back then.) Later went on to play at Notre Dame and coach the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He was born and raised in Pedricktown, NJ. The horror!
December 8th, 2021 at 11:50 am
@KevinX Thanks that makes sense. Your the rules expert in my opinion.
December 8th, 2021 at 11:45 am
D3 Mike pretty much nailed the boundary vs. non-boundary issue in D1 and D12. The reason the rest of the state doesn’t have the same issue is population density. Non-boundary schools in SE PA have a huge population to draw from. They don’t have to siphon off that many kids from each individual publics to have a huge positive impact on their program. Implying kids don’t work as hard, or the coaching isn’t as good at publics as it is at non-boundary schools is a slap in the face to those kids and coaches busting their tails at those boundary programs. Sports are talent driven and the non-boundaries have a disproportionate amount of the top talent. The majority of top NFL prospects from SE PA played for non-boundary schools. That wasn’t true 20 years ago. Despite the fact they play in D12, many of the top catholic programs… Wood, LaSalle, Connell-Egan, etc. are located in D1 towns, not Philly, so they are pulling players from both D1 and D12. There’s a reason the same D12 non-boundary schools are in the hunt year after year, and it’s not coaching and desire.
December 8th, 2021 at 9:18 am
@ndlaky You are hilarious. Wait you heard.. Is that your basis. Too funny. Who knows the mans salary and motive for what he accepted. What business man wouldn’t accept a lower salary to get a start with an employer where the future earning potential and growth is far beyond where he currently is. He’s been promoted twice already and is now being considered for the HC position. Not to mention he’s an attorney also. I am not even going to get into the rest. If you don’t think history matters in the conversation and all that matters is today. I will stop there.
@Kyle I have watched a few Imotep games VS LaSalle and came away with the same feeling. The defense is extraordinary. The best offense they had was under Brent Gordan as OC.
December 8th, 2021 at 9:18 am
@ndlaky
You posted as if you were offering the breaking news that Kyle McCord slept in New Jersey when he was a student at SJP, suggesting that you are among the few who don’t know that the Prep has had players from Jersey for many decades. So I offered myself as an example. I could have cited Steve Quinn who went on to play at Notre Dame or John Reid, now in the NFL. The fact that my case was 50 years ago simply illustrates that this isn’t recent,. I brought up the rowers because some seem to think it’s only or mainly football players who come to the Prep from Jersey. I don’t assume for a second people are interested in my case per se, but it’s perhaps useful to identify nonsense for what it is.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:29 am
Jeff H, excellent post about the depth of the wpial. Wpial may not have the individual talent they once did, but they do still have a depth of quality teams.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:17 am
@ The Joneses
I’m not 100% sure of this, more like 90%, but I believe that if a team is eligible to move down, they can only move back down one classification from where they are playing during the current two year cycle. This is regardless of what the school’s next cycle enrollment figures are (if lower). So in Wood’s case, they would only be eligible to move down to 5A, not 4A or whatever their lower enrollment figures may come in at. Obviously, if they have an overall male recruitment (haha) boom, and their overall male enrollment hits the 6A parameters, then they’ll stay at 6A.
To answer your question, 5A, unless they decide to stay at 6A (which I would highly doubt).
December 8th, 2021 at 7:04 am
@ Jeff H.
First, I specifically say “at least at the small school level”, I don’t consider TJ a small school, do you? A one off such as Penn Trafford doesn’t speak to depth of quality per class. I provide specific examples of teams played, by Farrell in 1996, that all offered a challenge equal to or greater than that of SCA in the state final. Therefore, at that time, an argument could be made that maybe 4/5 of the best single A teams in PA were in the WPIAL. In 1996 Rochester beat Farrell, Farrell beat Duquesne by 14, South Fayette 14-12 in OT and Riverview 26-25. That is the depth I am referring to. If I used an example of a one off winning district 7 and playing in a state final, such as Avonworth in 2019, does that speak to quality AA depth in the WPIAL? Avonworth’s average score against all WPIAL teams was 36-10 and specifically in the playoffs it was 38-13,41-14,28-6 – meaning they for the most part cruised through district 7. Avonworth’s most competitive game was in the western final against Wilmington 33-21 prior to being dismantled by SCA in the final 74-7. SCA on the other hand played arguably better competition in districts against Mount Carmel (49-0) and most certainly against Richland (49-27), heck even Upper Dauphin scored 22 (I know some came against the reserves). That example displays a large discrepancy between the rugged battles that Farrell and Rochester used to have week in and week out in the WPIAL of the 90’s and early 2000’s as compared to today.
I’m putting the cart in the front of the horse a bit. You mention Serra Catholic and how they won the WPIAL offers a look at depth. But if they are Mercy Ruled this weekend and SCA has played multiple teams of higher caliber throughout the playoffs then how does Serra Catholic provide an argument for WPIAL AA depth? Again, I’m not saying that does happen, I’m just asking the question. As I stated above, there was a time that WPIAL depth at the small school level was tremendous. The road to a WPIAL title was awash in nail biters, defensive battles and OT antics. And the winner of the West often was treated to a state final game that was no more competitive than what they had already played numerous times during the regular season and/or WPIAL playoffs. That is the depth I’m talking about. I’m not saying the WPIAL hasn’t won state titles in all 6 classes – they should – they are the largest district. Depth, per class, is what I’m talking about.
Lastly, in no way am I saying that quality isn’t down statewide, but it seems people still want to use the WPIAL as the barometer for quality, which I think has faded with the lack of true depth, per class, being displayed on a yearly basis. Again, I focus on small schools. In PAFOOTBALLNEWS rankings Mt Carmel is an honorable mention. They are legitimately a top 3 AA team. No doubt. Yet they are largely ignored because they lose to SCA. On the other hand everyone chatters on about Sto Rox (ranked 9th), Steel Valley (HM), Beaver Falls (6th) and Farrell (3rd) because they score 60 points against teams that just aren’t good. It’s a lack of TRUE depth.
December 7th, 2021 at 9:33 pm
@ 215Tep and Anyone other Imhotep person – Laughing at all this talk about Imhotep being able to keep with the 6A, has anyone on this panel watched them play offense? In there offensive scheme which they run compares to one of middle school team. No deep shots, not complicated, nothing but we are bigger and faster than you at 5A.
Imhotep scored 12,14, 8 against other good programs. They beat up on the bad public league. Please stop with Imhotep is on par with St Joes Prep.
Watching them against LaSalle was one of the worse offensive displays of football I’ve ever watched.
December 7th, 2021 at 7:28 pm
hey frank g. no one cares about 50 years ago st. joes was not in the piaa back then. did they wear facemasks back then? no one and i mean no one in penna. cares about st. joes row boats being the best in penna. tell me about coach infante i heard he took a paycut to go coach at temple.because the piaa knows u have players from new jersey and does nothing about it doesnt make it the right thing to do . st joes ,wood and lasalle should all join the inter- ac along with malvern, germantown academy episcopal etc. etc etc. etc.within 10 years there will be no catholic league anyway.the numbers for the other catholic schools will continue to dwinde and go down and down unless they all start taking players from new jersey by the way frank g. how do you think those high schools in new jersey feel about all of this?.frank g. are u up to date with your financial obligations to the athletic funds ? i heard they need another row boat. have a nice day frank g.keep living in your fantasy world.
December 7th, 2021 at 6:38 pm
@Kevin X Do you think Wood will elect to go back to 5A or their actual enrollment level of 4A? I’ve contemplated that move for a while now of what they would after moving up voluntarily and then being forced up to 6A.
December 7th, 2021 at 5:45 pm
I am not buying Aliquippa’s argument about player health. They have 52 kids on their roster. That is more than most 4a schools nowadays. and their linemen are all over 265 pounds. I did not see them saying that it was a safety hazard when their linemen were beating up on schools who don’t have a lineman over 225 pounds, and if there are 50 kids on the roster, is it not the coaches job to rotate them more? It is not like aliquippa has a 1a enrollment with a 1a roster. Some of this frustration stems from them realizing they cannot just line up and beat teams in these top classes. Every team that makes it to the state championship is beat up and mentally tired. It is not just an Aliquippa problem.
ALiquippa’s argument is that because the success formula was put in place after they voluntarily chose to play up in 3a they should not have to be forced up.
also, coalregionftbfan… not sure how you did not mention Thomas Jefferson.
Furthermore, I am wondering when the state is going to go another round and force schools to merge, specifically in the west. One reason why these public schools are not reaching thei potential is that the resources for some of these smaller schools are pitiful. Kids have no competition within the school to better themselves. In beaver county, there are six different high schools within a 10 minute drive of each other, and people wonder why taxes are so high.
December 7th, 2021 at 5:22 pm
@Kevin X – excellent article, thanks for posting. I agree with Coach Warfield and Dr. Woods, hopefully the PIAA comes to their senses and does not force a small A school to play up 4 classes, regardless of how much success they have. They did the right thing by voluntarily playing up for years and the fact the PIAA seems unwilling to take that into account is ridiculous.
CoalRgnFtballFan – you don’t consider TJ a perennial contender for a state title, after winning 5 in the last 17 years since 2004? Not as much depth in the WPIAL as in the past? Well how about Penn Trafford winning their first ever district title and advancing to Hershey and Mt Lebanon winning their fist district title in 21 years and advancing to the state final for the first time in school history, How about Serra Catholic, the sixth seed in class 2A, winning their fist district title since 2007 and then knocking off Farrell last week? The quality of play is down in the WPIAL just like it is across most of the state, but the WPIAL is still the deepest district in the state by a wide margin (and also the largest to be fair), what other district has had 9 different teams win state titles since the move to 6 classes in 2016 (Jeanette, Steel Valley, Beaver Falls, Quaker Valley, Aliquippa, Central Valley, TJ (2), Pine Richland (2) and Penn Hills), so to say it’s not as deep as it used to be is just not supported by the facts.
@Foelman – I totally agree with you, the play in District 1 has dropped off dramatically since their heyday in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, and the decline started well before District 12 joined the PIAA. Part of it is demographics, how good would Downington or CB be if the school districts didn’t split into separate high schools. The fact is D1 would have been hard pressed to win a big school title the last 15 years without the PCL being in the mix, the only 2 years I can think of they might have won were in 2009 when LaSalle beat State College in the final, and in 2016 when North Penn lost to SJP in the semi-finals, that team might have beaten PCC in the finals. Other than that D1 would not have won a big school title any other year, so to blame their demise strictly on D12 and the PCL is not supported by the results on the field.
December 7th, 2021 at 2:27 pm
Long article, but worth the read……
https://news.yahoo.com/battle-battle-aliquippa-considering-options-100102413.html
December 7th, 2021 at 1:37 pm
@ Wpialguy
Imhotep will not be forced to move up. They do not have the required 6 “success points.” They did not play last fall, so no play, no points. Of course I suppose they could still volunteer to move up to 6A. It does appear that Wood will be moving back down to 5A. Their zero success points over the past 2 seasons will allow them to do that regardless of their number of transfers. The only tweak that the PIAA made to the original Competition formula. Same point tho, that can voluntarily stick around 6A for the next 2 years if they choose. I am already looking forward to the next 2 years of D12 5A championship games.
So why shouldn’t Aliquippa be forced to move up to 5A?? it appears that they will have well more than the minimum of 3 transfers over the past two years, and they do have the success point, seems fairly straight forward. That equals moving up. I am unaware of a clause in the rule that if you don’t have a band you don’t have to move up. Was that snuck in when I wasn’t looking??
December 7th, 2021 at 1:05 pm
Jeff H, I watched the Downingtown West/Central Dauphin playoff game a few years back and came away thinking how poor is District 1 6A football when DWest is the champ. DWest physically looked like Midgets against CD, they had a good QB, a good Tailback and 1 good lineman as I recall and had the most porous defense I have ever seen for a District 6A champ giving up 65 points in that game. District 1 football was much better years ago. I remember in 2009 I watched Archbishop Wood score in the last minute to beat a tough Pottsgrove team. In the 90’s District 1’s CB West won 4 large School Championships and lost a 5th in the last seconds. When Strath Haven won 2 state championships in 1999 and 2000 and the 2002 team with Dan Connor lost to Paul Poz’s Hopewell squad, you heard the same complaints about Strath Haven back then as you hear about St. Joe Prep today, where are they getting all these players from. I can see the Prep and Imhotep getting the best of the best in the City because of demographics. I’m not buying it in the suburbs, Malvern may get the pick of the litter but 1 kid from a public school leaving doesn’t make a program. In Berks County, we have Wyomissing, a 3A school that has won a state Championship and came close on a few others while defeating a who’s who, both Public and Private in football-Imhotep, Southern Columbia, Aliquippa, Berks Catholic, Neumann Goretti, Scranton Prep, Middletown etc So don’t say it cant be done in District 1 with the right coach and a commitment to winning.
December 7th, 2021 at 10:26 am
Jeff H hit the nail on his head with most posts. Although I don’t have sympathy for aliquippa having to move up, I do not believe they should be forced up to 5a. This is a school that doesn’t even have a band. I think keeping them in 4A is the right move for this cycle. In 4A they can still play other beaver county schools. In 5a they’d enter a section with 4 times the enrollment and 4 times the socioeconomic status.
Serra Catholic has definitely had a magical season and playing for that coach is a great story.
Aliquippa lulls teams to sleep with their linemen and as soon as they get an opening they strike.
A key theme in a lot of these games is turnovers. Turnovers have killed a few teams in the last few weeks. Can’t win a state championship with 3 turnovers.
Is Imhotep being forced to 6A next cycle? I know ECP is rumored to be forced up. I am excited to see the wpial enrollments come out. There have been significant demographic changes and problems in the east hills of Pittsburgh and I think schools like Penn hills, gateway, Woodland Hills, and west Mifflin are bleeding students to charter schools
December 7th, 2021 at 10:25 am
@ Dave Mika – yeah, being a WPIAL guy I know Serra was seeded sixth in the district 7 playoffs, Tweeter made it sound like their record was 7-6, that’s why I responded the way I did. Their defense had 6 turnovers again last week in the game against Farrell, so that makes 20 turnovers their defense has forced in the last 3 weeks, all against very good competition, will be very interesting to see how their defense fares against 4 time defending champ SCA.
December 7th, 2021 at 10:11 am
@Jay I accept your apology and now I know you’re a good man. I know how these things can pull at you. Be well my friend.
@Jeff H. You’re dropping some gems today sir.
December 7th, 2021 at 9:50 am
As I had said multiple times before, all the teams being talked about as title contenders in AA from the Western side of the state are currently MIA. Farrell, Steel Valley, Sto Rox are all watching from home this weekend. Suspect schedule, sorry, the WPIAL is not as deep as it once was. There are two consistent contenders for state titles from the WPIAL, Central Valley and Aliquippa (at least at the small school level – I know I know quips play up). Farrell is solid, but Wilmington is not a barometer this year and beating Kennedy whoever 75-0 doesn’t say much when that team suited like 15 kids. When I speak of WPIAL depth I harken back to the ‘olden’ days when Farrell was in WPIAL and had weekly battles against the likes of Rochester, Duquesne, Riverview, Monaca etc. When Farrell made the state title in 95/96 those teams were men. They were tested. They knew how to win. At this point in the season I believe Mt Carmel may be the ‘real’ # 2 in AA in PA. Richland, if they got rolling can score a lot of points in a hurry and could challenge for #2.
Serra looks ok. A bit offensively challenged. I would expect SCA to do a bit better job than Farrell could in 2 primary aspects. 1) SCA won’t have 15 penalties. 2) SCA won’t turn the ball over 6 times.
I’d imagine that will be all it takes. Richland had a far superior offense to that of Serra. Richland scored 14 points against the SCA starters. Can the Serra D hold SCA under 14 points, because I’d imagine it will take one heck of an effort for Serra to produce more than 14.
December 7th, 2021 at 9:25 am
@Frank G
Thank you.
December 7th, 2021 at 9:06 am
Also, I’m in no way saying we should or shouldn’t have two championships or that private schools are doing anything wrong. Just pointing out what to me is a clear negative correlation between the number and quality of private programs and the the number and quality of adjacent public programs.
Prep, Wood, Malvern etc. are far more visible and dominant, statewide, than they were 15 years ago; at the same time, D1 publics are down.
Berks Catholic is nowhere near the same level they were a few years ago; meanwhile, Exeter and Governor Mifflin field their best teams in program history.
Pittsburgh Catholic and private schools siphon off less talent from that city’s suburban football powers; those suburban powers perform better in the state playoffs.
SCA is the best public in the state; SCA also does not have a McDevitt or Malvern, let alone both, 10 minutes away.
I could go on. Again, no value judgements. Just articulating the inverse relationship.
December 7th, 2021 at 8:49 am
Jeff, to be clear, I never said anyone feared PCC. What I said was that if PCC were as dominant in the WPIAL as the elite non-boundary programs were in the east, you’d probably hear more clamoring statewide for different championships for boundary and non-boundary. i.e. if it were PCC vs Prep every year in the 6A final there would be more momentum for a change.
December 7th, 2021 at 8:08 am
@ Jeff H
Welcome back!!!
Spitting hairs here, or maybe just getting overly technical, but Lansdale Catholic won the AA Championship in 2004, a year after North Penn’s win. They were a member of District 1 at the time. So I would consider that District One’s last state football championship. Kind of ironic by a now District 12 team 🙂
Maybe, maybe not, some thoughts/opinions/rants on Aliquippa, competition formula and District One later…..
December 7th, 2021 at 7:42 am
@Jeff:
Disagree, I don’t think D1 football is WAY down the past 20 years. Their demise is absolutely related to D12 entering the fray in 2008.
BTW, North Penn went to the state final in 2011, losing to central Dauphin 14 to 7, had to get by LaSalle first, which they did.
When they flipped the brackets a few years ago, I believe D12 faces off against the D11 champ. However, the D1 champ eventually
has to play the D12 champ in the eastern final (state semi). Tha publics aren’t down, they just can’t compete against the privates.
December 6th, 2021 at 8:35 pm
@James Laky Where to start? I slept every night of the week in New Jersey when I was a player at the Prep over 50 years ago–as did many other Prep students, most of whom were not football players. Half the rowers in the Prep’s national champions 8-oared boat last year were from Jersey. The Prep doesn’t hide this, and the PIAA has always known it.
December 6th, 2021 at 6:36 pm
@ Buddy and Everyone Else Complaining about Prep/D12 – District 1 Football is WAY down compared to 20yrs ago, is that strictly because D12 was invited to join the PIAA in 2008, or are there other factors involved? Let’s face it, DI has not won a state championship in any class since 2003 when North Penn beat PCC, which was 5yrs before D12 joined the PIAA, so football in that district has been trending down for many years. Remember a few years ago when the PIAA flipped the playoff brackets so D12 played D7 in the semi-finals, and most people assumed D1 would get to the finals, but their district champs lost to Harrisburg and then Central Dauphin the following year. You can blame the PCL/D12 all you want, but D1 would have struggled to win state titles for the last decade or more even if D12 wasn’t in the picture.
@D3 Mike – no school with any pedigree in the WPIAL fears PCC, just the opposite, all the publics take great pride in beating them, and many of them have success from time to time like PR, NA and this year Mt Lebo (and before the move to 6 classes schools like Penn Hills, Gateway, Woodland Hills and McKeesport just to name a few routinely had success against PCC) It’s hard for me to ever see PCC leaving the WPIAL to play in a “non-boundary” league, this is more of a SEPA/D12 issue than either PCC or ECP from the western side of the state.
December 7th, 2021 at 5:33 am
Jeff H. That is their seed in the District. Serra Catholic was the sixth seed.
December 6th, 2021 at 6:08 pm
@Tweeter – where did you get the idea Serra Catholic is 7-6, their actual record is 14-1, with the loss coming in the last game of the regular season against Steel Valley, who had the leading rusher in the WPIAL. They beat some very good teams in the WPIAL playoffs, then just beat undefeated Farrell last week. Their defense is a turnover machine, forcing 5 against previously undefeated Sto-Rox in the semi-finals, then following that up with 9 turnovers against Beaver Falls in the WPIAL final at Heinz Field. They are also the feel good story of this weekend and on a mission playing for their coach, he was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition several months ago and is coaching from the sidelines in a wheelchair, tune into the game on PCN on Friday afternoon and I’m quite certain the announcers will be talking about the coach. With all that being said I don’t give them much of a chance against SCA, but just the fact they made it to Hershey is quite an accomplishment.
December 6th, 2021 at 5:57 pm
I kinda gave up on this site for the year when we weren’t able to post for a week. Regarding Aliquippa, I agree they draw players from other districts, let’s face it, if you lived in the Beaver Valley and could go to either Ambridge or Aliquippa which school would you want to play for. I knew they would still be competitive in 4A, but I didn’t think they would beat Belle Vernon in the WPIAL final, especially the way they dominated them.
I went to their game on Friday night against Jersey Shore, they were on the ropes a little bit in the first half, I don’t think they got a first down until midway through the 2nd quarter and at one point trailed 10-0, it clearly looked like they had a hangover from winning the WPIAL title, you go from playing at Heinz Field to a high school in the middle of Cambria County. Jersey Shore got too conservative in the first half with a 10-0 lead, they had a fourth and 3 on the Quips 35 yard line midway through the 2nd quarter, and instead of going for it they punted. The Quips subsequently had to punt, but then held Jersey and forced them to put with about 3 minutes to go in the half. After not getting anywhere running the ball the Quips opened up their passing attack late in the first half, and finally scored on fourth and goal from the 1 yard line on the last play of the first half to trail 10-7. That score totally changed momentum going into the locker room, Jersey should have been ahead by a lot more than 3 points with the way they dominated the first quarter and a half. Aliquippa got the 2nd half kick, and on the first play from scrimmage threw an 84 yard TD pass to a wide open receiver, then on Jersey Shore’s next possession they threw a pick 6 and the floodgates opened as the Quips outscored them 34-6 to win going away.
Aliquippa will be competitive in 5A, but to force them to play there is ridiculous IMO since they voluntarily were already playing up 2 classes, there’s something wrong with the system when it doesn’t take that into account. I’m not so sure their talk is all bluster, we’ll see, I know their new superintendent personally since he was the principal at Woodland Hills for a handful of years before going back to be superintendent at his alma mater this summer, and I would not at all be surprised if you see some lawsuits if they are forced to play in 5A.
I agree with D3 Mike, its not a competitive issue, they have one of the biggest lines in the WPIAL and skill and speed galore, I just don’t think its right to force them up any further than 4A when they have a total of 117 boys in the high school. Many of their players do go both ways, which is still pretty common in 5A and even in 6A in the WPIAL, both of Mt Lebanon’s stars play both ways (Heidenreich and Tecza, as does Cade Yacamelli from Penn Trafford). I think their game with McDevitt on Thursday will be very competitive and I give a slight edge to McDevitt but would not surprise me at all if the Quips win.
December 6th, 2021 at 5:42 pm
Prep is not even close to drawing 85-90% of its team from Jersey. The Prep has drawn many students from New Jersey for decades because of its academic reputation. Yes, there have been some prominent athletes in that bunch too, but the majority of the students and student athletes are from PA. It’s sad that people are “looking forward to the demise of [our] program”. I can understand frustration at ending an undefeated season with a mercy rule to a perennial state champ. And I can understand frustration at the perceived boundary/non-boundary inequities. But the Prep’s ascension to the level of a national program is a bright spot for PA football. Let someone knock us off, maybe that will lead to demise. Swing along with the crimson. Swing along with the gray.
December 6th, 2021 at 4:12 pm
Foleman, most of D1 programs compete in 5A and 6A and no one outside of D12 or D7 has won in those classifications in recent years. I’d like to see more D1 vs. D3 vs. D11 regular season games since those are often the most competitive match ups. Wilson, Coatesville, GV, Parkland, Central Dauphin, Harrisburg etc. are all on a level playing field — but none of those programs are going to be competitive with Prep, Wood, Imhotep, etc. on a regular basis anytime soon. The non-boundary schools in the east simply siphon off too much talent.
Frankly, if PCC were even half as dominant as the private schools in the east we’d probably have a public-private state championship split by now. The problem is that once every 5 years, a Pine Richland or a North Allegheny is good enough to make everyone forget that most boundary programs have no realistic shot.
December 6th, 2021 at 2:59 pm
This is by far the best post regarding the complaints about non-boundary teams.
“Foleman says:
December 6th, 2021 at 10:59 am
When is District 1 football going to step up and play with the Big boys? District 1 has 1/3 of the 6A schools in the entire state-(32 schools) Same with 5A-(25 schools) Yet every year you see D1’S 6A and 5A Schools come up empty. Why? Many of these schools have incredible facilities and resources. Several have 1000+ boys in the school, are the best athletes not playing football at these schools? It should not be hard to find10-20 good football players in schools that should be churning out stud football players. Are the elementary and Jr football numbers down? Where are all the great coaches? You can’t tell me a Mike Pettine or a Jim Algeo would not be able to compete against the rest of the State in today’s world . Would love to hear some feedback on this.”
December 6th, 2021 at 2:24 pm
It was reported Altoona put a bid in for the state championships. Not sure that would be better than Hersey, and yes beaver stadium would be way too big and the playing surface is grass so it wouldn’t be the best playing conditions by the last game. Maybe somewhere like Bucknell?
December 6th, 2021 at 1:36 pm
foleman u cant be serious u left out the elephant in the room no one right now in the east can beat the prep they recruit thru the roof . they have showcases for future players at desingnated sites. they take players from out of state i.e. new jersey trotters kid and the defensive end both division one recruits. they have a athletic fund where past players contribute money every year towards paying for a elite recruit .kyle mcclure last rears qb who is at ohio st slept every nite of the week in new jersey. the piaa is scared to do anything because they are afraid this could end up in court if they force separate playoffs uponthe.. privates and charters. no one can just walk into imotep and go to school .they have a lottery system for all students unless u are a athlete basketball and football players seem to go to the head of the class wink wink.the . the other disadvantaged black youth that are only students dont get in. those students that dont get in are removed from the list they haveto reapply the next year .mike pettine and jim algeo would compete against them but would not win in todays landscape. garnet valley had one heck of a public school team and got steamrolled by prep. we are not talking apples for apples . st joe prep imotep etc. are nothing more thena.. traveling aau team. playoff finals should not be played at hershey no one goes to the game except parents brothers sisters etc the stadium exceot for rare games is empty. very little atmosphere stale if u will. play the championship games 6a 5a 4a 3a 2a 1a at the higherseededee teams stadium . u will have a sellout and terrific atmosphere. but that makes to much sense and we are talking in the end about the PIAA.
December 6th, 2021 at 1:34 pm
@Joneses
While I stick to the points I was making about the Prep and recruiting in general, I do apologize for the personal attacks. I don’t know you from Adam and have no right to assume your character. That’s unlike me. Please accept my apology.
Jay
December 6th, 2021 at 12:34 pm
@Kyle
85 to 90% from Jersey???????? Did you used to work for CNN??
December 6th, 2021 at 12:12 pm
@Foleman
Back in the day D1 was the big boys. There was a D1 school in the state finals every year. Then D12 joined the PIAA (around 2004 or 2005 something like that).
This allowed the private schools ( SJP, LaSalle, A. Wood etc) to play in all sports in the PIAA state playoff system.
Publics can’t compete with the privates for the aforementioned reasons. What they should do is form an all-star team from
D1 to play the champ from D12. That gives us recruiting power from 4 counties (let the privates recruit from 4 states).
Those games would be competitive. Barring that, it’s the same ol same ol.
December 6th, 2021 at 11:34 am
You guys do realize that St. Joe Prep did get beat by a public boundary school this year.
December 6th, 2021 at 10:59 am
When is District 1 football going to step up and play with the Big boys? District 1 has 1/3 of the 6A schools in the entire state-(32 schools) Same with 5A-(25 schools) Yet every year you see D1’S 6A and 5A Schools come up empty. Why? Many of these schools have incredible facilities and resources. Several have 1000+ boys in the school, are the best athletes not playing football at these schools? It should not be hard to find10-20 good football players in schools that should be churning out stud football players. Are the elementary and Jr football numbers down? Where are all the great coaches? You can’t tell me a Mike Pettine or a Jim Algeo would not be able to compete against the rest of the State in today’s world . Would love to hear some feedback on this.
December 6th, 2021 at 10:43 am
@WPIALguy I would love to see the finals moved around the state from year to year: Scranton, Erie, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Altoona, Philly, etc. but wonder if if would be practical to have everyone go to, say, Scranton or Erie, especially if there was no participating team from within 75 miles of the site. State College is central, but the crowds would look awfully small in Beaver Stadium–even if they were larger than usual. Is there a field there with a capacity of 10-15 thousand?
December 6th, 2021 at 8:14 am
On another note, I guess the PIAA is taking bids for hosting the state championships. Is there any way Hershey isn’t picked again? Or where would everyone want to see the state finals played?
December 6th, 2021 at 8:11 am
I just think the PIAA cannot get out of its own way. It’s goal should be to grow sports and give these kids publicity and attention. For the PIAA semi finals, I couldn’t stream any of the games without paying for a subscription, and their social media presence is terrible. They should have people at each game posting updates, or videos, but they tweeted one tweet after all the games were finished saying the brackets were updated. The PIAA acts more like a governmental organization than a governing body for high school sports. Everything they do is stale and outdated. They need to really think about how they run things and need to do more do get communities, athletes, and sports fans involved. They hide behind subscription services because ticket sales are down…. Well why are ticket sales down??? Is anything ever promoted? Or maybe it’s cause two of the state championships are played on a Thursday??? Or Hershey isn’t exactly a destination??? I don’t know if this rant makes sense, I’m just tired of seeing the same things from them over and over.
December 6th, 2021 at 8:04 am
What’s funny is that schools report their own enrollments and are not double checked by the PIAA. I don’t think the PIAA does a great job of telling schools parameters and how to count either. I know out west here there have been schools who over count because the PIAA parameters are confusing when it comes to kids enrolled in Vo-tech programs. Seems easy to manipulate numbers and I don’t doubt certain schools do their best to undercount as no one checks the numbers reported.
December 6th, 2021 at 7:43 am
@ Kyle, While the Prep has always drawn students from Jersey, your statement that 85-90% of its players are from Jersey is ridiculous–right up there with some coach’s claim a few years ago that they had players from four states.
December 5th, 2021 at 10:42 pm
Imhotep is SJP only comp. Only team in the state that has more talent and D1 players than them. PIAA need to make 6A a non boundary playoff system with all big branded football programs competing. The weakest program in PA is Southern Columbia idk how they continue to play @ 2A and mercy rule every one they play they should @ least be 4A wit Quips. But if PIAA puts all the big dawgs in one division and get rid of East n west sides and let teams play by ranking it would work. Now imagine Lasalle Tep SJP n Wood all in 6A playoffs all in different parts of the bracket it would also feature schools like PR PCC North Ally etc … PIAA current playoff system kills the competition tbh SJP plays its hardest game in basic Philadelphia Catholic playoffs going against wood n Lasalle plus a national schedule most other districts teams don’t play no where near comp that high. Jus like everybody had Mifflin ahead of Tep they never played out of state comp or even national teams so there comp level is basic. Same goes 4 PCC they never play out of state comp idk why they play the same local comp year in and year out that doesn’t help a program that keeps them basic.
December 5th, 2021 at 10:03 pm
@Jay I am sure you’re not really into back stories or divulging sins. Far from arrogant. An apologist for certain. Not part of me almost tempted to give you my story, I read in a good book once to not cast your pearls to swine.
Never a victim and raise my sons not to be. I know first had want it means to watch a great season get crushed by Prep. Been there done that and ask no one to shed a tear. I was taught to punch the bully back not create a campaign against it. I respect what Prep does. What’s more of victim than to blame the PIAA and not work with the districts who can change the borders. You don’t want to be borderless for a multitude of reasons no matter how much that would even the playing field. You don’t want an even playing field. You want one created and catered to you. What’s interesting is you or no one else provided a real argument or response to removing the boundaries. I believe it’s because you know it still won’t make a difference because those schools are better. It’s why people from 8 counties and two states send sons there who NEVER play football or basketball.
I love how it always gets to name calling.
Enjoy your evenings
December 5th, 2021 at 9:38 pm
I think the problem with these teams are these kids aren’t from the state of PENNSYLVANIA. Prep fields a team were 85-90% of there kids are from Jersey, heck there head coach and coaches have been from NJ.
LaSalle & Imhotep recruit whomever it wants from wherever it wants.
I think what people are trying to say is how much more fun would be to watch two public teams, with towns on there backs, duke it out for a chance to a state championship(which they would remember for the rest of there life). Instead you have a town play a city and state for the chance of winning a PIAA CHAMPIONSHIP.
Let all the Philly Catholic teams play in the Inter-Ac. Or let them become independent, play teams from all over isn’t that the reason why you go there.
December 5th, 2021 at 9:25 pm
Following up on D3 Mike’s earlier post, and Jeff H’s post from a few weeks ago, is an article regarding Aiiquippa’s situation about possibly getting bumped up to 5A for the next two years. This may have been posted before, but still worth the read or read again from when originally published, since the Quips have now won their way into this situation. Based on their win the other night, and regardless what they do on Thursday, it appears that they will be moved up to 5A. This may sound harsh, but I have little sympathy for their plight, for numerous reasons, despite how I feel the success factor has been implemented, that is, as in a complete disgrace. If they are moved up, I do hope they follow through on their threats, but I believe they are nothing more than noise and posturing.
https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2021/11/23/tiny-pa-team-may-play-football-independent-if-piaa-forces-move-up/8731606002/
December 5th, 2021 at 8:56 pm
@The Joneses, Football1 doesn’t seem to understand the fact that all of District 12 is open enrollment. Hell Kensington could have kids from every neighborhood in the city but he’d still ignore that. Reminds me of that reporter from the Delco Times who can’t get this straight either.
Look it does create some issues but so does some of the schools that give kids IEP’s so they won’t count against a schools enrollment. There are a number of issues with the current setup, it’s not perfect but instead of celebrating the kids seasons, this time of year brings out the poor me crowd.
Again good luck to everyone playing this weekend and congratulations to all who participated this season. These kids have been through enough over the past year and a half.
December 5th, 2021 at 5:37 pm
@Football1 so you mean to tell me you don’t see the hypocrisy in complaining about the blowouts now when there wasn’t any complaints previously? You and I both know if GV wins or blows out Prep this isn’t a conversation. NG lost by what 42 pts I think. They are a private school. SC has been mercy ruling teams in the playoffs for years right? So does this rule only apply to some? I never dared say I have the answer. I just have the mind to challenge the thoughts long before I even had a playing interest. Why does the PIAA need to change why not appeal to the districts to remove the boundaries that they are legally able to do? Then you get into some real interesting questions.
December 5th, 2021 at 5:29 pm
D3 Mike Your memory of 2015 is better than mine. My main point was that Imhotep has won all of one state championship. They imploded in a few championship games. Who know what would have happened this year if P-R hadn’t changed coaches and Mifflin hadn’t inexplicably tripped up?
December 5th, 2021 at 5:07 pm
@Joneses
Enough with the apologist attitude. I bet you’re an arrogant and chronic “victim” IRL too, or at least you come off that way. Also I’m sure you’re biased towards SJP in some way. Can’t blame you if you are. Front runners gonna front run. Even if their team has unfair advantages.
The argument goes NO FURTHER than the recruiting capabilities, turning SJP into a perennial all-star team, even when “they’re young and vulnerable” or whatever slag you mentioned below. Thirty seconds if my life I’ll never get back.
These teams DO NOT BELONG in state tournaments filled with teams with actual jurisdictions. What sort of denial makes someone overlook such a simple fact?
The PIAA needs to make a change. I don’t know a single person personally who thinks it’s fair. Maybe some people here, I don’t know and don’t really care that much. To play a long season and go undefeated only to face the inevitable all-star team at the end… gimme a mf’ing break. I cannot wait until the downfall of their program, or the rule changes that result in mounds of salt from the tears of the likes of you and other apologists.
Aside from that, I hope you all have a wonderful holidays! Glad to be able to post again.
December 5th, 2021 at 4:39 pm
@Buddy. Just as you were sick of the “who did hey play argument”. I’m sick of it all comes down to recruiting. Not that practices and film study and preparation makes a difference. Let’s stop acting like Prep isn’t one of the Top catholic high schools in the country. These kids leave film and practice at 9pm some nights and go home to do homework. They put in work. Just sad man.
Lets be clear recruiting happens in public schools. Hey you’re great at Lacrosse. You might be good at football. You throw a nice baseball ever consider football. You’re athletic ever consider basketball and football. Oh but wait since they’re already at the school it’s not the same.
The State of PA doesn’t mandate boundaries the school district does. You don’t want boundaries or want them expanded go to the school district and get that changed.
December 5th, 2021 at 3:55 pm
Imhotep mercy ruled everyone in the state playoffs in 2015 and has lost all of 1 state playoff game to a program not named Erie Cathedral Prep for the better part of a decade. None of which has anything to do with my statement that under 4 classes Imhotep would just be rolling thru 3A instead of the 5A. Do you disagree with that contention?
December 5th, 2021 at 3:31 pm
@Frank
All correct. Has everything to do with having no boundaries (i.e., ability to recruit).
Supposedly, they have no athletic scholarships, but they do have academic and “need base” scholarships.
That can get you a whole lot of players, from all walks of life, on your team.
December 5th, 2021 at 2:59 pm
Joneses Just stop it? First GV averaged 40 + points against district 1 public schools. They didn’t play any catholic or private schools and once they did you see the result.
That Philly guy. District 12 doesn’t need its own league, just a different division if your a non-boundary school. They can still compete for a state title but compete against other non-boundary schools.
Have any of you played Div 1 football? There is a huge difference between div 1, Div 2, Div 3 talent. Div 1 talent stands out on the field. The difference between schools with no boundaries and public schools is the div 1 talented players. Public schools may have a few Div 2 or 3 players but rarely the true Div 1 talent. Schools like Prep and Tep have several Div 1 players on the team, with other div 2 and 3 abilities. It’s not that difficult to see the difference in talent on the field. Who wants to watch a mercy rule playoff game? Maybe you Philly guys do.
It’s like watching a little league all-star team play a regular-season team. Not a fun game to watch or even play in.
Nobody wants to watch a Div 1 team play a Div 2 team, and that’s what you have with non-boundary playing public schools in PA.
I’ll leave it up to you keyboard geniuses since you have it all figured out.
Enjoy your mercy rule playoff games
December 5th, 2021 at 2:53 pm
Imhotep has never rolled through the playoffs before this year (which isn’t over).
December 5th, 2021 at 2:18 pm
Also, regarding Aliquippa, I was in this forum two years ago when people made the same arguments that the PIAA was putting kids’ health at risk by moving them up and how it was unrealistic to expect a 1A program to compete in 4A. Based on what I’ve seen on YouTube, though, Aliquippa is bigger than everyone else they’ve played and have dominated many of the teams in 4A, leading me to believe they would be quite competitive in 5A.
I think they got screwed by the PIAA since they volunteered to play at 3A, originally, so if they deserve an exception, the reason is because they should have been grandfathered into a lower classification. But it’s not because it’s anti-competitive or a safety risk to have them play up based on anything I’ve seen. I would defer to the WPIAL experts on this but 1) Aliquippa doesn’t have the typical 35 man roster, and 2) plenty of players still go to two-ways in 5A.
December 5th, 2021 at 2:03 pm
I hate the expansion to 6 classes but let’s not pretend as if the competitiveness and final results would be all that different under the old classification system. It would probably be Prep rolling thru the same teams in 4A, Imhotep rolling thru 3A, Central Valley vs Wyomissing rolling into the 2A finals, and Guilfoyle winning their 36th 1A title. Maybe you would squeeze 1 or 2 more quality games out of the state playoffs, since Aliquippa and Southern Columbia would be competitive with whomever they played, but if you worked it out based on prior classifications what we would see would be the same dominant, non-boundary programs dominating, plus the same handful of exceptions from the pedigree public programs.
December 5th, 2021 at 1:38 pm
@Buddy,
So it’s all about money? Coaching doesn’t have anything to do with it? Players being attracted to a high-profile, very successful program has nothing to do with it?
December 5th, 2021 at 11:40 am
Some fun with numbers…….
5 – Number of catholic/private/non boundary schools in state championship games next weekend
6 – Number of mercy rule games this past weekend (for those of you bad in math, that is exactly half the playoff games played this past weekend)
8 – Number of teams/schools playing in state championship games next weekend that do not need GPS to find their way to Hershey (again, for those of you mathematically challenged, that is 2/3rds of teams/schools that are part of the Hershey loyalty rewards program)
December 5th, 2021 at 9:06 am
Well, that’s what the ability to recruit will do for you. Best team $ can buy.
December 5th, 2021 at 8:16 am
@Football1 you do realize your proposal basically says District 12 go have your own league right? Basically all of District 12 is open enrollment, kids in the city can attend any school they choose in the city. I’m wondering if this was Northeast or Washington in these games instead, would these arguments still be made.
I saw both games this weekend and the whole DelCo proud thing was fun. Lets leave it at that and congratulate those schools for great seasons.
Good luck to everyone in the big games next week.
December 5th, 2021 at 8:01 am
@football. Just stop it. NO ONE would have said that if GV was as great as people said they were and blew out prep like all predictions. GV put up 50 pts in every game of the playoffs except this one. SC does the same. And NG got blown out in their game. Such Hypocrisy.
December 5th, 2021 at 7:17 am
If the game of the prep against Garnet and Tep vs Strath Haven didn’t prove that there needs to be different divisions, then you have no clue about high school football. Who wants to watch blowouts and the end of the season? It’s simple, just have a separate division for private school teams that have no boundaries to draw from. You may even get the inter ac involved for some more competitive games. How many times do you need to see the lopsided victories to realize that it’s not apples for apples as far as competition? The games would be so much more enjoyable to watch a public school team play and then watch the private school compete also in different games. The PIAA needs to take their heads out of the sand and get this done before PA football becomes a thing of the past. Change is good, you just need to open up your minds some. By the way, I don’t have a dog in the fight, either way, just an ex PA football player that sees there is a problem. All four teams had great seasons. Would just like to see one more game from each program . LET’S GET IT RIGHT PIAA
December 5th, 2021 at 1:33 am
Hey guys starting to get nasty here! LOL. Glad Southern is not involved! Can’t wait to see what happens in Hershey. It has been a good year all in all.
December 5th, 2021 at 12:40 am
Goodness gracious, what the heck happened to Garnet Vallley? A lot of people were talking up GV, saying that they’re a special team, senior laden, on a mission; meanwhile the Prep is down, injured, young and inexperienced. So much for that, eh? I even saw this youtube pregame video (Sports Stream Premium) for the PIAA state semifinals with the man, the myth, the legend Dave Mika (btw, first time I ever saw you Dave, looked good, nice insight) and two other pundits. The one fellow Joe Santoloquito was talking up GV like they were the reincarnation of CB West of the late 90’s. You talk about hype, my lands, I haven’t heard that much puffery since the Jimmy The Greek era, At one point he was gushing over Garnet Valley for over 5 minutes talking about how ‘they come at you in waves upon waves’ and mentioned that although he thought the game would be close, if there were a blow out it would be in GV’s favor. Now in fairness I was eating up what he was saying, not hook, line and sinker but it did tickle the ears, hearing this eloquent praise of the team I was rooting for. Smh, lol. To the contrary, rather than ‘coming in waves’, it was as if they were getting tased, they were essentially paralyzed out there offensively. You got the sense early on that just getting 2 yards required vigorous effort, a demoralizing deal where you’re inclined to bounce at halftime. I tell you right now, I’ll be rooting for Mount Lebanon next week like I’m a citizen of Beirut, ok, but based on what I saw tonight it’s looking like Prep in a laugher, something like 56-7.
December 4th, 2021 at 11:34 pm
@Kevin X
@Foleman
Yes, Scranton Prep lost it’s D1 RB on the second series and yes the Neumann Goretti QB was hurt and ineffective….but the Wyo OL dominated the DL on both teams and neither team could figure out the Wing T, which Wyo runs to perfection.
Scranton Prep was down 14-0, with six minutes gone in the first. SP had just shutout their last two opponents, but gave up 35 pts and 325 rushing…not sure the RB/DB really would have mattered
NG had 5-6 D1 guys and had just come off a shutout and was giving up 67 yds rushing a game…Wyo had two 100 yd rushers and had about 325 on the ground and mercy ruled NG…not sure the starting qb mattered that much as well…unless they were going to score in the 40’s
Wyo had the lead ly against CV at half and was down 7 in the fourth. A couple things either way and they could have won that game….but this year’s Central Valley team might even be better than 2020…with 11 mercy rule wins!! However a lot of people don’t realize how good the D for Wyomissing is? But I still think Wyo needs 35 to win next week and I’m not sure CV gives that up…just my opinion
December 4th, 2021 at 10:40 pm
Also prep is going to win by 35+. Yawn. Recruiting doesn’t matter blah blah blah.
December 4th, 2021 at 9:38 pm
What is Serra Catholic’s story? 7 and 6 and in the championship
December 4th, 2021 at 9:00 pm
@BJ. I don’t think any passes were attempted by GV in the second half. If so it was under 5. Prep had JV in with 6:31 in the 4th score 49-7.
December 4th, 2021 at 8:59 pm
Scratch that, 4 mercy rule games in the east this weekend.
December 4th, 2021 at 8:20 pm
Just catching up on some posts. Did chief red raider say coatesville never runs up the score? LOL. They were mercy ruling Ridley and Ortega HAD to throw a pass to get his son a TD to continue the Ortega TD streak. Give me a break. People saying NP defense was bad this year didn’t watch many games. Yes Ridley scored a lot. But 28 points was off special teams, a turnover, and OT. If you think defense blew that game then you didn’t watch. The only 2 teams in district 1 that could of matched up against Prep tonight were Coatesville and NP. They have the speed and athletes to compete. GV is a great program but can’t win these games unless they change their offense. Coatesville, with better coaching should have about 2 state titles. Yes I know people will kill me for saying that, but it’s true.
December 4th, 2021 at 8:09 pm
If Prep & Imotep don’t lose in the State championship game they should play each other in Philly for bragging rights…
December 4th, 2021 at 8:06 pm
@BJ. I’ll make it simple. 35-7 Prep at the half. GV QB has 2 INT’ 1a pick 6 and 1 TD pass.
Still another half to go so we will see.
December 4th, 2021 at 4:04 pm
@Jones
Do us all a favor, proof read your posts before you hit submit. We would like to follow your comments, but it’s quite the wrestle.
GV has to bring their A game. If they do, should be a helluva game. I think if prep wins THIS game, they win states.
December 4th, 2021 at 3:41 pm
Mount Lebanon demolished State college in another semi final blowout. 6 classes is fun right?
December 4th, 2021 at 2:31 pm
And to be fair to you ncquip, i will also call out Central Valley in the same way. Theyve benefited mightily from raiding neighboring districts as well.
December 4th, 2021 at 2:20 pm
@nc quip Kaezon Pugh, stephon McGinnis, Tariq Jones, jelani and Chinua Solomon. Should i keep going??? Davion Jones.. want a few more?? All those kids did not play peewee for quip. Yes quip wins in peewee, but they pull kids from other places. Pretending they don’t is hilarious. And all those players i mentioned played peewee for a certain school that just snapped a 30 game losing streak. But as long as quip wins it doesn’t matter what they do to other programs by poaching their best players.
December 4th, 2021 at 1:22 pm
@NCQuip
I am not an Alliquippa grad or homer. But it’s ridiculous to come on this board and saying they basically have an influx of talent move in. People obviously don’t know the town, school or feeder programs their. They deserve every bit of respect they get. Imagine if they actually played A or AA.
December 4th, 2021 at 1:14 pm
@NCQuip
I am a WPIAL coach for 20 years. I would love to know what ‘impact players’ have transferred in. That is some reckless talk their. Those kids, as you said come from pee wee up. WPIAL guy, not a good look. Just say who is moving in and having an impact.smh. ‘Quips are not Pine-Richland. Amazing how people try to down play this small class A team, year in and year out, just winning.
December 4th, 2021 at 11:43 am
JONESES, “I still can’t get past the competition they played”. That’s basically saying they haven’t played anybody. We’re going to have a lot of questions answered tonight and we can continue the discussion. Have a great day.
December 4th, 2021 at 9:33 am
@BJ also I didn’t present the proper context about GV’s ability to pass. It wasn’t the ability of the QB. It was can they be successful against Prep because defending the pass is the strength of the defense.
December 4th, 2021 at 9:13 am
@BJ. You’re right I know little about GV. I’ll either learn more today, which I’ll freely admit or I won’t. I did miss on the QB bc all I saw was the dominant run game. TO BE I NEVER said they didn’t PLAY ANYONE. WE ALL know the PCL is the probably the stiffest competition in PA and many has belabored why. They is a difference in competition period. You beat who’s in front of you which GV did.
December 4th, 2021 at 9:09 am
@WPIAL guy. Since you know Aliquippa so well and don’t have any sympathy in regards to them being forced up. Name those neighboring players that made any impact on their team over the past ten years. If you know Aliquippa they win from the time their in peewees to high school. Don’t speak that nonsense on this board. Probably beat your favorite team a few times. Oh and the beat Jersey Shore last night convincingly!
December 4th, 2021 at 8:38 am
@ EmanD3
Not to diminish Wyo’s current run, nor would this have changed the overall outcome of those two games, but they may have been more competitive, Scranton Prep did loose maybe the best junior RB in the state this year very early in that game. He also plays a very high level of defense as well, so that was a huge blow to Scranton Prep. N-G last night was without their starting QB, and it showed.
December 4th, 2021 at 8:13 am
EmanD3, Wyo’s offensive line is enormous, they made Scranton Prep’s line, who averaged 260K lbs look like a bunch of midgets and pushed them around all afternoon. Thought NG would show more, they were baffled….like many other schools by the Wing T. It’s going to be real interesting next week. Wyo’s coaches knew several weeks ago that they were going to have a rematch in the finals and have been scouting Central Valley for a while.
December 3rd, 2021 at 11:00 pm
Surprised that Wyomissing man handled Scranton Prep…even more surprised they destroyed NG 42-6..NG D had been in lock down mode most of the year…Wyo with 42 straight…let’s see what they’re made of next week!?
December 3rd, 2021 at 10:44 pm
@Wpialguy
Lucky you guys out west. Three mercy rule games here in the east.
December 3rd, 2021 at 9:40 pm
So wow.. some close and interesting games. Wpial goes 4/5 tonight with a chance at 5 tomorrow with Mount Lebo. Bishop Canevin goes down but it’s nice to see a d9 team make it to Hershey. Will preview states later this week.
December 3rd, 2021 at 9:01 pm
BJ, thank god Mifflin gifted Exeter two fumbles, a squib quick, and incompetent coaching. I’d hate for D3 to have sent a team to the semi-finals that didn’t embarrass the district.
December 3rd, 2021 at 6:37 pm
JONESES, how much more competition do you want Garnet valley to prove themselves? Ridley 12-1, Strathhaven 13-0, Central bucks West 9-2, Quakertown 12 – 0, Coatesville 13 – 1. Obviously I’m not counting each loss that Garnet valley gave these teams. So, 5 teams with the collective record of 59 – 4 shows Garnet valley hasn’t played anybody. Yeah okay!
December 3rd, 2021 at 6:28 pm
That JONESES, so you consider a team with a quarterback who throws for 1900 yd 26 touchdowns and 2 interceptions a team that can’t pass? Obviously you know nothing about Garnet valley to make a ridiculous statement. They can pass when they need to, and usually they don’t need to.
BUDDY, you are correct that Garnet valley webcast all of their games but they don’t have the rights to do so at tomorrow’s game. So you will have to pay the $1095 if you want to watch the game.
December 3rd, 2021 at 5:16 pm
All the semi finals this weekend and state finals next week should be on NFHS network for a 10.99/ month fee.
……and Go Northern Lehigh Bulldogs! (will be heavy underdogs tonight against Southern but have had a great season!)
December 3rd, 2021 at 5:08 pm
SJP-GV livestream: https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/piaa/gam8c6928697a
December 3rd, 2021 at 4:18 pm
@ Buddy, From the SJP perspective, a lot depends on how much Jones can play and how close he is to 100% if or when he plays. Heard’s status will also make a difference, especially given what everyone says about GV’s offense. As for the Freedom game, the one big turnover in the first half and the penalties were big factors in the game. In the second LaSalle game the Prep fumbled twice but recovered each time whereas LaSalle paid a big price for its fumble and the blocked punt. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if tomorrow night’s game is decided by turnovers. (I realize turnovers are often caused by positive plays by the “other” team.)
December 3rd, 2021 at 2:24 pm
Aliquippa has been lead by a freshman running back who has ran for 1000 yards already. Their line averages 300 pounds. And if they win today, they may be forced up to 5a with a 1a enrollment. Although I don’t have any sympathy for them, as they have a knack for taking the best players from neighboring districts every year and passing them off as their own through “family member addresses”
December 3rd, 2021 at 2:20 pm
BJ, let me come to Jeff H’s defense. I said before that Exeter could play with Governor Mifflin, with several Div 1 recruits and several more that will play at the Div 2 and 3 level, they have as much talent as anyone. Exeter followed the game plan, (get out to any early lead-which they did-21-7 ) Keep the ball away from Mifflin with time several time consuming drives, which they did, have a chance to win at the end. Exeter did everything they needed to win the game which included getting a big turnover from Mifflin. Many folks were asking why did Singleton have only 8 carries in the game, Exeter controlled the clock limiting his touches, GM punted with a little over 5 minutes left thinking they would get the ball back, they never did as exeter hit 2 big 3rd down passes. What I didn’t get is GM’S inside Bunch defense which Exeter attacked on the outside hitting several big plays in the 1st half. Never underestimate the power of emotion. I thought GM ran up the score in the 1st game and their sideline antics had a lot to be desired. I have been critical of Matt Bauer’s coaching in the past, Kudo’s to him and his coaching staff as they had the perfect game plan to beat the best team I have seen in D3 5A in a long time
December 3rd, 2021 at 2:04 pm
I know GV has their home games live on youtube. This game is at Ridley. Hopefully, their (video crew) will be there.
December 3rd, 2021 at 2:02 pm
@ Mika
yea but that costs
December 3rd, 2021 at 1:51 pm
@Buddy and all the other Prep hater hopefuls. If there is any hope for you it would be this year while they are young. While what GV has done so far this year looks impressive statistically, I still can’t get past the competition they played. Freedom just couldn’t pass the ball and it doesn’t seem as though GV can either. Perhaps they haven’t had to. I see Prep winning this one, however, I wouldn’t be too shocked if GV won the game. Prep has shown a weakness against the run. They team that clicks in all 3 phases wins the game. I think that favors Prep. There’s a reason GV hasn’t beaten Coatesville in the playoffs until this year.
December 3rd, 2021 at 1:17 pm
Buddy, It should be on NFHS.
December 3rd, 2021 at 1:08 pm
SJP/GV live stream? anyone know?
December 3rd, 2021 at 1:07 pm
Anyone know how Neumann-Goretti beat South Philly 54-0 on Thanksgiving and beat Danville 28-0 in the playoffs the next day? When he was at Imhotep, Crosby played his JV team in the Thanksgiving game (and lost), then turned around to win with his varsity players in the playoff game. Wondering if he did the same thing here, because beating another school’s varsity 54-0 with your JV players seems improbable no matter how bad the other team is, but I can’t imagine him using varsity starters the day before a playoff game, particularly given his history.
December 3rd, 2021 at 10:54 am
Jeff H. What do you think now that your one trick pony Governor Mifflin has been beaten and won’t even make it to the semi-finals in 5a. Still sticking with your prediction they would beat everybody in 6A, especially those D1 teams. You think Exeter wins again this weekend and goes to the final?
December 3rd, 2021 at 9:53 am
What’d you guys think? i believe SJP/GV will be one helluva game.
i doubt SJP was doin’ any subbing in the Freedom game. That was close.
Could this be the year!?!
December 3rd, 2021 at 8:24 am
Welcome back everyone…. Interesting week in wpial games.
Aliquippa upsets Belle Vernon. Central Valley wins by 50. Only the 5a game wasn’t a blowout. Makes me want 4 classes back. So watered down. 5a game was really good and I think Penn trafford – Exeter will be a close one.
Predictions
Lebo over State College
Exeter over Penn Trafford
Aliquippa over Jersey Shore
Central Valley over Central
Farrel over Serra Catholic
Bishop Canevin over Redbank Valley
December 3rd, 2021 at 5:18 am
Kevin X….LOL
December 2nd, 2021 at 6:09 pm
Did MikeS break the forum??? 🙂
December 2nd, 2021 at 5:46 pm
You should be able to post
November 25th, 2021 at 12:45 pm
FINAL
Quakertown 21 Pennridge 0
November 25th, 2021 at 9:31 am
Just a couple thoughts on a few games. In 2A Farrell should have no problem with Karn City and I think they handle whoever they play next week as well. They just have too much size and speed. In 3A I think Wyomissing beats Scranton Prep, I know Prep is having a good season but Im not convinced they are able to win this one. I think Central Valley is on a collision course with Wyomissing. Grove City should loose to Central as well. In 4A I like BV to beat Alaquippa though I think it’s a good game. Jersey Shore should crush Meadville and Mcdevitt should crush LS. In 5A GM should be rolling to the state title. Imhotep should beat Erie Cathedral. In 6A Lebo should easily handle Mcdowell and I think the Prep wins as well.
November 25th, 2021 at 8:50 am
Is the Pennridge/Q-Town game live stream somewhere?
November 25th, 2021 at 6:16 am
HAPPY THANKSGIVING YOU TURKEYS
For your viewing please this morning
Maxpreps ranked in 6A Penn’s #30 Pennridge against #9 Quakertown @ Pennridge HS @ 10:15.
Pennridge 7-4, all 4 loses to Playoff Teams, Lost Rd 1 CB West 19-17 Reg season loses to North Penn by 7, Downingtown East by 7 both away games, & CB West.
Quakertown 12-1 Lost to Garnet Valley Rd 3 56-39
Conventional wisdom says Quakertown, HOWEVER
Pennridge has had 2 plus weeks to prepare, Quakerown played Friday night so 2nd game in 6 days
Home Field Advantage Pennridge
It’s the 92nd Consecutive year for these next door neighbors, so records have often gone out the window, so…
Neutral field both team same prep tine Quakertown by 7 to 10 points, all factors included its……
Pennridge 28 Quakertown 27, as Quakertown gets worn out in the 4th qtr.
November 24th, 2021 at 9:13 pm
I was initially against the six class system and so many teams making playoffs. Yeah they were some blow outs but also some huge upsets. I also was big on injuries but a good point was brought up that injuries can happen in any game not just blow outs. Overall if these teams want to play let them have the opportunities. I’m all for giving more opportunities. Everyone on this forum put up good points that had me change my views. Lots of good games are still gonna be played.
November 24th, 2021 at 6:22 pm
Jeff, I agree. It’s not as if Richland doesn’t have a pedigree. The limitation of the Born Index is it’s a pure algorithm and IMO overweights margin of victory and underweights schedule quality. It has Mt. Lebanon as the best team in the state and I don’t think they’ve played any of the top 10 teams in PA. Meanwhile, it has Harrisburg within 3 points of Governor Mifflin despite the fact that Mifflin mercy ruled them. Doesn’t make a lot of sense — but algorithms don’t get context.
Anyway, I think Richland keeps it competitive but SCAs strength-of-schedule, coaching, and senior experience in state playoff games helps them pull away in the second half. I’d say they are probably a 2-3 TD favorite. But they won’t just waltz into Hershey without breaking a sweat as they have most years, recently. I’m sure by now that every coach in 2A has had the Wyomissing tape on repeat.
November 24th, 2021 at 11:08 am
Is there anyone else who thinks Richland might give SCA a battle this weekend or just me. The Born Power Index has SC by 2.3 points, that’s usually a fairly reliable indicator of the teams relative strength compared to each other, I’m not saying Richland will win, but I think this game will be a lot closer than most people expect. Looking ahead a few weeks the Born Index favors Farrell by 2 over SCA, all indications are that will be a very competitive 2A final if it plays out.
November 24th, 2021 at 8:00 am
@kevin X yes he tore his ACL in the Crestwood game game 5 i believe worst it was a non contact injury he scored a touchdown and just came down funny on the leg and that was it .Believe me they were a different team with him under center 6 ft 5 225 lb with a big arm and runs like a deer .Valley view still has a very good running game their tail back is tough and fast and they have what we call the weapon Collin Skeen he scored on 4 punt returns a kick off coupler of interception and runs and catches he has like 10 or 12 scores on the season with very few touches on defense front is strong but the linebacker are undersized but quick secondary has been good but we really didn’t see a good passing team beside Dallas so like i said i guess we will see come Friday
November 23rd, 2021 at 8:00 pm
Anyone in D12 have any info on West Catholic other than they won last two weeks after having 2 wins in reg season? I know they beat a good CE team two weeks ago and York Catholic (although I know people have said they played a weak schedule). I’m able to get to the game this weekend as I’ll be home in the valley for Thanksgiving (live in DC area. Moved there five years ago for my wife’s work). First Northern Lehigh game iv been to in a couple years. Used to go to atleast a few a year as an alum. Hoping Northern Lehigh can keep it a good game. They got beat badly by that very good WC team in 2010. Although I’m betting this year’s WC team isn’t as stacked as that one.
November 23rd, 2021 at 4:29 pm
@Ryan – I agree, I think the Coatesville/GV game will be close and Coatesville’s overall team speed will give GV some problems and would not be surprised to see Coatesville win, I give GV the edge at home, but IMO that game could go either way. I also think the Exeter/GM game will be closer than the first one but I still see GM winning by 3 TD’s.
@WPIALguy – totally agree about Westinghouse, they are building a nice program there, was good to see them win a state playoff game and be somewhat competitive against a traditional powerhouse program like Farrell, I too don’t think BF or Serra have the offensive firepower to beat Farrell.
@Chief & Kevin X – agree Wyomissing vs. Scranton Prep might be one of the better games this weekend in any class, expect the winner to make it to Hershey to take on defending champ Central Valley, it would take a huge upset to keep CV from returning to defend their title.
November 23rd, 2021 at 2:35 pm
@Red Raider – I believe Coatesville has a really good shot at winning this game, they always played GV tough, they have the team speed and play well against the GV offense, it will come down to if GV can stop Coatesville offense.
Believe the Exeter/Governor game will be a lot closer than last time they played.
November 23rd, 2021 at 12:57 pm
if anyone needs more evidence the competitive balance rule needs to be adjusted look no further than Aliquippa, there was a big article on TribLive yesterday that if the Quips win the next 2 weeks and make it to Hershey they will be forced to play up in 5A, and if that happens the administration is threatening to sue the PIAA and leave the WPIAL and play an independent schedule, This is an A school with 117 boys who voluntarily played up to 3A, then was forced to 4A 2 years ago, and because they manage to keep winning could be forced to play schools 5x their size, which is ridiculous. I think they lose to Belle Vernon this week in the WPIAL final and will stay in 4A, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility they make it to Hershey, they gave eventual state champ TJ a battle in the WPIAL final last year and took them to OT. Aliquippa gets penalized by the transfer rule, it’s a low income city and there are a lot of transient residents, many kids go from living with one family member to another, so the number of transfers they have is more reflective of their socioeconomic conditions than pure transfers for athletic intent like at some other schools.
I get the purpose of the competitive balance rule and generally support it, but there needs to be some adjustments to take into account schools that are already voluntarily playing up, we don’t need comments from PIAA head Bob Lombardi that they are still winning so they must be playing at the proper classification, there are other factors besides wins and losses, there’s something wrong with the system if a 1A sized school is forced to play schools with enrollments 5x bigger than them week after week.
November 23rd, 2021 at 12:36 pm
@D3 Mike – IMO Harrisburg will be the best team Mt Lebanon has played all year, including PCC, the WPIAL is also WAY down in both 6A and 5A, I do know Lebo has not played a team with as much athleticism and speed as Harrisburg, I like Lebo to win, but I can’t see them blowing out Harrisburg. Then again I didn’t think they would blow out PCC in the WPIAL final either. I don’t think Harrisburg will have much of a problem with SC, this is just an average SC team, I see Harrisburg winning by a couple of scores.
I agree with you about Mifflin, would be fascinating to see them against SJP, I’m not going to say they are the best team in the state, but there’s no doubt they would beat almost all, if not all of the 6A teams, I would pick them over Mt Lebanon and any of the D1 teams like GV or Coatesville, I think they blow out either Moon or Penn Trafford next week, we’ll see.
@Ryan – it was West Allegheny that let Palko go and not North Allegheny, he won 8 district titles and one state title with West A in 24 yrs as head coach. He retired as a teacher 3 yrs ago but wanted to still keep coaching, the administration wanted to go a different direction with the program, I don’t know the inner details as to why and it certainly wasn’t as public as the debacle at Pine Richland with Coach K, maybe WPIALguy has some more insight as to why he was let go. Needless to say Mt Lebo is very happy he had a parting of the ways with West A, he has installed a completely new culture at Mt Lebanon, they were a very proud program in the 60’s-90’s and had won 7 district titles in school history but none since 2000, Palko has reignited the program to say the least, he’s a great coach and one of the best in Western PA history.
November 23rd, 2021 at 10:58 am
A look ahead, and look back two weeks. The question that I have, of the 48 teams playing in the state quarterfinals this upcoming weekend, how many of those teams would not be playing if we did not have the first round of playoffs, as in which teams would not be playing in a state playoff game this weekend if we had a 5 week, 32 team playoff bracket for each classification?? I’m seeing two, West Catholic of the D12 PCL and OLSH of “A” in District 7. Was it worth it?? Would have an 11 game regular season and 5 week playoff been more worthwhile?? Or some other configuration??
November 23rd, 2021 at 10:51 am
@ Mark D
Is the VV QB done for the year?? Believe it was a knee injury?? Valley View seemed to have a bookend type of schedule. Started the year on the road at Dallas, then beat Del Val in two nice out of the gate match-ups. Then basically glorified scrimmages until Scranton Prep. D2 4A seemed to come up weak after looking fairly competitive during the season. Just my take from 2 hours south. Not to say Shanahan had a tough schedule either. Sure they played and lost to the big 3 of the Ches-Mont, but everyone else they played they should have beaten and did. Toughest game was their last against Bonner. No signature wins that I see. Guess it will come down to Shanahan’s very good D and if they can stop the VV ground game. Agree with Chief, an intriguing match-up. Wyo and Scranton Prep as well. ECP and Imhotep and C’Ville/Garnet both interesting to me as well.
November 23rd, 2021 at 10:36 am
Without a doubt, the WPIAL (D7), is the best high school football area in PA. There are so many quality programs, and many others step up on a rotating basis, having a great team now and then. They play the district championships at the Steelers stadium and their newspaper has a web site dedicated to high school sports news with a bunch of games being live streamed each week in audio and a some in video. The greedy Eagles would never allow that and heck, the Philadelphia Inquirer doesn’t even cover HS sports anymore — literally. IMO the quality of the community out there is better, the aforementioned things just a tiny symptom of that. From a high school football standpoint, the bottom line is, can the area produce legit public teams? Time and time again D7 produces high quality public teams, the best of which can compete with the strongest all-star teams, the only district that can handle that.
November 23rd, 2021 at 8:58 am
@jeff h agree about 2a now that sto rox is out, I don’t think the wpial winner will beat Farrell. Sto rox can never seem to pull it together in playoffs. They had 5 turnovers in the one point loss to Serra. Although Westinghouse did put up a fight vs Farrell, I don’t think Serra or BF have the firepower to beat them. I was glad to see a city league team put up a fight and make some noise in the state playoffs. First time in a while. Westinghouse has a good program currently and I’m hoping they can keep the momentum in the new cycle.
November 23rd, 2021 at 8:53 am
@ Ryan , West Allegheny did not exactly let Palko go, Palko chose to leave, but it was because the new superintendent did not like the power the football coach had over the district. The new superintendent was making Palko’s life difficult so he and his entire staff decided to retire or go somewhere else. Every west a grad and former member of that program I talk to are sick to their stomach and really do not like the new administration. I went to a game there and sat with a former player earlier this year and the stands were half full. The former player was visibly upset at what the school had done. When I say de-emphasize football, I mostly mean the administration did not like the power it had. So they ruined what the school was known for because of their, lack of a better term, ‘modern/woke’ views on the game.
November 23rd, 2021 at 8:27 am
Ryan: No chance for Coatesville? Same guys who had Perk Valley beating them or a close game with Ridley? I definitely think Coatesville has a chance — check out both teams in action against a common opponent — Ridley (both games on youtube) — especially the 1st half of both games. I do think home field advantage will be huge (even though it probably should be at a neutral site — that’s a whole other topic). I will not make a prediction because who knows, but Coatesville still has the advantage that they’ve had every other time they’ve beaten GV — Team speed and QB/receivers.
November 23rd, 2021 at 8:03 am
D3 Mike, Governor Mifflin’s running game is as good as any I have seen at the HS level, and I go back to Pettine’s CB West Powerhouses and Curry’s Berwick’s Juggernauts. Looking forward to the rematch with Exeter, who I believe is the 2nd best team in D3-all levels. Exeter-(5 Div Players) has the talent to play with GM and they are playing their best ball of the season, however, we both know that they usually come up small in Big games. If Exeter can score early and come in with the mindset they can win that game, then we might see a close game, if they get behind early like the last game, it will be another long day for Exeter.
November 22nd, 2021 at 11:33 pm
Talked to some people and no 1 I’ve talked to believes Coastesville has a shot against Garnet Valley but I can’t figure out why that is.
Imhotep/CP should be a great game, sucks Imhotep has to drive 3 hours to play. Really don’t know anything about Prep.
Neumann Goretti has a great shot to win again this week.
@WPIALguy – or anyone Can anyone explain to me why North Allegheny let Palko go? Read they de-emphasized football, what’s that mean?
November 22nd, 2021 at 9:25 pm
Jeff, as usual, you are being diplomatic! I suspect you were a HS football coach in a past life 🙂 But in this case, you are being a bit too diplomatic, even for you. Take a minute and check out Harrisburg’s schedule on MaxPreps. They won 4 games by under a touchdown (in a year when D3 was down in 6A) and got handled by Governor Mifflin (admittedly, a historically good 5A team for D3). I think Harrisburg runs one of the best programs in the state – they will play anyone at any time and they deserve a lot of credit for that. But D3 historically struggles with D7 in 4A/6A and Harrisburg just isn’t one of D3s better big school representatives. I don’t say that to take anything away from D3, but our district just can’t field the same quality of programs as the WPIAL can. Harrisburg will be a 2-3 TD underdog vs. Mt. Lebanon… and that’s a big if, because Harrisburg is probably 55/45 just to get past State College.
Question for the people: if this plays out as many expect with Prep and Governor Mifflin winning 6A and 5A, can Governor Mifflin lay claim to being the best team in PA this year? I’m biased, but if you have not had a chance to watch Mifflin play, yet, and are a fan of old-school Pennsylvania football,?you are really missing out. For better or worse, their running attack is a thing to behold.
November 22nd, 2021 at 4:50 pm
@D3 Mike – I agree very tough finding neutral sites on Thanksgiving weekend and all the people needed to staff the game, much easier for the semi-finals the following weekend, and as you indicated Covid has exacerbated the problem, so I think the combination is why you’re seeing games at home fields and not another site. For years when D7 and D10 teams would play in the quarterfinals they alternated hosting the games, some years TJ traveled to Erie to take on ECP, other years they came down here, but the games weren’t played on TJ’s home field, in 2016 those teams played at Baldwin and in 2019 they played at North Hills, still almost a 2 hour drive for Prep, but the game wasn’t on TJ’s home field. This week Mt Lebo is hosting Erie McDowell, I was mildly surprised the game is at Lebo’s home field and not Baldwin or North Alleghany, but my assumption is due to the reasons you indicated, particularly in a Covid world.
November 22nd, 2021 at 2:14 pm
@WPIALguy – totally agree with your analysis, only WPIAL favorites for state championships are 3A and 4A. With Sto-Rox and Steel Valley losing hard not to see Farrell vs. SCA in 2A, in 5A I think Gov Mifflin will roll over the WPIAL winner next week, and in 1A whoever emerges from the East will definitely be the favorite. I think Mt Lebo and Harrisburg win fairly comfortably this week setting up a good matchup next week for the right to go to Hershey.
I like Belle Vernon to beat the Quips this week and set up a tough matchup next week with Jersey Shore, I said several weeks ago on this board Belle Vernon was on a collision course with Bishop McDevitt, and nothing I’ve seen in the playoffs thus far has done anything to change my opinion. I have seen Whitlock 3 times this year, and every game he does something where you just shake your head in amazement, I have not seen a player as dynamic as him in a long time, and for the life of me I can’t understand why Pat Narduzzi at Pitt has not offered him a scholarship. I get his size is an issue, but he would be a threat on every punt and kickoff return, and you could figure out a few plays to use him on offense. He is such a threat on punt returns that he changes the game, TJ kicked it out of bounds on every punt, but their first punt went 10 yards, the 2nd went about 20, and the result was TJ had terrible field position practically the entire game.
November 22nd, 2021 at 9:35 am
The different between us (ESS) and Cathedral Prep is the depth. It was never going to matter if any starters were out, because the backups are more than capable of doing damage. We’ve got a good team and I’m proud of what they accomplished, but we’ve also got quite a few players playing both sides of the ball, and ECP is on another tier. I’m surprised anyone thought there was a chance of ECP losing, honestly.
November 22nd, 2021 at 9:08 am
@kevin i was told lack of sites is why Valley View is home ??? i cant believe they cant find a site even i they moved the game to Hazelton or Scranton ? does any one know since the game at a D2 site if we still can only buy tickets only on line ?
@cheif red raider Valley View live and dies with it fronts after we lost our Qb we really don’t have much of a passing game and the young(sophomore ) Qb we have really cant run the RPO we were running earlier in the year they have good size and good overall team speed but to be honest the league was very week this year so i really l don’t know how they will match up ?
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:14 am
6A final
Wow. Mt Lebanon absolutely demolishes Central Catholic. 9th title for legendary coach Bob Palko tying him with TJ’s Cherpak for most all time in WPIAL. First while not at West Allegheny. I wonder if West Allegheny’s administration liked their decision to de-emphasize football. They haven’t made playoffs in two years. Crazy what people will do if their power is threatened. I think Lebo ends up beating McDowell just as badly.
5a
Moon beats penn hills and penn trafford beats Pine Richland. Both teams are very similar and run run-heavy offenses. Moon hasn’t won since 1998. PT hasn’t won ever. Sets up a good championship with what should be a good crowd.
4A
Belle Vernon handles TJ. Whitlock is a special player. Aliquippa beats McKeesport in 2OT. Quips make their 14th straight wpial finals. Doing so with a 1a enrollment in 4A. I don’t think belle Vernon will be stopped.
3a
Central Valley rolls and north Catholic wins a tight one. I will be surprised if North Catholic can keep it within 20. CV is just on another level.
2a
UPSETS! one seed Steel Valley goes down to 5 seed beaver falls after SV lost their leading rusher for the year last week. BF will try to repeat as champs. Serra Catholic upset 2 seed sto rox. Serra hasn’t won since 2007 but their defense is stout. I think Serra wins.
1a
More upsets. 9 seed Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) beat Rochester to set up a match with 3 seed Bishop Canevin. Canevin hasn’t won a championship in 31 years but I think they win this one.
Overall, some new blood is definitely nice to see make it through. I’d say as of now only 3a and 4A have state championship favorites out of the wpial.
November 21st, 2021 at 7:55 pm
FWIW, when I asked about this issue 2-3 years ago, people tied into the PIAA told me that it was difficult to staff neutral sites the weekend after Thanksgiving due to the double whammy of the holiday and the peak of deer hunting season. I imagine Covid only exacerbates the issue. Remember, hosting usually involves both volunteers and facilities crews that often operate under union contracts. And yes, the PIAA prefers turf fields as grass increases the likelihood of having to reschedule the games due to increment weather.
November 21st, 2021 at 7:20 pm
@KevinX
Not certain exactly why, but I read or heard that top teams in the bracket, If they had turf, would host at least the first round of state playoffs. I don’t know why neutral sites aren’t being chosen though.
November 21st, 2021 at 6:33 pm
@Kevin…..yep. I looked to see where the Northern Lehigh West Catholic game is….it’s neutral at Whitehall this week but I saw other games are at home field for quarterfinals……what is going on?? Can they not find sites to host???
November 21st, 2021 at 6:31 pm
I think I may have answered my own question below, sort of………
In last year’s patchwork mess of a playoff, some teams on the top of the bracket had games at their home field, right thru the semi finials. Guess to cut down on travel and due to a lack of available neutral sites, just my guess. Games that were between teams that were quite a distance between each other were contested on a neutral field (or maybe the PIAA didn’t think a hosting team had a suitable facility??). So guessing the PIAA is just returning the favor in this second year of the current two year cycle. I did notice that some true home games last year were played on a natural grass field, but this year I thought I heard/saw that the PIAA is having all games, if at all possible, be played on turf, so that could be a reason the likes of Wyo is playing Scranton Prep at nearby GM and not at their true home field. And then you have the City/School District of Philadelphia crowd mandate. Just taking some wild swings here with all of this, best that I’ve come up with for all of these site inconsistencies.
November 21st, 2021 at 3:51 pm
OK, now this is getting bizarre and confusing. Not that I care, just more really curious as to why. We are now in the quarter final round, and we still have some schools at the state/Inter-district level, hosting playoff games. Valley View, Southern Columbia, Harrisburg, Mt. Lebanon, Karns City all hosting games, while others are not.
November 21st, 2021 at 9:17 am
A matchup that I find interesting is Valley View vs. Shanahan. Shanahan played some of the better 6A and 5A teams in D1 (plus they are in the Chesmont League). I think they are underrated and could go pretty far. I don’t know squat about VV, but it should be a good game. I remember when Shanahan almost beat some great C’ville teams.
November 20th, 2021 at 9:01 pm
@ NW PA
Nah, you’re good 🙂 Just hedging. Pass on the crow unless it’s well brined and deep fried. Instead, enjoy some good turkey and the obligatory fixings in a few days!!
I do believe ECP with that win did punch their ticket to play with the big boys in 6A the next 2 years.
November 20th, 2021 at 6:52 pm
Wyomissing wins 55-14.
54/430 on the ground and holds Boiling Springs to 7 first downs and no pass completions.
Wyo will have their hands full will 12-0 Scranton Prep next week. They have pitched two shutouts their last 2 W’s and have a D1 RB(Arizona St.) and some road graters on the OL….plus Governor Mifflin/Exeter should be a mutch better game this time around. Yes, GM has Singleton, the #1 RB in the nation, but Exeter has it’s share if D1 talent as well, and there OL has been dominant in the post season.
November 20th, 2021 at 6:36 pm
WWL loses 14-10 @ Harrisburg. Had the lead for the first 40 minutes and won the TO battle 2-0, but they couldn’t punch it in, twice inside HB territory in the 4th, including 1st down at HB 20, after a fumble recovery. It was a real slobberknocker!
November 20th, 2021 at 3:46 pm
Just saw WC beat York Catholic 24-7….York led 7-6 at half. Looking at the schedule looks like they had two reg season wins (played a bunch of bigger schools) but obviously won last two weeks. As a Northern Lehigh Alum, I remember the 50-14 beating they put on NL in 2010. That team ended up winning the AA title that year. Anyone have any more insight on this year’s west Catholic team. Game should be played in D11 as they are at top of bracket. Northern Lehigh has more team speed than iv seen since that 2010 NL team. Whoever wins this game will get Southern in AA east final…..and that will be where it ends probably for whoever wins.
November 20th, 2021 at 1:26 pm
BJ: Good comments, but I don’t really think emotion (or lack of emotion) was Ridley’s problem — they were just flat out dominated. Not sure how the C’ville/GV game will go, but I just watched the first half of the GV/Ridley game and I’m thinking about the C’ville/Ridley first half last night. Yes, GV came back and smashed Ridley, but C’ville’s defense looked great last night (Mills had something like 700 yards the previous 2 games and he only had 83 last night — I think the bulk of it was against the 2nd team too). Again, it should be a great game. Looking ahead, I hope whoever wins beats SJP
November 20th, 2021 at 12:11 pm
When you run a hurry up fast paced offense all year, no huddle, mixing run and pass and getting everyone involved, you do that so when you play the best teams you use all the plays you worked on all year. North schuylkill plays 2 teams all year that can match them talent and athlete wise. The first game against Pottsville they don’t run the same offense but that can be attributed to horrible weather conditions. But last night they come out and decide to run the no huddle, hurry up, hand off time and time again. An interception thrown on the 2nd drive and they decide to not throw the ball anymore. Penalties all year hurt them!!!! The defense played great and really put heat on the qb but the offense didn’t open up until it was to late. This game shouldn’t have been lost. It looks like gorretti dominated but there scores came on a 3rd and 27 td pass, and interception return for a td, and a fumble at the goal line into the end zone where they recovered there own fumble after ns went for it on 4th down in there own territory. You can’t wait to the 4th quarter to figure things out when your in the state playoffs. You owe it to your kids to have it figured out before the game. The defense gave north schuylkill the opportunity to win the game the offensive coaching didn’t allow them to win.
November 20th, 2021 at 11:40 am
Red raider, I think after Ridley won such an emotional game last week it was inevitable they were going to get their ass handed to them. It’s just too much of an emotional expenditure to do that back to back. And I agree with you 100%, Ridley has been running up the score with starters into the fourth quarter all year. Quakertown is a legit football team and they were in it for a while. By far the best team Garnet valley has played this year. Also agree 100%, Coatesville’s speed will be a problem for Garnet valley. It always is. I expect their wide receivers to burn the slow d-backs Garnet valley always presents. I don’t believe Coatesville will be able to stop Garnet valley either though, so I expect a pretty high scoring shootout. Wouldn’t be surprised at all if Coatesville wins again for the fourth time in 5. I think this is the best team Garnet valley will bring to the fight, so I certainly hope we get a different result. I know coach Ricci really wants to go out getting the Coatesville monkey off his back. Will be tough retiring knowing that team stopped you from 4 district titles. Anyway, hopefully it’ll be an epic battle the people will remember for years.
November 20th, 2021 at 10:25 am
BJ: Not really trying to insinuate anything — just that C’ville never runs up the score. For example, last night they could have picked their score — had their subs in early in 2nd half — could have had a shutout too (I think Ridley had their starters in until the last series or so). Also, the QTown and GV was much closer than the final score — that’s all. Not sure if C’ville will beat GV (C’ville still has too many penalties plus they are playing at GV, but I think they looked like the best team playing last night). Not sure GV will be able to wear them down, and I think C’ville will be the fastest team they’ve faced so far. And, Ridley lit GV up in the first half of the game with them (whereas I think there was 4 minutes left in the half before they got a first down last night). It should be a great game.
November 20th, 2021 at 10:20 am
Well 3-3 on my D11 picks last night. Was only a point off on each side of NL -Lackawanna game. As an alum and interested in game watched it on NFHS network. Northern Lehigh had some mistakes first three qtrs but turned in on late third and 4th. They went for it on 4th and 2 from their own 9! And got a 91 yard TD! They play winner of York Catholic and west Catholic. Way off on EC Prep and ESS. EC Prep might give Tep a good game…..maybe.
November 20th, 2021 at 9:17 am
i thought the C’ville/Ridley game would be tight, real tight. Thought the GV/Q-Town game would be a mercy rule.
That’s how much I know. Shows you how bad North Penn’s defense was. Didn’t think Ridley’s RB could be stopped.
Apparently, he can. Q-Town was a lot better than I thought. GV/C’ville looms to be a really good game.
November 20th, 2021 at 7:48 am
Mcdevitt 35-Berks Catholic 7 BC’S program is sinking fast and they have no one to blame but themselves. POLITICS sunk that program. During their several year run of playing or winning the District Championship, special preferences were given to transfers-in order to get more transfers, Coaches Kids- a few of their coaches had their kids starting over more talented players, and politically connected, i.e high profile Donors kids, 1 in particular seemed to have a lot of clout on who plays and who doesn’t. All of the above really ticked off the lifeblood of the program-BC’S CYO program. Many of the stud CYO kids matriculated to the area Public Schools and a few to Prep Schools. BC has had dozens of stud players transfer out the program the last 4 years, an all star team, I know of several parents who complained to the administration about what was going on, it fell on deaf ears. Just a few years ago they had 83 kids on the team, now they have 45. I’m hearing if the numbers are right they are heading to 3A next year.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:52 am
Red raider, kind of a cryptic post. What are you trying to say? What team are you insinuating runs up scores? What is misleading about the scores tonight? Just trying to figure out whats on your mind.
November 19th, 2021 at 11:54 pm
@Kevin X: I will eat crow. They did have several starters out but none the less crushed ESS. The scary part is they bring back most of their starters next year. Can they beat Tep (assuming Tep wins)? The way they are playing now maybe. I’ve heard Tep has a big, physical line which they struggled with against Mcdowell. I guess we will find out Friday.
November 19th, 2021 at 9:38 pm
Watched a lot of the two 6A D1 games. Would encourage everyone who wants to make predictions about next week to take a look — both of the scores are somewhat misleading. One team clearly has the team speed advantage IMHO (and they never run up the score)
November 19th, 2021 at 8:23 pm
@ NW PA
I think they’re healthy.
November 19th, 2021 at 4:34 pm
@WPIALguy – I’m with you, would love to see Moon vs. Penn Trafford in the 5A final at Heinz, IMO Penn Trafford is the best program in the WPIAL to never win a district championship, they’ve had very solid teams for years and just have never been able to get over the hump and win a district title. I was at their 2017 game at Heinz against Gateway and freshman Derrick Davis was a dominating factor in Gateway’s win, he was all over the field on defense, PT also lost a tough one to PCC in 2015 when PCC went on to win the state title in the last year of 4 classes. I’m rooting for a BV vs. Aliquippa matchup in 4A, I think that game would also draw a very large crowd and be highly entertaining. I had to decide tonight between going to PR vs PT or the TJ vs. Belle Vernon game, I’m not very far from Gateway high school and that should be an excellent game, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to see Whitlock and Martin take on TJ again, the first game was an instant classic and hopefully this game will be just as good.
November 19th, 2021 at 4:08 pm
Only one sportswriter giving Wilson a “W” over Harrisburg tomorrow. That’s Pafootball news, 28-21. All five at Harrisburg Patriots-News and all three at Lancaster paper picking HB.
All picking Mifflin over Spring Grove
All picking McD over Berks Catholic..one calling for a 30-0 shutout for McD..really?
Most picking Exeter over Cedar Cliff
Most surprising…two HB sportswriters picking Boiling Springs over Wyomissing..hmm
Anyone have any thoughts on these games?
November 19th, 2021 at 3:18 pm
I saw there was another Matt posting about dist 12 teams so I’ll use D11 Matt.
Dist 11 picks for this weekend
Tri Valley 14 Old Forge 35
Northern Lehigh 34- Lackawanna Trail 13
North Schuylkill 21- NG 14
ACC 20 – Jersey Shore 24
ESS 31 – Erie Prep 27
Emmaus 20- Freedom 17 in OT
November 19th, 2021 at 2:12 pm
Jc, Buddy, BJ. I suspect Quakertown will play Pennridge, Turkey Day Morning, win or lose.
Yes I remember Easton playing that Saturday also.
Also remember Pennridge playing I think it was Springford on Saturday, unfortunately their D1 running back sprained his ankle against Qtown. And they list Saturday
November 19th, 2021 at 1:12 pm
Regarding the new class cycle, interestingly it was reported Pittsburgh central Catholic has 5a numbers but will choose to stay 6A.
Other notes
Central Valley to 4A
Aliquippa must stay 4A for making it to wpial semis even with their 1a enrollment.
Woodland Hills, a once proud AAAA power under 4 classes has a chance to be 3a for the next cycle. They haven’t decided if they will play up.
6A will only have 7 wpial teams.
4A will now be loaded with Thomas Jefferson, belle Vernon, aliquippa, McKeesport, Central Valley, north catholic and potentially Woodland Hills. That is just a highly competitive, brutal classification. Winner of that will no doubt be the state champ favorite each year.
November 19th, 2021 at 1:00 pm
@jeff h TJ and BV should be a really good game. I just worry about the ability for TJ to suffocate BV like they always do to teams. I would love to see penn trafford vs moon at Heinz. I think that has the potential for a really good crowd with the new blood. Want to see BV at Heinz because that community will come out in numbers as well.
November 19th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
@WPIALguy – I agree it will be tough for Lebo to beat PCC again, I heard from my Mt Lebo contacts the QB is playing but they lost their best offensive lineman last week to a broken ankle, really hope Lebo wins but I have a hunch PCC pulls out a close one
5A – I like Moon over Penn Hills, they have a big advantage in the trenches and I think their rushing attack will eat up the clock and limit the number of chances for Penn Hills offense. I think the other 5A game is a tossup, I like the way PR came back last week in the 2nd half against a dangerous Peters Township team, showed a lot of character, and I think that carries over to this game and they win a close one over Penn Trafford
4A – I am going to the Belle Vernon vs. TJ rematch tonight since it’s being played 5 minutes from my house, I was at the first game which was the best game I saw all year, expect another battle tonight and rooting for BV but wouldn’t be surprised if TJ”s ground and pound attack wears them down in the 2nd half
I like Aliquippa over McKeesport, I think the Quips have too much offense for McKeesport to keep up
3A – Central Valley rolls like you said, I think Avonworth beats North Catholic, they have played a tougher schedule than NC and I think they win this one
2A – very unfortunate injury for Steel Valley, as I posted earlier I like Beaver Falls to beat them, I also think Sto-Rox beats Serra by at least 2 TD’s and probably more
1A – expect both of these games to be close, I’ll take Cornell and OLSH, very impressive win last week after falling behind perennial power Clairton on the road 15-0 and then scoring 29 unanswered points the rest of the game.
November 19th, 2021 at 11:42 am
BJ
Actually, been done quite a few times. The obvious one is Easton/P-burg. Nothing stops that T-day game.
Back in the day, Easton played P-burg on a Thur. ( thanksgiving) , then played North Penn that Sat.
Some Turkey day games are sacred. Northampton/Catty is one, Pennridge/Q-town is another.
November 19th, 2021 at 11:03 am
Mike S, I just assumed that common sense would dictate that Quakertown wouldn’t play their Thanksgiving Day game on Thursday and then play The district 1 finals 24 hours later. Never heard of a high school playing 2 football games in 24 hours.
November 19th, 2021 at 10:54 am
@CoalRgnFtballFan – Steel Valley’s best player, the leading rusher in the WPIAL, was hurt last week and is out for this season, so they will likely lose to Beaver Falls tonight in the semi-finals, and if they manage to get by them I expect they will lose to Sto-Rox next week. It very well could be Farrell vs. SCA in Hershey, but I think the Farrell vs. Sto-Rox game is a tossup and could go either way. I do agree SCA has played a much tougher schedule than any other 2A team in the state.
@NW PA – even if ECP wins this weekend they have Imhotep up next, and I can’t see them beating Tep even if they are at full strength.
November 19th, 2021 at 10:26 am
Wpial previews
6A final- Mt Lebanon vs PCC
Lebo has not won a wpial championship since 2000. Legendary former West Allegheny coach Bob Palko has turned around Lebos program
Lebo beat PCC in the regular season but for some reason I’m thinking it will be hard to beat them twice.
5a semis
Moon vs Penn Hills
Moon has 24 seniors and is undefeated. Last Wpial title was in 1998. Penn hills has won 6 in a row after losing 3 of their first four. Battle of contrasting styles. Moon with a heavy running game offense and Penn Hills with a high flying passing game.
4A semis
Belle Vernon vs Thomas Jefferson.
Belle Vernon beat Tj in the regular season and their reward was to play them in the semis as well. Difficult to beat a team twice but Devin Whitlock is one of the most electric players in the state.
Aliquippa vs McKeesport
Two historical powers going head to head for the first time in 62 years. Aliquippa with a 1a enrollment has been holding their own in 4A however I think McKeesport squeaks this one out
I would argue these 4 teams are the top 4 teams in 4A and any 4 of them would win the state championship if they get thru this gauntlet.
3a semis
Central Valley vs Elizabeth Forward
Rematch of last years Wpial title game where Cv won 35-0. Don’t think it will be close again.
Avonworth vs North Catholic
Should be a competitive game. NC is undefeated but their section was very weak. I still think NC wins and sets up a big clash with CV at Heinz
2a semis
Beaver Falls vs Steel Valley
Steel Valley leading rusher and star player fractured his ankle last week. The number one seed didn not look the same, as a result I Think BF reaches the finals for the second straight year and they will try to repeat.
Sto Rox vs Serra Catholic
Another battle. Sto rox has played one home game all year due to violence near their field. They haven’t played in a close game all year. Serra will keep it closer, but I think sto wins.
1a semis
Cornell vs Bishop Canevin
Cornell did not have a football program as of 2016. They co-oped with a neighboring district. Bishop Canevin has also not been great recently. I Think BC pulls it out.
Rochester vs OLSH
Battle of conference foes. Rochester won in regular season but OLSH has really hit their stride. I think OLSH wins and we have a private school-private school final in 1a
November 19th, 2021 at 8:35 am
Brief comparison of strength of schedule in AA. Who has opponents still playing in week 13?
Farrell – 0 teams from their regular season schedule are still competing.
Sto Rox – 1 team (Avonworth) still competing in AAA.
Steel Valley – 1 team (Serra Catholic) still competing in AA.
Richland – 2 teams (Bedford, Central) still competing in AAA.
SCA – 5 teams still playing, counting their scrimmage opponent (Valley View AAAA, Wyoming Area AAA, Wyomissing AAA, Danville AAA, MCA AA)
As previously stated I believe this season’s schedule was SCA’s toughest, ever, and one of the toughest for any small school in PA – at least in the last 15 years. The next few weeks should be interesting. Could there be a repeat of the class A 95/96 final SCA vs Farrell?
November 19th, 2021 at 7:05 am
The rumor is Erie Cathedral has a ton of starters out tonight. If they aren’t healthy they won’t win.
November 19th, 2021 at 4:22 am
Jc No twice in the past Pennridge won the District semifinals on a Friday, then played the Thanksgiving game on Thursday, then played in the District Finals, there is NO History that says if Quakertown gets to the finals they would not play, None at all. The other side of this is Pennridge #9 seed in District 1, will have 2 weeks to prepare, whereas Quakertown will have Monday & Tuesday, so upset alert goes up.
November 18th, 2021 at 10:28 pm
I never said I didn’t like the 6 classes in the piaa. Why would I or anyone else want to take away state titles from the added one or two teams. Somebody is going to get hurt!!!! lol injuries only happen in blowouts I guess.
November 18th, 2021 at 5:02 pm
@ Chief Red Raider It’s one of the results of the strange results of the PIAA playoff system. To take an extreme example: West Catholic was 2-7 before last week and Conwell-Egan was 8-2,with both teams having common opponents in most of their games. C-E beat WC 36-0 in the regular season, but WC beats CE 18-13 in the playoffs. It seems to me to make no sense to rank WC higher than C-E and if they were playing this weekend I know who I’d put money on, but WC is playing and C-E isn’t. Also can’t see why LaSalle falls so much in the rankings because they lost to SJP.
November 18th, 2021 at 3:16 pm
Red raider, Quakertown would not play the Thanksgiving game if they win the Garnet valley game.
November 18th, 2021 at 3:05 pm
@WPIALguy – thanks for the assist, I would have echoed your response to both of Kevin’s questions, nice to have another Western voice on this board!
Regarding the home field discussion for the district/state playoffs, the WPIAL uses neutral sights for the semi-finals and of course the finals, they used to only have first round games at home fields of the higher seed and then neutral for the rest of the playoffs, but since Covid now have the quarterfinals at home sights. It seems strange to me that all district finals are not at a neutral sight, particularly in the larger districts, I’ve always wondered why DI, for example, does not have their championship games at a neutral sight.
November 18th, 2021 at 12:25 pm
Not that it really matters in the grand scheme of life, but does anyone wonder why teams that are no longer playing are ranked higher than teams that are? Weird. Or seeing teams that are still playing leapfrog ahead of other teams still alive despite having less impressive wins against common opponents. Again, not a big deal, but it just doesn’t make sense. In the end, the game results will determine it all.
November 18th, 2021 at 12:05 pm
Jc, BJ, Buddy, Kmac
Not really sure anymore who asked, about Quakertown, but I see teams from the Northern End of District 1, ie, Souderton, CB West, North Penn, Pennridge, Quakertown. My best guess is that Quakertown-North Penn would have been considered a toss up, I would have given a very slight edge to Quakertown on a neutral field. Keeping in mind that Pros get an approx 3 pt home field, college is over 4 pts, my guess that HS then works out to about 5 pt. Comparing similiar games, Quakertown is aprrox 14 (10 to 17) pts better than CBW. One of the wild cards is how much Ridley has progressed since earlier this season in comparing their Garnet Valley & North Penn games, which I’ve been told is they are alot better than earlier. I’d make Quakertown a 7 to 10 point road dog, but honestly know NOTHING about Garnet Valley. Quakertown’s biggest assests are defense, overall team speed, very balanced and exceptional Senior leadership. I’ve seen predictions of 42-14, 38-13. I suspect it will be much closer, and would not be totally shocked if the ball bounces right, they can’t win this. They are solid. Last thing is, that 5-6 days later they play a good Pennridge team, who’s had 2 full weeks to prepare, and Quakertown will have 2 practices to prepare for an archrival, so already putting out Upset warnings on that one. And if Quakertown would beat Garnet Valley they would have to play a District Final, 2 days after their Thanksgiving game. That Thanksgiving game has twice done in Pennridge.
November 18th, 2021 at 11:39 am
Jerry, I think the chaos in PA for the first couple weeks of playoffs is more a reflection of how the districts are organized than the increase in classes. IMO, five classes is probably the sweet spot for a state where you have schools playing football with enrollments from under 200 up to almost 5,000. The only way I see them reducing the number of classifications from six is if a lot of schools wind up dropping football, and none of us want that. The six class genie is out of the bottle.
November 18th, 2021 at 11:14 am
I keep seeing people make statements about injuries when teams with lessor talent, play against teams with greater talent. Am I missing some facts or data here? It would be one thing if the teams had post grad playing against the standard high team, but these statement being made is just blowing my mind. Just because a team is better, doesn’t mean they out weigh the opponent or bring more force. They could be equal in size and strength, but just execute better. Prep was destroying Souderton last year with the starters in. No one got hurt. Prep put the 2nd and 3rd string in, Souderton started destroying them was anyone afraid of someone being injured?
November 18th, 2021 at 9:33 am
@Matt I’m a Prep guy and an enthusiastic booster of the team. I agree they looked really good against LaSalle, but two weeks ago they were behind by 8 to Wood in the 4th quarter and won on a last minute field goal and the week before that Judge was on the Prep goal-line, down 8, with a minute to go. The fact that the Judge game was played in a relentless downpour may help explain why that game was so close, but those two games suggest the Prep may not simply roll to another state championship. I hope they win it all, but if they do I expect more than one very close game.
One thing we know about hs football is that things like blocked punts, mishandled punts, snaps that go over the head of the QB, etc. happen a lot more frequently than in college or pro football. Against LaSalle the Prep punt returner mishandled a punt and a running back fumbled the ball in his own territory. Fortunately for the Prep, they recovered the ball in both instances–something that didn’t happen against Judge and Wood. LaSalle meanwhile had a punt blocked, a QB fumble that was returned for a score, a snap on the Prep goal line that resulted in something like a 40-yard loss, etc. None of this is to discount the fact that the Prep was the much better team last Saturday (partly because they blocked the punt, got to the QB to force the fumble, etc.) and fully deserved the win. But especially since they remain a very young team, I think it’s to be expected that miscues won’t happen to them in what’s ahead.
November 17th, 2021 at 9:01 pm
@JC and many other posters. I agree the way PIAA does playoffs is so disorganized and haphazard. Six classes is way too many.
That being said Old Forge coach Mike Schubak (spelling?) doesn’t get the credit he deserves. The guy helps these kids put out results year after year. Fun fact Old Forge and that whole area has some cool history with the mob for all you history buffs. For how small that school is they perform year after year.
But yeah these six classes definitely was a mistake. I get underdogs pulling an upset but how many blow outs and kids getting injured needs to happen? Maybe districts need to be restructured? What do I know though? At the end of the day they want to play the game.
November 17th, 2021 at 6:26 pm
Prep is just hitting its stride as a young team with a few senior leaders coming into form. They have proven for the last 5 years no one in PA is really on their level. You might even be able to push that number to 8 years. They will role to another state title. The machine keeps turning. They will be even better next year.
November 17th, 2021 at 7:26 am
@kevin x you know the answer to that NO like all tickets sites it has the fine print all sales are final !!!!!!
November 16th, 2021 at 4:14 pm
Direct from the PIAA Twitter account:
“The location for the 1A football game between Old Forge and Williams Valley high schools has been moved to Dunmore HS. Kickoff is still set for Friday, November 19 at 7:00 pm. Tickets already purchased are still valid at the new site.”
OK, so my question is, if you bought tickets on-line (only way you could, I assume) expecting the game to be at OF, but you can’t make it up to Dunmore for whatever reason, do you get your money back?? And the processing fee?? Small change (the processing fee at least) I realize, but more of a principle thing, to me anyway.
November 16th, 2021 at 1:15 pm
@ Buddy
Just remembered it wasn’t you but Sausmann who was so thrilled with Milton’s victory. I still think that if it were 5 days ago, no one is District 11 would be thinking the SJP would be the certain winner if they’re playing next week. If nothing else, the last few weeks have made clear that SJP is young and inconsistent.
November 16th, 2021 at 12:33 pm
No, I wasn’t the one talking about SJP being beaten by a public school. Didn’t know they played a public school.
The sound thrashing SJP put on LaSalle doesn’t bode well not only for the D11 champ, but any public school in Pa.
Having said that, sure as hell hope I’m wrong!
November 16th, 2021 at 12:13 pm
@ Buddy, Were you the person who talked about SJP being soundly beaten by a public school, Milton (GA)? Since then, of course, SJP lost to LaSalle, beat Judge by one TD in a very close game, and beat Wood on a last-minute FG. Why, then, should the D11 champion feel discouraged about playing them–if SJP beats Northeast?
November 16th, 2021 at 8:32 am
Not much secret to the 6A final in D3 between #2 in state Harrisburg and #8 Wilson. Severance Field, Harrisburg, 1:00, Sat.
Harrisburg D has given up 37 pts., total, their last 5 wins.
Wilson has rushed for 1700+ and 16TD’s in their last 5 W’s.
HB is big and fast on both sides of the ball. Wilson OL has controlled the trenches during their 7 game win streak. Nothing will change here. Bulldogs will need to keep HB weapons off the field to get the W.
They did it last week against CY, when no one gave them a chance. CY had the ball for a total of 14 min….5 min and 11 sec is the 2nd half!!
No one is giving WWL a chance in this one either…Plus HB is good enough to win the state title…imo
I’m saying that WWL needs 27 to get the W and I’m not sure they have the horses to get that done.
Also on Sat. @ Wyomissing
#2, undefeated, Wyo vs. #9 and 10-1 Boiling Springs….Two good defenses vs. two good offenses…will see which one gives
Enjoy your weekend, wherever you will be watching
November 16th, 2021 at 7:55 am
@ Kevin x , to help Jeff H out, Clairton is not as strong as what they once were. They are still very good, but they haven’t had the star D1 player in the last couple years that can dominate. The school is also really struggling and the area is very blighted. I think they’ve had some kids go the private school route.
As far as Butler, their program was struggling mightily playing a 6A schedule and in order to try to rejuvenate their program, they first went to an independent schedule where they can choose who they play. They are now an associate member of d10 in football only (they are in wpial in all other sports). This has become more common for struggling wpial programs in the last few cycles. Teams who consistently go winless want more control over their schedules to try and get wins and build a winning culture outside of the wpial gauntlet. Uniontown, Albert Gallatin, and in the next cycle, Brownsville will all be independent in football so that they can build their own schedules and play schools that will not beat them 77-0.
Been reading this board for about two years but this is my first post! Just another voice out west!
November 16th, 2021 at 7:36 am
Freedom is the higher seed correct? Why aren’t they hosting Emmaus? Why go to the bother of seeding teams
within a district and then throwing that all out in the finals? Never understood that. The winner of that has the
privalege of playing SJP right? A bit discouraging ain’t it.
November 15th, 2021 at 9:50 pm
@Buddy,
Dist 11 used to do higher seeds host until a few years ago …now all the championships are neutral for dist 11…..last weekend Northern Lehigh and Palmerton played at Lehighton, North Schuylkill and Him Thorpe played at Lehighton and ESS and Whitehall played at Lehighton. Northwestern and ACC played at Northern Lehigh and this week Emmaus and Freedom play at Whitehall for dist 11 6A championship.
November 15th, 2021 at 8:19 pm
I read what a poster on here said about Academy Park having athletes all over the field. So I went to see them against Unionville, how did they shut them out in the second half. They have a bunch of athletes and that will be tough for strath haven.
November 15th, 2021 at 6:59 pm
Canton 34 steel high 28
Old forge 26 Williams valley 13
Northern Lehigh 34 Lackawanna trail 16
York catholic 20 west catholic 14
Southern Columbia 41 mt. Carmel 20
North schuylkill 27 Neumann Goretti 20
Danville 21 montoursville 17
Wyomissing 28 boiling springs 14
Scranton prep 14 Wyoming area 13
Acc 24 jersey shore 16
Valley view 21 north Pocono 7
Bishop Shanahan 27 Bonner prendie 13
Bishop mcdevitt 31 berks catholic 14
Lampeter strasburg 40 kennard dale 14
Govenor mifflin 47 spring grove 14
Exeter 31 cedar cliff 28
Cathedral prep 47 ES south 20
Imhotep 44 father judge 7
Plymouth whitemarsh 34 wc Rustin 31
Strath haven 27 academy park 14
Harrisburg 20 Wilson 17
State college 21 del valley 16
Garnet valley 42 quakertown 17
Coatesville 28 Ridley 27
St. Joes 47 northeast 6
Emmaus 14 freedom 10
November 15th, 2021 at 6:47 pm
@matt:
When the state went to 6 classes ( 6 or 7 years ago) the PIAA mandates all district games got to the higher seed.
Previous, the D1 final was at a neutral site. Never did agree with the neutral site for districts. So that was good.
After districts are done, all games go to neutral. Not sure if it’s the same out west.
@BJ
Q-Town did not have a very strong schedule. Actually, neither did GV, except for Ridley. But the GV/Q-Town match
won’t even be close. The match du jour is Ridley/C’ville. Hope C’ville wins cause I’m a sore loser.
November 15th, 2021 at 5:31 pm
George, GV over Quakertown
Ridley over Coatesville
Haven over AP
Rustin over PWM
Should be 4 really good games with Coatesville and Ridley being another epic shootout, ending in a 40-40 type score. Ridley can’t stop good offenses but they’re hard to stop offensively. Whoever makes fewer turnovers will win that game. Strath Haven – Academy Park should be a tight close game also.
November 15th, 2021 at 4:39 pm
Does anybody have first hand knowledge of what Quakertown is all about? Trying to find out what kind of challenge they can give Garnet valley but just don’t know much about them. Obviously they must be good since they’re 12-0 and have great defensive numbers. Just wondering if anybody has an educated opinion as to whether they can beat GV?
November 15th, 2021 at 2:12 pm
@Buddy…..up in D11…..and other districts, once state playoffs begin (some begin this weekend in lower classes) all games usually are held at neutral site in years past. It’s usually closer to the host district but always was at neutral site. Just odd this year they are letting home district teams host at own stadiums. I remember NL played Wilkes Barre gar at J B crum in Allentown first round in 2010. And in 2003, NL played at New Oxford against Delone Catholic in first round. Dist 3 was host that year. This year, NL plays at home vs Lackawanna in first round. Good for my Dawgs but Lackawanna has to travel an hour and a half while NL gets to avoid any bus trip.
November 15th, 2021 at 1:30 pm
Very curious as to the picks for the 6A and 5A for everyone.
GV over Quakertown
Coatesville over Ridley
Rustin over PW
Academy Park over Strath Haven
November 15th, 2021 at 1:29 pm
I’m aware there r district playoffs still. All the state playoff games should be on a neutral field or all should be on a home field. One or the other. How did both fit in the equation. Why not play all playoff games at 1 site in each district if needed. And play on Saturday’s with multiple games at these designated sites. Obviously a turf field would be needed but it would be great for fans and teams to be able to play in a triple header At shamokin areas field or north schuylkills field. Lehighton could host. Break up districts and create regionals. District 2,3,4 combine with the top 16 teams from each classification make regionals. You have to have a .500 record to qualify. If more than 16 qualify the lowest seeds play play in games. District 1, 11, 12 do the same as well
November 15th, 2021 at 9:42 am
All first round PIAA playoff games for soccer (boys and girls) field hockey, and volleyball were all held at the higher seeds home field or gym (for the most part). I don’t recall these first round games in the past being contested at home fields/gyms. Then again, I really don’t follow these sports that closely either. Just odd how some of these football games are being held at home fields at the inter district state level games and others are not. Maybe D2 and D11 worked something out with the “A” and “2A” games since they are playing each other?? Maybe suitable neutral sites are still hard to come by, or school districts are asking for an arm and leg to host?? Then you have the school district of Philadelphia mandate………..Cardinal O’Hara is going to get a workout.
November 15th, 2021 at 9:12 am
Not all games are at the state level yet. This is only D1 semi-final. So no, it shouldn’t be at nuetral field.
Next week is the D1 final, that will be at the higher seed and it should be or why have seedings?
Nuetral field should only come in to play at Eastern/Western final and state finals
November 14th, 2021 at 11:31 pm
All these games this weekend should be on neutral fields. This is just about as stupid as the Piaa can be. State basketball playoff r not played on home courts. It’s really simple, all state games should be on a neutral field.
November 14th, 2021 at 10:15 pm
@NW PA: as an alum of South, while I’d love for the game to be close as you say, I don’t see it happening. The schedule in the EPC North is really soft, and only Parkland is anywhere close to what they’ll see in Cathedral Prep. Not to mention that they’re coming off an emotional victory that’s been a few years in the making. I think they’ll put up some points, but I don’t see how they can slow down ECP’s offense. I expect ECP to get out to a quick early lead and keep it comfortable the rest of the way.
November 14th, 2021 at 6:12 pm
Kevin. I know. I don’t know why one team gets a home game and another game they have to play in a neutral site. I agree about ECP….
November 14th, 2021 at 6:03 pm
@ David M.
Hollidaysburg?? I saw Bald Eagle Area, which actually makes sense. Hollidaysburg would still be a jaunt for ECP.
Like Matt, I was going to question some of these sites too.
Second week in a row Old Forge gets a home inter-district playoff game?? Yet Del Val and State College meet in Hazleton??
November 14th, 2021 at 5:55 pm
Via Twitter: “NE vs. St. Joes moved to Saturday 11/20/21 @ Cardinal O’Hara at 6pm. The school district refused to move off of the spectator limit so the PIAA has moved to game outside the city. There will be no spectator limit.” Game was originally scheduled for the NE Supersite (which in itself makes no sense as it is Northeast’s home field, on their campus). See now, the PIAA is actually capable of making smart sensible and logical choices and doing the right thing. Kudos PIAA. Now let’s work on these playoff brackets. You have it in you.
November 14th, 2021 at 5:34 pm
Dave,
Thanks. Big advantage for NL….not having to ride a bus and Lackawanna having to travel close to an hour and a half. Thought it would be at lehighton or Palmerton. Yeah, they have been doing halfway games for teams on opposite side of state when they starting mixing sides in some classes. That’s makes more sense.
November 14th, 2021 at 5:26 pm
Hi Matt. I guess in the first round the home team can host. But they are making ES South go to Hollidaysburg
so Cathedral Prep doesn’t have to travel across the state.
November 14th, 2021 at 5:19 pm
Dave,
Just saw Northern Lehigh Athletics Twitter post that the game is at NL between NL and Lackawanna Trail? State playoffs normally are neutral location (usually closer to the hosting district). NL had a neutral dist championship but get a home state playoff game? I’m an NL graduate and hope they win but this is a big disadvantage for Lackawanna trail and I wouldn’t be happy if I was them. No bus ride for NL….that being said go Dawgs!
November 14th, 2021 at 4:18 pm
@ Kevin X
My apologies, it was 56-0 in the 1st quarter.. The system needs to be revamp! Maybe go back to allowing the 1A through 3A District 12 teams play in a seeded point-system playoff tournament with the 1A through 3A teams from District 1.
Teams who were winless for 2 or more years should play a JV schedule for a season.
I don’t know but I agree with 4th and Forever..
November 14th, 2021 at 1:30 pm
@ Make it make sense
Was that game seriously 62-0 in the first quarter?? That’s 9 TDs in 12 minutes or less. Is that even possible?? Halftime I can see. Did they even finish the game or mercifully called it at some point??
@ Jeff H
You seriously think anybody can reasonably explain District 12, more specifically the Philly Public League??
Two quickies for ya: What happened to Clairton?? Yikes!! Second, When and why did Butler jump to District 10 (weren’t they a member of the WPIAL??)
November 14th, 2021 at 12:48 pm
Jeff, my point is I don’t think 20% of all the schools in the state deserve to make the playoffs. The PIAA should do what it takes to bring organization to the districts. Some classes are figuratively twiddling their thumbs, playing meaningless games with predetermined outcomes, waiting for the real competition to start. Look at the Philadelphia Catholic League Blue division. Newmann-Goretti just played two opponents with one win between them in the first two rounds of the “playoffs.” While that’s hopefully the most egregious example, pairings between legitimate playoff teams and teams that have no business playing in the post season are plentiful in the first two weeks of districts. As an aside, I think Kipp has been a 3A team for years, though I couldn’t find any enrollment info for them.
Also in the PCL Blue, West Catholic just bounced Conwell Egan 17-14 after having lost head to head by 30+ earlier in league play. While WC is a good program that plays a tough schedule, they were 2-5 in the same league Egan finished 5-2 in. Some see that as proof WC belonged, but I think it’s unfair to Egan who took care of business during the season, only to get bounced out by a team that didn’t and had one good day. LSS, I have no desire to exclude anyone who earned a spot in the postseason, but I think the season should mean something and the PIAA oversees the most disorganized HS athletics of anywhere I’ve lived.
November 14th, 2021 at 12:39 pm
Hi Matt. I am waiting on the PIAA to release them. I got some.
November 14th, 2021 at 11:50 am
Dave,
When will the times and locations of the state playoff games be announced?? I’m assuming sometime today?
Thanks.
November 14th, 2021 at 9:53 am
Anyone have an opinion on the Erie Cathedral-ESS game? I really think it’s going to be a very good and very close game. Let me explain. ESS has 3 losses but they are all to 6A teams. 2 of them have been top 10 ranked 6A teams or at least they were ranked in 6A for parts of the season. Their losses have all been fairly close. They have a pretty QB and and a big bruising running back who is also an excellent defensive lineman. They also play a fairly rough schedule so they are tested. Erie Cathedral is also battle tested. They beat a pretty talented St Francis and Canisius teams in very close games. They lost to a big and physical Mcdowell in a game that should have much closer, but that’s a story for another day. Prep is also beat up. Not sure about this week but they have had at least 2 starters out the last month and their staring middle linebacker has been out since week 1. It’s already known that their starting QB didn’t start last week so who knows what’s going on. If Cathedral is healthy, I think they wins a close, high scoring game.
November 14th, 2021 at 6:16 am
@ troll in tacony. 22-5 with my pics. Couldn’t have got the scores of my mom, she died two weeks ago. But I hope she gives you a little bit of karma while she’s looking down on your stupid comments. Nothing bad maybe the whooping cough or hoof and mouth disease.
November 13th, 2021 at 10:15 pm
Northern Lehigh wins dist 11 2A 64-34 over rival Palmerton. RB Matt Frame carried the ball 20 times for 330 yds and five tds. He had two tds over 50 yds. 6ft 1, 230 lbs. Northern Lehigh’s 3 losses were to 4A rival Northwestern (who lost Friday to central Catholic by a TD) by a missed two or conv., Notre Dame GP when they were ranked 4th in state in 3A, and North Schuylkill. They are 5-0 vs 2A and haven’t had a game within closer than a 29 or win against a 2A school. They could be a sleeper in 2A but would have to face southern in eastern final if they get there….and that would most certainly be a tough task.
November 13th, 2021 at 9:44 pm
Neumann Goretti vs Kipp Dubois was 62-0!!!!
JC’s mom was almost right with her score of 69-0!!!!
November 13th, 2021 at 7:43 pm
@4th&Forever – the rest of the state is not waiting while the larger districts conduct their playoffs, they are playing each week against other districts after their district playoffs have concluded so I don’t understand your point. To me if a district has 1/3 of the teams statewide in a given class logic dictates they get 1/3 of the playoff qualifiers, which is more or less what happens in the current system. No matter what you do to rearrange the state playoffs I don’t see how you do it in any less than 5 weeks, if you go to 4 weeks the max number of teams that could make the playoffs in each class is 16, which would mean well less than 20% of the schools in each class statewide would make the playoffs and that is never going to fly in this state. As an extension of your argument why not just exclude districts from the playoffs that have either never won a state title or only 1 or 2 state titles in history, how many schools from Districts 5, 8 and 9 have ever won a state title, so why bother letting them participate in the state playoffs if they have zero chance?
November 13th, 2021 at 7:14 pm
@Kevin X – i agree with you, good luck to all the teams left in 6A, not surprised Prep won but shocked at how they dominated. Looking at the remaining teams IMO there are only 2 that have a shot to beat them, Garnet Valley and Pittsburgh CC. They should roll next week over Northeast, I can’t see the D11 winner (Emmaus/Freedom) beating them the following week and of the D1 teams remaining I give GV the best shot like Buddy said. On the western side of the bracket you can eliminate the 4 schools not in D3 and D7, Mt Lebanon would be a big underdog against SJP and as much as I hate to say it I think PCC beats them next week for the WPIAL title. No disrespect to Wilson or Harrisburg but I don’t like how either of them matchup against SJP, Harrisburg has the athletes to hang in there but I think their lack of depth would catch up to them in the 2nd half. To me it’s looking like another PCC vs. SJP state final, sure hope I’m wrong, and one or both of them lose, but as of now that’s how it looks from here.
@Make-It-Make-Sense – that’s what happens when you have 6 classes and only a few teams in a given class in the district, there are 4 3A teams in D12, 3 Catholic schools and Preparatory Charter School. The question I have is why in the world is Kipp playing in 3A, when according to the enrollment figures on the PIAA website they have 30 boys in grades 9-11 while Goretti has 215. Can anyone who follows D12 explain this?
November 13th, 2021 at 4:37 pm
The Prep is still very much alive and well. 35-0 at halftime over LaSalle (35-7 final). Good luck to all of those still remaining in 6A.
November 13th, 2021 at 4:01 pm
Jeff H, I don’t think state championships are the goal or be all end end all for high school athletics.. As far as tradition goes, the Inter-Academic Conference has schools that are older than America, don’t participate in playoffs and they excel in both academics and athletics. If a district decides it’s tradition is more important than participating in the state playoffs, I respect that. However, expecting the rest of the state to wait for the outcome of a title contender against a winless team or winnowing down a field of 16, most of which had zero chance, doesn’t make sense. These are things I’ve never seen anywhere but Pennsylvania, and it’s particularly pronounced in Philly and it’s suburbs. Do that in a larger state and you’d be playing into the next year.
November 13th, 2021 at 2:10 pm
Some fantastic football games in District 1 last night. Ridley and North Penn in an epic scoring battle which was easily predictable. Nobody can stop Ridley from scoring and Ridley can’t stop anybody from scoring. Ridley-Coatesville and Garnet Valley-Quakertown should be some great football games. If Ridley doesn’t get it done this year they will be the preseason District 1 favorite as they only have 4 seniors on the team and most importantly their junior quarterback, who gets better every week will be back. Hoping to see a Garnet Valley- Ridley rematch for the District 1 championship in 2 weeks. Love this time of year.
November 13th, 2021 at 1:21 pm
The unprofessional mentality of Phila Pub administrators is stinking of outright incompetence.
How can a 0-7 KIPP HS play a 9-1 Goretti HS for the city championship and guest what, it’s 62-0 in the 1st quarter.
THE FIRST QUARTER!
November 13th, 2021 at 11:43 am
C’ville by 2 scores, GV might just mercy rule. NP was over-ranked ( #2), a 4seed would be more appropriate.
Defense has been their archilles heel all year. Caught up to them last night. D1 & d11 teams demise is ineveitable ,
I think GV can have the best showing against the PCL champ. But that is probably a foregone conclusion also. And the beat goes on…………..
November 13th, 2021 at 10:28 am
@4th&Forever – You might be right about the PIAA having the power to put the hammer down on the districts, but why would they want to do that? The district playoffs have significant meaning in some parts of this state, and I can’t see shipping teams from one district to other districts just to balance the state playoff bracket and totally eviscerate the district playoffs. Districts should have a right to determine their district champion with how they see fit, and their champion enters the state bracket depending on how the PIAA sets up the brackets. As I posted earlier I could see cutting down the playoffs by a week, with a maximum of 3 weeks for the larger districts, and then the final two weeks for the state semi’s and finals, but I don’t get why anyone would be in favor of not letting districts determine how they structure their playoff to determine a champion, we have full district playoffs in all other sports and the state playoffs seem to work out ok.
November 13th, 2021 at 8:44 am
Were there quite a few upsets last night across the state — or just bad rankings? (I think the latter). The Green Raiders vs. the Red Raiders should be a good game — especially since Christmas is around the corner. I haven’t seen Quakertown play, but it sounds like they have a pretty good defense — enough to worry Garnet Valley?
November 13th, 2021 at 8:08 am
Some really great HS football last night. A tough night for some really good, highly ranked teams
Undefeated Central York, North Penn, Shippensburg..all out, plus some very skilled one loss teams..Parkland, Manheim Central and Lakeland gone.
As for Pribula and Central York, a couple of things really stuck out.
-Wilson WL 62/347 on the ground..I mean that’s a wow! CY run D had been pretty stellar all year long. WWL had 4, 13+ play drives…they fumbled on 1st down at CY 5, and had a 1st an goal at CY 2, that was also stalled by two straight penalties.
-Time of possession, WWL 34 CY 14…Wilson OL dominated… CY DL was gassed by end of the 3rd Q….I’m guessing that was the first time since the SJP game ly.
– CY rushing numbers.. .11 carries for 11yds, 0 td’s…Pribula 6 carries for 1 yd. CY had rushed for almost 750 yds and 10 td’s their last 4 games, including 168 last week against Manheim Township
Pribula did everything he could, but once they became one dimensional( and that didn’t take long, CY’s first two drives…3 & out and 5 plays and done)…he was under the gun the rest of the night. 4 sacks, multiple hurries, tipped balls and even after many completions he was hit hard and on the ground.
Wilson will have their hands full next week, no matter who they play. Hempfield is better than their record…and even though Harrisburg is state ranked, they didn’t get much love after getting blown out by Mifflin in Sept, but they are a very good, explosive team.
Should be a very interesting finals week, all around. Thanks for listening!
November 13th, 2021 at 7:08 am
A really good night for Delco last night. Mare Sheehan is one happy camper this morning 🙂
November 13th, 2021 at 2:45 am
The unthinkable happened tonight at the Wilson vs. Central York game in York with everyone picking CY and there #1 all state QB with Wilson winning and everyone heavily picking Central York. The Wilson QB Brad Hoffman and the Wilson running back Jadyn Jones were running it down their throat all night and were unstoppable with around 330 yards. Also the Wilson defense was swarming and sacked Beau Pribula like 6 times I believe and forced him to throw a pick and he was also running for his life and on the ground a lot. If it wasn’t for some penalties and also a fumble by Jadyn Jones both in the red zone Wilson could have had two more scores. Before I finish my post I was just wondering if it is remembered by some of people on this forum the terrible trashing the Wilson QB Brad Hoffman took earlier this year basically saying he was a bust and a terrible QB on every level from Berks Catholic that wouldn’t be missed by them? Well he reinvented himself into an unstoppable running QB that has run for over 1000 yards now and throws when he has to for important scores at critical times. I’m just saying they were rather harsh over the top statements that were also uncalled for IMO. I’m sure trash talking isn’t something that belongs or is condoned on this forum. Brad Hoffman didn’t deserve that then and especially now. Just saying trash talking can come back to bite you sometimes.
November 12th, 2021 at 11:12 pm
@Buddy – totally agree with you the PIAA should have expanded to 5 classes and not 6, I and many others said that on this board 5yrs ago when it happened. I don’t foresee the PIAA admitting they made a mistake and go to 5 classes, but it would make sense to do so.
@EmanD3 and Scott Hagy – you guys were right about Wilson, I agreed CY was on upset alert and Wilson pulled it off. I was at the Mt Lebo game tonight and they survived against NA 28-17, which was the score at halftime. Lebo’s QB got hurt and did not play the 2nd half, but their offense was out of sync all night, if it wasn’t for 2 defensive TD’s and a punt return for a TD they wouldn’t have won that game. If the QB can’t play next week they won’t beat PCC, and even if he does play they need to clean a lot of things up to beat them again.
@Ryan – agree Academy Park might win D1, but then they would play the winner of Erie Prep vs. Imhotep and I think their season ends there.
November 12th, 2021 at 10:34 pm
Team with Speed beat North Penn
Academy Park being good and going far
Coatesville going pretty far
Check, check, check
November 12th, 2021 at 10:32 pm
Wild and crazy night tonight. Coatesville almost blew the game in epic fashion but survived due to a failed onside kick by Perk Valley, and will now host Ridley next week, who eked by North Penn in OT. I have no idea what to expect from next weeks matchup.
Quakertown remains undefeated and faces off against similarly undefeated Garnet Valley. Not sure what to expect there either. I lean toward Garnet Valley, for what it’s worth, but it’s not worth much.
WC Rustin continues to cruise along in 5A. I think they play Academy Park next week. Again the common theme here is I have no idea about that one either.
Which all in all makes it very exciting.
November 12th, 2021 at 9:55 pm
Bulldogs shock the world. WWL 14 Central York 11. Wilson runs for 345 and OL dominates. Pribula sacked 4x, picked once, hurried all night and on the ground multiple times after the throw
November 12th, 2021 at 9:44 pm
Great “upset” win by Wilson over highly touted Central York. No rain needed either, for Bulldogs to control the stellar CY QB.
November 12th, 2021 at 8:54 pm
@ Kevin X Here’s my score for Kipp Dubois vs Neumann-Goretti 69-0
I got this score from JC’s Mom!!!!!!!!
November 12th, 2021 at 5:54 pm
I never did agree jumping from 4A to 6A. 5A would have sufficed. Would have eliminated the huge range in classes.
Love to see this broached to the PIAA. But i guess no one wants to go backwards, even tho it be logical.
November 12th, 2021 at 4:18 pm
@Kevin X – you are correct about the WPIAL initially being a big opponent of the move to 6 classes, the main reason was they would no longer be able to hold all their district championship games at Heinz Field on the same day. The WPIAL had been holding all 4 championships at Heinz (and before Heinz 3 Rivers Stadium) for decades and the WPIAL did not want to mess with that tradition, I’m not sure what concessions if any the PIAA made to get the WPIAL on board but I do know there were a lot of conversations and debates between the 2 organizations.
@Foleman – I’m with you in rooting for Garnett Valley to get to the state final, being a WPIAL guy I’m hoping Mt. Lebanon makes it from the West, I think it would be great to have Garnett Valley vs. Mt Lebo in the 6A final, who would have predicted that before the season started. In that same vein I’m rooting for Belle Vernon to get to get to the 4A final, they have had a solid program for years but have never made it to Hershey and this might be their best team in school history, their QB Devon Whitlock is the most dynamic player in the WPIAL in years and it would be great for the rest of the state to see him on the big stage.
@Buddy – I agree a 5 week playoff can be done, but the PIAA would need to twist the arms of some districts to get them to agree, most notably the WPIAL. If you go to a 5 week state playoff that leaves 3 weeks for the districts and the last 2 weeks for the state semi-finals and finals, and that would eliminate many of the teams with losing records making the playoffs. I personally would favor a 9 week regular season and the current playoff format, but keeping a 10 week regular season with 5 weeks of playoffs would be ok.
What some people who complain about teams with losing records making the playoffs don’t take into account is the problem was exacerbated with the move to 6 classes I know there were some teams in the old 4 class format that made the playoffs with losing records, but not nearly as many as now with 6 classes, there just aren’t enough schools in some classes in each district to avoid a number of teams with losing records making the playoffs under the current format.
November 12th, 2021 at 2:02 pm
Jeff H, I think the PIAA has the power to do what it wants with state playoffs, it just chooses not to exercise it. Sometimes the king needs to drop the hammer to get the little fiefdoms in line. In D1, you’ve only got four schools in the bottom three classifications (A-AAA) and ,as you say, a third of the 6A schools. It makes no sense to have everyone else wait for D1 to crown a champion. Move some of the 6A playoff qualifiers to other districts and have the small schools find leagues that fit their classification. Yes, that means some very long bus trips in league play, but in a lot of places, that’s the norm.
As far as the WPIAL not wanting to participate in states if it means giving up their current district playoffs. So what? When I was in HS (big pads, not leather helmet days) we had no state playoffs for football and two of the largest “sections” as we called them on my state, chose not to participate in the “state” tournament in basketball. It worked out fine for everyone and eventually the two sections that didn’t participate in basketball joined up and made it a true state tourney and they’ve got a true state football tournament now. Eventually, everyone sees the light.
November 12th, 2021 at 1:45 pm
Buddy, don’t know if you’re from SE PA, but the SOL is actually three different conferences. The “National” is, as you say all 6A… the heavy hitters like North Penn. The “Colonial” is a mix of 5 and 6A. The “American” is a hot mess. It’s a mix of 3A (possibly dropping to 2A), running up to big 5A (Cheltenham was a few points/seconds from the 5A title a few years ago), to weak 6A programs. The 3A program didn’t score a meaningful point in league play this year. What I’ve seen done in other states is adjusting a team up or down a classification (no more) to make the league work geographically. The next option is some long road trips (probably “and”) but I personally think that’s preferable to mismatches in league and six weeks of playoffs where the first two are meaningless blowouts in many districts and classes. Going from six to five classes and increasing the time between reclassifications would probably add a little stability. As you can tell, I’m not a fan of points systems except as tie breakers.
November 12th, 2021 at 11:32 am
Deciding between going to Academy Park/Unionville or PV/Coatesville
November 12th, 2021 at 7:53 am
Neumann in the playoff these are district playoffs they are playing a team that 0-6 and had to beat a team that was 1-9 to get their these are playoffs !!!!!!!!! and no one sees a problem here ???????
November 11th, 2021 at 8:32 pm
Let me clarify/update my last post. This mandate/restriction is only for games taking place on school district properties, such as the supersites. This won’t affect the SJP/LaSalle game at Franklin Field on Saturday.
November 11th, 2021 at 8:11 pm
I just saw a notice issued by the School District of Philadelphia issuing a mandate that for any high school football games going forward played within the city limits there is a 4 ticket limit for each player and person associated with the team. Basically you have to be on an authorized guest list to get into the game. If this was the reason the PIAA moved, or scheduled the Belmont Charter/Old Forge game to Old Forge, good for them (PIAA). I’ll get on the PIAA for a lot of things, but if they moved the game out of the city, kudos to them. I hope they have the ability to move every playoff game not involving 2 Public League teams out of the city. I believe this is more of a potential of violence issue than Covid, but who knows, maybe both, maybe something else.
November 11th, 2021 at 9:46 am
@ Jeff H
Wasn’t the WPIAL one of, if not the biggest, vocal opponents of the PIAA moving from 4 to 6 classes in football 6,7 years ago?? Did the PIAA make any concessions or promises to the WPIAL to get them on board, appease them, or otherwise make the transition smoother??
November 11th, 2021 at 8:22 am
When it comes to HS Football, their isn’t much equity in PA. You see the same schools competing for Championships every year due to a variety of reasons and it’s been this way for many years. It would be nice to see an annual doormat come out of nowhere and win a State Championship but I can’t remember any school in the PIAA doing that. I live in Berks County, you the see the same schools competing for District Championships every year-Wilson, Mifflin, Wyomissing, Berks Catholic, the rest of the schools, Forget it. Catholic League-Prep-LaSalle-Wood, NG Public League-Tep I would love to see Garnet Valley win 6A this year instead of the same teams we see every year in 6A. This could be the year in Berks with 5A Mifflin looking like a strong favorite and 3A Wyomissing looking to avenge last years loss in the State Championship game.
November 11th, 2021 at 7:47 am
Troll @ The dollar tree in tacony.
November 11th, 2021 at 7:41 am
@ Kevin x last year Steelton had too play at old forge of course last year was a crazy year and last year i was told lack of neutral sites because of Covid i don’t know if that plays a hand in this years ;locations may be no sites available ? taken by the Kipp DuBois Neumann-Goretti game wouldn’t want to interfere with that match up
November 11th, 2021 at 6:37 am
@kevin x
Your right it should be that was a last minute decision by the piaa it was suppose to be down in in the district 1 site but Bristol lost and from what I know belmont does not have a home field it would have been played in belmont but since it’s a district playoff and not a state playoff piaa said it was going to be played at old forge
November 11th, 2021 at 6:20 am
@Jeff:
I like the idea of reviewing teams every 2 years to adjust their classification. In the SOL league (largest in the state) they are all 6A teams.
However, the Del-Val league only has 2 or 3 are 6A schools, if you didn’t throw in some 5A schools, you won’t have a league. If you
wanna have leagues all the same class, teams would have to travel an un-godly amount of distance to play. BTW, a 5-week state playoff
could easily be done, it used to be that way.
November 10th, 2021 at 10:02 pm
No idea how this game got left off of this weekends list of must see games…….0-6 Kipp DuBois v. Neumann-Goretti. Included in Kipps 6 losses are 5 shutouts. They have scored all of 8 points this season. And this is actually being called a District Championship game. I hope all of you who have been preaching a “chance for an upset” make your way to South Philly Saturday afternoon to witness this instant classic.
November 10th, 2021 at 9:30 pm
@ WS
Since you brought up Old Forge, why are they hosting that game against Belmont Charter?? Shouldn’t the game be down in the Philly area or at least at a neutral site somewhere in between the two schools??
November 10th, 2021 at 9:09 pm
@Jc
Where did you get those scores? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
November 10th, 2021 at 8:40 pm
I can’t wait for basketball season and wrestling season. It will be so much fun to see how many new schools in Philly pop up and win and see how many private schools dominate with kids from everywhere in the world. I can’t wait to see how many kids becha and notre dame of green pond have been able to get and transfer this year. It’s so much better than 19 weeks of football. And the one week where there r blowouts. I’d rather watch Kennedy catholic beat Lourdes regional by 50 for a state title in class a and then move up to 6a the following year. Makes for competitive basketball and fun fun fun. Southern gets accused of recruiting from its next door neighbor mt. Carmel and shamokin but I’m basketball there bringing kids from Nigeria to play basketball and somehow that’s normal, lol. Yeah shorten football for basketball.
November 10th, 2021 at 8:10 pm
@ 4th and Forever – different classes in the same conference is the fault of the districts and the schools, not the PIAA. In the WPIAL only teams from the same class are in a conference, and every two year cycle the WPIAL moves teams around to adjust as needed, having teams from different classes in the same conference is a foreign concept in SW PA. Top 3 or 4 teams in each conference make the playoffs depending on the class, no point system involved except when head to head can’t break a tie for a playoff spot, out of conference games don’t matter for conference standings although they can factor into playoff seeding, so we get a lot of very competitive nonconference games out West.
One issue with PA compared to other states is the districts have been conducting playoffs for decades, the WPIAL playoffs go back almost 100 years, and some districts even further, while the state playoffs are relatively new starting in 1988. Another issue is there is a wide disparity in size among the districts in PA, it makes it tough to put together state playoff brackets when a district like D1 has more than one-third of the teams in 6A, while other districts have a handful of teams in a given class, and in some cases no teams in a class.
I’m flat out telling you the WPIAL places a lot more emphasis on their district playoffs than the state playoffs, and they are never going to agree to a 2 game district postseason like you suggest, if the PIAA tried to do that the WPIAL would threaten to not participate in the state playoffs, if that happens you don’t really have a state playoff if the largest and most successful district boycotts. If you think that would never happen you don’t know the attitude of the powers that be in this part of the state, which is a big reason why we’re not likely to see a shorter than 6 week postseason anytime soon, and certainly not 4 weeks, I can’t foresee the football playoffs ever being less than 5 weeks.
November 10th, 2021 at 6:21 pm
Why not shorten the basketball season and wrestling season and stop allowing student athletes in both sports to play in summer basketball leagues and aaus in basketball and stop wrestlers from wrestling in off season tournaments.
November 10th, 2021 at 5:50 pm
@Eman:
I don’t really see any barn burners this weekend, except SJP/LaSalle. On paper anyway.
@4th:
I agree almost entirely. Post season should be 4 weeks. If one makes the state final, that’s their 6th post season game.
I think it’s ok mixing classes ( i.e. 6A playing 5A). How many 6A teams would beat Govenor Mifflin?
Shouldn’t be allowed more then one class up or down ( i.e. 3A shouldn’t play 5A). I think our point system
is pretty equitable. How else would you do it? Leave it up to seeding committe’s opinion? Allows for too much bias.
November 10th, 2021 at 5:29 pm
My D11 picks for this weekend…
Tri Valley 28- Williams Valley 7
Northern Lehigh 34- Palmerton 20 (will be closer than NL blowout win in week 10…it’s a rivalry after all but NL is better team).
NS 42 -Jim Thorpe 13
NW 31 – ACC 23 (might be best team NW has ever had….).
ESS 21 – Whitehall 14
Parkland 17- Emmaus 14
Freedom 34 – Northampton 27.
And a bonus LaSalle – SJPrep score…..Prep gets revenge 17-13.
November 10th, 2021 at 1:08 pm
Tri valley 26 Williams valley 12
N. Lehigh 41 Palmerton 35
N. Schuylkill 33 Jim Thorpe 20
Acc 27 nw Lehigh 23
Es south 21 Whitehall 20
Parkland 17 Emmaus 7
Freedom 24 Northampton 14
Canton 28 muncy 21
Southern Columbia 47 south Williamsport 7
Mt. Carmel 36 Troy 19
Danville 20 loyalsock 17
Montoursville 44 Milton 13
Jersey shore 17 selingsgrove 13
Steel high 58 delone catholic 18
York catholic 36 upper dauphin 27
Wyomissing 48 Middletown 6
Boiling springs 26 Hamburg 14
Bishop mcdevitt 56 northern York 0
Berks catholic 34 cocalico 20
Lampeter strasburg 37 big spring 33
Kennard dale 16 donegal 14
Govenor mifflin 48 Warwick 13
Spring grove 26 Waynesboro 22
Mannheim central 34 Exeter 31
Cedar cliff 21 shippensburg 20
Central York 31 Wilson 21
Hempfield 20 harrisburg 14
November 10th, 2021 at 12:51 pm
I tend to agree with Mike from Tacony. I’ve lived in five different states and have to say PA is far and away the most disorganized of them all. Teams from as many as four different classes in the same league and a lack of coordination between the PIAA and districts are the root causes. In a state the size of PA, the time from league play ending until the state champions are crowned shouldn’t be more than four weeks. Match teams of the same class in leagues and the league champion automatically makes the playoffs… period. No complaining about who had a stronger schedule because everyone plays the same teams in league, including head to head. Want to make the playoffs? Take care of business in season! There’s also no penalty for playing tougher opponents in non-league play, which would make for better inter league match ups. A points system should only come into play for figuring at large bids from among the second place teams from across the state.
As to the comments about the length of the season not mattering, I heartily disagree. As we all know, football is a not a contact sport, it’s a collision sport and the season tends to be a war of attrition, which is particularly hard on smaller schools. No sport deals with anything close to the percentage of season ending injuries. Also, I think it does matter that wrestling and basketball coaches don’t get all of their kids until football season is over. Football coaches pretty much own their kids from the end of the school year until November, including the three weeks of practice before school or the season even begin.
November 10th, 2021 at 12:41 pm
Yes all of those are good games but I think old forge vs belmont charter is gonna be good as well belmonts only loss this year is from steelton high old forge has not loss a game this season again they are the number one seed in class a
November 10th, 2021 at 12:34 pm
Alot of great games ur right but old forge vs belmont charter should be good as well look into it the only team belmont lost to was steelton high
November 10th, 2021 at 11:39 am
Some good games on tap this weekend!
SJP @ Lasalle
Perk Valley @ Cville
Ridley @ NP
Qtown @ DEast
WWL @ Central York
Exeter @ MC
Emmaus @ Parkland
Lakeland @ Wyoming Area
Middletown @ Wyomissing
November 10th, 2021 at 10:53 am
A lot of heat (or hot air) on this board lately. I guess many are in playoff form.
November 10th, 2021 at 9:14 am
I do not understand why on this page the small school in old forge which in mind is ranked number one both on this site and penn live in class A is never mentioned or recognized these kids and coaches play their heart out year after year no matter if they win or lose they always play hard it’s always phillyvteams or larger schools mentioned I feel these kids need some regonition for a job well done so far this season and even last year’s season which if no one knows came ohh so close to going to the state finals if not losing to steelton high by not much and from what I know steelton high is also a powerhouse team so please take a look at this small town schoolteacher deserve it thank you
November 9th, 2021 at 11:18 pm
@ Mike In Tacony – so what’s your solution to cut down on the number of playoff teams that all the large districts would agree to? If you think the WPIAL is going to go along with only 3 weeks for district playoffs in classes 1-5 you don’t understand how the system works, and the emphasis placed on the district playoffs in this part of the state. There are very few schools in each class that have a realistic chance to win a state title each year, a handful at most, there are a lot more teams that have a chance to win a district title so the emphasis is on the district playoffs for the vast majority of schools in this state. What’s the issue with having 12 teams instead of 8 make the district playoffs, which gives the top 4 seeds byes, isn’t it better for those top teams that have a chance to win a district and perhaps compete for a state title to have a week off after playing for 10 straight weeks.
Do you really think it’s going to make a big difference to shorten the season by 1 week, which is the most you can do, otherwise you eviscerate the district playoffs. I’m actually not opposed to shortening the season, but I would reduce the regular season by 1 game instead of shortening the postseason, it wasn’t all that long ago that we had a 9 week regular season in this state until a week 0 game was added. There have been quite a few low seeded teams who went on magical playoff runs in the WPIAL over the years that would not have occurred if your limited playoff format was in effect for districts, I could start to list some of them, but it would take way too long, probably as long as it would take you to list all the mercy rule playoff games last weekend.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:03 pm
I am all for letting players play the game. At what point will it injure players on both sides? Why not let teams schedule post ten game contingency weeks and possibly expand eastern conference for teams that can’t simply compete with the upper echelon of teams? Not every town and program is created equally but if a team wants to lose 55-0 by all means.
November 9th, 2021 at 9:00 pm
@ Mike in Tacony,
I’m sure I’m not the only one who hopes you don’t leave. A diversity of opinions is a good thing.
I have no strong opinions on whether fewer teams should be in the playoffs, but it is certainly my impression that the number and percentage of mismatches have been increasing in recent years. I’m not sure because final scores sometimes are misleading, e.g. last year’s SJP-Souderton state semifinal. I expect quite a number of schools will give up football in the next 5-10 years since rosters are generally shrinking and there are bigger gaps between schools that have real football “programs” and schools (including some relatively large ones) that have a difficult time fielding a team.
Your idea of matching schools that had poor or mediocre seasons for Thanksgiving games doesn’t seem all that feasible to me. For one, they’d have to be quite close geographically. No one wants to travel 20 miles on Thanksgiving morning to play a team that’s not a natural rival. I really miss the old Thanksgiving games, but they worked as traditions: the same schools playing each other year after year.
November 9th, 2021 at 8:10 pm
Mike from Tijuana your a legend in your own mind. I feel as if you hi five yourself a lot. I’m more than likely younger than you by the way and I think you won every argument on here as well. Your my hero. Hi five!!!!!
November 9th, 2021 at 3:40 pm
Ah, this is fun.
Eman, I never said I was the all-knowing anything. I was asked how I know what kids are thinking and I said I have kids in high school and talk to them and their friends, and I stated that “many” aren’t excited to get mercy-ruled. Because they aren’t. Others made absolute statements such as yours that “all of the NL kids were pumped”. No, they weren’t “all” pumped. And to pre-empt you, no, the fact that you attended the game (BTW, I hope to god you have a kid on the team or lost some sort of wager to have attended) doesn’t give you some unique insight into everyone’s thoughts. As far as the super witty retorts about me “playing badminton” and not playing sports in my youth, you guys are imbeciles if you think that (now that’s an insult, but in this case, it’s also objectively true). Yes, I frequent a high school football forum because I didn’t play sports in my youth. Well done. I actually played four sports in high school and two D1, and based on the discourse I can assure you that not only did I not peak at age 17, as did many in this forum, apparently, but I also took the “scholar” component of my scholar-athlete designation a lot more seriously.
Jac, I’m in no way upset and was not insulting anyone (until now, since you guys so kindly set me up for such easy dunks). I happen to enjoy trashing folks so I’m quite the opposite of upset! Second, it’s not an insult to make factual statements such as someone’s grammar sucks and someone’s reading comprehension is lacking. Speaking of… regarding why we should ask teachers: because education should be the priority of secondary school, not sports, you loser (again, that’s an insult). Regarding an extra week of practice: once again, reading comprehension. I said teams with non-winning records should schedule a Thanksgiving Day game (or whenever) against an equally matched opponent. That would shorten the season from 19 weeks to 18 weeks since they could get rid of the 6th playoff week; that would eliminate many of these mercy rule outcomes; that would get developing teams an extra week of practice; that would reduce injuries; and, that would give said teams a winnable final game for their seniors. Win-Win-Win-Win-Win. Finally, regarding speaking for every high school athlete, and for the third and final time: reading comprehension. I said that’s the opinion of many. Words have meaning. Learn them.
JC, spare me your 1950s view of football, that adults shouldn’t care about children getting injured. You’re just another benighted Al Bundy, living in the past and taking high school football far too seriously (again, those are insults). Regarding the Eastern Conference playoffs, I’m well aware of what they are and you’re arguing with a straw man. There aren’t 10-0 vs. 4-6 games in the EC playoffs because the 10-0 teams are in districts. The EC system inherently delivers far more even matchups than districts because it pulls from a smaller pool of teams. That’s just how statistics work and the historic game results bear out the fact that the EC is more competitively balanced. You finished this exchange something like 0-for-8. Something tells me you are accustomed to that sort of result.
Now, since you guys metaphorically just decided to lie there, convulsing, instead of putting up any sort of an intellectual fight that would challenge me, I’m out. XOXO
November 9th, 2021 at 1:26 pm
@football
Rain is supposed to end well before KO. late morning/early afternoon.
let’s hope the sooth-sayers are right.
November 9th, 2021 at 1:10 pm
I tell you right now, North Penn better bring their “A” game against Ridley this Friday night. I believe Ridley’s only loss was to Garnet Valley, the #1 seed — and they were even until the second half when GV pulled away. Watched a little bit of Ridley’s game against Conestoga the other night, they’re dangerous, yo. They got a RB by the name of Tahir Mills who rushed for 357 yards against ‘stoga. Not to be hyperbolic but it looked like a young Bo Jackson out there. I’m sure Coach Beck will game plan accordingly. Unlike against St. Joe’s Prep or LaSalle, might be able to focus on a particular player and get away with it. Does Ridley have enough secondary options, we’ll see.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:16 am
Eastern conference playoffs is about allowing teams who don’t make the district playoffs to play for a championship and get as many as two extra games in. It does not factor in whether teams r evenly matched. It’s simply a rating system that takes the highest seed from those teams who didn’t make the district playoffs. Why would you make statements on everything even though you have no knowledge of it. Ec uses much the same system with which your so much against only with fewer teams making ec playoffs. You really can’t condemn the way districts r played but yet say ec does things differently. Lol you never played any sports did you?
November 9th, 2021 at 10:52 am
Rain is in the forecast for Friday in the Philly Area. Definitely going to change some gameplans
November 9th, 2021 at 10:39 am
I thoroughly enjoyed going from football to basketball to track and field when I was in high school. If I didn’t I would have quit. Crying about 19 weeks of football when the basketball season is longer and more drawn out then football. Just because you hit and get hit in football doesn’t mean it takes more of a toll then basketball. Football is 1 game a week!!!!! Most schools only play 10 to 12 games. The rest is just practice. Basketball is more than double the games and the travel and frequency of games far outweighs anything football does in the time and travel involved. Non league games, tournaments, league games, league playoffs, districts, states is long and time consuming. No days off in basketball. So if your fake basketball friend coaches complain about the length of the football season maybe they should look in the mirror.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:26 am
You people r insane. Why don’t we just poll the hs sports journalists at the beginning of the season and see who they think r the top two teams in each classification and they play on turkey day for the state title. We don’t want anyone getting hurt. All the other teams can play two hand touch games with a 7 point mercy rule so no one sprains a wrist, lol!!!!!!! What if someone gets hurt? Then they get hurt!!!! As much as it sucks then it wasn’t meant to be!!!!!! North schuylkill lost there quarterback to a spinal injury two years ago in the last game of the season. Took away a chance to win a state title. Took away a chance to even win a district title. Was that ok for them to play that game or should they have forfeited that game so there players don’t get hurt??? Go to a different sport if you can’t handle watching a hs football game.
November 9th, 2021 at 9:33 am
@Mike in Tacony let me see if I can respond to you in a manner that is not condescending… since you seem to be getting upset and insulting others while complaining about it as well. It take a special arrogance to do that.
1. You would ask Basketball Coaches? We of course should ask them because they don’t get kids practicing basketball all year long. So let’s end football season to placate the basketball people even more.
2. We should ask teachers? What say should a science teacher have in the length of a sports season? Why don’t we ask teacher about basically every sport in every season about early dismissal? Cross country and tennis played state tournaments in the middle of a school day.
3. The majority of schools are done playing football well before winter sports season starts. Only a handful of schools will play 18 weeks of football. Why does basketball season last 5 months and then they play 3 more months in the summer?
4. Football is completely different than any other sport. Playing an extra game gets you an extra week of practice, an extra week of practice is enormous for a young football team. Winter sports start November 19th, why is it a problem if football played an extra game a full 2 weeks before Bball starts?
5. Lastly the HS kids you talk to speak for every high school athlete? Nobody can think differently? It sounds like you have an anti football agenda.
November 9th, 2021 at 9:14 am
@ Mike in Tacony
Who made you the all knowing, sooth sayer for the mindset of all HS football players/athletes? Of course kids want to play in the post season, no matter what their survival chances might be! As someone who played three sports from 8-18 this is what you play for! Having fun, building relationships and goal setting is what sports is all about…and of course winning is a big part of it as well. But here are the goals as far as the competition part goes, especially in HS and above.
1) Win your league
2) MAKE THE POST SEASON
3) Win the championship
I was at the NL/Wyo game last week. All of NL players were pumped, excited and thrilled to be playing in the post season…yes even if they lost 65-3…they made it to the playoffs and others didn’t. Take the positive stuff about this game and stop the da#n negative. These are 16 yo kids who are having fun…unlike you. I’m not a “leather helmeted, gray beard” either….I’m guessing you didn’t play much sports in your youth.
P.S. Hamburg won their “first” post season football last week,in program history…they probably won’t go much further, but they were jumping for joy for a week and now they can say they were the “first”….It’s an exhilarating experience, believe me!!
November 9th, 2021 at 8:54 am
does any one stop and think of the health of the players IN these playoff games these 3-7 teams who were all ready beaten bad by the top seeds it really worth risking the health of a player in a game that going be one sided .plus if you the top seed your Qb sprains an ankle and bam you state run is done, no the season should be shortened these first round games are a joke and a liability
November 9th, 2021 at 8:34 am
Thank you and your children for their, there, they’re service. I didn’t realize you were doing a case study on the attitudes of hs football players with losing records playing in district playoffs in pa. Your kids must be very popular and athletic to be able to survey and speak to other student athletes throughout pa. To make yourself so knowledgeable. Take everything back. And you asked about the mercy rule and how I felt. It doesn’t matter how I feel. That’s how the rules go, the coaches and players deal with that, the fans and followers can feel however they want, it doesn’t matter. The rules r set in place and they play by those rules, whether I like it or you like it does not matter. I don’t take anything away from any hs athlete or coach who want to play the game, it’s there, their, they’re game now and I’m only a fan and follower and you and your kids r only sports psychologists and analytics experts and it’s not your game either.
November 9th, 2021 at 8:24 am
Jeff, for clarity, I have no problem telling New Brighton they don’t belong in the playoffs. You shouldn’t, either. They won 4 regular season games, and one playoff upset doesn’t change that fact.
To extend your position to its natural conclusion, maybe we should go in the opposite direction: eliminate week 10 of the regular season to add a 7th playoff week so that every team can make the playoffs? I mean, if you think it’s exciting when a 4-6 team upsets a program that actually played well for a full season, imagine how exciting it would be for an 0-9 team to beat a #1 seed!
Your position makes the regular season less relevant. No thanks. As for the large districts, the field in district 3 used to be 16 teams (4 teams in 4 classes) for many years. These programs would probably survive if the current field of 46 teams in district 3 was trimmed all the way down to *only* 28 teams.
Finally, I would counter your list of WPIAL upsets with a list of mercy rule games, statewide… unfortunately, the forum character limit precludes me from typing out all 73 mercy rule “playoff” results from last weekend.
November 8th, 2021 at 10:16 pm
As someone with kids in high school who actually talks to kids in high school on a daily basis, yes, I do know what many are thinking, and most are not thinking “hey, it sure would be fun to play one more road game in November where we lose 65-3”.
Some of you out yourselves as leather helmet era alums with these hilariously anachronistic takes such as “kids just want to play a game!” and “it will be a valuable learning experience”… to get demolished. You’re probably the same grey beards who opposed the institution of the mercy rule because losing by 90 somehow delivered more of a life lesson than losing by 50.
As for what coaches want, I could honestly care less. If it were up to coaches, kids would be in two-a-days starting in June. I’d rather ask what basketball coaches, teachers, and parents think of the absurd, 19-week high school football season in Pennsylvania (and trust me, I have, and many do think it’s absurd). The biggest proponents of the current, bloated system are the big district, big schools that want the extra ticket revenues and the Al Bundys who take high school football far too seriously.
P.S. It’s “you’re” not “your”, genius. And the EC was about evenly matched teams getting more work, not playing one more mercy rule game for funsies. Again, every one of your points is inane. Let me know when the varsity gets here. Dunking on the JV bores me.
November 8th, 2021 at 8:49 pm
Mike in Tuscany you must have played badminton in high school. Many coal region schools use ec playoffs and these district playoffs as a way to get the players ready for next year and to see what playoff football is like. What could be a 50 point loss this year can help there young players next year. The experience northern Lebanon’s underclassmen gained by playing against the best in wyomissing can’t be matched in any other way. No team on there, their, they’re schedule next year will be as tough and as good as this school. Mike in Tucson you clearly know nothing about football and being competitive and learning from taking lumps how to give them. Tamaqua defeated north schuylkill 2 years ago in the district finals 20-0 with this years starting Qb forced into action because of an injury. Less than 2 years later north schuylkill beats tamaqua 55-7 with that same qb. You learn more from losing than winning. Go away and watch synchronized swimming with your uncles husband.
November 8th, 2021 at 8:37 pm
@ Scott Hagy & Foleman – I agree with both of you CY is on upset alert this week against Wilson, and if the weather forecast is accurate that plays to Wilson’s advantage, I think this will be a 1 score game that could go either way.
In the larger classifications in the WPIAL the team on upset alert this week is Pine Richland, they play a very dangerous Peters Township squad that was under seeded by the WPIAL and no doubt would love to knock off the defending champs and team that whooped them in the WPIAL title game last year, in 6A I would be shocked if either Mt Lebo or PCC lost.
November 8th, 2021 at 8:22 pm
@Blakely Bear – I would argue its the districts that want more teams in their playoffs and the PIAA goes along with the will of the bigger districts like 1, 3 and 7. The easiest way to shorten the season would be to eliminate 1 week of district playoffs, which would mean the larger districts could allow a max of 8 teams making their district playoffs in any classification. I know for a fact the WPIAL would protest, and I assume D1 and probably D3 would not be in favor of that either, does anyone think the majority of coaches and AD’s in D1 would be OK with only 8 teams in their 6A and 5A brackets?
I agree with your point about most coaches being in favor of 1 extra week of practice and the chance to take on a better program in a playoff game to get your kids some more experience. I also share your concern about regular season rematches, especially in the first round, that’s why adding a committee to seed the playoff teams could help alleviate that issue, what’s wrong with moving a team up or down 1 seed in the point standings to avoid first round rematches which is what the WPIAL does. Across all 6 classifications there was only 1 regular season rematch among the 29 first round games last week. The WPIAL doesn’t always get the seeds right and every year there are a couple of coaches who are pissed off (Pat Carey from North Hills in 5A this year is a good example), but I think it’s a better system to add a human element to seed teams for the playoffs than merely relying on points and it certainly helps make for better matchups and games.
November 8th, 2021 at 8:29 pm
Thank you!
November 8th, 2021 at 7:55 pm
@ David M.
2p Saturday
November 8th, 2021 at 7:43 pm
Thank you, Kevin!
November 8th, 2021 at 6:52 pm
The Prep v. Hail LaSalle 2.0 at Franklin Field, again, Saturday.
November 8th, 2021 at 6:49 pm
The marquis match this weekend is no doubt SJP/LaSalle. Most other match-ups are merely window dressing.
The flowing week ( round 3 ) is where the rubber meets the road. Having said that, I’m hoping the Perk Valley/C’ville turns
out to be interesting. It very well could be. D-Town east vs Q-town to a much lesser extent. If NP star RB can’t
play this weekend, the Ridley/NP tilt could be interesting. But if he does, should be lights out. It gets fun real soon.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:21 pm
@ CoalRgnFtballFan – I didn’t say Farrell beating Wilmington 54-0 was a signature win, I just said I think this year’s Farrell team is a lot better than last years Wilmington team. Farrell is not going to have a signature win until and if they beat the WPIAL winner in the semi-finals because of who they will play the next 3 weeks.
Regarding all the discussion on the number of teams that make the playoffs, I would point out there were a number of upsets in the WPIAL by lower seeded teams that would not have made the playoffs if districts were restricted in the number of teams that qualify. In 2A #13 seed New Brighton upset #4 Washington 21-20 in OT, Washington was undefeated this year and had not lost a home game sine 2013 with 42 home wins in a row. In the 2018 playoffs Washington beat New Brighton 54-20, some of this years seniors played as freshman in that game, including 4 yr starter Alex Mittner who made the game saving tackle on the 2 point conversion attempt in OT when Wash High went for the win instead of trying the PAT to force a 2nd OT.
In 5A the #9 (Woodland Hills), #10 (Fox Chapel), and #11 (Peters Township) all won on the road against higher seeded opponents, it was Fox Chapel’s first playoff win since 1997 and their starting QB was hurt in the regular season final blowout loss to Pine Richland and didn’t play against Upper St Clair, so virtually no one, myself included, gave them much of a chance against USC. Laurel Highlands was a #10 seed in 4A and upset Beaver for their fist playoff win in school history after being 0-10 in the playoffs, the school was formed in 1966.
There were 29 WPIAL playoff games last weekend and the road teams won 11 games, that is an anomaly compared to prior years. but the point is a number of lower seeded teams won that would not have made the playoffs if only 8 teams made it in each classification. I get it that some think too many teams qualify for the district playoffs and sometimes I feel the same way, but these upsets are part of what make high school football so exciting this time of year, and don’t tell the double digit seeded teams that won they didn’t deserve to make the playoffs.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:59 pm
Questions for people on this site who think they know what high school kids are thinking. How do you know what the athletic culture is within a given school? Have you actually talked to coaches or players recently? Do you know the dynamic between coaches and players when they discuss whether they want to play a game or not. You can gripe all you want about the PIAA allowing too many teams in districts, and my concern is regular season rematches in playoffs, but most coaches will tell you there is value in one more week of practice, and also in their kids seeing what better programs do, so they can aspire to be the same.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:53 pm
And tamaqua forfeited because of an investigation regarding numerous members of the football team which is an ongoing investigation. But hey your pretty smart, they forfeited because they were 3-7, lol. It’s the coal region. Tamaqua plays north schuylkill every year. Sometimes twice a year. They surely were going to get beat and beat bad, but they would not be the least bit intimidated.
November 8th, 2021 at 1:54 pm
Scott G. Hagy, it looks like it’s going to be raining on Friday night which helps Wilson a lot more than Central York. Exeter didn’t have a problem running the ball against CY and I don’t think Wilson will have a problem either.
November 8th, 2021 at 11:58 am
@Jc…Amen!
Instead of blaming the kids for “playing”..how about let’s start blaming the coaches or give the coaches the credit as well….Besides, in D3, playoff seedings are based off of “strength of schedule”. If you’re in, you’re are in! There always will be a #1 seed playing the lowest seed in the first round…it is what it is. Northern Lebanon got in because the “power rating” said they should be in. I’m sure their kids were ecstatic to play. That why they busted their humps all summer and all season, for just that moment…..but here’s part of the problem.
Wyomissing was down to their JV’s by the 3rd Q, but NL had their starters in till the end just to kick a fg in the 4th, to make 65-3. Your program will never get better, if you don’t let the reserves play. When Wilson WL played MLK this year they were up 50-0, the coach for MLK kept the starters in all the way till the end to try and score against the JV’s. That mindset is a recipe for failure. I see it all of the time in HS football.
The reason Wyomissing, Wilson, Southern Columbia, North Penn, Parkland, Coatesville, North Allegheny and more are good “every” year…no just once in awhile, is because it’s tradition at these schools for 35-40 years, great coaches who teach the fundamentals from the time the kids are in mites. At Wilson, when the mercy rule is in affect, the starters are pulled “always.” Then the second team and JV’s take over, that’s how you get better, year in and year out. Coaching!!! Plus, you have to schedule tough non league games to get battled tested for playoffs.
There will always be leagues that are stronger than others, but coaches can schedule tougher non-league opponents, if they want. Wilson’s non league schedule this year included Governor Mifflin, Central Dauphin, Exeter and Manheim Central…plus they scrimmage Coatesville or Parkland every year before the season even starts. This is why WWL has two pretty amazing PIAA records. 45 “winning” seasons in a row, just broke Ridley’s record and 57 non losing seasons in a row(they had a couple of 5-5 records mixed in there).
Sorry this really wasn’t about Wilson West Lawn..I was just trying to make a point. Spare the “kids suck and are wasting everyone’s time” speech…it’s BS
November 8th, 2021 at 9:09 am
“This is the problem with social media. It gives everyone a voice, even the stupids”
No argument from me!!!!
November 8th, 2021 at 8:40 am
Wow, what an annual Participation Weekend it was!!! Those incredible upsets (at least in the east) will have people talking for a long time to come. Oh, wait, there was only one upset in the east this past weekend, West Catholic beating CEC?? Huh, my bad. In fact, 18 games in District One 4A, 5A and 6A, only one game had a lower seed winning. #9 Kennet over #8 Chester by 3 points. Shocking!!! Guess that doesn’t qualify as an upset for the ages, does it??
Now that the participation trophies have been presented, we can get serious with some real worthwhile competitive games. At least, let’s hope so.
November 8th, 2021 at 8:33 am
I mean, it appears that at least one person cares quite a bit about what we think since he gets so laughably triggered by each post.
Beyond that, imagine conflating 16-year-olds on a team doing something because they were told to do something with kids actually wanting to do it, or maintaining that functional adults shouldn’t contemplate and discuss whether the structures we’ve set up for our children are healthy for their development.
P.S. your barbs about “idiots” and “stupids” would be slightly less impotent if they didn’t precede repeated misuses of there, their, and they’re, among other embarrassing grammatical errors.
November 8th, 2021 at 1:12 am
I think Wilson has a decent chance to “upset” Central York this Friday. CY has been dominant, but their opposition has been less than stellar; they play in a weak League. Early in the season they played Exeter and were fortunate to barely beat them. Wilson did lose to Exeter, but they were an injury riddled team at that point. It’s a different situation with Wilson and they’ll be a tough out for any 6A team. Should be interesting!
November 7th, 2021 at 9:50 pm
This is the problem with social media. It gives everyone a voice, even the stupids. When teams were cancelling games for covid, you people had a problem, when someone wins big, there running the score up, if you win to many state titles you shouldn’t be playing in that classification, and now when you qualify for district playoffs and show up and play hard and lose big to a better team you shouldn’t be playing against that team. Here is what I know about 99.9% of your gripes on here!!!! It doesn’t matter what you think!!!!!!!!!!! Who cares!!!!!! Let these hs kids play the game, it’s not about you, it’s about them. Northern Lebanon showed up and played the game, who cares what you think. Who cares. Quit following it. It doesn’t matter what you think
November 7th, 2021 at 9:42 pm
Don’t follow hs football then. If they wasted your time stop following it. These r high school kids many playing in there last game. They wanted to play the game. Who cares if you have a problem with it. Your opinion doesn’t matter. The people who wanted to play showed up and played. Go eat a TV dinner in your grams basement and start watching pickle ball
November 7th, 2021 at 5:53 pm
Because a 7-2, #2 seed playing a 6-4, #3 seed is basically the same thing as a 10-0, #1 seed playing a 4-6, #8 seed… I guess that’s why the former ended 26-18 while the latter was 58-0 at halftime.
How someone can unironically call others idiots while going a full year making one awful point after another is beyond me. Non-winning teams should do what Tamaqua just did and forfeit their “playoff” games instead of wasting everyone’s time.
November 7th, 2021 at 5:02 pm
To all who are calling Wyomissing, “the big bad bully”….all starters were out by middle of the 2nd Q…sorry, you can’t tell the second string and JV’s to stop playing. It was 38-0 after the 1st Q, what were they supposed to do?
November 7th, 2021 at 3:40 pm
@jc
You’re wrong. “The more teams in the playoffs the better” is none-sense. There are too many now. Teams with a losing record, I mean well below .500,
shouldn’t be in playoffs. You are doing them no favors. The very worse teams play the very best teams when playoffs start. Think that
helps them? They have virtually no chance for an upset. Some day these losing teams, I assume, will have winning records. Then they play..
I’ll bet half the players on CB South and Haverford didn’t really wanna play last Friday. BTW, all us idiots here think you’re a moron.
November 7th, 2021 at 1:34 pm
jim Thorpe was 6-4 and had already lost by 28 to notre dame of green pond. Nd’s qb threw for over 500 yds in the 1st game. Jim Thorpe won 26-18 last night. If you listen to Kevin L you shouldn’t give anyone a chance at an upset. Only the best of the best make the playoffs. This is high school sports you let kids and teams play and give them the chance to play the best. Somehow people have this view now that wyomissing is this big bad bully. They t a great team. That’s all. They still need to play teams and win. Nothing will be given to them
November 7th, 2021 at 1:29 pm
just in wyomissing will only play for state titles anymore. One game in December. Congrats for being unbeatable. Shame on northern Lebanon for playing in a game they had every right to play in. Kevin L stop watching high school football and start playing tecmo bowl
November 7th, 2021 at 1:26 pm
So let me get this straight. You people bitch when teams were forfeiting for covid but now your bitching that a team didn’t care and played the best even though they knew they were outmatched. A participation trophy? They showed up and played the best. The more teams in the playoffs the better. The kids r in high school to play sports. There is no participation trophy, they lost, there season is over, they were blown out. Get over it. And don’t start with the inferior team and had no right to be on the field with them. If wyomissing became this super power that I didn’t hear about sorry. Maybe with your request they can just have a bye to the eastern semifinals. God I hate the idiots on here
November 7th, 2021 at 9:24 am
@ Mike in Tacony
Yes, but at least Northern Lebanon will get their shiny participation trophy with that gaudy 4-7 record forever etched prominently and proudly on said trophy. Any idea when the ceremony will take place?? Are they cancelling classes?? Open to the public?? Will it be live streamed for those who can’t attend or just want to watch it over and over again??
I’m guessing the PIAA got a killer good deal on participation trophies for this weekend’s games/teams, as I’m sure they purchased in bulk.
(Sorry, sarcasm is really rearing its ugly head this Sunday morning, must be the time change)
November 6th, 2021 at 4:52 pm
D3, 6A final four:
Central York/Wilson West Lawn
Harrisburg/Hempfield
Last three wins for WWL..rushing stats,
Hempfield 40/275..3 TD’s
Manheim Township 57/326..2 TD’S
York 41/332..5 TD’s
Their OL completely dominated all 3 games..
I think their only prayer for a win would be to control the clock, with no turnovers.
Hempfield has a solid D, but don’t think they can hang with HB, offensively…
We shall see!
November 6th, 2021 at 3:51 pm
Wyomissing dominates Northern Lebanon so completely that the former kicks off to start BOTH halves… Wyomissing wins 65-3 to advance. Northern Lebanon finishes 4-7 and sends its seniors off in style.
384 “playoff” slots, statewide. Catch the fever.
November 5th, 2021 at 5:57 pm
Anybody care to set the line for the over/under on the number of shutouts and mercy rule games there will be across the state tonight (a shutout mercy rule game only counts once)???
November 5th, 2021 at 4:27 pm
Well it’s about 4:30 and I’m still awake despite working all night, and I think it’s the excitement of playoffs keeping me up. I can literally hear the Coatesville stadium from my house. I think I’m gonna make it tonight to my first Cville game! I need to keep moving though because if I sit in my recliner I won’t get up for 12 hours.
Top 5 seeds win tonight, idk enough about the other teams. Will be interesting 4-5 matchup next week if East and Quakertown win. Gotta get there first. Go Raiders.
November 5th, 2021 at 2:30 pm
@ phillyboy
If you are purchasing a student ticket on-line to one of tonight’s playoff games in District 2, you are paying a 36% processing charge on said student ticket. Let that sink in.
November 5th, 2021 at 1:13 pm
@ Jeff H – I compared this years Farell team to last years Wilmington team because I don’t think any takeaway can occur from Farrell’s win THIS year vs Wilmington. Wilmington only returned their Center and 1 HB on offense and 2 LB’ers and a Corner on defense. Essentially every play maker and all their linemen graduated. That is a total rebuild, even for a proud program like Wilmington, that type of graduation loss (17 starters) is massive. Wilmington is not considered to be a contender this year for a state crown. They are a good program of well coached kids – but they graduated a ton from last years squad. To me, that win is not a signature win.
November 5th, 2021 at 8:22 am
I was going way back in the old Buxmont before Perk valley even existed ( believe it was Collegville/ Trappe).
But thanks for the corrections. I was serving from memory, which isn’t what it used to be.
November 5th, 2021 at 7:25 am
@ Kevin x why are they doing it we just gone 10 weeks taking money so you cant tell me now it a covid thing it makes no since.guess some one brother in law got the contract when you wondering about something follow the money i can see getting tickets on line as a convenience but not as mandate
November 5th, 2021 at 4:28 am
Buddy
Well you’re close the CB schools split in 1969, so the older Bux-Mont was CB West, CB East, Souderon, Quakertown, North Penn, Pennridge, Upper Perk, Hatboro Horsham, Wissahickon, Upper Moreland, with Springfield in earlier, as teams moved on Perk Valley was added. In the early years teams on the lower end were very strong. Such as Wissahickon, but as population moved North so did the strength of the teams..
Need to brush up on a league that was really strong with 10 teams that ended nearly 30 years ago, but whose footprint can still be seen
November 5th, 2021 at 3:43 am
@Buddy Hensler, Perk Valley wasn’t an original member of the Bux Mont, that’s before my time, but they were a part of that league for many years before leaving with Upper Perk.
November 5th, 2021 at 3:39 am
@Buddy Hensler, yes Perk Valley was most def a member of the Bux-Mont league along with Upper Perk for several years. They both left at the same time to join the Pac 10. This was one of the things that prompted the remaining members to join an expanded Surburban One league.
November 4th, 2021 at 8:36 pm
That’s right, Kevin X, the city of Philadelphia did implement a law stipulating that vendors and stores must accept cash a couple, few years ago. Will they accept cash at the games in Philly, be interesting to see. But what’s the rationale for paying online with a reservation anyway, is it for health reasons? Goodness, you talk about an overreaction, way too much for too little, unreasonable. And did somebody say there’s a service charge on top of it to add insult to injury? Smh, lol. Anyway, go North Penn. What time is it? ………Knight time!
November 4th, 2021 at 3:16 pm
article about tickets was in yesterday paper in the middle of an article about the playoff match up >Does any one think that these playoff a girting watered down i will use 4A in D2 four of the
teams have 3 wins and are in the playoff do we really need 8 teams a 4 team playoff with Berwick Dallas North Pocono and Valley View would be a good start and some interesting games
November 4th, 2021 at 3:06 pm
@ Mark D
No problem. Don’t know if sad is the right word, but that you found out about this from some anonymous random dude from the Greater Philly area and not locally up there………
Curious to see how this plays out up there this weekend (and anywhere else it is in effect). Maybe much to do about nothing, or maybe end up with a bunch of pissed off fans. I have no issue of doing on-line ticketing, if an individual wants to: good for if you know you are going to the game, you avoid waiting in line for a ticket, guarantees you admission if a game sells out the day of, maybe you just prefer conducting transactions online and using a CC. But why is it now a big deal after 100 years of paying United States legal currency in a very small amount for a high school football game that is now not acceptable??
You Philly guys can help me with this, but didn’t Philadelphia pass a law/ordinance 2 or 3 year ago forbidding businesses of not accepting cash, with a few exceptions?? If so, will be interesting how any PIAA playoff games taking place in the City of Philadelphia will deal with this. I doubt PIAA playoff games are one of the exceptions written into the law (if it exists).
November 4th, 2021 at 2:47 pm
Some of you guys seem to be annoyed with all of the re-matches taking place in the D1 6A bracket. Me too, you saved me a lot of typing 🙂
So I came up with my own D1 6A bracket, using a combination of the ranking system as a guide and then tweaked with a small dose of hopefully non biased open minded common sense human element. No re-matches (it does set up for some second round re-matches, but at some point your really can’t help it) and everyone who got a first round home game in the current bracket also gets one under my bracket (Haverford and DTE may not like it, but too bad, my bracket :))
#16 CB South @ #1 Garnet Valley
#9 Conestoga @ #8 CB West
#13 Downingtown West @ #4 Quakertown
#12 Spring -Ford @ #5 Downingtown East
#15 Owen J. Roberts @ #2 North Penn
#10 Pennridge @ #7 Ridley
#14 Souderton @ #3 Coatesville
#11 CB East @ #6 Perk Valley
November 4th, 2021 at 11:56 am
@CoalRgnFtballFan – hard to say if Farrell is that much better than last year’s Wilmington team, but they did beat them 54-0 this year in the regular season, so that leads me to believe this year’s Farrell team is significantly better than last year’s Wilmington team, they will likely play them again next week in the D10 playoffs. Both Steel Valley and Sto-Rox have a lot of athletic playmakers for a 2A school, so the WPIAL winner vs Farrell should be a tremendous game. I think the end of the winning streak to Wyomissing is an advantage for SC going into the playoffs, they no longer have the added pressure of trying to keep the streak alive and can now just compete for another state title.
November 4th, 2021 at 11:46 am
@ Mike S
Perk valley was never part of the old Buxmont. Upper Perk did enter in much later. And if you go back past ’72,
there was only one CB school ( CB east didn’t start til ’72). There wasn’t a 10 game schedule then. I believe there
was only eight teams in the old Buxmont . north penn, Q-town, Pennridge, souderton , CB, wissahickon ( then Ambler),
I believe Springfield ( montco) also, U perk later. might have forgotten one . No state playoffs then ( that didn’t start till “88)
Competition is the leaugue was very competative ( except for poor U. Perk). Lotsa school sprit back then.
November 4th, 2021 at 10:30 am
Will Stone State be live streaming the Southern/Line Mountain game this Saturday?
November 4th, 2021 at 10:19 am
Did anyone see the coastesville d-town East game? Still surprised by the final after East seemed to be playing well most of the season. Curious to what happened?
Predictions for round 1:
GV in a blowout
Pennridge in a tight game
D-town East in a close game
Q-town in a blow out
PV
Coatesville in a huge blowout
Ridley again
NP
November 4th, 2021 at 6:33 am
Irish1
Interesting you brought up the old Bux-Mont league, Perk Valley had a couple of good years, but that old league was a meat grinder, Pennridge, North Penn, CB West, CB West (There were only 2 CB teams back then), Souderton, Quakertown,. So pretty much playing a District qualifier type team. In a time when CB West & North Penn were state challengers. If they beat 3 of those teams a great year was7-3. Note, this year includes, North Penn, Quakertown, CB West, Pennridge, Souderton, CB East & CB South (the newest CB school) pretty much the old Bux-Mont league for District 1 title again this year
November 4th, 2021 at 5:49 am
I think people make the mistake of thinking just because a school has a large enrollment they should compete for titles every year. I think the more important thing is that some areas produce more good players then others do traditionally. Spring-ford has a large enrollment they get good, not great talent most years. When you compare it to Downingtown, Coatesville,North Penn even Garnet Valley, they dont get the talent those schools get. If enrollment meant every thing Upper Darby would be great every year. Alot of things have changed over the last several years. Populations growing or going down play a major role. The Norristown teams under Roger Grove of the late 70s,80’s,early 90s would bury the Pac 10 teams they lose to now. Upper Merion was a powerhouse too during those years. Perk Valley is a prime example of this. They were a Bux-Mont league doormat forever, several years ago. a typical roster back then had 30 players mostly all weighing in around 150lbs. The population blew up in the Collegeville area and now they have been a strong program for the last several years. PJP is a still young school, only eleven years old. They had to build their programs from scratch. Doing that in football, in particular is not easy. The whole athletic department has improved greatly there. They have outstanding coaches in football and basketball now who have done a great job building those programs.
November 3rd, 2021 at 5:20 pm
PJP can compete with them schools, all they really need to do is recruit the area. They number of kids are there, however I guess getting them to PJP is difficult not sure?
November 3rd, 2021 at 5:17 pm
There is posters that reply on here that help coach Owen J Roberts as well as PJP. He can give you more information about SF.
Owen J Roberts – over achieve for what they are – would compete in 5A
Spring-Ford should compete for D1 titles in football every year just based on the amount of students they have.
Perk Valley is having a hell of a year – might be there year but if not when will it be
Rest is Meh
November 3rd, 2021 at 3:15 pm
Totally stupid we have 6 rematches out of 8 games, statistically this is almost impossible and no unfortunately happens WAY TOO OFTEN, I think it’s a penalty to the SOL teams, might as well just take the top 6 seeds in the SOL and have a playoff, as essentially that’s what’s happening anyway. You need to give the kids an opportunity to define themselves outside of the SOL. We should be the 7 (out of 16 teams) SOL teams each playing someone out of their own conference, if they meet in the District Semis, or Finals fine, but it just BEYOND STUPID to be playing each other in the 1st round of the Districts, OH well, it’s just about the money anyway, so here we go AGAIN! Or like someone else suggested pick the top 8, which would still include, North Penn, Quakertown and CB West.
November 3rd, 2021 at 2:03 pm
@Jeff H – I do believe the state final will be competitive. I’m not implying that SCA will mercy rule the western rep. Another consideration, SCA beat Wilmington by 28 pts last year. Wilmington beat Farrell 3x last year. Let’s say years version of SCA is similar on Offense and Defense to last years team . Is Farrell 2021 28 points better than Wilmington 2020? Aside from York Catholic and my having seen MCA play, I’m unfamiliar with the rest of AA in the East. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
November 3rd, 2021 at 12:03 pm
4th and Forever:
Thanks! I should have been more specific, but you are right. We are comparing apples and oranges. SF has a 7th, 8th and a 9th grade FB team. 9th graders at SF do not play JV football, they play 9th grade football with their classmates. That team has a game this afternoon at Downingtown East. So we are both right.. There have been maybe 3-4 ninth graders that have moved up to play Varsity football in 11 years. So my numbers are right, and the overall school number, Mr. Foleman was correct on. At other schools, the 9th graders play JV or Varsity football. So apples to oranges.
I am not responding to anything else.. Good luck everyone!
It has been nice to see the improvement in a few FB programs in the PAC, particularly at PJP over the last 5-6 years. I wish them continued success!!
November 3rd, 2021 at 11:19 am
@CoalRgnFtballFan – you make some very good points about SC, and as 4 time defending champs they are the team to beat until proven otherwise. I do think whoever comes out of the west this year will give SC a big time battle in Hershey and that game could go either way, I anticipate a very competitive 2A final and not a mercy rule game like in recent years. It would be a bit ironic if Steel Valley comes through the west and plays SC again since they were the last team to beat them in Hershey in 2016.
@EmanD3 – York Catholic has a solid team but I can’t see them beating SC in the state playoffs, we’ll see.
November 3rd, 2021 at 9:24 am
TD Club, I did do the research, see 4th and forever’s post. I’m sure Coach Brubaker is a great guy, he’s just not that good a coach. I guess PJP should just move over to the Pac Big School division and play the Norristown’s, Methacton’s Boyertown and Owen J Roberts of the world. You are trying to cancel me because I stated something you didn’t agree with. I have been to several Spring Ford games and the stands were never filled with the exception of the PV games. Please name one large school in District one that does less with more than Spring-Ford in football.
November 3rd, 2021 at 8:00 am
thanks Kevin what do you mean we are the cutting edge of technology here in northeastern pa lol but seriously i read the paper and watch the local news if i don’t come to this site i would have known nothing about it ii sure their a lot of seniors who i know attend game who don’t unless they have a relative in school @Blakely Bear i agree with you on the attendance to many other things to do video games and phones other sports all haver helped taken away form attendance not like when Blakey played the whole town was their go to the Game them Andys for pizza those were the days
November 3rd, 2021 at 7:03 am
@ touchdown club, I will agree with you on this past Friday night the weather was horrible and probably cost Spring ford the game.The outcome probably would It hurt PJP alot because they needed to spread Perk V out and the rain and more so 40 mph winds made that impossible. Football is played in the elements but Friday night was off the charts. Not saying the outcome would have been different,Perk V has a good team, but playing a championship game in those conditions was just dumb. Push it back a day and game would have been more entertaining and competitive. Should give fans who paid to sit out in that their money back.
November 3rd, 2021 at 6:15 am
@ touchdown club, PJP didnt make the playoffs because its a lousy points system period. Schedules are made years in advance. Arch Caroll is ususally a solid program but was down this year. SCA out of the inter ac league didnt have a great record but played a tough schedule, they would whip several of the weaklings that Spring ford gets to play every year in the Pac Ten Liberty. A playoff system that has Chichester make it with a 5-3 record the same Chichester that just decided they werent going to play a rival school (Academy Park) and got away with it without a forfeit is screwed up. Spring Ford gets in after losing to Pottsgrove same Pottsgrove PJP beat 42-6. Another early exit for the Rams.
November 2nd, 2021 at 8:26 pm
TD Club, not to jump into the middle of someone else’s fight, but the classification numbers are 9th-11th, so only 3/4 of a school’s enrollment. Add another 300+ boys and Spring-Ford total enrollment of 2500 or so makes sense.
November 2nd, 2021 at 7:34 pm
Touchdown Club, how long do you see Coach Brubaker staying at SF? I know he mentioned being on the “back 9” in his career. Just curious how much longer you see him staying? Good luck this weekend!
November 2nd, 2021 at 5:27 pm
Agree with the comment too many teams make the playoffs. D1 sends 16 teams. Absurd! Used to be 8. That was fine.
Many times seen teams with losing records, I mean well below .500, make playoffs. Should cut it back and shorten the season.
I assume a lot of it has to do with $, it always does.
Talking attendance. I remember going to game back in early sixties ( yes, I was a student), Between Souderton and Pennridge. HUGE rivalry.
There were 10K fans. Stadium, of course, couldn’t handle that. Outside of stadium was tree lined. There were people sitting in the tress!
There were pep rallies with bon fires, parades, etc. it was one helluva atmosphere. Lots of fun.
November 2nd, 2021 at 3:29 pm
to all who have pointed out that there are many other reasons for the decline in attendance. i agree with you 100%. i also believe that the issue i discussed is one of the reasons. i guess i singled out this particular issue because i have a bad view of this ,some for personal reasons. as i stated a couple of months ago i have a family member ,financially needy, finished 2nd in the scranton prep entrance exam ,received 500.dollars toward a tuition of 10,000. if he were a great athlete ????????? anyway that just makes what i believe even without that example a practice that is great for a few, but unfair to many. thanks to all who addressed this issue. i’m just too old for the new ways i guess.
November 2nd, 2021 at 3:25 pm
Foleman-
You should really do some basic research before you comment on things you know nothing about. Here are some facts: SFASD has 1757 kids on the 2020-21 classification and 910 boys. I think you said 2500? Off by about 800 kids…
http://www.piaa.org/schools/classifications/sportDistrictClass.aspx?sportID=10&district=1&class=AAAAAA
There are 32 schools in D1 6A football and 16 make the Playoffs. 4A there are 8 schools and 4 make the Playoffs. The reason your Golden Panthers didn’t make the D1 playoffs is that their OOC conference schedule and Bonus points were “god” awful (pun). 10-22 overall and 4-22 not including 6-4 Berks Catholic. And you lost points for playing 3A schools.
Regarding the football Coach at SF. That man, Chad Brubaker, has done more for the RoFo and surrounding Community than you can imagine. HS Football is not only about “winning games” it is about developing character in young men thru Football. That is what Chad Brubaker has done for 10+ years. He built the HS program and the youth program. He hires excellent assistant Coaches. They teach and mentor. You recently talked about attendance at HS games. Come to a SF game with the lights, a State Caliber Band, concessions and all of the pagentry of HS football. its beautiful and Coach Brubaker is responsible for that. White-outs with 8K fans. You saw the pagentry 3 years ago on a Friday night. Years earlier there were 8-9K for the PV games back to back. We don’t play the ND fight song cause we have our own. The Administration supports the Athletic teams and Band and the facilities are some of the best in the state (you should see the new 2500 sf weight-room). Coach Brubaker helps those young men grow and develop into quality young men. That is why they support him. That is why I support him 100%.. I have been there almost every Friday night for 12 years. Stay in your lane Foleman.. I wont comment on your program, so please don’t comment on mine. You may not like Coach Brubaker, but then again, you don’t know him at all.
@Tweeter: Coaches lose games. Sometimes its bad matchups. SF has lost some tough ones over the years. They have also won some great games. Losing to Neshaminy at Neshaminy is tough. Losing a one score game to N Penn (who almost beat SJP) was tough. So was losing 43-42 to Wilson West Lawn at WWL. Coach chose to go for 2 instead of another OT. That’s guts. But a loss. Beating and losing to Whitehall with Saquon. Beating and losing to State College. Beating Ridley at Ridley is legit, and Pennridge at Pennridge legit. The PV rivalry is amongst the best in D1 and maybe the State. Some good wins and tough losses. I can go on and on.. OJR and Methacton have gotten better in the PAC. Boyertown is an anomoly.
Regarding Friday night.. same rain and wind that had PJP held to 69 yards of offense.. Weather can play a factor in games this time of year.
I can do this all day.. @Tweeter Thank you for allowing me to respond. Appreciate it!
November 2nd, 2021 at 3:18 pm
Frank G and Mark D
You can give many reasons for declining attendance, but I believe there are 2 things that account for it the most. The first is the changing culture in most schools, whereas back in the day, the game was the thing to do on a Friday night for almost all students. The second, related to the first, is there are so many other things that kids are interested in today. Our screen and phone culture are part of the problem, lots of kids would rather stay home and play video games on their devices. Plus, in some of the towns in counties like Lackawanna and Luzerne, the population has changed, with more people living there not having been born there. Twenty years ago, the adults had a connection to most of the players, whether as a relative or a neighbor. I’m not saying the current situation is a bad thing, just the reality. As far as some people not attending this week, if you’re a real fan of your team, you wouldn’t mind the extra fee, even though it is not fair. If one doesn’t have the technology, that certainly is an issue. So go and follow your favorite team, with college football becoming more and more professional and mercenary, high school football is the purisy form of the sport.
November 2nd, 2021 at 12:43 pm
@Foleman
Totally agree. Growing up each parish school had it’s own team. Now it takes three or four parishes combined to field a team. Whether it has something to do with parents avoiding the obvious injuries or an influx of social media eating away at the younger generation’s time and energy, the days of all out support are gone.
November 2nd, 2021 at 9:58 am
@ Mark D
I copied and pasted that info directly off the District 2 website. I just stumbled on it as I was looking for D2 power ratings and brackets. Here is the direct link:
http://piaad2.org/news-info/district-2-news/district-ii-championship-tickets-hometown-ticketing/
Are you saying that the Greater Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area isn’t leading the way in progress in technology and new cutting edge ways of doing things?? (this jab coming from someone who grew up in Lacka County and graduated from a D-2 HS :))
November 2nd, 2021 at 9:23 am
@Bub Attendance at HS football games in PA has been declining for years due to a number of factors and it’s sad. Take a look at some of the rosters today Vs 10 years ago, 20 years ago and you will see a huge drop. HS Football popularity is decreasing and it shows at the gate. Private schools have nothing to due with it. I remember back in the Day the Pottsgrove/St Pius X Thanksgiving game was the biggest draw for both teams. N. Catholic/Frankford sold out on Turkey day. Holy Name and Reading Central Catholic drew over 10,000 for the league championship. The BECA/CB West playoff game reported over 20,000 at that game. Those days are gone forever. Even in Texas, thee HS football mecca, HS participation in football is declining.
November 2nd, 2021 at 8:52 am
ok what is this bull that you have to get D playoff tickets on line ? how do you do that ? their was nothing on the school site that i saw personally i will not be going to a game this week as i think it be a mercy rule game between Crestwood and Valley view but i wish i was their to see how they are going to handle all these people who show up and told they cant buy a ticket i telling you around here it not something that well known!!!
November 1st, 2021 at 10:33 pm
@ bub This is just about the number of fans in the stands. It’s a very long time since I was in NE PA, so I won’t pretend to know what affects attendance there, but I haven’t heard or read anyone in the rest of the state say that the fact that private schools (most but not all of which are Catholic ones) don’t have boundaries and can recruit has had any effect on attendance at, say, North Penn, Coatesville, Harrisburg, Easton, or Pine-Richland. Other things may well have, but not player x going to Wood, Shanahan, Bishop McDevitt, Beca, or PCC rather than to the closest public high school.
November 1st, 2021 at 9:13 pm
I guess that’s why your in tycony mike and I’m where I am
November 1st, 2021 at 7:06 pm
so paul you left out the lines that provided the nexus of the discussion. i made it clear where the discussion originated from. i left the possibility that it is all unfounded . but the discussion is relevant if not in this case then in a hundred other situations across pennsylvania. and you can certainly point out that it is not absolute truth. i agree. but the reality is that if you think the people in the stands {the ones that remain} are all just lying or are wrong ,that can be argued. i believe it and i did not just decide to put my ideas out there.it was commented on in the stands and i think that it is a pervasive problem in high school sports. if it was a one time thing then i would be more apt to not comment ,but it is a relevant issue .
November 1st, 2021 at 4:11 pm
I’m thinking York Catholic in D3 could be a sleeper in 2A. Their D is good, especially their run D…plus they can run the ball themselves. Although, the York league(s) historically don’t compare to the Mid-Penn and the Lancaster-Lebanon leagues in D3, there has been some improvement in recent years….we shall see
November 1st, 2021 at 2:36 pm
@Bub
“I do not have any court of law evidence regarding the waiver program at prep and i have no absolute details of any students financial dealings with prep in regards to tuition. my statements regarding this issue can be totally unfounded.”
Now there’s a great way to start a conversation!! So you just decided to put your ideas out ther??
You are so off base with you comments about grants. And one thing about Pubs vs Privates. A lot, and I mean a lot, of public funds go into building and upkeeping the athletics departments in the public schools. Upper Dublin is a prime example. Monies spent way over the top!!
November 1st, 2021 at 1:30 pm
I’ve seen multiple mentions of Farrell/Sto-Rox/Steel Valley as potentially being favorites in AA this year. Three points I’d like to make about SCA and why I feel they are still favorites.
1 – They suffered injuries week 1 against Berwick and it only got worse through about week 7. They have lost their QB for the rest of the season, but now have a healthy backfield for the first time since early in week 1. At one point they had, I believe 5 starters out (2 O linemen, 2 backs, QB, think they are still down a Corner/WR).
2 – The other contenders that are frequently mentioned all have played comparatively weak schedules. SCA’s total opponent win/loss is 59-40 on the year. Including 2 of the 3 best AAA in the east (Wyoming Area, Wyomissing), MCA is more than likely a top 5 AA – at least in the East, plus AAAA Berwick, AAAA Selinsgrove, AAA Danville, AAA Loyalsock (all of those teams will make district playoffs). I believe Farrell opponent win/loss is 25-26 and it’s worse yet for the WPIAL teams. Sto-Rox is 39-53, Washington 31-43, Serra Catholic is 43-54 and Steel Valley is 41-48. So they may be winning by wide margins, but their overall schedules are not all that formidable.
3 – Final point is team speed. Historically this was a knock on SCA – but 3/4’s of the AA state winning 4×100 relay starts on the SCA offense – and plays defense when need be. SCA is not big, but they are quite quick across the board. I think the fact they are *almost* healthy AND have easily played the toughest AA schedule in PA will equate to another state title. Time will tell.
November 1st, 2021 at 1:19 pm
@ mark dodgson, i do not disagree with you. i think you can agree that prep probably would not be as competitive , and valley view might not have been in a 1 touchdown game. this 1 player changes how you play the game on offense as well as defense. kudos to this young man. not so much to the prep way of doing things.
November 1st, 2021 at 9:44 am
Tweeter, the Spring Ford Administration actually thinks Brubaker is a great coach. The reason for this is before Brubaker was named Head Coach, Spring Ford was awful in football. Brubaker is a coach that was in the right place at the right time. Spring Ford HS has something like 2600 kids in the school, the rest of the PAC 10 Big schools with Perkiomen Valley being the lone exception are down right awful in football, so every year, those 2 teams win the PAC 10. Spring Ford did play for 1 District 1 Championship during Brubacker’s 11 years there and make the District 1 playoffs every year but constantly underachieve. Spring Ford’s administration is very happy with that. I shudder to think what a top notch Coach could do with Spring Ford, they would be the king of District 1 football. I watched Pottsgrove against PJP a few weeks ago and could not believe how bad they were, they lost 42-6 and the 6 points came against PJP’S Scrubs. Next week I see that Pottsgrove beats Spring Ford 14-13 And these 2 schools are in the District 1 Playoffs and PJP isn’t. Unbelievable!
November 1st, 2021 at 8:13 am
@bub officials have a thankless job plays are bang bang that being said wham one official blows the call on back to back plays with something as big as a touchdown you have to start wondering. I agree Scranton Prep played a great game Montgomery was undeliverable he will probably smash every rushing record for a season next year when you have 2 good team going at each other it usually a break or a turnovers that determines the game uufortunaly for Valley View it was in my opinion the officials
October 31st, 2021 at 8:57 pm
I don’t need to see a game to agree with a coach. You know, because he’s an actual football coach; meanwhile, you’re just some angry dude in a free internet chat.
Had you said you disagreed with his decision, that would have been one thing. But you said it was “the single worst decision you had ever seen”. To wit: your position is absurd.
Kneeling at your own 27 in a 6-6 tie is a reasonable call with 1 minute to go in those conditions. The end. No need for a hyperbolic strawman about kneeling every play of the game, either.
October 31st, 2021 at 8:54 pm
@Kmac – I find it interesting the way D1 and other districts do their playoff seedings and strictly use a point system with no human element. The WPIAL does the exact opposite, they have a steering committee that meets and seeds all the teams in each class, 1-16 or however many teams in each classification make the district playoffs. And, an unwritten rule is they always try and avoid first round and whenever possible 2nd round matchups with teams from the same conference, so you almost never have a rematch in the first round of the playoffs, the committee will move a team up or down 1 position in the seedings to avoid a conference rematch. Teams with weaker schedules are seeded lower than teams with more losses that played a tougher schedule. A good example is in 4A, where 8-2 McKeesport who finished 2nd in their conference is seeded third ahead of 10-0 conference champion Hampton who is seeded fourth, because everyone around here knows if those 2 played McKeesport would definitely be the favorite, and because TJ is seeded 5th the steering committee wanted to avoid a TJ-McKeesport rematch in the quarterfinals since McKeesport beat TJ by 2 TD’s 2 weeks ago.
I disagree with the WPIAL on some issues but IMO the way they do their playoff seeding is superior to any other district in the state and if other districts would use a committee to determine the playoff seedings it would probably eliminate some of the shenanigan’s that go on when schools try and manipulate the point system to gain an advantage for the playoffs.
October 31st, 2021 at 8:30 pm
@NWPA – agree with just about everything you said, Farrell is definitely on a roll and probably the favorite in 2A, but I expect the WPIAL final will be Steel Valley vs. Sto-Rox and the winner will give Farrell all they can handle in the semi-finals and that game could go either way. No disrespect at all to 4 time defending champion SC, but the western final might be the defacto state championship game, we’ll see how it plays out, but I really like whoever comes out of the west to win 2A. Yeah, I know it’s kinda crazy to pick against SC, but that’s how I see it.
I agree Belle Vernon vs. ECP would be a very good game, Belle Vernon would be the favorite in 5A in the WPIAL, they beat the number 2 seed Penn Trafford 27-7 during the regular season. I do think ECP and Imhotep will be a very competitive game, really strange they are seeded to play in the quarterfinals, something’s wrong with the brackets when arguably 2 of the 3 best teams play in the quarterfinals.
I’ve told my Mt Lebo friends I like their chances to get to Hershey, of course they will probably have to beat PCC for the 2nd time this year and it’s never easy beating a team like PCC twice in the same season, but I’m still picking them to win the WPIAL and then beat McDowell in the quarterfinals and whoever wins D3 in the semi’s. but I like the East to win 6a and right now I’m picking LaSalle to take home the gold.
October 31st, 2021 at 8:04 pm
If anyone is interested in going to games after week one please let me know, will be going every week until the championship.. where I will be attending.
October 31st, 2021 at 6:01 pm
I saw District 10 is also doing this for all of their championship games in all sports. Any other districts going this on-line only ticketing route?? I know the PIAA appears to be doing it for their championship games in all sports this year after rolling it out last year due to Covid. Sort of, kind of, got it then, but I really don’t get it now. Why??
October 31st, 2021 at 5:06 pm
Seriously District 2??
“ALL tickets to 2021-2022 District II Championship Playoff events will be sold online through Hometown Ticketing. THERE WILL BE NO GATE SALES AT ANY DISTRICT II CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT. The cost, regardless of sport and level of event for the Fall Championships, will be $7 for adults and $4 for students. You must present a ticket (either electronically or paper) at the gate in order to gain entry to the event.”
Oh yeah, and you have to pay a service charge on top of that for each ticket purchased as well. This whole system will guarantee put more fans in the stands…….BRILLIANT!!!!
October 31st, 2021 at 4:14 pm
@ Blakely Bear and Bub, I think the advantages and disadvantages of non-boundary schools look a little different, depending on perspective. It’s also the case that in the Philly area it is far from the case that one school only can “cherry pick” kids from a wide geographic area. In the case of kids in western suburbs, for instance, there are several Interac schools that are recruiting as well as several PCL schools (Bonner, O’Hara, Carroll, Shanahan, as well as SJP). In the city there is Tep as well as Roman, Neumann Goretti, Judge, etc–and LaSalle and several Interac schools. In Bucks and Montgomery counties there is Wood, LaSalle, etc. And in Jersey there are at least a few Catholic schools that of course recruit: Eustace, Camden Catholic, Holy Cross and further away there is St. Joe’s (Hammonton), St. Augustine, etc. To what extent public schools recruit, I will leave to others.
Bub, the vast majority of the money donated by alumni at SJP goes to the general pool out of which financial support for all students who need it is drawn. When Nick Howley donated $5 million to SJP, it wasn’t directed particularly to student-athletes–even though Nick played football at the Prep in the late ’60s.
October 31st, 2021 at 3:16 pm
Mike in Tacony. It’s good you can make judgements on a game you didnt see a single play. Leading up to the last drive north schuylkill didn’t fumble the ball one time. Even if they do fumble Pottsville still needed to score to win. With 1:20 left on the clock you try and win the game by running a play. Why not just take a knee all night and punt on 4th down and hope the other team turns it over for a touchdown. They lost the game because the coach did not believe in his team to be able to try and let them win the game. Never do you play for overtime. Hand the ball off and hope for the best. Don’t take plays away from your offense.
October 31st, 2021 at 2:26 pm
@Frank G
Whatever disadvantages non-boundary schools may have, be they Catholic or otherwise, they are far outweighed by the advantage of drawing kids from a 2-3 or more county area. Coaches can cherry-pick the best players from whatever school they want. Any argument to the contrary is just rationalization.
October 31st, 2021 at 1:48 pm
@frankg #1 do not have any court of law evidence regarding the waiver program at prep and i have no absolute details of any students financial dealings with prep in regards to tuition. my statements regarding this issue can be totally unfounded. that being said, i have been attending high school football since the early 60s and in my experience when there is an issue the fans in the stands know .these are small towns, we all know the school directors, coaches ,students, staff, etc. while there is the possibility that this is false i apologize. the reason i single this particular situation out is because this 1 player is that much of a difference maker, as evidenced in the valley view game. let me say that i am not a valley view fan, and i attended catholic school and am grateful and supporter of the catholic schools. #2 the catholic schools have certainly declined in attendance. that does not give them carte blanche to discriminate against hard working people who either struggle to send their children to that school or cannot afford to send them at all because they can’t afford the high tuition. yet they watch another student who has athletic skills, not book smarts which is what school is predominantly about walk in for free and take a desk that maybe another student can’t afford. maybe if the school used the grant money from alumni and spread it evenly amongst lower income applicants instead of bestowing it upon the athletes who you seem to imply are used as advertising agents to lure people to attend catholic schools, then maybe more kids could attend. it is the astronomical tuition that is a big reason for the decline in catholic school pupils. #3 if kids attending catholic schools are not catholic, that is fine as long as they are paying the tuition, and not getting priority over anyone else. #4 if the student does not qualify because of academic standards then what is the problem. hit the books. maybe the smart kid should get special treatment on the athletic field as a reward for his academic skill..this would be absurd , like the academic kid gets a 20 yard head start in the 100 meter race. it’s absurd but this is just in reverse of rewarding the athletic kid with financial advantage. #5 the reasons for low attendance and competitiveness are many. one of the reasons for certain is that the deck is stacked . when a team say carbondale ,cannot even begin to compete with a scranton prep and it is 48-0 at halftime, most fans have checked out and what i said before i repeat when you can stockpile talent via passing out free rides and allowing private and /or catholic school to create an unfair recruiting situation you destroy what was great about high school football.the pride of your local kids,neighbors, friends, family, bonding together as a team and going out on friday night to play young men of similar situations from the nearby towns ,that is the essence of what this was but for the most part is no more. thus empty bleachers, and the death of a great tradition.instead you now have mercenaries if you will taking the uniform,and the experience away from the kid who is not great perhaps but really more important to the survival of high school football.
October 31st, 2021 at 12:46 pm
Any PAC or spring-Ford people here? Just wondering how SF coach Brubaker keeps his job year to year? He doesn’t do anything special and loses games he shouldn’t. Any thoughts?
October 31st, 2021 at 9:34 am
@JC frankly, if you describe that scenario as “the single worst decision I’ve ever seen in my life” it’s probably better if your posts are moderated :/
North Schuylkill couldn’t move the ball all night and there were games across the area on Friday with 6-10 turnovers. With a minute left at your own 27 yard line, the odds of fumbling the ball are higher than the odds of scoring in that slop.
Agree or disagree, the coach made a reasonable decision.
Also, there are too many classes and too many rounds of playoffs… so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t care that a 5A Fleetwood program that scheduled FIVE 2A and 3A teams (including a decisive loss to 2A Upper Dauphin) misses out on the opportunity to get mercy ruled in the first round of the district playoffs because Daniel Boone had covid issues.
Not that long ago, District 3 sent 16 teams to the playoffs. Now there are 46 teams. Next Saturday’s tilt between 10-0 Wyomissing and 4-6 Northern Lebanon should be a real barn burner.
Programs such as Fleetwood and Daniel Boone should be preparing for Thanksgiving Day games; neither should be preparing to have their seniors get eviscerated in the “playoffs” for their final football game.
October 31st, 2021 at 9:31 am
Been awhile since I posted gonna throw my 2 cents in. In 2A Farrell keeps impressing me more and more, they crushed a decent 3A Ft Lebouf Friday. Lebouf was in in it until the 2nd half but couldn’t stop the big play. I’ve heard Sto Rox, Wasington, Serra Catholic and Steel are all good as well but I’m liking Farrell. In 3A it looks like Central Valley and Wyomissing are the top of the class, no one from up here (Sharon, Hickory, Slippery Rock, Grove City) will be able to touch any of them. I’m gonna fully agree with @JeffH in 4A that Mcdevitt and Bell Vernon are on a collision course, although let’s not count out TJ just yet. And how about Erie Cathedral scoring with 19 seconds left to beat a very good Canisius 44-38 yesterday. Too bad Cathedral isn’t in 4A I’d love to see them against the WPIAL champ. Erie Cathedral beat St Francis 28-20, Cathedral looses to Mcdowell 32-12, St Francis beats Mcdowell 21-3, crazy. Cathedral looks like they will make it to the quarter finals and loose to Imhotep. In 6A Mcdowell will make it to the quarters and loose to whoever comes out of the WPIAL, probably Mount Lebo.
October 31st, 2021 at 9:23 am
As i see no ties in points in the District One Class 6A Playoff scenario on the PIAA D1 Site, there appears to be a bit of irony in the seedings.
Haverford scheduled an extra game, won, made 16th and is rewarded with a rematch with Garnet Valley who beat them 55-14 on Oct 15.
Rematches galore –
North Penn – CB South, just played 10/29
Quakertown-Souderton played 10/1
Ridley-Conestoga played 10/30
CB West-Pennridge played 10/1
The only “new ” matchups seem to be Coatesville-O J Roberts; D’Town East-Spring Ford; and Perk Valley-C B East.
Perhaps this happens more than I remember, however five of eight rematches seem to be a lot.
October 30th, 2021 at 11:23 pm
@ bub A few points:
1. Do you know the details of the arrangement the family of the player you identify has with Scranton Prep? Or is this just speculation?
2. I’m sure you’ve noticed that for many years now, a hugely disproportionate number of the top high school football teams all over the country are from Catholic schools. Why is that? One reason is that Catholic schools have to market themselves as they never had to do a generation or two ago to stay in business. A great many have closed or merged–goodbye Hannon, Cardinal Dougherty, North Catholic, etc. Tuitions have had to increase substantially because there are almost no nuns, priests, or brothers left. (They were never paid what people with families are paid.) And families like mine–where all three boys went to SJP–that were once common are now rare. Now they do a little dance in the admissions office if such a family shows an interest in the school. Excellent football and–to a lesser extent–basketball teams raise the profile of a school, suggest a culture of achievement / excellence, and often increase alumni donations. (Schools don’t always rely just on high profile sports to achieve these goals. SJP also has a hugely successful rowing program-best in the country last year–and a great theatre program.)
3. It used to be that Catholic schools had only Catholic students, but the world has changed. Have you been to mass lately? How long do you think schools with substantial tuition could stay in business if they could draw from only the Catholic population? At SJP some students are Mormons, some are Jewish, some are Protestants, and some come from families with no religious affiliation. I’m sure that’s true of most if not all other Catholic schools–Catholic colleges, too. Does that make the schools less Catholic? Short answer: not necessarily. One result is that all kinds of student-athletes, including many African-Americans (among whom Catholics are not so numerous), who may never in previous eras thought about attending a Catholic schools are now thinking about it. So at SJP, for example, in my graduating class of 200 in the early 70’s there were two African-Americans. Now there are about 40 in each graduating class–most of whom are NOT on either the football or basketball team.
4. While there are obvious advantages to not having boundaries, there are also disadvantages to having academic standards that result in some very good athletes either not qualifying for admission or for not being able to handle the academic load. SJP loses players every year for academic reasons. There are also advantages to having a stadium or at least a practice field on campus–something many Catholic schools don’t have–and to having all the players live within at least a short car/bus ride from the school–as opposed to living up to an hour away.
5. As for reduced attendance at HS football games, are you really saying that there’d be a lot more people in the stands to see Scranton vs Abington Heights if player X hadn’t chosen, as is his right, to go to Scranton Prep? This isn’t 1964 and the Blakely Bears. Work has changed, families have changed, technology has changed, etc. I remember when even smaller schools had large marching bands. I can get nostalgic about those times, but they’re gone.
I could add some thoughts about how college football recruiting has affected the high school game–today many HS freshman and even some 8th graders are getting “offers” from big time college programs. There’s a lot I don’t like about it, but it too is changing the views of kids (and–even more–parents) about which high school to attend.
October 30th, 2021 at 10:39 pm
I typically post these on Twitter, but my account was compromised tonight of all nights….Oh well. Here are the 6A, 5A and 4A D-1 Playoff standings:
2021 PIAA District One Football Playoff Standings – 6A
Rank Team Record Total Points Average Points
1 Garnet Valley 10-0 1880 188.0
2 North Penn 10-0 1860 186.0
3 Coatesville 9-1 1780 178.0
4 Downingtown E 8-2 1710 171.0
5 Quakertown 10-0 1690 169.0
6 Perk Valley 8-2 1630 163.0
7 Ridley 9-1 1610 161.0
8 CB West 8-2 1540 154.0
9 Pennridge 7-3 1480 148.0
10 Conestoga 7-3 1470 147.0
11 CB East 6-4 1350 135.0
12 Souderton 6-4 1320 132.0
13 Spring-Ford 6-4 1290 129.0
14 Owen J Roberts 6-4 1270 127.0
15 CB South 6-4 1250 125.0
16 Haverford 5-5 1235 123.5
— —- — — —
17 Downingtown W 5-5 1180 118.0
2021 PIAA District One Football Playoff Standings – 5A
Rank Team Record Total Points Average Points
1 Bayard Rustin 8-1 1570 174.4
2 Strath Haven 9-1 1740 174.0
3 Unionville 9-1 1730 173.0
4 Upper Dublin 8-2 1660 166.0
5 Plymouth Whitemarsh 8-2 1690 169.0
6 Academy Park 7-2 1310 145.6
7 Marple Newtown 7-3 1420 142.0
8 Chester 7-3 1385 138.5
9 Kennett 7-3 1370 137.0
10 Phoenixville 5-4 1160 128.9
11 Oxford 5-5 1230 123.0
12 Cheltenham* 5-5 1140 114.0
13 Henderson ** 4-6 1140 114.0
14 Springfield 4-6 1140 114.0
15 Upper Merion 4-5 970 107.8
16 Interboro 3-7 1010 101.0
— —- — — —
17 Wissahickon 3-7 890 89.0
*Cheltenham wins three-way tiebreaker on criteria #3 (Regular Season Record)
** Henderson wins two-way tiebreaker on criteria #5 (Strength of Schedule):
Henderson Opponents’ Combined Record = 58-41 (.585)
Springfield Opponents’ Combined Record = 56-44 (.560)
2021 PIAA District One Football Playoff Standings – 4A
Rank Team Record Total Points Average Points
1 Bishop Shanahan 7-3 1585 158.5
2 Pottsgrove 7-2 1350 150.0
3 Upper Moreland 7-3 1490 149.0
4 Chichester 5-3 1190 148.8
— — — — —
5 Pope John Paul II 7-3 1360 136.0
October 30th, 2021 at 10:13 pm
What are you talking about? I just posted your other post…..
October 30th, 2021 at 9:56 pm
It’s embarrassing how you decide what you post and what you dont
October 30th, 2021 at 9:51 pm
I will say this for the Chichester/AP because I’ve asked, Chichester was/is scared to play Academy Park. Academy Park asked to play Friday, Saturday and Monday they couldn’t. Academy Park asked to play this game many times, I asked many people at the AP/Chichester what happened that is what I was told.
Academy Park should play them Monday, if they refuse, it’s a forfeit, the other reason why Chichester is in the playoffs is because they refused to play Academy Park.
October 30th, 2021 at 9:35 pm
SCA finishes strong with a 55-3 thrashing of Danville.
October 30th, 2021 at 8:59 pm
With 1:20 to go in the 4th quarter and the ball at there own 27 yd line, Wally hall head coach of north schuylkill decides to take two knees and go to overtime tied at 6-6. Maybe north schuylkill doesn’t score, but you at least try and score. The single worst decision I’ve ever seen in my life.
October 30th, 2021 at 5:33 pm
regarding prep@valley view last night. prep got the best of the line of scrimmage play,and their running back was outstanding. that said though,valley view got screwed 3 times : at the end of the first half they had 2 touchdowns that were declared short of the goal line which looked to me like touchdowns with no doubt. they also had a fumble by prep that was ruled down before the fumble, even though the ball was coming free on the way down. that drive resulted in the go ahead touchdown with less than 4 minutes left. it should have been valley view ball but instead prep continued the drive from around the 15 yard line and scored 2 plays later. scranton preps running back ran 42 times for over 200 yds. and was the reason that prep won along with the missed call. in my opinion i think it is totally unfair that this young man is attending prep basically at no cost on something called a waiver. i have had this discussion before and i repeat this young man would not be attending prep if he did not possess the athletic skills that he does. i believe that this is 1 reason for the sparse crowds ,and lack of competitiveness in the leagues. when you can stockpile talent via passing out free rides and allowing private and /or catholic school to create an unfair recruiting situation you destroy what was great about high school football.the pride of your local kids,neighbors, friends, family, bonding together as a team and going out on friday night to play young men of similar situations from the nearby towns ,that is the essence of what this was but for the most part is no more. thus empty bleachers, and the death of a great tradition.instead you now have mercenaries if you will taking the uniform,and the experience away from the kid who is not great perhaps but really more important to the survival of high school football.
October 30th, 2021 at 5:22 pm
Like I said in a previous post, I haven’t made it to Friday night games because of my schedule, but if Coatesville keeps playing the way it has been (42-7 over DTE?!) then I’m going to force myself. I guess it would be three weeks from now that they’ll play at North Penn (if they both make it that far of course), and that’s a game I really don’t want to miss. Especially if Coatesville wins and then goes to Garnet Valley for the D1 chip. They’ve been GV’s thorn in the side for years!
Okay, I’m done jumping the gun here, I just get very excited this time of year. And you ALL understand 🙂
October 30th, 2021 at 4:38 pm
la salle beat Wood 20-0 . Woods offense is just so mundane . tailback up the middle ,tailback off tackle. It worked great in 5A winning many championships for sure , but just didnt work against LaSalle and the Prep as well as malvern Prep and St Johns.
October 30th, 2021 at 1:04 pm
Coleman, you really can’t get upset with a coach going for a two-point conversion in last night’s conditions as it was difficult making extra points or doing anything with the kicking game. The Garnet Valley/ Lower Merion game had a combined 9 fumbles. Most of those were while punting or snapping for an extra point. I don’t think going for a 2point conversion, to go from 28 to 30 points in those conditions is Bush league. I’d be way more upset that PJP is out of the playoffs when they are clearly the second best team.
October 30th, 2021 at 7:34 pm
Yes…As long as the information is out.
October 30th, 2021 at 12:58 pm
Brackets will come out I assume Monday?
October 30th, 2021 at 11:25 am
@foleman,. All they had to do is push game back to Saturday
conditions would have made for much
more entertaining competive game. Once they decided to play it ,. it became a 3 yards and a puddle of water game which favored PV with their line and a QB who is tough to.bring down. PV is NOT 30 points.
better then PJP. If someone was watching on a steam you could not appreciate how bad the conditions were. As far as the playoff in 4a that is a complete joke. The 4 best are not in the field .
October 30th, 2021 at 10:58 am
My God, Pottsgrove-Just got mercy ruled last week by PJP and Chichester-Probably the 6th best team in D1 4A get in the 4A playoffs, Daniel Boone gets in 5A football District 3 playoffs by getting destroyed by the 2 best teams-(3a Wyomissing and 4A berks Catholic) they played in the regular season and would have gotten mercy ruled by Governor Mifflin and Exeter in their final 2 games if they did not have “Covid Problems” Maybe the districts could go to a Play in game after the regular season to determine fairness in the system. And these are just a few examples around the State that I know of. I’m sure there are many more. Irish 1, you are correct, I don’t know why a game with League Championship and PIAA playoff implications was allowed to play in those conditions. Yes, PV was a better team that PJP, but the kids and fans deserved better. And BTW, the 2 point conversation by PV’S coach when he was up by 28 at the end of game was pure bush league.
October 30th, 2021 at 10:33 am
@Kevin X, yeah don’t mean it to sound like sour grapes, but the two best 4a teams in the district are Shanahan and PJP it’s a shame they won’t get to play. U Moreland also gets in after getting routed by a poor U Darby team last night. I guess I’m not smart enough to figure out a system where teams with more points have a lower ranking. You make good points about the Chichester Academy Park game. Maybe they will make changes but I doubt it.
October 30th, 2021 at 8:59 am
@ BJ
Yeah, think District One officials are going to be on the hot seat this weekend, especially if Chester wins today. Think they will do nothing and just say hey, the rules are the rule and let the chips fall where they may. Maybe they’ll make some changes and tweaks with the playoff rankings/ratings system going forward, which does nothing for any team that is affected wrongly right now.
October 30th, 2021 at 8:49 am
@ Irish1
Here’s another thing to get your, um, Irish up, what is the deal with the cancelled Chichester/Academy Park game early in the season?? I know Chichester was the one that cancelled, refused to play at AP after that shooting that happened a few weeks prior, but they never made the game up. Shouldn’t AP get a FFW and Chichester a FFL, which would give them 9 games to figure into their playoff rankings average (and lower it) and probably a good chance of moving below PJPII into the # 5 spot. I don’t get it. That to me is an obvious forfeit situation, if the game isn’t made up prior to the end of the regular season. This may affect AP in the seedings as well.
October 30th, 2021 at 2:35 am
It would not have changed the outcome PV has good team but what sense does it make to play the pac championship game in horrible conditions. Football is a game played in the elements yes but last night’s weather was terrible and forced two high scoring talented offenses to run dives and qb keepers all night. It’s a shame to work all season to get to this point and be reduced to that. You need a master’s degree to figure out the playoff point system out but seems like it could use an overhaul Pottsgrove loses to Pjp 42-6 last week but gets in by upsetting the 3rd best team in the league Pjp is out because of a loss in the championship game. Chichester somehow gets in with a 5-3 record instead of pjp at 7-3. The 4 best teams aren’t there. Maybe PJP should schedule some of the many lousy 6a. teams in district one instead of going out of the district or playing inter ac teams. It doesn’t pay to play quality teams with the point system. Just schedule one those 6 a bottom feeders from the Suburban one and get the points
October 30th, 2021 at 12:27 am
Kevin, yeah, I have no idea why they won’t let the points for Monday’s game count. It’s just makes no sense. If they’re going to allow them to move the game to Monday, they have to allow the 10 points for the neshaminy win to count for Quakertown. I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of arguing going on over the next 48 hours to change that decision. But like you said, It will be a mute point if Academy Park beats Chester, as then East would be the #4 seed.
October 29th, 2021 at 11:44 pm
@ BJ, et al
If AP beats Chester tomorrow, DTE jumps over Q-Town for the #4 seed. Q-Town drops to the #5 seed. That’s big as the #4 seed would potentially get 2 home games. Big controversy is the Pennsbury/Nesh game being moved to Monday, as that game won’t count in the ratings. Basically screws Q-Town. So wrong that whole situation.
October 29th, 2021 at 11:20 pm
Went to the Belle Vernon vs. McKeesport game tonight and expected a pretty tight contest after McKeesport beat TJ by 2 TD’s last week and was treated to the Devin Whitlock and Quinton Martin show right from the start. First Whitlock returned a punt 70 yards for a TD after McKeesport went 3 and out, then after another McKeesport 3 and out on the 2nd play from scrimmage Martin went 59 yards for a TD and the rout was on. Belle Vernon made a statement and totally dominated a very solid McKeesport team winning 46-14 after racing to a 32-7 lead at the half. I doubt there are very many teams in the state in any classification that have a 1-2 punch on offense like Whitlock and Martin, there is no other duo in the WPIAL like those 2 and to say they are dynamic would be an understatement. I don’t see any team on this side of the state beating Belle Vernon and I anticipate they are headed for a showdown with Bishop McDevitt in Hershey in what I think will be a very competitive and compelling matchup for the 4a championship if it happens. I have seen all the top 4a, 5a and 6a teams in the WPIAL this year in person with the exception of Aliquippa and Belle Vernon and Mt. Lebanon are the 2 best teams I’ve seen and IMO the 2 best teams in the WPIAL.
October 29th, 2021 at 10:33 pm
Everything went Garnet Valley’s way and they win the #1 seed by 10 points. North Penn # 2 Coatesville # 3 Quakertown # 4 Downingtown East #5 Perkiomen Valley #6. Nobody’s playing better football than Coatesville, Perkiomen Valley and Quakertown. Playoffs are going to be awesome, going to answer a lot of questions.
October 29th, 2021 at 6:28 pm
Buddy, try:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzLLvLWGCEhBS0H_IgXwf_g
Thnx Scotty!!!
October 29th, 2021 at 5:18 pm
@Buddy
PVSD Athletics
October 29th, 2021 at 4:30 pm
Buddy. I have a list on the main page….
October 29th, 2021 at 12:58 pm
Anybody hear of games being postponed to maybe tomorrow ?
@scotty
What’s the name of that youtube channel?
October 29th, 2021 at 11:52 am
@ Kevin X
The Perk Valley vs PJPII PAC championship game will be live streamed on PV’s YouTube page.
October 29th, 2021 at 8:35 am
Somewhat surprised as of this Friday morning, other than two games that I have seen, there are no other cancellations/date changes for any D1/D12/Inter-Ac games for this evening. Looks like a dry night of streaming (if any decent games found) and baseball for me.
@ Mark D
Speaking of streaming, any idea if that Scranton Prep/Valley View game is available for video streaming anywhere?? Really curious about that one. I did enjoy the video stream of the second half of an entertaining game between Dunmore and Lakeland last night. I also was briefly checking out the OF/LT game as well, but that game was not all that competitive.
October 28th, 2021 at 7:49 am
Hard to believe we are ending regular season. I’m following 2 teams this year. North Schuylkill and SCA. There will be some great clashes in both of these classes. I saw Wyomissing play SCA. Wyomissing had full control after 1st quarter. Their line of scrimmage is brutal. North Schuylkill will have their hands full if they see Wyomissing in the playoffs. Same goes for SCA. They will most likely face York catholic. Another team similar to Wyomissing.
October 27th, 2021 at 4:45 pm
Thank you,Ryan. I updated the game.
October 27th, 2021 at 2:04 pm
@ Dave Mika Phoenixville/ Owen J Roberts has been moved to tomorrow due to rain
October 27th, 2021 at 4:46 pm
Hi Ryan. They updated the time. It is Saturday 11am.
October 27th, 2021 at 11:27 am
Where is the Chester/Academy Park game? Heard it was at Academy Park @ 11 on Saturday?
October 26th, 2021 at 4:23 pm
Let’s hope BJ is wrong
October 26th, 2021 at 3:44 pm
Kevin, if Haverford wins their new game added to the schedule and North Penn and Garnet valley both win their last games and there are no major upsets in their previous opponents, they will end up tied and Garnet valley would win the tiebreaker by stronger strength of opponents winning percentage. Going to be interesting.
October 26th, 2021 at 10:14 am
@BJ Obviously I don’t administer let alone own this site, but I appreciate that comments are moderated, even if sometimes it takes many hours to to have something submitted show up on the site. The administrator has to sleep! Of course that makes quick back-and-forth conversations difficult or even impossible at times, but that’s a price I think is worth paying. Look what’s happened n he Rivals site. It seems unmoderated and as a result all kinds of posts that are really just ads show up and at times the comments can get really nasty and personal. But it does offer immediacy, so if you want or need to see your post shared immediately with the wider world, that’s a site to use.
October 26th, 2021 at 8:21 am
Going to pull my chips off the table from my prior post about NP getting the #1 seed in the D1 6A playoffs. Saw that Haverford picked up a walk over opponent in the Academy at Palumbo out of the PPL, so that pretty much secures Haverford a spot in the playoffs (and probably a re-match with GV), eliminates a very dangerous (and probably a more deserving) Downingtown West team, and turns the Souderton/Bensalem game into an elimination game. Also helps GV in the rankings. If chalk holds, the GV/NP battle for the #1 seed may come down to the D1 tiebreaker rules, which I am not going to touch.
@ Ryan
Way too may moving parts and variables to exert any time and effort in trying to figure out any type of educated guess in seedings and first round playoff match-ups. Will know soon enough.
October 26th, 2021 at 8:12 am
Well the game of the year up here in D2 Valley View and Scranton Prep should be interesting both undefeated both have crushed every team they played one local coach told me if Valley Viiew can keep it close til the 4th quarter they will ware out Prep as only one valley view line man plays both ways and all of prep do should d be a fun game
October 26th, 2021 at 4:52 am
@ foleman,. Your right about Berks Catholic also it’s not easy getting ready for a wing t team when pjp rarely sees that offense. I disagree with you on a few things. I don’t thing SCH would win the pac small school division. I was at that game PJP lost in the last few seconds but I thought they were probably the better team in the long run. Credit to SCH for making some nice deep throws and catches late in that game . The players that are out are tightend/ def end, another two way lineman and speedy wr/db, but I still think they can win the game. Perk Valley is a solid favorite but if PJP comes in to that game as focused and prepared as last week they can get that game to the 4th qtr. If they do they have a chance
October 25th, 2021 at 7:49 pm
I already asked this question over 20 hours ago and have not seen my post or a response. Is everybody’s comments moderated before posted? If so, why? It’s hard to have a conversation with people when you’re comment doesn’t show up until 10 hours after you posted it.
October 25th, 2021 at 9:17 am
Kevin X, Berks Catholic was ranked in the top 10 in AAAA when PJP played them and lost the game in the last few minutes. Even though BC is not at the level they once were, they still are a formidable opponent. While Springside Chestnut Hill has won only 3 games, they are an Inter-AC school, and Inter-Ac schools are tough, SCH would probably win the PAC 10 small school division. The Grove played a 2A Doormat Schuykill Valley, a 3A winless team in Lansdale Catholic and 6A always underperforming Boyertown which just lost to previously winless Norristown. When you look at the schedules of some teams, its easy to point out the paper tigers, I thought Owen J Roberts was also a Paper Tiger and it showed against the top 2 teams in the PAC.
Irish 1, Your right, too many key players are out for PJP to beat PV who will be gunning for PJP after last years loss to them. It looks like PJP’S Starting Offensive tackle, Defensive Tackle and lightning quick wingback Williams will be out for the game. Too many Freshman and Sophs taking their place to win that game.
October 24th, 2021 at 2:54 pm
If someone would like to like to figure 6A rankings, if teams were to win the final games or lose etc. Please help. Teams looking for predictions on who they would face if they were to play in playoffs are Owen J Roberts and Pennridge.
Believe if Owen J Roberts wins Friday against Phoenixville (5A) they would stay around 10-13.
Downingtown East plays Coatesville
CB South plays North Penn
Perk Valley plays PJP
Ridley plays Conestoga
OJR plays Phoenixville
Springford plays Pottsgrove
Souderton plays Bensalem
Chester plays Academy Park
October 24th, 2021 at 2:36 pm
@ Buddy – Perk Valley plays PJP, Springford plays Pottsgrove, Owen J Roberts plays the third place team.. not sure who that is .
Went to the North Penn/ CBE, either North Penn took them
Very lightly or they just aren’t as good as I thought. Would say the teams were about even but North Penn didn’t blow me away as an 8-0 team. CBE had the best player on the field, #8. CBE ran a few plays that I was confused about, like they ran pass plays and had 1 running a route. North Penn passing game was working, running back had one long run.
I think I said this earlier if a team has speed I believe they put a good fight against North Penn.
@ Jack.. I went to the Academy Park/Downingtown East, found out the Head Coach was not coaching the game and many players of Academy Park had just been coming back from a sickness, which means they were not at the Avon Grove game & a difference maker played a quarter an half against East.
Was not very surprised at the Owen J Roberts result, as a I’m not a big believer in the offensive coordinator of OJR.. whom I believe is the head coach. Not creative at all. Game changed when it was 7-7.. OJR was driving an threw a back braking pick 6. Which they could not recover from.
October 24th, 2021 at 10:03 am
Who does Perk Valley play this coming week?
October 24th, 2021 at 9:28 am
@ Foleman
Also, just curious, not looking to get into the weeds here, and I’m really hoping for a Shanahan/PJPII game at some point in the coming weeks (think they should be playing every year early in the season, not sure why they are not), but……….
“This game showed it’s who you play that shows how good you are. PJP played a tough out of conference schedule while Pottsgrove played cupcakes.”
So a game against Berks Catholic automatically qualifies as a though out of conference schedule even tho your other 3 non conference games are against teams with a combined record of 4-19, with one of those 4 wins is against you??
October 24th, 2021 at 9:25 am
North Penn looked terrible Friday nite. I think they took CB East way too lightly. Their (NP) passing game was clicking ,
which is the only reason they won. Key to stopping NP is to stop #7, which is what CB East did ( save one TD run).
Defense is their weakness, usually offense is potent. But not Friday nite. MAYBE they make the D1 final, mainly
cause everyone comes to their house, doubt that they win that final. Wanna see the D1 champ do well ( maybe beat),
the next opponent. Tall order tho.
October 24th, 2021 at 9:05 am
Lol meant @ foleman
October 24th, 2021 at 9:03 am
@ Coleman @ Kevin X,. Pjp whipped Perk Valley last year. PV has surprised me some this year with how much their offense has taken off. They are tough because they can throw and run with QB who can do both. PJP is so well coached, game against Pottsgrove was best all around performance this year. Just wish they weren’t missing some of their key players due to injury. That could be the difference Friday night. PJP has nice mix ofseniors and underclassmen. Several freshmen get alot of playing time. If they can get the game on Friday to the 4th qtr they have a legit chance to win.
October 23rd, 2021 at 7:24 pm
Hey Ryan, did you make it to the North Penn-CB East game? If so, what’s your take on how good North Penn is?
And as far as your top 10 D1 rankings go, really can’t argue with your list either. Pretty close to the same thing Jack said. Looks like there’s a clear opinion that Garnet valley looks like the strongest team this year. Then 2-5 in whatever order PV, NP, Ctville, DTE. And 6-8 in whatever order Quakertown, Ridley and WCR.
The team that I really don’t have any first-hand knowledge of or a good take on is Quakertown. Can’t figure out if they’re a legit contender for the D1 crown. On paper they look fantastic and obviously are having a great year. But they truly have played one of the weakest schedules of anybody. It’ll be most interesting to see just what they’re all about come play off time.
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:42 pm
@ Foleman
Rubber meets the road next week.
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:06 pm
@ Ryan- have not been to a ton of games this season, but have been following really closely. I should of mentioned that I saw 2-5 on my rankings (Coatesville, DTown East, North Penn, and Perk Valley) as interchangable. Your list is really good as well, and you can make a case for all your rankings. Coatesville at 4 and DTown East at 5 makes sense since they are inconsistent and Perk Valley at 2 because have been consistent all year. North Penn has a good case for 3, but I had them lower than Coatesville and DTown East because they have not played anyone with speed or have played anyone outside of the SOL. The only teams I could see in the district title game challenging Garnet is 2-5 on my list. Also should of put Academy Park in HM as well, don’t see as a top ten team though because of the loss to Avon Grove. I also agree with your ranking of Quakertown, I don’t see them making it past the second round and if there is any top 6 seed who will be upset in the first round its most likely them. I can see your case for Unionville in the top ten, but watching them against DTown East, they looked overmatched on both sides of the ball, and did not look like a team that beat Rustin.
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:02 pm
GV – have won every game and they haven’t been close. Wouldn’t be shocked to see them lose with speed.
PV and Coatesville are neck and neck. If they play again I wouldn’t be surprised if either team won. Perk Valley pass game is very good, while Coatesville can run the ball just as well as anyone.
North Penn didn’t really impress me yesterday. Went to the game, didn’t think East was that good, #8 was the best player on the field.
Downingtown East is Ok. Would be very surprised if they make it out of the 2nd round.
Ridley played well against Garnet Valley until the second half when they look like the game was only a first half game. Last three games have been against terrible competition
Quakertown haven’t lost but haven’t seen them play yet so can’t comment.
Rustin haven’t seen them play but this is also purely based on the record.
Academy Park can compete with any 5A, will have better athletes on the field than you, can they get you off the field on defense. Can see them making a run.
Haven based on record against everyone but Garnet Valley
Unionville because I wasn’t putting Springford- who was Ok today, OJR had 3-4 turnovers plus Springford have a freshman QB, Chester lost to Chichester, CBE wasn’t that impressed with – will lose to a team with speed, Would need see Upper Dublin or PWM haven’t seen them this year.
October 23rd, 2021 at 5:29 pm
@ Jack I disagree, with your rankings. How many games have you been to?
1.) GV
2.) Perk Valley
3.) North Penn
4.) Coatesville
5.) Downingtown East
6.) Ridley
7.) Quakertown
8.) Rustin
9.) Academy Park
10.) Unionville
October 23rd, 2021 at 4:56 pm
I originally had Spring Ford as a honorable mention in my D1 rankings, but after todays performance they are the ten spot over CB West. Have played exceptional football since the Perk Valley game and could be 8-1 right now since their games with Perk Valley and Cumberland Valley were decided by one score.
@BJ- you are correct I could see them playing spoiler and possibly knocking off a team like Quakertown or Ridley in the first round.
October 23rd, 2021 at 4:37 pm
Pope John Paul 42-6 over Pottsgrove in front of a large crowd. PJP led 28-0 at the half and never looked back. Thought Pottsgrove would have been at least competitive with PJP having several starters out. Pottsgrove’s running game was completely shut down while their secondary seemed lost against PJP’S passing game. This game showed it’s who you play that shows how good you are. PJP played a tough out of conference schedule while Pottsgrove played cupcakes.
October 23rd, 2021 at 2:52 pm
Jack, that’s a pretty accurate list of D1. I really can’t argue with any of your rankings. My only opinion would be Perkiomen Valley is no sleeper, I think everybody knows they’re a very good football team. The sleeper I see potentially making Waves is Spring Ford. I could see them taking out somebody like Ridley or Quakertown in the first round. Something like a 7 vs 10 or 6 vs 11 matchup.
October 23rd, 2021 at 12:23 pm
Thank god your not a coach
October 23rd, 2021 at 11:55 am
Been doing some heavy duty mathematical analysis this morning, and well came up with a big fat TBD.
Crunching numbers and attempting to predict the future as to determine if it will be Garnet Valley or North Penn with the top seed in the 6A D1 playoffs. If this were an election, I’d say it’s too close to call. If I was a gambling man, I’d put my money on North Penn. What I came up with:
North Penn closed the gap last night, going into the night behind GV by 70 points, this morning only down by 30. With Upper Dublin playing this afternoon (CRN) more than likely you can add 10 more points to NP’s rankings. So by the end of the weekend, GV will only lead NP by 20 points.
Next weekends given: NP will get 30 more bonus win points than GV by playing (and assuming beating) a 6 win CB South team who I saw last night and should not pose a threat to NP. While GV only plays a 3 win Lower Merion team (both CB South and LM are 6A schools). So right there you have a flip of NP taking over the No. 1 spot by 10 points.
Now the fun TBD unknowns: Based on another given of common opponents playing each other (one has to win, one losses) and on the predictions of who wins the other games of teams that played GV and NP during the season, I see both GV and NP getting 50 bonus win points from next weekends games. Key game for Garnet is if Upper Darby can beat a good 4A Upper Moreland team (I have UM winning that game). Key game for NP is if Bensalem can upset Souderton (I have Soudy winning that game). The real fun possibility here is that Haverford does not have a game (so obviously no bonus win point there) and Upper Dublin is scheduled to play Hatboro Horsham who basically called it a season a few weeks ago, so I assume UD will get 10 bonus win points for the forfeit win. Now what would be cool is if Haverford and Upper Dublin would get together in a game that can conceivably determine the Number One seed. You’d also have Suburban One (Upper Dub) against the Central league (Haverford).
October 23rd, 2021 at 1:21 am
I follow football across the state, but primarily follow D1. Here are my rankings across all classes in D1 from what I have seen
1. Garnet Valley 9-0 (6A- Central)- Uncontested number one in 6A-D1 bracket, no game has been close and is most likely going to win the district title. The only team in D1 from what I have seen who will be able to beat the D12 winner.
2. Coatesville 8-1 (6A- Chesmont National)- Currently are the four seed in 6A-D1 bracket, but talent wise is up there with Garnet. Solid wins over Perk Valley, Chester, CB West, and Shanahan. Was closer than expected with DTown West two weeks ago, but still won. Only lost was a close to a solid William Penn team.
3. Downingtown East 8-1 (6A- Chesmont National)- Currently are the three seed in 6A-D1 bracket. This may be a controversial take, but they have 6 wins over teams with winning records. When they are playing their best, they are a very tough team to stop. Only loss was to 5A-D1 one seed WC Rustin by two points. Was closer with Dtown West than expected, but should of won by more if they had converted on their redzone opportunities.
4. North Penn 9-0 (6A- SOL National)- Currently are the two seed in 6A-D1 bracket. Have been solid all year, but lack that win over a top team and have some games that could of went either way.
5. Perkiomen Valley 7-2 (6A- PAC Liberty)- Currently are the six seed in 6A-D1 bracket. Offense has looked great this year. Only two losses were to two great teams in Coatesville and Manheim Central. Could play spoiler or be sleeper pick in the 6A-D1 tourney.
6.Ridley 8-1 (6A- Central)- Currently are the seven seed in 6A-D1 bracket. Only loss was to number one Garnet Valley and were able to keep it close for the first half. Lack a real marquee win, but have won most games pretty handily and won the last three by a combined score of 182-6.
7. Quakertown 9-0 (6A- SOL Continental)- Currently are the four seed in 6A-D1 bracket. Defense has been outstanding. Though they are undefeated they have yet to beat a truly good team and play in an overall weak conference. Could see them losing early on in playoffs.
8. West Chester Rustin 7-1 (5A- Chesmont American)- Currently are the one seed in 5A-D1 bracket. Outside of their only loss in the first game to Unionville, have looked great on both sides of the ball. Had a great win over Dtown East. I do not see anyone being able to stop the run game in the 5A-D1 bracket.
9. Strath Haven 8-1 (5A- Central)- Currently are the two seed in 5A-D1 bracket. Have looked great outside of loss to Garnet Valley. Offense seems legit and will most likely make a run in 5A-D1 bracket.
10. Central Bucks West 7-2 (6A- SOL National)- Currently are the nine seed in 6A-D1 bracket. Only two losses were top ranked teams in Coatesville and North Penn. Have beaten solid teams in the SOL National. Defense has looked good as well.
Honorable Mentions-
Unionville 8-1 (5A- Chesmont American)
Central Bucks East 6-3 (6A- SOL National)
Pennridge 6-3 (6A- SOL National)
Chester 7-1 (5A- Delval)
Spring Ford 5-3 (6A- PAC Liberty)
Plymouth Whitemarsh 7-1 (5A- SOL American)
Upper Dublin 6-2 (5A- SOL Continental)
October 22nd, 2021 at 11:57 pm
@BJ- It was an awesome game. Though Downingtown East should of won by 21+ at least. East did not score in the redzone twice. If they had, they could of had a 3-4 touchdown lead at half, then a 4-5 touchdown lead with 9:00 left in the third. Still a great game and performance from Downingtown West, judging off the district power rankings a win next week will most likely give them a playoff berth and potential rematch with East. It took West awhile this season to really start playing, IMO talent wise they are top 10 in district one, but they have not been able to figure things out on the field. DTown East vs Coatesville should be interesting as usual.
October 22nd, 2021 at 11:16 pm
@JC – completely disagree, if a team is up 35+ points at halftime, what adjustments do they really need to make, and how much can be gained or learned from any adjustments when you are totally dominating and can literally name the final score. Coaches with any class pull their starters in such a situation, if not at half then maybe after 1 drive in the 3rd quarter, there’s a lot more to be gained long term by playing your second string in games like this than keeping your starters in to run up the score.
Surprising final in 4A tonight in the WPIAL, McKeesport beat TJ 42-28, i figured the game would be close and McKeesport had a shot, but I’m shocked they put up 42 points on TJ’s defense. That sets up a huge game next week between undefeated Belle Vernon vs. McKeesport for the conference title and the #1 seed in the district playoffs, McKeesport’s only loss was to Canisius from NY. I’ve seen both teams this year although I saw McKeesport back in week 1, I think Belle Vernon wins and locks up the #1 seed.
I also thought Central Valley would be challenged by Avonworth tonight but they mercy ruled them 43-6, I still think CV is the team to beat in 3A and right now I’d pick them to repeat as state champs, they appear to be on a collision course with undefeated North Catholic for the WPIAL 3A title.
October 22nd, 2021 at 9:54 pm
Wow, what a great night of high school football. Downingtown West had the lead 28-27 late in the 4th quarter but Downingtown East scored a late touchdown and got the win. CBE gives North Penn all they can handle, but North Penn scores a late fourth quarter touchdown to win 28-21. Couple of playoff type games they played tonight.
October 22nd, 2021 at 6:11 pm
PCL Red action tonight as well…….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsRLCnQkWZM
I’m off to Pennridge and CB South, as my D1/D12 2021 live tour continues…..
October 22nd, 2021 at 6:06 pm
@ kevin
Should be. of course, I’ll be at the game.
Wish NPTV would cover away games. They told me sometimes the away team don’t have facilities for their set-up.
Plus they say it cost more $. Beats me.
October 22nd, 2021 at 5:14 pm
Hey Jay,
I’m guessing the North Penn/CB East game will be live on the North Penn You Tube channel tonight. All on NP’s home games so far this season have been.
https://www.youtube.com/user/NPTV/videos
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:41 pm
@BJ
The team I follow does wholesale substitutions when game is out of hand. Ex.: In one game they were leading 35 to 0 at halftime.
Game ENDED at 35 to 0. That’s the way it should be.
@Jones
Wrong. Putting in 2nd and 3rd stringers is not “easing” up. It’s giving non-starters a chance to play. Your comparison to academics is a totally different scenario.
@Kevin
Yea , this Covid bug seems to be team specific. Interesting.
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:26 pm
No team should ever pull starters at halftime of a football game. Your missing out on a huge point in a game. Halftime adjustments and how your team reacts after the break. One thing you could do is work on things you don’t normally do or excel at in the 3rd quarter. Pull your starters for the 4th. Kids that r good and want to play football and enjoy hs athletics shouldn’t be punished for excelling either. And I don’t know want to here about getting kids hurt or hurting other kids. If it was meant to be it was meant to be. It’s simple if you don’t want to get mercy ruled don’t lose by 35 points.
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:12 pm
Any good live streams on tonight? Preferably Chesmont, and/or District 1? Or anything really I’ll take what I can get. I’ve been looking on google but it appears I’m not very good at it.
Downingtown West upset tonight over East?
October 22nd, 2021 at 3:51 pm
Boone is saying that the game is cancelled due to “Covid Positive Athletes” Maybe the do nothings at District 3 should require proof of a Positive test if a team backs out but I’m not sure if that would be legal or not. I don’t think Rob Flowers-(Boone Coach) would duck anyone, but Hey, who knows, some sources on the sixers stated that Ben Simmons tried to get out of Game 7 with Atlanta telling his team mates he thinks he has Covid……which was proved False as he was quickly tested.
October 22nd, 2021 at 1:58 pm
I have seen several PCL games this year and am not surprised at the battles week in and week out since the PCL Red is pretty solid overall with many D-1 players throughout. IMO saint Joes needs to have a more improved passing game to make another run at a state Championship. Their defense is aggressive as usual and their run game with Jones [dual threat ] is solid. The playoffs should be interesting . Lasalle beat St Joe,. Roman beat LaSalle Wood beat Roman ,father Judge beat Roman Wood beat father Judge. What a mess LOL. Wood/lasalle next week . I think Wood wins .
October 22nd, 2021 at 1:48 pm
JC, I don’t need to be the coach of either team to know what I would do in a couple of the specific situations. I would allow the quarterback who’s one yard from setting a record to start the second half and see if he can break the record on the first drive.
I also know I would never have my starting quarterback playing in the fourth quarter of a game I’m up 42 – 0. Ridley has a very good team this year and it all revolves around their quarterback. If he goes down, their season is essentially over!
I also disagree with your comment. You know exactly what you would do in those situations. Why you don’t want to answer, really not important.
The Joneses, I agree 100%. Besides the fact you’re starting quarterback could get injured, valuable playing time and experience is being missed out on by the backups.
October 22nd, 2021 at 1:06 pm
Does anyone know if the CDC is looking into this phenomenon of schools (or specifically football teams) that have students or team members testing positive for Covid or are taking Covid protocols to above and beyond so-called safety measures when they are about to face a team that is going to blow the doors off them?? Yet top tier teams seem to be immune to any Covid issues whatsoever?? What are they doing right?? Just really freaky, huh?? Oh yeah, schedule update, Daniel Boone just cancelled with Governor Mifflin.
October 22nd, 2021 at 10:06 am
@BJ I think there is a life lesson on both sides. If I were the coach for GV, I would have brought the starting QB out in the 3rd qtr with the second string team and let him complete one 5 yrd pass to get that great accomplishment. No humiliation there. Then I would have just played football with my second and third string. I would have called a few pass plays to get my backup QB some real game experience throwing against the other teams first string.
Every player likely would love the opportunity to score, play etc. Some of third string players may also be third string and not likely to get a chance to play or score. I just wonder if people really think easing up on an opponent is teaching life lessons. Will professors in college ease up if they’re already failing? Will a boss tell your peer to pull back when he is far ahead of you for the promotion you are both up for? Will your competition stop taking you clients when more than half already left? I can see sports lessons, I am not sure I see life lessons.
I would never do what Ridley did because it’s denying developmental opportunities for younger and less skilled players.
October 22nd, 2021 at 9:33 am
I think if your not the head coach of any of those teams in that situation that it is irrelevant what you think or what you think you would or wouldn’t do.
October 21st, 2021 at 10:16 pm
Teach the kids life lessons or run up the score and set records?
I bring up this question because you see both of these things happen every week in football. Is one way right and one way wrong? Just want to get some opinions of what you would do as a coach. Going to use last week’s Garnet Valley/Haverford and Ridley/Lower Merion games as examples.
Garnet Valley is beating Haverford 35 to 0 at halftime. They bench all starters and only play second and third string in the second half. They stop throwing the ball and are just trying to end the game as quickly as possible.The all-time record for passing in a game is 264 and Garnet Valley’s Max Busenkill had 263 at the half. He could obviously have started the second half thrown a 5-yard pass and set the all-time record. But this will never happen under a coach Ricki team. He just doesn’t believe in that kind of thing. It’s more important to not humiliate your opponent by beating them into the ground. Secondly, you don’t want any of your starting players to get injured while running up the score. Third, your second and third team players get valuable playing time for when their time comes to make an important start. Lastly, people respect you for playing the game the right way. Teaching your kids that how you behave when everything is going your way is as important as how you conduct yourself when you’re getting blown out.
Ridley is dominating lower merion as they usually do, winning 35 to 0 at halftime. Ridley continues to play their first team into the fourth quarter and continues to pass the ball to get their quarterback John Heller the all-time record. After he sets the record and Ridley is up 49 to 0, his night is over. The mind thought of people who coach this way is that….1) the players have worked and practiced hard to execute and score as often as possible, let the kids enjoy a successful night. 2) Every kid wants to set a record when possible and that can’t be done if they’re only playing half a game. Should they really be penalized for being successful.? 3rd) You can’t worry about the other team’s feelings, if they worked as hard as you did, maybe they would have the same success.
So, I believe this explains the dilemma I bring to the table. I know which way I would coach and what I think is the better way to coach, but what does everybody else think?
October 20th, 2021 at 9:13 pm
@ Uncle T – Academy Park will have a chance to win district play, they just have athletes all over the field.
Garnet Valley is playing for its coach and they have 36 seniors which help a ton. You have to figure they all play.
@ BJ – As for Owen J Roberts.. I will tell you this. They are a 6A that doesn’t have the numbers as some of the other 6A teams, some guys play both ways. Now Offensively – they are stuck in the 90’s. Run Run Run and if they haven’t got many yards on first and second down, they have to throw it. Just not creative when it comes to the offensive side. No motion for mismatches, not putting the RB out wide an throwing to him, No RB screen’s. They run the spread without running the spread. Not creative on offense.
October 20th, 2021 at 7:25 pm
@Uncle T – Academy Park and the rest of DI 5A might not have to deal with Wood this year, but they will certainly have to deal with Imhotep who has as much if not more talent than Wood. The 2yr cycle ends this year, and Wood obviously won’t have any success points, so I think it’s likely they will be back in 5A starting next season, Kevin X made reference to that several weeks ago. Imhotep also has a lot of talent coming back next year, so the path to Hershey in the East goes through D12 until proven otherwise. Then again, the PIAA might flip the brackets like they did for 18-19 and put 6A/5A D12 in the West bracket so they would end up playing D7 in the semi-finals and put D3 back into the East, that decision comes out in Feb/March at the PIAA meetings so we’ll see.
October 20th, 2021 at 3:46 pm
@ Ryan: Where did I say anything negative about Academy Park? They’ve proven to be a top program, always a legit contender in 5A. I’d say the same thing about them as I did Garnet Valley from the Delco perspective- it’d be great if they went on a long Hershey run, and they have a far better chance now that they don’t have to deal with Wood for the next 2 years. I actually appreciate your report on their game with D-East as I said previously what I thought of the Cougars.
I think D1 5A will be a very competitive and entertaining bracket once the 2nd round comes, with all the current top 9 seeds having an argument of being capable of winning it.
October 20th, 2021 at 1:42 pm
Springford should beat Owen j Roberts pretty handedly I believe. Springford’s gotten better as the year has gone along and Owen J Roberts just doesn’t have an offense to keep up.
October 20th, 2021 at 9:26 am
Ryan, It was moved to 2 PM. Thank you for letting me know.
October 20th, 2021 at 5:41 am
Ryan, I emailed Spring-Ford to double-check. I will post on here once I find out.
October 19th, 2021 at 4:56 pm
@ BJ – Thank you, trying to get a feel about how good North Penn is this year.
This year I’ve watched Downingtown East, Perk Valley, Chester, Coatesville, Academy Park, Governor Mifflin, Imhotep, Lasalle, Owen J. Roberts, and will see Springford this Saturday.
This best two teams from that list I’ve seen have been Governor Mifflin and Perk Valley.
@ Uncle T – Guess you haven’t watched Academy Park football for the Last 10 years as they are as consistent as the Garnet Valley teams. Maybe don’t have the number of kids but Winning they are right up there.
@David Mika – What time is the Owen J Roberts/ Springford game on Saturday. Seeing 2PM and 7PM, please confirm a time.
October 18th, 2021 at 7:13 pm
@ Buddy & BJ
When the PIAA went to 6 classifications for football in 2016, District One went to the current system of all higher seeds hosting playoff games, including the championship game. Prior to 2016, when still 4 classifications for football, the championship game was held at neutral site.
October 18th, 2021 at 6:40 pm
Buddy, I agree, can remember a couple times off the top of my head that it was at a neutral site.
October 18th, 2021 at 5:46 pm
@BJ
Hasn’t always been that way. i can site many examples. but suffice to say……….. I’m glad.
October 18th, 2021 at 4:58 pm
@PhillyBoy – yes, Mt Lebanon is very good, I would be surprised if they don’t win the WPIAL title, I was at the Lebo vs. PCC game 2 weeks ago, PCC returned the opening kickoff for a TD, and Mt Lebanon basically took control after that, it was 21-7 when game was suspended midway through the 3rd quarter, and they finished them off the next morning when the game resumed. They don’t have any Power 5 recruits, but they have a receiver/DB going to Navy, and their running back Tecza is a very good high school back and is being recruited as a safety by FCS schools and Army. I told my Mt Lebo buddies when they hired Palko they would win a district title within 3 yrs, this is year 3 and he has them right on schedule. I think Lebo has a legit chance to get to Hershey, they would likely play Erie McDowell in the quarterfinals and the D3 winner in the semi-finals, but I don’t think they would beat the D12 winner if that’s their opponent in the final, although I would give them a shot against the D1 winner if they upset D12 in the semi-finals. IMO whoever comes out of the East will be the favorite in Hershey, that includes DI if they finally get over the hump and beat D12.
October 18th, 2021 at 4:34 pm
Buddy, the district one playoffs always play at the higher seeds home field. This includes the Championship game. Only reason a game might be played at a different site is because the home teams field isn’t up to par. But it’s clearly stated in the rules that the higher seed hosts the game.
October 18th, 2021 at 12:41 pm
@BJ
I know everything about North Penn………..but I’m not goin’ to tell you.
The #1 seed is going to be tight ( It’s GV or NP for sure). Not sure where the D1 championship will be played.
In the past they done either: D1 championship at the higher seed or D1 championship at a neutral field.
Never understood why it went to a neutral field, but if GV is #1 seed, I hope it does.
October 18th, 2021 at 12:05 pm
Ryan, a report on the North Penn vs CBE game would be great. Don’t really expect a close game though, as CBE is a week 6 -2 team. There 6 wins have come against teams with a combined record of 17-32. North Penn really hasn’t played a tough schedule either, as their opponents are combined 27-36. But a first-hand report on North Penn would be cool. I too believe Perkiomen Valley’s spread offense will be a serious threat in the district one playoffs. Should be a great 4 weeks of district 1 playoffs, hope everybody stays healthy and no key players go down for anybody.
Kevin, you are correct, if things fall the way you would expect them to, that North Penn will edge out GV as the number one seed. As you said, a lot of other games will come into play for that 10-point difference.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:09 am
@ Kevin X: I’m a Delco guy so I’ll say it would be nice to see a long run by Garnet Valley to give area football a jolt in the arm. There’s been quite a buzz about them this year from a lot of the county’s lifers including coaches, ex-players, etc.. who hold this year’s team in pretty high regard, so we’ll see how it goes. I would agree that the Central is not what it was 10-20 years ago, but we could say similar things more recently about the Suburban One. Garnet Valley has tore through that league in the playoffs ever since there’s been a 6A, mercy ruling just about everyone except North Penn who they’re 1-1 against. Same with the Pioneer, which is a true paper tiger as you said.
GV just hasn’t had the horses to keep up with Coatesville’s Young brothers, Ricky Ortega, and Dapree Bryant. Like BJ said though, they seem to be extra deep this year with an actual passing game, so the scales would be at least as even as they’ve ever been should the 2 meet again. I wouldn’t fault GV too much on that Ridley game by the way. They did something right at halftime to outscore them by something like 35-3 in the 2nd half, and I’ll put it out there that Ridley will be a sneaky tough out come playoff time against everybody outside the top 2.
I’m most curious about D-Town East. I think their A game is really good, but their coaching staff has repeatedly come up small when it matters most. The next 2 weeks will tell us a ton more about them. Anyway it slices, it’s fun to think that that the East final could be competitive this year given the flux in the PCL.
October 18th, 2021 at 12:40 am
Your recap of the Garnet valley Ridley game isn’t quite accurate Kevin. Ridley was leading at halftime 34 to 28. Ridley scored a field goal on their first possession of the second half and then Garnet valley scored 37 unanswered points. Ridley had a nice first half but once GV made the defensive adjustments, it was a slaughter. This is the only game GV played their starters in the fourth quarter. And I don’t believe your math is correct if North Penn and Garnet valley both win their last two games, Garnet valley will still end up the number one seed in District 1. Ryan I agree with you, I think Perkiomen Valley is going to be a tough out for anybody.
October 17th, 2021 at 7:21 pm
Been working the graveyard shift for the past year and a half almost, so I haven’t made one Friday night game since the season before last and as playoffs are around the corner it’s starting to get really depressing to me. I went to a Saturday game at Downingtown East recently, and on the only Saturday game Coatesville plays this year, yesterday, I had to go to New York. Looks like I missed a heck of a game too, as Chester is very talented now and looks like they’ll make a serious run in 5A.
If Coatesville can’t get it done this year, I’ll root for Garnet Valley as they’re a terrific program and deserve to get to states for once.
Glad to still keep up with this forum and read all your comments, at least it makes me feel like I’m not missing everything. Hopefully I’ll get back to a normal schedule soon or find some way to make some playoff games in November but 7pm kickoff is like staying up til 5am to me.
October 17th, 2021 at 6:08 pm
OK, I feel a small need to play Garnet contrarian for a moment. Don’t want to throw a wet blanket on their run to Hershey, but more of a slightly damp towel…….
First, their game with Ridley, they were loosing that game late in the 3rd quarter, but Ridley basically self imploded the final third of that game.
Second, the Central League. Let’s not get the Central League confused with the PCL Red. We’re not talking lacrosse. But feel free to be confused with the Pioneer, and anyone following District One football knows how that league fairs in the post season.
Third, and this is going to be fun over the final two weeks. Right now Garnet is leading North Penn in the 6A D1 rankings by 70 points. If both teams win out, two givens are that NP will get 20 more points by playing 2 6A teams versus Garnet’s playing one 6A team and one 5A team. Second, North Penn will get at least 120 bonus win points for their two upcoming opponents vs. only 60 for Garnet. So that will give NP 10 more points in the ranking after week 10. Of course the moving part in all of this is in their opponents obtaining wins in the final two weeks. But most of them are league games, so they will be a wash. Garnet will be a D-Town West fan this weekend and hope they can beat rival D-Town East (DTW should handle Avon Grove week 10). NP meanwhile will be rooting for Souderton, Upped Dub and Truman, with more opportunity there to gain more bonus win points. So all of that may be huge to secure the Number 1 6A ranking and the home field in a potential 6A championship game.
Long long long way yet to the final weekend in November, a few other teams will have something to say as well, so I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.
October 17th, 2021 at 6:03 pm
@BJ – I’ve watched Coatesville this weekend play Chester and didn’t come away impressed. Defensively they don’t look as good as usual, while offensively not doing much besides running with there QB. Heck the QB was playing Safety as well. Don’t believe I seen them throw a pass over 20 yards, everything was short.
Downingtown East played Academy Park and I didn’t walk away impressed with DE. Academy Park had plenty of speed which DE couldn’t keep up with, Academy Park who was playing without there head coach, while also getting a good portion of kids back who were sick; had a few special teams errors that cost them the game. Academy Park had two opportunities to stop DE on DE’s 26 and 38 but couldn’t and got the ball back with like 1:10 left.
Will be going to North Penn this Friday to watch them play CBE, will let you know what I see.
The team that will make a good run I believe will be Perkiomen Valley.
@phillyboy – Yes this is coach Ricci’s last year
October 17th, 2021 at 12:50 pm
@ BJ — You made a pretty strong case regarding Garnet Valley, nicely stated. And I didn’t realize that they’ve played most of the year without a D1 player who just returned, wow, maybe this IS their best team ever where everything comes together. Isn’t this Coach RIcci’s last year too, be nice to see them make take states. As long as they remain humble and hungry, who knows.
@ Jeff H. — This Mount Lebanon team has been doing very well. They beat North Allegheny, a nice win, and then beat Pittsburgh Central Catholic by 3 TD’s, not too shabby. Heck, even Imhotep with all their D1 talent only beat PCC by 1 TD. I know you got your hand on the pulse out there, are they the real deal? Coach Palko is making his presence felt. Also, regarding Coach K, the former coach of Pine-Richland, be nice to see NA or some other strong public program pick him up.
October 17th, 2021 at 9:31 am
@ BJ
Sounds about right. Hey. maybe they can beat the D12 rep.
October 17th, 2021 at 12:17 am
If there was every year Garnet Valley was going to get past Coatesville and take the district 1 crown, this is the year. Starters have only played the first half in seven out of eight games this year. Their quarterback has 18 touchdowns and no interceptions and nobody has come close to stopping them. They gave Ridley and Strath Haven their only losses on the year quite handedly. They’re averaging 50 points a game while only giving up 13. Most of those 13 points a game have been given up on kick returns and by the second and third team defenses. They just got back their Navy commit running back/ lb this week after injuring his ankle in the first quarter of the second game. His first Carry of the game he went 80 yards for a touchdown. They have 36 seniors and are a deep team. I see Perkiomen Valley, North Penn, Downingtown East and Coatesville being good competition, but I see GV coming out on top. Quakertown has played nobody and I see them as a bit of a fraud and Pennridge has a nice defense but struggles offensively. I think the jags go 14-0 and then lose the D12 rep in a close game.
October 16th, 2021 at 11:13 pm
Wood /Prep was a slugfest for three quarters with Prep pulling away in the fourth. The PCL is in turmoil with Judge beating Roman . What next ??
October 15th, 2021 at 11:40 pm
**found it
October 15th, 2021 at 11:36 pm
Does anyone have the cycle requirements? @Mike in Tacony wrote if GM only had one more boy in the class they would be 6A, anyone have the state wide cycle?
October 15th, 2021 at 10:17 pm
@ Joneses, Wood and lasalle havent played yet this year. OK I will pick Wood in an upset although on paper prep by 14. Just want a good game.
October 15th, 2021 at 4:25 pm
Don’t know if this has ever been discussed, but could you imagine if Imhotep found a way to the old Glen Mills school. Imhotep would be able to house these kids from crazy or bad environments, get funding from the state and become a national power, all while using the weight room, turf field, and become more of sports power in basketball, track, an any other sport.
They would still get the kids from Philadelphia but now your reach would be able to get kids from Chester, Delaware, Bucks and Montgomery Counties.
October 15th, 2021 at 3:27 pm
Thanks for the brackets, Dave! The PIAA site can be the black hole for information. I always seem to land on old links and past brackets.
Foleman, I get that D3-6A is down but that seems to be true across much of the state this season, no? District 3 plays the D2-D4-D6 winner in the first round of the state playoffs again, (thankfully, instead of the stupid bye that they’ve had the past two years) and at least based on game results so far this year, I’d probably take any of 3-4 teams from D3 over the best of State College, Hazelton, or Delaware Valley – none of whom have looked particularly impressive – in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs. I do agree that Central York would be a sizable underdog vs. Mt. Lebanon in the 6A semi-finals, though, and that if Governor Mifflin had only 1 more boy in grades 9-11 for this cycle that they’d be the D3-6A rep.
I’d put LaSalle and Prep in tier 1, the D1 winner & Mt. Lebanon in tier 2, and then everybody else in tier 3.
October 15th, 2021 at 3:11 pm
@ Kevin X & Foleman – I would agree 6A is more open this year than in the recent past, although I still think the PCL winner is the favorite, expect the D12 winner to beat the D11 winner (Parkland?) in the quarterfinals and play either NP or Garnet Valley in the semi-finals. Mt Lebo is clearly the favorite in the WPIAL and they would likely play Erie McDowell in the quarterfinals with the winner playing the D3 winner in the semi-finals, if I had to pick now I’d say Lebo against the PCL winner in Hershey
5A still looks like a 2 horse race with Imhotep and GM, expect Imhotep to beat Erie Prep in the quarterfinals and the DI winner in the semi-finals, and GM to handle whoever emerges from the WPIAL in the other semi-final.
In 4A I like Bishop McDevitt from D3 to get to Hershey from the east, Jersey Shore is in the west bracket and would be slated to play the WPIAL winner (TJ or Belle Vernon) in the semi-finals, I’ll say TJ wins the rematch with Belle Vernon and Jersey Shore and plays McDevitt in the final, although I’d love to see Belle Vernon get there so the rest of the state can see how dynamic their QB is, he’s the most exciting player in the WPIAL this year.
3A might be the most wide open class, I could make the case for at least a handful of teams to win, the bracket is stacked in the East, I think Central Valley will get there for the third year in a row from the west, although they might get a challenge from North Catholic in the WPIAL playoffs, NC has been impressive with 5 shutouts in 7 games but they have played a weak schedule
For a change 2A is pretty open too this year, the WPIAL has a handful of very good teams and as Kevin mentioned Farrell in D10 has been crushing everyone, I would make the Farrell/WPIAL semi-final winner the favorite in Hershey, first time in several years SC might be the underdog in the final if they get that far.
October 15th, 2021 at 2:01 pm
I mentioned this last week, so just a little reminder and helping Kevin C. spread the word……..
“So excited for tonight as @jeffnolan1210 and I bring the @wphtscores Scoreboard Show to @1210WPHT. On from 10 pm to Midnight on the radio and @Audacyapp. Tune in, listen and spread the word please.”
October 15th, 2021 at 12:42 pm
I see Garnet Valley winning the D1 final ( even tho I’m a NP fan). They always had a vicious running attack, hear it’s coupled with a passing attack this year.
In the mix are the usual ; Coatesville, D-Town East, North Penn, maybe Ridley and possible Q-Town. However, no one gets past whoever comes outa D12.
Not sure what’s out west, but again, no one gets past the D12 rep. Sure as hell hope I’m wrong tho !
October 15th, 2021 at 12:30 pm
I came on here today to see if some of the wiseman had posted who thought would come out on top between Wood and Prep. A little disappointed to not see anything since Paul and Jeff nailed it on LaSalle vs Prep and LaSalle vs Wood. The PCL could get very interesting with a Wood win tomorrow.
October 15th, 2021 at 11:09 am
@ Mike in Tacony
I was going to mention a week or so ago how wide open 6A is in D1 this year. Up for grabs for about 8 or so teams that I see. Which is a good thing. I think I can also say that about 6A statewide, with St. Joe Prep appearing to come back to the pack, LaSalle getting tripped up last week, no real juggernaut coming out of the WPIAL that I can tell (Jeff H. can chime in here), really think 6A is up for grabs statewide. Again, a good thing. In fact, you can probably say that about 2A with SCA also appearing to be actually human and Farrell just steamrolling along out west (and a few WPIAL teams doing the same, again I’ll defer to Jeff H.), 3A top heavy, but anybody’s guess for eventual champion, ECP and Imhotep getting out to the way in 4A and opening that up for some new blood, 5A really a collision course between Mifflin and Imhotep, but probably my most anticipated potential future match-up, this may be the first time in years that I actually give a rat’s behind about the state semi finals and finals and not turning my focus to hs hoops after the D1 championships.
October 15th, 2021 at 10:25 am
A big test for Wood Saturday against St Joe Prep. Two Soph QBs matched up . Preps defense is so fast and Woods Defense is very physical. Hoping for a good game .
October 15th, 2021 at 10:12 am
Mike in Tacony, Whoever wins District 3 6A will get beat in the 1st round of the State playoffs, D3 6A is very weak this year. Central York is the top rated team, watched them against 5A Exeter in week 1 and wasn’t impressed at all. Exeter pushed them around but mistakes and dumb play calling cost them the game, and this is the same Exeter team that got beat by 35 points by Governor Mifflin last week. 6a Winner will be out of District 1-N. Penn or Garnet Valley or District 11-Anybody’s guess
October 14th, 2021 at 9:45 pm
I will take out spaces once I enter the games…I think you’re right its only 4 teams.
October 14th, 2021 at 8:14 pm
Dave,
Quick question regarding state brackets. In d11 2A, I thought there was only four teams that make it. Your dist 11 2A bracket has four teams but 2A state bracket had d11 having 8 teams. Is it 4 or 8 in D11 2A this year? Thanks.
October 14th, 2021 at 6:43 pm
Mike…We have a template out for statewide and district brackets….https://www.easternpafootball.com/playoff-brackets/
October 14th, 2021 at 4:26 pm
I still haven’t seen the state brackets anywhere. Are they keeping the same format as last year?
Hasn’t been much chatter in the forum recently outside of Prep / LaSalle and 3A. Who are the current favorites to win districts in 6A in the East? Central York, Parkland, and Garnet Valley? My only time watching Harrisburg was when they got pummeled by Governor Mifflin so it was tough to get a read on how they (Harrisburg) might stack up against Central York, especially since Central York plays in such a weak league.
October 14th, 2021 at 3:11 pm
Actually mcd65, the QB you are referring to returned back home to Quakertown after starting for Wood as a Freshman. There were 2 others that played on the team he QB at Wood who were originally from Q-town. They had a heck of a team that year & with the 3 that started for Wood, may have made a run themselves. Love to see West beat North Penn, but come the 4th qtr North Penn is too deep for them
October 13th, 2021 at 3:00 pm
Mike S. ,I believe the QB for a couple of those Q-Town teams was a transfer from Wood. We all know Sub ! has very good teams. I hope West can Upset North Penn this week. Go Bucks !!!!
October 13th, 2021 at 11:35 am
@FrankG yes you are right on it. It’s like calling Ben Simmons an Allstar in the same sentence as Kevin Durant and forgetting Ben wasn’t voted in or even a coaches pick. Souderton starters had a great game against the second and third team for Prep. I was in the stands watching. Some kids who only play garbage time got chewed out for allowing that to happen.
October 12th, 2021 at 8:39 pm
I have zero interest in putting down Suburban One or District One, but pointing to the final score–it was actually 51-43–of the SJP-Souderton game last year is an enormous stretch. SJP was ahead 51-7 early in the second half. Great that Souderton’s starters played so well against SJP’s subs, scoring right up to the final seconds, but anyone who saw the game, as I did via a livestream, knows what they saw.
October 12th, 2021 at 7:03 pm
FrankG
Hatboro Horsham has struggled with low number the last two years, but particularly this year, covid may have played a same role but not the underlying issue. As far as Quakertown being no real competition. That was said lsst year when Souderton played St. Joe’s, final score 51-45 I believe. Yeah Suburban One is terrible, North Penn, CB West, CB East, Quakertown, etc. Most of which have kids playing in the Catholic League
October 12th, 2021 at 4:54 pm
Local Bucks Co. newspaper reports Hatboro-Horsham cancelled the three games because of low numbers–not Covid, though I suppose there could be a connection. Any other schools struggling with low numbers?
October 12th, 2021 at 8:31 am
Hi Kevin X
Yeah, maybe an interesting game, but what’s really in it for Quakertown? As is they get a week off to attend to their injuries in preparing for the playoffs, immediately after the 3 toughest games on their schedule. Also for a little history, last time Quakertown scheduled a Catholic team, 3 or 4 years later, 3 of their better players were playing for that particular Catholic team as they rolled forward toward a State Championship. Interestingly enough Quakertown had if my memory serves me correctly a 11 & 2 team that lost in the District One playoffs, HHHHHmmmm would they have been without losing those 3 players. Also generally speaking being so far out of the city they don’t lose many players to Catholic teams, so seems the two events tie together quite nicely. I get it that the Catholic League recruits, I know of one of the better Middle School players in the area is visiting a Prep school today, so it’s happening all the time. But why would it be in their interest to help them look at players, instead of giving their injuried kids a rest a couple weeks before the playoffs? Just, knowing History, doesn’t make sense. But interesting thought!
October 12th, 2021 at 7:30 am
@kevin
I doubt Q-Town would accept the challenge. The teams they have beaten aren’t in the same league as LaSalle.
Plus, I think they want to go undefeated. I assume Hatboro ending their season is due to covid, not lack of players?
October 11th, 2021 at 9:05 pm
Thanks for the clarification on the prep/Wood game. @ Kevin, YUP CB West/North Penn Friday and Wood /Prep Saturday. Quite a pair of big time games .
October 11th, 2021 at 7:49 pm
From Mike Cabrey’s Twitter:
“Per its schedule website, Hatboro-Horsham football has canceled its final 3 games (Friday vs. Quakertown, Oct. 22 vs. Souderton, Oct. 29 vs. Upper Dublin).”
I know LaSalle has a scheduled bye this week, but a Q-Town/LaSalle match-up is intriguing. Get back on your proverbial horse sooner rather than later after that tough loss to RC. Would Q-Town accept the challenge tho????
October 11th, 2021 at 7:28 pm
@ McD 65
Crazy thing is, the Wood website has Friday night, and The Prep’s Website has Saturday afternoon (1p). So I went to the tiebreaker, Wm. Tennant’s website and they are home Friday night, so I am am going to go with the Wood/SJP game will be Saturday afternoon. Just my logic at play here. But that also would be very nice, as then its Friday night on D-Town, Sat. afternoon in Warminster.
October 11th, 2021 at 5:59 pm
Wood has the game on Saturday at 1:00 at Tennant. I think that’s accurate.
October 11th, 2021 at 9:00 pm
MCD 65……They moved it to 1pm….St. Joseph’s Prep (3-2) @ Archbishop Wood (5-2) 01:00 PM Notes: at William Tennent HS
October 11th, 2021 at 3:40 pm
Does anyone know for sure when the Prep/Wood game will be played this weekend ?? This site says Friday night and max Prep says saturday at 1
October 11th, 2021 at 9:06 am
@Jeff H – heck of a call man! I think I will just wait to see what you and @Paul has to say each week to know what’s going on. Jeff I think you’re right about LaSalle. The luster is off, no more undefeated and it happened at time where it doesn’t matter much in the longer run. I am sure Wood is really pumped for this weeks game against the Prep after seeing LaSalle beat Prep and Roman beat LaSalle. Could this be the first year in a long time that Prep and LaSalle are not 1-2 in the PCL playoffs?
October 11th, 2021 at 8:46 am
@ Jeff H
thought the same thing about the La Salle game but Roman showed them “why they play the game”. Sends the PCL into a little bit of a horse race!!
October 9th, 2021 at 5:50 pm
Looks like I was on to something with LaSalle having a big letdown after last week, I figured they’d sleepwalk through the first half and then get their act together but they actually go down to Roman in a big upset 27-20. I’m sure some will disagree with me but that loss might be good for them in the long run, we’ll see.
Mt Lebo finished what they started last night and beat PCC 35-14, after giving up an opening kickoff return they only gave up 7 points the rest of the way, very impressive win for Lebo and they are now the clear favorite to win a WPIAL for the first time in 21 years and then likely face Erie McDowell in the quarterfinals. Lebo has a very balanced offense, excellent running back, very good receiver going to Navy, a good high school quarterback who throws a really nice ball and is very savvy, and their defense is solid, they will be a tough out in the playoffs with veteran coach Bob Palko.
@Matt – I saw that score and agree about those 2 being on collision course, right now it looks like the winner of that game against Central Valley in Hershey for 3a.
October 9th, 2021 at 4:24 pm
Well there was certainly something rotten for LaSalle this afternoon in Denmark……..
October 9th, 2021 at 10:14 am
@ Kevin X — Wow, that is awesome news regarding the return of the ‘Scoreboard Show’ — are you kidding me?! And it’s going to air on 1210 WPHT, I already have that programmed into my settings. A while back I actually commented that they should put the show on 94 WIP or possibly 97.5 The Fanatic, figuring they could justify dedicating a few hours per week to high school ball, throw the high school football fans a bone. Yeah those 50,000 watt stations are no joke. I remember picking up the news station 1060 KYW while in the Steubenville, Ohio area a while back, whoa, did a double take on that one. Meanwhile, as you indicated, 1440 WNPV was weak, if you weren’t in the immediate Lansdale, Montgomery County area, good luck picking that up. Back in the day, after attending a North Penn game, sometimes I would deliberately linger (at a Wawa or Wendy’s) just to be able to listen to the ‘Scoreboard Show’ before heading back to North Philly.
October 9th, 2021 at 7:51 am
North Schuylkill pounded NDGP last night in a matchup of two top 5 teams in 3A including top ranked North Schuylkill. Looks like North Schuylkill and Wyomissing are on collusion course in 3A state playoffs.
October 8th, 2021 at 10:08 pm
Governor Mifflin 54-Exeter 21 This game was over with after the 1st play-a 75 yard TD on the opening kickoff by Mifflin. A lifeless, mistake prone Exeter looked liked they couldn’t wait until the game was over. 33-7 at the half. I knew what Mifflin could do on offense with Singleton, Martin and Rock, was very impressed with their defense. Mifflin’s defensive backs are very good. Few teams do less with more than Exeter who has several highly rated players on their roster. Penn State is looking at Exeter’s 6’6 Tight end Joey Schlaffer who made several nice plays in the game.
October 8th, 2021 at 5:23 pm
I just copied and pasted this from Kevin Cooney’s Twitter:
“Thrilled to announce that Jeff Nolan & I are bringing the Friday Night High School Football Scoreboard Show back on
@1210WPHT
starting next Friday, 10 p.m-12 am. Follow us at
@WPHTScores
for the remainder of the high school football season and tune in to 1210 and the Audacy app.”
“We loved doing the Scoreboard Show at WNPV for 20 years. We’re expanding to cover the entire landscape of the region, highlighting the players, coaches and teams that make high school football our civic passion on a Friday night.”
Wow from a low level local night time signal station to a 50,000 watt flamethrower of a station. Will probably be able listen to the show while driving in Toledo (and beyond)!!!
October 8th, 2021 at 2:11 pm
@ The Joneses & Mcd 65 – thanks for your insight on Roman, sounds like good timing to play LaSalle after last week but they don’t have the horses to keep up with them for four quarters, I wouldn’t be surprised though if its a 1 score game at halftime and LaSalle pulls away in the 2nd half. .
Going to the big game in the WPIAL tonight with Lebo hosting PCC, these are clearly the top 2 teams in 6A and would be very surprised if they don’t meet for the district title next month. Lebo beat them 37-30 in the regular season last year but were shut out in the playoffs 35-0, I think Lebo will win tonight and be the #1 seed in the playoffs but won’t be quite as high scoring as last years game.
Anyone have any thoughts on GM vs. Exeter tonight, I think GM ends up winning by 3 TD’s, something like 42-21. GM reminds me of PR last year in I think they are 2 TD’s+ better than any other team in their district, PR was that much better than every other WPIAL team last year, including TJ and PCC.
October 8th, 2021 at 9:18 am
@JeffH Roman will only beat Father Judge in the PCL. I do agree this is a setup game, but Roman just doesn’t have it. If this was Wood it would be a better chance in my opinion.
October 8th, 2021 at 8:07 am
Why do I think if that CB West wasn’t scheduled to play North Penn next week that they’d be more actively seeking a game for this weekend, especially if they could secure a home game.
Is the Haverford School still looking for a game this weekend??
October 7th, 2021 at 6:19 pm
@ Jeff, I saw Roman scrimmage CB West and I thought they had some very skilled players . A good dual threat QB , a solid Rb and a gifted soph WR who is very fast. Their line is definitely above average in size. With all this They still need cohesion. I doubt if they can hang with lasalle. I am going to try to attend the game.
October 7th, 2021 at 6:28 pm
Hi Kevin X…I did reach out to CB West HC…But he did say yesterday, they aren’t looking anymore.
October 7th, 2021 at 5:59 pm
Anybody up for an Easton/CB West game this weekend?? Preferably in Doylestown so I can go 🙂
October 6th, 2021 at 8:55 pm
Just curious if any of you guys that follow the PCL think Roman has a chance to put a scare into LaSalle this weekend. I’m not saying upset them, but keep it close into the 2nd half and make it interesting, does LaSalle have any kind of a letdown after their big win last week? Seems to me Roman might be catching them at a good time, but I don’t know enough about them to know if they have the talent to hang with LaSalle.
@Foleman – I didn’t remember Wyomissing also beat Imhotep in the semi-finals, I too recall Aliquippa looking bewildered in the 2nd half of that game, I think that was the only time they trailed in the 2nd half all season and they didn’t know how to react. Some people around here were talking about how that team was one of the best in Aliquippa history and I think the players thought there was no way they were going to lose and were stunned when they found themselves in a dogfight in the 2nd half.
October 6th, 2021 at 11:21 am
@Paul it was you with a foresight. I don’t know if it will be more convincing. All arrows point to LaSalle. They didn’t appear to lack anything in that game. Historically they tend to get too excited on a Prep and loose focus on the long term goal see 2015. I was at that game and many will point to a bad pass interference call. LaSalle could have and should have still won they game, but they didn’t play aggressive to score in regulation, played for a field goal in OT and Parkland won. LaSalle will be undefeated still when the PCL playoff matchup happens. All the confidence in the world and a solid game plan. That’s a scary opponent for anyone. Prep is wounded and can only be healed with a win in that game.
@ScottyB, Kevin X and Mcd_65 ANC in no way should be on the same field with St Francis. I can’t recall if St Francis does post grads. If not, I wouldn’t expect anyone to get hurt. Just beat up morally and a bruised running back.
October 6th, 2021 at 11:12 am
@Foleman yeah I saw that and read an article on it before. It seems in the long run worked for the players because they play a national schedule.
October 6th, 2021 at 8:49 am
HBO had a series on St. Francis-the Cost of Winning- https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/artsentertainment/review-the-cost-of-winning-hbo-docuseries-st-frances-academy-football/
Biff Poggi, a wealthy Hedge Fund Manager took over the program and used his money to recruit local poverty stricken athletes and from across the US to play for the School. Biff turned the tiny, poor Catholic School located in Baltimore into a National Powerhouse but at great cost. SFA got kicked out of their league and no team in the region will play them anymore citing potential injury to players.
October 5th, 2021 at 6:58 pm
@ Kevin X
@ mcd_65
I saw that as well and it’s absolutely silly they would schedule that game. I did some digging and SFA is currently 3-1 and their only loss was to St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) and they most recently beat De La Salle (CA) 42-28. Conversely, I saw that ANC stands at 2-3 and lost 9-8 to New Hope-Solebury. The same New Hope-Solebury that PJPII beat 51-0. Yikes.
I really hope nobody gets seriously hurt.
October 5th, 2021 at 5:41 pm
@ Kevin X , I saw that too about st francis . This is a complete joke and those Academy of new church kids could be injured . They will be destroyed. This game should not happen and whoever scheduled it needs to be questioned about their intention.
October 5th, 2021 at 3:21 pm
Jeff H, Wyo also crushed Imhotep 35-13 in the 2012 Semi’s I remember Aliquippa completely falling apart late in that game as they never had to come from behind against a good team all year. Wyo had a few tough games in the regular season while the Quips were averaging 50+ points PG while giving up only a few points per game.
October 5th, 2021 at 2:36 pm
Am I reading this schedule correctly?? National powerhouse St Francis Academy out of Baltimore is playing 2-3 “A” equivalent Academy of the New Church Saturday afternoon?? is this a joke I’m not getting??
October 5th, 2021 at 12:28 pm
@ Mike in Tacony – and I would add that slow wing-T Wyomissing team defeated an Aliquippa team with superior athletes in the 2012 state final 17-14 in what most considered a big upset at the time, Aliquippa destroyed everyone that year and most of their games were mercy rules until they ran into an extremely well coached team in Hershey that executed their game plan to perfection, prior to that game the fewest points the Quips scored that year was 34 in the WPIAL final against Washington which they won 34-7.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:05 am
@the Joneses
That game solidifies La Salle as the team to beat. It went a long way in the mental department of the La Salle players too. Now they know they can handle the Prep. As you mentioned, they will probably face each other again in the PCL championship and I do believe La Salle will win in a much more convincing way!!
October 4th, 2021 at 10:33 pm
Whoa there! Can’t just let Gary knock slow wing-T teams lol
I don’t know why Wilmington being a slow wing-T team is a knock. They’ve won a lot of football games. Southern Columbia is basically a slow wing-T team. They’ve won a bunch of games, too. And they just had their streak snapped by yet another slow wing-T team in Wyomissing. Those three programs have all won state titles and have 22 state title game appearances between them.
In small class football, good coaching staffs and stable schemes (such as the wing-T) provide year-to-year consistency for youth development. These programs often only lose to teams with superior athletes, but that’s in spite of the schemes, not because of them. Not every coach with only 40 boys to pick from has the luxury of designing an offense that assumes that those 40 boys include the future state champion 4×100 track team, a la Aliquippa, Clairton, Steelton-Highspire, or, in my day, Scotland.
Any predictions for Malvern Prep vs Spalding this weekend?
October 4th, 2021 at 9:28 pm
@ Gary Z – Thanks, I didn’t realize Farrell plays Wilmington this week so that will tell us about the pecking order in D10, I have not seen any tape on Farrell so I defer to you, I just know their history and they’ve been very good recently and have fared pretty well against WPIAL teams over the years. I do know both Sto-Rox and SV are loaded with athletes and speed and the SV running back is one of the best in the WPIAL, and either team is going to be a very tough out in the state playoffs. I see the big schools in person and just follow the smaller schools, going to see Mt Lebo vs. PCC this week, that should be a very entertaining game and I think Lebo has a pretty good chance to beat them at home, expect a sellout crowd and rocking atmosphere like TJ vs. Belle Vernon a couple of weeks ago.
October 4th, 2021 at 11:53 am
KUDOS to LaSalle players and coaches. That’s the first time I ever saw Prep out Coached. Even though LaSalle trailed twice in the game, it never seemed like they were out of it. This game felt very much like the Milton game so maybe (I forget who said it) Prep was exposed. The rematch is also interesting. Too bad the rest of the PCL teams are so bad that its a virtual guarantee the rematch happens.
Wow SC looses as well. This is indeed a very interesting season.
October 3rd, 2021 at 6:45 pm
@ Jeff H
Good insight as usual from ya bud. Honestly I have seen Farrell, they are not on same level as S. Valley or Sto-Rox. Granted they have speed, but I don’t think they can deal w either WPIAL team. But that’s why they play the games. S.V. has an elite RB w solid skills around them. They also are very good upfront. Sto-Rox just has a TON of skill. Including two very high end QB’s who also play WR when other is behind Center. They put up so many points because teams just can’t deal w the speed and athletes.
October 3rd, 2021 at 5:23 pm
@ Gary Z – agree with you about Steel Valley and Sto Rox, but I wouldn’t count out Farrell from D10, I expect they will beat Wilmington for the D10 title and face the WPIAL winner in the semi-finals in what should be a great game with speed to burn on both sides. It would be kinda ironic if SC does end up playing Steel Valley in Hershey since they were the last team to beat them until Wyomissing.
I was in Erie over the weekend and ran into a buddy who went to the McDowell game on Friday and he said they looked impressive in handling Erie Prep 31-12, he feels Prep is about the same level or a little better than last year but not nearly as good as their 3 state championship teams. Based on his thoughts on the game it appears McDowell may give the WPIAL winner (either PCC or Mt. Lebo) a pretty competitive game in the 6a quarterfinals, and Prep is not on the level of either Mifflin or Imhotep, so it appears to me to be a 2 team race in 5a.
@ Kevin X – thanks, at least I was half right on the score, LOL! The presumed rematch for the PCL championship next month should be very interesting to say the least.
October 3rd, 2021 at 8:31 am
@ Jeff H
Think both of us should stick to our respected day jobs, especially me. Kudos tho to you for nailing The Prep’s “21”!!! Any thoughts on tomorrow’s Powerball numbers?? 🙂
October 2nd, 2021 at 11:38 pm
S.C. is a great program with a legend of a coach. However why they were not moved up, or chose not to, takes a little shine off of them in my opinion. They are going to face either Sto-Rox or Steel Valley in the finals. Both of which have a crazy amount of team speed and athletes. With some D1 skills. So if SC makes the finals, will not be against a slow Wing-T team like D10 Wilmington. Sto-Rox and Steel Valley are Clairton type teams. Trust me, minus T.Boyd, but just as much team speed n athletes. So I hope that’s the matchup. Yes… Central Valley is still loaded, great line and awesome speed n athletes at the skill.
October 2nd, 2021 at 6:42 pm
How about LaSalle !!!! What a great game plan and execution. Rematch will be very interesting in the playoffs . Southern Columbia and st Joe Prep both go down the same week .
October 2nd, 2021 at 6:27 pm
@ Mike in Tacony – Central Valley is very good but I don’t think quite as good as last year, Sean Fitzimmons is a stud on Dline and he’s going to Pitt, they also have a very good running back in Landon Alexander and some nice receivers. 3a is down in the WPIAL this year, it’s CV and everyone else, I would be shocked if the don’t win the WPIAL title, I think they are the biggest favorite in any class to win a WPIAL title. The Beaver county schools outside of Aliquippa are down, and of course the Quips are forced up to 4a, CV beat them 21-12 in week 2, and that might be CV’s closest game until the state playoffs.
I think 5 of the 6 best teams in 3a are in the east, the 2 D11 schools as mentioned in ND Green Pond and N Schuykill, Wyoming/Scranton Prep from D2, and Wyomissing, Neumann-Goretti could also make some noise in the playoffs. It’s hard for me to see CV losing before the state final unless Central Martinsburg or Bedford are a lot better than I think they are and admittedly I don’t know anything about them, just historically speaking D5 and D6 have not fared too well against D7 in the playoffs, outside of Bishop Guilfoyle. And I would expect CV would beat Sharon from D10 if that’s who they end up playing in the semi-finals, I think the D10 winner plays the D5-D6 regional winner in the quarters.
October 2nd, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Wow, first Southern Columbia goes down last night, then SJP this afternoon to LaSalle 28-21, congrats to LaSalle, I didn’t foresee them scoring that many points on SJP’s defense. I did a little research and the last time SC and SJP lost on the same weekend was Nov 21-22 in 2013, SC fell to Old Forge 19-14. and SJP lost to Malvern Prep 24-20. SJP went on to win their first state title that year beating PCC 35-10 and Old Forge lost 14-13 to North Catholic from the WPIAL. That to me is amazing it’s been almost 8 years since those teams lost on the same weekend, as a neutral observer I that’s great for HS football in this state.
October 2nd, 2021 at 5:08 pm
Mike in Tacony, Nitro started off as a guard last year and Wyo’s coaches who are among the best in the business moved him to Fullback where he was unstoppable until the Championship game. I think that last years team had more talent across the board, however, this year’s Wyo team looks more stout up front and might be a tad more explosive. With Berks Catholic off the schedule I don’t think they will be challenged until they meet up with the D11 winner. I have seen highlights of N.Schuykill on the big ticket and they look big and strong, and watching N. Schuykill’s version of “The BUS” is a lot of fun.
October 2nd, 2021 at 9:53 am
@Mike,…..yes, North Schuylkill is the real deal. They have great lines and have tons of skill. They use a 6 ft 300lb as a fullback. He runs over defenses. Had 85 yds last night on 15 carries. NS put up 700 yds last night. Northern Lehigh is a good football team and their defense played well and got a couple take aways against Notre Dame Green Pond and NS just put up big play after big play. Although Northern got them also with 3 60yd plus td plays. I think if NS has a weakness it’s giving up the big play. Wyo might be able to get some on them if they play. Notre Dame also is a big play offense and will test NS next weekend in what should be a preview of dist 3A champ game.
October 2nd, 2021 at 7:53 am
Also @Jeff,
You’re right. 3A in east is stacked. Wyo and North Schuylkill might be on collision course. North Schuylkill has tons of talent and weapons and are ranked 1 in 3A for a reason. But they have to get past Notre Dame GP in 3A in dist 11 who is also loaded with talent. Wyoming area and Scranton Prep are also very good teams. Should be interesting in 3A east this year.
October 2nd, 2021 at 7:35 am
@Jeff…..
Yep, AA is more open this year than it has been last five years. Congrats to Wyomissing on that win. Them vs North Schuylkill would be a heck of a game in AAA state playoffs. North Schuylkill beat my alma mater Northern Lehigh by two tds in a shootout last night. Northern Lehigh is 3-3 in 2A but lost to rival state ranked 4A Northwestern on a missed two or conv., state ranked 3A Notre Dame by one score, and last night to state ranked number 1 in 3A North Schuylkill by 2 tds. They opened the season beating state ranked number 1 in A Muncy. They might be one of the better 2A teams in the east (of course way behind southern). I think they finish 7-3 and are favorite in dist 11 2A (but other rival Palmerton is having a good year although they have a much weaker schedule). Notre Dame GP plays North Schuylkill next week in what probably is a preview of the dist 11 3A champ game.
October 2nd, 2021 at 6:11 am
Wyomissing pretty much pitched a perfect game last night while Southern Columbia made a lot of mistakes. However, even taking that out of the equation, Wyomissing absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage. Very impressive win.
@Foleman – regarding this year’s Wyomissing team vs last year’s team, I had been told that last year’s team was a little better, but this version certainly looked much more dynamic on offense. Seemed to have a bit more team speed, too.
For all of the press last year about their fullback with the perfect football last name (“Nitro”), I wonder after watching some of last night’s game if it would have been better to stick him at guard or tight end and have some of these kids who are now juniors touch the ball more. Much more explosive runners. You seem to know the program well. Curious on your thoughts.
Any word on the strength of Central Valley this year vs. last year? Shouldn’t there be at least half a dozen other state-title caliber programs in Beaver County competing with CV, too? lol. And Jeff, I agree about the depth in the East. I have not seen them this year but everyone says North Schuylkill is great. They have a tough game with Notre Dame GP next weekend.
October 2nd, 2021 at 12:37 am
@Matt – I agree, incredible run for SC, and yes they are still the favorite, but 2A looks to be a lot more competitive this year than the last 4 yrs, either Farrell or the WPIAL winner is going to be a formidable opponent in the finals. The WPIAL has several very good teams in 2A led by Sto-Rox and Washington, and Steel Valley has been flying under the radar but blasted previously undefeated Ligonier Valley tonight 40-0.
@Foleman – might be headed for a rematch in 3a with Central Valley vs. Wyomissing, although Wyomissing has a lot more difficult road to Hershey, almost all of the good 3a teams are in the East this year, the D2 winner will be a factor, same for the D11 winner, but that certainly was an impressive win tonight.
October 1st, 2021 at 11:13 pm
@JC – we agree to disagree about Mifflin, they are clearly one of the best teams in the state and head and shoulders above almost every other team in 5a. I have seen every team in 5a in the WPIAL and Mifflin is a lot better than any of them. No one is saying they are unbeatable, but I like their chances against any team including Imhotep. By the way who said Imhotep was untouchable? They have an excellent defense, but their offense is pretty basic and they struggle to move the ball against good defenses like LaSalle and PCC in the first game of the year. Last year Pine Richland went wire to wire as number 1 in 5a, I said early in the season I didn’t think they would lose and they didn’t, although Mifflin should have beaten them in the semi-finals. We’ll see what happens, that’s why they play the games, but I’ll take Mifflin to win 5a and give you every other team in the field.
Huge shoutout to Wyomissing for ending Southern Columbia’s 65 game winning streak, they are celebrating in Clairton tonight as their state record 66 game winning streak lives on!
@Kevin X – I don’t think SJP will score 31 against LaSalle’s defense, I’ll say 21-10 for SJP.
October 1st, 2021 at 10:22 pm
SC finally loses. What a run….almost five years without a loss. They should still be favorite in 2A though.
October 1st, 2021 at 9:36 pm
Wyomissing 41-S. Columbia 21 The longest active winning streak in HS football is over. Wyo stormed out to a 24-6 lead and never looked back. 5 turnovers from S. Columbia which almost never happens. Wyo’s Div 1 lineman jven Williams was a monster, I can see why Penn State is after him.
October 1st, 2021 at 5:24 pm
It amazes me how so many people can go watch a game and somehow come out of it that this team is almost unbeatable. Never one anything but became unbeatable. I seen them play and I know they are that good!!! Lol It’s embarrassing and it gives your team the good old kiss of death. I have nothing against govenor mifflin. I hope they do win, but wait and let them get there and win it once anyway before you crown them unbeatable. Imotep was untouchable and probably not scored upon earlier, they lost, southern was the best southern team ever after a scrimmage, they almost lost once already and will have there hands full tonight, the moral of the story is don’t be the guy that jinxes a good thing. Govenor mifflin is not head and shoulders above everyone there only a injury away, just like most other high school teams , from being an also ran. Enjoy there wins don’t jinx there future Mr. greek
October 1st, 2021 at 3:45 pm
FWIW, since someone tossed it out there………SJP 31 – LaSalle 13
October 1st, 2021 at 1:55 pm
@ Mike in Tacony – I agree with you about Mifflin, in my opinion they are the favorite to win 5A, and I think the only team that matches up with them and has a shot is Imhotep. I know Erie Prep is very good, but I don’t think they are on a level this year with Mifflin. I don’t think anyone is going to beat Mifflin in a shootout, you’ve got to somehow slow down their offense and limit their possessions, and Imhotep appears to be the only 5A team in the state that has a realistic chance to do that. I haven’t seen Mifflin in person this year, but I was at the Mifflin vs. PR classic last year, and I left that game knowing with the kids they had coming back this year with Singleton & company they were probably going to be the team to beat in 5A, and nothing I’ve read or seen on tape this year has changed my thinking. I don’t like Exeter’s chances against them, I think Mifflin wins that game by 3 scores, we’ll see.
October 1st, 2021 at 10:28 am
Sorry, I just don’t see the value in Any Given Sunday platitudes. Yes, Team A might beat Team B, Team C might win a championship, and the plague might rip through a locker room. Now that we’ve all agreed that nothing is certain, maybe we can shelve the vacuous coach-speak? It provides zero insight and stakes no position. It’s a discussion site. Give an opinion. Something might happen isn’t an opinion. It’s a statement of the obvious. Feel free to name the program that is going to beat Governor Mifflin. I’ve seen them play and more importantly, the numbers don’t lie. Imhotep is the only 5A school that can slow down their offense and I won’t be curbing my confidence until evidence, not platitudes, suggests that I should.
October 1st, 2021 at 9:46 am
@Wilson4Ever SJP has won the last nine games they’ve played against LaSalle and 14 of the last 15. No one expects this game to be like the blowouts of the last 2-3 years. The Prep’s QB, most of the running backs and nearly all the receivers are sophomores who are very promising but not, at least as of now, close to last year’s core group. LaSalle’s D has been very good. So I’m not expecting the Prep to put up a lot of points–maybe 17-21? LaSalle hasn’t scored much when they’ve played teams with good defenses (Tep and Malvern) and I think Trotter, Heard, and Co. can contain Brown. The game may come down to how well LaSalle can pass against SJP and which team makes the most costly turnover(s). I know that sounds like stating the obvious.
Of course, they are very likely to play again in six weeks.
October 1st, 2021 at 8:45 am
JC, you are right about Mifflin. We will see how they fare against Exeter in a few weeks. Exeter is just as talented as Mifflin is, what they lack is coaching and a Killer instinct. It would not surprise me if they meet up twice this year. From what I see in D3 5A, and I am not disrespecting Manheim Central’s great program, Exeter is the only team that has a remote shot at beating Mifflin.
October 1st, 2021 at 7:26 am
i stand corrected Wyoming Area does not play Scranton Prep in the reg season
October 1st, 2021 at 7:25 am
@jeff h who know you think they would move in to the top 10 ? but it might have to do with D2 having a down year lot of young teams and sadly a lot of bad teams .They have a game with Scranton Prep who i believe is ranked 6th in AAA so we shall see i will bet that the 2 will meet in the D2 final but who know a rainy night a kid get hurt one teams get the fumbles that why it so much fun so we see how it plays out
October 1st, 2021 at 12:56 am
When St. Joe’s Prep and LaSalle College hs collide this Saturday 10/2/21 what are the predictions in the Philadelphia area as to who might come out on top? What are the odds right now and what are most people saying this year about this big matchup? Realistically how strong are these two teams this year? Let’s hear what most of people are saying about this game. Is this supposed to be one of LaSalle’s better teams in a long time and what are they saying about St. Joe’s this year? Lets hear some informed comments about this game before they kickoff. Thanks.
September 30th, 2021 at 11:45 pm
This colonial/schuylkill agreement makes no sense for most of the schuylkill league schools. If Jim Thorpe, tamaqua, lehighton, panther valley and Marian want it best of luck. But north schuylkill, mahanoy area, schuylkill haven, blue mountain, Pottsville, pine groves etc. makes no sense. They would be better off combining with the heartland conference. Nobody wants or cares to travel to pen argyl, notre dame of green pond, palisades etc. Just because you face these teams in districts doesn’t mean a regular season meeting makes sense. You can’t tell me selingsgrove, danville, shamokin, ns, Pottsville, shikellamy, mifflinburg, blue mountain sounds better than what they have now. Southern, mt. Carmel, bloom, haven, minersville, mahanoy area, pine grove is better than what they have now.
September 30th, 2021 at 11:32 pm
What was the problem last week? Game was moved to Monday?
September 30th, 2021 at 10:36 pm
From the school…The team is shut down this week.
September 30th, 2021 at 10:34 pm
Someone check into nd green pond
September 30th, 2021 at 10:33 pm
I guess they are going to let notre dame of green pond go for not postponing last weeks game for covid. Game was moved last week and now this week it’s cancelled with big game against north schuylkill next week. Something fishy at notre dame green pond
September 30th, 2021 at 5:16 pm
Too bad Mifflin & Malvern couldn’t have agreed on a game. Think Malvern would have challenged Mifflin, but I don’t believe they could beat them. No one wanted to see the Reading game where Mifflin could have run up 100 points on that weak team.
September 30th, 2021 at 4:57 pm
@ Mark Dodgson – speaking of Wyoming, I’m a little surprised they are not getting more love in the statewide polls, none I’ve seen have them in the top 10 in 3a. Obviously those polls are meaningless, but they are 4-1 with a last minute loss to a team that is a 4 time defending state champion and has now won 65 straight, so I question why they are not ranked ahead of teams like Bedford and Central Martinsburg who are undefeated but haven’t played anyone remotely close to as good as SC. Will be interesting to see how far Wyomissing falls if they lose to SC. On the western side of the state no team is on a level with Central Valley and its hard for me to see how they don’t get back to Hershey for the third season in a row.
September 30th, 2021 at 4:40 pm
Governor mifflin may very well win a state title. But they are only 1 injury or 1 covid case or 1 simple loss to a good team away from not going anywhere. My god you never won a state championship, don’t guarantee yourself anything yet. You people are the kiss of death and unless your southern Columbia or st. Joes prep you might want to curb your confidence
September 30th, 2021 at 7:49 am
@kevin x don’t be surprised if Wyoming area beats them by 3 touchdown in AAA it going to come down to Wyoming area and Scranton prep
September 29th, 2021 at 9:29 pm
There is no coach in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh or Farrell or anywhere else that will volunteer to play a top 5 team in Pennsylvania because we have already decided that faux reputation matters more than competition for the sake of competition. No doubt Governor Mifflin has a bye week, this week.
September 29th, 2021 at 8:25 pm
@ Mike in Tacony
“Where is the best game in the Philadelphia area on Friday night?” Can I get back to you Saturday morning 🙂
These 4 could all be interesting and competitive:
CB West @ Pennridge
Methacton/OJR
Garnet @ Ridley (probably Garnet’s last real “challenge” until mid November)
Unionville @ D-Town East (probably where I will be Friday, heading down to my fav venue, first time in almost 2 years)
September 29th, 2021 at 8:17 pm
@ Mark D
Wyoming Area @ Lakeland looks like it should be good one for you guys this Friday. Possible D2 3A playoff match-up preview.
September 29th, 2021 at 8:13 pm
@ Jeff H
I saw that TJ had an off week this week as well as I was trolling Twitter last night. Problem there is, it’s Mifflin’s HC and they are requesting a home game on Friday, so unless TJ is willing to jump on the Turnpike for a few hours, probably won’t happen. Also, Malvern Prep is off this week as well, but think the whole school, at least the athletics dept. (calendar is empty both Friday and Saturday), is off, so guessing something is going on at MP.
September 29th, 2021 at 1:11 pm
@Mike in Tacony – completely agree about Mifflin and Manheim Central, I think Mifflin is a top 5 team in the state regardless of classification, I know MC has a tremendous program and great tradition, but I don’t see how they can keep up with Mifflin this year if they meet in the D3 playoffs. I would take Mifflin over any team in the WPIAL this year on a neutral field including PCC, same with any team in D3 including Central York.
September 29th, 2021 at 10:06 am
@Kevin X I with Jeff on that one. You just applied the mercy rule to yourself.
Are the Prep LaSalle & SC and Wyomissing Area games the only must see’s this weekend?
September 29th, 2021 at 8:59 am
@Kevin X – no disrespect to Farrell who has a great program but that game would be no contest and Mifflin would likely mercy rule them. I’ve got a better matchup for you, TJ does not play this week so how about TJ vs. Mifflin at Altoona’s Mansion Park. I think TJ would hang around for a while in that hypothetical game but Mifflin pulls away in the 2nd half to win by 3 scores.
September 29th, 2021 at 8:39 am
@ Kevin x 31-0 at half your get a pass on that one it been the problem up here in D2 not to many completive games very week teams this year
September 29th, 2021 at 7:47 am
I have family who coach for Berks County programs and they all tell me that this year’s Wyomissing team is very good but not quite as strong as last year’s squad. Beating Southern Columbia on the road would be a big upset — but I would expect a competitive, well-coached, and well-played game by both sides.
Re: people underrating Manheim Central… Manheim Central beat a Wilson team playing without its best player by a field goal. Governor Mifflin mercy ruled Wilson (and everyone else they’ve played, including Harrisburg and Cocalico). So it’s not disrespect toward the great Manheim Central program as much as it’s basic deductive logic when everyone says that they expect Governor Mifflin to roll through district 3 this year.
Where is the best game in the Philadelphia area on Friday night?
September 28th, 2021 at 8:48 pm
So what do you guys think, especially you guys out west, a Farrell v. Gov. Mifflin game this weekend???
September 28th, 2021 at 3:26 pm
@Kevin X – can’t say I blame you given the circumstances, I might have done the same thing to go watch the Ryder Cup!!
@Route54 – agree that should be a competitive game based on how tough Wyoming played SC a couple of weeks ago, the streak has to end sometime, is this the week? I would give Wyomissing a better chance if the game was at home, I see SC winning by a couple of scores.
September 28th, 2021 at 12:35 pm
Great match up between SC and Wyomissing Area. I’m expecting this to be a very tight game. Both teams run wildcat.
September 28th, 2021 at 10:20 am
@ Mark Dodgson
I must come clean, and confess, that was me in violation. I decided to check out the Wood/St John’s College game Saturday afternoon, expecting a good, well played, competitive game between two quality teams. That did not happen. 31-0 at halftime, could have been worse, and I was not expecting a second half comeback for the ages (and I was correct). Will try for a better game this Friday. I shall man up and take any punishment you believe is justified 🙂
September 27th, 2021 at 2:43 pm
@ Mike in Tacony – I think Moon matches up better with Mifflin than PR because Moon has a better defense and are better on both the defensive and offensive lines, and thus a better chance to slow down Singleton and the Mifflin offense. The problem with Moon is I don’t think their offense would put up a lot of points on Mifflin’s defense, and their defense would eventually get worn down, similar to Harrisburg in the 2nd half of their game against Mifflin. If you could put PR’s offense with Moon’s defense that team might have a chance against Mifflin! If PR wins the WPIAL and they very well might I would expect the rematch with Mifflin to be high scoring like last year, but PR won’t score enough to keep up, I could see it being something like 49-31 type game. If PR falls behind by 3 scores like they did last year in the first half the rout could be on and I’d be very surprised if PR could stage a comeback again.
Moon has an interesting matchup with South Fayette this week who is 4-1 with their loss coming to TJ, PR plays Penn Hills who they should beat by at least 2 scores, expect PR to run the table the rest of the regular season and enter the district playoffs on a 7 game winning streak.
September 27th, 2021 at 11:36 am
@kevin x who ever did that should be monkey stomped and have his man card revoked unless his wife told him to do it lol lol lol
September 27th, 2021 at 10:05 am
@Frank G & Mcd65 Frank G is right. St John’s is still playing at a good level. I don’t know what Wood’s coaches were thinking with the schedule but they should have put their tougher games first. Wood goes into the league play not scoring in their last two games. The McDonough school is not as good a team that LaSalle played in 2017 and they haven’t played Dematha since 2015 which was a really good game.
September 27th, 2021 at 8:59 am
A little surprised D-east lost. A lot surprised how badly Q-town beat UD.
UD has some offense, apparently not in this game. GV looks like the team to beat.
September 27th, 2021 at 8:58 am
Considering how La Salle handled McDonagh and the Prep being the Prep, this weekends game should be a must see. For the first time in a few years there might be someone who could knock Prep off their pedestal. Should be a good one!!
September 26th, 2021 at 1:14 pm
Good luck stopping Mifflin on offense. The QB can beat you running, the FB and singleton. They bait you to sleep with the run game and have guys running open in the secondary. They didn’t need to pass against EA. (This all being with one of there players #25 being banged up. They will be a good test for anyone.
Academy Park looks good, granted they haven’t played the toughest schedule.
D-east lost against Rustin
Strath Haven got killed against GV
Upper Dublin also got killed by Quakertown.
September 26th, 2021 at 1:04 pm
To you folks that watched Manheim Central edge Wilson on Friday, thanks for writing us out of the District 3 playoffs already. Glad to hear that we have no chance against Mifflin or Exeter. We’ll have our hands full with our Section 2 foes in the Lanc/Leb league the next five games. I’ll be very happy if we win our section this year, then we can go to districts, where we usually do ok.
September 26th, 2021 at 8:55 am
@ mcd 65 St. John’s and McDonough are in two very different classes and have been for some years. I know LaSalle played Bergen Catholic for a couple of years and they may have played DeMatha, but in the last 4-5 years they seem reluctant to play first-tier teams from North Jersey or Maryland / DC..
September 25th, 2021 at 9:14 pm
I was impressed with the Wilson QB. A transfer into Wilson this year. Tough kid to tackle. Wilson just needs to get people back and not drop passes. I can’t remember the last time Manheim Central beat Wilson at home. Doesn’t get any easier for MC with Warwick this Friday. Have been on the road for three weeks in three different counties. Will be good to get home.
September 25th, 2021 at 8:26 pm
In my opinion had Wilson been able to use Jadyn Jones – not only their top running back, but also their best player on D, they would have beaten Manheim Central. They’ll have him when they face Hempfield & Township- who they need to beat to win Section 1 again. MC will have little or no chance should they encounter Mifflin in District’s.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:39 pm
Is it a violation to leave a football game at halftime on picture perfect early fall day to go home and watch golf??
September 25th, 2021 at 7:00 pm
Wood got destroyed by Saint Johns Wash DC and LaSalle beat McDonough from Maryland. Both of those schools are historically very good . lasalle is the real deal for sure.
September 25th, 2021 at 10:09 am
Was also at North Penn vs. Pennridge. North Penn looked OK. I’m still not sold that they have enough to make it through four district 1 playoff games this year. We’ll see.
Jeff, I know it’s still early and WPIAL-5A always has a deep field of teams, but do you have any thoughts on a potential Pine Richland vs. Governor Mifflin rematch? Would Moon match up better?
September 24th, 2021 at 11:49 pm
Several marquee matchups in the WPIAL tonight to chose from, I decided to go see TJ vs. Belle Vernon and it turned out to be one of those games that lived up to all the pregame hype and then some, what a tremendous high school football game in front of a standing room only crowd of 5,000+. Belle Vernon struck first on a 50 yard TD run by star sophomore running back Quinton Martin with about a minute and a half left in the first quarter to give BV a 7-0 lead. TJ then answered with a methodical drive to tie it at 7-7 in the second quarter, then scored again with a little over a minute to go in the half but missed the extra point to take a 13-7 lead. Martin promptly returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards tor a TD and with successful PAT BV led 14-13 at half. TJ coach Bill Cherpak said after the game the plan was to squib kick, but apparently the kicker didn’t get the message and the result was a big change in momentum going into halftime. The score was still the same when Martin went down with an apparent ankle injury late in the third quarter and did not return. TJ then scored with about 8 minutes to go on a QB draw on 4th and 7 from the 19 yard line and 2 point conversion was good to take a 21-14 lead. Things were not looking good for BV, but then it became Devin Whitlock time, as the elusive and dynamic QB took over the game, scoring on a 42 yard TD run with 4 minutes to go to tie it at 21. TJ then went 3 and out, and Belle Vernon had a chance to win the game when Whitlock put the ball right on the money to a wide open receiver with less than a minute to go but he dropped it, there wasn’t a defender within 20 yards of him and he could have walked in for a TD. Just when it looked like the game was headed to OT Whitlock weaved his way through the defense for a 40 yard TD run on 4th and 13 to give Belle Vernon the lead with 4.5 seconds left in the game to stun top ranked TJ. Great game, these are clearly the 2 best 4A teams in the WPIAL and would expect them to meet again in November at Heinz Field, hopefully Martin is not out too long. Whitlock is a fantastic high school player, if he wasn’t so diminutive he’d be a power 5 recruit, even despite his small stature I think he can play receiver and be a return guy for a MAC school, he reminds me of a smaller version of Steve Breaston who I watched 2 decades ago slice and dice through the top teams in the WPIAL.
We also have a much clearer picture in 5A in the WPIAL as PR beat Gateway 21-7, Moon and PR are the 2 best teams in 5A and I would be very surprised if one of them doesn’t win the district title, in 6A PCC handled NA 24-7, I expect Mt Lebanon will beat NA next week to set up a showdown for first place the following week against PCC.
September 24th, 2021 at 11:00 pm
Great game on the shores of Lake Erie tonight. Erie Cathedral stops SaintFrancis on 4th and goal to win 28-20. Francis had several very good players on both sides of the ball plus a big, physical line, but made a few mistakes with penalties that hurt them. Erie Cathedral has a couple starters out but played well and hung on. Big game in a week against Mcdowell. I also heard Bell Vernon beat TJ in a close game, very well done.
September 24th, 2021 at 10:08 pm
North Penn 21 Pennridge 14. Now that’s close! Too damn close!
Like I said before, NP defense is very suspect. Their offense was really off tonite, Then that was partially due to Pennridge defense,
which is VERY good. Garnet Valley is killin’ everyone! Now there’s a helluva matchup looming, NP vs GV.
September 24th, 2021 at 10:08 pm
Manheim Central 24 Wilson 21 Checked out MC to see if they could play with Mifflin in the D3 5A playoffs. They are a scrappy team but won’t be able to stay within 3 scores of Mifflin. I think they struggle with Exeter too if they meet up. Was stunned to see that MC dressed only 42 players. MC had the better QB play although MC’S Novak threw 2 bad interceptions in the 1st half, Wilson’s QB threw 3 interceptions.
September 24th, 2021 at 5:08 pm
@ The Joneses
I plan on heading down to Tennent tomorrow afternoon for that one. My first live Saturday action. Saw him in the scrimmage against Imhotep.
Pennridge @ North Penn tonight. See if Pennridge can keep it close and me out of a TBD local establishment earlier than later.
September 24th, 2021 at 9:29 am
@Kevin X I just learned Wood has replaced the QB and is going with the Sophomore starting with the St John’s game. We’ll see if that means my previous statement get rolled back.
September 23rd, 2021 at 2:53 pm
Heard that Wilson’s top runner is suspended for the Manheim Central game.
September 22nd, 2021 at 3:14 pm
@KEVIN X aside from delaware valley, dunmore tries to step up it seems. they usually play a couple larger schools, prep, n.pocono, western wayne, . also they have added wyoming area , and i don’t know what happened exactly but they had scheduled southern columbia and then that was not allowed and the schedule changed . not sure but i think the league disallowed it. But i agree the single A is terrible and the entire league, all 6 divisions have probably only 8 -to- 10 competitive teams.
September 22nd, 2021 at 2:17 pm
@Kevin X
Couple points on D2. Don’t know why Montrose forfeited, but even before Covid their numbers were too low to sustain a program if any injuries occur. In the early 2000’s, a merger of WVC and LL was tried, lasted 2 years, nobody liked it, attendance was down, worse than it is now, and it was scrapped. The dynamic in D2, especially in the LL, is that there are excellent programs in AA, AAA, and AAAA, but not so much in A, AAAAA, and 6A. Old Forge ha no competition in A, virtually a bye into the state playoffs. As far as DV is concerned, they step out of D2, because geographically they don’t belong in the District, and in the 7 games they play in the LL, with the exception of Scranton, they have an overwhelming advantage in boys 9-12
September 22nd, 2021 at 10:28 am
@ bub, et al
Montrose just forfeited to Old Forge, so now OF has potentially 2 off weeks in a row. The rest of their schedule is mediocre at best, only real challenge is the last game against Trail. You guys have a competition and scheduling issue going on up there in D2 for what I can see from down here. I suggest reevaluating the schedules and leagues, maybe combine the WVC and LL with some more parity and open up the early part of the season to more out of district games. Really only see Del Val stepping out of the D2 comfort zone and taking on some real competition early in the season.
September 22nd, 2021 at 10:12 am
@Kevin X thanks for that. After their loss to Malvern, its hard for me to see Wood sniffing anything in the playoffs outside the PCL 1-4 games. I expect them to be 3 and Roman 4. 1-2 get decided October 2nd.
September 22nd, 2021 at 8:51 am
@ Kevin x and bud it a question lot of people around here are asking a Prep Dallas match up would have been a great game and made a lot of. séance i don’t think any of the schools reached out for a game their talking about making up the games but when ??? whole thing seems weird to be honest, now how it gong to affect play off points is another story we now have at least 5 teams who will have 9 games played, Bub as for old forge to the playoff they qualify if their record is 0-10 we now only have 2 1 a teams in D2 and they both make the playoff so what difference would it make ?
September 21st, 2021 at 5:24 pm
@Kevin x i was wondering the same thing. first, dunmore it seems had no positive tests only contact tracing identified 9 players as having contact { i guess} with the lake lehman player who was covid positive. this is crazy to me kinda think if dunmore was not having a down year they would not be so willing to sit out a week. either way i think it is absolutely crazy to not play this game. also there was not a peep in the media regarding old forge looking for a replacement opponent or scranton prep . they easily could have played each other but I’m guessing that old forge would not want that game not wanting to have a loss on their record, figuring prep would win .yet although dunmore is not so good this year old forge beat dunmore and prep is regularly on dunmore’s schedule. along that line old forge does not have a tough game on their schedule, a loss to prep would not have derailed what is really a cakewalk into the single A playoffs.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:27 pm
@ The Joneses
Yes, it would make sense, a lot of sense, but we are dealing with………..”The Board acted upon the following recommendations from the Strategic Planning Committee;
Denied a request to declare that, for Competition Classification Formula purposes, students
who change schools due to a school closing are not to be counted as a transfer students.”
But in the positive for Wood to move back down………”On a second reading basis, it was unanimously voted to modify the Competition Classification Formula to allow a Team to drop in a competition classification from the previous cycle if the Team had 0 competition points, regardless of the number of transfers.”
Both quotes come from the summary of the recent PIAA meeting. So if Wood doesn’t get crazy and win some later D12 playoff games, they may be in line to move back down.
September 21st, 2021 at 10:43 am
@Kevin X – I’m not so sure SJP is as big of a favorite as in years past, it certainly appears LaSalle has closed the gap significantly and we’ll find out how much in a few weeks
@NW PA – TJ has a huge game this week against rival Belle Vernon, BV is very good and I think they are the only team that has a chance to challenge TJ for the WPIAL title
September 21st, 2021 at 10:21 am
One other item, mainly to you D2 guys…..I did not see any scores over the weekend from Dallas, Scranton Prep or Old Forge. None of them were able (or willing) to pick up a game?? So a juicy Dallas/Scranton Prep match-up was basically left on the table?? Any reason given as to why none of these teams were able to secure a game?? Seems like there was enough lead time, and in this current environment we’re in, to be flexible and nimble is a necessity, and to play a game while you can.
September 21st, 2021 at 9:26 am
@Kevin X I am thinking Wood will be allowed to move solely because the transfers came from a school that closed. It would make sense, but the PIAA rules are murky. I like your Covid swap suggestion also.
@NorthwestPA we will see 6A picture a little clearer after the SJP vs LaSalle match up. I am not a believer in there offense yet, but the defense is stingy.
September 21st, 2021 at 8:44 am
Tuesday morning musings……
Any chance the powers that be can work out a non-Covid swapping of dance partners for this weekend?? Can we get Malvern Prep meet up with Gov. Mifflin and let Berks Catholic take on EA (instead of MP @ BC and Mifflin @ EA)??
@ The Joneses
Trying to figure out this competition formula for teams that previous moved up and the PIAA’s potential tweaking of the rules going forward. Meaning Wood may still be stuck up in 6A next cycle regardless of how they do the rest of this season. I’m hoping they can drop back to 5A where they should be, but that asinine transfer clause as it now stands tied to the success formula points may screw them. I believe a PIAA second reading passed where if a team has zero success points in the past two years, they may be able to drop back regardless of their number of transfers. Kind of confusing tho.
@ NWPA
No, 6A in not more challenging. St. Joe’s is above and beyond the rest by a good margin. Kind of a shame, because if you exclude SJP, 6A does then get real interesting and wide open.
September 20th, 2021 at 7:06 pm
I’m fairly confident of a few things right now. GM is the best team in 5A, Tep is two. TJ is the best team in 4A. SC is the best team in 2A though Farrel is probably number two. 6A is more challenging, you could make an argument for at least 4 different teams (La Salle, Joe’s, Harrisburg, etc).
September 20th, 2021 at 4:51 pm
@Neutral Observer – Ditto, big shoutout to Wyoming for a tremendous effort, and also SC for mounting the comeback in the 2nd half, I read the writeup and it sounded like a fantastic high school football game. Would have been really interesting if Wyoming would have scored on fourth and goal from the 1 yard line with a little over 3 minutes to go when they were clinging to a 1 point lead, if they scored there to go up 7 do you go for 2 and the dagger, or kick the extra point to go up 8 and still give SC a chance to come back and tie with a TD and 2 point conversion. I would have been seriously tempted to go for 2 in that scenario if I was the Wyoming coach, and if you don’t make it and SC subsequently scored a TD and made the 2 pointer and you lose by a point so be it.
3 more wins to go to break Clairton’s state record of 66 straight set by the Tyler Boyd led teams of 2009-12, arguably the most impressive win streak in state history was CB West with 59 straight in the largest classification before Erie Prep beat them in the classic OT state final in 2000.
September 20th, 2021 at 4:38 pm
Wilson should be good they usually have 100 kids to pick from and Manheim Central usually has 45 to 50.
September 20th, 2021 at 9:42 am
Wilson definitely has the talent, coaches, and pedigree to run the regular season table! My point was that Manheim Central, Hempfield, and Manheim Township have good football teams — and are probably all better than Exeter — who already beat Wilson this year.
September 20th, 2021 at 8:58 am
I was following the SC game via twitter and it seemed like one the best games this weekend.
Anyone see the Wood VS Malvern game? I was really surprised Wood couldn’t score a point. I am guessing the McDevitt transfers didn’t tilt the scales for Wood too much and this was their first 6A level test. Malvern and LaSalle played a close one a couple of weeks ago. I still seem them making a run deep next year in either 4A or 5A after completing their 6A cycle this year.
I’m looking forward to seeing LaSalle Prep at Franklin field. Prep vs Gonzaga had a nice crowd. Prep won, but something definitely happened in the 2nd qtr after Prep put up 21 1st qtr points and only managed one more score.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:46 pm
Wilson has a decent shot at running the table if-as expected- their dinged up players all return to the starting lineup.
September 19th, 2021 at 5:57 pm
Doubt very much that Wilson will have its non-losing streak shattered as some hope. They’re getting most of their key players back from injury and when healthy, they should be able to beat most- if not all – of their remaining regular season opposition. Mifflin is in a class by itself, but Wilson is up there with the rest of District III.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:04 am
@ Mike in Tacony
TY!!!
September 18th, 2021 at 5:39 pm
Kevin, here you go:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BHjmA5pCOvA
September 18th, 2021 at 11:22 am
@ Mike in Tacony
Do you have a link or name of the YT channel for that Harrisburg/Mifflin game?? Was it the full game or just highlights??
September 18th, 2021 at 10:57 am
Huge shout out to Wyoming Area for giving Southern Columbia a heck of a game!
September 18th, 2021 at 10:11 am
@Mike in Tacony – I have seen all the top WPIAL 5a teams in person and the only one that has a remote chance of competing against Mifflin is Moon, they have an excellent defense and are very good in the trenches on both sides. With that being said I would still make Mifflin at least a 2 TD favorite in that game, and if any other team like Gateway or Pine Richland wins the WPIAL Mifflin will roll. Right now the top 3 in the WPIAL are Moon, Gateway and PR, those 2 play next week so that will tell us a little more about the pecking order. I saw Penn Trafford lose to Peters Township last night and Penn is nowhere near as good as I thought they were at the beginning of the season. Hard to see Mifflin not making it to Hershey this year, appears the only thing that can stop them is significant injuries or Covid.
September 18th, 2021 at 8:58 am
Traveled west to Collegeville for an entertaining game between Manheim Central & Perkiomen Valley. Manheim came back late to win 43-40 and is now 4-0. Considering their pedigree, Manheim is definitely a team-to-watch in 5A.
Speaking of 5A, I watched a bit of Governor Mifflin vs. Harrisburg on YouTube… dear god. Even against 8 in the box, that Governor Mifflin offense simply bludgeons teams. Harrisburg was covering their twins wide with one defensive back and Mifflin STILL ran the ball lol. Give that Singleton kid a crack and he’s gone. Can’t wait to see him in the blue & white next year. Mifflin really does look to be on a collision course with Imhotep, no disrespect intended to the WPIAL winner or ECP.
@Foleman, I saw that Exeter score. Hempfield has a decent team. Wouldn’t shock me if Wilson West Lawn lost their million-year, non-losing season streak this year. They still have Manheim Central, Hempfield, and Manheim Township on the slate… which might set them up as 5-5 heading into a game vs. the #1 seed in the 6A playoffs.
September 17th, 2021 at 10:32 pm
Berks Catholic 47-Pope John Paul 40 In a highly entertaining game, BC roared out to 34- 7 lead in the 1st half, PJP scored with few minutes left in the half to make it 34-14, in the 2nd half, PJP caught fire and tied it at 34-34 BC scores then PJP scores again but a penalty cost them an extra point 41-40BC BC scores again to make it 47-40 BC stops PJP on their final drive. Basketball on grass vs the Wing-T was a lot of fun to watch. Also nice to see a big crowd out on a Friday night. Wasn’t surprised to see that Exeter lost to Hempfield, Exeter has more talent than most teams but always comes up small vs good teams every year.
September 17th, 2021 at 9:49 pm
Can you believe those Southern Tigers. Down 17 late in the game and they come back and win. Hershey here they come. Congrats to Wyoming Area on a great game.
September 17th, 2021 at 11:36 am
so i did not see where there was any thing in the news concerning prep, or old forge looking for a replacement game. in previous weeks when games were cancelled there were stories daily in the scranton times concerning the hunt for replacement opponents for riverside i believe was most recent. something seems wrong here. Kevin asks a good question concerning lake lehman.
September 17th, 2021 at 9:36 am
kevin x that game is canceled according to the local paper
September 17th, 2021 at 8:29 am
Now they’re getting creative……. “convergence of health issues”
Mmmmm….an 0-3 Red Lion cancelled on 3-0 and state 6A runner-up Central York. Hey Scranton Prep, got a nice challenge for ya!!!!
https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2021/09/16/central-york-red-lion-football-game-canceled/8372944002/
September 17th, 2021 at 8:15 am
So if the issue is at Lake-Lehman (Dunmore’s opponent last week), wouldn’t LL’s game against Dallas be cancelled this weekend as well?? If it already is (I haven’t seen anything about it being cancelled), a pretty good match-up would be Prep and Dallas. Better IMO than Prep/OF.
September 17th, 2021 at 7:52 am
@Mark Dodgson great minds think alike!
September 16th, 2021 at 3:33 pm
@ FrankG
Think it’s just one of those years, a rare down year for Dunmore, and Prep being pretty loaded. In a weird way, not a big issue that I see not playing if the game has a real good a potential to be 42-0 at halftime. Kind of a Seinfeld-esque bizarro like world where last year you had teams down by us not playing, or at best playing a half of a season, while most of the rest of the state basically started 2 or 3 weeks later than usual. Now the rest of the state is getting hit with cancellations, and Districts 1 and 12 for most part are playing with minimal interruptions.
@ bub
Yeah, kind of makes sense, Prep/OF. Maybe they are already looking at it and just waiting to see if a more suitable opponent becomes available for either school (I think Prep wins that game fairly easily) before committing and announcing. What I’d love to see, is Prep meet up with Imhotep who have a bye this week, guessing it was built into their schedule between their non league and league games (or they just couldn’t find another non league game) and let them go at it. Love to see if Prep’s London Montgomery would even have a 100 yards rushing against an actual defense.
September 16th, 2021 at 2:12 pm
RE COVID cancellations:
I’m glad the PIAA did not pass bright line rules. I thought I read somewhere that Dunmore didn’t have any positive tests themselves, but were caught up in contact tracing from Lake-Lehman (their opponent last week). That’s not really anything that Dunmore did wrong; just bad luck as to who their prior opponent was. In a case like that, I’d rather see a “No Contest” than have Dunmore take a loss.
But it’s probably not really feasible to have District 2 (or the LIAA) do an immediate investigation into every cancellation to see who is at fault (if anyone). I’d rather see “No Contest” as the default result, which is only changed into a “Loss” if there is clear evidence of something fishy going on (as determined by the District or local conference).
September 16th, 2021 at 1:54 pm
like the way you think bub
September 16th, 2021 at 1:48 pm
@Frank G – I hear you about Dunmore, I’m in Western Pa so far removed, but I was always under the same impression as you, never heard anything disparaging about their program and typically had solid teams and some years went on deep playoff runs.
September 16th, 2021 at 1:19 pm
in regards to the covid cancellations.Why not just give dunmore and northwest a loss and have old forge play prep? kinda seems ez enough.
September 16th, 2021 at 12:11 pm
@ Jeff H and Kevin X Looks like you’re both right. Still, I wonder if that can really be the case with Dunmore. Maybe, but I always thought of them as a pretty confident and ambitious program.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:18 am
@Frank G – the PIAA and many others disagree with you on teams using Covid as an excuse to duck a superior opponent, per an article today in the Tribune Review Online
The PIAA is worried teams may be using covid-19 issues as a way to avoid an unfavorable opponent, so the board on Wednesday debated at length a policy that would’ve made regular season cancellations forfeits.
Ultimately, the board voted against the policy change and agreed to instead provide the information only as “guidance” for the PIAA’s 12 district committees, including the WPIAL. But the PIAA remained skeptical about the motivation behind some postponements and cancellations already this fall.
“Board members were concerned hearing from their constituents and membership that they think ‘School A’ may be ducking somebody,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said. “Or they have a squad of 45 (players) and eight are out. … That’s some of the anecdotal information that was given to the board, so they felt we should reduce this to writing.”
The proposal included three directives:
1. In the event a regular season contest is postponed for whatever reason, including covid-19 issues, all attempts must be made to reschedule that contest during the regular season.
2. If the contest cannot be rescheduled, the failure of a team to participate in a scheduled contest shall constitute an automatic forfeit, regardless of the reason thereof, unless the school not participating convinces the district committee that it made reasonable efforts to avoid an outbreak and that its failure to participate was unavoidable, in which event the district committee may treat the matter as if the contest had not been scheduled (no contest).
3. If a school has sufficient personnel who are not subject to quarantine to participate in a contest but chooses not to play, that school will forfeit the contest.
The board discussed the policy for 30 minutes, ending with a rare roll call vote.
“What some people are doing, at least anecdotally … you canceled the game but still are holding practice,” Lombardi said. “That seems to fly in the face of canceling the game.”
The PIAA noted that current rules already consider canceling or rescheduling a contest for competitive reasons to be unsportsmanlike behavior. Additionally, under longstanding regulations, the failure of any team to compete in a scheduled game counts as an automatic forfeit, but district committees have relaxed that rule during the pandemic.
Since the proposal became only guidance, district committees may continue that approach.
“Under our rules and regulations, a cancellation for any reason is a forfeiture,” Lombardi said. “We’ve had that on the books since probably the Eisenhower administration.”
The board considered a motion to implement the new policy retroactive to Aug. 19, but that vote failed 17-9. Four board members connected to the WPIAL were among the 17 in opposition. The board then voted unanimously to provide the language of the policy to schools as guidance.
“They want to use that as guidance,” Lombardi said, “so that people aren’t playing loose and fast.”
Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Chris by email at charlan@triblive.com or via Twitter .
September 16th, 2021 at 9:12 am
@Mike in Tacony – I was at the Harrisburg win over PR and trust me, they were impressive, especially in the 2nd half. I wouldn’t read too much into PR being 0-3, they should have and would have won all 3 of those games with their prior coaching staff, they were up 3 TD’s on PCC in the first half last week and had 35 at half, but didn’t score a point in the 2nd half. Their coaching staff is very small in numbers and has virtually no experience and has thus far shown zero ability to make any in game adjustments. I agree with you Mifflin is a sizable favorite, and if they score 40+ like they do every game they will win going away, that’s why I said Harrisburg has to keep the ball away from their offense to keep it close, and with a big offensive line and a power running game they could conceivably control the clock, get a couple of turnovers or big plays on special teams, and who knows, sometimes crazy things happen in HS football.
September 16th, 2021 at 7:37 am
i hate to say this but Kevin x might be right .the comment i heard was better to be safe than sorry and we get beat 70-0 anyway !!! i hate to think that Dunmore would think that way but it makes you wonder since a parent told me they have no positive tests ???
September 15th, 2021 at 11:19 pm
@ FrankG
“Are there any common protocols for deciding when games need to be cancelled / postponed?” Good question, wondering the same thing myself. It doesn’t appear to be, but I would think there has to be something out there. Even if there is, it doesn’t mean a school couldn’t do it’s own thing, out of well, an abundance of caution, etc.
As far as ducking an opponent, below is a Tweet that I came across tonight from a respected sports reporter in the western part of the state who was monitoring today’s PIAA meeting:
“Bob Lombardi says that teams using COVID-19 and other reasons as an excuse to cancel games to avoid tough teams has happened enough this year that the guidance from the board today was necessary.”
Looks like I’m not the only one of that opinion…….
September 15th, 2021 at 8:36 pm
Governor Mifflin hasn’t scored under 40 points in two years. That includes against the 5A state champ, Pine Richland, in the semi-finals last year. I just don’t know if Harrisburg can put up enough points to hang with them. I’m hoping for a competitive game but Mifflin is a sizable favorite, IMO. The August, Harrisburg win over P-R doesn’t seem as impressive now after P-R’s 0-3 start.
September 15th, 2021 at 8:13 pm
@ Kevin X
I would be surprised if schools are cancelling because they’re ducking an opponent. The more disruptions, especially just a day or two before a game, the harder it is for teams to stay on track for the season. As for Dunmore and Scranton Prep, from my time in that area I imagine Dunmore players and fans probably look forward more to the SP game than they do to most others.
Are there any common protocols for deciding when games need to be cancelled / postponed? My impression is that a lot more thinking and planning went into last year’s approach to Covid. Maybe this year there was more wishful thinking.
September 15th, 2021 at 8:08 pm
@Foleman – wow, that’s a bigtime matchup between Harrisburg and Mifflin, I give Hburg coach Everett a lot of credit for being willing to take on any and all comers, especially on such short notice. I do think this game will be close for awhile but ultimately they won’t be able to contain Singleton all game and expect Mifflin will win by a couple of scores. Harrisburg has a chance if they can control the clock and go on sustained drives with their bruising fullback Makhi Hopkins, I said after I watched him punish PR in the opener at the Wolvarena he was a load to tackle and no team has really slowed him down yet, create some turnovers on defense and pound the ball behind their huge offensive line and keep the ball away from Mifflin’s offense.
@mcd 65 – agree Upper Dublin has had some solid teams in recent years and I do think they will give NP a good game on Friday, at least for awhile, certainly appears UD is the favorite to win 5A in DI
September 15th, 2021 at 7:47 pm
@Frank G. I guess we simply disagree. i do not believe kids are belonging to the school where they live.We are discussing the format that high schools compete under. it is perfectly fair and good that people can choose where their children are educated. but please do not pretend that i was saying that they should be limited in their choice of school. i say that the format is unfair because of the ability to use financial help to make possible for anyone to become a part of the school especially for athletics. if i am supposed to believe in the righteous behavior of the athletic department, and or the good intentions of the school directors then you lose me. many people have good intentions but many do not.
September 15th, 2021 at 5:26 pm
Some of you guys have been going back and forth with regards to Scranton Prep, finding it interesting that their game this week against Dunmore has been cancelled by Dunmore “out of an abundance of caution.” Starting to think a some of these schools are really stretching the Covid excuse to get out of games that more than likely they were going to get an old fashion butt whooping. So do these games (assuming they are not made up before the playoffs) in the point systems count as a no contest or forfeit loss/win?? If the former, maybe Dunmore should consider changing their nickname from the Bucks to the Ducks.
September 15th, 2021 at 4:48 pm
@ ScottyB
Looking ahead to the following Friday maybe the time to visit PV. S-F/PV one of the best rivalry games in the area (at least for the ones I’ve been to, DTE/DTW and SJP/LaS be two others).
Yeah, I didn’t get that PV fake punt on their own 20 early 4th qtr. Turning point right there IMO. Got to admit, #7 from PV was fun to watch, Mr. Everything. Field goal kicker to boot (pun intended).
@ Foleman
Saw that. Intriguing game, but kind out of travel area for a regular season game, with the closer choices available. Also, as far as Mifflin goes, and this would be an issue with SF/PV from above, I was looking at heading down to Delco next Friday for Mifflin and EA. Same deal as with Ivey, chance to see Singleton live before he heads up to PSU. Don’t know how competitive of a game that will be, but seems like Inter-ACs hang in there.
September 15th, 2021 at 3:27 pm
@MCD65 I think it would have been hard to do a 5:00 pm and 8:30 pm game on a Friday night in the city. Unsure if UPenn has a bye week this weekend. A double header would have been nice, but a logistical problem.
September 15th, 2021 at 3:20 pm
@bub
First to get into these schools you need to take the entrance exam. And don’t boo woo that. La Salle had two great basketball prospects a few years ago that passed the exam but couldn’t handle the academics. They transferred to Plymouth Whitemarsh and voila, a state title to PW.
Secondly, when dealing with ALL the handouts La salle gives (academic, athletic, hardships) where would the money come from? Aside from academic and athletic scholarships there are a lot of 1 parent homes that get a lot of aid. They are mercy driven. You need to get your money somewhere to keep the lights on.
September 15th, 2021 at 2:39 pm
@ bub, You seem to assume that kids who live in Dunmore, Carbondale, etc. belong to the public school district the illre and that if they go to Scranton Prep they are being something akin to stolen or illicitly lured. The parents of those kids might say they pay taxes like everyone else to support the local public school and they pay at least some tuition to send their kids to Scranton Prep where, if they are athletes, they can play against kids whose parents pay no tuition to send them to the public school.
You also seem to think the nerdy kid who’s good at academics but whose parents can’t afford to pay the full tuition at a school like SJP gets little or no offer of financial aid. Do you think for a second SJP could stay in business if they were giving full tuition waivers to football players and not giving substantial financial support to the families of those nerds, some of whom will certainly be the children or the nephews or the neighbors of SJP grads. A guy I went to the Prep with, Nick Howley, gave $5 million to the school last year. He was a football player in high school but the great bulk of the money is going to the families of students who do not play football or basketball or …. There is a fund specific to the football program but it isn’t remotely as large as the general student aid fund.
As for foreign students coming to N-G to play girls basketball, it reminds me of some coach’s claim that SJP had football players from four states, which of course was not true. Maybe N-G has one basketball player who came to Philly from another country–probably with her family–but I can’t believe the roster has more than one such girl.
Bottom line: the fact that private schools do not have geographic boundaries is a definite advantage. Public schools attended by students from one town or one part of a city have their own advantages. It’s perfectly legitimate to argue the private schools’ advantage is much larger. Whether it’s better for all the schools to be competing against each other or to divide them into public and private is an endless debate. Different states have made different decisions. Some may think they want to go the New Jersey route, but they should first consider what’s happened in Jersey.
September 15th, 2021 at 1:08 pm
Kevin X, Harrisburg just signed up to play Governor Mifflin this Friday at Mifflin, another great game to choose from. Central Dauphin had to cancel it’s game with Hburg due to Covid. Mifflin was scheduled to play Cedar Crest who probably opted out, they lost 45-0 to Carlisle last week. Hburg ranked #9 in 6A Governor Mifflin #1 in 5A This game could decide who the king of the Hill is in District 3 regardless of class.
September 15th, 2021 at 12:59 pm
@ Kevin X
Both should be great games but I love the atmosphere at Thomas J Keenan stadium and District ones best student section (as voted before)
PV is a horrible 2nd half against Coatesville from a strong 3-0 start.
Have fun whichever you choose!
September 15th, 2021 at 12:57 pm
@FrankG , i used football players because this is a football forum.I don’t feel any better if it is basketball, soccer,tennis,etc.,. as far as reputation being damaged how many schools have audits in regard to what claims they post on their websites? i have seen west catholic, and neuman goretti football and basketball teams with an unusual abundance of talent, that i bet they would not have without the financial aid they provide. i think neuman goretti had female basketball players from outside of the USA. if they can afford to provide all this financial aid then they can afford to reduce the tuition in the first place and maybe the nerdy child without athletic skills who is maybe brilliant in math or science but not from a wealthy home could attend. school is supposed to be primarily for learning not athletics.how can a school like montrose,carbondale, susquehanna, or even old forge or dunmore who have better programs compete when they have players only from the boundaries of their town?i know for a fact that many of these schools have lost players from their town to scranton prep.every school in the area has lost players to scranton prep.it is impossible to compete fairly.
September 15th, 2021 at 11:53 am
Hey guys, help me decide between two games for this Friday night:
Manheim Central @ Perk Valley, or Township @ Spring-Ford?? Amish country invades the heart of PAC land.
Perk is closer, but I did see Perk two weeks ago in Coatesville (great game btw).
Further travels to Royersford, but I would like to see Anthony Ivey once in person before he heads up to Happy Valley next year.
Post game @ the Trappe Tavern is basically a push.
September 15th, 2021 at 11:34 am
@ bub What private schools would argue is that their full tuition costs come close to the per-student cost of providing what the school offers each student. Some families can afford the tuition, almost always with some sacrifice involved. What would be gained by reducing the tuition cost if the schools can offer enough financial aid to help families who can’t afford the full tuition to enrol their child? And think of the reputational damage a school would suffer if it publicly advertised a figure, e.g.54% that was shown to be quite wrong.
You seem to have the idea that most students who get financial aid are football players. Any evidence of that for any school? Don’t you think that if that were true the school would get lots and lots of blowback from families struggling to pay the tuition but not getting any financial aid?
September 15th, 2021 at 12:08 am
with all due respect ,the website promotes the school.probably not to be relied on as gospel./ schools, businesses have been known to present a rosy picture .if 54%of students get financial aid why doesn’t the school reduce the cost to attend in the first place so more people could afford it. Maybe they keep it high so that they can have better control as to who can attend by picking the “select” “students”who attend via the football, er i mean financial aid.
September 15th, 2021 at 11:16 am
mcd 65…We’re covering both games.
September 14th, 2021 at 6:14 pm
St Joe Prep/ Gonzaga at Franklin Field Friday night , and Wood /Malvern Prep at Franklin Field saturday afternoon. This should have been a double header instead of splitting up the games. Parking is always a huge issue.
September 14th, 2021 at 5:34 pm
@bub Just checked the SJP website and noted that 54% of the students get some financial aid. Obviously, I can’t comment on your family member’s situation and I don’t know the Scranton situation well, though I did spend three years there in the 70s and still keep in touch with friends there. My sense is that Scranton Prep isn’t just for rich kids, but–as is the case with private schools everywhere–many graduates want to send their own children there and are prepared to make some financial sacrifices to do it.
I can say with some knowledge of SJP that it’s not as if lots of scholarship / tuition assistance money is given to athletes but not to other students. The 54% figure makes that pretty clear, and I know the great majority of that 54% get far more than the 5% off you say your relative was offered by Scranton Prep. On the other hand, nearly all those who get financial assistance also pay some tuition and pay for things that are free at public schools–like books, transportation, etc. Some families of football players–starters–pay full tuition. So I guess the question is whether having players whose families pay only, say, $1,000 or $5,000 a year in tuition gives schools an unfair advantage over schools whose students don’t have to pay a penny. You can guess how I answer that question. What is a clear advantage is that private schools don’t have geographical boundaries. How much of an advantage that is varies in relation of how great the difference in geographic catchment areas is. SJP’s advantage would seem to be bigger than SP’s since SJP can draw from a huge population living within a 20-25 mile radius of the school. But, as I wrote in an earlier post, the local public school with the practice field on site, with students all living close by, and with no worries about students having to leave for academic reasons has its own advantages.
September 14th, 2021 at 4:17 pm
@George
How did you hear they recruit ? Last time I checked all the top Philadelphia Lil League teams have coaches on Imhotep staff. Parents trust these coaches with there kids bcuz they grew up with them. Also, Imhotep is the type school they rarely have to recruit anymore. Every kid in the city hears about Imhotep BASKETBALL AND FOOTBALL programs around the city, if not the state. Plus Imhotep is free to attend (PUBLIC SCHOOL) unlike Catholic schools where u have to get scholarships. If kids that have talent but not the financial backing as MOST kids don’t in Philadelphia but want exposer to compete with the best you wouldn’t choose Imhotep ? But to answer your questions on how they don’t score, this Imhotep team is very young. Many think there veterans cuz of the size but most of Imhotep skills and QB are sophomores and I think one or 2 juniors. This team is good in the trenches mostly being Seniors on both sides. But the actual talent are the 2024 class and 2025 class of Imhotep. There jus young give them a year and the offense will dominate again.
September 14th, 2021 at 2:59 pm
thanks to frank g.and neutral observer for the response. i am going to disagree with the concept o these schools being so generous. over the years scranton prep is known as the school where all the who’s who in the scranton area go. i live in the area and i am older so i have known many who have attended prep. i do not recall many disadvantaged kids attending prep.i have a family member who finished 2nd in the admittance exam and was only awarded a 500 dollar grant towards a10,000. per year tuition. and the family tried for financial help and were denied. and i guarantee they could have used the financial help. of course the student was not a gifted athlete. my point is that i believe they do help students who are athletes that can benefit the sports teams. i believe this gives them an unfair advantage over the competition . if the said students benefit that is great, but it is not fair to their competition.
September 14th, 2021 at 1:07 pm
October 2 at Franklin Field. St. Joe/La Salle. Prep is the Prep. La Salle showing signs of catching up to them. Should be a good one! Get your popcorn!!!
September 14th, 2021 at 9:52 am
@Buddy
2016 was definitely a great team to watch. Thought they outplayed Prep for large portions of the semifinal. That Swift kid turned out to be a half decent player lol. This year’s version of NP could rival or even pass the offense of ’16. I hope they can find a way to put the D together. The secondary should improve with Edwards at safety who has at least one D1 offer and two young corners starting for the first time this year. They also put a kid in at LB, Cody I think, who has looked really solid. I don’t believe he started the Souderton game but I could be wrong. Also hoping they get the Dawes kid back. He was really solid last year as a freshman. I remember in ’11 the defense started off terribly and by years end they held LA Salle to 14 in the semifinals. Here’s to hoping.
September 14th, 2021 at 8:40 am
pulse do the bigger schools want to play southern ? their no up side it going to cost them points on their seeding or district as most use a point system based on the size of the schools you play so it no points and everyone say big deal you beat a AA school
September 14th, 2021 at 8:09 am
@mcd65
Yea, NP should go unscathed in regular season. D1 playoffs a little tougher, the usual suspects ( Garnet Valley, Coatesville, etc).
Probably be #1 seed, so everyone comes to their house. After D1 playoffs, most likely doomed.
@Friday
By the end of season, offense should be clicking very well. Defense is suspect, especially against the pass. Run defense doesn’t look that stellar either.
I think I’m still spoiled from the 2016 season. Even though they lost to SJP in the semis ( helluva game), they wound up 2nd in the state.
September 13th, 2021 at 11:37 pm
@ bub
Per Scranton Prep’s own website: “In a given school year, Scranton Prep gives over $1.5 million in aid to students, approximately 40% of the students attending Prep receive grants in aid. The average grant is over $5,000.”
http://www.scrantonprep.org/s/139/bp18/interior.aspx?sid=139&gid=1&pgid=486
I work with someone whose oldest son went/played there a few years ago. The general, vague sentiment that I hear from her (no hard evidence) is that the SCHOOL really does NOT want to be known as a “football school” and would much rather focus on “preppier” sports (i.e. golf, tennis, etc.) that fit the “fancy prep school” image more. I think the football team is successful in spite of the school, rather than because of it. So I really doubt that Scranton Prep has any recruited football players, but who knows about the golf or tennis teams?
In terms of non-Catholic students at Catholic schools, I think a lot of the local public school districts just don’t have great reputations. The Scranton newspaper does a “report card” for all of the schools each year and a lot of the districts get failing/bad grades in terms of SAT scores, reading proficiency levels, graduation rates and other things like that.
September 13th, 2021 at 11:15 pm
@Buddy
Seen NP a few times now. They are very talented but it will still come down to the defense. O line has good size with the center at 230, guards at 260 and 277, and tackles each at 300. Carroll is a very nice receiver and is producing every week. At 6’3″ and with some speed he can cause issues including the return game where he has broken a few already. They have a couple of underclassmen receivers over 6 ft as well that have potential. Their development would be huge. Zeltt has flashed a strong arm and Eaton is an absolute monster but needs to keep the ball off the ground. Upper Dublin might offer a test as well as Pennridge with their physicality. NP should have the skill and depth to run the table though. If they can figure the D out they might, MIGHT just have the athletes to compete with the catholics.
Garnet Valley looks like a machine right now. Definitely a team to watch. From what I’ve heard they have added a passing game to a strong running game. A program that deserves a lot of respect and credit.
I would say those are likely your top 2 in D1 but there’s a lot of football left to play. On a side note, do you have any idea what the injury is to Dave Dawes at NP is? 235 lb soph that played a ton as a freshmen on the D line and was slated to start at MLB and FB this year but hasn’t played due to injury. I think he’s been in a sling. Could be the key to the defense and definitely a key player they have been without.
September 13th, 2021 at 9:09 pm
I wouldn’t mind southern moving up but If they did just because you want to penalize them because there good then I’d say do it, but only against public schools because then I would say you have to penalize all the private and catholic schools for not having boundaries and being able to recruit. Even Steven I’d say if your being forced up it’s only right to force the privates out. Bring on aliquippa and other public schools and let the Imhoteps and st Joes and lasalle play bishop sycamore.
September 13th, 2021 at 8:48 pm
I’ve also heard stories about the way they recruit, some of which is ridiculous.
They might play Governor Milfflin and will play well against them but based on talent they should win by 21.*** sorry some typos
September 13th, 2021 at 8:44 pm
Just because SC plays 3A teams and 4a teams doesn’t mean anything. The teams they play aren’t very good and they win. As a coach you should want to be challenged and not have every game over by the 3rd quarter.
As for Imhotep I hated watching them against LaSalle, I’m pretty sure the coaches have no idea how to scheme, make adjustments, and excute. They have been the 2-3rd best team in pa when it comes to talent but coaching has held them back.
Someone that has watched explain to me why Imhotep can’t score 28 points against anyone in the state. Seems a little bit of political. I’ve also heard stories about the way they recruit, so of which is ridiculous. They might me Governor Milfflin and will play well against them but Based on talent they should win by 21.
Just my 2 cents
September 13th, 2021 at 8:34 pm
@ Buddy, North Penn is loaded as you know and have an interesting matchup this week against Upper Dublin. UD has had some nice teams lately. This could be a good game . It was a shame that UD couldnt compete for states last year due to the Virus . North Penn should run the table in District 1 regular season imo.
September 13th, 2021 at 5:06 pm
@ bub Catholic schools have many students, not just athletes, who are not Catholic. When I went to SJP several decades ago every student in the school came from a Catholic family. Same was true for Roman, West Catholic, etc. But the world changed. I had two brothers who also went to SJP and we were fairly typical. You can figure out how many families of three or more boys there are who go to the same high school–or just count the number of families with three children let alone three boys! Plus, lots of non-Catholic families who never would have considered sending their son (or daughter) to a Catholic school began doing just that. I understand that there have been Mormon students at SJP and that the majority of the students at West Catholic are not Catholic. That’s partly a reflection of the fact that some Catholic schools have made it part of their mission to serve disadvantaged families and students. So the schools remain Catholic in this way or that, e.g. all the students at SJP take religion courses, participate in religious retreats, etc. but there is no longer an assumption–there can’t be if they want to stay open–that the families of the students are all Catholic let alone are “practicing” Catholics.
I can’t speak for all Catholic schools, but I can say that SJP and LaSalle give out academic scholarships–partial or full tuition waivers for students with the best scores on the admission tests. Most of the students who qualify for full- or partial-tuition waivers, based on family income, are not athletes, though of course some are. Do the schools especially encourage promising athletes to attend? Yes they do, but just being a promising athlete does not mean you get a full-tuition waiver. The families of many of SJP’s starting football players pay full tuition: over $20K plus fees for books, activities, etc. Nobody pretends you have to be an academic whiz to attend SJP, but you do have to be capable of a fairly demanding academic challenge and you have to do the academic work. Every year that I know of the Prep has seen promising athletes leave because they had trouble academically.
The fact that the Prep can recruit players–and other students–from all over the Delaware Valley is a definite advantage–just as it’s an advantage for Scranton Prep that they can recruit from Pittston to Tunkhannock, but there are obvious advantages to having your own practice and game field on campus, to having student-athletes who all live no more than a five or ten minute ride away, and to being able to have players who are at every point on the academic spectrum.
September 13th, 2021 at 5:04 pm
@ kevin
I remember that hoops game. Kennedy was favored I believe, but that was an fantastic game! Being a D1 fan, a bit dissapointing.
But I believe the rules for football are different, Aliquppa not withstanding.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:55 pm
Kevin X…I have a page on my site I will be updating throughout the week….https://www.easternpafootball.com/hs-football-schedule-changes-9-16-to-9-18/
September 13th, 2021 at 4:28 pm
Well here we go, cancellations are coming in fast and furious as I expected, but I was expecting more towards the end of the month and the beginning of Oct. But what the Hell is going on up in D10?? They are getting hammered with cancellations since almost the start of the season. D2, D3, and D11 are having their fair share recently as well.
@Buddy
No, no limit. Aliquippa a “A” school by enrollment figures are being forced to pay up to “4A” (and oh, btw, a public boundary school competing nicely with the bigger boys).
But the Hold My Beer award tho goes to Kennedy Catholic Boys Hoops who volunteered (yes, volunteered) to play up from their “A” enrollment classification to “6A” a few years ago. And also btw, won a state title that year (in a great game over Pennridge).
September 13th, 2021 at 4:04 pm
Correct me if I’m wrong, but you can only play up 2 classes ( actually, I thought it was only one), but apparently it’s 2 classes.
PIAA rule. So SC couldn’t play class 5A even if they wanted. I do believe they play a 3A and 4A every year.
BTW, any D1 fans here? Let’s hear some chatter!
September 13th, 2021 at 3:59 pm
I want to give a shout out to an under the radar player that has been a force for the past two years in the PCL, John Pergine from Archbishop Wood. He is a LB 5 11, 215 and incredible ball instincts. I hope he is recognized for his performance and not overlooked. He does have at one D-1 offer ,but limited by his size. If you get the opportunity watch # 44 play. He is really something to observe. Last game 2 int,2 blocked punts , a safety and about 8 tackles . He played at McDevitt last year and had similar performances. Hard nosed guy for sure.
September 13th, 2021 at 3:50 pm
@ Jeff H, totally agree,nobody is being derogatory towards SC. I know I for one has stated a few times that They. have a great program and coaches.The Garcia brothers have been beasts . I guess if I were a SC resident I would be pumping out my chest about what a great success my home town team has been and is . Moving up in class would be nerve racking to many I suppose, or they would have already done so a couple of years ago. Some like challenges and some are satisfied with the status quo.
September 13th, 2021 at 2:54 pm
i guess you can’t ask an honest question here. let me try a different way. do catholic schools have students that are there to be atheletes first and foremost.
September 13th, 2021 at 1:37 pm
i know that private schools seem to have athletic students,whereas i wonder how many skilled art students are attending via scholarship or waiver/sponsor programs. i ask this because i have been to catholic high school games and a number of the players are not catholic. how does this work?
September 13th, 2021 at 12:47 pm
@Mark Dodgson – comparing apples and oranges, if I remember correctly most of the North Dakota State championship games were pretty competitive and not blowouts like SC. Also, I said nothing about them playing up to 6A, I would not advocate them playing in 6A under any circumstance, but it would be fascinating to see them play a state championship caliber 4A or 5A team like TJ in 2019 or Governor Mifflin the last couple of years. My point is if you are mercy ruling virtually every opponent including the state championship games maybe it’s time to consider playing up a class or 2, SC’s program is so good they would still win plenty of titles at a higher class.
September 13th, 2021 at 11:28 am
@Helen Ann Long – I have never disparaged the SC program, they have one of the best programs and coaching staffs in the state and I’ve said so numerous times, so just stop it with the hate crap. As a neutral observer who wouldn’t want to see SC take on some of the power teams in larger classifications. For example if they would have played TJ in 2019 in the state final instead of destroying Wilmington that would have been a tremendous game and much better for high school football overall than to have another mercy rule victory in Hershey. How do you know other schools in 2A don’t work as hard as SC does, do you go to their off season workouts? That’s pretty arrogant and condescending to make a statement like that. I have noticed over the years the SC faithful get pretty defensive when anyone questions why they don’t play up to face tougher competition, it has absolutely nothing to do with “hating” SC and everything to do with seeing more competitive games on the state level, at least as far as I’m concerned.
September 13th, 2021 at 11:15 am
ok north Dakota state has won the national championship at division 2 collage football in 2011 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 so now should they play Ohio state, Alabama, Clemson and USC because their winning make as much since as southern playing 6 a teams
September 13th, 2021 at 10:53 am
@ Jeff not sure i an in my right mind but yes it was sarcasm
September 13th, 2021 at 9:52 am
WAIT WAIT .. a round of applause for Helen…
@Sausmann you’re funny. I was at the game. Milton is a good team. Prep missed some opportunities. You say they were exposed. Don’t you think that’s why Prep and every other school puts tough non-league games on their schedule to see where they are and what they need to work on. I thought it was simple. The difference is Prep does it to see what they need to fix to win a state chip, everyone else does it to see if they can beat Prep.
@Michael you are so right about Imotep and offense. It’s always lacking offense. Play calling unimaginative. After a while the defense wears out if the offense can’t give them real time off the field.
LaSalle Prep at Franklin Field is about to get top billing as usual, but this year could have higher hype than that 2015 year.
September 12th, 2021 at 3:38 pm
@bub, All private schools give scholarships. None, as far as I know, pay students to play a sport.
September 12th, 2021 at 1:54 pm
Does scranton prep give scholarships?do they allow players to be sponsored? i heard a few years back that a very good player was going there via a sponsor program, which sounds suspiciously like pay to play. prep is a very expensive school and many cannot afford to go there.
September 12th, 2021 at 12:58 pm
Imhotep really needs to figure out there offense. It felt when they needed a score, they would go back to the northwest Raiders offense. They have enough players to find playmakers on offense, however the coaches down 5 wanted to run wildcat. That simply doesn’t work against better teams. Imhotep has the guys, to play offense and defense.. not both. They are young and that will help. The coaches need to be better and find an identity.
LaSalle was ok. Brown had 100 yards but 50-60 of them yards came on the last drive when Imhotep had given up.
September 12th, 2021 at 11:37 am
Congratz To Lasalle On The Major Game Winning Drive To Win. Great game full of talent that linebacker is something else his presence was dominate from start to finish. Imhotep really needs to work on there offense. They consistently rely on there defense to put them in good field position and move the ball. They have to clean it up before playoffs or they are gonna be exposed. But great game that was Lasalle vs Imhotep
2-1 not bad for non conference bouts with PCC DEMATHA LASALLE excited to see what happens in playoffs 4 5A.
September 12th, 2021 at 11:05 am
“Northeast such a cool site for football games!!!”
Did they renovate, or better yet, do a complete overhaul of the facility since I was there in 2016??
My Lord, that was the worse place I’ve been to to see a game between then and now, hands down. And I’m lucky I didn’t need to use the restrooms based on the comments of those who were with me who did. What am I missing???
September 12th, 2021 at 9:52 am
@sausmannn You write as if the Prep was forced to play Milton against their will. For the last quarter of a century they’ve played the toughest non-league, out-of-state schedule of any team in PA.. As for the sophomore QB who left the game in the first hand, he returned and played well in the second half.
September 11th, 2021 at 8:40 pm
What a great game!!! Milton GA comes up here on the road and puts a beating on St Joes Prep. SJP quarterback running for his life until Milton sent him to the benches in first half. This score could have been worse but a win is a win. GA public schools simply own Da prep, lmao but when you play schools that are close to your level, sometimes you get exposed!
Northeast such a cool site for football games!!!
September 11th, 2021 at 7:22 pm
Springside Chestnut Hill 32 Pope John Paul 27 SCH pulls out the win with 30 seconds left in a fantastic HS game. Didn’t know QB Aidan Dooley transferred into SCH from Judge, He might be a grad transfer, he’s a stud, having a couple of Div 1 receivers to throw to also helps
September 11th, 2021 at 7:11 pm
S. Columbia has the best coaching staff in the state hands down. I’ve seen them play many times and they run the wing T to perfection and their fundamentals are flawless. They will play a similar type team in a few weeks-Wyomissing, who also has a coach who I think is a top 5 coach in the State. Really looking forward to that game. Changing demographics in the NE has caused former HS powerhouse programs like Mt Carmel and Berwick to plummet. Back in the day, those 2 teams could play with anyone regardless of class, now it’s Southern Columbia in that region and no one else.
September 11th, 2021 at 5:34 pm
Imhotep, Imhotep!!! This ain’t fair Lasalle recruits
September 11th, 2021 at 2:14 pm
I’m a D11 fan but I’ve seen Southern over the years in Hershey and a few state playoff games. They are as well coached as any team I have seen year in and year out. The tackling, fundamentals, line play. It’s just amazing to watch. They have stars for sure. But they also have kids that get coached up really well and maybe outplay thier talent level. Southern hasn’t lost since Dec 2016…..coming up on five years. Incredible. And they usually schedule a tough game or two out of conference every year. They played that state champion South Carolina team on ESPN a few years ago and also picked up Wyoming area who was undrafted in 3A at the time. They beat them 42-0….and Wyoming won 3A that year. Mount Carmel usually top ten or atleast HM in 2A every year. This year they picked up Berwick who is two classes up from them. I have all the respect for Southern Columbia. Impressive long standing public program.
September 11th, 2021 at 12:34 pm
Southern Columbia is the real deal. Made the trip from the Wyoming valley last night to watch them. That program is what happens when you have good coaches, getting the best out of your talent, and support from your whole community and school. People do not realize how important that community support is. Anyone here ever attend a game where one team has no one sitting on their side cheering them on?
September 11th, 2021 at 10:19 am
Year after year we hear all of these clowns on here (so called experts) saying SCA should move up, that they don’t play anyone, etc., etc. My suggestion is, why don’t the other schools in the D2 classification work as hard as the Southern kids do to make themselves better than the rest of the schools in that class. SCA has nothing to prove to anyone, just look at their schedule every year. They already PLAY UP every year and still keep winning. The haters are out there every year. You clowns need to shut up and help your own programs get better instead of sitting in your easy chairs having another beer and TRYING to think through the fog in your brains for something else hateful to say.
September 11th, 2021 at 10:00 am
@ McD65
This may be a little late, but I’d hit up the Prep/Milton game. Not everyday you get to see a good team from Georgia live in your own backyard. Plus you get the chance to see one of, if not the top ranked junior players in the country.
Besides, you can catch the LaSalle/Imhotep game anytime at your leisure………
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3pQkyoUtfE
September 11th, 2021 at 3:10 am
I agree that the quality gap between D12 and D7 isn’t close:
D12 state champion programs in the past decade:
St Joe’s
Wood
Imhotep
D7
Pine-Richland
Thomas Jefferson
Central Valley
Penn Hills
Aliquippa
Quaker Valley
Jeannette
Beaver Falls
Steel Valley
Pittsburgh Central Catholic
South Fayette
North Catholic
Clairton
North Allegheny
D12’s strength is a few Philly all-star teams… while D7 gets state titles across all classes and from a variety of teams, most of them boundary programs, all while pulling from a smaller population.
That Thomas Jefferson beat Wood, North Allegheny beat LaSalle, South Fayette beat Imhotep, and Pine Richland beat St Joe’s is legit crazy. Meanwhile, Philly boundary schools can’t even stay on the field against those same programs. The WPIAL remains the class of PA.
September 10th, 2021 at 9:58 pm
So if your a small school you would get penalized for being good but if your in the largest classification like st. Joes prep and you keep winning that’s ok. Sounds like a good idea.
September 10th, 2021 at 9:12 pm
@MikeNTacony
I jus through 16 well known schools but I definitely could have did a better 16 but my point being top 16 teams need to be in a open classification where recruiting is allowed for those that will compete in the SWEET 16 tourney playing other high quality opponents.
Also, WPIAL is okay but compared to Philly the talent gap in teams and quality of players is a far from close. That’s jus goes back into Population count if you took top 5 from Philly vs WPIAL philly will dominate probably 4-1 odds.
@Jeff
Yes it has fell off. We clearly seen it in the western pa vs everybody showcase I think western pa won 1 game out their own showcase.
September 10th, 2021 at 7:11 pm
To say, “St. Joe’s and LaSalle compete for players” is only half of the equation. It’s not just about competition. Philly charter / Catholics pull from a population of millions. Southern Columbia pulls from a population of tens of thousands.
Second, Berks Catholic has never even played in a state title game so I’m not sure how they are top 16. They run a nice 4A program but have never been a top 20 team in PA and are currently outside of the top 100 teams in the state on MaxPreps.
Finally, WPIAL still rules high school football in this state. Look at the number of different D7 schools that have won state titles compared to every other district. Most districts have the same 1-3 competitive powers each season. Meanwhile, D7 fields a dozen teams each year with a reasonable chance to win a state title. The depth of quality teams and the breadth across classifications in the greater Pittsburgh area remains light years ahead of any other district.
September 10th, 2021 at 2:20 pm
@Mark Dodgson – so all small Catholic schools regardless of size should play 6A? Even ones that struggle to be competitive in their regular classification? I’ll take it you meant that sarcastically because no one with any common sense would argue that all small catholic or charter schools should be forced to play 6A.
@Buzz – Western Pa football fell off a mountain? There is no question the quality of play and the number of big time recruits are down in the WPIAL, but that’s true across most of the state, not just in Western Pa. The WPIAL still manages to win a couple of state titles every year and had their share of power 5 recruits last year, Derrick Davis from Gateway went to LSU, Khalil Dinkins from NA to Penn State and Donovan McMillon from Peters went to Florida, just to name a few, Pitt also signed 4-5 kids, so there is still some top notch talent from around here, just not as many kids as in decades past.
Regarding this annual debate about whether SC should play up in class, I would have preferred when the PIAA instituted the success/transfer rule they left the transfers out of it and just focused on a schools success, if a school dominates a classification year in and year out they should be forced to move up for the following cycle, IMO that would do more to help competitive balance across the state than bringing transfers into the equation. If that rule were in effect SC would be playing at least 4A by now, TJ would be in 5A, etc.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:33 am
LaSalle/ Imhotep and Saint Joe Prep/ Milton Georgia , both Saturday afternoon in Philly. Coin flip which to attend .
September 10th, 2021 at 11:31 am
@ JC, Within their area is defined as within their borders. My lord why cant you understand . SC and others in the small towns dont have the likes of Lasalle and Saint joe prep recruiting their best talent away , that is what was meant. Stop all the defensive responses where they arent appropriate and enjoy football in Pa. I think its great to have the community behind your team . I remember when CB West was king and the crowds they used to draw. Have a great season whoever you choose to follow.
September 10th, 2021 at 10:53 am
@ mark d Do you really think Bishop Guilfoyle or Berks Catholic, which don’t have borders, should be in the same classification as North Penn or Coatesville? Would anything be gained by having Scranton Prep move to 6A when, for as long as I can remember, they’ve never made it to a state semifinal–despite not having borders?
September 10th, 2021 at 10:13 am
Hey buzz they mercy ruled the 3a state champion that year.
September 10th, 2021 at 9:17 am
guys then why have classifications ??? and i don’t want to hear about a Catholics school or charter school if you don’t have borders you should be 6A!!!!
September 10th, 2021 at 6:21 am
@jc
I dont understand you my guy your excited bout small ball football lol calm down. Cuz truth be told Southern only played one comp team and that was on ESPN they represented the state well but other than that who have southern really beat ? None of the Big Dawgs they could schedule Berks Catholic etc … They don’t wanna ruin there little town tradition lol so they play teams who they know they can compete with.
September 10th, 2021 at 3:13 am
When I’m given examples of imagine what we would have won if we stayed where we were????? Lol lol lol what have you won??? Nothing!!!! Would you rather be the best team in your classification or one of the best teams in another classification that you moved up to and I think every kid would pick a state title. In this day and age you can’t use the excuse of more looks from colleges, that’s a cop out. If your good people know your good. So yes everyone knows all these smart adults would pick a couple district 12 championships over to many state titles to count.
September 9th, 2021 at 9:01 pm
@ Mark
I’d trade you all 5 of those games for just one game against either Thomas Jefferson, ECP, Imhotep or Gov. Mifflin.
September 9th, 2021 at 7:26 pm
@Mark u jus made the perfect example OF WHY THEY SHOULD BE ATLEAST A 4A school. How many of those 4 or 5A schools they gone beat ? That doesn’t even sound right they play 5A 4A 3A but compete on 2a bracket and dominate year in and year out. Imagine if Imhotep stayed @ 3A. I don’t think nobody would like that lol
@Mcd65 Definitely Probably replace Berks Catholic
September 9th, 2021 at 6:10 pm
Southern gets all the good kids in the area??? Lol southern Columbia has direct borders with north schuylkill ( a lot of people are not aware of this but it does have a border with ns, mount Carmel, Danville, berwick. They don’t get all the best players. In fact one of there better players even transferred out to berwick a few years ago. So many of your facts on the coal region are actually myths.
September 9th, 2021 at 5:33 pm
Yo #Buzz, You left out Wood in your sweet 16 LOL.
September 9th, 2021 at 8:16 am
@BUZZ what do you want form Sothern they have this year on the schedule 4A Berwick 4A Selinsgrove 3A Wyoming area 3A Wyomissing and 2A MT Carmel all of these programs have won state titles What do you think they should do travel to Pittsburgh and Philly every week to play High School Football ? bet the budget would love that. they are a good program but they are still 2A school in the middle of no where .
September 8th, 2021 at 11:30 pm
@JC Your proud SC stays @ what 2A or 3A ??? Lol dominate year in and year out, HOW BOUT MOVE UP AND STEP YALL WEIGHT UP A CLASS OR 2 I heard y’all beat up on 4A and 5A schools but continue to play down lol yeah great 4 y’all.
@Jeff Let’s be honest here Western PA Football has fell off a mountain. Don’t get me wrong WESTERN PA FOOTBALL IS HISTORICAL AND HAS GREAT MOMENTS IN HISTORY. But I say the last maybe 4-5 years I haven’t really seen a GOOD GROUP of kids produced from that side of PA. Since PineRichland QB #1. The problem with PIAA is that there playoff and division is outta wack they need to stack the competition in one playoff tourney let’s call it a open division sweet 16 all PA house hold name schools will compete 4 a PIAA title. There will be no classification 4 this division and these schools may OPENLY recruit because they WILL NOT COMPETE 4 CLASSIFICATION titles meaning they will compete amongst each other in a tourney of playoff form there will be no East and west side teams will be ranked amongst competition with a 3 year contract so if a team can’t compete @ high level or can’t recruit to get kids to there school they can drop out after 3 years and a new team can step in. But all other high schools will be placed in division with strict transferring rules. That would make PA FOOTBALL EXCITING AGAIN
Sweet 16
Imhotep
PCC
SJP
NA
ROMAN
LASALLE
PINE RICHLAND
SC
COATESVILLE
ERIE CATHEDRAL
PENN HILLS
HARRISBURG
PENN TRAF
THOMAS JEFF
BERKS CATHOLIC
MCDEVITT
September 8th, 2021 at 10:03 pm
@JC I knew it wouldn’t take you long to resort to name calling. I grew up the same way you did. My friends from my block, we all played on the same teams and went to the same HS. When I got to college I realized I missed out on opportunity to compete like it is in the real world. I’ll stop here because logic doesn’t appeal to you and name calling give me zero satisfaction. You have your opinion, I have mine and we’ll both enjoy them.
September 8th, 2021 at 6:33 pm
@ mcd 65, You’ve hit the nail on the head. What we have in PA are entirely different school/community environments. There are no “Southern Columbia” type schools or communities in Philly or, to a large degree, in the SE PA area. Certainly in Philly, very few kids go to school with the same people from elementary through high school–and to some degree it’s been that way for decades, becoming even more and more that way over time. The absence of boundaries for both Catholic and public schools in Philly was both a cause and a result of deeper trends.
What I’d like to see is some overall account of high school transfers–not just for student athletes. My impression is that there are more and more transfers in total but that basketball and football players are more likely to transfer–despite the PIAA rule change of a couple of years ago. It’s also my impression that the transfer rates vary very widely across the state–and why wouldn’t they since in most areas of the state there are only a couple of options if there are any options at all but that in SE PA there are many.
September 8th, 2021 at 2:13 pm
@ JC,
I appreciate your frustration, BUT You clearly dont understand how the competition in the Philly area works. Yes there is recruiting to some degree by many schools but it is not like the whole team is being sought after as some make it out to be. The Imhotep team is comprised almost entirely of home grown [in your words] players from North Philly. Consider those players have their choice of playing for ANY Public HS in the city and the best players are being sought after by most of the PCL schools as well as the Inter -Ac league teams. Albie Crosby left for Neuman/Goretti but good players still choose to attend Tep . Who does the likes of Southern Columbia compete with for players ???? Ahem- None so they get every good player in their area and coach them up. Those kids know where they will be going to high school at a young age and are taught the SC systems as youngsters . I have great respect for the SC program and their coaches . there are tons of differences area to area so lets enjoy good football wherever and whatever the circumstances are .
September 8th, 2021 at 2:10 pm
The joneses you are a moron. Everyone getting a participation trophy lol. I guess I’m old school. I went to my high school and played sports with kids who I played with since I was 5 years old. My high school still plays that way and won a district title last year and finished the year undefeated. There ranked number 1 in the state early in the season and if a whole lot of things go there way they could have a successful season and go a long way in states. And there kids who know each other and whose families know each other. Take your prep schools and charter schools and catholic schools and let them figure things out and play each other.
September 8th, 2021 at 12:15 pm
#Buzz – I live in Western Pa and have followed high school football in this state since the 1970’s, I am not a big fan of PCC and never mind seeing them lose because their fan base and student body are pretty condescending towards other schools, but to say they are scared of competition at the highest level is a bit disingenuous and not accurate. First of all unlike most of the rest of the state WPIAL teams have very little flexibility in scheduling as the WPIAL makes the schedule for all WPIAL opponents, it’s true they could schedule an out of state team in the first few weeks of the season, but they typically have taken on other powerhouse teams from around the state, like Imhotep a few weeks ago and Erie Prep in years past. In fact they played a home and home with Erie Prep in 2017-2018, just because the don’t play teams from Ohio or other neighboring states doesn’t mean they don’t take on other top teams from around PA. And to PCC’s credit they play the best nonconference teams in the WPIAL regardless of classification, including Penn Hills last week and Pine Richland this week, while snobby North Alleghany refuses to play any 5a teams because they would look bad if they lose so they schedule opponents from Ohio instead, I guess it makes them feel better losing 35-0 to Pickering from Ohio than play a top 5a team from the WPIAL and risk losing.
Imhotep fans should be excited this year, they have one of the most talented teams in the state regardless of classification, and they are the favorite to win 5a, but they have been the favorite many times in the past and have 1 state title to show for it. I agree they would have likely gone on a deep run in the playoffs last year, but I’m not so sure they would have beaten Pine Richland in the final, that would have been a tremendous game and it’s a shame for fans in this state it didn’t play out that way.
September 8th, 2021 at 12:12 pm
@JC I guess your not as enlightened as your think. It’s a PIAA rule period. Not just for public schools. Ask Wood about it and what ECP may be looking at this year. I fine with any other argument or debate on Tep. I am just saying kill the recruiting crying. Your analogy is even off. The participation trophy era is never going to overtake the world of sports as you’d like. You have Pitt & Pennstate able offer a different stipend amount to students. Ivy’s don’t grant scholarships, but as the Yale coach told my son, “no one who Yale wanted to play football for them, and they wanted Yale, failed to attend because of money”. On top of that, there’s a reason why a kid not in the district can attend a public by paying tuition. It has been done.
I, like a real fan, appreciate what SC has done and continues to do. I would like them to play some of the other teams to see how dominant the program really is. It’s not to diminish at all. I liken it to Jordan vs Kobe debate etc. I don’t hate on the winning programs or the loosing ones. Do they best with what you have because complaining does nothing.
September 8th, 2021 at 10:51 am
@Buzz SJP has 4 also (2 WR, DB, DT) and 3 more are getting playing time this year. The QB is a 24 kid who got the start this season. Still early. Roman is close behind. It’s being said the class of 24 is the most loaded class in a long time if not ever.
September 8th, 2021 at 10:50 am
@ Jeff H
District 11 is in a 4 team sub bracket with District 2. Winner of that bracket plays another sub bracket winner between Districts 6, 8 and 10. Guessing that will be a Whitehall/ECP game. Winner of that game plays the District 12 champ, more than likely Jc’s Imhotep (but you know, its like 12 weeks away and anything can happen, which I hate to admit, is actually true, more doing with the Covid than anything else). Don’t know of any other challengers in D12 other than maybe Father Judge. Probably be your PCL/PPL D12 final. Winner of all of that plays the District 1 champ (let’s go with Upper Dublin :))
September 8th, 2021 at 9:28 am
How dare anyone say anything except imotep is the best, won’t give up a td, has the toughest schedule, lol. I guess your not up to date on the transfer rule which public schools have to move up in class if they have so many transfers. Yes I get some public schools try and recruit but cmon it’s legal for your charter, catholic and prep schools to do so. It’s almost comparing an Ivy League school who didn’t give athletic scholarships at one time to an sec football school who has everyone who is playing on an athletic scholarship. There is no bigger disadvantage in sports comparable than Pennsylvania allowing private and public schools play for the same title. And I live in a neighboring school district with southern Columbia and if you really new anything about southern you would know they don’t need to recruit anyone. There homegrown kids and unlike imotep they win every week and every year and they don’t care if they give up a point this year or if they play the toughest schedule they care whether they hold a trophy over there heads almost every year.
September 8th, 2021 at 9:04 am
@JC can you please stop acting like public schools do not recruit! They can’t do it at the same lengths as others and it likely because they do not have the tools or substance to do it. If the public high school coach, AD, teacher etc. talks to a child about staying or coming to the high school instead of going/transferring to private/catholic school, it is the very definition of recruiting.
Been there done that, it happens.
You already know its not against the PIAA rules for them to do it, so they aren’t cheating.
Finally, Tep hasn’t won a bunch of championships or have a new legendary winning streak like SC. Does this ever get tiring?
September 8th, 2021 at 12:54 am
@Jc
U sound like a hater and don’t know Imhotep. They play national teams every year this will be THERE 3 consecutive time play Dematha. 2-1 in the last 3 years now if you talking bout a ducking comp program look @ PCC they play there normal league schedule every year no outta state comp or anything. Why ? Cuz there scared of competition @ the highest level. Imhotep played Dematha the year before Covid hit they played Bergen Catholic and Dematha also Malvern and Lasalle. Imhotep runs from nobody and the fans are excited this year cuz last year would have been a State Championship run they missed out on so we’re excited to see how far the kids go. Jus cuz your highschool team probably got smashed by them don’t hate
@ Joneses
Imhotep might have that class as well they have bout 4-4 kids in that 24 class with FBS offers I think 2 CB and 2 DT if I’m not mistaken
September 7th, 2021 at 11:25 pm
@Kevin X – where does D11 factor into the 5a bracket, who would they play in the quarterfinals? Are they in the western bracket and would play the D3 winner, presumably Mifflin, with the winner taking on the D7 champ in the semi’s. Last year was such a bizarre bracket due to all the forfeits so I can’t remember which districts were slated to play where. Whitehall from D11 has a very solid team and I would expect them to be competitive in the playoffs.
September 7th, 2021 at 10:28 am
@#BUZZ
Yeah Tep has every class locked in except 24. They continue to put kids in college. Many thought the program will fail after Albie left. Now they just want it to fail. Gotta love what they do. I had the pleasure of talking to a few coaches and they try to also build great young men.
September 7th, 2021 at 10:24 am
@Frank G, You have some good points there. DeMatha isn’t the same team this year. I expected Tep to beat them. Roman will lose to them because they aren’t that good yet. I think Gonzaga & Milton are better than other non-league game scheduled. Gonzaga just beat McDonugh 26-6 and LaSalle plays McDonugh. I will say this is probably the best not league schedule we’ve seen for schools in a long time. It typically has only been prep once LaSalle stopped doing it as much.
@Jeff H it would really suck if ECP was forced to move up.
September 7th, 2021 at 10:09 am
Imotep charter fans are in the early lead for the most ridiculous fans so far this year. Worried about whether they have the toughest schedule, who they are going to play 12 weeks from now and whether they were going to give up a point all year. Here is an idea, they should play one of the toughest schedules every year. They recruit and are allowed to which 90 % of the Piaa are not allowed to do. But to be so dumb and arrogant to not think anything can happen from now till 12 weeks from now affecting wins and losses makes you a dummy. With covid and injuries you can’t take anything for granted.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:20 am
@ Jeff H
Assuming that the PIAA didn’t tweak the brackets when I wasn’t looking, yes, they are the same this year as last, hopefully with more teams actually playing on the east side. If Imhotep and ECP do meet up, and it’s kind of crazy to think they wouldn’t (don’t they always), they’d be playing in the quarter finals. Winner of that game would play the D1 champ in the eastern finals/state semis.
Saw something a little while ago that if ECP makes it to that quarter finals game, and even if they loose that game, and if they have the required 3 or more transfers, they’d move up to 6A for the next 2 year cycle.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:03 am
@Mcd65 – I heard the game is @ 1
September 6th, 2021 at 10:47 am
@Kevin X
It may be that for the fist time this century SJP’s non-league schedule is not the hardest–by far–of any school in the area. I wouldn’t, however, say SJP’s isn’t at least “close” to Tep’s. St. Mary was not as good as expected, but Milton (from Georgia), despite the one loss in their first three games, may be as good as anyone Tep is playing and Gonzaga (2-0 so far) is probably better than PCC or DeMatha–or LaSalle.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:43 am
Greetings from the great northwest, it’s been awhile. @Jeff H I believe the brackets will be the same as last year but you just never know. To piggy back off your statement, Tep and Mifflin are the top 2 5A teams in the state. Erie Cathedral has a solid team this year but they are fairly young, they only start 4 seniors on each side of the ball and start 3 sophomores and 4 juniors. They will be relevant in the playoffs but they don’t beat those top 2. We will find out how good Erie Cathedral is in the coming weeks as they play Solon Ohio, Buffalo St Francis, Benedictine, and Mcdowell all in a row. I think they beat St Francis, and loose to Benedictine, but Solon and Mcdowell will be very close. Mcdowell lost some firepower to graduation but still has their massive line from last year.
September 6th, 2021 at 8:13 am
@#Buzz – I agree Erie Prep will be a factor in the playoffs as usual, but at this point I’d say Imhotep and Mifflin are the 2 best 5a teams in the state and think if anyone in 5a beats Imhotep it will be Mifflin. Does anyone know if ECP is on the Eastern side of the bracket like they were last year. If they are not then they would probably play Mifflin in the quarterfinals because the WPIAL winner enters the state tournament in the semi-finals. Assuming ECP is in the east I foresee Imhotep vs. Erie in one semi-final and Mifflin vs. WPIAL winner (likely Penn Trafford) in the other semi.
September 5th, 2021 at 9:41 pm
@ phillyboy, anybody else……
Does anyone have a tougher, more challenging non league/conference schedule than ‘Tep this year?? Granted, only 3 games, but still……… I don’t know if anyone is even close, maybe LaSalle??
September 5th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Imhotep and DeMatha were supposed to play at the NW Supersite Friday night. From a block away I could sense something was terribly wrong. There was no energy, no buses, nobody on the field, nobody in the stands. When I saw the padlocked gates my suspicion became a certainty. Dog gone it, phillyboy himself makes an appearance and this is the gratitude he gets — I tell you, smh. At the eleventh hour they flipped the script, ‘Why you flip on me, homie?’ Anyway, glad to see Imhotep vanquished the darlings of DC. If they can keep it rolling against LaSalle next week and complete the hat trick, that would be a monster 3-0 start, putting them on the national radar.
September 5th, 2021 at 1:30 am
I certainly appreciate this website. Continue the good work!
September 5th, 2021 at 1:01 am
Mifflin obviously will make a lot of teams look bad this year, but Wilson had chances to make the game closer. To beat Mifflin a team will have to avoid turnovers and sustain drives. My feeling is that Wilson will rebound and get better as the season moves along. Their next game against Exeter should be a good test for them.
September 4th, 2021 at 10:11 pm
TF I don’t think the extra remarks you made about the Wilson QB were necessary to get your points across. Like I said he still has to learn the complex Wilson system better for them to contend for another championship this year. Thank you.
September 4th, 2021 at 9:43 pm
@ Michael, I read the laSalle /Tep game was at noon ,Springfield ,Montgomery county just off route 309. Where did you hear 7 ?? thanks
September 4th, 2021 at 8:00 pm
Pope John Paul 51 New Hope 0 Score was 44-0 at halftime Hard to tell how good the Golden Panthers are as Archbishop Carroll and New Hope don’t look very strong this year. I will say this PJP’S basketball on grass offense is really fun to watch. New Hope looked to have about 35 players, PJP easily doubled that number, I heard PJP has 33 Freshman on the team. The schedule gets a lot tougher with Inter Ac Springside Chestnut Hill Academy next week and Berks Catholic the following week.
September 4th, 2021 at 5:46 pm
It says the Imhotep/ Lasalle game is at Springfield High School next Saturday @ 7; Anyone know what Springfield high they are talking about?
September 4th, 2021 at 1:40 pm
@Kevin
The point I was making is that Isheem beat all odds and continued to pursue his dreams with the help of Imhotep alumni and staff.
@Jeff
I still like ECP as Imhotep biggest threat.
September 4th, 2021 at 9:46 am
From afar it appears Imhotep and Gov Mifflin are the top 2 teams in the state in 5a and wouldn’t be surprised if they meet in Hershey for the state title, assuming the brackets are the same as last year and D3 plays D7 in the semi-finals. I have not seen Penn Trafford yet and think they are the best 5a team in the WPIAL, they have a very interesting game next week against 4a Belle Vernon who will challenge TJ for the 4a district title
Speaking of TJ they were very impressive against Gateway last night until they got conservative late in the 3rd quarter after going up 21-3 and almost allowed Gateway to come back and steal one, as expected they dominated in the trenches and that was the difference in the game, Gateway QB Brad Birch was under constant pressure and sacked numerous times. TJ’s defense set the tone right off the bat, Gateway started on their own 20 after a touchback, first running play lost 2 yards, then 2 straight sacks had Gateway punting from their end zone, and a low snap resulted in a safety and before fans had settled into their seats it was 2-0. Penn Trafford is built very similar to TJ, big and strong offensive line, power running game, and very good defense, I expect their lines will batter Gateway just like TJ did last night when they play next month.
Agree the game next week between LaSalle and Imhotep may be the best game in the state, there certainly will be no shortage of D1 talent on either side, will be a good indicator of whether LaSalle can challenge SJP this year.
September 4th, 2021 at 9:20 am
@ #Buzz
I wouldn’t exactly be putting Isheem Young on top of your ‘Tep pedestal.
September 4th, 2021 at 8:56 am
# Buzz, Ditto Tep. Next week a real battle with LaSalle . This one should be one of the best matches thus far this year.
September 4th, 2021 at 8:03 am
Imhotep beats Dematha
Then I come to realize they have the top player in the state in 3 of the 4 next classes
2022 Enai White
2023 Rahmir Steward
2024 ?
2025 Zahir Mathis
That’s crazy all on one team HOME GROWN people may hate on that program but that program produces studs and not kids that go to college and drop out 4 example Isheem Young if many remember was Imhotep top player @ one point. He’s now Iowa State Saftey #1 and is noticed as one of the nation top player. I did research on there roster they currently have 17 D1 players though out classes 2022-2025. That is crazy not mentioning how many kids go D2 from there. I jus wanna give a great program its flowers. Coming from Philadelphia I know football wasn’t big there and to see where it is now is great. Congratz 2 Da “TEP”
September 4th, 2021 at 7:12 am
Jeff H, left the Wilson/Mifflin game at halftime, it was a repeat blowout from last year. Mifflin looks to be every bit as good as last year. Wilson’s hyped and well traveled QB-(3rd school in 4 years) looked completely overmatched. The Wilson/Exeter game next week will tell if Exeter is going to make it a 2 team race in District 3 5A this year.
September 4th, 2021 at 4:00 am
GM 42-Wilson 14. Governor Mifflin was clearly the better team tonight on offense and defense and also with Nick Singleton it was like trying to stop a landslide. GM has plenty of weapons and they didn’t need any help but that’s exactly what they got from a Wilson team that constantly shot themselves in the foot in the first half with some sloppy play by not taking care of the ball fumbling and giving GM some short fields to work with. Wilson played better in the second half with both teams scoring 14 points a piece but the damage was already done and with the mercy rule clock running it made things even worse.The Wilson transfer QB from Berks Catholic Brad Hoffman didn’t play well and he still has to learn the complex Wilson system a lot better for Wilson to contend for a title again this year. He was out of rhythm and used some bad judgement by trying to get rid of the ball instead of taking a sack on one play which led to a fumble and was inaccurate on most of his throws but he did have a couple of nice runs but things kind of snowballed from there with the constant bad field position Wilson was in. Give GM credit for taking advantage of Wilson’s mistakes and by keeping Wilson off balance by moving the ball by spreading it around and by playing good defense allowing them to keep the Gurski-Linn Trophy for another year which is probably one of the biggest high school rivalry trophy’s in the nation (seeing is believing). They bring it out on the field on a cart and it takes a couple of big players from the winning team to lift it high in the air after the game is over. LOL.
September 3rd, 2021 at 1:12 pm
Surprised there’s not more comments about the Governor Mifflin vs. WWL game tonight, there were some posts about this game last weekend, but none for the last several days. On paper this rivalry is one of the better games in the state tonight, do you Wilson guys think your defense is going to have much luck in slowing down Nick Singleton? I know Mifflin blasted Wilson last year, I expect this game will be much closer but I still think Mifflin wins by 2 scores.
The most intriguing game in the WPIAL tonight is Gateway vs. Thomas Jefferson and that’s the game I’ll be attending, Gateway is preseason #1 in 5A in the WPIAL, TJ #1 in 4A (what else is new!)
Fascinating matchup between TJ’s strength in the trenches against Gateway’s speed and skill players, very interested to see how Gateway sophomore quarterback Brad Birch looks against TJ’s defense, he’s already got an offer from Oregon. Gateway has a slight advantage from playing an actual game last week and not a scrimmage, but I have a hunch TJ’s advantage in the trenches will wear down Gateway’s defense in the 2nd half so I’m picking TJ to come away with a big road win in a close game.
September 3rd, 2021 at 9:33 am
What a game last night between Northwestern and Northern Lehigh. Two rivals going back and fourth. NL missed two or attempt to take lead with 2 min left. NL will be force in dist 11 2A. Schedule is brutal for them. They played pa preps state ranked number 1 muncy last week +and won by three scores) NW who is 4A honorable mention this week. In a few weeks it’s Notre Dame and NS back to back who are both top 5 in 3A. They could be 7-3 at end of year and be a very good team with close to loses to that’s higher class tanked teams. Of course any chance of a trip to Hershey for them is gone with Southern Columbia almost guaranteed to be there in AA. NW is going to be tough in 4A and give Beca a run. A bunch of big games in the valley tonight headlined by Emmaus and Freedom.
September 1st, 2021 at 12:13 pm
Tonight.
September 1st, 2021 at 11:37 am
Rankings ?
August 31st, 2021 at 12:08 pm
Thanks Jeff H. I did some reading and it appears the rabbit hole is much deeper. Apparently the coach has active warrants out for his arrest for fraud. This article explains my question earlier as to whom was funding the team. https://www.complex.com/sports/bishop-sycamore-high-school-player-interview/
Apparently this is the same coach who arranged the COF Academy that North Allegheny played in 2018.
August 31st, 2021 at 1:04 am
To add some more to the Bishop Sycamore saga Ron Coursey, the former AD at Woodland Hills who organized the WPIAL vs. Everyone Classic (he moved on to be the AD at Chambersburg this summer), was quoted in the local paper as saying the Sycamore coach told him they had a high school team and a Prep team, and Coursey told him they had to bring their high school team in order to comply with PIAA rules, and also made them sign a PA contract that stipulated they wouldn’t use any 5th yr players and otherwise comply with all PIAA guidelines. Coursey was further quoted as saying he looked into their opponents from last year and that’s why he scheduled them against a 2A team in Sto-Rox, who is one of the favorites to win 2A in the WPIAL.
I don’t know if anyone caught any footage of that game, but in a bizarre twist both teams wore black pants and black jerseys, when it was 90 degrees and muggy with a heat index near 100, the Sycamore coach said they forgot to pack their white road jerseys, in 45+ years of watching HS football can’t say I’ve ever seen a game in which both teams wore the same color pants and jerseys, I have no idea how the officials could tell them apart.
August 30th, 2021 at 5:59 pm
Thought I would make some comments and observations from the PR vs Harrisburg game on Saturday. Impressive comeback by the Cougars, they were down 14-0 early in the 2nd quarter, and with such a young team on a hot and humid afternoon it would have been easy for them to get rattled, but to their credit they hung in there, scored a TD late in the 2nd to cut it to 14-6 at half, then made some adjustments at halftime and clearly outplayed PR in the 2nd half, having a lot success running the ball between the tackles. Mahkai Hopkins is a load to tackle, MaxPreps lists him at 6’1″ 235 but he looks bigger, Kyle Williams also had over 100 yards rushing, and the Harrisburg OL dominated and wore down PR in the 2nd half. It was obvious Harrisburg had the better conditioning, PR definitely looked gassed in the 2nd half, and there were more kids on Harrisburg playing both ways than PR. Harrisburg is a solid team, but I think their lack of depth will catch up to them against some of the tougher teams in D3, along with starting a freshman at QB
As for PR they looked disorganized quite often, on at least 3 occasions they only had 10 guys on the field, and once even lined up on the wrong side for a kickoff, kids arguing with coaches on the sideline, definitely not the same confident team that won a state title last year. I know it’s only 1 game but based on what I saw I expect PR to lose a few more games, this coaching staff appears to be in way over their heads and they will be outcoached in most games, although they will still make the playoffs because they are in a weak conference.
As of right now I’d make Penn Trafford the favorite to win their first ever WPIAL title after finishing as runner-up 5 times, although Gateway seems to have their number in the playoffs, PT wins the regular season game and then Gateway knocks them off in the playoffs, but I think PT has a big advantage over Gateway in the trenches and that may give them the upper hand in their quest for an elusive district title.
August 30th, 2021 at 5:42 pm
Will the St. Joe Prep/ St. Mary Rykin game be live streamed anywhere ??
August 30th, 2021 at 5:38 pm
@ joneses, I went to McD in District 12 not the one that played LaSalle. They were supposed to be loaded with several D1 players . LaSalle is loaded as well for sure.
I recall reading about Bishop Sycamore a couple years ago . They were supposed to become the IMG of the North, at least thats what they were selling. I was watching that IMG game until the rain delay. Sycamore was terrible. What a scam !!!
August 30th, 2021 at 4:56 pm
thanks Kevin X
August 30th, 2021 at 2:39 pm
Thanks Kevin. Yikes, so many questions about this whole ordeal. How did they get kids from all over the country who mostly graduated to form this “school”?, Who funds the team and travel? Who thought it was a good idea for the players to turnaround on a days notice and play a top 5 national team after losing to a good WPIAL small school? It will be interesting to see how this all plays out over the course of the year.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:19 pm
@ d6
Short answer: Yes
Longer answer:
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/espn-high-school-football-img-academy-bishop-sycamore/1vwp40nfifx1b13qiwk1a9zo3v
August 30th, 2021 at 11:43 am
Could anyone fill me in further on this Bishop Sycamore deal? Was this the same squad who played Sto-Rox friday evening and then IMG on Sunday?
August 30th, 2021 at 11:36 am
@FrankG- You’ve been around long enough to know which individuals will find something blameworthy with any they do at SJP.
August 30th, 2021 at 10:59 am
@ FrankG
Yes, “desperate” is the correct word.
August 30th, 2021 at 9:25 am
@Mcd65 Ewers leaving HS early was not about getting to play at Ohio State this year. It was about him receiving close to 800K in endorsement money via NIL. I agree either he or McCord will be in the portal next year. Is McDevitt as bad as the LaSalle score suggested? Putting up that score with 2 key starters not playing makes me wonder.
August 30th, 2021 at 9:22 am
@Kevin X
SJP was scheduled to play Bishop Sycamore last year. They were desperate to put together a season and looked everywhere in the five or six states closest to Philly. Bishop Sycamore was one of two non-PCL schools that said “yes,” partly, it seems, because they are a program with some ambition. I don’t see anything blameworthy in what the Prep did.
August 30th, 2021 at 8:35 am
So have you guys been getting a good laugh out of this ESPN/IMG/Bishop Sycamore debacle from yesterday?? You really want to know what is wrong with high school football??
Funny thing also is that St. Joe Prep was scheduled to play Bishop Sycamore last year (or was it 2 years ago??)
August 29th, 2021 at 8:56 pm
Chief, you can try the below link (expanded box score, no write-up), but not sure if it will work…..
https://s3.amazonaws.com/phillyburbs.com/sportsstats/theintell.html?site=default&mkt=bucksmont&Season=2021&tpl=new_Boxscore_MB&Sport=&ID=64405&TeamID=&SearchType=Teams
August 29th, 2021 at 8:08 pm
phillyboy, This Ewers skipping his senior year of HS is just ridiculous. It would be realistic to find him sitting the bench for a couple years behind Stroud and McCord. Better yet he goes to the portal. I dont wish the kid ill will , but if he succeeds early it could begin a trend that would not be good for HS football.
August 29th, 2021 at 7:57 pm
I agree 100% Scott G. Hagy. No matter what year it is with this rivalry you have to be at very your best to come out on top because this is one of the best rivalries in the state of Pennsylvania. And especially the last couple of years since Governor Mifflin has had some of their best teams ever with Nick Singleton leading them. It’s always a classic but this one could be one of the best ever in this very old heated rivalry game. The past games has included some crazy pranks played on each other’s schools (that we can’t mention here) and pageantry on a smaller scale of course similar to the Ohio State-Michigan and Army-Navy games. And in early the days this was always the last game played on the schedule with the suspense and pressure building up every week but some scheduling problems ended that.
August 29th, 2021 at 5:31 pm
Wilson was clearly better than Central Dauphin with all their starters in, but a shocking number got dinged up enough to put backups in and it turned what looked like a comfortable win into a nail biter.
Obviously they’re going to need their best playing at their peak next game.
August 29th, 2021 at 10:52 am
@phillyboy I feel the same about the Ewers situation. A terrible precedent and a symptom of a big problem. Years ago I saw some widely-shared stats about the actual chances high school basketball “stars” would ever play a single game in the NBA let alone have a decent career in the league. You know what the stats showed: the chances were extremely low. Someone should do the same with football. I wonder if Ewers’ parents ever considered that the chances of his having a career-ending serious knee or shoulder injury are much higher than the chance of his ever being a starting NFL QB. And I’m leaving aside any educational or developmental considerations.
August 29th, 2021 at 9:52 am
Is there a news blackout on the Coatesville/CB West game? :). I know Coatesville won, but could not find a write up anywhere. Two storied teams, but crickets on PA preps, Bucks times, here, etc.
August 29th, 2021 at 9:00 am
@ Phillyboy
Yeah, heard about the Ewers situation, can’t say I’m really paying much, if any, attention to it tho. Sounds like mostly driven by the NIL ruling. Honestly don’t care, no opinion, his business. What I am curious about going forward is what kind of competition he will give Kyle McCord. Which one will enter the transfer portal first.
August 29th, 2021 at 8:38 am
They big key to that Wilson win over CD…
Wilson rushing stats..44/297 and 3 scores.
CD rarely gives up 300 on the ground, so let’s give some cred to that WWL O line. They controlled the trenches for most of the night!
Stopping Singleton from Governor Mifflin next Friday is another story. Not to worry…he only had 284 on the ground with 5 rushing TD’s yesterday!! GM attempted one pass the entire game…so let’s see what the Wilson D cord. dials up
August 29th, 2021 at 8:23 am
Speaking of Southern Columbia…Wyomissing travels there in a few weeks. Be curious to see how that plays out! Wyo has a lot of hardware in their storied history…plus even when they lose, they rarely get blown out. There will be a lot of tailgating on both sides for that one. Hope Wyo can keep it close!
August 29th, 2021 at 2:47 am
The Wilson /Central Dauphin rivalry game between the powers of the Mid Penn Conference and the Lancaster-Lebanon Conference lived up to all the hype. It turned into a good old fashioned slobber knocker. The earlier part of the game was mostly dominated by Wilson’s stud running backs Jadyn Jones and Gavin Lenart. Then later in the game after those two Wilson running backs got dinged up with some injuries Central Dauphin came roaring back and made it close with their own running game powered by Tyler English and some slick play by CDs QB Max Mosey taking control of things. Final score was Wilson 27 Central Dauphin 20. This game is always an instant classic that’s listed as one of the top games in the state every year.
August 29th, 2021 at 7:34 am
Southern Columbia has one 61 straight games.
August 28th, 2021 at 9:37 pm
Just wanted to get something off my chest, did anybody hear about the Quinn Ewers situation? He was to be entering his senior season at Southlake Carrol High School in the Dallas area this year. He was considered the #1 high school QB prospect in the country playing for one of the most prominent football programs in Texas. Southlake won 3 straight state titles and a couple USA Today mythical national championships back in the mid 2000’s as I remember. They had a deep run in last year’s playoffs so would have been interesting to see if they could ‘get the thing done’ as Andy Reid would say. Well so much for that, he is now enrolled at Ohio State. What on earth is that all about?! We’ve known about players leaving college early for decades now, not a problem, it’s big business, I get it. But leaving high school a year early, come on man, completely ridiculous. First of all, how is it even possible, doesn’t one have to complete HS to be eligible for the next level. Beyond that, is it worth foregoing the enjoyment of the promising senior season for the naming rights chump change? Even if it’s substantial, stands to reason the same deals will be available one year later. I remember Dan Connor left to Penn State after his senior season in ’03 in January of ’04 but at least he got in his senior season. Anyway, got more important things to be concerned about, just some thoughts. I will say this, good to see he chose Ohio State, as the Buckeyes are the North’s best chance of winning a national title — so tired of seeing the South dominate.
Regarding Southern Columbia, does anybody know at what is their current win streak? Watched part of their game last night on youtube. Goodness gracious, I wish there were more public programs like that, so enjoyable to watch.
August 28th, 2021 at 8:59 pm
Big Boy football in West Lawn..Wilson 27-21 over Central Dauphin. First team up 27-7, with 4 minutes left. CD scores 14 against second team. WWL OL out shined CD’s OL..that was the difference. Plus Bulldogs QB and RB’s played well. Next week @ Governor Mifflin…we shall see!
August 28th, 2021 at 6:47 pm
Archbishop Wood handled Neshaminy easily with a great defense and an improved passing game. Their next weeks game against Neuman/Goretti should be a good game as NG beat a very solid Roman squad . Woods defense has good size and very good athleticism . They get to the ball quickly and their pass rush is impressive . Most impressive imo were their Linebackers and Defensive backs.
August 28th, 2021 at 2:26 pm
34-27 Central York over Exeter. Great game that came down to the last minute. Exeter is very talented, CY’S Pribula a man among boys. I don’t remember either team punting. This is a game that Exeter should have won by 2 scores. Exeter was down in the red zone 5 times in the 1st half and came away with only 14 points, however, a pass interference play in the end zone against CY wasn’t called. Bonehead play calling in the red zone cost Exeter, their stud fullback Yocum was running wild against CY’S defense and Exeter calls a pass play on 2nd and 2 from the CY 19 which resulted in a sack and then a missed field goal. They did something similar in the 3rd quarter which cost them points again. Exeter has as much talent as any team in District 3-I believe they have 5 div 1 prospects and their QB is also VG, they have the talent to beat the heavyweights on their schedule-Wilson, Governor Mifflin and Berks Catholic plus they could win District 3 5A. Do they have the coaching to do this? Exeter has been coming up small in big games the last several years, this looks to be their best team.
August 28th, 2021 at 2:00 pm
Central York beats 5A Exeter today, 35-28, but Exeter gave them all they could handle. Exeter stalls on CY 8 with 30 sec to go. Pribula is a beast at QB, with good WR’s. Exeter will score a lot points this year and win a lot of games. CY run D not so good. Also, Exeter one TD called back, missed 2 FG’s, and QB threw a pick at CY 20 early in the 4th…..Good game!! Central Dauphin @ Wilson WL, next at 6:00
August 28th, 2021 at 12:21 am
Imhotep defense as good as advertised, they win a defensive slugfest with PCC 12-6. Score was 3-0 PCC at half, after a Tep turnover at their own 39 midway through first quarter PCC drove down to the 5, but 3 straight negative plays led to a 33 yard field goal and that held up until half. Tep took 2nd half kick and went on an impressive 80 yard drive with all running plays, most of them out of the wildcat, that took 6 minutes off the clock, 2 point try failed and Tep led 6-3. They traded punts and on the ensuing possession Tep turned the ball over again and PCC ended up kicking a 46 yard field goal to tie at 6-6 with just under 11 minutes to go. They traded punts again and Tep got the better of the field position and went on a 46 yard drive to take the lead 12-6 with 1:48 to go, then held PCC on 4th down and the game was over. Both defenses are excellent, especially Tep’s, team speed is off the charts and they fly to the ball, White and Wylie are dynamic playmakers and consistently disrupted the offense. Tep is going to be a handful in 5A and I see why they are preseason number 1, I will see PR tomorrow and Gateway and the other top WPIAL 5a teams over the next several weeks, based on what I saw tonight I have my doubts any of the WPIAL teams are going to be able to do much against Tep’s defense.
August 27th, 2021 at 9:22 pm
Same old Imhotep Penalties are rampant . If they ever get some discipline they would be great , but year after year its the same deal.
August 27th, 2021 at 8:57 pm
CD @ WWL rescheduled until tomorrow at 6.
Nasty lightning storm from about 6:30- 7:30..they evacuated the stadium just in time
August 27th, 2021 at 1:50 pm
Here’s a tweet I saw with a link to the Imhotep-PCC game:
https://twitter.com/PCC_FOOTBALL/status/1430576019090575365?s=20
August 27th, 2021 at 12:36 pm
Hi Matt. Yes. I am not doing preseason rankings…I will have rankings next week.
August 27th, 2021 at 12:21 pm
Hey Dave,
Will you be releasing the top 5 in each class today?
August 27th, 2021 at 7:46 am
Also in Berks County…Central York @ Exeter(5A). Lot of people hyping Exeter this year. We will found out quickly how good they are, after facing the best QB in the state of Pa. Don’t forget CY put up 42 on CD last year in D3 6A final!
August 27th, 2021 at 7:44 am
Enjoy your season! If anyone on here wants to help cover a game(s) for us let me know. You can email me at dave@easternpafootball.com.
Take care!
August 27th, 2021 at 7:39 am
Will be at Central Dauphin @ Wilson(West Lawn)….should be a slobber knocker.
August 27th, 2021 at 7:27 am
Thank you for the update!
August 27th, 2021 at 6:39 am
Lewisburg @ Shamokin has been moved to Sat. @ 3:30
August 26th, 2021 at 9:55 pm
@mcd 65 – I still like Tep’s chances against PCC even with the RB out, I think both offenses are going to struggle to put together long drives, turnovers and special teams could very well decide it, anticipate a fairly low scoring game, something like 20-14. I will be there and post a report tomorrow night after the game, will also be at the PR vs Harrisburg game on Saturday afternoon, and the nightcap with Woody vs. Wayne Valley NJ. To answer someone else’s question I’m not aware of the Tep-PCC game being livestreamed tomorrow night but both the PR-Harrisburg and Woody-Wayne games on Saturday can be found on TribHSSN.TribLive.com.
August 26th, 2021 at 9:16 pm
Here we go !!!! I will be heading to the Wood /Neshaminy game Friday night . Where are you headed ?????
August 26th, 2021 at 8:49 pm
Definitely got to go see Milton vs Prep; Milton has the #1 2023 Prospect, wanna see the game plan to block him.
August 26th, 2021 at 2:09 pm
Northern Lehigh picked up #1 state A ranked Muncy after Panther Valley had to cancel. Northern Lehigh who returns a lot including 6ft 1″ 225 lb running back Matt Frame will now have a huge test to travel up to Muncy on a day notice and play a great A team. Northern Lehigh also had Notre Dame and North Schuylkill on the reschedule. That’s 3 top 5 state ranked teams for the HM AA team.
August 26th, 2021 at 10:32 am
Does anyone know of any streams of the games this weekend in the wpial showcase?
August 25th, 2021 at 3:50 pm
@Friday
No, they shouldn’t avoid the PCL ( other than Prep). Like I said, they should go 10 and 0 ( SOL opponents only).
Their toughest game will be Neshaminy. Didn’t see the CD scrimmage, heard NP 1st team dominated.
Let the games begin!
August 25th, 2021 at 11:31 am
Buddy,
The contract was up and not renewed. I somewhat agree with what you’re saying but at the same time I like the idea of avoiding the PCL teams until the semis. I would like to have seen them schedule a tougher non-league schedule though because I think this team can be very good this year. Other than Pennridge they should roll to the playoffs but they need to figure the defense out. Been their Achilles heal since ’16. How do you see the Knights this year? Any feedback on the CD scrimmage?
August 25th, 2021 at 9:41 am
What is everyone thoughts on the Manheim central vs Cumberland valley game should be a great first game. I heard both teams are improved from last year and should go far in the playoffs in their classification.
August 24th, 2021 at 6:51 pm
I assume the North Penn/LaSalle contract is up. Unfortunate. NP will probably go 10 -0 ’cause they only play the SOL this year.
What happened to playing one of the Downingtowns, or Coatesville or bring back LaSalle? I can understand not playing Prep.
Only other private prep schools should play prep. Too dominate. Gotta play the best to become the best. Maybe next year I hope.
August 24th, 2021 at 9:33 am
Imhoteps starting RB looks to be out for the PCC game Friday due to an injury vs. Wood .
August 24th, 2021 at 5:22 am
I attended the Wilson WL/Coatsville scrimmage and thought it was very competitive. Both teams looked very strong but I would honestly have to give Wilson the slight edge overall because of their defense and because of a little more yardage on the ground and through the air. And the reason for that slight edge has to go to an X factor. And this kid that I called the X factor actually shocked me because I never expected him to be so flawless and cool under heavy pressure. He is the new kid on the block from Berks Catholic Brad Hoffman the 6’1″ 216 lb. QB. He could make big waves throughout the state if he continues learning how to run that complex Wilson system and also if he keeps improving hinself.
August 24th, 2021 at 3:16 am
I attended the Wilson WL/Coatsville scrimmage and thought the slight edge overall went to Wilson because of better defense and more plays being converted running and passing. And I also thought the big X factor that gave us that slight edge actually shocked me because of his cool and flawless control of the entire show. He was the new kid on the block from Berks Catholic Brad Hoffman the 6’1″ 216 lb. QB. I’m sure he will be making some big waves through out the state if he continues to progress and learns how to run the complex Wilson system even more.
August 23rd, 2021 at 9:43 pm
Yeah, I saw that right after I submitted.
Gotta love Olsommer. Will play anyone, anywhere, anytime!!
Hope everyone has their schedules written in pencil. Schedules are gonna get ugly.
August 23rd, 2021 at 8:13 pm
Delaware Valley picked up Gateway…
August 23rd, 2021 at 8:01 pm
Well here we go….I guess it was inevitable. First Del Val cancelled their FLA trip (guessing more of a Florida/travel issue), now a few other local games cancelled as well. Probably also Phx-Ville and Shanahan next week. Maybe Great Valley can take a weekend trip up to the Poconos and play Del Val (if they are still looking for a game).
August 23rd, 2021 at 7:54 pm
@ Tweeter
My bad. Maybe I should have been more specific. Yeah, I was only there for the final 40-45 minutes. Guess I didn’t witness the first teams.
August 23rd, 2021 at 2:34 pm
@kevinX I’m not sure what you you mean when you said “Looked like tho it was North Penn that just got off the bus after an early morning wake up call and 2 hour journey.” I guess you didn’t see the NP CD 1’s vs 1’s. NP pretty much could do whatever they wanted. CD did not score on their 1s while NP moved the ball and scored a couple times. You must of only saw the back-ups for NP.
August 23rd, 2021 at 1:49 pm
@ Kevin x, I was referencing the Senior not the Soph QB. Teps D line was a big factor with their pass rush , so maybe they will improve vs other teams . I do agree that Soph has nice potential and could move up quickly with experience.
August 23rd, 2021 at 10:31 am
@ Helen i want to start by saying i was not at the Valley View Southern scrimmage. i was told that Valley view looked pretty good a far as not scoring was told they were working on a lot of stuff that not their strength. am sure southern has a great Team and will win states again but let play some games and not hand medals out over a scrimmage
August 23rd, 2021 at 9:04 am
@KevinX- no he isn’t a McDevitt transfer he was there a freshman. Nice kid. He is a bit green, but I works a lot. I don’t believe he is going to be the starter. I am hearing the senior will start this year and he will get the reigns next year. I hope he gets a shot at it. Prep didn’t give up point to DeMatha. I don’t know what that means for Tep and Roman playing them this year.
August 22nd, 2021 at 8:50 pm
@ Kevin x, i looked up Imhoteps squad and they have 7 players at 300 lbs or greater and currently have 14 players with Division 1 offers. That is unreal .
August 22nd, 2021 at 8:28 pm
For some highlights of the Wilson/Coatesville scrimmage check out Mike dragosports.com
August 22nd, 2021 at 8:14 pm
@ mcd 65
Like you, I ended up doing a two a day yesterday as well. Jumped over to North Penn for the latter half of the NP/CD get together. Honestly, I was more interested in checking out the new rebuilt Crawford Stadium. Looking good to formerly christen the facility this Friday. Kudos to Central Dauphin. They must been up with the roosters for a two hour or so trip to Lansdale for a 9:30a scrimmage. Looked like tho it was North Penn that just got off the bus after an early morning wake up call and 2 hour journey.
From there took a drive down Sumneytown Pike to Upper Dub. You sound like you weren’t overly impressed with the Wood pass game. I thought #10 looked pretty good for Wood at QB. I got curious and had to do some research afterwards, and he is a 6’5″ sophomore. Don’t know if he is one of the McDevitt transfers of not. Maybe a little green, but can’t see him not improving over the course of the season.
August 22nd, 2021 at 7:44 pm
Why go to a scrimmage? Imotep won the state title already and may not give up a point all year and southern is the best southern team ever and if they give up any points they don’t matter because they didn’t try on that play. My season is set
August 22nd, 2021 at 9:52 am
@ LOL, So is that all you have to offer ?? What scrimmage did you go to and what FACTS did you give us .Its easy to criticize others opinions ,but at least we try to offer input to something we like.
@ Kevin, You were right for sure about Teps defense .They are the real deal.
August 21st, 2021 at 9:21 pm
You only saw a few series of a scrimmage and Imhotep can’t be beat this year, lol. Southern scrimmaged valley view and they threw an int. And didn’t try so it doesn’t really count, lol. You people are insane. What ever happened to just stating facts on things and not giving an outlandish opinion.
August 21st, 2021 at 8:39 pm
Roman is the real deal this year. They looked good today vs CB West. Roman is athletic and has very good size . I liked the way they moved the ball both on the ground and through the air. Their dual threat QB makes plays . West has a nice squad and appears to be well coached .but imo Ithey were over matched.
I saw several series between Wood and Imhotep. Wood has a solid defense with some very good talent. Their weakness appeared to be the passing game . Imhotep is huge and extremely athletic on both sides of the ball. That team can only lose if they beat themselves. I thought they looked like a college team.
August 21st, 2021 at 4:50 pm
Actually, fact is, Wilson showed better in the scrimmage against Coatesville. Had more yardage and looked better defensively overall.
August 21st, 2021 at 4:09 pm
Actually, Wilson had the upper hand against Coatesville. Definitely had more yardage and was better defensively.
August 21st, 2021 at 1:06 pm
Just got back from the Southern/Valley View scrimmage and if you thought the Southern team with Julian Fleming was a once in a lifetime team, think again. Valley View’s offense did not score and the only points they got was from an interception that Southern did not even try to defend. Not saying Valley View is not a good football team but they were not up to the task today. Wishing them well the rest of the season. Berwick is in for a long night this Friday.
August 21st, 2021 at 12:19 pm
Coatesville’s first team handled WWL, fairly easy, on both sides of the ball today.I know its only a scrimmage, but WWL OL was overmatched. Their OL was a concern this year with only one returning starter. Coatesville O has some weapons as well. Be curious to see how WWL holds up next Friday against CD in their home opener. CD is loaded as well.
August 18th, 2021 at 12:16 pm
Kevin, Woods defense is really good also.
August 18th, 2021 at 10:40 am
@ Mcd 65:
Shame Imhotep and Wood don’t meet up in the regular season. They played a couple of really good ones in the D12 “AAA” playoffs a few years ago. I actually (not a big scrimmage guy) took myself down to their scrimmage two years ago (Ok, only for the second half) and to me ‘Tep just dominated that second half. I don’t think Wood made one first down that second half. Yet who goes on the win the 5A State championship……
May find myself once again down @ Upper Dub Saturday if things fall right. Like I said, not a big scrimmage person, but that match-up may be just too juicy to pass up.
Question I’m asking myself, is anyone going to score on Imhotep this year?? Their D appears loaded. Tough early non league schedule, so they probably will give up a few points and at least be tested.
August 18th, 2021 at 9:37 am
@Mcd65 Yeah it shows and you’re not alone. Yeah that Prep game is part of four games I think going on that day. I thought the PA/NJ series would have been good to keep going to showcase the talents from the area at one time. So many scrimmages Saturday.. I like the schedule of schools this year. Everyone seems to be aggressive.
August 17th, 2021 at 9:33 pm
Thanks for the info on the Prep and Lasalle. The LaSalle /McDevitt opener should be a good contest. I know McD is loaded and the Explorers have some real talent themselves. IMO Imhotep /PCC could be a huge game if Tep keeps the ball on the ground. They both have super levels of talent . Tep has as many if not more D-1 talent than St Joe this year. What ever happened to the North Jersey vs Phila . football series from a few years ago ?? There were a couple of good games and then poof !! gone.
Is the Prep/St Mary Ryken game at Rutgers part of a series of games there that day ??
Can you tell I am pumped up for the games this year LOL . Going to the CB West/Roman scrimmage Saturday then to the Tep/ Wood scrimmage if I can make it in time.
August 17th, 2021 at 3:16 pm
@Mcd65 the only Prep game having a chance to be at Widener is the Father Judge game. LaSalle’s home games are at different sites. Vs Imotep & Roman is at Springfield Township HS, Haverford School & Wood at Wissahickon High School.
So far so good with just 3 Friday’s away from the season kick off.
August 16th, 2021 at 7:36 pm
@ mcd65 The Prep is finished at Widener. They’ve got two games at Franklin Field (LaSalle and Gonzaga), one at O’Hara (Milton from Georgia), and any other home PCL games will be played at O’Hara. The St. Mary Ryken game will be at Rutgers and the Delaware game will be away. I don’t know about LaSalle’s home games.
Let’s hope all the games in SEPA can be played. I saw today that several early season games in CA have been cancelled.
I
August 16th, 2021 at 5:28 pm
Does anyone know if st Joe Prep will still be utilizing Widener as their home fiel and wher LaSalle will play their home night games ?? Thanks
August 15th, 2021 at 2:14 pm
@mcd 65
I would think CD @ WWL should be a good game as well. WWL lost it’s QB(freshman DB at PSU) and most of their OL from their 6-1 squad LY…and CD’s QB is probably top 10 in 6A this year. Big game for both of them! WWL has a pretty tough non-league schedule to start the year.
CD, Mifflin, Exeter(3 D1 guys), Manheim Central and MLK, near Philly. We will find out pretty quickly what they’re made of this year.
August 14th, 2021 at 2:00 pm
Some good opening week games ,Wood /Neshaminy ,LaSalle McDeviit harrisburg, Imhotep/ Pittsburg Central Catholic ,CB West/ Coatsville ,ECP/Erie,Pine Richland/HarrisburgGarnet Valley/ Downingtown West ,Pennridge/Downingtown East ,Govenor Mifflin/William Penn just to name my favorites.
August 13th, 2021 at 4:57 pm
@ Kevin x
I have to assume schools are requiring all players and coaches to be vaccinated–the single best thing they can do to make a near-normal season possible.
August 13th, 2021 at 9:12 am
Two weeks to opening kickoff. Are we all systems go?? Green flag waving?? Back to 100% normal for games, schedules, playoffs and fans?? Anybody have any rumors (or facts) of delays, changes or restrictions?? I guess selfishly, I’m more interested on restrictions on fans?? Schools going to require proof of vax to attend a game?? Cashless payments?? Parents/authorized personal/invited guest only?? Starting to see restrictions coming back in Philly (no surprise there), and local school districts/parents can’t seem to agree on mask policies for students. I suppose Philly/District 12, District 1 and the Inter-AC will be the first to screw things up again. Those games at Franklin Field might be the first affected, since being in the city and at an Ivy League school which hasn’t held athletic competitions since the dark ages.
August 9th, 2021 at 9:03 am
@Mcd65.. That was/is a sad story just when something special was brewing. I am hearing Coach Watkins will eventually take over at Wood. The sad thing he may build something special at Wood and it won’t be viewed the same. There is going to be a lot of great football played this season. This one just feels different. Unsure if it’s because of last year or just all the talent in the PCL and Pub.
August 2nd, 2021 at 3:23 pm
Scrimmage, Coatesville @ WWL, 8/21, 10AM…should be a pad popper
August 1st, 2021 at 6:20 pm
McDevitt closed in June . They had 5 Division 1 players with offers returning this year . $ of them [Bridgeman,Sea.Pergine and Gardener] are now at Wood while Jamiel Lyons is at Roman. Three of them have current offers from Penn State among many others. What a crime that school closed . There were three others with D-1 potential also. This is a final post on this ,but damn !!!!!!! SO sad for coach Mike Watkins who was building a solid program. Watkins is now At Wood as Defensive co-ordinator the last I heard.
August 1st, 2021 at 11:27 am
Im with you on being jacked up for the season. It seems folks have lost interest on this site or maybe its that I expect more . Lots of talent coming from the PCL this year. Northeast and Imhotep from the Pub have solid teams with very challenging schedules . Im wondering if CB West can challenge North Penn and Pennridge for the title in District 1 or will Coatsville ,the Downingtowns or Garnet Valley be the one. It will be exciting to see if someone will overtake the Prep, maybe Wood or PCC. Lets get it going !!!!!
July 30th, 2021 at 10:55 am
Anyone else excited July is coming to a close, camp starts and scrimmages are around the corner! Almost less than a month away before we get back to football the way we love it.
July 20th, 2021 at 1:19 pm
I love the idea of playing at Franklin Field. I just hope there’s enough attendance so it doesn’t look totally empty. For a couple of reasons. It’s a great stadium to watch the game and I hope they continue to schedule more games there. By the way, it is the oldest still active stadium in the country, built for Penn and the Army Navy game!!
July 20th, 2021 at 12:42 pm
@MCD65 I think Penn/Schools should look at playing more games there. Franklin Field can be for High School football, what the Palestra is for HS Basketball. I believe it’s Tep vs PCC. @Phillyboy, parking will be serious. That Setpa keycard could come in handy, just hop on the trolley. DeMatha is spending a lot of time in PA with a game against Roman as well.
July 20th, 2021 at 11:53 am
Looks like the Tep/ DeMatha game is on . Tep will play PCC the following week.
July 20th, 2021 at 11:32 am
phillyboy, good catch on the Northeast /St Joe matchup. It had me thinking it was the Prep for sure. They are stepping up big time vs St Peters Prep as you mentioned. BTW Imhotep is scheduled to play Pittsburg Central Catholic the same day as they were to play DeMatha, so not sure which is correct. The Western Pa. guys believe its PCC. That NE Super Site is a very nice venue . I saw McD play Marion Catholic there a few years back during the state playoffs.
July 19th, 2021 at 9:24 pm
Good point, Mcd 65, those two marquee matchups (SJ Prep/LaSalle and Wood/Malvern Prep) merit a venue like the iconic Franklin Field. Only problem though, dog gone it, can almost guarantee, between parking and ticket you’re looking at $20 a pop. Was scanning the other prime time early season matchups; feel compelled to grant some props to Northeast High. When they start scheduling ambitious competition left and right that’s a sign they’re trying to build a program. They’re hosting St. Peter’s Prep in September, that’s no joke, bloke — a juxtaposition that just might entice phillyboy to emerge from his North Philly rowhouse. Two weeks prior they open up at St. Joe’s. Yeah, not to be confused with the Saint Joe’s of Philadelphia, huh huh, nor the one from Montvale, NJ for that matter, rather the Hammonton, NJ variety, a strong program in their own right albeit at a lower classification. And then Imhotep is hosting DeMatha Catholic in early September at the Northwest Supersite. May have to re-up my Septa key card for that one, take the 23 bus to Germantown & Sedgwick by the Acme, and hoof it a few blocks north, baby!
July 19th, 2021 at 6:00 pm
St joe Prep/ LaSalle and Wood/ Malvern Prep both games to be played on different dates ay Franklin Field . Great idea.
July 18th, 2021 at 9:27 pm
How will Notre Dame Green Pond do this season?
July 1st, 2021 at 9:35 am
SCA participated in 7 on 7’s down in either D3 or D11 a couple weeks ago and more recently the PSU 7 on 7’s where they finished top 4 in 7 on 7’s (Garcia and Barnes did not participate) and 3rd in the linemen challenge. I’m not aware of what they are participating in locally.
June 30th, 2021 at 7:23 pm
Any idea who might be participating in 7 on 7’s in D4 ?
June 29th, 2021 at 9:19 am
Archbishop Wood now has 3 Junior to be players that have offers from Penn State. Two of them being from McDevitt closing. I expect the Vikings to be a force for the next couple years. The PCL is loaded with quality players ,the most in years. St Joe, LaSalle,Wood Roman and Neuman Goretti have multiple D-1 athletes on their squads.
June 22nd, 2021 at 10:52 pm
@Tweeter….If he is transferring from Jersey he will be eligible for playoffs
June 19th, 2021 at 8:43 am
If heard just transferred, he probably will not be eligible for the playoffs this year.
June 12th, 2021 at 11:53 am
@Kevin X I know, I left out on purpose so they would find out on their own LOL!
June 10th, 2021 at 10:20 am
Re: PIAA tix………just to clarify, I believe this on-line only tix proposal is strictly for PIAA state playoff events, not for districts or regular season competition. Not to say that districts, leagues, or individual schools wouldn’t jump on the bandwagon at some point. Also, I thought I saw there is a “print at home” option (maybe??) for the tix, so possibly not really a paperless system like I alluded too, but definitely an “on-line only” system with no walk up cash option for games. I would love to hear an official, direct explanation from the PIAA on simply why they are even thinking about this.
@ Joneses
Can’t wait to hear the SJP and private school haters reactions when they find out Heard is another Jersey kid 🙂
June 9th, 2021 at 10:19 pm
@Kevin X.. That’s insane about tickets, but also a way the PIAA found to make more money on ticket sales.
@Mcd65. Yeah I cannot wait for kick off either. Sports wasn’t as exciting last season. Yeah that Georgie school is pretty good.
June 9th, 2021 at 7:59 pm
Kevin X, what the ______ is up with the ticket stuff?????? That is just so ridiculous !!!! The PIAA better wise up or they will contribute to the demise of High School sports in Pa. I cant believe they would go this route.
June 9th, 2021 at 7:54 pm
@ Joneses, The Prep will again be the Prep, but should get good games vs Wood and LaSalle more so than the last few years imo. Roman should be much improved with several good McD transfers as well as some solid returnees. Wood has a non league schedule to include St Johns Washington DC, Malvern Prep ,Neshaminy and Neuman/ Goretti. Prep plays a 11-1 school from Georgia that may be an ESPN game. I think the PCL red will be very strong this year. If Wood can coach up their guys they may give the Prep a game. I cant wait for kick off.
June 9th, 2021 at 7:14 pm
From Twitter, via Bob Greenburg:
“Bob Lombardi said he believes that online ticket sales for PIAA events will be the ONLY way to purchase tickets in the new school year. He doesn’t believe we will see any traditional walk up ticket sales other than online.”
Lovely. Can’t wait…..
June 9th, 2021 at 11:57 am
I just saw a kid James Heard 4 star DE transferred to SJP. Based on the film I saw this kid is going to be a huge difference maker for them on D that’s pretty stacked with Nelson, Trotter and rising soph Agard and James (both getting major D1 offers. I wonder if defense will be the star there with all the loss on offense. Looking forward to the PCL play this year as Wood and Roman have some McDevitt transfers and LaSalle has the most seasoned team.
June 9th, 2021 at 7:19 am
Don’t know if any of you guys are following the PIAA spring championships in baseball, softball or lax, but all three are in full swing. I do hope tho you don’t decide to just show up at a game and expect to hand over $5 and enjoy said game. All games require on-line advance paperless ticketing. On top of that inconvenience, prices are now $8 a game plus a service charge. Add to that, start times for many games are in the morning or early afternoon, some really questionable geographical locations for game sites, creates for me a second year in a row of no spring sports.
How does this pertain to football?? I think the rest of the state will be fine when the football season kicks off in late August, but I have some reservations on what kind of stunts (with sorry butt excuses) District 1 and 12 will pull to limit fans and raising more revenue. Hope I’m wrong.
June 7th, 2021 at 11:10 pm
Tep has some talented kids Zahir Mathis might be best player in class 2025 6’6 230 WDE crazy how kids grow these days
May 25th, 2021 at 4:46 pm
@mcd 65:
I’m guessing here, but I assume the LaSalle/ North Penn contract is up. That’s rather obvious. I can see NP not playing both LS and SJP ( crushes ones morale) ,
But they should keep LS. The old saying, better competition makes for a better team rings true here.
@Kevin X:
Yea, I seen that video. Was at the field a week ago. The NP school district, in my opinion, is over-paranoid on the COVID thing. If they don’t let everyone and anyone into the games this Fall,
the NP fans might, and should, riot. This has gone on far enough!
May 20th, 2021 at 3:22 pm
I read the recent college offers board and was amazed at the number of Division 1 offers to players at Imhotep and Neuman /Goretti. Both had about 10 including underclassmen. Now if they can get coached up accordingly they will be contenders. Ive seen this play out somewhat before without the success I thought they would have. We will see this year.
May 20th, 2021 at 12:19 pm
@ mcd 65
I have no idea. I didn’t even realize that they weren’t playing until I read your post and took a peek at the schedules. Maybe just uncertainty with the upcoming season and stadium?? More likely, possibly, is that the SOL realigned (again) and have a 7 game league schedule, but also NP maybe had some agreements with other schools to do a home and home series that was disrupted last year?? Truman and UD aren’t schools that they normally play, but they did 2 years ago?? Maybe just not enough weeks available to meet up this year?? Maybe next door neighbor and rival Souderton was a better choice to open the new digs. Then again, like I referred to below, who knows what their (NP) attendance policy will be for the upcoming season.
My curiosity is now that they have this nice new updated stadium with turf, would LaSalle and LC be considered to use it as their home field?? LaSalle have been nomads the past few years as far as a home field goes (they must of had 4 or 5 they considered a home field the last few years) since they left P-W. Maybe they’ll go back to P-W since P-W’s gym construction is done.
May 18th, 2021 at 3:01 pm
@ Kevin X, That North Penn stadium is really nice. Any thoughts on why the annual NP/LaSalle game isnt scheduled this year ?
May 17th, 2021 at 8:27 pm
For basically Buddy………
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKGsxXJu6vQ
Question is, will they let the general public into any games this season. I actually got denied entry to a NP baseball game the other day until I politely (while very firmly biting my lip) talked my way onto the grounds. Absolute joke.
May 16th, 2021 at 6:05 pm
Hi Buddy. You can click this link and view District 1 schedules. https://www.easternpafootball.com/db/schedules/viewdistrict.php5?id=1
May 15th, 2021 at 10:50 am
Any SOL schedules out yet? Specifically North Penn
May 3rd, 2021 at 11:59 am
@mcd65 Yeah the Wood team is going to be much improved. I am interested to see the QB play at Wood and SJP. I think that’s the biggest question mark. They both have some good skill players. I believe the PCL will be the most competitive it has been in quite sometime. If anything LaSalle are really going to be pushed for the number 2 spot this season.
May 2nd, 2021 at 6:21 pm
@ Kevin, I recently watched that game which I had taped. Its really great to have two guys from Pa. drafted so high. I thought Barmore also had a shot , but ended up Day 2 not bad for sure.
May 1st, 2021 at 4:37 pm
How about Kyle Pitts going 4rth in the NFL draft. Great career at Florida. BTW Archbishop Wood should be a real factor this year in 6A . Of course they need to get by St, Joe Prep . At this point I give them a decent chance to beat the champs either this year or next. Wood has some very good players returning to include a bunch from the closure this year of McDevitt.
April 30th, 2021 at 7:51 am
Who would have guessed that the 2017 5A PIAA Championship game would featured the No. 4 and No. 12 picks in the 2021 NFL draft. Kyle Pitts of Wood and Micah Parsons of Harrisburg. Wood won that game 37-10. Congrats to both and to other upcoming PA draft picks over the next two days!!!
April 27th, 2021 at 2:02 pm
Glad to see a couple new posts. Maybe we can get some informative, positive dialogue going again.
Here are some updates & opinion on LL & Berks Teams – In 2022 the leagues combine.
5A-
Mifflin – Good news is they have a top 5 RB in Nick Singleton as well as Ayden Martin and Eden Johnson all returning. The challenge will be replacing the entire OL and most of the DL. QB could be rising JR Delsin McNeil or possibly move Eden Johnson to QB. Either way their offense will be 90% run, but less Wing T and more I Formation and pitches. They will be the favorite to win D3 5A.
Manheim Central – Had a down year last year as they were very undersized and struggled with a run game. They return the QB Judd Novak, who throws a great deep ball and WR Owen Sensening as well as rising JR RB Jaden Weit – He was hurt early in the year but he is really good! If they can assemble an OL they will be in the running for D3 5A with Mifflin.
Warwick – Ouch! This year is going to hurt compared to the athletes they have had the last 3 years and specifically last year when they graduated – Nolan Rucci, Caleb Schmitz, Joey McRacken, Colten Miller & Thatcher Miller. I’m not as familiar with their program but I’m not aware of a strong pipeline coming up. Was really looking forward to D3 final with Warwick vs Mifflin last year. Don’t see them in the D3 hunt this year
Cocalico – They have a top OL in Ryan Brubaker ( about 50 offers) and the Flinton brothers but I don’t see enough on the roster to compliment them. Should be a solid team but not in the hunt for a final appearance.
Exeter – Returning stud LB’s Ty Yocum and JR Strauss as well as highly recruited WR/TE Joey Schlaffer. Not familiar with the rest of their roster.
6A
Manheim Township – Lost QB Evan Clark and RB/LB Cade Clancy. Returning PSU commit Anthony Ivey at WR and a couple other quick receivers. They will have a fast team but will need to improve the OL and decide on a QB. Not sure who the leading QB candidate is but the starting JV QB was rising JR Brock Kreider. Need to fill in holes on both lines and improve in both areas to run effectively and stop the run. Should be solid but not a D3 finalist.
Wilson – Need to replace most of the OL, DL and QB. Have some strong but unproven upcoming Linemen. QB is a mystery at this point but it usually is at Wilson. Brad Hoffman transferred from BC but as a rising SR he should not be eligible for playoffs. Strengths are all of the LB’s, RB’s and most of the secondary and WR’s are returning. They have quite a tandem in the Jones brothers- Jadyn and Cameron. If they figure out the QB they will be in the hunt for D3 6A
Hempfield – They lost RB Tanner Hess. Not as familiar with their program but I was impressed with their toughness and saw improvement under new HC George Eager. I think this is a program on the rise.
Would be interested on updates for CD, Harrisburg, CV & Central York
April 22nd, 2021 at 4:23 pm
Hi Matt. The Public is going to finish the 2020 season this weekend. Once done I will switch over and start putting in schedules. We should get a lot done quickly.
April 22nd, 2021 at 12:51 pm
Hey Dave, when will you be uploading the 2021 schedules? Hopefully we will have a normal fall football season this fall!
February 28th, 2021 at 2:24 pm
Click the Open Dates page….I have been since late 2020.
February 27th, 2021 at 2:32 pm
Will you be listing teams looking for games in 2021 like you have in the past?
February 24th, 2021 at 9:19 pm
@ Joneses, Thanks for the info. I was hoping that would happen. BTW I saw LaSalle is opening up at Harrisburg McD. This should be a good game. Maybe others will follow their lead and schedule cross district games as well.
February 23rd, 2021 at 8:41 am
@Mcd65 I just heard on Sunday Mike Watkins is going to coach at Wood. I also heard SJP received a boost in the coaching ranks with Aaron Beasley coming on as the DB coach after Coach Keita defected to LaSalle.
February 19th, 2021 at 9:09 am
Just a quick update on the McD transfers that I have heard of recently, Most have chosen Wood with at least 2 starters choosing Roman. This is very good news for Wood fans if it holds true. If anyone has information on where McD coach Mike Watkins is headed I would appreciate it if you would let us know, thanks
February 15th, 2021 at 7:56 pm
bridgeman and Gardener two McD sophs ,both with multiple D-! offers [ Penn State Included} have been added to Woods roster for next year. Thats 4 good players so far that I know of.
February 10th, 2021 at 2:02 pm
Reference to Wood next year, their returning roster is the weakest In the last 15 years imo. McD transfers can certainly help IF they decide on Wood particularly the 7 Sophs that started since their Freshman year. Two of those have offers from Texas A@M . Here is the issue as I am hearing it thus far. Several have decided on Roman and one on Wissahicken so Wood wont be getting them all for sure. Wood should hire McD coaches and that would be a smart move to possibly enhance their chances in both the short and long term in having athletes from MCD territory switch to Wood instead of Imhotep ,Northeast Abington ,Cheltenham etc.
February 9th, 2021 at 3:43 pm
@Paul and McD 65- it appears most of them went to Wood. Wood should be a little more exciting two watch this issue. The Red division is going to be interesting since SJP had all those seniors graduate.
January 27th, 2021 at 9:27 am
@ McD 65
A lot of talk about them moving to Wood. Not sure because of location and distance but you are right. They do have some talented pieces. It’s a shame about the closing!
January 22nd, 2021 at 4:27 pm
Has there been any information on where McDevitt underclassman football players will be transferring with their school closing at year end ?? they have at least 7 very solid players 4 of which own D-1 offers so far and 3 others at the next level.
January 12th, 2021 at 10:02 am
Congratulations to two former PCL players that were named to the All American college football teams this year, Kyle Pitts from Archbishop Wood and Christian Barmore ffom Neuman/Goretti. Barmore was huge in the National Championship game for Alabama and Pitts was a dominant receiver for Florida . Both are expected to be high draft choices this year.
December 19th, 2020 at 11:04 am
@Kenin X
I believe it was Governor Wolf who ‘recommended no fall sports till 2021’ that caused a delay in fall sports for a couple of weeks. The PIAA was looking for some guidance from Wolf or his administration and it never came. Sources say neither Wolf nor his staff ever returned phone calls from the PIAA and Dr. Lombardi. It left the PIAA out on a limb with no guidance as Wolf and his administration apparently refused to work with the PIAA on going forward with any of the fall sports. So, the PIAA Board decided to proceed with football and the other fall sports based on their own studies and information they were able to ascertain but everything was pushed back 2 weeks. Then some districts, school boards, and even leagues decided to either push things back even more or even cancel which personally I believe was a mistake.
Anyhow, the PIAA and Dr. Lombardi should get a lot of credit for planning to go forward in support of fall sports and the kids and coaches in all sports that put in the work to have a season. Especially the seniors who were given a chance to play their last season. Most seniors will never play their sport again, but the PIAA gave them the opportunity to have at least a shortened senior year. And thankfully most teams avoided the Covid pitfalls or worked their way through it and didn’t panic. We had state championships and we are were rewarded with seeing some very good games in all sports, and some great teams. Those participating will have memories they would never have had if not for the wisdom of the PIAA. In spite of anyone’s politics, I believe the PIAA and Dr. Lombardi made the right decision. To this day, to my knowledge, there has been no large scale spread of the virus because football or any other fall sport was played at the high school level in PA or anywhere in the USA. Proof is the late October study the University of Wisconsin-Madison did plus the lack of any news concerning the spread of the virus from a sporting event in high school that we all know the news media would have jumped on. A few states are still having football playoffs and successfully I might add.
One last note and sorry for such a long comment. Remember, sports actually as it turns out, was good for these teens. Areas where no sports were played saw an increase in incidents of depression, suicides, murders and other crime. There is no question that those who proceeded with fall sports really helped the pysche of these kids and probably actually saved a few lives.
December 18th, 2020 at 1:10 pm
Any news on the PIAA allowing football teams to play a spring season if they didn’t play during the fall? I could have sworn I heard that idea being tossed around? Not trying to start rumors just asking.
December 17th, 2020 at 11:23 pm
@ Kevin X , OMG how the H did I miss Russo LOL. I knew Peoples was injured so I didnt see him on the tube as I mentioned. That Wood group was pretty impressive as the former Wood group with Bates and Cooper at PSU ,Thompson at Florida among others.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:54 am
@ Mcd65
Geez Louise, we have another fairly recent Wood grad playing at the D1 level right under are collective noses……Anthony Russo QB at Temple, who I just saw is transferring to Michigan State for his final year of eligibility.
December 16th, 2020 at 8:50 am
@ Mcd 65
Believe you can add Nasir Peoples from Wood who is also currently down at Va Tech. He is/was tho out this season due to injury.
Moving up the football hierarchy, Ryan Bates (OL/PSU) is on the Buffalo Bills roster. Don’t know if he’s seen much playing time.
@ FrankG
Yeah, the PIAA lucked out this year with their championship weekend. Only glitch (for the finals weekend) seemed to be the attendance restrictions. For the life of me, I still have no idea why they (PIAA) and other individual schools and districts pushed back the start date of the fall season two or more weeks. If anything, get things going even earlier when things were calm to beat the inevitable second wave of this thing. Oh this winter season is going to interesting, if it even happens at all. On the college front, bowls are going to be a joke (then again, the majority are already in a so-called normal season), and the cash cow that is this bowl championship thing, the NCAA is going to ram this thing through come hell or high water for that almighty dollar.
December 14th, 2020 at 9:05 pm
I forgot Mark Webb from Wood playing for Georgia at corner back. He was also on the tube .
December 12th, 2020 at 5:29 pm
@ hitman 66 ,Thanks for the MCD info. I turned on the Army/Navy game and found out that Archbishop Wood has a player on the offensive line on both teams . In addition Kyle Pitt a TE for Florida and an all american cadidiate this year and Raheem Blackshear RB for Va. Tech are also from Wood . Just an observation.
December 11th, 2020 at 2:31 pm
@KevinX You’re absolutely right. Those colleges that decided to start in August and finish by Thanksgiving are looking very prescient. I’m looking at all the college games scheduled for this weekend that have been cancelled and thinking there’d be little chance of playing six games in Hershey.
December 11th, 2020 at 8:24 am
I believe this weekend was the originally scheduled weekend for the football championships in Hershey. Can you imagine if they were not moved up to Thanksgiving weekend, and were still set for this weekend?? I guess the last game of the year would have been the 5A championship game tonight, with the two (or three, I forget the actual original schedule) championship games schedule for tomorrow would have almost been guaranteed to have been cancelled. Hard to imagine that scenario and fallout taking place.
December 7th, 2020 at 8:28 pm
mcd 65
Those teams made both the writers’ poll and Saylor lists. They weren’t at the very top, but we’re planning to separate things by class. Should get some non-PIAA special mention.
December 7th, 2020 at 10:23 am
@ hitman 66 ,How about the 86 and or 87 McDevitt PCL championship teams ?
December 7th, 2020 at 10:00 am
@ The Wizard. You are the best. You’re like our very own Ted Silary!!!
December 6th, 2020 at 6:48 pm
FrankG
Yeah, Egan gets a special mention in 1966, because they were highly regarded by national wires (NSNS). Similarly, Pittsburgh Central Catholic topped the Saylor Ratings in 1964. Since neither school was in the PIAA yet, we list them in a special category at the end of each decade. Surprisingly, no other private schools appear to have topped the Saylors or national wires. I would have to think a few of the PCL teams would’ve been state #1’s through the years, and we will try to add a few if they merit it, after we finish the initial yearly list. PS: Roman (2-0) also gets special mention from us in 1897, since they appeared to be top notch, but played a very abbreviated schedule. Sort of the first-ever PCL mythical state champ claim in a way!
phillyboy
Braddock was a mid-50’s dynasty. They’ll get special mention for their 0-9 1924 team (9-0 before all games forfeited due to ineligible player). Then definite mythical state claims for 1956 to 1959 from their 54 to 59 WPIAL title run, with 1955 and 1961 (unbeaten but didn’t win WPIAL) possible. Could have anywhere from 4-6 in our analysis.
Easton is another heavyweight. They claim 6 for 1903, 17, 25, 39, 58, 68, and will also get a share in 1901 in our estimation. The 1902 team (4-2-3) got selected by Gridfax, but they’re shaky compared to 01 (5-1-1) and the GREAT, possibly “team of the decade” from 03 (6-0). Ironically, somehow Gridfax didn’t select either of those…..not even 1903! We think they did that to get unlikely Central PA squad Lebanon a title nod in 03.
mcd 65
Northeast made Top 10 for Saylor in 1914 and 1942, but nothing in the Herb Adderley Era.
NW PA
For next year in 5a, Erie Prep will be stronger…..and watch out for their “old” championship rival, Imhotep!
December 5th, 2020 at 4:06 pm
@ Wizard , You are a true LaSalle historian, Thanks for the reply Wiz.
December 4th, 2020 at 8:48 am
For those of you asking if Harrison left LaSalle for academic reasons sarcastically; The Prep is a notably better academic school than LaSalle. I would not find it surprising for any student to transfer from LaSalle to the Prep for better academic opportunities. With that being said, Harrison clearly transferred to The Prep because the program was stronger and gave him the opportunity to play with McCord at QB for 3 years.
December 3rd, 2020 at 8:09 pm
Herb Adderley was a junior when Northeast High School, heavily favored, with Angelo Coia also in the backfield, took on first-time entrant La Salle College High School in the Philadelphia City Title game on December 10,1955, almost 65 years ago. Adderley was nursing an injury, and played sparingly. La Salle defeated the Archives, 26-0, to win their first City Title. Both teams were undefeated and untied entering the game. La Salle finished the season with 8 straight shutouts.
December 3rd, 2020 at 12:13 am
I felt this game and individual performance were overlooked in the District 3 area.
By all accounts this was the LL Section 1 Championship when Wilson played at Manheim Township. Wilson was missing a lot of starters after the Mifflin game and was considered a big underdog. Jadyn Jones a Jr RB had a phenomenal game with about 30 carries for over 200 yards with everyone knowing he was getting the ball. Seemed like he broke 50 tackles this game.
HUDL link below.
http://www.hudl.com/v/2EHB96
Unfortunately there were not a lot of competitive games in Berks & LL Leagues.
Mifflin ran away in Berks 1 and Wyo in Berks 2.
Warwick dominated LL Section 2 and LS the same in Section 3
I will give my LL, Berks and District 3 previews for 2021 soon.
December 2nd, 2020 at 5:58 pm
Hitman66, Did Northeast with Herb Adderly ever make those lists ??
December 2nd, 2020 at 9:58 am
phillyboy,
You’re right on the money!
Somehow, Philly Central never topped the Saylor Ratings that are listed at the PA FB History link…..but keep in mind that Dr Saylor didn’t consistently assign a rating to all teams until the 1910’s and 1920’s. And if you separate out the Prep Schools and Boarding School super-juggernauts like the all-time king Hill School, then the Central Lancers rise to the top pretty often! [PA FB History site has Hill School down for 8 state titles per Saylor, but trust me that number would at least be DOUBLED if you looked at other sources…..they (Hill) were just outright NASTY in the quarter century from 1889-1913.]
Anyway, when a few of us were trying to decipher the early years of PA football, we didn’t know how to handle the public school vs Prep/Boarding School situation (and non-boundary schools, sound familiar? LOL). But the state of Ohio recognized that distinction as far back as 1895, and through the Gridfax Research, we found out that PA seemed to do this as far back as 1890!
So we did decipher overall champs with non-boundaries, from 1886 onward…..but from 1890 onward we started piecing together “scholastic” champs just as Gridfax did from 1890-1921. In the earliest years, the Prep/Boarding Schools normally showed their clear advantage, but sometimes the scholastics could compete.
Anyhow, back to Philadelphia Central. Gridfax lists them as PA’s first scholastic champ, giving them the first 3 titles (1890-1892). But after that, nothing. So at first some of us assumed that everyone else just caught up right away to this mammoth school in this huge city. But the more we dug, WOW! While I love the Saylor Ratings, sometimes they don’t tell the whole story. The Gridfax stuff is great, too, but they seem to have a Central PA bias when they narrow down some years’ multiple claimants to pick just one team. And there were also some discrepancies with some game results. When we examined the data and brought in some contemporary sources, we found that Philly maintained the “base of power” well past 1892, and probably at least until 1910!
Btw, I was thinking about posting this info, and then I see you talking about Philly Pubs possibly being the best in the state until the 1950’s! (same wavelength!) I agree it was possible, but unfortunately we probably will never know since they weren’t in the PIAA and some of the ratings show them slipping a bit compared to some of the other areas. So…..1890’s vs 1950’s, I can give you a happy medium and bridge that gap until at least the 1910’s. After that, it seems like other areas caught up to the Philly schools, especially with the emergence of 2 other PA superpowers: Greensburg (a MONSTER in the quarter century from 1911-1935) and Harrisburg Tech (a MONSTER until they closed in the mid-1920’s).
Philadelphia Central Mythical Claims:
1890
1891 [Gridfax gives the 0-2 Lancers this one, but we think Lancaster (7-0) was more deserving]
1892 (shared)
Gridfax never lists them as #1 again, but we list them in these years:
1893 (shared)
1897 (narrowly beaten 6-0 by superpower Hill School for the overall title!)
1898
1904 (shared)
1905 (shared)
1907 (Spalding tabs them the #1 scholastic team by far in the Middle States region! Both Gridfax and Saylor pick equally unbeaten Shamokin, so we give them a share.)
1910 (shared)
Note: We also recognize Northeast Manual Training with a share in 1909 (unbeaten), and Phila Central Manual Training with a share in 1910 when they tied previously unbeaten and unscored upon Phila Central for the City Championship.
December 2nd, 2020 at 9:42 am
@ Frank G. Those Bishop Egan teams were a powerful group. They beat McD up pretty bad during my Sohp and Jr years lol. @ Foleman, fyi Cardinal Doughherty had over 6000 students when my brother attended and when he went out for Freshman football he was met with better than 250 others to try and make their 9th grade team !!!!!!
December 1st, 2020 at 10:52 pm
@ Hitman66 — For your trivia question regarding the first public PA dynasty between 1890 and 1910, I’ll go with Central (Philadelphia), the Lancers, baby. Remember reading an article in the Phila. Inquirer several years ago about Braddock (possibly McKeesport area) having a dynasty but I dont think their run was quite as ancient as you mentioned. Another shot in the dark pick would be Easton.
Btw, took another look at the list of PA state champions list and Philadelphia actually was represented — by two Inter-Ac schools, Germantown Academy (that was before they relocated to the suburbs) and Penn Charter over in East Falls (Matt Ryan’s alma mater).
December 1st, 2020 at 10:17 pm
@Hitman66 Until the 1990s almost all the schools in the PCL and the PPL were as much boundary schools as public schools across the state. (You may already know that.) Anyway, when people talk about impressive dynasties within the memories of at least some of us older guys, they should include Bishop Egan under Dick Bedesem in the 1960s. They stumbled in a couple of the city championship games they played in (while winning some others), but they were awfully good for several years, once ending what may have been Neshaminy’s longest winning streak. Larry Marshall, Billy Creeden, …
December 1st, 2020 at 5:13 pm
Before everyone winds down for the year any thoughts on who will be good next year. I can only comment on this area but in 6A Mcdowell should be decent. They loose a strong senior class but have over half their starters coming back. Erie Cathedral has a strong junior and sophomore class and I heard the current freshmen team was even better. Not sure what to think about 4A maybe Meadville or Oil City? In 3A I know the Mercer county teams are always good, perhaps Sharon or Hickory. Wilmington will be good in 2A their JV team had low numbers but a bunch of talent.
December 1st, 2020 at 2:33 pm
phillyboy,
The Saylor Ratings that Foleman linked to are a very good starting point for the pre-1988 stuff. So is the Gridfax Research and some of the early Spalding Football Guides.
You must be reading my mind, though, because I was going to ask this group a trivia Q about who we dug up as the first PA “scholastic” dynasty program (excluding non-boundary schools). Saylor didn’t always give them a rating, and they never topped the Saylor list at the PA FB History site (although prep schools might’ve blocked some of that). However, Gridfax gave them 3 consecutive state championships, and we actually think they deserve a whopping NINE “legit” mythical claims from way back in the earliest years (1890-1910).
Any guesses as to who this program was/is? ,
December 1st, 2020 at 12:43 pm
Phillyboy, back in the Heyday of Philadelphia football, the Catholic and Public Leagues didn’t need to schedule anyone outside of their leagues and there wasn’t many scheduled games between the City Catholic and Public leagues with Suburban Schools. I remember Radnor in the late 70’s was ranked #1 in the State, my HS team scrimmaged them, they came to our fields with 7 full busloads of players. Yet they got crushed by neighboring Archbishop Carroll. Cardinal O’Hara snapped CB West 55 game win streak in 1989. Frankford HS won a City Championship and came close several other times. Many of those City Powerhouses would have won State Championships. Cardinal Dougherty had 4000 kids in the school, North Catholic, Ryan and Father Judge had 3000 kids, that’s a lot of talent to draw from. I used to ride my bike from Juniata to Kensington to visit my Aunt, I can’t imagine doing something like that today.
December 1st, 2020 at 10:37 am
@ FrankG
As far as the playoffs, my old high school opted out of most fall sports, including football, and is several hours away, and I really don’t follow their athletic programs that closely overall.
On a more micro level, I really think D1 should have followed D11’s lead, and done their own thing or in conjunction with them, at least with the smaller schools. 6A in D1 alone this year I think was as wide open as far as a favorite to win the D1 title as ever. They could have staged a somewhat “normal” year and undertook their own per usual 16 team playoff. Whoever would have won that D1 title would have still have had about a zero chance of beating SJP and moving on to Hershey. Congrats to Soudy (and I am a fan and follower of their baseball and GBB teams in recent years), but a 5 game regular season, a 2 game playoff, exactly half the number of games in any other season, with the likes of Neshaminy, Abington, North Penn, Garnet Valley and both Downingtowns not involved for one reason or other, yes, that left a very hollow aspect to November.
Oh well, hope back to full normalcy next season.
December 1st, 2020 at 9:14 am
Props to the person who gave the PA state champions list from 1887 onward, very interesting, didn’t know there was any kind of list prior to 1988. Of course it’s very debatable but it’s better than nothing. Conspicuous by its absence (before 1988) are any Philadelphia schools (within city limits). There used to be a city championship every year between the PCL and PL champs, similar to the current D12 championship. They scrapped it in the late 70’s because of a lawsuit about the girls’ teams not having similar tournaments — something like that. Anyway, got to believe at least some of those old city champs might have been the best in the entire state. I think the Public League teams were better quality back in the day, occasionally winning the city championship, especially before the migration to the suburbs. Around 1955 Philadelphia reached its peak population of 2.2 million, currently 1.5 mil. It’s ironic, although there’s been a lot of progress in civic rights and fairness, in some respects things were more functional several decades ago. Generally speaking seems that more bread and butter working and middle class whites attended the big city publics. Sometimes I’ll read in the obituaries about a local white celebrity or VIP who went to Germantown or Overbrook or wherever and think to myself, ‘Dag, that probably wouldn’t happen today’.
Yup, going to 6 classes watered it down, should have kept it at 4. And they should not have separate playoffs for public and private. As already mentioned there are only a couple, few culprits. Always thought Ohio’s high school football tournament is the cleanest, most organized template. The state, ever so roughly, is squarish, they have 4 regions (NE, NW, SE, SW), their highest classification is Division 1 (numerically makes more sense), and they combine public and private. Even in Division 1 publics nab the title now and then.
December 1st, 2020 at 9:08 am
@ FrankG
Yeah, depends on the calendar. Even if Thanksgiving is earlier, can start the season as we do now, weekend before Labor Day weekend, have a 10 game regular season, and a 4 week/16 team playoffs ending on Thanksgiving Friday and Saturday. End the season with three straight days of games, traditional Thanksgiving Day games, Championship games on Black Friday and Saturday.
I’ve been personally pushing for a 32 team/5 week playoff scenario. Even with that you can get away with a 10 game regular season with the same start date, and half the time have the finals Thanksgiving weekend, the other half the weekend after, which would still be in late November/very early December.
November 30th, 2020 at 8:31 pm
Foleman, your state champions list is a bit deceiving. Steel-High has 3 on the field championships, but would probably have more than 7 total if you’re throwing in the mythicals. I’m assuming you’re just going with the Saylor picks for those. The school claims even more, and a group of us are working on a project that would sort these and other claims out and give them some others. The 1906 Saylor pick and 1924-1925 ones that they claim are very disputable (they have losses and other teams have better claims). For example, the ’06 Saylor champ (Steelton) was soundly beaten 22-6 by the ’06 Gridfax champ (Johnstown) who was beaten 13-5 by undefeated Pittsburgh Central. But we have stronger claims for Steelton in ’26, ’34, ’48, ’55, and Steel-High in ’78, ’82 and possibly more. We’re also trying to separate things by class. This has been a grueling, ongoing project, but we’re getting there!
PS: PR also has a few other potential claims when they were Richland, and TJ was both the writers poll AND Saylor champ for 3A in the 1st year of 4 classes (1980).
November 30th, 2020 at 7:14 pm
I was at the SJP vs PCC semi-final game last year, and PCC would have won that game if not for a phenomenal catch by Harrison on 4th and 10 in the last minute of the fourth quarter that put the game into OT. If PCC wins that game are we having the same argument on this board about SJP’s dominance? Of course the only reason PCC had a chance in that game was due to the absence of McCord and several other starters. There is no question the quality of play is down statewide over the last several years, and SJP had an unbelievable senior class that exacerbates the problem. Despite graduating all that talent they will still be a big favorite to win 6A again next year, just like Southern Columbia was the favorite to win 2A again this year.
@ Jac Mac – I do agree that perhaps SJP has outgrown the PIAA by wanting to play a national schedule and maybe the time has come for them to opt out of the PIAA for football, and I absolutely agree the solution is not to have separate championships for publics and privates, we’re only talking about a few privates like SJP and Erie Prep and in prior years Wood, there are not enough high profile private schools in the state to have a meaningful championship. The WPIAL does not have a problem with PCC playing in their championships and neither do any of the other big time programs in the district, it’s not like PCC wins the WPIAL title year after year, although they do win more often with 6 classes than they did with 4 classes, especially with PR now in 5A.
The PIAA will never admit it but they made a mistake when they went to 6 classes in 2016, I and a lot of others have been saying that for the last 5 years, I could see adding 1 class since they hadn’t expanded since 1980, but going to 6 classes has watered down the competition and resulted in a lot of blowouts in the state finals, to say nothing of destroying natural rivalries in the WPIAL.
November 30th, 2020 at 6:24 pm
@LL Berks Guy – what I meant by schools like Southern Columbia and TJ reloading and not rebuilding is their coaching staffs have been together for decades and they have a competitive team year in and year out, it doesn’t matter if they graduate 18 starters from a state title team like TJ did last year or graduate 5 DI players like Southern did, you know every year they are going to be very competitive because of the continuity of the coaching staff and the programs they have built from grade school on up.
TJ has made the WPIAL semi-finals or finals 21 out of the last 22 years, and Southern Columbia has played for the state title an amazing 19 times, thanks in large part to tremendous coaching staffs who built a culture of winning and know how to maintain it. With a culture of winning kids bide their time until it’s their turn to play, like TJ’s QB this year, he sat behind starter Shane Stump for the last 2 years and finally got a chance to start as a senior. Kids in the TJ district grow up wanting to play for Bill Cherpak and a program that consistently wins year after year and not move or transfer to another school where they might get more playing time, I’m sure the same thing is true in Southern Columbia wanting to play for Jim Roth and carry on the winning tradition.
November 30th, 2020 at 5:58 pm
Here are the scores from CB West’s 1998 playoff games:
37 Abington Heights 10
34 Parkland 7
56 New Castle 7
November 30th, 2020 at 4:07 pm
I would be curious to see scores from the late 1990s of CB West, I would have to believe they destroyed programs in the same manner. In 1998 I believe the same thing happened in the semi and final… you hear people complaining about Southern Columbia. George Curry dealt with it while at Berwick, same with CB West in the 1990s. People don’t like success more than private schools.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:58 pm
@ Sausmann9
“PIAA screwed up big time when they allowed them to compete passed the start of the playoffs.” Your quote!! Finally you understand. It’s not St. Joe or La Salle or any other private school. It’s the PIAA. Finally it sunk into your head!! Baby steps Sausmann, baby steps!!
November 30th, 2020 at 11:19 am
@LL Berks Guy.. Please elaborate on your statement, “95 other 6A schools that work just as hard but will rarely have the chance to compete for a PIAA title because the rules are stacked against them”. How are these rules stacked against them? Did they rules somehow change when the PCL came to the PIAA, did the public fight the changes? Malvern Prep did not OPT out the PIAA. They have been trying to get the other Inter-AC schools to go PIAA, but they cannot get enough to move the league and do not want to go independent. Westtown can never join the PIAA because they typically have students who are either post grads or played more the 4 yrs of HS Basketball.
I just need to know if the PCL has such an advantage over
@Jac-Mac well said. I think the only thing keeping SJP from going national is financial.
Other schools may not be able to duplicate the talent they get, but they can duplicate coaching, preparation etc. If you are a sports enthusiast as I am, you have seen well coached, well prepared teams beat more talented team. It happens at every level. It’s easy to use the talent excuse and not look in the mirror. People wanted SJP to get shut down due to Covid, hoped the city taking away access would boot them out of the playoffs. I thought that was sad to want kids to loose the opportunity to play at all. How can anyone argue about schools not getting a chance to play for or win a state championship, hope for kids to not be able to play at all!. No one got their wish.. Now we will all sit back and wait as the hope down their downfall after this class goes on to college.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:14 am
Sorry to see D3 Mike leave.
The idea that SJP has been destroying PIAA programs since 2013 is simply not correct. In 2013 they won close games against LaSalle, Frankford, and Neshaminy. They were the definite underdog against PCC, with the final score being misleading about the competitiveness of the game. In 2014 they won very close games against Parkland and P-R. In 2015 they lost LaSalle in the PCL playoffs. In 2016 they won a very close game against North Penn. The PIAA championship game was 7-0 just before the half, In 2017 they won a close game against Coatesville and lost in the final to P-R. In 2018 they won a close game against LaSalle in the PCL championship. Just about everyone expected Coatesville to be very competitive, but Coatesville had a big hiccup against Harrisburg. I wouldn’t say SJP destroyed Harrisburg in the championship. In 2019 the game against Northeast was close through about three quarters and of course they barely beat PCC. This year was weird start to finish.
Two things are true. First, the Prep has had very good, sometimes great, teams for eight years. Next year they will be less experienced than any of their teams in that time. They will also be less talented than most if not all of the teams since 2013. Second, the very wider margins by which they’ve won most, but not all, of their playoff games in the last few years are a reflection not only of the quality of their teams but of opposition that is not as strong as it was in 2017 and earlier. Were the three teams that CBW beat in championship games in the late 90s not better than the last three teams SJP has beaten in the finals?
None of this is to take away from the efforts of the kids or the coaches at the teams the Prep has beaten. Someone below said the kids from boundary schools work just as hard as kids from the Prep. I have no reason to think otherwise
November 30th, 2020 at 9:29 am
@KevinX I like the idea about Thanksgiving Weekend. Would it be much harder when Thanksgiving is earlier, i.e. the 22nd or 23rd? Not being a fan of games in August, I wouldn’t want to see anything that could lead to even earlier starts to the season.
As for this year, I’m sure much depends on perspective. If your school got knocked out by COVID, the playoffs must have seemed kind of hollow.
November 30th, 2020 at 9:02 am
Frank, it’s only misleading if you allow it to be misleading. SJP destroys teams like no program has before it, so your original point that they were “just like other dominant programs before them” is simply factually incorrect. The numbers are right there.
And there are no mistakes. It’s a list of 7-point PIAA games and losses. PCC was a PIAA team last year. That’s why they are listed.
And for every “but they only scored at the end vs North Penn for SJP to make it 2 scores” there are 3 of those games for every other team on the list, each season. Trust me. I’m the person here who just looked at all 25 season results. SJP destroys 6A competition like no program has before them.
It’s also irrelevant whether it’s because of a decline of public schools or SJP’s dominance. The point is that the 6A playoffs are currently a farce, specially because of SJP. Full stop.
They should opt out of the PIAA playoffs. The PCL should try to coordinate a year-end tournament with similar all-star teams in North Jersey / Washington / Baltimore.
And with that, I’m done in this forum. It’s pretty much grown men living vicariously thru their alma mater / local team / teenage boys with zero regard for what’s best for young student athletes in the state of Pennsylvania.
November 30th, 2020 at 8:28 am
The six state champions in 2020 have combined to win 32 titles all-time:
6A: @SJPrep_Football (6)
5A: @PRRamsFootball (2)
4A: @TJHSJaguars (5)
3A: @cvqbclub (1)
2A: @SoCoTigerSports (11)
1A: @RollersFootball (7)
See all PA champs from 1885-2020 here: https://pafbhistory.com/2016/12/07/all
November 30th, 2020 at 8:03 am
Anybody in favor of having the PIAA move the football championships to Thanksgiving weekend like this year on a more permanent basis?? How about also a streamlined 16 team four week playoff like this year as well??
I still do not think there should have been a state tournament this year, I know I am probably in the minority with that view, especially since they made it thru this past weekend without any known hiccups (other than maybe the attendance issue), even though there were more than enough earlier on in the playoffs. With that said, I could probably get behind of how they staged the tournament this year, with some more thought and maybe with a few tweaks as needed, which is probably another minority view point.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:33 am
@D3 Mike Such a list can be a bit misleading, and there might be an error or two in it. What PA public school did the Prep beat by 7 points or less in 2019? (PCC is not a public school.) True that SJP beat the three public schools it played in 2016 by more than seven points, but the TD that put them ten ahead of NP in 2016 came in the last minute. North Penn was driving for the go-ahead TD with a couple of minutes left when they fumbled at about the SJP 25. In 2017 you might have noted that P-R beat SJP by 21 points and that SJP had a very close victory over Coatesville. As for the last three years, does anyone on here actually think that the public schools SJP beat to win the state championship and nearly all the public schools they played in earlier rounds of the playoffs were anywhere close to Parkland in 2015, P-R in 2014, PCC in 2019, 2016, or 2013, North Penn between ’04 and ’12, etc–teams that did not win state championships in 4A till 2017 or 6A since?
The point: the degree of the Prep’s dominance in recent years is due not only to the quality of its program but to the declining quality of football (at least in their classification) across the state. Now if someone wants to argue that teams from big schools in central and western PA or in the Lehigh Valley are down because SJP is as good as it is, please go ahead.
November 29th, 2020 at 11:51 pm
@LL-BERKS Guy I know what a conscience is, but you didn’t say a specific thing about why my conscience should be marked by guilt. What is the Prep doing that is morally wrong?
I’ve never denied that not having boundaries is an advantage–and a substantial one. Every single PCL school is without boundaries and all PPL schools have no boundaries other than those of the city of Philadelphia. I don’t know if all public schools throughout the state have very strict boundaries. Pittsburgh? Erie? The Lehigh Valley? Maybe they do. Are they always adhered to? If the PIAA wants to make a separate class for schools without boundaries, fine. But it needs to be recognized that when District 12 entered the PIAA, none of the schools pretended to have boundaries and certainly the Prep never denied that about 20% of its students come from Jersey–as they have for many decades.
The Prep also has some disadvantages. The most obvious is that the field they usually use for practice is a bus ride away and they have no home field of their own for games. For all of this year they have had to practice outside the city–which would make the practice site at least six miles from the school, maybe a good bit further. And while it is true that Prep students and players come from all parts of the Philly area, that also means that nearly all have a significant commute in the morning and at the end of the day. What that means in practice for football players is that their days start really early, that after taking a bus to and from practice they then they have long commutes home–probably going through the territories of 5-15 high schools on their route–and that they’ve got academic requirements that every year some students, including some very promising football players, find too demanding–causing them to transfer elsewhere. I am NOT saying every Prep student needs to be an academic high-flyer, but I am saying their academic standards impose a real limitation–you might call it a disadvantage Then there is money. The majority of Prep football families pay a substantial amount of tuition and other fees. It is a large relative advantage for public schools that NONE of their students/players ever has to pay a penny for tuition, books, transportation, etc.
November 29th, 2020 at 9:35 pm
piaa says u can only transfer to another school for academic reasons so i guess harrison left la salle for a better education.at the prep.
November 29th, 2020 at 9:32 pm
I GUESS HARRISON LEFT LA SALLE FOR Academic reasons .
November 29th, 2020 at 9:29 pm
when do the showcases start up for PREP where they charge 50 dollars a player to evaluate ?
November 29th, 2020 at 8:00 pm
@Sausmann let’s clear up a few things
1. Marietta is in Cobb County
2. Prep would lose games in the metro Atlanta area every single year to public schools in Cobb, Fulton and Gwinnett County. They care a lot more about football in Georgia than Pennsylvania and Public schools are much more invested than even the prep in football.
3. What has prep done wrong? They should only take kids from the area in which the school is located? Your argument should be with the PIAA not Prep or PCL. They courted the PCL. Prep isn’t cheating, they are exercising a very unfair advantage but that’s not a prep problem, it’s a PIAA problem.
I am a transplant to the Lehigh Valley from South Carolina. I believe you are from the Lehigh Valley as well. Where was your outrage when Freedom used an ineligible player this year? My understanding is the address that was used has been used for 14 years for some of the best players in that time frame. If it is so easy why doesn’t every private school dominate? I mean why don’t they all go steal the best players from every public school in that particular area. The simple fact is that success recruits itself. While having no boundaries is an advantage, impossible to dispute that fact, should they turn away students because it is unfair? If you give me a choice of sending my kid to Prep or the local public school I’m sending him to prep every single time for the same reason kids choose Harvard Yale and Princeton. The greater potential for opportunities to improve quality of life. If you don’t think that a private school in Philly, Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg, or Pittsburgh hasn’t saved a kids life by going to one over an inner city school you are lying to yourself, that in itself is worth it.
Your beef is with the PIAA not a school… I know it’s hard for people on here to be able see different sides of an argument. And while I agree wholeheartedly that not having boundaries is an unfair advantage I personally do not think separating the playoffs is the answer. Look at Maryland some of the worst public school football around. Because the gloves will come off and recruiting will be accepted. My personal opinion is that Prep should move on from the PIAA. Play a national schedule, I don’t see what they are gaining anymore, especially since the Catholic league as a whole is really bad. So go ahead blast away for having a dissenting opinion.
November 29th, 2020 at 12:25 pm
Question about small school dominance-
Saw a comment below about schools “reloading not rebuilding”
Exactly how does a small boundary school “reload”?
If your school is “reloading” does that mean other schools are “unloading”?
Asking for a friend.
Thanks
November 29th, 2020 at 12:17 pm
Frank G if you need someone to tell you why you should have a guilty conscience then you can’t be helped. Your conscience is your inner sense of what is right or wrong. No one here can change the PIAA rules but you can acknowledge the advantages of non boundary schools in large populous areas.
This is not about St Joe’s, its about the kids at the 95 other 6A schools that work just as hard but will rarely have the chance to compete for a PIAA title because the rules are stacked against them. This year CY had 5 or so D1 players and had no chance of winning. A boundary school having 5 D1 players does not happen very often. And in the current environment its still not enough to win.
If non boundary schools want to compete on a national level then opt out of the PIAA like Malvern Prep and Westtown. Westtown would have won the basketball title the last 5 years. These schools understand the competitive advantage they are afforded and choose not to exploit them.
November 29th, 2020 at 11:33 am
Love them or hate them, The Prep looks like a college team, is coached like a Power 5 College team and plays like a college team and you can’t argue where they send their players to college. That team was easily in the top 3 Large School teams I have ever seen, the other 2 being CB West and Erie Cathedral Prep. Prep’s team speed was amazing! It will be interesting to see if a totally rebuilt Prep team can win the State Championship next year. 6 teams in the State Championship is 1 or 2 too many in my opinion, too many blowouts in the Championship games over the years proves it. Central York was a nice story but they were probably the 4th best team overall in D3 behind Hburg, Mifflin and Warwick. Why can’t the other Pubs step up like S. Columbia-the equal to Prep in 2A, add in Pine Richland too. Overall, the quality of Public school football is way down, I thought that TJ and Jersey Shore were the 2 weakest teams in the 4A final that I can remember.
November 29th, 2020 at 8:43 am
SJP has played in 7 of past 8 state championships at 4A/6A, won 6 titles, won 5 of those 6 tilts by 20+ points, and they’ve lost one game to PA publics over that time span.
Here are the last 25, 4A/6A state title winners with the number of games vs PIAA programs that they won by 7-or-fewer-points (or lost):
1996 Downingtown: 1
1997 CB West: 1
1998 CB West: 2
1999 CB West: 1
2000 Cathedral: 2
2001 Neshaminy: 6
2002 Parkland: 3
2003 N Penn: 0
2004 PCC: 2
2005 McKeesport: 3
2006 Upper SC: 1
2007 PCC: 1
2008 Liberty: 6
2009 La Salle: 4
2010 North All: 2
2011 C Dauphin: 7
2012 North All: 1
2013 SJP: 2
2014 SJP: 2
2015 PCC: 4
2016 SJP: 0
2017 P-R: 0
2018 SJP: 0
2019 SJP: 1
2020 SJP: 0
The above numbers are incontrovertible. The current 6A system is non-competitive, especially for traditional public programs, like never before. And the issue predates this year’s SJP senior class.
November 29th, 2020 at 8:11 am
Congrats to all teams. Hey #westsidebestside, D7 (WPIAL) bringing home 3 trophies. D7 (WPIAL) always represent at state.
November 29th, 2020 at 1:51 am
@sausmann9 You obviously have a zip code obsession.
My questions for you: what does the Prep do that should give me a guilty conscience and what do you want the Prep to do–turn down the Trotters when they show an interest in coming to the school? Tell Cooper to go to Overbrook instead? Tell Talley, Yagodich, and Hagens that instead of coming to the Prep and going on, respectively to Penn, Harvard, and Duke that they should feel an obligation to go the high school in their own zipcode?
The Prep didn’t make it out of the PCL in Swift’s junior year. In his senior year, the very nearly lost to North Penn–a fact.
Take your case to the PIAA.
November 29th, 2020 at 1:11 am
@Frank G = PLEASE give it a rest already! Your guilty conscience for da Prep and knowing what they do to win compared to the rest of the teams in PIAA is making you look just absolutely ridiculous on here!!! da Prep could replace their jersey numbers w/ zip codes of their players and not having a repeating zip code on the entire offense. I know, I know you can’t say that about da Prep’s defense b/c both Trotter bros come from the same zip code even though its nowhere near 17th and Girad.
People like you have been saying the same nonsense for seasons about them. D Swifts junior and senior seasons, “oh the prep won’t see a team or talent like in a generation” blah blah blah
PIAA screwed up big time when they allowed them to compete passed the start of the playoffs. Its a shame they do because it really takes away from the quality of the game we go to see. We don’t want to see a recruited up all-star team w/ 17 D1 recruits act like they climbed a mountain and actually achieved something by beating up on some legit public school.
And call it or me what you want; facts are just what is stated above. We don’t really need your excuses or twisted logic why prep should be playing teams like Parkland, Coatesville and P-R.. And you can forget about your Marietta crap, that was an anomoly for that team w/ a new coach and a recruited up Gwinnet Co all star team. I have ties to that town so don’t make it sound like they were a normal public school teamt that season.
November 29th, 2020 at 12:10 am
@ Dennis Pascoe
The Prep team this year had an extraordinary collection of senior talent. I know some people think they have an assembly line of recruits, but everyone connected with the Prep program knows the teams in the next couple of years won’t have nearly the talent.
The reality is that most years since ’13 there have been other teams, mostly public schools, that could certainly compete with the Prep and sometimes beat them:
2013: The Prep narrowly beat LaSalle, Frankford, and Neshaminy
2014: The Prep narrowly beat Parkland–some say they were greatly helped by a blown call by the refs–and narrowly beat P-R.
2015: The Prep lost in the PCL final to LaSalle
2016: The Prep won a close PCL championship against LaSalle and narrowly beat North Penn
2017: The Prep narrowly beat Coatesville and lost to P-R in the championship
2018: The Prep narrowly beat LaSalle for the PCL championship
2019: The Prep lost an early season game against Marietta (GA), won a fairly close game against Northeast for the D12 championship and very narrowly beat PCC in the state semi-final.
Memory can be deceiving, but I think many of the really strong large-school public school programs of the last 25 years (CB West in the late ’90’s, Freedom in the first decade of this century, Northern Allegheny about 10 years ago, North Penn in the first few years of this century (especially the 2003 team) and their teams that had such good battles against LaSalle from ’09 to, I think, ’12 were on another level altogether from the last three teams the Prep beat in the state finals.
Does everyone think the quality of football statewide, especially in 6A, is as good as it was in the old 4A from the time state playoffs began till the last few years? If not, to what extent is that because SJP has been very good?
November 28th, 2020 at 10:38 pm
SJP is on another level all together. How is a public school suppose to compete with them? Note: They can’t! SAD
November 28th, 2020 at 4:25 pm
So Columbia is a fun team to watch and so very good . Garcia is a super RB . Congratulations Tigers !!
November 28th, 2020 at 2:25 pm
Like last year PIAA your team trophies are alittle on the cheap side. I guess with the loss of revenue I believe the Hershey bar looks smaller also. You people are a joke
November 28th, 2020 at 2:16 pm
@Jeff, I guess when you have that team last year….some were surprised but the success of that program is bigger than any player. Four years ago when they lost to Steel Valley with last year’s seniors as freshman….even Roth said he was surprised they got to title game after losing those good players from 2015 state title team. Of course this year’s team isn’t last year’s team. Last year’s Southern team was best they had…….5 D1 players….. incredible for any HS team. Next year Southern will once again probably win the state title with Garcia returning, his younger brother as a sophomore, the QB returning and a bunch of others. I kind of feel bad for Wilmington…..they lost three times to Southern and might lose to then again next year as they are a very good AA team. Just can’t get past SC…..like all other teams. It’s like they know it will end in a lose to SC. They played really well for three qtrs today and still lost by 28. Roth will probably coach atleast five more I would assume. That will put him well over 500 wins. He’s in his 60s, right?
November 28th, 2020 at 1:36 pm
Congratulations to coach Roth for becoming the all time winningest coach in PA, well deserved. The game went like I expected, Wilmington hung in for a while but Southern Columbia wore them down in the second half, I know Garcia is a tremendous wrestler like his older brother, but he’s also a great running back and I’m convinced he can play running back for a power 5 school, if I’m Pitt or Penn State I’m recruiting him for football. Will be interesting to see if Southern can keep the dynasty going when Roth eventually retires, which probably won’t be for several more years, I assume one of his longtime assistants will end up replacing him.
@Tom M – surprised to hear you say you’re surprised they are doing as well as they are this year, I certainly wouldn’t say they were basically starting over. When you have a team that was as dominant as they were for the last 3 years that mercy ruled everyone your backups get a lot of playing time in the second half, which builds for the following year and keeps things rolling. I can tell you the rest of the state, or at least those of us here in Western Pa knew they were still the team to beat this year and were the favorite to win the state title again.
TJ is a similar program to So Columbian albeit with not as many state titles or championship appearances, same coaching staff for decades, and they reload every year and never rebuild, like SC their team this year is not nearly as good as last year, but I’ll be very surprised if they don’t win this afternoon by 2-3 scores.
November 28th, 2020 at 1:21 pm
Just watched the SC – Wilmington game….. Wilmington hung tough for the first three qtrs and ran the ball well but SC and Garcia were too much. Gavin Garcia is incredible! Amazing that there’s another Garcia that’s a freshman and started at LB. SC is a junior heavy team so they should make it five in a row next year. Roth breaks Curry’s record also. What an incredible program. This is from a d11 fan who has no ties to SC. Just enjoy watching that program year in and year out.
November 28th, 2020 at 8:12 am
@Jeff H – SCA went all the way to South Carolina last year to play what was supposed to be an equal caliber team. They also set up the game against Wyoming Area that they had to fight the Heartland Conference to play and give up the Heartland title. They mercy ruled both teams.
The Conference helps them fill a schedule, but it is also restrictive in who it lets them play. Of course, that team of 2019 was better than any other and in a class of their own. This year’s team is basically starting over. We’re actually surprised they’re doing as well as they are. This year’s team is certainly not last year’s team, but it certainly says something that Roth can rebuild a team in a year with a much smaller pool of potential players. I’m not sure some of your large school coaches would be as successful with the same restrictions.
November 27th, 2020 at 6:24 pm
2 very good and entertaining games to start the weekend, hope I’m wrong but I have a feeling the rest of the games won’t be as good as those 2. Happy for the central valley kids after the big disappointment last year, very impressive second half after trailing for the first time all year. They also showed a 3a school can overcome missing one of their best players a lot better than a 1a school like Jeanette, but hats off to Steel High, their defense was the difference in the game when I thought Jeannette’s D was going to be why they won. I have a feeling both of those schools will be back in Hershey soon and may be a rematch next year, Jeannette will definitely be the team to beat in the WPIAL.
November 27th, 2020 at 4:36 pm
You’re 0-1 so far and Wyomissing up at the half.
November 27th, 2020 at 11:16 am
Today’s picks:
J-Nette vs Steel-High. 27-14 J-Nette.
C.Valley vs Wyo. 35-14 C.V.
P-R vs ECP. P-R 42-14.
November 26th, 2020 at 9:20 pm
@ Kevin X – not to beat a dead horse, and I’m certainly no defender of ECP, but the main reason they had those byes is because all the other 4A schools in D10, like Grove City, Conneaut, Oil City, etc. were playing up in 5A to deliberately avoid ECP, even though none of them had any chance in 5A in the state playoffs. It was mostly done as a protest against ECP for playing in 4A and not up to 5A where they should have played, I think there was only 1 other school that played 4A in D10 in 2016-2019 because all the other schools played up, so that’s the reason ECP had those byes, not because of any conspiracy by the PIAA, if you recall when there were only 4 classes that never occurred.
November 26th, 2020 at 9:03 pm
@ LL Berks Guy – as I stated in my prior post I completely agree with everything you said about the PR vs. GM game, particularly the comments about how they used Singleton. Ironically the same exact thing occurred in the Gateway vs. Peters Township game in the WPIAL semi-finals I attended 3 weeks ago. Gateway had a 19-0 lead at halftime and should have lead by more, then they got away from their running game and didn’t get the ball to Derrick Davis in space in the second half and I think only threw the ball to him once for about a 35 yard completion on a drive that ended with a missed 32 yard field goal that would have put them up by 9 with 3 minutes to go in the game. Unlike Singleton his future is on defense as one of the top safeties in the country, but he’s a major threat on offense at running back, and they either used him as a decoy against Peters in the 2nd half or kept him in to block on obvious passing downs, what a waste of the highest ranked recruit in the WPIAL in the class of 2021, that was another game where coaching had a huge impact on the final outcome.
November 26th, 2020 at 8:46 pm
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving despite these crazy times. Now for some thoughts and comments on the games tomorrow.
1A – Jeannette vs. Steelton Highspire – 2 historical programs who I believe have the most combined wins in history of any opponents who have played for a state championship, Jeannette is the winningest school in WPIAL history, I’m not sure where Steelton ranks in all-time wins in D3 but they have to be pretty high on the list. Both schools are loaded with talent, unfortunately Jeannette’s freshman phenom QB Brad Birch will miss his 2nd straight game with an ankle injury, so the rest of the state won’t get to see how good he is, but I have a feeling Jeannette will be back in Hershey sometime during his next 3 years. I think this game will be very competitive and could go either way, but appears that Jeannette has the better defense so I give them a slight edge in what should be a very good game to kick off the weekend
3A Central Valley vs. Wyomissing – lots of people have been saying this is the best game of the weekend and I think they may very well be right. Central Valley has mercy ruled everyone of their opponents, they have not won every game by 35+, like last week’s game vs. Bedford that ended up 49-20, but the mercy rule has been in effect in every one of their games, I think it’s a pretty safe prediction that streak will end tomorrow. Central Valley returned quite a few starters from last years runner-up including dual threat QB Ameer Dudley and his favorite receiver Myles Walker.
Wyomissing is also very good and may have played a tougher schedule, and I think they have an advantage in the trenches, but its hard to pick against a Central Valley team who has been on a mission all season after blowing a 14-0 fourth quarter lead against Wyoming last year.
5A PR vs. ECP – assuming PR does not turn the ball over 5 times like they did last week I don’t think this game will be close, PR will score 40+ as usual and their defense will play better than last week and hold ECP to 2 touchdowns. I completely agree with LL Berks Guy’s analysis of the PR/GM game, coaching and the PR QB were the big differences in the game, along with the advantage of having 30 seniors who have played in a lot of very big games in their careers. The PR defense got stops in the 2nd half when they had to, and the GM defense could not stop PR as they scored on 4 straight possessions after falling behind by 22 points midway through the third quarter, and a lot of that was definitely due to coaching.
ECP has a great coaching staff, with Mike Mischler not taking a backseat to any coach in the state, but they don’t have the talent that GM does this year, and I just don’t see how they can keep up with PR in this game.
November 26th, 2020 at 7:54 pm
@ Kevin X – completely agree with you about the restrictions on fans at the games this week for a 15,000 plus seat stadium, like TJ coach Cherpak said you could put 1,500 fans in either stand and no groups would have to be near anyone else, I went to playoff games the last 4 weekends, including the TJ-Oil City game and PR vs GM last weekend, and there were more fans in the stands in stadiums that hold a third or less of the fans of Hershey Stadium, and at no time did I feel any risk of Covid as I made sure I was at least 6 feet+ from any other spectators, and we were in an outdoor stadium, where the risk of spread is very low when people social distance. There is no reason the PIAA could not have stuck with the original plan to give 1,000 tickets to each school except for King Tom and his minions who think they have to control every aspect of people’s lives and don’t feel adults can make responsible decisions for themselves and their families.
@ Tom M – you make some very valid points about Southern Columbia and I realize it would logistically be very difficult for them to play up to 4A for an entire season. But wouldn’t it have been awesome to watch them play TJ last year in 4A and not beat an overwhelmed opponent by 70 points in the state final. I personally think TJ vs. So Col last year would have been a tremendous game and would give So Col a slight edge, but that would have been one heck of a football game.
November 26th, 2020 at 5:20 pm
Having read some of the comments about how Southern Columbia should move up several classes, I think a Geography lesson might be necessary. SCA is nestled between corn fields in the middle of nowhere. The schools near them are primarily A and AA, with only a small handful of AAA. Moving up to AAA wouldn’t make much of a difference as SCA has beaten the state’s best in that class before. However, moving to AAA or AAAA would make it extremely difficult to find teams to fill their schedule. There are not many larger schools in the Heartland Conference. Coach Roth does his best to try to add more competitive games where he can, but many larger schools don’t want to play SCA. Before the Heartland Conference, there were years SCA didn’t know how to fill their schedule because nobody wanted to play them. To drive to a AAAA school, you’re talking hours on a bus one way. Most city schools don’t want to drive that far for a game when they can find teams closer. So, moving up a class or two works fine for your schools near Philly, Pittsburgh, or Allentown, but SCA is not near any big city to fill that kind of schedule.
Sorry, but not sorry if your teams can’t compete, but they probably weren’t practicing during holidays and in the weight room the day after they won states. It takes dedication to get where they’re at with the small number of boys they have to choose from. Perhaps rather than make excuses as to why they should drive hours every Friday night to play big schools, the other small schools can learn from them and better themselves. They’re actually a very small AA school. It’s not like they get to pull in players from across the state like the private schools can. They just figured out a recipe for success.
November 26th, 2020 at 9:46 am
From our EPA Football Family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving! May you have a blessed Thanksgiving Day filled with unforgettable memories! Have a great time!
November 25th, 2020 at 11:14 am
Yeah, especially right now it’s getting so bad they have to restrict things. I live in Northern VA (right outside DC) for work. Grew up in Lehigh valley. But the cases have gone from 50 a day in Fairfax county to 450 in a month! Positivity rate went from 3 percent to 11 percent!. And hospitalizations are up and they are running out of beds….. situations like this are happening in PA and across the country. And while younger people getting severe complications or death from this are rare, it’s happening. Last week a healthy 35 year old that ran and was in great shape died from this. That’s the 8th person in DC younger than 40 to die from this virus. Last seven years of flu, 1 person younger than 40 dies from flu in DC. Theta re just trying anything to cut down on deaths and the spread. I can’t blame them. Hopefully these vaccines are able to get us back to normal by next fall (looks like there’s a good possibly) so we can’t get back to normal lives and a normal football season. I’m afraid this winter will be brutal until we can get to spring and vaccines gets distributed. I’m shocked we even got through the season. Stay safe everyone, enjoy the games on TV and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
November 25th, 2020 at 9:38 am
I hate the restrictions, but they are needed to help slow the spread of Covid. If Covid doesn’t affect you, or someone you know, then it seems to many you are a victim and that nothing will happen to you. I thought the same way until one of my recruits…..I’m a corporate recruiter, called me and informed he needed to push back his start date a few weeks, I asked him if everything was OK, he said ” My mom and dad contracted Covid a few week ago, my mother just passed away and my Father isn’t going to make it either” Both of his parents were in their early 50’s In 2 short weeks the poor guys world was turned upside down thanks to Covid. Stay Safe!
November 24th, 2020 at 8:34 pm
@KevinX I’m just glad it looks like there will be six games this weekend. Having 400 people on each side of the stadium, probably mostly sitting very near one another for two-and-a-half hours, with some people shouting, cheering, and sometimes singing looks to me at least a little risky. But the bigger risk is having a couple of thousand people travelling from different parts of the state, some for hours each way, many in cars where people in different families are mixed, and probably eating together before and after the game, etc. I know many will say that’s their choice, but the problem is that, as we all now know, the virus is most often spread by a-symptomatic people who have no clue they have the virus. So if I choose to go and wind up getting the virus from a guy sitting three rows behind me who, understandably. finds himself occasionally yelling in support of his son on the field, I may wind up passing it on to my wife who chose not to go to the game but who may be unlucky enough to develop a much worse case than I may develop.
If we were talking about an event lasting 20-30 minutes or an event where those in attendance were not likely to be travelling for hours, often with people from different households, or an event where attendees were not likely to be eating together before and after, or an event that wasn’t happening in a state where the current daily death rate is 85 and where hospitals and hospital staff are right now stretched to the limit, I could see raising the limit.
November 24th, 2020 at 1:35 pm
Less that 400 tix per school, per game. I’ll assume that means zero tix for the general public. Beyond 2020 ironic for a 15,000 plus seat outdoor stadium and your governor and his sidekick is limiting attendance to less than1,000 per game, for games on a Friday where there is no school and many have off from work with a predicted temp of 60 degrees in late November.
November 24th, 2020 at 11:29 am
Foleman, tough to say re: Johnson. Obviously, he would have made the GM secondary light years better. But given that fact, maybe P-R wouldn’t have thrown as much and turned the ball over 5 times? Would have been nice to see him out there, either way. And no, I don’t get the transfer rules, either. I don’t think many people do.
November 24th, 2020 at 8:19 am
LL-Berks, I also had to question the play calling on the last drive, PR could not stop the dive play and they were throwing the ball which is not their strong point on 2nd and 3rd down, PR had GM scouted well, Stewart was a non factor on the receiving end and you are correct about the pass coverage, I didn’t get what Mifflin was doing on defense although losing 2 defensive starters early and having another ruled ineligible hurt them. Can you imagine how good GM would have been if Kaleb Brown didn’t transfer into the Wilson SD!
November 23rd, 2020 at 8:16 pm
@LL – Berks Guy: I cannot agree more with everything you said. P-R was disciplined in what they set out to do offensively and defensively and stuck to their guns even when it looked bleak. Fortunately for them, they were able to execute in the big moments. Players made plays on both sides of the ball.
That punt plays was crazy. I believe that after that that kid didn’t play much.
November 23rd, 2020 at 2:54 pm
PR – GM Game
PR won the game for two reasons – Coaching and QB play. Everything else is noise.
1.) During pre game drills the the PR OL coach told his guys we will not let #11 beat us. ” He is the designated rusher he never drops into coverage. Do not block the other OLB – let him come free.” He said this 100 times. 11 did tip the ball on the first play but that was about it as far as disrupting the pass game.
2.) On the defensive side the coach said this. “Do not let #10 get the edge”. That is why the fullback was effective on the dive play. They were willing to give up shorter runs to take away the big play from Singleton. By high school standards they handled Singleton by limiting him to about 100 yards but nothing over 10 yards.
Question to the GM coaching staff is this…… Leading by 22 against a team that wants to pass the ball – Why are you playing cover Zero? Not having a safety led to multiple easy scores, both passing and running.
You have a top 5 running back but could not get him the ball in space. It seemed like there were two plays for Singleton. Run off tackle or pitch play. You had all season to prepare for this. Figure out a way to get him the ball instead of using him as a decoy.
Other random points –
PR did not punt one time.
On the tipped GM punt. The ball did not hit the PR player in the back. The PR player ran towards the ball, reached down and touched it even though everyone was yelling “poison”. The PR coaches went crazy on him. You can tell accountability is at a high level at that school.
The GM O-Line played great. They were tough, smart, precise & relentless. Great job!
The PR QB was the biggest difference in this game. I know he will be wrestling at Penn and maybe he is not interested in playing QB in college but he could play D1 if he wanted.
Someone mentioned this in an earlier post 🙂 For GM to win……. They can’t have blown coverages in their secondary and the QB will need to complete passes that he has not completed all year. Both of these did not occur.
If it rains the whole game Mifflin might have pulled the upset. If there is no rain PR wins by 30.
GM has more D1 players on this roster then they have had in all other seasons combined. (Singleton (10), Strausser (27), Stewart (11), Johnson (ineligible) & Martin (35).
GM will probably not have this opportunity again. Loaded roster, up 22 with 18 minutes left in the game and a chance to play for a state championship on the line.
November 23rd, 2020 at 8:37 am
@ Jeff H
What you did not mention regarding ECP’s road to Hershey in 2016, was their first playoff 3 games (if you even want to call it that) prior to meeting TJ. Bye – Bye – USO. You’re not exactly getting your starters dinged up, banged up, or worse, with that murderous row schedule. Same for 2017, Bye – USO – Bye, before meeting TJ again. Sure, most, if not all teams will be meeting up with better competition once they reach the quarter and semi finals. Just to be east side of state fair, Archbishop Wood had similar early playoff cakewalks as well during that period.
I do agree with you it would have been more than sensible to re-do the brackets on the fly for 5A. It appears that GM/P-R game Saturday was more than worthy of a most likely Championship game in that scenario. If there was ever a year to do things differently, get out of your comfort zone, mix things up, think outside the box, experiment, etc., this is it, especially if it makes a whole lot of sense and mitigate any Covid concerns/issues. But you do know who we are dealing with here…….
November 23rd, 2020 at 8:03 am
@ Jeff H
Probably water under the bridge at this point, but if you were still interested in the UD situation, here is some select cut and paste from the Inquirer article that I assume you were referencing. Guessing really nothing new here, based on what you mentioned in your post, so take it for what it’s worth…..
“The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association announced Thursday afternoon that Upper Dublin had informed the organization “that they are unable to play the [Class] 5A game versus Cathedral Prep.”
Thursday afternoon’s news came as a surprise since Upper Dublin superintendent Steve Yanni said Thursday morning that the team had been cleared to return to practice.
The Cardinals had not worked out on Tuesday or Wednesday as a precautionary measure related to possible exposure to the coronavirus, Yanni said.
“We had some concerns about a close contact,” Yanni said in a phone interview. “We worked in collaboration with the [Montgomery] county health department just to make sure we were handing this situation in the best way.
“They are cleared to go today.”
The PIAA statement did not indicate whether Upper Dublin was forfeiting because of a positive coronavirus test or concern of possible infection during a 452-mile, round-trip bus trip to the scheduled site of the game at Hollidaysburg High in Blair County. Another possible reason for the forfeit might have been concern that the Cardinals had been able to sufficiently prepare because of the disruption to the practice schedule this week.
Yanni did not immediately return a phone call Thursday afternoon. Upper Dublin coach Bret Stover also did not return a phone call or text message seeking comment.”
November 22nd, 2020 at 2:49 pm
Regarding P-R:
– That game yesterday was THE BEST football game I’ve ever seen. For a bunch of HS kids to not quit and keep playing against those odds was incredible. P-R turned the ball over way to much, but I don’t see how they were going to be stopped. Defensively, they played better in the second half – but were always in bad field position because of the offense.
– Its not the sense around here that the school district supports football to any abnormal degree. Certainly not excessively and many people believe they try and downplay the sport. There are just as many people in the district that want great academics. I think that administration wants to make sure P-R is also known for academics, even though football is on the news every Friday.
– According to our school board records, Coach K makes about 10k and the assistants make 4-6k. I don’t know, but I’ve heard that’s very low for a 6A school.
– I have heard of zero kids from other school districts pay tuition to come to P-R for any reason. Sports, school, drama, etc.
– The Kenny White situation was interesting. Fallout from that continued for years afterward. P-R Principal stated she couldn’t be sure that he didn’t transfer for athletic reasons. WPIAL agreed. PIAA didn’t. Not sure they would go through that again if they have the choice. That same year Artie Burns moved his brother up to live with him (he already lived in district for at least a year or longer)
– The coaches and parents I’ve spoken with definitely want P-R to be known as the best public HS football program in PA. IMO, early on in Coach K’s tenure, there was this hatred to the privates because of recruiting, etc. I think Coach K even talked about that in 2014. “SJP has kids from Delaware.” In the past 4-5 years that’s completely changed. There is recognition that SJP is the MODEL program for football in the state, and with the right kids and right coaching, they can be beat. The kids believe it and so do the parents. I think that attitude is part of the reason they won yesterday.
– I think P-R’s coaches are the best. Since Coach K took over the defense in 2017 and handed the offense over to a former players from NH (Leymeier?), both sides of the ball have been stellar. If Coach K would have had the defense in 2014, I think they would have beat SJP in the finals – ONE less TD. Same story in 2015 versus Penn-Trafford. I know that Coach K, the OL Coach, and the QB coach have been together since 2011 and most of the rest since 2014. That makes a huge difference.
– I think the rivalry between P-R and PCC is really good now. I think kids on both sides respect each other and the whole recruiting thing isn’t ever really mentioned anymore. Once the 2017 team beat SJP, playing PCC just seemed like another game.
– I know for a fact that P-R people are tired of hearing about NA. They have done nothing in the last 8 years. This year was their first WPIAL championship appearance since 2012 and that’s only because P-R wasn’t in 6A. NA should be way better for the second largest school in the WPIAL (about double PR). But they haven’t changed anything in 15 years and now it shows. Kids at NA play the Olympic sports . I think Coach K is something like 6-2 vs NA since he took over and the final straw with NA was when their AD begged out of playing P-R this year saying that NA gained nothing from playing a “local 5A school”.
November 22nd, 2020 at 8:38 am
D3Mike, if Eden Johnson, a D1 dback recruit for Governor Mifflin was ruled eligible by the PIAA rather than ineligible, do you think they beat Pine Richland? GM pass defense was a lot better with him in the lineup. I just don’t understand the transfer rules, I don’t think the PIAA does either. The kid moves from Philly to Berks County during the summer, was eligible to play during the season then ineligible during the playoffs. Maybe their’s more to this than meets the eye, the local paper says his mom teaches in the Penn Wood school District, that’s a 90 minute commute from Shillington. Berks County Public Schools do a great job at hiding out of District athletes.
November 22nd, 2020 at 1:07 am
Also, not that they haven’t dominated everyone they’ve played but I read that Central Valley didn’t mercy rule New Castle. Don’t have a box score in front of me so I can neither confirm nor deny. I don’t think anyone above 2A has mercy ruled the entire schedule, right?
November 22nd, 2020 at 12:20 am
Jeff, I don’t expect anything. I’m simply pointing out that P-R can accept players from outside the district via tuition (which very few other non-charter publics can), they received transfers that they weren’t penalized for last cycle (because they were already in 6A) and that the district throws a ton of money at football. That’s sort of how they afford to hire and keep their innovative staff, no?
And I’m not blaming them or saying I’d do any of that differently. I’m just exploding the idea that seems to permeate this board that the perennial power teams win year-in and year-out simply because they “outwork” everyone else. The best teams have the best players. The Catholic schools aren’t the only programs with structural advantages.
The reference to PCC wasn’t about them, specifically. It was a reference to the fact that P-R beat the two best Catholic programs in the state last cycle — and moved down a class. They are THE exemplar of the public school program that Pennsylvania NEEDS to bring balance to 6A.
As for the games today, if they were playing again tomorrow I’d take P-R to cover 3 TDs vs Mifflin. Everyone’s scouting was spot-on: Mifflin lacks balance and didn’t have the secondary. The only reason it was close was the 5 P-R turnovers and the fact that for some inexplicable reason P-R gave their corners safety help for the first 30 minutes of the game despite the fact that Mifflin’s QB had averaged 4 pass attempts / game coming in. As soon as P-R put 8 in the box Mifflin struggled to move the chains consistently.
Two D3 teams lost close games this weekend, plus three more into the finals — but we’re still probably leaving Hershey without a trophy. 3A should at least be competitive (and hopefully 1A, too) but it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw 5 blowouts next weekend.
November 21st, 2020 at 10:05 pm
@Foleman – totally agree with you about Central Valley vs. Wyomissing, I’ve been saying on here for the last month those teams were headed for a showdown in Hershey, and I expect that game to be extremely competitive and think it could go either way. Central Valley has been on a mission since they collapsed last year in the fourth quarter against Wyoming in the state final, and they have played with a chip on their shoulder all year, having mercy ruled every one of their opponents. I do agree Wyomissing has the advantage in the trenches and that might be the difference in the game, should be a great one. One of the benefits of working from home during the pandemic is I will get to catch the afternoon games live this year instead of having to watch the replays!
November 21st, 2020 at 9:46 pm
@Dennis Pascoe – I hear what you are saying about Southern Columbia, you have a point about it being an East/West thing, but I think its more about success, let’s face it, most people like to root against teams like the NY Yankees or New England Patriots, or college teams like Alabama. I made my comment based on all the various chat boards I follow across the state, many neutral observers get a little tired of hearing how great Southern Columbia is when they mercy rule every team they play in 2A for years on end. I look at the big picture and just don’t think its good for high school football in this state when the same team wins every year, whether its Southern Columbia in 2A or Erie Prep in 4A or SJP in 6A. I have all the respect in the world for Southern Columbia, they are without question one of the elite programs in the state, and Jim Roth is arguably one of the best coaches in state history, but what else do they have to prove by winning 2A every year. I wish they would challenge their kids a little more and move up a class or 2, I think it would be good for high school football overall and also good for their program. Just my opinion but I think I speak for a lot of other people who have followed HS football statewide for 40+ years.
By the way when there was a Western PA board I made the exact same argument against ECP a few years ago and got in debates with all the Erie Prep supporters, my point was Erie Prep is one of the elite programs in the state and as such should not be playing 4A when they had one of the largest enrollments of any 4A school and all the advantages of being a private institution with no boundaries. Being a WPIAL guy it was wonderful to go to the TJ vs. Erie Prep game last year and watch TJ beat the 3 time defending state champions, but I think the vast majority of the rest of the state outside of Erie were also very happy when TJ won, and I think most of the state will be rooting for Wilmington next weekend.
November 21st, 2020 at 8:50 pm
@D3 Mike – I think you are being a little harsh against PR. I completely agree with you about the Kenny White transfer 3 yrs ago, that should have never been allowed by the PIAA, the WPIAL ruled against it but were overruled by the PIAA, which happens too often in my opinion, the WPIAL is one of the strictest districts in the state with regard to transfers but frequently get overruled by the PIAA. As far as money goes what do you expect from a wealthy suburban school district that puts a lot of emphasis on their football program, I would point out NA is a much bigger district than PR and is just as wealthy per capita and their alumni invest a lot of money in all their sports programs, but they haven’t had anywhere near the success that PR has had for the last 7-8 years. Its not just the money, its an innovative coaching staff that makes a big difference, and PR’s staff is light years ahead of PCC and NA and all the other big schools in the WPIAL.
As for PCC none of the top schools in the WPIAL are intimidated by them, in fact just the opposite, all the powerhouse public schools welcome the challenge and relish beating them, they lost to both NA and Mt Lebanon in the regular season this year, so it’s not like no other public schools beat them except PR. I’m a Woodland Hills guy and back in our heyday we absolutely loved playing and beating PCC, they took some of our better players and guys like Steve Breaston and Ryan Mundy to name just 2 had PCC circled on the schedule every year, and coach Novak used it as great motivation to beat a school that recruits, I went to quite a few tremendous WH vs. PCC games in the past.
I also agree with you about this years TJ team, they are very solid as usual but this is probably their “worst” team the last 5-6 years, this years team would lose by 3-4 scores to the ECP/Imhotep teams from 2015-2018.
November 21st, 2020 at 8:07 pm
I just got back from the Gov Mifflin vs. PR game and all I can say is wow, that is one of the best high school football games I’ve seen in a long time. I’m not big on clichés but if ever the old “it’s a shame either team had to lose” applied it fit this game to a T. Didn’t start out well for PR, first play from scrimmage defensive line deflected a pass and intercepted and a few plays later it was 7-0. On the subsequent drive PR fumbled and GM scored again and less than 5 minutes into the game it was 14-0 and to say the PR faithful were stunned would be an understatement. PR drove into the red zone on their next possession, and on 2nd down QB Cole Spencer overthrew a wide open Eli Yochem on a slant route that should have been an easy TD and 2 incompletions later PR turned the ball over on downs. Mifflin then went on a very impressive 83 yard drive and suddenly it was 21-0 late in the first quarter. PR scored on their next possession to cut it to 21-7, then forced Mifflin to punt and scored again, but a bad snap on PAT lead to a failed 2 pt conversion attempt and it was 21-13. PR held Mifflin to a 3 and out on the next possession and a shanked punt that went about 2 yards set PR up inside the 30 yard line and soon thereafter it was 21-19 after the 2 point conversion came up just short with about 3 minutes to go in the first half. Mifflin appeared to be content to go to the half with a 2 point lead, but lulled the PR defense to sleep and caught them off guard with about a 35 yard halfback pass from star running back Nick Singleton to Greg Suber to set Mifflin up at the 11 yard line and subsequent TD run by fullback Brandon Strausser put them up 28-19 at halftime.
Mifflin got 2nd half kick, and on fourth and eight from midfield they lined up to go for it, but QB dropped back and quick kicked, and it hit a PR player in the back and Mifflin recovered in the red zone, a few plays later they scored and mysteriously went for 2 which failed, and it was 34-19. On next possession PR threw another interception which was returned deep into PR territory and 3 running plays later it 41-19. PR scored quickly to make it 41-26, then forced Mifflin to punt and scored again to make it 41-33 with about 4 minutes to go in third quarter. After another Mifflin punt PR scored on the 2nd play of the fourth quarter and 2 point conversion pass was good to tie the game at 41 with 11:43 to go in the game. Mifflin went on an impressive 8+ minute drive aided by questionable roughing the QB on 3rd and 24 but stalled on fourth down in the red zone and kicked a 34 yard field goal to regain the lead 44-41 with a little over 3 minutes to go. PR got possession at their own 38 and gained 8 yards on first down, then on 2nd and 2 QB Cole Spencer ran 54 yards for a TD down the left sideline to give PR their first lead of the game 48-44 with a little over 2 minutes to go. On the ensuing possession PR stopped Nick Singleton on 4th and 3 from their own 40 yard line and PR ran out the clock to end the game.
Extremely impressed with Mifflin, Singleton is obviously a stud and I can see why all the big time college programs are recruiting him, but PR contained him pretty well like I expected they would. Fullback Strausser was the player of the game for Mifflin, he scored 4 TDs and gained a lot of yards after contact ,I’m not sure of his rushing total but think it was well over 100 yards, PR couldn’t stop him which surprised me, I’m not sure where he’s going to school but he would be an absolutely perfect fit for a team like Navy.
Tremendous high school football game, Foleman is right about PR showing the heart of a champion, they were tested for the first time all year and they responded. It’s a shame this game was not for the state championship in Hershey because if it was the whole state would be talking about it for a long time. Erie Prep has a tremendous coaching staff and I’m sure they will come up with a great game plan for PR, but they are down this year by their standards and lost to McDowell twice and haven’t played a game in a month, I’d be surprised if they can keep it within 3 TDs next week against PR.
November 21st, 2020 at 7:56 pm
@ Jeff H. Roots against Southern Columbia??? I have witnessed at Hershey many different schools (team jackets) up and down Pennsylvania east side of the state cheering for Southern. Nobody brings more fans from different schools to watch and cheer than Southern Columbia. Maybe what you mean to say it is a East West thing. From a Dunmore bucks fan.
November 21st, 2020 at 7:04 pm
@Jeff H: Always appreciate the commentary, you are generally correct. Was surprised that Oil City got beat that bad, but I heard they have lost a few starters to injuries the last few weeks. Even if they were healthy they still would have lost but maybe not quite like that. It’s disappointing Erie Cathedral wasn’t able to play ESS is the quarter finals or Upper Dublin in the final four. I think both would have been close games and maybe it would mean more, but they can’t control that. It’s not looking too good for them against PIne, especially after seeing the game today. Their only hope is to slow the game down and try and keep that offense off the field. Their 2 losses are to Mcdowell and were closer than the score showed but PR is definitely better than Mcdowell. I would say your prediction is accurate.
November 21st, 2020 at 4:20 pm
Berks Semi-Final update:
Pine Richland over Governor Mifflin-48-44 2 great championship teams going at it in the game of the year. GM led 21-0 and had PR on it’s heels, they led by 22 points midway threw the 3rd quarter, like all great champions PR ought uphill the entire game and took the lead for good with 2:18 left in the game. HS football doesn’t get any better than this.
Wyomissing over Danville 44-14 Danville stacked the box trying to stop the Wing-T and Wyo’s QB Zeckman threw 3 TD’S. Central Valley/Wyo should be the most competitive State final of them all. It’s going to take a very good team to beat Wyo, they are very well coached, athletic and have several lineman that range from 240-315lb plus a 240lb truck at fullback. Central Valley’s stout d-line Vs Wyomissing’s O-Line is going to be fun to watch.
November 21st, 2020 at 4:18 pm
Central York 37 Erie McDowell 21
Central York overcomes early14-0 deficit with 27-0 run and eases past the Trojans.
November 21st, 2020 at 2:13 pm
Mifflin 21-0…this is why they play the games
November 21st, 2020 at 10:18 am
Watched Jersey Shore and Lampeter last night. Entertaining and competitive football game. But let’s not forget that for the past half-decade (longer if you go back to 3A in 4 classes), these were the perennial state rankings in 4A:
1. Cathedral Prep
2. Imhotep
3. *TJ*
4. Berks Catholic
5. Bishop McDevitt
6. Bethlehem Catholic
As good as they are, I honestly don’t know if TJ makes the semi-finals with this team the way the brackets and 4A was constructed 3 years ago — and they’re going to mercy rule both post-WPIAL games in 2020. Aliquippa was clearly the second-best 4A team in the playoffs this year (IMO McDevitt also could have stayed with TJ).
Heard multiple WPIAL folks say this will be Pine Richland’s most competitive game. I really hope they’re right and Mifflin will definitely score some points, but having seen Mifflin play I just don’t think Mifflin has the balance or the secondary, especially since their best secondary player was ruled ineligible. I think people are selling Cathedral a little short, too. They have good balance and a staff that’s won 4A when it was four classes.
As far as everyone putting Pine-Richland on a pedestal, they accept tuition-paying transfers (from the best football area in PA); they send legal counsel to PIAA appeals cases to ensure the Kenny White’s of the world are deemed academic transfers (lmao); and from mites on up, the entire program gets funded with more money than god. They aren’t just another public school. That’s why they are the only school in the state to have beaten both PCC and SJP — and they won 6A last cycle.
I’m going to try to get to Wyomissing vs Danville. Two well coached teams (Danville’s head coach comes via Mount Carmel). Any of the Berks guys know if it’s possible to watch from the area surrounding the field (I assume no tickets)? I’ve only ever played there — never actually seen a game.
November 21st, 2020 at 9:08 am
@James Clews – give it a rest on Aliquippa, they were forced to move up to 4A by the PIAA, not by choice, and they took the defending state champion to OT and may be the 2nd best 4A team in the state this year, not too bad for a school with 117 boys. I’ve stated on this board in years past the primary reason they played up all those years was they wanted to play their rivals like Beaver Falls, Beaver, Hopewell, Central Valley, etc., all the schools in Beaver County. The WPIAL only puts teams from the same classification in the same conference, so if they didn’t play up they would have had to travel quite a distance for all their road games in class A and would not have been able to play their rivals every year. If you were from Western PA you would understand they are one of the most storied programs in the state and rival Southern Columbia and any other school, and they deserve to be respected and commended for what they’ve accomplished playing bigger schools all these decades. High school football would be better off in this state if more schools followed Aliquippa’s lead, why do you think most of the state respects Aliquippa but roots against Southern Columbia. When year after year you are 5+ TDs better than every other school in your classification all the state titles get pretty hollow, So Col is like a shark swimming in a farm pond in 2A.
@Phillyboy – thanks, yes, PR is loaded this year, they are at least as good as their 2014 team and not all that far behind their 2017 team. I am taking the 2 hour drive to Hollidaysburg this morning to watch them play Gov Mifflin, their defense is very stout and will be fascinating to watch them contend with Nick Singleton who is one of the best running backs in the junior class in the country, I believe Rivals has him as the 6th best RB in class of 2022, the PR coach is comparing him to D’Andre Swift. I think Mifflin is too one dimensional to beat PR, they will contain Singleton enough, and I don’t think Mifflin will score enough to keep up with PR’s diverse offense. The other advantage PR has is they may very well have the best coaching staff in the entire state, combine that with 30 seniors and 18 returning starters and several D1 players and it’s a pretty tough combination to beat, I’ll post a report later today when I get back from the game.
November 21st, 2020 at 8:10 am
@Jeff H.– Nice commentary from you, didn’t realize PR is so good this year. Somebody opined that it might be their seond best team ever, wow, because that ’14 team was no joke. Hope they take care of business against ECP, not often a public has a chance to spank an elite private. To be frank, would love to see PR pour it on. In regards to Jersey Shore’s chances against TJ, had to laugh, somehow it remimded me of Charles Barkley’s response to Bob Costas when aaked what he knew about the Dream Team’s next opponent, Angola. Barkley: “They’re in trouble”. No I realize TJ’s best team was last year, they’ll have to grind out a win if they expect to get some championship gravy. Btw, didn’t realize Coach Cherpak is one of the 50 winningest coaches in the country; read an recent article on maxpreps.com about that, was scanning for PA reps, think SC’s Coach Roth also cracked the list.
@James Clews– Why doesn’t Aliquippa just move up to 6A and get it over with?! Lol
November 21st, 2020 at 2:19 am
I guess that’s my point. Southern plays in the classification they are supposed to play in and there the best double AA program in the state. Aliquippa may have won a lot more state titles if they to played where there enrollment put them but like I said being proud and patting the program on the back I guess is aliquippas trophy. Almost beat Thomas Jefferson ,may as well move up one more class since we r the 4th best in 4a now
November 20th, 2020 at 10:10 pm
Just got back from watching Thomas Jefferson crush Oil City 62-0, hard to believe they were 10-0 coming into the game, It took TJ 4 plays and 1:15 to open the scoring on a 65 yard drive capped by a 21 yard TD pass, Oil City fumbled at their own 30 a few plays later, and before the crowd could settle into their seats it was 14-0 and the rout was on. Saw Jersey Shore beat LS 39-35 in a game that went back in forth, I admittedly don’t know much about Jersey Shore but I don’t like their chances against TJ next week, appears the TJ vs. Aliquippa game last week might have been the 2 best 4A teams this year.
Central Valley rolled 49-20 to set up a probable great matchup with Wyomissing next week in 3A, while in 2A Wilmington held on the beat Beaver Falls 20-18.
In single A Jeannette rolled 48-12 over Reynolds without their freshman phenom Brad Birch at QB who was out with a sprained ankle, they will definitely be favored next week whether he plays or not, he’s already getting D1 interest as a freshman at an A school. Jeannette is going to be a force to be reckoned with for the next 3 years with him at QB, I could definitely see them winning 4 WPIAL titles in a row assuming he stays healthy.
November 20th, 2020 at 9:48 pm
Jersey shore 39 – Lampeter – Strasburg 35
November 20th, 2020 at 4:03 pm
@ Kevin X – I certainly do not agree Erie Prep’s road to Hershey in 4A was the easiest in the land, they had to beat both the WPIAL and District 3 winner each year to get to Hershey, I was at their game against TJ in 2016 where they won 30-13 and the game was much closer than the final score, TJ receivers dropped at least 6 passes in that game when they were pretty wide open and if they make those plays that game goes down to the wire. I also went to the 2017 game at Somerset HS between Prep and Berks Catholic and BC played them tough and game was tied 24-24 at half before ECP pulled away for a 41-24 victory. And I was at the TJ game last year when they finally got over the hump and beat them 28-13, so I would not say they had an easy path to Hershey. I personally think they should have been playing 5A all those years and not 4A but that’s a whole different argument.
They are down this year having lost to McDowell twice and PR will likely mercy rule them in the final assuming they get past a very good Gov Mifflin team tomorrow, it is a shame the other 5A schools on their side of the bracket had to forfeit. I heard on another board there was no reason given in the Philly Inquirer for why Upper Dublin forfeited, did they actually have a Covid case on the team or cases at the school, or did the district just decide it wasn’t worth the long bus ride to play in the state semi-final and do the politically correct thing? If its the latter their school administration should be ashamed for quitting on their kids.
What the PIAA should have done was reconfigured the brackets so PR played Erie Prep this week and Gov Mifflin played Upper Dublin, that would have significantly cut down on travel for all 4 teams involved.
November 20th, 2020 at 1:21 pm
Erie Prep is down this year by their standards and assuming they still play the state title games next week I predict that will be a mercy rule game for PR and Prep will suffer their worst loss since they were blown out by Imhotep in the 2015 state final. Tomorrow’s game between PR and Gov Mifflin is the de facto championship game because it certainly appears those are the 2 best teams in the state this year in 5A.
I hope all the schools still playing refuse to wear masks, what an absolute ridiculous requirement from the state to wear a mask on the field while playing.
@D3 Mike – if it was up to the state there would have been no football or any fall sports played this year. I do agree the PIAA should have recommended some standardized guidelines for dealing with Covid, but they left it up to each school board.
November 20th, 2020 at 12:44 pm
@ #Rumor has it, Yes Imhotep will be one of the landing places for the top McD underclass players. Another will be Northeast which has already gotten some very talented McD players in the recent past. Cheltenham and Wood will get a few Im sure. They have some real solid players that any team would like to have . Bridgeman and Pergine are two absolute gifted LBs and both underclassman . A freshman 217 lb RB is just emerging . This is their last chance to be on the field . I know the kids are upset , but Im sure coach Watkins will have them focused. BTW coach Watkins and his staff will also be available for local team coaching openings .
November 20th, 2020 at 10:38 am
@KevinX: If P-R wins, the natural place to have the game is Slippery Rock U. Except they are closed down too. Erie Coliseum would be next guess as ECP is the home game.
But I bet its still in Hershey.
November 20th, 2020 at 9:33 am
@Mcd 65.. It’s always sad when schools close because all that history is gone. I guess that’s not the case for all schools as it is with McD. I can say the sharks are already circling to grab up all the talent they have on the football team. I guess that’s can be a good thing for the players involved in an otherwise sad situation.
November 20th, 2020 at 2:23 am
Over 10% of the student body in quarantine and the entire school now virtual at Thomas Jefferson… but this weekend’s game proceeding as planned. Meanwhile, other programs have folded over far less. It’s almost as if the PIAA, if not the state, should have instituted uniform rules for participation beyond scout’s honor (see: football program priority) at each individual school.
Shockingly, it looks like the six teams ranked #1 in the state in their respective classes, pre-season, will all make it through Covid to get to Hershey.
November 19th, 2020 at 11:35 pm
I heard from a current Mcdevitt player that most of the kids that play football 4 them will be trying to get into Imhotep when it closes. Imhotep had a stacked team this year but with some of Lancers talent they probably can give any team in the state a run next year. FYI most Mcdevitt kids live in Imhotep area Uptown/Mount Airy section of Philadelphia
November 19th, 2020 at 7:11 pm
…….and let’s see if the PIAA get’s things right, do the right thing, or at least show some attempt of common sense, that is if P-R beats Mifflin (or otherwise advances to the championship game), that they move the 5A championship game to the Wolverena or somewhere else out west willing to host. Having those two teams travel to Hershey for an 8p game on Friday night would be asinine. Even moving it to Saturday as the mid afternoon game would still be a joke.
November 19th, 2020 at 5:55 pm
Hey, thanks guys. Hard to comprehend they are ending 60 years of football. My brother was McD first QB back in 1960.Yikes !!!!!!!!! I will still be an interested High school football guy for sure. FYI Just heard Upper Dublin had to cancel their game with Cathedral Prep saturday. Crazy year .
November 19th, 2020 at 5:12 pm
Welp, so much for Upper Dublin. A forfeit to Cathedral Prep. Damn, I thought ECP’s road to Hershey was the easiest in the the land when they were in 4A. Spoke too soon. One game played, one win, and voila, into the Championship game in 5A. You guys enjoying all of this nonsense yet??
November 19th, 2020 at 6:01 am
@ mcd 65 – Sorry to hear about Bishop McDevitt closing.
November 18th, 2020 at 8:23 pm
Hey mcd 65….here’s hoping this is not the final game in McD history….so sorry to hear they are closing…i’m wishing them all the luck in the world
November 18th, 2020 at 5:56 pm
@ coal region fan , Thanks for the live stream info.
November 18th, 2020 at 5:23 pm
Just announced that Bishop McDevitt will close at the end of the year. I am so bummed out.
November 18th, 2020 at 1:49 pm
@ mcd 65
Maybe a little weekend Pocono getaway for you and the misses (or a McDevitt alumi reunion Pocono weekend) 🙂
“WQMY-TV will have the broadcast rights to this weeks PIAA semi final football game (Bishop McDevitt vs Southern Columbia). We are excited to bring this game to our viewing area. WQMY can be seen on all Cable, Satellite and Over the air signals. “
November 18th, 2020 at 11:52 am
@ Dennis Pascoe, Thanks again Dennis. McD started 7 freshman last year a a couple this year also. I dont know what happened to their beginning of the year starting QB and starting RB ,but they seemed to have disappeared. Southern will for sure have home field advantage [hoping refs are fair ] McD has traveled to Dunmore ,central Pa. and now up to Sellinsgrove. I know the team certainly doesnt mind. Southerns playoff experience and their long term great coaching staff will surely be a big factor. McD has never been this far in the playoffs so excuse my excitement and optimism . They are a well coached bunch also with a relatively new staff and have some really talented players . The next couple years could be interesting for them if they can maintain their players. They have lost 4 all catholic players in the last few years due to transfers, two to Neuman/Goretti and 2 to Northeast.
November 18th, 2020 at 8:14 am
I believe the SCA v McD game will stream live on YouTube – Stone State Sports. At least my understanding is that the PIAA is allowing them to stream this week, but would not allow it last week.
November 18th, 2020 at 7:31 am
@ Foleman
McDevitt, Upper Dublin and Soudy all should be fine and good to play this weekend (barring a specific school, district or team Covid issue). The Montco requirement goes into effect on Monday. Now if by the grace of God any of them actually make it to Hershey, who knows what will happen. St. Joe Prep, I haven’t heard of seen anything else with regards to them, but I’ll play the Delco card and assume they will be able to play. If the game was scheduled for Northeast or the NW Supersite, I would assume they’d either have to move it or forfeit.
I believe (and anyone feel free to expand or correct me) is that you only need 3 transfers over the 2 year cycle to trigger the playing-up factor. And only one for hoops. And yes, one of my many issue with this, that transfers out don’t factor into the success factor. What is good for the goose, is good for the gander, no?? Another thing, is that you get the same 4 points for winning the championship or being the runner-up. Seriously?? Shouldn’t you maybe get an extra “point” for at least winning the championship?? And/or have another trigger, that being you must at least win a championship to be forced to move up (i.e. Imhotep)??
I was thinking the same thing about some of the teams forced to move up with them moving back down after this cycle. Thing is, I don’t believe you go back to your enrollment classification with your new enrollment numbers (Aliquippa won’t go back to “A” even if they wanted to), but just move a level down from your current classification, regardless of your new enrollment figs (unless it goes up). Then again, I suppose the PIAA can make changes to all of this as we go forward. As of now, Wood and Imhotep will get zero “points” this season, so basically they are guaranteed based on the current system to move back down to at least 5A and 4A respectively in two years, unless their enrollments explode in that time frame, which is highly unlikely.
November 18th, 2020 at 6:25 am
@mcd 65 I was able to find out game is at Selinsgrove at 1pm Sat. Sources say you can go to the PIAA website and get tickets. That is about all I know. Hoping it will be live streamed. Stone States Sports live streamed their district 4 playoff but was unable to broadcast the Richland game because of infringement rights. Side note: I was told PIAA wants 3K to live stream a playoff game up until Hershey.
November 17th, 2020 at 6:02 pm
@ mcd 65 I will try to find more info and post it here. Stay tuned. Also have been told Southern Columbia 9th grade is unbelievable. They also have a young H.S.team.
November 17th, 2020 at 4:10 pm
@ Dennis Pascoe, Thanks for checking ,I appreciate it. I do hope I can at least see it livestreamed. McD may surprise .[Hope so anyway].I bet if I were a gambler I could get McD + 30 and I would sure take it. They are young , but have talent . They sure cant be any worse than the prvious 57 teams that SC has blasted. Great program up there. I
November 17th, 2020 at 10:48 am
@mcd65 The Prep is still playing. They will get the game in this weekend against Souderton. Since the championship is in Hershey after that, should they win no more blockers. I think the Montco schools might be fine if its not mandated they cease playing. Philadelphia only suggested schools playing in other county’s stop.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:15 am
I don’t think the Prep is affected by the Mayor’s announcement since the game is in Delaware County. But it’ll be a small miracle if one of the schools now in the semis doesn’t have to forfeit because of COVID.
November 17th, 2020 at 8:15 am
Michael, the Competition rules are based on 2 Criteria-Success in the PIAA playoffs and number of football players that transfer into the school……..interesting that kids that transfer out of the program doesn’t factor in the rule. If a team has 6 points or greater in a 2 year period and accepts 5 or more transfers during the 2 year period, a team has to move up 1 classification.
Success Factor scale
* Participation in a district final = 1 point
* Participation in a PIAA quarterfinal = 2 points
* Participation in a PIAA semifinal = 3 points
* Participation in a PIAA final = 4 points
November 17th, 2020 at 8:11 am
@ mcd 65 Sorry not much help with your question. I do have a few contacts over there and all I hear right now is the game is at Selinsgrove. Time? The last game was supposed to be live streamed but I could not find it. Black Diamond Sports is the radio feed on the web. Sorry.
November 17th, 2020 at 8:02 am
Kevin X, wouldn’t be surprised to see the Prep playing despite what the Mayor says…….who also happens to be a Prep grad. St. Joe Prep already told the Archdiocese where to go when they decided to play the season despite the Archdiocese originally shutting the season down. McDevitt, I’m not so sure about, they are going to get pounded if the decide to play the game.
November 16th, 2020 at 11:17 pm
What’s the requirements to move down or back up for the fairness rules?
November 16th, 2020 at 6:36 pm
@ Dennis Pascoe, Will fans be permitted at the SC /McD game Saturday ? Will the game be live streamed ? Thank Dennis.
November 16th, 2020 at 6:34 pm
The prep may not have a chance to go forward due to the Phila mayor not allowing HS sports activities. I do not have a firm confirmation of this at this point. Additionally Montgomery County schools will have the same restriction as of 11/23 which would eliminate those schools from advancing to the finals if they were to win this weekend. BTW each of those three teams are HUGE underdogs anyway [ Souderton/vs The Prep, Upper Dublin/Cathedral Prep and Bishop McDevitt vs Southern Columbia. Any updates ??
November 16th, 2020 at 3:19 pm
Not sure of the specifics here or how this is going to play out, but the City of Philadelphia is on the verge of shutting down again and the prohibiting sports. So St. Joe’s may have to forfeit against Souderton on Sat. Game tho is in Delco, so don’t know if that matters or not. But then Souderton may have to forfeit the championship game as the Montco Health Dept. is requiring all county schools to go virtual for two weeks (yeah, right) starting next Monday and maybe stop all sports and x-tra circular activities. This would also effect (or is it affect, can never get that right) Upper Dublin and Bishop McDevitt if they win this weekend in a possible championship game appearance.
November 16th, 2020 at 12:06 pm
I hope the Schools that got screwed by the PIAA’S “Fairness” rules move back to the classification where they belong after their 2 years are up- Aliquippa-1A TEP-3A ECP-4A Wood-4A just to show those clowns what a farce it is!
November 16th, 2020 at 10:44 am
@Jeff H: Too cold for me so I watched on the CW. I agree with everything you said. They are very good. If they finish this, they will be ranked just behind the 2017 team and well ahead of the 2014 team. Their run game was incredible and something we hadn’t seen. QB and RB over 100, plus another at 60+. And they still can pass the ball with both Spencer and Jochem setting records. But the defense is outstanding as well. Great linebacker play and Jackson is dominant at DE. Neill at CB has also been a very nice surprise.
@D3 Mike: I hear a little of the grumbling that P-R should be playing up. Its where their enrollment puts them. Hat’s off the Quips for playing it – its amazing what they do, but where is the chorus of people wanted Clairton, TJ and West A playing up. WAY more overall success than P-R. I think its a little bit about the “mystique” of the program. Very modern offense and defense with a charismatic head coach that has become a big winner. I guess that’s how it goes.
Finally – there is one team that doesn’t want P-R to play up. NA. LoL….
November 16th, 2020 at 9:36 am
Same thing here year after year. Southern move up. Aliquippa plays up. Both storied programs. Pine-Richland? Yes they look good. I will get some heat started. How would Pine-Richland play up to 6A and get mercy ruled by halftime to SJP. But just because Aliquippa plays up why should Southern play up and don’t give me crap about testing themselves that is a bunch of B.S. and these remarks come from a Dunmore bucks fan.
November 16th, 2020 at 9:33 am
Does anyone know what the ticket allotment and or attendance limit will be at Holidaysburg for the PR – GM game? Will there be tickets sold at the gate?
I know there are state guidelines for crowd size but the enforcement or interpretation seems to be different at every game. Appears to be more geographical.
November 16th, 2020 at 8:54 am
I respect aliquipa playing up for harder competition but I rather be successful in a lower classification than lose in the district/state playoffs in a higher division. Everyone respects aliquippa for playing up but there’s no reward for it. S Columbia is a small school. Just because they are successful year in and year out doesn’t mean they need to play up in classification. I rather end my year with a state championship than a pat on the back for “playing up in classification”.
November 15th, 2020 at 11:53 pm
@James F Crews
No disrespect but do some homework bout the ‘Quips, or try and learn a little bout HS football. Your assessment was absolutely idiotic and showed your level of knowledge. Not trying to be ill to you, but come on that post ridiculous and very uninformed.
November 15th, 2020 at 11:40 pm
HSFootball /JF Crews. Yes S. Columbia did beat the Class A Quips in ‘15. Just like a small school Steel Valley smoked Southern, or Clairton, Rochester beating Southern. Point is how ya think they do against 5A Pine Richland? Cause that be equivalent to the Quips playing up 3 classes. S. Columbia is a phenomenal program. Fans and coaches think they are the best in state and very confident. Well if they are so confident then try playing up. See if you do as well as the ‘Quips up 3 classes. Why stick in 2A to just blow teams out. They think there the best, well play 5A and try to blow em out. Again much respect to Southern, but test yourself. If Beaver Falls and Southern play in finals that’s a game. B. Falls is very good. Just annoying that your smack talking the Quips, but Southern will not bump up. They obviously wanna win easy and keep doing it in A. If they played 5A Pine Richland, they would be crushed. However the Quips played up 3 against defending PIAA Champ T. Jefferson, should have won in OT. Respect to Southern, but take a shot playing up. See if the fans say they the best in State. S. Columbia vs Beaver Falls is gonna be a fine game. Just show the ‘Quips respect, they not afraid to play up.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:49 pm
i went to the Pine Richland vs. Peters Township game last night and to say PR was impressive would be am understatement ,as they totally dominated a very solid Peters team 35-0. As I’ve said on here before PR is better than every team in the WPIAL by 3-4 touchdowns and that includes PCC and North Alleghany. Very complete team, excellent defense, balanced offense and very good special teams. They have 30 seniors and 18 returning starters and one of the best coaching staffs in the state. They are primarily a passing team but do run the ball pretty well, Peters has a very good secondary let by safety Donovan McMillon who is going to Florida, so instead of forcing the pass PR ran the ball down their throats to the tune of 273 yards. Their first scoring drive was 19 plays that covered 79 yards and looked like an NFL drive gaining 4-5 yards every play.
Watching them in person for the first time this year confirmed my belief they are probably the 2nd best team in the state behind SJP. I know Governor Mifflin is very good and has a big time running back being recruited by some major D1 schools but for them to win next week they have to play their A+ game and hope PR plays their C game, if PR plays like they did last night I think they win by 3 scores, they are that good, we’ll see soon enough, that’s why they play the games. Glad to see that game is being played in Hollidaysburg which if my geography is correct should be about the same amount of travel for both schools.
@D3 Mike – i haven’t heard any criticism of PR playing in 5A this year from any of the guys I know around here who follow HS football, just a lot of respect for their program, there are more good teams in the WPIAL in 5A than there are in 6A so its not like they are playing lesser competition during the regular season and district playoffs. Their enrollment put them at 5A for the next 2 years so that’s where they are playing, and lets face it, if SJP did not have a juggernaut of a team they would have likely played up in 6A, even the PR diehards I talked to last night agree they would lose to SJP by 3 TDs or more, that’s how much better SJP is than every other team in the state. By the same token that’s all the more reason to respect and admire what Aliquippa has done over the years.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:50 pm
@James Clews – others have already rebutted your ridiculous argument, but I’ll add some more as someone who has lived in Pittsburgh and followed the WPIAL for 45 years. Aliquippa is a small 1A school who has played up for decades and Michael is right, if they played 1A every year where their enrollment has always been they probably would have won at least 15 state titles by now. Do you have any clue how many NFL players have come from this small town? They have won 17 WPIAL titles playing up, more than any other school in the district (by comparison Clairton has won 14 strictly playing in 1A every year), and its pretty widely accepted that overall the WPIAL plays the best football in the state. To put 13 straight WPIAL finals in perspective Southern Columbia would have to play in District 3 and make either the 4A or 5A district final 13yrs in a row, as great of a program that So Col has the D3 guys will tell you there is zero chance they make the D3 district finals that many years in a row playing up 2-3 classes. Do a little homework before you make stupid comments.
November 15th, 2020 at 6:39 pm
@GaryZ. Southern Columbia rocked Aliquippa in the 2015 AA state final 49-14.
November 15th, 2020 at 12:40 pm
Aliquippa could play 1a every year but has chosen to play up, if they didn’t they would have as many Piaa if not the most of any high school in piaa history.
People look at there storied history and forget they play classes higher than they should
November 15th, 2020 at 12:01 pm
Hahahaha! James, is that a parody account? I feel like it is and I’m just not getting the joke. If not, I honestly can’t respond effectively in a PG, moderated forum…
A quick teaser, though: anyone who thinks the point of youth athletics is to win a state championship every year should: 1) grow up, and 2) get a life, in that order.
I’m not a WPIAL guy, but there’s a reason Pine-Richland is being criticized and Aliquippa praised this weekend by almost everyone I follow who knows WPIAL football.
November 15th, 2020 at 10:32 am
@ James F Clews. Well maybe because they have a 116 boys in 9-12, and are a small class A school. Always played up, this year the PIAA made them go to 4A. They could play in A or AA and just blow teams off the field. Literally would just humiliate teams in A n AA. All respect for S. Columbia, but I don’t see them moving up. They like to stay in 2A and have blowouts every week. They are an excellent team, but if they did what ‘Quips do… they could play 5A. See how they fair against teams like Pine Richland. They have won WPIAL and States playing up, I would like to see how they fair in 5A. Again no disrespect, Roth is a great coach and the kids play so hard. But before you knock on the Quips, maybe consider they play up 3 Classes. Took defending State Champs T. Jefferson to OT in D7 final yesterday.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:18 am
@ james Clews, You are clueless regarding The Quipps. They were forced up to 4A by the PIAA. Your post is one of the most ridiculous ones I have read here. They are winners !!!!
November 15th, 2020 at 12:43 am
I don’t understand people’s mentality concerning aliquippa. Why does everyone keep praising them for playing up in class but once again there going home with nothing. Year in and year out aliquippa proves they are not the best team in the state in the class they have moved up to. The point of sports is to win!!!! To win a state championship you have to win!!!! Since when did it become cool to almost be the best even though technically maybe you were the best if you didn’t over estimate yourself. Aliquippa is the tee ball coach who lets everyone tee it up and hit until his kid comes up and they pull the tee away and he pitches to him to prove his kid could hit a ball softly on the ground for 15 feet without a tee. And he’s better than the rest. Hey tball coach your kid ain’t that good and hey aliquippa neither r u.
November 14th, 2020 at 9:30 pm
Curious as to how Central York football team can play on Sat., when on Friday the school shut down until 11/29 “due to Covid cases”? Wondering how Hburg, PCC, Warwick and the rest of the PIAA teams that had to forfeit feel about that? Asking for a friend!
November 14th, 2020 at 7:01 pm
Central York football storms past Delaware Valley and into state semifinals
https://www.ydr.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2020/11/14/piaa-football-central-york-storms-past-delaware-valley-into-6-a-semifinals/6270472002/
November 14th, 2020 at 4:57 pm
Many times games don’t live up to their hype but western pa football fans were just treated to a tremendous game between TJ and Aliquippa won by TJ 35-28 in OT. Game was tied at 7-7 at half with both defenses stuffing the run, Quips took the lead in second quarter on 1yr QB sneak and then TJ scored late on a 35 yard TD pass. In the second half TJ went up 14-7 and then Aliquippa answered with another short QB run for a TD to tie it at 14 with 11:30 to go in the game. TJ returned subsequent kickoff to the Quips 30 yard line and 2 plays later scored to take 21-14 lead, then pinned the Quips deep and partially blocked a punt from the end zone and got the ball back on the 25 yard line and in the blink of an eye it was 28-14 with about 8 minutes to go. Then Aliquippa returned the kickoff to TJ 32 and 2 plays later a beautiful TD pass made it 28-21. On the ensuing possession an Aliquippa interception at their own 30 yard line gave them life and they went on a a 70 yard drive capped by 14 yard TD run by Vernon Redd to tie the game at 28-28 with just under 2 minutes to go and TJ played for OT as they were out of timeouts. Aliquippa won the toss and played defense, TJ scored a TD on QB sneak on 3rd and 2, and on third down an interception in the end zone sealed the win for TJ, great high school football game, we are blessed local TV broadcasts most of the WPIAL title games.
@D3 Mike – agree Jersey Shore is the favorite next week over LS and expect TJ to beat Oil City to set up a TJ-Jersey Shore final in 4A, Oil City squeaked past Upper Moreland 28-27.
In single A Jeannette blew out and mercy ruled Clairton 45-14, after racing to a 21-7 lead at half and then scoring 24 straight points in the 2nd half, avenging a loss in the first game of the season to Clairton 34-28. They have a freshman QB Brad Birch who is going to be a special player and his older brother is his favorite target and have a bunch of other weapons, good luck to any A team trying to contain this offense.
November 14th, 2020 at 4:40 pm
@ David Mika
I have it on reliable sources that if McDowell does indeed win the 6A championship via a string of forfeits, in lieu of a PIAA trophy, they will receive a life size bust of Dr. Anthony Fauci, and instead of the traditional oversized Hershey bar, each player will be presented with a gift bag consisting of face masks, a bottle of hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes and a roll of toilet paper (I’ll let you guys come up with your own conclusions on the symbolism of the TP).
November 14th, 2020 at 3:50 pm
This just in, Central York QB is good. Another demolition job…49-26. Maybe they are for real??
November 14th, 2020 at 3:17 pm
Where can the PR – PS game be watched if you don’t live in the WPIAL area. I’ve seen listed on TV on PITTSBURGH CW channel and audio streamed on Trib HSSN channel but can’t find a video stream.
Thanks!
November 14th, 2020 at 12:08 pm
McD: no, that was a nice win for McDevitt! From what I’ve read, that was actually one of the more competitive and entertaining playoff games last night. But as long as Southern Columbia is in 2A, I honestly don’t pay much attention to D3-2A. I knew it was a lost cause, especially since Camp Hill had already fallen to the D3-1A champ in the regular season.
Good luck next weekend. This is probably one of the better years to catch them in the semi-finals.
I’ll say it again: it’s really a shame the Wyomissing-SCA game was cancelled. They might have the two best teams below 5A in Eastern PA this year.
November 14th, 2020 at 8:44 am
D-3 Mike, You forgot 2A . Its not often McD D-12 gets any props LOl. Just having fun Mike. At least Camp Hill doesnt have to play THOSE guys next week. @ Jeff, great info on those two great programs.
November 13th, 2020 at 11:17 pm
On the other side of 3A, Wyomissing handles Lakeland 47-0. They have now outscored opponents 250-12 in the first half in their 8 games, with their only TD allowed on a kickoff return (stat courtesy of Mike Drago). Wyo will be favored against the Danville / Archbishop Carroll winner.
Steelton beats Old Forge 39-36 on a last-second catch in 1A. You can find the play on Twitter. Great, back-and-forth tilt. Steelton will have their hands full with Guilfoyle next weekend. D3 has really struggled in recent years in this class vs the D6 reps.
Lampeter-Strasburg beats Elco in the D3-4A final. Congrats to L-S — you can only beat who is on your schedule — but this was not a great year for D3-4A with BC and McDevitt sitting out. Jersey Shore the favorites vs L-S next weekend.
Central York vs Delaware Valley in a your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine type of game. IMO, Delaware Valley really benefited themselves by scheduling La Salle early in the season. Will help them prepare for Central York’s speed. Should be an entertaining game. Edge to Del Valley, although I’ll be hoping to see a record-tying 5th District 3 team make the semi-finals in a season. Winner gets McDowell who has managed to make the state semi-finals despite winning only 1 game since September 25th.
November 13th, 2020 at 10:18 pm
As expected the clock struck midnight for Cinderella Elizabeth Forward tonight as they fall to Central Valley 35-0 in 3A WPIAL final. EF was making their first ever appearance in the district finals and was 8-0 going into tonight but ran into a juggernaut. CV is now 10-0 and has won every game by mercy rule, I said on here several weeks ago they are on a mission to atone for their collapse against Wyoming in the 4th quarter in Hershey last year and fully expect them to meet Wyomissing in 2 weeks in what could potentially be the best game of all 6 in the state finals.
For all you diehards and historians out there here are some interesting tidbits about the Aliquippa vs.TJ game tomorrow at 1pm that is just oozing with history.
These schools have combined for 26 WPIAL titles, 17 by Aliquippa and 9 by TJ, the most ever for a WPIAL title game
Aliquippa is making their record 13 straight appearance in the championship game, all while playing up 1, 2 and now this year 3 classes, I can’t begin to describe how amazing an accomplishment that is, before the season started I and most everyone else expected that streak to end this year when the PIAA forced them to play 4A
TJ has made the semi-finals or finals 21 out of the last 22 years in the old 3A and for the last 5 yrs 4A
TJ coach Bill Cherpak is tied with Bob Palko, formerly of West Alleghany and now head coach at Mt Lebanon with 8 WPIAL titles, with a win tomorrow he becomes the coach with most championships in WPIAL history.
These teams have played once in their storied histories, 40 years ago in 1980 at the old Pitt Stadium in the 3A title game, TJ upset Aliquippa 28-8 to win their first district title, that was the year the PIAA went to 4 classes for the first time.
TJ has 347 boys in grades 9-11. Aliquippa has 117 boys
Now for the game tomorrow. It’s hard to go against TJ when they make the final, but South Fayette did beat them 2 years ago. I think Aliquippa’s skill players and speed are going to give TJ some problems, but if TJ doesn’t turn the ball over like they did against McKeesport they should be able to go on some sustained drives against Aliquippa and perhaps wear them down in the 2nd half because they have fewer kids who go both ways. I think Aliquippa makes one more big play than TJ and I pick them to win 28-21 in what should be a great game.
November 13th, 2020 at 3:05 pm
Covid wrecks havoc again, PCC just forfeited their game to Erie McDowell due to a Covid outbreak at the school.
@D3 Mike – that game might be at Pine Richland, I’m not sure, I know for this weeks games Erie Cathedral Prep was supposed to play Wyoming Valley West at Brockway but WVW forfeited due to Covid, and in 4A Oil City is playing Upper Moreland at Hollidaysburg tomorrow at 1pm, so maybe its just the schools from D10 in NW PA matched up against schools from D1/D2 that are playing at neutral sites, I would imagine Erie Prep will play the D1 winner next week somewhere in the central part of the state.
@New2PA – i am going to try and get a ticket for the game tomorrow night, planning on getting to NA around 5:45 since I was told the tickets go on sale at 6pm, and there will be 200 first come first serve, if you end up going I’ll be the guy in the black windbreaker with Wolverines in turquoise on the left chest.
November 13th, 2020 at 4:58 pm
McDowell has two forfeit wins and two forfeit wins away from winning a 6A title without playing…..COVID-19
November 13th, 2020 at 2:14 pm
PCC forfeits. McDowell moves on.
November 13th, 2020 at 10:14 am
@Jeff H.: I had not heard that about the tickets. I was planning on watching the game on the CW. If the weather isn’t too cold, I may go though.
@LL-Berks Guy: Your summary of P-R matches what I have seen all year. IMO, they have been playing their best football late in the year. I have said elsewhere that I thought Penn-Trafford was the second best team in WPIAL 5A. Only lost to Peters by 3 but had SEVEN turnovers!
November 13th, 2020 at 7:18 am
I have also heard that some schools simply do not want to host. Ran into this situation last winter with the basketball, but at least with football, there was some advance notice. Also, since there are limited fans = limited gate receipts = less revenue to pay neutral host facilities. Cheaper and easier to let a higher seed host.
November 13th, 2020 at 6:12 am
Jeff, so Mifflin will not be playing at the PR-Peters winner’s home stadium? I had not heard that. How is the PIAA able to get schools to staff neutral fields during a pandemic? They struggle to get volunteers during a regular season.
November 12th, 2020 at 9:16 pm
@Robert – in a normal year all quarterfinal games between different districts are at neutral sights, although some quarterfinals that are district finals are played on the higher seeds home field like District 1 6A and 5A. This year to cut down on travel and not have 2 schools and their fans travel to a neutral sight the PIAA is letting schools host quarterfinal and semi-final games, unless they are several hours apart in which case the games will be played in the central part of the state like Altoona or Hollidaysburg.
November 12th, 2020 at 5:13 pm
@ LL – Berks Guy – excellent analysis of the PR vs.GM game next week, I completely agree with you, if GM is forced to pass often and/or fall behind early they are in trouble, to have a shot they have to win the turnover battle and keep PR’s offense off the field by going on long clock eating drives. I also agree PR is probably the 2nd best team in the state, they are definitely the best team in the WPIAL this year and would handle either Pittsburgh CC or North Alleghany.
PR plays a very good Peters Twp team on Saturday night, I’ve seen PR on video and Peters in person the last 2 weeks, they will have trouble scoring enough points to keep up with PR, I expect the final score to be something like 35-17 and maybe worse. Will be interesting to see what Peters does with their secondary, their strength is their safety McMillon who is going to Florida, their corners are decent by not great, I expect them to have McMillon help double team Jochem. If they play like they did in the first half against Gateway last week they will get blown out, Gateway dominated and should have been up by more than 19-0.
@New2PA – I do think McDowell has a realistic chance against PCC on Saturday afternoon in Erie, they beat Erie Prep twice and I think they match up pretty well with PCC, expect it to be a close game. Are you going to the PR game on Saturday night? I called the NA athletic office and they told me PR is only selling 800 out of the allotted 1,000 tickets and the rest will be available at the gate at 6pm, so I’m planning on getting there early to get a ticket.
I was hoping to get a ticket to see TJ vs. Aliquippa but I was told that game is sold out so I’ll have to settle for watching on TV! I’ll post some more thoughts/analysis about that game tomorrow.
@Kevin X – I saw 3 Woodland Hills games from the stands this year by getting tickets through my connections at the school, my kids were in the band the last 6 years, and while both have since graduated I still have connections with enough parents to get tickets for home games.
For the WPIAL playoff games they are giving each school 1,000 tickets, and if they don’t sell them all they make them available to the general public at the gate, I got to the Gateway vs. Peters game last week right before kickoff and was prepared to watch from outside the stadium but to my surprise they were selling tickets so I got to watch from the stands.
November 12th, 2020 at 3:24 pm
Why are some teams in the quarter finals playing on their home fields? I thought all state playoff games had to be played at neutral sites.
November 12th, 2020 at 12:11 pm
Assuming PR wins this weekend which by all accounts they will – Here is my assessment of GM vs PR next weekend.
PR runs a spread offense with a ton of shifting and motion. Also a lot of no huddle and hurry up. A very advanced offense for high school and probably more advanced then some colleges. They know how to attack a weakness on the opponent and create blown coverages consistently in the secondary. The QB (Cole Spencer) is very accurate and his favorite target is #5 Eli Jochem. When you watch the team you’re not blown away by one individual or awed by elite athleticism but they are the 2nd best team in the state.
Defensively they are strong against the pass and sound against the run. I was not able to locate a video of a PR opponent against a strong team that runs as much as Mifflin so I’m not 100% sure how that plays out.
Mifflin is actually running out of the I formation most of the time with a little Veer mixed in. They found that Singleton is more effective running wide via a pitch then running straight ahead out of a Fullback slot. The other back (Strausser) is solid and they have a great Tight End in Stewart. The big question mark is the QB who has only attempted 34 passes in 7 games and most of the pass attempts have been deep balls that did not require reading a defense. If Mifflin needs to throw, the QB will be challenged to win this game and attempt passes he has never thrown in his career.
Defensively Mifflin is strong and full of athletes. Coach Lang said at the beginning of the year he would keep it simple and let his athletes just play. This approach has worked but will it work against a complex PR offense?
I give PR the edge in – Coaching, QB, WR, Special Teams, Team IQ.
I give Mifflin the edge in – RB, D Line, Team Speed
For Mifflin to win they must – Win turnovers, Maintain run game, Not fall behind early, No blown coverages. Hope for a rainy windy day.
For PR to win they must – Contain the Run – That’s it.
Summary – PR wins easy if they make MIfflin pass and do not have a bunch of turnovers.
I’ve seen Mifflin a lot over the years and when they can’t out physical a team they don’t win big games. 2017 as an example – As a huge underdog they beat Harrisburg with Micah Parsons on a cold rainy day by running the ball 64 times…… but the next week they lost to a less athletic Manheim Central who runs a spread offense. MC won the game when the WR put a double move on a CB late in the game.
November 11th, 2020 at 9:58 pm
Pennridge /Souderton should be a good game . I like Pennridge in a close one. Richland/ So Columbia may be closer than past So.C games. I like McDevitt over Camp Hill in the other Eastern 2A game .Malvern Prep should handle Wood. I saw that former Malvern Linebacker Kieth Maguire played Saturday night for Clemson vs Notre Dame. Whe Trotter from the Pre gets there next year Clemson will have two LBs from our area.
November 11th, 2020 at 5:28 pm
I do feel bad for the kids and more for the teams who lost to covid that’s the killer here. Good teams who practiced all summer. GONE! I would not be surprised in two weeks Pennsylvania will be in a lockdown as this Virus runs rampant once again. If Hershey happens PIAA might want to put an * on the whole season as a victim of this covid virus. God bless us all.
November 11th, 2020 at 1:13 pm
D3: In 5A WPIAL, the majority view out here is that the P-R wins going away this Saturday for the WPIAL Championship. In the state semi’s it would be GM who I have seen play a couple times. They must be able to keep possession of the ball and take time off the clock. PR’s defense is very good, especially against one dimensional offenses. I do not see anybody stopping P-R’s offense. Too many weapons at QB and WR and a stable of RB’s behind a very good and big line. P-R’s team is probably best in school history behind the 2017 Jurkovec juggernaut. In the finals, I’d bet they play ECP as well, but ECP lost a ton of seniors last year and with Imhotep being out of the playoffs, that side of the bracket is a little easier.
In 6A, PCC has done a very nice job getting things together as the season went along. Not one of their best teams, but they play hard. Also, relatively young. I think McDowell has a chance at home, but they can’t be scared. PCC will smell blood and smoke them. Not sure who is next, but as long as SJP is waiting at the end this year, a championship is not a realistic possibility.
November 11th, 2020 at 10:44 am
i agree it a hard to get in to this season i do agree with the PIAA to hold a season and a playoff. But this season is not for the fans no one will really care who wins it all fact that the kids who work so hard got a chance to play is the real victory in all of this so let sit back relax and enjoy what we have
November 11th, 2020 at 9:46 am
Kevin, I go to a game most weekend but haven’t been inside a stadium. Most places in Berks have chain link fences or nearby hills that overlook the fields. I stand at games anyways so it makes little difference to me. Between players, coaches, cheerleaders, bands, and parents there aren’t a lot of walk ups available, if any. I imagine it’s easier to get into a 1A/2A/3A that plays in a decent sized stadium. Most don’t have bands and obviously have smaller rosters and fewer parents.
November 11th, 2020 at 9:41 am
Sausmann, I agree that putting Berks in D11 would better balance D3 & D11 but it wouldn’t help with the state playoff structure as it would overload the “East” even more. Moreover, as much as I’d enjoy watching Wilson WL play Parkland in November instead of scrimmaging them in August, the move wouldn’t help either of them beat SJP / PCC / North Allegheny any more regularly — which is the current problem in 6A.
Jeff, if I had to bet I’d say it’s Peters, Governor Mifflin, ECP (no disrespect to D1) the rest of the way for Pine Richland. Who (if anyone) gives them a competitive game? I’ve seen ECP play a few times over the years vs BC and Imhotep. Great coaching. Very balanced offense. I’ve heard this year’s team is on the younger side. Mifflin runs the veer with a number of D1 athletes at the skill positions. They’ve physically bludgeoned everyone on their schedule, including Wilson. If their o-line blocks even decently well they can put up a bunch of points on anyone. I’m concerned about their lack of balance, though, plus one of their better secondary players was ruled ineligible so I could see them struggling to contain Pine Richland. I know nothing about Peters.
Between ECP and Imhotep moving up, TJ losing, and the Catholic schools being out of it, 4A looks like the most competitive class. Haven’t heard much chatter on here about it. Whom do we like in 4A? The WPIAL winner? Can TJ run with Aliquippa?
November 11th, 2020 at 8:32 am
@ Dennis
Don’t know if I’d go as far as using the term “junk” but I do hear and feel your frustration. Just hard to get motivated and involved in this season, especially for someone who has no horse in the race, dog in the fight. And knowing if you do, at any minute the rug can be pulled out from under you. Going to real interesting how the winter season is going to play out. I’m already resigned to the fact that the idea of heading out to attend a local hoops game in person is not going to happen for me this season.
Question: Has anybody been able to attend a football game (or even a soccer or field hockey match) this fall as just a general member of the public, and not as a parent, media, employee, or some other connection or official capacity?? Have you been able to just walk up to the gate and get your ticket and enjoy a game in person?? I haven’t even tried down here in District 1, thinking other parts of the state might be more accommodating, welcoming and less restrictive.
November 10th, 2020 at 6:44 pm
@Dennis Pasco – I have never been a fan of the PIAA, and have been highly critical of them at times, but I applaud their decision to ignore Governor Wolf’s recommendation and play football and all fall sports. As disjointed and disappointing as this season has been it’s certainly better than no football at all, I feel it would have been a tremendous disservice to the kids to not put protocols in place and try to proceed with the season.
I went to the Gateway vs. Peters Township game on Friday night and was prepared to watch from outside the stadium and was pleasantly surprised when there were tickets available and got to watch from the 50 yard line in the stands and was treated to a tremendous high school football game. Gateway dominated the first half and lead 19-0 and score should have been worse, Peters took the 2nd half kickoff and went on an 80 scoring drive to make it 19-7, forced Gateway to punt and then scored again on the ensuing possession on a 33 yard highlight reel touchdown catch by Florida recruit Donovan McMillon to make it 19-13 halfway through third quarter.. Gateway had several chances to put them away, including missing 2 second half field goals, the last one a 32 yarder with 3 and half minutes to go in the fourth that would have put them up by 9 and Peters subsequently drove and scored the winning TD with 5 seconds to play on a 4 yard TD pass. Two very good high school teams playing their hearts out for the right to continue their season and play for a district championship next week and beyond.
@Sausman9 – maybe ESS would have gone on a run in states, unfortunately we’ll never know, no disrespect meant to ESS but they would likely be the 5th best team in the WPIAL in 5A,behind the 2 teams mentioned above, Pine Richland and Penn Trafford.
November 10th, 2020 at 5:54 pm
No respect for north schuylkill In any rankings. Most people back next year. Will be one of the top teams in AAA
November 10th, 2020 at 1:50 pm
I have come to the conclusion this year’s football season is junk with all the covid crap. Just venting.
November 9th, 2020 at 5:16 pm
warwick FORFEITS d3 final to mifflin due to covid
November 9th, 2020 at 9:39 am
Nazareth from D11 6A is now back in the District playoffs per school district
November 9th, 2020 at 9:38 am
@JMAC – you got it bud and I still think ESS could have made a strong run into states. They are loaded with size and speed. Very similar to Gov Miff this season (props to you Langy!!!)
@D3 mIke – the true issue/problem is the current make up of D3, D11, and D2. If you take D3 teams in Berks (lets say from Reading/Gov Miff/WWL/etcc) and move them into D11 w/ the Lehigh Valley teams (some Lehigh Co and some Northampton Co) this creates a really strong and competitive district. At this point, move the D11 Pocono teams north into D2. The western side of D3 can stay w/ the west side of the bracket/state but the east side of D3 would now be playing closer to home.
November 7th, 2020 at 9:57 am
I’d consider “a run” winning 2+ games, which depending on the year, class & bracket usually places a large district winner in Hershey. No one in D11-5A has ever done either (win two games or made the PIAA semi-finals, let alone made it to Hershey). And it’s not like the losses were competitive. Would ESS have produced different results this year? Maybe, but there’s no evidence for it.
D11 made the right choice to give more kids an opportunity to play more games. Obviously, it stinks for the district winners. But people forget that for years only four district winners qualified for states. And in D3 it used to be 16 teams that made districts, not the 44 to which we’ve grown accustomed. I just feel as if people were going to complain no matter what the Governor, PIAA, districts, or schools did —because that’s what people do.
Beyond that, I’d LOVE to switch it up from D3 playing the WPIAL in our first non-district game in the bigger classes. We couldn’t possibly do any worse. But there is no sensible way to put D3 in the East in the bigger classes and it has nothing to do with conspiracy theories or favorable brackets.
November 7th, 2020 at 8:27 am
@D3 Mike I don’t know how saying a school could make a run equates to going to Hershey. Number 1 though no Philly teams this year in 5A. Number 2 I don’t think they would contend in 5A with district 7 or district 3 teams, that’s a pretty good 5-6 teams in 5A. No D11 team was going to get to Hershey I agree, but I think what Saussman was referring to was getting the opportunity with such a good team and likelihood that in poconos a team that can win a district title and maybe win some state games in going to be very few and far between. District 7 plays the best football collectively in the state. Clearly the elite district 12 teams are special after that I would District 3 (although it is very curious how district 3 seems to year in and year our get a favorable bracket away from traditionally strong district 12 classes)
November 6th, 2020 at 6:03 pm
JC….Nazareth has COVID-10 and withdrew from the playoffs.
November 6th, 2020 at 5:46 pm
Now, ESS had to withdraw from the district playoffs because of COVID concerns. 2020 will forever be a what-if for this team if the season was normal.
November 6th, 2020 at 12:04 pm
Tonight’s D1 6A semi final, #4 Coatesville @ #1 Pennridge live Youtube stream link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHnRtE70_UzVHqG8GETVBTQ
November 6th, 2020 at 11:20 am
A lot of talk about East Stroudsburg South lately. As an alum of the school, I felt the need to weigh in.
ESS’s schedule this year was REALLY soft. The two other Monroe County programs that are usually solid, Stroudsburg and Pocono Mountain West, were in rebuilding years this year, so it’s impossible to say just how good they actually were. In a normal season, they would have played Northampton, Parkland, and Bethlehem Catholic (I believe), and we’d have a much better idea of just how good they are. As it is, we only know that they’re very good, probably one of the three best teams in school history, but there’s a lot unknown.
However, the big loss for this program is not having the chance to make ANY sort of run, not just a deep one. East Stroudsburg hasn’t won a state playoff game in decades, maybe ever. While I doubt they would have seriously contended against the likes of Wood or D7, just making it to the point that Southern Lehigh made last year would’ve set a new high-water mark for the program. Even getting a shot against a team like Wood is not a chance this team gets often, and who knows the next time that chance will come around. I guess based on history one could guess sometime in the early 30s, but you can never truly tell.
Of course, winning the D11 5A title is not a given. Southern Lehigh has given ESS trouble in the past, and Whitehall looks very solid this year. Either opponent would be the best team ESS has faced this year by far. So I’m glad they will at least have that chance to show how good they are (or are not).
November 6th, 2020 at 7:06 am
mcd 65 my bad, was thinking of the Penn Hills game from the year-prior
November 5th, 2020 at 7:04 pm
In regards to Southern Columbia to moving up for better completion in the regular season it doesn’t make sense. Last year they beat montoursville by mercy rule fashion and they were 3A and in the state quarterfinals losing to the eventual state champion Wyoming area who southern also played and mercy ruled. They also beat the 4A district champion jersey shore mercy rule who was in the state quarterfinals. Last years class was a once in a lifetime class and southern won’t see that type of team ever again probably. That group could’ve played up in class and won but the current team would nowhere be near competing with the likes of the 4A schools outside district 4. As someone stated earlier this team has a strong running game but lacks any passing threat. This is the year to knock off southern and it could happen in states if a team and slow down the running game. The defense has been good with the starters only allowing 3 points and no tds but again the schedule has been pretty easy. I look to see them get tested in states and if they return to Hershey the western team would definitely have a shot to beat them. If southern wins the state title this year you can expect them to win again next year. Young team again.
November 5th, 2020 at 7:00 pm
Bonner/prendie and Neuman/Gorettti had solid chances to advance this year. I know BPhas one of their best teams in many years,too bad for them. D-3 Mike Wood won states 5A last year.
November 5th, 2020 at 2:14 pm
@D3 Mike….I agree about D11…..they all voted for districts playoffs and giving more teams a a chance to play playoff games than just taking one team per class based on points and sending them to the three week state modified tourney. This way they are taking 4-8 teams per class and have a three week district playoff (same three weeks as states). It’s just for this year obviously and because of the unprecedented times I think it was smart. I don’t think any D11 team would have made it to the state finals anyway this year. Nazareth is good, Parkland is always good, freedoms good but when they play Philly schools it’s mercy rule last ten years (except that Pakland year in 2015). ESS is very good but you’re right they wouldn’t stand much of a chance against a Philly school or WPIALschool.
November 5th, 2020 at 1:53 pm
What is the “run” folks think ESS was going to make? Last year’s team lost by 17 to the team (Southern Lehigh) who got mercy ruled by the team (Archbishop Wood) who didn’t even make it out of the state semi-finals. The 2020 version would have lost by 50 points to Pine Richland if they hadn’t been trashed by another Eastern PA team on their way there.
Some of you seem to live in bubbles and don’t grasp just how much better WPIAL and Philly metro football is than everywhere else, with the rare exception of a few perennial powers that suck up most of the talent in a 50 mile radius such as Cathedral and SCA.
Governor Mifflin is the best 5A team I’ve ever seen play. I’ve been to 6 of their games over the past 2 years. Good kids. And if they make it to the state semi-finals they are going to get banged up by the WPIAL rep, and banged up badly. Don’t let fandom overwhelm common sense. D11’s call on the state playoffs was just fine. They did what was best for their kids and it cost them zero appearances in Hershey.
November 5th, 2020 at 10:32 am
@Sausman do you really think D11 dropped the ball? While it would be great for ESS to make a run. I don’t overall if it would have been the best decision. in 6A Parkland & Freedom would not have had a say in who got the bid, 5A ESS obviously, 4A okay you can make the case ACC as the top seed will most likely win and deserved to go to the state playoffs, 3A we would be leading some very good teams behind. You get all these teams to qualify and play for a championship is a good thing in my opinion. To basically decide the district champion and playoff spot off power points is not the way to go. Think about this with the power points system. 1 win Northampton got bumped out of the 6A playoffs for 1 win Pleasant Valley… I understand I am talking about 1 win teams making the playoffs but what if power rating affected something at the top and kept a loss team at home and put a 1 loss team in with the same disparity as the example I gave of the poconos v the valley. Either way they got to play and there was no right decision.
November 4th, 2020 at 11:14 pm
Add another team to the Covid list, Bonner-Prendie. They are out of their playoff game against D1’s Upper Moreland this weekend. And in true D12 fashion, they insert an 0-3 Archbishop Ryan to play in their stead. So a one win Neumann Goretti team was was scheduled to play this weekend and they are out, why couldn’t a much better 1-0 Cardinal O’Hara team, who beat Ryan 35-7, I believe, play UM instead of Ryan?? Or better yet, toss D12 aside and let PJPII play in a de Facto D1 4A championship game against UM. They deserve a chance to play more than anybody.
November 3rd, 2020 at 4:44 pm
@D3 Mike – as it has been for the last several yrs 5A is the deepest classification in the WPIAL, as there are 4 very good teams, but PR is in a class by themselves. They play a very solid Penn Trafford team this week and that game should be competitive for awhile, but PT is too one dimensional to beat them, I look for the final score to be something like 35-14. IMO PR is definitely the best team in the WPIAL this year in any class, as I think they would handle both North Alleghany and Central Catholic, who meet for the 6A title this Friday, winner of that game plays Erie McDowell next week and I think McDowell will be very competitive in that game and wouldn’t shock me if they won.
Gateway plays Peters Township in the other semi-final in a rematch of the final from last year won by Gateway 21-20, Gateway has a lot of team speed and the best player in the WPIAL in Derrick Davis, but they have not been playing well since they were shutdown in late Sept-mid Oct for 3 weeks due to Covid, they went 4 weeks without playing a game, and since then they haven’t been close to the team they were last year or before the break. Peters is solid but not flashy, especially on defense, and well coached, earlier this year I would have thought Gateway would handle them, but that game is a tossup even though it is at Gateway. Either one of those teams would do well if they kept it within 2 TD’s against PR, that’s how much better PR is than the rest of the class this year, this is their best team since they beat SJP in 2017 with Jurkovec at QB.
In 3A I agree with you Wyomissing is probably D3’s best shot at winning in Hershey, as I stated last week they look to be on a collision course with Central Valley, as they are on opposite sides of the bracket, CV has mercy ruled all 8 teams they have played thus far and it will likely be 9 after this weeks game against Keystone Oaks who they already crushed in the regular season, if that game comes to pass that may be the best state final of all 6 classes.
November 3rd, 2020 at 2:52 pm
I did not know about Neuman/Goretti with Covid issues. Too bad for them. They have a very solid team that I felt could go deep into the playoff if not all the way this year. Bonner/Prendie has a potent offense and should not have a problem in the first round with Upper Moreland IMO. Im looking forward to McDevitt /Dunmore this week. Not sure what Carrol has since NG beat them last week. The Prep should play their JV this week against Roman .
November 3rd, 2020 at 1:13 pm
sorry last post i put @ philly i meant Kevin X mind is going
November 3rd, 2020 at 1:11 pm
@philly Andy’s pizza it been while since i has had any and i live only a few miles away might have to get some for the Army Airforce game this weekend !!! that an interesting thought Valley View and Del valley you know i think both schools would be up for it
November 3rd, 2020 at 10:45 am
What a shame for East Sroudsburg South. After looking at the 5A brackets, they had a great shot at a deep run.
D11 dropped the ball on this decision to stay home for the playoffs for sure.
November 3rd, 2020 at 9:34 am
Neumann Goretti had a covid situation so they are not playing in that playoff game
November 3rd, 2020 at 9:25 am
@ mcd 65
I think the “surprise” team in that list is Bonner. Think they have a decent chance on winning two games, and then getting beat by the WPIAL rep.
Take N-G out of the picture. Another Covid issue at the school has them shut done. Insert ABC. No idea how Carroll got to play (but good that they are) after the brackets have been set. Wilson’s issues just gets more maddening. Why that is not a forfeit win for NHS, who knows, I guess District 12 plays by different rules. Odd poetic justice for N-G, playing only one game, I don’t think they had any business in the tournament, but them, along with Northeast and Imhotep out of D12 were 3 teams I was looking forward to seeing what they had this year.
@ D2 guys
Any chance or thoughts if Del Val gets knock out of the playoffs this week or next, maybe schedule a season ending game against Valley View?? That would be just really weird, but pretty cool. Also, kudos to Valley View for scheduling Malvern Prep. Hope they treat them to some Andy’s pizza.
November 3rd, 2020 at 8:46 am
Michael, Neumann Goretti with only a few games under their belt will have to play a seasoned Wyomissing team with 8 games played. Wyo’s wing-t gives teams fits and I can’t see NG stopping it. NG is very talented, but Wyo has played many very talented teams in the past-Aliquippa, Imhotep and Berks Catholic and they have beaten them. Add in the Coaching factor, Wolfrum is probably one of the top 5 coaches in the State, he knows how to win big games.
November 3rd, 2020 at 8:39 am
@Neutral as i said depends who you talk to lot of finger pointing on this one . the last one i talk to was a parent of a player that the story i got from him a few week ago i talked to a local politician and i got the story you heard so who knows. as usual with the Valley View politics it the kids who suffer !!!!
November 3rd, 2020 at 1:26 am
@mark d:
It’s funny, but I heard exactly the opposite. I heard from someone connected to the VV school board (so take the source into consideration) that the board was FURIOUS when the VV HC/AD ducked DV. The VV board was already getting a lot of heat just for even allowing the season to happen; a lot of people wanted them to shut down all fall sports. Then after the board stuck its neck out to allow the football season, the HC and AD decided they didn’t want to play DV. I do agree that VV has a nice, young team. I think the sophomore QB is going to be a nice college prospect in 2 years. I think the entire O-line returns as well.
@Blakely Bear:
LOL, good one. Clearly, there is a difference between VV scheduling a post-season exhibition game after missing the playoffs versus VV playing a top team in Week 1 when VV is still trying to make the playoffs. But still, good for VV for taking on the challenge of Malvern Prep. Maybe they learned something from the LIAA and D2 making them take a forfeit.
November 2nd, 2020 at 10:31 pm
PCL playoff reps D-12 / 6A st Joe Prep, 4A Bonner/Prendie, 3A Neuman/Gorretti, 2A Bishop McDeviit. Some pretty good talent that may surprise folks in a couple of classifications.
November 2nd, 2020 at 4:22 pm
Valley View has a nice team but they are young real young.. I think their stepping out of their league playing Malvern but if you want to be the best you play the best i think it game to teach them where they have to be as for the Delaware Valley deal it depends who you talk to the Valley View coaches wanted to play that game the school board and a group of parents are the one who put stop to it that the last i heard
November 2nd, 2020 at 3:12 pm
I’ll be surprised if Neumann Goretti doesn’t make it out to play CV in the finals, will be also be surprised if Coatesville doesn’t beat Pennridge
November 2nd, 2020 at 8:00 pm
Buddy….The Catholic League isn’t playing Public League. Whoever wins the league is in.
November 2nd, 2020 at 1:50 pm
Anything on the D12 brackets? Or do they have to play their PCL & PPL playoffs first?
November 2nd, 2020 at 1:32 pm
Fact that VV chose to play Malvern Prep should put to rest the notion that they ducked Del Val because they were afraid to play them, for any other reason that they weren’t in football shape physically to play them, due to the Covid shutdown they experienced.
November 2nd, 2020 at 9:05 am
@Kevin, considering that no team from York County has ever won 6A/4A in D3, anyone who tells you they saw this one coming is lying! William Penn is probably only the 6th or 7th best team in 6A in the district.
Central Dauphin graduated too many of their top athletes last year to contain Central York. Had we had a normal regular season, that fact probably would have been revealed against Harrisburg or Wilson in September. As it stands, Central York is good (especially on offense) and should mercy rule the title game —but I really don’t think they’ll be able to run with the big boys in states.
Speaking of mercy rule, look for Wyomissing to trash Middletown in the 3A title game amidst some bad blood. Middletown really beat up Wyomissing in the ‘16, ‘17, ‘18 playoffs en route to three straight trips to Hershey. Wyomissing won in the ‘19 district title game in a thriller and then last month (as rumors have it) Middletown ducked them to avoid suffering their 2nd loss and getting knocked from this year’s reduced playoff field. Wyo was very unhappy to lose another game for their seniors.
I don’t think it’s close this weekend as Wyomissing is probably the district’s best bet to win in Hershey.
November 2nd, 2020 at 12:21 pm
I updated Class 2A….Just need 1A info
November 2nd, 2020 at 12:12 pm
Buddy…I just updated Class 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A brackets….Need some more information on Class 1A and 2A…
November 2nd, 2020 at 9:03 am
MIKA:
Playoff brackets for D1 ?
November 1st, 2020 at 8:52 pm
@Jeff H- well after the game Friday I truly believe Mcdowell has a very real shot at taking out whoever wins the WPIAL, they looked sharp. Erie Cathedral is a great team, but they aren’t quite as good as they were the last 5 years. That being said, they have a very talented freshmen and sophomore class and have several talented juniors so they will be back to their old form shortly. I think they still make it to the final four if not the state title game.
As predicted Oil Citi crushed Harborcreek. Look for then to make some noise the next few weeks they are good. And for you eastern guys I was shocked that Central York crushed Central Dauphin. Don’t know much about teams from that area but I felt like CD was one of the tops teams in 6A, so to put up 40 on them is impressive.
November 1st, 2020 at 6:02 pm
So, Malvern Prep at Valley View this Friday night. Chalk another one up to 2020 and things you’d never expected to see…….
Did Valley View find their beer muscles they seem to have misplaced at the beginning of the season now after beating Scranton Prep??
Just a FYI, if you were not aware, Malvern Prep is a pretty good football team. Maybe even better than Western Wayne (tongue firmly planted in cheek). Lonnie White Jr. is a freaking beast.
D2 thoughts??
November 1st, 2020 at 10:57 am
Pine-Richland has Penn-Trafford this week. Penn-Trafford’s only loss is their first game to Peters Twp, in which they had 6 turnovers and only lost by 3 points. I think this could be P-R’s toughest test in the WPIAL’s. Penn-Trafford has solid athletes and is very well coached. Gateway is not playing well. Peters is very solid, mainly on D. Not sure how well they can score though. Two great semi-finals games in 5A out here this week. If P-R is lucky enough to win, I think the best way for any team to have a good chance against P-R is to be able to run and throw the ball. Hard to be one dimensional against them and score enough points to keep up.
November 1st, 2020 at 9:54 am
So how many of you D3 guys, or anyone else really for that matter, had a Central York/William Penn Championship game match-up in your D3 6A bracket?? 🙂
@ mcd 65…….and only a junior and a PSU commit. They could have used him last night…….
October 31st, 2020 at 6:57 pm
@ MikeA, I think their QB Pribula is definitely one of the best in the state. He can do it all.
October 31st, 2020 at 1:57 pm
Central York may be the best team in the state not named SJP! They simply dominated Central Dauphin.
October 31st, 2020 at 8:49 am
Just a Big Thanks to WFMZ’s BIG TICKET High School Football scores and Highlights, as always another great year of production. More needed than usual due to Covid Restrictions. Thanks
October 31st, 2020 at 8:43 am
For all of you SJP, Wood, Catholic and private school lovers out there (lots of love on this site!!!), the St. Joe Prep @ Archbishop Wood game this afternoon (1p) should be live streamed (and archived for future viewing) at the following link:
https://wbcbsports.com
October 31st, 2020 at 7:38 am
@Jeff, Both Mifflin and Warwick are very good teams and have 4-star, D1 talent. I think either could have won in Hershey last year as 5A seemed down a bit.
The winner would be hurt by a weak schedule and minimal experience playing outside of district 3, though. The usual champ out of district 3 in that class (Manheim Central) typically plays the WPIAL winner competitively — but loses. I’ll expect more of the same this year but would love to be proven wrong.
Haven’t seen Warwick yet but Mifflin, especially, is a wild card because they run the veer. I’m not sure how many programs run that out west. The veer also means Mifflin lack the balance you usually see from top teams in the bigger classes.
Is it a foregone conclusion it’s Pine Richland? I know Gateway/Peters are also loaded.
October 31st, 2020 at 6:26 am
Pope John Paul 34-Perkiomen Valley 22 The game wasn’t really that close as PJP had a 3 TD lead at halftime and cruised in the 2nd half. It looks like they wont get into the playoffs as their 1st game against Pottsgrove was rescheduled due to Covid, they are easily the best 4A team in District 1. What a shame these kids cant get a chance to show what they can do.
Governor Mifflin looks unstoppable! This is the best 5A team I have seen in Berks County, I think they beat Warwick in the 5A finals.
October 30th, 2020 at 9:24 pm
And Central York hangs a 40 burger on CD…yikes!!!
October 30th, 2020 at 8:36 pm
Not a mis-print…CY just goes 95 on opening 2nd half KO…UP 27-9 over CD!!! CD in major trouble, two huge TO’s
October 30th, 2020 at 2:41 pm
@NW PA – I think McDowell can be competitive with whoever wins the WPIAL, they would play in the quarterfinals in 2 weeks. In 5A Erie Prep is on the other side of the bracket and I agree there’s a good chance they will meet Pine Richland in Hershey, although I do think the D3 winner (Mifflin or Warwick) will give PR a decent game in the semi-finals.
4A is pretty interesting in the WPIAL with TJ getting upset by McKeesport last week for their first home loss in 5 yrs, this TJ team is no where close the the team that steam rolled to the 4A title last year. Aliquippa is now the number one seed in WPIAL playoffs but they will be tested next week by solid Belle Vernon team, still expect TJ to meet Aliquippa in the WPIAL final in 2 weeks.
As for 2A I think Wilmington will beat the WPIAL winner in the semi-finals which I suspect will be Beaver Falls, and in 3A looks like Central Valley is on a collision course to meet Wyomissing in Hershey.
October 30th, 2020 at 12:48 pm
Hey Buddy, the short version is the top 4 teams in their playoff rankings after this weekends games advance to the playoffs next weekend. Currently Spring-Ford, Pennridge, Soudy and C’Ville are the top 4. Interesting those 4 are the only 4 undefeated teams in D1 6A. So all may work out if those 4 win out. Pennridge hosts Abington tonight (streamed live on Pennridge Athletics Youtube channel) may be the toughest game for the top 4. Same situation and schedule with 5A, the top 4. A thru 4A unsure what they are doing.
October 30th, 2020 at 10:53 am
Is D1 having some kind of playoff? Anyone know the scenario ?
October 30th, 2020 at 10:46 am
@mcd 65, There are very few backs that I’ve seen who are better than Garcia. I’ve been watching this game for a long time. He is on the small side (5-8″ 190) but his vision, cuts, hips, strength, balance and quickness are elite. I think he will do very well at the next level in a spread offense than can utilize his pass catching ability and get him into space.
Overall in 2A it looks like the usual suspects, at least in the last few years. Wilmington/Farrell. Beaver Falls. Dunmore. Richland/BA. SCA. I’m not sure about District 1/12 or what D 3 has this season.
Who can clarify the Harrisburg situation? Am I to understand that Harrisburg essentially tried to hide a + covid test?
October 29th, 2020 at 7:22 pm
@ Coal Region,Garcia is a flat out stud running back. I watched his highlights and he is a very impressive player. I would be wary of Richland twp. Their QB can run and throw .They have a solid club and could be a challenge in AA. SC will still be a heavy favorite of course.
October 29th, 2020 at 12:46 pm
@ NW PA
SCA has a great running game, potentially the most talented backfield in school history. Everyone knows how talented Jr Gavin Garcia is. I believe he has offers from Bowling Green, Princeton, Penn – maybe others? Soph fb Wes Barnes has great strength/speed/balance. Soph hb Wisloski has the best top end speed on the team, he can absolutely fly. That said. SCA has next to no passing game and their best lineman, who would have played 2 ways, was ruled ineligible this season. They have played a weak schedule. They had some dandy games lined up this year with Wyoming Area, Berwick and Wyomissing – but Covid through a wrench in that and instead they played Warrior Run, Hughesville, and Lewisburg. These teams are not strong and SCA has largely been untested.
Over the last 3/4 years MCA was top 3/4 in the state in AA. So having those games under their belt helped during playoffs. This year could be interesting. Hard to say what will happen. It could be Wilmington’s year.
October 29th, 2020 at 9:04 am
@FrankG, don’t waste your time with that guy. He wouldn’t say a word if the catholic schools were going out and getting routed every week. I graduated from a small catholic school that played and often beat much bigger public schools a lot of the time. It was always funny to hear all the crying from people who followed the public schools that were three or four times larger in enrollment complain every year. The school I went to drew students just from the general area around the school,there was no open enrollment then. They won because they had great coaching and got the most out of the talent they got. Most of the catholic schools still do it that way. Some are in leagues out here in the suburbs and there are still some in the PCL who do it the old way too. Lumping all the schools in with SJP, Wood,etc is wrong,but you will never change that way of thinking.
October 29th, 2020 at 8:46 am
Big game on the shores of Lake Erie tomorrow as Erie Cathedral hosts Mcdowell. Look for Mcdowell to make some noise in 6A. Unless the brackets get flipped, Erie Cathedral should make it Hershey, but if they do get flipped, they would probably run into Pine Richland in the semis. I like Oil City to take out Harborcreek and make a nice playoff run in 4A but I think they loose to whoever comes out of the WPIAL. In 3A it’s a toss up between Hickory and Fort Lebouf, both have excellent teams this year, but I don’t think either gets by Central Valley. Wilmington is the team to beat in this area in 2A, but we’ve read this book and know how it ends……probably a loss in Hershey to S.C.
October 28th, 2020 at 2:39 pm
What Egan did isn’t at all typical of the PCL. I can’t think of one instance where SJP or LaSalle, for instance, had a senior transfer and only a couple of instances where they had transfers at the start of junior year.
October 28th, 2020 at 1:47 pm
Sausemann9, I think I can top your Egan Transfer story, look up the Maddock’s brothers-all 4 of them, they started out at lancaster Catholic, moved over to Bishop Shanahan, then over to Kutztown-(maybe the worst football program in PA) then transferred over to Fleetwood, that’s 4 schools in 4 years! They helped Fleetwood to their best record in a decade and into the District 3 playoffs. How in the world did district 3 rule these kids eligible to play right away without having to sit out any games? Their Dad went in front of the schoolboard and had a very popular coach fired…another story for another day.
October 28th, 2020 at 12:02 pm
@Sausmann9:
“Here’s just another example of your beloved PCL teams “cheating” their way through a season:”
It aint cheating if they play by the rules set up by the governing body, that being the PIAA! Talk to the PIAA. But I don’t think you’ll have much luck. “The love of money……….’!
October 28th, 2020 at 11:28 am
Sausmann9 – Don’t waste your time.
What would happen if Ohio State could recruit Nationally but the rest of the Big 10 could only recruit from their state? It is exactly what is happening in high school.
October 28th, 2020 at 11:15 am
Eman D3 – Harrisburg knew on Monday they had a symptomatic athlete but tried to hide it. They did not take that player along to State College on Monday afternoon.
I am told by a D3 representative that several members are furious that Bohannon is not listening to them and may speak out publicly.
D3 top leaders are a bunch of old grumpy guys trying to feel powerful. You took a role as a public servant of student athletes. It is not about YOU!!!!!!!
October 28th, 2020 at 11:02 am
more time I won’t get back but again here’s your lesson on the day.
READ SLOWER!
I stated very clearly I didn’t reread the articles, I attached one of three and told you either bit of info was imbedded. you do your own homework and I don’t give two craps if you take my word for it or not. Prep doesn’t deserve to play in the PIAA just like all other privates and parochial that can pull a much needed player when needed.
Here’s just another example of your beloved PCL teams “cheating” their way through a season:
Conwell Eagan 2017. Crappy 5-6 record coming into round 2 of playoffs knowing full well they were about to run Into a very good public school who was about to embarrass them on their own field. What does Eagan do? They accept on their team and suit up a 6’4″, 250 lb lineman who was an absolute difference maker on both sides of the ball in the game.
Funny thing was the ignorant responses from the AD’s at both parochial schools stating the transfer was not athletic intent, lmoa. No but the kid showed up on a Monday and was suited up for Eagan by Wednesday’s practice.
October 28th, 2020 at 9:35 am
So word on the street in D3, from various, reliable sources. The committee found out that Hburg had a Covid case 15 MINUTES have 6A brackets were supposedly finalized…and they refused to budge and put Wilson in to fill the slot. What a nasty way to treat 17 yo hs kids that have been busting their hump the last 3 months. Pennlive sportswriters and even Hburg players were asking the committee to reverse their decision and they refused. They let Hburg play 3 games in 10 days, but put the hammer down about this situation.
October 27th, 2020 at 9:45 pm
@ phillyboy
No, H-burg season wasn’t done. They already had 2 or 3 future games scheduled. They (and anyone else not in, or eliminated from the playoffs) could schedule games right up to Thanksgiving Saturday. The rally cry went from “Let us Play,” to “We are going to do anything we need to do within the system to get into the Playoffs.”
October 27th, 2020 at 8:53 pm
@ mark d
I grew up in NEPA and graduated from a D2 high school. I still have friends and family in the area and other ties/connections.
October 27th, 2020 at 8:44 pm
Not sure what is more entertaining at the moment, watching the daily dysfunction of District 3 or all of the fun facts of Philly area zip codes……..
October 27th, 2020 at 6:00 pm
@Sausmann. My point about the zip codes was you already have 87 in Philly. If you just go out to the surrounding suburbs and South Jersey you’ll pick up another 200 say. That’s what I meant about the zip codes. Who looks “upidstay” now??
October 27th, 2020 at 4:52 pm
It keeps on getting crazier in District 3! Harrisburg, one day after qualifying for the playoffs is out of the playoffs DUE TO CORONA! District 3 stated since the playoff brackets were already set York High receives a forfeit and automatically goes to the Final! Wilson screwed again! Unbelievable! Also, Bishop McDevitt petitioned District 3 to extend the playoff points to next week in 5A and 4A since the playoffs wont start until November 6, District 3 Chairman Doug Bohannan denied the petition.
October 27th, 2020 at 4:43 pm
Wow…I go to work come home and now Harrisburg isn’t playing,…..
October 27th, 2020 at 3:41 pm
Harrisburg football team out of District 3 playoffs following positive COVID-19 case, district says
https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2020/10/harrisburg-football-team-out-of-district-3-playoffs-following-positive-covid-19-case-district-says.html
October 27th, 2020 at 3:33 pm
@Sausmann9. So where did it even mention the states? We’re just supposed to take your word on that?? And the 172 zip codes?? As I mentioned earlier there are 87 zip codes just in Philadelphia alone. I’m not a prepster but I do get tired of this argument. If you have a beef, take it to the PIAA. They were happy enough to take the Prep’s money!!
October 27th, 2020 at 2:55 pm
Word on the street is that Harrisburg in now out, due to a Covid case..must quarantine until 11/5…Wow!
October 27th, 2020 at 2:03 pm
@Irish1 I’d love to see that happen, but what made the Thanksgiving morning games great was the presence of large crowds. I went to the SJP-Roman game from ’59 to ’70–probably never fewer than 5,000 fans. Obviously this year schools would have to rely on live streaming. The larger question is whether the traditions can be re-established after at least 12-15 years. We never wondered whether we’d go; it was just understood that we’d go, whatever the weather, which was sometimes awful.
@sausmann9 The article said nothing about four states. I’ve been in pretty close touch with the Prep over the decades and can’t remember one student who lived in MD. As for DE, I can think of two families, one of which moved to Northern DE from Philly just as the son (who was a good football player) was about to begin high school. The other family lived in DE when the son went to the Prep for a year, but they then moved to South Jersey and the son (who showed great football potential) transferred to a public school there. There may have been a few other students from DE over the decades, but most years there have been none.
October 27th, 2020 at 1:41 pm
I don’t know what I’m talking about and yet I still make Paul from Philly look stupid, lmao. 87 zip codes in Philly which means the other 40 zip codes are outside of Philly you goof. Ie. NJ, MD, De, and the surrounding suburbs OUTSIDE philly.
I DID NOT mention Virginia, I DID NOT mention Connecticut, NOR DID I mention.New York. You did in a futile attempt to make someone like bad and once again it backfires, lol.
I’d really be curious as to how you actually think you know there are no kids from those other states??? Fact is; YOU DON”T!
Truth hurts, sorry. Try again somewhere else.
October 27th, 2020 at 12:06 pm
Just a thought, but since many deserving teams wont have a chance to go to the playoffs,and since teams are allowed to play until thanksgiving why not step back in time and play some thanksgiving morning games. It would be a nice reward for having to go thru all things covid. Im sure people will come up with a thousand reasons why this cant happen, but I just thought it would add some fun to whats been a dreary year.
October 27th, 2020 at 10:13 am
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/coronavirus/st-joes-prep-coronavirus-football-virtual/2571882/
not sure if this has the states mentioned or the zip codes mentioned but the states are PA, NJ, DE, and MD. I cannot name all the zip codes tho, sorry.
October 27th, 2020 at 9:52 am
@ Sausmann9. There are 87 zip codes just in the city of Philadelphia. Do the math.
October 27th, 2020 at 9:07 am
@ Frank G. Sausmann9 does not know what he is talking about. SJP does not have any players from any states other than New Jersey, PA and as you mentioned only a few through the years from Delaware. No Maryland, no New York, Connecticutt or Virginia. He makes the same arguments about all PCL sports. Swimming, Lacrosse, etc. Gets old after a while.
October 27th, 2020 at 8:57 am
@kevin x no you were correct seems you have a better handle on what going on around here than i do .Now they can play the fall sports but all the winter sports are suspended ?
October 27th, 2020 at 8:25 am
I don’t see what the problem is with Harrisburg. They needed to procure a fourth game asap or call it a season, right? So their coach hustled up and took care of business. As far as Micah Parsons incentivizing State College to play the game — impressive generosity, loyalty and yes, community support. I actually think SC deserves two pats on the back and an attaboy as well, for being good sports to a desperate Harrisburg. If they got a few bucks out of it, all the better, a win-win deal all around. The way phillyboy sees it, Harrisburg has stepped up their game in recent years, taken the program to another level. That’s what’s up.
October 26th, 2020 at 6:27 pm
The D3 process sucked this year. Blame COVID. Seriously, the D3 administrators did about the best they could do, IMO. And yes, the last-minute 10/26 game hurt Wilson, who probably has the third-best team in the district in 6A and deserves to be playing next weekend (I’ll spare non-D3 people my rant about the joke which is the York league). That said, literally no one on earth who has seen both Wilson and Harrisburg play (and yes, through the chain-link fences in West Lawn and West Reading, I’ve seen both) would argue that Wilson is the better team – and that includes Mrs. Dahms. The process was sub-ideal, but at the end of the day, any D3-6A playoffs that didn’t include Harrisburg would have been illegitimate. They might be the 2nd best team in PA.
I echo LL-Berks Guy’s plaudits for Berks Catholic. Their AD (Bill Hess) runs the program like all ADs should – with the best interest of his players and the sport, itself, in mind.
October 26th, 2020 at 6:10 pm
Shame on State College coaching staff and AD for making 16&17 year olds play in the cold, wind and rain…3 days after they lost in the D6 playoffs…41-0, 8 min left in 4th. What a joke that was. Everyone knew this was going to be a lay down game for Hburg. I’m glad D3, Micah Parsons and Harrisburg feel good about playing the system to a T. A lot of respect lost for HB and SC across the state for this one. Twitter exploding today!
October 26th, 2020 at 5:09 pm
@ LL – Berks Guy
Damn dude, they only thing you forgot in your post was a virtual mic drop at the end!!! 🙂
For those of you who did not see Mr. Parsons tweet:
@MicahhParsons11
Help the harrisburg cougars!! I was once in these kids shoes I don’t know where I would be without playing football for the cougars !Someone give these kids an opportunity! I’m willing to make donation to any school who does!! #letthekidsplay #1k
@hbgcougarcoach
@SportsByBLinder
I suppose the State College Area School District could use some x-tra $$$ to help offset the 14 million plus they just spent on stadium renovation.
October 26th, 2020 at 4:01 pm
@sausmann9 Can you send a link to where you saw that SJP gets students from four different states. In my experience, while it has always had many students from south Jersey, it’s never had more than one or two at a time from Delaware, and I’ve never heard of a student from another state. The 172 zip codes seems a bit high. Do you have a link for that too?
October 26th, 2020 at 3:32 pm
Need to get some visibility on the hypocrisy and cowardice of the D3 committee and select schools….. As well as recognition to those schools that played tough games knowing it would greatly reduce their playoff chances.
LL League – Great job adjusting the schedule to make everyone play as many games that they could. Most notably moving Wilson – Township game and Cocalico – Warwick games earlier in the schedule. This insured a league champion but did cost Township and Cocalico playoff bids. But it was the right thing to do.
Berks Catholic – Much respect for scheduling Harrisburg knowing it would cost you a district bid in 4A.
Manheim Township – You played Lasalle the first game and almost pulled it off. You could have looked for an easier game or not even played and you might have made the playoffs. Good job Coach Evans!
I know there are other schools that played tough games and did not try to play the system. Sorry for missing you but feel free to add to the list.
York – Adams – Bad job avoiding Central York – William Penn game so both teams could make the playoffs. Both of your teams will lose by 40…… but you served your purpose.
Harrisburg – Most importantly this was all a product of the School Board. But after they changed their mind this was all caused by the D3 Committee allowing this charade to occur by allowing them to select their opponents to reach the required power points after every other school had their schedule set.
State College- Shame on you! This game is a farce and is essentially a JV game. There are Tweets confirming communication amongst SC parents saying as much. There is nothing about this game that represents life lessons, fair competition or in the spirit of the game. For those that do not realize – SC was eliminated from D6 playoffs with a loss to Altoona Friday 10/23 and felt it was justified to play another game on Monday 10/26????????
McCaskey – What are you doing scheduling a game against Harrisburg? You have lost 25 straight LL games and get blown out by the worst teams in the LL…… Yet your coach said this game was a “measuring stick”. You didn’t even get a first down in the game!!!!!! What are you measuring???? There were plenty of other schools that you could have been competitive against. The optics have the appearance that a favor was given.
Camp Hill – Cancelled a game against Middletown (they would have lost) that would have knocked them out of AA bracket. This prevented Columbia from making AA playoff. Cocalico could have done the same thing against Warwick and they would have made the 4A playoffs. But they did not!!!
District 3 Committee – Shame on YOU!!!!!
Micah Parsons – Offered money to any school willing to schedule Harrisburg. He tweeted it. Not a rumor. Let that sink in.
Reporters who are not reporting the facts – Shame on YOU!!!!!! – Remember the players at the other schools are kids too.
October 26th, 2020 at 11:17 am
@Sausmann….also ND green pond has a very good team in 3A…..and they would make it if D11 went to state playoffs right after regular season. N. Schuylkill would be the top seed team. Parkland and Freedom would not make it in 6A unless d11 had a playoff. Nazareth is top seed in 6A. Too many good team would not have made state playoffs in D11.
October 26th, 2020 at 11:12 am
@Sausmann…yeah but I agree with d11…..to take one team based on points and Crown them d11 champs just to take part in the modified state playoffs this year was crazy for D11…..letting team fight in out in d11 and allowing more d11 teams play more games was a good decision. Next year obviously they are going back but in this unprecedented season that was the right move. Plus without Philly teams and D11, and teams like Wilson WL not getting in, will this really be the same feeling of state playoffs?
October 26th, 2020 at 10:56 am
@ James Clews – Nobody is saying SCA “has” to schedule better opponents…anybody on here understands the scheduling difficulty they face as 4A+ schools have more to lose than gain playing a AA school. So you want to fancy yourself as a big dog, then jump over the fence to the big dog run. Being 3 or 4A makes non-conference scheduling more palatable, and anybody ducking is forced to contend with SCA some playoff time. Mercy ruling your way through the AA field again wows nobody. And stop with the “playing a team with more state titles” bit. A) They’re a league rival. B) Jazz & Whitey aren’t prowling that sideline anymore. You and the rest of the SCA fan body want respect outside of your little bubble, then play up like Aliquippa or Wood….and get your respect. Or just keep bleating on here about how you’re afforded none.
October 26th, 2020 at 9:21 am
sausmann9…I agree with you. They had a chance to do well in the playoffs. They are a fun team to watch and can score anywhere on the field.
October 26th, 2020 at 9:12 am
@matt – its ashame D11 opted out of playoffs. East Stroudsburg South has a really nice team that could have made some noise in 5A.
October 26th, 2020 at 9:10 am
Kevin X, I think McDevitt may be a year or two away from having a team that gets to the semi finals or beyond. They are very very young and they lost 2 incredible players to transfers to Northeast 2 years ago . Both are seniors this year ,one comitting to Penn State and the other to Old Dominion. This is another issue with open enrollment that teams deal with.
October 26th, 2020 at 9:10 am
I’ll keep this as easy and basic as possible.
This seasons St joes prep team IS NOT a once in a. generation thing for them. For any public school in PA to have this talent; YES but not Prep. You forget not too long ago they had Reid, Runyan, and Swift. All all-Americans and all w/ a football pedigree.
Here is a clip of an article from this week. SJP has 172 different zip codes at their school and four different states are represented. How could anyone with any brains whatsoever think a school like this should be competing against public schools w/ two zip codes ie Bethlehem or Easton???
Prep not the only school w/ a multitude of zip codes but they do have the most. Becahi had 11 at one point last season.
St Joes Prep, “The school, which is located along Girard Avenue in North Philadelphia, draws students from around the region with 172 different zip codes represented by students in ninth to 12th grades.”
October 26th, 2020 at 9:01 am
@ James c, No one is saying So Columbia has to move up, they are saying SC is better consistently than their current competition in their league . All seem to agree they are a great program like Wood and Alliquippa were in their respective leagues . Those two moved up to play better competition instead of beating the same calibre teams that were not their equal. Bottom line to me is SC can stay as they are and continue their dominance or take on new challenges. Either way they are as good as it gets in AA .
October 26th, 2020 at 8:48 am
@Eman and Foleman…..this is exactly why Dist 11 went to just districts this year. Since PIAA moved to a condensed playoff, dist 11 wouldnt be able to even run a playoff and get a district champ. They would have had to take one team from all classes based on points…..leaving out all the rest. This way they play a three week district playoff and then end season by Thanksgiving. Gives 8 teams in AAAAAA, AAAA, AAA, and AA and 4 teams in A and AAAAA. Let’s teams atleast play for a district championship this season. It passed by all schools when the voted to skip state tourney and just play a district playoff.
October 26th, 2020 at 12:02 am
@Foleman
They sure did. Wilson wins 5 of 6, only loss to an undefeated, 5A team, ranked 5th in the state…Hburg gets in, even if they only have 3 wins?? Word on the street is that Wilson gets screwed even with a HB loss..Seems like BS to me…plus undefeated Hershey gets screwed as well….4, 5 and 6A should have had 8 teams qualify
October 25th, 2020 at 6:14 pm
Looks like Harrisburg found a game for Monday-2-2 State College
https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2020/10/harrisburg-football-has-found-its-fourth-opponent-reschedules-commonwealth-foe-state-college-at-11th-hour.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true
Hburgh wins and Wilson gets bounced out with the 2 York teams, with the easiest schedules in 6A making it in.
My God, did District 3 screw this up! No McDevitt, No Wilson, No Berks Catholic!
October 25th, 2020 at 4:30 pm
Why does southern have to schedule better opponents? The problem is district 2 and district 1 and district 12 people believe that there schools are so much better than anyone else. Having mount Carmel alone on there schedule probably brings them in to playing a team with more state titles than anyone anybody else plays in aa. What it is you fans, lol, of southern want is for them to schedule teams they are not going to beat. They played and beat the AAA state champ last year. Scheduled mountoursville and a school from South Carolina. There a god damn AA school, what else do you want. Believe me district 3’s double aa schools are not world beaters. And I got news for you when bishop McDevitt was at its best and recruiting everyone they couldn’t beat one of those mediocre mt. Carmel schools that southern plays
October 25th, 2020 at 2:24 pm
Which team is looking?
October 25th, 2020 at 1:28 pm
Does anyone have an opening this weekend? 10/30?
October 24th, 2020 at 11:10 pm
@ Mcd 65
You can add Germantown Academy to your list of non boundary schools. Heck, you can even maybe make the case for St. Joe Prep and Roman as well. And Springfield Township as far as publics go.
You do realize that there is a very good chance that McDevitt and Southern Columbia will be meeting up in the 2A state semi finals later in November?? On the other hand, the Debbie Downer in me has this whole tournament imploding at some point……
@ Jerry S.
I thought about that possibility a few times myself. Makes a hell of a lot of sense in my book. Play as a club sport if need be.
October 24th, 2020 at 9:53 pm
Why was the Wyomissing/Southern Columbia game canceled a few weeks ago…Covid? That would have been interesting!
October 24th, 2020 at 2:56 pm
Two teams in two weeks have broken losing streaks (Shenandoah Valley and Holy Redeemer).
Speaking of competitiveness why don’t these teams that struggle year in and year out for example Kutztown, Holy Cross, Holy Redeemer, Shenandoah Valley, ColumbiaMontour Tech, and other programs just play eachother in their own conference sort of like that “all American” conference back in the day. Let these programs play eachother in competitive games and build there programs to the point where they can compete in their respective leagues. I’m sure they are other teams I failed to mention too.
October 24th, 2020 at 1:57 pm
D-3 Mike, Very well put, agree 100%. SC has a great program run by a great coach playing sub-par competition. Its a nice feeling knowing that your High school will get ALL the athletes in your community. I laugh when the open enrollment thing pops up as it relates to my old HS McDevitt D-12 which is a AA team. That school resides in the center of LaSalle, Imhotep,Archbishop Wood ,and Northeast all non boundry schools as well as cheltenham and Abington in their immediate backyard. Lots of choices for good athletes to attend. BTW they opened up with 6 -A Wood and just played 4A Pottstown. They typically play tough non league opponents year after year . SC should play up imo.
October 24th, 2020 at 7:39 am
@James C – People do not hate Southern Columbia in this forum. People respect the program — and respect it a lot.
It is mostly a difference of opinion as to what one views as the purpose of amateur athletics and one’s conception of sportsmanship. Granted, SCA has tried to schedule better regular season opponents the past few years, but it still comes down to this: Mercy-ruling 13-14 teams each year is not sporting; it is sub-optimal for the kids involved (on both sides); and it does not prepare SCA’s better players as well for the next level.
Just my opinion. But I actually think it is sad that some of these kids go 45-0 and never get to play in a competitive game. They are missing out on some of the memories and life lessons that many of us garnered from high school football.
October 24th, 2020 at 7:11 am
We’ve got undefeated teams not making the playoffs here in D3 (power rankings still unofficial). That includes Harrisburg, who is probably 1a or 1b in the district at 6A and Bishop McDevitt, who might be the best team in the state in 4A. But that’s 2020 for you.
Best Semi-Final Game: Central Dauphin vs Wilson
Best District Final: Warwick vs Governor Mifflin
6A: Central Dauphin
5A: Warwick
4A: Lampeter
3A: Wyomissing
2A: York Catholic
1A: Steelton
http://district3.gimpsoftware.com/Rankings/Football3Ranking.html#
October 23rd, 2020 at 1:48 pm
@ CoalRng
A partial My Bad with regards to my Quip quip. Technically, i suppose he is correct about forcing a team to move up just because they are too good. I forgot about the asinine transfer requirement/clause that would trigger a forced move-up based on the current success factor rule.
Also, Imhotep and Catherdral Prep were required to “Play-up” this 2-year cycle. Those are the ones that I am aware of. Kind of a moot point for Imhotep as they aren’t playing this season. Wood, ‘Tep and Aliquppa are actually being required to play-up 2, or in the case of Aliquippa, 3 enrollment classifications (in my opinion).
@ mark d
I saw something earlier in the week about Lakeland going all “virtual” and by that all athletic and extra curricular activities were being put on hold until Oct. 30th or something like that. Maybe I read it wrong, or it was reported incorrectly, or something changed since I saw it, but good to see that they are playing tonight, and for hopefully the rest of the season, whatever that may be. Should be a good game.
October 23rd, 2020 at 12:45 pm
What they seem to think is southern should play up in class as far as they can until they r not good anymore. Yes that’s a wise decision. That’s what I would do.
October 23rd, 2020 at 11:29 am
@ Kevin X – Not sure I follow what you are saying regarding the Quips. They voluntarily played up to AA so as to maintain their long term rivalries as the student body of Aliquippa decreased. Based on the new PIAA guidelines, success points + transfers, Aliquippa, like Farrell was forced to move up.
I believe James C was responding to Foleman’s statement about Southern remaining in AA. Apparently Foleman believes there should be rules for all schools except Southern, and then rules for Southern. Southern should move up ‘just because they are good’. Southern obviously did not meet the transfer minimums to require a move to AAA. Maybe Lombardi can enact a Southern rule and just push them up a couple classes? It’s worth a shot, shoot the PIAA an email and let them know your thoughts.
I believe Wood also voluntarily played up to AAAAA and was forced to AAAAAA due to the new rules. Are those the only 3 schools that bumped up this past cycle due to the new rules?
October 23rd, 2020 at 11:21 am
@ Kevin x Lakeland is hosting Dunmore tonight. it the times game of the week i heard nothing about Lakeland suspending anything ?
October 23rd, 2020 at 10:42 am
@ James C the same statement you make about Southern “People hate….) Can likely be said to Prep. I believe people stopped just playing for their district when they realized there is something better that what for it, also has a better academic offering than their district as well. Not to mention the other offerings most Catholic schools have to groom young boys into better young men (service opportunities, etc). No one lives in a vacuum anymore. You can argue for competitive balance in the PIAA and hate the move up rule. It’s the same logic people use to want to force SJP out of the PIAA.
@Foleman S Philly guy myself.. I remember those Frankford Teams. I was at BOK being eliminated from the playoffs by Frankford.
October 23rd, 2020 at 10:22 am
@ James C
Response to your last sentence: Allquippa. Now you have.
Response to your second to last sentence: No they don’t and I would never ever have, or want, my old high school (a mid size Pennsylvania public boundary school) to be Southern Columbia.
October 23rd, 2020 at 8:47 am
@Foleman. That was a clear, concise history of the Philadelphia situation. Short and sweet. And very true! Well said.
October 23rd, 2020 at 12:01 am
You people r a joke on here. Southern didn’t move up because they didn’t have to. With the rules set in place they didn’t have to. St. Joes prep can’t be and shouldn’t be compared to any public school and no public school should even play them. The problem today is to many parents control three kids sport lives. What happened to playing for the district you lived in and if you didn’t play there you went to the local catholic school. People hate southern on here because they want there school to be southern and there not. Never heard of forcing someone to move up because there to good against teams of equal size
October 22nd, 2020 at 8:56 pm
@ mcd 65
The Twitterverse is in full campaign mode trying to get Harrisburg a game.
A trip out to Wexford this weekend would be awesome. Yet Pittsburgh Central Catholic appeared to available last weekend, but somehow Harrisburg ended up playing a winless and overmatched McCaskey team.
My solution: Have Wilson W-L move their game this weekend against Hempfield to sometime in November, and pit H-Burg and WWL in basically a 6A D3 play-in game. Settle this on the field, not by computer/power rankings.
Second solution: Have SJ Prep cancel their game against what appears to be an overmatched, second year squad from Ohio (save them a trip), and hook up with The Prep.
October 22nd, 2020 at 6:30 pm
If Harrisburg cant find a game it will be a loss for D-3 for sure. It sure seems that there were many teams looking for games . Can this site provide some options for them ? I understand North Allegheny is open this week. Make a call !!!!
October 22nd, 2020 at 3:54 pm
Kevin X, if Harrisburg can’t find a game this Friday or Saturday, they are out of the District 3 playoffs and it looks like they won’t find one. They tried to pick a game up with LaSalle but it didn’t work out, so it looks like Central Dauphin, (Central York, William Penn-2 schools that never do squat in the playoffs) will get in along with Wilson. Harrisburg gets shut out and I believe they are the best team in District 3 6A Berks Catholic wont make it in 4A and they are easily 1 out of the top 4 teams, ELCO could make it in if they win on Friday, don’t remember them doing anything in football , 5A is really interesting, a couple of Undefeated teams-Hershey and Mechanicsburg might not make it in the top 4 yet 1 loss Waynesboro could make it in.
October 22nd, 2020 at 3:12 pm
Phillyboy, as someone who grew up in the NE and anyone on this board that grew up in Philly 30-40-50+ years ago remembers how good the Catholic and Public schools were across the board in football. Frankford HS and Central had some powerhouse teams on the Public Side, the Catholic School talent base was spread out. I remember Cardinal O’Hara snapping CB West 55 game win streak at War memorial in 1989.Then things started changing in the Late 80’s and 90’s when many long time NE Families starting moving to the Suburbs and S. Jersey draining the talent pool in football, Many schools closed, Philly got a lot poorer. The NE where many grew up is unrecognizable today. Add in the Charter schools, where much of the Public School football talent seems to wind up at one school and you can see why the Philadelphia football talent pool winds up at basically a handful of schools. Judge and Ryan are down to about 700 kids, they used to have 700 in a class! Prep and LaSalle were always the top 2 schools academically in the Catholic League, I can’t blame anyone in Philly…..or S. Jersey for wanting to send their kids there.
October 22nd, 2020 at 2:01 pm
Here are the D3 standings as of today: So in answer to your question, yes…even if they play a poor team they would probably knock Wilson out of the playoffs…..Wilson plays Hempfield (3-2) this week
AAAAAA School W L T Rating TWP OWP TWPW OWPW TWPL OWPL
1 Central Dauphin 4- 0- 0 0.750893 1.000000 0.446429 5.00 7.50 0.00 9.30
2 Central York 5- 0- 0 0.728085 1.000000 0.395745 5.75 9.30 0.00 14.20
3 William Penn 5- 0- 0 0.728085 1.000000 0.395745 5.85 9.30 0.00 14.20
4 Wilson (3) 4- 1- 0 0.698456 0.854701 0.507491 5.00 13.55 0.85 13.15
16 Harrisburg 3- 0- 0 0.812752 1.000000 0.583893 3.55 8.70 0.00 6.20
October 22nd, 2020 at 8:48 am
@ Neutral Observer
Looking like D2 3A is working itself out, in an unfortunate way. Lakeland football on hold for a few weeks, or season done?? Lake Lehman beat Wyoming Area, they have a few losses now. Prep took care of Western Wayne fairly handily, so I’d take WA and WA out of the picture. Now looks like Lakeland will be out of the conversation as well. Stinks that Lakeland and Prep could’t meet up like L-L and WA did earlier.
@ Any D3 folks (or anyone else)
You guys have any thoughts on the D3 6A playoffs and Harrisburg’s situation?? It may change by the time this gets posted, but they are frantically looking for a 4th game by Monday to qualify for the D3 6A playoffs. Do they deserve a 4th game in a short window just to qualify?? Does it matter who that game may be against?? Will it push another team out who may be just as deserving (or maybe more) of a playoff spot?? Then again, my option is they and CD are the two best 6A teams in D3 (and the state for that matter) and it would be a deserving D3 championship game.
October 22nd, 2020 at 8:27 am
WOW! The hits keep on coming due to Covid! The Lakeland School District voted to move to virtual learning and suspend all athletics after October 28th. This would mean the No. 3 ranked Chiefs won’t be able to play in the post-season.
October 21st, 2020 at 9:37 pm
I can understand Sausmann’s sentiments regarding SJP, especially since his beloved D11 has to face them in the first round of states every year. Do all the most talented players have to go to that one program? The stand out WR going to Ohio State actually started at LaSalle — the gravitational pull to go to the Prep is too strong to resist apparently. Ryan, Judge, and Roman have had strong programs for decades, be nice if the talent could be spread around a bit. Notwithstanding Prep’s ascendancy, totally agree with FrankG, there really aren’t any elite public programs anymore in SE PA. The PCL’s entry into the PIAA probably exacerbated this. For a big public school to go toe to toe with Super Prep 25 caliber teams, it almost requires Georgia or Texas-like community support. As a dyed-in-the-wool Northerner, I wish that were the case, it is what it is. The WPIAL is the closest thing we have to that.
The GEICO state champion bowl series is something Prep perhaps should consider. Playing St. Thomas Aquinas or some team like that could be their chance at a national title (#1 ranking).
October 21st, 2020 at 6:30 pm
Congratulations to Shenandoah Valley on their win. Kids hung in and got a big win for the school and community
October 21st, 2020 at 3:18 pm
@Paul from Philly – those of us that follow HS football are well aware how good SJP is and knew they were loaded this year, they have a once in a generation senior class with several kids who will likely be playing on Sundays in the future, its no secret they are at least 3-4 TD’s better than any other school in the state, public or private.
I took the 2 hour drive to Altoona to watch SJP-PCC in the state semi-finals last year and was treated to a fantastic game, didn’t matter that it was between 2 private schools, if you’re a high school football fan there’s no way you couldn’t appreciate that game, and I don’t particularly like either team, as a Woodland Hills guy we don’t like PCC, and neither does most of the rest of the WPIAL, but that was a great game.
@Foleman – totally agree it was a joke the PIAA didn’t force So Columbia to move up, they forced Aliquippa up to 4A after they had already been playing up voluntarily for decades, and guess what So Columbia fans, they are 6-0 competing against schools 3x their size and will likely face TJ in the WPIAL 4a finals between 2 of the most storied programs in the WPIAL, if not the state. I’m just hoping the WPIAL allows some neutral fans like myself to attend what would be a classic matchup.
@Frank G – agree with everything you stated, well put.
October 21st, 2020 at 1:03 pm
@Frank. Well said!!
October 21st, 2020 at 9:40 am
@Frank G I always like you posts man. It’s sad how people would wish ill will to the children playing and relying on playing football this season at SJP. What I’d like to know is why all the hatred of SJP now. They ALWAYS has players from NJ because hey ALWAYS drew students from NJ. Frank G pointed out the PIAA new this when they allowed them. It was pubic knowledge. People only whine about it now because they have been consistently winning. Pine Richland showed if you build a strong program you can beat them. LaSalle did the same. We can’t miss what @ Foleman just posted about S Columbia, but that has always drawn crickets. I want people to stop looking at SJP is if its not “fair” they are in the PIAA. It is. If you go off the meaning of the word. Fair in accordance with the rules or standards; legitimate. or without cheating or trying to achieve unjust advantage. You can just as many talented football players who reject the prep because they want to beat them as you can find players who want to be a part of it. Marvin Harrison wasn’t recruited to SJP. We all know the Kyle McCords of the world don’t fall at any HS in this area often. I would argue the LB Carter at LaSalle is just as impactful as Trotter, but since he is not from NJ well who cares right. One could argue SJP is better representative of “community” than any other school in the area because they have a student body comprised of young men coming from more zip codes than any other. Student body.. not just football.
October 21st, 2020 at 9:11 am
@ Foleman
Two honorable mentions I would add to your post, is how Aliquippa, a “A” school by male enrollment this cycle, is now playing up at the “4A” level. Second, is that Imhotep, a “3A” via current male enrollment figure this cycle, without even winning a championship the past two years, is now required to play up at “5A.” I still trying to wrap my head around that logic.
October 20th, 2020 at 8:19 pm
The biggest joke in PIAA history was allowing S. Columbia to stay in AA after outscoring their playoff opponents in 2019 by a score of 352-56 which included a 74-7 blowout in the finale, yet they made several of the private schools move up in class. I can’t imagine the pushback if St Joe Prep beat a team by 67 points in the State Championship
Southern Columbia football:
PIAA State Champions AA 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015 Add in another one for 2020
PIAA State Champions A 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 1994
@FrankG – I’ll be the first to say I am glad this season was derailed for the one very specific reason; not seeing a recruited-up NJ/PA all=star team unnecessarily beat up on good, hard working public school/community teams. They have no business being part of the PIAA or our playoffs. Easy as that!
October 20th, 2020 at 2:22 pm
@sausmann9 Of course if the season goes ahead there’s a good chance SJP wins the 6A championship again. I’m sure you didn’t mean to suggest that the SJP players and the players on other non-public teams are not hard-working, that a non-public team can’t be a community, though a different kind of community, team, or that the playoffs belong to public schools (“our playoffs”).
I can see how some schools’ ability (because of their reputations and locations) to draw students from out of state could seem to many as an advantage that should disqualify them from participation in state playoffs. But–correct me if I’m wrong– my understanding is that 1) the fact that some PCL schools, especially SJP, had many students from Jersey was well-known when the PIAA agreed to PCL schools competing in the PIAA playoffs and 2) the PIAA was at least as eager as the PCL for the PCL to join the PIAA.
So the PIAA has a choice. They can go the Ohio route and not distinguish between private and public (what the PIAA does now), or they can go the Jersey route and set up separate public and non-public classifications. Whether the latter has been good for high school football, especially public high school teams, is an interesting question.
I think it’s a perfectly legitimate position to argue that schools that don’t have borders should not be competing in the PIAA playoffs against schools that do have borders (that they actually enforce). But I think all the focus on where SJP’s players come from is often used as a way of not dealing with or even recognizing the decline (in the amount of public interest / attendance (pre-Covid), the number of kids playing, the quality of the football, etc.) in high school football across the whole state. Do people really think that the decline in the Lehigh Valley or in the WPIAL is because of SJP having players from Jersey?
October 20th, 2020 at 1:38 pm
@sausamann
, If you have an issue with SJP I get that since they are a prep school that recruits a large area. However if you you are referring to all catholic schools I have a real problem with that. Most catholic schools draw players from the areas that have feeder catholic grade schools in their general area.The only schools that go outside that plan for the most part are SJP,Wood,and Lasalle. The other area catholic schools are every bit as hardworking as those public schools you refere to. They have every right to be a part of the PIAA and “our playoffs” as the public schools,whether you like it or not.
October 20th, 2020 at 1:35 pm
I can’t believe it took almost 2 months for the first Public vs Private comment!!! :O I really thought we could make it to the end!!
October 20th, 2020 at 9:42 am
@FrankG – I’ll be the first to say I am glad this season was derailed for the one very specific reason; not seeing a recruited-up NJ/PA all=star team unnecessarily beat up on good, hard working public school/community teams. They have no business being part of the PIAA or our playoffs. Easy as that!
October 19th, 2020 at 6:09 pm
@Paul There very well could be some posters on here who think one good thing about the virus is that it came the year a particularly good SJP team might have gone 15-0.
October 19th, 2020 at 11:02 am
It’s a shame about this season. St. Joe Prep probably has their best team ever with the roster they have this year and no one is gonna know about it. 2021 can’t come fast enough!!
October 17th, 2020 at 11:35 am
Jeff H. – I agree with everything you said about the WPIAL.
October 16th, 2020 at 7:06 pm
How do you rid of the aids when coming onto site?
October 16th, 2020 at 1:54 pm
@NWPA – with the revamped brackets the WPIAL teams in 1A-5A are not entering the state tournament until the semi-finals, so Oil City would have to win 2 games before they would play TJ, assuming of course we can get through the tournament. Aliquippa is having a great year in 4A, and looks like they are on a collision course with TJ in the WPIAL finals, amazing for a school with 117 boys competing against and beating up on schools 3x their size.
As for the rest of the WPIAL it’s the usual suspects, Clairton in 1A, Central Valley in 3A, and Pine Richland in 5A, I don’t think anyone is beating PR this year, it’s a shame their game against Gateway was postponed 3 weeks ago due to Covid but expect those 2 to meet in the WPIAL title game. 6A is down considerably in the WPIAL this year, NA is overrated and I would expect Central Dauphin to beat them in the semi-finals if we get that far, and that’s assuming they win the WPIAL which is no sure thing as Mt Lebo played them tough few weeks ago and only lost by a field goal, and their game against Seneca Valley was cancelled earlier this year. That’s also assuming D3 does not allow Harrisburg to participate in their district playoffs, which would be a shame because they are one of the top 5 teams in the state this year in my opinion.
October 15th, 2020 at 5:51 pm
@sausmann9 I agree that every game played is a plus and I’m hoping we can make it though state playoffs, but if forced to bet I’d say the odds now are about 3/1.
October 15th, 2020 at 11:07 am
word is Landsdale Catholic and Malvern Prep picked up games against Salesium (sp?) School down in Deleware. Good deal, keep the season moving however we can!!!
October 14th, 2020 at 1:32 pm
Thank you, Kevin X!
October 14th, 2020 at 1:10 pm
@ Dave M
It’s on the LaSalle web site, under their football schedule. Site changed to O’Hara. Kind of makes sense, them, and I believe B-P, are the only two PCL schools that have their own field. Keep it on a PCL school’s grounds and field. Less fans, less revenue to pay Bensalem for stadium use.
October 14th, 2020 at 1:01 pm
@ Foleman
PJPII now hosting Conwell-Egan who had their game cancel against CRN due to you know what. Keep it somewhat local and in the Catholic family.
@ Joneses
Believe Wood will get the better of LaSalle, but really a toss-up.
Also, I believe that article you referenced has to do with districts and their playoffs. Believe it is still 4 games needed to be played to be eligible for the state playoffs. Saw an article that Harrisburg is frantically looking for games to have 4 played by Oct. 26th, so to be eligible for the playoffs. I am tho really taking stabs in the dark with this, as these things constantly in flux.
Anybody have a link to the latest and greatest football playoff brackets, revised with D8 and D11 opting out, and D12/PCL opting in?? Really not seeing how anyone in the PCL other than LaSalle can qualify for states anyway.
October 14th, 2020 at 1:32 pm
Thank you, Frank!
October 14th, 2020 at 12:56 pm
@David
Here’s one place the change in location is noted: https://www.lschs.org/about-la-salle/latest-news/calendar?cal_date=2020-10-01
October 14th, 2020 at 12:45 pm
Interesting playoff situation brewing in 3A for District 2. You basically have five teams with legitimate arguments for playoff consideration (in no particular order): Lake-Lehman, Wyoming Area, Lakeland, Scranton Prep, and Western Wayne.
The WVC schools have been playing a full season so there is a lot more data on them. Lake-Lehman has been running through their schedule, but they have not played Williamsport or Crestwood – both of whom could probably beat L-L. Wyoming Area has played those 2 and lost both. L-L and WA play next week which should be huge. L-L also plays Crestwood on 10/30.
In the LFC, Lakeland does not play either Prep or WW, but Prep beat WW last week. Lakeland beat 6A Wilkes-Barre Area last night and plays 2A Riverside and 2A Dunmore. Prep and WW both play 4A Valley View, 4A West Scranton, and 4A Honesdale.
If D2 wants to have a D2 playoff, they have one week to do it (11/6), then the D2 rep plays D3. I have not seen any direction from D2 as to how they would pick which 2 teams get into that D2 champ game. How do you compare WVC’s 7/8 games of playoff points to LFC’s 3/4 games?
My gut tells me that Lake-Lehman and Prep are the 2 best teams, with L-L winning the D2 champ game, but who knows if either of those teams will even make the D2 championship.
October 14th, 2020 at 12:49 pm
Paul. Where did you see that?
October 14th, 2020 at 12:20 pm
La Salle Prep game moved to O’Hara.
October 14th, 2020 at 9:38 am
@Paul from Philly, Yeah it’s basically the PCL Championship game for the right to states. I do not see either team loosing to Wood or Roman.
October 14th, 2020 at 9:13 am
Mount Carmel AD Gregory Sacavage just issued press release making it official that Mount Carmel has forfeited the remainder of its football season as the investigation into the alleged hazing situation. Central Columbia should call Pope John Paul in Royersford for a game this weekend as the Phoenixville School Board voted to give all fall sports the go ahead except FOOTBALL!
October 13th, 2020 at 1:58 pm
La Salle and Prep going at it this weekend in Bensalem. No stopping at the Beef and Ale House but this should be a good game!!
October 13th, 2020 at 1:30 pm
Haven’t posted for awhile just a few thoughts from the barren north. Erie Cathedral looks to have a fairly easy push to the final four in 5A. They have Holidaysburgh in the first round but then it’s like guaranteed to be Wyoming Valley West in the quarters because Imhotep or Wood isn’t playing. They also might not have another game until Holidaysburgh because Mcdowell was shut down for 2 weeks. I’m sure they want another crack after their first performance. Mcdowell is definitely a good team this year but not sure they will get by State College. Also in 4A, Oil City is pretty good and they should make it to the quarter finals where they obviously loose to TJ. Harborcreek isn’t top 10 don’t believe the hype, they will loose to Oil City they have a beyond soft schedule.
October 12th, 2020 at 12:18 pm
As far as Western Wayne goes they were not trying to duck Delaware Valley they had an issue with their schedule in general and their big point was they were the only 3 A school playing a 6 a school i do believe that the rest of their schedule was Delaware Valley pulse 4 other 4A schools and Scranton prep that a lot asking them to compete for a play off spot when other 3a schools play one of 2 larger schools
October 12th, 2020 at 10:28 am
@ Blakely sorry have to go with neutral on this one. Valley has a very young team and they knew that they were no match for Delaware Valley to open the season so they ducked them straight and simple, i sure all the politics that were being played factored in to iT we all know when adults worry about their own agendas kids suffer believe if you ASKED the kids should they play is would have been YES
October 9th, 2020 at 9:54 am
@Kevin I just found the info because I think a few schools might be in the same boat. “The PIAA also passed a motion presented by District 1 (suburban Philadelphia) that lets districts decide whether to take a team to its playoffs, no matter how many games it plays. The new PIAA rule would let District 12 (Catholic and Public Leagues) decide if it wants to have a playoff for teams like St. Joseph’s, regardless of the number of games played.I found that here https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-football/2020/09/23/PIAA-approves-football-championships-brackets/stories/202009230171. You’re probably right about the McDevitt game due to the timing.
October 9th, 2020 at 6:35 am
Regarding MCA/SCA. I understand more now. The heartland conference is not penalizing ANY teams or awarding a forfeit to any teams when a team chooses or finds itself incapable of playing a game. These are the rules set forth by the HAC, interestingly enough when MCA couldn’t play week 1, they would not let SCA pick up a scrimmage with a NTL team because the NTL is out of conference. A week later they let MCA pick up Williams Valley.
October 8th, 2020 at 6:31 pm
@ Joneses
I’m guessing that LaSalle/McDevitt game Saturday is a scrimmage. Assuming it even does take place with LaSalle playing Friday night, as that was another one of these last minute games. Also, I don’t think the Archdiocesan schools would have the required number of PIAA practice dates in place to play an official game this weekend, otherwise guessing everyone else in the PCL would be playing as well.
I heard/saw that teams need to have played 4 games to be eligible for the state playoffs.
October 8th, 2020 at 6:18 pm
The southern/mca game showed on Monday as a ff win for southern. It showed on their schedule here and then by Tuesday it was gone and the game wasn’t even listed as to be played. I’m not sure how that can’t be a ff win but maybe someone else knows more. I mean they both agreed to play it Tuesday and it’s at mca so if they back out it should be a ff now.
October 8th, 2020 at 3:39 pm
Wow. LaSalle has a game Friday vs Downingtown East and Saturday vs McDevitt. Talk about aggressive. It’s not a JV game either. I am hearing it’s to get players more opportunity. That’s aggressive, but I trust it’s well thought out. @Kevin X, I would think LaSalle and Prep would seeking to play in the states. I thought the rule PIAA put in for this year pretty much ensures qualification if a team plays a couple of games.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:21 pm
All the info I have heard regarding SCA/MCA – The game is a forfeit. MCA coach got board approval to cancel the game. As far as I know SCA was not on board with the cancellation. How can that NOT be a forfeit? The only way I can see the game being made up is if by chance both MCA and SCA had future opponents who, due to covid, could not play on the same week and therefore both had open schedules.
October 8th, 2020 at 9:47 am
@ mcd 65
Why isn’t Wood playing Roman next weekend?? LaSalle and SJP are meeting up, I would figure the 4 6A PCL teams would play each other over the final three weekends in October. Then again, I thought I saw that SJP is playing another out of state team (Ohio??) later this month.
Do you know if these PCL teams are planning on participating in the PIAA state playoffs?? The revised PIAA abbreviated playoff bracket had them (D12) re-inserted (and D11 removed) after the PCL/Archdiocese opted back in to playing football. Some of the schedules have games scheduled into November, especially Carroll, who has a full schedule right up until Thanksgiving. Also, will they (other than LaSalle and SJP) have enough required games played to even qualify for states??
So confused………
October 7th, 2020 at 5:40 pm
St Joe Prep /National Christian Academy Saturday night in Maryland. OMG National Christian is huge !! LaSalle /Downingtown East should be a good one. Here is a strange matchup due to scheduling issues- next Friday 10/16 Archbishop Wood 6A vs Bishop McDevitt 2A.
October 6th, 2020 at 7:14 pm
RE: SCA and Mount Carmel Tuesday night game…read it was called off due to lack of time to recover from Thursday and Friday nights’ games respectively for Southern and Mount Carmel. In other words, not enough time to recover from the previous game. I agree whole heartedly…I think it was incredulous to ask H.S. kids to play games less than three games after a previous game. Everyone is so concerned about COVID-19, but then they schedule a game…a really intense game…so ridiculously close to one another. It should never have been scheduled. Who are these people that are making these decisions????
We should all be thankful the game was postponed/cancelled/whatever…for the kids’ sake. I am sure it was the head coaches who made the decision. NO, I do not think it is a forfeit…it is just a cancellation or a postponement. The powers to be who originally scheduled this game should be fired. I am sure the coaches had nothing to do with it. These coaches think about the kids first…not games.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:32 am
Brian, I am hearing its not a forfeit win for Southern…
October 5th, 2020 at 9:24 pm
At Nolan, it shows as a 2-0 win for southern so I’m guessing mca ff the game.
October 3rd, 2020 at 4:51 pm
Robert, I am checking to see. I’ve seen a different posts on social media.
October 3rd, 2020 at 3:40 pm
Did Mt. Carmel forfeit Tuesday night’s game?
September 30th, 2020 at 9:16 pm
So Twin Valley is now the latest program to suspend football after someone on the team coughed.
Entering flu season folks, expect these type of announcements to start coming fast and furious.
September 30th, 2020 at 11:33 am
@ Matt
Beat me to the punch!! I just saw that too. Good for them!! I hope other districts do the same, especially down here in District 1. Joke playing only 4 or 5 regular season games (assuming they even get them all in) and then trying to ram thru an abbreviated state playoff, especially when you never know when a team is going to have to cancel at the last minute over some Covid issue, real or perceived. Maybe D11 and D1 can get together on a regional playoff, especially for the smaller schools. Now that the PCL is back in the mix, and possible I suppose SJP would be/could be eligible for a the 6A playoffs, what 6A team really has a chance?? Can probably say the same thing for 2A. Could be a gift for the WPIAL to go back to their old traditional playoffs, which I would suggest combining 5A and 6A which would create a hell of a bracket.
September 30th, 2020 at 10:20 am
Looks like D11 voted 20-0 in favor off opting out of PIAA playoffs and just doing a d11 playoff. Makes sense since PiAA state rounds would start beginning of Nov and many teams reg season plays up until then. They would have had to just take top seed based on points if they did PIAA state playoffs. No district playoffs. So only one team in each class would get a postseason. This way they play a three week district playoff and end around Thanksgiving.
September 29th, 2020 at 8:55 pm
9/29/20 Report from Press Enterprise: Berwick Area School District classes — and all extra-curriculars — abruptly ended Tuesday afternoon after school officials said they learned of a fifth COVID-19 case in the schools. Friday’s football game against Wyoming Valley West — the first official home game of the season — was canceled. The district will try to reschedule, but it might not be possible.
September 21st, 2020 at 1:59 pm
@ Jack Mac – yes ACC just hired McGory last season. Prior to that Bob Petibone coached ACC for like two or three seasons right after Jon Cupples retired. Before Cupples it was Donnie Roberts and Harold Faircloth. This is McGory’s second season. He has a pretty nice resume to bring into ACC. Plus he is one of the three ACC quarterbacks that won a title at ACC so he’s homegrown for sure.
September 21st, 2020 at 9:09 am
D3 Mike, I predicted a Mifflin blowout, This might be Mifflin’s best team and Wilson lost a ton on both sides of the ball. Plus never underestimate the power of emotion, many of the Mifflin players and fans thought that Wilson ran up the score last year. Plus the disparaging comments from the Wilson faithful about the best player in the area last year didn’t help. I can’t remember a game where WIlson got beat up physically like that. The West Catholic transfer looks like a player and will make Mifflin even stronger. By the way, where is that guy from last year that said Wilson had 3 running backs as good as Singleton? They will have to deal with him next year too.
September 21st, 2020 at 7:01 am
Jack Mac….I am a co-owner of D11Sports.com….I am glad you enjoyed the game…We have a game live Friday & Saturday night!
September 20th, 2020 at 10:05 pm
@Sausmann9 I watched the ACC game I thought they were impressive as well. Did they get a new coach? Or has this guy been there for a while? I saw a game of theirs a few years ago and they were terribly awful. Used to live in the valley and followed them closely in the 90s. This D11Sports broadcasting games is great for me to catch up on the valley.
September 20th, 2020 at 10:42 am
Is there another chat room? I was told last year by multiple Wilson West Lawn stans that none of the rushing yards counted for future 3-time, all-state RB Nick Singleton since Governor Mifflin plays “The Little Sisters of the Poor” (as if anyone in Lancaster-Lebanon-1 has done anything but go 0-9 outside of District 3/6 over the past thirty years) and that the Bulldogs had RBs who were just as good? After 180 yards, 4 TDs, and Mifflin demolishing Wilson 48-7 on Friday, I would love to continue that conversation.
It’s early, but the winner of Governor Mifflin and Warwick out of D3 looks like the favorite to get drubbed by the WPIAL champ in 5A in the state semi-finals (assuming they keep the brackets).
Kevin, not sure. Under normal circumstances, taking only 4 teams would hurt schools like McDevitt and Berks Catholic because their brutal schedules sometimes drop them out of the top 4. Don’t think it will matter this year. Only two non-top 4 teams have won a district-3 title in the past decade, BTW, and only 1 since we went to 6 classes; I think that was their reasoning for taking only 4.
September 19th, 2020 at 10:16 pm
wow, ACC (allentown central catholic) looked really good last night against Whitehall. (both D11 ACC 4A and Whitehall 5A). ACC a team to keep an eye on from here on out!
September 15th, 2020 at 8:40 am
Just saw that the Warwick/Conestoga Valley game that was originally schedule for 9/25 is back on. Just a day later, on Saturday the 26th to allow CV to get the PIAA required practices in before a game.
So that make my scheduling easier, we’ll match-up LaSalle vs. Governor Mifflin and Berks Catholic vs. Wilson Area on September 25th. We’ll then get LaSalle and Berks Catholic together on October 9th/10th. You’re welcome, now let’s play!!!
BTW, to you D3 folks, what’s the deal with only having 4 playoff participants in classes 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A?? They are only taking 4 of 29 teams in 5A?? Has the PIAA come up with a revised (abbreviated??) or updated state football playoff format?? I’ve been beating the drum about having too many teams in the football post season, but only 4 of 29 is going to the opposite extreme.
September 14th, 2020 at 8:37 am
LaSalle, Warwick, Governor Mifflin, Berks Catholic and Wilson Area (D11) all appear to have an open date next weekend (September 25/26). Some potentially juicy match-ups amongst that group. Gov. Miff and Berks Cath. guessing not a possibility as they are already scheduled to play later in the season. Hopefully something can get worked out between 4 of 5 of those schools, if not all 5 somehow/someway. Not a year to leave open dates on the table.
September 14th, 2020 at 6:13 am
Schools in coal region play this past weekend,schools all over the state playing next weekend. But of course schools in district one and Philly archdiocese cancel the season. Nonsense
September 13th, 2020 at 12:35 pm
@Blakely Bear
You’re right; I can’t think of another time when Valley View went to such extremes to duck a team. Other than Western Wayne avoiding DV earlier this year, I can’t even think of any other team going to these lengths either.
THAT is why the LIAA is coming down so hard on VV…so that this type of behavior does NOT become more common.
The LIAA is made up of other school admins/ADs/coaches who ALSO might have to cancel games in 2020 bc of COVID. Apparently, they think the VV/DV situation is distinguishable from that and worthy of sanctions. Otherwise, they’re setting a dangerous precedent for themselves.
People would be less offended if VV had tried to make the argument that it is just not safe to have a game on 10/2. No one is going to criticize VV for legit safety/COVID concerns.
But VV didn’t make that argument. VV just said that they won’t be in shape for state-ranked DV 3 weeks from now. But then, just 7 days later, Valley View WILL be in shape for a Honesdale team that won 2 games in 2019.
KevinX and C.Johnson are correct. If VV were projected to win their 10/2 game, then this would not even be an issue. You even noted that yourself — the issue is the size of DV’s roster.
Until C.Johnson posted it, I did not realize how much DV (10-2) has owned Valley View (2-10). Circumstantial evidence because every year is different, but still very interesting.
As for an admin doing what is best for his students, I think it’s just a difference in philosophies. DV goes out of their way to schedule tough opponents to challenge their kids (i.e. going to Florida every year, LaSalle in 2020), while 4A Valley View schedules 2A Lakeland, 3A Western Wayne and 3A Scranton Prep to build their kids’ self-confidence.
Finally, obviously all of this nonsense is coming from the adults in charge. I have no doubt that the VV kids would love the challenge of playing DV on 10/2. It’s too bad they won’t be given that opportunity.
September 13th, 2020 at 1:25 am
@ blakeley bear
https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/high-school-football-player-tests-positive-for-covid-19/523-e9dfd736-04af-4576-ba4c-6df2bfaea4d6
this article and video says they have been practicing during the summer. a group of 10 had to isolate due to exposure. “while rest of the team continued working out as normal”
So was it really a “shutdown” if only a group of 10 couldn’t participate?
I agree with Kevin X, if they were opening with Honesdale – Valley View wouldn’t be worried about their kids being in “football shape”.
Everyone in the country has had to adjust to the restrictions this summer. No teams have been working out as normal. No 7on7s no football camps. everyone is in the same boat. And WNEP said Valley View was holding workouts anyway. So this complaining about not being in “football shape”, give me a break. If you have a serious high school athlete, they are in shape. They didn’t spend all summer eating doritos and playing video games. They were running and doing stuff on their own. Cause if they were gonna have any chance at having a season – they would be making the most of it.
And who has 80-90 kids on their roster? NEPAfootball shared team photos. Delval and Dallas both have like 50 kids in their photo. Wilkes Barre has 40. Did IMG academy open up a scranton campus? so would be nice if you got your facts straight.
And valley view has no problem with classifications when they put AA lakeland on the schedule.
Valley view ducked DV in 2018 and 2019. They didn’t play dv.
According to maxpreps, Valley view is 2 and 10 against DV since 2004. And as of now they are 2 and 11 with this forfeit.
September 12th, 2020 at 12:53 pm
So if Valley View was scheduled to play the likes of Mid Valley, Honesdale or the aforementioned Western Wayne that first weekend in October, they would have cancelled that game as well??
I see that D3’s Conestoga Valley is the latest team to cancel an upcoming game, Sept. 25th against Warwick. Isn’t Warwick a top 10, even a top 5, 5A team in the state?? Looks like another D3 opponent LaSalle can pick up, as they have Manheim Township next week.
September 11th, 2020 at 9:42 pm
Neutral Observer
Would be nice if you get your facts straight. VV has had almost no conditioning all summer. Had to shut down twice to be safe. They would need a few weeks of conditioning before even putting the equipment on. The issue isn’t 3 weeks getting ready to play a game, it’s getting in football shape, not to mention playing a roster of 80-90 kids. If you read the superintendent’s statement when they originally shut down, you would have been impressed with how the district put the health of, not only the kids, but the community at large, ahead of sports. And his statement the day after the Lackawanna meeting on the sanctions, put in no uncertain terms, that he felt the possible playoff sanctions are unfair. The forfeit itself isn’t the issue.
And ducking DV? Can you remember VV ducking any team? Don’t equate this with Western Wayne not wanting to play a team 3 classes up, which they shouldn’t have to under any conditions. This is an administrator doing what he was hired to do, putting the well-being of students under his charge first.
September 11th, 2020 at 2:47 pm
Does District 1 have any upcoming scrimmages?
September 11th, 2020 at 1:48 pm
@ Kevin X
I agree with you on the Valley View situation. 3 weeks is plenty of time to prep for a game. This looks like VV is just trying to avoid a probable loss to DV.
Apparently, the LIAA also agrees with us because in the initial Scranton Times story, it mentioned how the LIAA was going to recommend to District 2 that it lay sanctions against Valley View (i.e. playoff eligibility). Like Ex-Crusader mentioned below, the LIAA is also pushing for VV to take a forfeit instead of just a cancellation.
https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/sports/high-school/valley-view-says-it-wont-play-delaware-valley-in-football-week-1/article_3e3090a6-a065-585c-8001-79ac91620c9e.html
Weirdly, VV is the second LIAA team this season to try to avoid DV this year. When the original pre-COVID 2020 schedules game out, 3A Western Wayne was all upset about having to play 6A Delaware Valley. If I remember correctly, WW was also claiming safety issues due to the difference in classification. WW eventually scheduled Lower Moreland and DV replaced WW with (I think) Downingtown West.
September 11th, 2020 at 11:09 am
Kutztown just cancelled its opener against Twin Valley citing low roster numbers-18 kids total and this includes a co-op with Brandywine HS. It’s time for Kutztown to drop football, Low numbers have been a problem for years, the kids at Kutztown, and Brandywine HS for that matter have no interest in playing football. I saw the Coach and AD put out fliers in the school trying to get more kids out for the team. Even if they do start up again this year, a couple of injuries and they are done for the year. I doubt they will play Wyomissing due to health concerns.
September 11th, 2020 at 8:08 am
@ Ex-Crusader
That makes no sense (I’m not shooting the messenger). October 2nd is 3 weeks from today, and guessing this was announced days ago. 3 plus weeks not to be ready?? Did they not have any off season sessions or voluntary workouts?? Or are they currently in quarantine or lockdown?? I know they had some minor issues not too long ago. So if some lesser opponent comes knocking with a nice offer for a game the first weekend in October, they’ll have to take a pass I suppose.
September 10th, 2020 at 9:59 am
Kevin
Valley View is still playing this season, but they are claiming that they will not have enough time to get ready to play on Del Val on October 2nd.
“Valley View AD Chris Killiany has informed Delaware Valley AD Chris Ross that the Cougars will not play their LFC crossover game schedules for Oct. 2 due to the late start for practice caused by the fall sports shutdowns endured in the summer and in August.”
This cancellation has dropped Del Val to only 3 games this season, as LFC member Abington Heights has canceled all contact sports. There are rumors that this “cancellation” will be a forfeit win for Del Val, but nothing official yet. Glad to see Del Val was able to pick up a quality opponent for that week.
In D2, the Lackawanna Football Conference is only having a 5 game schedule this year (starting on October 2) while the Wyoming Valley Conference will play an 8 game slate, starting tomorrow.
Riverside, in the LFC, did not follow with that conference, and they scheduled 2 or 3 games in September. As far as I know, they are the only LFC team starting early.
September 9th, 2020 at 10:16 pm
If St Joes Prep plays OJR it will be a rout and over in the first quarter
September 9th, 2020 at 12:25 pm
Scheduling is an absolute mess for many teams. Berks Catholic has 4 games scheduled for the season, they can forget about making the playoffs with 2 of the games against Governor Mifflin and Exeter. In Berks, Daniel Boone, Muhlenberg, Exeter, Wyomissing-(super matchup with S. Columbia Cancelled) and Governor Mifflin also have openings. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Boone/Muhlenberg play each other twice. As a fan I wish Mifflin-ranked #8 in 5A or Exeter, honorable mention top 10 5A team, man up to play St. Joe Prep or LaSalle but it’s just wishful thinking on my part.
September 9th, 2020 at 9:40 am
So, looks like LaSalle just got their first dance partner, @ Delaware Valley on October 2nd. Very nice, well done!! Believe that is Del Val’s opener. Guess we’ll see how LaSalle’s future schedule will play out.
You guys up in D2, is Valley View playing football this fall?? Seems like they were going back and forth about football and athletics. Looking like they were Del Val’s original opponent on 10/2. Or was that game just cancelled for some reason.
Guess now Del Val can work on scheduling St. Joe Prep to fill their October 30/31st open date……..
September 7th, 2020 at 12:30 pm
Those SOL teams have built in games depending on what Truman and PW decide. So they most likely won’t be playing la salle or prep.
September 6th, 2020 at 10:58 am
@ Frank & Thomas
Here is a list that I came up with that is very unofficial as far as larger schools in Eastern PA who have (or may have) an open date(s) and possibly be options for LaSalle and SJP (guessing more so for LaSalle on a competitive basis), or for each other for that matter. I have no idea how accurate or up to date this list is…..but just for fun……
Sept. 18th Manheim Township (D3) and Berks Catholic (D3)
Sept. 25th Berks Catholic
October 2nd Upper Dublin, William Tennent and Perk Valley
October 9th Berk Catholic, Spring-Ford and Hatboro Horsham
October 16th OJR and CR North
October 23rd Boyertown, CR South and Scranton (D2)
October 30th Quakertown, Wissahickon and Delaware Valley (D2)
September 5th, 2020 at 8:43 pm
@Thomas J I suppose each could make do with as little as a four=game schedule and then a playoff game to see who represents District 12 ^A when and if state playoffs start. So many questions: will the PIAA accept the Prep or LaSalle as the D12 rep? If the only games either the Prep or LaSalle can get are away games against schools in North Jersey or New York or Ohio, will they be allowed to travel and, even if allowed, how will they do so? Might the idea of a four or five game series between the two schools, which seemed ludicrous when I first heard it, actually have some appeal? All in all, I’m still having a hard time seeing how any of it works.
September 5th, 2020 at 6:34 pm
Prep and La Salle moving forward with football https://6abc.com/sports/4-philadelphia-area-catholic-schools-move-ahead-with-fall-sports/6407899/
Ok, who in Pa will man up to play them? With the Catholic, Public and Inter Ac leagues not playing this fall, I cant see either team getting a 5 or 6 game schedule this year.
September 5th, 2020 at 10:10 am
@ Mika
I see you posted some D1 schedules. re. North Penn. They have no field.
do you have any idea where their home games will be played?
September 5th, 2020 at 9:03 am
@ Buddy
Per the NPSD website, North Penn’s football schedule is as follows:
10/2 @ Nesh
10/9 Pennsbury
10/16 CBW
10/24 @ CBE
10/30 CBS
The 3 home games are listed to be played at the NPHS turf field. Maybe we’ll get lucky and have NPTV stream the home games. We’ll see if WBCB will stream the Neshaminy game.
BTW, the P-V new turf field is looking good!!! Hope they get a chance to play on it this fall!!
September 4th, 2020 at 3:27 pm
Bill that would let school districts decide sports attendance limits moves closer to Wolf’s desk
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/2020/09/bill-that-would-let-school-districts-decide-sports-attendance-limits-moves-closer-to-wolfs-desk.html
September 4th, 2020 at 12:18 pm
I will be there…I will tweet video highlights and tweets on the game..
September 4th, 2020 at 9:26 am
Is anyone covering the Berwick/Southern scrimmage tomorrow?
September 3rd, 2020 at 6:20 pm
@ Mika
Like I said, I saw on MAXPREP that NP plays Pennsbury on Sept. 11 at Souderton ( NP has no field right now).
But I do believe maxprep is wrong as often then they are right.
@ Kevin
Many of the PAC have cancelled in house school ( PV being one) ’till Oct. 8. So I’m sure no Fall sports ’till that time.
Got a feeling you’re right regarding the SOL. I know NP has no in house ’till Oct 8th or Nov. 8th. Not sure which one.
I’m assuming if your not physically at the school then you don’t play sports. Not sure if that’s true either.
There’s a whole helluva lot I’m not sure of !
September 2nd, 2020 at 10:28 pm
@ Buddy
The last I heard was that the Suburban One League pushed back all fall sports, with football “heat” acclimation on starting on Sept. 14th, first practices Sept. 21st, and first games Oct. 2nd. Of course this, as with everything in this world right now, is subject to change. I believe SOL’s Truman, Chelt. and P-W are current football no go’s.
Don’t know about the PAC, as they probably pushed back things too, for whoever is left in that league still playing football. That’s about it for District One.
Curious if LaSalle and St. Joe Prep are going forward. Maybe they can play each other in a best of 7 series, as guessing they would have a hard time finding suitable dance partners.
September 2nd, 2020 at 4:17 pm
Buddy, Did District 1 finally finalized their schedules? I am going to email Ad’s for them tonight…
September 2nd, 2020 at 10:42 am
@ Mika
Maxprep has some schedules up for D1. example: NP plays pennsbury on 9/11 at Souderton.
Can you verify these and post?
August 30th, 2020 at 8:15 am
@ Matt
I have no idea. I have not heard or seen anything, not even any crazy rumors. My last post was just based on the assumption of originally planned playoffs.
As of now, seems like the smaller classifications, A-4A, aren’t being hit by school defections, compared to 5A and 6A schools, so they may have an easier time proceeding than the larger schools. Maybe we can see a combined 5A and 6A playoff?? That could be fun and interesting. With SJP most likely out of the picture, be a wide open tournament.
August 29th, 2020 at 7:27 pm
Ches-Mont becomes latest league to opt-out of fall high school sports season
https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2020/08/chest-mont-becomes-latest-league-to-opt-out-of-fall-high-school-sports-season.html
August 29th, 2020 at 2:20 pm
I was told that the WPIAL changed around their schedule so that all of the conference games would be played and they would have enough time for WPIAL playoffs to match up with the state playoffs. State finals would be Friday and Saturday after thanksgiving. WPIAL is planning 7 game regular season, 3 weeks of playoffs from Class1-5 and then two rounds of state playoffs.
I would guess if 75+% of the teams in the state are playing, the state playoffs will happen.
August 29th, 2020 at 12:26 am
@Kevin….did PIAA say what they would do with state playoffs? I would think they would cancel those (avoids long travel for state playoffs and it being watered down) and just let districts do a playoff if they choose and then end it mid November. Especially when we don’t know how the virus will be in a few months. I think most team would be happy to get a chance to play 5-8 games this season even if it means no playoffs. A lot of teams won’t even get that chance. Especially seniors. In college, they will get another year of eligibility so if they choose they can come back for another year (obviously top college players will enter the NFL next spring). But HS seniors won’t get another year to play at this level.
August 28th, 2020 at 3:46 pm
Now that the Central League is the latest to pull the plug on football and fall sports in Southeastern PA, quick math has about a third of the schools in the area (Districts 1 and 12 and the Inter-AC/Independents) playing abbreviated football schedules, as of today, the original opening kickoff night. That is aprx. 40-45 schools out of 120 or so. Can’t wait to see what the 5A and 6A state playoffs are going to look like.
August 27th, 2020 at 8:08 am
@ Frank G
You can file this under love to see it happen, but not a snowball chance in you know where……
Have LaSalle and Northeast be one year affiliate members of District 1 and the Suburban One League in 6A football. Love to see how they would compete for a full year (or whatever abbreviate season we are going to have this year) in the SOL and then be plugged into the 16 team 6A D1 playoffs. They can replace Truman and Norristown. Believe either team could win that hypothetical 6A D1 title. Thinking Northeast was primed for a monster year, but of course they would have had to go thru SJP again for the D12 championship and never would have seen their full potential going up against other competitive large public schools.
SJP, whatever, let them play a national/regional schedule of whoever is available and willing.
August 26th, 2020 at 2:05 pm
so much for clarity as Valley View plays politics with the kids Scranton prep is still undecided and suspended sports so who know what thier going to do the lackawanna conference was suppose to meet today but with so much still up in the air who know they need to make up their minds and let these kids and parents know what they have to do it nuts
August 26th, 2020 at 2:04 pm
@ Kevin X
The task of finding opponents was complicated earlier today by the decision of the Inter-AC to “postpone” all fall sports. I don’t get the idea of planning to play football in the spring. Some schools have lots of kids who play football and a spring sport–lacrosse, baseball, track, etc. Maybe easier for Inter-AC in one sense: they don’t go into the state playoffs. I also have a hard time seeing football practice beginning in February with games in March and April. Pity the schools that play on grass.
I wonder if the Prep and LaSalle could schedule one or two games each against Jersey schools. Ohio probably is out because of travel being more difficult in the COVID era. I wouldn’t bet on either school being able to put even a short season together.
August 26th, 2020 at 9:00 am
So, looks like The Prep and LaSalle may break ranks and pursue independent fall sports schedules and competition, since they are private catholic schools and not under the rule of Philly archdiocese and their respected schools (Shanahan and PJPII done too for the fall). Any football takers?? Manheim Township?? Becahi?? (those two suggestions based on the open dates listed on this site). Others looking to challenge themselves??
August 26th, 2020 at 8:23 am
Kevin X….I know….I am not touching District 1 right now until they decide….We have to do almost 600 schools in three weeks…UGH….
August 26th, 2020 at 8:13 am
Good luck Dave!!! Hope you are updating the schedules with a very light pencil!!!
August 26th, 2020 at 7:26 am
We started working on the schedules….Half of District 2,3 and 4 are done. A lot of schools haven’t finalized schedules.
August 25th, 2020 at 9:24 pm
What are teams doing with teams that have cancelled from playing?
How are schedules being fixed?
August 24th, 2020 at 3:49 pm
You guys are spinning your wheels trying to figure out these schedules. Just saw that Valley View cancelled/suspended?? all fall sports a day after voting to soldier on. And now all of District 12 is done for the fall. as the PCL just cancelled fall sports (and moved them to the spring?? Maybe??).
August 24th, 2020 at 1:12 pm
Hey all – check your inboxes/emails. I just found a few caught up in my filters and just replied to all of you w/ attached games list. enjoy and sorry about that.
August 24th, 2020 at 10:49 am
Yo Phillyboy – sorry bud, just saw your last sentence of your post. Yes I have that game and have a copy for you. That was one of the best games I ever attended. I live right next to Lehigh sports fields and thought it was a Lehigh home game w/ the traffic coming into the parking lots.
I have the ESPN Special leading up to that stretch of games for the Bucks. Send me an email and I’ll send you the games list to check out.
sausmann9@hotmail.com
here’s just a sample of some of the games starting at the bottom of the list
2002 Parkland v Woodland Hills (AAAA state final)
2002 Parkland v North Penn (AAAA Eastern final)
2002 Parkland v Central Dauphin (AAAA semifinal)
2002 Parkland v Bethlehem Catholic (AAAA D11 final)
2002 Mount Carmel Area v Seton LaSalle (AA state final)
2002 Strath Haven v Hopewell (AAA state final)
2000 CB West v Bethlehem Catholic (AAAA semifinal)
2000 CB West v Erie Cathedral Prep (AAAA state final)
2000 West Allegheny v Strath Haven (AAA state final)
1999 CB West v Bethlehem Catholic (AAAA semifinal)
1999 CB West v Erie Cathedral Prep (AAAA state final)
1999 West Allegheny v Strath Haven (AAA state final)
1991 CB West v Erie Prep (AAAA state final)
August 24th, 2020 at 8:48 am
@Neutral to be honest nor sure.now Valley View has voted to play Carbondale and Abington heights have said no to the season as far as i know no other school has canceled I am not sure if they even have a Schedule at this point ? i heard talk of Valley view replacing Abington with Delaware valley but to be honest i dont know for sure i do know that Riverside was looking to schedule more games..i think we will see some clarity by the end of the week
August 21st, 2020 at 9:38 am
@ mark d
I might be wrong, but I thought the plan was for the LIAA to keep the new 5 game schedule they rolled out and if any of the schools didn’t have sports (i.e. AH), then those scheduled games would just be “no contests”.
I think that means that those 5 teams who were scheduled to play Abington Heights now only get to play 4 games:
Abington Heights revised 2020 schedule:
October 2 October 9 October 16 October 23 October 30
at WAL at NP vs. SP* vs. SCR* at DV
August 20th, 2020 at 6:17 pm
Thank you Indian 87! We are going to start updating schedules this weekend after the PIAA meeting.
August 20th, 2020 at 4:55 pm
Heartland Conference …. https://www.dailyitem.com/sports/heartland-conference-votes-to-play-fall-sports/article_ea67ea04-514b-532a-a7cf-7b0c2cc0e9ed.html
August 20th, 2020 at 9:33 am
@Kevin X Yeah the Public League already cancelled sports. If the PIAA moves forward you will just have the PCL and Charter schools playing in the area.
August 20th, 2020 at 8:33 am
Abington heights in D2 lackawanna conference has announced no contact sports for the fall semester. So if the conference decide to play it be doing the Schedule all over again !!!!
August 18th, 2020 at 8:12 am
I tried posting something about a week and a half ago after the Gov statement and PIAA meeting and their response (and two week delay). It never hit the forum, thinking maybe something more an issue on my end. Water under the bridge at this point, now we get to look forward to Friday, where (maybe) we’ll get some clarity and a definitive course of action going forward. I’m actually leaving the door open a very small crack thinking (hoping??) maybe they’ll be some sort of abbreviated patchwork season for all sports. Wouldn’t be surprised if the PIAA cancels all fall state championships, but let the districts and leagues plow forward the best they see fit at the local level.
@ Joneses, didn’t he PPL cancel all sports until Jan 1st, taking the Gov’s “recommendation??” Not surprising if they did.
August 17th, 2020 at 3:17 pm
Well the PCL voted Friday to move forward with the season. Everything hinges on the PIAA Friday.
August 17th, 2020 at 2:06 pm
Kevin, With leagues/teams changing their status from playing to not playing every week, who knows what the season will look like or will there even be a season. Scheduling right now is a nightmare for just about everyone who is still playing. Exeter just shut down practice for a second time as another bout of Corona hit their players, The Exeter AD is saying he just doesn’t see how a season can be played.
August 17th, 2020 at 12:30 pm
@Kevin, I think everyone is just wrapping their heads around the fact that there mostly likely won’t be a football season this year. State and leagues are pushing back start dates. I just don’t think it’s going to happen. We would be ten days from opening night. And nothing is known yet.
August 17th, 2020 at 8:12 am
Oddly quiet around here. Everyone on vaca?? Site down??
August 7th, 2020 at 12:34 am
If only people cared about social distancing when it comes to “protests” AKA riots.
Kiss the season goodbye. Lackawanna conference voted to start the season in October except Riverside is the only hold out. Wyoming valley conference wants to proceed as normal but with a conference only schedule.
August 6th, 2020 at 10:06 am
@Foleman….I can almost guarantee that there won’t be PIAA playoffs this fall. Most leagues are rooting for a short 5-8 game season. Then it will be over before winter starts. The travel required for state playoffs can take teams 3 hours away. In a pandemic, and those kids needing space and more buses won’t work. That why even NCAA is doing conference only….less travel. I love watching state playoffs but reality is this year it won’t happen. Atleast PA will have some sort of season it looks like. VA and Maryland canceled all fall sports and even into winter as they expect it to get worse during the winter. I would love to fast forward to this time next year where I think it will be almost back to normal….I hope.
August 6th, 2020 at 8:40 am
Football heat acclimation starting on August 31, Games starting on Sept 18-19 PAC meeting today to finalize plans, probably will be on the same schedule. This sucks! It’s looking more and more like the kids will play a 8 game schedule with no playoffs. If the PIAA does opt for playoffs, the point system will be an absolute mess, some deserving teams will miss out and some teams that have no business being in the playoffs could be in.
August 6th, 2020 at 7:54 am
Thank you Santa for giving me a much needed good laugh on a dreary overcast Thursday morning……..
August 6th, 2020 at 7:39 am
@ santa:
???????????????????????
@ kevin:
Crawford stadium is currently a big hole in the ground. I believe you are referring to their practice field, which is turf.
Yeah, heard a rumor that they might play their home games there if no fans allowed. Not sure if it has lights or not.
Very little or no stands , believe they play soccer there. I think they should let parents at the games ( with masks).
Of course each player might suddenly have 7 sets of parents, what are they going to do………..card you?
August 5th, 2020 at 8:00 pm
Keven x.
FYI the gatherings can be as many as you want. 250 is a fake number just like the news. Upwards of a million can gather and nobody can stop anyone. Friday nights like I said are peaceful protests without masks. So kevin x please stop with your wfi comments cause what the governor says he can not control. Pack the stadiums everyone else That’s not in favor then fly to California where you belong
August 3rd, 2020 at 9:03 am
@ Buddy
A bizarre, albeit stretched silver lining in all of this for North Penn, is if there are no football games this season, there would be no “away home” games due to the re-contruction of Crawford Stadium. Their timing would end up be impeccable. Or if there are football games, but with no fans, I’m not seeing why they couldn’t play their home games at their turf stadium, which should make it possible for NPTV to broadcast/stream those home games.
August 3rd, 2020 at 8:52 am
FYI guys….
Per the PA State and Wolf and Levine guidelines and restrictions, as of July 16th:
“Other Events and Gatherings
Events and gatherings must adhere to these gathering limitations:
Indoor events and gatherings of more than 25 persons are prohibited.
Outdoor events and gatherings of more than 250 persons are prohibited.
The maximum occupancy limit includes staff.”
August 3rd, 2020 at 12:38 am
Buddy, no fans allowed at this time. Just about a month or two ago the original plan was to have 50% capacity for fans. That plan was tossed out as most of Pennsylvania went backwards with the virus. We are back to where we were in April. 50% capacity of fans is a pipedream anyway. Not sure why they implemented that . Lucky to see 500 fans last year, 2019. People rather sit at home and sweat on the couch rather than getting outside for fresh air. As we know, HS football is slowly diminishing.
August 2nd, 2020 at 7:29 pm
Not looking good. I will be surprised if they finish out the month of September. Schools are already opting out. This virus only adds to the current problems that already exist. Lack of interest, low rosters, low attendance of fans, concussions, school mergers, school closures. Feeder schools being shut down. Youth football organizations being shut down. It just keeps piling up. This virus is going to be disastrous after it’s all said and done. It’s only going to push interest farther away. Heard a rumor that some of the local schools in my area are dealing with roster problems because they are so low. I hope this trend passes through eventually.
August 2nd, 2020 at 6:11 pm
Actually, the PIAA is still going ahead with Fall sports as of this writing. Will fans be allowed?
August 1st, 2020 at 8:11 pm
Frank g
The numbers are false mine are correct. By the way chicken wings are a meal. In fact a a dead possum is a meal if I choose it to be. Last time I checked this is a free country. Nobody is telling me I need fries with my wings to be considered a meal to have a drink. Nobody is telling me I can’t watch high school football either. The corruption must stop and who’s willing to be a trend setter cause I am.
July 31st, 2020 at 6:34 pm
North Penn has cancelled in house school ’til Nov. ( going virtual). I’m sure that includes Fall sports.
July 31st, 2020 at 4:59 pm
You guys are cracking me up with all of this talk about protests, no fans, medical stats, etc. Do you guys just not see the writing on the wall that is two inches from your collective faces??
There will be little to no high school games this fall in PA. I hate being Debbie Downer, but when you’re Mr. Reality, it’s hard to separate the two.
D2 Abington Heights just suspended all athletic activities. Just a matter of time before others continue to join this list.
July 31st, 2020 at 2:59 pm
@Santa What’s the source of your 99.7%survival rate? Did they also provide rate of hospitalization, ICU admission, and duration of ICU stays? I too hope there is a season.
July 31st, 2020 at 2:17 pm
Santa…Good, idea…have the respective teams’ Community Athletic Supporters request permission from the local authorities to have a peaceful protest. When the two teams meet…before the game the the respective two groups (assuming each school has a representative group) protesting the ruling not to allow fans by the PIAA, march from the parking lots and onto the field (they got permission to do so). Before the game starts…school officials ask the respective groups please disperse as the players are about to start the game. The two groups then go to their respective teams sides.
For example: Southern vs Berwick, Southern Boosters and Berwick Boosters separately request from the Berwick City Govt. department responsible for giving permits to protest. Each Booster Club gets permission to start in the parking lot and proceed to the stadium where they walk on the field and express their displeasure at the PIAA. School officials then ask the respective Booster Clubs to exit the field (not the stadium) as the teams are about to take the field. The Booster clubs do so going to their respective team’s side of the field, where they continue their protests during the game. At the end of the game they walk together to the parking lot and then disperse.
Do you really think the local city/municipal governments will deny them permission to have a peaceful protest? Hey, they’ll probably join in! It’s all legal…I think!
July 31st, 2020 at 11:13 am
@ Neutral As far as i been told Valley View is planing to play even if they are not in School full time summer conditioning workout have continued and they are planing for the season . as of now the games will be played with no fans
July 31st, 2020 at 10:09 am
I just looked at the Haverford Fords 2020 team preview.
OK guys, is their kicker’s name for real??
July 31st, 2020 at 8:20 am
Sca69
I totally agree with you on this. If thousands can riot and and do it without masks then fans can go to football games. I have an idea for every high school football program in pa and in America. Bring the the people in by the thousands on Friday nights and call it a peaceful protest. Nothing can be done to stop you. If the fear of a large crowd makes you wear a mask then wear one or simply don’t come. You can stay at home and listen to it on the radio that’s if they are broadcasting it. If they are not then turn on the news and listen to the garbage we are all being told. It’s time to make a stand and do what’s right for all the kids who are being cheated. 99.7 percent survival rate and this is the situation we are in?It’s completely ridiculous! Bradford county has 2 Covid deaths both elderly since March. Bradford county also has 2 deaths do to lightning strikes since March. I personally would go to a concert with 200 positive Covid cases before I stood outside in a thunderstorm. So let’s wake up and stop being sheep. I’m glad to see the PIAA is honestly doing the best they can do considering the situation. Unlike several universities and colleges and conferences they are standing up to this ridiculousness and going to at least try to have a season. As far as the masks go throw them away. If you can smell a fart through someone’s underwear and pants with a mask on then what good is a mask. So for all you football fans out there Friday nights are nights for peaceful protesters. Pack the stadiums. Bring your peaceful protesting signs. Nobody can stop you! The difference between the Friday night protests and the ones we see every day on the news is exactly that. Peaceful. Nobody will get hurt. No fires will be started. No businesses destroyed. No violence at all. Guess what they do it all without a mask And no social distancing and our governors don’t stop them. Do what’s right cause high school football isn’t the same without fans and high school football is America. God bless trump 2020 2024 2028 2032 2036 2040.
July 30th, 2020 at 10:28 pm
So the big bugaboo I see is if ONE member of the team tests positive, the team shuts down. Obviously the bigger programs see a bigger chance of being hit. A team like Wilson WL with 80 kids versus a team like Fleetwood with 40 kids sees a bigger chance of being shut down. What happens with the big schools like North Penn, and suburban one? This doesn’t look good…..
July 30th, 2020 at 5:07 pm
Norristown SD first domino to fall in this pipe dream of PA high school fall sports…….
https://papreplive.com/2020/07/30/norristown-opting-out-of-fall-sports-due-to-coronavirus-caution/
July 30th, 2020 at 9:21 am
Phillyboy, I share your frustration…experts agree (most of the time they don’t) being outside is one of the safest places to be and healthiest…of course, a five year old could tell you that! But, I agree decisions aren’t being made on reality…unless it is reality TV!
But, on what information is everyone basing their decisions? We should know. With all the public activity that has occurred over the past two months we would have expected to see dramatic increases in every statistic for the virus…but we haven’t. In fact, in many areas there continues to be a decline (that started back in mid-April).
Does anyone remember the pandemics of 1957-1958 and 1968-1969? Estimated deaths were 115,000 and 100,000 respectively. (Course, you know what they say about the sixties, “If you remember the sixties, you weren’t there!) Remember all those masks at Woodstock? Looking back on them we can say…they weren’t as bad as COVID-19…but at the time who knew how serious…but not a peep! What happened then is the same as what will happen now…it will run its course.
My point, we should demand on what basis are decisions being made? If thousands can walk the streets with masks, we can sit in stands with masks. Evidence has shown that large public gatherings with masks have not made hospitalizations nor death rates increase.
Hey, wasn’t Southern a recent “National Champion” for small schools…two years running? Most would agree, last year’s team was not mythical!
July 29th, 2020 at 2:40 pm
In District 2, Valley View School District is only doing virtual learning through at least September 28 (per The Scranton Times). The blurb didn’t mention sports, but I assume that the VVSD can’t allow sports if in-person classes are not allowed.
Assuming that the football season actually happens, I’m guessing that means that Valley View has to forfeit its first five games??? And then try to get organized in time to play on 10/2??? That’s brutal.
I know Scranton and West Scranton had to forfeit games a few years ago when the teachers union went on strike.
VALLEY VIEW 2020 SCHEDULE
8/28 Dallas (AAAA) 7:00 pm
9/04 @ Delaware Valley (AAAAAA) 7:00 pm
9/12 @ Abington Heights (AAAAA) 1:00 pm
9/18 Scranton (AAAAAA) 7:00 pm
9/25 @ West Scranton* (AAAA) 7:00 pm
10/2 @Crestwood (AAAA) 7:00pm
July 28th, 2020 at 1:57 pm
@Jac Mac….agree football won’t work in spring. The Virginia HS association just announced no fall sports and no sports until atleast Dec with a plan to play spring football end of Feb until May. I think it either in the fall or not at all for PA. Too many multi sport athletes especially at smaller schools. So athletes at three sports at the smaller schools….some even at bigger schools.
July 28th, 2020 at 10:57 am
HS football in the spring doesn’t work… in fact it hurts football. You are going to make kids choose between Football and either Baseball, LAX, or Track. It will essentially lose programs there spring sport kids forever. In a normal 10 game HS football season a 1 way starter takes about 500-600 game reps, a 2 way starter is close to 1200 reps. We are saying it’s not okay to play football now because of a virus(I am not saying everything is fine) but it is okay for a 16 year old Junior Offensive and Defensive Lineman to possibly have 2400 competitive game reps in a 6 month period… not to mention how many kids are committed to scholarships and will have to choose not to play. Spring is the worst idea for HS football.
July 28th, 2020 at 2:27 am
thanks all for the answers on the TX recruits. Mack was the kid I was thinking. I was also trying to find info on a PA recruit that ended up at SMU in the past. I think he went down there as a linebacker. tx.
Andre White was the other recent TX commit I was looking for and thought he ended up at Baylor as well. The Aggies it was.
July 27th, 2020 at 9:24 pm
In case anybody was wondering what’s phillyboy’s take on the goings-on in recent months and the prospects for PA high school football this year, I gotchew. Admittedly, I’ve been laying low — can’t leave you guys hanging any longer. Plus I appreciate you guys (you too Mika) — Kmac, the godfather of easternpafootball.com, the feisty and no-nonsense Buddy, the wise and battle tested old heads Mcd65 and FrankG, the professional D3 Mike, and last but not least the MVP Kevin X, plus a lot of role players that chime in now and then. As far as football in 2020 goes, got to see it to believe it. Too bad for Prep, this year would have been a monster ‘peak year’ — McCord and Harrison (the OSU), Trotter (Clemson), Hagins and Malik (the QB who replaced McCord last year) make for a tremendous core, are you kidding me?! Although I’m total pro public, have to say, this year might have been PA’s first mythical national champion (or #1 ranked team) since Berwick in ’95. In regards to the lockdowns, it’s an absolute and utter fraud, the ultimate dog and pony show which has created a sort of self-reinforcing cycle. Remember back in early March there were headlines such as ‘For Now the NBA and NHL Will Continue Seasons’. That was the first thing that gave me pause — whoa, this is wacky. Yes, apparently the virus itself exists, but what’s happening is nowhere near congruent with reality. It’s not about credentials or expertise, it’s about common sense. If it were anywhere close to being like the Bubonic plague of the mid-1300’s CE or the Spanish flu of 1918, precautions would be understandable and necessary, absolutely. But this is nowhere close to being close to that. In fact, hypothetically speaking, if all the restrictions and lockdowns were completely rescinded today, things would be fine, more or less the same as any year. Anyway, just some thoughts. Hey Sausmann, ’99 CB West – Beca would be awesome, never saw that game.
July 27th, 2020 at 1:00 pm
Here in Berks County, 3 teams have already suspended preseason workouts due to individuals contracting Corona-Schuykill Valley, Exeter and now Wyomissing. I know some parents are not letting their players attend preseason workouts in fear of their kid getting the virus, and this is with practice protocols in place. Now I heard this morning that several players on the Florida Marlins have Corona! And this in BASEBALL! I’m not getting the warm and fuzzies about football at any level this fall. Anyone hear about other teams in the State suspending workouts due to Corona? Maybe it would be a good idea to have HS football played in the Spring.
July 26th, 2020 at 8:17 pm
You can add Yusuf Terry from Imhotep, currently at Baylor. A Matt Rhule recruit. Actually looking at the Baylor rooster to confirm Terry was still there (thought he might of transferred when Rhule left) saw that there are a handful of PA kids on the current Baylor roster.
July 26th, 2020 at 4:07 pm
Andre White Texas A@M /Harrisburg HS
July 26th, 2020 at 9:47 am
@sausmann9 Andre White, Harrisburg linebacker, is currently a sophomore at Texas A&M.
July 26th, 2020 at 7:59 am
@ sausmann9
Are you thinking of Mack Leftwich from North Allegheny?? They only reason I remember him (and apologies to my Coatesville friends out there for digging this up) is that he was the QB of that 2012 NA team that thumped Coatesville in the 4A state championship game. Yikes, can’t believe start game was 8 years ago already.
As far as your lost 2020 season question, we won’t have to witness the effects of the PIAA’s debacle of their implemented version of a competition formula and the mandatory requirement of certain teams “playing up” (and other not). It may also throw a wrench into their 2-year cycle re-classification adjustment plans. So maybe they’ll have some time to take a realistic look at this and get it right, or at least make some common sense adjustment.
Bey hey, at least it worked out better than the basketball competition formula. Wow, what a freaking debacle and disgrace this is. I can’t believe they are going forward with that, assuming once again that there is a hoops season.
July 25th, 2020 at 8:19 pm
sausmann9: The NA kid was Mack Leftwich and he was recruited to UTEP because the father of his team mate (Sean Kugler) got the head coaching job there. I don’t recall if he had any other offers.
July 25th, 2020 at 4:34 pm
@sausmann9 I agree that all the complaining about the Prep’s having players from Jersey gets really tiresome.
I’m still hoping for a season of some kind. though 50-50 may be optimistic.Hard to find any real upsides. It may further shrink the pool of kids who have played before they start HS or who want to play football in HS.. But it may also make people appreciate the game and all it does for kids, families, and communities when it does come back.
One of my biggest worries is what this will do to smaller colleges with small endowments. Many (some with football programs) were in trouble before COVID.
July 25th, 2020 at 3:27 pm
To the Joneses…thanks.
To Mike A…The Holiday Inn Express “Trumps” a GP and a virologist combined!!!!!
OK, I’m a bit nervous about the Berwick Southern Game. I know nothing of Berwick this year and Southern really has to fill a lot of big holes. Though, most of the reserves probably got as much action as first team players from other schools. So, can anyone fill me in.
And I am chomping at the bit to say something regards current events…but I made a promise.
July 25th, 2020 at 2:12 pm
can anyone else find any positives to not having the 2020 season???
I have one: we won’t have to hear about all the Jersey kids on st joes prep that win a PA state title.
July 25th, 2020 at 10:59 am
quick question on PA recruits;
how many PA kids have gone to Texas colleges to play football over the last 30 years??? I know 30 years is a HUGE span but I can only recount ONE player ever being recruited by and going to a TX college. That kid was the quarterback for North Allegheny about 2012 season or so.
Does anyone remember any other players going to the state of TX to play football??? How about a linebacker going to SMU??? tx.
July 25th, 2020 at 10:51 am
@ Mike A – thanks, two really good games. I was at the 92′ game but the link was a cool reminder how good CV has been over the years.
@ everyone on here – when they finally cancel the entire season for 2020, I will try to get a few really good PA games from the past on-line for a weekend of football each weekend this fall. I will post about 10 options for the upcoming weekend and let you all pick four games for the weekend. (one friday, two saturday, one sunday). here is a prelim list set up for September. I had originally posted this for August but I actually thought we were starting the season in some way. Tell me what to change, what to omit, what to add. I will try to copy these games to Youtube for that weekend. Its up to you to supply your friends, food, drink, and plenty of imagination that these games are all current, lol.
Week 1 in Sept we shall see:
1991 CB West v Erie Prep (AAAA state title)
1993 Blackhawk v Greenville (AAA western final)
1996 Blackhawk v Greenville (AAA western final)
1996 Blackhawk v Berwick (AAA state title)
Week 2 in September we shall see:
1999 CB West v Bethlehem Catholic (AAAA semifinal)
1999 CB West v Erie Cathedral Prep (AAAA state final)
1999 West Allegheny v Strath Haven (AAA state final)
Week 3 in September we shall see:
2000 CB West v Bethlehem Catholic (AAAA semifinal)
2000 CB West v Erie Cathedral Prep (AAAA state final)
2000 West Allegheny v Strath Haven (AAA state final)
Week 4 in September we shall see:
2002 Parkland v Woodland Hills (AAAA state final)
2002 Parkland v North Penn (AAAA Eastern final)
2002 Parkland v Central Dauphin (AAAA semifinal)
2002 Parkland v Bethlehem Catholic (AAAA D11 final)
Week 5 in September we shall see:
2002Mount Carmel Area v Seton LaSalle (AA state final)
2002 Strath Haven v Hopewell (AAA state final)
2002 Big 33 game PA v Ohio all-star game (played 6/03)
July 25th, 2020 at 10:43 am
I will keep this relatively short.
Perhaps nothing has been more damaging in the response to COVID-19 than the notion that it is similar, especially in its effects, to the seasonal flu. In over 40 years of practice (I’m semi-retired now) I’ve never had an adult patient under 60 die of the flu and I can count on my fingers the number who’ve had to be hospitalized. It’s true that death rates for COVID patients are declining for various reasons (e.g. the proportion of diagnosed people who are younger is increasing, we are somewhat better at treating it, etc.), but look at the number of deaths so far despite the kind of mitigation efforts we’ve never made in relation to the flu. And anyone who thinks the CDC has been over-counting COVID deaths must assume the NHS in Britain, Health Canada, the HSE in Ireland, etc. have been doing the same since they all show death rates for COVID (including among adults under 60) much higher than death rates for flu. (Many countries, including Canada, have done a much better job of reducing the incidence and the death rates.) And no one should think people who spend even three days let alone three weeks on a ventilator walk away feeling close to normal.it is true that COVID appears to be no more lethal and maybe even less lethal among YOUNG children, but it is certainly more lethal and, it appears, quite easily transmissible among young adults. And guess where that leaves older adolescents, i.e. kids who play high school football?
I think opening schools should be a priority–much more than opening bars, indoor restaurants, etc. And no one on here doubts the value and benefits–including the health benefits–of extra-curricular activities, including team sports. I think in many areas (where the infection rate is not high) schools can be opened and sports played if school officials, coaches, families, and players do what they need to do. But approaching it all thinking that COVID is really just like the flu will likely lead to disaster.
July 25th, 2020 at 8:43 am
Per Twitter, so take it for what it’s worth….
“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, there will be no student travel for @AOPathletics outside the surrounding area – or overnight travel – for games, tournaments, or other activities with the exception of the PIAA state tournaments during the 2020-21 school year”
“AOPathletics” consists of schools/teams from the Philadelphia Catholic League of District 12, and Bishop Shanahan and PJPII out of District 1.
July 24th, 2020 at 9:59 am
@SCA69 Thank you. Your insight is appreciated.
July 24th, 2020 at 9:45 am
The CDC web site statistics show very few deaths from COVID-19 for younger folks. In fact, it shows MORE deaths in the 0-14 age group from the seasonal flu this year. 36 deaths out 61 million people for COVID-19 while the flu had 104 deaths. The 15-24 age group is somewhat higher with 190 deaths out of 43 million people, 51 deaths from the flu.
Totals 0-24 104 million population
Flu deaths 155
COVID-19 deaths 226
https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Death-Counts-by-Sex-Age-and-S/9bhg-hcku/
These are just stats and I’m not inferring anything about the transmission rate to others or any other factors.
The CDC did come out with an estimated infection fatality rates back on May 22. These numbers are for planning purposes and subject to change but the rate is significantly lower than many of the number being tossed around.
The new estimates of infection fatality rates (IFR) released by the CDC are as follows for different age groups:
0-49 years old: 0.05%
50-64 years old: 0.2%
65+ years old: 1.3%
Overall ages: 0.4%
When considering the asymptomatic rate the overall total drops to 0.26%
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scenarios-h.pdf
I too agree with Buddy. “I think if a couple of players/coaches get sick, it will end.”
On another note, I don’t think college football makes it either.
THIS IS MY ONLY COVID-19 POST!
ONE FINAL NOTE: I am not a GP or virologist by I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so that should count for something, right?
On a more serious note my brother-in law has a doctorate in microbiology and is a bacterial research specialist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Ft. Detrick, MD.
On the other hand since we seem to be divulging some personal information, among other vocations (finance and IT) throughout my career, I am a former meteorologist/atmospheric scientist, a former NOAA-National Weather Service employee, and a former employee of the DOD’s U.S. Army Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory, that specialized in weather forecasting, paleoclimates and climate data analysis, meteorological research, and RDT&E meteorological support, so if that’s your interest you can scan my website at https://www.climate.metman1.com/ for my blog and paper on climate change and other meteorological information.
Here’s to hoping for some HS Football this year!
July 23rd, 2020 at 4:21 pm
@FrankG I am thinking along the same lines as you. Out here, they seem to have things back under control after a brief spike.
July 23rd, 2020 at 12:33 pm
I hope I am allowed to post this: I will do not more on COVID-19, I do not wish to get in a debate, but it is important to give people hope and to ensure that those making decisions for others become fully informed. I have responded in part to one other post.
I agree we should talk football. My point in presenting what I did is to point out there are other expert opinions that are not getting attention…when making decisions to open, close, play sports, go to church etc. they should be informed. Also, the truth is we are not getting the whole picture…we are getting information that fits a particular ideology (whichever it might be)…so it is left to us to research and find the information.
MY POINT IS THAT IF YOU ARE INVOLVED IN ANYWAY OF DECIDING TO OPEN SCHOOL, PLAY SPORTS, ETC. MAKE SURE YOU ARE INFORMED FULLY.
Frank G…well if we have to get into throwing around credentials: I’ve got an under graduate degree in biology, and my masters thesis was the attachment of different viruses to mouse cells to determine methods of attachment. I worked in virology research at the Frederick Cancer Research Facility in Frederick MD. I then went into Healthcare Administration where I worked at a hospital in a city that had the second highest recorded number of cases of HIV/AIDS in the state…before anyone knew what it was. (Early 80’s) I sat on a committee (because of being in administration and because of my virology background) that developed a set of universal precautions before universal precautions became the norm. Our team presented our recommendations to a meeting of the NIH.
I am not your errand boy, since you are a GP you should know exactly where to get your information. What I learned long ago is to truly understand an issue…try to prove what you believe true to be false. Research as much as possible that covers the issue, the forces, the context, causes…and expert opinions that do not agree. Please note: I have not resorted to any name calling, or making assumptions about your character or knowledge. I have remained focused on the issue without bringing personality into it.
I made an honest statement in reporting my statistics that they are approximations and therefore was unable to give a statistical confidence level (my minor in undergrad. school) any input is always welcome. But, it is not necessarily so that input that is not consistent with what is reported, makes what is reported null. One must find the reasons. My reason for reporting as such is to make people aware there are real reasons for over stating the number of deaths. Reasons that are artificial and reasons as a result of inappropriate actions by leaders.
BY THE WAY THE CDC ITSELF REQUESTED THAT ALL DEATHS INVOLVING COVID-19 TO BE REPORTED AS COVID-19 CAUSE OF DEATH OR DEATH ASSOCIATED WITH COVID-19…THIS HAS LED TO CONFUSING REPORTS FROM HOSPITALS AND STATES AND MISREPORTING ON A NATIONAL SCALE.
I will not be posting again on COVID-19, Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 here on this site. I believe it is where we should be discussing football and other sports. My purpose is not to get into a debate…enough of that out there. My purpose is to be open to other information that is out there in order to make an informed decision. Decisions that can have an impact on many…some of you may very well be in that position.
One final note: While the number of COVID-19 cases continue to increase…the Case Fatality Rate of COVID-19 has been decreasing since April…anyone tell you that? What does that mean…more people infected, but fewer are dying…lower Case Fatality Rates that are getting close to some bad flu seasons…check it out. I suspect we will have as many if not more people infected with COVID-19 as with a bad flu…maybe 80,000,000 million or maybe more…many who do not show symptoms. But, the Case Fatality Rate will fall. One of the reasons is attenuation. The more a virus infects people and is transmitted from one to another the most often case is an RNA virus, that the SARS-CoV-2 is, will mutate and become less “virulent”, meaning you might get infected, develop antibodies, but never know it. This is one of the reasons flu seasons die out. It will happen with COVID-19. This is how Albert Sabin developed his Polio Virus…by attenuation. (Jonas Salk’s was by heat) Sabin infected cells, then took that virus and infected new cells, then took that virus and infected new cells. He did this until the virus could still be identified by antibodies (the outer protein/lipid coat) but the virus was too weak to replicate to cause infection. This is a simple explanation, but it is given to let you know the same happens with most viruses. If in the 50’s you got a shot…that was Salk’s, if you took a sugar cube…that was Sabin’s.
July 23rd, 2020 at 12:16 pm
Buddy, yep….this virus doesn’t care if you’re old, young, healthy, unhealthy. It does kill more older people but there’s been a decent amount of younger people (under 40) and even some kids have severe complications or even have died. Down here in Northern VA, there has been five young people, aged 28,30,33,38, 40 die from this virus who were healthy adults. No major health problems. I know young people die from flu but five healthy under 40 people in a metro area don’t die from the flu every year. This isn’t political, I’m a non-affiliated voter, but people need to take precautions and wear masks. You don’t need to hide inside but use common sense. Don’t pack bars, don’t refuse to wear a mask, and don’t say it’s a hoax. The virus has killed about 145,000 people in four months. The Avg flu season kills 35,000 Americans and a bad one kills 50,0000. This is about 3 times worse than flu without a vaccine. Use common sense! Wear masks! That helps the spread and will get school and sports and football back sooner than later.
July 23rd, 2020 at 7:22 am
Sweden went for “herd immunity”. Looked like they had the answer for awhile, then bam! They spiked dramatically. Their approach seemed to backfire.
Also, they did close schools. Either 16 and under didn’t go or it was 16 and over didn’t go to school. Forget which one.
i think they will open our schools cause Trump won’t leave it alone. After just a couple of kids get sick, they will close again.
Let’s talk football. I believe the PIAA is allowing football to go on as of now. Don’t know how long it will last.
I think if a couple of players/coaches get sick, it will end. I’ve never seen anything remotely like this.
July 22nd, 2020 at 10:22 pm
@ FrankG
Kind of reading my mind. Was wondering what Prep’s schedule currently was looking like. Figure all non PCL games would be cancelled, as they were all out of state games. So, what do they have still (as of now) on the schedule, 4 October PCL games and possibly DC’s St. John’s?? Evenings are usually pretty nice in late August in the northern Pocono’s, go visit DelVal.
July 22nd, 2020 at 2:20 pm
@ Foleman There may be a lot of fake news circulating, but I don’t think it’s actually all that hard to separate information supported by good evidence and information that isn’t. I agree it’s too bad the situation in the U.S, has become so politicized. There is some politics elsewhere related to responses to the virus, but nothing compared to what’s happening in the U.S. That’s a shame–and a danger.
Back to schools and football. What we need to do is to understand relative risks. If schools re-open we are going to hear about teachers and children getting the virus and probably about a teacher here or there dying. That of course will be awful for those who die and their loved ones, but we do things all the time that carry a risk of illness or death. You put yourself at risk every time you drive a car. Even good drivers are at risk because of bad drivers. People who have a knee or hip replaced risk serious infection, even death. Each dose of radiation increases your chances of cancer. The issue, of course, is how great the risk is and what the relationship is between the risk and the benefit. In areas where the virus is far from well-controlled, I think schools should not open. Obviously, no sports either. And even in places where the virus is fairly well controlled–but still present in the community–I would advise a 60-year old teacher with type-2 diabetes not to be in classroom for 6 hours with a bunch of teenagers. Maybe he or she can help with online learning. As for sports, I think spectators sitting close together for 2-3 hours or going out to a bar with a few friends for a couple of cold ones after the game is much more worrisome than a group of 14-17 year olds moving around, even if sometimes at close quarters, for a 48-minute game. So I would not allow groups (of students or parents) to sit close together and I would test players at least a couple of times a week, but I wouldn’t close schools or shut down athletic programs if there is only a truly low-level of virus in the community. If case-counts are rising, I would shut bars and restaurants before I’d shut schools.
July 22nd, 2020 at 9:39 am
With so much fake news out there it’s tough to know what is fact and what is fiction regarding the Corona virus. Corona is definitely being politicized. I recently read a scathing article on how Sweden attacked the Corona virus, then I read where most of the deaths were in the 70-80-90 age range, 50% of the deaths lived in Nursing homes. Sweden kept almost everything open including the schools and their GDP only shrunk 8%, where many other countries that had lockdowns had their GDP decrease at 3X that level plus you don’t hear about the negative residual affects the lockdown caused- mental issues which include suicide, depression and anxiety, divorce, alcoholism etc. Now Sweden is showing very few new cases per day. One thing is for certain, the world was not equipped to handle this virus which is here to stay, and the elderly account for most of the deaths. I am a caregiver for my 81 year old mother who just came off of 2 years of chemo, I take every precaution with her, sending the elderly off to a nursing home or having them around crowds is basically playing Russian roulette with their lives.
July 21st, 2020 at 4:12 pm
@Kevin X The Prep’s game in Texas was cancelled–by the people in Texas–over a month ago. They also won’t be going to North Jersey to play Bosco in September since Jersey teams can’t start playing games till early October. As far as I know, the game against St. John’s DC is still on for, I think, the second week of September.
July 21st, 2020 at 1:50 pm
@ SCA69 I’m a GP and am astonished by your unsupported claims, Has Dr. Birx ever said anything along the lines of COVID-19 being no worse than a serious flu? If so, please provide a citation. And what is the source of your statement that many single cases are reported multiple times? Your stats also omit the possibility that some deaths caused by COVID-19 have not been reported as such, whereas, especially in March and April, there were certainly many such deaths. And nowhere in your calculations is there any acknowledgement that many people who have had the virus and survived continue to have problems, often serious ones for long after–how long, of course, we don’t know since the virus is still quite new. But if you think that most people who have been on ventilators for a week or more have no ongoing respiratory problems or that we’re inventing the kidney, cardiovascular, and neurological problems we’re seeing in people who had COVID, you must be enveloped in denial and disinformation.
As for the swamp, what accounts for the fact that health officials in Canada, the U.K. Australia, NZ, Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, Japan, Korea, etc. have all recognized that COVID-19 is far far worse than a serious flu? You must believe in a vast, deep conspiracy well beyond anything the world has known. I suppose that can be comforting, for a while.
I’m hoping we can focus on the best ways to open schools and to make it possible for students to play sports and engage in other extracurricular activities.
July 21st, 2020 at 2:35 pm
Kevin X….The Pine-Richland game didn’t work out.
July 21st, 2020 at 12:45 pm
I see above that Delaware Valley (D2) is once again looking for a Week 0 game. I know their trip to FLA was cancelled, but thought they rescheduled against P-R out in Pittsburgh. That now cancelled as well??
I’ll play match-maker, maybe third time is the charm. Guessing St. Joe Prep’s Week 0 game down in the heart of Texas is in jeopardy, if not already cancelled, so maybe a DelVal/SJP Week 0 game up in NEPA could be worked out. A much shorter and cheaper trip for The Prep, plus probably a whole lot cooler than Texas in late August.
July 20th, 2020 at 7:03 pm
I have made several posts on my Facebook site: no big deal, just wanted you to know where this is coming from. This is the second part of a two part post I made. Give it some thought. Understand also, I have a background in health care and virology. Not an expert, but I know enough to understand what is being said and the scientific data that is submitted.
This is a continuation of my previous post, “What if COVID-19 turns out to be no worse than a serious flu.” Dr. Deborah Birx, White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator, says there is nothing from the CDC she can believe. She goes on to say the CDC figures are inflated by as much as 25%. One of the reasons she gives is that if someone dies, even though they might have died from something other than COVID-19 and they tested positive for COVID-19, but COVID-19 wasn’t even a contributing factor, the CDC wants those deaths reported as COVID-19 deaths!
NOW, add in the fact that some cases are getting over reported, as I mentioned before…a hospital patient with COVID-19 is tested several times during his/her stay…each of those tests in more than some cases has been reported as new cases! So patient X is admitted with COVID-19 and she is reported as a new case. Okay so far. But now if she is tested, say five times during her stay to determine the progress of the disease, those five tests are reported as five new cases!
NOW, let’s add in the thousands of deaths State Governors caused by forcing Nursing Homes to admit residents infected with COVID-19 (nearly 60,000 deaths in nursing homes, personal care homes, and staff).
142,000 COVID-19 reported deaths.
25% over stated CDC statistics:————-35,000
and lets suppose 25% of Nursing
home, personal care home, and
staff deaths could have been prevented.—15,000
(NOTE: the above two calculations are approximations. I do not have a statistical confidence level. The truth is, however, deaths are being overreported and many nursing home deaths and their staff did not have to occur.)
And remember in all those 142,000 COVID-19 deaths only 31 children under the age of 14 have died.
That means to total number of deaths, adjusted for faulty reporting and causing more deaths than what would have
occurred equals…….92,000 deaths and only 31 children under the age of 14.
If we consider the Coronavirus to have infected as many people as a bad flu season…approximately 80,000,000…that means the fatality rate is: .115% an average flu/influenza season is .1% !
In a normal flu season, those over 60 account for nearly 80% of the deaths. The number of deaths over 60 attributed to Coronavirus is 83% to 85%. Not statistically significant…not a significant difference at all. It amounts to about 7,000 elderly if we use 142,000 deaths as the common factor.
Folks, this thing has been overblown from the start. And all experts, except for Birx and a few others, have been way off the mark.
Try to research some statistics and you get all kinds of numbers…it is a mess.
Me thinks something is amiss!!!!!!!!!!
Somethings of which one should be aware: All government agencies depend on taxpayer funding, which is allocated by Congress. Thus, these agencies must justify their existence and need for more money. You don’t suppose they might inflate figures to justify their existence do you? NO, long time bureaucrats are trusted public servants…they wouldn’t think of such a dastardly thing….would they? The swamp just keep getting deeper and deeper!!!!!!
July 20th, 2020 at 10:28 am
My sister-in-law is a teacher in northern VA and they are going two days in person and two days virtual. Half kids go two days the other half go other two days and one day planning for first half of school year. They are ready to go fully virtual during winter if it spikes during flu season. They want to teach but also want to have safety measures in place. The districts down there are huge (whole counties are districts). They are trying to get kids back but are taking all safety measures doing so. As for football in VA…..that has been suspended. No football in fall in VA and it may be played in spring. As for Gov, he atleast gave the go ahead for sports to practice. Games and travel are a whole different ball game and that will take seeing what the virus does before making a decision by him and PIAA.
July 18th, 2020 at 1:08 pm
Thinking back, the Governor let HS start practicing before 7/1 as long as the district had a plan. The administration also clarified mask rules to allow participants doing summer workouts to remove them during high intensity activity. I guess I’m seeing those as progressive moves that wouldn’t point to them shutting things down preemptively.
I think they will more like make some general rules (like the 250 outdoor event one already on the books) and say if you can meet those as well as the various mask rules, go for it. The PIAA will say, districts, make your plans. And we will start and see how it goes. If the Governor is going to make any proclamations, its going to be about the go/no go of in-person education.
By the time we get to November, if the state is in good shape, PIAA playoffs will happen. If it isn’t, that’ll be it.
July 18th, 2020 at 1:01 pm
It’s not the teachers they worry about, it’s the students. And all the potential law suits. The proposal in congress now pending,
about schools, hospitals etc, being exempt from law suits related to corona must go thru, otherwise, i doubt they’ll have school.
My daughter is a teacher. She wants to go back. And yes, she actually does her job, same as all the other teachers.
July 17th, 2020 at 8:08 am
Foleman, I agree,other people have to go to work with precautions,how come the teachers cant. Many of the people who have been working thru all this make a fraction of what the teachers make. Why cant they just let things play out and give it a chance.
July 16th, 2020 at 1:50 pm
If Corona cases continue to trend upward in Pennsylvania, our fearless leader will cancel all fall sports and have all K-12 schools back online. One of Wolf’s largest backers- the Teachers Union is already complaining about having to go into class and actually do their jobs. I seriously doubt we will have HS football this fall and it’s a shame.
July 16th, 2020 at 12:09 pm
@Frank, I agree with what they could do to limit attendance at games for HS. Maybe each players gets four family tickets, each coach gets two, each band member and cheerleader gets two. Maybe they allow only seniors (non football, band, cheerleader) to attend games. Allow all other students to pick one home game if they choose. I would hope tv would do more games for the general fan to watch of they did that
July 15th, 2020 at 4:44 pm
@Matt HS football may well get cancelled, but it would be easier to have football at that level than at college or pro level. Travel is shorter and simpler, no hotels, and no major problems keeping fans socially distanced. You won’t be able to have crowded stands or groups of students bunched together in the stands, but how often are there truly crowded high school games? I can see allowing families of players and even a limited number of students into games as long as they keep a certain distance. Of course, there will be no games if students aren’t in schools at least most days of the week.
July 15th, 2020 at 10:26 am
PSAC just suspended all sports for fall.
July 14th, 2020 at 11:06 pm
@Buddy….yeah not looking good. I don’t even think students will last long in school this fall. They will probably back to virtual by November. With IVY and Patriot league cancelling seasons, I expect other college conferences to follow and then HS. Pros have an advantage of money and being able to quarentine players in hotels for whole season and playing in empty stadiums. HS and Colleges need the revenue from fans. Pros have TV deals that brings in tons of money. Can we just fast forward a year? 2020 sucks!
July 14th, 2020 at 9:54 am
The patriot league just cancelled their Fall sports ( including football).
This does not bode well for high school sports. No fans allowed would be terrible, although logical.
NP, for such a large program, never has live streaming, like Neshaminy and Pennsbury.
WNPV is off the air. NPTV covers home games only ( too expensive to travel I guess).
Since there is no home games, don’t know what the hell they’ll do. Prediction: I think they will cancel Fall sports.
Too bad. NP , I think, will be pretty good this year and better next year ( although they won’t beat LaSalle either year ).
July 14th, 2020 at 8:08 am
Thnx Buddy. I actually did see on the North Penn website the other day that they tentatively scheduled 3 “home” games at Soudy, and one at Pennridge. The LaSalle game is schedule at P-W.
Of course, and unfortunately, seems like we have to preface everything with the if there is a season. Not overly optimistic at this point. Maybe best case senerio is a limited local schedule without fans/general public in attendance.
July 13th, 2020 at 11:25 am
Kevin X and all interested:
NP is setting up contracts at 3 different stadiums ( if they do play football):
Souderton, Pennridge and Wissahickon.
July 4th, 2020 at 8:28 am
Article on the North Penn Crawford Stadium renovations…….
OK, my question is, and can’t believe this was not mentioned in the article, is of course assuming that there is even a high school football season, where is North Penn going to play their home games?? I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere.
https://www.thereporteronline.com/news/north-penn-crawford-stadium-demolition-has-started/article_c1ff3106-bae7-11ea-8823-f7fca2e2d58f.html
July 2nd, 2020 at 10:21 pm
After tearing down Crawford Stadium and rebuilding it. what do you think the seating capacity will be? About the same?
http://stadiumconnection.com/pa/stadium.php?id=3508
July 1st, 2020 at 7:15 pm
I agree on the track around the stadium, Gurski Stadium in West Lawn used to have the cinder track and it was narrower and didn’t have the big areas in the end zones. Used to be able to stand along the end line almost at the goal post, now everything is set way back. Lose the feeling of intimacy. The Silver Bowl in Mount Carmel used to have the fans right on the lines too. Play on real grass!
June 30th, 2020 at 11:32 pm
@ FrankG
I’m with you with regards to stadiums sans tracks. Guessing most of us are. Probably all know the reason for them, the whole multi-purpose/space/economical angle. Kind of like the MLB/NFL stadiums of the1970s, including our beloved Vet in South Philly.
That is why my fav stadium in D1 is easily Kottmeyer in Downingtown. If you have never seen a game there, I’d highly recommend trying to get out there some Friday evening this fall, assuming we have high school football and with fans (thinking the latter may be the issue). My old high school’s stadium upstate was one without track as well. In fact, there was very little room between the sideline and the first row of seating. Maybe too close for comfort. It also has real grass and no lights. A real throwback, but missed out on the Friday night home game experience.
June 30th, 2020 at 11:18 pm
@ Buddy
Ok, better late than never to respond to your Crawford Stadium question, but I just saw this………enjoy!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd5OTpUqHKY
June 30th, 2020 at 3:20 pm
@Bob McSpadden
Thanks for doing the work and posting the results. I don’t know about others, but I wish there were more stadiums / home fields where there isn’t a track separating the stands from the field. Also, I’m curious about how many people usually attend games in some of the bigger stadiums outside the Philly area, e.g. Altoona, Scranton, Bethlehem, the big one in Erie, etc.
June 26th, 2020 at 9:47 pm
I’m a High School Football fan who has a compulsion about football stadiums and fields. (My wife calls it a disease) Back in 2004 I started an online database of all the football stadiums in Texas. I now have 1264 listed. Then I did New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ohio, Louisiana & West Virginia. Last year i decided to do Pennsylvania and my goal was to complete it before the 2020 season. Life got busy and thought maybe I’ll finish next year. … then can the corona virus and with the help of my son, I completed Pennsylvania Stadium inline database. The criteria for a field/stadium to be listed is that the varsity high school football team plays their home games there. I also list College and Professional stadiums. In Pennsylvania my number today is 554 facilities. The secret to the accuracy of all my stadium listings everywhere is football input because there are errors. I hope that you find this database a useful and i look forward to your input.
http://stadiumconnection.com/pa/
June 8th, 2020 at 12:03 pm
Thank you, Mgguy.
I had a great run over almost the 65 years, and now it is trying to see all the TV, video stream, etc games I can, with two or three in person early in the season to get that feeling. Who knows what this season will bring. None of the “buddies” that I enjoyed the games with have gone to games for many years now. Fortunately, only two of the group have passed on, both aged up pretty good. Thank you again for your thoughts.
June 4th, 2020 at 5:19 pm
Really enjoying Kmac’s write ups. Thank you. Takes me back to when I was at a lower anthracite game every Friday night and a Wilson WL game every Saturday. WWL at Pennsbury was a lot of fun
May 30th, 2020 at 7:20 am
Anyone hear news on the new stadium for North Penn? Supposed to start June.
May 29th, 2020 at 10:42 pm
PIAA should make state playoffs into 2 division one division being SMALL DIVISION MEANING ONLY SCHOOLS 1A-3A can participate in. And a LARGE DIVISION MEANING ONLY SCHOOLS 4A-6A qualify. Each division team holds a best 32 team out 1A-3A for small n next 32 for 4A-6A. EACH SIDE OF PLAYOFF BRACKET WOULD HOLD 16 on East n 16 from West I would love to see this happen instead of the basic 1A-6A state champion we would have SMALL DIVISION CHAMP AND A BIG SCHOOL CHAMP MEANING ONLY THE BEST WOULD PLAY. Imhotep PCC PINE RICHLAND NORTH ALLY PREP WOOD LASALLE ROMAN WOODLAND HILLS SO MANY MORE WOULD ALL BE I. ONE BIG KNOCKOUT TOURNAMENT. Would love to see this happen.
May 20th, 2020 at 8:50 pm
First let me say I wouldn’t consider myself a republican or Democrat. I am a normal human being. A couple of things here.
1. Colleges and universities HAVE to open this fall. If not it will be the collapse of the higher ed system. Why would any student pay 50-70k per year to learn online when they can go to online community college for 3-5k. No room and board. It will literally end the majority of private schools especially private school athletic programs not in Power 5 Conferences. Colleges will open. More colleges have announced they will open this fall than have announced they won’t including Notre Dam, Harvard, Dusquesne
2. We will play football in Pennsylvania. Will everyone play? Will it be a shortened season? I don’t know but some type of HS football will be played in Pa in 2020. If we are waiting for a vaccine than the next version of HS sports we will see is 2021 HS football. I KNOW NOTHING but my guess is shortened regular season with a shortened version of district playoffs that end before November 1st. Basketball/Wrestling is in trouble because of flu season and all the confusions that will bring.
3. College Football Players were just allowed to return to campus for summer workouts starting June 1st. It’s always a trickle down affect the NFL hasn’t budged in having a normal season now CFB is following suit.
4. Literally the only thing standing in front of HS football is Governor Wolf. I don’t know if he is right or wrong with what he is doing, that is not a discussion piece for here.
May 20th, 2020 at 2:22 pm
@ The Joneses I’m really hoping there’s a season. My point was that I don’t think the main issue is someone or some group not caring about the kids or about football or trying to “control the narrative.” From what I can see, especially when you look at other countries (Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, etc.) where there isn’t as much political partisanship over when and how to “open up”, there’s a great deal of uncertainty about everything to do with sports and with schools–colleges, high schools, etc. Today I heard Cambridge University has decided to go almost completely online till the summer of 2021 with its classes. Meanwhile, I’m wondering how the California state universities will field football teams when they won’t have in-person classes. And I see Harbaugh at Michigan is saying he’d rather play in empty stadiums than not play at all–clearly because he’s sees a real chance the season will get cancelled (not by the state governor but by the Big Ten). One question I have is whether the insurance rates boards and schools pay to cover their athletic programs, especially football, have changed.
May 20th, 2020 at 11:01 am
@Frank G:
Not so fast on the college football comments with many colleges saying they are willing play even if their conference says no football. NHL, NBA and MLB aren’t playing yet because they are stuck trying to work out compensation differences, which venues makes the most sense logistically and financially. One the hand the CDC says 60,000 people died in the flu season of 2018-2019 and we all were unaware of it says someone is controlling the narrative of the covid story. No politics here so we shouldn’t even go that rout and if we’re truthful its both sides. Let’s be cautious, lets be smart and Let’s get ready for some football. I have one playing in college and one in highschool. I want it all.
May 19th, 2020 at 2:27 pm
@ racer x Who is it who doesn’t care at all about the kids? MLB seems to be assuming they can’t have fans in the stands at least until fall. Colleges, many of which get a great deal of money from football, seem very wary about playing football at all, let alone having fans attend. I’ve heard lots of college coaches say they’re not sure it’s a good idea to play in the fall. Let’s see how long it takes for soccer leagues around the world to open their games to fans. Why do you think the NHL and NBA have yet to announce plans and–if they do resume–will exclude all fans and will enforce many of the precautions you seem to think are unnecessary? My point is that, especially in light of all the uncertainties and given the stakes, people in responsible positions WITHIN sports organizations are understandably cautious.
May 19th, 2020 at 2:16 pm
Racer: Not quite all in on the conspiracy, but you are correct that the PIAA has said they are taking direction from the Governors office. Thus far, over half the football playing schools are yellow and we are still a long way from the season starting. As long as there aren’t any huge outbreaks in the yellow and soon to be yellow area’s, They will get to green by the time the season starts. I think school will start along with sports in some fashion. I do believe there is a reasonable chance that not all of the state plays football and the PIAA has said they understand that. So maybe only half the state plays and the season ends after districts finals or state semi’s – or the brackets are redone to exclude D1/12 if they can’t play.
May 19th, 2020 at 9:14 am
Truth….unfortunately it’s a hard reality but, decisions on playing high school football this fall will be made by people who who could care less about football or the kids, orders will be given from Governor down, especially in Philly where they have more control, bottom line is this is not about the virus but the election in November.They will try hard to keep things shut down. People will try to fight back the orders and we are already seeing that.
However, If they do play you will have limitations on crowd(parents only), masks must be worn, social distancing, player temperature checks before game by health officials, time outs for sanitizing, etc. It’s all about continuing the fear porn, scaring people into thinking this is soooo bad that…. voting must be done by mail, in addition to other agendas here.
May 18th, 2020 at 7:27 pm
sausmann9…As a Cumberland Valley alumni I have 2 more to possibly add to your list (I was there for both games):
1992 Cumberland Valley vs. Upper St Clair (AAAA State Final)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cnqUiYUuko
2015 Cumberland Valley vs. Central Dauphin (AAAA District 3 Championship and State Quarter-Final) – Record Setting Game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cnqUiYUuko
I have displayed a shortened link to the USA Today article on the game above as to not give away the results (which were in the original URL). Don’t click if you if want to be in suspense!
https://bit.ly/2WHac4W
May 15th, 2020 at 3:37 pm
This seems more optimistic than not about starting in the fall.
https://pafootballnews.com/news/with-future-of-fall-sports-being-questioned-many-rumors-are-flying-around-will-they-start-on-time/
May 11th, 2020 at 5:23 am
Just a little less than 2 months ago while driving to the poconos to a job site, I’m thinking football isn’t to far off. Now most are wondering if there will be any football at all this season. Including college.
May 11th, 2020 at 1:02 am
If the quarentine doesn’t end and our season is sadly cancelled, I am going to try something here but might need some assistance/advice/etc.. If cancelled, starting August 2020 – I am going to try and post three to four games for an upcoming weekend. Many of you that still have a games list from me, start from the Mjsc. PA games section at the 1991 CB West v Erie Prep game and go up from there.
For example:
Week 1 in August we shall see:
1991 CB West v Erie Prep (AAAA state title)
1993 Blackhawk v Greenville (AAA western final)
1996 Blackhawk v Greenville (AAA western final)
1996 Blackhawk v Berwick (AAA state title)
Week 2 in August we shall see:
1999 CB West v Bethlehem Catholic (AAAA semifinal)
1999 CB West v Erie Cathedral Prep (AAAA state final)
1999 West Allegheny v Strath Haven (AAA state final)
Week 3 in August we shall see:
2000 CB West v Bethlehem Catholic (AAAA semifinal)
2000 CB West v Erie Cathedral Prep (AAAA state final)
2000 West Allegheny v Strath Haven (AAA state final)
Week 4 in August we shall see:
2002 Parkland v Woodland Hills (AAAA state final)
2002 Parkland v North Penn (AAAA Eastern final)
2002 Parkland v Central Dauphin (AAAA semifinal)
2002 Parkland v Bethlehem Catholic (AAAA D11 final)
Week 5 in August we shall see:
Mount Carmel Area v Seton LaSalle (AA state final)
Strath Haven v Hopewell (AAA state final)
Big 33 game PA v Ohio all-star game (played 6/03)
what do some of you think of this idea??? I have been doing this for some others for OOS games. Thinking of switching gears and doing PA games at the start of the season. would some of you get into these games or nobody into yesterday’s deal? let me know if good idea and I will see if I can post them starting 8/1/2020.
May 11th, 2020 at 12:39 am
question: anyone know where Stone Hollenbach is going to play??? I didn’t see his name on the spring roster nor is he on the quarterback depth chart; if he were to switch positions what would he do? Punt? Tightend? just curious b/c I have no idea but would love to see him start at some school and throw up some big time numbers. tx.
May 7th, 2020 at 11:41 am
Foleman….This is big news!
May 7th, 2020 at 10:59 am
This is Huge for Berks County, Wyomissing, Berks Catholic, Kutztown were having a very difficult time scheduling OOC opponents, a win-win for all counties involved. It will be interesting to see what teams will play up. I cant see Muhlenberg or Daniel Boone staying in the large school division, would love to see Wyomissing move up, they will crush all comers in the lower division. They would be competitive in the large school LL this upcoming season. Looking forward to the WYO/S. Columbia game this year……….if there is a season……….
May 7th, 2020 at 11:41 am
Robert….We are all hoping. I think the Philly region is going to decide if we have fall sports this year.
May 7th, 2020 at 10:52 am
Any word on whether the 2020 high school football season will be played?
May 6th, 2020 at 5:02 pm
I stand corrected on the date, league play will start in 2022
May 6th, 2020 at 3:55 pm
A correction, new league season starts in 2022 for the LL merger with Berks
May 6th, 2020 at 12:13 pm
A new “super conference” just approved by the L-L, 37 teams total with the addition of the Berks Conference to the L-L for football only starting in 2021. Resolves a lot of scheduling issues and allows for more competitive games for a lot of teams. Expect Reading to be in Section 1 with Wilson. Actual section breakdowns and organization to be addressed in future.
April 21st, 2020 at 9:13 pm
@Santa
Please don’t bring politics onto this forum.
April 17th, 2020 at 10:08 pm
From the North Pole Santa was wondering if Roth could send some of his players up for this upcoming Christmas. The Democrats have destroyed our economy with this fake virus and there scare tactics unfortunately for southern Columbia the Democratic Party has also destroyed any state title hopes in 2020. Santa is currently looking for great help with great leadership skills that could only be taught by the god of high school football coaches Jim Roth. Since there will be no recruiting opportunities for the 2020 class in southern Santa would like to offer every senior free living quarters meals and work putting together the best Christmas ever in 2020. We are no knoebles campground but we will keep you warm a roof over your head and fed to provide the best Christmas ever
April 7th, 2020 at 9:50 am
Hopefully, wbcb1490.com will continue to livestream games for several teams in Lower Bucks County. They focus primarily on Pennsbury, Neshaminy and Conwell-Egan, however, based on who those teams play you get a pretty good sampling of the Suburban One and Catholic League Blue.
March 13th, 2020 at 10:38 am
wonder if any other local station will pick up the NP games? probably not eh.
March 10th, 2020 at 10:06 am
Wow, could not believe the news, remember seeing Jim Church back in the day at games and talking to Jim, have listened to them for years and years, will certainly be missed, of course the big stations coming in and taking some of their biggest (and advertising dollars) games away, such as the Pennridge-Quakertown Thanksgiving Day game really hurt.
BTW PV will have their field ready before NP.
March 6th, 2020 at 9:38 am
Say it ain’t so, 1440 am WNPV is shutting down. That’s a huge bummer. I’ve been listening to that show since the early 2000’s, probably 2004. It was a gem. By rights it should have been picked up by 94 WIP. But it’s primarily a professional sports town here in Philadelphia. Many a Friday night I enjoyed the simple pleasure of coming home and listening to those guys; the quirky and funny Jeff Nolan, the affable and fun-to-listen-to Kevin Cooney (with a great Philly accent). Remember Dan Morehouse a few years back and of course the man, the myth, the legend Kyle Berger doing the play-by-play for the North Penn games. Lo’e you guys, was a great run.
March 5th, 2020 at 10:06 am
Kevin X……..sorry to hear about WNPV , used to listen to both football and basketball games on there. Looking at Perk Valleys schedule for next year,cant believe too many schools have a tougher September……Coatesville, Downingtown W,..Manheim Central,…Spring-Ford. The last three all on the road. I know some of those schools were hit hard by graduation,but they may have over scheduled themselves a bit.
March 4th, 2020 at 2:13 pm
It appears that Perkiomen Valley HS is joining the turf wars, and will be installing an artificial turf at their football stadium, along with a new track. Guess they are buying in bulk as they are also renovating the baseball field with turf as well. So, the big question, which football turf field will host a game first, North Penn or PV??
https://www.pottsmerc.com/news/perk-valley-school-board-oks-m-for-turf-fields/article_f25e29c4-5d8b-11ea-a51e-c323878964a9.html
Also saw some sad news today that WNPV 1440 AM in Lansdale is going off the air on April 30th. Enjoyed their Friday night football broadcasts if I wasn’t at a game, or catching the post game scoreboard show on my way home from a game.
February 28th, 2020 at 8:13 am
Happy Hump Day all!!!!
That is we’re at the halfway point (sort of kind of) from last year’s opening kickoff until the 2020 kickoff. Friday night lights in 26 weeks/6 months from today!!!!
But whose really counting………
February 26th, 2020 at 1:10 pm
Time for Mike Carey to make his return to the sidelines!
February 26th, 2020 at 8:26 am
@D1 Rob, It is true. I spoke to a parent of an incoming freshman last night and he confirmed.
February 25th, 2020 at 6:55 pm
D1 Rob, he did announce that he is leaving for Ursinus to the team yesterday. I am hearing that they will likely post the position as open to the public, but current assistants are welcome to apply. The passing game coordinator (Steve Devlin’s son) is also heading to Ursinus.
February 25th, 2020 at 1:14 pm
Hearing reports, that Kyle Adkins, the young and fair new HC is leaving Wood to become an assistant at Ursinus… I know there’s been some stuff going on during the Off season with the transfer classification bump to 6A. Does anyone have any insider information? And if this is true are they going to get an interim coach within the program or open the application process up to the public? I know former Bristol/WT coach Leo Plenski was the offensive line coach this past season.
February 19th, 2020 at 12:30 pm
Bob, I was not at any of the meetings. The info I had was from two Pittsburgh reporters I follow on Twitter who were at one of the meetings, though. Considering that one also posted screenshots to the preliminary playoff brackets before anyone else in the state had seen them, I took the Tweets as pretty credible evidence that they were there. That said, reporting on one appeal reason certainly doesn’t preclude other reasons for appeal (as you said below) and there are multiple meetings and steps in the appeal process. I’d think there would be minutes somewhere since these are all supposed to be public meetings, aren’t they?
February 19th, 2020 at 8:34 am
D3 Mike did I read your comment correct? The Wood principal argued the rule over player safety? That would be very very different than what was reported back to me. My understanding was that Wood’s argument was based around the rule change from 5 transfers to 3 transfers after they had already allowed four transfers, an argument that one of those 4 transfers was approved by the PIAA as a non athletic transfer after winning his hearing for the “hardship” rule, and also to do with the fact that they had LOST more transfers than they had gained. It would be VERY surprising to me if the principal argued against the classification due to player safety.
February 17th, 2020 at 8:51 am
@Kevin X
Yu da man! ( link worked).
February 16th, 2020 at 9:01 am
That’s what I heard too a few years ago about PW, that the rent asking price was pretty high. Don’t get why, because the stadium/facility is nothing to write home about. It is OK, decent, adequate, functionally, at best, but that’s about it, IMO. Basically location location location. I know there was some construction going on at the school the past few years, assuming the new gym (which is really nice, btw), so parking was getting tight near the stadium and construction activity. Maybe they can take another look, get some x-tra $$ to help pay for the new gym (and maybe upgrades to the stadium) 🙂
February 16th, 2020 at 8:50 am
Hey Buddy
This article is the most recent that I have heard/saw on the issue. Looks like it is moving forward, albeit slowly. Who know if, what, when, etc. it will actually happen. No promises that this link will work, I’ve been getting shut out do to too many freebies…….
https://www.thereporteronline.com/news/north-penn-board-awards-m-bids-for-crawford-stadium-project/article_2ac9869a-21d3-11ea-b479-e34d0fbd024b.html
February 13th, 2020 at 10:00 am
Cumberland Valley football adds former Penn State and NFL DT Jordan Hill to coaching staff
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/football/2020/02/cumberland-valley-football-adds-former-penn-state-and-nfl-dt-jordan-hill-to-coaching-staff.html
February 13th, 2020 at 9:22 am
Bob:
I second that thought on PW. I know that is why LaSalle stopped playing there. I guess PW doesn’t need the revenue after loosing two prime renters.
February 12th, 2020 at 9:44 am
Kevin X
I think the issue with PW is the cost. Last I heard PW price to rent the field is out of control. Nobody wants to play there anymore. I could be wrong but I don’t even remember as many playoff games being played there anymore as a result.
February 12th, 2020 at 8:06 am
@ NP fans ( hopefully there are some out there):
Has anyone heard anything on the new stadium at North Penn?
February 11th, 2020 at 6:45 am
PJP playing tough early schedule next year with Arch Carroll, Chestnut Hill from inter ac league and also Berks Catholic along with New Hope before Pac league games start.
February 10th, 2020 at 10:38 am
I see Northeast has a good competitive out-of-league schedule with:
week 0 – Gonzaga College HS (Washington DC)
week 1 – Camden High
week 2 – Paramus High (North Jersey)
week 3- Haverford
Good for Philly Football to play and showcase the talent in the area to the other areas throughout the country.
February 7th, 2020 at 8:30 am
I also saw that there will be an early season 5A state final re-match on Saturday Sept. 12 @ Wm. Tennent as Cheltenham visits Archbishop Wood.
@ Frank G
Seriously. That would be nice. What I’d also like to see, and this may be a little selfish, is that SJP gets out of Widener for their home field and move back to P-W, or north of the city like Upper Dublin or Wissahickon. I know LC has their home games at Wissahickon, but I was at the LaSalle/SJP regular season game at Wissahickon and it was electric (at least until late 1st qtr.). Same thing with LaSalle, find a stable home field. Believe they had “home” games at four different venues last season.
February 6th, 2020 at 4:53 pm
@Brian – I did not state Aliquippa would be forced to move up from 4A to 5A, but now that they are in 4A they will be forced to stay in 4A in 2 years if they have 3 or more transfers, regardless of whether they accumulate any success points. You are obviously correct about the combination of transfers and success points to initially move up, but once a school is forced to play up they stay in their new class if they have 3 or more transfers, regardless of their success at the new class, that was my point. If Wood or Imhotep has 3 transfers the next 2 years they will stay at 5A and 6A respectively and will not be allowed to drop back down a class.
You show your ignorance of how the WPIAL functions if you believe Aliquippa played up to 3A to avoid Southern Columbia, anyone from Aliquippa would laugh in your face if you made that comment. The fact is they moved to 3A when classes were expanded because that’s the class all their rivals played in, and if they wanted to play their rivals they had to play 3A, because the WPIAL only places teams from the same classification in a conference, which is different than most of the rest of the state. Had the PIAA not made the move to 6 classes I can guarantee you the Quips would have played in 2A the last several years and would have likely played and lost to So Col in a few of those state finals, and had So Col played 3A the last few years Aliquippa would have still played 3A, those are facts whether you want to believe them or not. I also disagree with you about 2018, as great as Farrell was Aliquippa was better than they were that year, and both Central Valley and Wyoming were a lot better than Farrell this year, you must be watching different games than I am. I’m not disagreeing 3A is the weakest class statewide, but take So Columbia out of 2A and then tell me you think whoever would have won 2A in 2018 would have beaten Aliquippa that year, because IMO Aliquippa would have easily beaten any other 2A team.
@ Philly Boy – Tony Dorsett did live in the projects in Aliquippa, but my understanding is he attended Hopewell because it was much better academically, as you mentioned they are bordering districts.
February 6th, 2020 at 12:09 pm
We started posting schedules
February 6th, 2020 at 8:36 am
When are the 2020 schedules posted?
February 5th, 2020 at 2:51 pm
@Kevin X I really hope SJP arranges that one of their games against a high-profile team from outside the area is played in the Philly area. Last year their three such games were in Georgia and at Rutgers (twice). Not many people in the school community and in the wider community can make it to games played out of the area. Going to games is a habit, and if you don’t start going in September, you’re less likely to go in October and November.
February 3rd, 2020 at 7:25 pm
Looks like SJP is heading down to the Lone Star state to open their season (August 29th) against Texas 5A champion and power Shadow Creek. Game is slated to be an ESPN game. They also have a game in DC against St. John’s on their early season schedule.
February 3rd, 2020 at 7:00 pm
That is all nonsense about PSU recruiting SCA. They do recruit them, but only give out a few offers and scholarships. They recruited Fleming, he just chose OSU that’s where he thinks he could excel at. Which if you watched the PSU bowl game they are going to run the ball a lot more next year. That’s why star wide receiver KJ Hamler is going to the draft this year. PSU has 4 4-5 star rbs. The comment about its cause SCA is surround by cornfields is funny. Like 10 miles south them is North Schuylkill high school and their linebacker got recruited by Penn state and signed with them. On that note would love to see sca play north Schuylkill. MCA does and it’s a decent rival between the 2. Justin shorter leaving Psu, didn’t play well in most of the games he played and was also injured for most of his freshman year. So he chose to take his abilities else where which now is easy with the transfer portal. I don’t like it but it the kids choice,
February 2nd, 2020 at 6:23 pm
Goldman, marks didn’t transfer out of penn st. He got kicked out because of some choices. He was talented but lacked work ethic. He tried to go to Pitt where Hynoski was but that didnt work out there either cuz he couldn’t stay out of trouble. As for playing Wyoming area. Southern added Wyoming area this past year and beat them 42-0 so I’m assuming it had nothing to do with whether southern was moving up or not. Southerns been trying to add Berwick for awhile now but they didn’t until this group graduated sounds like its week 1 of next season.
February 2nd, 2020 at 11:28 am
D3 Mike, thanks for the clarification on the transfer rules. Just shows how clueless the PIAA is, wait until the success factor hits the basketball powerhouses, it’s going to get real interesting there. Southern Columbia, as someone pointed out earlier on this board, gets all of their transfers in before HS so they will never have to move up with the new success factor. As far the WYo/SC game this year, I like Wyo, with 16 starters back over a rebuilding SC. Which leads me to another question. Did SC know ahead of plan that they would not have to move up to AAA? I believer they did as there was no way they would have scheduled WYO knowing that they would meet up in the State Playoffs. Wyo dropped Berks Catholic off the schedule as they thought they were moving down to 3A, BC opted to stay at 4A. On PSU recruiting SC players, SC players are so well coached they peak in HS, the few Div 1 football players they had over the years didn’t fare so well in College. Josh Marks was an all american lineman from SC who went to Penn State and never saw the field and transferred out. I believe SC’S Garcia was recruited by the Michigan staff to save a ship for Wrestling, I might be wrong, but I doubt he will see much PT playing football for the Wolverines. SC’S stud receiver Fleming was friends with PSU’S Justin Shorter, a former top ranked receiver who hardly played at PSU and just transferred to Florida, that didn’t sit well with Fleming, OSU puts receivers in the pro’s and having St. Joe Prep’s stud QB Kyle McCord signing on at OSU was a big plus.
February 2nd, 2020 at 10:45 am
Thanks, just seems odd that after one of the best seasons in school history and a nice run in the states, the WHOLE STAFF quits save one. Just odd.
February 1st, 2020 at 9:18 am
@ Jeff H — Speaking of Aliquippa, always wondered why the great Tony Dorsett didn’t go to Aliquippa if that’s where he was from. According to Wikipedia he went to Hopewell HS which is in Hopewell Township, a contiguous suburb. Did he technically live in Hopewell, was just curious what the situation was if you have any insight. Reminds me a little bit of how Bo Jackson attended McAdory High School (outside of Bessemer AL) although to the best of my knowledge he was actually from Bessemer.
January 31st, 2020 at 10:17 pm
Jeff I understand the transfer rule very well. You could have 100 transfer but if you don’t accumulate the success points it doesn’t matter you don’t get moved up. You can win a state title every year but if you don’t reach the transfer limit you’re not moved up. So if Aliquippa does lose every game for the next 2 years they won’t be forced up. As for AAA I will stand on my statement that AAA is the weakest class there is. The A and AA champion would’ve won AAA the past 2 years. I’ve watched AAA game both years and those teams weren’t impressive. I will stand on my statement about Aliquippa too. All these years they played AA with A enrollment until Southern moved up to AA and then all the sudden the Quips moved up to AAA. why did they move up all the sudden to AAA when they could’ve done it years prior to that? I know you’ll give me the same reasoning but ironically as soon as southern hit AA and beat them they just thought hey we should move up for tougher competition because AA is too easy even though southern demolished them.
January 31st, 2020 at 2:32 pm
@ Brian – Aliquippa playing 3A the last 4 years had nothing to do with avoiding Southern Columbia, I’ve explained it on this board in years past but will do so again, the reason they played in 3A was because almost all of their rivals are 3A, period, end of story. I can guarantee you they give absolutely zero consideration to what class So Col plays, and if So Col would have played 3A the last few years so would have Aliquippa. The WPIAL only puts teams from the same classification in a conference, so it they played 2A or especially 1A they would have been travelling long distances to play conference games against teams that were not their natural rivals from Beaver County.
There was a lot of debate among coaches and AD’s the last 2 months in the WPIAL over grouping schools geographically regardless of class and put teams from different classes in the same conference for the first time in many decades, but a large majority of the coaches favored keeping the conferences all the same class. You also don’t understand the transfer rule or you wouldn’t say Aliquippa will be moving back to 2A in a couple of years, they could lose every game for the next 2 years (which obviously is not going to happen, they will still be above 500 in 4A and likely make the district playoffs) and if they have 3 or more transfers they will be forced to stay at 4A for the following 2yr cycle, and they will have transfers due to the nature of that district being one of the poorest in the state with a lot of single parent households.
I also disagree with you about 3A being easier to win than 2A, any 3A champion the last 4 years would have beaten every 2A team in the state except Southern Columbia, the only reason 2A was tougher for schools to win than 3A was strictly due to So Col. Now if you said 4A was tougher to win than 5A the last few years I and a lot of others would agree.
January 31st, 2020 at 11:52 am
D3…Your narrative reasoning is insightful. (Though some may think “inciteful”.) You propose observations in your discourse that lends itself to further thought and discussion. Indeed “fairness” is subjective…somewhat like the old critical ironic observation that there are two kinds of people in this world: the “righteous” and the “unrighteous”! The classifying is always done by the “righteous”!!!!! Similarly with “fairness”. I agree that there is nothing fair or unfair about a H.S. student athlete not having the opportunity to play in a playoff or even a championship game. Perhaps “unfortunate” is the more appropriate term. Could we agree to start with the premise, “All High School student athletes should have the opportunity to play in the sport(s) of their choosing” or something akin to the idea? Given certain academic, attendance, and other criteria that is uniformly applied by all schools under the PIAA rules and regulations. Of course, then we get into the argument of, “why should a student who has a lower IQ (and thus, perhaps lower grades) be denied the opportunity to play because they do not meet the “minimum grade” standard for participation. It very well could be that that lower IQ student is actually exceeding (academically) what academicians and psychologists would expect! We can leave that discussion for another time.
Winning brings its own challenges, one of which is the direct proportion of wins to dislike. The increasing number of times a team wins seems to effect an increase the number of people who resent its winning. I wonder if those having strong negative/resentful/disfavorable opinions of SCA winning would have the same if SCA regularly lost in the first or second rounds of the playoffs, but still had undefeated regular league seasons? Then, I’m sure, there would be a chorus of those who wonder, “What’s wrong with Southern? They always choke in the playoffs.” Then again, those student athletes who played and lost to the SCA football team may very well brag, “we played the number one team in the country!” And those who played against Julian Fleming might say they played against the number one receiver in America. And how many athletes who played against Henry Hynoski will say with pride, “I played against a future pro-football player…or even, “I got run over by Henry Hynoski!” And perhaps those players on teams in the same league as Southern may very well speak with pride that they had the number one team in the country in their league. I recall when Mount Carmel, Berwick, and Southern were all state champions in their respective divisions. There was much pride in the area for the “coal region’s” football prowess. And I venture to guess that there are not a few athletes who have looked and learned from the dedication of the Southern football players and increased their own efforts and dedication.
I will end for now with another premise we might agree too…that we should not “punish” a successful team if it is playing by the rules. The argument then begins with…what should those rules entail? I will argue, however, there should never ever be a rule that punishes for success!
January 31st, 2020 at 9:29 am
sausmann9
I am fairly certain that PSU didn’t offer any of the other Southern kids other than Fleming.
I could be wrong but I don’t think they did.
It seems to me that PSU for years and years and years has some sort of recruiting matrix that kids have to fit into that includes being a certain size, namely height/weight. I don’t even usually see elite speed being as important for them. But you better fit the bill in your frame or else they aren’t interested. And I am a PSU fan…. They get some good dudes but I think they miss sometimes on evaluations because of their lack of focus on intangibles. Obviously that is not always the case (ex. McSorley) but I am just seeing a pattern since even the 80’s.
January 30th, 2020 at 10:05 pm
Honestly I don’t think it is a Southern Columbia thing. Look at the elite players over the past few years none have gone to PSU. Just off the top of my head
Swift Georgia
Maguire Clemson
Trotter Clemson
McCord Ohio St
Harrison Ohio St
White Texas A&M
Baramore Alabama
Pitts Florida
Upsure Florida St
Fleming Ohio St
Now they have gotten Parsons and Sanders which were two elite prospects. Also something to consider especially with the other Soco kids other than Fleming how much was PSU interested? They may have offers but most schools put out 200+ offers for 25 spots, a lot of those are non-commitable offers. I have no insight as to why but the elite college football teams in the country are Alabama Clemson Ohio St Georgia LSU Oklahoma… If you play college football at any level especially the power 5 level you cannot be concerned about playing time because if you are you aren’t the competitor you need to be at that level they are always bringing in players right after you just as accomplished
January 30th, 2020 at 8:42 pm
Mike, the rumor about Southern Lehigh is the administration wanted to fire one coach and the staff said either he stays or we all leave. I don’t know why one coach would be singled out, but I’d bet it involved a conflict with a parent or someone attached to the district. That’s all third hand, so take it for what it’s worth.
January 30th, 2020 at 7:28 pm
There’s no anti penn state at sca. Franklin isn’t going to recruit where cornfields grow around the high school football field. I’m sure all the sca boys would of loved to be at psu. The facts are that they are not from a big intercity school or from south Florida and franklin still lines up in the shotgun when its 4th and 1 from the 1. Santa will say no more cause even the undereducated can coach division 1
January 30th, 2020 at 5:17 pm
Sausmann, be honest, if you were a division 1 football player and were deciding where to that gave you the best chance to compete for a national championship would you choose penn st? Take being a fan of the school out of the equation. I’m a notre dame fan and if I was a division 1 football player I wouldn’t go to notre dame. They can’t win the big games.
January 30th, 2020 at 1:24 pm
Okay let me ask it this way since it seems to be a sore topic;
why no SCA kids interested in attending and playing for PSU?
January 30th, 2020 at 10:29 am
Anyone know why the Southern Lehigh Coaching staff resigned in mass (less 1) after one of the best seasons in school history? I saw something in one of the newspapers that they didn’t feel they had administrative support or some kind of constraints put on them, but nothing definite?
January 29th, 2020 at 7:06 pm
Okay two quick questions;
Is there some kind of anti-PSU mindset at Southern Columbia or was Roth ever “wronged” by PSU???
second question, after looking at the depth chart for Alabama and the fact they just brought in ANOTHER 5-star quarterback, at what point does Hollenbach look into transferring, starting, and actually playing somewhere while he has a few seasons of eligibility left? Bryce Young 5star, Mac Jones 5star, Tualia Tagovailoa 4star, Paul Tyson 4star, Hollenbach walk on.
January 29th, 2020 at 5:05 pm
I don’t see any sca fans crying. I do see them staying valid points why moving up to AAA doesn’t make sense. The word dominating has been used and yes this current graduating class was dominant but they had once in a lifetime team come through with 5 division one recruits. They had maybe 3 total in school history so they were fortunate to have them all in the same class. Last year they didn’t necessarily dominate like you say. Wilmington was locked in a 14-14 game mid 3rd quarter and the wheels fell off. When southern went up 2 scores Wilmington had to ditch they’re game plan and dig themselves deeper. Mt. Carmel fave them trouble for the previous 2 years. Their first state title they didn’t dominate and had several close games in states. Southern isn’t going to dominate like they did last year. Aliquippa played up to AAA and decided to do that once Southern whipped them in the state title game they knew southern was going to have the team they did. I said it before it’s easier to win a AAA title than it is a AA title. I expect Aliquippa to drop down to AA at the next cycle. That will depend on how they feel southern is doing at the time. My Carmel may have won a state title in 2018 if southern wasn’t there. Last year no.
January 29th, 2020 at 1:20 pm
Foleman, SCA and Wilmington won their appeals because the PIAA’s official look-back period was two years. For some inexplicable reason, the initial success factor rulings were based off of 3 years worth of data. So SCA and Wilmington appealed, and won. They didn’t even have to present their cases, the error was that obvious. SCA, specifically, had 4 transfers over the 3-year 2017-2019 period but only 2 over 2018-2019.
Wood appealed based on player safety and lost. They, and Aliquippa, should have appealed because the PIAA instituted this rule after they had already volunteered up. I don’t think they would have won but it was a much better argument (and received sympathy from many) than player safety. The board basically smacked the Wood principal over the head with the program’s voluntary, 6A-laden schedule when he tried to make the player safety argument.
Other ADs made a case that the rule discriminates against poor schools, which it obviously does. The PIAA probably would have granted that appeal if they only had 4 or 5 transfers. The one school (it was Farrell or Aliquippa, I can’t remember) had 20, though. That number of transfers is more than just poverty-driven, IMO, and why it was denied.
But yeah, a straight success factor would eliminate all of these rulings, appeals, and arguments. It’s what they do in many other states.
Also, I know you’re an area guy. Who’s your early pick in that Wyomissing-Southern Columbia game? Going to be a great atmosphere!
January 29th, 2020 at 11:31 am
Although its not as a player, its exciting to see a Mt. Carmel Area alum excel at the highest level of professional sports.
Best of luck to the KC Chiefs and GM Brett Veach in Super Bowl LIV!
https://wnep.com/2020/01/24/bob-and-donna-veach-on-kc-chiefs-g-m-brett-veach/
https://www.pahomepage.com/sports/local-sports/mount-carmel-native-managing-kc-chiefs/?fbclid=IwAR2vNrMVz2RwCMY18cFJrx59Uq-edlh-kOwnsm7PlpVjgxpjzYUecv6qV1A
January 28th, 2020 at 8:48 pm
Santa, you are a dreamer. Mt. Carmel likely would not have made it beyond districts this past season in 3A. Montoursville lost two games against two eventual state champions and also beat the Jersey Shore team you mentioned by 37 points.
January 28th, 2020 at 2:55 pm
Lets face facts, the transfer rule was implemented due to the private schools and some charters loading up on transfers making already strong teams even stronger. All of the Public schools thought that this was a great idea to restore competitive balance in the playoffs. Then the success factor was added, and when the Public schools realized it was going to affect them just as much as the privates, they cried foul, and to some degree its not fair for the Aliquippa’s of the world who are a 1A school and now has to play 4A. For Southern Columbia, which wins more football championships than any other football team in the PIAA and just beat a team by 70 points in the final allowed to remain in AA is an absolute joke. Is their any info anywhere on why SC is allowed to stay at AA and all of the other schools minus St. Joe Prep and Hburgh had to move up? I would love to hear from someone in the PIAA on what criteria they use to determine who wins an appeal and who doesn’t. I would not be surprised in the future if some high powered School Board lawyer takes this to court and that would be the end of the success factor rule in the PIAA.
January 28th, 2020 at 12:44 pm
This appeal business shows that the transfer rule just overcomplicates everything. Make it strictly success based. The worst thing you can do is put subjectivity into things, and that’s where we’re at. Any success factor that doesn’t bump up a team that has been as dominant as SCA lately is ultimately ineffective.
And before you SCA fans start crying to me about having it out for you, it applies to any other school that is as dominant. Cathedral Prep is moving up. SJP has nowhere up to go. What are you doing?
January 27th, 2020 at 10:41 pm
About sca staying in class aa. Everyone thinks that staying in aa gives them a much better opportunity to win a state title. That’s false. The 2nd best team in aa last year was mt. Carmel in fact they would of won the state title if southern wasn’t in aa. Mt. Carmel also would of won the state title in class aaa. They also beat a jersey shore state semi finalist in class aaaa by 3 scores. So southern staying in aa is actually putting them in a much higher competition level at least in district 4. The top 3 teams next year from class a to class aaaa in district 4 are in class aa with southern mt. Carmel and Troy in that order. All 3 would win all 4 classes if they weren’t in the same class together.
January 27th, 2020 at 4:17 pm
The * is because we’ll never know. AW is being forced up and wont get the chance to defend. They win too much. And they had 3 transfers over a 2 year span.
But they never mention the 11 kids that left during that same 2 year cycle.
@nw pa.
You’re making my argument for me. They lost to penn hills, barely beat Gateway, barely beat Cheltenham. They are now being punished for pulling those victories out. They are right on par with those teams.
On a side note, they will actually be better next year, had a very heavy junior laden team. But that still doesnt mean they should be forced up..
January 27th, 2020 at 1:14 pm
SCA, you raise great points and I submit that there are lots of perfectly valid ways to view this topic.
As far as “fairness”, it’s a subjective term that gets thrown around in this forum so often I’d be remiss to not address it. Personally, I don’t think kids are being “penalized” nor do I think it’s “unfair” to not get to win a state title. I appreciate that point of view and it’s probably the POV I’d have if I were from one of the schools on the short-end, here, but those still aren’t the terms I’d use.
I worked a lot harder than a lot of the kids who got to play in Hershey last month. Ended up playing two sports D1. Guess what? Despite the talent and work ethic, I didn’t have Roth as a coach or 5 other D1 athletes on my team. As a result, I never even saw the state playoffs, let alone a state title game. Was that ”fair”?
Is it fair to the kids who practice in urban Philly without goalposts while suburban districts have booster clubs to make sure players have whatever they need?
Is it fair that land in Catawissa costs $3 an acre, making it a lot easier to hollow out a dying Danville and Shamokin and concentrate all of the talent in a given geography in one district?
Is it fair that one QBs dad can fund the $7k tuition bills for promising transfers for his son’s team while the QBs dad at another Catholic school, can’t?
I could go on and on. I said this forever ago during the public-private debate. It will never be “fair”, no matter what anyone does. It wasn’t fair when only 4 district winners made the state playoffs. It’s not fair for boundary schools, now. It’s not fair for poor schools. It wasn’t fair when we only had 4 classes. Someday soon, someone will make the argument that it’s unfair that 6A has such a wide range of enrollments … and we’ll suddenly have 7 classes. This will go on forever.
The success factor is a utilitarian response: it’s intended to please the majority and a couple of programs lose out in the process. But the system will never be “fair”, with or without the success factor.
January 27th, 2020 at 12:28 am
As far as the new state playoff brackets are composed, there shouldn’t be any byes since the last couple of years was a joke for all the byes. None made sense.
For SCA not winning the Appeal congrats to them. I said this before SCA loves beating up on teams. They have so much fun with it. They get transfers but they come in at 8th grade level so they aren’t considered transfers and then they redshirt them. They will be at the AA level for a long time and will keep on winning titles but won’t move up to AAA.
Your are right about District 7 didn’t run the PIAA. District 3 runs it. In my eyes district 3 should be split in half. It’s too big. It has all the power
January 26th, 2020 at 3:56 pm
@warmeak: I wasn’t trying to stir up any sympathy for ECP. It’s a strange geographic situation. The WPIAL obviously has a ton of 5A teams and most of the rest are nowhere near Erie, but to put a team from Erie on the opposite side of the bracket from WPIAL is bizarre, they should at least play in the semi finals. With the lack of 5A teams on the western side of the state outside of the WPIAL there will obviously be traveling in the playoffs but the current situation makes it hard for the parents who have to travel a long way to see their child play. If it was the teams you route for I’m sure you’re care more. Also not sure what the asterisk is for? ECP doesn’t mind a challenge look at their schedule the last few years.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:52 pm
Intro: I was a forum contributor years ago, but took a hiatus for several years. However, I have followed the discussions. With regards to the PIAA’s “Success Factor,” and “Transfer” criteria to assign or reassign the classifications, I have a number of problems with its application. One is, why should a school, more importantly the players, be forced to “play-up” until they start losing? The scenario would be: A school wins for several years, then has to move up. That school then loses a few years, so it gets to move down. It then wins a few years and again has to move up. Why should those students who played in those years when the school moved up and suffered losing seasons, be denied the opportunity to compete against similarly sized schools and perhaps have “winning” seasons? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for those kids. Many may never play on an organized team again. If they dedicate themselves for those years they play to make themselves stronger, bigger, more skilled, etc., why should they be denied the opportunity to enjoy the success of their dedication? Two: The previous year(s) success is no indication for the future. Yes, there are teams, such as Southern, who have had success in their respective classifications for years, but for public schools, particularly such as with Southern, it is a reflection of the quality of coaching, the culture, school and community support, and numerous other individual and community factors. These factors and human elements should be rewarded and encouraged. Three: the whole purpose behind this “formula” is to make a school, and the players, lose! It has nothing to do with “fair” competition. Hey, if a wrestler wins states in his weight class, under this thinking, that wrestler should have to move up a weight class the next year! Or a pole vaulter who has won states the previous year, in the next year must vault a full inch, instead of a half inch, more than the next highest vaulter in order to win. If it is ridiculous and unfair to do it to an individual, isn’t it just as ridiculous and unfair to do it to a team?
With regards to the “Transfer” rule, the PIAA needs to expand the “allowable” reasons to transfer. Society is much more fluid these days with job length of service. Right now, the average someone stays in a job is five (5) years! But, there are many other “legitimate” reasons for moving: family growth requiring a larger home, a desire to change one’s environment, being closer to areas that support one’s hobbies and life’s interests, and various personal opportunities. And some student athletes may live on the fringe of a school district boundary, but have close associations with students in a neighboring school district, why shouldn’t he or she be allowed to be on a team with friends from outside of school? If a student athlete has the opportunity to play for a team where his or her athletic abilities will get more readily noticed by colleges, thus affording that student athlete a greater opportunity to get a college scholarship…why should he/she be denied. With the cost of college education these days…this is critical to the future of that person. The coach of Aliquippa also mentioned the “fluidity” of families and students in their school district, which I am sure affects many others. If a student (not student athlete, but just student) can transfer for academic, social, environmental, and etc., reasons these should also be allowed for student athletes.
However, I do agree multiple transfers in sports such as football and individual transfers of “exceptional” athletes in sports such as basketball, can effect the quality and competitiveness those respective teams. But only for those years that athlete plays. And if a student wishes to attend a private school and the parents are willing to shell out the money why not? However, the awarding of scholarships is another matter. The transfer issue is real, however having a winning history is not a reason to make student athletes move up a classification to make them lose. That is just not right. The NCAA has allowed the transfer portal for college athletes, why not allow some portal for high school athletes? Maybe the student athlete who transferred would not be allowed to play in the game in which his/her new team is playing his/her old team. But, would be allowed to play in other games and playoffs. But, that has its problems as well.
It is a conundrum for sure. They used to have separate playoffs for private and public schools, maybe that needs to be reinstated? Also, perhaps instead of a winning school moving up, a school with a continuous losing record should be allowed to move down a classification? But, there are philosophical improprieties with that as well. Whatever solution should arise, it should not penalize.
There is a change to the playoffs I would like to see. This observation comes directly from the playoff games between Southern and Mount Carmel. I am sure, in these past years, had Mount Carmel not have had to play Southern they might have gone far into the playoffs…maybe even reaching the championship game! There should be made available an option to a team like Mount Carmel to continue in the playoffs. They truly may have been the “second” best football team these past few years. Unfortunately, they did not have the chance to show that. Maybe, instead of districts, the playoffs are set up like the NCAA basketball playoffs, where the State is divided into four or six geographic divisions…NE, SE, NW, and SW and for six have central south and central north. The teams are then assigned (within reason) to play in these divisions so that the top teams do not have to play each other until later in the playoff bracket. Or a school such as in the case with Mount Carmel gets to choose a district in which it wants to compete for the playoffs. I mean, if the PIAA is so concerned with a good team winning too much, shouldn’t it be concerned with a good team “losing” too much?
January 26th, 2020 at 11:47 am
I don’t understand the asterisk comment? Penn Hills beat Wood a couple years ago and Gateway should have beaten them this year. And I’m pretty sure P-R isn’t any more worried about Wood that they were SJP. They may be good but aren’t unbeatable.
January 26th, 2020 at 10:12 am
Hey guys, thanks for the bracket info. I just saw on the PIAA website info posted (first reading/prelim) of all sports next cycle brackets, etc. (links below may be redundant):
http://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/2020-21_Fall_Brackets_Complete.pdf
http://www.piaa.org/news/details.aspx?ID=3825
January 26th, 2020 at 7:34 am
@nw pa
So Erie gets a bye in week 11, then gets to beat up on Hollidaysburg in week 12. Teams in that district haven’t faired well recently in the playoffs. Oil city lost 41-0 to southern lehigh who then went on to lose to Wood 41-7.
And you’re complaining about long bus rides after that?
Like its anybody else fault that there aren’t enough teams in that part of the state.
Should they just get a bye right to Hershey?
Or should the other teams have to travel 7 hours so they can have all home games?
Sorry man, I’m not breaking out the violin for that.
Just be glad AW got forced up to 6A and keep the asterisk handy in the record books. ECP, P-R, Gateway. Whomever.
January 25th, 2020 at 2:55 pm
Kevin X, I think you’re right about the districts and playoffs. I’d take it a step further, only take 16 teams and have it over Thanksgiving weekend. That’s still close to 20% of the teams in a class.
January 25th, 2020 at 1:56 pm
@D3 Mike: The 5A bracket is indeed odd. There are no 5A teams in District 10 so Erie Cathedral will get a bye in week 11 and then have to play I’m guessing Holidaysburgh (which is nowhere near Erie) and then teams from the other side of the state 3 weeks in a row to make it to the semi finals. 3 hours bus rides to a neutral site so early in the playoffs is a joke and no team should have to do it.
January 25th, 2020 at 7:56 am
How is it that Southern Columbia doesn’t have to move up to 3A? That don’t make no sense. That’s the epitome of where the success factor is applicable, are you kidding me?! I think the success factor is a nice tweak or improvement by the PIAA, phillyboy agrees with the premise, he’s all in. If a team chronically destroys their competition you’re darn right they should be forced to move up. Theoretically these teams should want to play up voluntarily but rarely do. I give semi props to Wood and major props to Aliquippa for stepping up to the plate, but some of these scalawags want to keep beating up on inferior competition despite the fact that they already have inherent advantages — what are they kidding themselves? If it were still 3 or 4 classes then I could see digging in at their natural class, but with 6 classes, come on, doesn’t pass the smell test. As has been pointed out the obvious flaw to this success factor system is that 6A teams can’t move up any more. Got to thinking though, over time the elite 5A or 4A teams will have moved up to 6A thereby giving the top 6A teams sturdier competition.
One thing I’ll say about Southern Columbia though, they do have the wins streak going (48 and counting?), not too shabby. I give them consideration on that aspect. Big time streaks are always intriguing. Could SC set the state record and possibly beyond that?
January 24th, 2020 at 10:15 pm
Why should southern be embarrassed? I said it before and I’ll say it again. Had southern played up the past 2 or 3 years to 3A or 4A next years group would be forced to compete at the 4A or 5A level. Yes this graduating group could’ve possibly won the state title playing up a class or 2 but the next group will be tested in 2A. Totally unfair to make these kids play in 4A or 5A and get embarrassed in playoffs. Since southern has joined AA in 2014 they’ve won 4 state titles, lost in the state title game, and lost in their district semifinal. 2014 district semifinal loss. 2015 state title by no means mercy ruling everyone. In fact there were many close games. 2016 lost in the state title game when this graduating group were freshmen. Happens to be their only loss. 2017 state title but not all blowouts. Even in 2018 there were close games. Wilmington was tied 14-14 mid 3rd quarter until the wheels fell off for them. 2019 was really the only year they absolutely dominated start to finish. This won’t happen next year. They will be in close games and might win a state title but they can be beat next year. It won’t be easy and they will need to work for it like they did most years prior to this group.
January 24th, 2020 at 8:09 pm
State College is a long shot to play Prep. They run a very good, clean program but are so well-known, statewide: a) because of PSU, and b) due to the fact that as the only major power in the area they are always playing late into the postseason.
They have actually only ever won the Mid Penn commonwealth (Central Dauphin, Harrisburg, Cumberland Valley, etc.) outright twice – in 2008 & 2009.
So to make the finals, State College would have to be the best team in a conference that they only win once every five or six years AND be better than the L-L league’s best team (Wilson or Manheim Twp)… then they have to beat the WPIAL rep, which I think they’ve only ever done once all-time. It’s certainly possible – it’s just not very likely.
January 24th, 2020 at 7:11 pm
@kevin x
If u feel like Southern should voluntarily play up, wouldn’t that be the same as not appealing the move up in the 1st place?
Of all the teams to win their appeal, its the one that mercy ruled everybody in it’s wake. What a joke!
January 24th, 2020 at 6:55 pm
Jeff H – you are correct on the 6A brackets.
January 24th, 2020 at 12:50 pm
I think SCA coach knows they will not walk through 2A like they did the last 3 years. They may win 2A again with their usual strong O-Line, the younger Garcia at RB and a solid defense but it won’t be a joke like it was last year. Unless they are getting any new transfers which I have not heard.
January 24th, 2020 at 12:09 pm
@D3 Mike – I will never pretend to understand the inner workings of the PIAA, any organization who forces a small 1A school like Aliquippa that is already voluntarily playing up 2 classes to play up another class and leaves Southern Columbia at 2A is a joke.
@New2PA – agree this could be State College’s year to get back to the state final, although if I understand the brackets correctly they will have to beat both the D3 and D7 winner to get there, they did get to Hershey in 2009 after they beat a Woodland Hills team that was decimated by injuries after their slug fest with Gateway for the WPIAL title and lost to LaSalle 24-7.
January 24th, 2020 at 8:40 am
@ WarMeaks
Why should Southern Columbia be embarrassed by winning their appeal?? This may be the only time I ever come to SCA’s defense, but who should be embarrassed in this whole success factor situation(s) is the PIAA. As far as I am concerned at the moment (we’ll see how things play out over time and if any tweaks are made to the system in the future), this is a classic case of taking one step forward, and two steps backwards. SCA played the cards that were dealt to them by the PIAA, and won their hand. Do I think they should still voluntarily play up?? Absolutely, but they are under no requirements to do so.
January 24th, 2020 at 7:48 am
Now that Southern has won thier appeal they will not be playing Dunmore.Dunmore will be playing Wyoming area in that week.Willimsport .will stay at 6A so their will be a change with the 6A teams in D2.i also noted that Berwick will not be playing any lackawanna conference teams ,but they are going to play Southern i also believe that Wyoming area is keeping Southern on the Schedule it all get finalized next week so them we will know for sure
January 23rd, 2020 at 7:05 pm
Kevin X – Check Kevin Harlan on twitter for the brackets. He posted all of them last night,
January 23rd, 2020 at 7:04 pm
X, seems to me P-R got a huge break at the state level in this. 2020 will be their best team since 2017. Can probably beat everyone in 6A – except SJP. They are moving down to 5A and WPIAL will avoid both Imhotep and Erie Prep until the finals. Not sure what D3 has (Warwick?) but out here its now its P-R, Gateway and possibly Peters Twp. And those last two are quite a bit different that PCC and NA.
I will be interesting for me to learn new teams and go to new venues. Hoping for big things from P-R in this two year cycle. P-R was down 50 boys from last cycle. I’m curious if they will keep dropping.
January 23rd, 2020 at 6:02 pm
Kevin, they aren’t officially published but one of the reporters took a picture of the meeting agenda with his phone and posted it to Twitter lol.
Here’s a link to the Twitter pic (at bottom):
https://tribhssn.triblive.com/wpial-philadelphia-area-teams-separated-under-piaa-playoff-proposal/
Or to blow up the brackets a bit easier you can follow Chris Harlan on Twitter and then scroll back to the evening of 1/22 when he posted these.
January 23rd, 2020 at 4:39 pm
Southern Colombia should be embarrassed by winning there appeal. Who are they afraid of in 3A ? They must really love boatracing there way through the 2A brackets. Cobra Kai. No mercy!!!
Seed the teams 1-64 in all classes.
I dont care how far the bus ride is.
Neutral sites are only 3+ hours away in any direction.
Wood might be a top 10 team next year and have to play SJP in the round of 64 or 32 at best.
January 23rd, 2020 at 12:43 pm
@ D3 Mike
Do you have a link or location on where we can find the prelim brackets??
@ New2PA
I’ve been banging that drum for some time now about just scrapping the districts and going for an even 32 school, 5 week playoff bracket, laid out with some geographical and seeding sense for each classification. But like you alluded to, pretty much a pipe dream, at least for me.
You guys do realize this 6A talk is all about state runner-up honors, right?? St. Joe Prep is going to be better next year than they were last year, barring numerous season long injuries and/or departures to their key players. Even with McCord and Trotter out the second half of the season, they still pretty much cakewalked, other than the PCC game, to the 6A crown.
Looser in this is Wood, assuming they that will be required to play up two classifications to 6A. They’ll be bounced in the first or second round next year. I’m sure not many tears are being shed with regards to this.
January 23rd, 2020 at 12:15 pm
D3 Mike, I mentioned this in another forum, but the districts are so lopsided, that many of those subregionals are necessary just to get close to WPIAL 5A/6A numbers – even though they are down.
For example, in 5A the subregional that plays D1 in the Semi’s (D2/4/6/8/10/11/12) only has a 16 5A teams total by my count. WPIAL 5A has 18. They both go to the Semi. Its not perfect, but it doesn’t make sense to make that subregional even smaller so that the D7 one was bigger.
Getting ride of districts would help balance things, but that’s not happening.
In 6A, NA or PCC will be playing State College in the Semi’s IMO. If there ever was a year for State College to break through to the finals, this is it. NA and PCC will both be down after big losses to their lines. NA has the Dinkins kid and PCC has Donald and the RB, but they both have to replace a ton.
P-R has them early in the year in crossover games, so I will know more about them then.
January 23rd, 2020 at 11:16 am
District 2 schedules are out. Southern Columbia playing three district 2 teams for the next two year cycle. Berwick week 1, Wyoming Area week 4, and Dunmore week 9.
January 23rd, 2020 at 8:25 am
Preliminary brackets are up. My understanding is that no byes will be allowed for any district except in Week 11.
Jeff, is the current PIAA board comprised of mostly PCC/NA alums? Not only does PR drop to 5A this cycle, but now the PIAA swings State College back over to the D3 quarterfinal, gives D7 the lightest semi field, AND matches the WPIAL winner back up with D3 in the semis of 5A/6A. Yes, that’s how it used to be but demographics in the state plus the move to 6 classes have changed the balance of schools at the higher classes.
Off the top of my head, the four 6A semi brackets are now comprised of something like 33 teams, 24 teams, 24 teams … and 14 teams? Regardless of the exact numbers, these look like great changes for D7-6A (and 5A for that matter). Not complaining as much as pointing out the unbalance and that the timing seems odd considering that the west is bleeding big schools.
Also of note: ECP and Imhotep would play in the 5A quarterfinals. Talk about a bus trip.
January 22nd, 2020 at 2:13 pm
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:12 am
“[Nick Singleton] was non-existent against Wilson a few weeks ago. He can continue to rack up his gaudy yards and TDs against the sisters of the poor. Besides, Wilson has plenty of RBs of their own who are just as good…”
Apparently Coach Day doesn’t read this forum or else he might have withheld the offer that Ohio State extended to the sophomore, this afternoon. Singleton is already the most heavily recruited RB to come out of District 3 since LeSean McCoy, if not ever. They are nowhere near the WPIAL teams (or ECP for that matter) but look for his Governor Mifflin squad to challenge Warwick, Manheim Central, Imhotep and the usual suspects in District 1 for top billing in the “east” in 5A over the next two years.
In other offseason news from District 3, Bishop McDevitt has once again added Harrisburg to its already brutal schedule. McDevitt is presumably in some sort of competition with Berks Catholic to attempt to finish 5-5 yet still win D3-4A. Barring transfer drama, Harrisburg will probably be the favorite in D3-6A next year.
Finally, the Lancaster-Lebanon and Berks leagues have resumed talks to form a 36-team football-only mega-league (presuming Kutztown drops) for the 2022 season. It looks like both sides really want this to happen to improve scheduling, so I’d look for the merger to get wrapped up by the end of the 2020 season.
January 15th, 2020 at 9:55 am
@New2PA – I think Aliquippa is getting screwed by the PIAA, it’s ridiculous to force a small 1A school to play schools week after week with 3 times their enrollment. They will certainly win some games but will be totally over matched come playoff time and it won’t be pretty if they have to play TJ.
@WarMeeks – i know you said in jest District 7 runs the PIAA, if that’s true why the hell did the PIAA deny Aliquippa’s appeal to stay in 3A!
January 14th, 2020 at 9:42 pm
PIAA denied Alliquipa’s request to not be forced to move up. Unless they appeal and the PIAA Board overturns the ruling, they will be playing 4A. Very tough level for them.
https://tribhssn.triblive.com/piaa-denies-aliquippa-request-to-remain-in-class-3a-football/
January 14th, 2020 at 7:21 am
Has anyone-out their heard the rumor that Berwick is planing to move to the heartland conference in D4????
January 13th, 2020 at 8:52 pm
Imhotep has 2 Freshman that went on and balled out to make NCAA Freshman All American in football Congratz to Omar Speights And Tykee Smith for putting up All American stats as freshman congratz 2 future Imhotep NFL players.
January 13th, 2020 at 2:34 pm
Anybody know if ECP (to 5A), Imhotep (to 5A) or Wood (to 6A) are appealing their success-formula-moveup?
January 13th, 2020 at 8:30 am
To follow-up my previous post…….
9 current NFL head coaches played high school football in PA …
Kevin Stefanski
Browns
St. Joe’s Prep
Joe Judge
Giants
Lansdale Catholic
Sean McDermott
Bills
LaSalle College
Matt Nagy
Bears
Manheim Central
Matt Ruhle
Panthers
State College
Mike McCarthy
Cowboys
Bishop Boyle
Frank Reich
Colts
Cedar Crest
Bruce Arians
Buccaneers
York William Penn
Vic Fangio
Broncos
Dunmore
January 12th, 2020 at 4:44 pm
With the recent hire of Kevin Stefanski by the Cleveland Browns, there are now 3 current NFL head coaches with Philadelphia Catholic League roots. Stefanski (St. Joe Prep), New York Giants recent hire Joe Judge (Lansdale Catholic) and the Buffalo Bills Sean McDermott (La Salle). Must be that recruiting thing…….
January 6th, 2020 at 5:12 pm
@ Michael R
I think we have a chicken and egg situation here. I understand colleges cast their nets as widely as possible. But I think the quality of the coaching varies a whole lot from high school to high school and to a considerable degree the more successful the program the better the coaching–though of course I realize that there are very good coaches in HS programs that don’t have winning records let alone state championships. I’m thinking of kids who come to high school without a lot of experience playing organized football–and that might be a majority these days–and who because of size or body type become linemen. I’d argue it’s a big advantage for those kids to have good players/models ahead of them, longer seasons (because their teams go deeper into the playoffs), high standards that are clear and achievable, and coaches who can help them reach those standards–through all four years of high school. And of course it’s also helpful if they go to a school that will prepare them academically so that their choice of college is wide and they are truly able to be academically successful in college.
If we look at which high schools produce the largest number of student-athletes with college scholarships we can argue about how much of a factor the particular high school was and how much of a factor the underlying talents were. Adolescence can be a difficult and sometimes a dangerous period. Parents have to decide (among other things) which school will help their sons come out in the best situation on the other side.
January 6th, 2020 at 12:28 pm
Michael, 100% agree about a kid leaving a public school for a better academic situation. Often the reasoning is just athletic, but that’s really neither here nor there… it’s still the family’s choice. I’m not 100% sold on the total separation like NJ, but having lived there, I don’t see how it’s been bad for the public schools either. Non-boundary recruiting based on athletics is rampant in SE PA and while there might be a few “dog bites man” instances of boundary schools skirting the rules, those same rules make it perfectly legal for non-boundary schools to recruit. How much worse can it get for public schools who are already surrounded by privates that are constantly whispering in their best athletes ears?
January 6th, 2020 at 9:50 am
@4th and Long it will hurt public schools because when you separate ie NJ and MD the gloves come off and recruiting will now become an open accepted process and you will see what has happened in Maryland and New Jersey. I get district 1/12 argument to a degree a kid from Garnet Valley going to St. Joes Prep, like WTH. My disagreement is where a kid from the Philly public schools going to a PCL or an Allentown SD kid going to ACC or Beca. How in the world can we blame these kids for leaving school districts like that for private schools that are going to help them change their future in a positive way? And I don’t mean football scholarships, I am taking and preparedness for college, which you are not going to get in those school districts, and anybody who argues that is ignorant, they are bettering there situation. I am not a private school guy, but I understand both sides of the argument, and I honestly think that people on the private school side are just as ridiculous. If you only see one view and cannot step away to see the other side of the argument, then it is just ignorance.
@Frank G you could not be more wrong about being recruited by lower-level schools. All Division 1 schools from Ohio St to Temple to Villanova to Bucknell buy recruiting reports from companies such as CSD, National Preps, XO’s, etc all companies which do not charge kids or their families. They get these names by calling, emailing, and visiting every high school and getting prospective names from the actual high school coaches. Often times (a majority of the time) HS coaches see their kids as playing at a higher level than the kid can actually play at. So what happens is an HS coach will think one of his players is a D1 kid and when evaluated by college coaches they do not see him as a D1 kid, that is when the argument usually becomes well I didn’t go D1 because of my team. 99.9% of HS players end up at the level they should be playing at or a level above where they should be playing. The other .1% of players that we hear about from D2 and D3 schools going to the NFL were oftentimes not developed coming (body type-wise) coming out of HS and were developed in 5 years of college football. D2 and D3 schools visit almost every school in the state during December and January. I can assure you no college coach would ever not stop into a school to see a kid because of where they play football. Those are just facts.
And my point is as above and I am using a hypothetical is a kid from Garnet Valley does not need to go to St. Joes Prep or AB Wood to get a college scholarship.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:48 pm
Michael, why do you think separating publics and privates would hurt public schools? Kind of funny that those on the forum in favor of separating them seem to be from the SE districts (1/11/12) while those opposed seem to either be fans of PCL programs or from another part of the state. Unless you’re from those districts, I think it’s hard to understand what it’s like for the boundary schools there. As we speak, eight of the top teams in the Philly Inquirer’s SE PA boys basketball poll are non-boundary programs. While having separate boundary/non-boundary state champions probably isn’t palatable, maybe there are other solutions.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:29 pm
D3 Mike, West Catholic is AA and Aliquippa is A playing up to AAA.
January 5th, 2020 at 11:54 am
Still all this talk about Southern Columbia. The beat goes on and off the field. Makes me want to buy a Championship T-shirt from the tiny school nestled between two cornfields. From a Dunmore bucks fan.
January 5th, 2020 at 10:54 am
@ Michael R
You’re right that Fleming gets recruited regardless of his high school team. But good programs with good coaches can really help kids who play less high-profile positions (i.e. linemen, defensive backs, etc.) improve their skills and get noticed. They rarely wind up in the SEC or the Big Ten, but their chances of getting offers from Bucknell, or Colgate, or Sacred Heart, or Maine, or … are higher.
January 5th, 2020 at 10:33 am
The argument with the transfer rule isn’t the actual transfers. It’s the fact that any new kid on the roster is considered a transfer. Freshmen not varsity last year, 8th graders now freshmen on varsity, a kid who didn’t play in 10th or 11th but this year decides to go out for football are all considered transfers. Now all the coaches at schools who have reached the success points have to appeal that because They will all be over the limit of transfers due to new names on rosters. Don’t get me started on success points. A team like Lackawanna trail who didn’t win a stars title during this cycle, but because they went far in playoffs they would need to move up if they are over the transfer limit but a team like Farrell who has won back to back state titles would not need to move up if they were under the transfer limit. The idea is a good one but the guidelines used to determine it doesn’t make sense.
January 5th, 2020 at 12:39 am
Certainly Southern Columbia is one of the best programs in modern day and Pa football history. I’m really asking this question, was is it even fun for Southern Columbia this year? They clearly saw this group coming as a special group, with a Division 1 QB a class ahead (a kid who did not live in soco sd btw). Why didn’t two years ago they decide to move up and play 3 or 4A for 2 years with this group coming through? I personally think they would have won every class except 6A this year. And I honestly don’t think it would have been close.
Anybody who thinks that private schools don’t have it easier are crazy. But I guess my question is what are private schools selling or recruiting kids on? I can assure you that you do not need to be on a winning team or play in a certain league to be recruited. It is almost impossible to be under recruited in today’s day and age. Julian Fleming could have played for a 1A school somewhere in north central pa for an 0-10 team and Ohio St would have recruited him. If you don’t believe that you are naive and do not understand recruiting. So what are they selling them? Poor facilities? Paying tuition? No home stadium? Wearing a uniform every day? Success recruits itself. Kids were coming from all over to play for George Curry and Mike Pettine, because the success recruits itself. In today’s day and age with social media all of these kids are friends it’s not the traditional way everyone grew up, the kids “recruit” each other at private and yes at public schools too.
The worst thing this state could do is separate public and private, it would be a huge mistake. One that would hurt the public schools much more than the privates.
January 4th, 2020 at 11:43 pm
Brian, 2015 was the last time PA had 4 classes for football. That year, Southern Columbia played in 2A and went 16-0 en route to winning the state title. The last four teams they beat in the playoffs were Montoursville, Berks Catholic, West Catholic, and Aliquippa. Those four programs spent the past four years in 3A, 4A, 3A and 4A, respectively.
So when I say I think SCA should have “played up” it is partly because they already PROVED that they could beat the elite 3A schools, and beat them without a superclass stacked with D1 players. It was their choice to stay at their enrollment for 2016-2019; I just would have made a different choice, especially considering the talent they had coming up (the argument about them having to play at 4A in 2020 if they had made that decision is moot; no AD knew about the transfer rule when those class choices were made. And they’d be fine in 4A, anyway).
And here we are, 63-1 and 3 mercy rule state titles later, and SCA is STILL trying to avoid 3A… where they may have to face in the 2020 district and state title games **gasp**… Montoursville and Aliquippa? Do you see where I’m getting at here? They’ve spent decades playing these programs. They won what is now 3A in 2015. They probably would have won 3A from 2016 thru 2019. They’ll be preseason #1s in 3A in 2020… but (some of) the program/fans are still whining about the transfer rule and spouting nonsense about “participation trophies”? I just don’t get it. Good luck with the appeal, I guess.
January 4th, 2020 at 9:39 am
You’re entitled to that opinion. A team that has the ability to pull kids into their program without a boundary is going to have a better chance winning. I’m not saying wood had any but I do know several other schools in the Philly Catholic League had athletes on their team from out of state as far as Texas. I believe one kid won a state title in New Jersey and since their season ended earlier transferred into a school in the PCL to try and win a state title in PA. When the PIAA doesn’t have the rules in place to prevent that it’s easier to win. I believe some athletes even play at one school for one sport and then transfer into another school for another sport season. As regards to Southern not playing up I remember when they were in class A they were told that if they played in AA they’d never win there because they’re just a small school a small school football doesn’t count. They’ve been in AA for 6 years now and have won 4 state titles and lost in the state title game another year. Now people say move up to AAA or 4A and yes this group could’ve played up 2 classes and probably won some of those years and with the success factor rule now, If that was the case this in coming group would maybe need to play 5A. That would be greatly unfair to this group that wouldn’t be able to compete because they’re not as close to being talented like this past once in a lifetime group. There are few 4A and no 5A schools in their area. There are several teams that have a case for team of the decade and Wood is definitely one of them. However I will always pick a public school over a private school and that’s just my opinion.
January 3rd, 2020 at 6:28 pm
You are allowed to have your opinion Kevin X.
January 2nd, 2020 at 9:27 pm
@ Brian
Mmm, sorry, I’d have to go with Wood for that hypothetical team of the decade. I had to use two hands to count the number of state championship won, and that would be six. And by the way, the most recent 3 were all won by “playing-up” in classification, a foreign concept in SCA Nation. Just curious tho, that gaudy regular season record that you quoted, outside of this past season, how many of those games were played outside of District 4??
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:21 pm
@Jeff H You say that the dominance of a few teams is not good for the health of the sport in the state. Maybe that’s true, but I wonder if it applies to all classes. I also wonder if SJP’s success in the last seven years (five state championships and one other appearance in the final) is really a reason District 11 has been down and District 7 has had, according to some, fewer strong teams than it used to have. And would Neshaminy, Pennsbury, North Penn, etc. be better if SJP were weaker? I’m not asking because I’m sure the answer is “no”, but I need some convincing the answer is “yes”.
January 1st, 2020 at 9:47 pm
@ Jeff H, WarMeaks and phillyboy……..dang guys, all very well stated. Much appreciated, you all saved me a ton of typing 🙂
January 1st, 2020 at 5:17 pm
Like I said, a few years ago, Wood was absolutely 6A. New coach, new philosophy. He coaches whomever shows up.
All the “recruiting” nonsense is overblown bs. If he’s recruiting, he’s not very good at it, otherwise, they’d have more kids.
To me, the difference between 1A-4A is minimal. The biggest jump in class is from 5 to 6.
Any team in 6A is being sacrificed to SJP moving forward. Who Wood plays every year in the pcl and hasn’t beaten recently.
Happy New Year EPA forum peeps !
We all know District 7 runs the piaa.
January 1st, 2020 at 11:18 am
Team of the decade Southern Columbia Tigers. 138-9 record. 97-3 regular season record. 9 district titles. 2 PIAA runner up titles. 4 state titles. Currently on a 48 game win streak. Currently on an 86 game regular season win streak. Now the incoming class needs to keep the tradition going.
December 31st, 2019 at 5:30 pm
Jeff, not exactly. If they had lost to Gateway they would have still played in 2 state semi-finals this cycle. That’s 6 points and enough to move up regardless.
Warmeaks, no, most of those 28 games were not against D12 and overmatched D11 schools. 11 were. Here is the list of ALL PIAA games (so no D12) for Wood this decade:
2010 Strath Haven 24-14 (4-time state finalist)
2011 Pottsgrove 44-21
2012 Interboro 35-7
2013 Academy Park 42-14
2013 Berwick 42-14 (7-time state finalist)
2014 Great Valley 44-7
2014 Somerset 63-20
2014 Central Valley 33-14 (2-time finalists)
2016 Whitehall 56-13
2016 Academy Park 37-0
2016 Harrisburg 37-10 (2-time finalists)
2017 Wyoming West 41-14
2017 Unionville 49-29
2017 Gateway 49-14 (1-time finalist)
2018 Hollidaysburg 38-7
2018 ** Penn Hills 13-20 (2-time finalist) **
2019 Southern Lehigh 41-7
2019 Gateway 24-21 (1-time finalist)
2019 Cheltenham 19-15 (1-time finalist)
So in the PIAA playoffs this decade, Wood went a combined 18-1 against public schools. That’s against DISTRICT WINNING boundary programs, many of them 13-0 and 14-0, some of whom have PLAYED FOR OR WON STATE TITLES. These are NOT overmatched D12 publics. These are 18 wins against elite boundary programs in Pennsylvania, and Wood stomped them by an average score of 40-13. It’s clear from these results that if they are still recruiting and winning at level X that they need to be moved up to level X+1. I don’t think “net transfers” is a bad idea to account for the outflow of talent but I mean, really guys. Look at those results. This isn’t the program for which you should be grasping the violin.
And to echo Kevin… Happy New Year’s everyone!
December 31st, 2019 at 9:13 am
….and not to go out on a sour note for the year, based on my last post, so Happy New Year’s all!!!
I enjoyed (for the most part) reading your opinions and your personal, inside and local information. See you all next year!!!
December 31st, 2019 at 9:08 am
This is copy and paste from Twitter (my version of a retweet) from Jeff Reinhart, high school sports reporter out of Lancaster. Unfortunately, I think he is spot on with this. As I have once again transitioned from live football games to live local high school basketball games, both boys and girls (actually, more girls games) I’ve been noting this more and more. Maybe it’s the cozy confined indoor quarters of a high school gym, which enhances this nonsense, but I could say it also translates to the few soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and baseball games that I have attended recently. Football is no exception. You guys are going back and forth with the success factor stuff, the age old private vs. public debate, recruiting, whining about unfair advantages, etc., but I think this may be the biggest under the radar issue across all of high school sports in this state rate now, the boorish behavior of fans (from choice of language right up to shootings) and the current, and will most likely get worse, shortages of officials. I get why they have no interest or quit. Why deal with this crap??
“This close to a column about fan behavior at high school basketball games. And remember, I cover girls games. Not that it matters either way but … I can see why referees simply don’t want to do this. It’s brutal.”
December 30th, 2019 at 5:07 pm
I find it amusing you guys use the term “punished” for schools being forced to move up due to long term success with multiple state titles. Those that are successful in life challenge themselves, and when a school dominates a particular classification for years, particularly the lower classifications, it is entirely logical to challenge yourself and your team by playing tougher competition in the playoffs, and should in no way be viewed as punishment to the kids. You SCA fans act as if its your birthright to get to Hershey every year, just another game on the schedule. It seems obvious to neutral observers like myself who have followed football statewide for decades that certain programs should play in a higher classification commensurate with their stature as one of the elite programs in the state, I made the same argument to guys on the western board for years about Erie Prep, I just don’t think a school with their rich history and tradition should be playing in 4A, and the same can be said about SCA in 2A.
What I don’t agree with is forcing schools to move up that have never won a state championship, or have not won one in recent memory, like Lackawanna Trail and Wilmington, for example. I also have reservations about schools that are voluntarily playing up already being forced to play in a higher class, and yes that includes Wood. They could have easily lost to either Gateway in the semi-finals or Cheltenham in the final, and they most definitely got a big break when Derrick Davis was unable to play, if he plays and is 100% Gateway likely wins that game and we’re not even having this conversation about Wood. Now if Wood continues to have dominant teams like that had in 16-17 that were head and shoulders better than everyone else in 5A then yes, they should play in 6A, but based on their teams from the last 2 years, and the fact they are already playing up a class, I don’t think they should be forced to play up for the next 2 year cycle, if they were to stay in 5A and win the next 2 titles I would probably feel differently for the following cycle.
For those of you not paying attention high school football is on the decline in this state and many other states, with much lower participation rates, and the overall talent level has dropped considerably in this state, and for a few schools to continue to dominate year after year is not good for the sport in general, all I’m saying is take a look at the big picture and don’t focus on your individual school that you are affiliated with.
December 29th, 2019 at 5:35 pm
From the North Pole santa wishes everyone a merry Christmas. Looking down from the North Pole at my point of view I believe they should let southern drop back down to single A after the hit from graduation. We all would hate to see them play in a state championship game in which they don’t mercy rule there opponent by half. Santa votes sca for single A to keep things competitive. Have a merry Christmas and happy new year
December 29th, 2019 at 11:43 am
I appreciate everyones opinions, but again, specifically for Wood,
They are 4A by enrollment.
Not every student goes there to play football. Believe it or not.
Probably 2A by roster size.
Only had 32 kids dressed for the title game. Not because their wasn’t enough room on the bus, but because thats all they had.
Had to cancel their last jv game because they didnt have enough healthy kids.
Catholic school enrollments are in a downward spiral. At one point Archbishop Ryan was the largest school in the country. Now I hear they are moving down to 4 or possibly 3A.
Judge is also moving down to 5A.
If Wood goes up to 6a, Judge would be the lone pcl 5a team and get 2 byes in the playoffs. Would play ppl champ in the round of 16. Thats a joke. Like I said before, they need to get rid of district 12 at the 5A level.
Someone said wood is 27-1 in the playoffs. Most of those are against bad d12 teams and overmatched d11 schools.
5 years ago, I would agree, they were a 6A team. They are nowhere near that level nowadays. Just a solid 5A team.
Won last 2 games by a total of 7 points. Scored in final seconds to win both.
Its not like they steamrolled their way to a championship. They earned it the hard way.
Where do the successful 6A schools go?
SJP, PCC, Central Dauphin, etc
Pine Richland is the only team in the state to beat The Prep in the last 3 years and they are moving down. ???????????
December 28th, 2019 at 7:24 pm
Dag, D3 Mike, if that’s your last post of the year you went out with a bang. I must say, earlier in the year IMO you had the one liner of the year when you said, paraphrasing, ‘Nowadays players would rather sign up with Mater Dei, Alabama or the New Enlgand Patriots rather than try to beat them.’ — that was awesome.
To Southern Columbia nation: just got to get something off my chest, why are you guys so defensive about staying at the 2A level? In case anybody was curious about phillyboy’s take on this, I absolutely think the Tigers should have played up, big time. Did you want me to lie to you and tickle your ears or tell you the truth?! Flat out, SC should have played 6A for this past 2 year cycle. I even posited this idea a long time ago, to no avail. It’s not my fault you guys didn’t consult with phillyboy or at least privately heed his generous advice. Yes, everybody knows they’re a 2A team and have a phenomenal program and all that. I disagree with the premise that it’s a punishment to have to class up. Meanwhile a lot of people suspected that this particular group was special. Should have ambitiously gone for it, at least for this cycle. This team was awesome, 100% phillyboy approved. For all intents and purposes it was a foregone conclusion they would romp through the schedule just like they did. So why not seize the opportunity when everything lined up just so. It’s very possible they might have beaten Prep had they played. Las Vegas odds so to speak, Prep would be favored but I DO think they could have won this hypothetical game. Yes, there’s a risk involved, but you got to pay to play, higher risk higher reward. There’s a chance they could have failed and wound up with no state chip at all. In that case you know you would have won the 2A title, but now you’ll never know if you might have done something really special. Could have been watching a movie about this team a few years down the road.
December 28th, 2019 at 11:09 am
I agree with both Frank and D3 Mike. SCA, I’m not necessarily a fan of the “success formula” and understand your point. In my observation, dominant public school programs are the result of three things 1) a good coaching staff 2) a group of good football players and 3) a community where football is part of the culture. If you’re missing any of the above, you’re only going so far. The problem is you now also need freedom from having “your” best kids leave for a variety of private schools. Consider yourself lucky regarding the location of Southern Columbia, or things would likely be a lot different. It only takes a few kids leaving to drastically change a program. On another note, why not just have one classification and play for one state champion if that’s what we think it’s all about?
December 27th, 2019 at 11:04 pm
Well said WarMeaks. Agree 100% Forcing SCA and these other schools to move up. Why? Because their players and coaching staff work harder and prepare better than their opponents? Why do we punish KIDS for outworking their opponents. How can you punish the next class of kids for what the classes before them did. They don’t deserve to be moved up because of what the classes before them accomplished. THEY’RE ALL DIFFERENT. They deserve the same chance not punished. Everyone just wants to see the successful programs lose so they come up with new rules to try to get them out. Ridiculous! Its not youth soccer where everyone gets a participation trophy. Instead of punishing the successful programs how about the other programs stepping it up instead of crying about it. If you cant run with the big dogs then you dont deserve to be in Hershey. Last time I checked the NCAA didn’t make Alabama or Clemson move up to the NFL because they won multiple championships!!
December 27th, 2019 at 10:34 pm
I was blessed to have parents (and grandparents) who sacrificed to send me to parochial school for 13 years. And yes, the academic, character, and tuition requirements winnow the field of potential applicants. But the fact that Archbishop Wood has gone 27-1 this decade IN THE PLAYOFFS against elite boundary schools which, by everyone’s own admission HAVE GREATER ENROLLMENTS should end all discussion on this topic. If you really believe that year after year, class after class, Wood athletes just “work harder” and the program simply “outcoaches” all ONE HUNDRED opposing programs in 5A that all have larger enrollments than they do, you reside in a faux meritocratic fantasy land.
The kids at Wood work very, very hard. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who said otherwise. But so do the kids at lots of other schools. The Wood coaching staff is outstanding – among the best in the state. But so are the staffs at other schools. Wood competes for a state championship, literally every year, because they have all of the above – AND they do it with better players. Same with Prep. They’re pulling from a population pool of millions to build their teams (whether they recruit or not, it’s irrelevant). I’d never say they didn’t 100% earn their titles but let’s call a spade a spade. The PCL programs where the talent concentrates – IF they work hard – should beat ANY boundary program in 5A or 6A. That’s just how genetics and demographics work based on any reasonable appraisal of the concepts.
December 27th, 2019 at 11:14 am
@ 4th and Long
I don’t think anyone would argue with you that it’s an apples and oranges situation or that there are clear advantages to not having boundaries. But many if not most of the private schools have some disadvantages or constraints that the public schools don’t have. 1) Many don’t have their own home fields or even an on-site practice fields. 2) Some have academic requirements that exclude some applicants from ever enrolling and that sometimes result in student athletes leaving, usually during or after freshman year. 3) All apply fees, aka tuition. Some think all or most student-athletes have their fees waived. In fact, most families of student-athletes must pay substantial fees. What makes the situation complicated is that most private schools also have needs-based financial aid programs, and it’s no surprise that a relatively high proportion of the families of student-athletes qualify for such programs. Some schools also get donations that enable them to increase the amount of support for the families of students who play certain sports. But the point is that just about every family–and my guess is that there are no exceptions–that sends a son to a private school winds up paying hundreds and often thousands of dollars a year (for books, for transportation, etc. in addition to actual tuition amounts) that they would not have to pay if their son went to a public school. There is an argument that this sacrifice increases their sense of investment in the school and the program.
It’s also the case that not having boundaries is more of an advantage to some private schools (because their locations allow them to draw from a wider pool, e.g. SJP) than it is to others (e.g. Bishop McDevitt).
The boundary vs non-boundary issue plays out differently depending on the sport. I think just about everyone would agree that for most sports (e.g. soccer, baseball, track, wrestling, swimming, cross-country, etc) it’s not a big issue.
As for football, I wonder for how many of the six classifications it’s a real problem. If it’s only one or at most two, is it worth making a big change? And if, say, boundary schools win the 6A championship in ’20 and’21 are we likely to hear as much complaining? One thing that seems certain is that if they separate boundary and non-boundary schools we will see the old debates, such as the one in ’03 about whether SJP or NP was better, resurface.
December 27th, 2019 at 9:06 am
i have been told that SCA will scrimmage Valley View next year as both team are looking for a tougher scrimmage
December 26th, 2019 at 2:16 pm
WarMeaks, few have an issue with kids going to the best opportunity for their particular situation, but let’s get real. Many private schools recruit athletes. Public schools generally have to play with the kids within their boundaries.I want to take nothing away from the great coaches and players at the privates, but the playing field is not level. Boundary schools outnumber non-boundary schools roughly 8:1, yet the ratio of state championships and FBS athletes skews much more heavily in favor of non-boundaries. if you want to believe it’s strictly because of coaching and hard work, that’s your right, but it’s a slap in the face to the kids and coaches busting their tails trying to do more with less talent at a typical public school. I agree the success formula is less than perfect (putting it mildly) and I have my own ideas about how to remedy the situation, but the PIAA isn’t asking us.
On another note, PPL schools look like they’re full throttle filling out their 2020 FB out of conference schedules, so it appears what I heard about them waiting to settle whatever (if anything) is going on there to do out of conference scheduling was in error… mea culpa.
December 25th, 2019 at 7:50 am
Merry Christmas!
December 24th, 2019 at 12:39 pm
D3 Mike it’s also rumored southern will open at Berwick to start the season. I find it ironic Berwick waited until this group graduated to get this game. Berwick was decent the past few years and that game would’ve drawn a crowd. This will still draw a crowd too. Carrmie knows how to be Roth ask southern as well. I think he’s done it at Danville, shamokin, and mt. Carmel. Interesting to see if it takes place.
December 24th, 2019 at 12:28 pm
Well said Frank G and WarMeaks..
December 23rd, 2019 at 6:05 pm
I read pennlives 50 players to watch list before championship weekend in hershey. You figure 12 schools, an average would be 4 kids per team listed.
Wood had 1 player on the list. And they are 5A.
Where are all these high profile transfers everyone seems so concerned about?
Guess what? They dont have them!
That screams of great coaching.
These kids should be given the chance to defend next year, not punished for being too good.
Hey Wood,
Your kids lift too hard,
Run too long,
Practice too serious,
Your coaches,
Watch film too long,
Game plan too well.
Now go play schools with three times your enrollment and 2 times your roster size.
What a great lesson.
Breaking new: Everyone gets a state chip in 2020.
When will the Ncaa move Mount Unuon into Div 2 and North Dakota St into the FBS? They also win too much.
And Clemson should be in the NFL.
And Uconn womens hoops should have been moved into the mens tournament long ago.
Catholic Schools are few and far between nowadays, hence the extended boundaries, and guess what, it aint cheap to attend them. Thats a serious con, not a pro. It excludes a lot of kids. And anyone that thinks they can go to these schools for free because they are a great athlete, is just plain ignorant.
December 23rd, 2019 at 1:32 pm
@Phillyboy and Craig Jones You both seem to believe that kids who get coaching in a public elementary or middle school have an obligation to go to the local public high school and/or that their parents have an obligation to send them to the public high school. Is the main motive of the coaches to feed the public high school so it can field best team possible or is it to help the kids develop sport-specific skills and all the traits that come with playing a sport? The parents in question have an obligation to pay taxes that support the public school system, but they also have an absolute right to send their children to whatever school they choose. And the vast majority wind up paying tuition and other costs (which can be considerable) at the private/Catholic school.
Many kids who go to Catholic elementary schools and many who play on CYO teams in various sports wind up going to and playing for public high schools. I’ve never heard anyone complain about that, and if I did I’d say they were wrong to do so.
December 23rd, 2019 at 10:51 am
@craig Jones the flaw in your logic “Easton and the public schools have programs, the catholic and privates are finishing schools” assumes these schools only do well because of students coming from public to private Catholic schools. It does not take in consideration the number of students who were never in public school, the work the student puts in outside of school and the coaching, training received at the Catholic/Private schools. We are have certainly watched talented teams loose or be underachieve because the coaching is poor.
While Kyle Pitts was at Abington HS (public) they tried to make him a QB on offense because he was one if not the most athletic player on on team. He didn’t have the interest or head for it, less he was wasting away. He transfers to Wood and the rest is history in the making. Is he at FL and looking like a NFL prospect is he stays at Abington? I for one wouldn’t risk my sons future trying to find out. That finishing put him on a greater path.
December 23rd, 2019 at 10:43 am
@Phillyboy Let me get this straight. You want a child to give up the opportunity attend a school placing them in a better situation than their current one for “the greater good”? Who’s greater good, the PIAA? The people who are angry at the top teams for winning? Is “all about my glory” referring to educational and recruiting benefits or playing for a program with high academic greater exposure to top tier scouts. The deeper team goes in the playoffs the more opportunity to be seen by coaches.
December 22nd, 2019 at 8:00 pm
@ Craig Jones– Appreciate your sentiments, well said. Respectfully disagree with D3 Mike on this one. It’s a situation where a little righteous indignation is understandable. It’s a joke, you put in all the blood, sweat and tears and then someone comes along and cherry picks your best fruit. Either that or the kid decides to go to the ‘finishing school’ forgetting any semblance of loyalty, it’s all about my glory at this point, not the greater good. Btw, major respect to the Easton program — didn’t they have a team somewhere around 2000 that was the #1 ranked team in the nation or close to it, don’t know if that was a misconception of mine or what. I grew up in South Jersey in the 80’s, public teams like Paulsboro, Absegami, Phillipsburg were legendary. Even Jackson Memorial (by Great Adventure) had several individual state champions. Nowadays seems like Camden Catholic, Bergen Catholic and several other North Jersey privates greedily gobble up all the elite wrestlers to a large extent. It’s a joke.
December 22nd, 2019 at 7:48 pm
Mike Drago reporting that Wyomissing and Southern Columbia have agreed to an October 3rd game next year. If SCAs class-up holds, that could be a preview of the 3A eastern final. Props to both schools for scheduling what should be great inter-district action.
December 22nd, 2019 at 10:48 am
Craig, in summary: in the past, you coached ten-year-old boys hoping that they would eventually wrestle for the local high school team. Then, when some left for athletic, academic, or social reasons – or, maybe just because their parents always intended to send them to Catholic high schools – you proceeded to hold grudges against children?
Take solace in this statement: when you stopped coaching (AKA selflessly donating your time), youth wrestling in the greater Lehigh Valley area was forever changed.
December 21st, 2019 at 6:59 pm
I read all the comment’s below and let me tell you my main problem with the catholic and private (charter} schools. I used to coach youth wrestling, I did so because I thought the kids I was coaching were going to be Easton wrestlers. Naïve I know. But, after seeing them being developed by the Easton system. (some were also gifted football players) many transferred to the privates. Then I have to hear from Notre Dame and Bethlehem Catholic what great programs they have. Easton and the public schools have programs, the catholic and privates are finishing schools, building on what the public schools developed. Look at Notre Dame wrestling this yr, not 1 kid came thru a CYO type league. They ought to thank the public schools for developing all these great athletes for them. Let me repeat they are not PROGRAMS but finishing schools. By the way if your wondering I didn’t go watch any of the kids I coached who transferred on the high school level. Petty, maybe, but I didn’t donate my time for a kid to transfer to a private school.
December 21st, 2019 at 1:18 pm
I agree with D3 Mike and have always alluded to the idea of a straight ‘Success Factor’. If you are successful you move up for the next cycle. No appeals, no nothing, you move up. This would automatically envelope those schools that have transfers and are successful. The point of it being the top programs who are pretty much successful year in and year out move up. No one has to change their conference or even their regular season schedule, they just play up for the playoffs, period. No one, but the schools affected, is going to complain. And probably half the schools affected are not going to say much either. Is there any question that SoCol, Farrell, Erie Prep, etc should not move up with a straight success factor? No. But, tying in transfers they just convoluted things and it makes the PIAA look silly.
An argument against the success factor, which by the way works well where it’s been installed, is that the school is going to play larger enrollment schools. That should only be true for the playoffs unless the district makes you change your regular season schedule. Secondly, if you won states or went to states a couple years in a row, obviously you can compete. Besides, most of the schools we are talking about have more kids on the roster than most schools they play during the season, so enrollment has nothing to do with it or else Reading and Butler would have great football teams. Another argument is that it was the senior class that succeeded. Maybe it’s the occasional case, but most of the time SoCol, Farrell, TJ, Erie Prep, McDevitt, etc. are going to be good year after year. If say a Wyoming has to move up for 2 years, they’d move back down if not successful. Again, for the regular season it does not have to be a completely different schedule and in most districts it would not be.
Six classes are here to stay. No question about that. I believe a straight up success factor is the next step to try to level the playing field so to speak. No questions about public vs. non-public schools. The Success Factor plays no favorites. It is what it is and life goes on. Maybe coaches, ADs, and players can contact their PIAA rep or reps and get them on board?
December 20th, 2019 at 11:38 pm
After reading comments, my final thought is you will always have the haves and have nots, no matter what the PIAA does it will be unfair to someone. There are just too many factors year in and year out that can effect teams. Everyone made valid points but balance and fairness is inherently impossible. I was always of the mindset of having one class crazy I know but to me the least interference is the most fair. Or if schools really are that upset leave the PIAA for that respective sport and start your own league or play an independent schedule.
December 20th, 2019 at 10:39 am
@ Jeff H
Curious to hear your thoughts on the other point JC made, that of Wood and Imhotep also having to play up (he seems fine with it). I agree with both you and JC on the Quip situation, but where are you with Wood and Imhotep??
Also, feel free to correct this, but several years ago I saw on this board that the reason Aliquippa is playing up to 3A had to do with being able to stay in the same similar conference that they were playing in prior to the PIAA going to 6 classifications. Supposedly the WPIAL makes the rules out there (believe you mentioned that when it comes to scheduling) and that they form the conferences as well. If Aliquippa stayed as an “A” classification, they would be playing other schools in a different conference, and they wanted to remain geographically near the teams and rivals that they have been long associated with. They seem more than able to compete and hold their own at the 3A level, but the decision to play there (3A) was not so much of a competitive angle, but more more of a continuity/historical issue. Not my words, just repeating what I remember seeing here previously.
December 20th, 2019 at 8:50 am
wait every freshman moving up to the varsity is a transfer ???? That makes no sense shouldn’t that be part of you size number how many males are in the school ??? how are they transfers they been going to that school . As for the non boundary school moving i have no problem with that. they can recruit they can get kids from anywhere a team like Aliquippa plays up all ready and they can get kids form Aliquippa only !
December 19th, 2019 at 9:55 pm
The PIAA had good intentions with the success factor but dropped the ball on specifics. Then they made it worse with poor execution. Winning got mixed up with transfer restrictions, and then the rules were applied, retroactively. What a mess.
The new transfer rule was already having an impact. They should have just added a straight success factor like many other states have done and kept the transfer issue separate.
As it stands, this rule is far too top heavy. It should apply to more than 1-2 programs per class. Just watch the whack-a-mole that is 4A as ECP and Imhotep are forced up… leaving the door open to McDevitt and Beca to dominate this cycle… before getting forced up, themselves, just in time for ECP and Imhotep to drop back down.
Not to mention that for all we know, Farrell had 3 transfers while Clairton and Guilfoyle each had 10. It shouldn’t just be schools with 6 points in a cycle getting penalized if this rule truly intends to limit transfers.
December 19th, 2019 at 8:08 pm
Wonder how many of these “successful” schools/teams will actually just “Man-up” and say “bring it on, let’s play some football!!!”
December 19th, 2019 at 4:56 pm
Jeff H you do realize that Southern played the AAA champ Wyoming area in the regular season (week 8) and won 42-0 and also Montoursville, state semi finalist that lost to Wyoming area in week 9 and beat them 35-0. So yes they would’ve mercy ruled their way through AAA this year too. Southern was blessed with their D1 talent this past 4 years so don’t expect them to
Mercy rule everyone next year. They may be successful but it won’t be like the past several years. This graduating group could’ve played in a higher class but the future classes won’t be able to. That would be so bad if southern would’ve played 3A or 4A the past cycle and earned the success points and were bumped to 5A for the next group because next years group would get killed in 5A. Let’s face it southern beat jersey shore mercy rule and jersey shore was a semi finalist so Southern would’ve reached the success factor in 4A as well. They would have to play in 5A next year with a new group. They would have to play in some type of district sub regional because there are no 5A teams in D4 and then matchup with an archbishop Wood after that. Totally unfair for next years group.
December 19th, 2019 at 2:42 pm
A few things here:
https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2019/12/18/pa-power-southern-columbia-appeal-ruling-could-move-3/2691519001/
This article states that every single new name on a varsity roster is considered a transfer. So anyone new that joins the team, or any freshman player moving up to the varsity roster is considered a transfer. This is a very backwards way to handle this.
http://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/2019_Football_Totals.pdf
Here the article is confirmed. Every team with over 6 points has been informed they will need to move up based on an appeal.
https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2019/10/piaa-changes-transfer-component-of-competition-formula-report-says.html
Here is another article that shows the PIAA changed the number of allowed transfers in the middle of the football season. Originally when this formula was announced in 2018 Five transfers were allowed for football. Shouldn’t an effective change be made before the season begin?
December 19th, 2019 at 2:26 pm
There are a few issues with your response. You talk about jumps in enrollment between classes. What’s not important is the numerical increase, but the percentage increase. The jump from 3A to 4A is 45%. The jump from 1A to 3A is 112%. The jump from 1A to 4A is 209%. The enrollment parameters themselves are set up to approximate general percentage ranges, so talking about pure numbers is completely irrelevant.
I do not have significant quibbles with private vs. public. I think it is ultimately best to keep the playoffs combined, and all teams should be subject to the same success factor rules. The transfer rule clearly needs some tweaking. However, when it comes to appeals, I do think Aliquippa deserves more sympathy for already playing up 2 classes voluntarily, than Wood or Imhotep do for voluntarily playing up one class.
December 19th, 2019 at 9:13 am
@JC
Actually your logic isn’t sound at all. You’re doing a bad job of using other topics to cover up the fact that your issue is a private vs public issue. The rule being talked about is transfers + success in the classification you currently play in, so Aliquippa having a case and Wood/Tep not having a case makes no sense in that regard. As far as playing up two classes? The jump from 3A to 4A is almost the same in enrollment numbers as the jump from 1A to 3A. The jump from 4A to 5A is actually a bigger enrollment number jump.
So instead of using bad points/arguments, why not just come out and say this is a private vs public issue? St Joe’s Prep, Wood, Imhotep, Erie Cathedral have been dominating the 6A 5A and 4A classifications and people are tired of it. All year I have read people say Wood will have a down year this year, they only have 35 kids on the roster, someone on here even said they would finish under 500 this season. And then they go and win it all.
In my opinion the transfer rule will probably end up hurting more than it will end up helping. Lets say Wood is forced to move up to 6A for the next two years. They get eliminated by Prep both years before the state playoffs even start so they’ll have no success points. When it comes time to reclassify they will either be a 3A team or a 4A team. Lets say they decide to stay in the same classification their enrollment numbers put them in. You really want to watch Wood go play a 3A schedule, then a 4A schedule, then finally back to a 5A schedule for two years each?
December 18th, 2019 at 11:35 pm
Looks like PIAA are doing something with success factor. Finally having teams play up to level out the classes. Which makes sense. If they didn’t want to level out the classes then why even have them? Just have one class. So this makes perfect sense to me. Having wood, SCA, Imhotep, Farrel all piling up a class with them making it to the final year in year out. Why not? Looks like Robert Nolan is alil mad SCA is moving up a class. Look buddy you we all know who Southern played last year we know their Schedule has plenty of Aaa,Aaaa teams. And yes they beat Wyoming a state champion. Look it only fair they move up a class. They will probably win AAA too but atleast they will play a whole game and not just til half time. It’s silly they mercy ruled like 40+ games in arow.
No idea how PIAA are moving Lawanana Trial up to AA, confused by that. Made state finals once and not like they were unbeatable any of those years. But hey maybe they will give Dunmore a game in AA in district 2.
December 18th, 2019 at 8:26 pm
Hey Robert who is the other running back you speak of that are the two best in the state? I’m sure Gavin Garcia is one of them. Not sure who the other is that you mention. Also don’t be so sure southern is going to 3A. They are appealing because apparently PIAA considers any knew name on the roster as a transfer. So if you’re a freshmen and playing varsity that gets counted as a transfer. If you were 9th last year but not varsity and now in 10th you count as a transfer. Didn’t play football as a junior but going out for it your senior year, yep you’re a transfer. I think they say southern has like 37 transfers because of new kids from 8th or 9th grade. Now they have to send in all the paperwork to verify who is who. Apparently when it’s all said and done they’ll end up with 2 transfers in the previous cycle. Therefore they’ll stay 2A. Then again this whole success factor and transfer rule is so freaking confusing that I might not have it all straight either.
December 18th, 2019 at 6:46 pm
Wood lost to district 7 champ Penn Hills in 2018 in the semis.
Beat district 7 champ Gateway by 3 in the waning seconds this year. Gateway was without there was best player.
I dont hear anyone clammoring for those schools to move up. Looks to me as if they’re right on par with those other 5a teams.
Wood lost 3 games this year.
Got mercied by Prep in the 1st half 42-0
Lost to 6A Roman. 20-6
Woods problem is that they waltz into the quarters every year. They have a bye into the round of 32 because there has only been 2 5a schools In the pcl.
And they only have to beat a down Ryan program to advance to the sweet 16.
Then they play the ppl 5a champ to advance to the quarter finals.
The solution is to do away with district 12 at the 5a level and move them into district 1.
The transfer thing is a joke. U can’t prevent a kid from transferring into your school. Everyone assumes a transfer is some ringer recruited to play football. Thats ludicrous. Sometimes its just life. Maybe the kid didnt like the school, or didnt have any friends, or his family moved. Whatever.
Of woods 24 man freshman team last year, only 14 remain at the school. They are probably minus 8 in net transfers.
Cant wait for the day coaches have to cut players from the football team because it may affect there class status. Is that what we want?
Woods coaches deserve a ton of credit for taking a 35 or so man roster to the 5a state championship. Their o-line averaged about 210 lbs. And everyone acts like their some bully picking on smaller schools.
They put in the work. Period.
December 18th, 2019 at 5:11 pm
In light of the new success factor/transfer rules applying to schools already voluntarily playing up like Aliquippa maybe SC was onto something by not playing up the last 2 years, had they played at 3A they would now be forced to play 4A for the next 2 yr cycle, when they will still be very good but won’t have nearly as much D1 talent as this years senior class. I was not aware until the last few days the new rule applied to schools that were already voluntarily playing up. Like others I do give the PIAA some credit for trying to address the problem and imbalances that exist, but I don’t necessarily agree with the way it applies to schools that are already voluntarily playing up, especially boundary schools.
December 18th, 2019 at 3:38 pm
‘I’m just excited to be back’: Newly approved Cumberland Valley football head coach Josh Oswalt eager to bring new energy, new scheme
https://cumberlink.com/sports/high-school/football/i-m-just-excited-to-be-back-newly-approved-cumberland/article_f23dcd20-2fb7-5fb9-9f16-aa98d1da079d.html
Oswalt said he plans to honor CV’s storied history as one of District 3’s most successful programs while bringing his own “flavor” to the team.That, in part, means a new offense.
Oswalt will not adhere to the strict Wing-T offense the Eagles have run with success for decades. He’s known for a spread scheme he ran at Carlisle and Central York — turning Billy Burger and Eric Harris into two of the Mid-Penn’s top QBs while with the Herd and later grooming Cade and Beau Pribula with the Panthers — and many of those same concepts will come with him to the Eagles.
But, Oswalt said, he will tailor the offense to his players once he meets with each of them individually in the coming days and weeks and assesses their skills. The Wing-T won’t entirely disappear, as Oswalt grew up in the system and runs some of his spread offense with Wing-T concepts, he said.
“It’s gotta fit the kids,” Oswalt said. “And I think that’s why we’re so successful as a staff, we’re so good at identifying what worked for the kids.”
December 18th, 2019 at 3:35 pm
Story in today’s Sunbury Daily Item about SCA moving up. Roth crying about it. What a joke, he said he only had two transfers the last two years. He is appealing it. I thought SCA could beat any body, any classification. There were posts on here about them beating SJP this year. Guess they feel better about putting 70 on AA teams. First game next year with Berwick. Coach Carm knows how to beat southern, he did it at Shamokin and I believe he was the last to beat them regular season when he was at Mt. Carmel in 2011.
December 18th, 2019 at 1:31 pm
@Robert Nolan – do you seriously believe it will be easier for Southern Columbia to win 3A than 2A? Since most of the teams they already play in the regular season are 3A or 4A why haven’t they been playing up voluntarily like Aliquippa has done for the last 3 decades. I do think they will be the favorite in 3A and will likely win the state title next year, but to say it will be easier for them to win 3A is a ridiculous statement, as both Wyoming and Central Valley were much better than any 2A team they have played in the playoffs the last few years.
@JC – you are spot on, completely agree with your logic. Aliquippa is a 1A school with 117 boys, and have voluntarily been playing up for decades, 2A in the old 4 class system, and now 3A since the move to 6 classes. So a small public school does the right thing by playing up 2 classes commensurate with their outstanding long term tradition of excellence and they are punished by the new rules, only in the eyes of the PIAA does this make any sense whatsoever. I sincerely hope the PIAA has enough common sense to agree with their appeal, because forcing them to play 4A is ludicrous, they win 1 state title in 4yrs in 3A, and their neighbor schools in Beaver County can compete with them favorably, this is a classic case of if it’s not broke don’t try and fix it.
December 18th, 2019 at 11:24 am
@Frank G yeah that’s what I thought/Think about any impact to the prep. Oddly enough it has the chance to push more kids there.
@JC & Rob I have no sympathy for Wood or Imhotep, I think the PIAA will since they are by enrollment already playing up. Sure some schools play up two levels. I honestly wouldn’t be shocked either way.
December 18th, 2019 at 10:45 am
Robert Nolan, Wyomissing has 16 starters back next year, probably their best team since the State Championship team. They will give Southern Columbia some competition so I don’t think it will be easier for them to win AAA than AA next year. I can’t wait for the battle of the Wing T’S next year. You will also have Neuman Goretti to deal with and they are loaded with talent. I don’t know what the West has in AAA next year. Also, Pope John Paul is moving up to 4A in the East.
The Joneses-St. Joe Prep wont skip a beat if the PCL leaves the PIAA, they have built a national powerhouse and they are also one of the top academic schools in the State, student athletes will continue to flock there for football.
December 18th, 2019 at 8:21 am
@ Rob
You saved me some typing.
@ JC
Your hoops point tho is spot on. Actually, probably not far enough. I’ve said this before, if the PIAA is going to separate public/private schools for playoff purposes in any sport, it should be for basketball (boys and girls).
December 17th, 2019 at 9:39 pm
@Rob: Aliquippa is a boundary school playing up two classes. Imhotep and Wood are non-boundary schools playing up just one class. So, yes, Aliquippa has a case and Wood and Imhotep get no sympathy. I think my logic is perfectly sound.
December 17th, 2019 at 8:29 pm
@ The Joneses The Prep will lose very little of its appeal to potential students/players if a separate PIAA classification is set up for private school or even is the PCL leaves the PIAA as long as it uses the extra space on its schedule to play other high-profile programs.
December 17th, 2019 at 7:45 pm
For all of the SCA haters out there you are going to get your wish. Southern will be playing in AAA next year which actually is a gift from the PIAA. SCA, for all of you who do not know, beat the AAA state champion during the regular season 42-0. Most of the teams they play during the regular season are AAA or AAAA so they are more than prepared for moving up. In fact, it will be easier for them to win in AAA than it was in AA. As for what they have coming back next year. They lose 17 seniors this year but have kids moving up who played half a varsity season last year as subs. They will have two of the best running backs in the state and an offensive line that will be second to none. Will they win a state title in 2020? I think a lot of people will be surprised. The Tigers are reloading and will be ready to take on all challengers next season.
December 17th, 2019 at 5:37 pm
JC – so Aliquippa has a case because they are already playing up?
Wood and Imhotep get no sympathy……even though they are also playing up???
Sound logic there
December 17th, 2019 at 5:17 pm
Wood does have an appeal case in my opinion. They are 4A by enrolment that played up to 5A to begin with. Have less than 40 players combining JV and varsity. Had only 3 players transfer in, only 1 of which ever saw the field. Lost multiple starters including their leading rusher from 2018 to public school. Sounds like a solid case to me. People are being blinded by recent success and not giving the coaching staff credit the credit they deserve for getting everything they could out of a very small roster.
December 17th, 2019 at 3:01 pm
Aliquippa has a potential appeals case, since they are already playing up from 1A. No sympathy for Wood or Imhotep, hope PIAA holds firm on those. Overall these moves would be an improvement over the current landscape, there is no cure-all solution but I gotta say, this whole success factor might work. Looking forward to seeing how it impacts basketball, which desperately needs the help.
December 17th, 2019 at 2:51 pm
I mentioned this as an impending mess not long ago. I was too kind…….
“UPDATE FROM THE PIAA: “These 8 have the points and they have been identified as possibly having the amount of transfers. Appeals will be made at January board meeting”
Bob Greenburg
BREAKING:
The 8 schools moving up per the PIAA Success factor pending appeals: (New Class)
Farrell (2A)
Lackawanna Trail (2A)
Wilmington (3A)
Southern Columbia (3A)
Aliquippa (4A)*
Cathedral Prep (5A)
Archbishop Wood (6A)*
Imhotep Charter (5A)*
*Move up from current class
December 17th, 2019 at 1:30 pm
Someone posted SJP would loose it’s recruiting edge by not playing for a PIAA state championship if the PCL left. I’ve seen it discussed here and knowing Prep strives for a National championship, as well as a state championship, does anyone think they will loose the edge?
December 17th, 2019 at 12:37 pm
From Bob Greenburg on Twitter:
BREAKING:
The 8 schools moving up per the PIAA Success factor pending appeals: (New Class)
Farrell (2A)
Lackawanna Trail (2A)
Wilmington (3A)
Southern Columbia (3A)
Aliquippa (4A)*
Cathedral Prep (5A)
Archbishop Wood (6A)*
Imhotep Charter (5A)*
*Move up from current class
December 17th, 2019 at 10:39 am
Some copy and paste action from Twitter……..
BREAKING:
The 8 schools moving up per the PIAA Success factor pending appeals: (New Class)
Farrell (2A)
Lackawanna Trail (2A)
Wilmington (3A)
Southern Columbia (3A)
Aliquippa (4A)*
Cathedral Prep (5A)
Archbishop Wood (6A)*
Imhotep Charter (5A)*
*Move up from current class
I understand Wood is appealing. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Imhotep and Aliquippa doing the same. Let the fun and games begin!!!!!
December 17th, 2019 at 9:53 am
Per Bob Greenburg (D10 broadcaster), the 8 schools moving up per the PIAA success factor, pending January appeals:
Farrell (2A)
Lackawanna Trail (2A)
Wilmington (3A)
Southern Columbia (3A)
Aliquippa (4A)* #
Imhotep Charter (5A)*
Cathedral Prep (5A)
Archbishop Wood (6A)*
* Move up from current class per PIAA success factor rules
# Aliquippa’s loss to Central Valley was considered a “round-of-16” game by the WPIAL but is being considered a quarterfinal game by the PIAA, giving Aliquippa the requisite 6 success factor points for the cycle
This is obviously unofficial but Bob is pretty reliable when it comes to his sources.
December 17th, 2019 at 8:13 am
@ Buddy
I know nothing, forgot about the whole situation actually. Do you know if they just put out the same bid for the same work?? Meaning they appeared to want to reconstruct the whole stadium and area with the first proposal, and surprise surprise, bids came in way over estimate. Maybe they should look at doing things piecemeal and prioritize things. Think we can agree a new turf field might be the first priority.
December 16th, 2019 at 9:02 pm
@ Mcd65
Thanks for the acknowledgment!! You can add Tyreek Chappell as another high profile player jumping from the PCL (Ryan) to Northeast.
@ Mcd65 and Phillyboy
Where are you guys getting that the PCL is looking to leave the PIAA (or saying that they should leave)?? Did I miss the memo?? I know there was some rumors on this board (I believe first presented by 4th and long) about the PPL maybe leaving the PIAA. I see no reason why they (PCL) would or should. They more than hold their own in many sports on a statewide basis, unlike the PPL. If anything, like I said before, they should divorce themselves from the PPL and District 12, grab a bunch of the smaller private schools in District One on their way out, and form their own district.
December 16th, 2019 at 8:47 pm
@ Foleman
Per MaxPreps, there are four 8-man teams in PA. Two in the western Philly ‘burbs, the Perkiomen School, which I’m guessing is not far from K-Town, and one that I never heard of. So a few teams around, and not horrible travel. Just thought it might be an option, a fresh start, new beginnings, getting in on the ground floor, etc. I did see that K-Town is advertising for a new head football coach. So don’t know what exactly that means as far as the future of the program.
December 16th, 2019 at 6:09 pm
@ phillyboy ad Mcd65 I thought I submitted a reply yesterday, but maybe I neglected to hit “submit.”
I’m sure the PCL could survive outside the PIAA. Whether it would thrive is another question–possible but not certain. The picture is different for different sports, and for most (e.g. soccer, wrestling, track, baseball, etc) I don’t think there’ve been any concerns about the PCL’s membership. I know basketball is different.–
As for football, it’s clearing a fluid situation across the state. The number of schools dropping the sport could become more than a trickle in the next five years or so, and the gap between strong programs and weak ones could become even wider. I’d love to see some stats whether my sense that there are a lot more blowouts is correct. If it is correct, the gap is likely only to widen, accelerating the dropping of football by some schools–mostly public but some Catholic. This is one reason I don’t think things will return to the pre-2008 era if the PCL (and maybe other Catholic schools) leaves the PIAA.
As for the PCL, it’s gone from southern/northern divisions, to red and blue, to four–or was it three classes–and then back to red and blue (with some schools changing colours) in the last 20 years or so. A couple of schools could close in the next five years and it’s possible one or two will drop football. Right now I’d be surprised if Ryan is playing in the Red for more than another year or so.
If the PIAA creates separate classes for private schools, the Prep would still have a state championship to play for and at least a couple of more open dates on their schedule when they might choose to play more high-profile teams from DC or North Jersey or Ohio … Maybe they’d also play one or two Inter-ac teams. Not long ago they had some well-attended games against Malvern. And maybe some of the Jesuit schools that aren’t so far away (St. Peter’s in Jersey City, Gonzaga in DC. St. Ignatius in Cleveland–all schools with good teams that the Prep has already played) could organize a yearly series of games. The point is that the Prep doesn’t need the PIAA to attract attention to its program and its players–though they’d probably prefer to remain in the PIAA.
The Prep could also decide not to put as much emphasis on football. It’s not Notre Dame with alumni and pretend-alumni making donations and buying gear in amounts closely tied to the football team’s W-L record. I suspect they will want to continue to have a strong, high-profile program, but it may be a very long time till there is another class with the equivalent of McCord, Harrison, Trotter, Hagens, Cooper, and Talley putting on their jerseys.
December 16th, 2019 at 1:44 pm
Most of the stickiest problems related to high school football and basketball in this state would be resolved if D12 just left the PIAA, so if the PCL is leaving, you have to promise to take the charter schools with you 🙂 Seriously, the net benefits of statewide competition flow into the city, not back up the Main Line. I’ll never forget moving to Tacony in 2000 and the way everyone talked about PCL programs that, outside of Philly, no one on planet earth had ever heard of nor could have cared less about. And no one on Torresdale could find Berwick on a map. That’s your ideal?
If you really think these young men and women would be better off reverting to the unbelievably parochial, insular athletic environment that existed prior to 2008, I’d say you shortchange the benefits of the PIAA that extend far beyond raw competition. Whining about transfers and tedious rules aside, diversity of experience for young people and their communities is actually a good thing. As adults, we should be pushing for more of that, not less.
December 16th, 2019 at 1:31 pm
not sure what was so offensive about the link/article regarding Southern Columbia football and the explanation as to why they are who they are. but Allentown Morhning Call has the article and info.
December 16th, 2019 at 9:03 am
et al
North Penn put out bids for a new stadium this month. Anybody hear anything?
It’s got to get done. Stadium is an embarrassment.
December 15th, 2019 at 5:19 pm
PhillyBoy, I mention those situations because not many on here know about them, I do want the PCL out of the PIAA as much as you do , BTW Notheast is building a solid program and have attracted other transfers as you probably know, The PCL will continue to be competitive with or without the PIAA, I think many fans are tired of all the nonsense , If the PCL does leave I look forward to the moaning about transfers between boundary schools and other unfair advantages some schools have LOL, BTW I saw CB WEST a couple times this year and IMO Jack Fallon their RB should receive lots of recognition ,
December 14th, 2019 at 8:52 pm
Kevin X, who would they play? I don’t know of any 8 man football teams they could play and how far would they have to travel to play them? Several football teams in Berks County have had problems scheduling other schools, especially Berks Catholic and Wyomissing, that’s one of the reasons why the Berks teams were pushing for a merger with the Lancaster/Lebanon schools which I believe will eventually happen. When? Who knows. If Kutztown drops football this year, Berks 2 football schools will be scrambling to find replacement teams to schedule and might have to have an open date if they can’t find any teams to play.
December 14th, 2019 at 8:31 pm
@ Mcd65 — I appreciate the nostalgia that you and Frank G mention from time to time. With your recent post about the transfer of 2 players from Wood and McDevitt to William Tennent and Northeast, I feel compelled to respond. Believe this is the second time you commented about this, this year. First of all, William Tennent is one of the worst programs in the Suburban One and Northeast is the least worst team in the Public League — so it doesn’t really matter. If the kid had transferred to say Coatesville or North Penn your point might carry a little more weight. Technically speaking, you’re right, there are some isolated examples where a public will get a favorable transfer. To cite this though as your basis to say ‘See?! Everything is fair, they do the same thing’ at best lacks meaning, at worst is like pointing out the splinter in somebody’s eye while ignoring the rafter in your own.
phillyboy has always been a proponent of having a pure state championship and NOT having separate public and private tournaments, and I stand by that. However, recently some of you guys have been implying that the PCL may leave the PIAA and go independent to the detriment of the rest of the state. LOL — phillyboy to the PCL: Don’t let the door hit you in the bootox on the way out. The PCL needs the PIAA way more than vice versa. If they lost the ability to compete for state titles, they would lose some of their recruiting pitch. They would still have the early season sexy interstate match ups but after that it would be totally anticlimactic.
December 14th, 2019 at 5:42 pm
D-3 Mike, I nominate you for the new D-3 commissioner.
December 14th, 2019 at 1:46 pm
@ Foleman
Do you think or know if K-Town would consider 8-man?? I believe that is going to be much more popular in the coming years here in PA, like it or not. Something for Holy Cross up in D2 to possibly consider as well.
December 14th, 2019 at 11:41 am
Kevin X, Thanks for the information you provided us this year. I know it takes time for research etc .Hope to have you continue your input. Separately, Im sure most on here know that 5 A finalist Cheltenham had 4 Archbishop Wood transfers on their team and a couple of them contributed a great deal to their success. Additionally ,Woods star RB transferred to William Tennant for his senior year. I do not have an issue with this except the players can choose to attend a PCL school and transfer any time to a Boundary school , Another example is Northeast getting McDevitts best RB and he was their leading rusher this year. If you think that these just occur IMO YOU ARE KIDDING YOURSELF. Someone gave a recruiting pitch for these to happen. Now with the residency proposal. The PCL should withdraw from the PIAA instead of putting up with all this legislation attempting to level the playing field. PIAA just say St Joe you are too dominate for us so goodbye, I for one would like to enjoy my PCL games from now on regardless of affiliation with the PIAA without all this BS. Congratulations to each of the State champions this year and a big shout out to Southern Columbia .
December 14th, 2019 at 10:59 am
Very well said, Phil!
December 14th, 2019 at 9:26 am
Southern Columbia is the best small high school team I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen quite a few. Before the arrows start to fly, I am from a 4A school district in the western part of PA. They are technically sound athletes who have worked really hard and have some of the best coaching in the state. They don’t miss tackles, miss very few assignments (and if they do, they don’t make the same mistake twice), they hold blocks, they block downfield, they adjust on the run, they have team chemistry,they are just fundamentally sound. They only started two kids who play both ways, only St. Joes, had less, not C.D., not TJ, not Wood, just St.Joes had less kids play both ways. That is unheard of for any school at any level, let alone a little 2A school.
They defeated (mercy ruled) two state champs – Hammond, S.C., who had a few D-1 prospects themselves and Wyoming. They also beat 2 semi-finalists and 2 quarter-finalists. Four of the sixteen teams they played only had one loss and that was obviously to S.C. Two other teams only had two losses. Eleven of their sixteen opponents had winning records and the overall wins and losses were 144-63 (almost 70%). That’s rare in high school football. Including the Hammond team, 8 of their 10 regular season opponents were of a higher classification 3A or 4A. They do not ‘run’ up scores as they only accounted for 190 points in the second half of games (avg. of 12 per game) and the majority of those were scored by second and third teamers. Coach Roth even had the team take a knee on extra points throughout the year.
You could write a book on team and individual accomplishments for the year and the seniors’ career. I guess I said all of that to say, appreciate the team and what they did if you are a high school football fan. Hopefully you saw them play, because that storm will never happen again at a school that size. It’s a public school from Pennsylvania, not IMG Academy or some big city private school. Yet, still people want to hate on them. Why? Because they are winners? They do not recruit. They do not break rules, they are just a small school in the middle of nowhere with a reputation of winning because A) they have a coaching staff that is innovative and has the best training techniques and staff available and 2) the kids are 110% dedicated. I live in the country too and if you took the best kids from the twenty or so teams in my area, never since football was invented could we have ever come up with a team like that. Appreciate and embrace these guys, don’t cut them down! Kids matricualte to winners, but it’s a public school. There are boundaries. These kids could have competed with St. Joes and would have a real could shot at beating Thomas Jefferson. Nobody else I saw this year do I think they could not beat. Not saying they would, but just saying there was no one else in the state they couldn’t have beaten in my opinion.
December 13th, 2019 at 6:55 pm
Look I get it everyone hates the guy on top it’s what makes sports great. The Patriots, the Yankees, the Lakers, all teams alot of people hate. I get alot of people put Southern into that category as well. People complain about recruiting this and that, but if you look at this class these kids have been at Southern since elementary school. Half the kids who are playing a division 1 sport in college had parents who graduated from Southern and have been there for forever. Recruiting is a major issue 100% but how is Southern recruiting kids in elementary school??? I doubt Jim Roth was seeing these guys in pee wee football and handing them a brochure after the game. I hate when people bad mouth Southern that don’t understand the culture of the program. As a kid you dream of playing football on that field and as soon as you reach middle school you are in that weight room waiting for your chance. They just know how to run a successful program. The people in that school district are crazy about football and you can see that with how they travel. I understand why Southern is hated so much, but don’t try and make for why other than simply put you hate them because they are successful. As for the class that graduates this year thank you for the best high school football team I’ve ever seen.
December 13th, 2019 at 4:18 pm
Haverford’s Trey Blair de-commits from Buffalo and commits to Temple.
December 13th, 2019 at 2:42 pm
Central York’s Josh Oswalt to be next football coach at Cumberland Valley High School
https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2019/12/central-yorks-josh-oswalt-to-be-next-football-coach-at-cumberland-valley-high-school.html
December 13th, 2019 at 12:52 pm
@ David Cochran and FrankG
Why stop at out of state kids?? You had the Boyertown girls soccer team win the 4A state championship this year. One of their players was a German exchange student and member of the German women’s U-16 team. Kennedy Catholic’s basketball team was basically an international all-star team the past year or so. I’m sure there are quite a few international exchange students participating in interscholastic athletics throughout the state. Just another PIAA bureaucratic potential admin and legal mess you are stirring up with a “PA” resident only rule. Seem like these transfer issues, out of state students, etc., type of issues always come back to SJP or other successful PCL teams/schools.
December 13th, 2019 at 8:55 am
Apparently the squawking about S. Columbia’s football team dominance has moved to the wrestling arena. I will say this, my son wrestled one of these kids listed years ago at a youth tournament, he was talking with the kid and he pointed to the Garcia’s and 1 other kid and he said we are all going to be wrestling in HS together, I looked at the teams the kids were wrestling for and they were all outside of S. Columbia’s district. Makes you wonder about some of these things listed.
A lot of kids move into the Southern district but do so early on. After 6th grade then repeat 6th at Southern. Its a nice School District surrounded by some rougher Coal Region areas with a dynamic football program. I cant exactly blame parents who would choose to move there. Just please physically move.
Allegedly The QB previously who is currently at Bama was pretty much driving from a different district to Southern every day. Was common knowledge according to rumors I heard. The school he left didn’t contest the transfer and I even heard told him he wasn’t going to play there. Just what I heard.
As far as wrestling goes. Not going to say they recruit or any of these guys weren’t for legit reasons but I’ll point out these kids as coming into the district at some point. ll let you judge. Any team gets 2 or 3 of those guys and your team dynamic changes.
Todd Lane
Billy Barnes
Shane Casey
Preston Zachman
Gaige Garcia
Gavin Garcia
Patrick Edmondson
Cole Biscoe
Wes Barnes
Max Tillett had 2 brothers who wrestled some. Tillett May or MAy not wrestle but was a PAJW state champ.
Sean Sprague for 1 year than left
That’s just off the top of my head.
Is what it is, but its hard to compete against that.
Even with that this football team was once in a lifetime. They even lost a D1 commit off of the team who went to Berwick.
December 13th, 2019 at 8:13 am
@ Dave (and I’m assuming not Mika)
What does a transfer, or transfers, have to do with success?? They may, or may not. Kind of blanket statement. No way you can accurately determine a transfer’s affect on a team’s overall performance. You may have one or two heavily recruited D1 ESPN 300 game changing guys come in, yeah, they still may or may not push a team to a state championship. You can have 4 or 5 kids come in who are basically role players, bench guys, second or third stringers, may only see action on kickoffs or when a game is at running clock stage, i.e. not game changers, how are they being conceived as some sort of advantage?? How about kids who transfer out?? Do you get “credit” for these kids leaving?? How about if your transfers all have season ending ACL or other injuries and aren’t even involved in that seasons competition. Why 3 is the magic number, and not 2 or 4?? I can go on and on with this. Too many moving parts with this transfer issue. Success is success, leave the transfer clause, and any other ancillary issue out of this impending mess.
December 12th, 2019 at 8:27 pm
I’m going to try this one more time. Third time hopefully the charm. I keep forgetting Sun Valley is a member of the Chesmont. So assuming Great Valley is indeed officially moving to the PAC, that will give the PAC 13 members (at least I’ve been consistent on that front), but leave the Chesmont with 12 teams. Unless Octorara jumped back in the Chesmont when I wasn’t looking, my final answer, 12 schools in the Chesmont, if Great Valley joins the Pioneer (I’m done correcting myself, feel free to correct me if need be).
OK, with all of that babble done, hopefully, maybe it’s just time for the PAC and Chesmont to join forces, at least for football. You’d have a nice top level 8 team 6A league with AG, DTE, DTW, CV, S-F, PV, OJR, and let’s go with Boyertown based on enrollment. Another 5A/6A division and a 4A/5A division. I’ll name it in honor of the Suburban One, and call it the Western One.
December 12th, 2019 at 7:24 pm
Correcting my mistake: I meant to say the PCL could survive and maybe thrive outside the PIAA>
December 12th, 2019 at 7:22 pm
I’m not going to make a prediction on whether or not Southern will in fact win a state title next year. I do know for a fact they won’t be scoring 40-55 points in the first half of games and their defense won’t shut out 75% of its schedule. They’re replacing all skill positions on offense except one RB. They’re replacing all linebackers and 2 of their corners/safety. They also lose about half their offensivle/defensive lines. They graduate about 16. As for Aliquippa giving them a game in 2018 I will have to disagree. The 2015 team that mercy ruled Aliquippa is not anywhere as good as the 2018 team. The 2018 Aliquippa team would need to be lightyears better than their 2015 team. The past 2 years Southern could’ve played up to 4A. I would be bold enough to say that Southern would be competitive with and possibly beat Thomas Jefferson, Erie Cathedral Prep, Archbishop Wood, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, and St Joesph’s Prep.
December 12th, 2019 at 4:40 pm
@ David Cochran If the PIAA requires PA residence, then they lose SJP which has had Jersey kids for over a century. Some other PCL schools (e.g. Roman and Egan) have also had kids from Jersey. There may be others. In any case, the PCL as a whole would withdraw from the PIAA if the state residency requirement were to be imposed. I’m not sure what people and which schools that would hurt the most. The PCL could thrive and maybe thrive outside the PIAA.
December 12th, 2019 at 3:58 pm
@ Dave – completely agree SC is a top notch program with top notch coaching, and as such they should play in a higher class to challenge themselves a little bit, how many mercy rule games in a row do you need to realize they are a great white shark swimming in the small pond of 2A football. You can keep winning all the titles you want at 2A, but the rest of the state would be far more impressed if you played up a class or 2 and continued to win, which I personally think they would, they just wouldn’t crush every team. I think every neutral observer in the state would have loved to have seen SC against Thomas Jefferson this year in the 4A final, or against Erie Prep last year, that’s how good the SC program is.
December 12th, 2019 at 3:46 pm
a friend of mine who is a ad from D11 put it this way if the state of Pa football was the Big Ten you have Penn State (public schools ) could only recruit in Pa. Michigan. (charter schools) could recruit in the whole Big Ten Ohio State (privet schools) could recruit in the whole country now which schools would have a great advantage ?
December 12th, 2019 at 2:33 pm
I’d buy the argument to stay at 2A if PA still had 4 classes but to not move up to 3A when we now have 6 classes is a mistake. 3A has the SAME TEAMS in it that the old 2A had so it isn’t really “playing up” compared to where Southern Columbia was playing before. The last time we had 4 classes was 2015. SCA was in 2A and its playoff run was as follows:
Troy 42-22
Hughsville 49-20
Montoursville 56-50
Berks Catholic 34-21
West Catholic 34-19
Aliquippa 49-14
How do those scores look to you? Do you think that title run was more satisfying for the kids than this one? If you don’t, I’m really not sure what to tell you.
Now I get that this senior class was exponentially better than the 2015 class but all the program has done is mercy rule every team but 1 in 2A since we’ve moved to 6 classes. I’m sure they would have won 3A every year, too, but I honestly think Aliquippa would have given them a game in 2018 and teams like Middletown who run the same offense would have kept the games competitive, longer, than the overmatched 2A programs in the east. And this has nothing to do with “participation trophies”. It’s high school football, not the NFL, people. Stop living vicariously through your local school district. The blowouts aren’t good for the kids on the teams they are playing, it’s not good for fans who want to attend games, it’s not good for the sport, and it certainly isn’t good for all of the D1 SCA players who will now go to Big 10 camps in January a step behind all of the kids who played more time, in more competitive games, against more D1 players than SCA is ever going to come across in 2A. They did a good job scheduling better competition non-league this year but I’d be curious to hear if Roth still would have played 2018-2019 at 2A if he had to do it over again.
December 12th, 2019 at 2:29 pm
My bad. Leave PAC with 13 teams, Chesmont 11. Both odd awkward numbers to work with.
December 12th, 2019 at 2:10 pm
I know a bunch of people feel very strongly about SC moving up. I live nowhere near the eastern part of the state so I don’t have a horse in this race. I do agree with Jut that it probably wasn’t fun watching them do that all year, especially the finals. That being said I still don’t agree. The first issue with voluntarily moving up is that a coach can only choose to do that every 2 years, you can’t move up mid cycle. Even if you have a special group of kids you never know what the season will bring with injuries. When this years senior class were sophomores I think we all knew they would be good and their coach did too. I’m
not sure why their coach didn’t move up after this class’s sophomore year. Most coaches generally do the safe thing. I’d also like to bring up that SC runs the Wing-T which can very difficult to stop especially when you have all that talent. I remember when Erie Cathedral ran into Berks in the semi finals in 2016/2017. Those Berks teams ran that offense perfectly and an incredibly talented Erie Cathedral struggled to stop it for 3 quarters of both games. That Hammond team that SC played had some great football players and was a good team but had clearly never scene anything like the Wing T. Could anyone tell me how SC is supposed to be next season?
December 12th, 2019 at 2:02 pm
It appears that Great Valley is jumping ship and leaving the Chesmont for the Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC). Will leave both conferences with 13 schools. Don’t know if that is a lucky or unlucky number.
December 12th, 2019 at 12:10 pm
@ Brian – most of the D1 talent on the Steel Valley team in 2016 were transfers from other schools, so they are not a good comparison to SC, Paris Ford who now plays for Pitt played for 3 different schools in 3 years. Yes, it is possible for small schools to have several D1 players, just last year Aliquippa, a 1A school by enrollment, had several D1 players, as did the great Clairton teams from 2009-2012. I agree with you some of the comments on here about SC are ludicrous, I have nothing but respect for Jim Roth and the program, but to continue to slaughter and mercy rule every team you play is not a good situation for anyone, including the kids on SC’s team. In my opinion SC has outgrown 2A and should play in a higher classification, and it’s far from ridiculous to feel that way as a neutral, objective fan of HS football. We’ll see how many “close” games SC has next year, I personally think they will be preseason #1 in 2A and don’t see anyone beating them, even with all the talent they graduate. I’ll make a fun little wager with you, I’ll take SC to win the state title again next year and give you every other 2A school in the state, and we’ll see who’s right, anyone else want to take me up on that.
December 12th, 2019 at 9:49 am
I agree with several posters here that teams should not be forced to play up based on success alone. If they receive an advantage of some kind, such as players regularly transferring in, then yes, move them up. On a separate subject, I do not expect Southern to drop off much next year. Recent history has shown that their upcoming talent compares well with their graduating talent. Top-notch program with top-notch coaching will do that.
December 12th, 2019 at 7:32 am
Kutztown is considering eliminating it’s football program, The AD had to give a presentation in front of the school board-(which wants football gone) concerning the viability of the program. Several reasons were given: Low numbers-only 17 kids on the team at the end of last year and that included players from Brandywine HS who have a co-op agreement with Kutztown. Safety-Kutztown had to forfeit a game a few years ago due to not having enough healthy players, freshman who are not physically ready were being inserted into the starting lineup, plus Kutztown called a game at halftime this year where they were losing 76-0! Shrinking enrollment at the School was also cited-159 boys in grade’s 9-11. Kutztown has not won a game in 3 seasons and hasn’t had a winning season since 2004, the program has had only 3 winning seasons in 44 years. The sad part about this is that it doesn’t look like any of the nearby schools will enter into a co-op agreement with them so any kids from Kutztown who want to play football wont be able to play somewhere else.
December 11th, 2019 at 10:29 pm
@ David Cochran
Short answer……..
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?syear=1971&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=2104
Long answer, I’ll have to charge you $250 an hour 🙂
Your SC example/comparison isn’t the best. The SCISA (and SCACS) is more akin to the PAISAA. Better comparison (or goal of what you are seeking) you should look across the Delaware to NJ.
December 11th, 2019 at 7:03 pm
Wish somebody could explain to me in the boundary versus non boundary School situation, why we could not solve the problem the way South Carolina did by simply going to public and non-public playoffs. South Carolina has an independent Association and separates the public schools and the private and parochial schools. Hammond which Southern Columbia played in a game earlier this year is in a private school conference which is throughout the state of South Carolina. Why can’t the state of Pennsylvania simply dissolved the PIAA and go back to a public school non-public school situation in which if you take State money you’re in with the public schools all the rest that do not take State money or in a separate class and therefore you have two state champions in each class. Also as a second thought why not simply in Pennsylvania to get past the boundary non-binary school or public versus private and parochial why not make a requirement that the students parents must live in the state of Pennsylvania and therefore you would not have the kids coming across the bridges from Delaware and New Jersey to participate in our state.
December 11th, 2019 at 4:13 pm
@ d2baller
On the PIAA website, they have what I would call limited box scores for each of the 6 football championship games and the attendance for each game. You’ll have to some digging I guessing for past attendance figures, unless someone else has that info on hand. The link for the 2019 games:
http://www.piaa.org/sports/championship_details.aspx?sport=football
December 11th, 2019 at 3:45 pm
The formula might not be perfect, but it looks like the PIAA is at least doing something. I think the rule is more about fairness than success and both factors should be taken into account. Maybe a team should need to have 3x transfers in class 4A-5A and 2 transfers in class 1A-3A, combined with 2x state championships or something along those lines. In my opinion, it is unfair to force a team to move up based on success alone. If there are no transfers or unfair advantages, let them play where they are at unless they voluntarily choose to play up. Also, what is the point of making a team with a bunch of transfers but not really successful move up? Would anyone even care if they are not dominating? The biggest flaw I see in this plan is that apparently the PIAA’s method of investigation consists of sending a form to the successful school district to verify the number of transfers. Seems like something a school could get around pretty easily if they wanted to. The other flaw is that there is nowhere to go for dominant 6A schools with transfers since they are already at the top.
December 11th, 2019 at 1:59 pm
@Kevin x Lackawanna Trail moving up becuse that where they fell with the new number and Midvaley and i believe Carbondale are moving to AAA .Abington is going to 5A but Wallenpaupack is droping to 4 A here it has nothing to do with success and transfers are far and few between in D2
December 10th, 2019 at 8:43 pm
My Final East top 10…
1) St. Joseph’s Prep (12) 12-2
2) Central Dauphin (3) 12-3
3) Manheim Township (3) 11-1
4) Harrisburg (3) 9-4
5) Downingtown West (1) 13-2 (3)
6) Wilson (3) 10-2
7) Nazareth Area (11) 12-2 (4)
8) Coatesville (1) 10-3 (5)
9) Northeast (12) 11-2
10) La Salle College HS (12) 8-3
December 10th, 2019 at 8:17 pm
I love the comments to continue to demean the southern football team. Now we’re not just hearing the idiotic statements about recruiting and redshirting but now it’s if you don’t play football you get bullied. The whole thing about them playing up is just ridiculous. Could’ve senior group played up to 3 or 4A this past 2 years yes. However from 2007 to 2014 they made the state title game 1 time so obviously they obviously didn’t need to play up. This group just happens to be loaded with division one talent this year. Those that want to complain saying how can a AA school have 4 division 1 recruits in the same class. Go back to steel valley beating southern in mercy rule fashion in 2016. They had a load of D1 talent. Also go back to 96 when southern lost to Farrell, they had several D1 recruits. Southern won’t be super human next year and will have close games. I won’t say they can’t get back to the state title game because I’ve said that before and was wrong. It won’t be easy for them to return.
December 10th, 2019 at 7:59 pm
Foleman
All of the coaches from SCA have been there for years. All of them are dear close friends. Many of them volunteer and give so much time, it’s unreal. As for mentoring, Coach Roth has openly given the “Program Guidelines” to many other coaches, but it’s hard to replicate. The coaches at SCA are just plain old good men.
I’m all for SCA playing up, but some bigger school are reluctant to play them. That fact is rarely spoken. Montoursville and Wyoming Area were the only team with any gusto.
December 10th, 2019 at 4:14 pm
@ Kevin X – sorry, can’t help you with logic or common sense when it comes to the PIAA, I’m guessing they didn’t have the votes to impose a “success rule” on its own merit and had to couple it with the 3 transfer rule, which makes no sense to those of us that think logically. If the goal is to level the playing field seems to me one should use both rules independent of each other, after all success is success regardless of whether you have transfers or not, and the total dominance of 1 particular school at a certain class year after year is not good for the sport in general.
December 10th, 2019 at 4:06 pm
@NW PA – completely agree with everything you stated in your wrap up. I underestimated how good PCC was, because in my opinion and many others their 2019 team was not as good as their 2015/16 teams, and they did not look that good in their 10-7 win over PR in the WPIAL final. But you’re right about match-ups, they are the only 6A team, at least in the playoffs, that was able to match SJP on the lines, and thus were able to stay in the game against them and actually outplay them in the 2nd half and come one play from upsetting them. That catch by Harrison Jr. on 4th and 10 from the 12 yard line with 15 seconds to go in the game will go down as one of the all time clutch plays in PIAA playoff history, too bad there were only about 1,500 total fans in the stands to witness a fantastic playoff game.
Regarding CV, they completely shut down Wyoming’s offense for the first 3 quarters like I thought they would, allowing only 79 yards of total offense, then the dam burst with that 80 yard TD pass and the momentum totally shifted, the way it played out was one of the more stunning turnarounds in a game in the finals that I can remember. I actually think the change in momentum happened on the CV drive that preceded the 80 yard TD pass, they had 2nd and 6 on Wyoming’s 26 yard line, receiver was wide open in the flat and dropped an easy catch when he would have gotten well inside the 20 and picked up a first down, then they took a penalty and ended up punting to pin them deep. Had CV gotten a first down and went on to score and go up 21-0 that might have deflated Wyoming, but I give Wyoming all the credit in the world for not quitting and mounting an amazing comeback.
For those of you that get PCN, or have subscribed for this month, check out the PR vs. Manheim Central epic 2 OT snow game from 2003 this Saturday at 7pm, one of the all time great games in finals history. And if you recall the PIAA moved the Saturday games to Sunday because of all the snow from Friday night.
December 10th, 2019 at 11:45 am
Is there a way to find the attendance at each piaa championship game from this year and years prior? Would be interesting to see attendance charts throughout the years.
December 9th, 2019 at 7:31 pm
Okay with this whole SCA moving up a class, why not. That wasn’t fun for anyone. Wasn’t fun for the players, coaches, fans or anyone watching that AA championship game. 74-7 like really it’s a state championship. This is why I say Southern loves mercy ruling everyone and won’t play up to 3a or where they should play 4a. Considering they shut out the AAA state champ Wyoming at Wyoming. No one wants to see another state championship like this. This happen in Single A state basketball championship 2 years when Lourdes got destroyed by Kennedy Catholic 78-35. That school jumped up to 6a the following year and won the state championship. They jumped up 6 classes and won. Why can’t southern do it?
With the whole thing about transfers going to SCA, this maybe true, I’ve had a player talk to me about that program. He went to southern, played there. He said different players were alway coming in. Every wonder why they have so many players too… he said if you didn’t play football or wrestle you were bullied. I mean this could all be heresay but why would he lie to me about that?
December 9th, 2019 at 9:22 am
SCA Alum, would you know of any of Roth’s assistants that have coached at other high schools? If so, I’m sure they would bring their Wing T and weightlifting program along with them. SCA definitely has one of the top coaching staffs in Pa history. I was at Knoebels several years ago and several SCA kids were there, they physically looked like college players. Pettine had Carey, Pettine Jr and a few others go on to coaching success….Pettine Jr in the NFL. Jim Mich-Pius X Pottstown legendary coach mentored Pettine Sr, Rick Keeley-(Berks Catholic), Dave Bodolus-(Daniel Boone), Jeff Chillott-(Schuykill Valley) and Jim Mich Jr-(Spring Ford) in his coaching tree, not bad! If I am an area Athletic Director in that area, I’m interviewing Roth’s assistant coaches today.
December 8th, 2019 at 1:36 pm
Can someone, anyone, please help me in understanding the logic, common sense, rational or simply where I am wrong for the following two possible “success” factor scenarios??
“A”
Farrell wins back to back “A” state championships. 8 “success” factor points, 2 more than the 6 needed to move up.
Lackawanna Trail, 2018 “A” championship game appearance, gets their doors blown out by the aforementioned Farrell, then in 2019 they were defeated in semi finals. 7 “success” factor points, 1 more than the 6 needed to move up.
Here is the unsettling rub based on a hypothetically that could become a reality. Suppose Farrell is deemed to have only two transfers (am I not sure what even qualifies as an official transfer for this purpose based on all the exceptions, scenarios, rulings, etc., but for arguments sake, we’ll say two legit transfers for Farrell), and let’s say Lackawanna Trail is deemed to have 3. So am I of the understanding, that in this potential scenario, that the team that won back to back state championships does not have to “play-up,” yet the team with all of one more transfer over the course of a two year cycle, and did not win any state championships, is then mandated for the next two years, to “play-up?”
“AA”
Same similar scenario can take place in “AA” with Southern Columbia and Wilmington.
Why is this very disturbing to me?? Is this actually a “Success” factor formula/rule to help level the playing field and increase competition, or a thinly disguised, end round, back door new transfer rule??
December 8th, 2019 at 12:56 pm
A few thoughts after Hershey. Much respect to Farrell, such a small public school yet consistently good. The more I watch SC, the better they look. No 3A school could touch them and only TJ or Cathedral would have a chance in 4A and who knows what would happen. Surprised about the CV game, they just collapsed, but kudos to Wyoming for never quitting. After watching the Wood game I’m pretty sure TJ or Cathedral could have beat them but they did get their 6th title in the last like ten years which is incredible. SJP had the perfect strategy but I thought it would be closer without Mcord. I feel like PCC must have been pretty good to almost win that game but that’s also part of the matchup aspect of the game. PCC has such a great line on both sides of the ball, one of the few teams who could matchup with SJP on the line.
December 8th, 2019 at 10:10 am
@SCA Alum Nobody doubts that SCA works hard, but you can’t assume that other schools don’t work hard as well. Since Darrah has taken over as MCA’s coach, I see pics online of the team in the weight room every week in the offseason and I can tell you they were also there the week after their season ended. Right now, SCA has a perfect storm of years of coaching experience, tradition, hard work and also getting many of the best athletic families in the area. I have heard of transfers to SCA over the years but would never post anything on hearsay. However, this is coming from the PIAA, so I think its a little more legitimate. I’m sure St. Joe’s Prep can also say that they win every year because their kids work harder, but we all know its not the whole story. If it turns out SCA doesn’t have enough transfers to move up under the new rule, I have absolutely no problem with them staying in 2A.
December 8th, 2019 at 9:34 am
@phillyboy How do you know that the Prep football players get free tuition?
December 8th, 2019 at 7:29 am
Was supposed to go out to Hershey with an old acquaintance for the 6A final; thank goodness he flaked on me. From the get-go you could tell it was a joke. Central Dauphin literally couldn’t do anything. Even when they had that nice kick off return to Prep’s 20 yard line you just knew it was going to fizzle. Goodness gracious, it was as if CD was playing in 3 feet of invisible water. Was it Foleman that bluntly said that ‘public 6A stinks’? Admittedly, that’s part of it. But the bigger reason has to do with a private school not being hampered by bureaucratic ‘feces from the virile gender of the bovine species’ — they have singleness of purpose and can call their own shots. So they’re businessmen — Prep to top end talent with limited means: Make you a deal, you play for us, we’ll give you free tuition. You combine that with all the coached up, fresh out of camp Johnny hustles and voila, the annual party at Hershey Park stadium.
December 8th, 2019 at 6:55 am
How about all the people stop saying that certain schools need to move up because of success! How about having the unsuccessful programs have their kids get in the weight rooms and do speed drills all summer and support multi-sport athletes. That is what SCA does. All the boys playing this year have been at the school since grade school (so shut the transfer talk). Did you hear what Fleming said after the game to the team? “If you’re not playing another sport, Monday get in the weight room!” I would guess that there were kids pumping iron on Saturday morning. Commitment + Hard Work + Dedication = Success! Other schools and programs just don’t get it. Once you start winning you have that drive, and SCA has been winning for a long time. So, if you want to make the PIAA Championship trophy into a participation trophy (Everyone Wins), then support the nonsense of making teams play up. How about other teams step up to the challenge?
December 7th, 2019 at 11:10 pm
Pine-Richland beat SJP in 2017
Penn Hills beat Wood in 2018
TJ beat ECP in 2019 – who else beat them. Maybe before I was around?
December 7th, 2019 at 9:08 pm
Was very disappointed in CD’S showing, saw them twice this year and they were better than what showed up tonight. I think starting out they were intimidated by the Prep, they surprisingly got whipped up front and were out coached. Prep ran a 6-2 defense and sometimes an 8 man front to stop the run and blitzed CD’S Soph QB to death when CD had to pass, which they could not. CD’S special teams play was awful against Downingtown West and helped Prep to a 14-0 lead, game over. S. Columbia and Prep juggernauts are also the 2 best coached teams I have seen in the playoffs. Hey, Pitt CC must be pretty darn good to go toe to toe with the Prep.
December 7th, 2019 at 8:57 pm
I picked Wyoming area to get there once the injury to the north Schuylkill QB. I felt they had a good chance to get there before the injury.
December 7th, 2019 at 8:56 pm
Nice run by CD in the post season, but kinda figured Prep would shut down their O. CD passing game is basically one WR so I’m sure Prep went to work with film on CD’s two losses in the reg.season. In those games they couldn’t run and could not score.
WWL, 21-13 loss, 23-48 rushing, no rushing TD’s
MT, 10-7 loss, 32-71 rushing. no rushing TD’s
Plus the WWL OL was too physical for CD D line(almost 200 yrs rushing by WWL). Prep OL controlled them as well. At this point of the post season, top notch teams will expose teams that are one dimensional. Congrats to Prep and the rest of the title winners
December 7th, 2019 at 8:54 pm
Yes Dave you’re correct. I was thinking the 35-0 Montoursville game. I got the scores backwards.
December 7th, 2019 at 8:28 pm
Since this game was mostly a snooze-fest, IMO… here are the post-season records versus boundary programs this decade for the 2019 state title winners:
20-1 St. Joe’s Prep
27-1 Archbishop Wood
20-6 Thomas Jefferson
10-5 Wyoming Area
36-6 Southern Columbia
23-7 Farrell
Yes, there are public dynasties and they win plenty of title games in blowouts but just looking at these numbers it’s clear that none of the public programs are anywhere near the equivalent in dominance of Prep and Wood – not even Southern Columbia. (P.S. ECP didn’t win this year but they went 29-3).
I’m a Catholic football fan but, realistically, the best of 500 boundary schools in PA will beat the PCL’s best once or twice a decade.
December 7th, 2019 at 5:51 pm
@Brian, Actually the So. Co. / Wyoming score was 42 – 0. Glad that Wyoming Area proved themselves to all those who said they had no chance.
December 7th, 2019 at 5:11 pm
Tornado Fan:That article allso means Wood is either going to be 4A where the are classed or 6A if they have 3 or more transfer.
December 7th, 2019 at 4:37 pm
Wow, what an incredible 4th quarter comeback by Wyoming when it looked like they were on the ropes at the end of the third. Dom DeLuca is a tremendous high school football player, what a memorable and gutty performance, I was very surprised Wyoming’s defense contained CV’s offense as well as they did. Hopefully tonight’s game is as good as the last 2, definitely some of the best championship games so far in a long time.
December 7th, 2019 at 4:35 pm
Article on SCA and others moving up-
https://tribhssn.triblive.com/going-up-piaa-could-force-southern-columbia-and-others-into-higher-football-classification/
I was never a fan of the idea of forcing a team to play up due to success alone. However, if they keep getting transfers for football and winning championships, I’m all for it.
SCA is always good, but they have been a juggernaut the past 3 seasons with this class (I think they would have beaten anybody I’ve watched so far this weekend except ‘maybe’ TJ). I’m sure they will be good next year and beyond, but they will not be as dominant as they have been recently. If they somehow continue to be this dominant in AA assuming they didn’t have many transfers, I think they should want to move up voluntarily based on the fact that most of their starters this year only played the 1st half, but I don’t think that is going to be the case. If they do have the transfers, I think it is a fair rule.
Agree with everyone about the trophy. The golden football was like the Lombardi trophy of PA HS football, not sure why they would get rid of it.
December 7th, 2019 at 4:16 pm
Another great game. Congrats to Wyoming Area for getting their school’s first title and the first for D2 in awhile. And props to the Wyoming Area AD and staff for making that Southern Columbia game happen. If they don’t get kicked in the teeth earlier this year I don’t know if they come back in the 4th quarter like they did today. That was a wealth of experience and game film to draw on to prepare the team for their playoff run.
December 7th, 2019 at 3:04 pm
Leaving for Hershey shortly for the SJP/CD game. Hoping it’s a good one.
3A FINAL
Wyoming Area 21
Central Valley 14
So much for all the pundits here! LOL
December 7th, 2019 at 2:49 pm
I must say I’m not impressed with the new PIAA trophy look either. Congrats to Wyoming Area on winning their first state title. To think Southern shut them out 35-0 on their own field in week 8.
December 7th, 2019 at 2:40 pm
So far we have had three good one score games in Hershey. This last one was incredible to watch. CV had a 14-0 lead and Wyoming backed up and then boom an 80 yard TD and that changed the game on a dime. What a great game who didn’t really care who won. Hopefully tonight’s game is as good. These games have been some of the best games I have seen in a while in Hershey.
December 7th, 2019 at 11:27 am
Has anybody taken notice to the “NEW” style trophies handed out at Hershey this year. To me it looks like PIAA forgot to order trophies went into a trophy shop and pulled 12 off the shelves. To me they are on the cheap looking side. I know a trophy is not really important but come on. Maybe it is just me and not important to this forum and I apologize to the PIAA about this post but I think they could have done better.
December 7th, 2019 at 11:10 am
@ Jeff H, et al
…..and just to follow-on to your game results……the two blowouts were those sinister private/catholic schools beating up on hapless public schools. Oh wait, my bad, the two blow outs involved 4 traditional public boundary schools. Huh. Ok then, I guess then the two nail bitters involved more competitive public boundary schools. Dang!! What is going on with me this morning, that’s not right either!!! A public boundary school actually beat one of those “they don’t play by the same rules” recruiting catholic schools in OT, and the another public school, the majority of you couldn’t locate on a PA map, took a traditional catholic juggernaut down to the final seconds in their game. I have a hunch it will be two somewhat similar outcomes later today…….
December 7th, 2019 at 10:13 am
Well so far 2 blowouts and 2 nail biters, we’ll see what today has in store. I hope 3A will be a good game, but I think CV has too much speed and talent for Wyoming, and I have a hunch they win by 3-4 scores, I doubt Wyoming is going to score many points on CV’s defense, just like Dallas had trouble moving the ball consistently against TJ, I see the final something like 34-7.
I think 6A may come down to who’s able to play for SJP, if Leneghan and Rightley can’t play on defense I think CD will be able to run the ball effectively and perhaps control the clock some, it was obvious they were missed on defense last week against PCC. I think this game will be very competitive and perhaps as good as the game last night, would love to CD win, but I have a hunch SJP finds a way to pull out a close one 28-24.
December 7th, 2019 at 9:52 am
@D3 Mike – agree with you about it being a classy move by schools like Aliquippa, BC, Beca, McDevitt, Wood, etc. playing up, I wish Southern Columbia would do the same thing, what else do they have to prove in 2A. They have one of the top programs in the state regardless of classification and in my opinion they should challenge their kids a little and play up, everyone on this board would love to see them play TJ, I think it’s pretty obvious this year that SC and TJ are the 2 best non 6A schools in the state and either one of them would have won 5A. Other states like Indiana have a success factor rule that is not tied to transfers, win 2 state titles in a row and you are forced to move up a class, keep winning in the new class and move up again, this would help level the playing field and maybe help reduce the number of mismatches and blowouts.
@ Kevin X – I agree with you about Wood and Imhotep playing different classes to avoid playing each other in the D12 final, in the last year of 4 classes in 2015 Imhotep of course beat them in the D12 final and cruised to the state title, then when we went to 6 classes they were able to avoid each other by playing up 1 class. I don’t have any problem with Wood playing 5A, that’s where they should be playing, if other schools like SC and Erie Prep would voluntarily play up it would be better for everyone, including those schools.
December 7th, 2019 at 8:54 am
Archbishop Wood has only 41 players on the team and 3 of them are Kickers? You have to be kidding me! Great game but I can’t remember 2 teams that were this weak in a championship game in 5A. Wood has their top player-Santiago transfer to William Tennant before the start of the season, no mention on PCN that Cheltenham’s Barnes and TJ Harris transferred out of Wood to Cheltenham either yet the announcers last year constantly mentioned Erie Cathedral Prep’s transfers. Southern Columbia, Thomas Jefferson, ECP would have beat either of those teams by 3-4 touchdowns. Time to go to 5 Divisions for the playoffs.
December 7th, 2019 at 3:18 am
@Kevin X
Well they have done it the right way, built from the lower grades up. Same system, from what I have heard. I am not in the know out their, I am D7. But I have never heard of them recruiting. They are a PUBLIC, not a team that blatantly recruits or has convenient transfers year in, year out. As far as I know, and I have not heard otherwise. I am not a fan of forcing a public, w as far as I know, plays by the rules to move up. However, I think they should do it like Alliquippa, move up one class, or 2 classes like the ‘Quips. But what I mentioned before, if they like just dominating competition year in year out. That’s their right. Sure they will have a year here and there where they run into a Steel Valley, however it will not be often. But the fans who think they can dominate up through 5A, let’s see em try. ‘Quips could do the same exact thing, but have always played up. A small Class A, playing in 3 A, in one of the most brutal conferences in the State. The ‘Quips would literally just absolutely blow class A schools out, to the point some schools would forfeit. They don’t see a point in it, and what would it prove. A storied program w loads of D1 talent, multiple players in NFL most years, every year just absolutely blowing teams away by 70-80 points. I know some involved in the ‘Quips program and they are not at all interested in that. I REALLY RESPECT IT, and agree with them.
December 6th, 2019 at 11:36 pm
@ GaryZ
Why should they not be forced to move up??
December 6th, 2019 at 10:40 pm
@ ColonialFan
I hear you, but I still wouldn’t call it playing the system. Heck, the system we don’t even know how it’s working. I’d say more of a mundane, “it is what it is” for right now.
To answer your question about not taking a shot at 6A??, well simple, two words……The Prep. You are already getting handily beat by them in the regular season, why would you subject yourself to getting bounced handily again by them in the first or second weeks of the playoffs?? Kind of believe that is why Imhotep and Wood make sure, if able, that they are in different classifications.
December 6th, 2019 at 10:14 pm
Hopefully we get two good ones tomorrow. Let’s see if 3A and 6A can be at least half as good as tonight’s game. No dog in fight in 6A, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t mind seeing SJP All-Stars upset. Don’t think it happens, but we shall see. Definitely wanna see D7 C. Valley beat Wyo. I am not sure what we see in 3A, I expect that C.V. wins big. They played T.J. really tough, was at the game. Was closer than score reflected, C.V. made some mistakes, but TJ was not in danger. Still, TJ 28-3 over C.V. But good teams make other teams, shoot themselves in the foot, regardless of some people’s thoughts on that.
December 6th, 2019 at 10:04 pm
What a game. Congratulations to A.W. and Chelt. Awesome game, gotta give respect to both teams. AW pulled two close ones out, today and Gateway. Regardless of key players missing in the AW vs G-Way game, Derek Davis and a few from AW. Next man up, good teams find a way to win in adversity. This was a great game, excellent Athletes on both sides. Shame there had to be a loser. Tip of the cap too both programs, ultimately the fans were the winners here. Especially ones like me, no dog in the fight. Just wanted to see a good game, instead we got to see an AWESOME GAME.
December 6th, 2019 at 7:52 pm
@mark d
Just wanted to make sure ya didn’t get that impression. You always gave me good info on teams from the East, like Dunmore and some others. Happy Holidays.
December 6th, 2019 at 7:42 pm
SCA is a great team, deserve all the credit they get. They should not be forced to move up. However, I would like to see them do it like Alliquippa. The ‘Quips are a Class A school, however it would be absurd for them to play Class A football and basketball. So they play up 2 classes to 3A. Maybe SCA should try one or two classes up. Still be a power, but wouldn’t be the absolute blow outs week in week out. I know they played an Independent from S. Carolina and Wyo. Just think it be awesome to see SCA vs Thomas Jeff. or traditional 3A n 4A powers from East n West. They again should not be forced, it’s a choice. Like the ‘Quips have always done, there would literally be Zero competition for the Quips in Class A. But that’s there choice. I don’t really think they ran it up, but coulda put your younger guys in a little earlier. But hey, keep turning it over n throwing picks… that’s gonna happen. There is a way to help yourself not get blown out so badly. Milk the clock, quit throwing pick 6’s. But hey, hats off to Avonworth, first time to win a WPIAL, and go to States.
December 6th, 2019 at 6:17 pm
I can’t believe anyone is surprised how the SC game went today. I have no doubt that SC would have easily won no matter what, but Avonworth didn’t help themselves with the turnovers for touchdowns. How is any 2A team supposed to compete against a team with 5 D1 starters on both sides of the ball. The senior class for SC was a special group of kids. I have no doubt that this years SC team could hold their own against the top 4A-6A teams in the state—not saying they would win but they would hold their on. Looking forward to the remaining games.
December 6th, 2019 at 5:32 pm
Foleman did you even watch the game? The starting offense barely was on the field in the first half. Avonworth threw 3 consecutive pick 6s. Plus a fumble that set up southern on the 8. You can’t turn the ball over six times in a half and expect to have a close game against Southern.Then after the starters came out they turned it over a couple more times including a fumbled punt that was returned for a touchdown Definitely was not running up the score.
December 6th, 2019 at 5:30 pm
Kevin and Foleman, Thanks for the D1/D12 scouting. Foleman, I have a lot of connections to the BC program and they are not going to be nearly as strong as 2015-2018 for many years. You are correct about transfers helping them but that was really the icing on the cake during their run. All of the D1 guys they’ve had (other than McFoy, who I’m assuming got D1 offers) and skill position players played all 4 years (if not more) in the system and now they are running out of Lutz brothers to plug in. Their junior high teams have been meh for the past 2-3 years now so I really think they will struggle in Berks 1 with GM and even Exeter on top of that non-league slate. They are scheduling Roman and PJPII not for competition as much as because they can’t find anyone to play them.
On 2A, I honestly don’t know whether to criticize Avonworth for throwing so much or laud them for sticking with their game plan lol. I thought SCA had their starters in maybe 1 series too long but not a big deal, really. Like I noticed it when it was 55-7 but it was only mid way thru the third so again, not a big deal.
D4 people: The Erie broadcaster I follow on Twitter said Southern Columbia will not be forced up to 3A next year as they did not have 3 transfers. Can you confirm? Also, I see Shamokin and someone else volunteered to play 4A. Was that because they expected SCA to be in 3A or is there another reason? Because that’s a major whoops if SCA is down at 2A.
Without arguing about publics and privates, I think it’s a smart and classy move by Allentown, Bethlehem, Bishop McDevitt & Berks Catholic to volunteer up to 4A. I’m sure the 4A publics want them classed higher but they could have stuck in lower classifications as some other successful Catholic programs did.
December 6th, 2019 at 4:36 pm
@Foleman, do you want southern to pull their first team after 1 quarter? A once in a lifetime senior class that could arguably win 2a-5a and compete with SJP in 6a, I’m Letting them play 3 quarters of there final game of their career.
December 6th, 2019 at 4:13 pm
@Kevin X
Certainly credit due for them playing up to 5A. However when they have more or less run the table, in 5A for the last 5 years (with the exception of last year) then why not take your shot at 6A. Sure they may be “down” this year, but still plenty good, they had plenty of D1 talent in the past that most schools don’t have the opportunity to have. I won’t mention the word, but we all know it. Coming from the Lehigh Valley, Beca and Central should probably be playing up to 5A. Every school they play is 6A or 5A. From my perspective, Wood staying at 4A is playing the system, in my opinion. Yes, my team lost to them, but this isn’t sour grapes. They were clearly the better team.
December 6th, 2019 at 3:56 pm
D3 Mike, I am familiar with PJP as my nephew plays for them. They lose approx. 3/4 of their starting lineup on offense and defense but they have several quality backups so the cupboard is not empty, based on what BC and PJP have coming back I would put BC as a 1 TD favorite. Roman has an excellent QB, their best player graduated, they have a few lineman back and some athletes returning, but based on what I saw when they played PJP in the 1st game of the year I would think BC would be slightly favored in that game too. It will be interesting to see who transfers into BC for next year as they move up to Div 1 in Berks, they always get a few transfers but with the new rules they wont be getting any Senior or possibly Junior players transferring in anymore.
December 6th, 2019 at 3:34 pm
@ ColonialFan
Oops, looks like I just tossed up the same voluntary playing up link that you already did.
Flawed yes, but not exactly in the way you layed it out or presented. No one seems to give any credit to those schools who have been previously voluntarily playing up. I don’t think they should be punished for going above and beyond all along, when others who should or could have, didn’t. I also think if you had two schools (ECP and SCA) play up the past cycle or two, you would not have had the need for this whole thing. As far as flawed, I think transfers should have nothing to do with this. Leave them out, too complicated and divisive, and have little to do with “success.” And if you have kids transfer out, do they get to offset the number of transfers coming in?? Also, it should be more then a two year representation (of points), should have been a 4 year control sample, especially since its been 4 years since expanding to 6 classifications.
December 6th, 2019 at 3:11 pm
My God! The refs should call the Southern Columbia/Avonworth game. 55-7 at the half Score is now 68-7 with 4 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. No class Roth still has his 1st teamers in there on offense and defense. SC definitely is the best small school team I have ever seen but it’s clear their coach is running up the score on a team that is outclassed and undermanned.
December 6th, 2019 at 1:09 pm
@Gary i didn’t think you were being disrespectful at all if cit went the other way i would have been busting on you < yu called it i was wrong not the first time be well and have a great Holiday SEASON
December 6th, 2019 at 1:06 pm
D3Mike
Yes Mike, Beaver Falls had a down year after they beat Middletown. Middletown had a great run for those 3 years and this year. I respect them. They accomplished more than most programs. Here is a hypothetical, they would find it very hard to make the playoffs out of the Beaver Co. conference they played every year in State finals. They shot themselves in the foot as you said, and had a huge disadvantage because of the bye D7 got. Just my opinion, said it before, whatever Beaver Co. team they played could have played a Semi on Friday and beat em on Saturday. I respect what they did, my point was simply, they are not on par with the D7 teams they faced. I know they had the self inflicted wounds and the bye week, but that’s how it shook out. No bye week for D7, and M-Town not “shooting selves in the foot,” they probably beat D7 teams In finals. After all Beaver Falls or whatever team ya wanna point too are one offs. But hypothetically they would find it real hard in that Beaver Co conference, every week playing a different powerhouse. Let’s see how Wyo does vs C.V. I hope they don’t shoot themselves in the foot, if they do… C.V. did have a bye week.
December 6th, 2019 at 12:43 pm
*Gray
My bad, I think I might have used “Grey” for Kamal’s last name in my previous post.
December 6th, 2019 at 12:29 pm
@ D3 Mike
The short of it, I believe Roman will be the same or better, PJPII will take a step back, and MP will be better. Looking briefly at whose coming back, mainly two QB’s (RC and MP) and Grey moving on from PJPII. Think Foleman might have a better view and outlook on PJPII.
I do applaud BC for taking on some nice regular season competition. Think makes thing more interesting playing different teams and very good teams, and makes one better over the long haul.
December 6th, 2019 at 12:22 pm
Quick update to those new enrollment figs/classification……I took a closer look and saw specifically a list of schools “voluntary” playing up at the bottom of that PIAA article. Guess the success factor(s) still need to be worked into this. Interesting that Wood and Imhotep didn’t voluntarily “play-up” again this cycle, maybe because they know or assume that they will be moved up anyway??
http://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/2020_Voluntary_Upgrades.pdf
December 6th, 2019 at 12:09 pm
@D3 Mike – I think you might be right about having to wait until CD-SJP tomorrow night for a really competitive game like the 1A final yesterday, hope I’m wrong, we’ll see.
December 6th, 2019 at 11:05 am
Kevin, thanks for the enrollment numbers. Do you know anything about what the Roman and PJPII teams will look like next year? Berks Catholic added both to the 2020 schedule and I’m not familiar with either program. I see that Roman beat Wood 20-6 earlier this year which is fairly terrifying, especially considering that BC is already playing Central Dauphin and Malvern Prep in September.
Is anyone not from the two schools involved actually going to the game this afternoon? Hopefully the 5A tonight is competitive but I’m not holding my breath. From what I’ve read Cheltenham should at least put up some points. Might have to wait for tomorrow night for anything close to the 1A final, though.
December 6th, 2019 at 11:00 am
@ Foleman
The last time that I remember being within the Philly city limits, other than center city for work or play, was several years ago I was in the Fox Chase section(??)/Northeast HS for the North Penn/SJP playoff game. But its not just the city catholic schools, its catholic schools throughout the Delaware Valley that continue to bleed students/enrollment. Even the ones that did not drop down in classification, the suburban ones such as O’Hara, Wood, Shanahan, etc. all lost kids from the previous cycle. PJPII appears to be the only school to add a handful of kids.
December 6th, 2019 at 10:35 am
Regarding the new classifications…the teams that voluntarily chose to move up were listed.
http://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/2020_Voluntary_Upgrades.pdf
When does the success formula get factored in? It seems as though there’s already a flaw in the system. Using Archbishop Wood as an example, they have voluntarily been playing up to 5A for years now even though they are 4A. However, this cycle they chose to remain at 4A. So if the success formula is being used they will only get bumped to 5A, when in reality they’ve been dominating 5A and should get bumped to 6A. So seems as those there’s a little loophole. Am I making sense?
December 6th, 2019 at 10:34 am
Some thoughts and predictions for today’s games
Avonworth vs. SC – the real question is whether this will be a mercy rule like last nights game, I don’t think it will be at the half, I see something like 28-7 or 35-7 at halftime, may get to a mercy rule at some point, think the final will be 49-14, which is the same score SC beat Wilmington by last year. Keep an eye on #4 Jax Miller from Avonworth, he’s an excellent high school football player on both sides of the ball.
Wood vs Cheltenham – would love to see Cheltenham win, but I don’t see it happening, if they gave up 495 rushing yards to Cocalico last week Wood is going run at will on their defense, Expect Cheltenham to put up some points, they do have a very good offense, but don’t see them slowing down Wood’s rushing attack, I think Wood wins 42-28.
December 6th, 2019 at 10:12 am
@ NW PA – you are absolutely right, we saw the best 2 teams in 4A 2 weeks ago at North Hills, no disrespect to Dallas, they had a great season, including knocking off imhotep in the playoffs, but they ran into a buzz-saw last night in TJ and were never in the game after the first quarter, once TJ got up a couple of scores it was just a matter of how big the final margin was going to be. Pretty impressive when a team averages 46 ppg on offense and only gives up 4 ppg on defense over a 16 game season, I tried to warn you eastern guys Dallas wasn’t going to put up too many points on TJ’s defense.
December 6th, 2019 at 9:33 am
Kevin X, been to Philly lately? I grew up in the NE and the place is unrecognizable to me! Chicken Coops in the backyard, cars parked on row house lawns….back in the day if anyone even thought about parking a car on a lawn the neighbors would give you a blanket party! Iron bars on windows and doors. Crime at an all time high. The Philly Catholic Schools carried Philly for many years, North Catholic gone, Cardinal Dougherty gone, West Catholic barely hanging on, unless some sort of school choice is implemented, I’m sure the PCL population will continue to decline, except for SJP and laSalle. Yet the politicians in Philly tell you all is well! I imagine PJP will continue to add students due to the Philly flight..
December 6th, 2019 at 9:00 am
Only looked at the D12/PCL football figs, and boy seems like the catholic school are still bleeding students. Updated, non voluntary and success factor adjustments, I assume, classifications for the next two years:
6A: LaSalle, SJP and Roman
5A: Father Judge (down from 6A)
4A: Bonner, Wood, O’Hara and Ryan (down from 5A)
3A: Lansdale Ca., N-G and Carroll (down from 4A)
2A: McDevitt, West Ca. and CEC (down from 3A)
Shanahan remains at 4A, while PJPII is the only Philly area catholic school moving up (via enrollment numbers only, 3A to 4A)
Imhotep remains, at least enrollment wise, at 3A
December 6th, 2019 at 7:54 am
Kudos to TJ on a great season. They dominated every aspect of that game last night. I said it before and I’ll say it again, the top teams in 4A played 2 weeks ago and that was a one possession game until slightly under 2 minutes left.
December 6th, 2019 at 7:31 am
what can i say Gary hat off to TJ i did not not think that any team could crush Dallas like that. they got taken to the wood shed all you can say is congratulation TJ must be one hack of a team,.Remember Dallas got by Berwick and Valley View who were both ranked in the top 10 of AAAA so like i said one heck of a team
December 6th, 2019 at 7:20 am
Gary, since you don’t like getting into hypotheticals we can just leave it at Beaver Valley was 1-9 and Middletown was 14-1 the year after they played in the state final. Most seasons they end up playing coaches and defensive systems at Bishop McDevitt, Wyomissing, Steel-High, and Lancaster Catholic with multiple state titles, appearances, and yes – even some wins over otherwise invincible WPIAL programs. Last year’s senior class won 6 PIAA playoff games outside of their own district which was as many as Beaver Falls, Quaker Valley, and Aliquippa – combined. From those objective, non-hypothetical facts, you’re welcome to believe whatever you want to believe about Middletown’s schedule, coaching, and offensive system. The above based on the 48 minutes you actually pay attention to their program each year, all while they play the best team in the state in 3A.
December 5th, 2019 at 11:27 pm
New enrollment figs for next two year cycle…..all sports. Don’t think this takes into account voluntarily playing up and success factor formula.
http://www.piaa.org/news/details.aspx?ID=3814
December 5th, 2019 at 9:21 pm
@District3Rep
Ya well it’s convenient to point out specific times in the Middletown games. However, at any point, no reasonable person thought they would win during those 3 games. It was very clear that they were not on a level with whatever D7 team they played. As far as the remarks about a Senior class and one off’s. Well let’s just say, that the Conference all the Beaver Co. teams play in, is BRUTAL. Don’t like getting into hypotheticals, but they would have a very hard time making the playoffs in that conference. I am not trying to be insulting, but the level of play, Athletes and yes coaching would make it real tough week in week out. So I am putting M-Town to rest. Let’s see what Wyo. does vs C.V. I will take C.V. by at least 4 scores.
December 5th, 2019 at 9:12 pm
@Mark D
Yes, TJ line is that good. I don’t think I need to get into anything else, if you watched the game. Dallas has a Big n Nasty O-Line, well I guess they forgot how to be Big n Nasty vs TJ. Not sure what they do against whoever else, but they flexed on Dallas, and all the Nasty in the world was not gonna help em. I do respect your opinions and insight on Dunmore in previous years. Didn’t wanna sound disrespectful to you. I enjoy reading your posts and insight. #RESPECT
December 5th, 2019 at 8:28 pm
Is it just me or does TJ remind you of the great Wood teams from a few years ago that just ran the ball down peoples throats, granted Wood had a little more high end D1 talent, but very similar style of football, and they even wear the same colors. Granted the wind is a big factor in this game but it is pretty evident TJ is way too physical for Dallas like many of us suspected, and Shane Stump is a tremendous high school quarterback. Very curious to watch the game tomorrow night and see if my feeling that TJ would win 5A is valid.
December 5th, 2019 at 5:59 pm
Surprising seeing a few of predictions for Central dauphin over st Joe prep. Anybody see them both play…I know preps banged up and from what I’m hearing no QB mccord but the backup has been pretty impressive stepping up in his role.
So what type of game should we really be expecting? Does dauphin have the speed to play with prep. I was surprised to see them that close with PCC. Dauphin just scored 65 so prep O may have to keep up which they usually always do.
I’m going to stay the weekend in Hershey to root on Cheltenham (coach is a judge guy) and as always whoever is playing sjp (ha!) What other game for Friday and Saturday are we most looking forward to?
Thanks
December 5th, 2019 at 5:38 pm
D3
Wood is 4A enrollment playing up to 5A in this cycle, probably 4A again by the numbers next cycle, but not sure where they will play.
Wood 31 Cheltenham 14
December 5th, 2019 at 4:56 pm
@D3 Mike – agree with you TJ is too physical for the rest of 4A this year, including Dallas, we’ll see how it plays out. I personally think TJ would win 5A this year, that’s what Dallas is up against tonight, but TJ has a big senior class and graduate a lot, they have been building for this year for the last 3. I agree with New2PA, McKeesport will give TJ a run in 4A next year, they will be #1 & #2 in the preseason rankings in the WPIAL.
Thanks for the info on Wood, now that you mention it I do recall them playing a few D1 schools 7-8 years ago before they started playing the NJ privates.
Congrats to Farrell on repeating as state champs with their 10-7 OT victory over BG, I thought Farrell would score a few more TDs, but did not surprise me BG only managed 7 points.
December 5th, 2019 at 4:42 pm
Class 1A Final: Farrell 10, Bishop Guilfoyle 7 OT
December 5th, 2019 at 4:24 pm
D3 Mike: McKeesport is not playing up this cycle. They will be 4A. People out here talking like they should be favorite over TJ next year.
December 5th, 2019 at 11:46 am
Decided not to put my neck out on the line, so no weekend predictions from me. Based on my few prediction debacles during the year (granted two were long term, early season, another ECP/Imhotep 4A final and a Coatesville/Harrisburg 6A D1/D3 semi final match-up), and more recently, a DTW win over CD. Obviously not going to make a living off of HS football predictions. I’ll let you guys go on the record and follow your results and give some shout outs afterwards on nice picks (and the opposite will hold true as well).
Back to H-Burg and CD. I watched on YouTube the regular season match-up between those two the other night, and its still not sinking in how CD ran all over DTW last Friday. Either the Harrisburg ‘D” is really good, the DTW “D’ is really bad (especially against the run) or CD is just improving and hitting their stride at the right time. Guessing more like a combo of all 3. Thing is, pretty sure SJP’s “D” even w/o Trotter, is a lot closer to Harrisburg’s “D” than DTW’s defense.
Also with that regular season H-Burg/CD game, sorry about going back a few months, but OMG, did Harrisburg ever get F’ed. Was there any fallout from that game ending/time clock issue?? One reason I bring it up, it could have had a real domino effect within 6A D3. If H-Burg had a chance to kick a game winning chip shot field goal, the whole top of the D3 ratings could have been different, and maybe played out quite differently. At a minimum, I think Harrisburg would have had the home field in a championship game against CD. Oh well, water under the bridge at this point……
December 5th, 2019 at 11:36 am
@PSU88
The excitement in the community through the playoffs leading up to the championship games was amazing. In an area that doesn’t have much else going on, it was all people talked about (it probably still is). People always said “last one out of town, turn out the lights” because the whole damn town was in Altoona or Hershey for the game. 1994 when Mt. Carmel, Southern and Berwick all brought home state titles to the region was the best. Hoping for a competitive and injury free championship weekend!
December 5th, 2019 at 11:33 am
@ Mike A – yeah, I saw that on PennLive, I agree with most of their point spreads, with one exception, they have Central Valley and Wyoming as a pick em, which I don’t understand at all, if I was making a line I would have CV -14, based on recent history of WPIAL success in this class, having seen CV play, and comments on here about how Wyoming doesn’t handle speed well and has a tendency to be undisciplined, all of those to me add up to a fairly comfortable win for CV. I think PennLive put too much stock in CV’s narrow 13-12 OT victory over Aliquippa in the WPIAL title game, following their blowout 45-6 win in the last regular season game, but Aliquippa is Aliquippa, these 2 schools are neighbors and bitter rivals, and Aliquippa played an extremely inspired game trying to win for their QB whose mother died the night before the championship game.
December 5th, 2019 at 10:42 am
@Jeff, Wood used to play a few D1 teams before they started their PCL slate. They lost to North Penn in 2012 before blowing NP off the field in 2013 and 2014. Speaking of, does anyone know what class Wood will be playing at in the next cycle? I haven’t seen the enrollment numbers for D12 yet – wasn’t Wood near the cut-off of being 5A (by enrollment) this cycle? And then there’s the success factor to consider. Interested to see where some of the traditional non-boundary powers in the East end up next year (Wood, McDevitt, BC, BECA, Imhotep, etc).
Also, I saw South Fayette is moving up to 5A. With ECP also moving up, should we just go ahead and put Thomas Jefferson in the 2020 and 2021 PIAA semi-finals awhile? I think they roll today against an excellent Dallas team. IMO, this year’s TJ squad is just too physical for other 4As to handle.
December 5th, 2019 at 10:08 am
Pretty cool article about Cheltenham and their football program from Forbes magazine of all publications.
Just wish that their game against Wood could have been played at Upper Dublin Friday night!!!
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmarks/2019/12/04/longtime-football-underdog-cheltenhams-rise-stirs-panther-pride-throughout-the-land/?fbclid=IwAR1bf6PEO4s883d4UsU8FkdZqM5KJh1m1IHPLKCs0WZV1dwsTtOdZyD1IQM#602794c8e85e
December 5th, 2019 at 9:43 am
PennLive has SJP a 6 point favorite over CD. Here are the other picks.
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/football/2019/12/pennlives-high-school-football-championship-week-picks-and-predictions.html
December 5th, 2019 at 9:17 am
@ Jeff H and NW PA
Thanks for the more in depth Avonworth info. Ya read my mind!!! I never hear of Avonworth, so did an on-line search and the first thing that popped up was…..Mom drops lawsuit against the PIAA…..rut row, probably not good. Long story short, found limited info (locked out of the Pitt P-G website, too many free articles :)) and figure just ask you guys. Sounds like another kid caught up in the PIAA new, and inconsistent, transfer rule. Like NW PA, I find some of this transfer stuff fascinating as well, but not so much in a good way. More on all of that later.
Speaking of the PPG, saw a tweet from Mike White that the PIAA is releasing the names of the schools that are “playing up” tomorrow. I don’t know if that means based on the new success factor, voluntarily, from new 2 year enrollment numbers, or all of the above. Some of you western guys have been already talking about WPIAL schools and their new classifications. Guess I missed the memo, but were the new 2-year cycle enrollment numbers released for each school?? I only saw that the PIAA released the enrollment parameters of all sports for each classifications.
Anyways, tons of off season fodder to kick around, from transfers, first time success factor results, new enrollment figs, PPL rumors, team nicknames/mascots (hint, Neshaminy), but for the next few days…..let the games begin!!! Good luck to all!!!
ps….anybody plan on being in Hershey at anytime over the next 3 days???
December 5th, 2019 at 7:20 am
Such a sad story, great kid from a great family.
https://www.readingeagle.com/sports/article/berks-catholics-anthony-myers-dies-of-cancer
December 4th, 2019 at 11:32 pm
@ D3 Mike – some interesting stats, nice research, obviously we know one of the publics Wood lost to was Penn Hills last year, out of curiosity who is the other public school they lost to? I know they lost to Imhotep in the D12 final in 2015, but you’re not counting charter schools. Another Wood stat is they have either won the state title or lost in the playoffs to the eventual champion since the PCL joined the PIAA in 2008, and that streak continues even if they lose on Friday, which I doubt they will.
December 4th, 2019 at 11:19 pm
@ Mark D & Neutral Observer – yes, Central Valley is loaded, maybe not quite as good as Aliquippa last year, better than Quaker Valley from 2017, and as good or better than Beaver Falls from 2016, I’m expecting them to win by 3 scores and think they likely score 5-6 Tds If Wyoming doesn’t handle speed well they are in trouble, because CV has a bunch of guys that can run, and they have a balanced offense that will likely hit some deep passes against Wyoming’s secondary. If CV wins they will be the fourth different team from the same Beaver County conference to win 3A, I’ll have more comments on that game later in the week.
Some thoughts and predictions for the games tomorrow
1A Farrell vs. BG – I think the two best 1A teams played last week when Farrell beat Clairton, if Farrell’s defense is good enough to hold high scoring Clairton to only 10 points I think they will also shut down BG’s offense, Farrell has too much team speed, I’ll pick Farrell 27-10
4A TJ vs. Dallas – really surprised a lot of you guys think this will be a high scoring game, I assume you realize TJ has given up a grand total of 62 points all year, which is an average of 4.1/game, and the most they have given up in any game was 13 to Erie Prep 2 weeks ago. No one has stopped TJ’s power running game yet, Dallas might slow them down a bit, but they are not going to stop them, and they have a more than adequate passing game when Dallas starts loading the box, think it will be close for a while but TJ wears them down and wins 34-14.
December 4th, 2019 at 10:19 pm
Just a comment on Wyoming Area saw a few games this year. They are not very well disciplined and I think it will bite them you know where. They had a few cheap shots on Southern’s 2nd team after they were totally embarrassed just glad to see no one was injured. that night.. I do think their undisciplined actions will be their downfall.
December 4th, 2019 at 8:48 pm
Have to say that there is nothing like Championship week for Southern Columbia. Having kids gone through the program. It still gives me chills to watch all the activities for kids, school and community. Their is school pep rally, community pep rally, team meal, team breakfast, community celebration after the game, etc. Not sure what other teams do but Southern kids get to experience something special. Good Luck to all the teams. Stay safe.
December 4th, 2019 at 7:56 pm
@New2PA: I would assume that if a team is gonna be 4A next cycle that they would just stay there and not play up. I think a couple more teams are actually moving to 3A as well. I think Meadville may be the only other true 5A team in the district next cycle. I doubt anyone who is voluntarily playing up this current cycle will choose to do so the next cycle.
Looking forward to some good games the next few days.
December 4th, 2019 at 5:15 pm
@ mark d
I’m assuming that Central Valley is at least comparable to the last few 3A teams from the West. I don’t think 2019 Wyoming Area is anywhere near as talented as the 2016-18 Middletown teams were. Other than QB#9 Dom DeLuca, no one on Wyoming Area scares me (including the O-line). I also think Wyoming Area (as a team) can be easily rattled and goaded into dumb penalties. They didn’t face much adversity in D2, but I bet they will against Central Valley. I would not be at all surprised to see the game get out of control.
December 4th, 2019 at 3:57 pm
@ District Commissioner – well put, I agree with you SJP is up against it this week, with all their injuries they are now merely a very good team and not a dominant team, they still may win the state title, but the game against CD on Saturday is going to be a battle and I too would not be surprised if CD wins. I give them a lot of credit for their win over PCC last week, they got outplayed and didn’t do much on offense in the 2nd half but were still able to put together an 82 yard drive with under 3 minutes to go when their season was on the line and scored the tying TD with less than 20 seconds to play to send the game to OT.
December 4th, 2019 at 3:12 pm
* correction, Wood is 38-2 vs. boundary schools (i.e. non-charter public schools).
December 4th, 2019 at 3:10 pm
I just can’t believe we voted him commissioner of the district. There was no one else in central PA who wanted the job?
Interesting Twitter discussion about the competitiveness of games since they moved to 6 classes. Half of the state title games have invoked the mercy rule over the past 3 years, with only 3 of the 18 games being decided by fewer than 2 touchdowns (17%). Compare that to 57% when there were 4 classes. Food for thought. Hopefully this weekend reverses the trend.
I’ll take the same 6 teams everyone else took. Some random factoids:
6A: Half of CD’s games were decided by a TD or less this year. Since 2011, they are 20-7 in the playoffs with 6 of the 7 losses coming by < 2 TDs.
5A: Archbishop Wood is 38-2 vs. non-boundary schools this decade.
4A: Thomas Jefferson is 3-4 vs. D10 and 7-0 vs. all other districts in 8 trips to the PIAA playoffs.
3A: D2 and D7 have split their 12 all-time state finals match-ups, with D2 dropping all 5 this century.
2A: If SCA wins, RB Gaige Garcia finishes his career 63-0 as a starter.
1A: Geographically, Hershey is 13.5 hours from where Farrell and Bishop Guilfoyle should probably be playing tomorrow's game.
December 4th, 2019 at 1:42 pm
@neutral what do you know about central valley that makes you think that Wyoming area has no chance .Are they that fast becuse i know that Wyoming doesn’t handle speed well.as for Dallas i agree a shoot out but Dallas 42 TJ 38 i think their just a team of destiny
December 4th, 2019 at 1:19 pm
@ Mark D – I have not seen Dallas play but have read plenty about them, and I think they match up pretty well with TJ. I will say TJ has one of the best offensive lines in the state regardless of class, and I am of the opinion TJ is better and would beat either of the 2 schools playing for the 5A title, but 6A is a whole different animal.
December 4th, 2019 at 1:13 pm
@New2PA – thanks for the info, surprised McKeesport is not playing up like they have for the last 4 years, that will help 4A make up for the loss of South Fayette…I think SF is going to struggle to be much above 500 in 5A, given they lost to Upper St Clair the last 2 years and USC was nothing special either year. But yeah, 5A in the WPIAL will be loaded again next year and with ECP playing up that will make 5A even stronger come playoff time.
@NW PA – completely agree with you there is inconsistency statewide in enforcing the rules, the WPIAL has historically taken a very strong stance against transfers, and are often overruled by the PIAA, but this time the PIAA agreed with the WPIAL, which is very unusual.
Moronic, ignorant comments like those from District 3 Commish regarding SJP do not deserve a response.
December 4th, 2019 at 12:18 pm
Predictions:
1A: Farrell 28, BG 6
2A: Southern Columbia 56, Avonworth 7
3A: Central Valley 38, Wyoming Area 28
4A: TJ 35, Dallas 21
5A: AB Wood 28, Cheltenham 21
6A: SJP 35, CD 24
December 4th, 2019 at 10:54 am
District 3 commissioner is to be ignored. There are people who cannot be invited to debate because they are incapable. He is one. School districts dividing have nothing to do with “letting kids play”. These are demographic, economic moves deemed necessary by the school boards and the tax bases. Sometimes it puts pressure on the tax base, sometimes it doesn’t. But football is not on the list of concerns. But thanks for trolling. It’s the same thing every year on any board. Local team has great year, local team goes into state playoffs, local team sees speed and size for the first time and loses their sh!t because they thought this was the year the boys would get one. If it isn’t the District 12 “all star” teams, then it is the apartments in the area that the winning hs stashes their best players. Or the family that moved to the area just for football. PS….I think CD pulls this off this weekend. Prep is against the wall here and the Prep people will be the first to tell you that.
December 4th, 2019 at 9:55 am
My predictions:
1A: Farrell 42, Bishop Guilfoyle 14
2A: Southern Columbia 49, Avonworth 14 (starts out 49-0)
3A: Central Valley 56, Wyoming Area 6 (mercy rule in the first half)
4A: Thomas Jefferson 42, Dallas 38 (offensive shootout)
5A: Archbishop Wood 38, Cheltenham 10
6A: Central Dauphin 21, St. Joe’s Prep 20
December 4th, 2019 at 8:33 am
Hey guys, I was just checking out the PCN TV website and saw that they changed their ridiculous $12.95 one day subscription to a much more sensible $14.95 monthly subscription (the yearly $34.95 is still available). So if you don’t have PCN for free with your traditional cable service, this new monthly option might work for you now, as all 6 championship games would be available (and on-demand for later viewing within the subscription month). There is a Roku app so you can watch on your regular TV and not be subject to watching on a PC or small screen portable device.
December 4th, 2019 at 6:10 am
District 3 Commish going off the rails. Calling teenage kids cowards is a new low even for the obsessed ego maniacs on this board. What would you have the school do to avoid being cowardice? Close? The Prep has students come from all over the Delaware valley who never play a sport. That’s the makeup of the school. From North Philly to Downington to South Jersey. Been that way for a long time, long before athletics at the school competed on any level in the catholic league. So they decided to give their programs a boost, particularly football.
THIS IS AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE. THE PREP HAS NUMEROUS ADVANTAGES PUBLIC SCHOOLS DO NOT.
Oh well, that’s life. I ran into plenty of unfair advantages growing up. Going to the Prep gave me multiple advantages in not just athletics but also life. I would have went to Samuel Adela if the members or this message board had their way. Now why in the world would I pass up on an opportunity to attend a fantastic academic institution that I continue to make connections from today in my professional life? Because I’m a coward? Or is it because I accepted the challenge of going to high school without having a single childhood friend to go with? Or took on the well over three hours a night of homework? I don’t believe that makes me a coward at all sir I believe that made me successful.
Stooping to the level of personally insulting these kids is downright sad and quite frankly infuriating. There is no place for that in high school athletics and posts such as those; again calling teenage kids COWARDA, should not be allowed on this board.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:11 pm
District 3 commish, well I was always interested in your opinions until that rant. Not that you give a damn ,but you sure lost all credibility and respect from me ,
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:17 pm
@Jeff H/Kevin X: I find the story about the PCC athlete to Avonworth fascinating. A very similar situation happened in D-10 this year with a much different result. I only tell this story to show the inconsistency in how the new rules are enforced. The young man is a great kid from a great family. The athlete transferred from Erie Prep to Harborcreek (A suburb of Erie) after their sophomore season. They requested a playoff waiver and were granted one. I’m not sure why they transferred but it was not in any way financial. Back to my main point, there is NO consistency in how any of the new rules are enforced. Erie High lost another stud to McDowell in the off season and the athlete was granted a playoff waiver. Erie High is no more than 5 miles from McDowell. Millcreek (Erie’s biggest suburb) is more affluent than Erie so tell me the “hardship” exemption. What generally happens in sticky situations like this is the athletes family requests a closed door hearing and no one ever finds out what they said or if it’s in any way true. The kid from Avonworth should have requested a closed door hearing and had his family tell half truths, lies, or exaggerations, it works here all the time.
December 3rd, 2019 at 6:26 pm
@ District 3 … Why the anger and the shouting–and what in the world does courage or cowardice have to do with this week’s game?
December 3rd, 2019 at 3:55 pm
I’m assuming all those 4A schools in D10 that played 5A to avoid Erie Prep will now play 4A?
December 3rd, 2019 at 3:46 pm
Jeff H.:
Here are the 5A teams. McKeesport is not playing up and Plum, Armstrong, Mars, Hampton and Chartiers Valley dropped to 4A. South Fayette is in 5A this cycle. So 5A is down 5 teams total to 18.
Pine Richland
Upper Saint Clair
Peters Township
Fox Chapel
Bethel Park
Penn-Trafford
Greater Latrobe
North Hills
Connellsville
Shaler
Kiski
Moon
South Fayette
Franklin Regional
Gateway
Penn Hills
Woodland Hills
West Allegheny
At least 13 of these 18 made the playoffs this year. Loaded with P-R, Gateway, Peters Twp, Penn Trafford, Penn Hills, South Fayette, Bethel Park, USC, etc.
Add in Erie Prep at the West is loaded with teams.
December 3rd, 2019 at 2:11 pm
Stack Mush Mouth
-You did not answer the question.
– Your program is full of cowards that are afraid to compete on a level playing field so they create an All Star team.
– CD actually split their district in half to create two teams so more kids can play thus weakening what would be one better team…. same as Central Bucks, West Chester and many more. Don’t think your cowardly school would ever do that as it would weaken the “program”.
– Your coaches routinely show up at youth football games in the Downingtown & Coatesville area to recruit players.
– Your “district” has 10,000,000 people with a one hour radius to select top athletes.
– COWARDS!!!!!!!!!!
December 3rd, 2019 at 1:42 pm
My State Championship picks…..
A: Farrell 31 – Bishop G 13
AA: SC 49 – Avonworth 0
AAA: Wyoming Area 21 – Central Valley 20
AAAA: TJ 28 – Dallas 24
AAAAA: Wood 34 – Cheltenham 20
AAAAAA: SJ Prep 42 – CD 10
December 3rd, 2019 at 12:20 pm
@District3Rep & Gary Z – will also add that Middletown had to win 2 games against teams from other districts just to get to Hershey each year, so they were clearly the best 3A team in the eastern bracket in 2016-2018.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:47 am
@GARY Z have you seen Dallas play ??? Dallas offence of line is big strong and nasty>If Tj is that much better than them i think they beat anybody in the state
December 3rd, 2019 at 8:18 am
@ GaryZ
I’m not sure what games you were watching in regards to Middletown in the finals. Middletown shot themselves in the foot for about 4-5 minutes in each of those finals that blew the doors open. Other than those 4-5 minutes, Mtown showed they belonged in the game.
BF – Game was 16-13 with 10 mins left. – BF Pick 6 to end the scoring that day with about 3 mins left in game – ended 30-13.
QV – Game was 7-7 with 4 mins left in 1st Half – 2 quick turnovers deep in own end led to QV Td’s right before half.
Aliquippa – Game was 7-0 with 4 mins left in 3rd Quarter. And Aliquippa team would probably have beaten over half the state championship teams in Hershey that weekend.
Don’t get me wrong, the better teams won those games. But to say what you’re saying is not sticking with facts about Middletown and the East.
December 3rd, 2019 at 7:56 am
@ District 3 Commish:
Assuming that your question isn’t just a thinly veiled, passive-aggressive shot at the Prep that should be directed to your neighbors at the PIAA, here are some responses to it:
The same number of student athletes that
– did have to travel 4 hours two years in a row to play a semifinal game
– did not have a convenient quarterfinal bye
– do not have their own practice facility, let alone a taxpayer funded stadium to play games in
– had to pass an entrance exam and are held to a higher academic standard
– are subject to grown ass adults like you spouting tainted rhetoric and innuendo
Central Dauphin is a big, talented, well-coached, fundamentally sound, and as far as I can tell, fearless squad that has a legit opportunity to win a trophy on Saturday. No need for you to act as their chief apologist, nor to undermine the efforts and achievements of either squad.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:18 pm
@Philly Boy – if Prep was fully healthy I agree it would be delusional to think CD had a realistic chance to beat them. However, I saw Prep play last Saturday in person and PCC outplayed them in the 2nd half, and I have thought for the last 2 months CD is as good or better than PCC, I know their O-Line is comparable to PCC and if PCC ran on SJP as well as they did it appears to me that CD can as well. I honestly thought Prep would win last week by 3 scores even without McCord, Trotter and the other guys who are hurt, but PCC gave them all they could handle, which leads me to believe CD could very well beat them on Saturday. I might also add they have a much better head coach than PCC and I would be surprised if this game is not very competitive and close in the 2nd half, assuming McCord doesn’t play, the rumors I’ve heard is he’s out for the year with a knee injury so I would be shocked if he plays, its common knowledge Trotter is out for the season, not sure about the other guys.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:00 pm
@Kevin X- regarding the Avonworth transfer question, Kyros Thorpe lives in the Avonworth district but played for Pittsburgh Central Catholic the last 2 years and transferred back to Avonworth in July. The WPIAL ruled he didn’t meet any of the waiver guidelines and therefore was ineligible to play in the playoffs, and the PIAA upheld the WPIAL ruling (usually the PIAA overrules the WPIAL decision, but in this case they upheld it). He is a receiver and cornerback and I believe led the team in touchdowns during the regular season. The question entering the playoffs was whether Avonworth was good enough to win the WPIAL title without him and they obviously were up to the task and made it to Hershey. His mother and attorney filed a lawsuit in Allegheny Common Pleas Court on the Thursday prior to the WPIAL championship game on 11/23 seeking an injunction to let him play, but the WPIAL and PIAA threatened to appeal and said if they won Avonworth would be stripped of any playoff victories he appeared in so his family wisely withdrew the lawsuit. They had a tremendous season,15-0 and first WPIAL title in 60 years speaks for itself, but they aren’t going to beat So Col with or without him so at this time its a moot point as far as that goes. I’m not sure this is what the PIAA had in mind with the transfer rules, going from a private back to a public district he’s lived in for years, that seems a bit harsh to me but those are the rules and the family supposedly couldn’t prove he should get the hardship exemption but that’s open for debate and why the family initially filed the lawsuit.
@New2PA – who moved out of 5A to drop to it18 teams, there were 23 this year, I know Baldwin is going up, but PR coming down, and South Fayette moving up from 4A, so if anything I figured there would still be 23-24 teams in 5A, do you know who dropped to 4A that played 5A the last few years? Did you take into account a school like McKeesport that is 4A but plays up?
@NW PA – I hear you about Erie Prep not being as dominant in the next few years, but at a school like Prep with Mishler at coach you guys reload and never rebuild, so I am still expecting ECP to be a factor in the state playoffs even in 5A. Wood is unquestionably down this year by their lofty standards yet they still made it to Hershey, albeit catching a big break with Derrick Davis not being able to play, but my point is ECP will still be a factor and someone’s going to have to play well to knock them out and no doubt they make 5A a deeper and stronger class than this year. If you guys played 5A this year Wood would have to have beaten you and Gateway to get to Hershey, no small task.
December 2nd, 2019 at 7:27 pm
My State Championship picks…..
A: Farrell 27 – Bishop G 13
AA: SC 42 – Avonworth 7
AAA: Central Valley 28 – Wyoming Area 13
AAAA: TJ 21 – Dallas 14
AAAAA: Wood 26 – Cheltenham 20
AAAAAA: SJ Prep 31 – CD 10
Good luck to all teams
December 2nd, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Guys, I don’t want to get too far over my skis or misrepresent my comments about the PPL considering leaving the PIAA. It comes from being told most PPL schools aren’t setting their schedules for next season yet with the reason being given they’re considering leaving the PIAA and are awaiting a decision and further guidance. NE Philly advertising for games on this very site puts my understanding the specifics of that into question. Also, I don’t know why it really makes a difference for scheduling out of conference games, since PIAA schools have no restrictions against playing non-PIAA schools, so I obviously don’t know a lot about this other than to say something is up in the PPL.
I don’t have huge differences with you guys, in some respects I’m not really sure I disagree with much that’s been said. The one thing I will say is the PPL is a bellwether because I think there’s a lot of dissatisfaction with the state of the PIAA outside of the PPL. It’s a vastly different HS sports landscape than it was 15 years ago.
I probably should have waited to open this can o worms and let you guys focus on the teams and players heading into finals week, since that’s where it belongs this time of year. I’ve always been impressed by the knowledge of teams and players on this site. Plenty of time to talk about the admin stuff later.
December 2nd, 2019 at 1:42 pm
If only Middletown had the revolutionary offensive system and Lombardi-like coaching staff of a Beaver Falls or a Quaker Valley, they too could have gone 1-9 or 2-7 right after appearing in a state title game instead of just winning 14 and showing up in Hershey again the next year. Definitely coaching and scheme, not one-off senior classes.
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:44 am
@ 4th and Long
Guess it’s just me, but still not getting the canary in the coal mine reference if the PPL leaves the PIAA. I’m not in the “good riddance” camp that I mentioned before, but I would not be shedding any tears over them leaving either. Is it going to be the beginning of the end of the PIAA?? I actually think it might be good for all parties involved. They can do their own thing, make and play by their own rules, and it wouldn’t restrict them from playing against any PIAA schools in any sport. Just state tournaments. The PAISAA seems to be functioning quite nicely as an independent athletic association, why couldn’t the PPL?? The PPL hasn’t been relevant or competitive in any sport that I know of on a statewide basis recently other than Imhotep in football, and a handful of smaller charter schools in boys basketball.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:51 am
Why would the PPL leave the PIAA? I could not find any info anywhere on the web regarding this. Could it be the new transfer rules? Philly is transfer/recruiting central when it comes to athletes. Charter schools killed PPL football and basketball, not the PCL. Take away the Charter schools and the Phil Pubs would be winning State Championships every year in basketball. In football, the Philly Pubs always played 2nd fiddle to the Catholic league, Take away TEP and the rest of the Charters and PUB football would be stronger but they still would not compete for State Championships.. A few years ago the Phil Pub coaches were pushing for a rule where athletes should play for the local public school where they reside, it went nowhere.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:05 am
How many student athletes competing in the Pennsylvania Class 5A & 6A State Championships do not live in Pennsylvania?
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:42 am
@D3 Mike
Any of the teams that played Middletown in final could have played them the next day after playing on Friday and blown them off the field. Honestly nothing to do w ‘bye week’ or how many teams. Middletown did not have the athletes or coaching to play w those teams. Honestly I hope this Sat is more competitive, maybe like ya said when it was 10 years ago and 4 classes. However, no disrespect, I wouldn’t count on it. C. Valley blows em off the field. Actually I think they would have got mercy ruled by Class A Jeanette or Farrell in the past few years. I sincerely mean that too. They had no speed and the Offense was so predictable, I actually felt bad. So not gonna debate 10 years ago when their were 4 classes and how District 3 rep just had a bad day. There is a bad day, then there is a team that looks like it has never seen a squad like they are playing before. That was Middletown, something tells me Wyo is gonna be down too on Sat. If they only had a bye week.
December 2nd, 2019 at 4:58 am
I never heard about the rumor of the Philadelphia Public League potentially leaving the PIAA. The PPL to the PIAA: we quit! (Lol) I remember when they joined back in ’04. True story: soon after they joined I had a chance encounter with the superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, at the time Paul Vallas, at a restaurant in the Roxborough section of the city. I commended him for his efforts to join the PIAA. It was under his direction that it happened. To come full circle, that would be crazy but somewhat understandable. They’re tired of getting dominated in states, but the bigger issue may have to do with saving money. On a side note, I thought the WPIAL should have bargained harder with the PIAA, they should have held their ground about not going to 6 classes.
December 1st, 2019 at 11:27 pm
@Tornado Fan & 4th and Long,
In many ways I wish we could all return to how things used to be–and that includes PCL and PPL schools that were much more community-based than they are now. Open enrollment, which was not done to enhance athletic programs, changed the whole picture for most of the schools (SJP and LaSalle never had boundaries.) Changes in families, the economy (especially how, where, and when people work), technology (especially social media that keep kids and many adults from doing what they used to do), participation rates in youth sports, and the range of sports now available to kids–who would ever have thought that NBC would be showing soccer games from England every Saturday?–all mean that assuming the same sorts of crowds that used to show up at Friday night and Saturday afternoon games will do so in 2019 is probably mistaken.
One thing we probably agree on is that holding hs games in college stadiums (like Rutgers and Maryland) is a bad idea–zero atmosphere and it makes the games just look like glorified recruiting exercises.
December 1st, 2019 at 10:31 pm
@NW PA: WPIAL 5A only has 18 teams next cycle. So probably only 8 or 12 team playoff. Wonder if they will get inserted into State Semi’s with 18 teams. If not, then possible quarters matchup with D10/ECP. But ya, will be interesting to see state bracket.
December 1st, 2019 at 10:04 pm
@New2PA: Erie Cathedral had several transfers last season. When you factor that in with winning states last season and making it to the quarter finals this year they reached enough “points” to be bumped to 5A under the new system. It will be interesting how the state bracket shapes up next year because it’s looking like they won’t have anyone to play in the District 10 playoffs. This could lead to a situation where they have 1 or even 2 weeks off, which as I have discussed previously, happened to them several times over the last couple seasons. Outside of Pittsburgh there are no 5A teams remotely close to Erie and the WPIAL 5A brackets take 16 teams so my guess is they have at least one week off before playing the District 6/9 winner. After that they will could get matched up with a team from the other side of the state (This happened to Oil City this year, they played Southern Lehigh in the round of 16 even though Southern Lehigh is at least 4 hours from Oil City).
December 1st, 2019 at 6:37 pm
@4th and Long
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I was also going to say this year is an anomaly, especially in 4A where ECP, Imhotep, BC all got knocked out in the quarterfinals. Those schools plus Beca made up the 4A final 4 for at least the past 3 years. I read that the public/private ratio is ~20%, so as of this week its right about where it should be for once, but I don’t think most fans would be surprised if at least 2 out of 6 champions are privates.
@FrankG
I think the main reason for smaller crowd sizes for private schools is that kids are generally not from one local community. Another reason is the blowouts. A school like SJP is a victim of its own success and how they built their program. They get talent from everywhere, blow everybody out locally and then have to travel far to play similar opponents who can match up. How many people are going to travel to Georgia to see them play Marietta or North Jersey to play IMG Academy? Especially if its televised on ESPN. Its a sign of the times but again, its not my cup of tea. I’ll only be watching this weekend to see if CD can pull off the upset.
December 1st, 2019 at 5:49 pm
Frank G, I agree with you about attendance (participation also) being down. I just don’t see the point to playing the state championship in Hershey when, for example, Cheltenham and Wood are only about 10 miles apart.
Where I’d disagree with you is about players. A private school can target athletes, giving the school disproportionately good teams for the overall enrollment of the school. I have no problem with that happening, where I take exception is expecting schools held to different standards to compete based on enrollment. Not necessarily a fan of the success formula, either. Sounds like the PPL might have had enough (if the rumor is true) and I don’t blame them.
December 1st, 2019 at 5:28 pm
Kevin X,
I think the reason we should care about the PPL leaving the PIAA is they are the canary in the coal mine. Excluding Imhotep Charter and Northeast, football in the PPL is generally speaking horrible because so many of the top players leave for the numerous high quality private schools in the area. However, aside from the moral/ethical matter of saying we don’t care about the PPL, there are a lot of publics in D1 that experience the same basic problems to a lesser degree. What if they decide to leave the PIAA? You’re then talking about somewhere around half the state’s population in a separate organization. It’s a problem in many districts, but nowhere else experiences it like SE PA and the PPL in particular.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:51 pm
@ 4th and Long
Love the “if I were king” reference, as I am too guilty of that in many instances.
Now the multiple “Why” questions…..assuming your rumor is credible, why are certain PPL schools considering leaving the PIAA?? Or just District 12?? Why would it garner attention?? Why would anyone care?? Many would actually think that would be a “good riddance” scenario. The only thing I can think of is if they start a movement, as in other schools in other districts follow suit. I think if either the WPIAL or District One as a whole bolt, yeah, then a message would be sent (whatever that message might be) and people would take notice.
My if I were king thought to the above is I would think the PCL would be more interested in leaving D12 and the association with the PPL (historic pass, but time to look at the present and future and move on) and form say a D13, take along the 8 female D1 Catholic academies, the smaller D1 faith based/christian schools and maybe Shanahan and PJPII. Be a nice private independent SEPA faith/catholic/christian based district.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:22 pm
@ 4th and Long,
Your contrast between public schools playing before large crowds and Catholic / private schools playing before tiny crowds is overdrawn. First, from what I see and read it seems the large crowds watching games between public schools are a whole lot less common than they used to be. Sure there’s Easton-P-Burg but that’s really exceptional. CD will get lots of fans in Hershey, but isn’t that a very short drive for most of their fans?
Second, the crowd sizes at Catholic / private games vary for many reasons. Very few of the PCL schools have their own home fields, and that creates obvious problems. I think LaSalle had three different “homes” this year, and Roman’s home is probably five miles from the school. The Prep has the worst situation. Widener is far from the great majority of Prep families. I still don’t understand the choice to use that as a home field, though I understand the cost of P-W, along with other problems there, made that unsustainable. Still, the Prep-LaSalle game usually draws good crowds every year.
Part of the problem is that there are so many blow-outs. This has been especially true of SJP, but my sense is that in several leagues there are more and more one-sided games. Who wants to spend four hours (going to, watching, and going home) a a mercy-rule game? I, for one, would like to see the Prep play more of their early games against regional or national “powers” in the Philly area. It would more directly connect the team with the school community. Maybe the logistical barriers are greater than I imagine.
I also have trouble with your description of the Catholic / private schools taking students/players from the public schools and using them as weapons to defeat public schools. Some students go to Catholic or private elementary schools. But I don’t see students who go to public elementary schools as “belonging to” a school district or under any kind of obligation to attend the local public high school. With the shrinking of the Catholic school system (for all kinds of reasons) all the PCL schools have to draw an increasing proportion of their students from public elementary schools. Years ago Catholic elementary schools were tuition-free (because there were so many nuns, because lay teachers used to work for even worse salaries than those they get today, and because many more people went to weekly mass and made offerings for the schools), but those days are gone.
December 1st, 2019 at 2:15 pm
In the past decade, the district 3 rep has made the state finals 6 times in what is now 3A and won it 3 times, including wins over Aliquippa and GCC. That’s out of only 12 schools in 3A and it takes 2+ PIAA wins in the East just to make the 3A finals. So it’s been more a matter of the Beaver County reps being really good and Middletown not playing well in the final the past few years than anything being wrong with Middletown.
Also, just as you said no disrespect to Middletown I’ll say the same to the teams in the western bracket… but the WPIAL only has 17 teams in 3A yet their winner gets into the state semi-finals, and then that semi-final game is a team that’s rarely top 10 caliber, let alone top 4 caliber. All of the 3A winners have deserved their titles but Central Valley basically just got 2 weeks off before the title game while Wyoming has been out playing multiple teams that are considerably better than either or Bald Eagle.
December 1st, 2019 at 1:41 pm
@ phillyboy Boy, if you are wrong about prep you will be eating CROW instead of turkey. On the other hand I tend to agree but not totally convinced we shall see.
December 1st, 2019 at 1:30 pm
@KevinX
From what I hear McCord will not play on Sat. I don’t know whether Leneghan can. I listened to the game and didn’t hear Rightley’s name once, and I’m assuming he didn’t play. He was injured earlier in the year. If Leneghan and Rightley can’t play, that means their best lineman, linebacker, and back are gone from the defense. I know injuries are part of the game and for all I know CD has as many key injuries, but the Prep seems particularly hard-hit right now.
December 1st, 2019 at 1:30 pm
Is ECP moving up by choice or because of the success formulation. Did they have that many transfers?
December 1st, 2019 at 10:10 am
Foleman and Tradition,
First, three private schools in the final is still more than mathematically average considering almost 90% of the teams in state are public. No doubt the balance appears to be moving in the right direction towards boundary/non-boundary parity, but I suspect this year is an anomaly, not a trend. In D1 and D12, the publics have an enormous uphill battle against non-boundary schools who beat the publics by recruiting the best players in the public schools. Basically, the publics are having to hand their weapons over to their opponents and then getting beaten with them. “A team beats a roster” might be a nice sound bite, but the reality is closer to the axiom “it’s Jimmies and Joes, not Xs and Os.” Throwing successful public school coaches under the bus because they don’t win state championships is unfair. How they do against equivalent competition is a better measuring stick.
What’s the solution… I don’t know. I’ve got a lot of my own “if I were king” ideas, but none of them are likely to ever be put forward. One thing that should scare everyone is the rumor a lot of PPL schools are seriously discussing leaving the PIAA. If far and away the largest district, in far and away the largest city in the state, are discussing leaving the PIAA, that had better garner attention.
I come from a time and place where, when I was playing HS ball, we didn’t have a state championship in football (they do now). I look at things differently from a lot of the posters on this board. I’d rather see high school kids playing in front of big crowds of fans invested in the teams than super teams playing to mostly empty stands in someplace hundreds of miles away in December.
December 1st, 2019 at 9:42 am
A few predictions. 1A: I’m gonna go with Farrell because they fall under my northwestern part of the state and they’ve been here before. 2A: Next. 3A: Central Valley will be hard to stop. Their only loss was to TJ and they kept it reasonable. 4A: Intriguing but TJ all day. I felt the best 2 4A teams played at North Hills HS two weeks ago. Dallas seems to have a great senior class but so does TJ. 5A: Wood I guess but I don’t know much about either team. 6A: If Mcord plays SJP wins, if not I like Central Dauphin.
@Jeff H: Look for Erie Cathedral to not be quite as good as usual the next 2 years. It had nothing to do with the move to 5A it’s just timing. This year and last year their JV team had low numbers. They will always have talent and be competitive but let’s be honest, you can’t stay on top forever. They had so much success between 2012-2018 that the rest of the state always thinks they will have these juggernaut teams and that’s not realistic. I did hear their freshmen team was pretty good and that this years 8th graders are also pretty good so maybe in a year or two they’ll be back.
December 1st, 2019 at 8:50 am
St. Joe’s Prep is like a mini Penn State; you lose a starter here or there, no problem, just plug in the next stud-to-be waiting in the wings. Dan Marino goes down, it’s all good, time to bring in Michael Vick — must be nice. You guys are delusional if you think Central Dauphin can beat Prep. Their slow, plodding style works against a soft Downingtown West who surrenders more points than a clueless buyer going to settlement. Prep is going to load the box and stuff the run like nobody’s business. In fact, there will be so much stuffing, you’ll wish you had some turkey and cranberry sauce to go with it. When CD runs out onto the field, it’s going to be reminiscent of that TV commercial where the ball club from the 1920’s donning leather helmets gets their first view of modern day football.
December 1st, 2019 at 8:41 am
@ FrankG
I know Trotter is done for the year, but any chance any of the others that you mentioned will be back for Saturday night??
@ Tradition
Enjoy the silence on that front for now, b/c if by any chance we have 50% of the champions next week being Catholic schools, you’ll hear that drum beat as loud as ever as early as Saturday evening. Even if not, you’ll still have a few that will never give up that fight.
@ Jeff H
Thnx for the Davis info. Yes, 5A should be crazy next year. Wood I believe only have 2 key seniors this year that they would be loosing (De virgilis and Mininger).
I was following the game on Twitter, and saw a video of the catch there. My initial thought was oh boy PCC got robbed and/or SJP said more pre game prayers. Then I saw a very good still shot, and yikes, he did get that toe down. Good thing he didn’t trim his toe nails pre game 🙂
I may toss out an Avonworth question to you later……has to do with a transfer issue, if you know where I’m going with that, feel free to jump the gun on me……
December 1st, 2019 at 2:34 am
I also expect Central Valley to win big as well. No disrespect, but judging on the previous years (I know, that was then), but having Middletown be the rep in Hershey. Tells me that they must not have too many strong teams. Because Middletown got destroyed by Beaver Co. teams all 3 years. So if they kept making it back, year after year, tells me that is not a very strong district in that Class. That team did not belong on the field with any of the Beaver Co. teams they played. I honestly do not want to disrespect Middletown, it’s just hard to believe that was the best of that district.
December 1st, 2019 at 2:25 am
TJ will blow Dallas off the field. TJ is too big and physical. They play a brutal style of football, however they can beat you running or throwing. The QB, Stump is a D1 Safety. The D is the key to that team. They are so disciplined and relentless. Cherpak is an excellent coach, watching them on film and in person is something to see. Never have kids out of position or making mental errors. I personally do not know, but their weight room program is next level. No disrespect to Dallas, they are gonna hit a buzz saw in TJ. I don’t live in the town or have a personal connection, other than being D7. TJ is just so consistent year in and year out. The amount of D1 talent they put out every year, for a public school is amazing.
November 30th, 2019 at 10:16 pm
I just saw the video of the TD catch by Harrison Jr, one of the best clutch catches you will ever see at any level, I blew it up and watched it a dozen times on my computer monitor. I can also see why the PCC fans initially thought they got robbed, but he did get a toe down before he ended up 4 feet beyond the end line, unbelievable. To say Prep dodged a bullet would be an understatement.
November 30th, 2019 at 7:33 pm
@ Gary Z – don’t know much about Wyoming, need to do a little research, they better have a good secondary or CV will torch them, I will also say I don’t think Central Valley would lose 42-0 against Southern Columbia like Wyoming did, at this point I would make CV at least a 2 TD favorite.
November 30th, 2019 at 7:20 pm
@ Kevin X – Derrick Davis from Gateway got hurt early in third quarter last week against Peters Twp in WPIAL final, he broke a 70 yard run from his own 27 and was caught at 3 yard line and sprained his left ankle on the tackle. He tried to come back on defense later in the third quarter and lasted about 4 or 5 plays before he went down again and did not play the rest of that game, and did not even suit up against Wood, if he plays yesterday there is a very high probability they beat Wood, he’s that much of a difference maker on both sides of the ball. He is a junior, and Gateway is a junior dominated team, all their skill players are back except the QB, but they have had 3 different QB’s the last 3 years and all have thrown for well over 2,000 yards, so I’m sure they will find someone to throw the ball to their great receivers/TE and Davis. Peters Twp also has a very strong junior class, so they will be very good again next year, and as previously mentioned PR is moving to 5A, so WPIAL 5A will be unbelievable next year, throw in ECP moving up and a stronger Wood team and 5A will be loaded.
@Tradition – completely agree with you, the publics have given a very good account of themselves so far in these playoffs, just like they have done the last few years, all boils down to coaching and the culture at the school and football program.
November 30th, 2019 at 7:03 pm
I took the 2 hour drive today to Altoona to watch PCC vs SJP, thinking it might be close for awhile but SJP would pull away in the 2nd half. Much to my surprise I was treated to one of the best high school games I have seen in awhile, with 3 ties and 4 lead changes, and SJP survived in OT with a come from behind 31-24 victory. SJP got opening kick and drove 50 yards to PCC 40, then stalled and punted into end zone, PCC went on impressive drive with mostly Eddie Tillman runs before bogging down in the red zone and settling for a 33 yard FG. Prep then went on a nice drive capped by a Malik Cooper 37 yard TD run down the left sideline for a 7-3 lead. Central came back and answered with a delayed QB draw for a 40 yard TD run to take a 10-7 lead early in 2nd quarter. SJP went on another drive but got stopped on third and goal at 5 yard line and settled for a FG to tie it at 10. Then, on 2nd down screen pass the ball deflected off the defenders shoulder pad 5 yards back towards the line of scrimmage and was intercepted at 15 yard line, very weird play. One Kolbe Burrell run later and it was 17-10 and SJP carried that lead into halftime.
Central went 3 and out to start 2nd half, and third quarter turned into a field position game with neither offense able to do a whole lot. Then, with about nine and a half to go in the game Central QB Dom Pieto hit a 51 yard TD pass to Sharod Lindsay who tiptoed down the left sideline to tie the game. SJP got a few first downs but were forced to punt, then Central put together an impressive drive capped by 19 yard Tillman TD run to shock the crowd and put PCC ahead 24-17 with under 3 minutes to play. After a 15 yard personal foul penalty on the kickoff SJP started at their own 18 yard line, and drove to PCC 12 yard line where they faced 4th and 10 with 25 seconds left in the game. On fourth down it appeared PCC had Cooper contained and would sack him to end the game but he somehow escaped and rolled right and thew it up in the back of the end zone and Marvin Harrison Jr. made a tremendous leaping catch to bring them within a point, from my vantage point it was hard to tell if he came down in bounds, and the Central fans were irate, but the sideline didn’t complain that much which leads me to think he did drag a foot just before he crossed the end line, can’t wait to see the replay of that catch.. In OT SJP won the toss and took the ball first against their coaches wishes, he ran onto the filed to defer but too late. First down run gained 5 yards, then Cooper rolled to his left and out ran the defense to the pylon for TD. Central gained a yard on first down run, then incomplete pass on 2nd down,and on third and nine intercepted in the end zone and that was the ball game.
PCC outplayed them in 2nd half and deserved a better fate, but credit SJP for the comeback, PCC’s D line finally seemed a little gassed on that last drive, but they played their hearts out and if not for a tremendous catch would have pulled the upset. SJP is still a very good team without McCord, but they are far from the juggernaut some on this board made them out to be after they beat up Nazareth last week. If CD is as good as I think they are I expect them to give SJP all they can handle next week, and yes Buddy, SJP is definitely beatable without McCord, whether CD is up to the task next week remains to be seen. I will say Harrison is a tremendous receiver and he was the best player on the field, I didn’t check the recruiting rankings before this post but he has got to be the #1 receiver in PA in the class of 2021 and frankly I don’t think he’s very far behind Julian Fleming this year, I have a feeling he’ll be playing on Sundays in 4-5 years just like his dad.
November 30th, 2019 at 5:07 pm
@Buddy SJP does have key injuries: McCord, Trotter, and Leneghan didn’t play at all, and Burrell played with an injury for the last three quarters–and it showed.
November 30th, 2019 at 4:30 pm
Did SJP not play their starters? Do they have multiple key injuries? Or are they truly vulnerable?
I’m hoping it’s the latter. Probably wishful thinking though.
Seen PCC play ( vs PR) , was not impressed. Virtually no passing game. Relies on one stud RB.
Helluva defense though. Re. other teams, seen CD play ( vs H-burg), and DTW play ( vs NP), based on that,
I thought DTW would roll. Guess that shows that previous matches don’t indicate anything.
November 30th, 2019 at 3:32 pm
@ D3 Mike and Foleman
One of the two points I was going to try to make without sounding like a District One apologist. There are aprx. 20 private schools in and around District One that suburban Philly kids can choose to attend (assuming they meet the admission requirements) between the PCL, Inter-AC and a handful of other Independent private schools. Many of them with strong football programs, you know the usual suspects, SJP, LaSalle, Wood and Malvern Prep, plus you have the likes of EA, Haverford, GA and Penn Charter with nice programs.
To a lesser degree, is the increase popularity of lacrosse. D1 pretty much rules the roost in lax in PA, and I’m sure many football players play lax as well in the spring, but I’m guessing many kids (and parents) are now choosing lax over football, as they probably are getting more game time opportunities and experience, not giving up half their summers, better college scholarship opportunities, and the lessening of the chances of having their brains turned into scrambled eggs.
November 30th, 2019 at 12:30 pm
Thankfully Middletown is not playin in there 4th consecutive championship. Is there any possibility that the 3A champ in the East can give a loaded Central Valley team a game at all. Just wondering because the 3A from the East has continually gotten thoroughly beaten by the WPIAL teams they have played.
November 30th, 2019 at 12:13 pm
@ Eric W/D3 While I agree with what you say, those two losses were very early in the season. They were still looking for an identity those first 3-4 games. CD lost a lot from last year and has improved tremendously since then. They beat Manheim Township (probably the 3rd best team in the state) in their rematch, a team that soundly defeated WWL by 2 TD’s in late September, and also beat a Harrisburg team twice that also beat WWL in the D3 playoffs. They walloped State College 34-13, a team that got edged by PCC on a last second FG. They can pass, if necessary, to open up the running game and vice versa. I’ve seen them live 3 times this year and knew they were/are very good. I think nearly everyone on this forum underestimated how good they had become as the season progressed.
November 30th, 2019 at 11:04 am
I have zero data on this but I have to imagine the Philly catholic schools and the Malvern Prep type private schools siphon off more elite talent from District 1 public schools than non-boundaries pull from public schools elsewhere in the state.
November 30th, 2019 at 10:53 am
Can we now all get away from the usual gripe of Private and Charter schools having their own league? Only one Charter school makes out of the first round and the ratio of private making it to Hershey has declined each year.
This year, 3 out of the 12 schools going to Hershey is private.
ONLY THREE!!
All the rest are public.
Let the boys play and hold the coaches accountable for the development of their teams. Like coach said, “a team will beat a roster!”
November 30th, 2019 at 10:46 am
Mike A, I was also surprised how easily CD moved the ball on DTW defense, in the 2nd half, it was just a question of how many plays it would take for CD to score when they had the ball. When both teams came out on the field for pre game, the CD players looked much larger and stronger than the DTW players. Mike A is correct, I also believe that they would finish 4th in the Mid Penn and MT, Wilson and Hburg in District 3 would handle DTW. District 1 who has the largest collection of 6A teams in the State needs to step it up, 0 State Championships since 2003 is shocking to me. If the Beck’s from N.Penn and Brubackers from Spring Ford cant compete for a State Championship, something is wrong, maybe the 6A pubs in District 1 are their own worst enemy, keeping underperforming head coaches in their jobs.
November 30th, 2019 at 10:42 am
Quite the performance by CD, however I’m certain that SJP or PCC will have a much better D than DTW. CD’s passing game is decent but their forte is ground and pound, but…if they can’t run it causes their O to sputter. In their two losses to WWL and MT the couldn’t run and they had issues. In their 21-13 loss to WWL their running game was completely shut down and quite honestly their OL/DL were controlled on both sides of the ball. CD had 49 yds rushing and Smith, #34 was held to 39 yds on 15 carriers. CD only had 9 first downs to WWL’s 18. Also WWL OL handled CD’s D line rather easily. Wilson ran for 192 yds on 43 carries. CD had no rushing TD’s and by the middle of the 3Q the CD D line was gassed and WWL ran the ball at will in the 4th Q. I’m sure the SJP and PCC D won’t be giving up 65 next week and will be loading the box. Just curious to see if CD can score next week.
November 30th, 2019 at 8:53 am
DTW was disappointing last night, especially their defense. Timmy Smith ran for 270 yards and CD had 443 yards rushing on 44 carries. Mosey chipped in with another 94 through the air when necessary, which wasn’t very often. The DTW offense was good, aided by two long kickoff returns, but ultimately committed the critical errors that CD needed to put this one on ice early in the 3rd quarter. I’m not sure if the DTW defense had a horrific off night but IMO there a 4 teams in D3 6A that are better than they are. That would include Wilson, Manheim Township and Harrisburg to go along with CD. Gauging from last nights performance my guess is that they would finish 4th in the Mid Penn Commonwealth behind CD, State College, and Harrisburg. Chambersburg and CV (when healthy) may have given them trouble with the ground game and ball control. CD just barely edged both of those teams. I think CD’s tough schedule prepared them for this playoff run.
November 30th, 2019 at 8:48 am
Cheltenham is very good. They wouldn’t be playing in the 5A title game if they weren’t. But Cocalico’s defense is not their team’s strength. They gave up 40+ four times in the past 10 games. Cheltenham is about to take a major step up in class next week and unfortunately it looks like another Prep-Wood double to me.
Cocalico’s head coach retired after the game btw. A great final season for him, though. Shame they were on the losing end of a classic.
I though most of the games played to script last night. Thomas Jefferson looked impressive. Must be one heck of a weight program for a 4A public school to have a line that size. Hopefully going against Berwick and Valley View all year got Dallas ready enough to give TJ a good game. Surprised Tamaqua got completely shut down like that. Maybe the 3A final will actually be close for the first time in years.
In 6A, their RB will get a lot of the press but those college-bound offensive linemen for Central Dauphin simply dominated the football game last night. What a performance. Will need to tighten the screws down on defense but CD is certainly peaking at the right time.
November 30th, 2019 at 8:40 am
@ Jeff H
No (D) and no clue (Chelt)
Yes, does stink that Gateway’s best player was sidelined for the Wood game. Did that injury just happen last week, or was it a previous injury?? You might of stated this before, but I don’t recall or missed it. Stinks for any kid, especially a senior, to miss games this time of year due to illness or injury. Guess that’s football tho.
November 30th, 2019 at 8:33 am
I believe i can say that I have come full circle, as I started my 2019 HS football journey back in August in Coatesville watching a Mid Penn Commonwealth team beat a Chesmont National team. The journey concluded last night right where it started, in the ‘Ville with another Mid Penn Commonwealth team beating another Chesmont National team. Weird.
DTW gave up an average of 42 points in their 5 post season games. That is playing with fire, especially this time of year, and boy did they get burned last night.
Congrats and good luck to CD, and to the other 11 teams who were (and later this afternoon) victorious this weekend and will be playing for a state championship next week in Hershey. Thanks for all of the other Philly area teams (and Scranton Prep and WA) for allowing me to join you on your season long campaigns. It’s been a fun and enjoyable season!!!
November 30th, 2019 at 12:10 am
Holy smokes does anyone play defense is D1 anymore, who would have ever thought both the 6A and 5A games would each have more than 100 combined points. I think CD is going to give SJP a game next week especially considering how banged up SJP is. You D1 guys are going to have give us western guys some info on Cheltenham, I don’t know much about them other that they are involved on the winning end of a lot of shootouts, do they have a diverse enough offense to outscore Wood? Gateway threw the ball on Wood very effectively tonight, Gateway GB was 24-32 for 237 and 2 TDs, and that was without Davis, although they do have very good passing attack with a couple of lower D1 wideouts and a mid D1 TE, how good is Cheltenham’s passing attack?
November 29th, 2019 at 9:47 pm
Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, just got back from out of town. Unfortunately for WPIAL fans and those of you who root for the publics over nonboundry/Catholic schools my analysis of the Wood vs. Gateway was dead on, as Wood won 24-21 on a last second 25 yard field goal, and Gateway star Derrick Davis did not play due to sprained ankle sustained in last weeks WPIAL championship game against Peters Twp. From the account I read Gateway outplayed them but really shot themselves in the foot with 3 fumbles in the 2nd half, two in Wood territory, and 10 penalties, including one that negated a TD pass in the fourth quarter that would have given Gateway a 27-21 lead. Wood did a lot of their damage on long runs, as Kaelin Costello ran for 239 yards on 27 carries including TD runs of 73 and 95 yards in the first half. Injuries are part of the game, but it’s a shame any time a star player misses a game like this, I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by saying with a healthy Derrick Davis Gateway almost certainly wins this game.
IN 4A TJ and Dallas rolled as expected, that should be a very competitive game next week, 2 undefeated publics in 4A, doesn’t get much better than that!
Also just saw Farrell beat Clairton 13-10, and will face BG next week, who beat Lackawanna Trail 11-7, I think Farrell wins that game.
In 3A CV rolled 45-0 over Bald Eagle, I told you guys several weeks ago how good they were, I think they beat Wyoming by a couple of scores next week, although expect that to be a good game.
In 2A Avonworth beat Wilmington 33-21 and will face So Columbia, Avonworth is very good, I’d say comparable to Richland, they may be able to prevent a mercy rule but expect them to lose by 3-4 TDs, Jax Miller (#4) is a fantastic high school football player at both RB and Safety, he should help keep them in it for a little while.
November 29th, 2019 at 9:42 pm
DTW scores with 3+ minutes left. CD leads 65-44. Clock runs out and CD is going Hershey.
CD 65
DTW 44
FINAL
Two offensive juggernauts tonight. CD’s defense did enough to turn the game early in the 3rd quarter.
November 29th, 2019 at 9:33 pm
CD with another long TD run. The DTW defense is helpless against the CD offense. CD leads 65-37. 8 minutes left.
November 29th, 2019 at 9:18 pm
DTW scores quickly and CD immediately responds again with a Smith 36 yard TD run. 58-37 CD leads.10 minutes left in game. Timmy Smith approaching 300 yards rushing. Unbelievable scoring pace!
November 29th, 2019 at 9:03 pm
DTW with the TD after a nice kickoff return again but CD responds with a Smith 24 yard TD run. 44-22 CD with 3 minutes left in 3rd QTR. Timmy Smith now over 200 yards rushing.
DTW immediately get another long kickoff return and a penalty and scores another TD BUT CD responds again with a kickoff return for a TD. CD now leads 51-30.Some wild action at Coatesville tonight.
November 29th, 2019 at 8:42 pm
CD’s defense is turning the game now. Two quick interceptions and two quick TD’s and CD has upped it’s lead to 37-14 early into the 3rd quarter. Going to be a tough road for DTW to come back, especially if their defense can’t stop the run but still a lot of time left in this one.
November 29th, 2019 at 8:34 pm
Halftime
CD 23
DTW 14
DTW is going to have to clamp down on the run in the 2nd half to win this one. CD has ~ 200 yards rushing in the first half.
November 29th, 2019 at 5:38 pm
FYI both the Dtown-CD and SJP-PCC games are on NFHS.
November 29th, 2019 at 5:19 pm
Ok, I know the game was meaningless for most of you but, Easton defeated P’Burg yesterday 16-13. What a great high school football game. Hotly contested till the end. 2 spirited teams, 2 great bands and student sections and a sold out Fisher field at Lafayette College. We don’t care what anyone else thinks, this is what HS football is about, a special game between 2 arch rivals on Thanksgiving day. Was with 2 of my son’s and 2 of my grandsons. Priceless.
November 29th, 2019 at 8:37 am
@ Jeff H
My hopefully better late than never quick 2 1/2 times live eye test on Wood…..My first impression is a year long big improvement. I left them for dead after the scrimmage with Imhotep, to hanging around for the first half against Peddie in September, to a fairly dominate game last Friday against SoLeHi. Yes, still a run heavy team. They lost their best back (and one of their best juniors) last year, who transferred back to the local public school (yes guys, it is two-way street, kids do transfer out of private schools to public schools in case you were not aware) but Friday they had 4 or 5 guys handling the ball. Main guys were Costello and Pigford. The QB could get you a few yards on the ground if need be as well. Didn’t see much of a passing game (almost non existent against Peddie), but they really didn’t need it, and there was a cold stiff and steady wind during the SoLeHi game. Defense controlled, did what they needed to do, other than the opening drive of the second half against SoLeHi’s vaulted run game. Hard to gauge Woods pass defense (suspect against Peddie), as just lets say that wasn’t SoLeHi’s strong suit. Too many penalties the other night, including good number of personal fouls. A young, second year HC. Thinking they are finding their old time mojo at the right time.
November 28th, 2019 at 5:24 pm
Re: 4A, L-S is a great story but the Bishop McDevitt / Berks Catholic district winners from the past 4 years would have beaten L-S by a few TDs. And the best those teams did in the semis were a couple of 2-3 score losses by BC to ECP. Everyone knew since September that 4A was down in much of the state due to the transfer rules hitting all of the non-boundaries in 4A – with D3 being down as much as any district. Congrats to L-S for taking advantage of the opportunity but this is where the ride stops.
Now L-S did play Cocalico and Manheim Central (in addition to McDevitt and BC) earlier this year so I don’t expect them to be in awe of TJ’s pedigree, but they also haven’t seen the size and physicality they are about to see this weekend. Their best bet is a TJ letdown after the ECP win but I doubt that lasts past the first quarter, if it happens at all. I’d expect something like 42-14 Thomas Jefferson and agree it will be TJ & Dallas in a great 4A final.
Other than St. Joe’s Prep, I couldn’t even guess at the 6A & 5A outcomes. I will say I expect the 6A games to be lower scoring than everyone seems to think. PCC and CD both have great defensive lines and it might take the offenses some time to get rolling. 5A, I know nothing about Cheltenham and I thought Cocalico was the third best team in the district all year so that might well be the consolation game. I just hope Gateway doesn’t lay an egg like they did a couple years ago in the other semi. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t Central Valley and SCA winning 3A and 2A.
1A is interesting. I think those teams have all played for and/or won a bunch of state titles? Pound-for-pound, I’d expect Farrell vs Clairton to be a doozy of a game. I think I read that Farrell’s first team has outscored 1A opponents 17,000 to 0 on the year or something absurd like that. And of course Clairton is Clairton. Any of the western guys have thoughts on that one? As a 1A alum, I still have a soft spot for Ironman, two-way football.
November 28th, 2019 at 3:46 pm
@D11Guy
I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. I’m a fan of an EPC North team but I can acknowledge that mandatory crossover games do not help anyone. While some of them might be competitive, most of them are mercy rules by halftime, and that does nothing to help struggling programs get better, nor does it help test playoff-bound teams. Even if it’s just one week, the EPC needs to let its teams seek out non-conference opponents. If Whitehall and East Stroudsburg South want to play each other as a non-conference game because they’ve been competitive games and they’re both 5A teams, fine. Let Parkland test itself against D1 or D3 teams, and let Allen or Dieruff play schools they can compete against.
Honestly, what I would like to see is the EPC split into three merit-based 6-team divisions for football. Have 2 or 3 weeks of crossovers to maintain rivalry matchups. And then you get 2 or 3 weeks where teams can schedule non-conference the way they want to. The current structure is already basically merit-based, just go all-in and call it what it is, and make it so that there’s an even number of teams in each division.
November 28th, 2019 at 10:44 am
@Deo – Pittsburgh Central Catholic has a very good defense, with four D1 players on the D-line, but their offense is pretty mediocre, they are going to have a lot of problems moving the ball on SJP’s defense. I think Central’s defense might keep them in it for awhile, especially if SJP QB McCord doesn’t play like he hasn’t the last 2 weeks, but PCC’s defense eventually gets worn down, if McCord doesn’t play PCC probably loses by something like 31-10, if he does play give SJP a few more TD’s, and maybe PCC scores one in the fourth quarter when the game has already been decided. I think the CD vs. Dwest game is going to be very competitive and could go either way, I’m leaning to Dwest, but wouldn’t be surprised if CD wins.
In 5A it’s pretty wide open, winner of tomorrows game between Gateway and Wood will be the favorite in Hershey, think that game is a tossup, especially if Gateway star Derrick Davis is hindered by the ankle sprain from last weeks WPIAL championship game. He’s their breakaway threat on offense, and all over the field on defense and has offers from every major school…i.e. Alabama, Ohio St, Penn St, etc. They have a lot of other very good players and some other D1 recruits, but if Davis is not 100% or close to it I think Wood will win. Don’t know a whole lot about Cheltenham, the D1 winner, should be a competitive game between them and Cocalico from D3.
In 4A TJ is the favorite after finally getting past their nemesis Erie Prep last week, they have one of the best offensive lines in the state, and think they roll over Lampeter Strasburg tomorrow, LS had a great run through the D3 playoffs, winning as a #8 seed, but I don’t see how they will slow down TJ’s power running game. In the other semi-final think Dallas is a pretty big favorite over Jersey Shore.
@NW – I agree the WPIAL takes too many teams, but there are very few big schools in the western half of the state outside of the WPIAL. Only way to avoid byes is to go to a shorter playoff, like 5 weeks instead of the current 6, there are just not enough teams to fill out a 6 week playoff with 6 classes.
November 28th, 2019 at 10:35 am
Deo – PCC is a good team, but I think SJP will be the first team they play all year that will be able to completely match up with them up front. Also, a disadvantage that they will have vs. SJP is that 3 of their 4 DL also have to play offense. That will be tough against a talented and seasoned SJP team. PCC offense is usually ground and pound, but the last two games that hasn’t worked and they have thrown the ball to score. If they can do that again, they will be dangerous as I don’t think they will be able to run against SJP. If SJP QB doesn’t play, I think it will be close until late. But if he plays, I think its a 3-4 score game in the 3rd. So, to answer your question, they are good, but not close to the ’15 or ’16 teams.
November 28th, 2019 at 9:11 am
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 28th, 2019 at 12:49 am
Haven’t been able to follow high school football this year but hope to watch at least the 4A through 6A semi-finals. Who are the favorites & is Pittsburgh Central Catholic the real deal this year?
November 27th, 2019 at 3:38 pm
@D3 Mike: The more I think about it you are correct about Erie Cathedral. Even before the 2016/2017 cycle they always had a bye week. From 2012 until 2016 they never had to play the D6/9 champ that only started last year. Most years there were 4 teams in the D10 finals that only changed in 2016. It has something to do with the PIAA I’m not sure why some teams have a bye. The brackets are set up weird. The WPIAL doesn’t help by taking too many teams. Other areas are also guilty of this. It messed up the state brackets.
November 27th, 2019 at 3:28 pm
@mark d: I agree with you and others about the moving up. SC has a once in a lifetime class I see no reason they should have to move up. If they chose to do that then great, that’s fantastic and makes for better football but they would roll every 3A team in the state and probably every 4A team minus the big names (TJ, Cathedral, whoever else). It seems that these special classes happen every few years so I’m not sure why people demand they move up.
@D3 Mike: you are partially correct about ECP. In the 2016/2017 cycle, Erie Cathedral had no team to play in the District 10 playoffs because every team moved up avoid them. On top of that the state bracket was different so the District 10 winner didn’t have to play the district 6/9 champion in the round of 16. On top of that, one of those years (I think 2016 but I could be wrong), Obama Academy opted out because they were like 1-8 on the season. So essentially Erie Cathedral played one playoff game in a 3 week period before facing the WPIAL champ in the quarter finals. I don’t know anything about the Central Dauphin bye week so I’m gonna stay out of it. Happy Hollidays.
November 27th, 2019 at 3:03 pm
@Craig A Jones As a longtime D11 guy myself, the problem is not St. Joes..It is PA football as a whole but especially D11 EPC South/North have taken big steps back in talent. PCL joined PIAA in 2008. That year I believe St Joes or Lasalle were state champ favorites that year. Parkland who was 7-4 played St Joes first game of the season in 2008 and lost 20-13. Lasalle was upset by a GW team with future NFL talent. I believe Liberty (D11) won the state championship and was a nationally ranked team loaded with D1 talent. Liberty went to 3 State finals in 4 years and had talent for about 8 years as good as any private school. Parkland went in 2007.
Following years for D11:
2009: your school Easton should have beat Lasalle but lost 17-14.
2010: again Easton loses to Lasalle 19-7. ACC(Loaded with talent) whooped an FBS loaded Archbishop Wood team and Bishop McDevitt. ACC also Beat D-Town east who was loaded with FBS talent as well.
2011: Nazareth had a chance to win late in the forth quarter but lost 41-33. ACC (5-5 in regular season) played a nationally ranked Wood team and got blown out which should happen.
2012: Parkland loses to Lasalle 28-7
2013:Parkland loses to St Joes 21-10 (Respectable)
2014: Parkland(Loaded with Junior D1 talent) loses to St Joes 34-30 and had the lead late in the 4th. Could have won against one of the better Prep teams.
2015: Parkland(Loaded with D1 talent) beats Lasalle and makes it the state final losing to Pitt Central Cath 21-18.
2016: Parkland loses to St Joes. 38-17
2017: Parkland loses to St Joes. 49-14
2018: Freedom loses to St Joes. 42-14
2019: Nazareth loses to St Joes 45-24(Nazareth scored 14 points after game was in mercy rule so really was closer to 45-10).
2008: State Player of the Year- Anthony Gonzalez(Liberty)
2010: State Player of the Year- Brendan Nosovitch(Allentown Central)
2011: State Player of the Year- Daniel Harding (Nazareth)
How does your area go from multiple state players of the year and multiple state finals and some champions. To routinely getting blown out by D12 the last couple years. Its crazy not to acknowledge the downfall. Also D11 only plays within its own district so we beat up on a weak EPC North while other districts schedule other district powers of out of state competition to be more competitive. Parkland
November 27th, 2019 at 2:53 pm
@ Mark D – that 2016 Steel Valley team had a couple of D1 transfers and were dominant that year, which is the only year they’ve been a factor statewide, they did win the WPIAL title last year but were crushed by Wilmington in the next round, who of course was crushed by SC in the final. I did say on this board back in 2015 that BG should have moved up to 2A during their run because of the advantages they had as a non-boundary school. Regarding Clairton, as good as they were during their 66 game winning streak it’s not like they were mercy ruling every opponent, at least not in the playoffs, if you go back and do a little research that’s available right on this site you’ll see that in 2009 they beat Bishop McCort in the state final 15-3, in 2010 they beat Riverside 36-30, in 2011 Southern Columbia 35-19, and in 2012 Dunmore 20-0. The point was SC has been absolutely crushing teams like no other small school has done in the 31 year history of the state playoffs, and with their great senior class one would think their kids would have welcomed the challenge of trying to win 4A or 5A these past 2 years instead of steamrolling everyone is 2A. I for one would love to see how they would fare against Thomas Jefferson this year in 4A and see if their defense could hold up to TJ’s power running game, as TJ has one of the best offensive lines in the state regardless of classification.
@Jut – I don’t recall anyone saying D3 is a stocked with great teams, they do play pretty good football in D3 and historically have had some very good teams, if you recall last year they had 3 state finalists, tied with D10 for the most of any district, and ahead of the WPIAL with 2, so it’s not like they haven’t won any state playoff games recently…don’t you remember Middletown going to the 3A finals the last 3 years. No one has said any district deserves byes this late in the playoffs, the fact is with 6 classes there are less than 100 schools in each class, and the byes are due to not enough teams in certain geographical areas just like D3 Mike stated, so you can drop your conspiracy theory that the PIAA gave D3 all the byes due to favoritism.
November 27th, 2019 at 1:23 pm
Mark D, Because when someone is successful for so long they have to complain about cheating or find faults with the program to make themselves feel better. Instead of trying to work harder and get their programs to develop a system that breeds success they want the successful teams to move up to make it easier for them to reach the top. Never understand that logic, you’re too good so move up to a higher class out of the one you belong in. Imagine the feeling for the team/community that finally ends Southerns streak. That will be amazing for them. I remember when line mt. beat southern in 2007 after 5 consecutive state titles and like 17 straight district titles. The line mt. team literally stood as southern left the field and clapped for them for the run they had. I never seen anything like that before.
November 27th, 2019 at 1:18 pm
@ Jay
We’ll see what happens Friday night. If DTW wins, I may just make the trip out to Hershey next Saturday for a 3A/6A double dip. See who ends up playing and the weather. Frankly tho, I’ve been loosing more and more interest in the finals each year, between teams I don’t care about, the same old same old teams (will have some fresh faces this year tho), uncompetitive/MR games, and the crappy weather. Been finding myself in Souderton’s gym Friday and Saturday for their annual basketball tip-off tournament. BTW, I watched the Harrisburg/CD game on YouTube last night (DTW/C’Ville game tonight). Thought I was watching Coatesville with all of the Harrisburg penalties. CD obviously has a nice team, and a good southpaw QB, but I’ll have to give the edge to DTW. Too many offensive weapons with the best PA Senior QB this year.
@ Jeff H
I’ll try to toss up some thoughts on Wood here tonight. I’d actually like hear your thoughts (or any western guy thoughts) on the Clairton/Farrell game.
November 27th, 2019 at 12:55 pm
@mark d: What are you talking about? I remember several people calling out Clairton and Guilfoyle saying they should play up for competitive reasons. It’s not all about SCA. Don’t just make stuff up.
November 27th, 2019 at 11:16 am
@ mark d I agree with you on your points. Not one word was ever said. As being a Dunmore bucks fan I also have seen first hand the class act that Southern is. What appalled me is the comments about running up the scores. Roth does not do that. In fact some 2nd team have more playing time than the starters I have been told. LOL. the next team to beat Southern will feel like they won the Super Bowl I would like to be a member of that team. As always this time of year Good Luck Southern Tigers. From a Dunmore bucks fan.
November 27th, 2019 at 9:30 am
why is everyone on SCA what about Steel valley a few years ago who mercy ruled everyone .No one was talking about Clairton moving up when for 4 years they ran over everyone in their class or Bishop Guifoyle who did it for 4 years ?? why all of a sudden is a big issue with Southern becuse thier have a great team. Their a good chance that Wyoming area will be a AAA finalist and Southern beat them 41-0 ???.Just an thought with the non boundary schools vs boundary if you non your AAAAAA you can get kids form anywhere regardless of you school size so you AAAAAA
November 27th, 2019 at 9:05 am
D1 *had* to play Wood and Prep prior to Hershey. Obviously, this cycle has been different.
November 27th, 2019 at 9:03 am
Jut, do you play the constant victim IRL, too? Or just football forums? No one said D3 deserved byes. I don’t work at the PIAA but I’d bet whatever you want to put up for charity that the 1A and 2A byes were geographic. ECP used to see the same thing just because there was no one for them to play within hours of Erie. The western guys can correct me, but I seem to remember years where they played once in the first 3 weeks of the playoffs, right?
There just aren’t enough small schools to play in SE PA and they don’t want to try to find a stadium and force teams to drive 2+ hours for a round of 16 game. More importantly, why do you ignore what’s already been stated? The 1A team was 3-9. So who cares? The 2A team lost to Southern Columbia. Those were the only byes outside of 6A and they were, obviously, meaningless. Yet you’re still on here crying like a word Dave will block me for using?
Re: success, I already posted the eastern playoff results since D12 joined. It’s pretty much been a handful of D3 schools, Southern Columbia, and Philly all-star teams that have had success getting to and winning in Hershey in recent years. (no, I don’t care about Berwick’s 1993 state title, sorry). Those are objective facts, but I’ll even put an asterisk next to those facts by admitting that D1 has almost all of their teams in two classes – and the two classes that have to play Wood and Prep prior to Hershey.
That said, outside of SCA, non-boundary football in eastern PA is just not good compared to the WPIAL so you are misinterpreting what was said, if you’re referring to me. D3 isn’t great, at all. It’s just less bad than a couple of districts in the East which are, currently, terrible. So while I don’t think anyone “deserves” a bye, I’m also not losing much sleep over it.
November 26th, 2019 at 9:50 pm
@KevinX
NFHS streamed all the PA state finals last season, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t this season. And what I also like is that for the next two weeks after our champions are crowned, you get to watch the business end of state playoffs such as Texas, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, and lots of other states that finish after us. Some seriously good teams and competitive games in large packed venues. Just watched Bishop Gorman out of NV lose the other night in a crazy entertaining game. It’s well worth the monthly price.
Be warned however that the state finals in Texas (6A, 5A, and maybe lower I forget) are aired by Fox and aren’t on NFHS. Can’t remember if 2A through 4A finals were aired on NFHS or not. And 1A is 8-man football in Texas, which was fun to watch for about five minutes for me.
Of course you can always find someone streaming it on YouTube, like this dude last year for both 5A and both 6A finals (not sure of your familiarity with Texas football but there are two divisions per level for a total of 12 state finals, three per day over the course of four days at Texas stadium). Just propped his computer up in front of his TV, adjusted it until the commenters told him that’s perfect keep it there, and then we had a viewing party LOL
And then other sports are aired too of course. I’m really only into high school football but there are all kinds of choices. I’ve totally been rocking girls volleyball state championships lately.
November 26th, 2019 at 6:25 pm
@Eric W/D3
Hey I could name all the state champions in other districts too lol. All I was saying was District 3 got all these byes in state playoffs which is a joke. Someone said their district is staked with great teams but can win a state playoff game. Just stop thinking district 3 is so great and better than other districts and deserve byes lol. Win a state game maybe you could say something.
As for SCA I’m sure everyone wished they played up in 3a or 4a or maybe 5a but they won’t. They like mercy ruling teams by halftime in state playoff games. They have fun with it. Heard ppl say this before that they shouldn’t move up everyone else should get better at playing to their level. But other teams play up cause they are so much better than the class they play in. Why doesn’t southern?
Also love to see these private and Catholics losing to really good Public schools whose kids have been playing football with each other since 5th and 6th grade. You see whole communities at the games their games. These all-star teams have like no fans attend games cause they barely know the players since they are all different every year.
November 26th, 2019 at 4:03 pm
Wow, what kind of statement is that says Nazareth can only get part-time football players. You do know that is what high school sports is all about. Kids playing sports for the love of the game and playing multiple sports in high school. It’s mainly the privates where kids concentrate on only 1 sport. Now I know there are probably some who play multiple sports. But, we know their training is yr round and I for one understand it. They’re trying to get scholarship money. I was a blue collar worker and I told my sons if you want to go to a private college or university you’ll need to wrestle because wrestling is the ticket to scholarship money at Easton. My one son did as I said and got scholarship and grant money to a Div 1 school where he was a 4 yr starter. So I do get it. One of our best players at Easton this yr is a 5’9″ 185lber who plays ILB and tight end on offense. He plays for the fun of it. He just committed to the US Military Academy for Wrestling. I’m not putting anybody down, if that’s what everybody wants just a handful of teams to compete every yr for a championship have at it. Just don’t give try to tell me it’s a level playing field.
November 26th, 2019 at 3:01 pm
@ Kevin X – yeah, I guess take what you can get from the PIAA, if they were going to move it back why not just make it a 7pm game, which is more convenient for most people. Saving money on lights? The inner workings of the PIAA never fail to amaze!
Since you have seen Wood a few times this year why don’t you provide a little scouting report, and I’ll do the same for Gateway since I’ve seen them twice. I assume Wood is still primarily a power running team like they were in their glory days? I think this game is going to be very close, particularly if Derrick Davis is still bothered by the ankle sprain, which I’m guessing he probably will be based on how he was limping after the game on Saturday night.
November 26th, 2019 at 11:54 am
Does any have thoughts on the new transfer rule that went into affect last yr (I think) having an impact on the non-boundary schools? If you transfer you can’t play in playoffs following year, if you transfer after freshman yr. I think this has reduced the yr to yr transfers which I think will even out the playing field a bit as we go. Is this already starting to impact some of the schools who previously had multiple transfers yr to yr? I personally didn’t like the rule at first but I am thinking it may actually have an impact.
November 26th, 2019 at 11:49 am
That’s what I would have liked to have seen last weekend, an I-78 6A quarterfinal game between D3 and D11/CD and Nazareth. But guess tho someone else then would have had to have a bye somewhere. If it was SJP, that would have went over really well.
November 26th, 2019 at 10:57 am
Route 54 a southern is the host district this week. Richland is a district 6 team. If district 6 was host district then it would be out bald eagle area or centra mt area. Last week southern was the visiting team because district 3 was host district that round. However district 3 playoff sites were further south and upper dauphin didn’t want to go south so they asked for it to be at Selinsgrove.
November 26th, 2019 at 9:44 am
@Winslow Carter – in case you missed it last year public schools won 4 out of 6 state titles, they also won 4 out of 6 in 2017 including 6A, and they will likely win at least 4, if not 5 this year. You also must have missed public schools Thomas Jefferson beating Erie Cathedral Prep last Friday and Dallas beating Imhotep. The best public schools have proven over the years they can compete and sometimes beat the private schools, yet we have people whining about the unfair advantages the private schools have, which sends the wrong message to kids. I’m not saying the private schools don’t have some advantages, they obviously do, but a good public school program that has kids playing together since grade school has an advantage as well. A great example of that is Clairton, they have kids that have played together since they were 5 or 6 yrs old and if they beat a very good Farrell team this week, and I think they will, they probably win a state title next week, possibly against a Catholic school. All this complaining is about the dominance of SJP, they have a phenomenal junior class, we’ll see what happens in 2021 when they have all graduated, I just don’t see them winning 5-6 or more state titles in a row, when a public school wins 6A again, and they will, are you still going to complain about the private schools?
@Route 54 – Richland is very good, but SC is so much better than everyone else in 2A they will likely win this game by 4-5 scores, and could be a mercy rule in the 2nd half. Why SC didn’t compete in 4A or 5A the last 2 years with their once in a lifetime senior class is beyond me, guess they enjoy mercy ruling every team in the playoffs…not good for the sport.
November 26th, 2019 at 8:57 am
Looks like they pushed back the kickoff of the Wood/Gateway game to 3p. Small improvement, take what you can get I suppose.
@ Jay
Thanks!! I may finally have to pull the trigger on that site and check it out. Do you know if they are going to stream the PIAA championship games from Hershey next week?? I think I’m like you, no cable, therefore no PCN.
November 26th, 2019 at 8:55 am
Did someone say DTW/CD is live stream? If so, where?
November 26th, 2019 at 7:09 am
Southern Columbia vs. Richland
My first question is why this game is being played at Selinsgrove. I was expecting a location such as lehighton or Northern Lehigh.
I’m also wondering about this Richland team. Richland cracked the top 25 for the first time in school history. Is this game worthwhile to seeing or will this be another 2nd quarter mercy rule.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:33 am
@Kevin X
I noticed today on the streaming schedule that Wood vs Gateway will be streamed on NFHS. Not sure if you have it but it’d certainly save you a long drive!
November 25th, 2019 at 8:44 pm
The PIAA state playoffs is a joke. You have all star teams who recruit the best players on their area and elsewhere vs public schools who had a great season. The public school teams are getting buried and it’s not fair nor fun to watch. Those kids don’t deserve to go like that. That’s not what high school football is about. Parents and other grown folk have damaged the high school sports atmosphere. And it’s quite embarrassing.
November 25th, 2019 at 2:15 pm
@Kevin X – Last year Wood played Penn Hills in the semi-finals in Chambersburg, which is about as close as you can get to an equal distance between Philly and Pittsburgh. I’m also not a fan of the 1pm Friday games, what the PIAA should have done was have Wood play Gateway at 1pm in Altoona on Saturday afternoon and then SJP vs. PCC at 6pm or 7pm. And it’s not like Gateway doesn’t have to travel, as Altoona is 2 1/2 hours from Monroeville, if anything the Friday game is a disadvantage to Gateway this week because it gives Derrick Davis one less day to recover from his sprained ankle, and as you noted they played Saturday night, which gives Wood an extra day.
@ Craig A Jones – there are not enough private schools in PA to have separate playoffs in football, there are really only a handful of powerhouse privates across the state, and everyone who follows football knows who they are. If you have a workable proposal to have separate playoffs I’m all ears, because I have not heard of one yet that’s realistic or practical, all it would do is further diminish interest in a sport where participation and attendance are already declining. And whether you want to admit it or not D11 6A football has been on the decline for several years, do you honestly think Nazareth would have beaten the D3 or D1 champ this year?
November 25th, 2019 at 11:41 am
@CraigJones also Nazareth was happy to have played and competed in that game. It’s attitudes like yours that impedes kids development and growth. They have 22 D1 kids and we only have 1 so we don’t have a chance. The thing that always makes the underdog win is there are more people pouring confidence in them than there are people counting them out. In the real world parents can’t advocate and lobby for the spot to get the top prize for the kid (unless of course the family owns the business). Prep did have 2 loses and they were both games they could have won. Nothing near a running clock. I saw the IMG game and prep had 5 turn overs and still lost by 1 score with a chance to win in the end. You can’t choose your champion. You beat them.
November 25th, 2019 at 11:39 am
@CraigJones also Nazareth was happy to have played and competed in that game. It’s attitudes like yours that impedes kids development and growth. They have 22 D1 kids and we only have 1 so we don’t have a chance. The thing that always makes the underdog win is there are more people pouring confidence in them than there are people counting them out. In the real world parents can’t advocate and lobby for the spot to get the top prize for the kid (unless of course the family owns the business).
November 25th, 2019 at 11:37 am
@ Craig
I’d say field hockey and lacrosse in PA are also both top 5 HS sports nationally.
November 25th, 2019 at 11:34 am
@CraigJones I too was at the game. You are clearly one who has issues with Prep. I am not from Prep. My son was on the last LaSalle team to beat prep. I saw sportsmanship. I say Prep #16 reach to help the defender up who was trying to sack him and his hand pushed away. I saw pushing and shoving after the play. IT’S FOOTBALL. This isn’t your participation trophy football. If you were truly watching the game, you would have saw #2 from Prep play receiver, returns punts and play corner. You would have see number 84 play receiver, and play on special teams (kick and punt return). Prep gets football players on the their football team (although I learned the kicker was all about soccer until someone saw him and asked him to try kicking). You want to blame the PIAA and Prep because Nazareth can only get part-time football players. If what you say is correct about PA not being able to compete Nationally for football than you should be behind prep competing with those teams and putting PA on the map.. I guess it only works for you if someone how a small school with a big band and part-time players do well. Even with their backup quarterback.
November 25th, 2019 at 11:30 am
@ Guy
Good question regarding hoops. I’d like to know that as well.
As far as enrollments, its on the PIAA website. They just announced the new parameters for the the next 2 year cycle, but here are the current numbers……
http://www.piaa.org/schools/classifications/requirements.aspx
November 25th, 2019 at 10:55 am
Craig A Jones, if you don’t recognize that PA football is on the decline then let me quickly educate you. Your an Easton fan, remember the 1991 team-Juan Gaddy-Superstar RB, Jones, Billman, Libiano, Lamas, Jones, Mazzarese etc, they beat everyone in the powerfull Lehigh Valley-Beca-With the future #1 HS QB Dan kendra, BECA won 2 State Championships, Allentown Central Catholic-won 3 state championships. Parkland. They lost to the Central Bucks West juggernaut in the Eastern Final-CB West and Berwick-2 Public Schools were the St. Joe Prep of yesteryear. Stefanik is a great player, however, HE PROBABLY DOESN’T EVEN START on the 1991 Easton Team. Look at the Big 33 rosters of 20-30-40 years ago compared to today, the talent is not even comparable! Football and even wrestling is dying in Pa. Your going to see more co-ops in both sports happening in the next few years as many schools are going to be dropping their football and wrestling programs.
November 25th, 2019 at 10:33 am
@Craig Jones
The thing is, this year has shown in 1A through 5A that traditional public schools can still compete (in football at least), so splitting the brackets completely would be overkill. In 6A, SJP is really an anomaly in that they are a team with designs of competing on a national level that’s competing for a state championship. With more of these teams popping up around the country, I wonder if we will start seeing multi-state conferences and playoffs for prep teams, almost like a pre-NCAA. It certainly feels like that’s the way we’re headed.
November 25th, 2019 at 8:54 am
@neutral defense and ball control how about Dallas just out scores them lol
November 25th, 2019 at 9:45 am
Kevin X…I agree….Prep and Wood game should have been on Saturday.
November 24th, 2019 at 11:29 pm
This Wood/Gateway game @ 1p on Friday in Altoona is asinine. If you are going to make Wood travel out there, at least make it on Saturday. This also gives Gateway another day, since they played Saturday night. Do a 1p and 6p doubleheader in Altoona on Saturday if need be.
November 24th, 2019 at 7:58 pm
Is there a high school basketball site similar to this one?
As someone stated earlier, is there a cut off to how many kids needs to have to be sat 6A, 5A?
November 24th, 2019 at 4:20 pm
I honestly don’t understand what you people on this forum don’t get. Nothing wrong with 6a in Pa. Anybody who knows anything about high school sports knows that the only sport in Pa that can compete nationally is Wrestling. Pa is one of the top 3 states for Wrestling. Football has never that I know of been as good as Florida, Texas, Georgia only to mention a few. The point was this The EPC Easton plays in as a whole doesn’t have as many D-1 recruits as SJPrep. I don’t want to hurt any high school kids, this is about fairness. Nazareth didn’t have 1 D-1 recruit. To put together an all-star team and then allow them to compete against teams who can’t isn’t an equal playing field. Pa should separate the privates and charter from the public schools. Then let’s see how the all-star teams do. You know to give you an example, a couple yrs ago BECA won the state wrestling team tournament. They had 1 loss and you know who it was against? That’s right another private Wyoming Seminary oh the score you say 60-0. So don’t talk to me about the state of 6a in Pa. I wonder how great STPrep would be against other schools like themselves. I did notice they had 2 loses.
November 24th, 2019 at 4:11 pm
@ Craig A Jones
I agree, I would much rather watch Easton vs Phillipsburg than a SJP. That is the kind of atmosphere I think makes HS football great. SJP certainly has a ton of talent, but I don’t really have much interest in watching them other than to see if a public school can pull off the upset. I don’t find it impressive at all that they are playing for a state title every year along with Imhotep and others. Nice to see Dallas get the W this week!
November 24th, 2019 at 1:27 pm
@Kevin X
In a perfect world, I’d give the 1A and 4A semi finals the Friday night games since they will have the shortest week (playing on Thursday 12/5). I guess LT/BG should be grateful in that sense for having the Friday 1pm game this week.
In that same vein, I’d be OK giving the 6A semis Sat afternoon (or even Sat night) slots this week, since they’ll be off until Sat 12/7.
November 24th, 2019 at 1:13 pm
Foreman – P-R has been able to go toe to toe with SJP (‘14 and ‘17). I think a lot has to do with getting good coaches and schemes and competing. For them, it started with one class of kids in 2014 that got over the PCC hump. Since then, when talent has been close, they have done well against all comers.
I expect that they will go toe to toe with Archbishop Wood next year in 5A too.
November 24th, 2019 at 12:49 pm
@ Craig A. James
“PIAA should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen”
What exactly to happen that the PIAA is responsible for?? I know you explained, but still??
@ Buddy
Gonna step in it again…..but if SC was playing up in 5A this year, they would have most likely played Wood this past weekend. Yes, that would have worked very well.
As far as beating Wood, sure. I did see them Friday night up in Perk, and wasn’t overly impressed, at least compare to the Wood teams from the past few years other than last year. That tho may be an unfair comparison. Saw them earlier in the year against a really good Peddie School, and will say they have improved quite a bit from September. Thinking 5A is tighter than it was earlier in the season. But like Imhotep, this may be the year to pick them (Wood) off again (like last year), next year, watch out, back to the future.
November 24th, 2019 at 12:42 pm
Kevin X…I wish we had more Saturday games…Can’t be in two places at once…:)
November 24th, 2019 at 12:32 pm
@ NO
Also curious what others think of next weekends schedule:
3 Friday 1p games
8 Friday night games
1 Saturday afternoon game
Love to know others thoughts specifically on the 3 Friday afternoon games and only one Saturday game. Personally, I do not like the Friday afternoon games at all, would have liked to see more Saturday games, specifically with 3A and 5A.
November 24th, 2019 at 11:41 am
At Neutral Observer…Correct…I have all the brackets updated
November 24th, 2019 at 11:34 am
I saw that D2 teams have a Danville doubleheader on Friday:
Lackawanna Trail v. Bishop Guilfoyle @1pm
Dallas v. Jersey Shore @ 6pm
As a D2 fan who also happens to have Black Friday off, I’m personally thrilled.
But there are probably going to be a lot of LT and BG fans who cannot make a 1pm game on a week day. I don’t know who is responsible for this decision (PIAA, Districts 2 and 6, or the school’s themselves), but it’s not a smart move.
November 24th, 2019 at 11:07 am
Craig Jones a meaningless state title because Craig Jones says so! The teenage kids you’re disparaging surely care about their hard work paying off and being crowned the best in the state. This forum treats these kids like grown men, personally attacked because their areas football teams are unfairly positioned to succeed. It shows an astounding lack of immaturity. How dare any eighth grade kid want to play for a great program and attend a great school that also challenges them academically. I’m sure they’re just heart broken not being able to roll out a primo band at halftime too. Oh the humanity!
November 24th, 2019 at 11:01 am
@Foleman
Sadly, I think you nailed it in a nutshell. While I cannot contribute much anymore, I still love the sport and have seen or heard or attended 76 games around the state this year. Two things stand out, lack of discipline and poor tackling across many of the games I have seen. The scoring is exciting, but also a bit much. Wide open offenses coupled with talent and weakened defenses seem to be the order of the day. I have written many articles on this site over the years and followed local ball closely as well. My Suburban One great league of the 1990s and 2000s is a shadow of itself. While many things in high school football are cyclical to a degree, I do not see the league rebounding; but hope I am wrong about it. I read comments on here and other high school football websites daily and it seems to be a common problem with our favorite sport and home state.
November 24th, 2019 at 10:44 am
Craig A Jones, part of the problem is Lehigh Valley football, and 6A football on the whole across the State, is on the downturn, a shadow of what it used to be. Maxpreps has Nazareth-A 6A school with 32 players on the team, 32! I saw another roster with 52 with a few freshman. A school with 500-600 boys in the school can’t get more than 30-50 kids out for the team? The N. Penns and some of the other mega Pubs should be able to go toe to toe with Prep just based on school size. Neshaminy-Pennsbury-N.Penn-Parkland-Northeast-(Just lost to prep, hung in there for a while)-Emmaus-Easton-Cumberland Valley-(just fired their coach)-Spring Ford-( had to go into the 4th quarter to beat 3A Pope john Paul). There is no reason that these schools should not be 6A Juggernauts. Central Bucks West took on all comers back in the day and beat them all. Lets face it, 6A Public School football in PA stinks! I don’t know what the answer is but it looks like its getting worse. The Cumberland Valley fan base was saying there team is a shadow of itself due to kids concentrating on Soccer and Lacrosse.
November 24th, 2019 at 7:20 am
Craig Jones, clearly you care as well..
November 23rd, 2019 at 11:56 pm
Gateway held on to beat Peters Township 21-20 in an exciting, hard fought game played in a driving rain and 40 degree temperatures, very well played game given the miserable conditions. However, Gateway star Derrick Davis sprained his left ankle after being tackled from behind at the 3 yard line at the end of a 70 yard run early in the third quarter. Gateway subsequently scored to take a 21-10 lead and then held on for the win. Davis came back later in the third but was clearly bothered by the ankle and went down again a few plays later and did not return the rest of the game. Gateway has several other play-makers on both offense and defense and a few D1 players, but if Davis can’t play or is not close to 100% I don’t like their chances next week against Wood, will definitely be something to follow during the week.
November 23rd, 2019 at 6:03 pm
Went to the SJPrep-Nazareth game last night. Of course SJPrep is an excellent team. But, having said that the PIAA should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen. Let me explain, Nazareth’s best lineman Wilson is his last name is going to I believe to an Ivy league team. their best player Nathan Stefanik is going to be a D1 wrestler next yr. Did I mention Stefanik plays 3 way. That’s right, on offense flanker, on defense I believe corner back, and returns kicks on special teams. You think SJPrep has any kids on their team who does that. Do they have any that even play 2 way? I got into it with some of their people in the press box. They said ” Don’t you want your teams to compete?” And let me tell you something else, I was not impressed with SJPrep’s sportsmanship either. Late hits that should have gotten more personal foul penalty’s than they got and an appalling blind side hit on Stefanik after they were way ahead. I’m not even a Nazareth fan, I’m from Easton. I told those guys in the press box who were hamming it up to come to Fisher field at Lafayette College on Thanksgiving morning when Easton plays Phillipsburg and see what high school football is really about. 12-14000 fans, 2 fantastic bands between 2 teams who combined would get hammered by SJPrep. So go ahead and win your meaningless State Championship, nobody cares except your few hundred fans.
November 23rd, 2019 at 4:15 pm
@ Kevin X – I don’t think Bishop G. is going to win 1A, the Clariton/Farrell winner next week will be definitely be the favorite in Hershey, we’ll see about Wood, obviously SJP is a big favorite, but I think there’s a distinct possibility the privates only win 1, after only winning 2 last year. IMO going to separate playoffs for private and public in football would be a disaster and add to the problems the sport is facing and not help.
Regarding the WPIAL 5A championship tonight at 6pm, before the playoffs started I picked Gateway, however, I think Peters Twp is going to win this game, as they’ve been playing much better than Gateway the last several weeks. Not sure what’s up with Gateway’s offense, after only scoring 17 against Bethel Park 2 weeks ago, and 14 last week against McKeesport, but Peters defense is better than either of those teams. Gateway will have the best player on the field in Derrick Davis, he’s being recruited by everyone and reminds me a lot of Jerome Whitehead from Central Valley from 5yrs ago, but Peters has the more complete team, I think they win by a TD. On a side note I also think Peters has a better chance of beating Wood next week because their defense and line play is better than Gateway, so for that reason alone here’s hoping Peters wins their first ever WPIAL football championship.
@Pittboy – notice Cherpak did not say a negative word in the press this week about ECP, because he knew they had a good chance to win, while in years past (2015-17) they were a big underdog. I just thought he was sending the wrong message to his kids by whining about all the advantages ECP had prior to those other games, and his teams went into those games thinking they had to play a perfect game to win, and even then that might not be enough. I do agree Cherpak is a tremendous coach and runs a great program and was really nice to watch them finally beat Erie Prep last night.
@Neutral Observer – Really enjoyed watching TJ get past Erie Prep, then when I got home and checked the scores and saw that Dallas beat Imhotep that really made my night!! Looks like those 2 are headed for a showdown in 2 weeks.
November 23rd, 2019 at 3:50 pm
I know no one will beat SJP, can anybody beat Wood?
Too bad SC can’t play Wood. That would work.
November 23rd, 2019 at 12:44 pm
Was at the BC vs LS game. Berks Catholic did everything in their power to hand the game to LS. I’m certainly not taking away from the intensity that LS played with (they were definitely more fired up to play this game than BC was), but fumbling the opening kickoff, then an int the next possession in their own territory is recipe for disaster, no matter who you play. I believe BC ended with 5 turnovers. LS with 2. Add in some very questionable penalties, they just didn’t have enough to come out with a victory. BC should have won that game, but didn’t Deserve it. From the game I’ve seen online of TJ this year, they should handle LS soundly (possibly mercy rule).
November 23rd, 2019 at 12:02 pm
Yes, our 3-9, 1A “champ” lost and our 2A champ got smoked by a bunch of bums from Catawissa. Sick burn.
Wyomissing will be OK. They’ll return 16 underclassmen starters next year and even with the loss, still have more state titles in the past 10 years than almost half of the districts in PA.
Which reminds me, here’s a list of state titles since D12 joined, by district:
District 12 – 12
District 3 – 5
District 4 – 4
District 11 – 2
District 1 – 0
District 2 – 0
Trips to Hershey, by district:
District 12 – 20
District 3 – 15
District 4 – 6
District 2 – 5
District 11 – 3
District 1 – 2
In sum, I find your juvenile chirping about district 3 more pathetic and uninformed than particularly biting.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:49 am
@Jeff H: I agree with your assessment. TJ size and physicality won them the game. Prep hurt themselves with stupid penalties and the inability to convert for TD’s in the red zone. Five times in the red zone and only 13 points to show. Kudos to TJ on getting the job done against a talented Prep team. I say with confidence (Any anyone in attendance for the game last night would agree) that those were the top 4A teams in the state. I don’t see anyone beating them.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:30 am
@ Jay, et al….
Per Pete DiGiovanni (via Twitter) of the DLN……..”DWest vs. Central Dauphin unofficially heard will be at CVille. Nothing official till Sunday”
Jeez, I was hoping for Pennridge!!! Wrong time for me that the PIAA actually got one right (or so it seems)!!!
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:44 am
I’m thrilled to have been wrong about Dallas v. Imhotep! I was at the game last night and it was phenomenal! Back and forth all night, with Dallas stopping IC just about 7 yds from scoring the tying TD as time expired.
Both teams absolutely played their hearts out, but as the Dallas coach said afterwards, “A football team beat a roster.”
November 23rd, 2019 at 9:25 am
Nice to see TJ get off the schneid, ending the insanity, the ridiculousness, that is, Erie Prep’s annual saunter to state gold. Well done, baby. You get the sense Thomas Jefferson is a true team, not merely an assemblage of talent. The long, clock eating drives are indicative of this. It’s an old school power team accented with enough talent to take care of business. Personally I don’t have a problem with Coach Cherpak having pointed out the injustices of facing all-star type teams. Within reason, sometimes things need to be pointed out as opposed to acting like the emperor has clothes on. Ostensibly for years Cherp has been doing things the right way, endeavoring to build teams organically. And then to be derailed at a certain point due to aforementioned reason, some visceral frustration is understandable. If things hold form, a battle of undefeateds against Dallas could be in the offing in a couple weeks. Go Jaguars.
Also, shout out to the Mentor Cardinals for taking out St. Edward in the Ohio Division 1, Region 1 final (state quarterfinal). I followed the end of that game on Maxpreps with live texting. Quite dramatic, trailing 28-21 late in the 4th quarter, Mentor manufactured a gutsy touch down tying drive to send it into OT. Eds got the ball first, scored a TD relatively easily, up 35-28. Mentor required several downs (apparently they start at the 20 yard line for OT in Ohio, not the 10), not hitting pay dirt until 4th and goal from the 2. Are you kidding me?! They then opted for the 2 point conversion, and got it. Goodness, the suspense of following this with live texts was pretty intense.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:34 am
Fun game to be at last night. I was rooting for Coatesville but I’m very happy for DTW and look forward to supporting them next week in the East Final. I’m assuming that it will be played at Coatesville?
Obviously the turnovers played an enormous role in the result but the bottom line is that DTW just had more weapons and executed better on offense. Notwithstanding Coatesville’s long explosive plays, there was a large gap in level of offensive execution. Too many poorly thrown balls (and again, the turnovers) set the tone in the first half and frankly it just felt unfamiliar with this team.
I feel great for Coach Milano and the Whippets. I’m especially happy for #22 Sean Pelkisson, who tragically lost his younger sister to leukemia three weeks ago (which is why the DTW student section was wearing orange tonight, as a tribute). My heart goes out to his family.
I like DTW vs SJP in the 6A final, after another high scoring affair next week against CD.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:29 am
Eric, I watched Tamaqua play Pope John Paul and was really impressed, I thought they would give Wyo all they could handle and then some. Defense is fast and they really hit you. Their offensive line wears you down and by the 4th quarter Boyle just dominates you and that’s what happened to Wyo. Wolfum said the game wasn’t even that close. BC coaches lost that game during the week, they simply came out flatter than a pancake, down 14-0 in the 1st couple of minutes, 4 turnovers that led to 28 LS points, 12 penalties, that was the sloppiest and most unmotivated BC team I have ever seen. Give LS credit, they came out super intense and played every down like it was their last.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:20 am
A footnote to my just posted post……….”This can’t help the cause of those who are championing separate playoffs for publics and privates”……..unless they win “A” “5A” and “6A”, which is a realistic possibility. Stay tuned…….
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:12 am
Ding Dong the wicked witches of the East and West are dead!!! Boy was I wrong (another ECP/’Tep 4A final), and must say, never so happy to be!!! 4A goes from the ho hum same old same old private’s party to the most interesting bracket. Four new fresh faces (Lampeter/Strasburg??, help me D3 guys), all traditional publics. If I’m counting correctly, by the end of the day today, there will only be 4 private/charter/catholics (all usual suspects) still standing out of 24 teams. This can’t help the cause of those who are championing separate playoffs for publics and privates (PA HB 1600). I was never an advocate for this (unless someone presented a really workable system, which I have not seen), other than in basketball (boys and girls), which I think the PIAA is missing a real golden opportunity.
November 23rd, 2019 at 8:09 am
@Jut,
Just for the record, D3 teams that have state championships in football:
Camp Hill.
Manheim Central
Cumberland Valley
Central Dauphin
Lancaster Catholic
Steel High
Bishop McD
Wyomissing
Plus runner-up (Wilson, Harrisburg,Cedar Cliff, Middletown. Conestoga Valley, Lower Dauphin,MC, McD)
Overall, pretty strong football in D3
November 22nd, 2019 at 11:11 pm
I understand why District 3 gets byes in states. Cause they don’t win. So far A,AA,AAA all 3 have lost in states and no wins, AAAA,AAAAA,AAAAAA haven’t had a state game yet. But I’m sure when they do they will all lose too lol. What a joke
November 22nd, 2019 at 10:42 pm
BC loses to LS, 35-21, LS 21 pts off to’s Very sloppy game for Berks Catholic. BC down 14-0, 5 min. into the game.
But the big shocker, Wyo loses to Tamagua, 20-10. 3 to’s, Ave. 41 pts a game and holding their opponents to 95 yes rushing/game. Wyo held to no touchdowns for first time this year. And rb from Tamaqua had 176 yds rushing in 2nd half after being held to 19 in first half!!!
November 22nd, 2019 at 10:14 pm
The king of 4A has been dethroned, TJ with a very impressive 28-13 win over 3 time defending champ Erie Prep. TJ’s offensive line was the difference in the game, they dominated the smaller Erie Prep defensive line and ran the ball very effectively all game, wearing them down in the 2nd half. ECP coach Mike Mischler said in the press he was concerned about TJ’s line and his fears turned out to be well founded. Also saw Imhotep got beat by Dallas so will be nice for a change to have 2 different teams in the 4A final in 2 weeks, the way TJ looked tonight I don’t think there’s a 4A team in the state that will beat them, and frankly I think they could win 5A, I have seen every 5A team in the WPIAL this year and TJ is better than any of them.
November 22nd, 2019 at 9:59 pm
Congrats to DTW. Too many turnovers and not enough getting the ball to Bryant for CV. A few dumb penalties, but DTW did what they needed to do. Plus DTW executed very well on offense and played enough D. I’m pretty confident DTW will face SJP in the final, and if their offense can click they will have a chance. Go D1. Signing off until next season (unless DTW keeps winning 🙂 ).
November 22nd, 2019 at 9:38 pm
Revenge of the conventional boundary schools in 4A!!!
November 22nd, 2019 at 1:19 pm
Looks like the Coatesville/DTW game will now be streamed live on Chesmontfootball,com
November 22nd, 2019 at 12:17 pm
Red Raider, I accidentally clicked “refresh” which submitted a half-finished post. I realized I sounded a little angry as I re-read it but didn’t have a chance to revise it lol. I was more frustrated than angry, actually. I’m only using the rankings to inform quality-of-schedule, so as to present a counterpoint to this notion that District 3 has a huge advantage in the current system. Yes, it shouldn’t have a bye in week 14, and yes, having a bye in week 14 is an advantage (and no one has mentioned that Upper Dauphin also had a bye last week – which is FAR more egregious considering the district only has 6 teams in 2A and doesn’t need 3 weeks to produce a winner). But back to 6A, the winner in District 3 also has to play a more difficult schedule to get to the quarterfinals (at least this cycle) than many district winners – which is a disadvantage. People are making the same complaint about Central Valley having a bye this week. Central Valley probably beat the 2nd best team in the state in 3A last week, so if anything the current system puts THEM at a disadvantage, not everyone else.
There are lots of advantages and disadvantages in the current system and a bye is just one of them. That’s the point I’m making. Central Dauphin can’t control its week 14 just like Central Dauphin can’t control that it has to earn it’s way into the state quarterfinals every year in a way that it’s conference-mate, State College, frankly, doesn’t. There are lots of unfair things about this system and I’m trying to move the focus away from the bye because it’s just one of many issues. And as I said, the “rankings” are only meant to inform that discussion. They’re fairly subjective since few teams play cross-district. That said, do you have some reason besides your gut that you think Central Dauphin isn’t right around #3 in PA?
Week 14 picks: Central Dauphin (ha), Cocalico, Berks Catholic, Wyomissing, SCA (over Upper Dauphin).
Foleman, I might be missing something but what is the point of assigning 1 point for participation in a district final? Like if a team makes the state final (4 points) then the district quarterfinal the next year (1 point) they are short of the 6 point threshold. So why even assign 1 point?
November 22nd, 2019 at 11:59 am
Only 2 WPIAL teams are in action tonight, so I’ll focus on those 2 games for now, and do another write-up tonight or tomorrow morning previewing the 2A and 5A championship games.
6A PCC vs. State College (at North Allegheny) – this will be the 7th time since 2010 that State College has played the WPIAL champ in the quarterfinals, and they are 0-6 in those games, getting blown out by Pine Richland the last 2 yrs. The last time SC beat a WPIAL team in the playoffs was in 2009 against Woodland Hills, who was really banged up and missing several key players after their bruising game with Gateway the week before in the WPIAL championship game. SC has definitely played a tougher schedule than PCC, so they have that in their favor, they also have a more balanced offense than PR which was very pass heavy this year. Key to the game will be how well SC’s offensive line matches up with PCC’s dominating D-Line that starts 4 DI players, if they can run the ball a bit and set up the pass they have a chance to make this very interesting. On defense SC needs to slow PCC’s running game like PR did last week, PCC has a very mediocre passing game (and that may be generous), if you can limit their rushing attack their offense is going to struggle. I think this game will be very competitive and would not be surprised if SC pulls the upset, but given their recent track record against the WPIAL the last decade I’ll take PCC by a TD. Winner moves on to get beat up by SJP next week, regardless of whether their starting QB plays or not.
4A TJ vs. ECP (at North Hills) – finally the match-up that all of us on the western side of the state have been anticipating since August. Think everyone knows TJ lost to ECP in 2015-2017, so this will be the fourth meeting between them in the last 5 years. TJ may be the only team standing between ECP and their fourth straight 4A state championship, as most people agree these are the 2 best teams in the state this year in 4A. Key is how well TJ handles the huge step up in competition, they haven’t played a team remotely close to the talent ECP has. I was at the game 3 years ago at Baldwin, won by ECP 30-13, TJ had a lot of dropped passes when receivers were wide open, I remember at least 5 such drops and maybe more, passes they would have likely caught against a lesser opponent, I don’t know if it was nerves, or the speed of the ECP defense or both, receivers were looking to run and make a play before they caught the ball. If TJ can hang in there and be either tied or at most down 1 score at half they have a chance to dethrone the 3 time defending champ, but I’ll believe it when I see it, I’m picking ECP by a TD, I’ll be there and post a report after the game.
November 22nd, 2019 at 11:47 am
What is the minimum amount of males to be at 6A, 5A? What’s the cut off number?
November 22nd, 2019 at 11:41 am
Any of you Chesmont guys have an update on ticket availability for tonight’s game??
November 22nd, 2019 at 10:41 am
@ SCA2566
I have. Extensively. I’m not rehashing. Feel free to drill down and read my prior posts.
November 22nd, 2019 at 10:26 am
@ Foleman – I agree with you, would have liked to have seen the success factor stand on it’s own and not be tied to transfers, if a school continues to dominate in a certain class like ECP in 4A and Southern Columbia in 2A they should be forced to move up a class for the next 2 yr cycle.
@SCA2566 – we’re not talking about who SC plays in the regular season, it’s all about the playoffs, they can play whoever they want in the regular season, I’m sure Kevin X and the rest of us that follow football statewide know who they played this year, I certainly did, but in the playoffs they should be playing at a higher classification than 2A, period, end of story.
November 22nd, 2019 at 9:37 am
@neutral i think Dallas can do it the old fashion way defense and ball control
November 22nd, 2019 at 8:34 am
Jeff H, thanks for the clarification, according to the Info below, you are correct, transfers + points do factor in. So S. Columbia can stay at 2A and Tep at 4A if they don’t have 3 transfers. Looks like the PIAA dropped the ball again on this one.
Success Factor scale
* Participation in a district final = 1 point
* Participation in a PIAA quarterfinal = 2 points
* Participation in a PIAA semifinal = 3 points
* Participation in a PIAA final = 4 points
Schools would receive the points based on their highest finish in the previous two-year cycle. Should a school accumulate 6 points or greater and accept athletic transfers, according to a fixed ratio (below), the school would move up 1 class in that sport for the following cycle.
Athletic Transfers
In addition, if a school receives 6 points or greater in the previous two-year cycle, and accepts transfer students by sport and gender that are equal to or exceeds one less than half of the starting line-up, the school will be required to move up 1 classification.
That would equal two transfers in basketball (5 starters) or five transfers in football (11 starters).
Schools that receive points, but not transfers, would remain in its same enrollment classification.
The option to “play up” in classification remains in place, and Lombardi also said a waiver provision would be in place to address transfer students with “exceptional and unusual” circumstances.”
November 22nd, 2019 at 8:18 am
Picks for the winners of games involving D11:
6A: Nazareth has had a nice season, but the SJP juggernaut is a force to be reckoned with. No experience outside of the EPC gives them even less of a shot. SJP 49-14.
5A: This Wood team is not as strong as in years past, so Solehi might stay with them, but Wood has a big experience advantage, and the Spartans are a bit one-dimensional. This game’s winner will be a definite underdog against the D7 champ. Wood 48-35.
4A: Pottsville looked great against Central Catholic. They are battle tested and will be able to grind down JS. The Schuylkill League Division 1 was a doozy this year. Pottsville 28-14.
3A: This is an interesting matchup because both teams have played Pottsville and North Schuylkill (Tamaqua in-conference, Wyomissing OOC). Tamaqua is on a roll now, but Wyomissing won both of those matchups and Tamaqua lost them. Hoping for a great battle. Wyomissing 28-24.
For the other matchups (except games 3A and lower without eastern teams since I just have no idea, except Farrell will win)
6A: Dtown West, State College
5A: Cheltenham, Cocalico, Peters Township
4A: Imhotep, Berks, Cathedral Prep (rooting for Dallas and L-S but have to pick with history)
3A: Wyoming Area
2A: Richland Twp, Southern Columbia
1A: Lackawanna Trail
November 21st, 2019 at 11:02 pm
@Kevin X can you explain to me how Southern doesn’t play up? If you look at Southerns schedule (which you haven’t) you will find they play mostly all 3A and 4A schools. They put their undefeated regular season win streak on the line to go play a nationally televised game on ESPN against a premier 3A private school in SC, they changed 2 regular season games to play Wyoming area and Montoursville both of whom play each other in the Eastern quarters in 3A, and we can throw Jersey Shore in as well who is playing in the 4A quarters. Do some research before you jump on the “Southern doesn’t play anyone” or “they need to play up” bandwagon.
November 21st, 2019 at 10:53 pm
@ Jur – the PIAA did that a little bit with this 2 yr cycle, flipping D12 and D3 in both 5A and 6A, that’s why most people on this board are complaining about CD’s bye this week, there would be a lot less whining if D3 was still in the western bracket and had a bye then got to face the winner of PCC vs. State College. There is already a lot more travel with flipping D3 and D12, do you really want more teams travelling 3-4 hours or more each way to play early round games? And how well would those games be attended, when attendance is already down quite a bit. It’s easy to get on a board and say the PIAA should rotate and move districts around each year, but try putting that together logistically and it becomes a lot more difficult, especially when some of the bigger districts have such a large concentration in certain classes…look at 5A, 3 districts (D1/D3/D7) have 77 out of 102 teams, add in D12 with 10 and that’s 87, 3 districts have none, 1 has 1, 2 have 2, and 2 have 5, so good luck moving districts around with that disparity.
I don’t think D3 Mike or anyone else has said CD deserves a bye, it’s not their fault this is how the system is set up, virtually everyone is in agreement there should not be a bye for any team in the quarterfinals from any district, period.
November 21st, 2019 at 9:11 pm
M cDevitt AA plays Max Preps #25 team small school ranked Richland Friday. So Columbia is #2 small school in the rankings. These of course are National rankings . If Lonnie Rice plays as he did against Dunmore McD has a chance for the upset. Frank G, Egan was a machine in the mid 60s. Bedesem was a superior coach . A real classic was a thanksgiving day game at Brick Twp. NJ which Brick won 7-0. Itravelled from Temple stadium that morning North/ Frankford up to Brick for the game. Egan was undefeated prior to that game. They were so talented back then. I believe every school in the league with the exception of Tommy More had at least 1000 boys and thus most fielded solid teams . Judge,Dougherty,Bonner with over 3000 boys didn’t dominate . I sure miss those games as Im sure you do.
November 21st, 2019 at 8:45 pm
@ Dennis
Thnx man, appreciated
Jeff H and NW PA I think do a really nice job I on covering the Evil Empire, umm, the western part of the state 🙂
November 21st, 2019 at 7:36 pm
I was in the Upper Dauphin Area today for work. I had a discussion with some local guys, and they really think UD has a fighting chance against SCA. I just kinda chuckled, they didn’t know that I follow and am an alumni of SCA. I believe that this game is going to be a another mercy rule by half. That team is a machine, and it will take an extreme team to even get close to them!
November 21st, 2019 at 6:43 pm
James clews. Please tell me how Roth thinks he’s bigger than the league or area? This should be good.
November 21st, 2019 at 6:03 pm
D3 Mike: I’m glad you read my post, but relax a little. I wasn’t knocking CD (they might be the #3 team in the state — I don’t think they are, but that’s my opinion and it could be wrong). My comments were about how the rankings have been all year long — week after week they’ve had to adjust because of wins/losses — not something I would hang my hat on — and it’s still just opinion. As far as saying that a team that is already out of the playoffs should be ranked higher than one still playing at this point– that sounds even crazier to me. Okay, for fun, let’s put MT at #2 again ( Pennlive had them there just 2 weeks ago). For some reason, I don’t think they would take any solace in knowing that while watching other teams still playing and moving on in the playoffs. “Hey guys, Pennlive just moved us from #10 to #2 again, so who’s bringing the popcorn when we watch CD play D1”. (My apologies to MT, they had a great year, but c’mon Mike 🙂 ). Even better, suppose DTW wins it all (long shot I know), should they not be ranked #1, even though they have not been ranked that high the entire year? Doesn’t the BCS champ automatically become #1?
November 21st, 2019 at 5:38 pm
@Mcd65 You and I may be the only really long-time PCL guys who ever post here. Huck knows a lot about the PCL, but he’s relatively young (e.g He would know Tommy DeFelice only as a coach whereas we both appear to have seen him play at WC–a little guy who was a very clever QB.) Those Egan teams in the mid-60s were so well-coached, I remember Billy Creedon as a great high-school QB. Did a lot of their guys get their start with the Little Quakers?
There are rivalries within the league now but less of a league identity–maybe inevitable given the open boundaries and the fact that more and more of the students, especially the students who play football or basketball, are not coming from Catholic elementary schools. Probably more of a “league identity” in basketball than in football.
November 21st, 2019 at 4:53 pm
@ Dennis Pascoe – I try and provide insight on the WPIAL every week, I live in the Pittsburgh suburbs and have followed the WPIAL closely since the 1970’s, and NW PA does a great job of reporting on D10.
@NW PA – really looking forward to the game tomorrow night, I could go to PCC vs. State College at NA but I think the ECP/TJ game is a lot more intriguing, maybe one of these years we can get together at a WPIAL vs. D10 game! Being a WPIAL guy would love to see TJ win, but I have a hunch ECP wins by a TD, something like 28-21. There was an excellent article in the TribLive online today about the game, both coaches had nothing but great things to say about their opponent, I get the impression Cherpak thinks this is his best shot to beat Prep and he hasn’t made any derogatory comments about Prep in the media like he has in the past, all the focus has been on dethroning the 3 time champ!
November 21st, 2019 at 4:37 pm
@ Foleman – the success factor rule is tied to transfers, if a school doesn’t have 3 transfers they are not forced to move up regardless of how much success they have in the playoffs. ECP will definitely be moving up, but that may be it, depends on whether the other schools mentioned have had 3 transfers. NW PA could offer more insight on the D10 teams, but I doubt Sharon and Wilmington have had 3 transfers, and the D3 guys can chime in on whether Cocalico has had any transfers, since Berks Catholic is 3A by enrollment they will not be forced to move to 5A even if they upset the ECP/TJ winner and make the state final, same goes for Imhotep if they are still 3A by enrollment.
November 21st, 2019 at 4:10 pm
@Jeff H- yes I will be at the game tomorrow. I’d love to sit down and watch it with you but let’s just say I’ll be in my official capacity there and won’t be able to. This is probably lay my last year in this capacity so in future seasons we will meet up. It’s gonna be one heck of a game.
November 21st, 2019 at 3:57 pm
@D3 Mike
By discrict by class for enrollment numbers in current cycle. Imhotep at 231 so they’re already playing up
https://www.piaa.org/schools/classifications/classlist.aspx?sportID=10
November 21st, 2019 at 3:45 pm
@ Foleman
Little confused with this success factor stuff. My understanding you only move up with 6 (or more) points AND 3 or more transfers. If 6 or more points, and no transfers, no moving up. So if win back to back state championships and no transfers = no moving up.
And shouldn’t all of this wait until the next cycle of official enrollment figures come out??? Also, I don’t think a team like Wood or Imhotep who are already voluntarily playing, would be affected by their current status, but from their new specific enrollment figs. Basically staying where they are at when all is said and done.
From the PIAA website….
A. In the previous two year classification cycle, if a school receives 6 points in the previous classification cycle and accepts transfer students by sport and gender the school and equals or exceeds the stated number, they will move up 1 classification.
Example: (1) transfers in basketball= up 1 classification.
(3) transfers in football = up 1 classification.
B. If a school accumulates 6 points or greater in the previous cycle and does not receive
transfer students, it will remain in their same enrollment classification for the next two year cycle.
C. A school that has moved up in class does not obtain 3, 4, or 5 success points in a cycle, but has transfer students equal to or exceeds the number by sport will remain up in that classification cycle for the next two year cycle.
November 21st, 2019 at 3:45 pm
I echo the sentiments of Kevin X, phillyboy hereby grants the Downingtown/Coatesville community some props for broadcasting this game. They can plaster it with all the ads they want, no problem. I’ll have my popcorn ready, okay Mikey? — looking forward to a great game Mikey.
November 21st, 2019 at 2:14 pm
@Kevin X I like your knowledge of Eastern PA high school football I have learned alot you are well opinionated also. It would be nice if a fan from the western part of the state with their knowledge of high school football be a contributor on this forum especially this time of year. That would be great to compare programs.
November 21st, 2019 at 2:11 pm
@D3 Mike
Well it looks like you have a dog in the fight in District 3 6a lol. You take the ranking way to literal, just because your team played 2 top 10 ranked teams in the state back to back weeks they should get a bye? lol that’s like saying Ohio st. Should get a bye if they beat PSU and Michigan to the national championship? That’s not how it goes, Clemson will get there without playing a ranked team. It’s not fair but that’s how it goes. None of them will get a bye in the playoffs thou right. Yes district 7 got some byes in states too which I missed. Back when they had 4 classes district 12 would get some byes too. Look it up they did. So this whole changing to 6 classes didn’t change that. Mostly in smaller classes I believe. Only fair way is to get rid of the byes in states. Have them only in district play
@foleman
I agree with you with the whole point system. But I take it much further. Do it for all sports. Other states do this. If you win back to back AAA state titles you move up to AAAA the next 2 year cycle.
With state playoffs I think they should switch all the brackets around every year. Not have same first round of state matchups every year. Send other districts out west or send some of their districts to the East, make it state championship not East vs west
November 21st, 2019 at 1:53 pm
Foleman: Archbishop Wood is a 4A school by enrollment and would move to (stay) 5A. Same with Imhotep and Berks Catholic – both 3A school and would move to 4A.
I always wonder about that transfer thing. I’m not so sure there are so many transfer out west, as kids that just start going to school at private schools as freshman.
November 21st, 2019 at 12:41 pm
Some D2 predictions:
1A: Lackawanna Trail over Muncy
I think it will be a shoot out, but LT comes out on top.
3A: Wyoming Area over Montoursville
I think WA is the superior team based purely on talent, but this will be a closer game than it should be. WA tends to hurts themselves with dumb penalties; I think they had 5 or 6 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Scranton Prep last week (late hits, helmet to helmet, etc.).
4A: Imhotep Charter over Dallas
I’d like to see Dallas pull it out, but I think IC’s speed will be too much. I do think it will be closer than previous IC v. D2 matchups. 2019 Dallas is much better than 2018/2017 Valley View and 2016 North Pocono.
November 21st, 2019 at 12:36 pm
Imhotep is a 3A school but I think they might stay @ 4a
November 21st, 2019 at 11:58 am
It’s a crime that the PIAA charges $4,000-$5,000 for these small community based production companies to broadcast a game for those that aren’t able to make the game. Thankfully the Downingtown and yes even Coatesville area has a good bit of wealth from it’s residents and enough local business support to offset the cost.
Hell even if a school like North Penn had made it this far, their school broadcast channel would be subject to the same fees with a 50% discount. For much of District 1 and other Districts that isn’t an issue.
The real issue is when residents of a small school, poverty stricken district or a game hours away from an areas doesn’t have an opportunity to view games because of the outlandish price the PIAA places of real-time broadcasting. For some towns/schools it’s a once in a generation achievement and they should all be able to enjoy it just as much as the fans that are able to make the trek to the games.
November 21st, 2019 at 11:54 am
@ Bleed Red & Black – I don’t have a problem with D1 taking 16 teams in 6A playoffs, my point was in order for the district to have a bye this week they would have to take far fewer teams, and that’s not fair to the lower seeded teams that have made a playoff run over the years, like Haverford this year and NP and others in previous years like you pointed out. With 6 classes there are many districts that only have a few teams in a given classification, in D6 for example in 6A there is State College and Altoona, and in D10 there’s Erie High and McDowell, and that’s it. As long as this state has district playoffs, and I don’t see that ever changing, nor should it, there are going to be some issues with fitting the larger districts into the state playoff brackets. What the PIAA needs to do is not allow the districts so much leeway that they can manipulate the system so some of their teams have byes in the state quarterfinals this week, but that’s easier said than done with 6 classes.
November 21st, 2019 at 11:08 am
@Philly333 do you know where Imhotep came in on enrollment? I know they were right near the 3A/4A cut and chose to play 4A. I assume they’ll be classed up due to the success factor and am curious if they’ll be in 4A or 5A next cycle.
November 21st, 2019 at 11:05 am
@Red Raider, I was just using PennLive so we have a common frame of reference for the quality of the district. You’re welcome to use Max Preps, BPI, or anything else besides subjective opinion and I’d make the same points (btw, MaxPreps lists 4 D3 teams in the top 11, BPI lists 4 in the top 9). They’ll all say the same thing about the quality of the schedules.
But PennLive is biased. It currently lists Central Dauphin #3. Where do you think they should be ranked? They beat last year’s finalist (Harrisburg), another team still playing (State College), and the only undefeated team in 6A (Manheim). Considering that and the fact that the program has the pedigree of a state title, #3 sounds right to me. And then PennLive has no one else from the district is in the Top 10 until Manheim Township at #10. MT is still the only team in 6A to have not lost in regulation, and the team that beat them (in double overtime) is 50/50 to play in the final – and is someone they beat earlier in the season. It’s a joke that they are #10 in the state and your notion that teams that are still playing should be ranked higher simply because they play through easier brackets is inane. Finally, Harrisburg played in Hershey last year, beat Coatesville in week 1, lost by a TD to a team still playing and isn’t even in the top 10? If anything, the current rankings are biased against D3 teams.
November 21st, 2019 at 11:04 am
@Kevin x one more factor in Dallas favor they have a much better coaching staff
November 21st, 2019 at 10:09 am
@Kevin X: All good, sometimes with so many conversations happening at once it gets tough to follow!
I have to say that while I like the idea of forcing districts to have their byes in week 11, I fear it would just make districts currently using byes more likely to let more teams into the playoffs. What I would like to see is re-seeding when it gets down to the quarterfinals, but districts want to have their district finals. Could do it like other sports where both finalists make the playoffs in the biggest districts, but it would add another week to the season, or districts would have to shorten their district playoffs by a round. Don’t see either of those happening.
November 21st, 2019 at 9:27 am
That whole MCA/SCA mess could have been mitigated, IMO, with some sensible competitive balance with SCA playing up in 3A or 4A, or even 5A (if they had some real gonads), where they belonged this past two year cycle.
November 21st, 2019 at 9:13 am
Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle had an interesting article on the new success factor and who is going to me moving up for the next 2 years. The success factor is based on a points system over a 2 year period-4 points for reaching the State Final, 3 for reaching the Semi’s, 2 for a District Final and 1 for the 1st round of the playoffs. If you hit 6 points over a 2 year period, you move up the next classification. If your team has 3 transfers and reaches 6 points in a 2 year period after previously moving up in class, you will move up another level. The way it looks right now, these are the teams that will be moving up a classification in 2020-2021
5A to 6A Possibly Wood and Cocalico depending on the next few playoff games
4A to 5A-Erie Cathedral Prep and Imhotep. Berks Catholic would move up to 5A if it makes the State Final but will be a big underdog VS ECP or Thomas Jefferson
3A to 4A-Sharon if it wins this week, Montoursville if it wins 2 more games
2A to 3A-Southern Columbia, Wilmington
November 21st, 2019 at 8:25 am
@ JC
My bad. My apologize. Kind of had a weird feeling right after I hit submit if I was reading your post correctly. Obviously I didn’t. I am automatically triggered if I see anything that refers to “more teams” in the playoffs 🙂
November 21st, 2019 at 5:31 am
Enough already about mca and southern. They both acted like idiots. Coaches r to blame for not having Any control on either team. Roth is turning into a real jack ass though he thinks southern is bigger than the league and area. His fall is coming. We only leave people get so high before there torn down
November 21st, 2019 at 4:15 am
Imhotep is loaded, Very young and big
4* DE Class of 2022 Enai White 6’5 could be 5 by SR yr
3* SS/LB Class of 2021 Saint McLeod 6’0 190
3* SS/LB Class of 2021 Javon Mcintyre 6’2 190
#8 Freshman Rahmir Sweat 5 offers from major schools
#5 Deshaun Seals Explosive young man
#32 Keon Wylie 6’2 215 SO Bright Future
#10 Kristen Mcadams 6’3 190 physical WR
# 52 DT Class of 2021 Taleeq Robbins 6’4 280
#24 LB Freshman kids a stud name ? 5’11 200
But Imhotep Freshman n Sophomore were the JV n Varsity Philly teams that won PopWarner Super Bowl in Midget ( NW Raiders) /Junior Varsity ( NorthPhilly Aztecs) in 2017
You can look @ the roster this team is huge but very young this could be a team physical like the 2016 one
November 20th, 2019 at 8:38 pm
Game on!!! Ummm, like literally. Just saw that 3ctv/chesmontfootball.com will have a live video stream of the C’Ville/DTW game. A thankful shoutout to the local sponsors who stepped up to the plate!! (sorry about the baseball cliche, but it works!!!)
November 20th, 2019 at 8:29 pm
Coatesville/DTW game on Chesmontfootball (also Youtube) — got some sponsors. One might want to watch the first C’ville/DTW game too — pretty good.
@Don: IF C’ville has zero turnovers and personal fouls they should win (but for some reason they just can’t escape the unsportsmanlike penalties — although I think their reputation leads to bad calls). Anyway, C’ville’s offense is not as explosive as in the past few years, but DTW’s defense has given up a ton of points (one could make the case that NP should have beat them). It seems like folks (and polls 🙂 ) are forgetting that C’ville already beat them at Kottmeyer. Whatever happens, both teams are very good, and I hope they do D1 proud. I hope all the remaining 6A games are as exciting as this game should be. Bleed Red and Black’s assessment is much more detailed (and probably better than mine 🙂 )
November 20th, 2019 at 7:38 pm
Frank, certainly my mistake .I meant 26000 not 56000. I thought the West /Egan game was at municipal but again I could be mistaken . I was there for I believe West Catholic wins 2 years in a row with DeFelice and halfback Bobby Mahan . I think they beat Bonner in 62. Man!! brings back memories. I thought I was the only old PCL guy on here.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:30 pm
@ Mcd65 Capacity at Shibe Park / Connie Mack Stadium was about 35,000, so there couldn’t have been anywhere near 56,000. I was at the SJP/Egan PCL Championship game in 63 at Franklin Field. No way it was more than 15% full–meaning about 10K people there. You’d be awfully glad to see that size of a crowd at any high school game in PA today. (West Catholic with Tomy DeFelice) won the championship in, I think, ’62–but I could be off a year or so about both ’62 and ’63.)
November 20th, 2019 at 5:14 pm
D3 Mike, You make some good points, but putting WAY too much stock in Pennlive rankings — they are definitely biased towards D3. For example, many had MT coming out of the east as the next best thing since sliced bread (but barely beat CV and lost to CD) — while another team still in it was honorable mention. Besides, most rankings I’ve seen haven’t been that great anyway, and the games need to be won on the field (“on any given night”) . . . .
November 20th, 2019 at 4:28 pm
Kevin.Im not a historian but I do remember attending the Catholic League championship at Municiple stadium in South Philly before it was torn down. The game was between W est Catholic and Bishop Eagan about 1963 or so.Two of my Uncles played at the old Shibe Park in the late forties one for Roman and the other for West Catholic. The games attendance was 56000. Ah the good old days. Btw I was just born then LOL.
November 20th, 2019 at 3:53 pm
@Kevin x Dallas is stronger up front than Valley View was the last 2 years but slower don’t think that Dallas passes as well as Valley View the last 2 years but the running game is much more powerful. Defense Dallas is stronger and more Consistent Valley view gave up the big play but made big play on defense and got turnovers .Dallas is probably the most physical team i seen since the 2011 Valley View team >but as you said we don.t match up with the urban all star teams .As for D2 i like Wyoming Area and Lackawanna trail to win this week i hope Dallas can make it 3
November 20th, 2019 at 3:48 pm
@JeffH
D1 6A has the most schools in it’s classification compared to anything in the state(33). Those 33 also comprise over a 1/3 of all 6A schools in the entire state. The only other District that can compare is 2A in District 7 (31 teams), which also has 16 teams in it’s playoff. D1 & D3 6A both take a comparable number of teams to the playoff (D1 16/33 vs D3 8/18). Is 16 teams too many? You could make the case, but 8 is not nearly enough. It seems like every year a lower seed is capable of making a run of pulling an upset. This year it was Haverford. Pretty sure NP was a 9-12 seed in the last decade and made a run. The 15/16 seeds have also given the top seeds competitive games. In addition allowing only 8 teams would further penalize the ChesMont/PAC/Central league schools who are stuck playing 5A and 4A schools.
Much like you said if a district is getting a bye during the playoffs it needs to be after the regular season and before the playoffs. At this point every team should be on an equal playing fields. No team 2-3 weeks before a state championship should be getting to rest players, while their potential opponent is risking injury. Nor should the coaches be able to be able to implement game plan during 2 weeks of practice while they prepare for a potential opponent.
I’m sure the bump to 6 classifications is part of the issue, as for D1 5A i agree 16 teams is too many. No need for nearly 2/3 of the teams to make the playoffs. I would be perfectly fine with 10-12 teams and then have them going into a sub regional with another District, much like they do in D1 3A.
@Don
Cville/DTW game is a toss up IMO. DTW has the better offense and more weapons with Howard/Lewis/Robinson/Pelkinson, etc compared to just Ortega and Bryant. Although the last meeting Stewart #9 for Coatesville had a field day with 9 catches and 120+ yards. Coatesville has the better Defense IMO. As always it will come down to which defense is able to get stops and/or create turnovers. The one thing I can say being a Cville fan/alum is this group of Seniors has won at every level since midget football (only a state championship has eluded them and that blame could be placed on certain coaches along the way). If DTW has a chance to bury them at some point on Friday they better make sure they do it, because all this group knows is winning and the big game of the past 3-4 years has done nothing but prepare them for Friday night.
November 20th, 2019 at 2:00 pm
@Kevin X: You mischaracterize what I am trying to say. Since it’s up to the districts, the reason they would forego a bye is to get more of their teams into their playoffs. Whether or not they SHOULD do that is a completely different discussion. Shortcomings of a single-thread forum format.
November 20th, 2019 at 1:36 pm
Kevin X…….Veteran Stadium played host to several PCL playoff games and City Title games.
November 20th, 2019 at 12:12 pm
Hey guys. Coal Region guy here. Love this time of the year. We don’t get any 6A coverage up here so I was wondering who wins the Coatsville/DTW game and does the winner have anything for St. Joe’s Prep?
November 20th, 2019 at 11:53 am
@ Jeff H
Simple/easy solution(s):
1. Reduce playoffs from 6 weeks to 5 (move up the finals a week, this would also eliminate the current overlapping with the start of the winter sports season).
2. 32 teams in each bracket
3. No sub .500 teams
4. More liberal use of subdivisions or regional playoffs, if necessary.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:42 am
@ Kevin X The only hs game I can recall that was played at the Linc was between public and non-public “all star” seniors several years ago. It was played in the spring. I can’t recall any games being played at the Vet. For at least a few decades the city championship game (between Catholic League and Public League champions) and sometimes the Catholic League championship game were played at Franklin Field (where the Eagles played until about 1970 and which has a capacity of about 60,000). I can’t recall it ever being nearly full; in my recollection, crowds of 5,000 to 8,000 were the norm.
November 20th, 2019 at 10:35 am
Jut, I’ve tried to explain things rationally and ignore half of what you’ve said but now I’ve lost patience. District 3 just put on a clinic on how to run a competitive 6A bracket with the 4 weeks they were given by the PIAA. Full stop.
The district had 0 mercy rule games and the semi-finals and finals were all decided by less than a touchdown. Central Dauphin played 2 Top 10 PennLive teams to make the state semi-finals which will end up being as many – or more – than every other team in the 6A semi-finals, DESPITE having a bye this week. They played two better quality opponents just to get out of their own district than ANY other team in the state will have played to get out of their own district. They also played five teams ranked in the PennLive Top 10 during the regular season, resulting in a total of SEVEN top 10 teams they played just to get to the point where people like you talk about their unfair advantages. That’s games they had to win, plus more minutes played, more minutes played against big, strong young men, and more injuries throughout the season as a result. How’s that for unfair?
Meanwhile, you suggested that the bye should rotate so that “D2 or D4 gets it some years”. Gets a bye for what, exactly? I’m sure this will rub people the wrong way but I could care less: most of the season from August until losing to the WPIAL rep, State College, or Archbishop Wood in November is one giant bye for the big schools in some of these districts. What’s awful about the PIAA playoff system is all of the mediocre teams that don’t belong in it, not the teams that represent the best of the best that would succeed under any format. BTW, the WPIAL winner would win 1A and 3A many years on 2 days or 2 months rest; it’s irrelevant. And there are wayyy more byes out west than in the east. It’s an imperfect system, not an inherently biased one.
November 20th, 2019 at 10:03 am
@ JC
Unless you’re being sarcastic (which I can appreciate), wrong answer. Correct answer…..less teams.
@ mark d
I was going to ask you and other D2/upstate folks on options on Dallas. How do they compare to the Valley View teams of the past two seasons and I believe the North Pocono team that faced Imhotep 3 years ago. Seems like Dallas has a very a strong running game with a very good QB, a nice offensive combination. My one issue with them, as is with just about every other playoff D2 team, who did they play and once they get out of their D2 comfort zone (unless you’re single “A”), they get smoked. With that said, IMO, this is the year to pick off Imhotep. They are a young team, if you want to say rebuilding, I suppose you can, I’d prefer reloading for for next year. They are more of a ground team of what little I can tell. But yes, the defense is the strong point. Their weak links, IMO, are their not so special teams and discipline. Get them rattled and then keep your cool. I only saw them live in a second half of a scrimmage against Wood, the offense looked sloppy and out of sync (ok, it was mid August and a scrimmage), but the D was absolutely lock down. I don’t recall Wood getting one first down in that second half, and basically did nothing (again, just a scrimmage). This is the third game Friday night I’d like to check out.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:16 am
Kevin, I don’t believe either hosted a playoff game .The last I recall was the PCL playoff double headers at Franklin field as well as the city championships every year.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:10 am
@Jut – as I’ve stated on here several times District 7 has 2 teams with byes this week, 1A Clairton and 3A Central Valley, and of course CD in District 3, so there are a total of 3 byes this week, it’s not just D3 getting the byes, and their only team with a bye is CD. This is a byproduct of going to 6 classes, I don’t remember any byes like this when there were 4 classes, does anyone else? It is up to the districts how they structure their playoffs, D1 could have taken 8 teams instead of 16 in both 6A and 5A, and both would have had their championship games last week and had a bye this week, but most districts choose to take the most teams they can, if D1 only took 8 you don’t have Haverford in the playoffs which would have been a shame. We’ll see what happens next year, but again this is primarily the result of 6 classes and not enough teams statewide in each class to make complete brackets. What the PIAA should have done is not allow D3 and D7 to take byes after their district playoffs finish, they should have made them take the bye in week 11 when the playoffs first started, that’s where I fault the PIAA, and the fact is they should have never gone to 6 classes in the first place, IMO 5 would have been the right number, we have 4 classes for 35 years (1980-2015), and then all of a sudden they go from 4 to 6, ridiculous.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:31 am
@ Jut, et al
I’ve been banging this drum about the playoffs for as long as that I’ve been posting on this site. Total agree. I’ve been advocating from anything from some simple tweakings of the current system to a complete overhaul. Anything to make the current system more competitive, fair, consistent and logical. I thought going to six classifications would have solved some of these issues, but it appears to have regressed the situation.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:24 am
Hey guys, this mainly to you long time Philly or Philly area guys, later today that delayed NJ HS playoff football game from Friday night will be resumed at Lincoln Financial Field. Got me thinking, has the Linc or Veterans Stadium ever hosted a high school football game by either/both the Philadelphia Eagles/City of Philadelphia, and if so, when was the last time??
November 20th, 2019 at 8:19 am
@Jut “Like the one person said if it was up to the districts getting byes then why wouldn’t they??”
This one is easy. Get more teams into the playoffs.
November 20th, 2019 at 7:32 am
What can any one tell me about Imhotep. i am hearing that thier not as loaded as they been the last 3 or 4 years.Are they a running team passing balanced from the scores of the game they played look like a tough defense
November 19th, 2019 at 8:41 pm
The player in the MCA SCA game was not taken out on a late hit. Watch the SECTV broadcast of the game and not just the “youtube” version, they had many other camera angles including one right on the sidelines of the play in question and the player was clearly in bounds when he was hit even the broadcasters agreed he was. Did he need to get shoved that hard? Maybe not. It’s unfortunate he went into the bench and was injured. Hopefully its not too serious and he makes a full recovery I know he is also an excellent wrestler. I agree 100% both teams are to blame for things that went on in that game but the officials completely lost control. I also agree there were several calls that were not made against SCA that should have been but the MCA players were completely out of control after the injury to their player and were after a little payback (watch #44 at 56:35 of the youtube tape completely getting his teammates riled up) I hope in my lifetime I never see a game like that again as I was sickened and disgusted by the stuff that went on in that game and embarrassed to say I am was a fan of one of these teams. I also hope next time these teams can put this behind them and get back to some good old coal region football like the games have been before as this is one of the best rivalries in the area.
November 19th, 2019 at 8:33 pm
@Brian
#28 returned the kickoff – 56 mins in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QdPy3qd4qg. He was right against the sideline so technically still in bounds but pushed out hard enough to hit the bench. There was no penalty on the play but MCA gets a personal foul for retaliation. I’m sure #14 didn’t intentionally try to hurt him but from what I’m told he has a fractured cervical vertebrae. In the play at the end of the 3rd q, I don’t think he lead with his helmet. He actually wasn’t even running, just waiting there. Its hard to see what he did after, but I’m glad to know at least it was a player and not a adult or coach who shoved him.
November 19th, 2019 at 7:44 pm
I retract my last statement as I saw him return that kick. I’m not sure how I missed that one. The hit was still a legal hit. Watch the replay on sectv8 and it will show you.
November 19th, 2019 at 5:50 pm
Tornado fan. Their best player wasn’t taken out on a late hit. He aggravated a groin or something earlier and was on the bench when the hit after the kickoff happened. If the hit on the kickoff caused someone to go into the bench where he was sitting it wasn’t a late hit. Zachmans hit occurred in bounds and I watched the replay because where I was standing I couldn’t see due to the team. However it looked like just after that some pushing began between the teams and a southern player shoved a mca player. If that’s when it happened then that’s a different story. As for the time when the cops came on the field that was due to the mca player after making the tackle which was a legal hit besides leading with the helmet which they don’t call really in high school he stepped on/over/kicked the sca player and another player not dressed for the game shoved him. I don’t condone a lot of what took place by either side.
November 19th, 2019 at 3:46 pm
Seems like this whole Byes in state playoffs is a joke. Even local papers saying how bad it is like it must be nice to get rest while of teams battle to play the following week. How it’s only one district getting all the byes too which isn’t fair. Like the one person said if it was up to the districts getting byes then why wouldn’t they?? So this was all PIAA doing which is nonsense. Hopefully next year they change all the brackets around. Only way to make it fair
November 19th, 2019 at 2:14 pm
Mr. Drago reporting that Berks Catholic just added Pope John Paul II to next year’s schedule. So with 3A enrollment, here is their current slate:
Central Dauphin (6A), Roman Catholic (6A), Reading (6A), Malvern Prep (5A), Exeter (5A), Governor Mifflin (5A), Daniel Boone (5A), Muhlenberg (5A), Pope John Paul II (3A).
Can I get a preliminary scouting report on those Philly area teams for next year? Because that looks like a grand total of maybe 4 wins? Brutal.
November 19th, 2019 at 2:07 pm
What do you D3 guys think of Michael Whitehead being forced out as coach at CV? I read his statement on PennLive and certainly appears he is handling it in a classy way, is he the one to blame for their slide the last few years? I know the buck stops at the top, but seems to me he didn’t have a lot of top end talent to work with recently and the school board may have some unrealistic expectations.
@Colonial Fan – congrats on So Lehigh’s win last week, would love to see them knock off Wood on Friday, I too think the game will be close and you guys definitely have a shot to advance.
@D3 Mike – I think Coatesville vs. DTW will be the best quarterfinal game, although Nazereth vs. SJP might be interesting if McCord doesn’t play again, at least for a while. I certainly wouldn’t bother making the long trip to North Allegheny to watch PCC vs. State College, expect that to be a dull game with a lot of 3 and outs just like the WPIAL championship game, although I do think SC has a realistic chance to beat them. I could go to that game but I’m going to see round 4 of TJ vs. Erie Prep, I’m very curious how TJ stacks up this year, and expect that to be a more entertaining game than PCC vs. SC, along with the fact the winner will be the clear favorite to win 4A.
November 19th, 2019 at 12:06 pm
@D3 Mike
I agree with your analysis of the MCA/SCA game completely. Nobody had any doubt Southern would come out on top of this game, so I’m not sure why the refs felt they needed to help.
@cat pa
MCA was already losing big, had arguably their best player taken out of the game on a late hit and was seriously injured and MCA kept getting called for personal fouls while Southern did not. I can understand their frustration. As you said, it was the seniors last game, so I see no issue with keeping most of them in through the 3rd Q. So SCA has 2 players push the MCA kid on the sidelines but somehow MCA has 2 players ejected and SCA 1? It was one of the most disappointing games I have seen in a long time and it wasn’t due to the score. Looking forward to a more competitive, civil and better officiated game next year.
November 19th, 2019 at 11:23 am
@D3 Mike: This is still one thing I’m uncertain about. Did PIAA give D3 a bye, or did PIAA give D3 a semifinal spot and tell them “figure out a district champion”? If the prerogative is on D3 and not PIAA, then theoretically any district could have a bye this week if they really wanted it.
November 19th, 2019 at 8:11 am
Am I seeing that bishop McDevitt is hosting this round but yet traveling an hour longer to play Richland? Shouldn’t Richland have to travel longer?
November 18th, 2019 at 7:26 pm
Hypothetically, let’s say I lived in a district that the PIAA gave a bye to so that’s it’s 6A team had a chance to rest up (lol)… what 6A quarterfinal game should I drive to this weekend and why?
November 18th, 2019 at 7:06 pm
@ ColonialFan
If that C’Ville/DTW is indeed a pre-game SO (or even if not, don’t know if I want to risk an hours drive thru suburban Philly Friday rush hour traffic to get shut out at the window), looks like I’ll be seeing you Friday night 🙂 Buy you a drink at The Perk post game in celebration, or a congrats on a great season and run……
November 18th, 2019 at 7:00 pm
To follow-on BR&B’s post……at least from a DTW standpoint……
https://www.dasd.org/cms/lib/PA01916467/Centricity/Domain/22/6A%20CHAMPIONSHIP%20TICKET%20INFO%20docx.pdf
November 18th, 2019 at 6:36 pm
Thanks for the explanation fball fan. Southern is on the top half but the bottom of the top for this round. That makes sense so sca should be on the visitors side this week and home side next week if they win.
November 18th, 2019 at 5:26 pm
For anybody planning on making the trip to Kottmeyer Friday night for the D1 Championship, tickets are being sold at both schools Tues-Thur. Limit of 6 tickets per person
Coatesville: 4pm-6pm at the Visitors Ticket Booth at the stadium
Downingtown- 9am-2pm DTW West Office Lobby
Tickets sold at the gate are dependent on number of tickets sold during the presale. I would advise if you can to get your tickets ahead of time!
November 18th, 2019 at 4:33 pm
Better get your D West/ Coatesville tickets early; looks like they are going to sell out
November 18th, 2019 at 3:46 pm
Maybe I can clarify some of the confusion on the location of the SCA/UDA game this Friday. First, SCA is not in the bottom of the bracket, they’re in the top half meaning the opening round would be an “away” game and if they won, the second round game would be a “home” game. What I was told was that the schools that had applied to host PIAA playoff games from District 3 were all located south of UDA. For whatever reason, UDA was not interested in playing south and requested a northern location. The next closest school that had applied to host a PIAA game was Selinsgrove. UDA agreed to play there and is still the “home” team. I understand that it looks like Selinsgrove is much closer to SCA but in reality Selinsgrove is 33 miles from UDA and 30 miles from SCA so there really is no difference. In an odd quirk, if SCA wins on Friday, it’s rumored that they would be the “home” team at Selinsgrove next week for the Eastern Final.
November 18th, 2019 at 12:15 pm
That Northeast team has some serious speed. Wish we could have seen a Northeast-La Salle matchup, La Salle would be favored but it would be a cracker of a matchup.
This hypothetical is way out there, but what if 6A used the rules for the world chess championship? All of the challengers play a tournament amongst each other, and the winner faces the champion for the title. It would never happen, but imagine a final eight of Northeast/La Salle, Nazareth, Harrisburg, Central Dauphin, Coatesville, Downingtown West, State College, and Pittsburgh Central Catholic in a bracket for the right to face St. Joe’s. Would be fascinating to follow.
November 18th, 2019 at 11:30 am
@Matt/KevinX,
Absolutely right, it was Clairton in 2014. I just watched a clip on YouTube of it, it was really bad. I still wonder what exactly set that all off. I know emotions run high and they weren’t accustomed to losing but still it makes me wonder. I’m about to look for the SC/MC game online.
@KevinX,
Definitely make the trip to Kottmeyer. I know it’s a hike for you but come on! You know this game is going to be great. And then the following week you’ll come out to the area a fourth time in a row for the East Final lol. If you do come and you see a dude with a chick with green hair, that’s me an my fiancée (can’t miss her haha) definitely say what’s up. I’ll be on the Coatesville side if I get there early enough to grab a seat. I imagine the game is going to be full to capacity and actually on that note I might go to Dtown HS this week to grab a ticket if they’re selling them like they do sometimes.
Still not sure about a prediction but I’m definitely leaning towards Coatesville if only because their defense is playing well despite giving up the occasional big play.
November 18th, 2019 at 6:07 pm
Mark D….You are correct…..Some stadiums may not be available.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:38 am
@D3 Mike Delaware Valley ended up with that Schedule becuse D2 they decided to break it by school size Abington,West, North Pocono are the larger AAAA schools in the lackawanna conference in division 1 with Delaware Valley so that how thy ended up with that Schedule>pulse with the cross over with the Wyoming valley conference they had all their 5 and 6 A schools so that left the Wyoming valley to play lacakawanna AAAA Now i not saying that Delaware Valley would have matched up with State Collage but they were a real banged up team going in to the game it my understanding they lost 3 starters in the Wilkes Barre play off
@ Dave it my understanding that a lot of these playoff sites are determined by who will make their stadium available it not like the piaa has the choice of any place they want
November 17th, 2019 at 8:50 pm
@Kevin X
I’ll throw my vote in for Southern vs Wood. I honestly think it’s going to be a game and not just because I’m biased to one side. We shall see.
@NW PA
Wow…the win was awesome, but was hoping for a little more fight from Oil City. Well Petro fought, but only to get himself ejected. We were confident going in, but didn’t anticipate a cake walk. I know they had injuries, but even still, full strength, maybe they get two scores.
November 17th, 2019 at 8:25 pm
@D3 Mike – after watching Pittsburgh Central Catholic set offensive football back 50yrs last night (the old Woody Hayes 3 yards and a cloud of dust) I feel pretty confident that CD would beat them, as PCC wouldn’t score enough points, I think it would a 14-3 or 14-7 type of game. If you can shut down PCC’s run game, like PR did last night, they are not going to score many points, their passing game is anemic at best, and unless they got a defensive and/or special teams touchdown I think any of the top 4 teams in D3 would likely beat them, as would Coatesville and some other D1 and D11 schools. WPIAL 6A is down significantly this year, I’ve been saying it since early in the season, D1, D3, D11 and D12 with SJP, Lasalle and Northeast are better than WPIAL 6A this year, the real strength of the WPIAL is 5A, and with PR moving to 5A next year it will be brutal.
@Philly Boy – I have all the respect in the world for Cherpak, you don’t win 8 WPIAL titles, tied for most in WPIAL history with Bob Palko, and 3 state titles without being a great coach, I just wish he wouldn’t whine to the media about ECP, its unseemly and don’t think it helps his team.
@NW PA – I don’t know as much about this ECP team as the last few years, I saw them 1-2 times a year the last 3 years, but haven’t seen them yet this year, so thanks for the scouting report. I’ve said for years TJ’s schedule haunts them in the state playoffs, whereas ECP’s schedule is a real benefit, completely agree both St Ed’s and Benedictine are better than TJ. The problem TJ has to overcome is ECP will be by far the best team they have played all year, while Prep has already played several teams as good or better than TJ. Should be a great game, if TJ is ever going to beat them this could be the year. Will you be making the trip down to North Hills for this game? If so would love to meet and say hi and maybe watch the game together, I don’t mind sitting on the ECP side.
November 17th, 2019 at 7:13 pm
I know what you’re saying….Sometimes I don’t understand how they do it.
November 17th, 2019 at 7:10 pm
Dave, I know it switches every year that is why I’m puzzled. Southern played York Catholic at shamokin last year in this round. They should travel this year and are on the bottom of the bracket in this round.
November 17th, 2019 at 7:09 pm
It was not a coach that shoved the kid in the mca sca game it was a player who was not suited up for the game. He was ejected and escorted off the field. not really sure what that means since he wasnt playing but it was not a coach.
November 17th, 2019 at 7:08 pm
Dave, they hosted at shamokin last year against York Catholic in this round. They are hosting at Selinsgrove again this year. Which means it didn’t switch. They hosted 2 years in a row. They are on the bottom of this bracket. I know it switches each year which is why I’m confused.
November 17th, 2019 at 7:05 pm
My sources tell me Dave Gingrich is resigning as the Cocalico head coach after the completion of their season.
November 17th, 2019 at 6:31 pm
Brian that’s what I thought also. Southern would be at West Perry or susquehanna township. Not a game close. This might be uda first game on turf this year.
November 17th, 2019 at 5:58 pm
Brian, It switches every year.
November 17th, 2019 at 5:13 pm
After all these years I’m still trying to understand brackets and locations. Last year Southern was on the top part of the bracket and host York catholic at shamokin. I figured they would travel this year to district 3 area but they’re playing at Selinsgrove. They’re on the bottom this round. I’m confused. I’m not going to complain. A 20 minute drive is better than an hour plus drive.
November 17th, 2019 at 3:02 pm
What a great weekend of games around the state. A few thoughts going forward: Except Erie McDowell there isn’t any 6A teams in this part of the state but I do try and follow this class. Assuming McCord is able to play obviously St Joe is the favorite, but I like the parody among the rest of the teams. You guys (and girls) in the Harrisburg and Philly area are lucky to have such great football. Central Dauphin, Harrisburg, Wilson, Manheim Township, Coatsville, Downtingtown, and the rest of them are all great programs and I’d like to get over to the east and see them in action more often. In 5A, hats off to Oil City on a nice season. As I had stated earlier they are obviously not a top 10 (or even 20) 5A team. The WPIAL champ will be the favorite, but maybe Wood or Cedar Cliff or Cocalico could give them a good game. In 3A I like Montoursville to win it all. I think Sharon beats Bald Eagle Area but then looses to Central Valley. Its gonna be Central Valley and Montoursville in the finals take it to the bank. In 2A I see Wilmington winning this week against Ridgeway but then comes a tough one against whoever comes out of the WPIAL (I think its gonna be Avonworth). Obviously everyone is playing for silver because Southern Columbia is so much better than the rest. In 1A I think Clairton and Farrell are on a collision course and whoever wins that game will be heavily favored in the finals.
@Jeff H: You know me too well. The time has finally come for showdown we all knew was coming. I obviously am an Erie Cathedral guy, that being said, this should be a good game. Make no mistake about it, TJ will not be blown out and if there was a year for them to knock off Cathedral, this is it. TJ handily beat a very good Central Valley team, a team that could very well win the 3A title. Their schedule wasn’t too challenging, but they start quite a few seniors and they are very big and physical. Cathedral is undersized but very fast and has some very tough kids. In my mind TJ should be the favorite, they’re undefeated. Now for the other side of the coin. Erie Cathedral is battle tested. Their schedule really helps them prepare for the playoffs. They lost (21-14) to a very good St Eds who may win the big school title in Ohio but the weather was incredibly windy. I think under better conditions Eds puts up another couple scores. They also lost to a very good Benedictine team. I don’t think TJ is as good as either team they they lost to. Prep has used 2 different quarterbacks this season and they both are pretty good. Their 2 star recievers (Carson and Odekoven) will both be all state. Both of them are incredibly fast and never drop anything. Prep has the advantage with skill guys but TJ has the advantage on the line. I’ve seen both teams play this season and I still don’t know how the game will pan out.
November 17th, 2019 at 11:29 am
All of three games this Saturday. None of them even remotely close to D1/D12, D3 or D11 territory. Stinks!!!!
So Friday night, Southern Lehigh vs. Wood in my backyard, or travel back to Kottmeyer for the third week in a row for C’Ville vs. DTW?? UGH!!!!
November 17th, 2019 at 11:27 am
Be curious to see what 12-0 Upper Dauphin can bring to the table next week against SC? I know SC is on a diff. planet and have mercy ruled and shutout all in the post season, but just for the sake of argument…Some UD stats that are pretty impressive…
QB 1900+ rushing with 38 rushing td’s
RB 1400+ rushing with 18 rushing TD’s
5000 yds team rushing w/75 td’s, 9.4 carry
Offense, over 500 total yds 7x
Defense 20 TO and 38 sacks.
Keep in mind I have no idea what the Tri-Valley league is like. Still pretty crazy numbers.
November 17th, 2019 at 10:14 am
@ Tornado fan
The person was ejected and that ejection was offset by one of mca’s ejections. Since mca had another person ejected thats why only one was marked off the others offset each other. Much of the second half “antics” could have easily been avoided had the mca coach subed out some of his starters. He left them out there against the sca second and third teamers and they took out their frustrations from the first half not going as they had hoped and proceeded to “beat-up” and not play football against the younger less experienced players which led to more bad blood between the players. I realize many of the mca players were seniors playing in their last game and wanted to give them as much playing time as possible but with the situation being as volitile as it was I think he could have used better judgement and got some of those players out of there. It was terrible to watch the game the way it went down between two schools with such a long history of football pride be tarnished by all the extra curricular activities going on by both teams. Not how you want this game to be remembered.
November 17th, 2019 at 10:02 am
OK, did I see that correctly, that the MCA team priest got ejected from that game last night?? Team priest, seriously?? You really can’t make this stuff up, can you?? Sure this wasn’t West Catholic and N-G??
November 17th, 2019 at 9:46 am
Foleman, yeah I totally get the Berks Catholic schedule. If Exeter’s coaches don’t have brain freeze in week 2, BC goes 5-5. And yes, Wyomissing might win it all in 3A but a final 8 team in 4A should at least be able to put points on the board. I was at that game and they looked completely lost on offense. I don’t think the school had ever been shut out in the regular season in its history before that game, had it? And yeah, obviously McDonogh and CD are completely out of their league but Exeter? Gettysburg?
Just hard to figure out where that offensive explosion came from. Hopefully they have one more game like that in the tank but considering this year’s BC team is probably 3-4 D1 players and 3-4 TDs behind their 2016-2018 versions a district title in a down 4A field is probably the best they can do. I think you’ll agree that whichever team wins D3 is going to get smoked by the TJ/ECP winner this year.
November 17th, 2019 at 9:30 am
Yeah thanks for posting about the Mt Carmel vs SCA game. After I read that I found it on YouTube. I don’t have a dog in the fight but a) wow, was that game terribly officiated, and b) SCA should receive their share of the blame. There was a play in the 2Q along the sideline where the Mt Carmel kid got hit out of bounds and into the team bench, and then right after that a play where the SCA lineman basically DDT’d a kid (sort of accidentally) but wayyyy after the whistle. No penalty. And then all of the long delays due to the injuries and flags only made a bad situation worse, since the kids had nothing better to do than get riled up.
Also I agree – the coach pushing the tackler and not getting penalized was a freaking joke, as the tornado fan mentioned. Really if you watch the play that ended up sending the cops onto the field it was mostly an unlucky confluence of events. It’s 49-0 in the district final against your rival. You’re blocking downfield on what should be a punt return and all of a sudden you see the SCA punter sprinting down the sideline. That Mt Carmel tackler clearly thought it was a fake punt. He didn’t see the run was due to a high snap. I’m not excusing the extra curriculars but I get how it happened.
Best tweet of the night was the guy from the Bloomsburg paper. “Cops are now on the field. Two Mt. Carmel players and the team priest have been ejected.” Freaking epic lol.
The one thing I think is dumb is the auto suspension rule for any ejection. Mt Carmel will get the bad rap here because they were the only side to have players ejected but I thought the refs only did that because Mt Carmel doesn’t have a game next week. If they wanted to control the game people from BOTH sides should have been ejected in the 2nd quarter, but they didn’t want to hamstring the winner (SCA) for next week IMO.
November 17th, 2019 at 9:21 am
@ Jay
Not yet. I’ll find it tho. I have two weeks to check it out before they play in the D1/D3 game. It will be on my mid week evening to do list, after I first check out the C’Ville/Garnet game 🙂
Don’t know what transpired upstate in the SCA/MC game, but I remember an ugly incident between an entitled Clairton team and a winning Bishop Guilfoyle team in a state championship game a few years ago. None of this tho comes close to the crap (trying to pick my words wisely here, really none come to mind to describe it) that went down in that game in the AC area Friday night.
November 17th, 2019 at 8:37 am
Hey Jay, I think CD is a real good team, I just didn’t get the thought that either D1 team is in trouble and has no answers. I think every team is beatable at this point (even SJP). No doubt CD could beat either DTW or C’ville, but IMO I would give a bit of an edge to D1.
By the way, what happened to the “They (SJP) will mercy rule everyone” mantra? I think some were even saying they would mercy rule everyone in the 1st half. 🙂 Hey Buddy, you might get to watch the championship game after all 🙂
November 17th, 2019 at 8:36 am
@ Phillyboy SJP weren’t resting McCord. He’s injured.
November 17th, 2019 at 7:46 am
@Jay….I believe that was single A Clairton vs Bishop G game in 2014 or 15.
November 17th, 2019 at 6:25 am
@ Jeff H — Have respect for TJ’s coach and what he has accomplished notwithstanding any “cherping” about all-star teams. Remember they crushed Wood in the state final back around ’08. That was when you could live stream the state finals for free on PCN. They must have hired a Wharton grad soon after because things changed abruptly; better have your credit card number ready going forward. Anyway, earlier in the year I was hoping McDowell might take out Erie Prep even though I didn’t believe it, for real for real. Dog gone it, if I were retired I might drive out there to see this one. If I knew TJ would win, heck, I might drive out now. But that’s a long, dark, cold and expensive trip especially if your team loses. Somebody was opining that this is one of TJ’s better teams in recent years. TJ needs to bring their total ‘A’ game like PR did against SJP a couple years back. They need to pack the house like it’s a Texas state final, you feel me?
Also, was curious, how much is a ticket at the Steelers stadium for a WPIAL final? Do you get to see all games for one price? And do they charge for parking? Always respected how they play at the Steelers stadium for that, In my personal opinion, that’s telling, in some small way says something about the quality of the local culture.
In regards to McCord not playing against Northeast, they might have been resting him deliberately since they were only playing the Philadelphia Public League champ. It’s a matter of conservation.
November 17th, 2019 at 1:02 am
@ ucitaire
I found it amazing that a Southern COACH (or other adult on the sideline) was able to run up and shove a MCA player after a tackle near their sideline and not get penalized. But it was all Mt. Carmel right? FYI it’s on YouTube, 0:23 left in the 3rd q.
November 17th, 2019 at 12:05 am
@KevinX
Did you find the CD-Hburg game yet and check it out? Like Chief said it’s on YouTube. I’m curious what another D1 guy thinks of them based on watching that game, looking at their schedule, and yes also factoring in their bye week. Chief wasn’t too impressed it doesn’t look like.
I haven’t even looked at todays results yet aside from the comments below but that’s sad to hear about the Mount Carmel – SoCo game getting out of hand. It reminds me of a few years back when things got really really out of control like that at the end of a state final in Hershey. I feel like it was Imhotep vs ECP but I apologize in advance if I’m wrong about that. I just remember being there like “oh no, what a terrible way to finish the day”
November 16th, 2019 at 10:50 pm
Sac beat mt Carmel 49-0 tonite. Mt Carmel dishonered itself with the most thuggish display of cheap shots and unsportsman like conduct. Police needed to restore order.
November 16th, 2019 at 9:54 pm
Ortega’s injury was to his hamstring area
Coatesville stats guys seemed to indicate it was cramping. He was getting it stretched on the sideline shortly after the 1st long TD run. Did some more stretching after the half.
Definitely had a impact in the 2nd/3rd Quarters but if it was just cramping he will be as healthy as he has been all season heading into next week.
We will see if DTW gives the Cville Wrs 10yd cushion all night. Oretga picked them apart on short passes in the 1st meeting. Bryant and Stewart (#9) both had 100+ yards. Expect another classic at Kott Friday night. Gonna come down to which defense can make the most plays.
November 16th, 2019 at 9:40 pm
Mmmm, seems like The Prep has issues with public schools……… 🙂
Anyone have an update on McCord and why he was on the sidelines in street clothes this evening??
November 16th, 2019 at 8:39 pm
SJP better hope they get their QB back, cause they are definitely not invincible (as some think) without him. Yeah, they beat NE, but if you listened to the game you’ll know what I mean.
November 16th, 2019 at 8:37 pm
As expected TJ cruised to a 41-7 win over Belle Vernon after taking a 35-0 lead at half to set up a quarterfinal game next week against Erie Prep for the 4th time in the last 5 yrs. I hope for the sake of his team TJ coach Bill Cherpak doesn’t come out in the media this week and complain about having to playing the “Erie All-Stars” like he has in years past, I think he does his team a disservice by whining about the advantages ECP has. I expect this game to be very competitive and likely TJ’s best chance to win since 2015 when they lost by a TD up in Erie, it has to been in Pittsburgh this year since it’s been in Erie the last 2 and I’m hoping to be there. I’m sure NW PA will chime in with his thoughts and I’ll have more to say about this game later in the week.
November 16th, 2019 at 6:53 pm
@ Chief Red Raider & Buddy – WPIAL 1A and 3A winners have byes next week, like they have the last 3 years, the coaches who have commented on record have said they welcome the bye this time of year, gives the kids a chance to recharge and heal and game plan for the next opponent. I have a hunch CD doesn’t mind the bye next week after 2 physical, emotional games against MT and Harrisburg. The byes are another one of the drawbacks of 6 classes, I don’t recall any teams getting byes this late in the playoffs when we had 4 classes.
November 16th, 2019 at 6:44 pm
Central Valley survived a valiant and emotional effort from Aliquippa to win 13-12 in OT. Aliquippa QB Morris Vaughn’s mom died last night, and the Quips played their hearts out, in a moving tribute of respect and sportsmanship the CV captains went over to the Quips sideline before the game to offer their support and condolences. Aliquippa had the perfect game plan, run the ball effectively and move the chains and keep CV’s offense off the field, the Quips lead 6-0 at half and held the ball for almost 17 minutes, CV only ran 13 plays all half. Both teams moved the ball in the 2nd half and would get a few first downs before being forced to punt, CV finally scored in the 4th quarter to tie it but missed the point, In OT CV had the ball and scored and made the kick, the Quips then scored on an 11 yard run on 2nd down and went for the 2 point conversion and were stopped at the 2 yard line. CV has a bye next week and will probably end up playing Sharon in 2 weeks in the western final.
In the first game Clairton had an impressive 41-19 win over a very good Sto-Rox team. Clairton is a complete team, very good defense, lots of playmakers on offense and a dual threat QB who has rushed for over 1,000 yards and throws a very nice ball to a stable of good, quick receivers. I think they are the favorite in 1A, they get a bye next week and will almost certainly play Farrell in the western final in 2 weeks, IMO the winner of that game will be the favorite in Hershey.
November 16th, 2019 at 6:40 pm
Tamaqua/PJP was surprised how strong Tamaqua was up front, running back Boyle is as tough as they come in HS, their QB is very accurate, I thought Wyo would role over the PJP/Tamaqua winner, now I see the game as a pick em. The collisions that will occur between Wyo’s LB Niedrowski and Boyle will be worth the price of admission.
Middletown had a TD called back on a chop block in the 2nd half which completely changed the momentum of the game, Wyo scored a short time after to go up 2 scores, Eric, I though Middletown got hosed on the 4th and one stop, I was right there and it looked like Wyo was short of the marker.
BC’S Coach Keeley said that Milton Hershey was probably the 5th or 6th best team BC played, I also was surprised by BC putting up 49 points but look at who they played:
McDonough-11-0 playing for the MD State Championship, ranked #4 in MD, #39 nationally
Central Dauphin-District 3 6A champ and my pick to go to the 6A final
Malvern Prep-Had a down year but plays in the most competitive league in the State
Wyomissing-District 3 3A Champ, they have their best team since the State Championship team several years ago
Exeter-made it to the 5A District 3 Semi’s
Hamburg-eastern Conference Champion, BC had 7 starters out that game
November 16th, 2019 at 5:56 pm
Great game today. Wyo takes down Middletown 24-21. Keys to the game, turnovers Middletown 3, Wyomissing 0. Plus, Lopez for Middletown shut down in first half, although their OL was starting to control Wyo DL in second half. Two good teams played a great game.
November 16th, 2019 at 5:51 pm
@Kevin X: Ricky was gimping around like he aggravated his previous ankle or foot injury. He played pretty well the 2nd half, but needs to be healthy to have a shot at moving on. Bryant carried the ball a few times, but I thought they underutilized his talent. I don’t think there were any direct snaps or handoffs from backfield — a couple jet sweeps. Didn’t send many passes his way either — weird.
November 16th, 2019 at 1:01 pm
@ Chief
Ricky’s injury last night a re-aggravation of an existing issue, heard toe, ankle, foot, all in the past several weeks, or something new?? Was Bryant in the backfield last night??
@ Buddy
Somewhat off topic, (OK, global football), maybe lift your spirits, congrats to the NP boys soccer team on a state championship, as well as the LC and Boyertown girls.
@ D3 Commish
Huh??
November 16th, 2019 at 11:23 am
Hey Jay, Yeah you were right — just watched it — H-burg got ripped on the fumble/no fumble call. Didn’t H-burg have issues with the refs in the earlier matchup too? Now I’m really not seeing CD as the favorite against D1.
November 16th, 2019 at 11:02 am
Jay, someone closer to the CD program would have insight into the underclassmen but at least as far as the seniors go, their line has Air Force, Temple, and East Stroudsburg commits. Would love to see them go up against PCC’s beef in Hershey but that’s obviously a long-shot.
November 16th, 2019 at 10:56 am
The general consensus is most coaches and players don’t like bye weeks. Breaks the momentum.
Yep, the 2 best teams are in the D1, 6A final, I agree. They can only look forward to winning the semi-final,
the final is a forgone conclusion. That’s a shame. I won’t even watch the final, too painful.
November 16th, 2019 at 10:52 am
@Kevin X: The CD/H-burg is on Youtube — was just watching some of it (Sorry Jay, not seeing CD as the favorite against either DTW or C’ville). Yeah, Howard is good, but I’m pretty sure Ortega outplayed him the first meeting (and is still setting PA HS career records). He looked a bit injured last night — we’ll see if that impacts next week. Also, don’t forget Bryant. Not sure his abilities are always used to max in any given game, but my guess is that he will see the ball a bit more on Friday.
November 16th, 2019 at 10:45 am
If the demographic of the athletic teams do not match the demographic of the student population then there is a larger problem within the entire school district.
November 16th, 2019 at 10:11 am
@ Jay
The 6A D1/D3 game almost definitely be in D1 territory. I would assume (and this is a big assumption, we are dealing with the PIAA after al) is that the game would be at Kottmeyer or Coatesville, depending on the outcome of Friday’s tilt (the again, I’d be more than happy at the likes of Pennridge :)).
The video of H-Burg and CD, on the NFHS, or somewhere public and free?? YouTube??
Will Howard showed why he is one of, if not best, senior QBs in the state this year, and off to Kansas State. Basically Howard v. Blair (22 rushes for 249 yds, 3 TD passes, thought I saw). And more than worth the price of admission (seriously, where can you get an event and entertainment like that for all of $5?? (and free parking!!!)). Credit Haverford and Blair fighting to the bitter end, especially when they were down 42-14 late in the third quarter. Two very costly first half fumbles did them in, IMO. Otherwise it was like a tennis match and Haverford couldn’t break DTW’s serve. Once again, can’t wait for next Friday and the third weekend in a row visiting Kottmeyer!!!
November 16th, 2019 at 9:04 am
Michael Whitehead out after seven seasons as Cumberland Valley football coach, report says
https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2019/11/michael-whitehead-out-after-seven-seasons-as-cumberland-valley-football-coach-report-says.html
November 16th, 2019 at 8:17 am
Well at least Cedar Cliff won, otherwise I posted an 0-fer last night.
Central Dauphin is legit. Their sophomore QB went 13-for-15 behind a line that dominated all night (on both sides of the ball) – as they have since the Wilson game. Congrats to a classic lunch pail type of team to go from 1-2 to a district title in 6A.
Cannot believe Berks Catholic posted 49 points. Exeter 14. McDonogh 7. Central Dauphin 7. Hamburg 9. Malvern 7. Wyomissing 0. Milton Hershey 49. Makes total sense lol. If anything, that performance bodes well for Wyomissing this afternoon. Wyomissing completely shut down BC, who demolished Milton Hershey, who in turn handled Middletown.
2A title game last week, 6A last night, 3A today, 4A and 5A next week … all a bunch of coin flips in district 3, IMO. Don’t think we have any state winners but an amazing year of competitive playoff football in district 3.
November 16th, 2019 at 7:41 am
So I’ve had all night to reflect on last nights results, and since I work overnights on the weekends, I was able to rewatch the Coatesville game, find all available clips of the West game (very limited) and then watch the Central Dauphin/Harrisburg game.
West and Coatesville are the class of District One. There’s no disputing it, and I could not be more excited for next weeks game nor anymore in awe of their considerable talents. But how in the world are either of them going to beat CD?! Let me just say. Harrisburg’s line on either side of the ball was comprised of large, fast, scary men. And CD’s lines seemed bigger, like 30 year old heavyweight UFC fighters or something. Idk, maybe it was the camera angles. Their running back Timmy something is fast as lightning and finds the gaps, their QB Max Mosie (sp?) is quick and decisive and very accurate with his short and long passes, and he has multiple weapons. Whilst being protected by those UFC fighters.
I will say that Harrisburg got hosed on a CD fumble non-call that set up their game winning score, but it was a tough call and the refs don’t have the technology to correct themselves unfortunately. And maybe it wouldn’t have changed the outcome. But Harrisburg had momentum, and it just might have.
Either way, CD looks scary. I’m sure our resident District 3 experts will chime in.
My biggest question is, since the Eastern final was played in D3 territory last year, will it be played in D1 territory in two weeks? Do they alternate each year? If a well rested CD team gets basically a home game… then they’ll definitely be the ones eaten alive by SJP the following Saturday 🙁
November 15th, 2019 at 11:53 pm
@Jeff H: Not sure what to think of CD having an extra week off — I never coached — wonder if some coaches have an opinion? My guess is it could throw them out of routine or cut down on the intensity. It looks like Ortega re-injured his ankle and could use a couple weeks too, but first they have to deal with DTW. No matter what, it is a dumb playoff format in some ways.
Another note on the C’ville/GV game. In some ways It was a lot closer than the final score (a couple pick sixes at the end), but I think CV had 3 fumbles that were converted into TD’s by GV. Also, was pretty impressed with CV’s defense — really stopped the running attack in the 2nd half. Moreover, CV should have scored 2 or 3 more times but got stalled (I thought some of the play calling was interesting — GET THE BALL TO BRYANT! REPEAT, GET THE BALL TO BRYANT! — he might be the most exciting player in PA).
November 15th, 2019 at 10:37 pm
@Chief Red Raider – agree with you Coatesville and Dwest are 2 best teams in D1 and fitting they will meet in the finals, I’ve thought that for a while now, winner of that game is going to have their hands full with a hot CD team that gets next week off. Now let the bitching and moaning begin about how unfair it is for the D3 winner to have a bye next week!! And I don’t disagree, but it is what it is, we’ll see what the PIAA does with the brackets for the next 2 yr cycle.
November 15th, 2019 at 10:29 pm
Since Penn Trafford star running back Caleb Lisbon was lost for the season in September due to a knee injury the question has been whether PT had enough offense to win a WPIAL and also perhaps a state title, tonight we found out the answer to that question is no, as they lost to Peters Township 28-10. PT dominated the first half but only led 3-0 at halftime after having the ball in the red zone 4 times, twice getting stopped on downs and then missing a 35 yard field goal as time expired. Peters went into halftime feeling really fortunate to only be down 3-0, they promptly came out and took the 2nd half kick and went on a 61 yard drive to take a 7-3 lead. On the ensuing possession PT got a couple of first downs but then after a 10 yard completion the receiver was stripped of the ball which was returned 43 yards for a TD to make it 14-3. After an interception on the next play from scrimmage Peters again went on a scoring drive to make it 21-3. PT came back to make it 21-10, but then with a little under 5 minutes to go another int was returned 50 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-10 for the final score of the night.
Peters plays for their first district championship next week against Gateway, a 14-7 winner over McKeesport. I picked Gateway before the playoffs started but I really like Peters chances, they have a much better defense than Gateway, are better on both lines and more physical. I’ve been touting Peters on this board all season, even after they lost to Moon, if I’m making PennLives state rankings I have Peters as #1, but you can bet they will have Gateway #1 and Wood probably #2, but don’t be surprised if you see Peters Township in Hershey in 3 weeks.
November 15th, 2019 at 10:17 pm
Coatesville 48-27 over GV. I think they were trying to set the record for the most unsportsmanlike penalties in a key playoff game. Ortega is limping around again, but set record as only QB to pass for 2000 yards every year. Maybe Pennlive (and some other ranking sites 🙂 ) will take note. Not sure what to think of another DTW/C’ville game — but I do think they are the 2 best teams in D1.
November 15th, 2019 at 4:44 pm
I meant to say the last time they met at Garnet Calley, of course. Haven’t forgotten last years destruction in Coatesville. 42-7 or something like that.
So there’s a big revenge factor at play too…
November 15th, 2019 at 4:42 pm
It’s almost game time! The fiancée and I are about to head from my house (Coatesville) to her alma mater (Garnet Valley) to see what I expect to be an instant classic dogfight. Garnet Valley is better than they were last year, Coatesville has come down a notch, and the Jaguars in recent history have a great home field advantage. The last time the two teams met it took an Aaron Young pick-six with about a minute to play for Coatesville to steal that game – one that Garnet Valley was moments away from winning, sans turnover.
There’s no sense in predicting a winner, because I’ve sucked at it in these playoffs. I’ll be pulling for Coatesville and Downingtown and hoping that at least one of them win, since otherwise my teams are done for the year. (I don’t stop watching until after Hershey and then two weeks later when the Texas 6A-II is over with, but we all have our squads and know it isn’t the same once their seasons are over, and that’s a fear I’m feeling presently).
Good luck to everyone and stay warm!
November 15th, 2019 at 1:54 pm
A D11 look:
6A: Nazareth vs. Parkland. Parkland is on a roll and is healthier, but Nazareth has the best player in Anthony Harris. Ultimately it’s hard to ignore Parkland’s playoff history, Parkland wins by a score.
5A: Southern Lehigh vs. Oil City (D10). It’s been discussed that Oil City maybe has had a weak schedule. Solehi’s schedule isn’t one to write home about either, but they’ve been more dominant in their wins. Spartans win by 10.
4A: Pottsville vs. Allentown Central Catholic. An anticipated semifinal round lived up to its billing. This will be another toss-up. Central is on a nice run and it’s hard to beat Beca and ACC in consecutive weeks, so I pick them to win by 3 points.
3A: Tamaqua vs. Pope John Paul II (D12). PJP is favored, but I have a feeling they may start slow after an emotional win over N-G. Maybe wishful thinking, but I pick Tamaqua to hold off a late comeback by PJP.
1A: Williams Valley vs. Lackawanna Trail (D2). Williams Valley has had some success over D2 in the 1A playoffs, and Lackawanna Trail is not as good as they were last year. Williams Valley by 10. The winner likely has the inside track to be the “East” representative in the semifinals.
November 15th, 2019 at 11:04 am
For those that have an interest here’s my WPIAL outlook for the weekend:
6A – #1 PCC vs. #2 Pine Richland – these schools have combined to win the last 6 WPIAL titles, with each winning 3, PCC of course won the regular season game 29-7 in week 6 with a dominating performance from their DLine that had PR quarterback Cole Spencer under siege all night. Expect this game to be much closer, PR has a big advantage in coaching, I have a feeling Coach K. comes up with a game plan to get his play-makers the ball in space and PR finds a way to win their third straight district title, winner likely plays State College next week, I like everyone else think they beat Del Valley by probably 3 scores.
5A – #1 Penn Trafford vs. #5 Peters Township – I have been looking forward to this game since the brackets were announced and will be there, bonus that it’s being played about 5 minutes from my house! They played a classic last year in the playoffs, score was tied 21-21 after the first quarter, and 28-28 at half before things settled down and Peters won 38-35 on a FG as time expired. I expect this game to be just as close, although I would be very surprised if they score that many points again as both teams are very good defensively, I’m leaning towards Penn Trafford but this game could go either way, IMO winner is the favorite to win the WPIAL title next week and advance to Hershey.
#2 Gateway vs. #6 McKeesport – Gateway won the first match-up 36-7 in the final game of the regular season, since then they’ve struggled, needing a TD in the last minute to get by a game Bethel Park team last week 17-13, while McKeesport knocked off defending champ Penn Hills. If McKeesport doesn’t turn the ball over like they did the first game (2 turnovers in first 2 possessions and in the blink of an eye it was 14-0) this should be a very close game, I’m still picking Gateway to get back to the final.
4A – #1 TJ vs. #3 Belle Vernon – conference rivals played 2nd game of season won by TJ 34-7, although score was tied 7-7 at half. This is Belle Vernon’s first trip to the finals in 20yrs, while TJ is making their 5th straight appearance, this game may be a little closer than the first one but still see TJ winning by 3 scores, winner plays Erie Prep next week, who should roll over Bellefonte
3A #1 Central Valley vs. #2 Aliquippa – rematch from 3 weeks ago won by CV 45-6, expect it to be closer but still see CV winning by 3 scores
2A #1 Washington vs. #5 Brentwood – Wash High has been #1 all year, they have a huge weight advantage (75 lbs+) on both lines and expect them to wear Brentwood down
#2 Avonworth vs. #14 Riverside – can Cinderella Riverside keep it going after upsetting #3 Burgettstown and #6 McGuffey last week, I think Avonworth has too many athletes and will win
1A # Clairton vs. #3 Sto-Rox – first game at Heinz tomorrow, the question is will Sto-Rox score, as Clairton has outscored their first 2 playoff opponents 80-0, I like Clairton to win and meet defending state champ Farrell in 2 weeks in the Western Final.
November 15th, 2019 at 9:14 am
Oops, BC is on the road tonight. Same result. Milton Hershey is underrated and should give Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg) a good game in the final if both make it thru tonight in 4A.
November 15th, 2019 at 7:35 am
Just curious — how comparable is Garnet Valley’s run game to CBW? I heard C’ville struggled early on trying to figure out CBW. CV has played GV the last 2 years so they should have some grip on what to expect, but CV does not have a big line (IMO). Should be an interesting game tonight.
November 14th, 2019 at 6:02 pm
I am hoping McD gives Dunmore a good game .Kevin,you probably know that McD gets cherry picked of some of their best underclass players for the last few years by bigger name schools ie Neuman Gorretti and this past year Jon Luke Peaker 1000 yd rusher at Northeast. It doesn’t appear if this continues McD will ever be capable of a real state threat in AA. Southern Columbia will murder any challengers this year anyway. Lonnie Rice is a very good player on both sides of the ball.
November 14th, 2019 at 4:30 pm
Kevin, it’s a mix of playing bad programs and playing smaller schools. It’s a shame with all of the quality 4A teams in D2 this year that these were the 4As they played:
West Scranton (4A) 1-9
Wallenpaupack (5A) 3-7
Wilkes Barre (6A) 7-5
North Pocono (4A) 5-6
Hazelton (6A) 2-8
Abington (4A) 3-8
Williamsport (6A) 3-8
Wyoming Valley West (5A) 3-8
Scranton (6A) 6-5
Delaware Valley actually does have a decent program, though. Not sure how many state playoff games they’ve won all-time (if any) but they lost by a TD to State College in 2017 and a TD to Parkland in 2012 so hopefully it will be competitive again this weekend. But just comparing that schedule to the brutal one that State College played this year in the Mid Penn and yeah, you’re probably right.
Some D3 picks for this weekend:
6A: Harrisburg over Central Dauphin – Lost amidst Clockgate was the fact that Harrisburg turned the ball over 6 times in the first game. I can’t see that happening again.
5A: Warwick over Cocalico – Better of the 2 matchups in 5A and Cocalico IS the #1 seed… but Warwick remains the best team in the eastern half of the state bracket and wins a shootout.
4A: Milton Hershey over Berks Catholic – BC has made 6 straight district title appearances but the run ends on their home field tomorrow. Just don’t have enough weapons this year.
3A: Middletown over Wyomissing – Wyomissing is more polished, especially on offense. But they’ve also been outscored 138-26 by Middletown the past 3 years vs. Middletown AND the champ is the champ until someone takes the belt away. Also, I picked Middletown in August so I can’t flip-flop now.
November 14th, 2019 at 4:04 pm
LL League
The LL League is catering to the small schools and will have 4 sections with 6 teams each starting next year. That means Warwick is going to section 2 with MC and Cocalico who will both regress next year. Warwick will win that section easily.
Section 1 will be Wilson and Township and not much else. Hempfield is improving but not enough to challenge. The LL should be careful with this new arrangement as they are putting the big schools in a scheduling challenge. With the new set-up there are 5 league games and one mandated crossover game with Section 2. The 6A teams are struggling to find week 4 games as most other teams are in their league schedule by then. If Wilson goes somewhere else the LL Section 1 becomes the York League.
How is this for a juicy league – D West, D East, Coatesville, Spring-Ford, Perk Valley, Wilson, Mifflin & MT
November 14th, 2019 at 11:57 am
@Kevin X: Outside of Del Val, 6A/5A in D2 was really weak this year. Wilkes-Barre Area, the new team that was formed, was probably the second-best 6A/5A team in the district and they lost by over three scores to both Dallas and Berwick. If Del Val had played one of Dallas, Berwick, or Valley View, I’m not sure they win. State College should have no problem winning big.
It is good to see DV scheduling D1 teams in their non-conference, wish certain conferences and teams would follow their lead. *cough* EPC *cough*
November 14th, 2019 at 7:01 am
@Mike
Chesmont Catholic practices and plays home games at PJP. It’s a combination of a handful of local Parrish’s with the majority of kids on the team currently enrolled in local Catholic schools, ( mostly SF school district) with a few kids who attend Springford, Owen J and Perk Valley middle schools. These are the same kids who turn around and play basketball etc for the CYO programs in their area as well. Of the 16 or so 8th graders currently on the CMC team I’d be shocked if at least 12 don’t move on to PJP next year. I can’t speak to kids that transfer in to the HS as they get older, but there is a nice “feeder” program PJP.
November 13th, 2019 at 8:35 pm
@ mark d & NO
Can one of you guys, or anyone, explain to me how Del Val gets shut out in week 0/1 to a two win Pennridge team and then runs the table, probably averaging 50 or so points a game?? Was half the team still on summer break?? Yeah, I believe SC is going to have a field day with them Friday night.
Don’t let that 6-6 McDevitt record fool you. They played two very good non league opponents and a decent PCL blue league schedule. QB/Athlete and U of Buffalo bound (where did I see that before??) Lonnie Rice can carry that team on his back (Mmmm, that sounds familiar too).
November 13th, 2019 at 6:16 pm
What CYO are near PJP because idk any of them?
November 13th, 2019 at 3:29 pm
@ Kevin x Valley View has a chance i think it be a closer game than last time but, Dallas is to strong up front and will ware them down and pull it out in the 4 quarter 35-21 .No i don’t see Prep staying with Wyoming area i think it be more of less the same as the first game 35-14 .As for the rest of D2 Dunmore should put up a fight think it be a good game Lacakwanna trail see moving on Delaware Valley to beat up to play with State Collage
November 13th, 2019 at 2:35 pm
Commish,
It should have been 21 zip at half MT with the number of plays they had with the ball. Ivey has been a RB his whole career and he could easily have gotten behind Floyd- 44 and run the ball. Screens to him were open too but the game plan seemed to be 44,44, and more 44 with a pass a quarter to Ivey. A shame, this team would be fun versus H-Burg! As for the future, qb prospects are decent but all eyes will be on Ivey so next season isn’t going to be so easy. Line play is a concern too but while MT will still do well in section play I don’t see long trips to the post season coming. LOL, maybe SJP will recruit Ivey, I haven’t heard about transfers at all.
November 13th, 2019 at 1:51 pm
@ mark d
I literally laughed out loud at your “3 yards and a cloud of ground up tire” comment.
@ Kevin X
RE Dallas/VV: I didn’t go to Dallas/Crestwood, but I heard that the closer than expected score was really more Dallas pacing themselves more than anything else. My prediction is that Dallas easily handles Valley View.
RE Scranton Prep/Wyoming Area: I agree that Scranton Prep is a totally different (better) team than the first time these two teams played, but I think WA is still too much. I did attend the Prep/WW game last week. It would have been a much uglier blowout by Prep, but they kept shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers. I think I saw 2 lost fumbles on 2 different drives (and by 2 different runners no less) within the WW 10 yd line. I think I remember that WA had a ton of takeaways in the first matchup with Prep, and I think turnovers will decide this rematch.
November 13th, 2019 at 8:52 am
LL League 21
I was at the CD – MT game also and agree with you on the utilization of Ivey. They need to figure out ways to get him the ball other then Kirk throwing it 50 yards down field. Screens, jet sweeps etc…. Next year he will see more double coverage and see a lot of pooch kicks on Special Teams.
The defensive side for MT ended up the same as the playoff game last year, meaning CD was just more physical and wore MT down. CD actually has more guys playing both ways so I struggle understanding how that happens.
I saw quite a few Freshmen games this year for LL and Berks teams, including MT against Hempfield and Wilson. MT lost a close game to Hempfield and was completely dominated by Wilson.
With Kirk graduating, I am not sure that MT has a QB coming thru the system that will be able to get the ball down field to Ivey. Vega, the JV QB is more of a runner. Does anyone know more about their younger players? Do they have a QB coming up? Is there a transfer coming?
Harrisburg over CD
Warwick over Cocalico
Cedar Cliff over Exeter
Wyomissing over Middletown
November 13th, 2019 at 5:34 am
Mike
No!!!! Let’s go Coatesville! Ville vs West rematch then revenge on Harrisburg and then a huge win over SJP to cap the dream season. Kennett goes on to win 5A too. Oh and Bishop Shanahan over ECP in 4A. A chesmont sweep. LOL one can dream right?
November 12th, 2019 at 8:51 pm
@ mark d
Kudos for you and anyone else who ventured out to a game this past Friday. I waited 24 hrs. to catch a game. Good decision on my part. Streaming a game, following tweets, and score board watching was my Friday night.
So, does Valley View have a chance Friday against Dallas to repeat as D2 4A Champs??. Surprised the Dallas/Crestwood score was a little closer than I thought it would be. Then again, maybe it’s the case of the score not telling the whole story.
Also, can Scranton Prep turn the tables against Wyoming Area in their rematch?? Thinking Prep is a young team who have been maturing and getting better with each week. Probably a different team from the team that played them back on Labor Day weekend.
November 12th, 2019 at 7:39 pm
Coach D,, you might want to get your facts straight. First of all just because its a catholic school does not mean they have to be in the PCL. Many surburban catholic schools were long time members of the PIAA. Archbishop Kennedy,St Pius X , Lansdale Catholic prior to its move to PCL to name a few. These schools did very well over the years drawing their enrollments mainly from the areas that surrounded their schools. i get a kick out of how people didnt seem to have a problem with PJP when they were dropping 50 plus points on them a few years back. Those players that transferred actually went to grade schoools within the general PJP drawing area,but for whatever reason and with open enrollment decided to go elsewhere for high school. They had a change of heart and decided to come over to PJP which is their right. PJP is nothing like the District 12 schools as far as recruiting goes. Just the same
old tired public school argument that doesnt apply here. Most of the schools that have a problem with PJP had 2 or 3 times PJP’s enrollment
November 12th, 2019 at 7:07 pm
Coach D, I guess you missed the part where 3 of the kids that transferred in were from a PJP feeder school and 4/5 transferred in from CATHOLIC SCHOOLS. The lone Public School transfer- TE Walker transferred in from a school that passes the football on average a whopping 4 times a game and won 2 games this year over 0-11 teams. Let’s see, should Walker have stayed at Boone-A perennial dormat or play in one of the most dynamic offenses in the area? The area Public Schools are full of CYO athletes yet you complain about Catholic school kids transferring in? Do you know where PJP and Shanahan are geographically located? I’m sure PJP would love to travel into the City down 422 and the Schuykill Expwy every day during rush hour to play schools in the PCL. PJP won had 4 1 win seasons and didn’t win a game another year and the one year they do well the PUB CRY BABIES come out of the Woodwork.
November 12th, 2019 at 6:38 pm
@ Jay according to the D1 bracket the championship game will be Friday, and as far as that “nagging feeling” you have …. I hope it’s right!
November 12th, 2019 at 12:03 pm
I can see Garnet Valley has a live webcast for the Coatesville game. Does anyone know if the DTW/Haverford game will be streamed? Thanks.
November 12th, 2019 at 11:52 am
@IRISH1 do you mean the old fashion way of transferring in handful of players? PJP is a Philadelphia Catholic School who along with Bishop Shanahan should be playing in PCL. Yes most of their players have went thru the program since the 9th grade but they had to transfer in players to finally win a district championship…Egan did the same thing last 2 years and prior to that Del Val Charter before closing. Neuman goretti transferred in ton last year with Del Val charter closing and few Imhotep and Roman Catholic kids coming over. District 12 treats offseason like NFL free agency. Hopefully this New transfer rule and competitive formula taking affect will stop most of these teams from transferring in after freshmen year.
https://papreplive.com/2019/11/10/mercury-football-review-transfer-group-pushes-pope-john-paul-ii-over-the-top/
November 12th, 2019 at 11:48 am
Township talk, you have a point but your facts are mostly wrong. MT only has 1 div 1 player Ivey. The rest are FCs or d2. CD has played twic a year and knows what will work and the adjustments made at half were stellar. You are right if you are saying mt doesn’t play its best in the post season. I too blame Evans for that as Ivey scored or set up four scores in like 6 touches. That is rediculous. Then again Benjamin and others didn’t get the ball either. Defense didn’t get to adjust because CD qb had time to throw. Mt got too conservative in the fourth and didn’t force throws at all. Sad to say MT while a great group of kids weren’t given the best plan to use.
November 12th, 2019 at 9:50 am
Sorry for blowing up the forum with consecutive posts, but I want to throw a little love toward 4A and 5A Ches-Mont as well.
Congrats to Bishop Shanahan on their run so far, playing the Downingtowns in the regular season definitely prepared them for a playoff push. Hope they can win a couple more.
And also congrats to Kennett, WC Rustin, and WC East on very good seasons. Rustin and Kennett are still going strong, and I’ve really been on the Kennett Bandwagon. I mean I haven’t gone to a game, but I’ve been rooting from afar. A win over Cheltenham will be huge, and how about a Rustin rematch in the 5A D1 final?!
I’m not a cable TV guy, so I don’t have the PCN network, so in order to watch the State championships, I’ve got my NFHS subscription up and running for the next couple months. Did the same thing last year and after PA ball ended, I watched a lot of state playoffs in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, and other random states. Except the Texas state finals aren’t on there – Fox sports has a lockdown on that.
Rant over.
November 12th, 2019 at 9:31 am
Does anyone know if the 6A District One Final will be next Friday or Saturday? I assume Friday, it was on a Friday last year right?
It was the 6A eastern final that was played on Saturday IIRC, since the 6A state title game is the final Saturday game in Hershey.
I’m just trying to figure out my viewing schedule because unfortunately during the weekends I work overnight 11-7 shifts, which makes day games tough to attend if I have any intention of sleeping. Guess I’ll have to figure that out because I have NO intention on missing this years East Final, because regardless of the matchup, it’s going to be a great one. I’m hoping for Coatesville vs Harrisburg again but I have this nagging feeling that won’t go away that it’s going to be Garnet Valley out of D1.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:23 pm
Here we go again with a difficult decision between games to choose from. As much as I’m dying to see West vs Haverford, C’Ville vs Garnet Valley round three is probably the game I’m most excited to see since the 2017 East Final against SJP. (Ahhh, so close).
Though this game has revenge written all over it, and tbh it does worry me a bit, Coatesville is finding ways to win right now and they seem difficult to figure out… like they are holding on tight to what they’ve built the last few years and saying to their opponents “come and get it, but you’re gonna have to really work for it, and for four quarters”.
Is Garnet Valley the team that can answer that call? They were SO close two years ago and thoroughly outclassed last season. Is the third time the charm?
November 11th, 2019 at 1:08 pm
Hey Kevin X, Haverford vs. C’ville would be great, but I think both teams are going to have a tough game this week. As a Coatesville guy I’m more concerned about GV than Haverford — I don’t think one standout player is going to beat Coatesville — but C’ville is still hard to figure even this late in the season so who knows if it gets to that point. I’m glad C’ville is looking more to run the ball with Bryant — leave the game in the hands of your playmakers!
November 11th, 2019 at 12:57 pm
@ Kevin X – Yeah, Uggla got hurt against Coatesville but finished the game (broken clavicle). It didn’t hurt against an outgunned PV team but certainly didn’t help against the Fords. As you mentioned, DTW much more diverse on offense so should provide for an entertaining game.
November 11th, 2019 at 11:57 am
Everything from your name to throwing shots right after a team lost screams “sportsmanship”. Why don’t you put your big girl panties on and approach this like an adult?
MT lost in double overtime to a great program that also has plenty of D1 talent on it. They won 11 games and a league title which is a successful season. And they can’t control what the papers say.
As it stands, most of the teams you named have a 10% winning percentage once they get outside of the district and are state powers only in their parochial (there’s that word again) fans’ minds. Which team is yours?
November 11th, 2019 at 9:43 am
Where have all the Manheim Township people gone? I have looked online in the Manheim Times (AKA Lancaster Online) and all I can find is a short recap from Friday night. No follow-up article, no quotes from the self promoting, prophetic, former Miami Hurricane himself. No more adjectives describing the team as legendary, historic, greatest ever. No more mentions of a guaranteed trip to the State Finals.
For the last three years this team has had the best talent in the District outside of Harrisburg. They won 6A title in 2017 only because Harrisburg played 5A that year. The next two years they don’t even make the District Final.
Going back to 2014 they have had three talented QB’s – Benjamin to Bloomsburg, Emge to Harvard and now Kirk to Colgate. This year they have at least 4 D1 players on the team.
You can’t go around telling everyone how great you are and not prove it with results. It’s time for the Coach and others to stop talking and toughen up in playoff games. Friday night they had a 14 point lead in the second half and choked it away. Sorry, but if you want to compare your D Coordinator to John Nash then you better get it done.
Manheim Township…….. You are not CD, CV, Wilson, Harrisburg or McDevitt. Stop self promoting and start working.
SWAT This!!!!!!!!!
November 11th, 2019 at 8:40 am
@ Buddy
What I understand, these past two wins by Haverford were their first and only two wins ever in district play.
I’m more looking forward to a potential Haverford/Coatesville finals match-up. That would be very intriguing. Old guard vs. the new kids on the block.
November 11th, 2019 at 8:36 am
@ Uncle T
……more like surreal. Scary thing to me was, that he made it look so easy, effortless. Like you said (and me embellishing), a man among little boys. To be fair, I think DTE was without Spencer Uggla on both sides of the ball, which was a big hit to them, and it showed in their running game. Like Jay said below, I didn’t get either the constant running up the middle and long passes. You have the fastest kid on the field with Stanley Bryant, take a play or two out of the Coatesville playbook and throw some screens and short passes, or some sweeps, get he kid in the open and on the outside where his speed and agility would kill. Oh well. Different animal coming up with DTW, their offense is much better and diverse than DTE. Their “D” tho could be an issue, so like I alluded to before, scoreboard could be lit up.
Sounds like the injury was/is a nagging, reaggravated hip pointer. So expect he should be good to go on Friday.
Looking very much forward to a return trip to Kottmeyer on Friday night.
Yes, he would look good in Temple cherry and white!!!
November 11th, 2019 at 8:15 am
@kevin x well i was wrong attended the Valley View Berwick game and the place was empty.Very sparse crowd,to bad they missed a good game it was an old fashion 3 yards and a cloud of ground up tire lol Berwick made a few more mistakes and that was the game but both teams lined up and said here we come stop us very very physical game.It was my understanding that Dunmore and Mid valley had a nice crowd and well as Scranton prep and Western Wayne
November 10th, 2019 at 6:47 pm
@ Buddy.
GV played in the D1 championship game in ‘16 vs NP and in ‘17 vs Coatesville, lost to Coatesville in the semifinals last year. GV beat Haverford earlier this year.
November 10th, 2019 at 2:29 pm
A few thoughts about this weeks games and looking ahead. In 6A I was disappointed that McDowell didn’t give State College a better game but their play makers have been banged up the last few weeks. State College should win this week setting up a showdown with the WPIAL champs, but I’m not sure they get past whoever it is. In 5A, Oil City squeaked by a very weak Hollidaysburgh team but they should get smoked by Southern Lehigh. In 4A, Erie Cathedral had no problem with USO/Obama and now they get Bellefonte. I’ve heard Bellefonte is pretty decent and that they are starting to hit their stride but I suspect Cathedral will be too much for them to handle. I’m gonna wait and see how that game goes before I comment on a possible showdown with a vert talented TJ the week after. In 3A, Sharon beat an undefeated Harborcreek which I had predicted. Harborcreek is another team that plays a weak schedule so I’m not surprised. Grove City looked good against Hickory so I’m not sure who wins when the play but I will say this, Sharon always seems to rise to the occasion in the playoffs so I’ll take them in a close one. In 2A Wilmington cruised and I suspect they will have no problem against Chestnut Ridge this week. In 1A, I was correct in predicting Maplewood would loose to Farrell. Maplewood hung with them until the 4th, but like I said, Farrell has too many athletes. Farrell should have no problem this week against Tussey Mountain who I don’t know much about.
@Colonial Fan: After watching the Oil City film I feel like you get where I’ve been coming from. They really struggled against a weak Hollidaysburgh. You guys should have no problem with them. I would say you guys should win handily, may even a mercy rule. Good luck!
November 10th, 2019 at 2:18 pm
Agree. Love to see H-ford & GV in the D1 final. Tired of the same ol same ol, unless, of course, it involves my team ( NP).
GV was there 3 years ago ( against NP), Don’t ever remember H-ford even close to the D1 final.
Sounds like H-ford could and will make the final. Doubtful for GV though. Maybe not.
There was no undefeated team this year. I think that’s good for the playoff system.
November 10th, 2019 at 1:33 pm
Kevin X- Isn’t he unreal? Being a Delco guy, he’s the best player to come out of this county since Dan Connor of Strath Haven in the early 2000’s. Bernard Pierce from Glen Mills was amazing too in mid to late part of the 00’s, but Blair impacts the game everywhere at this point of the season. Check out his Hudl highlights from last week against Spring Ford- it’s one of the best examples I’ve ever seen of a man against boys, almost unfair. I’d find it hard to believe that some bigger college programs aren’t trying to sway him away from his Buffalo commitment.
Haverford has a solid 2nd running back and a very good defense, but Blair makes everybody on their team about 5 times better. I heard that he wasn’t hurt too bad and could have gone back in if they needed, but they were wisely being extra cautious with their thoroughbred. DTown West has a serious challenge next week stopping him and how he has that team going, and a lot of people around here will be rooting for an all-Central League district final to boost what has been a down-decade for the county after Ridley and Strath Haven have become shadows of what they once were.
November 10th, 2019 at 12:27 am
@ Uncle T
I thought it was you who mentioned Mr. Blair in prior posts. i took last night off, but couldn’t sit out two days in a row, so headed down to Kottmeyer this evening. Holy freaking smokes!!! I’ll think about it, but Trey Blair in only one half of football, probably the best player, game changer, individual performance, I’ve seen live since D’Andre Swift. Unfortunately for Haverford, he is it. He did not play in the second half except for their first drive, guessing hip or thigh injury, and don’t think Haverford had more that a handful of yards, and no first downs (D did their thing tho, all their really needed at that point). Well see his status for Friday night. Guessing will be fine. If at or near 100%, DTW could be in trouble. Will be a shoot-out at the OK Kottmeyer corral. If not playing, Haverford will be rolled.
November 9th, 2019 at 11:18 pm
@Jeff H
What a night…thank you!! Spent the morning watching Oil City film from their game last night, and yes…I like our chances as well. Went to the Wood game this afternoon and was thoroughly unimpressed, despite the score. Was 0-0 after first quarter. Yes, 37-0 at half but majority of points were given to them by 1-9 Archbishop Ryan. Certainly not the Wood teams of years past. Could be an interesting couple of weeks!
November 9th, 2019 at 8:54 pm
Around 7:20, I snuck a glance at the D. East score and thought “ehh, I’ll just watch the rest of Bama-LSU and stay warm”. But no. I decided not to be a BIG FAT WUSS and got bundled up and got down to Kottmeyer… to a 35-6 Haverford lead.
The second half has been much more competitive, but wow these Haverford kids can play! Matta needs to stop trying to run the ball up the gut – it’s not working! The long passes aren’t either. Ahh well.
Love the crowd right now. Got my Coatesville peeps representing, the Garnet Valley preppies making an appearance, happy packs of Whippets Roaming around, and various other contingencies from around the district. It’s great. And the Haverford crowd is very animated. Sort of like Cinderella.
Will Haverford come here again next week and take it to West? I have no idea. But if they do, and GV beats the Ville (which if I’m being honest I am worried about), then Haverford will have a rematch with the last team to (barely) beat them – and with everything on the line this time.
I’d like to see Haverford at Coatesville in two weeks. One can hope.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:47 pm
Also, Haverford is an absolute threat with Trey Blair. He could start for SJP.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:44 pm
SJP is humiliating LaSalle. My goodness. Good luck to rest of 6A this year.
November 9th, 2019 at 6:20 pm
@Colonia; Fan – congrats to your son and Southern Lehigh on their fist district title, up next is Oil City, who seems to have perfected winning playoff games by a 9-7 score having done it 2 weeks in a row. I really like your chances against them as was discussed this week, looming after that is Archbishop Wood in the quarterfinals, and then the WPIAL champs.
I went to see Peters Township demolish Moon last night and avenge their only loss of the season in a dominating 33-7 win. As many have pointed out on this board the rankings on this site, PennLive and other sites seem to defy logic at times, I said several weeks ago it was a joke that PennLive dropped Peters out of the top 10 when they lost to a good Moon team, and I was certain they were still a top 10 team in 5A. Last night they played like a team that can go a long way in the playoffs, maybe all the way to Hershey. Peters and Penn Trafford are playing the best in 5A in the WPIAL coming down the stretch, they will meet next week in the semi-finals in a rematch of a playoff game last year won by Peters 38-35 on a field goal as time expired. I expect this game to be just as close, although would be surprised if that many points are scored. Both teams are very similar, big, strong quick offensive/defensive lines, very good defense, good running attack with multiple backs and the ability to throw the ball, winner of this game will be the favorite in the WPIAL finals against the McKeesport/Gateway winner, as McKeesport knocked off defending champ Penn Hills and Gateway got a very late TD to come back and beat Bethel Park 17-13.
@Jut- you may get your wish, but Wyomising first needs to beat 3 time defending district champ and state runner-up Middletown next week. I do like Montoursville’s chances to get to the Eastern Final and play the winner of that game, although PJPII may have something to say about that. I think there are 3-4 teams that a have a legitimate chance to get to Hershey on the eastern side of the bracket, in the west I don’t think anyone will come close to beating Central Valley.
November 9th, 2019 at 4:22 pm
Buddy: Yes, PCC won 31-14 over Lebo. They play Pine-Richland who beat NA 49-14, in the 6A championship.
November 9th, 2019 at 4:22 pm
D3 Mike, I braved the cold and watched the Wilson game, Dahms didn’t learn his lesson about man to man coverage against stud receivers-(see Manheim Townships Ivey), Kent and Crew were open all day in the 1st half, 2nd half, Dahms went to a 6 dback scheme and what did Harrisburg do? They ran the ball down Wilson’s throat, moving their defensive end to tailback. Hburg’s QB has a gun and was better than I expected. Frey’s drop was a tough one for Wilson on the final drive and everybody and their brother knew that they were going to Lockhart on the last play of the game, poor kid had 3 guys on him. Throwback jet sweep and running up the gut with 26 seconds left and no timeouts was a head scratcher too. Both teams played like Champions. So much for a Wilson/MT rematch.
Neuman Goretti will be back, no one can recruit like Albie, it will be interesting to see with Roman Catholic upping their game and NG having a coach who can attract stud players what affect this will have on Imhotep.
November 9th, 2019 at 11:08 am
@ kevin:
That the first time, that I remember, NPTV ever live streamed an away game.
They had to get permission from Downingtown and the PIAA. Frankly, don’t know how they got it.
From what I heard, PIAA wants a wheelbarrow full of $ to broadcast a playoff game.
Maybe because this is a high school program, as opposed to a public radio station.
Just guessing here. Anyway, my season is over. But 2 years from now NP will be the team to beat.
Count on it.
November 9th, 2019 at 10:07 am
D3fan
Why shouldn’t Montoursville be ahead of Wyomming in the Top 5 easternPa? Only lost is to SCA which any of your District 3 AAA schools would lose to too. They have a great team this year. You maybe right about district 3 schools in Aaa not losing to district 4 Aaa but your district gets byes in states playoff which means you play less games so ofc you can’t lose. So don’t say that. District 4 used to be a powerhouse with southern which still is, Mount Carmel and when Berwick used to be in District 4 years all going to the state championship. Wyomissing is a great team not saying anything against them. Hey I hope montoursvile and wyo play each other in states would be fun to watch.
November 9th, 2019 at 8:58 am
@Foleman – yep, so much for NG. I think whoever wins the Eastern bracket is going to be at least a 2 TD underdog to Central Valley in the final, they beat a very solid Derry team last night 42-7 after racing to a 42-0 lead at half. Whoever comes out of the east better have a great secondary because if they don’t CV will torch them with some long passes, lots of speed and great athletes. I think CV will handle Aliquippa again next week at Heinz Field, then they get a bye and will likely meet Sharon in the west final and expect them to win that game fairly easily. I said on here after CV manhandled Aliquippa the last week of the regular season that they were the favorite to win 3A, I don’t think there’s a 3A team in the state that can match their speed and athleticism, time will tell, but in my opinion CV is a big favorite to win 3A.
November 9th, 2019 at 8:32 am
Hey guys, thanks for the NP/DTW stream info. I’m familiar with NPTV and their YT channel, but thinking it was an away game that they would not broadcast the game. Didn’t see any info on their website, Twitter, or YT channel that it would broadcasted. Checked at 7p, and there it was!!!!
So, you guys spent a lot of time and effort on the merits of Wilson being the #1 seed vs MT. Guess that played out with a loud thud!!! Seeds, home field, number of D1 players…..all overrated in my book. The best team, or the best team this time of year, will eventually come out on top (barring really bad officiating, which is rarely the case).
@ Foleman
I believe we were the only ones mentioning PJPII during the season, and seeing them having a good chance to make a run. I thought them blowing that huge lead week 0/1 against RC would come back to bite them, and it kind of did, with them having to travel down to South Philly versus hosting the game (where ever that might have been). I don’t think N-G was overrated, and their schedule was ok (some decent PCL blue teams), but they were never really tested. Look for them to be a force next year tho.
November 9th, 2019 at 8:21 am
First time seeing Harrisburg this year. A few elite athletes and beef on the line but honestly that’s not the most sophisticated offensive system I’ve seen. I also thought Wilson moved the ball at will. Wilson owned the line of scrimmage and Lockhart ran thru tackles like it was his job… but the turnovers, drops (the screen to Frey? earlier in the final drive was also a TD) and broken coverages in the first half just killed them. That final run play burned way too much clock (and a down, IIRC?) but what I really question is why they played so much man coverage? So many what ifs from that one. Was an amazing game that deserved more than the 2/3 filled stadium it played to because of the frigid weather.
Congrats to Harrisburg – should be a great final in D3-6A. And Warwick escapes past the #1 in the EPA poll to set-up a match up with a rolling Cocalico in the 5A semi-final.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:38 am
Obviously, this is the Chesmont league’s year. DTW has too much offense for NP.
NP’s fumble in the 1st Quarter in their own zone might have been the game breaker.
DTW goes up 14 to 3 at that point. That fumble Jay refers to below was a bit strange.
I assume the refs hadn’t blown the whistle yet. Didn’t matter anyway. Wasn’t a game changer.
Did PCC out west win? Don’t see that update.
November 9th, 2019 at 3:12 am
Not that it matters now, but does anyone else think that the “lost fumble” and subsequent 30 yard penalty on Downingtown West midway through the third quarter was the absolute worst call of the year, and possibly many years?
Dtown player fumbles the ball, and clearly falls on it. One of his teammates falls on it with him. Possession. On the ground. Dead ball. But wait! Then north penn players jump on top. There’s a scrum… North Penn ball! Oh and here’s TWO 15 yard penalties too.
That referee crew should not be allowed to do another game this year, and honestly the PIAA should consider a longer suspension.
That was the worst call I’ve ever seen in my life. And I’ve seen some bad calls.
November 9th, 2019 at 12:21 am
Chief- I watched the Garnet Valley game as well and had the opposite reaction as you about that fake punt. If they don’t convert that, they could have given PW great field position and a chance to gain momentum. Instead, it put the game away for good and GV made all their substitutions on the next few downs. I took it as going for the jugular instead of any kind of running up the score.
Anyway, it should be an interesting one next week, back at the scene of the classic ’17 final. ‘Ville is obviously the favorite, and will have the best 2 players on the field, but it’s been the Young brothers who have crushed Garnet Valley the past 2 years. If you remember that ’17 game, GV can be dangerously methodic (boring, if you will) when they don’t turn the ball over- they crippled themselves last year with turnovers, especially the pick 6 (not taking anything away from ‘Ville’s defensive scheming). This year’s Garnet Valley team is also the fastest of the past 3.
I doubt Matt Ortega and crew would let it happen, but I think there’s a risk of Coatesville being a little overconfident given their history with GV and looking past this week towards a looming rematch with one of the Downingtowns (though it wouldn’t shock me if Haverford beats East tomorrow. Trey Blair of Haverford is a special player).
November 9th, 2019 at 12:13 am
My initial thought about Garnet Valley is that it’s gonna be a tough match, but aside from a one-point win about a month ago, they really haven’t been tested aside from their early loss to D West.
But the way Coatesville came out in the second half tonight gave me a tremendous amount of confidence in them going forward. They played excellent football and CBW had no answers.
I think East wins tomorrow night, but does not beat West. West vs CV for the D1 chip – it’s what most people have been waiting for, right? With all due respect to the East folks.
Question – since the eastern final was played out west last year, will it be played around here this year? (Dtown- CV area) anyone know how that works?
November 8th, 2019 at 11:07 pm
C’ville and H-burg are still in it. Maybe a rematch of last year and that sloppy game week 1? Would be great to see DTE/DTW rematch — I think DTE will beat them — maybe:) Any thoughts on 3rd year in a row of Coatesville playing Garnet Valley? Would really like to see C’ville win again after I just watched GV do a fake punt up 21 points in the 4th (I’m thinking C’ville would of had their 2nd team in). Yeah, I know it’s the playoffs.
November 8th, 2019 at 10:43 pm
Jeff H, you can put Pope John Paul as your darkhorse as they beat Neuman Goretti 29-28. I thought that PJP was under rated and NG over rated as NG played no one this year. Most folks out in District 3 think that Wyo will beat Middletown this year, we will find out next week at the A field. 6A semi’s in District 3 was as good as it gets in HS football. MT/CD rematch went into OT with CD winning and Wilson/Hburgh went down to the final play with Wilson at the Hburg 5 yard line a sure TD dropped by a Wilson player.
November 8th, 2019 at 10:14 pm
Wilson down 33-29 @ HB 5 with no time on clock after a penalty in end zone. QB hits their best player RB/LB Lockhart right in the hands to win the game. He was wide open..drops the ball. Tough, tough loss for WWL. Wow!
November 8th, 2019 at 10:08 pm
Great night for the Mid Penn Commonwealth
Harrisburg beats #1 seed Wilson 33-29
Central Dauphin beats undefeated and #2 seed Manheim Township 35-34 in 2 OT’s
State College opens up a 35-7 lead and beats Erie McDowell by 3 TD’s 42-21
November 8th, 2019 at 10:06 pm
Wilson on the H burg 5 with one second left down 33-29. There best player/rb Lockhart wide open, drops ball, right in his hands. Unbelievable. What a game. Tough loss for WWL
November 8th, 2019 at 9:55 pm
PJP 29 NG 28
November 8th, 2019 at 9:46 pm
PJP 29 NG 28……congrats to the Panthers, program built the old fashioned way defeats all star team.
November 8th, 2019 at 4:15 pm
NP/DTW live on NPTVyoutube on Chrome.
November 8th, 2019 at 4:05 pm
@D3 Mike – Wyomissing is #1 at PennLive only because both Central Valley and Middletown have 1 loss, albeit to a 4A team, and CV’s loss of course was to TJ, who I think in 2 weeks is going to give Erie Prep a heck of a game, should be in the Pittsburgh area this year and if so I will be there. I still think the 3A final will be CV vs. the winner of the Wyomissing/Middletown game, although Neuman Goretti is the dark-horse on the Eastern side of the bracket.
@Colonial Fan – good luck tonight, always nice to see teams make a playoff run that haven’t been there before.
@Kevin X – I’m not certain how the co-ops work with regard to enrollment, my understanding is both schools totals count but I’m not positive about that, perhaps there is some formula they use, there are some smaller schools in the WPIAL in Greene County that are considering going to a co-op arrangement due to small numbers of kids playing and if they do that I’m sure the local Pittsburgh media will explain how it works.
November 8th, 2019 at 3:59 pm
@ Kevin X
I was going to go to Downingtown because I saw the CB West/Coatesville game listed on my NFHS app, but I checked today and the game is no longer listed, so it looks like I’m headed to Doylestown. Maybe.
I really wanted to watch both games though. And even though I’m a Coatesville supporter, I’m more interested in the NP/Dtown game.
Not sure but I better figure it out soon.
November 8th, 2019 at 1:26 pm
Old school radio stream of the North Penn @ Downingtown West game (7p) this evening…….
http://wnpv1440.com
November 8th, 2019 at 10:18 am
@ Kevin X
FYI:
WKMC is MCA’s own student operated TV station who have been around since 1968. They have been broadcasting games locally for many years and started doing the games live on YouTube since last year. They are broadcasting the game vs Troy tomorrow night and if they win, would likely do a District championship rematch against Southern next week. They do a fantastic job.
https://www.youtube.com/user/WKMCTV/feed
November 8th, 2019 at 10:06 am
@Brian
I wasn’t saying the Wilk kid was a Shamokin kid, I just know the dad was a standout football player/athlete at Shamokin in the early 90’s who at some point moved to Elysburg. My point was not to say the kid transferred to Southern for football, but to echo Racer X’s point that the migration of all these Shamokin and Mt. Carmel families is a key ingredient to Southern’s success. SCA is already unstoppable this year, so its hard to imagine them being that much better with another D1 kid on the team. I just assumed him transferring to Berwick had something to do with the fact that the dad played under Sheptock at Wilkes.
November 8th, 2019 at 10:02 am
@ Kevin X – North Penn has a YouTube channel “NPTV” so they may be streaming the game on there.
November 8th, 2019 at 9:04 am
@Kevin x Valley View and Berwick will be packed no matter the weather both community’s support thier teams well .Delaware Valley dont think many people from Wilkes Barra will be traveling that far.Dunmore and Mid Valley will draw a nice crowd MidValley up set Dunmore early in the season So they will be turning out to see if they can do it again pulse the towns border each other Western Wayne will have a crowd winning is new to them so the community is really behind the team the rest becuse the first meeting were so lopsided i doubt you get any attendance.Not like it was in the old day i remember the first Valley View Berwick game it drew over 10,000 people to crispin field and it was a cold December day
November 8th, 2019 at 8:51 am
Wyomissing has been to the state playoffs 4 times so it’s not exactly the largest of sample sizes. They won 3 of their district titles back when not every district winner made state playoffs. But yes, they are 3-0 vs. District 4, including two wins over Montoursville in the last decade or so. To be fair, Wyomissing didn’t win the district any of the years that the Mount Carmel or Southern Columbia teams would have drilled them (they played Mount Carmel in the early 2000s regular season, obviously non-league). And Berks Catholic has played Montoursville and Southern Columbia to mixed success so it’s not like District 4 doesn’t produce quality teams in those smaller classes.
Frankly, most of the high school rankings aren’t great. It’s criminal that Warwick isn’t listed on EPA. Wyomissing probably should be #1 or #2 in the EPA behind no one but Middletown… but they also have no business being #1 on PennLive considering what county has been producing all of the state champs in that class, recently. Win some, lose some.
November 8th, 2019 at 8:33 am
Hey guys, late question, but does anybody have any links or other info to “free” video streaming links to any of tonight’s games?? Websites, Facebook, YouTube, misc. apps (Roku), etc.???
The only one that I am aware of is possibly the Garnet/P-W game via the Garnet Valley Football YouTube channel.
Thnx!!!
November 8th, 2019 at 6:23 am
Montoursville ranked above Wyo in EPA poll ? C’mon – that’s not right. I can see Middletown – Wyo’s gotta beat them to climb that mountain – but Montoursville? When has Wyo lost to a D4 team in playoffs ? – maybe MCA back in the 80’s .
November 8th, 2019 at 5:32 am
@ Jeff H and NW PA
Thank you for your detailed responses, appreciate the info. My son plays for Southern Lehigh so just looking down the road a bit. Gotta take care of business tonight first as we try to win the schools first district title in football.
November 7th, 2019 at 9:24 pm
Hey tornado fan. Wilk isn’t a shamokin kid. His mom graduated from southern in the early 90s with my brother and I graduated with his moms young we sister in the late 90s. Their family lived on market street in Elysburg so wilks mom was a southern raised. He left southern after his freshmen year because he wasn’t going to start at safety. As a freshmen he started because a junior was hurt and out for the entire season. That player came back his senior year and wilk transferred out.
November 7th, 2019 at 7:14 pm
OK guys, that decision time again, assuming I talk myself off the warm and comfy couch tomorrow and brave the cold, do I stay somewhat local and hit up the Coatesville/CB West game, or trek it down to Downingtown to see North Penn take on D-Town West, and maybe track down Buddy and buy him a hot chocolate 🙂
Any of you C’Ville folk heading up to Doylestown tomorrow?? You guys do travel well.
November 7th, 2019 at 7:06 pm
@ NW PA think your post was meant for Jeff H…… 🙂
Since I got you western guys attention, as you were talking about Oil City, I took gandered rat the PIAA website, and their enrollment figs are actually within 3A. But they have 2 co-ops. That whole ECP and playing up to avid them is so out of whack. As far as co-ops go, you guys, or anybody knows how they figure into classification figures?? Do they combine the male enrollment for each school?? Does it depend on how many kids from the co-op school participates with the team??
@ mark d
Yikes, some not so exciting contests it seems upstate this weekend sans the Berwick/VV re-match. Between the weather and match-ups, anybody gonna be at these games??
November 7th, 2019 at 2:25 pm
@KevinX: I’m rooting for Maplewood hard but unfortunately I don’t think they will win. Farrell has too much team speed. Farrell’s defensive backs are far better than anything Maplewood has come across and it looks like as a team Farrell is starting to hit it’s stride.
@Colonial Fan: I think Jeff H pretty well summed up Oil City. No disrespect to their kids but in 5A they aren’t a top 25 team in the state. Their schedule consists of 3A teams and a few teams that play up to 5A to avoid Erie Cathedral. Warren (6-4) and General McLean (3-7) are both 4A but play up much like Oil City does. Meadville is the only true 5A team in this part of the state and they beat them twice in very close games. Beyond that they beat Conneut Area (3A 4-5), Franklin (3A 2-8), Girard (3A 4-6), Dubois (4A 0-10), Fort Lebouf (4A 5-6), and Slippery Rock (3A 4-6). Their schedule is pretty weak and I predict they will be exposed once they play an decent 5A team which will probably happen next Friday. If I were to guess they would be about the 12th seed in the WPIAL in 5A. They could beat Hollidaysburgh only because they are way down this year and have only beaten weak teams.
November 7th, 2019 at 1:55 pm
@Racer X
Hard to believe but SCA had another Shamokin transplant Wilk who left after his freshman year for Berwick. He is now a 3x All Stater heading to ECU.
November 7th, 2019 at 12:32 pm
BTW…… 2012 is about to happen again
November 7th, 2019 at 12:24 pm
@ Maher:
I hope you’re right. I seen DTE play but I know nothing of Haverford.
Rooting for Haverford though. NP would then pull a home game IF they can get by DYW ( doubtful).
@ Jones:
Sam Brown is out for LaSalle! That’s a bigger deal then Trotter being out for SJP, IMO.
November 7th, 2019 at 12:20 pm
This is the District 3 Champions by Seed from 1983 thru 2017. Keep in mind that over the years classifications increased from 3 to 4 to 6…… but the point is the 1 or 2 seed wins about 80% of the time.
Not sure what year it switched to the power ranking system.
6A CHAMPIONS BY SEED – only 2 years
No. 1 seeds: 0 No. 2 seeds: 2
No. 3 seeds: 0 No. 4 seeds: 0
No. 5 seeds: 0 No. 6 seeds: 0
No. 7 seeds: 0 No. 8 seeds: 0
5A CHAMPIONS BY SEED – only 2 years
No. 1 seeds: 0 No. 2 seeds: 1
No. 3 seeds: 0 No. 4 seeds: 0
No. 5 seeds: 1 No. 6 seeds: 0
No. 7 seeds: 0 No. 8 seeds: 0
5 Seed winner was Harrisburg (Micah Parson mid-year transfer)
4A CHAMPIONS BY SEED
No. 1 seeds: 15 No. 2 seeds: 7
No. 3 seeds: 3 No. 4 seeds: 4
No. 5 seeds: 1 No. 6 seeds: 2
No. 7 seeds: 1 No. 8 seeds: 0
No. 9 seeds: 0 No. 10 seeds: 0
No. 11 seeds: 0 No. 12 seeds: 0
No. 13 seeds: 0 No. 14 seeds: 0
No. 15 seeds: 0 No. 16 seeds: 0
3A CHAMPIONS BY SEED
No. 1 seeds: 24 No. 2 seeds: 5
No. 3 seeds: 4 No. 4 seeds: 1
No. 5 seeds: 0 No. 6 seeds: 0
No. 7 seeds: 1 No. 8 seeds: 1
No. 9 seeds: 0 No. 10 seeds: 0
No. 11 seeds: 0 No. 12 seeds: 0
No. 13 seeds: 0 No. 14 seeds: 0
No. 15 seeds: 0 No. 16 seeds: 0
2A CHAMPIONS BY SEED
No. 1 seeds: 17 No. 2 seeds: 10
No. 3 seeds: 5 No. 4 seeds: 3
No. 5 seeds: 0 No. 6 seeds: 1
No. 7 seeds
November 7th, 2019 at 12:18 pm
@ Colonial Fan – NW PA can give you more insight that I can, but Oil City is a 4A team playing up to avoid Erie Cathedral Prep, decent team but they haven’t played anybody of note, I would not be surprised if Hollidaysburg beats them this week, if they do get by Hollidaysburg expect them to lose next week to the Southern Lehigh/East Stroudsburg South winner. I know PennLive has them ranked #5 in the state, but I personally doubt they are in the top 20 in 5A, and probably every 5A team left in the WPIAL quarterfinals is better than them, no disrespect meant towards Oil City, they’ve had a magical season, but they are a small fish in the big pond of 5A.
November 7th, 2019 at 12:17 pm
@ Kevin X From what I’ve read and heard, what the Joneses says is correct. It wasn’t a simple break and he needed care at both the Rothman and CHOP. The prognosis is good with no long-term problems expected, but he almost certainly won’t be able to return even if the Prep has a game in December. It’s a significant loss for SJP, obviously.
November 7th, 2019 at 12:01 pm
For those that have an interest here’s my WPIAL outlook this weekend, I’ll stick to the top 4 classes since most guys on this board don’t follow the lower classes
#4 Mt Lebanon vs. #1 Central Catholic – rematch of 2 weeks ago won by PCC 45-7, this game may be a little closer and I’m sure Bob Palko will have a few tricks up his sleeve, but PCC’s dominating DLine is way too much for Lebo to handle, I’ll say PCC 38-14
#3 North Allegheny vs. #2 Pine Richland – another rematch from 2 weeks ago won by PR 42-14, think this game will be a lot closer but still like PR by 2 TD’s 35-21
5A quarterfinals
#1 Penn Trafford vs. #9 Upper St Clair – they played 2 years ago in this same round at West Mifflin, game tomorrow is at the exact same site, PT won that game 35-14, and I think this game will have a very similar outcome, in fact I’ll predict the same score 35-14. PT got key 2-way star Sam Fanelli back last week from a knee injury after being out for 6 weeks and he made an impact at LB, which bodes well for their chances to finally get over the hump and win a district title
#2 Gateway vs. #7 Bethel Park – this game is a contrast in styles very similar to CB West vs. Coatesville, if Bethel can use their power run game and go on long drives and keep Gateway’s offense off the field they have a chance to make things interesting, think it will be close for awhile but Gateway has too many play-makers and too much team speed and will win 34-20
#3 Penn Hills vs. #6 McKeesport – I thought a few weeks ago McKeesport had a good chance to pull an upset, but based on how they’ve played the last couple of games that seems pretty unlikely, I’ll take Penn Hills 27-14
#4 Moon vs. #5 Peters Township – should be the best game of the bunch, Moon surprised a lot of people including myself by winning the regular season game 21-13, Peters has been rolling since that loss and expect them to win the rematch, I’ll go with Peters 28-20
4A semi-finals
#1 TJ vs. #4 Blackhawk – won’t be close, TJ in a rout and could be a mercy rule game, I’ll say 42-7
#2 South Fayette vs. #2 Belle Vernon – anticipate a pretty competitive game but like South Fayette 31-20, setting up a rematch of last year’s WPIAL title game won by SF
3A Semi-finals
#1 Central Valley vs. #4 Derry – CV should roll, too many play-makers and team speed for Derry to keep up, CV 41-13
#2 Aliquippa vs. #6 South Park – the Quips beat them 29-0 in the regular season and will handle them again, if they win Quips would make their 12th straight appearance at Heinz Field in the WPIAL finals which is an amazing streak
November 7th, 2019 at 11:41 am
Nice article on SCA football, but it failed to mention, in my opinion, the number one reason the program is what it is, the best in the state, and that is the influx of talented families/kids to Elysburg from mostly the Shamokin and Mount Carmel areas. Nothing against Roth and his staff, they are definitely the best around, but without those families moving into to Elysburg over the past 20 years they’d have little to work with. Not meant to be a put down or complaint but objectively looking at it all, this is absolutely why this football team is the best in the state right now,
November 7th, 2019 at 11:41 am
@Kevin X- I think Trotter is lost for the season. I think LaSalle may have lost stud Sam Brown as well. Either way they both put up 45+ points last week. I wonder if either eclipses 30pts on Saturday.
November 7th, 2019 at 10:31 am
@NW PA – I was wondering if you thought Maplewood had a shot against Farrell, I am anticipating a Farrell vs. Clairton match-up in 3 weeks in the Western Final. I’m not so sure Oil City beats Hollidaysburg, think they are better than Meadville and Oil City struggled to beat them last week. I also think ECP is not going to have too much trouble with University Prep, might be close for a little while, but I’d be surprised if ECP doesn’t win by 3-4 TDs. McDowell vs. State College should be a very competitive game that could go either way.
@Eric W/D3 – agree both of them should be great games, 2 of the best in the state this weekend, I also like Harrisburg, as you noted too much speed and Harrisburg is healthy, I’ve gone back and forth on MT vs. CD, I did pick MT to get to the state final, so I’ll stick with them, but think this game will go to the wire and team that has the ball last might be the winner.
November 7th, 2019 at 8:19 am
@NW PA
Can you give me a little more info on Oil City. Undefeated, so obviously a good team, but what’s their league like? Beating up on smaller schools, quality wins against other 5A’s or 6A’s?
November 7th, 2019 at 8:12 am
Some good games in D11 this week too:
6A – Nazareth-Easton is likely a big win for Nazareth, Easton has been really shaky against the top tier of the EPC. Freedom-Parkland will be a great game, Freedom won by 3 last time, but Parkland is on a roll, I pick them to get revenge.
5A – Southern Lehigh and Eastburg South have been on a collision course all season. This could wind up being a shootout, but ultimately I think Solehi scores more.
4A – Two great games. Northwestern-Central Catholic and Pottsville-Bethlehem Catholic games are both toss-ups. I pick Northwestern and Becahi to pull it out but it could easily go the other way.
3A – Another great game. North Schuylkill has rallied around Leiby, but Tamaqua is hungry. Ultimately I side with the pedigree of the Spartans.
1A – Williams Valley blew out Tri-Valley earlier this year, I expect more of the same.
November 7th, 2019 at 8:01 am
@ FrankG
What’s the story/issue with Trotter?? Out for a few games, the rest of the season??
November 7th, 2019 at 7:34 am
Up in D2 Del Valley over Wilkes Barre by 3 touchdowns in AAAAAA in AAAA Bewick at Valley View good game calling it a toss up Creastwood at Dallas mercy rule game AAA Western Wayne at Scranton Prep Prep by 2 touchdowns a month ago i would have picked Western Wayne but Prep has up it game AAA Lake Lehman at Wyoming area mercy rule game AA Mid-valley at Dunmore mercy rule game and in A Lackawanna trail and morrisville dont know anything about morrisville to comment
November 7th, 2019 at 12:28 am
Buddy thinks DTE beats Haverford easily. I don’t think so! Haverford is a very good team. That’s the best matchup of this weekend coming up.
November 6th, 2019 at 4:22 pm
Predictions from the northwestern part of the state-6A: If McDowell has Blue and Lopez they should win a close game, if they don’t I’m not sure. Both players have been beat up since the loss to Cathedral. 5A: Oil City probably beats Hollidaysburg because Hollidaysburg is down and has no quality wins. 4A: Cathedral should win against USO Prep. The weather is supposed to be cold in Pittsburgh Friday so maybe it will be a game for a half. 3A: I like Sharon to beat Harborcreek in a close game and Hickory over Grove City also in another close one. 2A: Wilmington over Greenville, they should have no problem they already rolled them. 1A: Farrell over Maplewood even though I’m rooting for the Tigers.
November 6th, 2019 at 3:05 pm
Should be two slobberknockers on Friday. WWL has 40 D3 playoff wins and 7 D3 titles. Plus are 12-4 @ home (in post season) under current coach… but I think too much speed and monster OL makes the difference for HBurg. HB, 30-20. Coin flip between CD and MT, but on a hunch will say CD 21-20. Four great teams!!
November 6th, 2019 at 3:05 pm
@Jay There is a 2019 western forum but nobody posts or their posts are never moderated and displayed!
https://westernpafootball.net/news/2019-football-forum/
November 6th, 2019 at 1:22 pm
@Foleman – District 3 could go to a selection committee like the WPIAL does, or place a lot more emphasis on head to head, As D3 Mike and JC have pointed out, and I have previously as well, any point system that ranks a team that is 9-1 ahead of a team that is 10-0 and beat the other team on their home field by 16 points has some flaws that should be addressed. Obviously no system is perfect, and neither is the selection committee in the WPIAL, but Wilson as the #1 seed ahead of MT just doesn’t pass the eye test, and those rankings would have been reversed by the selection committee had those teams been in the WPIAL. The 5A seedings in D3 are also a mess, how Cocalico got the #1 seed is beyond my comprehension, I expect Warwick to handle them pretty easily next week, assuming they get by MC again on Friday, when the 2 best teams in the district are seeded #4 and #5 there’s something wrong with the system and adjustments should be made going forward, particularly when home field advantage is at stake. Personally I think the home field advantage will be a moot point because I have a feeling Harrisburg is going to beat Wilson on Friday, we’ll see!
November 6th, 2019 at 12:08 pm
Jay….You are welcome to talk about teams from the west on here…
November 6th, 2019 at 1:36 am
Hey isn’t there a forum for western football site anymore? I remember a few years ago it didn’t get much traffic but last year it did. Did it get discontinued? Any way to bring it back??
November 5th, 2019 at 8:32 pm
@Uncle T. Of course Northeast would have a chance against SJP. Many of us who’ve been around SJP for a while vividly recall the 2006 PCL Championship when the Prep lost a bizarre game to LaSalle, a game they went into as a 4-5 touchdown favorite. Chris Whitney made a second effort to score but lost the ball as he was about to cross the goal line; LaSalle returned it for a 99-yard TD–a 14 point difference. SJP made a couple of other turnovers deep in LaSalle territory and lost 14-7. Sometimes once a heavily favored team gets behind in a big game, stress levels go way up and they start making uncharacteristic mistakes. Then there are the effects of difficult weather conditions.. Anyone remember LaSalle-GW in the city championship game in 2008? There were strong wind gusts throughout which neutralized LaSalle’s excellent passing game that relied on very carefully timed plays. Without the gusts, LaSalle almost certainly would have won by 2-3 TDs.
Northeast has talent; they’ve been to city championships the last few years; they would go into the game loose and will probably be playing at home; the Prep will be playing without Trotter and will be coming off a game against LaSalle (always an intense rivalry game that I’m not taking for granted as a Prep win) etc. All that said, a Northeast win over the Prep would be a huge upset-but not the greatest upset ever!
November 5th, 2019 at 6:27 pm
It would also be interesting if we could have dropped LaSalle and Northeast into the D1, D3, or D11 brackets to see how they would have faired without this road block of SJP.
November 5th, 2019 at 6:21 pm
@ Buddy, etc….
Unfotunately looks like you’re going to have to bundle up and avoid the deer heading south on Rte. 100 b/c the streaming from chesmontfootball/3CTV is done fo the year.
From their website:
It’s been a great bringing you high school football every Friday night with our Game Day Live program.
But because of a lack of business sponsorship, we are unable to bring you any of the remaining PIAA District One playoff game.
– The Ches-Mont Football/3CTV Crew
November 5th, 2019 at 5:49 pm
Not necessarily a D12 guy, but it would be interesting to see how far Northeast could get if a miracle happens and they were the D12 champ. There’s a lot of talent on that team, and they’d have more than a fighting chance against the D11 champ. SJP being as good as they are is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does rob the 6A bracket of a lot of intrigue they would otherwise have. The PPL may have a ton of terrible teams in it, but the top division is always solid, and you have to be a dang good team to win it.
Anyway, to your question Uncle, I think they have the ability to trade some blows early on. But if they’re overconfident they will get their doors blown off. Time will tell.
November 5th, 2019 at 3:16 pm
per last post- Obviously not PCL, but D12
November 5th, 2019 at 3:14 pm
PCL guys: what do you make of Northeast this year? They have some decent early season wins, including an impressive blanking of Haverford School, and the slim win over a down Imhotep, but their schedule other than that (and the loss to a good Episcopal team) is cream puff city. I’ve read some pretty positive reports on their squad this year but haven’t seen them at all. Do you think they have enough to at least put a first half scare into SJP in 2 weeks?
November 5th, 2019 at 1:22 pm
@ Kevin X There is a credible rumor that some teams in PA did not make the playoffs. For such teams having their seasons end on October 25th would seem likely to dampen any expectations they have for next year. I’m not arguing for including even more teams in the playoffs but for having a longer regular season and for including fewer teams in the playoffs. Qualifying for the playoffs should be more of an accomplishment.
November 5th, 2019 at 7:58 am
@ FrankG
Wait, are you saying that there were teams that actually didn’t make the playoffs???
November 4th, 2019 at 9:45 pm
Anyone else find it quite sad that the teams that didn’t make the playoffs had their season end five or six days before the World Series ended and that half the rest of the teams had to hang up their cleats by November 2nd? I loved having a Thanksgiving game to look forward to. We can’t go all the way back, but modifications could be made.
November 4th, 2019 at 7:46 pm
@D3 Mike
Those numbers / %’s are disturbing, yet not totally unexpected. Hopefully, we got rid of the dead wood and teams that had no business playing in a playoff game last weekend and improve those numbers for this upcoming weekend’s slate of games.
November 4th, 2019 at 6:55 pm
@ Kevin:
Downingtown from where I live is a bit of a haul ( Bally )
Plus it’s gonna be cold as hell ( can’t handle that like I used to).
But if it’s not live streamed, I simply have to go.
November 4th, 2019 at 4:12 pm
@ Buddy
Possible NP/DTW will be on 3CTV/Chesmontfootball.com
If so, yes it would/should it be on YT via the chesmontfootball channel.
With that said, who know if there will even be a game streamed this week by them, guess depends like last week, if they get/have the funds. Either that or their request during the Week 10 game was just ploy for more funds. Also they may opt to broadcast the Rustin/WCE game, the Shanahan game since it is for a District title, or maybe even wait until Saturday for the DTE/Haverford game (IMO, the best game of the 4 D1 6A match-ups).
Check back later in the week on their website for updates (or I’ll toss something up here if I see something as well).
No road trip for you on Friday????
November 4th, 2019 at 2:52 pm
lol oh, I’m OK guys. As I said, I’ve grown accustomed to the parochialism and bias. It’s fine to be a fan but have some self awareness when talking about your team and other area programs. This is par for the course, though: me attempting to contribute something those outside of the area might not know; the JV team responding with school fight songs and personal attacks. That said, what our commish was grasping for was that I need a blue pill, not that I need a “purple pill” for my other shortcomings. At least get your memes straight!
Of note from this weekend – here’s a breakdown of first round games decided by two or fewer TDs:
6A: 16%
5A: 19%
4A: 9%!!
3A: 21%
2A: 52%
1A: 35%
Sort of surprised how competitive the small-school classes were so far. We’ll see how well the trend holds up. 4A on the other hand…
November 4th, 2019 at 2:03 pm
@ chief:
C’ville has to contain the run. Then they win.
CBW passing game is poor ( at least against NP it was).
I see C’ville winning this. DTE should win easily.
NP pass defense is their weakest link. Shore that up and they might have a chance against DTW.
Again, I assume the NP/DTW game will be live streamed on 3CTV?
I get that on the youtube? Not the most computer literate person here.
November 4th, 2019 at 1:56 pm
Manheim Twp. coach is Mark Evans and he played tackle at U of Miami during their championship years. He has been around a long time with some success at other schools. This group of seniors have been together and won everything since 3rd grade so they bring it weekly. They have blazing speed in Ivey and a few tall wideouts that can grab it over you. The running game is sneaky good and the line smart and athletic. CD was able to manage this offense without Ivey but it will be much more difficult this week. Then again CD has improve a great deal too so I think this will be TWP’s most difficult battle in districts. Sorry Wilson fans but your blitz packages wont work so well this time as Twp. is seeing that every game now. The thing is MT defense is tough and they are aggressive at the right times. D coordinator has won state championships with another school and he knows what he is doing.
November 4th, 2019 at 1:30 pm
oops, double post. please delete either of the two. tx.
November 4th, 2019 at 1:29 pm
https://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/football/mc-spt-southern-columbia-football-program-20191101-zgkpxlmwijeh7iwoxtexi5hy2i-story.html
pretty cool article on SCA
also hearing good things about Jayden Lieby’s recovery (stable but critical). seems a reporter in the LV area is keeping up to date with his progress. Thoughts and prayers to you #6 – stay strong and keep your faith! You have an entire state of football loving brothers that got your back and have your prayers!!!!!!!
November 4th, 2019 at 12:08 pm
@ anyone:
Does anyone know if the NP/DTW game is live stream? If so, where?
I’m chomping at the bit here!
November 4th, 2019 at 9:12 am
I don’t know what District 3 can use that would be better than the current system. Any suggestions? More emphasis on head to head? Wilson got a huge boost by beating an extremely over rated Spring Ford-Pope John Paul-A class 3A school gave them everything they could handle before getting worn down in the 4th quarter and they just got mercy ruled in the opening round of District 1 6A playoffs. In addition, Manheim Central got blown out by Wilson and Warwick and has their weakest team in years. Wilson’s out of conference schedule was more difficult than Manheim Township’s but going undefeated and beating Wilson at home and not getting the #1 seed doesn’t seem logical.
November 4th, 2019 at 7:55 am
pretty cool article on SCA out of Lehigh Valley Morning Call
https://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/football/mc-spt-southern-columbia-football-program-20191101-zgkpxlmwijeh7iwoxtexi5hy2i-story.html
Also the Lehigh Valley has been giviing updates on Jaden Leiby out of North Schuylkil and for as terrible as an injury he sustained, they keep reporting that he is getting better (still in critical cond but stable cond). thoughts and prayers go out to this young man and his family.
To the Leiby’s; stay strong and keep your faith!
November 4th, 2019 at 5:34 am
JC, also, who cares about the local rankings, just win your dog gone games and everything will work itself out. Look at LaSalle, they usually get bounced in the second round every year due to the nature of the structure of the tournament. Just win your games.
November 3rd, 2019 at 11:01 pm
Hang in there D3 Mike. Hey everybody, let’s talk about something less tedious — like SC again 🙂
On a serious note: Any comments on my Red Raiders vs. CB West? (I can’t even find any CBW games on video). Not sure if comparing a common opponent like Souderton means anything — but I hope it does. Don’t sleep on DTE or NP.
November 3rd, 2019 at 9:48 pm
The way some of you are coming at D3 Mike is ludicrous. Nothing in his posts has come across to me as “biased”, “insecure”, or “myopic”. It does not take a genius to see that Wilson being ranked above Manheim Township is out of sorts. Pointing out that fact also does not mean that that’s the only thing wrong with the system, or that there’s some sort of “shot” being taken at a school.
This board has a serious problem with people dishing out trash talk, but once someone comes at you, they lose all sense of a logical argument and start whining about bias. News flash, that just makes you look less credible than you were before. If just making a point makes you feel like someone is taking a “shot” at you, then take a step back and look at yourself as to why you’re so insecure about teenagers playing a game.
November 3rd, 2019 at 1:16 pm
@D3 Mike,
Just to be clear I have no faded varsity Football Jacket from Wilson. However I have been watching football not just around the district but around the country and find your pedestrian and biased views of D3 significant. Should you like to discuss football in a tangible and meaningful way that draws on more than just your myopic truth please ask to meet and I will advise you where we sit for the Wilson games while I stream multiple games from around the country on my iPads. Good luck with your recruiting efforts.
November 3rd, 2019 at 11:27 am
D3 Mike you are as biased and insecure as they come. Tell the whole story on D3 rankings this year
5A – Cocalico is the one seed and has two losses with one coming to MC who is the 4 seed. Warwick killed MC, is 8-2 and is the 5 seed and must go to MC to play them. Shippensburg is undefeated and is the 3 seed. Justify all that you Twit!
6A – Red Lion and Chambersburg were both 6-4 and beat Chambersburg, but they finished 9th directly behing them and missed the playoffs
If you want to take a shot at a school be prepared and tell the whole story. They make purple pills for your other shortcomings!
November 3rd, 2019 at 10:55 am
Sir Cricket, you’ll have to forgive me for tapping out after this post. I don’t want to bore the forum further by endlessly retreading the same ground of D3 football politics and Berks County parochialism that I’m sure most could care less about.
You’re welcome to think that a) being a fan and b) noting that your team benefitted from a broken formula is a binary choice. It’s still a free country. You’re welcome to think that the system D3 has had in place since all of 2010, that it tweaked in 2011, and that it tweaked again in 2016 “has been consistent for many years”. Webster’s would disagree with your definitions of “consistent” and “many”, but whatever. Again, free country. You’re welcome to reduce a view I share with the vast majority of unbiased football fans to “an opinion”, just as my contention that the moon-landing actually took place is “an opinion”. You’re welcome to think that Wilson being hurt by this same system, previously, has anything to do with whether the formula should be modified or not. That’s another false binary choice (BTW, Wilson has never been hurt by this system’s math, ever. D3 posts all brackets back to 2010 so it’s easy to refute that abject rationalization with a modicum of effort). Finally, you’re welcome to think a 20-13 playoff game is “not in doubt”. Think whatever you like, and people can decide for themselves whether your views have merit or if you’re just another alum whose faded varsity jacket has started to restrict blood flow. As it stands, I guess my high school football “credentials” are a basic familiarity with Google, a car that will take me further than West Lawn, and finely honed critical thinking skills (see above)?
P.S. I won’t be at the BC game next weekend. I drew the booster club short straw so it’s my turn to hit the recruiting trail and work on next year’s crop of talent!
Phillyboy, Thanks. MT probably has the most balanced team in the district and because of their playmakers, they would have a puncher’s chance against Prep. But they are realistically 3-4 TDs behind, so it would take them winning the turnover battle by 2+, plus a lot of other breaks just to keep it close. Their wideouts are very good – tall, fast, athletic – and their QB is heading to Colgate. I believe they also have a youngish head coach who was a WR in the CFL so I’d have to think with that offensive scheme and their talent level they’d be able to move the ball. To be fair, I haven’t seen Prep play on TV since Trotter got hurt and I’m not sure how well their current back-7 matches up against non-Florida-Football-Factory level offenses? You tell me. My guess is that it would probably be similar to the Harrisburg game last year, at best. That said, and as I said at the start of the playoffs, MT is 50/50 to even get out of the district and they’d only be slight favorites against the D1 winner. It’s sort of a shame because if you were to take Prep out of the equation there would be 10 teams with a legitimate shot to win a state title this year (I’d even throw LaSalle in there!). D1, D3, D11, WPIAL… just a lot of parity across PA in 6A.
November 3rd, 2019 at 7:55 am
@D3 Mike– Not to put you on the spot, man, but your writing is fantastic. I also take pride in being able to express myself well (as I huff on my finger nails and subsequently buff them on my chest) but phillyboy is a mere amateur masquerading as a big shot, whereas D3 Mike is the real deal, er, a professional. Like a D1 player on an otherwise mediocre high school football team, it’s noticeable. Now that I puffed you up, let me get your thoughts on something. Been hearing good things about this Manheim Township team. Seems that they’re the leading candidate to be the sacrificial lamb for Saint Joe’s Prep in the state final (although I wouldn’t be surprised one iota if Coatesville makes some noise, having a latent anger, a stoic sense of postponed justice). What do you think though, does MT have the goods to pull off an upset rivaling the 1980 USA ice hockey team over the Soviet Union, Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson, or Chaminade over Virginia?
November 2nd, 2019 at 11:34 pm
D3 Mike, so you live in Wilson SD and say “I don’t know where you get I don’t like Wilson…but only fans of Wilson think they earned the #1 seed” which is it, fan or dislike, pick one. Regardless of your opinion, the District 3 math has been consistent for many years and some times it has cut for and against Wilson, this year the math favored them, other years it hasn’t and the title game has been neutral field. Personally I’d prefer the championship game at a neutral site, but that’s not it the cards so it’s time to move on. The best team should win regardless of where the game is played. So if the fan base is so parochial perhaps you can dazzle us all with your credentials. Finally last night’s game was really not in doubt 56 seconds into the 3rd quarter when wilson scored their 20th unanswered point. This week brings a new challenge in Harrisburg, they need to go 1-0 this week to advance, good luck to every team playing this week for success and for the players to stay healthy and without any major injuries!
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:54 pm
@Kevin X & BucksCountty Fullback – you guys beat me to the punch, I was going to respond to NW PA that it’s far from certain that ECP would have won the last 3 5A titles. With that being said ECP vs. Wood in 16/17 would have been tremendous games, I would make AW a one score favorite but ECP was loaded too, would have been a heavyweight slugfest in the old 4 class setup. That’s one of the many downsides to 6 classes, we get blowouts in 4A and 5A in 16/17 when in 4 classes would have had classic match-ups. But at least a few more teams get a trophy or a runner-up plaque thanks to the PIAA.
@d3 MIke – i agree with you about D3 6A this year, the qualify and depth of top end teams is second to none, definitely better than the WPIAL, D11 and IMO D1 as well. Tremendous match-ups this weekend, both games could go either way, MT better get this last game out of their system or CD is going to take it to them next week, think at least one and maybe both of the road teams win.
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:49 pm
Also, I have no idea where you’d get that I don’t like Wilson. I live in Wilson, go to all of the home games (well, not McCaskey). I’m on the Mike Drago chat “each week” (meaning the past 2 weeks) telling Mike and the rest of the parochial fans in Berks that it is absolute lunacy that Wilson has the #1 seed over Manheim Township – because it IS lunacy to everyone but supporters of the team and the sports reporter who wants to keep selling them newspapers. That doesn’t mean I don’t like Wilson. I simply think it’s Wilson who should be playing Central Dauphin this week and that the district final should be at Manheim. BTW, how many people will mention on this week’s chat that Wilson deserved the 1-seed because they beat “league undefeated” Spring Ford and MT didn’t?…
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:23 pm
Sweet Jesus, it was tight into the 3rd quarter, not into the 4th quarter. Again, I tried to cover an entire district in one post. 3rd quarter, not 4th quarter. Millersburg not Millersville. Probably some other errors in those 6 paragraphs, too. My point was simply to convey that the game was more competitive than the 41-13 final score, not to knock Wilson, who as you noted controlled the line of scrimmage (as they have all season). But what I watched was two teams head to the locker room tied, and I can’t remember the last time I could say that about a 1-seed in a first-round game. It was a commentary on the strength of the district this year, not a slight directed at Wilson.
November 2nd, 2019 at 4:06 pm
How could you say the WWL/Chambersburg game was a tight one into the 4th? Chambersburg didn’t score a pt. after the 1st Q and Wilson scored 41. C burg RB had a 54 yd td on the 4th play of the first drive and was 14-30 after that. Plus WWL had 370 yds rushing. CB did absolutly niothing after the first two drives? I’m confused at what you were watching. WWL OL/DL dominated
November 2nd, 2019 at 3:41 pm
Manheim Township has the ability to move the ball up and down the field very quickly. They have 3-4 nice receivers, several good backs and a QB who is accurate and on time with his passes most of the time. Their ‘O’ line gave him ample time to survey the field until someone broke open. CV was able to buckle down several times and hold them, sometimes with the aid of a penalty. Also, the CV defense picked off two Kirk passes stalling Manheim Township drives. Manheim Township turned to ball over several times on fumbles (a muffed punt and a crunching hit of the punt return man as he caught the ball) inside their own 30 and CV was able to punch it in against their defense. CV scored 26 points on a defense that had only given up 55 points in 10 games although they were aided by shorter field on several of those occasions. Manheim Township has a very good and diversified offense and a stout defense. CV’s runs came mostly inside as the Township defense swarmed any wide running plays. CV gave them trouble on several types of misdirection pass plays and a few slant passes. The difference in the game was the pass blocking. CV’s QB was constantly under pressure. Manheim Township probably had at least 5-6 sacks and many hurries. On the other hand Kirk was able to stay in the pocket or move from side to side with little to no pressure on most pass attempts . Good game by both teams. All in all Township is a very solid team very capable of making a run at the state finals but they need to tighten up their ball security if they are going to win D3 and move on.The second round rematch with Central Dauphin should be a good one. Manheim Township won the first one 10-7. Central Dauphin has improved since the early season losses and has a lot of play makers also. I would expect a few more points the second time around.
November 2nd, 2019 at 12:18 pm
D3 Mike. Fully realize that you don’t particularly like Wilson after watching your posts in Mike Drago’s chat each week, but I have a hard time believing you were at the Wilson game last night since Wilson scored 41 unanswered points after midway through the second quarter and held the Chambersburg offense to about 100total yards after those first 13 points scored. The game was never in question after the 2nd of 4 TDs scores in the 3rd quarter. Enjoy your BC game today and good luck!
November 2nd, 2019 at 12:03 pm
Let me stand corrected before some of you guys take me behind the woodshed………
“ECP, nor anyone else in PA regardless of classification, other than SJP (which they did twice) or the Pine Richland 2017 team, would have beaten those 2016 and 2017 Archbishop Wood teams.” 🙂
November 2nd, 2019 at 10:41 am
Great night for football! As expected, a lot of close games but not a lot of upsets in D3. I was at Wilson v Chambersburg, which despite the final score, was a tight one into the 4th (and 13-13 at halftime). Wilson plays Harrisburg next Friday in what should be a great contrast of styles game and revenge for the Wilson seniors after an ugly district semifinal loss last year. We’ll see if Wilson has the speed and height in the secondary to keep up – which was really their problem vs Manheim Township earlier this year.
Speaking of, MT struggled against Cumberland Valley’s wing-T offense – which no one runs in 5A and 6A anymore. (Side note: I honestly think Central Dauphin added Berks Catholic (who also runs that offense) non-league last year partly to to defend against the offense once before playing their rival, CV). Anyways, we’ll see if MT got it out of their system before taking on a red hot Central Dauphin squad next week. The two did play a 10-7 game in September but MT controlled the action more than the score suggests. That was also before sophomore (Penn State offer) WR Ivey came back from injury to give MT their best deep threat.
Anyone who tells you they know what’s going to happen in those 6A semi-finals is lying. Could go either way. All 4 are good enough to lose to Prep. Any of the 4 could be done with football next Friday.
In 5A, #8 seed Mifflin rolled into what could be the upset special in D3 next weekend as they get a rematch with a #1 Cocalico squad they played close in September. Also in 5A it will be #5 Warwick and #4 Manheim Central in what most consider the 5A final, two weeks too early.
Small surprise was Steel High getting knocked out. They were the favorites for many in 2A… until the district ruled their star RB transfer from Middletown ineligible on Tuesday. Why they wait until right before the playoffs to rule on these cases is beyond me. I guess to spare themselves from having to rule on kids who won’t even be in the playoffs? But it sure makes planning hard for the coaches. Delone also historically plays Steel High well so congrats to them on the win.
Finally, Millersville, in their final season of football, wins the D3-1A championship. With a 3-8 record lol. But seriously, good for those kids to send the program out on a high note. They will be merging with 11-0, 2A Upper Dauphin, who will hopefully provide some competition to Wyo, Middletown & Lancaster Catholic in 3A next year. Not sure how many 1A and 2As D3 will even have left for next cycle.
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:27 am
I don’t see the CBW/C’ville game that close. One thing that might prove me wrong is that it’s at CBW.
Not surprised by the Haverford but I am surprised on how big.
NP/DTW! What can I say!? I have no idea on that one.
BTW, 3CTV live streams 3 teams. C’ville and the two D-Towns.
If someone finds out if they are covering the NP/DTW game please let me know.
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:27 am
@ NW PA
ECP, nor anyone else in PA regardless of classification, other than SJP (which they did twice), would have beaten those 2016 and 2017 Archbishop Wood teams.
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:05 am
This probably would have had a little more credence if I posted this yesterday or earlier the week, but still going toss out there a long range prediction of the D1/D3 6A State semi-final match-up as being Round 4, the 4th meeting in the past 2 seasons, of Coatesville and Harrisburg. Yeah kind of boring, same old same old, but we’ll see as the weekends unfold.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:55 am
@ Jay
Funny, I was watching that DTE/C’Ville replay, and in the back of my head remember that mention of the Bryant personal foul, so I was keeping a close eye out for it. Then the push out of bounds play happened, saw a flag fly in the background, and thought, yeah, you gotta to be kidding. But I understand being at a game, sometimes you either don’t have the best view, the refs look (or are) clueless in their decision making, or the PA announcer his asleep at the wheel, as doesn’t properly fill in the crowd of what is going on. So kudos fo you for clarifying the situation on your end.
Speaking of getting your wish, me as well!!! Power outage in the greater Central Bucks area yesterday, assuming from the weather the night before, knocked out power at CB West and the game was postponed to tonight at CBWest @7p, providing power is restored. If not by 2p, the game will be moved to Pennridge HS tonight at 7p. Not wishing people to be without power, especially on cold morning, but love for them to move the game to Pennridge. Either way, I have another game tonight!!! Heard the NP/CBSouth game was in jeopardy as well due to no power, but they got their power back and game went on as scheduled. Guessing CB South wished the power was out for just a little longer.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:06 am
NW
There was no 5A 4 years ago and cathedral prep was not beating the Wood teams of 2016 and 2017.
Will be interesting what Wood does next cycle as they are a 4A playing up to 5A. If we go back to 4 classifications not sure they would still be a 3A, but probably are.
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:21 am
Mike A: Good for Cumberland Valley — my gut was telling me they could pull an upset. How do you assess MT? Folks on this site have them taking on SJP in the final, but I’m doubtful of that — I think a D3 team will knock them out first.
Anyone have a prediction on the DTW/NP game? I’m thinking NP has a great chance, especially after the way Pennsbury ran the ball on DTW in the first half. With that said, however, DTW can turn it on pretty fast. I’m guessing C’ville will play CBW — any thoughts on that? Souderton beat CBW — that bodes well for C’ville — they scored 49 points on Souderton in a little over 8 minutes in Q2 and sat their starters the 2nd half (While DTW was scoring another TD late with starters in — just sayin’:))
November 1st, 2019 at 11:26 pm
Well, got my wish and was able to head down Lincoln highway to Kottmeyer Stadium for the second half which started all knotted up at 28. D West brought their A-game and won by four TDs.
Coatesville started off slow and trailed 7-0 after the first quarter, but came alive in grand fashion and led 49-7 at the half. Someone verify this… I left a couple minutes before the half and they were up 42-7 and Dapree Bryant had just pulled in an interception. Pretty sure their seventh score was before half.
Really pulling for Ridley tomorrow, but assuming CB West wins, next Friday is gonna be the toughest choice of the year between traveling to CBW to see Coatesville vs driving ten minutes to see D West vs North Penn. Probably will end up streaming one and going to the other. West in a very close tough game.
Also good call to whoever below picked Haverford.
November 1st, 2019 at 11:24 pm
I think if McCord, Harrison, and Trotter left SJP, P-R might think about staying 6A. And thinking ahead to 5A next year, will the WPIAL semifinals and finals be harder games than playing NA and PCC like they had to do in 17 and maybe this year in 6A. Doubtful.
You can’t always trust comparison scores, but P-R mercy ruled 5A Moon who beat Peters by 2 TDS. Peters is one of three favorites to win WPIAL 5A. Unless 5A has 6 or 7 great teams Next year, P-R’s first two playoff games should be halftime mercy rule games.
November 1st, 2019 at 10:53 pm
Cumberland Valley nearly pulls the upset
Leading 26-24 with a little over 3 minutes left CV had undefeated Manheim Township on the ropes. CV had just moved into Manheim territory and was 6 yards from a first down and coming close to running out the clock with a 2nd and 6 when Manheim called the first of it remaining three time outs. On the next play an off tackle run resulted in a bobble and ultimately a fumble that Manheim recovered. With new life Manheim moves down the field converting some nice passes and scores the winning TD with 1:07 left. Congrats to both teams on a great game!
Manheim Township 32
Cumberland Valley 26
FINAL
November 1st, 2019 at 10:41 pm
How the heck did they ( NP ) lose to them (CBS) 2 weeks ago?!? Maybe CBS was missing some of their top guns tonight, I don’t know.
NP didn’t improve that much in 2 weeks. Then again it is playoff ( knight) time.As of this typing, not sure of the DTW/ Pennsbury match.
Assuming it’s DTW, there’s a helluva match ( NP/DTW) brewing for next week !
November 1st, 2019 at 7:17 pm
@Kevin X
After watching the replay of that game, I saw that it was a sideline warning. A lot of people in the crowd near me didn’t even know what the call was. And judging by Dapree Bryant’s reaction to the flag, it seemed like a personal foul call. But I now see that I was mistaken. I still think the pass interference call was iffy though!
Souderton out to a decent start against Coatesville so far, up a score. I was hoping for a blowout so I could pull the Lincoln Double and catch the second half of the Dtown West game.
November 1st, 2019 at 2:56 pm
Hey Chief, unfortunately I can’t help on the Soudy/C’Ville stream. I was interested in the game myself from the Big Red side of things. I was expecting the game to be the 3CTV game this week, and not the DTW/Pennsbury game. I watched the replay of the C’Ville/DTE game the other night, and they were asking for local businesses to step up for sponsorships and individuals for donations, as they were saying the playoff games cost more to produce (higher fees I guess, D1??, PIAA??). Guess they got their wish, but maybe the donors/sponsors wanted the DTW game. Speaking of the C’Ville/DTE game, one of you C’Ville guys mentioned last weekend about some bad calls, and from an unbiased point of view, I cannot concur with you. That Bryant so called push out of bounds personal foul, don’t know what game you were at or watching, but that was a sideline warning against DTE. The pass interference call the play before, really could have gone either way. The DTE receiver was tripped.
November 1st, 2019 at 2:45 pm
@Jeff H: Erie Cathedral has had really low numbers on their JV team 2 years in a row. They will always have good kids and I heard their freshmen team was good but I think you will see a rebuilding year or two while they are up in 5A. The last 4 years they probably would have won the 5A title but I don’t think that will be the case next year or even the year after that.
November 1st, 2019 at 2:34 pm
That’s interesting about Pine Richland. Question: if they had lost a tight game to St. Joe’s Prep last year instead of a blowout, do you think they take a more serious look at just staying at 6A? The WPIAL 5A is already brutal. These changes make it more so. And with the brackets supposedly switching back to D3-D7 next year it’s not like the 6A winner historically has had all that much trouble with State College and the D3 winner to get to Hershey. I’m thinking just to get there a western team will have an easier path in 6A than 5A, although I guess that depends on where ECP gets placed in the 5A bracket next year. Even the WPIAL 5A semi-finals next year will be can’t-miss, though.
Do all of the reclassifications get done simultaneously are is there a “pending” or review period? For example, do all of the D10 schools have a chance to see where ECP is going to go next cycle before deciding what class to register at?
November 1st, 2019 at 1:29 pm
@Buddy – Ridley didn’t do so well stopping the run in the regular season against Haven and GV, and I think they are going to struggle to stop West tonight, we’ll see! You’re right about the weather, after a mild fall thus far it’s finally football weather!
November 1st, 2019 at 12:21 pm
@D3 Mike – I agree with your district picks, like Manheim Township to win and also beat the D1 rep and play SJP in the state final, I also think Warwick has a very good chance to get to Hershey, I’d pick them vs Gateway in the final, and I anticipate the Middletown/Wyomissing winner will end up playing Central Valley for the state title.
On a side note there was an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette this week that indicated Pine Richland will be 5A for the next 2 yr cycle, and with the anticipation of Erie Prep moving up from 4A that will make 5A a much stronger class for the next few years, will also make 6A in the WPIAL a lot weaker.
@ Kevin X – I’d go with North Penn vs. CB South, I have a hunch that’s going to be a very competitive game, think West is going to handle Ridley by about 3 scores, they haven’t fared so well this year against power running teams.
November 1st, 2019 at 8:40 am
Question for all: Does anyone know if the C’ville/Souderton game is being streamed or on the radio? They chose to stream the DTW game on the one site that shows Coatesville.
November 1st, 2019 at 7:22 am
Guess yu-all know where I’ll be. If Ridley has the ability to stop the run CB West could be in trouble.
Haven’t seen Haverford play, but seen SF. They’re big, including their RB.
Haven’t seen Abington nor PW. Abington is usually famous for their speed.
PV is small. They’re always small. DTE and PV have already played this year. It wasn’t all that close.
It’s football weather that’s for damn sure!
October 31st, 2019 at 9:07 pm
From the PGH Post-Gazette – Pine-Richland dropping to 5A and South Fayette moving up to 5A.
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-football/2019/10/31/PIAA-WPIAL-classification-changes-realignment-South-Fayette-Pine-Richland-enrollment/stories/201910310199
October 31st, 2019 at 8:18 pm
Ok guys, need a little input, do I hit up Ridley @ CB West or North Penn @ CB South?? Leaning the latter, b/c looking ahead, I already have circled C’Ville @ CB West for next week (hope I just didn’t jinx CB West).
October 31st, 2019 at 4:53 pm
Kevin X- I’m with you on Haverford, in fact I would be surprised if they don’t win that game. I’d make them a 6.5 point favorite. Their QB/athlete, Trey Blair, is as much of a game-breaker as anyone in the district.
But I’m not seeing Perk Valley over DTE. If it were a regular season game, maybe, with East coming down off the Coatesville emotion, but the PAC has been a paper tiger in the 6A playoffs.
I think we’re only looking at 2 or 3 competitive games games in the 1st round with CBS/NP, Abington/PW, and possibly Haverford/Spring-Ford. Wouldn’t shock me to see 3-4 score or mercy rule wins in the rest of the games this week.
October 31st, 2019 at 3:55 pm
Im not upset by byes being in district play, in my eyes there should be, if you don’t have a .500 record or above you shouldn’t be in playoffs, but to have byes in state play is nonsense, instead of having like district 4 champ play district 2 champ have them have the bye and have one of them play district 3 champ? That’s all I’m trying to say here. Just seems like it’s always district 3 getting the byes in state playoffs. Also a few years ago. First round of playoffs whole state was being played except for district 3 it was their last week of the season. That made no sense there either. I know some schools bylaws, they have to be .500 or above or they won’t participate in playoffs.
October 31st, 2019 at 9:39 am
Some games to watch in D11:
Northampton vs. Easton (6A): The runaway EPC North champs against a slumping Easton, but the EPC South is much tougher of a division. I’m picking Easton.
East Stroudsburg South vs. Pocono Mountain East (5A): EPC North rivals played a one-possession game earlier this season, but the game was not as close as the score indicated. ESS to win.
Central Catholic vs. Saucon Valley (4A): All four higher seeds are favored, but the 4-5 is most likely to be close. Still picking Central Catholic by a couple scores.
Tamaqua vs. Notre Dame Green Pond (3A): A rematch from last year, probably the best game in D11 this week and one of the best in the state. A true toss-up, I pick Tamaqua to exact revenge.
Outside of these, the games mostly have clear favorites. It’s the playoffs though, and anything can happen. Next round could have some real barn-burners.
October 31st, 2019 at 6:43 am
Should be competitive games in D3-6A but I don’t see any upsets. Plus many of the better teams in the other classes are on byes this week.
For those interested, Brian Linder at PennLive broke down the teams and key players better than I could. Rather than plagiarize, I’ll just repost the link below. Since he’s summarizing 44 teams it’s just a couple of sentences on each program plus their D1 talent but it’s a good overview along with prediction blurb for each class. He’s actually seen almost all of these teams play.
I’m on board with all of his district winner predictions with the exception of 4A. He’s a bit higher on Susquehanna Twp than most. Not that it matters at the state level since the D3 champ is going to get wrecked by the TJ-ECP winner this year anyways. And my coin flip came up heads so I’m going to take Middletown.
Manheim
Warwick
Milton Hershey
Middletown
Steel High
Millers
https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2019/10/district-3-high-school-football-bracket-breakdown-predicted-champs-top-teams-and-players-in-each-class.html
October 30th, 2019 at 4:02 pm
Kevin X noted a couple of possible upsets in D1, I don’t foresee any in the WPIAL, at least not in 6A or 5A, the one possibility would be #11 Baldwin over #6 McKeesport, I have seen both and that should be a pretty competitive game, but still think McKeesport will win at home. I do think #9 Upper St Clair will beat #8 North Hills, but wouldn’t consider that much of an upset because USC played in a much tougher conference than North Hills, winner will likely get rolled by #1 Penn Trafford the following week.
I agree with D3 Mike that #1 Wilson is going to have their hands full with #8 Chambersburg, that’s a pretty rough draw in the first round for a #1 seed, if I’m MT I’d much rather play CV than Chambersburg, think the other top seeds in D3 win pretty comfortably.
Anyone else have any possible upset specials this week?
October 30th, 2019 at 9:35 am
@ Buddy
Nice D1 6A picks. I will go on the record with one upset special. Believe Haverford will travel up Rte. 422 and knock off Spring-Ford. Second, I would not be as shocked as everyone else would be if Perk goes down to Dowingtown on Saturday and surprises DTE. How’s that for hedging second upset special???
October 30th, 2019 at 8:40 am
@Kevin x heck even 8 out of 12 i AAAA make it.Cash cow games those stadiums will be empty.Even Valley View who draws well if their a chill in the air you be lucky to get enough to pay for the lights.You really think people form Pittston will travel up for the game how many people from Abington are going to be at Dallas very few trust me>No i call them a waste of money, time and a chance of getting kids hurt playing competition that we all know is over thier heads
October 29th, 2019 at 1:50 pm
I know it’s been said before, but I’ll say it again………… drop down to 5 classes ( does the PIAA ever read these posts?)
That would solve some of the problems mentioned below. Too many teams make the playoffs in some classes
and other classes play hell fielding playoff teams. D1, 6A should only have 8 teams in playoffs ( they used to ).
October 29th, 2019 at 1:04 pm
@ Jut – PIAA gives each district a certain amount of weeks for their district playoffs, depending on the number of teams in each classification. For example, D3 has 18 teams in 6A, and PIAA gave them 4 weeks to complete playoffs, they chose to take 8 teams with a 3 week playoff, so that’s why they have a bye the week before they will take on the D1 winner. Other districts could do the same thing, it’s up to them to decide how to structure their playoffs, but most districts decide to take as many teams as possible, that’s why there are some really bad teams across the state that make their district playoffs. I think the PIAA should force district 3 to take their bye this week before the playoffs start, and not after they are completed, but that’s how the system is currently set up.
In the WPIAL in 6A, there are only 9 teams, and PIAA gives them 3 weeks, so instead of 8 out of 9 teams making the playoffs for a full bracket there are 6 that make it, and top 2 seeds get byes this week, which are Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Pine Richland, so both of them have this week off. Same deal in D3 in 5A, there are 14 teams that make the playoffs, and top 2 seeds get a bye this week.
As D3 Mike indicated the only way to do a fair seeding and bracket statewide would be to seed teams in each class 1-32 and do away with district playoffs, that is never going to happen because certain districts like the WPIAL will refuse to go along, and their teams would not play in state playoffs if push comes to shove and PIAA tries to eliminate district playoffs, to say nothing of all the travel involved when teams are seeded statewide for the whole tournament.
October 29th, 2019 at 12:54 pm
Picks ( D1 6A ):
DTW ( somewhat embarrassing)
NP
DTE ( want PV tho)
SF
CBW ( closer then you think)
C’ville ( ugly)
GV ( bit of a blowout)
Abington ( close)
Let’s see how badly I blow this one!
October 29th, 2019 at 12:48 pm
@Jut this has been explained in the forums already but I’ll repeat it here. Districts almost always have byes (and there are many districts with byes) because they choose to have byes, not because they were “given byes by the PIAA”. The PIAA assigns a number of weeks for district playoffs based on the number of teams in each class relative to neighboring districts. District 3 was given 4 weeks for 4A, 5A, and 6A because it has one-quarter of the 4A, 5A, and 6A football teams in the state of PA and there was no more even way to split everything up this cycle (6A is an abomination because D1 and D3 alone have 60% of the 6A programs).
In turn, District 3 CHOOSES to send roughly half of its teams into the playoffs while many other districts CHOOSE to send more than half of their teams just to fill out complete brackets. The result is byes for some District 3 teams (week 11 for 3A, 4A, and 5A and week 14 for 6A) while other districts are playing games. District 3 simply chooses to extend byes rather than add more mediocre teams to the bottom of its bracket to deliver more mercy rule, round 1 “playoff” games (like many of the other eastern PA districts are doing this weekend).
If anything, District 3 should be required to hold its 6A bye in Week 11 (also, already stated) instead of Week 14 to make it more even with the D1 winner. But as it stands, again, District 3 has one-quarter of all big-schools (4A-6A) in PA and gets those winners placed in the state semi-finals (1/4 of teams, 1/4 of state spots, seems pretty fair to me) and one-eighth of all 3A programs with its winner placed in the quarterfinals (again, 1/8 of teams, 1/8 of state spots seems fair to me) so these teams certainly don’t get any “byes” into the state playoffs. There are lots of easy paths to the state playoffs in PA and other than 1A (agreed – should have been combined into a super region this cycle), none of them are in District 3.
October 29th, 2019 at 12:35 pm
@ mark d
Here is some fun with numbers….there are 20 teams combined in the D2 “A” “2A” “3A” and “6A” classifications. Only 4 did not make the playoffs. In the other words, 80% of those teams will be playing another game this weekend. Simple greed. Call it the cash cow weekend (you can say this for across the state as well).
@ Buddy
Actually they would (have avoided), that was my point of being the #11 seed. Facing Abington and Garnet in the first two rounds, and not meeting up with one of the “Big 3” until possibly the district semi’s.
@ Jut
Of the six districts in the Eastern coverage area, I think D3 does it the best with their playoffs. Meaning that they actually limit the number of teams in the post season. My two issues are with their “A” (see prior post) and 6A, with having a bye before facing the D1 Champion (we’ve been down that road already). Solutions: either put bye before their (D3) championship game, start the 6A district playoffs a week later (everyone gets a bye this weekend), or, gonna contradict myself here (too many teams in the playoffs), go with a 10 or 12 team playoff like the other D3 classifications to add another week and equal things out.
@D3 Mike
You nailed nailed it, scrap the districts as currently set-up, go with an even 32 team/5 week system for each classification. (stop typing guys, Yeah, I know it will never happen).
October 29th, 2019 at 11:13 am
@D3 Mike – have not seen Central Valley live, only highlights, lot of team speed like Aiiquippa and throw the ball some, QB Ameer Dudley has passed for 1,200 yards and is a dual threat, receiver Juwon Hall has 10 TD receptions, including 2 long ones against the Quips of 49 and 35 yards, offense averages 40 ppg, also a pretty stout defense that totally shut down Aliquippa, I would be very surprised if they are not the Western rep in Hershey.
Also agree with you about NG, expect their game against the D3 winner to be very competitive.
Really pleased with the seedings in 5A, I think the WPIAL got it exactly right this time, and they don’t always, Penn Trafford is #1, Gateway #2, even though they finished 2nd in their conference behind Penn Trafford, Penn Hills #3, Moon #4 and Peters Township #5. Very interesting 2nd round games between Peters and Moon, as well as Penn Hills vs. McKeesport, I like Penn Trafford and Peters to meet in one semi-final, they played a classic last year in the quarterfinals won by Peters 38-35 on a last second field goal, with backyard rivals Gateway vs. Penn Hills in the other semi-final. I think this year will be a repeat of 2017 with Gateway beating Penn Trafford in the final, and reversing the result from the regular season, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Peters upsets Penn Trafford in the semi’s.
October 29th, 2019 at 8:18 am
something has to change ! thier will be 12 playoff games in D2 this weekend. i will bet that 6 of the 12 will be mercy rule games 3 more will be by at least 3 touchdowns so that leaves 3 competitive game in the first week why ? dose 3-7 abington really need to play 10-0 Dallas ??? game will be over in the first quarter.they need to look at more sub regional games
October 29th, 2019 at 6:22 am
@ Kevin
Actually, I wanted CB West 1st round, but CB South is a good 2nd choice. No matter where NP wound up, they wouldn’t have avoided
either D-Towns or C’ville early on. If tradition holds true, NP is another animal at playoff time ( probably shouldn’t have said that…………jinx).
I think they’ll beat CBS.( also think they would have beat CBW)…………….. DTW is another story.
October 29th, 2019 at 12:04 am
These brackets every year make me laugh. With all these byes for district 3, like why is there no byes for others districts? Can some please explain? Next year when there is a new cycle, will other districts get the byes in states or will it be D3 again? I know PIAA headquarters are there so they might be bias for giving their schools some rest in the state playoffs which help a lot. Can’t be knocked out if you are playing while others play to get that far. How is that fair?
October 28th, 2019 at 11:42 pm
Jeff H: I was at game. Number 5 (DE for NA) had to leave the game with what looked like back or leg issues had to be helped from training table after the game. #3 (Colon) also had to leave game with what looked like cramps, but did not return on defense. Not sure about O. #76 was ejected for taking a swing at the ref after a personal foul call. He’s definitely out for a week. #8 (Dinkins) dressed but did not play a snap. That was interesting. He could help them. Maybe just for appearances sake. Not sure. That’s all I saw. Maybe more. Trent Miller for P-R played entire game on defense – good to see since he was in major pain at the SV game with a shoulder.
Will be interesting. P-R will have to continue to throw the ball like they did (Spencer for 400 and 5 TDs, Jochem for 11/221 with 3 TDs, Johnson 8/169, 1 TD) both deep and short passes to the sideline. Looked to me like P-R handled NA’s LB’s and DB’s well. Had some issues with the DL and couldn’t run the ball at all. Have to get Meckler going to keep winning IMO. But, defense played lights out. NA had 2 big plays for TD’s and that was about it. No consistent passing game to speak of really hurt them.
October 28th, 2019 at 10:48 pm
D1, D2, D3 and D11 should be an eight team regional (maybe call it a super regional, or not so super regional??) bracket as well. If I was associated with D3, I’d be embarrass staging that so-called “A” “championship” game.
October 28th, 2019 at 10:09 pm
@Jeff H. You are right 2 years ago. I’am bad. How time flies by. But. I can remember reading on this forum alot of doubt from Philly fans saying Southern had no chance of winning that game.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:45 pm
To everyone from santa,
I am not coming on here as different names let’s get that clear right now. Secondly whoever made the comment about southern not competing at 7 on 7 is absolutely ludicrous. You idiots want to play basketball on grass and that’s fine but again the game up north where we live is won on the line of scrimmage. How about come to the North Pole for our playoff games and all the chuck and duck offenses would be standing over by the salamander heaters on there sidelines getting there hands warm while southern would be driving it down the field running the football. My point is the culture the toughness the mental toughness would overwhelm all teams. The real game has been lost and santa wants it brought back. Great pumkin have a great Halloween
Sincerely mr. Clause
October 28th, 2019 at 8:17 pm
Panel to rule on Pennsylvania high school’s ‘Redskins’ nickname
https://local21news.com/news/local/panel-to-rule-on-pennsylvania-high-schools-redskins-nickname
October 28th, 2019 at 7:00 pm
@JC….I agree ……makes no sense. D11 AAA could be in a sub region with 2 in that class and take top 8 out of 15 total AAA teams in d11 and d2. Like AA and AAAAA in those districts. There are 3 teams above 500 in AAA d11(Jim Thorpe, Salisbury and Northern Lehigh). But all three won’t make it. And in A d11 you have an 0-10 (shenendoah valley) team playing in the district tournament…..this needs to get looked at….make more sub regions in the smaller classes ….better playoffs matches than a 0-10 or 2-8 team playing a 9-1 or 10-0 team…..
October 28th, 2019 at 2:14 pm
Brackets and pairings for WPIAL will be announced tonight at 7pm, we already know 6A, as I previously posted Central Catholic and PR are #1 and #2 and have first round byes, in the semi-finals PCC will host winner of Seneca Valley-Mt Lebo, and PR will again host NA, assuming they beat Canon Mac next week at home. I heard from a buddy of mine NA came out of the PR game really banged up, and expect them to perhaps rest some guys next week, I don’t see how they flip the script against PR in 2 weeks and looks like it will be another PR vs. PCC final at Heinz.
Will be very interesting to see how they seed 5A, Penn Trafford is the no brainer number 1, but after that it gets a little hazy, I suspect they will have 9-1 Penn Hills at #2, and should have Gateway #3 ahead of Moon, the other section winner. If they seed Moon ahead of Gateway that would have Gateway playing Peters Township in 2nd round, and I still think those 2 are the biggest threats to Penn Trafford, I actually like Gateway’s chances and pick them to win, still not sold on Penn Hills, they played a very weak schedule outside of Pine Richland in week 0.
4A is a formality because TJ is so much better than everyone else, expect South Fayette to be #2, but think they will lose to TJ by at least a couple of scores if they meet.
3A is all Central Valley, and Aliquippa still likely #2 after getting blown out on Friday, both appear head and shoulders above everyone else in the WPIAL 3A.
2A – Washington should be #1, a lot of good teams and balance in this class, don’t think the WPIAL winner will beat Wilmington and expect them to face SCA for the third year in a row in Hershey
1A – Clairton had an impressive win on Friday against Jeanette, think those 2 will likely meet again in the final.
October 28th, 2019 at 2:10 pm
Asking for a friend….. Do those of you who are fans of a specific team (Ex Southern) get any satisfaction of debating why your team would beat another team knowing they are never going to play each other? Again. just asking for a friend.
October 28th, 2019 at 2:07 pm
@JC I think it gets re-aligned after this cycle (so we should have new brackets in 2020). I agree, though – not only the difference in the number of schools but it’s also odd that D2 was given 3 weeks for only 7 schools to play through? The match-ups should be flipped based purely on the numbers. It’s probably a geographic thing where D11/D12 and D2/D4 are closer geographically so they got matched up. IDK. That’s sort of how they do the brackets for 6A, too… but then it’s flipped again for 4A so who the heck knows.
That said, Neumann-Goretti has a strong team and all, but to reach the quarterfinals Lancaster Catholic, Wyomissing, and Middletown have to play each other and they have 6 trips to Hershey and 3 titles between them in the last decade. The second-best team in the state in 5A hasn’t been making it out of Heinz Field, either, and it will probably be the same story this year. It’s impossible to keep brackets balanced unless you’re willing to do away with districts and just seed teams in each class #1-#32 or something, with all the travel that would entail.
@Jeff, have you seen Central Valley live or on TV? What does their team look like? Both Middletown and Wyomissing run the Wing-t. Middletown is a bit more modern and plays more on the edges and Wyomissing runs the classic version – big line, big fullback, two fast halfbacks. Neither throws it – at all. Curious what that final might look like if one of them gets thru the East (although NG might be the favorite at this point, and I had thought NG vs. Aliquippa would have been a fun shootout).
October 28th, 2019 at 1:14 pm
@ JC
I think what looks out of skew is that D2 lost 2 3A teams this year with the consolidation of the W-B schools. So kind of had to impervise on the fly. With that said, think it was actually worse last year, with 8 of the 9 schools making the 3A D2 playoffs.
Things should be rearranged next year when the new 2 year enrollment and classifications/re-classifications are announced.
Don’t get too ahead of yourself, N-G will still have to get past PJPII first.
October 28th, 2019 at 1:07 pm
@ Buddy
Yes, you did indeed get your wish. But as the saying goes, be careful for what you wish for. If I was rooting for North Penn, I’d rather take my chances as the #11 seed and go thru Abington and Garnet versus as being the current #9 seed and facing CB South and DTW.
You probably already saw this by now, but the DTE game is Saturday night at Kottmeyer Stadium in Downingtown. DTW hosts there Friday night. The two Downingtown’s share Kottmeyer. Good chance we’ll see that scenario play out next weekend as well with back to back Friday and Saturday night games. You lucky ChesMont peeps!!!!
October 28th, 2019 at 1:04 pm
@ Dennis Pascoe – that was 2 yrs ago that SCA played NG, and those of us that follow football statewide predicted SCA would win that game, including some of the Philly guys, if you read some of the other boards.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:50 am
When do the playoff brackets get re-aligned? I noticed that 6 out of 7 AAA schools in D2 make the playoffs, but only 4 of 9 AAA schools in D11 qualify. Those D11 teams really get hard-done by having to get through Neumann-Goretti just to reach the quarterfinals.
October 28th, 2019 at 7:35 am
@Jiminy Cricket In my book team camps, speed camps 7 on 7 is just what it says. It is a indication of what you need and improve upon. It is not a game! You are right in saying Southern would be hard pressed to play 5 A 6A. Example I would say SJP would easily defeat them by 3 or 4 scores maybe even mercy rule (sorry Southern guys). But I would never bet against them either. Now thinking back to last year when they played that super team from Philly NG.. nobody gave Southern a chance in heck to win that game. all the Philly guys laughed at the thought. Southern easily won because they play SOLID discipline fundamental football. Southern is good at frustrating you into mistakes just like they did to NG and sent them packing. Before you say you are just a fan of Southern yes I follow them. But at heart a Dunmore bucks fan!
October 27th, 2019 at 9:30 pm
As for D1 5A, there should be some great 2nd round matchups.
Unionville would give Cheltenham a stern test, enough to see just how good the 1 seed is this year.
Kennett against a bulldozing Strath Haven team that has been solid this year outside of a mismatch with 6A Garnet Valley and getting bit by the division 1 recruits from 6A Haverford.
WC East/Rustin will be a neighborhood slugfest in what should be a great high school football atmosphere.
I think WC East is the favorite in the bracket, and could be a state final team if they stay healthy.
October 27th, 2019 at 4:48 pm
Looking at the D1 6A bracket, that Coatesville/CB West game in the 2nd round will be very interesting. It has seemed the last 3 years that the only way to neutralize the ‘Ville’s offense (other than turnovers like vs. Harrisburg last year) has been to keep them off the field by a consistent running attack by the opposing offense. It almost goes without saying that Matt Ortega and crew haven’t seen anything like the CB West nouveau wing-T recently, and they had their problems facing Garnet Valley’s triple option for the first time in the 2017 final.
Either way, the semifinal on that side of the bracket will be fun. Coatesville has earned the right to be the favorite to get back to the final, but they’re going to have to go through a couple sketchy games to get there. I doubt Garnet Valley will have any real trouble with OJR or Abington/PW, so we’ll either get the Wing-T vs. Triple Option, or Coatesville/GV part 3 without one of the Young brothers to decimate GV again.
October 27th, 2019 at 1:27 pm
WADR to Southern Columbia as they are a very good team, Santa and The Bloody Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown are outta their mind. I watched this Southern Columbia team at the LVC team camp this summer with great interest in their approach, their star players, and their potential. During the 7v7 they were pedestrian at best. During their 11 man team scrimmage they got run by a middling 6A Wilson. Their Stud RB heading to Michigan gaining negative yards and their stud WR being frustrated by decent DBs destined for D1 baseball careers. To ascert that Southern Columbia would be competitive against the states best is laughable.
October 27th, 2019 at 12:15 pm
D3 Mike, Wyomissing is very 1 dimensional, we both saw that, Wolfrum does have some passing plays he runs when the opponent stacks the box against them. That throwback screen they used against BC was a touchdown if the QB didn’t over throw it, I have seen Wyo throw it downfield on occasion this year and hit some big plays, their starting QB was lost the 1st game of the season. I think Wyo handles Middletown this year, this is Wyo’s best teams since their State Championship team and Middletown, while still good, looks to be a couple of notches down from the last few years. Wolfrum in my opinion is one of the top 5 coaches in PA football. BC had several VG football players transfer out the last few years, plus losing 29 Seniors from last year and the PIAA turning down 2 big time transfers this year really hurt them. What’s scary is Wyo is starting mostly Jr’s and Soph’s, BC does have some young talent that needs to develop but your right, football starts upfront and Wyo just dominated the line of scrimmage.
October 27th, 2019 at 11:28 am
Correct me if I’m wrong, DTE doesn’t have a field?
DTE & DTW both have home games Fri. nite.
Who plays where? Will one game be Sat.?
October 27th, 2019 at 9:38 am
I was sadden to hear about North Schuylkill QB Jaden Leiby. All of us who love high school football please pray for him and his family. Football is only a game. Life is real. With today’s doctors and the technology I pray they can help this young man on his road to recovery. Thankyou
October 27th, 2019 at 9:31 am
Of note re: the D3 brackets:
6A: Wilson did finish ahead of Manheim Township in the PR so they would get the final at home. They draw Chambersburg next Friday which is a brutal 1st rd game for a #1 seed. Chambersburg played some quality opponents tight in October. MT draws Cumberland Valley and then the district dark horse, Central Dauphin, in the semifinals.
5A: D3 furthers my interest in a WPIAL-style selection committee as its PR system matches Warwick and Manheim Central in the district quarterfinals. Well done, power rankings!
4A: This bracket actually makes sense. The two best teams IMO (Milton Hershey (2) and Bishop McDevitt (4)) drew pretty good match-ups. Top 6 seeds in D3-4A get a bye so we won’t know more about this class for a couple of weeks.
3A: The main thing of note here is that Wyomissing has the #1 seed. Since they don’t have lights they play all of their games Sat at 1, meaning there probably won’t be much competition for attention on Nov 16 when they square up with Middletown.
2A: A good bracket that flies under the radar because of SCA. Steel-High is probably the best team but they have the tougher semi and would also have to go on the road to Upper Dauphin. UD scoring almost 55 PPG.
October 27th, 2019 at 9:09 am
I’m assuming something happens with the 4, 5 & 6 seed. Almost has to.
DTE should, and I assume will, be 4th seed. Toss up between SF and Abington for 5 & 6.
PIAA power points has them all tied. But for no other reason DTE has 1 loss, other two has 2 losses.
Got my wish. NP goes to CBS. Any changes on the above shouldn’t change that.
October 27th, 2019 at 6:26 am
All
The team seeding meeting for District One playoffs is 10AM today (Sunday) at North Penn High School. Results are considered unofficial until noon on Monday to allow any disputes to be settled that may arise unexpectedly; which of course, should not occur. Possibly sometime today we may know the results.
October 27th, 2019 at 12:50 am
How many D1 players did Neumann Goretti have when Southern played them and what kind of numbers 1 way vs 2 way players did they have, etc.
And I’m honestly asking because I don’t know.
I am not a Southern fan by any means. And my opinion is based solely on this year’s team and what they’d be capable of.
I just think all you large school people even though you’re giving them respect, don’t truly understand what that defense can do and what their discipline and their staff can do, game planning and then getting the kids to execute. It’s not totally about the Jimmy’s and Joe’s. It’s more than that.
October 26th, 2019 at 10:23 pm
@Foleman SCA does not have many players go both ways. That is one of the main reasons MCA has not been able to beat them the past few years. It is usually a close game at half time but SCA always pulls away in the 2nd half after MCA’s mostly 2 way players get worn down. The past 10 years, MCA has had avg. ~35 players on the roster compared to SCA with avg ~55 players.
I think that certain years, small schools have fielded quality teams capable of competing with anyone in the state. I always thought some of MCA’s best teams in the 90’s could have competed with anyone except maybe CB West. This year’s SCA team would compete with anyone except the elite big school teams like St. Joe’s Prep and its not going out on a limb to say they are probably going to go down as the best AA team of all time.
Also, prayers for the North Schuylkill QB Jaden Leiby who was life flighted after going down with a serious neck injury Friday night against Pottsville.
October 26th, 2019 at 9:30 pm
……and before I forget……
@ FrankG
THANK YOU!!! FINALLY!!!! Someone gets it!!! Your post needs re-posting……. (hope you don’t mind)
“@JC The larger problem is that there are more and more completely non-competitive games–or so my scanning of the state-wide results each week suggests. The fact that two schools are pretty much the same size means a whole lot less than it used to, not just in cases where one school has boundaries and the other doesn’t but also in the more numerous cases where one school has a solid program and the other doesn’t. To some degree the problem will be resolved by some schools dropping football–I predict a steady stream of them beginning in the next few years–but the main problem will remain unless there’s a different approach to scheduling and classification.”
October 26th, 2019 at 9:25 pm
@ Jay
With now La Salle beating RC, and H-Burg laying the wood on Altoona, granted not official until tomorrow, but appears D1 6A looking like #6 Abington, #7 Coatesville, #8 CB South, #9 North Penn, #10 Souderton, #11 P-W. Top and bottom rankings looking to be unchanged. Not getting #4 S-F over #5 DTE, but maybe that will change.
Wouldn’t get overly concerned about a C’Ville/CB West match-up. If anything, Doylestown is a nice place to hang out before and/or after a game. BTW…..did you make it up here the other week?? Think I recall you were looking for some games to attend a few weeks ago…..the North Penn/CB West tilt was quite the contest if you missed it!!!
October 26th, 2019 at 7:08 pm
Are the seeds final yet? In my last comment I made a lot of assumptions and now I’m wondering if my scenario for Coatesville is way different than what’s actually going to happen. But either way I feel like they have an incredibly tough road through the D1 playoffs.
October 26th, 2019 at 6:52 pm
@Kevin X
I’m also liking that scenario four Fridays from now at Kottmeyer Stadium, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I like Downingtown West’s route more than Coatesvilles though.
If Coatesville gets through their home game next week, which I think they should, they have a tough road starting at CB West (which excites me because I’ve never seen CB West play before), and at Garnet Valley in a matchup where the Jaguars will want to deliver some payback for the past two seasons and also to avenge their only loss of the season the following week in Downingtown (all assuming higher seeds win of course).
The D1 playoffs are going to be incredibly exciting this year. Not only in 6A but also in 5A – I’m really pulling for a Kennett vs WC East rematch and would be happy to see either one win their tournament. What a year for both teams.
October 26th, 2019 at 5:28 pm
Uncle T. You may want to look at southerns schedule a little closer or scroll down to the post I submitted earlier. They have 1AA school on their schedule. They have 1 A school on their schedule. All the rest are AAA or AAAA. I’m not going to get into the southern could or couldn’t beat so and so from 6A and 5A. These are opinions of people and that’s it’s. Southern haters will say they can’t, southern fans will say they can. All I know is this is a once in a lifetime team and that they could compete with anyone. I didn’t say win I said compete but it wouldn’t shock me if they would win.
October 26th, 2019 at 4:14 pm
Sorry guys, a little late with this. Anybody interested in catching the stream of the LaSalle/Roman Catholic game from the historic, yet quirky Conshy “A” Field, here you go. 6p kickoff……
http://boblongsports.com
October 26th, 2019 at 4:12 pm
@ Marcm
NP would only be getting an additional 10 LaSalle “win bonus points”if LaSalle does beat RC this evening. LaSalle’s other wins have already been factored into NP’s rating points. So looking more like a #9 seed.
October 26th, 2019 at 3:51 pm
@kevin
Nah, rooting for a LaSalle win. Wanna see NP at CBS ( rather then Abington).
Revenge factor maybe plus CBS is lot closer for me than Abington ( getting lazy, i.e. old. )
If C’ville and both D-towns are in upper bracket, how can they meet in the final? I must be missing something.
@ Marcm:
I think the best NP can do is 9th. Am I missing something?
October 26th, 2019 at 3:27 pm
State College defeats Cumberland Valley 33-21 at Beaver Stadium.
https://twitter.com/threejacker/status/1188121605031022596
October 26th, 2019 at 2:37 pm
I think NP will jump to 7th place with the 80pts they’ll get with a LaSalle win
October 26th, 2019 at 11:18 am
@Kevin X
Thanks for the well wishes!
D11 5A title is definitely there for the taking. Will be our best shot as any with a matchup against East Stroudsburg South most likely. We’ve handed them in past district matchups, but that was then. One week at a time and hopefully we do get that chance to play with house money!
Don’t get me started on the field…I actually work in the grounds department for the district, shhhh. It’s good now, fortunately we only missed the first two home games of the season, but it was basically a five week toad trip to start the season! Looks like we’ll be getting a visit from Wyoming Valley West next week!
October 26th, 2019 at 11:12 am
@ Buddy
That is the way I see and read things. H-Burg should walk over Altoona today so that would trigger C’Ville moving up to #7 and CBS dropping down to #8. If I was North Penn, I’d be rooting for RC tonight. I’d rather stay at #11 and travel down to Abington next week vs having a rematch at CBS. Also, if you beat Abington, I’d rather take my chances the following week at Garnet versus DTW (assuming chalk holds).
Hoping (and they should) C’Ville moves up to #7 so to be on the other side of the bracket from the Downingtowns. Sets a up potential C’Ville vs a Downingtown final at Kottmeyer. The best game with the best teams at the best D1 stadium. Of course, I am getting waaaaay ahead of myself…..
October 26th, 2019 at 10:59 am
I’ve been saying it on this forum all year but TJ is the real deal. After what Central Valley did to Alaquippa last night it makes their convincing win a few weeks back look even better. The game against Erie Cathedral will be somewhere in Pittsburgh, probably Baldwin again, mark your calendars.
October 26th, 2019 at 10:16 am
Dennis Pascoe, I think that Southern Columbia would prob win the 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A with no argument. They would beat 90% of 6A this year most likely. But they cannot play at elite level of big school football. For no other reason than for numbers. The coaching is outstanding and they outstanding players. But elite big school teams have enough top end talent to match the SoCo top end talent, where they lose is how much better the talent is after the top end talent.
October 26th, 2019 at 10:11 am
@D3Mike – total dominance by Central Valley, not surprised they won because I thought that game could go either way, based on how 3A has played out the last 3 yrs I think CV has to be considered the favorite to win 3A, and at this point I would pick Central Valley vs. the Middletown-Wyomissing winner to meet in Hershey, sounds like that should be a tremendous game. In answer to your other question, yes, 4A is 3-4 TD’s better than 3A this year, as it has been for the last few years, and it also leads me to think TJ-ECP is going to be a real battle in 4 weeks.
@Dennis Pascoe – thank you for bringing a little sanity to the discussion from a SC fan, I have all the respect in the world for Roth and the program but to say they would beat SJP is just silly, I do think they would compete with them for awhile, but as others have pointed out they would get worn down in 2nd have and lose by 3-4 scores, something like 49-21.
October 26th, 2019 at 9:03 am
@Foreman You are correct on the old WING – T But that old wing -t that Southern runs if you remember has put that all-star team NG last year running back to Philly. And remember how it crushed a good Aliquippa team to the point where the coach would not give a interview at end of game. It does work at the small school level. @ Kevin 2nd and 3rd team members get to play alot after half time to see what the future holds is also good to watch. I must agree I would love to see a Southern vs SJP . But I think without a doubt SJP would win by 3 or 4 scores.
October 26th, 2019 at 8:25 am
OK, let me get this straight. I think C. Valley will lose and H-burg will win.
That being the case, C’ville and CBS switch places, correct?
If LaSalle wins, NP jumps all the way to #9, correct? ( I’m assuming Souderton would be #10 and PW #11.)
Big question: who will win the LS vs RC tilt ( opinion obviously) ?
As a NP fan, I sure as hell don’t wanna travel C’ville!
October 26th, 2019 at 8:11 am
@Foleman
As an HNHS alum, I attended the BC vs Wyo game last night, as always, despite knowing the result in advance. Wow. After all the crying about transfers and recruiting the past few years what I watched was a huge, talented Wyomissing team absolutely dominate a BC squad with 1 or 2 legitimate big-school lineman on it. If you’d seen the two teams line-up, you’d know that Berks was lucky to keep it 23-0.
That said, you’re picking Wyo to win the state (and they will probably be #1 in a lot of places after the Aliquippa loss) but I still don’t see it. I thought last night was as much a function of BC being anemic on offense as anything. They haven’t moved the ball on anyone all season. 4 losses, Exeter should have been a loss, and they scored 14 or under in 6 games of their 10 games.
More importantly, Wyo completed just 1 pass for 17 yards last night. I get that they didn’t have to throw much but aren’t you afraid that they are too 1-dimensional? How will they play from behind? I will definitely be at the Wyomissing vs Middletown district 3 final. Might be #1 vs #2 in the state.
@Jeff
re: Aliquippa, seriously, what the heck man? Was really counting on them lol. Now I guess the question is where does this put Central Valley? And of equal importance, what does it say about TJ beating CV 28-3? If CV really is the favorite in 3A, is the difference between 3A and 4A really 4 touchdowns this year?
October 26th, 2019 at 1:09 am
Creds to Kyle Berger!!!!
Prelim final D1 6A seedings……
1. Downingtown West 180
2. CB West 173
3. Garnet Valley 167
4. Downingtown East 162
⬆️ (Wins tiebreaker on reg season record)
5. Spring-Ford 162
6. Abington 161
7. CB South 155
8. Coatesville 154.4
⬆️ could pass CB South if either Cumberland Valley or Harrisburg win tomorrow
9. Souderton 153
10. Plymouth Whitemarsh 152.2
11. North Penn 152
⬆️ will move to #9 if LaSalle wins tomorrow (win head-to-head tiebreak with Souderton)
12. Haverford 145
13. Perk Valley 144
14. Owen J Roberts 143
15. Ridley 141
16. Pennsbury 135
October 26th, 2019 at 12:52 am
@ Dennis
YAWN!!!
Been to a game for the 5th Friday night in a row tonight where the game was still a one score game in the 4th quarter. Third week in a row where the game was still in doubt with less than 2 minutes to go. Really don’t care to spend my Friday nights sitting at a game for 75 minutes with the mercy rule in effect starting the second half. Maybe that’s just me.
BTW, it is now time for EA to join the top eastern 5 in 3A, if not the top 3.
October 26th, 2019 at 12:33 am
@ Black and white
Have you been thru concussion protocol recently???
October 25th, 2019 at 11:11 pm
Southern gave up 6 points to Danville coaches not happy. Southern is such a fun team to watch. Their defense will rock you while the offence keeps rolling . Worth the trip to see them play.. Go early it gets packed.
October 25th, 2019 at 10:58 pm
Couple of surprising blowouts in 2 really big games in WPIAL tonight, PR pulled away from NA and won going away 42-14, and with PCC crushing Mt Lebo all three tied for the conference at 7-1 and with tiebreakers order of finish and seed in playoffs will be PCC, PR and NA. So, PCC will demolish the winner of SV and Lebo in 2 weeks and be at Heinz to play winner of rematch in 2 weeks between PR and NA after NA blows out Canon Mac next week in first round. IMO PCC is clear favorite and will win, then take on winner of McDowell vs. State College in quarterfinals, with winner getting SJP following week in semi-finals.
And, in a total stunner, Central Valley mercy ruled Aliquippa at the PIT 45-6, after sprinting to a 38-0 halftime lead. Aliquippa fumbled first play from scrimmage and 2 plays later and a minute into the game it was 7-0 and all downhill from there. Aliquippa scored late in 4th quarter to avoid shutout, everyone is searching the record books but it’s believed to be the first time ever Aliquippa was mercy ruled at home. What this means is that Central Valley is now the favorite not just in WPIAL but also for state title and could become 4th different team in last 4 yrs from Beaver County to win 3A title.
October 25th, 2019 at 10:27 pm
Black and White, it’s time for you to hang it up. Only 1 6A school in the History of the PIAA Football playoffs has won a Big School Championship running the Wing T and that was Cumberland Valley 27 years ago, and guess what, you will never see another Wing T school win another title at 6A. Southern Columbia runs the Wing T to perfection, I watched another small school State Championship caliber team-Wyomissing run it to perfection tonight against Berks Catholic, the Wing T works in the small school realm, not against the Big Boys, Central Dauphin-6A shut down Berks Catholic’s Wing T last year and so did Erie Cathedral Prep……..which talent wise is a 5A or 6A team, the previous 2 years. If Wyomissing, ranked 2nd in AAA, and my pick to win it this year, played 6A Manheim Township or Wilson from District 3, they would lose by at least 3-4 scores. Prep would shut down SC’S running game and double Fleming when needed, it would not be a close game. Remember, those kids from SC go both ways, they would get worn down by Prep’s size and athleticism.
October 25th, 2019 at 9:49 pm
Ricky Ortega and Dapree Bryant lose in a Ches-Mont matchup for the first time. I think they’ll have one more in a couple weeks at Downingtown West, assuming they’re the #8 seed next week.
East played a good game tonight but they received a lot of help from the refs on their go-ahead drive in the fourth. First a questionable pass interference call around midfield, and then quite possibly the most ridiculous personal foul call to ever be called, when Dapree Bryant pushed the ball carrier out of bounds causing him to land really hard. They penalized the result, not the action, and it continued the game-winning drive. Where I was standing at the end zone fence, I had a front row seat for it… Dapree pushed him out well before he was out of bounds. Not even close. Way to go refs.
But yeah, good job East.
October 25th, 2019 at 9:42 pm
C’ville got outplayed by DTE tonight — couldn’t really stop the run — which was surprising. Gives them a much more difficult path in the playoffs. Ortega still doesn’t seem like he is moving well. Bring on the playoffs — they should be exciting.
October 25th, 2019 at 9:06 pm
Black and white- you are used to seeing Southern Columbia face 2A schools every week, and 1 decent 3A team. I don’t think you know what you are talking about when it comes to elite 6A competition. To say they would blow SJP off the field is absurd.
October 25th, 2019 at 6:03 pm
Are we all being punked with this SC stuff? Seriously? As the “kill the guy who gets it” champ of my neighborhood when I was 10, I’m not seeing them the “best in every classification in the state — not even close”
October 25th, 2019 at 5:47 pm
Santa, if you’re going to agree with yourself from multiple handles at least scrub your posts for forensic signatures so we can be left guessing if multiple people really are this nuts! You and “Black and White” are the only ones who refer to Southern Columbia as “southern”, repeatedly, all in lowercase.
P.S. I’m amused that comments are delayed due to an “approval” process and obvious troll posts still get through. What’s the point of this set-up, exactly. To prevent profanity?
October 25th, 2019 at 3:27 pm
I would like to jump in on the southern Columbia discussion. I’ve coached high school football for 20 plus years and coached at the division 2 collegiate level for 11 years. Currently I am a official for high school and the college levels and have been doing that for the past 15 years. I’ve always followed the eastern pa site for years and enjoyed some of the discussions. It seems that a few years ago there was a Santa that would bring up some great topics and make some very valid points. I remember a public and private school discussion that was brought up several years ago and went on for months and just as the dust settled the great chosen one from the North Pole would say his words of wisdom and the discussion would fire up again. After being around the game for 40 plus years I will side with santa and the great pumkin on the southern topic. Southern undoubtedly isn’t one of the best teams in the state, they are in fact the best in every classification and it isn’t even close. They are one of the best in the country no doubt. The facts are this they have 5 division 1 big ten kids with the best coaching staff in the state with the greatest tradition in the state. Would SJP have some plays against southern yes they absolutely would. Would the game be close no it absolutely wouldn’t be. It might be close for a half and that’s it. The style that southern plays is style in today’s times and today’s mindset that can’t be stopped. They would only have to throw to Fleming 6-8 times during the game. Sure they would be crucial times and downs but the game would still be controlled by down blocks drive blocks pulling guards and old fashioned football that in today’s schemes can’t be stopped. Kudos to the southern staff for keeping the game simple and playing it the way it’s supposed to be played with blocking tackling and most of all discipline.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:59 pm
Cumberland Valley ready for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ game at Beaver Stadium against State College
https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2019/10/cumberland-valley-ready-for-once-in-a-lifetime-game-at-beaver-stadium-against-state-college.html
October 25th, 2019 at 2:47 pm
@JC The larger problem is that there are more and more completely non-competitive games–or so my scanning of the state-wide results each week suggests. The fact that two schools are pretty much the same size means a whole lot less than it used to, not just in cases where one school has boundaries and the other doesn’t but also in the more numerous cases where one school has a solid program and the other doesn’t. To some degree the problem will be resolved by some schools dropping football–I predict a steady stream of them beginning in the next few years–but the main problem will remain unless there’s a different approach to scheduling and classification.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:15 pm
@ Kevin X – good analogy to golf, tonight is also moving night in the WPIAL with several big games on tap that will affect seeding and home field advantage. In 6A Pine Richland hosts NA, if NA wins they are #1, PCC #2, PR #3 and Mt. Lebo #4. if PR wins, which I think they will, then there is a 3 way tie for first, assuming PCC beats Mt Lebo, and order of finish determined by Gardner Points, which at this point would favor PR and NA. Top 2 seeds have a bye next week, then host semi-final games in 2 weeks, so pretty important to finish in top 2.
5A also has a lot of games that will impact seeding and home field advantage for first round, biggest is probably Gateway at McKeesport, both will have home playoff games next week, but ironically the loser might end up on the easier side of the bracket depending on how things shake out tonight, Penn Hills hosts North Hills for conference title, but I expect Penn Hills to win by at least a couple of scores.
3A Aliquippa hosts Central Valley, winner wins the conference, both will probably be top 2 seeds and will likely meet again in 3 weeks at Heinz for WPIAL title
1A – Jeannette at Clairton, winner wins the conference, loser might not get a home playoff game, same as above, good chance these 2 see each other at Heinz again in 3 weeks
@ Philly Boy – agree with you on SC vs. SJP, I would travel from Pittsburgh to wherever in the state that game is played and gladly pay $50 for a ticket if it went to charity, could sell a ton of tickets a week after the state championships, unfortunately we’ll just have to dream about it.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:56 pm
Week 17, December 14th, Hershey Park Stadium doubleheader…….ECP vs. 5A PIAA State Champ (early game), nightcap, final game of the year…….SCA vs SJP. Let’s do it for a TBD Christmas time charity(s)……..
October 25th, 2019 at 12:11 pm
@The Great Pumpkin: It really just sounds like you have a dog in the fight. Not knocking SC but there’s a world of difference between what they’ve scheduled and what SJP has. SC has beat up on 4A and lower schools, plus a South Carolina school that competes in a private division of 15 teams that people overrate because of their “state titles”. The majority of SJP’s schedule would wipe the floor with any school SC has played this year.
I don’t mean to suggest that SC is at fault for their schedule, because they have done a good job finding tougher games where they can. But the narrative that they might be favored against SJP, or that you can count on one hand the PA teams that could even COMPETE with SC, has got to stop. Shame we’ll never really find out, because neither side will be proven right or wrong.
October 25th, 2019 at 11:19 am
Golf has their “moving day” on Saturdays of their tournaments, so I’ll deem tonight “moving night” for the D1 5A and 6A playoff seedings. Most teams have secured their ticket for the start of next weeks district playoffs, just going to be a lot of jockeying for playoff positions and home fields at stake in games tonight. Should be fun!!!
October 25th, 2019 at 11:14 am
@ ColonialFan
That’s cool. Good luck to your son and the SoLeHi team and community going forward. Think the D11 5A championship is yours for the taking. After that, maybe it’s like playing with the houses money and just enjoy the ride. Is your field back in shape?? Thought you guys were road warrior to start the season.
October 25th, 2019 at 10:55 am
Would love to see a SJP – Southern Columbia game at very end of season. Can they make it happen? Are you kidding me, I’d call out sick for that one.
October 25th, 2019 at 10:48 am
@The Great Pumpkin – Everyone agrees SC has a fantastic team this year and wonderful program, but they have not played any team in the last several years, maybe ever, that is remotely close in talent to SJP…who have they played that was “loaded” with D1 talent? It’s fun to speculate how they would do against the top teams in the state, but have they played any teams in recent years that have D1 lineman and average 280+ along the offensive/defensive lines, or any team that has the team speed of say Coatesville? I agree with JC, they would lose to SJP by at least a couple of scores, and as I previously stated I think they would likely lose to some other top 6A teams as well. It’s a shame they didn’t follow the lead of Kennedy Catholic in basketball, who won the 1A state title 2 years ago, but played up in 6A and won 6A last year, this was the 2yr cycle for SC to play up and see how they would fare against the big boys.
October 25th, 2019 at 10:47 am
Yes Virginia, there is a Southern Columbia Santa
October 25th, 2019 at 10:33 am
@D3Mike – I had a hunch the reason Wilson is #1 had to do with their opponents records, but how can head to head not be a bigger factor, especially when you beat that team on their home field by 2 scores, seems pretty obvious head to head should count for more. That’s a pretty tough break for MT if they end up with the #2 seed, but if I’m the coach I’m using that as motivation that the system is rigged against us.
@NWPA/JC – agree with you about Oil City, decent team, but as you said 4A playing up to avoid ECP, they are not a top 10 team in the state, there are probably at least 8 teams, if not more, in the WPIAL in 5A that are better than they are, and I suspect they’ll get bounced from the state playoffs very early if they get past Meadville this week, that should be a very close game, they beat them by 1 point in the regular season.
@Kevin X/PhillBoy – I realize Wood is way down by their standards and think have only 9-10 seniors, but as you said no one in D12 will beat them, so that puts them in the state quarterfinals, needing only to win 1 game to get the WPIAL champ in the semi’s, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they get that far.
October 25th, 2019 at 10:06 am
I played A-football and remember suiting up 19 players for districts, including 8 two-way starters (and this was back when only good teams made districts 🙂 ). I love small-school football. And I wouldn’t even consider SCA all that small considering that they are probably moving up to 3A next cycle and because of their tradition attract, what, 50+ to the roster each year? But now I’ve got kids in a 6A school and it’s simply night and day comparing anything to the elite 6A programs.
Smaller schools get ground down in the second half against teams with 20-22 different starters, 20-22 assigned back-ups who are just a little behind the starters in skill level, plus another 10+ different kids who play special teams. And 80% of the above are juniors and seniors with all of the extra physical development that entails. That’s 6A football.
I honestly think Southern Columbia might have the best high-end talent (top 5 players) in the state and could play with ANYONE. I just think if you’re talking wins and losses, it comes down to a numbers game over the course of 48 minutes. It’s exploiting team weaknesses, back-up quality, and the fatigue factor. A 2A public is not going to have the 5 cornerbacks needed to run with a greater Philadelphia all-star team for an entire game. That’s just now how demographics work. When Julian Fleming tweaks an ankle, what do you think that drop-off looks like compared to the #2 WR option at a St. Joe’s Prep when Harrison tweaks his? Finally, how many plays do SCAs top 5 have to play in the first half compared to the top 5 on an elite 6A team? 50% more plays? Twice as many? How does that play out in the 4th quarter? As I said, the talent is certainly there but at a certain point it becomes a numbers game.
October 25th, 2019 at 9:31 am
Great pumkin,
I’m glad that you’re smelling what I’m stepping in when it comes to the topic of southern. There is a lot of undereducated people out there that just doesn’t understand the game like the great pumkin and Santa. I’m sure the these same people that think these bigger schools would beat southern are huge supporters of the all or nothing offenses. The chuck and duck. These teams would get stopped one possession and then look up at the clock and realize that halftime is almost upon them and they haven’t even had the ball. Southern consistently still wins because the most important people on the field are the people winning the battle on the line of scrimmage. The game has been destroyed by the beliefs of spread offenses and people still forget that the teams that control the clock, the line of scrimmage and can run the ball in November and December win the district and state titles. Thanks for believing in Santa great pumkin. You have a great Halloween
October 25th, 2019 at 8:40 am
@NWPA: Winner of D10 plays the D6/8 champ, likely Hollidaysburg. H-burg is much more battle-tested than Oil City, with their losses coming to State College, Cedar Cliff, Fort Hill (MD), and McDowell. I would bet Hollidaysburg wins that and then plays the D2/11 champ, likely Southern Lehigh, another team who has only played teams 4A and lower. Don’t be surprised if we see Wood-Hollidaysburg in the quarters again.
October 25th, 2019 at 7:55 am
JC, Santa is more correct than you are. I know SJP is loaded with talent, but SC has played lots of team in the playoffs over the past few years that were loaded with D1 talent and have still managed to win those games pretty easily. In my opinion, there are only 3-5 teams in the state that would give SC a game. And I think those games all could go either way. But with the way that SC defense is playing and how hungry they would be to prove themselves, I think SC in those 5 hypothetical matchups would win more often than lose and could potentially win in all 5 matchups.
You don’t understand until you have seen them and been a part of what they are. They are suffocating and they take one mistake you make and they start to roll. One mistake becomes 2 and 3 and the team they play goes from down 7 or being tied and you look up 5 mins of game time later and you are down 21 or 28. It is insane.
Southern is dangerous in every facet of the game. And they can score at any point in time, doesn’t matter if it is their offense, defense or special team on the field.
October 25th, 2019 at 5:18 am
@KevinX
I’m a Southern Lehigh guy and have a son that plays for them. This year we are a run oriented team with a strong line and three backs capable of big plays. However, we are also a team that has never won a district title or played a state playoff game. The prospect of playing Wood is well…um…yeah. It could be an exciting year for the team, but we got a ways to go yet!
October 24th, 2019 at 4:24 pm
I certainly didn’t mean to knock Oil City, they are undefeated and they are a decent team but they aren’t a top ten 5A team. They are a 4A team playing up. Oil City, Warren, General McLean, and I believe Meadville are all 4A teams that play up to avoid Erie Cathedral in District 10. They just haven’t played anyone good, half their wins are against 3A schools. They could easily loose to Meadville next week in the title game. There are no 5A teams close to northwest PA besides teams in Pittsburgh so I’m not sure who the winner would play after that but when they run into a top 20 5A team I predict a decisive loss.
October 24th, 2019 at 9:02 am
@ Jeff H, NW PA, and D11 folk:
I watched the Wood/LaSalle game the other night. The short review, yep, Jeff H read correct. More specifically, I think someone pulled a Homecoming prank and greased the footballs that they used in the first half. Never seen so many fumbles and muffs especially on perfect night for football and by two good teams this late in the season. Wood’s first TD was on a kickoff runback that was complements of complete LaSalle special teams breakdown. Never should have scored on that return. Then on the last play of the half, LaSalle’s best offensive player and RB, Sam Brown gets a leg injury and does not return the rest of the game. A LaSalle blocked xtra point in OT sealed the deal. Not the best effort by LaSalle, and Wood maybe being a young team are starting to find their groove. Their defense did play well.
Wood’s first half of their playoff run is about as easy as it can get. Ryan (who they crushed earlier in the year), a Bye (or vice versa, a bye then Ryan) then the PPL 5A champ. Then it is the D2-D6-, etc. survivor. Guessing Oil City or Southern Lehigh. NW PA didn’t have the highest of praise for Oil City, and I’m not too familiar with SoLeHi, so let me know your thoughts on those potential match-up’s with Wood. A new face to take on the WPIAL 5A champ this year??
October 24th, 2019 at 8:16 am
@Santa: Laughable take. SJP beats SoCo fairly handily. There’s a bunch of other high-ranked 6A teams and Cathedral Prep who the Tigers would give a good game, but would still have a tough time beating.
October 24th, 2019 at 7:55 am
No wonder most people stop believing in Santa at a young age 🙂
October 24th, 2019 at 12:00 am
Your wrong Dennis pascoe. There’s no team in the state of pa in any class that would beat them. Not even close. In fact I’m sure they wouldn’t even have to throw the ball to do it.
October 23rd, 2019 at 6:43 pm
Hey Jeff H, I don’t think Wood gets to the semi-finals this year. They have a very young team and may be a force again soon enough. KevinX I agree with you on the NG/PJP matchup. It should be a good one with lots of scoring,
October 23rd, 2019 at 2:10 pm
All this talk about Southern. I have been following H.S.football for 50+ years and I have seen alot of good teams but this team is actually fun to watch. This is by far the best team to come out of Southern period! Any high school football fan should not miss the chance to see this team. Can they be beaten OF COURSE they can I can think of 7 teams at least. But like they say ” Not bad for a small school in between two cornfields “
October 23rd, 2019 at 1:02 pm
@Jeff short version: District 3 overweights opponents win percentage in the power ranking formula.
They share 7 common opponents (league play plus Central Dauphin). Of the 3 slots they don’t share, MT played CD East (3-6), Dallastown (2-7), and Cocalico (7-2) while Wilson played Governor Mifflin (6-3), Spring Ford (7-2), and Manheim Central (7-2). So, despite being in the same league Wilson actually comes out much higher on opponents win percentage. And as I said, the current system overweights that factor too much, IMO… but you asked for an explanation, not a defense, so there’s your explanation lol. The long explanation gets into the opponent class adjustment but it’s not really needed here. Basically the seeding is flipped because Dallastown won 2 games and Spring Ford won 7 games this year. Stupid, I know.
Also, D3 calculates all opponents prior to the season starting so Wilson’s game on Friday vs. 0-10 McCaskey will have zero impact on the calculation (other than McCaskey not getting a win this week). If all of the favorites win, the current seedings will hold, and MT will have to play Central Dauphin in the semifinals and travel to Wilson for the district finals.
October 23rd, 2019 at 10:30 am
@D3 Mike – from the accounts I read it was more a matter of LaSalle beating themselves than Wood playing well, I still don’t think they are on the level of the WPIAL this year and if Wood makes it to the semi-finals would expect the WPIAL team to beat them by a couple of scores. Very intriguing seedings coming up for 5A in the WPIAL, appears Penn-Trafford, Penn Hills and Moon will be the top 3 seeds, with Gateway/Peters Township seeded #4 and #5, which means 2 of the best teams will be meeting in the quarterfinals. I know PennLive has Penn Hills ranked #3 in the state, that’s more on their reputation that what they’ve done on the field, they play in a very weak conference and I don’t think they are the third best team in the WPIAL let alone the state, they will likely have a quarterfinal match-up with McKeesport and I could definitely see them losing that game.
@Mcd65 – mostly agree with you about Southern Columbia, they would dominate all of 3A, I don’t think there’s a team in the state in 3A that can come within 3 TD’s of them this year, would likely beat everyone in 4A with the possible exception of Erie Prep and perhaps TJ, and would do the same in 5A, but I do think there are several 6A teams that would beat them. In addition to SJP I would favor Manheim Township and Coatesville, and perhaps Wilson, CD and Dwest as well, I do think they would have a chance against any of the top 3 WPIAL 6A teams this year, IMO they are one of the top 10 teams in the state, but top 5 is probably a bit of a stretch.
October 23rd, 2019 at 9:49 am
Can one of your D3 guys please explain how 8-1 Wilson is now ahead of 9-0 MT in the power rankings, MT of course beat them earlier in the season, are undefeated and have a similar strength of schedule, although Wilson does have a slight edge there according to the MaxPreps SOS ratings. There is a flaw in the ranking system if it has Wilson ahead of MT, big implications for the playoffs, whoever is seeded #2 likely has to play red hot CD in the semi-finals, and if the seeds hold Wilson gets to host MT for the championship…certainly seems like MT is getting a raw deal, both teams will win easily this week any chance that can change?
October 23rd, 2019 at 8:41 am
@ Mcd65
I had the second week of November circled on my calendar for some time now, not for the SJP/LaSalle re-match (which may not even happen, RC is finding their mojo), but for a N-G/PJPII match-up. Hope PJPII can beat S-F Friday to possibly get the #1 seed so they can host that game. Really don’t want to go down to South Philly.
October 23rd, 2019 at 5:35 am
My elves and I have been doing some digging and we came up with some fun facts about the tigers. If you win a pjw championship in wrestling you stand a 83 percent better chance of ending up at southern by the 9th grade. Nobody knows like Santa knows.
October 22nd, 2019 at 5:57 pm
Neuman/Gorretti AAA is 9-0 but not ranked in the Eastern top 5 . They are a pretty explosive team and should make some noise in the playoffs.
October 22nd, 2019 at 5:53 pm
Kevin X , LOL public enemy @1 . IMO you make a lot of very accurate comments and also imo Southern Columbia is certainly one of the best coached teams in the state. They have some great D-1 talent that will definitely run away with AA again with out breaking a sweat. I really enjoy watching them. Now !!! A more accurate assessment of their strength vs. others in the state would be that they would beat all of A ,all ofAA most likely all but maybe 1 in AAA , all but maybe 1 or 2 in AAAA and the same in AAAAA. 6 A would provide my guess about 8 teams that could beat SC.This in NO way is a negative to SC just my opinion . So Kevin.guess who is public enemy @1 now. LOL.This is high school football we are discussing not global warming.
October 22nd, 2019 at 12:22 pm
Of note, Born Power Index just moved Southern Columbia past St. Joe’s Prep and also has Manheim Township within a field goal. Not that I buy that it’s THAT close, but BPI is usually a pretty decent indicator this late in the season.
I feel like I’m getting trolled over Manheim Central. If so, well done. If they are truly the #1 team in 5A in Eastern-PA, we might as well buy advanced tickets for the WPIAL-5A final to get our 5A entertainment fix. They are obviously playing better than they did in September but they are also just as likely to lose in the district semi-finals as they are to make it to Hershey this year.
October 22nd, 2019 at 10:17 am
@Buddy
No, the PIAA does not prohibit playing up or down 2 classes. Just looking at the Colonial League you have Southern Lehigh at 5A playing Palmerton and Catasauqua at 2A. So it happens. This is also part of the reason for the scheduling merger with the Schuylkill League to avoid these type of match ups.
October 22nd, 2019 at 7:44 am
Remember Southern plays in a conference so either they go and play independent or they have to abide by the conference Schedule.Like mike said it not like they have a lot of open weeks that they can fill at a whim, if they start to schedule other schools out side the conference that changes the schedule for all the other schools in the conference.If they decide to play independent then that a whole other nut to crack traveling expense and so on .If Berwick had a super team should it blow off the teams in the Wyoming conference to go play AAAAAA team across the state it make no sense
October 21st, 2019 at 9:34 pm
@ Buddy
Not sure what you mean. But Roman Catholic (6A) played both PJPII and CEC, both 3A schools earlier in the year. SCA does already play 4A schools. What I understand, SCA is bound by their conference (PA Heartland) to only play other PA Heartland schools. Obviously tho they had two exceptions this year.
Or do you mean voluntarily “playing up” in classification?? You can’t “play down” as far as I know, and I believe Aliquippa out west is a Single A school by enrollment, but is playing up in 3A.
October 21st, 2019 at 9:24 pm
Boy, looks like I just made myself Public Enemy Number 1 in this forum!!!
Funny, you guys touched on a few ancillary issues that I’ve been wanting to bring up, so maybe later for those.
“Play someone” is actually a complement, albeit maybe somewhat backhanded. No offense to the Hammond School (not going to rehash my prior post back in August, feel free to drill down or do your own homework), or WA and Montoursville (both nice D2 and D4 schools respectively, but one or the other, assuming it is one of them, will be smoked in the 3A state semi’s), but like Matt said, I would love to see them take on the likes of a State College, ECP, top their WPIAL team, Imhotep, Malvern Prep or gulp, a SJP. What all these teams have in common, is that they aren’t restricted by silly district or league scheduling requirements (that I am aware of) (WPIAL teams can play one non WPIAL game correct??), or teams (D1 and D3) that get their undergarments in bunches over chasing playoff rating points. Here’s a shocker, I believe SCA can beat all of those teams with the exception of Prep, but still maybe give Prep the best game of anyone in the state. I just want to witness it. I just want to see how good they really are. Betting Coach Roth and the SCA players wouldn’t mind one chance at one of these teams. Never know until you play.
October 21st, 2019 at 9:17 pm
Aliquippa is 1A and has played 3A for the past several years.
October 21st, 2019 at 8:45 pm
Southern Columbia would beat nearly every team in the state minus a couple 5A and 6A teams. Erie Cathedral, TEP, TJ may be able to keep in close. Also I’m not sure why the Patriot has Oil City 5th in 5A. They are a good team but they are not a top 10 team. They play up to avoid Cathedral. They have a very weak schedule.
October 21st, 2019 at 6:49 pm
I forgot to have Hammond in there from South Carolina. They classified as 3A there, not sure what class they would be there. Either way a quality opponent.
October 21st, 2019 at 6:47 pm
Southern has played a few 4A schools in the regular season. (Jersey Shore Selinsgrove) They’ve played 5 AAA ( central columbia, shamokin, Montoursville, Wyoming area, and Danville next week). One AA in mount Carmel. One A in south Williamsport. The overall record of their opponents is going to be about 66-34 with guessing week 10 games. That’s a pretty challenging schedule. All 10 will make playoffs. 8 of the 10 will be at least 6-4 or better. I think only one will be below .500
October 21st, 2019 at 1:19 pm
@ et al
Correct me if I’m wrong, doesn’t the PIAA prohibit playing up 2 classes or down 2 classes?
i.e. SC can’t play 4A schools, just like North Penn can’t play 4A schools.
That being the case, SC should schedule as many 3A schools as their schedule allows.
And if they are, then kudos to them. Input?
October 21st, 2019 at 11:15 am
Southern Columbia is a historically good small-school team. I don’t think they could have scheduled any better than they did this year. They would mercy rule any team in any class within a 2-hour drive IMO. I also think people forget that it takes two to tango: I applaud Wyoming for even agreeing to that game – but not everyone will do that. And these schedules are set years in advance so it’s not like a Dallas or a Valley View has gaps they can just fill-in on a whim. If there is any criticism (and I’m not saying he should have done this, but he could have) I guess it’s that Roth knows talent when he sees it and they could have safely classed up for the 2018-2019 cycle. I think they would have probably won 3A and made the 4A final last year – this year they could probably win every class through 5A.
As a scheduling sidenote, Berks Catholic isn’t half the program of the true 4A powers, let alone Southern Columbia, and their AD just said they’ve already had FORTY teams decline to add them to the 2020-2021 cycle. They have 5 non-league slots and so far they’ve only managed 3 takers: Roman Catholic, Central Dauphin, and Malvern Prep. Granted, they’re a non-boundary school with all of that associated baggage but for a borderline 3A program those are basically 3 mercy rule losses already baked into next year’s schedule. The point is I think most coaches and ADs really do want competitive games and hate lopsided games (that go in EITHER direction), but it’s hard to turn that balanced scheduling wish into a reality.
October 21st, 2019 at 11:14 am
@Kevin X….really? Coming from a d11 fan and not a Southern fan but respects them, they play the right way. I have seen them play over the years…..mostly in playoffs and state title games. They have backups in by halftime. It’s that third backups would mercy rule most of these teams. And the schedule they played is probably the most difficult they could schedule…..a good Hammond team with D1 talent on the road to begin season. Then they play their rival in MCA (who is top 10 in AA) who usually gives them a tough game and wins 48-0. Then they schedule a Wyoming Area that is 3rd in AAA in state at the time and win 42-0. They could have just played third conference game and won 100-0. Then they play the 5th ranked in AAA Montoursville team and win 35-0. That’s 2 ranked AAA teams, a AA ranked team and a team in SC that won back to back state titles in AAA. What more do you want from them? I would pay money to see them play a ranked AAAA, AAAAA, or AAAAAA school. They might not win all of them but they would play well. That first game on ESPN I have never seen a HS that disciplined and execute perfect tackling. You want to watch a fundamentally sound team and a team that plays together and has pride playing for third small town? Watch Southern play. Most of the state respects them maybe it’s time you do as well.
October 21st, 2019 at 10:22 am
@ Kevin X I have thought about who could give Southern a game up here in the N.E. in all 6 classes without traveling 50+ miles. One team comes to mind Dallas way up on the turnpike could give them a game. Roth will not run up a score but you need to have your starters to play at least a half which he will. I believe this Friday they will play less then a half to rest the starters. But again if you know Roth and I have been following Southern a long time he will not run up a score and the comes from a Dunmore Bucks fan.
October 21st, 2019 at 8:26 am
@D3 mike Dallas has a very quick and athletic fronts solid passing game and a very hard running tail back..I think they can be passed on .Berwick was in the game and gave it away with turn overs, i think they will meet again. Valley View look likes a tired beat up team if they don.t get healthy i don.t see them going far in the playoff.I really don,t see therm getting passed Dallas or Berwick ..
October 20th, 2019 at 8:34 pm
Hey Kevin, Go to their games and watch them and you’ll see it’s not running up the score. Subs are in at the 35-0 to 42-0 mark and the back ups are scoring on the other teams starters on just regular run plays. Roth does things the right way anybody who disagrees is clueless or just jealous of the program. How about they just beat the #3 team in AAA in back to back weeks (Wyoming and Montoursville) and did it with shutouts. Oh week 1 they went to south Carolina and beat a 15 time state champ (Hammond) there in their backyard. They also beat maybe the 2nd best team in class AA ( mt. Carmel) in week 2 and will probably play them again. Oh they also beat more than likely the district champ in class 4A (Jersey Shore). Sounds like they played some pretty good teams.
October 20th, 2019 at 7:22 pm
OK, very premature, but still something to mess around with, the Kyle Berger projected D1 6A seedings (he does the power ratings for D1), I’m assuming if chalk holds, for the playoffs. One bizarre scenerio has, IF DTE beats C’Ville on Friday, C’ville drops to #8, and I’m then assuming North Penn gets to take a little road trip out to the “Ville for a first round game, and then continues with a possible C’ville at DTW QUARTER final re-match. Ok, lots off football still to be played next weekend, but something to kick around……
District One 6A projections:
1. Downingtown West
2. CB West
3. Coatesville
4. Garnet Valley*
5. Souderton
6. Spring-Ford
7. Abington
8. P-W
9. North Penn
10. Downingtown East
11. Haverford
12. Perk Valley
13. OJR*
14. Ridley
15. CB South
16. CB East
*tiebreak winner
October 20th, 2019 at 6:25 pm
D3 Mike Don’t be surprised if either cocalico or central or both pass shippensburg after week 10 5A rankings….here’s a stat for you: shippenburg’s opponents weighted win % is the LOWEST among all 28 5A teams…..they’re hanging on to number one spot , but barely…….they will have to prove they are better than their schedule when playoffs roll around
October 20th, 2019 at 6:22 pm
76-0, 62-0, 62-0 and 76-6 in consecutive weeks, not running up the scores and shows respect for his opponents??? Please, give me a break. Better, yet, play someone.
October 20th, 2019 at 5:11 pm
@D3 Mike
Wilson and Manheim Township are very close in the ratings (0.832914 to 0.831563). Wilson plays McCaskey who is winless while Manheim Township plays Hempfield (4 wins). With both teams picking up points from other teams Wilson will pick up little this week from McCaskey while Township should win easily and have the win over Hempfield (currently 8th in 6A seeding) count more towards their rating. I expect Manheim Township to regain the #1 seed although it will still be very close and may depend on the results of some of the other teams each team has faced. It will also be interesting to see if Chambersburg or Red Lion can move into the 7th or 8th seed if, or more likely when, Hempfield loses to ManheimTownship. Both Chambersburg and Red Lion are close to Hempfield in the ratings. I think CV, currently the 7th seed, is far enough ahead of both teams even if they lose to State College. How in the world did Chambersburg lose to Red Lion? They have played powerhouses like State College (L 27-17), Central Dauphin (L 28-23), and Harrisburg (L 27-25) tough while pulling away from Cumberland Valley late. Red Lion is a very average team by my observations who has played a weak schedule. They were demolished by an 8-1 Central York team (a team Cumberland Valley beat) 59-7 and lost to a 3 win South Western team 17-14 and New Oxford 17-0 an 8 seed 5A qualifier. Were there injuries for Chambersburg (plays Carlisle next week) when they played Red Lion (plays Dallastown next week) or was it just an ugly game. They are way too good to lose to Red Lion.
October 20th, 2019 at 3:24 pm
Wait! I got that all wrong don’t I ?
If NP winds up 10th seed, they would play the 7th seed right?
Damn! I was hoping for CB West! Oh well. As it stands now ( sure it will change), it be Springford.
Seen Springford play, those boys must be corn-fed! That is one big team.
Too much conjecture right! Gotta simply wait another week.
October 20th, 2019 at 3:09 pm
As it stands now, NP is 10th seed, which means they would play #2 seed, which is CB West.
That is exactly what I want! Of course, with one more game, that most likely won’t stand.
My 2nd choice would be CB South ( see the pattern here, yes, it’s the revenge factor! )
Don’t think the latter is possible in 1st round. Both will probably be bottom bracket.
BTW, there’s some really good matchups for the last week that will dramatically effect the seedings.
That’s just good scheduling!
October 20th, 2019 at 10:59 am
And to follow up on the power ranking formula discussion, Wilson just moved ahead of Manheim Township in D3-6A despite the fact that they lost to MT and play in the same league. I get rewarding teams for difficult schedules but this shows that opponents’ record is just too heavily weighted in the current formula. FWIW, Wilson’s 4 non-league opponents are all undefeated in league play which is crazy if you think about it.
As it stands, MT would play Cumberland Valley, Central Dauphin and at Wilson – which own a combined 23 district and 2 state titles between them. If they make it through that to play the D1 winner they definitely will have earned the trip.
I’m guessing after this weekend that Coatesville is back to being the slight favorite to come out of D1?
October 20th, 2019 at 9:55 am
Lol Santa. Nothing wrong with the offense. Roth could’ve chose to score another time before half and make it 35-0 at half. He just ran some basic runs and ran out the clock. My guess is that he wants his starters playing longer in the 2nd half since playoffs are around the corner. Roth also took the starters out at the end of the 3rd with the ball on Montoursville 14. The backups couldn’t score so it could’ve been 49-0 if Roth wanted to score more but he doesn’t run up scores and shows respect for his opponents.
October 19th, 2019 at 10:45 pm
Considering that 6A is basically a moot point (at least at the state level) the two results last night that intrigued me were Wood over LaSalle and Dallas over Berwick.
Does this put Archbishop Wood back up there with the WPIAL teams? And how does Dallas look compared to the Valley View squads from the past few years?
October 19th, 2019 at 9:30 pm
Santa hitting the egg nog hard, and waaaaaay too early…….
October 19th, 2019 at 3:39 pm
Any picks on who would win between southern and psu. My pick is southern. I’m guessing psu would be 1st and goal from the 1 ft line to win the game. Any takers on what would happen next. Nevermind Santa will fill you in. Franklin would have his qb in shotgun at the 1 ft line and get stopped 4 straight plays instead of qb sneaking from under center. My pick southern 12-7 over psu
October 19th, 2019 at 3:32 pm
35-0 southern over montoursville. Anyone make this game to see what exactly went on last night. Up at the North Pole Santa and my elves are scratching our heads. Now I see the defense has sured things up after a couple tough weeks of giving up 20. Let’s talk offense though. What exactly is going on southern is only averaging 38.5 points per game the last 2 games. Any input anyone who maybe made the last 2 games. Are people injured or ineligible. Please send Santa some info on the offensive woes going on in southern
October 19th, 2019 at 12:51 pm
What a Friday night in southeastern PA.
I don’t understand how Dapree Bryant is not more heavily recruited. That kid is magic- he’s got a bit of KJ Hamler in him, plays with an edge, and could be a steal for Villanova in a couple of years. Penn State of all teams should have been in on him more as a Hamler-esque replacement in waiting (not saying he’s as good as KJ, just a very similar style with room to grow). I’ll be pulling for him to have a great career in FCS.
Love seeing the new crop of teams take over the SOL this year, though North Penn is still going to be a handful for whoever gets matched up with them.
Garnet Valley has their typical 4-5 running backs who will be fresh for 4 quarters. I’d love to see them and DTown East play.
A Coatesville/D-Town West rematch seems like a pretty safe bet.
Wood is alive.
Bring on the playoffs.
October 19th, 2019 at 8:11 am
I was at the Springford/ Perk Valley game. There’s another result I didn’t expect!
NP last game is at Crawford. Maybe the last game ever at Crawford.
I’m assuming ( or actually hoping) NP had some key players out against CBS.
Probably not though. Will be a rough playoff trek for my ol alma mater!
October 18th, 2019 at 11:34 pm
@ Buddy
Spring-Ford and Perk Valley was another very good one in D1 tonight!!!
NP should be fine next week, unless the former Wood RB, Santiago (?), runs wild against them. I’m assuming that game will be at Crawford??
October 18th, 2019 at 10:54 pm
Well, how wrong can one be!
C’ville over DTW ! Souderton over CB West in OT!
NP loses by one point ( again) to CB South!
Wood over LaSalle in OT! Am I missing any?
This is why they play the games! Actually, this is good for football. It can get too predictable.
My team ( I’m sure you know who that is by now), will be in the bottom bracket at playoffs now.
And if they lose their last game, won’t be in the playoffs at all!
October 18th, 2019 at 10:27 pm
Buddy Buddy, what is you definition of close?? A double OT Soudy victory complements of a partially blocked Xtra point that doinked off the crossbar back into the end zone that was ultimately the deciding point?? Can’t get much closer that that in my book!!! Jus’ messing’ with ya my friend 🙂 Awesome game in Franconia Twsp. this evening. Some great games it appears across D1 tonight as well.
October 18th, 2019 at 10:02 pm
C’ville wins 29-21. Great game — watch it on the archive. It’s all about speed and a good QB. Ricky still looks like he’s not 100% (IMO), but he played well. I thought their play calling was better, but not sure why they didn’t let their running backs play more. Still some dumb penalties that almost cost them the game, but pretty disciplined overall.
October 18th, 2019 at 6:34 pm
I’m sitting on the Coatesville side but I predict a 10-14 point Dtown win and not a very high scoring affair. Something like 31-21, not a barn burner. Hopefully the Raiders prove me wrong, but this may be the best West team I’ve seen in a decade.
October 18th, 2019 at 2:20 pm
The local radio station ( WNPV) is hyping up the CBW/ Souderton tilt. Undefeated vs 1 loss. It won’t even be close.
DTW / C’ville won’t really be close either. DTE/ C’ville will be a much better game next week.
Poor C’ville has both those games away. Can’t wait for the seedings and playoffs!
October 18th, 2019 at 1:42 pm
One more streaming option for you guys this evening……..LaSalle @ Wood.
This could be a good game to see how good, or not so good, Wood is this year. Hard to gauge them with their early non PIAA schedule. Then they loose to Roman. They beat Ryan as expected (who they’ll meet again in the D12/PCL 5A playoffs, if you actually want to call it the playoffs) and loose to SJP, as expected. Same with LaSalle, are they really the second best team in the state of PA!!!, or just another very good 6A school (who isn’t going anywhere past the second weekend of November regardless). The intrigue………..
(The game will be archived, so can always catch it at some other point on YouTube). Thank you Bob Long!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BCUGu-fE3s
October 18th, 2019 at 12:47 pm
4th and Long, Kutztown has a coop with Brandywine HS which moves them up to 3A, It’s too bad that they can only get about 20 kids out for the football team with a 3A classification. Fleetwood also has coop with Oley Valley HS which moves them up to the 4A classification. Conrad Weiser decided not to enter into a Coop with Antitiem HS which does not have football because it would put them up to a 5A classification
October 18th, 2019 at 12:20 pm
Tonight’s Coatesville @ Downingtown West is video streaming via:
https://chesmontfootball.com/2019/week-9-2019-coatesville-dtown-west/
or (same stream, different access)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHzqJo1MQRQ
October 18th, 2019 at 11:50 am
Who do you D1 guys like in the big match-up tonight between Coatesville-Dwest? I am expecting a high scoring game and will take Dwest 42-35, but I think this game could go either way and would not be surprised if Coatesville wins.
Not many big time games in the WPIAL this weekend, all the 6A powers play weaker opponents and none will be challenged, best game, or at least the one with the most playoff implications is in 5A between Peters Township and Bethel Park, both are tied with Moon for the conference lead at 4-1, loser of this game is more than likely eliminated from the conference race, both have already clinched playoff spots. Peters crushed them last year 35-0, I like Peters tonight but expect this game to be much closer, something like 27-21.
Any big games of note in other districts this weekend?
October 18th, 2019 at 10:38 am
I was perusing the PIAA football classifications and there are a handful of schools that are larger than programs in a lower class or smaller than programs in a higher class. I’m not talking about powerhouse programs that choose to play above their enrollment like Aliquippa or Imhotep, I’m talking about schools like Kutztown and School of the Future, who obviously don’t choose to play up. Is that due to them encompassing Vo-Tech or other schools in the same district without their own programs, or are there regional adjustments made for travel/conference/district alignment considerations? I’ve seen that done in other states where a team might be moved up or down for geographic considerations. Neither explanation makes sense in the case of SOF, but might explain Kutztown being 3A. Anyone have any insight into this?
October 18th, 2019 at 9:37 am
@NWPA – WPIAL scheduled the Central Valley-TJ game, they played them last yr as well, it was a 2yr home and home, the only game WPIAL teams have the flexibility to schedule their own opponent is week 0, and as you stated they scheduled Cannon Mac. I think they would have been better served by scheduling a big time 5A or 6A program, they should have tried to schedule Cannon Mac’s neighbor Peters Township, that would have been a much bigger test for them. I agree with you this is the best TJ team in the last several years and think the game with ECP will be pretty competitive, but still think ECP will win by a couple of scores, I’m hoping the game is in the Pittsburgh area this year so I can attend, was at the game at Baldwin in 2016 which was closer than the final score would indicate.
October 17th, 2019 at 4:11 pm
@ Buddy – completely agree with you, I said 3 years ago the PIAA should have gone to 5 classes and not 6, I do think there was a need to create another class, because there was too much disparity in size between the smaller and larger 4A schools, there were 4 classes from 1980-2015, so it was time to add another class, but 2 was a step too far IMO, and it’s certainly had some unintended consequences.
@D3 Mike – WPIAL is still upset they can’t hold all their championships on the same day at Heinz Field, many in the WPIAL view that as more important than the state playoffs, I don’t agree with that sentiment, but that’s how a lot of old timers feel around here. I agree the WPIAL is still in the dark ages when it comes to conference alignments, and they need to make some changes for the benefit of everyone and appears they are finally seeing the light, but I don’t know why that means they have to crown 5 champions instead of 6 like they’re discussing.
WPIAL 4A is pretty weak, there are 2 very good programs in TJ and South Fayette and that’s about it, so TJ is still going to win 9-10 games/year unless they put them in a conference with a bunch of really good 5A teams, and even then they would still win their fair share of games.
October 17th, 2019 at 1:32 pm
I give TJ credit for scheduling Central Valley this year. The WPIAL kills a lot of good teams by not allowing them to schedule non conference games. Look at Erie Cathedral’s schedule last year and this year. They were battle tested for the playoffs last year and I expect the same this year. Not sure why TJ went with Cannon Mac this year, not really a challenging game. None the less don’t count them out this year they are loaded and will give Erie Cathedral a great game.
October 17th, 2019 at 1:08 pm
Bottom line, I believe, is that the Districts and PIAA all want their respected cakes and eat them too. Districts want their district playoffs and be able to crown multiple champions, then they want their teams to go onto to state honors, and the PIAA wants to stage a stateside championship to to crown their own champions. It’s an exercise of putting the square peg in a round hole. This all consists of way too many teams and too many weeks of play/games involving a sport like football, at least on the high school level.
@ Buddy, you may see 7 classifications (a “Super 7” level/classification for the largest schools and best teams) before going down to 5 classifications, or even back to 4.
October 17th, 2019 at 12:19 pm
Why did we have to jump from 4 classes to 6 ? Was 5 classes ever considered?
It depleted some classes so much ( Class 5 for instance), that they can’t field representative playoff teams.
Can one lobby the PIAA to drop down to 5 ? We ( or the AD’s in the high schools) should present this to the PIAA.
October 17th, 2019 at 9:25 am
SoCo’s Julian Fleming named #1 recruit in nation by ESPN. Congratulations.
October 16th, 2019 at 9:06 pm
Pennsylvania is the fifth state I’ve lived and the PIAA is the weakest governing body I’ve come across. HS athletics here are a disorganized mess on so many levels and football is the worst. The districts have way too much leeway in a variety of issues and the mixing of teams in different classifications within conferences is out of control. Too many teams make the district playoffs. The playoffs here should be over in four rounds from the end of the regular season to Hershey. That’s enough to get every legitimate district/league champion in along with some deserving at large teams.
October 16th, 2019 at 7:51 pm
Yeah, I read that Mike White article, Jeff. Pretty confusing, TBH. I don’t understand why you have to create a 4 or 5 class system just to group programs geographically? Everyone else in the state manages to do it without injecting the extra complication of a parallel class system.
And especially now – I have no idea why everyone is still so concerned with the class of the teams they are playing, their league, home and homes, opponent win percentage, etc. It’s not 1993 when only 16 teams made districts and 16 made states – in all classes! Go 6-4 now (if not worse) and you’re in districts almost everywhere, so who cares if you’re a 3A school playing in a mostly 4A league? And if you’re all that worried about playoff seeding, frankly, you’re probably not good enough anyways. Not to mention with 6 classes what’s the real difference between two classes? 30 boys per grade? It’s all over-engineered IMO.
Really the hardest part for the WPIAL will be to come up with another system that can guarantee TJ a 9+ win regular season each year :/
October 16th, 2019 at 2:20 pm
@ Kevin X – ironically there was a big article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette online yesterday about the WPIAL making some significant changes with their conference alignments and playoff format. WPIAL has always only had teams of the same classification in the same conference, which I think is unique across the state, but the move to 6 classes has eliminated many natural rivalries as a result, and there are schools traveling 90+ minutes each way for games due to grouping teams by classification, you’ve got Uniontown and California in the south going to play New Castle and Laurel and other teams an hour north of Pittsburgh. The end result has been a substantial drop in attendance at many schools. The new talk is going to 5 classes, and grouping teams by area and not classification, so there would be teams from different classifications in the same conference, and as a byproduct would have to go to some type of points system like Gardner for determining playoff qualifiers. Would still send 6 teams to states, but probably combine 5A and 6A, as there are only 9 6A teams in the WPIAL now. Will be interesting to see what happens but appears there is growing consensus among coaches and AD’s that there needs to be some significant changes in this new landscape of 6 classes.
October 16th, 2019 at 12:22 pm
@ Uncle T
I have had several post season/playoff scenarios floating around in my head at any giving time, from minor tweaks to total reorganization.
I do like your proposal of not allowing any sub .500 team in the post season playoffs. I’d take it a few step further by throwing out there that any district playoff bracket must have a minimum pool of 8 schools in their respective classification to stage a playoff bracket (not an 8 team bracket, just 8 or more schools within a respective district classification). If a district has a classification with less than 8 schools, then they would need to find and form a subregional bracket.
October 16th, 2019 at 7:22 am
@kevin x the rating system in D2 is very simple if you work for NASA thier a bunch of factors and them you divide by something and multiply by something .Do what i do check it on here lol
October 15th, 2019 at 6:48 pm
@ Jeff H
I’m guessing then there is never any controversy or whining as far as how the seedings fall in D7, or who makes (or misses) the post season, correct?? Just kidding!! Here in D1, it is straight forward, yet I wouldn’t call it a real world common sense human eye test accurate system (but I guess when just about everyone gets in, except for in 6A, who cares, right??). But it is an easy peazy lemon squeezy no muss no fuss system that basically a 7th grader can do the math. Just looking around the rest of the east districts and their systems, yikes, just on the surface looking at all the columns and abbreviations, you need a PhD in mathematics from MIT to figure it out. I’m guessing tho its not that complicated, just looks intimidating at an initial glance.
Anybody know if the rating systems for D2, D3, D4 and D11 are the same??
October 15th, 2019 at 6:44 pm
I’ll go with West Chester East in D1 5A. They do have a potentially tough, inter school district rivalry game down at WC Rustin Friday, call it the undercard game in Ches-Mont football this weekend, so I think that will be a nice test for them as far as butting heads with other 5A schools. Their only two losses this year have been to the two Downingtowns, so no shame in that.
October 15th, 2019 at 10:35 am
@D3 Mike – agree with you about Warwick, I’ve been high on them all year, I still think they are the best 5A team in D3, and probably better than any of the teams in D1, do they have a chance to move up at all in the power rankings the last 2 weeks and thus get a better seed? Speaking of rankings, I see this website has MC as the #3 team in the east, and Warwick not rated, how do you have teams with the same 6-2 record but the team that lost by 30 points to the other team is ranked and they are not? Doesn’t make any sense to me.
Interesting that the other districts strictly use the power points to seed their teams, the WPIAL has a committee that does all the seeding, with strength of schedule taken into account, so a team like Warwick with 2 loses to 2 really good 6A teams might be seeded higher than say a team like Shippensburg who is undefeated but played a weak schedule. As far as WPIAL 5A Penn Trafford is the team to beat, they are the best program in the WPIAL never to win a district title, having lost in the finals several times, most recently 2 yrs ago to Gateway in 5A, and 4 yrs ago to Central Catholic in 4A when Central went on to win the state title over Parkland. Gateway is very good and so is Peters Township, they lost to a solid Moon team 2 weeks ago on the road and in typical Penn Live fashion they dropped them all the way out of the rankings…I can guarantee you Peters is a top 10 team in the state in 5A, suspect they will at least make the semi-finals like last year when they gave Penn Hills all they could handle. There are a lot of other very solid teams in the WPIAL in 5A but I would be very surprised if the champ is not one of these 3, could be a rematch of 2017, and the script could play out the same, Penn Trafford beats up Gateway in the regular season but loses to them in the district final.
October 14th, 2019 at 8:01 pm
I see this playoff debate from both sides.
D1 5A has a realistic chance of having a 2-8 team as its 16 seed this year. 2 and 8, for the chance to get waxed off the field by the 1 seed who will be risking injuries. How about a PIAA statewide rule that a team must be at least .500 to qualify for postseason play, and if any sub .500 team happens to qualify via points, their would-be opponent then gets a bye?
On the other hand, some of these bottom tier teams could really use any extra selling points they can get to boost numbers for their programs. It’s easy for us to see it as fools gold, but a 14-18 year old can see the chance to play on the bigger stage as something achievable. They may be better off for it too, to give themselves and their friends a chance to pull off a miracle-on-dirt or 2.
October 14th, 2019 at 7:50 pm
You’re definitely right about the WPIAL winner being the statewide favorites in 5A. FWIW, the team probably coming out of District 3 this year (Warwick) will not only miss out on a Week 11 bye but they might be on the road for much of the district playoffs. That’s what happens when you make enemies in the league office and get Manheim Township and Wilson back-to-back in October as a 5A. Despite the hit to their power rankings, though, Warwick still has the best chance to get to Hershey out of anyone in D3, in any class, IMO. I’ve seen them live once and on TV a second time and have been impressed by their physicality compared to past years.
Speaking of Hershey, not sure if mentioned on the forums (I assume it was when it was announced in August) but due to cost constraints from renting the stadium, all District 3 championship final games will be played at the home site of the highest remaining seeded team for the first time this year. We’ve historically played finals at Hershey Stadium and it will definitely impact attendance considering the geographic size of the district.
Curious whom everyone thinks will come out of the mess of teams in D7 and D1 in 5A at this point? Feel like we sometimes neglect the 5A talk.
October 14th, 2019 at 2:14 pm
@D3 Mike – agree about D3 being forced to take their “bye” in week 11 and not week 14, that at least makes an imperfect system a little bit fairer. Also agree with you about district playoffs taking less teams, the WPIAL is the same as D1 in wanting to take as many teams as possible, in WPIAL 5A 16 out of 23 make the playoffs, and there will be some really bad teams at 3-7 in the playoffs just so they could have a full 16 team bracket. Didn’t seem to hurt the champion last year when Penn Hills won the 5A state title, and in my opinion the winner of the WPIAL 5A this year is the favorite for the state title, but it’s ridiculous that several sub-500 teams make the district playoffs, seems to me it’s all about the money that can be made by having more playoff games than doing the right thing and giving top teams a week off before the playoff grind starts.
October 14th, 2019 at 11:10 am
I was not at that game, so clearly I missed the general narrative behind it, but I don’t think it’s debatable that Imhotep is a bit weaker this year than in the past. They just haven’t been blowing out their PPL opponents like they have in past years. They’re still the best 4A team in the PPL (Having Ben Franklin and not Imhotep in the Team to Watch is, frankly, quite silly), but are more vulnerable this year than most if a team can bring it to them. My bet would be that the East finals are still Tep-Becahi in the end.
Regardless, 2nd place is what they’re playing for, don’t see any of them having the horses to stay with Cathedral, much less win.
October 14th, 2019 at 9:50 am
Jc Kevin x is correct Valley View was never in the game last year and that score was 37 -9 not 19 I don’t think you need to worry about Valley View after the butt whooping Dallas laid on them >The Berwick Dallas game this week will tell us a lot on how good the AAAA teams are in D2
October 13th, 2019 at 8:14 pm
Re: Coatesville and Harrisburg, and as I stated last year when it was brought up on the forums, D3 should be required to hold it’s bye in week 11 and not allowed to have a week 14 bye. That’s my take. But beyond that, I’d suggest D1 take a page from D3 and arrange its playoffs in a more sensible fashion – and one that gives its top seeds a better chance to advance.
Every district/region is given X weeks to conduct playoffs by the PIAA. D3 is given 4 weeks for 5A and 6A – the same as D1 (the former has 46 total teams, the latter 61 total teams). D3 chooses to send 8 of 18 to districts in 6A which sometimes means a 7-3 team in the district doesn’t make it. Oh well. Many other districts/regions send 9, 10, or even 12 in similar situations.
I’d suggest D1-6A slim down to 14 teams. There is no need to send 6-4 (or even 5-5) 6A teams into districts just to get mercy ruled in week 11 by undefeated 1 and 2 seeds. Such a chance would reward a Coatesville (last year) or a CB / Downingtown this year with a much needed off week before the big push.
Meanwhile, D1 and D3 both have exactly 28 teams in 5A. One gives its top seeds a bye in week 11. The other is actually going to have multiple 3-7 teams in the “playoffs” this year because it sends 16 into the district bracket. That’s crazy IMO, and that off week could make all of the difference for a Warwick or a Manheim Central (again) in the state semi-final.
As I said, D3 should be required to hold the 6A bye in week 11 instead of week 14… but D1 should also accept responsibility for failing to help its own top programs advance as much as it could.
October 12th, 2019 at 12:21 am
Does anyone have the scoop on Ricky Ortega’s injury? He looked pretty good tonight, but really didn’t run. If he’s 100%, the DTW game should be great. Conversely, if he can’t scramble or do his draws, not sure if C’ville can outgun DTW. Yet again, C’ville’s defense is playing well (1st team only gave up 3 point tonight).
October 12th, 2019 at 12:14 am
@D3Mike – couldn’t agree with you more on all your points about 4A, that’s definitely the toughest class for a public school to win, we’ll see with the new enrollment who moves where, but appears that class might get a bit easier for a public in the next 2 yr cycle.
Very impressive win for CD tonight over State College, I think D3 has the best group of 4 teams in 6A, better than top 4 in WPIAL, DI or any other district, should be one heck of a district playoff.
@Kevin X – I think Becahi has the best chance to beat Imhotep this year, but then again you could have said that for the last 3 yrs, with Tep down a bit this could finally be the year.
October 11th, 2019 at 11:28 pm
One could sum up the game as follows:
CB West : 0 turnovers
North Penn: 3 turnovers
( Also missing 2 of the 4 extra points certainly hurt)
I don’t really care about the loss per se, but NP might drop to bottom bracket in the seedings.
First playoff game may not be at home ( wherever that might be!)
Good chance they get knocked out 1st game.
October 11th, 2019 at 10:14 pm
Final: Central Dauphin 34 State College 13
October 11th, 2019 at 8:31 pm
Kevin X,
I can vouch for that site, I subscribed last year to catch the Texas playoffs, which go 2-3 weeks later than ours do. The actual finals aren’t available on NFHS though – Fox has the rights to them and it took blind luck for me to find a stream of the Duncanville-North Shore final.
Also, great point from an earlier post about Harrisburg having a bye week the week before the state semifinal. No matter who you root for, you just can’t look at that and say it’s fair.
October 11th, 2019 at 1:29 pm
@ JC
I don’t know if you were at that Imhotep/Valley View playoff game last November, but I was. If you were, you must have just gotten to the game at halftime. Imhotep basically from my seat, dominated that first half. It got a little chippy and sloppy in the second half, and Valley View had a few late scores to make the final score closer than the game actually was.
I do agree with you that they are not as strong as in the past several years and that this would be the year to pick them off, be it Valley View, Dallas, Berwick or Becahi. But don’t let last week’s loss to Northeast fool you, as Northeast is a pretty good 6A team. Shame that Northeast and LaSalle are stuck in D12 and have to go thru SJP early in the playoffs. I’d be curious to see those two teams in for example the D1 6A playoffs to see how they would fair on a more level and competitive playing field. Another thing, Imhotep will sleepwalk to the PPL Championship, but maybe Bonner or Carroll (if fully healthy) can pull an upset in the D12 championship game before the D2 representative gets their chance. They are both having decent years. Bonner/Carroll meet Saturday, so that could be an intriguing game in itself.
October 11th, 2019 at 1:13 pm
@ Buddy
You can maybe try the below web link for video streaming of tonight’s NP @ CBW game. It is not free, appears to be $10 a month charge with a reoccurring fee. So just be careful if you sign up and know how to cancel after a month if you desire to stop access. I’ve never used it, so can’t vouch for the quality or anything else about it. Maybe others can lend some feedback and reviews of the site. I myself do plan on attending the game in person tonight. I agree with Mcd65 that the PCN game is going to be basically worthless. Also a shame that the 3CTV game is not DTW @ WCE, but Shanahan and C’Ville. It is a PCN direct production, as opposed to most of their broadcasts which are just feeds from local broadcasters, so too bad they couldn’t re-route their truck to Doylestown tonight instead of Chester. I’d much rather spend a Friday evening in Doylestown versus Chester that’s for sure.
https://www.nfhsnetwork.com
October 11th, 2019 at 12:41 pm
CBW runs a version of the old Delaware Wing T, which is very difficult to defend, it will require North Penn to play a very disciplined defense, I think a lot like the Souderton game, North Penn’s depth will wear CBW down. If CBW stays healthy throughout the game, it will come down to the 4th qtr, which I see going North Penn’s way. Being the game is at War Memorial in Doylestown, I see this as a 24-21 hard earned North Penn victory.
October 11th, 2019 at 12:10 pm
more worried about getting threw tonight with Valley View. Dallas is a very good football team and Valley View is banged up we lost out 2 best receivers.we probably move our guard out to tight end which will bring a sophomore in the play guard. Tackle got a sour knee and i not sure why the coach is playing a freshman at safety.No i going to worry about Dallas.Dallas, Berwick and Valley View are going to see each other in the playoff !!!
October 11th, 2019 at 11:18 am
The problem for D2 (and for the WPIAL to a lesser extent) is a lot of the district’s better public school programs sit in the same class (4A) that is loaded with non-boundary state powers. Berwick, Dallas, and Valley View hold 8 state titles between them – but none since 1997. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that 4A has been filled – or is now filled – with the likes of Wood, ECP, ACC, BECA, McDevitt, and Imhotep in the years since. I haven’t done the math but the current 4A schools probably have the most state titles between them. It’s just a loaded class and to expect a Thomas Jefferson or a Dallas to play through some combination of three non-boundary schools to win a state title is just not very realistic (unfortunately). Every other class you basically have to beat St. Joe’s Prep or Wood – it’s 1 brutal non-boundary game but at least it’s not 3 brutal non-boundary games.
I’m VERY interested to see how the balance-of-power changes between the classes next cycle, though. ECP should be moving up to 5A and I believe Berks Catholic, ACC, BECA, and McDevitt are all on the cusp of 3A based on enrollment. Even if just one of them moves down (and Southern Columbia moves up) it could both strengthen 3A and open 4A up a bit for traditional public schools again. That still doesn’t help with Imhotep but at least it would be a start.
Also, news and notes from around D3:
Wilson vs. Warwick tonight should be a good one. Warwick played Manheim Township a lot closer than the score last week would suggest… Call it: Wilson 21 – Warwick 20.
Kutztown’s head coach was suspended for the rest of the season yesterday over a personnel dispute with the administration over assistant coaches. Recall that Kutztown hasn’t won a game since 2016 and has now given up an unbelievable 397 points in 6.5 games of largely mercy rule football (for the lazy, that’s 61 points per game allowed). Kutztown plays Wyomissing this weekend and Vegas has this one as 80/20 odds of being cut short at halftime…. Call it: Wyomissing 63 – Kutztown 0 (yep, definitely suspended at the half).
Millersburg has forfeited its game this weekend due to a lack of players. They are currently in first place out of the three teams in D3-A. And yes, we do inexplicably still hold a district championship game. Millersburg may actually have to cancel the rest of the season due to safety concerns of playing underclassmen – if that happens, it would probably match up a 1-9 Fairfield squad vs. a 0-10 Halifax team for all the marbles. Imagine your only win of the season is a district title? Only in district 3.
October 11th, 2019 at 7:28 am
Last year Valley View kept it a game against Imhotep, 37-19. If ever there was a year to break through for D2, it’d be this one, as Imhotep doesn’t look quite as good as years past. If it doesn’t happen this year, not sure if they’ll see a better chance anytime soon.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:24 pm
PCN game this week will be a blowout.Prep will roll Wood. Too bad CB West/North Penn couldn’t be the game.
October 10th, 2019 at 2:16 pm
@ NWPA Valley View is a little better on Offence this year and a little worse on defense as for Dallas i have not seen play .History tell us teams from D2 don.t do well against urban all star teams so i see this year being no different
October 10th, 2019 at 8:07 am
If anyone goes to the Valley View/Dallas game id love to know how both teams look. Is there a chance either team could get past Tep in the quarters? Even if they did could they get past Bechai? Maybe I’m thinking too far ahead. Let’s not forget that Berwick is still in the mix as well.
October 9th, 2019 at 3:54 pm
Big game in D2 AAAA Valley View hosts Dallas third undefeated team Valley View take on in the last 3 weeks .Dallas still has Berwick but this game will go a long way in determining seeding,Should be a great match up !!!!
October 8th, 2019 at 7:14 pm
phiIllyboy/Buddy. West /NP should be a great contest.West has some offensive firepower this yearand that winged t is fun to watch.My 3 grandkids go to West and they tell me the school is really super excited for this one.The NBI will be packed prior to the game for sure. If Im feeling up to it Im going to make both and Budy is right about the parking even handicap. Go Bucks !!!!
October 8th, 2019 at 9:17 am
Glad to see the WA Vs. SCA game back on but I don’t think it will close. WA is very undisciplined and commit to many penalties to be competitive with disciplined teams. I saw a few of their games and I don’t think that have enough speed to make it close. If it is not a shut out I only think WA scores 6 points.
October 7th, 2019 at 4:17 pm
Lol Santa. Is that sarcasm? 14 of the 20 points were 2nd/3rd team players. Starting defense gave up one td and that was last week. However on the td drive for jersey shore, 3 different times the defense was in position to make a tack low but slipped on the crappy field that jersey shore has and on the td they had an illegal pick play that wasn’t called. I will say jersey shoe did make some good adjustments in the 2nd quarter to get their touchdown. There’s nothing suspect about the defense.
October 7th, 2019 at 1:32 pm
You got that right phillyboy! Haven’t seen this kinda hype for this game in 20 years!
NP’s top RB was taken out this past Fri., early 1st quarter.
I believe possible concussion. If he isn’t cleared, good chance CB West wins.
I hope he can play. That stadium will be rockin’! If you plan on goin’, parking at CB West is a bitch.
October 7th, 2019 at 12:28 pm
Southerns defense has been suspect the last couple weeks giving up 20 points in the last 2 games. I’m not sure if they are content with things or kids are injured on defense. Going into week 8 with there defensive woes I’m going to make a prediction for the Wyoming area game. Santa predicts 77-20 southern. I believe there offense will pull through but southerns defense will continue to struggle. Look to see both Garcias to have 200 on the ground with just 14 carries combined between the 2. Fleming will have an off night with 180 receiving on 4 catches but will only score twice. Southern will look to go 8-0 on this one but needs work defensively if they want to compete for the district title. For any other predictions look us up at www. Ibelieveinsanta.com
October 7th, 2019 at 10:24 am
It’s deja vu all over again — 1999 is in the air,,,,feeling nostalgic for Napster, Y2K hype, pagers, Wawa 20 oz. coffee for 99 cents, Coke 12 packs for $2.99, Mayor John F. Street, oh yeah and phillyboy’s prime (huh-huh). And last but not least, CB West, baby. Say it ain’t so, are the Bucks really still undefeated this far into the season? It’s been a minute. Makes for a fun matchup with North Penn this weekend, Based on results of common opponents, CB West might be somewhat for real.
October 7th, 2019 at 8:02 am
I don’t know if it was pointed out yet, but Northeast defeated Imhotep this past week. First PPL team to defeat Imhotep since 2013, I believe (Thanksgiving against MLK) and first league loss since 2011. Northeast should go on to with the top division of the PPL pretty easily now.
October 6th, 2019 at 10:32 am
Anyone know if the NP/CB West game is live streamed?
October 6th, 2019 at 10:10 am
Harrisburg also had a bye the week prior to the game with C’Ville, while the Red Raiders got to travel up to Perkasie to play North Penn for the D1 Championship game. I’m sure having Thanksgiving Weekend off didn’t hurt the H-burg cause, nor did it do any favors for C’Ville.
October 5th, 2019 at 10:46 am
Phillyboy: I’m not sure if there is a clear answer as to why C’ville lost to Harrisburg last year. I watched the game, and I think the biggest thing was probably Harrisburg’s speed and size, plus their QB got better as the year went along — he was the deciding factor. Plus CV just didn’t play a great game and the penalty bug hurt them too, but they still had a shot at the end. As far as this year goes, I think they are a sleeper team that people are forgetting about (Pennlive doesn’t even has them in the top 10). They lost a lot of talent, have a lot of young guys, looked horrible the 1st game (15? penalties) — and still could have won. Ricky has been hurt too. The C’ville/Downingtown games should be great if Ricky is healthy. Not going to make any predictions, but I think the folks already making predictions by looking at the DTE/DTW score might be putting too much stock in that result. I think both teams have a lot to praise and a lot of talent, but IMHO their defenses got pretty shredded last night. C’ville still has 2 of the top skill players in the state, and their defense is continuing to gel.
October 5th, 2019 at 9:14 am
I don’t think it’s that complicated. Harrisburg lost their core players (Parsons et al) from 2017’s team and didn’t have it together week 0. By the time they played Coatesville, they were also rolling and were probably also overlooked a bit by Coatesville due to the first match-up. Harrisburg did make the state final 2 of 3 years, played Prep close last year, and beat Coatesville again to start 2019 so I’d say the first game last year was more of an anomaly than the state semifinal.
Jeff, yeah that was a surprising result. Those schools are close rivals and I have to wonder if there is some scouting or ex-coach crossover advantage Milton Hershey has on Middletown’s unique wing-t variant. Bishop McDevitt is also nearby and shut Middletown down in a bizarre 6-2 game in September. Idk. Hershey did make the district semi-finals last year and with McDevitt and Berks Catholic down could end up winning a weak 4A field this year in district 3. Despite 3 losses BC is still currently the 3 seed out of 22 schools.
Re: Wyomissing, they won’t have another competitive game until they play Middletown. Years of losing the rivalry plus BC sitting at 93 points on the season in October leads everyone to believe that Wyomissing will roll them in week 10. Something like 28-7. It could also be the last regular season game in a while between the two since BC is volunteering to move up to Berks section 1 (all 5As plus Reading High) despite probably classing down to 3A next cycle.
I’m still taking Middletown in the final. They’ve beaten Wyo something like 100-0 the past two years. Although this Wyomissing team is the best since 2012 and loaded with college-caliber sophomores and juniors. Supposedly 21 of their 22 starters have played together since mite football so if not this year, they will take it in 2020.
Manheim Township with another solid if not spectacular win. No weaknesses on the team and getting better each weak. They are still only maybe 60-40 to make it out of the district, though. They might catch Harrisburg in the semi-finals now and given late November weather in PA that could get interesting. I would not count Harrisburg out. They are a frenetic team and last night was a clear let down after last week’s controversy.
October 5th, 2019 at 7:22 am
Rah rah, McDowell only lost by 3 points, got to love those moral victories.
@D3 Mike– You and Jeff H were discussing hypothetical matchups for last year, interesting topic. Just got to get something off my chest, never got a satisfactory explanation for what the heck happened with Coatesville in last year’s state semifinal. Nothing was said about it — almost reminded me of the Clinton administration’s ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. Coatesville hammered Harrisburg in the season opener by about 30 points or so. And then more or less hammered everybody up until the semifinal loss to Harrisburg. Was it simply a case of H’burg improving more than C’ville during the season? H’burg played admirably in the state final, no doubt, but overall it was a huge disappointment. Seemed like C’ville ’18 had a legitimate chance to continue what PR ’17 did. Lastly, if they had played a third game, say, the following week, who do you think would have won?
October 4th, 2019 at 11:44 pm
@D3 Mike- I think Harrisburg would have beaten PR last year had they played like they would have in the old bracket, I also think MT appears to be at least as good if not better than any of the WPIAL 6A teams this year. Based on DWest blowing out East tonight and Townships impressive win over Warwick looks like a potential great game in the Eastern final if it comes to pass, lots of football still to be played but you guys out east should be salivating about that potential match-up.
Based on the way SC beat Harrisburg tonight I wouldn’t be surprised if they give the WPIAL winner all they can handle, that’s assuming they get by a very solid Erie McDowell team the week before, McDowell lost a close one to Erie Prep tonight 29-26, so looks like McDowell vs SC could be a very competitive game as well.
Speaking of Middletown I’m a little surprised they got beat by Milton Hershey tonight, maybe this is Wyomissing’s year, could be a repeat of the 2012 championship game against Aliquippa, I think Wyomissing is going to win out and beat Berks Catholic in their final game and enter the playoffs undefeated
October 4th, 2019 at 8:55 pm
This Downingtown West team may be the best team from Downingtown since Downingtown Consolidated high school won the state title in the mid-90s.
Or maybe that’s premature. Oh wait, they just scored another TD since I started this post. Defensive I think – I looked away for 30 seconds so I’m not sure lol.
I guess we’ll have a better idea after they play (and probably beat) Coatesville and then roll through the district playoffs.
This is a really special team, folks.
October 4th, 2019 at 6:27 pm
Just arrived at Kottmeyer Stadium for the first of three HUGE games here this month. Up tonight is Downingtown West vs Downingtown East, both teams 6-0 and absolutely dominant on both sides of the ball this year. West’s average margin of victory is approx 43-14; East’s is approx 37-10.
Both teams have had impressive schedules, much more so for West. They’ve clobbered Garnet Valley and Neshaminy among other impressive wins.
I would’ve gone to root on my Coatesville squad tonight but East vs West is a cant-miss game especially when they’re both playing at a high level.
I’m not pulling for either side to win, maybe slightly West, but I’m sitting on the East side, 40 yard line closer to the STEM academy, fourth row up behind the lady with the camera, aisle seat. If anyone is here feel free to say hello.
Prediction = West 42, East 34
October 4th, 2019 at 5:28 pm
@ phillyboy
Thnx man.
In all seriousness, I really hope they get to play the games as agreed upon two weeks ago. It is really the kids who would benefit the most if played, and loose the most if they don’t.
Football weather tonight!!!!!
October 4th, 2019 at 5:21 pm
Some D1 6A streaming options for you guys this evening: Souderton/North Penn and the Battle of the Brandywine (DTW/DTE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHMCM4hYhMg
https://chesmontfootball.com/2019/week-7-2019-dtown-west-dtown-east/
October 4th, 2019 at 4:37 pm
@D3Mike: Haven’t been able to watch much of DTE and DTW, I saw a little bit of the DTW/Shanahan game — not sure one could gauge anything from that. Howard looked really sharp, but my guess is that DTE will put some pressure on him. My gut is going with DTE in a close one, but would not be surprised if West lights them up though. The game is on the internet for free.
October 4th, 2019 at 4:34 pm
I just want to clarify and revise an item in my last post. I have no knowledge of any financial arrangements between SCA and the game they played against Hammond. I should have wrote:
“Maybe because Disney/ESPN/GEICO/Paragon Marketing wrote two nice fat checks out to both the PHAC and SCA??” (with question marks just to emphasize the point of being a possibility, and not fact).
Moving on……I understand all parties are now to meet on Monday to discuss the matter further. Interesting the sanctions mentioned below would involve all SCA sports for two years, which would include all female sports, which may open up a very nasty can of worms involving Title IX. And Federal law. Do you really want to possibly go down that road?? Wouldn’t be surprised if lawyers are preparing to file lawsuits for breach of contract or for some other legal violation(s). Don’t forget Berwick is involved with as they were set to host the Shik/HR game. I’m sure they have to arrange personal, etc. to host the game.
October 4th, 2019 at 3:11 pm
@Jeff
Yeah, I think that’s how it will play out in 3A (yet again). Middletown has certainly been carrying our banner of futility out west – but they aren’t charging onto the field alone. District 3 won two state-semifinals over District 7 teams in 2011 but ever since Wyomissing squeezed past Aliquippa in the 2012 AA state final the entire district has done it’s best to crap the bed head-to-head (versus Beaver or any other Black & Gold county). Check out the games since 2012 listed below: 1 Win, 11 Losses. Yikes. And other than the two Manheim Central games most of those weren’t all that close:
PCC over Lower Dauphin (4A) (2013)
Central Valley over Bishop McDevitt (3A) (2014)
Pine Richland over Wilson (4A) (2014)
PCC over Cumberland Valley (4A) (2015)
Beaver Falls over Middletown (3A) (2016)
Harrisburgh over West Allegheny (5A) (2016)
PCC over Wilson (6A) (2016)
Quaker Valley over Middletown (3A) (2017)
Gateway over Manheim Central (5A) (2017)
Pine Richland over Manheim Township (6A) (2017)
Aliquippa over Middletown (3A) (2018)
Penn Hills over Manheim Central (5A) (2018)
P.S. IMO the timing of the 6A bracket re-alignment is a shame because I really think Harrisburg vs. Pine Richland in 2018, and then this year’s two 6A reps, would have made for two of the better biggest-class games between the districts in awhile.
October 4th, 2019 at 2:01 pm
Would love like heck to see Erie McDowell take out Cathedral Prep tonight, that’s potentially the most intriguing matchup this weekend. Can almost guarantee you the score will be something like 54-21 or 49-3, something along those lines. Every time you get your hopes up, it’s the same old same old.
Btw, Kevin X, I’m proud of you — nice, cynical rant regarding the Southern Columbia scheduling debacle, had some hang time too.
October 4th, 2019 at 12:10 pm
@D3 Mike – agree with you about the D3 3A final being a great match-up between Middletown and Wyomissing, IMO whoever wins that game is the favorite to get to Hershey and play the WPIAL winner. Will Middletown make the state finals 4 yrs in a row and lose again to a WPIAL team from Beaver County, matching the Buffalo Bills from the early 90’s.
October 4th, 2019 at 11:17 am
OK, let me see if I’m following this correctly……
Two and half weeks ago or so, it is announced that Southern Columbia will Play Wyoming Area, and Shikellamy and Holy Reedemer will match-up that same weekend as well. Basically swapping opponents. A move applauded by all!!! Then two days ago, and only nine days before those games, Jim Becker, Principal of Southern Columbia High School, announces that those game will not take place and the original schedule will be honored, due to “possible” sanctions (not specified) being placed on Southern Columbia by the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference (PHAC). This is the same Jim Becker who is also the president of said PHAC. Why in the world did it take 2 1/2 weeks for this to fall apart?? If Mr. Becker is both the Principal of SCA and the president of the PHAC, better question is why wasn’t this situation nipped in the bud before it even got out of the starting gate?? Also, where are the sanctions against Shikellamy (another PHAC school)?? Mmm, the game was going to be at Wyoming Area, who sold a boatload of advanced tickets for the game, while SCA is giving up a lucrative home game, and probably only getting a few $$$ for gas money (and the PHAC zero). Sounds like a lot of financial shenanigans, PHAC disfunction, and basically amateur hour at its finest.
Oh, and also, SCA gets to cancel a game against another PHAC team, Bloomsburg, in week 0/1 to appear in a contrived national televised game in South Carolina to tout ESPN’s high school player profiles and promote their upcoming college football season (not to mention to fill air time in a relatively slow sports weekend). So how did that happen without sanctions against SCA?? Maybe because Disney/ESPN/GEICO/Paragon Marketing wrote two nice fat checks out to both the PHAC and SCA.
October 4th, 2019 at 10:59 am
@NW PA – Agree the game tonight between Prep and McDowell will tell a lot about both teams, but more about McDowell, I think ECP will still be the favorite in 4A even if they lose this game, on the other hand if McDowell wins that would bode well for their chances against State College, but not sure how well they match up with either NA or PCC.
Speaking of State College their game against Harrisburg tonight will be a good indication of where they stand, I like Harrisburg’s chances coming off their controversial loss last week to CD, expect this to be a 1 score game either way.
@D3 Mike – South Fayette vs. Knoch is kind of an under the radar game tonight, should be a good match up but I don’t see either team as a serious threat to TJ in 4A. Speaking of TJ they travel to 3A Central Valley tonight in a crossover non section game, these 2 had some great playoff battles in 3A when there were just 4 classes, back in the days when Central Valley had Robert Foster and Jerome Whitehead. TJ smoked them last year 45-6, but that was a young, inexperienced CV team, this game should be a lot closer, but I still like TJ by 2 scores, CV is the biggest threat in the WPIAL to Aliquippa in 3A and were the only team to beat them last year when they upset them in the last game of the regular season.
Another interesting game tonight is 5A USC vs. 6A Mt Lebanon, they are fierce backyard rivals and were in the same conference for decades until the move to 6 classes, this should be a highly competitive game, I’ve seen both teams and think they are very evenly matched, I’m rooting for Lebo because I have friends in the district, and no one outside of Upper St Clair likes USC, but I have a hunch USC wins by 4, something like 28-24.
October 4th, 2019 at 10:51 am
@ D3 Mike
Two interesting games over here/down here in D1 tonight:
Souderton (6-0) visits North Penn (5-1) in a SOL game, which will be a nice test for Soudy.
Kennett (6-0) visits West Chester East (5-1) in a 5A Chesmont game. Same scenario for Kennett, be a nice test for them as well.
October 4th, 2019 at 8:30 am
Cougars beware !!!! Valley View better watch out trap game right between Berwick and Dallas.Last year Western Wayne gave Valley View it closest game 20-10.It a program hungry for a signature win Valley View is a little banged up from Berwick. Overall i still think that Valley View speed will be the difference Berwick could not shut down Valley View offence so i really don’t think Western Wayne can Valley View pulls it out put late 35-21
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:24 pm
Need some help from around the state for this week’s picks. I’ll take District 3 but chime in with what you’ve got:
Manheim Township vs. Warwick – I agree with Jeff that these are probably the (slight) favorites to get to the 6A and 5A finals at this point. That said, it also wouldn’t shock me if neither made in out of the District 3 semi-finals. Lots of good but not overwhelming big school teams in the district this year. (side note: D3 AAA final will also be great but go ahead and put a fork in AAAA now).
Manheim getting Ivey back last week puts them over the top. He posted almost 300 yards receiving last week and got a PSU offer within 72 hours (he apparently also impressed at their sophomore camp this summer). I just can’t see how Warwick matches up, although they will also score their share of points. Call it 35-21 Manheim.
Here are some other games we need input on. I tried to grab a good one from each district (and pulled in District 6 because Mid Penn):
(1) Downingtown W vs Downingtown E
(2) Valley View vs Western Wayne
(4) Montoursville vs Danville
(6) Harrisburg vs State College
(11) Freedom vs Easton
(12) Wood vs Ryan
Plus… Western PA Bonus Games!!!
(7) South Fayette vs Knoch
(10) ECP vs McDowell
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:16 pm
@ D Pascoe – Rumor has it the sanctions consisted of all district athletic teams being excluded from conference championship consideration. The football team would essentially be kicked out for 1 – 2 yr cycle and have to come up with their own schedule.
October 3rd, 2019 at 6:34 pm
@JC I would have to agree with you and @D11EPC especially on the crossover games. I also think the talent isn’t what it was before in the EPC South (Formerly LVC). I do remember State Championship caliber teams loaded with D1 talent to come out of this area. I’ve seen middle of the pack teams from other years have more talent than what I’m seeing out of the top teams now. There is no denying there is quite a difference. I’m a Beca guy from the 90s so I’ve seen a lot over the years. We had a nice round of talent for a while, hopefully it comes back.
October 3rd, 2019 at 5:09 pm
@ Foleman – would agree with you that MT looks like the 2nd best team in the state right now, and they have to be considered the favorite to win D3 at this point, but there are a lot of very good teams in D3 this year so that should be a great district playoff with MT, Harrisburg, CD, and Wilson battling it out. I think DT West is the best team in D1, we’ll see the next 3 weeks when they play DEast, WC East and then Coatesville, if DWest does end up playing MT in the semi-finals that looks like it would be a tremendous game.
MT vs. Warwick this week will tell a lot about Warwick’s chances in 5A, I said on here a few weeks ago I thought they had a good shot to get to Hershey for the state final, because they appear to be the best in D3 and I think they are better than any of the DI teams, if they can hang with MT that would solidify my opinion they are the best 5A team in the eastern part of the bracket.
@Frank G – good point about SJP’s run, they had some very close games in the playoffs over the years and could have certainly lost to either North Penn in 16 or Coatesville in 17, if they lose either or especially both of those games I don’t think there would be nearly as many people whining about their dominance and the unfair advantages they have.
October 3rd, 2019 at 4:13 pm
Huge game on the shores of Lake Erie tomorrow night as undefeated Erie McDowell plays Erie Cathedral. It should be a very close game and a good measuring stick for both teams. If Erie Cathedral wins they should be the favorite in 4A and if McDowell wins they will have a good chance of beating State College as well as whoever comes out of the WPIAL.
October 3rd, 2019 at 2:07 pm
Such a disappointment the game between Southern Columbia and Wyoming Area has been cancelled. News reports claim 2500 tickets were sold in just 3 hours. Heartland conference bylaws are to blame as they would have put sanctions on Southern if this game was played. This would have been a great game. I would like to know what the sanctions against Southern would have been?
October 3rd, 2019 at 1:25 pm
Probably for NP fans only:
School board rejected all bids. So tonight’s game at Crawford is not the last ( they only have 1 more home game during regular season anyway).
They will put out for more bids this Dec. Projected start date of construction: June.
That being the case, no football games at NP next season at all.
They do have a “universal field” ( mainly used for soccer) , maybe they’ll convert that ( put in temp. stands), for next season.
Who knows?
October 3rd, 2019 at 12:04 pm
@D11EPC: gonna take the bait and defend the EPC North a bit by providing some context. The only programs that are really struggling at “worst in the state” levels are Dieruff, Allen, ES North, and Pleasant Valley. The former two are inner city schools that generally struggle in most sports, and the latter two are programs that have had success in the past that are down in the dumps because of coach upheaval. The other five schools in the division all have solid, if somewhat average, teams.
Now, forcing so many crossover games is absolutely a bad idea. Teams should be allowed to schedule crossover games if they want, but they should also be allowed to schedule D1, D3, D12 teams if they so choose. I do think this is hurting the top tier of teams in the district, and at least partially explains the lack of recent success.
October 3rd, 2019 at 9:07 am
Southern Columbia not allowed to play Wyoming area. Shut down by Heartland Conference, also may incur sanctions for not following the conference by-laws on scheduling, per the Shamokin new item this morning.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:04 am
According to the Scranton times the game between SCA and Wyoming area has been canceled, some problem with the heartland conference bi laws which would have penalized SCA if they played the game. The article Was’t real clear what the penalties were?
October 2nd, 2019 at 9:55 pm
From good ‘ole Twitter……
“According to Southern Columbia principal Jim Becker, Southern Columbia will Not be playing Wyoming Area in Week 8. Original schedule will stand”
So that now opens up the possibility of Southern Columbia playing SJP and Archbishop Wood avoiding a total embarrassment and traveling up the NE Extension to play WA???? 🙂
October 2nd, 2019 at 9:17 pm
@FrankG – good info. Its interesting. I never really thought about SJP not playing public schools that much. Out here, PCC and the other mainly play public schools. That’s part of the reason for the outcry is public school teams get smoked every year by them. That seems to not necessarily be the case out east. Seems like after North Penn, P-R has played them the most. Crazy.
October 2nd, 2019 at 7:40 pm
@New2PA The last time SJP lost to a PA public school (other than the ’17 championship) was when they got blown out by North Penn in 2010 (Infante’s first year when the program was in disarray following the firing of the previous coach). The last time a PA public school was on their regular season schedule was 2011 (again North Penn). In ’12 they lost to LaSalle and didn’t make the playoffs. In ’13 they barely beat Frankford in the D12 championship, and had a tough game against Neshaminy in the state semifinal, You know about ’14 (when they also almost lost to Parkland). In ’15 they lost to LaSalle in the championship, In ’16 they had a very tough game against North Penn in the semi-final–same for Coatesville in ’17.
@Jeff H I agree with you. Lots of things, internal or external, could happen to bring an end to this “SJP cycle”: the rise of one or two ambitious local competitors, jadedness, a decision within the school to place less emphasis on football, … Just think that if Swift had gone to LaSalle–as he was about to do until almost the last minute
October 2nd, 2019 at 2:10 pm
D11 big schools seem to be on quite the down cycle the past couple years. D12 is obviously king but I think D1/D3/D7 are quite above us as well now. I’ve seen Easton, Parkland, Freedom, and Nazareth and these teams are a joke compared to the rest of the state and D11 teams of other years. BECA will always have a chance because they drop to 4A in the playoffs but the EPC looks like the best of the worst. I don’t see much hope for years to come, the talent is dried up. Our schedules are fluffed by 2 crossover EPC North games which happen to be the worst 6A/5A teams in the state(we are forced to do this by D11 for seeding) on top of playing in a down EPC South. We are the least battle tested going into States and don’t have the talent to compete anymore with everyone else.
October 2nd, 2019 at 7:40 am
kevin X, right now, I would have to say Manheim Township is the 2nd best team in the State, they beat always tough Central Dauphin, although the final score was close, MT dominated the game, and they just handled a top 10 6A team in Wilson who had a lot returning from last year. Wilson’s coach said that this is MT’S best team ever. They still have Warwick to play and the semi’s and final in District 3 could have them play either Central Dauphin and Wilson again plus Harrisburg. I would take the District 3 champ over whoever comes out of District 1. I can’t comment on Pitt Central Catholic or N. Allegheny but posters are saying the WPIAL is down this year.
October 1st, 2019 at 7:15 pm
As a P-R fan for the past 6 or 7 years, and knowing a few kids, parents, and coaches, I can say that the vast majority of the people associated with the 14 and 17 teams (particularly 17) wanted to play SJP. The 14 team’s focus was figuring out how to beat PCC and they just went on a magical run that fell 1 drive short in the finals. That set the stage for 17 w.r.t. style of play, offseason program, effort, etc. I’ve had coaches and players tell me that they model many things they do on SJP and how they prepare on what it takes to beat them – not PCC, NA or other local teams. The frustrating part comes from the fact that P-R’s big runs seems to go in cycles, whereas SJP is there every year. 14, then 17, and now I believe they are gearing up for another rematch in 2020. But that frustration is probably minor because P-R kids believe they actually have a chance to win, whereas most teams don’t. When is the last time SJP lost to a PA public school, besides the 17 P-T team?
October 1st, 2019 at 7:14 pm
Top 5 6A EAST:
SJP
DTW
Coatesville
Harrisburg
Lasalle
October 1st, 2019 at 4:20 pm
@Kevin X Great points. Also Harrison Jr wasn’t recruited to SJP. He wasn’t in love with LaSalle, wanted to go to Roman. Sr. Pushed LaSalle. After his freshman year, got his wish to leave LaSalle and Prep was there waiting. In the public private debate I think people should be honest and say the really on care about the privates playing PIAA. If MP recruits and get players no one cares bc MP isn’t keeping them from a state chip.
October 1st, 2019 at 4:10 pm
@ Buddy
North Penn School Board meeting tonight. Stay tuned…….
October 1st, 2019 at 3:58 pm
@Kevin
re: drilling down on the schedules, apparently I’m the only person with team schedules that also include the game results and recaps? Everyone else seems to have the simplified versions that only list the wins and losses. Add-in how PA Football Forum brains are required to cease functioning upon hearing mention of “Imhotep” or “Malvern” and it’s a recipe for disaster!
Let me be clear: Imhotep is an awesome program. They play a brutal schedule and have enjoyed great success this past decade……………..
And the supposedly second-best 6A team in the state should beat ANY 4A team more convincingly than 15-12. The end.
Similarly, the supposedly second-best team in 6A should not be 21-20 in the third quarter with a school that lost 36-0 to another 6A team. If A>B and B>C then C>A? I just don’t get how that’s anything but a bad win. They didn’t have a warmup game for Northeast? Next, you’ll be telling me it was a trap game for LaSalle. Come on.
And we’re going to go in circles on Malvern so let’s not bother. I’m going to say “they are 1-4 and lost by a billion to McDonogh and Spalding” and you’re going to say “but they lost by a billion to two great teams… and Imhotep played DeMatha!” so we might as well just drop it and agree that the real lesson here is to just schedule DeMatha, and Bergen, and McDonogh, and Spalding, and get obliterated by them because there is no downside for doing so. You’ll get 100/100 credit from some people just for scheduling the games.
In summation, we’re talking about LaSalle supposedly being the second-best 6A team in the state. To EARN that distinction, at least in my world, the second-best 6A team in the state needs to win convincingly, not squeeze past three 4A and 5A programs. That’s really what it comes down to. You’re looking at the wins. I’m looking at the classes those teams reside in and how the games played out and I simply expect more from an elite 6A program.
In answer to your larger question, I don’t know if LaSalle would be the second-best team in District 1, District 3, or District 7 this year, let alone the entire state of PA. Add in State College and the usual suspects in D11, and LaSalle is probably somewhere around #6-#8 in PA. And we won’t get any closer to the truth unless North Penn makes a run, LaSalle plays Prep competitively in round 2, or someone gives Prep a game in the state playoffs.
In all seriousness, I do appreciate you taking the time to make a thoughtful response.
October 1st, 2019 at 2:12 pm
Just to clarify my prior posts I never said LaSalle was the 2nd best team in the state, clearly they are not and it didn’t take the game on Friday for me to realize that, I just said that in my opinion they had the best chance of upsetting SJP in the playoffs, but based on the game on Friday I’d say they have virtually no chance in the rematch, unless SJP has lots of key guys out due to injury, and even then it would be a stretch to see LaSalle winning.
SJP beat Pine Richland 38-0 in the semi-finals last year, IMO there is no team in the WPIAL this year, including PCC and NA, that is much better than PR was last year, so from my viewpoint in Pittsburgh SJP blows out the WPIAL champ again, and the guys I know who follow WPIAL football closely agree with me, a buddy of mine was at the NA vs. Mt Lebanon game a couple of weeks ago, and while he was impressed with NA and is good friends of the father of Luke Collella, he feels NA would get beat by 4-5 TD’s by SJP, if they end up playing.
Cyoball is correct, their elite quarterback puts them on a whole different level than any other team in this state, I certainly hope the state final is competitive,and would love to see any team beat SJP, it would be great for HS football in general if someone beats them, but it’s hard for me to see any team coming within 3 TD’s in the final, I don’t care who emerges from D1/D3, the game might be close for awhile, but SJP wins going away, just like last year.
@ Craig A Jones – IMO splitting the public and private schools would be a disaster for HS football in this state, the move to 6 classes has already had a negative impact by diluting the playoffs and attendance down at many schools due to loss of natural rivals from the changes in classification, there are not enough private schools for this to be a realistic option, this state is far larger than NJ where all the powerhouse privates are located in a relatively close geographical area. If you split into public/private what do you do with PCC and ECP, who are the only 2 large private schools in the entire western half of the state.
Let’s see what happens when this tremendous junior class of SJP graduates after next year, I have a hunch they are not going to continue to win the state title every singe year, they will certainly win quite a few, but I would be surprised if they win say 5 or more in a row, time will tell. SJP has not always been this dominant prior to their current 7 yr run, they had down years prior, look at AW as an example, they had a dominant 10yr run and now they are down significantly, they lost to Penn Hills last year, they are not going to win the state title this year, and the outlook is not real great for the next few years. My point is things go in cycles, and history says SJP will not be this dominant every year, look at some other big time private schools with a long record of success and their history in the state playoffs, you referenced Becahi, they have 1 state title, ditto for D3 Bishop McDevitt, both tremendous programs, yet only 2 state titles between them, so I think this whole public vs. private is blown out of proportion and exacerbated when you get a team on a run like SJP.
October 1st, 2019 at 8:37 am
Has anyone ( Kevin?) heard more about North Penn’s new stadium?
This Fri. is supposed to be the last game there.
Has the school board approved the increased bid?
October 1st, 2019 at 8:11 am
@Craig
That about sums it up.
@cyo
“Conceded” is used as ” it is a given”, Not “conceited” as in “vanity”.
@ et al
I have not been for separating privates & publics. Why? Because schools , like the one I follow, would dominant every year.
And that would be a drag. But when you can recruit players like Trotter & Harrison, well now it gets absurd.
September 30th, 2019 at 9:56 pm
@ Craig A Do you really want the Jersey system? Do you think P-R in ’14 and ’17 or NP in ’16 or Harrisburg last year would have preferred not to play SJP and to play in an all-public final? Why not look at Ohio as a model? And do you want a separate private stream for all six classifications–or is this really just about SJP?
Clearly private schools have advantages. Public schools also have advantages, though I’m not going to pretend that, mainly because of its location, SJP’s advantages aren’t greater than public schools’? It ‘s just that it’s more complicated than some think.
From what I hear and read, the quality of hs football in PA has been down in recent years. That’s true of the Lehigh Valley northeastern PA–apparently. True? I also get the sense that the WPIAL is down somewhat, Happy to be corrected. But if the quality in those areas is down, it can hardly be the fault of SJP.
Finally about the 2-2 record. Note that the two losses were to schools quite different from the Prep: one a large public high school and the other a boarding school attended by kids who come from all over the country essentially to maximize their chances of getting offers from high-profile college programs.
September 30th, 2019 at 9:20 pm
@ D3 Mike, Fair enough, I will give it the ‘ole college try and rebutt your LaSalle contentions….
1. Second best team in the state?? Maybe, maybe not. Just curious as a side comment/question, who do you guys think is the second best team in PA right now, regardless of classification or PIAA membership??
2. Second best 6A team?? Again, maybe, maybe not. But I would not disagree or argue with anyone who states that they are. Same question as above then, who is the second best 6A team in the state??
3. More on specifics: Loved the unnamed “unranked 4A team” mentioned from earlier. This “unranked 4A team” will most likely be playing in another state championship game come December. Thinking that would make 5 appearances in a row?? This “unranked 4A’ team started off the season with LaSalle, and lost their next 2 games to Bergen Catholic and DeMatha Catholic. Care to name me another PA team that isn’t located at 18th and Girard that would fair better against those two teams?? Oh, and exactly how many times has this “unranked 4A” team got “handled” by Harrisburg as you alluded to?? Once that I recall. And scrimmages?? Who knows, who cares.
4. Malvern Prep. Incredibly down?? Hardly. Down sure. Let’s look at schedules again. MP went toe to toe with a very good McDonogh School team (who are currently 5-0) until MP’s best player went out of the game in the second half with an injury. Then losses to LaSalle and then that pesky “unranked 4A” team. And yes, another loss on Friday to a very strong Archbishop Spalding, who’s only loss this year has been to a semi national power in Our Lady of Good Counsel. And MP’s one win to date was a thrashing of perennial D3 and Berks power Berks Catholic. As things stand now, I’d have no issue with ranking MP 2nd in this dumpster fire that we call the Eastern 5A, only behind Warwick.
5. Haverford. Yes, they were beat very nicely by Northeast. Which BTW was Haverford’s first game of the year, and NE already had a game under their belt. I think any one of us, me included, who witnessed a week 0/1 game, would concede that they were pretty sloppy. And NE is not exactly a member of the PPL’s Little Sister’s of the Poor division. A solid team in their own right. And yes, The LS/Haverford game was close, but good teams find a way to close out the deal, which they did, going away.
Bottom line, please look at, and drill down on the schedules and competition of these teams. My final question, which team has had a harder first half of the season schedule than SJP, LaSalle, MP and Imhotep, er, umm, sorry, that “unranked 4A’ team??
September 30th, 2019 at 8:24 pm
Even if I agree with your weak pt about communities that’s not the pt of my argument. They’re a private school who doesn’t have to play by the same rules. Again I say, “how good are they compared to other schools like themselves?; 2-2 is what I see. Then they’ll enter a tournament with schools who have restrictions on them and will hammer them with their all-star team. So when I say who cares it means their championship is meaningless to any body who knows anything about the current structure of the PIAA. New Jersey does it right, they separate the privates and the public schools.
September 30th, 2019 at 8:04 pm
@ Craig A. Obviously a lot of people care about SJP, LaSalle, and other private schools. You say such schools have “no loyalty to any community” but don’t recognize there are different kinds of communities. There is an SJP community and there is a vaguer but still real PCL community. In at least part of the state the old kind of communities that once existed don’t any more or they’re significantly weaker. I can remember seeing the Blakely Bears when I visited Scranton as a kid over 50 years ago. Does anything like that exist anymore? It’s great that Easton has the support it does, but that seems an anomaly. If SJP drops its football program, I can’t imagine high schools in SE PA are going to get a lot more community support than they now get.
September 30th, 2019 at 7:54 pm
@Buddy its not conceded its my personal opinion. He is going to Ohio State for a reason. Maybe I misspoke about stating that its not even close but I would stand by the fact that he’s the best pro style QB in the Junior class.
Also, I am not a SJP guy I am actually a Roman guy.
Red Raider, do you think anyone else in the state of PA can keep it within 4-5 scores of IMG? I would say no.
The Jonses I will follow up on RCHS’s post. Not sure who he is but he’s on to something. I agree with them, Roman is going to get Football talent in the building. Its not if , its happening now.
Theres plenty of talent in Philadelphia and surrounding areas. And last, yes prep and Imhotep was well as Lasalle are schools to compete with for getting talent. Roman doesn’t need the great Albie to recruit and bring in talent. They have the right guy for the job in there now and the program is turning around right now.
September 30th, 2019 at 7:42 pm
Who cares about SJP or LaSalle or any of these private schools. It’s like Bethlehem Catholic wrestling, all-star teams with no loyalty to any community. BC beats up on the publics and thumps their chests, but when they get hammered by another private they don’t even report it locally. So I see SJP is 2-2, so how good are they really in their own class. But they’ll win the state title again and who cares really. Here in Easton we are one of the winningest programs in the State and the Country. We did it with local grown kid’s. #2 in wins in Pa all-time and #8 I think in the USA. I’d rather go see an Easton or P’Burg game any day of the week.
September 30th, 2019 at 6:40 pm
Whoa, there! Let me be clear: I never said St. Joe’s Prep will lose. I’m suggesting that there is a happy medium between recognizing that they are the best team, by far, and claiming that they could mercy rule everyone in the state with 10 players. Pepperidge Farm remembers: last year many expressed sentiments similar to what I’m reading now. You can still look up the comments in the 2018 forum (I can wait). Plenty of blowout predictions and commentary along the lines of the Coatesville/Harrisburg winner getting run out of Hersheypark Stadium.
That Prep team was also ranked in the top 10-15 in the country, no? That team was also supposed to demolish everyone in PA, no?… and that team, as I already stated, was winning by all of ONE SCORE in the 4th quarter of the 6A title game despite four Harrisburg turnovers. Considering those facts, it’s not this incredible long shot for another team to tighten up on the turnovers (and penalties) and actually give Prep a game this year, too.
To reiterate: Prep should win every remaining game quite comfortably. I love Prep. I have a poster of their coaching staff taped above my bed. My greatest regret in life was not becoming a Prep alum. But the LaSalle game doesn’t prove that Prep is invincible in PA since LaSalle is not the 2nd best team in PA. Those were the two points I was making. If people would take a break from their abject supplication at the altar of the PCL for just a moment they would recognize that:
1) LaSalle was trailing 12-3 in the 3rd quarter and ended up squeaking by an Imhotep team that
2) Harrisburg handles every time they play or scrimmage (which is what an elite 6A team is supposed to do against even a great 4A program).
Add in the Haverford clunker, Malvern being incredibly down compared to last year, and the fact that LaSalle has been OUTSCORED IN THE FIRST HALF THIS YEAR (seriously, lol) and we can all stop with “it’s all over, Prep just smoked the second best team in 6A”. Because the data suggests that Prep hasn’t seen the second best team in 6A yet.
Feel free to provide actual stats and/or evidence (as I did) in your counter argument, lest I mock your anecdotal rebuttal for being nothing but an onanistic opinion-piece.
September 30th, 2019 at 4:43 pm
@CYO: I think your post supports my view — SJP lost to IMG. And to say there is a best JR QB (not even close) out of the thousands of HS QB’s seems ridiculous to me.
AND
@D3 Mike: I think you’re making sense. On any given day . . .
September 30th, 2019 at 4:25 pm
@cyo
That’s conceded. By everyone. Anything else to add, or just want to gloat about SLP’s recruiting prowess?
September 30th, 2019 at 4:24 pm
@ D3 Mike – I agree with Cyoball1, I am convinced no WPIAL team will come within 3 Td’s of SJP in the state semi-finals, and I frankly would not be surprised if it’s a mercy rule game. And that’s assuming the WPIAL winner beats State College in the quarterfinals, which is no sure thing this year. WPIAL 6A is down and SJP is going to dominate the winner if they get by a very good State College team, just like they did last year when they beat defending champ PR 38-0.
As I and many others have stated since the start of the season everyone else in 6A is playing for district titles and the state runner-up trophy, the only bigger favorite in any class in PA is Southern Columbia in 2A.
Yes, upsets happen, but if anyone beats this SJP team in the playoffs I would argue it would be the biggest upset in the history of PIAA football playoffs, there’s a better chance they mercy rule every team they play than get beat, including the WPIAL and D1/D3 winner.
There are some very good teams in 6A this year, but none are even in the same league with this SJP team, it would be a very interesting state playoff without SJP because there’s probably at least a half dozen teams that would have a realistic shot at the title with no SJP in the field.
September 30th, 2019 at 2:58 pm
@phillyboy I didn’t read your post before my last. That right there will shake up the landscape and then you find out if Infante can do it (draw talent) without all the bells and whistles of prep.This could be really good.
September 30th, 2019 at 2:54 pm
RCHS3254 I am with 4th and long on that one. So Roman, a traditional basketball power it going to out recruit Albee at NG, who contends with LaSalle & Prep for talent. In addtition to that I am hearing the new staff at Lansdale Catholic is going to be pulling on those same kids. Only put so many talent to go around.
September 30th, 2019 at 11:41 am
RCHS3254, what makes you think RC is stepping up in recruiting? Is Albee Crosby leaving NG or something? If I was to make a bet on the team that’s rising, I’d go with PJP. Losing a lot of talent next year but they’ve got a good staff, it’s a beautiful campus and they’re putting a lot into the football facilities. Not a PCL school, but I can see them moving to 4A and becoming a power.
September 30th, 2019 at 11:00 am
I don’t know about Prep winning the entire thing with 10 men on the field. Some coaches are great with X’s and O’s and just don’t have the horses to run with SJP. The LaSalle sideline was dejected. After seeing so many matchups between these schools it looks like LaSalle plays to beat SJP and SJP plays to win stats, which always keeps LaSalle at a disadvantage. Since this game could have been a shut out is SJP didn’t put the second unit in, I don’t expect much difference in the playoff rematch. Previously LaSalle’s first unit was able to at least score. On another note, LaSalle needs to play that speedy small running back #1. He’s a play maker. I’ve seen him in 2 games (NP & SJP) and both he had a big play for a TD with pure speed. He can be the lightening to Browns Thunder.
September 30th, 2019 at 9:57 am
Red Raider… who in the state will have a more “High powered offense” than IMG academy? I know it’s a tough pill to swallow 5 weeks into the season but Prep will win 6A going away.
McCord is the best QB in the country in the junior class and honestly, it’s not even close.
September 30th, 2019 at 8:52 am
@ Roman Catholic guy– So you say Roman Catholic is going to ascend out of the cellar, so tired of being a basement dweller. What prompted you to say such a thing out of the blue? Is there a specific reason or just some wild hunch that comes from you? Well, for all y’all out in the hinterlands of PA, no worries, phillyboy is here to save the day (with concomitant cape and jump suit). This is what’s going down, this is my theory: A former Prep head coach recently resigned at the height of his professional career. All kinds of options were opening up. Meanwhile, the thought of seizing the opportunity to excel at the next level was gnawing at him — had to scratch that itch. From the get-go there were regrets or misgivings. Between the chaos at Temple and the realization that he’s now just a low level coach at a wannabe program, he had an epiphany. Started to reason to himself, ‘what have I done, here I am starving while could have been feasting just a few blocks away. Maybe they’ll take me back, as a prodigal son.’ Problem is, that spot is now taken. What to do? Well, what other huge Philadelphia Catholic high school exists that could be Infante’s canvass, huh? See where this is going, yes, Gabe Infante will be RC’s next head coach, you heard it here first. Cahillite Nation, get your popcorn ready, going to be interesting.
September 29th, 2019 at 11:48 pm
@ D3 Mike
You’re kidding, right???
September 29th, 2019 at 9:10 pm
St Joe’s Prep finished 11th in the country last year but still only led 27-20 in the 4th quarter of the state title game vs. a very flawed, very green Harrisburg program that turned the ball over 4 times. I still think the WPIAL or D1/D3 winner could give Prep a football game this year, too.
Maybe, just maybe, St. Joe’s overwhelming dominance last night wasn’t just about St. Joe’s? Maybe it’s also that LaSalle was unbelievably overrated coming into the game, what with all this chatter about how they were the second best team in the state – which was a point I threw out there before the game that no one seemed inclined to discuss.
LaSalle wrecked North Penn. Otherwise, they beat an unranked 4A team by 3 points, a 1-win Malvern team by 11 (a Malvern team who has gotten rolled multiple times already btw) and were ahead all of 21-20 late in the third quarter last week against a Haverford squad that was mercy ruled 36-0 by Northeast. Do those 3 scores seriously sound like results produced by the second best team in the state? The writing was on the wall for anyone who had been paying attention. LaSalle is just another good 6A program until proven otherwise.
September 29th, 2019 at 8:45 pm
Hey Uncle T: No doubt SJP is the favorite, but I watched them against LS and parts of their other games and IMHO they are not invincible. I think a team with a high-powered offense can beat them — like PR a few years ago. Not sure how good the other top teams are, many are high on DTW, Manheim, and a few others, but my guess is things won’t end up the way the prognosticators think they will. At this point I’m not going to predict a long run for C’ville, but I liked Pete DiGiovanni’s article about not counting them out — and they went out a beat Rustin with a freshman QB (which many thought might be a close game). If Ricky gets healthy and the rookies keep getting better, I think they can be pretty scary. By the way, where did the Ruttman? kid come from? Was he on the roster last year? He’s looked pretty impressive.
September 29th, 2019 at 8:08 pm
@Chief: at least they’re on the “western” side of the bracket so we’ll get some good games up until the final. I get that it can be annoying to constantly hear how good they are, but unless they get a wave of injuries, SJP will be 4-6 score favorites in every game they play for the rest of the season. I’d love to see somebody give them a game like Coatesville did 2 years ago before Pine-Richland beat Prep, but wouldn’t bet on anything being close this year (or next with the 3 studs returning). I think the Catholic League final will be just a bit more competitive, but the talent gap is just startling.
Side note: the District 1 field this year looks like it will be the best of the 6A era. I expect the top 16 now will be the same ones that qualify, and there’s going to be some really good matchups in the 1st round between the 5-12 seeds. The 3 Pioneer League teams and Truman are the weakest in my opinion, but every other team has got at least some game. The current 16 seed has 3 division 1 commits.
September 29th, 2019 at 1:57 pm
I know it’s still September, but I heard the PIAA is considering cancelling the rest of the season for all 6A teams and having a championship ceremony next week in Philly because it is absolutely impossible for SJP to lose to a team from PA. Moreover, next year, they are thinking about requiring all non-boundary schools to play 8-man football, but the public schools can continue to use 11 (even in head to head contests). Crazy huh?!
September 29th, 2019 at 10:44 am
say what you want, laugh now, but the talent in the city will soon start to show up at Roman. It’s not going to happen overnight but there is a change coming in the catholic league.
September 29th, 2019 at 8:32 am
@Uncle T — Prep could have won with 10 men on the field, lol. Funny but crazy as it sounds, maybe true. They could win the PIAA state tournament with 10 men the whole way through. Or they could spot each team 35 points and still win comfortably. Alternately, their 3 best players, McCord, Trotter, and Harrison (the triplets, like on the Dallas Cowboys) could sit and they’d still cream every team going away. In fact you could allow any opponent to sit any 5 players of their choosing and Prep would still dominate.
September 29th, 2019 at 12:40 am
Thanks for the recommendations. I think Widener and Doylestown are both about an hour from me so maybe I will check out one of the two. Nice to change it up from time to time. And another reason why November/December playoff football is awesome, so many great options if you’re willing to travel.
September 28th, 2019 at 11:55 pm
@ Uncle T
Yup
The most competitive part of that game was the halftime rugbys 7 exhibition. At least LaSalle saved some face in that tilt. I bailed at halftime. Post game (ok halftime) drinks were a calling. Also, they really needed to hold that game at Villanova or at the likes of a BASD stadium. The Wissahickon facility was overwhelmed.
September 28th, 2019 at 8:51 pm
SJP/LaSalle. My goodness. Prep would win this with 10 men on the field. Gonna be more of the same next year too.
September 28th, 2019 at 1:41 pm
@ Buddy
No “traditional” television coverage that I am aware of. The third link I had in my previous post, is from the Bob Long Sports YouTube channel. It just may not be available until shortly before kickoff. If you have a smart TV or Roku, or similar device, you can download the YouTube app and watch on your television like a traditional broadcast station’s coverage.
Yes, I realize the NP/CBW game is the 11th, that is when Jay was looking for a good game to attend. There is another one, I’m guessing in or near his backyard that night, DTW is at WC East.
Soudy might hold their own Friday against NP. I was at the Soudy/CBE game last night, and they have a nice tandem running attack with Wakefield and Guthre. But they also had a real bad case of fumblitis in the first half.
Funny you mentioned PCN’s Game of the Week. The other game that I mentioned for 10/11, Wood @ SJP, is PCN’s Game of the Week that weekend.
September 28th, 2019 at 12:37 pm
@D3 Mike Southern’s coach Roth pulled the starters out at half time leaving the 2nd and 3rd team to fend for themselves and did a good job. The first could have scored 100 points if played all game. Look up the box score! On the down side South Williamsport only dressed maybe 25 players I give those kids credit they played hard and did not give up my hats off to them they are a good team.
September 28th, 2019 at 11:48 am
Kevin:
That NP/CB West tilt is 2 weeks away. Souderton ( also undefeated) plays at NP this Friday.
I don’t think that will be much of a game. But the CB West match just might be.
So the LS/SJP game I can get on youtube? Any TV coverage? One would think it be the PCN game of the week.
September 28th, 2019 at 11:20 am
Sorry, my last post was meant for @ Jay, but I suppose open to anyone who is looking for a game and destination on 10/11 🙂
Also @ Jay, I believe that Battle of the Brandywine has been sold out a few times in the recent past, either in advance, or at the gate. If you are truly interested in attending that game Friday, I’d recommend trying to secure your tix in advance. If not, I think the game with be streamed on 3CTV/Chesmontfootball.com
September 28th, 2019 at 11:15 am
If you feel like road tripping up to the other D-Town, as in Doylestown, you can catch some SOL action with North Penn (5-1) at CB West (6-0).
Or head down to Widener for Wood @ SJP
September 28th, 2019 at 10:58 am
Jay, not sure how far you’re willing to travel but FWIW there’s really nothing of note in Berks or Lancaster that night. Maybe elsewhere in D1 or even D11.
After now having seen Manheim Township, Harrisburg, and Coatesville live, it would not surprise me to see MT facing St. Joe’s Prep in Hershey come December. MT’s top wideout finished with the most receiving yards in D3 history last night – and it was his first game of the season. He’s a 15-year old sophomore with offers from Virginia Tech and West Virginia. 6’1″ and runs a 4.3. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about him in the years ahead. MT also has two other receivers who are more experienced, taller, and almost as fast as Ivey. QB has a gun. Just a solid all-around team with a scary spread offense. I’d still put them a smidge below Harrisburg based on what I’ve seen of Harrisburg’s defense but MT could definitely end up the #2 team in 6A by the time it’s all said and done. Wilson played them pretty tough and the atmosphere last night was phenomenal – Wilson just doesn’t have the secondary to match up with the big boys in 6A this year.
What happened up north last night? Parkland-Nazareth looked like a good one while North Schuylkill-Jim Thorpe fell short of last year’s versions. And I was really surprised to see Wyoming Area gave up 30?
Also of note: it appears that someone FINALLY solved the Southern Columbia defense. Wait until that game film gets around the coaching ranks – is this the beginning of the end for SCA?
September 28th, 2019 at 9:51 am
Kevin X…We will have a article of this game…
September 28th, 2019 at 9:42 am
For those of you who may be interested in streaming the SJP/LaSalle game tonight, some links, basically all of the same stream, just different ways to access:
https://www.lschs.org/about-la-salle/post-detail/wexptv
http://boblongsports.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgiHdDEIaXSb7ygtkYuOGGQ/feed
September 28th, 2019 at 9:38 am
@ phillyboy
Don’t expect an on campus football stadium for Temple U anytime in the near future, or for that matter, distant future.
Why SJP have their home games at Widener is a mystery to me. They must be getting an unbelievable sweet deal from the University. I don’t imagine a big SJP alumni contingent based in the greater Chester area.
September 28th, 2019 at 2:18 am
Ortega didn’t play and Coatesville won handily. Makes me feel a bit more confident going into October, though they’ll need to bring their A games for Downingtowns East and West, who by halftime had collectively outscored their opponents by a combined score of 84-7 tonight.
I’m looking forward to next week’s East vs West match. Hopefully tickets don’t sell out during the week like they did a few years back when both teams were 9-0 going into week 10. (Was that more than a few years? I can’t even remember if that was before or after the years with Emmett Hunt at Coatesville QB – good times except for in Hershey, oof.
Definitely got my games planned out for 10/4, 10/18, and 10/25 and then obviously November, but I might travel a bit on 10/11 to watch a game outside of the Ches-Mont. Any recommendations?
September 28th, 2019 at 12:49 am
Looks like the talk of PCC’s demise was a bit premature, as their lines dominated PR in a 29-7 win, and NA blew out Seneca Valley, at this point it appears PCC and NA are the top 2 teams in the WPIAL. Both of them should cruise the next 3 weeks until the season finale between NA and PR will determine seeding for the playoffs.
In 5A still appears to be a 3 team race between Penn Trafford, Peters Township and Gateway, all won easily tonight, I think Peters will go undefeated in the regular season and be the #1 seed with Penn Trafford #2, but don’t count out Gateway come playoff time.
September 27th, 2019 at 9:42 pm
Final: Coatesville 36, Rustin 7, Ortega did not play.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:20 pm
Halftime update from a packed house in West Lawn. D3 game of the week has lived up to its billing. Manheim Township 21, Wilson 14. So far it’s been pretty much as expected: MT wideouts are just too fast, too tall, too athletic. Wilson doing their best to hold their own at home, also as expected. Really surprised Wilson hasn’t tried to run the ball a bit more just to give their overmatched secondary a breather. MT’s Anthony Ivey with 6 catches, 280 yards and 2 TDs. Per the Reading Eagle sportswriter, that’s a Lancaster Lebanon League record for a game, let alone a half…
September 27th, 2019 at 6:25 pm
@ D3 Mike
Up in D2 another battle of 5 and Oh’s, Berwick visits Valley View.
Down her in D1, a now curious game with Coatesville traveling over to WC Rustin. 5-0 CB West heads up to Perkasie to take on a one win Pennridge team, but PR has had a pretty tough schedule to date. Tomorrow we’ll see if PJPII can get over the hump and finally take down visiting Pottsgrove. I’m heading out the door right now for CB East visiting another 5-0 team, Souderton. Think Soudy has had pretty soft schedule so far, so this game could be a big test before next week’s game against local rival North Penn.
Another perfect weather night…………
September 27th, 2019 at 5:34 pm
@D3 Mike
Lot of good games on the ledger, this weekend up north.
District 2 6A: Dallas vs. Wilkes-Barre Area is the big 6A game up north. Wilkes-Barre Area has impressed me a lot. The merger seems to have worked. A tough challenge for them, as Dallas is one of the great teams in 4A. The top 3 in 4A (Dallas, VV, Berwick) are all undefeated. Will talk about that game, below.
District 2 5A: Wyoming Valley West vs. Wallenpaupack. This is a crucial game in the District 2-11 5A Subregion, as this is a de-facto championship game (or preview). If you are unaware with the 2-11 5A Subregional, I’ll give a lay of the land. Top four in the power ratings, of the seven teams in region make the playoffs. If both ‘Paupack & WVW make the playoff, they play each other in Week 11 for the District 2 title, then the District 11 winner faces them. If one makes the Top 4, that District 2 team becomes district champion, and would have to play the District 11 teams, regardless of seed. If by some miracle neither District 2 school makes it, the two 5A schools play each other. This is the biggest game for either team, all season, in my opinion. Both teams are under .500, one with a new coach (WVW), one with a young squad (Paupack), so expect this one to be intriguing.
District 2 4A: Berwick vs. Valley View. This is the game of the week, for NEPA. Valley View should get through this one without a problem, but with both being 4-0, this can determine who gets the #1 seed in Class 4A.
District 4 3A: Wyoming Area vs. Lake-Lehman looks like a good matchup, but Western Wayne has been the story of the small school levels. 5-0 on the season, so far. The road through 3A may have to head through Lake Ariel, if Wyoming Area stumbles against Dunmore & Southern Columbia.
District 4 2A/1A: I have 2.
1. Mid Valley/Lackawanna Trail. A must-win game for Trail, especially being that they are on the outside looking in for Class 1A. As for Mid Valley, a win here would be huge. Beating Dunmore & Trail in the same season, for a school like Mid Valley would be huge for them.
2. New Church/Riverside: I don’t know too much about ANC, but I feel like they’ll give Riverside a good challenge. Hope the Riverside crew treats them to Revello’s, Arcaro & Genell’s, or Cafe Rinaldi.
District 11
1. Nazareth/Parkland: Nazareth is the surprise of the year in District 11. Parkland is a surprising 3-2. Important game for them, in the EPC South.
2. ES South/Northampton: The winner of that game likely takes the EPC North. Should be a very competitive game.
3. North Schuylkill/Jim Thorpe: Major implications in D-11 3A. May call this a coin flip. I feel NS is better, anyway.
I may be missing some, but these are the big games up north. I hope we can have more District 2 talk in here, more often.
September 27th, 2019 at 4:20 pm
@New2PA & PCCPride- winner of the regular season game between these teams has won the last 6 WPIAL titles, and while I don’t count out NA I think that trend has a very good chance to continue this year. I like PR in this game because I think they have a more balanced team, although the big test will be how PR’s OL holds up against the PCC front. I was surprised how bad PCC beat BP last week, Bethel has a decent team and I thought that game was going to be pretty close, but PCC defense dominated, particularly the D line.
MT vs. Wilson is a huge game in D3, shocked how easily MT handled Cocalico last week, I realize their RB and QB got hurt but that score was an eyeopener, surprised the D3 guys aren’t talking more about this game because I think it’s one of the best in the state tonight, hard to pick against Wilson at home but MT is rolling, should be a great game.
@Buddy -agree with you LaSalle has the best chance of any team in the state to upset SJP, won’t happen tomorrow night, but they have a punchers chance in the rematch, especially if the weather is a factor, don’t see anyone else in the state staying within 3 scores of SJP in the playoffs.
September 27th, 2019 at 1:58 pm
Foleman, that’s what I never understood about the Prep, with all the multimillionaire alumni, they could never cobble together a few mil for a home field. Don’t make no sense — they’re the Mac Daddy of the PCL, right? They’re basically Don Bosco South. A few decades ago could have bought up a bunch of real estate around the campus for a song. Gentrification is pretty much all cannons ablaze at this point, so much for getting a bargain. Once Temple gets their on-campus stadium built, would be perfect. Sounds like Temple is trying to be community friendly, unlike the greedy professional football team down in South Philly.
September 27th, 2019 at 1:20 pm
@New2PA: When Central was tested by Seneca and NA both games were with in a few points of a win or loss. There were good games.
As for PCC offensive the last couple of weeks, they played BP and Hempfield. They were ok games but not really a challenge for Central. They should have never gave up the points they did to Hempfield.
PR will be the true test of the 6A for Central. I see Central D-Line giving PR a good run for the first 2 maybe 3 qtrs., then all down hill because they are playing both ways. Same with Central’s O-Line.
After PR, Mt. Lebo, and they way they have been they could possible beat PCC as well. They look like a promising team.
Hope the best for both team and that all players are healthy afterwards!
September 27th, 2019 at 12:23 pm
@Kevin & Buddy
Hopefully North Penn won’t rebuild the field twice like Quakertown did a number of years ago, first they ripped it up put in an all new sod field, had some bad weather it got all ripped up, next year (possibly 2) they ripped that out and put in the turf field, nothing like doing the same job twice. Do it one, do it right and get it over with.
September 27th, 2019 at 12:19 pm
So far I’ve heard PCC-Pine Richland, Prep-LaSalle, and Wilson-Manheim Township. It’s a big weekend in 6A.
I’ll take Pine Richland, Prep, and Manheim Township, although I think MT will see a close game. Wilson gets their best coverage guy back tonight after missing the first month of the season. Interested to see if he helps them match MT’s team speed.
I haven’t bought into the LaSalle-as-second-best team narrative yet but I’m hoping I’m wrong and they can deliver a competitive game. They were in 1-score games late vs. Imhotep, Malvern, and Haverford and St. Joe’s is a big step up from those teams. We’ll see.
What’s going on in D1, D2, D11 tonight? Any good matchups from the lower classes?
September 27th, 2019 at 9:43 am
PCC Pride: I agree with most of what you said, but I wouldn’t count out a WPIAL Championship yet. I think the league is a little down this year and if PCC can beat P-R tonight, they are right back in the thick of things. If they lose though, I think they could potentially fold up camp and go home.
As you mentioned, playing those kids both ways is crazy. But if you are correct and the classes coming up aren’t very good, they may have no other choice.
If P-R’s OL can give Spencer time I think that their WR’s could have a big day. PCC’s DB’s have been decimated by graduation, transfer, and injury. I think P-R has a huge advantage there, but it depends on the OL. PCC’s offense has been better the last couple weeks, but tonight will be the real test. Coach K’s defense has been lights out and they really seem to mix things up with different people running on and off the field depending on situation. Real test for PCC.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:52 am
Kevin:
The parking lot is rather far from the field, a monorail would be nice.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:38 am
Coach D, New Hope is a good school academically and the football team has recorded a nice record the last few years, plus they are well coached, however, playing the Jenkintown’s, Bristol’s and Morrisville’s of the world will definitely help a program’s resume. The SOL will help. Take the emotion out of it. You listed not only some of the top football programs in the area….and the US, but also a few of the top academic schools in the US. Which schools on the list would you want your son to attend? No school owns players, parents decide on where they send their kids. And they still have to pay the local property tax whether a kid attends the local Public School or not. If an employer came to you and said “We want you to work for us and we will give you a 50% raise” what would you say? I went to grade school with a few kids that graduated from The Prep, all of them have million dollar bank accounts. No program wants to lose great players, I think the new transfer rules will help the Public schools, it seems like Wood, Berks Catholic and McDevitt are down and the new success multiplier will move up the Erie Cathedral Preps to 5A where they belong.
September 26th, 2019 at 8:55 pm
Hey Buddy, yes, I was at the LaSalle game (if you want to call that a game). My biggest impression was the portable lights that they had to set up due to one one of the light towers biting the dust over the summer during a storm. What I am understanding, not only do they want to put turf in, is to redo the track, redo the stands (whatever that entails), new concession area, new restrooms, new ticket booth, new storage facility and a new “team room” near the stadium (not a full blown locker room). Their consultant(s) estimated all of those goodies would cost around 6 mil, so that is what they expected the bids to come in around. Yeah right. The lowest was 7.7 mil, so they are now in a quandary over their next move. A meeting the other night had people wanting central air conditioning for three district schools (evidently two kids have doctors notes indicating that they require climate controls conditions) and someone else brought up the need for an inclusion of a “sensory room” for kids with autism also be built at the stadium (since the Linc now has one, North Penn should have one too), and the beat goes on. I expect a request for a Disney World like monorail system connecting the far reaches of the parking areas with direct access to the stadium to be the next request. A School Board meeting is scheduled for this Tuesday the 1st, so we’ll see what the next move might be……..stay tuned as the say.
I think the Easton Stadium/Easton School district is dealing with a similar issue, the underestimating of the costs of a stadium renovation.
September 26th, 2019 at 5:00 pm
Well, 5 weeks left the what started off as a promising season to the WPIAL Championship is now looking like we hope to get to the second round or the play-offs. Midseason grading: Offense: C (would have been a B but we do not have a great QB and the O-line is beat from playing both sides of the ball. Running Backs get a solid A). Defense: B (Holding teams for at least 3 qtrs. But once again most are playing both sides of the ball). Special Teams: B+ (They have a few returns brought back deep into great field position. The kicker, well he gets an A+! Has not missed one and has a 54 yarder!) Coaching: F and big fat F. Not utilizing their strength with the players they have. Play calling is horrible. It is almost like playing Tecmo Bowl with only having the same 8 passing and running plays.
In the end, coaching needs to be changed, all of them. Not one of them needs to be left behind. They need new ideas, plays, and the willingness to be committed to the team as a whole.
Enjoy the opportunity to win now, with the next class coming up, there is not much hope making a run deep into any playoffs for the next 2 to 3 years.
September 26th, 2019 at 4:04 pm
@FOLEMAN
New hope 12-2, 9-2, 9-2, 9-3, 1 District Championship and 3 League Championships, 3 All-State players in the last 5 years. Teams they lost to: Egan, Delaware Charter, GA, Delco Christian, West Catholic, PJP, ANC. All schools they have lost to are Open Enrollment schools who can recruit. Yes even Delco Christian and PJP.
New Hope Area wealth doesn’t mean anything. Those kids work really hard and anytime a really good Player comes along in New Hope you will have a private school there in his ear. Over the last 8 years, New Hope has lost at least a dozen to the private schools. Lasalle, Wood, Hun School and Peddie School in NJ. St. Joe’s Prep attempted to recruit two players last season who subsequently went to Hun. Even with all the success over the last few years, Could you imagine how much of an impact the kids who decided to attend private would have on the New Hope program over the years if they stayed in house. Some of them would much rather sit on the bench for 2-3 years at a bigger program then play right away at New Hope. Hopefully with New Hope joining the SOL it will entice some of these players to stay in house.
September 26th, 2019 at 12:18 pm
Kevin:
I was at a game early season and someone said they doubt it will be done by football NEXT season.
Sounds like they won’t make 2020 graduation.
My friends daughter works at NP, said they had 2 earlier bids of 4 million & 16 million! Don’t understand the disparity.
Unless they’re not comparing apples to apples. Heard they allotted 6 million and the latest bid was 7 1/2 million.
Having not built any stadiums myself, the 4 million sounds awful low ( actually, so does the 6 million allotment).
Not sure what they’ll do. Don’t know if you ever been to Crawford, but something has to be done!
Like I mentioned before, last 2 years they were #1 seed and never played a home game. If someone pisses on the field
it is unplayable!
September 26th, 2019 at 8:19 am
@4th and long. Very very true. Public’s need all the help it can get. (speaking as a product of south Philly public schools). The public schools will never be able to match what a private school can offer a HS student athlete because they will always lack the main resource (people) willing to put the work in, or financial investment in making the improvements. If the PIAA changed the rules to say keep the NJ kids out, they would simply find host families and live with them, which is allowed. Basically they would find away. As Philly boy said earlier, you need freedom.
It seems like SJP had this advantage (pulling kids from other areas-NJ in particular) since it existed. However, they weren’t dominant until 2013 per PIAA site here http://www.piaa.org/news/details.aspx?ID=651. I am guessing there was a coaching change or a philosophy change on recruiting that started their dominance.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:48 pm
@ Buddy
I believe you did hear correctly. Just saw some on-line articles stating that regarding the over budget bids. Except there was no further info if the project was going forward as planned as I heard the other day, put out for re-bids, re-evaluted, etc. Think there is a school board meeting next week that I’m assuming it will be discussed further. Plan was (and I suppose still is) to have the stadium ready for the 2020 graduation ceremony. So yeah, I may have jumped the gun with that post, my apologies.
September 25th, 2019 at 7:59 pm
Joneses, my point is the non-boundary schools not only make themselves better by recruiting, they also weaken the publics. Public schools ought to get an enrollment credit (reduction) for how many private schools are in the area. That would help out the Philadelphia publics.
Mixing boundary and non-boundary schools in today’s environment doesn’t work if you want competitive balance.
September 25th, 2019 at 7:46 pm
Maybe my point is being lost. D3Mike, yes, money helps, however, the best thing money does is attract athletes from public schools if they’re a private, or keep them home if you’re a public. You’re also conflating public and private’s wealth. The successful public programs in Pennsylvania tend to be smaller programs from relatively isolated (read less private school poaching of athletes) areas and seem to cover the economic spectrum. The larger divisions are dominated by private and charter schools from large urban areas (SJP, Wood, PCC, ECP, Imhotep, etc.) that can choose from a lot of athletes. I’m not gonna hold myself out to be an expert on PA HS football, but I know those schools are disproportionately well represented with state titles and Power 5 athletes. Mainly it’s about demographics, with money being peripheral. HS size being equal, you can have upper middle class suburban kids, I’ll take the blue collar Polynesian kids as long as they’re staying to play at the local HS. Income might be a factor, but there’s a lot more to the equation and it would be a lousy way to divide schools absent digging deeper into demographics (lots of immigrants probably hurts… a lot), how many private schools are in the area, etc. and that’s a undertaking beyond the scope of an HS athletic organization like the PIAA.
September 25th, 2019 at 4:36 pm
Penn State’s Beaver Stadium to host high school football game between State High, Cumberland Valley
https://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/2019/09/state-high-cumberland-valley-set-for-high-school-football-game-at-beaver-stadium.html
September 25th, 2019 at 2:57 pm
Can’t tell if you guys are being serious about the income/wealth thing or not?
For a D3 perspective, Harrisburg was mentioned. They have had recent success but have won only 3 district titles and 0 state titles in program history. Cumberland Valley, Central Dauphin, and Bishop McDevitt are nearby competitors – they all have median family incomes triple that of Harrisburg, own 30 district titles between them, and have each won a state title. Wilson has the most district wins after CV in the big school class and is one of the wealthiest districts in central PA. In 5A, Manheim Township has a football booster club that makes small colleges blush and again, is one of the wealthiest districts in central PA. They have 18 district titles and 3 state title appearances. 4A has been owned by Berks Catholic since it was formed in 2010, so there’s no need to go into household income there. Wyomissing (7) and Lancaster Catholic (6) have the most district wins among current 3A schools, have each won state titles this decade, and are both incredibly wealthy schools.
If you want to stay in SE PA, check out where Central Bucks and Downingtown rank on this list of school district household incomes (hint: you’re going to have to go thru most of the slideshow, past the $100,000 average household income) and then compare the state title appearances for those two schools compared to what Coatesville has, despite all the noise, actually done.
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2019/08/30/how-wealthy-are-southeastern-pennsylvania-school.html#g/458769/64
Southern Columbia, Pine Richland, Thomas Jefferson, Parkland, ECP, etc… to contend anything but the obvious on this issue is odd. Aliquippa, Steel-High, Clairton, (Scotland back in the day)… these are essentially A / AA schools where getting just two or three D1 athletes propels you into the ranks of the elite programs. For the larger classes, though, it takes LOTS of great players to sustain success, which usually means excellent facilities, no work commitments for players, well-paid coaches or coaches with deep community ties, summer camps, and plenty of resources. It means having money in the district and at home with very few exceptions.
September 25th, 2019 at 1:04 pm
@ jones
Way I understand it, talkin’ public schools here, If you wanna go to another school district you must pay tuition ( not sure what that is but it be AT LEAST
the typical school tax of that district ) PLUS the property tax of your school district.. Costly.
Someone told me it’s around 10 k, which is double the typical school tax. Not sure about that.
Note: the above might be all moot if you can’t go to another district under any circumstance.
The very least is you may not be able to play sports at that school , probably at least 1 year.
That’s why some parents set up a “grandparents address” in that district and the kid lives there.
I’m sure someone here can let me know how much of the above is true and not true.
September 25th, 2019 at 11:31 am
Big game up here in D2 Berwick at Valley View both 5-0 should go a long way to determine playoff seeding.I think they may meet again down the road
September 25th, 2019 at 8:25 am
4th & Long- I think you nailed it. People on tend to focus on SJP because they win and or play PIAA. What I don’t like about how people attack the privates is they only attack those SJP. MANY other privates pull kids from public schools to play sports and from other states. No one is up in arms if a Germantown Academy, Malvern Prep or Penn Charter does it because it doesn’t impact their ability to win a state championship. Your parental malpractice line is genius. I for one would NEVER turn down a better educational and athletic opportunity for my child, simply to appeal to those wanting a balance of power. Someone correct me if I am wrong about this, can’t a child attend an out of district school if they wish, they child just has to pay tuition? Is this is true, then does this change the narrative because public schools can have kids from outside their boarders.
September 25th, 2019 at 7:41 am
@Kevin
Heard on the radio the NP new stadium might be still pending.
They allotted 6 million, I believe the lowest bid is 1 1/2 million greater ( if I heard correctly).
Don’t think they have any choice. Probably the worst field in eastern Pa.
Also may not be completed for opening of next season. So more games away from home.
September 25th, 2019 at 7:29 am
D3 Mike nothing make it more fun when you can go back and forth but it going to come down to being played on the field time will tell and remember i said i didn’t think the Wyoming area will win just play with them and i been wrong before lol !!!!
September 25th, 2019 at 7:14 am
Phillyboy, if wealth correlated with great HS football programs, then the these 5 School Districts, which are the top 5 wealthiest SD’S in Pa would be powerhouses.
1-Unionville/Chadds Ford-2nd tier Chestmont team, usually gets crushed by the Downingtowns
2-Tredyffrin-Eastown-(Conestoga)-A joke of a program for decades
3-Lower Merion-Ditto
4-New Hope Solebury-had a nice run last year but that’s it
5-Council Rock-Never remember that school doing anything in football
September 24th, 2019 at 9:00 pm
I suppose this is good news/bad news for North Penn fans……the good news is that the Crawford stadium renovations are a go……the bad, as I understand it, NP’s last home game of the 2019 season will be the homecoming game Oct. 4th against Souderton. Their week 10 game against Tennant, will not be played at Crawford, nor any potentially “home” playoff games, due to the start of the stadium renovations.
September 24th, 2019 at 7:21 pm
Phillyboy, I think you’re nibbling at the edge of the issue. First, in Pennsylvania, some of the best public football is played in economically middling areas. I’m a SE PA guy and know relatively little about the rest of the state, but Aliquippa, Clairton, Steelton-Highspire, Harrisburg and, closer to home, even Coatesville, don’t strike me as towns with high average incomes. The problem is the cities with troubled school districts (Philly is exhibit A) where it would be parental malpractice to keep your kid in most of the public schools if they had the chance to go to a private for free. Not only does the private sports program get better, but the public one gets worse. I wonder if the NYT took that into account.
September 24th, 2019 at 1:50 pm
Uncle T;
I think NP will win out. By the time they meet Souderton, and especially CB West, this freshman QB might have it together.
DTW should be #1 seed. I see no one beating them in D1. They already beat GV. NP will be one of the top 4 seeds.
GV strength of schedule hurts them. Best game for DTW will be DTE ( not C’ville). Unionville and WC East might shock everyone.
Just give SJP the state trophy now. Too bad LaSalle has to play them in early rounds. Those two probably should be in the state final.
So in summary……………same ol same ol
September 24th, 2019 at 1:32 pm
Ok fair enough. But you saw a different game on ESPN than I did then. D linemen don’t really get “pushed around” by a wing-t. They get trapped and kicked and cut by guys running at them with a 5-yard head start and/or from an odd angle. And who knows if the wing-t is even run much in South Carolina. But as I said, those Hammond kids have offers from Clemson and Georgia and are rated in the top 20 at their positions in the entire country. The two Wyoming Area kids you mentioned have offers from Rutgers and I can’t find the other one in a database, although it looks like his brother went to Millersville? I’m sure they are great players but Clemson and Georgia sort of speak for themselves don’t they? I mean if you are basing this all on game film, you should probably send the tapes down to the SEC to let them know they’ve offered the wrong players.
Moreover, the original point was to counter people saying Southern Columbia might get “out muscled” and the game would be a “contrast of styles”. It wasn’t to knock Wyoming Area or a bunch of kids busting their butts. But SCA runs the ball, shuts down the run, and is sending players to Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin – and that’s just the senior class!
I guess we will see in week 8. I’d love to be wrong and watch at least a half of competitive football but I doubt it. I’m pretty sure the stronger team is actually the same one that is the faster team.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:12 am
D3mike i have no emotion in this i not a Wyoming area or southern fan as for the big rated lineman i saw them get pushed all around the field by southern line man who as far as i know have no D1 offers so what did the rating mean >As for Wyoming area i watch them play 2 games one live and one on film and they get after people and beat therm up not judging with emotion judging by what i see Nice thing about this is it will be settled on the field no poll no rating and that what makes it fun
September 24th, 2019 at 8:00 am
thank you Dave
September 24th, 2019 at 5:18 am
Good looking out, Kevin X. Interesting article, a little surprised the NY Times allowed free access to the article. Iowa is thinking outside the box, why not try it, see what happens. As the article pointed out, they don’t have the problem of the private super programs due to the fact that it’s by and large a rural state. But in the populated areas, what causes the super team to come about is the ability of the privates to give out scholarships or significant aid to certain players. Here’s the deal, schools like SJP and Erie Prep alreay have the advantages of wealth: rpesources, structure, smarts, etc. They would be very good even without doling out scholarships. To have those advantages, and then to pluck the elite athletes in the area through significant aid or whatever is what propels them in the the super team stratospere. That’s the bottom line. It seems an injustice insomuch as sports is concerned but on the other hand, got to have freedom, so it continues.
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:42 pm
Enrollment figures?? Playing up?? Success factor?? Throw them all out the window……..there’s a new sheriff in town!!!!
Leave it to the NY Times!!!
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/us/school-football-poverty.html
Now I’m really scratching my head why my alma mater is 0-5
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:39 pm
Mark D. There was a shooting outside the stadium. Both coaching staff did a tremendous job dealing with it.
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:20 pm
DOES ANY ONE KNOW WHY THE IMHOTEP GAME WAS CALLED IN THE SECOND QUARTER ?????
September 23rd, 2019 at 3:24 pm
Hollenbach is an Alabama lifer. He went to all the Saban camps from middle school up. His parents put a lot of money into the university. My guess is he wants to learn from the best. He seems to be ok going there and not playing. I would want to use my 4 years of eligibility and not stand on the sideline, but that’s me. I won’t ever question another’s decision that may differ from mine.
September 23rd, 2019 at 3:17 pm
@Sausmann I guess it depends on your expectations and what you want out of life. I have a friend who scored all of 2 points in his 4-year career as a Duke basketball player in the late 1990s / early 2000s. He could have played lots of places. Instead, he practiced with the best in the world, owns an NCAA championship ring, and parlayed the above into a Harvard MBA, a 7-figure consulting job, and a supermodel wife. Just think of the networking and career opportunities in your 20s if you want to go into coaching or broadcasting, have a good head on your shoulders, and list “former Quarterback at Alabama” as your byline – as opposed to “two-year starter at Idaho State”. Which gets the interview? Just putting that out there. Obviously, if it’s all about time on the football field he’d go elsewhere but if you aren’t going to play in the NFL there might be other considerations. And maybe he turns into a slot receiver or loves being a gunner on special teams at Alabama? IDK.
As for Wyoming Area and Wilson running backs, I’m going to let fans be fans and basically say I couldn’t disagree more with either of your assessments. One thing I’ve learned is that once emotions get involved on football forums, you can’t even convince people that 1+1=2 if it involves the school they follow. If you really believe that two nationally rated defensive lineman with offers from Clemson and Georgia aren’t physical, knock yourself out. And if you really think a 175-pound sophomore with 25 career carries and no D1 offers (yet) is as good as a 200-pound sophomore with 2,000 career yards and offers from Penn State and Clemson – again, knock yourself out. It’s still a free country. Everyone check back in 27 months from now because by then Singleton will have 7,000+ career yards and be the most talked about RB in the state. Book it.
September 23rd, 2019 at 1:50 pm
@sausmann9 I have also thought about Hollenbach. I believe he was a honor student in high school at the highest level. He understands he is a walk on and has to prove himself which will be difficult for him but hey a free ride and a chance for a championship ring and free school why not ! I forgot a great education also included. Alot of kids go this route. I think he knows the odds are stacked against HIS dream. I wish him the best of luck from what I have been told he is quality kid.
September 23rd, 2019 at 1:10 pm
Former SCA Hollenbach question – at what point does Hollenbach go into the transfer portal and find a team he can actually compete for a starting spot??? I hate to see so much talent wasted on the sidelines but truth be told Bama just got ANOTHER FIVE-STAR quarterback commitment. That makes two five-star and two-four star quarterbacks waiting for Tua to go. Hollenbach is a mid-level three-star quarterback who will end up being another Tommy Stevens. Hollenbach could probably start at 10 other D1 colleges so what gives on staying there???
September 23rd, 2019 at 9:12 am
D3 mike Wyoming area has two kids on the line who are getting D1 offers wycoski 6ft 3 300 lb and solomon 6 tt 4 305 and unlike the kids from Harmmond they are physical and nasty plus the qb getting D1 looks not as a qb but as a deference back so their is talent their as i sad before do i think thay can beat Southern no but i think it a better game than people think
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:56 am
@Kevin x no that their weakness they are slow even by D2 standards they no where have the speed of a Valley View or Dallas but they are big and physical there Qb throws a nice ball but they don’t really have any burners on the out side
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:43 pm
@ Jay and Chief,
DWest is the real deal, definite favorites in D1 this year. The tailback Lewis is a clone of Aaron Young, and their defense can move. I expect them to run the table and get the 1 seed. DEast has a great group of kids, but I can’t acknowledge them as a playoff threat until their coaching staff proves it can win a big game. I don’t trust that they can adjust when the better teams roll in (i.e. them basically waving the white flag in the first quarter last year vs. Coatesville. Just an unacceptable way to lead a team). I’d like for them to prove me wrong on that only because they’ve shortchanged their own kids, but I think Matt Ortega and crew can coach circles around East.
Other than that, with the way the rankings and schedules look, a 7 win, 2 loss Coatesville could end up with a juicy 1st round road matchup against somebody like Garnet Valley or North Penn. NP, CB West, and Souderton all still have to play each other, so if we were to give each of them one loss from that round robin that would put NP in the 4-8 seed range. Garnet Valley should crush the rest of their schedule, but they play too many 5A teams for them to get enough points to leapfrog the SOL 1 loss teams, so they’ll be in that seeding range as well.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:21 pm
@ Jay,
Good comments. I think they still have a chance to make some noise, but an ENIGMA.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:48 am
Chief,
Seems that Ricky continues to injure the ankle, and Dapree can only do so much (which is a lot of course but you get the point). Both Downingtown teams look solid and West looks like it’s ready to dethrone Coatesville as the team to beat in District One. I am rooting for Coatesville and I’ve really enjoyed the ride the past couple years, but I can’t see them winning both games at Downingtown in October, and if the injury bug is still biting them, I think they could be blown out by West.
Either way, I see a road game in the first round of the playoffs, and a much steeper climb than last year.
But then again, they stayed close with Harrisburg… the team is an enigma right now.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:12 am
D3 Mike that sounds a lot like an accusation?!?! And tell me why Wilson would need the services of Mr. Singleton? He was non-existent against Wilson a few weeks ago. He can continue to rack up his gaudy yards and TDs against the sisters of the poor. Besides, Wilson has plenty of RBs of their own who are just as good including Soph Jadyn Jones.
September 21st, 2019 at 2:49 pm
6A Reading High (4-0) vs. 5A Governor Mifflin (1-3) and it’s 42-0 Mifflin at the half. Another barnburner!
Still worth the $5 just to see sophomore RB sensation Nick Singleton in person for the first time. Remember the name. Already offers from Penn State and a host of other schools. RHS is terrible but the one thing they do have is team speed – and this kid is like a lightning bolt thru the defense.
At the half Singleton has 231 yards and 5 TDs… on 7 carries. He had 169 yards and 5 TDs basically playing only the first half last week, too. It will be interesting to see if he stays at Mifflin or if his family finds itself in an apartment in the Wilson school district for non-athletic reasons.
September 21st, 2019 at 10:45 am
I couldn’t watch the Coatesville/Unionville game last night. No disrespect to Unionville, they always have good teams, but after the CV game I thought C’ville looked pretty good (especially the defense) and would roll last night, but they got torched by Unionville (who looked pretty average against Kennett IMO). I don’t think the sky is falling, they still have 2 of the best players in the state and a lot of team speed, but are there injuries? Is Ortega still hurt? I know they are young, but am I missing something? The C’ville/Downingtown games should be great, but I’m not so sure. The Rustin game could be interesting too.
September 20th, 2019 at 10:44 pm
Well OK now, a lovely night for our top ranked eastern 5A teams…..
Too late now, but any top 4A team that wanted a realistic shot at a state championship should have played up to 5A…..
September 20th, 2019 at 10:10 pm
@d3 Mike…..agree. Southern won again 62-0…..that’s 36-0 against a d1 loaded Hammond team, 48-0 against a rival MCA and a team that usually gives them their toughest game each year, 76-0 and last two weeks 62-0. That’s 284-0 halfway thru season….that’s unheard off. I know steel valley mercy ruled every team but did they shutout every team??…..this southern team has a chance to mercy rule and shut out every team. Wyoming Area maybe loses 35-0 or 42-0. Which could be one of their closest games I guess.
September 20th, 2019 at 3:32 pm
Curious who the D3 guys like tonight when Manheim Township travels to Cocalico. Appears this game should be very competitive and could go either way, I’ll pick MT 31-27, but wouldn’t be surprised if Cocalico upsets them, any of you D3 guys like Cocalico tonight?
September 20th, 2019 at 3:25 pm
For those interested in games in Western PA tonight there are a couple of interesting match-ups, in 6A Mt Lebanon with new coach Bob Palko travels to Wexford to take on North Allegheny. Mt Lebanon is much improved from game 1 when I saw them get dominated by Gateway, I think this game will be pretty competitive, although Lebo will likely struggle to move the ball against NA’s defense, I see NA winning something like 21-10.
Another interesting game is 6A PCC vs. 5A Bethel Park, game is being played at the Wolvarena since PCC doesn’t have a home field, they are like nomads and play their home games at various locations. Last year PCC won 7-6, and I see a similar defensive struggle tonight, game should be close and wouldn’t be surprised if BP upsets them.
Meanwhile, 5A Penn Trafford travels to Ohio to take on traditional power Massillon Washington at Paul Brown stadium, it’s a shame PT’s top 2 RB’s are hurt, if they were at full strength I think they could make this game very interesting, without those 2 guys think they will struggle on offense and their excellent defense will get worn down, the 2 guys that got hurt last week also play defense, Caleb Lisbon is a safety, and Sam Fanelli plays linebacker, I see Massillon winning 28-7. Interestingly Gateway will also travel to Massillon to play them on 10/11, both of these schools were left with an open date when Albert Gallatin decided not to play football in the WPIAL, and kudos to both teams for scheduling an out of state power team. McKeesport also had an open date in week 2 for the same reason, and to their credit they scheduled Erie Prep, would be nice if TJ followed their lead and scheduled a big time opponent in week 0.
September 20th, 2019 at 3:12 pm
Speaking of SCA on Max Preps, the national folks certainly have a low opinion on Pennsylvania football this year. Agree/disagree?
Current Max Preps Combined Pennsylvania / “Maryland” Rankings
1. St. Frances Academy (2)
2. DeMatha (8)
3. ** St. Joe’s Prep (13) **
4. Our Lady of Good Counsel (30)
5. Gonzaga (31)
6. St. John’s (34)
7. Archbishop Spalding (113)
8. McDonogh (130)
9. ** Southern Columbia (133) **
10. Mount St. Joseph (142)
September 20th, 2019 at 2:49 pm
Slow night in Berks. I’ll probably head over to Lancaster County for Manheim Township and Cocalico. Sort of surprised that all 9 writers in the Lancaster paper picked MT in that one… Cocalico has a talented team. We’ll see if they have enough speed in the secondary to slow down MT.
Speaking of speed vs. power… regarding Southern Columbia, the Hammond team they ran over and shutout in Week 1 featured multiple 4-star linemen. I highly doubt Wyoming Area or any team short of an elite 6A program would out-muscle them. The “speed” kids at Southern Columbia all bench 350 pounds. That’s why they are heading to elite Division 1 football programs. And the linemen / linebackers I’ve seen certainly look like they own keys to the weight room. I applaud Wyoming Area for stepping up, but SCA is on another planet. Someone affiliated with the program really should go thru the MaxPreps rankings and see if they are considered the #1 “small school” in the US.
September 20th, 2019 at 10:49 am
@ mark d
I was in the area over Labor Day weekend and I took the opportunity to check out the Scr. Prep/WA game, thinking it would be a good one. I was wrong on that thinking. Unfortunately SP was not the SP of the past few years. Like you said, WA is big, physical, even had a little nastiness to them, but slow as can be, at least compared to what I am use to seeing in D1 and the PCL. Hopefully WA can give SCA game. Either way, think it will be good experience for WA, as I don’t see them playing anyone of consequence until the state 3A semi’s against probably Wyomissing, Middletown, N-G, or PJPII, which will be a definite step up in class against any one of those teams.
@ Jeff H
I may check out Wood tonight. Only other local game of any interest for me is Penn Charter @ Upper Dublin. Both games involve those so called top ranked eastern “5A” schools. Penn Charter kicked U Dubs butt last year, so don’t know what to make of tonight’s game, or for that matter, the Wood/Peddie game tonight as well.
September 20th, 2019 at 7:33 am
@tornado fan Wyoming Area is a very big very physical football team .Do i think they can beat Southern no, but i think they will be in the game .it a classic game of size verses speed .I believe Southern speed will be the difference
September 19th, 2019 at 9:36 pm
Jeff H. I agree that Wood will struggle even to get to the semi-finals this year. As you stated they are way down this year and also lost Santiago their 1600 yard rusher to Tennent .This weeks game with Peddie from NJ should give us an idea how the rest of the year will play out. I have 3 kids that went to Wood and have followed them for some time and for the first time in about 10 years I have sensed they will have a tough time. With all that negativism I hope Im wrong . They have no shot IMO against both ST Joes or LaSalle .
September 19th, 2019 at 6:17 pm
@WIP Caller New Hope, Lower Moreland, Springfield, Tennant, Cheltenham and Upper Moreland were supposed to have their own division (Freedom) this year. SOL wanted to create a small schools division. Thus whole reason LM and NH joined the SOL. The enrollment for all PIAA schools will be recounted this november for reclassification LM might jump up to 5A with their enrollment going up the last few years….. However LM took the 1 year exemption and will not be doing league play until 2021. North Penn b*tched and moaned about not wanting to realign this year because they struggle to find opponents and don’t like scheduling teams like Lasalle. So unfortunately We can all thank North Penn for a screwing everything up.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:58 pm
Is it just me or does anyone else think Archbishop Wood is ranked #1 in 5A mostly due to reputation and not what they’ve done on the field. Their non conference schedule this year is weak and they don’t play any of the NJ power teams like they typically have in the past, so tough to get a handle on how good they are, but all the reports I’ve read out of Philadelphia are they are down this year by their lofty standards and nowhere near as good as a few years ago, or even as good as last years team that lost to Penn Hills. They will likely get to the state semi-finals to take on the WPIAL champ like last year because their path in the playoffs is pretty weak, but I just don’t see them winning 5A, anyone that follows the PCL feel differently?
September 19th, 2019 at 12:49 pm
@ Buddy – agree with you DWest is the best team right now in D1 and a good bit better than DEast, coming into the season I had DW behind Coatesville, but based on the games played thus far I’d put them at the top of D1. WC East hosts DW on 10/11, and that game is sandwiched between DE and Coatesville for DW, so WCE could be catching them at the right time, we’ll see!
September 19th, 2019 at 12:37 pm
D3 Mike – yes, the WPIAL does handcuff teams, as they also schedule the non-section games, so TJ doesn’t have much flexibility with their schedule. With that being said the WPIAL does let teams schedule their own week zero game, and this year they scheduled 6A Canon McMillan and crushed them 54-10. I personally think they would have been better served playing a traditional 5A or 6A power and not a mediocre program like Canon Mac, but other than the week 0 game the WPIAL makes the schedules.
TJ’s best team recently was 2016, they were solid last year as usual but not great and got beat by South Fayette at Heinz, their weak schedule definitely hurts them come state playoff time when they run into ECP, because ECP is by far the best team they will have played all year, but on the other hand TJ is just another game for ECP because they will have already played several teams just as good or better than TJ (like St. Edwards last week). The script will probably be the same this year, TJ will blow away the competition in the WPIAL then lose by 2-3 scores to ECP in the state playoffs, and then we get to hear TJ’s coach whine about all the advantages the private schools have.
September 19th, 2019 at 12:13 pm
et al:
IMO, DTW is quite a bit better team then DTE. We’ll certainly find out.
If WC East can hang with DTW ( I assume they play), then that would be some genuine kudos for WC east.
Again, IMO, DTW is best team ( talkin’ 6A of course) in D1. That includes Coatesville, DTE and certainly NP.
BTW, from what I heard, NP will be starting their freshman QB rest of year. Their starting senior QB ( quite a bit better),
broke his foot. They ( NP) should be fine for the regular season ( they’ll make playoffs ) , but then will be in a world of poop.
September 19th, 2019 at 10:04 am
Jeff, I hear you, I just never know about TJ. Awesome coach, clean program, but isn’t the annual criticism (from the WPIAL folks who are a lot closer to it than I am) that they don’t schedule top teams for non-league games to get them ready for the state playoffs? That’s what the other perennial state-ranked, 4A teams in the state do. TJ basically goes 10-0 every other year while ECP, Imhotep, Becahi, McDevitt, and even Berks Catholic (not sure about Valley View) play multiple state-ranked and/or 6A teams and enter districts with 1-3 losses.
I’m not saying it isn’t their best team in years, it’s just that I also heard the same sentiment last year and that no one can really tell if it is or it isn’t their best team until the ECP game. They don’t really play anyone on their level (or better) until the WPIAL finals. I don’t know if the WPIAL puts handcuffs on how teams schedule so apologies if I have no clue what I’m talking about, but can they not schedule a home-and-home with one of the many great 5A programs in the area? I’d actually have less of an issue with PennLive ranking them #1 if they were 3-1 with a 28-21 loss to Penn Hills on their record than I do with them being undefeated and mercy ruling everyone on their schedule for 3 months.
September 18th, 2019 at 5:19 pm
@ Kevin X – I hear you about WC East, and joke was probably not the right word to use, from the accounts I read they certainly had their chances against a solid DEast team, and I think WC has a legit chance to win the D1 5A championship. My comment was more meant that historically speaking it’s difficult for me to believe there are 3 teams in 5A in DI that are better than all the 5A teams in D3, and would have ranked at least 1 of the D3 teams ahead of WC East at this point.
The nice thing is the winners of D1 and D3 will meet in the Eastern Final so we’ll know then which district has the better 5A team this year.
September 18th, 2019 at 5:04 pm
@D3 Mike – you’re right, although Penn LIve typically uses a little more discretion, they still have SJP #1 in 6A despite a 1-2 record, and obviously deservedly so, SJP is #1 until they lose to a PA team. The first 2 games between TJ and ECP in 2015-16 were competitive, they lost 28-21 in Erie in 2015, and 30-13 in 2016 at Baldwin, I was at that game and it was more competitive than the final would indicate, although there is no doubt the better team won, TJ got blown out in 2017, and of course ECP blew out South Fayette last year.
This might be TJ’s best team in several years, although like I have stated I’ll believe they can beat ECP when it happens, it’s almost a certainty those 2 will be playing in the quarterfinals again for the fourth time in 5 yrs.
And you’re absolutely right about Imhotep, they are the team to beat in the east until proven otherwise, hard for me to see anyone in the east other than Becahi that would challenge Imhotep in the playoffs, I along with most of the rest of the state would love to see a 4A final between someone other than ECP and Imhotep, but I don’t think it would surprise anyone on this board if they meet in the final for the fifth year in a row. .
September 18th, 2019 at 4:33 pm
Looking at Southern’s schedule, Wyoming Area might be the only team left in the regular season with a chance to score on them (or at least their 1st team). It might not be a 1st Q mercy rule game, but I still see this being another 35 or 42-0 game.
September 18th, 2019 at 4:21 pm
@D3 mike: I couldn’t agree more. Erie Prep lost a very tight game against a very good St Ed’s and they drop in rankings. I’ve never liked Pennlive rankings though they are frequently wrong. I also agree that it will be Imhotep and Becahi out of the east. IF Erie Cathedral can stay healthy, which is a big IF, I would favor then to make another run. Keep in mind that TJ is no slouch and has a very senior heavy team which will make for a great game if it comes to that.
September 18th, 2019 at 12:45 pm
Everyone always overreacts to losses when making rankings, PennLive included. 3-time defending state champ ECP has beaten the WPIAL 4A rep by an average of 25 points the past 3 years and all of the games were basically decided by halftime. They are the team to beat in 4A until they finally lose in the PIAA playoffs.
Also, I don’t care if Imhotep loses 5 regular season games. They are the favorites in 4A in the east for the same historical reasons. I think they lost to Wyomissing way back in the 2012 SF but otherwise are undefeated in the eastern side of the state playoffs, and that covers like 9 years or something crazy like that. The only reason they aren’t in the top 10 is because they lost 3 games. It has nothing to do with team quality. Not even the Northwestern Lehigh AD would pick his squad over Imhotep.
September 18th, 2019 at 12:47 pm
No problem, Jeff!
September 18th, 2019 at 12:01 pm
@ Dave – thanks for the clarification, I disagree with Penn Live! I’m a WPIAL guy and hope TJ beats Erie Prep this year, but I’ll believe it when I see it, no way would I have them ranked above ECP at this time. The Pittsburgh TribLive statewide poll still has ECP #1 and TJ #2, so the Pittsburgh guys know who is #1 in 4A until proven otherwise.
September 18th, 2019 at 11:41 am
@kevin x i think it a great move by both teams why play another first quarter mercy rule game when you can play some competition.Will be interesting how Wyoming area size matches up with Southern speed !!!
September 18th, 2019 at 11:53 am
Jeff H. They are Pennlives statewide rankings.
September 18th, 2019 at 10:40 am
@D3 Mike – agree Wilson’s blowout of MC took some of the luster off of Warwick’s win the prior week, but then again it appears Wilson might be the best team in the district, maybe even better than Harrisburg. It’s great that Wilson, Warwick and MT will all face each other in the next several weeks, throw in the Cocalico-MT game this week and we’ll have a much better idea soon of the pecking order in both 6A and 5A in D3.
Also agree with you 5A is wide open, I think you could make the case for at least 6 and maybe more teams that have a legitimate chance of getting to Hershey, more than probably any other class, although I think 1A is pretty wide open as well.
Saw Dave Mika’s state rankings and he moved TJ ahead of Erie Prep in 4A, I don’t see how you can demote ECP for losing to one of the best teams in Ohio by a touchdown, while TJ has beaten up some really bad teams, with the exception of Belle Vernon. TJ doesn’t face much competition in 4A in the WPIAL, and ECP’s strength of schedule is far tougher, it’s not even close, so for me ECP stays number one in 4A until proven otherwise by a PA team.
September 18th, 2019 at 8:34 am
@ Jeff H
I’m going to push back just a weeeeeee bit on your West Chester East comment. More so your use of the word “joke” in the rankings. I was at the WCE/D-Town East game Saturday night, and WCE is the real deal. They would of, could of, should of won that game, basically if not for some questionable play calling on their last drive, no time outs remaining, bad clock management, and their best player and running back (who I am not even going to attempt his name) getting banged up late in the second half. This conversation probably be better to have this time next week, because there are some interesting games featuring some of these top ranked 5A east teams this weekend.
@ D3 Mike
Yes, 5A is the most wide open. 3A is as well. “A” I really don’t care about, maybe 4 “A” teams within 50-60 miles of me. More of western conversation. 2A, 4A and 6A was over before the season even kicked off.
Also, I read K-Town only dressed 18 for last weeks game and had a few more kids banged up in the first (and only) half. Both coaches agreed to call the game. Maybe they could look into 8 man football going forward. Expect to see that form to become more popular around the state.
September 17th, 2019 at 10:44 pm
Kevin, I was going to comment on this topic. This could be the first team to score on them or at least the first team. I’m excited to see this matchup between southern and Wyoming area. They’re ranked 3 in 3A from what I see. I’m glad they got this opportunity. Not surprised by the move by shikellamy. They tried to back out a few years ago.
September 17th, 2019 at 3:30 pm
Huh, guess someone heard me, sort of…. 🙂
From Twitter……
“Wyoming Area athletic director Joe Pizano just confirmed Wyoming Area will be hosting Southern Columbia in Week 8”
“That same week, Holy Redeemer will be playing Shikellamy. No venue has been selected for the game as of yet”
September 17th, 2019 at 3:03 pm
Kutztown might call the season after week 6. Not sure. They forfeited to BC in 2017 rather than play so I suspect they might do the same this year (to be fair I think they were down to like 22 players by the end of the year). Re: switching opponents, both coaches tried to schedule BC and Imhotep in 2017 when Kutztown announced their forfeit in advance but the BC AD nixed it. Basically they didn’t want to risk injuries the week before the Wyomissing game. For the same reason, Wyomissing might not want another difficult opponent (such as Wyoming) that late in the year. Both programs typically load up non league and then coast into week 10.
Wilson demolishing Manheim Central last week took a lot of the luster off of Warwick’s convincing win over Manheim Central the week prior, which IMO was the main reason for everyone to be so high on them and the only reason PennLive has them where they are now. They went what, 8-3 last year? and have never won a district 3 playoff game (0-5 all-time) so their making Hershey would mean they are playing 5 weeks later than the program has ever played before. Not saying they can’t do it and by all accounts this is their best team in generations… but I’m a pedigree guy and a pedigree program they are not. If they beat Township and Wilson the first two weeks of October, well then you can brush off a seat on the bandwagon for me because in that case they are definitely the 5A team to beat in the “East”. A split and you could still make a case, although Cocalico will have a say in all of this. 5A should be fun – I think it might be the most wide open class.
September 17th, 2019 at 1:05 pm
@d3 Mike – completely agree with you that the top privates voluntarily playing up a class or two would ease some of the criticism, I’ve been arguing for the last 4 yrs on the Western PA board that Erie Prep should at the very least be playing 5A if not 6A, and all the Prep fans disagreed.
@JC – I am with you on both Warwick and Cocalico, I had both of them in my preseason top 10 in the state, I would not be surprised at all if one of them ends up in Hershey for the 5A final come December, I think both of them are better than any of the three D1 teams in the rankings, and it’s a joke that West Chester East at 3-1 is ranked ahead of either Warwick or Cocalico.
September 17th, 2019 at 12:38 pm
For you Berks and D3 guys…….do you know, or expect Kutztown to soldier on the rest of this season?? This week (Morrisville) and next (Schuylkill Valley) appear to be games that they possibly can make a go at, but yikes, then Berks Catholic and Wyomissing, the following two weeks.
One scenerio, that I know would never happen at this stage of the game, but I’ll toss it out there anyway, is to switch some dance partners week 8. Wyoming Area up in D2 is scheduled with Holy Redeemer that week, and to me that looks like a complete mis-match, so why don’t we hook up the two “Wyos” and have a competitive game pitting Wyoming Area (who I’d love to see actually play someone before mid to late November) and Wyomissing, and then let Kutztown and Holy Redeemer meet-up??
September 17th, 2019 at 7:47 am
Still a little surprised that no D3 teams are in the EPA rankings for 5A. Cocalico and Warwick especially have been impressive. Pennlive’s rankings have Warwick 4th in the state, so that strikes me as a bit of a large discrepancy. Imhotep should be back in the teams to watch for 4A as well after beating Malvern Prep. No gripes about the other rankings, though.
September 16th, 2019 at 7:05 pm
@Foleman, I get that football has changed somewhat over the past 20+ years but when I played at HN we were class A and often dressed 25-30. At that point the IC league was just one section and included Exeter and Muhlenberg and our non-league schedule included Mifflin and Reading (with Reading and Muhlenberg fielding good teams then, too). So there’s no reason with BC as a 3A/4A now and dressing 60+ that they can’t play those same teams we did with half the talent, half the weight room, and no home field.
To continue to mercy rule most of section 2 year in and year out just isn’t sporting so I really hope they man up and play up. BC should also stay in 4A. They’ve played in 6 straight district finals for gods sake. Generally, I think if the better non-boundary schools simply volunteered to play up it would go a long way toward calming some of the frustration directed toward them. Maybe wishful thinking but it couldn’t hurt.
September 16th, 2019 at 12:30 pm
@D3 Mike – regarding your question about where TJ and Aliquippa rank overall in the WPIAL this year I would definitely put TJ in the top 10, but not the top 5, there are too many solid 5A teams for them to crack the top 5, along with the usual contenders in 6A. I think Aliquippa would not be in the top 10 at this point, probably have them somewhere in the next 5, last year at the end of the season there is no doubt in my mind they were one of the top 10 teams in the WPIAL, and would have beaten a lot of the 5A teams I saw in person over the course of the season (although I doubt they would have beaten Penn Hills).
5A top ranked Penn Trafford beat McKeesport on Friday 29-12, as expected, however, their title hopes may have suffered a big blow when standout running back Caleb Lisbon suffered a knee injury in the first half, and his backup Sam Fanelli also suffered a significant knee injury in the game as well, both of those guys are also key contributors on defense. No updates on either yet that I’ve heard, but both were on crutches at the end of the game and both could be out for an extended period of time, perhaps the rest of the season, if that turns out to be the case either Peters Township or Gateway become the new favorite in the WPIAL in 5A, I’ll post if I get any updates on either player, hopefully neither faces a major rehab but from the reports I heard didn’t look good Friday night. .
September 16th, 2019 at 10:16 am
WIP, a little insight into the SOL American Division. LM is probably moving up to 5A on the next reclassification. Their demographics for football make them more like a 2A school. It’s a tough place to win. NH-S is going the other direction because they’re at the bottom end of 3A right now and are probably heading for 2A a couple of reviews from now. You’ll have 6A schools in the same conference with a 2A school. Only in Pennsylvania.
September 16th, 2019 at 10:08 am
FrankG (and others), you’ve hit on the reality that today’s athletes are so heavily influenced by media that coaches have less control than they used to. It’s not just nationally recruited stars, it seeps all the way down to kids who are merely above average. It is much more difficult to find kids with talent who are willing to play with discipline today than it was as recently as a decade ago.
September 16th, 2019 at 9:57 am
KevinX, I’m the one who brought the scheduling issue up. I wasn’t at the meeting, but literally got it second hand from someone who was there. My understanding is NP said it’s hard for them to find non-conference opponents because schools either don’t want to get beaten up by them or vice versa, they don’t want to get beaten up by too many top out of conference opponents before hitting league play. Kind of what you see in college ball with teams scheduling one or two top non-conference opponents and a bunch of cupcakes. I’m not saying it makes sense, it’s just what was relayed to me.
September 16th, 2019 at 7:53 am
D3 Mike, Adding Kutztown with Fleetwood-(+Oley) Would move them up to 5A according to the PIAA website numbers. Fleetwood would be the largest team Population wise in Div 2 of berks but they would be the smallest team population wise…outside of Berks Catholic in Division 1 so I believe they would stay in Div 2 of Berks. It’s not like Fleetwood would be inheriting a wealth of great players, we are talking Kutztown here, plus it would make Fleetwood more competitive with Wyomissing and now Conrad Weiser in Div 2. The wildcard here is Berks Catholic, Enrollment projections have them at 3A the next cycle, do they stay in Div 1 playing 5A and 6A schools? I guess if they are competitive in Div 1, they will stay there for the time being.
September 15th, 2019 at 8:04 pm
@Foleman No doubt the quality of coaching has a lot to do with how disciplined players are. But I’d say the hype around some players–hype that sometimes starts before they even get to high school–may also contribute to some kinds of undisciplined play. It adds to the pressure on the kids who get all the hype, making some more likely to “lose it” when things don’t go their way. It also makes real targets for kids/teams that maybe want to get noticed for “shutting down” high-profile player x. I remember hearing that when SJP played State College in a scrimmage in Swift’s junior year he drew a couple of very late hits that almost certainly wouldn’t have happened to a lesser-known player.
More broadly, maybe being on ESPN results in kids getting over-hyped. I certainly thought the Prep played a less disciplined game (in several respects) on Friday night than they usually play–and it wasn’t because of a different head coach. (All the other coaches on the team are pretty much the same.)
Anyway, I know you weren’t commenting mainly on the Prep, but maybe some of the above applies more generally.
September 15th, 2019 at 1:25 pm
@ WIP
Yeah, when I saw that too I said to myself, huh??? Someone mentioned about NP and some of the larger schools not liking a 4 division 6 team alignment set-up due to scheduling, but not totally getting that. You would have 23 other teams looking for early season games, plus the large Ches Mont and PAC schools looking for early season game as well. NP already has their annual game with LaSalle, so they’d only be looking for 4 games. Can’t get the D-towns, C’Ville or nearby Perk Valley to play?? Anyways, my football alignment would look like this:
1. NP, PRidge, Soudy, CBE, CBS and CBW
2. P-Bury, Nesh, CRN, CRS, Bens and HST
3. Q-Town, UD, WmT, HH, PW and Abing
4. Wiss, Chelt, SF Mont, UM, LM and NHS
September 15th, 2019 at 11:37 am
@Foleman
Thank you for the input on my rant. I didn’t want to take more time and space, but I certainly wondered about coaching today. I was fortunate to witness in my time coaches such as the late Mike Pettine Sr.; late George Curry, late Larry Green, and many, many more good, strong programs over 69 years of high school football.
I can’t imagine its easy to coach in today’s world, but I would certainly think that basics and attitude would be part of it.
Games are just so much more enjoyable to watch with good, crisp, clean, disciplined play.
September 15th, 2019 at 10:47 am
Does anyone else find the new SOL alignment confusing? Competitively, Upper Dublin will fit in the Continental, but this set up takes away most of their rivals. Also, PW and Tennent are both 6A schools that will play against a 3A New Hope, 4A Springfield Montco and 4A Lower Moreland. Tennent hasn’t been competitive, but that’s all but a guarantee that they will be in the bottom half of the playoff bracket because of points. Is SOL doing crossover games like the PAC? SOL should have just done what they do for almost every sport and flip Abington and Quakertown.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:25 am
Kmac, one word-“coaching” My HS coach is in the hall of fame, he made us practice non-stop until we ran the plays until perfection, anyone who jumped off sides or had a late hit in the game, ran laps at Monday’s practice…….FWIW, we rarely had any penalties…old school teaching like this is finiso in this world. I went to the Exeter/Berks Catholic game, the 1st game of the season, Exeter had 19 penalties, yes, 19 penalties, which cost them the game. Their head coach was whining after the game about home cooking, yet every penalty called on them was legit. Instead of saying, we will fix this, he blames the refs for his team’s lack of discipline. Modern coaching at its best. With HS coaches coming and going any more, this is the new norm. The most successful programs in Berks County-Wilson, Wyo, Berks Catholic have tenured, old school coaches, Gov Mifflins successful long time HC retired last year. Go watch a practice at Southern Columbia or Wyomissing or Erie Cathedral Prep and you will see what I am talking about.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:22 am
I know nothing about the Kutztown football program but with the college being there and the size of the town you would think that there would be more interest. It is a shame when this happens. I would like to know what went wrong. If they do eliminate the program hopefully they can make the effort to co-op to another school. Such a shame.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:07 am
Foleman that’s an interesting point and I never attended an all-male school – but I think it’s hard to disentangle wealth from that equation. No distractions certainly helps and I would never argue with that premise. But we also know that family income correlates strongly with standardized test scores. I’d also argue that if you plotted family income and football performance across the state – whether public or private – you’d see a strong correlation there too. Certainly there are some big public school outliers, but being from the Reading area I’m sure you know that the 3 “districts” with the highest family incomes in the county are Wilson, Wyomissing and Berks Catholic. They also have the best football teams AND the highest test scores. I don’t believe that’s a coincidence.
Do you know where the Kutztown kids going to Fleetwood would class them? They already have absorbed the Oley kids. I imaging adding another 3A school might bump them all the way up to 6A? Is the league really going to allow them to sit in section 2 if they do that?
September 15th, 2019 at 8:33 am
I have seen 16 games so far this season; in person, on TV, via video streaming live, and video streaming after the games. I have a question, what has happened to disciplined football?
It’s been as entertaining as watching an episode of Dr. Sheldon Cooper’s “Fun with Flags.” Flags, flags, and more flags.
In the games I have seen one way or another I have seen at least 3 or 4 TD’s called back on infractions, mostly holding or blocking in the back. Countless good gains by run or pass nullified due to penalties. The first week (Week 0 officially) I allowed for it being the usual second scrimmage week and did not expect so much discipline.
But I have been treated to late hits out of bounds (WAY out of bounds!); a false start on two consecutive offensive plays; numerous snap-count errors; defensive encroachment and pure offsides; incidents of chippy actions that could have cost players a game if called; numerous personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct on both teams; and the list goes on. EVERY game, so far.
I have read that the SOL is down this year, and that is most of the games I have seen, but not all; I have also seen some PCL action and other district’s games.
Everywhere there seems to be a general movement away from disciplined, crisp, good play.
I am not saying there is a lack of talent for certain. Talent is seen, distributed on all teams. Distributed somewhat unevenly to be sure, but you can see it on the field; if only the discipline were attendant. Even the (then) #7 and #11 high school teams in the U S by some rating was a flag fest beyond what an astute discipline would call for.
I am not complaining, but observing. I call out no officiating nor team particularly, but it appears to be a rampant situation throughout high school football.
I hope it gets better as the season wears on, and next week is half the regular season over.
September 14th, 2019 at 9:08 pm
Good evening all, PCC came into the season overrated. Just because the front 4 on defense has many D-1 offers does not mean they should be seen as a threat or be seated as high as they were. Coaching and playing is as horrible or if not getting worse year by year. There are a bunch of incredible young men / players on that team that deserve better guidance and coaching. This team could easily win the WPIAL championship with a better coaching staff from top to bottom. For as many players on this team, they are running too many on both sides of the ball and wearing down their own team. They will not make it back to Heinz. Looking at what NA did to them, PR and Mt. Lebo. may also get the best of PCC in the weeks to come. When the team fails at meeting it’s goals, it is not the players that did wrong, it starts with the leadership and guidance of all the coaching.
I hope other alumni join me to make changes to the coaching staff just like they did in Basketball. Change may hurt for a little bit, but change is good for everyone involved especially when everything looks stale and old year after year. Time to wipe the slate clean!
-Head down in shame!
September 14th, 2019 at 7:28 pm
D3 Mike, with Conrad Weiser and Twin Valley heading to Div 2 in Berks and Berks Catholic moving up to Div1 next year, I believe the Kutztown Administration might have given the BCIAA a heads up that it will be dropping football, or maybe playing an independent schedule, here’s a crazy stat for you, the Kutztown basketball team has more players on it-(varsity and Jv) than the entire football team! I went to the Schuykill Valley/Pope John Paul game and the score was 52-0 at halftime, then the announcer at the game gave the Kutztown score and I’m thinking, no wonder kids want to transfer out from these small school programs. And I think that Schuykill Valley’s Head Coach Jeff Chillot is an excellent coach, yet he’s had problems the last several years getting kids out for the team. Berks football has consisted of the Haves and Have Nots for a long time, but the future doesn’t look too bright for several programs. On the Super programs, you will see that many of the super programs in Pa are all male schools-St. Joe Prep, LaSalle, Pitt Central Catholic, Erie Cathedral Prep, Malvern Prep, these schools are the elite of the elite, I went to an all male HS and a coed HS, no girls=no distractions. Same sex schools score 200 points higher on their SAT than Coed, open borders and recruiting is a big contributor also, but people have to understand these school recruit themselves and with football participation declining in PA, kids want to play for a winner. 76-0 at the Half, its time for Kutztown to pack it in.
September 14th, 2019 at 1:35 pm
It’s not a single game problem. Kutztown was outscored 515-12 last year and hasn’t won since 2016. The only two smaller enrollment schools in the county with football are Berks Catholic and Wyomissing so it’s not like there is a cushy small school league for them around here where they can rebuild.
I heard they just ended their youth program and will also be voting to discontinue the high school program. I imagine they would send their players to Fleetwood but I’m not sure.
And I agree on the bunching. I call it “The Lebron effect.” From top to bottom, many would rather just sign with New England, Alabama, or Mater Dei than try to wrest the crown from them.
September 14th, 2019 at 12:53 pm
@ D3 Mike
On another site somebody referred to the phenomenon of ‘bunching’, where all the best talent tends to aggregate at certain programs. It seems like in the last 20 years or so ‘super teams’ have developed. Mention any major urban area around the country and its super team comes to mind and frankly, the overwhelming majority of the time the private schools are the culprits. So I got to thinking, which states are the most functional and healthy and balanced in regards to competition sans the manufactured super team? Not counting states like Montana and South Dakota, of the states that are relevant I came up with 3: Texas, Georgia, and Indiana. To be less abstract, these are the 3 states where the public teams dominate. What do you guys think, are there any others? And why is this the case, what are those states doing to promote that?
September 14th, 2019 at 11:22 am
@ D3 Mike
I would have had no problem with you copying and pasting my post from last Saturday morning. Would have saved you a lot of time 🙂
Yes, something is going on here, and it’s kind of disturbing. I almost hate to ask, but what was with that Jim Thorpe/K-Town game??
Things seemed a little calmer in D1 this week, and the game I was at, CBW @ CBS was very entertaining and an awesome atmosphere.
September 14th, 2019 at 10:42 am
Wow, I just could not watch that game, I think it was something like 20 penalties, 9 of which were unsportmanship calls on the two teams and that was all before halftime, then there were the procedure penalties, you’d think this was the first game for both teams. Just unbelievably out of control were both teams, NO Discipline at all. Obviously two talented teams, but just POOR! And some of you people thing Coatesville is out of control, you should have seen St. Joes and IMG.
September 14th, 2019 at 9:56 am
Sort of a frustrating night. Was at Wilson West Lawn to see them play Manheim Central. Two great programs with 26 District 3 titles between them – they always play close games… and last night was yet another another mercy rule game. Looking across Berks County, I see 52-7, 41-7, 38-7, 41-0, and then of course Kutztown lost 76-0 to Jim Thorpe … in a game called at halftime!
All of which prompted me to scroll all the state scores. 260 match ups between PIAA programs. Anyone care to take a guess how many were decided by a TD or less? All of 22 games. 8% of games. Maybe another 30 or 40 games decided by 1-2 TDs. So we’re talking something like 75% of games are non-competitive, and these are mostly non-league games where you can choose whom you play. I didn’t play all that long ago and scores were much tighter – and we didn’t have a mercy rule. A blowout was losing 28-7. Not sure if it’s the concentration of talent or weight training or if there’s even a solution but it’s frustrating to watch to be sure.
September 13th, 2019 at 4:45 pm
@Buddy
Yes, someday I will have to scour my records just to see how many times the S O L has changed; it has been quite a bit.
I don’t mind I just shuffle my hand written records to fit the current alignments, and of course the computer records are easily altered.
But in the days I used to see the games with the “posse” as I called it, one of our group hated the changes whatever the reason. It was one factor in his leaving the high school football realm.
You know as much as anyone before a game is played, Buddy! Good to see some familiar names still posting from a while back as yourself.
September 13th, 2019 at 4:18 pm
Looks like Downingtown is the place to be this weekend for D1 football. Tonight Perk Valley travels down to Kottmeyer to see if they could pull an upset over Downingtown West. Tomorrow night a battle of two 3-0 “East” teams, West Chester East head over to Kottmeyer to take on Downingtown East.
I may check out an inter Central Bucks match-up at CB South tonight, as they host rival and undefeated 3-0 CB West.
September 13th, 2019 at 3:37 pm
Two big games in D11 this weekend with Freedom-Nazareth and Parkland-Bethlehem Catholic. All four teams should wind up factoring in the district playoffs, and it would not surprise me if they end up being the top four teams in the EPC South. I like Freedom and Beca in those but would not be surprised by reversed results.
September 13th, 2019 at 2:24 pm
Cleveland St. Eds will actually be traveling to Erie tonight. I think this game will be closer then it was last year. This game will be live on the Prep-Villa facebook page.
September 13th, 2019 at 1:29 pm
Jeff, with TJ and Aliquippa being so strong and with 6A being somewhat down, would those smaller schools crack your overall WPIAL Top 10? Top 5? It looks like there’s a slew of 5A teams that could make a good case for being the best team in the area this year.
September 13th, 2019 at 1:24 pm
@KMAC
That’s almost exactly the way it used to be in the SOL. They should have never changed it.
NP, Neshaminy & Pennsbury should always be in the same division. Further travel though.
I say SJP beats LS by a mere 10 points or less. Then what the hell do I know.
September 13th, 2019 at 12:31 pm
@D3 Mike – no real marquee match ups in the WPIAL tonight, biggest is probably Penn Trafford-McKeesport in 5A, game is at PT and I think they’ll win by a couple of scores, also in 5A Peters Township plays West Allegheny, I saw Peters last week and they are very solid, good defense and passing attack, expect they win by a couple of scores. Not much going on in 6A, best game is Mt. Lebanon vs. Seneca Valley, I’ll pick Lebo at home in a low scoring game, say 20-14.
Erie Cathedral Prep travels to Cleveland to play St. Edwards, who thumped them last year 35-3, I think this game will be closer but still like St. Ed’s by a couple of scores, that’s about it for the games in the west this weekend.
I like Wilson to beat MC, think they have a big advantage in the trenches and will grind out a win
September 13th, 2019 at 11:21 am
@ Frank G – completely agree with everything you said about both LaSalle and SJP, I too expect SJP to win the regular season game in a few weeks by 2-3 scores, it’s the rematch where LaSalle has a puncher’s chance, and as you said the weather can be a big factor come November. Its pretty apparent the level of play is down statewide, it most definitely is in the WPIAL, and I don’t see any 6A teams in any other district that have much of a chance against SJP in the playoffs, assuming they are relatively healthy, if they get past LaSalle in the district playoffs I don’t foresee anyone coming within 3 TD’s of them the rest of the way.
September 13th, 2019 at 8:24 am
Where is everyone going to be this weekend?
I’ll be at Wilson vs Manheim Central which should help sort out the pecking order in 6A and 5A in district 3.
Interested to hear about some other good match ups from across the state.
September 12th, 2019 at 8:31 pm
Kmac, I believe you nailed it for the new SOL. Proposal in the spring was four six team divisions but the large schools (NP in particular) complained about the difficulty of finding five non-league opponents, so the decision was made for three eight team divisions. There’s gonna be trouble in the American with huge demographic discrepancies between the haves and have nots.
September 12th, 2019 at 1:31 pm
To follow-up on Kmac’s recent post on the SOL, as it appears to be official:
https://www.suburbanonesports.com/league-info/content/suburban-one-league-announces-expansion-0086747
September 12th, 2019 at 9:58 am
Those D1 A schools are in a real tough spot. Hard to get teams of higher classifications to want to play three A schools a year, and they’re so far from any other A teams. I guess they effectively have to go independent. I wonder if joining the PPL is a consideration.
September 12th, 2019 at 9:24 am
@ Kevin X
I always thought that would be a great idea. Everyone pitch in on the funding and you could have sports carnivals over the weekends. On fridays and saturdays you could take care of the entire PCL. I always thought La Salle University could make a nice chunk of change renting out McCarthy Stadium for PCL games. Not the nicest of areas but the location is pretty good for all competitors.
September 12th, 2019 at 6:43 am
I have seen nothing “official” but word on the street is that the Suburban One League will again adjust the divisions for the 2020 season. The new conferences to be:
National: Abington, CB East, CB South, CB West, Neshaminy, North Penn, Pennridge & Pennsbury.
Continental: Bensalem, Council Rock North, Council Rock South, H S Truman, Hatboro-Horsham, Quakertown, Souderton, & Upper Dublin.
American: Cheltenham, Lower Moreland (new), New Hope-Solebury (new), P-W, Springfield (MONTCO), Upper Moreland, Wm Tennent, & Wissahickon.
If true, it would appear an attempt to balance programs or school classifications the motive. Move of Lower Moreland and NH-Solebury from Bicentennial League would about decimate that league for football, leaving only Bristol, Jenkintown & Morrisville. Also might bring Springfield (MONTCO) back for football as they should be competitive with new schools in the conference.
September 11th, 2019 at 6:33 pm
I called St Joes Prep school, the IMG Prep game is at Rutgers
September 11th, 2019 at 5:23 pm
@ Frank G
I’ve wondered and thought about that a few times myself, why these guys don’t get together and build one facility. Can host football in the fall, lax in the spring. Add LaSalle (and maybe Carroll and McDevitt) to that group (think N-G tho is good with the South Philly SS, right in their backyard), as they have home games at 4 different locations this year. Guess their nickname the Explorers is very apropos, Wanderers or Nomads would work too. I’ve been to a few events at the Proving Grounds in Conshohocken, perfect geographical location, still have lots of undeveloped land, easy access (sort of), parking, already a sports oriented destination and no NIMBYS!!!!
September 11th, 2019 at 5:03 pm
Ooops, my bad!!! Thnx Cyoball1!! I just checked the SJP website and they have the game @ Rutgers, not Widener, @ 7p.
Speaking of scheduling, does Wood have a game this weekend?? I see Christ the King (NY) at Pottsgrove Friday night, then a mention of them playing Wood Saturday night. Seems odd. But the Wood website does not have a football game on the schedule for this weekend, so thinking bye week??
September 11th, 2019 at 2:52 pm
@phillyboy Actually I don’t think SJP has more Jersey kids on their team than they did 10 or even 20 years ago–Hobson and the Quinns came from Jersey–but these things get commented on more with the higher profile.
As a Prep guy I’m not wild about their playing the first three games in locations outside the area. It doesn’t help build connections between the players and the other students. I hope they keep that in mind next year and the years beyond. Maybe settling on a better location than Widener would help. I’ve long thought that some PCL schools in the city (e.g. Roman, West Catholic, NG, and SJP?) could make some joint arrangement to develop a site, but I know how complicated that would be, partly because SJP is not a diocesan school.
Just saw that St. John’s (DC) got $15 million from an alumnus a few years ago to support their football team.That helps explain why their QB is from Hawaii and why the team is flying around the country–they’re in Texas this week. And I think the whole idea of IMG is wrong. No matter how athletically promising a kid is, to send him to a sports academy that has a high school within it rather than to a high school with a good sports program is almost never in that kid’s long-term interest.
September 11th, 2019 at 1:20 pm
@phillyboy Widener wouldn’t move the game to 7 pm time slot. Would only host at 8pm.
ESPN needed the game to start at 7pm. Apparently they couldn’t find a field that would accommodate on short notice.
September 11th, 2019 at 12:45 pm
@ phillyboy
If you’re referring to SJP’s upcoming game against IMG, it is at Widener. It will also be broadcast live on ESPN 2.
Last week’s game was part of one of those Showcase events hosted by Rutgers:
https://rumbleontheraritan.com
With that said, think SJP could work with Villanova, another Catholic school, and have their home games there. I believe SJP use to have an annual Thanksgiving game with Malvern Prep there before they entered the PIAA and playoffs. Think there is actually a PCL Blue game there this Saturday night, for whatever reason.
September 11th, 2019 at 9:54 am
What’s up with St. Joe’s Prep playing their home games at Rutgers University? Piscataway NJ is about a 150 mile round trip from Philadelphia; between tolls, wear and tear on the car, time and cost of admission/parking — not happening. Prep is enamored with New Jersey or something, why don’t they just relocate to Cherry Hill and get it over with? Or better yet, Mt. Laurel or Medford — the exurb du jour. Then they could play Don Bosco or Bergen Catholic in the NJ non-public state final each year. Honestly wanted to see the Hawks take out this fabricated quasi national all star team. phillyboy was so going to be there, oh well.
September 10th, 2019 at 6:31 pm
If Pine-RIchland wins WPIAL 6A, it will be Coach K and crews best coaching job yet. They have a complete rebuild on the OL and up the middle defense.
Defensively, they are looking to replace 4 FBS and FCS kids (Katic, Kristofic, Dorundo, King) up the middle along with a really good HS player in Anthony Cerminara with Spencer King (Jr and Tyler King’s little brother) and Nevin Novistki (Sr and first year starter) at DT’s and Josh Rechenberg (another Sr first year starter) and Luke Miller (Jr, first year defensive starter). They have very talented DE’s Trent Miller and Miguel Jackson to lean on. But those two are going both ways because of the depleted OL. The secondary returns Meckler and Boyd paired with first year player Levi Wentz at one corner and Seth Bolin (Sr, first year starter) at the other. Ryan Geyer and Caden Schweiger also play a ton. With all that turnover, they have been exceptional. They are small up front compared to the last couple years, and we will see how they do against Seneca Valley and NA (competent run oriented offenses) but they have been very very good thus far. Also, one thing I have noticed is Coach K’s use of situational substitution. The definitely have a nickle or dime package and seem to dial up crazy pressure every week.
Offensively, its like night and day from last year. The run game accounts for very little of the offense this year, with big passing really picking up the slack. Cole Spencer (Jr) is the next P-R QB after DiNucci and Jurkovec and is on pace for a bigger 11th grade year passing than either of those two. He’s short (5’10”) but a natural passer and his improved confidence is really showing this year. Much more comfortable in the pocket. Also, the gamble last year playing young skill is really paying off. People have scoffed, but this group of WR’s is on pace to be the best they’ve every hard. Eli Jochem (Jr) is leading the way at the slot. 4 TD’s in 3 games. He’s different than the slot kids P-R has had before in that he’s long and has great speed to go along with great hands. Outside is D’Avay Johnson who is a big possession type WR with excellent hands and body control who defenses have double with CB and S because of an effective fade game. Luke Miller is an H back type player that makes their quick game go with his blocking and is sneaky fast. The 4th WR is Seth Bolin who provides a reliable option and is also a solid blocker. And then you have Luke Meckler in the backfrield who had 1200 yards this year and is a legitimate sub 4.5 kid, The most obvious difference with all these skill kids is their size – all the starting WR’s are at least 6′ and 170 #’s. Really big for HS kids, If the OL can come together in the next few weeks, the could be lethal offensively. But that’s a big if. From what I’ve seen they have some work to do to be consistent in the pass game and a average in the run game.
I’ve seen PCC play in person and its really hard to explain how average to bad they are on offense. The can’t pass the ball at all and the run game is 100% broken plays with their fast backs. In 3 short years they went from being solid if not spectacular to looking pretty rag-tag. Defensively its another story. They really bring it and get after the offense. The big question mark is what will happen when a competent team spreads them out? They’ve been mercy ruled the last 3 meetings by P-R doing just that. We’ll see if that holds this year. I personally doubt it unless P-R’s OL steps up, but you never know.
To me, NA looks the most well rounded and solid. They need to stay healthy and maybe find a little more of a passing game with Colella. If so, they will be a tough out. But as we saw this past Friday versus PCC, the are also offensively challenged at times.
September 10th, 2019 at 2:17 pm
@Jeff H and Kevin X
La Sallle being better is good for them, for SJP, and for the PCL, especially since Wood seems weaker. It’s tough to win two games in one season against your prime rival. In most recent years one of the two games each year between SJP and LaSalle has been close–with LaSalle pulling off the big upset in 2015. And if a game is played in really bad weather, as last year’s championship game was, it makes an upset more possible.
Still, there’s a huge difference between the teams SJP has been playing and the teams LaSalle has been playing. I thought St. John’s looked much better than Marietta, but they made a couple of key early errors–the weather was almost certainly a factor in one–and the Prep made fewer mistakes than against Marietta, maybe because the Marietta game was their opener. If they come out of these first three games without injuries to their top seven or eight players (McCord, Harrison, Burrell, Hagans, Trotter, Johnson, and Leneghan) I would expect a 2-3 touchdown win on the 28th.
September 10th, 2019 at 10:47 am
@D3 Mike – I’m from the WPIAL so I’ll add a little Western perspective to your comments
6A – Pine Richland is the favorite to win their 3rd straight district title, NA and PCC have very good defenses, as their game last week suggests, but their offenses are mediocre, appears PR is the most balanced team and the favorite again. I agree with Kevin X about LaSalle, have only seen some video of them but I think they may be the biggest challengers in PA to SJP, could this be a repeat of 2015 when LaSalle loses in regular season and upsets them in the district playoffs, I doubt it, but LaSalle might be the only team in the state that has a punchers chance against SJP this year.
5A – agree with you that whoever emerges from the WPIAL will be the favorite to win in Hershey, WPIAL 5A is loaded this year with several quality teams, winner will likely play Wood in the “western” semi-finals like Penn Hills did last year, I like the D3 champ chances of getting to Hershey, at this point appears Warwick and Cocalico are the favorites in D3
4A – agree most of the state is down in 4A this year, and the winner of the TJ vs. Erie Prep quarterfinal game will be the favorite to win in Hershey, as I stated last week I don’t think there’s anyone in the WPIAL who will challenge TJ this year, they beat 2nd ranked Belle Vernon last week 34-7, time will tell if they can finally get over the hurdle and beat ECP after losing to them 3 yrs in a row in the quarterfinals from 2015-2017.
3A – see above for TJ, doesn’t appear there’s a 3A team in the WPIAL to challenge Aliquippa, they should be going for their third state title in a row after getting upset 2-0 in 2017 by Quaker Valley in one of the more bizarre WPIAL finals at Heinz Field.
2A – everyone playing for the runner-up trophy, Washington is the best 2A team in the WPIAL, the only question is whether SoCol will mercy rule all their opponents like Steel Valley did 3 yrs ago.
1A – no real favorite at this point in the WPIAL, and no dominant teams, if I had to pick a WPIAL winner now I’d take Jeanette, this might be the most wide open class in the state this year, as Farrell is no where near as good as they were last year.
September 10th, 2019 at 8:23 am
@ D3 Mike and Paul
I have seen LaSalle twice in person and I am quite impressed. MP you could say is down from last years team, and not a great team, but they are still a pretty good team. They could still hang with any 5A team in the state. Anyways, really a moot point how good LaSalle is, b/c as Paul mentioned, ever since the dinosaurs roamed the earth, LaSalle and SJP will meet the second weekend in November and most likely LaSalle will be bounced much too early from the playoffs (even tho in this game last year, they gave Prep all that they could handle). I suggest you guys clear your schedule for Sept. 28th and find your way to Ambler for round one.
September 9th, 2019 at 12:51 pm
Beca certainly has a shot to get through to the final, but the D11 4A playoff has some pitfalls they’ll need to get through. ACC played Parkland tough and always brings it against Beca. Pottsville has got some talent and their only blemish so far is an overtime loss to Wyomissing, which looks much better after their comfortable win over North Schuylkill. And Northwestern Lehigh can really score and I could see them making a game out of anything. Beca is obviously the favorite but it could get interesting.
Cool to see my alma mater (ES South) make an appearance in the EPA rankings for once, although I personally think Warwick or Cocalico are more deserving of that spot. It’s been a while since they’ve beaten rival Stroudsburg. If they can get that monkey off their back this week, I’ll be more comfortable in their potential to get past Southern Lehigh (really the only significant challenger in the D11/D2 subregional right now).
September 9th, 2019 at 11:14 am
What a wild weekend. We had a 6-2 slugfest to go along with a number of pedigreed programs getting blown out. Let’s try to make some sense of what’s going on in the East. Please chime in with insights, especially on the teams in your district.
6A – Great rebound win for St. Joe’s Prep. I can’t see anyone playing with them this year in PA. I’m not buying the La Salle hype just yet – that’s not a great Malvern Prep team they beat as MP graduated almost all of their top talent last year, but we’ll see. D1 appears down a bit from last year, at least if you’re going by the state rankings and marquee wins to date. D3 is going to go down to the wire with Harrisburg, Manheim Township, and Wilson all playing distinctive brands of football. Nice win by Freedom. (Western Note: North Allegheny squeezing past PCC shows that D7 will also be interesting until the end).
5A – Wow – Manheim Central got abused on Friday. That’s a good Warwick team but MC just seemed out of sorts from the opening whistle. They better figure it out quickly with Wilson on the menu next. With Cocalico in the mix, this is another competitive district race for D3. District 1 has a number of quality teams in 5A although Academy Park struggled with Truman this weekend. I’m interested to see if Wood is deserving of the #1 spot they hold in many rankings – CD East isn’t one of the better teams in the Mid Penn this year and Wood didn’t look overwhelmingly good against them. I think we’re probably looking at the WPIAL winner as the class of 5A until someone proves otherwise.
4A – What a mess. 3 losses for Imhotep. 2 losses for McDevitt. 2 losses for BC. Is this the year BECAHI breaks thru to the final? District 2 looks to be setting itself up as the district to watch with Valley View, Dallas, and Berwick all undefeated and entering the state rankings. That said, based on scoreboard watching and what I’ve read, it might come down to ECP and Thomas Jefferson in the state quarterfinals this year. The East just seems down in 4A. Speaking of down this year, here’s your bonus alumni stat of the day: Berks Catholic has played in 6 consecutive state semi or state quarterfinals… and has been outscored 79-0 in the first 3 quarters of its first 3 games so far this year. And they still have 6A Boyertown, Malvern Prep, and undefeated Fleetwood and Wyomissing teams on their schedule.
3A – A lot of movement this week as 4 teams in Pennlive’s top 10 lost, with district 3 making its mark. Wyomissing proves itself a darkhorse in the class with a convincing win over North Schuylkill. They’ve recovered from losing their QB in week 1 but I still think they’re a step behind a Middletown team that shutout McDevitt. Aliquippa looks as good as ever but the race to Hershey thru the East should be a good one. Keep in mind that despite Middletown’s recent dominance, both Wyomissing and Lancaster Catholic (also currently undefeated) won state titles in this class earlier this decade.
2A – At this point, the only question is whether Southern Columbia outscores its opponents 1000-0 on the year. They still have Montoursville on the schedule but so far they’ve beaten a defending state champion (Hammond), their rival (MC), and now Selinsgrove a combined 160-0. And it’s not just Southern Columbia – the top 10 teams in the state won by an average of 43 points this weekend so there’s a big difference between the haves and the have nots in 2A.
1A – I honestly couldn’t pick most of these teams out of a line-up. Northwest Area is state-ranked and almost got mercy-ruled. I don’t even know if district 9 plays thru the “East” bracket or not. So I guess I’ll take Old Forge to get torched by whomever escapes the WPIAL. Speaking of, Clairton almost lost their 3rd of the season so it probably won’t be them.
All in good fun – no one take offense. And remember to contribute about your local team(s), especially if I’m totally off the mark!
September 9th, 2019 at 9:57 am
Good for the La Salle High team starting out 3-0 against three very good teams (Imhotep, North Penn and Malvern Prep). Only problem is they have to get by St. Joe Prep to move forward and i don’t see that happening.
September 9th, 2019 at 8:43 am
OK, I’ll bite. Never put much credence into rankings……but I’ll toss out my current Eastern 6A:
1. SJP
2. LaSalle
3. Harrisburg
4. Downingtown West
5. Coatesville
Oh, btw, I don’t think I’ve have ever seen a 4A ranking without Imhotep listed anywhere. Guess when you start the season 0-3 after a cupcake schedule, I suppose you don’t deserve a mention. Of course, I’m sure any of those other 4A teams mentioned would have had their way with those same teams Imhotep lost to.
September 8th, 2019 at 11:18 pm
NWFan- Freshman class is pretty solid at ECP, but the QB isnt the one to know about. He is an average freshman QB IMO and will probably play another position on Varsity when he gets there, Wakeem Page is the name to remember on that team. Played WR/DB in the first game.
September 8th, 2019 at 5:07 pm
Wyomissing/N.Schuykill- 31-14, Wyo was in control from the start, N. Schuykill was throttled on offense for most of the game, their defense had no answer for Wyo’s Wing T, I was looking forward to seeing N. Schuykill’s Linebacker who is going to Penn State, Unfortunately, what I saw was a Division 2 linebacker. He did nothing the entire game.
September 7th, 2019 at 3:47 pm
Erie Prep choose to play up at 4A in the old classification. They went down to 3A because they didn’t have the numbers they used to. They could have played up at 5A the last few years and they probably would have won the state title at least two of the last three years. I know everyone dogs them for not playing up but their numbers aren’t that great, the last two years their JV numbers were low. It won’t matter because they will be up in 5A for the next cycle anyways. Haven’t seen them yet but I heard they have a really good freshmen class led by a 6-3 stud quarterback.
September 7th, 2019 at 11:37 am
@ Chief Red Raider
I was expecting a little closer game but when CV came out and their best player, #23 Max Dell’Anno, was dressed in shorts I know it would be a tough night. Max tweaked an ankle in the McDevitt game and then aggravated it a bit in limited action last week against Central York. Max runs a 4.4 40 and is the cover up at safety in the pass defense. He was sorely missed last night. He also return punts, kickoffs and is their top RB. Resting him was a smart move before the Mid Penn schedule starts.
September 7th, 2019 at 8:24 am
I should at least make one positive note, and congratulate West Chester Henderson on their win last night. Keep it going guys!!!!
September 7th, 2019 at 7:31 am
If I saw correctly from last night eastern scores, 3 teams put up 70 points. There was a plethora of goose eggs recorded. A good number mercy rule games, and simply an overall large number of non-competitive games. This may have been the worse night of HS football that I can recall in a long time.
September 6th, 2019 at 11:03 pm
Great to be able to watch the Coatesville/CV game on TV. Coatesville looked a lot better this week. Defense looked great, offense ok. CV should do pretty well in their league. Where’s my pie?
September 6th, 2019 at 7:41 pm
Dtown West up 21-0 on Neshaminy in the first quarter. The Whippets are for real! Can’t wait for their late season clash with Coatesville. I’ve got ties to both schools so I’ll play neutral and get to enjoy it to the MAX.
September 6th, 2019 at 7:01 pm
Upon working my way back to PA from a long road trip earlier this summer, made it a point to check out Erie, had never seen it before. I must be used to living in Philly or something, goodness gracious, like a lot of towns, seems like its heyday was back in the 1940’s or 50’s. It’s too big to have small town charm and not big enough for a gritty urban experience. Was driving around, saw some old warehouses and a bunch of parking lots with a few larger buildings in the heart. But sheesh, there was nary a heartbeat or edgy neighborhood to be found. Can see why you guys are so sensitive about your beloved Erie Cathedral Prep — it’s all you got. No, I take that back, Presque Isle State Park with the nearby Waldameer Park was pretty cool. And the Golden Corral on the south side of town was right on, I’ll give you that. Anyway, go Erie High or McDowell baby!
September 6th, 2019 at 6:57 pm
Buddy,Yes 1965 old football fans for sure.
September 6th, 2019 at 6:31 pm
Buddy,Yes we are both old football followers for sure. BTW I lived on Cherry street in Lansdale for a few years after I married many years ago. On a side note ,I am a fan of Beck and followed the great CB West teams for years in addition to the PCL teams. NP will always be a threat in District 1 IMO.
September 6th, 2019 at 5:44 pm
Thanks for the link on Middletown vs McDevitt. I will definitely check that out! Two good teams with distinct offenses – I didn’t mention it for the list of top games simply because I don’t think Middletown can keep up and there are so many close match ups this week but I hope I’m wrong (about Middletown). I love their wing-t variant.
Jeff I remember when ECP played in 4A (when it was 4 classes). Were they playing up then or did they have a bigger enrollment?
September 6th, 2019 at 3:46 pm
@NW PA – the reason people make a big deal about ECP is they are the three time defending 4A champ, if McDowell was competing for state titles every year like Prep there would be more talk about their recruiting and raiding Erie High’s roster. I do agree with you that most fans make a much bigger deal of public school kids transferring to private schools than vice versa, no one seems to talk about any of the kids transferring from a private to a public school.
I don’t have any problems with ECP or their so-called recruiting, my only beef is they should be playing in 5A or even 6A and not dominating a bunch of smaller schools in 4A (they have the 2nd largest enrollment of any school in 4A), they are one of the premier programs in the state and it’s a joke they continue to play at 4A, hopefully next year they move up to 5A where they belong.
September 6th, 2019 at 3:04 pm
If any of you guys are into the streaming thing, tonight’s Middletown/Bishop McDevitt (D3) game is being shown on the watchstadium.com app. Also you can watch it on the big screen if you have a Roku TV or Roku streaming device (and probably other devices). Just go to the main Roku Channel, and Stadium is one of the channels that is included in the Roku Channel package, or if you have/use Pluto TV, Stadium is channel 491 on Pluto. The Stadium app/channel streams for free various nationwide Thursday and Friday night HS football games throughout the season. Just so happens that they are featuring some south central PA action tonight.
North Penn/Pennsbury and DTW/Nesh and the CEC game are all also on tonight……..
http://www.wbcb1490.com
September 6th, 2019 at 1:49 pm
@ pompous as# ( no handle needed)
Not crying at all, wondering how LS got all that talent compared to last year.
Mcd65 seemed to have answered it .
You won’t “stoop” that low because you CAN’T! ( well, personally you can).
BTW, within their own realm ( schools WITH boundaries), NP is relevant every year.
Note: @ Mcd65, is that the year you graduated? If so, we are “brothers from a different mother”.
September 6th, 2019 at 1:05 pm
@ Sausman – I would vote for PCC vs. NA to be included on the list of top 10 games in the state this week, I personally think PCC is overrated and I like NA in a slug-fest 20-10, PCC has a surprising number of players who go both ways for a school of their size and tradition and I think NA’s depth wears them down in the 2nd half, I would argue PCC is as overrated as some of the D3 guys think Manheim Central is in 5A, there’s no way PCC is a top 5 team in the state this year, they may be only the 3rd best team in the WPIAL in 6A behind NA and PR.
I don’t think TJ vs. Belle Vernon makes the cut, and I’m a WPIAL guy, I like TJ by 3 scores, don’t see anyone challenging them in the WPIAL this year in 4A. . .
ECP vs. McKeesport is also an intriguing game, as Erie makes the 2hr drive down I-79 to George Smith stadium, I think this will be a competitive game but I like ECP by 2 scores, I’ll say 34-21
D3 guys have already noted a couple of big games, I like Manheim in a defensive struggle against CD, and I still like Warwick’s chances at home against MC, although as D3 Commish noted the loss of all state receiver Terry Glass is a big blow
September 6th, 2019 at 11:55 am
@Buddy LaSalle whoops up on NP and you take to a message board to cry about it. Outside of 1 season NP hasn’t been relevant in over a decade. Get over it.
September 6th, 2019 at 11:52 am
@Buddy of course half of LaSalles team is from out of district they’re a private school. I didn’t make a mistake I meant NP. And I won’t stoop low enough to name names.
September 6th, 2019 at 11:03 am
I think much of the public/private angst depends on the language everyone uses and what people envision when they hear “recruit” or “transfer”.
• A kid can play in a public program K-8 then go to the area private school down the street.
• A kid can play in a private school in 10th and go to a different private school in 11th.
• A kid’s parents can move so that they go from one public to a different public.
• A kid could play in public in 10th and transfer into a private in 11th
Those scenarios are operationally the same but different people will view each move distinctly, depending on the player motivation, how far the family moves, the strength of the two programs involved, whether 1 of the 2 is a private school, the grade in which the move takes place, the geographic area covered by the schools involved, and most humorously, whether a coach “recruited” the player (as if elite players don’t know where they can best play, win, and excel).
Here in Berks the same elite public programs criticizing Berks Catholic have received quite a few of what I would consider key “transfers”, themselves over the years, but again, it all depends on the definition used and the scale of the problem.
They really need to expand the point/success system. Obviously the privates have a bigger advantage because of a lower barrier to entry but the top public schools enjoy their fair share of transfers, too.
September 6th, 2019 at 8:01 am
‘fraid you have a typo there CYO. Your second line you have “NP’s”, you meant “LS’s” I’m sure .
No thang. Common error for the ill-informed.
September 6th, 2019 at 12:45 am
Erie Prep had one year-last year-where transfers helped them yet people seem to treat them as major offenders. They got one guy who doesn’t start this year and before last season no one transferred who helped them in any way. Erie McDowell has taken the best players from Erie High the last 3 seasons and it’s been all over the news here but no one says a peep outside of Erie. The worst part is they somehow got playoff waivers by concocting some BS tale of woe. I said it before and I’ll say it again Erie isn’t a big town and these kids live no more than a ten minute drive from where they used to live. I could care less but don’t pass the rule and then not enforce it. Any kid can transfer into a public school and get a playoff waiver they just don’t want them transferring to private schools.
September 5th, 2019 at 5:45 pm
Buddy ,LaSalle didn’t have any transfers that Im aware of. I believe they are much improved by the return of their QB who missed all but one game last year due to injury ,and the maturing of their sophomore RB who started last year. In fact they were very young overall last year. As transfers go two stand out from the PCL to their public schools. Peaker from McDevitt to Northeast and Santiago from Wood to Tennant. Both of these RBs were PCl rushing leaders as Juniors.
September 5th, 2019 at 5:34 pm
@Buddy i suppose LaSalles recruiting class was better than NP recruiting class.
Half of NP’s roster is from out of district. Hypocrisy at its finest.
September 5th, 2019 at 8:22 am
Any other d2 guys out thier ? what is wrong with West Scranton 2 big losses thier just to much talent on that team to be getting beat like that!This week they have Valley View so things are not looking up .is it injury lack on numbers they were picked to be a player in the AAAA race ?
@kevinx Riverside Lakeland should be a real fun game to watch !!! should be passes flying everywhere
September 5th, 2019 at 8:18 am
I believe the new transfer rules will definitely put a damper on kids transferring into powerhouse football programs, especially the smaller schools. Erie Cathedral Prep had 1 kid transfer in this year and he is not eligible to play in the playoffs, they also had 1 kid transfer out Marrick Bauer, whose brother is a linebacker at Notre Dame. Berks Catholic had 2 kids ruled ineligible and neither are at the school, 1 kid transferred to Malvern Prep, the other player is at a school in Va. McDevitt also had a player that was ruled ineligible. St. Joe Prep and LaSalle don’t have many kids transfer in so the transfer rule wont affect them.
September 5th, 2019 at 8:13 am
How does LaSalle go from merely an average team, at best, last year to a state power this year?
I think they will give Prep a game , don’t think they’ll win though. Great recruiting year?
NP isn’t as bad as they looked in that game with LS, but LS was as good as they looked.
Turnovers ( or lack thereof on NP), would have made it closer, but NP would not have won if they had no turnovers.
Curious minds wanna know.
September 4th, 2019 at 5:41 pm
So many great games on Friday! IMO these early season non-league weekends really are the best action until the later rounds of the district playoffs.
Middletown, Wyomissing, North Schuylkill, and NDGP all with tough match ups that will tell us a lot about the pecking order in AAA on this side of the state. Could see 3 of the 4 fall this weekend (and Scranton Prep already lost).
Also not sure if this one was mentioned yet (I jumped the gun last week) but Manheim Central vs Warwick is this week’s televised game on PCN and features two state ranked AAAAA teams.
There’s also Prep and St. John’s.
September 4th, 2019 at 1:55 pm
@sausmann9
As an old timer and easing slowly back from all of our great common H S F interest to some degree, your list looks solid to me.
I especially like the poetic license with the Cathedral Prep title.
What is still nice is that you can sometimes get an exciting game out there not between two powerhouses, but just two perhaps evenly-balanced programs.
As I travel far shorter and less frequent now, at least I HOPE that the line above is true! We all know the excitement of finely skilled and managed games and players.
September 4th, 2019 at 1:44 pm
These first two games looked a lot more interesting before the season started, but still may crack your “Top 10”
Wilson WL @ Spring-Ford. These guys played some really good games the past 3 years. Maybe they’ll make it 4 for 4??
Malvern Prep @ LaSalle. LaSalle looked like a well oiled machine in mid to late season form this past Friday against North Penn. Malvern Prep tho not so much, as they lost a lot to graduation from last years really good team. Granted, it was their first game and against a pretty good MD school/team. Will they rebound??? Hopefully it will still be worth the drive down 309 Saturday afternoon……
……….and one from up in the real Great Northeast, Riverside @ Lakeland. Some smaller school love for you.
September 4th, 2019 at 1:23 pm
Here are three more games to be decided on whether worthy enough to make a Pick’ems list of 10.
Pitt Central Catholic v North Allegheny (both 2-0 and nasty rivals)
Thomas Jefferson v Belle Vernon (both 2-0 as well)
Bshop McDevitt v Middletown
what do you all think???
September 4th, 2019 at 10:17 am
Alright guys (and gals if any out there) after dropping the ball the last two weekends on getting this together and having some fun, I’m trying to find 10 of the top PIAA games for this weekend; doesn’t matter what part of the state as long as the game seems a good one. Here are a few options that could be part of a Pick Ems for the weekend. if we can’t find 10 I’d rather drop to eight or six instead of filling the list with crappy matchups.
Possibilities;
1. North Schuylkill v Wyomissing Area
2. Dowingtown West v Neshaminy
3. Coatesville v Cumberland Valley
4. Central Dauphin v Manheim Twsp
5. Erie Cathedral Transfer Prep v Mckeesport
6. Bethlehem Catholic v Liberty (this one will get nasty this season, lots of sh!t going down b/n these two teams in summer)
7. Freedom v Parkland
8. Allentown Central Catholic v Nazareth
Please chime in, which games should stay on a list and which should go. I’m cool if we end up with a “Pick Six” contest of games, just start chopping away.
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:25 pm
@ Matt… I’ll let you know after Malvern and Northeast games
September 3rd, 2019 at 1:18 pm
WesternPaFootball.net forum hasn’t been working since late last season. It sat idle all summer.
September 3rd, 2019 at 11:20 am
@Mike….do you think Bethlehem Catholic gets Yep this year and gets to finals?? If Teps offense isn’t that great maybe Beca gets them this year?
September 3rd, 2019 at 7:51 am
@D3 Mike: I don’t normally care about the rankings since it’s often impossible to compare teams until the playoffs come round, but I agree, ranking Coatesville above Harrisburg at this juncture is pretty much indefensible. Hopefully that was just an oversight and will be corrected.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:58 pm
Imhotep offense isn’t very good this year and will lose in the finals again
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:23 pm
The hilarious thing with all of these rankings, be it locally, regionally or statewide, is that Coatesville is currently sitting at 32 out of 33 teams in the District One 6A rankings, the only rankings/ratings that actually really mean something and matter!!!!
(OK, settle down peeps)………..and only after week 10 🙂
September 2nd, 2019 at 9:54 am
@New2PA
https://westernpafootball.net/
also…
http://pafootballnews.com/ for the whole state
September 1st, 2019 at 8:33 pm
D3 Mike-
I agree with you on rankings and the prep work that goes into forming those opinions. I put a lot of time into the LL & Berks leagues first and Mid Penn next and I mostly focus on the big schools. I also have reliable input from the Coatesville / Downingtown teams but do not see them regularly. I doubt there are any “statewide” people that are more informed in this area. Doesn’t mean my opinions are correct but at least I have seen these teams and talked to coaches and individuals connected to the teams.
Manheim Central is the most overrated team in the state. They can not stop the run and have won both games due to major mistakes by Susquehanna Township and Hempfield. Central is at Warwick and Wilson the next two weeks. If they win these games then I am completely wrong. No way anyone ranking them 2nd in the state could watch those games and say that unless 5A is that horrible this year.
Same with Berks Catholic. Should have lost to Exeter and was completely dominated by CD this week.
I agree with you on Township and this week CD comes to Township. This will be a great barometer of 6A as Wilson and CD have already played. If CD beats Township it will solidify my opinion that they are a finesse team and can’t handle the power game of CD & Wilson who they play in week 6.
Coatesville at CV this week. Not sure which way to go here and who would have thought that a month ago. I believe Ortega has been exposed with both of the Young brothers gone. He can’t get the edge without a back to get all the attention.
Wilson at Spring Ford this week. Wilson has completely dominated the run game against CD & Mifflin. Their pass defense will be tested against Spring Ford and their wacky coach this week.
BTW….. Wilson was picked 3rd in LL Section 1 by Lancaster Online and Pennlive
Warwick took a major hit with the loss of their speedy wideout Trey Glass. He re-injured the same knee and will miss the rest of the year. Great kid and great player.
September 1st, 2019 at 7:14 pm
D3 Mike – you mentioned a western PA version of this forum? Do you know if it still exists? I can’t find it.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:29 pm
That steel valley team was impressive. I was there when they demolished southern. That year was this groups freshman year. Not to take anything away from steel valley because they were unstoppable but there’s no way a bunch of freshmen no matter how good southern was when this core were freshmen they weren’t going to compete with the senior division 1 recruits that steel valley had. The sca freshmen looked like deer in headlights. It was an accomplishment they made it to Hershey that year. Southern wasn’t beaten that bad many times in their history.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:27 pm
I don’t usually care much about rankings but this week’s are criminal!!! lol
Harrisburg played in the 6A final, beat Coatesville last week, lost to the #1 team in Ohio this week and dropped from the Top 5 … below a Coatesville team they already beat? Are these done by a power ranking algorithm or an actual human? There are others that are way off IMO.
I feel like this forum (and the western PA one) could crowdsource these rankings better than the writers who do most of them. It’s always the same teams as the year before – no one can follow the player movements statewide close enough to be very accurate. If they could, they would have never had Berks Catholic as a top 5 team in the state (and ahead of McDevitt? Yikes). … but everyone in the Reading area certainly had in right from day 1.
Tough loss for Prep and it doesn’t get any easier this week.
P.S. I’d love for any of the D3 folks to explain the Manheim Township lovefest…
September 1st, 2019 at 8:42 am
@Jack….thanks…..that Steel Valley team was a machine as well.
September 1st, 2019 at 7:41 am
@matt steel valley, the 2016 2A champs, mercy ruled every opponent including SC
August 31st, 2019 at 11:40 pm
Went to see Southern play MCA. Southern is a machine. They could have scored alot more but like I said before Roth will not run up the score. They really can pack the people in that stadium and the food is pretty damm good as well. Well worth the trip.
August 31st, 2019 at 9:45 pm
Southern not only will probably run the table they might mercy rule every opponent. 36-0 against Hammond and 48-0 against MCA. Those could be the toughest opponents all year. Remember they mercy ruled last two state championship games as well. Has a team ever mercy ruled every opponent?? I though MCA would give them a better game than Hammond after last week
August 30th, 2019 at 5:38 pm
SJP ain’t playing tonite are they? I thought it was Sat. nite on ESPN?
Yeah, NP pass defense is non-existent. So they be in trouble tonite against LS.
But from what I see in their schedule, they should run the table after tonite ( as usual).
Come playoff time, different story.
August 30th, 2019 at 4:44 pm
@ Jeff H, Sausmann, et al
I did not watch the Katy/NS game last night, but did record it. Will catch it one of these future boring weekday evenings. Recording the SJP game tonight as well, as going to check out the LaSalle/NP game in person (guessing this is one of Sausmann’s top 10 games, or should be). Actually watched the replay of the NP/Nesh game last night in my scouting prep 🙂 (watched the ‘Tep/LaS replay earlier in the week). Hoping for a competitive game, believe Lasalle will take this one. No way, no how, NP is going to put up 55 again tonight. Game should be broadcast live via streaming on the North Penn Television Network on You Tube.
An honorable mention for Sausmann is right down the road this evening, as D-Town West travels up and over to CB South. Great night ahead, get out and support!!!
August 30th, 2019 at 10:36 am
@Sausmann9 – really big 5A game tonight in the WPIAL when Gateway travels to Harrison City to take on archival Penn Trafford. These are 2 of the top 3 5A teams in the WPIAL (the other is Peters Township), and they of course met for the 5A title in 2017, with Gateway winning a close, hard fought game at Heinz. I saw Gateway dominate Mt Lebanon last week, their team speed is tremendous, they look an awful lot like the Penn Hills team from last year that ran the table, and Derrick Davis may be the best player in the state outside of Julian Fleming, he’s that good, IMO they are the legit #1 5A statewide, but Penn Trafford will definitely be a big challenge.
Speaking of Peters Township they host Upper St Clair tonight in another good 5A match up, USC got off to a good start last week under new coach Mike Junko who replaced legendary Jim Render, beating defending WPIAL 4A champ South Fayette 27-13, but I’ll take Peters at home, I’ll say 28-17.
@ Kevin X – I watched a lot of that Katy vs. North Shore game last night, 2 excellent teams that are on a different level than we are, with the possible exception of SJP, great comeback win for Katy
@D3 Mike – you certainly follow D3 a lot closer than I do, but I like Warwick’s chances tonight against MC, I’ll take Warwick in a high scoring affair 35-28, think Warwick and Cocalico are the 2 biggest challengers to MC repeating as district champ. I do agree with you that Harrisburg is going to have their hands full with a great Hoban team and think you pegged the final score about right.
August 29th, 2019 at 4:22 pm
Some big boy Texas HS football (Katy v. North Shore) tonight @ 8p on ESPN U
St. Joe Prep v. Marietta (GA) tomorrow night @ 8p also on ESPN U
Interesting D1 game tonight as well, West Chester East @ Unionville. Perfect evening for some football (remember this when you’re out at a game come November :))
August 29th, 2019 at 2:56 pm
North Pocono i felt was under rated going in to the season they should be able to play with anyone in the conference.Valley View look very strong in it opener but hard to evaluate against a team who young and down a little this year.Dunmore could have 3 to 4 loses this year with thier schedule so Riverside might have a shot, i know their going to be fun to watch they will probably throw the ball more than run it this year.Scranton Prep and Wyoming Area huge game i leaning toward Wyoming Area big up front and a very good looking QB,but in AAA in D2 dont sleep on Lakeland D1 Qb and lots and lots of speed
August 29th, 2019 at 2:47 pm
hey all – i’m currently getting a list of top 10 PA games for this weeekend together as we type. Keep the picks coming in and if the games are stout, they make the list.
D3Mike – excellent picks, if you don’t mind I’ll use three of the four and keep your picks as well (if you want)
I’ll list five or six other games and people just chime in and let me know if we keep it on the list or replace it.
be back soon, keep the good games of this weekend coming in w/ picks.
August 29th, 2019 at 1:10 pm
@ District 2 folks:
Thoughts on North Pocono? Are they really as good as last week’s win over West Scranton makes them look? Or is West that far down this year? Will NP be any kind of a challenge to Valley View in District 2 4A?
Thoughts on Scranton Prep? I heard that the offense didn’t look especially great against Dunmore. Without O’Dell’s KR and PR for TDs, Dunmore would have pulled out the upset. This week’s game against Wyoming Area is probably going to reveal who will ultimately win D2 3A.
Riverside looks like they’re going to score some points this year. I’m already psyched for Old Forge @ Riverside on 10/11. Any chance they challenge Dunmore in 2A? I don’t know what to make of Dunmore’s close loss to Prep. Either Prep is nowhere near the team they were the last few years, or Dunmore is a heck of a lot better.
August 29th, 2019 at 9:26 am
@D3 Mike.. Well said.
August 29th, 2019 at 8:48 am
@ Buddy I’ll stick mostly to D3 state-ranked / rivalry games since I’m slightly less likely to embarrass myself on the picks:
Manheim Central (5A #2) over Warwick (5A #9), 34-20
Last year’s 27-20 MC win was a classic but Warwick has lost half a step from last year.
Hoban (Ohio #1) over Harrisburg (6A #4), 42-21
Props to Harrisburg for scheduling this game but Hoban might be even better, offensively, than the Prep team they faced last year.
Wilson West Lawn (6A TTW) over Governor Mifflin, 28-14
I’ll be at the 62nd installment of these crosstown rivals. Very interested to see one of the better defenses in D3 (Wilson) go up against sophomore RB Singleton, already the most highly recruited RB in Berks history.
St. Joe’s Prep (6A #1) over Marietta (Georgia #1), 28-21
Good to see new coach Roken easing into things… this is more of a PA football is better than Georgia football pick than anything. Lots of D1 talent on the field.
** PICK OF THE WEEK **
Central Dauphin over Berks Catholic (4A #6), 28-7
Berks Catholic hasn’t lost by more than 18 points since 2012, including losses to state powers Wyomissing (twice), Imhotep, Southern Columbia, Erie Cathedral Prep (twice), Malvern Prep, and Bishop McDevitt. The loss of 29 seniors from last season’s squad will be felt this weekend against a CD team that shut them out 7-0 last year.
August 28th, 2019 at 10:24 am
Games this weekend.
What do you think?
August 28th, 2019 at 9:20 am
All of this just makes me more in favor of extending implementation of a success points system. I know they started one, but I’d like to see its impact on the classifications expanded.
August 28th, 2019 at 9:00 am
@ D3 Mike You should express your feelings to the PIAA district officials in your locale. You do have points that should be addressed.
August 28th, 2019 at 5:45 am
@ Kevin X………Just from the small amount of info I have heard….sounds like the bleachers for the home side of the field and the turf and lights will be next year.
August 27th, 2019 at 10:16 pm
@ Kevin X
Doesn’t scare me. Since SC beat MCA in the D4 championship the past 2 years, it actually would have done us a favor. If they were in 3A, MCA was in the state playoffs with a shot at Hershey.
I agree, they probably would have won 3A last year and again this year. But if 3A wasn’t going to be a challenge either, what then is the point of them moving up??
Per your earlier post – ‘Aliquippa, Imhotep, Becahi, Wood are all playing up this cycle, no reason that SCA couldn’t have played up either.’ IMO the only noble exception voluntarily playing up out of those 4 is Aliquippa. The other 3 should be anyway.
August 27th, 2019 at 8:10 pm
I’m still not following the logic (perhaps because it’s unbelievably inconsistent) regarding the power public schools and catholic/privates.
So “some families move to SCA for a better opportunity and that’s ok” (a view I totally agree with) … but if parents send their kid to a catholic school for a better opportunity “those schools should be required to play up?” How is it possible that you can’t follow that it’s the same thing, just with a lower barrier to entry? The whole recruiting thing is a red herring. The kids and parents know who wins and who sends kids D1 and the hoops to get scholarships. Just say your program was spurned instead of blaming some nefarious assistant coach.
Frankly, I don’t care all that much – I’d just like some consistency. And for someone else to note the irony that it’s almost always the power publics – the ones that have the transfers, kids moving to the area for football, and more district wealth – who are always the ones complaining about private schools. It’s almost as if they’ve enjoyed inherent advantages for years (see above) and don’t want anyone else to have advantages of their own (which private schools obviously have).
tl;dr if you think the same public schools excel every year purely due to tradition, coaching, and a superior weight room you’re living in a meritocratic fantasy land. The playing field is tilted in plenty of schools’ favor, and not just the private ones.
August 27th, 2019 at 7:18 pm
@ Dennis: 3A (4A would have been pushing it, especially the later games in the playoffs)
@ Tornado Fan: Just should of/could of played up to 3A last year and this year. It’s not a permanent commitment. Would not have affected their regular season schedule, and the D4 3A playoffs would still have been a walkover. Last 3 games last year would have been Scranton Prep, Middletown and Aliquippa. Does that scare you??
@ Brian: Aliquippa and Imhotep are public schools (i kind of call Imhotep and all charter schools hybrids, publicly financed and rules, but privately owned and operated).
@ Irish: What is the timetable for the PJPII turf and lights?? New bleachers this year, so guess one thing at a time??
August 27th, 2019 at 2:15 pm
@Eman 35 – have you never heard of schools like Aliquippa and Clairton in the WPIAL, both of them are A schools by enrollment, and they regularly produce D1 prospects on an annual basis, last year Aliquippa had a couple of kids go to Power 5 conferences, and they have another power 5 recruit this year, so it’s not all that unusual for programs that have a long tradition of excellence to churn out D1 talent, even smaller districts. Everyone who follows football statewide knew this group of SoCol seniors were a special class a long time ago, when they won 2A in 2017 most people expected them to run the table and not lose again until after this group of seniors graduated. They have a phenomenal program, Roth is a tremendous coach and by all accounts a class act, I just wish this particular team could play a big school like a Harrisburg or North Penn because I think they would compete very favorably against the big boys. I’ve watched HS football in this state for 40+ years, and I’m convinced this SoCal team could beat the vast majority of 5A and 6A teams in PA this year, and I know a lot of other guys from the Pittsburgh area who follow HS football closely who feel the same way.
@ Tornado Fan – completely agree MCA will give SoCol a better game this week than Hammond, you guys might be catching them at the right time after playing on national TV, possible letdown in the first half? Still expect SoCol to win by 3-4 scores, but wouldn’t be surprised at all if it’s still close at halftime. .
August 27th, 2019 at 1:28 pm
@cyo…….I just think with their schedule,it will be tough for Roman to have a winning season. But Judge and Ryan don’t look real strong so who knows. They have speed at receiver and the QB looked like he has potential. It was a weird game on Saturday but it was still a game where PJP was on the verge of having running clock in the second half and seem to fall a sleep. But credit to Roman for hanging in there and fighting back.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:53 pm
Wasn’t surprised to see Coatesville lose to Harrisburg, after all Harrisburg returned a lot of talent from last year in spite of losing Kane Everson. I’m confused why they don’t have a game scheduled for this week, and between that and their schedule, if they should lose even one more game, which I think is likely (Dtown West), I think they’re already looking at a possible road game in the first round of the D1 playoffs. Certainly the second round, if they should make it.
On to Dtown West… what an incredibly impressive performance. And even more so considering they have some pretty good players shelved for the year with injuries. But having a healthy Will Howard all season, and their young core gelling together, will propel them to at least a co-share of the ChesMont crowb, if not outright, and a deep run in the playoffs.
Love SJP early schedule, what a test. Also, off topic from PA HSFB, but check out St. John’s (MD) schedule… in four weeks they play SJP, Duncanville TX, IMG Academy, and Mater Dei. That is some seriously tough opposition!!
August 27th, 2019 at 10:56 am
Give me some names then Eman. I’d love to have this discussion.
August 27th, 2019 at 9:51 am
Just to say what class do the critics of Southern Columbia think they should play? What I like about Southern Columbia is by the third quarter the subs are in giving everybody a chance to play instead of running up the score which Roth will not do.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:47 pm
So I knew that Southern would be good this year but I thought it would take a few weeks for them to firing on all cylinders. I do not feel that any team will score on their first defense. They are the most technically sound tackling team I have ever seen. They will overpower every team in the PHAC. Do u think any teams may forfeit their game with Southern? A few years ago, Shik did not play most of their starters during a preseason scrimmage.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:25 pm
They don’t have this type of talent year in and year out. This is a once in a lifetime team because this senior class is by far the most athletic and talented class in school history. Yes they’ve won 9 state titles. 4 were during Henry hynoskis year. The only other division 1 recruit up until now. 2 more were this groups. The first one in 94 was a product of the seniors group of hard work paying off in the previous years. The first one in AA in 2014 was a product of a heavy senior class. They win because they are a true team in every aspect. They are coached well and Roth gets the best out of them. They’re fundamentally sound and disciplined. You’re right it’s not typical for a small school to have that much talent and it won’t come around again. There are many names of players that are brothers of formers players, sons of players in the 90s, and yes some families have moved from neighbor school for a better opportunity. Everyone else you mentioned is a private school and should play up because they can recruit. I’ve said it before those schools should play their own state title. 6 classes, 4 public, 2 private.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:18 pm
Mark D – YES
August 26th, 2019 at 10:16 pm
They don’t have this type of talent year in and year out. This is a once in a lifetime team because this senior class is by far the most athletic and talented class in school history. Yes they’ve won 9 state titles. 4 were during Henry hynoskis year. The only other division 1 recruit up until now. 2 more were this groups. The first one in 94 was a product of the seniors group of hard work paying off in the previous years. The first one in AA in 2014 was a product of a heavy senior class. They win because they are a true team in every aspect. They are coached well and Roth gets the best out of them. They’re fundamentally sound and disciplined. You’re right it’s not typical for a small school to have that much talent and it won’t come around again. There are many names of players that are brothers of formers players, sons of players in the 90s, and yes some families have moved from neighbor school for a better opportunity.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:11 pm
Should be no surprise to anyone SC won’t be touched this year. They are always good but for the past 3 years, everyone knew this team would be special. They were very impressive against Hammond and solid at every position. Agree with Brian, Mt. Carmel and Shamokin areas have been going downhill for a while. Everyone who doesn’t completely leave the area moves to Elysburg and I can’t really blame them. You often you see the children of former standout athletes from MCA/Shamokin eg Garcia, Delbo, Wilk, Tillett not to mention Hynoski ending up on the SCA roster. I try to not to think of the success MCA might have had if the area hasn’t become what it has and not lost all this talent to over the mountain. As much as it pains me to see a rival with all this success, its good for the region, so I was happy to see them come out with a win. MCA has played SC tougher than anyone so don’t be surprised if they give SC a better game than Hammond this week.
Also, I see no need for them to move up. They are a great program but aren’t going to be this good every year. MCA played up for years to AAA and it was a lot more fun winning state championships in AA than getting knocked out of the playoffs in AAA. There’s no shame in playing in the class you’re supposed to be in.
August 26th, 2019 at 9:56 pm
Irish, why won’t Roman win many games this season?
August 26th, 2019 at 9:43 pm
It doesn’t come as a surprise that Southern is this good of a team. I remember reading 4 years ago, that Coach Roth stated that there was an incredibly talented group of 8th graders coming up. The following year 7 of those freshmen were starters and they went to, but lost, the state championship. They haven’t lost since.
August 26th, 2019 at 8:19 pm
Brian says this is a once in a lifetime team lol You won nine state titles that’s a lot of one and a lifetime teams. When I was watching the game they said that Southern Columbia has a possibility of five D1 players on the team. How does that happen to a football team in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. I don’t need proof I have eyes It is hard enough to get one D1 player on a normal team most team get one every 10 years you have five in a school district That is in the second smallest class in the state how does that happen. I’m not Knocking Southern Columbia they look unbelievable on Sunday One of the best high school performances I’ve seen from a team. It Just seems odd to have that much talent year in and out on a team With that small of a school district.
August 26th, 2019 at 7:27 pm
Foleman, I won’t argue the point that people want their kids to play for a successful program, but that doesn’t mean it’s recruiting. First and foremost, the surrounding areas of southern school district, i.e. mt Carmel and Shamokin have been declining for many years now. The parents that played for those schools have moved into the southern school districts so that their kids can play for a successful program. Not recruiting.
August 26th, 2019 at 7:11 pm
I was at the PJP game on Saturday and have seen many of their games. That is a game that you just cant lose. There is no excuse for it. I think the coaching staff has done a nice job building the program. I do think they are a program that still needs to learn how to win and how to handle success. A program that knows how to do those two things would not lose a game like that on Saturday. Roman has some talent and I actually think they showed more energy even being down 4 scores. That being said I dont see Roman winning many games this year. This would have been a great start to the season for PJP in many ways. i know everyone loves to run the spread these days but when you have to play several key players both ways like PJP has to do the spread leads to games dragging out and players wearing down at times. The game on Saturday was well on its way to 3 1/2 hrs. I think PJP will rebound and go on to have a good year,just a shame to give a game away. With many of the top players being seniors and the bench looking somewhat thin the coaches will have to go out and bring in some talent and also continue to keep the numbers up. With lights and turf on the way the energy should hopefully remain high around the program.
August 26th, 2019 at 5:49 pm
I would have been more than willing to give Southern Columbia a ton of respect a year and half ago when they had the opportunity to play up to 3A, or really show some moxie and run with the big dogs and play up in 4A. Instead they chose to stand pat in 2A (and I understand that they had every right to remain in 2A), knowing that, or at least had a very good idea, that they would dominate 2A for the next two year cycle and be able to pad/add to their state championship title record. Aliquippa, Imhotep, Becahi, Wood are all playing up this cycle, no reason that SCA couldn’t have played up either.
August 26th, 2019 at 4:42 pm
Pet peeve of mine of how inconsistent these playoff power ratings (or whatever they are called) are used to determine placement (or inclusion) of district playoffs. Shame you have to consider the scheduling of games, or specific teams, because of it. Like Coach O was alluding to, in District 12, just about everybody is invited to the party (and in many other districts and classifications) regardless of your record or who you have played (win or loose) in the regular season.
https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2019/08/harrisburg-coatesville-football-rivalry-likely-done-for-the-foreseeable-future.html
August 26th, 2019 at 1:09 pm
@district 3 commish does that mean the inhoptep Erie central catholic Newman West Catholic and all these other catholic and charter schools that recruit form everywhere are cowards to because they don,t play 6A ?????
August 26th, 2019 at 11:03 am
Yes, I would like to see proof on Southern Columbia recruiting you will not find any. Don’t you think PIAA looks at this very closely. They do my friends. I know first hand. This is a once in a lifetime high school team coached by they best in the business.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:58 am
Foleman _
Great research! You hit it right on the head. The cheating is so obvious in that district. And the cowards are still afraid to play 6A Big fish in a small pond. Cowards!
August 26th, 2019 at 8:23 am
SC was a well coached very well prepared football team that let face it beat the crap out of that team i don’t think that team ever got hit like southern was hitting As for beating a German town academy according to ESPN they won the state championship the last 2 years i don’t remember Germamtown doing that Give Southern the respect they deserve
August 26th, 2019 at 8:06 am
Southern Columbia has the best coach and the best staff in Pa. I have watched them several times in person and they run the Wing T to perfection. That being said, I saw a list of the top 300 HS football players in Pa and SC has 13 of them, no other HS is even close to that. The surrounding dozen or so High Schools in that area have 0 top 300 players. What are the odds of this happening? Many aunts and uncles and grandma’s in Elysburg surely have had their nephews move in. I know of several kids here in District 3 that have given fake fake addresses over the years in order to play for a more successful program. 2A? Every 2a playoff opponent will be mercy ruled by halftime.
August 26th, 2019 at 7:35 am
Eman, where’s your evidence of recruiting by southern Columbia. I love all the recruiting posts that come up when talking about southerns success. Show proof. This is a once in a lifetime group. Those saying to move up to 5A, that’s just silly. This group graduates this year and they won’t be a super team like they’ve been for the past few years. They will be beatable.
August 25th, 2019 at 10:24 pm
Great win for SC . They will run the table in AA again this year. Impressive performance on both sides of the ball. I take nothing away from SC ,but that Hammond team wasn’t very good. Yes ,I know they have a couple stud players ,but as a team they didn’t impress at all. Nice win Tigers !!!
August 25th, 2019 at 7:41 pm
@Kevin, I’m not even a D4 fan or resident. I grew up in and played in D11. But I respect the heck out of Southern. That Hammond team had 2 top 100 Dlineman and Southern will an all new Oline ran all over them. And the tackling was phenomenal. I have watched a lot of football and usually attend state championships yearly even from DC area where I currently live and also follow Northern VA football which produces a ton of talent. That southern team is very good. I’m not saying that they would be underdogs to just prep. Prob to Tep, Erie Prep, and a few others but to play like that against a talented team is impressive. They have possibly 6 D1 seniors on that roster. That’s more than 95 percent of PA teams. Southern has a chance to mercy rule everyone this year.
August 25th, 2019 at 6:43 pm
My goodness, reading these SCA comments, you’d think they just thrashed IMG or SFA. Some perspective, this “state champion” they just beat is the champion of a 10 team independent prep league, in South Carolina. Think the likes of beating Germantown Academy (no offense to GA).
Did I see that right?? Only be underdogs to SJP???
With all of that said, nice win, nice game for SCA!!!!
August 25th, 2019 at 5:50 pm
Southern would beat Coatesville, Downingtown West & East by at least two touchdowns.
August 25th, 2019 at 5:40 pm
Southern Columbia really knows where to look to find good football players. They are the miniature St Joe’s Prep, SCP, Tep when it comes to recruiting. Impressive victory for the Tigers.
August 25th, 2019 at 5:27 pm
Congratulations now play st Ignatius
August 25th, 2019 at 5:08 pm
Was as good of a blocking and tackling clinic as you will see from a High School team. You can have the best athletes in the world but if they don’t block and tackle it’s nothing. They are just wonderfully coached.
August 25th, 2019 at 4:42 pm
Echoing the previous comments- Southern Columbia… just incredible. That was one of the most impressive, technically-elite defensive performances I’ve ever seen at the high school level. Linebackers were literally perfect; defensive backs off the charts; tackling everywhere was textbook and fierce- What a statement game for the program. They look like they’re in week 12/November mode right out of the gate. Thoughts and prayers to 2A.
August 25th, 2019 at 4:14 pm
Also, it’s tell you something when they double and triple team Fleming and you have five other guys that can make plays and are D1 talent. Fleming just the attention he gets opens up everything else.
August 25th, 2019 at 4:11 pm
Eman…..they would win 3A and under with ease .. ….play with any top team in 4A and 5A with a decent chance to win and maybe only 6A be underdogs to Prep. Southern hits and tackles as well as any HS team I have ever seen. All game they make the tackles with perfection. If you want to teach kids tackling take video of Southern. i thought garcia killed the one kid from Hammond.
August 25th, 2019 at 3:26 pm
Watched first half of Southern and Hammond. This Southern team can play with anyone in the state of PA regardless of class…..they wouldnt be favored in only a handful of games (SJ Prep, Tep, Erie Prep, etc) but against a team from SC that won back to back at 3A and has a 25 win streak and winning by 29 at half …wow.
August 25th, 2019 at 3:16 pm
Also to add to that I have no idea why Southern Columbia doesn’t move up to like 5a They can do it if they want to to.
August 25th, 2019 at 3:11 pm
Watching southern Columbia on tv I love seeing a pa team kicking butt it is good for the state but There is no way Southern Columbia isnt recruiting. How they have that much talent For a small team out of Elysburg pa Can’t be without outside help. They are making this very good southern Carolina team look stupid. I would venture to say that Southern Columbia Could beat any team but st joes prep in the state Regardless of class and size.
August 25th, 2019 at 2:24 pm
@ Kmac
I thin the negatives of beginning the season a week ahead of the Labor Day weekend outweigh the posititives. August should be about establishing the fundamentals, trying players at different positions, evaluating talent, etc. and not about preparing to play team x. Now that we’ve had a few years of starting the regular season at week 0, what do others think?
August 25th, 2019 at 1:36 pm
From many of the comments on games posted this week and in the games I attended in person or saw videos of after the fact; the lack of a second scrimmage seemed again apparent. Many had the composure and execution of the old “second scrimmage” than a first game. We should see a great improvement in next weeks games generally. Let’s certainly hope so!
August 25th, 2019 at 1:20 pm
Foleman, they were up 26-0 in the first quarter and the coach was throwing the ball like he was coaching Dan Marino with that lead, and the lack of a kicker was the reason why they lost?
They lost because they throw the ball for 3 yards instead of running the ball for 3 yards. The first quarter was 50 minutes of actual time. The emphasis seemed to be on padding the QB’s stats rather than putting the game away. Came back to bite them in the A**
August 25th, 2019 at 1:15 pm
Kevin X, not only did they blow the 26 point lead but when they were pouncing all over Roman in the first QTR coaches from PJP were mocking the Roman sideline. I seen multiple coaches look over at Romans sideline and make gestures after scores. Classless act in my opinion.
Roman was down 26 EARLY in game with plenty of time remaining to mount a comeback given the fact that PJP REFUSES to run the football and chew clock.
Credit to RC. They NEVER showed any sign of defeat or quit. They hung in there and overcame a huge deficit.
August 25th, 2019 at 12:33 pm
@Tigerfan…..as a D11 small school graduate and fan and currently live in DC metro area…..I’m excited watch the game on ESPN. I have much respect for what Southern has done and especially from a small public school. Fleming is a once in a decade type player not just in that region but in the state. He seems like he has the right mentality and string foundation around the talent. He should make noise right away at Ohio State. I’m sure a bunch of Football fans from PA will watch.
August 25th, 2019 at 10:57 am
@ Tiger Guy
1. Game is on a Sunday summer afternoon
2. Game is in South Carolina
3. People are getting, or already have, Southern Columbia/J. Fleming fatigue
Honestly, I’d be a lot more interested if they would challenge themselves against a very good, competitve, non D4, PA team/school, ESPN or not.
August 25th, 2019 at 10:04 am
Thought on Berks Catholic/Exeter an incredibly boring, sloppy, penalty filled-(Exeter had 19 penalties) game for 3.5 quarters which was dominated by Exeter, they were up 10-0 but it felt liked 28-0. Then Boom, BC’S Larkin goes 80 yards for TD on a jet sweep, next series, MacFoy goes 50 yards for a TD. Exeter drives down to the 4 yard line and a 4th down pass went in and out of Exeter’s top receivers hands with 30 seconds left. After the game, Exeter’s coach blamed Home cooking on the loss, but in reality, it was his team’s lack of discipline-numerous late hits, offside calls, blatant holding, that cost his team the game.
August 25th, 2019 at 9:54 am
Kevin X, PJP looked like they stopped playing when they were up 26-0, a complete breakdown on defense in the 2nd half, this is on the coaching staff for letting a sure win slip away. I also cant believe they can’t find a kicker, did they not ask any soccer players to tryout for the position? 6 TD’s and they cant kick an extra point, that cost them the game.
August 25th, 2019 at 9:38 am
LaSalle over Tep eh.
Doubt NP is ready for prime time yet.
August 25th, 2019 at 8:22 am
Watched the Marietta-Rome game last night on youtube. Yeah, somebody uploaded the whole game, pretty cool. Give Prep props for the ambitious schedule but did they bite off more than they can chew? This Marietta team lookded good — it’s like the high school version of Alabama. They got a plethora of D1 players all over the place. Got a QB that reminds me of Fromm from Georgia, a RB by the name of Vidal who is stout and very strong. Oh yeah, they also have a 5 star TE, considered #1 in the country in his position. Although I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Northerner, I respect what they do down in Georgia, ostensibly there’s big time community support — the public teams can ball. Prep usually has their way against the likes of Northeast and Parkland but this seems to be a major step up in level of competition. Of course, Prep has a very strong team, obviously. Their passing game is sensational and with Burrell at RB it keeps the defenses honest. Should be a very interesting mathcup, IMO the best game in the country next week.
August 25th, 2019 at 5:48 am
Not hardly a word on here about Southern Columbia playing on ESPN. I wonder why. Maybe finally SCA will get positive press. I’m sure Coach Roth will have his team ready to show just what this team has to offer! I’m predicting a good ol’ A_ _ Whoopin!
August 24th, 2019 at 11:13 pm
Hey Kevin X: I appreciate your response — thanks for the comments. Not sure who State Champion is, or why he jumped into the middle of my comments directed to you — but now I have a hankering for some pie — too early for pumpkin pie?. Anyway, I’m not sure why it looks like C’ville has a bye, but after judging their performance last night, they could use another game to improve or maybe the extra week off will help them out :). But again, they’re high school kids playing a game, so I don’t want to be too critical of the hometown boys.
August 24th, 2019 at 8:10 pm
D-town west 21, Garnet Valley 7 at half.
West will be a force this year. Speed on both sides of the ball, and a QB who can make any throw. Will be a very competitive game vs. Coatesville this year to say the least.
Prototypical Garnet Valley team- athletic defense; ground and pound with a few scat backs mixed in, and an option-keeper QB who will get eaten alive by better defenses. They’ll probably steamroll their league again, but until they have a QB who can go through reads, they’ll never be a contender in states.
August 24th, 2019 at 6:32 pm
Chief
So funny how you and Coatesville Jack shoot your pie hole off when things are going well, then try to slam a poster’s comment about calling you out on a “high school football team’s loss” ……Blahhh
Nice try, own it and move on, Ortega and company not all you claimed over the year’s ..Really the Young show!! Downingtwn west is now a 13.5 point favorite….Hope CV has an off week, for your sake. Or you will be staring at 0-2.
August 24th, 2019 at 5:52 pm
Hey, welcome back Chief!!! Any signs of BR&B?? Missing your guys Chest-Mont/C’Ville insights. Sorry, no intention of gloating, but some sarcastic jabs for sure!! I was at the game rooting for the Red Raiders. I said this last week about scrimmages, and it can carry over for week 0/1, take these first week games with with a grain of salt. Maybe they’ll turn the tables on H-Burg, like last year, come back and beat THEM in the state semi’s. Who knows, they could run the regular season table from here, or gulp, even go 5-4. With CV beating McDevitt, kind of thinking that might be a slugfest in two weeks. And then the two D-Towns the final two weeks. Playing 3 5A schools and one 4A, like last year, not going to help their power rating points.
Question……any idea if they had anybody line up for next week?? Or were they OK with a bye week?? Tough missing out on a home date tho and the $$ at the gate.
August 24th, 2019 at 5:30 pm
Pure crazyness. PJP II was steamrolling Roman Catholic 26-0 in first quarter (4 Gray TD passes)……….they proceed to loose 47-46.
August 24th, 2019 at 3:49 pm
@ Kevin X
I had similar thoughts watching Coatesville. They are still talented and will be a lot better as the season goes on (and they’re not playing teams as good as Harrisburg). But the Young brothers were their MVPs of the last 2 years. They would have lost to Garnet Valley in the D1 final 2 years ago if not for Avery Young being a game-breaking talent, and Aaron Young last year was so underrated for them since they hardly ever had to rely on a running back.
I have doubts about D-Town East based solely on what I’ve seen from their coaching staff’s game-planning over the past few years. But we’ll see how D-Town West and Garnet Valley do against each other tonight, as the playing field at the top of D1 looks to be more even this year with a Young-less Coatesville.
August 24th, 2019 at 11:53 am
Hey Kevin X: As a C’ville fan, they definitely are not the all-around team they’ve had the past couple years, but I wouldn’t gloat too much over a high school football team’s loss. Despite the penalties, bad play calling (IMO) — did they forget about Bryant?, missed key turnover (backwards pass), they could have won the game. I do not think they will be state champs, but I think they can run the table with their remaining schedule because they still have a lot of speed and some play makers. With that said, however, at some point they are due to lose to a Downingtown team (CV might beat them too — who knows?)
August 24th, 2019 at 8:51 am
ryan vs downingtown east.i heard ryan only had 22 kids???
August 24th, 2019 at 7:26 am
Sorry, rule number one of EPA football forum posting, do not post before one’s morning coffee……
*Where are all of you Coatesville faithful??
August 24th, 2019 at 7:22 am
Where are you Coatesville faithfully?? Have not seen a post from you in some time. Now is the time to come out of your hibernation.
I took a little road trip yesterday back to the stomping grounds, and three quick observations……
1. Someone forgot to tell all of these so called prognosticators that Aaron Young in now at Rutgers
2. Still having visions of yellow flags flying all over the place even after a good night’s sleep
3. The Downingtowns’ are licking their respective chops
August 24th, 2019 at 7:15 am
Best “free” article that I came across regarding North Penn’s Crawford Stadium renovations……
https://www.knightcrier.org/top-stories/2019/03/07/comprehensive-renovations-to-crawford-stadium-underway/
August 23rd, 2019 at 10:16 pm
NP announced tonight that it is their final season on the grass. I didn’t hear they were building a new stadium. I thought the proposal was for upgrades to Crawford including turf, snack stands, restrooms. NP looked solid tonight. Ground game was fast and physical. Starting Sophomore RB and FB with three underclassmen starting on a new O line. Work to be done with the QB and defense but an encouraging start.
August 23rd, 2019 at 2:19 pm
@Sausman – I’ll join the party and pick the games you selected
1) Coatesville over Harrisburg
2) North Penn over Neshaminy
3) LaSallle over Imhotep in a close game that could go either way
4) CD vs, Wilson – I’ll take Wilson at home in another game that’s a toss-up
5) CV vs. McDevitt – think CV will struggle to be above 500 with their brutal schedule, I’ll take McDevitt
6) Southern Columbia vs. Hammond – Hammond is likely the best team they’ll play all yr, I’ll take SC, should be a very competitive game
7) Penn Hills vs. PR – I’ll take PR, Penn Hills pretty young and lots of new starters and will be hampered by not having their head coach
8) Downingtown West vs. Garnet Valley – Dwest in another good match up
9) Mt Lebo vs. Gateway – Gateway is loaded and Derrick Davis is a stud, he impressed me greatly when I saw him several times as a freshman a few years ago, they don’t beat PT at Heinz in 2017 without him, Palko might take Lebo back to their glory days, give him a few years and think he’ll have the Blue Devils back at Heinz Field, Gateway has too many weapons for them in this game
10) Northhamptom vs. Parkland – don’t know much about Northhampton so have to go with Parkland
11) Aliquippa at Clairton, both ranked #1 in the WPIAL in their respective classes, I’ll take Aliquippa on the road in a close one
@ Kevin X – know this has been discussed numerous times in the past on this board, when is North Penn finally going to install turf? You’d think having all their home playoff games moved due to field conditions would prompt the school board or football boosters to figure out a way to get it done, just very surprised a school district their size does not have turf, that does not occur in the WPIAL, to my knowledge every 5A and 6A school in the WPIAL has a turf field.
August 23rd, 2019 at 1:34 pm
Rumor has it NP is building a new stadium.
God knows when that will happen!
August 23rd, 2019 at 10:53 am
Lovely, just what North Penn and Crawford Stadium needs…..rain!!!! Not a great way to kickoff the season for a field that has had some bad luck recently with conditions. 3 home games in the first 4 weeks, oh boy. Take preemptive action and push tonight’s game back to tomorrow night???
August 22nd, 2019 at 10:34 pm
Alright sounds good; lets drop my last three games mentioned and lets add the following;
Downingtown West v Garnett Valley – I got Dtown West
Gateway v Mt Lebo – got to go with Mt Lebo on this one.
and one more good one. if we can’t find another lets keep the Northampton v Parkland (crazy feeling about this one)
I’m going to try to pick the best 10 games each week. lets get a few of us in on some picks. I think as long as we decide what games to choose by tomorrow noon and by thursdays from here on out, we probably could have sojme fun with this. jmo
@Jeff H – “weird” in the same way you stated. these teams have been rivals for some really good league games. now split apart seems more attitude on line out there. I would love to attend this game, I think this is going to be a great game in spite of the losses by PH to graduation and suspension. I just love me some WPIAL football, it just never gets old. (off topic ~ whats your best wpial game you’ve seen, could be at heinz or threerivers)
@JC – I ;have a feeling on this one. Kyle Haas has things rolling on the right track and this will be a statement game for the Kids. I watched their tailback just once this summer and he looks FAST!!! Kids finally have some size back on the lines as well ande I think their QB returns as well. This will be a good one!
@KevX – tx man! and I’m all for adding that Dtown West game instead of one of the last two for sure. I tried to get together 10 good games but by no means did I hit them all. I’m already looking for week 2. Make your picks bud and we’ll see if we can keep track of this for the season. I also like that Dunmore v Scranton prep game, that’ll be a good one as well.
August 22nd, 2019 at 10:22 pm
The best D11 teams would have a very small chance to beat this year’s Prep team. After Prep’s first three games v Marietta, St John’s, and IMG….they will probably mercy rule/dominate everyone in the state of PA. The EPC is trending downward from top to bottom. I’m not expecting much from a lot of the conference.
August 22nd, 2019 at 5:06 pm
@mcd65
Ryan’s standout wr went to northeast in march.
August 22nd, 2019 at 4:44 pm
@Sausman – why do you say Pine Richland vs. Penn Hills is a weird match up? They were in the same conference for years when Penn Hills played in 6A, and both are the defending WPIAL champs in their respective classes. If this game were played last year I would have definitely favored Penn Hills, but they graduated lots of D1 talent and only have 7 returning starters, their head coach is also suspended for this game by the WPIAL, so I like Pine Richland by 2 scores. Another interesting game in the WPIAL tomorrow night and the one I’ll be attending is 5A Gateway vs. 6A Mt Lebanon, many polls have Gateway as the #1 team in 5A, and Mt Lebo is led by former West Allegheny coach Bob Palko, whose West Allegheny team shocked Gateway in the WPIAL semi-finals last year in a huge upset.
@ Kevin X – agree that Garnet Valley vs. Dtown West should be a good one, if they stay healthy I think Dwest has a legitimate chance to challenge Coatesville and North Penn for the D1 title
@District 3 Commish – not sure I agree that 5A is weak outside of a few catholic schools, the only catholic school that’s been a factor in 5A the last 3 years is Wood, and all indications are they will be down this year by their standards,like last year the WPIAL has a lot of very good 5A teams, most notably Gateway, Peters Township and Penn Trafford, as previously mentioned defending 5A champ Penn Hills graduated a ton, but they do have some talent returning and will be a factor in the WPIAL. I do agree that Warwick is a big threat to MC in D3, as is Cocalico.
August 22nd, 2019 at 4:14 pm
Kevin X, Not sure about the Ryan RB ,but Northeast is on a mission for sure, They should handle Abington Friday.
August 22nd, 2019 at 1:38 pm
@Sausmann
I’d be shocked if Northampton-Parkland was close. An upset would be great to see, since I’m hoping the gap between the EPC North and South starts closing, but I just don’t see it. The only EPC North teams I see having a chance at winning in Week 1 are Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg South, and maaaaaaybe Pocono East pulls a shocker over Nazareth.
August 22nd, 2019 at 12:25 pm
@ Sausmann
Wow, impressive list of games kicking off the season. Just a reminder, the Harrisburg @ Coatesville game is PCN’s “Game of the Week” tomorrow night and will be rebroadcast Saturday night @ 9p. If you aren’t watching the rebroadcast Saturday night……
….check out Garnet Valley @ Downingtown West (7p Sat. in Downingtown) could be an honorable mention game.
Also, some D2 love for honorable mentions….
Pennridge @ Delaware Valley – love these early season inter district games.
Dunmore @ Scranton Prep (Sat. afternoon)
Wilkes-Barre @ Crestwood (just b/c it’s the W-B Wolfpack’s inaugural game
@ Mcd65
Wasn’t there also a very talented RB from Ryan that transferred to Northeast this year as well?? Maybe I’m getting these kids confused, or where they are transferring to and from.
Northeast appears to be just as active (or should I say guilty) in this transfer game as any Catholic/Private/Charter school.
August 22nd, 2019 at 12:01 pm
@Craig A Jones from what I hear it was evenly matched between Coatesville & Easton. Easton huge and physical upfront with good RB. Will be able to run the ball well and play tough defense. Coatesville didn’t show their hand much and kept Ortega out for most of the time. I dont think they will be near last years C’ville team but still good. Wouldnt be surprised if Hburg beats them. Easton will be good in the ever weakening EPC. As an Easton guy i miss the old Easton. Freedom is the run away favorite in D11 with maybe Parkland a close second but both of those teams aren’t the same caliber as other districts so we will be sent home first round of states AGAIN by D12.
August 22nd, 2019 at 9:58 am
@ D3 Commish
Would love to see those two scrimmages that you saw actually be regular season games…….
August 22nd, 2019 at 9:35 am
Tried to find the top 10 games of the week around the state. The first seven games are solid picks; the last three games are fillers and if anyone can find three better games we can switch them out. Although the last three could be major upsets to start off the season. Enjoy.
1. Harrisburg v Coatesville – going w/ Coatesville in season opener
2. North Penn v Neshaminy – going w/ North Penn only b/c its the season opener
3. Imhotep Charter v LaSalle Prep – going w/ Ihop but in a very close one; speed kills in this one.
4. Central Dauphin at Wilson West Lawn – Damn this is going to be a good one. Wilson takes it.
5. Cumberland Valley v McDevitt – going w/ CV just b/c I’m still a Regis Perry fan!!!
6. Southern Columbia v Hammond SC – going w/ PA power SCA but this team is no joke and SCA will see some nice talent.
7. Penn Hills v Pine Richland – going w/ Penn Hills on this one. Have a feeling on upset here. weird matchup
8. Aliquippa v Clairton – Quips got this one but in a dog fight.
9. Parkland at Northampton – upset special here. Northampton wins by a field goal.
10. Notre Dame Green Pond v Northwestern Lehigh – transfer season was good to ND. NWL still has one of the better quarterbacks in the district and maybe even region.
what you all got 🙂
August 22nd, 2019 at 8:45 am
Well,I just heard McDevitts all catholic RB John Luke Peaker transferred to Northeast . This is the second year in a row that this team has lost Star players prior to the start of a promising year. Last year they lost 2 All Catholic players to Neuman /Gorretti and now this . Phew !!!!
August 21st, 2019 at 11:01 pm
Anybody have info on the Easton-Coatesville scrimmage from last Saturday>
August 21st, 2019 at 10:29 pm
Was wondering how the Easton-Coatesville scrimmage went on Saturday. Anybody know?
August 21st, 2019 at 9:57 pm
Southern Colombia playing Hammond High School on Sunday in Columbia South Carolina. Game on ESPN 2 at 2 pm.. Should be quite an event. (Aug. 25 Southern Columbia (Pa.).
August 20th, 2019 at 11:12 pm
@Foleman-I’ve noticed the transfer rule only applies to private schools. In District 10 the top player from Erie High has transferred to McDowell the last 3 years in a row for their senior year. I actually see nothing wrong with the transfer but this year the student was given a playoff waiver and it’s my understanding that this rule was meant to stop that sort of thing from happening. Keep in mind this is Erie we are talking about so the whole “my family moved” doesn’t hold any water. The kid who did it this year (whose a great football player and a great kid) lives no more than 5 miles from his old house. If your transferring for your senior year you can easily get a playoff waiver as long as your not transferring to a private school.
August 20th, 2019 at 10:53 pm
Mike A. Thanks for the detailed update on CV. Tradition never graduates and CV is the standard of tradition in D3. They will be contenders again soon. If I have my years correct CV will be playing Manheim Central and Spring Ford next year.
Saw two scrimmages on Saturday…..
Parkland vs Wilson –
Parlkand is huge and loaded. Big O-line led by Dawkins. Big athletic wr’s and a tough RB in Isaih Rico.
Wilson has a great defense. Big solid OL. Two strong RB’s in Lockhart and the Sophomore Jadyn Jones Also a kicker with a big leg.
Overall a very physical scrimmage. Parkand was better in the 10-10-10 and Wilson was better in game situation.
Mabheim Township vs Manheim Central-
Township dominated the whole scrimmage. Big arm QB and lots of skill players. Questions for me is can the OL & DL hold up against power teams. Last year they could not against CD (in playoff 28-0 game) and Wilson.
Manheim Centeral was very weak on the lines. Great QB and the Wagner twins are back. They will be fine against their week schedule but the two games to watch are against Warwick passing game and Wilson power game. I believe this team is very overrated but 5A is weak outside of a few Catholic schools……. but there are non in D3
D3 6A Final Four – Harrisburg, CD, MT & Wilson
D3 5A Final Four – Warwick, Central, Mifflin, Cocalico – Side note…… Noah Palm is going to New Hampshire. This kid is the ultimate football player. (My Projection) He will eventually be an OLB and will get a shot in NFL as a special teams role player. Love this kid!!!!!
D3 4A – McDevitt – Book it now. BC is down.
Wyomissing will be strong in 3A. Also as of now they are dropping BC in 2020 because they are tired of them cherry picking their players. Let’s hope they hold to this because at this time it’s the only way to change the system.
August 20th, 2019 at 10:50 pm
Friday
August 20th, 2019 at 10:45 pm
When will the preseason rankings be available?
August 20th, 2019 at 10:44 pm
@ColonialFan Notre Dame Green Pond has students from New Jersey because there are no Catholic High Schools in Warren or Hunterdon County so they are are allowed to enroll. I coach a non-athletic activity and a few of my students lived in New Jersey.
August 20th, 2019 at 9:47 pm
@ Mcd65
I’ll defer to you, but you seem to have very high expectations from LaSalle. You expect them to be that good (only loose to SJP)?? I can conceivably (not saying that they will) see them being 1-4 entering October.
PCL blue gonna be fun.
August 20th, 2019 at 5:24 pm
A few comments about some teams in the PCL. LaSalle should give the Prep a game this year and will probably only lose to the prep during the year. They are solid all around. Wood will have a losing season IMO.West Catholic will be challenged by McDevitt in AA. Archbishop Carrol could be the surprise team in the PCL blue.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:11 pm
@ Foleman
Probably more understandable if you have a law degree and/or consume several adult beverages before reviewing………….I assume this will be in place for next year/next cycle???
http://www.piaa.org/news/details.aspx?ID=3745
August 20th, 2019 at 2:07 pm
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/football/2019/08/pennsylvania-high-school-football-2019-preseason-rankings.html
August 20th, 2019 at 12:06 pm
@ Kevin X – Looks like the usual suspects all over the state in 4A, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have the same 4 semi-finalists as last year, with ECP playing McDevitt in the west and Tep vs. Becahi in the east, think Valley View will be very good again and could crash the party, and Berks will challenge McDevitt in D3, but other than that I don’t see any other teams emerging in 4A. I’m a WPIAL guy and I’ll believe TJ can beat ECP when I see it, their coach whines about all the advantages ECP has so his team goes into the game doubting they can win, same thing happens every year (i.e. 2015-2017).
@Uncle Tom – agreed, some great opening weekend games, I think Dtown West is going to be very good and will challenge Coatesville and North Penn for the D1 title, and yes, SJP’s national schedule is tremendous, I saw in the USA Today they have the 7th toughest schedule in the country, unless something dramatic happens like injuries to several star players everyone else is playing for runner-up in 6A, they are that much better than everyone else in PA this year.
August 20th, 2019 at 12:05 pm
I thought the new rules on classification had some sort of success factor involved. Tep vs ECP once again is a joke! The PIAA needs to move them up at least 1 classification. They should be in 5A, ECP could possibly be a 6A school, don’t give me they are small schools either, both of these schools annually have more talent than 95% of the 6 A Public schools. I also don’t get the new transfer rules, 2 kids that transferred into Berks Catholic last year from Public schools were ruled ineligible by District 3, yet today, I read in the local paper that the Maddocks boys who are on their 3rd school in 3 years….last year at Bishop Shanahan, are eligible to play football at Fleetwood HS.
August 20th, 2019 at 11:00 am
@ Jeff H.
Yikes, you’re right, it would be round 5!!! Crazy. The first meeting, the last of the original 3A games, was the only one that Imhotep won. I had to go back and look at that season, and that 2015 ‘Tep was a juggernaut. Getting back to this upcoming season, sounds like ECP is still the fav to come out of the west, but maybe a little more competitive?? As far as anybody remotely challenging Imhotep in the east (assuming the brackets are set up the same as last year) I do not see it. Any of you upstate D2 guys feel free to chime in with your inside local knowledge. Guessing the favs up there in D2 for 4A would be the usual suspects, Berwick, Valley View and Dallas?? Becahi or other eastern 4A schools after that??
August 20th, 2019 at 8:54 am
knobels’ not sure who you are talking about that has a Mifflinburg address. But as far as paxinos that is southern Columbia school district. aways has been.
August 20th, 2019 at 5:23 am
I feel they should keep 1a – 6a but have a elite small division which would consist of top programs from 1a-3a and have a elite big school division 4a -6a play in a playoff system and let schools in the elite playoff division recruit making it a fair ground for all. Imagine a playoff system with a elite big 8 like Erie, Prep, Imhotep, PineR, PCC, BethlehemC, Wood, Coatesville, Harrisburg. And don’t put teams in districts let them be randomizes matches instead of district titles n stuff so like we might get a Imhotep vs PCC in 1st round match ups and let non superior teams keep the 1a-6a state playoffs brackets
August 19th, 2019 at 11:12 pm
@ District 3 Commish and anyone else interested.
While I am somewhat familiar with this years team I am also of the opinion that CV is in for a few lean years in the near future. The wing T has worked well at CV for many years and many times allows the team to over-perform its talent level with precise execution and teamwork. CV rarely gets transfers and its program from a very early age is ingrained into all future CV football players. CV rarely has D1 talent (Jon Richie, Askari Adams, and Jesse Neumeyer in the 90’s and more recently Kevin Snyder, Kyle Friend, and Charlie Katshir) and it allows them to compete at a very high level with just slightly above average talent, especially at the QB position.
Preview 2019 Cumberland Valley Eagles Mid Penn Commonwealth District 3
Cumberland Valley, once again, has one of the toughest schedules in the state (3 preseason top 10 6A teams, 1 top 10 4A team) that includes Coatesville, Central Dauphin, Chambersburg, Bishop McDevitt, State College, and Harrisburg. Last year a very young team improved as the season went along and then won 3 out of the last 4 games, although the competition wasn’t as formidable, ending with a close 16-13 loss to a very good State College team in which the defense allowed only 1 TD. That provided a lot of confidence in the off season. Over those last 4 games the starting defense allowed just 2 TD’s by the opponents offense. This year 9 of those starters return on defense. Seniors Conner Mundis 6’2″, 250, Wyatt Claypool 6’2″, 225, Anthony Fye 6’1″, 225, and Chase Myers, 6’1″, 290 will anchor the defensive line with hard hitting junior LB Derik Sauve, 6’0″, 190 backing them up and 4 returning DB’s. On offense, a seasoned line with good size is headed by Claypool, Mundis and Chase Myers. CV will look to run the football behind them with senior RB Max Dell’Anno, 125-766, 6.1, 9 TD and FB Sauve in the backfield. The 6’3″ Dell’Anno has added strength and weight and now is over 200 lbs and runs a sub 4.5 40. CV expects big things on offense and defense this year from Dell’Anno. With the graduation of Jared Plessinger, CV will turn to senior Hunter Grunden and/or junior Alex Kovach to fill those shoes; not an easy task. SE Logan Ramper, TE Fye, along with tosses to Dell’Anno and others round out the receiving corps. Tim Kissinger returns to handle the kicking chores and most likely will catch some passes also. With inexperience at the QB position opponents can expect a big dose of CV’s wing T running game with timely passing to keep you honest. CV looks to return to its winning ways in 2019 but the path is incredibly difficult, especially considering the inexperienced QB situation and a difficult first half schedule. If the defense can keep them in some games early in the season look for the Eagles to once again come on strong in the second half of the season when the schedule is more favorable. CV should return to the .500 mark and maybe better if everything falls into place. A D3 6A playoff spot is a definite possibility.
August 19th, 2019 at 7:21 pm
Happy 2019 season everyone. Looking forward to another year here.
Great way to start the season in D1 with Garnet Valley @ Downingtown West Will Howards, and Neshaminy @ North Penn. Throw in Harrisburg-Coatesville and that’s 4 or 5 of the district’s likely top seeds all jumping in the deep end right away. Kudos to the programs for scheduling like this.
I know I’m probably late to the party on this, but SJP’s early schedule is ridiculous. They’re ranked #8 and play #24, #5, and #6 3 straight weeks. Then they start off Catholic League play with LaSalle in their 4th game. If they sweep, they’ll be nipping at the Mater Dei/Bosco survivor for a national title.
August 19th, 2019 at 2:06 pm
I was looking at the Bucknell Roster and noticed two Southern Columbia Alumni on the team.
When looking closer, it listed Paxinos as one home town but Southern Columbia as the high school. I believe Paxinos is in Shamokin district?
The other listed Mifflinburg as the home town and Southern Columbia as the high school. Isn’t there a Mifflinburg district?
I thought SC was a Public School? If so how are these students live in a Public School and attend another Public School?
Can someone explain? Are there more examples of this at SC?
August 19th, 2019 at 10:36 am
@ Kevin X – if ECP and Imhotep meet again in Hershey it will be round 5, as they played for the last 3A title before the move to 6 classes. I don’t see anyone in the West beating ECP, as NW PA stated Thomas Jefferson is once again the favorite in the WPIAL, but they have yet to prove they can beat ECP, although I think the talent level may be closer this year, we’ll see. Expect Clearfield to be good but not as good as last years team, and I would be shocked if they beat ECP in the playoffs. I also don’t see Berks Catholic or Bishop McDevitt from D3 beating Erie Prep, appears both of them will be down slightly from the last few years.
August 19th, 2019 at 10:05 am
Catholic league red
St Joe’s
LaSalle
Judge
Wood
Ryan
August 19th, 2019 at 9:04 am
The local paper in the Lehigh Valley made an article about whether a higher classification D11 team will ever go to the state finals again since 2015 Parkland, 2010 ACC, 2008 Liberty, 2007 Parkland, 2006 Lib, 2005 Lib etc.. I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Football in that area isn’t what it use to be. They use to have talent now the past 3 years or so they seem very down to the point where the games are no longer competitive at least against D12. If you look at the signing classes from that area the better the athletes(better competition) the better they perform against D12. Cant go from Persa, Gonzalez, Nosovitch, Saquon, Andre Williams, Kevin White, Shane simpson, Cross, Dotson etc. to the D2/D3 guys they have now and expect to beat St Joes and Lasalle or even District 1. I got to the games each year and see a big drop in talent/competition. the past couple district champs wouldn’t be a .500 team in some of the past years. Would love to hear some input on this as I would love to see D11 back to what it was, a competitor at least.
August 18th, 2019 at 10:40 am
Erie Cathedral is slightly undersized but they have a ton of talent. They have a tough schedule again with St. Eds and Football North as well as Mckeesport and lets not forget Erie High and McDowell. Their tough schedule last year really helped them during their playoff run and I think that will be the case again this year. If they stay healthy they could make another run. That being said, Thomas Jefferson is also loaded and has a big physical line and Clearfield also brings back some talent and a very skilled sophomore quarterback.
August 18th, 2019 at 9:34 am
I was at Wood and Imhotep down at Upper Dublin. Well, I was there for the “second half” only. I’m not a nuance X’s and O’s guy, and I take these scrimmages with a very large grain of salt, actually more like a salt lick, but what I saw was all ‘Tep. The best thing to come out of these scrimmages is that no one gets hurt. I didn’t see any issues with that while I was there.
I’m not exactly going out on the limb with this one, but frankly, seeing Round 4 of Imhotep and ECP in December in Hershey. Any western guys (or D3 guys I suppose as well) can correct me on the ECP prediction. Also, unless classifications change next cycle, this finals match-up will continue to be an annual occurrence, so get use to it if you are already not.
August 17th, 2019 at 8:52 pm
Did anyone go to any scrimmages today?
August 16th, 2019 at 10:19 am
Ohio has open border policy, so kids transferring from Ohio to Pa is not nearly as likely to happen as it was 20 years ago. Most of the Ohio kids stay in Ohio and transfer to the powerhouse team across town.The last big Ohio transfer to Northwest, Pa was on the wrestling mat and that was about 7 years ago when Devin Brown moved to Saegertown, Pa. He then followed Spencer Lee south to Franklin Regional. Also speaking of Erie Prep, Coach Mischler and staff have a very, very talented Freshman class. All Erie kids. This class will be as good as or better then the Scruggs, Mischler, Bauer, Roberts, Fessler class in my opinion. Will be fun to watch this group over the next 4 years, they will be special.
August 16th, 2019 at 8:02 am
Edit my username if possible to ColonialFan…ha! Need to proofread better!
August 16th, 2019 at 7:59 am
Add Notre Dame Green Pond to the list of schools with players from other states. It was published in the Morning Call last week that they have a new junior running back that transferred in from Belvidere High School in New Jersey. He ran for something like 1500 yards and a bunch of touchdowns as a freshman and sophomore. I know it’s not a far drive, and I’m sure someone will say he moved to the area….who knows. I’m sure he’s there for the good catholic education.
August 15th, 2019 at 11:46 pm
Jut, I agree
August 15th, 2019 at 5:06 pm
Let’s be honest. There has always been non boundary schools playing in the PIAA. It’s only been an issue lately D12/1 schools. D 12 wasn’t allowed to play in PIAA for years for the reason could recruit players from anywhere. But PIAA let them in and now it’s All-star filled teams against small community teams which isn’t fair at all. I’m not saying teams out west recruit players from New York, Ohio or West Virginia I’m sure they do. It’s got worst over the years when teams from philly have players come in half way thru playoffs to play. That isn’t fair and it’s being done. There should be 6 classifications in PIAA. 4 public schools on enrollment and 2 private/catholic school 1 big and 1 small school classification. So the PIAA stays with 6 championships and everything is fair.
August 15th, 2019 at 12:25 pm
You know you guys are right, not a lot you can do about recruiting, however the one thing that needs to be tried, but not sure how you enforce, is that you put some kind of limit on the areas from where you can recruit, for instance Central Bucks School District is 122 square miles (and they field 3 6A teams), but limit schools like St. Joe’s Prep to an area equivalent to say Central Bucks 122 square miles, they can pick the drawing of their school district, but can not change, except for say every 7 to 10 years, that way you are putting some kind of limit on where the kids are coming from, unlike today, where they are drawing kids from an area of 3 or 4 school districts or perhaps more.
@Buddy That field is horrible, it’s ok early in the season, but one good rain storm and it’s done, time for a school like North Penn to put in an artificial turf field.
August 15th, 2019 at 11:29 am
Someone said that Erie Cathedral has players who live out of state and this is completely false. I live in Erie and follow the local football scene and Cathedral Prep hasn’t had any out of state players in at least the last ten years if not more. I challenge anyone to name one out of state player in the last decade. Fredrick Juice Scruggs was born in Ashtabula Ohio which is just over the border but moved to Erie when he was like 8 so I really don’t think that counts. Mercyhurst Prep football has had several players from Canada over the years and they do a bunch of shady things involving housing and tuition.
August 15th, 2019 at 10:38 am
@ Kevin
WAY, I mean WAY overdue! NP’s field is the worst in D1, by far.
Last year, and I believe the year before, they were #1 seed for D1 playoffs
and could not play a single home game due to the field.
August 15th, 2019 at 10:21 am
Anybody checking out any scrimmages this weekend???
August 15th, 2019 at 8:58 am
A copy and paste from Twitter……for those of you familiar with North Penn football and Crawford Stadium on the NP campus……..
“#Towamencin board starts w/a unanimous vote to grant preliminary and final land development approval to
@NPSD for plans to renovate Crawford Stadium adjacent to NP high school”
August 15th, 2019 at 8:59 am
Route54….Either Thursday or Friday next week.
August 15th, 2019 at 8:53 am
Dave, are you doing the Rankings this year? If so, when do they begin?
Thanks
August 15th, 2019 at 8:03 am
@Buddy what i am saying if your non boundary you can get kids from anywhere , so that should make you a 6A school you have a huge pool of people to draw from .To even it up in the top classification let the 6A school recruit to now it and even playing field.It seem it what the PIAA want super teams that can play Friday night on ESPN.If their a reason for something follow the money !!!!
August 14th, 2019 at 8:59 pm
@ Foleman
I’m old and can remember the best Prep football player when I started there in the late ’60s, Dan McGee, was from Cinnaminson NJ and I think Brooks himself, when he played there in the mid-’70s, was a Jersey kid. But maybe because Brooks was from Jersey he looked more to Jersey than previous Prep coaches and thus got Hobson and a few others. The Quinns had always gone to the Prep. But Infante, starting with Reid and Zaccheaus, drew even more from Jersey. Then again, a higher percentage of students overall come from Jersey than was the case decades ago–a reflection of demographic changes in the Phila, area.
Of course it’s an advantage to have a larger area from which to draw students, but living in Jersey–or in Bucks or Chester County or in the outlying areas of Delaware and Montgomery Counties–while playing football at the Prep (which still practices off campus) comes with some built-in challenges / disadvantages. There’s a school of thought that says making some sacrifices can be strengthening.
August 14th, 2019 at 7:42 pm
@Knobles wow taking a shot at a kid. Really must be the toughest guy in your moms house. Jealously runs deep in you my friend.
August 14th, 2019 at 7:18 pm
FrankG, I know all about the Prep as I grew up in Philly and a few of my Holy Inn classmates went there……..and they are very successful! If I still lived in Philly I would surely send my son there as you can’t beat the Prep. When Gil Brooks took over as head Coach at Prep……. and they were a doormat before Brooks, he, along with Prep’s money turned St. Joe into a National Powerhouse, one of the reason’s why is the unfair advantage in football is that they can get the best of the best from St. Jersey, no Public school can do this. I know the Prep has been getting NJ students for years but before Brooks and later Infante, none of them could play football like Runyon’s kid, Trotters kid and their current QB McCord. The Prep’s football success is one of the reason’s why The Pubs want there own playoff where they all play by the same rules. Plus, lets face it, we both know how difficult it is to get accepted into the Prep, many of their top football players wouldn’t be able to sniff the prep due to grades.
August 14th, 2019 at 4:55 pm
Phillyboy, think about what you’re saying. By creating public superteams, you’re eliminating opportunities for most kids to gain all of the benefits of participating in high school sports just so we can watch a higher level of competition. I think kids should have more opportunities to participate, not fewer.
August 14th, 2019 at 4:48 pm
FrankG, you’re correct I’m talking football and basketball, but those seem to be the highest profile sports and this is a football forum. Most of the other sports you mentioned are really individual sports.
August 14th, 2019 at 4:44 pm
Kevin X, depending on the sport and classification the boundary: non-boundary ratio runs between about 8:1-3:1. Depending on the year, class, and sport, half or more of the state champs are non-boundaries. The sports i was thinking of were football and boys and girls basketball, but while they’re probably the most egregious examples, I’d bet some degree of imbalance holds true for just about every sport. So yes, I’m speaking in round numbers, but I’m in the ballpark as far as my point goes.
August 14th, 2019 at 4:03 pm
@Buddy
Was proposing, for the large suburban school districts, to have only 1 football team instead of 1 for each high school. It would create a much stronger team. Erie condensed to 1 team a couple years ago and I believe Wilkes-Barre is in the process of doing the same thing.* Those schools had to do it out of necessity but a district could also do it voluntarily to improve the quality of the roster. As an added benefit, districts would save money. Could you imagine if Central Bucks had only 1 team instead of 3? That would be the real deal, they’d be ba’ack. Don’t mean to be negative, but as A I (Allen Iverson) used to say ‘Let’s keep it real’, they’re not going anywhere anytime soon — that is, CB West, CB East, and CB South. It’s what I call a malaise of mediocrity. Would you rather have 3 teams with a 4-6 or 5-5 record, or 1 team that can bang with Prep in early December at Northeast High? It’s the same principle at other large suburban districts like Council Rock, Downingtown, Bethlehem, Central Dauphin, etc. Condensing to 1 team isn’t an automatic prescription for success, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. In a perfect world, sure, each high school should have its own team, but like the old adage, ‘sometimes unique problems call for unique solutions’. Anyway just some thoughts, phillyboy here, I’m out.
*Btw the consolidation of the Erie and W-B schools into a single team does not have the same advantage because they merged lower classification teams. If the schools being merged are already 6A then a real boost can be realized.
August 14th, 2019 at 3:30 pm
@ Buddy
“Most sports” is even vaguer than “most people.” From what I hear and read very few people have concerns about private and public schools competing against each other in wrestling, baseball, track, cross country, tennis, and even lacrosse. Nearly all the concerns are about football and basketball. Isn’t that true?
@Foleman
Maybe you already know this, but SJP had a large number of students (including but far from only athletes) from Jersey for many decades before the PCL entered the PIAA. I don’t remember any discussion of not allowing students from Jersey to compete in PIAA playoff games before the PCL joined the PIAA. Of course, the PIAA could decide to impose that rule, in which case SJP–and maybe the whole PCL–would withdraw from the PIAA. My sense is that SJP could live with this–and maybe even be better off. Not sure it would be good for the PIAA. The landscape has changed a lot in the last 10-15 years and will probably change even more in the next decade.
@all
I know this is an eastern PA board, but it’s still curious that many mention the situation in Jersey–be careful what you wish for–but nobody mentions Ohio.
August 14th, 2019 at 2:43 pm
How old is Julian Fleming? I know his birthday is in December….. but will he be 18, 19 or 20?
August 14th, 2019 at 12:30 pm
@kevin
4th & long is about right. You don’t need an exact stat to prove one’s point. “Most sports” simply means most sports.
@mark d
not sure what you’re saying there.
@phillyboy
Same as above.
August 14th, 2019 at 11:32 am
simple if you a non boundary school your 6 A case closed if you a public 6 A school you should have no transfer rule now you have an even playing field
August 14th, 2019 at 10:41 am
4th and Long – Well said.
August 14th, 2019 at 10:19 am
… eliminate the redundant teams. If Downingtown and Central Bucks or even Bethlehem had a single tram, it would be formidable and intriguing.
August 14th, 2019 at 10:16 am
They should NOT separate the public and private schools for the playoffs. This is phillyboy’s take on it. It can be tweaked. Got the transfer rule already. Public teams could refuse to play privates during the regular season. And a HUGE one for the big suburban school districts: elim
August 14th, 2019 at 8:47 am
@ 4th and Long
“reality in PA is a non-boundary school has almost 10 times the chance of winning a title over a public school in the same classification” How and where do you come up with that statement??
“in most of the big sports” ???? more specifically???
@ Foleman
Linden Hall
August 13th, 2019 at 10:52 pm
Separating private and public schools works fine in Jersey, where the level of play is on a par with PA. The reality in PA is a non-boundary school has almost 10 times the chance of winning a title over a public school in the same classification in most of the big sports. If we’re interested in fair play, you’ve gotta separate the schools. If we’re just interested in seeing who the best teams in the state are, lets eliminate enrollment classifications altogether and crown one champ per sport. However, claiming the present system promotes a level playing field is demonstrably absurd.
August 13th, 2019 at 1:01 pm
@ Foleman The league the school plays in, is based on the where the school is, not where the student comes from. You can’t eat your cake and still have it. If private and public schools stay together, than you want a private school for what it is. An entity that can and will draw students from all over academically and athletically. I think people will get their wish soon enough because someone is going to bend to the cries of people who want to see the separation. Then people will find something new to complain about. The privates won’t be complaining. Their machine will keep going. All we thought about was beating the privates when I was in school. Now how our parents could lobby so we didn’t have to play them. Participation trophy for everyone.
August 13th, 2019 at 10:47 am
I am not in favor of separating Public and Private schools, Recruiting by the private schools will go off the charts if this happens. I am in favor of not having non-Pa students participate in PIAA sports. Minus out of Stater’s Trotter and McCord and who knows else on the Prep would bring them back down to a level of where the Pubs might have a chance to beat them. Outside of Prep, Erie Cathedral Prep, BECA-(wrestling) and Kennedy Catholic….who knows where their basketball player’s come from…..can anyone think of any other schools in the PIAA that draws athletes from other states? McCord & Trotter and the rest of the outsiders can play in the Inter Ac or the Hill Schools of the world, not in the PIAA.
August 11th, 2019 at 9:41 am
The Doylestown Intelligencer Sports page, shows a picture of McCord and Trotter and said the Interstate Dominance and speaks about how both are from Mt Laurel New Jersey, Seems funny that only select schools can recruit from New Jersey and other states but can compete for the PENNSYLVANIA state title and Pennsylvania all state team. Don’t understand how Public schools can compete with the recruiting.
August 11th, 2019 at 9:19 am
@ Buddy
Hot topic back in the spring (and prior), but I haven’t heard anything about it lately. Maybe just a case of summer break and/or the legislative process is a typical slow moving process. Anyways, lots of articles on-line about the bill that was/or to be introduced in Harrisburg back in early June, here is one of them that gives pretty decent overview……..
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/2019/06/bill-would-create-separate-piaa-playoffs-in-some-sports-end-new-transfer-rule-and-more-see-the-details.html
August 10th, 2019 at 10:50 am
BTW, are they separating public & private?
Has that been determined? If so, when?
August 10th, 2019 at 10:49 am
testing
August 10th, 2019 at 10:46 am
Recruiting is very powerful.
August 10th, 2019 at 10:34 am
Am I incorrect, I thought one of the Great Central Bucks West teams were also ranked #1 in the country. I know for sure they were ranked that during the season, did they lose out in the final polls???????
August 10th, 2019 at 8:24 am
PA has had 6 high school football national chamions: 1918-Harrisburg Tech, 1919-Harrisburg Tech, 1983-Berwick, 1987-North Hills, 1992-Berwick, and 1995-Berwick. Could St. Joe’s Prep be the next — for 2019? It’s possible, they come in ranked #11 already. They get warmed up against a public team in the opener, then they got 2 really tough out of state private teams at home. If they can get through that unscathed, it’s like a surfer who has just battled through the white water waves to reach the swells. They could then set the cruise control, starters won’t have to play into the 2nd half until the state semifinal, if then.
August 9th, 2019 at 9:17 am
PCN TV released their high school football “Game of the Week” schedule. Kicks off Friday August 23rd, as kind of as expected (at least by me), with Harrisburg @ Coatesville. Interesting to see on the schedule later in the year Archbishop Wood @ SJP.
https://pcntv.com/gameoftheweek/
August 7th, 2019 at 10:15 pm
You don’t mess with a good thing. Hershey is the best possible place to host the state championships. Didn’t we see how poor moving the PIAA basketball finals were?!?
August 7th, 2019 at 11:41 am
……..and I forgot to mention that 6 games over the course of 2 or 3 days on the natural grass of Beaver Stadium, no matter how good it is, in early December with any rain/snow could be a complete nightmare of field conditions.
I’m on board with Bucknell hosting. Assuming they have a decent capacity stadium with turf. Lewisburg is a pretty cool little college town. Wouldn’t mind the PIAA taking the show on the road and moving championship weekend around the state from year to year.
I saw PJP 3 times last year (ok, 2 1/2, bailed at halftime of the Upper Perk game) but the two others were two of the better games that I saw in person last year. The back and forth affair with Pottsgrove, and the playoff game against New Hope (at Conshy “A” Field, where I’d recommend to you guys to try to catch a game at if you are into old school grass field throwback intimate facilities). Unfortunately the PJP defense decided to go home at halftime of the game. I think Gray has a howitzer for an arm, and if he has these weapons around him, they could make a nice run. 3A is a small group in SEPA, but a tough one. Still have CEC, but they should come back to the pack now sans Garwo. N-G??? Which N-G team will we have this year, the South Philly All-Star team from 2 years ago, or the train wreck from last year???
One more thought………..PCL Blue gonna be fun this year. PCL Red gets all the yapping with SJP, LaSalle and Wood, but looking forward to the PCL Blue dogfight!!!
August 7th, 2019 at 12:22 am
Bucknell University would be a great location for state championship games.
August 6th, 2019 at 1:45 pm
Foleman, I saw PJP twice last year and love the program. I think they’re extremely well coached, love Gray at QB (but I don’t see him as a D1 player) and the addition of Walker to an already talented bunch of returning receivers gives PJP a lot of firepower in the passing game. The problem is Neumann-Goretti is in D1 AAA and with six legit D1 college recruits, I don’t see anyone stopping them for a while. Albee Crosby is probably the best recruiter in SE PA.
Kevin X, as someone who came from an area where the finals were played in a pro stadium, I totally agree the sight of a few thousand fans in an arena designed for 70K+ is pretty sad. Hershey or a small college are better settings for football championships in this state.
August 6th, 2019 at 8:53 am
Some of you guys probably saw this from a few days ago, thought it was intriguing. Initially I thought it was a cool idea to move the PIAA football championship games to Beaver Stadium, but upon further reflection, visualizing 2,000 – 3,000 fans in a 109k seat stadium is not a good look or atmosphere. Your thoughts……..
https://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/2019/08/penn-states-planning-a-high-school-football-game-at-beaver-stadium-and-it-would-like-to-host-the-piaa-title-games.html
August 6th, 2019 at 7:15 am
4th and Long, Walker transferred in last year from Daniel Boone HS, he was the leading receiver in Berks County as a sophomore and suffered an injury in preseason practice which cost him the entire year. He’s 6’4 230lbs and has committed to Bowling Green. PJP is going to be fun to watch this year.
August 5th, 2019 at 11:38 am
“All 2019-2020 fall sports approved at this morning’s District III Committee meeting. Football will play all games, including championships, at the home site of the higher seed. All soccer finals will be at Hersheypark Stadium. Field hockey finals at Milton Hershey School.”
A little cut and paste action out of District 3. Looks like all of the football playoffs in D3 are now taking the same route at D1 is now doing. You central PA/D3 guys thoughts on this/that?????
August 5th, 2019 at 10:45 am
I was going to take a shot at playing match maker, but looked like one of my game suggestions has already materialized. Since a bunch of small D2 teams will be/are looking for a new opponents after Holy Cross pulled the plug on this season, thought of two obvious games. I saw that The Academy of the New Church was looking for two games, and it appears that they have already hooked up with Riverside in late September. Hope they are a gracious host and treat ANC to some Old Forge pizza. Second game I thought would be cool (that may be a literal statement if played up at Tunnel Hill), is a match-up of last years Eastern PA’s top two “A” schools with the aforementioned ANC meeting up with Lackawanna Trail in week 10.
August 5th, 2019 at 6:30 am
Foleman, where did Walker of PJP transfer from? I don’t remember him from last year’s team.
August 4th, 2019 at 11:44 am
Pope John Paul-Royersford-Weapons all around, Gray to Walker-(both Div 1 recruits) should be a lethal combo. This is PJP’S best team ever and should end Pottsgrove’s run in Div 2 of the Pac 10. They will also be in the hunt for the AAA District 1 Championship.
Wilson West Lawn, should challenge for District 3 AAAAAA Championship along with Manheim Township, Hburgh and Central Dauphin. Big line, tough D, RB/LB Lockhart has to stay healthy for them to make a run.
August 2nd, 2019 at 12:40 pm
Kevin X – Good topic!
St Joe Prep- Who cares as they play by different rules
Harrisburg – Plenty of speed back and two D1 O Lineman. They could be great, but sometimes that program is fragile and if things don’t go well it goes south quickly. I am calling losses to State College, CD & Coatesville
Coatesville – The Coatesville fans are concerned that Ortega will be exposed without Aaron Young to draw all the defensive attention.
Downingtown West – Here is your surprise team. This is the regular season game that Coatesville is most concerned with I know they have been playing underclassmen the last few years and this is their year. Also if you ever want to find an SJP coach just go to a youth game between Coatesville and the Downingtown Teams!!!!!
Manheim Township – 4 D1 skill players – QB – Kirk, TE – Mann, WR Ivey, Safety- Engel – But can they block. Strong defense – undersized but fast. Passing game will be impressive. If OL is solid they will be very good
Wilson – Strong OL & fast defense. Power running game with Lockhart & Jadyn Jones. If QB play is there this could be a strong team.
CD – Will have great line play again. Need to give Chimenti some help and they will win District 3.
August 1st, 2019 at 11:59 am
Kevin X. To answer that question, I’ll throw out Nativity from Pottsville. Apparently, they have biggest roster in school history and returning some skilled players.
August 1st, 2019 at 11:56 am
Dave, sounds good. Can’t wait to see some Rankings
August 1st, 2019 at 8:27 am
Thanks NO!!!
Shame about HC, really don’t think they’ve been too competitive in recent years as well, so maybe not unexpected. Unfortunately, looks like that will leave 10 teams with unexpected and unplanned bye weeks. Guess we’ll see at this late stage if they can scramble for a game to fill the HC week.
So 6 of 7 teams making the D2 3A playoffs. I will refrain for the moment of climbing back on my “too many teams in the post season” soap box for now…..
That link did confirm that “Wilkes-Barre Wolfpack” will be playing as a 6A school.
August 1st, 2019 at 8:20 am
I’d actually like to hear from you guys on your thoughts on dark horses, under the radar, unloved schools/teams that we do not hear about year in year out. Or teams that have been good in the past, but have had some off/down years of late. No offense, but I’m expecting the same old same olds to be in any pre-season rankings. Any doubt SPJ, Harrisburg, and Coatesville will be the top 3 6A preseason schools and two usual suspects for 4 and 5?? So c’mon on guys, dig deep and go out on a limb now and on the record for some bragging rights come November!!!!!
August 1st, 2019 at 8:05 am
I’m going to start putting my rankings together. Let’s talk preseason rankings!
July 31st, 2019 at 1:07 pm
Holy Cross (1A in District 2) is suspending the program for 2019 due to lack of participation. Per the Scranton Times, they only have 12 kids come out for the team.
https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/sports/holy-cross-high-school-to-suspend-football-program-1.2514582
July 28th, 2019 at 1:23 pm
@ Kevin X
RE: 3A playoff in D2 from your July 17 post
I was wondering the same thing myself. Per the D2 website:
http://piaad2.org/sports/football/2019-district-ii-football-championships/
AAA
6 team District II Championship
November 1 – District II Quarterfinals
November 8‐ District II Semifinals
November 15 – District II Championship
November 22 – State Quarterfinal vs. District IV winner
The website doesn’t say explicitly, but I’m guessing that the top 2 seeds get a Quarterfinal BYE.
July 26th, 2019 at 10:39 pm
@Mike P
IMG Academy v St Joe’s Prep is gonna be at Widener university.
July 26th, 2019 at 8:05 pm
Does anyone know where the SJP IMG will be at?
July 23rd, 2019 at 10:06 am
Southern vs Hammond. Unfortunately, I’ll be away a few days. I’ll have to see about recording it TIVO. Should be interesting game played on Sunday. Anyone want to throw out some predictions?
July 22nd, 2019 at 11:01 pm
@KevinX- ESPN sought out SoCo to play in this game. With 2 top ten recruits in Fleming and Burch on the field its a great showcase. Just from speaking with many fans around the community its going to be a Southern home game in Columbia SC.
July 22nd, 2019 at 12:31 pm
thanks Jim B Kevin is not the only one that saw them listed at 5 A i actually saw it an another site as well as this one, but looking at the numbers from those 3 schools from last year combined they were well in the 6 A range sorry for any confusion
July 22nd, 2019 at 11:42 am
@kevinX – there may have been a few teams between SCA and Hammond SC but since Hammond has the #1 player in the country at DE (also plays halfback) and SCA has #1 wide receiver, ESPN was able to profile two top players in the country. Its a HUGE bonus that they both play on very very good teams. ESPN is most likely the one who sought out both squads b/c of the players, then the size is comparable as are the programs at both schools.
SCA will see some very good overall team speed in week 1 vs Hammond. Hopefully Hammond has not seen this type of offense very much at all in the past (which is often the case in these types of games) and if Roth uses some old school misdirection/against the grain stuff, SCA can open it up w/ Fleming on the outside. Great matchup for sure!!!
July 20th, 2019 at 8:32 am
Thanks Route54
That is quite a road trip for the SoCo fans to Columbia, SC, maybe they’ll combine it with a Myrtle Beach vaca. Not sure I’d look forward to a late August mid afternoon game down in the south, especially with what is going on right now in PA.
Wondering why they couldn’t match up SoCo with someone more local. Guess the parameters they are looking for are teams that have a top flight 2020 recruit(s) and a very good team that match up well getting together. Can’t find another PA team that would fit that bill.
July 19th, 2019 at 10:28 am
Just looked at the numbers, Wilkes-Barre is definitely 6A.
July 19th, 2019 at 10:14 am
Kevin,
I am almost certain Wilkes-Barre is 6A. I think this site may be wrong.
July 18th, 2019 at 9:08 pm
@KevinX. I just found this.
The Hammond and Southern Columbia game features three top Division I prospects in Hammond’s Jordan Burch and Alex Huntley and Southern’s Julian Fleming.
https://www.thestate.com/sports/high-school/prep-football/article229613929.html
July 18th, 2019 at 9:03 pm
@KevinX. That’s interesting. I’m sure the SCA fans will travel well for that one. After researching this Hammond team, they basically have the same amount of titles as SCA. Wondering how many of their players are going D1.
July 18th, 2019 at 3:43 pm
thanks you Kevin a few people were surprised when thay ended up at AAAAA but that were the number fell. i know thier going to be some change in the AAA playoff but have no real information on how it will be structured
July 18th, 2019 at 2:17 pm
OK, answered one of my own earlier questions…….
Southern Columbia @ Hammond School (Columbia South Carolina) in a featured GEICO HS Football Kickoff Weekend match-up to be televised nationally on ESPN2 on Sunday August 25th @ 2pm.
July 17th, 2019 at 2:09 pm
@ mark d
I have no info on this, but AH and NP are right near the top of the 4A classification enrollment cutoff level now, so I can easily see them getting bumped up. AH was 5A last cycle. Both are in, I guess I would say, steady population areas. Dallas tho is middle of the pack enrollment wise now in 4A, so is their some kind of population boom going on in the back mountain area??? Thinking more like if they do move up to 5A, more of a voluntary situation. Get to dodge Berwick and Valley View in a any potential playoff match-up.
Speaking of, any changes coming to the 3A D2 playoffs after loosing two of the W-B schools??? They had 8 of 9 teams going at last year, but only 7 now??
Also, what is the story on Wilkes-Barre, the Wolfpack??? I know there is consolidation going on, but only one team for the whole school district?? And if so, they are only 5A?? I would think they’d easily be 6A if you add all the current enrollment figs for the 3 W-B high schools.
July 17th, 2019 at 8:01 am
i being told that in the next cycle that Abington heights ,North Pocono and Dallas will be moving to AAAAA has any one got any information on this
July 14th, 2019 at 11:40 am
Looking for some information on Manheim Township & Manheim Central:
Township has 4 D1 players in Harry Kirk – Colgate, Jon Engel – Lafeyette, Ben Mann – Yale and Anthony Ivey has D1 offers but will only be a Sophomore this year. Does anyone have information on the O line and Defensive Tackles?
Manheim Central is very similar in that last year their line play was the strength and they lost most of that. They still have Simon and the Wagner twins but not sure of their line strength.
Appreciate any information.
July 14th, 2019 at 12:11 am
@route54…..yeah I think it isn’t bad either. With smaller school leagues combining them gives smaller schools in CL a chance to player other schools their size in the Schulykill league. For example, Northern Lehigh, Palmerston, Pen Argyl, and Catty will play a schedule (besides rivals) that are schools their size and not all the big CL schools like Saucon and SL. Instead they will play Minersville, Panther Valley, etc. We will see how it works out.
July 11th, 2019 at 3:56 pm
Craig….It’s not our top 100 players….It’s Player Preview Series in 100 Days
July 11th, 2019 at 3:29 pm
I’ve been looking at the 100 players in District 11. Wow, Stroudsburg gonna be a beast of a team, 4 in the top 50. What’s the criteria for this list?
July 11th, 2019 at 1:48 pm
I’ve heard about the merger of leagues in 2020. Some like it , some don’t. I think it’s not a bad idea.
July 11th, 2019 at 12:13 am
@Route54…..in EPC, Parkland, Freedom, Easton and Beca will be good. There’s more parity than in the past I think this year. Parklands run came to and end last year but with their numbers they are still a threat year in and year out. In CL, Southern Lehigh, NDGP, and Saucon should be good. They have the numbers and in a league where enrollment is going down they compete every year with having the advantage of numbers. I think NW should be good as well. I’m not too sure of the Sch League. I would assume North Schulykill will be good. And so should Schulykill Haven. Next year (2020) is the combining of CL and Schulykill leagues.
July 9th, 2019 at 5:48 pm
Glad to see the forum in full gear again. What does District 11 have this year. Top teams.
July 9th, 2019 at 5:40 pm
Test
July 8th, 2019 at 10:42 pm
I can conceivably see SJP starting the season 0-3, and then basically sleepwalking to another 6A state title.
Did I actually see that correctly, a D4 team actually playing outside of D4?? So Col heading to SC for their first game?? Is this going to be one of those national ESPN kickoff weekend games??
Did Coatesville ever find a dance partner for the week 2 (Labor Day weekend)?? Are we done with using the term “Week 0”??? I really hope so.
July 8th, 2019 at 6:15 pm
Southern Columbia ranked #1 Small school and St Joe Prep ranked #4 in one National Ranking service. Hope they live up to their respective places and both will be tested early.
July 8th, 2019 at 8:30 am
Northwest Area (D2) has opted to leave the Wyoming Valley Conference in football beginning in the 2020-21 school year. The single A Rangers will now play in the Norther Tier League.
With this departure, and the merging of the three Wilkes-Barre City high schools, the WVC will be down to 13 schools next year.
July 6th, 2019 at 11:11 am
@Dennis, Yes Berwick has signed a 2 year contract with Southern Columbia for 2 years starting in 2020. First game will be played at Crispin Field sat Aug 22. Coach Carm also wants to play Mt. Carmel or Pottsville in 2020. Berwick is leaning to Heartland Conf. in a few years.
July 6th, 2019 at 9:44 am
KMac….Thank you and welcome back….
July 6th, 2019 at 9:39 am
David
Congratulations on getting the forum back up and running. I was unexpectedly away a few days and saw it was back when I returned. Sorry, I did not get to the test process
July 6th, 2019 at 8:24 am
Hi Matt. August 1st we are going to launch our team previews.
July 5th, 2019 at 11:28 pm
@Dave….when do the team previews start?
Thanks!
July 4th, 2019 at 7:58 am
We are back!! Godaddy had blocked our forum. I didn’t know.
July 3rd, 2019 at 10:16 pm
Happy 4th all!!!
So, are we back??? 🙂
April 14th, 2019 at 3:39 pm
According to a local TV sports commentary in the 2020 season Southern Columbia and Berwick will face each other. For years fans from both sides cried for this game to happen. The 2020 game will be at Berwick and the 2021 game will move to Catawissa. Two of the most storied programs in PA high school football. It doesn’t get any better then that!
April 12th, 2019 at 9:10 pm
Is it true Southern Columbia and Berwick are scheduling a game August 22, 2020?
April 12th, 2019 at 3:50 pm
Here’s my obligatory NP post since it’s been a long time…
Anyone know who their QB will be? Couple good players returning and coming up from the system but need someone to run the offense. Defense should be solid.
April 12th, 2019 at 9:20 am
What needs to be done in the meantime is that
1. all public schools should simply stop scheduling the private/parochial schools on the regular season schedule. Schools have that right. If enough schools opt out of playing them, they won’t have enough games to get into PIAA playoffs.
2. simply get together with all/most other public schools in your league and district and have their own “after regular season playoffs”; kind of like a contingency game but multiple games.
3. refuse all transfers to private/parochial. If those schools and representatives want to make it miserable for public schools, then the public schools should counter back with their own nonsense. I found that guy from PCC to be a total azzwipe regarding the appeals process and his threats to the public schools. Is he afraid PCC will then be on equal ground for every game of the season – sounds like and seems like he’s scared! PCC will be exposed and he knows it.
April 10th, 2019 at 7:30 pm
From talking with my state rep, this separation thing will go nowhere. Charter schools are considered public schools and any separation would have to include the charter schools with the public schools. No point to the separation than in my opinion.
April 10th, 2019 at 9:13 am
Some of you guys probably already saw this article that appeared on the PennLive website a few days ago. More fun stuff with regards to the ongoing public/private/charter debate, more specifically with playoffs…….PLAYOFFS!!?!??
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/2019/04/the-piaa-debate-legislation-could-lead-to-courtroom-as-calls-for-separate-playoffs-continue.html
April 9th, 2019 at 11:48 am
Great compilation of a great team and season!!! North Penn 03′ was fun to watch. I saw four of their games live that season and the only game I wish was on another date/day was at the 33;44 mark. North Penn v Easton for eastern final.. I think this outcome could have been a bit different had Easton not played Pburg NJ in their biggest rivalry game two days prior to this game. You could see some of the Easton defenders just running out of gas, flat footed, and heads down. NP had too much at the end.
Would have loved to see NP 03′ vs CBW 99′.
March 27th, 2019 at 11:44 am
@ sol fan
Of course you knew I would like that!
March 23rd, 2019 at 8:37 am
Saw this the other day and thought I’d share. 2003 North Penn
https://youtu.be/QnzP0CKphis
March 19th, 2019 at 1:40 pm
District 3, that’s a lot of great info/opinion. One thing I’d like to comment on is your question about why a top QB would stay at a high school running the Wing T (or any run dominant) offense. The answer is simple… because he wants to play for the town where he lives instead of just going to a program to showcase his skills. I agree, if you want to beat the best, you’d better be able to throw, but if you want to win in November and December in Pennsylvania, you’ve either gotta be able to run or control the weather, and you have a lot more influence on the former than the latter.
March 17th, 2019 at 7:29 pm
Hey D3 commish speaking of wing T offense you may want to go see Southern Columbia run it. They’ve been doing it forever and have a coach that’s won over 400 games and lost only 82. 9 state titles and 17 state title appearances. They’ve beat some very good teams from philly catholic and the WPIAL. I’d say it’s working well for them.
March 17th, 2019 at 10:44 am
Happy St Patricks Day!!! Time to get some football talk started. I am most familiar with LL, Berks and Mid Penn 5A and 6A schools.
Will Cumberland Valley bounce back from their worst season in forever? They will be better than 3-7 for sure but not convinced they will be a top contender come playoff time. Was speaking with a few people familiar with their youth programs and was told there are concerns about the future teams. In 2020 they will be picking up Spring Ford on their schedule. Mike A what are your thoughts on CV for next year and beyond?
Thought CD was the most physical team in D3 last year but were an athletic skill player away from beating Harrisburg. They lost a bunch but will be solid again. Definitely a D3 final 4 team.
Harrisburg having lost Everson and White will be difficult to replicate last season but still have plenty of speed returning……. but they always have speed. Their success always comes down to line play. If they develop that they will have a strong season again.
Central York has been trying like crazy to raise the level of their program and will eventually get there and become a perennial contender. Their coach has ties to Cumberland Valley and is slowly changing culture and expectations there. They recently dropped long time local rival West York (4A) from their schedule to improve competition. This was not an easy decision and did create some hard feelings locally. Also Exeter was added to the 2020 schedule. CY thought they had an agreement to add a 6A power program to the schedule but that fell through which was not received well by CY. They will have a solid year and make D3 playoffs but not quite ready yet to contend for a title……….. But they will soon!!!!
Manheim Township is loaded on offense, line backers and secondary and have a good QB in Harry Kirk. They have a Super Soph in future D1 WR Anthony Ivey and future PSAC LB’s in the Emge Twins. The concern again will be the strength of both lines as they were exposed in both losses last year to Wilson and CD. Coach Evans will again have his team in the D3 hunt and possibly finals.
Manheim Central will be very similar to Township. Great QB in Simon who must have 20 D1 offers by now. Also the Wagner twins are great receivers. Again not sure about the play of the lines as most graduated last year but I’m sure they have more coming. Favorites to win D3 5A for sure. Their biggest game is going to Wilson for week 4.
Wilson only lost a few seniors last year and should be strong the next two years. Defense will be very good and led by Avanti Lockhart at LB who has interest from Syracuse, Virginia Tech and BC. QB and running back depth are not figured out yet. Strong D3 contender this year.
Warwick will be interesting again with a great JR QB in Joey Chapman and super fast WR Trey Glass. Oh and BTW they also have possibly the most highly recruited Lineman in the country in Nolan Rucci. He is a JR 6’8″ about 280 and can move. He has offers from everywhere but Alabama and Clemson so far. Depth will be the issue here.
Mifflin has some skill players and their own Super Soph in Nick Singleton who I project as a future D1 LB or RB. If they get line play they will have a strong year.
No disrespect to any teams I didn’t comment on. I only offered opinions on teams I was familiar with or had information.
Additional Comments:
Moving to 6 classifications has caused some 6A teams to drop strong 5A teams because the loss hurts the power rankings too much. When there were only 4 classes most of these teams were all 4A.
Teams that still run the Wing T are doing a disservice to their players. It doesn’t win against good teams and there is never a Plan B once you fall behind. I don’t want to hear about success against teams that are not a match physically or the occasional success. Also why would a great QB stay there? CV, Mifflin, Cocalico and whoever else is stuck in the past….. get with the times!
March 14th, 2019 at 2:09 pm
Thanks Dave, should be a fun year! I like a guy who says “62 days” & not “2 months”!
March 13th, 2019 at 8:28 pm
In 62 days…..
March 13th, 2019 at 5:17 pm
Can’t wait for the year to start! Hey Dave, when’s the “100 players in 100 days” start?
March 6th, 2019 at 8:48 am
Berwick Head Coach Frank Sheptock stepping down to take a job at Kings College.
https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/sports/sheptock-steps-down-as-berwick-head-coach-1.2453334
February 26th, 2019 at 7:21 pm
We are going to start working on them next Monday. If they are available we will have them up. Not all schedules are complete yet.
February 26th, 2019 at 8:05 am
When will 2019 schedules be released?
February 17th, 2019 at 10:56 am
So are there two forums going on here concurrently, the old 2018 and a new 2019?? I’m confused…….
February 14th, 2019 at 9:15 am
The public/private issue/debate is starting to heat up again……….
https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2019/02/pa-lawmaker-to-unveil-bill-for-separate-high-school-playoffs.html
Also, our second favorite topic, the transfer issue/debate, albeit on the basketball court, is in the news as well (this one I think is a joke)…….
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/basketball/2019/02/roman-catholic-star-ruled-ineligible-for-piaa-class-6a-boys-basketball-playoffs-report.html
January 27th, 2019 at 5:39 pm
The backyard brawl may be over. The Reading Eagle is reporting that the reorganization of the Berks League will move BC to Section 1 and leave Wyomissing in Section 2. Not sure if they can or will schedule a md or early season game….
January 18th, 2019 at 12:16 pm
The Schuylkill/Colonial league scheduling co-op is official for 2020. Williams Valley, Tri-Valley, Pine Grove, and Nativity will all be included as well to create a 28-team cooperative with 2 divisions of 8 teams and 2 divisions of 6 teams. Essentially forms a D11 super-conference sans the East Penn teams.
January 12th, 2019 at 10:53 pm
Based on returning underclassmen from their dominant state title teams, I’d be shocked if SJP, ECP, and SCA didn’t repeat. I don’t know as much about the other winning rosters. I’d think 5A and 3A would be up for grabs, though, if for no other reason than it will be difficult for Gateway and Aliquippa to run the WPIAL gauntlet, again. I’m sure the western forum guys can handicap it.
Manheim Central and Middletown both return a bunch of starters to the eastern half of the bracket. Wood will also be in the mix in 5A (although they’d be coming thru the “west”). Middletown probably gets thru 3A one more time before Lancaster Catholic, NDGP, Scranton Prep, and/or the Philly catholics reel them in (and SCA moves up).
January 10th, 2019 at 5:05 pm
let me try to get the ball rollin”…………..
Whose the top dogs next year? The usual suspects?
January 7th, 2019 at 5:49 pm
Welcome to 2019! Let’s talk Football!