Are you ready for some football?
Welcome to the official forum on high school football for the 2025 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.
1,632 Responses
Turns out, I’ve been wrong about D2 3A for the last few weeks. It’s a four team race, like how D11 3A was last year. Honestly, it’s great to see this change. A Quick Look at seedings.
1. Berwick is locked into the 1, barring an epic collapse
2. Wyoming Area will have a home game
3. Lake-Lehman holds to the 3, after the Prep loss
4. Scranton Prep is the last seed in & holds a .495 to .461 lead over Mid Valley, who they face next week.
Them & Carbondale are in the hunt, at .469 & .461. Both respectively play Prep & Riverside, so they may have a setback this week.
L-L (.506) has Wyoming Area, Hanover Area, & the Old Shoe game. If they drop a few of those games, they’ll have competition from the other two
Prep’s Final 3: Mid Valley, Shore, & No. Pocono
Mid Valley’s Games: Prep, WW, & Lakeland
C’dale’s Games: Riverside, Susq., Old Forge
Assuming 5 & 6 in 3A D2 are the EC reps. They haven’t released those numbers yet. Let me know if they do.
Looks like Spring-Ford is in the drivers seat in the large school Pac Division, if they beat Boyertown and Owen J Roberts the following week, they are the champs and will be the favorite over Upper Perk in the PAC championship final. I have no idea what is wrong in Collegeville-Perkiomen Valley. A team that defeated Downingtown West and is loaded with talent is 3-4. Could be chemistry problems, when you have 5-6 capable running backs and 5-6 capable receivers, you can’t keep everyone happy. Their sophomore QB is talented but has thrown a few interceptions which were killers. I expect both SF and PV to make the D1 Playoffs but I am not expecting either of them to do anything. SF has the numbers, they had 100+ players on the sidelines for Friday’s game. On another note, I have seen several 5A schools play this year and many of them had only 30+ players on the team, that is a recipe for disaster. Also, good players are fleeing the perennial dormats for greener pastures, kids have little loyalty any more and want to play for a winning team. My SD Daniel Boone had several excellent players transfer or matriculate to other schools after JR High. Their top players left to go to Muhlenberg, Malvern Prep, Berks Catholic and Pope John Paul.
@ foleman. SF is playing well but I could see the OJ game being a battle. I wasnt overly impressed when I saw OJ play PV but they do have two highly recruited Juniors a rb and wr and anytime a team has a couple div one type players they are dangerous plus SF reallly hasnt beaten anyone other then a reeling PV . The crossover games should be more interesting this year. PJP wasnt very sharp against a Pottsgrove team that has struggled all yr. Not sure whats going on there, the offense seems very sluggish maybe its just a case of alot of inexperience catching up with them, not many seniors on that team. They havent been the same team since the Shanahan game which they won.
Williams valley coach resigns following suspension of there two best players last week. Apparently both the kids and the parents have been out of control at williams valley and the administration has done nothing only to try and suspend the coaches for the players behavior.
That Williams Valley situation is such a mess. Both sides of the “story” are on T102 Sports now if anyone wants to read. I hope Haven beats them by 50
Both sides of the story are not on t102. If you consider what a parent and booster club made up of those parents a side then your a fool. The other side of the story should be from the school administration. The fact that a booster club and parents would even post a response should be enough to let you know they are way to far a part of the program. I didn’t even read the whole parent response because it got so ridiculous. A coach is not going to suspend his top two players if there wasn’t a reason too. Cmon what world do these parents live in to think a coach don’t want his best players on the field!!!!! Lol I know nothing about williams valley other than they seem to have parents running there school sports programs. Its embarrassing that a booster club and parents would think they have power to respond and I also lost respect for t102 sports for even posting a response from this booster club.
Just saw a video on YouTube. Seems like the parents were slashing tires and vandalizing the coaches business bill boards because their entitled kids didn’t start or were forced to sit because of behavior. That’s some of what’s wrong with sports these days. Good for the coach to resign. Not worth it.
If you can read, that’s why “story” is in quotes and I said I hope Haven beats them by 50. I agree with everything you said after that. A booster club putting that together shows you all you have to know.
No kidding. That booster club release is a bunch of obvious phony baloney and a feeble attempt at damage control. Parents have gotten much too comfortable these days, let coaches coach and teachers teach!
Since there has been some talk lately about Fox Chapel’s request to the WPIAL to form conferences based on other factors besides classification I thought I would post about their game on Friday. FC jumped out to a 10-0 lead at halftime over previously winless Franklin Regional, but were outscored in the 2nd half 21-0 and lost 21-10. FC did have something to celebrate though as kicker Harran Zureikat set a WPIAL record with a 57 yard field goal in the 2nd quarter, breaking the old record of 55 yards first set in 2002 by East Allegheny kicker Josh Miller, and tied twice by Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio last year and again this year in a game I saw a few weeks ago against Avonworth, that kick would have been good from 60+ yards. Zureikat is committed to Georgia, I don’t believe Marcantonio has chosen a school yet. Upper St Clair has an excellent field goal kicker who also punts, he had several punts in their game I saw last week against Peters that traveled 60 plus yards in the air, and every kickoff was well into the end zone and a couple even went over the end line, there are several really good kickers in the WPIAL this season.
What is Fox Chapel’s Athletic Director doing to better the program? Is he talking to the best male athletes in the school in all sports and attempting to convince them to play football? Is he at the FC JR High games recruiting the top players to stay in the school system? Or is he just whining about how bad the program is and collecting a check? What are the main reasons for FC football being so bad? That’s where he should start.
I don’t have any inside scoop on their program but you make very legitimate points and I agree with you.
So one of the many duties, responsibilities and job requirements of a school district’s athletic director is to roam the halls of their high school and sweet talk the best athletes, even the ones who may never had played a down of organized football, or have zero interest for whatever reason, to play football for a struggling team and program?? Of course once that mission is accomplished, then you need to convince the kid’s parents what a great idea and opportunity that is. I guess you do learn something new everyday.
Funny you mentioned one of this forum’s trigger words “recruiting.” I thought that was only a private or catholic school concept.
Let’s try again and go back to the original question, what are the main reasons for FC football (or any high school football program) being so bad.
MCA finally looked like themselves against a somewhat depleted Danville (missing starting QB)…past two weeks they have been running the offense that was seen under Darrah the past decade rather than trying to mimic Southern’s scheme….which was a disaster…rumblings of Darrah being on the hot seat and disgust from the school board over the 1-4 start.
wonder if they would have made the change sooner if their record would be a little better (hung with Southern for a good part of that game)…should have the 3 seed locked up in d4 which means rematch against montoursville…could be a whole different game
His offense hasn’t worked for the last decade, lol. He changed it and it got worse. They don’t have an offense or defensive line.
Montoursville 42-6
Lol, they beat two teams they should have beaten. If they played the 4 games over that they lost the same thing would happen.
The first half of this season was a total disaster. No idea why they changed the offense but the number of miscues and penalties made it hard to watch. With 3 regular season games left, they will beat CM and Milton, lose the coal bucket game big, end up 5-5, and 1 and done in the playoffs. They have a lot of the same skill kids as last year but unfortunately neither O or D line is getting it done this year. The tackling is the worst I’ve seen from a Mt Carmel team- maybe getting some kids out for wrestling in the winter will help next year…
D2 Notes after Week 7. 8-2 on the week, I think. Not too much, as I want to focus on the playoff scenarios.
– Abington Heights stopped Scranton Prep’s momentum on Friday, with a 17-15 win. This affected the 3A race, which might change spots again, after this week’s outcome. Both teams struggled on offense, yet it was all decided by a late field goal.
– Pittston squeaks past Wilkes-Barre, 31-24. It was all Pittston in the first half, but the Pack found a way to come back & have a chance to win. Pittston looks to lock up the division now, after beating the three big dogs.
– Montrose squeaked out a 30-25 win over Holy Redeemer at the last second. Big win for the indie, as both split their home & home in this cycle.
Playoffs!?
1A
– No changes. Still Trail, Marian, Tri-Valley, Holy Cross.
– Subregional looks to be district final, then de-facto state round of 32 game
– However, Nativity is right on Holy Cross’ tail. HC leads BVM .412 to .405. Cross has Old Forge, Trail, & Susq. BVM has Minersville, Haven, & Marian. I feel the Crusaders are safe, but we’ll see how it goes.
2A
– No changes to seeding, still Lakeland, Riverside, Dunmore, & Redeemer.
– Redeemer has a .205 to .160 lead over Susquehanna, with three games to play. Holy Redeemer has a favorable schedule the rest of the way.
3A
– We know Berwick’s getting the #1 & Wyo Area has the #2.
– Prep’s loss makes Lake-Lehman, for now, jump to #3, leading Prep .506 to .495, & Mid Valley is at .469, as the first road seed.
– Carbondale leads Hanover Area for the #6, .461 to .443 (don’t count the Chargers out for a 5 seed).
– Tunkhannock holds a .342 to .311 lead over Western Wayne for the final seed
– Don’t count out Montrose, if they don’t end up opting out. They’re at a .299. Winnable-ish schedule meaning with Tunkhannock, Renaissance, & Delco Christian. As for the Tigers, they have Montrose. Towanda, & Berwick. While Western Wayne has the trio of LFC 2’s finest: Lakeland, Mid Valley, & Dunmore.
4A
– North Pocono has the #1 locked, after a nice win over VV
– Crestwood seems safe at #3, leading Dallas by .532 to .500 margin.
– Wallenpaupack (.473) beating 6A Scranton puts them in a spot to challenge Dallas, but with Abington Heights, Pittston, & VV left, it’s not favorable. Dallas has Crestwood, Hazleton, & Lake-Lehman, which is a much favorable draw.
– Honesdale needs the planets to align to have a shot.
– If Wallenpaupack is part of the EC, they’ll likely have the host designation. They were not part of it last year, but maybe this year they are. Still waiting for the standings. The only team with a shot in EC is Honesdale.
5A
– Pittston seems to have a hold on the #1.
– Abington Heights’ big win keeps them at #2.
– DV had a shootout against LI Lutheran & is still #3.
– However, West Scranton did what they needed to do: Win. They’re behind WVW, .340 to .330. Valley West has Wilkes-Barre, VV, & Crestwood, while West has Dunmore, Lakeland, & Honesdale. If both lose out, it probably goes to strength of schedule with their power rating, I’d assume. West has a better three team slate, but let’s see what happens.
6A: No changes, even after all four teams losing. No 4-way tie for 5-5 this year.
EC rankings should come out tomorrow. I’m curious to see which D2/4/11 (& D3) hopefuls are in the running.
District 2 only has 4 playoff qualifiers in 3A, not 8.
https://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/2025%203A%20Football%20Brackets-%20Blank.pdf
Thank you for this info, Kevin. I went off of last year’s bracket, since D11 had this bracket last year. I should’ve looked into that.
I’ll update my info later if I find EC info.
No problem. All classifications playoff brackets are now available on the PIAA website.
https://www.piaa.org/sports/championship_details.aspx?sport=football
I have my brackets up a month ago….https://www.easternpafootball.com/playoff-brackets/
So how many of these PA kids (or elsewhere) who have committed to Penn State are going to now decommit and flip schools?? Or kids who are still undecided now think twice about Penn State?? That was God awful yesterday, does Franklin survive the season??
I told my buddies on Saturday that if I were the AD I would have fired Franklin after the game and not let him ride the team plane back home. They should also fire the person that agreed to give him an obscene buyout of 50 million+. If they don’t fire him it shows they are not serious about winning a national title, because he’s one of the worst in game coaches in college football. I personally hope some of the WPIAL commits like Kemon Spell and Khalil Taylor change their minds and go to Pitt, they lose far too many WPIAL players to Penn State.
I agree, whoever was responsible for signing off on that 10 year extension he was given in 2021 needs to be held responsible as well. Correct word, obscene, on the current buyout amount.
Good close game last night between Southern and Mifflinburg. Is Southern starting to rumble?
I was surprised to see the outcome of that one. After playing both I thought Miff was the better team. I don’t think this Southern team is on par with any of their recent state champ teams but it’s hard to ever count them out.
Is it just me or are close competitive games becoming more and more of a rarity? Scanning through tonight’s scores I counted about 7 games within 1 score out of maybe 100 listed. MCA either blew out the opponent or got blown out in every game so far this year. Is it the more wide open offenses? Do teams just quit anymore when they get down a couple scores?
Not as many kids playing football means that when a program is down these days, they are REALLY down. It’s so hard to get players to fill the ranks. So the gap between the top and bottom is massive, and the middle is sparser.
I think it all begins with local youth programs. If your community has a strong, positive youth program, there is your feeder system to get the kids engaged and learning early.
Totally agree, with the exception of PCC all of the good programs in the WPIAL have very strong youth programs
IMO the main reason the trend started is transfers and aggregation of talent at certain schools making them stronger and the schools they pulled from weaker. This impacts the smaller schools much worse since losing even 1 star player can be catastrophic. The team that gets the star gets better and success breeds success and other kids want to do the same. I think this trend started happening more over the past 20 years or so and got worse with the success of the Catholic/private schools. It’s not always the same schools from year to year either.
I definitely don’t think it’s the only reason though, because like I said, every MCA game this year has been pretty much a blowout and transfers are not a major issue in that area (although it has hurt us in the state playoffs). I think kids today are getting bigger and more athletic, and teams run more wider open offenses/no more 3 yds and a cloud of dust. I think another element is lack of mental toughness. Teams get down a couple scores and seems like the defense just throws in the towel.
No, it’s not just you. And the final score can be deceiving. Better indicator are scores at halftime or 3rd quarter, once the running clock kicks in.
Yet I hit on a good one last night, a P-W 33-27 overtime win. Game was tight throughout, back and forth, competitive and entertaining.
Boyertown’s return to respectability is being led by Jami Sands. Jami has coached at Manheim Township and his Alma Mater, Wilson HS West Lawn. He was a great player for the Bulldogs and is a highly competent teacher. He needed the opportunity to show what he could do as a HC. I’m not surprised by his success.
A quick mention of some District One teams that could use some recognition so far this season, like I did for some other teams in the east a few days ago……
Pennridge (6-0, 6A). After a few tough years and coaching issues, got a clean sheet going so far this year, including a signature win over North Penn a few weeks ago. Sitting atop the D1 6A rankings currently. But the road gets tougher. Still ahead are all three Central Bucks teams and tomorrow at…….
Neshaminy (5-1, 6A). After several average seasons, getting back to the good ‘ole Neshaminy. Nice wins over North Penn and last week against CB West. Big game tomorrow night with Pennridge, which could have been the game to check out, but changed my mind (not RC/CO), instead going to stay closer to home and check out……
Wissahickon (6-0, 5A). That age old situation again, are they contenders or pretenders. Not exactly a brutal schedule for them to reach that undefeated record, but six and oh is still six and oh. Maybe their toughest regular season test tomorrow at Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-3, 6A). Hoping, as always, for a good, competitive game.
Upper Perkiomen (4-2, 5A). Had to show some respect and write out their full school name, no abbreviation. Jump onto this list pretty much by knocking off PJPII last week. Guessing Jim Vaughn had an enjoyable weekend.
Coatesville (6-0, 6A). Yeah Coatesville. Hear me out. Some down years recently from them, where many schools would take any season, but not up to the ‘Ville’s standards. Sitting at number 2 in the D1 6A rankings. Henderson this week, then the fun really begins the final 3 weeks of the regular season with both D-Town’s and Shanahan. Everything just feels right, and normal, in District One land when Coatesville is where they are at this year.
Other D1 teams to acknowledge??
@ kevin X, former PJP head coach Rory Graver has done a nice job turning Wissahickon around. Guess you could throw Boyertown into the mix as a surprise team. Dont think anyone saw a possible Boyertown-Upper perk title game matchup before the season. The Liberty division still up for grabs so will see. Think you covered all the teams, the central league has gone mostly to form I guess.
Agree. Probably could have, should have, added B-Town. Maybe CR South, Kennett and Oxford as well, or at least as Honorable Mentions.
Week 7 happens to be a sneaky week for games. Sorry it’s in later than normal, for the Thursday games.
– Scranton Prep vs. Abington Heights (LFC 1): Time for these two to square off in a battle for (potentially) second place in division. The Comets will be without Nick Bradley. I think that gives Prep an edge.
– Mid Valley vs. Dunmore (LFC 2): Both teams are looking for any reason to try & better their seed, but also claim a potential share in the division. I’ll take Dunmore in a close one.
– Lackawanna Trail vs. Carbondale (LFC 3): A crazy matchup to put on this list compares to the rest, but both are good. Trail’s still king of the road & I don’t see an upset on the horizon.
– Wilkes-Barre vs. Pittston (WVC 1): WVC 1 is not only up for grabs, but also on watch in 5A & 6A home field. I would’ve taken the Pack here, but with the way Pittston has been playing, they seem like they’re on a path to the division crown.
– Hanover Area vs. Wyoming Area (WVC 2): Probably the better WVC game on the schedule. This will probably not be close, but it’s the closest game of the three in this division.
– North Pocono vs. Valley View (LFC HM): It’s time for a good divisional showdown. This is the first of three big tests against the cream of the Division 1 crop for North Pocono. The Trojans should take this.
– Lake-Lehman vs. Tunkhannock (WVC HM): I think this is the 3rd best matchup in the league. This is a seeding implication game, as L-L is playing against Hanover Area for a seed & Tunk is trying to make it in. This should go to L-L.
– Montrose vs. Holy Redeemer (D2 HM): Give some respect to both indies playing one another. Both teams look to be better. I’m going to give Redeemer the nod. They’ve looked better against their competition.
– Shamokin vs. Williamsport (6A): Billtown’s last D4 test is against Henry Hynoski’s old stomping grounds. Shamokin is the better team, compared to Williamsport. What was once a hot start might be a fizzling out.
– Marian vs. Schuylkill Haven (1A): Easily the best game of the bunch in the D11 1A side. Marian doesn’t stand a chance against one of 2A’s finest, but we shall see how they can handle the game.
Scores
– Prep 28, AH 16
– Dunmore 28, Mid Valley 21
– Trail 38, Carbondale 14
– Pittston 31, WBA 22
– Wyo Area 33, Hanover Area 13
– NP 30, VV 19
– L-L 35, Tunk 8
– HR 26, Montrose 13
– Shamokin 34, Billtown 16
– SH 45, Marian 16
Thursday Games
– Freedom vs. Bethlehem Catholic (11): Freedom 33, Beca 16
– North East vs. Corry: Corry 21, NE 15
Rest of PA
District 4
– Southern Columbia vs. Mifflinburg: SCA 35, Miff’burg 24
– Warrior Run vs. Loyalsock: WR 26, Sock 21
– Danville vs. Mount Carmel: Danville 27, MCA 22
– Muncy vs. North Penn-Mansfield: Muncy 28, NPM 19
District 11
– Liberty vs. Nazareth: Naz 32, Lib 21
– Easton vs. Northampton: Easton 31, N’ham 19
– NDGP vs. Pen Argyl: NDGP 33, PA 23
District 1
– Pennridge vs. Neshaminy: P’ridge 23, Nesh 19
– D’town East vs. Rustin: DTE 30, Rustin 21
– Henderson vs. Coatesville: C’ville 29, WCH 13
– Haverford vs. Springfield: Delco 27, HHS 21
– Owen J. Roberts vs. Boyertown: OJR 34, Bears 19
– Perk Valley vs. Spring-Ford: Perk 27, S-F 24
– Lower Moreland vs. Morrisville: Morrisville 28, The Other LM 26
District 12
– Mastery North vs. Central: Central 22, MCN 21
– Father Judge vs. Bonner-Prendie: B-P 34, All Rise 18
– Roman vs. O’Hara: Roman 23, COH 21
– La Salle vs. St. Joe’s: La Salle 33, SJP 27
District 3
– Cumberland Valley vs. McDevitt: McD 34, CV 21
– East Pennsboro vs. Susq. Twp. STWP 27, EP 20
– Red Land vs. Hershey: Hershey 27, RL 21
– Big Spring vs. West Perry: WP 26, Big Spring 21
– Newport vs. Juniata: Juniata 24, Newport 14
– Solanco vs. Manheim Central: MC 30, Solanco 16
– Annville-Cleona vs. Lancaster Catholic: A-C 30, LanCath 21
– New Oxford vs. Kennard-Dale: NO 29, K-D 13
D5/D6
– Bishop Guilfoyle vs. Bellwood-Antis: BG 33, B-A 16
– Huntingdon vs. Tyrone: Hunt 34, Tyr 16
– Juniata Valley vs. Mt. Union: MU 29, JV 15
– Everett vs. Windber: Windy 26, Everett 18
– Marion Center vs. Northern Cambria: D6 MC 42, NoCam 21
D9/D10
– Cathedral Prep vs. McDowell: ECP 32, McD 20
– Oil City vs. Erie: Erie 29, OC 21
– Reynolds vs. Wilmington: Wilmy 25, Reynolds 23
– Kane vs. Union/A-C Valley: U/A-CV 39, Kane 14
– Punxsutawney vs. Redbank Valley: Punxsy 35, RV 20
WPIAL/City
– Hempfield vs. Norwin: Norwin 25, H’field 13
– Pine-Richland vs. Penn Hills: P-R 23, PH 20
– South Fayette vs. USC: USC 26, SF 20
– Moon vs. Peters: Peters 34, Moon 17
– Montour vs. New Castle: Montour 30, NC 16
– Chartiers Valley vs. Belle Vernon: CharVal 33, BVA 20
– Central Valley vs. North Catholic: CWNC 34, CV 16
– Steel Valley vs. Apollo-Ridge: Steel Val 28, A-R 13
– Keystone Oaks vs. Washington: Prexies 34, KO 15
– Fort Cherry vs. Cornell: FC 36, Cornell 19
– University Prep vs. Allderdice: TA 32, USO 14
Crossover
– Hollidaysburg (6) vs. Jersey Shore (4): H’burg 32, JS 21
– ANC vs. Bristol (1): Bristol 34, ANC 14
– Karns City (9) vs. Westinghouse: Westy 37, KC 13
– Farrell (10) vs. Steubenville (OH): Farrell 33, Dean Martin’s Town 21
– Albert Gallatin (7) vs. Clear Spring (MD): AG 33, CS 21
– Kiski vs. Wyoming Sem: Kiski 26, Sem 16
McDowell has dominated Erie Prep the last several years I would flip your score I like McDowell by 2 TDs.
I like all your wpial picks I am at pine vs Penn hills and I expect pine wins by 3 scores and won’t be close like you predicted.
I hope you are right about your LaSalle pick but I like SJP to win.
Looks like Baldwin is looking into leaving the WPIAL and going independent for football. Hopefully more follow.
I’ve been saying they should go independent for the last couple of years, by far the worst program in the WPIAL in classes 4-6, they need to play much smaller schools just to have a chance to be competitive, let alone win. If Butler can do it, who has a far more storied tradition, then Baldwin can too.
Fox Chapel sent a proposal to the WPIAL to form conferences based on ability, wins/loses, and roster size, I think that’s going absolutely nowhere for now. Their players and parents were not not notified prior to the request to Pine Richland last week to shorten the quarters and many of them and were very upset with the administration and thought it sent a very bad message to the kids. Fox Chapel is in much better shape than Baldwin, they are a pretty wealthy district and no reason they can’t be somewhat respectable and win some games here and there, wasn’t that long ago they were winning 6-7 games a year and sometimes even making the playoffs.
I truly like the idea of making conferences that fit competitive angles, rather than the traditional “if you’re 5A, you’re 5A”.
I wish more schools could jump on board with that. Especially looking at 1A/2A, where Clairton has to play Springdale every year. Springdale should play in a conference with teams like a Mapletown or Summit Academy, while Clairton could play with Fort Cherry, Canevin, & other 1A/2A schools.
We see this a lot with the Monroe County schools, especially since they have regular blowouts against non-Allentown teams.
If anything, the PIAA should have voluntary allowances to drop down to the class they feel most competitive with.
The WPIAL would argue with well over 100 schools in the district playing football it would be very difficult to make that concept work especially when the schools are spread over so many counties and a large geographical area.
Was going to do an @ Jeff H. regarding them and I believe Fox Chapel?? Saw probably the same thing you did earlier in the week with both schools penning open letters addressing their controversies requesting shortened quarters and a running clock for their recent games. Also mentioned to the WPIAL about looking into reworking future schedules and conferences taking into consideration roster sizes, competitive balances and geography, not just classifications. Sounds like they were listening to me. I guess also threatening like you said of leaving the WPIAL and going independent if something isn’t done.
The chances of the WPIAL considering Fox Chapel’s/Baldwin’s request to base conferences on roster size/record, etc. are, as Chris Schenkel said in the movie Kingpin after Woody Harrelson aka Roy Munson left the 7-10 split in the 10th frame, “slim to none and slim has just left the building!” The WPIAL is like the NFL, it’s all about the “shield”, they are not going to cater to some struggling programs and change their entire format for making conferences, they would rather these programs go independent than do that. I am not defending the WPIAL, I’m just saying that’s the way it is around here, the WPIAL is a very autocratic organization and they do what’s best for the WPIAL brand and not individual schools.
To expand on my prior comments Baldwin has a much better argument for going independent than Fox Chapel. Baldwin has far fewer players on the roster (30 vs, 49), and they play a significantly tougher schedule than Fox Chapel, as they are in the same conference with traditional powers Peters, USC, Bethel Park, as well as Moon and South Fayette, the only good teams in Fox Chapel’s conference are Pine Richland and Penn Hills, and to a lesser extent North Hills, as Shaler and Plum are mediocre at best. Baldwin also has a significantly tougher nonconference schedule, they play TJ just because they are a bordering district which is ridiculous, the WPIAL gave FC a much easier nonconference schedule than Baldwin.
Fox Chapel’s remaining 4 games are against teams with losing records, starting tonight against 0-6 Franklin Regional, also 3A East Allegheny who is 1-5, and conference opponents Shaler and Plum, if they focused on the remaining opponents instead of whining about Pine Richland maybe they could win a few of these games and have a decent year. I have very little sympathy for Fox Chapel because they have the resources to have a good program and they don’t, they are good in a lot of other sports, including basketball and baseball, and the country club sports, no reason their football program can’t be respectable, when my kids were in the Woodland Hills band a decade ago FC had some solid teams and made the playoffs a couple of years.
Not a football situation, but just saw that the Philadelphia Catholic League admitted Holy Ghost Prep (they do not have a football team, maybe in the future??) into the PCL family. My questions are why now and what changed from a few years ago when they were denied admittance into the PCL?? I didn’t understand that one back then, especially when Devon Prep got admitted around that time. Also, who may be next?? Shanahan, PJPII, Malvern Prep, another (or several) all girls academy??
As I recall Holy Ghost Prep ticked off a couple of Catholic League Athletic Directors years ago and the good ol boy network didn’t vote them in the 1st time they applied, I heard the vote wasn’t even close. Time heals all wounds, HGP is an elite academic school, 27K tuition, what is surprising is that they are a 5A school with 450 boys. I doubt they start a football program, do they form a coop with Archbishop Wood? Doubtful as that would put AW in the 6A classification and who wants to tangle with St Joe Prep and LaSalle. I also heard that Devon Prep was considering a football coop with Carroll a few years ago but that never materialized. PJP and Shanahan are happy where they are in the PAC and Chestmont, joining the Catholic League would hurt both sports programs, I am sure Lansdale Catholic wishes they were in the PAC.
@ kevin X…. I believe a couple schools close to HGP, Ryan and Judge voted again them the first time. I really doubt they add football. I think this is just about HGP. I dont think either PJP or Shanahan have any interest in the Catholic league. They both are in good leagues and have natural rivals that are close in location to them. The students can support the teams both home and away. Why leave that to go to a league where they would spend all their time traveling to the city and would get very little support. Plus competing against those schools particularly in basketball is tough as LC found out. They reload with multiple D1 players every yr. Im sure there are are a few public schools in both the Pac and Ches-mont who would love to see them leave but that is a narrow minded and short sighted point of view. The Pac in particular cant afford to lose a school that puts competitive teams on the field and court most yrs.
@ Kevin X – Looks like Roman made a statement on Friday with their win over LaSalle and stamped themselves as the clear favorite to win 5A. I think the only 5A schools that have the talent to match up with them are McDevitt and Pine Richland, who I expect to meet in the Western finals for the 2nd year in a row.
The USC vs. Peters game was back and forth with 6 lead changes, neither team had more than a 4 point lead and was tied 10-10 at half, very good and entertaining game, Peters stopped them on fourth and 2 from the 11 yard line with less than a minute to go in the game to preserve the 24-20 win. Both are very good, but I don’t think either are as good as Pine Richland, I think PR would control the line of scrimmage against either of them and wear them down in the 2nd half. I’m going to see PR again this week so I’ll have a little better feel then, but after seeing all the top 5A teams in the WPIAL in person PR is definitely the favorite to win WPIAL 5A.
Watched the game replay earlier this week. Roman’s passing game/QB (Beals) is insane. Good luck to the rest of 5A in the east come November.
That’s why I think Pine Richland might be one of the few 5A teams in the state that can match up talent wise with RC, they have 2 Power 4 receivers with Jay Timmons going to Florida State and Khalil Taylor going to Penn State, he’s one of the top rated junior receivers in the country and has been ruled eligible for the playoffs after transferring from Seton LaSalle. Their QB Aaron Strader is also getting some D1 offers and is a dual threat passing and running. I’m going to see PR tonight against Penn Hills, I would be surprised if PR doesn’t win by a pretty comfortable margin, pretty slim pickings tonight for marque games in the WPIAL.
D2 Notes. An honestly boring week, so I’m going to give a breakdown by class, to spice things up. I believe I only missed the Pittston/Crestwood outcome.
3A
– We now know that Berwick gets the #1 seed after a dominant win over Wyoming Area. A tough schedule did not matter. Berwick’s running game did.
– Prep, Mid Valley, & C’dale are 3-4-5. This likely stays that way, at least for now.
– Lake-Lehman (.478) leads Hanover Area (.468) for the 6-seed
– Tunkhannock & Western Wayne are in a fight for the 8. I think this battle may come down to the wire.
1A
– Checking in on the will they/won’t they subregional semis, starting at the top, as Marian got their first loss
– Trail winning pushed them to the #1.
– It would be district final Week 11, at this point. Holy Cross has the final spot of the four (.439 to .378)
– EC wise, the 1A/2A game might be the first loser of the 1A vs. Halifax (if they are part of the EC, which I believe the old Tri-Valley teams are).
5A
– Pittston is legit & Russick should win the Coach Of The Year. They didn’t just beat a good Crestwood team. They destroyed the living heck out of them. Look out, Pittston might actually have a district championship caliper team this year.
– Speaking of, Abington Heights lost to DV, which leapfrogs Pittston to the #1 seed. As we look ahead, Pittston has Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Paupack, & Wyo Area. You’d think 3-1, at minimum, locks up home field. Splitting, it depends on what AH does. They have Prep, Paupack, Scranton, & Hazleton.
2A
– Lakeland & Dunmore played a fairly good game, with Lakeland winning 28-14. Looks like Dunmore may be on the road this time in 2A.
– Holy Redeemer & Susquehanna may have a battle for the 4-seed after all. Looking at the remaining schedule, the Royals have Montrose, Montgomery, CMVT, & Midd-West. Susquehanna has Old Forge, Trail, C’dale, & Holy Cross. Will strength of Susq’s schedule prevail over Redeemer’s favorable enough indie schedule? We shall see.
4A
– Not too much on the changes. All of the teams won & lost exactly how they were supposed to.
– Crestwood & Dallas might be the only teams to flip in 4A, but I still think it’s too late for changes.
– However, there’s a legit chance that we may see a D2 rep play in EC. Depends on if Wallenpaupack or Honesdale gets one of the games. The Buckhorns lead their rival .414 to .380.
– Unofficial EC numbers of teams that have a shot to play: Selinsgrove is at a .386, CMVT at .345, & Hamburg at .381 are all that’s left in 4A EC.
6A
– Whew. What a thriller for Williamsport. That was a Scorigami waiting to happen. They lose & give Wilkes-Barre home field.
– It feels like Scranton & Hazleton are going to be traveling. Don’t see them swapping spots just yet.
Something a little different, some shout outs, acknowledgements, tips of the hat, kudos, to teams that are having a heck of year that we rarely hear about or teams that had some recent down years and are getting their mojo back. Just going to hit on some of the far eastern teams, if you have team in D3 or D4, or even further west in the state, give them their deserving due. From generally north to south……..
District 2:
North Pocono (4A). 6-0 and probably the fav in D2 4A. Tougher part of the schedule upcoming with Valley View, Del Val and Scranton Prep. But first half big wins over Abington Heights and……..
Pittston Area (5A). When was the last time you saw PA mentioned here outside of D2 Fans predictions and wraps?? Can they win D2 5A?? Why not.
Berwick (3A). Didn’t know if they were contenders or pretenders. After this past weekend, I’ll put them in the contenders category. I still think Scranton Prep will win D2 3A, but welcome back Dawgs.
District 11: Having tough time finding a team (or teams) to meet my criteria. Was going to mention Easton, but they were the #1 seed in D11 6A last year. A lot of same old same old in the Lehigh Valley. A good amount of D11 chat here lately, so I’ll let you guys fill in any D11 blanks for me.
District 1: Decided to do a separate post strictly with D1 in a day or so. Quite a few to mention.
District 12/PCL: Lansdale Catholic (2A). Ok, they had good year last year, did loose to a Riverside team in close 2A state playoff game who gave Troy a run for the money. They are currently 5-1 with the only loss to a 5A Father Judge in a close game down the shore early in the season. Still have Wood and Ryan on the schedule, but maybe we’ll see them in the D12 2A playoffs against……
District 12/PPL: Universal Audenried Charter (2A). Shayla Smith (GBB) put Audenried on the map (at least my map) the past few years, but the football team is in it’s first year of varsity play and is 4-2. Keep it up guys!!!
Inter-Ac: Episcopal Academy. After a few off years, they are 5-0 entering league play. Can they knock off the mighty Malvern Prep?? Doubtful, but they will not be an easy out.
It’s my alma mater, so factor in appropriate rose colored glasses, but Easton being good again after back-to-back 3-8 years in 2023 and 2024 is kind of a fun story. They had a really good year last year, but graduated both 1,000 yard running backs and their entire receiving corps. They’re doing it with a three year starter at quarterback (whose dad was the QB for the 1993 team that lost 6-3 to CB West in the Eastern Final for the old timers out there) and a veteran offensive line, but a whole new cast of characters touching the ball and in the back seven on defense. I was cautiously optimistic about the Senneca hire, but he is exceeding all expectations and seems to have Easton back where they belong.
I’ll give a tip of the cap to some WPIAL schools who are off to a great start. In 2A Western Beaver is 6-0 for the first time in 20yrs, they installed lights on their field in the offseason so they are playing under the lights for the first time and the community is buzzing with their start. Another 2A team off to a 6-0 start is South Allegheny, they won their only WPIAL title in 1977 and have been improving the last several years, winning a first round playoff game last year for the first time since their title season before losing a heartbreaker 13-12 to Ellwood City in the quarterfinals, and appear to be better this year. 2A in the WPIAL is wide open, several good teams but no great teams, and either one or both of these schools could make a run in the playoffs.
In 3A both Freeport and Southmoreland are 6-0, neither will challenge Avonworth, but both should make the playoffs and perhaps win a game, Southmoreland has never won a WPIAL playoff game but this could be the year.
In 4A New Castle is off to a nice start at 5-1, shutting out 5A Penn Hills in the season opener to give PH their first shutout in 5yrs, and on Friday night they beat Aliquippa for the first time since 1987. New Castle has a long and storied history and one of the winningest programs in WPIAL history, but they have fallen on hard times in recent years and it’s nice to see them having a bounce back season, they play Montour on Friday in a key conference matchup.
Some ugly scores out of D11 tonight. It remains a mystery to me why the EPC didn’t just make an 8-team division with the Monroe teams and Dieruff/Allen, and a 10-team division with the other Valley teams. Actually no, it’s not a mystery, the Valley wanted to make sure they could get easy wins as a boost in the playoff formula. Because that’s more important than having entertaining games during the regular season.
They did kind of do that – teams get one crossover with the Monroe County division and most of them were last night. It’s better than it was now with true open dates where teams can go schedule as they like. It’s worst in wrestling, where the discrepancy is insane and wastes competition points for nationally competitive teams.
I also get why football specifically wanted to merge. Remember the year an 8-2 Whitehall team missed the playoff for an undefeated Stroudsburg and 9-1 Pleasant Valley who both got their doors blown off in the first round. How many times was the D11 champ the 7 seed who could beat up on the Monroe Counry two seed in the first round – better then having a bye. Merging leagues motivated some of that.
Yeah wrestling in the EPC is a complete mess. The ranking formula is just too punishing for raw wins/losses and doesn’t consider strength of schedule strongly enough. At least in football these days, with more than 50% of teams making the playoffs, there’s some leeway towards teams having tougher schedules and you can afford to have tougher divisions. It’s a shame though, because a 10-team EPC South makes so much obvious sense, as does an 8-team EPC North, but like you said teams were motivated by getting those last playoff spots so they don’t want to get rid of the easy wins on the schedule.
It’s less the easy wins and getting those Monroe county teams some losses. But yes, the real conference that makes sense is the old fashioned East Penn, with Nazareth instead of Phillipsburg.
Wrestling it’s just the waste of matches. Easton this year will wrestle Stroudsburg, Pocono Mountain East, Pocono Mountain West, Dieruff, and William Allen. Then Becahi, Nazareth, Parkland, Liberty, and Phillipsburg. No Northampton!!! Which certainly in my era was the second biggest event on the calendar behind Easton-P’Burg football. They’re required to have 9 league matches, but five of them are terrible, it’s luck of the draw on the other four. I’ve found it harder to renew my season tickets where you’re getting one good home dual. Go back 20 years ago, the dual schedule has – Nazareth, Northampton, Phillipsburg, Freedom, Liberty, Blair Academy, State College, Caesar Rodney, Wilson, Bishop Lynch (TX), Sidney (MT), plus State College (again) and Council Rock South at a dual tournament. They’re only going to two big individual tournaments (Reno/Manheim) instead of three (Beast/Trojan Wars/ETR) but the change in dual quality is staggering.
Can’t get the Monroe teams easy losses if they don’t waste the Valley teams’ time by putting them on the schedule instead of actual rivals. If a Monroe team goes 9-1 or 8-2 and gets a higher seed in the playoffs so be it, at least that’s just one game instead of a whole week of blowouts.
Upper perk upsets PJP tonight 23-16. Football is a game of emotion and that was true tonight. One team U Perk was focused and came to play the other Pjp played with no emotion from the start and it showed. Pjp had defeated Rustin and Shanahan who both beat Unionville a team that beat Upper Perk handily a few weeks ago but none of the matter tonight..Pjp learned a tough lesson tonight when you don’t come to play it will cost you. Upper Perk is in the driver’s seat for a chance to most likely play Perk Valley for the pac title, Pjp will have to regroup.
Irish, you could hear a pin drop in the stadium, I don’t think I ever seen PJP that flat or play so poorly. UP played mistake free football and PJP beat themselves with 3 turnovers and several penalties. UP recovering that onside kick at the start of the 2nd half gave them momentum. 1st loss for PJP in the Division in 7 years, UP will represent the PAC frontier this year in the Championship game. With Boyertown beating Perkiomen Valley, who has been disappointing so far, I haven’t the slightest idea who wins the big school division in the PAC, it could be PV, Spring Ford, Owen J Roberts or Boyertown. Will probably go to the Spring Ford/PV game next week as the atmosphere in Royersford will be crazy.
Pjp body language was poor all night looked totally out of it definitely not the norm for them..Credit to Upper Perk they played very well defensively
Boyertown beats Perks Valley?? Bizarro World night for the Perks!!!
NWL & North schuykill
First half Started out Nw didn’t show up but second half Wow!
North schuykill got beat up front like night and day! NS is big up front!
Nw is young, but them sophomores can play!
That coaching staff @ NWL is something to see at the high school level! NW out adjusted/coached!
@CW I watched the entire game as well and almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing. In the first half, NS was bullying NW at the line of scrimmage, trying to arm tackle and losing gap integrity. Couple that with a turnover and a few bad penalties I thought NS would wear down NW but man was I was wrong.
If anything NS was the team that got worn down in the 2nd half, the adjustments from the coaches and energy from the boys turned the 18-13 halftime deficit into 43 unanswered points and a 49-18 win.
After watching that game, I am not sure ND or NS have a shot in districts if they put a whole game together. Leh looked good, skill guys and yea, lots of sophomores and juniors out there.
That is a great community to see a hs football game. Been there several times now. NS was putting it to them first quarter up front. They were making it hard on NW to see the running back miller and he would take off. He is a good football player on both sides. That first half is gonna make NW a much better football team going forward. Them younger sophomores,juniors learned a lot. The 2nd half was something to see! That coaching is imo tops at high school level. That is a good football program they have in New Tripoli. They maybe playing deep into the season next several years.
North schuylkill coaching has and is atrocious. There defensive coaching in big games is non existent. Miller ran all over northwestern lehigh. At 18-13 at the end of the first half and 4th and 1 in northwestern lehigh territory instead of calling time out they rush a play and get called for a penalty that should have never happened. They punt on 4th and 6. With two timeouts and 59 seconds they don’t use any of the two timeouts they still have left with nw lehigh at there own 1 I’d line. Down 21-18 and driving after Miller broke another big run they get called for a penalty on 4th and 6 and the drive is done. They have no kicker? Lol ns is a large 3a school. Nw lehigh doesn’t have more talent than north schuylkill. There about the same on a talent level this year. The problem is the coaching at nw lehigh and the play calling and adjustments made are on another level. When is north schuylkill going to realize the years that have been wasted with such talent.
@Ns I definitely agree with the coaching part but I don’t agree with the talent part, especially from the skill positions. Nw has maybe 5 or 6 guys that can score and are a threat, NS has Miller and Mengel. You could see Miller wearing down because they don’t have any other options that are threats.
If anywhere, I’d say NS has a better line but they should, Nw is starting 3 sophomores. Even the line as the game wore on looked to lose the pep in their step.
It shouldn’t have been a 31 point game, but maybe a 2 score game? Hard to tell because Nw did not come out ready to play, which they do more than you’d like.
If you could please explain how the points get figured out for the district seed. I have been trying to understand.
Or is there a Piaa explanation on line?
I love when people say a team didn’t come out ready to play. Lol ok well we will disregard the 2nd half then because ns didn’t come out ready to play. They have a backup RB who is a legitimate threat and a wr who is a threat. They have a 6’7 wide receiver who they don’t throw too. Nw Lehigh is the better team and it’s because the coaches coach. 3a school who doesn’t have a kicker, name one????
Yes I agree with you! It is clearly seen over the past few years. NS is another good football program that is not putting the pieces together.
That falls on the leadership.
NDGP is currently almost 5 pts ahead of NWL in standings. With four weeks to go NDGP still has 5-1 pen argyl and 4-2 Palisades. If both go undefeated, I think NDGP would stay ahead of NWL by points and get first seed?
There is no way that notre dame finishes ahead of nw lehigh if they both win out
NS will probably end 7-3 or 6-4 and get the third seed and with Notre Dame and NWL probably going undefeated NWL will be second seed meaning a rematch at NWL in d11 semi finals. We’ll see if NS can hold up better in that game but I would bet on NWL winning by 2-3 scores. Like 31-17 or 34-20.
Rest of PA
D4
– Danville vs. Southern Columbia: SCA 35, Danville 21
– Montgomery vs. Muncy: Muncy 26, Monty 21
– North Penn-Mansfield vs. Warrior Run: WR 29, NPM 22
D11
– Central Catholic vs. Emmaus: Emmaus 31, ACC 16
– Northampton vs. PM West: N’ham 33, PMW 13
– PM East vs. Bethlehem Catholic: Beca 40, PME 13
– North Schuylkill vs. Northwestern Lehigh: NWL 31, NS 22
– NDGP vs. Northern Lehigh: NDGP 30, NL 16
– Schuylkill Haven vs. Williams Valley: SH 41, WV 28
D1
– CB East vs. North Penn: NP 31, CBE 13
– CB West vs. Neshaminy: CBW 32, Nesh 17
– D’town East vs. WC East: DTE 32, WCE 10
– Marple-Newtown vs. Strath Haven: Strath 34, M-N 18
– WC Henderson vs. Shanahan: Shanahan 35, WCH 10
– Bayard Rustin vs. D’town West: BR 27, DTW 26
– Chester vs. Chichester: Chester 38, Chic 14
– Upper Perk vs. PJP: PJP 43, UP 10
D12
– La Salle vs. Roman: La Salle 31, Roman 24
– O’Hara vs. Bonner-Prendie: B-P 36, COH 13
– West Catholic vs. Lansdale Catholic: LC 28, WC 13
– Mastery North vs. Belmont Charter: BC 21, MCN 14
D3
– State College vs. Central Dauphin: SC 33, CD 15
– Red Land vs. Mechanicsburg: Mech 23, RL 19
– West Perry vs. East Pennsboro: EP 23, WP 21
– Steel-High (3) vs. Line Mtn (4): S-H 44, Line Mtn. 26
– Exeter Twp. vs. Ephrata: Exeter 24, Eph 20
– Conrad Weiser vs. Solanco: CW 33, Solanco 16
– Eastern York vs. West York: WY 27, EY 23
D5/6
– Tyrone vs. Bishop Guilfoyle: BG 31, Tyrone 17
– Bellwood-Antis vs. Philipsburg-Osceola: B-A 29, P-O 17
– Meyersdale vs. Berlin: BBros 26, M’dale 20
– Conemaugh Twp vs. Marion Center: MC 42, Cone Twp. 14
– River Valley vs. United Valley: RV 31, UV 21
D9/10
– Dubois vs. Punxsutawney: Punx 25, DuB 21
– Central Clarion vs. Karns City: CC 28, KC 23
– Brockway vs. Keystone: Keystone 25, Brock 24
– Farrell vs. Wilmington: Farrell 24, Wilmy 20
– Cambridge Springs vs. Reynolds: Reynolds 32, CS 21
WPIAL
– PCC vs. North Allegheny: PCC 34, NA 24
– USC vs. Peters: Peters 27, USC 22
– Bethel Park vs. Moon: BP 31, Moon 14
– Aliquippa vs. New Castle: Quip 28, NC 13
– Thomas Jefferson vs. Belle Vernon: TJ 33, BV 16
– North Catholic vs. Imani: ICA 26, NC 19
– Avonworth vs. Central Valley: A’worth 27, CV 15
– Washington vs. South Park: SP 31, Prexies 19
– Clairton vs. Jeannette: Clairton 43, Jeannette 17
– South Side vs. Monessen: SS 34, Mon 21
Crossover
– Fort Hill (MD) vs. Hollidaysburg (6): H’burg 22, FH 17
– McDowell (10) vs. Warren Harding (OH): McD 22, Harding 20
– St. Francis (NY) vs. Cathedral Prep (10): ECP 27, Francis 21
– Hickory (10) vs. Canfield (OH): Hickory 31, Canfield 21
– Albert Gallatin (7) vs. Allegany (MD): AG 21, Allegany 18
– Gonzaga (DC) vs. Malvern Prep (PA): Zags 27, MP 21
– Episcopal (PA) vs. Blair (NJ) EA 23, Blair 13
– Hill (PA) vs. Pennington (NJ): Hill 21, PS 20
Pine Richland plays hapless Fox Chapel tonight in a conference game, and PR agreed to the Foxes request to play a regular 12 minute first quarter, with 8 minute quarters for the final 3 and a running clock in the second half. Fox Chapel is 2-3 on the year, having lost the last 2 weeks to Plum and Penn Hills by a combined score of 105-21, Pine won this game last year 71-0.
Baldwin asked their 5 conference opponents (Peters, USC, Bethel, Moon and South Fayette) to play a running clock the whole game, but PIAA rules won’t allow that. To give you an idea of how bad Baldwin is they lost to Fox Chapel earlier this season 48-14, and only have 30 players on a 5A squad, they will likely get mercy ruled their last 5 games.
1A Springdale postponed their game tonight against Leechburg due to lack of healthy players, those schools have been playing each other for 75+ years.
Just a sign of the times with some downtrodden football programs.
Football is a brutal game and players don’t want to deal with the health risks just to get blown out. Football scheduling needs some serious rethinking statewide.
Yup. Might be time to think about downgrading your football program to a club level sport (guess first we need to institute something like that), go independent, or like it was discussed before, 8-man, if the so called adults in the room don’t see this, can’t figure this out and ultimately do something about this. People need to get out this dark age mindset that classification and school size is the measuring stick of how good and competitive a team is. I can’t believe people outside of family members would actual pay money and take time out of their Friday evening to see some of these games.
@ Jeff H
Since there was no reply option to your last post, and this message board got reset again (very annoying), I copied and pasted your last post:
“Do you think the D1 winner has a realistic chance against Roman? I have my doubts, especially when you say D1 5A is not as strong as last year, but wondering your thoughts? I am going to see Peters vs. USC tomorrow night, and probably Pine Richland again next week, I do think the WPIAL winner has a pretty good chance to beat Bishop McDevitt, assuming they win D3 which seems likely, do any of you D3 guys think Exeter or anyone else will challenge McDevitt?”
Give the D3 guys a chance to respond as well.
The short answer to your D1 5A vs RC question: No
Longer answer: I’m headed to D-Town tomorrow (Yeah, Kottmeyer!!!) to see DTW and WC Rustin. My next top D1 5A team to check out. Next week could be interesting, as it might be Roman’s turn on Friday at O’Hara, and a bonus Saturday night game with Springfield Delco (Haverford again). So hopefully by the end of next weekend I’ll have better feel. Wild card is still Chester, no idea what to take away from their current body of work or how prepared they’ll be come November.
I don’t see any team beating McDevitt in D3. Exeter plays a weak schedule while McDevitt plays a very difficult schedule. It showed last year as McDevitt blew out Exeter in the playoffs.
I could see O’Hara giving Bonnor a run for their money in District 12 4 A
They play this afternoon, so we’ll see. Guess all four PCL 4A teams will meet again in the D12/PCL playoffs late Oct./early Nov.
Week 6 starts the second half of D2 Football. A few good games, but one true marquee game.
– Abington Heights vs. Delaware Valley (LFC 1): DV’s homecoming is always a good one. The homecoming game usually features a good division game & this could decide who may take 2nd in division, if Scranton Prep isn’t. I think that the Comets will try to spoil homecoming in Milford, but DV seems back to normal & go back to back.
– Lakeland vs. Dunmore (LFC 2): Over the last few years, this game lost its appeal due to Lakeland’s struggles. Well, this season has both teams being at least good. This is where I think Lakeland takes it. I think they have something cooking.
– Carbondale vs. Montrose (LFC 3): Yeah, if only Old Forge was good. This is a good test for Montrose, but also a compelling game to pick, unlike winless Old Forge/Trail. All of the LFC 3 games are. Easy pick is with C’dale.
– Pittston vs. Crestwood (WVC 1): Pittston’s now a threat to win this division. Their next test? A showdown with Crestwood. Jaden Shedlock is a quality QB. The question I have is: Can Pittston beat two of the best division teams back to back? I’ll just have them prove me wrong again. This game is also a potential division crowning game, if either beat Wilkes-Barre.
– Wyoming Area vs. Berwick (WVC 2): WVC Game of the Year perhaps? This is going to determine home field in 3A. I think it’s the Warriors taking this one, thanks to their battle tested schedule, but don’t be too surprised if Berwick’s running game puts them over the top.
– Scranton vs. Valley View (LFC HM): This is a game that’s under the radar in the league. Yeah, Scranton has been hit or miss, but I think you can’t count them out against VV. It’s still VV’s to win. The matchups just aren’t great in the LFC this week.
– Hanover Area vs. Tunkhannock (WVC HM): The only appeal here is playoff seeding. I’ll take Hanover Area to get back to .500.
– Dallas vs. North Pocono (D2 HM): Maybe not as compelling of a game as you’d think, but it still fits the bill. North Pocono is rolling through the competition. Second test in two weeks. They should defeat Dallas.
– Jersey Shore vs. Williamsport (6A): Billtown has a great team this season, but they’re not going to have an easy time against the Bulldogs. I’ll say the rivalry game goes to the better program at the Shore.
– Minersville vs. Marian (1A Battle): The easy part of Marian’s schedule is out of the way. All that’s left are some games that they can win, but also open a slot for home field for Trail, if they lose. Unfortunately, that’s what I have. It’s the marquee game in the 1A side of things, as the other two are going to opposing valleys (Panther & Shenandoah).
Scores
– AH 24, DV 22
– Lakeland 28, Dunmore 20
– C’dale 34, Montrose 13
– Crestwood 27, Pittston 24
– Wyo Area 30, Berwick 27
– VV 31, Scranton 13
– Hanover Area 21, Tunk 14
– NP 26, Dallas 21
– Shore 26, Billtown 13
– Marian 28, Minersville 23
Thursday PA Games
– Taylor Allderdice vs. Westinghouse: Westy 35, TA 10
– William Allen vs. Parkland: Parkland 63, Allen 0
I’ll be very surprised if the Marian – Minersville game is within 2 scores. Marian may be able to move the rock a little bit on Minersville on the ground, but overall, Minersville is much better. Records don’t indicate it but like you said, Marian has played 1 decent opponent all year. Minersville’s offense should be overpowering.
District 2 Playoff Check-In
1A
– Marian holds a slim lead at the #1 seed in a current D-11 heavy race, over Trail (.688 to .669)
– Tri-Valley is safely 3rd
– Holy Cross jumped Nativity (.414 to .381)
– If HC holds during the second half, both districts play their finals Week 11 before the Subregional.
2A
– Lakeland & Riverside comfortably hold the home field seeds
– Dunmore at #3, Holy Redeemer at #4. Don’t see Susquehanna leapfrogging in barring a change in play.
3A
– Wyoming Area & Berwick are top 2 seeds. The #1 seed will be determined Friday.
– Prep shoots up to #3 (.471), while surprise Carbondale (.461) holds the 4
– #5 Mid Valley would travel to C’dale (.443)
– Lake-Lehman barely leads Hanover Area for the 6 seed (.433 to .428)
– Tunkhannock is at .423 & not that far off, but hold a .04-ish pt lead of Western Wayne
4A
– North Pocono & Valley View are safely in 1 & 2. Don’t see many changes.
– Crestwood & Dallas hold comfortable leads & will most likely not fall out. Paupack is in 5th at a .436. Paupack must win games to challenge Dallas, though a very tall task.
5A
– Abington Heights has a comfortable lead at #1 (.691 to .643). They should be safe, for the moment.
– Pittston looks to be comfortably at #2…for now, thanks to the upsets.
– Valley West at 3 & DV at 4 (but expect that to change)
– West Scranton basically needs a win or two to catch Valley West.
6A
– Williamsport holds the #1 over WBA (.607 to .599). They should battle for the 1-seed
– Scranton & Hazleton would travel as the 3 & 4 seeds
EC probably comes out in the next two weeks.
I believe in 3A only 4 teams make it from D2 this year as it flips and D11 get 8.
You are correct. You got me thinking after your previous post about the brackets. Just saw yesterday that this year D2 and D4 only have 4 qualifiers compared to 8 last year. This year D11 and D12 have 8 qualifiers vs only 4 last year. Ironic that all 4 of those districts have 9 schools in the 3A classification, so the PIAA split them up and flipped them this year with 4 vs 8 qualifiers due to the overall bracket limitations. Anyways, this year the D2 rep plays at the D4 rep whose winner then hosts the D11 rep. The D12 rep hosts the D3 rep. Those winners play in the 3A eastern final/state semi final. Got all of that (quiz tomorrow)….. 🙂