Are you ready for some football?
Welcome to the official forum on high school football for the 2026 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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Scouting report for williams valley, shot gun formation qb keeper, shot gun formation scissors play to wr over left end. Shotgun formation running back in motion from wr position to backfield pitch to running back. The end.
CB West 35-23 over Wilson West Lawn.
CBW up 28-9 @ half. 1st half was a complete disaster for Wilson. Two mis handled snaps, muffed punt, facemask after a sack on 3rd down. 5 turnovers in the 1st half, including a fumble at CBW 2, on 1st & goal. Wilson D gave up a 36 yd TD on 4th & 11. It was unreal.
WWL actually outplayed them in the 2nd half, but the damage was already done. WWL all state RB, touched the ball once, got hurt, and never returned. There’s no crying in football, so WWL better get the mistakes out of their system, they still have Manheim Twp, who beat Neshaminy by 21 tonight, and Central York, who put up 42 on North Penn as well.
Jamin Ilgenfritz
All you need to know. Good Knight all.
They call him 3 play tomtishen.
Haven losing by two scores to Tamaqua wasn’t on my bingo card. They have blue mountain next week so 0-3 for the AA preseason favorites in d11??
Blue Mountain wins.
That’s what I think as well. I know haven returned a stud RB but I’m thinking the lines were hit by graduation? Anyone that follows haven have any insight? They also play Williams valley which is tough. Their schedule does lighten up but 6-4 isn’t what I thought Haven would be this year. Dist 11 AA is wide open. Shenendoah is better (although they played two weaker teams). Northern should be around 6-7 wins, Minersville should be around 6 wins. Could have the whole 4 team field at 5-7 wins going into playoffs.
Haven lost 10 or more players from last year to graduation. I believe majority lost was particularly at RB positions. Seems like they lost depth at other positions as well, oline, dline. Very possible they lose more games.
There rb who almost rushed for 3,000 yds is back
Yeah that’s what I thought. Interesting why they were ranked so high in state rankings. Looks like this week and williams valley will be loses as well for them. Whoever comes out of dist 11 2A probably loses to dunmore anyway and definitely southern.
Looks like we are definitely heading to a great 3A district 11 final with NDGP and Northwestern Lehigh. Both look really good again. In 2A, Northern and Haven both lose. Shocking tamaqua beat haven by two scores. AA looks wide open in D11 this year. Northern, Haven, and Minersville in the hunt.
IMO Northwestern rookie QB is as talented as any in district. Also he is coach snyder son who is very good at teaching the game.I’ve coached against and watched this group of kids in grades 10-12 playing 2026 they are very talented and they are football smart & physical. I believe the downside for nw next several weeks will be competitive speed of the teams they play. But coaching staff at NWL is gonna have this team playing good disciplined football! I think they got that lesson last yr from Avonworth.
The kids have bought into the expectations of coach Snyder and his staff! The OL is very talented and they move as a unit.
Much respect to the program they have built.
Finally got Week 2 picks done. Some games are already final, but I’ll have to sort these, so they’re in district order, for now.
I saw Kevin (I think) ask about having say on some picks. I mean, if that’s something you guys want to help out with, or help make sure I have the right marquee games (at minimum), I’m cool with it!
https://docs.gohttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GUxlidj7VGViUg2plch8PiubTY8TTZf19MuYLcA8jk0/edit?usp=sharingogle.com/spreadsheets/d/1GUxlidj7VGViUg2plch8PiubTY8TTZf19MuYLcA8jk0/edit?usp=sharing
Game of the night in the WPIAL and the game I am going to is a 4A battle between McKeesport and Montour, this could very well be a preview of the WPIAL 4A championship in a couple of months. Looking forward to seeing Kemon Spell again, he’s the best high school RB I’ve seen in person since Miles Sanders graduated from Woodland Hills a decade ago, Tikey Hayes from Aliquippa and Quinton Martin from Belle Vernon were very good, but Spell is on a different level. This should be a very competitive game and would not be surprised in Montour won, but I’ll take McKeesport in a shootout 35-27.
Wow, Coatesville goes down 28-9 last night to Northeast. I thought they, for lack of a better word, looked clunky, last week against P-W. But I chalked it up to it being only week one and still working things out. A long year ahead in the ‘Ville?? NE did play DTE well last week, so maybe they putting together a good season after a few down years.
Sounds like Coatesville is headed for a down year, similar to what I see for North Allegheny this year, they were very lackluster last week in a 13-3 loss to North Hills in the debut of Eric Kasperowicz back at his alma mater. Tonight they play USC who is significantly better than North Hills, so I foresee another loss, then they play Woodland Hills next week who looked great last week against New Castle, and have PR and PCC a few weeks down the road. I’d have to research to find out the last time NA had a losing season but they could be headed that way, we’ll see how they look tonight against a very good USC team.
It looks like their schedule should buy them some time to right the ship before hitting the Downingtown’s and Shanahan. The Abraham Lincoln Rail Splitters are next (who interestingly, travel this week to play the Lincoln Rail Splitters of Brooklyn), followed by OJR and WC East. They should find themselves back to 3-2. If not, they might be fighting for a playoff spot. Their RB had 33 carries last night. With the transfer QB, really thought they’d take to the air much more this year.
If Coatesville struggled against Northeast then I wouldn’t count Lincoln as a win. OJR and WCE have solid squads too. C’ville is staring down the barrel of a 8+ loss season if they don’t turn things around in a big way.
Warm, sticky, humid, mucky night up on the Ridge last night. Caught a good game, a 3 point game entering the 4th qtr. after Souderton punched in their lone TD at the end of the 3rd. Pennridge answered right back, scored again a few minutes later, good ball control from there, and that was about all she wrote (28-11). Not sure what to take from the game. Souderton could be in for a long season, or maybe they just had two tough opponents to start the year. Pennridge at times looked like they picked up right where they left off last year, and at many times, not so much. We’ll see how they fair with NP, CBW, CBS, CRS and Neshaminy as the season marches forward.
Off to Central York/North Penn this evening. Could be the first weekend of three Thursday/Friday games in a row. And even maybe even a Saturday game thrown in for good measure (I have LaSalle/Wood just about inked in for Sat. 9/12).
That CY vs North Penn game sounds like an interesting matchup, the 3 Thursday night games in the WPIAL were all cancelled due to severe storms that rolled through last night, several school districts closed today due to lack of power and storm damage. The games cancelled were Seneca Valley vs. North Hills, Moon vs, Bethel Park, and Shenango vs. Beaver Falls, all were nonconference games and none will be rescheduled, there are some games in doubt tonight due to ongoing power outages.
Wilson WL @ CB West tomorrow
Should be a good measuring stick for both squads. CBW has many returning starters on both sides, and WWL has a lot of speed on both sides, with some nice, experienced guys at RB, WR, TE, DE, LB, DB. Their big, fast, LB core will have to be in top form! I’m guessing trench warfare at it’s finest down in Doylestown Fri. night.
I think the skill / speed advantage goes to Wilson WL, even with the talent that West has returned. It’s very hard to judge both teams off of early season blowouts, but West will need to play very good team football to contain Wilson’s stars. I do know it will be a great night at War Memorial, and regardless of the outcome, these tough early games are good to build off of going into conference play, and they’re good for high school football in general. Central York vs North Penn and Manheim vs Neshaminy are good to see also.
Totally agree its great to see these early season games between districts, good for the kids to matchup against teams outside their district they don’t typically play, gets them better prepared for conference play like you mentioned, more exciting for the fans to see different teams and good for high school football in general, on the small school level its nice to see Steel High travel to Pittsburgh to pay Westinghouse as I noted in a previous post.
Very nice inter district matchup tomorrow between small school powers when Steel High from D3 travels to Pittsburgh to take on Westinghouse from D8, the Pittsburgh City League. Expect both of these schools to make some noise in their respective classes come playoff time, curious who D2 Fan picks in this game, I’ll take Westinghouse 27-20.
Sorry that I didn’t do D2 Notes. I’ll combine Week 1 & 2 in the same thread over the weekend. Just haven’t been myself all week.
I do have picks for you guys from D2 today (& Thursday games on the doc)
Week 2
– Dunmore vs. Lackawanna Trail (GoW): This game looked better on paper in Week 1. Today? Maybe took a peg down after a shocking upset from Western Wayne. Will Trail be influenced to make an upset of their own? I mean…they could, but Dunmore looks to be in midseason form
– Montrose vs. Susquehanna (LFC): One of my surprising misses was Montrose beating Nativity. However, I have to give a tad bit of love to the Battle Of The Bluestone in the LFC column. Give me the Meteors taking their second & going 2-0.
– Berwick vs. Pittston (WVC): Best game in the WVC by far. Both lost games that they were shaky in. One goes to .500. The other? 0-2. I’ll say Berwick, & go against the contrarians that say Pittston.
– Delaware Valley vs. Northampton (Big Boys): These two haven’t met on the gridiron since 2004. Well, this is one of those interesting games that can go either way. DV was a 2-point conversion away from a win over Beca. This is a winnable game, but I’ll say EPC here again
– Lakeland vs. Lake-Lehman (Small School): Both teams look to have home field hope very early in the season. L-L took a close one against nearby Lakeland rival Mid Valley, while Lakeland gave Wellsboro a fair beating. The Lake team on the road goes to 2-0 here.
– West Scranton vs. Carbondale (Rivalry/Respect): This spot is for two teams that seem to be on the rise this year. Carbondale got a predictable win down in “Nannycoke”. This matchup in the Lackawanna Valley hasn’t happened in a “couple two, tree, four” generations. 1949, to be exact. I’m going to go West here, but I may regret not being the contrarian.
– Valley View vs. Crestwood (Playoffs?): A game that’s going to determine 4A’s matchups, for sure. This could be critical to a potential home field advantage or seeding battle that’ll be determined later this year. VV is the better team & I don’t see otherwise. Plus, QB for Crestwood being out is a big thing.
– Trinity (3) vs. Scranton Prep (Crossover): While Trinity might not be the same Trinity as last year, I like this crossover to feature here, because I at least know this Trinity. The Shamrocks traverse from Cumberland County (a rare moment in itself) to take on the Cavs. I’ll take Scranton Prep to have deja vu. High scoring, but flip their outcome.
– Mifflin County vs. Shippensburg (5A/6A): I know nothing about either team. Let’s face it. Are we ever going to see the Huskies back in this column this year? No. DuBois/Brockway is the better game, but let’s put it in the marquee this year & make Mifflin prove their worth to be back next year. Mifflin County over the college town.
– Southern Columbia vs. Williams Valley (1A): Oh, it’s a beaut, Clark! Southern & Williams Valley have played before (my mind is blanking), but a home & home here is actually a fun Subregional Spotlight. Southern to 2-0, but I’m sure we have more Vikings games later on.
Scores
– Dunmore 35, Trail 20
– Montrose 23, Susquehanna 16
– Berwick 21, Pittston 20
– Konkrete Kids 27, DV 24
– Lakeland 31, L-L 14
– West Side 28, C’dale 18
– VV 28, Crestwood 13
– Scranton Prep 31, D3 Trinity 29
– Miffco 16, Shipp 10
– Southern 44, WV 14
“After the game, Downingtown East head coach Mike Matta said the Cougars’ special teams still had a lot of work to do. He also expressed concern about the upcoming bye week, noting that a team often makes its biggest improvement from Game 1 to Game 2 and that the week off could slow that development.”
Wyomissing is now available now coach.
I thought that was a very strange coupling, Wyomissing-from Berks County with an inner city Philadelphia school-Frankford. Woolfrum-Wyo’s HC and Ferrandino-AD, should never have cancelled the Berks Catholic series, which was the biggest game in Berks County several years ago. Woolfrum cited recruiting from BC, yet several players from different programs, which includes Berks Catholic, transfer into Wyo’s program every year. I guess Wyo could not get anyone to play them as last year they played Haverford and beat them. The Piaa should start instituting penalties if a school cancels for no legitimate reason, and no, a sure beating isn’t a reason to cancel a game, these cancellations seem to be happening more frequently.
Why do you want Wyo to beat BC like a drum instead of Frankford? What’s the difference?
Frankfort canceled due to “extreme heat”. Now Wyo looking for a replacement Fri or Sat.
Looks like something not so good is brewing out in the WPIAL. Clairton forfeiting their game this week with no explaination (as of yet). Paging Jeff H…….
Per the TribLive:
Head coach Wayne Wade directed all questions to high school administrators who would only say it was a personnel issue with an ongoing investigation.
School officials released the following statement on the Clairton high school Facebook page:
“Clairton High School Football regrets to announce that we will forfeit our game against Steel Valley scheduled for Friday, September 4, 2026, due to personnel matters. The district is committed to handling all personnel matters appropriately and in accordance with district policy and applicable requirements. Because these matters are confidential, we cannot provide additional details. Coach Wade remains our head football coach.
“We understand the disappointment this may cause and appreciate the understanding and support of our student-athletes, the Steel Valley’s student-athletes, and both communities. We look forward to continuing our season next week and moving forward together.”
Clairton lost its season opener Saturday to District 10 power Farrell, 33-6.
The forfeit will drop the Bears to 0-2, but both contests are nonconference games.
Steel Valley will move to 1-1. The Ironmen lost their season opener this past Friday to Washington, 21-6.
“It’s good it happened early in the year because you are still figuring your team out,” Steel Valley coach Ray Braszo said. “We have some players with injuries, but now they will get a chance to get healthy.”
It’s never a good sign when the official Clairton statement includes “Coach Wade remains our head football coach”.
Wasn’t Wade the HC of Clairton a few years back when his team flipped out at the end of the State Championship, which they lost. I thought for sure the PIAA would suspend that team from the playoffs the next year with what occurred but the toothless PIAA did nothing. Whats with all the forfeits? Watching the FLorida-Texas-California teams play one another on ESPN, PA football, even our top teams, would get blown out if we played them.
Playing the role of part time arm chair AD, and part time matchmaker…….
9/25 Lower Merion at Plymouth-Whitemarsh
10/1 Springfield Delco/Counsel Rock South (I’d consider going to that game)
10/23 Haverford/Counsel Rock North
You’re welcome. Now follow through.
Well a possible WHAT IF scenario that Holy Cross in D2 can’t complete their season (seems they have numbers problems unfortunately) a 4A Carbondale would have an open date which I think might be a good game for Conestoga on Oct 10???? Maybe a reach (location wise) but I think its hard pressed to find teams not playing in October in the heart of League games. Just a thought.
Good thought. Thinking and looking ahead. Beggars can’t be choosers in these type of situations. Curious to see how HC will navigate their next 2 games (Riverside and Dunmore). Once they are in the rearview mirror, sledding appears to get much easier. I was looking at the PCL Blue schedules earlier as they have an odd number of team (7), so every week later in the season someone will not have a league game. That’s how I found Ryan (for SH). I did not mention that Neumann Goretti appears not to have a game the weekend Conestoga is looking for a game (10/10-11).
Nice…Neumann would be a better alternative anyway. Hope all these matches can happen.
Also, for someone like me that keeps the scores of everyone in the state, do you know if all these games (Harriton’s) will count as forfeits or have they just been canceled? Hate this when it happens, never know how to count this in my records when a program just shuts down…lol
10/16 Archbishop Ryan/Strath Haven??
* Council Rock. Of course if I could actually spell the name of the schools correctly, I might be taken a little more seriously. And the date!!! 10/2. UGH!!!
Mmmm, maybe even a Radnor/Downingtown East game this weekend?? That might be a reach, but never know…..
Harriton done for the season. Ridiculous. They knew they had issues months ago. What would have been so awful with a co-op with Lower Merion, a school in your own school district (or Archbishop Carroll, who has been struggling as well of late)?? You could have stepped back when Cheltenham did and matched up the odd teams out for games this season. Could have had some nice match-up as well. Instead you had many SOL teams scrambling for games with Cheltenham not playing, some still without a game, and now several Central leagues teams most likely getting an unscheduled bye week. Nice work so called adults and District One.
For what it’s worth, copy and paste of part of the school’s official statement: “”Harriton High School’s varsity football season has been suspended due to low participation, concerns over player safety, and questions about “the sustainability of maintaining a competitive program,” according to a letter sent to families on Monday.”
Also FWIW, Harriton is a 5A school with a current PIAA male enrollment number of 504 boys.
Why not just have one high school ( Lower Merion) instead of two that are five min away from each other. Im not big on co ops seems weird going to one school and playing for another. I know Lower Merion is a large school but is there really a need for two high schools in the same district there now , North Penn has remained a single district, Neshaminy went back to just one high school after splitting many yrs ago. Just a thought.
The district probably has zero interest in merging the schools. Both schools are extremely successful academically and the population base is very wealthy and wants to maintain that academic status. They are not going to merge to make their athletic teams better, especially for a perceived lower-class sport like football.
A lot of stuff and moving parts to consider in both of your issues, school size and co-ops. I’ll leave the school stuff for another forum, but I’m not a big fan of co-ops either, but they can serve a useful purpose in some cases. More when I think you have two small schools that both otherwise would not be able to field a team, regardless of sport. Also you obviously need two to tango and a good amount of cooperation. But also in this situation, you have two schools in the same district, which make a little more sense to have one. If you did tho, would the current kids from LM be displaced from playing, or playing as much, if combined?? They seem to be doing OK as is. Kind of a same issue I have with transfers.
Yeah lot to consider. Harriton has only had a handfull of winning football seasons in their history and Lower Merion is known more as a soccer/basketball school in modern times at least. I guess with both schools being in the same district would make it easier to do a co op,still not a fan of it. Bad timing for sure
I’ll send D2 notes tomorrow, but we’re missing a big story here.
Renaissance Academy, if I’m not mistaken, won their first ever game on Friday. A 24-8 win over Kensington.
It’s about time! Congrats to the Knights!
Hear hear! It is hard to build a program from scratch and it’s great for those kids to be rewarded with a win.
Jim Roth and Andy Mills have Southern rolling already! The adjustments at halftime were again right on target. Wyomissing has a great football team and are very well coached. Good season to both programs.
Wyomissing will go far so long as they stay healthy. Number 20 is a beast of a running back.
Good lord, when was the last time Shenandoah Valley won a game like that? 56-6? I know it was CMVT but SV lost this game 38-19 last year.
I was told on Friday night SV has a decent runner this year. Enough to make some defenses miserable.
Interesting opening weekend in the colonial. Palisades and Pen Argyl look to be rebuilding with Palisades getting blown out and Pen Argyl currently losing 21-0 to old forge. Northern wins on a last minute FG against Executive and Carry escaping with a one point win over wilson. Northwestern wins a close game against an ok valley view and notre dame destroys berks catholic. Notre Dame GP and Northwestern final rematch looks likely. SL looks great again however they are in 5A. Should be an interesting year in the renewed Colonial.
Crazy enough Pen Argyl came back to win that game.
I think the Colonial League is very top heavy this year with Southern Lehigh, Northwestern, Notre Dame GP, and Northern Lehigh being the best smaller school. Outside of those schools, I am not sure we will see much quality football. Lehighton and SV could be those next teams but top to bottom, not much depth.
I don’t know much about Quakertown outside of them being 6A but usually that game isn’t a 55 point game so tough to read much into that, Qtown could be awful. ND beating Berks Catholic by quite a bit was a surprise, BC is usually tough but again week 1. I watched the Valley View and Northwestern game, Northwestern got inside the 15 twice, and missed 2 field goals, then ran out of time before half, it was a close game but also probably shouldn’t have been that close, I was impressed with Valley Views front 7 on defense though. Lastly, Northern Lehigh, very surprised to see them only beat executive on a fg as time expired, was thinking they would win by a couple touchdowns.
My thoughts on those 4, SL should be the best in the Colonial League, but again 2 class sizes bigger(5A) than Northwestern and Notre Dame, but SL does have a Northwestern problem. I think if there is a year ND can get Northwestern, it may be this year but Northwestern will inevitably improve quite a bit with a lot of of juniors starting.
Northern Lehigh gets Northwestern this Thursday so we will see hiw competitive they may be in D11 2A. SL plays both ND and Northwestern this year
Yeah, very top heavy year. Northern should have won by a few scores (watched on d11 YouTube ). They turned it over twice inside the 20 and had numerous penalties that stalled drives. Pen Argyl did surprise by coming back although old forge hasn’t been very good last couple years. I expect Haven to win AA but northern could give them a game if they play to potential. I expect northwestern and Notre Dame to be in AAA final.
Some interesting scores from around the Pac 10 SF,,UP, Pottsgrove,UM and PJP gets wins. PJP was impressive beating LC who I think will still have a good yr. One the flip side PJP when given a challenge and when motivated can play with and beat anyone in District one
Bergen Catholic scored on an 85 yard catch and run on the 2nd play from scrimmage to take a 7-0 lead 40 seconds into the game then PCC scored 31 unanswered points and coasted to a 45-30 victory that was not as close as the final score. PCC dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, opening gaping holes for the rushing attack and harassing the Bergen QB who is going to Oklahoma all night.
I am going to go out and a limb and predict PCC runs the table and will be undefeated when they play the PCL winner in the state final, this may be the best PCC team since their last state title in 2015. They will destroy everyone in the WPIAL the only team who may give them a somewhat competitive game is Pine Richland in 2 weeks otherwise they roll to another state final. Is this the year they finally beat a PCL team in the playoffs? I think we’ll find out come December.
We will have a nice early season comparison in a few weeks as St. Joe Prep plays at Bergen Catholic on Sat. 9/12.
I did learn that PCC offensive lineman Jon Sassic who is going to Penn State had surgery this week for a torn meniscus but is expected back in time for the playoffs their line is so good they dominated without him.
Yep I think SJP wins that game by a couple of scores Bergen QB very good and they have some nice receivers but PCC dominated the line of scrimmage and bullied them last night I suspect SJP will also win the battle in the trenches.
North schuylkill has a young team and better days will be ahead but I cant help but wonder what defensive coaching gets done. In losses to nw lehigh 2 times last year, southern lehigh once last year and now jersey shore this year in all these games the teams they played seemed to have a good chance of scoring on every play let alone every drive of the 2nd half. It can be 3rd or 4th down and 30 and they still would give up not only the first down but touchdowns. These are all great teams but you should be able to play some kind of defense.
Kicked off the season with a bang and fun one, at least in the 4th quarter, last night down in Plymouth Twsp. The first half both teams celebrated their version of flag day (good lord, lost count of the offsetting personal fouls penalties alone, half a dozen maybe??). Third quarter the cramp fairy made her appearance and players started to drop like flies. Had at one time 3 Coatesville players being contorted on the sideline at the same time in ways humans normally do not, nor should, bend (unsung hero’s of the night was the Coatesville training staff). That all set up a wild 4th quarter and even more wild final 4-5 minutes. PW somehow pull out a 21-20 victory in the final minute. Still trying to figure out what C’Ville was doing in the final 30-40 seconds of the game. Oh yeah, game didn’t quite hit my 3 hour prediction, 2:55 minute game to be exact. But the kitchen was still open at the Ale House, so all good!!
* Whitemarsh Township for you geography sticklers out there 🙂