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.
1,631 Responses
Dave – -here’s a test entry per your request. I didn’t notice any changes, still have to scroll down to the bottom of the page for new comments which I know some people complained about, it flowed better when the reply section was at the top.
Have not seen any post on here in weeks what happened.
We are working on some errors.
Internet Explorer version (meaning this has been out for a bit & I’m only putting it out now) of a D-XI note that I found intriguing.
The Colonial-Schuylkill Co-Op will be no more after next season. I believe travel was a big factor as to why it’ll shutter.
Colonial will be aligned to this
– D-I: Bangor, Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, NW Lehigh, Saucon Valley, Solehi, & Wilson Area
– D-II: Catasauqua, Nolehi, NDGP, Palisades, Palmerton, Pen Argyl, & Salisbury
Schuylkill will be aligned to this
– D-I: Blue Mtn., N. Schuylkill, Panther Valley, Pine Grove, Pottsville, & Tamaqua
– D-II: Mahanoy, Marian, Minersville, Nativity, Schuylkill Haven, Shen. Valley, Tri-Valley, & Williams Valley
North schuylkill needs to get out of the schuylkill league now. Playing panther valley and pine Grove in football get you nowhere. Join the heartland conference.
I agree, seems like a major downgrade for all four of BM, NS, Pottsville, and Tamaqua. I will never really understand conferences’ blind adherence to enrollment numbers when arranging divisions. All four should be looking for an exit plan if they don’t want their football to stagnate.
Test
Dave
Is the forum not working haven’t seen any posts recently.
As far as I know it’s working. Can you try it and let me know
Scott Reed steps down at PJP. Thought he might as he had said he wasnt really looking to get back to being a head coach until the job became open in the early spring a few yrs ago and he was already an assistant coach there. Great three yrs. Be interesting to see if maybe one of the young assistant coaches is interested in the job.
Test back at ya!!!
Thanks, Kevin X! One of my plugin updates messed up my new theme for the site. Need to get it fixed. Font is a little big.
Some thoughts and observations from championship weekend
Three fantastic games that went down to the wire, including 2 OT games, that’s more than we typically get
For those of you that advocate separate playoffs for boundary and non-boundary schools I would remind you that the McDevitt vs. Roman game does not occur with split playoffs, as both schools would be in the “big school” bracket with SJP, LaSalle and PCC
First year since 1992 that the WPIAL got shut out and didn’t win at least 1 state title, the streak was going to end sometime and this was the year, I don’t think we’ll ever see a streak like that again from any district. For those that think D12 and the PCL might get there they have a long way to go, as they are at 3 years and counting, with not winning any titles in 2021.
The Central Clarion coaching staff made a time management mistake on their last drive by not calling a TO after the sack on first down, they could have called a timeout with 58 seconds left, and didn’t snap the ball on second down until 35 seconds remained, letting a very valuable 23 seconds run off the clock. I bet if he had to do it over again he would call TO and if he’s honest admit he made a mistake by not calling one since they still had all three remaining.
LS hung in there against a very good Bonner team until the 2 interceptions late in the 2nd quarter, on the first one I think he was trying to throw the ball out of bounds, the 2nd one for the pick 6 with the clock running out was a backbreaker. I blame the coach more than the QB because they should have run the clock out and gone into halftime down 21-14, although he can’t make that throw across the middle, way more downside than upside in going for it in that situation and it burned them.
As I’ve stated numerous times before I’m not a fan of split playoffs, because there have been too many great games over the years that would not have occurred with split playoffs. I do think the PIAA should consider other options to try and level the playing field like an enrollment multiplier for non-boundary schools like some other states use, I believe Illinois uses a 1.65 multiplier. The result would be schools like BG would not be playing in 1A, and Bonner would likely be playing 5A instead of 4A. That doesn’t solve the SJP issue, but I think it would make it a lot fairer for the other classes.
Another great year of HS football in the books and look forward to next season, I really enjoy all the contributions from everyone on the board and learn a lot about other districts, and I hope you appreciate my WPIAL commentary and analysis.
You make some good observations, I wish to offer a couple counterpoints:
Roman-McD may not have been the final, but it absolutely could have been a semifinal or quarterfinal. And I don’t think that Roman-McD was the only possible private-private matchup that could have yielded a classic, it just so happened that it’s the one we got. In an alternate universe, maybe McD-Roman still play in a private quarterfinal, or a SJP-La Salle meetup with greater stakes turns into a classic. I am confident that the net of good games we’d lose vs. good games we’d gain far surpasses the net of bad games we’d lose vs. bad games we’d gain.
The multiplier would be better than what we have right now, but like you said, it doesn’t solve the SJP issue, which is massive. Making only Pennsylvania residents eligible to play in the playoffs would be another good step, but I still think this is a band-aid that doesn’t do enough to even the playing field. I would support it over the current structure, but I still think split brackets are a much greater net positive.
Making only PA residents eligible for the playoffs is a nonstarter for the PCL, and I doubt the PIAA has the guts to propose that, SJP has the most students/players from NJ, but there are other private schools in Philly/eastern PA that also have players from NJ, the PIAA was well aware of that when they voted to accept the PCL schools back in the mid 2000s, even if many fans were not.
One of the big hurdles with split playoffs is what to do with the current district playoff formats. Large districts like the WPIAL and D1/D3 for the larger classes have 4 weeks of district playoffs, which would have to change with separate playoffs. The WPIAL was not real pleased with the move to 6 classes because it meant they could no longer play all their championship games at Heinz Field/Acrisure, which dates back decades to the days of 3 Rivers Stadium and is a really big deal in western pa, and I doubt the WPIAL would be in favor of PCC or other private schools like Seton LaSalle or Imani Christian not being able to compete for a district title I also have my doubts that DI would agree to go to an 8 team playoff bracket for their 5A/6A schools when they currently have 16 team brackets for both classes. I just don’t see how you can justify a 6 week playoff schedule if you split, which means the districts have to shorten their playoffs.
Split playoffs may appeal to some, but there are a lot of logistics to be worked out and hurdles to overcome, and I don’t know that the big districts in the state will agree to any proposal that splits the playoffs, at least in the short term, so unless the state legislature passes a bill that is signed by the governor I don’t see it happening.
This debate is not unique to PA, as other states like OH and IL and others wrestle with the same issues we do, and in some states the private school dominance is even more pronounced than in PA. I personally am ok if there’s roughly a 50/50 split with privates and publics winning at the top 3 classes, and I think a lot of other fans would be as well, particularly since the public schools dominate 1A-3A with the notable exception of BG, but that problem is solved by forcing them to play 2A or 3A. Since the move to 6 classes the privates/SJP are 7-2 in 6A, and 5-4 in 4A and 5A since the privates swept the top 3 classes this year. I think the top public schools can compete in 4A/5A, that’s been proven over the last several years, its 6A that’s the big issue with SJP’s dominance. I just find it difficult to be in favor of split playoffs due to a couple of PCL schools, particularly SJP.
I think the issue with public brackets is easy, you compromise by reducing the number of public classes down to 5 or 4. Right now there is an average of 92.5 schools per class, so if you set a target of at least 100 schools per class and divide accordingly, the PIAA bracket sizes would be mostly unaffected. For instance, D1 certainly would be able to keep a 16-team bracket for their top class. A reduction in classes would almost certainly give a boost to the WPIAL’s top class as well. From the public side, it wouldn’t be any more or less logistically difficult than 6 classes is right now.
Overall the big issue is whether the PIAA has the guts to go through with it or not, like you say. Standing up to the PCL and saying that only Pennsylvanians can compete in the playoffs should be a no-brainer; if it’s really a deal-breaker for them, they can leave the PIAA and the issue solves itself. But the PIAA has proven time and time again that they are a feckless organization who would prefer to waste time fighting schools like Aliquippa rather than push forward any meaningful change.
I’m next to certain that Jersey allows students who live in other states (New York and Pennsylvania) to compete on their schools’ teams in the playoffs.
If the PIAA were to ban out-of-state players, then the PCL would leave. Some would like that, of course.
My only comment about Saint Joe Prep is that they are the pride of Pennsylvania football . Great job improving year over year .
Another year of HS Football has ended.
I don’t have last year’s soliloquy to look back on because of how much of the chat was deleted. However, I just want to say that it was a blast to talk HS football here with all of you.
As I said last year, I’m probably half the age of most of the people in this forum, someone who never played a single down, & went to a school who barely has any football pedigree (our best sports tend to be the individualized ones). However, I’m someone who has used the opportunity to follow the sport via a different side, because of EPAfootball.com, local news outlets, newspapers, social media, & just about everyone in this forum. I’m always learning & interested in HS football. Something about it is exciting to me & I always look to find ways to invest myself further. Whether it’s thinking of ideas to radically change the playoff systems (whether public/private or a way to make regionalized 32-team type formats or something), using CalPreps to look at projections & matchups that could work in the future, or just reading up, I find ways to be invested into the sport.
Talking to people from all across the state has been awesome. I always enjoy learning about WPIAL from Jeff H., Kevin X & the other SEPA folks with their “devil’s advocate” on SEPA football, the other D2 & D11 folks that I always appreciate hearing from, & everyone else that’s here from D3 & other areas we might not realize.
Thanks to those who have given me the kind words about my knowledge & enjoy my picks. I will say that I hope my longform comments, prognostications, & discussions didn’t have anything to the page acting up later on. I love throwing out bold predictions & don’t mind sharing them. I didn’t get to look at my final #s, but I’d think I’m 75% accurate, which is half decent. I try to be reasonable & keep it to the games & teams (like Irish said), even with me being a strong advocate for the separation of public & private playoffs.
I’m sure I’ll find a few offseason D2 notes & other things until August (256 or 257 days left until the new season really kicks off, depending on if we get Thursday games, but who’s counting?), but until then, Merry Offseason & a Happy Christmas!
@D2 Fan – thoroughly enjoy your analysis and picks, you are very knowledgeable and one of the reasons I visit this board on a regular basis.
I appreciate hearing that. Thanks, Jeff!
I’ll thank you for your input throughout the year as well, despite you dangling out there SEPA picks and me taking the bait and embarrassing myself with some of my local area District One picks 🙂
Seriously, don’t go into full hibernation mode (for everyone else as well). Games may be done on the field for another year, but the off field stuff marches on year around. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometime just plain head scratching. For example, saw some news about the competition formula out of the PIAA last week, thought about tossing out an update, but trying to decipher what I read. Maybe later, if I can figure out how to present.
Who said I was going into full hibernation? I appreciate the kind words, as well.
I was looking at that same story last week, but I’m in the same boat. I don’t know the whole story myself.
High school football season always goes by so fast. Its always fun, now its time to head inside the gym for some basketball. Take care and have a good holiday.
Irish, Thanks & you too!
I’m actually doing the same. Wish there was an EasternPABasketball.com, because HS hoops is a close second when it comes to my PIAA sport interests.
I wish they had eastern pa basketball site also. I know you are up in the North east part of the state,but there is a very good basketball site that covers the district one and philly hoops scene and when the playoffs roll around they cover the state games….its called City of Basketball Love.
L-L Hoops & City Of Basketball Love are two websites that I enjoy looking at from time to time.
Already have two games under my belt!! Couple of more games on the docket for later this week. Much warmer too!!
@ Jeff H, et al
This is a cut and paste of a tweet/post from Bob Greenburg on the attendance figures for the six championship games this weekend. This looks a lot more realistic then what was listed on the PIAA own box scores. Shout out and thanks to Mr. Greenburg for posting.
PIAA STATE FINALS FOOTBALL ATTENDENCE:
Thursday: 1A 1380, 4A 1782
Friday: 2A 2079, 5A 1929
Saturday: 3A 1827, 6A 1430
Total of 10,427.
D2’s last notes of the season.
1A: I’m gonna admit: I expected a lot more from Port A this weekend. They didn’t have the best showing against Guilfoyle who got their fifth title. I agree with some of you that think they should not be 1A. I think they’d be competitive in the 3A landscape. They play 3A teams in the LHAC & would have zero problem in districts.
4A: I’m not surprised by the outcome, but was happy L-S got to challenge them in the first half. A very impressive performance, but Bonner has a state title now. Someone had to get their first.
2A: Wow. What a game this was! Troy looked like the better team, but Central Clarion looked gritty in a near comeback win, but it was Troy’s defense sealing the deal. Is this the first NTL title ever at the state level, at least in football? All of you D4 people can correct me if I’m wrong.
5A: It lived up to the hype. I didn’t get to see any of the games, but this was a thriller I would’ve wanted to watch. Stone Saunders willed his team to his 2nd state title (& I think theirs, too). I would’ve picked Roman again, but this was such a good battle.
3A: Northwestern Lehigh finally brings one home to D-11 (& TV 13 land) in a thriller OT battle. They had one of the best fall seasons of any school of all-time. To go undefeated in both forms of football (both genders, too) is impressive! Avonworth really gave them a fight, & it didn’t come easy for the Tigers. I’m just glad they didn’t get dominated in their 2nd go-around.
6A: SJP/PCC was a lot closer than I thought. 28-6 final. Three straight for the Prep, but that’s not surprising. I wonder how different the game would’ve been if Harrisburg squeaked it out in the alternate reality, as well as La Salle instead of SJP. They seemed beatable this year & if it all went a different direction, I could’ve seen a new champion.
And if you’re following along with PA high school football neighbors, NY had two of their own that border us: Clymer-Sherman-Panama at the 8-man level got another title, meanwhile DV’s neighbors of Port Jervis won a thriller over Maine-Endwell (arguably the Southern Columbia of NY) to get their first state title in their first try. Probably a tad bit sacrilegious to talk about other states in this forum, but I’m all about the cool tidbits & a map nerd, as you guys know. I don’t know about our other state neighbors too well, so I can’t say if there were any more.
I’d have some farewell words about the season at the end of this, but I think I’ll post them separately.
Don’t know if this is a start of a “conversation”, or debate, or maybe for now just curiosity, but why do you (and like you said, some others, and those others, feel free to chime in) think Bishop Guilfoyle should not be 1A??
Jeff took most of the words out of my mouth. Those 1A rosters, maybe outside of the regular WPIAL powers, Trail, & Steel-High are very limited. We saw a couple of 1A schools quit midseason this year (Fairfield, Kennedy, & I’m sure a few more). BG would fit into 2A (& maybe 3A) very well, especially with this year’s 2A finalists. CalPreps wasn’t kind to BG in projected simulations. They also would’ve fared very well against South Park in the west bracket, had they pulled off an upset against CC. Also, BG had to go through Bald Eagle in the last cycle, which didn’t help matters.
I’m wondering if a way to aid situations like this would be if 1A goes to 8-man & it’d let any teams that might not be interested to voluntary move up to 2A. I’d like to see what teams would benefit from that, on both sides. I’d assume BG, S-H, Trail, Clairton, & a few others would voluntary move up. I’d even allow any 2A & (select) 3A programs to drop down if 11-man does not work for them.
@Kevin X – I just think BG has a huge advantage over public schools at the 1A level, as they don’t have much competition from other private schools in the Altoona area for players. Most 1A public schools have very limited rosters, with at most 30 players on a typical team, so depth is a real concern, in my opinion a private school with a track record like BG should start at 2A, and if they meet the criteria with success points and recruits then move them up to 3A. They have proven they can compete with and beat good 2A teams, I think they would have been very competitive against either of the 2A finalists this year.
Yet they were forced to play up to 2A this past two year cycle and did very little. Enough so (or should I say not enough) that they were able to move back to “A.” So are you saying that they should have voluntarily chose to remain at 2A, and/or the PIAA create more rules for team in their situation to play up regardless of enrollment figures, either by more changes in the competition formula or new, separate rules??
I think BG has way too many advantages over public schools in 1A so I would be in favor of a rule change forcing them to play up, like an enrollment multiplier I mentioned in a prior post. BG won 2A district 6 title in 2022 and lost to Southern Columbia in the state quarterfinals, last year they were down a bit and lost to Bald Eagle in the district playoffs. This year they beat all but one of the bigger schools on their schedule, most rather handily, including Bald Eagle 21-0, and only lost to 3A semi-finalist Penn Cambria 28-27, so there’s no question in my mind this years team could have competed very well in 2A.
Those last 3 games…..
Agreed, those were 3 excellent games with great endings. Hopefully the kicker from CC didn’t feel too bad, a 50 yd FG to win a state championship is almost too much pressure for HS kid. And he had the distance…
In the 3A game, #4s for both NWL and Avonworth were standouts and played with a lot of heart.
The 5A game might have been the craziest with the tipped FG going through the uprights in OT.
Overall best championship weekend I remember in a while.
Small sample size, sure. But the public vs. public game and the private vs. private game were both so much more captivating than either of the public vs. private games. We need more of that through the entire postseason.
What a game Troy and Central Clarion, now thats what HS football is all about!
Congrats to both teams, its a shame either one had to lose.
What a fantastic high school football game between Troy and Central Clarion, doesn’t get much better than that, not a fan of cliché’s but this was definitely a game where it was a shame one team had to lose, great year by both programs.
Holy cow Jeff H. That’s kinda scary! Lol
Great minds think alike, LOL! Pretty funny we both had the same thought and posted at the exact same time!
Today’s attendance:
“A” 717
“AAAA” 1,127
Per the PIAA own website’s boxscores.
Not doubting that’s what the box score indicates but certainly seemed like there were at least that many at the A game on the Port Allegany side, there were a couple of sections of bleachers that looked pretty full, but no doubt there were a lot of empty seats at both games…have to think the brutal weather keep at least some people at home.
Yeah, those numbers in the box scores are suspiciously low. So much so I didn’t even bother with the other games (565 for the SJP/PCC game??). I expected low attendance for various reasons, but nowhere as bad as in these box scores. No idea how they came up with those figures. Probably some PIAA flunky filled in the blank in spreadsheet with whatever his Magic Eight Ball told him to. I’m guessing I’ll come across a legit article or mention of the attendance for the weekend.
With that said, in this age of on-line ticketing and scanning said tickets when entering an event, you should have an instant and exact number of paid entrances. Don’t know if the schools had access to tickets separately, teams/players/family, etc. getting free tix, and guessing the PIAA gave out a boatload of free passes to supporters and sponsors.
The championship attendance numbers have always been way underreported. I remember when Mt. Carmel’s played Tyrone in ’99, Hersheypark stadium which has a capacity of over 15k was probably 80-90% filled. If I remember correctly, the official reported attendance was only like 6k and it was like that for all the MCA championship games. If anyone has a link to historical attendance figures for the championships, please share, I’m curious about this again.
Some sports do not have a problem with the public/private situation, such as cross country and track. No changes needed in some sports.
Also, I think 6 classes are too many in several sports. Football and basketball come to mind.
The greatest coaches in Pennsylvania high School football have all been public school coaches. The Catholic school thing has greatly been enhanced by all the Catholic closures of churches and high school from the result of your priests being kiddy diddlers
All the greatest coaches have been at public schools? Are you serious? Let’s start with Dick Bedesem …
What is “the Catholic school thing”? You seem to be saying that the clergy scandals somehow account for how well Catholic school teams have done in football. That makes no sense to me.
Who the hell said anything about non Catholic students going to catholic schools. I guess your dense. If mt. Carmel high school closed, shamokin high school would greatly be affected by the probable students it would take in from mt. Carmel. If thats how the new boundary would go. Sports like football would be crazy good. So when any catholic school closes or combines it’s going to help other catholic schools. And for a school like st. Joes prep who recruits everywhere a Catholic school in Biloxi, Mississippi can help them with a student athlete or two
How many schools and churches have closed in the last 15 years. How many catholic schools in Philadelphia have closed or were scheduled to close or have combined with another catholic schools?. When you don’t have money to keep a school open and your not keeping up with the schools you have open the kids at the schools have to go somewhere.
Still not getting what this has to do with hs football. By the way, Catholic high schools, including SJP, began accepting non-Catholic students much longer than 15 years ago. I can’t see any connection between the abuse scandals and football, though it’s possible some decided not to attend a Catholic school because of the scandals–something that could only benefit the public high schools
Article from Penn Live – 20 of the 32 top PA players are from private schools. 6 are from SJP, thats insane.
https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/2024/12/meet-32-of-the-top-recruits-in-pa-and-where-theyre-expected-to-sign.html
Two of the six from SJP are out injured.
What does that tell you when a team can have two D1 recruits out injured and still win the championship game that easily? Against another catholic school powerhouse no less.
I love when Scranton prep and pjp people come to the defense of the Catholic and private school debate. Sure your a minor part of the problem, but neither high schools have ever done anything of consequence in football. Stay in your lane. St. Joes, LaSalle, roman catholic, Bonner prendie, pcc, Imhotep charter these are the schools people are talking about. Nothing worse than the private school not knowing there under performing for all the advantages they have but thinking you mean them
JC, I’m starting to come around, I just watched a Public School-Port Allegheny execute the most one dimensional offense I have ever seen in HS football, run right, run left, run up the middle, same formations in horrible conditions, while the Private school was running trips, RPO’S, Counters, Trips right, halfback option etc. The PA coach decided to go with the new age coaching decision of going for it on 4th down on thier own 45 with the score 0-0 instead of playing the field position game which they were winning, well the RB got stuffed as everyone on BG new who was getting the ball, that play changed the dynamic of the game. Now I know why District 9 has never won a state championship, God awful coaching.
I actually completely disagree and would argue a private school at this level is even more unfair. PA did not have any athletes except for their running back but did have some great lineman. There was no shot of throwing the ball when BG had better athletes.
The percent of football players that choose to go to BG vs student body is likely higher than the larger private schools. BG has no business in class A.
It still boggles my mind that a competitive balance rule can be in place that basically wouldnt allow bishop guilfoyle to stay in class a but can’t do anything for st. Joes prep who can win and just keep winning in 6a every year. Of course there is nowhere to go that they are already in the highest classification but I’ve never heard of a rule that can penalize every school in 1a thru 5a but can’t do anything to 6a. The piaa literally put a rule in place that goes against anything I’ve ever heard of in my life. Not all schools need worry only 1a thru 5a. Aliquippa you have to move up one class after you already play up one class but st. Joes you could win 50 state titles and we have nothing for you
@Jeff H. thank you for appreciating my common sense lol
People don’t realize that a lot of these 1A and 2A public schools are so rural and don’t have enough kids to go 11 on 11 at practice, thats before games start and once you start counting injuries it just gets worse. Meanwhile BG is probably 30 something kids with decent depth.
Something needs to be done, whether it’s 2 private classes and 4 or 5 public or if it’s looking at the % of football players vs student body for the private/non boundary and having a scale there to slot what class they are, which in my opinion, they shouldn’t be lower than 3A, maybe 2A.
In the end, this is what PA was all year, they weren’t going to form a formidable passing game all of a sudden or end up with better athletes. I commend PA greatly for what they did with the kids and coaching to get them to a state final appearance.
@D11 Fan – you nailed it, totally agree with you, BG dominated 1A winning 3 in a row from 2014-2016, then lost in the final in 2019 to a loaded Farrell team, and won again in 2021, then got bumped up to 2A for a couple of years, and because they didn’t get enough success points they go back to 1A. BG has no business playing in 1A, period. Look at their results this year, they dominated a couple of good 2A teams in their district, and their only loss was by 1 point to Penn Cambria, which made the 3A semi-finals, so there is no question a school like BG can compete in 2A, something is wrong with they system if it allows BG to play in 1A.
It just correlates to the population of the area which the private schools draw. The Philly Metro area just has enough people to support multiple successful private schools. Altoona only 1. Bishop Guilfoyle now has 5 state titles. When was the last time Altoona HS made any noise in the playoffs? There’s only 1 good private school in Harrisburg and 1 in Erie bc that’s all the population can support. Allentown has 2 and Scranton has 1. A private school anywhere else in rural PA doesn’t have enough population to draw from to be successful on a year to year basis.
I’ve seen many private school supporters say “be careful what you ask for” with the PCL joining the PIAA in 2008. I question whether the PCL schools were really this good before 2008, or are we just seeing the results of the increasing trend of star players migrating to private schools. Not that they weren’t good before, just not this dominant.
People always complain that the younger generations where “everyone gets a trophy” but IMO the mindset of people who go somewhere to play for a championship is just as bad. Reminds me of the NBA and to me that’s not what HS football should be about.
So it seems the Catholic schools can’t win. When they come out on top, it’s because they have an unfair advantage. And if they lose, they are underperforming.
It’s just statistics. The rate to which Catholic schools are represented in the semifinals and finals far exceeds the percent of total schools they make up. You don’t need every class to be dominated by Catholic schools in order for a problem to be evident.
No it’s kind of like saying the sec has an unfair advantage of getting it’s teams in the college football playoffs and using Kentucky as an example and not Alabama.
Idiotic take, but have come to expect that from the District two crowd. If winning 10 or more games a couple district titles, back to back leagues titles is somehow underperforming sign me up. So if you dont win a state title you arent any good????????? The public schools surrounding PJP have so many more advantages is laughable. I hope they do seperate the schools so we dont have to hear all the bs whinning anymore. Stay in your lane sport!!!!
I’m d-11 and I bet your Irish. Were you an alter boy?
Your comments are ignorant and pathetic, again not a surprise.
My predictions for Championship Weekend
Bishop Guilfoyle vs. Port Allegany (1A): This is going to be one of the more interesting battles of the six games. I’m not sure what it is, but I think there is a great case for either team to win. Guilfoyle is a very battle-tested team. The LHAC is a fairly competitive conference & they’re the class of the field in the league. Port A averages 50 points a game. Granted, 1A in D9 isn’t as strong as one might think. I’ll be honest. This is the one I sort of disagree with CalPreps’ prediction of. I think Guilfoyle takes it instead of Port A. I think the Gators will be able to keep up, but I have a feeling the Marauders’ experience in this situation will help them. They’ve won four of these. I usually give the nod to teams in that experience, but I’d love for Port A to get this as well.
Bonner-Prendie vs. Lampeter-Strasburg (4A): The closest apart of the six brackets is this one. B-P has been stellar & exorcised those demons of the last cycle. They’re battle-tested & have an offense that can win a state title. I haven’t seen much of L-S. They played Wyo & Twin Valley, who are good teams in this class. They beat TJ, who could’ve had a shot at the state title. I’m leaning Bonner in a game that might be out of reach sometime in the 2nd half.
Troy vs. Central Clarion (2A): This will be the best game of the six. Two stellar offenses who have dominant & high-scoring games week in & week out are playing against two defenses who can limit points. Central Clarion’s co-op of Clarion, Clarion-Limestone, & North Clarion have flat out dominated their opponents in D9. Meanwhile, Troy steamrolled their NTL foes. I don’t recall any NTL teams ever playing in the final. It’s so refreshing to see two new teams (& new leagues) at this level. Here’s what I think: A bit of a shootout with last to score winning. I’ve been back & forth on this one. Troy has a team that can definitely win a title. I believe this will be all-offense, which Troy can keep up with (honestly, neither have had shootout games), but I think Central Clarion has a better team, but not by much. I think D9 will FINALLY win its first state title in football.
Roman Catholic vs. Bishop McDevitt (5A): Roman & McDevitt might not seem flashy to the eye as in 5A’s past (or to the casual HS football follower), but it has a marquee feel. Roman has finally proven themselves to be THE team in their class. In other years, Imhotep took the crown. I think their high-powered offense has the chance to be quite a force. However, Stone Saunders wants a 2nd state title to his resume before he goes to the league that “means more”. I think this will be a quality game, but it won’t be the closest. I’ll take Roman, but I think McDevitt makes it a game into much of the third. I’m thinking the way Riverside kept up with Troy last week is how this one will go.
Northwestern Lehigh vs. Avonworth: Two teams who have made it to the state finals since the COVID school year (2019-20) will finally seek their first title. Northwestern Lehigh played the WPIAL 3A champs of Belle Vernon last year in this game & didn’t have the team to do it. Josh Snyder’s team used it as motivation & they’re back in this game almost a calendar year later. Avonworth’s last trip (2019) was one to forget. Losing 74-7 to Southern Columbia (the Julian Fleming, Gaige & Gavin, & Preston Zachman team), the Antelopes haven’t found themselves in a spot to make it back. Usually, better WPIAL teams like Central Valley & Belle Vernon have found their way to the final. I’m interested to see if this is a very close game. Northwestern redeems themself this year. A D-11 champion hasn’t happened since I was in middle school, so I was too young to see it happen. It’s also been 34 years since a TV 13 team has won a state title. We finally get to see both.
St. Joe’s Prep vs. Pittsburgh Central Catholic: The game that makes every PIAA Public/Private instigator want to vomit (all kidding aside) might be an interesting game. What can we say about SJP? They’re an All-Star juggernaut that usually is Top 25 in the nation. Like Southern Columbia, when they’re here, it takes a massive effort to dethrone them. PCC came from a weak WPIAL 6A field. I just don’t see the Vikes winning this. They don’t have the team.
Scores
– Guilfoyle 31, PA 21
– B-P 38, L-S 14
– CC 35, Troy 34
– Roman 31, McD 17
– NW Lehigh 28, Avonworth 16
– SJP 42, PCC 17
D2, appreciate all the work you put into your selections each week and unlike some others you keep it to the games and teams for the most part regardless of how you may feel about the whole private vs public debate.
My picks have not been very good the last few weeks, so we’ll see if my luck changes this weekend
1A – after Clairton got beat by Fort Cherry I thought Guilfoyle was a strong favorite to win 1A, but I didn’t anticipate Port Allegheny mercy ruling a very solid Fort Cherry team, I think Port A. can hang in there and this looks like a very competitive game, but I’ll pick Guilfoyle 28-20
2A – I’ve liked Troy since early in the season and picked them before the playoffs started, but Central Clarion has been steamrolling everyone, I certainly did not expect them to crush South Park, I think Central Clarion outscores them 42-28 to win the fist state football title in history for D9.
3a – Northwestern Lehigh has been the top team in 3A all year, Avonworth has made a good run to get here, they have to control the clock with their wildcat offense in order to keep the game close into the 2nd half, but I can’t see Avonworth keeping up with NW Lehigh and they win 38-14.
4A – impressive comeback by LS last week after trailing TJ 16-3 at half, I don’t think they will be able to keep up with the speed and athleticism of Bonner and will lose by 3 scores, 38-17
5A – could be the best game of the weekend, these appear to be 2 pretty evenly matched teams, I like McDevitt’s experience behind 4yr starting QB Stone Saunders to win 28-21.
6A – PCC might keep it close in the first half, but like most other offenses they will have trouble sustaining drives against SJP’s defense, I see SJP pulling away in the 2nd half to win 35-10.
Irish1, Foleman and Kevin X-
The PCL is playing Chess. The Pubs are playing Checkers. Open borders are a major issue. What most Pub School people/parents don’t understand is that when you add “BLOCS scholarships” to open borders/non-boundary, the playing field shifts. PJP2 has been doing this for years as an initiative. Can you imagine the impact at a school/alumni like at SJP? Basically, if you own a business in the state of PA, you can take a tax credit of 6% and then apply that credit to the Catholic school of your choice to fund “scholarships” instead of paying the 6% to the State of PA. That money is then given as “scholarships” in a need-based case per student. It’s totally above board. Not suggesting it is not. So, you can then not only “recruit” with open boundaries, but you can also add “value” to attend a school at a lower cost. Those parents will pay to attend, but they are not paying the going rate. It’s been a thing since 2013 in the PCL..
https://www.blocs.org/eds
Chess versus Checkers! Good luck this weekend!
D1 Football, I believe the average payout for BLOCS per student is 1500.00 not a lot of money. Please Don’t group PJP into the same class as St Joe Prep who receives millions per year from Big Donors, here’s a couple of stats regarding PJP Football:
WIns/Losses since 2010-83-91 Record in State Playoffs-1-3 They go out of their way to not recruit athletes and this is what they are up against:
-Geographically they sit between 2 of the top academic 6A schools in the State-(Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley) that have facilities that are better than many Div 2 and 3 colleges. It took PJP 15 years just to get lights on the field and they still don’t have visitors stands.
-To the South, they have to compete for athletes against the St Joe Prep of the Suburbs-Malvern Prep who recruits and gets the top talent in the area.
-To the North you have Lasalle who now has a coach that can compete against St Joe Prep.
– They got some transfers this year, most from awful Public schools but they also lose many kids to transfer, they lost a starting 2 way lineman who transferred to Lansdale Catholic in the middle of the season this year, one of the top dbacks in the area left for Perkiomen Valley after his freshman year at PJP, I could list several more.
-PJP has had 2 legit Div 1 level players in it’s existence-Braden Reed -Villanova, who happens to be the coaches son who is a Pius X Grad and a current lineman who is going to the University of Maine. Most of the kids they get are Div 3 players. Rory Graver-(at Cheltenham) and Reed-(Former PV Head Coach) are VG Head coaches who turned around the program.
Rory Graver is at Wissahickon not Cheltenham.
My Bad!
You really dont know how catholic schools work at all. Blocs is for tuition help in a small way for all students at a catholic school. Do you honestly think blocs money is largely going to football and and any other sport. With the cost of tuition these days any help it provides is small. I had two daughters graduate from PJP and Im very aware of any type of tuition help that was available and blocs was just a small bit of help that I got. Lets just say a good athlete could go to either a public or catholic school for free,why then are parents in some cases choosing catholic schools could it be that there is more structure,more discipline,and in many cases a better education. Comparing PJP and many of the other catholic schools in the area to SJP or Lasalle throw Roman into the mix is ridiculous. PJP is the smallest school in the Pac surrounded by much larger public schools who have numerous advantages from much larger enrollments to great facilities among other things. Never heard a peep from any of them when they were dropping 30 or 40 points on PJP a few yrs back. The overwhelming majority of this years roster is made up of players from families who have long supported the legacy schools they make up PJP…goes back to this silly notion that some people have that public schools have some sort of right to every student who lives in their district. PJP has had success because they have built their programs over time and are well coached,its not like they a booking a trip to Hershey every year or Cumberland Valley every year.
The enrollment of a non-boundary school is irrelevant, because the pool of candidates for them is limited only by any self imposed rules set in place by the institution. Non-boundary schools have carte-blanche to go out and assemble all star teams, if their administration so desires. Public schools cannot do this, or at least not as readily. The playing field is not level.
I am not hating on non-boundary schools. My son attends a non-boundary high school. They are some of the best programs with some of the best coaches and players in the state. They work every bit as hard as any public school program, and their success is not undeserved. But I don’t understand why it wouldn’t be better for everyone to re-organize and have schools compete in the playoffs against other schools that are operating under the same rule set.
I wouldn’t say the enrolment of a non-boundary school is irrelevant (especially for a sport like football, where having a program with 80+ players makes things much easier than having 40-50 players), but it may be less relevant.
Part of the problem is that when the PCL joined the PIAA it was in no small measure the result of people (supporters of both public school and Catholic school programs and maybe more so from the former) saying they wanted head-to-head competition in the playoffs. Lesson: be careful what you ask for. But none of this means the current arrangement can’t be changed.
Some basic questions arise if you think some change is needed: 1) should separate playoffs apply to all sports? 2) should separate playoffs apply to all classifications in football? (This raises the question of whether what actually concerns most people is SJP and maybe one or two other Catholic schools-but mainly SJP.) 3) Do the number of non-boundary schools and their locations across the state make playoffs for non-boundary schools feasible? (PA is a whole lot bigger than Jersey where no schools are more than 2.5 hours apart and the great majority all are within 90 minutes.) 4) Will separating boundary and non-boundary schools result in some of the championship games in one or two classifications of boundary schools being regarded as the “B Finals”–as seems to have happened in Jersey.
Easton has 1,391 male students in 9th thru 12 th grade. Faith Christian academy has 149 and bishop mccort has 112. Easton has 500 more students in 9 th thru 12th than faith Christian has in kindergarten thru 12th. Easton a perennially an excellent triple AAA public school would struggle to keep it close in any dual meet with either of these double aa schools. Mccort and faith Christian will win anywhere from 8 to 12 individual titles in the individual state wrestling championships this year.Anything wrong with this picture?
It seems to me that under the current rules, a non-boundary school could decide to only enroll star football players. At that point, as long as they have about 50-80 students in the school, they could compete with anyone, if they recruited and coached well enough. So I think enrollment numbers mean very little depending on the school administration’s prioritization of the football program. As far a your questions:
1) Not sure about all, but definitely more that just football and basketball. Bishop Mccourt and Faith Christian wrestling programs are an example of why it’s needed in that sport.
2)Yes, I think it should apply to all classifications (see my first couple sentences)
3) Just to be clear, I’m fine with non-boundaries playing their regular seasons the way they do now. The playoffs is where they should be separated. I could be wrong, but I think most schools expect to travel come playoff time, so I don’t see this as an insurmountable obstacle
4) Since a lot of people consider the Phila Catholic League championship the true state championship, I think we’re already there.
1) Basketball and football for sure. You will also see non-boundary schools dominate in the lower classifications in sports like wrestling and field hockey, perhaps separate playoffs are not needed there, but they have to play “up” to a higher classification.
2) Yes, all classifications. 4-5 boundary brackets, 2-3 non-boundary brackets.
3) I believe it is feasible. In a hypothetical large-school non-boundary bracket, the majority of schools are in Harrisburg or east, with the exception of Central Catholic and Cathedral Prep (and North Catholic, depending on your cutoff). The small-school non-boundary bracket can be more easily split east/west. If you can figure out ways to make it easier for the large-school outliers, then it works.
4) Probably, yes. But, would Harrisburg and Downingtown West rather have a chance to play each other for a public school champion, or sit at home and watch two private schools duke it out? I think they’d rather prove it on the field against each other, and I think their communities would as well. If people really miss having a “true state champion”, then push for a Pennsylvania Bowl where the winners of the large-school boundary and non-boundary schools face off. But I think it’d be a while before an appetite for such a thing develops.
Final D2 Note Of The 2024 Season
Riverside gave it their all, but they couldn’t get to repeat what they did in 2010, as Troy moves to the state final. I’ll give them a ton of credit. They hung in for almost the entire game before Troy took what was theirs. 35-14 was a lot closer of a final than it might indicate.
Riverside should be absolutely proud of what they accomplished this year. I think they’re going to lose a bunch of talent this summer, so maybe they’ll find a way to reload. If anything, they told us that they have a team that was able to finally compete with Trail & Old Forge (down year, but never counted out, in general) on a good year. We’ll see if that continues into 2025.
Let me summarize everything else: Lot of big blowouts.
1A: Guilfoyle dominated Muncy, but Port A just dismantling Matt Sieg & Fort Cherry really was a shocker. I think this game will be much closer than a lot of us will think. Port A has an offense, but can it keep up with BG?
2A: Two D9 teams have never made it to the finals, let alone one outside of 1A. There is a real chance we finally see a D9 champion in this day & age. Central Clarion blew South Park out of the water. I’m really torn about who to take next week. Both have a serious argument to win.
3A: Avonworth at least gave us a closer game, beating Penn Cambria. Defensive battle it was. Northwestern Lehigh just keeps rolling. I find it hard to see Avonworth competing with a Tiger team again. This time, maybe not being blown out by 70…
4A: Bonner absolutely smoked Solehi, which is far from a surprise. Solehi at least scored 20+ points. Meanwhile, TJ losing to Lampeter-Strasburg did surprise me. For those who think I shouldn’t be using CalPreps, I knew TJ was a better team heading in, as they had a pedigree & great team. Honestly, L-S just put a great game together & the better team won. I think if we ran it back, TJ would win. I’m not sure if L-S stands a chance against Bonner, but I hope it’s close.
5A: Roman took care of Rustin. Maybe a little bit closer than we all had imagined. However, I’m a bit stunned by the effort of Pine-Richland in the West final. McDevitt controlled that game. This final might be pretty good, but I hate that we don’t have two publics in this final. WPIAL & the D1 champ would’ve been entertaining.
6A: SJP is back. What else can we say? Also, PCC is back. This is going to be a game a lot of people aren’t going to enjoy, especially the public/private instigators. Let’s just hope it’s entertaining.
So, my prediction about a winless WPIAL finals weekend may actually come true after all. Looks like it’s all up to Avonworth. Odds are stacked, but you can’t count them out.
Early CalPrep predictions. I’m going to disagree with one, maybe two. Find out later this week.
– 1A: Port A over BG by 4 (35-31)
– 4A: B-P over L-S by 13 (35-22)
– 2A: CC over Troy by 16 (44-28)
– 5A: McD over Roman by 7 (38-31)
– 3A: NWL over Avonworth by 14 (28-14)
– 6A: SJP over PCC by 23 (42-19)
As for the Public/Private debate. If this bill finally completely passes, I think it’ll be a big win for football & basketball. Honestly, I kind of wish all of the private school sports in every state were run by the NFHS as a more regional thing than by the state (which can be unbalanced), especially since some areas don’t have a ton of them (NEPA, Erie, D6 Country, etc.). You won’t be able to balance East & West as well, if you have one or two classes. Like, if they combined the Philly & Lehigh Valley schools with South Jersey & Delaware (maybe include D2 in this, for logistics, if not with Upstate NY), D3 with either Philly or Baltimore/DC, & then WPA with the Cleveland & Buffalo areas (maybe more of Western NY) I think it’d be worth doing.
4-6A basically having one public school combined this year is quite unfortunate. We had a couple years of maybe one half in each of the final or none at all. This might be the first 5A final with two private schools since the class was added. Maybe 2nd time in 6A, but would strongly prefer more homegrown schools in these championship games. WC Rustin/P-R, Valley View or Solehi/L-S, & Harrisburg/DTW or Parkland would’ve been interesting games.
D2 Fan, we appreciate your updates on this board. Being a HS football fan, you really gave me an education on some HS teams I knew little about,
I appreciate that, Foleman. Thank you! That’s what this forum is here for. To learn & follow the good & bad of PA football.
@D2 Fan – you may very well turn out to be right that this is the year the WPIAL streak of at least one title ends, unless either Avonworth or PCC pull a big upset, I think both are considerable underdogs this weekend.
You were right about Central Clarion, I never thought they would crush South Park like they did, I think they have a very good chance against Troy this weekend, also shocked at how bad Fort Cherry got beat by Port Allegheny. I thought once Clairton lost to Ft. Cherry that no one would beat Guilfoyle, but the way Port A. dismantled Ft Cherry leads me to think they have a pretty good chance to beat them.
You beat me to it regarding D9, they have never won a state title and now have a legit chance to win 2, I have a hunch they get at least one, if not both.
Regarding TJ, they had a 16-3 lead at half and gave up a grand total of 9 yards of total offense in the first half. Full props to LS coaches and players for making adjustments and dominating the 2nd half, outscoring TJ 17-0. With that being said I don’t give them much of a chance against Bonner, I see them winning that game by 3 scores or more.
You are correct about this being the only 5A final between 2 private schools, its either been 1 of each or 2 public schools in 5A in the 8 prior years of 5A, with 4 private school champions and 4 publics. McDevitt beat PR at their own game, by being more physical at the line of scrimmage and running the ball right at them, PR also hurt themselves with a lot of penalties, 2 of which negated TDs, but no question McDevitt deserved to win the game and were the better team on Friday.
Jeff H,
Totally agree that McDevitt was the better team. I didn’t realize it was that bad for L-S, either. I must’ve looked at the score in early 2nd half.
The McDevitt/Roman game will be the best of the six this weekend. If you guys could somehow find it to put your anti private school biases aside for 3 hours, sit back and enjoy 2 of the best 5 or so QBs in the state and their respected teams going at it.
Agree that game will be the best of the big school games, and maybe of the entire weekend, I think those teams are pretty evenly matched.
I’ll probably have it on in the background but I just don’t find private vs private school championship interesting. McDevitt might bring some fans since they are close, but there is not much atmosphere to games when the stands are barely a quarter full.
All six games will be a quarter full. Yes, the private schools for the most part don’t have the fan base, but the weather is going to be cold and nasty. L-S may bring some fans, but being a Thursday night with the worse of the predicted weekend weather, going to be a lot of empty seats. Toss in PSU/Oregon Sat. night, that SJP/PCC game could be embarrassingly attended for such a heavyweight battle.
The Prep had lots of fans at both LaSalle games–and there would have been more if the games were sell-outs days ahead–and pretty good crowds for their games against Roman and IMHOTEP. Given the weather forecast, the crowds for all the games could be fairly small.
I think the Avonworth/Northwestern Lehigh game will be pretty packed. Two public schools with what I feel like are tight knit communities.
Can someone again please try to explain to me the PIAA transfer rules for post season eligibility purposes?? I believe two of the kids who were at Trinity last year were playing for Harrisburg yesterday against PCC. I don’t know about the kid who transferred in from State College. Are they not ineligible?? Is it a one way street situation where if your transfer to a private/catholic school you are ineligible, but transfer to public school you are eligible?? That doesn’t make sense, because a few years ago North Penn had a top level WR transfer in from N-G and he was ineligible for post season play. Also believe a QB from Wood a few years ago (Wharton?) transferred to N-G and he played in the post season. Unless the PIAA is constantly moving the goalposts with these rules.
Thanks guys. Guess I have the right to be confused. Seems very inconsistent across the state, but becomes a statewide across the board issue come playoff time. Also seems that it can become a very person and intrusive issue.
The transfer rules don’t seem to be the same for everyone any more. It used to be you were ineligible for postseason if you transferred after the first day of your 10th grade year UNLESS you applied for a waiver and had to be granted a waiver for some hardship/special circumstance. This year, just about every transfer in the Mid-Penn Conference was somehow eligible for the postseason except for one school’s transfers. Bishop McDevitt.
Like you mentioned, all of Harrisburg’s transfers were somehow eligible for the postseason. Even the kid from State College.
CD East had their best receiver who transferred from Trinity as a senior. He was eligible. CD East also had a two-way starter, their tailback, who transferred from McDevitt. He was eligible for playoffs. But somehow, none of McDevitt’s kids were eligible, and they were all Catholic to Catholic transfers. Two kids from Trinity (One who enrolled at McDevitt last January), one from York Catholic and one from Neumann-Goretti.
Some districts-D3 and D12 for example are more lenient on transfers than others-WPIAL, D1. If a district rules a kid ineligible for the season or ineligible to play in the playoffs, they can appeal their case to the PIAA. You can transfer in after your freshman year and be eligible to play in the playoffs, sophs and Jrs have to sit out a year in the playoffs after transferring, Seniors don’t get to play in the playoffs. D3 is a joke, I know of 2 football transfers, 1 lives down the street from me, who transferred from Public to Public who don’t live in the School District, they happen to be the 2 best players on their team. The kids from Hburgh probably used the “Moved in with Grandma ” excuse to become ineligible, another school in D3 usually has a kid or 2 every few years move in to the District for football using who knows what address. The biggest Joke was Reading High Basketball a few years back where 6 kids transferred into the Reading School District…….ranked near the bottom in PA….to play with Lonnie Walker, rumour has it one of the kids used Lonnie’s parents address as his address.
The piaa was established in 1913 to Set up uniform rules and eliminate abuses, lol this organization has wore out it’s welcome
The piaa does it on a case by case basis so they are able to flex there muscles. Here is my question? What happens to a 6a school if you have more transfers than allowed and keep winning like st. Joes prep as a 6a school? So what I see is if you are a 1a school up to a 5a school you could be forced to move up a class for competitive balance but if you are in 6a you need not worry. Isn’t the rule in itself prejudice to all 1a thru 5a schools? There is no penalty because you already play in the biggest classification?
…….and they did. Six 4 six.
So, are we allowed to say that the non-boundary problem is real? Five non-boundary teams so far are in the finals with another one coming if Central Catholic beats Harrisburg. Their games have been uncompetitive.
Now that New Jersey has a single state champion for all groups, they have it right. Give the private schools their own bracket where a team like La Salle can earn their way into the semifinals or finals. Let the public schools compete on an even playing field. It would be better for all parties.
What do public schools and smaller catholic schools need with the piaa? What does the piaa do for them? It’s really going to take a league like the heartland conference, the colonial or the Schuylkill league to just turn there backs on the piaa. They supply officials for games?Do they even do that? What is it that the piaa does for public schools? What’s there purpose?
Nothing, the answer is nothing.
Ohio, Delaware, and Florida don’t separate boundary and non-boundary schools.
It blows my mind supporters of private schools continue to deny the obvious. So half of the teams in the finals are private schools and if I remember correctly, less than 10 percent of all PA schools are private. Tell me how does that math make sense. SJP is the most obvious but it’s not just them. Don’t just look at who is the champion, look back at the state playoff brackets from past years. I remember a few years ago where the final 4 in 4a or 5a were all Catholic/ private schools.
One question to consider is what it is that is causing kids and their families to choose going to private / non-boundary schools. A note: every family that has a child in a private school pays more than every family that has a child in a public school.
unless they have someone ,or a special fund to “sponsor”, student,ATHELETE, !
Very true, yes every family with a student in Catholic school pays both tuition and public school taxes for whatever district they live in.
Hmm, maybe being recruited for football???
It makes the piaa use of competitive balance and transfer rules against public schools almost criminal. Just imagine telling all college division 1 schools they could only recruit players from there state but Alabama could bring them in from wherever they like. Why do we think it works the way the piaa is doing it. St. Joes is a national school not a Pennsylvania school. Not to mention how can you set up a system to penalize schools with competitive balance and being forced to play up a class when there are over 100 6a schools who can’t be moved up in class, so the rule basically applies to 1a thru 5a
That is one of my many issues with the competition formula, that it basically allows 6A schools to have unrestrictive free agency. I suppose the transfers may, or may not be eligible, for post season play. The only thing it does affect 6A schools with as far as classifications go, if a school has the ability to move to a lower classification due to enrollment for the next two year cycle, they will be forced to stay at 6A for the next two year cycle.
Yeah huge problem. It’s ridiculous. 9 straight finals appearances for st joes prep. Question tho, why does Philly CL compete in playoffs and inter-ac (Malvern prep, haverford) does not? Philly CL should be excluded from playoffs IMO. Not a level playing field, they recruit. Further, public schools forced to split. Gimme old school Downingtown or West Chester vs st joes prep or Roman all day.
Wait let me get this straight so who exactly forced those public schools to split, is that the Catholic schools fault too??? Most of those large public school districts have huge budgets and have the best facilities etc,not feeling sorry for them for one minute. Anyone who thinks recruiting doesn’t happen and hasn’t happened in the past at many public schools for both football and basketball is dreaming
You have these “split” schools like West Chester, Downingtown, Central Bucks, Council Rock, you then give kids more opportunities to get on a team, play a sport, more playing time. That’s a bad thing??
Come on, man. Life priorities? This is a football board. And we’re talkin playoffs
Playoffs?? Playoffs??
It’s “better” for academics/teacher ratios etc but hurts athletics once you get to playoffs. Cant compete with homegrown kids from postage stamp territory vs recruiting Philly or PGH. You’d need an all time elite team. MUCH lower probability which makes it a competitive fairness issue
Good to see that you have your life priorities in order, high school athletic playoffs first, everything else falls in line behind.
The Inter-AC schools allow five years of eligibility. That makes them ineligible for PIAA playoffs. They also seem to prefer doing things in their own very special way. It adds to the aura of exclusivity. Newsflash: all private schools recruit all their students. If they don’t recruit, they will close.
Some of st. Joes players live in another state, lol. Can it get more absurd then that. The piaa does not care about any of this. The only way it would ever change is if all the public schools left the piaa. Look at hs wrestling this year, bishop mccort and faith Christian academy will have 2 of the best wrestling teams in the country. They are head and shoulders above any other program including Bethlehem Catholic this year. One of mccorts wrestlers came from north carolina and most of there wrestlers on both teams are not seniors. Never and I repeat never was there a double as school in the state of Pennsylvania who could compete in triple AAA wrestling. Not only can two schools compete but there head and shoulders above everybody. Mccort was already suspended for two years by the piaa. Its an embarrassment what the piaa has become.
You familiar with the Boyertown girls soccer team from a few years ago or the Kennedy Catholic boys basketball team, also from a few years ago?? Yes, it can get more absurd.
There is a law that requires non public schools to compete with the public schools. I saw SJP play Nazareth, CBS & North Allegheny last year. The year before I saw them play Northeast, Parkland, Garnet Valley & Harrisburg. I didn’t see any difference in the size, speed or talent of the other schools. SJP was just much better coached. I think the public schools are hamstrung by the union directive that makes them use someone who is a gym teacher or driver’s ed teacher at the school. As for SJP players living in Jersey, they have always drawn students from Jersey as South Jersey is part of the Philadelphia suburbs. It’s where the school is not where the student lives that counts.
South Jersey is not part of the Philadelphia school district. No part of new Jersey is part of the Philadelphia school district. Marvin Harrison Jr., Kyle McCord, Jeremiah trotter, not only didn’t live in the Philadelphia school district they didn’t live in Pennsylvania. If st. Joes wants take places from another state, go right ahead but don’t be part of the piaa. And your take on head coaches and public schools and unions is assinine. Many of the public schools in pa. Have ex players and coaches who were part of there communities who are still part of a tight nit community. The coaches know there players and families and grew up around them in alot of cases. Come to the coal region bobo and tell me about coaches not being as good and talk blindly about unions and all your nonsense you spewed. We really are not affected by the st. Joes of the world but we still are disgusted with what they get away with. I’m not a fan of aliquippa, I even fight with alot of there supporters on here, but when you get down to facts how can you penalize a school like aliquippa but turn the other way with st. Joes prep
Well bobo. I have seen a lot of coal region teams as my wife is from the coal regions. The teams are tough and physical but don’t have the speed, quickness and sophistication that the better teams from the flatlands have. The last coal region team to win a state title was Mount Carmel in 2002. That’s 22 years ago so you kind of proved my point
Pay attention, I didn’t say South Jersey is part of the Philadelphia School District. I said South Jersy is part of the Philadelphia suburbs.
Lol this has to be one of the worst rebuttals I’ve ever seen on here.
SJP has had students and players from Jersey since the 19th century. I lived in Jersey when I went to SJP–and played a couple of sports–over 50 years ago and I was far from the only one. Roman also has players from Jersey. Nothing was hidden from the PIAA when the PCL joined.
Then they should play roman catholic 10 times a year and enjoy there football season
Honestly, I think the simplest solution is 2 private or non boundary school classes and then 4 public classes.
As much as NW has dominated and beat Scranton Prep in back to back years and Conwell Egen this year, they could have had numerous more D11 titles and state trips if they didn’t run into Allentown Central Catholic for like 3 straight years and lost in district finals.
Fully agree. There is nothing wrong with Allentown Central Catholic and Bethlehem Catholic competing in the EPC, but come playoff time, they should compete against peer private schools, and always should have.
The Philadelphia Catholic League Red division (“large” schools) consists of 6 teams. Half of them will be playing for a state championship next weekend. Yet, the winner of the division will not be one of them.
And they might be the 4 best teams in the State. The PIAA knew their could be some competitive problems, especially in Basketball, when the Catholic League entered the PIAA, but I doubt they thought the CL would dominate in football, especially St Joe Prep, who has the money and recruiting territory to dominate State-wise. It wasn’t until Gil Brooks took Prep to another level with recruiting that they started to dominate. North Catholic, Cardinal Dougherty and McDevitt closing certainly helped Prep and Roman get additional stud players, Father Judge surely isn’t getting them. What’s the answer? I can tell you most of the Catholic schools in the State that don’t recruit and don’t have huge territories to draw from dislike the Prep’s and McDevitt’s just as the Public Schools do and have no desire to get pounded in the playoffs by them. I don’t think their are enough Private schools in the State to make that format competitive. The NJ football playoff system is a joke, most people I talk to from NJ can’t stand the format and in N. NJ the Privates get the pick of the top players like Sr Joe Prep does.
It’s true that SJP’s location allows it to get students from all parts of the Philly area. (Its location–in a part of the city with lots of poverty and crime–also puts off some parents from sending their sons there.) But Roman is even more central, and SJP competes with all the other PCL schools, the Inter-Ac schools, the Catholic high schools in South Jersey and lots of public schools (including many with strong academics, good facilities, etc.).
It would be interesting if people who want boundary and non-boundary schools separated in PA would look closely at the NJ situation and ask themselves if that’s what they really want.
FrankG, yes, Roman is more centrally located than Prep, however, they don’t have Prep’s $$$$ and are not close to Prep academically. If Roman was back in 6A they would be just like everyone else, playing for 2nd place behind Prep. The S. Jersey Football Private schools are a shadow of what they once were and Prep has something to do with that, Sacca, Roy and Namnum, 3 High School All Americans are from Delran-(Holy Cross) Imagine how good Holy Cross would be with those 3 players. I’m a private school guy but Prep should not be playing in the PIAA playoffs with S. Jersey players.
Strange that the Prep’s superior academics are seen as a kind of unfair advantage. Over the years there have been several players who went from SJP to Roman at least partly because they were having trouble with SJP’s academic demands.
Holy Cross hasn’t had a very strong team in over 20 years. I don’t know that if those three guys weren’t going to SJP they’d be going to Holy Cross. But I doubt it.
I’m sure you realize that SJP has had students from Jersey since the school opened in 1851 and that everyone knew that when the PCL joined the PIAA 16 years ago. Saying they should be excluded by the PIAA now because they have Jersey players is really changing the rules. What can the reason be other than that SJP has been too successful?
That is a crazy stat.
Thinking I may be ruffling some leftover turkey feathers with this one. Looking for the Catholics to have themselves a weekend, and go 6 for 6 in games today and tomorrow. This includes Central Catholic beating the team everyone seems to be jumping back on the bandwagon of, Harrisburg, and the team not being talked about, Bishop McDevitt winning as well. The other 4 are pretty safe bets.
One more thing, not predicting this game, but will say I will be the least surprised, maybe the only one not surprised, if Lampeter Strasburg knocks of TJ later today. Toss up game as far as I’m concerned.
Do hope the games this weekend are more competitive as a whole than last weekend.
Good call on the LS over TJ, …..District two people might storm Harrisburg if the Catholic schools win out. I for one would love it.
Once again, the Catholic schools continue to rob the public schools.
When will this ever end?
When will the lawmakers finally put a divide between public and private?
Like I said long ago, Saint Joseph’s prep last year boosted a roster that had 24 players from New Jersey. How was that even right all those players from New Jersey winning a Pennsylvania State football title shame on all of you who support this it’s disgusting and should not be legal
Furthermore, I realize Scranton Prep
Got dismantled by Northwestern Lehigh
All I have to say to that is to coach Gallagher
Maybe next year you should dip into Taylor
For some talent, maybe That would’ve given you the extra edge
You could’ve had an amazing lineman
Just saying that’s all because you know that your hand is in every public school district cookie jar of talent however the end story never changes. You don’t know what to do with the talent past the first or second playoff game of states so what does it all matter at the end of the day might as well stop the steal !
When will it end?? When the public schools grow some brass ones and refuse to play. Don’t wait around for your state reps to push through any sort of legislation. Election season is over, time to break promises, not make them. And I’m sure this private/public playoff situation is on exactly zero legislators top 10 list of items statewide that needs addressing. Also don’t wait for the schools and PIAA to come together on some sort of agreement or compromise or a new system. Best we got so far in those endeavors over the past 10 years is 6 classifications and a competition formula. How is that working out for everyone?? No, if you are public school you need cooperative conviction and sit out the state playoffs or forfeit games against these private schools. Make the PIAA sweat. Embarrass them. Push the envelope. Be a disruptor. Take one for the greater good you could say (if that is your cause). So tired of these recycled nonsensical excuses, whining, crying and cluelessness with this subject.
Newsflash: Most public school districts don’t care. Once again, bigger, more important issues, both athletically and operationally wise to deal with.
In what sense are Catholic schools robbing public schools? Students are not the property of public school systems.
No one said they were. Recruiting outside your boundaries is allowed for private schools. They should have their own classification for state playoffs.
agreed every word you wrote!!! thank you! I’m sure a free ride could be found.
Roman/McDevitt should be a great game. Both teams have the ability to score often.
Predictions for the penultimate week of the 2024 football season. I’ll give small schools today & big schools tomorrow
Before I begin, Happy Thanksgiving to all!
1A
– Muncy vs. Bishop Guilfoyle: We have a name we haven’t seen make a state run in a minute vs. one that wants to go back to the 1A finals. Muncy shocked D2 fans with a hard-fought victory over Trail & that’s why they’re here. BG took down Westinghouse in a shocking dominating affair. BG should take this, but it won’t shock me if Muncy plays a similar game to two weeks ago.
– Port Allegany vs. Fort Cherry: We all were thinking Clairton makes it to the finals a few weeks back. Now we got a good matchup in store with a team who wants to give D9 at least one finalist & a team who wants to be back in the finals to get what they lost last year. Fort Cherry is the better team & Port A will give a good college try. It just won’t be enough for the Gators to upset the Rangers.
2A
– Riverside vs. Troy: Another classic battle of District 2 vs. District 4. Riverside has done a great job getting to the state semis for the first time in quite a while. Meanwhile, Troy is looking to show they’re the true kings of the East. Both teams can score. However, Troy will get the best of the Vikings.
– Central Clarion vs. South Park: It’s crazy to think that we see some faces we rarely see in both matchups. Central Clarion is a very new team, being a co-op program. South Park hasn’t been here since the mid 2000s. The WPIAL tends to dominate the D9 teams in any format, but we got the best team in the west in that district. They should roll past South Park, without issues.
3A
– Northwestern Lehigh vs. Danville: This is a matchup we almost had last year, but we saw Wyo play them in a thriller. The Tigers look like a team that Danville can compete with, but I think we see another returning name in the state final next week.
– Avonworth vs. Penn Cambria: Avonworth is looking to make their first final since 2019, the year Southern broke records on them. Penn Cambria is trying to get to their first. Avonworth is a better team, but PC has a way of surprising me. I won’t take an upset here, but let’s hope Avonworth doesn’t get a 70-burger dropped on them next week.
Scores
– BG 31, Muncy 10
– Fort Cherry 33, Port A 17
– Troy 35, Riverside 10
– Central Clarion 49, South Park 14
– NWL 34, Danville 14
– Avonworth 35, Penn Cambria 13
CalPreps Predictions (if you want to see how they all match up)
– BG over Muncy by 15 (42-27)
– Fort Cherry over Port A by 4 (35-31)
– Troy over Riverside by 21 (42-21)
– CC over South Park by 21 (35-14)
– NWL over Danville by 17 (31-14)
– Penn Cambria over Avonworth by 5 (21-20)
The announcers who did the Schuylkill county senior all star game should never cover a game again!!!! It was embarrassing to hear and listen to there comments. It’s like they didn’t want to be there and spent most of the night ridiculing the game and in particular the players. Its an embarrassment to pa football news
Go Muncy!
Go Troy!
Go Danville!
Git ‘er done.
Big Schools
4A
– Bonner-Prendie vs. Southern Lehigh: Let’s look at a positive for Bonner. They don’t have to face a D2 team. Southern Lehigh is looking to make their first final. Unless the Spartans of Solehi end up playing the best 48 minutes of their program’s history, they will get smoked by a PCL team.
– Thomas Jefferson vs. Lampeter-Strasburg: I think TJ has a legit chance to run the rest of the table in states. L-S is coming off of a OT battle against Wyo. I see TJ controlling this game & facing the PCL finalists, who is a team they can absolutely beat.
5A
– WC Rustin vs. Roman Catholic: Rustin was a team Kevin & a few others said would be a state contender this year. After they put a dominant effort over Springfield Delco, I’m convinced. However, this is PCL vs. Ches-Mont here. History says D12 teams roll in 5A East finals. Prove me otherwise.
– Bishop McDevitt vs. Pine-Richland: Thought it’d be Peters, right? Not this year. P-R has a team that can compete for a state title, but no Coach Kasper. McDevitt is looking to win two titles in three years…in two classes. Not this year. Give me P-R, a team who’s been there before. Closest game of the weekend by a wide margin.
6A
– St. Joe’s Prep vs. Downingtown West: So, this team’s back & that team’s back in the state semis. We all know how it’s gonna go. See you next week for a real prediction.
– PCC vs. Harrisburg: The ultimate nightmare fuel scenario for public/private separation instigators like myself is an all-private school final in 6A. At least it isn’t only one league with that issue. WPIAL’s best will take on Harrisburg. I unfortunately don’t see myself being called out for having “sour grapes”, like Bob Lombardi said a few years back. Harrisburg will make it to the finals.
Scores
– B-P 42, Solehi 7
– TJ 34, L-S 17
– Roman 42, Rustin 8
– P-R 23, McDevitt 19
– SJP 48, DTW 8
– Harrisburg 27, PCC 21
CalPreps Predictions (if you want to see how they all match up)
– Bonner over Solehi by 25 (44-19)
– TJ over Lampeter by 12 (31-19)
– Roman over Rustin by 3 (31-28), with Rustin being favored in regular season…
– P-R over McDevitt by 7 (31-24)
– SJP over DTW by 36 (42-6)
– PCC over Harrisburg by 10 (34-24)
And Jeff H, I wouldn’t be shocked if the CC/SP game was much closer than indicated. I kind of went off of just how CC rolls most of the time. Penn Cambria surprises me a lot. I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s closer. I still think Avonworth is the better team, nonetheless.
Your nailing them again, lol. Lampeter Strasburg is undefeated and beat perennial state title gamer wyomissing not once but twice and somehow you give them no chance. Start going on MaxPreps and look at who teams play and don’t play and stop using cal sports whatever the hell it is. Anyone can read a newspaper clipping and then read what a computer generated system says, use your head
I see Lampeter Strasburg and southern Lehigh playing closer games than people expect. Troy and northwestern lehigh in blowouts. Upset special mcdevitt
@D2 Fan – I would be surprised if Central Clarion rolls South Park, as I noted yesterday South Park is a very big and physical team for the 2A level, and have a big, punishing running back, they owned the trenches against a solid Seton LaSalle team last week and never trailed in that game. I think they can get 4-5 yards on most running plays and shorten the game against Clarion and keep their offense off the field. I have a hunch this is a one score game in the fourth quarter and will be much closer than you predict. I would also be very surprised if Clarion scores 49 points against South Park’s defense. South Park won WPIAL titles in 1997 and 2005, and both years went on to win the state championship, I think Troy wins 2A this year, but don’t count out South Park.
In 3A I think Penn Cambria can hang with Avonworth, they handled a very good Hickory squad last week, and Avonworth is not a dominant team and pretty one dimensional, I like Penn Cambria’s chances, and doubt Avonworth has the offense to score 35 points against them especially since Hickory managed to only score 7.
I just got my power back on in my corner of D2. I have some D2 Notes ready to post.
Riverside proved me wrong. I wasn’t sure if they had enough to defeat a tough Williams Valley team (especially since they score a lot), but the D2 Vikings get a state semis nod against Troy next week. They had enough to hold off a late charge to win 28-21. I don’t see them getting past Troy, but I hope they find a way to stay in it for at least a half.
As for Scranton Prep, I didn’t expect a shutout by NW Lehigh. They looked to not match up well with them this time. Very disappointing showing for Scranton Prep, but they still showed NEPA that they’re class of the field when it comes to the traditional powers.
At least there’s one more D2 note to go, & if the planets align, maybe two.
Observations Elsewhere
– 1A: Muncy making it past Delone wasn’t shocking. Westinghouse getting smacked around by Guilfoyle was. I didn’t expect it to be that much of a blowout. I wonder if the two weeks off before last week had a bit to do with it. Expect Guilfoyle to take care of Muncy. Port A took down Wilmington & Fort Cherry proved they were #1 in 1A with a big 21-20 win over Clairton. I’m not sure how Port A matches up with Fort Cherry.
– 2A: Troy dominated Bedford. South Park got by Seton. Seemed like a back & forth kind of game. Central Clarion rolled past Cambria Heights. It wasn’t close. I think it’s still a collision course with CC/Troy.
– 3A: Danville got by Bermudian. I think it went the way it was supposed to. Hickory losing to Penn Cambria was also stunning. Haven’t followed enough D6 to know what to expect. Avonworth shutting out Central Valley in a lower scoring game surprised me, but I’m glad it wasn’t a blowout.
– 4A: Bonner was way too much for PJP, as was Solehi to Juniata. Entertaining final in the East Bracket. I’d be curious to see how long Solehi manages to hang around. TJ dominated Clearfield, to no one’s surprise. As for the other half, what a thrilling game for Wyomissing & L-S! 30-27 OT win for L-S & I think I have to agree with what
– 5A: Roman dominated Hollidaysburg. What I didn’t expect was Springfield to be held to a safety against Rustin. Makes me wonder if Rustin has a slight chance to upset them. McDevitt rolled past Exeter. Their seeding felt so low, but they played a tough division & got the short end of the stick there. Pine-Richland really finds ways to surprise me every year I count them out. Nice win over Peters. I’ll give credit where credit is due. I think they make the final, but I’m having thoughts about putting them over Roman.
– 6A: Parkland & D11 need to ask to be in a West Bracket & let WPIAL face D12 on that side of the bracket. I don’t think a D11 team will ever beat a PCL team, at least in the next decade. D’Town West won the battle to get mercy ruled by SJP. Central Catholic’s win over State College was maybe a little different than what I thought. Saw no big surprises with Harrisburg over Wilson.
A few changes to finals predictions. I decided to go with two WPIAL champs. If Clairton would’ve won, given them the nod, but I’ll give Fort Cherry their flowers & think they can match up well with Guilfoyle. I think I’ve undervalued TJ these last few weeks. They should get past L-S next week & I’ll flip my pick there.
– 1A: Fort Cherry over Guilfoyle
– 4A: TJ over Bonner
– 5A: Roman over Pine-Richland (but may flip by end of the week)
The rest of my predictions still stand. No sleeper picks the rest of the way for me. I’d say the one big sleeper out of all of the brackets to make it to the final & win would be Central Catholic. If the team puts together a near perfect game against Prep, then I think there’s a semi-decent case for them.
The Ft. Cherry – Clairton game was an instant classic, with Clairton scoring first to take a 6-0 lead, then Ft. Cherry answered with 2 TDs in the 2nd quarter to take a 14-6 halftime lead. Clairton had a couple of big scoring plays to take a 20-14 lead in the fourth quarter, but failed on the 2 point conversion after the go ahead TD. Fort Cherry drove to the Clairton 13 yard line, and on fourth and five with a couple of minutes to go Matt Sieg made a tremendous play and threw the winning TD pass, the play was designed as an RPO to the left, but Clairton had that well defended so Sieg pivoted to his right and threw sidearm across his body and channeled his inner Patrick Mahomes as he was being hit by 2 defenders to a wide open receiver for a TD, and they made the extra point for the 21-20 final.
Clairton will be back as they only have 3 senior starters, they may very well be state preseason #1 next year.
I think Ft. Cherry will beat Port Alleghany, but Bishop Guilfoyle beats them in the state final, I picked them to beat Westinghouse but surprised they dominated like they did, I don’t see anyone beating Guilfoyle in 1A.
South Park is a very big, physical team for 2A, with a punishing running attack, I doubt Central Clarion has played a team as physical as South Park all year. I’m not saying Clarion won’t win, but this game will be a battle and I think a lot closer than most people expect.
Avonworth dominated Central Valley in the trenches, as CV couldn’t stop their power running game, which was primarily out of the wildcat formation, I was disappointed in how CV played, a really lackluster performance on both sides of the ball, they looked very overrated for a preseason state #1 team. I don’t think either Avonworth or Penn Cambria can keep up with Northwestern Lehigh, I expect them to roll Danville this week and will win the state title fairly comfortably over whoever comes out of the West
Pine Richland manhandled Peters Township, with Peters QB Nolan DiLucia taking a pounding and running for his life all night. If McDevitt is going to beat Pine they need to protect Stone Saunders a lot better than Peters did, or they are in for a long night on Friday. I think Pine wins that game and also beats Roman for the state title, Pine may have a better chance to win 5A than TJ does in 4A against Bonner.
Not sure why so many people think TJ is going to beat Bonnor. I saw the PJP -Bonnor game and Bonnor is good. PJP has a very good team with very good speed and were have trouble dealing with Bonnors speed. They have two tall fast wide outs the qb is accurate and their RB is fast and is tough to tackle. On defense they are fast sideline to sideline. I doubt TJ has played a schedule like Bonnors. Forget about losing to SJP and Lasalle ,they beat Roman and blew out Haverford school who beat Wyomissing rather easily. Then they handled a very good well coached PJP team that has been locked in and playing very well. If TJ is going to beat Bonnor they will have to play very well.
I was surprised Bonner handled PJP as easily as they did, I thought that game was going to be a lot more competitive. I’ve said on here since mid-season that Bonner is a serious threat to win 4A, and I agree with you Bonner has played a substantially tougher schedule than TJ, the closest team to Bonner TJ has played is Aliquippa, and the Quips are nowhere near as good as last years team that destroyed Dallas in the state final. It will definitely be a big step up in competition for TJ, they have to play pound and ground behind their big offensive line and control the clock and keep Bonner’s offense off the field and hope they can wear them down in the 2nd half. Before the playoffs I picked TJ to win 4A, I’ve seen them play 3 times this year, but at this point I would make them underdogs to Bonner in the final. This is a typical TJ state championship type team, but Bonner definitely has more team speed and might be better, I think we’re going to find out because I expect both Bonner and TJ to win fairly comfortably this week.
I was surprised the PJP- Bonnor game wasn’t closer also..I dont think Bonnor is four scores better but they were on Friday and that’s all that matters..I give credit to all the teams playing last week, you win twelve games you have had a hell of a yr. Bonnor has length and speed at wide out so you have to go cover them and that leaves the middle of the field open so when they hand the ball off to a talented RB if he gets thru the dline it’s really tough to contain him. PJP has talented wide outs also but Bonnor was able to match up with their speed. TJ will have to have long drives to keep their offense off the field like you said.Thats if there are no upsets this week of course.
@ Irish,
I think TJ has an offense that can compete with a PCL team. I’m also going off the fact that the CalPrep ranking is a few spots higher than B-P. Foleman also beat me to the point. They’ve had a lot of teams that were snubbed of state title aspirations if it wasn’t for Scranton Prep West (I’m giving ECP that as a compliment, rather than a diss, especially since they tend to be part of the state conversation as much as them, but a lot more successful).
Being in the East and not being able to see the Western teams play you only have a teams current scores, past performance and reputation to go on. Cherpak has won 5 State Championships in the past and TJ is known to produce physical, disciplined teams. If it wasn’t for Erie Cathedral Prep, Cherp would have a couple of more State Championships under his belt. That’s what makes East VS West so exciting. Years ago Berwick played Perry Traditional Academy for the state Championship, Perry wasn’t scored upon in the regular season which infuriated opposing coaches out West as they believed Perry kept in their starters to protect the streak. They looked unbeatable, 1st drive, Berwick scores, 2nd drive Berwick scores on their way to Victory, very few fans out West were rooting for Perry. Not seeing TJ play this year, I don’t know what to expect if they meet up with Bonner. Bonner has beaten Roman and PJP and has athletes everywhere who can really hit, In my opinion, they are better than the 5A District 1 Champ Rustin and would compete for a 6A Championship in District 1. Looking forward to the matchup if it happens.
Good points,def aren’t as familiar with the teams out west, I’m sure TJ is very good. Just know how well PJP was playing and they had no answers for Bonnor. Rustin has a good team I saw them against PJP ,I thought PJP was a few questionable calls away from winning that game. Honestly Bonnor is multiple scores better then Rustin in my opinion. Rustin doesn’t have much of a passing game. Bonnors number one back got injured the second half of the PJP game can probably still win this week without him but would need him back for state final. Was disappointed PJP couldnt make it a better game but they had a great yr.