A Treatise on Pennsylvania High School Football Championships 1988-2019
Written by: KMac on Monday, December 16th, 2019. Follow KMac on Twitter.
I have been a fan of high school football in Pennsylvania since my first game in 1951. It was of course because I lived here and I am sure if I lived in some other state I would have been hooked on the sport wherever it may have been. I have detailed my first 65 years of following PA H S football here on EasternPAFootball as can be reviewed from the index at the bottom of the Home page of the site; thank you, David Mika.
Since the end of that 65-year period {2015} I have not attended near as many games in person, but my total games attended stands at 955. But I now enjoy still seeing the games by various television and video stream outlets and have actually seen 79 by this method this season.
If you care to read this piece please keep in mind that I do not in any way intend to demean any team, any district, or any other aspect of PA high school football. I read EasternPAFootball and other high school football websites every day of the year, football season or not. I am aware of the political issues ongoing and various opinions of subject matter about the PIAA and all aspects of our favorite sport. This piece is meant to be objective and report historical facts with my own take on various things that have occurred and successes and failures are reported because they happened.
Enough background, on to the subject at hand.
Thirty-two rounds of state championships have now been completed, 28 at 4 per season, and 4 at 6 per season; a total of teams appearing in 136 games, meaning 272 slots to fill for two sides to vie for the title.
A total of 115 teams have filled those slots which represents about 21% of the total of 561 the PIAA said played the sport in the year of 2019.
There have been 70 teams that have won a state title and that is about 13% of the 561 playing in the state; and 61% of the 115 that have taken the field to vie for a title thus far.
The breakdown of 115 entries is 93 public schools (including 1 charter school which is legally a public school); 18 Catholic schools; and 4 private schools.
I have not researched the charter of each and every school but can indicate that the four private schools here are Scotland School, Shady Side Academy, St. Joe’s Prep, and LaSalle College High School. In general most consider St. Joe’s and LaSalle as Catholic schools but they are “Private” Schools legally; also, most people just call it ‘LaSalle’ without the “College.”
I also choose to keep Charter School as its own category, but only one of these has been at States so far in the history of the playoffs. We will be speaking of all these schools and more.
Only recently I found that State College, PA was considered the geographical center of the State! {It never came up before, honest!}. Given this fact, the PIAA did as good a job as possible designating the 12 Districts of the State in East and West fashion. Keeping the 12 districts in full-county geography indeed most of the eastern districts – 1, 2, 3, 4, 11 & 12 are fully east of a line drawn north and south through State College that is at right angles to the northern and southern borders of PA. Of course the same is said for the western districts – 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10. Only the shapes of some counties project into the opposing east or west side for the central districts of 6 and 9 west and 3 east but they are minor in size and numbers of schools.
As a result we truly had an East-West rivalry going with champions from either sector for the first 20 championships, 1988 through the 2007 games. After 2008 the PIAA started to move various classifications into different playoff setups to balance the number of teams playing for one side of the bracket or the other and we had some classes of west D6 playing for the east; and some classes of east D3 playing for the west.
This has been further tweaked for almost all classes in some manner, and we now have to consider the championships as two-sided brackets with some championship games actually between two eastern teams or two western teams at times. I believe for the last two years at least, the class champion for each class has been designated east or west by the district represented by the team, and it should be in my opinion, as there is no way you can designate a Philly school as “West” champion realistically; or Bishop Guilfoyle as an “East” champion.
I do not know how it is officially listed by the PIAA other than the results I see on this site, and I will discuss the posted totals and an alternate figure based on “district geography.”
| East-West Wins by class | AAAAAA | AAAAA | AAAA | AAA | AA | A | Total |
| East | 3 | 3 | 14 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 75 |
| West | 1 | 1 | 18 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 61 |
| 136 |
Since 2008 and the classification changes there have been 11 games through 2017 that were championships between two teams of either both west or both east. Only 4 have resulted in an eastern or western win by the opposite district location, three “East” wins by Bishop Guilfoyle of D6; and one “West” win by Central Dauphin of D3. I believe the 2018 and 2019 Championships have been accorded the proper district specified win locations so that is it.
The net change of putting Guilfoyle’s wins back in the “west” and Central Dauphin’s back in the “east” would result in a plus 2 for the West and a minus 2 for the East, making the “true” East wins 73 and “true” West wins 63, narrowing the gap from 14 to 10 in favor of the East.
This year’s championships provided us with the usual flurry of changes to the long-time records and histories for the classifications, teams and districts as usual; and also 7 eastern teams and 5 western teams with both 6A and 5A all-eastern brackets and 1A an all-western bracket.
As to the game executions, class A gave us a defensive battle in the wind needing overtime resulting in a 10-7 win for two “western” teams Farrell D7 over Bishop Guilfoyle D6. A hard-fought competitive battle, a much desired type of game for States.
Triple-A gave us a team that dominated for most of three-quarters and then were overtaken by a burst by the underdog (by most accounts) when Wyoming Area D2 won 21-14 over Central Valley D7. Another game that was even, hard-fought, and a joy to watch from a neutral view.
Likewise AAAAA gave us a competitive, back and forth game that was a come-from-behind win in the last 4 minutes of the game by Archbishop Wood D12 19-15 win over Cheltenham D1 in a game between two “eastern” teams.
The three odd-numbered classifications, 1A, 3A, and 5A were appreciated for their competitive nature by most neutral observers I would think.
The three even-classifications 2A, 4A and 6A were different stories. Again, by most pundits’ pre-games accounts, I believe they followed the script as expected by most.
The 2A game was record setting in many regards, a 74-7 Southern Columbia D4 win over Avonworth D7. We will have to see what next year brings for the SC Tigers, but this appeared to be a once-in-a-lifetime accumulation of D1 talent for a small school that enjoys a ‘culture’ for the sport throughout their local communities, school, administration, and coaching staff that is legendary. It resulted in our first double-digit state champion trophy holder.
The 4A game resulted in a new “top undefeated” team in championship history as the Thomas Jefferson D7 win 46-7 over Dallas D2 gives the TJ Jaguars the top undefeated record in State Chip history at 4-0 accomplished over appearances in two different classes 3A & 4A. There are no other 4-0 teams in championship history to date.
Six-A was another game, as was 2A, that seemed to be the pundit’s choice before the season began. It was a St. Joe’s Prep D12 win 35-13 over Central Dauphin D3 in another battle of two “eastern” teams. In a game of execution of scheme and execution of play behind a D1-filled roster the Hawks on both sides of the ball were impressive. Only kickoff coverage seemed to need any tweaking; but allowed no scores.
Three teams were new to this year’s championships, in 5A Cheltenham from D1; Wyoming Area in 3A from D2; and Avonworth in 2A from D7. Only Wyoming area was able to win in its first appearance which is not the usual, as first-time appearances are tough, especially when going against talent-laden and/or battle-tested programs as Cheltenham and Avonworth did this season. Even Wyoming’s opponent Central Valley had been there once before.
Among the 12 teams appearing this year were the three new ones mentioned above, and also three defending champions from last year – Farrell 1A; Southern Columbia 2A; and St. Joe’s Prep 6A. The other 6 entries had all been to States at least once in some prior year to 2018.
As to district participation, D6 returned after a year missed and D1 was back after a 6-year break. Four districts have not appeared for the following number of years D11- four years; D8 – twenty-two years; D9 – twenty-seven years; and D5 has yet to make an appearance.
The following table is for total titles won, how many district teams vied for the titles and how many of them actually won a title with the W-L percentage of teams winning to teams vying:
| Titles | Teams | Teams | W-L | |
| Districts by wins in finals: | 2019 | vying | winning | % |
| District 7 | 47 | 41 | 25 | 61% |
| District 4 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 60% |
| District 12 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 100% |
| District 10 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 64% |
| District 3 | 11 | 15 | 9 | 60% |
| District 11 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 73% |
| District 2 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 67% |
| District 1 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 60% |
| District 6 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 29% |
| District 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| District 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| District 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| 136 | 117 | 72 | ||
| (115) | (70) |
The total teams vying and teams winning are correct in the parenthesis below the total; both totals are two over because two teams – Mt Carmel (D11 & D4) and Farrell (D10 & D7) have won titles in two different districts. To account for their appearances and titles they make both columns over by two.
Because many teams have appeared more than one time at championships our next chart is needed to show total district participation in each classification regardless of how many teams actually made the appearances.
| District appearances in each class: | 6A | 5A | AAAA | AAA | AA | A | Total |
| District 7 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 93 |
| District 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 14 | 27 | ||
| District 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 27 |
| District 10 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 24 | ||
| District 12 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| District 1 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 21 | |
| District 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 21 | ||
| District 11 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 20 | ||
| District 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 12 | ||
| District 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| District 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| District 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 8 | 8 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 272 |
The next chart is the win-loss records for each district in each classification.
| District win-loss records within class: | 6A | 5A | AAAA | AAA | AA | A | Total | Avg. |
| District 12 | 3-1 | 3-0 | 3-4 | 4-2 | 1-2 | none | 14-9 | .609 |
| District 4 | none | 1-0 | 8-4 | 6-8 | 15-12 | .556 | ||
| District 11 | 2-4 | 3-2 | 4-3 | 2-0 | 11-9 | .550 | ||
| District 2 | 0-1 | 7-1 | 3-3 | 1-5 | 11-10 | .524 | ||
| District 7 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 14-10 | 9-11 | 9-13 | 13-10 | 47-46 | .506 |
| District 10 | 4-2 | 3-3 | 2-4 | 3-3 | 12-12 | .500 | ||
| District 8 | none | 1-1 | none | none | 1-1 | .500 | ||
| District 1 | 0-1 | 7-7 | 2-3 | 1-0 | none | 10-11 | .477 | |
| District 3 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 1-9 | 4-0 | 4-0 | 11-16 | .408 |
| District 6 | 0-1 | none | 1-3 | 3-4 | 4-8 | .334 | ||
| District 9 | none | none | none | 0-2 | 0-2 | .000 | ||
| District 5 | none | none | none | none | 0 | 0 |
In the total win-loss column above, both wins and losses equal 136-136 so I believe it is accurate. Finally for districts we have the w-l percentage per class:
| Districts win-loss percentage per class | 6A | 5A | AAAA | AAA | AA | A |
| District 12 | .750 | 1.000 | .429 | .667 | .334 | |
| District 11 | .334 | .600 | .572 | 1.000 | ||
| District 4 | 1.000 | .667 | .429 | |||
| District 2 | .000 | .875 | .500 | .167 | ||
| District 7 | .500 | .500 | .584 | .450 | .409 | .566 |
| District 1 | .000 | .500 | .400 | 1.000 | ||
| District 8 | .500 | |||||
| District 10 | .667 | .500 | .334 | .500 | ||
| District 3 | .000 | .000 | .400 | .100 | 1.000 | 1.000 |
| District 6 | .000 | .250 | .429 | |||
| District 9 | .000 | |||||
| District 5 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Let us now talk of specific teams for the championships.
As I mentioned earlier, Thomas Jefferson D7, 4A this year broke the mold of 3-0 teams leading the unbeaten category by winning their 4th title to go 4-0, the only team at that level so far.
That leaves North Allegheny D7 and Allentown Central Catholic D11 as the only two remaining 3-0 teams in the championship history so far.
Six teams have been twice to the championships and won them both for 2-0 records – McKeesport, South Park, & Penn Hills from D7; Lancaster Catholic and Steelton-Highspire from D3; and Bethlehem Catholic from D11.
Of course the most championships won and only double-digit title holder is Southern Columbia D4 at 10 titles booked. And they have also been to the most championships at 18. Because of a 10-8 record and .556 winning percentage they of course do not lead in that category. And the 8 losses is also the most in State Championship playoffs.
There are 22 teams that have gone 1-0 in the title quest, and along with the 4-0 (1); 3-0 (2); and 2-0 (6) teams it makes 31 teams that sport winning percentages of 1.000; of course in this race we look to the 4-0 as tops, it’s harder by far to go 4-0 than 1-0. We can also say for certain that at least 31 teams won the first time out at States, because these teams have won every time. And certainly many of the mixed-record teams may have won first time out as well, for instance I know our next subject did in 1988.
So far, Berwick at 6-1 still leads all teams in winning percentage of teams with at least one loss in the championships. Their .858 winning average is still tops outside of the unbeatens. And the 6 championships won is still the second best to Southern Columbia’s 10.
However, in this endeavor they have now been tied with 6 titles by Archbishop Wood of D12 who is 6-2 in 8 tries for a win-loss tally of .750.
Only 3 teams have 5 titles and two are 5-1 at .834 and are Mt. Carmel D11 (1) and D4 (4) and St. Joe’s Prep D12. The third 5-title winner also has 3 losses and is Erie Cathedral Prep 5-3 of D10 with a w-l % of .625.
Four teams have won 4 titles and they share only two different records 4-2 and 4-3. Central Bucks West D1 & Farrell D10 & D7 are both 4-2. Clairton and Pittsburgh Central Catholic are both from D7 and both are 4-3.
Other than the two unbeaten 3-win teams there are only three other teams with 3 titles and they all have different records. Bishop Guilfoyle D6 is 3-1 at .750; Rochester D7 is 3-3 at .500; and Aliquippa D7 at 3-4 is .429.
Joining the 6 two-win unbeaten teams, but with records of 2-1 and 2-2 are four teams, two with each record: At 2-1 Jeannette and South Fayette, both D7; and at 2-2 Upper St. Clair D7 and Strath Haven D1. That completes the teams with more than a single title to their credit.
Twelve different teams stand at .500 with 1-1 records in state championship playoffs.
The balance of the teams that have gone to championship sites have experienced frustration.
Five have gone 1-2 at .334. These are Parkland & Bethlehem Liberty of D11; Pine-Richland and West Allegheny of D7; and Tyrone of D6. Pine Richland is one of only two teams to have appeared in three different classifications of championships – 3A, 4A, & 6A.
Four teams have experienced 1-3 frustrations and .250 percentage – Bishop McDevitt & Manheim Central of D3; Dunmore D2; and Wilmington D10.
Imhotep Charter of D12 is the only charter school so far to have appeared in the state championships and are classified as a public school, but I like to note charter’s as a classification with proper notation that they are legally public. They are the other (than Pine-Richland) school that has been to three different classifications of championships. Unfortunately they are also alone at a record of 1-4 and .200 winning percentage. The 4 losses are actually the second most in championship history to the 8 of Southern Columbia.
There are fully 35 teams with an 0-1 record at States and I think this emphasizes the tough go of being a first time appearing team and winning, although there were others that won in a first appearance for sure. It has become increasingly difficult as the championships age up and more ‘experienced’ teams develop and re-enter.
Seven teams have also been 0-2 at States and the most frustrating record so far is 0-3 which has been shared by Blackhawk and Woodland Hills, both D7, and Middletown D3.
Various trends and perhaps oddities show up throughout the win-loss analysis of the district classifications we listed back a bit in this paper. District 3 still holds the distinction of the two most wins in undefeated classifications in their 4-0 records in 2A and 1A. And in both cases it was by three different teams in each class. Class 3A seems to be the wildest. D3’s 3A classification at 1-9 is the most lopsided of any class in wins-losses at a .100 average. And D3’s 28 class 3A schools are the most of any district but it was only 4 schools that suffered the 1-9 record. This seems odd, but no different than D1 whose 25 class 3A schools is second most in any district, yet only two class 3A schools have ever made it to finals for D1. This is where the size and strength of D7 shines through; they list 17 3A schools and 12 have been to finals.
The outstanding 3A class bracket belongs to D2 which is 7-1 and .875 which was helped by Berwick’s 6 wins in the bracket, and they also had the only loss. Just this season Wyoming Area added the 7th win.
These AAA classifications seem to have the most fluctuation with all of the other classifications generally near either side of the .500 level to some extent, or very similar to one another.
As to the strengths of classifications within districts and the districts themselves, D12 leads the W-L average for titles at 14-9 and .609. When you boil it down it is basically two teams, St. Joe’s Prep and Archbishop Wood who are 11-3 between them which is 61% of the activity of the District. Only three other D12 teams have ever participated – LaSalle (1-1), Imhotep (1-4), and West Catholic (1-1). They all managed at least 1 win making the district 5 teams playing and all 5 teams winning at least one title.
District 4 is second in average at .556. Of course the bell-weather team is Southern Columbia whose 18 appearances is 67% of the district’s activity. However it also has Mount Carmel, still the winningest team in state history (total wins – 866) that had a 4-1, .800 avg addition to the district stats. Mount Carmel also has another title when assigned in D11 some years prior.
Third-place district with a .550 winning average is D11 which is presently suffering a 4-year hiatus from appearing at States. D11 started strong when the playoffs started and their first 7 entries from 1988 through 1998 won titles at which point they were 7-0 at States. Their bell-weather bracket is 1A in which they are 2-0 giving them their 11-9 margin of wins and .550 average.
District 2 is next with an 11-10 record and .524 winning average. We have already discussed their outstanding 7-1 AAA class and Berwick was the main element but has not been seen since 1997. The Dawgs represent 6 of the district’s 11 wins without which the district has a 5-9 record (Dawgs also had the one loss). Dunmore has 4 appearances for D2, one in 1A and three in 2A.
District 7 is 5th with a 47-46 win-loss tally and .506 winning average. As can be seen in the various stats D7 is an extremely strong district with good teams in every classification and participation greater than any other three districts you want to combine. As we said, I believe that Thomas Jefferson just became their shining light at 4-0 and they had appeared in 4A this year and previously in 3A three times. Both Pittsburgh Central Catholic (4-3) and Aliquippa (3-4) have appeared 7 times each for the district. Because they fill so much of the western side year end and year out, it seems it is D7 versus the rest of the State at times. There has never been a state final without D7 representation. The lowest D7 entries were one team in 1989 and in 2011.
District 10 and District 8 are tied for 6th at a .500 win-loss average each. But D10 is 12-12 to attain their average and D8 is 1-1. Unquestionably Erie Cathedral Prep is the anchor of D10 with 8 appearances in two classes and a 5-3 record. ECP is one-third of the activity for D10, and the second-most appearing team at States to Southern Columbia. Eleven different teams have appeared for D10, but Farrell had moved to D7 and appeared for that district since.
District 8’s 1-1 and .500 was the result of one team – Perry Traditional Academy in 3A who gave Berwick it’s only loss in the championships in 1989 and Berwick returned the favor in 1997 which was the Dawgs last appearance so far as well as Perry’s.
District 8 is the City of Pittsburgh and the smallest district in the state in teams, currently having 6 schools. It has not appeared at the championships in 22 years.
District 1 has slipped to 8th position with a record of 10-11 and .477 winning percentage. It is my home district and a bit of an enigma of sorts. Before the conversion to 6 classifications when class 4A was the largest class D1 was the second-most active district in this classification with 6 teams posting a 7-7, .500 record in class 4A. It is a district of big schools with 33 in 6A (most in state) and 25 in 5A (second most in state). It’s highlight team had been Central Bucks West which opened the door to eastern 4A wins in 1991, and posted a fine 4-2, .667 slate in 6 appearances. D1 only returned to the championships in 5A this season after a 6-year hiatus. But when D4 was the big schools class, D1 was in the D4 championships in 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 & 2004. This is only excelled by D7’s string of same class domination on the other side of the bracket.
But, for some reason, any ‘elite’ D1 team seems to have left the stadium. By that I mean D1 seems to have had its day in the sun as indicated. This year’s D1 6A champion got smoked by the D3 champion 65-44, who in turn lost the state championship 13-35 and scored 6 points on the last play of the game. The last District 1 4A team to make finals in 2012 got beat 28-63. The district has never shown a great deal of strength in its lower classifications.
District 3 is ninth at 11-16 and .408 winning average. We have discussed the 3A classification at 1-9 and .100 winning average as the problem. Remove the 3A class and D3 is 10-7 across the combination of all the other classes. It seems that the second largest district in the state D3 (92 schools) and third largest in the state D1 (69 schools) would not rank where they do. But it is what it is and I guess size doesn’t matter in this case.
However I think for sure that the district’s size in number of teams does play into the final three districts. Tenth is D6 with number of schools of 3-2-3-9-11-18 in 46 schools district-wide from 6A down to 1A. They have a 4-8 record and .334 winning average. Bishop Guilfoyle in 1A is the anchor with 3 of the district’s 4 wins. This year the Marauders just appeared at 3-0 and got their first loss in a good hard-fought game with Farrell. They sport a trifecta, winning 3 States in a row – 2014-2016.
District 9 has only 23 schools with 10 in 1A and 8 in 2A. They have twice sent a different 1A school to states and each lost for the district’s 0-2, .000 w-l average. They have not appeared in 27 years.
District 5 is 12 schools of 5-5-2 in 1A through 3A classes. We have yet to see a D5 school at a state championship.
Even prominent districts with fair activity for state championship participation have had their dry cycles {except D7, of course}. D1 just broke a 6-year dry period with an entry this year.
D2 had a dry run 1998 through 2006, a 9-year void of participation.
For D3 it was a void of 1995-2002 inclusive, an 8-year absence from finals.
D4 has been fairly consistent over 32 years, with two short 3-year 1990-1992; and 2012-2014 absences about the longest. It’s two multi-appearance leaders, Southern Columbia (18) and Mount Carmel (5) account for a lot of it.
D6’s longest gap was from the start of the championships in 1988 until their first appearance in 1994, a period of 6 missed championships. A five year gap occurred 2004 through 2008.
District 10 is the second most active western district and it seems perhaps only a 3-year 2001 through 2003 period was a modest dry spell.
District 11 saw a dry spell 2011 through 2014, a 4-year void, and after their 2015 entry have not reappeared for another 4-year period so far.
District 12 began PIAA play in 2004 with the Philadelphia Public League (PPL) only and in 2008 the Philadelphia Catholic League (PCL) also was eligible. For the years of 2004 through 2007 (4 years) the Pub did not visit the championships, but the PCL has appeared every year since its PIAA entry — 2008 through 2019. And a PPL member also appeared 4 times concurrent with the PCL action.
We have listed the little-participating districts of D5, D8 and D9 and their long gaps of absence elsewhere.
We have discussed many times the size advantages that accrue to big teams, big schools, big districts and such. They are obvious in a team size (numbers) for platooning, injury replacement, and talent pool. And as we know you do not have to be the biggest to field a fine team as is always apparent in the smaller 1A, 2A, and 3A championships each season.
And we have seen results from the big districts in their domination of the statistics of the championships generally, but again there are exceptions with great stats from portions of the smaller districts as well. But, I think we can all agree that bigger is better in football providing the culture, administration, community, and coaching are on board and comparable in either big or small.
Taking the new classification numbers from the PIAA I would like to list the top 6A schools over 1,000 and some comparisons:
Team Dist. Class Nos. Chip Appr. Chip Wins
- Reading Central 3 2148 0 0 2. Northeast 12 1701 0 0 3. Upper Darby 1 1529 0 0 4. North Penn 1 1523 2 1 5. Hazleton Area 2 1431 0 0 6. William Allen 11 1280 0 0 7. Bethlehem Liberty 11 1223 3 1 8. Erie High 10 1216 0 0 {New School} 9. Easton 11 1205 0 0 10. Parkland 11 1176 3 1 11. J. P. McCaskey 3 1146 0 0 12. Emmaus 11 1132 0 0 13. Pennsbury 1 1094 0 0 14. Cumberland Valley 3 1078 1 1 15. North Allegheny 7 1063 3 3 16. Neshaminy 1 1055 2 1
No other teams listed over 1,000 on the current listing.
As can be seen, only 6 of the top 16 sized schools in the state have been to a state championship. And each of the six has won at least one championship as well, with North Allegheny 3 for 3.
This to me is an indication that in addition to size you also have to have many other elements to run a successful high school program, and it is getting more difficult all the time. Readers of this website are fully aware of the general decline in high school football in Pennsylvania which is sometimes masked by a few talent-laden, successful teams or teams with exceptional seasons.
I do not know enough of the background of each school listed above but do know some and came make some observations.
I do not know the history of Reading High School but it is obviously one of a few large city schools with one central high school, and Erie has just converted to the same principal. You would think that something is certainly lacking with a population for classification 447 over the next highest school in the state and a lack of success in football, at least in current times.
Northeast is a PPL school in the big city and has had some great seasons. They quietly were 12-2 this year losing only to Inter-Ac Episcopal Academy 13-26 and in the D12 playoffs to eventual state champ St. Joe’s Prep 26-43. They shut out 7 of their 14 opponents and held three more to a single score. Last year they were 8-4 losing to the same strong-type opponents. The year before 8-3. They would be a strong opponent for most other district schools but can’t get by the ‘elite’ of the PCL to make states.
Upper Darby is a Reading-like story to me, I do not know enough about their history, but they seem to be big enough to field a representative team.
I think most readers of this piece (if any?) know the stories of the teams on this list, at least those in the districts that the schools hail from and others that have followed some history. All comments on any of the schools is appreciated. I know that Neshaminy has had in the past a strong football culture since 1952. I say in the past, because I do not know how it is faring today, as it appears that all Suburban One schools are taking a hit nowadays.
In reporting things of history as is the 1988-2019 State Championships there is little that is unknown or new, but I hope that this treatise in general will stimulate some thoughts and forum traffic in the off-season.
If I have erred in any part of the piece, please advise me of my error, as I want it to be correct.
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December 18th, 2019 at 9:15 am
SCA 1979
Thank you for your comments. It is sort of a hobby with me, and I hope to be able to do it after each year’s results.
December 18th, 2019 at 8:47 am
Great Job! Thanks for writing this historical account of the PIAA State Football Championships. I often lookup this type of information myself and enjoyed your presentation.