UPDATED 12/11 – This will be the official thread each week for playoff talk, playoff schedules, scores and so much more! What do you think of the match ups this week?
It’s never too early to look at how the playoff picture is shaping up!
So let’s talk playoffs!
2011 Brackets (Updated 12/11)
Class A Class AA Class AAA Class AAAA Eastern Conference
2011 Playoff Schedules (Updated 12/11)
District 1 District 2 District 3
District 4 District 11 District 12
Playoff Scoring Stats (Updated 12/11)
2011 Playoff Scoreboard (Updated 12/11)
“EasternPAFootball Talk”…..Talking Playoffs
Join Josh Funk, Armand Vanore and David Mika as we take a look ahead to Week 12 games and look back to Week 11. We will break down each bracket and give our opinion on each game. Join us by clicking the links below.
Class A Class AA Class AAA Class AAAA
831 Responses
@Jay Mazz, how many coaches have you personally asked if they would prefer an off week when their team is hot or to play? Think about it; it’s not tough! You think Nazareth would like to be off this weekend after what they did to Parkland? Think ACC would like to be off?
I see Nazareth or Easton getting by La Salle, just a gut feeling a have not due to any outstanding statistics or what not. It’s just one of those feelings you get sometimes where you think nothing matters other than who’s scored the most at the end of the game. I think North Penn handles Pennsbury 28-14 or around about score like that. I think CRS escapes Garnet Valley much the way they did Downingtown East, unless they can play two halves instead of being a second half team like they typically are
Pennsbury at North Penn.
Last Week: 1-3
Picks:
NP over Pennsbury
CR South over Garney Valley
Pennsbury’s O-line vs North Penn’s very agressive defense should be interesting to say the least.
@S
FYI: La Salle played Bergen Catholic the past two years. And in my opinion, there is not one PA AAAA team that could beat this year’s Bergen team. I did not get a chance to see Don Bosco play against Bergen this year, but I know Bosco won. Bergen was a phenomenal team, and they pretty much owned La Salle (and I am a LaSalle alum and supporter). I don’t think there is any team in PA that would beat Bergen or Bosco.
But back to everyone’s argument. Most schools get a bye sometime during their regular season. PCL schools don’t. IT just so happens that they start their playoffs a week earlier, and they happen to get a bye week after winning the city. Deal with it. It’t not an unfair advantage. It is what it is. If the other team is better, then the other team will win, regardless of when their bye week is.
@Buddy:
I know you’re super biased towards NP and the Suburban One league, but come on man. You gotta at least give credit where credit is due. How can you say that the only good team La Salle plays is NP? NP is a good team, I will give you that. But the PCL is traditionally a strong league. I’m not saying its always or will always be stronger than the other leagues, but you can’t say that there is not competition in the league. St. Joe’s Prep finished 3rd in the PCL this year, and they smoked NP. La Salle also played Bergen Catholic, the #2 team in Jersey (which is scary that there is a better team in Jersey ((Bosco))). LaSalle also scrimmages Pennsbury every year, and I cannot even remember the last time Pennsbury beat up on LaSalle. LaSalle has beaten up Pennsbury every year since I played at LaSalle. I don’t mean to come specifically at you, but it seems like everyone is so quick to slam the PCL schools, and say they have an unfair advantage, and they get a bye week so late in the season, and they have no boundaries, blah blah blah. Just give these teams credit where credit is due…
Making a prediction for AAAA next year: Roman Catholic will make a run for states.
#5 Garnet Valley @ #1 Council Rock South. I’m picking Gv in an upset
Naz/Easton. . . to see the most explosive offense in the state do it again!
Pennsbury/ NP
What game are you going to (Week 13)?
@Ed,
Two years ago LaSalle got better competition in their league than they did in the playoffs? If I recall the Easton game played in a snowstorm featured Easton grabbing a quick 14-0 lead and LaSalle coming back to take a 17-14 lead. Easton was driving inside the 35 yard line twice and did not come up with points.
LaSalle is very good once again this season, but let’s not act like the best competition they face is only in the PCL. In each of the last two seasons where they got to Hershey, their road to the finals was anything but blowouts (at least against Easton twice).
I still from the preseason liked LaSalle in the state finals against either USC or PCC. Whelp, USC has a chance to get there again.
I got to see Nazareth play once and if they meet LaSalle, watching LaSalle face a passing attack with a mixture of a 1,000 yard back will be interesting. Nazareth can score on anyone and that would be an awesome game to attend.
Not that anyone cares but the Dist 1 Class AAA championship between Pottsgrove and Phoenixville will be Saturday at 1pm at Plymouth Whitemarsh High in Plymouth Meeting. District 1 may as well have put it at Coatesville. I think these guys use 2 criteria to select a site. Who wants to staff it and who do they owe a favor to.
Hey Zach, LS has to win 5 playoff games to make the state final like everyone else, just because the PCL league playoffs start a week earlier than D1 is not their fault so lay off the unfair advantage stuff like it’s their doing. Besides next’s years compressed schedule will take care of any bye week.
The PIAA needs to split up the private schools from public schools and shorten the season. It is evident from the past few PIAA championship outcomes that some form of standard needs to be implemented. The PCL teams dominate the East because they can draw from boundaries larger than a 4A school and still keep their student population low. The same thing happens in other states like New Jersey and they have split. Many fans and others around the state complain about the lack of competition they get out of the PCL and thats because our public schools are limited to the players they have.
If the PCL and other private schools dominate so much in this state and claim it’s not that competitive, than go and put Bergan Catholic or Don Bosco Prep on your schedules. They are only an hour and half away. See how you compare to them.
Re: Bye weeks
In A, D5 North Star is off this week while waiting for the WPIAL winner Sto-Rox or Clairton (who will be 13-0), not that it will probably give them an advantage.
In AA, D1/12 West Catholic is off this week.
In AAA, D12 Archbishop Wood.
In AAAA, D12 LaSalle.
No matter how you cut it, it isn’t fair. Divide each classification into four conferences as evently as possible, each conference into four divisions. The top four in each division (out of 8 to 10 or so) to give a 64 team field. Start it in Week 10, the finals are Week 15.
More from the Philly Inquirer on the Dist 1 AAA Championship game: Click here
The buy week is interesting, not familiar with the pros and cons outside of logical fatigue and injuries, but interesting debate.
In terms of scheduling, how about being an Easton Red Rover this week…great test and win against a big Scranton team, now the turkey day rivalry against Phillipsburg, and then a date with 11-1 LVC champion Nazareth on Saturday night who just came off a 63-27 win against Parkland… 3 games in 8 days and you will never hear a complaint out of an Easton player past of present… great program, great coaching staff.
If you want to see a great game/atmosphere/talent, make the trip to Nazareth saturday night ..this one might be one for the books
Wow…huge surprise in the Class AAA bracket! It was just updated to show the District 1 AAA Final being played at Pottsgrove Stadium on Friday, 11/25 at 7PM! I felt sure it would be at a neutral site. Also, since the Phoenixville – Spring-Ford was moved from Thanksgiving to Wed 11/23 7PM, I felt sure Phoenixville would ask for the playoff game to be moved to Saturday, 11/26.
Thoughts?
@SEPAGuru
Hey, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect that. It just seems that no one wants to give CR South their due credit. I hear all the critiques you mentioned and you are not the first person who has said them. It is easy to watch the film and determine what needs to be done against a team. It is an entirely different story executing the plan. I believe Mike Tyson said it best when he said, “Every fighter has a plan until he gets punched in the mouth.” (Even though I believe Joe Louis said it first).
I don’t profess that CR South is the best football team on the planet. They are however the #1 seed in AAAA District 1, listed in the top 10 in the state on most polls, and are quickly becoming one of the best programs in the area. Vince Bedesem, and his staff, have the boys believing in the system. These players put the team above all their individual goals. They have a D1 commit, PJ Gallo, who switched from his natural DE position to linebacker. Not by coincidence, the defense has been playing MUCH better since these adjustments were made giving up an average of about 10 points a game. Take away the kick returns and scores on turnovers (2 fumbles returned for TD’s in one game) and the defense looks that much more impressive.
The offense is running for almost 300 yards a game including almost 500 yards in their first playoff game. Do they throw the ball? No, not very often. Will they face a team that will shut down their triple option offense? Possibly, Penn Ridge and Pennsbury did a pretty good job against them.
They could possibly go out and lose to Garnet Valley. That however will not diminish what they have done to date. Again, you are entitled to your opinion and not everyone has to love the Hawks. To say that you have seen them on film and in person and are “underwhelmed” does not seem like a fair assessment. Unless of course you are comparing all the teams to the CB West Bucks of the late 90’s… I don’t think that is what you had in mind.
Completely agree, Zach. And I’m not saying that LaSalle (or whoever comes out of D12) is not a good team or this and that… but getting a bye week halfway through the playoffs is undeniably an unfair advantage. I’d love to hear the reasoning for this.. even better, I’d love someone to try and tell me why it isn’t unfair.
@ Ed:
No PCL bias. I’m just saying the only team they play is NP. Granted, a good team, but I wonder how they would fare against other SOL teams ( Neshaminy, CRS, Pensbury etc.) if they played them on a regular basis. I contend there would be some loses in there for PCL.
@ Zach:
yea, it’s a cluster. Should be resolved when D1 goes to 8 teams next year ( high probability). I’m assuming they will leave the other side of the bracket ( D11, D12 etc.) intact.
i under stand that a.c.c has a very good team . but i can tell you this valley view is bring and old fashion big 11 defence so buckel it up it going to be hitting for 48 min
@JP
Multiple reasons They didn’t play a gap sound defense. They tried to attack it the same way every other team has, which is a responsibility oriented defense. That sort of defense is how the double dive gets lose. Also, they were ineffective running the ball yet they continued to try and pound it inside… Any coach who watches CRS game film know they are vulnerable to quick passes, multiple shifts in formation as well as weak on the edge. You have a quarterback who can throw it and a WR (Jay Harris)who’s better than any DB on CRS… gotta be able to have a good game plan. It’s just my personal opinion that Mike Matta did not have a good game plan for CR South.
I have an SOL bias (at least when they play other D1 teams) but I thought CR South was a thoroughly underwhelming team on film and in person and I still think that.
Does anybody else think the playoff system is one big cluster….? Byes halfway through the playoffs? PIAA needs to organize itself into regions and division like other states do. Throw out the old districts that clearly aren’t fair.
My comments to Buddy aside, La Salle is no lock to even get past the next game. To me this La Salle looks more beatable than any of the teams they have had the last four years. The coaching is awesome, the O-Line is terrific, their running game is solid and they have two great WRs. But the passing game has been inconsistent and the DBs can be vulnerable. I haven’t seen the other district one teams but North Penn has much talent. The turnover bug hurt them in the first game and that was a lifetime ago. I honestly wouldn’t make them the AAAA favorite.
Buddy, your anti catholic league bias is forever showing. Actually, most years the league is tougher that it has been the last two years. When La Salle won the AAAA championship two years ago, the best teams they played on that run were O’Hara and the Prep. Their league competition was certainly better than what they got from Easton, Ridley and State College High. The league was a little down the last two years, so we will see. But Prep absolutely wacked North Penn and finished third in the PCL.
@ Rciffo, that district 3 game between lampeter-strasburg and west york is only a semifinal game. and the district 3 championship games are all played at hershey