Who will be this year’s surprise and who will dominate football this year. It’s never too early to talk High School Football.
Who are your top players in 2012? Who do you think will be the top teams going into the 2012 season?
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482 Responses
@Mark d for District 11 Easton brings back a lot, they are the favorite and should be the favorite. However I think Parkland will be the team that comes out of district 11. But here are my thoughts on D11 4A (LVC only)
Easton- brings back a very good defense, with most likely a top 5 linebacker in Eastern PA. Also have a young kid who played WR for them last year. Very similiar to Jared Holley, might not be as good as Holley but they will use him the way Easton used Holley. And of course they are Easton, and Easton kids dream of playing for Easton and are some of the toughest kids around.
Parkland- brings back a good athlete at RB but I’m told they have very very impressive athletes that did not see the field last year for whatever reason. Biggest upgrades may have been there staff new Offensive Coordinator is the former ACC OC, new Defensive Coordinator is the former Liberty HC. They are my pick.
Nazareth- Graduated a lot more than people realize. Bring back a good WR, good LB, and a special young RB. But Nazareth is simply a school that is not big enough to maintain a high level year in and year out because of the enrollment. They will be competitive every year because the HC is good. But I don’t see them making noise.
Freedom- got some new transfers which if you live in the valley is nothing new. Lost a lot of the skill players but bring back a decent QB and average OLine. Prob the 3rd or 4th best team in the LVC.
Whitehall- most likely has the best QB in the league. Look for them to open it up a bit more as the new HC threw it all over the place when he was a previous HC. From what I hear is that they will take a small step back losing the HC. They will battle Freedom for the 3rd or 4th spot.
Liberty- has a dynamic WR but they run the triple option. Graduated all the skill guys, could be a down year for Liberty. But I hear the have some really special athletes coming through the program in the next few years.
Emmaus- until they lose there head coach they will be irrelevant.
I think overall a down year for District 11 and the LVC overall however I think Parkland and Easton are really special both can compete with District 12 and 1 this year in the playoffs. They play week 2.
Easton is definitely the favorite to come out of District 11. They return a ton of players from last year that lost by 7 to Nazareth in the district finals.
Parkland probably comes in at the 2nd best team going into the preseason.
any d 11 guys out their ? who are the top teams coming out of d11 this year?
The year North Penn won the state title 2004, I think? That team was easily the most talented and best team in the state. You could have called anything offensively and it would have worked. With Hearns and Kevin Akins at QB and RB respectively, that’s athletic. Oliver outside at WR and a bruising good blocking FB they were stacked.
Dick Beck is a very good coach on the lines (being a former CB WEST OL and Temple University center) he knows his stuff. NP doesn’t have much offensive imagination and tend to keep their LB’s too tight to the line and inside. A team that has speed to the corners or throws the ball well has field days with them.
Drew Scales (CD #5) had an excellent day getting outside in the state title and ultimately the stalemate at the lines and CD’s skill players the difference.
North Penn never is done, they reload. Too many kids and a very nice area will produce you the economics and spirit to win football games. Winning breads more winning in areas such as Lansdale!
rob i with you threw the grapevine i heard pittston is a real sleeper time will tell .hey remember guys we need to keep in mind these are kids we are talking about
There are at least 2 seasons where North Penn could have/should have won the state title. The year Liberty won, they had a talented mature team. They lost by a whisker to Libery in the eastern final at Coatesville. They had beaten them in the first game of the season too but Liberty was hard-nosed and seemingly on a mission. Then a couple years ago when they lost to LaSalle 38-35 at Plymouth-Whitemarsh. That one hurt. Again, it was a talented mature team that, I think, may have matched up better against the eventual champ N. Allegheny. But it wasn’t to be. Ironically, I think that team was better than the team that made it to the final last year.
Dick Beck is a nice coach, but he’s not a good big game coach. I’ve counted the Knights being beaten 3 times in the state playoffs in which they had the better team and lost. He was severely out coached. People put way too much emphasis on wins and losses as a judge to who’s a good coach and who’s not. Sometimes a guy goes 5-5 and he coached far superior to someone who went 13-1. Trust me, Beck in the grand scheme of PIAA football is a solid coach. There’s 20-30 better HS 4A head coaches in the state better. That is just off the top of my head.
Wyomissing has the best player in the state… Ben Wertz. Not to mention guys like Causa, Cacchione, and Anzalone.
@phillyboy:
Yea, pettine Jr. was only there for 1 or 2 years. he’s not the reason they are so good.
@ brian:
NP is not the only school in D1 with 100+ on the roster. I’ll bet your Rams aren’t far behind.
I’m a NP fan, but I don’t hate Pennridge or anyone else ( well maybe LaSalle).
But you’re a Pennridge fan that hates everyone else. I suspect you’re still too young to look at anything with objectivity.
@ Chuck,
The truth is, size of enrollment and coaching are both factors. Otherwise how do you explain Upper Darby. Hate to say it but their program is a bit of a joke considering their enrollment. How do you figure Pettine Jr. got the ball rolling, didn’t he coach there for about a year or two?? The fact that CR split didn’t matter. They weren’t a threat in the first place. It definitely hurt them in wrestling, though. Botton line is: Beck is an excellent coach. It just so happens that there are a lot of good AAAA teams in PA each year. To be the absolute best in any given year is quite an accomplishment. Sometimes it takes a little bit of luck too. I would say North Penn has had the most successful program in the state at AAAA in the last 10 years.
@ Chuck
Could not agree more! Pettine Jr. did build that program. Beck really has no full time job except coaching football, he’s head of security which he can delegate the work to others and sit behind his desk and watch game films all day. They should have more than one State Championship. When you have 100+ kids on your roster your going to have 20 great kids on the field by pure numbers.
My last comment was meant for Chuck, not Clark…………….. sorry.
@ Clark:
Pettine Jr. may have gotten them started, Beck has made them a state power ( he’s from the CB West program too).
They been to the final twice, winning once. You know how hard it is to get to the final? Especially from D1.
The school you coach at has nothing to do with it, it’s all about the coaching. NP been a large school forever, but before the late 90’s, they played .500 ball at best.
I’m siding with RickD on this one. Saw a few Dallas games and I was familiar with their lineup.
@Buddy,
The reason for North Penn’s success was because of Pettine Jr. He got the ball rolling for the Knights and had a very good staff. The splitting of most of the other big and competitive schools like CR & CB schools. Really only Pennsbury, Neshaminy, & NP have larger enrollments. Nesh and NP two biggest in D-1 I think. The nice developments give them an advantage with a combo of wealth and middle class families to draw from such an area.
With all the talent the Knights have had Beck’s only got 1 state championship. You would think he’d have far more than 1. Mostly it’s about the school you coach at than who’s coaching the team.
@ mark
You are the one who needs to get a clue. Gately maybe played 3 snaps on offense all season and Monk did not play AT ALL on defense.
Dolman started both ways?? Are you delusional?? Maybe he started @ DE for a half but then missed the whole season. I would hardly count him as a returning starter. Where did Dolman start on offense if you don’t mind me asking???
And then you mention certain players starting depending on the scheme? Ted Jackson only used one scheme. You need to get a clue my friend. Are you on the new coaching staff???
Pretty sure Taylor was the other lineman and not Vario but regardless Dallas is going to have a solid team anyway so hey who cares. I am looking at their schedule and the only real threats I see are Berwick and Pittston. Maybe Valley West can give them a game.
I’ll say 9-1 with a loss to Berwick and at worst 8-2, I can see Pittston upsetting them.
@ Brian:
Nice thought……….. but not gonna happen.
It’s not the 100+ roster, it’s the coaching.
@rick D
Sorry, I forgot Felix Dolman on both offense and Defense. He started both ways in the coughlin game and then suffered an ACL injury and missed the remainder of the season. He will be back and ready for the opener this season. So that’s seven possibly 8 depending on how you look at it. Defense Returners: Dolman, Gately, Bullock, Roccograndi, Shutlock, Siminovich & Monk ( both played significant time depending on the Defensive scheme. That’s seven. But who is counting other than yourself. These players may not have started every game, but did start several. Either way they were able to get alot of experience.
@Rick D Get a clue. If you went to all of those Saturday games you would know that on offense they return the following:
1) Zapoticky
2) Bullock
3) Vario
4) Shutlock
5) Monk
6) Gately (Certain Sets)
7) Siminovich
Brace got hurt in the 1st game. So if you count him as a starter than I’m sorry, they return 6-7 starters on offense.
What’s up with all these Dallas fans out there? You should root for the Eagles or possibly the Steelers. Go Eagles!
@mark d
Nah I don’t haha.
@ Buddy
Very Bold. Let the trash talk begin. Even if its not Pennridge I would love to see a Souderton, Quakertown, CB West etc beat North Penn would be the the Hilite of the year. There would be nothing better than to see the mighty North Penn and their 100+ roster fall this year to a much smaller school. Its time for a change.
@bert valley view has a lot of talent coming back,pluse the new strength coach is doing a great job with the kids but 3 things
tyler need to hold on the the ball
they need to beat prep 6 points in the last 2 years !!!1
and the coach cant put the whole offence on tyler needs to get his other athlets involed
@rob i sure lakeland will be solid they always well coached,we should find out early what they have they play valley view the second game. just thought you might had some inside info