My thoughts: LaSalle is the defending state champ and has already beaten North Penn in Week 1. They have played very well and showed a lot of poise and persistence in come from behind wins. North Penn hasn't lost since Week 1 and seems to play better every week, culminating in applying the "Mercy Rule" to Neshaminy in the District 1 final last week. I think that each team will score at least 2 touchdowns, but I wouldn't be surprised at any outcome in this game, including a blowout by either team or multiple overtimes to determine the who goes to Hershey. (I think an overtime game is the only thing that could prevent one of these teams from winning the AAAA championship on 12/18).
Now, some complaints. The only acceptable field in District 1 is the Explorers home field? How is that right? And why are they playing Saturday afternoon? This is the first time the Knights have faced another team during the day since their scrimmage against Don Bosco prep on August 27. I'm pretty sure it's the first day game they have played since the 2008 Eastern Final. It's the sixth day game that LaSalle has played this year. It's almost like District 1 doesn't want to send a team to Hershey.
Thinking about it, this game might come down to the coin toss. In that scenario, if the Knights can receive the 2nd half kick-off, and they can put together a touchdown drive to open the 2nd half of the game, it could be what they need to position themselves to win the game. The bottom line, like most football games, this one will come down to game plan and execution. And in this game, it may be execution more than anything. Protect the ball, stay in your lane, make your checks, do more things right than the other team, and you will be going to Hershey.
North Penn is poised to win their playoff game against Council Rock South. Corey Ernst got the single season record for touchdown passes, going one ahead of Todd Smolinsky from last year. Gerard Wendowski had a monster game, with 6 or 8 catches and a touchdown. Shayne Watson was ejected for fighting; he will be out next week, too.
Looks like the final score will be North Penn 28 - Council Rock 14. posted by Ed at 8:54 PM
Friday night scores with video of Council Rock - Souderton and North Penn - Penn Wood in the Reporter. The D1 AAAA winners are Council Rock South, North Penn, Neshaminy, Henderson, CB West, Rustin, Downingtown East & Abington. I was 7-1. Rick O'Brien was 4-4. Rod Frisco was 4-3. The consensus at WNPV was 5-3. Dan Morehouse and Daryl Dobos were both 6-2.
Over the last couple of years, Suburban One has been down a little bit; Ches-Mont has been on the rise. This year, the field is down to 5 Suburban One teams and 3 Ches-Mont teams. At least one Ches-Mont team will remain since Henderson and Rustin play each other on Friday.
Play-offs start tonight. Sixteen AAAA football teams in District 1 will be playing to take another step toward Hershey on December 18. I posted my picks for D1 AAAA a few days ago. Rick O'Brien of the Inquirer posted his picks on Wednesday, looking for Ridley, North Penn, Neshaminy, Downingtown East, Coatesville, Rustin, Cheltenham and Souderton to advance. I question picking Cheltenham - SOL American teams always seem to have a tough time in the play-offs. Souderton over Rock South is a tempting pick, but I think CR South will step up and win - at least this week.
WNPV has a final 2010 District 1 AAAA football bracket up. Roman beat the Prep last night, so North Penn is seeded #3. My picks are Ridley, Rustin, Neshaminy, Abington, North Penn, Downingtown East, CB West, and CR South. It doesn't seem like enough upsets for District 1, but there it is. posted by Ed at 12:47 PM
Saturday, November 06, 2010
North Penn 41 - Pennridge 8
As Kevin Cooney notes in the Intel's Knights roll past Rams to tune up for postseason, North Penn has won 24 straight SOL Continental Division contests since the Suburban One realignment in 2008. Cooney also describes how the Knights are "kicking on all cylinders." Of course, before week 10, Joe Santoloquito was saying the same thing about Ridley in Ridley peaking at the right time. Then Ridley squeaked out a 14-7 win on Friday against 5-5 Upper Darby (with only 2 wins against AAAA teams). Not that it matters. Ridley is still the #1 seed. North Penn will be 2 or 3 depending on the outcome of the St. Joe's Prep-Roman Catholic game tonight. Rick O'Brien is picking Roman to win, despite the Prep's 31-15 win 2 weeks ago).
Of course, neither O'Brien or Santoliquito has struck me as having particularly good insight into the southeastern PA high school football psyche. Perhaps I appreciate Kyle Berger's SOL perspective more than O'Brien's Philadelphia and Santoloquito's Delco perspectives. Kyle provides his District 1 bracket on wnpv1440.com. Berger seems to be leaning toward a Prep win tonight putting North Penn in the playoffs as the #2 seed.
We are on the eve of finding out the seeding in the District 1 football play-offs. As everyone reading this blog knows (and that would pretty much be me), District 1 AAAA produces one of the 4 semi-finalists for the state tournament. This weekend's games could move a lot of teams around the 16 team bracket. Via twitter, WNPV's Kyle Berger has predicted that North Penn will rise to the #3 seed on the strength of bonus points from a St. Joe's Prep victory over Roman in the PCL play-offs this Saturday at P-W. Rick O'Brien's Forecasting some football playoff fields seems to be looking at only the points for a win and ignoring the bonus points - or predicting a Roman win against the Prep.
The Pottstown Mercury adds to the playoff speculation with Plenty of 'ifs' still surround playoff pictures. This focuses more on AAA than AAAA. It does point out that Downingtown East and North Penn have been playing well since early losses, but ignores how tough Ridley will be with 3 potential home games before a neutral site District 1 final / State quarterfinal.
This is a nice article about Roosevelt Field, closing after the Norristown-PW game Friday night. Several local coaches are interviewed about their experiences as players and coaches at Roosevelt Field.
I was reading the Sound Off section of the Reporter when I read the complaint "Why did it not say "Three North Penn football players are honored" for helping an elderly resident at a scene of an accident? It did not point out that they are on the team." So I had to go back and read the "Citizens Honored" article that described how Joshua Cook, Brandon Mercer, Shayne Watson had helped an elderly woman out of her car after she'd hit a pole before her car was enveloped in flames. Pretty cool.
In other news, Kyle Berger points out that if Saint Joe's Prep beats Roman in their play-off game Saturday night, the Knights will get bonus points. He feels that this will push North Penn to the #3 seed in the District. This would give the Knights 2 home games and the only possible game against Ridley would be the District Final.
North Penn scored 7 in the first quarter, 14 in the second quarter and kept H-H off the board for 3 quarters in their 20th straight SOL Continental win on Friday. As the Record's North Penn runs over Hatboro-Horsham notes, the Knights will clinch their 3rd straight Continental Conference championship with a wind Friday over Pennridge. While things look pretty good for the conference championship, the playoffs are shaping up to be a tough road. Currently, North Penn and Neshaminy are tied for the 4th slot in the PIAA District 1 AAAA bracket. Suburban One Sports Football Fever post shows the current standings. Based on everyone in the top 5 winning their last game, I believe that Neshaminy will jump to #4 based on bonus points. This would leave North Penn opening with a home game, then traveling to Neshaminy for the 2nd game. If they manage to survive Heartbreak Ridge, they would then have to travel to Ridley for the District semi's. Unless there is an upset somewhere, which is not unusual in the District 1 AAAA football play-offs.
2 weeks left to protect your play-off spot or drop (maybe drop out). It seems like the biggest games this week are in District 12 - Wood-O'Hara and (maybe) LaSalle-Prep. I've read that St. Joe's Prep has brought their game up since the beginning of the season. It doesn't seem to me that it could be at a level to challenge LaSalle, but we shall see on Saturday. Rod Frisco's rankings show PCC ahead of LaSalle at the top of AAAA, followed by Ridley, North Allegheny, North Penn, CV, CR South, Harrisburg, Downingtown East and Mt. Lebanon.
Of course, in District 1 AAAA, the only rankings that count are
Some games of interest - #1 Council Rock South takes on #11 Abington on Friday; #2 Ridley takes on #13 Garnet Valley; #3 D'town East takes on #17 Henderson. Can Henderson play desperate enough to move into the playoff bracket? #5 Boyertown takes on #14 OJ Roberts and #10 Cheltenham takes on AAA #1 seed Upper Moreland (UM dropped Upper Dublin in 14-13 squeaker last Friday).
Finally, Tom Moore wrote a very nice article about former Pennridge HS football coach Wayne Helman in the Doylestown Intelligencer today.
The Reporter headline sums it up - Dom-inating. Dom Taggart's line from Friday night: Rushing-Dom Taggart 17-89, 3 TD; Receiving-Dom Taggart 7-147, 2 TD; Interception. Souderton jumped out to a 16-0 lead, and then Dom took over, including 2 TD's in the last 30 seconds of the half to put the Knights up 20-16. North Penn still has a lot to correct for the play-offs, but, barring disaster, they should be in the 4th or 5th seed with a 9-1 record.
Week 8 results and current record for the top 20 in District 1 - Council Rock South Won 8-0 Ridley Won 8-0 Downingtown East Won 7-1 Neshaminy Won 7-1 North Penn Won 7-1 Boyertown Won 8-0 Upper Dublin Lost 6-2 W.C.Rustin Won 7-1 Souderton Lost 5-3 C.B.West Won 6-2 Abington Won 6-2 Cheltenham Won 7-1 Garnet Valley 5-2 (Play Sat. night) Coatesville Won 6-2 W.C.Henderson Lost 5-3 O.J.Roberts Won 6-2 Spring-Ford Lost 5-3 Upper Darby Lost 5-3 Penn Wood Won 7-1 Downingtown West Lost 4-4 posted by Ed at 11:08 PM
This is a must win for Souderton. From the linked article:
North Penn coach Dick Beck’s keys to the game: 1) We have to make them punt – go three-and-out. We can’t let them control the clock at all. 2) Their key to the game is they have to keep us from scoring on big plays. If we can score on big plays and we can get them in a three-and-out, then I like our chances. If they can stop us from making the big play, then their chances will be good.”
I know this post kind of stinks, but maybe I will fix the formatting later (Hah!)
It's make or break week for a lot of teams this week. North Penn at Souderton will determine where North Penn ends up in the playoff seeding and possibly if Souderton makes it into the playoffs at all. The Upper Dublin Cardinals probably need a win tonight against Upper Moreland to keep their playoff hopes alive. Will Spring-Ford reveal Boyertown's fatal flaw? Boyertown has beaten up a lot of AAA teams, but they close out with games against AAAA schools.
1. This week was moving week in terms of the District One Class AAAA playoff chase. Heading into Friday, 34 teams had three or fewer losses and were still very much in the hunt for one of the district's 16 postseason berths. Eight of those teams lost their fourth games over the weekend, and at this point it's difficult to imagine a scenario where a four-loss team makes the field. The top 19 teams according to the points standings still have two or fewer losses, meaning there's a very good chances that not all of the teams that finish with 7-3 records in three weeks will find themselves in districts.
2. Council Rock South, Ridley and Boyertown all improved to 7-0 with wins last week, and all will be heavily favored to win out. If they do, expect those three to be the top three seeds.
(redwolf's note - I don't think Boyertown will pass Neshaminy even if they win out. I think the 4 seed is the best they can hope for.)
7. North Penn (6-1) has won six in a row by an average of 28.1 points, but it hasn't been nearly as dominant as has been the case the past two seasons in the SOL Continental Conference. At halftime in their last three games the Knights have lead by just eight, 10 and eight points. And judging by coach Dick Beck's pointed criticism of his team after its 35-20 win over Quakertown on Friday, he seems quite concerned about his team going into this week's rivalry game against at 5-2 Souderton.
First Down
It took a couple of career firsts for Palisades to get its first win of the season, and, in doing so, give Jim Brady his first victory as a head coach, but the Pirates' ravenous defense also deserves a pat on the back following a 32-13 win over Salisbury on Friday night.
Salisbury junior Andy Ehrets proved to be a load out of the Falcons' backfield. On Salisbury's first offensive series of the night, Ehrets, who is 6-2, 225 pounds, was handed the ball six straight times, covering a total of 42 yards for a 7.0 yards per rush average.
"He's a big kid," said Palisades junior defensive tackle Jake Thompson. "You have to wrap up (because) he runs his feet after contact. You have to give him a shoulder and drive your feet. He's a good player."
Thompson, incidentally, was one of those players who recorded a career first, making his very first interception. It came off a deflected pass and helped set up one of Palisades' five touchdowns on the night.
At 6-3, 225, Thompson proved tough to block, too, because after Ehrets' got off to his rip-roaring start, the Pirates defense brought that heady yards-per-rush average down to a more manageable number. In Ehrets' next 20 carries, he ran for just 65 yards for a 3.25 yard average.
"We just had to hit him low, keep him inside and gang tackle him," said Justin Marsh, a linebacker, who, like Thompson, had a career night with his most yards running (133) and most TDs in a game (3).
Now 1-6, the Pirates are hopeful of winning out to end the year with four victories. This week, they play winless Notre Dame-Green Pond and they close the season against 2-5 Saucon Valley. In between those two, however, will be challenging date with 5-2 Southern Lehigh.
"All this hard work we did in the offseason is paying off, especially on the O-line," said Thompson, who plays offensive tackle. "We have a lot of young guys who are finally hitting their stride."
Three offensive line starters are sophomores - center Jon Anton, guard Mike Roszkowski, and tackle Jake Lynch.
- Ed Kracz
Players of Week
Offensive
Central Bucks South junior quarterback Matt Johns threw for 335 yards and four touchdowns, and also rushed for a touchdown, in the Titans' 45-35 loss to Souderton.
Defensive
Lansdale Catholic senior Michael Bradley intercepted three passes, two inside the Crusaders' 5-yard line, to help LC defeat Neumann-Goretti, 35-7, in a Philadelphia Catholic League game. Bradley also scored three touchdowns on offense.
Special teams
Upper Moreland sophomore Dan Cripps booted field goals of 37 and 22 yards, and made two extra points, in the Golden Bears' 37-6 win over Wissahickon in a Suburban One League American Conference game.
1. LaSalle (6-1) LaSalle had no difficulty with slumping Father Judge as they coasted to a 42-14 rout. Total yards showed LaSalle with a 393 to 128 advantage. Judge hasn’t been the same since beating St. Joseph’s Prep 28-21 the 5thweek of the season upping their record to 5-0. Since then they’ve been handled by Roman and now LaSalle. Just the opposite is true for the Explorers who since suffering their only loss of the season to Bergen Catholic 22-21 (5-1, lost to Don Bosco 38-18) in week number two, have won five straight by an average score of 38-8. Running back Jamal Abdur-Rahman had his way with the Crusaders, rushing for 137 yards to improve his season total to 854 yards rushing. How about junior Matt Magarity’s development at quarterback this year, completing 59% of his passes for 746 yards with 11 touchdown passes? Three of his six completions (119 total yards) against Father Judge went for touchdowns. Archbishop Ryan (2-5, 0-3) is up next at LaSalle coming off consecutive losses to Carroll, West Catholic, St. Joe’s and Roman. Tough schedule.
2. Ridley (7-0)
3. North Penn (6-1) North Penn wasn’t at their best against Quakertown but didn’t have to be as they rolled to a 35-20 Suburban One-Continental win. Quakertown (3-4, 2-1) scored in the last few seconds of the game to make it look closer than it was. Still, the Panthers came to play. Their quarterback junior Zac Gravelle accounted for 244 total yards, completing 14 of 30 passes for 168 yards and two scores while rushing for another 76 yards on 25 carries. Nice, but it was not enough with North Penn feeding them a steady diet of Brandon Mercer (5 carries-72 yards), Craig Needhammer (13-53) and Dom Taggart (13-52). Quarterback Corey Ernst added 7 completions on 14 attempts for 110 yards to balance things out. Sometimes a game against an opponent like Ridley and North Penn faced last week can serve as a needed and timely wake up call. For the second week in a row, the Knights take on an undefeated Continental foe when they travel to Souderton (5-2, 4-0). For all intents and purposes, this is the Continental title game and an interesting game knowing the Indians only losses were to SOL-National Conference bullies Neshaminy (6-1) and Abington (5-2) by a combined three points. North Penn won last year’s game 27-6 with a more consistent team than this year so it could get interesting.
Winning is something that is expected at SOL Continental Conference power North Penn (6-1). The recognized Knight program has reached that elite position in the state, and for North Penn it is not if you win the game – but how do you look when you win?
“If we don’t correct the mistakes we are making, it is going to be a short season,” said North Penn head coach Dick Beck in reference to the Knights play in a 35-20 win over Quakertown. “We just didn’t play smart – we made a lot of bad mental mistakes.
“We can’t continue to win playing football that way,” added Beck. “There are no guarantees any Friday night.”
I read somewhere else that the Knights have averaged 12 games per year under Dick Beck's leadership. The Born Power Index lists North Penn as No. 1 in District 1. (Not that it means anything). The Daily News lists North Penn at #3 in their area high school football rankings.
Everyone regards this as chance for CB West to make a statement merely by staying in the game. I would imagine that the West coaches are taking a different view - they want their team to beat North Penn. North Penn is expected to win, though, and I expect that they will.
"Football matchups between private schools can create mismatches based on a variety of factors, but it's rare that a school uses fear of injury to cancel a game." Sounds like Lawrence Academy and Buckingham Browne & Nichols should start playing community and junior colleges - and maybe a few low end D3 college opponents.
Interestingly, if you take the teams in the order listed, you get this Friday's match up of North Penn at CB West as a first round game. West is doing well so far, but I don't think they are up to North Penn's level of play.
Theoretically, there could be 4 10-0 teams on November 7, I am expecting 2 - Neshaminy & Ridley. Neshaminy could be surplanted by Council Rock South and Ridley by Garnet Valley, but it's not likely. In any case, we have 5 more weeks of jockeying for position before we really know who plays who.
It's been a busy, busy week, and I didn't make it up to War Memorial to see the game. It sounds like the North Penn offense was a bit sloppy from Chrstiaan DeFranco's North Penn Pulls Away from CB East, but a win is a win. I plan to be at War Memorial on the 8th to see North Penn at CB West, barring bad weather.
Some things I missed in the last post - Danny Wynne scooped and scored on a fumble. North Penn scored on its first 5 offensive possessions. Apparently Dom Taggart had been nicked and was finally fully healthy for this game, scoring on a run, a pass and an interception return.
In other SOL Continental news, Souderton beat CB West to even up their record at 2-2 and drop CB West to 3-1. CB East dominated Hatboro-Horsham 42-20. Quakertown lost to Downingtown West is a non-league game Pennridge beat Lansdale Catholic.
CB South scored first. 48 points later, they were under the mercy rule for the whole 2nd half. Josh Cook had a fumble recovery, Dom Taggart had a pick 6 with 1:14 left in the half to make it 48-6. North Penn looked like North Penn to me in this game. They weren't perfect, but they did execute well. I didn't see the first drive (Dick Beck said there were mental mistakes that led to the CB South score in a post-game interview). The mental mistakes were greatly reduced after that, from what I could see. I think 9-1 looks probably at this point.
This week starts league play for most of Suburban One. Suburban One Sports site football forecaster predicts that Neshaminy will best Abington at Hearbreak Ridge and North Penn will handle CB South at Crawford Stadium. Pennsbury, CR South and Pennridge all seem to have a clear path to chalking up "W"s. CB West is predicted to fall at Souderton, but I'm not so sure.
Kyle Berger doesn't have a week 4 preview up yet - check his youtube page to see when he does post.
Dom and Kevin expound on SOL football in their Let's Talk Football column. Kevin says not to judge CB South by the game tonight, but taking on North Penn is a huge opportunity. Both teams lost in Week 1 and have had nice wins for 2 weeks. If South can keep their offense on track, get a few stops against the Knights and play mistake free ball, they have a chance. Even with the realignment in the Knight's secondary, you will still get some open receivers using a spread offense. If the North Penn D Line doesn't get good pressure on Johns, he will have a good chance to find his open guy.
North Penn played a nice game and managed to take advantage of the Prep's mistakes while making few of their own. Even the presence of Charles Barkley on their sideline couldn't keep Jim Hurley from dropping passes. Mark Casale looked impressive at times, but it takes a much higher level of talent to beat the Knights with one weapon.
While the Knights got an impressive result from Saturday nights match-up, they certainly gave CB South some things to think about. If Hurley had held on to the ball a little better, it would have been a much closer, tougher game for the Knights. The Knights' secondary is getting better, but will it be good enough to handle a CB South spread offense that put up 51 points on Thursday night?
I went to the Neshaminy at Hatboro-Horsham game, and Neshaminy controlled the game. I left at the half and Neshaminy had a 28-0 lead. Hatboro just didn't match up. Except for a couple of mistakes by Neshaminy, they would have gone into the 2nd half under the mercy rule. The game ended in a 35-7 Neshaminy win. After leaving the Redskins-Hatters game I listened to the North Penn-Lansdale Catholic game, and I heard North Penn take over the game with Brandon Mercer's 70 yard punt return for TD and Trevell's scoop and score on the 2nd half kick-off.
Oh what a difference a year makes. Week 2 was a nasty, rainy night last year - the North Penn-Lansdale Catholic game was moved to Wissahickon's field. Tonight looks like it will be a great football night. The Reporter visited the annual Knights-Crusaders pre-game breakfast this morning. The Knights should be pumped up to get their first win of the season after a disappointed loss to LaSalle this week - the first regular season varsity loss that any of the current players have had during their high school careers. It was 2007 the last time North Penn lost anything but their last game - during the time the current seniors have been at NPHS, their record is 27-3 including last weeks loss. Hopefully, losing the first game will remind the team that they can't be anointed state champions, and that every team they play will be looking to prove something, including LC.
All the pre-season polls can get thrown out. LaSalle is still top dog in PIAA AAAA Football. Skyler Mornhinweg has his blueprint for September 18. Dick Beck and his staff have their work cut out for them coming up with adjustments. Lansdale Catholic held on Saturday to beat AAAA Upper Perk, so they are going to be looking for the big upset against the Knights on Friday.
My take was that North Penn didn't reload the lines this year. Is this because they didn't have the players, because Dan Chang has left to head up P-W or the scout team isn't good enough to test the starters? Listening to WNPV after I left during the 4th quarter, they were making a big deal about the defensive back play, but as I saw it, Drew Gordon adjusted much better at half time than Dick Beck. There was no pressure on Magarity during the 3rd quarter, and that let him pick apart the Knights' secondary. While you are never as bad as you look when you lose, the Knights didn't look to good Friday night.
The Daily Local reviewed the Avon Grove program and the expectations for the 2010 season. The Red Devils lost half of their expected running back tandem when Brendan McLaughlin transferred to O'Hara over the summer. (And how did he pull that one off? Shouldn't he be going to Bishop Shanahan?) Coach Dooley still expects his toughest tests to come against the Downingtown programs.
The Pennlive blog has Joshua Funk's predictions of the last 2 rounds of the play-offs. It will be interesting to see how this post looks on December 5. For AAAA he picks North Penn over LaSalle in the Eastern bracket and Woodie Hills over CV in the West, with Woodie Hills taking the title. Josh also posted 2010 projected District football champions. In addition to the previously mentioned semi-finalists, he also predicts State College coming out of the 6, 8, 9, 10 Sub-regional and Parkland coming out of the 2, 4, 11 sub-regional. In AAA he predicts Interboro as the best in D1 and Archbishop Wood as best in D12.
Christiaan DeFranco gave us his preview of the North Penn Knights in the Reporter today - North Penn still a favorite. There is a nice picture of Marcus, Willie, Craig & Dom as team captains. There is a big focus on Craig & Dom (with a little bit of Brandon Mercer) as the focus of the Knights running attack. I've heard that Ralph Reeves and Ryan Hessenius are getting some reps in the backfield, too. Kev Hunter presents a pretty comprehensive review of the North Penn squad in North Penn ready for a run at the crown. The Reporter has more area previews for CB West, Lansdale Catholic, Wissahickon & Pennridge.
None of it means anything until you start looking at playoff points in mid-October, but a couple of pre-season polls just came out, and it's always fun to comment. Joseph Santoliquito is already pushing a Ridley-North Penn D1 matchup in North Penn football is ready to punch back in Pa. He is hyping the revenge factor for North Penn, and while he points out how beat up North Penn got in the game, he neglects to mention that Ridley was in no shape to beat LaSalle the next week in the state semi's. Not to mention my humble opinion, that if Dick Beck has squib kicked at the end of the first half, and he had passed to a tight end that hadn't caught a pass all year (Marcus McGraw or Tim Fowler) at the end of the first drive in the 2nd half, the game could have ended up a 17-10 North Penn win. It would have only resulted in North Penn having the opportunity to lose to LaSalle the next week, so it's kind of a moot point. Joseph ranks Ridley #1 and North Penn #2 in Southeastern PA, and overlooks Neshaminy in favor of Interboro, O'Hara and George Washington.
The PA Football News rankings have North Penn #1 and LaSalle #2 for AAAA programs in the state (obviously, that won't last after September 3). Ridley shows up at #9. Teh Prep is #7 (#6 in the Joseph Santoliquito rankings). Easton at #5 gives a 50:50 split East/West in the rankings.
In other stories, Dan Chang got a write up in the Times Herald as the new head coach at Plymouth Whitemarsh. Chang ready to restore PW grid tradition talks about the differences between North Penn & PW. Chang is quoted as saying that depth is "the hardest part," but that the transition has gone rather smoothly. The article also talks about PW having a strong football tradition despite some recent struggles. He credits Dick Beck with giving him significant responsibility as an assistant at North Penn, but points out that you don't really know what you are in for until you are the top man.
If you just can't wait for the PA season to start on September 3, there is high school football on TV this weekend. In the National High School TV Schedule, there are Florida and California games on ESPN & the deuce on Friday, followed by 4 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday on various ESPN outlets.
So says Kevin Cooney in Christmas Arrives in August. The complete statement was, "North Penn is the favorite among many to cruise through the Continental and take the District One Class AAAA title. Neshaminy, Pennsbury and Council Rock North all positioned for a fierce battle in the SOL National Conference. Wood appears to be in a dogfight with Cardinal O'Hara in the PCL's Class AAA division." The big tests will be Week 1 against LaSalle and Week 3 against St. Joseph's Prep. Dick Beck has owned the Prep for the last 4 years, even his underachieving 2007 team manage to eke out a win. (No offense to the 2007 team, but Neshaminy and CB South had very good years).
Another Pennsylvania High School football season started today at 591 camps. 2 a days lead to this Saturday's scrimmage, another scrimmage on the 27th and the first game on September 3. The Patriot-News gives us updates on Cumberland Valley and Central Dauphin East in Local High School Athletes Kick Off Fall Practices. The Reporter lets us know that Lansdale Catholic has dropped from AAA to AA in It's that time again. Could this impact North Penn's AAAA dreams to compete for a state championship? Of course, the Knights have to beat 2009 AAAA State Champ LaSalle first if they hope to go unbeaten. District I AAAA has been getting more competitive every year. Is there another Avon Grove out there that can surprise everyone until the District Semi's? Can St. Joe's Prep overcome LaSalle? (And break their drought against North Penn?)
Today anything is possible. In a little less than 3 weeks, reality will start to set in for some, and the long haul to Hershey will have begun for others.
Mike Ferris gripes about play-offs for District 12 and complains about the PCL/PUB split in The City Leagues Have Seen Better Days on his PHILLY HS FOOTBALL blog. Frankly, I think his complaints all evolved from compromises made to get the PCL into the PIAA.
Father's Day: Mike Pettine Sr. and Jr. - Nice article about the Pettine's, mostly focused on Sr.'s influence on Jr. and Junior's success as an NFL coach (and lack of successs coaching against his Dad). posted by Ed at 11:26 AM
Monday, June 07, 2010
Montgomery County All-Star Football Classic
Sponsored by the Souderton-Telford Rotary with the support of the Maxwell Football Club, the Montco All-Star game features six North Penn Knights: J.D. Dzurko, Jason Wrigley, T.J. Gill, Todd Smolinsky, Andre Poe and Mike Culbreath. I'm listening to WNPV live as I write this, and the South is up 10-0 on the North.
Okay, so No. 5 is going to be a Redskin. I still think that McNabb is one of the 10 best QB's in the NFL. I'm not sure if Football Outsiders agrees with that, though. Certainly McNabb is an upgrade over Jason Campbell. The question is, can Kevin Kolb perform as well as Donovan McNabb?
One knock on the Redskins was that they had the worst QB in the division. McNabb, Romo and even Eli are no doubt better than Campbell. (Even if Eli didn't deserve the Super Bowl MVP award). Arguably, the Eagles now have the least quality at starting QB. I'm not sure this moves the Skins out of the cellar, but it keeps that Cowboys as the clear front runners in the NFC East. I have to wonder if the Eagles can do better than 2-4 in the division in 2010. They might go 1-5. This could make it tough to make the playoffs, let alone win the division.
Then there is the wisdom of trading within the division. In 2007, the Eagles traded their No. 1 pick to the Cowboys. In 2009, the Eagles lost 3 games to the Cowboys. While I trot out the maxim, "Correlation does not indicated causation" at the drop of a hat, I have to wonder if the 2007 trade didn't have more of a financial than a football influence. I also have to wonder that if the Eagles had picked a player with that pick if they wouldn't have possibly had just enough to win one of those 3 games in 2009.
Fast forward to December of 2011. Will Mike Shanahan be able to cobble together enough of an offensive line to give Donovan McNabb a chance to put together a superlative season? Will we see Kevin Kolb getting hurried and sacked, Leonard Weaver unable to pick up a 3rd and 1, the Redskins going on to win the NFC East while the Eagles sit home? There is risk in football. I hope this move makes Joe Banner and Andy Reid look likes gutsy geniuses. I fear it will make them look like penny-pinching accountants and not football people.
"Dan Persa is all but assured of becoming Northwestern's new starting quarterback" according to Teddy Greenstein on Chicago Breaking Sports. Of course, 'Iron Cat' succeeding Kafka at quarterback is a headline to which only Gregg Easterbrook or Dennis Miller could do justice. The espn blog entry is a little less existential, saying that Persa "looked sharp for the most part."
And we slog through the winter. Wired had an interesting article about the impact of video games on sports. They comment on Brandon Stokley's last second touchdown against Cincinnati: "For certain football fans, the excitement of a last-minute comeback now commingled with the shock of the familiar: It’s hard to think of a better example of a professional athlete doing something so obviously inspired by the tactics of videogame football." It's an interesting commentary on football, athletic training, strategy and the convergence of the digital and real worlds.
In some high school news, apparently North Penn Knights coach Dick Beck wanted to play perennial WPIAL powerhouse Gateway, but North Penn AD "Doc" Ryan was working on a game with Pennsylvania AAAA football champs LaSalle College High School. It looks like the LaSalle game won out and Gateway will head to Wheeling for the Labor Day Classic there. Well, at least there is a chance I would get to see the LaSalle game. It's very unlikely that I would trek to Western PA, no matter how nice Gateway's stadium looks in the pictures.
