At the AAA game

No, not me. Urban Meyer, according to Kyle Berger. First tweet: "Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer is here at Hersheypark Stadium to watch the AAA State title game between Archbishop Wood and McDevitt." Second tweet: "Presumably Meyer is here to woo McDevitt DE Noah Spence, the #1 DE prospect in the nation, who is currently undecided on his college." Kyle tweeted that Luke Fickell and Mike Vrabel are at the game, too.

BTW, Congratulations to Clairton on their 3rd straight A championship.

Labels: high school football, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA playoffs

posted by Ed at 6:31 PM

Playoffs under way

Southern Columbia and Clairton are underway, with the North Penn-Central Dauphin game as the finale tomorrow knight at 6 PM. The Reporter has a nice write-up about the 2003 North Penn State Champs who are now with the team as coaches, Zack Raffle and Jim Laky. Kevin Brandt talks about the Knights' resurgence after a 1-2 start and how the team has come together in NP's Brandt anxious for state final test. Easternpafootball.com has a championship preview of the 2011 North Penn Knights and a championship preview of the Central Dauphin Rams.

Labels: North Penn football, North Penn Knights, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA playoffs

posted by Ed at 1:42 PM

Going to Hershey!

North Penn 21 - LaSalle College High School 14

I never got to post a preview of the game, but I'm going to at least link to everything I can find on the review of the game. Inspired second half send Knights into finals describes the North Penn miscues in the first half and the defensive dominance the Knights had over the Explorers in the second half. A nice write-up and all the stats are in North Penn earns trip to state championship by Todd Thorpe in the Intel. La Salle’s injured Coleman put best foot forward in loss describes Sean Coleman's incredible effort to overcome injury and not only play, but contribute. In NORTH PENN FOOTBALL: Beck’s decisions keep working out for Knights, Christriaan DeFranco describes Dick Beck's all out strategy and how this time it paid off.

More stories:
North Penn's Fielder feels "lucky" to be back in lineup
North Penn solves La Salle, wins semifinal
Reeves' Hat Trick Sends Knights to Title Bout
'HOW SWEET IT IS!': Knights headed to Chocolatetown USA
PIAA football roundup: CD Rams get North Penn in Quad-A final
North Penn buries its demons
And their next opponent coach: Coaching peers applaud Central Dauphin's Glen McNamee

Labels: high school football, North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA playoffs

posted by Edward at 6:25 PM

North Penn 34 - Council Rock South 14

Kev Hunter describes the Knights' win in North Penn Rolls C.B. South. Led by 4 touchdowns from Ralph Reeves, the Knights finished off the Golden Hawks for their second straight District 1 title. This sets up the Knights for round 4 with the LaSalle College High School Explorers with a trip to Hershey on the line.

While the consensus will be that LaSalle is the superior team, the North Penn Knights will leave nothing on the field in their quest to get back to Hershey. The North Penn pass defense will have to provide the best performance of the last 2 years if they want to win. North Penn has certainly been of the losing side when they were favored. Ralph Reeves was their when they lost to Liberty in 2008 and Ridley in 2009. They came awfully close last year. If Corey Ernst's last pass had been complete, the Knights would have been in position to go to Hershey. That's all in the past now, and it comes down to Saturday's game at Northeast High School.

Labels: North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA football, PIAA playoffs

posted by Ed at 1:40 PM

North Penn-Council Rock South Preview

I feel compelled to link to the easternpafootball.com preview of tomorrow night's game. I particularly liked Armand Vanore's questions, which I will attempt to answer/predict.

Will the Knight defensive front be able to maintain their gap integrity vs. the Hawks triple option attack? Yes, the Knights have always focused on this and the defensive linemen are chosen for speed, strength and technique. This will allow them to succeed in filling the gaps.
Will heavyweights Smink and Garland be able to wear down the Hawks defensive front if they have a lead in the fourth quarter? Maybe, maybe not. If not, the Knights will go to traps and screens to free up Mayfield and Gevirtz in space.
Will Bedesem roll the dice and have Donnelly throw more in this game? Yes, and North Penn will be prepared, leading to stalled drives and turnovers.
Will Ernst look more to his TE (Reeves) in the second half? Only if necessary.
Will the Knights be able to avoid the turnovers that have plagued them in their previous four losses over the last two years? Probably not, but it will not be a factor, just like it wasn't a factor when Gevirtz muffed the punt against Neshaminy.

In this Suburban One heavyweight bout, it will all come down to execution. Everyone already knows what the game plans will be. North Penn's extensive playoff experience will give them an edge in taking advantage of any mistakes by Council Rock South.

Labels: District 1 AAAA playoffs, North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA football

posted by Ed at 10:05 AM

As the District 1 Final approaches

Kev Hunter says Top-seeded CR South a tough opponent for NP in finals in the Intel. He goes through a lot of comparisons, but it seems like the defense that steps up could determine the outcome of the game. Both offenses have been prolific in the playoffs and both defenses stingy. If either the Golden Hawks or the Knights can manage to lock down the other teams offense, that could determine the game. Chris Felton seems to agree in Inside Football Week 14. He summarizes, " I think it’s going to come down to discipline and execution. You have two systems. North Penn is a little more diverse. They can throw the ball, and they can run the ball very well. Council Rock South is the triple option, and they’re not going to pretend that they’re not. Everybody in the stadium that follows both of these teams and knows anything about District One football knows what Council Rock South is going to be running. That includes obviously North Penn, so it’s going to come down to execution for Council Rock South.

At the end of the day, just like in any other big-time playoff football game, it’s also going to come down to defense. North Penn is going to have to prove they can stop the triple option, and because of the numbers they sometimes put up, Coucil Rock South’s defense is sometimes overshadowed. I think it’s one of the top defenses in the area.

Again, it’s going to come down to execution and defense."

Football Fever Week 14 interviews the coaches of some common opponents. Neshaminy's Mark Schmidt and CB South's Dave Rackovan both foresee a close game. Pennridge's Randy Cuthbert thinks that North Penn has the edge. Finally, Christiaan DeFranco reviews the North Penn Knights football program in North Penn's Beck one of the best in the biz. As DeFranco notes, Coach Beck's program revolves around his system and getting the most out of his players in the system. With a few exceptions, this leads to great teams without focusing on star players. Certainly, the "skill position" players stand out because they score points. The defensive players in Dick Beck's system are often overlooked, in large part because they don't throw up big numbers in tackles or interceptions. They usually aren't on the field enough to get to big numbers. By the middle of the 3rd quarter they are often on the bench giving other players an opportunity to hone their game skills. The end result has been a North Penn football team that consistently been among the best high school AAAA football teams in the state.

Labels: District 1 AAAA playoffs, North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA football

posted by Ed at 11:06 AM

North Penn 27 - Pennsbury 3

Pennsbury's size didn't slow down the Knights. Dan Gevirtz continued in his role as a difference maker in the playoffs scoring touchdowns on the ground, in the air and on a punt return. James Fielder got to extend his North Penn career, adding 25 of the Knight's 155 rushing yards. The defense is making the 2011 Knights the playoff juggernaut that they are. Dick Beck was quoted in the Intell's Knights roll into District Final, "Our defense is playing maybe better than any defense I’ve ever had. They have really come together and really have it going.”

Other articles about North Penn's win over Pennsbury:
Plenty of heroes for North Penn
North Penn gets in the holiday spirit

Next up for the Knights, the Golden Hawks of Council Rock South. CR South came in as the number one seed in the District 1 AAAA football playoffs. They advanced to the final with a win over Garnet Valley. The game is scheduled for Friday night at 7 PM, but, as usual, the site is the subject of speculation. Plymouth-Whitemarch seems to be the leader in the rumor mill. I'm not sure if William Tennant would be available. Some have proposed War Memorial in Doylestown, but they always winterize before Thanksgiving. Hopefully, the two teams won't be forced to make the long trip to Coatesville.

Labels: District 1 AAAA playoffs, high school football, North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA football

posted by Ed at 11:16 AM

North Penn-Pennsbury Preview

I wasn't going to post anything before the game, but Kevin Cooney did a really good job in The Run To The Playoffs. Most of the things I read focused on the size of Pennsbury's offensive line. The Knights under Dick Beck have successfully dealt with this numerous times before. North Penn starters don't get their jobs because of their size. They get to start because they are fast, strong and smart.

The game is still likely to be a fight in the trenches. As Kevin rightly points out, "For all the talk of these spread offensive attacks that go five wide receivers deep and throw it around the yard, it is generally the "smack-you-in-the-face" attacks that win at this time of year." This is something I've been saying for years. It goes along with my observation that Florida and Texas High School Football have great athletes playing at a superior level, but they don't generally play in 20 degree (or colder) weather. Granted, Accuweather is predicting high 40's for game time tonight. I remember a North Penn-Downingtown West game the day after Thanksgiving 3 years ago where I couldn't feel my legs when I got up at half time. But I digress.

Kevin points out that this is another "no surprises" game where two teams will line up and try to outplay each other. And to highlight another of my recurring themes, Kevin sums things up: "The winner will be the team that executes the best."

Labels: District 1 AAAA playoffs, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA football

posted by Ed at 4:55 PM

Final District 1 AAAA Football Playoff Seedings

After Episcopal Academy & Methacton both won, the D1 seedings are:

16 – Upper Dublin
15 – Pennsbury
14 – Neshaminy
13 – CB South
12 - Ridley
11 – North Penn
10 - Coatesville
9 – Downingtown East
8 – WC Henderson
7 – Spring-Ford
6 – West Chester - Rustin
5 – Garnet Valley
4 – Plymouth-Whitemarsh
3 – Unionville
2 - Abington
1 – Council Rock South

Inter-conference replays: Pennsbury at Abington, Ridley at Garnet Valley, Downingtown East at Henderson. The higher seeded (home) team won the first game in all 3 cases.

Labels: District 1 AAAA playoffs, high school football, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA football

posted by Ed at 2:03 PM

District 1 AAAA Football Playoff Bracket

Kyle Berger has made his predictions on WNPV.
16 – Upper Dublin
15 – Pennsbury
14 – Neshaminy
13 – CB South
12 - Ridley
11 – North Penn
10 - Coatesville
9 – Downingtown East
8 – WC Henderson
7 – Spring-Ford
6 – West Chester - Rustin
5 – Plymouth-Whitemarsh
4 – Garnet Valley
3 – Unionville
2 - Abington
1 – Council Rock South
These results are dependent on GA-Episcopal (UD gets points from a GA win and could move up to the 14 seed) and Methacton-Pottstown (PW gets points from a Methacton win and could move up to the 4 seed). Half the bracket is from Suburban One. 5 teams are from Ches-Mont.

Labels: District 1 AAAA playoffs, high school football, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA football

posted by Ed at 12:15 AM

As the regular season ends

Rod Frisco's Week 10 rankings (before tonight's games). Not sure I agree with everything, but there they are. Kevin Cooney whines about playoff points in What's the Point? While it is easy to complain about an arbitrary system, how would you set up the selection committtee? The last place team in every league sends their coach to determine seedings?

Eastern PA Foootball's Week 10 Master Schedule.

Can CB South make a splash in the PIAA District 1 AAAA football playoffs? Kevin Cooney seems to think so. It only goes so far, though. See Avon Grove in 2009. But with a lot of luck and great matchups, the Titan's spread offense might get them to the District semi-finals. Not sure how the spread will work when the ground freezes. Ground and pound seems to work much better.

Here are some Delco games to watch. Garnett Valley should get a high seed when they beat Haverford Twp. HS tonight, but I'm not sure how much help it will be in week 2 of the playoffs. Springfield can end on a positive going into the AAA playoffs with a defeat of Marple Newtown.

So have a great time at the games tonight and listen to Kyle Berger on 1440 WNPV for the AAAA playoff seedings at 10 tonight.

Labels: high school football, Pennsylvania High School Football

posted by Edward at 6:18 PM

Brad Cashman vs. WPIAL

There is a Pittsburgh Post Gazette story linked on the Pennlive HS Football forum in which PIAA Executive Director Brad Cashman is quoted as saying that he is going de-link the 6 classes (which only needs a majority vote) and the shorter season (which needs a 2/3 vote) at the May reading.

I believe that this proposal is turning into a pi$$ing contest between Cashman and the WPIAL. It would appear that he plans to pass the 6 classes on a simple majority and then try to force the 21 votes for the shorter season since the 6 classifications are already a fait accompli. While these actions show a certain mastery of bureaucratic procedures and gamesmanship, I don't know how much it advances PA interscholastic athletics.

2009 may be the last true state football championship for a while.

Labels: high school football, Pennsylvania High School Football, PIAA, PIAA football, WPIAL

posted by Ed at 9:22 AM

A couple quick links

Suburban One Sports had a nice write up on North Penn captains Sean Baldwin and Trey Farmer. I still occasionally hear questions about the Knights line, but they've shaped up very nicely this season. There is also a good District 1 PIAA AAAA football playoff Week 2 review.

Labels: District 1 AAAA playoffs, high school football, North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football

posted by Ed at 7:01 AM

Let's Go Knights!

Some random thoughts & links - the North Penn-Souderton game tonight is on the WPVI Channel 6 website. Christiaan DeFranco doesn't say anything new in his Point after: Looking ahead blog entry, but it's there to read. Kevin Cooney's Nov. 7 Blitz calls the Wood-Egan game tomorrow night the game of the week.

That's all for now.

Labels: North Penn football, North Penn Knights, Pennsylvania High School Football

posted by Ed at 5:39 PM

PLAY-OFFS!!!

The REAL season is finally here, and the North Penn Knights have the top seed in District 1. The Inquirer playoff preview features a picture of Ronnie Akins intercepting a pass against the Prep and a prediction that the Knights will win District 1. North Penn will play Souderton on Friday night in the first round. Sounderton picked up the 16th seed courtesy of Council Rock North's defeat of Council Rock South. This means that Pennridge doesn't have to face Crawford Stadium twice in two weeks. A point that Christiaan DeFranco missed by writing his Week 10 playoff implications blog entry too early on Saturday. I hope the Rams have a nice bus ride out to Garnet Valley. (It's very unlikely that the ride back will be much fun).

So Souderton gets to come to Lansdale instead in the Battle of Skippack Creek redux. The first time didn't go so well for the Indians, but they were able to beat Neshaminy back in the first week of the season. The North Penn JV team should get to play one more time, but Souderton could put a damper on it.

If you can't make it to the game, easternpafootball.com has a comprehensive listing of the games streaming on the Internet.

Labels: District 1 AAAA playoffs, high school football, North Penn football, North Penn Knights, Pennsylvania High School Football

posted by Ed at 8:51 PM

Friday Morning - Week 4

After beating Liberty, LC & the Prep, North Penn has moved up in the polls - to 2nd in the state in most of the polls. There have been a bunch of news stories this week, too. Anthony Ortiz was named Times Herald Defensive Player of the Week. The article credits Ortiz with five solo tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. RoxReview has a great summary of the win over St. Joe's Prep, including the frequently quoted line from Coach Beck, "do you guys know any landscapers?" Peter DiGiovanni in the Chester Daily Local is complaining about some "big schools" being to small to compete with the "big big schools." I've read that the issue of expanded size classifications has come up before PIAA, but it doesn't have legs, yet.

Tonight's contest between North Penn & Central Bucks South is North Penn's first regular season game against a Suburban One opponent since the loss that closed last season. As Ed Kracz points out, South doesn't have Eric Reynolds anymore. He heaps praise on the South QB/WR combo of Tom Johns & Mike Doty, but doesn't get into much discussion of the North Penn db's. Dennis Way writes a fine column about South's program in the Times Herald, but I think he's got a bit of revisionist history in his facts. When he states about the North Penn-South game, "Few expected the result, a South victory, the league title and a berth in the District One playoff quarterfinals," I don't think he is reflecting the sentiment I recall going into the game. The North Penn fans were optimistically hoping for a victory, but South had come back to beat Neshaminy, and Neshaminy had trounced North Penn. It was a tall order to keep Eric Reynolds in check, and North Penn wasn't up to the task.

Tonight's game will show whether CB South's program can continue to show results in the W column in Suburban One play or if the North Penn Knights really deserve to be ranked as the best team in Eastern PA. Unless Mike Doty can beat Ronnie Akins, South is going to have to win (or lose) the Suburban One way - pounding it out on the ground and in the trenches. Hopefully, Coach Beck found his landscaper and the field will be in good shape.

Labels: high school football, North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football

posted by Ed at 1:02 PM

NORTH PENN 14 - ST. JOE'S PREP 7

15 days ago, I wondered if this team was any good. On August 29th, they showed that they could play with anyone. On September 5, they showed that they could recover from some sloppy play and put away a decent opponent. Last night, the North Penn Knights showed that they are the best team in Eastern Pennsylvania. Now I wonder, how good is this team? I'm not reserving a room in Hershey, yet, but this is a team that definitely has what it takes to get there.

As you can see from the picture, most of this game was a slog through the mud and rain. It was punctuated by three impressive plays by the speedsters - a 70 yard punt return touchdown by Ronnie Akins, a 96 yard touchdown run by Tyler Smith and a 60 yard touchdown run by Michael Yeager. After Yeager's touchdown, neither team was able to get anything going. McManus tried a 30 some odd yard field goal in the 4th quarter, but the footing was too poor to let him get any elevation on the ball. A series of bad decisions and mistakes at the end, kept the Prep from making a final bid to tie the game.

Next week - the eagerly awaited visit by CB South to Crawford Stadium.

Labels: high school football, North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football

posted by Ed at 8:42 AM

REDWOLF'S PENNSYLVANIA AAAA FOOTBALL META-POLL

October 11, 2007 - Following Week 6
1 Pittsburgh Central Catholic (7)
2T North Allegheny (7)
2T North Penn (1)
4 Gateway (7)
5 Neshaminy (1)
6 Parkland (11)
7 Ridley (1)
8 Central Bucks South (1)
9 McKeesport (7)
10 Muhlenberg (3)
11 Bethlehem Liberty (11)
12 Shaler (7)
13 Bethel Park (7)

Based on Patriot-News, PFN, and PIAA computer rankings.

Labels: high school football, North Penn football, Pennsylvania High School Football

posted by Ed at 7:25 PM