Find out what some of the top players in the state are saying about football now!

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As a frequent lurker and a poster from time to time, I have noticed that there are a lot of very intelligent individuals when it comes to WPIAL football and other high school sports in general. Since I feel like this post could be somewhat beneficial for me career-wise, I feel like I should share some info on myself without whole details and how the thread title makes sense.

I am currently a senior at a university in Northwest Ohio with Western PA roots majoring in Sport Management. My lifelong goal is to become an AD at the high school level. Throughout my life, I have always been fascinated by "program building" and "culture building". Currently, I am in the middle of my intro internship at a local high school near my university out here in Ohio. Our school thrives on two and three-sport athletes, as our enrollment around roughly 900 students. I have thought at times about bringing some staff from Western PA out here to instill those tough values to these kids. In one of my courses, I am doing a research paper about different qualifications on a state-by-state basis in PA, OH, and MI.

While doing my research, I stumbled upon Ringgold and how they are looking for an Anticipated Athletic Director. That made me think of a few things. One, how has things gotten so bad for their athletic programs over the past few years? I recall someone in another thread mentioning that their football program was on the verge of having the longest losing streak in WPIAL history at one point, so how has a program that once had Joe Montana fallen so far? Perhaps, there is someone from the district who can fill me in on the other sports in a greater detail. I would greatly appreciate it. The baseball team won a state title in 2018, and boys basketball won a state title in 1995, but that is it. I must ask, and this is someone who has no knowledge of the area as I am from the North of Pittsburgh who has no idea of the socioeconomic aspect of the community or the population shifts over the years, but in this season and years past, how has Ringgold fallen behind other South Hills programs like USC, BP, PT, TJ, South Fayette, and even Mt. Lebo under Palko? I looked at Ringgold's roster and I saw that they currently have 42 players according to the WPIAL website. In addition, they look as if they have no depth or size, especially up front. As a 4A program in Western PA, this seems pretty bad.

I know that I am rambling on and on, but my main question is: How can a new Athletic Director at Ringgold bring back the prestige and credibility that they once had? I remember seeing a rumor that Joe Montana refused to come back to his alma mater unless he was paid handsomely, is that true? How would an AD go about rebuilding a 4A program in Western PA from scratch essentially? Also, do you think that Ringgold will ever come back at least as a threat in football? I am nowhere near qualified to be a high school Athletic Director at this point in my studies, but I like to envision on what I could potentially accomplish if I were in a position like the future AD at Ringgold will be, and I wish the very best to whoever that may be.

Anyways, that's enough of my rambling. I just wanted to say that I appreciate being a part of this community and would've been very hurt if the spam threads would've killed this forum. The AD that I am currently working under told me that many high schools are shifting away from hiring Athletic Directors with educational or administrative backgrounds and are looking for candidates with business or sport management or administration backgrounds, so hopefully that will help my future prospects in achieving my career goal.

With that being said, if you know of anybody who could potentially help me in my career, I would greatly appreciate a DM of some sort. I am looking for potential networking connections that could be of benefit to myself. Thank you.

Strath Haven 35-0 over Radnor

For the first time since winning the East Penn Conference in 1992, Allentown Dieruff is 4-0 to start the season. The Huskies threw a 30 yard touchdown on 4th and 11
with just over a minute left last night to beat East Stroudsburg North 20-14. Certainly not one of the best teams in the state or even the league. But it is a tremendous start and turnaround for Dave Lutte in one of the toughest jobs in the state.

For those around the state, Dieruff is one of the Allentown public schools that has fallen on incredibly hard times, including a 39 game losing streak last decade. They last finished over .500 in 2002, and the ‘92 team was their last conference champion, going 9-2 and losing in the D11 final in a rematch with William Allen (an electric all Allentown final). Dieruff also played for a D11 title in 1996, their last playoff trip. Dieruff is the alma mater of NFL hall of famer Andre Reed, who was on the last undefeated Dieruff team in 1979.

1. Freedom Patriots (3-0)
Freedom stays hot by blowing out Allentown Central Catholic, taking a 35-0 lead at halftime and finishing with a 49-15 win. Chase Walker threw four first half touchdowns, and has emerged as one of the premier quarterbacks in eastern Pennsylvania through the first three weeks of the season. He's completing 60% of his passes and has throw for 605 yards and 3 touchdowns so far. Four different receivers have at least nine catches through three weeks, and Shacre Colwell has already caught four touchdowns. Aaron Beete is averaging nearly 10 yards per carry and has 408 yards through three games. Defensively, Justin Peluso leads the way with 21 tackles, two sacks, and an interception. They come into the week with a massive game agaisnt defending D11 champ Nazareth, who leads the Patriots in most of the state rankings, but I think is a decided underdog.

2. Nazareth Blue Eagles (3-0)
Nazareth posted one of the biggest out-of-area posted by D11 in years with a 35-31 victory over perennial D3 power Wilson West Lawn. It was not without incident, as WWL fumbled down near the goalline in the final minute of the game in what could have led to a game winning touchdown. Instead, Nazareth survived. Peyton Falzone continued a bonkers season, throwing for 255 yards and four touchdowns and running for 73 yards, including a 55 yard touchdown. On the year, Falzone has thrown for 625 yards and six touchdowns, while rushing for 244 yards and five touchdowns (and averaging 9.4 yards per carry). Caleb Newsome has been his favorite target, with 9 cathces for 223 yards and three touchdowns. They play in the game of the week this week against Freedom.

3. Parkland Trojans (2-1)
It was a get-right game for Parkland, who controlled unbeaten Northampton most of the way for a 23-14 win over the Konkrete Kids. Parkland led 17-0 for most of the way, then after Northampton cut the lead to 17-7 and was driving to make it a one score game, Marcel Burden picked off a on his own side of the field, and a Parkland touchdown drive put things out of reach. TJ Lawrence led the Trojans with 136 yards and a touchdown, plus led the Trojans in tackles on defense. It was his second 100 yard game of the year and he has 330 and four touchdowns, plus another 110 yards receiving and a TD, through the first three weeks of the season. Fellow sophomore Naquon Thomason has been their other ballcarrier, but it is clearly the TJ Lawrence show on offense, running behind their huge offensive line.

4. Liberty Hurricanes (3-0)
Liberty smoked perennial Monroe county champion Stroudsburg, 31-14, to win a third game for the first time since 2019. Antonio Fontanez threw for 177 yards and a score and ran for 50 yards and another touchdown, and Liberty racked up over 200 rushing yards in the win. Fontanez has thrown for 442 yards in three games, with 215 of those going to big play threat Jake Pukszyn (on a league leading 13 catches). They've also rushed for over 500 yards as a team, with Gabe Green and Adrian DeLeon both over the century mark. They have their next big test which will determine their spot in the pecking order this week, when head coach Shawn Daigault returns to Northampton, where he was the KKids defensive coordinator before taking the Liberty job.

5. Easton Red Rovers (2-1)
Easton throttled Northeast 51-7, putting up all 51 points in the first half of their win at Cottingham Stadium. Wideout Jasir Frutchey, who was suspended from the CB West game due to getting ejected from Easton-P'burg last year, caught four passes for 137 yards and four tochdowns, including a 63 yard bomb on the first series to set the tone of the night. Cole Ordway finished 10-13 for 149 yards and four touchdowns, Dorian Thomas ran for a TD in his third straight game, and Cael DiSora continued his monster year with a 90 yard kick return TD after Northeast's only score. Easton has outscored their opponents 100-14 at Cottingham so far this year. Ordway has thrown for 387 yards and five TDs, with Frutchey and JC Wilson combining for 302 yards. Will Day and Thomas in the backfield have combined for 457 yards and nine touchdowns in three games, with both seeing limited carries in the blowout last week. Defensively, they've forced seven turnovers in three games.

Small Schools
1. Northwestern Lehigh Tigers (3-0)
I think PaFootballNews has it right with Northwestern Lehigh as the #1 team in 3A. They buried Bangor, 54-0 and have outscored the opposition 158-14 in three games. They should see a challenge from fellow undefeated Blue Mountain next week in the Small School game of the week, then have a looming showdown with North Schuylkill on the 27th, then finish the seasn with Tamaqua and Southern Lehigh. They won't all be 55-0, but this team is really good. Eli Zimmerman leads the way with nine touchdowns (5 rushing, 1 receiving, 1 interception return, 2 punt returns).

Chester was up 18-7 at half. Tep rallies in the 2nd half to win 28-24 in a thriller. Wallace-Coleman goes for 240 and 3 tds. Daron Harris was all over the field for Chester with a kick return td, rushing td and 2 picks on defense. From all accounts, it was a great HS football game with big time players making big plays all over the field.

Even in the loss, it should give Chester some confidence going forward. Big, fast team. Should make some noise in D1 5A, although with Garnet Valley dropping down, the bracket gets significantly tougher.

Tep was expected to win but probably in a different fashion. A win is a win though. Probably good for them to play at least 1 competitive game before the playoffs. They have playmakers everywhere. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top between Tep/LaSalle/Prep at the end