Here’s a picture what the 6A playoffs could look like doing state wide seeding with 4 groupings of 16 teams each. Fantasy Football! I seeded 64 teams which is the equivalent of picking a fight with the entire state….but hopefully they are at least reasonable with the object being to give a visual of potential matchups. I added write-ups (reviews-previews, some stats) how each of the match ups might play out to give it a real feel, using year ending stats, records, etc. Of course it could never happen but still interesting to consider.
Home team is higher seed.
Group 3
1 Parkland 13-1
2 Cumberland Valley 10-3
3 Neshaminy 10-2
4 Pennridge 11-3
5 Penn Hills 8-4
6 Central Dauphin 6-5
7 Central Bucks South 7-4
8 McDowell 5-7
9 Peters Township 7-4
10 Spring Ford 6-5
11 Stroudsburg 8-3
12 Penn Wood 8-3
13 Warwick 6-4
14 Canon McMillan 4-6
15 Hatboro Horsham 6-4
16 Butler 3-7
Pairings projections:
1 Parkland 13-1 vs 16 Butler 3-7
Guess you’ve noticed by now some of these match ups are cross state hikes! For Butler, it was another losing season, at least their 19th in a row. A bright spot was senior Luke Michalek rushing for 1078 yards, OT Jake Kradel (6-4, 295, Pitt) and wins against teams they were supposed to beat, Altoona, Shaler and Canon McMillan. Meanwhile Parkland had their 6th consecutive double digit winning season (going 71-15), not coincidentally, winning their 6th consecutive District-11 title. Shades of Manheim Central! Averaging 36ppg, they fielded their best offense in terms of average points scored since 2012’s 11-3 team that averaged 38 a game. Michael Ruisch’s maturation at Qb (2498 yds) was a factor as was FB Jahan Worth (1464), WRs Tyler Hayes (1032) and Juan Salas (518) and at least 3 returning starters on the O-Line with experienced players behind them. That led to what has become a Parkland hallmark, strong line play and a solid running game. Returning monster man Jahan Worth (120 tackles) at linebacker allowed the defense to again be special, allowing only 4 teams to score more than one touchdown and allowing 12ppg before the 49-14 playoff loss to St. Joe’s, a loss that makes you wonder if they ever recovered from the Liberty game (preceded SJP), where they had to storm back from a 23-14 4th quarter deficit with 22 unanswered to get the win. But here against the Golden Tornadoes, they’ll roll.
8 McDowell 5-7 vs 9 Peters Township 7-4
Here’s a typical 8-9 toss-up with a McDowell team well tested against St Edward (10-2), 4A state champ Cathedral (14-0) and Austintown-Finch (6-4), going against a 7-4 Peters Township team enjoying their best year since 2003’s team went 8-3, making this their third winning season since then. McDowell struggled through a 5-6 season, their first losing season since 2006, never quite replacing Qb Levi Becker (1846 passing, 342 rushing) that added to their defensive woes where they allowed 32ppg compared to 17 the previous year. Conversely, Peters Township had a senior quarterback in Jake Cortes (6-5. 235) throwing for 1582 yards at a 58% clip. They went with a youth movement with their leading backs and receivers being sophomores Ryan Magiske (5-10, 175) with 520 yards on 106 carries, Adrian Williams (5-9, 150) with 494 on 92 carries and wide out Josh Casilli getting 492 yards on 30 receptions. The O was pedestrian at 23ppg but they didn’t turn it over. They really came on the second half of the season with a tough 18-15 loss to Mt. Lebanon, followed by wins against Canon McMillan and Shaler before being edged by Central Catholic in the playoffs, 27-20. They may continue that trend against McDowell where they will encounter a program that plays anyone, having done as much the last 3 years against Ohio powers McKinley, Lake Catholic, Austintown-Fitch, city rival Cathedral Prep and an occasional New York State team. Don’t you wish you played for McDowell!
4 Pennridge 11-3 vs 13 Warwick 6-4
Warwick had the team to tackle Pennridge last year not this year unless 6-5 230 pound Qb Grayson Kline (Wilson transfer) is given time. That team barely lost to Wilson 14-10 who advanced to the semifinal before losing to Pitt CC. This year the Warriors had a few close calls losing to a strong Manheim Central (13-1) in the opener by 8 and Hempfield by 4 but are without a signature win, losing to all the winning teams played. Manheim Central went on to defeat Governor Mifflin 30-29 in the 5A district final, the same Mifflin team that beat Harrisburg the week before. But, it was their most prolific offense ever at 43ppg. Across from them, Pennridge had another strong season, their best since the 12-2, 2012 team with competitive losses to Neshaminy by 9, North Penn by 10 and Garnet Valley (Tarburton suspended) by 8. Qb Zak Kantor with 1776 yards passing balanced out Nick Tarburton battering opponents with 4 other backs getting at least 450 yards each. Defensively, this was one of their best units ever, allowing a scant 14ppg with talent spread throughout at DL in Randy Bahmueller 6-0 305 and Ryan Rapp 6-0 225, then DE Oliver Jervis 6-6 245 , Tarburton and Evan Exner 6-0 185 at LB and Kyle Schetter 5-9 175 and Joe Devine 5-11 160 in the secondary. How did these guys lose? Two wins over Perkiomen Valley plus wins against Central Bucks West and Central Bucks South separate them from Warwick as does Nick Tarburton and company who won’t allow Qb Kline any time, resulting in a win and long bus ride home up the pike to Lititz for the Warriors.
5 Penn Hills 8-4 vs 12 Penn Wood 8-3
This looks like it could be a good one with two exciting quarterbacks and a lot of speed with both teams. And how about Penn Hills emerging from the dark to get their third winning season (1st in 3 years) in 9 years. 10 years ago they were fielding some of the best teams in the Wpial but lately they’ve been more flash than substance. Their quarterback Hollis Mathis came on strong last year in Coach Jon LeDonne’s inaugural season to make it all happen. As a native of Aliquippa where football runs in the blood, he may have found a home in Monroeville which has similar DNA to the Quips. He has a background as D-coordinator at Steel Valley and Gateway, before assuming the head position at Shaler. For Penn Wood, they had their moments this year and give them credit for upgrading the schedule with road trips to Souderton, Pennsbury and Council Rock North, well beyond the comfort zone of the Del-Val. Qb Desman Johnson (6-3, 225, jr) threw for 2228 yards to Kennedy Poles with 1192 yards in receptions and Rahiem Bowens with 838. They ended the season hot, running off 8 straight before the tight 38-30 loss at Perkiomen Valley. But the opponent here faced a difficult schedule playing in the WPIAL Northern 7 against Pine Richland, North Allegheny and Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Plus they have one of the most exciting junior quarterbacks in the state in Hollis Mathis (6-2, 170, 2438 pass, 332 rush). They had a few close calls then finally pulled the upset in the postseason getting everyone’s attention defeating Bethel Park 30-28. What a great game this would be with these quarterbacks and all the speed on the field.
2 Cumberland Valley 10-3 vs 15 Hatboro Horsham 6-4
Definitely a system shock for the Hatters encountering CV’s grueling Wing T that pounds you purple. CV has trophy wins against Bishop McDevitt, State College and Coatesville but bad memories against Harrisburg, Central Dauphin then Manheim Township in the playoffs to balance that out. This was a typically solid Eagle team with great senior leadership across the board. They were keyed by Qb Jared Plessinger (1199, 58%, jr), HB/WR Charlie Katshir (378r, 722p), under rated HB Jake Palmer (1224….134 vs Coatesville), HB Cole McCoy (484) and FB Galen Witmer (644), all seniors except Plessinger. About the Hatters, Coach Michael Kapusta is turning things around if the last 3 years mean anything (hired 2013) going 5-6, 6-5 and 6-4 last year with a group that just missed the playoffs. The offense was big enough at 28ppg with a veteran defense allowing 18ppg. Decent special teams with Ben Ejimonyuegwo and Calvin Broaddus Jr on kick-offs and punt returns did real damage. Surprisingly, they weren’t that far from a perfect season and the playoffs with a 1-pt loss to Upper Moreland on a missed 2-pt attempt, a 6-pt loss to rival Quakertown dropping a 20-3 lead, a 7-pt loss to Upper Dublin on a tipped pass by the Cardinals on the final play in the end zone and a 8-pt loss to CB West giving up a special teams score and 3 turnovers. While this will definitely be a system shock facing CV’s quick version of the Wing-T with many pass options, it may also be a cultural shock for the Hatboro-Horsham contingent, especially if the cows are grazing in the fields that day.
7 Central Bucks South 7-4 vs 10 Spring Ford 6-5
Got to hand it to the Titans who went through 3 quarterbacks yet managed to win 7 games. Jack Johns left the game against Central Bucks East with a shoulder, replaced by Josh Consoletti for the next 4 games. Johns was in and out most of the season, with Conseletti concussed against Neshaminy (before CB West game) resulting in Ryan Shock getting the nod thereon. Excepting the North Penn loss, they were in most of their games which is a compliment to the defense in the always tough SOL-Continental, especially with musical chairs at quarterback and DT Noah Collachi nursing an injured hand (thumb?). Allowing 17ppg was then good stuff. An ot loss at home to Neshaminy prevented a 8-3 season. Meanwhile Spring Ford was enduring their worst season since 2009 (3-9) with a 6-5 record. All the numbers were down scoring a 7 year low 27ppg and allowing a 5 year high of 20ppg. In contrast, last year’s team averaged 42ppg while allowing 13, going down in a war with North Penn in the 2nd round 28-19. This would probably be a good game with the Rams having weapons in Qb TJ Pergine (2058yds, 54%) and wide outs Justin DeFrancesco (1274) and Dante Bonanni (654), but you’d likely give the tough as nails Titans the nod at home with the Fords inability this year to finish and beat quality teams.
3 Neshaminy 10-2 vs 14 Canon McMillan 4-6
No Big Mac attack this year for Canon McMillan stutter-stepping along at 21ppg for a road trip with the SOL-National Champ who parlayed a youthful skill group on offense with a good linebacking corps to manage a challenging schedule and win 10 games. Neshaminy was a nice mix of seniors (28) and juniors who got it together after a somewhat shaky start with 3 home games defeating Roman and Pennridge before losing to a up and down (mostly down) Downingtown West team that ended 5-5. In fairness to the Whippets and like Neshaminy, they too were breaking in a sophomore Qb in Will Howard (6-6, 210). Don’t forget that name! Thereon, the Skins rolled out 8 wins before running into the avenging Falcons of Pennsbury in the playoffs, dead set on setting things right after their 21-20 home loss to Neshaminy on a missed extra point two weeks before. The rematch saw Pennsbury flip things, going old school “ground and pound” (from Spread) for the convincing 36-17 win. Across the state in Canonsburg the Big Macs were making real progress in Mike Evans’ 3rd year, with a 3 year cum of 12-18 compared to 6-49 the previous 6. But that wouldn’t be enough against the Skins who’d counter with Qb Brody McAndrews passing for 1878 yards (59%, 17/4), Joe Still at 1112 rush yards and too many receivers in Oleo Manzyk (28/442), Mike Garlick (44/668) and Cory Joyce (50/618) for C-Mac to manage. Not a bad D either as the Tribe would roll here by at least 3 scores.
6 Central Dauphin 6-5 vs 11 Stroudsburg 8-3
CD’s mercurial season resembled an “excited” seismic chart more than a team going through the typical ups and downs of a major rebuild, slugging their way through a difficult schedule. The schedule is what it is but this year found them short of the needed skill types to handle Manheim Township losing 17-14, Wilson, winning 28-20 and Cumberland Valley 20-14 then losing to CD East 31-35 and Harrisburg 10-48 over a 6-week stretch. Although the Rams are a state power, they are a small school at 675, half the size of schools like Parkland (1233), North Penn (1555) and Northeast (1610) to name a few. They actually go through rebuilds rather than reloads, and last year’s was severe. 6-5 doesn’t get it at CD where they have a 115-36 won-loss since Coach Glen McNamee’s arrival in 2006. Interesting note, Coach McNamee starred at quarterback for Phillipsburg, NJ for two years before moving on to set numerous records at Bloomsburg. Last year was their worst record since 2003’s 6-4 team. Scoring 27ppg is their lowest output in 10 years, coupled with a D yield of 21, their worst since 2009. The bar is set high at CD particularly since winning gold in 2011 (15-1) beating North Penn (13-3) 14-7. This year they had no outstanding tailback or wide out. They were good but not outstanding and you can’t compete with “good” in the Mid Penn any more than you can in the SOL, PCL-Red, EPC-South or Wpial-6A. Coach McNamee’s system can’t work when your leading producers are the fullback and tight end. Add in a young defense and there you go. Stroudsburg comes in losing 2 of their last 3 following an 8-1 start with a ground and pound approach. But, Qb Sherwin Stewart can scoot, rushing for 478 yards while throwing for 1011. All the backs are light, making up in speed what they lack in bulk. The DL features size in Sam Khunis 6-1, 280 and Warren Watson 5-11 280 and talent at DE Nick Whitehead 6-4 255 (injured?) with good support from MLB Ben Stokes 6-1 220. They won the EPC-North uncontested at 8-0. But their stats are skewed (33-22) by the level of competition they largely rolled over in-conference while having great difficulty with EPC-South teams, being handled by Easton 31-0 and Whitehall 49-10 who come closer to approximating Central Dauphin than anything in the EPC-North, save Allentown CC with some consistency. The Rams should pull this out at home but Coach Jim Miller has things on the upswing at Stroudsburg going 42-14 in his 5 years at the helm.
2nd Round projections:
Parkland vs Peters Township
Pennridge vs Penn Hills
Cumberland Valley vs Central Bucks South
Neshaminy vs Central Dauphin….say it ain’t so Skinner Man!
