Big Schools
1. Freedom Patriots (2-0)
Freedom turned a lot of heads this week after smoking Parkland, 30-13 following a week 1 win on Staten Island over Torey Pines (CA). Freedom used a dominant third quarter to take control against Parkland, blowing open a 14-7 game with a long touchdown drive to open the second half, then a three-and-out followed by a nine-yard Parkland punt set Freedom up for a 28 yard touchdown drive, then a nearly 8 minute long drive following a Parkland touchdown that salted the game away and ended in a field goal.
Freedom is led by another excellent defense – senior Lafayette commit Justin Peluso has been a start in the early season and is the next in a long line of excellent Freedom hybrid linebacker/safeties who wreaks havoc in their strike position. Tanner Wheeler up front and Beete in the back give them three real stars on defense. Offensively, they’ve pulled the same trick for the millionth time, where they take a senior who has tons of experience on defense and turn him into a 1,000 yard running back. Beete finished with 160 yards and two touchdowns against Parkland, including a 78 yard burst to open the scoring. He also went for 119 yards and a score against Torrey Pines and looks like one of the better running backs in the area. The passing game is also in good hands with senior Chase Walker (6’4 235; East Stroudsburg baseball commit) a quarterback with multiple years of experience throwing to Peluso and senior Shacre Colwell (6’3 170), who had a career night with 112 yards and a score against Torey Pines and added two touchdown catches against Parkland on Friday. Colwell was a state finalist in the triple jump last year and is a Division I track athlete if he decides to go that route and is a real match up problem on the edge. This team is good.
2. Nazareth Blue Eagles (2-0)
The Blue Eagles haven’t been tested yet in blowout wins over Hazleton and Whitehall. They only brought back three starters, but what a three starters it is. Lafayette commit Caleb Newsome has nine catches for 191 yards in their first two games and is clearly Peyton Falzone’s favorite target. Falzone, a Virginia Tech pledge, has been sharp, both as a passer and as the major rushing threat for Nazareth so far. And Marquez Wimberly got momentum going against Whitehall with a 46 yard run to set up their first touchdown, then an interception in the end zone to thrwart Whitehall’s chance to tie it back up. They’ve limited his carries early, but once he gets going running the football, it’s as good a three head monster at the skills spots as anybody in eastern Pennsylvania right now. They’re tiny on the offensive line and in the front seven, so how they look against the more physical team in the conference will be telling, but if they can keep the game in the hands of their playmakers, they’re as good as anybody.
3. Parkland Trojans (1-1)
The Trojans blew out George Washington in their opener, 63-10, but had a turnover and penalty filled night in a 30-13 loss to Freedom. Parkland drove into Freedom territory twice in the first half, but an interception and a turnover on downs ended a pair of drives in the red zone. Ten penalties also really hurt Parkland. Like Nazareth, they graduated a ton of players from on of the best teams in the state and are breaking in a ton of new starters, particularly on defense where just TJ Lawrence, Matt Dorsey, and Leo Dauberman returned. Lawrence has been their main offensive weapon so far – he has nearly 300 yards from scrimmage in two games, but Parkland was not quite able to lean on Freedom in their run game with big offensive tackles James Tyler and Evan Saylor like I expected. Tim Moncman made the point to the Morning Call that they will be a lot better in November than August, and particularly the development of senior quarterback Osmany Guzman will go a long way in determining that.
4. Liberty Hurricanes (2-0)
For the third year in a row, Libety has won two games. The difference being, it’s only taken the Hurricanes two game to do that and it looks like Shawn Daignault group is humming so far. The transfer back of Antonio Fontanez has made a huge difference, and unlocked some of the elite skill players Liberty can roll out in Gabe Green, Adrian DeLeon, and Jake Pukszyn. Liberty scored a nice season opening win against Pennridge, with Antonio Fontanez throwing for 162 yards and Gabe Green scoring four touchdowns – including two kick return TDs in a 40-13 romp.
Thursday Liberty got their first statement win in ages, with Christian Hackett drilling a 30 yard field goal as time expired to beat Allentown Central Catholic 15-14. The Canes went up 12-7 in the first half,then nearly coughed up the game when ACC recovered an onside kick to open the second half and score on a short field. Then, clinging to a 14-12 lead, ACC chewed up nine minutes in a fourth quarter drive. But a penalty and a 4th down incompletion gave Liberty the ball with 2:55 left in the game and Fontanez and running back Adrian DeLeon engineered the winning field goal drive.
Pukszyn, a junior and a Division I basketball recruit, already has 10 catches for 147 yards and is a match up nightmare on the edge with his 6’4 frame. Gabe Green has five touchdowns through two games, and hasn’t even gotten the bulk of his teams carries. That would be Adrian DeLeon, who had 97 yards against ACC, including 32 on the final drive, and if he is healthy it gives Liberty a solid all-purpose option out of the backfield. Defensively, Dante Morrison, one of the best 220 pound wrestlers in Pennsylvania, has been a force at defensive end, with three sacks against ACC.
5. Easton Red Rovers (1-1)
Feeling a little bold with this one. They say teams make the biggest improvements between week one and week two. Easton stood tall and fought against a very solid CB West team in an opening week loss, and used whatever lessons they learned about themselves to throttle Spring-Ford on Friday night. The improvement from 2023 is stark. Easton looks significantly more physical on both the offensive and defensive lines, the offense is more cohesive, and they have an attitude that has been sorely lacking out of the Red Rovers for years.
Matt Senneca has said running backs Dorian Thomas and Will Day are the best pair in the Valley, and he’ll get no argument from me. Thomas got starters carries last season when Day suffered a season ending injury, and that experience is clearly paying off here. But the biggest difference in the run game is the offensive line play. Junior tackle Elijah Grovesnor has been a stand-out (on both sides of the ball) and is clearly showing the benefits of getting lots of playing time as an undersized and inexperienced sophomore. Now 6’3 250, (two inches taller and 25 pounds heavier than a year ago) he’s been an anchor in the run game and was a constant presence in the Spring-Ford backfield from his defensive tackle spot. Fellow juniors Algee Macon and Kurtis Crossman have also stood out with a newfound physicality in the trenches as a year bigger and stronger and more experienced. If they can block and get after the passer, it will free up a really good set of skill guys with Day, Thomas, Jasir Frutchey (6’4 215 pound wide receiver), JC Wilson (who had 163 yards on 8 catches against CB West while Frutchey was serving a suspension), and Cael DiSora (a Lafayette lacrosse commit who had two interceptions and a receiving TD against Spring-Ford). We’ll see what they have for Northeast on Friday, a rematch of the 1939 classic at Cottingham.
Small Schools
I’m not going to rank small schools every week because I don’t have that kind of bandwidth. But Northwestern Lehigh is awesome. They killed Northern Lehigh 56-7 on Friday, taking a 49-0 lead into the locker room. Back from last year’s state finalists are safety/running back Eli Zimmerman, linebacker/tight end Shane Hulmes, wideout Mason Bollinger, quarterback Shane Leh, defensive tackle/center Jared Meck, and defensive end/offensive tackle Bryer Reichard. Reichard, Hulmes, and Zimmerman were All State selections in 2023. Reichard is probably the headliner, a 6’5 275 pound defensive end who will be a Division I player at the next level. Zimmerman has added primary ballcarrier on offense to his list of duties (he had ten interceptions last year as a safety) and is pound-for-pound one of the best football players in Pennsylvania (at 5’8 150). Hulmes is a Patriot League/Ivy League player, while Bollinger, whose brother Devon was an All State quarterback now at Delaware, is getting FBS looks at receiver. It’s as talented a 3A team as you’re going to get in a small town. I would not be shocked to see them back in Hershey.
That’s not to say they won’t get tested. Notre Dame (GP) has yet another quarterback off the assembly line in junior Matt Bodnar, who has thrown for 917 yards and 11 touchdowns in their first two games. That includes a 37 completion, 604 yard, 7 touchdown effort in a 71-64 win over Garden Spot in their opener. It’s a typical Phil Stambaugh team – they’re wide open on offense with a sophisticated passing game and good athlets and wideout, and it’ll be a great clash of styles with the smashmouth NW Lehigh Tigers, who they’ll see in week 7 and likely for the D11 championship.
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