With the playoff picture just about set in D12 can we expect any surprises ,upsets, or will it go as planned ( with the favored team winning each contest)?

Thanks to replies on ridley post. Seems to be several quality teams at top of district one. NP, neshaminy, coatesville, perk valley and Ridley seem to be ahead the class. From previous standing's I see coatesville taking out Ridley, springford upsetting neshaminy and coatesville eventually ousting NP now, probably to face perk valley. From what I've seen and hear after being all over these counties is that lately NP has looked sluggish, started slow and athletes on the outside can be matched by quality teams athletes as neshaminy and upper dublin have recently show. I've heard qb is stats driven and thinks he should be throwing every play and for 4 tds and not happy if he doesn't. Defensive line is small and they haven't worked on ground game. My analysis for what it's worth...

East still looks to be the favorite but glad to hear you get rewarded for a challenging schedule.

Did anyone else think it was a little over the top having Swift in the game that late? If I were the Georgia coach and heard about that, I'd call either Infante or the father and have a heart to heart with them. Still trying to figure out why Gabe left him in the game, what with his ankle history and the playoffs coming up!! Just sayin'.

Good Article: Opinion | It’s Trump’s Party - The New York Times https://apple.news/AxWcFr7CvQZe9Atd7MfhKlg
Mock and ridicule this "biased article from a shitty liberal rag written by a spineless liberal sissy". I believe it encapsulates the whole election and it's results.

Teams presently on a run, having won at least 4 straight. There are some new ones of course and some that dropped off.
……..AAAAAA unless otherwise noted.

D7
Pittsburgh Central Catholic 6A 6-1; The Vikings are a lot like Bishop Guilfoyle, just pounding and trouncing people with little to no competition even from quality teams like Pine Richland 48-35 or North Allegheny 55-14. Norwin and Penn Hills are next but they’re not even in NA’s or PR’s league.
North Allegheny 6A 6-2; Nice recovery since Central Catholic winning 5 straight, ending the season on the road at Hempfield (score a lot of points) and Pine Richland. The Rams may have lost their quarterback Phil Jurkovec but aren’t finished by a long shot, with a boatload of young talent and a senior quarterback in Max Devinney who is getting it done better than expected. He doesn’t have Jurkovec’s legs but can sling it downfield with good accuracy.
West Allegheny 5A 7-0; One good thing about the classification re-alignment is it’s given us some great conference matchups, like this one seeing West-A travel to Woodland Hills for a major Allegheny-9 Conference game. We’ll see how Woody handles their passing attack (65%, +1100 yards) and if they can get anything going against the Indians strong defense.
McKeesport 5A 6-1; 5 straight says they’ve found their groove but so has Gateway (6-2) coming in hot winning their last 4.
Gateway 5A 6-2; Looking good now after a 2-2 start until noting the losses to Woodland Hills and Armstrong came by 16 and 14 points respectively. Not awful but McKeesport is a hard place to win.
Woodland Hills 5A 7-1; Have their hands completely full Friday playing West Allegheny then Upper St Clair but they are both at home where they should at least split.
Franklin Regional 5A 5-2; Nice run after the 0-2 start that saw them give Armstrong their only loss, 24-20 at Kittanning! 5-3 North Hills will test them before closing at Gateway.
South Fayette 4A 8-0; Central Valley (6-2) in the opener and Blackhawk (5-2), their only quality road opponent, both gave South Fayette a game so we’ll see how they hold up on the road with expected wins as heavy favorites their final two against Highlands and Montrose.
Thomas Jefferson 4A 7-0; No one is stopping them (380 points scored) and no one is scoring on them (38ppg allowed) including decent teams at Ringgold and Mars. Their last threat West Mifflin (7-1) will probably not survive the gauntlet that is Ringold (5-2) who gave them their first loss last week 29-26, Belle Vernon (7-1), coming in with attitude off their first loss of the season and then TJ. Yikes!
Beaver Falls 3A 6-1; Make that 6 straight wins since losing to Aliquippa 44-13 in the opener. Rival Hopewell (5-3) is next before ending the season with Beaver (6-1).
Derry 3A 8-0; Derry Area (just doesn’t sound right) should finish strong against 0-7 Waynesburg Central and at 4-4 McGuffey before wading into the thick of it in the postseason against the likes of, Beaver Falls, Aliquippa, Central Valley, Beaver and others. If you can get out of 7 in this classification and someone will, you can do some damage until running into D-10’s Hickory (8-0), or Karns City (7-1) out of 9.
Valley 3A 5-2; Better late than never winning 4 straight after the 1-2 start. But Apollo Ridge (5-3) is next for a test and key game in the Allegheny Conference.
Steel Valley 2A 7-0; Unless these guys trip up or get cocky, it’s hard seeing anyone stopping them. Maybe Dunmore or Southern Columbia down the road. When you’re outscoring teams 388 to 52, you look pretty special. But you’d still like to see better comp than they’ve played to date in the Three Rivers Conference before the playoffs.
Brentwood 2A 6-1; Brentwood should enjoy this ride of 5 straight with Steel Valley looming in the near future after Carlynton Friday.
Neshannock 2A 7-1; They’d like the 5 point loss to Quaker Valley back since there is nothing left on the schedule that can beat them.
Clairton 1A 7-0; The Bears bear a remarkable resemblance to Steel Valley in that they field a huge offense scoring 381 points along with a unyielding defense allowing 41. Here’s another example where class realignment provided an interesting conference format with Clairton in the same group as Jeannette who they’ll meet after Riverview Friday.
Jeannette 1A 8-0; Talk about teams cut from the same cloth. Jeannette’s offensive and defensive production mimic Clairton’s and Steel Valley’s, scoring 387 points to 24 allowed. Right, that’s the difference, a freaky defense allowing 3ppg on average after shutting out 5 consecutive opponents. The district is loaded with powerful Single-A’s so get ready for one heck of a postseason ride.
Fort Cherry 1A 7-0; This isn’t Clairton or Jeannette but is good stuff, winning the close ones and surviving tandem quarterbacks. Oddly, the little guy Brady Whalen (5-7, 170, so) is the passer at 65% whereas the junior, Rhyan Culberson (6-3, 195) is at 54% with almost 800 yards rushing. They have a big game Friday at Carmichaels playing the 6-1 Mikes for all the Tri-County marbles.
Carmichaels 1A 6-1; The Mikes only loss of the season came after the long trip up and outside Pittsburgh (on the Ohio) in Coraopolis to play Our Lady of the Sacred Heart where they lost to the 5-2 Chargers 45-28. No tired legs for this one playing Fort Cherry at home.
Rochester 1A 7-0; The Rams looks like a lesser version of Jeannette and Clairton but with a solid resume beating Northgate (6-1) 30-26 and OLSH (above) 28-12. They’ll breeze past Union and Western Beaver to enter the postseason undefeated. Nice rebound from a 5-4 season.
D9
Clearfield 4A 7-1; That’s 7 straight since the opening loss at DuBois (?) with Philipsburg-Osceola next. Then it’s the game at home against Karns City in a non-conference district game for bragging rights with Kane and Brockway. Both of them are undefeated facing off themselves this weekend to help clear things up.
Karns City 3A 7-1; Certifiable bad ass here in KC whose only loss was the opener to 5A 7-1 Armstrong, 35-22. They’ll beat Montineau this week then fully clear up the D9 power structure (see aforementioned games) with the closer at Clearfield.
St. Marys 3A 5-2; The “Dutch” are new to the list with one of their losses being the upset by Clairion-Limestone. The other loss was to Karns City 42-6. No problem this week with Brookville although they look overmatvhed in the final against Clarion (7-1) the following week.
Brockway 2A 8-0; Still streaking after blowing out Bradford last week 63-21 with D-9 Double-A rival Kane up next at Kane in a AA playoff preview.
Kane 2A 8-0; Kane’s Wolves are howling and got in a real dog fight last week at Ridgeway edging the 6-2 Elkers 28-23. Brockway is next at home to decide the Allegheny Mountain FB League-Southern Division.
Otto Eldred 1A 4-4; The Terrors are terrorizing the AMFL-Northern Division lately even winning at Coudersport (4-4) 24-14. Not their best edition but Coudy is usually a tough out. A win against Smethport Friday gets them into positive territory. By the way, Otto Eldred is up there, 60 miles east of Erie and 8 miles south of the New York line.
D10
McDowell 6A 7-1; The only blemish is the Cathedral loss, 31-15. Got a nice win last week beating Austintown Fitch-OH 28-21 with General McLane (5-3) in town this week.
Grove City 5A 8-0; No one is giving this bunch a game except General McLane in the opener. That could change ths weekend with Meadville coming in.
Meadville 5A 6-2; 4 and 8 point losses prevent 8-0 meaning Grove City should have their hands full Friday although it’s an away game for Meadville. This is another Streaker vs Streaker game.
Cathedral 4A 8-0; The Ramblers stormed St. Fransis of New York last week 62 to 35 with more of the same this weekend against neighboring East High of Erie who’s having a rough time of it at 1-7.
Hickory 3A 8-0; The Hornets finally got a competitive game (good timing!) with Double-A Wilmington coming in and giving them what for in a 28-20 win!
Sharon 3A 5-2; Won the last 4 after getting handled by Wilmington 30-13 and Hickory 42-14, so there’s the ceiling. Sharpsville (5-3) is next and they’re scoring a lot of points like the Tigrers are, giving the appearance of a high scoring game.
Iroquois 2A 8-0; Their next opponent North East at 3-5 isn’t striking much fear in anyone and neither is their mascot, the dreaded Grape Pickers! The closer is Cochranton (6-2) also at home to close it out.
West Middlesex 1A 5-3; The “Big Red” have won their last 5 games and are heading for #6 if they beat the 2-6 Union City Bears.

These guys with many others will help lead PSU to a BIG championship in the next couple years. What a great win tonight for the program!!

This doesn't look to be South's year. Still, they have had some moments out there but couldn't capitalize on them. Three turnovers and a botched punt (in just the first two quarters) didn't help them.

'Skins defense still likes to go into that poor tackling mode now and then. It seems like they just get too relaxed as if they think they have them bottled up and they get sloppy. But even with that said they did tighten up when it was needed.

Offense pretty much can do what they want.

Rough year, though, for the Golden Hawks. Looks like they're giving it their best and they have scooted on that option on more than a few and when it works it does look nice. Kudos for sticking in there and working at it.

It was 35-0 after the break and after the G-Hawks stalled on their first possession of the second half Neshaminy's offense then took over. But after moving the ball nicely the back-up HB fumbled and a South player picked it up and took it to the ten. The Hawk's offense then put some points on the board a few plays later.

With the running clock it was mid-way in the fourth when the back-up 'Skins scored on the back-up Hawks.

From there the time went by very quickly.

Nobody hurt on either team (that's good).

On to next week.

Here we go!! Comments, suggestions!!?? The only thing I'm sure of about this one is lunch and dinner at The Beef and Ale!!

You can listen to the La Salle/Prep game, starting at 2 PM today, on http://boblongsports.com/, featuring the play by play of Bob Long '09, the Voice of La Salle Football, along with Rob Stott '06 and Dan Madden '17. Go La Salle!!

Read the article in the Intell. about their game last night with UM. which they lost. Wissy seems a little out of control. Blocked punt, bad snaps but then numerous personal fouls, A player thrown out of the game for punching a UM. player who was on the ground, (I think he gets suspended for the next game) and then for the grand finally, a sideline clearing brawl. Sounds like a very entertaining game. Not much discipline,hope they get it together for their last game.

I've been negligent so far this football season in getting out your weekly reports from D11 country. It's going to be a weird year up here, with just about everybody rebuilding. Freedom was my presumed favorite coming into the year, as they returned the best quarterback and most of their offensive line and defensive front 7 from a team that shared a piece of the EPC South title with state finalist Parkland in 2015. Easton's upset win at BASD over the Patriots has me throwing my hands up, as the Valley is wide open. Liberty and Emmaus are the current 3-0 teams, and you could have won a lot of money in Vegas betting on that this summer. Emmaus is particularly interesting, though they haven't taken on one of the blue blood programs yet. Liberty has, and posted wins over Easton and Parkland in back-to-back weeks, no easy task no matter how many new starters each program has. Liberty looks like the real deal and is the favorite going forward. On to my rankings.

1. Liberty

Last Week: Liberty used a smothering red zone defense and timely plays from its offense to knock of 4x defending D11 champion Parkland. This was the second season in a row that the Hurricanes beat the Trojans. Liberty held Parkland to under 4.5 yards per play and forced three Trojan turnovers. Defensive end Jaohne Duggan was the star of the show, making 13 tackles, including four behind the line of scrimmage, a sack, and forcing a fumble. Liberty stuffed Parkland on fourth down four times in the second half. Although Liberty gained just 217 yards, they opened the game with the only touchdown drive of the evening, then added a second TD on a short field after a muffed punt inside the 15.

Thoughts Through Three Weeks: Liberty has the most high end talent of any team in the Valley. Duggan, a 6’3 280 pound Rutgers commit, has been the best defender in the league by far and is priority #1 for any offense playing the Hurricanes. Darian Street, though he made just 1 catch against Parkland, has been fabulous, particularly in a 4 catch, 196 yard, 3 TD performance against Easton. Street is committed to Pitt and is the younger brother of New England Patriots receiver Devin Street. Running backs Nasir Legree and Gunner Anglovich combined for over 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns last year, and both are improved, particularly Legree, who is having a breakout sophomore year. As sophomore quarterback Todd Erney improves, they could be the team to beat, particularly if the offensive line holds up.

Next Week: Liberty hosts a reeling Whitehall team, who is unexpectedly 1-2 after starting the season in the top 10 in some state polls in 5A. Whitehall has the best athlete in the Valley, wide receiver/cornerback/return specialist Dez Boykin, so how Liberty schemes for his big play ability will be crucial. Of course, with Duggan and company’s ability to dominate in the trenches, they may blow plays up from the point of attack. A match up between Boykin and Darian Street on both sides of the ball will be worth the price of admission. Meanwhile, offensively, it will be another opportunity for Todd Erney to show his growth at the quarterback position. If he continues his week to week improvement, Liberty is going to be tough to beat.

2. Emmaus

Last Week: The revitalized Green Hornets beat class 4A favorites Bethlehem Catholic 34-25 on Saturday night, firmly planting themselves in the EPC South race. Emmaus came up with 8 sacks on defense, four by outside linebacker Blake Reed. Becahi gained 169 yards on three passing touchdowns, but otherwise gained 90 yards on 67 plays. Reed and defensive end Kyle Carraher are budding stars in a great Emmaus front 7. Offensively, Josh Artis caught his second touchdown of the night which proved to be the game winner with 7 minutes to go. The 6’4 200 pound junior finished with 6 catches for 58 yards and a pair of TDs.

Thoughts Through Three Weeks: Emmaus looks dangerous. The Harold Fairclough takeover is a rousing success through three weeks, as the former state championship winning coach at Allentown Central Catholic has completely changed the look and feel of the Green Hornets. Quarterback Derek Shaeffer is in the top ten in the state in passing yards through three games, and the monsterous Artis looks like one of the best weapons in the Valley. They’ve been inconsistent running the ball against good competition, but the passing offense should continue to open that up. And the defense has looked like a Harold Fairclough defense, creating a ton of pressure. They also have a decided special teams advantage will an All State candidate at kicker and punter, Carson Landis. Landis, who has a number of Patriot League and Ivy League offers, drilled field goals of 47 and 48 last week against Becahi.

Next Week: Emmaus gets breather, hosting Pocono Mountain West in their final cross division game of the season. The Green Hornets should roll this week and next, a trip to Northampton, before setting up another test with Freedom the last weekend in September.

3. Easton (2-1)

Last Week: One week after losing at BASD to Liberty, Easton came right back and split with the Bethlehem public schools, getting a tough 27-20 win over Freedom. The Easton defense, after getting torched with big plays last week, held Freedom to under 4 yards per play, and sacked quarterback Joe Young six times. And just like everybody saw coming, Easton torched Freedom…through the air? Running a two quarterback system, with primary passer Scott Poulson threw for 208 yards and 3 touchdowns while option QB/athlete Ben Nimeh threw for 27 yards and added 53 yards and a touchdown rushing on 7 carries (he also caught a pass for 8 yards while lining up at receiver and recorded a sack on defense). Receivers Trey Bailey (5 catches for 96 yards and a TD) and Jake Herres (4 catches for 117 yards and a TD) looked like the match up problems expected in the beginning of the year, particularly the 6’4 Herres, who had the breakout game Easton has been waiting for from the junior.

Thoughts Through Week Three: It’s a young Easton team that has played like it so far, flying around like their hair is on fire, but inconsistent snap to snap. Only six of their 22 starters are seniors, and sophomores Albert Gayle (C/DT 6’0 240), Harold Reynolds (RB 5’8 170), Danny Hynes (FS 5’11 180), and Elek Ferency (OL/DL 6’3 250) y are already playing big roles. Reynolds was bottled up by Freedom, but had been the offensive star the first two weeks, opening his varsity career with back-to-back 100 yard games and five touchdowns in two games. They’ve got some talent and size at receiver, with Bailey, Herres, Luke Nimeh (6’2 180), Eddie Olsen (6’2 170), and when he returns from injury Mike Dunlap (6’3 170 sophomore). The offensive line has some size, particularly on the right side with Ayyub Dail (6’1 265) and Mike Pugilese (6’0 245). Defensively, they’re very small at linebacker, but can fly around and have a deep defensive line that rotates as many as 7 guys. Defensive end Trevor Storm (6’7 210) and inside linebacker Austin Bina (5’10 185) have been the stars of the show on that side of the ball so far. How the secondary continues to improve will be the story of the season.

Next Week: Easton takes on Parkland. The Trojans struggled to find the end zone in their only real challenge on the schedule so far. Easton’s defense will need to key on Zach Bross in the passing game and continue to stop the run like they have through three weeks. Offensively, Easton may look to continue the passing game, as Parkland is devastating against the run. Easton will need to pass protect a viscous front from Parkland, and left tackle Trevor Storm vs. defensive end DJ Hohman battle on the left side will tell the story of the game. Storm is incredibly long, and if he can get his hands on Hohman and under his pad level before he turns the corner, he’ll have an okay night.

4. Freedom (2-1)

Last Week: Freedom dropped a 27-20 contest to Easton at home on Friday night. After a long TD pass on a great play action fake from Joe Young to Brady Hornbaker, the Freedom offense struggled for much of the evening. A major problem was Freedom’s inability to block Easton’s front seven, as they gained just 70 yards on 35 carries and were sacked six times. Defensively, Freedom struggled stopping the pass, particularly four verts when Easton spread the field and with Easton’s hybrid receiver/tight end types going over the middle. The good news was, they completely shut down a good Easton running game.

Thoughts Through Three Weeks: I thought Freedom was the clear favorite in D11 this season. They have the best and most experienced quarterback, they have a trio of dangerous receivers, a slasher at running back who ran for almost 700 yards last year in New Jersey, and a fast and dangerous defense. Not to mention an offensive line that averages over 260 across. All that beef on the o-line doesn’t matter if you can’t block, and by and large they were unable to block against Easton. Alec Huertas has been a star at receiver so far, and the Huertas to Young connection will be one to watch all season, particularly as Jamal Williamson improves as a deep threat to stretch the field. I was not expecting Freedom to lose in the regular season, so it’ll be interesting to see how they respond.

Next Week: Freedom takes on Northampton, who has not won a division game since the formation of the new conference. Northampton looks particularly vulnerable this year, and it’ll be a good week for Freedom to get back on track.

Teams presently on a run, having won at least 4 straight. There are some new ones of course and some that dropped off.
--------AAAAAA unless otherwise noted.


D11
Pleasant Valley 6A 7-1; The Bears had another fun game to go along with a season loaded with them beating East Stroudsburg North 66-26 after beating Dieruff 62-20 the week before. They laid 27 on Allentown Central Catholic in their only loss of the season and sure look like an “upset special” group come playoff time.
Allentown Central Catholic 4A 7-1; Here’s the team that beat Pleasant Valley 7 weeks ago 38-27. Since then they’ve run off 6 straight by an average score of 55-19. Allen is next, then Beca!
Bethlehem Catholic 4A 7-1; The Hawks face probably the best 4-4 team in the state who never goes down without a fight, particularly on the road where they’ve scored 35 and 28 in losing causes at Emmaus and Whitehall respectively. Buckle up Beca.
Pottsville 4A 7-1; The Crimson Tide is getting it down with a veteran quarterback, a lot of skill from last year, a rebuilt line and a veteran quick defense (little size anywhere) that’s able to keep it tight with all but the most athletic, eg, Harrisburg, where they suffered a 32-7 loss. Jim Thorpe is next then North Schuylkill, both at 5-3. The Tide is looking good knowing they are coming off a 2-8 season, sitting on top of the Schuylkill FB League Div-1, a game ahead of Blue Mountain and North Schuylkill.
Pen Argyl 3A 6-2; Great win by the Green Knights beating previously unbeaten Notre Dame convincingly last week, 35-14, to move up in the Colonial a game behind the leaders at 6-2, tied with Southern Lehigh. Notre Dame’s loss dropped them into a first place tie with last year’s titleist Saucon Valley who they play this weekend. Meanwhile Pen Argyl tries to maintain things at Palisades giving us another Streaker vs Streaker.
Palisades 3A 6-2; The Pirates are 6-2 overall and 5-2 in conference making this a decisive weekend in the Colonial with the games mentioned above, Saucon Valley at Notre Dame and Pen Argyl at Palisades.
Schuylkill Haven 2A 8-0; The Hurricanes are going to be a super tough out having defeated decent Triple-A’s Jim Thorpe and Lehighton. They’re not at Southern Columbia’s level ((few are) but are destroying other Double-A comp by an average score of 59 to 2. You’ll get a suggestion where Haven stands verses the likes of Southern, Dunmore, Wellsboro types in two weeks after the game with Blue Mountain (AAAA, 6-2).
Williams Valley 1A 7-1; Except for the loss to another Tri Val Conf foe Juniate (3A, 6-2) who almost upset undefeated Newport two weeks ago, they’d be undefeated themselves. They’re at Tri-Valley High (7-1) this week to see who stays a game behind Newport.
Tri Valley 1A 7-1; The Bulldogs (5-1 in-conf) are also streaking like Williams Valley (6-1) with 6 straight so something has to give between the two, with the winner as mentioned above staying a game behind Newport (8-0, 7-0) in the highly competitive Tri Valley Conference, (Juniata, Line Mountain 5-2).

D12
St. Joseph’s Prep 6-0; After opening the season in Mission Viejo against Oaks Christian then the game with Don Bosco Prep, I wonder if the Hawks are just bored!? Pretty heady stuff beating those two. They can’t be bored this week against LaSalle who is good enough to beat them, breaking the tie atop the PCL-Red with both presently 4-0. Here’s a scenario. The following week sees Wood catching the Explorers “down” after upsetting SJP and beats them to create a 3-way tie in the Red. Goodness!
Philadelphia Central 7-0; The curtain comes down on the regular season for the Lancers this week in a game against 1-6 South Philly where they should get a early lead then rest the troops for the postseason.
Imhotep 4A 7-0; Imhotep closes out the regular season against a Delaware Valley Charter group that sports a winning record at 5-3. Probably all you need to know about DVC is their loss to Haverford School, 43-6. ICS might equal that score by halftime. If I did the math right Imhotep has the second longest winning streak in the state at 22 behind Southern Columbia and Bishop Guilfoyle at 24.
Cardinal O’Hara 4A 7-0; Thought Egan might take this one but the Lions of Cardinal O’Hara prevailed for a nice 16-13 road win, benefiting on a 2-pt safety with 19 seconds left on the clock. Otherwise, the CE line, holder or kicker would have been stuck with the memory of a blocked extra kick. How about O’Hara, bouncing back from a 1-9 campaign last season? Too bad Imhotep is in the area; otherwise the Lions might have made a nice run in states.
LaSalle 5-2; Here’s another Streaker making the list after running off 4 straight against Carroll, Ryan, Judge and Roman. Doesn’t LaSalle seem like the quietest 5-2 team in the area despite being tied with St. Joseph’s (3-0) atop the PCL-Red? Early losses to North Penn and Malvern Prep didn’t help but that was a long time ago. Anyway, the rebuilt offense (egs….OL and QB) has evidently gone well with the returning skill supported by many starters and subs returning to make the defense a team strength at 14ppg. At 30ppg, the offense isn’t all that bad either. Everyone remembers last year’s games where St. Joe’s won the regular season game 49-24 with the Explorers then winning the PCL-AAAA Final 29-28….in the last 48 seconds.
Archbishop Wood 5A 4-2; Wood makes their initial appearance on the list after beating the same foursome LaSalle did, Roman, Ryan, Judge and Carroll. Up next is Upper Darby at 4-4 on a 3 game winning streak of teams (Stoga, Radnor , Lower Merion) with a combined won-loss of 6-17. Wood is all about LaSalle this week, pulling for their upset of SJP in hopes of returning the favor against the Explorers the following week giving us a 3-way tie in the Red Dvision.
John Bartram High 4A 6-1; How about Bartram, winning their sixth game in a row by defeating previously undefeated Boys Latin 30-22. Both are AAAA teams so look for a close one in the rematch after JB takes care of business against Olney this week.
Northeast 5-1; Philly Northeast also joins the list of streakers after winning their last 4 against Prep Charter, Gratz, Olney and West Philly by an average score of 45-13. The next opponent, Frankford at 3-5 looks like a cupcake but shouldn’t be taken lightly having been tested in games against Pennsbury, Perkiomen Valley, Central and Imhotep. Northeast won’t shake em up.
Benjamin Franklin 5A 6-2; Good ole Ben joins the list as well this week after beating GW, South Philly, MLK and Mastery Charter. To get a fix on them, the losses were to Imhotep 48-0 and Central 50-12. The postseason is next.

Ridley over Stoga 36-0 FINAL
Marple over Harriton 36-14 FINAL
Springfield- GV 14-21 FINAL
SH vs Radnor 22-14 2OT FINAL
Acd Pk vs Interboro 24-29 FINAL

Are the green raiders a playoff threat, spoiler.

Over the past few days, there have been several developments on the world political front, which will have a profound effect on economies, trade flows, and ultimately who makes the rules for world finance/trade over the coming decades. This is not an all-inclusive list, but consider a sampling of the changes announced only this month.

Russian President Putin was in Egypt, talking to a wannabe U.S. ally. General el-Sisi, the Egyptian leader who threw out the Muslim Brotherhood, who in turn threw out Mubarak, is a fan of the U.S. but for the past several years, has been seemingly out of favor. So he is talking to the Russians.

In a shocking change of allegiance, Philippine President Duterte, at a state function in China announced economic separation from the United States. “America has lost now. I have realigned myself in your ideological flow,” at a business forum in Beijing. (1) Then he noted he may go to Russia to speak with Putin and tell him “it’s the three of us against the world, China, Philippines, an Russia.” (2) While in China, the Philippine government reached thirteen co-operation agreements with China, on topics as diverse as transport, tourism, financing, infrastructure, agriculture etc. Manila may have just hit the financial jackpot and strategically, it makes America's Asia pivot more difficult.

Turkey has been a member of NATO, as secular state of about 100 million people who are mostly Muslim. Half in the Mideast and partly in Europe, Turkey is the land bridge to Western Europe from Iraq, Iran, etc. In recent months, it appears Prime Minister Erdogan has not only seen off a coup attempt, he seems intent on going back to a re-creation of the old Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was not secular. Roughly, 45,000 teachers have been removed to be replaced in schools by more theological training. Judges have been sacked by the thousands. Russia, I believe has offered Turkey a deal whereby an alignment with Moscow results in Russian weapons being sold to Ankara, China helps with the funding and entry into the Shanghai Co-operation Council will be on the table. Closing of the Syrian/Turkish border is part of the deal, thus allowing Russia to potentially end the war in Syria. The way in which Russia is behaving in Syria suggests the next attack on Aleppo is meant to be the last.

If Turkey becomes a full-fledged ally of Russia, how that would work with NATO is problematic. What worries me even more is how NATO and the U.S. will respond to this strategically and in the short term, how will they act if Russia does attempt to end the war by Christmas. There are reports of large-scale movement of ships/plane in recent days in the Indian Ocean, while the UK newspapers are filled with pictures of a 10-ship Russian fleet preparing to sail down the English Channel on its way to the Eastern Mediterranean.

I believe the next U.S. President, no matter who it is, will be faced with at least three major issues. There will very likely be more than three, but right now, I believe three are baked in the cake.

A recession will arrive in the next three years, second a financial bear market will occur in the next three years and lastly I think the next President will have to fight a war. The war may have already started. Unlike the last war of global significance, the Western democracies have institutional structures in place to be formidable. Financially, the West has significant resources, but also a lot of debt. In a world as connected as this one with global capital flows rampant, capital knowing few borders and the ability to freeze and economically via financial means, the battlefield is not limited.

In the midst of this, the U.S. election candidates are busily slinging mud. They should be talking about how to save the world power structure which has basically delivered peace in Europe for seventy years, peace with Japan/China and world record improvements in living standards, quantum increases in knowledge and technologies which were unheard of twenty years ago. All this will be thrown away if a new dark age descends on the world and I am convinced that is where some state actors would like to go. A leader is needed. The old saying is “cometh the hour, cometh the man.” I just hope he shows up in time, once again.

For the three stooges, if they are even capable of reading this far, when he says "a leader is needed" it's a direct rap on Incapabama. This is where the moves, or lack thereof, of a president have long-lasting impact, well after he leaves office. Secondary, world powers sense extreme weakness in obama (and Hillary and Kerry as Secretaries of State) and they act accordingly.

vote, you drive them in cars, because "it's the legality, because you can prove conspiracy if there's a bus. If there are cars, it's much harder to prove."

Foval went on: "If there's enough money, you have people drive their POV's (personally owned vehicles), or you have them drive rentals. You can't have them with Wisconsin license plates because rentals here...most of them don't have Wisconsin license plates. But, there's this thing called Used Car Auction, the titles belong to some unknown company."

Could chuvalo's statement about this election not being rigged have been any more wrong? And any more poorly timed?

Can't wait to see the three stooges reply to these tapes. My bet is it will be something like "hang in there" - brilliant!

Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, has again been exposed in the latest Wikileaks release.

From his e-mail account, Podesta said "On the picture ID, the one thing I have thought of in that space is that if you show up on Election Day with a drivers license with a picture, attest that you are a citizen, you have a right to vote in Federal elections."

This shows how the Clinton people and democrats in general operate. Total disregard for the law and they will do anything to win elections. No wonder there are claims about rigged elections. Podesta should be in jail along with Hillary Clinton.

Hard to believe you can play for 2 different PIAA teams in the same season...A couple teams may have to play against this 5 star recruit twice in same season for different teams...

http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2016/10/cd_disputes_it_held_up_footbal.html

not surprised

Oct. 17
Neumann-Goretti has forfeited its two remaining Catholic Blue games . . . vs. O'Hara and Conwell-Egan. The Saints still intend to play Southern on Thanksgiving and perhaps play a non-league game vs. Columbia that was called off due to wicked weather worries Labor Day Weekend.

If NG can cancel the last two games of the regular football season but still play a couple of games they choose.. What would happen if every HS basketball team decided not to play them because they are undersized??

............. unless Trump wins , of course. Don the Con keeps a-whining. HA

Teams presently on a run, having won at least 4 straight. There are some new ones of course and some that dropped off.
--------AAAAAA unless otherwise noted.

D1….undefeated.
North Penn 8-0; North Penn continues wading through SOL-Continental competition (figure of speech!) on their way to another SOL title….unless they lose to Tennett this week. They appear to be head and shoulders above other teams in the district unless Neshaminy grows a few more inches.
Neshaminy 8-0; Like the Knights, Neshaminy is headed to another conference crown with little expected from 1-7 CR South. Can’t forget the Red and Orange contingent from Fairless Hills the following week (2nd in SOL-N) who remain well below the radar despite a 5-3 slate and 3 game winning streak.
Perkiomen Valley 8-0; Odin must be smiling down on these Vikings offering winless Norristown and Methacton at 2-6 to end the season well healed and rested.
Springfield 5A 8-0; Unlike Perk Val, the Cougars get quality tests to end their season against Garnet Valley (6-2) and defending Central champ Haverford (5-3), but….they are both in Springfield. Ridley and Marpleare lurking a game off the pace.
Academy Park 5A 8-0; The easy time beating Penn Wood (6-2) last week 32-8 is unlikely to repeat itself this week at Interboro (7-1) against the Bucs stingy defense that allowed 57 points discounting the 27 Penn Charter scored.
D1-The rest
Plymouth Whitemarsh 7-1; Sittin pretty atop the SOL-American at 3-0 after defeating the closest competition in Hatboro Horsham and Upper Dublin the last two weeks. Chelty and Q-town should not prevent the Colonials winning another title, surplanting Upper Dublin’s great team.
Coatesville 7-1; Barring a collapse at home this week against Bishop Shanahan, Coatesville will win the Ches-Mont National, dethroning Downingtown East (11-1. 6-0 last year). What may have gone unnoticed is the utter lack of competition by other established and respected programs as evidenced by their winning all “National” games by an average score of 40 to 10.
Rustin 5A 4-4; The Golden Knights join the group having won their last 4 to keep the pressure on Ches Mont American leader Unionville (5-3, 4-0). Sun Valley at 6-2 (3-1) is next in West Chester and are also battling to overtake U-ville.
Pottsgrove 4A 5-2; The Falcons also surged into the group winning their last 4 to stay atop the Pioneer-Frontier at 4-1. They wrap up the regular season in Royersford Saturday playing Pope John Paul II.

D2
Wyoming Valley West 5A 6-2; Here’s another newcomer to the group getting hot at the right time to take the lead in points for AAAAA seeding in District-2 ahead of Abington Heights who they beat two weeks ago. Had to feel good thumping rival Berwick 48-24 last week as well. With Crestwood and Coughlin left, they should run out on a 6 game streak after a 2-2 start.
Scranton Prep 3A 7-1; The 7 game streak secured the top seed in the district and probably the Conference title unless upset this week by West Scranton. The 4-4 Invaders have had their moments and the closer at North Pocono (15 starters from last year) who after a 5-0 start went 1-2, will go down swinging if at all.
Lakeland 2A 7-1; Always a tough little deuce from a rugged football area, the Chiefs have won 5 straight since the 32-21 loss to district rival Dunmore. With Montrose and Mid Valley left to play they should run out to maintain 2nd in district seeding.
Dunmore 2A 8-0; The Bucks get the top spot in D2 where they won’t get a challenge until playing Lakeland again.
Northwest 1A 5-3; The Rangers beat GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) last week but return to Wilkes Barre again this week to play Meyers (5-3). The Wyoming Valley-3 is up for grabs between Northwest (5-0) and Hanover (3A, 4-4, 3-1), while Meyers (3A, 5-3, 2-2) won 4 of their last 5 battling for seeding.

D4
Selinsgrove 4A 6-2; Selinsgrove slugged their way into the group by winning their last 4 to overcome tough losses to Montoursville (7-1) 20-17 and Shikellamy (5-3) 21-14. Their last PIAA title was 2009 (16-0) and they won’t win one this year allowing 28ppg before shutting out struggling Milton last week. Typically the Seals have that part of their game covered. The schedule sees them finishing at Mount Carmel (4-4, won their last 3) and Southern Columbia (8-0). One thing for sure, this proud program will go down swinging!
Wellsboro 2A 8-0; Will someone step up and give these guys a game? They’re winning by a combined score of 329 to 33 with 5 shutouts. Maybe Wyalusing (5-3) or a nice North Penn team (7-1) will do it. Their only loss was at AA 7-1 South Williamsport who they will likely face again in districts.
Southern Columbia 2A 8-0; Got to love a schedule allowing you to finish at home against Central Columbia this weekend followed by Selinsgrove.
South Williamsport 2A 7-1; The only loss was to Danville (AAA 4-4) who is fading fast after a decent start losing their last 3. With Muncy and Line Mountain both coming to South Williamsport, they should roll into the postseason on an 8 game winning streak.
North Penn 2A 7-1; The Panthers looked vulnerable at times but won their last 4 and are atop the Northern Tier League locked in a race with undefeated Wellsboro who they play in two weeks to settle it in the Large School Division.
Sayre 1A 6-2; Will cruise past Col-Mont VoTech then better strap it on real tight taking on at 5-3 Athens who seem to have the offense online after a rough start if the 42-22 win at Wyalusing (5-3) means anything.

Because they have done a psychological profile on him & are quite confident they could "work" with him.

Teams presently on a run, having won at least 4 straight. There are some new ones of course and some that dropped off.
……..AAAAAA unless otherwise noted.

D3
....edited to add Wilson)
Wilson 6-1; Two time defending District 3 champ Wilson made it back to the group (since losing to Central Dauphin 24-6 Sept 16th) by defeating a good 5-2 Warwick team, McCaskey (2-5), Penn Manor (2-6) and Lebanon (1-6). They got through the tough first half of the schedule going 3-1, beating Governor Mifflin (6-1), Spring Ford (6-2) and Warwick (5-2), with the loss to CD above and will cruise through this portion of Manheim Township (4-3), Hempfield (2-5) and Conestoga Valley (4-3) with Manheim posing the biggest threat.

Red Lion 6A 7-0; Monster York-Adams games coming up vs Central York, Spring Grove and Dallastown with the biggest threats coming from Central and D-Town. Great finish!
Governor Mifflin 5A 6-1, Nice story here recovering from the opening loss at Wilson and tremendous grad losses to win 6 straight, putting them in charge in the Berks Inter-County.
Cocalico 5A 5-2; One of Cocalico’s losses was to Mifflin above, 17-13 before running off 5 straight including the win in Manheim over Central. If they get past 5-2 Lampeter Strasburg they’ll win the LL Section-2 that everyone, repeat everyone thought belonged in Manheim. But the boys from Denver had different ideas. If you ever drove the PA Turnpike about halfway between Philly and Harrisburg at the Weigh Station that used to be a Rest Area, that’s Denver.
Shippensburg 4A 7-0; This SHIP will come home undefeated if they don’t get cocky in their final three against Mid Penn Colonial rivals Northern, West Perry and Big Spring, with the biggest challenges coming from the Polar Bears of Northern and Big Spring. Ship should prevail but everyone is fighting for seeds and the pride of a conference title.
York Suburban 4A 5-2; Suburban should cruise past Dover then quirky Gettysburg before ending with Eastern York who except for two-6pt losses and a 4 pointer are 6-1 and a likely tough out in their last home game of the season.
Milton Hershey 4A 6-1; Great run by a strong team that will get tested by the super backfield out of Middletown (7-0) then Palmyra (6-1) who barely lost at Mdt. They’ll name it at Trinity this weekend then the real Mid Penn wars mentioned above begin.
Middletown 3A 7-0;The Blue Raiders are undefeated because of a tandem backfield of Jaelen Thompson (5-11, 185) and Brutish Brady Fox (5-9, 200) that just bludgeon you to death, and a D that keeps it all real at 58 points allowed. Fox and Thompson both topped 1000 rush years last year. Winless Boiling Springs (The Bubblers!) is next, followed by a tough road trip to Milton Hershey and the closer against Steel High where the Rollers are definitely not rolling at 2-5.
Wyomissing 3A 5-2; This is not your typical Wyo but 5 straight eases the pain of the 0-2 start where they suffered surprising losses to Pottsville and Garden Spot. They’ll get past Kutztown and surprising Hamburg then gear up for the final against Reading rival Berks Catholic (AAAA, 6-1). Guess which two teams are tied atop the Berks County, undefeated?
Bermudian Springs 3A 6-1; Only loss is to Ship 28-24 and got past tough Delone Catholic last week. But, a real strong York Catholic team and Littlestown, both 6-1 are dead ahead to decide the York-Adams Div 3. Nothing special here with these three just fun, old school small ball football.
York Catholic 2A 6-2; The Fighting Irish are a force once again in Division-1 of the York Adams with Bermudian Springs (above) who they play this week. The Thunderbolts of Littlestown are right there as well but they already beat the Bolts two weeks ago in a wild one 29-20. They are home free if they get past Bermudian.
Newport 2A 8-0; The Buffalos used to be the team everyone wanted to play. Not anymore, even in the rugged Tri Valley Conference.
D5
Meyersdale 1A 6-1; Nothing like a streak (5) to get you back in the race and a win against previously undefeated conference foe Conemaugh Township 16-13. Nice! The win gets them in the thick of the Western PA Athletic Conference at 6-2 behind Berlin Brothersvalley and Conemaugh Twp at 7-1.
D6
State College 6A 7-0; No hangover here beating Central Dauphin East 33-14 after beating Cumberland Valley the week before. Maybe it catches them this week at home to Harrisburg (5-2) who is playing well in losing last week to Central Dauphin 13-11.
Johnstown 4A 7-0; They got past Bishop McCort 34-20 and now face the ultimate test in another road game, this time at defending state champ Bishop Guilfoyle who is still undefeated at 8-0.
Martinsburg Central 3A 7-1; Here’s a big, veteran team like Berlin Brothersvalley last year that upset Clairton (14-1) 35-22….that could surprise. The line is veteran at 6-2 295, and 6-3, 280 at the tackle spots, 6-1 245, 5-11, 240 at guard and 6-0 225 at center. With 8 back on offense and 10 on D they are waltzing through the competition in the district except for the near miss at Clearfield (AAAA 7-1), 30-28. The near miss and 21-7 win against Tyrone speaks to their strength. District 6 has strength this year at most of the classifications.
Ligonier Valley 2A 8-0; Had a bye week last week (forfeit Blairsville) before the finish against Purchase Line to wrap up the Heritage Conference.
Bellwood Antis 2A 7-1; BA has a tricky one at 4-4 Southern Huntingdon (easily 6-2) before closing at home with Northern Bedford (5-3), another bunch that’s a few points and turnovers from 7-1.
Cambria Heights 2A 4-4; 4 straight gets you into the club and here they are evidently in full recovery from the 48-3 thumping Bishop Guilfoyle put on them. Need this week’s game at home against Bedford (AAA 3-5) to assure a .500 season with Johnstown in the final.
Bishop Guilfoyle 1A 8-0; This is starting to get silly winning their last 5 games by an average score of 46-2. Johnstown isn’t exactly chump change but they don’t have the defense Guilfoyle has or the line size with the Marauders checking in at (eg) 6-2 295, 6-2 310, 6-4 320 with 2 All State players on the offense and 4 on the other side. These guys would beat many schools in higher classifications.