Let the discussion begin!! Saturday, 1:00 at PW.

I have the Prep favored by 9. It is playoffs though so anything can happen. Password at The Ale House is "Gil". Yesman picked that. I wonder if that's short for Gil Thorpe? Yesman??

what can be done to rectify the issue

need an outsiders perspective I have 2 juniors who are the cornerstones of my team and responsible for our turning the program around. I feel they are D-I kids would any of you look at their highlights and let me know what you think

Quan-Tay Kobe Young #10
Kyndel Dean #7

Both on Max preps and hudl thanks

11. Upper Darby 10-1, #6.For a team that’s been in the shadows of Garnet Valley, Ridley, more recently Haverford even Conestoga, the Royals came out in a big way last week with a easy win against Council Rock North 59-34. Phew! As porous as North’s defense has been most of the year, no one scored that many points on them. Most of the damage was done by running back Isaiah Bruce who rushed for a school record 338 yards, taking his season total to 1744. Quarterback Chrsistoff Minott is another threat Upper Dublin will have to contain, passing for 1422 yards while rushing for 434. The Royals are a sizeable offense scoring 33ppg (counts shutout at State), allowing 18 while winning eight straight since the 28-0 loss at State College.
12. Liberty 8-3, #4. Liberty did to Stroudsburg what the EPC-South, formerly LVC teams, have been doing to EPC-North teams, former Mountain Valley teams (East Stroudsburg, Pocono Mt schools, et al), for years by routing the Mounties 44-0. Quarterback Doug Erney had a big game completing 16 of 25 for 240 yards for three scores. The Canes were equally effective on the ground rushing for 214 yards to out distance the Mounts 454 to 75 total yards! You know Liberty has to be enjoying the ride not having been here since 2011’s 8-4 team. Last year was a breakout of sorts, paving the way to this season by winning the Eastern Conference-AAAA championship. So now its onwards and upwards, literally, to Plymouth on the West bank of the Susquehanna (below Wilkes Barre) for a game with top seeded Wyoming Valley West. They’ll need to establish the same success Nazareth did last week with the passing game while finding a larger ground game to keep up with the Spartans.
13. Perkiomen Valley 10-1, #10. Perkiomen Valley advanced the PAC-10 banner with a solid road win at Haverford beating the Fords 35-28. Quarterback Stephen Sturm (6-2, 180, jr) had another outstanding night completing 21 of 28 throws for 315 yards. His favorite target was Justin Jaworski who caught 12 passes for 180 yards. All totaled the Vikings gained 455 total yards of offense to Haverford’s 382 yards. Despite allowing 378 yards passing, they stuffed the Fords running game, holding them to 4 yards rushing. With the 10th seed, they get home field advantage where they are undefeated for round two action against 15th seeded Pennsbury. Both teams are coming off tight, all-out, four-quarter football games so we’ll see what’s left. And neither has played a team quite like the one they’ll play Friday. Pennsbury is Pennsbury, a big, mean, Wing-T team while Perkiomen Valley will light up the sky like no one they’ve faced including Downingtown and CR North. The Vikings are the best passing attack Pennsbury has seen in years with Stephen Sturm completing 69% of his passes for 2864 yards, with a Td to Interception ratio of 30 to 5.
14. Quakertown 9-2, #12.What, did the lights go out? With so many teams scoring three sometimes four touchdowns almost by accident in today’s fast paced offenses, this one qualifies as a power outage with Quakertown beating 5th seeded Central Bucks East 7-6. The win avenged a regular season defeat two weeks ago where East beat them in another single-digit game, 24-23. But in this one the Panthers picked off three passes. That’s something knowing quarterback Jack Lamb averages 7.54 passes a game. Still, at the end of the day the difference was what else?….special teams, where a bad snap couldn’t be converted. This week see them edging out another team, at least in terms of seeds with their 12th seed taking on 13th seeded Neshaminy at home. Q-town has the horses to make it interesting with running back Rob Burns (1658ry), TE Aaron Besch (6-1, 210, 288py) and quarterback Tom Garlick (6-4, 190, 1142py, 422ry) back there.
15. Downingtown West 9-2, #2. For the second year in a row, Downingtown West lost to Pennsbury in the playoff’s opening round. Last year saw them lose a wild one at Pennsbury 63-55. This year’s game was just as exciting and disappointing losing 35-28 in overtime at home. Giving up 204 yards rushing will do that. Too bad there isn’t a Thanksgiving Day tradition involving Bishop Shanahan or Downingtown West when available or an open situation to play someone, anyone. Maybe a Ches Mont-PAC 10 affair, something like the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Playoffs. So that does it for this season. But it was a heck of a run, winning their first nine games before the fall to bounce back from last year’s 6-5 season.

North Penn is in full swing into playoff mode. It appears both teams have significantly improved since the early season game. If East starts off slow with bad play calling, penalties and turnovers North Penn will win. If East limits the mistakes this should be a great game.

A nice win for Bishop McDevitt over Delco Christian tonight 21-9.

as reported on the Big Ticket. Emmaus won the Eastern Conference 4A final against Reading tonight. According to the Emmaus Facebook page, Cuthbert will become the new AD at Wissahickon.

http://usatodayhss.com/rankings/expert/boys/football/2015/14 archbishop wood is ranked # 25 in the new usatoday. Congrats to them and its nice to get some national recognition but I don't know if I agree with that. I definitely don't believe they are the best team in the state let alone the best AAA team in the state. It's hard to gauge them being they play a powder puff schedule but we'll get to see how good they are when they get deeper into the playoffs. They could prove me wrong.

'Skins came out like they would go right down the field for a score after taking the opening kickoff. But an interception stopped that drive and saw the Panthers take over and earn the first score to make it 7-0 after the PAT. An onsides kick by Q-Town followed with the Panthers recovering and in no time it was the home team up by two scores.

Ouch.

Then Neshaminy calmed down and put together a quick drive of its own featuring a Mason Jones pass to Denzel Hughes for six. Dylan McDonald hit the PAT as the score tightened to 14-7. Then after the kickoff by the 'Skins, Quakertown put up a three-and-out and was forced to punt. Hughes made the catch and took off running as covered 73 yards for the score as the teams were then tied 14-14 after the McDonald PAT.

Quakertown has the ball to start the second quarter. They have a fast offense.

Pitt CC over Woody Hills (24-6)
Penn Trafford over Pine Richland (38-34)

They lose to Central Dauphin East in O.T. 20-14

Friday November 20, 2015 7 PM

North Penn vs Downington East (Playoff)

Watch Live http://3ctvlive.com/
*****************************************************************************


Saturday November 21, 2015 7 PM

Pennsbury @ Perkiomen Valley ( Playoff )

http://livestream.com/accounts/1274087

It's now up in the video feed thread that's been stickied.

WIGOBT??

Skins at Quakertown in Quakertown or Knights at Cougars in my backyard? I know people think the rematch will be the better game, but it is hard for me to justify missing a Skins' playoff game. How is the traffic in and around Quakertown on Friday nights?

Week 11 Stats
Played - 5
Eliminated - 1
Survived - 4


Picks
LaSalle - 2
Freedom - 1
Simon Gratz - 1
Wyoming Valley West - 1


Eliminated
Patton2Moscow


Survivors/Teams Used
16th&Georgetown - LaSalle
Joe_Kane - Wyoming Valley West
newman107 - Simon Gratz
Relayer - LaSalle

Use this thread to make your picks for Week 12. I will take Simon Gratz.

http://www.maxpreps.com/m/article.aspx?articleid=323bc0ef-c3f5-4bb0-9d5a-eec02c3da7b2 if they were in separate brackets this would probably be the state championship game.

NBC News just reported this. Reality is beginning to set in. You know you've got a serious issue on hand when even the liberals start to talk tough.

Sorry about all the entries. This poorly conceived website has limitations on the number of words you can use. Truly high school!

1. Upper Dublin 11-0, #3. Upper Dublin had no trouble with 14th seeded Garnet Valley denying them even a touchdown in their 35-3 opening round win. It was a near total shutdown excepting the Jags field goal that came from 32 yards out. All totaled, G-Val had 166 total yards of offense with the Cardinals generating 506 yards. Quarterback Ryan Stover had 342 of that himself, 342 yards!....rushing for 128 and throwing for another 214 on a 10 of 19 outing. This a program on a roll, winning for the 31st time in the last 35 games. Bringing you up to speed to know the upgrades on both side of the ball over last year; that team ended 2014 averaging 34ppg while allowing 17, making it to the district semifinal. This year’s team is averaging 44ppg and allowing 6! One of the reasons the D yield is so low is because of a quick defensive front keyed by the DL of Zhaire Lee (6-2, 230, jr), Henry Winebrake (6-0, 235, sr), Kane O’Connor (6-3, 235, sr) and LaSalle transfer Isaiah Henrich (6-5, 240, sr). That front will get a test this weekend facing Upper Darby’s running back Isaiah Bruce (5-7, 185, sr) and duel threat quarterback Christoff Minott (5-10, 170, sr). Bruce rushed for 1744 yards so far, getting 338 against CR North….338!....while Minott garnered 1422 yards passing and 434 rushing. Against the porous Indian defense he threw for 122 yards and rushed for another 104.


2. St. Joseph’s Prep 7-2, #1. St. Joseph’s Prep trounced Roman Catholic 49-13 in the PCL-AAAA 1st round in a score similar to their 41-7 win two weeks prior that concluded the regular season. Looking at scores like this and how LaSalle handled Judge, don’t you hope the PCL goes to the former Red-Blue alignment next year where we’ll likely see Archbishop Wood and Ryan in the postseason mix to make for an exciting finish. Up next is the PCL final against LaSalle. Here the Hawks dominated since 2012 by winning the last five games, two in each of the last two seasons plus the October 16th game this year, 49-24. Since losing to Malvern Prep 33-21, St. Joe’s has gone on a rampage, averaging 40ppg and allowing 16 in a five game winning streak. With the versatility developed this year on offense, what may be overlooked is the great defense they’re playing. Excepting the breakdowns against Don Bosco Prep, losing 55-21 and the Malvern loss, they’ve played lights out defense, allowing 70 total points or 10ppg. That’s a tall order for LaSalle’s offense (26ppg) to overcome.


3. Downingtown East 11-0, #1. The Cougars got much more than expected from a 16 seed when Plymouth Whitemarsh played their best game of the season before going down to defeat 35-28. Running back Nyfeese Nasir embarrassed (exposed?) the previously vaunted Cougar defense, rushing for 204 yards. 204 yards! Bear in mind this is the same Whitemarsh group that was crushed by top seeded Upper Dublin 42-0 and AAA Upper Moreland 35-14. Upper Dublin held Nasir to 68 yards rushing. But give West credit for battling back from a 21-7 half time deficit to pull it out and move on. If they think the Colonials were a load, wait until North Penn comes in Friday night all charged up looking for revenge after losing in week # 3 at Kottmeyer, 28-24. Being a rematch you know these two know each other well meaning it should be a fiercely contested game.


4. Parkland 10-1, #2. The 7th seeded Delaware Valley Warriors (7-4) weren’t messing around or intimidated traveling to Orefield to play 2nd seeded Parkland where they put up a real fight, battling and banging their way to a 14-10 half time deficit. That’s the Warriors, they’re an in your face team https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-OYKd8SVrI loving to mix it up. But the Trojans have a little bit of that themselves and were simple too much, pulling away for a 28-10 win largely on the strength of their own warrior in running back Erik DiGirolamo. Talk about a tough out. At 5-9, 190 pounds, the senior is a hard tackle with a low cg and real physical style of play with surprising speed. He rushed for 110 yards with four scores. For comparison, Upper Dublin beat Delaware Valley 42-7 while Wyoming Valley West beat them 30-6. Up next is their old adversary Easton, off an emotional 20-3 win against Freedom. Parkland dominated the regular season game winning 21-3 five weeks ago, aided by three Trey Durrah interceptions. Once again it will be the Trojans physicality and abundant weapons against Easton’s ability to connect on a few passes and get to the edge with Minney-Gratz and others.


5. LaSalle 6-3, #2. LaSalle beat Father Judge 26-7 in the 1st round of the PCL-AAAA playoff after winning two weeks ago in the regular season finale 41-14. Running backs Syaire Madden tuned up for the Hawks with a strong showing rushing for 138 while Nick Rinella was strong as always with 146 total yards. Allowing Judge’s running back Yeedee Thaenrat 88 yards rushing on six carries is not a good omen coming into the final, knowing he left in the 2nd quarter with an injury. They face a difficult obstacle this weekend against the two time defending PCL and state champion Hawks of St. Joe’s. The first encounter this season saw them woefully outgunned, with quarterback Kevin Shaw throwing for three scores (9, 27 and 68-yds), D’Andre Swift rushing for 160 yards on 22 carries (13 and 39yd Td runs) and Benny Walls rushing for 84 yards (66Td run, 68 Td reception). Terrence Green returned a kickoff 89 yards for another score. You never know but it looks like St. Joe’s simply has far more weapons than the Explorers.

Wood always has the easiest path to Hersey

6. North Penn 9-2, #9. North Penn made it look way to easy going to 8th seeded Unionville for a 48-7 win. The Indians shouldn’t feel too bad with the Knights winning their previous seven by an average score of 40-17. So make that eight in a row for the red hot Knights who visit Downingtown East for a rematch of a game played way back on the 18th of September, won by East 28-24. With all the talent on the field this will be one of the best games in the Commonwealth. The Knights can throw three quality backs at you in Nyfease West, Justin Ostopowicz and powerful Nick Isabella. Add to that a towering presence in quarterback Reece Udinski at 6-4, who is more of a threat now than in the first game to see the Knights are and will be a real tough out.
7. Easton 8-3, #6. The Rovers reversed the 19-13 overtime loss of two weeks ago to 3rd seeded Freedom by defeating the Patriots 20-3. Things got off to a exhilarating start for the Rovers when Greg Albertson returned the kickoff 86 yards for the score. Otherwise this was a night where defense ruled with Easton holding them to 119 total yards. Easton only got 208 but that was more than enough with the opening score and Nysir Minney-Gratz (nicked) holding up for 86 rush yards. The win advances them to the semifinal for another rematch, taking on 2nd seeded Parkland. Parkland won the first game on October 16th at Easton in a good one where their physicality trumped Easton’s heart, winning 21-3. Quarterback Trey Durrah is out for the year so we’ll see what Ben Nimeh can do.
8. Wyoming Valley West 11-0, #1. Valley West got a wake-up call from 8th seeded Nazareth, trailing 14-10 at halftime before rallying in the second half to secure their first sub-regional win against a District-11 team. Sean Judge’s 75-yard kick-off return to open the second half ignited a 41-point outburst as they thumped the Blue Eagles 51-34. Quarterback Aaron Austin was sharp, completing 9 of 13 for 118 yards and three scores. Running backs Devon Weidman and Judge had 118 and 106 yards rushing a piece as the Trojans had 462 yards of offense, 346 rushing. Naz put a scare into them and did the same against a few teams this year, beating Liberty 37-35 and Emmaus 49-36, losing to Freedom 31-27. They found some soft spots passing for 248 yards and four scores but only rushing for 145 yards. The Spartans threw it to keep things balanced but controlled things on the ground with those 342 rush yards. They move on in the playoffs against Liberty. Both are loaded offensively with the Spartans having a few more weapons, more size along the lines and comparable team speed. Liberty’s only road loss is at Nazareth.
9. Pennsbury 8-3, #15. Pennsbury pulled the biggest upset of the postseason to date going into Downingtown West and beating the Whippets 35-28 in overtime. You might say it was tough spot for the Whippets, following the rivalry game with Downingtown East. But the Falcons were coming off an equally draining game, losing to rival Neshaminy the week before to cancel that out. The Whippets had no answer for Pennsbury’s “ground and pound” Wing-T that churned out 334 yards rushing. SOL teams must have an affinity for Kottmeyer’s field with Plymouth Whitemarsh rushing for 204 yards for a total of 538 yards rushing between the two teams! Quarterback Mike Alley rushed for 130, fullback Chris Rupprecht for 109 and Robert Daly for 94 yards. They move on to play the 10th seed Perkiomen Valley who survived their own ordeal at Haverford.
10. Neshaminy 8-3, #13. Road Warrior Neshaminy took a trip to Royersford Friday where they came away LARGE, beating previously undefeated Spring Ford 31-16. Surprised? Maybe a little but don’t forget they were fresh off a road win in Fairless Hills and have a 5-1 road record. Impressive stuff winning back to back games against those two. Their only road loss was a well contested game at North Penn, 22-17 late in the season. The Skins offense hasn’t been as consistent as North Penn’s but they’re on something of a roll. And, they just found a passing game against Spring Ford that was the difference in the game with Mason Jones completing 12 of 19 for 204 yards, mostly to Denzel Hughes who caught 6 for 80 yards. Joe Pirrone ran for 112 yards. With the defense holding Spring Ford to 54 yards rushing (!) it was a total effort, not just the suddenly found passing game. They move on to the 2nd round Friday at 12th seeded Quakertown.

16. Coatesville 7-3, #19. Season over. Consecutive losses to the Downingtown East. Downingtown West and West Chester East did them in for Coach Ortega’s first three game losing streak ever. That was quite a drop from last year’s number one seed in the district to failing to make the cut line this year.


17. Pennridge 8-3, #17. In a game scheduled at the last minute, Pennridge and Ridley agreed to a game with the Rams traveling to Folsom to beat the Raiders (6-5) 17-14. Except for Thanksgiving Day games where Pennridge might play Quakertown and Ridley play their Interboro, the season is over. Tough season for Ridley losing their last three games (what?) and maybe a tougher one for Pennridge, ending the season at 8-3 with this win and not making the playoffs. Way back in week # 2 they lost a home game to Central Bucks East 16-10 in overtime, Humm! The close call loss to Pennsbury, 38-32 didn’t help. But road wins at Ridley and Neshaminy says this team could play.


18. Spring Ford 10-1, #4.Talk about crash and burn! Spring Ford failed to show up in their first round home playoff game going down hard in a 31-16 loss to surging Neshaminy. A bit of bad luck saw Neshaminy discover a passing game with Mason Jones tearing them up completing 12 of 19 for 204 yards. We haven’t seen numbers like that in a while out of Langhhorne. But however you look at it, the Skins had their way with the Rams, disallowing any offensive production or rhythm. Season over.


19. Freedom 9-2, #3.Considering the nicks and dents this team suffered, a 3 seed and home game was pretty good stuff even if it didn’t ensure a victory in the rematch with Easton. After beating the Rovers 19-13 in overtime two weeks ago they faced one of the most difficult scenarios in football, the rematch. In the best of circumstances this is often a tough win even in the friendly confines of BASD Stadium with a team coming in with questions at quarterback (Ben Nimeh) and running back Minney-Gratz hobbled. Freedom had already lost their running back Roberto Diez weeks ago and had their own questions at quarterback. In the end, Easton reversed the 19-13 overtime loss of two weeks ago to advance after winning 20-3.


20. Plymouth Whitemarsh 8-3, #16. Hats off to the Colonials who saved their best for last, almost to Downingtown East’s detriment losing a hard fought road game in overtime 35-28. Nyfeese Nasir was a one man wrecking crew pounding out 204 yards against a respected defense, bringing his year ending total to 2089 yards. How about their overlooked offensive line that provided for this, especially knowing this was a total rebuild with the graduation of Virginia signee LT Ryan Bischoff (6-5, 305), RT Joe DeSanto (6-3, 270, the Archbishop Carroll transfer, West Chester U), OGs Brett Highland (6-0, 240, Ursinus College) and Steve Kovacic (6-1, 275, Wilkes Univ) and Center Anthony Casselli (5-11, 250, Albright).


21. Delaware Valley 7-4, #7. Here’s another team that put a scare into an opponent playing Parkland tough before losing 28-10. No one expected that, not with almost a complete rebuild of the offense. But they are well coached by Keith Olsommer who is 35-12 his last four years. Season over.


22. Council Rock North 7-4, #11.Lost in 1st round to Upper Darby 59-24. Once again, they fielded an exciting offense with all-everything Brandon McIlwain heading an offense that averaged 35ppg. Last year’s averaged 30. As always the problem recently has been defense with this year’s team and last year’s both allowing an average yield of 30ppg. Kind of scary for the CR North faithful getting a mediocre 6-5 and 7-4 seasons from a team with a talent like Brandon McIlwain. Season over.


23. Central Bucks East 8-3, #5. Lost in 1st round to Quakertown 7-6 on a boggled extra point attempt. But hey, an 8-3 season with a 5 seed on the heels of a 5-5 campaign preceded by six losing seasons is real good stuff. Season over.


24. Haverford 9-2, # 7.Lost to Perk Val 35-28 despite QB Jack Donaghy throwing for 378 yards and four scores on a 22 for 43 outing. WR Chris Trainor had 6 receptions for 160 yards and two scores. The 9-2 season is their fifth winning season in a row giving them a 41-17 won-loss as compared to the 27-32 mark the previous five years. Things are looking up in Havertown.


25. Unionville 8-3, #8. Lost in the 1st round at home to 9th seeded North Penn 48-7. But they won the Ches Mont-American and recorded their eleventh straight winning season.


26. Emmaus 6-5. Beat Williamsport 61-22 in Eastern Pennsylvania-AAAA Championship 1st round, outgaining the Millionaires 492 yards to 265. Running back Kyle Boney rushed for 312 yards and scored seven touchdowns. The Millionaires finished 6-5 in coach Chuck Crews first season. That’s one more win than the previous three years combined where they went 5-25. Emmaus moves on to the final against Reading (6-5) who beat Pleasant Valley (6-5) 25-7.


27. Rustin 7-3 #21. Missed the postseason for the first time in nine years while recording their ninth consecutive winning season in the ten years since the school’s inception. Season over.


28. Northeast 11-0. Beat Frankford 18-12 in the PPL-AAAA semifinal to advance against Gratz in the final.


29. Simon Gratz 9-2. Beat Philadelphia Central in the PPL-AAAA semifinal 19-6 and move on to the final where they’ll play undefeated Northeast.


30. Council Rock South 6-4, #19.Here’s a tale of two seasons with the Hawks starting out 5-2 with competitive losses to Pennsbury 13-6 and Neshaminy 27-25, then ending the year on a slide, losing two of the last three in an excellent impersonation of sister school CR North by an average score of 38-26.

#6 Easton (8-3) at #2 Parkland (10-1)

All Time Playoff Series: Easton leads 6-3
Playoff Streak: Parkland has won three straight
Playoff Series at Parkland: Easton leads 3-1
Average Easton Playoff Margin of Victory: 8.3
Average Parkland Playoff Margin of Victory: 25.6
Last Playoff Meeting: #7 Parkland defeated #1 Easton 13-10 in OT

Easton Leaders
Passing: Trey Durrah (out): 45-85, 625 yards, 5 TDs, 9 INTs
Rushing: Nysir Minney-Gratz: 220-1,787-26
Receiving: Trey Bailey: 21-277-5
Tackles: Corey Deemer: 78
Sacks: Craig Stahlecker/Daloni Caldwell: 6
Interceptions: Nathan Moser: 3

Parkland Leaders
Passing: Devante Cross: 139-220, 1,941 yards, 17 TDs, 7 INTs
Rushing: Cross: 162-937-14
Receiving: Kenny Yeboah: 49-694-8
Tackles: Mario Dellis: 97
Sacks: DJ Hohman: 8
Interceptions: Yeboah: 4

This has been the pre-eminent playoff rivalry in the Lehigh Valley. Since meeting for the first time in the postseason in 1999, Easton and Parkland have ended each other’s seasons nine times, most recently last November when Parkland knocked off unbeaten Easton in overtime, the third time an undefeated team was defeated in this playoff series. The home team (higher seed) is only 4-5 in playoff meetings, and Parkland’s only win at home came in the 2013 finals, where they pasted Easton 42-0, the biggest margin of victory in the series. The tightest games were both semifinal wins by Easton decided a blocked and missed extra point, 7-6 in 1999 and 14-13 in 2001. There have also been two games decided by a field goal, Parkland with a 27 yarder in OT last season to win 13-10 and Easton with a 34 yarder on the last play of the game in 2006 to win 17-15.

The regular season winner is just 2-5, with Easton in 2009 and 2001 the only teams to sweep the season series. The biggest turnarounds were in 1999 when Easton lost 42-13 in week 9, then beat Parkland 7-6 two weeks later in semis, and in 2013 when Parkland lost 24-0 in week 2, then beat Easton 42-0 in the District Final.

The Last Time They Met
Parkland beat Easton 21-3 at Easton during week 7. The Trojans held Easton to 124 yards rushing, forced five turnovers, and allowed just three points on three trips inside the 10. Offensively, Parkland used a first half, 17 play, 98 yard drive after an Easton fumble at the two to take a 7-0 lead they would never relinquish. After Easton kicked a field goal to cut the lead to 7-3 with 8 minutes left in the game, Parkland connected on a 36 yard touchdown to Kenny Yeboah to put the game away with five minutes remaining. After a interception by Easton and a long run by Erik DiGiralomo, Parkland punched in one more touchdown with 44 seconds left to account for the final margin. Parkland finished with 312 yards of offense and 20 first downs on the evening. Easton committed ten penalties for 70 yards, including two inside the ten yard line that killed scoring opportunities.

Easton Last Week
The Red Rovers overcame injuries, turnovers, and inconsistent offense to down Freedom 20-3 on the road at BASD Stadium. Greg Albertson returned the opening kickoff for an 85 yard touchdown, his sixth defensive/special teams TD of the year. Easton would also partially block two punts in the first half and recover a fumble at the Freedom 25, but had no points to show for any of their four red zone trips. In the second half, the Red Rovers broke the game open with a 14 play, 86 yard touchdown drive capped by a 10 yard Nysir Minney-Gratz TD run. The drive was kept alive by a roughing the punter penalty near midfield that gave Easton the ball in Freedom territory and a fresh set of downs. On the ensuing drive, David Simmons deflected a screen pass, which Nate Moser snagged out of the air and returned 19 yards for a touchdown to slam the door shut. The Red Rovers held Freedom to 133 yards of total offense, just 64 on the ground, and Freedom went from their second drive of the game until the six minutes left in the game without gaining a first down.

Parkland Last Week
The Trojans survived a first half scare to pull away from Delaware Valley, 28-10, in brutal weather conditions in Orefield. Erik DiGiralomo continued his excellent second half of the season with 111 yards on 26 carries and four touchdowns, and Devante Cross added 104 yards on 17 totes. With wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour, Parkland kept the ball on the ground for almost the entire night, pounded out 231 rushing yards, and Cross completed 7 of 11 passes for 109 yards. and smothered Del Val’s offense in the win. Delaware Valley scored when Austin Cernak recovered a fumble and ran it back 50 yards to cut Parkland’s lead to 14-10 at halftime. However, Del Val gained just 13 total yards in the second half (91 for the game) as Parkland’s defense completely dominated the evening. The Warriors rushed for 39 yards on 26 attempts and passed for 52 yards on 17 attempts.

When Easton Has the Ball
The Red Rovers attempted a season high 28 passes against Parkland the first time around, when they weren’t throwing interceptions, had some success moving the ball through the air (150 yards on 16 completions). Even with backup quarterback Ben Nimeh taking the reins due to injury, the Red Rovers will need to reprise the passing attack, but take better care of the football. Three of Parkland’s interceptions came when Easton tried to take big shots downfield rather than make a safe intermediate throw or scramble. Parkland obviously wants to stuff the run and force the issue, which they did very successfully last time around. Minney-Gratz had almost no running room, needing 21 carries to gain 93 yards and did not have a run longer than 16 yards. The game was dominated by Parkland’s defensive line, particularly tackle Noel Brouse. Parkland has always defended the lateral run game well, but Easton is going to have to get outside the tackles to gain yards on the ground, because they’re not going to have much success running on the interior of Parkland’s defense. They also had some success in the screen game, and if Parkland is pinning their ears back, could be something to keep the pressure off.

When Parkland Has the Ball
Easton slowed the explosive Parkland offense the first time around. The Red Rovers defend the read option as well as anybody in the Valley, and Parkland’s running game struggled in the early going. Where Parkland found success was running straight QB powers with Cross, or roll-out passes with a run option. In the air, Easton has defended Parkland by playing off of their receivers, hitting them as soon as they catch it, and making Parkland work down the field in small chunks. That worked better in 2014 when Cross was more erratic with his delivery, as he completed a crisp 64% of his throws in their October meeting (as compared to 42% and 51% in two meetings last season). In an ideal world, a team would press Parkland’s receivers, to jam up their timing-dependant passing offense. But the Parkland receivers are big, and destroy smaller defensive backs who try to get physical on the line, and Easton doesn’t really have that kind of personnel in the secondary. And Easton has to know where Yeboah is at all times and roll a safety over the top. Easton held him in check most of the game, but as soon as a corner was 1-on-1 with him on an island in the fourth, Cross made a hot read and lofted it up for a 36 yard touchdown on a one step drop. This puts stress on the rest of the defensive backs, but to upset Parkland it’ll take a great individual effort from just about everybody defensively.

The Pick
Parkland has been playing at another level since their surprise loss to Liberty, a streak that started with the win over Easton. The Red Rovers made a ton of mistakes the first time around, and were kicking themselves at the amount of missed opportunities. However, Parkland is just a better football team than Easton, and the Rovers will need to be close to perfect, plus get a break or two, to pull an upset. With their injuries and limitations on offense, I can see them hanging around, but I don’t think this is a year they can break through.

Parkland 24-7

#4 Liberty (8-3) at #1 Wyoming Valley West (11-0)
All Time Playoff Series: Liberty Leads 1-0
Last Playoff Meeting: #3 Liberty defeated #2 Wyoming Valley West 29-23 in 2004

Liberty Leaders
Passing: Doug Erney: 127-212, 1,884 yards, 23 TDs, 6 INTs
Rushing: Gunner Anglovech: 167-1,147-17
Receiving: Victor Santiago: 36-646-10

Wyoming Valley West Leaders
Passing: Aaron Austin: 105-165, 1,581 yards, 24 TD, 10 INT
Rushing: Sean Judge: 104-1,233-15
Receiving: Devon Weidman: 35-632-10
Tackles: Zach Davies: 123
Sacks: Chris Reese: 8
Interceptions: Sean Judge: 5

The Last Time They Met
Liberty and Wyoming Valley West met in the 2004 subregional, the first year of the newly formed subregional after reorganizing the playoffs to include the Philly Public League. It was the first inter-district match up by D2 and D11 in postseason play. Wyoming Valley West took a 23-22 lead with three and a half minutes to play after Liberty punt hit an offensive lineman, giving the Spartans the ball on the 22 yard line. But on the ensuing drive, Liberty put the ball in the hands of sophomore quarterback Dan Persa, and Persa delivered for the first of what would be many times in his postseason career, connecting for a 24 yard pass to convert a third and 15, then scoring a 52 yard touchdown on a QB draw that allowed the Hurricanes to escape, 29-23.

Liberty Last Week
The Hurricanes destroyed Stroudsburg, 44-0 in an easy home win in the first round of the subregional. Doug Erney threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns, hitting six different receivers, led by Victor Santiago’s 105 yards and a score on five catches. Nasir Legre made his return to the backfield and ran for 59 yards on eight carries, and Gunner Anglovich racked up another 93 yards to go over 1,100 yards on the year. Defensively, the Hurricanes had their best effort of the season, holding 1,600 yard rusher Jamaal Brome to 18 yards on 8 carries. They also harassed Jake Jakobson into a 2-7 day throwing the football, an unceremonious end to the career of the most prolific passer in Stroudsburg history.

Wyoming Valley West Last Week
Wyoming Valley West posted a wild 51-34 win over Nazareth, getting goaded into a shoot-out, like just about every other team on Nazareth’s schedule. The Blue Eagles took a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but WVW scored 45 points in the final three quarters to win going away. WVW ran for 348 yards, and gained 495 yards of offense overall, led by 116 rushing yards on 11 carries by Sean Judge, who also returned a kick off for a touchdown. Devon Weidman ran for 106 yards and a TD, and caught 4 passes for 67 yards and another touchdown. However, the most outstanding player on the field was Nazareth sophomore Jahan Dotson, who caught 6 passes for 172 yards and four TDs, intercepted a pass, returned a kickoff 85 yards for a TD, had a second kick return TD called back for a penalty, and had a 65 yard kick return to the 23 that set up one of his TD catches.

When Liberty Has the Ball
The Hurricanes don’t have a receiver quite like Dotson (nobody in the Lehigh Valley does), but they have a corps of receivers who can really put pressure on the WVW pass defense. The Spartans are built to stop the run, and playing in D2 have lived off of stifling opposing ground games. But Nazareth showed last week you can push the ball downfield against their secondary, which the Hurricanes will try to replicate. Santiago has been their go-to guy out of the slot all season, but look for a possible Darian Street breakout now that he’s a few weeks recovered from nagging injuries that kept him out in the back half of the schedule. At 6’4 with track speed, he’s a real match up problem for the WVW secondary. WVW will counter with a vicious pass rush, particularly from defensive ends LJ Wesneski and Chris Reese, who have combined for 15 sacks and 21 tackles for loss on the year. They’ll have to get to Erney and keep Liberty behind schedule.

When Wyoming Valley West Has the Ball
In Liberty’s losses they’ve yielded 304 rushing yards to Nysir Minney-Gratz, 202 rushing yards to Andres Santos, and 150 yards to Julian Liaci (on essentially long handoffs in the passing game). The Hurricanes were giving up over 30 points per game before last week’s shutout, and WVW is licking their chops to attack this defense. Judge will get his touches out of the backfield, and while I don’t think they’ll air it out against a good Liberty secondary, Aaron Austin will pick his spots to test them downfield, particularly if they overcommit to their linebackers to the running game. Tight end LJ Wesneski is a match up problem for Liberty, as they don’t really have anybody built to cover a 235 pound tight end in the middle of the field.

The Pick
Liberty has been a tough team to figure out all year. I don’t know if anybody has a higher ceiling, particularly on offense, of any team in the subregional. But getting those performances out week to week (or even quarter to quarter) has been a struggle. Wyoming Valley West is a good, experienced team, particularly on defense, and will be able to take advantage of Liberty’s lapses in focus and execution if they happen.

Wyoming Valley West: 45-31