Top 20: The East-AAAA
2015 Week 2 rankings
1. Parkland 2-0. Parkland beat Northampton 35-0 last week, snapping the K-Kids three game winning streak while at the same time winning their EPC-South opener with a bone crushing defense. Defensive coordinator Tim Moncman’s unit is showing signs of great potential after holding Northampton to 104 total yards of total offense and 31 yards rushing. Quarterback Devante Cross was strong, completing 19 of 26 passes for 222 yards and 4 Tds while rushing for 76 yards. Receiver Kenny Yeboah had 10 receptions for 120 yards. Undefeated Allentown Central Catholic (2-0, AAA) is next, fresh off an impressive 35-23 win against Whitehall. The Zephyrs graduated the world but are not without talent, namely quarterback Gianni Sinatore. The problem here is the Vikings are just good enough to get Parkland’s attention and that can’t be good! And they have Parkland’s former head coach Rob Melosky (Parkland, Nazareth) as OC, running a creative offense. They won the state title in 2002 with Melosky at the helm, edging Bethlehem Catholic (10-1) 14-11 in the first round, Central Dauphin (12-1, #1-PA, 13-USA Today) in the quarterfinal 28-21 (got lucky….Ha!), then Woodland Hills (13-1) in the final 34-12. Austin Scott led that great team with 3853 yards rushing and 53 touchdowns! If Melosky can work some magic via the air lanes we got a game.
2. St. Joseph’s Prep 1-1. Didn’t drop the Hawks at all after losing to out of state Don Bosco Prep 55-21. Up next is St. Ignatius (2-1, Clev-OH, #15 per JJ Huddle, Div-1) coming off a 63-56 loss to another Ohio power Mentor (2-1). The Wildcats are coached by one of the real legends in Coach Chuck Kyle, in his 33rd season with a 316-78-1 record. This is a team that scores points in bunches with a veteran offense (9 returning starters), led by senior quarterback QB Dennis Grosel (6-2, 205). He threw for 2,039 yards and 17 Tds last year. Also back is a veteran corps of senior receivers in Jack Cook (5-11, 175, 47/875) and Calvin Grbac (6-2, 175, 29/648) and running backs James Norris (5-8, 155, sr, Div-1 track) and Jimmy Andrews (5-11, 205, jr). The line returns LT Liam Eichenberg (6-6, 290, sr, Notre Dame), one of the top lineman in the country and OG Rich McGraw (6-2, 250, sr), C Jone Spellacy (6-1, 275, jr) and Michael Bodnor (6-3, 260, sr). While the defense is thinned by the loss of their top ten tacklers, they return DE Tito Vazquez (6-2, 250, sr), LB Ben Cray (6-0, 215, sr) and LB Alex Maruna (6-1, 205, sr) with Jack Cook and Quinn Lawless (5-11, 190, sr) on the corners. 6-2, 220 junior James Leyden may start at TE and LB. Last year’s game was awkward with St. Ignatius committing seven turnovers while the Hawk’s reciprocated with twelve penalties. QB Grosel tore them up, passing for 286 yards with a late Hawk score at the 2:32 mark making it look a little closer for the 42-34 final. The Wildcats are imminently beatable, losing to Mentor while allowing 63 points. With their huge offense and developing defense, the Hawks will likely have to outgun them in a shootout….if that’s possible.
3. Coatesville 2-0. The Red Raider offense stayed in high gear throttling outmanned Woodson (DC) 41-14 with a huge offense generating 434 total yards. 296 were rushing. The D was good enough allowing 254 total yards. Duel threat quarterback Jordan Young had four touchdowns, two rushing and two passing, throwing for 138 yards. Winless Roman Catholic is next meaning the Red Raiders may be stepping into a hornet’s nest of angry hombres looking to prevent a 0-3 start. Losses to West Catholic and Downingtown East were far tougher opponents than anything Coatesville faced to date so they’ll be as prepared as a schedule can get you this early in the season.
4. Easton 2-0. Hey, maybe starting Easton off in the PreseasonTop 20 at # 5 was too low as they are playing like a team possessed, blowing out a veteran Emmaus team 49-7 while making it look easy. No one expected that! They’re getting it done with special teams play (punts returned for scores), senior running back Nysir Minney-Gratz’s explosiveness for two +80 yard touchdown runs and real team speed. The D wasn’t bad either, holding the Hornets to184 total yards. Heads up Parkland! Northampton is next and if they thought Parkland was painful, wait until they encounter the Rovers.
5. LaSalle 2-0. Nice scheduling by LaSalle taking on and defeating local powers North Penn and Pennsbury to open the new season. It’s early and all but you’ve got to feel good about beating the Knights in the opener 24-12 and Pennsbury 14-0 last week where LaSalle’s running back Syaire Madden rushed for 132 yards. Pennsbury’s defense was impressive but not as much as LaSalle’s who threw the shutout. This week finds the Explorers at USA-Today’s 3rd ranked DeMatha (2-0), fresh off a 23-22 win against American Heritage (1-1, Plantation, FL), formerly 16th rated and the defending 5A Florida state champ. They beat Central (Mia-FL, formerly #2 USA-Today) the week before, 38-14, the defending 6A Florida state champ making this a huge challenge for LaSalle. DeMatha is the two-time defending Washington Catholic League champ, loaded for bear again this year with six committed FBS players and three uncommitted **** star players. They are a big physical presence up front that likes to beat you up and run you over.
6. Upper Dublin 2-0. The Cardinals made it look easy again beating Truman 38-7 because it was, holding the Tigers to 42 total yards of offense while cranking out 368 of their own. Before you say, that’s Truman and while the Cardinals are a veteran team, Truman also returns much of last year’s team so it’s more than that. Maybe the Cards are just that much better because last year saw Truman lose a tough one, 28-21 with a 7-5 team. Abington, who is off to their worst start in years and one of the few teams to beat Upper Dublin last year is next, limping in with an 0-2 record.
7. Downingtown East 2-0. The Cougars got a good win last weekend going to Philadelphia to beat Roman Catholic 35-21. They came into the season knowing they had weapons in running back Jack Kincade who rushed for 104 yards on 25 carries and All-Everything receiver Cary Angeline who caught 6 for 106 yards making first year starting senior quarterback Saunders Healy icing on the cake! This week’s opponent is North Penn who at 1-1 doesn’t need another loss on the ledger. Historically, they’ve had issues with passing attacks (LaSalle) and this should be no different. What it will provide is a little more clarity about the power structure in the district. It’s early where anything can happen but this looks like a bad spot for the Knights.
8. Downingtown West 2-0. The Whippets moved up two rungs with an impressive road win at Neshaminy, beating the Redskins 20-14. They got it started early with a Michael Riddick’s 81-yard touchdown run in their first possession followed by another first quarter score when Jake Barr ran it in from a yard out. First year starting quarterback Thomas Mattioni is getting it done and then some, passing for 114 yards while rushing for 92. Receiver Jake Barr had 75 yards on five receptions plus a score while rushing for another 38 yards and a touchdown. A 13-0 lead that could have been more, held up with the Skins unable to take advantage of two red zone turnovers. They take their show on the road again Friday heading to Lewistown to play Mifflin County (0-2). The Huskies young team will likely be mercy-ruled knowing West beat a veteran bunch last year in Downingtown 42-7.
9. Neshaminy 1-1. Hard dropping Skins too far with a 20-14 loss to Downingtown West formerly ranked 10th, but it was at home in a scenario that mimicked (previewed?) a playoff game. You couldn’t ask for more getting the Whippets on your turf….early, breaking in a new quarterback. They’re on the road this week in a crossover game against SOL-Continental contender Council Rock South (1-1), a team they defeated last year 49-15. That was one of Neshaminy’s best efforts and conversely, one of the Golden Hawk’s worst. Considering the game South gave Pennsbury, this one could get interesting and should be one of the better games of the weekend.
10. Pennsbury 1-1. After edging Council Rock South the Falcons were shutout on the road by LaSalle, 14-0. Not sure you can say we saw this one coming, but the Falcons did suffer tremendous grad losses, particularly on the offensive side that would lend itself to a struggle with a good defensive team like the Explorers, especially with Pennsbury’s propensity to run the football. Not that they didn’t attempt to pass, they did. In fact, two receivers got behind defenders only to have the ball overthrown. Whatever is left after the “all out” against LaSalle will be needed this week against Council Rock North (1-1) who can crank it up averaging 36ppg. The fun part is their defense that allows 42ppg. Even Pennsbury can score in droves against this group the question is can they outscore them?
