3 Games that caught my eye...Oct. 6-7

[not_a_fan]

Last week: 3-0
Overall: 12-3

Unofficially, we'll call this Rivalry Week as the schedule has given us some great league and neighborhood rivalry games that will have a huge impact on playoff seeding and league champions. Because of this, I am going in for a couple bonus picks.

Downingtown West (3-3) vs. Downingtown East (6-0) (-20)
This latest edition of the Downingtown Civil War probably won’t live up to the hype this year. While the Whippets always get up for their Lionville rivals, this year’s Cougar team seems to be operating on a different level. Coach Matta’s teams are always known for physical, smash mouth football but this year they have made it a point to grind through opponents with 3 RB’s already at 1300 yards between them. RB’s Aviado, Jonassaint, and Stocker give teams nightmares as East rotates 3 guys who would easily be 1000 backs by themselves. The running game takes pressure of QB Bryce Lauletta and opens up play action at just the right time. West was pounded for 390 yards last week by Avon Grove RB Kevin Francis so expect more of the same with a bigger, more physical OL. Their D has given up lots of big plays & the Whippets are too young & inexperienced. I expect East will take great pleasure in running over their fierce rivals en route to a matchup with Unionville next week & Coatesville in 2 weeks…..DEast 42-7

Neshaminy (5-1) (-3.5) @ CB South (5-1)
CB South is back at home after suffering a blowout loss at North Penn last week. The Titans don’t get any favors hosting a non-league game against a Neshaminy team aiming to win the SOL National. Neshaminy will spread the wealth on O but has shown some leaks on D. I would bet that the Neshaminy D will set its sights on shutting down Titan RB Ryan Watson while the Titans may struggle to slow down soph QB Brody McAndrews and his weapons. Neshaminy will be kicking themselves come playoff time for a letdown game at home against Downingtown West. Coach Wilmot will not let his guys forget that from here on out I bet. I’ll go with Redskins winning on the road….Neshaminy 27-16

Spring-Ford (4-2) @ Perk Valley (5-1) (-1)
The 422 rivalry is alive and well as both teams bounced back from some tough early season setbacks to setup a deciding game for the PAC-Liberty Division. Spring-Ford has probably had the tougher non-league schedule between the two (Unionville, Exeter, Wilson-West Lawn) but they have shown progress in moving the ball on O in the last few games. Perk Valley has been solid on D all year minus the 29 they gave up against Pennridge. The stadium will be packed as these two neighborhood rivals have established themselves as D1 6A contenders year-in and year-out. Both coaching staffs deserve credit for bouncing back this year when they lost a ton from last year’s teams. That’s the sign of a good program when you can play “next man up”. I have a feeling that Spring-Ford may be ready for a big game but something tells me Perk Valley will make a stop late to decide this one…PV 21-19

Bonus games:
Pennsbury (5-1) (-6.5) @ Truman (5-1) Pennsbury takes on familiar faces in another local rivalry. Truman isn’t quite ready for this one yet but they’re on the right track… Pennsbury 31-23

WC Rustin (4-2) @ Unionville (6-0) (-6.5) Ches-Mont American championship runs through these two teams. Unionville has some impressive wins so far (Spring-Ford, Academy Park) and they sit at #1 in the 5A playoff rankings. Meanwhile Rustin got blown out last week versus Coatesville & has given up 90 points in the last 3 weeks...Unionville 27-21

 

[ChesmontLeague1]

Last week: 3-0
Overall: 12-3

Unofficially, we'll call this Rivalry Week as the schedule has given us some great league and neighborhood rivalry games that will have a huge impact on playoff seeding and league champions. Because of this, I am going in for a couple bonus picks.

Downingtown West (3-3) vs. Downingtown East (6-0) (-20)
This latest edition of the Downingtown Civil War probably won’t live up to the hype this year. While the Whippets always get up for their Lionville rivals, this year’s Cougar team seems to be operating on a different level. Coach Matta’s teams are always known for physical, smash mouth football but this year they have made it a point to grind through opponents with 3 RB’s already at 1300 yards between them. RB’s Aviado, Jonassaint, and Stocker give teams nightmares as East rotates 3 guys who would easily be 1000 backs by themselves. The running game takes pressure of QB Bryce Lauletta and opens up play action at just the right time. West was pounded for 390 yards last week by Avon Grove RB Kevin Francis so expect more of the same with a bigger, more physical OL. Their D has given up lots of big plays & the Whippets are too young & inexperienced. I expect East will take great pleasure in running over their fierce rivals en route to a matchup with Unionville next week & Coatesville in 2 weeks…..DEast 42-7

Neshaminy (5-1) (-3.5) @ CB South (5-1)
CB South is back at home after suffering a blowout loss at North Penn last week. The Titans don’t get any favors hosting a non-league game against a Neshaminy team aiming to win the SOL National. Neshaminy will spread the wealth on O but has shown some leaks on D. I would bet that the Neshaminy D will set its sights on shutting down Titan RB Ryan Watson while the Titans may struggle to slow down soph QB Brody McAndrews and his weapons. Neshaminy will be kicking themselves come playoff time for a letdown game at home against Downingtown West. Coach Wilmot will not let his guys forget that from here on out I bet. I’ll go with Redskins winning on the road….Neshaminy 27-16

Spring-Ford (4-2) @ Perk Valley (5-1) (-1)
The 422 rivalry is alive and well as both teams bounced back from some tough early season setbacks to setup a deciding game for the PAC-Liberty Division. Spring-Ford has probably had the tougher non-league schedule between the two (Unionville, Exeter, Wilson-West Lawn) but they have shown progress in moving the ball on O in the last few games. Perk Valley has been solid on D all year minus the 29 they gave up against Pennridge. The stadium will be packed as these two neighborhood rivals have established themselves as D1 6A contenders year-in and year-out. Both coaching staffs deserve credit for bouncing back this year when they lost a ton from last year’s teams. That’s the sign of a good program when you can play “next man up”. I have a feeling that Spring-Ford may be ready for a big game but something tells me Perk Valley will make a stop late to decide this one…PV 21-19

Bonus games:
Pennsbury (5-1) (-6.5) @ Truman (5-1) Pennsbury takes on familiar faces in another local rivalry. Truman isn’t quite ready for this one yet but they’re on the right track… Pennsbury 31-23

WC Rustin (4-2) @ Unionville (6-0) (-6.5) Ches-Mont American championship runs through these two teams. Unionville has some impressive wins so far (Spring-Ford, Academy Park) and they sit at #1 in the 5A playoff rankings. Meanwhile Rustin got blown out last week versus Coatesville & has given up 90 points in the last 3 weeks...Unionville 27-21

Nice job Not. East is gonna blow out West. PV will win that contest by at least 10 points. Think I’m heading to East Marlboro to watch Indians host the Golden Knights. I expect a fired up Rustin after last weekends blowout at the Ville and this could be one of the best games this weekend.

 

[ptomaselli]

Pottsgrove (6-0) @ Upper Perkiomen (4-2) in 4A

 

[Stalker]

Last week: 3-0
Overall: 12-3

Unofficially, we'll call this Rivalry Week as the schedule has given us some great league and neighborhood rivalry games that will have a huge impact on playoff seeding and league champions. Because of this, I am going in for a couple bonus picks.

Downingtown West (3-3) vs. Downingtown East (6-0) (-20)
This latest edition of the Downingtown Civil War probably won’t live up to the hype this year. While the Whippets always get up for their Lionville rivals, this year’s Cougar team seems to be operating on a different level. Coach Matta’s teams are always known for physical, smash mouth football but this year they have made it a point to grind through opponents with 3 RB’s already at 1300 yards between them. RB’s Aviado, Jonassaint, and Stocker give teams nightmares as East rotates 3 guys who would easily be 1000 backs by themselves. The running game takes pressure of QB Bryce Lauletta and opens up play action at just the right time. West was pounded for 390 yards last week by Avon Grove RB Kevin Francis so expect more of the same with a bigger, more physical OL. Their D has given up lots of big plays & the Whippets are too young & inexperienced. I expect East will take great pleasure in running over their fierce rivals en route to a matchup with Unionville next week & Coatesville in 2 weeks…..DEast 42-7

Neshaminy (5-1) (-3.5) @ CB South (5-1)
CB South is back at home after suffering a blowout loss at North Penn last week. The Titans don’t get any favors hosting a non-league game against a Neshaminy team aiming to win the SOL National. Neshaminy will spread the wealth on O but has shown some leaks on D. I would bet that the Neshaminy D will set its sights on shutting down Titan RB Ryan Watson while the Titans may struggle to slow down soph QB Brody McAndrews and his weapons. Neshaminy will be kicking themselves come playoff time for a letdown game at home against Downingtown West. Coach Wilmot will not let his guys forget that from here on out I bet. I’ll go with Redskins winning on the road….Neshaminy 27-16

Spring-Ford (4-2) @ Perk Valley (5-1) (-1)
The 422 rivalry is alive and well as both teams bounced back from some tough early season setbacks to setup a deciding game for the PAC-Liberty Division. Spring-Ford has probably had the tougher non-league schedule between the two (Unionville, Exeter, Wilson-West Lawn) but they have shown progress in moving the ball on O in the last few games. Perk Valley has been solid on D all year minus the 29 they gave up against Pennridge. The stadium will be packed as these two neighborhood rivals have established themselves as D1 6A contenders year-in and year-out. Both coaching staffs deserve credit for bouncing back this year when they lost a ton from last year’s teams. That’s the sign of a good program when you can play “next man up”. I have a feeling that Spring-Ford may be ready for a big game but something tells me Perk Valley will make a stop late to decide this one…PV 21-19

Bonus games:
Pennsbury (5-1) (-6.5) @ Truman (5-1) Pennsbury takes on familiar faces in another local rivalry. Truman isn’t quite ready for this one yet but they’re on the right track… Pennsbury 31-23

WC Rustin (4-2) @ Unionville (6-0) (-6.5) Ches-Mont American championship runs through these two teams. Unionville has some impressive wins so far (Spring-Ford, Academy Park) and they sit at #1 in the 5A playoff rankings. Meanwhile Rustin got blown out last week versus Coatesville & has given up 90 points in the last 3 weeks...Unionville 27-21

Nice write ups. Looks like a number of interesting games. Coach Brubaker at SF is the man when it comes to developing Qbs (Wilson years) working his magic again with Qb TJ Pergine who will give PV fits.

PA2CA may weigh in but Skins should roll especially since they have their “brain fart” game (DWest) behind them. They are usually a slow cooker but it’s their time of year with the youth getting it together. ROLL TRIBE!

 

[Fletchster1]

PA2CA may weigh in but Skins should roll especially since they have their “brain fart” game (DWest) behind them. They are usually a slow cooker but it’s their time of year with the youth getting it together. ROLL TRIBE!

Wish the DWest debacle was their only brain fart game, but they were trailing Abington and had to score late to win that game. The D was horrendous.

 

[Salvucci]

Roman game as well.....14-7 Nesh scored on late pick 6.

 

[PA2CAMoleskinner]

Yes - the 'Skins did stub their toe this year (a couple of times, for sure despite the 5-1 scorecard).

I think the first game was a function of it being just that -- a first game. And they were rolling out a lot of new faces, including sophomore Brody McAndrew making his first start at the QB slot (so playing a close game against a talented tough out -- but probably underperforming -- RC squad wasn't too surprising).

Then I think the issue here is that after the RC and Pennridge games they entertained a solid D-Town West group while they had visions of sugar plums in their head. By that I mean the "press" was showering them with praise as if they were 20-0 instead of 2-0 and then perhaps buying into "it" they might just have had the feeling they would win going away (as the papers predicted) -- never good.

Well, 4 or 5 missed PATs later they got clipped 37-33 (and their DBs really seemed a step behind West's passing game).

The following week they had CR North and it turned out as expected and then came Truman. As I posted on that game - I like Truman (they have talent) but while nothing worked for them in that game everything worked for Neshaminy (and I do believe the 'Skins were focused on that game - very focused).

Then they have Abington and it seems we saw a bit of a repeat of the D-Town West game in that the press once again was heaping on the praise for the win over the Tigers while commenting that the Abington contest would most likely be a walk-away for Neshaminy. We certainly know the 33-28 win over the Ghosts was anything but a walk-away (requiring a game winning two-minute drive to snatch victory out of Abington's hands). And troubling was that in that one it wasn't stopping the passing game that was a problem for Neshaminy it was stopping the run (which the "D" had pretty much kept under control until that contest). Of course, the offense put up 33 in both so you can't really fault them too much (yes - one of the Redskin scores against Abington was a kickoff return but 4 offensive TDs is still representative).

As an aside, I have never liked the Saturday game followed by a Thursday game set-up unless I'm the underdog as it seems the "better" team gets the short straws in those situations (probably me looking for excuses).

Overall, though, the boys are 5-1 and so it's tough bitch too much -- all things considered. And they have improved some of the weak spots (the running game has fallen into place - and it seems weird to think it wasn't "in place" as that's usually a day-in, day-out staple in Langhorne). And then McAndrew has shown great improvement while putting up very solid numbers in his 6 games so far (12 TDs v 2 INTs and 1,250 or so yards). The defense is also much improved over last year but there performance was a little less steady than you want to see -- maybe bumpy is the word).

Wrapping this up, with the Titans tomorrow (on the road) we should learn a bit more about the Blue & Red. And I'm wondering whether CBS will come out roaring after the NP game last week or could they be somewhat beat up in their heads. Actually, this is an important game for both teams as the Titans surely want to show the world that last week was an anomaly which is just what Neshaminy needs to do as well.

We'll see.

Go 'Skins!!!

 

[Stalker]

Wish the DWest debacle was their only brain fart game, but they were trailing Abington and had to score late to win that game. The D was horrendous.

Jeepers creepers guys, sounds like Neshaminy is in a state of flatulence!



Skinner....welcome aboard brother, it's a big family!
* Central Dauphin has done what no power team in D3 has done to date, defeated a quality power team on the road; Wilson. That is always the most difficult test to pass.

* State College gets a chance at that this weekend going to Cumberland Valley for one of the most physical/competitive games in the state.

*Harrisburg gets their first road test of the year against CD in two weeks

* And in 3 weeks Wilson gets their road test going to Manheim Township to decide the Lancaster Lebanon Section One. Wilson had a nice win at Spring Ford a month ago but I don’t think anyone is putting them in league with these guys.


In the write up this week I briefly mentioned, the great thing about D3 is it’s decided on the field with the Mid Penn-Commonwealth Conference and LL-Section One mixing it up the last few years. That’s the power structure in D3, MP-C and LL Sec-1

 

[PA2CAMoleskinner]

Stalk -

The Little Lions are another club that I have a "soft spot" for (is that grammatically correct??).

It looks like the D3 group could make a little noise this year except don't all roads lead to P-R?

The 'Skins will be fine. They have the look of a feistier, smack back type of team which, I believe, was something last year's club lacked. We need that as all the "spit and polish"/precision of the wide open offenses and equally adept defenses (with the emphasis/importance of fast, highly athletic skill guys - on both sides of the ball) seems to cause us to forget, at times, that having a bit of that smash mouth, ready to hit back, pride type of personality is a "necessary".

And with McAndrew settling in as the leader of the "O", and looking at the tools he has to work with (both his and guys like Garlick, Joyce, Stills, Manzyk, et al.), they can score points. Then watching Manzyk become the "overall" leader, it looks as if his "never quit" attitude is catching on.

So I have high hopes for them (and we'll see soon enough).

 

[HSFballFan19]

I'm gonna go with CB South over Neshaminy tonight in a nail biter. I don't believe Neshaminy is as good as their 5-1 record may indicate. I think their strength of schedule has been relatively weak. If CBS had their QB, i would project them as 7 point favorites. Regardless, I'm looking forward to a great game!! Good luck all!

 

[Stalker]

I hear you counselor, we've thought before they weren't mean enough, I thought you had to like hitting, flying around and going medieval on people and that it came natural. Dumb me.
About SC, they've been good but haven't got the prize and looked bad vs LaSalle a few years ago. Impression last!
And for tonight (Skins-Titans), I don't know what to think. The other guys outlined close calls and know what they're talking about so I guess it's a tight one!

 

[ptomaselli]

Nice write ups. Looks like a number of interesting games. Coach Brubaker at SF is the man when it comes to developing Qbs (Wilson years) working his magic again with Qb TJ Pergine who will give PV fits.

PA2CA may weigh in but Skins should roll especially since they have their “brain fart” game (DWest) behind them. They are usually a slow cooker but it’s their time of year with the youth getting it together. ROLL TRIBE!

Looks like the PV Vikings were the one giving fits... They are a very good team...by far the best 6A in the PAC.