Here are a couple thoughts on the matchups….super short quick hits.
The East
Springfield 12-1 vs Academy Park 12-1 at Springfield High, Nov 25 7-PM
Springfield from Delco’s Central League has a 5 year W/L is 43-16 with this year’s team averaging 28ppg while allowing 8. Academy Park which is only a few miles down the road from Springfield….playing out of the Del-Val (Interboro, Glen Mills, Penn Wood, et al) has a 5 year W/L of 53-10, with this year’s group averaging 32ppg and allowing 10. Sure makes this look like a defensive struggle. Springfield has played a few teams who have defensive speed but this is the fastest offensive team they’ve encountered to date. Conversely, Academy Park has faced a number of speedy offenses but no defenses the caliber of Springfield’s. Something has to give.
The Power Rating give the Knights a .23 edge (a safety?). So I guess we go overtime to figure this one out unless you give Springfield 3 points for the home field. This is a neighborhood brawl that looks to be a good one.
Whitehall 9-4 vs Archbishop Wood 8-2 at Northampton High, Nov 25 7-PM
Whitehall’s 5 year W/L is 39-18, playing out of the EPC-South where they finished in a 3-way tie with Freedom and Nazareth at 4-4. Their numbers through last week’s games show them averaging 33ppg but allowing 21, with notable wins against Liberty, Freedom and Southern Lehigh. The EPC-South didn’t produce a power team this year but they did offer an exciting brand of football with diverse and sizeable offenses. If Whitehall brings some of that we‘ll have a good one. From the Philadelphia Catholic League’s Red Division, Archbishop Wood has a 5 year won-loss of 58-9, with 3A titles in 2011, 2013 and 2014. A deeper look shows they’ve been a machine, accumulating 155 wins against 29 losses since 2003. Their scoring average this year is 35 for, 17 against verses a fierce schedule including St. Joseph’s Prep, Wayne (OH), Bergen Catholic and LaSalle. It would be easy to pencil in the Vikings but Whitehall has had their moments and are not without weapons. Wood has more but the Zephyr’s will score some points, making it exciting unless their defense, that has been a liability, lets them down as it did against Emmaus and Bethlehem Catholic.
The West
West Allegheny 12-0 vs Meadville 11-2 at North Allegheny High, Nov 25 7-PM
West Allegheny has a 5 year W/L of 56-8 playing this year in the WPIAL Class 5A Allegheny Nine and are flat out one of the premier programs in the state under the guidance of Coach Bob Palko. Last week’s 38-37 win against McKeesport secured their 8th WPIAL title. This year’s team averages 35ppg with the D yield at 10 vs quality against Upper St. Clair, Woodland Hills twice and the Tigers last week. Their opponent is Meadville from District 10’s Region 5 (just south of Erie) who before this season had a 4 year W/L of 19-23. But not this year where the Bulldogs are crushing teams with a veteran cast averaging 54ppg (!) and allowing 19, giving them something of a Williamsport look. They are in the nation’s top 10 in rushing with 6325 yards this season. You may recall running back Journey Brown (5-11, 185, sr) rushing for 722 last year in one game (10 Tds) against Dubois, winning 107-90. That’s not a typo. They got 610 yards rushing in a 76-29 win against Hollidaysburg last week who has some big run stuffers up front. But the Bulldogs have 3 backs that can hurt you. First and foremost is LHB Journey Brown who has 2624 yards on 204 carries for 44 scores. Right, he’s super-fast, as well he should be as the Pennsylvania 100 meter champ. The right half back is Antonio Ferraro (5-10, 165, sr) who has 1172 yards on 136 carries for 14 touchdowns with FB Isaiah Manning (6-0, 205, sr) doing more than plowing the road with 1868 yards and 23 Tds. Let’s hear it for the Wing-T. West A’s a hell of a team but they can’t let Brown or Ferraro, especially Brown to get to the edge or it’s all over. Assignment football.
# 5 seed Harrisburg 9-3 vs #1 seed Manheim Central 11-1 at Hershey Park Stadium, Nov 25 7-PM
Harrisburg is from the Mid Penn Commonwealth with well known teams like Cumberland Valley and Central Dauphin, while the Barons from Manheim Central hail from the slightly less renown Lancaster-Lebanon League, Section-2. The Cougars have a so-so 36-23 won loss over the last 5 years while Central sports a 51-12 slate and 16 district titles. But the Cougars have it together this year scoring 37ppg with a fast and furious defense allowing 13ppg. Coming from the MPC you know they play some teams. Some of the victims this year were Cumberland Valley, Central Dauphin East and non-league Pottsville, with close-call-losses to Central Dauphin 13-11, State College 35-28 and dominating performances in the postseason against 4th seeded Exeter Township 36-10 and top seeded Governor Mifflin 46-21. Central has a notable win against Warwick 38-17, the team Wilson struggled with before winning 14-10 and Mid Penn Keystone power Cedar Cliff last week 38-29. They beat Cocalico (8-4) 50-13 the week before that to avenge their only loss of the season. Their offense at 50ppg is explosive and their best in over 20 years with a defense allowing 13ppg.
The East
Springfield 12-1 vs Academy Park 12-1 at Springfield High, Nov 25 7-PM
Springfield from Delco’s Central League has a 5 year W/L is 43-16 with this year’s team averaging 28ppg while allowing 8. Academy Park which is only a few miles down the road from Springfield….playing out of the Del-Val (Interboro, Glen Mills, Penn Wood, et al) has a 5 year W/L of 53-10, with this year’s group averaging 32ppg and allowing 10. Sure makes this look like a defensive struggle. Springfield has played a few teams who have defensive speed but this is the fastest offensive team they’ve encountered to date. Conversely, Academy Park has faced a number of speedy offenses but no defenses the caliber of Springfield’s. Something has to give.
The Power Rating give the Knights a .23 edge (a safety?). So I guess we go overtime to figure this one out unless you give Springfield 3 points for the home field. This is a neighborhood brawl that looks to be a good one.
Whitehall 9-4 vs Archbishop Wood 8-2 at Northampton High, Nov 25 7-PM
Whitehall’s 5 year W/L is 39-18, playing out of the EPC-South where they finished in a 3-way tie with Freedom and Nazareth at 4-4. Their numbers through last week’s games show them averaging 33ppg but allowing 21, with notable wins against Liberty, Freedom and Southern Lehigh. The EPC-South didn’t produce a power team this year but they did offer an exciting brand of football with diverse and sizeable offenses. If Whitehall brings some of that we‘ll have a good one. From the Philadelphia Catholic League’s Red Division, Archbishop Wood has a 5 year won-loss of 58-9, with 3A titles in 2011, 2013 and 2014. A deeper look shows they’ve been a machine, accumulating 155 wins against 29 losses since 2003. Their scoring average this year is 35 for, 17 against verses a fierce schedule including St. Joseph’s Prep, Wayne (OH), Bergen Catholic and LaSalle. It would be easy to pencil in the Vikings but Whitehall has had their moments and are not without weapons. Wood has more but the Zephyr’s will score some points, making it exciting unless their defense, that has been a liability, lets them down as it did against Emmaus and Bethlehem Catholic.
The West
West Allegheny 12-0 vs Meadville 11-2 at North Allegheny High, Nov 25 7-PM
West Allegheny has a 5 year W/L of 56-8 playing this year in the WPIAL Class 5A Allegheny Nine and are flat out one of the premier programs in the state under the guidance of Coach Bob Palko. Last week’s 38-37 win against McKeesport secured their 8th WPIAL title. This year’s team averages 35ppg with the D yield at 10 vs quality against Upper St. Clair, Woodland Hills twice and the Tigers last week. Their opponent is Meadville from District 10’s Region 5 (just south of Erie) who before this season had a 4 year W/L of 19-23. But not this year where the Bulldogs are crushing teams with a veteran cast averaging 54ppg (!) and allowing 19, giving them something of a Williamsport look. They are in the nation’s top 10 in rushing with 6325 yards this season. You may recall running back Journey Brown (5-11, 185, sr) rushing for 722 last year in one game (10 Tds) against Dubois, winning 107-90. That’s not a typo. They got 610 yards rushing in a 76-29 win against Hollidaysburg last week who has some big run stuffers up front. But the Bulldogs have 3 backs that can hurt you. First and foremost is LHB Journey Brown who has 2624 yards on 204 carries for 44 scores. Right, he’s super-fast, as well he should be as the Pennsylvania 100 meter champ. The right half back is Antonio Ferraro (5-10, 165, sr) who has 1172 yards on 136 carries for 14 touchdowns with FB Isaiah Manning (6-0, 205, sr) doing more than plowing the road with 1868 yards and 23 Tds. Let’s hear it for the Wing-T. West A’s a hell of a team but they can’t let Brown or Ferraro, especially Brown to get to the edge or it’s all over. Assignment football.
# 5 seed Harrisburg 9-3 vs #1 seed Manheim Central 11-1 at Hershey Park Stadium, Nov 25 7-PM
Harrisburg is from the Mid Penn Commonwealth with well known teams like Cumberland Valley and Central Dauphin, while the Barons from Manheim Central hail from the slightly less renown Lancaster-Lebanon League, Section-2. The Cougars have a so-so 36-23 won loss over the last 5 years while Central sports a 51-12 slate and 16 district titles. But the Cougars have it together this year scoring 37ppg with a fast and furious defense allowing 13ppg. Coming from the MPC you know they play some teams. Some of the victims this year were Cumberland Valley, Central Dauphin East and non-league Pottsville, with close-call-losses to Central Dauphin 13-11, State College 35-28 and dominating performances in the postseason against 4th seeded Exeter Township 36-10 and top seeded Governor Mifflin 46-21. Central has a notable win against Warwick 38-17, the team Wilson struggled with before winning 14-10 and Mid Penn Keystone power Cedar Cliff last week 38-29. They beat Cocalico (8-4) 50-13 the week before that to avenge their only loss of the season. Their offense at 50ppg is explosive and their best in over 20 years with a defense allowing 13ppg.
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