AAAA All-State team
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The AP and I were in agreement on 22 of the All State selections. Completely in sync at receiver and tight end, 4/5 on the offensive line, 3/4 at defensive line and defensive back. I was farthest off at linebacker where only two if my five selections were in their six choices. Here is where we differed:
Quarterbacks
Me: Jordan Young, Coatesville
AP: Kevin Caldwell, Benjamin Franklin and Gabe French, DuBois
If I was selecting four quarterbacks instead of three (as had been done in years pat), I would have added Council Rock North's Brandon McIlwain rather than Caldwell or French. Both had 3,000 yard seasons and threw for 40 touchdowns, so there's really no strong argument against. Fine seasons both. AP went with pure passing rather than dual threat guys.
Running Back
Me: Gerald Douglas, Stroudsburg and Terry Loper, WC Rustin
AP: Saquon Barkley, Whitehall, Connor Slomka, Pine-Richland, Miles Sanders, Woodland Hills, and Josh Adams, Council Rock South
If I had an extra two backs to match the number of AP selections, Slomka and Barkley were the last two I left out. Sanders is crazy talented and averaged over 11 yards per carry, he only made my honorable mention due to some limited usage (1,100 yards and 18 TDs doesn't jump off the page). Adams also was an HM guy, Douglas and Loper both rushed for more yards, but Adams did score more TDs than both and is certainly a more serious college prospect than my two choices.
Offensive Line
Me: Jon Kohley, Pine-Richland
AP: Michal Menet, Exeter
I selected Menet as a jumbo athlete, for both his offensive and defensive play, which does not exist with the AP team. He's a dude, no quibbles.
Athlete
Me: D'Andre Swift, St. Joseph's Prep
AP: Jan Johnson, Governor Mifflin Jake Tarasovitch, Erie McDowell
We went in totally different directions. The AP took a pair of dual threat quarterbacks, Tarasovitch went 1,000/1,000 and Johnson is a do everything option quarterback/safety. Swift definitely wasn't used as much as other guys on the team, but like I said on the other thread, his domination of the state championship game got some extra credit from me.
Defensive Line
Me: Amir Wallace, parkland
AP: Kevin Givens, Altoona
I don't get the lack of postseason love for Wallace. The Morning Call left him off of their all area team despite leading the conference and setting a Parkland record with 15.5 sacks for a team that pushed the eventual state champ to the limits. Givens is a big time recruit who moved from linebacker to defensive line. He was certainly under consideration and probably my last guy off.
Linebackers
Me: Connor Ritter, Wilson West Lawn, Christian Randall-Posey, Penn Hills, Joe Lieberman, Pine-Richland
AP: Andy Davidson, Emmaus Jake Buskirk, Whitehall, Matt Wagner, Delaware Valley, Ike Schannauer, Wilson West Lawn
Funny that the District 11/NE Regional guy left off all of the local guys. Tremendous year for linebackers in the a EPC South. Like running back and quarterback, the AP took one more guy than I did, and Andy Davidson would have been my next man up. Tremendous year, EPC DPOY and rushed for 2,000 yards, team just didn't have a ton of success. He'll be a heck of a college linebacker (I've heard Navy/Army/Villanova/Lafayette/Lehigh). I directly compared teammates Schannauer and Ritter, and the AP went with Schannauer, who was also voted their conference linebacker of the year, so it makes sense. After state playoffs, Ritter had slightly better numbers on paper (more tackles, TFLs, and sacks), but that also could be a function of teams running away from Schannauer, which the guys who watch all the Wilson WL games would have a better handle on than me. Liberman got some "best defender on a state finalist" love from me, and Randall-Posey had those gaudy sack totals. Buskirk was Whitehall's best defender, though I didn't think had the raw numbers to get a lot of votes here. Wagner led Del Val's ten game winning streak, snapped in the playoffs by Parkland.
Defensive Back
Me: Jimmy Herron, LaSalle
AP: Jarey Elder, Parkland
Elder was the first defensive back I left off, and I actually had him on the team in my original draft. But felt the need to get Herron on the squad (partly because he had a great year to cap off a great career, partly because of the company I keep on this board). Elder is probably the better defender, Herron obviously has superior offensive numbers, but that doesn't much matter I guess when you're selecting All State defensive backs.
Kicker
Me: Jake Bissel, Parkland
AP: Jack Soslow, Hvaerford School
is tough to evaluate statewide based on what is out there, but Bissell is as good a high school kicker as I have seen. Quick google on Soslow shows he's the real deal, 53 yard long on the year? Wow.
Defensive Athlete
Me: Khaleke Hudson, Woodland Hills and Jake Young, Freedom
AP: Hudson only
They took three athletes on offense and only the one on defense. I picked Young largely to reward Freedom for such a ridiculous turnaround. Young was the catalyst for that. Didn't really think he'd make the All State team, but I hope he was nominated because he had that caliber of a year.
Big congratulations to the two Easton kids named All State. Shane Simpson was obvious, leaves as the school's all time leader in touchdowns, receptions, and receiving yards, single season record for rushing yards and touchdowns, and the second all-time leading rusher in school history. A mighty impressive four years, capped off by being the first Easton running back to be named to the All State team since Eric Thompson in 1993 (whose single season TD record he shattered this year). Best of luck at Towson.
Mike Fleming had as good a year as I can remember an offensive lineman having at Easton. We usually have small, quick offensive lineman, so it was such a treat to have a 6'4 270 kid who could pull and move like he weighed 200 pounds. Fun to watch block and from all accounts a tremendous leader and captain. He's the first all state pick on the offensive line since 2003. He certainly paved the way for a lot of those Simpson yards. If our local papers are correct, he's a Ivy League/Patriot League caliber player/student, and sounds like he's down to Lafayette or Lehigh.
Quarterbacks
Me: Jordan Young, Coatesville
AP: Kevin Caldwell, Benjamin Franklin and Gabe French, DuBois
If I was selecting four quarterbacks instead of three (as had been done in years pat), I would have added Council Rock North's Brandon McIlwain rather than Caldwell or French. Both had 3,000 yard seasons and threw for 40 touchdowns, so there's really no strong argument against. Fine seasons both. AP went with pure passing rather than dual threat guys.
Running Back
Me: Gerald Douglas, Stroudsburg and Terry Loper, WC Rustin
AP: Saquon Barkley, Whitehall, Connor Slomka, Pine-Richland, Miles Sanders, Woodland Hills, and Josh Adams, Council Rock South
If I had an extra two backs to match the number of AP selections, Slomka and Barkley were the last two I left out. Sanders is crazy talented and averaged over 11 yards per carry, he only made my honorable mention due to some limited usage (1,100 yards and 18 TDs doesn't jump off the page). Adams also was an HM guy, Douglas and Loper both rushed for more yards, but Adams did score more TDs than both and is certainly a more serious college prospect than my two choices.
Offensive Line
Me: Jon Kohley, Pine-Richland
AP: Michal Menet, Exeter
I selected Menet as a jumbo athlete, for both his offensive and defensive play, which does not exist with the AP team. He's a dude, no quibbles.
Athlete
Me: D'Andre Swift, St. Joseph's Prep
AP: Jan Johnson, Governor Mifflin Jake Tarasovitch, Erie McDowell
We went in totally different directions. The AP took a pair of dual threat quarterbacks, Tarasovitch went 1,000/1,000 and Johnson is a do everything option quarterback/safety. Swift definitely wasn't used as much as other guys on the team, but like I said on the other thread, his domination of the state championship game got some extra credit from me.
Defensive Line
Me: Amir Wallace, parkland
AP: Kevin Givens, Altoona
I don't get the lack of postseason love for Wallace. The Morning Call left him off of their all area team despite leading the conference and setting a Parkland record with 15.5 sacks for a team that pushed the eventual state champ to the limits. Givens is a big time recruit who moved from linebacker to defensive line. He was certainly under consideration and probably my last guy off.
Linebackers
Me: Connor Ritter, Wilson West Lawn, Christian Randall-Posey, Penn Hills, Joe Lieberman, Pine-Richland
AP: Andy Davidson, Emmaus Jake Buskirk, Whitehall, Matt Wagner, Delaware Valley, Ike Schannauer, Wilson West Lawn
Funny that the District 11/NE Regional guy left off all of the local guys. Tremendous year for linebackers in the a EPC South. Like running back and quarterback, the AP took one more guy than I did, and Andy Davidson would have been my next man up. Tremendous year, EPC DPOY and rushed for 2,000 yards, team just didn't have a ton of success. He'll be a heck of a college linebacker (I've heard Navy/Army/Villanova/Lafayette/Lehigh). I directly compared teammates Schannauer and Ritter, and the AP went with Schannauer, who was also voted their conference linebacker of the year, so it makes sense. After state playoffs, Ritter had slightly better numbers on paper (more tackles, TFLs, and sacks), but that also could be a function of teams running away from Schannauer, which the guys who watch all the Wilson WL games would have a better handle on than me. Liberman got some "best defender on a state finalist" love from me, and Randall-Posey had those gaudy sack totals. Buskirk was Whitehall's best defender, though I didn't think had the raw numbers to get a lot of votes here. Wagner led Del Val's ten game winning streak, snapped in the playoffs by Parkland.
Defensive Back
Me: Jimmy Herron, LaSalle
AP: Jarey Elder, Parkland
Elder was the first defensive back I left off, and I actually had him on the team in my original draft. But felt the need to get Herron on the squad (partly because he had a great year to cap off a great career, partly because of the company I keep on this board). Elder is probably the better defender, Herron obviously has superior offensive numbers, but that doesn't much matter I guess when you're selecting All State defensive backs.
Kicker
Me: Jake Bissel, Parkland
AP: Jack Soslow, Hvaerford School
is tough to evaluate statewide based on what is out there, but Bissell is as good a high school kicker as I have seen. Quick google on Soslow shows he's the real deal, 53 yard long on the year? Wow.
Defensive Athlete
Me: Khaleke Hudson, Woodland Hills and Jake Young, Freedom
AP: Hudson only
They took three athletes on offense and only the one on defense. I picked Young largely to reward Freedom for such a ridiculous turnaround. Young was the catalyst for that. Didn't really think he'd make the All State team, but I hope he was nominated because he had that caliber of a year.
Big congratulations to the two Easton kids named All State. Shane Simpson was obvious, leaves as the school's all time leader in touchdowns, receptions, and receiving yards, single season record for rushing yards and touchdowns, and the second all-time leading rusher in school history. A mighty impressive four years, capped off by being the first Easton running back to be named to the All State team since Eric Thompson in 1993 (whose single season TD record he shattered this year). Best of luck at Towson.
Mike Fleming had as good a year as I can remember an offensive lineman having at Easton. We usually have small, quick offensive lineman, so it was such a treat to have a 6'4 270 kid who could pull and move like he weighed 200 pounds. Fun to watch block and from all accounts a tremendous leader and captain. He's the first all state pick on the offensive line since 2003. He certainly paved the way for a lot of those Simpson yards. If our local papers are correct, he's a Ivy League/Patriot League caliber player/student, and sounds like he's down to Lafayette or Lehigh.
Relayer,
There are a few sites to check. Here are two.
http://www.haverford.org/admissions/faqs/index.aspx
Upper school shown as 438, Middle 225
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/arkansas/districts/malvern-school-district/malvern-high-school-1382
9th thru12th shown as 593
There are a few sites to check. Here are two.
http://www.haverford.org/admissions/faqs/index.aspx
Upper school shown as 438, Middle 225
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/arkansas/districts/malvern-school-district/malvern-high-school-1382
9th thru12th shown as 593
