CB South vs. D-Town West for D1 Title!

[CAMoleskinner]

Wow - the Titans avenge a regular season 40-29 loss to the Bucks with a 42-14 smackdown of their cross-town rivals. And at the same time (on the other side of the District) the Whippets put a fork in the Cougars run for the crown as they flip a 35-7 season ending loss with a thin 17-14 win (as they say -- "thin but a win").

From what I've been reading with CB West being pretty beat up South's win was not a total surprise; however, D-Town West stopping East may be a bit more of a head-scratcher.

Well .. that's why they play them (as they also say).

Can't wait to read the Board's thoughts on the upcoming games (with anymore insights on last night's match-ups appreciated - especially Bucks as he has a solid focus on the CB schools).

Then maybe Rover will add a few more words to his already excellent write-ups on the Parkland-Nazareth game which saw the Blue Eagles come out on the good side with their 24-17 victory over the favored Trojans (adding his outlook for the SJP game that will be next).

Call me crazy but is that "three for three" on the rematch games? I think so.

Anyway -- those were 3 great schoolboy grid tussles!!

Plus I'm betting the Stalkmeister will be weighing in with his thoughts on Manheim's topper over Cumberland Valley, 37-27 (was it that close?) and then today's Harrisburg versus Central York contest (after the fact, of course).

The playoffs!!! You gotta love this time of the year.

 

[CAMoleskinner]

FINAL: Harrisburg 28 - Central York 21.

 

[bucksftball]

Well I'll write about the West / South game separately with a look back on their season... but for now my take on South vs D-West, with an emphasis on South as I've only watched snippets of D-West this year.

South is a very straightforward team, they run the ball downhill, primarily with wham / iso and counter. (with the occasional toss mixed in) They'll run the QB 12-15 times a game, and the two backs will split carries with #2 Leonardi being the speed back and getting more carries than #3 Moore who is the short yardage / goal-line back. They average around 245-250 on the o-line and are fairly athletic on their pulls. #65 Goetter, 6'3" 280+ is their best lineman. They run in multiple guys at 205-210 at TE plus their big MLB #48 who is 6'2" 225 at FB, and will go into a jumbo package with their NT 77, who is 6' 275 as an extra FB. They do a lot of shifting pre-snap but really only hit you with a handful of plays. All the ball carriers do a good job in cutting back inside or bouncing outside. #2 is their fastest player but he runs tough also, strong kid. QB is a threat to break contain on the occasional passing play and is an excellent runner. Receivers aren't a big threat so they will flex out #2 to throw him the ball as well as wheel him out of the backfield.

Defensively they are a 3-4 team and will occasionally bring in an extra lineman to go to a four man front. 77 is a big NT but doesn't make a ton of plays, more of a space eater. #5 Bowen is their best DE and makes a lot of plays. Decent size at 6'2" 215 but pretty athletic. Father played at Temple I believe. Linebackers, #45 and #48 Moskowitz go 205 and 225 respectively and hit hard, really flow to the ball. #22 Wade (The Wood transfer) is an extremely active outside LB who they really want to the strength of the opponent's formation. They were flipping him and the other OLB against West whenever West shifted their formation. He's very, very aggressive. They have two tall safeties that will come down in the box and hit, both seem to be sure tacklers. Best corner is #8 Mauz, but he's on the smaller size and at least against West, gave up some big pass plays.

I wouldn't expect South to deviate much from what they've done to date. They're not comfortable throwing the football. They will run it 90% of the time, and look to hit you hard defensively. If you're D-West, you're going to stack the box and dare South to throw the ball. South success will be based on whether they win the battle up front. D-West SHOULD be able to exploit the South secondary. They've been prone to giving up some big plays and West got behind them multiple times in the 2 meetings. They don't have a lot of speed back there.

Like any HS game (last weekend being a prime example), it depends on which team shows up. Both teams are coming off big, emotional wins where they flipped the script on the previous game. Can they get back to that level or did it take a lot out of them? South comes into the game very healthy, so that shouldn't be a factor from their side. They'll have a large, boisterous crowd behind them on Friday night. Hopefully we get a great one.

 

[CAMoleskinner]

I love old school ball (a bunch of "lunch pail guys" across the front with backs running downhill from behind).

I was back for the Neshaminy vs. D-West game. They certainly looked game that game.

Nice write-up.

This game being streamed anywhere??

This should be fun.

 

[bucksftball]

I love old school ball (a bunch of "lunch pail guys" across the front with backs running downhill from behind).

I was back for the Neshaminy vs. D-West game. They certainly looked game that game.

Nice write-up.

This game being streamed anywhere??

This should be fun.

Central Bucks stream link below, no announcers, just the HUDL stream with the ambient crowd noise. That Nesh game was interesting as it was their only common opponent. D-West ended up with a lopsided win, but it was a strange start with Neshaminy coming out of the gate matching them blow for blow and moving the ball almost at will to start the game. Eventually D-West pulled away and final was 42-17. South beat them later in the year 42-0. Not sure common opponents tell you much at this level, as so many games really depend on the specific matchup and the state of mind of 16-18 year olds on that particular night.

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[CAMoleskinner]

Go South!!