Power Ratings for 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A playoff games
Here are the PRs for this week’s games with some research and a few thoughts. I keep giving this a shot with mixed results, but realize applying math to flesh and bone is a reach. Brought this up to date with previous week’s games at the top.
East AAAA D1 semis and D12 finals
North Penn Neshaminy........North Penn 9.93 W
Upper Dublin Pennsbury........Upper Dublin 26.53 W
Wyo Val Parkland........Wyo Val 2.62 L
LaSalle Gratz........LaSalle 9.23 W
State AAAA Quarterfinals
Cumberland Valley Central Dauphin........CV .94 W
Pitt CC State College........Pitt CC 21.69 W
Parkland LaSalle........Parkland 14.09 W
Upper Dublin North Penn........Upper Dublin 30.80 W
State AAAA, AAA, AA, A semifinals
State AAAA semifinals
Upper Dublin Parkland........Upper Dublin 12.3 L
Pitt CC Cumberland Valley........Pitt CC 6.50 W
State AAA semifinals
Imhotep Saucon Valley........Imhotep 8.56 W
Bishop McDevitt Cathedral Prep........McDevitt 1.94 L
State AA semifinals
Aliquippa Martinsburg Central........Aliquippa .83 W
Southern Columbia West Catholic........ Southern 11.39 W
State A semifinals
Old Forge Bishop Guilfoyle........Guilfoyle 28.85 W
Berlin Brothersvalley Farrell........Farrell 17.58 W
State Finals
This is it, the Final 4. Wrong sport but sounds good. So here’s a brief write up on this week’s games. Playoffs are 13-3 (81%) so not bad with this week’s projections below.
Class AAAA
Pittsburgh Central Catholic 14-1-Parkland 14-1……..12.97 Central Catholic
Central Catholic won 24-7 having little trouble with Cumberland Valley’s version of the Wing-T while Parkland did pretty much the same, taming the versatile attack of Upper Dublin 30-14. Central Catholic’s much vaunted defense was center stage in this one holding the Eagles (13-3) to 126 total yards of offense, 5 sacks and only 88 yards rushing. Catholic was led by sophomore QB Troy Foster, connecting on 8 of 12 for 180 yards, running back Ronnie Jones’s 140 yards and JJ Younger’s 12 carries for 92 yards. They move on to play Parkland who throttled Upper Dublin (14-1), holding them to 41 yards on the ground and 211 up top. Devante Cross completed 16 of 25 passes for 241 yards and a score with most of the damage done by Kenny Yeboah’s 104 yards on 7 receptions and Zach Bross’s 4 receptions for 84 yards. Ryan Stover was Upper Dublin’s primary, completing 21 of 36 for 211 yards while rushing for 27 on 9 attempts. Parkland’s last trip to the final was 2007 against….you guessed it, Central Catholic, who won 21-0. That was also Catholic’s last gold medal. Their most recent trip was 2013 where they lost to St. Joseph’s Prep 35-10. All totaled they’ve won gold medals in 88, 04 and 07, and silver in 03 and 13. The Trojans state title was in 2002, where they defeated Woodland Hills 34-12.
Ok, so here’s the run down on Central Catholic’s D1 players. Just kidding..!..as that topic has been beat to death so let’s see how they play against Parkland. They’ve slugged their way past balanced teams like Pine Richland and Penn Trafford, nailed the one-dimensionals like Upper St Clair, State College and North Allegheny, reversing a 24-7 game-3 loss to them, then had a surprisingly easy game with the most talented team on their schedule beating Woodland Hills (11-1) 24-6. That one gets your attention. Meanwhile Parkland defeated North Allegheny-like teams in Easton and Emmaus as well as the balanced, multi-dimensional teams like Nazareth, Wyoming Valley West, Upper Dublin and LaSalle, with the only loss coming to Liberty, 41-34. For Parkland, LaSalle is a reasonable comparison to what they’ll face in Central Catholic while Woodland Hills and Pine Richland come closest to mimicking Parkland’s abilities. Devante Cross (+2000py, +1000ry) gets considerable attention for his crisp, quick passes on slants and hitches and as their primary running threat. Erik DiGiralomo (+1000) is their no frills running back with super talented Kenny Yeboah (+1000), Nolan Ridgway (+500) and Zack Bross (+300) the receiving threats. Central Catholic counters with a solid corps of receivers in Gunnar Frerotte (+424), Jake McKee (362) and Bricen Garner (302), a pile of running backs in Ronnie Jones (1498), JJ Younger (410), Vinnie Emanuele (866) and quarterback Troy Fisher, who for a sophomore does far more than simply manage the game. He’s completed 55% of his passes for 1412 yards with a respectable 13 to 3 Td to Interception ratio. At 6-4, 200 lbs, he sees the field and runs like a fullback with 546 yards rushing. This gives them more weapons than Parkland but aligns those weapons with Parkland’s strength, their defense. Cross is their homerun threat but without the deep vertical threat and more out of the backfield, he and Yeboah become their only threat, making them more predictable to a star studded Central Catholic defense.
Class AAA
Cathedral Prep 14-1-Imhotep Charter School 14-0……..28.17 Imhotep
Cathedral beat Harrisburg-Bishop McDevitt 38-34 in a great comeback win while Imhotep breezed past Saucon Valley 72-27. The big story in the Cathedral-McDevitt game was the comeback, all the way from a 34-21 half time deficit, banging out 527 total yards of offense along the way. It’s still about running the football in high school and college where 315 yards rushing will win most games. McDevitt (14-2) got 406 total yards but only 41 on the ground. Their talented junior quarterback Tayvon Bowers completed 21 of 40 for 352 yards with 3 touchdowns (Bryce Hall 12/210/2 Tds) and 1 interception while ECP’s sophomore Joe Mischler completed 11 of 23 for 210 yards, also with a 3-1 Td-Pick ratio. Running back Ta’Nauz Gregory rushed for 148 yards and 117 more in receptions. Their opponent this week, Imhotep Charter School, jolted Saucon Valley (14-1) with the big play, scoring on the opening kickoff return of 84 yards by Amir Brown; shades of West Catholic-Southern. A 24-14 1st quarter lead grew to 60-20 at the half….60 to 20!….on the way to a 523 to 302 total yardage avalanche. Running back Mike Waters rushed for 224 yards, scoring 5 touchdowns that featured 76 and 47 yard scoring bursts and a 48 yard reception for 6. QB Nasir Boykin had 130 yards rushing highlighted by scoring runs of 39 and 57 yards.
Imhotep seems to have it all, size, speed and momentum but in this one they are coming up against a team (program) that has great tradition, winning gold as a quad in 2000 and silver in 91 and 99….and obvious talent getting past Canisius-NY, the Wpial rep Thomas Jefferson and Harrisburg-McDevitt. Over the years Cathedral has always been in the hunt. They won’t be in awe a little bit and will represent the best team ICS has played since beating Archbishop Wood 20-14. Beside Wood, there are few linkage games to gage their strength (besides the eye), especially since typically strong Friendship Collegiate Academy (6-6, DC) who they defeated 32-14, is having an off year. Playing and losing to Paramus Catholic 55-22, Gilman 41-0, Bergen Catholic 28-0 and Gonzaga 52-31 will do that! The characteristics Imhotep brings to the table are aspects of heavy passer Bishop McDevitt (3233 yards, 62% comp rate), in having the ability to throw effectively although not as well as the Crusaders, and the best of TJ’s effectiveness at running the ball. The Jags garnered 3690 rush yards with backs at 1729 and 1123 yards rushing. It’s hard finding an opponent on Cathedral’s schedule that has those combined characteristics.
Here are the PRs for this week’s games with some research and a few thoughts. I keep giving this a shot with mixed results, but realize applying math to flesh and bone is a reach. Brought this up to date with previous week’s games at the top.
East AAAA D1 semis and D12 finals
North Penn Neshaminy........North Penn 9.93 W
Upper Dublin Pennsbury........Upper Dublin 26.53 W
Wyo Val Parkland........Wyo Val 2.62 L
LaSalle Gratz........LaSalle 9.23 W
State AAAA Quarterfinals
Cumberland Valley Central Dauphin........CV .94 W
Pitt CC State College........Pitt CC 21.69 W
Parkland LaSalle........Parkland 14.09 W
Upper Dublin North Penn........Upper Dublin 30.80 W
State AAAA, AAA, AA, A semifinals
State AAAA semifinals
Upper Dublin Parkland........Upper Dublin 12.3 L
Pitt CC Cumberland Valley........Pitt CC 6.50 W
State AAA semifinals
Imhotep Saucon Valley........Imhotep 8.56 W
Bishop McDevitt Cathedral Prep........McDevitt 1.94 L
State AA semifinals
Aliquippa Martinsburg Central........Aliquippa .83 W
Southern Columbia West Catholic........ Southern 11.39 W
State A semifinals
Old Forge Bishop Guilfoyle........Guilfoyle 28.85 W
Berlin Brothersvalley Farrell........Farrell 17.58 W
State Finals
This is it, the Final 4. Wrong sport but sounds good. So here’s a brief write up on this week’s games. Playoffs are 13-3 (81%) so not bad with this week’s projections below.
Class AAAA
Pittsburgh Central Catholic 14-1-Parkland 14-1……..12.97 Central Catholic
Central Catholic won 24-7 having little trouble with Cumberland Valley’s version of the Wing-T while Parkland did pretty much the same, taming the versatile attack of Upper Dublin 30-14. Central Catholic’s much vaunted defense was center stage in this one holding the Eagles (13-3) to 126 total yards of offense, 5 sacks and only 88 yards rushing. Catholic was led by sophomore QB Troy Foster, connecting on 8 of 12 for 180 yards, running back Ronnie Jones’s 140 yards and JJ Younger’s 12 carries for 92 yards. They move on to play Parkland who throttled Upper Dublin (14-1), holding them to 41 yards on the ground and 211 up top. Devante Cross completed 16 of 25 passes for 241 yards and a score with most of the damage done by Kenny Yeboah’s 104 yards on 7 receptions and Zach Bross’s 4 receptions for 84 yards. Ryan Stover was Upper Dublin’s primary, completing 21 of 36 for 211 yards while rushing for 27 on 9 attempts. Parkland’s last trip to the final was 2007 against….you guessed it, Central Catholic, who won 21-0. That was also Catholic’s last gold medal. Their most recent trip was 2013 where they lost to St. Joseph’s Prep 35-10. All totaled they’ve won gold medals in 88, 04 and 07, and silver in 03 and 13. The Trojans state title was in 2002, where they defeated Woodland Hills 34-12.
Ok, so here’s the run down on Central Catholic’s D1 players. Just kidding..!..as that topic has been beat to death so let’s see how they play against Parkland. They’ve slugged their way past balanced teams like Pine Richland and Penn Trafford, nailed the one-dimensionals like Upper St Clair, State College and North Allegheny, reversing a 24-7 game-3 loss to them, then had a surprisingly easy game with the most talented team on their schedule beating Woodland Hills (11-1) 24-6. That one gets your attention. Meanwhile Parkland defeated North Allegheny-like teams in Easton and Emmaus as well as the balanced, multi-dimensional teams like Nazareth, Wyoming Valley West, Upper Dublin and LaSalle, with the only loss coming to Liberty, 41-34. For Parkland, LaSalle is a reasonable comparison to what they’ll face in Central Catholic while Woodland Hills and Pine Richland come closest to mimicking Parkland’s abilities. Devante Cross (+2000py, +1000ry) gets considerable attention for his crisp, quick passes on slants and hitches and as their primary running threat. Erik DiGiralomo (+1000) is their no frills running back with super talented Kenny Yeboah (+1000), Nolan Ridgway (+500) and Zack Bross (+300) the receiving threats. Central Catholic counters with a solid corps of receivers in Gunnar Frerotte (+424), Jake McKee (362) and Bricen Garner (302), a pile of running backs in Ronnie Jones (1498), JJ Younger (410), Vinnie Emanuele (866) and quarterback Troy Fisher, who for a sophomore does far more than simply manage the game. He’s completed 55% of his passes for 1412 yards with a respectable 13 to 3 Td to Interception ratio. At 6-4, 200 lbs, he sees the field and runs like a fullback with 546 yards rushing. This gives them more weapons than Parkland but aligns those weapons with Parkland’s strength, their defense. Cross is their homerun threat but without the deep vertical threat and more out of the backfield, he and Yeboah become their only threat, making them more predictable to a star studded Central Catholic defense.
Class AAA
Cathedral Prep 14-1-Imhotep Charter School 14-0……..28.17 Imhotep
Cathedral beat Harrisburg-Bishop McDevitt 38-34 in a great comeback win while Imhotep breezed past Saucon Valley 72-27. The big story in the Cathedral-McDevitt game was the comeback, all the way from a 34-21 half time deficit, banging out 527 total yards of offense along the way. It’s still about running the football in high school and college where 315 yards rushing will win most games. McDevitt (14-2) got 406 total yards but only 41 on the ground. Their talented junior quarterback Tayvon Bowers completed 21 of 40 for 352 yards with 3 touchdowns (Bryce Hall 12/210/2 Tds) and 1 interception while ECP’s sophomore Joe Mischler completed 11 of 23 for 210 yards, also with a 3-1 Td-Pick ratio. Running back Ta’Nauz Gregory rushed for 148 yards and 117 more in receptions. Their opponent this week, Imhotep Charter School, jolted Saucon Valley (14-1) with the big play, scoring on the opening kickoff return of 84 yards by Amir Brown; shades of West Catholic-Southern. A 24-14 1st quarter lead grew to 60-20 at the half….60 to 20!….on the way to a 523 to 302 total yardage avalanche. Running back Mike Waters rushed for 224 yards, scoring 5 touchdowns that featured 76 and 47 yard scoring bursts and a 48 yard reception for 6. QB Nasir Boykin had 130 yards rushing highlighted by scoring runs of 39 and 57 yards.
Imhotep seems to have it all, size, speed and momentum but in this one they are coming up against a team (program) that has great tradition, winning gold as a quad in 2000 and silver in 91 and 99….and obvious talent getting past Canisius-NY, the Wpial rep Thomas Jefferson and Harrisburg-McDevitt. Over the years Cathedral has always been in the hunt. They won’t be in awe a little bit and will represent the best team ICS has played since beating Archbishop Wood 20-14. Beside Wood, there are few linkage games to gage their strength (besides the eye), especially since typically strong Friendship Collegiate Academy (6-6, DC) who they defeated 32-14, is having an off year. Playing and losing to Paramus Catholic 55-22, Gilman 41-0, Bergen Catholic 28-0 and Gonzaga 52-31 will do that! The characteristics Imhotep brings to the table are aspects of heavy passer Bishop McDevitt (3233 yards, 62% comp rate), in having the ability to throw effectively although not as well as the Crusaders, and the best of TJ’s effectiveness at running the ball. The Jags garnered 3690 rush yards with backs at 1729 and 1123 yards rushing. It’s hard finding an opponent on Cathedral’s schedule that has those combined characteristics.
