D11/2/4 Big School Power Rankings

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I was traveling and missed last week, but this week we have our first new #1. As we all know, Parkland lost to Liberty and the Hurricanes were able to highlight some real weaknesses in the Trojans. Suddenly, the D11/2/4 subregional looks wide open at the 4A classification. Wyoming Valley West has done nothing but dominate, and takes over the top spot. Freedom moves up to #2, as the Patriots have been the most consistently solid team in D11. Liberty’s big win puts them in the three spot, and the regular season finale at BASD may be for all the marbles if each Christmas City team continues to take care of business.

1. Wyoming Valley West (6-0)
Last Week; The Spartans crushed Dallas Area,56-0, solidifying their claim as the best team in D2. WVW scored four touchdowns of more than 50 yards, two by Sean Judge (53 yard reception and 70yard rush ) and one each by Aaron Austin (55 yard run) and Billy Davidson (52 yard catch). Judge finished with 125 yards on seven carries. Defensively, the Spartans held Dallas to 97 yards, and forced seven three and outs.

Playoff Musings: The Spartans currently sit in first place in the subregional standings, but have the second weakest schedule of any of the contenders (only Stroudsburg has less pontential power points). This means that while WVW is likely to run the table, they’ll need teams to cannibalize each other behind them to ensure the top seed.

This Week: Wyoming Valley West travels to Crestwood, who is having a disappointing year at 2-4. Nobody has offered up much resistance to the Spartans so far, and I’m not holding my breath that they’ll be challenged until playoff time.

2. Freedom (6-0)
Last Week: Freedom defeated Dieruff 39-0. I don’t have a box score available, but another sufficiently dominating win by the Patriots.

Playoff Musings: If Freedom wins out, they will be the top seed in the subregional playoff. They sit ten points ahead of WVW, but have huge power point potential left on their schedule with Parkland, Easton, and Liberty all remaining.

This Week: Freedom takes on Whitehall, who is ending a brutal three game stretch of Parkland-Easton-Freedom. The Zephyrs were able to really move the ball against Parkland, but could not get any offense going last week. The Freedom defense is the best in the area, and the 3-3-5 is built to stop spreads like Whitehall, so expect another long night for Gianni Sinatore and company.

3. Liberty (5-1)
Last Week: In the current leader for performance of the year, the Liberty Hurricanes raced out to a 41-13 lead over previous #1 Parkland before hanging on to win 41-34. Offensively, Liberty got a huge night again from Doug Erney, who is right in the thick of any EPC Player of the Year conversations. The four year starter completed 12 passes to eight different receivers for 206 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 86 yards. The Hurricane rushing attack pounded out 316 yards against a Parkland defense that had suffocated running backs in their first five games. And defensively, Liberty limited Parkland’s stars. Kenny Yeboah had just 2 catches for 21 yards. Devante Cross started the game 7 of 17 for 26 yards and two interceptions as Liberty built their big lead before the furious rally in the end, and only managed 48 yards on the ground. Jaohne Duggan sacked Cross twice and has been one of the most impressive defensive players in the Valley so far this year.

Playoff Musings: Liberty is in good shape to qualify for the subregional playoffs for the first time since 2009. The Hurricanes put themselves in great position last week, as they have the most valuable win in the subregional to date. They also are rooting for Bethlehem Catholic to finish 9-1 and rack up all available bonus from that win. They can’t catch WVW without the Spartans losing, but can pass everybody else by winning out.

This Week: Liberty gets a bit of a breather with Northampton. The Konkrete Kids gave Nazareth a scare two weeks ago, but have otherwise struggled mightily in conference play. Liberty should easily move to 6-1 to set up a final kick of Easton, ACC, and Freedom.

4. Parkland (5-1)
Last Week: Parkland’s loss to Liberty revealed some real question marks about the Trojans. Their running backs carried the ball ten times for 49 yards. The defense struggled against the first multi-pronged rushing attack they’ve seen this year. And while Devante Cross finished with 317 yards, it took 32 attempts and they had dug too big a hole to ultimately come back from. Still, they had the ball with a chance to win, and will likely rue the half-back pass that resulted in their only non-touchdown drive during their rally in the second half.

Playoff Musings: Parkland dropped from #2 to #7 in the subregional standings with their loss to Liberty. The Trojans still have to play Easton, Freedom, and Nazareth, who all offer big points but tough contests where they can’t afford to take multiple losses. There is a pretty clear delineation between the top 6 in D11 and the rest of the district, so I don’t think they’re in danger of missing the playoffs, but they could end up a 7 or 8 seed. Of course, last year they won the subregional from the #7 spot, so that probably isn’t fatal.

This Week: Parkland takes on Easton in the EPC Game of the Week.

5. Allentown Central Catholic (4-2)
Last Week: The Vikings crushed Nazareth, 48-27, thanks to a 28 point first quarter. Nazareth has struggled all year to stop the run, which was exploited by ACC and tailback Alvin Pacheco, who carried 21 times for 234 yards and four touchdowns. Pachecho also had 78 yards receiving and Darnell Ferrell added 91 yards on the ground. ACC limited Nazareth to 213 yards passing, most well after the mercy rule was in effect. The Vikings were particularly effective in limiting Julian Liaci after the catch. The speedster caught 10 passes, but managed just 55 yards receiving.

Playoff Musings: The 3A bracket is a mess in District 11. ACC sits in first place, and has a major advantage on the rest of the classification thanks to their 4A heavy schedule. Wins over Emmaus and Northampton are very attainable, but I think they’ll need to beat either Liberty or Bethlehem Catholic as well to secure their playoff berth. There are six teams in 3A that are either 6-0 or 5-1 and ACC is currently ahead of all of them in points, but more losses and those teams will catch up quickly.

This Week: ACC travels to Emmaus to see the Kyle Boney show. The Green Hornet tailback has over 1,100 yards on the year and has been the lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing year for Emmaus.

 

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6. Easton (5-1)
Last Week: In their most complete performance of the year, Easton crushed Whitehall 45-0. Whitehall was likely out of gas after a close loss to Parkland the previous week, but the Easton defense was stifling. A week after he threw for 278 yards and rushed for 100 yards against Parkland, Gianni Sinatore was held to 29 yards passing and 6 yards rushing. On the night, Whitehall gained 67 yards of total offense, and at the half, yardage was 216 to -6 in favor of Easton. The Rover offense piled up 424 rushing yards, including 180 and 3 TDs from Nysir Minney-Gratz. If anything, Easton missed opportunities to put this away earlier, fumbling inside the ten and throwing a pick in the end zone in the first half.

Playoff Musings: Easton has the toughest remaining schedule of any of the playoff contenders. If they win out, they actually take the top seed at 9-1 over a 10-0 WVW team. However, the gauntlet of Parkland, Liberty, Freedom, Nazareth is not enviable. Like the Trojans, I don’t think Easton will miss the playoffs because I don’t think Pleasant Valley, Whitehall, or Emmaus can pick up enough points to catch them, but a rough finish in the last four weeks could leave them in one of the last two spots.

This Week: Easton hosts Parkland in our EPC Game of the Week.

7. Nazareth (4-2)
Last Week: Nazareth’s weaknesses were exposed by Allentown Central Catholic, as the Blue Eagles were unable to stop the ground game and couldn’t muster much of one themselves in a 49-28 loss. Their defense was gashed for 35 points in the first half, and outside of two long touchdown passes to Jahan Dotson (5 catches, 168 yards, 2 TDs), there was not a lot to get excited about in this one.

Playoff Musings: Nazareth sits in sixth currently. They are the only EPC South contender with a crossover game left as they get 3A East Stroudsburg North this week. That should be a win but only offers a scrap of points. The real key match up is Whitehall, who despite being 2-4, has already taken losses to Easton, Freedom, Parkland, and ACC. If the Zephyrs can win out, with a win over Nazareth the Blue Eagles would be in a must win situation against either Parkland or Easton to end the year, and Nazareth has only five wins against those programs since 1994.

This Week: Nazareth takes on East Stroudsburg North. Like Emmaus, ESN will almost exclusively run the ball, which gave Nazareth some problems on defense. Of course, Nazareth’s offense should make it a track meet, and it’s very hard for the triple-option Timberwolves to keep pace in that kind of game.

8. Saucon Valley (6-0)
Last Week: Saucon Valley rolled Pen Argyl 66-0. Zack Thatcher completed all seven of his pass attempts for 150 yards and three touchdowns, including four for 116 yards and two TDs to slot receiver Nate Harka. Evan Culver carried 11 times for 153 yards and 3 touchdowns and ten different Panthers carried the football in the rout. Defensively, they held the Green Knights to 80 yards of offense on 42 plays.

Playoff Musings: Saucon Valley sits in second 0.017 points behind ACC. Saucon is at a disadvantage with three 2A schools left in their four games, and a 3A match up with Bangor. Their week nine game against Notre Dame (Green-Pond) will likely be a match up of undefeateds and decide the Colonial League championship. Crazily, a loss to the Crusaders might knock them out of the playoffs at 9-1 due to the competition in 3A. But a win only offers so many points, even though ND is the likely 2A champ in District 11.

This Week: Saucon Valley travels to Wilson for a contest with the 1-5 Warriors. Panthers head coach Matt Evancho was the defensive coordinator for the Warriors during their state championship run in 2006. Since going 58-9 from 2005 to 2009, Wilson is 14-42 and is struggling again in 2015. Saucon Valley should roll as they march towards the Notre Dame match up.

9. Bethlehem Catholic (5-1)
Last Week: Becahi slowly pulled away in a 28-6 win over East Stroudsburg North. They went into the second half tied at 7, but Beca used TD runs from Julian Spigner and Antwon Keenan and a pick-6 by Joe Jay Smith (on one of just 3 pass attempts for ESN) to stretch the margin in the second half. This game broke a three game streak of five touchdown games for Keenan, who ran for 115 yards on 11 carries.

Playoff Musings: The Golden Hawks are back in the top four in 3A with a win last week. Becahi has a slim lead over #5 Jim Thrope for the final spot. Like ACC, Becahi has three games remaining against 4A opponents, which gives them a huge strentch of schedule cushion, even though Pocono Mountain East and William Allen are not exactly the most rigorous of opponents. But Becahi finishes with Stroudsburg and ACC. If they lose both, they’re absolutely out, and if they lose one, the match will be close. If they win out, they’re in, but they’re all must wins from here on out.

This Week: Becahi takes on Pocono Mountain East, in what should be another easy win for the Golden Hawks.

10. Stroudsburg (5-1)
Last Week: Stroudsburg dominated Pocono Mountain East team in a 42-7 win. Jamaal Brome ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns and Marcello Riccardi continued his hot streak, catching five passes for 106 yards and a touchdown. Jake Jakobson suited up, consoling any worries that he would miss time after last week’s injury.

Playoff Musings: The Mounties sit in fifth, but have the weakest remaining schedule of any team in the playoff hunt. Allen and Northampton are a combined 1-11, and Bethlehem Catholic is only a 3A school. Whitehall or Pleasant Valley has an outside shot at catching them if they lose to Becahi, particularly PV if they can pull the upset in week 10, but Stroudsburg should be safely in the field.

This Week: Stroudsburg travels to J. Birney Crum to continue the losing streak of William Allen.