Pleasant Valley comes in as one of the mystery teams in the D11 6A bracket. The Bears offense is absolutely explosive, averaging a shade under 50 points per game and featuring a 2,000 yard passer (Brandon Keyes) a 1,300 yard rusher (Mike Mitchell) and a 1,000 yard receiver (Justin Richardson). The skill guys are FAST, with Mitchell and Richardson two of the best track and field athletes in the District as well as being solid football players. Keyes is a two year starter who is an excellent decision maker and gets the ball out quickly in the spread. He has thrown 32 touchdowns against only 5 interceptions on the season. Richardson, an FCS recruit, is his favorite target, and he's averaging over 20 yards per catch and has scored 15 TDs. However, he has a number of weapons on the perimeter, and four players have at least 20 catches. That includes Mitchell, who is out Friday with an ankle sprain. How they can replace Mitchell in the run game is the most important question of the night.
The other questions with Pleasant Valley are schedule and defense. The Bears have not consistently kept teams off the board (even winless Northampton scored 35 points against them, their only game with more than 13). PV also has beat up on the EPC North's non-playoff team. Against teams who earned playoff bids, PV is 1-2, losing to Stroudsburg and Allentown Central Catholic while beating Nazareth in their opener. After a 7 game winning streak, they lost to Stroudsburg in the regular season finale. If the transative property of football is correct, that becomes a problem as Stroudsburg lost their opener, 35-6, to PV's opponent on Friday.
Easton has been about who we thought they'd be this year. After graduating 17 starters, losing a number of transfers, and having the smallest senior class in my memory, this was a rebuilding year on 12th and Northampton. Throw in problems with the injury bug and things derailed in a hurry. At various points this season, the Rovers start 3 sophomores and a freshman on offense and 5 sophomore on defense, and while the young pups have gained valuable experience, they've taken their lumps too. However, they are as healthy as they've been in weeks, with two-way linemen Trevor Storm and Ayyub Dail expected to play this week. Offensively, it's been the passing game and quarterback runs that have "carried" the Rovers, with senior Ben Nimeh winning a rotating QB battle and being their key weapon. He threw for 274 yards and four TDs last week, with most of his throws stretching the field to wideouts Trey Bailey (30 catches for 450 yards) and Jake Herres (28 catches for 500 yards). Herres is a match up problem at 6'5, and 6'3 sophomore Mikey Dunlap also shows promise as a possession receiver. The running game has been inconsistent at best, with Nimeh being the biggest ground threat as of late. Sophomore fullback Harold Reynolds leads the team in rushing with 565 yards, and it'll be Easton's first year without a 1,000 yard rusher since 2010 (when they had four guys with over 600). Reynolds, particularly if he grows (his brother was 5'11 205, so I think that will happen) has the wiggle, speed, and vision to be a very good back, but right now he's a little undersized and green.
Defense is the reason Easton is in the playoffs. They're third in the Valley in points allowed, despite starting three sophomores in the secondary and losing linebacker Luke Nimeh for the season. Both ends, EJ Simmons and Trevor Storm, have had all league years, with Simmons the physical run stopper and Storm the long (6'7 210) pass rusher. Dunlap has been a playmaker at safety since cracking the lineup, and middle linebacker Austin Bina is second in the conference in tackles. Nine defensive starters return next year, so this year's good unit has the chance to be excellent next season.
Pleasant Valley can put points on the board, and there aren't many high school teams that are going to keep Richardson and co. out of the end zone entirely. The question will be, can Easton score with whatever PV puts on the board. They only scored more than ten points once in their last 5 games, though it was last week's 42 point barrage on Nazareth. I don't know if they can do that, despite the gains their passing game has made recently.
My consolation is that a loss would drop Easton to 5-6, with just P'Burg left. The last time Easton had a season like this (2008), they also started a boatload of sophomores and less than 5 seniors, and while they took their lumps the 2008 team got a ton of experience for young guys. Then in 2009 and 2010 that core grew up and won back-to-back D11 titles and went 25-5. That was all launched by an upset win over P'Burg in '08. We'll see what 2016 has in store...
The other questions with Pleasant Valley are schedule and defense. The Bears have not consistently kept teams off the board (even winless Northampton scored 35 points against them, their only game with more than 13). PV also has beat up on the EPC North's non-playoff team. Against teams who earned playoff bids, PV is 1-2, losing to Stroudsburg and Allentown Central Catholic while beating Nazareth in their opener. After a 7 game winning streak, they lost to Stroudsburg in the regular season finale. If the transative property of football is correct, that becomes a problem as Stroudsburg lost their opener, 35-6, to PV's opponent on Friday.
Easton has been about who we thought they'd be this year. After graduating 17 starters, losing a number of transfers, and having the smallest senior class in my memory, this was a rebuilding year on 12th and Northampton. Throw in problems with the injury bug and things derailed in a hurry. At various points this season, the Rovers start 3 sophomores and a freshman on offense and 5 sophomore on defense, and while the young pups have gained valuable experience, they've taken their lumps too. However, they are as healthy as they've been in weeks, with two-way linemen Trevor Storm and Ayyub Dail expected to play this week. Offensively, it's been the passing game and quarterback runs that have "carried" the Rovers, with senior Ben Nimeh winning a rotating QB battle and being their key weapon. He threw for 274 yards and four TDs last week, with most of his throws stretching the field to wideouts Trey Bailey (30 catches for 450 yards) and Jake Herres (28 catches for 500 yards). Herres is a match up problem at 6'5, and 6'3 sophomore Mikey Dunlap also shows promise as a possession receiver. The running game has been inconsistent at best, with Nimeh being the biggest ground threat as of late. Sophomore fullback Harold Reynolds leads the team in rushing with 565 yards, and it'll be Easton's first year without a 1,000 yard rusher since 2010 (when they had four guys with over 600). Reynolds, particularly if he grows (his brother was 5'11 205, so I think that will happen) has the wiggle, speed, and vision to be a very good back, but right now he's a little undersized and green.
Defense is the reason Easton is in the playoffs. They're third in the Valley in points allowed, despite starting three sophomores in the secondary and losing linebacker Luke Nimeh for the season. Both ends, EJ Simmons and Trevor Storm, have had all league years, with Simmons the physical run stopper and Storm the long (6'7 210) pass rusher. Dunlap has been a playmaker at safety since cracking the lineup, and middle linebacker Austin Bina is second in the conference in tackles. Nine defensive starters return next year, so this year's good unit has the chance to be excellent next season.
Pleasant Valley can put points on the board, and there aren't many high school teams that are going to keep Richardson and co. out of the end zone entirely. The question will be, can Easton score with whatever PV puts on the board. They only scored more than ten points once in their last 5 games, though it was last week's 42 point barrage on Nazareth. I don't know if they can do that, despite the gains their passing game has made recently.
My consolation is that a loss would drop Easton to 5-6, with just P'Burg left. The last time Easton had a season like this (2008), they also started a boatload of sophomores and less than 5 seniors, and while they took their lumps the 2008 team got a ton of experience for young guys. Then in 2009 and 2010 that core grew up and won back-to-back D11 titles and went 25-5. That was all launched by an upset win over P'Burg in '08. We'll see what 2016 has in store...