1. Nazareth Blue Eagle (2-0)
Nazareth punished Emmaus, 42-7, reeling off 35 straight points after an initial Emmaus score tied the game. Peyton Falzone threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns, including a beautiful 68 yard bomb to Caleb Newsome, who had over 100 yards receiving on the day. Mason Kuehner added a school record 99 yard interception return for a TD to put the game into mercy rule territory, and Nazareth out gained ACC 316-171. Nazareth looks to have the most potent offense in the area, particularly if Falzone is going to play more like a senior than a sophomore. We might be looking at the best quarterback prospect from up here since Brendan Nosovitch. The Eagles sit at #7 in the PA Football News poll after week 2 in 6A.
2. Parkland Trojans (2-0)
Speaking of punishing, Parkland shutout Freedom 35-0, thanks to four touchdown passes from Luke Spang, 131 yards on the ground from Trey Tremba, and the defense held Freedom to five first downs and 101 yards of total offense. Parkland looks like it is developing playmakers in the passing game in wideout Connor Johns (who holds a Lehigh offer) and tight end Robbie Ruisch, whose brother Michael quarterbacked Parkland to the state tournament in 2016 and 2017. Parkland gained 437 yards of total offense. This week, the Trojans will see surprise undefeated squad Liberty, which should be a nice tune-up for the marquee match up with Nazareth next week. They are currently ranked #9 statewide in 6A.
3. Allentown Central Catholic Vikings (2-0)
ACC needed a late push to stave off the Easton Red Rovers, but got a clutch late touchdown drive and cement a 37-20 win. Sophomore quarterback Antonio Fontanez has been a revelation, throwing for 232 yards and 3 scores last week, including 68 yards of completions on the game clinching drive. He's got weapons around him, and a big, physical defense and offensive line. The Vikings have the top end talent to push Nazareth and Parkland and if Fontanez continues to develop into a game changer, they could push the top tier. And they certainly will be a tough out in the 4A playoffs come November. They're currently ranked #4 statewide in 4A.
4. Freedom Patriots (1-1)
Freedom got waxed by Parkland and helped make it apparent that the top tier is just two teams in the EPC. Noah Pierre was bottled up for 31 yards, and new quarterback Chase Walker and company did not have the juice in the passing game to overcome the tough night on the ground. My surprise was how easily the Parkland offense moved the football - I expected Freedom's defense to carry them while the offense rounded into form with a bunch of new starters. That still may be the case, but it doesn't get any easier with Nazareth coming to town this week. So they may be one of the best 1-2 teams in the state come next week.
5. Emmaus Green Hornets (1-1)
Emmaus answered Nazareth's opening score with a touchdown drive of their own, thanks to a strip by all state caliber defensive end Mario Landino. But their defense was overwhelmed with the multi-faceted weapons that Nazareth can roll out. This week they have a real measuring stick game with ACC - I think the winner establishes themselves as the top of the second tier with a win - but they'll need a more complete effort defensively against some of the team speed that the Vikings can throw at them on the perimeter.
6. Northampton Konkrete Kids (1-1)
Northampton got thunderstorms out last night against Stroudsburg and will make the game up Saturday afternoon. The K-Kids blew out Pocono Mountain East, 44-0, last week which should be reflective of the rest of their season. They will dominate the EPC North schedule in its final year and should go into the playoffs 9-1 and one of the top seeds. How they then fare against their EPC South competition (Ranked above them) remains to be seen. Certainly they pushed ACC in a 17-16 overtime loss, so transitive property against that win will be how we compare them to the Parklands, Nazareths, etc. of the world.
7. Southern Lehigh Spartans (2-0)
The Spartants enter the rankings after shellacking Notre Dame last week, 66-28. Cade Sawyer ran for 254 yards and three touchdowns and Southern Lehigh had 506 yards of total offense. Notre Dame has long been a "finesse" program and susceptible to power running attacks, and Southern Lehigh certainly took advantage. They did give up over 300 yards on the ground themselves, though 130 of them came on two Danny Darno runs. The Spartans have established themselves as the class of 5A in District 11, particularly if Whitehall struggles to qualify through the EPC. They're currently ranked #9 in the state in 5A.
8. Northwestern Lehigh Tigers (2-0)
Northwestern Lehigh blew away Northern Lehigh last week, holding them to 27 yards of offense (-6 rushing!) in a 48-0 rout. The Tigers are successfully running a two quarterback system, where both Mason Bollinger and Shane Leh ran for touchdowns and Dalton Clymer piled up another 100+ yard, multi-touchdown effort from his tailback spot in the option offense. Northwestern Lehigh is ranked #10 in the state in 3A and should continue to climb as their plethora of new faces gain experience.
My Musing on the Easton Red Rovers
Rovers took their first loss of the year in their home opener against Allentown Central Catholic. Easton spotted ACC 14 points by muffing a punt inside the 15, then snapping the ball over their punter's head into the end zone. But after facing a 23-7 deficit against the #3 team on this poll and #4 team in 4A, they rallied back to cut the margin to 23-20. They did force a three and out then crossed midfield with about eight minutes left in the game and a chance to take the lead. But the drive stalled, and ACC ran off a long TD drive to stretch things to 30-20 and effectively end the game. After Easton went for it in their own territory in desperation in the final minutes, ACC punched in a 30 yard touchdown drive for the final margin. Still, there are some positives to draw from a very young team clawing back against one of the better teams in the area, even if they couldn't get over the hump. Mekhi Grant and Kurtis Crossman have been a revelation on defense as a pair of sophomores that have been their most productive players on that side of the ball. If they're going to bite, they're going to nip as pups, and they've had some nice early season performances from some young kids figuring out varsity football. They play Whitehall this week - whose head coach they pilfered in the offseason, so there is going to be some bad blood here. If Easton is going to get to .500 in year 1 under Senneca, this is a game they'll need to win.
Nazareth punished Emmaus, 42-7, reeling off 35 straight points after an initial Emmaus score tied the game. Peyton Falzone threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns, including a beautiful 68 yard bomb to Caleb Newsome, who had over 100 yards receiving on the day. Mason Kuehner added a school record 99 yard interception return for a TD to put the game into mercy rule territory, and Nazareth out gained ACC 316-171. Nazareth looks to have the most potent offense in the area, particularly if Falzone is going to play more like a senior than a sophomore. We might be looking at the best quarterback prospect from up here since Brendan Nosovitch. The Eagles sit at #7 in the PA Football News poll after week 2 in 6A.
2. Parkland Trojans (2-0)
Speaking of punishing, Parkland shutout Freedom 35-0, thanks to four touchdown passes from Luke Spang, 131 yards on the ground from Trey Tremba, and the defense held Freedom to five first downs and 101 yards of total offense. Parkland looks like it is developing playmakers in the passing game in wideout Connor Johns (who holds a Lehigh offer) and tight end Robbie Ruisch, whose brother Michael quarterbacked Parkland to the state tournament in 2016 and 2017. Parkland gained 437 yards of total offense. This week, the Trojans will see surprise undefeated squad Liberty, which should be a nice tune-up for the marquee match up with Nazareth next week. They are currently ranked #9 statewide in 6A.
3. Allentown Central Catholic Vikings (2-0)
ACC needed a late push to stave off the Easton Red Rovers, but got a clutch late touchdown drive and cement a 37-20 win. Sophomore quarterback Antonio Fontanez has been a revelation, throwing for 232 yards and 3 scores last week, including 68 yards of completions on the game clinching drive. He's got weapons around him, and a big, physical defense and offensive line. The Vikings have the top end talent to push Nazareth and Parkland and if Fontanez continues to develop into a game changer, they could push the top tier. And they certainly will be a tough out in the 4A playoffs come November. They're currently ranked #4 statewide in 4A.
4. Freedom Patriots (1-1)
Freedom got waxed by Parkland and helped make it apparent that the top tier is just two teams in the EPC. Noah Pierre was bottled up for 31 yards, and new quarterback Chase Walker and company did not have the juice in the passing game to overcome the tough night on the ground. My surprise was how easily the Parkland offense moved the football - I expected Freedom's defense to carry them while the offense rounded into form with a bunch of new starters. That still may be the case, but it doesn't get any easier with Nazareth coming to town this week. So they may be one of the best 1-2 teams in the state come next week.
5. Emmaus Green Hornets (1-1)
Emmaus answered Nazareth's opening score with a touchdown drive of their own, thanks to a strip by all state caliber defensive end Mario Landino. But their defense was overwhelmed with the multi-faceted weapons that Nazareth can roll out. This week they have a real measuring stick game with ACC - I think the winner establishes themselves as the top of the second tier with a win - but they'll need a more complete effort defensively against some of the team speed that the Vikings can throw at them on the perimeter.
6. Northampton Konkrete Kids (1-1)
Northampton got thunderstorms out last night against Stroudsburg and will make the game up Saturday afternoon. The K-Kids blew out Pocono Mountain East, 44-0, last week which should be reflective of the rest of their season. They will dominate the EPC North schedule in its final year and should go into the playoffs 9-1 and one of the top seeds. How they then fare against their EPC South competition (Ranked above them) remains to be seen. Certainly they pushed ACC in a 17-16 overtime loss, so transitive property against that win will be how we compare them to the Parklands, Nazareths, etc. of the world.
7. Southern Lehigh Spartans (2-0)
The Spartants enter the rankings after shellacking Notre Dame last week, 66-28. Cade Sawyer ran for 254 yards and three touchdowns and Southern Lehigh had 506 yards of total offense. Notre Dame has long been a "finesse" program and susceptible to power running attacks, and Southern Lehigh certainly took advantage. They did give up over 300 yards on the ground themselves, though 130 of them came on two Danny Darno runs. The Spartans have established themselves as the class of 5A in District 11, particularly if Whitehall struggles to qualify through the EPC. They're currently ranked #9 in the state in 5A.
8. Northwestern Lehigh Tigers (2-0)
Northwestern Lehigh blew away Northern Lehigh last week, holding them to 27 yards of offense (-6 rushing!) in a 48-0 rout. The Tigers are successfully running a two quarterback system, where both Mason Bollinger and Shane Leh ran for touchdowns and Dalton Clymer piled up another 100+ yard, multi-touchdown effort from his tailback spot in the option offense. Northwestern Lehigh is ranked #10 in the state in 3A and should continue to climb as their plethora of new faces gain experience.
My Musing on the Easton Red Rovers
Rovers took their first loss of the year in their home opener against Allentown Central Catholic. Easton spotted ACC 14 points by muffing a punt inside the 15, then snapping the ball over their punter's head into the end zone. But after facing a 23-7 deficit against the #3 team on this poll and #4 team in 4A, they rallied back to cut the margin to 23-20. They did force a three and out then crossed midfield with about eight minutes left in the game and a chance to take the lead. But the drive stalled, and ACC ran off a long TD drive to stretch things to 30-20 and effectively end the game. After Easton went for it in their own territory in desperation in the final minutes, ACC punched in a 30 yard touchdown drive for the final margin. Still, there are some positives to draw from a very young team clawing back against one of the better teams in the area, even if they couldn't get over the hump. Mekhi Grant and Kurtis Crossman have been a revelation on defense as a pair of sophomores that have been their most productive players on that side of the ball. If they're going to bite, they're going to nip as pups, and they've had some nice early season performances from some young kids figuring out varsity football. They play Whitehall this week - whose head coach they pilfered in the offseason, so there is going to be some bad blood here. If Easton is going to get to .500 in year 1 under Senneca, this is a game they'll need to win.