Back for what I think is my fourth year of my District 11/2/4 power rankings, and the second year where I will try to put them out weekly. It won’t be a pure Quad-A ranking, as Bethlehem Catholic and Allentown Central Catholic are so enmeshed with the Quad-A schools in the Lehigh Valley that ranking them provides some context for what’s going on in the Valley as a whole. Therefore, I’ll consider 3A schools in the region as well, though I admittedly don’t follow it as closely.
In my preseason list, I have also listed every District/Subregional title won by each team since the start of state playoffs in 1988 (D11 has been holding a District tournament since 1985 I believe), with bolded and underlined years they also won the state championship, underlined for state finals appearances, and italicized for eastern final (final 4) appearances. Returning starters are broken in to (offense/defense).
Parkland is the obvious favorite, coming off of three consecutive subregional championships. They’re ranked #3 in the Harrisburg Patriot-News poll, #5 in the PaFootballNews poll, and will likely be a top 5 team when this website’s ranking comes out. Bethlehem Catholic slots in second in my rankings. In 3A, they are #6 in the Harrisburg Patriot-News poll and #7 in the PaFootballNews poll. They’re the only teams in the state rankings at this point. Freedom, Wyoming Valley West, and Easton are all teams to watch in the Harrisburg Patriot-News 4A poll, and Crestwood, Scranton Prep, and Lehighton are all 3A teams to watch. PaFootballNews has Saucon Valley, and Scranton Prep as teams to watch in 3A and does not have any D11 or D2 teams on their 4A watch list.
1. Parkland
District Titles: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2007, 2002, 1998, 1996
Returning Starters: 10 (5/5)
Preseason Chatter: The Jahan Worth/Nolan Ridgway dynamic is most interesting to me. It looks like Ridgway, who ran for 610 yards and 10 touchdowns last season after earning the job during the year, has been moved to slot receiver and that Worth is going to be the feature running back. He’s a tremendous athlete (I’m skeptical of Hudl profile numbers but Worth’s are gaudy, and he had an impressive freshman year in both wrestling and powerlifting). Ridgway leads all returning running backs in the EPC South in yards, so Morgans and the staff must be very confident in Worth. One thing is for certain, they need a more dependable running game if they’re going to win a state championship. Against St. Joseph’s Prep, Easton, and Whitehall, their running backs carried the ball 36 times for 132 yards and no touchdowns, and almost 1/3 of those yards came from one Preston Saylor 40 yard run. Factor that carry out, and Parkland running backs averaged 2.6 yards per carry in the four toughest games on the Trojan’s schedule where Parkland went 1-3 (with the lone win being in a game where they did not score an offensive touchdown). Everybody on these boards laments teams that don’t throw the football, but the reverse is just as dangerous and something Parkland needs to address this season.
This Week: Parkland plays the Dieruff Huskies. While Dieruff is a program heading in the right direction (their numbers are up, they’ve been on the edge of a .500 season the last two years), but they’re not on Parkland’s level. Parkland should have it well in control by halftime.
2. Bethlehem Catholic
District Titles: 2014, 2013, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1992, 1990, 1989, 1988
Returning Starters: 14 (7/7)
Preseason Chatter: Head coach Joe Henrich does not seem happy with the way camp went. He has been publically critical of his team so far, and that will be a dynamic to watch. I’m interested whether that is a motivation technique or genuine concern. Recruitniks will find the Golden Hawks to be the most interesting team in the Lehigh Valley because they have a bunch of skill guys holding Division I offers (FBS for Joe Jay Smith and Elijah Fineran, FCS for Julian Spigner and Noah Stewart), but with Beca the last two years, the losses haven’t been about lack of talent. They should cruise through 3A in District 11, but they need to be more disciplined and play much better defense if they have any aspirations of playing deep into December. If they can block, they’re going to score a ton of points, as very few teams in the state have a receiving corps like Beca and Spigner, an All State selection last year, is an accurate and polished quarterback to get them the ball.
This Week: Liberty. See EPC Game of the Week post.
3. Freedom:
District Titles: None (District Finals: 2008)
Returning Starters: 11 (4/7)
Preseason Chatter: The Freedom defense is getting plenty of hype coming in to the season. Last year’s unit forced 33 turnovers in 12 games and they’ll need to replace ballhawks John Callahan (hybrid/strike) and Jake Young (free safety) to have the same kind of success. But they have a boatload of experienced guys ready for more snaps, two outstanding individuals in Cordell Cotto and Brady Hornbaker, and there has been a clear shift to a "rip the ball" philosophy. The offense apparently looked sharp against Central Dauphin, and Joe Young seems to be fully recovered from his hip injury, which did not require surgery. It would not shock me if Young ends up a Division I recruit, as he has the size (6’3 180), accuracy (70% completion percentage last year) and athleticism to play at the next level. If he has a big junior year, expect him to be on a lot of radars.
This Week: Freedom opens with East Stroudsburg South, who is expected to be much improved from last year. ESS quarterback Jeff Cirillo had a very promising freshman year, but last season was marred by injuries. He should give the Freedom defense a nice early season test before getting in to their Lehigh Valley schedule.
4. Wyoming Valley West
District Titles: 1997
Returning Starters: 14 (8/6)
Preseason Chatter: They might be the biggest sleeper in the east. Now, I knock District 2 (and MVC) football with some frequency, and I’ll believe any of the northern teams winning the subregional title when I see it, but the Spartans bring back a ton. Although they’ll need to break in a new starter at quarterback, Devon Weidman, Sean Judge, and LJ Wesneski each caught at least 30 passes last year, which will certainly ease the transition. Wesneski in particular is an All State candidate at tight end who holds a number of FCS offers. They also bring back three of five offensive linemen, including big time sophomore tackle Chris Bleich, a 6’6 315 pound behemoth who will be the most highly recruited player out of District 2 since Geno Lewis. Defensively, ends Wesneski and Chris Reese combined for 14 sacks last year and middle linebacker Billy Davidson is a classic, high motor, physical high school linebacker. They’re going to need to find a quarterback, but WVW’s recent run under center gives me confidence in the programs ability to develop one.
This Week: They open with Wyoming Area as heavy favorites.
5. Easton
District Titles: 2010, 2009, 2004, 2003, 1993, 1991, 1990
Returning Starters: 8 (3/5)
Preseason Chatter: They’re obviously going to run the ball, it’s Easton, but they may look more like the 2010 and 2011 versions of Easton that relied on the arms of athletic, senior quarterbacks as their primary offense. Like those teams, it’ll probably be running back by committee rather than one or two bell cows. The closer parallel is the 2011 team, which like this season, had an entirely new group of receivers and tight ends. Defensively, they might be very good. They have all sorts of athletes up front and in the secondary, and Easton’s had good linebacker play since the McKinley administration.
This Week: Easton hosts Pleasant Valley, who they beat rather soundly in both their season opener and first round playoff game last year. Both teams lost a ton of players to graduation, though PV running back Austyn Borre is back and should break the 4,000 career yard barrier this season (and has an outside shot at 5,000). If Easton’s defense can bottle him up, they should roll.
In my preseason list, I have also listed every District/Subregional title won by each team since the start of state playoffs in 1988 (D11 has been holding a District tournament since 1985 I believe), with bolded and underlined years they also won the state championship, underlined for state finals appearances, and italicized for eastern final (final 4) appearances. Returning starters are broken in to (offense/defense).
Parkland is the obvious favorite, coming off of three consecutive subregional championships. They’re ranked #3 in the Harrisburg Patriot-News poll, #5 in the PaFootballNews poll, and will likely be a top 5 team when this website’s ranking comes out. Bethlehem Catholic slots in second in my rankings. In 3A, they are #6 in the Harrisburg Patriot-News poll and #7 in the PaFootballNews poll. They’re the only teams in the state rankings at this point. Freedom, Wyoming Valley West, and Easton are all teams to watch in the Harrisburg Patriot-News 4A poll, and Crestwood, Scranton Prep, and Lehighton are all 3A teams to watch. PaFootballNews has Saucon Valley, and Scranton Prep as teams to watch in 3A and does not have any D11 or D2 teams on their 4A watch list.
1. Parkland
District Titles: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2007, 2002, 1998, 1996
Returning Starters: 10 (5/5)
Preseason Chatter: The Jahan Worth/Nolan Ridgway dynamic is most interesting to me. It looks like Ridgway, who ran for 610 yards and 10 touchdowns last season after earning the job during the year, has been moved to slot receiver and that Worth is going to be the feature running back. He’s a tremendous athlete (I’m skeptical of Hudl profile numbers but Worth’s are gaudy, and he had an impressive freshman year in both wrestling and powerlifting). Ridgway leads all returning running backs in the EPC South in yards, so Morgans and the staff must be very confident in Worth. One thing is for certain, they need a more dependable running game if they’re going to win a state championship. Against St. Joseph’s Prep, Easton, and Whitehall, their running backs carried the ball 36 times for 132 yards and no touchdowns, and almost 1/3 of those yards came from one Preston Saylor 40 yard run. Factor that carry out, and Parkland running backs averaged 2.6 yards per carry in the four toughest games on the Trojan’s schedule where Parkland went 1-3 (with the lone win being in a game where they did not score an offensive touchdown). Everybody on these boards laments teams that don’t throw the football, but the reverse is just as dangerous and something Parkland needs to address this season.
This Week: Parkland plays the Dieruff Huskies. While Dieruff is a program heading in the right direction (their numbers are up, they’ve been on the edge of a .500 season the last two years), but they’re not on Parkland’s level. Parkland should have it well in control by halftime.
2. Bethlehem Catholic
District Titles: 2014, 2013, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1992, 1990, 1989, 1988
Returning Starters: 14 (7/7)
Preseason Chatter: Head coach Joe Henrich does not seem happy with the way camp went. He has been publically critical of his team so far, and that will be a dynamic to watch. I’m interested whether that is a motivation technique or genuine concern. Recruitniks will find the Golden Hawks to be the most interesting team in the Lehigh Valley because they have a bunch of skill guys holding Division I offers (FBS for Joe Jay Smith and Elijah Fineran, FCS for Julian Spigner and Noah Stewart), but with Beca the last two years, the losses haven’t been about lack of talent. They should cruise through 3A in District 11, but they need to be more disciplined and play much better defense if they have any aspirations of playing deep into December. If they can block, they’re going to score a ton of points, as very few teams in the state have a receiving corps like Beca and Spigner, an All State selection last year, is an accurate and polished quarterback to get them the ball.
This Week: Liberty. See EPC Game of the Week post.
3. Freedom:
District Titles: None (District Finals: 2008)
Returning Starters: 11 (4/7)
Preseason Chatter: The Freedom defense is getting plenty of hype coming in to the season. Last year’s unit forced 33 turnovers in 12 games and they’ll need to replace ballhawks John Callahan (hybrid/strike) and Jake Young (free safety) to have the same kind of success. But they have a boatload of experienced guys ready for more snaps, two outstanding individuals in Cordell Cotto and Brady Hornbaker, and there has been a clear shift to a "rip the ball" philosophy. The offense apparently looked sharp against Central Dauphin, and Joe Young seems to be fully recovered from his hip injury, which did not require surgery. It would not shock me if Young ends up a Division I recruit, as he has the size (6’3 180), accuracy (70% completion percentage last year) and athleticism to play at the next level. If he has a big junior year, expect him to be on a lot of radars.
This Week: Freedom opens with East Stroudsburg South, who is expected to be much improved from last year. ESS quarterback Jeff Cirillo had a very promising freshman year, but last season was marred by injuries. He should give the Freedom defense a nice early season test before getting in to their Lehigh Valley schedule.
4. Wyoming Valley West
District Titles: 1997
Returning Starters: 14 (8/6)
Preseason Chatter: They might be the biggest sleeper in the east. Now, I knock District 2 (and MVC) football with some frequency, and I’ll believe any of the northern teams winning the subregional title when I see it, but the Spartans bring back a ton. Although they’ll need to break in a new starter at quarterback, Devon Weidman, Sean Judge, and LJ Wesneski each caught at least 30 passes last year, which will certainly ease the transition. Wesneski in particular is an All State candidate at tight end who holds a number of FCS offers. They also bring back three of five offensive linemen, including big time sophomore tackle Chris Bleich, a 6’6 315 pound behemoth who will be the most highly recruited player out of District 2 since Geno Lewis. Defensively, ends Wesneski and Chris Reese combined for 14 sacks last year and middle linebacker Billy Davidson is a classic, high motor, physical high school linebacker. They’re going to need to find a quarterback, but WVW’s recent run under center gives me confidence in the programs ability to develop one.
This Week: They open with Wyoming Area as heavy favorites.
5. Easton
District Titles: 2010, 2009, 2004, 2003, 1993, 1991, 1990
Returning Starters: 8 (3/5)
Preseason Chatter: They’re obviously going to run the ball, it’s Easton, but they may look more like the 2010 and 2011 versions of Easton that relied on the arms of athletic, senior quarterbacks as their primary offense. Like those teams, it’ll probably be running back by committee rather than one or two bell cows. The closer parallel is the 2011 team, which like this season, had an entirely new group of receivers and tight ends. Defensively, they might be very good. They have all sorts of athletes up front and in the secondary, and Easton’s had good linebacker play since the McKinley administration.
This Week: Easton hosts Pleasant Valley, who they beat rather soundly in both their season opener and first round playoff game last year. Both teams lost a ton of players to graduation, though PV running back Austyn Borre is back and should break the 4,000 career yard barrier this season (and has an outside shot at 5,000). If Easton’s defense can bottle him up, they should roll.
