This season marks the 40th anniversary of the District 11 championship football game. D11 joined District 7 and District 3 as the only places holding a football postseason, which helped usher in the state playoffs four years later. Initially, D11 threw just a championship game, with the two highest rated teams by the Saylor Ratings matching up in the week following the regular season. Conference championships were not totally sewn up then, as many teams played Thanksgiving games that counted towards their league standings, but the match up largely pitted the champion (or at least leader) of the East Penn Conference against the champion of the Centennial League.
The tournament really gets split into four distinct eras. First is the championship game era, which ran from 1984 to 1993, where just the top two teams met for a title. Twice that was an All East Penn affair, five times it was the EPC and Centennial champ, and twice it was the EPC and twice it was EPC and the Eastern Conference. When the state tournament expanded beyond a four-team field in 1994, the D11 tournament followed suit and expanded to the top four teams qualifying for the postseason. This format ran from 1994 to 2005. The 2006 season saw the expansion of the field to eight teams as part of absorbing District 4 and District 2 into a subregional following the addition of District 12 to the state playoffs (which started in 2005 with two teams from D11 and two teams from D2 making the tournament). The original eight team bracket ran from 2006 to 2015 as a D2/4/11 subregional. The current era of the playoff is in the expanded six classification system, where eight teams, all from District 11, are in the initial field.
Here's the history of the championship game (split into those sections). I've also added the state rankings from the Harrisburg-Patriot News at the time of the championship game.
1984: Liberty 24 Lehighton 6
In the first ever D11 championship game, East Penn Conference champ Liberty took on Centennial League champ Lehighton and the Hurricanes capped their best year in over a decade with the inaugural D11 crown. Danny Warren ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns in the championship, hosted at J. Birney Crum Stadium. Bob Hepler took over at Liberty during fall camp and led them to a 10-2 record.
1985: Bethlehem Catholic 49 Stroudsburg 7
East Penn Conference champ Bethlehem Catholic obliterated Centennial Leauge champ Stroudsburg to cap a brilliant 11-1 year for the Golden Hawks. Joe Shunk (Lehigh) threw for 302 yards and 4 touchdowns, with Jon Pinckney (Stanford) and Stef Kern (Bloomsburg) both going over 100 yards receiving, while Rich Guman (West Chester) ran for 110 yards in the win. Bob Stem afterwards said it was his best team.
1986: Whitehall 20 Stroudsburg 14
East Penn champ Whitehall had a pair of goal line stands in the final minute to hold on against Centennial League champ Stroudsburg. Whitehall raced out to a 20-0 lead with two long touchdown passes from Mark Beidleman to Mark Buskirk and Andy Lisicky, then held on for the title. Whitehall finished 10-3 and shared the East Penn title with Easton after falling on Thanksgiving Day to Emmaus.
1987: Lehighton 12 Easton 0
On a frigid night, Lehighton scored one of the biggest upsets in D11 history, snapping Easton’s 19 game winning streak and knocking off the nation’s #14 team (according to the USA Today). Head coach Dave Parsons was quoted after the game saying “I didn’t think we had a snowball’s chance in hell. Until the first two series.” Skimmer Andrews ran for 138 yards on 23 carries and Lehighton smothered Easton’s rushing attack in the win.
1988: HM Pocono Mountain 20 HM Easton 17 (OT)
The first ever overtime game in D11 history, Pocono Mountain pulled the second straight Centennial League shocker in Cottingham Stadium. With seven minutes to go, Easton was driving with a 17-14 lead to ice the game, when Alan Brugger intercepted a pitch on an option play and returned it into Easton territory. Dave Smith tied the game with a field goal in the final minutes of regulation. In overtime, after Easton missed a field goal, Smith lined up on first down and knocked it through to set off a celebration in the Poconos. Pocono Mountain’s Sherman Chiles and Easton’s Jeff Staton (Temple) both went over 150 yards in a dual of all state running backs. The win by Pocono Mountain knocked Easton out of the inaugural state playoffs, as the berth went to District 3 Cedar Cliff for the inaugural state playoff berth from D11/D3, who outpointed the Cardinals on strength of schedule.
1989: HM Whitehall 8 Northampton 6
One of the great East Penn defenses of the modern era finished the year with a smothering performance over Northampton in the title game. Whitehall allowed only 52 points in a 10-1-1 season, only losing in the opener to defending 3A state champ Bethlehem Catholic. This was the first championship game rematch, after Whitehall smoked Northampton 33-0 during the regular season, harassing future first round NFL draft pick Jim Drukenmiller (Virginia Tech/49ers) into three interceptions. In the rematch, a power surge knocked out the scoreboard and half the lights in the stadium, and seemingly took the offenses with it. On fourth and one from the 34, Jesse Wright exploded through the line and went the distance from a touchdown, and then quarterback Mike Buskirk (King's) scrambled in on the two point conversion. Northampton pulled Drukenmiller for dual threat AJ Jordan, who led the Konkerete Kids on a last minute fourth quarter touchdown drive, but Andy Simock (Penn State - baseball) dropped the two point conversion to set off a Whitehall celebration. The Zephyrs did not have enough power points to overtake state finalist Wilson West Lawn from District 3 for the state playoff spot.
1990: Easton 42 Stroudsburg 10
Easton used their impressive team speed to hammer Stroudsburg and recover from a 1-2 start to emphatically win their first D11 title. The Rovers exploded for 28 points in the second quarter, with a 55-yard Juan Gaddy (Temple) touchdown run, a 66 yard Mark Libiano (East Carolina/Bengals) touchdown catch, a second Gaddy touchdown, and a short Dean Jones (Temple) run after an interception return inside the 20. Bob Apgar (Rhode Island) turned the opening kickoff of the second half to open up a 42-3 lead in the romp. The Rovers finished 10-2, and beat eventual 3A state champ Bethlehem Catholic, but did not have the power points to overtake Wilson West Lawn for a state playoff spot.
1991: #2 Easton 25 Pottsville 15
Easton finally clinched a first state playoff spot for District 11 in 4A with a 25-15 win over Pottsville in the pouring rain. Contrary to the conditions and expectations, Easton came out throwing, with Steve Billman going 10-15 for 186 yards, with 110 of them going to all state tight end Mark Libiano. Juan Gaddy scored a pair of touchdowns, and Billman threw the clinching TD to Libiano early in the fourth quarter. Easton moved onto the four-team 4A field, where it lost to eventual state champ CB West.
1992: HM William Allen 14 #10 Dieruff 7
Allen and Dieruff met in the regular season finale in one of the greatset moments in Allentown football history, where Dieruff won their first EPC championship since Andre Reed walked the halls with a 32-27 win at a sold out J. Birney Crum stadium. Nine days later, played in the rain, William Allen returned the favor with a pair of first quarter touchdowns, highlighted by future Super Bowl winner Nate Hobgood-Chittek’s 40 yard catch and run, and Hobgood-Chittek (North Carolina/Rams) single handedly stopped Dieruff inside the five just before halftime. William Allen, led by Dieruff alum Rich Snisack, finished 9-2 and won their only D11 champ, three years after a 1-9 season. They did not have the power points for a state playoff spot, which went to eventual champion Cumberland Valley.
1993: #4 Easton 26 #6 Pottsville 14
The Rovers made it a second trip to the state playoffs in the final year of the four-team format with a 26-14 win over Pottsville. The Rovers were the surprise team all season, and used 116 yards and a school record 30th touchdown from all state running back Eric Thompson (NC State - wrestling) in a win over the Randy Homa (Ohio State) led Crimson Tide. Darren Smith (East Stroudsburg) also played hero when he blew up a Pottsville screen pass in the red zone, tipping the ball to himself for an interception he returned all the way to Easton territory in a ten point swing. Easton earned the D11/3 state playoff spot, where it once again lost to the state runner-up CB West Bucks, 6-3, in the final four-team state playoff format.
The tournament really gets split into four distinct eras. First is the championship game era, which ran from 1984 to 1993, where just the top two teams met for a title. Twice that was an All East Penn affair, five times it was the EPC and Centennial champ, and twice it was the EPC and twice it was EPC and the Eastern Conference. When the state tournament expanded beyond a four-team field in 1994, the D11 tournament followed suit and expanded to the top four teams qualifying for the postseason. This format ran from 1994 to 2005. The 2006 season saw the expansion of the field to eight teams as part of absorbing District 4 and District 2 into a subregional following the addition of District 12 to the state playoffs (which started in 2005 with two teams from D11 and two teams from D2 making the tournament). The original eight team bracket ran from 2006 to 2015 as a D2/4/11 subregional. The current era of the playoff is in the expanded six classification system, where eight teams, all from District 11, are in the initial field.
Here's the history of the championship game (split into those sections). I've also added the state rankings from the Harrisburg-Patriot News at the time of the championship game.
1984: Liberty 24 Lehighton 6
In the first ever D11 championship game, East Penn Conference champ Liberty took on Centennial League champ Lehighton and the Hurricanes capped their best year in over a decade with the inaugural D11 crown. Danny Warren ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns in the championship, hosted at J. Birney Crum Stadium. Bob Hepler took over at Liberty during fall camp and led them to a 10-2 record.
1985: Bethlehem Catholic 49 Stroudsburg 7
East Penn Conference champ Bethlehem Catholic obliterated Centennial Leauge champ Stroudsburg to cap a brilliant 11-1 year for the Golden Hawks. Joe Shunk (Lehigh) threw for 302 yards and 4 touchdowns, with Jon Pinckney (Stanford) and Stef Kern (Bloomsburg) both going over 100 yards receiving, while Rich Guman (West Chester) ran for 110 yards in the win. Bob Stem afterwards said it was his best team.
1986: Whitehall 20 Stroudsburg 14
East Penn champ Whitehall had a pair of goal line stands in the final minute to hold on against Centennial League champ Stroudsburg. Whitehall raced out to a 20-0 lead with two long touchdown passes from Mark Beidleman to Mark Buskirk and Andy Lisicky, then held on for the title. Whitehall finished 10-3 and shared the East Penn title with Easton after falling on Thanksgiving Day to Emmaus.
1987: Lehighton 12 Easton 0
On a frigid night, Lehighton scored one of the biggest upsets in D11 history, snapping Easton’s 19 game winning streak and knocking off the nation’s #14 team (according to the USA Today). Head coach Dave Parsons was quoted after the game saying “I didn’t think we had a snowball’s chance in hell. Until the first two series.” Skimmer Andrews ran for 138 yards on 23 carries and Lehighton smothered Easton’s rushing attack in the win.
1988: HM Pocono Mountain 20 HM Easton 17 (OT)
The first ever overtime game in D11 history, Pocono Mountain pulled the second straight Centennial League shocker in Cottingham Stadium. With seven minutes to go, Easton was driving with a 17-14 lead to ice the game, when Alan Brugger intercepted a pitch on an option play and returned it into Easton territory. Dave Smith tied the game with a field goal in the final minutes of regulation. In overtime, after Easton missed a field goal, Smith lined up on first down and knocked it through to set off a celebration in the Poconos. Pocono Mountain’s Sherman Chiles and Easton’s Jeff Staton (Temple) both went over 150 yards in a dual of all state running backs. The win by Pocono Mountain knocked Easton out of the inaugural state playoffs, as the berth went to District 3 Cedar Cliff for the inaugural state playoff berth from D11/D3, who outpointed the Cardinals on strength of schedule.
1989: HM Whitehall 8 Northampton 6
One of the great East Penn defenses of the modern era finished the year with a smothering performance over Northampton in the title game. Whitehall allowed only 52 points in a 10-1-1 season, only losing in the opener to defending 3A state champ Bethlehem Catholic. This was the first championship game rematch, after Whitehall smoked Northampton 33-0 during the regular season, harassing future first round NFL draft pick Jim Drukenmiller (Virginia Tech/49ers) into three interceptions. In the rematch, a power surge knocked out the scoreboard and half the lights in the stadium, and seemingly took the offenses with it. On fourth and one from the 34, Jesse Wright exploded through the line and went the distance from a touchdown, and then quarterback Mike Buskirk (King's) scrambled in on the two point conversion. Northampton pulled Drukenmiller for dual threat AJ Jordan, who led the Konkerete Kids on a last minute fourth quarter touchdown drive, but Andy Simock (Penn State - baseball) dropped the two point conversion to set off a Whitehall celebration. The Zephyrs did not have enough power points to overtake state finalist Wilson West Lawn from District 3 for the state playoff spot.
1990: Easton 42 Stroudsburg 10
Easton used their impressive team speed to hammer Stroudsburg and recover from a 1-2 start to emphatically win their first D11 title. The Rovers exploded for 28 points in the second quarter, with a 55-yard Juan Gaddy (Temple) touchdown run, a 66 yard Mark Libiano (East Carolina/Bengals) touchdown catch, a second Gaddy touchdown, and a short Dean Jones (Temple) run after an interception return inside the 20. Bob Apgar (Rhode Island) turned the opening kickoff of the second half to open up a 42-3 lead in the romp. The Rovers finished 10-2, and beat eventual 3A state champ Bethlehem Catholic, but did not have the power points to overtake Wilson West Lawn for a state playoff spot.
1991: #2 Easton 25 Pottsville 15
Easton finally clinched a first state playoff spot for District 11 in 4A with a 25-15 win over Pottsville in the pouring rain. Contrary to the conditions and expectations, Easton came out throwing, with Steve Billman going 10-15 for 186 yards, with 110 of them going to all state tight end Mark Libiano. Juan Gaddy scored a pair of touchdowns, and Billman threw the clinching TD to Libiano early in the fourth quarter. Easton moved onto the four-team 4A field, where it lost to eventual state champ CB West.
1992: HM William Allen 14 #10 Dieruff 7
Allen and Dieruff met in the regular season finale in one of the greatset moments in Allentown football history, where Dieruff won their first EPC championship since Andre Reed walked the halls with a 32-27 win at a sold out J. Birney Crum stadium. Nine days later, played in the rain, William Allen returned the favor with a pair of first quarter touchdowns, highlighted by future Super Bowl winner Nate Hobgood-Chittek’s 40 yard catch and run, and Hobgood-Chittek (North Carolina/Rams) single handedly stopped Dieruff inside the five just before halftime. William Allen, led by Dieruff alum Rich Snisack, finished 9-2 and won their only D11 champ, three years after a 1-9 season. They did not have the power points for a state playoff spot, which went to eventual champion Cumberland Valley.
1993: #4 Easton 26 #6 Pottsville 14
The Rovers made it a second trip to the state playoffs in the final year of the four-team format with a 26-14 win over Pottsville. The Rovers were the surprise team all season, and used 116 yards and a school record 30th touchdown from all state running back Eric Thompson (NC State - wrestling) in a win over the Randy Homa (Ohio State) led Crimson Tide. Darren Smith (East Stroudsburg) also played hero when he blew up a Pottsville screen pass in the red zone, tipping the ball to himself for an interception he returned all the way to Easton territory in a ten point swing. Easton earned the D11/3 state playoff spot, where it once again lost to the state runner-up CB West Bucks, 6-3, in the final four-team state playoff format.
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