District-3 Playoffs, and those advancing to States: Nov 26, 27
(plus West Catholic-Northern Lehigh, Neumann Goretti-Danville, see 3A and 2A)
6A PIAA Quarterfinal at Harrisburg High, Nov 27, 1 PM
Harrisburg 12-1 D-3 vs State College 7-5 D-6
District-3 heavyweights Harrisburg and Wilson locked horns in an all-out defensive struggle for the district crown in Harrisburg where they combined for a meager 438 total yards of offense. Who says Spreads rule and the big boys don’t play defense? Wilson led 3-0 at the half on Ben Reda’s 24-yard field goal in the 1st quarter. It had to be an interesting halftime with both having explosive personnel, especially special teams, coming in averaging 31ppg. Freshman quarterback Shawn Lee got it started in the 3rd quarter for top seeded Harrisburg on a 1-yard keeper at the 6-minute mark followed by Jadyn Jones running in from 17 yards out in the 4th giving Wilson a brief 10-7 lead. With so many weapons to keep track of, Wilson once again forgot about quarterback Shawn Lee who punched in another one from 7 yards out in the 4th quarter for the winning score. Their bruiser of a fullback, Mahkai Hopkins, kept the sticks moving with 130 yards on 25 carries to lead all rushers. Shawn Lee completed enough passes, 6 of 12 for 56 yards to be effective. KR/RB/WR Kyle Williams kept them guessing all night where he’d show up (Qb?) rushing for 26 yards on 4 attempts and catching 5 passes for 31 yards. Wilson was led by quarterback Brad Hoffman’s 78 yards passing and 39 rushing, and Jadyn Jones with 98 yards and a 16-yard Td run. All in all, not a bad year for Wilson ending the season 9-4, winning back-to-back Lancaster-Lebanon Section One titles, no small feat, and appearing in their 12th district title game. Harrisburg advances to the quarterfinals to play fellow Mid Penn-Commonwealth Division member State College. State defeated Delaware Valley (9-4, D2) 28-19 last week after beating Williamsport (6-6, D4) 17-14 in the D4/6 playoff. The game with State High is a rematch of the game Harrisburg won 15-13 a month ago at home. Knowing SC doesn’t have their strongest team this year, you might attribute the score to a letdown. But everyone back that way realize the Mid Penn-Commonwealth regular season schedule is a grind like no other in the state. End of the day, it’s about personnel and Harrisburg has more than SC, with exceptional talent and speed on both sides of the ball.
5A District-3 Final at Governor Mifflin, Nov 26, 7 PM
#1 Governor Mifflin 10-0 vs #7 Exeter Township 9-3
The story here is Spring Grove gave Governor Mifflin a big scare in front of the home crowd when quarterback Andrew Osmun connected with brother Darien for a 43-yard bomb to take a 7-0 1st quarter lead. Talk about quieting the crowd! The Rockets didn’t win 10 games on luck and clearly came to play. Governor Mifflin being Governor Mifflin responded fast and furiously, scoring 31 points in the middle two quarters. They showed their versatility with quarterback Eden Johnson passing for 102 yards and rushing for 45. Berks Catholic transfer Aiden Gallen had a big game rushing for 157 yards on 25 carries. Not to be outdone, Nicholas Singleton rushed for 193 yards as the big Mustang machine rolled out 540 total yards of offense (438 rushing) in a 38-13 semifinal win over 4th seeded Spring Grove (10-2).
Exeter Township defeated 6th seeded Cedar Cliff (10-3) 42-35 in a wild one at West Shore Stadium, recovering an onside kick with just over 3 minutes left in the game to seal the win. That’s two hostile road trips the last few weeks beating Manheim Central two weeks ago at their place. Exeter’s offense has been a high roller most of the season, especially the last 3 games averaging 43ppg. But they couldn’t quite break away from the Colts at West Shore, with leads of 14-7, 21-7 and 35-20 vanishing. They always kept the lead or even but the Colts never quit. Statistically it was all Exeter, 638 total yards (376ry, 262py) to 285 for Cedar Cliff. Eric Nangle has developed into one of the top backs in central PA, rushing for 334 yards (!) with touchdowns of 46, 4, 5, 59 plus an 83-yard touchdown reception. Colin Payne was sharp, completing 12 of 17 passes, 71%, for 262 yards with an 83-yard scoring toss to Nangle and 24 yards rushing. FB Ty Yocum rushed for 18 yards and had 3 receptions for 90 yards. But Eric Nangle was the star of this show. For Cedar Cliff, Ethan Dorrell threw for 225 yards with Jontae Morris rushing for 135. Heck of a year for the Colts who finished 10-3 while Exeter moves to the final for a rematch with fellow conference member Governor Mifflin. GM won that one 54-21 at Exeter with a 30-7 lead at the half. Hard imagining this game will be any different although Exeter might be smelling blood in the water seeing Warwick put 35 on them 3 weeks ago and Spring Grove doing some damage in a 38-13 loss last week. Exeter has the firepower. It’s a matter of getting a stop or two, something few have done this year.
4A District-3 Final at Bishop McDevitt High, Nov 26, 7 PM
#1 Bishop McDevitt 10-1 vs #2 Lampeter Strasburg 11-1
Bishop McDevitt won their 10th straight game disposing of Berks Catholic 35-7. Stone Saunders stood out completing 18 of 30 passes for 306 yards, with scoring tosses of 56, 27, 13 and 57 yards. Mario Easterly caught 8 for 126 yards and 2 scores, Kamil Foster had 8 grabs for 118 yards and 2 scores with Rico Scott getting 2 receptions for 66 yards and a score. Marquese Williams rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown. All totaled, the Crusader’s had 456 total yards while the defense held Berks Catholic to 128 yards rushing and zero passing. Despite BC losing via transfer quarterback Brad Hoffman who also started for Wilson, finishing with 846 yards passing and 1080 rushing, and running back Aiden Gallen to Governor Mifflin where he rushed for 586 yards, they found their way to a 7-5 record and the 4th seed in a field of 10. Those are serious losses. Well done! For McDevitt, they advance to the final to play two time defending district champion Lampeter Strasburg. McDevitt missed the postseason last year at 6-0 while LS went unscathed in the regular season before losing to Jersey Shore 39-35 in the semifinal, finishing 9-1. A McDevitt win here earns them their 15th district title.
Lampeter Strasburg continued the quest for their 3rd straight district title handling Kennard Dale 31-0. And why not. The program is smoking hot, narrowly missing the PIAA final last year on a heartbreaking loss to Jersey Shore. The year before they lost in the semifinal to Thomas Jefferson after coming back from 20 points down to beat Bishop McDevitt two weeks earlier. They’ve had one losing season the last 23 years with a 31-6 record the last 3 years. Last week’s shutout of 3rd seeded Kennard Dale who finishes at 10-2 was their 5th shutout of the year. Since getting whacked at Warwick in the opener 45-22, they’ve run off 11 straight wins while allowing 70 points, plus those 5 shutouts. That’s 6ppg! They held KD to 98 total yards while expending just enough energy with 255 total yards for an efficient 8.2 yards per point outing. They’ll need to bring that efficiency and more Friday at McDevitt’s Rocco Ortenzio Stadium especially if anyone on McDevitt’s team recalls LS’s 20-pt comeback in 2019, upsetting the Crusaders 30-27. That combined with missing the playoffs last year at 6-0 could add some heat. LS is a fine team but they haven’t met anything near this talent level since getting crushed by Warwick 45-22 in the opener. McDevitt averages 498 total yards a game, led by freshman quarterback Stone Saunders (Mich, Md offers) throwing at 68% for 2672 yards with 42 scores and 2 picks. Freshman! He has D1 targets in Mario Easterly with 876 yards, Kamil Foster at 810 and the versatile Rico Scott who’d be the quarterback were it not for Saunders with 522 yards. Super backs Marquese Williams with and Cyncir Bowers have 1426 and 860 rush yards respectively.
3A PIAA Quarterfinal at Governor Mifflin High, Nov 27, 2 PM
Wyomissing 13-0 D3 vs Scranton Prep 11-0 D-2
Top seeded Wyomissing and 2nd seeded Boiling Springs worked through a scoreless 1st quarter before Wyo figured it out, scoring 28 2nd quarter points and 21 more in the 3rd quarter enroute to a 55-14 blowout in the district final. The Spartans have deposed Middletown as the 3A alpha with their 3rd consecutive title and 10th overall. As always, their trademark Wing-T dominated with Thomas Grabowski rushing for 180 yards and 3 scores, Drew Eisenhower with 40 yards on 13 carries, Amory Thompson getting 70 on the ground and 24 up top, Charles McIntyle running for 52 yards on 2 carries, and sophomore Ryker Jones lighting it up with one carry for a 66-yard touchdown. They have an arsenal of weapons including TE Aidan Mack with 66-yards and a 25-yard touchdown reception. All totaled, they pounded out 432 yards on the ground and 524 total. The Bubblers were led by senior Joey Menke’s 185 yards, ending the season at 11-2. What may have gone unnoticed about Wyomissing is their defense that has shutdown good football teams; egs Pottsville 42-14, Southern Columbia 41-20, Conrad Weiser 45-7, Middletown 14-0 and now the Bubblers. Now we’ll see what they can do against a very strong Scranton Prep team. Typically, this is an easy call with Wyo handling teams from the North and East, going 11-3 from 2016-2020 (13-3 thru 2021 counting Pville, SCA), beating historic winners like Lakeland, North Schuylkill, Pottsville (3-2 series), Danville, Blue Mountain and Plymouth Whitemarsh 44-0 in 2020 going east. But this Scranton bunch looks different, giving Valley View (11-1) their only loss, 17-10, and defeating Wyoming Area (10-2) 28-0 last week, making it look easy. WA’s only loss before this was Southern Columbia 37-30. Scranton Prep is young in key positions with an FBS talent in junior London Montgomery (5-11, a slender 190) with 2360 rush yards (missed 2 games!), offered by Arizona State. He runs behind a line averaging 255 pounds. They score 42ppg and allow 10 with notable wins mentioned above. They’re a heavy run team with only 55 passes attempted. Prep is a heck of a program with a 93-23 from 2011-2020. But they’ll need to bring a high level of physicality demonstrated vs Wyoming Area to hang with Wyomissing who as shown above, have multiple weapons. And at 11-0, you can believe they got the team’s and Coach Wolfram’s full attention.
The winner here plays the winner of Neumann Goretti (11-1, D-12)-Danville (8-4, D-4) at Lehighton High in District 4, Nov 26, 6 PM. Neumann got past a major roadblock last week beating North Schuylkill (11-2, District-11) 26-21, one of the most successful 3A teams in that part of the state. That was a hurdle, not being challenged since Bonner Oct 1st. This week’s opponent Danville, played teams North Schuylkill played or link up to. Egs; Danville lost to Mount Carmel 34-21, a team North Schuylkill handled 33-14. Other connections go through Mount Carmel, Loyalsock Twp and Montoursville with results favoring the Saints. Danville got here after beating youthful but always scrappy Montoursville (7-6) 35-28 in a back-and-forth game. Danville started freshman Madden Patrick (5-11, 165) who threw 4 touchdowns (11-20, 149yds), replacing oft injured starter Zach Gordon (6-1, 185, jr), sidelined with an illness. Gordon’s stats are superior to Patrick’s at 72% for 772 yards and a 12/4 Td/Pick ratio. Too bad he can’t shake the injury bug. Patrick is at 55% for 1170 yards (Gordon out alot) with a ratio of 8 to 9. Gordon’s status for Friday is unknown. Their receivers are Carson Persing (5-9, 170, jr, 53-999), Mason Raup (6-0, 195, jr, 16-232) and Aaron Johnson (5-10, 170, so, 17-296). Junior, Ty Stauffer (5-10, 190) is the lead back at 1348 yards. They’re a young team at the skill spots, averaging 35ppg. Like West Catholic’s opponent this week, Danville has some holes on defense, allowing 21ppg with losses to their quality opponents; Loyalsock (7-6, 26-21, beat in rematch), Mount Carmel (10-3, 34-21), Jersey Shore (113-0, 42-21) and Southern Columbia (12-1, 55-3). While the Ironmen faced high end opponents in SCA and Jersey Shore, they haven’t faced a team with as much talent across the board as Neumann has. They’ll put a more versatile offense with size and speed on the field than they’ve encountered to date. Quarterback Marqui Adams is accurate at 59% for 1892 yards with numerous receivers in Yazeed Haynes (25-468), Admir Batts (22-332), Colton Calleung (19-349), Kevin Thomas (18-207) and Jasir Thomas (20-156). (Many thanks to EasternPAFootball.com, specifically Ed Palmer for gathering all the stats. Thanks Huck). The problem handicapping this one is the Thanksgiving Day game with South Philadelphia. Otherwise, they beat a better team last week in North Schuylkill than Danville will put on the field Friday.
2A
York Catholic’s postseason run came to an end losing to West Catholic 24-7 in the PIAA 2A opening round at Cardinal O’Hara’s field in Delaware County. They ended the season 10-1 while West Catholic (4-7 with forfeit loss, D-12), advances to the quarterfinals against 10-3 Northern Lehigh from District-11 Nov 26, 6 PM at Whitehall High.
This looks like a game the Burrs can win. The Bulldogs are steady offensively with a veteran skill core (Qb, Rb, Wr) centered around Matt Frame’s 1507 rush yards scoring 38ppg. But they can have defensive lapses at 22ppg, allowing 34 to Northwest Lehigh (11-1) in a 34-33 loss, powerful North Schulykill (11-2) who beat them 56-42 and Notre Dame-GP (7-4) who defeated them 34-27. They beat Palmerton (9-3) 64-35 in the 2A title game then defeated historic power Lackawanna Trail (8-4, 52-19 last 6) last week 35-14. After 4 straight home games, this is their first road game since Oct 22nd. West Catholic has to be feeling good about themselves getting past Conwell Egan (8-3) 18-13 then crushing previously undefeated York Catholic (10-1) 24-7 last week. Should say they destroyed YC, outgaining them 476 yards to 150. The Burrs rushed for 370 yards while holding the Irish to 20! They even passed well completing 7 of 12 passes for 110 yards. Their big gun is K’saan Greene with 1243 yards rushing and Zymeen Howell with 504. Some of their leading players on defense are DEs Jayzeen Flynn (6-3, 220, so), David Taylor (6-0, 215, jr) and Ethan Brown (6-4, 225, sr), DLs Chris Forte (6-0, 225, sr) and Isaiah Franklin (6-1, 220, sr), MLB Keaon Athill (5-10, 220, jr) and DBs Howell, Zahir Byrch, Naidir Hilliard and Kahir Thompson. Paraphrased from last week’s write up: WC’s losses came to teams with a combined 46-17 record, including Episcopal Academy (6-4) and Malvern Prep (8-2) of the esteemed Inter-Ac and teams from the respected Philadelphia Catholic League; Bonner Prendie (9-2), Conwell Egan (8-3), Neumann Goretti (11-1) and Archbishop Ryan (5-5), Ryan being one of the better 5-5 teams in the state. You can do some linkage through North Schuylkill who loss to Neumann last week 26-21 and beat Northern Lehigh 56-42. Neumann beat West Catholic 40-6. But if you’re going on the Burrs last 2 games, you have to like their chances Friday night at Whitehall.
1A
District-3 power and defending 1A champ Steelton Highspire joins York Catholic and Boiling Springs on the sidelines after losing to the Canton Warriors 32-27 in 1st round action. The Roller’s end the season 8-3 while Canton (12-0, D-4) advances to the quarterfinal against Old Forge (11-0, D-2) Nov 27, 1 PM at Danville High.
(plus West Catholic-Northern Lehigh, Neumann Goretti-Danville, see 3A and 2A)
6A PIAA Quarterfinal at Harrisburg High, Nov 27, 1 PM
Harrisburg 12-1 D-3 vs State College 7-5 D-6
District-3 heavyweights Harrisburg and Wilson locked horns in an all-out defensive struggle for the district crown in Harrisburg where they combined for a meager 438 total yards of offense. Who says Spreads rule and the big boys don’t play defense? Wilson led 3-0 at the half on Ben Reda’s 24-yard field goal in the 1st quarter. It had to be an interesting halftime with both having explosive personnel, especially special teams, coming in averaging 31ppg. Freshman quarterback Shawn Lee got it started in the 3rd quarter for top seeded Harrisburg on a 1-yard keeper at the 6-minute mark followed by Jadyn Jones running in from 17 yards out in the 4th giving Wilson a brief 10-7 lead. With so many weapons to keep track of, Wilson once again forgot about quarterback Shawn Lee who punched in another one from 7 yards out in the 4th quarter for the winning score. Their bruiser of a fullback, Mahkai Hopkins, kept the sticks moving with 130 yards on 25 carries to lead all rushers. Shawn Lee completed enough passes, 6 of 12 for 56 yards to be effective. KR/RB/WR Kyle Williams kept them guessing all night where he’d show up (Qb?) rushing for 26 yards on 4 attempts and catching 5 passes for 31 yards. Wilson was led by quarterback Brad Hoffman’s 78 yards passing and 39 rushing, and Jadyn Jones with 98 yards and a 16-yard Td run. All in all, not a bad year for Wilson ending the season 9-4, winning back-to-back Lancaster-Lebanon Section One titles, no small feat, and appearing in their 12th district title game. Harrisburg advances to the quarterfinals to play fellow Mid Penn-Commonwealth Division member State College. State defeated Delaware Valley (9-4, D2) 28-19 last week after beating Williamsport (6-6, D4) 17-14 in the D4/6 playoff. The game with State High is a rematch of the game Harrisburg won 15-13 a month ago at home. Knowing SC doesn’t have their strongest team this year, you might attribute the score to a letdown. But everyone back that way realize the Mid Penn-Commonwealth regular season schedule is a grind like no other in the state. End of the day, it’s about personnel and Harrisburg has more than SC, with exceptional talent and speed on both sides of the ball.
5A District-3 Final at Governor Mifflin, Nov 26, 7 PM
#1 Governor Mifflin 10-0 vs #7 Exeter Township 9-3
The story here is Spring Grove gave Governor Mifflin a big scare in front of the home crowd when quarterback Andrew Osmun connected with brother Darien for a 43-yard bomb to take a 7-0 1st quarter lead. Talk about quieting the crowd! The Rockets didn’t win 10 games on luck and clearly came to play. Governor Mifflin being Governor Mifflin responded fast and furiously, scoring 31 points in the middle two quarters. They showed their versatility with quarterback Eden Johnson passing for 102 yards and rushing for 45. Berks Catholic transfer Aiden Gallen had a big game rushing for 157 yards on 25 carries. Not to be outdone, Nicholas Singleton rushed for 193 yards as the big Mustang machine rolled out 540 total yards of offense (438 rushing) in a 38-13 semifinal win over 4th seeded Spring Grove (10-2).
Exeter Township defeated 6th seeded Cedar Cliff (10-3) 42-35 in a wild one at West Shore Stadium, recovering an onside kick with just over 3 minutes left in the game to seal the win. That’s two hostile road trips the last few weeks beating Manheim Central two weeks ago at their place. Exeter’s offense has been a high roller most of the season, especially the last 3 games averaging 43ppg. But they couldn’t quite break away from the Colts at West Shore, with leads of 14-7, 21-7 and 35-20 vanishing. They always kept the lead or even but the Colts never quit. Statistically it was all Exeter, 638 total yards (376ry, 262py) to 285 for Cedar Cliff. Eric Nangle has developed into one of the top backs in central PA, rushing for 334 yards (!) with touchdowns of 46, 4, 5, 59 plus an 83-yard touchdown reception. Colin Payne was sharp, completing 12 of 17 passes, 71%, for 262 yards with an 83-yard scoring toss to Nangle and 24 yards rushing. FB Ty Yocum rushed for 18 yards and had 3 receptions for 90 yards. But Eric Nangle was the star of this show. For Cedar Cliff, Ethan Dorrell threw for 225 yards with Jontae Morris rushing for 135. Heck of a year for the Colts who finished 10-3 while Exeter moves to the final for a rematch with fellow conference member Governor Mifflin. GM won that one 54-21 at Exeter with a 30-7 lead at the half. Hard imagining this game will be any different although Exeter might be smelling blood in the water seeing Warwick put 35 on them 3 weeks ago and Spring Grove doing some damage in a 38-13 loss last week. Exeter has the firepower. It’s a matter of getting a stop or two, something few have done this year.
4A District-3 Final at Bishop McDevitt High, Nov 26, 7 PM
#1 Bishop McDevitt 10-1 vs #2 Lampeter Strasburg 11-1
Bishop McDevitt won their 10th straight game disposing of Berks Catholic 35-7. Stone Saunders stood out completing 18 of 30 passes for 306 yards, with scoring tosses of 56, 27, 13 and 57 yards. Mario Easterly caught 8 for 126 yards and 2 scores, Kamil Foster had 8 grabs for 118 yards and 2 scores with Rico Scott getting 2 receptions for 66 yards and a score. Marquese Williams rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown. All totaled, the Crusader’s had 456 total yards while the defense held Berks Catholic to 128 yards rushing and zero passing. Despite BC losing via transfer quarterback Brad Hoffman who also started for Wilson, finishing with 846 yards passing and 1080 rushing, and running back Aiden Gallen to Governor Mifflin where he rushed for 586 yards, they found their way to a 7-5 record and the 4th seed in a field of 10. Those are serious losses. Well done! For McDevitt, they advance to the final to play two time defending district champion Lampeter Strasburg. McDevitt missed the postseason last year at 6-0 while LS went unscathed in the regular season before losing to Jersey Shore 39-35 in the semifinal, finishing 9-1. A McDevitt win here earns them their 15th district title.
Lampeter Strasburg continued the quest for their 3rd straight district title handling Kennard Dale 31-0. And why not. The program is smoking hot, narrowly missing the PIAA final last year on a heartbreaking loss to Jersey Shore. The year before they lost in the semifinal to Thomas Jefferson after coming back from 20 points down to beat Bishop McDevitt two weeks earlier. They’ve had one losing season the last 23 years with a 31-6 record the last 3 years. Last week’s shutout of 3rd seeded Kennard Dale who finishes at 10-2 was their 5th shutout of the year. Since getting whacked at Warwick in the opener 45-22, they’ve run off 11 straight wins while allowing 70 points, plus those 5 shutouts. That’s 6ppg! They held KD to 98 total yards while expending just enough energy with 255 total yards for an efficient 8.2 yards per point outing. They’ll need to bring that efficiency and more Friday at McDevitt’s Rocco Ortenzio Stadium especially if anyone on McDevitt’s team recalls LS’s 20-pt comeback in 2019, upsetting the Crusaders 30-27. That combined with missing the playoffs last year at 6-0 could add some heat. LS is a fine team but they haven’t met anything near this talent level since getting crushed by Warwick 45-22 in the opener. McDevitt averages 498 total yards a game, led by freshman quarterback Stone Saunders (Mich, Md offers) throwing at 68% for 2672 yards with 42 scores and 2 picks. Freshman! He has D1 targets in Mario Easterly with 876 yards, Kamil Foster at 810 and the versatile Rico Scott who’d be the quarterback were it not for Saunders with 522 yards. Super backs Marquese Williams with and Cyncir Bowers have 1426 and 860 rush yards respectively.
3A PIAA Quarterfinal at Governor Mifflin High, Nov 27, 2 PM
Wyomissing 13-0 D3 vs Scranton Prep 11-0 D-2
Top seeded Wyomissing and 2nd seeded Boiling Springs worked through a scoreless 1st quarter before Wyo figured it out, scoring 28 2nd quarter points and 21 more in the 3rd quarter enroute to a 55-14 blowout in the district final. The Spartans have deposed Middletown as the 3A alpha with their 3rd consecutive title and 10th overall. As always, their trademark Wing-T dominated with Thomas Grabowski rushing for 180 yards and 3 scores, Drew Eisenhower with 40 yards on 13 carries, Amory Thompson getting 70 on the ground and 24 up top, Charles McIntyle running for 52 yards on 2 carries, and sophomore Ryker Jones lighting it up with one carry for a 66-yard touchdown. They have an arsenal of weapons including TE Aidan Mack with 66-yards and a 25-yard touchdown reception. All totaled, they pounded out 432 yards on the ground and 524 total. The Bubblers were led by senior Joey Menke’s 185 yards, ending the season at 11-2. What may have gone unnoticed about Wyomissing is their defense that has shutdown good football teams; egs Pottsville 42-14, Southern Columbia 41-20, Conrad Weiser 45-7, Middletown 14-0 and now the Bubblers. Now we’ll see what they can do against a very strong Scranton Prep team. Typically, this is an easy call with Wyo handling teams from the North and East, going 11-3 from 2016-2020 (13-3 thru 2021 counting Pville, SCA), beating historic winners like Lakeland, North Schuylkill, Pottsville (3-2 series), Danville, Blue Mountain and Plymouth Whitemarsh 44-0 in 2020 going east. But this Scranton bunch looks different, giving Valley View (11-1) their only loss, 17-10, and defeating Wyoming Area (10-2) 28-0 last week, making it look easy. WA’s only loss before this was Southern Columbia 37-30. Scranton Prep is young in key positions with an FBS talent in junior London Montgomery (5-11, a slender 190) with 2360 rush yards (missed 2 games!), offered by Arizona State. He runs behind a line averaging 255 pounds. They score 42ppg and allow 10 with notable wins mentioned above. They’re a heavy run team with only 55 passes attempted. Prep is a heck of a program with a 93-23 from 2011-2020. But they’ll need to bring a high level of physicality demonstrated vs Wyoming Area to hang with Wyomissing who as shown above, have multiple weapons. And at 11-0, you can believe they got the team’s and Coach Wolfram’s full attention.
The winner here plays the winner of Neumann Goretti (11-1, D-12)-Danville (8-4, D-4) at Lehighton High in District 4, Nov 26, 6 PM. Neumann got past a major roadblock last week beating North Schuylkill (11-2, District-11) 26-21, one of the most successful 3A teams in that part of the state. That was a hurdle, not being challenged since Bonner Oct 1st. This week’s opponent Danville, played teams North Schuylkill played or link up to. Egs; Danville lost to Mount Carmel 34-21, a team North Schuylkill handled 33-14. Other connections go through Mount Carmel, Loyalsock Twp and Montoursville with results favoring the Saints. Danville got here after beating youthful but always scrappy Montoursville (7-6) 35-28 in a back-and-forth game. Danville started freshman Madden Patrick (5-11, 165) who threw 4 touchdowns (11-20, 149yds), replacing oft injured starter Zach Gordon (6-1, 185, jr), sidelined with an illness. Gordon’s stats are superior to Patrick’s at 72% for 772 yards and a 12/4 Td/Pick ratio. Too bad he can’t shake the injury bug. Patrick is at 55% for 1170 yards (Gordon out alot) with a ratio of 8 to 9. Gordon’s status for Friday is unknown. Their receivers are Carson Persing (5-9, 170, jr, 53-999), Mason Raup (6-0, 195, jr, 16-232) and Aaron Johnson (5-10, 170, so, 17-296). Junior, Ty Stauffer (5-10, 190) is the lead back at 1348 yards. They’re a young team at the skill spots, averaging 35ppg. Like West Catholic’s opponent this week, Danville has some holes on defense, allowing 21ppg with losses to their quality opponents; Loyalsock (7-6, 26-21, beat in rematch), Mount Carmel (10-3, 34-21), Jersey Shore (113-0, 42-21) and Southern Columbia (12-1, 55-3). While the Ironmen faced high end opponents in SCA and Jersey Shore, they haven’t faced a team with as much talent across the board as Neumann has. They’ll put a more versatile offense with size and speed on the field than they’ve encountered to date. Quarterback Marqui Adams is accurate at 59% for 1892 yards with numerous receivers in Yazeed Haynes (25-468), Admir Batts (22-332), Colton Calleung (19-349), Kevin Thomas (18-207) and Jasir Thomas (20-156). (Many thanks to EasternPAFootball.com, specifically Ed Palmer for gathering all the stats. Thanks Huck). The problem handicapping this one is the Thanksgiving Day game with South Philadelphia. Otherwise, they beat a better team last week in North Schuylkill than Danville will put on the field Friday.
2A
York Catholic’s postseason run came to an end losing to West Catholic 24-7 in the PIAA 2A opening round at Cardinal O’Hara’s field in Delaware County. They ended the season 10-1 while West Catholic (4-7 with forfeit loss, D-12), advances to the quarterfinals against 10-3 Northern Lehigh from District-11 Nov 26, 6 PM at Whitehall High.
This looks like a game the Burrs can win. The Bulldogs are steady offensively with a veteran skill core (Qb, Rb, Wr) centered around Matt Frame’s 1507 rush yards scoring 38ppg. But they can have defensive lapses at 22ppg, allowing 34 to Northwest Lehigh (11-1) in a 34-33 loss, powerful North Schulykill (11-2) who beat them 56-42 and Notre Dame-GP (7-4) who defeated them 34-27. They beat Palmerton (9-3) 64-35 in the 2A title game then defeated historic power Lackawanna Trail (8-4, 52-19 last 6) last week 35-14. After 4 straight home games, this is their first road game since Oct 22nd. West Catholic has to be feeling good about themselves getting past Conwell Egan (8-3) 18-13 then crushing previously undefeated York Catholic (10-1) 24-7 last week. Should say they destroyed YC, outgaining them 476 yards to 150. The Burrs rushed for 370 yards while holding the Irish to 20! They even passed well completing 7 of 12 passes for 110 yards. Their big gun is K’saan Greene with 1243 yards rushing and Zymeen Howell with 504. Some of their leading players on defense are DEs Jayzeen Flynn (6-3, 220, so), David Taylor (6-0, 215, jr) and Ethan Brown (6-4, 225, sr), DLs Chris Forte (6-0, 225, sr) and Isaiah Franklin (6-1, 220, sr), MLB Keaon Athill (5-10, 220, jr) and DBs Howell, Zahir Byrch, Naidir Hilliard and Kahir Thompson. Paraphrased from last week’s write up: WC’s losses came to teams with a combined 46-17 record, including Episcopal Academy (6-4) and Malvern Prep (8-2) of the esteemed Inter-Ac and teams from the respected Philadelphia Catholic League; Bonner Prendie (9-2), Conwell Egan (8-3), Neumann Goretti (11-1) and Archbishop Ryan (5-5), Ryan being one of the better 5-5 teams in the state. You can do some linkage through North Schuylkill who loss to Neumann last week 26-21 and beat Northern Lehigh 56-42. Neumann beat West Catholic 40-6. But if you’re going on the Burrs last 2 games, you have to like their chances Friday night at Whitehall.
1A
District-3 power and defending 1A champ Steelton Highspire joins York Catholic and Boiling Springs on the sidelines after losing to the Canton Warriors 32-27 in 1st round action. The Roller’s end the season 8-3 while Canton (12-0, D-4) advances to the quarterfinal against Old Forge (11-0, D-2) Nov 27, 1 PM at Danville High.
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