How Did Mt. Lebo Pull it Off

[Patesteel]

2021-2022 Season: SJP had access to athletes from at least 66 different high schools/districts!!!

18 Philly Public Programs: John Bartram, Thomas A. Edison, Samuel Fels, Frankford, Benjamin Franklin, Horace Furness, Kensington, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Northeast, Overbrook, Penn Treaty, Roxborough, William L. Sayre, South Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansion, George Washington, West Philadelphia

21 athletes from 19 New Jersey Programs: Runnemede, Wayne, Greenville, Cinnaminson, Voorhees, Woolwich Township, Vineland, Camden, Little Egg Harbor, Moorestown x3, Collingswood, Blackwood, Westampton, Delran, Sicklerville, Mt. Laurel, Williamstown, Logan Township, Hainesport

27 Greater Philly Area Programs: Wallingford, Phoenixville, Aston, Yardley, Merion Station, Elkins Park, Collegeville, Drexel Hill, Cheltenham, Wayne, Glen Mills, Ambler, Reinholds, Bryn Mawr, Newtown Square, Norristown, Penn Valley, Springford, Jeffersonville, Broomall, Lower Gwynedd, Lafayette Hill, Havertown, Wyncote, Media, Bristol, Berwyn

This does not include several other NJ and greater Philly area programs or even transfers from the 14 other Catholic/Charter Programs – Imhotep, LaSalle, Archbishop Wood, Conwell-Egan, West Catholic, Lansdale Catholic, Bishop McDevitt, Cardinal O’Hara, Bonner Prendergast, Neumann-Goretti, Roman Catholic, Father Judge, Arch Bishop Ryan, Arch Bishop Carroll.

So that is a minimum of exposure to 80 different high schools/districts and actually closer to 100 schools

Mount Lebanon had exposure to athletes from - 1 - Mount Lebanon school district

In high school football, if you can recruit one very good athlete from say 30 different programs, let alone 66 different programs, and work with them as one-way players – You have the makings of a high school powerhouse that continues to reload. Not sure how anyone can look at the numbers and not scratch their head that this thing at SJP is wrong for HS football. Sure all schools have transfers. NOT 21 from NJ and 27 from other suburban districts all on the same team!!!! Coaching only goes so far. Tuition at SJP - $26,000! St. Joe's has plenty of money to take a “travel team” on the road to a few places and play a national schedule where they belong. Most contests would be day trips – Bergen Catholic, St. Francis, St. Johns, Don Bosco, etc. May have to take 2 big trips per year. Just like the other all-star teams do it.

 

[RCH13co18]

2021-2022 Season: SJP had access to athletes from at least 66 different high schools/districts!!!

18 Philly Public Programs: John Bartram, Thomas A. Edison, Samuel Fels, Frankford, Benjamin Franklin, Horace Furness, Kensington, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Northeast, Overbrook, Penn Treaty, Roxborough, William L. Sayre, South Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansion, George Washington, West Philadelphia

21 athletes from 19 New Jersey Programs: Runnemede, Wayne, Greenville, Cinnaminson, Voorhees, Woolwich Township, Vineland, Camden, Little Egg Harbor, Moorestown x3, Collingswood, Blackwood, Westampton, Delran, Sicklerville, Mt. Laurel, Williamstown, Logan Township, Hainesport

27 Greater Philly Area Programs: Wallingford, Phoenixville, Aston, Yardley, Merion Station, Elkins Park, Collegeville, Drexel Hill, Cheltenham, Wayne, Glen Mills, Ambler, Reinholds, Bryn Mawr, Newtown Square, Norristown, Penn Valley, Springford, Jeffersonville, Broomall, Lower Gwynedd, Lafayette Hill, Havertown, Wyncote, Media, Bristol, Berwyn

This does not include several other NJ and greater Philly area programs or even transfers from the 14 other Catholic/Charter Programs – Imhotep, LaSalle, Archbishop Wood, Conwell-Egan, West Catholic, Lansdale Catholic, Bishop McDevitt, Cardinal O’Hara, Bonner Prendergast, Neumann-Goretti, Roman Catholic, Father Judge, Arch Bishop Ryan, Arch Bishop Carroll.

So that is a minimum of exposure to 80 different high schools/districts and actually closer to 100 schools

Mount Lebanon had exposure to athletes from - 1 - Mount Lebanon school district

In high school football, if you can recruit one very good athlete from say 30 different programs, let alone 66 different programs, and work with them as one-way players – You have the makings of a high school powerhouse that continues to reload. Not sure how anyone can look at the numbers and not scratch their head that this thing at SJP is wrong for HS football. Sure all schools have transfers. NOT 21 from NJ and 27 from other suburban districts all on the same team!!!! Coaching only goes so far. Tuition at SJP - $26,000! St. Joe's has plenty of money to take a “travel team” on the road to a few places and play a national schedule where they belong. Most contests would be day trips – Bergen Catholic, St. Francis, St. Johns, Don Bosco, etc. May have to take 2 big trips per year. Just like the other all-star teams do it.

Ur fixated with this. St joes have played all the schools you listed and still play in the PIAA. Same with those schools. They play national schedules and go back to the north jersey catholic league. Imhotep is your issue now. Gv is bumping down to 5a. Mt lebo did it by doing it not complaining and playing the hand that was dealt.

 

[newport]

Now do it for Erie Cathedral Prep, PCC, Allentown Central Catholic and Becahi

 

[newport]

And if I'm not mistaken, the Carroll's/O'hara's/Romans/Lansdale Catholics of the world have access to the same school districts and won a combined 7 games this year, including 1 forfeit win, between the 4 of them

 

[Patesteel]

Ur fixated with this. St joes have played all the schools you listed and still play in the PIAA. Same with those schools. They play national schedules and go back to the north jersey catholic league. Imhotep is your issue now. Gv is bumping down to 5a. Mt lebo did it by doing it not complaining and playing the hand that was dealt.

Oh they complained too. Check out Twitter. Access to between 80-100 schools to pull talent each year is mind blowing. More people should be alarmed that SJP and any program that can unfairly load up a team should not have the luxury of playing teams in the post season not built like them. Don’t really care about SJP. Care about homegrown high school football being polluted by super teams. PIAA needs to man up and level the playing field. SJP should be bringing in talent from Philadelphia only. They have over 50 high schools in Philly alone to draw talent from. I am certain that they could still field a solid competitive team every year. But at least they would be held to the same standard. When you look at the numbers it is ridiculous!

 

[Patesteel]

Now do it for Erie Cathedral Prep, PCC, Allentown Central Catholic and Becahi

Allentown CC and Bethlehem Catholic do not have access to near the number of schools and none of their athletes are from NJ. Comparing apples to oranges. Not sure about Erie and PCC.

 

[roxychknpoxy]

2021-2022 Season: SJP had access to athletes from at least 66 different high schools/districts!!!

18 Philly Public Programs: John Bartram, Thomas A. Edison, Samuel Fels, Frankford, Benjamin Franklin, Horace Furness, Kensington, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Northeast, Overbrook, Penn Treaty, Roxborough, William L. Sayre, South Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansion, George Washington, West Philadelphia

21 athletes from 19 New Jersey Programs: Runnemede, Wayne, Greenville, Cinnaminson, Voorhees, Woolwich Township, Vineland, Camden, Little Egg Harbor, Moorestown x3, Collingswood, Blackwood, Westampton, Delran, Sicklerville, Mt. Laurel, Williamstown, Logan Township, Hainesport

27 Greater Philly Area Programs: Wallingford, Phoenixville, Aston, Yardley, Merion Station, Elkins Park, Collegeville, Drexel Hill, Cheltenham, Wayne, Glen Mills, Ambler, Reinholds, Bryn Mawr, Newtown Square, Norristown, Penn Valley, Springford, Jeffersonville, Broomall, Lower Gwynedd, Lafayette Hill, Havertown, Wyncote, Media, Bristol, Berwyn

This does not include several other NJ and greater Philly area programs or even transfers from the 14 other Catholic/Charter Programs – Imhotep, LaSalle, Archbishop Wood, Conwell-Egan, West Catholic, Lansdale Catholic, Bishop McDevitt, Cardinal O’Hara, Bonner Prendergast, Neumann-Goretti, Roman Catholic, Father Judge, Arch Bishop Ryan, Arch Bishop Carroll.

So that is a minimum of exposure to 80 different high schools/districts and actually closer to 100 schools

Mount Lebanon had exposure to athletes from - 1 - Mount Lebanon school district

In high school football, if you can recruit one very good athlete from say 30 different programs, let alone 66 different programs, and work with them as one-way players – You have the makings of a high school powerhouse that continues to reload. Not sure how anyone can look at the numbers and not scratch their head that this thing at SJP is wrong for HS football. Sure all schools have transfers. NOT 21 from NJ and 27 from other suburban districts all on the same team!!!! Coaching only goes so far. Tuition at SJP - $26,000! St. Joe's has plenty of money to take a “travel team” on the road to a few places and play a national schedule where they belong. Most contests would be day trips – Bergen Catholic, St. Francis, St. Johns, Don Bosco, etc. May have to take 2 big trips per year. Just like the other all-star teams do it.

Ha - look at the time you put in to this!!! Even after the Mt Lebo win, which was a solid win. There are so many assumptions and flaws to this that it’s beyond laughable. Also, it’s apparent between you and the other asshat that this more about West v East. You obviously know nothing about the Prep. You’re just a straight up hater and that’s fine. Now we all know it as you triple down on your disdain for any open boundary schools and any religious affiliations.

 

[Patesteel]

And if I'm not mistaken, the Carroll's/O'hara's/Romans/Lansdale Catholics of the world have access to the same school districts and won a combined 7 games this year, including 1 forfeit win, between the 4 of them

Simple answer to that one - SJP wins gold and whips up in them. If you are a good athlete why in the world would you go to one of those schools? Super teams attract the good athletes from other places which hurts their programs. Why don’t those teams win - all of the good players go to SJP that’s why. SJP just reloads and the other schools get fleeced. SJP will be deadly next year when the next batch of recruits and transfers arrive!

 

[Patesteel]

Ha - look at the time you put in to this!!! Even after the Mt Lebo win, which was a solid win. There are so many assumptions and flaws to this that it’s beyond laughable. Also, it’s apparent between you and the other asshat that this more about West v East. You obviously know nothing about the Prep. You’re just a straight up hater and that’s fine. Now we all know it as you triple down on your disdain for any open boundary schools and any religious affiliations.

Take off your SJP panties! The numbers make this Hershey trip a joke when SJP is allowed to compete!

 

[tulla]

Take off your SJP panties! The numbers make this Hershey trip a joke when SJP is allowed to compete!

The vast majority of SJP students and players enter the school in grade 9. To call any of them transfers is ridiculous. Students move from elementary or middle schools into high schools after 8th grade. I didn't transfer to SJP when I graduated from 8th grade and neither did any of my classmates.

If you moved away from your fixation for a second, you'd realize that developing a team from all those students coming from very different places is, at least in some ways, more difficult than developing a team from students who all come from one place.

 

[RoverNation05]

Allentown CC and Bethlehem Catholic do not have access to near the number of schools and none of their athletes are from NJ. Comparing apples to oranges. Not sure about Erie and PCC.

Bethlehem Catholic can't get their life together when it comes to football and haven't been able to for 20 years. They also do usually have a fair number of athletes from New Jersey. But while their football teams are leaving something to be desired, they've won 9 of the last 12 wrestling state championships - they're every bit SJP football in that sport. I remember when Moss Grays took their coaching job, we sat around Morici's and people openly wondered why Moss would takeover a program that has no feeders and hadn't been relevant in decades (Moss was an Easton state champ, so we cared about his well being as a coach). Somebody wisely said that he didn't need feeders, he just needed kids to realize they could all wrestle for the same team and they'd be unstoppable. Moss never actually made it work at Becahi, but his replacement, Jeff Karam, has done exactly that.

Now, Jeff was coaching at Freedom in Bethlehem, and never finished above 6th in the conference and had three state medalists in ten years. He went to Becahi and within two years they were state champs and a top 20 team in the country - they're now consistently in the top ten. Is that because he went from a mediocre coach to the best coach in the state? Or was it because all of the best kids from one of the top clubs in the state all started attending the same school? It was pretty jarring back in the early 2010s to see Becahi become a just add water state championship and national caliber program. And they've been able to land high quality kids from all over. They've had a state medalists as far east as Hackettstown, New Jersey, as far south as Doylestown, as far west as Reading, and as far north as Stroudsburg.

Here's their lineup this year, currently sitting at #8 nationally after a 5th place Ironman finish without Harmon:
106 - Nathan Desmond (Fr. Nazareth) - 2x Junior High State Champ
113 - Cole Campbell (Fr. Palisades) - Junior High State 3rd
120 - Cael McIntyre (Jr. Easton) - State 6th
126 - Dante Frinzi (Sr. Quakertown) - State 4th, 5th
132 - Kollin Rath (Fr. Pleasant Valley) - 2x Junior High State Champ
138 - Tyler Kasak (Jr. CB East) - State Champ, 4th
145 - Charlie Scanlon (Fr. Freedom) - Junior High State 2nd, 3rd
152 - Andrew Harmon (Jr. Emmaus) - State 7th
160 - Landon Muth (Sr. Northampton) - State 8th
172 - Luke Thomas (Jr. Whitehall)
189 - Auggie Warke (So. Pottsville - transfer in this year)
215 - Nico Spezza (Jr. East Stroudsburg)
285 - Elijah Thompson (Jr. Easton)
On the bench:
106 - Shane McFillin (Fr. Northampton) Junior High State 2nd
113 - Charlie Pavis (Sr. Liberty) - D11 Runner Up
126 - Ashton Campbell (Jr. Palisades) - State Qualifier
152 - Trey Miletics (Sr. Northampton) - State Qualifier
160 - James Deluise (Fr. Bangor) - Junior High State 4th

In the Morning Call’s preseason coaches poll of the "most promising incoming freshmen" in the Valley, eight of them were going to Becahi. Again, this is in one of the most talent rich parts of the country, and they're getting total consolidation of the best of that talent. Plus they added Warke as a transfer after he won 25 matches as a freshman last year at 189. He was one of the elite freshmen in the Valley last year, but stayed at his home school for one year because he couldn't crack the Becahi lineup yet.

This is the kind of thing you can do when you don't have boundaries in one of the most talent rich areas in the country. They also have been smart enough to have a formal partnership with one of the best wrestling clubs in the state, so that Redhawk Wrestling is steering their best youth kids to Becahi - the guy who runs the club is also a volunteer assistant at Becahi, but gets club fees from all of the Becahi kids who then train with him in the offseason. They kind of snaked this arrangement out from under Notre Dame, which was getting the benefit of Redhawk kids for the first couple years of their budding dynasty.

Speaking of, Notre Dame (GP) hired away Bethlehem Catholic's junior high coach, and after having one state champ and three state medalists in school history, were state runner-ups in his first season after brining in three Junior High state champions plus a transfer who was State 4th as a freshman. Last season, they had the first wrestler to win both a New Jersey and Pennsylvania state title with Brett Ungar, who transferred from Hunterton Central (NJ) after winning a state title there as a freshman and won one in PA last season.

Notre Dame
106 - Ayden Smith (So. Dieruff) - State 4th
113 - Cooper Feltmann (Fr. Easton) - Junior High State 7th
120 - Adam Schweitzer (Jr. Bangor) - State 7th
126 - Jacob Wehr (Sr. Freedom)
132 - Brandan Chletsos (Sr. Easton) - State 2nd
138 - Bryson Vaughn (Jr. Easton)
145 - Keegan Ramsey (Fr. Pleasant Valley) - Junior High State 4th
152 - Evan Maag (Sr. Liberty) - State 5th
160 - Holden Garcia (Jr. Phillipsburg NJ) - State 6th
172 - Garrett Tettemer (Jr. Del Val NJ - transferred in as a So.) - NJ State Qualifier
189 - Joey LaPenna (So. Bangor) - State Qualifier
215 - Jared Blobe (Sr. Saucon Valley - transferred in as a So.)
285 - Aiden Compton (Jr. Pen Argyl - transfer in this year) - State Qualifier **ruled ineligible for wrestling**


Compton's transfer hearing case was fascinating - they led him play football for ND, because they determined that his transfer was driven by one specific sport, not the general athletic program. He was a Fargo All American this summer and a state qualifier as a sophomore at heavyweight at his old school, no small feat as an often undersized underclassman.

What the instant success of both of these schools has showed me at least is how relatively easy it is to get very good very quickly if you really want to. Essentially, both schools made the decision they wanted to be good about wrestling, snapped their fingers, and were awesome at wrestling. Nothing stopping you in other sports too other than the talent aroud you.

 

[PhillyHoops1]

So Prep should change their whole admission process at school and not accept students from the Philly suburbs or New Jersey?

 

[paul from philly]

2021-2022 Season: SJP had access to athletes from at least 66 different high schools/districts!!!

18 Philly Public Programs: John Bartram, Thomas A. Edison, Samuel Fels, Frankford, Benjamin Franklin, Horace Furness, Kensington, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Northeast, Overbrook, Penn Treaty, Roxborough, William L. Sayre, South Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansion, George Washington, West Philadelphia

21 athletes from 19 New Jersey Programs: Runnemede, Wayne, Greenville, Cinnaminson, Voorhees, Woolwich Township, Vineland, Camden, Little Egg Harbor, Moorestown x3, Collingswood, Blackwood, Westampton, Delran, Sicklerville, Mt. Laurel, Williamstown, Logan Township, Hainesport

27 Greater Philly Area Programs: Wallingford, Phoenixville, Aston, Yardley, Merion Station, Elkins Park, Collegeville, Drexel Hill, Cheltenham, Wayne, Glen Mills, Ambler, Reinholds, Bryn Mawr, Newtown Square, Norristown, Penn Valley, Springford, Jeffersonville, Broomall, Lower Gwynedd, Lafayette Hill, Havertown, Wyncote, Media, Bristol, Berwyn

This does not include several other NJ and greater Philly area programs or even transfers from the 14 other Catholic/Charter Programs – Imhotep, LaSalle, Archbishop Wood, Conwell-Egan, West Catholic, Lansdale Catholic, Bishop McDevitt, Cardinal O’Hara, Bonner Prendergast, Neumann-Goretti, Roman Catholic, Father Judge, Arch Bishop Ryan, Arch Bishop Carroll.

So that is a minimum of exposure to 80 different high schools/districts and actually closer to 100 schools

Mount Lebanon had exposure to athletes from - 1 - Mount Lebanon school district

In high school football, if you can recruit one very good athlete from say 30 different programs, let alone 66 different programs, and work with them as one-way players – You have the makings of a high school powerhouse that continues to reload. Not sure how anyone can look at the numbers and not scratch their head that this thing at SJP is wrong for HS football. Sure all schools have transfers. NOT 21 from NJ and 27 from other suburban districts all on the same team!!!! Coaching only goes so far. Tuition at SJP - $26,000! St. Joe's has plenty of money to take a “travel team” on the road to a few places and play a national schedule where they belong. Most contests would be day trips – Bergen Catholic, St. Francis, St. Johns, Don Bosco, etc. May have to take 2 big trips per year. Just like the other all-star teams do it.

Got news for you. Most of those NJ locations are no more than a 20 minute commute to St. Joe. Plus there might be some legacies in that group. You know, when the father sends his sons to the same school. Plus you have to take an entrance exam to get in in the first place. That woul;d make a lot of sense to send an athlete to an academic environment that is not the best fit. 4 years of torture. There are a lot of things you don't know about including how the PCL is made up. But the biggest thing is.........TAKE IT TO THE PIAA!! You're not making a lot of progress on these forums.

 

[lilromeo]

Take off your SJP panties! The numbers make this Hershey trip a joke when SJP is allowed to compete!

Go away!!! Congratulations to the winning teams ,particularly from the WPIAL this year. They stepped up big time. BTW I do hope the Prep comes back strong.

 

[ChesmontLeague1]

What a psycho with too much time on his hands! Catholic School karma will catch up w you Pale! Lol

 

[RCH13co18]

Take off your SJP panties! The numbers make this Hershey trip a joke when SJP is allowed to compete!

Now do the number of miles and see how that work out. You so big on NJ and it’s literally a 20 min walk from philly. I’m sure other schools recruit from further.

 

[roxychknpoxy]

Take off your SJP panties! The numbers make this Hershey trip a joke when SJP is allowed to compete!

That’s all you got … looks like you put more in to this than your homework …. Make sure you get the laundry put away and take out the trash

 

[new2pa]

I’m confused. Patesteel are you a Lebo fan or a GV fan?

Lebo won convincingly and GV’s issues - from what I watched - have nothing yet to do with SJP players and their addresses.

 

[RCH13co18]

I’m confused. Patesteel are you a Lebo fan or a GV fan?

Lebo won convincingly and GV’s issues - from what I watched - have nothing yet to do with SJP players and their addresses.

He’s a gv fan and since gv can’t get to the states. He wants all their hurdles erased so they can move forward. Sjp isn’t his issue Bc gv moves down. 5a is a whole different beast. Good luck complaining there.

 

[Hausmann1978]

I think lebo was senior heavy, very talented, and well coached. It takes a special team to knock off prep. Which the 2017 pr team was just like this Lebo team is this year. With that being said preps talent is extremely young (mostly sophomores.) You can expect prep to make it to Hershey and probably take gold the next couple of years. Even though they are playing by the rules I think it makes for an uneven playing field. They are one of the few teams that never has to rebuild or have down years. I love that Lebo pulled out that banner at the end of the game that read home grown.

 

[new2pa]

Ya, uneven is the right word. I think we have both found that it’s not insurmountable though. The rules are the rules. For example in 2018, PR should have been playing SJP in the state finals again. But the rules changed. Use them to get better!

 

[newport]

And yet the best sophomore in the area(by far), and possibly the country, plays for Roman

 

[Stalker]

He’s a gv fan and since gv can’t get to the states. He wants all their hurdles erased so they can move forward. Sjp isn’t his issue Bc gv moves down. 5a is a whole different beast. Good luck

I think lebo was senior heavy, very talented, and well coached. It takes a special team to knock off prep. Which the 2017 pr team was just like this Lebo team is this year. With that being said preps talent is extremely young (mostly sophomores.) You can expect prep to make it to Hershey and probably take gold the next couple of years. Even though they are playing by the rules I think it makes for an uneven playing field. They are one of the few teams that never has to rebuild or have down years. I love that Lebo pulled out that banner at the end of the game that read home grown.

They may well roll the next few. But....there are other Lebo-like teams out there.
Shooting from the hip here but Coatesville, Ridley, CB West will be strong and I'm sure the EPC took stock how well Freedom did, noting some of the luster gone from Hawks. Can mean a lot regardless how good they become.

Harrisburg and Manheim Township return a bundle with Hburg playing a bunch of fresh (qb), sophs. jrs, in part explaining the St Coll loss, ditto Twp with a soph qb and many back. McDevitt probably still 4A and are loaded as another D3 team starting a promising freshman qb; just got offered by Pitt and Kent St after earlier offer from Mich. Freshman! Liked what they saw vs Quips.
Out west New handles that well but it appears Sen Val and Pitt CC will be stronger.

 

[Hausmann1978]

They may well roll the next few. But....there are other Lebo-like teams out there.
Shooting from the hip here but Coatesville, Ridley, CB West will be strong and I'm sure the EPC took stock how well Freedom did, noting some of the luster gone from Hawks. Can mean a lot regardless how good they become.

Harrisburg and Manheim Township return a bundle with Hburg playing a bunch of fresh (qb), sophs. jrs, in part explaining the St Coll loss, ditto Twp with a soph qb and many back. McDevitt probably still 4A and are loaded as another D3 team starting a promising freshman qb; just got offered by Pitt and Kent St after earlier offer from Mich. Freshman! Liked what they saw vs Quips.
Out west New handles that well but it appears Sen Val and Pitt CC will be stronger.

Stalker I agree and would love to see a district 11 or 1 team in the finals or win it all. The last district 11 team to win was 2010 Allentown cc and the last team to make it was 2015 parkland.

 

[2020sports]

Stalker I agree and would love to see a district 11 or 1 team in the finals or win it all. The last district 11 team to win was 2010 Allentown cc and the last team to make it was 2015 parkland.

Staying on topic of "how did Lebo do it?"

Bold Statement... and different perspective:

1) Prediction- Lebo will be there again- Palko is a mad genius, their program and staff is the most consistent in WPIAL at 6A, and Lebo is a great community supporting Palko's vision. Either next year or the year after, Lebo will be there again, not sure winning gold, but will play SJP tight.
2) How about- SJP has great "talent" but could we say that 6 years of development in a wealthy school district with resources (such as Lebo now and PR or NA in past years) might be BETTER? When the coaches have a good program, they "know the kids" for 5-6 years, including middle school. I'm suggesting maybe "those boundary schools" have the advantage OVER the "non-boundary" schools that supposedly "get all the talent?"

 

[Hausmann1978]

Staying on topic of "how did Lebo do it?"

Bold Statement... and different perspective:

1) Prediction- Lebo will be there again- Palko is a mad genius, their program and staff is the most consistent in WPIAL at 6A, and Lebo is a great community supporting Palko's vision. Either next year or the year after, Lebo will be there again, not sure winning gold, but will play SJP tight.
2) How about- SJP has great "talent" but could we say that 6 years of development in a wealthy school district with resources (such as Lebo now and PR or NA in past years) might be BETTER? When the coaches have a good program, they "know the kids" for 5-6 years, including middle school. I'm suggesting maybe "those boundary schools" have the advantage OVER the "non-boundary" schools that supposedly "get all the talent?"

I agree that mt Lebo will be back. Like you pointed out they are a wealthy school district, with great support, and a legend for a coach. They are one of the biggest schools in Pittsburgh and Ive been saying for awhile now that they are a sleeping giant and once everything lined up they woke up. As far as having more advantage then non-boundary schools maybe some of them but not st Joe's prep. You will never see a non-boundary school make it to Hershey 9 out of 10 years in 6A. I think with this team prep has itll be 11 out of 12 years. They will be the favorite to take gold the next two years.

 

[tulla]

I agree that mt Lebo will be back. Like you pointed out they are a wealthy school district, with great support, and a legend for a coach. They are one of the biggest schools in Pittsburgh and Ive been saying for awhile now that they are a sleeping giant and once everything lined up they woke up. As far as having more advantage then non-boundary schools maybe some of them but not st Joe's prep. You will never see a non-boundary school make it to Hershey 9 out of 10 years in 6A. I think with this team prep has itll be 11 out of 12 years. They will be the favorite to take gold the next two years.

Small correction: The Prep has been in the final for eight of the last nine years, not nine out of ten.

 

[Hausmann1978]

Small correction: The Prep has been in the final for eight of the last nine years, not nine out of ten.
[/QUOTE
You are correct but that's still proves my point.

 

[rtecza]

Staying on topic of "how did Lebo do it?"

Bold Statement... and different perspective:

1) Prediction- Lebo will be there again- Palko is a mad genius, their program and staff is the most consistent in WPIAL at 6A, and Lebo is a great community supporting Palko's vision. Either next year or the year after, Lebo will be there again, not sure winning gold, but will play SJP tight.
2) How about- SJP has great "talent" but could we say that 6 years of development in a wealthy school district with resources (such as Lebo now and PR or NA in past years) might be BETTER? When the coaches have a good program, they "know the kids" for 5-6 years, including middle school. I'm suggesting maybe "those boundary schools" have the advantage OVER the "non-boundary" schools that supposedly "get all the talent?"

Talent wins championships. The team will be good but it's hard to replace a 2K passer; 2K rusher; 1K receiver and 4 seniors on offense line and 2 senior TE's. The 6A WPIAL will be really good next year, lots of talent coming back.

 

[rtecza]

I agree that mt Lebo will be back. Like you pointed out they are a wealthy school district, with great support, and a legend for a coach. They are one of the biggest schools in Pittsburgh and Ive been saying for awhile now that they are a sleeping giant and once everything lined up they woke up. As far as having more advantage then non-boundary schools maybe some of them but not st Joe's prep. You will never see a non-boundary school make it to Hershey 9 out of 10 years in 6A. I think with this team prep has itll be 11 out of 12 years. They will be the favorite to take gold the next two years.

Coaching is good but remember Palko had this team 2 years prior. That team was loaded with seniors. Will go down as best Lebo team ever and news flash they were really good when they were younger. Everyone has been marking this as the Year.. They will be good next year but can they replace a 2K passer, 2K runner, 1K receiver. Also the 1/2 defense that has been starting for 3 years.

 

[new2pa]

Coaching is good but remember Palko had this team 2 years prior. That team was loaded with seniors. Will go down as best Lebo team ever and news flash they were really good when they were younger. Everyone has been marking this as the Year.. They will be good next year but can they replace a 2K passer, 2K runner, 1K receiver. Also the 1/2 defense that has been starting for 3 years.

Judging from your username, you have some association with Lebo's awesome RB. Congratulations to you, him and his team.

I've followed P-R for years - and watched our seniors (then juniors) play against your seniors in 2019. You could tell they would be special. But you are correct - its HARD for a "team of the century" to actually live up to their billing. Just look at USC last year. So, big props to Lebo for doing that and becoming the second Public School in PA to beat SJP, which is a big accomplishment. The formula is simple, have talented seniors who play hard and you can win. Nothing against SJP, only accolades to Lebo.

The trick for Lebo will be keeping it rolling. P-R was blessed to go from the 2014 team (seniors who played early) to the 2017 seniors who played early to the 2020 seniors who played early - and still won a ton of games in between championships.

But Coach Palko has done it before. It will be hard, but possible.

 

[BradlyPitt]

are they really the best Lebo team ever? i mean on paper the 2000 WPIAL title team is better, they were definitely bigger, and i would bet Woodland Hills and Cathedral Prep are far better than any team they played this year

how many kids on Lebo this year will play college football, maybe 2? I have a hard time thinking of them as better than the 2000 team that lost two games

I feel like them and 2017 pine richland are rated high simply because they beat St. Joes, both teams were very lucky to play very young St. Joes teams

play St. Joes when they are young, that's the blueprint to beating them

 

[NNFAN]

are they really the best Lebo team ever? i mean on paper the 2000 WPIAL title team is better, they were definitely bigger, and i would bet Woodland Hills and Cathedral Prep are far better than any team they played this year

how many kids on Lebo this year will play college football, maybe 2? I have a hard time thinking of them as better than the 2000 team that lost two games

I feel like them and 2017 pine richland are rated high simply because they beat St. Joes, both teams were very lucky to play very young St. Joes teams

play St. Joes when they are young, that's the blueprint to beating them

Buddy, you really didn't do your homework. That 2000 Lebo team was 11-3 with losses to North Hills 27-0, McKeesport, and Erie Prep 39-14. The 2021 Lebo team blew out just about everybody (including Pittsburgh Central Catholic 47-7) on their way to a 15-0 state title. No Lebo team has ever done what this team did. And they have several kids that will play at the college level. Go look at the scores of their games this year... I think you will change your mind. St. Joes was their closest game this year.

 

[Hausmann1978]

Buddy, you really didn't do your homework. That 2000 Lebo team was 11-3 with losses to North Hills 27-0, McKeesport, and Erie Prep 39-14. The 2021 Lebo team blew out just about everybody (including Pittsburgh Central Catholic 47-7) on their way to a 15-0 state title. No Lebo team has ever done what this team did. And they have several kids that will play at the college level. Go look at the scores of their games this year... I think you will change your mind. St. Joes was their closest game this year.

I couldn't agree with you more this lebo team was stacked. They were senior heavy, well coached and very disciplined. The big 3 played lights out and they are coached by a legend. Not only were they 15-0 they beat everyone convincingly. They have 4 D1 football players I can think of right off the top of my head in Tecza, Heidenreich, Daniels, and Capristo. They were the best team in the state last year.

 

[new2pa]

Where are Daniels and Capristo going?

 

[Hausmann1978]

Daniels is going to Dayton and Capristo will be attending Richmond. They have all their big players in the right spots. That's a D1 qb, rb, wr, and Lt. They also had cooper Austin OL/DL playing at Yale and Grayden Gee Te/De going to be playing at St Francis.

 

[NNFAN]

Lebo's senior class went 20 deep. They were strong at every position. Owen Halter (6'1, 230) was as good of a two-way HS lineman as you'll ever see. He was a standout in the PA vs. Maryland Big 33 game a few months ago. In fact, the Lebo guys stole the show in that game.

 

[Hausmann1978]

Lebo's senior class went 20 deep. They were strong at every position. Owen Halter (6'1, 230) was as good of a two-way HS lineman as you'll ever see. He was a standout in the PA vs. Maryland Big 33 game a few months ago. In fact, the Lebo guys stole the show in that game.

Along with William Harvey who was a big 33 lineman and 1st team all state. To say the 2000 team was better or this team didn't have the big athletes is just crazy. This lebo team was loaded.

 

[BradlyPitt]

Buddy, you really didn't do your homework. That 2000 Lebo team was 11-3 with losses to North Hills 27-0, McKeesport, and Erie Prep 39-14. The 2021 Lebo team blew out just about everybody (including Pittsburgh Central Catholic 47-7) on their way to a 15-0 state title. No Lebo team has ever done what this team did. And they have several kids that will play at the college level. Go look at the scores of their games this year... I think you will change your mind. St. Joes was their closest game this year.

they avenged the North Hills loss

2000 Erie CATHEDRAL Prep had one of the most loaded teams in Pa ever, they would win the state title in most years and also would've blown out this Lebo team

competition matters

you're a stat sheet guy, you look at scores and see blow out and automatically assume that means they were some all time great team, when the truth is there are a lot more have nots these days than haves

I'm much more impressed by 2000 Lebo beating a Woodland Hills team that had Steve Breaston, Ryan Mundy, Brian Borgoyn and numerous other D1 players than I am by anybody 2021 Lebo beat, their best win being against a baby St. Joes Team

 

[BradlyPitt]

Daniels is going to Dayton and Capristo will be attending Richmond. They have all their big players in the right spots. That's a D1 qb, rb, wr, and Lt. They also had cooper Austin OL/DL playing at Yale and Grayden Gee Te/De going to be playing at St Francis.

looks weak when you look at 2000 Lebo

Sam Mathhews running back Penn

Chris Hathy lineman Boston College

Joel Yacovac lineman Cincinnati

Bob Whitaker lineman Kentucky

Kevin Weidl quarterback IUP

Brian Young running back Boston College

2021 LEbo wouldn't beat 2000 Cathedral Prep or Central Bucks West, they wouldn't beat the loaded Woodland Hills team either