Trying to get my arms around this weird year. Not a ton of clarity through one week - teams that were supposed to win won and the first set of marquee match ups start this week with Easton-Freedom. Still, going to try and capture the picture in the Lehigh Valley here.
#1 Nazareth Blue Eagles (2-0)
Can’t begin to explain how surprised I am by this one. Nazareth won D11 6A last season on the strength of an awesome senior class, featuring all time leading passer Anthony Harris (Maine), All State defensive end and EPC Defensive Player of the Year Jake Wilson (Penn State PWO), and All State wideout with 1,000 receiving yards and 10 interceptions Nate Stefanik (Princeton – wrestling). Nazareth tends to regress back after big classes graduate (see: 2011 to 2012), but Tom Falzone’s group is humming through two games. They killed Allentown Central Catholic (my preseason pick as the best team in the Lehigh Valley) in their opener, then shutout Bethlehem Catholic last week. The defense has been the story, holding opposing rushing games to under 50 yards per game, and passing games to a 37% completion percentage. Not a lot of size, outside of nose tackle Cody Breidenbach, but they fly around and are schemed really well. Falzone is an offensive guru (those longtime readers know I’m very high on him as a coach and have been since he was taking Catasauqua to state playoffs) and has senior QB Matt Bugbee looking comfortable as a first time starter. They don’t have the offensive weapons they’ve had in the past, but they execute and have played mistake free football through the first two weeks. They’ve got the top spot until proven otherwise right now.
#2 Parkland Trojans (0-0)
Parkland missed week one because of COVID quarantine, so they are the last team in the Lehigh Valley to get started. Still, big things are expected in Orefield. Junior quarterback Ty Tremba gave the Trojans a real boost last season when he won the job in week 4, and led them on a nine game winning streak all the way to the D11 finals. He’s an option type, really good scrambler and runs with power, but is accurate on the short throws they utilize and has a big receiving corps. Running back Isiah Rico is the bell cow, coming off of a 1,600 yard, 20 TD junior season. They lost a lot on the offensive line – including star left tackle and Penn State recruit Nick Dawkins, but they’ve really reloaded up front this decade and they definitely have size from looking at rosters and projected lineups. They open with Whitehall tonight and are heavy favorites.
#3 Easton Red Rovers (1-0)
You know my policy on this era of Rovers – believe it when I see it. This group is ranked in most state polls (despite D11 opting out of state playoffs), and they certainly have personnel to be good. The defense suffocated Liberty last week, holding the Hurricanes to negative rushing yards until a touchdown drive in the final minute of a 30-7 win. They’re small in the back seven, but have the most team speed they’ve had in years, and Dom Falcone and Tamir Jackson are true impact linebackers. Offensively, it starts with Nahjee Adams. Liberty kept him from breaking off any big runs, but he looked more patient and mature from last season, and did a great job picking holes for 5-10 yard gains on virtually all of his carries, finishing with 24 totes for 124 yard and 2 TDs. The offensive line showed flashes, particularly sophomore left tackle Sean Wilson (6’4 245) who looked a little lost in pass pro sometimes, but also buried two defenders on Adams final touchdown run. Right tackle Donovan Lance (6’3 310) was ejected and they lost to cohesion after that, but assuming he can avoid personal fouls they’ve got solid bookends. Cole Transue was 11-14 for 146 yards, with lots of safe throws to speed guys on the perimeter. Marcus Williams in particular looked dangerous – he was the D11 champ and state qualifier in the 200 as a freshman and has real track speed. He returned a punt for a TD and was scary on swing passes and stretch plays and was lined up in the slot and in the backfield. Still, they left at least 14 points on the board with penalties and turnovers deep in Liberty territory. Talent won out against an overmatch Hurricane team, but this week will be a real challenge.
#4 Freedom Patriots (1-0)
Freedom is kind of in the Nazareth boat – where to go after one of the best senior classes in school history. Despite losing all state players Jared Jenkins (QB – Millersville), Kaden Moore (LT/DE – Virginia Tech), and Jalen Stewart (RB/LB – prep school), the Patriots were a trendy pick to win Northampton County thanks to a really good offensive line and all purpose back Matty Russin. Both looked the part in a week 1 win over Northampton (welcome back to the Lehigh Valley after winning the EPC North the last two years), as Freedom raced out to a 30-0 lead and won 44-20. Russin is tiny (5’8 165) but one of the fastest guys in the league and three breakaway TDs in the first half before leaving with cramps after a 10 carry, 134 yard and 3 TD in the first half. But backup tailback Deonte Crawford also looked like a weapon with 21 carries for 111 yards and two TDs. Again, it’s easy to look good behind an experienced offensive line of Braelin Moore (Jr. 6’3 275), Jacob Schwind (6’3 245), Juan Feleciano (Jr. 6’1 260), Alex Rosado (Sr. 6’2 225) Ryan Frantz (Sr. 6’0 265) and the passing game did its part with Bethlehem Catholic transfer Brian Taylor throwing for 193 yards as the Patriots topped 500 yards of total offense. Jason Roeder has been one of the best coaches in the Lehigh Valley this decade, and it looks like he’s got another contender on his hands.
#5 Notre Dame (GP) Crusaders (3-0)
Notre Dame is the class of the Colonial League and one of the best small school teams in eastern PA has dominated so far. Phil Stambaugh once again has a fantastic offense, scoring 194 points in four games. Their star has been Matt Frauen, who has rushed for 659 yards and has 16 total TDs despite sitting out most second halves. Frauen had to sit out last posteason after transferring from Belvidere, which changed this team for the playoffs, but he’s making up for lost time. Junior Collin Quintano missed much of last season with an injury, but looks healthy and has thrown for 893 yards and 9 TDs to just one pick so far, and five players already have at least 100 yard receiving. It starts with the best offensive line of Stambaugh’s tenure (and thus, the best offensive line in ND history because they don’t have much football tradition pre-Stambaugh’s arrival) of Brandon Guffy (6’1 235), Jake Hull (6’0 220), Tyler Lissey (6’3 285), Lex Rivera (6’4 275), and Josh Hoffert (6’1 270) – with Lissey an FCS prospect and Guffy and Rivera with a bunch of PSAC offers. The Crusaders should be heavy favorites in their four remaining regular season games and I’d absolutely bet on them to win 3A in D11.
#6 East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers (1-0)
The Cavaliers are ranked #7 in the state in 5A and rolled in their season opener with a 69-0 win over Pocono Mountain West. The Panthers don’t really offer a challenge to East Stroudsburg South, but they put them away like a heavy favorite should. This is going to be a very good team – they return 17 starters from last year’s 5A D11 finalists, including all of their offensive skill players and their entire back 7 on defense. The Cavaliers have had a sneaky run of Division I players recently, dating back to Kyshoen Jarrett, and wideout Christian Sapp (Villanova) will keep that streak going. He pairs with running back Christian Arrington to form the best RB/WR combo in District 11. Sapp caught 5 passes for 109 yards and a pair of TDs last week and Arrigton added 10 carries for 89 yards and 2 TDs – all in the first half. There is nobody on their schedule that is going to challenge East Stroudsburg South, which is a shame because this is a really good team that deserves to be tested at some point.
#7 Emmaus Green Hornets (2-0)
Emmaus brings back the second leading rusher in D11 in Brandon Camire plus wideout Jameel Sanders who is the leading returning receiver in the EPC and all conference linebacker Jared Groller. They don’t have tons of depth around those three, but it hasn’t shown itself so far in a pair of mercy rule wins over William Allen and Dieruff. I’m not sure how much those two games tell us, but Emmaus has the talent to jump on some teams.
#8 Allentown Central Catholic Vikings (1-1)
The Vikings were my preseason pick to be the best team in the East Penn Conference, but they were walloped in their second game by Nazareth. Still, the pieces are here. Quarterback Matt Rauscher is a Lehigh commit, Jayden Williams is coming off of a 1,200 yard rushing season, Jack McGorry is one of the best lacrosse recruits in the country and caught 50+ passes as a junior, and on defense Lavon Johnson is an FBS prospect at defensive tackle and Leroy Johnson had a 100 tackle season at middle linebacker. Williams rushed for 207 yards in the opener, but Nazareth took advantage of an inexperienced offensive line to plug his running lanes in their loss. Rauscher has been good, but not great so far, and that is the difference in this team if the passing game can get more in sync. He’s a dual threat, but the timing is off right now – not a total surprise given how weird practicing has been. But they absolutely can challenge Parkland and Emmaus for the top dog in the division.
#1 Nazareth Blue Eagles (2-0)
Can’t begin to explain how surprised I am by this one. Nazareth won D11 6A last season on the strength of an awesome senior class, featuring all time leading passer Anthony Harris (Maine), All State defensive end and EPC Defensive Player of the Year Jake Wilson (Penn State PWO), and All State wideout with 1,000 receiving yards and 10 interceptions Nate Stefanik (Princeton – wrestling). Nazareth tends to regress back after big classes graduate (see: 2011 to 2012), but Tom Falzone’s group is humming through two games. They killed Allentown Central Catholic (my preseason pick as the best team in the Lehigh Valley) in their opener, then shutout Bethlehem Catholic last week. The defense has been the story, holding opposing rushing games to under 50 yards per game, and passing games to a 37% completion percentage. Not a lot of size, outside of nose tackle Cody Breidenbach, but they fly around and are schemed really well. Falzone is an offensive guru (those longtime readers know I’m very high on him as a coach and have been since he was taking Catasauqua to state playoffs) and has senior QB Matt Bugbee looking comfortable as a first time starter. They don’t have the offensive weapons they’ve had in the past, but they execute and have played mistake free football through the first two weeks. They’ve got the top spot until proven otherwise right now.
#2 Parkland Trojans (0-0)
Parkland missed week one because of COVID quarantine, so they are the last team in the Lehigh Valley to get started. Still, big things are expected in Orefield. Junior quarterback Ty Tremba gave the Trojans a real boost last season when he won the job in week 4, and led them on a nine game winning streak all the way to the D11 finals. He’s an option type, really good scrambler and runs with power, but is accurate on the short throws they utilize and has a big receiving corps. Running back Isiah Rico is the bell cow, coming off of a 1,600 yard, 20 TD junior season. They lost a lot on the offensive line – including star left tackle and Penn State recruit Nick Dawkins, but they’ve really reloaded up front this decade and they definitely have size from looking at rosters and projected lineups. They open with Whitehall tonight and are heavy favorites.
#3 Easton Red Rovers (1-0)
You know my policy on this era of Rovers – believe it when I see it. This group is ranked in most state polls (despite D11 opting out of state playoffs), and they certainly have personnel to be good. The defense suffocated Liberty last week, holding the Hurricanes to negative rushing yards until a touchdown drive in the final minute of a 30-7 win. They’re small in the back seven, but have the most team speed they’ve had in years, and Dom Falcone and Tamir Jackson are true impact linebackers. Offensively, it starts with Nahjee Adams. Liberty kept him from breaking off any big runs, but he looked more patient and mature from last season, and did a great job picking holes for 5-10 yard gains on virtually all of his carries, finishing with 24 totes for 124 yard and 2 TDs. The offensive line showed flashes, particularly sophomore left tackle Sean Wilson (6’4 245) who looked a little lost in pass pro sometimes, but also buried two defenders on Adams final touchdown run. Right tackle Donovan Lance (6’3 310) was ejected and they lost to cohesion after that, but assuming he can avoid personal fouls they’ve got solid bookends. Cole Transue was 11-14 for 146 yards, with lots of safe throws to speed guys on the perimeter. Marcus Williams in particular looked dangerous – he was the D11 champ and state qualifier in the 200 as a freshman and has real track speed. He returned a punt for a TD and was scary on swing passes and stretch plays and was lined up in the slot and in the backfield. Still, they left at least 14 points on the board with penalties and turnovers deep in Liberty territory. Talent won out against an overmatch Hurricane team, but this week will be a real challenge.
#4 Freedom Patriots (1-0)
Freedom is kind of in the Nazareth boat – where to go after one of the best senior classes in school history. Despite losing all state players Jared Jenkins (QB – Millersville), Kaden Moore (LT/DE – Virginia Tech), and Jalen Stewart (RB/LB – prep school), the Patriots were a trendy pick to win Northampton County thanks to a really good offensive line and all purpose back Matty Russin. Both looked the part in a week 1 win over Northampton (welcome back to the Lehigh Valley after winning the EPC North the last two years), as Freedom raced out to a 30-0 lead and won 44-20. Russin is tiny (5’8 165) but one of the fastest guys in the league and three breakaway TDs in the first half before leaving with cramps after a 10 carry, 134 yard and 3 TD in the first half. But backup tailback Deonte Crawford also looked like a weapon with 21 carries for 111 yards and two TDs. Again, it’s easy to look good behind an experienced offensive line of Braelin Moore (Jr. 6’3 275), Jacob Schwind (6’3 245), Juan Feleciano (Jr. 6’1 260), Alex Rosado (Sr. 6’2 225) Ryan Frantz (Sr. 6’0 265) and the passing game did its part with Bethlehem Catholic transfer Brian Taylor throwing for 193 yards as the Patriots topped 500 yards of total offense. Jason Roeder has been one of the best coaches in the Lehigh Valley this decade, and it looks like he’s got another contender on his hands.
#5 Notre Dame (GP) Crusaders (3-0)
Notre Dame is the class of the Colonial League and one of the best small school teams in eastern PA has dominated so far. Phil Stambaugh once again has a fantastic offense, scoring 194 points in four games. Their star has been Matt Frauen, who has rushed for 659 yards and has 16 total TDs despite sitting out most second halves. Frauen had to sit out last posteason after transferring from Belvidere, which changed this team for the playoffs, but he’s making up for lost time. Junior Collin Quintano missed much of last season with an injury, but looks healthy and has thrown for 893 yards and 9 TDs to just one pick so far, and five players already have at least 100 yard receiving. It starts with the best offensive line of Stambaugh’s tenure (and thus, the best offensive line in ND history because they don’t have much football tradition pre-Stambaugh’s arrival) of Brandon Guffy (6’1 235), Jake Hull (6’0 220), Tyler Lissey (6’3 285), Lex Rivera (6’4 275), and Josh Hoffert (6’1 270) – with Lissey an FCS prospect and Guffy and Rivera with a bunch of PSAC offers. The Crusaders should be heavy favorites in their four remaining regular season games and I’d absolutely bet on them to win 3A in D11.
#6 East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers (1-0)
The Cavaliers are ranked #7 in the state in 5A and rolled in their season opener with a 69-0 win over Pocono Mountain West. The Panthers don’t really offer a challenge to East Stroudsburg South, but they put them away like a heavy favorite should. This is going to be a very good team – they return 17 starters from last year’s 5A D11 finalists, including all of their offensive skill players and their entire back 7 on defense. The Cavaliers have had a sneaky run of Division I players recently, dating back to Kyshoen Jarrett, and wideout Christian Sapp (Villanova) will keep that streak going. He pairs with running back Christian Arrington to form the best RB/WR combo in District 11. Sapp caught 5 passes for 109 yards and a pair of TDs last week and Arrigton added 10 carries for 89 yards and 2 TDs – all in the first half. There is nobody on their schedule that is going to challenge East Stroudsburg South, which is a shame because this is a really good team that deserves to be tested at some point.
#7 Emmaus Green Hornets (2-0)
Emmaus brings back the second leading rusher in D11 in Brandon Camire plus wideout Jameel Sanders who is the leading returning receiver in the EPC and all conference linebacker Jared Groller. They don’t have tons of depth around those three, but it hasn’t shown itself so far in a pair of mercy rule wins over William Allen and Dieruff. I’m not sure how much those two games tell us, but Emmaus has the talent to jump on some teams.
#8 Allentown Central Catholic Vikings (1-1)
The Vikings were my preseason pick to be the best team in the East Penn Conference, but they were walloped in their second game by Nazareth. Still, the pieces are here. Quarterback Matt Rauscher is a Lehigh commit, Jayden Williams is coming off of a 1,200 yard rushing season, Jack McGorry is one of the best lacrosse recruits in the country and caught 50+ passes as a junior, and on defense Lavon Johnson is an FBS prospect at defensive tackle and Leroy Johnson had a 100 tackle season at middle linebacker. Williams rushed for 207 yards in the opener, but Nazareth took advantage of an inexperienced offensive line to plug his running lanes in their loss. Rauscher has been good, but not great so far, and that is the difference in this team if the passing game can get more in sync. He’s a dual threat, but the timing is off right now – not a total surprise given how weird practicing has been. But they absolutely can challenge Parkland and Emmaus for the top dog in the division.
