Halfway through the regular season and the EPC South is starting to take shape. While their doesn't seem to be a state contender in the mix, there are a host of solid high school football teams which sets up an exciting end to the year. There isn't a great team, but there are a lot of good ones, and your odds of seeing a well played, competitive game are pretty high if you head out to a stadium on a Friday night in the Lehigh Valley. Here are my rankings at the halfway point:
1. Nazareth Blue Eagles (5-0)
Best Wins: Freedom, Bethlehem Catholic: The Blue Eagles knocked off the two conference favorites in back-to-back weeks, pulling way out in front of Freedom then surviving a comeback, and beating up Bethlehem Catholic the following week with a stellar defensive performance.
Biggest Storyline: The emergence of the defense. Tom Falzone, the former Lafayette wide receiver and D11 winning coach at Catasaqua, has been on the cutting edge of offenses for most of his coaching career. He won big and put up big points with the Rough Riders, and has scored a ton of points in his five years at Nazareth. But this is the first year where they only way the Blue Eagles can win is a track meet. They're healthier, and that helps - defensive end Jake Wilson (Sr. 6'3 225) is an FCS prospect and their best defensive lineman in decades, but missed virtually all of 2018 with a broken tibia, and linebacker and leading tackler Ben Houcin (Sr. 6'1 215) did miss the entire year with a torn ACL. Those two have been all league caliber players. They also have difference makers in defensive tackle Cody Breidenbach (Jr. 6'4 290) and early DPOY candidate Nate Stefanik (Sr. 5'10 165). Stefanik, their free safety, leads the state with nine interceptions through five games and has been nothing short of a star. The Blue Eagles lead the EPC in scoring defense, something that has been unthinkable so far in Falzone's tenure.
Remaining Schedule: @Parkland, @Liberty, Whitehall, @William Allen, Easton
2. Freedom Patriots (4-1)
Best Wins: Bethlehem Catholic, Parkland: The Patriots pulled out tough wins in back-to-back weeks, scoring in the final seconds to beat Bethlehem Catholic 24-21, then grinding out the final five minutes of a 21-18 win over Parkland the next week.
Loss: Nazareth: Freedom went down 28-13 and 35-20, before a furious rally in the fourth quarter. The Patriots scored on a 50 yard Jalen Stewart run with two minutes left, but Nate Stefanik broke up the potentially tying 2 point conversion and the Pats lost 35-33.
Biggest Storyline: Freedom, the defending D11 champ who have been to three straight D11 finals, are the most versatile offense in the conference. Quarterback Jared Jenkins, a three year starter and Patriot League/Ivy League recruit, is efficient and accurate, and leads the league with 918 yards and a 68.2% completion percentage. But where they've won games is by wearing defenses out with their battering ram of a tailback, Jalen Stewart (Sr. 6'1 225) and a big offensive line anchored by Bowling Green commit Kaden Moore (Sr. 6'3 315). That threat makes play action with Jenkins deadly, and teams that put extra DBs on the field to contend with the passing game are getting gashed up the middle by Stewart, who can run over most high school back 7 players.
Remaining Schedule: Pocono Mountain West, @Easton, Emmaus, @Allentown Central Catholic, @Liberty
3. Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks (3-2)
Best Win: Parkland: After two tough Christmas City games (a loss to Freedom and a win over Liberty), Becahi embarrassed Parkland in week 4, running all over the Trojans in a 44-7 win, getting 234 yards from tailback combo Tavion Banks and Malik Thomas, plus 186 yard through the air from sophmore quarterback Jared Richardson in his first big varsity performance.
Losses: Freedom and Nazareth: Becahi had Freedom on the ropes. Leading 21-17 with seven minutes remaining, the Golden Hawks went for a fourth and 6 from the Freedom 23, but were stuffed. The Patriots answered with an 81 yard touchdown drive, all but one play on the ground, capped by a Jalen Stewart 1 yard touchdown with 3 seconds remaining in a 24-21 loss. Last week, the normally potent Becahi rushing attack was held to 76 yards on 22 carries in a 27-13 loss to Nazareth, where the Blue Eagles led 27-6 until the final seconds of the game.
Biggest Storyline: Bethlehem Catholic is the Valley's best bet to make a deep playoff run because they are a 4A school and normally don't see a program with their resources or strength of schedule until the state semifinal with Imhotep Charter. Early prognostications were that Becahi could challenge or beat Imhotep this year, unlike in the three years prior. Some are revisiting that after the Nazareth loss, particularly with how much the revamped offensive line got pushed around. Becahi is HUGE up front, with George French (Sr. 6'8 315), Jerry Lyons (Sr. 6'3 295), Dalton Kucher (Jr. 6'4 255), Mike Maldonado (Sr. 6'0 275), and Jake Kanyuk (So. 6'6 290) as big as any group in the state and Tavion Banks is an All State running back who they really rely on. But if that groups gets out physicalled and conditioned like they did Friday, it could be an early exit.
Remaining Schedule: Whitehall, @East Stroudsburg South, Easton, @Emmaus, Allentown Central Catholic
4. Easton (5-0)
Best Win: Emmaus. The Red Rovers have had the softest first half schedule of any contender. After whipping Pocono Mountain West, Whitehall, Dieruff, and Liberty, the Red Rovers needed a late comeback to beat Emmaus. Sophomore quarterback led Easton on a 71 yard touchdown drive over the final 2:13 of the game to beat the Green Hornets 27-26 in a character building win for a young squad.
Biggest Storyline: Nahjee Adams (Jr. 5'11 195) leads all of 6A in rushing with 1,033 yards and looks like the offensive threat Easton hasn't had in a long time (for those of you who like comps, he reminds me of Ovid Goulbourne from the '02-'04 teams who played linebacker at West Virginia). Adams returned kicks as a freshman, and played wideout and corner last season. He really developed physically in the offseason, going from a 5'9 170 pound slot receiver to a 5'11 195 pound every down tailback. He's been an absolute monster so far, with four 200+ yard games and a tough, 25 carry, 108 yard effort last week against an Emmaus team determined to put 8 and 9 in the box and not get beat by Adams. His threat has really eased the transition of sophomore QB Cole Transue, who had a career day against Emmaus, throwing for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns and is completing 66% of his passes and has a 9-2 TD/INT ratio. The offensive line has been exemplary so far, not a surprise as the unit starts four seniors, including Delaware commit Patrick Shupp.
Remaining Schedule: @Allentown Central Catholic, Freedom, @Bethlehem Catholic, Parkland, @Nazareth.
5. Parkland (3-2)
Best Win: Liberty: The Trojans flexed their muscles last week after back-to-back disappointing losses. The biggest thing was they are starting to get healthy, as they welcomed back Penn State commit Nick Dawkins (Sr. 6'3 305) back at left tackle and linebacker Dante Medlar (Sr. 6'2 215).
Losses: Freedom and Bethlehem Catholic. The Trojans scored to come within three points of Freedom in the middle of the fourth quarter. But they never saw the ball again as Freedom grinded the final six minutes off of the clock. That grinding continued the following week, where Bethlehem Catholic did whatever they wanted in a 44-7 win.
Biggest Storyline: Parkland is still struggling to get healthy and find consistency on offense. Isiah Rico has flashed at tailback in wins, but largely disappeared in their two game losing streak. Part of that is health - not having Dawkins, second highest rated lineman in Pennsylvania by 247 and Rivals is a big miss in the run game. In fact, Parkland has been missing Dawkins, Medlar, and safety/wideout Luke Dauberman (Sr. 5'10 185) for the better part of the year, and having three captains out has been a real drag on the Trojans. If they just have their personnel for more of the back half of the year, this could be a team that really improves.
Remaining Schedule: Nazareth, @Whitehall, Stroudsburg, @Easton, Emmaus
6. East Stroudsburg South (5-0)
Best Win: Whitehall 48-21: The Zephyrs are winless, but it is rare for an EPC North team to win a cross divisional game. The Cavaliers schedule gets significantly more difficult in the next two weeks.
Biggest Storyline: How good are the Cavaliers? They're ranked #6 in the state by PennLive and #5 by PA Football News, but their opponents have a combined record of 7-18, and nearly half of those wins belong to Stroudsburg (3-2). If they truly are a statewide contender in 5A, they should be able to throttle division rival Northampton (4-1) this week, and go in and compete with, if not beat, Bethlehem Catholic. Running back Christian Arrington (Sr. 5'11 205) is an early leader for Player of the Year in the North, but can he sustain his production as the schedule ramps up in the next two weeks.
Remaining Schedule: N@orthampton, Bethlehem Catholic, @Dieruff, Pleasant Valley, @East Stroudsburg North
7. Emmaus (3-2)
Best Win: William Allen: The Green Hornets have defeated the teams they are supposed to beat, but the list is not awe inspiring. The Canaries are off to a 2-3 start, but have shown a ground game to contend with. Emmaus put it on them, scoring 62 points on the opening weekend, with running back Brandon Camire running for 225 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Losses: Nazareth, Easton: Emmaus raced out to a 21-6 lead over Nazareth in the first half, with Camire running for 195 yards and three touchdowns in the first two quarters of the game. But Nazareth adjusted and finished the game on a 28-3 run and held Camire to 9 yards after halftime. Easton bottled up Camire for most of the game on offense, though he had a kick return touchdown and punt returns of 45 and 38 that set up scores and gave Emmaus a 26-14 lead in the fourth quarter. But the Rovers scored twice late, including a Nahjee Adams touchdown with seconds remaining to break a four game losing streak to the Green Hornets.
Biggest Storyline: Emmaus had to replace 19 starters from last year's team that went to the D11 final. Common wisdom was that they had missed their window with a really good senior class moving on and that most of their offensive load would fall on the shoulders of junior running back Brandon Camire (Jr. 5'9 165). That hasn't been wrong, as Camire trails only Easton's Nahjee Adams statewide in rushing yards with 810 on the season, and leads the state with 16 touchdowns. His 206 yard, 3 TD effort against Nazareth was a bright spot against statistically the best defense in the Valley. But Adams got the better of the speedy Camire in the battle-of-the-backs, as Camire was held to 58 on 23 carries against the Red Rovers, while Adams went over 100 and scored the game winning TD. Emmaus needs him to be a star to beat one of the teams they're not supposed to.
Remaining Schedule: Liberty, Allentown Central Catholic, @Freedom, Bethlehem Catholic, @Parkland
8. Southern Lehigh
Best Win: Notre Dame (GP): Southern Lehigh exposed the Crusaders, who were ranked as high as 5th in the state in 3A in the early part of the season. Part of it was injuries to the Notre Dame quarterback, but that doesn't explain the 63 points the Spartans were able to hang on their defense.
Biggest Storyline: What is beyond the Colonial League for the Spartans? Southern Lehigh looks like the favorite in the Lehigh Valley's small school conference, with only a week seven trip to Northwestern Lehigh standing between them and an undefeated regular season. The question is starting to become, how does the Southern Lehigh three headed rushing attack match up against East Stroudsburg South in a potential 5A championship game. Neither team has really been tested by anybody on their schedule, so we may have to wait until November.
Remaining Schedule: @Northern Lehigh, Northwestern Lehigh, @Pen Argyl, @Catasaqua, Salisbury
Picks This Week Against The Spread (Born Index)
Nazareth -12.5 at Parkland
East Stroudsburg South -2.5 at Northampton
Southern Lehigh -39.5 at Northern Lehigh
Liberty +10 at Emmaus
Pocono Mountain West +33 at Freedom
Whitehall at Bethlehem Catholic -27
Stroudsburg at William Allen +16.5
Easton at Allentown Central Catholic +31
1. Nazareth Blue Eagles (5-0)
Best Wins: Freedom, Bethlehem Catholic: The Blue Eagles knocked off the two conference favorites in back-to-back weeks, pulling way out in front of Freedom then surviving a comeback, and beating up Bethlehem Catholic the following week with a stellar defensive performance.
Biggest Storyline: The emergence of the defense. Tom Falzone, the former Lafayette wide receiver and D11 winning coach at Catasaqua, has been on the cutting edge of offenses for most of his coaching career. He won big and put up big points with the Rough Riders, and has scored a ton of points in his five years at Nazareth. But this is the first year where they only way the Blue Eagles can win is a track meet. They're healthier, and that helps - defensive end Jake Wilson (Sr. 6'3 225) is an FCS prospect and their best defensive lineman in decades, but missed virtually all of 2018 with a broken tibia, and linebacker and leading tackler Ben Houcin (Sr. 6'1 215) did miss the entire year with a torn ACL. Those two have been all league caliber players. They also have difference makers in defensive tackle Cody Breidenbach (Jr. 6'4 290) and early DPOY candidate Nate Stefanik (Sr. 5'10 165). Stefanik, their free safety, leads the state with nine interceptions through five games and has been nothing short of a star. The Blue Eagles lead the EPC in scoring defense, something that has been unthinkable so far in Falzone's tenure.
Remaining Schedule: @Parkland, @Liberty, Whitehall, @William Allen, Easton
2. Freedom Patriots (4-1)
Best Wins: Bethlehem Catholic, Parkland: The Patriots pulled out tough wins in back-to-back weeks, scoring in the final seconds to beat Bethlehem Catholic 24-21, then grinding out the final five minutes of a 21-18 win over Parkland the next week.
Loss: Nazareth: Freedom went down 28-13 and 35-20, before a furious rally in the fourth quarter. The Patriots scored on a 50 yard Jalen Stewart run with two minutes left, but Nate Stefanik broke up the potentially tying 2 point conversion and the Pats lost 35-33.
Biggest Storyline: Freedom, the defending D11 champ who have been to three straight D11 finals, are the most versatile offense in the conference. Quarterback Jared Jenkins, a three year starter and Patriot League/Ivy League recruit, is efficient and accurate, and leads the league with 918 yards and a 68.2% completion percentage. But where they've won games is by wearing defenses out with their battering ram of a tailback, Jalen Stewart (Sr. 6'1 225) and a big offensive line anchored by Bowling Green commit Kaden Moore (Sr. 6'3 315). That threat makes play action with Jenkins deadly, and teams that put extra DBs on the field to contend with the passing game are getting gashed up the middle by Stewart, who can run over most high school back 7 players.
Remaining Schedule: Pocono Mountain West, @Easton, Emmaus, @Allentown Central Catholic, @Liberty
3. Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks (3-2)
Best Win: Parkland: After two tough Christmas City games (a loss to Freedom and a win over Liberty), Becahi embarrassed Parkland in week 4, running all over the Trojans in a 44-7 win, getting 234 yards from tailback combo Tavion Banks and Malik Thomas, plus 186 yard through the air from sophmore quarterback Jared Richardson in his first big varsity performance.
Losses: Freedom and Nazareth: Becahi had Freedom on the ropes. Leading 21-17 with seven minutes remaining, the Golden Hawks went for a fourth and 6 from the Freedom 23, but were stuffed. The Patriots answered with an 81 yard touchdown drive, all but one play on the ground, capped by a Jalen Stewart 1 yard touchdown with 3 seconds remaining in a 24-21 loss. Last week, the normally potent Becahi rushing attack was held to 76 yards on 22 carries in a 27-13 loss to Nazareth, where the Blue Eagles led 27-6 until the final seconds of the game.
Biggest Storyline: Bethlehem Catholic is the Valley's best bet to make a deep playoff run because they are a 4A school and normally don't see a program with their resources or strength of schedule until the state semifinal with Imhotep Charter. Early prognostications were that Becahi could challenge or beat Imhotep this year, unlike in the three years prior. Some are revisiting that after the Nazareth loss, particularly with how much the revamped offensive line got pushed around. Becahi is HUGE up front, with George French (Sr. 6'8 315), Jerry Lyons (Sr. 6'3 295), Dalton Kucher (Jr. 6'4 255), Mike Maldonado (Sr. 6'0 275), and Jake Kanyuk (So. 6'6 290) as big as any group in the state and Tavion Banks is an All State running back who they really rely on. But if that groups gets out physicalled and conditioned like they did Friday, it could be an early exit.
Remaining Schedule: Whitehall, @East Stroudsburg South, Easton, @Emmaus, Allentown Central Catholic
4. Easton (5-0)
Best Win: Emmaus. The Red Rovers have had the softest first half schedule of any contender. After whipping Pocono Mountain West, Whitehall, Dieruff, and Liberty, the Red Rovers needed a late comeback to beat Emmaus. Sophomore quarterback led Easton on a 71 yard touchdown drive over the final 2:13 of the game to beat the Green Hornets 27-26 in a character building win for a young squad.
Biggest Storyline: Nahjee Adams (Jr. 5'11 195) leads all of 6A in rushing with 1,033 yards and looks like the offensive threat Easton hasn't had in a long time (for those of you who like comps, he reminds me of Ovid Goulbourne from the '02-'04 teams who played linebacker at West Virginia). Adams returned kicks as a freshman, and played wideout and corner last season. He really developed physically in the offseason, going from a 5'9 170 pound slot receiver to a 5'11 195 pound every down tailback. He's been an absolute monster so far, with four 200+ yard games and a tough, 25 carry, 108 yard effort last week against an Emmaus team determined to put 8 and 9 in the box and not get beat by Adams. His threat has really eased the transition of sophomore QB Cole Transue, who had a career day against Emmaus, throwing for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns and is completing 66% of his passes and has a 9-2 TD/INT ratio. The offensive line has been exemplary so far, not a surprise as the unit starts four seniors, including Delaware commit Patrick Shupp.
Remaining Schedule: @Allentown Central Catholic, Freedom, @Bethlehem Catholic, Parkland, @Nazareth.
5. Parkland (3-2)
Best Win: Liberty: The Trojans flexed their muscles last week after back-to-back disappointing losses. The biggest thing was they are starting to get healthy, as they welcomed back Penn State commit Nick Dawkins (Sr. 6'3 305) back at left tackle and linebacker Dante Medlar (Sr. 6'2 215).
Losses: Freedom and Bethlehem Catholic. The Trojans scored to come within three points of Freedom in the middle of the fourth quarter. But they never saw the ball again as Freedom grinded the final six minutes off of the clock. That grinding continued the following week, where Bethlehem Catholic did whatever they wanted in a 44-7 win.
Biggest Storyline: Parkland is still struggling to get healthy and find consistency on offense. Isiah Rico has flashed at tailback in wins, but largely disappeared in their two game losing streak. Part of that is health - not having Dawkins, second highest rated lineman in Pennsylvania by 247 and Rivals is a big miss in the run game. In fact, Parkland has been missing Dawkins, Medlar, and safety/wideout Luke Dauberman (Sr. 5'10 185) for the better part of the year, and having three captains out has been a real drag on the Trojans. If they just have their personnel for more of the back half of the year, this could be a team that really improves.
Remaining Schedule: Nazareth, @Whitehall, Stroudsburg, @Easton, Emmaus
6. East Stroudsburg South (5-0)
Best Win: Whitehall 48-21: The Zephyrs are winless, but it is rare for an EPC North team to win a cross divisional game. The Cavaliers schedule gets significantly more difficult in the next two weeks.
Biggest Storyline: How good are the Cavaliers? They're ranked #6 in the state by PennLive and #5 by PA Football News, but their opponents have a combined record of 7-18, and nearly half of those wins belong to Stroudsburg (3-2). If they truly are a statewide contender in 5A, they should be able to throttle division rival Northampton (4-1) this week, and go in and compete with, if not beat, Bethlehem Catholic. Running back Christian Arrington (Sr. 5'11 205) is an early leader for Player of the Year in the North, but can he sustain his production as the schedule ramps up in the next two weeks.
Remaining Schedule: N@orthampton, Bethlehem Catholic, @Dieruff, Pleasant Valley, @East Stroudsburg North
7. Emmaus (3-2)
Best Win: William Allen: The Green Hornets have defeated the teams they are supposed to beat, but the list is not awe inspiring. The Canaries are off to a 2-3 start, but have shown a ground game to contend with. Emmaus put it on them, scoring 62 points on the opening weekend, with running back Brandon Camire running for 225 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Losses: Nazareth, Easton: Emmaus raced out to a 21-6 lead over Nazareth in the first half, with Camire running for 195 yards and three touchdowns in the first two quarters of the game. But Nazareth adjusted and finished the game on a 28-3 run and held Camire to 9 yards after halftime. Easton bottled up Camire for most of the game on offense, though he had a kick return touchdown and punt returns of 45 and 38 that set up scores and gave Emmaus a 26-14 lead in the fourth quarter. But the Rovers scored twice late, including a Nahjee Adams touchdown with seconds remaining to break a four game losing streak to the Green Hornets.
Biggest Storyline: Emmaus had to replace 19 starters from last year's team that went to the D11 final. Common wisdom was that they had missed their window with a really good senior class moving on and that most of their offensive load would fall on the shoulders of junior running back Brandon Camire (Jr. 5'9 165). That hasn't been wrong, as Camire trails only Easton's Nahjee Adams statewide in rushing yards with 810 on the season, and leads the state with 16 touchdowns. His 206 yard, 3 TD effort against Nazareth was a bright spot against statistically the best defense in the Valley. But Adams got the better of the speedy Camire in the battle-of-the-backs, as Camire was held to 58 on 23 carries against the Red Rovers, while Adams went over 100 and scored the game winning TD. Emmaus needs him to be a star to beat one of the teams they're not supposed to.
Remaining Schedule: Liberty, Allentown Central Catholic, @Freedom, Bethlehem Catholic, @Parkland
8. Southern Lehigh
Best Win: Notre Dame (GP): Southern Lehigh exposed the Crusaders, who were ranked as high as 5th in the state in 3A in the early part of the season. Part of it was injuries to the Notre Dame quarterback, but that doesn't explain the 63 points the Spartans were able to hang on their defense.
Biggest Storyline: What is beyond the Colonial League for the Spartans? Southern Lehigh looks like the favorite in the Lehigh Valley's small school conference, with only a week seven trip to Northwestern Lehigh standing between them and an undefeated regular season. The question is starting to become, how does the Southern Lehigh three headed rushing attack match up against East Stroudsburg South in a potential 5A championship game. Neither team has really been tested by anybody on their schedule, so we may have to wait until November.
Remaining Schedule: @Northern Lehigh, Northwestern Lehigh, @Pen Argyl, @Catasaqua, Salisbury
Picks This Week Against The Spread (Born Index)
Nazareth -12.5 at Parkland
East Stroudsburg South -2.5 at Northampton
Southern Lehigh -39.5 at Northern Lehigh
Liberty +10 at Emmaus
Pocono Mountain West +33 at Freedom
Whitehall at Bethlehem Catholic -27
Stroudsburg at William Allen +16.5
Easton at Allentown Central Catholic +31
