East Penn Conference
1. Whitehall Zephyrs: 2-0
Whitehall took Bethlehem Catholic to task last week, scoring on their first seven possessions before calling off the dogs in a 49-14 win. Quinn Wentling has been excellent, and had nearly 300 yards of total offense and four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) last week. Whitehall has a really strong slate of skill players and after not winning an EPC South game in two years, looks like they’re back to their contention form under third year head coach and former Penn State quarterback Matt Senneca. The Zephyrs host Liberty tonight in one of the biggest events in the Lehigh Valley – the retirement of Saquon Barkley’s jersey, which will have the New York Giants star in the house, along with four time Super Bowl champ and fellow Zephyr Hall of Famer Dan Koppen.
2. Emmaus Green Hornets: 2-0
Emmaus makes the leap after beating previous #1 Freedom last week in a 13-6 slugfest. For all of the accolades Harold Fairclough’s offenses got at Allentown Central Catholic, he’s a defense guy first and always has his units ready to play on that side of the ball. It helps having Jared Groller, the most complete linebacker in the conference. They’ve also gotten solid play out of sophomore QB Josiah Williams and RB Tyliek Jarvis to power a young offense. Williams was excellent against Freedom, going 16-24 for 176 yards, and Jarvis sealed things last week with a 64 yard TD to break open a 7-6 game, and the junior finished with 164 yards. I mocked some of the statewide polls that had Emmaus in the preseason top 10, but they clearly knew more about Lehigh Valley football than I did.
3. Parkland Trojans: 1-0
Parkland spoiled the first EPC South game in Cottingham with a 24-21 win over Easton (covered at length in my thread about the game). Parkland overcame a 21-7 deficit after the first play of the second half, getting both big plays (a 74 yard TD pass to tie it and a 49 yard punt return to set up the winning field goal) and sustained drives (an 86 yard TD drive flipped momentum). Most importantly, they played hellacious defense after halftime, giving up just 23 yards of offense after Easton’s touchdown on the first snap of the half. Sophomore Trey Tremba caught five passes for 60 yards and had the electric punt return that put the Trojans in position to win the football game, and his older brother Ty threw for 194 yards and two scores. Parkland cracked the state top 10 this week, and despite not having a super gamebreaker, looks to be right back in the mix.
4. Freedom Patriots: 1-1
Freedom topples here after a tough loss to Emmaus. The Patriots rushing attack got bottled up by Emmaus, with Deonte Crawford finishing with under 100 yards for one of the few times in his short career. Freedom did a good job of playing bend-don’t-break defense, but didn’t get some of the explosive plays (sacks/turnovers) we’re used to seeing from Jason Roeder’s defense. They host Easton tonight, who they beat twice last year including a 37-7 thumping in the playoffs, and they’ll look to rebound and certainly are a contender to make the 6A title game.
5. Nazareth Blue Eagles: 2-0
Nazareth hasn’t really been tested so far, as they are the only South team to play both of their crossover games. But, they’ve outscored the opposition 100-6, as as the two-time defending D11 6A champions, deserve some credit. They get Parkland tonight in a game that will tell us a lot more about them. New QB Sonny Sasso has throw for 250 yards and three touchdowns and Tyler Rohn has been productive in limited carries due to the lack of competitiven games, but they’ll both shoulder a big load tonight.
6. Allentown Central Catholic Vikings
The Vikings used four interceptions, including three from sophomore Catasauqua transfer Nasir McLean, to hold off Liberty 14-7 last week. ACC is super young, save for three star defensive tackle Levon Johnson, but the returning 4A champs are off to a great start under third year head coach Tim McGorry. They play Saturday against Emmaus in one of the premier games in the Valley this weekend, that again will be a measuring stick for both programs ranked in the top ten statewide in their respective classifications.
7. Northampton Konkrete Kids: 2-0
Obviously a shocking week in Northampton with the death of offensive coordinator Mike Gurdineer, but they are apparently playing still against Stroudsburg. The Konkrete Kids are the best team in the EPC North, and should be 8-0 going into a week nine tussle with Whitehall. Sophomore quarterback Cooper King looks like he might be a force going forward.
8. Liberty Hurricanes: 1-1
Liberty gets the nod at eight on the strength of their win over East Strodsburg South and a tough loss to Central Catholic. Liberty clearly wants to throw the ball with the new regime, and Tommy Mason has shown flashes of brilliance, but the inconsistency that comes with being a first year starter. But just from an executive and production standpoint, this looks like a much different Liberty team than we’ve seen in the past few years.
9. Easton Red Rovers: 1-1
Well, Marcus Williams is really good. After his 6 carry, 6 touchdown, 176 yard performance in the opener, he rushed for a career high 223 yards and two touchdowns against Parkland. He started the game with 12 carries for 185 yards, then had 13 carries for 28 yards for most of the second half. Part of it is Easton needs to have a more competent passing game to get guys out of the box, but the offensive line clearly started to tire against an agile Parkland front. Things don’t get easier tonight with their first road game at Freedom.
10. East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers: 1-1
Bethlehem Catholic falls out of the rankings with an 0-2 start, so we welcome our second North team, the East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers, to the party. Last season’s iteration would have likely been our wire-to-wire #1 as they were one of the best 5A teams in the state, but suffered heavy graduation losses. They should be right there with Northampton in the North and are Whitehall’s biggest challenge in 5A.
Small School (Colonial League/Schuylkill League)
1. North Schuylkill Spartans
The state’s top ranked 3A team hasn’t put together a complete game yet, but has out talented the competition so far. As they get things together, look out.
2. Notre Dame (GP) Crusaders
One hundred points in two weeks is pretty par for the course for a Phil Stambaugh crew. Colin Quintano has nine touchdowns and twelve incompletions, and nearly 700 yards passing through the first two weeks. Ten different receivers have catches. The one thing to watch is no player has more than 42 rushing yards (Quinatno) and only one running back is over 25. They’ve got Salisbury tonight.
3. Northwestern Lehigh Tigers: 2-0
The Justin Holmes show is in full effect. The senior quarterback has 150 yards passing and 286 yards rushing through to weeks, and has accounted for seven total touchdowns. The 6’4 215 pounder is as good an athlete as there is in the Colonial League, and Josh Snyder certainly runs a solid program and has a good team around him.
4. Wilson Warriors: 2-0
Speed kills. The Warriors have outscored their opponents 94-17 in the first two weeks and there are shades of the mid 2000s under Chris Labatch (a linebacker and captain on their 2007 state champs). Cayden Stem is 13-16 for 514 yards and 8 touchdowns, and it is big play city. State finalist in the 100 Damon Simpson is averaging 57 yards a catch and has scored on three of his four reeptions. His brother Damon is averaging 10 yards per carry and 45 yards per catch, with five touchdowns on 14 touches. Zakai Hendricks and Zac Gillen (the other two members of the state finalist 4x100 relay team) are averaging over 30 yards per catch and have four touchdowns between them. They travel to Lehighton this evening.
5. Northern Lehigh Bulldogs: 1-1
The 2A favorites stay ranked after losing a barnburner to #3 Northwestern Lehigh, losing 34-33. Matt Frame has 252 yards and four touchdowns in the first two weeks and is amongst the best running backs in 2A. They’ll be a tough draw in the Colonial League regardless of class, and will be a load once playoff time comes.
1. Whitehall Zephyrs: 2-0
Whitehall took Bethlehem Catholic to task last week, scoring on their first seven possessions before calling off the dogs in a 49-14 win. Quinn Wentling has been excellent, and had nearly 300 yards of total offense and four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) last week. Whitehall has a really strong slate of skill players and after not winning an EPC South game in two years, looks like they’re back to their contention form under third year head coach and former Penn State quarterback Matt Senneca. The Zephyrs host Liberty tonight in one of the biggest events in the Lehigh Valley – the retirement of Saquon Barkley’s jersey, which will have the New York Giants star in the house, along with four time Super Bowl champ and fellow Zephyr Hall of Famer Dan Koppen.
2. Emmaus Green Hornets: 2-0
Emmaus makes the leap after beating previous #1 Freedom last week in a 13-6 slugfest. For all of the accolades Harold Fairclough’s offenses got at Allentown Central Catholic, he’s a defense guy first and always has his units ready to play on that side of the ball. It helps having Jared Groller, the most complete linebacker in the conference. They’ve also gotten solid play out of sophomore QB Josiah Williams and RB Tyliek Jarvis to power a young offense. Williams was excellent against Freedom, going 16-24 for 176 yards, and Jarvis sealed things last week with a 64 yard TD to break open a 7-6 game, and the junior finished with 164 yards. I mocked some of the statewide polls that had Emmaus in the preseason top 10, but they clearly knew more about Lehigh Valley football than I did.
3. Parkland Trojans: 1-0
Parkland spoiled the first EPC South game in Cottingham with a 24-21 win over Easton (covered at length in my thread about the game). Parkland overcame a 21-7 deficit after the first play of the second half, getting both big plays (a 74 yard TD pass to tie it and a 49 yard punt return to set up the winning field goal) and sustained drives (an 86 yard TD drive flipped momentum). Most importantly, they played hellacious defense after halftime, giving up just 23 yards of offense after Easton’s touchdown on the first snap of the half. Sophomore Trey Tremba caught five passes for 60 yards and had the electric punt return that put the Trojans in position to win the football game, and his older brother Ty threw for 194 yards and two scores. Parkland cracked the state top 10 this week, and despite not having a super gamebreaker, looks to be right back in the mix.
4. Freedom Patriots: 1-1
Freedom topples here after a tough loss to Emmaus. The Patriots rushing attack got bottled up by Emmaus, with Deonte Crawford finishing with under 100 yards for one of the few times in his short career. Freedom did a good job of playing bend-don’t-break defense, but didn’t get some of the explosive plays (sacks/turnovers) we’re used to seeing from Jason Roeder’s defense. They host Easton tonight, who they beat twice last year including a 37-7 thumping in the playoffs, and they’ll look to rebound and certainly are a contender to make the 6A title game.
5. Nazareth Blue Eagles: 2-0
Nazareth hasn’t really been tested so far, as they are the only South team to play both of their crossover games. But, they’ve outscored the opposition 100-6, as as the two-time defending D11 6A champions, deserve some credit. They get Parkland tonight in a game that will tell us a lot more about them. New QB Sonny Sasso has throw for 250 yards and three touchdowns and Tyler Rohn has been productive in limited carries due to the lack of competitiven games, but they’ll both shoulder a big load tonight.
6. Allentown Central Catholic Vikings
The Vikings used four interceptions, including three from sophomore Catasauqua transfer Nasir McLean, to hold off Liberty 14-7 last week. ACC is super young, save for three star defensive tackle Levon Johnson, but the returning 4A champs are off to a great start under third year head coach Tim McGorry. They play Saturday against Emmaus in one of the premier games in the Valley this weekend, that again will be a measuring stick for both programs ranked in the top ten statewide in their respective classifications.
7. Northampton Konkrete Kids: 2-0
Obviously a shocking week in Northampton with the death of offensive coordinator Mike Gurdineer, but they are apparently playing still against Stroudsburg. The Konkrete Kids are the best team in the EPC North, and should be 8-0 going into a week nine tussle with Whitehall. Sophomore quarterback Cooper King looks like he might be a force going forward.
8. Liberty Hurricanes: 1-1
Liberty gets the nod at eight on the strength of their win over East Strodsburg South and a tough loss to Central Catholic. Liberty clearly wants to throw the ball with the new regime, and Tommy Mason has shown flashes of brilliance, but the inconsistency that comes with being a first year starter. But just from an executive and production standpoint, this looks like a much different Liberty team than we’ve seen in the past few years.
9. Easton Red Rovers: 1-1
Well, Marcus Williams is really good. After his 6 carry, 6 touchdown, 176 yard performance in the opener, he rushed for a career high 223 yards and two touchdowns against Parkland. He started the game with 12 carries for 185 yards, then had 13 carries for 28 yards for most of the second half. Part of it is Easton needs to have a more competent passing game to get guys out of the box, but the offensive line clearly started to tire against an agile Parkland front. Things don’t get easier tonight with their first road game at Freedom.
10. East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers: 1-1
Bethlehem Catholic falls out of the rankings with an 0-2 start, so we welcome our second North team, the East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers, to the party. Last season’s iteration would have likely been our wire-to-wire #1 as they were one of the best 5A teams in the state, but suffered heavy graduation losses. They should be right there with Northampton in the North and are Whitehall’s biggest challenge in 5A.
Small School (Colonial League/Schuylkill League)
1. North Schuylkill Spartans
The state’s top ranked 3A team hasn’t put together a complete game yet, but has out talented the competition so far. As they get things together, look out.
2. Notre Dame (GP) Crusaders
One hundred points in two weeks is pretty par for the course for a Phil Stambaugh crew. Colin Quintano has nine touchdowns and twelve incompletions, and nearly 700 yards passing through the first two weeks. Ten different receivers have catches. The one thing to watch is no player has more than 42 rushing yards (Quinatno) and only one running back is over 25. They’ve got Salisbury tonight.
3. Northwestern Lehigh Tigers: 2-0
The Justin Holmes show is in full effect. The senior quarterback has 150 yards passing and 286 yards rushing through to weeks, and has accounted for seven total touchdowns. The 6’4 215 pounder is as good an athlete as there is in the Colonial League, and Josh Snyder certainly runs a solid program and has a good team around him.
4. Wilson Warriors: 2-0
Speed kills. The Warriors have outscored their opponents 94-17 in the first two weeks and there are shades of the mid 2000s under Chris Labatch (a linebacker and captain on their 2007 state champs). Cayden Stem is 13-16 for 514 yards and 8 touchdowns, and it is big play city. State finalist in the 100 Damon Simpson is averaging 57 yards a catch and has scored on three of his four reeptions. His brother Damon is averaging 10 yards per carry and 45 yards per catch, with five touchdowns on 14 touches. Zakai Hendricks and Zac Gillen (the other two members of the state finalist 4x100 relay team) are averaging over 30 yards per catch and have four touchdowns between them. They travel to Lehighton this evening.
5. Northern Lehigh Bulldogs: 1-1
The 2A favorites stay ranked after losing a barnburner to #3 Northwestern Lehigh, losing 34-33. Matt Frame has 252 yards and four touchdowns in the first two weeks and is amongst the best running backs in 2A. They’ll be a tough draw in the Colonial League regardless of class, and will be a load once playoff time comes.