My 3A Team of the Decade

[RoverNation05]

This is the “upper-middle” classification - so what used to be 3A, now a hybrid of 4A and 5A. This is considerably less researched than the Big School team, which I follow more closely. But he’s my back of the envelope on this one.

Position: Name, School (Senior Season; College)

QB: Brendan Nosivitch, Allentown Central Catholic (2011; South Carolina/Boston College)
QB: Damion Terry, Erie Cathedral Prep (2012; Michigan State)
QB: Nick Marsilio, Bishop McDevitt (2015; St. Francis)
QB: Anthony Russo, Archbishop Wood (2015; Temple)
QB: Joe MIschler, Erie Cathedral Prep (2017; Ohio)
QB: Hollis Mathis, Penn Hills (2018; William & Mary)
QB: Evan Simon, Manheim Central (2019; Rutgers)

RB: Rushel Shell, Hopewell (2011; Pittsburgh/West Virginia)
RB: Jarrett McClenton, Archbishop Wood (2014; Villanova)
RB: Andre Robinson, Bishop McDevitt (2014; Penn State)
RB: Zane Dudek, Armstrong (2016; Yale)
RB: Journey Brown, Meadville (2016; Penn State)

WR: Brian Lemelle, Bishop McDevitt (2012; UConn)
WR: Kevin Gulyas, Allentown Central Catholic (2011; Villanova)
WR: Kobay White, Bishop McDevitt (2015; Boston College)
WR: DJ Moore, Imhotep Charter (2014; Maryland)
WR: Mark Webb, Archbishop Wood (2016; Georgia)

TE: Colin Thompson, Archbishop Wood (2011; Florida/Temple)
TE: Nasir Upshur, Imohtep Charter (2015; Florida State)

OL: Ryan Bates, Archbishop Wood (2014; Penn State)
OL: Chad Zunich, Manheim Central (2014)
OL: Yasir Durant, Imhotep Charter (2015; Arizona Wester CC/Missouri)
OL: Johncarlo Valentin, Imhotep Charter (2016; ASA College/Baylor)
OL: Nolan Rucci, Warwick (2020; Uncommitted)
OL: Juice Scruggs, Erie Cathedral Prep (2017; Penn State)

O-ATH: Robert Foster, Central Valley (2012; Alabama)
O-ATH: Derrick Davis, Gateway (2020; uncommitted)

DL: Noah Spence, Bishop McDevitt (2011; Ohio State/Eastern Kentucky)
DL: Shaka Toney, Imhotep Charter (2015; Penn State)
DL: Omar Speights, Imhotep Charter (2018; Oregon State)
DL: Dorien Ford, Baldwin (2020; uncommitted)
DL: Damion Barber, Harrisburg (2017; Penn State)

LB: Chase Winovich, Thomas Jefferson (2013; Michigan)
LB: Jake Cooper, Archbishop Wood (2014; Penn State)
LB: Bo Bauer, Erie Cathedral Prep (2017; Notre Dame)
LB: Brandon George, Berks Catholic (2018; Pittsburgh)
LB: Forrest Rhyne, Waynesboro (2018; Villanova)
LB: Matt Palmer, Archbishop Wood (2017; Delaware)

DB: Delton Williams, Erie Cathedral Prep (2012; Michigan State)
DB: Malik Hooker, New Castle (2013; Ohio State)
DB: Jordan Whitehead, Central Valley (2014; Pittsburgh)
DB: Isheem Young, Imhotep Charter (2017; Iowa State)
DB: Charlie Fessler, Erie Cathedral Prep (2014; Northwestern/Richmond)

D-ATH: Billy Lucas, Erie Cathedral Prep (2018; Old Dominion)
D-ATH: Daequan Hardy, Penn Hills (2018; Penn State)

 

[16th&Georgetown]

Nice list Rover but you need to add more Wood kids lol

 

[RoverNation05]

I mean, probably. When you win six titles in ten years (and play in seven finals) the winner gets the spoils.

 

[kitwor]

Great List. I really felt that Nosovich and Damien Terry would of been tier one college quarterbacks. If Nosovich went to Penn State things may of turned out different for him. Terry was with the right team but didn't seem himself when given the opportunity. I probably would've considered Johnson over Mischler also.

 

[RoverNation05]

Great List. I really felt that Nosovich and Damien Terry would of been tier one college quarterbacks. If Nosovich went to Penn State things may of turned out different for him. Terry was with the right team but didn't seem himself when given the opportunity. I probably would've considered Johnson over Mischler also.

As an amateur evaluator, I also totally missed on Nosovitch. Thought he was every bit as good as Dan Persa but 3 inches taller and 30 pounds heavier, and that was as Persa was having a great career in the Big Ten. But, so much has to go right. Did Penn State even recruit Nosovitch hard? I don’t remember them being that much in the mix (nor did they really recruit any Valley guys between Scott and Barkley).

And I hear you on Johnson, he’s certainly in the mix.

 

[kitwor]

As an amateur evaluator, I also totally missed on Nosovitch. Thought he was every bit as good as Dan Persa but 3 inches taller and 30 pounds heavier, and that was as Persa was having a great career in the Big Ten. But, so much has to go right. Did Penn State even recruit Nosovitch hard? I don’t remember them being that much in the mix (nor did they really recruit any Valley guys between Scott and Barkley).

And I hear you on Johnson, he’s certainly in the mix.

I thought Penn State had serious interest but that was at the time that Paterno was let go and the program was in flux. His game vs Wood in the Eastern final his junior year was probably the best game I ever saw anyone have in my 40 years watching HS football. I believe he played the majority of his Senior year with a bad shoulder.

 

[shfoot]

I thought Penn State had serious interest but that was at the time that Paterno was let go and the program was in flux. His game vs Wood in the Eastern final his junior year was probably the best game I ever saw anyone have in my 40 years watching HS football. I believe he played the majority of his Senior year with a bad shoulder.

Yea, that game was played in Bethlehem. ACC opened it up in the second half.
Wood returned the favor at Northeast if you recall, but he also had an ankle injury that kept him from being mobile.

 

[RoverNation05]

I thought Penn State had serious interest but that was at the time that Paterno was let go and the program was in flux. His game vs Wood in the Eastern final his junior year was probably the best game I ever saw anyone have in my 40 years watching HS football. I believe he played the majority of his Senior year with a bad shoulder.

Looking at his 247, it looks like his other offers were from Clemson, Georgia Tech, and UVA before he committed to South Carolina. I just distinctly remember in that era, a lot of Lehigh Valley football folks were frustrated with Penn State ignoring guys, who in a lot of cases became good college football players (Persa, Devin Street, Jarred Holley, Andre Williams)

Yea, that game was played in Bethlehem. ACC opened it up in the second half.
Wood returned the favor at Northeast if you recall, but he also had an ankle injury that kept him from being mobile.

Wood did return the favor, but that was also a VERY different ACC team. The 2010 squad that won it all went 10-0 in league play and had a handful of FCS guys on the offensive line and in the front 7 on defense. The 2011 team went 5-5 in the regular season (lost to DTE, Freedom, Nazareth, Whitehall and Parkland - and gave up 63 points to a Parkland team that didn't even make the 4A district final) before getting hot in the playoffs on offense to set up the Wood game.

 

[16th&Georgetown]

If People’s didn’t break ankle week before, Wood would have won that 2010 ACC game. He played both ways and would have made some plays on D.

 

[RoverNation05]

If People’s didn’t break ankle week before, Wood would have won that 2010 ACC game. He played both ways and would have made some plays on D.

Does ACC get Connor Faust back (their captain, middle linebacker, and best defender who was a Division I baseball player) back from his torn ACL too if we turn injuries off?

 

[shfoot]

Does ACC get Connor Faust back (their captain, middle linebacker, and best defender who was a Division I baseball player) back from his torn ACL too if we turn injuries off?

Here's my thoughts on the two Peoples in 2010. At the time, guys (not 16th) on this board said Wood would be unstoppable if both were health. Defensively, I would say there is some justification, but not on offense. Yes, it's nice to have another weapon in the backfield , but only one Peoples can carry the ball at a time.
Rover: we were told most of the 2010 ACC team came up through the weight program together. Many of the SH kids started playing together at the age of 8. It makes a big difference.

 

[D1 Transplant]

If People’s didn’t break ankle week before, Wood would have won that 2010 ACC game. He played both ways and would have made some plays on D.

Sorry,
No way Wood wins that game with Peoples. ACC lost it's leader and best lineman and still beat Wood. I believe ACC played without it's best running back. Rover can confirm, but I believe they lost their best running back early in the season.

 

[16th&Georgetown]

Wood also lost their all Catholic MLB for that game. There’s a difference between losing and all state RB a week before a playoff game than losing a starting RB early in the season. Plus People’s was all state caliber on D too and would have helped slow Nos to some degree.

 

[RoverNation05]

Sorry,
No way Wood wins that game with Peoples. ACC lost it's leader and best lineman and still beat Wood. I believe ACC played without it's best running back. Rover can confirm, but I believe they lost their best running back early in the season.

I forgot about Shane McNeely getting hurt in the first half of the Wood game and not playing in the title game. He was All State that season and had a really nice career at New Hampshire. Was a big loss for ACC to overcome in the moment.

I honestly don’t remember on the running back. It might have been Faust, he was All LVC as a junior at linebacker, maybe played tailback too? He was big (6’3 225) which wasn’t really the body type for their spread running back, but it’s possible. I mostly brought his injury up to he a jerk if we’re relitigating that semi. He was an All State baseball player who I think may have had a sniff in pro ball after he was All Patriot League at Lehigh. Was an FCS type football recruit too. Really good athlete, not the type of player teams normally lose and still win state titles.

Rover: we were told most of the 2010 ACC team came up through the weight program together. Many of the SH kids started playing together at the age of 8. It makes a big difference.

Yes, all of the guys you remember from that team we’re all CYO kids up through the ranks. A pretty old school, all came from the same couple Catholic elementary schools team. Nosovitch, Gulyas, the McNeely’s, Robb, Sandherr McDermott, were all ACC kids from the time they were in peewees.

That’s one thing that’s interesting locally, I think ACC gets a lot more respect than Becahi for the way they’ve historically gone about their business. They’re thought to do a lot more of their own development versus wooing kids in for their freshman year or later. Even in boys and girls hoops, which is really the strength of their athletic program. Fatzinger pissed a lot of people off when he took over the boys basketball program and going after kids (I think I’ve told those stories on other threads), but he did not last very long for that reason. And just look at the reputations of Jim Morgans versus Bob Stem, or Harold Fairclough versus Jim Henrich when comparing football programs. It’s very rare you hear a cross word when ACC does well, because I think the perception is that they’re playing by the same rules as everybody else.

 

[kitwor]

Wood also lost their all Catholic MLB for that game. There’s a difference between losing and all state RB a week before a playoff game than losing a starting RB early in the season. Plus People’s was all state caliber on D too and would have helped slow Nos to some degree.

Who was the MLB?

 

[kitwor]

Faust didn't play those last two games and McNeely missed most of the Wood game. They were two major impact players for ACC. I remember in the state final vs McDevitt that Faust was in uniform but unable to play. On one play in the second half he actually ran out on the field because they only had 10 lined up. Coach screamed at him to get back on the sidelines. He was really amped for that game.

 

[kitwor]

SHfoot

Your right, all the impact players for that 2010 squad all knew each other for years and played multiple sports together as kids. Their OL & DL was senior laden and an entirely different group was there in 2011. Nosovitch played hurt that entire 2011 year with a bad throwing shoulder. Can't remember the guy's name but the South Carolina assistant that recruited him was at the 2011 game vs Wood.