PennLive State/Class FB Rankings Week 3

[Stalker]

Pennsylvania high school football week 3 rankings



By Eric F. Epler | eepler@pennlive.com



CLASS 6A

Rank – Team – District – Record -- Previous

1. St. Joseph’s Prep (12) – 2-1 – 1

2. Garnet Valley (1) – 3-0 – 3

3. Pittsburgh C.C. (7) – 2-1 – 4

4. Emmaus (11) -- 3-0 – 5

5. State College (6) – 3-0 – 6

6. North Allegheny (7) -- 3-0 – 10

7. Coatesville (1) -- 3-0 – 9

8. Cumberland Valley (3) -- 3-0 – NR

9. Manheim Township (3) -- 2-1 – NR

10. Harrisburg (3) – 1-1 – 2

Teams to watch: Central Bucks East (1) 3-0, Central York (3) 2-1, McDowell (10) 2-1, Nazareth (11) 3-0, Parkland 2-1.



CLASS 5A

Rank – Team – District – Record -- Previous

1. Imhotep Charter (12) – 1-1 – 1

2. Upper Dublin (1) – 3-0 – 2

3. Gateway (7) -- 3-0 – 3

4. Exeter Township (3) – 3-0 – 4

5. Cathedral Prep (10) – 2-1 – 5

6. Roman Catholic (12) -- 3-0 – 6

7. Penn Hills (7) – 2-1 – 7

8. West Chester Rustin (1) – 2-0 – 8

9. Strath Haven (1) -- 3-0 – 9

10. Upper St. Clair (7) -- 3-0 – 10

Teams to watch: Chester (1) 3-0, Penn-Trafford (7) 2-1, Peters Township (7) 3-0, Shippensburg (3) 3-0, Solanco (3) 3-0.



Class 4A

Rank – Team – District – Record -- Previous

1. Aliquippa (7) – 2-0 – 1

2. Bishop McDevitt (3) – 1-1 – 2

3. Jersey Shore (4) – 3-0 – 3

4. Central Valley (7) – 3-0 – 4

5. Allentown C.C. (11) – 2-1 – 5

6. Thomas Jefferson (7) – 2-1 – 6

7. Meadville (10) – 3-0 – 7

8. McKeesport (7) – 3-0 – 8

9. Manheim Central (3) -- 3-0 – 9

10. Pope John Paul II (1) -- 3-0 – 10

Teams to watch: Armstrong (7) 2-1, Bethlehem Catholic (11) 2-1, Dallas (2) 3-0), Lampeter-Strasburg (3) 2-1, West Allegheny (7) 3-0.



CLASS 3A

Rank – Team – District – Record -- Previous

1. Wyomissing (3) – 3-0 – 2

2. Belle Vernon (7) – 1-1 – 1

3. Danville (4) – 3-0 – 3

4. Elizabeth Forward (7) – 3-0 – 4

5. Loyalsock (4) -- 3-0 – 6

6. Oil City (10) -- 3-0 – 7

7. Avonworth (7) -- 2-1 – 9

8. Penn Cambria (6) -- 3-0 – NR

9. Lancaster Catholic (3) -- 3-0 – 10

10. North Schuylkill (11) -- 2-1 – NR

Teams to watch: Freeport (7) 3-0, Hickory (10) 2-1, Neumann-Goretti (12) 0-1, Northwestern Lehigh (11) 2-1, Sharon (10) 2-1.



CLASS 2A

Rank – Team – District – Record -- Previous

1. Farrell (10) – 2-1 – 2

2. Mount Carmel (4) – 3-0 – 3

3. Southern Columbia (4) – 2-1 – 1

4. Richland Township (6) – 3-0 – 4

5. Lakeland (2) – 3-0 – 5

6. Sharpsville (10) -- 3-0 – 6

7. Steel Valley (7) -- 2-0 – 7

8. Bishop Guilfoyle (6) – 2-1 – 8

9. Berlin Brothersvalley (5) -- 3-0 – 9

10. Williams Valley (11) -- 3-0 – 10

Teams to watch: Beaver Falls (7) 2-1, Bedford (5) 3-0, Camp Hill (3) 3-0, Neshannock (7) 3-0, Westinghouse (8) 3-0.



CLASS 1A

Rank – Team – District – Record -- Previous

1. Canton (4) – 3-0 – 1

2. Steelton-Highspire (3) – 1-1 – 2

3. Bishop Canevin (7) – 2-1 – 3

4. OLSH (7) – 3-0 – 4

5. Northern Lehigh (11) -- 3-0 – 10

6. Tri-Valley (11) -- 3-0 – 8

7. Reynolds (10) – 2-1 – 5

8. Muncy (4) – 2-0 – 9

9. Redbank Valley (9) -- 3-0 – NR

10. Windber (5) -- 3-0 – NR

Teams to watch: Leechburg (7) 2-1, Northern Bedford (5) 3-0, Penns Manor (6) 3-0, Rochester (7) 1-1.

 

[Hausmann1978]

Being a district 10 guy how did Erie prep go from 2 to 5 with a loss to archbishop Hoban. Especially after they beat Clarkson North who went on to blow out mentor oh the following week. They should be number 1 or maybe 2 in 5A. No way should meadville be above McKeesport. McKeesport should be top 4 and could very easily win the wpial the year. Bobby Boyd is a stud and balled out against belle Vernon. Also oil city in 3A is the real deal. They have a monstrous line and they aren't just fat slops. They are giant farm boys and they could be one of the best lines in western pa with their smallest guy being a 240 lb tightened. They could beat belle Vernon or whoever comes out of the wpial.

 

[Stalker]

Being a district 10 guy how did Erie prep go from 2 to 5 with a loss to archbishop Hoban. Especially after they beat Clarkson North who went on to blow out mentor oh the following week. They should be number 1 or maybe 2 in 5A. No way should meadville be above McKeesport. McKeesport should be top 4 and could very easily win the wpial the year. Bobby Boyd is a stud and balled out against belle Vernon. Also oil city in 3A is the real deal. They have a monstrous line and they aren't just fat slops. They are giant farm boys and they could be one of the best lines in western pa with their smallest guy being a 240 lb tightened. They could beat belle Vernon or whoever comes out of the wpial.

Can say on doing District 3 writeups/rankings, it's a challenge balancing things out. A team that won might slide down if 'jumped' by another that won more impressively, beat a better team or now looks better, healthier, etc.
When doing the District-3 ranking, I don't hold it against a team for losing to an out of district or state team because it's a District 3 ranking. I'm measuring them against each other.

End of day it's just an opinion and in my case and more importantly........a forum to get out information guys might otherwise not see; stats, some history, forecasts and so forth.

**** About PennLive, also consider they're trying to satisfy a large audience.

 

[RoverNation05]

Adding to Stalk, I'm not sure how PennLive votes anymore. In the heyday of the Harrisburg-Patriot News, they polled fellow football writers across the state (at least in sister papers) for their rankings - the closest thing to an AP Poll we've had in Pennsylvania since the actual AP and UPI polls in the 60s and 70s. With staff cuts and the decline of local sports sections in general, I think these rankings are just put together by Eric Epler. Different beast.

For instance, Emmaus at #4 jumps out at me. But I know how they got there - Freedom was ranked #4 or #5 coming into the season because they pushed SJP in the playoffs last year and brought back a lot. When Emmaus beat them in week 1, Emmaus essentially claimed Freedom's spot and will stay there until they lose. I'd quibble with the District 11 team automatically being ranked behind the highest District 1 team - I'm sure a function of the D1 team losing to SJP in semis instead of quarters, despite the fact that is just bracket mechanics and not necessarily a measure of how good the teams are. But I'm not actually sure how good Emmaus is - they're a nice high school football team that is super well coached, plays really good defense, but doesn't appear to have overwhelming talent. But what do I know.

 

[Hausmann1978]

Adding to Stalk, I'm not sure how PennLive votes anymore. In the heyday of the Harrisburg-Patriot News, they polled fellow football writers across the state (at least in sister papers) for their rankings - the closest thing to an AP Poll we've had in Pennsylvania since the actual AP and UPI polls in the 60s and 70s. With staff cuts and the decline of local sports sections in general, I think these rankings are just put together by Eric Epler. Different beast.

For instance, Emmaus at #4 jumps out at me. But I know how they got there - Freedom was ranked #4 or #5 coming into the season because they pushed SJP in the playoffs last year and brought back a lot. When Emmaus beat them in week 1, Emmaus essentially claimed Freedom's spot and will stay there until they lose. I'd quibble with the District 11 team automatically being ranked behind the highest District 1 team - I'm sure a function of the D1 team losing to SJP in semis instead of quarters, despite the fact that is just bracket mechanics and not necessarily a measure of how good the teams are. But I'm not actually sure how good Emmaus is - they're a nice high school football team that is super well coached, plays really good defense, but doesn't appear to have overwhelming talent. But what do I know.

The way I would rank the teams is if those teams played each other who would come out on top so I have to agree with rankings a district 11 team over a district 1. I think district 7 and 12 top teams need to be at the top and history has proven that.

 

[RoverNation05]

The way I would rank the teams is if those teams played each other who would come out on top so I have to agree with rankings a district 11 team over a district 1. I think district 7 and 12 top teams need to be at the top and history has proven that.

I was kind of making two points that got mushed together by my poor writing
1. Emmaus at #4 feels high to me, I have a hard time believing that there are only 3 teams better than them
2. But my benefit of the doubt as to one of those teams wouldn’t be Garnet Valley and I think D1 gets a bump over D11 without the evidence to back it up going back to about 2004.

The end conclusion is that 6A is kind of bad this year, which has been discussed elsewhere. This was a pretty obvious result of going to 6 classes.

 

[D1 Transplant]

Rover,

Funny you mentioned 2004 as the last time District One beat a District 11 team in playoffs. A great game with the Rovers losing to a pretty good Neshaminy team on a very muddy Bensalem field.

 

[RoverNation05]

Rover,

Funny you mentioned 2004 as the last time District One beat a District 11 team in playoffs. A great game with the Rovers losing to a pretty good Neshaminy team on a very muddy Bensalem field.

I mentioned that specifically for that reason - I think that is the last time a D1 team beat a D11 team in state playoffs.

Great game, weird game. Neshaminy didn’t punt - but Easton forced four (five?) turnovers and Kevin Kelly missed three field goals. Neshaminy scored the game winner with like 1:15 left - I can’t remember if the hook and lateral set up that touchdown or the one before it. But Easton drove inside the Neshaminy 10 in the desperation drive at the the end (huge catch and run by then freshman Jarred Holley), and had the tying touchdown hit the tight end in the numbers on the second to last play of the game. Threw a pick on a desperation heave to end it. That was such a fun team