Rover, others....Wyoming Valley West @ Berwick....what do you think?

[Stalker]

Looks like one of the super games this weekend with impact rolling through the WV-1, AAAA and AAA classifications. This is a tough one to handicap being at Berwick with vets back on both sides.

Berwick (3-0) with a new but experienced QB, some line grads-younger on the lines this year but with backs that can burn you and a real good defense with All This & That sprinkled throughout. Team speed edge. Tremendous emotion in this one in Coach Curry's last hurrah, revenge from last year's 31-21 Spartan win (?) and maybe 7 to 8,000 attending. Wow!

Valley West (3-0) has that monster line. Where do they get these guys almost every year. I was in Harrisburg (somewhere?) catching them in last 5-6 years in a scrimmage and they were huge then. This year; 6-6 310, 5-11 265, 6-0 260, 6-0 225, 6-0 260, TE Wesneski 6-3 235, vet RBs, deep receivers and a new QB getting it done.

Rover, been waiting to see them against quality and guess this will have to do; no disrespect to Berwick but would sure love to see them play if not top tier, a Freedom, Liberty, Naz team to measure them. Video can only tell you so much. Anyway, a great game!

 

[RoverNation05]

Stalk - I think Wyoming Valley West is very good. I'll admit I don't know a ton about Berwick, just that the defense has been fantastic, and that the offense has scored enough points to win.

WVW has some fire power. Wesneski is probably their best skill guy, kind if the perfect Patriot League/Ivy League recruit (I think Colgate is the front runner?) he's a huge TE with soft hands. Not a burner, but has all of the other tools. Judge and Weidman are really good high school football players. And you're right, the line is massive. Bleich, the 6'6 310 sophomore is a dude, I think he'll be an FBS player before it's said and done. They're huge up front, definitely won't get outmanned at the point of attack. But they're not just a big plodding offense though.

I'm most impressed with the way they've churned out QBs. Geno Lewis obviously was a great athlete, replaced by Michael Bauer, who put up huge dual threat numbers and is now playing at Lehigh. And he was succeeded by Brady Davidson, who set all sorts of school passing records last season and is now at ESU. Rolling right along, Aaron Austin has been really good through three starts. At some point, it's not an accident and you have to give Pat Keating and co. Credit for how they develop quarterbacks.

I think WVW wins in a boat-race type game. I don't see how Berwick scores enough to win, and WVW will slowly pull away, maybe. 24-7 type of game? The Dawgs will make them work for it, but I'm taking the Spartans.

 

[RoverNation05]

24-7 was selling the Spartans short, 34-6 final, no offensive points for Berwick. Weidman had two picks, a 64 yard Td run, and a TD catch; not a bad night.

 

[ptomaselli]

WVW is for real. They curb stomped Berwick. Huge up front, a good QB and fast backs/WRs. Wow!

 

[Stalker]

Yeah, you can see they look good....real good against 3-AAA teams....Wyoming, Pittston, Berwick and 4A Del Val, all struggling teams.
AAA-Wyoming (1-3) had no pass attack-threat, overwhelmed 42-17
AAAA-Del Val (2-2) major, major rebuild, crushed 30-6
AAA- Pittston (0-3 b4 Crestwood game) allowed 55 1st 1/2 pts!
AAA-Berwick(3-1) beat 0-3 (1-3?) Crestwood, Pville, 0-4 Dal 1-3, then held under 130 yds, no offensive Tds vs WVW. This is not historic, classic Curry Berwick football.

You play the schedule you get but that's a weak slate and it doesn't look like they're going to get a test, a bad way to enter Sub-regional against old adversaries from the EPC-South.

Note: Looks like Williamsport at 4-0 is going to take one of the 2/4/11 slots!....knocking out who (?) and making all those tight EPC-S games almost playoff like. Plus Stroudsburg has a tough little team getting it together at 3-1 with no loss on horizon except maybe Beca. Same for 3-1 Scranton if they can get past Valley View (big if) this weekend only Valley West is left. This is about as competitive as it's been in some time in 2/4/11/ since ESSouth and Hazelton were putting good stuff out there. Wow, heck of a race.

 

[RoverNation05]

Stalk - District 11 is guaranteed 6 of the 8 spots in the Subregional playoffs. So Parkland, Freedom, Nazareth, Liberty, Easton, Stroudsburg can all get in if they take care of business. Two, but only two, of Scranton, WVW, and Williamsport will get in. There certainly will be a playoff like urgency in EPC South games for the rest of the year, and loss to an Emmaus, Whitehall, or ACC can easily have you on the outside looking in and seeding will be huge.

I think WVW is on the level of Del Val 2012, ESS 2009, and Hazleton 2007, all non-Lehigh Valley teams that were real contenders. They don't have a running back that's going to play in the NFL like ESS or Hazleton, but they've got just as much talent as this years lehigh valley teams.

There's definite parity in the Valley this year, I'm not sure if there's a great team. I think on the whole, the conference was stronger at the top last season (Whitehall, Parkland, and Easton were all very good) but the middle class is much better this time around.