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SJP is the only private school left in the 6A bracket.
Wood is the only one left in the 5A bracket.
The 4A bracket has 4 left: BeCaHi, Berks, ECP, & HBG McDevitt.
Scranton Prep & Conwell-Egan are the only left in 3A.
West & York Catholic are the privates left in 2A.
Sacred Heart is the only one left in 1A.
11 of 45 schools. Wow. 24%. What a massive problem! LOL
At thIs point, it is only possible for 2 private school teams to be left in 6A. The PCL winner and if PCC wins D7. There are no private schools in 6A in any time other district.
Wood is the only private school in all of 5A.
In 4A, only Bishop Shanahan and the PCL winner are not left. Every other spot that could be filled by a private school is.
In 3A, only two of five possible private school spots are filled with North Catholic, Mercyhurst Prep, and Lancaster Catholic all out.
In 2A, the only other possible private school left would be Seton LaSalle. There are no private schools in any other district.
In 1A, there are private schools in D2, D6, D9, and D11 that are all knocked out.
So the actual numbers are:
6A: 1 of 2
5A: 1 of 1
4A: 4 of 6
3A: 2 of 5
2A: 2 of 3
1A: 1 of 5
Private schools are in 11 of 22 possible games left at this point (50%) and 6 of 9 (67%) in the three largest classifications.
At thIs point, it is only possible for 2 private school teams to be left in 6A. The PCL winner and if PCC wins D7. There are no private schools in 6A in any time other district.
Wood is the only private school in all of 5A.
In 4A, only Bishop Shanahan and the PCL winner are not left. Every other spot that could be filled by a private school is.
In 3A, only two of five possible private school spots are filled with North Catholic, Mercyhurst Prep, and Lancaster Catholic all out.
In 2A, the only other possible private school left would be Seton LaSalle. There are no private schools in any other district.
In 1A, there are private schools in D2, D6, D9, and D11 that are all knocked out.
So the actual numbers are:
6A: 1 of 2
5A: 1 of 1
4A: 4 of 6
3A: 2 of 5
2A: 2 of 3
1A: 1 of 5
Private schools are in 11 of 22 possible games left at this point (50%) and 6 of 9 (67%) in the three largest classifications.
Tulla you are correct! I stated before, had the opportunity to hear Coach K from PR speak, he basically made it out to be David versus Goliath. He also stated how we send 8 guys to D1 every year. Of course never mentioned his QB.Some of those complaining about non-boundary and boundary schools competing against one another seem to want it both ways. If the boundary school wins (e.g. last year's win by P-R over SJP), they take particular satisfaction, as if David has beaten Goliath. And if the boundary school loses, it's because the non-boundary school had an unfair advantage.
Does anyone think P-R would have preferred that SJP had played in a separate "non-public" class last year and that people would still be arguing over who would have won if ...?
Rover I'd say the lines for Freedom are bigger than Prep's lines. Freedom is coached very well. If they are not intimidated, they can play with SJP.Freedom is a nice high school football team. Disciplined, take care of the football, always win the turnover battle (they've been great at taking the football away under Jason Roeder). Quarterback throws a nice ball and is very accurate. Smart kid who makes good decisions. Defensively, run a 3-3-5 stack and scheme very well. They're big up front on both offense and defense (offensive line goes 305-275-310-250-265 and the defensive line is 305-255-225 with linebackers that are 225-220-210). I'll write up a more complete personnel review later in the week.
With all that said, the talent gap between Freedom and SJP is just enormous. Figure the Hawks have have Power 5 type players in McCord, Harrison, Trotter, Burrell, maybe Lombardi, and will probably send Talley, Freeman, Sutton, Mason, Stephenson, Johnson, McGeary, and Kim to Group of 5 or FCS schools (that's 13 of 22 starters). In comparison, Freedom has linebacker Tristan Wheeler going to Richmond, with RB/LB Jalen Stewart, QB Jared Jenkins, and LT/DE Kaden Moore possible Group of 5 or high level FCS players. Maybe Moore with his size gets a shot at a bigger program. Probably will send a couple other kids to Division II or Division III schools. I don't think Prep has anybody who goes both ways, Freedom has six two way starters.
Frankly, I'm not sure who Freedom has that would start at Prep - maybe Kaden Moore at defensive end? Wheeler would play at linebacker, but he's at the same level as Talley, Johnson, Trotter, and Kim. And in our league, he's the Defensive Player of the Year. Freedom also doesn't have the high level skill guys to move the ball against SJP. The strength of the team is their offensive line, but they're not going to win every battle up front against a great SJP defense, and even if their guys get to the second left, they're not the athletes who can break away from the SJP back seven. Defensively, I think they can make SJP work for their yards, but any breakdown is going to be a huge play with the skill guys that Prep has and how McCord can exploit those match ups.
The EPC South all conference team would give Prep a game - none of our teams will for the foreseeable future.
Some of those complaining about non-boundary and boundary schools competing against one another seem to want it both ways. If the boundary school wins (e.g. last year's win by P-R over SJP), they take particular satisfaction, as if David has beaten Goliath. And if the boundary school loses, it's because the non-boundary school had an unfair advantage.
Does anyone think P-R would have preferred that SJP had played in a separate "non-public" class last year and that people would still be arguing over who would have won if ...?
That is suspect logic/numbers to say the least. There are 45 schools left playing football. 11 are catholic/private. It really is that simple. That argument is simply lowering the denominator to make the problem appear greater than it really is. Is it really a problem in the first place? If the schools are adhering to PIAA rules, what's the problem?
No one cared about privates/catholics until Philly came into the PIAA
This is nothing more than a nuanced assault to force these kids to their more dangerous local public high schools. "Hey underprivileged kid...be true to your school and go to the knife-and-gun club HS where you belong." Schools are supposed to be there for the kids. Not the other way around.
Rover I'd say the lines for Freedom are bigger than Prep's lines. Freedom is coached very well. If they are not intimidated, they can play with SJP.
Don’t want to lose players to non boundary? Speaking strictly from a football standpoint, hire better coaches who kids and families actually trust, instead of passing legislation and letting the dictator control someone’s life and future.
100% agree with Green on this one. It is all about level of commitment from the school, the coaches, alumni, parents and everyone involved. There are a good number of programs in this area that coaches I know consider gold mines if the right guy gets the job with the right support. Then there are other programs that are more than maximizing their potential.
Are we actually saying that Harrison Jr . , son of a hall of fame receiver , is living in an area where the local public school is a gun and knife club school ?
Second, here is me responding to your points
See my last post for the way the brackets actually lay out. Yes, it's accurate to say only 11 catholic/private schools are left playing football out of the 45 teams. But it's also impossible for all 45 of those spots to be filled by private/catholic schools. I just pointed out how many actually could be private/catholic and how many are. Both of our data is true, but I think mine paints a more accurate picture. Feel free to disagree, but that's my logic.
Additionally, where did I say in my first post that there was a problem? I said that SJP has WAAAAY more talent than Freedom and I don't think it will be a competitive game. Am I wrong? MC1975 asked how they matched up. I think all the analysis you need is there are probably 15 scholarship football players in SJP's starting lineup, with 5 probably going to play major college football and Freedom has 4 scholarship football players on the roster, with maybe 1 going to play major college football. SJP is a lot better. And I think they've left D11 in the dust, is that an inaccurate assessment?
The Lehigh Valley has blown up three conferences over private/catholic recruiting before Philly ever came to the PIAA. It has been a huge issue here going back to at least the mid 1980s. District 10 has also had incredible turmoil over Erie Cathedral Prep. I don't know D7 or D3 well enough to know the history of how the PCC's and Bishop McDevitts of the world have rankled other schools - but to say that this is an issue that didn't crop up until 2008 shows a total lack of understanding of history.
I am very thankful that Marvin Harrison Jr. was able to transfer out of the gun and knife club HS he attended last year for the relative safety provided by St. Joseph's Prep.
But seriously, Kids can go wherever they want - I don't begrude them their choice of schools. I coached in Massachusetts for a number of years at a junior high for a big, urban public school. I sent the best athlete I've ever had to St. John's Prep in Danvers (like going to SJP) rather than our high school. It was a tremendous opportunity for the kid and he was right to go there. But those kind of schools should be loaded every year. Because their rosters are handpicked, they are immune to cycles, unlike public schools. So I get the frustration when a schools once in a generation team hits a private school that has a standing date in the state finals every year.