(Teams presently on a run, having won at least 4 straight)
AAAAAA unless otherwise noted.
* New team
D1….undefeated.
North Penn 9-0; In District-3 they have a team from Steelton Highspire called the Steamrollers, shortened to the Rollers. This harkens back to Steelton’s steel mill (rolling mill) on the river and original high school (Steelton High) before merging with the town of Highspire located between Steelton and Middletown. That came to mind seeing what the Knights did to teams this year, steamrolling them…. by an average score of 40-13. After beating Tennent last week 52-6, they should “roll” Abington (6-3) this week, despite the Ghosts winning 6 of their last 7. With their new dimension of a legitimate passing attack, it will be fun watching just how far this edition can go in the postseason.
Neshaminy 9-0; The Skins crushed Council Rock South 42-7 last week with Pennsbury up next. They’re 5-4 but won 3 of their last 4 and it’s a fierce rivalry. The Tribe can’t have one of their weird “off” games (right Skinner Man!) against these guys. And since we’re getting to the postseason, here’s a quote from one of the most informed Neshaminy guys on the board….PA2CAMoleskinner, or Skinner Man as I call him.“ I wouldn't bet against the 'Skins at home and in the playoffs. Since 2001 they are 22-1 in post-season action at "Heartbreak Ridge". Assuming they win out this coming Friday the only team they would potentially see on the road (in the chase for the D1 title) is NP.”
Perkiomen Valley 9-0; The Vikings travel to Pottsgrove (6-3) who is coming off a 18-12 loss to Pope John Paul II. With a pile of veterans, PJP2 is the wrong team to take lightly especially as the Trojans are not their usual selves this year. Still, they have some athletes so the Vikings need to bring it.
D1-The rest
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8-1; Nothing impressive about the way Colonials are winning, beating Cheltenham 26-20 in ot last week and others narrowly but a W is a W and that’s 7 in a row. Quakertown is next (4-5) and they’ve won 3 straight so it could get interesting.
Coatesville 8-1; Beat Bishop Shanahan easily last week 41-14 where some of us thought Shanahan might offer some resistance, something less than a 4 Td loss? The next game is across town where they’ll take on another Streaker at Rustin. How about these young Raiders, and one of Steelton’s finest in Coach Ortega blowing everyone away since the Cumberland Valley loss. Impressive stuff! Maybe they’re not too young.
Rustin 5A 5-4; Red hot Rustin has recovered from the 0-4 start against an easy slate of teams except for the strong win at Great Valley 31-27. Nice! They’ll need that level of performance against Coatesville Friday night or fold if (when?) Coatesville jumps em early.
*Unionville 5A 6-3; Nice rebound winning 4 straight but the losses were telling, losing to Spring Ford, Academy Park and Downingtown East (22-5 won-loss) by a combined score of 97-26. These were not competitive losses. Sun Valley (6-3) is next.
*Interboro 4A 8-1; Interboro brought Academy Park’s undefeated season to an end beating the Knights 29-24. Everyone up and down MacDade Boulevard knows your prospects are always slim in Prospect Park winning against these Bucs. If they win an expected difficult game at Penn Wood (7-2) Friday, they’ll eliminate the Patriots from Del Val contention and win the conference. But if they lose and Academy Park beats Chichester as expected, then its a three way tie with them, Academy Park and Penn Wood.
D11
Pleasant Valley 6A 7-1; Allentown Central Catholic won the EPC-North at 8-0 but PV and Stroudsburg are locked in a 2nd place battle at 6-1. With PV averaging 51ppg and Stroudsburg 31, you know it will be exciting. And with PV allowing 25ppg and the Mounties 23, it could get downright ridiculous, mimicking an NBA All Star game. Well, not that bad.
*Southern Lehigh 5A 7-2; Here’s where all the hard work and streaks pay off with Southern Lehigh’s 4 game winning streak lifting them to the 2nd seed in the district. They beat Catasauqua last week 42-7 and should do the same at Salisbury Township (2-7) in the finale, entering the postseason on a strong run.
Allentown Central Catholic 4A 8-1; Central Catholic presently have the 2nd seed and the top seed if they can get past Bethlehem Catholic this week. That could be a tall order given Beca’s state of mind following the 42-21 pounding administered by Freedom last week. Nobody expected that.
Pottsville 4A 8-1; The Crimson Tide secured the 3rd seeded ahead of 4th seed Saucon Valley after a hard fought 26-13 win over Jim Thorpe. The final at North Schuylkill (6-3) could be problematic knowing the Spartans have been competitive in every game except undefeated Schuylkill Haven, losing 37-15. Careful Tide….you could get rolled in this one.
Palisades 3A 7-2; The Pirates hold down the 2 seed behind Notre Dame, locked in a 2nd place tie in the Colonial with the Crusaders and Southern Lehigh. But they have their hands full this week against league leader Saucon Valley (8-1, 41-7 last 4 years counting ‘16) who have owned them, winning the last 6 games (10-15) by a cumulative score of 195-47. Last time they played someone this good they lost 41-14 in the opener at Notre Dame.
Schuylkill Haven 2A 9-0; One look at these guys tells you they spend a lot of time in the weight room and it really shows. Playing out of the Schuylkill Valley Div-2, their 4 non-conference opponents were SV Div-1 crossover games with Triple-A’s that served as good prep for Div-2 games (and playoffs) where they are undefeated with a scoring differential of 264 to 13! The Hurricanes are having one of their best years in a long time and hold down the top seed.
Williams Valley 1A 8-1; They earned the 2 seed after winning 7 straight while in 2nd place (7-1) in the Tri Valley a game behind Newport (8-1). They’ll wrap it up Friday at home against Pine Grove (2-7).
D12
St. Joseph’s Prep 7-0; So, we can forget St. Joe’s beating Roman 22-10 right? As Robert DiNero said in The Deer Hunter….”This is this”, as in 63 to 35, the final score after the Hawks dismantled LaSalle last week. And if “this” is what we can expect from here on out, the Hawks are going to be one tough out. Talking about performance, at 14.6 ypc equaling 278 yards rushing on 19 carries, D’Andre Swift made LaSalle’s defense seem non-existent. Marquez McCray also had a strong outing, completing 9 of 18 passes for 166 yards. Imagine if they can get a few more performances like that out of him! Almost forgot, the win secured the PCL-Red Division title for the Hawks who end the regular season at Widener (wouldn’t that be fun) but against Ryan. Check out “This is this”
Philadelphia Central 8-0; They are not getting much press but how about these Lancers, taking care of another PPL team with ease beating South Philly 45-22. It was back in the day but Central is still one of the winningest programs in the state and something like 48th in the country, a few slots ahead of the bad ass Rollers of Steelton. Sorry, had to get that in there for the mob back home.
Imhotep 4A 7-0; DNP….They finish at Northeast. Talk about streaking, Imhotep is on a 22 game streak counting last year’s 15-0 run to the Triple-A title. Who can forget the ease at which they beat Academy Park 46-16, Saucon Valley 72-27 and Cathedral Prep 40-3 in the final. Are you kidding me!?
Cardinal O’Hara 4A 8-0; Had a forfeit (Neumann) and finish at home against West Catholic who is on their heels at 4-1 in the Blue Division. The Lions are in first at 4-0. Been a while since these two got together and how about these Lions, coming off back-to-back 1-9 seasons and not having a winner since 2011.
LaSalle 5-3; Still worth a mention despite losing. Lost 63-35 to St. Joseph’s Prep and wow….won’t Archbishop Wood be a difficult game to get ready for emotionally in a return to the scene of last week’s crime at Plymouth Whitemarsh Saturday.
Archbishop Wood 5A 5-2; Don’t know if they’re all the way back from the 0-2 start but they sure look it blowing out their last 5 opponents by an average score of 35-11. LaSalle is next.
John Bartram High 4A 7-1; Cruised to an easy win against Olney 36-0 to enter the AAAA Quarterfinals against Boys Latin (8-1) in a rematch of a game played 3 weeks ago where JB defeated them 30-22.
Northeast 6-1; Still streaking after beating Frankford 28-12 but now face the giant in Imhotep.
Benjamin Franklin 5A 6-2; DNP. Next up is Mastbaum (2-6!) in the AAAAA Quarterfinals Sunday. In a linkage game to the outside world (beyond the PPL) for comparison purposes, Mastbaum lost their opener to Cardinal O’Hara 41-6.
AAAAAA unless otherwise noted.
* New team
D1….undefeated.
North Penn 9-0; In District-3 they have a team from Steelton Highspire called the Steamrollers, shortened to the Rollers. This harkens back to Steelton’s steel mill (rolling mill) on the river and original high school (Steelton High) before merging with the town of Highspire located between Steelton and Middletown. That came to mind seeing what the Knights did to teams this year, steamrolling them…. by an average score of 40-13. After beating Tennent last week 52-6, they should “roll” Abington (6-3) this week, despite the Ghosts winning 6 of their last 7. With their new dimension of a legitimate passing attack, it will be fun watching just how far this edition can go in the postseason.
Neshaminy 9-0; The Skins crushed Council Rock South 42-7 last week with Pennsbury up next. They’re 5-4 but won 3 of their last 4 and it’s a fierce rivalry. The Tribe can’t have one of their weird “off” games (right Skinner Man!) against these guys. And since we’re getting to the postseason, here’s a quote from one of the most informed Neshaminy guys on the board….PA2CAMoleskinner, or Skinner Man as I call him.“ I wouldn't bet against the 'Skins at home and in the playoffs. Since 2001 they are 22-1 in post-season action at "Heartbreak Ridge". Assuming they win out this coming Friday the only team they would potentially see on the road (in the chase for the D1 title) is NP.”
Perkiomen Valley 9-0; The Vikings travel to Pottsgrove (6-3) who is coming off a 18-12 loss to Pope John Paul II. With a pile of veterans, PJP2 is the wrong team to take lightly especially as the Trojans are not their usual selves this year. Still, they have some athletes so the Vikings need to bring it.
D1-The rest
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8-1; Nothing impressive about the way Colonials are winning, beating Cheltenham 26-20 in ot last week and others narrowly but a W is a W and that’s 7 in a row. Quakertown is next (4-5) and they’ve won 3 straight so it could get interesting.
Coatesville 8-1; Beat Bishop Shanahan easily last week 41-14 where some of us thought Shanahan might offer some resistance, something less than a 4 Td loss? The next game is across town where they’ll take on another Streaker at Rustin. How about these young Raiders, and one of Steelton’s finest in Coach Ortega blowing everyone away since the Cumberland Valley loss. Impressive stuff! Maybe they’re not too young.
Rustin 5A 5-4; Red hot Rustin has recovered from the 0-4 start against an easy slate of teams except for the strong win at Great Valley 31-27. Nice! They’ll need that level of performance against Coatesville Friday night or fold if (when?) Coatesville jumps em early.
*Unionville 5A 6-3; Nice rebound winning 4 straight but the losses were telling, losing to Spring Ford, Academy Park and Downingtown East (22-5 won-loss) by a combined score of 97-26. These were not competitive losses. Sun Valley (6-3) is next.
*Interboro 4A 8-1; Interboro brought Academy Park’s undefeated season to an end beating the Knights 29-24. Everyone up and down MacDade Boulevard knows your prospects are always slim in Prospect Park winning against these Bucs. If they win an expected difficult game at Penn Wood (7-2) Friday, they’ll eliminate the Patriots from Del Val contention and win the conference. But if they lose and Academy Park beats Chichester as expected, then its a three way tie with them, Academy Park and Penn Wood.
D11
Pleasant Valley 6A 7-1; Allentown Central Catholic won the EPC-North at 8-0 but PV and Stroudsburg are locked in a 2nd place battle at 6-1. With PV averaging 51ppg and Stroudsburg 31, you know it will be exciting. And with PV allowing 25ppg and the Mounties 23, it could get downright ridiculous, mimicking an NBA All Star game. Well, not that bad.
*Southern Lehigh 5A 7-2; Here’s where all the hard work and streaks pay off with Southern Lehigh’s 4 game winning streak lifting them to the 2nd seed in the district. They beat Catasauqua last week 42-7 and should do the same at Salisbury Township (2-7) in the finale, entering the postseason on a strong run.
Allentown Central Catholic 4A 8-1; Central Catholic presently have the 2nd seed and the top seed if they can get past Bethlehem Catholic this week. That could be a tall order given Beca’s state of mind following the 42-21 pounding administered by Freedom last week. Nobody expected that.
Pottsville 4A 8-1; The Crimson Tide secured the 3rd seeded ahead of 4th seed Saucon Valley after a hard fought 26-13 win over Jim Thorpe. The final at North Schuylkill (6-3) could be problematic knowing the Spartans have been competitive in every game except undefeated Schuylkill Haven, losing 37-15. Careful Tide….you could get rolled in this one.
Palisades 3A 7-2; The Pirates hold down the 2 seed behind Notre Dame, locked in a 2nd place tie in the Colonial with the Crusaders and Southern Lehigh. But they have their hands full this week against league leader Saucon Valley (8-1, 41-7 last 4 years counting ‘16) who have owned them, winning the last 6 games (10-15) by a cumulative score of 195-47. Last time they played someone this good they lost 41-14 in the opener at Notre Dame.
Schuylkill Haven 2A 9-0; One look at these guys tells you they spend a lot of time in the weight room and it really shows. Playing out of the Schuylkill Valley Div-2, their 4 non-conference opponents were SV Div-1 crossover games with Triple-A’s that served as good prep for Div-2 games (and playoffs) where they are undefeated with a scoring differential of 264 to 13! The Hurricanes are having one of their best years in a long time and hold down the top seed.
Williams Valley 1A 8-1; They earned the 2 seed after winning 7 straight while in 2nd place (7-1) in the Tri Valley a game behind Newport (8-1). They’ll wrap it up Friday at home against Pine Grove (2-7).
D12
St. Joseph’s Prep 7-0; So, we can forget St. Joe’s beating Roman 22-10 right? As Robert DiNero said in The Deer Hunter….”This is this”, as in 63 to 35, the final score after the Hawks dismantled LaSalle last week. And if “this” is what we can expect from here on out, the Hawks are going to be one tough out. Talking about performance, at 14.6 ypc equaling 278 yards rushing on 19 carries, D’Andre Swift made LaSalle’s defense seem non-existent. Marquez McCray also had a strong outing, completing 9 of 18 passes for 166 yards. Imagine if they can get a few more performances like that out of him! Almost forgot, the win secured the PCL-Red Division title for the Hawks who end the regular season at Widener (wouldn’t that be fun) but against Ryan. Check out “This is this”
Philadelphia Central 8-0; They are not getting much press but how about these Lancers, taking care of another PPL team with ease beating South Philly 45-22. It was back in the day but Central is still one of the winningest programs in the state and something like 48th in the country, a few slots ahead of the bad ass Rollers of Steelton. Sorry, had to get that in there for the mob back home.
Imhotep 4A 7-0; DNP….They finish at Northeast. Talk about streaking, Imhotep is on a 22 game streak counting last year’s 15-0 run to the Triple-A title. Who can forget the ease at which they beat Academy Park 46-16, Saucon Valley 72-27 and Cathedral Prep 40-3 in the final. Are you kidding me!?
Cardinal O’Hara 4A 8-0; Had a forfeit (Neumann) and finish at home against West Catholic who is on their heels at 4-1 in the Blue Division. The Lions are in first at 4-0. Been a while since these two got together and how about these Lions, coming off back-to-back 1-9 seasons and not having a winner since 2011.
LaSalle 5-3; Still worth a mention despite losing. Lost 63-35 to St. Joseph’s Prep and wow….won’t Archbishop Wood be a difficult game to get ready for emotionally in a return to the scene of last week’s crime at Plymouth Whitemarsh Saturday.
Archbishop Wood 5A 5-2; Don’t know if they’re all the way back from the 0-2 start but they sure look it blowing out their last 5 opponents by an average score of 35-11. LaSalle is next.
John Bartram High 4A 7-1; Cruised to an easy win against Olney 36-0 to enter the AAAA Quarterfinals against Boys Latin (8-1) in a rematch of a game played 3 weeks ago where JB defeated them 30-22.
Northeast 6-1; Still streaking after beating Frankford 28-12 but now face the giant in Imhotep.
Benjamin Franklin 5A 6-2; DNP. Next up is Mastbaum (2-6!) in the AAAAA Quarterfinals Sunday. In a linkage game to the outside world (beyond the PPL) for comparison purposes, Mastbaum lost their opener to Cardinal O’Hara 41-6.
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