Week 13 rankings
1. Upper Dublin 13-0. If there were still doubters maybe now they’ll be silenced (temporarily?) after Upper Dublin shutdownthe defending district champ Pennsbury 24-14. You’ve got to stay disciplined against Pennsbury’s Wing-T and the Cardinals did, holding them to 52 yards rushing and 9 first downs. As comparison in the second game of the year against LaSalle, the Explorers held them to 144 yards rushing. The Cardinals were just as impressive on the other side of the ball against a veteran defense rushing for 176 yards on 43 carries. This allowed them to ball control with sustained clock consuming drives. Quarterback Ryan Stover was their leading rusher gaining 86 yards on 10 carries and completing 11 of 20 passes for 142 yards. They outgained the Falcons 318 to 180 in total yards. In winning, they advances to their first ever district final where they’ll play North Penn Saturday in Souderton.
2. Parkland 12-1. What can you say about a game like this? Parkland simply overwhelmed Wyoming Valley West in every aspect of the game, coming away with an unprecedented fourth District 2/4/11 finals win by the score of 63-21. 35 second quarter points blew the lid off this one after the score was knotted at 14 all early in the quarter. A mercy ruled 49-14 half time score with Valley West’s quarterback knocked out of the game allowed the starters to sit the second half and watch the show. Devante Cross had one of his more impressive outings rushing for 168 yards and two scores while completing 5 of 8 passes for 138 yards and 3 scores. 308 total yards in one half! Erik DiGirolamo rushed for 112 yards on 16 carries. District 2 and 4 for that matter aren’t known for their AAAA programs at least not anymore but 63 to 21? Wyoming Valley West came in with their best team ever with more wins at 12-0 and the highest scoring team in their history at 46ppg. You have to go back to 2000’s 10-2 team to find a better defense (9ppg) than this year’s that allowed 12ppg. They had no trouble with less than typical Delaware Valley and Berwick teams then beat Nazareth 51-34 and Liberty 55-35 in the preliminary rounds. The tip off was the 34 and 35 points allowed to Naz and Liberty, well above the 8ppg allowed in previous games. So it was a blow out but of unexpected proportions (at one point scoring 49 straight points) with the Trojans amassing 504 total yards to Valley West’s 174. The win advances them to the quarterfinals for the 4th straight year where they’ll play the District-12 champ LaSalle.
3. LaSalle 8-3. PCL champ LaSalle’s winning streak reached five with the easy destruction of PPL titleist Simon Gratz (10-3) in the District-12 final. Syaire Madden put on quite a show rushing for 178 yards on 19 carries for 2 scores, supported by a stubborn defense that limited the high scoring Bulldogs to 14 points. At the end of the day this was a “walk in the park” with the Explorers rolling 42-15. All in all it’s been quite a year for LaSalle winning the PCL under the guidance of first year coach John Steinmetz, their longtime assistant. Replacing highly successful coach Drew Gordon, quarterback Kyle Shurmur (2562 yards, 30 Td), running back Jordan Meachum (142 carries, 866 yards) and wide out Jim Herron (72 receptions, 934 yards) was no small task. They returned 7 to the offense and 5 to the defense but those were tremendous losses to the program. Chris Ferguson (6-4, 220, sr) really stepping in and up after shadowing Shurmur since his sophomore year. He transferred in from the quarterback factory at Upper Dublin in 2013. Kidding but that’s some pretty good talent UD is cranking out at the position knowing Ryan Stover’s exploits the last two years. Another strong return for LaSalle whose cupboard was far from bare was their great senior line consisting of center Jim Morrissey (6-3, 290), guards Matt McDermott (6-2, 275), and Conor McCracken (6-3, 270) and tackles TJ Garvin (6-4, 270) and Ryan Schutta (6-2, 255), giving them one of the top lines in their classification. Soph Liam Trainer (6-2, 220) completes things at tight end. RB/CB’s Nick Rinella, Jared Walls, Chestnut Hill Academy transfer Syaire Madden (5-9, 190) and WR/DB Winston Eubank (6-0, 170, sr) give them an unheralded offense. Senior DL’s Anthony Piscopo (DE….5-10, 200, sr), and DT Jim Morrissey give them a veteran presence with sophomore’s Chris Maloney (DE….6-0, 210) and DT Garrett Zobel (6-3, 245) along with Piscopo giving them quickness and experience up front they’ll need against Parkland.
4. St. Joseph’s Prep 7-3. With the heartbreak of the 29-28 loss in the PCL title game two weeks ago, some will say that was the state title game….if ….LaSalle wins the next two games then takes gold in Hershey. To do so they will have defeated one of Parkland’s most talented teams, a D-1 representative that is firing on all cylinders in Upper Dublin or North Penn and whatever comes out of the West where Pittsburgh Central Catholic is the odds on favorite at 5:9. Kidding but they are the heavy favorite to beat whatever the Mid Penn Conference throws at them. Here a playoff peculiarity (bizarre actually) sees a Mid Penn Conference opponent, State College (9-3) out of District-6, who competes in the MPC-Commonwealth Division with District-3’s Central Dauphin, Cumberland Valley, Harrisburg et al, aligned with District-6/8/9/10 playoff teams, with a bye week! State College plays Central Catholic this weekend while Central Dauphin and Cumberland Valley bang heads in round two with the first round going to CV 24-21. Catholic should get past State High then flip the coin in the bitter rivalry game between Central Dauphin and Cumberland Valley with a lean to CD.
5. North Penn 11-2. Parkland wins 63-21, LaSalle wins 42-15 then North Penn does much the same defeating Neshaminy 28-7! What do we gotta do to get a competitive playoff game around here? I guess go to Fort Washington where things at least looked like a tight game on the scoreboard despite a significant statistical advantage going to Upper Dublin, 318 to 180 yards with the Falcons getting a paltry 52 yards rushing! Since losing to Downingtown West September 18th, the Knights have been reborn, completing essentially a second season with ten consecutive wins. This one was about domination as well with running back Nyfeese West running for 228 of North Penn’s 338 yards rushing. Quarterback Reece Udinski was on target completing 8 of 14 for 128 more yards for a total yardage figure of 466. Their defense was suffocating, holding the Redskins to 192 total yards of which 38 were rushing yards. Looking to this week’s game against Upper Dublin says the Cardinals haven’t faced a team like the Knights. An argument could also be made the same holds true for North Penn who have not had to defend a quarterback with running skills equal to his abundant passing skills. Conversely, UD hasn’t faced a team with as many weapons to defend as North Penn.
6. Wyoming Valley West 12-1. Talk about a season ending with a loud thud! Sometimes when you get in the cross hairs of another team that cannot do a thing wrong, there is a corresponding ineptness in your response. That was the case here as the Trojans have demonstrated their ability to play with District-11’s teams in the past. For example, the 2012 team (10-2) lost a narrow one to Easton (11-3) 35-34, the same Easton team that beat Pennsbury (10-2) 38-28, Beca (8-5) 49-35, top seeded East Stroudsburg South (11-2) and Parkland (12-2) 24-0 that year. Showing the unpredictable nature of high school football, Easton then lost to Parkland in the D-2/4/11 final 42-0. Go figure. Sometimes there is no explaining a loss like the one Wyoming Valley West experienced against Parkland. Too bad as the loss may detract from the regular season and playoff wins allowing others to forget what an extraordinary season it was.
7. Neshaminy 9-4.Neshaminy’s season came to an end in the district semifinals losing to North Penn 28-7. That was a hard loss but when measured against last year’s 4-6 record, their first losing season since 2003, it was quite a ride under the guidance of first year coach Steve Wilmot. A look at the schedule shows a sputtering offense that never really got into a rhythm at 24ppg verses last year’s 21 but wait til next year when quarterback Mason Jones (1524 yards), running back Will Dogba (1489 yards), fullback Hayden Rooney and wide out Zach Tredway (#1-692 yards) return as seniors. The line returns at least three, importantly center AJ Sanko, not counting a number of juniors that rotated in. About the defense: with few exceptions, notably North Penn last week, the defense was right there against quality teams such as Downingtown West, Pennridge, North Penn (regular season), Pennsbury, Spring Ford and Quakertown. The defense allowed 22ppg but against a respectable slate of teams where 8 of the 13 finished above .500. That will be the focus next year where over 410 tackles will have graduated.
8. Pennsbury 9-4. The Falcons lost to Upper Dublin in a rarity seeing their ground and pound approach shutdown by what turned out to be another bird of prey, the Cardinal. The final score was 24-14 and that’s really as good as it got with Upper Dublin dominating the stats in holding Pennsbuty to 52 yards rushing. Still, it was strong run, advancing to the district semifinal, beating Downingtown West (9-2) 35-28 and Perkiomen Valley (10-2) 41-28 along the way, all on the road particularly in light of severe graduation losses to the offense.
9. Downingtown East 11-1. Ches Mont-National champ.
10. Easton 9-4. Thanks RoverNation05 for the won-loss correction.
1. Upper Dublin 13-0. If there were still doubters maybe now they’ll be silenced (temporarily?) after Upper Dublin shutdownthe defending district champ Pennsbury 24-14. You’ve got to stay disciplined against Pennsbury’s Wing-T and the Cardinals did, holding them to 52 yards rushing and 9 first downs. As comparison in the second game of the year against LaSalle, the Explorers held them to 144 yards rushing. The Cardinals were just as impressive on the other side of the ball against a veteran defense rushing for 176 yards on 43 carries. This allowed them to ball control with sustained clock consuming drives. Quarterback Ryan Stover was their leading rusher gaining 86 yards on 10 carries and completing 11 of 20 passes for 142 yards. They outgained the Falcons 318 to 180 in total yards. In winning, they advances to their first ever district final where they’ll play North Penn Saturday in Souderton.
2. Parkland 12-1. What can you say about a game like this? Parkland simply overwhelmed Wyoming Valley West in every aspect of the game, coming away with an unprecedented fourth District 2/4/11 finals win by the score of 63-21. 35 second quarter points blew the lid off this one after the score was knotted at 14 all early in the quarter. A mercy ruled 49-14 half time score with Valley West’s quarterback knocked out of the game allowed the starters to sit the second half and watch the show. Devante Cross had one of his more impressive outings rushing for 168 yards and two scores while completing 5 of 8 passes for 138 yards and 3 scores. 308 total yards in one half! Erik DiGirolamo rushed for 112 yards on 16 carries. District 2 and 4 for that matter aren’t known for their AAAA programs at least not anymore but 63 to 21? Wyoming Valley West came in with their best team ever with more wins at 12-0 and the highest scoring team in their history at 46ppg. You have to go back to 2000’s 10-2 team to find a better defense (9ppg) than this year’s that allowed 12ppg. They had no trouble with less than typical Delaware Valley and Berwick teams then beat Nazareth 51-34 and Liberty 55-35 in the preliminary rounds. The tip off was the 34 and 35 points allowed to Naz and Liberty, well above the 8ppg allowed in previous games. So it was a blow out but of unexpected proportions (at one point scoring 49 straight points) with the Trojans amassing 504 total yards to Valley West’s 174. The win advances them to the quarterfinals for the 4th straight year where they’ll play the District-12 champ LaSalle.
3. LaSalle 8-3. PCL champ LaSalle’s winning streak reached five with the easy destruction of PPL titleist Simon Gratz (10-3) in the District-12 final. Syaire Madden put on quite a show rushing for 178 yards on 19 carries for 2 scores, supported by a stubborn defense that limited the high scoring Bulldogs to 14 points. At the end of the day this was a “walk in the park” with the Explorers rolling 42-15. All in all it’s been quite a year for LaSalle winning the PCL under the guidance of first year coach John Steinmetz, their longtime assistant. Replacing highly successful coach Drew Gordon, quarterback Kyle Shurmur (2562 yards, 30 Td), running back Jordan Meachum (142 carries, 866 yards) and wide out Jim Herron (72 receptions, 934 yards) was no small task. They returned 7 to the offense and 5 to the defense but those were tremendous losses to the program. Chris Ferguson (6-4, 220, sr) really stepping in and up after shadowing Shurmur since his sophomore year. He transferred in from the quarterback factory at Upper Dublin in 2013. Kidding but that’s some pretty good talent UD is cranking out at the position knowing Ryan Stover’s exploits the last two years. Another strong return for LaSalle whose cupboard was far from bare was their great senior line consisting of center Jim Morrissey (6-3, 290), guards Matt McDermott (6-2, 275), and Conor McCracken (6-3, 270) and tackles TJ Garvin (6-4, 270) and Ryan Schutta (6-2, 255), giving them one of the top lines in their classification. Soph Liam Trainer (6-2, 220) completes things at tight end. RB/CB’s Nick Rinella, Jared Walls, Chestnut Hill Academy transfer Syaire Madden (5-9, 190) and WR/DB Winston Eubank (6-0, 170, sr) give them an unheralded offense. Senior DL’s Anthony Piscopo (DE….5-10, 200, sr), and DT Jim Morrissey give them a veteran presence with sophomore’s Chris Maloney (DE….6-0, 210) and DT Garrett Zobel (6-3, 245) along with Piscopo giving them quickness and experience up front they’ll need against Parkland.
4. St. Joseph’s Prep 7-3. With the heartbreak of the 29-28 loss in the PCL title game two weeks ago, some will say that was the state title game….if ….LaSalle wins the next two games then takes gold in Hershey. To do so they will have defeated one of Parkland’s most talented teams, a D-1 representative that is firing on all cylinders in Upper Dublin or North Penn and whatever comes out of the West where Pittsburgh Central Catholic is the odds on favorite at 5:9. Kidding but they are the heavy favorite to beat whatever the Mid Penn Conference throws at them. Here a playoff peculiarity (bizarre actually) sees a Mid Penn Conference opponent, State College (9-3) out of District-6, who competes in the MPC-Commonwealth Division with District-3’s Central Dauphin, Cumberland Valley, Harrisburg et al, aligned with District-6/8/9/10 playoff teams, with a bye week! State College plays Central Catholic this weekend while Central Dauphin and Cumberland Valley bang heads in round two with the first round going to CV 24-21. Catholic should get past State High then flip the coin in the bitter rivalry game between Central Dauphin and Cumberland Valley with a lean to CD.
5. North Penn 11-2. Parkland wins 63-21, LaSalle wins 42-15 then North Penn does much the same defeating Neshaminy 28-7! What do we gotta do to get a competitive playoff game around here? I guess go to Fort Washington where things at least looked like a tight game on the scoreboard despite a significant statistical advantage going to Upper Dublin, 318 to 180 yards with the Falcons getting a paltry 52 yards rushing! Since losing to Downingtown West September 18th, the Knights have been reborn, completing essentially a second season with ten consecutive wins. This one was about domination as well with running back Nyfeese West running for 228 of North Penn’s 338 yards rushing. Quarterback Reece Udinski was on target completing 8 of 14 for 128 more yards for a total yardage figure of 466. Their defense was suffocating, holding the Redskins to 192 total yards of which 38 were rushing yards. Looking to this week’s game against Upper Dublin says the Cardinals haven’t faced a team like the Knights. An argument could also be made the same holds true for North Penn who have not had to defend a quarterback with running skills equal to his abundant passing skills. Conversely, UD hasn’t faced a team with as many weapons to defend as North Penn.
6. Wyoming Valley West 12-1. Talk about a season ending with a loud thud! Sometimes when you get in the cross hairs of another team that cannot do a thing wrong, there is a corresponding ineptness in your response. That was the case here as the Trojans have demonstrated their ability to play with District-11’s teams in the past. For example, the 2012 team (10-2) lost a narrow one to Easton (11-3) 35-34, the same Easton team that beat Pennsbury (10-2) 38-28, Beca (8-5) 49-35, top seeded East Stroudsburg South (11-2) and Parkland (12-2) 24-0 that year. Showing the unpredictable nature of high school football, Easton then lost to Parkland in the D-2/4/11 final 42-0. Go figure. Sometimes there is no explaining a loss like the one Wyoming Valley West experienced against Parkland. Too bad as the loss may detract from the regular season and playoff wins allowing others to forget what an extraordinary season it was.
7. Neshaminy 9-4.Neshaminy’s season came to an end in the district semifinals losing to North Penn 28-7. That was a hard loss but when measured against last year’s 4-6 record, their first losing season since 2003, it was quite a ride under the guidance of first year coach Steve Wilmot. A look at the schedule shows a sputtering offense that never really got into a rhythm at 24ppg verses last year’s 21 but wait til next year when quarterback Mason Jones (1524 yards), running back Will Dogba (1489 yards), fullback Hayden Rooney and wide out Zach Tredway (#1-692 yards) return as seniors. The line returns at least three, importantly center AJ Sanko, not counting a number of juniors that rotated in. About the defense: with few exceptions, notably North Penn last week, the defense was right there against quality teams such as Downingtown West, Pennridge, North Penn (regular season), Pennsbury, Spring Ford and Quakertown. The defense allowed 22ppg but against a respectable slate of teams where 8 of the 13 finished above .500. That will be the focus next year where over 410 tackles will have graduated.
8. Pennsbury 9-4. The Falcons lost to Upper Dublin in a rarity seeing their ground and pound approach shutdown by what turned out to be another bird of prey, the Cardinal. The final score was 24-14 and that’s really as good as it got with Upper Dublin dominating the stats in holding Pennsbuty to 52 yards rushing. Still, it was strong run, advancing to the district semifinal, beating Downingtown West (9-2) 35-28 and Perkiomen Valley (10-2) 41-28 along the way, all on the road particularly in light of severe graduation losses to the offense.
9. Downingtown East 11-1. Ches Mont-National champ.
10. Easton 9-4. Thanks RoverNation05 for the won-loss correction.
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