21. Simon Gratz 10-2. Gratz won the Philadelphia Public League-AAAA title beating Northeast with surprising ease, 54-18. And now they get a chance to show if all that talent has developed since the beginning of the season. It was not evident early on against Imhotep Charter and Archbishop Wood where they were swamped. Right, those are two of the best if not best Triple-A teams in the state. About the Bulldogs, they are not only talented but also have a veteran, senior laden team. Unless they evolve into a “player” along the lines of Imhotep and Wood, it will not likely get any better than this year’s team. Winning a District title that typically means beating LaSalle or St. Joseph’s Prep would go a long way to establishing that. They play LaSalle Saturday at Charlie Martin.
22. Emmaus 7-5. The Green Hornets won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference-AAAA championship, beating Williamsport (6-5), of the Wyoming Valley Conference Division-One 61-22 in the semifinal then Reading (6-6) of the Berks Inter County Conference-Section One in the final, 56-13. Coach Randy Cuthbert since announced his resignation following a three year stint after compiling a 19-16 record (6-5, 6-6, 7-5). Prior to that he spent eight years at Pennridge where he amassed a 55-43 record.
23. Delaware Valley 7-4. Eleven winning season in the last twelve years and a five year run of 42-16 is pretty good stuff.
24. Council Rock North 7-4. Thought they’d be more with Brandan McIlwain but they won the SOL-Continental and except for the 44-43 overtime loss at Norristown, they would have been undefeated in conference games.
25. Central Bucks East 8-3. This season marked the first time the Patriots experienced a winning season since 2007! They had a few other positives with this being their best defense at 17ppg since 2005’s great 10-2 team that allowed 10ppg. At 28ppg season ending average per game, the offense was their most productive in 19 years.
26. Haverford 9-2. Haverford had the week off prepping for rival Upper Darby who was playing and losing to Upper Dublin 45-14 in the quarterfinals. This is no place for a letdown with Upper Darby coming in off a playoff loss….compounded by a short week. It’s just the opposite for the Fords, staying in game shape with the Perkiomen Valley playoff loss two weeks ago and having last week off to prep and watch Upper Darby at Upper Dublin. The Royals athleticism in the secondary (and legs) will be tested in this one since the Fords strength is their senior quarterback Jack Donaghy. All he did was rewrite the record books, breaking Steve Joachim’s single season records, throwing for 2399 yards this year and over 4900 yards in his career. He’s currently 7th in the state, behind Eric Harris of Carlisle who has 3635 yards. The O is impressive at 29ppg, with Danaghy throwing to Bob McClure with 633 yards in receptions and Chris Trainor at 583. As fine a year as he’s having, the defense has also shined, allowing 16ppg.
A win here gives them their first 10 win season since (?); beyond the last 16 years.
27. Unionville 8-3. The Indians got rocked in the first round by North Penn 48-7 but still managed to win the Ches Mont-American title, essentially winning it on Rustin’s home field where they beat the Knights October 2nd in their first road game of the year, 28-21. Their five year won-loss is 39-15.
28. Rustin 7-3. 2015 marks the first year the Golden Knights missed the playoffs since the school’s inception in 2006.
29. Council Rock South 6-4. I know I overstated it but what happened to the team that began the season losing to Pennsbury 13-6 and Neshaminy two weeks later 27-25? Where did that team go? Their Dr. Jekyll - Mr. Hyde season ended on a low note losing two of three to Quakertown and CR North by identical 35-14 scores. Where did the team go that lost to Pennsbury and Neshaminy by a combined 9 points!?
30. Nazareth 5-5. Naz and CR South must be soul mates, both beginning the season with close call losses, and in the Eagles case with good enough wins to get your attention more than just a little while beating Stroudsburg 49-47 in Stroudsburg, losing at home to Freedom 31-27, beating Liberty at home 37-35 then winning in Emmaus 49-36. They ended the year losing bad to Whitehall 38-20 (?), Parkland 28-7 and Easton 56-41. The Blue Eagles made it interesting!
22. Emmaus 7-5. The Green Hornets won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference-AAAA championship, beating Williamsport (6-5), of the Wyoming Valley Conference Division-One 61-22 in the semifinal then Reading (6-6) of the Berks Inter County Conference-Section One in the final, 56-13. Coach Randy Cuthbert since announced his resignation following a three year stint after compiling a 19-16 record (6-5, 6-6, 7-5). Prior to that he spent eight years at Pennridge where he amassed a 55-43 record.
23. Delaware Valley 7-4. Eleven winning season in the last twelve years and a five year run of 42-16 is pretty good stuff.
24. Council Rock North 7-4. Thought they’d be more with Brandan McIlwain but they won the SOL-Continental and except for the 44-43 overtime loss at Norristown, they would have been undefeated in conference games.
25. Central Bucks East 8-3. This season marked the first time the Patriots experienced a winning season since 2007! They had a few other positives with this being their best defense at 17ppg since 2005’s great 10-2 team that allowed 10ppg. At 28ppg season ending average per game, the offense was their most productive in 19 years.
26. Haverford 9-2. Haverford had the week off prepping for rival Upper Darby who was playing and losing to Upper Dublin 45-14 in the quarterfinals. This is no place for a letdown with Upper Darby coming in off a playoff loss….compounded by a short week. It’s just the opposite for the Fords, staying in game shape with the Perkiomen Valley playoff loss two weeks ago and having last week off to prep and watch Upper Darby at Upper Dublin. The Royals athleticism in the secondary (and legs) will be tested in this one since the Fords strength is their senior quarterback Jack Donaghy. All he did was rewrite the record books, breaking Steve Joachim’s single season records, throwing for 2399 yards this year and over 4900 yards in his career. He’s currently 7th in the state, behind Eric Harris of Carlisle who has 3635 yards. The O is impressive at 29ppg, with Danaghy throwing to Bob McClure with 633 yards in receptions and Chris Trainor at 583. As fine a year as he’s having, the defense has also shined, allowing 16ppg.
A win here gives them their first 10 win season since (?); beyond the last 16 years.
27. Unionville 8-3. The Indians got rocked in the first round by North Penn 48-7 but still managed to win the Ches Mont-American title, essentially winning it on Rustin’s home field where they beat the Knights October 2nd in their first road game of the year, 28-21. Their five year won-loss is 39-15.
28. Rustin 7-3. 2015 marks the first year the Golden Knights missed the playoffs since the school’s inception in 2006.
29. Council Rock South 6-4. I know I overstated it but what happened to the team that began the season losing to Pennsbury 13-6 and Neshaminy two weeks later 27-25? Where did that team go? Their Dr. Jekyll - Mr. Hyde season ended on a low note losing two of three to Quakertown and CR North by identical 35-14 scores. Where did the team go that lost to Pennsbury and Neshaminy by a combined 9 points!?
30. Nazareth 5-5. Naz and CR South must be soul mates, both beginning the season with close call losses, and in the Eagles case with good enough wins to get your attention more than just a little while beating Stroudsburg 49-47 in Stroudsburg, losing at home to Freedom 31-27, beating Liberty at home 37-35 then winning in Emmaus 49-36. They ended the year losing bad to Whitehall 38-20 (?), Parkland 28-7 and Easton 56-41. The Blue Eagles made it interesting!