6 State College 7-2, D6; State College rebounded well from the Harrisburg loss to just destroy Chambersburg last week 70-20! A 35-0 1st quarter lead ballooned to 56-6 at the half and it was over. The once proud Trojan program is mired in an 18-game losing streak. With Tristen Lyons leading the way on 134 yards rushing and 3 Tds, SC rolled out 472 total yards of offense on just 34 plays. Tommy Friberg, who has completed 66% of his passes connected on 4 of 7 for 88 yards while rising sophomore Brady Dorner completing 3 of 4 for 47 yards. This week sees the Lions in Harrisburg playing Central Dauphin. Both are 3-2 in the Mid Penn and out of the running with Cumberland Valley (4-1) and Harrisburg (5-0) deciding the issue this weekend. Following the game with CD, State will play whoever comes out of the District-10 final on Friday between Erie High and McDowell.
7 North Allegheny 7-3, D7; Can’t drop North Allegheny too far after last week’s effort against Pine Richland that exceeded any team so far this season when they forced Pine Richland to play an entire game. And if NA can do that….? The final score reads 48-28 but hides their being down 35-28 with 10:06 left in the game. Hey, they battled hard, with running back Ben Maenza getting 74 yards on 9 carries and Turner White 106 on 22 carries. And with a road game at Mt. Lebanon (6-4) Friday night, their confidence has to be sky high especially after beating them 5 weeks ago 44-27 at Mt. Lebanon. Since losing 14-7 to Central Catholic 2 months back, no one has stopped this offense, no one, as they’ve averaged 37ppg against 18 allowed. Road rematches can be a bear but Lebo has stopped no one, allowing 53 to Pine Richland, 44 to NA, 42 to Penn Hills and 34 to Bethel. But they’re a prideful well coached program like NA so look for a tight game and what looks like the most competitive 6A game on the dockett.
8 Penn Hills 7-3, D7; Pittsburgh Central Catholic locked down Penn Hills potent offense shutting them out in a hard fought 21-0 game. While the Vikings will rightly take credit for this stellar defensive effort, credit should also go to the oft maligned Penn Hills defense that held the Vikings to 21points, 11 below their season average. Qb Hollis Mathis was held in check, completing but 9 of 21 passes for 108 yards, in part because leading receiver Dante Cephar (674 yards) was out with an injury. Tim Smith chipped in 76 yards on 14 carries. Excluding Pine Richland and Central losses, they’re averaging 36ppg. Their record against “quality” teams (PR, NA, PCC) is 0-3 on the road by a combined score of 22-91 suggesting a long night at Bethel Park Friday against the Blackhawks underated defense.
9 Delaware Valley 10-0, D2; Delaware Valley dominated overmatched Abington Heights 55-7 to win the Lackawanna FB Conference Division-1 title and secure the top seed in the 6A District 2/4 sub-regional playoffs. They’re home against 4th seeded Scranton (6-4), a team they defeated 3 weeks ago 45-7. Scranton began the season strong, going 5-0 before tailing off on a 1-4 finish, entering the postseason with no momentum. Williamsport (7-3) with the 2nd seed completes the 6A grouping at home against 3rd seeded Hazelton (6-4). This was DV’s first undefeated season in their short history, with the program begun in 1992. They have a big offense scoring on average 39ppg supported by a defense that allows 12 a game. And talk about being on a roll; since opening the season with tight wins against Ft. Pierce Central-FL 19-14, Valley View 28-21 and Wyoming Valley West 35-25, all on the road, they’ve rocked the opposition by an average score of 43-8 to enter the postseason on a monster roll.
10 Central Dauphin 6-3, D3; As always the 10 spot has been hard to fill (justify) and even harder to maintain. All the teams below have some flaws as a glance at their schedule reveals. None have the talent and schedule difficulty of Central Dauphin so here they are again with a fast review of their schedule. Beginning with the losses, they bit the dust at what we now know (always knew actually) is a good team in Manheim Township, losing a hard fought road game 17-14 in week #2. Five weeks later they lost to neighborhood rival Central Dauphin East 35-31 on a last minute score. And finally, they lost to undefeated and top rated Harrisburg (9-0), 48-10. Where the Rams stand out is with wins against a good but inconsistent Wilson (6-3) team, 28-20 and more notably Cumberland Valley (8-1) 20-14. All their wins came by an average score of 38-11. So except for the Harrisburg debacle, they are a high scoring machine, backed by a solid gang tackling defense; D-Line goes 5-10 225, 6-2 220, 6-4 295, 6-1 210, Linebackers 6-1 225, 6-0 200, 6-0 180, 5-11 220. The offense is diverse (66% rush, 34% pass) but balanced, with total yardage split down the middle between rushing and passing. Senior Qb Brady Straub is having a decent first year at 55% for 1364 yards. His favorite target is TE Grant Smith (PSU, 6-3, 235, sr) but they love to pound it with Mike Wise-Belle (6-3, 235) and junior Adam Burkhart (5-11, 220) who is also a disrupting force at LB with a team leading 84 tackles. This week sees them home against State College, a team they beat last year upstate 13-10. SC is stronger this year with more weapons and speed while CD is rebuilt ‘tho inconsistent. Still it’ll be a typical game between Mid Penn heavyweights with the Rams always ready for a good brawl at Landis. Expect a slugfest.
Others:
Dallastown 7-2, D3; Beat Central York 49-43, home to Red Lion
Red Lion 8-1, D3; Beat Spring Grove 49-20, at Dallastown
Central York 6-3, D3; Lost to Dtown 49-43, at York High
Hempfield 6-3, D3; Lost to Wilson 21-10, home to Lebanon
Wilson 6-3, D3; Beat Hempfield 21-10, home to Conestoga Valley
Central Dauphin East 6-3, D3; Lost to Cumberland Valley 42-3, at McDevitt
Mt Lebanon 6-4, D7; Lost to Bethel Park 34-24, home to NA in Wpial 1st round
Peters Township 7-3, D7; Beat Shaler 45-14, at Cupples vs Central Catholic Wpial 1st round
Erie High 8-2, D10; Beat Lakeside-OH 35-6, Vet Stadium D-10 final vs McDowell Friday
McDowell 5-5, D10; Lost to St. Joseph’s-NY 46-40, at Vet Stadium D-10 6A final vs Erie High
York-Adams note; Central York, York High, Red Lion and Dallastown are tied atop conference at 5-1
7 North Allegheny 7-3, D7; Can’t drop North Allegheny too far after last week’s effort against Pine Richland that exceeded any team so far this season when they forced Pine Richland to play an entire game. And if NA can do that….? The final score reads 48-28 but hides their being down 35-28 with 10:06 left in the game. Hey, they battled hard, with running back Ben Maenza getting 74 yards on 9 carries and Turner White 106 on 22 carries. And with a road game at Mt. Lebanon (6-4) Friday night, their confidence has to be sky high especially after beating them 5 weeks ago 44-27 at Mt. Lebanon. Since losing 14-7 to Central Catholic 2 months back, no one has stopped this offense, no one, as they’ve averaged 37ppg against 18 allowed. Road rematches can be a bear but Lebo has stopped no one, allowing 53 to Pine Richland, 44 to NA, 42 to Penn Hills and 34 to Bethel. But they’re a prideful well coached program like NA so look for a tight game and what looks like the most competitive 6A game on the dockett.
8 Penn Hills 7-3, D7; Pittsburgh Central Catholic locked down Penn Hills potent offense shutting them out in a hard fought 21-0 game. While the Vikings will rightly take credit for this stellar defensive effort, credit should also go to the oft maligned Penn Hills defense that held the Vikings to 21points, 11 below their season average. Qb Hollis Mathis was held in check, completing but 9 of 21 passes for 108 yards, in part because leading receiver Dante Cephar (674 yards) was out with an injury. Tim Smith chipped in 76 yards on 14 carries. Excluding Pine Richland and Central losses, they’re averaging 36ppg. Their record against “quality” teams (PR, NA, PCC) is 0-3 on the road by a combined score of 22-91 suggesting a long night at Bethel Park Friday against the Blackhawks underated defense.
9 Delaware Valley 10-0, D2; Delaware Valley dominated overmatched Abington Heights 55-7 to win the Lackawanna FB Conference Division-1 title and secure the top seed in the 6A District 2/4 sub-regional playoffs. They’re home against 4th seeded Scranton (6-4), a team they defeated 3 weeks ago 45-7. Scranton began the season strong, going 5-0 before tailing off on a 1-4 finish, entering the postseason with no momentum. Williamsport (7-3) with the 2nd seed completes the 6A grouping at home against 3rd seeded Hazelton (6-4). This was DV’s first undefeated season in their short history, with the program begun in 1992. They have a big offense scoring on average 39ppg supported by a defense that allows 12 a game. And talk about being on a roll; since opening the season with tight wins against Ft. Pierce Central-FL 19-14, Valley View 28-21 and Wyoming Valley West 35-25, all on the road, they’ve rocked the opposition by an average score of 43-8 to enter the postseason on a monster roll.
10 Central Dauphin 6-3, D3; As always the 10 spot has been hard to fill (justify) and even harder to maintain. All the teams below have some flaws as a glance at their schedule reveals. None have the talent and schedule difficulty of Central Dauphin so here they are again with a fast review of their schedule. Beginning with the losses, they bit the dust at what we now know (always knew actually) is a good team in Manheim Township, losing a hard fought road game 17-14 in week #2. Five weeks later they lost to neighborhood rival Central Dauphin East 35-31 on a last minute score. And finally, they lost to undefeated and top rated Harrisburg (9-0), 48-10. Where the Rams stand out is with wins against a good but inconsistent Wilson (6-3) team, 28-20 and more notably Cumberland Valley (8-1) 20-14. All their wins came by an average score of 38-11. So except for the Harrisburg debacle, they are a high scoring machine, backed by a solid gang tackling defense; D-Line goes 5-10 225, 6-2 220, 6-4 295, 6-1 210, Linebackers 6-1 225, 6-0 200, 6-0 180, 5-11 220. The offense is diverse (66% rush, 34% pass) but balanced, with total yardage split down the middle between rushing and passing. Senior Qb Brady Straub is having a decent first year at 55% for 1364 yards. His favorite target is TE Grant Smith (PSU, 6-3, 235, sr) but they love to pound it with Mike Wise-Belle (6-3, 235) and junior Adam Burkhart (5-11, 220) who is also a disrupting force at LB with a team leading 84 tackles. This week sees them home against State College, a team they beat last year upstate 13-10. SC is stronger this year with more weapons and speed while CD is rebuilt ‘tho inconsistent. Still it’ll be a typical game between Mid Penn heavyweights with the Rams always ready for a good brawl at Landis. Expect a slugfest.
Others:
Dallastown 7-2, D3; Beat Central York 49-43, home to Red Lion
Red Lion 8-1, D3; Beat Spring Grove 49-20, at Dallastown
Central York 6-3, D3; Lost to Dtown 49-43, at York High
Hempfield 6-3, D3; Lost to Wilson 21-10, home to Lebanon
Wilson 6-3, D3; Beat Hempfield 21-10, home to Conestoga Valley
Central Dauphin East 6-3, D3; Lost to Cumberland Valley 42-3, at McDevitt
Mt Lebanon 6-4, D7; Lost to Bethel Park 34-24, home to NA in Wpial 1st round
Peters Township 7-3, D7; Beat Shaler 45-14, at Cupples vs Central Catholic Wpial 1st round
Erie High 8-2, D10; Beat Lakeside-OH 35-6, Vet Stadium D-10 final vs McDowell Friday
McDowell 5-5, D10; Lost to St. Joseph’s-NY 46-40, at Vet Stadium D-10 6A final vs Erie High
York-Adams note; Central York, York High, Red Lion and Dallastown are tied atop conference at 5-1
