The West: 6A Top 10….October 25th (#6 -#10)
6 North Allegheny 7-2, D7; 4th seeded North Allegheny continued the onslaught with 474 total yards of offense winning their 6th consecutive game by swamping Hempfield 63-28. Quarterback Luke Trueman was again outstanding with 243 of those yards (total) and 4 touchdowns (2 pass, 2 run) with Turner White gaining 120 yards rushing. Special teams had a great day returning kickoffs 86 and 88 yards for scores. Take away Pine Richland and it’s the NA of old battling Central Catholic…. sort of. These games still have real importance for postseason seeding and the conference crown itself with NA a game behind Pine Richland with one conference loss. They may have just enough to make it interesting with solid senior talent and importantly in a road game of magnitude, senior leadership that could spell the difference in a big game environment. Any duel threat quarterback gives opposing DC’s nightmares and Luke Trueman is a good one with 794 rush yards and just over 1000 passing on a solid 6-0, 190 frame. Turner White (6-0, 180) at 768 yards rushing and Ben Maenza (5-8, 160, jr) with 444 yards give them speed and elusiveness. FB Ryan Langdon at 6-0, 235 adds power and bulk to the attack. Wide out John Vardzel (6-0, 175, sr) has a surprisingly high 22.81 yards per catch average. Sure like to see TE Brennan McCauley (6-1, 210, sr) over the middle a litttle more. Bottom line, they have enough weapons to keep Pine Richland honest along with developing special teams. As always against Pine Richland, it’s about the D which in this case is a mix of size and speed, allowing 16ppg. Not bad in the “spread” world.
7 Penn Hills 7-2, D7; Penn Hills found most of the holes in Mt. Lebanon’s defense when they jumped out to a 34-7 2nd quarter lead! You could almost see this one coming with Mt. Lebanon’s porous defense being a great match for Penn Hills offense. A fast check of Lebo’s schedule shows losses to Pine Richland 53-29 and North Allegheny 44-27 before the 42-31 loss to Penn Hills. So while they can score points, the defense is lacking, allowing 46ppg in those 3 losses. Penn Hills’ quarterback Hollis Mathis had no trouble taking them apart completing 11 of 17 passes for 194 yards and 3 Tds. The win secured the 5th seed. But the Blue Devils are well coached and a classy bunch, making a strong comeback before falling 42-31, dinging Penn Hill’s pass defense for 298 yards. The Indians are at Central Catholic this week.
8 State College 6-2, D6; State College fell in the rankings after losing to undefeated Harrisburg 51-28. That Harrisburg won was of little surprise. More surprising to some was how competitive SC was with the score knotted at 21 a piece in the 3rd quarter. Thereon, Harrisburg exploded for four 3rd quarter touchdowns with Penn State recruit Micah Parsons leading the way. He’d end the game with 12 carries for 228 yards and 5 scores with Qb Yahmir Wilkerson completing 9 of 17 for 164 yards. All totaled, Harrisburg generated 358 rush yards! Hey, it’s Harrisburg, who seem destined for a rematch with Archbishop Wood….IF….they can get past powerful District-7 teams like Penn Trafford, McKeesport and Gateway from the loaded left side of the bracket. Back to State College; Qb Tommy Friberg completed 12 of 20 passes for 249 yards (1/3 Td-Pick) with receivers Brandon Clark (PSU) catching 9 for 150 yards, Cohen Russell snagging 4 for 116 yards and running back Tristen Lyons adding 129 yards on 12 carries. State College can move the ball. Prior to them scoring 28 against the Cougars, 14 was the most scored against them going back in the opener where the beat Imhotep 33-14.
9 Central Dauphin East 6-2, D3; The East High Panthers, seeded 3rd in the district climbed into the rankings in part because of other teams losing but also because of a heavy dose of talented athletes and the ability to win the tight ones. To date they have 2 and 4 point wins coupled with two 7 point wins. The losses were to Harrisburg (8-0) 45-7 and State College (6-2) 34-14, both on the road, with the notable win, Central Dauphin (5-3) at home 35-31. That’s where they face powerful Cumberland Valley Friday night after losing a tough one last year at CV 19-14. East is in negative numbers averaging 25ppg on offense but allowing 26. Diminutive Kane Everson at 5-10, 155 is under center with 620 yards passing (58%) and 628 rushing yards. Bishop McDevitt transfer Michael Jones (6-1, 225, sr) is at FB/MLB after gaining 1504 yards at McDevitt. He along with OLB Troy Ambush (6-0, 184, jr ), DE Edward Rivers (6-5, 225, sr), DT Lucas Water (6-2, 240, so) and Kimare Patterson (5-11, 210, sr) key the D. Although the Eagles are a seasoned group at many positions they could come out flat here after the big revenge game last week against Lower Dauphin and Harrisburg dead ahead.
10 Delaware Valley 9-0, D2; Milford, Pa is up in the northeastern reaches of the state, 40 miles east of Scranton and 94 miles northwest of New York City. That’s up there! It’s home to the undefeated Delaware Valley Warriors who have been tearing things up this year, beating everyone by an average score of 37-12. They are coached by Keith Olsommer who played tight end at Penn State in the 90’s under Coach Paterno. This is his 19th season where he’s gone 130-81. They run a Pro offense and a 3-4 defense with a strong nucleus from last year that went 9-3 and 53-16 since 2012. They may up there but are not afraid to play anyone with games against Downingtown East (9-3) last year and Upper Dublin (11-1) the year before. The year before that they played University-FL and Parkland the preceding two years, defeating the 2012 Trojan team (12-3) that went on to lose to LaSalle 28-7 in the 4A qaurterfinal. DV went 11-2 that year, losing to Parkland in the postseason rematch 49-41. This year’s team is firing on all cylinders with a great core along both lines with people like TE/T/DT Brendan Heaney 6-2 290, OG/DT John McCarthy 6-2 255 and two-way guard John Boyd 6-0 265, all seniors. Senior Ryan Obiso, 5-11, 180 is their lead back with 998 yards with speedster Josh Balcarcel (5-7, 170) at 400 yards rushing as a 5-7, 150 sophomore. Ryan Yencik does the heavy work at 5-11, 210. First year starting quarterback Nick Reilly 6-3, 180, sr, has worked out well, completing 59% for 1135 yards. Dylan Kelly 5-11, 185 and CJ Anderson 6-1 165 provide good hands at receiver at 400 and 258 yards in receptions each. Most of the linemen play both ways, supported by 3 veteran linebackers centered around Anthony Scillia, 6-3 220, DT Heaney and DE Andrew Kidd, 6-1, 205. Scillia has 84 tackles, Heaney 54 and Kidd 49. They have 4 seniors in the secondary. Their best wins are against Central of Ft. Pierce-FL, Valley View, and Williamsport. They are a favorite to win the D2/D4 crown, replacing Williamsport and to defeat Abington Heights (1-8) this weekend.
Others:
Red Lion 7-1, D3; Lost to Central York 24-21 (last 3 seconds of game), home to Spring Grove but still have the 4th seed. Long day for the 1-7 Rockets
Hempfield 6-2, D3; Beat Conestoga Valley 64-35, home to Wilson trying to protect their 5 seed. Black Knights are smokin, winning 4 straight and averaging 39ppg
Dallastown 6-2, D3; Beat New Oxford 62-0, has 8th seed at Central York who has the 6th seed and are on a 3 game roll
Central York 6-2, D3; Beat Red Lion 24-21, home to D-town. Wild one last year won by Central 31-27
Wilson 5-3, D3; “The Streak” is over but will battle, locked in a tie at 4-1 in the LL-1 with the 9th seed against Hempfield at Landisville
Central Dauphin 5-3, D3; Beat Chambersburg 44-7, has 7th seed at Red Land where they will roll
Mt Lebanon 6-3, D7; Lost 42-31 at Penn Hill with James Stocker completing 17/35 for 298 yards, home Bethel Park for all the Southeastern Conference marbles
Peters Township 6-3, D7; Beat Canon McMillan 28-14 to maintain a top 3 seed, home to Shaler where they will dominate again, winning last year 41-27 with a lesser group
Erie High 7-2, D10; Beat Lakeside-OH 35-6, home to West Toronto Prep, only losses are McDowell and Cathedral
McDowell 5-4, D10; Beat Gen. McLane 37-20, at St. Joseph’s-NY. Any other schedule would see them 9-1 losing to St. Edward-OH (9-0, #2 Div-1, Reg-1), Cathedral Prep (9-0, #1 4A) and Fitch-OH (6-3, #9 Div-1, Reg-1)
6 North Allegheny 7-2, D7; 4th seeded North Allegheny continued the onslaught with 474 total yards of offense winning their 6th consecutive game by swamping Hempfield 63-28. Quarterback Luke Trueman was again outstanding with 243 of those yards (total) and 4 touchdowns (2 pass, 2 run) with Turner White gaining 120 yards rushing. Special teams had a great day returning kickoffs 86 and 88 yards for scores. Take away Pine Richland and it’s the NA of old battling Central Catholic…. sort of. These games still have real importance for postseason seeding and the conference crown itself with NA a game behind Pine Richland with one conference loss. They may have just enough to make it interesting with solid senior talent and importantly in a road game of magnitude, senior leadership that could spell the difference in a big game environment. Any duel threat quarterback gives opposing DC’s nightmares and Luke Trueman is a good one with 794 rush yards and just over 1000 passing on a solid 6-0, 190 frame. Turner White (6-0, 180) at 768 yards rushing and Ben Maenza (5-8, 160, jr) with 444 yards give them speed and elusiveness. FB Ryan Langdon at 6-0, 235 adds power and bulk to the attack. Wide out John Vardzel (6-0, 175, sr) has a surprisingly high 22.81 yards per catch average. Sure like to see TE Brennan McCauley (6-1, 210, sr) over the middle a litttle more. Bottom line, they have enough weapons to keep Pine Richland honest along with developing special teams. As always against Pine Richland, it’s about the D which in this case is a mix of size and speed, allowing 16ppg. Not bad in the “spread” world.
7 Penn Hills 7-2, D7; Penn Hills found most of the holes in Mt. Lebanon’s defense when they jumped out to a 34-7 2nd quarter lead! You could almost see this one coming with Mt. Lebanon’s porous defense being a great match for Penn Hills offense. A fast check of Lebo’s schedule shows losses to Pine Richland 53-29 and North Allegheny 44-27 before the 42-31 loss to Penn Hills. So while they can score points, the defense is lacking, allowing 46ppg in those 3 losses. Penn Hills’ quarterback Hollis Mathis had no trouble taking them apart completing 11 of 17 passes for 194 yards and 3 Tds. The win secured the 5th seed. But the Blue Devils are well coached and a classy bunch, making a strong comeback before falling 42-31, dinging Penn Hill’s pass defense for 298 yards. The Indians are at Central Catholic this week.
8 State College 6-2, D6; State College fell in the rankings after losing to undefeated Harrisburg 51-28. That Harrisburg won was of little surprise. More surprising to some was how competitive SC was with the score knotted at 21 a piece in the 3rd quarter. Thereon, Harrisburg exploded for four 3rd quarter touchdowns with Penn State recruit Micah Parsons leading the way. He’d end the game with 12 carries for 228 yards and 5 scores with Qb Yahmir Wilkerson completing 9 of 17 for 164 yards. All totaled, Harrisburg generated 358 rush yards! Hey, it’s Harrisburg, who seem destined for a rematch with Archbishop Wood….IF….they can get past powerful District-7 teams like Penn Trafford, McKeesport and Gateway from the loaded left side of the bracket. Back to State College; Qb Tommy Friberg completed 12 of 20 passes for 249 yards (1/3 Td-Pick) with receivers Brandon Clark (PSU) catching 9 for 150 yards, Cohen Russell snagging 4 for 116 yards and running back Tristen Lyons adding 129 yards on 12 carries. State College can move the ball. Prior to them scoring 28 against the Cougars, 14 was the most scored against them going back in the opener where the beat Imhotep 33-14.
9 Central Dauphin East 6-2, D3; The East High Panthers, seeded 3rd in the district climbed into the rankings in part because of other teams losing but also because of a heavy dose of talented athletes and the ability to win the tight ones. To date they have 2 and 4 point wins coupled with two 7 point wins. The losses were to Harrisburg (8-0) 45-7 and State College (6-2) 34-14, both on the road, with the notable win, Central Dauphin (5-3) at home 35-31. That’s where they face powerful Cumberland Valley Friday night after losing a tough one last year at CV 19-14. East is in negative numbers averaging 25ppg on offense but allowing 26. Diminutive Kane Everson at 5-10, 155 is under center with 620 yards passing (58%) and 628 rushing yards. Bishop McDevitt transfer Michael Jones (6-1, 225, sr) is at FB/MLB after gaining 1504 yards at McDevitt. He along with OLB Troy Ambush (6-0, 184, jr ), DE Edward Rivers (6-5, 225, sr), DT Lucas Water (6-2, 240, so) and Kimare Patterson (5-11, 210, sr) key the D. Although the Eagles are a seasoned group at many positions they could come out flat here after the big revenge game last week against Lower Dauphin and Harrisburg dead ahead.
10 Delaware Valley 9-0, D2; Milford, Pa is up in the northeastern reaches of the state, 40 miles east of Scranton and 94 miles northwest of New York City. That’s up there! It’s home to the undefeated Delaware Valley Warriors who have been tearing things up this year, beating everyone by an average score of 37-12. They are coached by Keith Olsommer who played tight end at Penn State in the 90’s under Coach Paterno. This is his 19th season where he’s gone 130-81. They run a Pro offense and a 3-4 defense with a strong nucleus from last year that went 9-3 and 53-16 since 2012. They may up there but are not afraid to play anyone with games against Downingtown East (9-3) last year and Upper Dublin (11-1) the year before. The year before that they played University-FL and Parkland the preceding two years, defeating the 2012 Trojan team (12-3) that went on to lose to LaSalle 28-7 in the 4A qaurterfinal. DV went 11-2 that year, losing to Parkland in the postseason rematch 49-41. This year’s team is firing on all cylinders with a great core along both lines with people like TE/T/DT Brendan Heaney 6-2 290, OG/DT John McCarthy 6-2 255 and two-way guard John Boyd 6-0 265, all seniors. Senior Ryan Obiso, 5-11, 180 is their lead back with 998 yards with speedster Josh Balcarcel (5-7, 170) at 400 yards rushing as a 5-7, 150 sophomore. Ryan Yencik does the heavy work at 5-11, 210. First year starting quarterback Nick Reilly 6-3, 180, sr, has worked out well, completing 59% for 1135 yards. Dylan Kelly 5-11, 185 and CJ Anderson 6-1 165 provide good hands at receiver at 400 and 258 yards in receptions each. Most of the linemen play both ways, supported by 3 veteran linebackers centered around Anthony Scillia, 6-3 220, DT Heaney and DE Andrew Kidd, 6-1, 205. Scillia has 84 tackles, Heaney 54 and Kidd 49. They have 4 seniors in the secondary. Their best wins are against Central of Ft. Pierce-FL, Valley View, and Williamsport. They are a favorite to win the D2/D4 crown, replacing Williamsport and to defeat Abington Heights (1-8) this weekend.
Others:
Red Lion 7-1, D3; Lost to Central York 24-21 (last 3 seconds of game), home to Spring Grove but still have the 4th seed. Long day for the 1-7 Rockets
Hempfield 6-2, D3; Beat Conestoga Valley 64-35, home to Wilson trying to protect their 5 seed. Black Knights are smokin, winning 4 straight and averaging 39ppg
Dallastown 6-2, D3; Beat New Oxford 62-0, has 8th seed at Central York who has the 6th seed and are on a 3 game roll
Central York 6-2, D3; Beat Red Lion 24-21, home to D-town. Wild one last year won by Central 31-27
Wilson 5-3, D3; “The Streak” is over but will battle, locked in a tie at 4-1 in the LL-1 with the 9th seed against Hempfield at Landisville
Central Dauphin 5-3, D3; Beat Chambersburg 44-7, has 7th seed at Red Land where they will roll
Mt Lebanon 6-3, D7; Lost 42-31 at Penn Hill with James Stocker completing 17/35 for 298 yards, home Bethel Park for all the Southeastern Conference marbles
Peters Township 6-3, D7; Beat Canon McMillan 28-14 to maintain a top 3 seed, home to Shaler where they will dominate again, winning last year 41-27 with a lesser group
Erie High 7-2, D10; Beat Lakeside-OH 35-6, home to West Toronto Prep, only losses are McDowell and Cathedral
McDowell 5-4, D10; Beat Gen. McLane 37-20, at St. Joseph’s-NY. Any other schedule would see them 9-1 losing to St. Edward-OH (9-0, #2 Div-1, Reg-1), Cathedral Prep (9-0, #1 4A) and Fitch-OH (6-3, #9 Div-1, Reg-1)
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