D11 Thoughts: Barring a disappearing act like last year where Emmaus got waffled by Freedom in the postseason 35-6, they look poised for another run at the EPC-South and more. But it’s still hard not taking Parkland and maybe a veteran Easton team the way Emmaus crashed and burned, especially with Parkland getting Rovers and Hornets at home. Here they’ll be gunning for their 6th consecutive District-11 title. 6th! This is especially impressive as it was accomplished in Coach Tim Moncman’s first year with a team drained of star power; quarterback Devonte Cross and receiver Kenny Yeboah. Back to Parkland-Emmaus in the closer, Parkland should be in good shape after road games at Pocono Mountain East and Northampton while Emmaus is coming off Liberty and Easton. So we’ll see if Emmaus can stand the bright lights Parkland and Easton are all too familiar with. Emmaus at Parkland will likely decide it for all three. See RoverNation05 Eastern PA Summer Previews, July 19th write-ups.
3 Emmaus 10-2: Almost everyone is back in Coach Fairclough’s 2nd year where they could show real progress with so many starters returning. But many of us remember how Freedom imploded last year coming in with exceedingly high hopes and projections. Weirdly, Freedom also destroyed Emmaus in last year’s 1st round 35-6. So while it was a good year, there is clearly much to do. Still, 10 wins is 10 wins and their first double digit winning season in 8 years where the ’08 squad also went 10-2. That bunch allowed 85 points all year. But for a 26-20 narrow loss to Liberty (14-1) who went on to win the state title….finally!....things might have been a lot different. The schedule is unforgiving, playing Liberty, Easton and Parkland to close out the season. But on paper, this is one of the top teams in the state. See Rovers write-up where 18 starters return.
4 LaSalle 6-5: The Explorers lost key parts of last year’s offense that scored 31ppg with the graduation of running back Syaire Madden who had 1520 rush yards and quarterback Tom La Morte who completed 57% of his passes for 1582 yards. Isaiah Jones (6-1, 220, sr) is projected to be the next Qb. A few key returns to this year’s team include linemen Chris Maloney (6-3, 230, sr), OL/DL Garrett Zobel (6-3, 260, sr), TE Liam Trainer (6-2,, 230, sr) and WR Troy Holland (6-1, 155, sr, 40/534yards), running back Manny Quiles (5-8, 165, jr, 38/294yds),WR Brett Mallee (5-10, 170, jr, 28/371) and many others. They open with difficult games at North Penn and McDonogh (MD) then the home opener vs Malvern Prep. The Knights are always strong at home despite severe grad losses while McDonogh (8-3) is a tough out in Owings Mills with many returning from a young group with a huge line that will test Explorer’s run defense. The last time they played was in 2014 where LaSalle won at home 31-20. The home opener against Malvern Prep will be another difficult game mimicking McDonogh where a lot of bodies return from last year’s group.
5 Easton 7-6: This is the wild card with a new coaching staff and possible hangover from the firing of Coach Steve Shiffert, their former coach of 24 years. New coach Jeff Braido has been with the staff for years, most recently serving as Spec Teams/Ends coach so we’ll see how it goes. But wow, they return a pile of bodies from a team that but for an anemic offense would have been in the thick of things in the EPC-South instead of next to last with a 3-5 slate. The lack of offense led to their worst win total since 2008’s 7-6 team and their worst year ending points per game average at 22ppg in 16 years, where the 2000 team went 8-4 averaging 21ppg. A 3-1 finish saved the season and showed their class. With all the talent in the EPC-South, there’s no such thing as an easy schedule; maybe a more favorable one but nothing easy. For the Red Rover’s to rebound, they’ll have to play Parkland, Bethlehem Catholic and Emmaus on the road. The top of the season sees them at Stoudsburg before coming home to play Liberty and Freedom. There is a lot of talent here and if the new staff can get them all on the same page, they’ll be a load. See Rovers write-up where 19 starters return!
6 North Penn 14-1: The Knights had wholesale grad losses of arguably their best team ever that scored a record 41ppg, beating such noteworthy opponents as LaSalle, Downingtown East, Central Bucks South, Spring Ford, Coatesville and Garnet Valley before losing to the eventual state champ St. Joseph’s Prep in the semifinal 35-25. The 14 game win total was their highest since 2008’s 14-1 team, falling a game shy of the 2003 state championship team that went 15-0 (40-13ppg), beating Pittsburgh Central Catholic 37-10. Running back Kevin Atkins had a Justin Piccioti (CB West), Jamar Brittingham (Neshaminy) moment rushing for 210 yards. A defense that may have been the best in the state didn’t get enough credit for allowing a mere 13ppg. Brutal dudes! Where was I?
For this year the goal is to find a replacement for quarterback Reece Udinski who had a record setting year throwing for 4094 yards and 39 Tds. WRs Ricky Jones and Jake Hubler (+1500 yards combined) are also gone as is leading rusher Nick Dillon. But they return at least 3 lineman and TE?MLB Owen Thomas (6-4, 225, sr), WO Justis Henley returns with over 800 yards in receptions and a few in the secondary. But hey, it’s North Penn, the District One Alpha who will reload as they’ve done the last 18 years if their won-loss of 194-46 means anything. Like more than a few teams in the area (St. Joe’s, LaSalle, Coatesville, Dt-West, Neshaminy,et al), we’ll know early where they stand, opening with LaSalle, at home then Downingtown East, Pennsbury, CB West and Pennridge all on the road.
7 Parkland 10-4: This should be an exciting season for the Trojans and probably a more productive year in a number of areas in Coach Moncman’s second year at the helm. The fact they are going for their 6th consecutive District title speaks volumes about the consistency of this football factory. With defense a team staple over the years, they’ve run off 5 straight double digit winning seasons for a 58-14 won-loss over that period. Their average D yield in ppg over that stretch was 13.8 which will win you a lot of games in any league. Still, last year’s 29ppg offensive average was their worst since the 2010 campaign where they scored 23ppg in a rare losing season, going 4-7. 29ppg is a good average but not by Parkland standards where they ended the previous 5 years averaging 38, 38, 33, 33 and 35 a game from 2011 through 2015. With a history of some of the best talent and teams in the Lehigh Valley and another great coach and staff in place, look for a legitimate run at the D11 title. See Rover write-up
3 Emmaus 10-2: Almost everyone is back in Coach Fairclough’s 2nd year where they could show real progress with so many starters returning. But many of us remember how Freedom imploded last year coming in with exceedingly high hopes and projections. Weirdly, Freedom also destroyed Emmaus in last year’s 1st round 35-6. So while it was a good year, there is clearly much to do. Still, 10 wins is 10 wins and their first double digit winning season in 8 years where the ’08 squad also went 10-2. That bunch allowed 85 points all year. But for a 26-20 narrow loss to Liberty (14-1) who went on to win the state title….finally!....things might have been a lot different. The schedule is unforgiving, playing Liberty, Easton and Parkland to close out the season. But on paper, this is one of the top teams in the state. See Rovers write-up where 18 starters return.
4 LaSalle 6-5: The Explorers lost key parts of last year’s offense that scored 31ppg with the graduation of running back Syaire Madden who had 1520 rush yards and quarterback Tom La Morte who completed 57% of his passes for 1582 yards. Isaiah Jones (6-1, 220, sr) is projected to be the next Qb. A few key returns to this year’s team include linemen Chris Maloney (6-3, 230, sr), OL/DL Garrett Zobel (6-3, 260, sr), TE Liam Trainer (6-2,, 230, sr) and WR Troy Holland (6-1, 155, sr, 40/534yards), running back Manny Quiles (5-8, 165, jr, 38/294yds),WR Brett Mallee (5-10, 170, jr, 28/371) and many others. They open with difficult games at North Penn and McDonogh (MD) then the home opener vs Malvern Prep. The Knights are always strong at home despite severe grad losses while McDonogh (8-3) is a tough out in Owings Mills with many returning from a young group with a huge line that will test Explorer’s run defense. The last time they played was in 2014 where LaSalle won at home 31-20. The home opener against Malvern Prep will be another difficult game mimicking McDonogh where a lot of bodies return from last year’s group.
5 Easton 7-6: This is the wild card with a new coaching staff and possible hangover from the firing of Coach Steve Shiffert, their former coach of 24 years. New coach Jeff Braido has been with the staff for years, most recently serving as Spec Teams/Ends coach so we’ll see how it goes. But wow, they return a pile of bodies from a team that but for an anemic offense would have been in the thick of things in the EPC-South instead of next to last with a 3-5 slate. The lack of offense led to their worst win total since 2008’s 7-6 team and their worst year ending points per game average at 22ppg in 16 years, where the 2000 team went 8-4 averaging 21ppg. A 3-1 finish saved the season and showed their class. With all the talent in the EPC-South, there’s no such thing as an easy schedule; maybe a more favorable one but nothing easy. For the Red Rover’s to rebound, they’ll have to play Parkland, Bethlehem Catholic and Emmaus on the road. The top of the season sees them at Stoudsburg before coming home to play Liberty and Freedom. There is a lot of talent here and if the new staff can get them all on the same page, they’ll be a load. See Rovers write-up where 19 starters return!
6 North Penn 14-1: The Knights had wholesale grad losses of arguably their best team ever that scored a record 41ppg, beating such noteworthy opponents as LaSalle, Downingtown East, Central Bucks South, Spring Ford, Coatesville and Garnet Valley before losing to the eventual state champ St. Joseph’s Prep in the semifinal 35-25. The 14 game win total was their highest since 2008’s 14-1 team, falling a game shy of the 2003 state championship team that went 15-0 (40-13ppg), beating Pittsburgh Central Catholic 37-10. Running back Kevin Atkins had a Justin Piccioti (CB West), Jamar Brittingham (Neshaminy) moment rushing for 210 yards. A defense that may have been the best in the state didn’t get enough credit for allowing a mere 13ppg. Brutal dudes! Where was I?
For this year the goal is to find a replacement for quarterback Reece Udinski who had a record setting year throwing for 4094 yards and 39 Tds. WRs Ricky Jones and Jake Hubler (+1500 yards combined) are also gone as is leading rusher Nick Dillon. But they return at least 3 lineman and TE?MLB Owen Thomas (6-4, 225, sr), WO Justis Henley returns with over 800 yards in receptions and a few in the secondary. But hey, it’s North Penn, the District One Alpha who will reload as they’ve done the last 18 years if their won-loss of 194-46 means anything. Like more than a few teams in the area (St. Joe’s, LaSalle, Coatesville, Dt-West, Neshaminy,et al), we’ll know early where they stand, opening with LaSalle, at home then Downingtown East, Pennsbury, CB West and Pennridge all on the road.
7 Parkland 10-4: This should be an exciting season for the Trojans and probably a more productive year in a number of areas in Coach Moncman’s second year at the helm. The fact they are going for their 6th consecutive District title speaks volumes about the consistency of this football factory. With defense a team staple over the years, they’ve run off 5 straight double digit winning seasons for a 58-14 won-loss over that period. Their average D yield in ppg over that stretch was 13.8 which will win you a lot of games in any league. Still, last year’s 29ppg offensive average was their worst since the 2010 campaign where they scored 23ppg in a rare losing season, going 4-7. 29ppg is a good average but not by Parkland standards where they ended the previous 5 years averaging 38, 38, 33, 33 and 35 a game from 2011 through 2015. With a history of some of the best talent and teams in the Lehigh Valley and another great coach and staff in place, look for a legitimate run at the D11 title. See Rover write-up
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