1. Downingtown West 6-0. Parkland’s unexpected 41-34 loss to Liberty combined with LaSalle’s narrow 27-24 loss to Archbishop Wood ripped a hole in the rankings allowing Downingtown West to move up from 3rd after defeating crosstown foe Bishop Shanahan 27-16. Three turnovers didn’t help nor the absence of running back Mike Riddick. But it didn’t prevent the Whippets from controlling things in pounding out 266 yards on the ground. Got to love these conference games. The next three weeks show West Chester East and Henderson at home then a road game at Avon Grove before the showdown with Downingtown East where both should be undefeated. At this point, that game will be for all the Ches Mont-National marbles, a higher seed and of course pride. Before that comes West Chester East (3-3, 2-1) fresh off their 31-30 upset of Coatesville. Strange game last year with West holding a 34-7 third quarter lead, then going on a rampage scoring 28 fourth quarter points in a 62-7 win?
2. Upper Dublin 6-0. How about the team from Fort Washington, finding their way to the rarefied air space of a number two ranking. Someone had to grab it. Who better in district one than (flip a coin) the Quad-A’s from Downingtown and these Cardinals. Upper Dublin’s veteran team blew away another team last week beating Wissahickon 49-0 for their second straight shutout. That is the least heralded aspect of this team, a defense that has allowed 34 points all year. Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-1, 2-1) is next, coming off a pounding at home by Upper Moreland (AAA, 5-1) 35-14. It’s a must win situation for them to keep pace with the Cardinals and….sit down for this one, Hatboro Horsham (3-3, 3-0), who gave Upper Moreland their only loss. Keeping you current with the Mad Hatters, their only losses were to quality teams, Pennridge, Quakertown and Lansdale Catholic.
3. Downingtown East 6-0. Here’s a team with similar characteristics to Upper Dublin having great coaching, a large and diverse offense and a killer defense. The front seven is one of the top groups in the area featuring standout linebacker Brody Wilson (6-2, 230, sr), Seth Davis (5-11, 215, jr) and Matt Boorman (6-0, 170, sr) behind a potent DL; Will Kiely (6-3, 255, jr), Chris Harootunian (6-5, 275, sr), Shane Hogarth (6-3, 235, jr) and Pat Matta (5-10, 185, sr). That along with QB Saunders Healy, receiver Cary Angeline and last year’s split time back Jack Kincade now full time, makes for one difficult team to beat. Better be able to pass (Reece Udinski, North Penn, 28-24 loss) or go down the way Henderson did last week 42-7. Coatesville has a quarterback that can pass coming off a major upset loss to West Chester East. This is a dangerous atmosphere and venue for the Cougars, catching the Raiders in a bad mood coming off two consecutive losses.
4. LaSalle 3-2. LaSalle showed they are among the elite of the state despite losing a nail biter to highly regarded Archbishop Wood (AAA, 6-0) 27-24. It took a 25-yd field goal by Dan Zanine with no time left to thwart a 24 point second half explosion by the Explorers. The 21-0 half time deficit proved too much to overcome. In a game that will get national attention, LaSalle will next play St. Joseph’s Prep (3-2), fresh off their attention getting 28-5 rout of St. Joseph Regional-NJ (4-2). SJR is the only team to beat famed St. Edward of Lakewood, OH and one of two to beat equally renowned Don Bosco Prep of New Jersey. If the LaSalle team that outscored Wood 24-6 in the second half shows up and the Hawk team that beat the Green Knights last week, we’ll have a classic.
5. St. Joseph’s Prep 3-2. St. Joe’s came out swinging against USA Today’s 18th ranked St. Joseph’s Regional-NJ (4-2) who was previously ranked #1 in New Jersey and #2 in USA Today’s East Region behind DeMatha (6-0, USAT’s #6 team). That’s the long way of saying they beat a fine team, handily at 28-5 while showing great character bouncing back from the previous week’s loss to Malvern. Running back D’Andre Swift tore through the Green Knights at a 9.16 yards per carry clip or 220 rush yards in 24 attempts. Bear in mind the Knights defeated teams such as Don Bosco Prep and St. Edward of Lakewood-OH this season. Maybe we just witnessed a quantum leap in the program’s status; quantum in the sense of “sudden” change in perception. LaSalle is next, a team the Hawks dominated since 2012, winning the last four games, two in each of the last two seasons. Their last win was 2012 in the postseason winning 28-27. Dumb me, I thought that 10-1 Hawk team was finals bound having defeated Cocoa, Gonzaga, North Penn, Wood and LaSalle that year.
6. Parkland 5-1. It wasn’t West Chester East beating Coatesville but still had a wow factor when Parkland lost at Liberty last week 41-34, dropping the Trojans into a second place tie in the EPC-South at 3-1 with Liberty and Easton. Allentown Central Catholic and Nazareth are at 3-2 with Freedom 4-0 atop the conference. Speaking of Easton, the Red Rovers are next with a 2-pt loss to Allentown CC standing between them and perfection. The last meeting between the two was last year in the D-2/4/11 sub-regional where Parkland reversed a regular season loss winning 13-10 in ot despite Easton holding them below 100 yards rushing. To win this one, Parkland needs to tighten up a defense that has been sieve like the last two games, allowing 28 to Whitehall and 41 to Liberty. Those are unheard of numbers for a Parkland defense. Liberty showed them to be vulnerable as did Allentown Central Catholic and Whitehall. The question is can Easton exploit those vulnerabilities.
7. Easton 5-1. Easton seems to be replacing some of last year’s parts, but there is no denying that was “the” team, as good as their 10- 0 record and #1 seed indicated entering last year’s postseason. So while they’re off to a good start, the schedule is dangerously back loaded, facing four of the top five EPC-South teams, Parkland, Liberty, Freedom and Nazareth the second half of the season. Like Parkland, they failed their only road test of the season losing at Allentown CC 26-24 three weeks ago. Both teams score a lot of points with Easton averaging 44 to Parkland’s 42. But the game is at Easton where their defense often shines. This edition is allowing a scant 11ppg to Parkland’s more liberal 19. If Easton can control the perimeter and they have to talent there to manage Parkland’s dual threat quarterback Devante Cross, they’ll win the game. On paper Parkland is the better team with size and skill advantages. The edge Easton has is in team speed and special teams that may counter Parkland’s clear advantages, giving this the look of a tight, low scoring game.
8. North Penn 4-2. Since getting edged 28-24 at Downingtown East a month ago, the Knights
reeled off three straight wins by large margins beating Pennridge 31-7, CB South 46-20 and Souderton last week 39-14. Non-conference games including LaSalle, West Catholic and Downingtown helped mold this group into a legitimate district contender especially with the development of the passing game with ancillary benefits to the passing D. Reece Udinski (6-4, 180, jr) had an awesome outing vs the Indians, completing 18 of 24 passes for 334 yards and 5 Tds. Add that to a stable load of running backs (West, Ostopowicz, Isabella) plus sure handed receivers to see the diversity of the offense. Winless Bensalem is next.
9. Liberty 5-1. To understand the size of Liberty’s 41-34 upset of Parkland last week, look back to the 15-1 title team in 2008 where they beat North Penn (14-1) in the Eastern final followed by the win against Bethel Park (15-1) to win the state title, both previously undefeated teams. That makes more sense knowing they had tremendous success on the field going 62-9 from 2004 through 2008 before slumping off to 36-31 from 2009 through last year. The task this week is to come down from the high of that win for a road game at Northampton (1-5), stay healthy, then prep for the stretch run of Easton (5-1), Allentown Central Catholic (4-2) and Freedom (6-0). Talk about a murderers’ row!
10. Pennsbury 5-1. Here’s another team on a roll, winning their last four games by a combined score of 182-52 since losing to LaSalle 14-0 in week #2. That’s good momentum they’ll need knowing the schedule maker gave them Pennridge, North Penn, unpredictable Central Bucks South and Neshaminy to end the season. Last week saw they crush hapless Bensalem (0-7) 52-12. The 52 points scored is four more than the Owls scored all year! Next up is always dangerous Pennridge (4-2, 2-1), looking to tie things up in the conference with North Penn and the Falcons sitting atop the SOL-National at 3-0. Consecutive conference road wins at Neshaminy 17-7 and Abington last week 38-15 will have them pumped before a loud and large crowd, looking to take down Pennsbury.
2. Upper Dublin 6-0. How about the team from Fort Washington, finding their way to the rarefied air space of a number two ranking. Someone had to grab it. Who better in district one than (flip a coin) the Quad-A’s from Downingtown and these Cardinals. Upper Dublin’s veteran team blew away another team last week beating Wissahickon 49-0 for their second straight shutout. That is the least heralded aspect of this team, a defense that has allowed 34 points all year. Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-1, 2-1) is next, coming off a pounding at home by Upper Moreland (AAA, 5-1) 35-14. It’s a must win situation for them to keep pace with the Cardinals and….sit down for this one, Hatboro Horsham (3-3, 3-0), who gave Upper Moreland their only loss. Keeping you current with the Mad Hatters, their only losses were to quality teams, Pennridge, Quakertown and Lansdale Catholic.
3. Downingtown East 6-0. Here’s a team with similar characteristics to Upper Dublin having great coaching, a large and diverse offense and a killer defense. The front seven is one of the top groups in the area featuring standout linebacker Brody Wilson (6-2, 230, sr), Seth Davis (5-11, 215, jr) and Matt Boorman (6-0, 170, sr) behind a potent DL; Will Kiely (6-3, 255, jr), Chris Harootunian (6-5, 275, sr), Shane Hogarth (6-3, 235, jr) and Pat Matta (5-10, 185, sr). That along with QB Saunders Healy, receiver Cary Angeline and last year’s split time back Jack Kincade now full time, makes for one difficult team to beat. Better be able to pass (Reece Udinski, North Penn, 28-24 loss) or go down the way Henderson did last week 42-7. Coatesville has a quarterback that can pass coming off a major upset loss to West Chester East. This is a dangerous atmosphere and venue for the Cougars, catching the Raiders in a bad mood coming off two consecutive losses.
4. LaSalle 3-2. LaSalle showed they are among the elite of the state despite losing a nail biter to highly regarded Archbishop Wood (AAA, 6-0) 27-24. It took a 25-yd field goal by Dan Zanine with no time left to thwart a 24 point second half explosion by the Explorers. The 21-0 half time deficit proved too much to overcome. In a game that will get national attention, LaSalle will next play St. Joseph’s Prep (3-2), fresh off their attention getting 28-5 rout of St. Joseph Regional-NJ (4-2). SJR is the only team to beat famed St. Edward of Lakewood, OH and one of two to beat equally renowned Don Bosco Prep of New Jersey. If the LaSalle team that outscored Wood 24-6 in the second half shows up and the Hawk team that beat the Green Knights last week, we’ll have a classic.
5. St. Joseph’s Prep 3-2. St. Joe’s came out swinging against USA Today’s 18th ranked St. Joseph’s Regional-NJ (4-2) who was previously ranked #1 in New Jersey and #2 in USA Today’s East Region behind DeMatha (6-0, USAT’s #6 team). That’s the long way of saying they beat a fine team, handily at 28-5 while showing great character bouncing back from the previous week’s loss to Malvern. Running back D’Andre Swift tore through the Green Knights at a 9.16 yards per carry clip or 220 rush yards in 24 attempts. Bear in mind the Knights defeated teams such as Don Bosco Prep and St. Edward of Lakewood-OH this season. Maybe we just witnessed a quantum leap in the program’s status; quantum in the sense of “sudden” change in perception. LaSalle is next, a team the Hawks dominated since 2012, winning the last four games, two in each of the last two seasons. Their last win was 2012 in the postseason winning 28-27. Dumb me, I thought that 10-1 Hawk team was finals bound having defeated Cocoa, Gonzaga, North Penn, Wood and LaSalle that year.
6. Parkland 5-1. It wasn’t West Chester East beating Coatesville but still had a wow factor when Parkland lost at Liberty last week 41-34, dropping the Trojans into a second place tie in the EPC-South at 3-1 with Liberty and Easton. Allentown Central Catholic and Nazareth are at 3-2 with Freedom 4-0 atop the conference. Speaking of Easton, the Red Rovers are next with a 2-pt loss to Allentown CC standing between them and perfection. The last meeting between the two was last year in the D-2/4/11 sub-regional where Parkland reversed a regular season loss winning 13-10 in ot despite Easton holding them below 100 yards rushing. To win this one, Parkland needs to tighten up a defense that has been sieve like the last two games, allowing 28 to Whitehall and 41 to Liberty. Those are unheard of numbers for a Parkland defense. Liberty showed them to be vulnerable as did Allentown Central Catholic and Whitehall. The question is can Easton exploit those vulnerabilities.
7. Easton 5-1. Easton seems to be replacing some of last year’s parts, but there is no denying that was “the” team, as good as their 10- 0 record and #1 seed indicated entering last year’s postseason. So while they’re off to a good start, the schedule is dangerously back loaded, facing four of the top five EPC-South teams, Parkland, Liberty, Freedom and Nazareth the second half of the season. Like Parkland, they failed their only road test of the season losing at Allentown CC 26-24 three weeks ago. Both teams score a lot of points with Easton averaging 44 to Parkland’s 42. But the game is at Easton where their defense often shines. This edition is allowing a scant 11ppg to Parkland’s more liberal 19. If Easton can control the perimeter and they have to talent there to manage Parkland’s dual threat quarterback Devante Cross, they’ll win the game. On paper Parkland is the better team with size and skill advantages. The edge Easton has is in team speed and special teams that may counter Parkland’s clear advantages, giving this the look of a tight, low scoring game.
8. North Penn 4-2. Since getting edged 28-24 at Downingtown East a month ago, the Knights
reeled off three straight wins by large margins beating Pennridge 31-7, CB South 46-20 and Souderton last week 39-14. Non-conference games including LaSalle, West Catholic and Downingtown helped mold this group into a legitimate district contender especially with the development of the passing game with ancillary benefits to the passing D. Reece Udinski (6-4, 180, jr) had an awesome outing vs the Indians, completing 18 of 24 passes for 334 yards and 5 Tds. Add that to a stable load of running backs (West, Ostopowicz, Isabella) plus sure handed receivers to see the diversity of the offense. Winless Bensalem is next.
9. Liberty 5-1. To understand the size of Liberty’s 41-34 upset of Parkland last week, look back to the 15-1 title team in 2008 where they beat North Penn (14-1) in the Eastern final followed by the win against Bethel Park (15-1) to win the state title, both previously undefeated teams. That makes more sense knowing they had tremendous success on the field going 62-9 from 2004 through 2008 before slumping off to 36-31 from 2009 through last year. The task this week is to come down from the high of that win for a road game at Northampton (1-5), stay healthy, then prep for the stretch run of Easton (5-1), Allentown Central Catholic (4-2) and Freedom (6-0). Talk about a murderers’ row!
10. Pennsbury 5-1. Here’s another team on a roll, winning their last four games by a combined score of 182-52 since losing to LaSalle 14-0 in week #2. That’s good momentum they’ll need knowing the schedule maker gave them Pennridge, North Penn, unpredictable Central Bucks South and Neshaminy to end the season. Last week saw they crush hapless Bensalem (0-7) 52-12. The 52 points scored is four more than the Owls scored all year! Next up is always dangerous Pennridge (4-2, 2-1), looking to tie things up in the conference with North Penn and the Falcons sitting atop the SOL-National at 3-0. Consecutive conference road wins at Neshaminy 17-7 and Abington last week 38-15 will have them pumped before a loud and large crowd, looking to take down Pennsbury.
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