There looks to be a lot of great games this weekend. Personally, I’ll be taking in NP Neshaminy. It doesn’t get much better than that for opening weekend!
Burrs - any insight on PCL matchups? Tep-LS and AW-McD seem to be the marquee matchups in that league.
Yes, they seem to be the two marquee games of the first weekend. I saw Imhotep in person last week and as usual they have some serious playmakers, very good overall numbers, speed on defense, and good size on the line. It will be interesting to see who wins the QB job there or if they decide to split the time, at least early on. I thought both players had moments in the scrimmage.
LaSalle has a lot new faces and may need some time to get the QB up to snuff, a position that is usually beyond solid for them. And I'm not suggesting that it won't be solid this year either, but with all the turnover and inexperience it just might take some time. I watched LS's scrimmage vs Neshaminy and for the most part it was competitive. LS had a TD called back on a long pass. Neshaminy scored one offensive TD and picked off two passes that went for scores. One of those during the 10-play segment. In-between those moments I thought the scrimmage was fairly even, as both teams had some good offensive plays, but the defenses also had moments, too.
Depending on how you look at it if you're a LS fan getting Imhotep early on Week 1 might be good or bad. Good in that the Panthers despite their excellent talent could need a few weeks to workout the kinks in some of the attention to detail stuff. Bad in that LS is inexperienced and Imhotep's talent level might just be too much for them to handle at this point.
My gut is that LS at least hangs around for awhile, as they probably won't hurt themselves all that much. However, Imhotep has the ability to strike at any time and I think that will happen a couple of times during this game. I see the Panthers leaving Upper Dublin with a double-digit win.
I watched the AW/PSB game on Hudl last night and I was very impressed with the Vikings. Shocker. Their OL looked like it was the end of October. They were vary balanced. The QB looked seasoned and poised, as he hit multiple WRs during the scrimmage. The kid Blackstone ran hard and is strong. He could be primed for a big year and they complimented him with a couple of other kids. Nothing crazy jumping off the screen for the Vikings. Just solid execution and good football. And to be honest with you I thought Pennsbury looked ok. They appear to have a good, capable QB, and at least one playmaking WR. Maybe, a little young in some areas, but certainly not chopped liver either.
I saw McDonogh last year vs Lasalle and Malvern, which were two games that they won. Not sure how much they lost from a personnel standpoint, but they had an excellent/athletic QB that I do believe was a senior last year. They have a new coach as the former guy retired after 24 years of service. Taking his place is a McDonogh grad, who served under the previous coach for the last 8 years. So, I doubt much will change from a philosophy standpoint. They play in a great league, so they should be more than just a worthy opponent for the Vikings. i suspect that this will be a good game that could come down to the final quarter. Just hard for me to say for sure without knowing McDonogh's players.
Some other games that should be interesting...
West Catholic @ Pottsgrove: I'd be surprised if either team ran away from the other in this one. If a disciplined WC team shows up then they should have the athlete advantage and they return more contributors from last year than PG does. It will be interesting to see how PG adjusts with life without Faison. i expect their QB to be much more involved. Not only with more throwing (Nothing too crazy as PG will still be a heavy run team, I think), but with him running the ball, too
Roman @ Conwell-Egan: Interesting match-up. C-E has some serious playmakers led by Boston College commit Patrick Garwo, but he is far from a one-man show. Roman's defense might be able to slow them down some, but I'm not sure if the Cahiliites will be able to score enough to counter what the Eagles have. It might behoove RC to play ball control and chew into the clock because CE has much more quick-strike potential.
Judge @ Ridley:
The Crusaders return Dooley at QB and Joseph has a very capable skill player who can do damage in all three phases of the game. Will they have enough around them to win some of their 50/50 (Give or take) games on their schedule. I saw their scrimmage vs MLK. They had some nice moments on offense, but gave up at least three long TD scores. not if the MLK players were that fast, or if Judge was slow on defense. I was told that Ridley was very young and returned little in terms of experience, but I liked what I saw from them in their scrimmage vs AP. Not sure how good AP is this year, but they have been a nice program as of late. Ridley looked disciplined and well-coached. They spread the ball around with nice blend of run/pass. The QB looked capable. Defensively, nothing jumped off the screen, but positionally they were disciplined and stayed at home, which limited AP's big-play ability. Judge needs to play a clean game to leave Morton Ave with win and they didn't do that last year.
