Ed Thomas Report

1. North Penn (8-0) North Penn finally got a competitive game from someone when Souderton stepped up and forced them to play a four-quarter game. They came in hot and pumped, on a four game winning streak that included three road wins following their 0-3 start. And they were undefeated in conference action. So it shaped up as a good game and could have been if they didn’t turn the ball over four of their first five possessions. Call it bad weather conditions or big game jitters; whatever it was, it was the second week in a row where a team perceived to be a capable opponent “bottomed up” through turnovers. The week before saw Quakertown turn it over four times to the Knights. One thing anyone knows coming in is you’re not going to get too many chances against a North Penn defense allowing 8 points a game. They already average 37 ppg offensively making it lethal to turn the ball over to them. Combine that with a Souderton offense averaging 16 ppg to see they were lucky it wasn’t a blow-out. Souderton had their chances for sure but didn’t convert or they made one of those costly turnovers. That’s one of the differences between a 4-4 team like Souderton and an undefeated North Penn. Despite bad field conditions, the Knights big play people performed well. Quarterback Todd Smolinsky connected with Ralph Reeves for a 38-yard gain then motored for 34 and 66 yards to finish the game with 110 yards rushing. Running back Craig Needhammer plowed ahead for 120 yards on 15 carries, one of which was a 66 yard pick-up. At the end of the day the Knights came home with a 27-6 win. Hatboro Horsham (3-5, 2-3) is next. The Hatters had a rough but promising early season, getting off to a 3-2 start that included a 13-6 loss at Neshaminy and a 17-13 Council Rock North loss, putting them very close to 5-0. Since then they’ve gone down hill, losing three straight while scoring 42 total points to 89 allowed to put them in harm’s way here.

2. Pennsbury (8-0) Pennsbury stayed right on North Penn’s heels in the rankings with a dominating 43-12 win against William Tennent. It was a sloppy game but so was the weather throughout the area. Many teams had less than perfect performances with last week’s weather. Despite early missteps, they got the offense in high gear once again, topping the 40 point barrier for the third consecutive week. Truman, Bensalem and Tennent aren’t the stiffest competition but they allow you to develop confidence through winning and a rhythm to your offense. Running back Dante Devine was magnificent, scoring on 9-, 28- and 82-yard runs. His yards per carry average was 12.4, with 20 carries netting 247 yards rushing. What a back. Quarterback Brandon Pepper threw a 20-yard scoring toss to Eric Williams then rushed for a 7-yard score on the way to a 78 yard rushing performance. They are one-sided as ever, rushing for a mind boggling 476 yards in this one but until someone stops the run, they are good to go. Where it may get exciting is this Friday in Abington against a team that has been perfect, excluding losses to both Council Rock schools by a combined score of 41 to 75. The Falcons beat both by a score of 56-13 … at home. This one will show us what they have on the road against a quality foe.

3. Ridley (8-0) Ridley maintained sole possession of first place in the Central League at 7-0 with a 40-6 drubbing of Springfield who falls to 3-5 overall and 3-4 in league action. That was a nice win for the Green Raiders, coming on the heels of a dramatic double overtime win against Penncrest the week before. Springfield came into this one with good momentum following offensive outpourings of 54 points against Penncrest and 42 against Lower Merion. They lost to Penncrest, 66-54, then lowered the boom on the Aces, 42-13. The carry over effects were working through the first-quarter and early into the second-quarter where the Cougars found themselves down 7-6 following Matt Craig’s 44-yard touchdown run. But from thereon it was lights out with the Mean Green Machine erupting for 33 unanswered points and 5 touchdowns. It was quite a performance with 9 Raider backs getting carries and 6 others pulling in quarterback Colin Masterson receptions. That’s spreading it around! Sophomore Jalen Randolph had a great outing, rushing for 96 yards on 10 attempts for 3 touchdowns. He capped the evening off in the final quarter with his fourth score, a 44-yard touchdown pass from Masterson. What a night. Colin had a strong game as well, completing 7 of 12 passes without a pick, for 147 yards and a touchdown. Have to mention Springfield’s running back Matt Craig, who came in leading the county in rushing with 1,098 yards. He added to that total with another strong performance, rushing for 172 yards on 23 carries. Ridley’s next challenge is defending Central League champ Garnet Valley. Since losing at home to Conestoga, 14-7 (?), the Jaguars have won five straight to stand 7-1 overall and 6-1 in league play, a game behind Ridley. This year they are averaging 23 points a game while allowing 13. In contrast, last year’s team averaged 31 and allowed 12. The year witnessed the changing of the guard when Garnet Valley beat Ridley in the regular season final, 41-28, to win the Central League championship the first year in the league. That was then. This year finds us with a Ridley team operating at levels not seen in over 10 years, with an offense scoring on average 35 points a game, backed by a defense allowing but seven a game.

4. Neshaminy (7-1) Neshaminy hung tough against a strong football team from Council Rock North to barely pull out a harrowing 14-13 win. But they got the win and that’s what good teams do -- win the close ones. Still, the ‘Skins tried to give it away early when they missed a great opportunity to score after recovering a fumbled North punt in the first-quarter only to fumble it right back to them. Then in the second quarter, Charlie Marterella had a pass picked off in the end zone! Meanwhile it got even dicier after Tyler Hamilton connected with Jack Worthington for an eight-yard touchdown in the second-quarter; however, the Redskins responded in kind, bounding down the field when running back Stephen Stemme shot up the middle for a 21-yard touchdown to even the score. They then got the lead back late in the third-quarter when speedster Bryan Dean (32/130 ry) burst through for a four-yard score. That’s how it stayed, with each team sloshing back and fourth until there was almost no time left on the clock. Part of CR North’s problem was the loss of starting quarterback Tyler Hamilton to injury. But replacement Kevin Hacker performed well in relief, completing 7 of 10 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. Finally, just when this one seemed over and in the waning moments of the game, the Indians went on a blistering drive, taking them to the eight-yard line where Hacker connected with Worthington for his second touchdown of the night with just under 30 seconds left in the game. Head coach Tom Coates decided to go for the tie but Neshaminy’s Kyran Kervick had a good angle (or someone slipped) as he was able to affect the flight of the ball (or the kicker) with a swipe that never really touched the ball. Down 14-13 with a few seconds left on the clock, the Indians went for the onside kick which was recovered by none other than Kervick, making for a back-to-back super effort by the Neshaminy senior! What a memory for him, and what a painful loss for CR North which dropped to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the SOL-National. Hopefully we’ll see the Rock and their ilk, Penncrest et al., in the playoffs. The Tribe, though, lives to fight another day with the win and also takes over sole possession of second place “in-conference” at 4-1 behind Pennsbury. Bensalem is next up at Heartbreak Ridge on Friday before the main event in Fairless Hills to close out the regular season.

5. St. Joseph's Prep (6-1) The Hawk’s got a real scare from upset minded Cardinal O’Hara who battled them to the wire before going down in a thrilling 21-14 Catholic League AAAA contest. There were a lot of questions in this one with O’Hara coming in undefeated but untested. Across the field were the well tested Hawks with wins against District 7 power house McKeesport, oft ranked New Jersey power St. Peter’s and the LaSalle Explorers. But the Lions proven they were the real deal by taking St. Joe’s to the edge in one of the most exciting games of the weekend. Running back Desmon Peoples got things going for the Hawk’s in the first quarter, scoring from 14 yards out. In a back and forth slugfest played on a sloppy field, O’Hara finally caught some momentum in the second-quarter where they went on a 11 play 72 yard drive, capped off by Corey Brown’s 6 yard run to tie things up at the half. Following a scoreless third quarter, St. Joseph’s quarterback Skylar Mornhinweg punched it in from six yards out. The snap for the extra kick was bad leaving St. Joseph’s with a 13-7 lead. With just over four minutes to play, the Prep lined up for a punt at their 45 yard line but botched the snap with O’Hara taking over at the Hawk’s 30 yard line. On a third down play, quarterback Ryan Laughlin found Corey Brown in the corner of the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown to take a 14-13 lead. It looked like an upset but these Hawk’s are special, especially their quarterback who as a sophomore has already agreed to attend Stanford. With time running out, Skylar led them on a 10 play scoring drive that included a 21-yard reception on a fourth and 10. (Sounds like Coach Beck!) Wide out Pete Hurley was instrumental in snagging key receptions to keep the drive alive. The final was a 35-yard touchdown reception with less than 30 seconds left to play that put the Hawks in front for good, 21-14. Mornhinweg had a strong outing, making key passes under pressure when he had to for 121 yards. Importantly, he rushed for 76 yards on 10 carries. Desmon Peoples finished with 110 yard on 23 carries. Except for the kicking game issues this was a strong win for the Hawks. They held O’Hara to 114 yards rushing and only 100 passing. O’Hara could not stop the Hawk’s ground game that pounded them for 181 yards on 38 carries, a 4.8 ypc average. The win leaves the Hawks perched atop the CL Red at 4-0, looking down on LaSalle, O’Hara and Roman at 3-1. Bonner is next.

6. LaSalle (6-1) LaSalle had an “open” week giving them plenty of time to prepare for Roman Catholic Friday. That might sound like hype for a 4-4 team but the Cahillites have turned things around. They got off to a poor start, losing their first two games and looking bad at 1-3 a few weeks ago where they got pasted by Chestnut Hill Academy, 35-14. Since then, they’ve won three of their last four games. The four game stretch includes a hard fought 13-0 loss to Cardinal O’Hara (7-1, 3-1). Then came the contradiction of an impressive win against Father Judge, 29-14, in stark contrast to the struggle with Ryan last week where they eked out a 10-7 win. Who know which Roman team shows up this week but you know the Explorer’s will come out wanting to play some football after a week off.

7. Rustin (AAA, 8-0) The Golden Knights moved into sole possession of first place in the Ches-Mont American Division after beating Kennett (3-5, 2-1) on the road, 49-14. The Knights’ big offensive line featuring Enrique Josephs (6-3, 275) and Chase Hoyt (6-4, 250) manhandled Kennett’s defensive front, opening holes for Rondell White to rush for 269 yards. He scored on runs of 10, 35, 39 and 49 yards. To date his rushing total stands at 1,363 yards despite missing one game. His brother Ramier ran for 70 yards on 4 carries. Quarterback Mike Carlin completed 2 of 5 passes for 33 yards, bringing his season totals to 22 completions of 35 attempts for 515 yards. He has a 7/2 touchdown to interception ratio. With running backs like the White brothers and Frank O’Donnell at fullback, they don’t pass often. But they have to be respected for the forward pass with a 6-1, 190 pound quarterback completing 63% of his passes. Great Valley (3-5, 1-2) is up next. Rustin is 3-0 against them but got a battle from last year’s team before prevailing, 14-7. At 8-4, Great Valley had one of the best four loss teams in the area last year. It’s harder times this year but they have shown a pulse in their 27-14 road loss at Downingtown East five weeks ago and again last week in a losing effort to Avon Grove, 21-3.

8. Avon Grove (7-1) The fact that we’re having a conversation about Avon Grove here in the Top 10 speaks to the ever changing landscape of high school football in Southeastern Pennsylvania doesn’t it? Places like Unionville, Garnett Valley and Avon Grove were the laughing stock of football out on the western fringe of the district not too long ago while schools like Rustin and Downingtown East didn’t even exist. We all know the great teams G-Val and Rustin have fielded but so have others. Unionville comes to mind after a few monster teams in ‘05, ‘06 and ‘07 that went 11-1, 9-3 and 11-1 respectively, just missing making big time noise. The 2005 team lost in the second round to Strath Haven while the underrated 2006 group (9-3) was nipped in the second round by Upper Moreland, 26-25, in double overtime. The best of the three had to be 2007's 11-1 team that lost to Garnet Valley in the second round, 13-0, after defeating them on a cool evening at Unionville in the regular season, 13-7. The Jaguars went all the way to the PIAA AAA state final before falling to Thomas Jefferson. All that separates this year’s Unionville team from a 7-1 record is a season opening 15-14 loss to Garnet Valley and a 20-14 road loss to Avon Grove. They don’t come up too often in AAA playoff discussion but they should. That brings us full circle to Avon Grove which survived a letdown and road fatigue to beat Great Valley, 21-3. The week before saw the Red Devils beat Downingtown West, 35-21, in Downingtown. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, that’s big stuff! And they survived their third consecutive road game. The stats suggest the outcome was far more one-sided than the scoreboard lets on as the Devil D held the Patriots to 53 yards rushing and 56 yards passing. They got 6 first downs. Three running backs tore into the Pats defense for a total of 247 yards rushing. Brendan McLaughlin had 114 yards on 18 carries while Brandon Monk got another 70 yards on 8 carries. Jordan Harris finished up with 63 yards on 11 carries. All totaled, the Devils accumulated 285 yards of total offense. They finish the regular season with tow dangerous home games, Henderson and Coatesville. Henderson is up first.

9. Downingtown West (7-1) In a contest that wasn’t decided until the fourth-quarter, Downingtown West survived a 154 yard outing by Downingtown East’s sophomore running back Drew Harris and a shaky start to defeat rival Downingtown East on a rain swept field, 26-14. East jumped ahead when Quarterback Trey Lauletta found tight end Tyler Kroft a step ahead of his defender in the back of the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown. A few turnovers later, West got their act together when a healthy Bret Gillespie connected with Pete Mulville for a 55-yard touchdown, knotting the score at 7 a piece to end the half. The Whippets came out strong in the second-half, scoring early in the third-quarter when Gillespie again connected with Pete Mulville, this time for a 58-yard touchdown. Although he’s completing a low percentage of his passes since returning from injury, they are of the devastating variety with 2 of his 3 passes going for touchdowns. Drew Harris got his only score of the game on a three-yard run later in the third-quarter to pull even with West at 14-14. With West’s defense taking over, largely holding Harris in check after a big gainer and intercepting 5 of Lauletta’s passes, it was all down hill for the Cougars after Harris’ score. Laulette was so pressured he was held to 5 completions in 25 attempts that went for 66 yards. Cornerback Tommy Woodward put West ahead for good when he returned an interception 57 yards for a score. He had an incredible four interceptions in the game. Then Kessan Christopher ran one in from 11 yards out and it was all over. He finished the night with 124 yards and a score on 17 carries. That was a huge win for West after losing the week before at Avon Grove. It will position them well in the post season and gets them right back in the Ches Mont picture where they are tied at 3-1 with Avon Grove, Coatesville and Downingtown East. They’ll help break the logjam next week when they travel to Coatesville to do battle with the revived 5-3 Red Raiders, fresh off their 35-28 win over Henderson.

10. Garnet Valley (7-1) Look whose back! Since no one else wants the “Number Ten” spot and importantly, the Jaguars have been playing well, it’s time to give them a shot at it. Actually, this is the first time they’ve been ranked all year. They did not warrant a Top10 spot earlier because of severe graduation losses. They may have a great turn out, suiting up 85-90 players, but they have not yet earned the status of “historic power” along the lines of a North Penn, Ridley, Neshaminy, Downingtown, St. Joseph’s Prep and Malvern Prep under Coach Gamp, all of which almost automatically qualify for Top 10 rankings on an annual basis. Interboro dropped to AAA but are in that mix as well. Things change. Not long ago you’d have to include Central Bucks West and Strath Haven. Then every couple years teams like Pennsbury and Conestoga show us something special. Abington, Souderton and the Council Rock schools are fielding exciting teams too. From time to time a team like Central Bucks South’s 2007 edition explodes on the scene with an 11-1 team that looked unbeatable. Over in the Catholic League, Wood and West have been showing consistent strength for the last seven years. LaSalle has something special going on too while O’Hara keeps knocking on the door. Where did Ryan go? Keeping you finger on the pulse of southeastern Pennsylvania football is no small task but it is fun to make the attempt. Back to G-Val; they’ve had their moments this year, both good and bad. They began the year with two road wins, at Unionville (5-3), 15-14, and Haverford (3-5), 27-14. Then came their only loss of the year to Conestoga (5-3) at home, 14-7. They lifted themselves up the following week against Penncrest (5-3) where they pulled out a 28-27 gut-check win in the last two minutes of the game. Since then they’ve beaten Springfield, Upper Darby, Marple Newtown and Radnor by the combined score of 103-38. For a team that graduated 32 seniors, four of five starting linemen, their top three runners and leading receiver, they are having a good year. The backs are keepers in Marcus Irving and Alex Warden. Marcus rushed for 78 yards on 4 carries last win in their 42-3 win against Radnor while Alex chipped in 70 more on 6 carries. Veteran quarterback Mark McHuge has not thrown an interception since last year and is also a running threat. They’re at Ridley Friday night looking to defend their Central League title. See Ridley above for more.

Honorable Mention (Grouped by conference or classification, otherwise random)

Cardinal O'Hara (7-1)
Archbishop Wood (AAA, 6-2)
Council Rock South (6-2)
Council Rock North (5-3)
Abington (5-2)
Downingtown East (6-2)
Interboro (AAA, 8-0)
Pottsgrove (AAA, 8-0)
Penncrest (5-3)
Chestnut Hill Academy (7-0)

State Top 10 High School Football Rankings
October 26, 2009

1. Bishop McDevitt (8-0) Mighty McDevitt rolled to their eighth straight win when they routed Carlisle’s once proud Thundering Herd, 43-6. There was a time when the mere utterance of the phrase “The Herd”, conjured up visions of powerful entities coming your way with a load of pain just for you. That was likely influenced by the area being largely rural farm land with all of us knowing what a “herd” was. Cattle and other livestock were and are still abundant, along with a few mean bulls mixed in. The buffalo on the side of their helmets helped fuse this image into our psyche. Going 113-41 with four undefeated teams from 1954 to 1971 had something to do with it too. Since then, they have had their moments but dropped to 115-99 from 1972 to 1991, then even farther down from 1990 through this year where they’ve gone 81-107. They’ve had six winning seasons since 1991 so The Herd is no more. They even took the buffalo off the helmet, replacing it with the letter C. Too bad. About McDevitt, the new “Herd” from Market Street is crushing anything that gets in their path by an average score of 46-9! There is not much more you can say about them that hasn’t yet been said with ten D1 players on the field at every skill position, supported by a quick defense and great depth. Did I mention good special teams! So now all they have to do is walk the walk and go win the thing. A major road block stands in the way this weekend when they play at 7-1 State College. The intensity in this one will be fierce. State came to town six weeks ago and lost a close one to Central Dauphin, 24-22. For McDevitt, they’ll be looking to avenge last year’s bitter 20-19 loss at McDevitt Field. They are also going for their first undefeated season since 1995's 15-0 state championship team.

2. Gateway (8-0) You know Antimarino Stadium was rocking in Monroeville last week when the Gators crushed winless Connellsville, 76-0. Wow, 76 points! Imagine viewing that. The game set a new all time high record in points scored for the Gators, with starters pouring off the field early in the second quarter. That didn’t stop the onslaught as 11 different players scored touchdowns. Here’s one you don’t see too often, Connellsville did not make a tackle until the second-quarter, repeat, did not make a tackle until the second-quarter, meaning every previous play went for a touchdown. Their super quick defense so bottled up the Connellsville offense, pinning them deep, that the Gators managed only 321 yards of total offense the entire game. So they operated from a very short field all night, having to go but 4.2 yards (on average) to score a single point the entire game! What a performance. That brings us to one of the marquee games in the state this week with the Gators taking on once-beaten McKeesport in the Foothills Conference final. Both are deadlocked at 5-0. The Tigers are on a roll, winning seven straight since the opening day loss to St. Joseph’s Prep. The Hawk’s edged them 27-26. Since the loss, they’ve won all their games by an average score of 46-4. These are two huge offenses. Gateway comes in averaging 48 points a game with a D that allows 7. Last year’s game was a tale of two halves, where Gateway sprang out to a 28-7 half-time lead then struggled to hold off a McKeesport rally that disproved the theory an option attack (flex bone) can’t come back from a big deficit. They can. McKeesport rallied for 20 second-half points with quarterback Ty-Meer Brown stealing center stage, garnering three touchdowns and 118 yards rushing. The rally fell short at Gateway’s 40-yard line with the scoreboard showing Gateway 31, McKeesport 27. Gateway already handled McDowell’s option attack this year, beating them 35-17. McDowell doesn’t have McKeesport’s speed but they gave them a heck of a game in McKeesport before losing 16-14. And, Gateway practices against arguably the fastest team in the state every week! The winner gets the top seed in the 16 field district playoff. It’s in McKeesport, Friday.

3. North Penn (8-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

4. Woodland Hills (7-1) The Wolverines moved a game closer to locking up the Big East title after drilling Plum, 52-14, and securing their seventh consecutive win since the opening day loss to Steubenville, OH, 13-0. Since the loss, they’ve developed into a dominating football team, averaging 35 points a game. The defense is probably second only to Gateway in terms of speed, holding opponents to eight points a game. They will be a load in the post-season where they’ll draw a high seed, despite the loss to Steubenville. It would be premature to hand the District 7 title over to Gateway with a team like these Wolverines in the mix. The game against Plum (2-6, 1-3) was over in the first-quarter after they took a 21-0 lead. Most of the starters began coming out of the game but they couldn’t hold down the reserves who scored 10 more points to take a 31-0 lead into the locker room. Reserve junior Mitchell Nesby led them in rushing with 47 yards on 5 carries. Everyone played! Four quarterbacks threw for 150 yards and two touchdowns. They tried to go easy on Plum (44 rushing attempts) but ended up with 205 yards on the ground and 150 through the air. Woody’s speed demon D held Plum to 85 yards of offense. Nice job! Erratic and dangerous Penn Hills (4-4, 3-1) is up next after recovering from a rocky 0-2 start. They are probably as great a disappointment in terms of preseason expectations as Liberty is on the other side of the state. But they’ve won their last two and three of their last four. Liberty won five straight after an 0-3 start. None of these wins for either came against teams with a winning record, while all of the losses came against winning teams so hold off on the ticker tape parade for now. Back to Woody-Penn Hills; the Wolverines have some extra incentive in this one after Penn Hills ended their three-game winning streak last year, winning the season finale, 21-14. The loss denied them a 5-4 season. With Penn Hills and Pittsburgh Central Catholic at 3-1 in the Big East, and Woodland Hills at 4-0, a win here secures the conference crown.

5. Pennsbury (8-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

6. Ridley (8-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

7. Neshaminy (7-1) See Southeastern PA rankings.

8. St. Joseph's Prep (6-1) See Southeastern PA rankings.

9. Bethel Park (7-1) How about these Black Hawks! No one expected them to have this level of success after graduating last year’s fine team. But here they are at 7-1 overall and a surprising 4-0 mark atop the Greater Southern Conference. Mount Lebanon was expected to challenge and they are at 5-3, 3-1. They served notice the third game of the year after beating Central Catholic, 36-21, in Pittsburgh. But the real shocker is Upper Saint Clair at 5-3, with only a 2-2 won-loss in the Southern. They stunned us all with their 31-7 loss at home to Central Catholic. The two point road loss to Bethel Park told us the Hawks were ready for a run. USC’s subsequent 21-17 loss to Baldwin told us they weren’t. Last week saw Bethel Park win on the road against quirky Canon McMillan, 38-24. The team has just enough players to make them dangerous, despite being 3-5 overall and 1-3 in conference. They are going to score points and stand up to you with players like Chad Hagan (6-2, 230 RB/S) and Mike Hull (6-1, 220, RB/LB). Both are a load out of the backfield and heavy hitters on the D side. Chad will go to Ohio State while Mike will play at Penn State. At least we got one. C-Mac hung with Bethel Park through most of the second-quarter at 17 a piece until the Hawks broke out two quick scores to open up a 31-17 lead. The final was 38-24. Junior Nick Kwiatkoski (6-0, 177) got it going at the outset returning the opening kickoff 90-yards for the score. He also had a three-yard pass reception and a two-yard run for scores. The other young back is speedster Bre Ford (5-10, 185), who did his usual damage rushing for 142 yards and a touchdown. This is not the biggest team and they are young in some areas but they’ve played “big” all year as they head into the regular season final against Baldwin (2-6, 2-2).

10. McKeesport (7-1) See Gateway for information on Friday’s game. Here’s a fast rundown on how the playoffs work in the WPIAL or District-7. It’s really pretty easy. The top four teams in the four AAAA conferences make the playoffs. The conferences are The Big East, The Foothills, The Greater Southern and The Northern Six. The same applies to their AAA, AA and A playoffs. First and second place teams in each conference get a home game in the opening round, while the others are forced to play at a neutral site. The championship games for all classifications are held at Heinz Field, Nov 27. The Big East reps are Woodland Hills, Pitt CC and Penn Hills, with the Kiski/Plum winner getting the fourth seed. In the Foothills, Gateway and McKeesport duke it out for the overall number one seed in the district, with Latrobe in at 3rd. The winner of the Norwin/Penn Trafford game is the fourth seed. The Southern sees Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair each making the grade. Canon McMillan or Baldwin will be the fourth seed. And finally, The Northern Six’s qualifiers are set with North Allegheny, Shaler, North Hills and Seneca Valley in the mix. Many of the games this weekend will determine final seeding, and then it’s on to districts and states.

Honorable Mention

Shaler (7-1)
North Allegheny (7-1)
Wilson (7-1)
Manheim Central (AAA, 8-0)
Cumberland Valley (7-1)
State College (7-1)
Easton (7-1)
LaSalle (6-1)
Avon Grove (7-1)
Rustin (AAA, 8-0)