Top 10 High School Football Rankings

Southeastern Pennsylvania Football

Featuring District 1, 12 and the Inter Ac

December 1, 2009

 

There wasn’t significant change in the Southeastern PA Top Ten although many of the teams lost. The reason being, they were involved in head-to-head games with other Top Ten teams where, in all cases, the higher ranked team won: North Penn over Avon Grove; LaSalle over Honorable Mention George Washington; Ridley over Downingtown East; and finally, Pottsgrove over Interboro. That brings us to St. Joseph’s Prep which was upset by Malvern Prep, 17-16. It would have been a simple thing to put Malvern Prep above the Hawks but that would have discounted everything St. Joseph’s accomplished against one of the toughest schedules in the state as well as forgetting the Friar’s losses to LaSalle, Downingtown East and the Haverford School. The game then was looked upon as I think most of us know it to be, an upset.

1. North Penn (13-0) North Penn crushed Avon Grove in the district semi-final to advance to the District One Championship Series final (state quarter-final) Friday night in Coatesville against Ridley. North Penn keeps getting better and better as once again, and staying true to form, they made a good team look bad. The Knights jumped on the Red Devils hard and early, zipping out to a 14-0 first-quarter score that grew to 35-0 at the half. North Penn lined up and played smash mouth football in this one, ramming the ball down Avon Grove’s throat. The Devils came in with strong running credentials based on their Wing-T rushing abilities that heretofore had not been stopped. But it was the Knights that showed what an effective running attack was all about with Craig Needhammer hammering out 156 yards rushing, bringing his season total to 1,413 yards. They marched up and down the field all nights scoring on four rushing plays by Craig Needhammer and one by quarterback Todd Smolinsky. Needhammer had rushing scores of nine, one and one yards in the first-half while Smolinsky ran another in on a five-yard keeper. The back breaker was a 38-yard strike to T. J. Gill for a touchdown with almost no time left in the half. The Mercy Rule kicked in a running clock that was in effect the entire second-half. Needhammer ran in his third one-yard touchdown early in the second-half. Avon Grove’s Mike Rooney caught a 16-yard pass from Kyle Kush in the fourth-quarter to finally get the Devils on the scoreboard. They go home after their most successful season in school history while North Penn moves on to their third consecutive district finals appearance against Ridley.

2. LaSalle (11-1) LaSalle avenged last year’s 23-14 district finals loss to George Washington by downing the Eagles, 31-20. It got as bad as 31-7 entering the fourth-quarter when GW saved face with two late scores. Things got off to a bad start for them when a holding call negated a score early in the first-quarter. Still, they had their moments, plenty of them actually, with quarterback Aaron Wilmer rushing for 140 yards and throwing for another 166 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 16 of 28 passes. They ran the ball well, netting 187 yards on 28 attempts. But as good as 353 total yards of offense typically is, it only put 20 points on the scoreboard, keeping their yards per point average a high 17.65 yards to score a single point. Conversely, LaSalle’s 256 total yards produced 31 points for a far more efficient 8.25 yards per point average. Receiver Sam Feliccia got it started on a ten-yard touchdown reception of a Drew Loughery pass. That would be Feliccia’s only reception of the night but he made it count. Loughery would go on to throw two more touchdowns on 13 completions on 21 attempts for 188 yards. Running back Jamal Abdur Rahman had an outstanding game, catching five passes for 82 yards with one a 44 yard touchdown. His 38-yard fumble recovery returned for a touchdown in the second-quarter opened the Explorer’s lead to 21-7. He also rushed for 40 yards. His 44-yard touchdown in the third-quarter following Connor Hoffman’s 40-yard touchdown reception blew the game open. The win puts them into the state tournament where they’ll play district 2/4/11 sub regional winner Easton. Easton (13-1) got here after beating archrival Phillipsburg, NJ in their traditional Thanksgiving Day game, 26-10, and Parkland two days later, 21-14, in the sub-regional final.

3. Ridley (12-1) After a scoreless first-quarter, Ridley got it together and rolled over a completely out-manned Downingtown East team, 28-7. The score was 28-0 deep into the fourth-quarter where Downingtown East finally scored with just under two minutes to play. The play was a 46-yard touchdown pass from Trey Lauletta to Nick Damato. To show how thoroughly Ridley’s defense shut down East’s substantial offense, the 46-yard TD strike accounted for 27% of their total offense in the game with the Mean Green holding them to 44 yards rushing and 127 yards passing. That’s saying something, holding down a big offense like the Cougars. Don’t forget, they put up 35 points on Wilson, 32 on Avon Grove, 27 on Malvern Prep and 49 on Penncrest. Their star running back, Drew Harris, was held to 45 yards on 19 carries. They were putting some helmets on him as evidenced by his two fumbles. Ridley’s offense had a field day with East’s defense, running for 189 yards while throwing for 146. Their powerful ground game was led by six-foot, 190 pound sophomore Jalen Randolph’s 131 yards on only 11 carries. Shahaid Smith kicked in 50 more on 11 carries. Quarterback Colin Masterson spread it around to five receivers completing 10 of 20 throws for 146 yards and a seven-yard touchdown to Dion Shaw. The win moves the Raiders to their third district finals appearance in four years. Their last district championship was 2007 (13-1), when they defeated Henderson (12-2), 19-0, before losing in the state semi-final to Parkland, 35-21. The year before that in 2006 (13-1), they lost in the district final to Pennsbury (13-2), 14-0. That was the last time they played North Penn, winning 21-7 in the district semi-final. The two met on three other occasions with North Penn winning in the playoffs first round in 2002, 28-7, and 2003 in the second round, also by the score of 28-7. The other meeting between the two was in 1953 when Ridley won 31-0. So it’s 2-2 with the tie breaker this Friday night in Coatesville.

4. St. Joseph's Prep (9-3) It’s hard to say whether St. Joseph’s was reeling from the Red Division finals loss to LaSalle the week before, how much they missed starting fullback and standout linebacker Mike Labor or if they simply ran out of gas. All those had to be a factor in their upset by Malvern Prep, 17-16. It’s even more painful knowing they once held a 14-0 lead and dominated the game statistically 331 total yards to 171. Skylar Mornhinweg completed 19 of 39 passes for 216 yards and a 16-yard touchdown pass to Stephen O’Hara to put them in front 14-0 early in the second-quarter. Before that, Eric Neefe scored from five yards out. But credit the Friars for coming back when Wally Spencer returned the kickoff following the Hawks second score, 87-yards to get them right back in the game. That was big. Later in the quarter, Bob Hall punched one in from a yard out to knot the score at 14 all at the half. The second half saw little activity other than a Mike Tiberi 22-yard field goal, giving Malvern their first lead and a safety by the Hawks pulling them within one. But it held up with neither side able to reach pay dirt in the final stanza. Desmon Peoples had another big game for St. Joe’s rushing for 111 yards on 16 carries. The Hawk defense did its part holding Malvern to 44 yards rushing and 127 passing. Malvern didn’t do badly either, holding the big Hawk attack to 115 yards rushing. Back to the schedule for a moment. It was a killer schedule; opening with perennial state power McKeesport (7-3) and New Jersey power St. Peter’s (9-2). St. Peter’s plays in the Non-Public, Group IV final December 5th against Don Bosco Prep (11-0) at Giant Stadium. The third game on the schedule was against North Penn (13-0), followed by LaSalle (11-1) and Father Judge who was playing well at the time with a 4-0 record before a 1-6 finish. An Archbishop Ryan win followed before an open week preceding the game with Cardinal O’Hara (8-3). They played LaSalle again in the PCL final before the loss to Malvern Prep so it was quite a run and arguably one of the most difficult schedules in the state.

5. Avon Grove (11-2) It’s hard going down in the playoffs but what a ride these Red Devils took their fans and many of us on. And what a surprise. It was hard getting a fix on these guys with a schedule featuring Kennett (4-7), Oxford (3-7), Unionville (1-3 start, 7-1 finish) and Bishop Shanahan (4-7). Their 4-0 start against a weak slate was further compromised by a 32-21 loss at home to Downingtown East. Two weeks later they beat Downingtown West in Downingtown and you knew they had something. They rode the high of that win for 7 wins before going down hard to North Penn 42-7 last week. But hey, that’s the learning curve -- learning how to win, making the playoffs and then taking on the North Penns and Ridleys of the district to see where you stand. They broke through some barriers this year by getting their first winning season after a 27-42 record their first seven years, beating Downingtown West, and then not only making the playoffs but advancing to the district semi-final. Well done!

6. Downingtown East (10-3) Downingtown East hit double digits in the win column for only the second time since the school split into East and West in 2003. The year was 2005 when they had a quarterback named Pat Devlin who helped engineer an 11-2 campaign. Devlin set the Pennsylvania record for career yards passing at 8,162 yards. The record was broken last week in the District-Three AA final by Kyle Smith (6-4, 215, sr) of Lancaster Catholic against Delone Catholic. He completed 10 of 17 passes for 171 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-6 win at Hershey Stadium, taking his yardage total to 8,174 yards. They move on to play Loyalsock (10-3) with the winner advancing to play the winner of the North Schuylkill-West Catholic game. But back to Downingtown East which has some rebuilding to do for next season but will do so with a nice offensive core of quarterback Trey Lauletta (6-1, 190, jr), running back Drew Harris (6-2, 200, soph) and tight end Tyler Kroft (6-6, 220, jr).

7. Pottsgrove (AAA, 14-0) Pottsgrove won their first district championship but not before getting a battle royale from the Interboro Bucs. Big plays nearly destroyed Interboro’s chances early on in the first-quarter where the Falcons raced out to a 14-0 lead. Running back Maika Polamalo broke free for a 63-yard touchdown run to open the scoring. Fullback Kayvon Green followed with a 95-yard run and a rout seemed inevitable. But the tough, blue collar Bucs fought back and scored three second-quarter touchdowns to take a 21-14 half time lead. Charles Bolger and Scott McNeil scored on one and three yard runs. But the highlight was a Rob Leone 54-yard reception of a Brett Creighton pass. Pottsgrove lent a helping hand in the quarter by way of a blocked punt, fumble and a few untimely penalties. The second half was largely a defensive stalemate with Maika Polamalo scoring from six yards out, tying the score at 21-21. Pottsgrove controlled the clock for most of the fourth quarter but couldn’t score, sending the game into overtime. Interboro deferred and the Falcons scored on their second play when Maika Polomalo ran it in from nine yards out. Interboro’s offense had no rhythm after sitting for most of the fourth-quarter and failed to convert when Angelo Berry swatted away a pass to Rob Leone in the end zone. Statistically, this one was all Pottsgrove with the Falcons out rushing the Bucs 385 yards to 84. Maika Polamalp led the way with 202 yards followed by fullback Kayvon Green’s 145 yards. The Bucs had quarterback Terrell Chestnut’s number, holding him to 35 yards on 21 carries. Great game! Pottsgrove moves on to the PIAA state playoffs where they’ll face Archbishop Wood (10-2) which had the week off after beating Gratz (8-5) in the AAA District-Twelve final.

8. Neshaminy (9-3) Season over.

9. Downingtown West (10-2) Season over.

10. Interboro (AAA, 12-1) The Bucs great season came to a disappointing conclusion with a 28-21 overtime loss to Pottsgrove in the AAA District-One final. But it was a fine season where they hit the double digit win level for the first time since 2003's 10-2 team. The 12 wins also equals their undefeated 1999 team that posted a perfect 12-0 record. See Pottsgrove above for the game write up.

T I E

10. Penncrest (8-4) Season over.

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

Garnet Valley (9-2)
Abington (7-3)
Pennsbury (9-2)
Council Rock South (8-3)
Malvern Prep (7-4)
Cardinal O'Hara (8-3)
Archbishop Wood (AAA, 10-2) States vs. Pottsgrove 12/4 at Philly’s Northeast High.
George Washington (8-3)
West Catholic (AA, 11-2) States vs. North Schuylkill (13-0) 12/5 at Palisades High.
Unionville (8-4)
Rustin (AAA, 11-1)


State Top 10 High School Football Rankings
December 1, 2009

1. Bishop McDevitt (12-0) Penn Manor knocked some of the swagger out of Bishop McDevitt by battling them through the first-half where they should have gone to the locker room tied up at 21 all. From start to finish, you knew McDevitt was the superior team but the Comets would not go away, even with McDevitt breaking out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead on Jameel Poteat’s 39- and five-yard touchdown runs. Penn Manor caught the Crusader D sleeping in their next possession when fullback Jared Shearer burst up the middle for a 73 yard gain. Quarterback P.J. Rehm snuck it in from the one-yard line, cutting the lead to 14-7. McDevitt followed up with a nice drive, capped off by Poteat’s one yard lunge for six. With the score board showing McDevitt up 21-7, Penn Manor came right back with a 68 yard drive to the one-yard line where Fullback Jared Shearer got his second score, making it 21-14 with just under four minutes left in the half. Once again, McDevitt went on the prowl, driving for more points only to see quarterback Matt Johnson picked off by Austin Sahd at his own 34-yard line where he returned it 66 yards for the score with 1:35 left in the half. That’s where it should have ended, tied at 21 a piece but it didn’t. With the clock ticking down, Coach Jeff Weachter was going for more and got it when Dawan Smith snagged a Johnson pass, taking it to Penn Manor’s 31-yard line. It was there Penn Manor was called for a face mask, giving McDevitt a shot at the end zone instead of heading to the locker rooms. Up to that point the Comets were playing heads up football but this one was costly with Matt Johnson connecting with Aaron Sye in the corner of the end zone for the score. Wow, what a half. That’s where it began to unravel for Penn Manor with the Crusader defense stepping up to play shut down defense the rest of the game. Beginning with the score at the end of the half, McDevitt reeled off four touchdowns to put the Comets away, 49-21. With so many weapons, it’s just a matter of time and a question of who will get the points. Johnson threw two bombs in the second half to blow this one open. The first was an 80-yarder to Salath Williams followed by a 60-yard strike to Aaron Sye. Jeremy Cornelius scored on a 35-yard interception return with 2:45 left in the game to end the scoring. Matt Johnson was on the money except for the interception, completing 11 of 20 passes for three touchdowns and 255 yards passing. Jameel Poteat was a workhorse, carrying the ball 34 times for 210 yards and 3 scores. All totaled, they cranked out 480 total yards of offense to Penn Manor’s 220. Next up is fellow Mid Penn Conference member Cumberland Valley (10-2). The two used to play regularly before reconfiguration took McDevitt out of the Commonwealth and into the Keystone Division. Cumberland Valley leads the series 18-10-1 although McDevitt won the last time they played in 2007, 30-13. This is a great match up of the premier East Shore team, McDevitt, against the premier West Shore team Cumberland Valley. The Eagles come in hot, off the 28-21 Wilson win at Wilson last week where they scored in the closing seconds of the game to beat the Bulldogs. McDevitt is more but old rivalries die hard so expect an all out from CV.

2. North Penn (13-0) See Southeastern PA rankings.

3. Woodland Hills (12-1) Woodland Hills parlayed an overwhelming defense with just enough offense to thoroughly handle Gateway 10-0 in the WPIAL final. The wild thing about this one was their defensive coordinator Bill Morton was bedridden in the hospital with blood clots in his lungs, making calls to the sideline with his cell phone. What a game plan he came up with, pressuring Gateway’s quarterback Robbie Kalkstein into one of the poorest performances of his four-year career, completing but 8 of 27 passes for 115 yards. He threw two interceptions. Brendon Felder was held to 12 yards rushing on six carries while Orne Bey was held to 44 yards on 12 carries. That was the story, defense, with the Wolverines swarming all over Kalkstein and company, sacking him six times and recovering two fumbles. The Gators were held to 146 total yards of offense! No one knew it at the time but for all intents and purposes, the game was over just past the mid-point of the first-quarter when Sam Scifo’s 24-yard field goal sailed over the crossbar. Second quarter action saw Jayvon Polk scamper in on a reverse from 14 yards out, capping a nine-play, 69-yard drive. Woodland Hills came into the game pretty banged up, especially at running back where fullback Cameron Thompkins, Lafayette Pitts and even Dom Timbers were forced to leave the game for most of the second-half. Dom finished with 77-yards rushing on 19 carries while Cameron had 33-yards on seven attempts. The win was Coach George Novak’s 6th WPIAL title. They move on to Mansion Park Stadium in Altoona where they’ll play State College (10-2) Friday night.

4. LaSalle (11-1) See Southeastern PA rankings.

5. Gateway (12-1) Gateway went down to another inglorious defeat in the WPIAL final, their third in a row, when Woodland Hills shut them out 10-0. In defense of Gateway, just getting to the WPIAL final game three consecutive years (four of the last six) is an accomplishment. All the games, except Pittsburgh Central Catholic in 2004, were tight games. Central won gold that year after defeating Gateway, 28-0. The Gators were back again knocking on the door in 2007 but were once more turned away by Central Catholic, 35-34, which went on to win the state title again. Last year saw them lose to Bethel Park, 10-6. Bethel went on to lose in overtime to Liberty in the championship game. Those are tough losses, especially the last two years where they came into the final undefeated. However you choose to look at last week’s results, Gateway remains as one of the premier programs in the state.

6. Ridley (12-1) See Southeastern PA rankings.

7. Easton (13-1) Easton did what just about everyone said they could not do, win three football games in a span of eight days. It all began with a 28-6 playoff win against Hazelton followed by a 26-10 Thanksgiving Day win against rival Phillipsburg, NJ. It then concluded last Saturday with an improbable 21-14 win against Parkland in the District-2/4/11 sub-regional title game. What a run! That they had anything left for Parkland after the emotion of the rivalry game with Phillipsburg is a testament to their focus and stamina. They didn’t just eke by the Trojans, they shut them down, playing solid defense as they held Parkland to 166 yards rushing on 47 carries and 57 yards passing. The Red Rovers drew first blood when quarterback Justin Pacchioli scored from three yards out in the first-quarter. Later in the same quarter, he hit Kadeem Pankey (5/85) for a nine-yard touchdown. Parkland scored early in the second-quarter when fullback Joshua Rueda ran in from the seven-yard line. It appeared that’s where it would stand until Justin Pacchioli spotted Karon Hughes for a ten-yard touchdown toss with 20 seconds left in the half, pushing the score out to 21-7. Parkland punched in a second touchdown in the fourth-quarter but was largely held in check by a Red Rover defense that was at the top of its game considering circumstances holding Parkland’s big offense to 223 total yards. Star running back Andre Williams was held to 97 yards on 27 carries. Pacchioli had an exceptional game, completing 11 of 15 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Now, if they can catch their breath, they’ll be ready for 4th ranked LaSalle Saturday afternoon at BASD, Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

8. State College (10-2) State College won the District-6/8/9/10 championship two weeks ago by defeating McDowell (8-3), 16-7, for the second straight year. McDowell is probably one of the better programs you hear little about, situated as they are in Erie’s remote District-Ten. In some ways, they’ve been overshadowed by Cathedral Prep and AAA power Strong Vincent. Prep recently dropped to AAA leaving McDowell as the only AAAA in the district. Despite their location, they play in the WPIAL Foothills Conference with teams like McKeesport and Gateway. They always have big, physical teams that like to pound on you with their ground game. This year’s line averaged 246 pounds and they knew the Lions well after losing to them in the district final last year and scrimmaging them back in August. State College plays out of the Mid Penn Conference against the likes of Central Dauphin, Cumberland Valley, Harrisburg and Bishop McDevitt. They too are known as a physical team and once again have a sizeable O-line weighing in at 265 pounds. The game against McDowell was well contested with the Trojans hammering out 196 yards on the ground to State’s High’s 192. State’s Dom Mills is back from injury where he split time at quarterback with Matt Mazzara. Together they completed 9 of 15 passes for 79 yards. McDowell was in this one but three interceptions stopped their momentum and changed the complexion of the game, allowing the Lions to hang on for a 16-7 win. State probably needed last week off but you’ve got to say there is nothing fair about any system that allows one team so obvious a benefit. Woodland Hills was battling Gateway in a slugfest while State College no doubt watched the game on television. They’ll settle it on the field at Mansion Park in Altoona Friday night. The winner advances to play the winner of the game between Bishop McDevitt and Cumberland Valley.

9. Cumberland Valley (11-2) Cumberland Valley is something like Wilson, Bethel Park and Archbishop Wood where despite the graduation of most starters, they are having a highly successful season. So they came into the season with a lot of questions that have been positively answered. Here they are with 11 wins, one shy of last year’s 12-2 team and in the district final for the second straight year. Their only losses were to Mid Penn Commonwealth opponents State College (10-2), 21-17, at State College and Central Dauphin (9-3), 38-35, at Landis Field in Harrisburg. Since the Central Dauphin loss, they’ve won playoff games against Muhlenberg, 42-7, Central Dauphin, 24-21, and last week’s thriller against Wilson, 28-21. They avenged the loss to CD, and then dug real deep to pull out a win at Wilson. That one avenged last year’s 35-7 loss to the Bulldogs in the district final. You know it felt good beating the Dogs in the final six seconds on a 48-yard screamer from quarterback Eric Sawyer to Trevor Harmon. They have some people that can hurt you. McDevitt will likely need to play four-quarter football in this one because the Eagles have weapons. Quarterback Eric Sawyer has thrown for over 1,500 yards with a 16 to 5 touchdown to interception ratio. They always have big backs and a sizeable line at CV and this year is no different with fullback Travis Friend (6-2, 240, sr) lumbering for 856 yards on 155 carries and Kevin Snyder (6-2, 210, jr) banging out 1,160 yards on 130 attempts. Chris Conway (5-9, 165, sr) adds an element of speed to the attack with 744 yards rushing. This is a great match up of two Mid Penn Conference powers. Should be a good one.

10. Bethel Park (10-2) Bethel Park moved back into the State Top Ten as a result of Avon Grove getting dismantled by North Penn and by their own merits which become clearer and more meaningful by the efforts of the only team to beat them this year, Woodland Hills. They lost to the Wolverines the fourth week of the season at Woodland Hills, 21-17, and again in the WPIAL semi-final in overtime, 38-35. Woodland Hills success in the post season, particularly their 10-0 win against Gateway, only adds to the significance of Bethel Park’s narrow losses to them.

Honorable Mention

North Allegheny (9-2)
Wilson (11-2)
Manheim Central (AAA, 13-0) States vs. Susquehanna Twp (12-1) 12/4 at Hershey Stadium.
Downingtown East (10-2)
Downingtown West (10-2)
Avon Grove (11-2)
Pottsgrove (AAA, 14-0)
Avon Grove (11-2)
St. Joseph's Prep (9-3)
Neshaminy (9-3)