The Ed Thomas 2010

PA Pre-Season Scholastic Football Review

Well that went fast and here we are again, looking forward to another great season of exciting Pennsylvania High School football.  I’m not even going to look at last year’s opening remarks for fear they are the same as this year.  But it is always exciting starting a new season, knowing of the hopes so many share this time of the year that this will be the year their team turns things around, or continue their winning ways and for the lucky few, maybe this is the year they reach for the gold medal and bring it home.  Everyone is 0-0 and shooting for the stars.  Right up front I want to thank Bob Willits and Bruce Traney of this website for having me back for a another year.  They are great guys who put in long hours and a lot of work into the creation and maintenance of the website.  Make sure you visit other areas of the site to see the newly added resources that help to make this one of the best high school web sites anywhere.

We plan to follow last year’s format by presenting a weekly Southeastern Pennsylvania Football Top 10 plus a State Top 10.  We’ll also include an Honorable Mention section since there are so many teams worth listing here in southeastern Pennsylvania and throughout the state.  It’s takes a lot of effort putting a project like this together but without a look at teams throughout the state, you’re just not getting the whole picture.  After all, the teams from this part of the state who qualify will be playing some of them in the playoffs so why not get a better understanding of what lies ahead.  So here we go with a short review of last year and an overview of the coming season looking at AAAA in detail and the other three classes through a brief write up and a State Top 10 for each classification.

Class AAAA 

The East won their second gold medal in a row when District 12-Philadelphia Catholic League champion LaSalle (14-1) turned away a stunned State College (12-3) team, 24-7.  The year before that, Liberty ended the West’s four year dominance by edging Bethel Park in overtime 28-21 in the Hurricanes third finals appearance of the previous four years.  Back to LaSalle who actually got competitive games from fellow district 12 opponents throughout the playoffs where they beat Cardinal O’Hara, 31-21, St. Joseph’s Prep 35-28 and George Washington 31-20.  They also got a competitive game from District 11’s Easton, winning 17-14.  Thereon they beat Ridley in the semi final, 35-7 in a game that was closer than the score might suggest, before defeating State College 24-7 in the final.   Ridley was a matter of turnovers and an exhausted but valiant Raider defense finally faltering in the 4th quarter.  For State College, you could make a case that they came into the game ground down from previous games against McDowell, Woodland Hills and Mid Penn nemesis Cumberland Valley before facing the Explorers.  Bottom line, LaSalle peeked at just the right time to hold State College to 124 total yards of offense while they pounded out 366 total yards for themselves.  LaSalle made history, becoming the first team from District-12 and the Philadelphia Catholic League to bring home a gold medal won on the gridiron.   They look to have a serious rebuild this year but the manner in which Coach Drew Gordon has elevated the program makes you feel they could be right in the thick of it for league and possibly district honors.

Class AAA

Selinsgrove (16-0) won their first gold medal to end a five year draught for the East by taking down powerful Manheim Central (15-1) 10-7.  It was a bitterly fought and physical encounter that saw the Seals battle back with a fourth quarter rally to pull out the win.  With just over six minutes left in the game, they went on 12-play, 76-yard drive, keeping the ball on the ground for much of the drive then punching it in with 1:27 left on the clock.  That was set up by a Ryan Keister interception of a Justin Gorman pass at the Seals 28-yard line with 6:20 left in the game.  This was a monster team that scored 680 points while allowing only 86.  Few teams gave them a competitive game, as they beat teams like Mount Carmel 41-0, Allentown Central Catholic 31-10 and Archbishop Wood 28-0.  Class A Southern Columbia gave them a game, losing 35-28 as did Manheim Central in the final.  What a team.  Many people in central Pennsylvania are claiming a victory in this one with Selinsgrove 50 miles north of Harrisburg and Manheim 30 to the southeast.  Congratulations to the Seals for being the first AAA school to win a title out of District-4.  The Seals suffered severe losses to graduation but none more painful than the loss of star fullback and linebacker Seth Lauver who was critically injured with a spinal cord injury in a car accident this summer.

Class AA

After a 2008 campaign that saw Lancaster Catholic (13-2) losing only to Trinity in the opener 20-0 and to a great West Catholic team in the semi final, 37-13, LC put it all together last year, going 15-1 and beating Greensburg Central Catholic in the PIAA final 21-14.  Their only loss last year was to Manheim Central with star Quarterback Kyle Smith relegated to the sidelines with an injury.  In a highly anticipated rematch, the Crusaders beat West Catholic in the semifinal 23-21 before going on to beat the Centurians.  This was quite a game in a driving snowstorm where Lancaster Catholic showed their toughness for a passing team by pounding it down GCC’s throats on two impressive drives.  They answered Greensburg’s first possession touchdown (12-play, 68-yard drive) on their first possession when Quinn Houser got loose on the first play from scrimmage, sprinting 62-yards to knot the score at seven each.  Over the course of the game, Lancaster Catholic recovered from 7-0 and 14-7 deficits.  Their second score came on a 15-play, 64-yard drive followed by a game clinching 12-play, 58 yard drive to pull away from the Centurians.  We will see if they can survive considerable graduation losses including Pennsylvania’s all time leading passer Kyle Smith, who ended his career with 8545 yards passing and 118 touchdowns!  Compounding things, star tail back Jordan Stewart (6-1, 205) transferred to Conestoga Valley, taking last year’s school record 1570 rushing yards with him.  Great timing with Conestoga Valley losing Kevin Kelley who led the Lancaster-Lebanon League in rushing with 2334 yards.

Class A

There were a lot of “firsts” last year with the winners of each classification bringing home their first gold medal.  The Clairton story is similar to Lancaster Catholic’s, having come close to winning a state title the year before they actually did.  In 2008, the Bears stormed through the regular season unscathed at 15-0, crushing everyone by an average score of 40-4.  As fortune would have it, their opponent in the final would be one of the most storied programs in the state, the Steelton-Highspire Steamrollers who stood squarely in Clairton’s path, defending the state title won the year before.  While it was a competitive opening half, the Rollers rolled in the second half to win going away, 35-16 and secure their second consecutive state title.  Clairton looked confused in the second half of that one, making few adjustments.  It seemed to spill over into the 2009 season where they came out in the opener flat, falling on their faces losing to Laurel 15-8.  But from thereon they blew away the next eleven teams by an average score of 47-2, shutting out seven of those teams.  The next game was against Rochester in the District-7 title game where they edged the previously undefeated Steelers 14-13 at Heinz.  Conemaugh Township from District-5 was next and went down hard, 46-0, before District-10 kingpin Farrell (14-0 at time) took them to the wire before losing 13-7.  The state final pitted them against an undefeated team for the third time in the last four games verses the Crimson Crushers from Bishop McCort.  McCort was nearly Clairton’s equal, battling to a 3-3 tie with seven minutes left in the game when the Bears exploded for 2 scores, a 7-play, 33-yard drive, following a McCort fumble and a 80-yard jaunt by tailback Deontae Howard.   Deontae graduated with over 1800 yards rushing but they return quarterback Desimon Green (6-5, 220, sr) who quietly passed for 1279 yards and rushed for another 703.  Regardless of losses, even for a Single-A on a 2 year run, that’s a special quarterback that will make them a force to reckon with again this year.

Class AAAA, The West 

(Districts 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; D5 has no AAAA or AAA teams)

District 6 

Central Mountain (6-5)   Seems Central Mountain is stuck in the mud going 5-5, 6-4, 6-5 and 6-5 from 2006 though last year.  But they are always in the hunt in the Mountain Athletic Football Conference-Seven Mountains Division with Hollidaysburg, Dubois, Bellefonte and Indian Valley.  They shared honors last year with Dubois and Hollidaysburg at 3-1, fielding a team that averaged 26 points a game while allowing 21.  The highlight of the season oddly enough was a competitive loss to AA power Tyrone (10-2) 14-7.  That and a three point loss to Hollidaysburg denied them an 8-3 campaign.  They lost some key pieces of that team to graduation including starting quarterback Nick Turchetta, lead receiver Dan Howard (15/249) and TE Rob Smeltz (6-5, 265!).  The biggest loss is running back Scott Zubeck who rushed for 1330 yards on 181 carries.  They return some talent in sophomore running back Von Walker (6-0, 180) who as a freshman ran for 588 yards on 77 carries, a 7.6 yard per carry average.  He will team with Zach Corl (6-1, 225, sr) who had a 5.9 ypc average on 27 carries to form a nice tandem in the backfield.   If they can find a quarterback to get the ball safely in their hands and hit a few receivers, they will be fine behind a typical Seven Mountain Division offensive line making holes up front.  Seniors Santo Luciano (5-7, 240), George McKinley (6-1, 290), Luis Vital (6-1 1/2, 250) and Mike Vonada (6-1, 240) will lead the way.  Juniors Jeff Jensen (6-2, 250), Steve Sanders (6-2, 240) and Zach Zimmerman (5-11, 260) will also battle for starting positions.  Vonada is a force on defense where he had 44 tackles last year on D-line.  Rich LaSalle is a quick senior DL at 6-0, 200. They took a hit at linebacker but return Zach Corl to the position (see above) and 3 from the secondary.

Altoona (2-8)   In what had to be a disappointing first year at the helm for Coach Tom Palfey, the Mountain Lions suffered their second consecutive losing season.   The season got off to a bad start losing to North Allegheny 53-0 and ended just as bad, getting crushed by Harrisburg 75-6.  In between those routs they lost to Cumberland Valley 55-14 and Bishop McDevitt 49-0 in what would be their final year in the Mid Penn Conference.  Their affiliation with the Mid Penn was not a positive one.  Since joining in 2004, they’ve had two winning season and an overall record of 27-36.  They move to the WPIAL’s Big East Conference where the comp will be just as fierce as the Mid Penn, playing teams like Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Woodland Hills and Penn Hills.   Maybe the fresh start will do them good.  The return of 30 seniors can’t hurt and how much can the graduation losses hurt a 2-8 team that scored 98 points and allowed 365?  Still, they will miss big Nick Soto (6-2, 290) and a good fullback in Julian Howsare (6-3, 250) who rushed for 676 yards in only seven starts.  Senior Deron Lee is back at 5-10, 160 pounds after rushing for 418 yards and catching 8 passes for 127 yards.  Coach Palfey began the year with a junior quarterback, Ethan Wilt (6-2, 185, 18/54/161) but ended with senior Nate Beck under center. That’s the second year in a row they’ve had instability at quarterback.  They open at Hollidaysburg, followed by McKeesport in the Mountain Lion’s home opener.  Then it’s back on the road to play Fox Chapel before coming home again to play Kiski.

State College (12-3) The Lions fielded one of their better teams last year but came up short in the final against LaSalle, losing 24-7.  What a ride it was, tying Central Dauphin atop the Mid Penn Commonwealth Division at 4-1, a game ahead of Cumberland Valley.  Central Dauphin and Bishop McDevitt were the only teams to beat them in the regular season while they secured wins against rivals Harrisburg and Cumberland Valley.  The playoffs saw them tear through Central Mountain 42-17, then win real wars against District-10’s McDowell, 16-7 and WPIAL powerhouse Woodland Hills, 14-3.  Then came the rematch with division rival Cumberland Valley in the West final where the Lions caught Cumberland Valley coming off a stunning double overtime upset of Bishop McDevitt, 34-27, setting them up for a big fall that came in the form of a 35-13 loss to State College.  All the critical parts of that team graduated, including under rated quarterback Matt Mazzara (6-0, 198), who completed 58% of his passes and rushed for 785 yards.  Matt was the # 2 rusher behind speedster Alex Kenney who rushed for 1165 yards and caught 24 passes for another 427 yards to lead the team in rushing and receiving.  Defensive lineman Colby Way (6-3, 235, 32 tackles, 3 sacks) had 73 carries for 376 yards and 22 catches for 255 yard.  He also graduated.  The other great loss on offense was the other quarterback Dom Mills (6-3, 230), who got dinged a few times last year but completed 58% of his throws for 552 yards giving the Lions quite a tandem in Matt and Dominic.  He was the team’s fourth leading rusher with 360 yards on 75 carries so the wipeout of the backfield was complete.  Gone from the line are Scott DeBoef (6-8, 270), Vinh Vunong (6-3, 285), Michael Laskowski (6-3, 275) and tight end Colby Way (6-3, 235).  The picture is just as bleak defensively with the graduation of the # 1 (# 2 returns) through # 10 tacklers.  Vunong and Way played on the D-line with Micah Porter (6-2, 205), Sean McWhirter (6-1, 225) and Dustin Gates (5-10, 240) who all graduated.   Except for #2 tackler Shane Dorner (6-2, 195, 41 tackles, sr), it’s a wipeout in the Linebacking corps as well.  But this is State High, with a 96-40 won-loss the last 11 years and more recently, a 42-12 won-loss the last four years featuring three 12 win seasons.  They always have a huge roster.  Last year’s team graduated 24 seniors but returns the same number this year.  What is bothersome is the first 5 games of the season that are as difficult as any team in the state, opening with a road game at North Allegheny, a homer to St. Anthony’s of New York, a road game at Our Lady of Good Counsel, Maryland, followed by another road game to Cumberland Valley before coming home to play Harrisburg.

District 8 

There are only 2 AAAA teams left in the Pittsburgh City League, Brashear and Allderdice.  The Allerdice (1-8) Dragons have been anything but Dragon-like recently or historically with but 2 winning seasons the last 11 years and a combined won-loss of 1-17 the last 2 years.  Since 1999, they have gone 43-67. Their lone win last year was against winless Langley, 33-32.  Langley won 14 games the past 11 years for a won-loss of 14-83 to show how depressed things are in the Pittsburgh City League.

Brashear (8-2) has had far more success with only 1one losing season since 1999 (see epassports.com) when they went 5-6 in 2001.  Their won-loss over that period is 86-40.  They are 30-5 the last three years where they have enjoyed some of the best talent to come through the school in years.  Trouble is that most of them graduated, notably, 2-year starting quarterback Henri Chapman (6-1, 170), who completed 58% of his passes both years with steady accuracy, throwing for 32 scores and 12 interceptions.  His passing yards total was 2330.  The other huge loss is TE/LB Manasseh Garner (6-3, 220, Wisconsin) who caught 27 passes for 521 yards and led the Bulls in tackles with 61.   Power back Bruce Patterson (5-10, 215) also graduates after rushing for 745 yards on 138 carries.  Three of their four leading receivers return.  They lost a lot of firepower but are looking better on defense where they return most of the line along with Ends Tom Means (6-3, 245, 20 tackles, sr) and Mike Barron (6-2, 240, 50 tackles, sr).  Linebackers Dillon Semian (5-11, 210, 45 tackles, sr) and Matt Truesdell (5-10, 185, 26 tackles, sr) are also back.  At least four others return that got considerable playing time at DT, LB and CB so the D looks set.  They had a nice defense for the City League last year, allowing 94 points all year and are the early favorite this season.

District 9 

Dubois (5-6) is the only AAAA in the district and they haven’t had much to cheer about lately, cranking out four consecutive losing seasons and another eight over the last ten years.  The schedule has become much tougher since forsaking the District-9 Conference in 2008 for the Mountain Athletic Football Conference - Seven Mountains Division.  In the District-9 Conference, they played AAA schools Bradford, St. Marys, Punxsutawney and AA Brookville.  In the Seven Mountains that feature District-6 schools predominantly to their east and southeast (still a hike on I-80), they play Bellefonte, Indian Valley, Hollidaysburg and Central Mountain, all AAA schools representing a slight upgrade.  Of greater impact, they replaced previous non-conference opponents with the major Erie schools, McDowell, Cathedral Prep, and Strong Vincent.  Since 2008, McDowell won their two games against the Beavers by a combined score of 91-25.  Cathedral won their games by a combined point total of 97-35 while Vincent thumped them 78-12.  That totals out to an average loss of 44-12 over six games.  Shades of Philly’s Germantown?  Things don’t look to improve this year with the loss of quarterback Josh Means who passed for 974 yards and led the team in rushing with 618 yards.  Four of the top five rushers counting Means graduated along with the leading receivers; tight end Drew Spicher (6-2, 225) who caught 19 passes for 294 yards and Derek Clark who also caught 19 for 219 yards.  Quarterback Josh Sleigh has shared time since he was a freshman.  He is now a junior at 6-1, 185 and probably represents their best hope of reversing things with his experience.

District 10 

Strong Vincent (8-3)   It’s good seeing Strong Vincent in the AAAA ranks where at some point they may face off again with another city power, McDowell, in the District 6/8/9/10 sub regional playoffs.  They don’t play each other in the regular season and haven’t since 2007 where a pretty good 11-3 Strong Vincent team which lost to Thomas Jefferson in the West final 35-6, was also defeated by a 6-5 McDowell team 22-0.  The 2008 team that went 13-1, blowing away their first 13 opponents by a combined score of 563-87 (43-7 per game) seemed destined for gold until running into Thomas Jefferson again and losing 35-21.  Last year’s team was probably more disappointing than those that lost to gold medalist TJ twice since the Colonels had another boatload of talent.  The 21-19 opening day loss to a strong AA General McLane (11-1) 21-19 suggested tougher times ahead against strong AAA teams.  That’s what happened when city rival Cathedral Prep pummeled them in the fourth game of the year, 46-0.  Thereon, they were on cruise control, demolishing their next six opponents by an average score of 42-6.  Next up was a 6-3 Grove City team in the playoffs first round, that in their only test of the year was pounded by AA Wilmington 34-14.  You figured Vincent would get past the Eagles but they didn’t, losing 19-13.  Grove City was smashed in their next game by Cathedral Prep 47-21.  For the coming season, Vincent should be able to replace last year’s production at quarterback where Steve Uplinger completed 31 of 71 passes for 692 yards.  Junior Denzel Jones completed 4 of 11 passes last year but looks more like a Strong Vincent quarterback with his 21 carries netting 84 yards.   He was looking good last year as a 6-1, 180 pound sophomore.  Leading running back Brandon Akins and Emari Tangle graduate after rushing for 1084 and 681 yards respectively.  Top receiver Courtney Harden-Pullium, who snagged 23 passes for 595 yards graduated.  Speedy Kevin Green (5-9, 180, sr) returns after rushing for 681 yards and catching four passes.  They return some other good looking experienced backs in Dalton Elmers (6-2, 225, sr), Xavier Woods (6-0, 205, sr), Damarcus House (5-10, 200, sr) and junior Kimini Smith (6-1, 200).  Only twelve graduated from last year’s roster although many were starting lineman.  Gone are OL/DLs Emmanual Wells (6-1, 300, #1 tackler 91). Sean Herron (6-3, 345, #3 tackler 79), Alex Davis (6-3, 275, # 4 tackler 70) and Jordan Pointer (6-0, 285, 22 tackles).  They clearly weren’t big ole boys that just stood around.  They may be OK on the D side with the return of the entire line backing corps of Ryan Greenwalt (5-11, 230, 84 tackles, sr), Denzel Jones (6-1, 180, 55 tackles, jr), Tony Twiller (6-0, 190, 33 tackles, jr), Andre Evans (6-0, 205, 41 tackles, sr)  and DE Aaron Bell (6-0, 190, 54 tackles, sr).  DLs Travaugnh Roberts (6-1, 230, 37 tackles, sr) and Kareem Smith (5-11, 225, 14 tackles, sr) return.  If they can fill some holes on the OL and DL it looks like the Colonels will be on the attack again this season.

McDowell (8-3) McDowell had one of those teams last year that was close.  Like Vincent, they’ve had a few over the years.  Their losses came on the road to McKeesport 16-14 then three weeks later in Monroeville to Gateway  35-17.  The other loss came in the District 6/8/9/10 final to State College, 16-7.  Their graduation losses are similar to Strong Vincent’s, losing the quarterback, lead back and top receiver.  Zach Greenwalt’s value was more as a running back in McDowell’s scheme than as a passer where he led the team in rushing with 853 yards and passed for 409 yards.  Lead back Dejon Young motored for 668 yards while Scott Harris added 233.  Both are standard McDowell bruising running backs with Young checking in at 6-2, 220 and Harris at 6-1, 225.  Both graduated but they return Jeremy Baronner (6-1, 200, sr) who ran for 418 yards on 88 carries and Greg Garmon (6-2, 210, jr) who banged out 584 yards on 45 carries in his sophomore season.   Dehart Luke, a 6-1, 210 pound junior also made good contributions as a sophomore with 28 carries netting 186 yards so they have the backs.  If Colin Kimball, their 5-9, 150 pound speed burner is their starting quarterback as a senior, he’ll at least be quick after getting 205 yards on 22 carries.  He completed 3 of 6 passes for 110 yards.  Defensively they lost a lot from a decent group that allowed 15 point per game.  Take away the 35-17 loss to Gateway and the 56-31 shootout win against Penn Trafford and you’ve got a team allowing 12ppg.    Much of that group has graduated including their top five tacklers with 301 tackles.   Kasey Gallagher (6-2, 225) was a bull at linebacker leading the team with 86 stops.   Jon Paul, a 6-2, 195 pound wrecking ball of a safety was second in tackles with 78.  Defensive tackle Dusty Galich (6-3, 260) was the third leading tackler with 53.  They will probably miss the speed-strength of tackles Scott Harris (6-2, 225, 47 tackles) and Bryan Diaz (6-1, 230, 17 tackles).  Despite those losses, they return considerable experience (+100 tackles) and a few starters to the line, some of it big stuff like Tyler Covatto (6-0, 275, 36 tackles, sr), Anthony Klie (6-0, 310, 9 tackles, sr), Anthony Raucci (5-11, 250, sr,) who had 9 tackles as a sophomore and Jared Gillespie (5-11, 245, 20 tackles, sr).  Throw in a couple linebackers with experience and 3 from the secondary to suggest they will survive the loss of a few very fine players.  They open with Cathedral who lost their great quarterback (2619 pass/rush yds), then play Baldwin and Seneca Valley all on the road before coming home for North Allegheny and Pine Richland.   Right, it could go either way.

District 7 

Woodland Hills (12-2) Let’s begin with the defending District 7 (WPIAL) champion Woodland Hills who lost their opener and closer last year.  If you are from the West, apart from having a good or great year, it is always consider minimally a good year if you come home with a WPIAL title.  So while the Wolverines fell in the state semifinal, it was a very good year as they brought home their sixth WPIAL title.  The opener was lost at the Rally in the Valley in Wheeling, West Virginia to Ohio’s AAAA semifinal loser Steubenville (12-2) 13-0.  The Big Red lost to Cardinal Mooney (15-0) 45-0 in the semifinal!   (How good was Mooney?)  After the opener, Woodland Hills blew past all comers except Bethel Park who hung with them but lost narrowly 21-17 in the regular season and in the WPIAL semi final, 38-35. Following that win, they beat Gateway 10-0.  But they were losing key players along the way against the Black Hawks, Gateway and finally State College where their ranks were thinned beyond recovery.  FB Cameron Thompkins and tailbacks Dom Timbers and Lafayette Pitts were forced to the sidelines most of the second half against Gateway.  Against State College, Defensive End Rich Gray (ankle, Kent State) Fullback Cam Thompkins (shoulder) were sidelined with running backs Dom Timbers (back, Syracuse) and Lafayette Pitts (knee) struggling to play.  Offensive lineman Khaynin Mosley-Smith (Pitt) was carted from the field.  Wide Out Mike Lee (Purdue) got popped as well and had to leave the game.  Injuries are as much a part of the game as a fumble is but wow, how about a healthy Woody High mixing it up with LaSalle last year in the final?   It would have been a classic.  This year sees them looking for an offense with the graduation of running back Dom Timbers and fullback Cameron Thompkins.  Dom finished up with 1414 yards on 211 carries with Cameron (5-10, 230!) at 520 yards on 54 carries.  WR/RB/LB Lafayette Pitts (6-0, 180, sr) and Javonte Pitts (WR/RB/S, sr) could get carries.  Coach George Novak went with a senior quarterback last year in John Yezovich who graduated and may do the same this year with seniors Michael Bercovici (6-2, 208) and Shawn Taylor (6-1, 185) gunning for the top spot.  Word is the starting nod should go to Javonte Pitts (5-11, 175, sr). Their strength this year as it was last year will be defense (9.4ppg), if the new offense lends support.   DE Quenton Jefferson (6-4, 225, sr) and LB Ejuan Price (6-0, 225, sr) will lead the defense with great support coming from Linebacker Lafayette Pitts and a good looking junior in Mike Caprara who was 6-0, 195 pounds as a sophomore.  C/DT Julian Turner (6-2, 290, sr) and OT/DT Alfonzo Strozier (5-10, 260, sr) are back on the line with Damon Hall (6-2, 265, sr).  Javonte Pitts (5-11, 175, sr) is back at safety.  The return of 33 seniors will provide a ton of senior leadership to a potentially powerful team.  They have a difficult opener against Manatee, Florida (runner up 5A) in the opener at home in the Rally at the Wolvarena (home stadium) but match up in size with Hurricanes and probably as good as many teams in the state in terms of speed.  The Canes leading tackler last year was a sophomore, Darius White (6-1, 195), who had 137 tackles.  Last year’s junior linebacker Quinton Pompey (6-3, 195), was third in tackles with 100.  On offense, they have a back everyone is interested in Mike Blakely (5-9, 194).  He rushed for 1323 yards last year after 189 carries.   The Wolverines may keep up with these guys if they develop some offense and not come out sluggish as they did last year in the Rally against Steubenville.  Manatee just may be too quick for the Wolverines.  Florida football in terms of speed is at another level.

Gateway (12-1)   Make that three straight WPIAL finals appearance losses in a row.  And it just keeps getting worse since 2007 when a loaded Gateway team came into the final and lost 35-34 in overtime to Pittsburgh Central Catholic.  The following year saw their offensive production plummet in a 10-6 loss to a smaller Bethel Park team who had their way at the line of scrimmage, holding the Gators to 107 total yards. That offense came in averaging 45 ppg!  Last year’s team fell off the charts, again scoring 45 ppg through the first 12 games, only to be shutout in the WPIAL final 10-0 by Woodland Hills.  But the losses were to excellent teams with great coaches in Bethel Park’s Jeff Metheny (lost in ot to Liberty in final, 08), Woodland Hills’ George Novak (lost to State College in semifinal, 09) and Central’s Terry Totten (won AAAA at 16-0).  In some ways it’s a false stigma conjured up by the media.  Flip it over to say, how many teams get to three consecutive district finals in one of the other power districts, 1, 3 and 11.  Very few.  Gateway appears to be in the same boat as Woodland Hills, fielding a team that will be led by a solid defense, in search of an offense.  Gone are four year starting Quarterback Robbie Kalkstein (110/188/2256py, 59%, 26-5 Td-pick ratio), Running Backs Orne Bey (95/817ry, 3/143py), Brendon Felder (88-680ry, 13-245py), and don’t forget Markie’d Jones who scooted for 470 yards on 58 carries.  It’s almost a wipe out in the receiver corps too, losing Steve Vranks, Dayonne Nunley, Shawn Brisker and Dondi Kirby who accounted for 72 receptions for 1439 yards.  Dondi Kirby’s skills will be missed this year in the secondary and quarterback where he was to play a role.  He went down with a season ending knee injury.   They have good talent returning to the defense with Linebackers Armstead Williams (6-2, 190, sr), Nolan Turan (5-11, 185, sr), Demond Haynes (5-11, 220, sr), Deion Coleman (5-11, 195, sr) and Sascha Craig (DE, 6-2, 220).  The five represent 292 tackles from last year returning to this year’s team.  Two sophomore linebackers stood out last year, Darnell Turner (5-11, 195) and Hakeem Oliver (5-11, 190) who totaled 52 and 21 tackles respectively.   They are loaded at Linebacker.  Going 9-0 in the regular season then adding four extra games in the playoffs can give a number a players experience not otherwise available, plus, a lot of people played, especially on a team averaging 42ppg.  Just think of the advantage playing 4 extra games the playoffs provided Gateway’s returning players.  Pennsylvania’s version of Spring Ball.   The battle for quarterback looks to be between sophomore Tom Woodson and junior Brian Jones with a lean to the sophomore.  Gateway almost always has the numbers and talent as evidenced by their eight year 77-20 run or three year 35-4 won-loss.   Of real concern is that this will be one of their youngest groups with only 15 senior players but it is Gateway, where the expectations are high and results always tantalizing.

Bethel Park (10-2) 25-3 the last two years says Coach Metheny has some good talent coming through The Park the last few.   Last year’s team was two points better on average (32) than the preceding that defeated Wilson in 3 overtime periods before losing to Liberty in the final, also in overtime.   Coach conjured up quarterback Matthew Bliss last year and will need to do the same this year with his graduation.  Whoever gets the nod will line up behind one of the better offensive lines in the area with the return of Jared Carothers (6-5. 265, sr) and Matt Bair (6-2, 255, sr).  Fullbacks Jared Pratt and Luke Olson will be missed but they return one of the top running backs in the West in Bre’ Ford (5-10, 175, sr), who as a junior, rushed for 1316 yards and had 20 touchdowns.  He will be joined by shifty power back, Nick Kwiatkoski (6-2, 210).  Both are D1 players.   Luke Olson (5-11, 195) was also a force at linebacker with Adam Lazenga (6-0, 230) but they should be fine with seniors Emanuel Surunis (5-11, 200) and Shane Jordan who at 5-8, 180 should be called “The Torpedo” the way he impacts people.  It’s open season in the West with many teams rebuilding, making it plausible for any number of teams to have real impact. The Black Hawks are among that number.

North Hills (6-6)  The Indians are another WPIAL semi final loser from last year who hope to make waves this year after coming on in the playoffs to pull two major upsets.  Before that they stumbled through a season of mediocrity with a lot of youth to set themselves up for a possible run this year.  That would be nothing new for this proud program that has gone 86-38 since 1999.  They won the WPIAL (Division 1) in1982 beating Butler 9-0.  Within the AAAA ranks in 1982 and 1983, the WPIAL had two subdivisions, Div-1 for the larger quads and Div-2 for the smaller quads, although the smaller classes of AAA, AA, A were in existence. They tied Gateway 0-0 for the title in 1985 then lost again in 1986 to them in a gripping 7-6 encounter.  Talk about a team on a roll, in 1987 they were crowned the nations top team by USA Today after beating Mt. Lebanon 21-0 to go 15-0.  They shut out every team in the playoffs that year.  1989’s team lost to Upper Saint Clair in the final 38-14.   They won it all in 1993, beating USC 21-14 in the final before beating Central Bucks West 15-14 in the state final.  The closest they’ve been since then was 2002 where they lost to Woodland Hills in the final 15-6 so there is a ton of history with this program who, like the Ridley’s, Neshaminy’s, North Penn’s, St. Joseph’s Prep (under Coach Brooks) and West Catholic’s of our area take the field expecting victories.  This year’s team lost its top 2 backs, Elijah David and Michael Sivak, but return senior quarterback Taylor Schmidt (5-10, 180).  Like linebackers, you’ve got to love senior returning starting quarterbacks.  Most of their receivers are back with good looking lines.   Linebacker Matt Hirt graduated and that’s a loss but at North Hills the procession just keeps coming.  6-6 may not look like much of a season but remember they were young at many positions and survived an emotional roller coaster of a year.  It began with a thud heard throughout the district when they lost the opener at home to Mount Lebanon 17-16.  Lebo was a lot like North Hills, often inconsistent, in search of an identity.  They went 3-1 the next 4 games including a 21-10 loss to Bethel Park.  Game 6 was a 21-14 loss at 5-5 Seneca Valley that touched off a 1-3 finish and 4-5 record entering the playoffs.  Here they found new life with a 19-7 upset of McKeesport (7-3).  Bitter rival North Allegheny was sitting pretty at 9-1, coming off a first round playoff rout of Latrobe, 47-0.  This followed their season ending 28-3 rout of North Hills the week before suggesting the Indians would not be “flat” coming off the big McKeesport win.  They weren’t, going on to win he game 14-10.  Gateway ended their bid the following week 42-20 but what a turn around for North Hills.  They open at home with Pittsburgh’s Perry Academy, then tackle Woodland Hills who will likely be in a foul mood following the Manatee game the week before.  With QB Schmidt’s scrambling abilities and growth shown during the McKeesport and North Allegheny playoff wins where he completed 17 of 26 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns, the Indians just might surprise.

North Allegheny (9-2)   Here’s another strong program from the north side of Pittsburgh in Wexford , PA, 12 miles north of North Hills which is in the northern suburbs of the city.   North Allegheny had one of their best teams last year, definitely their best defense the last 11 years that allowed 7 points per game.  The offense scored 32 so you’ve got to ask yourself, what went wrong?  Two break downs, one to Upper Saint Clair (6-4), 23-14, the other to their neighbor North Hills in the postseason, 14-10.  The 37 points allowed in those 2 games represents 47% of all points allowed last year.  Scoring 10 against North Hills and 11 against USC are season lows.  To show how low that was, they averaged 37ppg the other 9 games.  The other thing is turnovers.  Quarterback Justin Brozick threw 13 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, a poor ratio.  Otherwise, he had a fine year completing 71 of 109 passes (65%) for 934 yards.  The fumbles were at 20, but 15 were lost, or 75%.  This was a team with some real talent besides Brozick.  The big back Grant Huckstein (5-10, 210) rushed for 814 yards on 113 carries and caught 15 passes for 182 yards.  Both the quarterback and running back graduated.  Brozick’s punting will also be missed.  The defense suffered the loss of key personnel including their top tackler linebacker Gary Allen (5-10, 210) with 106 stops.  Gary made the WPIAL AAAA Northern 6 1^st team as did linebackers Kyle Higgins (5-10, 185, 60 tackles).  Jon Lowery (6-0, 195, 79 stops) made the WPIAL All Northern 6, 2^nd team and graduated.  Another loss is their third leading tackler Olatunji Idowa (5-10, 190) who had 68 tackles.  DB Zacj Runzo had 42 tackles while making the Northern 6, 2^nd team.  The OL/DL losses were severe. Thomas Ricketts (6-6, 255) is one of the biggest losses along with Ben Balzer (6-2, 275), Dom Borgese (5-8, 205) and Alex Panormios (5-10, 260).  As bad as that looks, the D will rebuild with 3 returning Northern 6, 1^st teamers, all seniors; OL/DL Justin Haser (6-5, 220, sr), OL/DL Vince Czerniewski (6-0, 260) and safety Matt Steinbeck (6-1, 190).  Another returning starting linebacker is Kevin Cope (5-9, 210, sr) joined by experienced backers Clay Bunting (5-9, 180, sr) and Seth Marx (5-10, 190, sr).   The biggest return is on the other side with Alex Papson back after rushing for 1090 yards as a 5-8, 180 pound junior.  All star safety Matt Steinbeck may take over for Grant Huckstein at fullback after rushing for 157 yards on 17 carries last year and catching 12 passes for 225 yards.  The top receiver from last year returns, Dan Slivka (6-2, 190, sr) who caught 12 balls for 177 yards so there are some weapons if they can find a quarterback.   Michael Buchert got some reps last year at quarterback but will likely battle it out with 2 other seniors and a junior.  The line returns the starters mentioned above with the usual horde of lineman in the wings.  They crank out lineman at NA the way Ridley produces quarterbacks.  It is difficult seeing them at last year’s level but we’re talking about a program that went 75-46 the last 11 years.  They are led by a fine coach in Art Walker Jr.  Coach guided them to a 40-16 record since coming over from Pittsburgh Central Catholic in 2005 where he was the head coach the previous 9 years.  In 2004 he led the Vikings to the PIAA Quad-A title to become the first coach in the state to ever win 16 games so he’s a winner.  They open at home against State College.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic (8-3) You know you have arrived when back-to-back 8-3 seasons are disappointing seasons, in fact the worst the Vikings have had since going 6-3 in 2002.  Central went 8-3 in 2009 and 2008 following the perfect season in 2007 when they won it all, going 16-0.  Last year saw them survive the transfers of their two most promising sophomores, Running Backs Dom Timbers who landed at Woodland Hills and Jeff Knox who went to DeMatha in Maryland.  So they pulled up a sophomore, Damien Jones-Moore (5-6, 165), who ran for daylight to the tune of 1359 yards.  He’s got good hands too, pulling down 13 passes for 167 yards.  He will run behind an excellent line with Brian Palermo (5-9, 190, sr) who ran for 189 yards after 34 carries.  Last year’s starter at QB, David Smyers, was replaced by junior Perry Hills (6-3, 200) mid way through the season and threw for 510 yards and 6 touchdowns.  He’ll throw to the top 2 receivers from last year, running back Damian Jones-Moore and junior Wide Out Anthony Nixon (6-2, 190).  Returning to the defense are senior DLs Jordan Elliot (6-1, 245) and Pat Ponko (6-1, 240) along with line backer Rod Steele (6-2, 195, sr), Safety Luke Smith (6-2, 185),  DEs Dan Powell (6-1, 210, sr) and Corey Jarouse (6-2, 190, sr).  Sophomore Louis Taglianetti (6-2, 175) got a lot of time last year in the secondary.  If he’s anything like his brother Andrew Taglanetti, from the 07 title team, he’ll grow into a linebacker, maybe mimicking Andrew’s 54 tackles.  Big brother also ran for 1164 yards and caught 17 passes for 420 yards so he has a long way to grow!  If the quarterback continues where he left off last year, this could be team that makes a big move.   It’s a fun opener in the Rally at the Wolvarena September 4th where they play Buchtel (7-3, AA) out of Akron, OH.  Should be a great start for Central.

McKeesport (7-3) Things did not end as planned last year after a 7-1 start that could have been a 8-0 start except for the stunning comeback of St. Joseph’s Prep who overcame a 12 point deficit to edge the Tigers 27-26.  Garrett Compton (32-118ry) did some pounding in that one!  McKeesport went on to crush their next 7 opponents by a combined score of 325 to 30, a 46-4 average score.  Guess the Hawks woke them up.  But they received a knock out blow in the regular season final, losing to surging Gateway 35-14. The Gators exploded for 415 total yards and 24-1st downs in that one while holding McKeesport to 87-yards rushing and the same passing.  You know when a flexbone passes 10 times for 87 yards they’re in trouble.  They came into the game having thrown the ball 15 times (four against the Hawks) to show how thoroughly Gateway took them out of their game.  It was a blow they did not recover from with North Hills finished them off in the opening round of the playoffs the following week, 19-7.  The bad taste of last season has compounded with the sudden retirement of esteemed coach George Smith.  Coach Smith ended his career with a 190-106-3 record.  He won WPIAL and PIAA titles in 1994 and 2005.  The 1994 team went 15-0, beating Downingtown 17-14 at Mansion Park in the state final.  The 2005 team went 14-2, but set a school record scoring 626 points (4^th best in WPIAL history) before mercy ruling Liberty in the state final 49-10.  Offensive Coordinator Jamie Eckel also retired.  Coach Eckel came over from Cameron County High in 1991, bringing the vaunted triple option/flexbone with him that so set the Tigers apart from other WPIAL teams.  Replacing Coach Smith is former Yough Head Coach Jim Ward.  Coach Ward was head coach at South Allegheny from 2000-02 where he was released after going 3-27.  He then went to Clairton, serving as an assistant and then Jeannette, also as an assistant.  Last season, saw him coach Yough to a 3-7 record.  He inherits a great program that has a 92-36 won-loss since 1999.  We’ll miss Coach Smith and the triple option/bone with the new regime installing the spread.   Hey, things change and we know they have the athletes to run any system in McKeesport.  Sophomore Eddie Stockett will be the quarterback with Ty-meer Brown graduating.  D1 talent in OL/DL Delvon Simmons (6-5, 265, sr) and super backer Brandon Jackson (6-4, 218, sr) will help the team jell.  Sophomore quarterbacks and first year coaches are unsettling.  But if they buy into it, after growing up with the flexbone since 1991 (before any of them were born) we know they have the raw talent to make it go.  How ironic that two of the Pennsylvania’s finest football programs at opposite ends of the state,  McKeesport and St. Joseph’s Prep, a year removed from playing each other in as exciting a game as could be imagined, begin the new season following the sudden departure of arguably, their greatest head coaches.  They open in the Rally at the Wolvarena (Woodland Hills HS, Pittsburgh) September 4^th against Ohio power Steubenville.

Upper Saint Clair (6-4)  USC had their second consecutive 6-4 season last year after going 7-4 in 2007.  The year before that saw their great 2006 team take it all, destroying Liberty in the state final 47-13 to finish 16-0.  Heck of a team!  The Panthers began last year on a 3-0 run and were one of just two teams to beat North Allegheny (9-2) last year, 23-14 in the third game of the season. Thereon, the season went south, losing at Bethel Park 16-14 then coming up flat as a pancake the following week, losing to a 2-8 Baldwin team, 21-17.  They finished 3-4 after the 3-0 start.  Penn Hills (5-6) brought the curtain down on a frustrating season in the WPIAL first round, winning 14-7.  This year looked promising until their top back Jacob Siwicki (6-0, 195, sr) transferred to national power DeMatha in Hyattsville, MD.  They also lost quarterback Alex Park (81/56/1207/52%) to graduated.  The replacement looks to be senior Nick Peterson (6-1, 180) or junior Greg Chaffee (6-1, 170).  The running backs feature Dakota Conwell (6-1, 190) who as a sophomore had 94 yards rushing in 24 carries.  Juniors D.J.Scarton (6-0, 185) had 10 carries for 40 yards while Connor Scott (6-0, 170) had 146 yards on 43 carries.  # 2 receiver Mitchel Fawcett (5-8, 165) returns after catching 13 passes for 243 yards.  The defense returns top tackler Matt Doman (6-1, 185, sr, 120 tackles) at linebacker along with two other impressive linebackers; Dakota Conwell (6-1, 190, jr) the # 3 tackler with 71 and senior Drew Newman (6-1, 190) with 61 tackles.  Add in safety Connor Scott (6-0, 175, sr) with 65 hits and another sophomore that stood out from last season, defensive lineman Jake Radkiukinas (6-1, 250) with 15 tackles, to see they look good on that side, if they can replace lineman Mike Radziukinas (5-11, 235), Mike Deitrick (64, 225) and Jake Laukatis (6-2, 280).  They lost #2 tackler Rob Mikus (6-0, 210, 102 tackles) but look strong at that position.   They are the next to smallest quad in the district at 560, 19 above Peters Township.  But Coach Render is one of the best and always puts a representative team out there, going 94-29 since 1999.

Peters Township (5-4) Maybe a team to keep your eye on since these Indians have so many coming back from a 5-4 outing.  Granted, the wins came against a slate of teams that went 14-33 combined, three of them being AAA teams.  The AAAA wins were Kiski (3-7) and Canon-McMillan (3-6).   Kiski Area had a tough year but C-Mac had some players that were probably shell shocked after losing in game 2 to Pittsburgh Central Catholic (8-3) 21-7 and Woodland Hills (12-2) 37-7, the following week.  Almost everyone from last year returns.  In fact it’s easier listing those that don’t; TE/DE Justin Simpson (6-2, 210, 45 tackles), a good one, catching 19 passes for 306 yards, Wide Out and leading receiver Brandon Hoffman (6-1, 215, pt DL-6 tackles), another good one catching 36 balls for 546 yards and OL/DL Vince Fazio (5-10, 245, 33 tackles) and Corner Dylan Heitmeir (39 tackles).  Last year’s best kept secret in District-7 was quarterback Austin Hancock (6-2, 215, sr), who passed for 1298 yards, completed 59% of his passes and rushed for 372 yards on 90 attempts (4.1 ypc).  He returns with Pittsburgh Central Catholic transfer of last year Andrew Erenberg (5-9, 190).  Andrew rushed for 793 yards as a sophomore.  Fullback Chris Olive (5-10, 195, sr) plows the road for Andrew.  The defense returns eight starters including all their linebackers.  Lead tackler Matt Koerner (5-10, 195, 80 tackles, sr) is joined by Andrew Erenberg (5-9, 190, 56 tackles, jr), Chris Olivo (5-9, 190, 54 tackles, sr) and Chad Loether (5-11, 180, 33 tackles, sr).   Defensive End Courtland Forse (6-3, 220, 46 tackles, sr) is back with Defensive Lineman Justin Portz (5-11, 200, 27 tackles, sr) and Regis Mckenzie (6-2 ½, 260, 33 tackles, sr).  Nice looking returning front. They played a number of sophomores last year but will field a team deep in leadership with the return of 28 seniors!  They look good enough to be a spoiler, maybe more.

Shaler (9-2)  You have to keep your eyes on a program like Shaler that have been resurrected under the guidance of former Penn Hills coach Neil Gordon.  Coach Gordon led Penn Hills for 21 year, but was released before the start of 2008 after compiling a 156-72-2 record.   He led Shaler to a unspectacular but successful season in his first year, going 7-3 and beating Canon McMillan 16-0 in the first round.  They lost to Gateway in the second round 24-0.  Last year saw them improve to a lofty 9-2 record, losing a well fought game with North Allegheny, 28-17, the Titans only regular season loss.  Had a nice road win at North Hills 27-17 too.  They again made the playoffs where they beat Mount Lebanon 23-21 before falling to Bethel Park 32-14.  What you notice about Coach Gordon’s teams whether it was at Penn Hills or Shaler, is that they beat the teams they are supposed to beat, perhaps not the teams those in administration felt he should have when at Penn Hills.  That’s not true with some coaches who with all the talent in the world lose to a weaker team.  You know, those headline grabbers that make you think there was a misprint.  He had a super team at Penn Hills back in 2006 that went 10-2, losing in the WPIAL final to Upper Saint Clair 18-12.  USC (16-0) went on to beat Cathedral, State College and Liberty by a combined 105-40, letting you know where the real state final was played that year!   This year’s group suffered extreme graduation losses including quarterback Tyler Bills (1391 yards passing), a great wide out in Jesse Della Valle (729 yards), power and sped backs and a good kicker in Steve Hamilton.  Coach has his work cut out for him this year with the loss of 30 seniors.  Two good looking sophomores from last year’s roster will duke it out for the starting quarterback spot; Ryan Mincher (6-0, 172) and Jake Schreber (6-4, 195!).

Mount Lebanon (5-5)  The Blue Devils got to .500 for the first time in  four years after going 53-25 from 1999 through 2005.  Mt. Lebo fielded some strong teams over the years, winning the WPIAL in 2000 before losing to Cathedral Prep in the semi final 39-13.  Cathedral (14-0) went on to beat Central Bucks West in a classic, 41-35.  The year before saw the Devils lose in the WPIAL final to Woodland Hills, 42-21.  Maybe last year’s 5-5 effort, where they made it to the playoffs, losing narrowly to Shaler in the first round 23-21, will get things going.  They were super young last year with sophomore and junior starters spread throughout the lineup and they got to .500.  They beat some WPIAL players in the process, beating North Hills 17-16 in the opener then Central Catholic 36-21.  Plus, they made it back to the dance despite Shaler eliminating them.  You get good vibes seeing a young team do so well, playing a sophomore at quarterback, Pat Goff (6-0, 175).  And when you see a sophomore running back get nearly 1000 yards, you take notice,   Luke Hagy (6-0, 180, jr) may be a name to jot down after rushing for 907 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns.  He is also the starting point guard which speaks to his athleticism and leadership qualities.  A sophomore!  He is also the starting centerfielder and carries a 4.0 gpa.  Sounds like quite a kid.  They return big numbers and a great target for Goff in TE/DL Paul Lang (6-5, 225, sr).  Young as they were last year, the offense averaged 23 points per game with a defense allowing 22ppg.  That is not bad in the Greater Southern Conference (south side of city) with Bethel Park and Upper Saint Clair.  Throw in quirky Canon McMillan, improving Peter’s Township (nice back field) and Baldwin with a pile of bodies coming back to see it’s no walk in the park in the Southern.  Coach Chris Haering looks like he might have something good with the youth movement of last season. 

Others to watch: 

Penn Trafford (3-7) A lot of skill plus the quarterback returning and a bunch of lineman give the Warriors a chance to improve.  The most exciting news is the hiring of Coach John Ruane to replace T.J. Wiley who left after heading the program for one year.  Coach Ruane was the Assistant Head Coach, Quarterback Coach and OC at Gateway, so he’ll bring a positive and winning attitude that will help get the Indians believing in themselves.  With any kind of talent he’ll put an explosive offense out there knowing how things were done at Gateway. They lost their top lineman to Penn State, Luke Graham (6-6, 280) but return what on paper appears to be a good group.  Last year’s schedule saw them face murder’s row in the form of Upper Saint Clair, North Hills, Gateway, McKeesport and McDowell.  Got off light with Bethel Park in first round of playoffs losing 49-21!  With Coach Ruane on the sidelines, look for Penn Trafford to improve notably, maybe getting them into the playoffs.  They used to field some powerful teams and it would be good seeing them return to their winning ways.

Baldwin (2-8)  A selection like this puts you somewhere near the lunatic fringe but they did somehow find a way to beat Peters Township (5-4) 20-17 and Upper Saint Clair (6-4) 21-17 last year so there is hope, especially knowing they graduated just eight seniors from the team. They’ll miss Ron Harris, their 6-2, 230 pound fullback but Garrett Wild (6-0, 190) has power and decent speed so they are good there.  Nate Reed (5-11, 170, sr) is back at quarterback with his Tight End Nate Dawson (6-2, 240, sr) and Split End Chad Zaleski (5-10, 160) who can motor.   The Bush duo is back, Randy (5-10, 270) a senior and Bobby (6-0, 255) who is a junior.  Their first year head coach of last year, Jim Wehner (Pitt grad) had previous assistant positions at Seton-LaSalle for three years and South Park High for a year.  He then moved on to head coaching stints at Avonsworth (WPIAL Class A) where he went 12-27 before becoming Yough’s head coach from 2005 to 2008 where he went 22-16, getting to the playoffs three years. Yough was a AAA in 2005 playing in the Keystone Section-2 before dropping to AA and right into the line of fire of Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic, playing in the Interstate. Coach Wehner is a disciplinarian to the nth degree and wants to turn things around at Baldwin where they haven’t had a winning season since 2003’s 6-4 outing.  Since then they’ve compiled a record of 13-43 before last year’s 2-8 effort.   But it’s year two for Coach, the players know the new system and they have a lot of bodies coming back leading you to believe if it is ever going to happen for the Highlanders, 500 or above, now is the time and this is the coach.

Fox Chapel (3-6)  The Foxes got out of the gate well, breaking out to a 3-1 start before fading down the stretch against Plum, Woodland Hills, Penn Hills and Central Catholic by a combined score of 34 to 151.  They have few graduating but did lose their top lineman Miles Dieffenbach (6-5, 285) and Mitch Depellerini (6-4, 260) and 10 other players.  Miles will play ball for Penn State after everyone thought he was a lock for Pitt.  (Yes!)  Mitch will play at Saint Vincent’s College in Latrobe.  Another bright spot for FC is the return of a senior running back-linebacker Mortay Green.  He’s a brute at 6-1, 235 and rushed for 1001 yards last year.  Because almost everyone returns from last year’s team including most of the skill and quarterback, you might want to keep your eyes on these Foxes.

Penn Hills (5-6) Placing Penn Hills with “others to watch” was painful, knowing of their previous history of strong teams with a won-loss of 83-29-1 the previous 10 years.  Last year was an extreme disappointment, suffering through a rare losing season and losing to every team with a winning record except one on the schedule.  They went 1-6 against those teams, losing by a combined score of 39-167.  They crashed and burned big time losing to Gateway, Bethel Park, North Allegheny, Central Catholic and Woodland Hills before upsetting Upper Saint Clair in the first round of the playoffs, 14-7.  They ended the season the following week when Gateway routed them, 35-7.  Ron Graham  (Penn Hill assistant for ten years) enters his third season (8-4 in 2008) looking at a complete rebuild after losing 28 seniors to graduation.

Norwin (5-5)  A 3 game losing streak at the end of the season brought a 4-2 start to a sudden end.  The Knights returned seven to both sides of the ball last year but it didn’t happen for them.  Maybe this year with the return of senior quarterback Tim Petro who had a good first year, completing 52% of his passes for 1093 yards.  Nice size, 6-2, 190 pounds.  His top target wide receiver Christian Bryan (5-10, 175, sr) is back after snagging 40 passes for 597 yards.   Great hands!  Tailback K’hari Singleton (5-8, 160, sr) also returns after gaining 559 yards on 98 carries last year.  They only lose 16 to graduation and return six to the defense and they did manage a strong win against Kiski, 49-14, to end the regular season on a positive note.  Looks like Norwin could get past .500 this year with a number of veteran players back.

Pine Richland (2-7)   The Rams did not get a warm welcome in the WPIAL when they moved from AAA ball to AAAA in 2008.  Remember, this is a team with tremendous tradition and success that lit things up as a Triple-A, winning 81 of 104 games between 1999 and 2007.  They had a wealth of talent come through the school from 2003 through 2007 where they compiled a 51-9 record.  Shades of Strath Haven minus all the Panthers’ hardware.  They did get silver in 2003 following a epic 39-38 loss to Manheim Central.  Since moving up in this class they went 4-6 the first year then 2-7 last year, and that was with some talented players.  Quarterback Eric Kordenbrock graduated with most of the line.  They return their top back Justin Williams (5-8, 180, sr) who ran for 1110 yards and caught nine passes for 86 yards.  Their leading receiver is also back, senior Tom Berexa who caught 45 passes for 597 yards last year. Senior quarterback Andy Borgen (6-2, 180) will likely be the starter.  Considering the offense was only averaging 18ppg, the defense hung tough only allowing 21ppg.  But you know your are in trouble when your leading tackler is a sophomore cornerback.  Steve Szelong had 82 stops.  He returns along with two linebackers.

District 3 

Cumberland Valley (12-3) Cumberland Valley put together their second consecutive twelve win season but came up short in the state semifinal, losing to State College 35-13.  The feeling here is they had little left after defeating three of the top programs in the district; Central Dauphin, Wilson and Bishop McDevitt before playing State.  All were emotional games for different reasons.  Central Dauphin is a fellow Mid Penn-Commonwealth Division member who beat the Eagles in the regular season final, 38-35.  In an intense, hard hitting game, the Eagles edged the Rams 24-21 in the second round to even the score.  The next game was against Lancaster-Lebanon League-Section 1 kingpin Wilson.  There is always competitive tension between the leagues when Wilson comes around for District-3 bragging rights.  The Mid Penn has a WPIAL, SOL type attitude and swagger that are well earned, having won the Quad-A title 23 of the 26 years (since 1985) it’s been in existence.  Cumberland Valley won nine titles as a Quad-A (five runner-ups) and two as a AAA in 1982 and 1984.  Nothing wrong with a little chest thumping if you can back it up!  With Wilson, factor in the Bulldogs trouncing Cumberland Valley the previous year in the district final (state quarter finals) 35-7 (eight CV turnovers) to get a feel for things.  CV couldn’t wait to get at them.  They pulled it out in another brutal encounter, taking down the proud Bulldogs 28-21.  Next up was another Mid Penn team, Bishop McDevitt (12-0), with more division one recruits than should be allowed.  They were undefeated, averaging 49ppg while allowing 13.  You know schools like St. Joseph’s Prep, Pittsburgh Central Catholic and McDevitt have that proverbial bulls eye on their back and this was a back yard brawl with the schools on opposite sides of the Susquehanna.  It was a war but the Eagles prevailed, 34-27 in two overtimes.  Then came the semi final loss to State College 35-13.  Their earlier losses were to State College in the second game of the season, 21-17 and to Central Dauphin, 38-35; far cries from the drubbing State put on them.  This year’s team returns much of last year’s firepower that averaged 36ppg with Quarterback Eric Sawyer (6-0, 175, sr) back after completing 94 of 177 passes for 1892 yards.  Hugely underrated running back Kevin Snyder (6-2, 215, sr) returns after rushing for 1341 yards on 153 carries and catching 28 passes for 634 yards.  Kevin has 109 tackles from his linebacker position.  TE/LB Colton Kilpatrick (6-1, 195, sr) caught thirteen passes for 219 yards and led the team in tackles with 153.  FB/LB Travis Friend (6-2, 235) bulled his way to 932 yards (5.4ypc), catching thirteen passed for 152 yards.  Travis graduated taking 118 tackles with him so that’s a loss.  But his younger brother Kyle (6-1, 250) is back, coming off his sophomore season where he had 53 tackles.  The defense looks solid with Kilpatrick and Snyder mentioned above at linebacker supported by LB Dan Flynn (6-0, 195, sr) with 67 tackles, DE Barry Lyons (6-3, 230, sr) with 53 tackles, DL Kyle Friend mentioned above and FS Kyle Brubaker (6-0, 175) with 70 tackles.  Drew Yetter (5-10, 170, sr) got 30 tackles from the Corner spot with senior Linebackers Jordan Bush (6-1, 195, sr) and Matt Deibert (6-2, 220) getting 21 and 10 tackles respectively.   CV is the real deal again with big numbers and production back on both sides of the ball.  Coach Tim Rimpfel is one of the great Pennsylvania coaches, entering his 32^nd season as a Head Coach with a 276-91-3 record.  They are 106-28 since 1999 meaning with this nucleus coming back they are a threat to do real damage in the district and beyond.  They are way overdue, not having won a state title since 1992.

Central Dauphin (9-3) Last year looked like it could be a strong year for the Rams and it was but they fell short of expectations with the skill they returned.  Almost all of it graduated, including Quarterback Lewis Correal who completed 60% of his passes for 1314 yards, running back Colton Charles with his 1255 yards, fullback Kyle Wolfe (6-1, 210) who rushed for 640 yards and Tyler Lee with his 410 yards.  TE/OLB Matt Helig (6-4, 210) was a force blocking and had 61 tackles.  Wide receiver Marcus Simpson’s 52 receptions for 886 yards will also be missed.  The new offense will feature young guns at quarterback where the fight is between last year’s sophomore JV starter Bobby Schaffer (5-10, 165), sophomore Brandon Lavia (5-11, 175) or senior Brian Morris (6-1, 172).  Brian looks like a quarterback but Schaffer may be a comer.  They are strong on the OL/DL with the return of seniors Artie Rowell (6-3, 282), Jeremy Seaman (6-3, 275), Scott Benkovic (6-0, 220) and Sean O’Halloran (5-11, 220). Center Shawn Smith (6-3, 244) graduated.  Juniors from a strong sophomore class will fill in, notably Jaren Porcher who was 6-2, 290 as a sophomore.  The D was hit hard losing five of their top seven tacklers.  Super quick DL N’kemjika Rajis (5-10, 200, sr) was last year’s top tackler with an even 100 and returns.  They’ll be strong on the line with TJ Zimmerman (6-1, 280, sr) joining Seida Issah (6-0, 233 sr) along with Artie Rowell from last year.  Two return to the secondary with experienced players taking starting roles at linebacker.  91 wins against 34 losses since 1999 says they reload.  They open against Manheim Township who has been the “other” team in the Lancaster-Lebanon-Section 1, behind Wilson.

Harrisburg (5-6)  Coach George Chaump had his first losing season ever at Harrisburg including the heady days of the 60s when he coached the great dynasty that was John Harris High.  In those days it was Harris and William Penn until the merger in 1971.  This year’s team will feature a veteran quarterback in Jalen FitzPatrick (5-10, 170, sr) who completed 60 of 120 passes for 929 yards.  He was the # 2 rusher last year with 480 yards on 70 carries.  Chris Devan (5-10, 155, sr) who can fly had 475 yards rushing on 55 carries and caught 12 passes for 112 yards.  He an FitzPatrick will operate behind another massive line headed by 3 seniors; Darryl Fry (5-11, 260)  Xavier Gates (6-2, 294), and Steven Finley (6-3, 265).  They have three receivers who caught 25 passes for 522 yards coming back.  Their leading rusher, Jawon Chisholm, who ran for 1465 yards moves on but Harrisburg always comes up with a good lead back.   Last year’s team got off to a surprisingly bad start, losing their first three games including a home game to Chambersburg (5-6) 11-6.  From there they finished 6-3 making the playoffs.  At the time of this posting Coach Chaump said he was staying at Harrisburg despite his Assistant Athletic Director’s position being eliminated.  They open at Parkland, then it’s on the Pennsbury.  Coach is 173-50 as a Head Coach at Harris, Central Dauphin and Harrisburg.

Cedar Cliff (6-5)  Here is a program slowly turning around under the guidance of one of Pennsylvania’s top coaches, Jim Cantafio.  Coach Cantafio had stints at 3 schools beginning with Conestoga Valley (District-3) where he compiled a 125-45-3 record, won 6 Section-2 titles and 2 District titles in 15 years.  The 1991 team lost to Strong Vincent in the AAA Final, 29-10.  From there he went to Wyoming Valley West (District-4) where he turned the Spartans into a power, winning 27 of 36 games in three seasons.  The next stop was a historic run at Wilson where in eight seasons he went 90-19, winning four Section titles, four trips to the district final and a district title in 1999.  He resigned from Wilson following the 2005 season, arriving in Camp Hill to take over a proud but struggling Cedar Cliff program that hadn’t had a winning season since 2000.  The year before his arrival the Colts went 2-8, scoring 12 and allowing 35 points per game on average.  His first year in 2008 saw improvement to a 5-5 campaign and numbers up on offensive to 17ppg and down to 22ppg on defensive.   Last year’s offense and defense each averaged 27 points a game, so for the most part things improved enough for them to have their first winning season since 2000 and make it to the postseason, their first visit in thirteen years, where as a 13 seed they lost to South Western (10-2, 4 seed) 41-34.  Great game, Mustangs versus Colts at the Mustang Corral!  Last year’s quarterback was sophomore Tyler Orris (5-7, 145!) who had to step up for returning starter Tim Kelly (6-1, 180, junior last year) who missed the entire season.  As a sophomore in 2008, he threw for 688 yards, completing 71 of 139 passes.  Last year’s starter may only be 5-7 but he’s a keeper, passing for 1475 yards and completing 120 of 219 passes.  His touchdown to interception ratio was 15 to 14.   It should be quite a battle for the position this year.  Almost all the receivers are back including TE Josh Lebo (6-3, 205,15/150py, sr) and WR Adam Brenman who as a freshman last year caught 14 passes for 264 yards.  He’s a big target at 6-3, 195.  Speedster Blain Bower (5-9, 165, sr) with 28 catches for 470 yards is back.  They look thin at running back but will field a dangerous passing attack.  Not sure how far that can carry them in the Mid Penn but they will shake some teams up with Coach Cantafio at the helm.  The defense lost eight from a unit that allowed 27ppg.  They open at home against Elizabethtown (4-6, AAAA) and South Western (10-2, AAAA).

Wilson (11-2)  Moving from the Mid-Penn to the Lancaster-Lebanon League, Section-1 lands us with their top program Wilson, who fielded another powerful team last year.  The only teams to beat them were Manheim Central (15-1) 29-27, the AAA runner up to Selinsgrove and Cumberland Valley (12-3) in the district final 28-21 so they were special.  This school should be called Ridley West with all the great quarterbacks they put out year after year.  Like Ridley, it’s a given they will have a high football IQ gun slinger under center on an annual basis.  This year is no different with the return of Zach Zweizig.  A word of caution here is that the offensive coordinator the last 4 years under Coach Dahms, Chad Brubaker has taken the Head Coaching position at Spring Ford.  Coach Brubaker is credited with the development of Chad Henne and has been at Wilson since Coach Cantafio’s reign.  He’ll be missed.  Back to Zach, he had a fine year completing 59% of passes for 2328 yards.  He’s a 6-4, 195 pound senior looking for some company in the backfield with the graduation of everyone including 5 of his leading receivers.  Again, think Ridley here and the oft untold story of how well the Raiders replace not just the quarterback but the fine receivers developed with eerie ease.  Green Mystique.  That’s why schools like Wilson and Ridley are called “programs” in the highest sense of the word.   The Bulldogs have great ones moving up to replace last year’s losses.  The defense lost some numbers from a unit that allowed 16ppg.  That’s the most porous Bulldog D since the 05 team that allowed 24.  The 06, 07 and 08 squads allowed 10, 12 and 9ppg respectively. They started six juniors last year with three more getting a lot of time and return one of the top linebackers in central PA in Cody Simcox (6-2, 230, 63 tackles, sr).  Put him at fullback.  Hard hitting Connor Mathisa (6-1, 175, sr) led the team with 93 tackles.  He is back at his Safety position along with Linebacker Eric Schmeck (5-11, 190, 42 tackles, sr).  Nuka Hill (6-0, 220, 31 tackles, sr) is back on the line with Ryan Metsger (5-11, 240,17 tackles, sr) and Alex Little (6-2, 230, 15 tackles, sr). Two junior linemen will likely play greater roles this year, Josh Dierolf (6-2, 265) and Clayton Schannauer (5-11, 265).  Wilson is like a lot of teams, LaSalle (since Coach Gordon) and Ridley especially come to mind, that when all is well at the quarterback position, it is going to be a good year.  Coach Doug Dahms is getting them there, going 45-9 since coming aboard in 2006.  Watch these Bulldogs.

Manheim Township (7-4) Township is one of those teams that are often in the hunt or at least influencing who is.  The big upset loss to Red Lion (4-6) 31-21 in the second game of the year prevented a better seed and an 8-3 regular season. But they won their next four until running into Penn Manor (10-3) and Wilson (11-2) who beat them 28-18 and 35-16 respectively.  Things look interesting for the coming season with the graduation of quarterback Jon Yoko who quietly had a good year, completing 47 of 76 passes for 677 yards.  Coach thought so much of the upcoming freshman Brennan Scott (6-1, 185 as a frosh) that he got good playing time behind Yoko.  Plenty of it just mopping up but he also completed 15 of 28 passes for 120 yards.   That will pay dividends this year.  It appears the sophomore will be well protected by a sizeable and experienced line with the return of Alex Vigilante (6-0, 240, sr), Eddie Roth (6-1, 210, sr) and Alex Hupfield (6-2, 265, sr).  Some big ones coming up are juniors Claytin Hoffmaster (6-3, 225) and senior Matt Beauregard (6-0, 235).  Last year’s freshman roster showed Gavin Johnson (6-0, 250).  That should be a nice line with 3 returning starters.   They could miss running back Brian Sourber’s 1546 rushing yards but expect Quint Miller (6-2, 190, sr) to carry the load.  He got 355 yards last year and if given the carries Sourber had, he’s right at his numbers.  They are looking good on defense returning seven starters, three from the line, two linebackers and two from the secondary.  The Blue Streaks open at home against Central Dauphin in a game that will tell you a lot about the status of both programs this year.

Others to watch:  

Conestoga Valley (7-5)  Conestoga Valley (AAAA, Lancaster-Lebanon, Section 2) is led by second year coach Tom Nichols who many of you will recall was the Coatesville Head Coach from 2003 through 2008, before returning to his alma mater last year.  Prior to that, he had assistant coaching positions at Penncrest, Reading, Downingtown and Conestoga Valley.  His first year back in Lancaster was a year of mixed results, hanging with a team like AAA power Cocalico (9-3) but losing 24-21, then losing to Ephrata (2-8) the following week, 34-24.  The season got off to a 5-1 start that included a 24-21 loss to Cedar Crest (4-6) of Lebanon. They beat Northern (8-3) 35-0 in the first round of the playoffs then lost a heartbreaker to potent West York (11-2) 35-34 so they were all over the place.  All that despite having a back most teams only dream about in Kevin Kelley (5-7, 150) who led the Lancaster Lebanon with 2334 yards rushing on 380 carries.  Even Manheim Central couldn’t stop him, yielding 152 yards rushing.  He dented West York for 235 yards leaving you with the thought that if it going to happen for the Buckskins, I was going to happen with Kevin on board.  He graduated.  Coach gets another shot with the transferring in of Lancaster Catholic’s fine running back Jordan Stewart (6-1, 205, sr).  Jordan was fourth in the LL last year with 1570 yards rushing, a school record at Lancaster Catholic.  He’ll team up with returning quarterback Alex Dienner (5-11, 170, sr) who threw for 894 yards last year with a 63% completion rate. The line return three. The defense returns two to the line, Travis Switzer (6-3, 240, sr) and Cole Dillman (6-0, 270, sr), two linebackers and one in the secondary.

Warwick (5-5)  The Warriors were a young team last year that graduated just eleven seniors.  With 23 returning seniors and most of last year’s starters, they could make a move in the Lancaster-Lebanon, Section 1, battling Manheim Township and possibly Penn Manor for second place behind Wilson.  The quarterback returns with most of his receivers and a few running backs, although Chris Schaffer with 1028 rush yards graduated.  With the line they have, they can replicate those numbers.  Last year’s offense was a small attack at 18ppg that needs to grow to help the defense more this year.  You know they were a tough group allowing but 16ppg despite an offense that was of little support.  They don’t appear at the level of three years ago where an unheralded team went 9-2, beating all save Manheim Township and Central Dauphin later in the playoffs.  That team would rattle your teeth, taking down teams like Wilson 24-20, when they had it going right.  Things have definitely changed in Lititz, with the Warriors regrouping from a 9-23 run from 2003 to 2005 to a winning, albeit modest upgrade to 4 non-losing seasons where they recorded a 26-17 won-loss.

Daniel Boone (9-3)    On November 2, 1734, Daniel Boone, an American icon was born in the Oley Valley, roughly 10 miles southeast of Reading.  But it wasn’t until 1957 that Daniel Boone High School had a JV team?  Dan’l got him a bar but the school didn’t get a coach to match its great name until Dave Bodolus arrived in 2003 and immediately turned things around.  Prior to his arrival, the Blazers did not have a winning season since 1990, and only four winning seasons since 1969!  Since his arrival, the name Boone is again blazing new trails with seven consecutive winning seasons and a 59-24 won-loss.  Coach Bodolus got the program up and running overnight, making the playoffs in his first year with a 6-4 record.  They lost to Honesdale but have been in the playoffs every year since.  There are a number of strong programs you never heard of because of the long shadow cast by Manheim Central’s 16 district-3 titles.  16!  Boone came oh so close to getting out from under that shadow last year but fell to the Barons in a war, 24-20.   Like I remind every year, the stars must truly align to get gold in the Keystone State and that’s a good thing.   No watering down in Penn’s Woods!   But you knew they arrived back in 2006 when they lost to the Barons 26-19 in overtime.  They are a bombs away pass happy attack but often field good defenses.  Last year’s was the best of the Dave Bodolus era, yielding an average 11ppg.  The offense helped out at 28ppg.  Most of the defense returns this year after graduating a starting linebacker and a part time player also at linebacker, one defensive lineman and two from the secondary.  The big loss is on the other side where quarterback Jonathan Monteiro (6-2, 200) graduated.  He completed 155 of 276 passes for 2088 yards.  His touchdown to interception ratio was 28-12.  The year before saw him complete 188 of 316 passes for 2969 yards with a 34-12 touchdown to interception ratio.  Jon was in effect a second fullback with 84 totes netting 364 yards last year.  He had an average arm but tremendous accuracy.  They are going to miss a bruiser like him but return the coach’s son Tom Bodolus (6-1, 180), who has been getting playing time since he was a freshman.  He is a junior this season but has some grooming and time in the family huddle with dad.  He is the heir apparent.  The two leading running backs graduated with 1187 rushing yards between the two.  Lead receiver Kelly Saylor who caught 53 passes for 849 yards also graduated.  They also lose Tom Bodolus who moves under center after catching 39 passes for 365 yards.   Randy Van Horn (5-11, 185, sr) returns after snagging 27 balls for 440 yards.  Those three terrorized the Berks Inter County-Section One last year.  The great threat and resultant question about a good passing attack at the high school level is where do you come up with three good cornerbacks?  Maybe you can find one, two in a good year but three at that level?  That’s what made Harrisburg McDevitt so deadly last year; great receivers, a quarterback who could accurately get it to them and a division one running back like Jameel Poteat.  McDevitt’s dropping to AAA ball this year would have put another road block out there for Boone except that they’ve moved to the AAAA classification this year.  They return a lot of people, most of their lines, experience at quarterback, good numbers on defense and 3 senior linebackers.  Yes!  Ryan Stone (5-11, 195, 66 tackles), Ben Bazzely (5-10, 210, 25 tackles), Dave Morta (5-11, 200, 26 stops).   They have a heavy hitter at SS in senior Jarrod Stoffers (5-9, 180, 60 tackles).  Seniors Josh Ortiz (5-7, 165, 42 tackles), Brian Evans (5-10, 190, 24 tackles) and DE Mitchell Stead (6-3, 225, 87 tackles, top tackler) graduated.  The secondary is almost completely intact and you’ve got to like the looks of linebacker Jessie Orr who couldn’t break in the group listed above but looks good at 6-2, 195 pounds as a sophomore last year with 18 tackles.  Boone is a well kept secret that by moving from AAA to AAAA in District-3 have jumped from the frying pan into the fire.  Let’s see how they do.

Class AAAA, The East 

(Districts 1, 2, 4, 11, 12, Inter-Ac)

District 2 

Two teams up in the Northeast corner of the state are always worth watching, Hazelton and Wyoming Valley West.  Scranton, Wallenpaupack and Delaware Valley are the other quads to bear in mind.

Hazelton (8-4)   Sad to say that Rocco Petrone moved on to become Hazelton’s principal after never having a losing season in his 83-31 run as a Head Coach.  His replacement is just as impressive, Paul Marranca, who after a 36 year career (29 as H/C), compiled a 231-94-2 record as a Head Coach.  He was at Wyoming Area as a Head Coach for 27 of those years, leading you to believe the beat will likely go on at Hazelton.  He won three District-2 titles at Wyoming.  For 2010, he is looking at a complete rebuild of a team that lost to Abington Heights 33-18, Williamsport 21-7, East Stroudsburg South 35-3 and Easton in the second round, 28-6.  Quarterback Chad Hoffman graduated after completing 48% of passes for 799 Yards.  Both running backs also graduated, A.J. Petrone with 1042 yards and Matt Manfredi with 607 yards.  Leading receiver Chad Nichols graduated after catching 25 passes for 330 yards so the skill wipe out was total.  Many graduated from the lines and defense as well, including starting linemen Captain Matt Starrick (5-11, 250, 67 tackles), Joe Semanchick (6-2, 240, 73 tackles), Steve Komar (5-11, 250, 43 tackles), Matt Downey (5-10, 240, 47 tackles) along with John Major (5-11, 245, 14 tackles) and Jose Santana (6-1, 235, 15 tackles).  They will rebuild around their senior Defensive Ends, Kris Koslop (6-0, 185, 92 tackles), Robert Kleppinger (5-11, 205, 36 tackles) and last year’s standout sophomore Yousef Guzman (5-11, 180), who had 92 tackles, tying Kris Koslop as the leading tackler.

Wyoming Valley West (6-5)  It is always difficult getting information about this team but it is clear they are going in the wrong direction after posting a 9-2 (32-17 ppg) record in 2006  and a 10-2 (29-18 ppg) effort in 2007.  In 2008 they compiled a 7-4 (28-19ppg) record to complete former Berwick coach George Curry’s stint at Valley West.  He went 26-8.  Pat Keating took over last year and recovered from a 0-2 start with a 6-3 finish.  Still, losses to Scranton (4-6) 18-15 and Couglin (6-5, AAA) 14-0 get your attention. On a positive note, the Trojans graduate just 13 members of the team so there are many returning starters that should allow them to improve on last year’s 6-5 outing.

District 4 

Williamsport (7-4)  The Millionaires reversed a 6 year losing trend with last year’s winning campaign after compiling a 13-47 record the previous 6 years. They fielded an explosive team that would fast break you to death if you let them.  Harrisburg’s Central Dauphin barely escaped at home, winning 45-35 so they could put some numbers up on you.  They averaged 26 a game and allowed 14.  Take away the CD game and they allowed an average of 11ppg.  Maybe Tom Gravich is getting it together since coming on board in 2006.  His 4 year record is 13-28.  It was a rough start, going 4-6 his first year, 0-10 the following then 2-8 in 2008.  This season looks hopeful with the return of quarterback Marquise Keiser (6-3, 200, sr), running back Nahshon Braggs (5-11, 185, sr), who rushed for 1171 yards and their top receiver Jared Fagnano (5-1, 180, sr), who had 27 receptions for 380 yards.  Quarterback Keiser completed 62 of 112 passes (55%) for 965 yards.  The weapons are again in place if they can rebuild the lines and defense.

District 11 

Easton (13-2) They lost a lot from last year’s team (29 seniors) but return a senior quarterback which is always good to have.  Justin Pacchioli (6-1, 165) is back after a strong junior season where he threw for 1361 yards and 17 touchdowns.  He lost his top backs Quran Hughes who had 1100 rushing yards and Jashaad Gaddy who had 802.  Two AP All Stars will be missed, Linebacker Patrick Murphy (6-0, 215) and Gaddy.  Tackle Brandon Sewall (6-4, 235), DE Sean MacDougall (6-0, 210, BIG loss), Linebackers Mike Cousar (5-11, 180) and Kyle Frankenfield (returned punts) also graduated with three from the secondary.  Another great loss is WR Kadeem Pankey (6-1, 190) who played just about every skill position including special teams.  A huge return for this season is the Lehigh Valley Conference-MVP, DE David Caldwell (5-11, 230, sr).  David ended last season with 70 tackles and six sacks.  He is a force, quick off the line and a real factor in this year’s rebuilding project.  Easton never won 13 games before last year so the bar is set very high this season.  Coach Steve Shiffert is in his 18^th season with a 144-66-1 record.  That alone says they will field another strong team especially with what is said to be a very good JV team moving into key roles. Just found out they shifted last year’s TE Tyler Thomas (6-0, 190, sr) to LT.  They may be a new team but usually have great team speed which they’ll need in the opener at home against Pennsbury.

Liberty (6-5)  It’s a brand new day at Liberty with Coach Tim Moncman retiring and Dave Brown taking over.  Coach Moncman led the program to new heights in his 10 years with 3 trips to the PIAA Quad-A final.  They came away losers in 2005 and 2006 but returned in 2008 to win it all, beating Bethel Park 28-21 in overtime.   His overall won-loss was 88-36.  That’s quite a resume.  Dave Brown takes over after stints at Parkland as the defensive coordinator and three years heading the Notre Dame High program at Green Pond.  He was at Liberty last year serving as the Wide Receivers-Defensive Backs coach.  The Hurricanes are something of a mystery this year losing Coach and a great quarterback in Anthony Gonzalez, WR/DB Jarrod West (6-4, 195) and Josh Claudio (5-11, 160) along with OL/DL Justin Williams (5-11, 265), DE Rashod Knight (6-2, 220) and others.  Anthony Gonzalez had a stellar 2008 season where he rushed for 1697 yards and passed for another 1580 yards.  Liberty also won a state title that year.  He was injured throughout last season but still managed to rush for 824 yards and pass for 1210.   It would be absolute speculation to venture a good guess how this year’s edition will do with a new coach and without Anthony.  You know it’s a big school (1165) with good numbers turning out each season.  It is felt they will take a step back this season with such high graduation numbers and a new regime settling in.  Teams like Easton, Whitehall and Allentown Central Catholic look like the movers and shakers this year in the Lehigh Valley Conference but with so many teams rebuilding, it may be another year of parity with coaching being the tie breaker.

Parkland (10-3)  Like so many schools in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area, getting reliable information is difficult.  They have a respected coach in Jim Morgans who has turned it around following a rare losing season in 2004 when they went 3-7.  They’ve been on a powerful run since then, winning 51 of 64 games and getting back to the final in 2007 where they lost to Pittsburgh Central Catholic 21-0.  In 2002 they beat North Penn (10-3) in the semi final before moving on to the final where they defeated Woodland Hills (WPIAL, 13-1), making this one of Pennsylvania’s top programs.  They are 103-31 since 1999.  Both senior quarterbacks graduated, Matt Smith and Casey Cooperman.  Other losses in the backfield were Adam Gristick (6-0, 205) and the irreplaceable Andre Williams (5-11, 205) who rushed for 1913 yards. TE/DE Matt Haugh (6-1, 225) is another big loss as in DE Michael Zaccaro (6-0, 230).  All totaled, 22 graduated from last year’s roster.  The 15ppg allowed last year was their worst outing since the 3-7 season in 2004 where they allowed 17ppg.  Still, this was a nice team last year that advanced to districts where they lost in the final to a team that owns them, Easton, 21-14.  Parkland has lost 8 of the last 11 games to the Rovers.   For the coming year they will likely do as they have done most of the last eleven years, reload, particularly as they have a 77% winning percentage  over that time period.  The home opener is against Harrisburg High.

Freedom (5-5)  Freedom was in a rebuilding process last year after the great 10-3 season the year before and the 9-3 campaign the year before that.  They were led by Bethlehem Catholic transfer running back Eddie Mateo.  He was a force at Catholic, gaining 1175 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns, then really matured his senior year in 2008 gaining 1692 yards with 21 touchdowns.  Last year’s transfer from Bethlehem Catholic was another great back, Darius Webb.   Darius gained 1741 yards last year but graduated.  Now, if they can just keep that pipeline open to Bethlehem Catholic they’ll be fine.   The fact is it is open and flowing with RB/SS/LB J.J.Rene (6-0, 185, sr) transferring in from Bethlehem Catholic.  He is a well regarded player.  They’ll have another quick one along with JJ this year as RB/LB Alozie Okezie, a Bethlehem Catholic transfer from last year will be taking a few snaps in the Wildcat.  They have pretty good numbers returning with only 15 graduating but have lost key personnel.  Quarterback Thomas Luddy graduated (47%, 665 yards), but Lucas Giovarelli (6-4, 190, sr) will take over.  He’s been around awhile and at 6-4 he’ll see the field.  Three sophomores got in a few carries last year.  The returning receiver was a sophomore last year.   At least 5 sophomores got time on defense including DE Quentin Cornelius (6-0, 190), linebackers Okezie Alozie (6-0, 190, 32 tackles) and junior James Schafer (6-0, 190, 11 tackles) along with DB Julian Hill (6-0, 155, 17 tackles).  Senior linebacker Mason McIntyre (5-10, 180, 29 tackles) also returns.  Seniors Omar Morales (5-10, 250), Nick Cecala (6-0, 280) and Richard Karb (6-3, 250) return to the lines.  Despite having a great back last year fueling an offense that averaged 30ppp, they could not win the close ones.   A 3 point loss to Whitehall prevented a 6-0 start.  What followed was a 0-4 finish including a 4 point loss to Easton and a 6 point loss to Nazareth.  You’re supposed to beat Nazareth, especially at home so it’s a wait and see situation with this year’s team.  But you have to like the addition of transfer J.J. Rene in the backfield and the help he’ll provide the defense.  Coach Jason Roeder is in his sixth year with a 31-24 record.  He went 2-8 his 1^st year leaving him at 29-16 since then so he has the Patriots moving in the right direction.

Emmaus (6-6)    Emmaus was also rebuilding last year following their big 10-2 season the year before.   Unlike Freedom who had an explosive offense at 30ppg, Emmaus’ was sluggish at 23ppg.   But on defense they were tough for the third consecutive year allowing just 13ppg.  With a name like the Hornets your D better swarm and this one does.  Like Freedom, they too could not win the close ones, losing to Whitehall by 2 and Parkland by 3.  They lost to Freedom and Nazareth by 7 and Allentown Central Catholic by 8.  The LVC had real parity last year as well to explain all the close calls by many of their teams.  For the second straight year the Hornets are looking for a quarterback.  Matt Johnson was a real loss from the 2008 team, passing for 1128 yards while completing 64% of his passes.  Last year’s starter, Brady Knerr, completed 60% of his throws for 1866 yards.  He threw 16 touchdowns but had 13 interceptions.  The running attack was a committee of four with Mason Spangler (5-10, 185, sr) getting 501 yards on 74 carries, Tyler St. Cyr (5-9, 150, sr) getting 414 yards after 73 carries and Ty Souders (6-0, 190, sr) netting 349 yards on 75 carries.  Tate Klidonas (5-8, 180, sr) added 178 yards on 43 carries.  Until they get the running game going, it doesn’t matter how many productive 60% quarterbacks they find unless they have Harrisburg McDevitt, Wilson or Ridley-like quality receivers to raise havoc with secondaries.  Wilson sends three sometimes four streaking blurs at you; Shane Witmoyer (5-10, 150, 19.92 yds/catch), Shelton Hannible-Nixon (5-7, 135, 20.0 yds/catch), Pat O’Brien (5-10,  160, 14.8 yds/catch), then a mugger over the middle like Tyler Beck (6-4, 235, 17.7 yds/catch, Bowling Green) catching 37 passes for 654 yards.   Adding to this year’s concerns, top receiver Kevin White graduated with his 46 receptions and 747 yards.  The defense lost a couple from the secondary and a their # 2 tackler Linebacker Tyler Souders who had 111 stops.  Their # 1 run stuffer returns in TE/DE Trevor Davison (6-1, 190, sr) who had 113 tackles.  FS Brian Velasco (5-11, 160, sr) is back as the third leading tackler with 67.  SS Mason Spangler will pop you at 5-11, 180 pounds.  He comes in as the fourth leading tackler with 53.  Brent Gearhart is also back (?..sorry, no other info found) with 45 tackles as is DE Nick Klass (5-11, 195, sr) with 39 tackles.  Some of their returning linemen are center Mike Ford (6-1, 220, sr,), OT/DT Adam Kowalski (6-0, 270, sr), OT/DT Christian Gutierrez (5-10, 240, sr), OG/DL Austin O/Brien (6-3, 230) and TE/DE Trevor Davidson (6-1, 190, sr).  These guys had their moments last year, being one of the few teams to beat Easton, 7-6, in the weeks following losses to Nazareth and Freedom.  High School Football!   Emmaus has shown no problems recently finding a quality quarterback.  If they can develop a running game and get another quarterback in there, they have the players on defense to again put a quality unit in the field.  Maybe one of those runners from last year will develop into a steady go-to back, giving them a chance at improvement.

Whitehall (7-5)  Whitehall looks a lot like Downingtown East in that they return their quarterback, top running back and leading receiver.   Downingtown definitely gets the nod at running back after seeing what Drew Harris could do as a sophomore but the Zyphers have the absolute upper hand at quarterback.  Chris Polony (6-3, 200, sr) is one of if not the strongest duel threat quarterbacks in Quad-A.  With 537 yards rushing on 132 attempts, he mugs defenders with a 4.5 yards per carry average.  When passing, he had a 52% completion rate (172 of 332) for 2312 yards.  A 22-5 touchdown to inception rate says he’s accurate and quite a weapon that showed tremendous growth over last year where he had more passes than Pat Bet but was ultimately the co-starter, completing 57 of 128 passes for 611 yards.  He had a 45% completion rate and a 8 to 19 touchdown to interception ratio.  He’ll be off the charts if he maintains that level of development this year.   Eric Fiore is a steady back (6-0, 190, sr) who netted 1032 yards on 215 carries while catching 15 of Polony’s passes for 172 yards.  Don’t you love seeing them coming out of the backfield with good hands.  Last year’s top receiver, Tyler Artim (6-0, 175, sr) returns after catching 58 passes for 913 yards!    Two sophomores got playing time last year with running back Andrew Harris (5-10, 180) rushing for 142 yards on 40 attempts.  He also caught 7 passes for 93 yards.  The other was Tanner Madouse (6-0, 175) who had 16 carries for 54 yards.  It will be interesting seeing what positions they grow into.  TE/DE Tarey Carey is a loss at 6-2, 220 pounds.  He caught 13 passes for 220 yards, so he must have got loose on a few of those routes and provided some strong blocking for his quarterback.  The roster is stacked with big bodies suggesting they’ll replace a few losses on the lines.  Apart from TE/DE Carey (59 tackles, 11 sacks), they lose the other DE Terrell Mitchell (5-10, 205, 42 tackles) and OT/DT Anthony Bourzk (6-3, 240, 42 tackles, 4 sacks).  Linebackers Scott Hubler (5-11, 210, 73 tackles) also graduated with outside backer Pat Bet (6-3, 205, 35 tackles).  The leading tackler last year was a sophomore, Adam Harris (5-11, 185, 87 tackles, 3 sacks).  He’ll be supported by DT Braden Zeiner (6-0, 235, sr), three from the secondary and two linebackers that had playing time in Tanner Madouse (6-0, 175, 10 stops) and Mike Rice (6-3, 190, 7 tackles, sr).  This year’s offense could be explosive since last year’s averaged 27ppg.  The defense allowed 21 and that’s too high.  If they address the issues on defense, they definitely look like a player, meaning someone to be taken seriously for local honors in the LVC and beyond.

East Stroudsburg South (11-2)   Let’s take a look a the Mountain Valley Conference’s finest who had a heck of a run, opening with a disappointing but respectable 24-22 loss at Easton.  That’s quite a coup for a Mountain Valley team just to come close to an LVC power.  Since 1999, they’ve gone 14-24 against the LVC, losing by an average score of 26-16.  But they got their pound of flesh in the opening round of the post season when they routed Liberty 49-21.  The problem with routs is that they get the attention of your next opponent.  There was no way Parkland was going to overlook this Mountain Valley team and it got ugly, with the Trojans prevailing 59-30.  But it was still a record setting season for the Cavaliers winning 11 games, averaging 37 points per game and allowing just 12.  Those kinds of teams don’t come along too often and most of this edition was wiped out by graduation.  Gone are quarterback Robbie Moyer who was an exciting duel threat with 2783 yards passing and 450 yards rushing.  The receiver corps graduated along with a good Tight End in Greg Kessel (6-0, 215).  Greg had 24 receptions for 541 yards and 67 tackles from his Linebacker position.  Wide Out Dan Cason had 1101 yards on 57 passes with Sean Connors adding another 31 catches for 594 yards.  It’s a near wipeout of the line with OT Clayton Ginder (6-0, 265), OG Rob Strump (6-2, 210), OT John Frisbie (6-5, 290) and TE Greg Kessel (6-0, 215) graduating.  Ginder, Strump and Kessell were First Team All MVC.  Frisbie and Jardel made Second Team.  The losses are significant as well on defense where they lose eight starters.   Linebackers Sam Bergen (6-0, 225, 78 stops) and Greg Kesell along with DT Gregory King (5-8, 200, 28 tackles) made First Team ALL MVC.  Keith Hinds (5-9, 160, 55 stops) and Sean Connors (5-8, 170) from the secondary made First Team.  DE Tom McManus (6-0, 175, 34 stops) also made First Team.  The bright spot is in the backfield where running backs Colin Hegarty (5-10, 195, sr) and Kyshoen Jarrett (5-11, 175, sr) return.  Colin had 651 yards rushing and 103 yards in receptions.  Kyshoen had 596 yards rushing and 260 yards worth of receptions.  That’s a nice place to start your rebuild of what was a special, senior oriented team last year.

District 12 

LaSalle (14-1) LaSalle made some history for themselves by becoming the first team from the Philadelphia Catholic League to bring home a gold medal in football.   Not that others didn’t try.  AAA Archbishop Wood made a run at it in 2008, losing to the juggernaut that is Thomas Jefferson High, 34-7.  TJ has made a number of good teams look bad.  That same year at the AA classification, West Catholic came within 2 feet of winning but was stopped just short by Wilmington, 35-34.  In nearly similar circumstance last year in the semi finals rather than the finals, Wood again ran into a monster program, this one from Selinsgrove and was defeated 28-0.  West Catholic was also eliminated in another painful loss, this time in the semi final where Lancaster Catholic eked out a 23-21 win.  The PCL has handled themselves well.   Don’t be surprised to see Wood and West in the thick of it again this year.  For LaSalle, first off, where do you find a quarterback like Drew Loughery (6-1, 205) to throw for 2401 yards at a 60% completion rate with 23 touchdowns?  Same thing with the receiver corps, finding personnel to replace Connor Hoffman (6-2, 200), 38 receptions for 648 yards, Sam Feleccia (6-3, 225), 29 passes for 455 yards and Steve Jones (6-5, 225) with 21 receptions for 330 yards?  All totaled that’s 88 receptions for 1433 yards.  Look at the length of those guys who by their size alone made it easy for Loughery to locate them.  Those wide bodies could block as well.  They have people returning who can catch a football, including running backs Jamal Abdur-Rahman with 29 catches for 370 yards and Tim Wade who caught 15 for 236 yards.  Wide Out Kevin Forster (6-1, 180, sr) also returns after pulling in 20 passes for 269 yards but those big ones are going to be missed.  Quite a few will be missed with 30 graduating. They have some great players on the roster but will miss players like linemen Steve Szostak (6-3, 265), Stephen Sinnott (6-4, 230) and many others.  The bottom line is they have a coach in Coach Drew Gordon who won two consecutive PCL-AAAA Red Division titles and three of the last four Red titles since 2006.  He has won 38 games against 14 losses and has a PIAA-AAAA trophy.  Not bad.

St. Joseph’s Prep (9-3)  St. Joseph’s got off to a great start last year by coming back on McKeesport in the 4^th quarter, erasing a 12 deficit and pulling out a 27-26 win.  The game was billed as the Rally in the Valley in Wheeling, West Virginia.  That and the 24-17 win over LaSalle following the 28-14 loss to North Penn the week before in week #3 were the highlights of the season.  The Philadelphia Catholic League final pitted them against LaSalle again.  It was a competitive game but the Hawks were defeated, 35-28.  A week latter they were upset by Malvern Prep 17-16.  Going out on a two game slide is not good but they had to feel good about this coming season with the return of an explosive backfield.  That blew up in everyone’s face with the sudden and surprising dismissal of Coach Gil Brooks and subsequent transfer of running backs Desmon Peoples (5-6, 150, jr), Jared Alwan (6-0, 215, so) and Eric Neefe (5-11, 205, jr).  Coach Brooks took St. Joseph’s Prep from a doormat to national prominence during his 18 year tenure.  He won 5 PCL titles, the last in 2005 and compiled a 162-57-2 record.  Who can say when the dust settles how many players will transfer out.  Tailback Desmon Peoples has already transferred to Archbishop Wood and who knows where it will end.   Almost all their running backs have graduated with the top 3 receivers.  So it’s another wait and see scenario in that regard.  The good news is they have one of the most talented young quarterbacks in the country in Skylar Mornhinweg (6-3, 190, jr), who as a sophomore, committed to Stanford.  He completed 48% of his passes but threw for 1543 yards and 18 touchdowns.   Those are impressive numbers against PCL-Red Division opponents and a fierce non-conference slate of McKeesport (7-3), St. Peter’s, NJ (9-3) and North Penn (13-1).  Those are three of the top programs in the East, arguably beyond.  St. Peter’s 5 year won-loss is 51-8, McKeesport’s is 48-13, North Penn’s is 58-10.  Impressive teams!  The big question coming into the season with the dismissal of Coach Brooks in March is how will the new coach Gabe Infante perform?  He had a two year stint at Bergen Catholic as defensive coordinator before taking the Head Coaching position at Paramus Catholic in 2008, where he compiled a 10-10 record with back to back 5-5 outings.  If the regular season matches the off season it will be one heck of a ride so hang on.

Roman Catholic (5-7)  Following a strong run from 2002 through 2207 where Roman compiled a 55-21 record, they’ve hit a wall the last 2 years with non-winning seasons.  Their 5-5 mark in 2008 was followed by last year’s 5-7 season, their first losing season since 2001.  What we’ve viewed is the fall of the Roman Empire since their PCL title team of 2007 that went 12-2.  They weren’t a huge offense but were large enough at 27ppg with a defense allowing 11 on average.  They also beat 4 of 6 teams that finished the season above .500.  In 2008, they dropped off to 24ppg on offense and 19ppg on defense, went 5-5 overall with a 2-5 log against winning teams.  Last year’s group really struggled, dropping further in production to 17ppg on offense and 23ppg on defense.  Their won-loss against winning teams was 2-7, which also addresses the difficulty of the schedule played; nine winning teams out of twelve.  A fast looks at numbers finds they have a lot returning, although quarterback Kevin Regan graduated.  Kevin completed 54% of his passes for 1046 yards.  He must have gotten into a lot of trouble back there (flushed out, good coverage?) rushing 61 times for 138 yards, a 2.2ypc average.   Last year’s leading rusher and receiver returns in Dennis Regan (5-11, 175, sr) who ran for 574 yards (3.6ypc) and had 28 receptions for 516 yards.  Christian Seagrave is back as the second leading rusher and receiver with 364 yards rushing (5.1ypc) and 251 yards receiving.  Two more experienced receivers return so they appear strong there.  The graduate 18 from the roster and could show improvement defensively if they find a quarterback.

Father Judge (5-6)  Father Judge began last season on fire, rolling out to a 4-0 start against a schedule that included Council Rock North, Northeast, Pocono Mountain East and Archbishop Ryan.  With a combined won-loss of 17-26, the four were easily defeated by an average score of 36-13.  Maybe the seeds of their coming demise laid therein, with the 21 points CR North scored on them or the 20 Pocono Mountain West got.  The schedule definitely got harder (57-26 combined, last seven teams) with St. Joseph’s, LaSalle and Roman on deck.  Judge played a decent game against St. Joe’s, losing 28-21, but lost to LaSalle 28-10 and Roman, 29-14.  What came next was a complete stunner losing to Monsignor Bonner, 49-17.  Bonner won six games the preceding four years!  They are resurrecting (6-6 last year) but that margin over Judge sent up a red flag.  O’Hara and Williamstown, NJ beat them the next two weeks 49-10 and 50-12 respectively before they closed with a 20-6 win against Lincoln.  All of that occurred with players like running back Curtis Wortham (5-6, 152) and quarterback Tony Smith (6-3, 200).  Curtis graduated with 1089 yards rushing and 25 receptions for 203 more while Tony transferred to George Washington.  For the Father Judge faithful that’s too bad.  It may not matter.  They have good talent coming up and big numbers returning from last year’s roster.  With 874 males in grades 10 through 12, they are the largest AAAA school in the PCL, putting them 24 above Ridley, four more than Central Dauphin in District-3, and over 300 more than Woodland Hills (565) in District-7.  For a little more fun in comparisons, four other teams of interest have a male enrollment of more than 200 fewer than Judge with Bethel Park at 665, Gateway at 606, Penn Hills at 586 and McKeesport at 578.  Guess it’s not all about numbers!  Perhaps the closing of North Catholic and Cardinal Dougherty will drive their numbers even higher.  Still, last year’s 1-6 collapse was telling for a largely veteran team coming off two 9 win seasons.            

George Washington  (8-3)  GW may have another good football team this year with quarterback Tony Smith transferring in from Father Judge.  How timely is that with their starting quarterback Aaron Wilmer of the last two years graduating?  All of last year’s receiver corps return intact along with leading rusher English Peay.  That’s 46 receptions for 672 yards along with Peay’s 590 yards rushing.  They had a nice run last year winning their third straight Philadelphia Public League title and sixth in the last 10 years.  Only GW and Frankford have won the PPL-AAAA title over the last 10 years.  The Eagles have big numbers coming back for this season.  The major question is how good they will be without star lineman Sharrif Floyd (6-4, 310).  Sharrif is at the University of Florida where he will team up with two other super freshmen who could start for the rebuilding Florida defense.   The Gators landed three of the top lineman in the nation with Sharrif joining Ronald Powell (6-4, 230) out of Rancho Verde HS, CA and Dominique Easley (6-3, 260) from Curtis on Staten Island.  Although they’ve landed Tony Smith from Judge, they did loss mobility with the graduation of Aaron Wilmer.  Aaron threw for 975 yards, completed 59% of his passes while throwing 21 touchdowns.  At 5-10, 190 pounds, he was a force running the football.  He had 582 yards rushing on 77 carries, a 7.5 ypc average.  That element will be missed and not replaced per Smith’s numbers last year showing 122 yards after 56 carries.

District 1 

Ridley (13-2)  Heck of a first year for Head Coach Dennis Decker and what a great run the Green Raiders are on, achieving double-digit winning seasons four consecutive years while compiling a 49-7 record.   No other team in southeast PA has won as many games in that time span, although Downingtown West has also put together 4 straight double-digit winning seasons.  Their won-loss is 41-8.  The 40 win barrier is a tough one to reach in four years.  North Penn at 46-8 and Garnet Valley at 44-8 are the only other AAAA teams to do that.  Reaching down to AAA ropes in Pottsgrove at 44-9 and Archbishop Wood at 41-12.  Another notch down in classification shows West Catholic with a 45-10 won-loss and Bok at 40-5.   That’s a select group of teams to be a part of with Ridley sitting at the top.  Well done Raiders!  The list also serves as a group to keep your eyes on for the coming season.  How about these Raiders, winning a district-1 title last year and again in 2007.  2006 shows a runner-up finish in districts to show the roll they are on.   For the coming season, there are a lot of positives and just as many questions.   They return an abundance of skill player, except at quarterback where they reload better than any program in the state.  The offensive line is a concern for every school coming into a new season and the Raiders lost some good ones.  Lost to graduation are lineman Dillon Hayer (6-3, 205), Nick Hober (5-11, 260), Mish Chudasama (5-11, 225) and Rob Crispin (6-2, 240).  All totaled, eight senior linemen graduated.  The four year run just mentioned says they find another quality line this year but there are no guarantees.  They also have to replace quality kickers, Wide Outs Vince Jennings and Alex Nicolino.  Every team wishes they had a Linebacker like fiery Casey DePrinzio (5-11, 225) who will be missed.  They have some holes to fill on special teams as well.   Will they be able to kick/punt as well as last year and will last year’s turnover issues be resolved?  All of the returning skill players are of exceptional quality, especially RB/LB Jalen Randolph (6-0, 195, jr), RB/LB Sam Dixon-Dugan (5-10, 180, sr), WR/DB (LB this year?) Norm Donkin (5-11, 180, sr), WR/DB Shahaid Smith (5-6, 150, sr) and WR/DB Dion Shaw (6-0, 170, sr).  That is as good a receiver corps/secondary as you will find in the district.  Veteran, sure handed receivers are a blessing for the new quarterback and that secondary will allow the defensive front to do a lot more.  Last year’s offense was more productive at 30ppg than any previous Raider offence over the last eleven years.  The defense was again special allowing 10ppg on average.  If the transition to a new quarterback is as smooth as previous editions, and there is no reason to feel otherwise, they will be as good as last year’s group.  The way Coach Dennis Decker handled himself in year one has to be a strong positive entering this year.  The defense appears talented enough to be better than last year’s unit, mentally and physically, making Ridley a viable candidate for district honors and more.

Conestoga (7-4)  Conestoga is one of those teams you have to be aware of because of the talent that comes through on a steady basis.   They had a younger team last year that had their ups and downs.  The season started with a home loss to a decent Owen J. Roberts team, 13-3.  OJR went 11-2 last year, losing to Interboro in the AAA playoffs, 33-19.  Conestoga recovered to beat Upper Darby then surprised Garnet Valley 14-7 on the road.  If the OJR loss gave you pause, the win at Garnet Vallley had you back at the drawing board trying to figure this team out.  After beating G-Val, they lost to Marple Newtown 34-20 in their third straight road game.  They recovered to trounce Radnor 37-0 then lost to Ridley 34-12.  Thereon they seemed to find their stride, winning at Strath Haven 48-35 then beating Harriton, Lower Merion and Haverford by a combined score of 108 to 28.  The four game winning streak at the end of the regular season qualified them for the postseason where they lost to Downingtown West 40-8.  So the young team found some rhythm and made the playoffs to go into the off season with their heads held high.  If they can replace losses on the lines and there are some big bodies coming up, they’ll field a larger offense than last year’s that averaged 24ppg.  The defense needs improved from a 17ppg average.   There are no individual stats of players.  It is known they return last year’s starting quarterback Bill Flatley (6-3, 200) for his senior year.  Three of last years running backs return.  They have a pair of good ones in seniors Dexter Bridge (6-2, 185) and Blair Brooks (5-7, 170).  Gene Gibson (5-10, 210, sr) also returns.  Tight End Mateo Portonova (6-3, 205, sr) and Rasheed Wallace (6-2, 195, sr) are both back giving the Pioneers a senior and veteran skill group.   It looks like Conestoga is good enough to do some damage this year and again reach the playoffs.

Garnet Valley (9-2)  The Jaguars are certainly on a run, winning 45 of their last 52 games the last four years.  It all began in 2006 where as an AAA, they won the district crown, then lost to Pottsville (13-3) in the quarter finals 51-20.  The following season saw them again advance deep into the postseason, losing in the AAA final to Thomas Jefferson (16-0) 28-3.  Then in 2008, they joined the Central League, beat Ridley and advanced to the district semi final where they lost to Neshaminy (12-2), 21-14.  Last year’s edition again found a way to beat Ridley, thus gaining a piece of the league title which they shared with the Raiders.  There was no deep run in the playoffs where they had the misfortune of running into a dangerous Penncrest team they had defeated in the regular season at Penncrest, 28-27.   This time Penncrest had the last word and pulled out a 38-35 upset over the Jags.  Taking nothing away from them, this was not the same beast of the previous three years.  Those offenses were much larger, averaging 31, 32 and 31 points per game from 2006 through 2008.  The defenses were better two of those years, allowing 12ppg in 2007 and 2008, while allowing 15ppg on average in 2006.  The team that lost to Penncrest in the first round averaged 26ppg with a defense that allowed 15 a game.  Their scores were atypical as well, beating Unionville 15-14, Marple Newtown 7-0, Upper Darby 20-16 and losing to Conestoga in the regular season 14-7 on Garnet Valley’s field.  That was a special run of talent that came through the school from 2006 through 2008.  Like so many teams in the district this year, the Jags are looking for a quarterback with the graduation of their two year starter Mark McHugh.  Jake Helms (6-0, 180, sr) appears to be the next in line.  Alex Warden is back at Wide Receiver but many of the running backs graduated including Marcellus Irving (5-10, 200), Xazier Gibson (5-7, 155) and Kyle Moore (5-8, 135).  27 players graduated from last year’s team.  That’s a high number (replaced 32 last year) but they really fill out the roster at Garnet Valley to the point where they have been able to go to a two platoon system on the lines.  Last year didn’t develop a Tim Keyser or a Jared Bonacquisti that carried the team from 2007 through 2008 with two year rushing totals of 2374 yards for Keyser and 1916 yards for Bonacquisti.  They also had a great dual threat quarterback in 2007, Eric Van Wyk who passed for 1563 yards and ran for another 892 yards.  For this year Julian Digiacomo (6-2, 230, sr), Connor Price (6-4, 225, sr) and Tom Grasty (6-1, 225, sr) are back on the line where they will have another good one with 12 senior lineman and 13 juniors on the roster.

Downingtown East (10-3)  East had a big offense last year that averaged 33 points a game.  That’s the best they’ve had since 2005 where they averaged 35 a game.  Who knows how far they might have gone last year if they could have put a better defense on the field than last year’s that allowed 21 points a game.  Still, they were good enough to get to the district semi final where they were eliminated by Ridley, 28-7.  That is the biggest question coming into this season.  How strong will the defense be.  They lost a few key pieces like DT Taj Alexander (6-6, 275) and DE Mike Tucker (6-2, 245).  Inside Linebacker Anthony Petrucci (6-1, 220) graduated along with two from the secondary.  Jimmy Haver (5-11, 175, sr) and Mike DiStefano (5-9, 185, sr) return to the secondary.  Zarko Ellis (6-1, 200, sr) is back at Linebacker.  The line returns DT Jeff Kiely (6-0, 275, sr) so there is a good nucleus to build on.  They are looking very strong on the other side with the return of Quarterback Trey Lauletta (6-1, 190, sr), starting for the third year. He threw for 1650 yards as a sophomore then tacked on 1917 more yards last year.  He completed 108 of 228 for a 47% completion percentage.  13 of his passes were picked off which may in part help explain the 21ppg yield on defense.  18 of his tosses went for touchdowns.  The accuracy may need some work but he has a gun and is capable of throwing it over 50 yards.   Behind him is possibly the best back in the area in Drew Harris (6-2, 195, jr), who as a sophomore rushed for 2010 yards on 306 carries.   His supporting cast is FB Dan Gianforte (6-2, 220, sr) and Mike Di Stefano (5-9, 185, sr).  Another talented weapon is Tight End Tyler Kroft (6-6, 220) who caught 36 passes for 667 yards.  The big guy gets downfield and knows how to run after the catch with a 18.52 yards per reception average.  Adding to this, they return three to the line from last year counting Kroft, OG Andrew Stengel (6-3, 245, sr) and OT Pat Restrepo (6-3, 250, sr.  East will one of the better teams in southeast PA this year, fully capable of challenging for a district title.

Downingtown West (10-2)  While 10-2 is a fine season by almost anyone’s standard, it was a disappointing season to Whippet fans with their prized quarterback Bret Gillespie getting beat up, injured and sidelined as much as he was.  He played enough to throw for 1366 yards and toss seven touchdowns.  Part of the issue was Bret’s penchant to tuck it and head down field, 67 times for 522 yards.  At 6-2, 210 he was a lethal load but you know defenses (especially linebackers) like putting a shot on the quarterback whenever possible.  Still, you’ve got to like that fullback mentality in your quarterback, just like another Brett we know.  The year before he passed for 2041 yards and 20 touchdowns while rushing for 464 yards and getting 5 more scores.  During his many sideline appearances, Ben Vanderslice (6-0, 195, sr) got valuable playing time, so they are not starting over with Bret’s graduation.  He completed 8 of 15 passes, didn’t throw an interception and had 3 touchdown passes.  Another loss to graduation is Kessan Christopher’s 1343 rushing yards.  You recall he transferred in from George Washington last year.  Stepping in for him is Trey Faust (6-0, 180, sr) who had 87 carries last year for 531 yards.  Zach Barr (5-11, 165, jr) is back after rushing for 202 yards on 18 carries.  Another sophomore broke in last year to rush for 123 yards on 23 carries and catch 8 passes for 139 yards; Tom Connel (5-8, 160).   Pete Mulville (6-3, 175, sr) is back after catching 22 passes for 537 yards with Louis Smith (6-2, 175, sr).  Louis caught 16 passes for 408 yards.   TE Xavier Anderson (6-1, 225, sr) is back after catching 3 passes for 72 yards.   It may be difficult reaching last year’s scoring level of 30ppg but they have a good corps to work with.  It’s on the other side where there may be some concern to rebuild a unit that was very stingy, yielding 14 ppg.  Josh Coulter’s 14 sacks will be hard to duplicate.  Josh was very quick at 6-2, 205 pounds and had 40 tackles.  Max Bause (6-0, 230, 53 stops, ILB) graduates with fellow backer Shane O’Toole (6-0, 195, 53 stops), DE Jamill Van (5-11, 200, 32 stops, 5 sacks) and Andrew McLaughlin (6-0, 215, 20 tackles).  Many experienced players return with a handful of starters.  The starters or co-starters are LB Dylan Ferron (6-0, 190, 33 stops, sr), DTs Mikail Brown (5-9, 190, 22 stops, sr) and Jamir Cavenaugh (5-11, 270, 6 tackles, sr).  Defensive End Xavier Anderson (6-1, 225, 7 tackles, sr) also returns.  They have a number of concerns but with a 41-8 won-loss the last 4 years and  a good core returning, they can have another good year and be a factor in the Ches Mont.

Coatesville (5-5)  First year Head Coach Matt Ortega showed us a lot about his will to win and ability to make the hard decisions head coaches have to make by replacing third year staring senior quarterback Charles White with a sophomore mid way through the first quarter of game 2.  With teams that went 5-5 in 07 and 7-4 in 08, Charles’ totals were 1349 passing yardage and 1596 yards on the ground.  Not bad.  Talk about pressure.  Manny Stocker (6-2, 185) managed it well, scoring on a 58-yard QB keeper, while Coach did what he felt had to be done in replacing quarterback Charles Green who moved over tailback and scored a touchdown.  Charles remained at running back for the year, taking one for the team.   You know Coach Ortega has football running in his veins, having lived in Steelton and graduating from Central Dauphin.  They played a lot of first year starting skill players last year who should impact this year.  Kevin Berry (5-7, 175, sr) is the most dangerous back with real speed and elusiveness.  Dom Wilson (5-10, 180, sr) is another talented back to ease the loss of Charles White (5-11, 180) and focus on Berry.  Wide Out Colby Perry (5-10, 160, sr) returns with linemen Mike Smith (6-1, 300, sr) and Jahmal Dixon (6-2, 275, sr).  With 14 returning starters, the Red Raiders just may be up for the challenge against the Green Raiders opening day.  Last year showed us some firsts with each team having a new head coach.  It was also unbelievably the first encounter between the 2 schools, pitting the winningest team in Delaware County against the winningest team in Chester County.  There is also some irony that after opening at Coatesville’s great Stadium, Ridley should return there (a homer?) to win districts against North Penn.

Rustin (11-1)   Rustin moves to AAAA this year after ending last season with a second round loss in the AAA playoffs to Pottsgrove, 21-14.  A combination of blown punt coverage and personal fouls gave Pottsgrove too many short fields that allowed the Falcons to avenge last year’s loss to Rustin by the same score.  This year the Golden Knights are looking at a complete rebuild of the offense that was explosive, averaging 40ppg.  The defense was equally impressive at 6ppg.  On offense, quarterback Mike Carlin graduates along with the dynamic duo of the White brothers, Rondell and Rahmier.  Carlin was a steady quarterback that kept defenses honest by throwing for 820 yards.  Rondell White was a bruiser who averaged 9.9 yards per carry.  He ended the year with 1925 yards rushing.   Rahmier added 546 on 61 carries.  Andrew McGreavy had an eye popping 326 yards on just 20 carries.  He graduated.  Their leading receiver Lee Kurfis with 22 receptions for 591 yards graduated.  FB Frank O’Donnell (6-0, 200, sr) is back after gaining 427 hard yards on 60 carries as are Connor Burke (6-0, 175, jr) and Devante Dixon (6-2, 175, sr).  Connor had 17 carries for 106 yards while Devante chipped in with 21 carries for 185 yards.  Andrew Fithian got some time under center so they have experience returning.  They are looking good on defense with the return of 3 linemen, 2 linebackers and 2 defensive backs.  Chase Hoyt (6-4, 260, 31 stops, sr) anchors the line. The # 2 tackler returns in LB Nick Simmler (6-1, 200, 63 stops, sr).  Looks like the defense can hold things down until the offense settles in.

Henderson (6-5)   Here is another team up from the AAA classification now playing at AAAA.  You might want to keep your eyes on these guys after a few narrow losses showed how close they were last year.  They began the year on a tear, winning their first five games.  Then came the five game slide against the meat of the schedule, Downingtown West, Rustin, Coatesville, Avon Grove and Downingtown East.  They had their competitive moments, falling to Downingtown West 14-10 to snap the five game winning streak.  In week # 8, they lost at Coatesville 35-28.  Proving they weren’t quitters, they ended the year on a high note defeating Plymouth Whitemarsh, 35-0.  For the coming season they return quarterback Jake Richard (5-11, 175, jr) who they must be high on after starting him as a sophomore.  He completed 27 of 60 passes for 405 yards and rushed for 238 yards on 57 attempts.  He shared time with senior Will Stephenson at the start of the season. All four running backs graduated, taking 2014 yards with them.  Senior TE Myles Jackson is a fine target at 6-4, 220 pounds.  He had ten catches for 100 yards last year.  Five return to the line counting the tight end.  On the other side, eight starters and pile of others that got playing time are back.  Five sophomores got significant playing time where one stood out, linebacker T.J. White (6-1, 210, jr), who led the team with 142 stops!  The line returns Mark Muscari (6-0, 250, 44 stops, sr), Kevin Cosby-Reed (5-10, 265, 32 stops, sr), Kevin Regan (6-2, 230, 15 tackles, jr) and Quincy Rhoades (6-1, 205, 51 tackles, sr).  Linebackers Matt Muscari (6-0, 220, 54 tackles, sr) returns with Myles Jackson (6-4, 220, 49 stops, sr) and Ryan Brewer (5-9, 176, 40 tackles, sr).  Zach Jones (5-10, 150, 30 tackles, jr) leads the secondary.  Four others return (2 LBs, 2 DBs) with experience and 56 total tackles.   On paper, it looks like Henderson could make some noise.

North Penn (13-1)  The Knights get the nod for the top spot in the local rankings because of the abundance they have returning at the skill positions, particularly at running back and receiver, making them a carbon copy of Ridley at those positions.  Both are also searching for a new quarterback.  Where the separation occurs is along the lines where the Knights have the edge with the number of returning offensive linemen and a more settled look along the defensive line.  It would have been easy knee-jerking the Raiders because they beat North Penn last year to win the district title.   Part of the reason it shouldn’t work that way is because it was, last year.  This is a new year with entirely new circumstance.  Having said that, the Raiders may have an easier time finding a quarterback for their “system” than the Knights will in replacing Todd Smolinski.  They’ll find someone to manage things, but will they find one that will complete 65% of passes for 1574 yards while throwing 19 touchdowns to 4 interceptions as Todd Smolinski did last year in his first year as a starter?  You don’t need a Todd Smolinski clone in the North Penn system but what a bonus that is for any team to churn out numbers like he did.  Even so, they are loaded.  They lost a good receiver in T.J. Gill who snagged 22 passes for 316 yards.  Their top receiver Dom Taggart (6-1, 195, sr) is back after catching 32 passes for 533 yards (254 rushing) as is Gerald Wendowski (6-1, 185, sr).  TE Ralph Reeves (6-1, 215, jr) is also back.  He had 15 receptions for 280 yards.  Whoever wins the quarterback position will be throwing to an experienced receiver corps.  They are just as stacked at running back.  Craig Needhammer (5-8, 175, sr) ran for 1458 yards on 175 carries and has surprising speed.  He also caught 18 passes for 241 yards.  Other returning running backs include fullback Ryan Hessenius (6-1, 220, sr) and tailbacks Troy Brosky (5-9, 170, sr) and super quick Brenden Mercer (5-7, 155, sr).  If they can keep Mercer healthy look out.  The line will miss J.D. Dzurko (6-3, 280), Steve Tribanan (5-11, 235) and Tyler Scherer (5-11, 210) but return Will Kye (6-0, 245, sr), Marcus McGraw (5-10, 215, sr) and tight end Ralph Reeves (6-1, 215, jr). Taggart, Hessenius, Reeves and Needhammer all standout on defense.  The line will probably be DE Will Key and DT Marcus McGraw.  See above O-Line.  The other two are DTs Chuck Knower (6-1, 200, sr) and Dave Jackson (5-10, 215, sr).  That looks like a quick group.   Add in some incentive for the way last season ended and you may have a group that is not just talented but motivated with a little extra oomph.

Neshaminy (9-3)  Neshaminy exploded out of the gate last year, ripping their first three opponents apart by a combined score of 90-26.  The next game was at Abington in the Suburban One League-National Conference opener where Abington’s volatile passing attack (29ppg average) erupted to take a 28-10 fourth quarter lead.   The ‘Skins battled back, scoring fourteen fourth quarter points but fell short, losing a tough one to The Ghosts, 28-24.  They regrouped to win the next five games by an average score of 26-9.  Then came the SOL-National closer and regular season finale where they had the chance to win the National title outright with a win, but lost a nail biter on the road to Pennsbury, 27-20, in overtime.  Poetic justice had them playing Abington in the opening round of the playoffs, this time at Heartbreak Ridge in Langhorne where they dispatched the Ghosts, 24-17.  Second round action put them in the path of their old nemesis and top seed North Penn, who was as steady a team as the district produced last year, winning all eleven games comfortably by an average score of 36-7.  They won this one comfortably as well with Craig Needhammer breaking through the Neshaminy defense for five touchdowns, propelling the Knights to a 35-22 win.  For many schools, it’s hard topping a 9-3 season.  This year it appears the Tribe has enough coming back on both sides of the ball to improve, perhaps dramatically, with so many experienced or starting players in the fold.  Quarterback Charlie Marterella (6-2, 180, sr) will have the position to himself this year after splitting time last year with the now graduated Brian Titus.  Marterella had great numbers in 2009, completing 41 of 62 attempts for 621 yards.  His completion percentage of 66% and 9-3 touchdown to interception ratio shows an accurate arm that is also strong.  The Fullback will be versatile Corey Majors (6-2, 230, sr), who rushed for 296 yards on 51 carries last year and had eight receptions for 90 yards.  Competing for the Halfback slot vacated by the graduation of all-state selection Bryan Dean will be Anthony Woodroffe (5-11, 190, sr) and Sean Ulmer (5-8, 165, 4 for 32yds, jr).  Another potential at Halfback returns in Ron Smith (5-8, 150, jr) who gained 50 yards on 11 carries last year.  The receiver corps looks set with Tight End Shane Quinn (6-3, 235, sr) and Split End Dwight Williams (6-3, 195, sr) returning.   Shane had five receptions for 50 yards last year while Dwight had five for 61 yards.  The line is a veteran and physical group featuring returning starters Chris Kutsubos (6-1, 285, jr), Tyler Stabilito (6-4, 235, sr), Ryan Katona (5-11, 298, sr) and Nick DiDonato (5-11, 268, sr).  As mentioned, Shane Quinn returns at Tight End.  Look for Tadas Karusevicius (6-3, 225, jr), John Bell (6-2, 290, jr) and Mike Wunderlich (6-3, 265, jr) to contribute along with others.  The secondary graduated Kyran Kervick and Ariel Hoffman but return Corner Back Ron Smith (5-8, 150, jr) and Safety Dwight Williams.  Bobby Marterella (6-1, 165, jr) should fill in the other Corner Back spot (and he can be expected to see time as a wideout on offense too).  Division One prospect Corey Majors will secure the middle from his MLB spot with the DEs looking like Shane Quinn and Kiser Terry (6-2, 220, jr).  Kiser could go to Linebacker too.  Alex McCaulley (6-0, 200, sr) and Tyler Materson (6-3, 180, sr) will be playing somewhere and a few from the line will go both ways.  Bryan Reice will likely be the punter and is said to be booming them.   Neshaminy’s schedule could not be more supportive with Central Bucks East, Abington, Council Rock North, Council Rock South and Pennsbury all coming to Langhorne this year.  The bottom line is the ‘Skins look well stocked with talent, sharing the company of District-1 powers North Penn and Ridley as teams having the greatest potential to advance to the state final.          

Pennsbury (9-2)   There was so much talk last year about Pennsbury’s offense, with justification, but to the point that it drown out other voices that wanted to talk about their spectacular defense.  The offense had rangy, quick Brandon Pepper at Quarterback and real good players at Tailback where Dante Devine was a strong back who could fly.  Add in Wide Receiver Eric Williams to know they were going to score points; turned out to be 30 on average.  The offense was so good it placed eight on the Suburban One League-All League Teams; 2 on 1^st Team, 2 on 2^nd Team, 2 on 3^rd Team and 2 Honorable Mentions.  It was their most productive team in the last eleven years, so it deserved a lot of talk.  But the defense they put on the field last year was a rare edition, like few that have come through the school in years.  It yielded turf and points grudgingly, allowing 9ppg on average and was their best in terms of points allowed over the last 11 years.  Ten of its members made the SOL-All League Teams; 4 on 1^st Team, 3 on 2^nd Team, 2 on 3^rd Team and 1 Honorable Mention.  Now for the bad news; 9 from last year’s defense that made the SOL-ALL League graduated including DEs Ted Holcombe (6-0, 200, 3^rd Team) and Colin Healy (6-1, 215, 1^st Team).  DL Josh Mitchell (6-1, 292, 1^st Team) also graduated with 3 Linebackers; Kevin Bree (6-0, 220, 1^st Team), Diamond Ruffin (6-0, 180, 2^nd Team) and Chris Liccione (5-10, 173, 3^rd Team).  The secondary lost 3; Eric Williams (6-3, 200, 1^st Team), Mike Ciotti (5-9, 170, 2^nd Team) and Davonte Washington (5-8, 165, HM).  It’s a large school and all but those are large losses.  The offense losses Five SOL-All League members; running backs in Dante Devine (6-1, 180, 1^st Team) and Jeff Fischer (5-9, 172, 3^rd Team) but return Brandon Pepper (6-0, 181, sr, 3^rd Team at QB) who is rumored to be sliding over to running back and Joe Brown (5-8, 160, sr, HM).  Wide Receiver Eric Williams (6-3, 200, 2^nd Team) is lost to graduation.  Big loss, there and in the secondary.   Lineman Mike Evenson (6-0, 245, 2^nd Team) and James Lillo (6-2, 185, HM) have graduated.  The line will retool around 1^st Team lineman J.J. Denman (6-7, 285, jr).  Chris Giennie (6-2, 215, sr) is back at Tight End.  Jeff Prine (6-2, 195, sr) is back at quarterback after spelling Brandon Pepper for a few starts last year where he got valuable playing time.  They can field another big offense but how likely is it they can equal last year’s magnificent defense?   If they can develop just a little more passing this year, no will be able to pack people in like Unionville did last year to pull off the impossible 12-7 upset that occurred in the playoff’s 1^st round.  They have a difficult opener at Easton then come home to play always tough Harrisburg.  Harrisburg doesn’t travel well “early” and will also be coming off their opener against a difficult LVC opponent, Parkland.  They might be able to ambush them.       

Abington (8-3) Quarterback Sam Kind graduated with over 1300 yards along with his back up Kevin Regan.  They also lost two good receivers in Anthony Hensley who had over 561 yards in receptions and TE Guiliana Presta.  They return a number of backs with Julien Ireland leading the way.  He’s a 5-10, 180 pound senior who ran for over 1300 yards last year.  Tim Salley (5-10, 160, sr) and Ray Schreiner (5-6, 150, jr) are also back.  Starting Tackles Nick Disandro (6-4, 270) and Phil Hagstotz (6-1, 210) graduated with Center Ethan Maxey (6-1, 210) and TE Presta.  Both Guards return, Ty Kennedy (5-10, 215, sr) and Tyler Conroy (5-10, 220, sr).   The way Abington has been finding quarterbacks the last few years makes you think they’ll do the same this year.  Their roster is huge.  How many teams graduate 40 seniors and have them replaced by 52 incoming seniors the following year?  Talk about the likelihood of strong senior leadership with 52 seniors on the team!  Something good has to come out of such numbers although they graduated seventeen starters from their offense, defense or special teams.

Pennridge (6-6)    Things have not been the same at Pennridge since 2003 where the Rams wrapped up their fourth SOL-Colonial Division title in four years and fourth postseason berth in the previous five years. The following year saw them in the SOL-National where they ended the season deadlocked with Neshaminy and North Penn at 6-1.  One of the driving forces of the Ram machine was running back Ryan Greiser (6-1, 215), who blasted his way to 2030 yards on the ground that year.  Ryan was fun to watch as some of the best hits of the game were his willful collisions with defenders.  Get some Ryan!  The Neshaminy crowd will be happy to know that George Coleman edged out Ryan with 2168 yards to lead the SOL.  The Eagles LeSean McCoy (Harrisburg-McDevitt) led the state with 2828 yards.  Since then, the program has barely kept its head above water, going 7-5 the next two years.  The bottom fell out in 2007 when they had their first losing season since likely the early 90s?  The program was in rough shape in the late 80s and early 90s and remains near life support conditions the last two years recording back-to-back 6-6 campaigns.  They seemed to recover in 2008 with a 6-3 start but lost their last three games.  Last year’s team started out losing four of their first six, but recovered to win four of the last six games including the last two to put a positive spin on things.  Winning at Quakertown (8-4) to end the season was more than spin!  This year’s group returns Quarterback Kyle Peters (5-11, 175, sr) who had a decent junior season completing 66 of 137 for 1016 yards.  Workhorse Jesse Knepp (5-9, 180, sr) gained 1073 yards on 184 carries and caught 10 passes for 125 yards.  Carter Peters (5-11, 190, jr) is back after netting 174 yards on 33 carries. TE Brandon Cope (6-0, 200, sr) returns as well.  Brandon caught 7 passes for 68 yards.  Three return to the line giving them a solid core of six returning to the offense and seven starters or experienced players to the defense.  This could be the year the Rams get back to their winning ways.                 

Others to watch: 

Norristown (9-2)  Look who came out of nowhere to go 9-2, win the SOL-American and go to the playoffs after having two winning season over the last eight years.  Their only regular season loss was to Upper Dublin (4-6) 18-15 who were coming off a 12-6 loss to Truman.  Go figure.  The problem entering this season is they lost a number of their big guns from last year’s team.  The biggest loss is Running Back Sheldon Mayer (5-8, 170) who rushed for 1402 yards (8.0ypc) and caught 16 passes for 263 yards.  The receiver corps was wiped out with the loss of the top three receivers who caught 40 passes for 687 yards combined.  Their second, third and fourth leading runners return; Tracey Pressley (5-11, 175, 58/336, sr), Brandon Shippen (5-9, 150, 17/74, jr) and Anthony Dinoifi (5-9, 155, 15/75, sr).  The best news is how well last year’s sophomore performed under center.  Shannon Mayer (6-1, 175) completed 64 of 122 passes for 980 yards.  He had an 8 to 5 touchdown to interception ratio.  The Eagles also had big losses on the defense where eight graduated from a unit that allowed on average, 9 ppg. The offense scored 25 a game. They also lost four from the line so it looks like the Eagles have a sizeable rebuild on their hands.  Having an experienced Quarterback will help there but the Eagles will probably not fly as high as last year where Downingtown East defeated them 27-14 in the first round.  That was their first appearance in the postseason since 2000 where they lost to Downingtown 20-7.  

Avon Grove (11-2) The Red Devils really lit things up last year with three running backs topping the 1000 yard marker and the team making a good run in the postseason, advancing to the district semi final where they lost to North Penn 42-7.  Most of that team graduated including quarterback Kyle Kush (750 yards, 57%, 11/4 Td-Int), running back Jordan Harris (1015 yards) and five of the six stating linemen.  Additionally, leading rusher Brendan McLaughlin (6-0, 205, sr), who ran for 1260 yards on 196 carries, caught 8 passes for 148 yards and had 54 tackles from his OLB position, transferred to Cardinal O’Hara in Springfield, PA.  What an addition he is to a team that was already looking strong.  Experienced players return but the defense was still hit hard with eight starters graduating with particularly heavy losses on the line and linebacker. 

Unionville (8-4)  The 8-4 record hides two very close calls that prevented a 10-2 campaign.  They opened the season with a 15-14 loss to Garnet Valley.  Two weeks later saw them lose a heartbreaker to Avon Grove, 20-14.  When they had it together, they were capable of blowing away teams like Coatesville 42-20 or pulling the upset as they did in the first round of districts, shocking Pennsbury 12-7 before losing to Ridley 37-0.  Only eleven graduated from the team where a great number of those were on defense; four linemen, three linebackers and two defensive backs.  It looks more promising on offense where the quarterback, two running backs a receiver and two linemen return.  This has been a steady program since the population hike that helped put places like Unionville and Garnet Valley on the map.  Unionville hasn’t had a losing season since 2003.  Their won-loss since 2005 is 45-13, so don’t be surprised if they replace losses.  The schedule is front loaded with Garnet Valley in the opener away, then Phoenixville followed by a tough run including Avon Grove, Rustin and Coatesville.

The Inter Academic League 

It was an exciting year in the Inter-Ac where a surprisingly good Haverford School (8-3) upset Malvern Prep (7-4) 17-14 and nearly beat Chestnut Hill Academy (9-1) before losing in overtime 27-21.  The three ended up deadlocked atop the league at 3-1.   All three have key players to replace.  Few lose more than Chestnut Hill with Running Back Ibraheim Campbell moving on.  He rushed for 1885 yards.  In 2008 he rushed for 1772 yards so it is a big loss. Remember they beat Archbishop Wood last year 29-23 in overtime and a good Hill School team 21-13.  Roman fell 35-14 so it was a legitimate team.  You know if they can beat those team and hang with Malvern Prep they are the real deal.  Malvern Prep had a decent year beating CHA 16-14 and ending the season with a win against St. Joseph’s Prep, 17-16 in Coach Kevin Pellegrini’s first year.   He replaced his father, the legendary Gaspare “Gamp” Pellegrini who coached at Malvern Prep from 1978 through 2008, retiring with an overall record of 219-86-8.  The Friars are looking to replace some key line losses, including Joe DiTrolio, Jack Moran, Cristian Green, Luke Stannish, Jack Devine and Kevin Quinn.  They also graduate their top Running Back Bobby Hill who rushed for 1040 yards.  QB Gunther Chase (752 yards) is gone as well so it’s a rebuild for Coach in his second year.  Haverford losses Quarterback Matt Lengel (1209 yards), lead receiver A.J. Jones (376 yards) and their T/DT Max Silver (6-4, 275).  Top back Carl Walrath (-11, 180) is back after rushing for 1163 yards.  Penn Charter (5-5) returns a fine Quarterback in John Loughery (6-4, 210, sr) who is attracting considerably attention.  He is the cousin of Matt Ryan, a 2003 Penn Charter grad who starts for the Atlanta Falcons.  John had a strong year last year completing 177 of 312 passes for 2066 yards.  He threw 18 touchdowns.   Penn Charter graduated just 7 players.  Germantown Academy (3-6) and Episcopal Academy (2-8) should improve with GA returning Quarterback Keith Braccia who wasn’t the starter but played often, completing 31 of 50 passes for 365 yards.  Running Back Lamont Jackson is back after getting 165 yards rushing and 122 yards on 23 receptions.  Episcopal returns Quarterback Taylor Wright (6-4, 180, sr) who passed for 860 yards after completing 70 of 178 passes.  Running Back Brian Ruditys (5-9, 170, sr) rushed for 823 yards and caught 10 passes for 146 yards.  Lead receiver Shane Nerrell (6-2, 170, sr) had 33 receptions for 433 yards so they are not without talent.  Germantown graduated eight while Episcopal graduated nine, giving them both good returning numbers for the coming season.   

Southeast PA Preseason Top 10

1. North Penn (13-1)

2. Neshaminy (9-3)

3. Ridley (13-2)

4. West Catholic (12-3, AA)

5. Archbishop Wood (11-3, AAA)

6. Downingtown East (10-3)

7. Cardinal O’Hara (8-3, AAA)

8. St. Joseph’s Prep (9-3)

9. Pottsgrove  (14-1, AAA)

10. Pennsbury (9-2)

Honorable Mention

LaSalle (14-1)

Roman Catholic (5-7)

Monsignor Bonner (6-6, AAA)

George Washington (8-3)

Pennridge (6-6)

Abington (8-3)

Downingtown West (10-2)

Henderson (6-5)

Coatesville (5-5)

Strath Haven (5-5, AAA)

Interboro (12-1, AAA)

PA State Preseason Top 10

1. Woodland Hills (12-2)

2. North Penn (13-1)

3. Cumberland Valley (12-3)

4. Pittsburgh Central Catholic (8-3)

5. Gateway (12-1)

6. Bishop McDevitt (12-1)

7. Neshaminy (9-3)

8. Ridley (13-2)

9. Wilson (11-2)

10. West Catholic (12-3)

Honorable Mention

Archbishop Wood (11-3, AAA)

Cardinal O’Hara (8-3)

Downingtown East (10-3)

Whitehall (7-5)

Easton (13-2)

Central Dauphin (9-3)

Harrisburg (5-6)

Mount Lebanon (5-5)

Bethel Park (10-2)

West Allegheny (12-3, AAA

 

Class AAA State Top 10 

Here’s a stab at the AAA teams around the state.  McDevitt is probably a no brainer with QB Matt Johnson (67%, 2721 yards), RB Jameel Poteat (1664 rush yards) and a slew of others back.  Dropping from AAAA to AAA doesn’t make the road any smoother with a number of quality AAA teams in the area.  Getting out of District-3 is a perilous a journey in your average year with a power like Manheim Central in the district.  McDevitt lost to Cumberland Valley in the District-3 final (AAAA quarterfinals) last year, 34-27 in double overtime and have holes to fill on the lines and especially at Wide Receiver where the slate was wiped clean.   They are good but they are not a lock.   Archbishop Wood returns many starters (5/5) and they are looking for a QB.  But they scored a major upgrade to the offense when they landed St. Joseph’s Prep transfer Running Back Desmon Peoples (1050 yards) to an already talented group.  His breakaway threat can take Wood to a new level.   Imagine him running behind a quality line that includes four returning starters;  Frank Taylor (6-5, 295, jr), Rory Clark (6-2, 285, sr), Chris Knott (6-3, 270, sr) and Tight End Colin Thompson (6-4, 230, jr). Now consider the quality athletes this program reloads on an annually to see the potential of their being special.  Without doubt, replacing Quarterback Jerry Rahill’s production of 1521 yards passing with 15 touchdowns and 506 yards rushing with 9 touchdowns will probably not happen.  But they pick up a lot of raw explosiveness with Desmon Peoples that just may make the difference.  It will certainly make the transition to the new Quarterback, Joey Monahan, that much easier.  Last year’s team lost in the state semifinal to state champion Selinsgrove, 28-0.  A lot has to come together but it looks like this team may have what it takes to get there again.  West Allegheny is looking for a Quarterback but have fine prospects in Zach Medvid (6-1, 180, jr) and senior Alex Sinclair (6-1, 175).  The big news is the return of one of the top backs in the state, Mike Caputo (6-1, 190, sr), who rushed for 2526 yards last year.  A back like that can take you a long way.  He was a large part of their getting to the semi final last year where they lost to Manheim Central 45-27.  The # 2 back Mike Cherokee (5-9, 170) returns after rushing for 444 yards on 74 carries.  Not bad in the shadow of Mike Caputo.   The # 2 receiver also returns in Aaron McKinney (5-9, 175, sr).  Aaron rushed for 356 yards on 17 attempts.  They lose three good linemen but return a pile of good looking juniors and seniors.   Like Archbishop Wood, anything positive at Quarterback will make them special.  Allentown Central Catholic lost FB/LB Connor Faust for the year but return QB Brendan Nosovitch who as a sophomore passed for 2085 yards and rushed for 1007.  Losing Connor Faust was a big blow to both sides of the ball.  Having a dual threat Quarterback will help mitigate the loss.  The Vikings season was ended last year by Selinsgrove in the state quarter finals, 31-10.  Cardinal O’Hara returns big numbers, Quarterback Ryan McLaughlin (1047 yards), running Adam Dempsey (689 yards) and Avon Grove transfer Brendan McLaughlin (6-0, 210, 1260 yards, sr).   Last year came to a close in the PCL-Red Division semi final where they lost to LaSalle 24-14.  That won’t happen this year but the competition will be just as fierce playing AAA teams like Wood and Bonner.   Pottsgrove is loaded again with the return of QB Terrell Chestnut (5-11, 180, 503 pass yards, 995 rush yards, sr), RBs Maika Polamalu (6-0, 200, 1450 rush yards, sr) and Kayvon Green (6-2, 215, 950 rush yards, sr).  What a clash it would be for them to again play Archbishop Wood in the state quarter finals where they lost last year 30-28.  New Castle found a monster QB that looks good in John Mararazzo (6-3, 215, jr).  He completed 66% of passes for 2134 yards.  Justin Fleo (732 rushing, 530 pass yards) is another weapon.  They are young but talented enough to get past the second round in the WPIAL playoffs where they lost to West Allegheny 31-7 last year.  Chartiers Valley has QB Wayne Capers (6-1, 185) back from a foot injury that occurred in the fifth game where he was starting as a sophomore.  At that point he had 501 yards passing and 353 rushing.  Big schools are interested in him already.  With a healthy Quarterback, they will get past the first round in WPIAL post season where they lost last year to Hampton 19-7.  The opener at Montour could tell the tale.  Abington Heights is stacked with the return of Quarterback Mike Beamish (758 yards), Running Backs James Fruehan (911 yards) and Paul Gallagher (1919 yards).   The routed Hazelton, Wyoming Valley West and Berwick before falling to Allentown Central Catholic in the state quarter final last year, 28-14.   Coming in at 10 is Cocalico, a team that lost to Manheim Central last year, 17-14. They return QB Ryan Schweitzer (6-2, 215, jr) who shared time with graduated Matt Carty.   Austin Hartman (6-0, 195) powers the running attack where he rushed for 1499 yards last year as a junior.  He’ll run behind a line that averages 255 pounds, anchored by senior Brad Entzminger (6-1, 260). Cocalico’s season came to close last year in the second round of the District-3 playoff where they lost to Susquehanna Township, 50-32.

1. Harrisburg-Bishop McDevitt (12-1)

2. Archbishop Wood (11-3)

3. West Allegheny (12-3)

4. Allentown Central Catholic (12-2)

5. Cardinal O’Hara (8-3)

6. Pottsgrove (14-1)

7. New Castle (8-3)

8. Chartiers Valley (8-2)

9. Abington Heights (11-2)

10. Cocalico (9-3)

Class AA State Top 10 

West Catholic gets the nod with a veteran offense returning seven that was bolstered with the addition of three more starters from North Catholic that recently closed.  North’s Quarterback Anthony Reid (47%, 1098) will be the starter after passing for nine touchdowns and running for six more last year.  Returning for the Burrs are Running Backs Brandon Hollomon (1428 yards) and Joshua Mathis (911 yards).  They return an excellent receiver corps that that had 110 receptions for just under 2000 yards last year.  WR/S Dave Sherman (6-0, 190) and OT Mike Makor (6-2, 270) are the other two players in from North Catholic.  Both will start. The D returns four, five counting Safety Dave Sherman and will be as athletic and quick as ever with a much improved secondary.  West Catholic advanced to the PIAA semifinal last year, losing to Lancaster Catholic 23-21.  Don’t be surprised to see them there this year.   Aliquippa lost Running Back Troy Jeter for the year but return Quarterback Mikal Hall (61%, 979 yards), Running Back Darius Walker (649 yards) and 13 other starters to provide a strong core.  The Quips lost to Greensburg Cantral Catholic in the WPIAL final 33-7.  South Fayette returns a 64% Quarterback in Christian Brumbaugh (2183 yards), Running Back Jeff Davis with 1209 yards rushing and a total of 14 returning starters.   They lost in District-7’s second round to Aliquippa, 47-34.  Forest Hills graduated their Quarterback but return a good looking junior in Justin Gduda (6-3, 180, jr) who got time with numerous blow outs.  The big return is Running Back Nick Dudakovich with 1824 rush yards and 332 pass yards.   Four receivers counting Dudakovich, return with 1223 yards of receptions.  They return three to the line. The Rangers advanced to the quarter finals last year where they lost to Wilmington 25-24.   Wilmington is almost an automatic selection as often as they get to the post season for a very deep run. Their won-loss is 55-6 from 2006 through last year.  They advanced to the semi final on all occasions and to the final in 2008 where they defeated West Catholic 35-34.  Last year’s team was turned away by Greensburg Central Catholic, 17-14 in the state semi final.  This year’s team is looking for a Quarterback but return their top rusher, Sutton Whiting (1214 yards).  Replacing QB Jake DeMedal (1056 pass yards, 525 rushing) will be difficult but how do you go against the run the Greyhounds are on?  Martinsburg Central is back in the hunt with the expected full recovery of Quarterback Lucas Runk’s broken ankle (June 28th) in the off season.  Doctors gave him the OK for late August.  He passed for 1290 yards and ran for 947.  His top three Running Backs return.  Central should get past the first round this year after losing there last year to Tyrone, 14-7.  Greensburg Central Catholic  graduated Quarterback Trent Hurley (52%, 1950 yards)  and Running Back David Miller (2535 yards).  But this is Centuruan football where another good group is coming up to run behind another typical GCC line.  The Quarterback battle appears to be between a junior, Travis Andring (6-1, 215) and senior Romulus Marino (6-1, 180).  Great name.  GCC lost in the snow blizzard that was the AA final last year in Hershey to Lancaster Catholic 21-14.  Tyrone’s  Golden Eagles return Quarterback Steve Franco (55%, 1513 yards) but graduate their leading rusher Levi Reihart who ran for 1172 yards.  They also graduated their leading receiver Eric Desch who had 50 receptions for 781 yards.  Nick Patton returns after catching 19 passes for 527 yards.  This is one of the great programs in the state where the beat usually goes on.  They lost in the quarterfinals last year to Forest Hills, 17-14.  There was a lot of parity out west last year looking back on those scores.   North Schuylkill graduated Quarterback Tom Ferrari who had a 50% completion rate for 981 yards on a team that ran the ball 91% of its plays.  They return their top three Running Backs in Scott Houser (5-8, 150, 950 yards), Ed Pavalka (6-0, 220, 837 yards) and Kodi Flail (5-10, 180, 412 yards) with three linemen; OT Tyler Dean (6-2, 230, sr), OT Charlie Hutnick (5-11, 200, sr) and OG Tyler lauderman (6-0, 205, sr).  Both DEs are back with DT Tyler Dean and NG Jonathan “Bubba” Green (6-3, 278, jr).  The secondary graduated but they return two impressive LBs in senior Tyler Lauderman (6-0, 205, sr) and junior Mike Shinkus (6-1, 200).  Last year ended with a quarter finals loss to West Catholic, 19-14.  The Spartans will field another legitimate team this year.  Northern Lehigh lost in the District-11 final to the team rated above them, North Schuylkill, 33-26.  They didn’t graduate big numbers, just big contributors such as the entire offensive line; Andy Hoch (C, 5-7, 185), Guards Christian Freidenberger (6-0, 220) and Daniel Hoemmer (6-1, 215) and Tackles Nick Hartman (6-2, 225) and Brandon Mohrey (6-0, 195).  Quarterback Tyler Bolton graduated.  The key return is senior Running Back senior Cody Remaley (5-9, 175), who rushed for 2121 yards last year after rushing for 1377 as a sophomore.  He gets great help from senior Full Back Matt Gill (6-1, 210) who rushed for 320 yards on 80 carries.  Sometimes they’ll but him in a variation of the Wildcat with 3 other backs giving him ten blockers.   With a back like Remaley, they are a threat in many games.   

1. West Catholic (12-3)

2. Aliquippa (11-2)

3. South Fayette (10-1)

4. Forest Hills (13-1)

5. Wilmington (13-2)

6. Martinsburg Central (10-2)

7. Greensburg Central Catholic (13-3)

8. Tyrone (10-3)

9. North Schuylkill (13-1)

10. Northern Lehigh (10-3)

Class A State Top Ten 

Clairton looks like they have enough to get back to the final for the third consecutive year after beating Bishop McCort in the final last year 15-3. They return Quarterback Desiman Green (6-5, 220) who passed for 1279 yards and rushed for another 703 yards.  Only seven graduated from the team and they return a great line featuring seniors Marquis Norris (6-4, 295), Shawn Thomas (6-2, 246) and Will Ingram (5-10, 245).  Rochester came close last year, falling to Clairton in the quarter finals 14-13 where the Bears stopped a 2-point conversion attempt.  They graduated their best back in Trey Johnson (1136 yards) but have had no trouble finding quality backs over the years.  Whoever gets the position will run behind a huge line.  Senior Quarterback Jasson Adamson is back.   Steel High returns most of the key pieces from last year’s team that was upset by Millersburg in the opening round, 14-13.  That will light a massive fire to propel this program to a better season especially knowing Quarterback Max Ward (6-2, 175) completed 128 of 211 passes (61%) for 2088 yards last year as a sophomore.  Little 5-5, 160 pound Clayton McNair scooted for 1150 yards last year as a junior.  They need a few linemen but Clayton just needs a speck of daylight and is gone.  Another smurf like receiver is J.C. Brandt (5-10, 150, jr).  Few have the speed to keep up with those two or have Steelton’s overall team speed.  Rollers!  Farrell Was another team last year from the West that was good enough to win it all but fell to Clairton in the state semi final 13-6.  They graduate their Quarterback but return their top two backs and like Rochester, they have an impressive looking line.  To give you an idea how close Clairton, Rochester and Farrell were, Clairton’s average score was 39-4, Rochester’s was 33-6 while Farrell’s was 36-6 showing they all had sizeable offenses and great defenses.  Mercyhurst Prep is looking for a Quarterback but return impressive Running Backs that will run behind a younger line this year that looka capable of opening things up for a good looking backfield.  Senior Running Back Aaron Horton (5-9, 170, 1463 yards) joins Tom Schwenk (5-11, 180, 726 yards) to form a nice tandem.  Two other seniors in Brad Hesch (5-10, 190, 437 yards) and Chris Kurzik (6-0, 220, 392) add great depth to wear the opposition down.  Sharpesville has just about everyone back from last’s team that lost to Farrell in the District-10 final 34-7.  There is plenty of work to do but they have the bodies to do it with.  The Quarterback, top four Running Backs (1689yards combined), lead receiver Chris Piccirilli are back along with a good looking line.  Only seven graduated so we’ll see if they can take the next step and play with teams like Farrell, Clairton and Rochester.  Southern Columbia is one of the finest programs in any classification in the state.  Who can match their run from 1999 through 2006 where they advanced to the PIAA final and took home gold five out of eight tries?   That’s eight straight appearances!  Since then they’ve gone 9-2, 10-3 and 9-5 last year.  They seem in good shape this year to advance beyond the quarter finals where they lost last year to Tri-Valley, 35-32.  The Tigers have a good group that took AAA champ Selinsgrove to the edge before falling 35-29 last year.  Quarterback Jake Townsend (45%, 1019 yards passing) returns with their top three Running Backs.  Jake Morton (6-2, 175, 1216 yards, sr), Tyrell Thomas (5-11, 180, 926 yards, jr) and Tim Benner (5-10, 165, 361, sr) will give opposing defenses something to think about.  The line will be young, mostly juniors.  Line Mountain was a young group last year that returns largely intact, losing but seven from the team to graduation.  They broke in a sophomore under center last year, Marty Beninsky (6-1, 180), who did well.   He passed for 681 yards and rushed for another 597 yards, giving them a capable dual threat.  Their second leading runner, Joe Huskill (5-10, 170, 637 yards, sr) returns along with their two lead receivers who caught 35 passes for 644 yards.  They have what looks like excellent underclassmen to fill positions along the lines with good size and weight.  Coudersport has a dual threat Quarterback of their own in Tom McCasker (6-1, 160, jr) who passed for 616 yards and rushed for 458 yards.  Most of the back field returns with Mitch Freeman (438 yards), Kevin Wolfinger (466 yards) Skylar Blumer (265 yards) and Jordan Barnett (175 yards rushing, 385 receiving) all back.  They lost to Clarion in the District-10 final last year 7-0.  Clarion went on to give Farrell a battle the following week before losing 19-14 to show how close Coudersport and Clarion were to the upper echelon of Class A ball in the West.  Bishop McCort of Johnstown is one of the premier powers in the state, whether they are playing at AA or A.  Their eleven year won-loss is 108-28, a winning percentage of 82%.  Their record the last four years is 49-6 or 89%.  Last year’s Crimson Crusher machine was close again, losing in the PIAA Class-A final to Clairton 15-3.  The obvious thing about the Crushers is that they are almost always in the thick of it.  In 2001, 2006 and 2007 they won District-5/6 Class AA titles.  In 2008 and 2009, they won the District-6, Class A title so don’t expect a few graduation losses to drag the program down.  The losses are heavy on the lines and they’ll miss Joshua Slidel (1910 yards rushing) the Quarterback and two leading receivers.  Everyone is looking to pounce with McCort thinking, we got them right where we want them. 

1.  Clairton (15-1)

2.  Rochester (12-1)

3. Steelton Highspire (8-3)

4. Farrell (14-1)

5. Mercyhurst Prep (10-1)

6. Sharpsville (10-3)

7. Southern Columbia (9-5)

8. Line Mountain (8-4)

9. Coudersport (9-3)

10. Bishop McCort (10-3)