July 12, 2020
By Matt Smith
What will happen in August to high school sports around here? Nobody has the answer. Not coaches, not administrators, not parents, not the PIAA.
Aug. 10 marks the first day on PIAA’s fall sports schedule. Real, organized practicing is permitted. Technically, it’s called heat acclimatization week. Physical contact is forbidden. The following week is when the fun starts.
By now, every school district in the state wishing to have an athletics department has implemented a school-board health and safety plan for the coronavirus age. Voluntary workouts at high schools throughout the state got under way in late June.
The big test will come when football players are are in full pads and helmets, currently scheduled for Aug. 17. That’s when teams get serious and game plans for the opening weekend of the regular season are set.
The most important question is how can football players stay safe in this period of so much uncertainty?
(click on this link for the full story)
July 11, 2020
PIAA Executive Director Bob Lombardi
By Billy Splain
“Everyone needs to take a step back, take a deep breath and calm down.” That was Dr. Lombardi’s message to Coaches, Athletics Directors, parents, fans, social media surfers, players and anyone else worrying about the upcoming season and what is about to happen.
With the Ivy league cancelling their season, along with the Centennial conference and several other college leagues such as the Big Ten going to modified schedules due to the difficulties presented by the covid 19 pandemic, it seems the entire PA high school sports world went into panic mode. Hope is there though,. In West Virginia, WVSSAC Executive Director Bernie Dolan made the announcement alongside WV Governor Jim Justice that the start of the 2020 high school football season has been delayed by just one week. Games are now allowed to be played starting on September 3. In the east, New Jersey moved their season back to October 2.
Rumors like “they are cancelling the football season on July 15, they cancelled Hershey state championships, they are talking about spring football to suggestions such as “we should flip the spring and fall sport seasons” blew up social media sites.
Another thing that has people wondering what is to come is seeing big time states like Texas, where they “say” football is king (we disagree) talk about moving their sport to January and New Mexico shelving their season until January. Of course these are warm weather states and that would make it easier to hold their seasons in the middle of the winter, something that Lombardi says wouldn’t be good around Pennsylvania.
(click on this link for the full story)
July 10, 2020
PIAA Director Dr. Robert Lombardi testifies during a public hearing held in the PA Capitol Complex to discuss the PIAA classifications and championships at the on June 18, 2018. By Joe Hermitt
There is still about a month and a half to go until the start of the 2020 high school football season, but rumors have already begun to come up that the PIAA is considering canceling the entire fall sports season.
The PIAA’s executive director is saying there is nothing to them.
Bob Lombardi told PennLive on Thursday that the PIAA is not planning to cancel the fall sports season at next Wednesday’s meeting. Lombardi added that the rumors are “unfounded,” and that right now, the PIAA is looking ahead to what needs to be done to make sure fall sports can start.
(click on this link for the full story)
July 04, 2020
Does the Order (requiring the wearing of face coverings) apply to athletes and sports activities?
Yes. Everyone must wear a face covering, such as a mask, unless they fall under an exception listed in Section 3 of the Order. Coaches, athletes and spectators must wear face coverings unless they are outdoors and can consistently maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet. Athletes are not required to wear face coverings while actively engaged in workouts and competition that prevent the wearing of face coverings, but must wear face coverings when on the sidelines, in the dugout, etc. and anytime 6 feet of social distancing is not possible.
(click on this link for the full press release)
June 25, 2020
By Terry Toohey
Penncrest’s Jonah Jackson is officially a Detroit Lion.
The club announced Wednesday that it signed the offensive guard from Ohio State it selected in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, No. 75 overall.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, RedZoneInsider’s James Layton reported that it is a four-year contract worth $4,665,000 with a $1 million signing bonus. Tight end Jace Sternberger, who was taken in the same spot last year, signed a four-year, $3,865,528 deal with the Green Bay Packers that included a $1,006,528 signing bonus, the same amount guaranteed and an annual salary of $966,382.
Jackson is the first player from Penncrest selected in the NFL Draft and was the first player from Delaware County drafted since Cardinal O’Hara’s Tom Savage was taken by the Houston Texans in the fourth round in 2014. Jackson also is the second county player drafted by the Lions. Detroit took Cardinal O’Hara running back Kevin Jones in the first round in 2004.
(click on this link for the full story)
June 23, 2020
High schools across the country are trying to figure out how and when students might return to classrooms this fall. Many are also making sure their star quarterbacks and other athletes will be in shape when they do.
While states have been easing the economic and social lockdowns prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, some are now letting high school athletes return for summer workouts before teachers have even figured out how they are going to hold classroom instruction.
In places like Texas and Florida, where the “Friday Night Lights” culture of high school football runs deep, strength and conditioning sessions are bringing thousands of athletes to school for workouts, even while those states are seeing record numbers of new cases and hospitalizations since Memorial Day.
Some schools have already been sent scrambling when a player tests positive.
(click on this link for the full story)
May 19, 2020
Strath Haven plays Marple Newtown in the 2019 regular season Central League game. Photo by Juli Kroon.
By Matt Smith
The PIAA Board of Directors will hold a video conference Wednesday to discuss, among other items, how to proceed with a fall sports season.
Coming up with a one-size-fits-all strategy won’t be easy.
Pennsylvania’s reopening plan is broken down by three color phases — red, yellow and green. More than 35 counties in the commonwealth have reached the yellow phase, which eases stay-at-home restrictions for many businesses. The state calls this “aggressive mitigation.” Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ll know that Delaware County remains in the red phase, the stay-at-home order, along with several others counties in the eastern part of the state.
The PIAA has been in lockstep with Gov. Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Health in terms of handling this crisis and very well could follow the county-by-county strategy when it comes to fall sports.
That will be discussed Wednesday.
(click on this link for the full story)
April 18, 2020
By Havenfootball.net Staff
As we were working on a new project during the lock-down we realized that with all the pages and pages and many years of statistics we published we had no easy way to look up season records (win/loss) for each year. We have now corrected that problem.
Appearing on our Statistics page you will now see a new line item in each “Seasons Stats” box labeled “Win/loss”. Clicking on that link will send you to a page that has a box that will show the total win/loss for the season as well as each game played, the opponent, the score, date of game, the leading passer, receiver, rusher and tackler for each game.
If you scroll down to the Statistical History you will find the same information for each archived year down to 2007. Enjoy!
September 03, 2015
By Havenfootball.net Staff
Just a quick note to our readers about the articles that appear on our web page. Our home page, the one you are viewing now, can only accommodate a fixed amount of “posts”. As the season gets more involved the articles will appear, move down the page, and then vanish from the home page. All posts, however, are stored in our archives. At the bottom right hand side of this home page is our Archives listing. It is listed by month. Simply click on the month you believe the article originally appeared and a list of the articles posted will appear along with the first few lines. Click on the headline and you’ll get the article, photos and appropriate links. Enjoy!
