News

Panthers’ numbers problem has Clancy crossing fingers

Strath Haven quarterback Jake Fisher (4) and wide receiver Tommy Foster (11) line up during a practice drill.

By Terry Toohey

Take a quick scan of Strath Haven’s roster and one thing becomes abundantly clear: With only 38 available players, the Panthers are a little short on numbers.

That’s nothing new, though, for head coach Kevin Clancy or his team. The Panthers have struggled with a numbers crunch for a few years so the players have learned the importance of being versatile and adaptable.

A perfect example is Ryan Morris. He played guard and linebacker as a junior. The plan was to keep him at linebacker on defense, but move him to tight end on offense. And Morris was fine with it.

“In our offense it’s more of a blocking tight end anyway,” Morris said. “We don’t throw the ball too much, so it’s blocking on the outside instead of in the trenches. So it’s not too much of a change. You use your hands more in the second level with the linebackers and I don’t pull as much, but that’s really about it.”

(click on this link for the full article)

The 50 Yard Line – Interboro

You couldn’t have asked for much better weather that what we had this past Saturday for the 10 AM scrimmage against West Chester East.  You also couldn’t have asked for a much better performance from the Panthers on both sides of the ball.

The Panthers recovered at least three turnovers (two fumbles and an interception) from the Vikings as Haven held them scoreless through the scrimmage.  The Panther offense had a great outing with clean snaps, sharp hand-offs and some pretty strong passing throughout the morning.

Haven’s front line has good size, height and speed.  They are a young team, with only 12 seniors on the squad, the younger classmen are coming off a strong Freshman year and two of this year’s Freshmen will be on the varsity roster.

(click on this link for the full article)

Pennsylvania high school football 2017 preseason rankings

By Eric Epler

High school football in Pennsylvania is now days away, so it’s time to unveil PennLive’s official set of football rankings with week 0ne fast approaching.

PennLive will continue to publish high school football rankings each Tuesday during the season, which ends over three dramatic days in December at Hersheypark Stadium.

Teams are listed with final 2016 record. 

(click on this link for the full article)

Strath Haven’s Greatest Fan

Every year at the beginning of the season we repeat this article which originally was posted on January 10, 2002. This has been our way of honoring one of Haven football’s most dedicated fans. Hard to believe Jim has been gone almost 16 years.  We miss him but whenever we gaze into the stands we sometimes think we catch just a glimpse of him sitting in his favorite seat. We miss you guy!

(click this link for the full article)

Despite the rise of the spread, run-dominant teams can still find success

By Nate Heckenberger

Recently West Chester Henderson coach Steve Mitten found himself watching footage from the 1949 Sugar Bowl, between the University of North Carolina and Oklahoma University.

Steve’s father, Bob Mitten, was a defensive tackle for the Tar Heels, but outside of getting a chance to see his father play in a bowl game, another thing stood out: both teams’ run-oriented offenses weren’t all that foreign from those Mitten’s has employed.

“Oklahoma was running the veer option and UNC ran the single wing,” Mitten recalled. “It wasn’t a whole lot different than Downingtown West or (West Chester) Rustin or playing a team like us.”

The veer and single wing, otherwise referred to as the Wildcat these days, have not gone extinct, even with the flourishing of the spread offense.

At the high school level, especially these run-dominant schemes give smaller teams, physically and numbers-wise, options. And no one in the Ches-Mont has displayed this philosophy, or even had more success, than Henderson and Rustin.

(click on this link for the full article)

Interboro Schedule Change

By Havenfootball.net Staff

Pat Keaveney, Athletic Director at Strath Haven, has announced that Interboro High School has decided to change the start time of the season’s first game.  Instead of a 7:30 start time the kick-off has been moved up to 7:00 PM.  Our broadcast will begin at 6:45.

Laminated pocket schedules for 2017 Panthers

The great people at PNC Bank in Media and Swarthmore have, once again, come through with their sponsorship of these great laminated pocket schedules.  We will have them with us at the parent’s meeting tonight (August 15th) and at this Saturday’s scrimmage.  We also have placed some at the high school office and District office.  Any schedules left will be placed at the ticket booths and Panther Pit during the first home games (which isn’t until 9/22).

There is no charge for them but we only have a limited amount so please only take what you need.

Please note – Our laminated schedules were printed BEFORE the Lower Merion game change.  That game has been moved from Lower Merion HS to Harriton HS and will be played on Friday night, 9/8/17 NOT on Saturday, 9/9/17 at 1 PM as indicated!

Welcome to Havenfootball.net 2017

The 2017 season is about to start and all of us at Havenfootball.net are, as always, looking for another great season of high school football. We know that we have many, many returning fans but we also know that we see many new faces every year as a whole new crop of students arrive to start their four years at Strath Haven.

This article is for those of you who are unfamiliar with our site.

We have designed this site to be a one-stop shop for anything regarding the Panther football program.  That includes articles and features of our terrific Cheerleaders and Marching Band. The pages are listed on the top of our home page.  Go ahead and click away and take a look at what we offer. Some of our pages won’t be completed until we get closer to the first game so keep checking back for updates.

We have complete game stats published the day after the game (usually) as well as links to local articles about the game. Our stats are the most complete available and include all defensive as well as offensive stats for both teams. We also include specialty team stats including punting and kicking. We offer league standings, updated each week.  Our Schedule/Results page gives you an updated schedule, game results and a map to help you find the “away” school’s field.

(click on this link for the full article)

Schedule updates!

By Havenfootball.net Staff

We have a few schedule changes as we are less than 22 days from the first game of the season!

The scrimmage is on Saturday, August 19th at 10:00 AM at George L. King Field. 

The Lower Merion game has changed day, time and location. The game will be played on Friday, September 8 at 7:00 PM and will be played at Harriton High School.  

Junior Varsity has added a game against Interboro which will be played on Monday, August 28th at 7:00 PM at George L. King Field.

The Freshman game against Penncrest on October 12th will be at 7:00 PM at George L. King Field.

All of these changes are now reflected on Schedule/Results page.

A note on archived articles

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!