Top 20 High School Football Preseason Rankings

Southeastern Pennsylvania Football

Featuring District 1, 12, the Philadelphia Catholic League and the Inter Ac

September 11, 2007                  

Scores and results from across the Commonwealth (4A-3A)

What a great weekend of football we just had across the Commonwealth. District one and Philly area teams are listed in the rankings below so here goes with the rest of the state starting in the East where Easton (2-0) almost got stung by the Hornets from Emmaus (1-1) but pulled out a 14-13 win. Staying in district eleven, Parkland (2-0) pounded Nazareth 47-6 to stay undefeated while Liberty (2-0) reasserted itself after a so-so opener by trouncing William Allen 55-0. Good things are happening at Whitehall again as the Zephyrs remain unscathed at 2-0 after nipping Northampton in overtime 31-28. In district two, Wyoming Valley West (2-0) beat Abington Heights (1-1) 9-7 and Hazelton bounced back from their opening loss to beat Coughlin 36-0. Delaware Valley (2-0) showed something by beating East Stroudsburg South (1-1) 21-14.

Staying in district two but moving to the AAA teams, two undefeated teams continued their winning ways with Berwick beating Stroudsburg 28-7 and West Scranton beating Riverside 33-7. In district eleven, Blue Mountain beat Kutztown 41-11 while Northwestern Lehigh was beating Salisbury 40-7. Both remain undefeated. Farther west in district three, Conrad Weiser, Susquehanna Twp, Boone and Red Land stayed unbeaten at 2-0. But the big story in AAA was Gettysburg High getting its 500^th win by defeating 15-time district three champion Manheim Central 44-27. Manheim (1-1) got two quick scores within a 12 second period at the end of the 1^st quarter to take a 14-0 lead. Thereon, the Warriors exploded for 44 points, held Manheim to 13 and churned out 467 total yards of offense. QB Evan Lewis for Gettysburg was quite the field general, completing 12 of 19 passes for 279 yards, rushing for 64 yards and kicking a 47 yard field goal.

Moving west for a look at those quads shows powerful Pittsburgh Central Catholic beating district eleven’s premier team, Erie Cathedral Prep, 49-21 in Erie. Central appears to be loaded again. They’re 2-0. Don’t look now but defending AAAA champion Upper St. Clair is 2-0 after walloping Fox Chapel 48-14. Coach Render has evidently cranked out another team. Over the last 6 years USC won 64 of 72 games, 89%, while going 25-8 against teams ending the season above .500. That’s saying something playing in the WPIAL! Gateway bounced back from a disappointing performance against Mooney in Ohio two weeks ago by beating a good McKeesport team in McKeesport 17-7. North Allegheny stayed perfect beating Latrobe 27-10 as did Shaler who shutout Hempfield 28-0. Two teams mentioned in the Preseason Report we felt should be watched are making noise with Mount Lebanon (2-0) beating Plum 20-13 and Bethel Park (1-1) recovering from a heartbreaking 19-16 loss to North Allegheny in the opener by defeating Penn Hills 27-24. Those are tough road games so keep an eye on the Blackhawks from Bethel Park. Penn Hills drops to 0-2. North Hills (1-1) bounced back from a bad opener by routing Connellsville 49-0. The other AAAA in Erie, McDowell, got past AAA General McLane 35-14. Mid Penn Conference powers Cumberland Valley, Bishop McDevitt, State College and Altoona all remind at 2-0 with solid wins. CV beat Central Dauphin 35-29, McDevitt beat Hempfield 40-0, State pummeled Chambersburg 43-0 and Altoona beat Harrisburg 24-14. Huge win for Altoona! In the Berks County League-Section 1, Muhlenberg won again, beating Susquenita 48-0. The Muhls are 2-0. Another Berks County-Section1 team, Governor Mifflin (1-1), beat a good Wilson team 28-16, then lost to Manheim Township (2-0) 34-31. Wilson and Township are in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.  

At AAA in district seven, Pine Richland (2-0) had no trouble with Peter’s Twp, winning 35-0. Montour beat Chartiers Valley so watch them, especially if they get past West Allegheny this weekend. WA is 0-2 after a pounding by Pine-Richland in the opener, followed by a competitive 18-13 loss to Thomas Jefferson (2-0) last week. TJ is one of the top AAA teams in the state. Hampton returned to the win column with a 39-9 win against Elizabeth-Forward after losing the opener to Blackhawk 14-13. In yet another key AAA match-up this week, Hampton is finally home after 2 road games to meet Trinity, who received considerable preseason hype. Trinity got to 1-1 by edging Blackhawk in overtime 34-33. Hopewell is off to a good start at 2-0 after beating West Mifflin 17-7. The Vikings are usually in the thick of it. Another AAA to watch is Ambridge. After beating AA Aliquippa 36-26 in the opener, they beat AAA Uniontown 45-20. Winning on the road against those two says we may have a dark horse here. Week 3 and 4 always seem decisive in D-7 by bringing together so many good teams. That’s true here with Ambridge in their home opener against Hopewell. And finally up in district ten, Titusville got to 2-0 by beating Franklin 42-18.

1. North Penn (2-0) The Knights made loud statements the last two weeks, elevating themselves to the top spot with wins against St. Joseph’s Prep, then last week against Cardinal O’Hara, 30-16. Against Prep, they got 249 total yards of offense. Against O’Hara, they generated 230 yards rushing and another 61 through the air with QB Justin Davey completing 5 of 10 throws. Fullback Mike Katch rushed for 106 yards on 8 carries. Running back Tyler Smith had another strong game netting 84 yards on 6 attempts. Undefeated Souderton is in on Friday for what could be a good game. They can’t match North Penn’s quickness and depth but they have the muscle up front for a grind-it-out game.    

2. Cardinal O’Hara (1-1) O’Hara dropped down a spot after losing to North Penn but not too far after showing good progress over game one by developing a ground game that was nonexistent against Bishop Shanahan and dramatically improving the passing attack. After rushing for 61 yards against Shanahan, they rushed for 151 on 33 carries against North. That’s an improvement from 2.9 yards per carry to 4.6 yards per carry. Up top, QB Tom Savage threw for 31 more yards against North Penn and upped his completion percentage from 45 verses Shanahan to 57 verses the Knights. Despite having a difficult challenge this week against Don Bosco Prep, it’s not time to throw in the towel. The Lions are home for three straight after DBP and that’s where we’ll get a better sense of them after facing Monsignor Bonner, North Catholic and Roman Catholic.      

3. St. Joseph’s Prep (0-2) 0-2 and ranked # 3? Like the statements made above about Cardinal O’Hara, a number of good things are apparent with this group. First off, most of the concerns about graduating quarterback Chris Whitney can be laid to rest if the first two games mean anything. In game # 1, senior quarterback Aaron Haas completed 17 of 29 passes for 226 yards against North Penn. Not to shabby. In game # 2 against Don Bosco Prep, he connected with wide-out Greg Castillo for touchdowns of 40, 43 and 83 yards. On one hand you’re facing the defending New Jersey Non-Public Group 4 champion Don Bosco Prep who is again nationally ranked. On the other hand with North Penn, we’re talking about a team that is demonstrating the balance and completeness of a district winner, perhaps more. Also, this is St. Joe’s, where, like Chester in hoops, they take on all comers early, for the rewards that typically come to those that face quality opposition early in their scheduling. The Hawk’s next game is in Fairfax, Virgnia where they’ll play Paul VI Friday. Knowing a rebuilding Archbishop Wood team beat them 35-7 says the Hawks will roll to a big win here.       

4. Malvern Prep (1-0) Malvern Prep ventured to LaSalle where the Explorer’s already had a game under their belt after beating Plymouth Whitemarsh the week before. Many expected LaSalle to have an edge since this was the Friars first game. Every year sees them graduate a boatload of talent only to see new talent step up. But this year was different with the entire line graduating including real talent in Paul Ostick and Bob Bates. Still, the new line didn’t skip a beat judging by the impressive 249 rush yards gained against LaSalle. Friars’ QB Ryan Nassib had a good night completing 8 of 16 passes for 134 yards. He also rushed for 2 scores. Nice win! They’ll get another test Friday in West Chester against undefeated 10^th ranked Henderson.

5. Roman Catholic (2-0) The Purple Gang from Philly’s North Vine showed the guys from Brooklyn what football is all about by laying a 35-14 pasting on Poly Tech. This one was painful, pounding away with 43 carries for 307 yards. Most of those were by Balial Lewis Sloan El who had 30 carries for 216 yards. QB Chris Johnson rushed for another 63 yards and completed 1 of 5 passes for 13 yards. Roman’s next opponent is 0-2 Tennett. But they don’t want to sleep on them here in Tennett’s home opener.       

6. Downingtown West (2-0) After opening with a easy 35-0 win at Owen J. Roberts, the Whippets returned to the PAC to play Upper Perkiomen and actually had a contest with Upper Perk putting up stiff competition. This wasn’t a fluke, not after the Indians bombed William Allen in the opener 37-6. That suggested they might have something for Downingtown. Turns out to that is an understatement since they actually had “more” by leading D-town at halftime 28-27.  That was a great effort but you’ve got to play turnover free ball against a team like this and they didn’t. In the end, Downingtown was simply too much and like so many close games, this one was decided by special teams. The difference in the game was 9 points, the total of Downingtown’s 2^nd half field goal and 85 yard kick-off returned for a score. The 2 point conversion failed for a final of 37-28. Heck of a game Upper Perkiomen! Better keep an eye on Upper Perk who is home this week against Owen J. Roberts. Downingtown West gets their first home game of the season Friday against Chester, a team they beat last year 35-0.

7. Neshaminy (2-0)  After looking at last week’s game with Hatboro-Horsham you figured the Hatter’s while always competent, would likely come up short here against the Redskins. It’s true, they shutout Pennridge the week before 17-0. That was impressive but how much stock could you put in that?  Realistically Pennridge lost the heart and soul of last year’s team that was not without talent, despite a mundane 7-5 season. Gone were QB Joe Reichwein, RB Tristan Roberts (1592 rush yards), RBs Jim Davis and Steve Pattison getting 360 and 205 rushing yards respectively. Gone also were the top 3 receivers, Matt Colyar, Jake Unangst and fullback Jim Davis. Add in some holes in the O-line to complete the picture. Hatboro lost a lot of players too so despite a win in their first outing it didn’t look good for them here against Neshaminy. Regardless, they battled Neshaminy well, leading at halftime 7-6. That’s about the time it took the Skins to shake off the effects of a physical game with Coatesville the week before because they stormed back in the 2^nd half, outscoring the Hatters 21-0 to win going away 27-7. The Skins are off to a great start that should continue with a win at Germantown Friday. They beat the Bears last year 48-6.     

8. Souderton (2-0) Like last year, Souderton is out of the gate well at 2-0 with a 34-13 win in the opener against Spring-Ford and last week’s 42-0 rout at Quakertown. 2-0 is a fine way to be but nothing on the schedule has prepared them for next week’s game in Lansdale to face a powerful and talented North Penn team. Souderton isn’t ill equipped for the task at hand if you go back to last season to see they advanced to the playoffs’ second round after beating Downingtown East 42-7. They lost the next one narrowly to Abington, 25-22. There is also the three consecutive 9-3 seasons that will have this group believing in themselves. They’re also a veteran team along the line, at QB and at running back. 9 return to the defense. Last year’s team scored 29 points per game on average and allowed 13. Running back Ronnie Powell graduated and a few linemen. If Souderton can hang with them early and slow the game down it could get interesting. One thing for sure, they are not a push over.

9. Conestoga (2-0) Conestoga quarterback Steve Richter was on his game Friday at Penncrest connecting on 10 of 16 passes for 219 yards and 4 TD strikes. Three went to his fine receiver Nijah White, who had 7 receptions for 129 yards. Penncrest hung around statistically but couldn’t get much of it into the red zone or end zone, losing this one 35-7. That’s too bad for the Lions who came into the season with good numbers returning and sky high hopes. 9 games to go Lions! For Stoga, they finally get to play in front of the home crowd where they’ll face Upper Darby. This is one the Pioneers have been waiting for after last year’s 27-14 loss at Upper Darby. But the Royals come in off the 20-0 shutout by Marple Newtown and want to avoid a 1-2 start.

10. Henderson (2-0) Henderson scored 96 points in their first 2 games. That’s the good news. The bad news is neither of their first two opponents, Chester or Kennett, gave them much competition. Chester lost 33-14 while Kennett lost 63-28. Those wins certainly greased the offense and got some playing time for back-ups, but did little else to prepare them for Friday’s encounter with 4^th ranked Malvern Prep. Prep showed their stuff with a road win at LaSalle. They enter this one with a Syracuse bound quarterback in Ryan Nassib and a rebuild line that overpowered LaSalle. So we have a test here for these talented Warriors and a shot at some payback for the team that beat them soundly last year, 31-7.

11. Ridley (1-0) In a early season shocker, Ridley simply dominated a good Strath Haven football team in nearly very facet of the game. The score was 40-20 but the stats actually tell a more accurate tale. Through three quarters the score was 40-12, with Strath Haven’s points coming on a 99 yard fumble return and a 47 yard interception. At 4:40 of the 4^th quarter the Panther’s punched in another score against a lot of players wearing clean jerseys. On the night, Haven was held to 36 yards rushing on 27 attempts. 36 yards! In other words, Ridley’s D is just a quick as last year’s. They held Strath Haven to 5 first downs. What’s scary about this year’s edition is the quarterbacking appears as effective as last years. First year starter Steve Egee completed 9 of 13 passes with one interception and 3 touchdown strikes for 168 yards. He’s a rangy 6-3, 185 pound athlete that has a gun. What’s so unlike Ridley in terms of style and stats is the running game where they rushed for 278 yards in 45 carries. That’s 6.2 yards per carry!  RB/LB Andrew Hodges was a force on the ground, getting 145 tough yards on 19 carries. These guys appeared to be in mid season form with an offense generating 446 total yards. They’ve beefed up the line too, with some good looking size and quickness there. This is a different model than the ones many of us are used to seeing and if game # 1 means anything, who knows how good they can be. They’re home Friday against 0-2 Penncrest where they need to take care of business against a veteran Lion team.   

12. Unionville (3A, 2-0) Unionville is off to an excellent start with big wins over Interboro in the opener and last week against Bishop Shanahan, 42-0. It’s hard seeing anything approaching a challenge on their schedule until the October 11^th game verses Garnet Valley. This was the same situation last year where Avon Grove came in and upset Unionville 21-20. The Red Devils are off to a good start themselves at 2-0 with wins against Academy Park and Oxford so we may have a good game here. One thing for sure, Unionville is a powerful AAA that looks like a quad so the Devils will have to be at their best to stay with this group.    

13. Downingtown East (2-0)  Downingtown East is off to another good start this year. Like last year, they’ve defeated dangerous J.P. McKaskey, 18-14 and William Tennett 27-7. This week’s game with Hempfield (D3) could get interesting for a number of reasons. The Cougars beat Hempfield last year in a lopsided 49-12 rout. Last week saw Hempfield get blown away by a strong Bishop McDevitt team from Harrisburg, 40-0. The Black Knights have good numbers back from last year but happened to run into a buzz-saw that is highly talented. The problem for East is they may think the Knights are easy pickings. They’re not. East is in their first road game while the Knights are in their home opener. East is more but this is a dangerous spot for them.    

14. Central Bucks East (2-0) How about this East team, coming out with an overtime win in the opener, followed by a 35-8 road win at Pennridge. The opponent this week, Central Bucks South, presents another difficult challenge, one nearly as great as Abington. South’s Titans play out of the rugged Suburban One League, National Conference, where they are undefeated with road wins at Council Rock South and Central Bucks West who play in the SOL-Continental. Central Bucks East plays in the Suburban One League, Continental Conference and have wins against two SOL-National teams, Abington and Pennridge. So here’s a case where you can argue that a Continental team has played a tougher schedule than a National team. Both teams have big offenses with C.B. South averaging 41 points per game to C.B. East’s 35 ppg. South has been toughened up with two road wins and will give East fits with all their skill players but its difficult winning 3 straight road games especially against a team that has demonstrated its ability by defeating a quality team like Abington.        

15. Abington (1-1) The Ghosts responded to the disappointment of the season opening loss at Central Bucks East by winning their home opener against Plymouth Whitemarsh 28-7. Now they’re on the road again to face a desperate Northeast team that battled them long and hard last year before falling in overtime, 19-13. The Vikings are in their home opener, staring at a 0-3 start with a loss here so look for a spirited contest.

16. Strath Haven (3A, 1-1) Although Strath Haven was embarrassed last week by Ridley, you still sensed they have the ability to be a very good football team. Ridley was special that game, playing near flawless football. This team can still be a player but they can’t afford many more slips, not the way Unionville, Garnet Valley, Phoenixville and Pottsgrove are playing. All are undefeated. Upper Perkiomen played Downingtown West tough last week so maybe the PAC has something this year. Even Marple-Newtown at 2-0 caught your attention last week with a 20-0 shut out of Upper Darby. All Strath Haven needs is a few big wins and that should come their way the next two weeks at Radnor Friday, then Haverford the following week. Then its home for two weeks against Marple and Upper Darby.

17. LaSalle (1-1) LaSalle’s home opener did not go as expected with Malvern Prep ruining the day via a 21-14 defeat. Senior quarterback John Harrison was the offense, completing 21 of 28 for 214 yards and 2 touchdown passes. The Explorer’s need to discover not only a ground game but also a defense since they allowed the Friars 249 yards rushing while getting but 46 themselves. Because the Red is so competitive this year, more than last year, there aren’t as many easy games. The next three see them on the road at West Catholic this week, St. Joe’s the following then Ryan. Then they come home to Father Judge so they need to get it together now.

18. Garnet Valley (3A, 2-0) The way this bunch is playing you’d think they returned most of their starters from last year instead of graduating a largely senior dominated team. It’s always difficult knowing what’s coming up and how or if everything jells. What’s obvious now is that the Jaguar have fielded another powerful team. They‘ve scored 69 points while allowing 3 with wins over Penncrest and Academy Park last week 42-0. Their next opponent is Chichester, off to a disappointing 0-2 start. They haven’t scored a point yet, losing to Haverford 13-0 and Phoenixville 40-0. Chi couldn’t hang with G-Valley last year, losing 37-13, so it looks like a very long night for them here on the road.

19. North Catholic (2-0) North is getting it done aren’t they! The Falcons have two solid road wins, one at Wildwood against Neumann-Goretti 48-18, then last week at Conwell Egan, 28-7. Running back Terrell Oglesby has performed well with 38 carries netting 284 yards in two outings. Quarterback Dennis Logue completed 12 of 24 passes for 224 yards and 4 touchdowns. They have their 3^rd straight away game at McDevitt (0-2), then it’s home for the Red opener against Roman Catholic. This is the year for North to make a run with St. Joe’s coming back to the pack, LaSalle diminished and O’Hara not yet up to speed. The schedule is more favorable with home games against Roman, St. Joe’s and LaSalle.  

20. Central Bucks South (2-0) The 20^th spot could have gone to a number of teams. There’s a good Father Judge team that is undefeated with two wins. Didn’t Chestnut Hill Academy surprise many of us by easily handling a decent Archbishop Ryan team last week by the unlikely score of 42-13? Archbishop Wood is off to a good start at 2-0 with a road win at Paul VI and last week at home against Georgetown Prep. But we opted for Central Bucks South who despite the graduation of QB Storm Miller and others, are off to a strong start. Things could change but they are currently going with a tandem quarterback rotation with Rob Turchick, their 6-0, 180 senior, and Tom Johns, their 6-5, 195 junior. This is a team loaded with skill players. They have one of the top running backs in Eric Reynolds, a 5-11, 190 pound senior who rushed for 1350 yards last year. That’s 6.9 yards per carry in the National Conference. He also scored 18 touchdowns. In the opener against Council Rock South he rushed for 253 yards. Another senior gives them the ability to stretch things with 6-2, 185 pound Colin Donnelly at wide-out. Colin had 32 receptions last year for 670 yards and 9 scores. An overlooked talent resides at TE/DE where 6-4, 240 pound John Jackson holds things down there. They have some size on the line that’s effective with running back Reynolds already off to a big start. They have a tough assignment Friday at Central Bucks East against the undefeated Patriots. If the Pats win they have clear sailing for the next 4 or 5 games. South needs this one with the National opener at North Penn dead ahead. East won last year in a 10-7 nail bitter and this one should be just as close.  

Honorable Mention

Pennsbury (1-1)

Coatesville (1-1)

Bayard Rustin (2-0)

Archbishop Ryan (1-1)

Father Judge (2-0)

West Catholic (1-1)

Archbishop Wood (2-0)

Chestnut Hill Academy (1-0)

Lansdale Catholic (2A, 2-0)

Upper Perkiomen (3A, 1-1)

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