Top 20 High School Football Rankings

Southeastern Pennsylvania Football

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

October 9, 2007                  

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

Let’s begin in the East this week where there was an eye catching score out of district 11. At 1-4, Bethlehem Catholic had just about played itself out of everything except the opportunity to make a statement against heated rival, undefeated Bethlehem Liberty. And that’s just what they did. Like last year where the Golden Hawks snuck up on Liberty 21-20, they did the same this year, except more convincingly, winning 28-14. Maybe that will turn things around for the Hawks who are so close with a 4 point loss to Emmaus (4-2) and a 1 point loss to Whitehall (5-1).  With other 3A teams losing last week, Bethlehem Catholic is still in the hunt. Liberty drops to 5-1. Parkland kept their perfect season intact at 6-0 with a 48-0 pasting of winless Allen. Easton and Whitehall move to 5-1 with a 38-2 Red Rover win against winless Dieruff and a 16-7 Whitehall win against tough Allentown Central Catholic (3A, 3-3).  Two other LVC teams are good enough to influence things and more in Emmaus and Freedom. Freedom moves to 4-2 with a road win against 2-4 Northampton. Emmaus improved to 4-2 by defeating Dieruff 30-13. Freedom gets a home date with Easton this weekend. East Stroudsburg South stumbled but has recovered to 4-2 with last week’s 41-6 rout of fading Lehighton (3A, 3-3).

District 2 Delaware Valley took sole possession of first place in the Lackawanna Football Conference by beating Abington Heights 27-20 in Clarks Summit. That’s a nice road win for the 6-0 Warriors.  They are coached by Keith Olsommer, a former star at Penn State. The Comets fall to 3-3. In the Wyoming Valley Conference, Wyoming Valley West is 6-0 with a 35-0 shutout of Stroudsburg who drops to 1-5. Hazelton (5-1) stayed right on Valley West’s tail with a 55-17 rout of winless Williamsport.

A look at 3A teams in district 2 shows all the favorites winning with West Scranton (5-1) overcoming rival Scranton 43-32 (4A, 3-3) and Berwick (6-0) beating Pittston 37-21. The big event this weekend is Berwick hosting Wyoming Valley West. Both are undefeated.

In district 11, Pottsville, Allentown Central Catholic and Lehighton all lost. That’s a tight race in the Lehigh Valley with all three at 3-3. Northwestern Lehigh (5-1) took advantage by getting past a competitive 2A Pen Argyl team, 21-7. The win keeps the Tigers atop the Colonial with Palmerton (2A, 5-1). Pen Argyl drops to 3-3. Pottsville lost to powerful Muhlenberg (4A, 6-0) 41-6 in Berks Inter County Conference-Section One action. Lehighton and Allentown Central Catholic were mentioned above.

In district 3, Lancaster-Lebanon League, Elizabethtown (6-0) is proving to be a powerful team after defeating Solanco 40-7. South Lancaster County drops to 3-3. An indicator that E-town has something special is the ease by which they beat Lower Dauphin (3-3) in game two, 27-8, and the road win a few weeks ago against a good 5-1 Manheim Township team, 20-10. To date they’ve scored 210 points while allowing 46. In the York-Adams League, West York improved to 5-1 with a 47-35 home win against 3-3 Dover. Spring Grove recovered from the South Western loss to beat New Oxford 16-14. Spring Grove moves to 4-2 with Ox falling to 3-3. In a Berks-Section One showdown, Daniel Boone (5-1) edged Conrad Weiser on the road 10-7. CW falls to 4-2. Staying in the Berks, Governor Mifflin (5-1) pounded district 11 Blue Mountain 44-7.  Blue Mountain (3-3) was coming off last week’s 7-6 upset of Boone, 7-6. There is a nice race developing in the Mid Penn Colonial between Shippensburg, Northern and Greencastle-Antrim. Shippensburg remained atop the division after securing a 27-23 win in Enola against East Pennsboro. Ship improves to 6-0, 3-0. Northern rocked 2A Milton 62-20 to remain undefeated at 6-0 and 2-0 in division play. Greencastle-Antrim improved to 5-1 with a 42-0 wipe out of winless Susquenita. GA is 2-1 in the division. Northern and Shippensburg play the last game of the regular season.  In the Mid Penn Keystone, Red Land and Hershey stayed perfect at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the division with easy wins. Red Land took down 4A Lower Dauphin 27-7, while Hershey defeated near by Middletown 31-6. LD and Middletown fall to 3-3. Gettysburg stayed close in 2^nd place with a 55-0 rout of Palmyra. The Warriors are 5-1 overall and 2-1 in division action. The Keystone ends in a bang with Gettysburg traveling to Red Land October 26^th followed by Red Land ending the season at Hershey November 11^th.   

There were a number of key 4A decisions out West in district 7 that sorted things out some. In the Greater Southern, McKeesport came to Bethel Park and edged the Blackhawks in overtime 28-27 after the Hawks failed on a 2 point conversion. McKeesport goes to 5-1, Bethel Park to 4-2. Upper St. Clair beat Canon-McMillan 35-12 while Mt. Lebanon beat Baldwin 14-7. USC and Mt. Lebo are both 4-2.  In the Big East, Kiski (4-2) got a road win at Plum 28-17 and Penn Hills reached the .500 mark by beating Fox Chapel 48-26. Gateway moves to 5-1 after beating Woodland Hills 38-8. How odd is it seeing Woodland Hills at 1-5? They’ll be a war in Monroeville Friday when Penn Hills brings in their revived team to give Gateway’s Gators a test. Gateway puts more skill on the field but Penn Hills has some players too. A win here would turn around a bad start for the Indians. The Foothills featured a monumental game between Norwin and Pittsburgh Central Catholic last week. Central Catholic is atop everyone’s polls as the best team in the state. Norwin can’t even get an Honorable Mention from the polls despite a 9 point loss to Bethel Park and a 1 point loss to Gateway. Still, the polls looked absolutely right-on with PCC jumping on Norwin for a 28-0 half time lead. But the Knights came back, scoring 20 unanswered points and were driving for more when Central intercepted in the closing moments to end the comeback. Nice try Knights (3-3) who go down 28-20 and a nice road win for Central who improves to 6-0. With Latrobe, Hempfield and Connellsville up next at a combined won-loss of 5-13, no one is going to beat the Vikings in the regular season. And finally in the Northern Five, North Allegheny goes to 6-0 with a win in Erie at McDowell 21-7. McDowell drops to 4-2. Shaler is still unbeaten at 6-0 after defeating Butler 35-14. How about the Titans who have had only 2 winning seasons the past 8 years? Shaler and North Allegheny face off this weekend to determine who will win the Northern Five. In district 8, Pittsburgh’s Brashear Bulls remain undefeated at 5-0 after beating Oliver 19-6.

We had a surprise in Erie last week when Cathedral Prep dropped a 47-34 decision to 3A power Strong Vincent. Prep falls to 4-2 while Vincent improves to 5-1. Nice win by the Colonels who have now won 43 of their last 54 games.

There were no surprises in district 3 where all the favorites won. In the Mid Penn Conference, Bishop McDevitt (5-1) beat winless Chambersburg 62-7. The Trojans have really fallen on hard times. The other muscle team in the city, Harrisburg High (5-1) rolled over Central Dauphin East 46-14. Over on the West Shore, Cumberland Valley got their 5^th win against one loss by routing Perry Traditional Academy 42-6. The conference’s district 6 schools, Altoona and State College, won impressively with Altoona beating Central Dauphin 28-16 and the Lions beating Carlisle 28-7. Altoona is now 5-1 with State College “even” at 3-3. In the Lancaster Lebanon League, Manheim Township (5-1) beat Reading 34-10. Warwick (5-1) beat Cedar Crest 49-17 and Wilson got to 4-2 by shutting out J.P. McCaskey 22-0. In the York-Adams, York High (5-1) bounced back from the Harrisburg loss by decking Dallastown 48-35. That had to be a good one to see. Red Lion got to 4-2 by defeating South Western’s young squad, 30-0. The Panthers of Central York (4-2) had no trouble with Exeter (0-6), winning 36-7. In the Berks, Muhlenberg is now 6-0 following an easy 41-6 win at home against Pottsville. The Crimson Tide drops to 4-2. Governor Mifflin is 5-1 after handling Blue Mountain (3A, 3-3) with ease, 44-7.

A look at the West’s 3A teams in district 7 finds 2 that are still undefeated, Thomas Jefferson and Montour, both 6-0. Previously undefeated Highlands (5-1) went down hard to Pine-Richland (5-1) 35-0 in Greater Allegheny action. A strong Knoch team also from the G.A. got to 5-1 beating Franklin Regional (3-3) 31-0. Pine Richland and Knock are two hard nosed teams. Pine-Richland’s only loss is to Knoch, 25-20. Knoch’s loss is to undefeated Montour, 21-14. In the same conference, Indiana made some noise and jumped in the race by defeating Hampton 43-0. Indy is now 4-2. In a cross over game, Parkway’s Montour routed Big Seven’s Keystone Oaks 33-0. Two other Parkway games had Blackhawk (5-1) nipping New Castle (4-2) 21-14 and West Allegheny (remember those great games with Strath Haven?) getting their second win of the year by defeating downward spiraling Hopewell (3-3) 37-14. Wow, Hopewell was supposed to be decent this year. In the Big Seven, Trinity (4-2) blew away winless Elizabeth Forward 47-6, Chartiers Valley (5-1) handled West Mifflin 35-6 and Thomas Jefferson beat Peters Township 41-0. TJ finally gets a test this weekend in Washington against Trinity.

In district 6, Indian Valley improved to 6-0 by edging Bellefonte (4-2) 35-28. Hollidaysburg and Somerset got wins against Huntingdon 35-0 and Richland Township 41-26 respectively. Both winners are now 4-2. Johnstown is also 4-2 after defeating Bishop Carroll 35-7.

In district 9, Bradford is 5-0 after beating Brookville 35-23. St. Mary’s stayed in the picture with a point gathering 32-21 win against 4A Dubois. St. Mary’s improves to 4-2 while Dubois drops to 3-3.

District 10 has a few good teams this year that can make an impact in “States”, especially Titusville, Strong Vincent and General McLane. Titusville (5-0) was idle last week but McLane moved to 5-1 with a 33-14 win at Erie East. Meadville is right there at 4-2 after beating Erie Central 41-13 and Strong Vincent (5-1) improved their standings with a big win against 4A Cathedral Prep, 47-34. In district 4, Selinsgrove beat Mifflinburg 35-0. The Seals are 4-2. 2A Mifflinburg drops to 4-2.               

1. North Penn (6-0) North Penn won their 6^th straight game with an easy 35-14 win over Bensalem. They’re at Abington Saturday in a key National Conference game. The Ghosts are 1-2 in conference play while the Knights are a perfect 3-0. North won last year’s game handily, 35-0, but will likely encounter a desperate foe this week with Abington in a “must win” situation for any chance at winning the conference and improving their possibilities for postseason play. North is much more but the Ghosts with quarterback Kevin Morton and running back Khahlil Pittman are always a threat.   

2. Malvern Prep (4-0) Malvern Prep unloaded on Salesianum last week, shutting out the Sals 38-0 to avenge last year’s 7 point overtime loss. The Friars’ big attack rushed for 282 yards while quarterback Ryan Nassib struck for 122 from above. Inter-Ac action begins Saturday against Episcopal Academy. EA is 3-1 coming off an 18-15 loss to Bayard Rustin September 29^th. So they’ve had an extra week to prepare. Malvern won last year’s in a 42-7 blow out but should find the going a little tougher this year.   

3. St. Joseph’s Prep (4-2) St. Joseph’s Prep beat Archbishop Ryan last week 51-7, meaning they are playing at a high level since opening with losses to North Penn and Don Bosco Prep. Since then, they won 4 straight games, scoring 179 points and allowing 21. That comes out to a 45-5 per game average. The way they’re playing, it’s hard finding a team on the schedule that can slow them down. They play a largely veteran North Catholic team this week, a team they shutout last year in the regular season 28-0 and again in the playoffs 36-0.  

4. Roman Catholic (6-0) Roman Catholic is one good football team! They almost completely shutdown Cardinal O’Hara last week in a 31-7 rout where the Lion’s got an anemic 126 yards of total offense. Quarterback Chris Johnson passed for two scores and ran for two more while completing 7 of 14 tosses for 176 yards. The Roman defense held O’Hara to 6 first downs and 12 yards passing! Father Judge is up next. This is a big game for both with Roman at 3-0 in Red play and Judge at 2-1. Judge stunned a 6-1 Roman team last year 10-7 to snap a 3 game slide getting them back to 4-4. They won’t sneak up on Roman this year.

5. Neshaminy (6-0) Talk about opposites! Pennridge is an unbelievable 0-6 while the Redskins are a very believable 6-0 after pounding the Rams 49-15. The win atones for last year’s 33-13 upset which set the stage for Neshaminy’s nosedive from a 5-1 start to a 6-4 finish. But that’s old news. This year’s team is performing at “playoff level” with an offense cranking out 41 points per game and a defense holding opponents to 13 ppg. That’s prime time production meaning they’re ready for a team like Central Bucks South this week.     

6. Ridley (5-0) Ridley beat undefeated Haverford in Havertown Friday 21-0. Unless they are upset by Marple Newtown this week or Upper Darby the next, it is unlikely anyone will beat them in the regular season. 21-0 isn’t the most overwhelming of scores but this was a total victory for the Green Raiders. They held the Fords to 7 first downs, -3 yards rushing and 73 total yards of offense. Ridley generated 324 total yards with quarterback Kevin Egee and his receivers getting 207 of those yards on a 14 for 19 outing. The Raiders are getting great line play, have a duel threat in quarterback Egee and running back Andrew Hodges and have a suffocating defense that is as quick as last year’s special group. They’re at Marple Newtown Friday.       

7. Henderson (5-1) If they hadn’t convinced the masses with their 1 point loss to Malvern Prep in the third game of the season, maybe last week’s win against Downingtown West will demonstrate that Henderson is for real. Led by quarterback John O’Donnell’s masterful play and solid defense when needed, the Warriors fought back from a 28-14 third quarter deficit to pull out a 29-28 win. O’Donnell is listed as 6-0, 180 but looked more like 5-9, 5-10, against Malvern Prep. He’s hard to track behind Henderson’s sizeable line and proved impossible to stop last week by rushing for 232 yards on18 carries against Downingtown West. He also had touchdown runs of 22, 34 and 46 yards.  Henderson is in a dangerous portion of the schedule with undefeated Rustin up next followed by a road game in Coatesville. They shut out the Golden Knights last year 19-0.  

8. Conestoga (5-1) Conestoga got their 2^nd consecutive lopsided win last week by beating Radnor 42-14. The week before they beat Lower Merion 36-0.  The Pioneers have a big, balanced attack with multiple weapons and are led by senior quarterback Steve Richter who had a great night, completing 9 of 11 passes for 212 yards. He threw for touchdown tosses of 13, 20 and 68 yards. Nihja White caught 5 passes for 146 yards and 2 scores. Running back Tyreek Clarke ran for 64 yards on 13 carries. This team can beat you a lot of ways. 3 of their last 4 games are road trips with the home game being Strath Haven October 26^th, so there are potholes in the road ahead. But this group should weather the storm beginning this week at outgunned Springfield. Stoga won last year 35-6.   

9. Central Bucks South (6-0) With a number of good players returning from last year’s 4-6 team, South’s performance shouldn’t be that shocking to us. Last year’s team was close with 3 point losses to Central Bucks East, Pennsbury and Abington. This year’s team is 6-0 with a nice line and a record setting running back in Eric Reynolds, who set a school record last week against Abington, rushing for 402 yards on 27 attempts. His 6 touchdowns came on 1, 32, 52, 62, 63, and 70 yard runs! He’s averaging 247 yards a game with 1483 total yards rushing for the year. That’s incredible. It’s early but teams have gone a long way in the playoffs with a “special” talent like this player. To know how special the Titans start is this year and the numbers they’re putting up, consider too that 5 of their 6 games have been in hostile territory on the road, where they beat quality opponents at Central Bucks East, Pennsbury and last week in Abington where they eked out a 49-45 win. This group is for real but they face an enormous challenge this week with 6-0 Neshaminy in town. The Skins have “been there, done that” but they haven’t encountered a back like Reynolds. The Titans haven’t encountered a “complete” team like Neshaminy, so hold on for a possible repeat of South’s exploits last week.      

10. Downingtown West (5-1) Downingtown West lost a heartbreaker last week when Henderson fought back from a 28-14 deficit to beat the Whippets 29-28. Quarterback Nolan Kearny completed 16 of 23 passes for 192 yards and 2 scores. They should get back on the winning track Friday at home against Avon Grove. The Red Devils are 4-2 but haven’t seen a team like the Whippets. They did play Unionville who beat them 27-7 and Downingtown East who prevailed in a 19-9 win. Avon Grove’s upcoming schedule after West includes district 3 power Cumberland Valley (5-1), Henderson (5-1), Coatesville (3-3) and Phoenixville (4-2). That’s a tough row to hoe but no tougher than going to Downingtown where they’ll run into a Hornets nest.      

11. Souderton (5-1) Souderton stays in a deadlock with Hatboro Horsham (5-1) and Central Bucks East (5-1) atop the Continental Conference at 3-0 after routing Council Rock North 41-10. Hatboro kept pace beating Central Bucks West 49-14 as did CB East by shutting out Tennett 38-0. The logjam at the top will be reduced by at least one Friday with Hatboro Horsham visiting Souderton in what should be a great game. Both have substantial offenses and play decent defense against a schedule that features only one winning team for each. Both resulted in losses with Souderton losing to North Penn and Hatboro losing to Neshaminy. The Hatters won last year in a tight 21-14 game and will likely see that reversed this time around.

12. Unionville (3A, 6-0) Unionville beat outmanned Kennett last week 35-7 to stay unbeaten for the Thursday night showdown against Garnet Valley. That’s right, Thursday at 7:00 PM. G-Valley is also undefeated 2 rungs down at the 14^th spot. These two are loaded with talent so don’t be surprised if one or the other represents district 1 in States. That is not to discount good stuff at Bayard Rustin and Strath Haven and a few PAC teams who will have much to say about things. Unionville won last year’s meeting at the 1:30 mark of the 4^th quarter when Eric DiProspero crossed the goal to bring the Indians within one. Coach Pat Clark opted for the 2 point conversion, calling DiProspero’s number again. A few seconds later he blasted into the end zone to pull out a thrilling 29-28 win at Garnet Valley.       

13. Downingtown East (5-1) Downingtown East made some noise with a convincing 35-0 win against Glen Mills, gaining their second shutout of the year. Last week saw Glen Mills installed as the 20^th ranked team, along with this cautionary entry, “If they can avoid their historic self destructive nature, despite being loaded with speed, athleticism and size everywhere, they can be a factor in the district and playoffs.” Taking nothing from the Cougars, Glen Mills was flagged for 11 penalties, fumbled the ball 5 times and threw 2 interceptions. You can’t win doing that, even in your own house but especially on the road against a quality team like Downingtown East. That’s a great momentum builder for the Cougars they’ll need to get them through the remaining schedule that features powerhouses Downingtown West and Henderson among the remaining 4 games. Bishop Shanahan is up next and must be sky high coming off their first win of the season, a 20-13 shocker over Coatesville. East won last year 24-0.     

14. Garnet Valley (3A, 5-0) Garnet Valley got win # 5 with an easy 40-20 conquest of Oxford. Oxford was held to 59 yards rushing to the Jaguar’s 270. The Hornets got their points in the 4^th quarter after the Jags took a 40-0 lead into the 4^th quarter. This week’s opponent is Unionville, a former conference member in the defunct Southern Chester County League. Prior to that they were co-members in the Del-Val so there’s a lot of history between these two, but none more notable than last year’s game mentioned in the Unionville write up. If the Jags can get past Unionville, they have clear sailing the rest of the season with Harriton, Kennett and Sun Valley on the horizon.    

15. Father Judge (5-1) Father Judge got another impressive win last week and secured their 3^rd shutout of the season downing LaSalle 14-0. They held St. Joseph’s to19 and have allowed only 36 points the entire year. This is a special defense that could provide Roman with a stiff challenge. But you know the Cahillites will be gunning for them after last year’s 10-7 upset.  

16. West Catholic (5-1) West Catholic got their 5^th consecutive win of the season. Since the Roman loss they’ve scored 204 points while allowing 27, making their per-game-average score a glittering 41-5. The next opponent is Neumann Goretti who came into the season with expectations of something better than a 1-5 record. Their only win came against Cardinal Dougherty (good hoops!) where they had to go into overtime to beat the Cardinals 21-20. Speaking of overtime, the Burrs had to go overtime to beat Neumann Goretti last year so they should be focused here.

17. Central Bucks East (5-1) The Patriots got their 1^st shutout of the year last week in a 38-0 effort at home against Tennett. The next two opponents are the Council Rock schools, South and North. Then they end the regular season against the 2 teams they are currently tied with in 1^st place, Souderton and Hatboro Horsham. The challenge this week is to stop Council Rock South’s talented running back Ryan Phares. The Hawks (2-4) will be pumped after getting their 1^st conference win last week at Norristown, 23-19. They have a chance because East has not been consistent defensively. They’ve allowing their opponents more first downs while out-gained them by a paltry 109 yards on the ground. The opening has been there but no one has exploited it besides Abington and CB South. East’s offensive numbers are inflated against the competition of Pennridge, CB West, Tennett and the overtime periods against Abington. All of that makes Council Rock South with a back like Ryan Phares dangerous.  

18. Abington (3-3) Abington lost a close one to Central Bucks South despite rushing for 148 yards and passing for another 206. Quarterback Kevin Morton completed 16 of 23 but came up short in this key National Conference match up, losing 49-45. The Ghosts are now battling for their playoff lives and could garner a ton of points with an upset of North Penn Saturday. They’ll need to play the perfect game and get some help from the Knights who could be distracted by the coming game with Neshaminy October 20^th. Abington stayed with both Neshaminy and CB South and can do the same here but it’s always a tall order overcoming a team like North Penn.

19. Cardinal O’Hara (3-3) Cardinal O’Hara is having a hard time finding rhythm this year. They have a world of talent at quarterback, tight end and receiver, a slew of quick backs and enough skill and size on defense and the lines. Even in what appeared to be a blowout against Bonner, at least on the scoreboard, 33-8, they showed some good things but just weren’t in a groove with consistency. This year they opened well enough in Ocean City with an easy win against Bishop Shanahan. Then came the blowouts to North Penn and Don Bosco Prep. At 1-2 they went on a 2 game streak with wins against Monsignor Bonner and North Catholic. Then they ran into a wall against Roman Catholic last week, losing 31-7. So it’s difficult having a sense of them this week in Springfield against Archbishop Ryan. For that matter, which Ryan team is going to show, the one the beat Pennsbury and Archbishop Wood, or the one that lost homers to Father Judge and LaSalle?

20. Bayard Rustin (3A, 6-0) This is an interesting team. When it was formed last year from the other West Chester schools, no seniors were transferred in, meaning that last year’s team was made up of juniors and less and that the entire team returned for this season. Head coach Mike St Clair, a 1980 Sun Valley alum is then in his 2^nd year. The team is led by Taylor Towle, a double threat who runs the option smoothly. Earlier in the year he accounted for 252 yards against Academy Park, rushing for 140 yards and passing for another 112 yards. Senior Steve Hess carries the load at half back. Last week saw him tear into Sun Valley for 223 yards on 15 carries. They have a good line featuring senior tackle Scot Liacouris at 6-4, 295. The Golden Knights are for real and get a chance to prove it Friday against Henderson. That may be too high a mountain to climb but imagine the points garnered were they to upset a team of Henderson’s stature.     

(Bayard Rustin was a civil rights activist born in West Chester in 1910)

Honorable Mention

Chestnut Hill Academy (5-0)

Episcopal Academy (4-1)

North Catholic (4-2)

Archbishop Wood (5-1)

Archbishop Carroll (5-1)

Glen Mills (4-2)

Strath Haven (3A, 4-2)

Interboro (5-1)

Hatboro Horsham (5-1)

Perkiomen Valley (5-1)

© Copyright 2007 HavenFootball.net, Inc.
The panther images on this site are the exclusive property of Havenfootball.net, Inc. No other use of these logos on the internet, in print or in any other format is permitted without the expressed written permission of Havenfootball.net, Inc.

Designed and hosted by South Jersey Websites