Top 10 High School Football Rankings

Southeastern Pennsylvania Football

Featuring District 1, 12 and the Inter Ac

October 13, 2008

1. North Penn (7-0) North Penn affirmed its status as the best team in southeastern Pennsylvania with an overwhelming display of power by taking apart Quakertown 49-13. Q-town was no match for the Knights who rolled to a 453 to 247 total yard advantage while holding the Panthers to 63 yards rushing. The tone was set early when Tyler Smith ran for a 90 yard score on the first play from scrimmage, leading to a blow out margin of 28-0 early in the second quarter. He finished the night with 155 yards on 5 carries. North Penn improves to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Suburban One-Continental Conference while the Panthers drop to 1-2 in conference play and 5-2 overall after a 4-0 start. Souderton (4-3, 2-2) is next. The Knights beat them last year 24-0 and should get at least that much again with the Indians allowing an average of 24 points per game. It’s high school football and anything can happen, but it doesn’t look like anyone is going to beat North Penn in the regular season.     

2. Malvern Prep (5-0) Malvern Prep began the season in the Honorable Mention category. Since then, they worked their way to the two spot by demonstrating they’ve replaced their division one quarterback, and are again a legitimate power. Two things stood out at the conclusion of last year’s 9-1 campaign, losing to St. Joseph ’s Prep 33-6 in the final game of the year and losing quarterback Ryan Nassib to graduation. Interestingly, they have not missed Ryan Nassib and are in fact more productive from the quarterback position this year than last. Billy Connors has already equaled Ryan’s 2007 touchdown total of eight and is throwing with far more accuracy by completing 29-36 tosses for 622 yards. Ryan Nassib’s season ending stats show 79 completions in 144 attempts for 1237 yards. That’s a completion rate of 54 % compared to Billy Conner’s rate of 81 %. No one completes 81 percent of their passes, not even in 7 on 7! And with both of last year’s lead backs in the fold, James Connelly and Neil Willis, along with last year’s top receiver Joe Price, they are a formidable offense. This year’s unit averages 44 points per game compared to last year’s average of 28 a game. The D has stepped up as well by allowing 9 ppg as compared to last year’s 13 ppg yield. Wouldn’t you love to see these guys in the PIAA’s postseason party? They opened Inter-Ac actions last week by obliterating previously undefeated Episcopal Academy 53-8, but should get a stiffer test Friday at Haverford School (5-1, 1-0). The Friar’s took last year’s game 41-0. The Fords only loss is a one pointer to Cardinal O’Hara, 7-6, suggesting this could be a competitive game.    

3. Cardinal O’Hara (7-0) Cardinal O’Hara (7-0, 3-0) dropped a notch in the rankings following a 28-22 overtime win against winless Archbishop Ryan (0-7, 0-4). Prior to the game, Ryan was allowing 38 points per game while scoring just 9. But in this one, Ryan had more first downs at 15-13 and beat the Lions in total yardage 290 to 282. Who knows how many lives this big cat has but they certainly used up a few of them here. Their old nemesis, St. Joseph ’s Prep (5-2, 2-1) is up next in a pivotal PCL AAAA game. O’Hara hasn’t defeated the Hawks since their 14-13 win in the 2004 Red Division final. St. Joe’s took the regular season game last year, 16-7 and the Red playoff game 35-0. They come in on a three game winning streak, showing wins against Father Judge, 22-18, Ryan 42-7 and last week against Cheltenham , 52-23.  

4. Garnet Valley (7-0) Garnet Valley returned to form last week by blasting Springfield 28-8. The loss drops the Cougars to 2-4 overall and in Central League action, while the Jaguars improve to 7-0 in league play, one game up on Ridley and Penncrest, both 6-1, and two up on Strath Haven and Upper Darby who are 4-2 in the Central. G-Val’s offense was in top form in this one, racing out to a 21-0 half time lead where they cruised in a part because of a rock solid defense that shut the Cougars down to 52 yards rushing and 127 through the air. The Cougars mustered only 9 first downs. The Jags move on to play Radnor (1-5, 1-5) Saturday night at home,

5. West Catholic (6-1) West Catholic rolled to another huge win with a 64-7 victory over punchless Cardinal Dougherty. Poor Dougherty, coming into the game 0-6, losing by an average score of 32-3. The Burrs stormed them, running out to a 28-0 first quarter score, then adding another 21 in the second quarter for a 49-0 half time lead. The week before, they routed Kennedy Kenrick 55-0. On the year they’ve averaged 43 points a game and allowed 13. A win Friday against Bishop McDevitt sews up the PCL AA Conference.

6. St. Joseph ’s Prep (5-2) Like West Catholic above, St. Joseph ’s Prep displayed a sizeable offense for the second week in a row when they manhandled Cheltenham 52-23. The week before, saw a similar outing against Archbishop Ryan where they prevailed 42-7. The week before that, they beat a tough Father Judge team who has since defeated LaSalle and Roman leading you to consider the Hawk’s two game slump and losses to North Penn and LaSalle are a thing of the past. They play Cardinal O’Hara this week. The Hawk’s have dominated the series and playoffs recently, winning the last five games going back to 2005 by an average score of 33-6. If they continue playing as they have the last three weeks and O’Hara’s performance even remotely mimics last week’s performance against archbishop Ryan, St. Joseph ’s will roll.

7. Penncrest (6-1) Penncrest made their first appearance in the ranking last week as the number ten team. That was based on their performance on the road where they are 4-0, their ability to win under pressure, shown in their 34-33 overtime road win at Haverford and what was observed in a losing effort against Garnet Valley the second game of the year. While they were eventually worn down by the deeper Garnet Valley team, they never gave in and showed real poise and talent at quarterback, running back and along both lines. Many of those attributes helped them recover from a third quarter 19-6 deficit to outscore highly regarded Ridley 20-0 and pull out a 26-19 win. Ridley was without their number one quarterback but not their defense that prior to Penncrest allowed a total of 23 points all year. In this one, it was Ridley that was held to 96 yards rushing and 102 passing. Penncrest dominated the stats, running for 188 yards while passing for another 163 yards. Quarterback Matt Atkinson completed 7 of 20 passes for 163 yards and rushed for 80 yards on 10 carries. Tailback Jerry Boyer ran for 82 yards on 17 carries. Penncrest is on the road Friday where they’ll try to hold onto second place in the Central at 6-1 against Upper Darby (5-2, 4-2). Upper Darby won last year 26-15.   

8. Neshaminy (6-1) Neshaminy escaped at home against a Council Rock South team that came in with attitude and a 4-2 won-loss looking to take down the Skins. They almost did. Their 13-7 half time lead must have led to a lively Neshaminy locker room because the Skins back fired up, shutting down CR South’s offense and punching in 13 points of their own to come away with a 20-13 win. Homecoming was made all the more exciting when Quilan Arnold scored at the 6:45 mark of the fourth quarter. The win keeps them atop the SOL-National at 4-0, ahead of ever improving Abington who is right there at 3-1 in the conference. Council Rock North (1-5, 1-3) is next. The Indian’s discovered an offense the last four weeks, averaging 24 ppg after beginning the season 0-3, averaging 9 a game.    

9. Abington (6-1) The Galloping Ghosts showed a big attack last week when they trounced Council Rock North 49-24. Quarterback Sam Kind was on the mark throwing for 129 yards and 5 touchdowns while running back Julien Ireland pounded out 180 yards on the ground. CR North helped Abington’s cause with 2 interceptions and 3 fumbles, of which 1 was returned for a score. With wholesale graduation losses, Abington has to be one of the super surprises of 2008 along with Penncrest. Except for the 7-0 road loss to Neshaminy, they’re blowing teams away by an average score of 31-13. They’ll want to bring all of that to Bensalem Friday night where the Owls are having a weird 3-4 season. Within that record are 2, 4, 7, and 12 point losses to show you how close they are to having a good year. The Ghosts won last year’s game 28-7.  

10. Ridley (6-1) Ridley got a taste of their own medicine last week when Penncrest swarmed them on defense and beat them with the big play. On more than a few occasions, a Raider back was caught in the backfield by a lineman or backer slicing through for the stop. Quarterback Andrew Pidgeon was missed but junior Colin Masterson (6-1, 160) improved as the game developed. Regardless who was back there, Penncrest applied pressure all night and ultimately wore Ridley down. Apart from Pat Mills 69 yard punt return, Penncrest did a great job defending, holding them to 96 yards rushing. This is Ridley, so they’ll bounce back beginning with rejuvenated Marple Newtown (3-4, 3-4) who won three of their last four games. Ridley won last year 28-0.

Honorable Mention

Pennsbury (6-1)  

North Catholic (6-1)

LaSalle (5-2)

Father Judge (4-3)

Haverford School (5-1)

Downingtown West (6-1)

Downingtown East (4-3)

Rustin (6-1)

Upper Moreland (6-1)

Chester (5-2)

Top 10 State Rankings

October 13, 2008

1. Gateway (7-0) Gateway rejoined the ranks of the mere mortal by actually having to exert itself in a football game last week. No, it wasn’t against Pitt or West Virginia , rather, McDowell (4-3) from Erie , who three weeks ago pushed undefeated, fifth ranked McKeesport to the limit before losing 19-13. Gateway (7-0, 6-0) may be USA Today’s third ranked team with four division one players, but McDowell could care less and came out swinging with their triple option attack in full bore. They have a division one recruit themselves in quarterback A. J. Fenton who tore up the Gator D, rushing for 158 yards and passing for another 140 yards. He has 1034 yards rushing for the year. The score was 7-3 Gateway at the half and 14-11 early in the fourth quarter. In the end, Gateway had too many weapons with Josh Vermeulen returning a kick off 73 yards for a score, Ryan Lichtenstein kicking a 31 yard field goal and running back Brian Williams rushing for 194 yards on 19 carries. His 78 yard fourth quarter run for 6 sealed the win with two minutes left in the game. McDowell has two easy games before traveling to Harrisburg to take on powerful Bishop McDevitt, meaning they will have played three of the best teams in the state prior to the playoffs. Gateway moves on to play Connellsville (0-7) who lost all their games by an average score of 49-4.        

2. North Penn (7-0) See the Southeastern PA Top 10.

3. State College (7-0) State College thumped winless Central Dauphin East 51-7 to remain in sole possession of first place in the Mid Penn Commonwealth. The Lions jumped on the Panthers early, running all through them for a 14-0 first quarter lead that ballooned to 30-0 at half time. The main weapon was Alex Kenney, who rushed for 144 yards and 3 scores on but 5 carries. 5 carries! Defensively, State’s special teams shined, never allowing East to start a series beyond their own 28 yard line. By the time it was over, State rushed for 401 yards. Bitter rival Altoona is up next. These two have been going at each other, off and on, since 1917 where they battled to a 0-0 tie. State holds a 26-17-1 series lead and are looking to avenge last year’s 24-17 loss. Although Altoona slipped to 2-5 after a 2-0 start, they are always a load at home in Mansion Park . But it hasn’t been the safe haven it once was this year with losses to power houses Cumberland Valley , 15-8 and Bishop McDevitt, 46-21 after they dumped North Allegheny in the opener 28-21. While it has lost some luster, the place is still a dangerous venue for State High. The game is scheduled for 7:00 PM , Friday night at the Mansion.

4. Bishop McDevitt (7-0) At some point, you’ve got to wonder just how good this year’s McDevitt team is. I mean we know they’re good. Most AA undefeated teams playing at the AAAA level averaging 47 points a game and allowing 10 are, making it a matter of degrees. Last week saw them run up 42 points in the first quarter, the last half of the first quarter to be precise on the way to a 61-0 rout of 0-7 Chambersburg . How impressive is that? The Trojans are going through hard times for sure but are still an AAAA program. Super quick McDevitt held them to 65 total yards (7 rushing) and 5 first downs. Four fumbles (one returned for six) helped the Crusader cause. Meanwhile, McDevitt sprang for 421 total yards and 17 first downs. Sophomore sensation Matt Johnson completed 6 passes for 154 yards while senior Aaron Marks ran for 95 yards and 2 scores on 4 rushing attempts. No wonder suburban Harrisburg ’s Central Dauphin East High is struggling with players like Aaron transferring to McDevitt. Carlisle ’s Thundering Herd visit McDevitt Field Saturday where the second units should get substantial playing time. For those espousing a difficult schedule providing benefits, see Carlisle ’s results against a slate of 6 winning teams ( Harrisburg , Mechanicsburg, Hempfield, Cedar Cliff, Central Dauphin, Cumberland Valley ) who have a combined won-loss of 31-11. Playing 6 good teams did nothing for the Herd’s veteran team who came out of that schedule beaten down and bruised at 1-6. They’ll show up, but will be overmatched. After Carlisle , McDevitt closes with State College and McDowell to give us a preview of the postseason.          

5. McKeesport (6-1) Well, this is getting to be repetitious isn’t it with McKeesport and often then entire Top 10 not just beating teams but obliterating them. The Top 10 went 10-0 for the second week in a row following runs of 9-1, 8-2, 8-2 and 9-1 the preceding weeks. Last week’s results were garnered against a collective opponent won-loss of 15-62, so it was not the most difficult slate. About McKeesport , they chalked up another impressive win last week with their rout of rival Norwin, 56-21. Excepting the season opening 14-7 loss to Colerain and the narrow 19-13 win at McDowell, the Tigers average score in all their other games is 57-8. That should continue against Hempfield (3-4, 2-3) who has been throttled by every AAAA winning team on their schedule including Shaler 41-10, McDowell 48-7 and Gateway, 42-0. A win by McKeesport (6-1, 5-0) sets up the perfect Foothills Conference finale in Monroeville next week against Gateway.     

6. Bethel Park (7-0) Bethel Park (7-0, 3-0) remained perfect with a solid 39-6 win against Peters Township . Their big back Lyle Marsh ran for 114 yards of the Black Hawks 390 total yards. Peters Township was held to a meaningless 207 total yards and drops to 2-5. The win sets up a huge game with Canon McMillan (5-2, 3-0) with whom they share the conference lead atop the Great Southern. The Big Macs have had an odd year, losing to erratic Pittsburgh Central Catholic 17-13, and then suffering a total meltdown in the 18-0 loss to Butler . Otherwise, they have nice road wins at Woodland Hills where they toughed out a 10-0 win and at Upper St. Clair where they edged the Panthers 28-27. This should be Bethel Park ’s last legitimate challenge before ending the regular season at winless Baldwin .   

7. Wilson (7-0) Wilson took another step in their bid to reclaim the Lancaster Lebanon League Section-1 title by beating hapless Reading High. The win combined with Liberty ’s weak showing against Northampton elevated them to # 7 in this week’s rankings. The Scarlet Knights made it interesting by pouncing on a first quarter fumble to take a 6-0 lead. Bad idea! The Bulldogs returned the ensuing kick off 80 yards for 6 and the rout was on. When the dust settled, Wilson had another convincing 46-6 win to remain in a two way tie with surprising Penn Manor (7-0, 4-0). Senior quarterback Steve Huber was sharp, completing 10 of 19 passes for a score and 152 yards. Up next is their old adversary Manheim Township (4-3, 3-1), lurking a game off the pace with Warwick (5-2, 3-1). Hempfield (5-2, 2-2) is in third. Section-1 has pretty much been about Wilson and Manheim Township the last five years with Hempfield tying Township in 2005. Otherwise, since 2004, Wilson or Township shared the title in alternating years. Township won it last year with a perfect 7-0 slate in conference and an 11-2 overall.

Don’t be fooled by the Blue Streaks 4-3 record as it hides a 3-0 loss to Red Lion (4-3), a 28-27 loss to Elizabethtown (5-2, Section-2) and last week’s 20-19 loss at undefeated Penn Manor. The Streaks won last year 26-7 so look for a serious Bulldog response on their home turf Friday night.    

8. Liberty (6-1) Liberty slipped a rung in the ratings with a lackluster 15-3 win at home against Northampton . Taking nothing from Northampton (4-3, 3-3) who came within a whisker of beating Emmaus, when you hold your opponent to 96 yards rushing on 42 carries (2.3ypc) while you grind out 187 yards on the ground and another 113 passing, you’re supposed to win more convincingly that 15-3, especially at home. The loss drops the Koncrete Kids out of LVC contention but keeps the Canes deadlocked with Emmaus at 6-0. Freedom is in second at 5-1 with Bethlehem Catholic and Parkland tied at 4-2. Freedom and Beca go at it this weekend while Parkland plays Dieruff. Liberty will probably get it together Friday at Nazareth (3-4, 2-4). After that, they get Easton at home before closing at Freedom.  

9. Cumberland Valley (6-1) After running out to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter, Coach Rimphel called off his War Eagles (first unit), played a lot of people and cruised to a comfortable 42-13 win against Carlisle at Chapman Field. While the Eagles are primarily a running team with power back Travis Friend (6-2, 235) and Mike Frenette (5-10, 170) taking care of business behind a solid, senior line (C-230, OGs-215, 265, OTs-260, 295), quarterback Nate Rhodes was given the green light to hook up with his big tight end Matt Lengel (6-7, 230) and others for 200 yards passing. They’ll need Matt this Friday. The win keeps them in a second place tie with Central Dauphin (5-2, 2-1) behind State College (7-0, 3-0) in the Commonwealth Conference. This week’s opponent is resurgent Harrisburg High (4-3, 1-2). You always know a George Chaump team will come around, no matter how young and despite tremendous graduation losses, they are going to show up. This year’s edition morphed into a strong team after getting waffled in the opener by Bishop McDevitt, 42-6. They almost got a win in game two but fell short against Central Dauphin, losing 14-11. Thereon, they’ve gone 4-1, winning by an average score of 33-10. The loss was to State College 21-13, making them a serious opponent for Cumberland Valley this weekend. CV leads the series 23-7, but lost the last two years by a cumulative score of 73-0. This should be a classic with the West Shore playing the East Shore for bragging rights along the river.      

10. Emmaus (7-0) Emmaus continued their assault on the city of Allentown by annihilating William Allen High, 69-6. The week before, they shut out Dieruff, 35-0, giving them a clean sweep of their neighbors to the North. This week finds the Hornets just outside Allentown in Whitehall to play the Zephyrs. Whitehall (3-4, 2-4) has struggled after a decent 2-1 start that saw them win at Conrad Weiser 21-10, lose a nail biter to Freedom, 28-26, then beat Bethlehem Catholic 21-14. Unfortunately they lost their quarterback for the year and have gone 1-3 their last four games. Conversely, Emmaus is having an extraordinary year. If you thought last year’s defense was good, and it was at 9 ppg, this year’s is even better, allowing an eye catching 3 ppg! The offense is miles ahead of last year in terms of maturity and sheer size. Last year’s was of little support to the D at 23 ppg. It’s surprising the defense maintained such a high standard with almost no help from the offense. That’s not the case this year with the offense in high gear at 35 ppg. Because the LVC is a twelve member conference, teams don’t play all members of the conference every year. For this year, Emmaus doesn’t play Allentown Central Catholic or Liberty . Last year’s team gave the Canes a run for their money before losing 21-7. This year’s might just pick their pocket but they’ll have to wait for the postseason despite being in a first place tie with them.  

Honorable Mention

Garnet Valley (7-0)

Cardinal O’Hara (7-0)

St. Joseph ’s Prep (5-2)

West Catholic (6-1)

Malvern Prep (5-0)

North Hills (6-1)

York High (7-0)

Freedom (6-1)

McDowell (4-3)

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