You just can’t get any better than this week for local football fans. Starting Thanksgiving eve local rivalry games get underway. That is followed by Turkey Bowls on Thursday with playoff games set for Friday and Saturday. Throw in some big college games on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday and you have loads of blurry eyed football fans by Monday morning.
There is nothing better for many communities than the annual Thanksgiving Day games between long time advisories from the neighborhood. The 109th meeting of Easton vs Phillipsburg, NJ, the 94th game between Upper Darby vs Haverford and the 47th contest between Interboro vs Ridley to name a few. In many cases these games are the highlight of the Turkey Day festivities for local families.
The second week of post season play was full of great football with a few surprises. As pointed out the last two weeks, playoff upsets are more of an expectation than a shock. The lower seed won three of the four games at the AAAA level. However the top two seeds at AAA level have made it to the District One finals.
This will mark the tenth season this writer has attempted to forecast the five toughest games each week. The last nine years the prognostication record stands at 455-193 while going 38-17 this season.
Last week was an improvement over playoff week one with a 4-1 prognostication record. Academy Park, North Penn, Pennsbury and Upper Dublin pulled through as predicted. However LaSalle defeated St Joe Prep 29-28 to account for the bad call.
It is now time to pick the big games this week. !!!
Upper Moreland @ Academy Park
This contest features the District One AAA final showdown between the undefeated, top seed Academy Park Knights hosting the second seeded Upper Moreland Golden Bears. The Knights Coach Jason Vosheski made surprising decision last Friday night to start wide receiver Jawan Collins at quarterback. The move worked as Collins was the power pill that ignited the offense on its way to a 38-14 win over Great Valley. The previous two weeks Academy Park was held to a 7-6 win over Interboro and a 14-7 victory over Springfield. The Golden Bears needed a 267 yard with three TD performance by running back Rodney Morgan to sneak past Marple Newtown 28-20 to extend their season. Upper Moreland will need to find a way to move the ball if the Knight defense concentrates its efforts on slowing down Rodney Morgan. The bet here is that Academy Park has a better balance on both sides of the ball.
Academy Park 27 Upper Moreland 14
********************************************************************
Neshaminy @ North Penn
Although this contest features the 9th seed North Penn Knights hosting the 13th seed Neshaminy Redskins it is no surprise these two teams have reached the AAAA District One semifinals. Both squads play difficult regular season schedules and are well prepared by excellent coaches for post season pressure. North Penn knocked off the top seed Downingtown East 27-14 despite their early season loss to the Cougars. The Knights had a balanced attack with Nyfeace West rushing for 243 yards while QB Reese Udinski passed for 228 yards. The Redskins had to overcome a 14-0 Quakertown lead to advance with a second half burst and a 31-17 win. Running back Will Dogba raced for 141 yards to assure the win. North Penn won the regular season match between these two squads 22-17. This game will be just as close and the result should be the same.
North Penn 31 Neshaminy 26
*********************************************************************
Pennsbury @ Upper Dublin
There was little doubt that the Upper Dublin Cardinals would score at will last week against Upper Darby. However it also appeared likely that the Royal high powered offense would be just as potent. That is not the way it played out as the Cardinals corralled the Upper Darby running game and won going away 45-14. As predicted QB Ryan Stover controlled the pace throughout this contest. The Pennsbury Falcon defense was able slow down the Perkiomen Valley offense just enough to allow QB Mike Alley to propel the Falcon ground attack to a 41-28 victory. Pennsbury clearly had a tougher regular season schedule but Upper Dublin crushed most of their opposition. Giving the home team edge and a win to Upper Dublin.
Upper Dublin 41 Pennsbury 30
*********************************************************************
The rest of the fearless forecast
LaSalle 35 Simon Gratz 20 (District 12)
Imhotep Charter 36 Archbishop Wood 34 (District 12)
