Protime Predictions by Phil

written by Phil Myers, WesternPAFootball.net staff

Protime has been humbled with the response he has received this year.  Little kids (and some adults too) have come up to him and asked if they could see the famous crystal ball or the flipping coin used to make prognostications.  Those questions caused Protime’s wheels to spin.  What if Protime could convince website managers Dave and Billy to mass produce miniature crystal balls and flipping coins, along with some ‘I had a good time reading Protime’ ball caps and t-shirts.  How cool would that be to sell mini crystal balls and flipping coins to everybody who desires one.  Just hope Dave and Billy can prevent the rock group Styx from showing up on the mini crystal ball like they occasionally do on mine.
Protime was also humbled with his picks last week going 9-7 which translates into 171-49 for the year (.777).  Congrats to all the winners.  Protime noticed that the 16 teams left cover 10 of the 12 districts and are from virtually every part of the state.  See the map drawn by Protime’s crack staff department.  And now for the week 15 picks by the prophet of prognostication:

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AAAA:

Pittsburgh Central Catholic 13-1 vs. Cumberland Valley 12-2 – The #1 ranked PCC Vikings coached by Terry Totten are loaded with D-1 talent such as ATH Ronnie Jones, S Bricen Garner, CB Damar Hamlin, TE Rashaad Wheeler, and OLB Ron George.  Soph. QB Troy Fisher has thrown 14 TD passes to only 1 INT.  He’ll beat you running too with 550 yards and 12 touchdowns.  CV also needs to watch out for Jones and his 1,500 yards rushing and WR Gunnar Frerotte.  The CV Eagles are coming off of that 62-61 emotional 7 overtime win versus Central Dauphin.  They’ll need to refocus on the Vikings quickly.  Coach Michael Whitehead likes the double wing-T and uses a plethora of backs usually led by Joey Heikel and Nicholas Rhodes.  Josiah Quigley tops the Eagle ‘D’ in tackles, while Charlie Katshir has 10 picks and 2 fumble recoveries.  Protime feels the Vikings will prevail over CV because of their defense 21-13.

Upper Dublin 14-0 vs. Parkland 13-1 – This contest is probably one of the premier semi-final games.  Protime doesn’t think anyone but himself predicted the UD Cardinals to have such a great year.  The two offenses mirror each other in that they center around the quarterback.  Upper Dublin’s QB Ryan Stover went over 2,000 yards passing last week and has 25 TD passes too.  The Cardinals’ signal caller averages 11.5 yards a carry and has rushed for 11 more TDs.  RB Kaleif Lee has scored 19 times adding another dimension to the UD offense.  MLB Stacey Gardner is UD’s leading tackler.  For the Parkland Trojans, QB Devonte Cross has 2,294 yards passing and 21 TDs.  Devonte is the leading Trojan runner also with 1,340 yards.  Their other dimension is RB Erik DiGirolamo who has 15 scores.  Parkland is coming off the big overtime win against LaSalle.  Upper Dublin is in its first ever Eastern PA AAAA final.  Protime’s crystal ball is clear ………. Upper Dublin 24 Parkland 20.

AAA:

Erie Cathedral Prep 13-1 vs. Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt 13-1 – This will be the 4th time these 2 teams have met in the western final in the last 6 years.  McDevitt won 2 of the 3 previous meetings in dramatic fashion including a 2nd half come from behind win 24-21  in 2010 led by QB Matt Johnson, now with Bowling Green, who just reset most of the MAC Conference passing records.  In 2012 Prep won 38-3 on the way to their 2nd state championship.  Cathedral Prep’s QB Joe Mischler is a game changer.  The sophomore passer has thrown for 16 TDs in only 7 games as he has been hurt most of the season.  Athlete Ta’Nauz Gregory has 21 TDs and is the Rambler leading rusher and receiver.  He also set a Prep single season record with his 8th and 9th INTs last week.  The McDevitt Crusaders are a pass oriented team with 3 D-1 wide receivers in Bryce Hall, Kyree Cali, and Kobay White.  Between them they have 185 receptions, about 3,000 yards, and 37 TDs.  The quarterback with the good fortune of throwing to these guys is Tayvon Bowers.  Both teams are big and physical with plenty of speed to burn.  This is Protime’s GOTW and if you live anywhere near DuBois you may want to check this game out.  Protime’s coin flip tells us Prep wins 34-29.  On a side note: Prep’s only loss was to Wakulla, FL who is in the 5A title game this weekend.

Saucon Valley 14-0 vs.  Imhotep 13-0 – It’s a battle of the Panthers here.  The Panthers of Saucon Valley have an 1,100 yard passer and an 1,100 yard runner in QB Zach Thatcher.  SV’s Evan Culver has rushed for over 2,800 yards and scored an amazing 45 touchdowns.  MLB Christian Carvis leads the defense with 124 tackles.  Protime remembers watching SV alum Don Rohn wrestle at states and for Clarion University back in the 70s.  In fact, Protime actually went bowling with Rohnnie once.  But Protime digresses.  Imhotep, named for a 27th century B.C. Egyptian architect/scholar, has probably largest O-line Protime has ever seen.  They average 6’4″ 310 lbs.  No wonder RB Mike Waters set a Philly Public School record this year by scoring 35 TDs.  QB Nasir Boykin has tossed the pigskin for almost 2,000 yards.  Saucon Valley is the 3rd highest scoring team in Eastern PA, while Imhotep has the best defense.  Protime predicts the Panthers to win 28-21……The #1 rated Imhotep Panthers.

AA:

Aliquippa 14-0 vs. Central (Martinsburg) 13-1 – Aliquippa is named for Queen Aliquippa of the Seneca Indians who aligned with the English during the French and Indian Wars.  Quips is just a nickname and now we know why the mascot is an Indian.  The Quips are the number one AA team in the state.  They are a powerful team led by big Kaezon Pugh and his 2,188 yards and 21 TDs.  WR Jassir Jordan has 39 receptions averaging 23 yards/catch.  QB Sheldon Jeter has thrown for 18 scores and will run a little.  Defensively, Jordan and Jeter have 6 picks each.  Central’s Scarlet Dragons have the toughness and speed to match Aliquippa’s.  Offensively, it begins with QB Noah Benton who has 2,086 yards passing (23 TDs) and 950 yards rushing (11 TDs).  RB Alex Hoenstine has 27 scores and WR Justin Helsel has 54 receptions and 10 TDs.  Bryce Brumbaugh is a stud on the line.  Hoenstine leads the Scarlet Dragons on defense, while Helsel has 6 INTs.  Protime envisions this one going down to the wire where the Quips pull it out 28-24.

Southern Columbia 14-0 vs. West Catholic 10-4 – The SCA Tigers are the top scoring team on the eastern side of PA.  They average 460 total yards of offense a game.  QB Nick Becker has pitched 19 TD passes.  RB Hunter Thomas has scored 21 times, while fellow RB Blake Marks has 14 TDs.  WR Steve Toczylousky has caught 12 passes that crossed the goal line.  It’s obvious they mix it up and Coach Roth needs to do that against the big Burrs of West Catholic.  WC Coach Brian Fluck likes to spread the running game around, but Calil Wortham is the top gun.  Burr quarterback, Josh Evans, has 2,500 yards passing and 26 TD tosses.  Amir Postley and Tymir Oliver are 2 of the stars on ‘D’, but 6’2” 330 lb. Charles Trabi anchors the center of the Burr defensive line.  For the Tigers watch Bill Marzeski (tackle king) and Cam Young (7 INTs) on defense.  Protime is giving the edge to So. Columbia on a coin toss…26-22.  By the way, the name ‘Burrs’ came from the tenacity and sticking to someone concept of West Catholic’s first year football team in 1918.
A:

Farrell 13-1 vs. Berlin Brothersvalley 13-0 – Farrell is big, strong, and fast.  They probably mirror Clairton in a way.  Berlin is coming off the huge victory over Clairton, a game they had been looking to since the beginning of the year.  Will there be a let down or does Berlin have the drive to become the very first D-5 team to reach the state finals?  Farrell is very motivated to get to that game in Hershey.  The Steelers are led by QB Alex Myers, RB Braxton Chapman, and WR Malachi Newell when they have the ball.  On defense Coach Jarrett Samuels has taught them well as they do not miss tackles and they hit hard.  Newell has 204 take downs so far.  As a team Farrell has 39 QB sacks.  For Berlin, QB Brentson Harding has 24 TD throws, RB Braden Fochtman has almost 2,00 yards and 32 TDs, and WR Cole Booth has caught 12 TD passes.  Defensively, they are one of the top teams in the west with Ryan Custer being the leading tackler and the team has 32 sacks.  The Berlin Mountaineers must bring their ‘A’ game again this week.  Protime thinks they will as he projects Berlin to win 28-26.

Old Forge 13-1 vs. Bishop Guilfoyle 14-0 – Guilfoyle is not only the top A team in the state, they also have the best defense.  BG’s O-line might be next to Imhotep’s in size, averaging over 280 pounds.  No wonder they are the second highest scoring team in the west.  RB Evan Chadbourn has over 2,000 yards and 38 TDs including all 5 last week (4 rushing) and QB Josh Trybus has a 134.5 quarterback rating.  That Marauder defense is led by Aaron Yasulitis and Andrew Irwin.  The Old Forge Blue Devils are a force to be reckoned with and will not be a pushover.  In fact, Protime sees this as BG’s toughest test of the year.  Old Forge QB Joey Gutowski has 1,200 yards passing and defensively has 12 picks.  RB Cooper Califano has 27 TDs and 1,499 yards on the ground. (6 of which was last week.)  The Blue Devils are usually a run first team, but may change it up for Guilfoyle.  Armando Sallavanti and Michael Cantarella lead the Blue Devil defense.  Protime hears they make the best pizza in Old Forge so he and Mrs. Protime are planning out next year’s schedule to visit Old Forge for a game.  Meanwhile sad to say for Blue devil fans, Protime has the BG Marauders going back to defend their state title 31-20.