If you lived on the east side of the Great Lakes this week you may have faced blizzard conditions as lake effect snow buried some with sixty inches snow. This weekend area high school football followers will be hip deep in post season action as teams take another big step toward that Pennsylvania State championship.
The second round games in District One and Twelve were played in bone chilling conditions last weekend. The weather promises to be similar and the stakes will be higher in this weekend’s third round.
The last eight years the prognostication record stands at 402-174 while going 38-17 for this season. Springfield, Pennsbury and Downingtown East all won as predicted while Upper Dublin’s win over West Chester Rustin and St Joseph’s Prep win over LaSalle accounted for the failed picks last week. Only top competitive games have been chosen for this fearless forecast.
Great Valley vs Springfield @ Plymouth Whitemarsh
The Springfield Cougars continued that perfect season with a 10-6 victory over Pottsgrove last Friday night. The Cougars came from behind in the fourth quarter on an 11 yard TD scamper by QB Brian Allen and a key interception by linebacker Ricky Sterling to end the Falcons final drive and any hope of advancing to the sweet sixteen. The Great Valley Patriots gained entry to this round with 20-0 over Bishop Shanahan last Saturday. The Pat’s need a big effort by running back Nasir Adderly who scored on a four yard plunge and a 41 yard pass reception in this impressive win over Bishop Shanahan. The Cougar defense must find a way to slow down the Patriots hurry up offense if they are to win this District One AAA championship contest. The call here is for Great Valley to advance in a mild upset win.
Great Valley 21 Springfield 16
Downingtown East @ Coatesville
We have another Cougar team in the playoff hunt this weekend with Downingtown East traveling to Coatesville in the AAAA District one semifinal match. These Cougars needed to overcome Quakertown’s higher seed and home field advantage last Friday night. The East defense rang up a shutout that led to a 21-0 win and an all-expenses paid trip to Coatesville. These two squads met in early October with the Red Raiders coming out on top 15-9. Coatesville will ride the arms and legs of QB Jordon Young along with running back Jalen Hudson and receiver James Clark that will test the stingy Cougar defense. The Downingtown East offense will rely on QB Andrew Hudson, running back Keith Connor and receiver Cary Angeline to test Coatesville’s defense. The year of the Cougar is about to come to an end.
Coatesville 37 Downingtown East 28
Upper Dublin @ Pennsbury
The Upper Dublin Cardinals may be a surprise to many but QB Ryan Stover along with key receivers Gary Fields and Matt Thompson overwhelmed West Chester Rustin in the second half last Friday night with 41-23 victory. The Pennsbury Falcons are on a mission with only one regular season loss to North Penn and the second seed they must be confident in their ability to advance to the District One final. Pennsbury pulled away from Garnet Valley in the second half for a 45-14 win. The Falcons running back Charles Snorweah played a key role in that contest with 2 TD’s on 188 yards on the ground. This is a classic ground vs air contest. The bet here is that the running team prevails.
Pennsbury 42 Upper Dublin 34
Benjamin Franklin vs St Joseph’s Prep @ Northeast High School
The Hawks of St Joe’s Prep enters the AAAA District Twelve championship after an impressive win over the LaSalle Explorers 46-13. Many predicted the winner of that contest would be the eventual state champion. It would be hard to argue with that assessment given the talent loaded Hawks led by QB Jack Clements and wide receiver John Reid. Ben Franklin enters this game with a potent passing attack on the arm of QB Kevin Caldwell. However they just don’t have depth to take this one from The Prep.
St. Joseph Prep 48 Benjamin Franklin 20
Archbishop Wood vs Imtotep Charter
The Vikings of Archbishop Wood won their seventh straight Philadelphia Catholic League championship with a 35-14 win over Archbishop Ryan. Wood is a big physical team from top to bottom running backs Alex Arcangeli and Jaret McClenton carrying most of the rushing load. This week’s opponent for District Twelve AAA title honors is no pushover in Imhotep Charter. The Panthers pounded West Philadelphia 62-0 to win the AAA Public League title last Saturday. Andre Dreiutt-Parks was on a roll passing for two TD’s and running for a third in this big win. Coach Albie Crosby will need every trick in the book to beat this talent laden Viking squad.
Archbishop Wood 35 Imhotep Prep 23
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Go prep
Go Imhotep