Counting those playoff points

The Pa high school football season has reached week nine and the playoff picture is beginning to clear. In District One AAAA West Chester Rustin, Coatesville, Pennsbury, Garnet Valley, Neshaminy and Upper Dublin are on top of the eventual sixteen teams that will begin post season action in two weeks.  The bottom of the pack may prove to be the most interesting as at least ten teams just below the 16^th seed could still make the cut. These squads include Conestoga, Oxford, Pennridge, Haverford & Upper Darby to name a few. This year bonus points will be a big factor for teams that had more difficult schedules against teams with more wins this season. The North Penn Knights have three losses but their schedule included teams like St. Joe Prep and LaSalle. Both these opponents have a high number of victories and this allows North Penn to gain more bonus points than a team like the Ridley Green Raiders who also has just three losses so far this season.  http://www.pawrsl.com/pfn/rankings_2013_dist01.htm

The same rules apply to all other levels in the post season races. The District One AAA has Pottsgrove,  Academy Park, West Chester Henderson, Glen Mills, Bishop Shanahan, Springfield (Delco), Interboro and Phoenixville as the teams holding the eight playoff spots after week eight. Upper Merion, Upper Moreland and Chichester are still in reach if any of the top eight should falter.

It is now time to dive right in with predictions on five of the most competitive contests this week.

Week eight predictions did not go well with only two of five winning as predicted. West Catholic and West Chester Rustin won as projected while Interboro, Pennridge and Central Bucks South did not pass the test.

The last seven years the prognostication record stands at 340-141 while going 23-12 for this season.

Although we are in late October this weekend promises to have the feel of early Winter. One interesting contest to watch involves a Central League match with the Ridley Green Raiders traveling to visit the Penncrest Lions. Why feature this game ?  The Lions are presently tied for the 12^th seed in the AAAA playoff race and Ridley listed 25^th cannot afford another loss if they wish to return to post season action. The Green Raiders have been a major factor in District One for many years and they will not go down without a fight. Ridley followed the lead of running backs Malcolm Strand-Young and Malik Jones to a 42-0 victory over Radnor last Friday night. Penncrest used the big play offense provided by the arm of QB Danny Fisher and the receiving of LaVaughn Frame to snag a 41-14 victory over Marple Newtown.  All the advantages seem to be with Penncrest but it won’t be a cake walk.

Penncrest 31  Ridley 21

The next game to check out is also a Central League showdown. The Haverford Fords will entertain the undefeated Garnet Valley Jaguars. Haverford suffered some early season setbacks but have fought for a 5-2 record and sit 21^st in the playoff race. Garnet Valley is now focused on winning the Central League and securing a top playoff berth. Fords Coach Joe Gallagher will need to empty out his bag of tricks to slow down these Jags. Tough to see how an upset could occur in this contest.

Garnet Valley  35  Haverford  23

The rest of the fearless forecast:

Academy Park  28  Glen Mills  19

LaSalle  38  West Catholic  24

Central Bucks West  21  North Penn 17