If the names Interboro and Bristol don’t sound like familiar PIAA playoff participant names, it’s because neither is often a participant.
Interboro (11-2) won its first District 1 football championship since the region began a postseason football bracket in 1992. The Bucs, led by 200-game winning head coach Steve Lennox, face powerful Archbishop Wood Friday.
Bristol, meanwhile, won its first District 1 championship since 1998, when it was a AA school, and first Class A title since 1997. The Warriors, led by 1,400-yard rusher Donte Simmons, had never won a PIAA playoff game until its surprising 20-0 shutout of District 11 champion Williams Valley Saturday.
The 9-1 Warriors weren’t favored last week and also likely won’t be favored this week against District 2 champion Dunmore in the quarterfinals.
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Bishop McDevitt senior quarterback Alec Werner is closing in on a milestone accomplished by only three other quarterbacks prior to him. Werner needs only 53 yards passing to become the second Eastern PA quarterback and fourth quarterback in state history with consecutive seasons of 3,000 passing yards or more.
Werner would join a list which includes Brockway’s Derek Buganza, Port Allegany’s Matt Bodamer and Allentown Central Catholic’s Brendan Nosovitch.
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If Archbishop Wood reaches the PIAA AAA championship game, it will have done so with a freshman quarterback, Tom Garlick, at the helm. How many other PIAA football finalists ever had a freshman help guide a team to the championship game?
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Coatesville’s 63 points against Neshaminy allowed the Red Raiders to surpass the 500-point plateau for the first time in school history. Entering its game with Spring-Ford, Coatesville has scored 501 points for the season.
The Red Raiders hung 60 points on Spring-Ford the last time the two teams met. Not saying that will happen again in 2012, but just say if the Red Raiders did manage to hit a 60-something total on the Rams, how many other teams in District 1 playoff history would own consecutive 60-point outbursts since the region began district football playoffs in 1992?
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Abington Heights’ shutout loss to Allentown Central Catholic added another year to District 2’s PIAA playoff victory drought in the AAA class. District 2 hasn’t won a AAA playoff game since 2008, when Berwick defeated Wilson Area, 13-6. The Bulldogs were then beaten by Selinsgrove a week later.
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West York Area is making its second District 3 AAA championship game appearance under head coach Ron Miller. West York won that initial appearance in 2008 before facing Thomas Jefferson in the state semifinals.
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After securing the District 3 A championship with a 28-13 victory over Steelton-Highspire, Delone Catholic head coach Steve Wiles said opportunities like that don’t come around often. Maybe not recently. The championship was Delone’s first since 2007. But it was the Squires’ eighth District 3 football championship overall and first in Class A since 1994. Delone won AA titles in D3 in 1989, 1990, 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2007.
Follow Josh Funk on Twitter @Funk_pafb.
