We enter the fifth week of the high school football season and it is about time that we take a look at where area teams stand at this point. In District One AAAA the top five in playoff points are Coatesville, Abington, Upper Dublin, Garnet Valley and West Chester Rustin. At the AAA level we have Bishop Shanahan, Pottsgrove, Upper Merion, Academy Park and Springfield (Delco.) leading the pack after week four. http://www.pawrsl.com/pfn/rankings_2013_dist01.htm
These teams have performed well enough in the early season to have a heads up on the playoff push but must now persist as those behind in playoff hunt are far from giving up the chase.
It is now time to dive right in with predictions on five of the most competitive contests this week.
Week four predictions went moderately well with 3 out 5 game winners. Abington, West Chester Rustin and Haverford all came through as predicted while Ridley pushed past Springfield and Pennridge wore down Academy Park in the second half to account for the missed calls.
The last seven years the prognostication record stands at 327-134 while going 10-5 for this season.
There are loads of great games to follow this weekend and one great contest to review has the LaSalle Explorers traveling to Philadelphia Catholic League rival Archbishop Ryan on Saturday afternoon. The Explorers enter this contest 3-1 after defeating Malvern Prep 23-17 in a heavy rain last Saturday night. QB Kyle Shurmur passed for 3 TD’s with two of those scores credited to receiver Jordan Meachum. The La Salle defense held off a Malvern surge to hold this hard fought win. The Archbishop Ryan Raiders are undefeated at 4-0 and also played on a wet field last Saturday night. They had an easier time than the Explores with a 54-10 win over the Chichester Eagles. Running back Samir Bullock led the way with 256 rushing yards and four TD’s. This is a classic run vs. pass contest as both teams have high powered offenses. The weather looks to be perfect so favor the passing of LaSalle to win a close one.
LaSalle 44 Archbishop Ryan 35
The next game to check out is a Central league showdown between the Springfield Cougars 3-1 traveling to Penncrest 4-0. The Cougars opened the season with 3 quick victories but had no answer for the Ridley Green Raiders in a 20-0 defeat last Friday. Springfield Coach Tom Kline will have to work hard to get his team back on track for the Penncrest Lions. The Lions roared last Friday to a 48-7 win over Lower Merion. Penncrest remained undefeated with QB Danny Fisher passing for two TD’s and running for another score to seal this romp. Count on the Lions to tame the visiting Cougars.
Penncrest 27 Springfield 13
The rest of the fearless forecast:
West Chester Rustin 31 Great Valley 17
Pottsgrove 34 Spring-Ford 21
Coatesville 41 Bishop Shanahan 21
