We enter the sixth week of the high school football season and it is time that we start to see which teams may emerge come playoff time. In District One AAAA the top five in playoff points are Coatesville, Abington, West Chester Rustin, Upper Dublin and Garnet Valley. At the AAA level we have Pottsgrove, Bishop Shanahan, Academy Park, Upper Merion and Phoenixville leading the pack after week five. http://www.pawrsl.com/pfn/rankings_2013_dist01.htm
These teams look great for now but even one loss can send you down the list in this tight pack.
It is now time to dive right in with predictions on five of the most competitive contests this week.
Week five predictions went as well as possible with a perfect 5 out 5 game winners. La Salle, Penncrest, West Chester Rustin, Pottsgrove and Coatesville all came through as predicted.
The last seven years the prognostication record stands at 332-134 while going 15-5 for this season.
This weekend offers several contests that will have great importance for league championship races and playoff points. The Central League has two undefeated teams remaining and they will face each other this Friday night. The surprising Penncrest Lions are 5-0 for the first time since 1964 and they must travel to face a team that has been in this position many times since joining the Central League. The Garnet Valley Jaguars have built a respectable football program that has even out played Ridley in the last few seasons. This year the Jags offer a very talented offensive line with Connor Walsh, Shane Stabinski, Brandon Hitner, Dave Bertone,Teddy Field and John De Pasquale opening up huge holes for running back Jake Irving. The O- line also found itself pass blocking last week against Marple Newtown and this allowed QB Christian Portale to pass for 153 yards and 3 TD’s in a 48-13 victory. The Penncrest Lions will offer quite a challenge to the Jaguars as they were able to outlast the Springfield Cougars 19-6 last Friday night. The Lions were led by QB Dan Fisher passing for 110 yards and 1 TD, while running backs Rashad Johnson and Justin Battips accounted for most the 192 yards on the ground. While the Lions are on the way up this year Garnet Valley is already there and will win this game for the home crowd.
Garnet Valley 35 Penncrest 24
The next game to check out is a Catholic League showdown between St Joe’s Prep and Archbishop Wood. These two power houses meet on Saturday night on Wood’s home field. The game can also be viewed on live streaming video on the following web site http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/sfbn.portal#. The Vikings are led by QB Tom Garlick and a talented offensive unit. Wood used both run and pass in an impressive 41-0 win over Cardinal O’Hara last Saturday. The St Joe Prep Hawks have been improving each week with one of their more impressive wins over North Penn 35-6 in week three. This appears to be one of those special seasons for Archbishop Wood and this will carry them to victory this Saturday night.
Archbishop Wood 38 St Joe’s Prep 21
The rest of the fearless forecast:
Abington 28 Pennsbury 24
Great Valley 24 Downingtown West 20
Central Bucks South 27 North Penn 21
2 Responses
Thanks Ben trying to verify do you have a site that has past records. I have 1964 from Delaware County Times article ?
The information here is also Incorrect. Penncrest lions last started 5-0 in 1981 not 1964. I suppose 1964 sounds better.