Around District 11 with Pam and Guy: A Homecoming for Pam

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Billy Splain | September 7, 2023

Around District 11 with Pam and Guy: A Homecoming for Pam

It was a somber week for us, as we had the sad responsibility of planning Guy’s mother’s funeral. But as is so often the case for us and so many others we found escape in sports. This week we managed to take in four football games including our first football double of the season, and our first college game Thursday though Saturday, then ended the holiday weekend with Sprint Car racing at Selinsgrove Speedway and the Port Royal Fair on Sunday and Monday.

GAME 12. THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2023. BANGOR SLATERS @ JIM THORPE OLYMPIANS. This year there were three Labor Day Thursday games to choose from in District 11. For the last two years we went to see Northern Lehigh vs. Northwestern Lehigh and saw a pair of classics. The Bulldogs seem to be down this year, and we didn’t think it would be too close of a game. Same with East Stroudsburg North at Liberty. We were right on both counts, as Northwestern won by 48 and Liberty by 33. The third game was Bangor @ Jim Thorpe. We weren’t sure how close this one was going to be as JT was shut out and Mercy Ruled the previous week at Blue Mountain. Meanwhile, Bangor had rolled over Palisades by 28. But we like the stadium at JT, so we went with that option for our Thursday choice.

Admission at Jim Thorpe was $5 and a nice Thursday crowd was on hand. JT easily qualifies for the Best Snack Bar playoffs. Not only do they feature flame grilled one-third pound burgers, but they also have fresh cut fries. This was our third time at this stadium, and for this visit we sat on the away side.

At most games, we just buy our tickets and eat our dinner at the games to support the schools as much as possible. However, there are a few stadiums where we choose not to eat dinner, because of below average offerings. We want to support them all, but they have to do their part and earn it. At JT, they earn it. The snack bar is too close to the fence surrounding the outside of the track which does result in congestion, but we speculate that it wasn’t always the case. Most likely, the fence had to be moved out when they upgraded to the turf field and all weather track. Dinner lineup was an Olympian Burger in the first quarter, fresh cut fries in the second quarter, pierogies for Guy and popcorn for Pam in the third quarter, and cheerleader fundraiser homemade brownies in the fourth quarter. Not a bad choice in the bunch. Since this was the first football fresh cut fries of the year, they debut at the top of the Potato Power Rankings for this season.

Smiths Snack Bar Pick: One-third pound flame grilled Olympian burger for $4.50.

Bangor looked pretty solid and upped their record to 2-0 recording a 39-14 win. Jim Thorpe seems a bit one-dimensional, and dropped to 0-2. Bangor hosts Southern Lehigh this week, Jim Thorpe heads to Salisbury.

GAME 13. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2023. PALMERTON BLUE BOMBERS @ CATASAUQUA ROUGH RIDERS. Pam’s turn to pick this week and she went straight to her alma mater in Catty. Even though Pam’s now 60 and retired, we still see people we know when we return to Catty. AD Tommy Moll hooked us up with passes during the no-fan COVID year. Guy went to Kutztown State with basketball coach Eric Snyder and also knew his sister Ann when he did student teaching at Catty under football coaching legend Dale Edwards. Also in that class was Al Zuzik, at the time a Roughie player and now team photographer. Admission was again $5, with Guy qualifying for the senior discount of $3 which he immediately reinvested in the $2 program.

But we really hit the jackpot this time and had the pleasure and honor of sitting with another legendary Catty teacher (one of Pam’s favorites) and coach: Ray “Reds” Laubach. Ray has been retired from teaching for 23 years now and is in his 80s, but remembers the details of just about every football and basketball game he ever played in, coached, or watched. A walking history of Lehigh Valley sports.

Catty has refreshment stands on both the home and away sides, with different menus. The away side stand is run by the band parents, and has more “homemade” offerings. From that side, Guy tried both the pork and the hamburger BBQs, amazing for just $3 each. Pam had mac and cheese topped with taco meat for $4. From the main stand on the home side, we went with chic-fil-a, fries, and pizza (not made on premises). The fries are not fresh cut, thus ineligible for the power rankings.

Smith Snack Bar Pick: Any of the home cooked hot food options at the band parents stand on the visitor side.

Catty put a 48-22 hurtin’ on Northern Lehigh the previous week, while Palmerton handled Lehighton 54-30. Thus, both were 1-0 entering this game. Catty got off to a very slow start, and although they showed some life, were pretty much handled by the Bombers, who appeared bigger, faster, stronger. Palmerton is going to be tough in their division and class; they handled the Roughs 27-7. Palmerton hosts Palisades this week, while Catty hosts the mighty men of Marian Catholic

Pam picked Catty for this week’s game. Guy’s up for next Friday’s game choice.

GAME 14. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2023. NORTH SCHUYLKILL SPARTANS JV VS. BLUE MOUNTAIN EAGLES JV @ EAST FIELD, ORWIGSBURG. Last week, we knocked off Alternative JV field #5 with the grass field at Pocono Mountain West. This week we scored #6, as the Blue Mountain Eagles played their JV game at the middle school in Orwigsburg.

Guy had his eye on the East Field, as we were told that Blue Mountain played a JV game there last year that we had missed. But according to Athletic Director Doug Morgan, the plan was to play all of their 2023 JV games at their stadium on the same field as their varsity team.

However, they are in the process of getting new turf installed, and that project is slightly behind schedule. Even the varsity had to move their first home game, to Schuylkill Haven HS. The JV game this week was moved to the middle school grass, called East Field. The setup is kind of unusual, as like the turf field at Freedom High in Bethlehem, the small sets of bleachers are on the visitor side of the field. At Blue Mountain, there is a nice rise on their side which was lined with lawn chairs by the Eagle fans.

Admission was free and it was nice to see they take their JV games seriously in Blue Mountain. A nice turnout of spectators were there and they even had the refreshment stand open. Gotta love hot dogs for breakfast!

After three straight wins by over 20 points for the games we had seen thus far this season, it was nice to see a game come down to the wire. Both teams scored a pair of TDs, and North Schuylkill was able to successfully complete one of their conversions for a 14-12 victory. Blue Mountain had the ball at the end and was still playing for the win as time expired.

Unfortunately the game was marred by what looked like an innocent play but resulted in a broken leg to one of the Blue Mountain players. Best to him from us for a speedy and as pain-free as possible recovery. Also, sincere thanks to Doug Morgan for keeping us in the loop so we didn’t miss a chance to see a game at the East Field.

The only remaining Alternate JV field on our D11 Hitlist is Allentown Central Catholic at Percy Ruhe/Alton Park. If anyone knows of any other D11 JV teams playing games at different (from varsity) fields besides Freedom, Becahi, Nativity, PMW, Lehighton, Blue Mountain, and ACC, please let us know. Thanks.

Almost all of the JV games we have been to that have been paired with middle school games have seen the middle school game played first, followed by the JV game. This one had the JV game first. Add the quite early 10:00 a.m. start time plus a JV game with eight minute quarters, and even with the longer than usual injury delay, the game was over by 11:30 and we were able to double up with an afternoon game.

GAME 15. SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2023. POST UNIVERSITY EAGLES @ LOCK HAVEN UNIVERSITY BALD EAGLES. Out first football double of the season, and first college game. We are now one school short of being halfway through the PSAC. Eagles, Eagles, and Bald Eagles. Three of the four teams we saw play on Saturday were Eagles.

And I thought the parking at ESU was bad. Lock Haven is far worse. The field is located at the top of a mountain and if you didn’t buy a tailgate pass or are a VIP, peon parking is way at the bottom of the mountain. For that reason alone, this was probably our last visit to this campus.

Post is a private college in Connecticut, and the estimated cost to attend per year for an undergrad is over $44,500. The two teams played for the first time last season, with The Haven traveling to Waterbury, CT. In a thriller, Haven won that one 35-34.

Haven’s fortunes in the PSAC have not been too good. They had not won a home game in over 1,000 days, since the 2019 season finale against Gannon 28-27. For the current season, they were ranked last in the eight-team PSAC East preseason poll.

Admission was $10. All seats are on one side of the stadium. With the visitor side open, it is a very picturesque setting with a gorgeous view of the area. I’ll bet the colors are really spectacular later in fall. The game was promoted as a “Gold Out” by the home team. Coulda fooled us.

The concession setup was not very fan friendly. There was one truck set up and the line was long and snaked around a building well into the third quarter. As thirsty as we were, neither of us were willing to stand in the slow moving line and miss a large chunk of game. On the plus side, they did have fresh cut fries, which is rare for the PSAC schools, and this was only the second of the eight PSAC schools visited so far to offer them. Had to try them, so near the end of Q3 when the line finally got reasonable, we got fries plus a much-needed beverage. Fries were probably as good as at JT, but price ($10) and accessibility issues for much of the game puts them behind the Olympians in the Potato Power Rankings.

Smiths Snack Bar Pick: Get in line early

The Haven sure didn’t play like they went winless at home for the past three seasons. A scoop and score on Pace’s first possession and pick six on their second, and the Bald Eagles were up 14-0 in the first four minutes before their offense even ran a play. And there was an important D11 connection, as the “Pick Six” touchdown was scored by sophomore Victor Hunt, a computer science major from Bath who played his high school ball at Northampton. By the end of the first quarter it was 28-0 Lock Haven.

By the time they called off the dogs in the middle of the fourth quarter, Haven had an over 50 point lead and won the game 58-7. That’s one heck of a way to end a nearly four-year home losing streak. We certainly picked a good week for the home team to make our visit.

We have sporting events scheduled for Wednesday through Sunday. Four different sports, but only one football game so should be a short blog next week. We always welcome feedback at RTRYFBAR@AOL.COM.

PIAA DISTRICT 11 & NCAA D2 PSAC SCORECARD: 2021 – 2023 (72 of 89)

Varsity or JV Home Game in 2021/2022 with Varsity All-Time 1. Allentown Central Catholic Vikings (2021), 2. Bangor Slaters (2021), 3. Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks (2021), 4. Blue Mountain Eagles (2021), 5. Catasauqua Rough Riders (2021), 6. Dieruff Huskies (2021), 7. Easton Red Rovers @ Cottingham Stadium (2022), 8. Easton Red Rovers @ Lafayette College (Thanksgiving Day Game 2021), 9. East Stroudsburg North Timberwolves (2021), 10. East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers (2022), 11. Emmaus Hornets (2021), 12. Executive Education Raptors @ Muhlenburg College (2021), 13. Executive Education Raptors @ Lafayette College (2023), 14. Freedom Patriots (2021), 15. Jim Thorpe Olympians (2022), 16. Lehighton Indians (2021), 17. Liberty Hurricanes (2021), 18. Mahanoy Area Golden Bears (2021), 19. Marian Catholic Colts (2021), 20. Minersville Battlin’ Miners (2021), 21. Nativity BVM Green Wave (2021), 22. Nazareth Blue Eagles (2021), 23. Northern Lehigh Bulldogs (2021), 24. Northampton Konkrete Kids (2021), 25. Northwestern Lehigh Tigers (2021), 26. North Schuylkill Spartans (2022), 27. Notre Dame Green Pond Crusaders (2021), 28. Palisades Pirates (2022), 29. Palmerton Blue Bombers (2021), 30. Panther Valley Panthers (2021), 31. Parkland Trojans (2021), 32. Pen Argyl Green Knights (2021), 33. Pine Grove Cardinals (2021), 34. Pleasant Valley Bears (2021), 35. Pocono Mountain East Cardinals (2022), 36. Pocono Mountain West Panthers (2021), 37. Pottsville Crimson Tide (2022), 38. Salisbury Township Falcons (2021), 39. Saucon Valley Panthers (2021), 40. Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes (2022), 41. Shenandoah Valley Blue Devils (2021), 42. Southern Lehigh Spartans (2021), 43. Stroudsburg Mounties (2021), 44. Tamaqua Blue Raiders (2021), 45. Tri-Valley Bulldogs (2022), 46. Whitehall Zephyrs (2021), 47. William Allen Canaries (2022), 48. Williams Valley Vikings (2021), 49. Wilson Area Warriors (2021).

Active Alternative JV Game Sites. 50. ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS JV—PERCY RUHE PARK, 51. Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks JV–High School (2022), 52. Blue Mountain Eagles JV—East Field (2023), 53. Freedom Patriots JV—FHS Turf Field (2022), 54. Lehighton Indians JV–Old Football Stadium (2022), 55. Nativity BVM Green Wave JV—High School (2022), 56. Pocono Mountain West Panthers JV—Old West Stadium (Grass Field—2023).

D11 Related (Sub Regional Teams or Former EPC). 57. 2021 NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY LIONS (D1-3A), 58. 2021 ABINGTON HEIGHTS COMETS (D2-5A), 59. 2021 WYOMING VALLEY WEST SPARTANS (D2-5A), 60. 2022

HAZLETON COUGARS (D2-6A), 61. 2022 WILKES BARRE WOLFPACK (D2-6A), 62. 2022 WILLIAMSPORT MILLIONAIRES (D4-6A), 63. PHILLIPSBURG STATELINERS (FORMER EPC)

All Star Games with D11 Players. 64. Colonial vs. Schuylkill League All-Star Game (2022 @ Schuylkill Haven), 65. Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic (2022 @ Nazareth), 66. PSFCA East vs. West Small School All Star Game (2022 @ Bishop McDevitt), 67. PSFCA East vs. West Big School All Star Game (2022 @ Bishop McDevitt), 68. PSFCA Pennsylvania vs. Maryland Big 33 Game (2022 @ Bishop McDevitt), 69. Schuylkill League All-Star Game (2021 @ Schuylkill Haven)

Neutral Field State Playoff Games with D11 Teams. 70. Dunmore High School (Northern Lehigh Bulldogs 2022), 71. Bald Eagle High School (Allentown Central Catholic Vikings 2022), 72. Steelton-Highspire High School (Northern Lehigh Bulldogs 2022).

NCAA D2 PSAC Colleges. 73. Bloomsburg Huskies (2022), 74. CALIFORNIA VULCANS, 75. Clarion Golden Eagles (2022), 76. East Stroudsburg Warriors (2022), 77. Edinboro Fighting Scots (2022), 78. GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS, 79. INDIANA CRIMSON HAWKS, 80. Kutztown Golden Bears (2022), 81. Lock Haven Bald Eagles (2023), 82. MERCYHURST LAKERS, 83. Millersville Marauders (2022), 84. SETON HILL GRIFFINS, 85. SHEPHERD RAMS (WV), 86. SHIPPENSBURG RAIDERS, 87. SLIPPERY ROCK THE ROCK, 88. WEST CHESTER GOLDEN RAMS, 89. Mansfield Mountaineer

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