Around District 11 with Pam and Guy: Golden Hawks the 4A Champs

Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News

Guy Smith | November 13, 2023

The 12th week of the football season brought four championship games to District 11. Congratulations to our Champions:

1A—Minersville Battlin’ Miners
2A—Williams Valley Vikings
4A—Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks
5A—Whitehall Zephyrs

STILL GOING. Another apology in order this week. In listing the schools still playing this season last week, Guy somehow forgot Easton. Of course, they are prepping for the big game against Phillipsburg. Knew he would be called out on that one. Sorry, Rovers.

Eleven District 11 teams are still active. Heading to the state playoffs are our four class champions that have been decided so far: Minersville, Williams Valley, Bethlehem Catholic, and Whitehall. Still playing for district titles are Parkland, Nazareth, Palmerton, and Northwestern Lehigh. And prepping for turkey are Northampton, Easton, and Catasauqua.

THIS WEEK. The week found us at seven sporting events, just two being football games. Tuesday we headed to Emmaus for a thrilling big school field hockey state playoff game. The Emmaus Hornets had a real scare from Methacton, and were truly outplayed for most of the second half before scoring a late goal to send the game into O.T. Emmaus pretty much dominated the 7 on 7 overtime and scored for the “sudden victory” (“sudden death” no longer being politically correct) win, thus being the team to eliminate Methacton three straight years.

On Thursday we changed gears and headed indoors the first time this season for DeSales University men’s basketball. It was the first time for Guy seeing Bulldog head coach Scott Coval on the court since Coval was a player for Whitehall in the 1982 state championship game at Hershey. My buddy tells the story of how Coval, also the A.D. at DeSales, tossed future NBA player Darrun Hilliard (Bethlehem Liberty) from the DeSales gym for working out there without permission.

For Friday we were really on the fence between the 6A semi-final of Nazareth v. Northampton or the 5A championship game of Whitehall vs. Southern Lehigh. Then Pam asked to replace our planned Saturday afternoon college football with high school state playoff soccer, and ceded the Friday choice completely to Guy, who promptly picked the Nazareth game.

On Saturday Pam set up a three-sport triple for us. That’s my girl! In the morning, it was back to Nazareth, 25 hours later for more 3A big school field hockey for Emmaus. In the afternoon it was off to Northern Lehigh and 2A girls soccer playoffs for Central Columbia. And in the evening, it was the District 11 4A championship game featuring a rematch between Allentown Central Catholic and Bethlehem Catholic.

On Sunday we were all set for Neumann v. Bloomsburg college ice hockey, until friend Don said he was going to NCAA D3 women’s soccer national tournament round two game at Messiah University as they hosted the Williams College Ephs. And we headed there instead. Of note was that admission for us to the state high school playoff soccer game Saturday was more than three times as much as our admission for the college national soccer playoff game Sunday.

2023 DISTRICT 11 SCHOOLS VISITED. Of the 47 schools in the district that sponsor football, we made it to see 30 of them play on their home field this year for either varsity or JV. In chronological order they were: Executive Education, Pocono Mountain West, Jim Thorpe, Catasauqua, Blue Mountain, Pleasant Valley, Bethlehem Catholic, Minersville, Nativity BVM, Shenandoah Valley, Pine Grove, Allentown Central Catholic, Panther Valley, Pen Argyl, Lehighton, Schuylkill Haven, Dieruff, East Stroudsburg South, Whitehall, Wilson, Freedom, Southern Lehigh, Tamaqua, Stroudsburg, Liberty, Pocono Mountain East, Northwestern Lehigh, Palmerton, Williams Valley, and Nazareth.

GAME 50. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2023. NORTHAMPTON KONKRETE KIDS @ NAZARETH BLUE EAGLES. Northampton entered the game as an EPC division champ, while Nazareth was “just” division runner up. But there was a difference. A big difference.

Nazareth plays in the oh-so-tough EPC South Division, while Northampton, a southern county school, again ruled the roost up in the North Division. How much of a difference does that make? Consider this: The teams Nazareth defeated have a total of 66 wins, while the teams Northampton defeated tallied 35 wins.

We had forgotten what a nice stadium Nazareth is to attend. It’s been a long time since we went there for a regular varsity game. In the three years of the “Blog Era,” we only had been there twice, for a JV game and the spring all-star game. The place offers an outstanding food variety with an excellent setup for efficient service. In addition, there is plenty of parking. We wonder why they don’t use that stadium for football playoff games?

We had seen Nazareth play Whitehall earlier in the season and were very impressed by the play of sophomore QB Peyton Falzone. Falzone and his Eagles were again impressive and put three TDs on the board while keeping Northampton scoreless. The Kids did get one near the end for a 21-7 final that probably wasn’t as close as that score looks.

We strongly urge anyone going to games at Nazareth to support their refreshment stand. There may be none better in D11. Our dinner at the game included Tuscon Tortellini soup as an appetizer, followed by a chicken cutlet sandwich with bacon and cheese for our entrée, and fresh cut fries for our side. We finished off the day with fresh popped popcorn for a Q4 snack and a candy bar for a buck for dessert.

Nazareth advances to the district big school championship game this Friday against unbeaten Parkland, who had a bit of a scare against Emmaus.

GAME 51. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2023. ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC VS. BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC @ WHITEHALL. DISTRICT 11 4A CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. Our third high school playoff sport of the day was football. This one was a rematch of a game played just two weeks prior.

The cost of attending the high school playoff games is getting pretty high. For example, it cost more to see any single one of the three high school games we went to on Saturday than it did to see the Thursday college men’s basketball game and the Sunday college soccer national tournament game combined. All told, we paid $89.71 in admission alone for five high school games last week. Definitely cost prohibitive for a lot of families to attend multiple games. Perhaps we are nearing a tipping point, as the crowd seemed down from the same matchup last season.

It looked on paper like ACC should be the favorite in this one. Not only had they defeated Becahi two weeks prior, but their 8-2 record in the EPC South featured wins over 6A (two classes up) playoff teams Northampton, Emmaus, and Freedom, plus other 6A teams Easton and Liberty. They also defeated a pair of 5A schools in district champ Whitehall and district playoff team PM West. And their loss to 11-1 Nazareth was by just one score. They were the three-time defending 4A champions.

Meanwhile, Becahi lost to all four 6A playoff schools they faced, had a five-game losing streak to end the regular season, and had a losing road record for the year.

But there’s an old saying: “That’s why they play the game.” In the most uninspired PIAA district championship game performance that we have ever seen by a single team, the Golden Hawks blew out ACC in every facet of the game. Central didn’t look good from start to finish. They only earned three first downs the entire game, and never even got into the Red Zone. Becahi on the other hand, scored four TDs, for a 29-0 victory. As bad as that looks, it was even worse than the score indicated. Becahi had a TD called back and twice more were knocking on the door but didn’t finish the drive. This one was Mercy Rule in everything but the score.

Both the field hockey game at Nazareth in the morning and the soccer game at Northern Lehigh in the afternoon had good eats, so we limited our intake at Whitehall to just the fresh cut fries and pizza. The main refreshment stand was not open for this championship game regardless. The biggest line all night was at the coffee truck. Hint to other schools. Coffee trucks are big moneymakers.

COMING UP. Pam is heading to Boston for a five-day conference. Guy is solo this week. As of now it looks like Emmaus field hockey state semi-finals on Tuesday against Lower Dauphin at Hamburg to start the week. Friday morning state championship soccer is possible if Central Columbia makes it to the final. But that’s a big “if” as they face the lone team to beat them this year in the semi on Tuesday, that being D11’s Northwestern Lehigh Tigers. Friday night is a tough call as all six D11 classes play Friday. Right now, Guy is leaning towards Whitehall @ Delaware Valley. With no D11 high school football games on Saturday, Guy is currently looking at an NCAA D3 national football playoff game featuring Grove City @ Susquehanna. However, if Emmaus makes it to the field hockey state championship game also on Saturday afternoon, it may give pause to weigh that as an option as well.

We always enjoy feedback from readers at RTRYFBAR@aol.com.

GUY & PAM’S “BLOG YEARS” SCORECARD: 2021 – 2023 (81 of 90)

PIAA District 11 Varsity or JV Home Game with Varsity All-Time (48 of 48)

1-48. All 47 schools plus a second stadium for Executive Education, who played multiple home games at two locations (Muhlenberg College and Lafayette College) not already included by another team.

D11 Active Alternative JV Game Sites (7 of 7). 49. Allentown Central Catholic Vikings JV—Percy Ruhe Park (2023), 50. Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks JV–High School (2022), 51. Blue Mountain Eagles JV—East Field (2023), 52. Freedom Patriots JV—FHS Turf Field (2022), 53. Lehighton Indians JV–Old Football Stadium (2022), 54. Nativity BVM Green Wave JV—High School (2022), 55. Pocono Mountain West Panthers JV—Old West Stadium (Grass Field—2023).

D11 Related–Special Events, Sub Regional, or Former EPC teams (6 of 8). 56. Easton Red Rovers @ Lafayette College (Thanksgiving Day Game 2021), 57. 2021 New Hope-Solebury Lions: D1-3A (2023), 58. 2021 Abington Heights Comets: D2-5A (2023), 59. 2021 Wyoming Valley West Spartans: D2-5A (2023), 60. 2022-23 Hazleton Cougars: D2-6A, 61. Phillipsburg Stateliners—Former EPC (2023).

All Star Games with D11 Players (6 OF 6). 62. Colonial vs. Schuylkill League All-Star Game (2022 @ Schuylkill Haven), 63. Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic (2022 @ Nazareth), 64. PSFCA East vs. West Small School All Star Game (2022 @ Bishop McDevitt), 65. PSFCA East vs. West Big School All Star Game (2022 @ Bishop McDevitt), 66. PSFCA Pennsylvania vs. Maryland Big 33 Game (2022 @ Bishop McDevitt), 67. Schuylkill League All-Star Game (2021 @ Schuylkill Haven)

Out of District Playoff Games with D11 Teams (4). 68. Dunmore High School (Northern Lehigh Bulldogs 2022), 69. Bald Eagle High School (Allentown Central Catholic Vikings 2022), 70. Steelton-Highspire High School (Northern Lehigh Bulldogs 2022). 71. Governor Mifflin High School (Pleasant Valley Bears 2023)

NCAA D2 PSAC Colleges (9 OF 17) 72. Bloomsburg Huskies (2022), 73. Clarion Golden Eagles (2022), 74. East Stroudsburg Warriors (2022), 75. Edinboro Fighting Scots (2022), 76. Kutztown Golden Bears (2022), 77. Lock Haven Bald Eagles (2023), 78. Millersville Marauders (2022), 79. Shippensburg Raiders (2023) 80. West Chester Golden Rams, 81. Mansfield Mountaineers (former).

Missing (9). WILKES-BARRE WOLFPACK: 2022-23 D2-6A Subregion team, WILLIAMSPORT MILLIONAIRES: 2022-23 D4-6A subregion team, PSAC CALIFORNIA VULCANS, PSAC GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS, PSAC INDIANA CRIMSON HAWKS, PSAC MERCYHURST LAKERS, PSAC SETON HILL GRIFFINS, PSAC SHEPHERD RAMS (WV), PSAC SLIPPERY ROCK THE ROCK.

Missed (For Now). Nazareth Blue Eagles JV (Played a game at the middle school in 2021 when the main field was used for a varsity soccer playoff game), Cardinal O’Hara (North Schuylkill Playoff Game 2021), Berks Catholic (Pine Grove Playoff Game 2022), Trinity (Executive Education Playoff Game 2022), South Philly Supersite (Northwestern Lehigh Playoff Game 2022), Germantown Supersite (Whitehall Playoff Game 2022).

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews