Around District 11 with Pam and Guy: Great Comeback by the PV Bears

Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News

Guy Smith | November 8, 2023

The start of the playoffs is bittersweet. The big games are coming up, where the top teams face off head-to-head on the road to the state finals (almost said the road to Hershey). But it also means the regular season is over. Teams are putting away the pads until next year, there will be fewer and fewer games to choose from. Our motto: Enjoy it while it lasts, because it’s way better than basketball.

Five sporting events for Guy last week, football on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, racing on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Pam was only with me on Thursday, as after our yoga class Friday morning she drove to North Carolina for her lone aunt’s funeral.

APOLOGIES TO SALISBURY AND SHENANDOAH VALLEY. Last week we wrote that there were still 33 District 11 teams playing, 30 in the district playoffs, and three in Eastern Conference. We thought we checked for contingency games, but one evaded our detection. Shenandoah Valley came to Salisbury, and it was a close game, with the Falcons getting their first win of the season. A one-win season isn’t anything to get overly excited about, but it’s a sure sight better than going winless. Contingency games work well for Salisbury. Three years ago, we were in the stands to see them beat Allen in anther close game featuring two teams that almost never meet. With the Salisbury win, 45 of the 47 District 11 teams got at least one win this season.

GAME 47. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023. JIM THORPE OLYMPIANS @ PALMERTON BLUE BOMBERS. For the past two years, the only Thursday option was an Eastern Conference Championship game. Last year we were at Pottsville, the year before at Bangor. This year there were no Eastern Conference games on Thursday, but there were four District 11 3A playoff games.

Eight teams from one classification level in the district playoffs is too many. When a 10-0 team plays a 2-8 team in the playoffs, that’s not what playoffs are meant to represent. With eight teams, it makes the first round pretty much a given who will win. We looked at the four choices and picked Palmerton for three reasons. One, when they played J.T. in the regular season it was only a ten-point game. Two, we wanted to see the Palmerton’s record-setting QB Matt Machalik in person. Three, we had not been to Palmerton yet this season, and try to get around to as many D11 stadiums as possible during the year. Lehigh bound Machalik did not disappoint, and he is not only a run-pass double threat, but he’s a real stud on defense as well.

The lone refreshment line kept us from sampling anything from the main stand, but we were happy to see old friend Smitty’s French Fry truck dishing out fresh cuts. It was a great fresh cut weekend for Guy, with four straight days including his all-time favorite Williams on Saturday.

It was a cold one, and Palmerton didn’t let the Olympians hang around like they did earlier in the season. So, we made up another game with the winner in doubt until the very end. The final score in that one was Palmerton 37, Temperature 34.

We definitely made the right game pick, as all three of the other 3A Quarter Final games on Thursday were blowouts, each of the winners scoring at least 55.

Palmerton advances, and will host North Schuylkill on Friday. 11-0 vs. 9-2. Now THAT’S playoff football.

GAME 48. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023. PLEASANT VALLEY BEARS @ GOVERNOR MIFFLIN MUSTANGS. This game was for the Eastern Conference 5A/6A “Big School” Championship. With Pam driving south, Guy had total choice of game. Why pick a game with a pair of 5-5 teams 90 minutes away over for example, Emmaus at Freedom, the district where Guy did student teaching vs. the school where he taught for over 30 years? Again, three reasons.

One, the main reason was that Guy had never been to a game at Governor Mifflin and whenever District 11 schools travel to play teams outside the district at schools we have never visited, those become a priority, at least in the last couple of seasons. Two, Guy has been a long-time follower of Eastern Conference, and tries to still support them by attending one of their games each season. Three, for the past almost 20 years, we have lived in the Pleasant Valley district, so there is a connection to the Bears.

Governor Mifflin has one of the best refreshment offerings of any stadium visited so far. The biggest turnoff is when there is just one stand with one line. At Mifflin, there is a candy stand, a stand run by the band parents, a main concession with multiple serving lines, a fresh cut fry truck: Sammy’s, one of the best, and a funnel cake truck. They offered some unique items not found at many high school stadiums, such as corn dogs, and both buffalo chicken or cheesesteak egg rolls. In addition to the fresh cut bonus point, they would have also earned the fresh popcorn bonus as well. Alas, they are not of District 11 and thus ineligible for our post-season Snack Bar All Star team accolades.

Pleasant Valley seems to have a problem with time management. The previous week for the JV game at Pocono Mountain East, their cheerleaders didn’t arrive until halftime. This week it was the band who showed up halfway through the first quarter.

You never know what to expect in a game like this, a pair of 5-5 teams with no common opponents. But we knew a lot more about Pleasant Valley than Governor Mifflin. Of Pleasant Valley’s five wins, none, I repeat none, came against a team with a winning record. All were against EPC North teams. The closest was the win over East Stroudsburg South, a two-point win over a team that ended 5-6.

This turned out to easily be the best of the three games attended this week. It looked like this would be a Governor Mifflin rout, as they jumped out to a 19-0 lead and quite frankly made it look fairly easy via the run game. But all of a sudden, the PV Bears strapped in and started playing hard-nosed quality football. To the surprise of everyone that had witnessed the first portion of the game, the momentum did a 180-degree turn, and Pleasant Valley played their best half of football all season. They ripped off 28 unanswered points to earn the championship as the lower-seeded road team. Nice job, and what a fun game to watch in person, at least for Bears fans!

Meanwhile in Bethlehem: Freedom, who was playing at home and the higher seed, was eliminated by Emmaus, a team they had defeated during the regular season. They were one of only two higher seeded teams to lose, the other being Blue Mountain to Becahi.

GAME 49. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2023. CATASAUQUA ROUGH RIDERS @ WILLIAMS VALLEY VIKINGS. Guy hoped for a high school playoff double on Saturday. The original plan was the Pen Argyl Eastern Conference Championship game in the afternoon, then Williams Valley in the evening. But the afternoon game was surprisingly slated for a 3:00 kickoff, making attending both unfeasible. Again, three reasons for picking Williams Valley. One, we were already at Pen Argyl this season for a JV game, but not at Williams Valley. Two, a district playoff game vs. another Eastern Conference game with no ties to either team. Three, we had only ever been to Williams Valley once before and it was an unpleasant high school football experience so figured they deserved another shot. And of course, Williams fries as well.

The first time we went to see Williams Valley, we were turned off by the abuse the fans heaped on the officials, taking their cue from the announcer, who was openly doing the same thing to the referees. We had never seen anything like that before. This time Guy sat on the away side to separate from the Viking fans.

The stadium, which is not located at the school and is actually in Dauphin County, is a pretty cool setting, with no running track or even fence separating the field from the fans. Fans set up lawn chairs just past the back of the end zone. Not at many places can fans get that close to the action.

This was the second time we had the Williams fries this year, the other at Pine Grove. They are without question our favorite, and that’s from a field of many very high-quality fry trucks to be found at District 11 games. They also doubled up with fresh popped popcorn as well at another stand.

Over at the main refreshment stand, the chili was outstanding. Guy would go so far as to say the best he’s ever tasted at high school football. He went back for a second bowl, and talked to the woman working at the stand whose husband had made it. Guy told her to tell him she is one lucky lady to have married him! She said chili is a specialty item there, and they make something different each week. She rattled off the specialty item for each home game. What I wouldn’t have given to be there for the ham and bean soup.

At 8-2, Williams Valley had to be the favorite against 6-4 Catasauqua. Surprisingly, the Roughs scored in three plays on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead. Williams Valley fumbled on each of their next two possessions, but Catty couldn’t turn either of those into points, or even first downs. When you are the underdog, you have to take advantage of turnover opportunities and Catty was not able to do so.

Surprisingly to Guy, once again the Williams Valley public address announcer second-guessed / mocked the officials. Still in the first quarter, the Catty QB threw the ball away to avoid a sack. Williams Valley wanted an intentional grounding penalty, which was perhaps justified, but there was no flag. The announcer chimed in: “No receiver in the area, aaannnddd….no flag.” A receiver in the area is a judgement call by the officials, and their opinion should be respected, not second guessed. Only twice can Guy recall being at high school games where the announcer representing one of the schools playing in the game publicly second-guessed the referees over the p.a. system, and both times it was at Williams Valley, where we have only been two times. We keep hearing about the alarming shortage of referees in the PIAA. Surely this sort of approach can’t be helping.

After Williams Valley settled down, they played the hard-running, hard-hitting, hard-nosed football they are known for. Catty could not stop their ground game. It wasn’t a blowout, but there was really no doubt as to which was the better team and who deserved to advance. Final: Williams Valley-34, Catasauqua-20. Williams Valley advances and will face another 9-2 team, Schuylkill Haven, for the 2A district championship this coming weekend at North Schuylkill.

COMING UP. We are on the fence about games to attend this week. On Friday it’s between Northampton @ Nazareth 6A semi or Southern Lehigh vs. Whitehall 5A championship at Catty. For Saturday, college or high school football, or college or high school field hockey all remain in the running. Hopefully we can make a double work between the four events under consideration. Probably a game-day decision. We always enjoy feedback from readers at RTRYFBAR@aol.com.

DISTRICT 11 PLAYOFFS. There are 16 teams left in the playoffs, with four class championship games this weekend and four semi-final games. Plus, 2A Catasauqua is still active, preparing for their annual loss to 6A Northampton on Thanksgiving morning, making for a total of 17 District 11 teams still practicing.

STATE RANKED BY PA FOOTBALL NEWS: Only change is honorable mention Blue Mountain drops out after shutout loss to Bethlehem Catholic.

6th—Allentown Central Catholic (4A)
6th—Northwestern Lehigh (3A)
7th—Parkland (6A)
9th—Nazareth (6A)
9th–Palmerton (3A,)
10th–Schuylkill Haven (2A)
HM—Northampton (6A)
HM–North Schuylkill (3A)
HM–Williams Valley (2A)
HM–Minersville (1A)

OUT—Blue Mountain(4A)

GUY & PAM’S PIAA DISTRICT 11 & NCAA D2 PSAC SCORECARD: 2021 – 2023 (81 of 90)

Varsity or JV Home Game in 2021/2022 with Varsity All-Time. (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.

Active Alternative JV Game Sites. 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). 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. 2022-23 WILKES-BARRE WOLFPACK: D2-6A, 62. 2022-23 WILLIAMSPORT MILLIONAIRES: D4-6A, 63. Phillipsburg Stateliners—Former EPC (2023).

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)

Out of District 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). 73. Governor Mifflin High School (Pleasant Valley Bears 2023)

NCAA D2 PSAC Colleges. 74. Bloomsburg Huskies (2022), 75. CALIFORNIA VULCANS, 76. Clarion Golden Eagles (2022), 77. East Stroudsburg Warriors (2022), 78. Edinboro Fighting Scots (2022), 79. GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS, 80. INDIANA CRIMSON HAWKS, 81. Kutztown Golden Bears (2022), 82. Lock Haven Bald Eagles (2023), 83. MERCYHURST LAKERS, 84. Millersville Marauders (2022), 85. SETON HILL GRIFFINS, 86. SHEPHERD RAMS (WV), 87. Shippensburg Raiders (2023) 88. SLIPPERY ROCK THE ROCK, 89. West Chester Golden Rams, 90. Mansfield Mountaineers.

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).

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