Around District 11 with Pam and Guy: When One Becomes Five
Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News
Billy Splain | September 12, 2023
How does one game become five? Let us explain. Last week we said it would likely be a short blog this week, as we only had one varsity high school football game on our schedule.
The original schedule for last week had Pam and Guy heading to DeSales University on Wednesday for a soccer double header with the men facing Cabrini and the women playing Dickinson. So far, so good.
And then the rains came. Our Thursday plan was to go to the Reading Phils for one last baseball game this season, as our friend had extra rainout game tickets and offered us a pair. The weather forecast looked bad for Berks County. It looked bad for our county (Monroe) too, where the Pleasant Valley Bears were hosting East Stroudsburg South. Better to get rained out 15 minutes from home than 95 minutes from home, so our baseball plan became high school football.
Friday was the one day we did plan to go to see high school football all along. The plan was a first ever high school football game in New Jersey for us, to see the Phillipsburg Stateliners.
The plan for Saturday was to head to New York for a Junk Car race at the Burnt Rock Motorsports Farm in Cape Vincent. However, as of Friday, the day before the scheduled race, they still had not received a single confirmed entry and the Saturday event schedule now listed the race as being held “if any show up.” Seemed too risky for eight hours of driving (four each direction). So we changed to Plan B. But Plan B still didn’t have football. The new plan was breakfast with friends and then a Kutztown University men’s and women’s tennis double in the morning, followed by the TQ Midget races at the Mahoning Valley Speedway in Lehighton that evening. Breakfast and tennis went off without a hitch, but Mahoning canceled early on the forecast. That left us scrambling to find Plan C, and that was high school football in Bethlehem. Pocono Mountain East visited Becahi at BASD Stadium at 3:00, and our third straight day of high school football just beat the rain.
The original Sunday plan was Evergreen Raceway near Hazleton for the second day of the TQ Midget weekend in PA. They canceled the night before, again on forecast. Luckily for us, one of the D11 games postponed by T-Storms rescheduled for Sunday. So we headed to Minersville for only our second ever Sunday high school football game as they hosted Shenandoah Valley for our fourth straight day of HS football.
The Thursday game at Pleasant Valley was stopped with 1:48 to go in the second quarter. There were three D11 games scheduled for Thursday, and this was the only one that even started. Amazingly, one was rescheduled for Saturday, one rescheduled for Sunday, and this one scheduled to continue on Monday. We were in and out in an hour, but we did indeed, for the first time ever, see high school football for five straight days.
GAME 16. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2023. EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH CAVALIERS @ PLEASANT VALLEY BEARS. The PV Bears are the team from our home district, but we don’t really get to see them too much, Guy preferring the EPC teams he grew up with, and Pam preferring the Colonial League teams she grew up with. Plus, in the past three years, thanks to our quest to see them all, a number of Schuylkill teams have become firm favorites.
But with the high chance of storms on Thursday, we chose the option closest to home should we get totally skunked and the entire game postponed. We headed to PV and upon arrival found them to be in a rain delay prior to the start. Hungry, we decided to go to KFC, where we could monitor the parking lot and stadium lights from the dining room.
The thunder, lightning, and heavy rain subsided and they decided to play. This was the only game of the three D11 games scheduled for Thursday that actually played any football. Admission was $7 and kickoff was rain delayed for approximately an hour.
The two teams came into this game as great unknowns. ESS got mercy ruled by powerhouse Nazareth, then mercy ruled winless William Allen. The PV story was not much different. They lost to unbeaten Bethlehem Catholic, then defeated winless Dieruff.
Each team scored one TD in the first half, but each missed their conversion. With the score tied 6-6 and PV driving with less than two minutes to go in the first half, lightning returned and the game was postponed until Monday after school.
Since we ate at KFC while waiting for the game so start, we did not try anything from the refreshment stand. But waffles and ice cream from the band parents stand stood out as unique among D11 offerings.
GAME 17. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2023. RIDGE RED DEVILS @ PHILLIPSBURG STATELINERS. Finally. Back in the 1970s when Guy was a student, Phillipsburg was in the EPC with Allen. As a matter of fact, at one time so were Hazleton, Pottsville, and I believe Tamaqua. But although Guy has been going to local high school football games for nearly 60 years, he had never been to a game at Maloney Stadium.
And although we had seen P-Burg play just two years ago against Easton on Thanksgiving Day at Lafayette, and we had seen Salem play there just two weeks ago, we had never actually seen a high school football game in New Jersey. We have been to races in all 50 states, baseball in 40, and ice hockey in over 30, but until Friday our high school football has been limited to just Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Florida.
We arrived 90 minutes before game time and found lots of cars already there. Rather than look for street parking, we paid $3 for a fundraiser to park in the lot. Minutes after we arrived, so did the thunder, lightning, and heavy rains. The forecast looked good so we waited it out. The rain soon ended and a gorgeous rainbow emerged. They announced the game start would be delayed 45 minutes.
Admission was $5 and a big crowd was on hand, despite the weather. P-Burg has a long football tradition and that was clearly evident. In fact, the school is the winningest high school football team in the state with 728 wins and counting in their 119th year of football dating back to 1905. They once won a game by over 100 points, defeating Washington High 101-0 in 1918. The program lists an astounding 21 coaches.
Ridge High School is strange as their nickname is the Red Devils, yet their uniform colors are green and white. Ridge was 1-0 and this was expected to be a good game. And it was. It fact, both Pam and Guy consider it the best game we have seen so far this fall.
Four of the game’s five touchdowns came in Q2. P-Burg scored twice, but Ridge scored to bring it back to a one score game. Then the Liners opened up the playbook and with nine seconds left in the half, executed a perfect hook and ladder to score with no time left on the clock.
A score like that just before halftime can be demoralizing, but Ridge came out fired up in the second half and closed the game back to one score, 21-14. However, that’s how it would end as on their last two possessions Ridge was stopped a foot short on fourth down, and then had 3rd and two but couldn’t move the chains. P-Burg took over and kept the ball for an impressive 18 plays to kill the final 9:09 on the clock.
Smith Snack Bar Pick: Pork Roll Sandwich with cheese.
Maloney is a great place to watch high school football and we truly hope this was not our only visit for Stateliner football.
GAME 18. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2023. POCONO MOUNTAIN EAST CARDINALS VS. BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC HAWKS @ BASD STADIUM. With our Saturday night race cancelled and heavy rains coming, we figured if we wanted to see a football game we had better make it in the afternoon. We left Kutztown tennis at 1:00 and headed to Bethlehem. Admission was $6. We didn’t think this would be much of a game, and we were correct. Notable was the PME band members who had their last names on the back of their band uniform shirts. Never saw that before. Clever.
Bethlehem Catholic entered unbeaten at 2-0, with a shutout of Pleasant Valley and a divisional game win vs. Whitehall. Meanwhile, PME were shutout/mercy ruled by both of their previous opponents.
East fumbled away the ball inside their own 20 on each of their first two possessions. The Hawks were off and flying. There was no doubt who was winning this battle of the birds. It was another mercy rule loss for East, but they did put one TD on the board for their first points of the season.
Smith Snack Bar Pick: Turkey BBQ from the Liberty Booster Club stand.
GAME 19. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2023. SHENANDOAH VALLEY BLUE DEVILS @ MINERSVILLE BATTLIN’ MINERS. Our third visit to Minersville for football, both previous trips to see Catasauqua. Thus, this was our first time sitting on the home side. Admission was $5. It was also only our second ever Sunday high school football game, having seen Shendo at home in 2021 in a game pushed back by COVID protocols.
The weather forecast looked awful in the morning, but we both agreed, if they play, we go. Then the forecast took a turn for the better and it looked like we might stay dry.
We thought Minersville was a heavy favorite, but couldn’t be completely sure. The B-Devs won their opener and entered the game at 1-1, while the Miners had won both of their previous games but only by four and two points.
We love the “in town” feel of this stadium. They had multiple concession stands operating, and we tried a number of items including hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, and chili. Can’t beat those well done dogs for a buck!
It started raining soon after kickoff and there was a steady, hard rain for most of the first half. There was no thunder and lightning though, so they played on. Kudos to the home team fans. They supported their team in decent numbers, even though the Thursday night game was rescheduled for Sunday against the NFL, not to mention it was pouring.
It wasn’t much of a game. Minersville scored almost at will on every possession. They were up 42-7 at halftime, and then ran the 2nd half opening kick back to make it 48, calling off the dogs at that point.
Smith Snack Bar Pick: Hamburger with sautéed onions for $4.
GAME 20 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2023. EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH CAVALIERS @ PLEASANT VALLEY BEARS. Not sure if this one should be called Game 20 for us or Game 16, Part 2. This was the continuation of the Thursday game suspended near halftime with the score 6-6. Interesting was the fact that PV was in their home blue jerseys for the first half on Thursday, but in their white away jerseys for the second half on Monday. Same for ESS, in reverse.
Pleasant Valley had the ball and was driving but they did not score before halftime. The halftime was set for two minutes, making it the shortest halftime we’ve seen.
In the second half, both teams scored another touchdown, but it was Pleasant Valley who successfully converted the two point attempt and although they fumbled away two of their last three possessions, ESS couldn’t take advantage and eked out the 14-12 victory.
The game was completed in just less than one hour from its continuation point. Pleasant Valley now has won two in a row after their opening loss, while ESS falls to 1-2.
Smith Snack Bar Pick: Pierogies
We have four high school games on our schedule for this coming week, three varsity and a Monday JV. We always welcome feedback at RTRYFBAR@AOL.COM.
PIAA DISTRICT 11 & NCAA D2 PSAC SCORECARD: 2021 – 2023 (73 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. East Stroudsburg North Timberwolves (2021), 9. East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers (2022), 10. Emmaus Hornets (2021), 11. Executive Education Raptors @ Muhlenburg College (2021), 12. Executive Education Raptors @ Lafayette College (2023), 13. Freedom Patriots (2021), 14. Jim Thorpe Olympians (2022), 15. Lehighton Indians (2021), 16. Liberty Hurricanes (2021), 17. Mahanoy Area Golden Bears (2021), 18. Marian Catholic Colts (2021), 19. Minersville Battlin’ Miners (2021), 20. Nativity BVM Green Wave (2021), 21. Nazareth Blue Eagles (2021), 22. Northern Lehigh Bulldogs (2021), 23. Northampton Konkrete Kids (2021), 24. Northwestern Lehigh Tigers (2021), 25. North Schuylkill Spartans (2022), 26. Notre Dame Green Pond Crusaders (2021), 27. Palisades Pirates (2022), 28. Palmerton Blue Bombers (2021), 29. Panther Valley Panthers (2021), 30. Parkland Trojans (2021), 31. Pen Argyl Green Knights (2021), 32. Pine Grove Cardinals (2021), 33. Pleasant Valley Bears (2021), 34. Pocono Mountain East Cardinals (2022), 35. Pocono Mountain West Panthers (2021), 36. Pottsville Crimson Tide (2022), 37. Salisbury Township Falcons (2021), 38. Saucon Valley Panthers (2021), 39. Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes (2022), 40. Shenandoah Valley Blue Devils (2021), 41. Southern Lehigh Spartans (2021), 42. Stroudsburg Mounties (2021), 43. Tamaqua Blue Raiders (2021), 44. Tri-Valley Bulldogs (2022), 45. Whitehall Zephyrs (2021), 46. William Allen Canaries (2022), 47. Williams Valley Vikings (2021), 48. Wilson Area Warriors (2021).
Active Alternative JV Game Sites. 49. ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS JV—PERCY RUHE PARK, 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 Teams, or Former EPC). 56. Easton Red Rovers @ Lafayette College (Thanksgiving Day Game 2021), 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 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)
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 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), Williamsport (ACC Playoff Game 2022), Trinity (Executive Education Playoff Game 2022), South Philly Supersite (Northwestern Lehigh Playoff Game 2022), Germantown Superside (Whitehall Playoff Game 2022).
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