District XI Class 3A Semi-Finals Preview and Bracket: Schuylkill-Colonial League Football

Tagged under: District 11, News, Playoffs

Daniel Reed | November 7, 2023

In this bracket, WOW, is about all I can say about it. The top 4 seeds all took care of business in last week’s first round, the closest being a 30 point victory for the Blue Bombers of Palmerton over Jim Thorpe 37 to 7. The other 3 games were Notre Dame-Green Pond taking down Saucon Valley 56 to 20, North Schuylkill defeating Tamaqua 55 to 15, and top seed Northwestern Lehigh plowing through Lehighton 58 to 14.

          VS         

#3-North Schuylkill Spartans(9-2) vs #2-Palmerton Blue Bombers(11-0) at Palmerton

November 10th, 2023 7:05pm

These two teams met back in mid October, Week-8 to be exact, in what was expected to be a close offensive battle between the two explosive teams, and we were not disappointed. In the end, it was the Blue Bombers taking care of business with a  48 to 24 over the Spartans at Palmerton Stadium, where this game, will also be played this Friday night at 7:05pm. In that game, it was Matthew Machalik(sr) that led the attack with a total of 5 touchdowns, 2 through the air, and 3 on the ground, piling up 240 yards rushing on 12 carries, and 162 yards passing on 11 completions. Caden Mengel(so) didn’t have a bad night himself, racking up 308 yards passing with 3 touchdowns, and 62 yards on the ground but the overall defensive pressure throughout the evening by Palmerton would end up being the deciding factor.

What to Expect in the ReMatch:

Expect much of the same as in the first game with even more passion for a win. Neither offense will be holding back in this rematch with so much at stake. Can the Spartans defense keep track of where Machalik is and what he is going to do every down or will he put up another 400+ yardage game ? We shall see this Friday. North Schuylkill will look to get the ball to senior WR-Joey Flail again like in the previous matchup where Flail had 197 yards and two touchdowns on 8 receptions. Another high scoring affair will be the outcome of this game as both teams can score and with quickness. The Spartans average 37 points a game while Palmerton puts up 44 a game. Defensively, its the Spartans holding an edge by just 3 points a game, giving up 16 to the Blue Bombers 19.7.

Quick Stats:

PASSING:
North Schuylkill: Caden Mengel(so)- 120-178-4=1628(14tds), Trevor Minalda(sr)- 25-43-2=249(4tds)
Palmerton: Matthew Machalik(sr)- 82-158-3=1218(14tds), Ty Sander(sr)- 2-2-0=39(2tds)

RUSHING:
North Schuylkill: Caden Mengel(so)- 119-739(7tds), Jaxson Chowansky(sr)- 65-454(6tds), Ricky Halford(sr)- 69-409(10tds)
Palmerton: Matthew Machalik(sr)- 131-1969(31tds), Ty Sander(sr)- 119-796(10tds), Emilio Gonzalez(sr)- 14-187(4tds)

RECEIVING:
North Schuylkill: Joey Flail(sr)- 37-657(7tds), Collin McGee(sr)- 24-414(7tds), Collin Stanakis(sr)- 26-307(1td)
Palmerton: Ty Sander(sr)- 35-533(4tds), Bryce Marino(sr)- 11-213(4tds), Jameson Trainer(jr)- 9-112(4tds)

CLICK HERE TO VIEW >>>>>>  District XI Class 3A Bracket

          VS         

#4-Notre Dame-Green Pond Crusaders(8-3) vs #1-Northwestern Lehigh Tigers(11-0) at Tigers Stadium

November 10th, 2023 7:00pm

Last time these two met was just last year in the District XI semi-final in what would end up a classic 35 to 34 thriller with the Tigers prevailing. This game should be no different as both teams score an astounding 45 points a game. Northwestern Lehigh definitely has the edge defensively giving up just 8 points a game to the Crusaders 20. The Crusaders come into the matchup winners of their last 5 games including their playoff victory last weekend over Jim Thorpe 56 to 20.

What to Expect:

Nothing else to expect but another great game from these two teams. Like the last time, this one should be a slugfest. The Crusaders have a quarterback that can throw with the best in the state, racking up 2000 yards passing on just 113 completions, and throwing 24 touchdowns in the process. Helping Darno offensively is also Josh Ludlow, who has rushed for over 500 yards, scoring 10 touchdowns. On the other side of the field, the Tigers have a sophomore quarterback in Shane Leh, who has completed 77 passes for over 1200 yards, and 19 touchdowns. In the backfield, taking the load off Leh, is a slew of running-backs, led by Dalton Clymer(sr), who’s piled up a nice 1151 yards, scoring 18 times on the ground.

Quick Stats:

PASSING:
Notre Dame-Green Pond: Danny Darno(sr)- 113-176-8=2000(24tds)
Northwestern Lehigh: Shane Leh(so)- 77-126-5=1203(19tds), Mason Bollinger(so)- 17-26-0=231(4tds)

RUSHING:
Notre Dame-Green Pond: Danny Darno(sr)- 94-801(13tds), Josh Ludlow(sr)- 61-502(10tds), Aaron Gordon(fr)- 19-146(2tds)
Northwestern Lehigh: Dalton Clymer(sr)- 153-1151(18tds), Eli Zimmerman(jr)- 31-261(4tds), Mason Bollinger(so)- 33-212(4tds)

RECEIVING:
Notre Dame-Green Pond: Josh Ludlow(sr)- 33-595(7tds), AJ Lozano(sr)- 24-550(6tds), Julian Baker(sr)- 25-264(3tds)
Northwestern Lehigh: Devon Hildebrand(sr)- 32-415(7tds), Mason Bollinger(so)- 18-356(4tds), Landen Matson(jr)- 15-247(3tds)

CLICK HERE TO VIEW CLASS 3A STATE BRACKET >>>>>>

Follow www.pafootballnews.com for all your high school football updates, scores, stories, rankings and more ! You can also follow us on Twitter at @PaFootballNews and on Facebook at Pennsylvania Football News, as well as on YouTube, Instagram. For you local District XI coverage, follow @BPtashinski, @kfeger30, @BoJyeaa as well as myself @PFNDan570FB on Twitter !

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews