Ruby Review: Mid-Season Mega-Post!!!

Tagged under: District 11, District 2, District 4

Joe Ruby | September 30, 2014

It’s been a fortnight since I’ve last put the pen to the page… er, well, the fingers to the keys… and since then I’ve seen five great games. Some were, we’ll charitably say, a little less great than others, but every high school football game is great in my book!

Every year it amazes me that, when we’re “halfway through the season,” we’re really not even a third of the way done, because a handful of talented teams will still be playing in Week 16 in Hershey. Sixteen games. That’s more than any college team plays. That’s an NFL schedule without the bye week.

So far this season, I’ve been to 9 games, having managed to see 17 different teams play (my only double-dip was Hanover Area, who I just happened to catch for their two losses). Here’s a quick review of the first four games I got to:

Week 1:          Crestwood 28, Berwick 20

Week 2:          Delaware Valley 43, Wyoming Valley West 35

Week 3:          Old Forge 16, Hanover 13

Parkland 35, Allentown Central Catholic 7

And now, onto the new reviews!

Scranton 43, Scranton Prep 19

The easy way out would be to say that any discussion of Scranton has to start and end with Senior RB Jake McCarthy, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. It doesn’t have to.

But it should.

McCarthy had 4 TDs in this one, bringing him to 14 through 4 games (he added another 4 in the first half of Scranton’s Week 5 win over Valley View), and Scranton never really let rival Scranton Prep into the contest. The amazing thing was that McCarthy’s performance in this one – 4 TDs, 179 yards – didn’t really stand out. Let me say that again. He had 4 TDS… 179 yards… and a mediocre game. That’s how amazing he is. He’s nearly impossible to bring down in the open field, and his burst rivals the very best in the state.

Maybe Scranton’s best performance, however, belonged to Senior DB Ramon Fields. At 5’8” and 155 lbs., Fields isn’t big. He is fast. He proved this with a 60 yard kickoff return to start the game, and then again with a 40 yard INT return, and, in case you weren’t getting the picture, a third time with a 99 yard INT return TD to finish off the scoring – and the game – with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter.

And this Scranton Prep squad was no cupcake, either. In fact, Senior QB Nick Solfanelli managed 319 passing yards on a 24-for-35 performance. Strangely enough, it seemed like Prep had more difficulty completing easy throws – to wide open receivers in the flat, mostly – than they did threading difficult balls over the middle.

South Williamsport 34, Loyalsock Township 26

These teams came into the season ranked 2nd in Single-A and 4th in Double-AA, respectively, and each threw up a stinker to start the season 0-1. That meant there was quite a bit of motivation for each of these teams when they met in South Williamsport in Week 4: one of them would be 3-1, with hopes for a dream season still intact, and the other would be 2-2, needing to regroup to avoid falling below .500.

There wasn’t much between these teams. Each had a standout star on offense, a major force on the line, and a solid defense. For the South Williamsport Mounties, the offense was carried by Senior RB Dominick Bragalone, who has to be one of the best backs in Single-A. Loyalsock hit right back with a hurry-up offense led by Senior QB Kyle Datres; unfortunately, the difference in this game might’ve been a knock taken by Datres in the 3rd quarter or so. He bounced back up every time he was hit, but wasn’t as dynamic after a few hard tackles in the second half.

The more finesse-oriented Lancers didn’t seem to match up well with South Williamsport’s grinding style on both sides of the ball. The Mounties’ physical line was anchored by Seniors Cody Nelson and Sam Buck, who provided lanes for Bragalone all night. Loyalsock also generated some good running lanes behind Junior Lineman Daniel Harrison (6’3”, 305 lbs.), but by the end of the night South Williamsport was in the backfield regularly.

Northwest 28, Hanover 12

Whither the Hawks’ offense?

That was the question on everyone’s mind… well, maybe not in those words exactly, but still… after this Week 5 matchup in District 2. I hadn’t planned on going to this one, but this Thursday night contest was right down the road in Shickshinny, so I figured, “why not?”

This matchup featured two teams going in opposite directions. Northwest scored just one TD in each of their first two games, both losses. They then scored one TD in each half of their next two games, 14-13 and 14-10 victories. In this one, they scored one TD in each quarter. By the end of the season, the Rangers will be scoring a TD every minute. Right? At any rate, Northwest has a very good shot at postseason play in District 2 AA, and Week 6 and 7 wins against Nanticoke and Lake-Lehman would just about clinch it. As for this game, the big play was a 65-yard third-quarter pass from QB Logan Womelsdorf to speedy WR Tyler Burger. On first down, Womelsdorf lofted a beautiful ball down the left sideline to Burger who, with a good 7 yards between himself and the defender, let the ball fall right through his hands and drop harmlessly to the ground. Two plays later, though, Womelsdorf threw the same pass, with similarly skillful touch, and this time Burger, with the defender a good deal closer this time, closed his paws tightly around it and accelerated the last 25 yards for the score.

Unlike Northwest, the Hanover Hawks saw most of their scoring early in the year. They scored 51 against Carbondale and 42 against Holy Redeemer, and in the Week3 matchup against Old Forge, covered by yours truly, they had two 50+ yard TDs in the first 6 minutes of the contest. Then the offense stopped. They didn’t score again against Old Forge (no shame in that; the Blue Devils have only allowed points to two of their five opponents), managed a 6-0 win against Riverside, and were kept off the scoreboard until late in the 3rd quarter against Northwest.

Let’s recap. First 9 quarters of the season: 104 points. Next 11 quarters: 18 points. Now, part of that involves the competition, sure, and part of that involves the injury to Isaiah Taylor, who saw only limited action on Thursday. This team could very well win out to finish 8-2 if they get their offense back on track, but, until then, Hanover’s asking a lot of their defense, and looking at something more like 6-4.

Lake-Lehman 13, Wilkes-Barre Meyers 12

Lake-Lehman came into this season with high expectations and big plans. A 28-13 loss to Lackawanna Trail to open the season wasn’t part of those plans, and a 33-0 smack-down at the hands of Old “We’re-Defending-State-Runners-Up-And-You-Don’t-Even-Rank-Us-To-Start-The-Season” Forge was certainly not part of the plans.

On Friday night, I made my way up to the black turf of Eddie Edwards Stadium as the Meyers Mohawks visited the Lake-Lehman Black Knights. At the end of the first half, each team had scored exactly as many points as I had, and it was unclear if Lehman would manage their first win on their distinctive home turf.

By the middle of the third quarter, though, the Black Knights’ two-headed rushing attack of Junior RB Joey Vigil and Senior FB Kody Pachamovitch had started gaining yards in bunches of 5 and 10, and Meyers’ exciting Senior QB Zahir Dunell responded in kind to make for an exciting conclusion. The game, as you can guess from the scoreline, came down to points-after-TDs. Lake-Lehman was only 1 for 2 on PATs, but that beats two failed 2-point conversions every time.

This was a good win for Lake-Lehman, but 16 passing yards on 2 completions isn’t going to consistently cut it if your rushing attack doesn’t get going until the 2nd half.

Wyomissing 48, St. Pius X 8

“What a contest I’m in for!” I thought as I sped down Route 61 to make the 1:30 Saturday start. “One of the best District 11 teams visiting one of the best District 3 teams!” Pius, an undefeated Honorable Mention in Single-A, was making its first ever trip to Wyomissing, an undefeated Honorable Mention in Double-A. Surely these teams would impress. Pius X had outscored its opponents 214-36; Wyomissing had enjoyed a 175-28 margin. Surely, this would be a back-and-forth contest.

Well, I was right, in a way. Wyomissing ran back and forth between the end zone and the 40 yard line all afternoon. The home Spartans never looked flashy. Instead, they looked like a team that was simply better than its opponent at every single position. Pius’s offense revolved around getting any one of its many speedy options isolated on the outside. Unfortunately for the Royals, Wyomissing’s LBs and DBs were just as fast, and a lot bigger. The score was only 7-0 after one quarter, but 4 TDs in the next 12 minutes meant that the clock was running when the second half started with Wyomissing in front 35-0. It was 48-0 at the end of the third.

Wyomissing, the 2012 PIAA AA Champions, may have been the best-coached team I’ve seen this year. Everyone on the field seemed to have great technique, and the defense seemed completely prepared for everything Pius X tried to get going. There’s a very good chance that both Wyomissing and Berks Catholic will be 9-0 when they meet on November 1st. If they are, I just might make the 80 mile drive back down to District 3.  Wyo remains an Honorable Mention at AA – not surprising, since all 10 ranked teams won quite easily – but, I do declare, it’s hard to imagine that there are 10 AA teams in the state better than this group I saw on Saturday.

Everyone’s Favorite Part: Ruby Reviews Food!

Let’s go down the line: good nachos at Scranton, plus the Ruby Review’s favorite fast food joint – Sonic – across the street. Great sausage at South Williamsport. Good pierogies at Northwest. Good pierogies plus enormous hot dogs at Lake-Lehman. And by the time I got to Wyomissing, I was so stuffed from Thursday and Friday I could only manage to down a soft pretzel and cheeseburger, both of which were sufficiently tasty to merit mention.

DISTRICT 2 MID-SEASON REVIEW

AAAA

It’s a gosh-darned crying shame that, because only two AAAA teams qualify from Districts 2 and 4, one of Delaware Valley (4-1, AAAA HM), Scranton (4-1), and Wyoming Valley West (4-1) is going to miss the postseason. As you’ll recall from an earlier edition of this particular publication, Delaware Valley and Valley West already played back in Week 2. Scranton has the difficult task of traveling to Delaware Valley and Wyoming Valley West in Weeks 8 and 9, respectively, and those two games will obviously go a long way toward determining who’s left in the lurch come playoff time.

Delaware Valley seems the safest of the three. After hosting Scranton, they’ll travel up to the Electric City to take on Scranton Prep (4-1), who will present a stiff challenge; from what I’ve seen, though, the Warriors should have enough to handle them, and Delaware Valley has a good chance to go 9-1 after losing their first game of the year by a single point down in Disney (yes, that Disney).

That leaves Scranton and Valley West to compete for the final spot. Scranton, with both other teams on the schedule, has their destiny in their own hands. Of the three, Valley West is in the most immediately concerning position: their Week 6 and Week 7 matchups are at Dallas (4-1) and home against Crestwood (5-0, AAA #9). Crestwood, clearly, presents a tall task, so it’s absolutely crucial for the Spartans to take care of business this Saturday against the Mountaineers.

AAA

At this point, I think it’s pretty safe to say that Crestwood will be playing more than 10 games this year. They look like the only truly safe team, though. Berwick (3-2), having come out of their murderous first half with a winning record, has a very straightforward schedule to finish the season, and should be in as well. They’ll be moderate-to-heavy favorites in all five contests. That leaves two spots for the remaining twelve teams. Dallas and Scranton Prep are the prohibitive favorites to fill these slots, although Abington Heights (3-2) could still sneak in if they can beat Prep in Week 7. North Pocono (3-2) was a nice story, and occupied the final playoff slot after Week 4, but has a very difficult schedule down the stretch and likely won’t finish above .500. Honesdale (4-1) could very well get in themselves, but their final five games are all against AA teams, meaning they’ll need to win at least four of them for the PIAA points system to recognize them.

AA

This classification is wide open in this division. Dunmore (4-1, AA HM) should be absolutely safe, but after that, like in AAA, it’s a crapshoot. As you may have gathered from the above discussion, I really like the direction Northwest (3-2) is headed in, and I think they have as good a shot as any of the remaining teams. Like Northwest, Nanticoke, Hanover, Lake-Lehman, G.A.R., Meyers, and Lakeland are all 3-2. There are so many games among that group of seven 3-2 squads left to be played that it would be pointless to go through them all, but I’m going to go ahead and blindly assert that, when the dust clears, it will be Dunmore, Northwest, Lakeland, and Lake-Lehman out of AA.

A

As of this writing, Old Forge (5-0, A #10) is clearly on top. The Blue Devils have allowed 27 points through five games, and their offense has averaged 34 points over the last two games after managing just under 15 per in the first three. Lackawanna Trail (4-1) had been keeping pace, but a 22-19 loss to Lakeland last week derailed their chance to be undefeated when they host Old Forge in Week 7. Susquehanna (3-2) has alternated wins and losses, and has a good chance to finish .500 or better. Holy Cross (0-5) came close in Week 4, losing 26-20 against Montrose, and should have another competitive game this week against 0-5 Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech out of District 4.

DISTRICT 4 MID-SEASON REVIEW

Speaking of District 4, let’s take a look at how these squads are shaping up.

AAAA

The only AAAA team in District 4 is Williamsport (1-4) and, although they got a comeback victory against Hazleton (0-5), that might be the extent of their success this season.

AAA

Four spots are up for grabs among the seven teams here, and they seem to be pretty well set as of this writing. Clearly in are Selinsgrove (4-1), who jumped out to a 21-0 lead against Berwick in Week 5, only to fall 22-21, and Jersey Shore (5-0), who have fielded one of their best teams in ages, but got a bit of help in Week 4 when an overtime INT return for a TD was incorrectly allowed to stand (there’s a very good chance they would’ve won the game anyway). Shikellamy (3-2) looks safe, and should finish .500 or better, which is more than enough in this District. Shamokin (3-2) is the other team sitting above .500 at this point, but they’ll be the underdogs in at least three of their remaining games. Still, they have a good enough gap on Milton (1-4), Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech (0-5), and East Juniata (0-5) that they’ve likely already done enough to earn a Week 11 matchup with the Seals, Bulldogs, or Braves.

AA

This is where things are interesting in District 4; there are 8 spots for 15 teams. Storied program Southern Columbia (5-0, AA #3) moved up to this classification to start the year, and should be 9-0 when they play Selinsgrove in the last week of the season. Troy (5-0, AA HM), last year’s District Champ, is also undefeated, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see these teams play for a spot in the State Quarterfinals. At 4-1 sit Hughesville and Mount Carmel, and they too should be safely in. Four 3-2 teams sit in the final four spots at the moment: Lewisburg, Loyalsock, Towanda, and Wyalusing. Of those, Loyalsock is probably the safest, with Lewisburg close behind. The Week 10 matchup between Towanda and Wyalusing very well might determine which of the two will survive. Also competing for the last few spots are Central Columbia (2-3), who have played some very good teams tough, Montoursville (2-3), who beat Loyalsock to start the season but have limped to just a single win since, and Warrior Run (2-3), who’s been all right but not impressive. Last year’s District runner-up, Danville, sits at (1-4); their schedule doesn’t appear to give them a chance to get into the conversation.

A

Four spots for ten teams, and three of those spots are pretty clearly decided. Wellsboro (5-0, A #3) appears to be the class of the division, but is untested, having posted five straight blowouts while outscoring their opponents 254 to 6. The combined record of those opponents is 5-20, meaning they have as many wins collectively as Troy, who visits Wellsboro in Week 6. North Penn (5-0) has also had an easy go of it, and will meet Wellsboro in Week 10. They don’t seem to be getting a ton of love at the moment, so look for the Ruby Review to take an interest going forward. South Williamsport (4-1, A HM), described more fully above, should also easily qualify. Whichever one of these teams can snag the top seed will have a large advantage, inasmuch as they’ll avoid the other two in Week 11. The remaining seven teams in this classification are under .500, meaning it’ll be a slugfest to see who comes out on top of that pile. Whoever wins the Week 7 matchup between Montgomery (2-3) and Muncy (2-3) has a good shot. If someone else sneaks in, it’ll be Canton (1-4), who has 3 or 4 winnable games on their remaining schedule.

DISTRICT 11 MID-SEASON REVIEW

AAAA

Of all the Districts and classifications covered in the Ruby Review, this one is pretty clearly the best. With two of the eight spots in this portion of the bracket going to District 2 (or District 4, technically), that leaves 6 slots for 15 teams here. Four of those fifteen teams currently sit undefeated; the pecking order among them appears to be Whitehall (5-0, AAAA #10), Easton (5-0, AAAA HM), Bethlehem Freedom (5-0), and then Stroudsburg (5-0). Parkland (4-1, AAAA HM) is also very powerful, their only loss coming in Week 5 to Whitehall. All five of those teams should coast to the post-season, as there’s a pretty clear gap between those five and the remaining ten that should serve to depress all of the other teams’ records. Bethlehem Liberty (3-2) is in the sixth spot right now, but will need to beat one of Parkland, Easton, or Freedom to finish above .500. Pleasant Valley (2-3) has a much nicer schedule, and could slip in at 6-4 if they take care of business.

AAA

Four teams out of ten earn spots out of AAA. The clear leader of the pack is Bethlehem Catholic (5-0, AAA #7), who have put up at least 40 points in each of their five games (all against AAAA competition). They will likely finish the season undefeated. Jim Thorpe (5-0) is a little more surprising, and the record is a little more deceiving, as they’ve played four A opponents and one AA, winning their last three games by only a combined 8 points. A 9-1 finish isn’t out of the question, but if they slip up more than once, they’re at very real risk of being hammered by the points system and left out. Saucon Valley (4-1) looks safe, and could very well win out; Southern Lehigh (4-1), whose only loss was to Saucon Valley, plays the top three AA teams in the District over the next three weeks but will be more than safe if they manage to take 2 of 3. Allentown Central Catholic (1-4) would have a very good chance to beat most teams in this District but, like BeCaHi, have a schedule full of AAAA teams. Unfortunately, ACC is no Bethlehem Catholic, and that killer slate will keep them out of the playoffs. Blue Mountain (3-2) and Lehighton (3-2) are also competing for the last spot; they each have Jim Thorpe left on their schedules.

AA

A very interesting division, and a tough one, as only four of thirteen teams will qualify for States. Each of last year’s qualifiers – Pine Grove (3-2), Palisades (3-2), Catasauqua (2-3), and Pen Argyl (0-5) – are outside the top 4 at this time. The two undefeated squads are Northwestern Lehigh (5-0, AA #5) and North Schuylkill (5-0, AA #6), who unfortunately don’t play during the regular season and could very well combine to go 20-0. Northern Lehigh (4-1) and Palmerton (4-1) are next, but both have similarly difficult schedules left. It wouldn’t be surprising for Pine Grove or (especially) Palisades to leapfrog them. The Ruby Review’s Prediction: Northwestern Lehigh, North Schuylkill, Palisades, and whoever wins Northern Lehigh v. Palmerton in Week 10.

A

Nine teams here with four spots on the line. Pius X (4-1, A HM) should be safe, despite being utterly shellacked by Wyalusing this past week; their bevy of speedy skill players should still give them the advantage against most A squads. A trio of teams is next: Mahanoy (3-2), Marian Catholic (3-2), and Williams Valley (3-2) don’t have much between them. Two of these three should be in: Williams Valley and whoever wins the matchup between the other two in Week 8. Nativity BVM (2-3), last year’s champ Schuylkill Haven (2-3), and Tri-Valley (2-3) will challenge for the last spot. The margin between them will be razor-thin; I’ve got them all finishing 5-5. I’ll give the edge to Schuylkill Haven.

THE RUBY REVIEW: WEEKS 6 AND 7

Well, as I’ve mentioned, I’ve seen seventeen teams; these seventeen have combined to go 62-23 so far. We here at the Ruby Review like to see the very best teams at each classification, and we’re not stopping now.

Week 6

On Friday night, I’ll be traveling 120 miles (each way) to see Troy @ Wellsboro. Then, on Saturday afternoon, I’ll be traveling about a tenth of that distance for Wyoming Valley West @ Dallas.

Week 7

There are a lot of good games on the slate, and I reserve the right to change my mind, but as of right now it looks like I’ll be travelling to District 11 to see Bethlehem Freedom @ Whitehall. The Saturday schedule seems, sadly, sparser, but Scranton Prep @ Abington Heights should serve satisfactorily.

As always, hit me up in the comments here or on Twitter (@JoeRuby1009) with questions, comments, vitriol, soliloquy, or any other form of written prose or verse.

Past Ruby Reviews:

Ruby Review: Introduction
Ruby Review: Crestwood 28, Berwick 20
Ruby Review: Delaware Valley 43, Wyoming Valley West 35
Ruby Review: Old Forge 16, Hanover 13; Parkland 35, Allentown Central Catholic 7