Ruby Review Week 9

Tagged under: District 11, District 2, District 4

Joe Ruby | October 28, 2014

It’s inevitable. Sometime around the middle of October, things change. We trade T-shirts for sweatshirts, soda for hot chocolate, and sneakers for boots. As the temperature drops and the days shorten, we brace ourselves.

All across the state, high school football teams are bracing too. Some are bracing for another long winter and the cold reality that results didn’t match expectations. Some are bracing for that unknown point, be it Week 12, 13, 14, or beyond, when they finally meet a team as talented as they are, finally get the opportunity to show what they’re made of. And some teams are bracing for a do-or-die Week 10, when the plans and schemes of the last three months stop mattering and, by golly, they’ll run it up the middle every single play and win 6-0 if that’s what it takes to get to the playoffs.

Over the last two weeks, I saw a District 2 team that’s a hair away from an unlikely playoff bid, a District 4 team that’s having its most successful season in more than 60 years, and a District 11 team that fancies itself among the very best in the great state of Pennsylvania (and rightly so). Enjoy!

Easton 47, Bethlehem Freedom 27

This past Friday night, I made the drive down Route 33 to the hallowed grounds of Cottingham Stadium (now in its 91st year) to watch undefeated Easton take on one-loss Bethlehem Freedom in District 11 AAAA action. The Easton Red Rovers came into the game averaging almost 42 points per game, having scored fewer than 35 points just once (in a 28-21 win over talented Parkland). The Freedom Patriots, unheralded after a 2-8 campaign last year, had raised questions about their early strength of schedule but acquitted themselves quite nicely over the last two games, spoiling Whitehall’s homecoming 29-28 in overtime and sticking with Parkland in a 21-13 defeat. Both of these teams knew they’d make the playoffs, but this game would go a long way towards determining seeding: Easton, with only 2-win Nazareth remaining on their schedule, could tie up the #1 seed with a win, while a Freedom upset would send shockwaves through the District 2/4/11 AAAA conglomeration.

The only shockwaves in Easton on Friday night, though, were from the screaming fans, the blaring band, and the Red Rovers offense running over, under, and through the opposition. Senior RB Shane Simpson finished with 226 of Easton’s 409 rushing yards, and the home team was able to turn a 14-6 halftime lead into a 41-13 advantage midway through the 4th quarter and coast to the finish.

Easton’s game plan seemed to be “run it up the middle over and over, and if you’re not too tired to stop us by the start of the second half, we’ll run some more until you are.” Easton’s first drive lasted fourteen plays, including seven Shane Simpson rushes, and spanned 6:53, setting the tone for the entire game. The Red Rovers did mix it up with the passing game, but didn’t have a tremendous amount of success doing so (Junior QB Trey Durrah was 6 for 15 for 60 yards). Still, they moved the ball consistently in the first half and explosively in the second half, finally wearing out the Patriots’ D. Indeed, after scoring just once in each of the first three quarters, the Red Rovers put up four TDs in the fourth to run away with it.

To Freedom’s credit, they did not fold, scoring 3 TDs in the back-and-forth 4th quarter. Junior QB Jonah Gundrum accounted for 155 yards passing and 79 yards rushing, snagging two TDs through the air and two on the ground, including one on a 42-yard run. Gundrum’s favorite targets were Seniors Kylon Pretty (4 catches for 100 yards) and Jacob Young (2 catches for 42 yards and two TDs). Freedom’s lack of a rushing attack (aside from Gundrum), though, kept them from moving the football with any regularity; the Patriots’ other four rushers combined for just 32 yards on 21 carries.

Ultimately, the story of the night was a good team running into a great one, with the home team dominating the lines and riding their workhorse to the straightforward victory. Easton reached the D2/4/11 Championship game last year (where they got spanked by Parkland 42-0), and the Red Rovers will be expected to at least equal that performance this time around.

Notes

Easton’s fans came out in full force, and the home stands were starting to fill well before kickoff. All but a thin strip of seats around the edge of the home stands were reserved, so I broke with habit and parked myself in the center of the away bleachers… I got a large bucket of boardwalk-style fries for $7, which kept me occupied for a good portion of the first quarter… The Easton band was one of the very best I’d seen this year. The group was enormous, energetic, and had a big, brassy sound that reverberated across the field and, presumably, the entire city… Freedom had a lot of trouble stopping Easton’s rushing attack from the start, but one bright spot in that regard was Senior Linebacker Marquise Stewart. In the rare event that Simpson did go down at the line, Stewart was usually in on it… Easton, which won its 800th game last year, has the second-most wins of any Pennsylvania high school, trailing only Mount Carmel….

Jersey Shore 16, Selinsgrove 10

If you’ve been paying attention to the Ruby Review, you know that, deep down inside of my heart, I love the Selinsgrove Seals. I graduated from Selinsgrove High School in 2007 (after four years in the marching band), and I saw nearly every game as my younger brother’s squad lost in the PIAA Semifinals in 2008 before winning the Championship in 2009. So, obviously, even as an outside columnist, it’s hard for me to watch the Seals go down.

But let me tell you something: it’s hard not to feel awesome for Jersey Shore.

In what some had called the Bulldogs’ biggest football game ever – I don’t know that it was, but I certainly can’t point to any I know of that were bigger – Jersey Shore dominated the Seals’ offense in Week 8, allowing just a single big play to Junior speedster Juvon Batts, and kept their heads while the Seals amassed personal foul penalties. Jersey Shore led 7-0 at the half, and after Batts tied things up on the first play of the third quarter, the Bulldogs tightened the screws, extending their lead to 16-7 on a TD and field goal. The way Jersey Shore’s defense was playing, a 9-point advantage was more than enough.

The best performance of the day was clearly by Jersey Shore’s Senior Defensive End Dominic Loffredo, who disrupted the Seals’ rushing attack and seemed to be in on every single tackle. The defensive line in general is the greatest strength for this Jersey Shore team, which has held seven of its nine opponents to 10 points or fewer.

Notes

Jersey Shore has not had an undefeated regular season since 1949. They play Central Mountain (1-8) in Week 10… Prior to Week 8, Selinsgrove’s only loss was to Berwick, 22-21. Indeed, the Seals scored at least 21 points in every other game this season… Things do not get much easier for the Seals: after a 42-12 win over Milton (1-8) in Week 9, Selinsgrove must travel to Southern Columbia (9-0, AA #3) to close out the season. Southern Columbia’s Week 8 win over Lewisburg was the first time in 17 regular season games that the Tigers didn’t mercy rule their opponents… There is a very strong chance that these two teams will meet in Week 12, once again at Jersey Shore. For that to happen, Selinsgrove and Jersey Shore will likely have to beat, respectively, Shikellamy (5-4) and Shamokin (5-4) in the first round of the District 4 AAA Playoffs. The Seals defeated the Braves 28-7 in Week 3, and the Bulldogs beat the Indians 36-14 in Week 6…

G.A.R. 38, Nanticoke 7

It’s safe to say that things are going well for G.A.R. On the outside of the playoff picture all season, the Grenadiers have won 3 straight, including a 37-12 victory over their main competition for the 4th-seed, Hanover. Only the Meyers Mohawks, who started the season 3-0 and then dropped their last six, stand between G.A.R. and a return to the District 2 AA playoffs after a one-year hiatus.

In fact, with every week that goes by, G.A.R.’s season looks better than ever, and not only because they keep winning. G.A.R.’s first loss, in Week 1, was by a 21-14 score to a supposedly-depleted Old Forge squad. Well, not only has no one defeated Old Forge, but no one’s scored more than 14 points on them this year. Sure, there are no good losses, but… I’m going to go ahead and say that this wasn’t a bad loss.

G.A.R.’s second defeat was to a 1-2 Northwest Rangers squad, 14-10. Northwest is now 7-2 and has locked up the second seed (behind Dunmore) in AA action. The only time G.A.R. lost by more than a TD was in Week 6 to Lake Lehman, who should be joining in on the AA playoffs as the 3rd seed. So, to recap: G.A.R.’s three losses were to two AA playoff teams and to a single-A team that’s ranked in the state. That’s a good season any way you slice it, and a win over Meyers will give this team a shot at either the Dunmore Bucks (if Lehman beats Dallas) or another go at the Northwest Rangers in Week 11.

This game was kind of like the Grenadiers’ season: it started out a little bumpy, but ended up looking pretty darn good. On Nanticoke’s first drive of the game, Senior RB Tyler Hanna shot out of the pile for a 78-yard TD run on 3rd and 13, giving the Trojans a 7-0 lead that held up through the first quarter. By the end of the first half, though, the Grenadier’s all-purpose back, Junior Anthony Maurent, had a 9-yard rushing TD and a 44-yard receiving TD (on 4th and 14, no less!), and Junior QB Garry Kroll added his own rushing score to put G.A.R. on top 22-7. After that, the matter was academic, as Nanticoke struggled to move the ball and the Grenadiers coasted in front of a small but devoted home crowd at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium.

NEXT WEEK

I’m going to lay off on any further analysis right now, because after next week we’ll get access to the PIAA brackets and my natural reaction will be to write a novella about the possible scenarios. Until then, though, I plan on taking one last look at some teams that could make waves in the eastern half of the state.

On Friday I’ll travel down to District 11 as Palisades (7-2) visits Saucon Valley (8-1).

On Saturday, I’m fulfilling a promise I made back in Week 4 when I saw Wyomissing obliterate St. Pius. At that game, I decided that, if Wyomissing and Berks Catholic were both undefeated when they met in Week 10 (which I thought had about a 98% chance of happening, based on their schedules), I’d venture out of my home range and into District 3 to watch one of the best games in the state.

Sure enough, this Saturday I’ll be watching Berks Catholic (9-0, AA #4) @ Wyomissing (9-0, AA HM). Even back in Week 4, the Wyo fans were salivating about this one. Last year, a 5-4 Wyomissing team came within a point of knocking off a then-undefeated Saints squad, falling 14-13. Berks Catholic ended up going 14-1, losing in the AA Semifinals to Imhotep, who are now up in AAA. The Saints have their eye on a similar (or better) result this year, but Wyomissing has some unfinished business. If you can’t tell, I’m really excited about this one.

Thanks everyone! As always, hit me up in the comments here or on Twitter (@JoeRuby1009)!