2022 D6 A Quarterfinal Game Preview: Portage @ Juniata Valley

Tagged under: District 6, News, Playoffs

Brian Ingalls | November 2, 2022

The 2022 PIAA D6 Class A football playoffs start this weekend.  The teams are looking to end their seasons with a trip to the Chap for PIAA Championships on December 8.

In 2021 Bishop Guilfoyle beat Juniata Valley 24-21 in the D6 A Championship.  Bishop Guilfoyle went on to win the state A championship 21-14 over Redbank Valley.  Bishop Guilfoyle has won the last 3 D6 A Championships.  With Bishop Guilfoyle moving to AA this year, there will be a new Class A champion this year.  Juniata Valley has made the D6 A championships 3 times in the last 4 years, and won in 2018.  Juniata Valley has won three D6 A titles in their history (1986, 1987,2018), and made the finals 6 times.  Homer-Center has made the D6 A finals 2 times in the last 6 years and won in 2017.  Homer Center has four D6 A titles (1985, 1994, 2013, 2017), and have made the championship game six times.  Penns Manor won the D6 A title in 2011 in their only appearance in the D6 A Championship game.  Portage has made the D6 A finals two times but has never won.  Moshannon Valley has three appearances in the D6 A final with their only win in 1996.  Northern Cambria has made the finals one time in 2003 and lost.  Cambria Heights made the 2020 Class AA championship but lost in their only appearance in a D6 Championship game. Glendale has never made it to the championship game. Here are the 8 teams in the 2022 A D6 Tournament with seed and season record:

#1 Penns Manor (9-1)
#2 Northern Cambria (7-3)
#3 Cambria Heights (7-3)
#4 Juniata Valley (6-4)
#5 Portage (6-4)
#6 Homer Center (5-5)
#7 Moshannon Valley (5-5)
#8 Glendale (5-5)

Here are the quarterfinal round games all games start at 7pm:

Glendale @ Penns Manor
Portage @ Juniata Valley
Homer Center @ Cambria Heights
Moshannon Valley @ Northern Cambria

Let’s look at Portage v Juniata Valley

On 11/04 at 7pm #5 Portage (6-4) will travel to #4 Juniata Valley (6-4) in a D6 A Football Quarterfinal game.  Juniata Valley finished 4^th in the Inter County League, and they beat Mount Union at home 26-22 last week.  Portage finished 4^th in the Heritage Conference, and they lost @ Windber 31-0 last week.  Windber is the Class A #6 ranked team in the state by Pa Football News (check out all the rankings here: PFN Rankings)

Juniata Valley is led on offense by Senior QB Reid Edwards, Junior RB Andrew McMonagle, and Senior RB Jacob Rodkey.  Edwards has thrown 36-108 for 508 yards with 2 TDs and 5 INTs.  McMonagle has rushed 195 times for 1,002 yards for a 5.1 yards per carry average and 10 TDs.  Rodkey has rushed 71 times for 393 yards for a 5.5 yards per carry average and 4 TDs.  Rodkey also leads the team in receiving with 20 receptions for 303 yards and 2 TDs.  Juniata Valley has rushed for 1,495 yards and has 18 rushing TDs.  On defense, Juniata Valley is led by Senior Andrew McMonagle, Sophomore Levi Thompson, and Senior Foster England.  McMonagle has 83 tackles, 2 sacks, and 3 INTs.  Thompson has 63 tackles and 2 sacks.  England has 53 tackles and 2 sacks.  Juniata Valley has 15 INTs on the season.  McMonagle, Senior Colton Verbonitz, Junior Luke Uplinger, and Rodkey lead the team with INTs with 3 each.

Portage is led on offense by Senior QB Andrew Miko, Senior FB Isaac Jubina, Sophomore TE Bode Layo, and Senior WR Mason Kargo.  Miko has passed 42-104 for 861 yards with 13 TDs and 5 INTs and rushed 64 times for 401 yards and 3 TDs rushing.  Jubina rushed 159 times for 969 yards (6.1 Average) and 16 TDs.  Layo has caught 12 passes for 431 yards for a 35.9 yards per reception average.  Kargo has 22 receptions for 359 yards receiving and rushed 47 times for 280 yards (6.0 average).  Portage has rushed for 2,302 yards as a team.  Portage has outscored its opponents 269-249 on the season.  On defense, Portage is led by Senior DT Braedan Oravecz, Senior Mason Kargo, and Sophomore Issac Willinsky.  Oravecz has 85 tackles, 1 sack, and 2 fumble recoveries.  Kargo has 84 tackles and 1 INT.  Willinsky has 60 tackles.  Jubina leads the team with 3 sacks.

The winner of this game plays the winner of the Glendale/Penns Manor game in the D6 A Semifinals on 11/11. You can read the preview of that game HERE

The Class A D6 playoff consists of 8 teams.  The tournament starts with the quarterfinal round 11/4, semifinals 11/11 and the D6 A Championship at Mansion Park 11/19 @ 7pm.  The quarterfinal and semifinals will be played at the top seed’s field.  The 2022 D6 A Champion will play the D4 A Champion either 11/25 or 11/26 in the Quarterfinal round of the PIAA Championships.  The Heritage Conference is well represented in this year’s D6 A playoffs.  The Heritage conference has 5 out of the 8 teams.  Top seeded Penns Manor has beaten half the teams in the tournament this season.

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