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Around District 11 With Pam and Guy: A Game of Inches…And Seconds

Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, pfn, Playoffs

| November 13, 2024


2024 Episode 27.  This past week we chose high school football on Thursday and Friday.  On Saturday we went with a Wilkes University “Home Run” of Women’s Swimming, Men’s Swimming, Women’s Ice Hockey, and Wrestling.  Sunday we were on the fence between Moravian Equestrian and Bucknell Women’s Rowing, choosing the latter as it was a first-time-in-person college sport for us, our 30th (depending on who’s counting).

The Thursday game was the “Game of the Year’ for us to see in person so far.  It was a D11 4A Semi-Final game with Pottsville visiting Southern Lehigh.  What a finish!  Before last week, we didn’t realize that District 11 was the ONLY district holding playoff games on Thursdays.  The first week there were six Thursday games, last week there were three Thursday games, and this coming week there is one Thursday game.  Thank you to D11 for an additional three opportunities to attend games, especially since Pam’s season is likely coming to an end after this weekend.

After last weekend’s games, the eight teams still playing in the state tournament from District 11 are Schuylkill Haven, Williams Valley, Northwestern Lehigh, Bethlehem Catholic, Southern Lehigh, East Stroudsburg South, Emmaus, and Parkland.  At least three will be eliminated this weekend as they are still playing within the district for championships.  In addition, Lackawanna Trail from D2 is representing the D2/D11 Subregion.  And Catasauqua, Easton, and Northampton play on Thanksgiving.

Teams from D11 whose seasons ended last week were Whitehall, Pottsville, Lehighton, Tri-Valley, North Schuylkill, Freedom, Executive Education, and Pen Argyl.  Kudos to them to still be playing in November.  Special shout out to Tri-Valley, the final true D11 1A school playing this season.

We chose Southern Lehigh on Thursday as we had already seen East Stroudsburg South and Bethlehem Catholic play at home.  On Friday, we picked Northwestern Lehigh vs. North Schuylkill as that was the only game of the four that had two D11 teams playing for a championship.

2024 GAME 55.  THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8.  DISTRICT 11 4A SEMI-FINAL.  POTTSVILLE CRIMSON TIDE @ SOUTHERN LEHIGH SPARTANS.  This was our first look at Southern Lehigh this year and our first varsity game at this stadium in a long time.

Visiting Pottsville entered the game 6-5.  We had not seen the Crimson Tide play this year either, but did note that only one of their wins was over a team that ended up with a winning record.  They did eliminate Allentown Central Catholic in the first week of the playoffs to advance to the semi-finals.

Southern Lehigh was 9-2, losing only to Blue Mountain in their second game and to top ranked 3A Northwestern Lehigh by a single score.

Refreshment pickings were slim.  Hot Dogs $2 (loaded $3), Pizza $3, Walking Taco $5, Mac & Cheese $3, Pierogies $4.  This was before the game even started, and there were already multiple items crossed off the menu.  Before halftime, hot dogs and pizza were all that remained.

It was game with two halves that couldn’t have been more different.  In the first half, Pottsville was basically unstoppable, scoring touchdowns on all five first-half full possessions.  Southern Lehigh was “thisclose” as their passing game was off by just a hair.  We figured they would start to connect, but had they dug themselves too big of a hole to climb out?

With less than a minute left in the first half, Pottsville was up 34-13.  It’s tough to come back from being down three scores in less than 25 minutes of football, especially when the other team had yet to be stopped when on offense.

A long pass for a touchdown with just nine seconds left before the break brought this one back to a two-score game and began an incredible momentum shift.

Credit the Southern Lehigh coaching staff for halftime adjustments as whatever Pottsville was doing to score on every first-half possession was completely stopped in the second half.  From five first-half touchdowns, Pottsville never scored another single point.

Meanwhile, the Southern Lehigh offense started to click.  The game shifted 180 degrees as the Spartans could not be denied.

The story of the game was almost one of inches.  A Spartan extra point doinked off an upright costing them a point.  And on fourth down with only a couple of minutes to play, they were stopped by the slimmest of possible margins and gave up possession with Pottsville leading by a single point (up until that point The Doink Heard Round The Center Valley).

But instead, it turned into a game of seconds.  Pottsville got virtually nothing on offense and even gifted Southern Lehigh with an extra timeout by throwing an incomplete pass.  A great punt put the Spartans a long way from the end zone but it seemed everyone in the stadium just had this feeling they would get it done.  Just like with the key momentum changing touchdown with nine seconds left in the first half, Southern Lehigh punched it in with nine seconds left in the game for their first lead all night and a chance to advance to the district championship against Bethlehem Catholic.

An incredible comeback was completed.  An amazing job by the coaching staff.  Don’t forget the conditioning coach, as Pottsville looked gassed at the end while Southern Lehigh looked as fresh as at the start.  Easily the best game we had seen this year, and we are looking forward to seeing the Spartans play again this week.  Credit to Pottsville, for a team that ended 6-6 they gave a state honorable mention ranked team all they could handle, only falling in the final ten seconds.

2024 GAME 56.  FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9.  DISTRICT 11 3A CHAMPIONSHIP.  NORTH SCHUYLKILL SPARTANS VS. NORTHWESTERN LEHIGH TIGERS @ LEHIGHTON.  We had seen North Schuylkill play once this season, a convincing road win at Blue Mountain by a 38-14 score.  Their record entering the game was a stout 8-3.  However, one of those three losses was a Mercy Rule loss to Northwestern Lehigh.

Meanwhile, the Tigers have been ranked number one in PA in the 3A category throughout the season.  They entered the game 11-0 with only their game against Southern Lehigh being close.

The game was played at Lehighton.  That’s one of our very favorite area stadiums to watch high school football.  For the great refreshment stand menu offered there, check out our earlier blog when we went to see the Lehighton Indians play at their home field.

Obviously, we had hoped that North Schuylkill would step it up for the playoffs and give the Tigers a better game.  They did, but only to a limited extent.  The Tigers scored the first 36 points to roll the Mercy Rule clock midway through the third quarter.  North Schuylkill added a post-mercy touchdown to make the final 36-7, an improvement from the regular-season final score of 49-7.

The Tigers went 15-1 last year, losing only in the state final.  Add this year’s dozen, and they are 27-1 over the last two seasons.  Very impressive.  They host an 8-3 Conwell-Egan this coming Friday night.

This weekend is Pam’s last before her knee replacement surgery the following Tuesday, which could very well end her season.  With that in mind, we are going football-heavy on the games this week.  The current plan is Emmaus state semi-final field hockey on Tuesday, D11 4A District Championship football on Thursday, D11 2A District Championship football on Friday with a matchup between a pair of top six state ranked teams, Wilkes University football early Saturday afternoon, Wilkes men’s ice hockey late Saturday afternoon, “maybe” Bloomsburg University ice hockey on Saturday evening, and likely the Catasauqua vs. Northampton powder puff football game on Sunday, a game that Pam played in as a Catty student.  The other Sunday possibility is an NCAA National Championship Tournament game for soccer or field hockey.  Pam said: “Last weekend for me, let’s load ‘em up!”  Yes, ma’am.  Feedback always welcome at RTRYFBAR@AOL.COM.

 

PA FOOTBALL NEWS D11 STATE RANKED TOP 10 TEAMS

 

Northwestern Lehigh is the only remaining undefeated team from District 11.  Nobody moved up from District 11 this week, although we did get Emmaus and East Stroudsburg North as Honorable Mention additions.  Easton and Freedom, the top two D11 seeds in 6A, lost and dropped out of the rankings.

 

1 Northwestern Lehigh (3A) +/- 0

4 Schuylkill Haven (2A) +/- 0

6 Williams Valley (2A) +/- 0

6 Lackawanna Trail (1A) +/- 0 (2/11 Subregion)

HM Southern Lehigh (4A) +/- 0

HM Parkland (6A) +/- 0

HM Emmaus (6A) Addition

HMEast Stroudsburg South (5A) Addition

 

Dropped Out: Easton (6A—Was 8th)

Dropped Out: Freedom (6A—Was 9th)

 

 

PA COLLEGE TEAMS NATIONALLY RANKED

 

Kutztown remains the highest nationally ranked college from Pennsylvania.  They are the only one still unbeaten.  Although Pitt dropped out, PA still has nine colleges that are nationally ranked.  Guy and Pam both graduated from Kutztown.  Penn State, Villanova, Carnegie Mellon, California, Grove City, and Washington and Jefferson all moved up!

 

3 Kutztown (D2) +/- 0

5 Penn State (FBS) +2

6 Susquehanna (D3) +/-0

8 Villanova (FCS) +3

11 Slippery Rock (D2) -1

16 Carnegie Mellon (D3) +1

17 California (D2) +1

17 Grove City (D3) +1

19 Washington and Jefferson (D3) +3

 

Dropped Out: Pittsburgh (FBS)

 

 

GUY & PAM BLOG ERA TEAM SCORECARD

(Additions This Week: None)

 

2021-2024

 

47/47. All District 11 Varsity Football Teams at Home.

7/8.  District 11 JV Teams Playing at Different Locations Than Varsity.

11/11.  D11 related: Subregional Teams, Special Events or Former EPC Teams.

6/6.  All-Star Games with D11 Players.

8/13.  Outside D11 State Playoff Game Sites with D11 Teams.

 

2022-2024

 

11/19.  NCAA D2 PSAC Colleges Including Former PSAC Schools.

  1. NCAA Bowl Games, National Playoffs, or NFL.

 

2023-2024

 

14/20.  GEFA 8-Man Semi Pro football.

 

2024

 

2/18.  D11 Teams Playing Regular Season Games Outside D11.  This is where the fun will be next year.

 

Total: 113

 

Plus 9 “Other”

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