Around District 11 With Pam and Guy: And Then There Was One
Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs
Guy Smith | December 3, 2024
2024 Episode 30. Pam’s knee replacement rehab is going well, ahead of schedule actually. She was able to walk a mile on day 11, and flexion measured at 92 degrees, both ahead of the two-week benchmark goals. She made it to Bethlehem for Thanksgiving dinner with her stepfather, but she was not ready for football yet, so Guy went solo for three games.
Five District 11 teams were in action, two in state semi-final games, and three on Thanksgiving morning. Going into the final week of the high school season, and for the second year in a row, the Northwestern Lehigh Tigers are the final D11 team still playing in the final high school football weekend, facing the Avonworth Antelopes on Saturday afternoon at Chapman Field in Mechanicsburg.
The story is quite different for PA college teams, with no fewer than eight teams still active. In D1 FBS, the Penn State Nittany Lions will face the Oregon Ducks for the Big 10 championship on Saturday night. Pam and Guy have been to Oregon to see the Ducks play at home, but that was ice hockey, not football. The University of Pittsburgh started out by winning their first seven games before losing five straight. But at 7-5, they will undoubtedly be playing in a bowl game somewhere. The state’s other FBS team, the Temple Owls, finished at 3-9.
In D1 FCA (1AA), Pennsylvania has nine schools with football programs. Two PA teams have advanced to round two of the playoffs. Lehigh went on the road and beat the #9 Richmond Spiders to move to 8-3. The former Engineers now Mountain Hawks travel to Idaho to face the #8 Vandals this weekend. And #11 Villanova held off the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and now travel to Texas to face the #6 University of Incarnate Word Cardinals.
In D2, the nation’s third ranked team, the undefeated Kutztown University Golden Bears were upset by the Slippery Rock Rock, losing on the last play and being eliminated. There are 15 D2 teams in PA, with two still alive in the tournament. Slippery Rock advanced with their win over Kutztown, and the California University of PA Vulcans advanced to the quarter finals, also with a one-point win over the Ashland Eagles. The two PA teams will face each other, guaranteeing at least one of the two will move on to the semifinals.
For D3 where there are 28 PA teams, the Susquehanna River Hawks advanced to round three with a win over Hobart. The Carnegie Mellon Tartans also advanced, knocking the Colonels off Centre. PA teams eliminated this past weekend were Kings, Washington & Jefferson, and Grove City. The Tartans travel to play #5 Mount Union Vikings, while the River Hawks travel to Minnesota to take on #3 Saint John’s Johnnies.
Three PA colleges also field Sprint Football teams. Those are the Chestnut Hill Griffins, the Mansfield Mountaineers, and the Penn Quakers (who also have a D1 FCS team). Sprint football is finished for the season. There are also three Junior Colleges in PA with football. Their seasons are complete as well.
Thus, there are still eight PA college football teams still active, two each in FBS, FCS, D2, and D3.
With Pam at home and hard at work rehabbing the knee, Guy headed to three football games with past week. He started off on Wednesday evening with the Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association All-Star Game at Schuylkill Haven. There was no Thanksgiving morning game this year as Guy had to drive Pam to dinner with her stepfather rather than meeting her there after football, as Pam is not yet cleared to drive.
The Friday choice came down to either Northwestern Lehigh vs. Danville at Berwick or Southern Lehigh vs. Monsignor Bonner at Central Bucks West. Although there were a number of factors that favored choosing Northwestern Lehigh, the lure of seeing a D11 team play at a stadium never before visited was too great and Guy headed south to CB West.
There were several local college options for Saturday afternoon, all at different levels. Susquehanna was home in D3, Kutztown was home in D2, and Villanova was home in D1 FCS. Despite being a Kutztown grad, Guy chose the one of the three he had never been to before, and again headed south, to Villanova.
2024 GAME 61. WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 21. SCHUYLKILL COUNTY FOOTBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION ALL STAR GAME, SCHUYLKILL HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL. We first learned of this game four years ago and this was Guy’s fourth year attending. Pam missed two of them, two years ago when she tested positive for Covid and this year while recuperating from knee replacement surgery. Both of those years, the PA Football News broadcast team for the live stream of the game wished her well and a speedy recovery on the air, an awesome gesture. Thanks Billy and Brian.
Admission to this game is just five bucks, and despite late November night games in the Skook being pretty darn cold, a good crowd has been there all four years that Guy has attended. One thing that is really cool is that so many people wear jackets and sweatshirts from their high school. We would not be surprised if you took the time to scour the crowd, you could find one from every one of the 14 schools represented by clothing.
Another really cool thing that happened this year is that they had a helicopter circle the field before the start and drop the game ball from the sky, landing at midfield. Nice touch.
Schuylkill Haven has one of those great Skook stadium refreshment stand offerings. The outdoor grill firing up burgers, along with delicious chili and a slice of pizza were Guy’s planned dinner menu before even arriving. One thing to note is that they do offer a limited menu for this game, as the main refreshment stand is not open. Thus, although the grub is golden, the lines can get long, especially around halftime.
One very unique item that bears mention was a homemade dessert that looked almost exactly like a turkey leg. Cocoa Krispies were used to make the meat and skin portion, with a pretzel and two small marshmallows dipped in white chocolate used to make the bone. See this week’s collage for a picture.
In the past, the game was always played as North vs. South. This year for some reason, they decided to change things up and make it Big Schools vs. Small Schools. Perhaps they thought eight small schools would be akin to six big schools? They was not. This was about as lopsided as they come, with the big school team winning 52-0.
Another fun rule change for this game was that the rule for taunting after touchdowns is not enforced, which leads the kids to come up with some creative celebrations that involve the entire team. Examples were rowing, bowling, and duck duck goose. It’s just a shame that the kids from the eight small schools didn’t get to partake in any of the fun. Not much chance to celebrate a Mercy Rule shutout.
Hopefully the both of us will be back for the 2025 version in what has become just as much a Thanksgiving football tradition for us as the ever-dwindling game choices on Thursday mornings. We are hoping they return to the North vs. South format.
2024 GAME 62. FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23. 4A STATE SEMI FINAL. SOUTHERN LEHIGH SPARTANS VS. MONSIGNOR BONNER AND ARCHBISHOP PRENDERGAST CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL @ CENTRAL BUCKS WEST. Guy knew the Spartans were a long shot in this one, but picked this game over Northwestern Lehigh more than for the teams playing, but for a chance to see a stadium for the first time vs. returning to the same stadium for two straight weeks.
Southern Lehigh was making their first ever appearance in the state semi-finals. They had a record of 12-2, losing to Blue Mountain (4A) and Northwestern Lehigh (3A). Bonner-Prendie played fewer games and were 10-2 entering the game. However, the big difference was that the Friers two losses were to a pair of the top 6A schools in the state: Saint Joe Prep and LaSalle.
Guy left extra early anticipating Black Friday traffic, but encountered no delays and it was smooth sailing from the Pocono Mountains to CB West. Arrived too early, but got a great parking spot.
Refreshment stand offerings were disappointing, which was not unexpected. Only two hot food items were available, Chick Fil A sandwiches, which priced at $8 were a buck or two higher than other schools that offer them, and hot dogs for $4. Many stadiums sell hot dogs for half that.
Kudos to the Southern Lehigh contingent. They turned out in very good numbers to support their team, which was great to see. They also had their full band and cheerleaders for a true and well-rounded high school football game experience. No band and no cheerleaders for Bonner-Prendie.
There was a brief glimmer of hope for Southern Lehigh as they moved the ball downfield on the opening possession. But once they got to about the twenty, a couple of penalties and a missed long field goal left them with nada. An interception on the first play gave them another possession starting in the red zone. But when that also netted a big fat zero, they were in trouble. You can’t miss out on opportunities when playing teams at this level without it coming back to haunt you.
Bonner was touted to have a solid passing game, and indeed their QB threw a very nice ball. But the passing game wasn’t needed that much in this one, as their run game shredded the Spartan defense with impressive speed. The backs hit the holes so fast that they were often in the open field in no time and then they were very hard to slow or bring down. Evidence was that Bonner topped 400 yards rushing, more than eight times that of Southern Lehigh.
The result was a Mercy Rule at 42-7 still in the third quarter. With no wind, it wasn’t as cold as feared (or as in Berwick) so Guy hung around until almost the end, missing only the final SL touchdown in the 55-26 loss. Andrew Olesh had over 200 receiving yards and three TDs for the Spartans, but all three of those were after the Mercy Rule had kicked in.
Bonner advances to the state championship game, while Southern Lehigh ended the season with 12 wins, a district championship, and their deepest ever playoff run.
2024 GAME 63. SATURDAY NOVEMBER 30. NCAA D1 FCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT ROUND ONE. EASTERN KENTUCKY COLONELS @ VILLANOVA WILDCATS. For the third time of the week, Guy headed solo for football. This was a first-ever visit to Villanova. Again, we have seen the Lady Ice Cats play home ice hockey at the Grundy Ice Arena in Bristol, but had never been on campus. The drive was costly, using the PA Turnpike, but it was a very easy drive and parking in the paid garage across the street from the stadium was no problem.
General admission tickets were $25 which didn’t seem too bad for a NCAA D1 FCS national playoff series game. Until, that is, you click the “order tickets” button and they tell you there is an additional $20 “ordering fee.” Twenty bucks? Guy said he would have felt much better if they had just said the ticket was $45. Throw in the parking fee and we are now over $50.
Food and drink prices were at near major league levels, and this was not an FBS stadium. For example, order chicken and fries and the total was $30. Add $7 more for a soda. Guy decided to apply his $20 stadium food budget on the ticket order fee, and buy nothing.
The stadium on campus is nearly 100 years old, but it’s still a good place to watch a football game. Unfortunately, not many did. The official attendance, which is almost always based on tickets sold and not actual bodies in the stadium, was announced as just 1,722. And that for a national championship playoff game. Of course it was cold. And windy. That dropped the actual temperature below freezing by the end of the game with the real feel into the lower 20s.
Eastern Kentucky came roaring out of the box, taking a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Villanova was stopped just short of the goal line and turned the ball over on downs. But the defense held and a bad snap to the punter in the endzone resulted in a safety for the Wildcats. Villanova added a touchdown and EKU a field goal to make it 17-9. Just before halftime, an EKU field goal was blocked, preventing them from taking a two-score lead into the break.
Eastern Kentucky would never score again. Well, they did temporarily but that’s a story for the next paragraph. Villanova scored one TD in the third quarter, and they were down one 17-16 heading into the final fifteen.
At the end of the third quarter, and it being the final home game of the season, the refreshment stand closed, and they gave away a lot of the leftover food for free. Guy managed to snag $28 worth to actually come out ahead of the $20 ordering fee. Heh, heh, heh.
In the fourth, Villanova got another field goal and took their first lead of the game. Later, the Villanova quarterback was stripped of the ball and it was returned for a touchdown giving the lead back to EKU. But the video review reversed the call and ruled it a pass. Haha. Guy was rooting for ‘Nova, but in the world of reality and common sense, that was no pass. That was a fumble.
With one minute to go, Villanova kicked another field goal to go up 22-17. Those three points would turn out to be very important. EKU returned the kickoff to almost midfield and a late hit out of bounds set them up on Villanova territory. With ten seconds left, a pass almost at the goal line could have been caught for the winning score but a hard hit by the defender jarred it loose.
Then came the flag for targeting. What was the defense supposed to do, let him catch it and cross the goal line to win the game? But the replay gods again blessed the home team and the call was overturned on replay. No way should an official make a call to decide the game and eliminate a team from the national championship tournament unless it was an unquestionable foul. The replay reversal proved that was not the case.
On the last play of the game with six seconds left and a first and goal from the ten, the EKU QB threw to an open receiver in the end zone who made the catch. But he was just out of bounds and Villanova held on for a win that could have easily gone the other way. That field goal with a minute left was so important because without it, EKU could have kicked one of their own and won by one. Instead, they lost a heartbreaker by five.
Eastern Kentucky has not won a playoff game since 1994. This was their ninth straight playoff loss. For Villanova, the 2009 national champions, they advance to the next round this coming weekend in Texas. Hopefully I will return to the stadium again in the future, but would probably only do so if Pam were with me to see a game here.
Since 2015 save the Covid year, Guy has gone to all the state championship games. This year will be much different. Only two weeks out from her surgery, Pam is not driving yet. She has physical therapy on Thursday afternoon and an appointment with her surgeon on Friday afternoon. I will be skipping the games on those days to drive and support her. But I’ll be there Saturday afternoon as the Northwestern Lehigh Tigers go for their first state championship in football. Back next week with the report. Feedback always welcome at RTRYFBAR@AOL.COM.
GUY & PAM BLOG ERA TEAM SCORECARD
(2 Additions This Week: Central Bucks West for D11 Related: State Playoffs @ Neutral Sites, and Villanova for NCAA National Championship Playoffs, Guy Only)
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.
11/17. Outside D11 State Playoff Game Sites with D11 Teams.
2022-2024
11/19. NCAA D2 PSAC Colleges Including Former PSAC Schools.
- 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: 117 (Pam 107)
Plus 9 “Other”
Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews
