Around District 11 with Pam and Guy: D11 Puts a Pair in the Finals
Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News, pfn
Guy Smith | December 2, 2025
For the first time in 19 years, District 11 has two teams in the state championship finals. In 4A, Southern Lehigh rode a roller coaster of a game, scoring 21, giving up 24, then taking the lead in the final minute for the second week in a row to score a comeback win. And in 3A, Northwestern Lehigh exploded in the second half to advance to the championship final for the third straight season.
This is the fourth time that District 11 has had multiple teams in the championship games. The most recent was in 2006, when Wilson won while Pottsville and Liberty lost. The year before, D11 also had three teams in the final, but Wilson, Pottsville, and Liberty all lost. The best year for the district was in 1990, the third year of the state playoffs. Both Marian Catholic and Schuylkill Haven won.
We were confident Northwestern Lehigh was going to win on Friday and we would see them at the state final. The other game, with Southern Lehigh vs. Cardinal O’Hara, we thought more of a tossup. Since that game was much closer to home at Whitehall, we picked the Spartans for the sixth time this season; three varsity playoff games and three JV games.
None of the high school teams we had an interest in were playing on Saturday, so we turned to college football. Choices were Kutztown, Villanova, or Franklin and Marshall. Guy had been to Villanova for the NCAA playoffs just last season but Pam couldn’t go that day because of her knee surgery. We went to see the Wildcats take on the Ivy League’s Harvard Crimson.
The night before Thanksgiving, we headed to Schuylkill Haven for the annual SCFCA Senior All Star game. This is the 5th year in a row Guy has attended, Pam missing twice, once while in COVID timeout, last year for the knee replacement.
This coming weekend will be our final football games of the year. Ever since Guy retired, he has been going to every game of the state finals. This year we are backing off a bit, only going to the 1A through 4A games. Of course those include the two games featuring District 11 teams. We decided to skip the 5A and 6A games, having little interest in those matchups. Would love to go to Lehigh, Kutztown, or Eastern for their NCAA tournament games on Saturday. But Northwestern Lehigh trumps the college teams and a chance to see a new stadium. Every year, Guy brings up the possibility of us going to Fenway Park in Boston for the bowl game held between Christmas and New Year. Despite positive experiences at two other “local” bowls, the Military and the Pinstripe bowls, Pam has never been in favor of Fenway in winter. Really, who can blame her? Perhaps Santa will bring us tickets this year.
AFCA National College Football Polls.
FBS. Pittsburgh (8-4): Pitt’s return to the Top 25 was short lived. They lost to Miami 38-7. Figuring in “Also Receiving Votes,” Pitt is ranked 32nd. And by that metric, Penn State at 6-6 is ranked 37th.
FCS. Lehigh had a first round tournament bye so were idle last weekend. At 12-0, they are one of only two undefeated teams in D1 FBS. They play 10-2 Villanova this week at home. Villanova easily defeated Harvard last Saturday in the first round of the playoffs.
D2. Kutztown remained unbeaten at 13-0, one of three unbeatens left in D2. They put up over 50 points for the second week in a row in the tournament. This week they are home again in the national quarterfinals, hosting a very dangerous 11-2 Frostburg State. One of the Bobcat’s losses was to California, PA, which they avenged last week in the playoffs. Their other loss was in double overtime.
D3. Both the Eastern University Eagles and the Susquehanna River Hawks are making playoff runs. 10-1 Eastern traveled on the road and took down Franklin and Marshall. Susquehanna started 2-2 but have won eight straight, last weekend knocking off unbeaten Christopher Newport. The Captains had beaten the River Hawks during the regular season. The two winning schools will face off against each other this Saturday. The Muhlenberg Mules went on the road to Ohio and lost to powerhouse Mount Union.
District 11 vs. the State. We went 2-0 with Southern Lehigh and Northwestern Lehigh winning their games against Cardinal O’Hara and Trinity. We’ll throw in the Easton win over Phillipsburg, NJ as well. The season record for the D11 teams vs. the state is 41-19. Hoping we can get two more dubbies.
Undefeated. Locally, Northwestern Lehigh, Kutztown University and Lehigh University are still unbeaten in December.
In Pennsylvania, only three high school teams remain unbeaten. And two of them will face off on Saturday. Unbeaten Twin Valley plays Southern Lehigh in 4A, while Avonworth plays Northwestern Lehigh in 3A.
Still Standing. And then there were two. Southern Lehigh 14-1 and Northwestern Lehigh 15-0 made it to December football. This is the third consecutive year for Northwestern Lehigh to play in the December state final.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26. SCFCA SENIOR ALL-STAR GAME, SCHUYLKILL HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL. TURF. In 2021, our first year of writing this blog for PA Football News, we had never heard of this game. Guy discovered it the morning of the game and woke up Pam to ask if we could go that evening. Of course, she said yes. Guy hasn’t missed one since, although Pam missed two, but both for reasons out of her control.
Admission is just $5 cash. The game benefits the Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association. Although all the high schools in the county participate, the game has been at Schuylkill Haven all five years that we have gone.
Last year they tried something different and instead of North vs. South they had Big Schools vs. Small Schools. That was a disaster, with the big school team winning 52-0. For this year they returned to the North vs. South format.
We don’t know if it was the blowout score last year, but this year there seemed to be less attendance and less enthusiasm for the game. Even the refreshment stand seemed less into it. Guy went for our annual chili and pizza mid second quarter, and despite the lower attendance, they were already sold out of both.
Once again, the game was a lopsided blowout. The South team had many more players than the North, and apparently most of the best ones. When we left, they were ahead 50-0.
Something has to change to make the game more competitive. We realize it’s an all-star game just for fun, but when you are getting your butt kicked in front of family and friends, we guarantee that’s not fun for half the kids playing.
The team sizes have to be more even in number of players. And the top players have to be more evenly distributed between the teams. Do we have a recommendation on how to accomplish that? Of course. First, find 60 or so seniors representing all the teams in the county that are both willing and able to play, to eliminate any imbalance caused by a disproportionate number of players on one team opting out. Then, the two head coaches have a private draft and take turns picking their teams from the available pool of players. Finally, release the rosters of which players are on which team. Guy ran the idea past a former high school coach, who said he could see no fault with the idea and that it made complete sense. Then added “and that’s why it will never happen.”
Will we attend again next year? Almost certainly, as it has become a tradition for us. But if there is another mercy rule blowout for the third consecutive year, we may reevaluate that tradition.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28. CARDINAL O’HARA LIONS VS. SOUTHERN LEHIGH SPARTANS @ WHITEHALL HIGH SCHOOL. 4A SEMIFINAL. TURF. It really was a tough call for us on which game to attend, but in the end, we decided to go to see if Southern Lehigh could advance to their first-ever state championship game. As Guy and Pam had different afternoon activities, we met up in the Whitehall parking lot.
Southern Lehigh has very strong community support and a very good crowd turned out to cheer on the Spartans. O’Hara had a nice turnout on their side as well. Good to see so many on hand on a very cold night.
At first it looked like a possible Southern Lehigh blowout. They scored first on a long pass, again on a long run, and a third time when a short field was set up by an interception. That’s what you call running on all cylinders. The Lions barely missed a field goal that hit the crossbar, and it looked like even fate was on the Spartans side as they were up 21-0.
But O’Hara didn’t fold and got a break when a disputable pass interference call on fourth down kept a drive alive. The Lions took advantage and scored. The momentum shifted and the Lions added a FG before halftime to cut the lead to 21-10.
In the second half, Southern Lehigh made five huge mistakes. A blown coverage led to a wide-open TD pass. They muffed a punt and lost possession. A drive down the field ended in a lost fumble. Another drive down the field ended in disaster as a defensive player stripped the ball from the Spartan QB. The loose ball was scooped and returned over 75 yards the other way, and all of a sudden a 21-0 lead was a 24-21 deficit after two dozen unanswered points.
Southern Lehigh had time for one last full drive. Again, they moved down the field, but yet another fumble was miraculously ruled down by contact. Facing a fourth down and well within field goal range to tie it and likely send the game into overtime, Coach Sams decided to go for it and the Spartans converted to set up the winning play. With 31 seconds left, Sean Steckert scored his third TD of the game and for the second week in a row, Southern Lehigh came back to win in the final minute.
Often times during games this deep in the playoffs, one “big bad” can cost a team the game. Somehow, Southern Lehigh made five in the second half and still survived. How did they manage to escape with the win? In our opinion, it’s because they were the better team. They moved the ball down the field consistently in the second half. It was the turnovers that killed the drives. Steckert had over 200 yards rushing. Darius Roman had over 100 yards receiving. And QB Colton Sams was a slick 14-18 in the air. Cardinal O’Hara did not generate that kind of offense.
That being said, if Southern Lehigh plays that kind of sloppy football and doesn’t hang on the ball, they will lose the championship game this week. You can’t rely on that sort of last-minute comeback three weeks in a row, especially when facing a team that is unbeaten, as is the Twin Valley Raiders. Should be a great one!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29. HARVARD CRIMSON @ VILLANOVA WILDCATS. NCAA D1 FBS NATIONAL TOURNAMENT ROUND ONE. TURF. On Saturday our choice was Villanova for the first round of the NCAA D1 FBS playoffs. The #6 Wildcats were hosting the #19 Harvard Crimson.
Villanova entered the game 9-2, having lost a sacrificial lamb FBS game to Penn State in week two, then to Monmouth the following week. After that, they ran the regular season table. Harvard was 9-1, winning their first nine before losing the annual rivalry game to Yale to close out the regular season.
One bonus for us choosing this game was that we got to see former Freedom Patriot Owen Johnson play for Harvard. His brother Kyle was out with a hamstring injury. Before the game, we had a chance to chat with their mom Heather. Of course, they both attended Freedom after Guy had retired from teaching there in 2015.
As brutally cold as it was the previous night at Whitehall, the sun at the 12:00 noon afternoon game the following day made it very pleasant for watching college football. Villanova is a nice place to watch a game, easy to get to, and has ample parking right across the street. Admission was $26 plus $5 parking, which is not bad for a D1 playoff game. With the students on Thanksgiving break, the crowd wasn’t very large, the announced attendance was 2,125 at Villanova Stadium, which seats 12,500. A far cry from the Easton vs. Phillipsburg high school game two days earlier that drew over 13,000.
Harvard learned early on that this ain’t the Ivy League. The Wildcats scored again and again, while Harvard receivers had a hard time holding onto the ball. At halftime it was 31-0 Villanova, and when the game ended, the final score was 52-7.
Harvard ends the season with two straight losses to finish 9-2. Villanova advances to round two, and will travel to undefeated Lehigh this Saturday afternoon in Bethlehem. Would love to see that one. So many games, so little time.
Horizon. Planning on honoring a former District 11 school with a long-gone football program on Tuesday of championship week, as we head to Weatherly to see the Wreckers take on Lincoln Leadership Academy on the court. Weatherly last played varsity football in the 1980s. However, snow may impact our decision to attend this game. We are planning on going to both PIAA championship games Thursday, then the afternoon games on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Guy is heading solo to Syracuse, NY for indoor racing at the State Fairgrounds.
2025 District 11 Varsity or JV Teams Seen at Home or Outside D11. 1) Minersville Battlin’ Miners. 2a) Freedom Patriots (varsity field.) 2b) Freedom Patriots (JV field.) 3) Stroudsburg Mountaineers. 4) Whitehall Zephyrs (both varsity and JV). 5) Pocono Mountain East Cardinals. 6) Pleasant Valley Bears. –) Holy Cross Crusaders (D2SR). 7) Allentown Central Catholic Vikings. 8) Pen Argyl Green Knights. 9) Jim Thorpe Olympians. 10) Saucon Valley Panthers (both varsity and JV). 11) Bangor Slaters. 12) Pine Grove Cardinals. 13) Wilson Warriors (both varsity and JV). 14) Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes. 15) Executive Education Raptors. 16a) Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks (JV field). 16b) Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks (varsity field). 17) Parkland Trojans. 18) Panther Valley Panthers. 19) Southern Lehigh Spartans. 20) Catasauqua Rough Riders. 21) North Schuylkill Spartans. 22) Nativity BVM Green Wave. 23) Minersville Battlin’ Miners. 24) East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers. 25) Marian Catholic Colts. 26) Shenandoah Valley Blue Devils. 27) East Stroudsburg North Timberwolves. 28) Blue Mountain Eagles. 29) Pocono Mountain West Panthers. 30) Liberty Hurricanes. 31) Northern Lehigh Bulldogs. 32) Norte Dame Green Pond Crusaders. 33) Easton Red Rovers. 34) Williams Valley Vikings.
Still Possible: Northwestern Lehigh Tigers
Season Finished: Did Not See Varsity or JV at Home or Outside D11 (12). Dieruff Huskies. Emmaus Hornets. Lehighton Indians (saw away). Mahanoy City Golden Bears (saw away). Nazareth Eagles (saw away) Palisades Pirates (saw away). Palmerton Blue Bombers. Pottsville Crimson Tide (saw away). Salisbury Falcons. Tamaqua Blue Eagles (saw away) Tri Valley Bulldogs (saw away) William Allen Canaries (saw away).
2025 Pennsylvania College Teams. 1) Keystone College Giants. 2) Kings College Monarchs (JV & Varsity). 3) University of Pennsylvania Quakers. 4) Muhlenberg Mules. 5) Villanova University Wildcats.
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