Around District 11 with Pam and Guy: “Fifty in Five” JV Milestone
Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News, pfn
Guy Smith | October 21, 2025
Four games for us this week, along with two races.
Guy reached a milestone on Monday, attending his 50th JV game in our five years writing the blog for “PA Football News.” We don’t believe that anyone supports District 11 Junior Varsity football teams like we do.
Unfortunately, things are not at all well in JV football land. When Guy played JV for William Allen, he never remembers ever having a thought that one of the games might be canceled. Now, there are almost as many JV games canceled as played. In fact, this past weekend there were more canceled than played. Of the 47 D11 football schools, fewer than half played their JV game. The rest all canceled.
For us to find a game on both Saturday and Monday, we had to revert to Plan C both days. Saturday morning, we were all set for Northern Lehigh, but when we got back up from the gym the game was now showing as canceled. Plan B was Jim Thorpe, also canceled. For Plan C we headed back to Saucon Valley, where we had seen a varsity game earlier in the season.
Same thing on Monday. Plan A of Dieruff at ACC was canceled, as was Plan B of Pleasant Valley. Plan C of East Stroudsburg South became the choice.
By the way, those 50 JV games for Guy were for 24 different D11 schools. Seven were played on fields other than where the varsity played. Four teams, four times was the most of any school.
Very few seem as concerned as we are for the health of high school football in the area. Add the alarming number of JV game cancelations that are now treated as the norm to the excessive number of varsity Mercy Rule and shutout games, varsity games being forfeited, and schools that compete in D11in other sports but do not field a football team. There are 11 of those.
Still Unbeaten. The amazing Southern Lehigh Spartan football program is now 26-0, having won all three games again last weekend. Both the varsity and JV are 9-0, the middle school team 8-0. After nine weeks of the regular season, the three teams have scored an unbelievable 913 points. They have a very legitimate chance of scoring 1,000 combined regular season points! They are three wins away from a perfect 29-0 regular season. However, defending state champion Northwestern Lehigh’s 9-0 varsity team is going to have something to say about that, we’re sure.
PA Football News Polls. After nine weeks of football, and after last weekend’s games, the following District 11 and related teams were ranked by “PA Football News.” Easton was the big gainer, moving up three from 10 to 7. Nazareth, by virtue of their loss to Northampton, dropped out for the second time.
6A) Parkland–5 (+/- 0)
6A) Easton–7 (+3)
4A) Southern Lehigh–1 (+/- 0)
3A) Northwestern Lehigh–2 (+/- 0)
3A) Notre Dame–3 (+/- 0)
2A) Schuylkill Haven–3 (+/- 0)
2A) Williams Valley–6 (+/- 0)
2A) Minersville—9 (+ 1)
1A) Lackawanna Trail (D2 team, but combined with D11 for playoffs)—7 (+/- 0)
Nazareth—Out.
D11 still has five teams ranked in the top five in the state.
District 11 Power Rankings (After Eight Games).
1A. 1) Lackawanna Trail (D2). 2) Marian Catholic. 3) Tri-Valley.
2A. 1) Schuylkill Haven. 2) Williams Valley. 3) Minersville.
3A. 1) Notre Dame of Green Pond. 2) Northwestern Lehigh. 3) North Schuylkill.
4A. 1) Southern Lehigh. 2) Bethlehem Catholic. 3) Allentown Central Catholic.
5A. 1) Whitehall. 2) Pocono Mountain East. 3) Pleasant Valley.
6A. 1) Easton. 2) Parkland. 3) Nazareth.
Eastern Football Conference
Time to take a first look at the Eastern Conference potential matchups. With one week remaining in the regular season, only one District 11 team would make any of the four Eastern Conference Championship games. Although things will no doubt get shaken up during the final week of the regular season, the only District 11 team currently in line to play in Eastern Conference is: Pocono Mountain West @ Governor Mifflin.
AFCA National College Football Polls. Kutztown remains the highest ranked PA college in fourth, while Lehigh is in the top ten in seventh. Villanova is back in the top 12. Only five PA teams remain ranked.
FCS. Lehigh: Rank–7 (+/-0)
FCS. Villanova: Rank–12 (+2)
D2. Kutztown: Rank–4 (+/- 0)
D2. Slippery Rock: Rank–24 (+1)
D3. Carnegie Mellon: Rank–19 (+/-0)
District 11 vs. the State. The only game scheduled for outside the district was again Executive Education. They won by forfeit over New Hope-Solebury. Exec started out 1-3, but two of those losses were by just one score to winning teams, and they haven’t lost since. The Raptors are on a roll! The season record for the D11 teams vs. the state is an impressive 34-14. Can any other districts top that?
Undefeated in District 11. All six unbeaten teams won last week to increase their records to 9-0. Still unblemished: Easton, Northwestern Lehigh, Notre Dame Green Pond, Parkland, Schuylkill Haven, Southern Lehigh. That’s 25 straight for Northwestern Lehigh. Someone is going to lose this weekend as Northwestern Lehigh plays Southern Lehigh on Friday. Only four teams were winless going into the weekend. All four lost and they are almost out of time.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16. PARKLAND TROJANS (6A) @ WHITEHALL ZEPHYRS (5A). TURF. A sorely needed test for the fifth ranked in the state Trojans. Their 8-0 record included wins over just one team with fewer than four losses, Nazareth. Whitehall, although one rung down the classification ladder, had a 7-1 record, with the lone loss to that same Nazareth team that Parkland had defeated. Whitehall’s veracity was also still unproven, as their only win against a team with fewer than four losses was against the 6-3 Wilkes-Barre Wolfpack from “up thar” in District 2.
We had been to Whitehall earlier this year for a JV game, on Labor Day weekend when Guy’s herniated disc was at its worst and a morning JV game was all he could tolerate. This is one of the schools where tickets must be purchased online with an added fee.
Since we were in the area of Pam’s favorite taco joint, we ate at Santa Fe Taco in Northampton and didn’t eat our complete dinner at the game as usual. But we did sample the fresh cut fries, which were excellent, and the pierogies, which rocketed to the top of the pierogi rankings for the year. It was quite chilly. Whitehall has both a coffee truck and a shaved ice truck at their games. It was not surprising that there was a long line at one and no one at the other. You can guess which was which.
There is no doubt that Parkland passed the test. Whitehall had an early 7-6 lead and after that it was all Trojans and then some. When Guy was playing ball 50 years ago and was a running back, his Pop, a former semi-pro QB, extolled him to run forward and never slow down. If you get tackled, make the guy sorry he did it. Nowadays, so many high school backs come to almost a complete stop to look for a hole that almost never opens. Or they make a beeline for the sideline and run out of bounds. If Guy had run like that, his Pop would have beat him with a stick upon returning home after the game. Maybe even in the parking lot directly after. Pop would have loved the way the Parkland backs run. Some old-school coaching there, and it’s working. Parkland 49, Whitehall 13.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17. TRI-VALLEY BULLDOGS (1A) @ MINERSVILLE BATTLIN’ MINERS (2A). GRASS. Although we enjoy Minersville-style football and like watching QB Dante Carr play, it was not our intent to see Minersville more than any other team during the regular season. But here we are. We saw them the first week because they played at Halifax and that was a new stadium for us. We saw them at Schuylkill Haven because we thought it would be a great game, which it was. We saw them at Nativity because the Green Wave is a Pam favorite and Guy knew she would pick them one week. And Guy picked them last week when it was his turn because he just loves the atmosphere at that stadium.
Minersville has among the best refreshment stand offerings at some of the best prices of any school in D11. They will be hard to beat for the prestigious “Snack Bar of the Year” honors. They have no fewer than four permanent food stands, with different items at each. Guy started with a chicken nugget/mashed potato/corn/gravy bowl. Pam with chili. Guy followed with the turkey/filling/gravy bowl, Pam with cheese steak egg rolls. Next was a stew burger with peppers/onions/sauce for Guy, fresh cut fries for Pam. And we finished off with a dessert for Guy, fresh popped popcorn for Pam. The pizza looked delicious, but we just couldn’t. Guy said the turkey bowl was the single best food item of the year so far, although we have yet to visit snack bar power houses like Shenandoah, Lehighton, Marian, or Nazareth.
Minersville entered the game with a better than their record of 6-2 vibe. Their two losses were to two state top-ten teams, to one-loss Williams Valley and unbeaten Schuylkill Haven. The loss to Williams Valley was by only three, and to Haven by just two scores. Their 38 points against Haven was by far the most the Hurricanes have given up this year.
Tri-Valley also had a 6-2 record, but not a single one of those wins came against a team with a current winning record. None. That certainly made Minersville the favorite. Tri-Valley is tough, and they play hard. But they couldn’t hang with Carr’s dual threat of run and cannon arm. Dante passed the 3,000-yard mark for career rushing yards during the night. Tri-Valley kept it interesting, but in the end the Battlin’ Miners had doubled their output, winning 34-17.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18. SOUTHERN LEHIGH SPARTANS (JV) @ SAUCON VALLEY PANTHERS (JV). GRASS. Just like we didn’t set out to see Minersville more than any other team this season, we didn’t set out to see Southern Lehigh more than any other JV team. In fact, our original schedule didn’t have them on it at all. Now, we’ve seen them three of the last four weeks! We didn’t plan to go see them on 09/29, but when their scheduled game was canceled and replaced with Wyomissing and an early start, we switched to Southern Lehigh because we always go for the early games until we run out of schools we haven’t seen yet. On 10/13, they again rescheduled after a cancelation, this time heading to Strath Haven for another early game. Having never been to Strath Haven, we jumped at the chance, even in a light rain.
And this Saturday we hit the gym on Saturday morning expecting to go to see Northern Lehigh. But by the time we emerged, their game had been canceled, and so was the backup at Jim Thorpe. Guy’s “Area Auto Racing News” commitment to the season finale at the Mahoning, which was starting in the afternoon this week, prevented any college game as there would not have been time to get to Mahoning for the green flag of racing. Southern Lehigh @ Saucon Valley was our last resort.
Not that we don’t like going to Saucon Valley; it’s just that we had already been there this season for a varsity game and try to spread the joy around. They shocked us with the JV food offering of the year “Pork Parfait,” with either mashed potatoes or mac n cheese as the base. Stunningly delicious for a JV game.
As for the game, the Panthers had their moments but no one has derailed the Southern Lehigh train in any of the three classes this season. Bringing the overall school record to 26-0, they hung 48 on the black cats, giving up 22.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20. STROUDSBURG MOUNTAINEERS (JV) @ EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH CAVALIERS (JV). TURF. Another day of searching “Big Teams” to see who was playing and who was canceled. The choice was Dieruff @ ACC because that was the early start game, Alton Park/Percy Ruhe not having lights. Canceled. Pleasant Valley was the closest to home (we live in the district) of any stadium not visited yet this year. Canceled. Pam had enough and said “I’m out.” Guy knew East Stroudsburg South is dedicated to playing their scheduled games, and picked that one for JV game 50 in five years. This was the fourth year of the five that Guy has gone to a Cavs JV game.
East Stroudsburg South is one of five of the 24 schools visited in the past five years that charge admission for JV games. But it’s just three bucks. Usually when the JV games follow a middle school game, they don’t start on time. This one was slated for 5:45 and pretty much kicked off right on time.
The ESS varsity team is suffering through an unusually down season for them, with a current record of 1-8, their lone win over the Allen Canaries. Stroudsburg beat them in the varsity and middle school games, but this one was another story. The Cavaliers put up 30 points and could have doubled that. Three times the Mounties picked them off in or just in front of the end zone, another time first and goal from the five yielded no points, and another long TD run was called back. While Stroudsburg had some nice stops near the goal line, their offense never really threatened except when they got in whiff of the goal line right before halftime.
This was one of the longest JV games Guy can recall, and also one with perhaps the most penalties. From start to finish, just ticks short of two hours or 120 minutes. With four ten-minute quarters and a five-minute halftime totaling 45 minutes, what the heck were they all doing that added up to another 75 minutes?
Saquon Watch. Saquon Barkley from Whitehall High School rushed for just 44 yards in the Eagles victory over the Minnesota Vikings. He has yet to have a 100-yard rushing game this season, has just 369 yards in seven games, and is now just 23rd among league rushers to date, falling back one more spot this week. Nevertheless, his career rushing total is now 7,585, and he passed Jamall Charles for 59th place all-time. Next up: Terrell Davis at 7,607.
Horizon. Looking at Thursday (#26 Marian Catholic), Friday (Pam’s Pick: She says either #27 Nazareth to see if Easton can go 10-0, or #27 Shenandoah to see if they can manage to not go 0-10), Saturday (Executive Education @ Academy of the New Church, NEW for us, or Evergreen Raceway) and Monday (#28 Pocono Mountain West JV). Most weeks changes are made in real time for a never-ending list of reasons.
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. 7) Holy Cross Crusaders (D2: Subregion team with D11). 8) Allentown Central Catholic Vikings. 9) Pen Argyl Green Knights. 10) Jim Thorpe Olympians. 11) Saucon Valley Panthers (both varsity and JV). 12) Bangor Slaters. 13) Pine Grove Cardinals. 14) Wilson Warriors (both varsity and JV). 15) Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes. 16) Executive Education Raptors. 17a) Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks (JV field). 17b) Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks (varsity field). 18) Parkland Trojans. 19) Panther Valley Panthers. 20) Southern Lehigh Spartans. 21) Catasauqua Rough Riders. 22) North Schuylkill. 23) Nativity BVM. 24. Minersville Battlin’ Miners. 25. East Stroudsburg South Cavaliers. 2025 Pennsylvania College Teams. 1) Keystone College Giants. 2) Kings College Monarchs (JV & Varsity).
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