Around District 11 with Pam and Guy: Southern Lehigh’s Culture of Winning
Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News, Pennsylvania Colleges, pfn
Guy Smith | September 30, 2025
After a couple straight weeks of five football game weekends, this past week it was “only” four, as the Saturday evening slot was occupied by the races at the Mahoning Valley Speedway (three weeks left in their season) and Sunday by Guy & Pam participating in an UltraTrek Hike in New Jersey.
The Thursday and Friday games were two more Mercy Rule beatdowns between “haves” and “nots.” In fact, there were three D11 varsity games on Thursday, and all three were Mercy Rule games. The wide gap between the top and bottom teams seems to continue to widen, which is not good for the sport in this area.
We saw good games on Saturday (college D3) and Monday (high school JV). Both were game-day venue changes for us, for completely different reasons.
The Southern Lehigh Spartans are ranked number one in the state in 4A by “PA Football News” (although they are 2nd in the D11 4A Power Rankings to Becahi). Southern Lehigh’s success can be traced to the winning football culture that encourages participation and loyalty. Consider: The varsity is 6-0, the JV team is 6-0, and the Middle School team is 4-0 (pending outcome of the Monday Middle School game against Jim Thorpe (Results not yet posted). That’s an overall record of 16-0 (at least) so far for the Spartans. Every game for every level is important. That’s the way to build a culture of winning football.
Take the Monday JV game for example. Southern Lehigh was scheduled to play Jim Thorpe, but the game, like so many JV games nowadays, was cancelled. Wyomissing, another school with a top-notch program year after year, also had their JV game against Donegal cancelled. Instead of just shrugging their shoulders and accepting that there would be no game, the two teams got together and rescheduled to play each other, thus not costing their younger players a week of game experience. That’s a football culture. From where we sit, Southern Lehigh is on top, because from administration to coaches to players to supporters in the stands, they do everything necessary to have earned their spot.
PA Football News Polls. After six weeks of football, and after last weekend’s games, the following District 11 and related teams were ranked by PA Football News.
4A) Southern Lehigh–1 (Even)
3A) Northwestern Lehigh–2 (Even)
2A) Schuylkill Haven–3 (Even)
4A) Notre Dame–3 (+1)
6A) Parkland–5 (Even)
2A) Williams Valley–6 (-2)
1A) Lackawanna Trail (D2 team, but combined with D11 for playoffs)–8(-1)
6A) Easton–10 (Even)
2A) Minersville—10 (+1)
4A) Bethlehem Catholic—HM (New)
1A) Marian Catholic–9 (OUT)
Of the ten teams from District 11 that appear in the rankings, all won except Marian Catholic, who played another ranked team, Minersville, and dropped out. D11 now has five teams ranked in the top five in the state, as Williams Valley slipped from fourth to sixth.
District 11 Power Rankings (After Five Games).
1A. 1) Lackawanna Trail (D2). 2) Marian Catholic. 3) Tri-Valley
2A. 1) Schuylkill Haven. 2) Williams Valley. 3) Pen Argyl
3A. 1) Notre Dame of Green Pond. 2) Northwestern Lehigh. 3) North Schuylkill.
4A. 1) Bethlehem Catholic. 2) Southern Lehigh. 3) Allentown Central Catholic
5A. 1) Whitehall. 2) Pleasant Valley. 3) Pocono Mountain East.
6A. 1) Easton. 2) Parkland. 3) Nazareth.
AFCA National College Football Polls. Pennsylvania currently has nine teams ranked in the top 25, five in the top 10, and three in the top 5.
FBS. Penn State: Rank-6 (-4)
FCS. Lehigh: Rank-8 (+1)
FCS. Villanova: Rank-19 (+3)
D2. Kutztown: Rank-4 (+1)
D2. California: Rank-6. (+2)
D2. Slippery Rock: Rank-14 (-10)
D3. Carnegie Mellon: Rank–16 (+4)
D3. Susquehanna: Rank—OUT
D3. Grove City: Rank–OUT
Kutztown is now the highest ranked Pennsylvania team in college football.
District 11 vs. the State. The only D11 game against a team from outside the district was Executive Education again, who beat Wyoming Valley West. The season record for the D11 teams is now 32-14.
Undefeated in District 11. Two more teams dropped from the ranks of unbeaten as Williams Valley and Marian Catholic losses left us with six. Still unblemished: Easton, Northwestern Lehigh, Notre Dame Green Pond, Parkland, Schuylkill Haven, Southern Lehigh.
Six teams are winless, if you include 1A subregion team Old Forge from District 2. There’s one from 2A, and the other three are all 4A schools.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25. WILLIAM ALLEN CANARIES (6A) @ PARKLAND HIGH SCHOOL TROJANS. TURF. There were three Thursday night games to choose from but we picked Parkland because it had been several years since we had been to that stadium.
There was a lot of rain during the day and even some into the early evening, but no thunder or lightning and all three games were played. At Parkland, there was an approximately 45-minute delay in the opening kickoff.
Parkland offers free admission to anyone 55 years of age or older. As Pam and Guy have both easily crossed that benchmark, it became our fourth straight game with free admission (the first three free admission to everyone).
Parkland has a beautiful stadium with lots of seating on the home side. It’s kind of surprising that it isn’t used more often for neutral playoff games. Parkland entered the game unbeaten and ranked fifth in the state by PA Football News. Allen had a winning 3-2 record, having won their first two games against teams from outside the district, and getting a third over East Stroudsburg North, all teams with losing records. They lost to East Stroudsburg South for ESS’s only win so far, and then were Mercy Ruled by Freedom. We wondered when was the last time the Canaries won a game against an EPC valley team other than Dieruff. PFN has results from this season and the previous seven, and it hasn’t happened during that time.
Despite the winning record, the Canaries were never in this one. Parkland scored without too much difficulty, and rolled to an easy 45-0 win. Parkland had over 300 yards of offense, while Allen had just 26 including -7 yards rushing.
This was the Trojans 13th straight wins against Allen, and 19th of the last 20. During the past 13 games, Parkland has outscored Allen 599-26, every one of the games ending by Mercy Rule.
Parkland is rolling, scoring 183 points in their last four games, winning by Mercy Rule the past three. But don’t count us as all-in for the Trojans just yet. They are 6-0, but only have played one team with a current winning record. And that was Nazareth after they had just lost their starting QB and were transitioning to the backup. And in their remaining four games, they only have one additional game against a team with a current winning record, and that’s Whitehall, a smaller classification school.
It’s much the same at Allen, as their ten-game schedule only shows two teams with a current winning record: Parkland and upcoming Whitehall. They finish up with the traditional city rival Louis E. Dieruff, currently 0-6.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26. TRI-VALLEY BULLDOGS (1A) @ PANTHER VALLEY PANTHERS (3A). It was Pam’s pick last Friday, and in a close call, she picked Panther Valley, one of our absolute favorite District 11 stadiums to visit. Incidentally, it’s the only stadium in D11 with a roof over the home side stands.
By record, the game appeared like it might be close, with the larger Panther Valley at 2-3 and the two classifications smaller Tri-Valley 3-2. But win/loss records can be deceiving. Tri-Valley’s pair of losses were against a pair of teams currently 5-1, while handling their opponents in the other three games handily. Panther Valley beat a 1-5 and a 3-3 smaller sized school, while losing to 2-4 Salisbury.
This is one of the very best places to eat dinner at the game. They have a smokin’ hot grill on the away side, their burgers second only to those at Jim Thorpe. Pam rated their chili (only $2!) even better than Schuylkill Haven, and where else can you get baked potatoes with choice of toppings (Guy chose pulled pork). The Smitty’s fresh cut fries are in the upper echelon with Williams, Dales, and Bricker’s. And don’t forget those homemade brownies.
However, down on the field, the game was not nearly as tasty. The smaller Bulldogs really took it to the Panthers, and cruised to yet another Mercy Rule win 42-0. The number of Mercy Rule games magnifies a disturbing trend of an ever-widening gap between the top tier programs and the rest.
The Panthers have a good shot at a couple more wins in their last four games, and we predict they will end the regular season 4-6. Tri-Valley looks to also likely go 2-2 down the stretch, which would put them at 6-4 at the end of October.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27. EASTERN UNIVERSITY EAGLES (D3) @ KING’S COLLEGE MONARCHS (D3). TURF. After never seeing King’s College play football in our lives, how did Guy and Pam end up at one of their games for the second time in a week?
Here’s the story. With Mahoning Valley Speedway starting at 6:00, if we want a football game on the same day, it has to be either a morning D11 JV game, or an early afternoon local college game. The previous week we went to Keystone College, where we had never been. This week we picked Misericordia, where we had also never been, for football at least.
We arrived on campus for the noon start and found a traffic and parking nightmare. It was homecoming, and not only football was scheduled, but lacrosse and baseball games were being played on campus as well at the same time. We didn’t see a single parking spot anywhere on campus. We want to see a Misericordia game, but not necessarily this Misericordia game. One pass thru campus, and out we went.
Guy was driving, and Pam looked to see if Wilkes or King’s were home, and if any D2 high schools were playing in the afternoon. We almost went back to Holy Cross, but decided to give King’s a try first, even though it was also their homecoming. The King’s game was at 1:00, so we had plenty of time to get there. One thing we thought was in our favor was that the King’s football stadium is not on campus, so homecoming activities might be split into two locations. Our instincts were spot on. We arrived and were directed to a parking spot very close to the entrance. King’s also has a good deal more seating than Misericordia, so there was plenty of room.
Admission for us seniors was only $2 (and just $5 for adults). On Thursday on the way to Parkland, we were listening to College Sports Radio and they said the most expensive ticket just to get inside a stadium (in other words, the most expensive, cheapest ticket) for college football that weekend was Penn State, at $403 as of Thursday. Now add in a parking pass, and you would be looking at least $500 to get in the stadium for the game. For Pam and Guy, that would likely have been over $900. Instead, we paid $4. Give us Division II and Division III college football any day of the week.
We had just been to the stadium the previous weekend for the King’s JV game so we were familiar with the facility, although this was our first time there for a varsity game. Eastern University entered the game at 2-1, their lone loss a three-point MAC game against Lebanon Valley. King’s was 1-2, their win by six over FDU-Florham.
It was a festive atmosphere with the homecoming crowd in the house. They even rented a high school band (Wyoming Valley West) to play during the first half and halftime. It was also an entertaining game, with the teams trading the lead several times, and in the end, it was Eastern with a 39-37 win in a 75+ points scored game.
However, it did look to us like Eastern was the better team. They racked up, get ready for this, 600 yards of offense to only 260 for King’s. And that 600 yards was very balanced, as they tallied over 250 both running and passing.
Division III games for teams like Muhlenberg, Moravian, Wilkes, Keystone, and King’s are a great way to spend fall afternoons watching live college football with a great atmosphere but without a great cost. We hope to visit more of the local small colleges for football games in the future.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29. WYOMISSING SPARTANS (JV) @ SOUTHERN LEHIGH SPARTANS (JV). Another game-day audible. The plan was to head to Northampton for JV, but that game was cancelled. We checked for any games up our way, and found East Stroudsburg North. Also cancelled. Pam missed the JV game at Wilson that Guy attended, so we decided to return. No. Cancelled. Most would call that strike three and give up. Not us.
We finally found Wyomissing @ Southern Lehigh. As mentioned above, Southern Lehigh was supposed to play Jim Thorpe, but that was cancelled. Wyomissing was supposed to play Donegal. Also cancelled. But those two teams wanted to play football, and Wyomissing agreed to come to Southern Lehigh. In return, Southern Lehigh moved the JV game up to the first game, at 4:30, and this week played the Middle School game, still against the original opponent Jim Thorpe, in the evening. We jumped at the chance to see a team that usually plays their games later have a game played in the afternoon. Two quality programs fielded two quality JV teams.
Southern Lehigh really does it right. Admission for JV remains free, and a very large number of fans were in the stands. Seldom do you see a JV game with a crowd like that. And while many schools don’t bother to open the refreshment stand for Monday games, at Southern Lehigh they have a full menu of chicken sandwiches, dogs, pierogies, mac ‘n cheese, etc. Pam and Guy both really enjoy that stadium. Pam calls it a C&C grandstand: Clean and Comfortable.
The Spartans from Southern Lehigh started out hot, taking advantage of a number of turnovers, building a 20-0 lead over the Wyomissing Also-Spartans. Late in the game, two scores by Wyomissing closed it to a one-score 20-16 game. But Southern Lehigh answered with a long drive for a score and a 28-16 win. Great game. Best JV matchup we’ve seen this year, without question.
Saquon Watch. Saquon Barkley from Whitehall High School rushed for 43 yards in the Eagles’ win over the Buccaneers. With that, he passed Joe Mixon for 60th position on the all-time NFL rushing list, with 7,453 yards. Mixon is still active with the Houston Texans, but missed the first four weeks of the season with a non-football injury. The Texans hoped that Mixon would be able to return for week five, but it now appears that it will be a number of weeks longer until he is able to play. Meanwhile, Barkley has moved up at least one position each of the four weeks of the season so far. Climbing another rung on the ladder this week, however, is much less likely. In 59th is Jamall Charles, with 7,563 yards. Barkley would need 111 yards rushing this week, by far his most of the season, to pass Charles.
Horizon. Looking at Thursday (Becahi), Friday (Catty), racing double on Saturday and one race on Sunday, and Monday (Freedom JV.) Of course 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. 2) Freedom Patriots. 3) Stroudsburg Mountaineers. 4) Whitehall Zephyrs. 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. 12) Bangor Slaters. 13) Pine Grove Cardinals. 14) Wilson Warriors. 15) Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes. 16) Executive Education Raptors. 17) Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks. 18) Parkland Trojans. 19) Panther Valley Panthers. 20) Southern Lehigh Spartans.
2025 Pennsylvania College Teams. 1) Keystone College Giants. 2) King’s College Monarchs (JV & Varsity).
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