DISTRICT 1 6A SEMIFINALS PREVIEW
Tagged under: District 1, News, pfn, Playoffs
Marcus Sic | November 17, 2022
RUNNING THE BALL WILL BE THE KEY TO THE 6A SEMIS
In an era of spread it out, toss the ball around, no backs offenses, the District 1 6A Big School semifinals will be a throwback to old school, punch you in the mouth, smashmouth football. You better be in your seats early because there will not be many passes stopping the clock. Defending District 1 champions the Garnet Valley Jaguars, the Downingtown Cougars and the Central Bucks West Bucks each have about a 4 to 1 ratio of runs to passes, in the second half of last week’s games the Jags and the Cougars combined to throw 1 pass. The Perkiomen Valley Vikings come in with a more balanced attack with about a 3 to 2 run to pass ratio. All four teams feature attacking downhill defenses, who have been wreaking havoc on opposing offenses during the first two weeks of the playoffs.
The Jaguars, #2 in the PFN state rankings, are coming off a hard fought OT victory over PAC runners up Spring-Ford, after dispatching Quakertown in the first round. Downingtown, ranked #5 in the state, is fresh off their revenge tour, pounding Downingtown West #8 PFN 34-9 and Coatesville #3 PFN 31-15, avenging regular season loses to advance to the semifinals. GV and Dtown are no strangers to each other they scrimmaged 13 long weeks ago at GV. The Vikings #6 have an extra days rest coming after a tight victory over Souderton Thursday night, and a blowout win over Owen J. Roberts in week one of the playoffs. CBWest returns to the District 1 semifinals, a spot the Bucks grew accustom to in their glory days under legendary coach Mike Pettine, reached the semis after wins over SOL rivals CBEast and North Penn in the first two rounds.
#1 Garnet Valley vs #12 Downingtown
About the Jaguars: Last week, Garnet Valley found themselves in unfamiliar territory going into halftime, up by only three points. However, in the second half, there was no shortage of offense, having to match every score that Spring-Ford put up against them. In usual fashion, the run game put the Jags’ on top. In the second half, only one pass was thrown for the Jaguar offense. Garnet Valley relied on the legs of multiple Jaguars, Matt Mesaros, Jason “The Bus” Bernard, Jack Westburg, Joseph Checchio, and Luke Mingioni. For Garnet Valley and Head Coach Eric VanWyk, they believe in anyone and everyone who gets the ball. While the Jags tend to rely on the run game, their pass game should not be slept on. Quarterback Matt Mesaros has 1,098 passing yards on the season and 15 touchdowns, all while having no interceptions. The Jaguar defense also stepped up in last week’s contest, forcing a field goal in overtime, limiting the run game, and holding their own against the pass-heavy Spring-Ford offense.
About the Cougars: Downingtown East comes into the semi-final matchup off an upset win over their cross-town rivals and fourth-seeded Downingtown West. Downingtown East also took down Coatesville by a score of 31 to 15 in their first-round matchup. Unlike Garnet Valley, where it seems to be a different running back every Friday, Downingtown East appears to be a one-man show. The one-man show features senior tailback, Bo Horvath. In last week’s matchup, Horvath ran for 275 yards and five touchdowns. The tailback had 183 rushing yards in the first half. The Downingtown East defense came to play last week by only allowing nine points in the contest. When the Downingtowns previously matched up, East allowed 31 points in a loss.
#2 Perkiomen Valley vs #10 Central Bucks West
About the Vikings: Perkiomen Valley were able to hold on in tough battle against #7th seed Souderton Indians last Thursday in a 27-14 victory. Perkiomen Valley`s offensive rotation allowed for senior running back Ryan Klimek to rush for 100 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown that night. Having their running back start off hot early exactly what this team needed happen in order to win last Thursday. sophomore quarterback Patrick McDonald rushed her 77 yards and two touch downs off of 5 carries. Hopefully against Central Bucks West they can get junior running back Jake Stewart more involved than they did this game. Even though he did have one touchdown, he only had 25 rushing yards off of 12 carries. Getting him more involved would take the load off of Klimek and force the defense to change their game plan up more if they had two running backs to worry about.
About the Bucks:
Central Bucks West were able to get the victory against 14 seeded North Penn 44-35. This was a team that Central Bucks West had already beaten in the regular season, but the score was much closer this time. The first time they played North Penn they won 35-14. Senior running back, Eli Boehm is going to have to have the game of his life one more time for his team to grab the victory. Boehm put up 330 rushing yards in 26 carries, along with 1 receiving touchdown and 3 rushing touchdowns against NP. Central Bucks West will need more than just their star running back to step up to the plate considering this team lets up 17.8 points per game, while Perkiomen Valley averages 32.8 points per game.
District 1 Preview is a collaborative effort of PFN writers: James Middleton, Xavier Johnson, Marcus Sic, graphic by MICHAELMAYHEM
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