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Hittin’ The Road With Travelin’ Matt – Week 4 (Hurricanes, Titans, Panthers & Golden Hawks)

Tagged under: District 1, District 11, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| September 23, 2024

 

Each week Travelin’ Matt traverses Pennsylvania attending the hottest high school football games and best match ups in the Commonwealth.  Follow his exploits each week as he documents his journey from Week Zero to the Pennsylvania State Football Finals!

 

Thursday, September 19

2A #8 Schuylkill Haven (3-1) vs. 2A HM Minersville (3-1)

 

Friday, September 20

6A #7 Central Bucks South (4-0) vs. 6A Central Bucks West (3-1)

 

Saturday, September 21

4A #2 Pope John Paul II (3-1) vs. 5A Phoenixville (3-0)

4A Bethlehem Catholic (2-2) vs. 4A Allentown Central Catholic (2-2)

 

ROUNDTRIP – 349 MILES

 

 

Thursday, September 19

Sometimes the stars align and I’m treated to a banner week of PA High School Football action and this week was exactly that on many levels!

I kicked off a quadruple-header of action with a local District 11 contest just down the road in Minersville where the Battlin’ Miners were hosting rival 2A #8 state ranked squad Schuylkill Haven.  What was expected to be a barn-burner of a contest exceeded those expecations by far as the two teams traded punches all night.  The two Schuylkill County programs put on a dizzying display of offense lighting up the scoreboard for a combined 124 points in a 72-52 final won by the visiting Hurricanes.

The win was Schuylkill Haven’s 600th victory as a program and they accomplished it in typical Hurricanes fashion pounding out 533 rushing yards on the night while accounting for exactly ZERO passing yards.  Haven running back Niko Carestia found the end zone seven times on the night.  On the other side, Minersville did most of their damage through the air with signal caller Dante Carr piling up 400+ passing yards with three TD passes in addition to more than 100 yards rushing plus another three touchdowns on the ground before leaving the game at the beginning of the 4th quarter due to injury.

What a night for PA high school football and one that certainly topped the most combined points I’ve ever witnessed in a game!

Check out a few highlights from a wild Schuylkill Haven vs. Minersville game this week…

 

 

 

Read the Schuylkill Haven vs. Minersville game story below…

 

 

 

Friday, September 20

Most weeks would be impossible to top a 72-52 game the previous night but my Friday game featuring rivals Central Bucks West at Central Bucks South did just that and then some.

The atmosphere was charged as I arrived in Warrington for a special contest between two long-time adversaries in the Bucks and Titans.  Throw in that the game was being sponsored by the Philadelphia Eagles as part of their High School Football Showdown Series and expectations were high for the evening.

The Philadelphia Eagles put on a fantastic show having their Eagles Drumline on hand to pump up the crowd while also sending two former players, Jason Avant and Tra Thomas, to meet and greet the fans and also take part in the coin toss.

Click the post below to see a few of the pregame scenes from CB West vs. CB South…

 

 

If the pregame festivities were the appetizer then the game was the main course as the Bucks and Titans battled for 48 minutes to the final play.  Central Bucks West surged ahead 17-16 in the 4th quarter with just 48 seconds remaining in the game.  What took place next will be talked about in this rivalry for years to come.  Central Bucks South drove to the Bucks 39 yard line with just a few ticks remaining on the clock and only an end zone heave left in their arsenal…

Click the post below to watch the incredible finish to this instant classic won by the Titans 22-17 (explicit language warning)…

 

 

Read the game story from Central Bucks West vs. Central Bucks South…

 

 

Saturday, September 21

With two stellar games already in the bag for the week I anticipated another outstanding contest when I traveled to watch the #2 4A team in the state Pope John Paul II take on Phonenixville in Royersford.  What I didn’t anticipate was the football game taking a backseat to a tremendous celebration of the life and legacy for one of PJP’s students.

I learned of PJP student Rylee Ann Monahan just minutes before kickoff when the PA Announcer told her heart-touching story of fighting through numerous cancer diagnosis and treatments before tragically passing in January at the age of 14.  Rylee was a member of the Panthers’ golf team, a talented artist, a gifted musician and an incredible inspiration to her community and school.  Prior to the game, I asked a PJP student to tell me more about Rylee and her story and the young man spoke in glowing terms of her and the love the community shared with her.

Here are a few images of the pre-game celebration of the life of PJP student-athlete Rylee Monahan with each football player having placed a single flower on their school mascot statue…

 

 

The gravity of the pre-game ceremony fittingly overshadowed the game despite a well-played contest by both teams.  The 4A #2 state ranked Pope John Paul II Panthers would prove victorious notching a 24-13 win vs. Phoenixville.

To watch a couple scoring plays from the game click the posts below…

 

 

 

 

Game 4 of 4 on the week was staged in Bethlehem and featured Bethlehem Catholic colliding with Allentown Central Catholic in what is termed each season meeting as “The Holy War”.  The two PA football powers clash each season in District 11 play with the winner holding bragging rights for another year in the Lehigh Valley.

What started as a meeting of evenly matched teams quickly digressed into a one-sided affair as Bethlehem Catholic took a 7-0 lead into halftime before cruising to a convincing 27-0 victory over rival Allentown Central Catholic.

Click the links below for some game highlights from Bethlehem Catholic vs. Allentown Central Catholic…

 

 

 

 

Click the link below for a photo gallery from Bethlehem Catholic vs. Allentown Central Catholic…

 

 

A full weekend of PA high school football games complete and more than 300 miles driven I wrapped up my fifth week and headed home to plan for next week’s schedule of contests.

Follow along next week as Travelin’ Matt takes you on another PA High School Football journey.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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