Inside The Huddle: Going Deep Inside the PFN Rankings (4A-6A)

Tagged under: News, pfn

Matt Herring | October 13, 2023

As we hit the home stretch of the PA High School Football regular season schedule it’s the perfect time to take a deep dive on our PA Football News Rankings and sort out which teams are battle-tested while others are just beginning to test the waters in our Top 10’s.

There’s numerous undefeated and one loss teams across all classes and also some very good teams with more than one loss that have endured brutal regular season schedules. In this edition of Inside the Huddle we break down a few teams from 4A to 6A and examine just how battle tested they are based on their Strength of Schedule and what their road looks like over the next few weeks as they attempt to climb our PFN Rankings.

We will reference Strength of Schedule (SOS) which includes games teams have already played and also Strength of Schedule Future (SSF) which includes all games they will gave played at the conclusion of the regular season. The format of SOS/SSF will be displayed numerically for each team with an an analysis of their upcoming contests based on those parameters. As an example a 100/50 team has a Top 100 schedule in PA currently and over the next few weeks their schedule becomes much more challenging than their prior games bringing their final SOS to a Top 50 team. We hope you enjoy this edition of Inside the Huddle!

Class 6A

#1 St. Joe’s Prep 5-1 (SOS 1/SSF 1) – PA’s King Kong boasts the #1 toughest schedule in the state and also should finish with that ranking by the end of the regular season. Suffice to say the Hawks are battle-tested having squared off with nationally ranked IMG Academy in a week 1 17-14 loss in addition to coming out on top in contests with Lakeland (FL) and Don Bosco Prep (NJ). Prep’s #1 PA ranked SOS/SSF of 1/1 is top dog in our analysis and their squad will surely be prepped for a deep playoff run.

#2 Central Bucks West 7-0 (86/79) – The Bucks sport a below average SOS/SSF in our 6A Top 10 ahead of only #9 Central York (105/119) for the class. While CB West notched an impressive victory over Garnet Valley (64/75) in their opening contest their subsequent six victories have been tallied against teams outside the PA Top 100 SOS/SSF. Look for the Bucks to be tested in a couple weeks vs. CB South (118/87) as they face just their second Top 100 SOS/SSF game of the season.

#3 Downingtown West 7-0 (93/72) – Another 6A Top 10 team with a below average SOS/SSF is the Whippets just slightly ahead of before-mentioned CB West in that regard. D-West faces off against another untested SOS/SSF team in 6-1 Chester (185/169) this week and will face their most difficult SOS/SSF opponent of the season in the final vs. Downingtown East who sports a Top 100 SOS/SSF at 104/74.

#4 Pittsburgh Central Catholic 6-1 (6/5) – The WPIAL Vikings have seen their share of highly-ranked SOS/SSF opponents with victories against Woodland Hills, Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny and Canon-McMillan…all teams with PA Top 50 SOS/SSF. PCC’s only defeat occurred last week vs. Pine-Richland who sports a 7/13 SOS/SSF despite their 4-3 record. PCC’s journey through the remaining regular season doesn’t get an easier as they face three additional opponents with PA Top 50 SOS/SSF in Penn Hills (46/32), Seneca Valley (11/2) and Gateway (36/23). The Vikings will have endured a Western PA meat grinder by the time they wrap up their regular season and look to the playoffs which could serve them well as they seek a state crown.

#8 Manheim Township 7-0 (47/51) – The upstart Blue Streaks rank #7th by SOS/SSF in our 6A Top 10 and have notched six impressive victories this season vs. PA Top 100 SOS/SSF teams in Cumberland Valley (12/15), Harrisburg (43/36), Spring-Ford (40/55), Hempfield (57/69), Cedar Crest (88/123) and Dallastown (63/103). By season’s end MT will have faced just 2 teams not ranked in the PA Top 100 for SOS/SSF and that could fare well for a program looking to make some noise in the playoffs.

Class 5A

#1 Imhotep Charter 7-0 (49/64) – The Panthers SOS/SSF ranks 4th among PFN Top 10 teams. While their Philadelphia Public League schedule does not support overwhelming SOS/SSF challengers Tep does receive high marks for victories against Archbishop Spaulding (MD) and PA foe Malvern Prep (2/24) this season. Remaining contests at Olney and vs. Gratz do not present much resistance and the Panthers will enter the playoffs looking to make another run at a state title.

#2 Strath Haven 7-0 (94/115) – Strath Haven ranks 5th in SOS/SSF among our PFN Top 10 teams with one PA Top 100 SOS/SSF victory against Garnet Valley (64/75). The Panthers toughest remaining test comes this week vs. Marple-Newtown (152/114) before SH turns their attention towards playoff season.

#4 Peters Township 7-0 (112/58) – Peters has one of the toughest remaining schedules in the state as they face off against three PA Top 100 SOS/SSF teams down the stretch. Mt. Lebanon (4/3), Canon-McMillan (10/4) and Bethel Park (9/8) all have multiple losses but have also played some of the toughest SOS/SSF schedules in the state. If Peters runs the table to finish the season they will have earned their current PFN ranking and will be game-ready for the playoffs.

#5 Southern Lehigh 7-0 (199/189) – The Spartans have benefited from a mostly tepid schedule this season in terms of opponent SOS/SSF. They will see a 7-0 NW Lehigh team in the final week that could be a major hurdle to a perfect regular season schedule although NW only sports a 299/246 SOS/SSF. Southern Lehigh has the 9th worse SOS/SSF of our Top 10 PFN 5A teams and may not see a quality SOS/SSF opponent until after their District playoffs should they advance.

Class 4A

#1 Bishop McDevitt 7-0 (45/61) – The Crusaders boast the best SSO/SSF of our 4A Top 10 teams and their top rank is well deserved on many levels. McDevitt has taken care of business vs. PA, Maryland and New Jersey opponents including three quality games to begin their season against Mt. St. Joseph (MD), DePaul (NJ) and LaSalle (PA). The state favorite to win the 4A title has built their record on a quality schedule.

#2 Aliquippa 6-0 (155/142) – While the Quips won’t see another PA Top 100 SSO/SSF contest until their final game against Central Valley (122/95) the’ve been party to some quality opponents including 6-1 Montour (55/82), 4-3 Pittsburgh North Catholic (140/125) and 5-2 West Allegheny (136/117).

#4 Jersey Shore 6-0-1 (249/273) & #5 Selinsgrove 6-0-1 (219/256) – These two teams are forever connected this season for many reasons including their tied contest in early September which was halted after a tragic injury to a JS Bulldog player. Both teams will vie for the District 4 title and the team advancing will see more stout playoff opponents than they’ve faced in the regular season. Selinsgrove and Shore rank #9 and #10 respectively in SSO/SSF among our 4A Top 10 teams.

#6 Allentown Central Catholic 5-2 (5/9) – ACC is the perfect example of how a teams record is not necessarily indicative of their overall strength. The Vikings sport the 9th most difficult schedule in the state with both losses coming vs. 6A PFN Top 10 teams 7-0 Parkland (22/35) and 6-1 Nazareth (17/29). They also picked up wins vs. battle-tested Emmaus (29/32) and Bethlehem-Freedom (16/10) in close contests and ACC hosts a 4-3 Whitehall (13/7) squad this week looking to make their mark against a quality opponent.

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