Protime’s Pigskin Ponderings

Tagged under: News, pfn, Protime Predictions

Phil Myers | August 28, 2026

He’s baaack!  As someone said, Protime coming back may be bigger than Jimmie Johnson making another appearance at Daytona next year.  But sorry, no predictions.  The lovely Mrs. P said that Protime could do a weekly column, but not spend hours and hours studying the games he was going to predict each week.  She said he was like a mad scientist holed up in his man cave, making appearances for lunch and supper before slinking back into oblivion to intently study the games he was predicting each week.  She also grew tired of hearing the flipping coin constantly tick off the floor when a game was a toss-up or the whooshing sound of the crystal ball attempting to conjure up the winner of one of the big games of the week.  Don’t tell her, but Protime just may throw a prognostication out there on occasion.

Protime has relegated himself to do some pondering each week.  This week, he’ll take a gander at Southern Columbia football and the PFN preseason rankings.  Billy Splain and his band of high school football aficionados have done an excellent job of putting their heads together and coming up with the top ten teams in each of the 6 classes.  Every year PFN pretty much does the best job of anyone by hitting the mark with their preseason rankings.  There are always a couple of teams that come out of nowhere with that eye of the tiger and show PaFootballNews that they should have been ranked.  And there are also a handful of teams that fall flat for whatever reason and do not live up to their ranking.  Maybe the pressure of having a bullseye on their back each week or maybe a key injury or two causes teams to flop, but it happens.  The bottom line is that while PFN is not perfect, they are pretty much second to none in preseason predictions of the top ten in all classes.

Let’s begin with Protime’s pondering about Southern Columbia Tiger football and why other programs should try to emulate it.  SCA has won a record 15 state championships in either the 1A or 2A classification.  No other team has anywhere near that many titles.  They also have 8 runner up trophies.  That means out of 38 years of Pennsylvania holding football championships, Southern has made an appearance 23 times!!  High School Football America has named Southern Columbia the #1 small high school football team in the country three times.  

This public school has developed a program and culture that keeps the younger kids extremely interested in playing football for the Southern Columbia Tigers when they get to high school.  And most importantly, they have the winningest coach in PA football history, who is also nationally known, and is set to become the third winningest coach to ever step on a football field in all of the United States when he wins his second game of the 2026 season.  Coach Jim Roth is a living legend, but he is very humble and low key.  In fact, if you came to one of Southern Columbia’s games late and looked at Coach Roth without looking at the scoreboard, you’d never know if his team was winning or losing.  Protime once interviewed Jim Roth for PFN’s Conversation with Coach and asked him to name something people may not know about him.  His answer was, “that I have more of a sense of humor than a lot of people think.”  Coach Roth’s record to start the 2026 season is an unbelievable 521-74-2.  He has never, ever had a losing season, and amazingly, Southern has won 10 games or more in 38 of his 42 years as head coach.

A big part of Coach Roth’s success he credits to his coaching staff.  Most of them have been with him for many years, including Andy Mills, the knowledgeable defensive coordinator, who actually has been with Southern football even longer than Coach Roth.  Protime also interviewed Coach Mills a couple years ago in another Conversation with Coach article.

Protime said all of that to get to this point, on offense Southern runs the Wing-T or a variation.  Over the years Coach Roth and his staff have adjusted it somewhat to meet the abilities and skill set of their players, but basically it goes back to the Wing-T.  Protime ponders why more teams around the state do not go to this type of offense.  With the Wing-T, tams don’t have to have a huge O-Line and this type of offense can keep you in games against a better opponent.  Most teams seem to want to throw passes these days.  Some like to try and pound the ball.  What better way to run the football than the Wing-T offense and by doing so, the occasional pass has a much higher rate of success.  Protime predicts that if some struggling and mediocre programs went to the Wing-T, those teams would have a lot more success on Friday nights.

2026 PFN Preseason Pennsylvania high school football rankings!!

Now, Protime wants to do a summary of this year’s preseason PFN rankings:      

1A – Protime agrees with the top two in Clairton and Bishop Guilfoyle.  He also agrees Belmont and Brockway should be ranked.  But Brockway possesses a very, very tough schedule.  In talking with Coach Heigel, the Brockway Rover head coach, he thinks his team is up to the task and they are pleased that PFN has confidence in them.  Two teams in the top ten who surprised Protime are Fort Cherry and Montgomery, but the crack staff at PFN is very informed and have good vision.

2A – Again, Protime has Southern Columbia and Farrell leading the way as does PFN.  Richland may be the sleeper in this class in 2026 because they have the personnel to gp far.  Head coach Brandon Bailey, of the #4 ranked Richland Rams, says expectations are high and they are looking forward to the opportunity.  By the way, look for Protime’s article ‘Conversation with Coach’ next week when his interview with Coach Bailey comes out.  Greenville is up from 1A but the Trojans will be tough once again.  South Allegheny and Western Beaver had great years last year and hope to continue to make noise this year.  Dunmore is a bit of a surprise in Protime’s mind but District 2 is known for some hard-nosed football and the scouting report says the Bucks fit that bill.

3A – Avonworth is #1 till someone can beat them.  The Antelopes have upped their game the past few years and that’s a good thing.  Hickory is a surprise at #3 but they are rumored to be tougher than the past few years where they fell short of expectations.  Propel Braddock Hills, now the football co-op with Imani Christian, is trying to break through in District 7.  Wyomissing is planning to be back and contending under the guidance of their legendary coach, Bob Wolfrum.  Audenried Charter is in its second year.  They are from Philadelphia and have put together a respectable team this season.  Notably missing is Sharon, but once again Protime defers to the PFN brain trust.  Just keep an eye out for Sharon though.  

4A – Protime can’t argue that Bonner-Prendie, Shamokin, and McKeesport should not be the top three.  This is as deep a class as AA and practically anyone in the top ten or honorable mention can claim this class if they get on a roll, including teams not even listed.  North Pocono, #4 in the PFN poll, rolled last year and has the personnel back again.  This football season is going to be very interesting in 4A.  Some may notice that Bill Cherpak’s Thomas Jefferson team is not included in the 4A rankings and that is because enrollment bumped the Jaguars up to 5A for this two year cycle.

5A – Pine-Richland appears to be the consensus #1 team with Coach Jon LeDonne continuing the tradition that the P-R Rams have built up over the years.  Imhotep has dropped down from 6A and may be a tough out down east.  Other very competitive teams in 5A, in Protime’s opinion, include Upper St. Clair, Penn-Trafford, and Southern Lehigh who are up from being crowned the 4A champion last year.  No real surprises in 5A, just a bunch of the usual suspects.  Note that the TJ Jags are not rated as moving up to 5A may prove to be a lot for them, but they are well coached and Protime would not be shocked at all to see them vie for the D-7 crown.

6A – Pittsburgh Central Catholic is a heavy favorite this year, but Protime has a gut feeling St. Joes may be back.  A couple of noteworthy mentions are that last year’s 5A champ, Roman Catholic, and runnerup, Bishop McDevitt, are both now in 6A and ranked.  So, it is a sign that these two squads are loaded once again.  If Protime had to pick a dark horse in 6A, it would be Wilson West Lawn.  Keep an eye on the Bulldogs as the year develops, because Coach Doug Dahms always seems to have his team vastly improve as the year goes on.

One final note, good luck to every team and every football player.  May the good Lord bless each one of you.  Do your best, and most of all, have fun!!!