The Final Pennsylvania High School Football Rankings for 2022: Some surprises, some not.

Tagged under: News, Rankings

Billy Splain | December 14, 2022

Every week during the regular season, a bunch of “huddle heads”, as the late Edsel Walker would call them, got together on a zoom to talk about who the best teams are each week. They hollared, screamed, argued and somehow, at the end of the meeting, came to agreement to what they saw on the list. And it was fun. We brought in some new blood. Some of the younger writers were very helpful. I think we eventually taught Nate to look outside his box. Shane seems to be learning more about the entire state. Protime, well, he just knows football. For now, we have Willie on upset alert. This Sunday Mayhem and Cabry can just watch thier Eagles uninterupted. Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, they did a pretty darned good job. Of the final 60 top ten teams, only 13 weren’t ranked or HM to start the season. And a whopping FIVE of those came in, yes, class 5A. That’s a class that just never seemed to be an easy class to decipher each week.

Before we digest the rankings, I’d like to explain what HM, or Honorable Mention, is to our team. It’s basically a 5-way tie for 11th. Those are the teams that the ranking group felt had the best chance to break into the top 10.  They considered strength of schedule, overall body of work, current streaks and yes, even injuries played a role in the rankings. As the owner of the site, I have to thank each and every one of them for a job WELL done this year!!

So now you know why they came up with them, let’s see how they did:

Starting with the largest class, 6A, the gang hit on 6 of 10 in the top ten. SJP and Harrisburg ended up where they started. A couple surprise teams were the Hornets of Emmaus and the Cougars, who played some very tight, last minute losses to top ranked teams.  The Cougars struggled early and slipped in the rankings but ended up where they started. Here’s how 6A ended:

Now let’s talk 5A. Well, our group NEVER wanted to talk 5A after the third week. It just seemed like nobody wanted to be ranked! Imhotep lost the top spot after a loss early on, giving it up to Upper Dublin who stayed there until a couple weeks ago when the Panther knocked them off that perch. Back and forth, up and down, in and out went the teams all year. But something happened in week 8. A normally powerful, but not so much at the beginning of the year, team started to make noise. The Rams of Pine-Richland entered as an HM. And they climbed and climbed. Meanwhile, another team was making some noise in D3, Solanco. And then, it happened. Yet another surprise. After taking a thumping by Wyomissing, the Eagles of Cocalico started pounding teams. And they pounded. HM Gettysburg? Slam, #2 Exeter? Goodbye. While they were knocking off top ten teams, the Rams continued their run doing the same. Eventually the two met up but the Eagles wings were too tired for the Rams forward rush. Eventually the Rams rushed right to the title on the legs of Ryan Palmieri. Let’s take a look at the final 5A rankings:

One of the strongest classifications all year was 4A. For the most part, the top ten remained in tact all year. Heck, even the top 15 as you’ll see didn’t change much. The craziest things happened come playoff time. The defending 3 & 4A champs faced off in the WPIAL finals. The Quips handled Central Valley to move on to an eventual rematch with Bishop McDevitt. The two stayed atop the rankings all year at 1 & 2 until the Crusaders claimed the rematch and title. The story here is Allentown Central Catholic. Yes, we know they have 5 losses. All five came larger teams that finished in our rankings. We feel they truly are the 4th best team in 4A, even if only by a OT win over #6. Pleasant surprise? Crestwood. The Comets battled their way up the rankings all year long.  Let’s take a look at the final 4A rankings:

The gang pretty much nailed 3A all year long. The top five only saw Neumann Goretti waiver a bit with a few losses but Albie Crosby righted the ship and they powered through the playoffs. It was fun watching Danville and Loyalsock battle for 3A supremacy in D4. D10 saw an epic battle between Grove City, Sharon, Slippery Rock and Hickory. But in the end it was BVA who moved back into the top spot after losing to two ranked 4A teams with their amazing goal line stand against the Saints. Jeff Hoenstine led Central to a near victory over the Leopards and a #3 spot. Here are the 3A rankings:

So 2A was fun. It’s always hands down the toughest classification in the state. The competition here is fierce and unweilding. It wasn’t supposed to be their year, but, the Tigers of SCA started where they’ve been for the last 5 years, on top. Then, they dropped & dropped & dropped right out of the rankings. Injuries and depth were an issue for them. Meanwhile, the rest of the pack held tight for most of the year. We nailed it with having Westinghouse in the top six. Only two teams entered the final rankings after no being ranking early. Trinity, who was perhaps the second biggest surpise 2A and Berlin who hadn’t given up a point until their 8th game of the year. The biggest surprise of the year? Executive Education, a team in their 2nd year, made a run. We also have to give a shoutout to Penns Valley. This was a team that really slipped under the radar. Good run for the Rams. Nine total shutouts.  Then just before the playoffs something happened. Following a mid October loss to Mt. Carmel, the Tigers made an addition on defense, a soccer player, and started to get healthy. Jim Roth’s machine was back in action and the Tigers tore through the competition, their closest game being the state final, a 37-22 win. That is 8 straight games with a 15 or more point win.  Well, here they are and with a familiar face on top:

Finally, Class 1A. It is here that perhaps the biggest surprise team of the year resides. Following what many thought would be a class 1A title game preview, won by the Rollers, Bishop Canevin and Steelton-Highspire marched through the season plowing through opponents with ridiculous scoring differentials. Steelton’s only loss to eventual #2 Westinghouse, in week 2. Meanwhile, Canton did the same, plowing through opponets all year, including our biggest surprise of the year, the Union Scotties. If you asked anyone with knowledge of the current HS Football scene in PA, they’d surely tell you the Scotties were not the team to beat to get to the title game. Even with a week 9 loss to South Side. Then they got on a roll, eventually meeting up with Port Allegany who, had they not turned the ball over too many times it could have been them in the two spot, and rolle they did. They demolished Canevin for the WPIAL title, then the Gators. But in the title game, it seemed they were missing one element here or there and they came up short to the Rollers. Canton, via their win over Union early in the year, belongs in the 2 spot. They were a play away from a rematch with Union. Here they are, the 2022 Class 1A final rankings:

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