For those of you with the PCN network, the class 4A championship between Imhotep and Erie Cathedral Prep is now on. Sounds like it will be a good game.
PIAA Football Championships Thread
- Thread starter PAgeologist
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Class A game was a blowout. Farrell over Lackawanna Trail 55-20. Farrell just to big, strong, fast.
Close to half in 4A. I'll post half time score.
Close to half in 4A. I'll post half time score.
17-7 Prep at half. Prep got stopped on a 4th and goal from the 1. And shot themselves in the a$$ with stupid penalties, including holding on a touchdown run at the end of the half. At least they kicked a field goal.
24-7 Prep. And the just recovered the botched kickoff return attempt. Not looking good for Imhotep.
Imhotep?
Sounds like Narduzzi secret code: I’m hot (for) El Paso!
So Norm, guess Erie Cath Prep is going Clemson on our ex-1970s/1980s big rivals?
Makes sense, it is Thurs night!
The 4A game was good for a while. Prep rushing attack is just relentless. Their back is close to 300 yards now.
Imhotep got close to scoring a couple times but couldn't punch it in. Oddly enough, their only scoring drive was 99 yards after they stopped Prep on a 4th down run.
I didn't catch the first half of the 1A game but I think it got ugly early.
And SJ Prep will roll on Saturday night. We might get two competitive games at best. This is part of the problem of going to six classes, it waters down these championships. We could have seen Farrell play Southern Columbia in the old setup. Instead we get a couple blowouts.
The Preppies don’t rebuild.
They reload.
Poach a few good players from the smaller suburban schools to fill the gaps left by last year’s graduates and head off to Hershey again.
That’s why folks refer to them as the Erie All-Stars.
(Shhhhh...They don’t recruit.)
The Prep running back is Billy Lucas, shown as a 3-star by 247 and a 2-star by Rivals
Just a couple MAC type offers; should he be getting more attention from other programs? He's certainly putting up big numbers
I would agree there. Wilmington has some good athletes, but Southern looks unstoppable.
It would seem so. The announcers said he has been slowed by a nagging hamstring injury, so he doesn't look as explosive or fast as he is when healthy. Maybe this performance will cause some teams to reevaluate him.
They played last year and I believe Southern won via mercy rule. Expect the same or close to it
Wilmington has to chew up a lot of clock with their ground game to have a chance. Not sure they can do that though.
I agree 6 classes is too many and waters down the title games, especially the 3A and larger classes. PA just doesn't have the population to support that many competitive classes.
Agree. However, when the PIAA went to 6 they released a study that said PA had more schools per class than any other state in the country. Each class has roughly 110 schools, which was much more per class than anyone else. My issue is that I still have trouble recalling who is in what class. I had it all memorized in the 4 class days.
Imhotep just isn’t that great this year. They still have plenty of talent but not as much as usual. Great effort by Prep however.
Southern is gonna roll. It’s a shame they weren’t really tested this year, and would love to see what they could do against other elite teams in higher classes.
Congrats to Farrell, but sorry to see that Trail got blown out. I can’t remember the last time a team from the Northern tier won a football state title.
I imagine the same thing would happen to them that almost always happens to teams in lower classes when they move up, which is they would get crushed. I know that by watching them in their current class they look unbelievable but I've seen this too many times. There have always been teams on the bubble who destroy everybody in one class only to move up because of enrollment and are just above the cutoff and can't wait to get back down because of how badly they end up getting beat on a regular basis.
There may have been more schools per class, but it just seems diluted now. I just don't think that PA has the large cities and enough big schools to split it up the way the PIAA has. I think getting rid of the 6A class and adjusting the enrollment cutoffs accordingly would tighten the competition again.
I don’t see the PIAA putting the toothpaste back in the tube on this one. The next class adjustment will center on separating the Publics and Privates, and - unfortunately - I don’t think that is coming any time soon.
I grew up in District 10 and still follow sports in that area. Six classes has allowed a lot of public schools up that way to bump up a class so they don’t have to compete with Erie Prep (and sister school Villa Maria) at playoff time. There are a lot of 4A schools in D-10. The vast majority moved up to 5A in football, boys hoops and girls hoops to get away from the Erie All-Stars.
I grew up in District 10 and still follow sports in that area. Six classes has allowed a lot of public schools up that way to bump up a class so they don’t have to compete with Erie Prep (and sister school Villa Maria) at playoff time. There are a lot of 4A schools in D-10. The vast majority moved up to 5A in football, boys hoops and girls hoops to get away from the Erie All-Stars.
And the tight end, who is also a backup QB, played QB for Seneca (Wattsburg) the past two seasons.
Just a coincidence the coach’s kid, who was the QB the last 3 years, graduated and they had nobody on the roster capable of replacing him.
SOP for the Preppies.
Erie Prep provides an attorney for these players to represent them and the school at D-10 transfer hearings. The transfers are always for religious and/or academic reasons. Never athletics.
PA does have the most schools per class, thus making it harder to win a championship than any other state. The problem is PA generally has more small schools than any other state. Being township based rather than county based causes the small schools. all of the 4A schools here in MD have at least 1600 kids in their HS, around 45 schools, their arent 45 schools in PA with that type of enrollment. So the difference is that we have less teams but better overall talent on the teams because they have cut many kids that would have to play at the PA schools.
Watching the Southern game now. As you would expect, Fleming is the best player on the field. Easily. He only touched the ball once on the first drive (which ended with a fumble by the Southern RB) and it was a screen pass on 4th and 4. Defenders closed in all over him, he beat them all, and got 5 yards for the first down. I'll give Wilmington credit because I'd say its defense is why Fleming hasn't been more involved ... yet.
CJF and Rahne at the game. Just showed on TV.
CJF and Rahne at the game. Just showed on TV.
2A is now on. 2nd quarter. Wilmington hanging tough. Garcia fumbled on the SC drive close to the 10. Wilmington still driving on their 1st possession. And Wilmington has scored roughly midway through second quarter. 6-0. Missed extra point.
For those of you who enjoy wide open offenses, this game is not for you. Personally I love watching the old wing T.
Related to PSU, Franklin and Rahne are at the game.
For those of you who enjoy wide open offenses, this game is not for you. Personally I love watching the old wing T.
Related to PSU, Franklin and Rahne are at the game.
I don’t disagree with the sentiment and realize Prep recruiting goes beyond just the state championship game, but doesn’t Imhotep have the same advantages as Prep?
Yes. Imhotep is a private school. Being in Philly, I would imagine they don't have to look far for their talent. Based on what the TV announcers were saying last night, it sounds like a good portion of their students are from the not so nice parts of the city.
Wilmington looking good. Two possessions two tds. 97 and 70 yd drives. Using a lot of clock.
This is definitely true.
I’m not really positive how the enrollment at charter schools works (if Imhotep is indeed a charter school), but it seems that much like the catholic schools, these schools attract students for athletics.
Flemming is huge!!
He'll likely get a few more touches in the 2nd half, but obviously the other team is focusing on stopping him. Their focus on stopping him left single coverage on the TD to end the half.
He'll likely get a few more touches in the 2nd half, but obviously the other team is focusing on stopping him. Their focus on stopping him left single coverage on the TD to end the half.
It depends on how you're defining advantages. I believe that most of the schools in D10 have boundary requirements (i.e., you attend the school in the district in which you reside). Philadelphia (D12), where Imhotep is located, has very different rules. Students can attend any traditional HS in the city, or any charter school in the city (wth the caveat that a few of the elite academic schools have entrance requirements, and some of the speciality schools have speciality-specific entrance requirements). The boundary requirements were done away with in Philadelphia for the public schools. The parochial schools in D12 also used to have boundary requirements (you attended the school based upon the parish you were a member of), but those requirements also have been dropped. Then there are the highbred parochial schools -- St. Joe's Prep and La Salle High, which pull from the Philadelphia and South Jersey area. And lastly, there are the prep schools. There are only a few within the Philadelphia boundaries, but several in the surrounding counties. All of them recruit, especially for athletics, and have no boundary requirements (though they don't participate in the PIAA).
So while Imhotep has the "advantage" that they are located within a larger population of students, and they have the advantage of being able to basically recruit for athletics, they also have a huge disadvantage that Cathedral Prep doesn't face -- that pretty much every school in Philadelphia can recruit the same players that Imhotep has access to, and many schools in the surrounding counties can also recruit the same players.
I disagree. He's caught only three passes, but they were all the line of scrimmage and taken for more yards than anyone else could have gained. Plus, that 19-yard fake punt run on 4th down was a thing of beauty.
Tough game for him and Southern as a whole, I'll give you that. Been fun to watch. Wilmington's Pontius is impressive.
S Columbia vs Wilmington PIAA final 14-14 at the half. SC got a HUGE call with one second left in the half. SC receiver was clearly down at the 1 but was called a TD. Franklin and Rahne at the game. Now 21-14 SC. Wilmington has a 279 6'3" LB that is amazing. He ran down the QB from about 15 yds away. He was a D lineman last year.
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OK, now, Gaige Garcia is the best player no the field! Wow, what a run. Southern takes the 21-14 lead.
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