High school football: District playoffs kick off with intriguing matchups
The playoffs are here and 15 Courier Times/Intelligencer-area teams will be in action on Friday and Saturday.
Seven of those teams will be playing in the PIAA District One Class 6A first round Friday with No. 3 seed Pennsbury facing No. 14 North Penn and No. 6 Central Bucks East taking on No. 11 Central Bucks West in rematches from the regular season. That's good stuff.
On Saturday, both Archbishop Wood and Palisades will be in action in their respective district playoffs.
So, if you can, go out and support your local team.
Let's take a look at what's on tap:
PIAA District One Class 6A first round
No. 11 Central Bucks West (6-4) at No. 6 Central Bucks East (8-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
The rumors started to swirl right after last week's regular-season finale between these two that they might meet again in this spot seven days later.
And, sure enough, those rumors were true as the "power points" fell the right way and we get this arch-rivalry again.
Last week, the Bucks scored the only touchdown of the second half on a nifty run by senior Vinny Cherubini to secure a 21-14 victory. Also in that game, Patriots' do-everything senior running back/linebacker Ethan Shine sustained an injury and his status for Friday is unknown.
The winner here faces the No. 3 Pennsbury/No. 14 North Penn winner in next week's quarterfinals.
Predictions:
Drew Markol: Central Bucks West
Tom Moore: Central Bucks West
Melissa Hanejko: Central Bucks West
No. 14 North Penn (5-5) at No. 3 Pennsbury (9-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
The Knights stood at 3-5 just two weeks ago and on the outside of the playoffs looking in before they won their last two games (beating Pennridge and Abington) to clinch a berth. They'll face a Pennsbury team that beat them 44-34 three weeks ago to end a 21-game losing streak against the Knights that dated back to 1996.
The Falcons come in riding a nine-game winning streak, with the lone loss coming against No. 5 Coatesville (8-1) on Opening Night. Coatesville's loss came by forfeit against Bayard Rustin when the Raiders used an ineligible player. Last week, Pennsbury crunched archrival Neshaminy 35-0.
The winner here faces the No. 11 Central Bucks West/No. 6 Central Bucks East winner in next week's quarterfinals.
Predictions:
Drew Markol: Pennsbury
Tom Moore: Pennsbury
Melissa Hanejko: Pennsbury
No. 10 Central Bucks South (7-3) at No. 7 Souderton (8-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
The Titans' up-and-down season has been well-documented in this space (starting 3-0, then losing three straight), but they've righted things at the right time by winning their final four regular-season games, including an impressive 27-14 victory over No. 11 Central Bucks West two weeks ago.
The Big Red's two losses have come against powerhouses No. 6 Central Bucks East (9-1) and Class 5A No. 1 Upper Dublin (10-0). Souderton ended the regular season in style with a 45-6 victory over Bensalem last week.
The winner here faces the No. 15 Owen J. Roberts/No. 2 Perkiomen Valley winner in next week's quarterfinals.
Predictions:
Drew Markol: Central Bucks South
Tom Moore: Souderton
Melissa Hanejko: Souderton
No. 16 Quakertown (5-5) at No. 1 Garnet Valley (9-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
These two faced each other in the district semifinals a year ago with the Jaguars claiming a wild 58-39 win on the way to the district title.
The circumstances are different here as a young Quakertown team, which was just 2-4 after six games, impressively fought back to earn a spot in the playoffs. They'll face another dynamic Garnet Valley side that has surrendered just 65 total points all season. Only Upper Darby, in Week Two, has managed to score in double digits against the Jaguars.
The winner here faces the No. 9 Ridley/No. 8 Spring-Ford winner in next week's quarterfinals.
Predictions:
Drew Markol: Garnet Valley
Tom Moore: Garnet Valley
Melissa Hanejko: Garnet Valley
PIAA District One Class 5A first round
No. 9 Upper Moreland (8-2) at No. 8 Great Valley (7-3), Friday, 7 p.m.
The Golden Bears, who moved up from Class 4A to Class 5A this season, strung together another superb season as they scored 35 or more points in six of their eight wins and only allowed 95 total points in their victories. Even their losses were more than respectable considering they came against 8-2 Interboro and 8-2 Plymouth Whitemarsh.
The Patriots of Great Valley won just one game against a team with a winning record (6-4 Phoenixville in Week One) and come in with a two-game losing streak (although those losses came against two solid teams in 8-2 Bayard Rustin and 7-3 Kennett).
The winner here faces the No. 16 Academy Park/No. 1 Upper Dublin winner in next week's quarterfinals.
Predictions:
Drew Markol: Garnet Valley
Tom Moore: Upper Moreland
Melissa Hanejko: Upper Moreland
PIAA District One/District 12/District Three Regional Class 2A first round
No. 4 New Hope-Solebury (2-8) at No. 1 Bristol (7-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
The Lions, who are playing an independent schedule this season and in 2023 under first-year head coach Brandon Garrett, picked up their first on-field win last week by upending George School 24-19. New Hope-Solebury also received a forfeit win over Renaissance Academy in Week One.
The Warriors come in riding a three-game winning streak, including a 34-20 victory over Jenkintown last week. Bristol also beat Jenkintown 27-7 three weeks ago. Those two games against the Drakes were sandwiched around a 7-6 win over archrival Morrisville.
The winner here faces West Catholic in next week's regional title game.
Predictions:
Drew Markol: Bristol
Tom Moore: Bristol
Melissa Hanejko: Bristol
PIAA District One/District Two Regional Class A first round
No. 3 Morrisville (1-6) at No. 2 Jenkintown (6-4), Friday, 6 p.m.
When you see the one win next to the Bulldogs you think this one could go in the wrong direction, but remember, Morrisville's lone win came against the Drakes two weeks ago by a 38-20 count.
And, while the Bulldogs lost three games prior to beating Jenkintown, they only allowed 34 total points in those games, an indication the team was playing much better than earlier in the season.
They'll face a Drakes team that did beat Morrisville 13-12 on Oct. 12, but comes in stuck in a two-game losing streak in which they allowed 72 total points.
The winner faces the No. 4 Lackawanna Trail/No. 1 Old Forge winner in next week's regional title game.
Predictions
Drew Markol: Morrisville
Tom Moore: Jenkintown
Melissa Hanejko: Morrisville
For subscribers:High school football: Who joins Pennsbury, Central Bucks at the top heading into final week?
PIAA District 11 Class 2A semifinals
No. 4 Catasauqua (6-4) at No. 1 Palisades (8-2)
The Rough Riders opened their season with three straight losses before reeling off five consecutive wins leading up to their meeting against the Pirates. In that one, the sides battled the whole way before Palisades prevailed 20-17. Catasauqua bounced back last week by thumping winless Salisbury 53-6.
The Pirates come in with a six-game winning streak, including a 14-7 vctory over Class 3A Saucon Valley last week. The Pirates' only losses came against Class 5A Southern Lehigh and Class 4A Bangor.
The winner here faces the No. 3. Executive Education Academy Charter/No. 2 Williams Valley winner in next week's title game.
Predictions:
Drew Markol: Palisades
Tom Moore: Palisades
Melissa Hanejko: Palisades
PIAA District 12 Class 6A first round
No. 3 Father Judge (3-7) vs. No. 2 La Salle (4-5), Friday, 7 p.m. (at Wissahickon)
This game, which is also a Philadelphia Catholic League playoff tilt, features teams that met just last week.
In that one, the Explorers cruised to a 27-6 victory. Prior to that game, La Salle lost two of three games with the losses coming against Class 6A powerhouse Saint Joseph's Prep and quality Class 5A program Roman Catholic. The Crusaders won just one of their last six games with the lone victory coming two weeks ago against Archbishop Wood.
The winner faces Saint Joseph's Prep in next week's PCL Red Division title game.
Predictions:
Drew Markol: La Salle
Tom Moore: La Salle
Melissa Hanejko: La Salle
For subscribers:High school football: Have things stayed the same in the small-school poll? No, not at all
PIAA District 12 Class 5A first round
No. 2 Archbishop Wood (1-6) vs. No. 1 Roman Catholic (7-2)
This one, also a Philadelphia Catholic League playoff tilt, should be a good one when you consider the first time these two faced each other, in early October, it was the Cahillites prevailing by a 12-7 count.
The Vikings, whose lone win came in mid September, are coming off a 28-21 loss to Father Judge last week. Two weeks ago, Wood took La Salle to overtime before falling 6-3.
The Cahillites finished the regular season by winning three of their last four games. The lone loss came last week by a 42-0 score to 7-1 Saint Joseph's Prep, the consensus top Class 6A team in the state. Roman Catholic's other defeat came in mid-September against 7-1 Malvern Prep.
The winner here will play the winner of Philadelphia Public League in the district title game in two weeks.
Predictions:
Drew Markol: Archbishop Wood
Tom Moore: Roman
Melissa Hanejko: Roman
PIAA District 12 Class 3A semifinals
Neumann-Goretti (5-3) vs. Conwell-Egan (6-4), Friday, 5 p.m. (at Harry S. Truman)
The Saints come in after posting back-to-back shutouts the last two weeks of the season over Archbishop Carroll and Archbishop Ryan by a combined 82-0.
Three weeks ago, when the Eagles and Saints faced off, it was Conwell-Egan posting a 29-14 win. Overall, the Eagles ended their season winning four of their last five games with the only loss coming against 8-1 (and Class 4A) Bonner-Prendergast. Last week, the Eagles crunched winless Carroll 35-0.
The winner here will face the Kipp-DuBois/Vaux winner in the district title game next week.
Predictions:
Drew Markol: Conwell-Egan
Tom Moore: Conwell-Egan
Melissa Hanejko: Conwell-Egan
Season records: Drew Markol (36-13), Tom Moore (36-13), Melissa Hanejko (31-18).
Other games:
Saturday
Germantown Academy at Haverford School, 2 p.m.
Drew Markol: dmarkol@theintell.com; @amarkol
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: High school football: It's time to start the PIAA district playoffs
