HS Football Polls ‘23 – Week 3
It’s showdown week!
Most people had this weekend circled on their calendar with Parkland and Nazareth playing each other. Neither of our #1 and #2 teams have disappointed so far–winning all three of their games by double digits.
The Astound TV Network will be bringing you their contest live this Friday night…and it should be a good one!
I’ve asked a few of our ATVN football analysts about the matchup and to see if there’s one area in which one team has a strong advantage over the other, and everyone seems to agree these teams are very evenly matched.
In addition, we are going to have a competitive Colonial League game as Saucon Valley plays Bangor (both teams tied for 4th in our Colonial poll–see below) on ATVN this weekend.
On this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” our in-studio guest is going to be new Parkland Athletic Director Andy Stephens, who’ll talk about his decision to give up his head coaching of the Trojans’ basketball team–a perennial district champion–in order to take over as the school’s “AD.”
Make sure you tune in for our local sports coverage all week long!
Now here’s a look at our polls along with our criteria that we use.
I’m proud to say (and no, I don’t vote myself) our football polls have proven to be among the most accurate, year after year, among all media organizations that attempt to rank teams in our coverage area each fall. (Check out our archived polls from previous years if you’d like proof).
We rotate asking different contributors to our poll along with some “veterans,” consisting of local athletic directors, coaches and media members. We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material. Our “media voters” usually reveal themselves when we have the pleasure of having them on our weekly SportsTalk program, seen on Thursday nights on the Astound TV Network and available to watch at any time for free through ATVN on Demand.
This year, we are once again going to break down the two polls into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the Astound TV broadcast area. With the Colonial teams cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League and the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playing different “cross-over” teams, our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not have the same opponents throughout their schedules.
Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the ATVN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.
EPC TOP 5
- Parkland
- Nazareth
- Central Catholic
- Bethlehem Catholic
- Freedom
Eligible Teams (in no particular order):
Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.
COLONIAL TOP 4
- Northwestern
- Southern Lehigh
- Notre Dame
- (Tie) Saucon Valley / Bangor
Other schools receiving votes: Catasauqua
Eligible Teams (in no particular order):
Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.
Be sure to check back to the “upcoming events” section here on our website and check it frequently for any changes and for our ongoing broadcast schedule information throughout the postseason.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.
