“Astounding 10” HS Football Poll-Week 5
On last Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show on the Astound TV Network (and also live streamed for free on our YouTube channel), I think I ruffled some feathers when I said that I thought Freedom was not only the best team in our area this year, but that if they win the district championship this fall, I think they have a legitimate shot at beating whichever teams come out of District 12 in the first round of the state playoffs.
I had people STRONGLY disagree with on that very program. I had people disagreeing me me via text and emails. I ran into people disagreeing with me when I saw them on the street the next day … and even had people disagreeing with me on my way to the press box before Freedom’s game against undefeated Nazareth last Friday night.
I haven’t received one dissenting comment since I LEFT that press box.
In fact, quite the opposite.
Almost immediately after Freedom beat Nazareth 38-10, I had people agreeing with that comment and stating in fact how solid the Patriots are looking right now.
Granted, there is still a LONG way to go in this fall season, but I don’t think you’re going to see a change atop our high school football poll very soon (more details on that below).
Coming up this Friday, Astound TV will broadcast two games featuring four teams all sporting 3-1 records: we’ll have Parkland versus Nazareth live at 7pm, followed by Easton at Emmaus airing at 9:30pm.
We will also broadcast Central Catholic vs. Bethlehem Catholic live on Saturday night.
On Thursday at 7pm, we’ll honor four retiring District XI referees who combined for over 150-years of officiating in the Lehigh Valley – Bob Andrews, Rodney Strobl Sr, Mark Cesare and Mike Eberwine will be our special guests. The show will be broadcast live on ATVN and also streaming the program for free at: youtube.com/@AstoundTVnetwork
Last but not least, check back here to the “SportsTalk Shop” later this week for highlights of recent games that we broadcast on the Astound TV Network.
Now for the latest “Astounding 10’’ high school football weekly poll for this fall season.
Our pollsters give their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.
Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.
One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.
It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.
One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.
Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions. If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.
So without any further delay, here’s this week’s edition of the “Astounding 10” … (the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)
- Freedom (10)
- Nazareth (9)
- Parkland (7.2)
- Emmaus (6.2)
- Northwestern (5.8)
- Liberty (4.2)
- Easton (3.8)
- Tamaqua (1)
- Notre Dame-GP (.08)
- Blue Mountain (.06)
Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: Saucon Valley, Southern Lehigh
Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds and opinions of our pollsters!
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.
