It’s been a great fall football season on RCN-TV—thus far!

While it’s not quite time yet to take a look back and identify the top teams, games and players in our coverage area, it’s easy to pick out a few of the moments that have stood out from the pack.

First, here are highlights from a few of our recent games on RCN-TV over the last few weeks.

Now, I am very much aware that we have football teams in the RCN area still alive as we move into the state playoff round.  We’ll continue to talk scholastic football on our next “SportsTalk” show—which will be on Thursday, December 3^rd.  (Our crew would absolutely KILL me if I suggested we do a live show on Thanksgiving Day!).

For those of you from our Washington, DC region, we’re also going to have video highlights from some of the annual “Turkey Day” games featuring the city teams.

However, it’s almost time for our annual “end of the year” awards and I’d like to include you once again as we start to reflect on the highlights from both this year’s football season, as well as the top moments overall in the RCN viewing area.  If you have a favorite sports moment, a really great game or event, a standout athlete or team who really exceeded expectations, we’d love for you to get in contact with us.  Email us at RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com with your opinions and suggestions. Be assured that we’ll factor those in when putting together our “Year in Review” selections.

I, myself, like to start reflecting on the top people and moments with a few weeks to spare.  There are usually a few special events that can get lost in everything going on this time of year (fall sports teams winding down with winter sports action heating up), not to mention the holiday season.

Talking strictly football, a couple games and teams that I, and many District XI football fans, will remember for a long time, include:

• Saucon Valley vs. Notre Dame and “The catch”

• The 73-54 shootout between Central Catholic & Liberty

• Freedom football team’s regular season, ending with the school’s first-ever division title (shared with Parkland HS)

• Saucon Valley’s District Semifinal win over Bethlehem Catholic*

*(Despite some public opinion to the contrary, it is NOT incredibly rare for a Colonial League team to beat a team from the “big school conference” (the East Penn Conference, the Lehigh Valley Conference, the “EPC18”) in a District championship. Wilson won District XI 3A playoffs in 2008, and Northwestern won it a couple years before that.)

Check back to the “SportsTalk Shop” in a couple weeks as we look back at this past season and give shout-outs to our favorite moments during this season as well as other sports highlights from this past year.  Also, with basketball season now upon us, we’ll be previewing the high school hoops season and taking a closer look at the top teams and players to watch this winter in both the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and Colonial League.

Last but certainly not least: On behalf of everyone at the “SportsTalk Shop” and RCN, I’d like to wish you and your family a safe and heartfelt “Happy Thanksgiving” holiday.  We are very thankful for your readership throughout the year and for the many wonderful comments you pass along to us about our coverage here on this blog and on RCN-TV.  Many thanks to all and have a wonderful holiday season!!

“The Lehigh–Lafayette game is an integral part of a college education. The game provides thrills and excitement and instills an attitude that is essential to succeed in all walks of life. Traditions, pregame hype and celebrations are all as important as the game itself. No other football rivalry is quite like Lehigh-Lafayette. The traditions are pure and the festivities are genuine. Sportswriters are afraid to predict the winner, oddsmakers shy from a point spread and coaches don’t have to worry about getting their players up for the game. Previous records, scores and games against common opponents are meaningless. It’s one game—all or nothing.”

Preface Legends of Lehigh-Lafayette  by Todd Davidson and Bob Donchez D&D Publishing Company, 1995

As college football’s most-played rivalry is set to be played this Saturday at Lehigh’s Goodman Stadium, the quote continues to ring true.  It was probably just as true on October 25, 1884 when the two teams took the field for the very first time.  Who would have guessed back then that 150 more games would take place prior to this Saturday?

Here are some facts about the rivalry:

First Meeting: Oct. 25, 1884; Easton—Lafayette 56, Lehigh 0

Last Meeting: Nov. 22, 2014; Yankee Stadium—Lafayette 27, Lehigh 7

Series Record: Lafayette leads, 78-67-5 (.537) (150 games)

In Easton: Lafayette leads, 41-29-5

In Bethlehem: Lehigh leads, 37-36

Neutral Site: Series tied, 1-1

Lafayette won 27-7 in Bronx, N.Y. (Yankee Stadium) on Nov. 22, 2014 Lehigh won 16-2 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. on Nov. 25, 1891

Largest Margin of Victory (Lafayette): Nov. 18, 1944; Easton—Lafayette 64, Lehigh 0

Largest Margin of Victory (Lehigh):Nov. 24, 1917; Bethlehem —Lehigh 78, Lafayette 0

Last Shutout: Nov. 22, 1980; Easton—Lehigh 32, Lafayette 0

Last Tie: Nov. 21, 1964; Easton, Lafayette 6, Lehigh 6 (100th meeting)

Points Scored in Series: Lafayette 2,670; Lehigh 2,202

Longest Lafayette Win Streak: 10 wins, 1919-28

Longest Lehigh Win Streak: 7 wins; 1995-2001

Miscellaneous Facts: The schools played each other twice per season from 1884-1901. They met three times in 1891 and did not meet in 1896, due to a player eligibility dispute between the two schools.

Neither team is playing for a championship this year.  In fact, Lehigh has a 5-5 record while Lafayette is a dismal 1-9.  But, it does not matter to the players, the alumni, or the Lehigh Valley fans.  This is Lafayette-Lehigh and that is all that is important.  16,000 fans will attend and half will leave ecstatic and half will leave dissatisfied.

If you do not have a ticket, tune in at 12:30 Saturday afternoon to RCNTV channels 4 or 1004; WBPH Channel 60, or GoLeopards.com on the internet.

Because…it is the ultimate rivalry!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. It all started with the Jets losing to Buffalo on Thursday night. The NFL has become totally unpredictable.  On Sunday, Bears killed the Rams, the Redskins beat the Saints, the Dolphins beat the Eagles, the Bucs beat the Cowboys, the Jaguars beat the Ravens, and, (wait for it) the Lions beat the Packers.  What!!!  I bet (pun) they are dancing in Las Vegas!
2. As I write this, the Flyers have won two of their last 10 and are 6-8-3, and the 76’ers are 0-11, and the Eagles now have a losing record of 4-5. It continues to be tough to be a Philadelphia fan.
3. We covered our first college basketball game this past Sunday and it is hard to imagine seeing a better game the rest of the year. Lafayette took on St. Peter’s and went up by 17 in the first half, only to have the Peacocks come back to tie the game in regulation.  In overtime, St. Peter’s went up by 11 and, as people were filing out, Lafayette kept forcing turnover after turnover and came back to win 87-86.  Check it out:

4. The high school football games did not disappoint this past weekend. Easton avenged a loss to Freedom by winning their first round Subregional AAAA game over Freedom.  Saucon Valley (11-0) pulled off the biggest surprise by beating Bethlehem Catholic, a team that “mercy-ruled” them last year.  Parkland beat District Two’s Delaware Valley and Liberty beat Stroudsburg.  Notre Dame and Northwestern both won at the AA level.
5. More great football match-ups are in store this weekend. In addition to Lafayette-Lehigh this Saturday at 12:30, you can watch the Easton – Parkland game on Friday night at 7:00 and the Saucon Valley – Lehighton game at 9:30 on Saturday.

NFL PICKS LAST WEEK – 4-10; OVERALL 85-61 (58%)
NFL PICKS (WEEK NINE)

JACKSONVILLE
CAROLINA
DETROIT
DALLAS
ATLANTA
BALTIMORE
JETS
GREEN BAY
PHILADELPHIA
DENVER
ARIZONA
SEATTLE
KANSAS CITY
NEW ENGLAND

First, a quick pat-on-the back for all the people who participated in last week’s “SportsTalk” show poll (a.k.a. “Who will win the Easton/Freedom football game?”).  Extra congratulations are in order for all the people who predicted (and/or rooted) for an Easton victory.  The win sets up one of several great contests this weekend and we’ll be previewing all of the match-ups involving District XI teams on this Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” show (live, 7-8pm on RCN-TV).

Secondly, in addition to breaking down and making predictions about this upcoming weekend’s contests, I’d like to give the Easton and Saucon Valley fans a chance to give some payback to our adversarial co-host, Joe Craig, who predicted double-possession losses for both the Rovers and the Panthers.  After all, turnabout is fair play. We’d be happy to read your emails (RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com) and take your phone calls about those predictions as well as your thoughts on how your teams will do again this weekend.

Now, as we promised in last week’s blog, a closer look at the teams vying for a Class 2A and 3A title this weekend…

Class 3A Championship
Both of these teams got to the title game with solid defense…underrated defenses at that!

Saucon Valley has been in the spotlight because of the running ability of Evan Culver, quarterback Zach Thatcher’s effectiveness in running the offense and the spectacular and timely catches of sophomore Alstan Wolfe.  However, it has been the defensive efforts of those three—and many others—that has fueled the Panthers’ success over the last few seasons.  Culver, who joined his teammates as guests on “RCN SportsTalk” (see it again On-Demand or on our podcasts here on the website), said that he actually prefers to play defense.  That’s a pretty interesting statement considering he’s third among active District XI players in rushing yards and his 64 touchdowns and 4,129 ground-yardage blew away the school records quite some time ago.

Head Coach Matt Evancho, who ran the underappreciated defenses for those great Wilson teams in the 2000s, has been one of the top defensive minds in the Valley for some time.  Seniors Mike Kane, Christian Carvis, Nate Harka and Mike Paolini have been defensive stalwarts for several years and have made for one of the stingiest defenses—Colonial League or EPC–in the area.

Lehighton also allowed just one score in their semifinal game against Blue Mountain. The undefeated Indians forced four turnovers in the first half (six for the game) and scored a defensive touchdown. Their stout defense allowed QB Tyler Cann enough time to warm up the offense and post several second-half scores to put the game away.

Lehighton is similar to Saucon Valley in that they have a core of seniors who have been building to do some special things this fall.  The Indians have a very good secondary and it will not be easy when (if?) the Panthers look to pass the ball.

Class 2A Championship
Speaking of being underrated, I don’t think there’s been a less-mentioned player who’s deserved more accolades than Northwestern’s Harry Hall, who, oh, by the way leads ALL active District XI players in rushing yards.  Hall came into last weekend’s semifinal with 4,860 yards on the ground and 51 TDs (both school records).

I think the Lehigh Valley fan base looked at all the talent that the Tigers lost to graduation from a year ago, and assumed it would be a rebuilding year up in New Tripoli (although they were the #5 team in the “SportsTalk” preseason poll—just sayin’).  However, Northwestern has gotten solid performances on both sides of the ball and played well—even in their losses this season.

One of their losses was to the team they will face in the championship, Notre Dame-Green Pond.  The Crusaders are led by Tre Jordan, who’s passed for over 7,000 yards during his high school career, and he’s just as lethal running the ball.  Mitch Daniel, an outstanding point guard for the basketball team, has made a name for himself as a tailback.  Destyn Woody, Austin Kaulius, Nick Basenese, Jalen Simpson and Aaron Weller all have outstanding abilities receiving the football.  Christian Candelaria, Julian Wismer, Taino Gonzalez and EJ Medina have all had impressive seasons on the defensive side.

The Crusaders have a ton of weapons, a ton of speed and some outstanding defenders.  One would think Notre Dame just has too many horses for Northwestern to handle, but people have discounted the Tigers a few times now, so I’m expecting a very close game on Friday night.

Don’t forget, we’ll be talking about all the 2A/3A/4A playoff teams in our viewing area in action this weekend on this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show (if you miss the program, the podcast will be available Friday afternoon here or catch the program On-Demand).  Also, make sure you check out the Easton/Parkland game Friday and Saucon Valley/Lehighton game Saturday on RCN-TV.

The high school football playoff season is upon us with interesting matchups in the PIAA District 2/4/11 sub-regionals.

First, a quick plug.  For the next two weeks, we’ll be spending most of our “RCN SportsTalk” programs (Thursdays, live, 7-8pm), breaking down ALL of the football sub-regional playoff games, along with thoughts on the Eastern Conference post-season as well.  Feel free to contact us before/during the show to weigh in with your thoughts and questions about the playoffs.

Now, some observations and details on the 4A contests involving District XI teams (we’ll look at the 2A/3A playoff teams in our next blog entry).

Easton/Freedom
If this was almost any other year, I would say the Red Rovers have the advantage—if for no other reason than Freedom already defeated Easton once this year…and Easton RARELY loses to the same team twice in one season.  In fact, even though I thought Freedom was the favorite heading into the first game between these two schools, I might have given the Rovers the nod.  But that was before last weekend.

(BTW:  Freedom was our pre-season #2 team in our “SportsTalk” poll, ranked just ahead of Easton).

I was very impressed with the way Freedom played last Saturday against their traditional rivals, the Liberty Hurricanes.  Andres Santos, who came into the season as the number-two back, finished the regular season with 136 carries, 625 rushing yards, 12-touchdowns and a 5-yards per carry average.  He took on a Liberty defense that was determined to try to stop him, and responded with a 200-yard rushing day (a personal best—his previous high was 117) and two scores.

Furthermore, the senior leaders—Brennan Reinert, Cordell Cotto, Alkiohn Dunkins, Joeshua Ortiz—to name just a few, have been outstanding and have made key contributions on both sides of the ball.  Teamed with junior Brady Hornbaker and sophomore Alec Huertas, I really believe this team is special.  The Patriots have already won a share of their first league/division title, but I believe they have the potential for even greater heights this post-season.

Nasir Minney-Gratz had another awesome performance last week against Nazareth, and before that game I thought that Easton might have had the best, all-around defense in the EPC-South.  I’m no longer sure of that opinion, but I do feel it will be a great game (Friday, live, 7pm on RCN-TV).

Del Val/Parkland
When District XI puts the schedule together before the season starts, they should probably just schedule these two teams to play each other, as these schools have run into each other—at least once—for several years in a row.

Del Val boasts senior running back Austin Cernek (156 carries, 920 yards, 9-TDs) and sophomore wide receiver Dylan Kelly (13 catches, 271, 4-TDs).  Junior QB Matt Cavallero 68-128 passing, 975 yards, 8-TDs, 12-INTs) does a good job orchestrating the offense.  However, I don’t think the Warriors are as strong as some of the previous years’ DV-teams that Parkland has faced.

The Trojans themselves are an interesting team.  The one time I’ve seen them in person (against Freedom), they looked flat-out phenomenal.   They have, in my opinion, the best athlete in the area (QB Devante Cross) and are loaded with depth at nearly every position, along with players (Kenny Yeboah, Eric Digirolamo and others) who have appeared quite a bit on the “SportsTalk” highlight reels this fall.

I’ve talked to some of my colleagues who’ve seen them more often and they opined that the team sometimes plays to the level of their competition and/or lacks emotion.  I feel that will not be the case now that the post-season is here, and I’d say that Parkland heads into the playoffs as the favorite in this game…if not the entire sub-regional tournament.

The Parkland/Del Val game will be broadcast on RCN-TV, tape-delayed, Friday at 9:30 pm.

Stroudsburg/Liberty
The Hurricanes may have the best quarterback (Doug Erney) in the area.  They have, in my opinion, one of the best junior running backs (Gunner Anglovich) in the region.  They have an outstanding offensive live and a great collection of receivers.  On paper, they have the advantage in every offensive aspect of the game.

However…

Over the last two weeks, the Liberty defense has surrendered a whopping 89 points.  They’ve had issues with tackling and have committed untimely penalties at times throughout the season.  They feature some great individual performers, but the team overall has lacked consistency.  If Liberty plays to its potential on Saturday night (live, 7pm, RCN-TV), the game could be a blow-out.  But I don’t see the Mountaineers going away quietly.  If the Canes take Stroudsburg lightly, look ahead to a possible second-round contest against Parkland, or if they lack consistency and focus for an extended period, this game could be much tighter than people are expecting.

Wyoming Valley West/Nazareth
There are some really great athletes at Nazareth right now…perhaps, a few of their future “all-time greats.”  The Blue Eagles have to be cautious heading into their first round match-up.  It’s not uncommon for District XI teams to face a team with a great regular season record, only to mercy-rule them before halftime.  It’s doubtful this will be the case.  The Spartans have played some good teams this year, and have a number of playmakers who will have to be contained.  Junior QB Aaron Austin has passed for nearly 1,500 yards, and running back Sean Judge has rushed for over 1,100 yards.

Nazareth can build on a strong showing last week against Easton, and, regardless of this Friday’s outcome, has exceeded expectations this fall—with many of these players returning next year.  However, I believe this will be a close ball game with lots of scoring, and an all-out shootout could translate to the Eagles coming home with a round-one victory.

Feel free to email your comments on our District XI 4-A football teams to RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and tune in to this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” for your comments, along with more insights, predictions, players to watch and keys to victory on this weekend’s contests.  If you miss our live show, don’t forget to check out the program’s podcast available on Friday afternoon.

Nysir Minney-Gratz of Easton High School is a running back.   He wears #7 and is listed at 5’ 7” and weighs 155 pounds.   On Friday night, he rushed for 469 yards against the Nazareth Blue Eagles.  He also scored six touchdowns.  469 yards!!  That is a new Easton High school rushing record at a school where rushing the football is equivalent to Saturday following Friday.  It happens every single week of every single game during the football season.  The forward pass is an afterthought.

So, suffice it to say that Easton has had, year in and year out, exceptional running backs.  But no one has ever rushed for more than 400 yards in one game for the Rovers.  The previous record was set by Juan Gaddy in 1991 when he ran for, what now seems like a paltry 314 yards.  Minney-Gratz ran for more than that in the second half alone – 20 carries for 325 yards.  By the way, he caught one pass for 23 yards.

If you like football numbers, you know that one of the personal goals of any running back is to attain 1,000 yards rushing in a season.  Minney-Gratz ran for 875 yards the last three weeks alone – 1715 yards for the season. And to think that in the two years prior to this season, he ran for a total of 289 yards.  But, as I mentioned, there have been many, many great running backs at Easton and Minney-Gratz sat behind another Easton legend, Shane Simpson, for the past two years.

There have been seven running backs this year who have rushed for over 300 yards in a game, five who have set school records.  Emmaus’ Kyle Boney will rush for over 2000 yards before he puts away his jersey.  His high this year is 377 yards in one game.  Liberty’s Gunner Anglovitch rushed for 391 yards just two Saturdays ago.  Saucon Valley’s Evan Culver needs just 52 yards to go over 2,000 yards for this season.

This certainly begs the question – Are these athletes so outstanding or are defenses non-existent?  I made a quick count of EPC and Colonial games and there were 24 games where a team scored 50+ points in a game and 11 more where a team scored 49 points.  In one game, a team scored 54 points and lost by 21. 75-54!!  Where are the defenses?

Many coaches attribute the high scores to outstanding offensive talent, but also to poor defensive skills.  They say there is much less time spent on contact drills in practice due to the fear of injury and this has limited the repetition necessary for an individual to become a good run stuffer and a good tackler.  Everywhere I go now I hear the phrase, “Nobody can tackle any more”.

In case you are wondering, the Pennsylvania single-game record is 722 yards set this year in a 107-90 game.  107-90?

Maybe, by comparison, our defense isn’t so bad in the Lehigh Valley!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. The Eagles’ victory on Sunday night in overtime was refreshing for a couple of reasons – Sam Bradford threw a perfect pass to win the game and it was caught, not dropped. And, it took some of the spotlight off of Greg Hardy, who should not be playing for the Cowboys at all, except he settled a financial civil suit with his girlfriend so she would not testify in his jury trial.  No matter how you spin it, he should not be playing football – another reason for fans to hate the Cowboys.
2. As I write this, the Flyers are 5-9, losing six of their last seven, and the 76ers are 0-6, so the Eagles are the last vestige of hope for the Philadelphia fans through the winter.
3. In the Football Bowl Subdivision, there are only six undefeated teams – Clemson, Baylor, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, and Houston. Baylor and Oklahoma State play of November 21 and Ohio State will probably play Iowa for the Big Ten Championship.  That will leave four and that’s what the NCAA likes for their playoff system.  Houston may end up playing Temple for the American Athletic Conference title.
4. The Allentown public schools can be proud of the weekend dedication of the Andre Reed Field and the spirited play of their two football teams. Both Allen and Dieruff did themselves proud and I’m sure Andre was happy to see the Huskies come away victorious.
5. You can find all of the brackets for the District XI football games which begin this weekend at the following site:  http://www.districtxi.com/fall/football

NFL PICKS LAST WEEK – 5-8; OVERALL 81-51 (61%)
NFL PICKS (WEEK NINE)

JETS
GREEN BAY
DALLAS
CAROLINA
ST LOUIS
NEW ORLEANS
PHILADELPHIA
PITTSBURGH
BALTIMORE
MINNESOTA
DENVER
NEW ENGLAND
SEATTLE
CINCINNATI

When I sit down to schedule high school football games, you just never know what you are going to get.  That was not the case this past weekend.  Every game had the potential to be a classic or, as often happens when there is so much hype, disappointing the spectators and the viewers at home.  Well, guess what – every game became a future classic.

The night began with Easton traveling to Bethlehem to take on Freedom.  Freedom was coming off their first loss of the season and Easton was trying to stay alive in the Conference championship race.  Based on past meetings, Easton was probably a heavy favorite to win and quickly jumped out to a 13-0 lead after three possessions and maintained that lead at the half.  And Easton would receive the second-half kickoff.

Easton did not get a first down and Freedom scored on the following possession: 13-7.  Freedom’s defense caused four turnovers on Easton’s next four offensive sets and finally scored with 2:07 to go in the game: 13-13 with the extra point to follow for the win.  It was blocked!  13-13 at the end of regulation.

Easton fumbled in overtime and on a fourth and one, Freedom won the game 19-13.  One could make the argument that this was the biggest win in Freedom football history.

Game two matched undefeated Notre Dame (9-0) against undefeated Saucon Valley (9-0).  The winner would most likely win the Colonial League championship.  Saucon Valley last won the title in 2004 and Notre Dame had never won one.

Notre Dame scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 35-35.  With 45-seconds to play in regulation, Saucon Valley scored and captured a thrilling 42-35 victory.  Notre Dame’s quarterback threw for 224 yards and ran for 111.  Saucon’s Evan Culver ran for 208 yards and two TD’s.  Saucon’s QB Zach Thatcher ran for 172 yards and three TD’s and threw for 86 yards, 75 on the last drive.

And, believe it or not, the craziest game was saved for Saturday afternoon with Liberty taking on Central Catholic.  For starters, the score was 75-54!!  129 points!  Nineteen touchdowns were scored!  Liberty won.

Liberty rushed for 594 yards; Central ran and threw for 561.  The game featured 1,206 total yards when all the passing numbers were added.  Liberty’s Gunner Anglovich scored seven TD’s and rushed for 361 yards.  Central’s Alvin Pacheco scored four rushing TD’s.  Central QB Ethan Persa threw for 343 yards.  Oh, there were three punts in the game.  That might be the most unbelievable stat.  There were possessions when a team did NOT score!

So, we hit the tri-fecta this past weekend and it will be pretty much impossible to duplicate these three games on one weekend.  But… Freedom plays Liberty on Saturday and Central plays Bethlehem Catholic (another offensive machine) on Saturday night.

Who knows… just maybe…

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. One of the more common phrases used in sports is that “defense wins championships”. The World Series proved the opposite – “Lack of defense loses championships”.  The Mets had six errors in five games, none bigger than the throwing error by Lucas Duda that kept them from winning Game Five.
2. The Royals won their second title with the previous one coming in 1985. Remember they lost Game Seven last year to the San Francisco Giants.  Ironically, the Mets led after eight innings in three games they lost.
3. The NCAA will probably now switch to a centralized replay review system like that used by the NFL, NBA, NHL, and the MLB after the fiasco at the end of the Duke-Miami game. There were eight laterals, and four missed calls that would have resulted in a Duke win.  The officiating crew was suspended for two games, but the ruling on the field was not changed.  Miami won!

In case you missed the play:

http://www.si.com/college-football/2015/11/01/miami-duke-ending-ncaa-replay-reform-refs

4. With the Eagles having a bye week, all the football attention in Philadelphia was on the Notre Dame – Temple game. Both teams came in ranked in the NCAA.  Notre Dame had one loss and Temple was undefeated.  The atmosphere was electric and Temple played a superb game losing late on an interception by a 24-20 score.  It’s good to see a Philly school play big-time college football again.
5. The District XI football brackets will be out by noon on Sunday. There will be four classifications for the last time as the District adds two more starting next season.  The first round in AAAA and semifinals in AAA, AA, and A all start on the weekend of the 13^th.

And finally, a very, very sad note.  Last week’s blog focused on former Easton football player “Chevy” Graham and his determination to play college football at Kansas.  He achieved that goal.  Tragically, this past Monday, his 14-year-old sister, Lelieth, died in her sleep. She was an honor student and involved in many in-school and out-of-school activities.  She suffered from an irregular heartbeat.  So tragic. http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2015/11/chelsie_graham_recalled_as_act.html

NFL PICKS LAST WEEK – 8-6; OVERALL 76-43 (64%)
NFL PICKS (WEEK NINE)

CINCINNATI
GREEN BAY
PATRIOTS
NEW ORLEANS
MIAMI
ST LOUIS
JETS
OAKLAND
GIANTS
ATLANTA
DENVER
PHILADELPHIA
SAN DIEGO

Our “SportsTalk” pollsters did it again!

As we approach the final week of the high school football regular season, a quick glance back to our pre-season predictions reveal that our pollsters correctly identified all of the teams in our “small school” poll.  In our “big schools,” four of the top five teams were correctly predicted—in order– back in mid-August (our “fifth” team did receive votes).  Moreover, our pollsters’ final results are very much in-line with the District XI power point system—which officially ranks the team at the end of the regular season and determines the playoff positioning.

As I mentioned before the first summer scrimmage, we have been incredibly fortunate over the years to have some wonderful and insightful people participate in our District XI football poll.  My thanks to all of the coaches, athletic directors and media members for their participation in the most comprehensive poll in the region.

And now, the final results…

Big Schools (11 pollsters)

1. 1. Parkland—55 points (11 first-place votes)
   2. Freedom — 43
   3. Easton — 34
   4. Liberty – 22
   5. Stroudsburg – 6

Other schools receiving votes: Emmaus, Nazareth

Small Schools (10 pollsters)

1. 1. 1. Becahi – 47 points (7 first-place votes)
      2. Saucon Valley – 43 (3 first-place votes)
      3. Notre Dame-GP – 30
      4. Northwestern – 16
      5. Central Catholic/Salisbury — 5

Looking back, easily the two best games of the regular season (to date) had to be the Easton/Freedom and Notre Dame/Saucon Valley games.

All four of these teams had some great wins this season, and their contests against each other made for some thrilling high school football action.

Looking ahead, there are some interesting match-ups in the regular season finale, as teams jockey for spots in the District XI and the Eastern Conference playoffs.  In 4A, Freedom and Liberty, who play Saturday (RCN-TV, 7pm) have both clinched districts, along with Parkland and Wyoming Valley West.  Easton needs to beat Nazareth to make the playoffs and the Blue Eagles with a loss and a Pleasant Valley victory.

In 3A, there are plenty of spots and important ball games this weekend.  Bethlehem Catholic plays Central Catholic on Saturday.  A Golden Hawk win gives them the number-one seed and knocks the Vikings out of districts.  Undefeated Saucon Valley still has not clinched a spot, but still could get in if they lose to Palisades on Friday.

In 2A, Notre Dame and Northwestern have both clinched district spots and Salisbury would be in with a win over Southern Lehigh.  The Pirates need a win combined with a North Schuylkill loss.

Who’ll win these games this weekend and what are each teams’ keys heading into the regular season finale? Join Gary Laubach, Joe Craig and myself this Thursday live at 7pm for “RCN SportsTalk” as we break down all these games, the various post-season scenarios and the playoff system overall.  Also, our special guest will be Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver and former Liberty HS standout Devin Street, who’ll talk about his career and also preview this Sunday night’s Eagles/Cowboys game.

It’s been a wild last few weeks for high school football in the Lehigh Valley area.  There have been some very competitive games, and contests with several teams beating up on each other.  It’s made for some interesting playoff races as we head into the final two weeks of the regular season.

First, we take a look at some of the highlights of games RCN-TV has broadcast over the last few weeks.

Before we look at this week’s expert opinions on who the top teams are, here’s a quick recap of our poll structure.  Our pollsters consist of many different people over the entire Lehigh Valley region.  Our voting panel consists of local media members from different outlets, along with local coaches and athletic directors from across the entire district.  The voters are not identified so they can give their honest impressions without any worry of outside pressures or “bulletin board” material, and we rotate different pollsters from different schools each year, including guests from our biggest to our smallest schools.

As in previous years, we take the 400-male enrollment number as the cutoff for schools within the District XI/RCN footprint.  All schools above that number qualify as “big schools” in our poll. These schools consist of Parkland, Liberty, Allen, Easton, Emmaus, Liberty, Dieruff, Freedom, Stroudsburg, Pleasant Valley, Northampton, Nazareth, E. Stroudsburg-South, Whitehall, Southern Lehigh and Bangor.  “Small schools” (below 400-male enrollment) consist of Saucon Valley, Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Northwestern, Wilson, Palisades, Palmerton, Salisbury, Notre Dame, Pen Argyl, Nolehi and Catasauqua.  Each pollster will identify their top five teams in each group—the top school gets five points, the second team gets four points and so on, with an average score determining the order of teams in the poll.

Also, if you have a beef about our poll or want to talk about the District XI football season, the different playoff scenerios or any other scholastic football topic, tune in to “RCN SportsTalk” live, this Thursday from 7-8 pm.  Our guests will include local official Joe Diorio and RCN Commentator John Breidinger, as we’ll also discuss football rules, interpretations and some controversial calls made recently.

With the particulars out of the way, here’s a look at how our next-to-last set of polls shake out.

Big Schools (11 pollsters)

1. Parkland—55 points (11 first-place votes)
2. Easton – 42
3. Freedom – 35
4. Liberty – 19
5. Nazareth – 6

Other schools receiving votes: Emmaus, Stroudsburg, Whitehall

Small Schools (10 pollsters)

1. Becahi – 45 points (6 first-place votes)
2. Saucon Valley – 42 (4 first-place votes)
3. Notre Dame-GP – 31
4. Central Catholic – 20
5. Northwestern — 10

Other schools receiving votes: Salisbury

There were some big changes in each poll.

Among the larger schools, Freedom’s first loss of the season to Parkland puts the Trojans back to the number one position and drops the Patriots back down to third.  Easton’s clubbing of Liberty moves them back into the number two spot.  Nazareth holds on to the final spot—barely—following its loss to Whitehall last Friday and is still very much alive in the district playoff race.

In the smaller schools, Bethlehem Catholic finally reclaims the top spot it had lost following their loss to Liberty the first week of the season.  Saucon Valley (8-0) could reclaim the number one position with another solid showing against undefeated Notre Dame this Friday (on RCN-TV, tape-delayed at 10pm).

Next week here at the “Shop,” we’ll have our final installment of the “SportsTalk” football polls, along with more video highlights of local teams and players and a breakdown of playoff possibilities for local teams as they jockey for post-season positions.

Again, we welcome your comments and opinions on our poll and on high school football in general.  Call our show live this Thursday or email us now (rcnsportstalk@rcn.com) and tune-in to hear it read and responded to during the program.

After spending around ten hours on the road this past weekend driving to Worcester, Massachusetts, and watching Lafayette get beaten badly by Holy Cross 42-0, I was not in a very good mood as I sat down to write this week’s blog.  After all, the Leopards, who have been completely decimated by injuries this season have been outscored by 122-7 the past three weeks and have not scored a point in the last ten quarters.  I spend quite a bit of time with the players and the coaches each week and feel their pain and sense of frustration.  It certainly weighs on all of them and I, too, by virtue of my relationships with them, feel equally “down”.

Suffice it to say, I sat at the keyboard on Monday morning and I needed a lift – a feel-good story.  But, I did not find one – I found THREE!  I don’t know whether you need to read these stories as much as I needed to write them.

Let me start with a former Easton High defensive football player named Chevy Graham.  You may not remember the name.  He was part of Easton’s two District Championship teams in 2009 and 2010 and started in the secondary the next two years and played in the McDonald’s All-Star Football Classic.  He was not offered any Division I scholarships and only one Division II offer (East Stroudsburg University) came his way.  But, he always felt he could play at a higher level.  When his father moved to Wichita, Kansas, Chevy decided to apply to Kansas University and play football.  He decided that; Kansas University still needed to be convinced.

So, his first semester, he sat in the stands for every game.  The following January, he went to a tryout for the KU team.  And just like he had predicted, he made the team!  The first year, he played on special teams.  This season, he is now a starter in the secondary as a cornerback and living his dream to play Division I football.

And lest you think Chevron (his real name) is just going to school for football, he is a chemical engineering student who is a member of the Academic Big 12 team, and is an Honor Roll student.  Just like his major, he was able to formulate a plan to enjoy a game he loves and play it at the highest level.  Read more about Chevy in Jesse Newell’s post:

http://cjonline.com/sports/hawkzone/2015-10-15/stands-starter-kus-chevy-graham-rewarded-leap-faith

The next two “feel-good” stories center around two of our Lehigh Valley teams – the Allen Canaries and the Dieruff Huskies.  This past weekend both of them won!  If you do not think that’s a big deal, the last time the two Allentown schools won on the same weekend was November 8, 2002, 13 years ago!

Dieruff beat Pocono Mountain West 33-20.  Now Dieruff has won other games this year (over ES North and Pocono Mountain East) and they did win four games last year, so their plight has not been quite as desperate as the Allen Canaries.

Allen had not won a football game since 2009 – they had lost 28 in a row.  Last year, they were outscored 403-71 and ended the season by being shut out by Dieruff 35-0.  This season, prior to their 28-27 win over East Stroudsburg South, they had been outscored 296-57.

As a former player and coach, I have the utmost respect for kids and coaches who continue week after week to go out and compete knowing the outcome will not be favorable.  These same kids still hit the weight room, still practice five days a week, still take the field on Friday night, still attend classes, still remain academically eligible, and still hope.  It is so easy to just walk away from this commitment especially when it is rare to reap the rewards with victories.

High praise belongs to the head coaches – Kyle Beller of Dieruff and George Clay of Allen, who, also, persevere and, every now and then, they get rewarded for their efforts, maybe not in wins, but in the gratification of working with his players.  This weekend, however, both were rewarded with wins!

That’s what happened this weekend, so congratulations to Chevy, to Dieruff, and to Allen.  And now, I “feel-good”.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. Mets or Royals? Royals really have good hitters up and down the lineup.  I like the Mets’ pitching.  The Mets are destined to win the World Series.
2. Watching the Eagles on Sunday, who do you blame for the losses? The receivers drop too many passes; Sam Bradford throws too many interceptions; they cannot run the ball; and the hurry-up has little or no effect on the opponent.  And they still could win the NFC East.
3. If you are looking for the perfect college football atmosphere this coming Saturday, watch undefeated #21 Temple take on #9 Notre Dame at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. This could be the best Temple team ever and the campus and Philadelphia area are ready to explode.  Notre Dame, with a national rabid following, will be out in full force.  The atmosphere will be electric!
4. It’s a typical year in the EPC South – Liberty beats Parkland; Parkland beats Easton; Easton beats Liberty; with Central also beating Easton and Nazareth also beating Liberty, Parkland is looking like the champion. Freedom still has an outside shot.
5. Freedom (7-1; 5-1) tries to rebound from their first loss of the season when they host Easton (7-1; 4-2). You can watch the game LIVE on RCN-TV.  At 10:00, the Colonial League championship should be decided when undefeated Notre Dame takes on undefeated Saucon Valley.  Saturday, Lafayette takes on Bucknell and Liberty plays Central.

NFL PICKS LAST WEEK – 7-7; OVERALL 68-37 (65%)
NFL PICKS (WEEK EIGHT)
 

NEW ENGLAND
KANSAS CITY
ATLANTA
ARIZONA
GIANTS
MINNESOTA
SAN DIEGO
CINCINNATI
TENNESSEE
JETS
SEATTLE
GREEN BAY
CAROLINA
ST LOUIS

It has always been the mission of the “RCN SportsTalk” show to provide news and information on more than just the “big” sports.  While football, basketball and wresting receive the most feedback from viewers, and the professional and major college teams resonate with the widest audience, we have gone to great lengths to make sure we cover as many different sports in as many different schools and cities as we possibly can.

Last year, we started doing a “SportsTalk Shout-out” to people in the RCN viewing area for doing something out of the ordinary, with the main purpose of trying to find an achievement that wasn’t necessarily well documented or received a tremendous amount of initial media attention.

This fall, we came up with two additional ways to continue to spotlight our local athletes and teams in the RCN viewing area, in a way we’ve never done before.

Last month, we introduced the “Athlete of the Week” feature that we unveiled during our Thursday night “SportsTalk” show.  This focuses on athletes participating in a sport other than high school football (we also focus in solely on a football player for our “Football Friday” edition of “SportsTalk”).

This segment “debuted” in September by featuring Northwestern senior soccer player J.D. Haff, who recorded a hat trick in four consecutive games.  We’ve followed that up by honoring Meredith Sholder of the Emmaus field hockey team and Dana Evans of the Pen Argyl field hockey team.  Forget the traditional hat trick; these two ladies scored FOUR goals in a single game respectively earlier this year in helping their teams win games.  Diana Hammerstone of Easton’s cross country team outran several schools’ competitors in a dual meet last week ahead of the playoffs, and received honors for her accomplishment on our show as well.

We invite you to be on the lookout for our next “Athlete of the Week,” each Thursday, 7-8 pm, on our show throughout the upcoming school year.

Before we tell you about another new innovation for our program, there were a few more athletes, coaches and teams from the RCN region who deserve some “ink” for their recent accomplishments as well.

Former Parkland multi-sport standout and current track athlete at South Carolina, Olivia Hassler was selected as one of eight representatives of her student body to report to the federal government regarding critical academic, social and financial issues facing young people.  It’s a tremendous honor for a young lady who has endeavored through hardships in her life (her story was documented on ESPN earlier this year) and she’ll be a fabulous representative who’ll do a great job in her new role.

Coach Art Corrigan of Notre Dame High School in Easton recently became the most winningest cross country coach in the United States this fall.   He now has over 11-hundred wins and is still going strong.  We did a story on Art last year, which you can see by going through the archives of our “SportsTalk Shop” blog here on the website or find it here on YouTube under “The RCNTV” section.

Coach Corrigan was one of two Lehigh Valley head coaches who became the winningest head coach in their respective sport this fall.  Emmaus Field Hockey Head Coach Sue Butz-Stavin achieved this honor in September.  Coach Butz-Stavin and her team have also been featured on “RCN SportsTalk” a number of times over the last several seasons.

Two more Lehigh Valley high school alums from rival school districts joined forces to benefit a great cause recently.  Parkland’s Toomey Anderson and Liberty’s Darrun Hilliard (now playing for the NBA’s Detroit Pistons) held an event at Allen HS to benefit Kyle Kostic of Allentown—who’s going through some tough times right now.  One-hundred percent of the proceeds from that event went to benefit Kyle and his on-going battle with an illness and the costs associated with it.

Last but not least…after graduating 17 seniors from last year’s team, the Salisbury boys soccer team has had an amazing fall season to date.  The Falcons’ story is just one of the many local high school sports features we’ve featured on “SportsTalk” over the last two months—all of them available for you to watch on RCN’s On-Demand services.

But wait, there’s more!

Starting on Thursday, October 29, RCN-TV is looking to launch another brand new feature.  Each week on our “SportsTalk” show, we’ll have highlights and details of one of the biggest high school games played during the previous week for our viewers watching us in the Washington, DC/Virginia area.  With so many talented individuals and squads playing in that region, it won’t be an easy choice to see who will be in the spotlight each week, but we hope you’ll tune in and find out for yourself and enjoy our recap of our “game of the week.”

As always, if you have a suggestion for a team to spotlight or have opinion on our local sports features, whether it be in our Pennsylvania or DC markets, we welcome your feedback!  Please email us at RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com at any time and keep watching RCN-TV and checking in with our blogs for the latest in spectacular achievements made by the young men and women in the RCN coverage area.