Here are three local sports observations before we take a look at this week’s “SportsTalk” high school football poll for teams in the RCN viewing area.
#1
The revolving door in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division continues to swing around in high school football.
Consider the following so far:
Central Catholic defeated Emmaus and Parkland but got crushed by Freedom and Easton. The Patriots lost to both Emmaus and Parkland but dominated Nazareth — a team that keeps improving each week and almost beat the Trojans.
The Red Rovers now have three wins but were routed by both Freedom and Parkland, and have Emmaus and Nazareth looming on the horizon.
Whitehall started the year 3-0 but has now lost two in a row by significant margins and has several more tough opponents coming up throughout the rest of its regular season schedule.
As you saw on RCN TV last weekend, the Blue Eagles recorded its fourth victory with a 17-6 win over Liberty and have lots of great talent coming out of their sophomore program. They could be contenders again after winning the district title the last two seasons but, as we broke the news during the broadcast, they now will be without their top wide receiver, Nolan Lobb, for several weeks.
Meanwhile, the Hornets have responded from its lone, early season loss to Central by out-scoring its last three opponents by over 150 points.
It appears Emmaus has emerged as the team to beat in this competitive division, which is a good thing for RCN customers: we already have the Hornets scheduled for three of its toughest games coming up over the next month on RCN-TV! All three contests will probably decide the EPC-South championship.
#2
Meanwhile, in the EPC – North, Northampton continues to dominate against teams from the Pocono region. As in the past, the Koncrete Kids beat up on teams from the Northern tier of the District 11 area – some struggling to even field a team. This year’s squad could be different as they’ve already pulled off one of the year’s biggest upsets week one by surprising Bethlehem Catholic. They could very well beat Whitehall at the end of the regular season and then make noise by beating more Lehigh Valley teams come playoff time.
#3
There were also some key games in the Colonial League this past weekend.
Saucon Valley, a team that was ranked number five in our preseason poll but had managed just one win so far through five games, upset last week’s #5 team, Bangor.
Wilson lost its first game of the year on its home field last Saturday, 42-6, to Northwestern. The Warriors have had a great start but can’t afford to pick up too many more losses in a very competitive 4A playoff field–only four teams qualify for the playoffs in this classification this fall.
Catasauqua got back on the winning path. Like Northampton, they are mostly playing teams from outside our coverage area. We will get a great look at how strong the Rough Riders are this season when they face off against Lehigh Valley 2A teams starting week 10.
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That brings us to this week’s input from the RCN SportsTalk pollsters — a random collection of local coaches, athletic directors and media members.
Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the RCN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.
EPC-LV TOP 5
1) Emmaus
2) Parkland
3) Freedom
4) Nazareth
5) Easton
Eligible Teams (in no particular order):Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton
COLONIAL TOP 5
1) Northwestern
2) Notre Dame-GP
3) Wilson
4) Northern Lehigh
5) Catasauqua
Eligible Teams (in no particular order): Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh and Palisades
Be sure to bookmark our high school football broadcast schedule here on the website and check it frequently as, with several games already postponed or canceled so far this season, there could be changes from day to day.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.
