HS Football Polls ‘23 – Week 7
The next few weeks will be a very important series of games on the local high school football scene as a number of teams in our polls will be playing each other, and the teams just BEHIND those in our poll are jockeying for the remaining positions for the upcoming playoff season.
Among those big ball games will be our #1 team in our EPC poll (Parkland) playing our #4 squad (Bethlehem Catholic) live on Friday night. Two teams tied for our #5 spot (Whitehall/Central Catholic) squaring off against each other live on Saturday night on the Astound TV Network.
Before we look at this week’s high school football polls, here’s a look at recent games seen on ATVN.
Astound Sports: Central Catholic vs. Northampton (8/23)
Astound Sports: Catasauqua vs. Northern Lehigh (9/23)
Astound Sports: Dieruff vs. Liberty (8/23)
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 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
- Northampton
- Bethlehem Catholic
- (Tie) Whitehall/Central Catholic
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
- Bangor
- Notre Dame
Other teams receiving votes: Pen Argyl
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.
