HS Football Polls ‘23 – Week 1
What a weekend to kickoff the high school football season on the Astound TV Network!
Thanks to some creative scheduling, ATVN was able to bring you a network-record four high school games this weekend–three of them live!
We look to bring you four more games coming up next week–Thursday through Saturday.
But first, a look back on an entertaining first weekend to start the scholastic year off with a bang!
In the Colonial League, there were a number of big performances: Northwestern, Notre Dame, Bangor, Catasauqua and Pen Argyl all started off their fall seasons with very impressive victories (the latter two teams were on ATVN and we’ll see the TIgers coming up this week).
There were a few surprises (see this week’s poll below) and there should be some great battles for both league and district playoff positioning throughout the season.
In the EPC, the results were pretty much as expected with Parkland, Nazareth, Emmaus, Freedom and Central Catholic (our top five teams last week) all securing victories in week one, with the Vikings win over Northampton in overtime also broadcast on our network.
In addition, we brought you a very entertaining game between big city schools Liberty and Dieruff–a contest that was 0-0 with 3 minutes left in the third quarter and Dieruff stopped just outside the red zone midway through the fourth quarter trailing 7-0.
Things will get interesting this weekend as ATVN will be you the great “Blue Mountain” rivalry on Thursday, and our top four EPC teams all playing against each other on Friday.
Saturday, two teams with brand new coaches looking to win their first divisional game square off.
Like last week, it should be a fun week coming up!
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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
- Emmaus
- Freedom
- 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
- Catasauqua
- Bangor
- Notre Dame
Other schools receiving votes: Southern Lehigh, 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.
