HS Football Polls ‘23 – Week 6
A few people asked me last week why we were not going to broadcast the Parkland vs. Whitehall football game last Friday.
There were actually several reasons, but the shortest explanation–and the biggest reason–came down to one word…research.
I’ve seen Parkland a few times and talked to people very familiar with the Trojans program. Same for Whitehall. And the overwhelming opinion AND feedback was that the Zephyrs simply do not match up with Parkland well this year.
It’s not a knock against Whitehall. Plus, to be honest, we probably will do that game next year. But this year, the timing wasn’t quite right and all the signs pointed to a Parkland big victory.
Thus, we went with Nazareth vs. Central and Becahi vs. Emmaus.
The results?
Nazareth/Central was 7-7 with under three minutes left in the game and Emmaus had a 10-0 lead but with Becahi driving deep into Hornet’s territory midway through the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Parkland mercy-ruled Whitehall 36-7.
My point in explaining this is that we do take people’s opinions very seriously. We also put a lot of time and effort and use several different methods into selecting, what we believe, will be the best possible games for as many of our viewers as possible. This weekend, I feel very confident in saying that we made the right decisions.
And fear not, Parkland and Whitehall fans…we’ll have Whitehall coming up twice over the next two weeks and we’ll have Parkland coming up at least two more times in the regular season (and probably see both of these teams quite often come postseason time as well!)
As always, your feedback is welcome – feel free to email me at chris.michael@astound.com with any questions or suggestions for upcoming sports programming decisions!
We had a very spirited conversation with new ATVN announcer/blogger Melvin Thomas Jr on last Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show, with one segment focusing on issues facing football programs at inner-city schools and another segment discussing the negative effects of the NCAA’s new transfer/portal process and how it will make things tougher on high school prospects going forward.
If you missed that show or watch to hear Melvin’s wise observations again, Astound video customers can watch the show for free through ATVN on demand (look under “Sports” then “SportsTalk” on our VOD tab.)
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).
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.
EPC TOP 5
- Parkland
- Nazareth
- Bethlehem Catholic
- Central Catholic
- Whitehall
Other teams receiving a vote: Northampton
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
- (Tie) Notre Dame/Catasauqua
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 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.
