Polls Week 2: Surprise, Surprise
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or
position of Astound or any other agency, organization, employer or company.
Those of us in the media often say that we are not surprised when a certain team beats another team.
But, quite frequently, we can be surprised by the WAY one team defeats another team.
That was the case with many of our week-one contests.
Previously second-ranked Parkland, a team that normally dominates teams with their rushing attack, took to the air to deliver some long (and amazingly athletic) catches, to defeat Easton–last week’s number-five team.
And other teams like Bethlehem Catholic, Northwestern and Northern Lehigh, to name a few, not only won their games, but won by surprisingly huge margins.
Last but not least (as you saw on ATVN last Friday), the rematch of last year’s district championship game lived up to the hype. But it was Emmaus–the team that lost in last fall’s title contest–that surprised Freedom, a squad that most people thought would be the best team in the area.
What does it all mean?
It should be a very interesting fall.
And now, for this week’s polls…
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 going to break the two polls down into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the Astound broadcast area. With the Colonial teams cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League and the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playing different “crossover” teams, our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not have the same opponents on their schedule.
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.
Parkland, Nazareth and Emmaus all scored wins and moved up in the poll, while Freedom’s loss to Emmaus brought them down from number-one to number-four. Central Catholic, who was tied for the fifth spot with Easton in our pre-season poll, takes over that spot by itself with its exciting come-from-behind win over Liberty on Saturday night.
COLONIAL TOP 4
- Northwestern
- Notre Dame-GP
- Northern Lehigh
- Southern Lehigh
Eligible Teams (in no particular order):
Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.
No changes in the Colonial League poll as Northwestern, Notre Dame-Green Pond and Northern Lehigh all posted solid wins, while Southern Lehigh lost a close out-of-the-league contest last Friday, but holds on to its “fourth” spot in the rankings.
Be sure to check back to our website and check it frequently for any changes for our ongoing broadcast schedule information throughout the season.
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.
