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With one week remaining in the regular season for high school football, and, dare I say, the titles are pretty much decided. Notre Dame, after their dramatic 49-44 win over Saucon Valley on Friday night, appears to have their first Colonial League championship with one game remaining against 1-8 Wilson High School.
Stroudsburg has a one-game lead over Northampton. They will play 1-8 Pleasant Valley on Friday and should wrap up the EPC North title.
Freedom will try to win their first EPC title outright by beating Liberty on Saturday afternoon. They could actually wrap up their championship before they play if Parkland knocks off Emmaus. Emmaus is the only team that has a chance to tying Freedom if they win and Freedom loses this weekend.
Then everyone’s attention turns to the District and State playoffs. Four teams get into the 3A and 5A brackets, but both are sub-regional brackets so other districts also qualify. Eight teams qualify for the 4A and 6A brackets, all from District XI.
In 3A, only one team is guaranteed a spot at the moment – North Schuykill, but Notre Dame should get in and Palisades has an outside shot.
In 5A, Southern Lehigh appears to be our only local team.
5A features Northwestern, Saucon Valley, Bethlehem Catholic, and Allentown Central Catholic. This appears to be an extremely competitive bracket, with Bethlehem Catholic probably being the favorite. This is also the bracket where one of our teams could make some noise in the state playoffs.
As is often the case, the 6A bracket possesses the most intriguing possibilities. Freedom, Emmaus, Parkland, Stroudsburg, Northampton, and Easton have qualified. Nazareth is looming and Liberty has an outside chance. Freedom will enter as the favorite, but they only beat Parkland and Emmaus by one point and Emmaus took them to overtime. Easton just destroyed Parkland this past weekend and their game against Nazareth this Friday looks like a great matchup.
Parkland has won six (that’s right, six) 6A District championships in a row. They beat Freedom the last two years in the championship games. And Freedom has never won a football District Championship. This year, it appears that no less than four teams – Freedom, Emmaus, Easton, Nazareth – have a realistic chance to end the Parkland streak.
Does Parkland finally lose the title? Does Freedom win their first? Does some other team upset them both? Is this the year?
Stay tuned to RCN-TV as the playoffs unfold. I, for one, can’t wait.
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- Since betting is now legal in some states, you might be interested that the only team this season to cover the spread every week in the NFL is the Kansas City Chiefs. They are 7-0 against the spread. Of note, also, is that the Packers start this week as 8.5-point underdogs to the Rams. This is the largest underdog number since Aaron Rodgers became the Packers quarterback.
- With the Eagles and Dallas losing and the Redskins winning, is the NFC race over? The Redskins have the easier schedule and it is hard to fathom right now that an NFC East team will be a wild card team.
- At the Staples Center on Saturday night, fans came to an NBA game and a hockey game broke out. Three players, two from the Lakers and one from the Houston Rockets, were suspended for this incident that occurred this weekend. Check it out.http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=25045119
- Break up the Crimson Tide!! Alabama went to 8-0 this past weekend by beating Tennessee 58-21. It was their eighth straight blowout this season. The #1 ranked team has won every game by at least three touchdowns. Clemson, Notre Dame, and Michigan follow in the rankings with only Clemson looking like a team that could possibly keep Alabama from another National Championship.
- RCN-TV Sports will conclude high school football’s regular season (hard to believe) this weekend with rivalry games on tap. Friday night, Parkland travels to Emmaus for their grudge match. The game is LIVE at 7:00pm. On Saturday at 1:00pm, we will present the Freedom-Liberty game LIVE with the Allen-Dieruff game to follow at 5:00pm. Then, on to Districts.
Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks (Last week: 8-6) (Overall: 63-42-2 60% )
Week EIGHT
PHILADELPHIA
KANSAS CITY
WASHINGTON
RAMS
