Ticket to Hershey on the line                              

December 5, 2007

By Joe Stokes

The sweet sixteen will fight it out this weekend for an all expenses paid trip to the PIAA championship showdown next week at Hershey Park Stadium. The 16 teams that have survived at all four levels of this years playoff action are exhausted by the long season but determined to make it through for a shot at the ultimate reward of a Pennsylvania state championship crown.

The fourth week of playoff action found exciting games in the east with few surprises. However the losing squads did not go down without tremendous effort.

St. Joseph’s Prep fell from number one in Ed Thomas’ Southeastern Pa Top Twenty as result of a 10-9 loss to Roman Catholic in the Philadelphia Red Division Catholic League championship game last Saturday afternoon .Although the Hawks rallied with a 77 yard punt return by Jim McGoldrick a missed extra point with just seconds remaining sealed the deal and gave Roman the 2007 Catholic League crown. The Prep loss opened the door for Ridley to reach the top spot in Ed’s ranking.

This writer comes off a 50-17 prediction record for 2006 and so far in 2007 has a 50-15 record in the last thirteen weeks of prognostications. Last weeks results gave the record a boost with a 4-1 push. Ridley, Garnet Valley, Dunmore and Parkland all found a way to win as predicted with Roman’s win over St. Joe Prep accounting for the lone set back.

The PIAA playoffs move to the semi-final round this weekend. The AAAA District One Champion Ridley will travel to Allentown to face District Eleven Champion Parkland. The Green Raiders shut out the high powered West Chester Henderson offense on their way to a convincing 19-0 victory to win their first ever District One Championship. It was Steve Egee at quarterback and Andrew Hodges in the backfield that provided the push in this one sided win. On Saturday Parkland relied on the Wing-T attack led by quarterback John Laub to dismantle Philadelphia Public League’s George Washington High 44-12.

This will be the highlight game in the east and could well be decided by the ability of the Ridley defense. If they are able to frustrate the wing-t offense and hold the passing attack in check they will be on their way to Chocolate Town.

Prediction:    Ridley  21  Parkland  12

At the AAA level District One champs Garnet Valley survived a hard fought contest with West Scranton. Although they lost the statistical battle to the Invaders, the Jaguars were able to advance with a second half surge and a last second defensive stand to account for the 27-22 victory. The win gives Garnet Valley the task of slowing down another high powered Wing-T offense from District Three, Lampeter Strasburg. The Pioneers score more than 30 points a game and quarterback Eric Van Wyk and running back Tim Keyser must be at their best to stay close in this one.

Prediction:   Garnet Valley  31  Lampeter Strasburg  28

Here is the rest of my fearless playoff forecast:

Prediction:    Serra Catholic  37  Kane  23    

Prediction:    Dunmore  27  Loyalsock  17

Prediction:    Pittsburgh Central Catholic  31  Harrisburg High  20