KEITH GROLLER'S FOOTBALL RECAP

From Keith Groller

Hard to believe 10 weeks have gone by and the regular season of this high school football is now history.

Potentially, six more weeks remain.

And, thankfully, we can use the postseason -- in combination with the regular season -- to determine our award winners:

But looking back, here's how I see the top performances so far in the team, player, games and coach of the year categories, and the top surprises and disappointments..

Top teams:

1. Wilson -- You can't beat perfection.

2. Easton -- You knew they wouldn't be down for long -- if 7-6 in 2008 can be considered down.

3. Central Catholic -- Terrific turnaround from 4-6 in 2008.

4. Parkland -- Absent a passing attack, the Trojans have gotten a lot of mileage from their defense and Andre Williams.

5. Liberty -- Give the Hurricanes credit for not giving up after an 0-3 start.

6. Panther Valley -- Only a one-point loss to Schuylkill Valley and a four-point defeat to a very strong North Schuylkill team has kept the Panthers from perfection.

Top players:

1. Tyler Smith, Wilson ... Headed for more than 3,000 yards passing and 30 TD passes.

2. Anthony Gonzalez, Liberty ... Despite playing the first two games injured and missing a few more weeks with surgery, he's on his way to more than 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards passing. Without him, Liberty is done for season.

3. Andre Williams, Parkland ... Because he didn't have as much help as other stars, what he has been able to accomplish is remarkable.

4. Darrius Webb, Freedom..... Had a few spectacular games, but teams was slowed down as season went on.

5. Chuck Dibilio, Nazareth. ... Key guy behind Nazareth resurgence.

6. Brendan Nosovitch, CCHS... He has a chance to be one of the best in school history at the quarterback position if he stays healthy and keeps working.

Top Games

1. Easton 24, ES South 22 -- Red Rovers made a big comeback to win this in Week 1. At the time, no one knew how good either team was. Could see this matchup again in the district final.

2. Whitehall 33, Freedom 30 -- Terrific back-and-forth contest in which Freedom's Webb and Whitehall's Eric Fiore, former Becahi teammates, were among the stars.

3. Central Catholic 20, Becahi 14 -- Even though this was played in the rain, this one went overtime and was a hard-hitting battle between two longtime rivals.

4. Northern Lehigh 26, Palisades 24 -- Another terrific back-and-forth battle we could see again in districts. Cody Remaly ran for 185 yards and got the game-winning touchdown from 23 yards out in the fourth quarter.

5. Nazareth 21, Emmaus 14 -- All five Emmaus losses were by eight points or less. I could fill up this list with all-Green Hornets games because almost all of their games went down to the wire, but I don't want to remind them of all that heartache. This one showed early on that the Blue Eagles had a lot of playmakers and a toughness not seen before.

6. Wilson 49, Palisades 28 -- Any game that features 11 touchdowns has got to make some sort of list.

Top Coaches

1. Steve Shiffert, Easton -- Never gets the credit he deserves because the Red Rovers are always expected to win.

2. Harold Fairclough, CCHS -- 4-6 to 9-1 is good work and the Vikings found a way to win several close ones.

3. Tom Falzone, Catty -- Has pumped a lot of life into the Roughies program and pulled several surprises.

4. Mike Palos, Becahi -- Much like Falzone, Palos revitalized a program and had several surprise wins and other close calls. His first task was to generate enthusiasm, and make people want to stay at Becahi. That seems to have been been accomplished.

5. Rob Sawicki -- Salisbury -- Some would scoff and say 4-6 is not a big deal. At Salisbury, it should feel like the Super Bowl. Give him credit for not being afraid to bring in more experienced head coaches who have coached at bigger schools. Many other guys wouldn't have the ego to take that.

6. Rob Melosky -- Nazareth -- Blue Eagles have been as exciting to watch as any team in the area. He'll always have his share of detractors, but he can motivate kids and get them excited about the game.

Surprises

1. Seeing East Stroudsburg South come on so strong after losing to Easton in Week 1.

2. Allen beating Dieruff.

3. Pleasant Valley going from 1-9 to 5-5.

4. The rise of Nazareth and Central Catholic in the LVC.

5. Northampton's 21-0 win over Whitehall.

Disappointments

1. After such good seasons in 2008, seeing Emmaus, Northampton, Bangor, Pocono West and Palmerton fall back to the pack.

2. Seeing Allen and Dieruff continue to struggle as badly as they have

3. Marian Catholic, once a premier program, struggling so much.

4. Freedom's fade after a 4-1 start.

5. Notre Dame going 0-10 and scoring only 52 points all season.

Keith Groller