KEITH GROLLER'S PICKS

FROM KEITH GROLLER

It's probably the best slate of high school football so far this season, and unfortunately, I am going to miss it.

My primary fall beat is Lehigh University football and I am headed to New Hampshire for the Mountain Hawks' game against the Wildcats on Saturday.

In another era, I might have flown up to the game on Saturday morning and not missed local Friday night football.

But instead, I will be driving, and that means I will be spending all day Friday driving up through New York state and New England to get to the Granite State for Saturday's noon kickoff.

Not looking forward to the drive, generously estimated at 6.5 hours, but I am looking forward to seeing former Central Catholic quarterback Tim Cramsey, who is the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire, which is the No. 16 ranked FCS team in the country. We also have former Liberty standout Joey Orlando and ex-Freedom star Mike Coccia up there and I hope to catch up with them as well during my stay.

I do hope Lehigh can keep the game competitive, but I have my doubts.

Patriot League schools don't fare well against scholarship schools and UNH is a well-established, consistently strong FCS program. Remember what Villanova did to Lehigh two weeks ago? This one could be just as one-sided.

I am looking forward to experiencing a new state. Never been this far north. New Hampshire always is romanticized during the presidential primary every four years. We'll see if it has the charm the political analysts say it has.

Speaking of analysis, mine was a little faulty last week. After getting just nine wrong, total, in the first two weeks, I struggled through a 17-11 week. That dropped my overall record to 61-20 (75.3 percent).

So far, my main man Andy "The Weave" Weaver is 1-0 with his Nazareth picks. He was the toast of the town after nailing that Blue Eagles win over Liberty last week and he's going with a 37-0 win over Allen this week for his buds.

Now, for my picks (home teams in CAPS):

COLONIAL LEAGUE

SAUCON VALLEY 20, Palmerton 14 -- Panthers haven't won a game yet, but they have played a brutal schedule.

BANGOR 42, Notre Dame 6 -- Crusaders are allowing Bethlehem Catholic to use their stadium this week. They probably wish they could share players as well. Right about now, many Notre Dame alums start thinking about the start of basketball season where their school has much more success. ND has been outscored 140-14 so far in three games and those numbers will definitely grow more lopsided, even if Scott LaValva isn't playing for the Slaters.

Catasauqua 28, SALISBURY 7 -- Catty boys basketball coach Eric Snyder will soon be celebrating a National League Central title soon for Cincinnati, which of course, has this Cardinals fan a bit red-faced. Talk about an underachieving squad.

Northern Lehigh 49, PALISADES 6 -- I'm pulling for things to get better for new Pirates coach Jim Brady. He has done a wonderful thing for my buddy Andre Williams while Dre recovers from his stroke suffered back in the spring. I doubt the purple will rise up this week. Maybe next week against Palmerton.

Southern Lehigh 20, NORTHWESTERN 12 -- Should be a competitive game in New Tripoli. Spartans defense made a believer out of me after how it shut down Bangor last week.

Wilson 49, PEN ARGYL 34 -- If you like offensive football, this is probably your game of the weekend.

LEHIGH VALLEY CONFERENCE

BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC 28, Dieruff 7 -- The Huskies and Golden Hawks are playing this one at a Colonial League venue (Notre Dame) and there are a lot of people who think Dieruff should be playing Colonial League competition since the Huskies remain completely overmatched in the LVC.

Emmaus 20, FREEDOM 13 -- One of several tossups in the LVC this weekend. I was impressed with the Green Hornets defense against Parkland, but wonder about a letdown after an emotional win over their rivals.

Liberty 28, WHITEHALL 20 -- The great unknown here is the health of Zephyrs QB Chris Polony. Even if he goes, Dante Holmes, one of the area's best defensive linemen, may have him on the run. And whether Polony plays or not, the Hurricanes have proven they can at least score. It will be interesting to see how Liberty and a new coaching staff responds after the disappointment at Nazareth.

Easton 28, PARKLAND 14 -- The Red Rovers seem to have the Trojans number just about every year. This year, they have a great offensive line and a dynamic QB in Justin Pacchioli. Maybe Matt Senneca, a new member of the Parkland staff, can change Parkland's fortunes. He certainly saw a lot of Easton while at Liberty.

Nazareth 42, ALLEN 18 -- Weave and I are on the same page here. The Blue Eagles are for real. But the Canaries are talented enough to at least score some points.

CENTRAL CATHOLIC 48, Northampton 14 -- Friendship between coaches Harold Fairclough and Bob Steckel is well documented. They coached against each other in the McDonald's All-Star Game in June, too. That ended in a tie. This one won't be nearly as close.

MOUNTAIN VALLEY CONFERENCE

POCONO MOUNTAIN EAST 27, Stroudsburg 14 -- I feel bad about what happened to Fred Ross. I am hoping the Mounties will rally around him and try to send him out with a bunch of wins. But I don't see it happening here against the explosive Cardinals.

East Stroudsburg South 33, POCONO MT. WEST 13 -- The Cavaliers seem capable of getting on a roll and back in the District 11 playoff hunt.

PLEASANT VALLEY 28, Lehighton 19 -- Nice to chat with Lehighton coach George Ebbert for a little feature in our Friday paper. But just like Jim Thorpe last week, I fear the Groller Jinx could be at work here.

OTHERS

CRESTWOOD 19, East Stroudsburg North 14 -- Looks like a competitive game between 2-1 teams.

JIM THORPE 34, Panther Valley 7 -- Nice rebound week for the Olympians after that brutal visit to North Schuylkill.

MARIAN CATHOLIC 42, Pius X 20 -- Feel bad for Royals' first-year coach Phil Stambaugh. You can't win if you can't stop anybody.

DOWNINGTOWN WEST 27, Quakertown 19 -- The third of four straight road games for the Panthers.

Pennridge 34, LANSDALE CATHOLIC 20 -- Scoring 34 points is not a problem for these Rams. For my Rams in St. Louis, 34 points is a month's worth of games.

UPPER PERK 27, Pottstown 20 --I was impressed with what I saw from the Pottstown offense at Pius X in Week 1, but wonder if they've corrected their fumbling issues.

Wyomissing 34, KUTZTOWN 13 -- I believe Wyomissing was once the hometown of country/pop singer and Morning Call fave Taylor Swift. Sweet girl, talented songwriter, but a mediocre singer who needs Disney-packaging to sound good.

Mahanoy Area 40, TAMAQUA 19 -- Congrats to the newest members of the Tamaqua Hall of Fame who will be saluted before the start of this one -- the late Howard Walker (a member of the class of 1923), the late Sidney "Soup" McMichael (1929); Wayne Truskey (1967); Trevor Steigerwalt (1991); Joelle Evanousky LeMasters (2000); Matt Benza (2001) and coaches, the late Jim Freed and Eric Zerbe.

Phillipsburg 28, FRANKLIN 21 -- This is a pretty big matchup in Jersey, but I never go against Stemmy.

Enjoy the games. I will be checking in once I get to New Hampshire.

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