KEITH GROLLER'S top 10 storylines through first half of high school football season

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Can't believe the high school football regular season is half over, although, realistically, we're not even one-third done. Remember, there could be 11 more weeks left in the season if somebody gets to Hershey for the state finals the weekend of Dec. 17-18.

Save your money for some last-week Christmas shopping at Chocolate World.

This coming weekend will offer a 1-2 punch of big games featuring unbeatens with Pen Argyl visiting Northern Lehigh on Friday and longtime rivals Whitehall and Central Catholic getting together at J. Birney Crum Stadium on Saturday night.

Here are my top 10 storylines of the first half of this season, looking at what's going on around the entire Valley and region:

10. The continuing struggles of Allen and Dieruff.

New coach Cedric Lloyd has instilled a lot of enthusiasm and has attempted to change the mindset and culture with the Canaries. Allen is at least scoring points, and was competitive in a couple of games. Dieruff, despite vast publicity, particularly from this newspaper, doesn't appear to be any closer to becoming competitive and competitive is really all Dieruff fans, parents and alums are hoping for.

9. The rise of the Slate Belt.

Pen Argyl and Bangor are both having terrific turnaround years, and both feature a few of the greatest players in the school's recent history -- true stars like Slaters' Scott LaValva and the Knights' Nathan Hood and Dylan Evans.

8. The tough start, but recent turnaround of Pius X. Phil Stambaugh began his coaching career with his alma mater getting battered by strong opponents from Pottstown, Staten Island and Schuyklill Valley. However, the Royals, behind freshman quarterback A.J. Long, have put 62 and 57 points on the board in the past two weeks. Pius X plays just one team with a winning record over the second half of the season, so a playoff push is possible.

7. The power of Pleasant Valley. In his second season as head coach, Jimmy Terwilliger has good things happening with the Bears. They are 4-1 and on their way to their first winning season since 2004. PV is not just playing winning football, but exciting football with 41.5 points per game over the last four weeks.

6. Emergence of Nazareth. The Blue Eagles are the only team to beat Pleasant Valley -- they shut the Bears out in Week 1 -- and are on their way to their best season since going 7-4 in 2001. They are just 3-2, but the two losses were against Easton and Central and they accounted themselves well in both of those games. And they've clearly proven by now that they're not just Chuck Dibilio and 10 other guys on offense.

5. The decline of both Wilson and Liberty. When you lose quarterbacks like Tyler Smith and Anthony Gonzalez, you're going to come back to earth. Yet, the Warriors and Hurricanes have been at the top of the heap for so long that it's still a bit surprising to see these two outstanding programs come back to the pack as they have.

4. Will Rovers respond after bitter loss to Whitehall? Last year Easton stubbed its toe early with a tough 7-6 loss to Emmaus and used the bitterness as fuel for 10 straight wins and an amazing run into December. Will the Rovers use their head-shaking loss to Whitehall last Friday night, in which they led 14-0 and then had all kinds of problems on offense, as fire for another charge?

3. Fred Ross' ouster at Stroudsburg. No one had been a head coach longer at one place than Fred Ross at Stroudsburg. Yes, the Mounties have struggled in recent years, but few have done more for their school than Ross, a Catasauqua native. He deserved to go out on his own terms, but in a bizarre move, he was told by his superintendent that this season would be his last before the team's first game. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the Stroudsburg season turns out and whether or not the Mounties can rally around their departing coach.

2. Cody Remaley's run into the record books. The Northern Lehigh star may go down as the most prolific back in area history. Can he also run the Bulldogs all the way to Hershey? A rematch with North Schuylkill in the district finals is going to be one to watch.

1. Can anybody beat Central Catholic? So far, no one has. The Vikings began the season as the team to beat and have taken the best shots of several teams and are still unscathed. The defense is a bit of a concern and tough games loom against Whitehall, Parkland and Emmaus. But the Vikings will be favored to win each of those and will then be overwhelming favorites through the District 11 3A tournament. There's no reason to think they won't be playing in December and could be doing some Christmas shopping in Hershey.

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