Where does your school rank in Lehigh Valley Conference football history?

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Besides giving me some amazing numbers about what his player Joe Williams did in one half of football last Friday against Pocono Mountain West (see today's column on the third page of the sports section) Emmaus athletic director Dennis Ramella sent along some numbers summing up Lehigh Valley Conference football history.

Remember, the LVC is just into its ninth year, having begun in the fall in 2002 after the schools came to their senses and reunited after four years of having Allen, Dieruff, Central, Becahi and Emmaus in the East Penn Conference and Parkland, Whitehall, Northampton, Liberty, Freedom, Easton and Nazareth in the Mountain Valley Conference.

Remember why those seven schools departed the EPC for the Mountain Valley?

It was all about the transferring of athletes and some of the biggest complainers back then are now among the biggest beneficiaries when it comes to transfers now.

I'll leave that rant for another time.

Suffice to say, LVC football can hold its own with league/sport pairing in the state.

With several teams still capable of making a push toward Hershey in the next five weeks, it has been a staggering start for this league. Five teams have already played for state titles -- Liberty three times, Parkland twice. Parkland won state gold in the LVC's first season, 2002, and Liberty took the top prize in 2008.

Liberty is naturally one of the premiere programs in the LVC, but when you look at this list think of how special this Nazareth team is because the Blue Eagles, at 9-2, nearly have half as many wins in this one season as they had in the previous eight seasons combined (23).

Here's the list through last week's games (remember this is since 2002):

1. Liberty --------- 86-27 all-time; 8 winning seasons, 0 losing seasons, 1 .500 season, 6 District 11 tournament appearances, 1 Eastern Conference appearance.

2. Easton -------- 86-29 all-time; 8 winning seasons, 1 losing season, 0 .500 seasons, 8 District 11 tournament appearances, 1 Eastern Conference appearance.

3. Parkland ------ 80-31 all-time; 7 winning seasons, 2 losings seasons, 0 .500 seasons, 6 District 11 tournament appearances, 2 Eastern Conference appearances.

4. Emmaus ------- 59-40 all-time; 5 winning seasons, 1 losing season, 3 .500 seasons; 3 District 11 tournament appearances;

5. Central Catholic --- 59-41 all-time; 4 winning seasons, 4 losing seasons, 1 .500 season, 3 District 11 tournament appearances, 2 Eastern Conference appearances.

Tie, 6. Northampton ---- 54-43 all-time; 4 winning seasons, 2 losing seasons, 3 .500 seasons, 1 District 11 tournament appearance, 2 Eastern Conference appearances.

Tie, 6. Whitehall ------ 54-43 alltime, 4 winning seasons, 4 losing seasons, 1 .500 season, 2 District 11 tournament appearances, 2 Eastern Conference appearances.

8. Freedom --- 53-43 all-time; 4 winning seasons, 2 losing seasons, 3 .500 seasons, 2 District 11 tournament appearances, 1 Eastern Conference appearance.

9. Beth. Catholic -- 52-46 all-time; 4 winning seasons, 4 losing seasons, 1 .500 season, 2 District 11 tournament appearances, 2 Eastern Conference appearances.

10. Nazareth --- 32-60 all-time; 1 winning season, 2 losing seasons, 1 .500 season, 2 District 11 tournament appearances, 0 Eastern Conference appearances.

11. Allen --- 23-70 all-time; 2 winning seasons, 7 losing seasons; 0 .500 seasons, 0 District 11 tournament appearances, 2 Eastern Conference appearances.

12. Dieruff -- 13-79 all-time; 1 winning season, 8 losing seasons; 0 .500 seasons, 0 District 11 tournament appearances, 1 Eastern Conference appearance.

League titles:

Parkland 4 (one shared); Easton 3 (two shared); Liberty 2, Central Catholic 2 (one shared).

District 11 titles

Easton 3, Liberty 3, Parkland 2, Central Catholic 1.

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/