Archbishop Wood, Central Catholic's No. 1 state rival, to get national TV exposure

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Archbishop Wood, the virtual all-star team with the six Division I recruits, will be seen on nationwide television on Labor Day weekend.

These Vikings, largely regarded as the No. 1 obstacle to Central Catholic repeating as PIAA 3A champs, will open up their season against PIAA 4A power Pittsburgh Central Catholic at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 4 in a game to be televised by ESPN2.

The game will be played at Gateway High School in Monroeville.

Central Catholic people have been talking about Wood throughout the winter, spring and summer because the Warminster, Bucks County school may have the most talented roster ever assembled in recent PIAA football history.

It's hard to rememeber another team that had six D-I recruits on the roster at one time. Maybe Berwick or Central Bucks West back in their heyday, but this Wood team -- on paper -- may be as good as any team the state has ever seen.

It's no wonder that when USA Today came out with its national rankings last week, Archbishop Wood was ranked fourth in the East and Allentown Central was ranked fifth.

You've got running back Desmond Peoples going to Rutgers, and two-way linemen Colin Thompson (Florida), Frank Taylor (Boston College), and Brandon Arcidiacono (Rutgers) all going to major schools. Running back/linebacker/end Brandon Peoples, who is Desmon's cousin, is heading to Temple.

But what irks people is that two top-notch kids, one from George Washington and another from Hatboro-Horsham, have come over to Wood.

And you wonder why there's a constant outcry about going to separate PIAA tournaments for public and private schools, although in this day of almost complete free-agency for high school athletes, the public schools seem to get as many good kids coming their way as anybody.

In addition to the talented personnel, Mike Carey, who was a key coach on Mike Pettine's staff at CB West and later replaced Pettine, is the defensive coordinator. I don't remember him being on the Wood staff last year. If he's new, he's obviously going to help.

Fortunately for the Lehigh Valley's Central Catholic team, a meeting with Wood wouldn't happen until Dec. 9 and a lot can happen between now and then.

A very insightful story on Wood is available at this link: http://articles.philly.com/2011-08-22/sports/29914806_1_archbishop-wood-brandon-arcidiacono-desmon-peoples/2

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