Five things to think about on a shivering Lehigh Valley Saturday morning

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Our radio show is completed and I am getting set to go over to Lehigh for a big game for them today.

Here are some thoughts on this Saturday:

1. Central Catholic is in the football postseason and will stay in the distrtict and state playoffs for a long time. I honestly believe the Vikings will post a pair of decisive wins in the district tournament -- even though East Stroudsburg North's triple-option will probably pose some problems next week. And they will probably win their first two state playoff games to reach Week 15 against Archbishop Wood. And, along the way, Brendan Nosovitch and Kevin Gulyas will put up the largest numbers we've ever seen by a quarterback-receiver combo. They will put records on the board that may not be broken for another 50 years.

2. There will be a different feeling about CCHS this year from the rest of the Lehigh Valley. I can sense it already. The Vikings earned everybody's respect last year by going 10-0 and winning the LVC title outright. And they won most of those games last year with ease. This year, they lost five games overall, four in the LVC, and the five teams they have beaten have a combined record of 10-37. And those five will likely end up 11-39 overall with somebody having to win the Allen-Dieruff game and Easton likely beating Becahi today. So, no matter what the Vikings do in this postseason, there are going to be some people around here who will refuse to give CCHS the respect they had a year ago simply because they have not beaten any of the elite teams that are going on to 4A subregional.

The bottom line is that CCHS can't worry about what people are saying about them or what happened during the regular season. The Vikings, even in defeat this year, showed their offense still may be one of the best in the state, regardless of class, and it's going to take a great effort by somebody to knock them out.

3. Congrats to Nazareth on winning its first LVC football title. I admit, I was one who thought Nazareth made a mistake by coming into the Lehigh Valley Conference rather than stay in the Mountain Valley Conference. I thought, back then, the Blue Eagles would struggle across the board. I could not have been more wrong. This may be the most well-rounded sports program in all of District 11 right now and this football team deserves immense credit for having the season it has had one year after losing such a great player as Chuck Dibilio.

4. Allen-Dieruff, despite the immense struggles of both current programs, is still a game that excites the alums. I know a lot of people are still going to attend the game --at least the tailgate across the street -- and will relive their youth and nostalgic, fun times. It is nice that of these teams will finally enjoy the experience, the joy of a victory. My feelings have not changed. I don't see either of these teams being able to compete in the Lehigh Valley Conference anytime soon, and I think you may see two new coaches in charge next fall. But until the schedule changes, nothing will change on the scoreboard.

5. Parkland may be the team to beat in Class 4A. The Trojans are the one team left that has beaten just just about all of the big boys -- owning wins over Easton, Nazareth and Whitehall. They would love to have their Liberty and Emmaus losses back. Simple sometimes works best, and the Trojans going to that wildcat formation with Rob Dvoracek is as simple as it gets and yet very difficult to stop. Parkland will be tested, but will beat Stroudsburg and could eventually be looking at a rematch with Nazareth -- and wow, wouldn't that be veerrry interesting -- for the district title game.

But beware Wyoming Valley West. I keep hearing that WVW is not your standard District 2 team and could be a tough-out in the subregional.

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