HS Picks: Can Easton do the unthinkable again?

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Two years ago when Easton beat Parkland for the District 11 4A championship just two days after beating Phillipsburg on Thanksgiving, I considered it one of the most remarkable feats ever in Lehigh Valley football history.

When the Red Rovers beat Whitehall for the District 11 4A title last year just two days after losing to P'burg on Thanksgiving, I considered it even more amazing than what happened in 2009.

And now, I will say this -- if Easton beats Nazareth on Saturday, making it three years in a row that the Red Rovers will have won a district title just two days after playing P'burg on Thanksgiving, I will consider it the most incredible feat of all because Nazareth, in my opinion, is better than Parkland in 2009 and Whitehall last year.

I can't say enough about what Steve Shiffert and his guys do every year without flinching, without making excuses, without pitying themselves. They actually love this challenge.

In an era where accountability and responsibility arehard to find and everyone would rather explain why they can't do something instead of just going out and meeting the challenge head on -- Easton amazes me. I just love their attitude, love their approach.

That being said, I still won't budge from something I've said for years -- as long as Easton has that extra Thanksgiving Day game thrown in there, it will never win a state title.

I hope the Rovers prove me wrong one day, but I don't see it happening this year.

Should Easton somehow, some way, get past Nazareth on Saturday night, a lot of terrific 4A teams create a PIAA minefield out there.

But first things first and that's the 4A championship game on Saturday night.

We've got four games to predict this weekend.

Catty spoiled a perfect Turkey Day for me. But I was still very happy for the Roughies. They celebrated like they had won the Super Bowl, which was cool to see. It showed that the Thanksgiving Day game still meant something to them.

I was 3-1 in my picks on Thursday, making me 191-51 for the year, still at that 78.9 success rate.

I was pretty good on the NFL, too, on Thursday with a 2-1 mark outright, but 3-0 against the spread, and also 2-1 on the over/under totals -- but we'll wait until Sunday to talk more about that.

Here are the high school picks:

PIAA 2A

Pen Argyl 49, Wilkes-Barre GAR 14 -- I still think the Green Knights, on the 10-year anniversary of their 2001 state finalists, have a chance to get to Hershey.

PIAA 3A

Central Catholic 42, Valley View 20 -- Even when they were 2-5 after being crushed by Parkland, I said the Vikings still would be playing into December. Their offense still is one of the best in the state at any level and the only way to beat CCHS is outscore them with a super potent offense. Maybe Archbishop Wood can do that in two weeks, but Valley View can not.

PIAA A

Pius X 56, Calvary Christian 13 -- I've been saying these four words all year and I will say them again here -- In Phil I Trust. I screwed up in the paper today. This is not a state quarterfinal. I guess you can call it an Eastern quarterfinal, but it's really a round-of-16 game.

DISTRICT 11 4A

Nazareth 34, Easton 21 -- I know Easton plays great defense, but Nazareth has as many weapons as any team as I've seen locally in years. These Blue Eagles are comparable offensively to our last two state champs -- Liberty in 2008 and Central Catholic last year. Easton will give it another valiant effort. But much like Central Catholic in 3A, the only way to beat Nazareth is to outscore them with a large offensive number. Easton, especially without James Middleton, doesn't have the firepower to do that. The Weave is predicting his Blue Eagles win the title with a 38-28 win.

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