When this weekend ends, the high school football regular season will be at the midway point and, amazingly enough, it's sayonara to September on Monday.
October brings colorful leaves, earlier and earlier times of darkness, Halloween decorations and postseason baseball.
For the first time in a long time, neither the Phillies nor the Yankees are in the MLB playoffs, which will hurt the sports bars around here.
And, of course, that means that there's no Mariano Rivera either, and what a sendoff the Yankees gave him in his final home game on Thursday.
In an era when professional sports gives us many bad examples for our kids to emulate, the Yankees and Rivera gave us all plenty of good in his final appearance on the Yankee Stadium mound.
Instead of "Go git your popcorn!" you probably need to say "Go git your Kleenex!" when watching that, whether you're a Yankee fan or not.
Rivera spent his entire career as a class act without a smidge of controversy.
He's someone our young athletes can admire and look up to.
Speaking of our young athletes, the high school football scene takes center stage again tonight with another great weather night shaping up. No excuses for not getting out to a game.
My record last week was a Mariano-esque 19-3, finally, bringing the season totals up to 65-26.
Here's my personal "Dandy Dozen"
- Easton
- Whitehall
- Parkland
- ES South
- Pennridge
- Liberty
- Catasauqua
- Bethlehem Catholic
- Emmaus
- Stroudsburg
- Nazareth
- Southern Lehigh
And now on to the games:
LEHIGH VALLEY CONFERENCE
Easton 28, Emmaus 7-- This is where I'll be in a crowded East Penn School District Stadium press box. My first look at the Red Rovers in person. This is about the time that things sort of began to fizzle out for Easton last year, but there are no signs of that happening this time. Emmaus always used to play Easton tough when Joe Bottiglieri, an Easton grad, was the coach. However, Randy Cuthbert's team will need to convert turnovers into touchdowns, as it has been doing, to keep this one competitive.
Nazareth 28, Freedom 21-- I've seen these two teams in recent weeks and both, frankly, have been a little disappointing. Certainly Pates coach Jason Roeder would agree. Both have a lot of work to do if there's any hope of getting back in the league and district races. By the way, it was good to see Chuck Sonon, an old friend of mine, on the Freedom sidelines last week. He has worn so many colors over the years, but the bottom line is he is good for the game and should be involved. Oh, and by the way, the Weave is going with Nazareth (who else?) 30-22.
Parkland 14, Whitehall 10-- The game of the night, clearly. While both have their share of playmakers on offense, I see a defensive tussle brewing. The Zephyrs have the more impressive resume, but the Trojans have been starting to jell in recent weeks and they seem to find a way to win this game every year.
Liberty 34, Becahi 28-- Someone from Becahi has already told me I've blown this pick and they may be right. The Golden Hawks have been very impressive, while the Hurricanes have been a little up and down. This rivalry burns as bright as ever and I think it means even more to the Golden Hawks. However, Liberty has a slight edge in experience and is a little more battle-tested. Either way, it should be a special afternoon in Bethlehem,
Central Catholic 33, Northampton 20-- The Vikings gave a good accounting of themselves at Easton last week and if they're ever going to make a bid at another district playoff run, it has to start here, especially with Liberty, Whitehall, Nazareth, Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic to play in the season's second half.
MOUNTAIN VALLEY CONFERENCE
Dieruff 28, Lehighton 21 -- A really good game shaping up here, and the winner still is very much alive in the playoff hunt. The Huskies seem to show a new dimension every week. Last week, their defense stepped up big against Pius X. Lehighton seemed to take a step back last week against Pleasant Valley, but remember the Bears were the preseason favorites in the MVC, so there's no shame there. Both coaches, Kyle Beller and Tom McCarroll, have really done a good job with these programs.
ES North 21, PM West 14 --The Timberwolves have a polished quarterback in Will Quiles, but a very young team otherwise. They are going to be up-and-down all season and are coming off a downer against Valley View. It has been all down for West, which has struggled at the quarterback position and in the passing game. Ryan Kinger, who was the opening-day starter at QB, is back after an injury. Maybe he can get the Panthers prowling again.
Stroudsburg 35, Allen 0 -- Whenever I see these two schools involved in anything, I think of boys basketball and longtime area coaches and good guys Shawn Thornton and Doug Snyder. If it were basketball, it would be very competitive. But it is not. Gerald Douglas and the Mounties defense have a shot at getting everybody out of J. Birney Crum Stadium early.
Pleasant Valley 28, Wyomissing 20-- This was one of the best games of the year last year when the Spartans rallied to beat the Bears en route to a perfect season and a state title. Neither is quite as good as last year, but PV needs this one to boost its district power rating and stay on a roll after a disappointing opening-night loss to Nazareth, a game I bet they'd like to have back.
ES South 21, PM East 14 --If Hollywood was writing the script, this would be a Cardinals win considering all of the emotion and drama in that area in the past few days. Prayers continue to go out to Steven Dienno and Justin Bullock and kudos to all in that community who have pulled together and offered their support. Win or lose, and right now it probably doesn't really matter to many at East, this could be a special night. I plan to attend after covering Lehigh on Saturday afternoon.
COLONIAL LEAGUE
Northern Lehigh 20, Salisbury 13 -- Finally got the Falcons right last week, but that was easy since they were playing Catasauqua. This one is much tougher. At least Salisbury leads the league, district and maybe the state in one area -- revised rosters. The athletic office has sent out four different versions of the roster and we're not quite at the halfway mark of the season.
Catasauqua 40, Saucon Valley 20 --Might be a little closer than most expect, but the Roughies can't be stopped for a full 48 minutes.
Notre Dame 21, Northwestern 7-- Keep hearing good things about the Crusaders, especially their line play.
Palisades 34, Palmerton 13 -- This is the quad-county game. Palisades is in Bucks and Palmerton is in Carbon and both must travel through Lehigh and Northampton whenever they play. The Pirates will make it worth the long ride tonight.
Southern Lehigh 28, Pen Argyl 14 -- Like the one in Bethlehem, another very good Saturday matinee.
Wilson 7, Bangor 6 -- Somebody's got to win. Hopefully it doesn't take several overtimes to get to this score.
OTHERS
Tamaqua 21, Annville-Cleona 14 -- Although it's hard to resist going against any team that has a nickname of Little Dutchmen.
Schuylkill Haven 21, Panther Valley 7-- He'll never catch Zach Barket for school records, but Haven's William Casella is approaching the 2,500-yard rushing mark in his career and he's only a junior.
Jim Thorpe 42, Shenandoah Valley 20 -- The Olympians are on a roll offensively with 90 points in their last two games.
Pius X 28, Towanda 21 -- Towanda has won three games and scored a lot of points, but my hunch is that they haven't played the caliber of teams that the 1-3 Royals have.
North Penn 42, Quakertown 20-- North Penn is 1-3, but those three losses were to La Salle, Archbishop Wood and St. Joseph's Prep, which is the Pennsylvania scholastic equivalent of Alabama, Ohio State and Oregon.
Pennridge 27, CB West 19 -- Once upon a time, CB West was the most feared and respected name in Pennsylvania football, at least to those who didn't live in Berwick. Those days are gone, even though these Bucks are 3-1.
There you have it. Go to the game, any game, get yourself some hot dogs and hot chocolate, root like crazy, and most importantly, drive home safely.
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