Nobody said a word, but on the table in the middle of the football office at East Stroudsburg South on Tuesday night was a copy of the column I did in Monday's paper talking about the strength of the Lehigh Valley Conference and how there's a gap between the LVC and MVC in overall strength in football.
What prompted the column was last weekend's four LVC-MVC matchups in which the LVC teams won all four and the combined scores were 181-80.
Was my column motivation for East Stroudsburg South? I am not sure. As I said, they didn't bring it up.
Cavaliers coach Ed Christian has talked about it over the years, and you can tell it's not his favorite subject. Christian is a man of great pride and he has simply noted that his teams have had success and failure against the LVC over the years.
For example, in 2009, South defeated Liberty in the quarterfinals but lost by a lopsided margin to Easton in the semis.
"Nobody talks about the fact that we beat Liberty," Christian said.
To me, South is one of the MVC programs that can hold its own against the LVC teams and will not be overmatched in the new league configuration.
East Stroudsburg South beat Freedom this year and Stroudsburg beat Northampton, but the Cavaliers and the Mounties are the MVC's best teams while the Patriots and K-Kids were in the bottom rung of the LVC this year.
The bottom line is this: No MVC team has won a district title since 1995 when East Stroudsburg and James Mungro won the gold. To put that in perspective, most kids who graduated from high school this past June were born in 1995.
Until the MVC rises up -- and I definitely believe the gap between this year's East Stroudsburg South and the LVC's best is miniscule -- it's hard to think that someone other than an LVC team will win the 4A title.
And the same goes in 3A where Southern Lehigh has been knocking on the door for years, and may have its best chance against a real good, but not great Bethlehem Catholic team. Until Southern Lehigh does it against the LVC, it's very difficult for me to expect them to do it.
Speaking of good, but not great, that's what my picks were last week. I was 10-4 and my record on the season is now 185-52.
My "Dandy Dozen'' had some reshuffling, but not much:
- Parkland
- Whitehall
- ES South
- Easton
- Southern Lehigh
- Catasauqua
- Bethlehem Catholic
- Emmaus
- Stroudsburg
- Liberty
- Nazareth
- Pennridge
And here's a list of our Morning Call Calling All Sports/National Football Foundation Lehigh Valley Chapter players of the week so far this season. We try to do them on both the radio and TV shows every week.
Week 1: Shakur Lester, Dieruff
Week 2: Jacob Stopay, Catasauqua
Week 3: Nick Savant, Saucon Valley
Week 4: Saquon Barkley, Whitehall
Week 5: Kareem Williams, Parkland
Week 6: Niko Petrone, East Stroudsburg South
Week 7: Phil Vass, Bangor
Week 8: Jacob DelPriore, Southern Lehigh
Week 9: Ryan Bonshak, Whitehall
Week 10: Harry Hall, Northwestern Lehigh
Week 11: Kyle Bambary, Easton
Now, here are this week's picks:
DISTRICT 11 4A SEMIFINALS
Easton 28, ES South 21 -- Expect a physical, rugged game with Easton able to make some plays with Kyle Bambary and Joey Ford (and mystery man Shane Simpson if he plays) and South countering with lots and lots of Niko Petrone. This is a pretty even matchup, but here's the difference to me. Red Rovers quarterback Brad Wilkins has been in a lot of these big games. South freshman Jake Cirillo is getting his first taste. I have no doubt that Cirillo will be one of the best quarterbacks in the area by the time he's a junior. However, if Easton shuts down Petrone and forces Cirillo to beat them, I am not sure if he's ready yet to deliver.
Parkland 21, Whitehall 14 -- These two, in my opinion, are the two best teams in the area and it's sort of a shame one will be packing up the uniforms come Saturday. I will be at Zephyr Stadium with colleague Stephen Miller and will have Twitter updates. Just like in the game above, there's very little to pick from here. Both are better teams than they were when they met in late September. Both sides have playmakers, but Parkland has a slightly better defense and that's where I give the Trojans the edge.
EASTERN CONFERENCE 4A
Nazareth 34, Delaware Valley 27 -- Del Val sure surprised me with their performance against Emmaus. The Blue Eagles were in trouble against Pocono Mountain East, but had a huge second half. That showed me that the Blue Eagles were determined to play more football and motivation is the key to success in the Eastern Conference.
DISTRICT 11 3A CHAMPIONSHIP
Bethlehem Catholic 34, Southern Lehigh 28 -- I expect a shootout. The Golden Hawks overall speed will bother the Spartans and Solehi's Wing-T has the potential to torment Becahi. This, to me, is Southern Lehigh's best chance to win district gold. Becahi is not as good as the Central Catholic teams were the last three years, the ones that were a roadblock for John Toman's team. The home-field advantage will help the Spartans. However, this is still a Becahi team that has beaten some very good teams like Emmaus and Liberty. If Becahi plays its best and Solehi plays its best, the Golden Hawks win by a touchdown.
EASTERN CONFERENCE 3A
Saucon Valley 28, Coughlin 20 -- The Panthers offense has found its stride, scoring 35 or more points for three straight weeks.
DISTRCT 11 2A CHAMPIONSHIP
Catasauqua 42, Palisades 21 -- The Rough Riders are simply a team on a mission and tonight they finally get those coveted gold medals. Kudos to the Pirates, though, for having a great season that was capped by that win over a previously unbeaten Pine Grove team.
EASTERN CONFERENCE 2A
Northwestern 35, North Schuylkill 21 -- A win here would cap off what has been a terrific season for the Tigers, whose program is clearly headed in the right direction under Josh Snyder. Enjoyed being around that crew at the officials banquet on Thursday night.
DISTRICT 11 CLASS A
Schuylkill Haven 21, Williams Valley 14 -- From what I've been told, this is a very even game. Just a hunch on Haven and a pick made out of respect for Zach Barket, the former Haven star who I covered the last several years at Lehigh.
EASTERN CONFERENCE CLASS A
Mahanoy Area 28, Marian Catholic 22 -- Another tossup game. Either way, nice turnaround by the Colts from an 0-3 start.
That's it. Enjoy the games because they are now down to a precious few.
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