2021 Playoff Preview – Round Three: District 11

The playoffs continue in Pennsylvania this weekend as most districts have their championships wrapped up and their champions moving on in the state playoffs. In District 11, only one title has yet to be decided, that being the AAAAAA title. That will be decided this weekend between Freedom and Emmaus. Outside of the 6A district final, each of the district’s remaining teams, now have their eyes on the ultimate prize, a state championship but each has extremely tough matchups this weekend to start their runs. Who will survive? Let’s take a look at who has the best chances. <strong> Cathedral Prep (10-1) vs East Stroudsburg South (9-3)</strong> This will be an extremely tough challenge for East Stroudsburg South as Cathedral Prep is simply one of the best teams in the entire state regardless of class. Their only loss of the season came to fellow Erie powerhouse McDowell back on October 1st but since then have won each of their last five games convincingly for the most part. This will be by far the most talented team East Stroudsburg South has played this season and one of the most explosive offenses as the Ramblers have averaged 45.3 points per game this season. <strong>Players to watch: </strong> <ul> <li> LB [player_tooltip player_id="178678" first="Kelyn" last="Blossey"] - Cathedral Prep</li> <li> QB Bobby McCloskey - East Stroudsburg South</li> </ul> <strong>Freedom (10-2) vs Emmaus (9-3)</strong> A District 11 - 6A title is at stake in this contest that is also a rematch of a game from earlier this season when the Hornets took down the Patriots 13-6 in the second week of the 2021 season. Freedom’s only other loss of the season came to the hands of the Parkland Trojans, who the Hornets knocked off last week to advance to the district finals. This should be a fantastic game as both teams feature strong defenses and explosive offenses. <strong>Players to watch: </strong> <ul> <li>OL [player_tooltip player_id="27669" first="Braelin" last="Moore"] - Freedom</li> <li>LB Jared Groller - Emmaus</li> <li>LB [player_tooltip player_id="119219" first="Matt" last="Baraket"] - Emmaus</li> </ul> <strong>Jersey Shore (12-0) vs Allentown Central Catholic (9-3)</strong> Allentown Central Catholic upset an undefeated Northwestern Lehigh last week to win a District 11 title. This week, they’ll look to continue their run to a state championship by going through another undefeated team, this time the Jersey Shore Bulldogs. The Bulldogs have simply been phenomenal this season outscoring opponents 495-95, with all 10 of their 12 wins being by 21 points or more. They have left simply very little room for doubt. The Vikings, on the other hand, have been a solid team this year but haven’t had many dominant victories as compared to Jersey Shore. That being said, the Vikings are winners of five straight and are playing some high-quality complimentary football right now which could give them a chance to take down the Bulldogs in this one. <strong>Players to watch: </strong> <ul> <li>WR [player_tooltip player_id="27655" first="Cayden" last="Hess"] - Jersey Shore</li> <li>DL [player_tooltip player_id="27661" first="Lavon" last="Johnson"] - Allentown Central Catholic</li> </ul> <strong>Williams Valley (9-2) vs Old Forge (10-0) </strong> While Williams Valley has had a great season by all accounts, they’re going up against one of the most dominant teams in the state in 2021. Old Forge sitting at 10-0 on the season has beaten their opponents by an average of 45.2 to 7.3. After surrendering 29 points to Mid Valley to start the season, the Blue Devils have held each opponent in each of their last eight games (one win was a forfeit) to 14 points or less including four shutouts. Williams Valley, themselves have a strong defense allowing just 14.7 points per game but will their offense have enough to take down the undefeated Blue Devils? <strong>Players to watch: </strong> WR Brady Evans - Williams Valley <strong>Neumann-Goretti (9-1) vs North Schuylkill (10-0)</strong> This is perhaps the most intriguing matchup for me this weekend as North Schuylkill is a talented and very good team. However, Neumann-Goretti is one of the most talented teams in the state headlined by linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="27562" first="Anthony" last="Johnson"] and wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="27574" first="Kevin" last="Thomas"]. Both players are game-changers on their side of the ball and can single-handedly win games for Neumann-Goretti. While the Spartans enter this game undefeated, they also enter as the perceived underdog in this one as well. While I think their defense will be able to have a solid performance against the Saints offense, the ultimate question is, will their offense going up against a Neumann-Goretti defense that has allowed just 89 points this season, be able to score enough to keep them in this one and potentially win it late? <strong>Players to watch: </strong> <ul> <li>LB [player_tooltip player_id="27562" first="Anthony" last="Johnson"] - Neumann-Goretti</li> <li>WR [player_tooltip player_id="27574" first="Kevin" last="Thomas"] - Neumann-Goretti</li> <li>DB [player_tooltip player_id="27573" first="Raleigh" last="Collins"] - Neumann-Goretti</li> <li>LB [player_tooltip player_id="27614" first="Zaid" last="Warren"] - Neumann-Goretti</li> <li>ATH [player_tooltip player_id="27600" first="Rysheem" last="Johnson"] - Neumann-Goretti</li> <li>QB [player_tooltip player_id="27620" first="Marqui" last="Adams"] - Neumann-Goretti</li> <li>QB [player_tooltip player_id="92114" first="Jake" last="Hall"] - North Schuylkill</li> </ul> <strong>Lackawanna Trail (8-3) vs Northern Lehigh (9-3)</strong> One of the more even matchups this weekend is Lackawanna Trail vs Northern Lehigh. It’s also the only game that on paper probably favors the District 11 side (not including Freedom vs Emmaus). Both teams enter this contest with an upper hand on one side of the football. Lackawanna Trail enters with the better defense, allowing just 15 points per game compared to Northern Lehigh’s 24 points per game. Northern Lehigh, on the other hand, has the much higher-powered offense, scoring 38.7 points per game to Lackawanna Trail’s 27.5. That dynamic will create a great matchup which could very well go down to the wire. I believe the deciding matchup will be Lackawanna Trail’s defense against Northern Lehigh’s offense. Lackawanna Trail’s offense is well capable enough of scoring against this Northern Lehigh defense, however, will the Lions’ defense be able to slow down the Bulldogs’ offense enough in this game to give their offense enough chances to potentially win it? I’ll be keeping a very close eye on this one personally. <strong>Players to watch: </strong> <ul> <li>RB Matt Frame - Northern Lehigh</li> </ul>