Never underestimate Steve Lennox and his Interboro (No. 11) team in the playoffs. Photo by Todd Bauders / contrastphotography.com

Expect the Philadelphia area to stay the same in postseason
By Joseph Santoliquito

The new format was supposed to shake things up, when the PIAA, the governing body of high school sports in Pennsylvania, opted to move to 6A format. But as the playoffs began in early November, there were no real surprises atop PIAA District 1. The teams that have been the traditional powers remained the powerhouse, beginning with North Penn.

No team in the area, save for a showdown later in November with St. Joseph’s Prep, appears to be able to stop the Knights. They’ve put together a quality passing attack, along with the power football coach Dick Beck likes to run. If there is a darkhorse team in District 1, it could be Perkiomen Valley.

This year, the Vikings appear right in the mix with the best teams in the area. Under first-year head coach Rob Heist, who’s been associated with the Perkiomen Valley program since 2002. Heist inherited from previous coach Scott Reid arguably the best quarterback-receiving tandem in the Delaware Valley in senior left-handed quarterback Stephen Sturm, who threw for 295 yards in the Vikings’ 27-24 victory last weekend over Haverford School, snapping the Fords’ 21-game winning streak, and senior Justin Jaworski, the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s all-time leading receiver.

The Vikings are a 6A team that will cause problems for people with their aerial attack. Perkiomen Valley causes mismatch problems for everyone.

“For one, those two are excellent football players, two, they bought into our system and have done very, very well and they’re like the equivalent of having two coaches on the field for us,” Heist said. “They have an awesome chemistry together. We don’t have historically some of the horses up front, as some of these traditional power 6A schools do. Their offensive lines are absolutely enormous, so years ago, we got together as a staff and opted to go to a spread offense to compete.

In 5A, which was formally 3A, Springfield (Delco) has the No. 1 seed, at 9-1 this year. The Cougars have been impressive, and their victory total includes a 20-14 victory over Ridley. But don’t count out defending District 1 3A champ Academy Park, the No. 2 seed at 5A. The Knights are also 9-1, and it appears that the Delaware County neighbors may be on a collision course with one another.

Southeastern PA Top 10 For Nov. 4, 2016
1. St. Joe’s Prep (Record: 8-0)
2. Imhotep Charter (Record: 8-0)
3. North Penn (Record: 10-0)
4. Neshaminy (Record: 10-0)
5. Perkiomen Valley (Record: 10-0)
6. Archbishop Wood (Record: 6-2-1)
7. Coatesville (Record: 9-1)
8. Downingtown East (Record: 8-2)
9. Ridley (Record: 9-1)
10. Spring-Ford (Record: 8-2)
11. Interboro (9-1)
12. Academy Park (Record: 9-1)
13. Springfield (9-1)
14. William Penn Charter (6-1)
15. Garnet Valley (8-2)
16. Haverford School (Record: 6-2)
17. Upper Dublin (8-1)
18. Pym.-Whitemarsh (8-2)
19. Central Bucks South (8-2)
20. Central Bucks East (8-2)
20. Marple Newtown (9-1)
20. Cardinal O’Hara (9-0)
Best of the rest (alphabetically): Bishop Shanahan (7-3), Cardinal O’Hara (9-0), Episcopal Academy (6-2), Germantown Academy (6-2), LaSalle (6-4),
Malvern Prep (Record: 5-3), Penn Wood (7-3), New Hope-Solebury (8-1).

Temple running back Ryquell Armstead, a sophomore, has rushed 109 times for 674 yards (6.2 TPC) and 11 touchdowns. Photo by Andy Lewis/contrastphotography.com