Heritage Conference 2017

[Fballrules17]

Back to the point at hand:
1.  Ligonier (A roster of 57 kids will play well again in this league, may mercy rule every team once again)
2.  Homer  (Should have a great year with 2 losses.  1 to Ligonier possible mercy rule, 1 to BG definite mercy rule)
3.  WS (The largest enrollment in the league.  Should start working towards to the top starting this year)
4.  PL  (very talented team, played LV 41-12 last year which was a barn burner compared to most in the league, new staff is the ?)
5.  NC  (Always have tough kids,  #3-5 could be interchangeable)
6.  PM  (A little undersized up front, after a down year should bounce back a little)
7.  United  (Good roster numbers, nice size, skill players the question mark)
8.  Blairsville  (numbers are down, and they lost a key player in the off season)
9.  MC  (have a little more experience this year)
10.  Saltsburg  (mostly underclassmen playing key roles, roster size one of the lowest in the conference, enrollment is the lowest)

[fdc173]

BG will not be beaten this year not because of any transfer that has come in. They will win because the experience gained from watching some of these big games and practicing against state championship team prepared them for success.  The names you will be talking about in December will again be kids who have played in the parochial league and you'll start complaining again about how one lineman from an 0-10 icc team has transferred in for next season.  And a STARTER on that 0-10 team.  Anyway, when you have committed players, excellent coaches and kids from other schools who can't catch a football on a consistent basis the entire roster will get on the field every week until the state championship.  You can talk single A all you want and how BG should move up which I agree but attend some games and tell me how the district final can consist of a team going against BG that can hardly beat an 8th grade team.  But that's okay let them represent D6 in the state semifinals....it'll be the same result just one week later and the can celebrate their state semi run

[costanza]

You're full of something really stupid if you think the team they beat in the district final could hardly beat an eighth grade team, just cause the score got out of hand. That was a pretty pathetic post....

[youngbuck]

Let's be honest there is no one in A barring a miracle that is beating BG in D6. And probably not in the entire state. Sankey will look like Chadbourne two years ago. Look at the run Johnstown had in AAA and they could not beat BG. While Homer might be good Heritage football, they are not a program that is going to compete on the state level.

[BlueYonder]

I agree with Fballrules17 on the picks for this year.  I expect LV to be real close to what they were like last year and I expect there to be several mercy rule games.  Homer is the best of the rest.  And I see WS PL and NC as the next three best.  PL probably has more talent than the others except LV, but they are hard to predict as they gave up 42 to Windber in the 4th quarter last year in the crossover game.   I also agree with costanza.  That was a nasty post about HC not being able to beat an eighth grade team.  Uncalled for. 
 

[fdc173]

Doubt Sankey will look like Chadbourn from two years ago.  Was hearing he may not even start at the running back position

[JTMcMahonLV]

Why are we talking about Altoona AAU in the heritage conference thread? Nobody in this thread cares that Guilfoyle University is going to run the table again. Let's keep the catholic school talk out of the public schools thread. Kind of like how catholic schools should be playing in their own separate leagues and not intermixed with public schools.

[Fballrules17]

Homer, NC, and PL should all be good solid Single A teams. I kind of laugh to myself when I see state rankings and see Homer sitting at #6 and schools like Rochester, Jeannette, or other top WPIAL teams out of the rankings, when in reality those schools would beat any Single A team in the Heritage by 50 most years. This year I would put Homer somewhere between 18-23 in the state, quite capable of beating an 8th grade team lol, yet not quite to the level of elite state competition.

Once in a while a school will come up with a really special group of kids, win the district, and advance one or two rounds in the state. That may be the ceiling, if so that's ok. That's not possible right now, because instead of playing the 8th or 9th best team in the district finals they are playing the best team in the state in the district finals. The Heritage has had some really good teams make some noise in the state play-offs. PL in the early 90's lost to Canevin in the semi's. I believe Jerry Page had a team or two make some noise. Blairsville has some really good teams in the early 2000's only to be derailed by the BC machine in that time period. Finally Penns Manor made a nice run with the Ferens kid, who was one of the best athletes the area has ever seen. Homer has had a run or two itself. Aside from Ligonier's domination it should be a fun year in the Heritage. I think every team has at least 1 or 2 kids that would be worth the price of admission.

In AA, I believe Ligonier will once again challenge for the D6AA crown. They've got it going right now. Good numbers, good athletes, and good coaching. I think they would benefit from playing a non conference game against a bigger school late in the year but that's not possible. They seemed to overcome the competitive aspect last year. Again, good coaching, keeping the kids sharp.

In Single A the only serious contenders for the state title have been Bishop Carroll and Bishop Guilfoyle. We should all be very thankful to those two for carrying the D6 Single A banner. lol.

[WildCatz]

Jumping into this one late but I do believe HC will have a great team this year, unfortunately I think it will all come to an end vs BG as will any team that plays them this year. Coach Page will give it heck and you can never count them out. BG could possibly win AA maybe even AAA. There's no guarantees though that's why the game is played so we will see what happens. I think LV has a good shot at winning D6 AA this year. Although they haven't lost a whole lot they have lost a great QB and Safety and a great linebacker. A still young but improved Southern Columbia will more than likely be once again waiting in the Semi Final game. The heritage should have some good match ups as PL and NC look to be improved squads this season. Should be fun to watch