Guru's Mid-Season LHAC Preview

[Guru]

Welcome to the 1st Edition of the 2017 LHAC Preview.  I apologize for not making time to do this every week. Having four (4) games to use as a measuring stick ensures this will contain more analysis and less guesswork/wishful thinking.

Friday Night
Bishop McCort (3-1) at Bedford (2-2) Grass
Brian Basile has the Crushers rolling on all cylinders and Kevin Steele is doing a great job with a Bison team loaded with underclassmen.  Word is the Bison have not been grazing on Shoemaker Field leaving the Kentucky Bluegrass to be at least 6” tall… slowing the Crushers, for a half.  Take the Crushers by 11.

Westmont (1-3) at Somerset (1-3) Turf
Somerset hasn’t won since week one (1) vs CC and the Hilltoppers are licking their wounds after a Johnstown beat-down Saturday. Westmont will use ball control on offense and Coach Will should have the defense ready to play tough.  Take Westy on the road and the under. Westy 18 Somerset 14

Richland (3-1) at Johnstown (3-1) Turf
Brandon has the upstart Rams playing well even without their stud.  That being said Tony Penna Jr. has the horses and speed kills!  Look for this game to be tight going into the third and then Johnstown to pull away in the 4[sup]th[/sup].  Johnstown 34 Richland 20

Penn Cambria (0-4) at BC (0-4) Grass
Remember when the LHAC booted BC’s football team because they weren’t competitive and might not be able to field a team?  Somebody is going to get their first win and it isn’t going to be Penn Cambria.  BC first year HBC Sean Billings gets win #1 of his young career.  BC might be asking the LHAC when PC is leaving the LHAC?  PC is finding out that the Grassi isn’t always greener on the other side! BC 12 PC 2

Heights (2-2) at CC (1-3) Grass
Coach Lewis has 68 games under his belt including 27 wins.  Coach McGregor has 4 games and tallied his first win last week in Cresson. Both coaches are at their Alma Maters which says a lot about their make-up.  The Highlanders are big up front and have the, what I hope is the last in a line of great Brawley brothers at WR.  CC has the edge at QB with 3-year starter Bezek, the WR duo of Bennett and Kutchman and in the kicking game. CC’s lack of a running game had the opponents loading up in the secondary and was an issue for the Devils but they fixed that up last week.  Also, look for CC to finally unveil their Power-I this week and for the Devils to get their second win in as many weeks.  CC 27 CH 26

Saturday Night – Mansion Park

FH (4-0) at BG (4-0) Turf
[font=Times New Roman]BG hasn’t lost since 2013 (51 straight and counting).  The Don Bailey has about 275 more wins than Coach Wheeler. We have two great coaches in this match-up.  The Don has seen his fair share of great teams and has played in some big games of his own.  Cecere is putting together a nice season and Jon Long is a speedster with some serious athletic talent.  BG gets the nod in the kicking game with Kolton McGhee, who is an even better kid than he is a kicker… and he is one of the best in the county!  BG running back Transfer Sankey will want to prove to his old Altoona team, he should have gotten the ball more often when he was there! BG is seeking to become only the 4[sup]th[/sup] team in PA history to win four (4) consecutive State Championships.  Rangers, as an old boxing legend said many years ago, "you have to beat the champ to beat the champ", meaning you have to do much more than the champ to take the title, especially on their home field!  Take the Rangers behind their stud of a QB to finally topple the Powerhouse that is The Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders.  FH 30 BG 24.[/font]

[youngbuck]

What did Sankey do against CH last week?

[Manfred]

GURU, I for one, hope you are correct.

[Awdhaemel]

3 wrong BG,PC, and CH will win

[Awdhaemel]

Welcome to the 1st Edition of the 2017 LHAC Preview.  I apologize for not making time to do this every week. Having four (4) games to use as a measuring stick ensures this will contain more analysis and less guesswork/wishful thinking.

Friday Night
Bishop McCort (3-1) at Bedford (2-2) Grass
Brian Basile has the Crushers rolling on all cylinders and Kevin Steele is doing a great job with a Bison team loaded with underclassmen.  Word is the Bison have not been grazing on Shoemaker Field leaving the Kentucky Bluegrass to be at least 6” tall… slowing the Crushers, for a half.  Take the Crushers by 11.

Westmont (1-3) at Somerset (1-3) Turf
Somerset hasn’t won since week one (1) vs CC and the Hilltoppers are licking their wounds after a Johnstown beat-down Saturday. Westmont will use ball control on offense and Coach Will should have the defense ready to play tough.  Take Westy on the road and the under. Westy 18 Somerset 14

Richland (3-1) at Johnstown (3-1) Turf
Brandon has the upstart Rams playing well even without their stud.  That being said Tony Penna Jr. has the horses and speed kills!  Look for this game to be tight going into the third and then Johnstown to pull away in the 4[sup]th[/sup].  Johnstown 34 Richland 20

Penn Cambria (0-4) at BC (0-4) Grass
Remember when the LHAC booted BC’s football team because they weren’t competitive and might not be able to field a team?  Somebody is going to get their first win and it isn’t going to be Penn Cambria.  BC first year HBC Sean Billings gets win #1 of his young career.  BC might be asking the LHAC when PC is leaving the LHAC?  PC is finding out that the Grassi isn’t always greener on the other side! BC 12 PC 2

Heights (2-2) at CC (1-3) Grass
Coach Lewis has 68 games under his belt including 27 wins.  Coach McGregor has 4 games and tallied his first win last week in Cresson. Both coaches are at their Alma Maters which says a lot about their make-up.  The Highlanders are big up front and have the, what I hope is the last in a line of great Brawley brothers at WR.  CC has the edge at QB with 3-year starter Bezek, the WR duo of Bennett and Kutchman and in the kicking game. CC’s lack of a running game had the opponents loading up in the secondary and was an issue for the Devils but they fixed that up last week.  Also, look for CC to finally unveil their Power-I this week and for the Devils to get their second win in as many weeks.  CC 27 CH 26

Saturday Night – Mansion Park

FH (4-0) at BG (4-0) Turf
[font=Times New Roman]BG hasn’t lost since 2013 (51 straight and counting).  The Don Bailey has about 275 more wins than Coach Wheeler. We have two great coaches in this match-up.  The Don has seen his fair share of great teams and has played in some big games of his own.  Cecere is putting together a nice season and Jon Long is a speedster with some serious athletic talent.  BG gets the nod in the kicking game with Kolton McGhee, who is an even better kid than he is a kicker… and he is one of the best in the county!  BG running back Transfer Sankey will want to prove to his old Altoona team, he should have gotten the ball more often when he was there! BG is seeking to become only the 4[sup]th[/sup] team in PA history to win four (4) consecutive State Championships.  Rangers, as an old boxing legend said many years ago, "you have to beat the champ to beat the champ", meaning you have to do much more than the champ to take the title, especially on their home field!  Take the Rangers behind their stud of a QB to finally topple the Powerhouse that is The Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders.  FH 30 BG 24.[/font]

Make it 4 wrong
1. BM 36 Bedford 13
2. Somerset 20 Westmont  14
3. PC 20 BC 12
4. CH 27 CC 12
5. BG 31 FH 14
6. Jtown 35 Richland 26

[CCDevil2012]

I think this is THE week to be a fan of LHAC football. If there were betting lines in HS football, 4 of the 6 games would probably be no more than 7 point spreads. We learned a lot about the league from last weeks matchups. 

BG vs FH, BG is probably the favorite here because there is no reason to think otherwise. But Forest Hills if anybody has the compete package to beat them and even if they don't I expect it to be tight, like 21-14 17-14 etc 

Westmont and Somerset is another game that could go either way with a 21-14, 21-28 type score and could go down to XPs. Depends on what Westmont team shows up in my opinion. Somerset has the best athlete in this game but if Somersets offense is only on the field 5 times they better be efficient. 

BC and PC, bottom teams in the league but they're very evenly matched and could be a great game to watch. It could only be deciding what team is worst in the league but it's another game that could go either way. I think the favorite wouldn't be PC because they have a little bit more going for them on offense and depends on how many players are healthy from last week. 

Johnstown and Richland, after seeing both teams, I think even without Dabbs, Richland is the favorite in my book. Their secondary is impressive and they are very big up front which is going to give Barber his toughest challenge of the year. I would pick Richland 21-20

McCort is the definite favorite against Bedford now that they are back to full strength but Bedford is good enough to make the upset possible. 

I love my Red Devils but this game goes down to line play and Cambria Heights has the edge here. If CC wants to have a chance of the upset, they better have a big night in the air. 

[Steve92]

What did Sankey do against CH last week?

A couple of nice tackles.  He's a reliable runner, but has yet to really showcase his speed.  Going into the season I thought he might be an even-up replacement for Andrew Irwin (graduation), but I've been reminded that Irwin was a beast and won't easily be replaced.
This would be a great game for Sankey to break something loose.

[Crimson's Ghost]

I expected Sankey to be featured more when I saw him during the McCort game, but he didn't see a lot of action. 

[dougkeklak]

Man, if I didn't have to be back in Pittsburgh for a prior commitment I'd SO be at that BG/FH game.

[Manfred]

The Rangers never win in Altoona when playing BGU.