Early rankings

[peytonsaturday]

LHAC
Herritage
Westpac
ICC

[TAHS92Alum]

I’ll bite on some early predictions. I know the Mt League the best some that’s what I’ll review. Looking forward to the 2015 season look for some real tight games. Some surprises as well. The top four are still the class of the league. Clearfield, Tyrone, Central and the return of Huntingdon.
I’ll start with the AAA members

Clearfield – For the second year in a row the Bison travel out of state to take on Maryland traditional power Fort Hll. Coach Janocko will once again find the roster filled with talent. QB Cody Spaid returns to lead an offense with an explosive back in Seth Caldwell. A strong offensive line and of course another Lezzer to target down the field. This should be another strong season for the Bison. Look for one more District 6,8,9 Final with Somerset.

Bellefonte – The 2014 season was a big improvement for the Red Raiders. Don’t expect a dramatic improvement this year from Coach Mannings squad. They do look to be better than 3-7 though. Running back Austin Jackson and Dillon Kephart will look to carry the load. Mark Armstrong will also be back under center for the team. The program really lost a lot of depth 2 years ago when St Joseph’s opened. It’s going to take a while to be competitive week in and week out.

AA
Bald Eagle Area – There won’t be many bright spots in the season for Ron Hoover. After a playoff berth 2 years ago, it appears BEA is looking at another sub par season. The lone bright spot might be there large Tackle Josh Fye. Of course he can’t do it alone. Hunter Hockenberry will really need to step up and contribute with some big carries. I see another 2-8 season or worse.

Philipsburg – After a winless campaign and low number for the Mounties, I was told there was hope in the junior high ranks. Yes they will have numbers but not much else. The promising 9th grade squad still isn’t in the same class as the other schools. I watch Tyrone put 40 on them pretty easy. Jeff Vroman was to turn this around with discipline and work ethic. At this point the only hope to turn it around is for Vroman to make an exit from the program. Obviously something is broken.

Penns Valley – Year in and year out the Rams seem to hover around the .500 mark. Mid season 2014 the Rams were looking good prior to the loss of all everything QB Ben Alexander. It will be interesting to see the line up this fall, will Alexander return to his spot under center or will Coach Tobias play a favor and put his son Andrew under center. Either way the Rams are no threat to the top tier of the league.

Huntingdon – For the first time in many years the 2014 team looked like the Bearcats of old. A playoff appearance in which it knocked off 2nd seed Juniata before falling to old foe Tyrone. Hudson Speck returns to run the offense for Coach Hudy and is joined by this wrestling stud buddies, Jacob Oliver, Logan Fisher and Mr Everything Jon Wagner. Wagner one of the top backs in the area, will need to be if they want to make a deep playoff run. 4 of their 6 losses came to Tyrone, Central, and Clearfield so they will need to step up to contend for a championship.

Central – On paper this may be the best team in D6 AA. Returning almost the entire team from last season. The main loss will be Mike Mock but the Dragons are a deep team. A lot of underclassmen still on the line but plenty of leadership. Benton to Helsel should be a familiar. The Dragons like to throw the ball a lot. They may need to find a running game to get to where they want to go. Don’t count Coach Baker out, he usually has something up his sleeve.

Tyrone – Last year there was a new era in Tyrone football, however the results were the same as the Eagles captured their 10th District Title. Coach Wilson has a lot of loss due to graduation, but the cupboard is never bare. Reader, Bonsell, Pannebaker, and Railing return to form the best line in the district. They allow for a pounding style of football until the rest of the offense catches up. Another Hunter will be under center, and there will be some young guys who will carry the rock. How they mesh will determine if Tyrone will challenge for another title. Either way they will be in the dance for the 21st straight year.


Side Notes
Now with Loner, Walker, and House gone, look for Mt Union to be back on the bottom looking up. That means this board should be quiet in the fall.

Bellwood should be back to their usual winning ways
I like Penn's Manor our west
LHAC should be a good battle - i'll take Bedford or Somerset. Forest Hills should also be a playoff contender for the conference
Juniata will slip into a high AA seed again with their weak schedule

[TAHS92Alum]

Here is my AA playoff list in no order

Central, Tyrone, Forest Hills, Huntingdon, Juniata, Richland, Penn Cambria, Ligonier Valley

[Coach]

I think Mt Union will have another nice team that probably wins 6+ games this fall. I don't know who will contend with them in the ICC other than Bellwood. Northern Bedford and Everett could both be decent.

[Crimson's Ghost]

Just a guess.

LHAC Section I
1. Bishop Guilfoyle
2. Forest Hills
3. Central Cambria
4. Penn Cambria
5. Cambria Heights
6. Bishop Carroll

Section II
1. Bedford
2. Somerset
3. Johnstown
4. Richland
5. Bishop McCort
6. Westmont

[Manfred]

7-3, possibly 8-2 for the Rangers.

[Eaglealum]

Agree totally with MAC preview. Except Vroman left 2 years ago, that's a large part of their problem. That 9th grade group is decent they split with Central and Hdon and beat Clearfield. Either they had a horrible game or our boys were just playing very well. They have the motor, need someone steering the boat.

[Braveone]

EagleAlum,
Philipsburg did not beat Clearfield in junior high this year. P-O's junior high won some games, but were blown away by Tyrone, Central, Clearfield, and Huntingdon. Some of those 9th graders are going to have to step in and play right away as sophomores. It doesn't look very promising. Add to it the word is there is virtually no off-season program in place, I'm not sure it will be any better than last year. 9 consecutive mercy rule games. Ouch!

[Eaglealum]

My bad if that's so. Just going by scores in paper(been reversed a few times). Although I was sure a couple of those were close. Regardless, I agree with premise. You don't have to be year round to be successfully but you do need to put extra time in in the offseason . Also saw a quote in paper that would alarm me if I was a Mountie fan. Don't remember word for word, but the point was he was happy it wasn't worse. You can take building blocks and "moral victory" out of a loss. But this wasn't a nailbiter and ..... Wel you get the idea.

[crfball]

Chestnut Ridge should be the top independent school for what it's worth.....