Week 5 Games to Watch and Picks

This week will begin the regular season for most of the teams in the PCL AAAA and AA divisions. With that, six of the seven city divisions will be playing for playoffs spots. Only the PCL AAA division is still in the pre-season, with their regular season beginning in week 7. I know this is a re-occurring theme, but why even have a regular season for the AAA teams. After all, there are only four teams in that division and all four make it to the "playoffs". Just play the three regular season games, and crown the division winner as division champ. I guess the extra games mean extra cash, so we just suck it up and watch and hope that the PCL doesn't make the same error that the pub did a few years ago, and allow a team with zero regular season wins into the playoffs. But, that it definitely a possibility this year.

Anyway, as we move to week 5, there are some intriguing match ups. I'm picking four games that I'd like to watch. These games are picked for different reasons. Some are picked due to their playoff implications, while others are picked just because I think they are good match-ups. Well, anyway, here we go:

Games to Watch in Week 5

Del-Val at Bok - In the Pub AA division, which seems to be one of the more competitive divisions in the city, Bok's 43 game regular season winning streak came to an end in week 3, when they were handled by IMHOTEP. In week 4, Del-Val returned the favor, as they handed IMHOTEP their first loss of the season. Now, the final game of the "big three" is this week, as Bok hosts Del-Val. This will either establish Del-Val as the Pub AA team to beat in 2010, or it'll have me scratching my head while saying, "damn, this should be a good playoffs in AA". As for the pick in this game, I'm going with the old guard, and coach DeFelice. It's hard for me to believe that Bok will lose two regular season games this year.
Pick: Bok 20 - Del-Val 19

Roman at La Salle - Assuming that La Salle's Matt Magarity is back to full health, Roman could be in for a long night this Friday night. Roman has played only four games this season, and are now dead last in the PCL in pass defense (183.5yds/game). If La Salle has to rely on their running game, it could be a real good game. Roman does very well against the run (68.5 yds/game), and is second to only O'Hara. Conversely, Roman is leading the PCL in passing yards per game (163 yds/game). If you go to this game, expect a lot of passing. I'll go out on a limb here and predict about 500 passing yards in this game.
Pick: La Salle 35 - Roman 14

Northeast at Frankford - This game, by most accounts, will be for the second slot in the Pub AAAA Gold Division, and a first round bye. Washington, barring an unforseen upset this year, should win the division. Northeast is coming off a close loss (7-0) to Father Judge, and two wins over division opponents Bartram (24-14) and Overbrook (14-0). But, as the Vikings know, Frankford is one of the two teams that Northeast looks forward to each season (the other is Washington). Last season, Frankford beat Northeast in overtime during the regular season, but Northeast got revenge in the Pub AAAA semi-finals, beating back the Pioneers 21-9. This is always a good game to watch, and also one of the toughest games to predict. But, we'll give it a shot.
Pick: Frankford 25 - Northeast 17

St Joseph Prep at Father Judge - Judge has not beaten Prep since the PCL broke up the old North/South divisions and went to a big school, small school configuration. But, in the past two seasons, Prep has only managed to get out of Dodge with a couple of close wins (28-21 in 2008 and 22-18 in 2009). Could this be the year that Judge finally beats the Hawks? We'll have to wait until this weekend to find out. Judge is currently 4-0, and not getting much respect. I don't know if beating the Prep will give them that respect or not, but it'll give Judge a leg up in the division. Look for Judge's running game to test the Hawks.
Pick: Judge 21 - Prep 14

The Rest of the Picks
Olney over Furness  (Upstart Olney looks to gain some respect)
FitzSimons over Future
Lincoln over Edison (Lincoln needs to shake off thumping to Washington in week 4)
Mastbaum over Central
Fels over Southern
Washington over Bartram (Bartram is not looking forward to this one)
Overbrook over Germantown
MLK over University City
West Philly over Boys Latin
Gratz over Franklin (Gratz has too many guns for Franklin)
IMHOTEP over Prep Charter (IMHOTEP looks to rebound from loss to Del-Val)
Carroll over Academy Park
Roxborough over Dobbins (Good match up.  Hard one to pick)
Lansdale Catholic over McDevitt
Conwell-Egan over Neumann-Goretti  (The battle for the basement)
O'Hara over Chester (The Lions will roar agains this week)
Wood over Friendship Collegiate Academy  (FCL is big and strong, but Wood should handle them)
Bonner over Interboro (Delco matchup that should see the Friars come out on top)
West Catholic over Ryan (Not exactly on my "wish list" of games in 2010)