Where we stand after 8 weeks

What a week of football in District 12.  There were a few unexpected outcomes in both leagues, a couple of playoff games, and a couple of teams clinched playoff spots.

We’ll start with the Catholic League.



AAAA – The big game of the week was Prep v Roman.  Most people, including myself, thought this would be a fairly easy win for the Cahillites.  But, Prep had other plans, as they not only beat the favored Roman team 31-15, they may have locked up second place in the division.  An unlikely win over La Salle next week would give Prep the division.  Who would have thought, just a few weeks ago, that Prep would be playing for the division title in week 9?  Certainly not me.  Even if Prep loses to La Salle, they would secure the second seed in the division by virtue of the tie-breakers.  This assumes, of course, that Judge can beat Ryan next week.  If Ryan can upset Judge in week 9, it would actually knock Judge out of the playoffs, and give the fourth and final spot to Ryan.  Imagine that…..  Back to reality……From my seat, it looks like the playoff match ups will be Judge at La Salle and Roman at Prep.  But, one more week of games need to be played for that to happen.

AAA – Since all teams in this division qualify for the playoffs, the regular season is played just for playoff seedings.  The loser of the Bonner/Carroll game in week 9 will become the first team in Catholic League history to qualify for the playoffs with zero regular season wins.  That’s a disgrace!

AA – West Catholic is the only team in the division to claim one of the two playoff spots.  Unless they are upset by Lansdale Catholic in week 9, the Burrs will win the division.  The second spot is up for grabs, with McDevitt holding the inside track.  In a crazy scenario, if West beats Lansdale, and Neumann can somehow knock off McDevitt, it would create a three-way tie for the second playoff spot.  If this were to happen, the second playoff spot would most likely go to Lansdale Catholic.  Of course, this depends on the points scored in the Neumann/McDevitt game.  But, like Ryan beating Judge, this is not likely.

Public League
AAAA – Another upset in the AAAA division in the city.  Northeast knocked off Washington 13-6, to capture their second straight regular season title.  It’s like Déjà vu all over again.  It was just last year when Northeast knocked off the Eagles and won the division by tie-breakers.  But, this is the first time that the Vikings have gone undefeated in the regular season since the 2001 season.  Washington and Northeast will sit out during the first round, as Frankford plays Furness and Bartram hosts Fels.

AAA – Dobbins locked up the division last week, and Gratz clinched a playoff spot this week, but the last two playoff spots is a group of 5 teams.  Roxborough, MLK and West Philly all sit at 3-3, with long shots, Franklin and Boys Latin at 2-4.  Roxborough is at MLK, which means the winner is in the playoffs, and the loser will need help.  West Philly is at Gratz, Boys Latin vs Dobbins, and Franklin vs University City.  The expectation is that West and Boys will lose, and Franklin will win.  In this scenario, there would be a three-way tie for the final playoff spot between Franklin, West and the loser of the Roxborough/MLK game.  We’ll just wait to see how this shakes out in week 9.

AA – In the Pub semi-finals, Bok beat Del-Val for the second time this year, as did IMHOTEP with their win over Comm Tech.  Now, the showdown between Bok and IMHOTEP will take place in the Pub AA final, as Bok tries to avenge their first loss in regular season play in almost a decade.  This should be a