Week 11 - League Championships Week

Week 10 is in the books. It was an opportunity for some teams to celebrate, while others had their seasons come to a close. But, a couple of other teams get a second chance. I'll take a look at the significant games from this past week, and look ahead to the playoff games in week 11.


AAAA
Philadelphia Catholic League Championship - Roman Catholic at La Salle College High School.
By most accounts, this game is a match up of the teams that should be here. But, it Prep would have beaten Roman, it wouldn't have been too much of an upset, as this was one of the better match ups for a semi-final this season. Roman did to Prep what Prep did to Roman a few weeks back. They jumped out to a big first half lead, and then cruised to the finish line. Although, what Roman did in week 10 was get that big lead, and ended up holding on for dear life at the end. Nevertheless, like Prep, La Salle handled Roman during the regular season. We'll have to wait and see if Roman can produce some more magic in the finals.
Pick: La Salle 35 - Roman 20

Philadelphia Public League Championship - Washington at Northeast
Since Frankford won the Pub title in 2006, they have failed to make it back to the championship game during the next four seasons. This is the longest stretch of time that the championship game did not feature a Frankford team in the 40+ years since they began the playoff format in the Pub. Frankford came close in their 13-9 loss to division runner-up, Washington, in the semi-finals. But, it wasn't good enough to get to the Pub's big dance. Northeast easily dispatched Silver Division Champ, Fels, by a score of 34-0. In the championship game, between Northeast and Washington, it'll be the third straight year in which these two teams have met for the Pub title. Washington won both of the previous meetings. The 2008 game was a triple overtime adventure, while last year's game was a 40-0 thumping of Northeast by Washington. Don't be fooled by Washington's last two games. In week 8, they lost a close one to Northeast, and in Week 10 they barely got by Frankford. I say "don't be fooled" because coach Cohen has been around way too long to not come into the championship game unprepared. I fully expect Washington to handle Northeast in this game, but I also won't be surprised if Northeast pulls, what I consider, an upset.
Pick: Washington 21 - Northeast 7

AAA
Philadelphia Catholic League Championship - Cardinal O'Hara at Archbishop Wood
The O'Hara/Wood championship game is one of the most anticipated games of the year. In their regular season meeting, Wood prevailed 48-34, in an unexpectedly high scoring game. Don't expect that type of scoring in the championship game. Both teams have real good defenses, and offenses that can score quickly. My expectation is that both teams will try to control the tempo of the game with ball-control offenses. But, don't be surprised if there are some big plays in this one.
Pick: Wood 27 - O'Hara 21

Philadelphia Public League Championship - Roxborough at Dobbins
Dobbins has been pretty much ripping through there opponents this year. With the exception of a week 2 35-0 thumping at the hands of Cardinal O'Hara, the Mustangs have won every game going away. Roxborough started the year off great, beating their first four opponents. Their first lost came at the hands of Dobbins, who beat the Indians 15-6. I'm not sure if this had a negative affect on the team or not, but for the next 4 weeks, Roxborough went 2-2, with losses to Franklin and Gratz, and close wins against West and King. They just didn't look like a team that would make it to the championship team. But, I will say one thing, they are lucky that they ran into Gratz in the playoffs. Gratz, who many thought would run away with this division, started off great, but for some reason, became quite mediocre, winning close games against Boys Latin and King, while losing big to Dobbins. It just seemed to be the right match up in the right week for Roxborough. But, as Roxborough knows, Dobbins is not Gratz. I haven't seen Roxborough yet this year, but I've been on the Dobbins sidelines twice so far. From what I've observed, both teams have good coaching. Both teams seem organized and disciplined. I just like Dobbins more because they have more talent at the skill positions. Terrance Stafford and Aaron Walker can just carry a team. That's exactly what I expect in this one.
Pick: Dobbins 20 - Roxborough 14

AA
Subregional Semi-Final Game 1 - Comm Tech at Bok
Yes, Comm Tech did defeat Bok this season, which was the second time this season that Bok suffered a regular season loss. Hell, it was only the second regular season loss that Bok suffered in almost a decade. So, on paper this may look like a good match-up, but I'm not so sure. I have to believe that Coach DeFelice will have his team ready for this one, just like he does every other year. Bok features a more balanced attack, as opposed to Comm Tech, which is more one dimensional. You see, Rolando Ransom is puttting much the entire Comm Tech offense. I'm sure Coach DeFelice knows this too. As a matter of fact, Ransom has accounted for 64% of the team's scoring, 87% of their rushing yards, and 82% of their rushing touchdowns. Hell, Comm Tech has only thrown 2 touchdowns all season, and both came in the past two weeks, after they were knocked out of the Public League playoffs. I just don't see the balanced attack of Bok losing this one.
Pick: Bok 35 - Comm Tech 12

Subregional Semi-Final Game 2 - Del-Val at West Catholic
Really??? Do we really need to play this game? Just skip this week and catch the Bok/West Catholic final in week 12. It'll save you the admission fee. Trust me.
Pick: West Catholic too much - Del-Val not enough

I hope to cover the La Salle/Roman game on Friday, and the West/Del-Val game Saturday afternoon. Hopefully, I'll make it to the O'Hara/Wood game Saturday night. At least two of these games should be fun to watch.