Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Ten final thoughts on the process that created the Southern Columbia at Wyoming Area matchup on Friday night.
1. Social media is a great way to get out scores and breaking news, but it almost cost the game from happening.
Some Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference officials were apparently perturbed that they were found out about the game via social media rather than from Southern Columbia. Truth is, somebody jumped the gun by posting it.
2. When the game was first posted on social media, it wasn’t close to being set up. Southern Columbia coach/athletic director Jim Roth was in the process of getting Wyoming Area as well as Holy Redeemer and Shikellamy on board. If any of those three schools declined a schedule switch then the idea was dead.
3. If Southern Columbia played Wyoming Area without the blessing of PHAC, it would have faced sanctions from the conference. While those possible sanctions weren’t made public, a few leaked through the grapevine. They were severe and absurd.
4. The story broke on Sept. 17, yet the PHAC waited over two weeks before denying Southern Columbia’s request by citing conference bylaws that require all conference games to be played. When Shikellamy made the same request last Friday, the process began again.
5. The PHAC didn’t rubberstamp its approval on Monday. There were a few dessenters.
6. The rumor that Wyoming Area jacked up ticket prices for the game is completely false. The ticket prices for the game are the same for all home games — $5 for adults and $3 for students.
Five bucks to see Southern Columbia’s four Big Ten recruits — including Ohio State-bound receiver Julian Fleming, who is ranked among the top recruits in the nation — is well worth it.
7. Berwick was also involved, albeit on the fringe. The school is hosting Friday’s Holy Redeemer vs. Shikellamy game and there is plenty of legwork to hold a football game. Berwick had to line up security, stadium workers and concessions among other things.
8. Wyoming Area also did an incredible amount of work behind the scenes to make sure the game runs as smoothly as possible. School officials met with law enforcement, secured extra parking and received donations from local businesses as attendance is expected to be among the highest ever.
9. The Power Rating System used to determine district playoff berths and seedings is complicated, but also a reason the game could take place. If Wyoming Area loses, it will actually benefit more than if it defeated Holy Redeemer.
10. The Power Rating System is also a reason Southern Columbia and Berwick will play in 2020 and 2021 for the first time since 1965.
The two schools are about 20-25 miles apart and fans longed for a matchup between legendary coaches Roth and Berwick’s George Curry. But when there were four classifications in football, the game never made sense for Berwick under the PIAA points system.
Berwick was Class 3A and Southern Columbia was Class A at the time. Berwick could only earn a maximum of 150 state points for beating powerful Southern Columba, the same it would get for defeating a Class 4A team which finished 3-7.
11. Football is a violent and dangerous sport and there should be some flexibility in the schedule when obvious mismatches like Wyoming Area vs. Holy Redeemer and Southern Columbia vs. Shikellamy occur during the season.
12. Perhaps schedule makers could avoid them in the first place by not stringently sticking to conference’s divisional alignments. Although it would probably never happen, media members who cover football should be involved in the process to red-flag games before an official schedule is released.
Not all blowouts can be avoided, but the apparent ones can be.
BEST OF WEEK 7
Some of the top performances from the past week:
• Lake-Lehman’s Ethan Adams. The Black Knight quarterback threw six touchdown passes in the first half and finished with 311 yards passing in a 41-6 victory over Holy Redeemer.
• Berwick’s Teagan Wilk. The East Carolina recruit scored on runs of 48 and 57 yards and built on his school record for career interceptions in a 40-7 victory over Hazleton Area.
• Dallas’ Ben Fife. Fife picked off a pass for a third consecutive game and scored on a 12-yard reception in a 62-7 win against Nanticoke Area.
• Wyoming Area’s Dominic DeLuca. The senior ran for a 46-yard touchdown, returned a kickoff 79 yards for a TD and averaged 47.3 yards on four punts in a 35-14 win vs. Dunmore.
• Crestwood’s Ryan Miller. No WVC running back carried a workload like Miller did in a 42-16 victory over Tunkhannock. He carried the ball 40 times for 253 yards and two touchdowns.