One championship remains to be settled in District 10 football and it pits the Slippery Rock Rockets against the Grove City Eagles, with the other five remaining District 10 teams beginning their PIAA playoff push.
Starting on Friday, Reynolds takes on Northern Bedford in Class 1A, Cathedral Prep battles East Stroudsburg South in Class 5A and McDowell squares off with Allderdice in Class 6A.
Here’s a look at Friday’s action.
CLASS 1A FIRST ROUND
REYNOLDS (7-4) vs. NORTHERN BEDFORD (8-3), Greenville High School
A battled-tested Reynolds team won its second consecutive District 10 title last week 23-0 over previously unbeaten Cochranton After a close call in a 34-20 win over Cambridge Springs in the D10 quarterfinals, the Raiders rolled past Eisenhower (56-27) before the win over the Cardinals.
The Raiders have beat every Class 1A opponent they have faced this season, with all of their losses coming against larger schools, and are looking to make another deep run after advancing to the PIAA semifinals a year ago. Like Reynolds, all of Northern Bedford’s losses are also against larger schools.
Last year, Northern Bedford fell to Redbank Valley in the PIAA first round, 28-15, before Reynolds defeated Redbank 19-14 in the quarterfinals.
After rushing for over 300 yards in the win over Eisenhower, Reynolds running back Jalen Wagner accounted for 139 yards and two scores in the win over Cochranton. On the season, Wagner has rushed for 1,875 yards and 24 touchdowns. He also has 17 catches for 274 yards.
Quarterback Brayden McCloskey has been very efficient for the Raiders, throwing for 954 yards and 11 touchdowns. His top receiver is Haydin McLaughlin, who has 378 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 628 yards and eight touchdowns.
Northern Bedford is coming off a dominant 47-0 win over Tussey Mountain in the District 5 championship game. After winning their first game, Northern Bedford had a 3-game losing streak but hasn’t lost since, rattling off 7-straight wins. Included in that streak is three shutouts.
Sophomore quarterback Eion Snyder leads the offense with 895 yards passing and 11 touchdowns. Freshman receiver Aaron Bowers is the leading receiver with 344 yards on 24 receptions. He also has five interceptions on defense.
Adam Johnson is Northern Bedford’s leading ground gainer with 567 yards. He rushed for four touchdowns in the win over Tussey Mountain.
The winner will face the District 9 champion (Redbank Valley or Union/A-C Valley) in the PIAA quarterfinals next week.
CLASS 5A FIRST ROUND
CATHEDRAL PREP (10-1) vs. EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH (9-3), Bald Eagle Area High School
The Ramblers begin their quest to return to the PIAA championship game begins with a battle against East Stroudsburg South, the District 11 champion.
Prep received a pair of COVID-related forfeits on their way to the title game a year ago, while the Cavaliers were forced to end their season before their district playoffs started a year ago due to, you guessed it, COVID.
The Ramblers are coming off a convincing win over Hollidaysburg for the second straight season, 48-7. In that game, sophomore quarterback Luke Costello stepped in for Carter Barnes (who has accounted for 27 total touchdowns passing and rushing this season) and threw for 177 yards and three touchdowns, while Mike Parks rushed for 183 yards and a pair of scores.
Parks has put together a terrific season, rushing for 1,280 yards and Suhtaun Lewis 598 yards and six scores.
The Ramblers have a group of four receivers – DeMario Crawford, Tyson Simon, Wakeem Page and Camariyon Bridges who all have at least 200 yards receiving. Page leads the way with seven touchdowns.
Prep has scored at least 40 points in nine of their 10 wins this season, with their lone loss coming to McDowell (31-12) back on Oct. 1.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, are coming off a wild 47-41 overtime win over Whitehall in the District 11 title game. In that game, they rallied from a 41-28 deficit. Bobby McCloskey threw for 283 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 142 yards and two more scores in the comeback victory.
Colin Burdian had 126 yards receiving and three touchdowns in the win over Whitehall has well, while Shane Bulay also had 100 yards receiving.
Ron Blake has rushed for over 1,000 yards and tied the game late in the fourth quarter of the win over Whitehall.
The Cavaliers have eclipsed 40 points seven times this season.
The winner will face either Imhotep Charter or Father Judge in the quarterfinals next week.
CLASS 6A FIRST ROUND
MCDOWELL (8-2) vs. ALLDERDICE (4-5), Cupples Stadium
McDowell is coming off a hard-fought 40-21 win over Butler in the D10 title game, a contest in which Christian Santiago rushed for five touchdowns.
The Trojans received a pair of COVID-related forfeits in advancing to the PIAA semifinals a year ago.
The Trojans have scored 35 points or more in seven of their eight wins this season. Their lone losses came to Maryland power Rock Creek Christian and St. Francis (N.Y.). They had a six-game winning streak to begin the season.
Santiago leads the team with 15 rushing touchdowns, while Artis Simmons eclipsing 900 yards on the ground and accounting for 11 rushing touchdowns as well.
Quarterback Ben Moore has thrown for over 1,000 yards, with five different receivers accounting for at least 100 yards receiving, led by Matt McGregor (221 yards, 2 scores).
Defensively, McDowell owns a pair of shutouts.
Allderdice, meanwhile, is coming off a 14-0 win over Westinghouse in the Pittsburgh City League title game, this coming on the heels of a 22-8 win over Brashear
The Dragons needed just one offensive touchdown in the win over Westinghouse courtesy of a Jaerone Parkerto Noah Johnston touchdown pass. The Dragons also had a defensive touchdown courtesy over DeAndre Wells, who recovered a fumble in the end zone.
The winner will face the WPIAL champion, either Pittsburgh Central Catholic or Mount Lebanon, in the PIAA quarterfinals.
