HS Football: Week 3 recap, close games headline weekend
Minersville's Ethan Borrell (52) and T.J. Bowers (8) attempt to tackle Mahanoy Area's Kyler Quick (32) (Photo courtesy of Kelly Wiley).
A quick recap and some notes from Week 3 of the high school football season:
CLOSE GAMES: Three games had nearly identical scores as Notre Dame-Green Pond beat North Schuylkill 21-20, Southern Lehigh held off Lehighton 21-20 and Tamaqua edged Pottsville 21-19.
In all three games, the winning team stopped a two-point conversion try in the closing minutes. North Schuylkill came up just short on its two-point attempt after Caden Mengel hit Luke Miller for a touchdown with 58 seconds left. Lehighton scored with 4:31 left but missed the two-point try. Pottsville scored on an Andrew Allen 7-yard TD run with 1:08 remaining but missed the conversion.
STILL UNBEATEN: Eight Schuylkill-Colonial squads are a perfect 3-0 so far this season: Northwestern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh, Notre Dame-Green Pond, Palisades, Marian, Minersville, Schuylkill Haven and Williams Valley.
STILL SEEKING FIRST WIN: Six teams, meanwhile, have opened the season 0-3: Bangor, Wilson Area, Mahanoy Area, Panther Valley, Pine Grove and Shenandoah Valley. That number is guaranteed to be reduced by at least one this week when Panther Valley visits Pine Grove on Saturday night.
STILL UNSCORED UPON: Williams Valley pitched its third straight shutout with a 49-0 rout of Nativity. Through three games, the Vikings have outscored Upper Dauphin, Mahanoy Area and Nativity by a combined score of 145-0.
TOP OFFENSES: The top five scoring offenses among Schuylkill League teams through three games: Williams Valley 145 (48.3 ppg), Schuylkill Haven 142 (47.3), North Schuylkill 132 (44.0), Minersville 126 (42), Marian 98 (32.7).
TOP DEFENSES: The top five scoring defenses among Schuylkill League teams through three games: Williams Valley 0 (0.0), Minersville 18 (6.0), Tri-Valley 31 (10.3), Schuylkill Haven 32 (10.7), North Schuylkill 48 (16.0).
THREE-DAY WEEKEND: Week 4 covers three days worth of local action. Thursday, Tamaqua visits Jim Thorpe. After a full slate Friday, Panther Valley treks to Pine Grove on Saturday night for its annual Homecoming game.
THIS WEEK’S TOP GAMES: The top games in each division of the Schuylkill-Colonial cooperative this week:
Red Division — Southern Lehigh at North Schuylkill
White Division — Northern Lehigh at Palisades
Blue Division — Williams Valley at Minersville
Schuylkill-Colonial Cooperative Standings
| *** Standings for games played through Saturday, Sept. 6 *** | ||||
| Red Division | ||||
| Team | League | Overall | Last Week’s results |
This week’s opponent |
| Southern Lehigh | 2-0 | 3-0 | W, Lehighton, 21-20 | at North Schuylkill |
| North Schuylkill | 1-0 | 2-1 | L, Notre Dame-GP, 20-21 | Southern Lehigh |
| Northwestern Lehigh | 1-0 | 3-0 | W, Bangor, 54-14 | Blue Mountain |
| Blue Mountain | 1-1 | 1-2 | W, Jim Thorpe, 47-0 | at NW Lehigh |
| Lehighton | 1-1 | 1-2 | L, Southern Lehigh, 20-21 | at Palmerton |
| Pottsville | 1-1 | 1-2 | L, Tamaqua, 19-21 | Bangor |
| Tamaqua | 1-1 | 1-2 | W, Pottsville, 21-19 | at Jim Thorpe (Thurs) |
| Bangor | 0-2 | 0-3 | L, NW Lehigh, 14-54 | at Pottsville |
| Jim Thorpe | 0-2 | 1-2 | L, Blue Mountain, 0-47 | Tamaqua (Thurs) |
| White Division | ||||
| Palisades | 2-0 | 3-0 | W, Catasauqua, 42-14 | Northern Lehigh |
| Northern Lehigh | 1-0 | 2-1 | W, Pen Argyl, 42-19 | at Palisades |
| Notre Dame-Green Pond | 1-0 | 3-0 | W, North Schuylkill, 21-20 | at Saucon Valley |
| Catasauqua | 1-1 | 2-1 | L, Palisades, 14-42 | at Salisbury |
| Palmerton | 1-1 | 1-2 | W, Saucon Valley, 19-6 | Lehighton |
| Pen Argyl | 1-1 | 2-1 | L, Northern Lehigh, 19-42 | Wilson Area (Sat) |
| Salisbury | 1-1 | 2-1 | W, Wilson, 16-8 | Catasauqua |
| Saucon Valley | 0-2 | 1-2 | L, Palmerton, 6-19 | Notre Dame-GP |
| Wilson Area | 0-2 | 0-3 | L, Salisbury, 8-16 | at Pen Argyl (Sat) |
| Blue Division | ||||
| Marian | 2-0 | 3-0 | W, Panther Valley, 39-12 | Shenandoah Valley |
| Minersville | 2-0 | 3-0 | W, Mahanoy Area, 42-6 | Williams Valley |
| Schuylkill Haven | 2-0 | 3-0 | W, Shen. Valley, 54-6 | Mahanoy Area |
| Williams Valley | 2-0 | 3-0 | W, Nativity, 49-0 | at Minersville |
| Nativity | 1-1 | 2-1 | L, Williams Valley, 0-49 | Tri-Valley |
| Tri-Valley | 1-1 | 2-1 | W, Pine Grove, 24-0 | at Nativity |
| Mahanoy Area | 0-2 | 0-3 | L, Minersville, 6-42 | at Schuylkill Haven |
| Panther Valley | 0-2 | 0-3 | L, Marian, 12-39 | at Pine Grove (Sat) |
| Pine Grove | 0-2 | 0-3 | L, Tri-Valley, 0-24 | Panther Valley (Sat) |
| Shenandoah Valley | 0-2 | 0-3 | L, Schuylkill Haven, 6-54 | at Marian |
