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Schools

Patch Top Teams: Welcome To Football Season

Below is a listing of some of the top teams and players in the area to watch this season.

Patch Top Teams

  • 1. Cardinal O’Hara
  • 2. Haverford High School
  • 3. Springfield
  • 4. Haverford School
  • 5. Conestoga
  • 6. Episcopal Academy
  • 7. Archbishop Carroll

Football season is upon us again. It’s that time when every high school player has those fresh thoughts of league and district championships, grabbing maybe a few looks from college recruiters, and ideas of winning a state championship.    

There are a number of teams that could contend for their respective league titles, like  in the Philadelphia Catholic League Class AAA Division, and ,  and  in the Central LeagueIn the Inter-Academic League,  is going for a rare threepeat as league champions, while a number of teams are adjusting to new coaches.   

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Rick Stroup takes over as the new coach at , while Tom Kline is the new guy in charge at Springfield, Joe Powell starts at , and Todd Fairlie begins his head coaching career as the new man in charge at Episcopal Academy.   

The area is also bristling with talent, and there are a few teams that could have surprising turnarounds, like  and , which was winless last season. Under Stroup, expect Penncrest to be better defensively and overall, while  comes back with a speedy backfield for coach Tom Ryan, and  has a young team that promises to mature and improve as it seems to do every year under veteran coach Ray Gionta.   

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Delco Christian enters another phase in its journey as a varsity program, when the Knights begin their season as program in the Bicentennial League.   

The area also returns a wealth of talent, perhaps none more gifted than the O’Hara backfield tandem of Damiere Shaw, bound for Temple on a football scholarship, and Jay Watkins. Carroll returns Jalal Timmons, and Conestoga will be relying on the up front power of Pat McConnellGeoff HeggRobbie Campbell and Mark Kaminskas.   

Expect a big year from Harriton quarterback Pat Moriarty and look for Ryan Kelly to play an important role for the Rams, and Lower Merion tailback Ernest Pendleton could be special.

Ridley and Garnet Valley are the favorites in the Central League, but Haverford, with a returning cast that includes running back Mike Clancy and quarterback Ed Durkin, and Springfield, led by linebackers Tyler Morrissey and Mike Dougherty, will be in the mix.

“There is a lot of parity in the league, you have to get up each week for every team in this league, because you’re not going to roll over everyone,” Springfield coach Tom Kline said. “There really one clear-cut team you can look at as the frontrunner, not like last year when Ridley had everyone back. There’s going to be a lot of teams that will be good.”

Haverford High School has a lot of players back and expected to do big things this season, but Fords’ coach Joe Gallagher wants to temper that enthusiasm with something simple, “We haven’t won anything yet, but we are excited about this season.”

Gallagher and the Fords have something else to be excited about, too, a new facility, which they’ll showcase in their home opener the third game of the season against Lower Merion.

In the Inter-Ac,  is expected to be good, as it always is, but two-time defending league champion Haverford School might have something to say about that, especially with a weapon like kicker Aron Morgan, who can consistently hit field goals from 35 yards in, and watch for Episcopal Academy and a young team to gradually improve as the season moves forward.

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