SEELEY: Long live the league championships

Upper Perkiomen’s Dante Steffenino wins the championships at 120 pounds over Spring-Ford’s Matt Krieble at the Pioneer Athletic Conference Championships over the weekend at Boyertown. (Photo/Tom Kelly III)

By Don Seeley
sports@pottsmerc.com

There was (actually still is) a lot of debate on District 1’s shift from sectionals to league championships to begin the postseason.

Some argued there was no need to abandon the six-section format — in place since 1974 (or since 1957 if you go all the way back to when sectionals began) — so history was certainly on their side. They even borrowed the old adage about not needing to fix something that wasn’t broken.

Some countered that argument with geography, or the lack thereof — grouping some teams in with others that really weren’t that close to one another. That, they added, may have been one big reason why most if not all the sections were losing money.

But maybe, just maybe, everybody overlooked, as they have so often in the past, the most important aspect of the issue — the wrestlers themselves.

What do they prefer? Or, to be more specific, what is more important to them, a section or league championship?

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Spring-Ford, Perk Valley in a gimongous game

 

Spring-Ford's Hank Coyne, left, and Perk Valley's Rasaan Stewart meet tonight in a PAC-10 tilt. (Mercury file photos)

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

GRATERFORD — Noah Webster would likely be appalled by some of the additions to the American Dictionary of the English Language he published 184 years ago. But the ol’ fella would likely be OK with gimongous.

After all, there isn’t a better word to describe tonight’s football game between Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley.

This one is indeed big. It’s actually really, really big.

The winner, in all likelihood, will be playing next week in the opening round of the District 1-Class AAAA playoffs. The loser? Well, if the Rams come up short, there is a possibility they could drop out of the Top 16 allotted postseason spots and find themselves idle for 20 days — or until Thanksgiving morning’s finale with Phoenixville. If the Vikings falter, it could and likely will mean the end of their season, unless a slew of unlikely scenarios unfold — or upwards of three or possibly even four teams above them in the playoff points standings lose this weekend.

Sure are a lot of ifs and possibilities...

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SEELEY: Hudgins separates himself from the pack

Pottsgrove quarterback Tory Hudgins is brought down just short of the goal line on a carry during Friday night’s win over Perkiomen Valley. (Photo by Tom Kelly III)

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

There have been quite a few conversations this fall about Pioneer Athletic Conference quarterbacks, or who exactly is the best of the bunch. There’s been quite a few names tossed around and, generally speaking, all have been part of the discussions, too.

And it sure seems as though everyone has had a valid argument for getting their favorite onto the coaches’ ballot, which will be filled out and voted on early next month.

Hey, if you think Obama-Romney is a toss-up (or so we’re told), try separating what has become the Elite Eight of the PAC-10 (and that is in no way a political slam on the remaining two).

But if anyone has put together as impressive a football campaign as any other — up to this point of the season, that is — it’s been Pottsgrove’s Tory Hudgins.

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SEELEY: Phantoms impressive in downing Exeter

Quarterback Chris Demay, center, and head coach Bill Furlong, far right, helped Phoenixville pull off a big win last weekend against Exeter. (Photo by Barry Taglieber)

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

PHOENIXVILLE — Bill Furlong liked to think this year was like most other years when camp opened back in mid-August ... a meet-and-greet with a handful or so of veterans and a lot of newcomers.
Huddled in the Washington Street Fieldhouse were five returning lettermen from the offense, four more on defense, and a kicker. But don’t let the numbers fool you, either, because five of those nine were actually the same players — as in Cole Luzins, Ryan Pannella, Ryan Yenchick and Tom White, along with punter-placekicker Ian Harrigan — were double-duty starters last season.
“I don’t really know if (preseason) was any different for us,” Furlong explained. “We felt we had some certain anchors to build on what we accomplished last year (in getting to the District 1-Class AAA final). But we also wanted to establish who we were, too. So to a certain extent, I guess we were looking for our own identity.”