PG West: Rich Emert's football notebook
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The first week of the high school football season is history. So, what did we learn?
• We learned that WPIAL teams have trouble going against teams from outside the Commonwealth. Woodland Hills and Thomas Jefferson were both scorched Saturday by teams from Florida in the Rally at the Wolvarena.
Manatee dumped Woodland Hills, 39-16, and Cocoa trounced Thomas Jefferson, 43-7. But that doesn't mean Florida high school football is that much superior to the brand played in Western Pennsylvania.
Yes, most Florida teams have speed, speed and more speed. And the Sunshine State has become a hotbed for Division I college recruiters. But just because two Florida teams beat up on a couple of WPIAL teams does not mean scholastic football in this area is in the dumper.
Consider:
Manatee and Cocoa are two of the top teams in Florida. An average team, one that hopes to make its league or state playoffs, isn't going to come north to play a game. Besides, those who put early-season, multi-game showcases together do not ask average teams to appear in such events. Only the outstanding teams are courted, so it wasn't as if Woodland Hills or Thomas Jefferson were going against chumps.
Also, these Florida teams opened their seasons last week, which meant Cocoa and Manatee had an opportunity to fix any flaws they might have discovered in week one.
OK, so they probably didn't have many things to correct, especially Manatee, which cooked Plant, Fla., 48-10, in its first game. The rally was the first games for Thomas Jefferson and Woodland Hills, not to say they would have fared better against Cocoa and Manatee if the games were this coming weekend, but maybe the scores would have been closer.
The Florida teams came to Western Pennsylvania in early September when the weather is still warm. Wonder if the scores of those two games would be the same if the games were played in November with temps in the 20s with some flurries in the air. It's funny how teams don't seem as fast under those conditions. Most WPIAL teams are put together to slug their way to a title in November, not fly past opponents in September.
Woodland Hills coach George Novak is known for bring his teams along slowly. It usually takes two or three games before Novak and his staff have the right players at the right positions. The fact the Wolverines were right there with Manatee in the middle of the third quarter says something.
First Published September 9, 2010 12:00 am
