Connect with us

Central League

Central League 2017 Preview and Team-by-Team Breakdowns

Garnet Valley, Springfield look like top teams in strong Central League

For Digital First Media — Matt Chandik
Garnet Valley quarterback Ryan Hamby rushes with the ball during a recent practice.

Marple Newtown, Ridley and Springfield shared the Central League title in 2016. Garnet Valley finished one game back and Haverford was two games behind in the championship race.

The Tigers and Cougars, along with Strath Haven and Radnor, qualified for the District 1 Class 5A playoffs in the first year of the six-classification format. Ridley, Garnet Valley and Haverford reached the 6A tournament.

So don’t be surprised if the championship race comes down to the wire again, and involves multiple teams.

The question is, which teams will that be?

Well, let’s start with Garnet Valley. Mike Ricci has built quite a juggernaut in Concord and has one of the teams to beat in the league again.

Garnet Valley, ranked No. 5 in the PA Prep Live preseason Top 20, has three offensive linemen (center Tommy Mahoney and guards Jake Erley and Ryan Shomo) and two running backs (Matt Lassik and Danny Guy) returning from a team that went 12-2 overall and made a magical run to the District 1 Class 6A championship game, where it lost to North Penn.

Lassik and Guy combined for more than a third of Garnet Valley’s school-record 3,886 rushing yards a year ago. Lassik had 879 yards and 12 TDs on 141 carries, which included a 35-carry, 244-yard, four-TD performance in GV’s 44-27 win over third-seeded Perkiomen Valley in the district semis. Guy had 439 yards and five scores.

Springfield, ranked No. 14 in the PA Prep Live preseason Top 20, should be right there, too. Many believe the Cougars arrived a year ahead of schedule when they reached the District 1 Class 5A final last year. Head coach Chris Britton has a number of returnees including his entire defensive line from a team which went 12-2 overall and 8-1 in the league.

All-Delco Justin Shields leads that defensive line, which includes fellow seniors Derek Strain, Dan Pennestri and Kevin Deal. The Cougars pitched three shutouts last season and Garnet Valley and Academy Park were the only teams to top the 20-point mark against Springfield.

The Cougars have some weapons back on offense, too. Ja’Den McKenzie ran for 1,280 yards and 13 touchdowns en route to second team All-Delco honors. Philip Shovlin had 534 yards and four scores on 123 attempts. He earned All-Delco honors in track.

Rob Dudley – DCNN
Marple Newtown quarterback Anthony Paoletti (right) drops back to pass from the pocket. Paoletti completed 18 of 47 passes for 322 yards against Garnet Valley.

Don’t look past Marple Newtown, ranked No. 11. Anytime you have the best quarterback in the league coming back, you’re a threat to win the league title. Anthony Paoletti earned first-team All-Delco honors and, barring injury, will break the county record for passing yards in a career, which is held by his coach, Chris Gicking.

The University of Delaware commit threw for a county record 2,793 yards as a junior and needs 1,216 yards to break Gicking’s school and county record of 5,897 career passing yards. Paoletti, though, isn’t the only skill player back. Senior receiver Dash Dulgerian caught 42 passes for 888 yards and 10 touchdowns, and junior back Marlon Weathers ran for 1,130 yards and 17 TDs last season.

[totalpoll id=”61527″]

Dave Wood made a good impression in his first year as the head coach at Ridley. Wood guided the Green Raiders (11-2, 8-1) to a share of the title and a berth in the District 1 Class 6A playoffs for the first time since 2012. The Green Raiders, though, were decimated by graduation (33 players) and will be hard-pressed to repeat that playoff run from a year ago.

Keep an eye on Haverford, too. Head coach Joe Gallagher has a quarterback (Jake Ruane) who threw for more than 2,000 yards a year ago and an All-Delco wide receiver/linebacker (Jordan Mosley) who will play his college ball at Maryland in the Big Ten. Ruane threw for 2,119 yards and 16 touchdowns as a sophomore. Mosley was on the receiving end on 51 of those completions for a school-record 996 yards and 10 scores.   

Upper Darby’s Derrick Korboi is among the other players to watch. He earned first-team All-Central League honors as an offensive and defensive lineman a year ago. Conestoga’s Jackson Niness earned first-team all-league honors on defense at linebacker and second-team as a tight end. All-Central linebacker Kyle Addis is back to lead Radnor.

One new coach joins the league. Andrew Pidgeon takes over at Penncrest. He was the offensive coordinator at Cardinal O’Hara last year. Pidgeon is no stranger to the Central League. He was an All-Delco quarterback at Ridley in 2008. 

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Who has the best student section?

[totalpoll id=”61527″]

Advertisement

More in Central League

situs slot gacor provider terbaik agen toto slot terpercaya 2023 agen toto togel terpercaya 2023 situs toto togel pasaran resmi terbaik bandar toto macau pasaran resmi toto togel bandar toto slot gacor 4d 2023 bo togel online pasaran terlengkap sepanjang masa bo toto slot terlengkap sepanjang masa situs toto togel 2023 bet 100 perak daftar toto slot dan toto togel 2023 bermain toto togel dengan bet hanya 100 perak daftar toto slot bonus new member terpercaya bermain toto slot pelayanan 24 jam nonstop situs toto togel terpercaya situs toto togel online terbaik winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto unsurtoto unsurtoto unsurtoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto rasa4d rasa4d rasa4d gampangtoto gampangtoto gampangtoto winsortoto unsurtoto gampangtoto rasa4d bungtoto bandar toto togel terbesar hadiah 4d 10 juta daftar winsortoto situs toto terbaik winsortoto situs toto slot gacor dengan toto togel terbaik winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bet 100 perak winsortoto agen toto togel dan situs toto slot 4d winsortoto situs toto togel online deposit 10rb winsortoto situs toto togel online resmi hadiah 4d 10 juta winsortoto agen toto togel online terpercaya winsortoto agen toto slot dan situs toto togel resmi winsortoto situs toto togel 4d terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel dan toto slot winsortoto situs toto togel online resmi terbesar winsortoto situs toto togel dan agen toto slot terpercaya winsortoto situs toto terpercaya beragam bonus winsortoto situs toto terpercaya toto togel dan toto slot gacor winsortoto situs togel online dan slot online terpercaya winsortoto situs togel online hadiah terbesar winsortoto agen toto togel bonus harian terbesar winsortoto agen togel online terlengkap bet 100 perak winsortoto situs toto togel 4d dan toto slot 4d terbaik winsortoto situs toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel online terpercaya 2023 winsortoto agen toto togel 4d dan toto slot 4d winsortoto agen toto togel online banyak bonus terbesar winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bonus new member winsortoto situs togel online resmi terpercaya pasaran terlengkap winsortoto situs toto togel online 4d terpercaya situs toto togel deposit pulsa tanpa potongan winsortoto situs toto slot pasti slot gacor winsortoto situs toto slot dan toto togel hadiah terbaik winsortoto situs toto terpercaya permainan resmi dan terpercaya winsortoto situs toto resmi bonus new member 100rb tanpa potongan winsortoto toto slot gacor dan togel online resmi terpercaya winsortoto situs toto toge online terpercaya di Indonesia winsortoto toto togel online bonus new member terbesar winsortoto agen toto togel resmi hadiah 4d 10 juta terpercaya winsortoto toto togel online hadiah 4d 10 juta bet 100 winsortoto situs togel online terlengkap dan terpercaya winsortoto situs togel online resmi dan toto slot gacor winsortoto situs toto togel dan agen toto slot gacor winsortoto situs toto togel permainan toto togel dan toto slot winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bonus menarik winsortoto situs toto togel online terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya winsortoto situs toto togel online terlengkap dan terpercaya winsortoto situs toto togel online winsortoto situs toto terpercaya togel online dan slot online resmi winsortoto situs toto dengan permainan togel 4d dan slot 4d winsortoto situs toto terpercaya permainan togel online terlengkap winsortoto situs toto togel terpercaya permainan resmi winsortoto situs toto togel resmi bet 100 perak tanpa potongan winsortoto agen toto togel dan situs toto resmi winsortoto toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya dan terbaik winsortoto unsurtoto gampangtoto bungtoto rasa4d titi4d ltdtoto bobatoto bobatoto situs toto togel slot situs bandar toto togel slot terpercaya titi4d titi4d login titi4d daftar titi4d slot titi4d togel situs titi4d titi4d login titi4d daftar titi4d titi4d togel titi4d slot situs titi4d agen titi4d bandar titi4d