LHAC Football Forecast Week Two

[Crimson's Ghost]

I was 5-1 in my picks last week. I had Forest Hills beating Westmont, and they could not hold their lead after three quarters.  I did get some takeaways from week one.  Bedford is probably not as down as some people think they are, they can play and should win some games. Somerset may not miss a beat at all, they have athletes and a good line. Westmont is going to do what they do, they could replicate another 7-3ish season.  Bishop Carroll may not finish the season at all. I still want to see some more from teams like Richland, McCort, and Cambria Heights. Johnstown and Guilfoyle still look like the teams until proven otherwise. 



[center]Johnstown (1-0) at Bishop Carroll (0-1) Friday 7:00 DeGol Field Saint Francis [/center]

[left]I know Bishop Carroll has a stadium now, but on Maxpreps the game is listed to be held at Saint Francis. If anyone has more clarity on that situation, please let me know. I'm just not sure the venue will play a huge impact in this one. Bishop Carroll's 68-0 opening loss did not paint a positive light on the season ahead for the Huskies. They struggled with generating positive yardage on offense, and finished with -37 yards as a whole. They were dealing with some injuries in week one, and they could potentially be getting some reinforcements for this week. [/left]

[left]Johnstown opened the year with a 42-21 win over Penn Cambria. The Trojans used a quick-strike offense that saw big plays from all of their star players. Bryce Gibson led the rushing attack with 146 yards and a score. Exree Loe, after committing to West Virginia earlier that day, caught 5 passes for 136 yards and 3 touchdowns. Austin Barber also had a successful debut as a starting quarterback with 194 passing yards. [/left]

[left]Prediction -  There's no way to sugarcoat this one. You have a talented 4A team going up against a class A team with less than 20 kids. Johnstown should have little trouble on Friday. [/left]

[left]Trojans 63 Huskies 0[/left]


[center]Somerset (1-0) at Forest Hills (0-1) Friday 7:00  G.H. Miller Field[/center]

[left]Forest Hills had a lead through three quarters against Westmont, but eventually were worn down by the size and strength of the Hilltoppers. Will that be some foreshadowing for the rest of the season?  That remains to be seen. What we do know about the Rangers is that they have some skilled offensive weapons.  Adam Cecere threw for 218 yards and 5 touchdowns in his sophomore season debut, he also posted 54 yards on the ground.  He's an impressive player and should put up big numbers throughout the season.  It's clear he favors junior Jon Long to be his primary target, we'll have to see how teams adjust to that, but for now Long should be seeing plenty of targets. Defensively, there's not much to say when you allow 400+ rushing yards in a game, so they will have to be ready for teams to test their run defense from here on until they can stop it. [/left]

[left]Somerset opened with a convincing 33-6 road victory against Central Cambria.  We knew they would be working with a new backfield this season, and the new guys looked up to par through one week. George Croyle and Austin Hemminger gashed the Red Devils' defense for 333 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns combined between the two of them. Also look for guys like Ryan Funa and Cam Coddington to contribute offensively, as they also showed flashes. The Somerset defense played a strong opening game and kept a good passing team like Central Cambria in check.[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]Prediction - Somerset has a big and strong offensive line and good ball carriers that can make plays, essentially what Forest Hills had to deal with in Westmont on Saturday. Somerset is a little more explosive and can hit you with big plays as well. I just think the strengths of this game play to Somerset a little more. Forest Hills' passing game will get some points and move the chains, but the size of Somerset and that strong ground game will overcome in the end. [/left]

[left]Golden Eagles 33 Rangers 16[/left]


[center]Bishop McCort (1-0) at Cambria Heights (0-1) Friday 7:00[/center]

[left]Bishop McCort rolled to an easy 68-0 win in week one against Bishop Carroll. While it was an impressive showing, it did not reveal much about the Crushers. It does appear on the surface, however, that they are better than last season. Levi Cook did not have much of a role last week, but look for the senior quarterback to play a big factor in this game. Carnell Andrews stole the show last week with four touchdowns, and he looks like he will be a big play threat all year long.  The Crushers' defense will be tested more this week going against a bigger opponent. [/left]

[left]Cambria Heights battled in week one, but came up short against Richland on the road. The Highlanders' offense struggled to get things rolling consistently, with just 59 passing yards and only 3.5 yards per carry. Ben Yahner paced the rushing attack with 89 yards, while senior quarterback James Baum contributed 49 yards as well.  In other words, Heights needs to create bigger plays this week. They have the line to go right at McCort, and should put up points. It's really a matter of slowing down the Crushers' high-powered offense. [/left]

[left]Prediction -  I look for this to be a good game. Heights has a size advantage, and should be able to move the ball on McCort. Conversely, the Crushers have the offensive weapons to come up with big plays and quick scoring drives. It's a bit of a contrast, but I can see a scenario in which either team steals this game.  I'm going to go with McCort in a hard fought game. [/left]

[left]Crimson Crushers 31 Highlanders 21[/left]


[center]Richland (1-0) at Penn Cambria (0-1) Friday 7:00[/center]

[left]Richland is coming off a down year in 2015, but they showed in week one it might be a quick turnaround. The Rams rode an impressive performance by their junior quarterback, Ethan Dabbs. He rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns. While he only completed 2 passes in week one, both went for lengthy touchdowns of 45 and 55 yards respectively.  He may not be a traditional quarterback we have been accustomed to seeing from Richland, but he's an athlete they can move around and do different things with throughout the season. Richland did a nice job limiting Cambria Heights on offense, and came up with some big plays with 4 sacks and 2 forced turnovers as a team. [/left]

[left]Penn Cambria battled in week one as heavy underdogs against Johnstown.  The Panthers found themselves in big holes throughout the game, but stuck in there and still played their game.  It appears as though their offense should be more wide open this season. They displayed the ability to pass, something that just wasn't there last season, with seniors Austin Zupon and Garrett Martynuska combining for 125 yards through the air. Nick Hite displayed some big play ability as well. Penn Cambria was gashed on defense, but they were going up arguably the most explosive offense in the conference. [/left]

[left]Prediction - This is a sneaky big game for both sides. Neither team is coming off an impressive season, but they both have a chance at some early season momentum.  I am leaning with Richland in this one, I think they have a few more weapons on offense. It'll be a close game though, and I'm not expecting a real high scoring affair either.  [/left]

[left]Rams 24  Panthers 14[/left]


[center]Bedford (0-1) at Central Cambria (0-1) Friday 7:00[/center]

[left]Bedford hung with Bighop Guilfoyle in week one at times, and that's definitely a noteworthy performance. The Bisons are ushering in new starters all over the field, but found themselves battling the two-time defending state champions in the second half. It's a positive step, and sends the message that this is not a total rebuild. It looks like this team can play. Davis Kline looks like he can turn into a very good quarterback, and the junior will look to pick up his first win as a starter on Friday night. [/left]

[left]Central Cambria just couldn't keep up with Somerset last week. The Red Devils had trouble getting points on the board, but will look to get that turned around on Friday. Justin Bezek was 13-33 in week one with 190 passing yards, but was held out of the endzone. Junior Luke Bennett emerged as his favorite target, as he caught eight passes in week one.  They will need more out of the rushing game that only produced 2.4 yards per carry in week one. [/left]

[left]Prediction - Like many of these second week games, I can see this one being close.  There is still a lot to be learned from the teams in this league, and that certainly holds true for these two programs. Central Cambria has what appears to be a good passing game, but the rushing game and defense struggled in week one, and those have been issues since last year. Was Somerset just really good, or do the Red Devils still have the same problems?  Bedford has a lot to prove, but showed a lot last week and I think they take this one. [/left]

[left]Bisons 26 Red Devils 18[/left]


[center]Game of the Week[/center]

[center]Westmont (1-0) at Bishop Guilfoyle (1-0) Saturday 7:00 Mansion Park[/center]

[left]This is the only game this week that features a pair of 1-0 teams.  Westmont is coming off a 45-34 win over Forest Hills in week one. The Hilltoppers stuck to their game plan from last season, and that is run, run, and run some more.  46 plays on offense, 45 of them were run plays. Senior Ian Valente toted the rock the most with 24 carries carries for a whopping 283 yards and 5 touchdowns, Camden Moors and Brock Bennett also chipped in on the 440 yard rushing output.  Westmont has the backs and size up front to do what they like to do.  The defense will be tested more this week, as BG can match their size and has the ability to run and pass as well.[/left]

[left]Bishop Guilfoyle holds a 33 game winning streak, the longest in the state currently. The Marauders raced out to a quick 21-0 lead in week one over Bedford, but never seriously pulled away in their 34-16 win. Josh Trybus played like a veteran senior quarterback with 154 passing yards 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions.  His responsibilities this year have gone up, but I think he will handle the task at hand. Guilfoyle's rushing game produced in week one, but wasn't the dominant force it was last season, and the absence of Evan Chadbourn obviously plays into that. [/left]

[left]Prediction - I'd say buckle up for this one. You have perhaps the two biggest teams in the league going at it, and one of those teams would prefer not to throw any passes at all. I look for this to be a physical contest with plenty of short gains, and it will be a grind for both sides. Last year Guilfoyle won the meeting 49-7, but I think this one can be closer. Westmont is a good team, and probably an underrated one at that, but I'm still going with Guilfoyle, it's been 33 straight for a reason. [/left]

[left]Marauders 35 Hilltoppers 7[/left]

[Panthersfan]

Great job Crimson!! I think Westmont will keep it closer against BG than you think, I think Bedford will beat Central Cambria by at least 14 points they looked pretty good against a great BG team and I think PC will beat Richland for its first win of the season. They played a very good Johnstown team tough for four quarters last week and I think they sneak out a close one this week something like, 28-21 or something. Zupon and Hite are two studs in the backfield and I expect them to combine for 180 yards and 3 TD's. I'm intrigued by the McCort-Heights game, I'm curious to see how it goes, I expect McCort to win, but by how much is the question. They have some phenomenal athletes and I'm curious to see how they do against a team not named Bishop Carroll. I think Somerset will beat Forest Hills pretty handily, Hemminger, Coyle, and that oline does a tremendous job and Coach Landis has a great program, Forest Hills just doesn't seem to have it this season. Johnstown will easily roll obviously, Gibson, Loe, and the boys will be up by 60 at halftime and take the big W. I feel bad for Bishop Carroll, I really do. Can anyone remember a team being so down in the LHAC in recent years like this team is? It's very sad and I feel for the kids.

[Crimson's Ghost]

I'm a little torn on that Westmont game, I almost wish they got BG later in the year. I'm close to buying in on Westmont, I really am.



As far as LHAC teams go in the non-competitive department, you may have to go back to the tail end of Johnstown Vo-Tech's existence. That's a little before my time though. I'm not sure how those teams were.

[Lefteyelouie]

BG has the size to match them, They won't run the ball down BG's throat. Also, sounds as if Westy still hasn't learned to play pass defense. I'll take BG big.

[Crimson's Ghost]

You are probably right, it was 49-7 last season. It's going to be difficult for any team to keep up for all four quarters with BG. 

[CCDevil2012]

Westmont will win games this year simply because they are bigger up front. But when facing teams that are as big as them, they are simply way too 1 dimensional to do well. That and because all they do is run, their secondary is notoriously weak on D. I don't think this game will be close after the first quarter. 
It wasn't mentioned on here but it will be interesting to see whether or not teams let up last week due it being a borderline exhibition game. I noticed that Somerset started rotating many starters out early in the 3rd when they only had a 2 score lead against CC.

[Crimson's Ghost]

That's actually a good subtopic, did anyone find play to be sloppy last week with only one scrimmage in the books? 

[Lefteyelouie]

BG-Bedford had some sloppy play, but generally no worse than typical first game type stuff.  Conditioning did not really seem to be a factor as it was a competitive game and both teams had starters in the entire way.  

[dougkeklak]

That's actually a good subtopic, did anyone find play to be sloppy last week with only one scrimmage in the books? 

I thought sloppy play might be the case with the one scrimmage/week zero thing but aside from Johnstown's first possession where they fumbled I didn't find them to be sloppy.  PC had some fumbling/dropped snaps in shotgun, etc.  But overall it was a pretty well played game and not that many penalties.       Great job on week one CG, while I thought Westy would get FH, I had no idea it would be that high scoring.  
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[dougkeklak]

Also, confirmed the JHS-BC game is at the new BC field.