Friars back where they belong atop Inter-Ac

Chester County had a very impressive weekend on the scholastic football front.

The run started with two Ches-Mont League wins in the district playoffs, but it concluded in Malvern with another title.

Malvern Prep took the outright Inter-Academic League crown for the first time in six years. The goal of Malvern Prep every year is to go undefeated even with a land mine-filled non-league schedule that includes St. Joseph’s Prep, La Salle and powerful prep schools from New Jersey.

But, the real goal of the Friars is to take the outright league crown and once this 2017 edition got into Inter-Ac play, the Friars showed they were clearly the class of the league. Malvern Prep was barely challenged in its five league wins and first year head coach Dave Gueriera deserves a ton of credit for keeping the Friars’ eyes on the prize after suffering four non-league losses. The Malvern Prep football program is on solid footing with Gueriera at the helm after a brief period of embarrassment under Aaron Brady.

*** In the District 1 Class 5A playoffs, Unionville completely took apart a good Strath Haven team, 39-8, with the Indians getting good games from quarterback Alex Gorgone, who has now shown he is a passer as well as an accomplished runner. Next up for head coach Pat Clark’s squad is pass-happy Marple Newtown and University of Delaware-bound quarterback Anthony Paoletti, who is the all-time leading passer in Delaware County.

Don’t count the Indians out. They have a bevy of good skill players and a solid defense led by sam Ross. Unionville, under Clark, has been known for tough defenses and this year is no different. It would be no surprise if the Indians claim the District 1 5A crown.

In 6A, Coatesville sent warning to the rest of District 1 and Pennsylvania that it has the stuff to get to Hershey, St. Joe’s Prep or no St. Joe’s Prep. The Red Raiders dominated a very, very good Downingtown East team, 61-42, and it was not even that close. Quarterback Ricky Ortega was sensational and the Red Raider sophomore now has thrown 32 touchdown passes with only two interceptions on the season.

Next up for Coatesville is a home game with Pennsbury. The Falcons have long been known as a ground and pound team, but they throw the ball more than they did under former head coach Galen Snyder. Under Dan McShane, the Falcons still feature a bunch of tough, hard-nosed kids that battle you and hit you for the full 48 minutes. But, Coatesville has way too much firepower to lose in this spot and this may be a repeat of 2012, when Coatesville went all the way to Hershey under quarterback Emmett Hunt and a lot of great skill players.

*** There has been talk that the American Conference of the Ches-Mont League wants to get out of the crossover games with the National Division, which, along with Octorara leaving the league, would make scheduling a mess. Now, really, is this not the time for district scheduling? Or do we continue to pretend we have a league when half of it members won’t play the other half?

Peter DiGiovanni covers high school football for Digital First Media and Pa. Prep Live. You can reach him at pdigiovanni07@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteDLN.