Grueling EPC season on deck
Schedule features a different look right off the bat in Week 1
The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference produced five different champions during the 2021 football season and seven teams played in games that could have secured titles.
Northampton won the EPC North title; Parkland took the EPC South.
Freedom beat Emmaus 28-14 for the District 11 6A championship, while East Stroudsburg South staged an amazing comeback for a 47-41 overtime win in the District 11 5A finals. Allentown Central Catholic had its own thriller, fighting from behind to top Northwestern Lehigh 21-14 in the 4A title game.
But the one thing that no EPC team enjoyed in 2021 was a state playoff victory. Freedom lost to St. Joe’s Prep, East Stroudsburg South was routed by Erie Cathedral Prep and Central Catholic’s season was ended by Jersey Shore.
When the first official steps of the 2022 season are taken Monday with the beginning of the heat acclimatization period, the goal for
all 18 teams in the EPC is to not only compete for league and district championships but also to advance as far as they can go, possibly as far as Parkland did 20 years ago in winning the 2002 PIAA Class 4A crown.
It’s a long road from Aug. 8 to Dec. 8-9-10, the weekend of the six state championship games which will be held for the first time at Cumberland Valley High School. No high school season is longer. But with a mix of talent, hard work, perseverance, and some good luck, that four-month trail could offer lots of great memories.
Here are five things to know about 2022 EPC football:
1. Week 1 schedule revamped. Since the EPC was formed in time for the 2014-15 school year, the football schedule had nine cross-division games slated for Week 1. Most of those games through the previous season were won by the South teams and most of them in lopsided fashion.
In 2021, the South teams went 7-1 with the lone North win coming from eventual North division champ Northampton. The Konkrete Kids beat Bethlehem Catholic 17-14. The Parkland-Pleasant Valley game was canceled by COVID-19.
The other seven games were all South routs decided by an average of 43.1 points per game.
So, in an effort to allow North to start the season with a little more success, the week of nine cross-division games was moved back in the schedule to Week 6 at the end of September. Week 1 will now feature several huge games between traditional powers. For example, Emmaus will play at Freedom in a rematch of last year’s 6A district final. Easton will play at Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic visits Whitehall. The lone cross-divisional game — and each week will have at least one — will have Nazareth traveling to Allentown
to face Dieruff.
2. Classification shakeup. Every two years, the PIAA does a reclassification of teams based on shifting enrollment numbers and its success formula. The new two-year cycle begins this fall with 96 schools playing football in Class A, 94 in 2A, 88 in 3A, 93 in 4A, 99 in 5A, and 88 in 6A.
In terms of EPC/District 11 football, the biggest change is that 6A will now be a subregional that will include Williamsport from District 4 and Wilkes-Barre Area, and Hazleton from District 2. They will mix with 10 EPC members with the top eight advancing to the postseason tournament via the power rankings system.
Dropping from Class 6A to 5A were Pleasant Valley and Pocono Mountain West, giving 5A six schools with East Stroudsburg South, Pocono Mountain East, Southern Lehigh, and Whitehall being the other 5A teams. The top four advance in that classification. The 4A classification also has just six teams with half of them being EPC members — Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, and East Stroudsburg North joining with Bangor, Blue Mountain, and Pottsville. The top four also advance there.
3. No changes at the top. As far as we know as heat acclimatization begins, all 18 head coaches from 2021 return, which is highly unusual. The league usually features at least one change. In fact, entering last season, there were four first-year coaches, at least in terms of being at new schools: Mel Thomas (Allen), Kyle Haas (Bethlehem Catholic), Shawn Daignault (Liberty) and John Toman (Northampton). The coach who has been at his current school the longest is Pocono Mountain West’s Jim McCarroll. He is the only coach the Panthers have ever had and he’s beginning his 21st season.
4. Reames of yards. Last season, the EPC featured six 1,000-yard rushers, led by Freedom’s Deante Crawford who had 1,719. Parkland’s Dahlir Adams (1,271), Pocono Mountain West’s Jaden Bowens (1,267), ES South’s Ron Blake (1,153), and Pleasant Valley’s Rob Papaleo (1,006) all had big seasons but all graduated. The only 1,000-yard rusher who returns is Stroudsburg’s Andre Reames, who had 1,022 yards last season. Reames is also the top returning scorer after tallying 15 touchdowns for 90 points last season.
5. Who will take flight? East Stroudsburg South’s Bobby McClosky threw for a league-high 2,190 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. But he graduated along with the rest of the top six passers in the EPC North and three of the top six from the EPC South. The top returning QB in terms of yards is Emmaus junior Josiah Williams, who had 1,893 yards passing and 18 TD passes last season. But he will compete for the QB job with Jake Fotta, who had a big sophomore year in 2019 but was out all last season with a torn ACL. Central Catholic’s Tamlin Ferguson threw for 1,459 yards last year as a junior, but he also will have to compete for a starting position.
The best returning QB positioned to have a big year is Nazareth’s Sonny Sasso, a senior who tossed for 1,877 yards and 15 TDs last year.
The schedule
The 2022 Eastern Pennsylvania football schedule with all games at 7 p.m. unless noted:
FRIDAY, AUG. 26
Pocono Mountain East at Stroudsburg
Nazareth at Dieruff Bethlehem Catholic at Whitehall
Pocono Mountain West at Northampton
Emmaus at Freedom Easton at Parkland
Allen at East Stroudsburg South
Pleasant Valley at East Stroudsburg North SATURDAY, AUG. 27 Liberty at Allentown CCHS FRIDAY, SEPT. 2
Dieruff at East Stroudsburg South
Stroudsburg at Northampton
Parkland at Nazareth Whitehall at Liberty
Allen at Pleasant Valley Allentown CCHS at Emmaus East Stroudsburg North at Pocono Mountain East Freedom at Easton SATURDAY, SEPT. 3
Pocono Mountain West at Bethlehem Catholic
FRIDAY, SEPT. 9 Northampton at East Stroudsburg North
East Stroudsburg South at Pleasant Valley
Parkland at Freedom Pocono Mountain East at Allen
Liberty at Stroudsburg Emmaus at Whitehall
Dieruff at Pocono Mountain West
Bethlehem Catholic at Nazareth
SATURDAY, SEPT. 10 Easton at Allentown CCHS FRIDAY, SEPT. 16
Whitehall at Easton
Pleasant Valley at Dieruff Allentown CCHS at Parkland East Stroudsburg North at Emmaus
Stroudsburg at Pocono Mountain West
Bethlehem Catholic at Liberty
Allen at Northampton
East Stroudsburg South at Pocono Mountain East
SATURDAY, SEPT. 17
Nazareth at Freedom FRIDAY, SEPT. 23
Parkland at Whitehall
Easton at Allen
Pocono Mountain West at East Stroudsburg North Liberty at Nazareth
Dieruff at Stroudsburg Emmaus at Bethlehem Catholic
Northampton at East Stroudsburg South
Pocono Mountain East at Pleasant Valley
SATURDAY, SEPT. 24 Freedom at Allentown CCHS FRIDAY, SEPT. 30
Pleasant Valley at Parkland East Stroudsburg South at Liberty
East Stroudsburg North at Nazareth
Freedom at Allen
Easton at Pocono Mountain East
Whitehall at Pocono Mountain West
Stroudsburg at Emmaus SATURDAY, OCT. 1 Allentown CCHS at Dieruff Northampton at Bethlehem
Catholic FRIDAY, OCT. 7
Whitehall at Freedom Pocono Mountain East at Dieruff
Bethlehem Catholic at Easton
Pleasant Valley at Northampton
East Stroudsburg South at Parkland
Liberty at Emmaus
Allen at Pocono Mountain West
East Stroudsburg North at Stroudsburg
SATURDAY, OCT. 8 Nazareth at Allentown CCHS
FRIDAY, OCT. 14
Easton at Liberty Stroudsburg at Allen Freedom at Pleasant Valley Dieruff at East Stroudsburg North
Allentown CCHS at Whitehall
Northampton at Pocono Mountain East
Pocono Mountain West at East Stroudsburg South Emmaus at Nazareth SATURDAY, OCT. 15 Parkland at Bethlehem Catholic
FRIDAY, OCT. 21
Bethlehem Catholic at Freedom
East Stroudsburg South at Stroudsburg
Liberty at Parkland
Allen at East Stroudsburg North
Pleasant Valley at Pocono Mountain West
Emmaus at Easton Northampton at Dieruff Nazareth at Whitehall THURSDAY, OCT. 20 Pocono Mountain East at Allentown CCHS, 7:30 FRIDAY, OCT. 28
Pocono Mountain West at Pocono Mountain East Allentown CCHS at Bethlehem Catholic
East Stroudsburg North at East Stroudsburg South Stroudsburg at Pleasant Valley
Parkland at Emmaus Whitehall at Northampton Nazareth at Easton SATURDAY, OCT. 29 Freedom at Liberty, 1
Dieruff at Allen, 1:30 THURSDAY, NOV. 24 Catasauqua at Northampton, 10 a.m. Easton vs. Phillipsburg, 10:30 a.m.