At Stroudsburg, W, 24-21
DISTRICT 11 CLASS 4A FINAL
No. 7 Pleasant Valley (8-3) at No. 6 Parkland (9-2)
When: 7 tonight
•At stake: A berth in next week's Districts 2-11 Class 4A subregional final at No. 1 Scranton (11-0) or No. 4 Delaware Valley (10-1).
Pleasant Valley
•Coach: Jim Terwilliger (fourth season, 26-16).
•Key players: Sr. WR-LB Sekou Jones (33 catches, 650 yards, 4 TDs; 60 tackles 3 INTs); Sr. TE-MLB Dakota Everett (104 tackles, 5 sacks); Sr. WR-FS Andrew Romeo (35 catches, 735 yards, 12 TDs); Jr. QB Brandon Leap (128-223-11, 2,035 yards, 22 TD passes; 50 carries, 349 yards, 2 TDs),; Fr. RB Austyn Borre (157 carries, 1,220 yards, 13 rushing TDs, 22 catches, 297 yards, 3 TD catches); Sr. WR-CB Tony Bell (22 catches, 191 yards, 1 TD); Jr. SS Niko Huerta (55 total tackles);
•About the Bears: Playing in their first district title game since losing to Liberty in the 1994 4A finals, 31-14. Won first district game since beating Whitehall 28-25 in the 1994 Class 4A semis. … Average 34.4 points per game and allow 17.2 ppg. … Rebounded from a loss to Stroudsburg in the regular-season finale at Stroudsburg by beating the Mounties on Jordan Caffrey's 28-yard field goal with 3:11 to play last Saturday. Jones sealed the win with an interception. Romeo also had an interception and fumble recovery… PV ran for 145 yards against a Stroudsburg defense that was allowing only 87 on the ground. Stroudsburg's Altarique Mosley burned PV defense for 147 yards rushing, but Leap countered with 198 yards passing for PV and Romeo also had a completion for 33 yards. … Terwilliger is a former ESU football star quarterback who set virtually offensive record in school history. Under him, PV has qualified twice for districts in three years.
Parkland
•Coach: Jim Morgans (eighth year, 73-25; 223-129-1 overall).
•Key players: Sr. RB-DB Jarel Elder (113 carries, 1,058 yards, 14 TDs; 63 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, 3 INTs); Sr. QB Tim Baranek (67-121, 1054 yards, 9 TDs, 6 INTs; 149 carries, 901 yards, 10 TDs); Jr. RB Eli Redmond (104 carries, 831 yards, 13 TDs; 32 tackles, 5 INTs); Sr. OL Mike Unger; Sr. FB-LB Zach Gurinowich (57 tackles, 5.5 sacks); Sr. LB Xavier Rhoden (67 tackles); Sr. DL Paul Tajiri (42 tackles, 6.5 sacks); Sr. WR-DB Andrew Fuehrer (19 catches, 316 yards, 2 TDs); So. WR-DB Jarey Elder (23 catches, 440 yards, 5 TDs; 43 tackles, 3 INTs); Sr. DL Shaun Heist (50 tackles, 10 sacks).
•About the Trojans: Playing in their first district final since 2009, when they lost 21-14 to Easton. … Going for their third District 11 title since 2002. The last two times they won districts (2002 and 2007), they reached the PIAA Class 4A final. … Average 39.5 points per game and allow 16.4. … Have scored at least 41 points in seven straight games and at least 28 points in all 11 games this season. … Have held opponents to 12 points per game during nine-game winning streak.
•The matchup: The Bears feature several quality athletes in Jones, Everett, Leap and Borre, among others, and do some creative things on offense. They have enough weapons to make some plays against Parkland. However, the Trojans still have a huge advantage in speed and strength up front and are more battle-tested coming off the Lehigh Valley Conference schedule. It will likely take several takeaways on defense for PV to have a chance to pull off what would be one of the biggest upsets in district championship history.
